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Le Pen's Far-Right Wins Over Macron's CentristsThe far-right nationalist leader says the expected result "confirms the new nationalist-globalist division" in France and beyond.
BRUSSELS — The Latest on elections for the European Parliament (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
French official results confirm the far-right National Rally's victory over French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party in the European Parliament election.
France's Interior Ministry published results based on 81% of the votes counted, placing Marine Le Pen's party at 24.9% support and Macron's party at 21.5%. Some votes in France's biggest cities, which tend to benefit Macron more, remain to be counted.
The National Rally's result appears close to its score at the previous 2014 European elections.
The green party EELV came in third position with 12.8% support.
France's traditional parties, which were eviscerated by Marcon's presidential win in 2017, were still far behind in Sunday's vote, getting 8.3% for The Republicans conservative party to 6% for the Socialist party.
12:25 a.m.
Provisional results from Austria are confirming a big win for Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's center-right party, days after a scandal involving the far-right Freedom Party brought down his governing coalition.
Election officials said that Kurz's People's Party won 35.4% of the vote in Sunday's European Parliament election. It was followed by the center-left Social Democrats with 23.6% and the Freedom Party with 18.1%. The Freedom Party's tally in Austria's 2017 national election, in which it also finished third, was a much stronger 26%.
The Greens took 13% of the vote and the liberal NEOS party 8.1%. The tally excludes postal votes, but on that basis Kurz's party would take seven seats, the Social Democrats five, the Freedom Party three, the Greens two and NEOS one.
The vote for European Parliament is the first test in Austria ahead of a national election in September.
12:20 a.m.
The European Parliament spokesman says turnout over all of the bloc's 28 countries was a 20-year high of 50.5% for Sunday's vote.
Jaume Duch Guillot says the turnout was 8 percentage points higher than the last Europe-wide vote for the parliament in 2014. He said the figures, which include voting from Britain, which aims to leave the bloc, "shows that European citizens realize that the European Union is part of their everyday reality and future."
With final results still trickling in early Monday, it appeared that the parliament's two long-time centrist political groups saw their support shrink at the expense of the anti-immigration far-right and pro-environment Greens. That was according to seat projections for the 751-seat parliament that Guillot read aloud from the stage in the parliament building in Brussels.
12:10 a.m.
Three Catalan separatists — one in jail and two more fugitives from Spanish justice — have won European Parliament seats.
Former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont, his ex-No. 2 Oriol Junqueras and former Catalan Cabinet member Toni Comín all won seats for separatist parties in Sunday's EU vote. That's according to provisional results released by Spain's Interior Ministry with 85% of the votes counted.
Junqueras is in jail in Madrid while on trial on charges that include rebellion for his part in Catalonia's attempt to secede from the rest of Spain in 2017. Puigdemont and Comín are wanted in Spain after they fled to Belgium following Catalonia's failed secession bid.
The three were allowed to run as candidates, but will face legal hurdles to actually take possession of their European Parliament seats.
12 midnight
A new pro-EU coalition linked to President-elect Zuzana Caputova has won the European Parliament election in Slovakia while a far-right party gained seats in the EU legislature for the first time.
According to the final results released by the Slovak Statistics Office, the coalition Progressive Slovakia/Together received 20.1 % of the vote, gaining four seats in the European legislature.
Caputova was Progressive Slovakia deputy chairman before winning the March presidential election.
People's Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party, finished third with 12.1 %, winning two seats.
But Slovakia's local ally of France's far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen didn't win a seat.
11:50 p.m.
A centrist party in the Czech Republic led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis won the most votes in the European Parliament election despite the fact that Babis is facing fraud charges involving the use of EU funds.
The Czech Statistics office says his ANO (YES) group has won 21.2% percent of the Sunday vote or six seats — two more than in 2014 —of the 21 seats at stake in the Czech ballot.
Babis wants his country to remain in the bloc but is calling for EU reforms.
The Czech Republic's most ardent anti-EU group, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, captured its first seats — two of them — in the EU legislature after finishing fifth with 9.1%. The party is the Czech ally of France's far-right National Rally party led Marine Le Pen.
The moderate euroskeptic Civic Democratic Party was second in the vote, winning four seats, while two pro-European parties, Pirate party and conservative TOP 09, won three seats each.
11:40 p.m.
The first official British results in the European Parliament election bear out predictions of victory for the Brexit Party led by anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage.
The tally from northeast England, the first of the U.K.'s 12 regions to report, gives the single-issue party, launched just weeks ago, 39% of the vote.
The left-of-center Labour Party, which has traditionally dominated the region, got 19% of the vote, down sharply from 2014.
The pro-EU Liberal Democrats, campaigning to stop Brexit, more than doubled their share to 17% of the vote, while and the governing Conservatives got just 7%, one point behind the Greens.
Many U.K. voters are apparently using the election to protest at Britain's Brexit deadlock.
11:35 p.m.
Hungary's National Election Office says Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party has won 13 of Hungary's 21 seats in the EU parliament, one seat more than in the 2014 vote.
With 99.9% of the votes counted Sunday evening, former Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's Democratic Coalition has won four seats and the liberal Momentum Movement has captured two seats.
Both the left-wing/green coalition of the Socialist and Dialogue parties, and the right-wing Jobbik party got one seat each, worse than expected.
Voter turnout was above 43%, the highest for an EU parliament election in Hungary, which first took part in the balloting in 2004.
11:25 p.m.
Spain's Socialists have won the European elections ahead of the conservative Popular Party, according to provisional results released by Spain's Interior Ministry.
With 85% of the votes counted, the Socialists will win 32.9% of the vote and 20 seats of the 54 that Spain is allocated in the European Parliament. The conservative Popular Party, which suffered major losses in the April 28 national election, has won 12 seats, down from 16 seats in 2014.
The upstart far-right Vox party is the fifth most popular in Spain, earning three seats, its first time in the European Parliament.
The poor showing for the Popular Party comes after it was crushed in last month's national election. The party has been hurt by corruption allegations and convictions.
The victory will strengthen Sánchez as he tries to form a coalition government.
The Socialists are also hoping to do well in local and regional elections in Spain on Sunday.
11:10 p.m.
Exit polls indicate the right-wing populist League party led by Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, posted huge gains in this year's European parliamentary election to become Italy's largest party.
The League won between 27% and 31% of the vote, up from 6.2% five years ago. Salvini has been working to expand an alliance of right-wing populist parties in a bid to upend European politics and slow down, if not turn around, the drive toward greater European integration.
In another significant result, the League's government coalition partner, the populist 5-Star Movement, is Italy's third party, behind the Democratic Party, which lost badly in last year's national election.
If the 5-Star Movement's finish behind the Democratic Party is confirmed in the final result, it could have implications for Italy's governing coalition.
10:55 p.m.
Projected results from the European Parliament in Portugal predict a victory for the Socialists of Prime Minister António Costa.
The Socialists are projected to win with nearly 32.5% of the vote, slightly down from 2014 when it took 34%.
The center-right opposition is set to take 22.9%, while the leftist Bloco de Esquerda is projected to get nearly 10.3% of the vote.
Costa will face a national election in Portugal in October.
10:40 p.m.
Voters in ethnically divided Cyprus have elected a Turkish Cypriot to the European Parliament for the first time since the island nation joined the 28-member bloc in 2004.
Niyazi Kizilyurek, who teaches at the University of Cyprus' Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies Department, ran for the communist-rooted AKEL party that was the runner-up in Sunday's European parliament election behind the conservative Democratic Rally party.
Kizilyurek told private TV station Sigma that he'll represent Cyprus and its European citizens, irrespective of ethnic origin.
AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou said the election of Kizilyurek, 60, sends a strong message to other EU nations that Cypriots want an end to their country's division and want more EU help in peace efforts.
Turnout was at 42.8%.
Despite earlier opinion polls, far-right party ELAM didn't manage to gain one of Cyprus' six allotted seats at the European Parliament, even though it doubled its support.
10:15 p.m.
The pro-business ALDE group said Sunday's voting projections make it clear that the European Parliament will have a "new balance of power" and the long-dominant European People's Party and Socialists groups will have to share much more power.
Guy Verhofstadt said his group, boosted by the addition of French President Macron's LREM party, will be an essential powerbroker in the negotiations to get a working majority in the legislature and back a candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President.
Verhofstadt says the two mainstream parties "will no longer have a majority and it means no solid pro-EU majority is possible" without his ALDE group and others pro-EU parties like the Greens.
Latest projections show the EPP getting 173 seats, down from 217, and the Socialist S&D with 147, down from 186. Together they hold 320 seats in the 751-seat legislature.
Verhofstadt's group is projected to get 102 seats and the Greens 71.
10 p.m.
An exit poll shows a huge setback in the European Parliament election for Romania's ruling coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party.
Data released Sunday by pollsters Avangarde and CURS show the Social Democrats, or PSD, getting a 25.8% of the votes, enough only to tie the opposition National Liberal Party, or PNL.
The PSD's junior coalition partner, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, may get less than the mandatory 5% of votes needed to win a seat in the EU legislature.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis says the Social Democrats have "failed," adding that the only possible option was that their government "has to go." Critics say the government tolerates corruption.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she wouldn't step down, declaring that "Romanians trust the current government. These were EU, not national, elections."
9:50 p.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron's party is pledging to combat nationalists at the European Parliament and block them from weakening France.
The lead candidate of Macron's centrist party, Nathalie Loiseau, urged all pro-European forces "to unite to defend the interests of the Europeans" and not let the European Union fall into the hands of "those who want to unbuild it."
