Katharine: après le deluge

A massive summer storm romped through the Languedoc yesterday en route for Northern France
and England - sorry times for British holidaymakers on the beach in August.

But we were rewarded with this wonderful sight at the end of the day, the Pic St Loup, shrouded in mist,  is in the background:

Jane: Sommières en fête

I took my visiting English cousin to Sommières on Sunday as the town was having a 'fête'.  It was not clear at all from the leaflet what exactly was planned for 11h00 but we set off nevertheless to find out.  As we turned up, a vintage Caravelle sports car was approaching us down the road, followed by three equally old tractors, then a couple of majestic workhorses pulling carts but it was really what followed afterwards that impressed us.  This was a most impressive parade.  

 

After the vehicles were people dressed in the most wonderful period outfits - some were dressed for picking and sorting the lavender; others were ready to go for a swim circa 1910; there were ladies in long gowns and gentlemen in dresscoats; plus of course peasant men and women with their sheep and goats; and so on, until a flock of sheep brought up the rear. 

We both commented that this would never happen in England.  The effort on behalf of the participants was admirable and it was an absolute pleasure to see them so proud of their inheritance and traditions.

After the parade, there were two abrivados and finally, 20-30 horses were escorted through the village. 

Bravo Sommières for an excellent parade!

 

 

Katharine: re FATCA: ACA solicits expats to contact their US Representative

Editor:  this is a letter sent out by ACA, and below it is the text of the Maloney/Mulvaney letter

Contact and Educate your Representative on
“Same Country Exemption” for FATCA Reporting

---

 
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) are circulating a letter asking their colleagues in the Congress to support the recommendation of “Same Country Exemption” for FATCA reporting. This letter will be sent to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of the IRS who can authorize regulatory changes such as Same Country Exemption without passing new legislation. ACA supports Same Country Exemption as a way to alleviate the unintended negative consequences of FATCA while continuing to advocate for Residence-based taxation. If adopted, the regulation could come into effect quickly and resolve some of the banking lock-out issues that Americans overseas are currently facing.

Please encourage your Congressman/woman to sign onto the Maloney/Mulvaney letter and support the FATCA regulatory change for “Same Country Exemption.” (see letter here - copy of the letter).

You can contact your Representative in Congress using the following: http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm or https://democracy.io/#/. You can also contact your Representative directly using the contact form on their website. You will be required to insert a US address so you should use your last known address with zip code in the United States (your official voting address).

The deadline for contacting your Representative is this Friday, July 31, 2015.

Contact and educate your Representative NOW.

Thank you,  ACA

 #####

July 31, 2015

The Honorable Jacob Lew

Secretary of the Treasury

U.S. Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC

The Honorable John Koskinen

Commissioner

International Revenue Service

1111 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC

Dear Secretary Lew and Commissioner Koskinen,

On behalf of the roughly eight million American citizens who live abroad, we write to express our

concerns regarding several tax reporting requirements imposed on U.S. citizens living abroad that

have created the unintended consequence of limiting overseas Americans’ access to legitimate

banking services. We respectfully request that the Treasury Department adopt a recent Taxpayer

Advocate Service recommendation that Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting

exclude financial accounts maintained by a financial institution in the country of which the U.S.

person is a bona fide resident.

When FATCA was passed in 2010, the intent was to combat and prevent overseas tax havens.

Unfortunately, in its implementation, FATCA has had detrimental consequences on law-abiding

Americans living outside the U.S.

As you know, FATCA requires Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) to report accounts of U.S.

citizens directly to the United States or to the government of the country where the bank is located

for further transmission to the U.S. through Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs), or be subject to

a 30% withholding on their U.S. investments. In many cases, these accounts are no different than

savings or checking accounts in local bank branches across the U.S. People rely on their

convenience and depend on these accounting services to simplify basic financial responsibilities

such as paying living expenses, saving for higher education or planning for retirement.

