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Putin supports bill granting amnesty to white-collar criminals

“Putin said the new law would cover only those who committed business-related crimes for the first time and not be applied to repeat offenders. The amnesty has been heavily backed by Russia’s business community as well as human rights figures who argue that bureaucrats use complex laws to hound entrepreneurs and jail those who refuse to pay heavy bribes. In a keynote address to the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin also unveiled a $13.7-billion stimulus package designed to help Russia spend its way out of an economic slump that threatens to reach recession by the end of the year.” Continue reading →

Snowden headed to Venezuela via Moscow and Cuba

“Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then plans to go to Venezuela, a source at the Russian airline Aeroflot said on Sunday. The source said Snowden was already on his way to Moscow from Hong Kong and would leave for Havana within 24 hours. The South China Morning Post also reported that Snowden had left Hong Kong for Moscow and that his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland. The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said Snowden was heading for an unnamed ‘democratic nation’.” Continue reading →

Charles A. Burris: War Crimes, the Holocaust, and Today’s National Security State

“Vocal defenders of the National Security State loudly proclaim that such extra-constitutional intrusions into the privacy of Americans are justified on the grounds of ‘national security’ because we are at total war with Radical Islam and its alleged supporters. 9/11 changed everything. The rule of law and constitutional safeguards are to be suspended during this national emergency. The Constitution is not a ‘suicide pact.’ Survival of the state is the only thing that counts. These are precisely the very arguments used by Otto Olendorf, commander of Einsatzgruppe D, and his fellow defendants in their Nuremberg War Crime Trials following World War Two.” Continue reading →

Pelosi booed at Netroots while defending espionage charges against Snowden

“A man identified by Politico as 57-year-old Marc Perkel can be heard shouting, ‘It’s not a balance. It’s not constitutional! No more secret laws!’ Perkel was ejected from the room by security, while other audience members shouted for him to be left alone. Shortly thereafter, loud boos can be heard coming from the audience after she said former NSA contractor Edward Snowden ‘did violate the law’ in releasing details about NSA programs like PRISM. Pelosi also defended President Barack Obama against charges that the surveillance of private residents’ phone and internet use constituted a ‘fourth term’ for his predecessor, George W. Bush.” Continue reading →

NSA controversy boosts interest in ‘private’ Internet search engines

“While Google’s market share has not seen a noticeable dent, privacy search engines like US-based DuckDuckGo and European-based Ixquick have seen jumps in traffic from users seeking to limit their online tracks. The stored data has become a concern following revelations of a massive surveillance program run by the secretive National Security Agency, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other Internet firms. US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism. The same data and profiles can be used by the search engine to deliver ads and sold to outside marketers as well.” Continue reading →

Snowden spy squabble deepens as U.S. is accused of hacking China

“Within hours of news breaking that the US had filed charges against Snowden, the South China Morning Post reported that the whistleblower had handed over a series of documents to the paper detailing how the US had targeted Chinese phone companies as part of a widespread attempt to get its hands on a mass of data. Text messaging is the most popular form of communication in mainland China where more than 900bn SMS messages were exchanged in 2012. As Snowden made his latest disclosures, he appeared to be gaining support from politicians in Hong Kong who said China should support him against any extradition application from the US.” Continue reading →

Email from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe

“In an email sent hours before his death in a single-car L.A. crash, journalist Michael Hastings wrote that his ‘close friends and associates’ were being interviewed by the FBI and he was going to ‘go off the radar for a bit.’ According to the email, Hastings wrote he was working on a ‘big story’ and was going to disappear. He told his colleagues that if the FBI came to interview them, they should have legal counsel present. Hastings was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI. The FBI said Hastings was never under investigation by the agency.” Continue reading →

IRS cracks down on family land gifts not declared at tax time [2011]

“The Internal Revenue Service is looking at land-transfer records state-by-state for evidence of people neglecting to report within-family real-estate gifts. This year, large family land gifts were popular because of a new tax rule that established $5 million as the amount someone can give in a lifetime before having to pay a gift tax. However, any property worth more than $13,000, gifted to one person, is still supposed to be reported to the IRS. To be precise, Form 709 reports U.S. gifts and generation-skipping transfer taxes.” Continue reading →