In France, polling agency estimates show that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party is expected to beat Macron's centrist party in the European election.
Loiseau said her party, associated with the pro-market ALDE alliance in a new centrist group, will have a key role as they will represent the third strongest force at the European Parliament.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he will continue to implement Macron's policies and planned reforms.
9:40 p.m.
In Greece, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the protected winner of Sunday's European election, has just called on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to resign.
Tsipras, who is not obliged to call an early election until his term expires in October, is at the Syriza party headquarters. Top Syriza officials say an early election is not on the cards.
The Interior Ministry's pollster estimates that conservative opposition New Democracy will get 32.8%, while the ruling left-wing Syriza party will get 24%.
In other estimates, the Socialists got 7.8%, the Communist Party saw 5.6%, the far-right Golden Dawn saw 4.8% and the nationalist Greek Solution was projected at 4.1%. The estimate is based on results from 10% of polling stations.
9:20 p.m.
Green leaders in the European Parliament are hailing a "green wave" that has spread throughout Europe after early projections showed the environmentalist movement is likely to make significant gains.
Early projections Sunday suggest the Greens will secure 71 seats in the 751-seat parliament, up from 52 seats five years ago. The Greens appear to have done well in France, Germany and Ireland.
The Greens co-leader in the assembly, Ska Keller, says "the green wave has really spread all over Europe and for us that is a fantastic result."
Fellow Greens leader Philippe Lamberts says the party cannot be avoided as groups begin negotiations in coming days to form alliances in the parliament to counter the likely rise of anti-EU parties.
Lamberts says "to forge a stable European Union, the Greens are indispensable."
9:15 p.m.
An exit poll in Poland shows the nationalist conservative ruling Law and Justice party as the biggest vote-getter in the European Parliament election, with 42.6% of the vote.
If the projection is confirmed by the official results, it would put the party in a strong position ahead of Poland's national parliamentary election in the fall.
The exit poll by the Ipsos agency shows the ruling party's main rival, the European Coalition, running in second place with 39.1%. The coalition is led by the centrist Civic Platform party and includes several other parties.
The exit poll gave Spring, a new center-left party that backs fighting climate change, 6.6% support.
A far-right alliance formed to stand in the European election, Confederation, had 6.6% of the vote according to the exit poll.
9 p.m.
The ruling, pro-EU conservatives are projected to win the most votes in the European election in Croatia, the European Union's newest member.
An exit poll carried by the public broadcaster HRT said Sunday that the Croatian Democratic Union will win some 23% of the ballot, followed by the center-left Social Democratic Party with around 17%.
HRT says the exit polls have been conducted by the Ipsos polling agency. Partial official results are expected later in the evening.
The exit polls also indicated that a far-right coalition could win 6.6% of the ballot, or one of the 12 EU seats for Croatia. Local media say the biggest surprise is the third position for an independent list with some 8% of the votes.
8:50 p.m.
First European Parliament projections suggest that mainstream parties have lost ground in the EU elections, with the Greens and far-right and populist parties set to pick up seats.
The projections, based on estimates in 11 EU member countries and voting intentions in 17 others, show that the center-right European People's Party would remain the biggest group with 173 seats, down from 217 in 2014.
The center-left Socialists would lose 40 seats, dropping to 147.
The left-wing Greens seem set to win 71 seats, up from 52 in 2014.
The European of Nations and Freedom group, which combines populist and far-right parties in countries like France and Italy, looks like it will secure 57 seats, up 20 from five years ago.
Despite the losses for mainstream parties, staunchly pro-EU parties are slated to win 493 of the 751 seats in Parliament.
8:40 p.m.
French far-right, nationalist leader Marine Le Pen is declaring victory in the European Parliament election over pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron.
French polling agencies are projecting that Le Pen's National Rally will come first in France's voting Sunday, followed by Macron's centrist Republic on the Move party.
Le Pen said the expected result "confirms the new nationalist-globalist division" in France and beyond.
She immediately expressed hope the election could foreshadow her party's victory in France's 2022 presidential election. Le Pen was beaten handily by Macron in France's 2017 presidential vote.
She called on Macron to dissolve the French parliament.
Macron says the National Rally represents the "leprosy" of nationalism that is eating the EU from within. For Le Pen, the race is a battle to preserve European civilization from immigration and globalization.
8:30 p.m.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says he is "invigorated" by a projection showing a big win for his center-right party after a week in which his governing coalition collapsed.
The projection for ORF public television, the Austria Press Agency and private broadcaster ATV pointed to Kurz's center-right People's Party finishing well ahead of the center-left Social Democrats in the European Parliament vote. It also shows Kurz's former coalition partner, the far-right Freedom Party, a distant third.
A scandal surrounding the Freedom Party's now-departed leader brought down the coalition and prompted Kurz to call for an early national election in September.
Kurz still may be unseated by an opposition no-confidence vote in parliament on Monday. But he told supporters on Sunday: "Whatever is going to happen tomorrow and in the following days we are defying the rain, we are defying everything else that is going to come our way. We emerge invigorated."
8:15 p.m.
French polling agency estimates show that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party is expected to beat French President Emmanuel Macron's party in the European elections.
The populist, anti-immigrant National Rally is estimated to win 23% to 24% of the vote, compared to 21.9% to 22.5% for Macron's centrist, pro-European party. That's according to estimates by the Ifop and Ipsos polling agencies.
The green party EELV is estimated at 12.8% to 13%, a sharp rise compared to previous European elections.
The French conservative party, The Republicans, is expected to be in fourth position with about 8% support while far-left France Insoumise ("Rebel France") and the Socialist party are both estimated to capture between 6% and 7% support.
In France, polling agencies including Ifop and Ipsos are forecasting the nationwide vote result based on projections from the actual vote count in select constituencies.
8:05 p.m.
The European Parliament spokesman says turnout for this year's pivotal election is nearing 51% for 27 nations, according to preliminary figures.
Jaume Duch Guillot says the figure, which excludes Britain, is the highest in at least 20 years and reverses years of steady decline. U.K. figures are expected later Sunday evening, as final tallies roll in for an election that both centrist parties and the far-right have portrayed as a referendum on sovereignty and the European Union.
Four days of voting will end Sunday, and 426 million people across 28 nations were eligible to vote for the makeup of the European Parliament. In the case of Britain, voters are electing legislators who will lose their jobs when Brexit is finalized.
It is, Guillot said, "very significant increase in turnout for the very first time since the first European elections took place in 1979."
8 p.m.
In Greece, an updated exit poll shows the conservative opposition New Democracy party winning between 32.5% to 34.5% of Sunday's vote for the European Parliament.
Greece's governing left-wing Syriza is projected to get between 24% and 26%. The socialists of Movement for Change are expected to see between 7.2% to 8.2% support; the Communists between 5% to 6%; while the extreme-right Golden Dawn and the nationalist Greek Solution both are projected to get 4% to 5% support.
The threshold to elect one of Greece's 21 European lawmakers is 3%. The exit poll was conducted jointly by five polling firms.
Greece is also voting for regional and local councils Sunday.
Voters from 21 EU nations went to the polls Sunday in the final day of a crucial European Parliament election.
7:45 p.m.
The Greens are celebrating projected strong gains in Germany in the European Parliament elections and a good showing in Ireland.
An exit poll published by the European Parliament says that in Germany, the Greens finished second with 22% support, double their result five years ago. The poll shows that in Ireland the Green Party was in a three-way tie for second place behind the governing Fine Gael party.
Ska Keller of the European Greens hailed the results Sunday evening. She says, "it is a great celebration but it's also a great responsibility. It is a great task to now put into action those things that people asked us to do: Climate protection, social justice in Europe and fighting for civil liberties all over."
The strong showings for the Greens follow protests by students and activists across Europe calling for faster action to tackle climate change.
7:35 p.m.
In Bulgaria, the ruling center-right GERB party is projected to come in first in the European election in that nation, according to an exit poll jointly conducted by two Bulgarian polling firms.
The poll by Alpha Research and Gallup International says GERB is projected to win 30% to 33% of the vote, compared to 23% to 25% for the opposition Socialist party.
The liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms party is projected to win 13%, while a nationalist formation, the VMRO, and the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria party are projected to get between 6% and 8% each.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev says "we need a united and strong Europe" based on solidarity.
Voters from 21 EU nations went to the polls Sunday in the final day of a crucial European Parliament election that could see gains by nationalists and far-right movements. The EU's other seven nations voted earlier this week but results on all the voting will not be released until after all polls close Sunday night.
7:08 p.m.
The center-right candidate to lead the European Union Executive's Commission is promising to bring "stability" to the European Union over the next few years and predicts pro-EU forces will lead the next parliament.
Manfred Weber, the candidate of the European People's Party, said in Berlin that Sunday's European Parliament elections appear to have weakened the political center. He says it's "most necessary for the forces that believe in this Europe, that want to lead this Europe to a good future, that have ambitions for this Europe, … (to) work together."
He said those forces have to have a "clear division" from other political groups who oppose Europe on both the right and the left.
Weber said the EPP will be "hopefully the strongest group" in the new European parliament. He said "we promised stability, and (we) will guarantee this stability in the coming years."
6:35 p.m.
Spain's Interior Ministry says turnout for the European elections at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) is up to 49.3% from nearly 34.1% in 2014.
Spain is also holding local and some regional elections Sunday, including the highly watched races for the mayor of Madrid and Barcelona. The 2014 European elections were held alone.
Still, turnout was down from Spain's April 28 national election, when it was nearly 60.8% at 1600 GMT.
