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1trailmaker

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    Blau Marina Varadero – The hotel had to evacuate its guests yesterday morning. The Hotel received serious damage due to its location which is very exposed as it is located right on the tip of the peninsula. The main building suffered serious damage (roof, glass doors, etc.). Structural damage could be noted in the room buildings. The beach eroded due to the waves.

    Melia Marina Varadero – Some rooms have broken windows and damage to the balconies but the biggest damage can be seen in the common areas of the hotel, especially in the lobby. The hotel is located on a hill so the protection against gusts of wind is minimal.

    Grand Memories Varadero – The hotel suffered some damage due to gusts of wind. The lobby will require restoration work and it is one of the hotels that suffered major damage to the roof and common areas such as gardens and pool areas. According to reports from the General Manager approximately 40 rooms were damaged and have broken windows. In general, there is no great structural damage and the damage is considered moderate. Access to the beach is virtually blocked.

    Memories Varadero – The hotel is generally in good condition. Some recovery work will be required in corridors, public areas and some rooms on high floors where roof leaks can only be repaired by replacing the roof in its entirety. The hotel has already re-opened the lobby bar without alcoholic beverages at the moment. Recovery work is being done quickly by the hotel staff to be able to re-establish regular services as soon as possible.

    Paradisus Varadero – The hotel suffered extensive damage. Ceilings were blown off in some structures in the Family Concierge areas and will require considerable investment to recover. The main building was equally devastated; the new restaurant that was under construction near the beach collapsed.

    Royalton Hicacos – This is another hotel that suffered major damage. The beach area eroded due to the waves. The restaurant on the beach also suffered extensive damage. The main buffet area is very exposed so it suffered serious damage especially to the roof. You could see a lot of rubble in the area. The Caribeño restaurant has broken windows. The Rooms area did not seem to have major damage.

    Iberostar Varadero – The Hotel was severely affected. Part of the palapa-like straw roofs disappeared. The theater is partially destroyed. The palapa roof in some rooms was equally destroyed. The palapas around the pool were destroyed and there is debris in the area.

    Be Live Turquesa – The hotel was evacuated so it was not possible to perform a complete inspection.

    Playa de Oro – You could see broken windows in several rooms. The pool area was quite affected and the lobby area also has noticeable damage. The disco area has some parts of the roof collapsed. Landscaped areas have fallen trees. The restaurant is running and providing food service.

    ROC Arenas Doradas – The hotel seemed in good condition. Some air conditioners were ripped off the walls but light damage can be recovered relatively quickly.

    Meliá Las Antillas – The hotel is generally in good condition and without serious damage to its structures.

    Blau Varadero – The hotel has a very solid structure however being a tall building it always receives some damage when a hurricane hits the area. The lobby was in good condition however the rooms on higher floors may have suffered some damage.

    Starfish Varadero – The hotel was generally found in good condition. Lobby without noticeable damage.

    Brisas del Caribe – The rooms were badly damaged. During the inspection visit you could see several tourists waiting to be changed rooms due to leaks in broken ceilings and windows. The lobby also suffered some damage.

    Iberostar Laguna Azul – The hotel is located on a hill however it did not suffer serious damage considering its exposed location. Partial damage could be noticed on the roof of the restaurant in the beach area, some palapas destroyed.

    Starfish Cuatro Palmas – The hotel was evacuated. Some structural damage could be noticed, mainly in the ceilings of some buildings. It was not possible to make a full visit since no staff were found on the property.

    16 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    WTF, I never figured your sack was in your wife's purse like many here.:lol:

     

    Still have them, how do you think I get so much golf in lol

    1 minute ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    I do when they seem to forget that.:lol:

    Yah, a snowboard, kayak instructor and part-time drama teacher.  At least we can't lower the bar any more.:lol:

    come on 'clerk lover'  the bar was set low many years ago.

    How can you spew this shit when Harper only worked for a short while at age 18 as a mail clerk?   Trudeau has ton 10 times what dry Harper has done

     

    Your job title or lack of job doesn't represent how smart you are - Harper proved that to you

    6 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    WTF, I never figured your sack was in your wife's purse like many here.:lol:

     

    I travel a lot plus we have away time.  It keeps things healthy.

     

    Oh, and golf is still gay.:lol:

    ya crushing a ball near 3 football fields sounds gay to me too

     

     

    Just now, ArcticCrusher said:

    :lol:

     

    That's peanuts to support his lifestyle.  

    not when you now live for free (well paid for) lol

    either way I don't put someone down just because they got their family Farm or business handed to them . 

    Like him or not, he has worked jobs and his way to where he is today

    3 hours ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    There are a lot of pissed off farmers already.  Not sure how its all gonna play out yet, however our tax pro has said he's never seen a more reckless attack on small business with far reaching consequences as what these retards are proposing.  This issue for you becomes stacking your unused capital gains exemptions together, whether they will keep that or disallow it for kids who aren't actively involved in the farm.  You know Trudeau living off his family trust just wants to make it fair.

