Alternative News

Cuba: No More Exit Visas!

"If Cubans can now leave their country freely, what will become of the Cuban Adjustment Act, that was signed during the Johnson Administration? This law gives any Cuban citizen admitted into the United States after January 1, 1959 and physically present for at least one year, to be admissible to the United States as a permanent resident. Unless the United States is prepared for a big influx of new Cuban residents, it will need to amend this law. Ironically, after Jan. 14, 2013, Cuban citizens will be more free and less regulated by their government to visit the USA than U.S. citizens will be to visit Cuba." Continue reading →

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Doug Casey on the America That Was – Now the United (Police) State of America

"This is just the beginning. As I've said before, I don't call the shots – just try to tell the truth as I see it. The point is that you couldn't assemble a list like this even 15 years ago. But now it's part of the firmament. Worse, it's going to grow. As the economy turns down over the next few years, the people – acting like scared chimpanzees – will ask the government to 'do something.' And it will. The trend is going hyperbolic." Continue reading →

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NSA Refuses To Release Secret Obama Directive On Cybersecurity

"An article in the Washington Post cited several US officials saying that Obama signed off on the secret cybersecurity order, believed to widely expand NSA’s spying authorities, in mid-October. In response to the move, lawyers with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request (PDF) demanding that the Obama administration make public the text of the directive. The NSA responded to the FOIA request this week with a statement arguing that it does not have to release the document because it is a confidential presidential communication and it is classified." Continue reading →

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California gets face scanners to spy on everyone at once

"In a single second, law enforcement agents can match a suspect against millions upon millions of profiles in vast detailed databases stored on the cloud. It’s all done using facial recognition, and in Southern California it’s already occurring. Imagine the police taking a picture: any picture of a person, anywhere, and matching it on the spot in less than a second to a personalized profile, scanning millions upon millions of entries from within vast, intricate databases stored on the cloud. It’s done with state of the art facial recognition technology, and in Southern California it’s already happening." Continue reading →

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Anarchist Defeats Minarchist in New Hampshire Election

"When Ward 5 of Manchester, New Hampshire, elected a delegate to the state legislature this month, its voters rejected a Republican from the Free State Project who favors a minimal government. Instead they picked Tim O'Flaherty, a Democrat from the Free State Project who favors the abolition of government altogether. In the words of the Manchester Union-Leader: 'O'Flaherty ran against a fellow Free Stater, housemate Dan Garthwaite, whom O'Flaherty called a statist.' Meanwhile, in Vermont, voters in the town of Randolph have just made my left-anarchist friend Jessamyn West a justice of the peace." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnarchist Defeats Minarchist in New Hampshire Election

New England Marijuana Legalization Bills Coming

"In the wake of this month's marijuana legalization victories in Colorado and Washington, legislators in New England are ramping up efforts to be the next state to legalize. Solons in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont have all signaled they will be filing legalization bills next year. The legislative process is frustratingly slow, often taking several years to get a measure through, but in the wake of the Colorado and Washington votes, we could see a sudden collapse in support for pot prohibition, even at the state house." Continue reading →

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Uruguay Marijuana Legalization Bill Allows Home Grows and Sales

"The bill introduced Wednesday says only that the government will manage and regulate commercial cultivation and sales. Whether it will actually open state-run pot farms or marijuana retail outlets is yet to be decided, but in either case, a National Cannabis Institute will be in charge. Under the pending legislation, each household could grow up to six plants or possess up to 480 grams, or slightly more than a pound. People could also join 'smoking clubs' with up to 15 members and grow six plants per member, up to an annual production of 15.8 pounds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUruguay Marijuana Legalization Bill Allows Home Grows and Sales

Singapore Eases Death Penalty in Some Drug Cases

"The parliament of Singapore has approved legislation abolishing mandatory death sentences in some drug trafficking cases. The action came last Wednesday, according to a press release from the Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers. Under the reform, judges will be able to commute some death sentences to sentences of life in prison. Before, judges were forced to impose the death penalty on persons trafficking drugs above certain specified quantities." Continue reading →

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Tax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

"For many wealthy mainland Chinese who immigrated to the US, an American passport is a genie that cannot be put back in the bottle. More and more of them are thinking about renouncing their US citizenship, something that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago, when getting a US passport was the ultimate status symbol in China. In March 2010, Washington stepped up its tax collection efforts by enacting FATCA. Americans and green card holders face onerous US reporting requirements, often have trouble opening bank accounts outside the US and frequently find it hard to form business ventures overseas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

Portuguese Residency For Non-EU Citizens

"On October 9 2012 the Portuguese government passed a new law that will enable investors from non-EU countries to gain residency if they either transfer one million or more euros in capital into Portugal, form a business that creates a minimum of 30 jobs, or purchase a property to the value of a minimum of €500,000. Dubbed the 'Golden Passport,' this new visa will allow non-EU citizens to receive a Portugal visa, permitting them to enter and stay in Portugal assuming at least one form of investment is undertaken for a minimum period of five years." Continue reading →

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