text:
On January 24, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee chairman released a discussion draft on the tax treatment of financial products and derivatives. This wide-reaching proposal, if enacted, would fundamentally change the taxation of financial products and derivatives entered into by individuals, businesses and trading firms. The discussion draft is just that—a proposal—which means that U.S. taxpayers need to understand the implications of the proposal and to speak out about their views.
On January 24, 2013, the U.S. House Ways and Means (HW&M) Committee chairman released a financial product tax reform discussion draft to revolutionize the tax rules with respect to financial products and derivatives (the Proposal).
The Proposal is in response to the historic December 2011 joint hearing of the HW&M and the Senate Finance Committee. McDermott Will & Emery partner Andrea Kramer was one of four guests invited to provide testimony at that hearing, where she testified that the current tax hedging provisions need to be expanded to include various risk management transactions that are not "hedges" under current tax law.
The Proposal addresses six areas:
- Imposing mark-to-market accounting for financial derivatives
- Simplifying" business hedging identification requirement
- Preventing "phantom" income and deductions on debt restructurings
- Harmonizing taxation of bonds in the secondary market traded at discounts or premiums
- Changing tax basis calculations for securities
- Expanding the scope of the wash sale rule
In the remainder of this newsletter, we summarize the Proposal's key provisions.
Impose Uniform Mark to Market Taxation on Financial Derivatives
The Proposal seeks uniformity for the tax treatment of derivatives by requiring all non-exempt derivative positions (broadly defined as futures, forwards, options and notional principal contracts) to be marked to market at the end of each tax year so that changes in the value of derivatives result in currently taxable gain or loss. Gains or losses from marking derivatives to market would be uniformly treated as ordinary income or loss attributable to a trade or business of the taxpayer, allowing losses to be deducted against ordinary income.
The mark to market rules would apply to all taxpayers, including individuals, although businesses that enter into transactions that meet the tax hedge definition can qualify for an exemption.
While the Proposal would not extend to non-derivative positions (such as stock, securities or physical commodities) on a stand-alone basis, the Proposal would require mark to market taxation for any non-derivative that is part of a tax straddle with a derivative (referred to as a mixed straddle). Under this mixed straddle rule, all positions would be marked to market as ordinary income or loss. Any pre-straddle gains on non-derivative positions held prior to entering into the straddle would be recognized at the time the straddle is entered into. Pre-straddle losses, however, would be deferred until the non-derivative position is disposed of in an otherwise taxable transaction.
To determine the amount of mark to market gain or loss on derivative positions, the Proposal would grant regulatory authority to allow taxpayers to rely on the fair market value of the derivatives that taxpayers report for financial or credit purposes. Such regulatory authority, however, does not solve the problems that will likely arise in determining the value of illiquid or long-dated products.
The Proposal applies to all derivatives, as broadly defined, subject to two exceptions. First, derivatives used by businesses as tax hedges to mitigate the risks of price, currency and interest rate changes in their business operations would be exempt from mark to market. Another exception would be provided for certain—but not all—derivatives relating to real estate (such as options to acquire real estate).
Several tax law provisions would be repealed because of imposition of mark to market taxation and uniform ordinary income for derivatives, such as the 60/40 tax treatment currently available to Section 1256 contracts (including domestic futures contracts and non-equity options).
Debt instruments with embedded derivatives would be bifurcated into their debt and derivative components, with the derivative component being marked to market. For example, a convertible security would be treated as a separate non-convertible debt instrument and an equity option. A debt instrument would not be treated as having an embedded derivative, however, if it is (1) denominated in or specifies payments by reference to a nonfunctional currency, (2) a contingent payment debt instrument, (3) a variable rate debt instrument or (4) a debt with an alternative payment schedule.
This change would be effective for derivatives entered into after December 31, 2013.
Simplify Business Hedging Tax Rules
Business hedgers that meet the hedge identification rules currently match the timing and character of gains and losses on hedging transactions with the gains and losses associated with the ordinary property, ordinary obligation or borrowing being hedged. The Proposal would exempt business hedging transactions from the tax mark to market rules discussed above. Under current law, a business hedger must identify tax hedges on the day the hedge is entered into and the hedged property on a substantially contemporaneous basis.
Taxpayers would be permitted to meet their tax hedge identification requirement by relying on hedge identifications made for financial accounting purposes. This would protect taxpayers from inadvertently failing to qualify for tax hedging treatment by failing to make a same-day identification. While this would provide relief from inadvertently failing to identify a tax hedge, it does not in any way modernize or expand the tax hedging rules.
