"Leaders of the G8 major economies have agreed new measures to clamp down on money launderers, illegal tax evaders and corporate tax avoiders. They include requiring that shell companies – often used to exploit tax loopholes and invest money anonymously – identify their effective owners. Governments also agreed to give each other automatic access to information on their residents’ tax affairs." Continue reading →
“Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in’.” President Ronald Reagan We won a battle today, there was no vote (HB 4714) on the Medicaid Expansion but the war is not over. Indications are TODAY IS KEY to defeating the ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion in Michigan as a vote is being pressed. …
"He is credited with convincing the president to embrace the Arab Spring, convincing the president to bomb Libya, and, now, convincing the president to start yet another war, this time against Syria. How did a 24-year old aspiring fiction-writer in 2002 suddenly become one of the drafters of not only the 9/11 Commission report but also the Iraq Study Group Report? Then move on to Obama's presidential campaign as a speechwriter and then to Deputy National Security Advisor, from which he announced the beginning of a US war on Syria while the president met with supporters in the East Room of the White House?" Continue reading →
"The United States on Tuesday welcomed the Taliban’s decision to open an office in Qatar and senior US officials said they hoped to meet with their Afghan foes within days. The Taliban opened a political office in Doha on Tuesday, planning to hold talks with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai’s government on ending the conflict that erupted when the Islamist group was ousted from power in 2001 by US troops sent in after the September 11 terror attacks. Confirming that the United States will also use the office to communicate with the guerrillas, who are still battling US-led NATO and Afghan troops on the ground, the official said the road ahead would be difficult." Continue reading →
"Going completely unreported in the US mainstream media are the massive nationwide protests occurring right now in Brazil. In all the major population centers, including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, the capital of Brasilia, and 8 other cities, 10s of thousands, possibly 100s of thousands of people are marching in the streets and taking over government buildings. The reasons given for the protests vary, but from what I’ve heard from my contacts the most significant reasons are economic malaise, high inflation, and a culture of corruption." Continue reading →
"Iran’s outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met his successor Hassan Rowhani on Tuesday for the first time since the moderate conservative was elected, in talks centred on political and economic issues. Rowhani, a 64-year-old cleric who is scheduled to take office on August 3, won an outright victory in Friday’s presidential election, ending Ahmadinejad’s eight years of hardline leadership. Reinforced by UN Security Council sanctions, punitive measures have cost Iran’s economy billions in vital oil revenues and foreign investment, leaving the country struggling with raging inflation, high unemployment and a depreciated currency." Continue reading →
"At a cost of 'between $60 million to $100 million,' 'President Obama goes to sub-Saharan Africa this month,' reports the usually adoring Washington Post. A good part of the comitatus—'the sprawling apparatus that encompasses … the emperor’s household and its personnel'—is going along for the ride. Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, so they can intervene quickly if an errant plane gets too close." Continue reading →
"The president's family descended on Northern Ireland to enjoy a lavish holiday in a five-star hotel, where just their room (one of 30 they have commandeered) goes for a cool $3,300 dollars per night. The first family's two-day vacation to Northern Ireland is estimated to cost our families some $5.2 million. Not many working American families can afford a vacation at all, but they have no choice but chip in for the Obama family's fun and games. The first class holiday for the first family is said to be the 'biggest security operation ever mounted in Northern Ireland' -- and in a region that not long ago was mired in brutal warfare and terrorism that is saying quite a bit!" Continue reading →
"Radical anti-war revolutionary turned education advocate Bill Ayers said Tuesday he believed President Barack Obama should be charged with war crimes. Ayers, who co-founded the far left revolutionary Weather Underground group, told Tom Bevan and Charlie Stone of Real Clear Politics that Obama’s use of targeted drone strikes was 'absolutely' a form of terrorism. 'Every president in this century should be put on trial for war crimes,' he said. 'Absolutely. Every one of them goes into an office dripping with blood and then adds to it. And yes, I think these are war crimes. I think they’re acts of terror.'" Continue reading →
"What do you do if you’re part of a government bureaucracy that has been caught red-handed engaged in sleazy, corrupt, and (almost surely) illegal targeting of Americans for their political beliefs? But before you answer, keep in mind that your bureaucracy also has been exposed for wasting huge amounts of money at lavish conferences. What’s the ideal way of dealing with the fallout from that scandal as well? The answer is simple. Even though you and your pals already are paid more than the peasants in the private sector, give yourself and your cronies giant bonuses!" Continue reading →