Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Jimmy Carr Apologies For Tax Avoidance.

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Jimmy Carr paid £8.5 million in cash for his home. He has pulled out of the ‘tax avoidance scheme’ and has apologised. The comedian admitted he had ‘made a terrible error of judgment’

He also said his accountant told him the scheme was legal. Carr was one of thousands to use an off-shore scheme to pay as little as 1 per cent income tax. His credibility has been severely affected.

Prime Minister David Cameron branded his partaking in the scheme as ‘morally wrong’.

In a statement, the comedian insisted that he was told the scheme was ‘totally legal’. After intense public pressure he admitted he has withdrawn from the scheme.

A Downing Street spokesman said:

‘I think it is obviously welcome,’ a No 10 spokeswoman said.

‘HMRC are working hard to investigate the sort of scheme that Jimmy Carr had been reported to be involved in to ensure that they are not aggressively avoiding tax, and, if they are, they are closed down.’

The spokeswoman defended Mr Cameron’s to speak out against Mr Carr.

‘The Prime Minister was expressing what probably lots of people felt after reading the coverage,’ she said.

The revelations are worse as Carr has publicly mocked tax avoidance schemes.

Apparently Carr puts away £3.3million a year via the K2 tax scheme, which is used by more than 1,000 tax avoiders.

Win a DVD Boxset of CIA Thriller Covert Affairs.

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From the producer of The Bourne Trilogy…

Piper Perabo stars in COVERT AFFAIRS. SERIES 1

Out on DVD from 18 June

Also available for legal download and via video-on-demand on 18 June

Frost Magazine have one boxset of CIA thriller Covert Affairs to giveaway. For how to win, see below. The sexiest, action packed spy series to hit the UK, COVERT AFFAIRS: SERIES 1, comes to DVD on 18 June from Universal Playback. TV channel Really’s most watched drama ever stars Golden Globe (R) nominee, Piper Perabo (Cheaper By The Dozen, Coyote Ugly), Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Love Bites) Peter Gallagher (The O.C., Burlesque) and is from the producer of The Bourne Trilogy, Doug Liman.

Series 2 is currently showing on Really, with Series 3 expected to air later in 2012 as the show continues to grow in popularity.

Being a federal agent isn’t easy as Annie Walker (Perabo) experiences at her first interview at the CIA. Wired up to a polygraph machine Annie has to answer probing questions from a future co-worker who clearly doesn’t think she’s up for the challenge. Using her wit and intelligence Annie manages to avoid all stages of embarrassment and impresses her new colleague with some tactful answers, all the while beaming with confidence.

Annie is thrust into the inner sanctum of the agency when she is unexpectedly promoted to field operative and is propelled into a shadowy world full of cons, killers and international crime rings when she begins working on a case lead by Arthur Campbell (Gallagher), who heads up the agencies most secretive department.

While it appears that she has been plucked from obscurity for her exceptional linguistic skills, there may be something, or someone, from her past that her CIA bosses are really after.

Covert Affairs: Series 1 is available on DVD from 18 June, courtesy of Universal Playback.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DVD DETAILS

Title: Covert Affairs – Series 1

Certificate: 12

Run Time: xx

Genre: TV Drama

RRP (DVD): xx

Special Features:

 Deleted scenes

 Gag reel

 Cast and crew commentaries

 Behind the scenes featurettes including:

o Welcome to the farm

o Blind insight

o Set tour

Enter The Natwest Everywomen Awards.

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ONE MONTH TO GO TO ENTER NATWEST EVERYWOMAN AWARDS.

2012 MARKS A DECADE OF CELEBRATING THE UK’S LEADING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

If you are a female entrepreneur then enter into the Natwest Everyomwn Awards. During the ten years since inception the NatWest everywoman Awards have attracted thousands of entries and celebrated Britain’s leading female entrepreneurs. This inspiring programme has commended both household names such as Karren Brady, Hilary Devey, Dame Mary Perkins, Chrissie Rucker and Cath Kidston, along with a multitude of extraordinary women whose businesses both large and small support Britain’s reputation as one of the best countries for enterprise.

In this, their 10th year the NatWest everywoman Awards are reaching out to women in enterprise across the country to put themselves forward. Supported by government and big business alike, the awards acknowledge the drive and tenacity required for successful enterprise, symbolising UK’s best business success and inspiring and motivating the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

The NatWest everywoman Awards are free to enter and nominations can be made by business owners or those connected to them by 20 July 2012. The core award categories are:

Artemis is Goddess of the Hunt and Protector of Youth. This award is given to the most inspirational woman running a business who is aged 25 or under.

Demeter is Goddess of the Harvest. The Demeter Award will go to the most inspirational woman running a business who is aged between 26 and 35.