This change would be effective for hedging transactions entered into after December 31, 2013.
Expansion of Wash Sales Rules to Related Parties
The Proposal would expand the tax wash sale rules to include acquisitions of replacement securities by certain closely related parties, including spouses, dependents, controlled or controlling entities (such as corporations, partnerships, trusts or estates), and certain qualified compensation, retirement, health and education plans or accounts. In addition, the tax basis of substantially identical stock or securities is not adjusted to include the disallowed loss in an acquisition by a related party other than the taxpayer's spouse, disallowing such losses.
This change would be effective for sales and other dispositions occurring after December 31, 2013.
Revise Issue Price Definitions to Eliminate "Phantom" Income and Deductions to Issuers Resulting from Debt Restructurings
To eliminate phantom cancellation of indebtedness (COD) income (meaning, COD income where there is not an actual forgiveness of principal) that many issuers recognize in connection with a restructuring involving an actual exchange of debt or a modification resulting in a significant modification under the "Cottage Savings" regulations, the Proposal would alter the manner in which the issue price of the new or resulting debt is determined. Under current law, in a debt-for-debt exchange, if either the old debt or the new debt is "publicly traded," as defined in Treasury Regulations, the issue price of the new debt is based on either its fair market value or the fair market value of the old debt. This fair market value issue price determination in a distressed debt setting can lead to cancellation of indebtedness income to the borrower (phantom COD income) even though the exchange or modification did not otherwise result in a reduction in the principal amount owed by the issuer.
The Proposal would alter this result by redefining the issue price of the new debt in a taxable debt-for-debt exchange (a specified debt modification) to equal the lesser of the adjusted issue price of the existing (old) debt instrument or the issue price of the modified (new) debt instrument, which would now be determined under Code § 1274 as if the debt instrument were a debt instrument to which that section applied (that is, the principal amount if there is adequate stated interest or, otherwise, the imputed principal amount). This floor on the issue price of the modified debt instrument would be reduced, however, by any amount of actual principal that is forgiven, which forgiven amount would continue to result in COD income to the borrower.
The proposed issue price determination in a specified debt modification would also apply to holders of the debt.
The issue price determination under the Proposal would also impact an issuer's calculation of its potential redemption premium in a debt-for-debt exchange.
This change would apply to transactions after December 31, 2013.
Market Discount and Market Premium Amendments
Under current law, when a bond is purchased in the secondary market at a discount, the purchaser is not required to include market discount in income until the bond is retired or the holder resells the bond. An election is available allowing the holder of a market discount bond to accrue such discount into income over the life of the instrument. While there are ancillary consequences to a holder of a market discount bond if the holder does not elect to accrue market discount, market discount accretions are not mandatory under current law.
The Proposal would, if adopted, require purchasers of bonds acquired at a discount on the secondary market to include market discount in taxable income over the remaining life of the instrument. The amount of the market discount inclusion for any taxable year would be computed (like original issue discount) on the basis of a constant interest rate.
The Proposal would include a special rule for bonds held by a partnership. Under this special rule, in the case of bonds held by a partnership with respect to which a transfer of a partnership interest occurs by sale or exchange or by reason of death, the market discount rules would be applied to the transferee partner as if any bond held by the partnership were acquired at the time of the transfer.
In an effort to distinguish market discount resulting from changes in interest rates from market discount resulting from deterioration of the issuer's creditworthiness, the Proposal would limit taxable secondary market discount to the amount that reflects increases in interest rates since the loan was originally made. Specifically, the Proposal would limit taxable secondary market discount to an amount based on the greater of the original yield on the bond plus 5 percentage points or the applicable federal rate plus 10 percentage points.
These market discount changes would apply to bonds acquired after December 31, 2013.
The Proposal also includes amendments aimed at premium bonds by allow taxpayers to claim "above-the-line" deductions for bonds acquired at a premium on a secondary market. This market premium provision would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2013.
Change the Determination of Tax Basis on Sales of Securities
The Proposal would change the rules for specifying the tax basis of securities that are sold by requiring a taxpayer who sells a portion of its holdings in substantially identical securities to determine its taxable gain or loss based on the taxpayer's average tax basis in the securities, including both the securities sold and the securities retained by the taxpayer. This Proposal would be coordinated with the recently enacted basis reporting requirements so that taxpayers would continue to be permitted to determine basis in their securities on an account-by-account basis.
