Alternative News

Missouri woman faces jail for recycling tires into flower planters

"A Missouri woman says that she is prepared to go to jail after authorities in Sugar Creek threatened her over a recycling project that turns tires into flower planters. 'I was just really interested in recycling and I’m really big on self-sufficiency,' she explained. Sugar Creek, however, claimed the number of tires she was storing could attract mosquitos and lower property values. Shelton was issued a citation, but she said she was refusing to pay the fine based on principle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMissouri woman faces jail for recycling tires into flower planters

Georgia required woman to get vaginal exam to correct birth certificate error

"A 37-year-old Georgia woman says that she was humiliated when the state told her she would need to have her vagina probed to prove she was a woman before she could renew her driver’s license. Nakia Grimes told WAGA that she never had a reason to notice that her birth certificate had incorrectly listed her gender as male. But because of new rules at the Georgia Department of Driver Services, Grimes was required to go to Vital Records Services to obtain a copy of her birth certificate before she could renew her driver’s license. That’s when the mother noticed that the document listed her as a male." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorgia required woman to get vaginal exam to correct birth certificate error

IRS FBAR forms no longer accepted by postal mail

"The IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Nework (FinCen) announced on Friday that paper FBARs will no longer be acceptedas of today, July 1, 2013. If you have not filed your 2012 FBAR yet and you intend to file it yourself, you will need to create an account at FinCen’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) e-filing website http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html to file your FBAR. Professional tax software programs are not yet capable of e-filing FBARs so professional tax preparers must manually enter your FBAR data into the FinCen website. Tax software companies are frantically working on a solution to allow professional tax preparers to e-file the FBARs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS FBAR forms no longer accepted by postal mail

U.S. Spends $16 Billion Every Year To Care For Elderly Prisoners

"By the year 2030, there will be upward of 400,000 elderly prisoners — nearly a third of the projected total penal population. State and federal prisons spend an estimated $16 billion taxpayer dollars a year keeping elderly convicts in the clink…. Nearly a quarter of that price tag – roughly $3 billion taxpayer dollars annually – is devoted to providing health care to sick or drying prisoners. Although prison budgets and balance sheets vary state-to-state, certain jurisdictions offer striking evidence of the immense cost of medical care for elderly prisoners." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Spends $16 Billion Every Year To Care For Elderly Prisoners

Snowden Issues Statement Condemning Actions of Both Obama and Biden

"For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden Issues Statement Condemning Actions of Both Obama and Biden

Vermont Marijuana Decriminalization Law Goes Into Effect

"Starting Monday, Vermonters will not be arrested for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana. The decriminalization law, signed by Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) last month, will remove criminal penalties on small amounts of cannabis and replace them with civil fines. According to the new measure, first-time offenders will not get more than a $200 fine for possession. The fine will increase for repeat offenders -- $300 for a second offense and $500 for every offense thereafter -- but, under the law, marijuana possession will no longer result in the creation of a criminal record." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVermont Marijuana Decriminalization Law Goes Into Effect

Pittsburgh police relations meeting ends with white officer arresting black teacher

"Officer Gromek handcuffed Henderson and an associate, freelance photographer Rossano Stewart, and forced them to sit on the ground. By that time, others attending the Community Empowerment Association meeting had come outside to witness the confrontation. Gromek then decided that the growing number of people posed a danger to his safety and called for backup. 'It was threatening to us, 15 police cars, four dogs, hands on the mace, hands on the guns,' Community Empowerment Association CEO Rashad Byrdsong told KDKA. 'We were the ones in fear of our life, not them.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPittsburgh police relations meeting ends with white officer arresting black teacher