In Barcelona, a Catalan separatist candidate is trying to oust its incumbent far-left mayor, who says she does not support secession but believes that Catalans should vote on the question.
6:15 p.m.
In Greece, the conservative opposition New Democracy party is projected to win the European election, according to an exit poll jointly conducted by five Greek polling firms.
New Democracy is projected to win 32% to 36% of the vote, compared to 25% to 29% for the ruling left-wing Syriza.
The socialist Movement for Change is projected to win 7% to 9%, while the extreme right Golden Dawn and the Communist party are expected to get between 5% and 7% each.
Two more parties, far-right nationalist Greek Solution and Diem25, the Greek section of former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' European movement, have a chance to exceed the 3% threshold required for sending a representative to the European Parliament.
The poll, with 7,000 respondents, was conducted until 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), two hours before voting ended, and will be updated.
6:05 p.m.
An exit poll shows Germany's governing parties losing significant ground in the European Parliament election, with big gains for the Greens party and a much smaller increase for the far-right.
The ARD television exit poll put support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Union bloc at 28% and showed their coalition partners in Berlin, the center-left Social Democrats, dropping to a dismal 15.5%. Five years ago, those parties took 35.4% and 27.3% respectively of the vote.
It showed the Greens easily taking second place with 22% — double their result five years ago. The far-right Alternative for Germany was seen with 10.5% support, better than its showing in 2014 but less than it scored in Germany's last national election in 2017.
5:50 p.m.
France's Interior Ministry says turnout for the European Parliament election was up in the country compared to previous vote.
In France, turnout was over 43% at 5 p.m. (1500GMT), compared with 35% at the same time in 2014. Polls remain open until 8 p.m. in the country's big cities.
Several French poll institutes estimate that the final turnout may be over 50% at the end of the day, which would be a first in the country since 1994.
A similar rise in turnout has been observed in neighboring Spain and Germany.
In the whole European Union, turnout for this pan-European vote has trended downward since the first election in 1979. Turnout stood at less than 43% in the 2014 vote.
5:35 p.m.
A projection for Austrian public television and the country's national news agency points to a big win for Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's center-right party in the European Parliament election, with the far-right Freedom Party finishing far behind in third place.
The projection was released after polls closed Sunday in Austria. It put support for Kurz's center-right People's Party at 34.5%, with the center-left Social Democrats at 23.5%, the Freedom Party at 17.5% and the Greens at 13.5% support.
It was based on 5,200 interviews conducted from Tuesday to Sunday.
The vote for the joint European Parliament is a the first test in Austria ahead of a national election in September that Kurz called a week ago after a scandal erupted surrounding the Freedom Party's leader. Heinz-Christian Strache quit as party leader and vice chancellor, and the governing coalition between the People's Party and the Freedom Party then collapsed.
5:20 p.m.
Italy's anti-migrant hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini says he feels a "change in the air" and that a win by his right-wing League party would "change everything in Europe."
Salvini's League is seeking to form an alliance of nationalist, populist parties to exert more power in the European Parliament over the affairs of the European Union. He's campaigned relentlessly throughout Italy and has become the face of Europe's far-right by speaking out against migrants and the influence of Muslims in Europe.
The League party, once just a regional power in northern Italy, is gaining strength throughout the country. It's the junior partner in a coalition government with the populist 5-Star Movement, but the coalition is on rocky ground. Salvini may be tempted to end the partnership to seek a new election in Italy if his electoral gains on the European front are significant.
But on Sunday, he voted in the European election and dismissed speculation about seeking new elections.
He told reporters "I'm interested in winning in Italy to change Europe," according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
4 p.m.
Turnout appears to be up in several of the European Union's largest countries for the continentwide battle for influence at the European Parliament.
Turnout was up slightly in Spain, France and Germany by mid-afternoon.
In Spain, turnout was up to 35% compared to 24% at the same time in the last European elections in 2014. Spain is also holding municipal and some regional elections —including for mayor of Madrid and Barcelona— while in 2014 the European elections were separate.
In Germany, the federal election authority said that 29% of registered voters had cast ballots by 2 p.m., four hours before polls closed. That's up from 26% at the same time in 2014. The figure doesn't include postal votes.
And in France, turnout was at 19% at noon, compared with 16% at the same time in 2014.
3:10 p.m.
The leader of Spain's upstart far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, asked Spaniards to make "their voice heard" after he cast his ballot in Madrid.
"We come to these elections calling for participation from all Spaniards in accordance to their convictions and principles," Abascal said. "We want to tell them that it is important that each Spaniard has their voice in the municipal and regional institutions, also in the European institutions as, often, this is not seen with much interest by citizens."
Vox erupted into the Spanish political scene in December when it won its first seats in the regional legislature for the Andalusia region. It then won 10% of the vote in national elections on April 28 to enter the Spanish Parliament.
Founded in 2013, Vox failed to win a seat in 2014 European elections, its first electoral test.
Unlike other European far-right parties, Vox is not anti-European Union despite its ultranationalist ideology.
2:55 p.m.
Anti-EU and pro-EU parties are both hoping to make gains in a Brexit-dominated election for British seats in the European Parliament, while the governing Conservative Party is bracing for one of its worst-ever performances.
Daniel Hannan, a Conservative Member of the European Parliament, said he feared the party was facing "total wipeout" and would fail to gain any of Britain's 73 seats.
The Conservatives look likely to be punished for failing to take the country out of the EU as promised. Opinion polls suggest the newly founded Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage is set to take the biggest share of votes. There could also be a surge for the centrist Liberal Democrats, who want to stop Brexit.
In the last EU election in 2014, Farage's former UKIP party won 27% of the vote, helping to build momentum in the push to get Britain out of the EU.
2:35 p.m.
Spaniards in the restive northeastern region of Catalonia are voting in European elections that include two high-profile separatist leaders who are running from jail and self-imposed exile.
Former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont and his ex-No. 2 Oriol Junqueras are both running on competing tickets of separatist parties for the European Parliament.
Junqueras is in jail in Madrid while on trial on charges that include rebellion for his part in Catalonia's attempt to secede from the rest of Spain in 2017. Puigdemont is wanted in Spain and fled to Belgium.
Both have been allowed to run as candidates, but would face legal hurdles to actually become European Parliament members if elected.
Polls and recent election results show that the 7.5 million residents of the wealthy Catalonia region are roughly split by the secession issue. It is highly unpopular in the rest of Spain.
"I think a lot is at stake for Catalonia in the European elections," Manuel Guajardo, a 57-year-old businessman, said after voting in Barcelona. "It will be the definition of a people, to take a path or another path, and these elections will mark this."
Barcelona is also holding municipal elections, where a separatist candidate is trying to oust its incumbent far-left mayor, who says she does not support secession but believes that Catalans should vote on the question.
12:50 p.m.
In Castelbuono, a Medieval mountain town in Sicily's province of Palermo, a steady but sluggish stream of voters is showing up to cast ballots.
Many of the town's residents are backing the 5-Star Movement, a populist party now in a coalition government with the anti-migrant League party.
One of these is Vincenzo Messineo, a 32-year-old laborer who's concerned about youth unemployment and the influx of migrants.
"We don't want them all here," he said. "Europe is united so why can't they be divided among other countries too?"
For Anna Maria Ippolito, a 62-year-old 5-Star Movement supporter, financial inequality is a top concern.
"Six percent of the Italian population has all the wealth," she said. "It's not at all right. Paying the taxes that we do now just lets the rich get richer and the poor poorer."
On Europe, she thinks it's time to rein in the big guns. "Up to now, it's all been about Germany and France," she said. "They're the ones dragging us into this European disaster."
Migrants are on the mind of Silvia Bonomo, too, but she feels Europe needs to "open itself up" and do more to welcome people fleeing war and hardships. The 62-year-old middle-school teacher voted for the center-left Democratic Party.
"They wouldn't be coming if they didn't have a reason to," she said. "Migrants are seen as stealing jobs, which they are not. They're seen as criminals, which they are not. They are just like us."
12:30 p.m.
People's Party Our Slovakia, a far right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia's parliament is expected to win seats in the European legislature for the first time.
The party openly admires the Nazi puppet state that the country was during World War II. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and of the European Union.
The party received a boost in April after Slovakia's Supreme Court dismissed a request by the country's prosecutor general to ban it as an extremist group whose activities violate the Constitution.
Turnout in Slovakia at the previous vote in 2014 was 13%, the lowest in all EU countries.
The polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of the current coalition government, to top the voting with about 20%. Slovakia has 14 seats in the European Parliament.
11:40 a.m.
The center-right German candidate to head the European Commission says he hopes voters will back a "Europe of stability" and a united and ambitious continent.
Manfred Weber, whose European People's Party group hopes to retain its status as the biggest in the European Parliament, said after voting in his native Bavaria Sunday: "I don't want to see a right-populist Europe (that) wants to destroy the idea of togetherness … and I'm also against a Europe which is in the hands of the left."
Ska Keller, a German Green who heads her group's European election slate, said in Berlin that "the European Union should lead the way in climate protection. We need social cohesion, we need to strengthen democracy in Europe and I hope that this will meet with much support."
11:25 a.m.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says he hopes the European Parliament elections will strengthen the center rather than parties on the far right and left.
Kurz told reporters in Vienna Sunday that he hopes his center-right People's Party will keep first place in the race for seats in the EU legislature.
The vote has turned into a first test of support ahead of a national election in September following the collapse of Kurz's governing coalition a week ago in a scandal surrounding the now-departed leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which was his junior coalition partner.
Regardless of the result, Kurz faces a no-confidence vote brought by the opposition in parliament Monday. He said he expects the Freedom Party and the Social Democrats to back it, which would bring him down.