    Trudeau has made almost 200k a year for the last 10 years - not sure  he is living off his parents

    40 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    Easy, get rid of golf courses.  They're gay anyways.

    • best sport as an amateur  you can play and play it for life
    • great exercise whether you walk or cart
    • keeps green space
    • good or bad you can all play together no other sport like it
    • where else can you spend $50 to make yourself as angry as a Conservative voter :lol: 
    • where else can you get 4 hours with no wife asking you to do shit, or even worse asking "what are you doing"

    I hit 500-600 balls a week, its like therapy

    I play as much as I can

    The game does take some skill and coordination so that may leave some people out, those people can complain and hope courses get taken away :lmao: 

     

    I can't wait for this Saturday, I will try to qualify for MSOP (world putting tournament) - just hoping to make it to second round  at Angus Glen.  I just need 4 or 5 putts to drop that should do it.  My putting is pretty solid but nerves might get the best of me.....  FTR my putting over the the last 4 years average is 1.8 per green - short game sucks ass though

    If I had your money I would just pay my way into the Las Vegas finals lol  5K you're in

     

    How about a FSO beat down

     

     

    14 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    That is already in place as they have to prove they do work.  This issue is the least damaging of the Liberals proposals.

    Finally found a good read on this, going to look into this more

     

    Ever since the 2017 federal budget in March, when the government announced that tax changes affecting private corporations would be coming, I've been feeling queasy. Well, the proposed tax changes were announced by Bill Morneau, the Finance Minister, on Tuesday. And ugly they are. Here's a primer on the potential changes.

    The overview

    Mr. Morneau announced in the budget back in March that the Liberals have not been pleased with some Canadians who are using corporations in their tax planning, and that changes would be made. The claim is that certain folks are using corporations to pay less than their fair share of taxes. While the proposed changes are meant to affect the wealthy, there will be no shortage of small-business owners, the backbone of the Canadian economy, who will be significantly worse off as a result.

     

    The proposals

    There are three tax-planning tactics the government is looking to shut down:

     

    Income sprinkling

    Some business owners sprinkle income to family members by way of salary or wages, or dividends, to reduce the family's overall tax burden. There are already rules in place to prevent unreasonable salary or wages from being paid to family members who are not truly earning the compensation they receive. There are even "kiddie tax" rules to prevent dividends paid to minor children from being taxed at their lower rates.

    So, what's changing? The government wants to now restrict the ability to pay salary or wages, or dividends, to adult children between the ages of 18 and 24, by extending the "kiddie tax" rules – formally called the "tax on split income" (TOSI) – to them. The proposals will apply a "reasonableness test" that will assess the adult child's contributions to the business (both labour and capital) in determining whether amounts paid to that child should be taxed at his or her normal tax rates, or at the highest tax rate possible.

    In the past, families have also taken advantage of the lifetime capital gains exemption (LCGE), which shelters from tax up to $835,716, in 2017, of capital gains on qualifying small-business corporation shares). Good tax planning has seen the LCGE of each family member used to shelter gains on the family business. The government has proposed to restrict this. Starting after 2017, capital gains realized by a family member can no longer be sheltered with the LCGE to the extent those gains accrued while the individual was a minor. Further, any capital gains accrued while the shares are held in a family trust, or gains subject to the TOSI would not be eligible for shelter using the LCGE.

    Finally, in the past, the TOSI (which you'll recall is a special tax, at the highest rate going, that applies to certain income reported in the hands of children) has not applied to second generation income – that is, income on income. So, if a corporation paid, say $100 in dividends to a child, and the child paid the highest rate of tax (the TOSI) of, say, $40, there would be $60 left after taxes. That $60 could be invested and any income in the future on that $60 (income on the income) would not be subject to the high rate of tax (the TOSI). This will change if the new proposals are enacted. All future income (income on any income) will be subject to the same high rate tax (the TOSI). Confused yet?

     

    Passive income

    When a corporation generates income, it's eligible for a pretty attractive rate of tax (about 15 per cent, but it varies by province) on the first $500,000 (federally) of active business income. If a business owner doesn't need all of his earnings to support his lifestyle, it's common to leave the rest in the corporation to invest – perhaps in a portfolio earning passive income. For example, if you earn $100 in active business income and pay $15 of that to the taxman, you'd have $85 left to invest in the corporation. If you had earned that business income personally, and you're in the highest tax bracket (a marginal tax rate of about 50 per cent), you'd be left with just $50 to invest. So, there's an advantage to earning business income in a corporation if you earn enough that you won't spend it all.

    The government thinks this is unfair, notwithstanding that you'll actually pay more tax over all if you invest inside the corporation and then eventually pay that income out to yourself as dividends later. That's right, corporate tax rates on passive income are high even under today's rules – don't let the government tell you otherwise. So, the only meaningful benefit is the larger amount to invest up front as noted in my example above. It appears that the government believes that having more money working for you today, if you have a corporation, is offensive (so much for helping Canadians save for the future).