Some Foreign Financial Institutions have simply closed accounts or refused to open new ones for

U.S. citizens in order to minimize their exposure to FATCA reporting requirements, withholding

fees and potential penalties. This practice leaves law-abiding American citizens without access to

everyday financial tools such as mortgages, bank accounts, insurance policies and pension funds --

all of which are critical services regardless of place of residence.

The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) has recognized this issue and has expressed concerns

about the redundancy of FATCA reporting requirements. In order to address this, the TAS issued a

recommendation on April 13, 2015 that FATCA reporting exclude financial accounts maintained by

a financial institution in the country in which the U.S. citizen is a bona fide resident. We support

this recommendation and urge its implementation.

While we recognize that Treasury is tasked with the difficult job of making sure American money

around the world remains compliant with the U.S. tax code, the current FATCA reporting procedures subject ordinary Americans to the same scrutiny as criminal tax evaders and money

launderers. Revision of these reporting policies is necessary to ensure that Americans remain

competitive in international business and continue to contribute to economies here in the U.S. and

around the world. Adopting the TAS’s recommendation is an efficient way to avert a banking

lockout while maintaining the integrity and intention of FATCA.

Thank you again for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Carolyn B. Maloney            Mick Mulvaney

Member of Congress           Member of Congress

FATCA: grassroots campaign needs YOUR action NOW

 

 

Editor:  this letter was received on 28 July, and needs YOUR action by Friday July 31 - by sending

an email (suggested text below) to your elected representatives - Senators and Congresspersons.  

 

Dear Democrats Abroad,

 

We are at a pivotal milestone in our efforts to reform FATCA but we need our grassroots activists like you to ACT NOW.

Help us write 1000 letters to Congress by Friday to support the FATCA reform “sign on” letter!

As we reported earlier this month, Americans Abroad Caucus Co-Chairs Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) are circulating a “sign on” letter on Capitol Hill pressuring Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to implement the FATCA Same Country Safe Harbor for Americans abroad.

The letter should have hit the desk of your member of Congress. Maybe they’ve seen it, maybe not – but the letter will be closed for new signatures soon. Signatures of support from members of Congress are needed now! Send a message to your elected representatives RIGHT NOW, reminding them about the letter and asking them to sign it.

It’s easy.

1) Click here and enter your U.S. voting address to compose a message to your elected representatives

2) Either copy and paste the suggested message below or write your own polite and succinct message urging your member of Congress to sign the letter in support of the Same Country Safe Harbor that Representative Maloney and Representative Mulvaney are circulating.

3) Let us know who you have contacted by filling out this very very short questionnaire HERE so that we can amplify your voice and continue to put pressure on Congress.

Thank you for participating in this important initiative in support of our work to fix FATCA. If you’d like to further support FATCA reform efforts, please make a contribution by clicking here.

 

 Democrats Abroad FBAR/FATCA Task Force

 

### 

SUGGESTED MESSAGE ENCOURAGING ELECTED OFFICIALS TO SIGN THE AMERICANS ABROAD CAUCUS LETTER TO TREASURY AND THE IRS IN SUPPORT OF THE FATCA SAME COUNTRY SAFE HARBOR FOR AMERICANS ABROAD

SUBJECT: Congressional Sign On Letter supporting the FATCA Safe Harbor for Americans Abroad

I live in [country of residence] and I vote in [state] District [number if known].

Americans living outside of the United States like me are bearing the unintended, but serious consequences of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The law was, of course, intended to discourage and apprehend US citizens hiding untaxed earnings in foreign financial accounts. The reporting requirements FATCA imposes us and our banks were never intended to impact ordinary, middle class, law-abiding Americans abroad. However, due to FATCA our financial accounts are being closed, our relationships with our non-American spouses are under strain, some of us are being denied roles, promotions or partnership in business and some are planning or contemplating renouncing their US citizenship. Some have already done so.

We need help urgently.

