CLibertyC

Internet Sales Tax Passes the Senate, 69 to 27

"Republicans in the U.S. Senate caved in. They voted to force businesses located in one state to serve as unpaid tax collectors for 45 other states. (Five states have no sales tax.) The RINO Party Line is that this is not a tax increase. It is a huge tax increase. Voters will pay it. Businesses will pay it. The nightmare of complying will kill tens of thousands of online businesses. This is a subsidy to Walmart, which pays sales taxes because it is physically located in all states. Amazon has also joined in — same reason. It has delivery centers in several states, and it plans to add lots more. These companies want small businesses to pay. They do not want competition." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet Sales Tax Passes the Senate, 69 to 27

America’s 14 Most Pissed-Off Comments on the TSA’s Airport Body Scanners

"TSA is getting rid of the most controversial scanners by this summer because the company that made them wasn't adequately protecting passenger privacy. The replacement scanners are supposed to offer more privacy by only showing a generic outline of passengers. Since late March, Americans have submitted over 3,000 comments to the TSA about the existing scanners and the planned change. Here are 14 of the most pissed off public comments submitted to TSA…and the one guy who loves them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s 14 Most Pissed-Off Comments on the TSA’s Airport Body Scanners

Cop Attacks Special Needs Student For Not Having Shirt Tucked In

"A police officer slams a special needs student to the ground and puts him in a life threatening hold for not having his shirt tucked in. This is a perfect example of why we should never put police officers in our schools as suggested by the NRA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCop Attacks Special Needs Student For Not Having Shirt Tucked In

Karzai Says He Was Assured C.I.A. Would Continue Delivering Bags of Cash

"The use of the C.I.A. cash for payoffs has prompted criticism from many Afghans and some American and European officials, who complain that the agency, in its quest to maintain access and influence at the presidential palace, financed what is essentially a presidential slush fund. The practice, the officials say, effectively undercut a pillar of the American war strategy: the building of a clean and credible Afghan government to wean popular support from the Taliban. Instead, corruption at the highest levels seems to have only worsened." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKarzai Says He Was Assured C.I.A. Would Continue Delivering Bags of Cash

Small-Town Mayor’s Millions as Exhibit A on Graft in Spain

"Investigators calculate that she and other family members accumulated about $24 million, mostly from shady land deals during Spain’s boom years. Searching her property, the police had to borrow a bill-counting machine from a local bank to help total up all the cash: $485,000. At a time when Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal are imposing deficit-cutting austerity plans on their hard-pressed citizens, these revelations of widespread political corruption are stoking bitter resentment, destabilizing governments and undermining the credibility of the political class as a whole." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmall-Town Mayor’s Millions as Exhibit A on Graft in Spain

Draghi Says ECB Ready For Negative Interest Rates If Needed

"European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers are ready to cut interest rates again if needed after reducing them to a record low last week. The euro fell half a cent on the comment to $1.3057 and European stocks pared losses. The Frankfurt-based ECB on May 2 cut its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 0.5 percent, and Draghi said then that officials have an 'open mind' about taking the deposit rate, currently at zero, into negative territory." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDraghi Says ECB Ready For Negative Interest Rates If Needed

Policy battle rages in China as slowdown feeds ‘sense of crisis’

"China's Caixin Magazine reports that there is a growing 'sense of crisis' not felt since the depths of the global banking crash in 2008-2009. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has assembled a team to 'protect economic growth' and pressure state companies to boost jobs at all costs. SASAC is the bastion of vested interests and controller of 115 state behemoths with assets above $6 trillion and lock on much of the economy. The move comes amid further signs that growth is faltering across all fronts. HSBC's gauge of Chinese services fell three points to 51.1 in April, the lowest in almost two years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolicy battle rages in China as slowdown feeds ‘sense of crisis’

New Travel Accessory for Beijing: Gas Masks

"As I prepare for an upcoming trip to Beijing, both expat and Chinese friends have been sending me suggestions of the best gas mask to buy. An item considered rare or unnecessary as of late 2012 is now highly recommended for outdoor commutes during Beijing’s smoggiest days. But which mask should I use? In addition to buying face masks, people in China who can afford them are also picking up indoor air filters. Most office workers spend 80 percent of their time indoors, but Beijing’s poorly insulated buildings can’t fully keep the smog outside." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Travel Accessory for Beijing: Gas Masks

CIA requested ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ rewrites, memo reveals

"A newly declassified CIA document suggests members of the US agency did help to shape the narrative of Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s recent film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It has now emerged that the CIA did successfully pressure Boal to remove certain scenes from the Zero Dark Thirty script, some of which might have cast the agency in a negative light. Details emerged in a memo released under a US Freedom of Information Act request. It summarises five conference calls held in late 2011 for staff in the agency’s Office of Public Affairs 'to help promote an appropriate portrayal of the agency and the Bin Laden operation'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA requested ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ rewrites, memo reveals