The Proposal treats any specified security that is acquired before January 1, 2014, as being in a separate account from any security that that is acquired on or after that date. A taxpayer determines the basis of any specified security acquired in 2014 and later by disregarding the basis of specified securities acquired before 2014. This rule would be effective for sales of securities after December 31, 2013.


text:
There are no events.
- Categories
politics city council rachel government featured blood drive valentines mexican margarita yoga Wildlife comedy Concerts Nevada Rnd&Soul Jazz Musical Desert Winds Colorations Ensemble Contemporary Performance filipino Museum Live music Wild West Rodeo Cowboys Downtown Parade Founders Atomic Cocktails Party mariachi festival ice cream foodtruck composer food family concert thesmithereens fremont smashmouth free missnevada thesmithcenter missamerica pageant Sinatra Sings Centennial henderson charlie brown children art KimJohnson winchester reception gallery gumball cars Lee liquor tequlia beer experience westgate first friday firstfriday lasvegas vegas movie date night date night town square fiesta culture django latin music aviation National Atomic Testing Museum Dina Titus radiation lecture comic comic books natural history museum history stars The Melancholics bar fun Jazz in the Park finale Brubeck Brothers opera UNLV Madama Butterfly safety summer pool ballet NBT Balanchine Chamber Voice Love books writer's block country book club magazines signing reading local author showcase Nashville science presentation series fiction book club bourbon photographer pirates Springs Preserve Las Vegas Philharmonic Touro University health fair wellness DISCOVER Children's Museum Star Wars Chamber Music Series Armernet Quartet string quartet Pink Martini Las Vegas Philharmonic Gershwin classical Morelli house Junior League of Las Vegas tour stand up Lipshtick Lipshitck SNMAS rehearsal Life Is Beautiful Ball Fundraising Fundraiser Neon museum orchestra rowing crew lakelasvegas community forum neighborhood dance CSN musicfestival wine tasting vegaspbs sonsofserendip Tilting the Basin exhibit Cheese Valley cheese and wine wine class class Cabaret Dianne Reeves Jazz Music Cabaret Jazz The Smith Center Matilda Play Matilda the Musical philanthropy Nevada's Big Give Donation funding Student Dance concert piano piano battle Charles Vanda Master Series Downtown Las Vegas Events Center show Downtown Container Park live music classic rock The Beach Boys 52 Fridays Taylor Dayne Richard Marx Grand Funk Railroad Beauty and the Beast Little Texas walk kids event photography Eddie Money Fremont Street Experience Golden Nugget Fremont Street St. Patrick's Day Killswitch Engage Rise Against rock The Mob Museum First Friday Latin theatre Clay Arts Vegas crafts Rachel's Kitchen bluegrass nature outdoors park picnic bbq dance music Dirtybird dj EDM book signing discussion mob Narconomics Speaker Media Ying Quartet Violin strings Easter Sister Fail Safe spring natural fresh52 Zootopia An American in Paris Clark County Fair & Rodeo cowboy The Writer's Block read bookstore sunday brunch Divine Cafe Easter bunny Holi festival of colors color Sunset Park Celebration Barrick Museum workshop screen printing John Bauer literary American Dreams literature Taj Express Bollywood performing arts Frankenstein's Bride Mob Museum Downtown Las Vegas Mafia activities games cooking zoo American Jazz Initiative The Space acoustic Clark County Morelli House Modern ArtWalk Boca Park big band instruments band Desert Research Institute learning spotlight concert Smith Center Peter Pan Nevada Ballet Theatre Hawaii Ohana Festival pacific Rigoletto Opera Las Vegas networking business meeting LV Philharmonic guild world international Hope Gala JDRF bid auction talk Brews and Blues blues Rainbow Company Nevada State Museum golf classic charity Rock the Socks documentary Stan Armstrong gala Eliza So Allison Wiese artist Art and Culture Day DjangoVegas! Galit advertising Mojave School writing James Brown Lon Bronson Band cats asteroids Asteroid Day Ben McGee Charleston Heights Center The Neon Museum Bernie Sindler Ann Callaway boat competition contest Cardboard Boat Regatta High School Neon Night neon Wet'N'Wild water water park Burt Bacharach YES rock and roll Wiseguy Speaker Series Ashley Hlebinsky Cirque du Soleil choreographer artists Yucca Mountain Dorian Wind Quintet author signing Fergusons kickoff jam plant sale plants Autumn photo police

subset: commoncrawl


text:
These business consultants are based in Aberdeenshire:
None Yet.
