Yearly Archives: 2013

The Cyprus Depositor Haircut

"The manager told him not to worry, saying the deposit insurance was per account, not per person. She added: ‘We just put your name on the account so your wife wouldn’t take money out without your consent.’ Remembering that in the 1980s his British building society had played down the risks of taking out an endowment mortgage, Demetriou asked if they were 100 per cent sure. He was told they were. The advice was 100 per cent wrong. The deposit insurance is per person, not per account. Soon afterwards, the banks closed for more than a week, and when they reopened, he’d been stripped of 44 per cent of his savings." Continue reading →

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State Department self-censors criticism of Eritrean diaspora tax in Human Rights Report

"With the release of the 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices yesterday, it seems the U.S. State Department has finally realised its hypocrisy in condemning Eritrea for imposing tax on the Eritrean diaspora to fund wars in Africa, while aiding the IRS to impose tax on the American diaspora so that the US can also fund wars in Africa, and the Middle East, and Central Asia, and … Unfortunately, State’s response has not been to levy similar criticisms against the IRS or to stop cooperating with it, but instead to tone down their criticisms of Eritrea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState Department self-censors criticism of Eritrean diaspora tax in Human Rights Report

China hits back with report on U.S. human rights record

"China on Sunday retorted the U.S. criticism and distortions of its human rights situation by publishing a report of the U.S. human rights record. The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012 was released by the Information Office of China's State Council, or the Cabinet, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 issued by the U.S. State Department. China in the report argued that there are serious human rights problems in the U.S. which incur extensive criticism in the world, as it has posed as 'the world judge of human rights' again." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul: Congress Exploits Our Fears to Take Our Liberty

"CISPA represents a troubling form of corporatism, where large companies cede their responsibility to protect their property to the federal government, at the expense of their customers' privacy and liberty. In this respect, CISPA can be thought of as an electronic version of the Transportation Security Administration, which has usurped the authority over airline security from private airlines. However, CISPA will prove to be far more invasive than even the most robust TSA screening. CISPA and the gun control bill are only the most recent examples of politicians manipulating fear to con the people into giving up their liberties." Continue reading →

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Authorization for Use of Military Force: a blank check for war without end

"The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed after the attacks of 11 September 2001, provides the legal cornerstone for the so-called US 'war on terror'. It allows the US government to wage war at anytime, any place and on anyone deemed a threat to national security. The AUMF opened the doors to the US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya; attacks on Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Mali; the new drone bases in Niger and Djibouti; and the killing of American citizens, notably Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old noncombatant son. It is what now emboldens the hawks on the warpath to Syria, Iran and North Korea." Continue reading →

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Overcharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

"Of the 50 states in the United States, 29 of them have state laws mandating renewable energy programs for local power generation plants. The trouble is, these alternative fuels are expensive. Natural gas costs have fallen by 70% since 2005. Fracking has made the difference. New supplies have lowered natural gas prices. This means that the 29 states are prohibited from buying low-cost, clean-burning natural gas. This raises the cost of electricity. In only 16 of these states have state legislators begun to discuss the possibility that these laws are economically foolish." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOvercharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

Life on Mars to become a reality in 2023 according to Dutch firm

"A few months before he died, Carl Sagan recorded a message of hope to would-be Mars explorers, telling them: 'Whatever the reason you’re on Mars is, I’m glad you’re there. And I wish I was with you.' On Monday, 17 years after the pioneering astronomer set out his hopeful vision of the future in 1996, a company from the Netherlands is proposing to turn Sagan’s dreams of reaching Mars into reality. The company, Mars One, plans to send four astronauts on a trip to the Red Planet to set up a human colony in 2023. But there are a couple of serious snags." Continue reading →

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India gives top security protection to country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani

"The Indian government is to provide the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, head of energy giant Reliance Industries, with full-time security from armed commandos, media reports said Monday. India’s home ministry approved the move, the Times of India said, two months after a letter threatening to harm Ambani was hand-delivered to his office in Mumbai, allegedly from the banned Indian Mujahideen militant group. Citing an unnamed government source, the newspaper said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had approved the so-called 'Z category' top-grade security for Ambani, which is usually reserved for prominent political leaders." Continue reading →

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‘No frills’ Indian hospitals offer $800 heart surgery

"What if hospitals were run like a mix of Wal-Mart and a low-cost airline? The result might be something like the chain of 'no-frills' Narayana Hrudayalaya clinics. Using pre-fabricated buildings, stripping out air-conditioning and even training visitors to help with post-operative care, the group believes it can cut the cost of heart surgery to an astonishing 800 dollars. Already famous for his 'heart factory' in Bangalore, which does the highest number of cardiac operations in the world, the latest 'Temple of the Heart' projects are ultra low-cost facilities. 'Our target is to build and equip a hospital for six million dollars and build it in six months.'" Continue reading →

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U.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

"Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws. The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors' Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12." Continue reading →

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