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Internet Sales Tax Passes the Senate, 69 to 27

“Republicans in the U.S. Senate caved in. They voted to force businesses located in one state to serve as unpaid tax collectors for 45 other states. (Five states have no sales tax.) The RINO Party Line is that this is not a tax increase. It is a huge tax increase. Voters will pay it. Businesses will pay it. The nightmare of complying will kill tens of thousands of online businesses. This is a subsidy to Walmart, which pays sales taxes because it is physically located in all states. Amazon has also joined in — same reason. It has delivery centers in several states, and it plans to add lots more. These companies want small businesses to pay. They do not want competition.” Continue reading →

CIA requested ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ rewrites, memo reveals

“A newly declassified CIA document suggests members of the US agency did help to shape the narrative of Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s recent film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It has now emerged that the CIA did successfully pressure Boal to remove certain scenes from the Zero Dark Thirty script, some of which might have cast the agency in a negative light. Details emerged in a memo released under a US Freedom of Information Act request. It summarises five conference calls held in late 2011 for staff in the agency’s Office of Public Affairs ‘to help promote an appropriate portrayal of the agency and the Bin Laden operation’.” Continue reading →

Banks in Singapore agonize over rich clients in tax evasion clampdown

“The Southeast Asian city-state has grown into the world’s fourth-biggest offshore financial center but, with U.S. and European regulators on the hunt for tax cheats, the government is clamping down to forestall the kind of onslaught from foreign authorities that is now hitting Switzerland’s banks. Before July 1, all financial institutions in Singapore must identify accounts they strongly suspect hold proceeds of fraudulent or wilful tax evasion and, where necessary, close them. After that, handling the proceeds of tax crimes will be a criminal offence under changes to the city-state’s anti-money laundering law.” Continue reading →

Medical breakthrough: Antibiotics could cure 40% of back pain patients

“Up to 40% of patients with chronic back pain could be cured with a course of antibiotics rather than surgery, in a medical breakthrough that one spinal surgeon says is worthy of a Nobel prize. The shock finding means that scores of patients with unrelenting lower back pain will no longer face major operations but can instead be cured with courses of antibiotics costing around £114. Scientists at the University of Southern Denmark found that 20% to 40% of chronic lower back pain was caused by bacterial infections. The NHS spends £480m on spinal surgery each year, the majority of which is for back pain.” Continue reading →

105-year-old woman says eating bacon every day is her key to long life

“A 105-year-old woman from Richland, Texas says that the key to long life is bacon. Pearl Cantrell’s love of bacon is so strong that the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile made a stop through town last week to wish her a happy birthday, all because she told a local news station her amazing secret. ‘I love bacon, I eat it everyday,’ she told a reporter for Abilene-based Big Country Homepage in April. ‘I don’t feel as old as I am, that’s all I can say.'” Continue reading →

Lawyers say case against Kim Dotcom threatens Internet freedom

“Lawyers for Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom accused the US government Wednesday of launching a flawed prosecution against their client with ‘frightening’ implications for all Internet users. The New Zealand-based Internet tycoon’s legal team released a ‘white paper’ to coincide with a visit to Auckland by US Attorney General Eric Holder, which argues that online piracy allegations against Dotcom are baseless. The 38-page document says that while copyright issues are normally treated as a civil matter, US prosecutors are trying to use anti-racketeering criminal statutes normally used against gangsters to press their case.” Continue reading →

Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox hit by $75 million lawsuit

“A lawsuit against Bitcoin’s main trading exchange Mt. Gox was filed this week regarding rights to the North American market. And no, the plaintiff is not seeking damages in Bitcoins. CoinLab, backed by venture capitalist Peter Vessenes, said it entered into an agreement with Mt. Gox in November that gave CoinLab access to Mt. Gox’s technology – its computer servers and the ‘exclusive right to certain intellectual property’ – so that CoinLab could provide exchange services to North American customers as Mt. Gox’s exclusive partner in the region. Mt. Gox is based in Japan. The suit alleges that Mt. Gox beached its contract with CoinLab.” Continue reading →

What You Need To Know About The Liberator 3D-Printed Pistol

“The barrel of the gun is threaded but I wouldn’t expect this weapon to be very accurate. Think of this gun as a controlled explosion generator. It uses a very small .380 caliber bullet which is deadly, to be sure, but quite small. Could I print one? Yes. You can easily download the 3D-printable files from DEFCAD.org (here is a private mirror) and if you have a 3D printer you can easily print any of these parts. The creators built this gun using the Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, a high-resolution printer that works similarly to the Makerbot but offers a far finer and more durable print. This printer has a layer thickness of .25mm, however, which the Makerbot can easily match.” Continue reading →