Bandit Gang Writ Large

In crisis-ravaged Greece, ‘laughter clubs’ are booming

"Three years into a crippling recession that has reduced incomes here by as much as 60 percent, increased the number of suicides by 40 percent and forced 1.3 million people onto growing unemployment lines, Greeks are grappling with ways to remain sane. Many of them are turning to what some call a free cure to just about any ailment: laughter. In one improvised routine, members are taught to laugh at the sight of an electricity bill or the kind of tax notice that Greeks have been repeatedly served in recent years as part of new austerity measures intended to make up for decades of profligate spending by the state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn crisis-ravaged Greece, ‘laughter clubs’ are booming

In Greece: As ‘Austerity’ Ignites Masses, Elites Turn To Imperial Stormtroopers

"The usually reserved waitress at our favorite Greek-owned Sunday breakfast place approached us in dismay. Her daughter and son-in-law were escaping Greece for the US. Even middle class professionals were finding themselves digging in the garbage for food to eat, she said. Former Greek career diplomat Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos says that the government has hired Blackwater, the American private military firm infamous for its activities in Iraq, which now goes by the name 'Academi', along with five other international for-profit security outfits. He says bluntly: 'The Greek government does not trust the police whose salaries have also been cut.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Greece: As ‘Austerity’ Ignites Masses, Elites Turn To Imperial Stormtroopers

The EU Robs the Bank In Cyprus – Coming to the USA Too?

"The Cyprus case illustrates that raiding savings deposits, which were once thought of as off limits, is an option that is very much on the table for desperate Western governments. They didn't ask. They just took, without permission, with no warning, and amid secret discussions. By hook or by crook, desperate governments will grab anything within their reach when they want to. They are not constrained by the laws that apply to the average citizen, or any sort of ethical considerations. They are only limited by 'what they can get away with.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe EU Robs the Bank In Cyprus – Coming to the USA Too?

Euro Minister Doesn’t Rule Out Taxes on Bank Deposits Beyond Cyprus

"Anxious depositors drained cash from automated teller machines in Cyprus over the weekend, hours after European officials in Brussels required that part of a new €10 billion bailout be paid for directly from the bank accounts of ordinary savers. The decision — a first in the three-year-old European financial crisis — raised questions about whether bank runs could be set off elsewhere in the euro zone. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the group of euro area ministers, declined Saturday to rule out taxes on depositors in countries beyond Cyprus, although he said such a measure was not currently being considered." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuro Minister Doesn’t Rule Out Taxes on Bank Deposits Beyond Cyprus

What to Keep in Mind about the Tax on Cyprus Bank Deposits

"Those who lent money to Cyprus’s banks by buying their debt rather than by depositing money at the banks, will suffer no losses at all. Those who lent money to the insolvent Cypriot government, will be paid off at 100 cents on the euro. In other words, the banksters are protected. Only depositors with banks will suffer losses in this International Monetary Fund engineered plan. It's as blatant example of who the IMF really works for. This is not the liquidation of a bad system. It is an attempt to protect the crony system and the banksters who are part of it. It is a tax on the 'little people' who keep their funds in the form of deposits, rather than bonds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat to Keep in Mind about the Tax on Cyprus Bank Deposits

Feds Give Up Trying to Seize a Motel Based on Drug Offenses by a Few Guests

"Today the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said it will not appeal a ruling that blocked the federal government's attempt to seize and sell a family-owned motel in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, based on drug offenses committed by a tiny fraction of the people who stayed there. The government conceded that the owner, Russell Caswell, did not participate in those crimes and was not aware of them at the time, but it argued that he was 'willfully blind' to them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds Give Up Trying to Seize a Motel Based on Drug Offenses by a Few Guests

Did You Smoke a Joint a Month Ago?

"In nine states you can be jailed and your driver's license suspended for 'DUI' even if you were not in the least bit high. THC is the chemical compound in marijuana that makes you high, but there are others as well that have no such effect. These latter chemicals can remain in your bloodstream for a month or so after smoking a single joint. Nine states now have laws that if such chemicals are detected by the police, then you can be jailed and fined and have your driver's license suspended, even if you are not accused of driving 'under the influence' of alcohol or any other substance. Call it revenge of the drug warriors over the inevitable national legalization of pot." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDid You Smoke a Joint a Month Ago?

Lawmakers Set To Debate ‘Policing For Profit’ Reforms

"Tennessee lawmakers are prepared to consider a major overhaul of laws that allow police to take cash off of drivers to fund their agencies. Rep. Barrett Rich's bill would completely outlaw the practice known as civil asset forfeiture. That practice allows police to take people's cash or property without charging them with a crime. A New Jersey man had $22,000 cash taken from him during a traffic stop. An officer took George Reby's money based on his suspicion that it might be drug money. The Monterey police officer had a judge to sign off on the seizure in a secret hearing, but he never told the judge about Reby's side of the story." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawmakers Set To Debate ‘Policing For Profit’ Reforms

U.S., French tax laws cause concern for expats of Switzerland

"The Swiss government signed the controversial Fatca deal with the US last month. Parliament is due to discuss it later this year and political parties on the right and left have already announced they will reject it. Fatca obliges foreign banks to report offshore accounts held by US tax payers, including expats. The law is part of a policy by the US authorities to crack down on tax dodgers. France has announced it wants to revise a 1953 accord in a bid to recover inheritance tax from its citizens living in Switzerland and force Swiss who own property in France to be taxed there. The Swiss Abroad community as well as the cantons strongly oppose the amendments." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S., French tax laws cause concern for expats of Switzerland