Alternative News

Tax Haven: Russia

"Russia has set up regional zones as tax havens. Factories are taxed at low rates. How low? This low. What if Detroit were allowed by the U.S. government and Michigan’s government to offer this? What if Detroit had been allowed to offer it in 1960? If it works in one region temporarily, why not all regions permanently? Most Russian [companies] pay 20% in income taxes. What do you pay in the USA? Add Social Security and Medicare. Add state income taxes. Pity the Russians. They live under tyranny. Right?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax Haven: Russia

Tax Haven: Russia

"Russia has set up regional zones as tax havens. Factories are taxed at low rates. How low? This low. What if Detroit were allowed by the U.S. government and Michigan’s government to offer this? What if Detroit had been allowed to offer it in 1960? If it works in one region temporarily, why not all regions permanently? Most Russian [companies] pay 20% in income taxes. What do you pay in the USA? Add Social Security and Medicare. Add state income taxes. Pity the Russians. They live under tyranny. Right?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax Haven: Russia

Los Angeles sheriff gives comedian award for racially-motivated routine

"The sheriff for Los Angeles County is facing criticism for presenting an award to a comedian who told a series of racially-motivated jokes at a luncheon held Wednesday, leaving some in the crowd feeling very uncomfortable. About 600-700 people were present for Wednesday’s lunch, put on by the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County, according to The LA Times. Officers in full uniform were roaring with laughter during the lunch as comedian Edwin San Juan cracked racially-motivated jokes spiked with sexually explicit language and ethnic slurs targeting African-Americans and people of Asian descent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLos Angeles sheriff gives comedian award for racially-motivated routine

Canadian officials deny that pooping geese could have spread GMO wheat seeds

"Canadian agricultural officials exchanged a series of emails in late August of 2012 outlining a crisis plan explaining how personnel at the country’s agricultural agency should deal with inquiries about whether experimental Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) wheat could be spread in the feces of Canadian geese. The Ottawa Citizen said Tuesday that it has received heavily redacted copies of the emails, which point toward a concerted effort to squelch the notion that GMO wheat could have escaped its growing area at Agriculture Canada’s Experimental Farm in Ottawa in the digestive tracts of Canadian geese." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanadian officials deny that pooping geese could have spread GMO wheat seeds

Unusual Cremation Not Limited to Michael Hastings

"Something of the same sort of cremation occurred in a mysterious shoot down of a helicopter in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of 30 Americans, including Seal Team 6 members that took part in the raid on Osama Bin Laden's residence. The Pentagon told the families that all the bodies were cremated due to the fact that they were badly burned in the crash. However, pictures have emerged that show some deceased SEALs without bad burns. The Pentagon also claims that, despite recovering all the bodies of those killed, the helicopter’s black box was washed away in a flash flood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnusual Cremation Not Limited to Michael Hastings

Digital Carjackers Show Off New Attacks, Funded By $80,000 Pentagon Grant

"This fact, that a car is not a simple machine of glass and steel but a hackable network of computers, is what Miller and Valasek have spent the last year trying to demonstrate. Miller, a 40-year-old security engineer at Twitter, and Valasek, the 31-year-old director of security intelligence at the Seattle consultancy IOActive, received an $80,000-plus grant last fall from the mad-scientist research arm of the Pentagon known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to root out security vulnerabilities in automobiles." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDigital Carjackers Show Off New Attacks, Funded By $80,000 Pentagon Grant

DEA raids pot shops in Washington state, where marijuana is legal

"The Drug Enforcement Administration swooped in on several medical marijuana storefronts in Washington on Wednesday, despite the state’s law allowing marijuana possession. Raids took place in Pierce, King and Thurston counties. They were reportedly targeted by a two-year investigation into dispensaries thought to be laundering money and selling marijuana under the table to unlicensed buyers. Voters in Washington passed an initiative last November that legalized adult marijuana possession up to one ounce and directed the state to develop ways of regulating production and taxing sales of the drug." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDEA raids pot shops in Washington state, where marijuana is legal

CIA displays Osama bin Laden’s personal AK-47 at ‘secret’ museum

"An AK-47 assault rifle once owned by terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is on display at a museum in Washington, D.C. Problem is, you’ll never get to see it up close. That’s because the weapon is stored inside a glass case at the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) 'secret' museum, according to NBC News, and visitors are strictly prohibited. 'I think for our people it’s an acknowledgment that the hard work over that 10 years and partnership with other members of the intelligence community and partnership with the military was a success,' a spokesperson said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA displays Osama bin Laden’s personal AK-47 at ‘secret’ museum

Eminent Domain and the Decline of Detroit

"Detroit’s sixty year decline, culminating in its recent bankruptcy, has many causes. But one that should not be ignored is the city’s extensive use of eminent domain to transfer property to politically influential private interests. For many years, Detroit aggressively used eminent domain to promote 'economic development' and 'urban renewal.' The most notorious example was the 1981 Poletown case, in which some 4000 people lost their homes, and numerous businesses were forced to move in order to make way for a General Motors factory. The Poletown takings ended up destroying far more development than they ever created." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEminent Domain and the Decline of Detroit