Imperial Hubris

US Unlikely To Crack China FATCA Agreement

"FATCA has been created to track down the offshore financial assets of US taxpayers and make the institution concerned reveal details so that tax can be collected. Now China is telling the US that there will be so few US citizens holding Chinese bank accounts that the cost of implementing FATCA outweighs the benefit to the nation’s financial institutions. The Chinese have also pointed out that even the opportunity of signing an IGA which would allow them to get details of Chinese taxpayers in the US would also serve minimal benefit to the government." Continue reading →

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How to become a drone target

"The government apparently calls such attacks signature strikes because the targets are identified based on intelligence 'signatures' that suggest involvement in terror plots or militant activity. So what signatures does the U.S. look for and how much evidence is needed to justify a strike? The Obama administration has never spoken publicly about signature strikes. Instead, generally anonymous officials have offered often vague examples of signatures. The resulting fragmentary picture leaves many questions unanswered." Continue reading →

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Homelanders propose more tax hikes on U.S. Persons abroad

"February saw a massive number of legislative attacks on American emigrants and their children by ignorant or malign (un)Representatives which are only now coming to light as the Government Printing Office finishes typesetting and publishing the hundreds of pages of proposed laws. We’ve already discussed the various recent bipartisan attempts to repeal the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, but another frequent theme is increasing the tax and compliance burdens on so-called 'Controlled Foreign Corporation owners' and 'outsourcers', including people who have lived outside the U.S. all their lives but got the inherited genetic disease of U.S. citizenship from their parents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomelanders propose more tax hikes on U.S. Persons abroad

Sequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany

"Before you head for the bunker or put a down payment on a famous bridge, I’d like to offer some sensible alternatives to sequestration calamity. Here are three that would solve the sequestration problem with billions to spare. These are just a few alternatives to the disaster that will supposedly accompany giving the federal government a smaller raise this year. Tragically, most people would view these proposals as crazy but view borrowing money to give away to others as perfectly sane. That’s when you know the end is nigh." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany

Nato commander apologises after troops shoot dead Afghan children

"The area, Lowar-e-Dowahom, was often patrolled by international troops, a spokesman said. 'They saw two young children who were apparently listening to a radio and they shot them – it is not yet clear why,' the spokesman said. Australian forces deployed in Uruzgan said earlier there had been an 'operational incident' in the province's northwest but gave no details except that no soldiers were harmed. On 13 February a Nato air strike requested by Afghan forces killed 10 people – including five children and four women – in the eastern province of Kunar, prompting Karzai to ban his troops from requesting foreign air strikes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNato commander apologises after troops shoot dead Afghan children

Four States Advance Legislation To Block NDAA Indefinite Detention

"In a stunning move last week, four states, Indiana, Colorado, Montana and Arizona, successfully advanced anti-NDAA legislation. The goal for each bill is to protect the people of that state from indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012. The 2012 NDAA applies broad detention power to U.S. soil, allowing the federal government to detain and even execute any person, including an American citizen, on U.S. soil. There has not been such backlash against a federal law since Congress attempted to enforce a mandatory national speed limit, as over 21 states have introduced legislation to counter the law." Continue reading →

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New Poll: 57 Percent of Americans Think Obama’s Assassination Program Is Unconstitutional

"When asked if they thought it was 'constitutional or unconstitutional for the president of the United States to order the killing of American citizens who are suspected of being terrorists,' 57 percent of respondents said they thought it was unconstitutional, including 65 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of independents, and 44 percent of Democrats." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Poll: 57 Percent of Americans Think Obama’s Assassination Program Is Unconstitutional

U.S. Government Wins Appeal in Kim Dotcom Extradition Battle

"In New Zealand, data-content entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is under attack for copyright violations. In the US, Pfc. Bradley Manning faces 20 years in prison for confessing that he sent archives of military and diplomatic files to WikiLeaks, which subsequently released the information to the world. Now it seems Dotcom is losing his battle and may end up being extradited to the US and Manning may end up with close to a lifetime in prison. But on a deeper level, the suffering of these two individuals (warranted or not) will not diminish the changes being ushered in by the Internet." Continue reading →

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One Man’s Terrorist

"In honor of the release of the long-delayed 'Red Dawn' remake, Buck The System is proud to present a new, leaner cut of 'One Man's Terrorist' that presents the film as one complete story instead of 3 episodes. 'One Man's Terrorist' is an anti-war short film written and directed by David Kirk West and loosely inspired by events that changed his beliefs on war and government while he was in the military." Continue reading →

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