10:55 a.m.
Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that he hopes the outcome of Sunday's European and local elections will lead to more "political stability" for Spain as he starts his attempt to form a government.
Sánchez called on "all the political forces to open a horizon of political stability" after he voted early Sunday morning with his wife in Madrid.
He added that the elections are "to decide the future of progress and wellbeing for the entirety of our country and Europe."
Voter opinion polls point to a victory for Sánchez's Socialist Party in the European elections. Elections are also taking place for administrations in all Spain's cities, including deciding on a second term for the female mayors of Madrid and Barcelona, and 14 of its 19 regions.
Sánchez's Socialists won April 28 national elections in Spain, but fell short of winning an outright majority and will need to earn the support from rivals in Parliament to stay in power.
10:40 a.m.
Hungary's prime minister says he hopes the European Parliament election will bring a shift toward political parties that want to stop migration.
Viktor Orban said Sunday after casting his vote at a school near his Budapest home that the issue of migration, which he believes is stoppable, "will reorganize the political spectrum in the European Union."
Orban, whose Fidesz party had its membership suspended in the center-right European People's Party, the largest political bloc in the EU parliament, because of concerns about Hungary's democracy, said Fidesz would want to stay in the EPP only if it can influence the group's future strategy.
Orban met recently with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, but has not committed to joining the more radically nationalist alliance that Salvini has been forming.
Fidesz is expected to win up to 14 of Hungary's 21 seats in the EU parliament.
8:05 a.m.
Belgians are heading to the polls in European Union, national and regional elections Sunday.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0700GMT) and the first estimates and exit polls were expected by 6 p.m. (1700GMT). In the national elections Belgians are looking to end months of political limbo after the biggest party in the governing coalition quit over Prime Minister Charles Michel's support for the U.N. migration pact.
Michel has steered a caretaker government doing only day-to-day business since December, but with the country's 8 million voters choosing from more than a dozen parties, chances are that it will prove difficult to quickly form a stable coalition.
6 a.m.
Bulgarians are voting in the European Parliament elections after a series of scandals overshadowed the debate on key issues of the EU's future.
Voters on Sunday are casting ballots for their country's 17 seats in the 751-member European Parliament. The vote is seen as a test for the center-right party of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, which suffered a setback after senior officials were involved in corruption scandals.
Latest surveys show only three parties, belonging to mainstream European political groups, passing the election threshold — the ruling GERB party, the Socialist party, and the liberal MRF.
Projections suggest the nationalist and far-right vote will be split between several smaller parties, which could prevent them from capturing seats in the EU legislature.Wait, before you go…
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text:
20130508 US report critical of Taiwan's defenses
US report critical of
Taiwan's defenses
IMBALANCE: Taiwan's military spending has fallen
to about 2 percent of GDP, while China's defense budget is 10 times that of
Taiwan, the US defense department said
By Nadia Tsao and Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A US Department of Defense report on the Chinese military released on Monday
briefly criticized Taiwan's defense spending and its transition to voluntary
military service.
The report, Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic
of China 2013, said that as the Taiwanese government shifts to a national
volunteer force, the freed-up savings and resources are being used for personnel
salaries and benefits, but it is "diverting funds from foreign and indigenous
[weapons] acquisition programs."
It said the program did not meet is objective, with a total of 235,000 people
inducted into military service in recent years, far below the target of 270,000.
"Taiwan's military spending has dropped to approximately 2 percent of GDP — well
below President Ma's [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] pledge of 3 percent," the report said,
adding that China's defense budget is 10 times that of Taiwan.
The annual report to the US Congress covers China's security and military
strategies, as well as the security situation in the Taiwan Strait.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Helvey briefed
journalists on the report at a press conference at the Pentagon on Monday.
"Over the past year, cross-strait relations have improved. However, China's
military buildup shows no signs of slowing," Helvey said, adding that China has
more than 1,100 short and medium-range ballistic missiles directed at Taiwan.
The range and capability of the missiles are being enhanced, and China is
modernizing its conventional and precision-attack weapons deployed against
Taiwan, Helvey said.
"China's overall strategy [toward Taiwan] continues to incorporate elements of
persuasion and coercion to deter or repress the development of political
attitudes in Taiwan favoring independence," he said, quoting the report.
"Dealing with a potential contingency in the Taiwan Strait remains the PLA's
[People's Liberation Army] primary mission ... In this context, should
deterrence fail, the PLA would be called upon to compel Taiwan to abandon
independence, or to re-unify [sic] with the mainland by force of arms, while
defeating any third-party intervention on Taiwan's behalf," he said.
The report indicated that the PLA's ability to attack Taiwan is improving each
year, as currently China is unable to totally cut off Taiwan through a maritime
However, this capability will be substantially improved over the next five to 10
years, he said.
The US Department of Defense added that the PLA's modernization is based on
preparations for a Taiwan conflict with the possibility of US intervention, and
that the "Taiwan military's technological superiority, and the inherent
geographic advantages of island defense" are gradually eroding.
The PLA Air Force "has stationed a large number of advanced aircraft within an
unrefueled range of Taiwan, providing them with a significant capability to
conduct air superiority and ground attack operations against Taiwan," and "a
number of long-range air defense systems provide a strong layer of defense of
China's mainland against a counterattack," the report said.
"China's development of support aircraft provide it improved ISR [intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance] to support PLA Air Force operations in a
contingency," the report said.
In addition, the PLA Navy has developed "a credible at-sea nuclear deterrent,
and introducing new platforms that are positioned to strike Taiwan in a
cross-Strait conflict" and its new weapons "are designed to achieve sea
superiority within the first island chain and counter any third party
intervention in a Taiwan conflict," the report said.
The report's conclusion said that although progress is being made on
cross-strait dialogue, the Taiwanese government and much of the public are not
supportive of direct negotiations on issues of Taiwan's sovereignty.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Have you decided what you will be serving for dessert on Christmas?
Well, I thought I had until I saw this beauty.
I was relaxing for a few minutes eating lunch and thumbing through my Bon Appetit Magazine when I spotted this gorgeous Dark Chocolate Peppermint Tart and knew I had to share it with you.
It's so light and lovely and will definately be a crowd pleaser!
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, diced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 1/2 teaspoons cold whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon coarsely crushed red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies
- 3 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 3/4 teaspoons peppermint extract
Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter and vanilla; cut in using on/off turns until butter forms peasize pieces. Add milk and blend in using on/off turns until mixture forms small moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic; chill 1 hour.
Roll dough out between sheets of floured parchment to 12-inch round. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 10-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold dough edges over and press to form thick sides. Using thumb, press dough around sides to extend crust 1/8 inch above edge of pan. Freeze 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until brown, piercing bubbles with fork, about 30 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Add all chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool 30 minutes. Pour filling into crust. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup candy. Chill until set, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in large bowl to stiff peaks. Spread 2 cups whipped cream over filling, mounding slightly in center. Spoon remaining whipped cream into 1 bottom corner of large resealable plastic bag. Twist at top; grasp top firmly. Using scissors, cut 3/4 inch off filled corner to form opening; turn bag so that 1 seam faces up. Pipe 2-inch-long ovals of whipped cream side by side around edge of tart. Pipe more ovals to form second ring inside first, then pipe ovals in center. Chill at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. Remove tart from pan; place on platter. Sprinkle top of tart with remaining 1 tablespoon crushed peppermint candies and serve.
Looks like this will be my Christmas dessert. Yummy, I can't wait!


text:
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Sunday mornings are when our community comes together to celebrate life, share our joys and concerns and deepen our spiritual growth. From our music to our message of inspiration — no Sunday Service is ever the same! Drop by a few times to get a sense of who and what we are. We offer multiplatform services (in-person and over Zoom).
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text:
- Featured
- World
- Politics
- Racial Equity
- Women
- Culture
- Talk About Race
- Sports
By Deborah Meehan, Executive Director, Leadership Learning Community,
Oakland made the headlines again this summer when a jury delivered a verdict of involuntary manslaughter in the trial of Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle, a BART police officer, was on trial for shooting Oscar Grant, a young, African American, unarmed passenger who died on New Year's Day 2009. Oscar Grant's shooting and death were captured on a cell phone video and posted on YouTube. Oscar Grant was shot in the back while he was defensively held face down by other BART police officers with his hands handcuffed behind his back. Mehserle asserted that he accidentally pulled and fired his pistol instead of a taser gun. It is possible with this verdict that Mesherle will be given probation and no jail time when he is sentenced on November 3rd 2010.
Months in advance of the verdict, a number of youth organizations in Oakland began organizing to provide opportunities for young people to gather and talk about how this could happen and what could be done so that it doesn't happen again. This is a leadership question and makes the findings of a report just released on Leadership and Race particularly relevant. Why? The report, How to Develop and Support Leaderships that Contributes to Racial Justice, suggests that the focus on the individual has permeated the ways in which we think about leadership with some serious costs to our efforts to change the realities of people like Oscar Grant who have been denied many life opportunities because of their race.
The dominant culture in the U.S. promotes the idea that as individuals we all have equal opportunities and are individually responsible for our achievements or failures. In the case of this shooting, a bias towards focusing on the individual would look to understand the killing of Oscar Grant as the product of individual behaviors isolating this experience to the behavior of the BART police officer. Depending on what one believes of this event, one implication could be better weapons training or prejudice reduction. Of course these are important, but changing individual behaviors will not make life safer for people of color when historically, the criminal justice system that supports racial profiling and disparities in sentencing fails to deal effectively with brutality and killings by police. For instance, one of every three black males born today can except to go to prison in his lifetime. (2006, The Covenant with Black America)
The report recommends that to help promote racial justice, organizations and individuals need to adopt leadership development approaches that explain how a system of culture, policy and structures produce and perpetuate differences in access to life opportunities. These leadership approaches should provide the analysis, tools and resources that will help young people and communities change the system that put a young man like Oscar Grant at risk and then failed to deliver justice in his killing.
