Google Questioned by SEC Over Earnings in Low-Tax Countries

 Google Inc. (GOOG) received questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December about earnings in other countries that may have reduced the company’s tax bill, according to regulatory filings released today.

SEC officials asked Google for “disclosures to explain in greater detail the impact on your effective income tax rates and obligations of having proportionally higher earnings in countries where you have lower statutory tax rates,” according to a Dec. 2 letter.

The company responded to the requests for information, the filings show. The SEC said in a Feb. 3 letter that it had completed its review of Google’s filings, and has “no further comments at this time on the specific issues raised.”

Google, owner of the world’s most-popular search engine, has used a strategy that has gained favor among some U.S. companies to reduce taxes. Google cut its income taxes by $3.1 billion over three years by shifting the bulk of foreign profits to Ireland, then the Netherlands and eventually to no-tax Bermuda, according to regulatory filings in the U.S. and abroad.

The tax-cutting strategy, involving a pair of techniques known as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich,” helped cut the company’s income-tax rate to 2.4 percent on the profits it attributed to its foreign subsidiaries during the three-year period, filings show. The statutory corporate income tax rate in the U.S. is 35 percent.

Google rose $15.44 to $576.50 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have declined 2.9 percent this year.
Overseas Profits

U.S. multinational corporations had more than $1 trillion in profits stashed in overseas subsidiaries on which they had paid no U.S. income tax as of the end of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-21/google-questioned-by-sec-over-earnings-in-low-tax-countries-1-.html
Pakistan News

‘Dateline’ has new revelations in Brooke Wilberger murder online news

‘Dateline’ has new revelations in Brooke Wilberger murder  The family of Brooke Wilberger's killer is breaking their silence for the first time, opening up, about how they pieced together that their brother, Joel Courtney, was a murderer.
Courtney raped and killed the 19-year-old Oregon girl in May 2004. The most publicized murder in Oregon history was the focus of the latest Dateline.
Courtney's sister Dina recalled when her brother disappeared, during which time he abducted and killed Wilberger. He came back with a wild story.
"He walked through the door and announced kind of loudly, you'll never believe where I've been, " said sister Dina Courtney McBride. "I said okay, where were you? I was kidnapped, (he said). There were these guys. They had guns and knives and we were in the woods. It was rainy and cold and there was a girl there and we were hiding. And y'know there was blood and it was awful."
Meanwhile, Brooke Wilberger's family was frantic, trying to find her. "I said, where's Brooke?." said Cammy Wilberger, Brooke's mother.
"And he (her son) said what do you mean? You don't know? He goes, 'we don't know where she is.' I said 'Spence, don't tease me. What are you talking about?' And he said, 'no seriously mom. We can't find her and right then I had a chill go through my whole body.'"
Joel Courtney refused to speak with investigators, regarding the Wilberger disappearance. But Dina remembered when her mother visited him in jail and asked him, once and for all.
"Joel, did you do this?, " said Courtney McBride's mother, "and he said 'It's not really like it seems like and I'll never be held accountable.'"

Undercover Boss, Season 2, Episode 13 Sees UniFirst CEO Ronald Croatti Really Struggle Doing Manual Labor

Undercover Boss, Season 2, Episode 13 aired Sunday night on CBS, featuring UniFirst President and CEO Ronald Croatti. The toy train hobbyist puts on a giant wig and mustache to pose as Mike Daniels to check
 out his company, which provides and cleans uniforms for such companies like Walmart. Season 2, Episode 13 of Undercover Boss saw Ronald Croatti have a lot of trouble with manual labor. Nonetheless, the nice man was very touched by the efforts of his employees.

Ronald Croatti Works with UniFirst Employee Squeeky on Undercover Boss, Season 2, Episode 13

In Owensboro, Kentucky, the CEO works with Dee Dee of the Sew/Seal Department, whose employees get incentives for their productivity. Croatti really has trouble sewing the name patches on the shirts, and Dee Dee said he "sucked." Dee Dee wants to go to college, but work and raising children interfere. She wants to be a clinical therapist, but is worried about the inflexible six tardies policy per year that are tolerated before one is let go. Family obligations can sometimes cause her to punch in late.
Read More: Undercover Boss, Season 2, Episode 13 Sees UniFirst CEO Ronald Croatti Really Struggle Doing Manual Labor