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Americans Abroad Caucus, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), have drafted a letter to the Treasury and IRS in support of a reform to the FATCA implementation rules which would resolve the problems that FATCA causes for 90 percent of Americans abroad: the FATCA Same Country Safe Harbor for Americans abroad.

Representative Maloney and Representative Mulvaney are circulating the letter on Capitol Hill. I strongly urge you to join your Congressional colleagues in signing on to this letter in support of the Same Country Safe Harbor. There are 8.7 million Americans living outside the US. We vote, we file tax returns and we are calling on you to help us by fixing this law that has so badly impacted our financial and personal lives.

Please sign the Congressional letter to Secretary Lew and Commissioner Koskinen in support of the FATCA Same Country Safe Harbor for Americans abroad. Please contact Natalee Binkholder (Natalee.binkholder@mail.house.gov ) in Rep Mulvaney’s office or Max Whitcomb (Max.Whitcomb@mail.house.gov) in Rep Maloney’s office with any questions and to deliver your support.

Thank you for your help and thank you for serving.

Regards,

Name

City, Country

###

This message is paid for by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad

Democrats Abroad

PO Box 15130
Washington, DC 20003
United States

Telephone: +1-202-621-2085 +1-202-621-2085

Katharine C: the Gendarmes are looking at your thongs - and your sandwich (if you're driving)

New driver laws are now in effect in France - the first piece is (maybe a bit sensational) in English, followed by a piece in France that is a more sober reflection of the new law. 

---

NO eating, smoking, talking on the phone, or putting on make-up, and the law says

you must wear closed shoes, not even sandals.  Not sure whether it's legal to

drive barefoot..... 

Driving in flip-flops in France this summer could cost you the price of a pair of shoes. Photo: AFP

French woman fined €90 for driving in flip-flops

Published: 13 Jul 2015 16:41 GMT+02:00

France’s drive to cut down the number of road accidents saw a woman fined €90 at the weekend, when she was caught driving in flip flops. She complained the fine was worth the same as a pair of shoes.

• France bans earphones for drivers and cyclists (18 Jun 15)
• Baffling French road signs: Take the test (09 Jun 15)
• French road deaths rise for first time in 12 years (28 May 15)

The woman was snared as she drove along a country road near the south western city of Toulouse.
“They stopped me to check my papers and looked in the car to check everything was in order,” the women told local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.
“It was a female police officer who stopped me. I opened the door and she noticed my feet and said to me: “I am obliged to give you a fine. You are not allowed to drive with these kind of shoes, that are not attached to the feet.”
The victim said she thought it was a joke at first but was told by the officer that the rules were part of a new raft of driving regulations brought in on July 1st, that also saw the use of headphones banned in cars.
“I really thought she was joking. But no. I left with a €90 fine – the price of a pair of shoes,” she said.
A specialist lawyer in the motor industry told Metro News that driving with flip-flops on is not absolutely forbidden according to French law, but that it could be open to interpretation as they could be considered as something that could impede the driver.
In France the article R412-6 says that drivers must always be in a position to carry out all manoeuvres without delay and that the driver’s mobility and field of vision must not be reduced by any objects they are holding.
This has meant that fines have been handed out to people caught eating sandwiches, smoking or even putting make-up on.
In March 2014 a court in Corsica effectively ruled that it was forbidden to drive in high heels.

