Yearly Archives: 2013

Greek Finance Minister Gets Bullet In The Mail

"Greece's finance minister was sent a bullet and a death threat from a group protesting home foreclosures, police officials said on Monday, in the latest incident to raise fears of growing political violence. The package was sent by a little-known group called 'Cretan Revolution', which warned the minister against any efforts to seize homes and evict homeowners, police sources said. The group sent similar letters to tax offices in Crete last week." Continue reading →

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Karl Rove: ‘God bless President Obama’ for killing U.S. citizen al-Awlaki

"Republican strategist Karl Rove ripped the media on Tuesday for attacking Bush administration officials who justified the use of torture. He also praised President Barack Obama for using drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens. The former Bush adviser said that officials like Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Jay Bybee and others were 'excoriated' and 'hounded' by liberals and the media. Yet the Obama administration has faced little criticism for justifying the use of drone strikes against U.S. citizens. Though Rove believed the 'cowardly' media was 'hypocritical' and 'callow,' he said he supported the President’s use of drones." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKarl Rove: ‘God bless President Obama’ for killing U.S. citizen al-Awlaki

Minnesota’s Snowbird Tax

"Income earned in the state is already taxed regardless of residence status, but many retirees or vacationers own a home in the state and live there only for the summer. The new tax would hit income not earned in Minnesota by those who don't currently spend the requisite six months and a day in the state to qualify as a taxable resident. So, for example, if you returned to the land of 10,000 taxes only for July and August, you'd suddenly have to pay the taxman in St. Paul on dividend checks sent to your main residence in St. Pete. The state Revenue Department predicts the tax would raise $30 million over two years." Continue reading →

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Obama’s Tax Crackdown to Target Foreigners’ Accounts in US Banks

"The Obama administration may soon ask Congress for the power to require more disclosure by U.S. banks of information about foreign clients' accounts to those clients' home governments, as part of a crackdown on tax evasion, sources said. The information-sharing effort stems from a fight by the Treasury Department against offshore tax evasion under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, adopted in 2010 and set to begin taking effect at the end of 2013. At the heart of FATCA is a law requiring more disclosure by non-U.S. banks of information about Americans' accounts to the Internal Revenue Service." Continue reading →

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Charlottesville, Virginia Becomes First City to Pass Anti-Drone Legislation

"Charlottesville, Va., has become the first city in the United States to formally pass an anti-drone resolution. The resolution passed by a 3-2 vote and was brought to the city council by activist David Swanson and the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties group based in the city. The measure also endorses a proposed two-year moratorium on drones in Virginia. Councilmember Dede Smith, who voted in favor of the bill, says that drones are 'pretty clearly a threat to our constitutional right to privacy'." Continue reading →

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To Kill an American

"There were not too many surprises in the newly disclosed 'white paper' offering a legal reasoning behind the claim that President Obama has the power to order the killing of American citizens who are believed to be part of Al Qaeda. We knew Mr. Obama and his lawyers believed he has that power under the Constitution and federal law. We also knew that he utterly rejects the idea that Congress or the courts have any right to review such a decision in advance, or even after the fact. Still, it was disturbing to see the twisted logic laid out in black and white. It had the air of a legal justification written after the fact for a policy decision that had already been made." Continue reading →

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U.S. Prison Population Seeing “Unprecedented Increase”

"The research wing of the U.S. Congress is warning that three decades of 'historically unprecedented' build-up in the number of prisoners incarcerated in the United States have led to a level of overcrowding that is now 'taking a toll on the infrastructure' of the federal prison system. Over the past 30 years, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the federal prison population has jumped from 25,000 to 219,000 inmates, an increase of nearly 790 percent. Swollen by such figures, for years the United States has incarcerated far more people than any other country, today imprisoning some 716 people out of every 100,000." Continue reading →

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Establishment GOP to Tea Party: We’re Just Not That Into You

This article is for any grassroots organizations who still think working with Republican leadership is the way to change the political landscape for the better: You’d have to be intentionally oblivious to be unaware that the Republican Party powers-that-be and the associated high rollers who fund the Party and the candidates it fields have a… more

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Post Office Refuses To Pay Traffic Camera Tickets

"The mailman who delivers traffic camera tickets does not have to pay them, according to the US Postal Service (USPS). Postal officials refuse to pay the citations it received in the mail from American Traffic Solutions (ATS), a for-profit company based in Arizona. USPS Senior Litigation Counsel Jennifer S. Breslin was defiant in a January 22 letter to ATS, citing the establishment of post offices in the Constitution and the principle that the independent government agency works within local laws and regulations 'when feasible.'" Continue reading →

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City workers tow car after painting ‘handicapped parking’ markings around it

"In video posted to Facebook on Monday night, several workers are seen painting white lines around Hila Ben Baruch’s car and then adding a the universal symbol of a wheelchair behind the car to denote a disabled parking spot. Later in the video, a tow truck arrives to lift the car from its space and carries it away. 'While my car was parked in a [legal] blue-and-white spot, two municipal workers came by and signposted it as handicapped parking!' she wrote. 'In a heartbeat they repainted the curb, from blue and white to gray. That’s it. Simple.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCity workers tow car after painting ‘handicapped parking’ markings around it