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Switzerland to sign free trade agreement with China

“Switzerland has reached an agreement on details of a free-trade pact with China and expects to sign a deal in coming months, the country’s economy minister said on Wednesday. ‘What we currently have is a deal at the technical level,’ Johann Schneider-Ammann told a news conference in Berne. He said exact details of the agreement would be given once it has been signed in the next few months. China is Switzerland’s third biggest trading partner after the European Union and the United States, and the pact covers industry as well as agriculture. More details may emerge when China’s Premier Li Keqiang visits Switzerland next week.” Continue reading →

Obama accepts resignation of IRS acting chief over ‘inexcusable’ tea party scandal

“Barack Obama fired the most senior tax official in the US on Wednesday in an effort to bring a speedy end to a scandal over the targeting for special scrutiny of Tea Party organisations and other conservative groups. The president said that the acting commissioner, Steven Miller, was asked to resign and that Miller had done so. Miller’s sacking followed an independent report by the Treasury’s inspector general, which found that the conduct in the IRS office in Cincinnati had been ‘inappropriate’. Officials had picked out groups with the words Tea Party or Patriots in their titles and subjected their requests for tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny.” Continue reading →

Granite State ‘Bitcom’ trio counting on virtual currency Bitcoin

“Their invention, the Bitcoin Machine, is gaining widespread attraction within the community of Bitcoin users after its debut at the third international Bitcoin conference, ‘The Future of Payments,’ in San Jose, Calif., May 17-19. The machine allows users to insert currency into a bill validator, a common component of any vending machine. The machine calculates the value of the currency and displays a QB code (those fancy bar codes that mobile devices can read). Customers ‘read’ the QB code with their mobile device, and Bitcoins are deposited into their virtual ‘wallet’ based on the value of Bitcoin per dollar at that moment.” Continue reading →

Donations, lobbying by high-speed traders on the rise

“High-frequency trading firms increased their campaign contributions to federal lawmakers by 673 percent from the 2008 to the 2012 election cycle, according to a report that sheds light on their political connections in Washington and efforts to impact policymaking. It compiles the campaign and lobbying records for 48 different firms like Citadel Investments, Getco, Knight Capital (KCG.N), Virtu Financial LLC and Tradeworx which engage in high-speed trading, a strategy that uses lightning-fast computers to search for ways to take advantage of tiny price moves in the marketplace.” Continue reading →

Cables reveal American diplomats lobbied aggressively overseas for genetically modified food crops

“The review of more than 900 diplomatic cables by the campaign group Food and Water Watch showed a carefully crafted campaign to break down resistance to GM products in Europe and other countries, and so help promote the bottom line of big American agricultural businesses. The cables, which first surfaced with the Wikileaks disclosures two years ago, described a series of separate public relations strategies, unrolled at dozens of press junkets and biotech conferences, aimed at convincing scientists, media, industry, farmers, elected officials and others of the safety and benefits of GM products.” Continue reading →

The Digital Trap in your Offshore Plan

“It is concerning to see people contacting their offshore lawyers, real estate agents, investment professionals, bankers, etc. using their Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail account. Even more concerning is how many offshore professionals were using these free US email accounts themselves. When I told these providers that US law enforcement authorities could access any emails over 6 months old without a warrant in any US-based email account, they were, by and large, surprised. Many discussions took place on how to help protect themselves and their customers by moving their email communications offshore, just like other services.” Continue reading →

Action Alert Medicaid Expansion Battle Pt. 2 “Lipstick on a Pig”

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants.It is the creed of slaves.”–William Pitt in the House of Commons November 18, 1783 “The appropriation of public money is always is perfectly lovely until some one is asked to pay the bill..” President Calvin Coolidge–New York Herald Tribune, August …

U.S. Army investigates sexual assault prevention officer for sex abuse

“The unnamed Army sergeant first class had been assigned as an Equal Opportunity Advisor and Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program, according to the Army. He was immediately suspended from his position once the allegations were made, but has not been charged yet. The alleged incident or incidents involved pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault, and maltreatment. The investigation came just a week after an Air Force sexual assault prevention officer was arrested for drunkenly assaulting a woman in a parking lot.” Continue reading →