Weird News

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:22 am

A bit of a long one, but certainly weird. It's a government run big-money gameshow, folks! Only in Mexico.  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: ("latimes")</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Get Rich by Paying Taxes # Why is Mexico giving away cash prizes and cars on a frenetic TV game show? It's all in the name of getting citizens to do their duty. By Marla Dickerson, Times Staff Writer MEXICO CITY - In some respects, "Vas o No Vas" is a typical Mexican TV game show. An energetic host whips the audience into a frenzy of excitement. There are curvy female sidekicks, an irritating clown and plenty of suspense as contestants vie for a big cash jackpot. What makes the show unique is its purpose: to encourage Mexicans to pay taxes. Faced with rampant tax evasion fueled by off-the-books cash transactions, the Mexican government is sponsoring the fiscal equivalent of "Let's Make a Deal." It's offering consumers the chance to come on down and win fabulous prizes in exchange for using their bank cards to make routine purchases. Think IRS meets Monty Hall. Since the television program began in late 2004, the Mexican government has paid out more than $1 million in cash prizes to winning contestants on the daily game show. It also has given away 2,600 new cars and $1.7 million in cash in separate drawings. Collectively, these efforts are known as Boletazo, which means "the Big Ticket." The contests are open only to users of debit and credit cards, whose electronic purchases are traceable by tax authorities and provide a quick injection of sales tax revenue to the treasury. Card holders are entered in the random drawings for cash and cars simply by using their cards. Each purchase of about $4.70 counts as one entry, so the more people spend, the better their chances of winning. Would-be game-show contestants must fill out an application and hold on to official receipts proving that they made an electronic purchase in the event they're selected to appear on the show. Although Boletazo hasn't sparked a spending binge or any dramatic increase in tax revenue, it has developed an enthusiastic following for the show, whose literal translation is "Go or No Go." The show's creators refer to it as "Deal or No Deal" in English. The program, which airs on the Televisa network here, carries a top prize of 5 million pesos, or nearly $472,000, the richest ever for a Mexican game show. A contestant is presented with 26 sealed boxes, each containing a check ranging from 9 cents to el gordo, the fat one. The contestant begins opening the boxes one by one, thus eliminating them from play. The hope is to get rid of the lowest-value boxes first, thus increasing the odds of ending up with one of the big-money prizes. The house weighs in periodically, tempting the player with a cash buyout to walk away from the chance at striking it really rich. The more high-value boxes left in the game, the bigger the offer. The game ends when a player takes the buyout or plays through to the last box. A recent episode of the program featured Nety, a mother of three from the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. After four nerve-racking rounds of play, she took the buyout instead of risking it all for the big enchilada. "I'm satisfied," said the contestant, who reasoned that $17,000 in hand was better than walking away with nothing. Pragmatism is driving tax collectors in Mexico and other emerging economies. Desperate for revenue to fund social programs but lacking the resources to scare tax cheats into compliance with mass audits and jail time, developing countries are using contests and other gimmicks to coax scofflaws into paying up. Latin American nations including Chile and Costa Rica have staged so-called fiscal lotteries in which people who send in official sales documents to the government are eligible for a fat cash drawing. The idea is to encourage citizens to demand store receipts proving they have paid their sales taxes and to get them to blow the whistle on merchants who don't provide them. Mexican officials say the inspiration for their program came from South Korea. That Asian nation mounted an aggressive effort in the late 1990s to convert the public from cash to credit as a way to boost domestic spending and tax revenue. Unlike many cash transactions, credit card purchases leave a paper trail that helps authorities track down those who aren't paying sales taxes and who may be understating their incomes. The South Korean government offered incentives to citizens to fill their wallets with plastic. Those included income tax deductions for large purchases and a national lottery offering credit card users a shot at big prizes. Some would argue that the program worked too well. South Koreans' spending binge led to the so-called credit card crisis of 2003, when card delinquencies soared and banks swallowed billions of dollars in losses. Still, through that effort and others, South Korea has succeeded in luring a good chunk of commerce into the mainstream economy. From 1991 to 2001, the country increased its total tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product by 8.5 percentage points to 27.2%, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That stunning increase put South Korea in the same league as the U.S. and Japan when it comes to tax collection. In contrast, Mexico, the world's 10th-largest economy, collects revenue about as effectively as Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan, according to World Bank data. Experts attribute Mexico's weak tax collection to a host of factors, including entrenched government corruption that has sapped the public's willingness to pay and a devilishly complex tax code that has long burdened the small middle class and favored the rich. But one of the most alarming trends for tax authorities is the nation's exploding underground economy. About half of Mexico's workforce is estimated to be toiling off the books for cash, including millions of street vendors who hawk such diverse products as apparel and pirated Viagra. The Mexican government collects little in employment, business, income, sales or other taxes from this sector. While economic rivals such as China are investing billions in ports, superhighways and higher education, Mexico is struggling to provide some basic services. Efforts to overhaul the tax system have gone nowhere amid vicious political infighting. Thus, for Mexico, the prospect of boosting tax revenue simply by getting more people to use credit cards to make purchases in the legitimate economy is an attractive stopgap. "It's a way to increase voluntary compliance without spending a lot on auditors and other expensive enforcement," said Jorge Martinez-Vasquez, an economics professor at Georgia State University who is an expert on the Mexican tax system. Converting Mexico to e-commerce won't be easy. To be sure, consumer credit has expanded rapidly in recent years. Credit card transactions were up nearly 40% from 2001 to 2004, according to the country's central bank. Yet Mexico's economy still runs largely on efectivo, or cash. Half of all Mexicans are poor, and few have bank accounts. Less than 15% of the population have a charge card. In addition, about 95% of Mexico's businesses aren't wired to accept credit and debit cards. To stimulate card use, Mexico has launched an effort that it projects will nearly triple the number of establishments that accept electronic payments over the next five years to about 475,000. The government is providing tax breaks to 15 banks that will spend about $150 million installing the machines free of charge in small businesses nationwide. That's benefiting equipment suppliers such as San Jose-based VeriFone Holdings Inc., one of the world's largest providers of electronic payment systems. The company already has landed two contracts to install 29,000 machines in Mexico. William Nichols, vice president of emerging markets for VeriFone, said the Mexican push was one of the most organized and aggressive that he had seen. And it's one that is attracting the attention of other revenue-hungry nations. "We have had bankers from China, Brazil and India asking for us to take them to Mexico," he said. "There is a lot of interest." Mexican officials say it could take until 2008 at the soonest to see a fiscal payoff from programs such as Boletazo. Still, tax experts say Mexico will have to do a lot more than sponsor a game show, give away shiny Volkswagen Jettas and put credit card terminals in stores to solve its fiscal mess. What's needed, they say, is a system that is broad, simple and fair. Mexico also needs better enforcement. Without royalty and pump taxes from Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly that funds nearly one-third of federal spending, the nation's tax take would fall to single digits as a percentage of GDP. That puts Mexico's tax collectors among the most ineffective on the planet. One place they cannot hunt for revenue is from winning contestants on "Vas o No Vas." For reasons no one in Mexico's revenue service was willing to explain, the cash prizes awarded on the show are tax free. * (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) Hurting global competitiveness? Mexico ranks last in tax collection among the 30 nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Total 2002 tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product among selected OECD nations Sweden 50.2% Denmark 48.9 Czech Republic 39.3 Poland 32.6 Australia 31.5 Turkey 31.1 United States 26.4 South Korea 24.4 Mexico 18.1 OECD average 36.3 * Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development </td></tr></table>