The efforts led by youth organizations in Oakland , including Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), Youth Uprising, and Youth Radio, in preparation for the verdict represent a positive example of the type of leadership approaches that contribute to racial justice. But these efforts were largely overlooked by the media, which was more interested in covering the anticipated riot that, in fact, never happened.
The youth organizations understood that if Mehserle was not convicted of murder, it would be important for young people to have multiple opportunities and venues for making meaning of what happened and to talk openly about their feelings. The Philanthropic Initiative on Racial Equity and mosaic, in their report, "Changing the Rules of the Game: Youth Development and Structural Racism" also link the meaning-making process to leadership development, explaining that the work of youth development organizations is to help youth analyze and comprehend the world around them at a critical stage in their development. As young people better understand how their lives and opportunities are influenced by racism, they can become a collective voice and advocate for themselves. This is what we saw take place in Oakland.
The youth organizations, in coordination with the city of Oakland, provided safe spaces at five sites throughout the city where young people could meet, participate in peacemaking circles, use art, music, digital storytelling and radio to talk about what had happened and their feelings. The youth organizations provided multiracial teams of trained facilitators at each of the centers. People were also encouraged to attend a large demonstration being organized in front of city hall, and close by open mics were set up for young people under 25 to speak out. A coalition, "Oaklanders for Peace, Justice and Healing," developed teams of peacekeepers trained in nonviolent communication and had 40 people in orange vests talking to the crowds and encouraging participation in peaceful opportunities to speak to injustice.
Those of us who believe that we can help to bring about change by supporting leadership have a lot to learn from the events in Oakland early this summer. As the report explains, "Focusing on the role of individuals in creating and solving problems does not look at the impact that systems have on the ways people behave and tends to attribute racism only to ignorance or hateful behaviors." Leadership programs need to mobilize broad action that promotes more systemic changes in the criminal justice systems, e.g. eliminating the Three Strikes Law, promoting community policing programs, or demanding changes in the demographic makeup of the police force to better represent communities served, and outlawing racial profiling.
If in our leadership work we are not helping people to understand and address the consequences of structural racism, we help to maintain it. We hope this report, which was produced as a collaborative project by the Leadership Learning Community, Applied Research Center, Center for Assessment and Policy Development, The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity , MP Associates and Social Policy Research Associates, will help leadership programs that engage thousands of people every year to make an important contribution to a more just and equitable future for people of all races and ethnicities. This report is part of the Leadership for a New Era Series, a collaborative research project launched by the Leadership Learning Community in 2009 to promote leadership approaches that are more inclusive, networked and collective. For more information about the report, please visit http://bit.ly/LeadershipRaceInfo.
Deborah Meehan is founder and Executive Director of the Leadership Learning Community (LLC), a nonprofit organization focused on transforming the way leadership is conceived, conducted, and evaluated. She is also one of the co-authors of the How to Develop and Support Leaderships that Contributes to Racial Justice report.
2006. The Covenant with Black America 1st ed., Chicago: Third World Press.
Quiroz-Martínez, J., HoSang, D., & Villarosa, L. (2004). Changing the Rules of the Game: Youth Development & Structural Racism. Washington, D.C.:
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity.
Author: Kirwan Institute (427 Articles)


text:
(I'm sorry for the audio, it is not professional quality. My students still tell me it's VERY USEFUL!)
Use the five lessons below to improve your ability to speak fluent English at work. The vocabulary and expressions lessons have clear sample
sentences with short, easy to understand explanations. The Public Speaking lessons will help you give presentations in meetings and conferences.
Good luck!
Business Expressions
20 Useful BusinessEnglish expressions
Negotiation Vocabulary
20 Key Words Usedin Negotiations
More Business Expressions
20 MoreBusiness Expressions


text:
I am happy to say I just represented part of the buying group for this wonderful property on the Great Highway. You may remember the post my colleague did about 1622-1626 Great Highway (Ghost of Sunset Past: The Moss Flats)? Originally listed for $1,349,000 our clients got it for LESS THAN ASKING (it can be done). It's a done deal at $1,265,000, and everyone is happy, including Save The Waves Coalition, a group dedicated to protecting our oceans, beaches, and waves.
In case you haven't heard, every transaction I will donate a portion of my commission to the charity/nonprofit of my clients' choosing, and my clients this time chose Save The Waves. If any of you at Save The Waves are reading, the check is in the mail!
Congratulations to our buyers. This is a great property in an awesome location.
I am available to help you, your friends, and your family with all of your real estate needs, and I am feeling really good about now giving a portion of every sale to charity/nonprofit, so help me do more!
–Ghost of Sunset Past: The Moss Flats [theFrontSteps]
–1622-1626 Great Highway Details [theGoods-sf.com]


text:
How can we help you?
UVA-WorkMed is a comprehensive occupational health and team member wellness clinic within the University of Virginia Medical Center. We partner with corporations, businesses, governmental agencies, and nonprofit entities to provide occupational health and wellness services that are tailored to the needs of the employer. Medical physicals (DOT, Firefighter, OSHA, hazardous material, etc), immunizations, drug screens, fitness for duty evaluations, executive wellness programs; these are but a few of the services we offer.UVA-WorkMed also provides medical treatment of work-related injuries. Our Medical Director, David S. Rubendall, D.O., specializes in the treatment and medical management of work-related injuries. The UVA-WorkMed philosophy is to provide treatment as quickly as possible, expedite referrals to specialists when indicated, and facilitate the return-to-work process. We recognize that the longer a team member is off work, the poorer the prognosis for a full return to work. UVA-WorkMed team members include Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, MDs, and DOs. Our team has more than 50 years collective experience in the delivery of occupational health and wellness services. We recognize the need to meet the needs of the employer, while simultaneously providing care to team members. If we can help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.


text: NY Portfolio Review 2016: Reviewers The New York Times Portfolio Reviews: The Reviewers By Elizabeth Avedon L'oeil de la Photography, April 20, 2016 Whitney Richardson and James Estrin © Elizabeth Avedon The 2016 Fourth Annual "New York Portfolio Review" sponsored by the New York Times LENS Blog and the City University of New York's (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism, took place over a recent weekend. Leading editors, museum curators, book publishers and gallerists reviewed the work of 150 or more photographers chosen out of over 2,500 applicants. All kinds of photographic work — from fine art to photojournalism — were included and the reviews are completely free for all photographers chosen to attend. From a Reviewers standpoint, the quality of the work is extremely high as the work has been screened by top photo professionals. There are several creator's, organizers, producers and supporters to thank for this event, including James Estrin and David Gonzalez, Co-Editors of The New York Times LENS Blog; Michele McNally, Assistant Managing Editor for Photography, The New York Times; Andrew L. Mendelson, Associate Dean, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism; Co-Producers Whitney Richardson and Laura Roumanos, Executive Director of United Photo Industries; and the LENS team. On Saturday the portfolio reviews were for photographers 21 years and older. Sunday's reviews were devoted to young photographers and students between the age of 18 and 27. They also received three very inspiring lectures with their portfolio reviews: "Multiple Markets for Photographers" with Mary Virginia Swanson; "Virtual Reality: A New Way To Tell Stories" with Jenna Pirog, Virtual Reality Editor at The New York Times Magazine; and "Personal Vision and Reinventing Yourself", a discussion and slide-presentation with award-winning photographer, Maggie Steber. Mary Virginia Swanson also spoke about the upcoming LOOK3 Festival's incredible lineup with Nick Brandt, Graciela Iturbide, Yuri Kozyrev, Frans Lanting, Ruddy Roye and more. A complete list of Reviewers can be found on the NYTimes link below. LINKS Instagram #nyportfolio16 http://mvswanson.com http://www.jennapirog.com http://www.maggiesteber.com http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/new-york-portfolio-review-fourth-annual-photography http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/04/20/article/159900540/the-new-york-times-portfolio-reviews-the-reviewers-by-elizabeth-avedon/


text:
The New7Wonders of Nature campaign, organized by the New7Wonders Foundation in 2007, is a global poll whose purpose is to designate the world's seven most outstanding natural wonders. The field has been narrowed from 440 down to 77 and now just 28 "Official Finalist Candidates" with voting scheduled to end on November 11th, 2011.
Amazon Rainforest
(images via: WcP Blog, Travel+Leisure and Wikipedia)
The Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest contiguous tropical rainforest comprising approximately 5.5 million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres) and spreading over parts of 9 nations including (in order) Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It's estimated the Amazon Rainforest has existed for roughly 55 million years though its size has waxed and waned appreciably over that vast period of time.
(image via: UCLAST203-2010)
Approximately 10 percent of all the world's animal species live in the Amazon basin with the number of insect species alone reckoned to be around 2.5 million. Both animal and plant life in the Amazon Rainforest are under threat, both by human activity and climate change. Though conservation measures have helped reduce the rate of deforestation by up to 60 percent, cumulatively the rainforest has lost about 10 percent of its former area.