Voiture : tout ce qui change au 1er juillet

Publié le 29/06/2015 à 07:46, Mis à jour le 29/06/2015 à 08:00

Circulation - L'événement

À partir du 1er juillet, c'est-à-dire après-demain, les oreillettes pour téléphone portable sont interdites au volant./AFP

Attention ! À partir de mercredi, il sera interdit d'utiliser les oreillettes pour téléphoner au volant ! C'est sans doute la plus emblématique d'un train de mesures qui entreront en vigueur le 1er juillet, destinées à faire baisser le nombre de tués sur les routes.
Attention au tour de vis ! Au moment où les Français s'apprêtent à partir en vacances, ils devront le faire sous haute surveillance policière : les règles du jeu vont changer dès mercredi. Il y a fort à parier que la maréchaussée sera sur le terrain pour faire rentrer les nouvelles règles dans la tête des automobilistes, et à défaut, de faire rentrer quelques amendes dans les caisses de l'État !
L'idée est que le conducteur doit être davantage concentré sur sa conduite : la mesure qui va sans doute toucher le plus d'automobilistes est l'interdiction des oreillettes, casques, écouteurs, récepteurs Bluetooth pour téléphoner à bord. Attention : cela ne concerne pas que le téléphone, mais aussi toute autre source, comme un lecteur MP3, ou même la radio du bord ; un conducteur doit pouvoir être en mesure d'entendre les bruits extérieurs. On n'autorisera plus désormais que les systèmes qui passent par les haut-parleurs de l'autoradio, du GPS, ou d'un kit type Bluetooth.
Cette mesure est saluée presque unanimement, même par les associations d'automobilistes : le risque d'accident est multiplié par quatre, lorsqu'on téléphone.
Cela ne va cependant pas assez loin pour le président de la Ligue contre la violence routière Chantal Perrichon qui estime qu'«il faut interdire toute pratique du téléphone au volant car le problème n'est pas l'occupation des mains mais celle de l'attention du conducteur qui continuera à être captée par son interlocuteur et, du coup, le risque d'accident reste aussi élevé». Mais, selon elle, «le refus de prendre cette interdiction complète est le résultat du lobbying des constructeurs qui veulent continuer à vendre le Bluetooth».
De fait, on risque fort de voir dans les jours prochains, une ruée sur les kits disponibles pour se mettre en conformité avec les nouvelles règles.
Dans le même temps, d'autres mesures sont prises pour renforcer la lutte contre la drogue et l'alcool au volant : en rabaissant de 0,5 g à 0,2 g le taux d'alcool par litre de sang pour les jeunes conducteurs, c'est un signal fort qui est envoyé à la jeunesse. Car ce taux peut être dépassé avec juste un verre de vin ou un demi de bière, pour les personnes de petite corpulence, autant dire qu'il vaut mieux ne rien boire du tout !
D'autres mesures apparaissent comme de bon sens, comme l'interdiction de regarder des écrans en conduisant ! Pourtant, on sait que des chauffeurs routiers s'avalent films sur films dans les longs trajets. Enfin, les interdictions de manger un sandwich et de se maquiller au feu rouge sont, là aussi, des rappels pour que l'attention ne soit pas distraite au volant, même lorsque l'on croit qu'il n'y a pas de danger.
Des mesures qui ne tombent pas par hasard ; en 2014, le nombre des tués sur les routes a augmenté.
Cela n'était pas arrivé depuis 2001.

