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A Russian couple who've made St. John's home say that, despite the big protests, Russia isn't ready for democracy.

Born in the East, the couple came to this province as refugees.

They say they're happy raising their family in St. John's, but life in the old USSR was ideal.

"People lived peaceful life, had jobs, travelled around the country," said Olga Dudko, who came to St. John's 10 years ago. "We had everything."

After the fall of the USSR, there was no security. "Criminal minds, they basically took over the entire country," Sergey Chudinov said.

Dudko and Chudinov left the USSR separately but met in St. John's.

Chudinov is from a fishing community is Northern Russia, a place called the Kola Peninsula.

When he arrived in this province he worked as a fisherman off Newfoundland's shores for 15 years before driving a taxi to spend more time at home. The couple has two boys.

They say when President Vladimir Putin took power in 2000 life in Russia improved. He stayed as on as president until 2008, but that was as much as the constitution allowed at the time.

In the recent election, Putin ran for an unprecedented third term. He won with 64 per cent of the vote, but has been accused of election fraud.

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Russian expats question democracy in their homeland

A tax deal with Switzerland aimed at preventing high-earning expats and big businesses using the country's secretive banking system to avoid paying UK rates has been criticised by MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news)

In a report on efforts to tackle tax avoidance and evasion, the Commons Treasury sub-committee said they were unhappy that levies on assets were set slightly lower than the 50 per cent top income tax rate in the UK, and that tax evaders had been given time to move their assets elsewhere.

Big businesses also appeared, they said, to have been granted a "more favourable tax treatment".

The deal, expected to generate up to 5 billion for the Treasury, was hailed by Chancellor George Osborne last year as an end to the days when it was easy to "stash the profits of tax evasion" in Switzerland.

As part of the deal, it was agreed that expats with bank accounts in Switzerland would pay between 19 per cent and 34 per cent of their assets to settle past liabilities.

HMRC said the lower rate part of the deal reflected the fact that the money would be received by it earlier in the financial year than it received by the state's take of salaries.

But the sub-committee said: "We do not see why those with offshore bank accounts, who may not currently be fulfilling their tax obligations, should be treated any differently.

"Any perception that those with offshore accounts are paying lower taxes than compliant taxpayers creates a risk that the agreement may encourage taxpayers to seek opportunities to evade tax in the belief that they will be able to reach a favourable settlement in future.

"Also, any perception that some taxpayers are receiving more favourable treatment than others is likely to discourage voluntary compliance."

The committee's report also raised fears that new rules would not apply until 2013.

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Switzerland offshore tax deal criticised by MPs

10-03-2012 21:58 When you come across a funny video on the internet, make sure to send it in here. I'll credit you for helping me find it! the2bucks.com Original: http://www.youtube.com Originally uploaded by: http://www.youtube.com Quote from the original uploader: "Spank is: Reginal Rowson, Herman Seay, Lee Ford and David Colding email hermanherman58 [AT] aol [DOT] com for booking inquiries. Spank appears in Union Square as part of the Music Under New York Program, a division of the Arts for Transit that coordinates over 7000 performances underground. More info here: mta.info And info on Spank from their Music Under New York page: Spank was formed by Reggie, Raisin, Herman, and Bernard in Washington Square Park more than 23 years ago. While their inspirations were The Temptations, The Platters, and The Drifters, they sing Doo Wop with a twist called "New-Wop." Spank has sung almost everywhere, parties, birthday celebrations, weddings, and on the stage in a lengthy run of the musical "Madhattan" in Las Vegas. They are one of the hardest working Doo Wop groups around! http://www.mta.info Old Birdman: http://www.youtube.com Amazing Subway Performers - Spanks (Do You Love Me Cover) Copyright issue? Send me a message and we'll get it resolved ASAP.

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by admin on March 11, 2012

Dot Com Pho Orange County had a full house again, with a recording matching 20 people making it out to the Pho Ba Co patio for weekly Pho get together. The weather was great, and everyone had a great time. Anyone is welcome to join us for Dot Com Pho. Follow me on Twitter to find the time and location of the next one. Follow@DotComPho to find out the time and location of the Vancouver edition.

For the OC edition of Dot Com Pho, we have Sally Chow making friends, Yahooing for famous bloggers, how to reverse the aging process, a guide to being a guy, a device thats too big to be a phone but too small to be a tablet, another device that too big to be an iPhone lens, and a whole lot more. Enjoy!

Dot Com Pho Vancouver French Table Edition

The Vancouver Dot Com Pho crew enjoy some French-inspired brunch this week. They talk about body doubles, LAN parties, and how the new iPad stacks up against Android tablets.

This article courtesy of Dot Com Pho Massive Phone, Big Hat and French Table

Tagged as: aging-process, another-device, find-the-time, french, french-inspired, french-table, making-friends, making-it-out, orange-county, sally-chow, time, vancouver

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Dot Com Pho – Massive Phone, Big Hat and French Table

10-03-2012 17:04 http://www.facebook.com Dr. Dot on "Brisant" German TV show

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Dr. Dot on "Brisant" German TV show - Video