Angel Falls (Venezuela)
(images via: New 7 Wonders, HelloTravel.com and Farzad-Jebreili)
Angel Falls is located in eastern Venezuela's Canaima National Park where water pours off the Auyan-tepui mountain, dropping 3,212 ft (979 m) into the Kerep River. The falls were officially discovered in 1933 by Jimmie Angel, an American aviator hired to scout out metal ore deposits. Angel returned to the area in 1937 and attempted to land atop Auyan-tepui but his plane was damaged; the aircraft was not recovered until 1970 and is currently on display at nearby Ciudad Bolívar airport.
(image via: Bernard Sayers & Tom Sanders)
Venezuela's outspoken president, Hugo Chavez, is known for his anti-American views and has long taken issue with the naming of Angel Falls. In 2009 Chavez stated, "This is ours, long before Angel ever arrived there… this is indigenous property." Though he has not formally decreed that Angel Falls be renamed, Chavez continues to defend the use of its indigenous name, "Kerepakupai Vená", which means "waterfall of the deepest place."
Bay of Fundy (Canada)
(images via: New 7 Wonders, Webster's Online Dictionary and All Things Cruise)
The Bay of Fundy partially divides the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with a small portion of its outer shore edging into the American state of Maine. The bay's roughly funnel-shaped bay concentrates tidal surges resulting in water level differentials as much as 53.5 feet (16.3 meters).
(image via: Famous Wonders)
Though many power-generation schemes have been proposed to try and exploit the massive movements of water in the bay, studies indicate interruptions to the tidal flow could have deleterious repercussions to the environment. In addition, the governments involved are cognizant of the Bay of Fundy's worldwide fame and reap great economic benefits from travel and tourism.
Black Forest (Germany)
(images via: New 7 Wonders, Soundwalk and City Baden-Baden)
The Black Forest (Schwarzwald, in German) is situated in Germany's far southwestern corner and encompasses an area of approximately 4,600 square mi1es or 2,000 square kilometers. Its name harkens back over 2,000 years to when the area was part of Imperial Rome's province of Germania Superior. The forest's extensive conifer stands blocked sunlight from reaching the forest floor, prompting the Romans to dub the forest "Silva Nigra" (Black Forest).
The Black Forest region has resisted industrialization and today is a center of outdoor recreation and tourism. Famed for the elaborate Cuckoo Clocks carved by its inhabitants for centuries, the Black Forest also lends its name to flavorful smoked ham and delicious chocolate cherry cakes.
Bu Tinah (UAE)
(images via: Goumbook, Thinkup News and CDM-DNA UAE)
Bu Tinah island and its associated shoals and reefs are located in the Persian Gulf just off the western coast of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. As part of the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve, Bu Tinah's extensive network of shoals, reefs, lagoons and sandbars enjoy some degree of protection but remained threatened by rapid development in and around the UAE.
(image via: StanleyHartmann/Panoramio)
Bu Tinah's coral reefs are distinctive in that the waters surrounding them are unusually warm and salty. As such, the reefs are extremely sensitive to climate change and act as a sort of a living laboratory where the effects of Global Warming can be monitored. In addition, the shallow lagoons offer hospital habitats to hundreds of endangered Dugongs, a type of sea mammal related to manatees.
Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
(images via: Environmental Graffiti, Dan Heller Photography and Bubble Digital)
The spectacular Cliffs of Moher hug the western Irish coast and mark the western border of County Clare. Towering up to 702 feet (214 meters) above breaking Atlantic Ocean waves, the Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland's most popular tourist attractions and have been featured in films such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Princess Bride, and many others.
(image via: Port Wallpaper)
The Cliff of Moher are crowned at their highest point by the small, cylindrical O'Brien's Tower. Built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien, the tower was meant to accommodate Victorian-era visitors to whom word of the area's great scenic beauty had already spread. O'Brien was a pioneer in this respect, foreseeing that tourism could do much to help lift the area's residents from poverty.
Dead Sea (Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Authority)
(images via: Atlas Tours)
The Dead Sea is the lowest lake on Earth and, unfortunately, it's getting even lower. The lake, which was once much larger, is fed by rivers which have had some portion of their flow diverted for local agricultural irrigation. The reduced flow is now not enough to counteract water loss due to evaporation in the region's hot, arid climate. Some studies have indicated the Dead Sea could dry up completely within just a few decades.
(image via: Fantom-XP)
The extreme salinity of the Dead Sea's waters has the effect of increasing the buoyancy of swimmers to an astonishing degree. As well, the waters and mud in and around the Dead Sea carry a plethora of salts and minerals said to be beneficial to health. Even those who neither swim nor apply the mineral-rich mud to their skin can enjoy health benefits just by being at the Dead Sea – the low level of the lake results in the air having a higher concentration of life-giving oxygen.
El Yunque (USA, Puerto Rico)
(images via: MontriPhotography, GreenAnswers and PeterGreenberg.com)
El Yunque, located in central Puerto Rico, is the only tropical rainforest in the United States. Easily accessible and boasting an abundance of wildlife, El Yunque offers tourists the complete "rainforest experience" while maintaining convenience to first-world facilities. As such, El Yunque has emerged as a valuable educational resource where the rainforest ecosystem can be studied and enjoyed by everyone.
(image via: Atabey Tours)
El Yunque's rough and mountainous geology helps ensure this essential environmental treasure poses no temptation to small farmers or large corporate plantations. In fact, the extensive botanical diversity exhibited by El Yunque has aroused interest from niche groups hoping to practice sustainable harvesting of exotic foodstuffs and medicinal plants.
Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
(images via: WallpaperWeb, Destination360 and Galapagos & Ecuador Guide)
It can confidently be stated that Charles Darwin's exploration of the Galapagos Islands in the 1830s paved the way for the publication of his monumental book on evolution, The Origin of Species, in 1859. The fertile yet separate islands in the Galapagos archipelago have acted, over time, to spur many evolutionary events which resulted in the creation of new species. Even today, new evolutionary discoveries such as the Pink Iguana (above right) are being made in the Galapagos Islands.
(image via: ASA100)
Volcanic in origin, the Galapagos Islands have existed in relative isolation of the Pacific Ocean coast of Ecuador for many thousands of years. Once plundered by whalers and sealers in the 19th century, the islands' odd menagerie of unique animals have made strong recoveries and now enjoy protection from human predation and exploitation.
Grand Canyon (USA)
(images via: Smithsonian, Bloggers Base and 7USA8)
The expression "you've gotta see it to believe it" was seemingly coined for the incredible vastness of the Grand Canyon. Carved out of the American Southwest's thick layers of multicolored (but mainly red) sandstone by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon is an "open book" displaying tens of millions of years of geologic history.
(image via: Fun On The Net)
The recent building of a horseshoe-shaped, glass-bottomed Skywalk allows visitors to test their tolerance for acrophobia while showcasing the rich beauty of the canyon from a previously unavailable point of view. Weather conditions are typically bright and sunny though the view has suffered in recent years from winds bring smog and pollution eastward from cities and industries on the California coast.
Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
(images via: Australia Travel Guide, Fun On The Net and Fallen Scoop)
Easily visible from orbit, the Great Barrier Reef hugs the eastern coast of Australia and is by far the Earth's largest coral reef community. The ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef supports countless plant and animal species from microscopic plankton up to the largest sharks and whales.
(image via: Beautiful Scenery)
Built up over thousands of years by colonies of coral, the Great Barrier Reef may be huge in size but at the same time, it's profoundly sensitive to pollution, predation and climate change. Recent incidents involving cargo ships striking the reef and leaking fuel oil have dramatized the reef's fragile beauty yet its exceptional length and breadth mean it's virtually impossible to avoid similar accidents in the future.
Ha Long Bay (Vietnam)
(images via: TripAdvisor, Wikipedia and Fine Arts by Claudio Saes)
Situated in the northern part of Vietnam near the Gulf of Tonkin, Ha Long Bay has long astonished and delighted visitors with awesome scenic beauty photos can only barely capture. The otherworldly spikes and spires that surround the bay are formed of Karst limestone that has eroded in a distinct fashion over countless centuries.
(image via: TourismPICS)
Limestone slowly dissolves in the presence of mildly acidic rainwater and it erodes further thought the action of tree roots and plant growth cycles. In many respects, Ha Long Bay is a geologic "work in progress" where the dynamic forces of weathering and erosion my be observed and enjoyed… but for how long?
Iguazu Falls (Argentina, Paraguay)
(images via: BloggersBase and Tourism Central)
Iguazu Falls has got it all: height (200–269 ft or 60–82 meters), width (1.7 miles or 2.7 kilometers), rate of flow and the added attraction of being situated in lush, tropical surroundings. Nothing against North America's famed Niagara Falls or Africa's mighty Victoria Falls, but the hydrological spectacle that is Iguazu Falls takes the concept of waterfalls to a higher level entirely.
(image via: BloggersBase)
Situated on the border of Paraguay and Argentina in South America, Iguazu Falls marks the place where the Iguazu River pours over an erosion-resistant rock escarpment on the edge of the Paraná Plateau. Like Niagara Falls, the flow of water over the escarpment gradually wears away the underlying rock, thus pushing back the face of the falls incrementally over thousands of years.
Jeita Grotto (Lebanon)
(images via: New7Wonders and Notes from Noelle)
Jeita Grotto is one of the world's largest and best explored cave systems. Situated in Lebanon, Jeita Grotto is also one of the world's oldest tourist attractions and its existence adds a note of peace and beauty to a historically war-torn region.
(image via: RitaKML)
Cave systems are, by nature, exceedingly sensitive to contamination from polluted groundwater, acid rain and even the humid breath of tourists. The Jeita Grotto has managed to survive thousands of years of human activity in the region without suffering significant harm to either its appearance or the many highly adapted creatures that have made it their home. Recognition as one of the world's New 7 Wonders will surely bring more attention to the Jeita Grotto, something that can bring both positive and negative effects.