If you are a business consultant or you run a business consultancy and you'd like to be listed in the directory please contact me. This is a free service to help my readers and your inclusion in the directory is entirely at my discretion.
Click here to return to counties list.


text:
Vanguard EMS and Tektronix Component Solutions have signed a joint marketing agreement to formalize their collaboration and the joint offering of their capabilities to customers in the defense, aerospace, medical and industrial equipment markets. While companies in these markets frequently seek to control costs through outsourced manufacturing, finding suitable suppliers can be challenging due to the high-complexity and high-reliability requirements of their products. Through the collaboration of Vanguard EMS, a high-reliability electronics manufacturing service provider, and Tektronix Component Solutions, customers now have access to the engineering, manufacturing and test services needed to support their assembly requirements from the microelectronics level to final system build and test.
"Both companies have significant alignment in our business philosophies, emphasis on quality, culture, and, most importantly, how we serve customers," states Floyd Sutz, Chief Executive Officer, Vanguard EMS. "We are very excited about the joint marketing agreement with Tektronix Component Solutions and believe the services we jointly provide will be a significant benefit for our customers."
Tom Buzak, President, Tektronix Component Solutions adds, "With Vanguard's focus on turnkey Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly, system integration and test, and our breadth of capabilities in microelectronics component design, assembly and test, we believe the combined offerings will be a significant value to our customers. We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to collaborate with Vanguard to provide a broader solution."


text:
Bill Ryder-Jones | 18/04/13
He Took You In His Arms is the first single from Bill Ryder-Jones' new LP, A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, and will be available on 3rd June 2013.
Bill Ryder-Jones recently performed the track exclusively for Topman CTRL, watch it HERE.
The official video for He Took You In His Arms was filmed by rising star Alex Southam who has previously shot videos for Alt-J, The Walkmen & Lianne La Havas. It can be viewed here.
Ryder-Jones has now added shows at Liverpool Sound City, Stag & Dagger Festival in Glasgow as well as dates in Bristol and York, to the already announced Beacons, Festival Number 6, and London Lexington show on May 8th. UK dates with ticket links are as follows:
May 3rd – Liverpool, East Village Arts Club Theatre, Liverpool Sound City
May 8th - London, The Lexington
May 18th – Glasgow, CCA, Stag & Dagger Festival
June 6th – Bristol, The Louisiana
June 9th – York, The Duchess
Aug 16th to 18th - Beacons Festival
Sept 13th - 15th Festival Number 6
A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, which is out now in the UK, marries Ryder-Jones masterful capacities as arranger and composer with his first firm steps as a singer songwriter. The album was recorded in Ryder-Jones' old bedroom in the upstairs of his mother's house in Liverpool. Two friends from local band By The Sea made up the backing band for the recordings, which were then produced and mixed together with James Ford.


text:
Cotton Cambric Bandhani Printed Fabric
RS. 180.00/Meter
Type: Cotton Cambric
Print Type: Screen Print
Composition: 100% Cotton
Width: 42-44 Inches / 106-112 cms
Weight: 90 Grams per meter
Fabric Feel: Soft
Suitable for: Kurti, Ladies Tops, Casual Indian Dress, Western Dress, Ethnic Dress etc.
Wash Care: Machine Wash at 30 Degrees, Light Iron
Breathable: Yes
Order 1.5mtrs, 2.5mtrs, 3.5mtrs...etc
If you want to order in multiples of 0.5 meters, (example 1.5 mtrs, 2.5 mtrs, 3.5 mtrs etc), then you can contact us on whatsapp from the whatsapp button at the bottom of the screen.
*Please note that the minimum order is 1 meter.
Returns & Exchanges
✔ Returns & Exchanges are accepted within 7 days of delivery.
❌ Orders placed using store credits, cannot be returned.
❌ Orders once exchanged, cannot be returned or exchanged again.
❌ Returns or Exchanges cannot be accepted for products on Sale.