    The government is exploring how to limit the perceived benefit of leaving excess earnings inside a corporation to grow in a passive portfolio. Mr. Morneau is looking for comments from Canadians on a couple of primary options: (1) implementing a refundable tax that would apply to ineligible investments (the tax would be refunded once the capital is either paid out to you as taxable dividends personally, or is used in the active business), or (2) change the current refundable tax system on annual passive income so that the tax is no longer refundable if the investments were made with excess business income taxed at low rates. How does all of this simplify our tax system?

    Converting income to capital gains

    Some corporate owners have taken steps to convert what would otherwise be taxed as salary or dividends into capital gains. This has been done using a complex set of steps involving selling of some shares to another company related to the shareholder. The government proposes to close these opportunities by tweaking section 84.1 of our tax law, which was intended to prevent this type of planning but doesn't quite do the trick. On this one, I think the changes make sense.

     

    If you're so inclined, read over the 63-page consultation paper that outlines these proposed changes (available on the Department of Finance website). In my view, what you'll find are a lot of changes that will do nothing but make our convoluted tax law even more complex.

    1 hour ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    JT has stated that many times.  So following the tax laws is cheating?  Letting and incouraging the meds to incorporate and encourage income sprinkling in lui of increases is cheating?  This PM is a moron.

    Paying a member of the family that doesn't work is cheating, if they can prove that person works there isn't a problem......

    How can you saying paying a person that doesn't work for you isn't cheating?

    This isn't a Liberal thing or Con thing, just asking a question

    ·

    Edited by 1trailmaker

    3 minutes ago, ArcticCrusher said:

    Nothing is dumber than the PM stating that someone earning 50k could pay more in taxes than someone earning 250k.

     

    Who is eating that up?

    not seeing that posted anywhere. I know he said it or something close

    back to 70% increase?  when in fact its not going up at all - simply stopping people from cheating isn't a tax increase.  For those businesses that don't cheat their taxes stay the same.

    Is that correct?

    1 hour ago, Glenn in Caledon said:

    What I don't get if they are going to sell it the same silly way as the liquor, why not just sell it at every lcbo store that already exists.

    Pretty sure they don't want the smell of Pot in their liquor store.  Then you have the old people like 02sled that are disgusted with all the POT HEADS.

    So people are not forced to look at POT or smell it or see anyone that smokes it.

    The POT store isn't like buying a booze bottle off the shelf.  POT stores today have knowledgeable people working the counters

    IF I am right the government will be selling it like they used to sell booze

     

    1426624878988.jpg

     

    Can't be any lamer lol

     

     

    2 hours ago, 02sled said:

    All operated by the province under an umbrella of LCBO only CCBO. An entire new overpaid and underworked government bureaucracy of government union people.

    no matter who is behind the counter they will be making money, something you are against.  Since you can't hire teens to do this job or LCBO who do you expect is going to be hired?

    You are really not that bright when it comes to most things outside the network box

    2 hours ago, 02sled said:

    Dumb as a stump still I see.... You still can't read obviously. Perhaps it's time for you to go back to school. There is a grade 6 standard mathematics test. A benchmark test. Only half of the Ontario students pass the test. What part of that don't you understand? What does grade 6 not having dedicated math teachers have to do with it besides nothing. There is a set curriculum for Grade 6 math which I provided a link to. There IS a test the students are expected to be able to pass and only half of them do. What part of the concept that the system needs to be fixed can't you understand. It's amazing you manage to survive in the world when you can't understand the basics.

    I understand more than you think about this.

    What can be done to change this?  Hire Math Teachers?   

     

    4 hours ago, odot1 said:

    I have actually heard the term.  Not necessarily used in this context.  In this age of social media where evertbody posts the location of static RIDE check points officers are becoming more creative and fluid in where/when/how they conduct the checks in order to ensure it remains an efficient tool.  Aa for the legality of it, driving ihas been ruled a privilege and not a right under the charter.  This means thst a vehicle on the highway (the term for any road used by public) is subject to being stopped to ensure the driver is licenced, the vehicle properly documented and insured.  The courts took this further and allowed for tge random stopping of vehicles to ensure the sobriety of the driver.  As long as the officer is doing either the former or the latter he or she is operating under the parameters of the law.  This protection can not be used to simply go on "fishing trips" however, meaning the officer must be able to articulate the reasons for the stop.

     

    nothing more than "I saw you pull out of that restaurant"

    either way Thanks Odot

    • Like 1

    Odot1 have you ever heard of a "mobile RIDE"  :lol: 

    Wife goes to an event in Aurora at some restaurant bar, leaving she gets pulled over with in a block

    Cop "this is a mobile Ride" have you been drinking blah blah blah you've done nothing wrong blah blah

    WTF

     

    Isn't that illegal?