Yearly Archives: 2013

After Homicide Ruling, No Charges Against Cops Who Killed Disabled Man In A Movie Theater

"Less than five miles from the theater where a man with Down syndrome died at the hands of the law enforcement officials he idolized, a grand jury on Friday heard the details of the case and decided that no crime had been committed. Grand jury proceedings are secretive in Maryland, but Smith said that his office presented the jury with 17 witness statements and that three deputies involved in the death — Lt. Scott Jewell, Sgt. Rich Rochford and Deputy First Class James Harris — all testified." Continue reading →

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“Stomp on Jesus’ Name or Flunk My Class,” Says Professor. Student Refuses. Gone!

"A student in a class in the academically peripheral Florida Atlantic University was told by the instructor to stomp on the name of Jesus. Do it, or flunk. The student refused. He then protested to the administration. Result: the student has been told not to attend the class, not to talk to other students, and shut up. This has hit the press. Now there will be a huge stink. Some administrative bureaucrat has defended this action. My guess: if the instructor were white, he would not have his contract renewed. But now the administration is caught between a rock and a hard place. Either it gets accused of racism or it gets accused of blatant stupidity. I love it." Continue reading →

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Wuala: Secure Cloud Storage – Backup. Sync. Share. Access Everywhere.

"Wuala is a secure cloud storage, made in Switzerland. As the Swiss knife of cloud storage, it covers all the essential needs for professional and personal use: with Wuala, you can store your files securely online, share them with select others, access them from anywhere, setup automatic backups of your local data, or synchronize whole folders to the cloud. Wuala employs client-side-encryption to achieve a unique level of security. All data is encrypted locally, before it is uploaded. Your password never leaves your computer. Nobody - not even we as storage provider - can access your data without your authorization." Continue reading →

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Are You A Good Candidate For Expatriation?

"I’ve discovered the motivations for our expatriation clients to take this step are more nuanced than mere tax avoidance. A case in point is the overwhelming compliance burden U.S. taxpayers living overseas face. The information reporting regime they face is complex, overlapping, and constantly evolving. Even minor violations are subject to draconian penalties. What’s more, U.S. laws force foreign banks and other financial institutions to enforce U.S. tax and reporting rules with respect to their U.S. clients. In many cases, it’s easier for foreign banks to 'fire' U.S. clients than deal with this risk." Continue reading →

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Idea is floated for a start-up colony anchored in the Pacific Ocean

"Two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, frustrated by the shortage of visas that keep some of the world's brightest science and engineering minds from building companies on dry land, have hatched a plan to build a start-up colony in the middle of the Pacific. They plan to park a cruise ship 12 nautical miles off the coast of Northern California in international waters. Foreign-born entrepreneurs would live and work on the ship, building start-ups within commuting distance of Silicon Valley. They wouldn't have to get work visas that are so hard to come by. They would just need business tourism visas that would let them ferry back and forth to Silicon Valley." Continue reading →

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Internationalization and the Libertarian Principle

"A quiet exodus has begun. Increasingly, citizens of the troubled First World are investigating the possibility of expatriating to more favourable destinations. At present, a 'flood' has not occurred into any jurisdiction; however, the numbers are unquestionably on the rise in quite a few countries. Many of these people come from those countries that, until recently, were considered to be the best places to be. Of greater interest than the actual percentages, however, is the description of those expatriating." Continue reading →

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Federal Reserve Monetary Policy To Target Wealth Inequality?

"The gap between the wealthy and the rest of America is a hot-button issue in Washington-especially in the White House and Congress. Recently, the Federal Reserve has also taken a greater interest in the topic. And some analysts are asking whether financial inequality in the U.S. might soon become part of the Fed's decision-making process. In a recent research note, Credit Suisse research analysts Neal Soss and Dana Saporta wrote that 'the issue of growing income and wealth disparity in the U.S. is gaining stature among Federal Reserve officials and may become the next important macroeconomic variable for monetary policy.'" Continue reading →

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Chris Hedges: The Day That TV News Died

"Phil Donahue and Bill Moyers, the last honest men on national television, were the only two major TV news personalities who presented the viewpoints of those of us who challenged the rush to war in Iraq. General Electric and Microsoft—MSNBC’s founders and defense contractors that went on to make tremendous profits from the war—were not about to tolerate a dissenting voice. Donahue was fired, and at PBS Moyers was subjected to tremendous pressure. A leaked MSNBC memo stated that Donahue was hurting the image of the network. He would be a 'difficult public face for NBC in a time of war,' the memo read. Donahue never returned to the airwaves." Continue reading →

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How The News Media Betrayed Us On Iraq

"The tenth anniversary of the start of America’s illegal and aggressive war against Iraq should not pass without recalling that the mainstream news media eagerly participated in the Bush administration’s dishonest campaign for public support. Most news operations were little more than extensions of the White House Office of Communications. The media became shameful conduits for unsubstantiated and outright false information about Saddam Hussein’s alleged threat to the American people. Unfortunately, even as media figures now issue mea culpas about their shameful Iraq 'coverage,' they are engaged in precisely the same shoddy business with respect to Iran." Continue reading →

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‘Pesky Critters’ and the Oklahoma Drone Summit 2013

Kaye Beach March 26, 2012 The 2013 Oklahoma Unmanned Aerial Systems Summit was held today in Norman. http://www.uasoklahoma.com/agenda2.pdf I would have loved to attended this event but the attendance conditions were quite intimidating even if I had of found out … Continue reading →

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