text: atanzey 8 Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 I've been in search of a floating blue that works for me. I've tried about three variations of basically the same formula, and the most recent has produced the best results. However, it apparently crackles. (Ping!) Not visibly, but audibly. I wanted some opinions (and this is usually a great place to get them) about whether the crackle is likely a function of the movement that creates the floating effect? I suspect that if I put this formula into Insight and manipulate it to get rid of the crackle, I might also get rid of the 'float'. Any thoughts, anyone? Alice Quote Link to post Share on other sites


text:
Lea Michele Strappy Sandals
Lea Michele styled her look with nude ankle-tie heels by Aquazzura.
Brand: Aquazzura
Brand: Aquazzura
Lea Michele Bodysuit
Lea Michele flaunted some cleavage (both front and side) in this sexy black bodysuit during the Blue Diamond Gala.
Lea Michele Short Shorts
Lea Michele kept the summery vibe going with a pair of black short shorts by Elie Saab.
Brand: Elie Saab
Brand: Elie Saab
Lea Michele Robe
Lea Michelle pulled her outfit together with a monochrome tie-dye robe by Raquel Allegra.
Browse: Lea Michele | Strappy Sandals | Bodysuit | Short Shorts | Robe
Popular Lookbooks see all looks »


text:
Article abstract: Wiesel is not only a prizewinning novelist, dramatist, and religious philosopher, but by writing and speaking out on behalf of the world's victims, he has become the conscience of modern times. For his work in this area he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Early Life
Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928, in Sighet, a small town in the Carpathian Mountains, in an area that belonged to Hungary during World War II but that was Romanian territory before and after the war. Wiesel's father, though a practicing member of the Jewish religious community, questioned traditional Judaism; a tolerant humanist, he emphasized the modern world at large and the need to be a part of it. Wiesel's mother had a lasting and, probably, deeper influence. A devout woman steeped in Hasidism, she hoped that her only son would become a rabbi. To that end, Wiesel studied the Torah and the Talmud in a local yeshiva known for its ascetic mysticism and Cabbalist teachers. This sheltered, bookish existence was irrevocably shattered in the spring of 1944, when the Nazis invaded Hungary and rounded up all its Jews, including Wiesel, his parents, and three sisters.
The fifteen-year-old Wiesel, along with his father, was sent first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, from which he was liberated by American troops on April 11, 1945. (His two elder sisters survived as well.) The horrors he witnessed there, the despair he felt, the anger he directed at God were all to be incorporated in his literary and philosophical writings. Shortly after the war, the young adolescent went to a refugee home in France, where in two years he learned French by carefully reading the classics, especially Jean Racine, whose style he was later to adopt; indeed, French remains Wiesel's preferred written language. In addition, he was developing a life-long passion for philosophy (starting with Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx) and for philosophical fiction.
From 1948 to 1951, Wiesel studied philosophy, psychology, and literature at the Sorbonne, but, forced to work, he never finished his thesis on comparative asceticism. Instead, he began a career as a journalist, which allowed him to travel extensively; after emigrating to the United States in 1956, he became the United Nations correspondent of an Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot.
At the urging of the French Catholic novelist François Mauriac, Wiesel agreed to bear witness to the six million Jews murdered in Europe's concentration camps. From a massive work which he wrote in Yiddish, Un di Velt hot geshvign (1956), Wiesel distilled a very brief but exceedingly powerful memoir of the Holocaust, published in French as La Nuit (1958; Night, 1960). Both a wrenching account of the presence of evil and a terrifying indictment of God's injustice, this book received international acclaim. Wiesel had found his voice and his themes.
Life's Work
Following the success of Night, Wiesel wrote in rapid succession two short novels presenting the guilty anguish of those who survived the mass slaughter: L'Aube (1960; Dawn, 1961) and Le Jour (1961; The Accident, 1962). That every act is ambiguous and implies a loss of innocence and that "God commit[s] the most unforgivable crime; to kill without a reason" are central to the protagonists' conduct and outlook. Little by little, however, Wiesel's characters come to realize that friendship can help them live in the post-Holocaust world. This is especially true in La Ville de la chance (1962; The Town Beyond the Wall , 1964), where, despite society's indifference to persecution and cruelty, loving and being a friend allow man to attain a kind of equilibrium. Questions about God, evil, and suffering, while they cannot be satisfactorily answered, must nevertheless be asked, since from the begining such a dialogue has been established between God and His creation. By rejoining his religious...
(The entire section contains 2108 words.)
Unlock This Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Elie Wiesel study guide. You'll get access to all of the Elie Wiesel content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
- Biography
- Critical Essays
- Analysis
Already a member? Log in here.