Tom Flapwell · Postby **Tom Flapwell** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:08 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> You're Dead to Me. Actually, to All of Us Is Raju Raghuvanshi alive or dead? Raghuvanshi, of Katra, India, says he's alive. But his friends and family say he's a ghost sent to haunt them. Believed by friends and family to have died in prison, Raghuvanshi returned home earlier this month from his short jail stint to shouts of "Help! Ghost!" and the sounds of neighbors locking their doors. "My family thinks I am dead," he said Monday. "They will not permit me to enter my home because they think I am a ghost." Ostracized by his community, he's now living in a nearby village and struggling to prove he's alive.</td></tr></table>  That sucks. I'd heard that parts of India are living almost as they were 3,000 years ago, but to have an entire community think you're a ghost? Surely their superstition provides some way to tell the difference (e.g., can ghosts eat?). We should work this into the WWYDI thread. But there's also some good news in the weird section:  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Taking Them Down To the Playstation Police trying to decrease youth crime in Moredun, Scotland, have set up video-game tournaments against teens charged with crimes, the Scotsman reported. The weekly competition, held at a local library, invites those who have had run-ins with the law to take on officers at Playstation 2 games such as Gran Turismo 3, Tiger Woods Gold and Pro-Evolution Soccer. Police say that in the five weeks the program has been running, youth crimes have been halved. If participants get in trouble again, they're booted from the tournament.</td></tr></table>

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:11 pm

Trying to avoid the obvious "crispy style" joke . . .  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> CTA employee killed after touching 3rd rail Published January 18, 2006 CHICAGO -- A veteran Chicago Transit Authority employee was electrocuted Tuesday morning after he touched the third rail on the Green Line tracks outside the agency's headquarters, a CTA spokeswoman said. Authorities are investigating why the 47-year-old man, who had worked at the CTA for 25 years, was on the tracks, said agency spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney. She said he had returned from a week of sick leave and reported to work shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday at the agency's headquarters at 567 W. Lake St., at the Clinton Street stop. A short time later he was spotted walking across the Green Line tracks, where he came into contact with the third rail, Gaffney said. He was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office. Gaffney would not release details about the man, including his job title, until family members are notified. She said his job duties did not require him to be on the tracks. "That wasn't the type of work that he did for us," she said. The CTA is offering counseling to employees who witnessed the incident. Service on the Green Line was disrupted for about an hour after power to a section of tracks was cut off. Passengers were shuttled by bus between the Clark/Lake and California Avenue stations, officials said. Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune </td></tr></table>

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:34 pm

Third rail? Sorry, not familiar with that term. All I know is that in the UK electricity for trains are transmitted in over-head wires.