Athena is Goddess of Wisdom. This award is given to the most inspirational woman running a business who is aged between 36 and 49.

Hera is Queen of Goddesses and her wisdom and ability to inspire provide the basis for this award. This award is given to the most inspirational woman running a business who is aged 50 or over.

Other award categories include:

Iris is Messenger of the Gods, and is awarded to the most inspirational and successful female entrepreneur who runs a technology business that makes a difference, provides real solutions in the world today and, ultimately, is instrumental in building a smarter planet.

Hestia represents the hearth and home and is presented to a female entrepreneur who runs a rural business contributing to the local economy.

Gaia represents the earth and is presented to a female entrepreneur whose business has a clearly defined social and/or ethical purpose.

Karen Gill MBE, Co-founder and Director of everywoman says, “SMEs make up over 99% of the total number of businesses in the UK* so in terms of our economic health it is vital that we support and acknowledge their contribution to Britain plc. If we do not take steps to champion female enterprise so that future generations see it as a viable career choice, we will risk irreparable damage to our already fragile economy.

“Over ten years the NatWest everywoman Awards have done just that, recognising scores of women who have achieved business success through hard work, determination and passion and who are role models for future generations of female entrepreneurs.”

*Federation of Small Business, November 2011

Anne Mcpherson, Managing Director, Diversity in Business, NatWest says, “We are delighted to support the NatWest everywoman awards for the 10th year running. Over the years the awards have been a great encouragement to women entrepreneurs. At NatWest we have certainly seen an upturn in women owned businesses in the past few years and we are committed to encouraging more female entrepreneurship. Our 200 Women in Business ambassadors across the country share and understand our customers’ ambitions and provide the coaching and mentoring that helps them fulfill their potential and build successful businesses”.

Nominations are made online at www.everywoman.com/ewawards until 20 July and will be judged by a panel of accomplished businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony held on 5 December 2012 at The Dorchester in London attended by celebrities, VIPs and major figures from the worlds of business and politics. ­

Lovebox 2012.

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The 10th anniversary of Lovebox at Victoria Park, East London was a bloody amazing day. I went on Sunday and here are my highlights.

Chic
Nile Rodger’s is responsible for most of the greatest songs since the 1970’s and Chic had all of Victoria Park dancing and singing. At one point thousands of muddy, tipsy Londoners were all singing ‘Like a Virgin’ in unison. A moment I will always remember.

Sam Sparro
Performed with a peacock headpiece and wearing a black suit. He took the blazer off to show a corset. He was an amazing performer. Brilliant songs, great stage performance and during his rendition of his classic ‘Black & Gold’ he jumped into the crowd and rocked out to his own music. Possibly the coolest person EVER.

The Rapture
Brilliant live.They do the Misfits theme tune. You will know their songs even if you don’t know them. Everybody loved them.

Chrystal Fighters
I have never heard of this band before but they ROCKED. Search them out. They are brilliant live. When they came our and started drumming everyone was grooving.

Chaka Khan
Was amazing and had the whole crowd singing ‘I’m Every Women”. She had the most powerful amazing voice and came out singing into a gold diamante microphone. In my short-sightedness I thought it looked like an ice-cream initially.

Lana Del Rey.
I have no idea why Lana Del Rey was on the second stage. She is a stunning and original performer and pretty much everyone made their way to the stage to see her sing. She captivated the entire audience and even came off the stage to shake hands with festival goers. She is just as beautiful and stylish up close. A true superstar who has been unfairly attacked for being wooden and not being able to sing in the past: none of that is true. She has style and substance.

Grace Jones
Was Grace Jones. She gave an amazing, out of this world performance and brought the house down.

My only gripe is that you cannot bring food or drink into LoveBox with you. There is also no re-admission. The food can be quite pricey but there is everything from salads to Ostrich burgers. Lovebox is the full festival experience without the camping.

A lot of people on Twitter said that they were not at Lovebox because they couldn’t afford to. Hopefully next year the economy will pick up and all of London can experience a music festival without leaving the greatest city on earth. Luckily I won tickets at the Sure Maximum/Handpicked Media event.

I found out from this good article how LoveBox got its name.

Is Xenophobia Ever Okay?

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On Friday (15/07/2012) I was reading the Evening Standard, I always read the Evening Standard. It’s London’s paper. I also read Sebastian Shakespeare’s column. He seemed smart and witty but what I read on Friday shocked me, not only because of its ignorance but also because of its xenophobia. It was pretty close, if not on the button, of inciting racial (xenophobic, whatever you want to call it) hatred. This is what Sebastian said in his column:

Now we have to cough up to send Scots to Oxford

This may turn out to be the last straw for the Barnett formula. Oxford University is offering up to £22,000 to Scottish students to encourage more applications. Given that Scots pay no fees at Scottish universities, they are unlikely to apply to an English university where fees are £9,000 a year, so the logic goes — hence the need for a subsidy to lure them south.