text:
Repository items are Dynamic Beans that implement the
RepositoryItem interface. Because they are registered as Dynamic Beans, RepositoryItems do not need to define
setX and
getX methods for each property. The properties of RepositoryItems are defined at application startup when the XML file that defines the repository template is parsed.
Each repository item has a unique repository ID. The Oracle ATG Web Commerce IdGenerator generates unique repository IDs and should be used instead of sequences generated directly by the database system. See the Core Dynamo Services chapter of the ATG Platform Programming Guide.
A repository organizes repository items into types that have the same set of properties. Each item type is defined by an item descriptor.


text:
CHICAGO — MillerCoors and the Milwaukee Brewers today announced a multi-year sponsorship renewal that will keep Miller Lite as the team's exclusive beer sponsor. Financial details and length of the renewal, which is separate from the stadium naming-rights agreement, were not released.
The brewery's dedication to professional baseball in Milwaukee goes back almost 60 years to 1953, when Frederick C. Miller — the great grandson of the brewery's founder — helped bring the Braves to the city. The partnership with the Brewers dates to 1970, the team's first year in Milwaukee.
"The alliance with the Brewers is perfect for Miller Lite because you see Miller Time brought to life in so many ways with Brewers fans," said Andy England, chief marketing officer at MillerCoors. "Whether it's the crew gathered at the pre-game tailgate, celebrating a big play in Miller Park or toasting another victory at the bar, Brewers fans have a true passion for their team that's a shared experience all season long."
The highlight of the new deal is the creation of the new Miller Lite Party Deck, a 70-seat deck built above the Miller Park right field Loge Bleachers that will open at the start of the 2013 season.
The Party Deck will feature 1,400 square feet of entertaining space and will include a new fixed bar, buffet counter, flat panel televisions and two levels of seating. The area will be available for groups to reserve for Brewers home games, offering an all-inclusive food and beverage experience in addition to a unique and private setting for the game.
The renewed Miller Lite alliance with the Brewers also includes:
├ÿ Exclusive rights to develop advertising, consumer promotions, retail POS, packaging and other marketing materials featuring the team/stadium name and marks.
├ÿ Continuation of the popular Friday Night Beerpen and Miller Lite Tailgate Town Saturdays promotions.
├ÿ In-stadium signage, as well as an advertising presence during all TV and radio broadcasts of Brewers games.
├ÿ MillerCoors will continue its fight against drunk driving by supporting the designated driver program at Miller Park, in partnership with the Brewers and Delaware North Company/Sport Service. Approximately 50,000 Brewers fans pledged to be designated drivers during the 2012 season. MillerCoors also will continue supporting TEAM Coalition training at Miller Park to support responsible sale of our beers by concessionaires and volunteers.
"The Milwaukee Brewers and MillerCoors partnership continues a relationship between two iconic heritage brands from our market," said Brewers Chief Operating Officer Rick Schlesinger. "We have great appreciation for the support that MillerCoors has demonstrated to the Brewers over the years, and today's announcement reaffirms that commitment. We look forward to the partnership's new offerings, including the Miller Lite Party Deck, which will further enhance Miller Park as one of the best fan experiences in professional sports."
About MillerCoors
Built on a foundation of great beer brands and nearly 300 years of brewing heritage, MillerCoors continues the commitment of its founders to brew the highest quality beers. MillerCoors is the second-largest beer company in the United States, capturing nearly 30 percent of beer sales in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Led by two of the best-selling beers in the industry, MillerCoors has a broad portfolio of brands across every major industry segment. The portfolio is led by the company's premium light brands: Coors Light, Miller Lite and Miller64. Coors Light, the World's Most Refreshing Beer, offers consumers refreshment as cold as the Rockies. Miller Lite established the American light beer category in 1975, offering beer drinkers a light beer that tastes like beer should. Miller64 is 64 calories of crisp, light taste that complements a balanced lifestyle. MillerCoors brews premium beers Coors Banquet and Miller Genuine Draft, and economy brands Miller High Life and Keystone Light. Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the MillerCoors craft and import division, imports Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch, and features craft brews from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Blue Moon Brewing Company and the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company. MillerCoors operates eight major breweries in the U.S., as well as the Leinenkugel's craft brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., and two microbreweries, the Tenth Street Brewery in Milwaukee and the Blue Moon Brewing Company at Coors Field in Denver. The MillerCoors vision is to create the best beer company in America through great people changing the way America enjoys beer. MillerCoors builds its brands the right way through brewing quality, responsible marketing and sustainable environmental and community impact. MillerCoors is a joint venture of SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company.


