Bandit Gang Writ Large

‘Asset forfeiture’ laws designed to strip criminals of assets target innocent homeowners

"Over the last two decades, forfeitures have evolved into a booming business for police agencies across the country, from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to small-town sheriff’s offices. In 2000, officials racked up $500 million in forfeitures. By 2012, that amount rose to $4.2 billion, an eightfold increase. Often the victims are minorities like Bing without the financial resources or legal know-how to protect their assets. And prosecutors typically prevail. Of nearly 2,000 cases filed against Philadelphia houses from 2008 through 2012, records show that only 30 ended with a judge rejecting the attempt to seize the property." Continue reading →

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FBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes in one year

"The FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in a single year. Agents authorized 15 crimes a day, on average, including everything from buying and selling illegal drugs to bribing government officials and plotting robberies. FBI officials have said in the past that permitting their informants — who are often criminals themselves — to break the law is an indispensable, if sometimes distasteful, part of investigating criminal organizations. USA TODAY asked the FBI for all of the reports it had prepared since 2006, but FBI officials said they could locate only one, which they released after redacting nearly all of the details." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI allowed informants to commit 5,600 crimes in one year

If I Bribe City Hall, Can I Reduce My Mortgage?

"Richmond, California, sent the securities and real estate industries into a tizzy this week. The city said it is moving ahead with plans to use its power of eminent domain to seize home mortgages and restructure them for residents who owe more money than their homes are worth. This would be a first in the U.S. Normally when governments do things that upset Wall Street millionaires it’s a sign they’re going down the right path. There are exceptions, of course. Cities usually use eminent domain to seize land and buildings. If they’re going to start seizing home mortgages, why stop there?" Continue reading →

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Australian Government to establish bank bailout fund with new levy

"The Federal Government is expected to announce a new levy on banks set to start in 2016 to help fund any future bailouts. The levy will start on January 1, 2016 and will be set at 0.05 per cent on deposits of up to $250,000. It is understood the levy will raise $733 million in its first 18 months. The money raised will go into a new Financial Stability Fund and will be used in the event of a bank collapse. The Financial Stability Fund will appear as revenue in the budget, as the Government grapples with revenue shortfalls ahead of releasing its economic update." Continue reading →

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Mexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men

"Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border. The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address. Using American servicemen could make it easier to carry out a murder in the U.S. since they can more easily move across the border. And the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale." Continue reading →

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Escape From the Grasp of Congress

"With 11.5 million illegal aliens in the country, it’s hard to understand how a relatively small number of departing U.S. emigrants is threatening to U.S. lawmakers. Maybe it’s because those numbers are rising and the federal government fears an increasing number of U.S. citizens moving beyond its control. The only other national regimes to have adopted similar punitive tax laws were Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union under Stalin and apartheid South Africa. I admit expatriation is certainly a drastic plan. However, as we see in the statistics, more and more U.S. citizens are choosing that option as the America we knew and loved fades farther from memory." Continue reading →

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Hacker Forces Colin Powell To Deny Affair While At State Department

"Powell’s swift denial of an affair--especially one possibly conducted with an official of a foreign government while he served as America’s chief diplomat--was clearly prompted by the sensitive nature of the e-mails sent to his personal AOL account. In the 'very personal' correspondence cited by Powell, Cretu calls him the love of her life and describes a relationship that spanned more than a decade. The 2010-2011 e-mails would leave most readers with the clear impression that the forlorn Cretu is writing about the twilight of a lengthy romance. Powell’s e-mail and Facebook accounts were illegally accessed by 'Guccifer.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHacker Forces Colin Powell To Deny Affair While At State Department

Obama nominates former Freddie Mac executive to lead IRS

"President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated John Koskinen, who has held a variety of roles in government, to lead the Internal Revenue Service amid a controversy over the agency’s scrutiny of conservative political groups. Koskinen was in charge of the government’s effort to prevent computer failures to prepare for the year 2000, is a former executive of Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage funding group, and served as deputy mayor for Washington, D.C." Continue reading →

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Ticket quota whistleblower cop loses NYPD suit

"A Manhattan federal judge yesterday tossed a hero cop’s lawsuit against the NYPD, rejecting the officer’s claims that his First Amendment rights were violated by superiors after he was punished for speaking up about alleged quotas for arrests and tickets. NYPD Officer Craig Matthews claimed that he had suffered workplace retaliation for speaking up about quotas for arrests, stop-and-frisks and summonses that were allegedly ordered by his commanders in The Bronx’s 42nd Precinct. But US District Judge Paul Engelmayer said that while Matthews’ comments served a purpose, his beef amounts to a workplace disagreement." Continue reading →

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Britain set to ban Google Glass for drivers

"Google Glass is the highest profile product in a wave of new wearable technologies, promising to display everything from restaurant reviews to directions and allow automated video and photos wherever we go. But a spokesman for the department told Stuff, a gadget magazine, that the device could distract drivers while they are behind the wheel, defining Glass as a similar distraction to a mobile phone. Since a ban on using mobile phones while driving was introduced in 2003, more than one million drivers have been convicted – typically issued with a £60 fixed penalty notice and three points on their driver’s licence." Continue reading →

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