for life and liberty

Foster children taken away from UK couple for political party membership

"The couple from Yorkshire said they had been fostering children for seven years but have been told by social workers that they were not suitable because of UKIP’s calls for curbs on immigration to Britain. UKIP leader Nigel Farage, a member of the European Parliament, said the situation was 'appalling' and 'disgraceful'. He accused the council of bigotry, insisting that decisions on foster care should be 'colour-blind'. The decision came after two officials visited to question them about their membership of UKIP, Britain’s fourth-biggest party which campaigns for an end to Britain’s membership of the European Union." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFoster children taken away from UK couple for political party membership

Google takes action to support open Internet

"The conference, organized by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) has reignited a fierce debate over who should control the Web. Google has remained unequivocal in its stance that the closed-door meeting a power grab aimed at ending public control of the Internet and strangling free speech. Google, which has consistently taken a self-regulatory approach to the Internet, called the Dubai conference the'wrong place' to make decisions on the future of the Internet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle takes action to support open Internet

What’s cooking in WHO powwow?

"A monumental session during the World Health Organization’s (WHO) convention on tobacco control turned into an alarming attack on transparency, accountability and press freedom. The decision to meet behind closed doors occurred when a discussion began about efforts to decrease tobacco use by increasing the price of tobacco products. Specifically, the convention attendees were discussing the framework for an international tobacco tax. This stance raises some serious questions about an organization that for years has operated largely behind the scenes and without the benefit of much public scrutiny." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat’s cooking in WHO powwow?

Egypt protesters tear-gassed as world concern mounts

"Anti-riot police fired tear gas on Saturday to disperse protesters camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as Western governments voiced growing concern over Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s assumption of sweeping powers. The president already held both and executive and legislative powers and Thursday’s decree puts him beyond judicial oversight until a new constitution has been ratified in a referendum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgypt protesters tear-gassed as world concern mounts

A Shoe Tariff With a Big Footprint

"As cost-conscious Americans clip every coupon, they might well wonder about government policies that take needed money from consumers. Smoot-Hawley set high tariffs on hundreds of products. In the decades since 1930, many of these rates have been reduced to more reasonable levels, or eliminated altogether. However, footwear tariffs have remained largely untouched. The thriving U.S. shoe-manufacturing sector of the 1930s is long gone, but what remains are protective tariff rates of 37.5%, 48% and some as high as 67.5%." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Shoe Tariff With a Big Footprint

Alaskan town home to airport with no planes and harbor with no road

"Remember Alaska's infamous bridge to nowhere? Well, another town in 'Seward's Icebox' has upped the ante after building an unused $75.5 million airport and a $29 million harbor with no roads connecting to the town. The Aleutians community of Akutan is home to just over 1,000 seasonal workers and 75 full-time residents, though only about five boats. The Army Corps of Engineers, using $29 million in federal stimulus money, built the harbor." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAlaskan town home to airport with no planes and harbor with no road

Yang Jisheng: The man who discovered 36 million dead

"50 years on, Chinese official history insists the famine of 1958-61 was a natural disaster. Agriculture was brutally collectivised, leaving peasants dependent on centrally distributed grain. Local cadres ordered the forced pooling of family kitchens, confiscating all ladles and punishing those who kept private food supplies. Then, as Mao ordered rapid industrialisation during the Great Leap Forward, the grain supplies disappeared. Simultaneously local officials, terrified of failure, began to report fictional bumper harvests. Mao, meanwhile, publicly humiliated any party leader who voiced doubts. The result was the greatest famine in modern history." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYang Jisheng: The man who discovered 36 million dead

China Will Build the Tallest Building In the World in Just 90 Days

"According to its engineers, this will be the tallest skyscraper in the world by the end of March of 2013. Its name is Sky City, and its 2,749 feet (838 meters) distributed in 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, by the Xiangjiang river. Ninety days! The skyscraper will be built in just 90 days at the unbelievable rate of five floors per day. They will be able to achieve this impossibly fast construction rate by using a prefabricated modular technology developed by Broad Sustainable Building, a company that has built 20 tall structures in China so far, including the that 30-story hotel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Will Build the Tallest Building In the World in Just 90 Days

Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

"Luo Baogen and his wife insist on living in the half-demolished building in the city of Wenling, in Zhejiang province, China because they believe that the relocation compensation offered by the government is not enough. Now the only building left standing, the five storey block is a strange sight as cars drive around it while the couple remain living inside. In the People's Republic of China, during most of the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished, making it easy for residents to be moved on - but now the laws have been tightened up and it is illegal to demolish property by force without an agreement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRoad is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move

Tell me again… which of these nations is communist?

"Tax rates across the board in the United States are set to increase dramatically in 2013. Currently the government will charge a 35% tax on the value of your estate that exceeds $5 million. If you happen to kick the bucket on January 1st, however, the tax goes up to 55%, and the exemption goes down to $1 million. This exemption is not indexed to inflation. Perhaps most shocking is increase in dividend tax rates, set to rise from 15% to as high as 43.4%. Ironically, the new government of the People’s Republic of China has decided the REDUCE their tax on dividends. Effective January 1st, the dividend tax rate in China will drop to a mere 5%." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTell me again… which of these nations is communist?