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:02 pm

The elevated light rail system in Chicago uses a high-tension rail, rather than overhead lines, to transmit electrical power to the trains. If you are facing forward on a train operating on its normal track, this service rail will be on the side opposite the station platform (There are contacts for it on both sides of the train). The system grounds through the wheels of the train. If you are at a station, you would have to climb down from the platfor to get to the tracks, then cross the tracks to get to the service rail.

Llewthepoet · Postby **Llewthepoet** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:50 pm

Intergalactic War?  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Former President Jimmy Carter told GQ magazine for a January article that he saw a UFO in 1969 in southwest Georgia as he was preparing to speak at a Lions Club meeting. He recalled that it was a bright light that got "closer and closer to us," but then "changed color to blue," then to red, then back to white, and then "receded into the distance." However, he said, "I've never believed it came from Mars." (In September, Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian minister of defense, asked Parliament to hold hearings on extraterrestrials. UFOs, he said, "are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head," and he fears the U.S. military might get Earth involved in an intergalactic war.) [GQ, January 2006] [Canadian Press, 9-11-05] </td></tr></table>

Softpaw · Postby **Softpaw** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:17 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (VisibilityMissing @ Jan 18 2006, 01:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> The elevated light rail system in Chicago uses a high-tension rail, rather than overhead lines, to transmit electrical power to the trains. If you are facing forward on a train operating on its normal track, this service rail will be on the side opposite the station platform (There are contacts for it on both sides of the train). The system grounds through the wheels of the train. If you are at a station, you would have to climb down from the platfor to get to the tracks, then cross the tracks to get to the service rail. </td></tr></table>  Almost all electric trains in the US use a third-rail for power. In DC, the position of the third rail changes based on location and such, it's usually on the side opposite the platform. In the event of an emergency evacuation, there's always some indicator of which side is "safe" to exit. Here's a photo of the DC metro's third rail: <img src='http://www.nationmaster.com/wikimir/ima ... ton,DC.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Richard K Niner · Postby **Richard K Niner** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:31 pm

I've never seen a subway system without that third rail. The overhead wire is reserved for streetcars.

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 3:19 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Richard K Niner @ Jan 19 2006, 01:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> I've never seen a subway system without that third rail. The overhead wire is reserved for streetcars.  </td></tr></table>  I don't class subway systems as 'trains', but instead 'tubes'. No clue how they tend to be done in this country.

VisibilityMissing · Postby **VisibilityMissing** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:12 am

Well, that would be a problem.  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Jan 20, 3:52 PM EST Man Trapped in Toilet When Lock Freezes BERLIN (AP) -- When a 58-year-old motorist nipped into a German highway rest stop public toilet to answer the call of nature Friday morning, he had no idea how cruel nature could be. Off highway A6 near the town of Lichtenau in Bavaria, which has been experiencing cold weather and snow over the past few days, the man found himself trapped in the toilet stall after the lock froze while he was inside. Unable to pry the door open, the man finally was able to explain his predicament when someone occupied the stall next to him and get them to call police on a cell phone. After about an hour in the chilly cell, police were able to get the door open and free the man, whom they described about "thoroughly frozen through, but in good general health." © 2006 The Associated Press.</td></tr></table>

Gizensha · Postby **Gizensha** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:02 am

Aren't the things in Germany usually attended? (not to mention require a toll). And then the money raised from them goes to pay for the roads they're on. Or was that another country in Europe? Anyway, that country had fantastic roads. Poland's roads, on the other hand... Lets just say the motorways felt like poorly maintained country lanes in this country.

Zaaphod · Postby **Zaaphod** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:02 am

The reason a lot of Russians and Ukranians emigrate to my part of the U.S. is because it reminds them of home: we have four seasons, rolling hills, wheatfields, and bad roads. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

GhostWay · Postby **GhostWay** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:11 am

Seattle has four seasons? I thought it was just three: warm rain, cold rain and overcast. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

Zaaphod · Postby **Zaaphod** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:16 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (GhostWay @ Jan 20 2006, 09:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Seattle has four seasons? I thought it was just three: warm rain, cold rain and overcast. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> </td></tr></table>  Who said anything about Seattle? I live in Spokane. Other side of the state. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... /smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Although you're pretty much right about Seattle. <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />

Tom Flapwell · Postby **Tom Flapwell** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:13 am

That headline is particularly strange when you consider what "toilet" usually means to Americans: not the stall, but the commode alone. He'd be in, um, deep doodoo if he got stuck there.

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