Jeju Island (South Korea)
(images via: Love These Pics, Hancinema and Chic Traveller)
Situated off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, Jeju Island is South Korea's largest island and boasts the country's highest mountain, 6,400 ft (1,950 meter) Halla-san. The island's volcanic origins are plainly visible, both through several spectacular craters and seaside formations of columnar basalt reminiscent of the famous Giant's Causeway in reland.
(image via: Antique Alive)
Jeju Island has long been a popular vacation destination thanks not only to its unique scenic beauty, but also due to its warm temperatures and forgiving subtropical climate. The island's relatively large size and rugged geography, especially toward the center where Halla-san is located, has helped preserve its exceptionally wide variety of ecologic habitats from extensive disturbance from human activity.
Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
(images via: National Geographic, Close Encounters and Smithsonian)
At 19,341 feet, (5,895 m), Kilimanjaro is Africa's tallest mountain and is a product of East Africa's volatile Rift Valley geologic zone. The mountain's solitary existence surrounded by mainly flat savannah plains only adds to its imposing visual majesty. Early European explorers who reported extensive ice caps on the mountain (actually a long-dormant volcano) were disbelieved at first, as the idea of glaciers only a few degree's from the Earth's equator was deemed to be impossible.
(image via: PNAS)
Kilimanjaro's glaciers and summit snowfields do indeed exist, but they have been steadily shrinking for decades along with most of the planet's other tropical glaciers. Should they vanish completely, the effect on millions of people in Tanzania and Kenya who depend on Kilimanjaro's glacial runoff for drinking and farming is incalculable.
Komodo National Park (Indonesia)
(images via: Bangpress's Blog, Facebook/Vote Komomdo, Indonesia Travel and Twenty Ten)
Home to the world's largest lizards, the Komodo Dragons, Komodo National Park in Indonesia also shelters a wide variety of island-adapted wildlife and unique plants that grow nowhere else. Tourism is permitted at the park and the sluggish, slow-moving "dragons" can easily be outrun if need be, but being bitten by one of the creatures is not a pleasant prospect: their saliva is loaded with pathogenic bacteria.
(images via: World Amazing Tourism)
Komodo Island is close to Flores Island, where fossil remains of the so-called "Hobbit" have been found. Thought to be an ancient offshoot of the human family tree, Homo Floriensis existed on Flores for hundreds of thousands of years and may have flourished on nearby islands as well. Imagine how formidable a Komodo Dragon would appear to a "hobbit"!
Maldive Islands
(images via: Facebook/Vote Maldives, Schiphaxa, Ark Royal and FaithfullyMe)
Set jewel-like into a shallow stretch of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are the closest thing to paradise on the planet! Rising mere meters above the surface of the sea, the Maldives suffered great damage from the 2004 Christmas Day Tsunami that swept across them virtually unopposed.
Although populated for thousands of years, the Maldive Islands are under new threat from Global Warming. As the seas rise, the low-lying islands will be increasingly vulnerable to the effects of storms – which themselves are reckoned to become more powerful as the world's oceans heat up.
Masurian Lakes (Poland)
(images via: Popular Tourism Place, FirstWorldWar.com and Wix.com)
Numbering in the thousands, the Masurian Lakes are one of Poland's most prized vacation destinations. It wasn't always so: a series of fierce battles took place in the region between Germany and Russia in the early weeks of World War I. The roar of artillery is but a distant echo nowadays, however, replaced by the buzzing of an occasional passing motorboat.
(images via: Derek Emson/Panoramio)
Their location in the north of Poland means the Masurian Lakes offer seasonal variations to tourists and vacationers. Whether your skis are designed for snow or water, you'll find the Masurian Lakes an ideal place to unwind and enjoy all the beauty nature has to offer.
Matterhorn (Switzerland, Italy)
(images via: City Pictures and KayRush)
Situated on the border between Austria and Italy, the strikingly beautiful Matterhorn is known as Monte Cervino to Italian-speakers. First climbed in 1865, the peak offers mountaineers an imposing challenge though at "just" 14,692 feet (4,478 meters) it's far from the world's highest mountain. Indeed, it's estimated that as many as 500 hikers have lost their lives on the mountain over the years.
(images via: Beautiful Places to Visit)
Carved by glaciers into a steep, four-sided pyramid, the Matterhorn's sheer slopes rarely accumulate much snow and its glaciers arise at lower altitudes than others in the Alps. The mountain's relative isolation also gives rise to unusual cloud formations called "banner clouds" that are caused by condensation on the peak's lee side.
Milford Sound (New Zealand)
(images via: World's Greatest Sites and NZ.com)
Milford Sound is one of the highlights of Fiordland National Park on New Zealand's South Island. This idyllic "tropical fjord" is surrounded by jagged rock faces as much as 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) high and is home to a wide variety of marine life including seals, penguins, whales and dolphins.
(images via: Travel Destination Info)
The area around Milford Sound was used as a location setting by New Zealand-born director for the epic Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Visitors will note Milford Sound's two permanent waterfalls but will be surprised and delighted by the appearance of dozens more following an average-to-heavy rainstorm.
Mud Volcanoes (Azerbaijan)
(images via: Azerbaijan24, Azerbaijan International and BBC)
Nearly 400 mud volcanoes comprising about half the world's known total can be found in Azerbaijan, many within the boundaries of the Gobustan State Reserve. Mud volcanoes form when geothermal processes deep underground conspire to expel mixtures of fine silt and water onto the surface. An accumulation of mud volcanoes, such as can be found in Azerbaijan, can transform the landscape into something akin to the Voyager spacecraft's observations of Jupiter's tide-tortured moon Io.
(images via: Atlas Obscura)
Though mud volcanoes can be large (as much as 2,300 feet or 700 meters in height), they're typically "cold" compared to more familiar volcanoes caused by upsurges of molten rock. With that said, many of Azerbaijan's mud volcanoes are associated with the region's copious oil and gas deposits, and have been known to burst into flame.
Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)
(images via: New7Wonders.com, Pinoy Life and AsiaWonder)
Located near the northern coast of the Philippines' far western province of Palawan, the Puerto Princesa Underground River stretches over 8 kilometers beneath the Saint Paul Mountain Range before flowing directly into the South China Sea. The river is fully navigable along nearly its entire length, allowing scientists and tourists to explore and enjoy this very rare natural phenomenon.
(images via: Barangay RP)
Like Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, the Puerto Princesa Underground River owes its creation and character to being situated in a Karst limestone formation. The action of flowing water over the eons has not only hollowed out the river's channel but also has created a number of associated caves and caverns complete with stalagmites, stalactites and a diverse range of highly adapted cave life.
The Sundarbans (India, Bangladesh)
(images via: Search Bangladesh, Birds of India and The Independent)
The Sundarbans is the world's largest area of coastal mangrove forest. Constantly shaped and reshaped by seasonal monsoons, tides and frequent cyclonic storms, the Sundarbans is a rich yet precarious place for human habitation though animal life has adapted to its vicissitudes.
(images via: Mystic Musings)
The thick mangrove forests of the Sundarbans are an ideal habitat for the endangered Bengal Tiger. Approximately 500 tigers roam the Sundarbans, swimming from one island to another as needed and preying upon wild boars, monkeys, Chital deer and occasionally humans. It's estimated that from 30 to 100 people are killed by tigers in the Sundarbans each year.
Table Mountain (South Africa)
(images via: TravelPod, Vote for Table Mountain and Capetown Travel)
South Africa's preeminent landmark, Table Mountain, was first climbed (ironically) by a Portuguese sailor in the year 1503. The flat-topped mountain stands 3,558 feet (1,084.6 meters) tall and forms a dramatic backdrop to South Africa's second-most populous city.
(images via: Hello Yebo)
Table Mountain is occasionally covered by clouds formed when moisture-laden winds are blown up and over the mountain's sloping sides, condensing into the famous "table cloth". The moisture helps support a surprisingly rich and diverse ecosystem, though the last leopards to live on the mountain were eradicated in the 1920s.
Uluru (Australia)
(images via: National Geographic and GOO)
Formerly known as Ayers Rock (though the feature was officially dual-named in 1993), this massive, isolated and extensively eroded sandstone rock formation has emerged as one of Australia's most well-known symbols. The name "Uluru" has no particular meaning, it's merely the name by which the local Pitjantjatjara people have always referred to it.
(images via: Australian Geographic)
Uluru presents a variety of different "looks" from various angles on the ground and air, and depending on the time of day and the weather of the moment (or both) displays a surprising range of colors from vermillion red to glowing lavender. The rock stands 1,142 feet (348 meters) above the arid central Australian plains and, much like an iceberg, much of its bulk is hidden deep within the ground.
Mount Vesuvius (Italy)
(images via: Europe & Beyond, Top Yaps and Left Coast Guy in DC)
Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano situated on the mainland of continental Europe, though it hasn't had a significant eruption since 1944. That doesn't mean one isn't coming: Vesuvius has erupted rather frequently over the past two thousand years; roughly 40 notable eruptions have been recorded since its most famous (or infamous) blast in the year 79 AD buried the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
(images via: Stuck In Customs)
Though the immediate area around Vesuvius' 4,202 ft (1,281 meter) high peak sports some scrub vegetation and not much more, the surrounding area including metropolitan Naples, Italy, today supports a population of around 3 million making it the world's most densely populated volcanic region.