text:
Love and Afrofeminism: Queer Bois and the Gendered Politics of Partner Dancing
This post is part of my guest blog series called Love and Afrofeminism for BITCH magazine.
One night my friends and I went salsa dancing at a straight club. It doesn't get any more gendered than that. My girl had been asking me to go dancing with her for months. I had finally acquiesced, and was really looking forward to it. But the minute we got to the club, my confidence made for the door, leaving me stranded, feeling weird and freakish. I became very aware of myself as a woman in men's clothing, not short, not tall, black girl, poor girl, what are you doing here?
In my mind, I knew it was silly. I'm a great dancer. But something about that hall filled with really straight-looking people triggered my discomfort in a major way. I felt my girl pull my hand as she began leading the way, her straight friends following closely behind us, taking off their coats as they glided through the busy dance floor in that way some women do when they know they have eyes on them. I felt awkward shuffling along behind them, straining to keep my shoulders back and my face blank to feign disinterest, a cover for how insecure I felt in my ill-fitting clothing (at least compared to what everyone else was wearing). We hung our coats, and began looking for our friends. A song came on that everyone seemed to like, and I dug it. I was beginning to relax and settle into myself as we approached our friend's table. I figured I'd dance with my girl and soon forget about where we were. She always had that effect on me, so our dance was something to look forward to.
But before I knew it, I felt her drop my hand. I turned to my left, and saw that a slick haired older Latino guy had taken her other hand and pulled her unto the dance floor for the current number. She'd innocently obliged, 1-2-stepping away and swaying her hips to let her know that she was down, and twirling away from me as I stood there feeling more awkward than ever, abandoned, and embarrassed. My eyes darted around in search of familiarity, a safe harbor to crawl into. But I realized that our party had dispersed into the night and I was the only one not dancing. All three ladies had found male partners, so what did that mean for me? I wasn't nearly comfortable going up to any of the straight women to ask for a dance and face high school humiliation. I wasn't pretty enough to fare as competition, nor was I macho enough to warrant any other kind of attention. So they completely ignored me (but for the few that blatantly stared in pity or disdain).
Eventually, I found the friends we'd intended to meet. Relieved, I grabbed a beer, and found my station in the corner, where I planned to remain for the rest of the night. Eventually, my girl came back to me, sweat beads all along her forehead from at least three rounds of salsa, and the familiar glow of being around her people that I recognized. She was smiling when she approached me, but my face held stern. She gestured to me to dance with her and I abruptly refused, taking another sip from my beer so that she couldn't read me. Yet, even I couldn't understand the way I felt at that point.
It wasn't jealousy. My girl and I were in love and I didn't have any insecurities about her dancing with straight men. It wasn't even that Slick had gotten the first dance—I wasn't that kind of macho. No, it was something more. And it took me several hours, long after we'd left the club and were safely in bed, to articulate, even to myself.
I had felt unsafe in that space. The night had represented every micro aggression I'd ever experienced from straight people: cab drivers that kicked me out in the middle of the night because they wouldn't tolerate "that" at the back of their cabs, store managers who kept insisting I'd find better clothing in the women's section, every gay boy that looked me up and down with disdain because I wasn't conforming to their inherited fucked up view on what a woman should look like or wear to be "fabulous," straight women who blatantly ignored me because I didn't fit in the coop, and femme girls that ranted on and on about masculine privilege, but hardly ever acknowledged that their pretty privilege made their worlds so much bigger than mine. That my girl could mindlessly shimmy onto a dance floor even as a gay woman and enjoy the simple pleasure of a dance, go out with her straight friends to bars and not be stared at or called names, etc., while everything about the landscape, from the "Ladies free before 11PM" sign to the man-woman dance partner pairings made me so angry all of a sudden. And, I didn't know how to handle it.
All the memories I'd retained of my life as a straight girl, or even as a heteronormative queer femme (as I explored my gender shortly after coming out) came rushing back to me. I remember when people smiled brightly at me when I walked into restaurants—"How can I help you, miss?"—and I would smile back, knowing that I could get whatever I wanted simply because I was pretty. I remember being able to play up the damsel in distress card whenever I arrived late at the airport, scuttling along in heels and designer hand luggage, and the two or three guards would help me cut the line to make my flight, with an upgrade just because. I'd given all that up for the sake of being authentically me. I didn't regret it, or take it back. But becoming so aware of my lack of privilege, now, in those spaces, made me upset that it didn't occur to anyone else to be more considerate of how I felt.