---

Toutes les interdictions au volant

Drogues et alcool
Si le taux maximum de 0,5 g d'alcool par litre de sang est toujours en vigueur, en revanche, à compter du 1er juillet, les jeunes conducteurs (moins de 3 ans de permis ou 2 ans avec la conduite accompagnée) n'auront plus le droit de dépasser 0,2 g.
Autant dire qu'il leur faudra éviter toute boisson alcoolisée avant de prendre le volant, puisque, selon la corpulence, la quantité du sang et le métabolisme, le taux de 0,2 g peut être dépassé avec un seul verre. Bien entendu, les drogues sont également prohibées. Être arrêté sous l'emprise de l'alcool (au-delà du seuil) ou de stupéfiants est passible d'une amende de 4 500 € et d'une perte de 6 points.
Téléphoner
Première interdiction, celle de manipuler un téléphone alors qu'on conduit, sous peine d'écoper de 135 € d'amende et de 3 points en moins. Les jeunes, nombreux à être adeptes du selfie (se photographier) en train de conduire vont devoir freiner leurs envies. Mais à partir du 1er juillet, la réglementation va aussi changer concernant les oreillettes, jusqu'à présent tolérées.
Ainsi, le nouvel article du code de la route «interdit le port à l'oreille, par le conducteur d'un véhicule en circulation, de tout dispositif susceptible d'émettre du son, à l'exception des appareils électroniques correcteurs de surdité».
Casques audio, oreillettes filaires ou Bluetooth seront donc punis par 135 € d'amende et un retrait de 3 points. Même punition et interdiction pour les deux-roues, dont les vélos, qui n'auront droit ni au portable coincé sous le casque, ni aux oreillettes.
Par contre, les systèmes Bluetooth intégrés aux voitures, ou qui ne nécessitent pas le port d'une oreillette (lire ci-dessous), restent, eux, autorisés.
Regarder un écran
Pratique plus répandue chez les routiers que chez les automobilistes, le visionnage d'un lecteur DVD portable ou d'une tablette, ou de tout autre écran non destiné à l'aide à la conduite (GPS), est formellement interdit est passible d'une amende de 1 500 € et de 3 points en moins.
Fumer
La loi est encore en cours d'examen au Parlement, mais si elle est validée, il sera bientôt interdit de fumer à bord de son véhicule lorsqu'on s'y trouve en même temps qu'un mineur. Une amende de 68 € sanctionnera le contrevenant.
L'article R.412-6 du code de la route permet aux forces de l'ordre de verbaliser (amende de 75 € sans perte de points) un nombre importants de comportements au volant.
Car en stipulant que le conducteur «doit se tenir constamment en position d'exécuter toutes les manœuvres qui lui incombent», il laisse une libre appréciation assez grande aux agents.
Voici quelques exemples de situations verbalisables :
Manger un sandwich
Se maquiller, même à l'arrêt dans les bouchons.
Fouiller dans la boîte à gants.
Écouter de la musique trop fort, qui pourrait vous empêcher d'entendre les bruits de la circulation.
Conduire en tongs

Jane: in honour of Wimbledon.....

.... a 2015 Wimbledon cappucino

Katharine: And the flag was still there

 Photo credits:  Sylvia and Katharine.

O say, does that star-spangl'd banner yet wave?
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Cerese, Queen of Independence Day

Pam, our gracious host in her beautiful garden park, filled with mature, shady trees

President Mary-Catherine and past-President Kim

Pierre and Serge

Kim and Maquita

vegetable terrine

summer vegetable salad

Pissaladiere

Michel

Kim

Trista

Pam and her daughter Jeanne

Kelly and Kim

Leslie, Dawn and Mary Catherine

Tug of war time .....

-  note the great response from the men (and also the kids) for the tug of war

Leslie

Katharine

Dennelle

Games MC Phil

A glorious summer's day for our annual July 4th party.  Pam and Cerese organised a wonderful
apero, lunch (with barbecues set up, and a buffet table of side dishes, salads, and desserts) and a
separate bar.  Pam had borrowed tables and chairs which were placed in shady areas of her enormous
garden, so everyone could sit and enjoy the event.  The younger ones (of which there were many - so nice to see) were able to play games, including croquet and badminton, and run through Pam's sprinkler to cool off.

Phil organised several games of tugs of war, which were enthusiastically embraced by those present.

Thank you Pam.  Thank you Cerese.  Thank you everyone for coming and making it a special day.
Americans know how to have fun, and there's no better day for it than July 4th.

Editor:  Dawn and Willem sent the following photos - thank you, Willem!
 Representatives from three tables who had not acquitted themselves well in Cerese's US
Citizenship Trivia quiz were required to sing.

These Red, White and Blues sang America the Beautiful

This was the French group - they sang a french song.....

.... and were applauded by Cerese

I-phone coming in handy for the words

Marie, and the group from her table sang "It's a small world".  Yes it is.