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“It’s absurd for Congress to vilify businesses like Apple for wanting to minimize their tax code just like every other American rightly does,” tweeted uber-Libertarian Senator Rand Paul, lashing out at his Senate colleagues for ‘dragging’ Apple CEO Tim Cook in to defend his company’s tax policies. On the eve of Cook’s much-hyped testimony, a Senate investigation released a scathing report, accusing Apple of cooking the books and engaging in shady tax-dodging practices, to avoid repatriating $102 billion in offshore cash to avoid a 35 percent U.S. tax rate. “Instead of doing the right thing we drag businessmen and women in here to berate them for trying to maximize their profits for shareholders,” Rand continued in another tweet. “The ability to pay taxes of less than 2 percent on all of Apple’s offshore income gives the company a powerful financial incentive to engage in convoluted tax planning to avoid paying U.S. taxes,” notes the report from Senators Carl Levin and John McCain of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (for a more detailed explanation for how Apple dodges billions in taxes, see our previous post) Paul was rightly furious for the tone of the accusations, which blamed Apple for skirting its obligation to the U.S. government. “This is a vendetta against American companies for trying to maximize profit,” he said. ”I want to see one company come before here and tell us that they’re goal is different from Apple’s, that their goal is to maximize their tax burden.” Noting that thousands (if not millions) of U.S. citizens hold Apple stock directly or through pensions, Paul argued, “When we want to punish Mr. Apple. who are we punishing, we’re punishing ourselves.” Indeed, Apple would be hosing the everyday shareholders if it didn’t maximize its profit through some very convoluted offshore tax strategies. However, Paul’s transparent theatrics fell short on his solutions, which included a passing mention to a “repatriation holiday.” Back in 2004, the U.S. government gave a juicy tax repatriation holiday to incentivize bringing foreign holdings back to the homeland. Yet, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, that money didn’t go into research and development. Indeed, many of the companies cut jobs, instead funneling their new domestic coffers into providing dividends to its shareholders. Now, Paul and others could argue that lower taxes, overall, would stimulate investment in innovation, but he shouldn’t be so glib to the very real implications to a tax repatriation holiday. The actual testimony has been far more diplomatic than the report, which lavished Apple with kudos. “I. Love. Apple…I harassed my husband until he converted to a MacBook,” gushed Senator Claire McCaskill. Former presidential candidate and Senator John McCain, for his part, joked, “What I really wanted to ask was why the hell I have to keep updating the apps on my phone.” Cook, himself, briefly lobbied for two solutions: a simpler, reduced U.S. tax code and a “single digit” repatriation tax. While such a tax solution is up for debate, the most compelling statement was made by Senator Rob Portman to Tim Cook, “you don’t need more tax lawyers, you need more innovators.”

Updated with more details + Photos --> Xbox One: Microsoft's Next Gen Gaming Console Unveiled

Today at the #XboxReveal event, the Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer was played, releasing it to the world. The game represents a new direction for the Call of Duty franchise, which has produced a number of best-selling console titles. The trailer was immediately posted online. Given that the fidelity of the livestream provided by Microsoft of its Xbox event was poor, the clip is worth watching in appropriate definition. Gamer or not, it’s culturally important to know where gaming is headed. This is the future: For more from the event that saw the Xbox One unveiled in a number of ways – but not price – head here.

Dota 2 is a huge game right now, and while it may not be as popular as League of Legends, it is hot on its heels with an ever rising player base. As a whole, the MOBA genre is growing by leaps and bounds every single day, with new players discovering it and deciding to take the time to learn what these games bring to the table. With all of that being said, Dota 2 and League of Legends are hard games to learn. The skill required to master each of the heroes is great, and it’s not the kind of game you are just going to pick up and play without getting your butt handed to you on many occasions. As I mentioned previously, watching Dota 2 streamers is a great way to learn, but if you want to go even further, there are tons of websites designed to help new players progress in the game. In addition to learning, there are many Dota 2 websites out there designed to help keep up with the competitive scene. The rise of the MOBA has had a direct impact on the popularity of so called esports, and Dota 2 has a lively competitive scene that can be hard to keep up with. Some of the sites on this list will let you know who are the teams to watch out for, and when the next great tournament is taking place. PurgeGamers.com I’ve talked about Purges stream before, but his Dota 2 website is also a fantastic resource for Dota 2 information. I am especially fond of his giant article called “Welcome to Dota, You Suck.” This epic article covers almost every aspect of the game and is something I suggest all new players take the time to read. It’s not a short article by any stretch, but the knowledge contained within makes it well worth the time to sit down and plow through. In addition to his articles, Purge also pulls some select games from his streams and posts them to the site. He even does commentary over replays of games, which offers more detailed learning, because he is focused more on teaching and less on playing. The News section even covers the competitive scene, so this site really has it all. Dota2.com The official Dota 2 website is a shockingly good resource. It comes equipped with a “Heropedia” designed to introduce games to the massive list of heroes, and the Steam Guides, which are also available in the game itself. These guides, written by players, offer an incredible amount of depth and knowledge for specific heroes and general gameplay tactics. The official site does not go too deep into the competitive scene, but it covers the big tournaments like The International. Any Dota 2 fan should spend a good deal of time on this site. PlayDota.com This is, without question, one of the most content-packed Dota 2 websites around. It is considered an official site, and as such, all the information contained within it is accurate. In terms of news, it’s not the most active website, but it does cover much of what is happening in the biggest professional tournaments. The bread and butter of PlayDota is the forum. It is a massive community of players covering everything from the competitive scene to tips for new players. It even continues to deal with the original Warcraft 3 Dota mod, so old school players can still get their fix there. Besides the forums, there is tons of articles and other key information to help you expand your knowledge of everything Dota. For the hardcore player, it’s easy to lose many hours hanging out on PlayDota. Reddit.com/r/Dota2 The Dota2 Reddit is always growing, and with it, the amount of content posted expands. As you would expect from Reddit, plenty of photos are posted, but there is also a great deal of strategy discussion and players talking about the competitive scene. If you want a place to come discuss Dota 2 with other serious players, this Reddit is a great option. Dota Insight Dota Insight has a website, but there is not much on there other than a few hero guides. The reason this makes the list is because of their fantastic Dota 2 podcast. It’s

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At Microsoft's Xbox One event Tuesday, the company announced the next evolution of its entertainment focus: Halo the TV series. Halo the TV series will be a live-action show coming to Xbox Live. That's right, Xbox is becoming its own TV network of sorts. Even better, Steven Spielberg will be involved — likely as an executive producer. SEE ALSO: Microsoft's New Xbox: Live From the Unveiling We'll update this post with more details as it develops. Let us know in the comments what you think about a Halo TV series. Image courtesy of Microsoft Read more...More about Xbox, Halo, Entertainment, Gaming, and Tv

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