What I'd like to share with you isn't about who has more privilege or who can pass, etc. I'm not interested in setting up an hierarchy of oppression. Life is fucked for a lot of us in more ways than we can calibrate, so instead, I'd like to share something else with you all, a few tips about how to be more supportive of people like me.
As a gender non-conforming (most of the time) boi who is dating a femme-identified woman, I have my responsibilities to her that I take seriously. I don't tolerate stupid misogynist jokes at her expense, I don't belittle her in front of anyone to validate my masculinity, when people assume that we stick to gendered roles in our household, I let her respond / answer honestly. I treat her with respect, always—as we should each other, regardless of how we identify—and I celebrate how powerful, and how protected I feel in spite of how scary the world can be sometimes, and I ask that she does the same. What we discovered that night is that there is more that she could do to make sure I feel seen, respected, and advocated for in gendered spaces.
So, here are a few tips we've discussed as a couple that I'd like to share with you, in case it resonates, and most especially, if you ever go salsa dancing:
1) Recognize you have "pretty privilege": As a cisgender, female-bodied person, you are able to move in and out of spaces because of your perceived heteronormativity—i.e., you are "a girl who still looks like a girl" to regular folk, you have passing privilege, and not everyone's gender presentation grants them that much ease of access to straight spaces. So please don't talk badly about those "queers who only hang out with queers" especially as a femme woman. It hurts. I have so many kinds of friends, that know and trust me. But I can't be dumped in the middle of blond highlight, Aldo stilettos Boston without warning. It's ME they'll stare and jeer at, not you.
2) Check the temperature of a space to ensure safety of your gender non-conforming friends: Similarly, as you can move in and out of spaces, check the pulse of a room before you invite your partner to enter it. If you are both invited to a straight friend's gathering, give them warning. If you are frolicking downtown and just want to choose a bar to go to, it may be good for you to walk in and assess the environment, rather than go through the humiliation of entering a place and then having to leave because people are assholes / staring / your partner is not comfortable.
3) Please do NOT use emasculation as a way to put me down, make fun of me, or belittle me. I can't tell you how much it infuriates me to hear femmes go, "Oh I can be a butch / stud / insertwhatevermasculinelabelhere, all I need to do is put on some baggy jeans and wear a hat." My identity isn't reduced to what I wear. I would never trivialize who you are by reducing your femininity down to some lipstick and earrings. This is not to say that I donít appreciate people who play with fashion / gender expression—I do. So I'm specifically referring to situations in which it's used to belittle / emasculate someone / put them down by suggesting that their gender / how they feel about themselves is a cheap performance, and doesn't go any deeper. As I'm sure you can imagine, for gender non-conforming / transgender people who choose not to / don't have the funds to be able to transition (via surgery / hormone therapy), this is extremely hurtful.
4) Don't use boilerplate rhetoric about sexism against me. If I don't mistreat you or put you down, please don't automatically pathologize me as such. I've always advocated for women; I'm a staunch feminist. Let's not inherit stereotypes about masculinity from straight people and naturally assume that I'm a misogynist asshole simply because I present more masculine. Innocent until proven guilty, okay? Then I definitely want you to call me out on it. In fact, please do. The last thing I want is to turn into the kind of person whose masculinity can only be affirmed by putting down other women.
These suggestions have obviously been very personalized to fit my own relationship. My partner identifies as femme, and I'm more masculine presenting; the dynamic between us in public spaces may be slightly different (or even perceived as such) based on gender roles and societal expectations. However, even if this doesn't apply to you—you're a straight, cis couple, two butches dating each other, two femmes, multiple partners, etc.—I do think keeping this in mind as a way to be more considerate and caring of gender non-conforming people can't hurt.
Have you had similar experiences? How did you handle it? What other suggestions/tips would you add for supporting people who don't conform to society's dogmatic gender norms when out in public (and other typically gendered) spaces?
Oh, and for the record, my partner and I have been practicing our Latin dancing (I've gotten so much better), and we are determined to learn how to dance like this. Who's with us?
Previously: Gender Roles and First Date, Who Pays?, Introducing a New Series on Love and Afrofeminism!
Image: onlinsalsa via Flickr