Excuse me, but why can’t Oxford spend its money subsidising impoverished English students rather than impecunious Scots, who already benefit from a free education? The Scots rely on a huge subsidy from the English taxpayer (the gap in public spending between Scotland and England has risen to a record £1,600 per person a year), which goes toward financing their education system. Now we’re being asked to cough up all over again so they can educate their offspring south of the border. And there was I thinking the whole point of our subsidy was to keep the Scots in Scotland.

I have highlighted the comment ‘keep the Scots in Scotland.’. This is particularly offensive. If you replace the word ‘Scots’ with anything else (Jew, African, etc) you realise just how wrong it is on every level. How the hell did that get past the Evening Standard’s editors?

I am Scottish although I also have English, Lithuanian and Italian blood. I grew up in Scotland and I also paid for my own college education. So did my friends. I didn’t go to University but if I had wanted to I would not have been able to afford to do so.

You have to ask yourself if Scotland really is a socialist paradise why there are so many poor people there who cannot afford to educate themselves out of their situation.

It is also one thing to go to University, but a complete other to go to Oxford.

As for Oxford University: congratulations. What a wonderful and stunning thing to do. I feel they believe in a truly United Kingdom and don’t judge people just because they were born North of the border. Let’s hope other people follow their example.

A Dangerous Method | Film Review

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This film about the birth of psychoanalysis is a triumph. An intelligent and though-provoking film with wonderful performances by Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley. Fassbender plays Jung when he was 29 and just married to a wealthy women called Emma. He was working at a hospital in Zurich in 1904 when he met Sabina Spielrein, an 18-year-old Russian Jew who is admitted in a deeply distressed condition.

Jung is attracted and fascinated by Sabina and after Freud sends him Otto Gross, (Vincent Cassel), as a patient, Jung comes under his influence and enters into an unprofessional relationship with Sabina. Gross was himself a psychiatrist in his 20s and suffered from dementia praecox (as schizophrenia was then known).

Jung cures Sabina with the “talking cure”, or psychoanalysis, then being used in Vienna by the 48-year-old Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), a well-established but highly controversial figure.

Sigmund Freud thought of Carl Jung as his natural heir, but relationships between the two men became strained.

This film is a very good historical film from David Cronenberg. I believe this film is the best Cronenberg has ever made.

Freud sees himself as the father that Jung wishes to destroy. Jung believes that psychoanalysis may save the world.

As the film ends Jung tells Sabina about dreams of the apocalypse. This film ends just before the first world war so Jung was accurate about an apocalypse. The legacy of Freud and Jung is evident in the film. They still affect not only psychoanalysis but our everyday lives. Sabina becomes a celebrated psychologist in the Soviet Union, but, sadly, becomes an early victim of the holocaust along with her two daughters.

A Dangerous Method is available on DVD and Digital Download from June 25th.

Is China Buying The World? | Book Review

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This short book is more than food for the brain, it is fascinating, a snapshot of history. Touching on a popular subject and often asked question by the global media; Is china buying the world?

Peter Nolan’s well researched short book is full of facts and weighty political and financial debate. Nolan certainly knows his stuff, as well he should; he is Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge and is one of the leading international experts on China and the global economy.

Did you know?: China accounts for 26 percent of the total foreign holding of US debt. However Britain and Japan hold more US public debt than China. China only holds 12 per cent of total US public debt.

Everyone in business should read this book. It also has lots of fun, fascinating graphs and tables. This book gives a stunning insight into business in China, the UK, US and beyond.

Another point I got from the book is a certain racism against China. I know China has a dodgy history of human rights, but it would seem that the western world is finding it hard for anyone else to take over it’s dominance: perceived or otherwise. A point that Nolan point out is not good for peace or international relations. The book also touches on another subject “Who are We?” and are there any business which are British, or American left?

China is the world’s second biggest economy and its largest exporter. It possesses the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves and has 29 firms in the FT 500 list of the world’s largest companies. ‘China’s Rise’ preoccupies the global media, which carry regular articles suggesting that it is using its financial resources to ‘buy the world’.

Is there any truth to this idea? Or is this just scaremongering by Western commentators who have little interest in a balanced presentation of China’s role in the global political economy?

This book is a must-read. A lot of people are worrying about the ‘awakening giant’ of China, let Peter Nolan allay your fears.

You can buy Is China Buying the World? here.