Yushan (ROC/Taiwan)
(images via: New Open World, Dreamstime and Taipei Times)
Yushan, also known as Jade Mountain, is the tallest peak in the Yushan Range and can be found in Taiwan's Yushan National Park in Taiwan. At 12,966 feet (3,952 meters), Yushan is the tallest mountain east of the Himalayas and is the fourth-highest mountain on an island (after Indonesia's Puncak Jaya, Hawaii's Mauna Kea and Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu).
(images via: Taiwan.gov)
Yushan has been called Taiwan's "ark" due to the astounding level of biological diversity on and around the mountain. Protected by central Taiwan's challenging topography and stratified into a large number of ascending biological zones, Yushan's flora and fauna include some of the island's rarest species and the peak's environs are a bellweather for climate change. More prosaically perhaps, Yushan has been embraced by Taiwan's people and government as a national symbol, appearing on the back of Taiwan's NT$1,000 banknotes since the summer of 2005.
(images via: Pinas News Feed and Examiner)
Though only 7 of the 28 semi-finalists will officially be designated "Wonders of Nature", I think we can all agree that 7 is an arbitrary number and that all 28 semi-finalists – in fact, ANY natural place, phenomenon or feature – is deserving of the term "wonder" and well worth enjoying, appreciating and above all, protecting.


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13 Conservative Myths About Taxes -- Debunked
"What do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?" That's a quote from "And the Band Played On," HBO's adaptation of Randy Shilts' book about the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It's the mantra of Centers for Disease Control epidemiologists searching for the cause of the epidemic, using empirical evidence. In that context, what you think, what you know, and what you think you know is meaningless unless you can prove it.
In Washington, D.C., it gets turned around: How can we prove what we think we know? When it comes to conservatives and taxes, this couldn't be more true.
The problem is, all the evidence disproves what conservatives think they know about taxes. The latest example a study (PDF) that debunks the conservative talking point that rich people will run for the borders if their taxes go up.
The rich didn't leave New Jersey, when the state imposed a "millionaire's tax" in 2004.
The study, by sociologists Cristobal Young at Stanford and Charles Varner at Princeton, studied the migration patterns of New Jersey's millionaires before and after 2004, when the state imposed a "millionaire's tax" that raised rates on those earning $500,000 or more to 8.97% from 6.37%.
The study found that the overall population of millionaires increased during the tax period. Some millionaires moved out, of course. But they were more than offset by the creation of new millionaires.
The study dug deeper to figure out whether the millionaires who were moving out did so because of the tax. As a control group, they used New Jersey residents who earned $200,000 to $500,000–in other words, high-earners who weren't subject to the tax. They found that the rate of out-migration among millionaires was in line with and rate of out-migration of submillionaires. The tax rate, they concluded, had no measurable impact.
Wait a minute. Not only did the population of millionaires not plummet, but it actually increased due to the creation of new millionaires? But, but, but…That can't be. New Jersey should have seen its economy collapse by now, as the wealthy leave the state and take their job-creating investments with them. (It's not just New Jersey, either. The same holds true for New York.)
Actually, the study dug deeper and found that the millionaires most likely to leave were those who were over 65 and living off their investments. Millionaires who own their own businesses or make their money close to home tended to stay put. That accounts for the large share of New Jersey's millionaires.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe business owners are more likely to stay put because, among a number of other reasons, taxes pay for stuff that make the state more attractive to businesses owners. Or maybe it's just that revenue is how the state pays its bill, and either purchases or provides goods and services that support business directly or indirectly. (Healthy, educated workers, for example, are good for business.)
So, let's add this item to what we already know about taxes:
We now know that:
- The wealthy don't leave when their taxes go up. In fact, not only don't their numbers dwindle, but you can even end up with more of them than you had before.
We already knew that:
- Tax cuts for the wealthy don't stimulate the economy. Tax cuts can't jumpstart a flagging economy, because they're a "supply-side remedy for a problem caused by lack of demand."
- The wealthy don't spend their tax cuts. Tax cuts don't create demand because the wealthy will save the money instead of spend it. The saving rate among the rich went up after Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. The rate fell under Clinton, when taxes went up.
- Tax cuts for the wealthy don't create jobs. Instead of producing job growth and prosperity, the Bush era tax cuts resulted in an era of zero net job creation.
- Tax cuts for the wealthy don't result in higher revenue. In fact, economists say tax cuts do not spur enough growth to pay for themselves.
- Tax cuts for the wealthy reduce revenue. The Bush tax cuts reduced revenue significantly.
- Tax cuts for the wealthy mostly benefit the wealthy. Their taxes fell and their incomes increased dramatically after the Bush tax cuts, while the gap between rich and poor widened.
- The middle class end up paying more taxes. U.S. taxpayers with the very highest incomes pay income taxes worth only 18 percent of their income on average, compared to 25 percent for the typical American.
- Tax cuts for the wealthy don't spread prosperity. Between 1992 and 2007, a time in which income for the average household grew 13% and that of the top 1 percent grew 123%, the income for the top 400 households grew fully 399%.
- Taxes are really low for the wealthiest. The average federal income tax rate for the 400 richest Americans was 17 percent in 2007, down from 26 percent in 1992.
- The cost of tax cuts for the wealthy exceeds the value of budget cuts. The estimated cost to the government of the tax deal extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, $42 billion this fiscal year, exceeds the stated $38 billion value of the savings from the federal budget cuts lawmakers approved last week.
- Some patriotic millionaires want to be taxed. One group of millionaires is saying that they are more than willing to pay more for the good of their country. The "Patriotic Millionaires" penned a letter to President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner urging them to "increase taxes on incomes over $1,000,000."
- Most Americans support higher taxes for the wealthy. A full 72% of adults approve of increasing federal taxes on households making more than $250,000 starting in 2013, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
As my dad used to say, when making a convincing case for something he thought I should or shouldn't do, "I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling you what I know." What he mean was that he was giving me the benefit of his own empirical research, his knowledge gained "by means of direct observation or experience"
By now the empirical evidence on tax cuts — what we know base on observation and experience — should make what to do regarding taxes and tax cuts a "no brainer." What we know goes a long way towards proving what progressives have long thought on the subject, and disproving what conservatives have long thought they knew.
That brings me back to the quote from "And the Band Played On." I said earlier that in Washington, "What do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?" becomes "How can we prove what we think we know."
Actually, I think the screenwriters got it right. The reality in Washington is closer to the frustrated response of one doctor to the oft-repeated mantra: "The only thing we know for sure is that we don't know anything, which also happens to be the only thing we can prove."


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Defining Your Business Goals
|Written by Administrator
Social Media Expert Laurie Hurley discusses the importance of setting business goals and the steps she feels are necessary to achieve them.
Every September it feels like a new year to me. I'm not sure if it's because the Jewish Holidays are usually in September or October; the Jewish New Year, that is, my birthday, or just the traditional feeling of school being back in session. The days are getting shorter, new school supplies are purchased for my kids and I get back into my regular routine minus having two teenagers in the house.
This summer I struggled with redefining my business goals. As a social media mentor and partner to small businesses and entrepreneurs, I wanted to offer something that was affordable and attractive to the many business colleagues I know that constantly complain that social media is too confusing and time consuming. We all get email invitations to seminars, webinars, and free phone calls addressing this or that, but how do you know what is a good fit for your business?
To me, it all comes down to figuring out what you want the end result to be. I want followers, fans, and people who sing my praises.
Here are my four tips to sharpening and defining your business goals:
1) Start with the end in mind. Work backwards, in other words. Clearly define what you want; whether it's a financial goal, or a personal development goal. Write it down and post it somewhere prominent in your office.
2) Talk about it – a lot to your friends and colleagues. Don't keep your goals a secret. Share it often, in clear terms and sound confident. Stand in your power and positively affirm what it is you want to achieve. You will be amazed at the results.
3) Lose the negativity. Take those negative words and thoughts and cast them aside. Positive self-talk goes way further than focusing on the negative. Write down your affirmation if it helps or buy a book about positive affirmations and quotes and use it.
4) Believe in yourself whole-heartedly. After you make up your mind what you want to achieve, embrace it and go for it. Everything you do should be aimed at getting one step closer to your goal. Baby steps are OK. Pacing yourself is OK. Hanging around naysayers and negative people is NOT OK.
This summer, after many days of making notes, typing of Word documents and talking to my informal Board of Directors, I finally reached a sense of peace and my goal became crystal clear. I am working with a group of entrepreneurs who want to simplify their social media marketing strategy.I settled on a reasonable price and am thrilled that I have a growing group of participants. I will reach my personal goal. I just know it. How do you set goals and, more importantly, what steps do you take to achieve them?
Laurie Hurley, a social media expert, is the Founder of The Social Networking Navigator, hostess of The Social Networking NewsHour on Toginet radio every Wednesday at 2pm PST and is thrilled to be starting her Social Networking Made Simple Membership group. For more information, please visit the "Services" page right here on Laurie's website.


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Pink Mold
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Pink Mold blog will help you to understand pink mold and how it can be removed. Pink mold can be in many places so you need to know all about Pink Mold before dealing with it.
Greensboro ( (listen); local pronunciation ; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the United States, and the largest city in the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035. Three major interstate highways (Interstate 40, Interstate 85, and Interstate 73) in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city. In 1808, Greensborough (the spelling before 1895) was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed Guilford Court House as the county seat.
Arlington Park, Asheboro Community, Benjamin Benson, Bethany Woods, Brice Street Area, Brown Town, Carriage Hills, Clinton Heights, College Hill, Dudley Heights, Dunleath, Eastside Park, Englewood Forest, Fisher Park Historic District, Friendly Acres