Land Of The Flea

Yes, You Are A Criminal… You Just Don’t Know It Yet

"How many felonies have you committed today? If you’re like most Americans, you probably violate federal or state law several times each day, without even knowing it. Anyone can inadvertently run afoul of America’s metastasizing network of criminal laws. Spilling a drink in a nightclub is hardly what anyone would consider a criminal offense. Neither is purchasing medication over-the-counter. Once you have a criminal record, especially a felony conviction, you’ll find it much more difficult to live outside the United States, or to acquire a second citizenship and passport." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYes, You Are A Criminal… You Just Don’t Know It Yet

10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free

"Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider unfree, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. While each new national security power Washington has embraced was controversial when enacted, they are often discussed in isolation. But they don’t operate in isolation. They form a mosaic of powers under which our country could be considered, at least in part, authoritarian." Continue reading →

Continue Reading10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free

Drones not just for foreign attacks, will fill up the U.S. skies

"Suddenly drones are everywhere -- not in the skies over the United States, as they will be by the thousands in a few years, and not just hovering over foreign battlefields to strike terror in the heart of al-Qaida -- but as the focus of debate in the U.S. Congress and elsewhere. Inevitably, the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to determine whether the use of extrajudicial lethal force against those marked as terrorists posing an imminent threat, including U.S. citizens, is constitutional. The court also will be asked to determine how intrusive drones can be when flown over domestic air space by government, law enforcement and private companies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDrones not just for foreign attacks, will fill up the U.S. skies

Guantánamo commander admits listening devices eavesdropped on lawyer meetings with clients

"The battered credibility of the Guantánamo trials has been further dented by revelations of hidden microphones, intelligence service interference with court proceedings and protests from lawyers who say the US military is preventing a proper defence of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks. In recent days, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, Colonel John Bogdan, was forced to admit on the witness stand that secret listening devices disguised as smoke detectors were installed in the cell where lawyers met their clients, and that he knew nothing about them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuantánamo commander admits listening devices eavesdropped on lawyer meetings with clients

1954 U.S. Comic Book Moral Panic Was Based On Fraudulent Data

"Behavioral problems among teenagers and preteens can be blamed on the media marketed to them – that was the topic of televised public hearings held by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1954. The hearings, which resulted in the decimation of what was an enormous comic book industry, had been inspired by the book 'Seduction of the Innocent,' by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, based on his own case studies. Wertham’s personal archives, however, show that the doctor revised children’s ages, distorted their quotes, omitted other causal factors and in general “played fast and loose with the data he gathered on comics.'” Continue reading →

Continue Reading1954 U.S. Comic Book Moral Panic Was Based On Fraudulent Data

FDA Going After Raw Milk Cheese Despite Absence of a Single Documented Case in 23 Years

"A newly released 189-page report from the FDA and Health Canada concludes that there is 'a 50- to 160-fold increase in the risk of listeriosis from a serving of soft-ripened raw-milk cheese, compared with cheese made from pasteurized milk.' As a result, they want to see raw milk cheeses like camembert and brie either subject to unprecedented testing, processing similar to pasteurization, or else banned completely. But the actual real-life data presented in the report of illnesses worldwide from listeriosis in soft cheese over a 23-year period between 1986 and 2008 show not a single documented illness in the U.S. from listeriosis due to tainted brie or camembert." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFDA Going After Raw Milk Cheese Despite Absence of a Single Documented Case in 23 Years

Thirty-five Percent of Major U.S. Regulations Were Issued Without Public Notice

"Federal law generally requires that regulations, both major and minor, be opened for public comment, allowing interested parties to read the rules and remark on them, potentially enacting changes to the proposed rules. The GAO report notes that the majority of the regulations published without a notice-and-comment period were done so because the government claimed to have 'good cause' to do so. The federal government invokes 'good cause' when it believes a comment period or comments are contrary to the public interest or if public notice may be deemed unnecessary or impractical." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThirty-five Percent of Major U.S. Regulations Were Issued Without Public Notice

Manny Pacquiao prefers to fight in China because of high U.S. taxes

"Manny Pacquiao's chief adviser insisted Monday that the Filipino superstar's preference is for his next bout – a fifth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez – to take place away from Las Vegas, with the off-shore Chinese gambling resort of Macau emerging as the 'favorite.' Michael Koncz told Yahoo! Sports that the 39.6 percent tax rate Pacquiao would face if he were to fight again in the U.S. makes a fall bout in Las Vegas 'a no go.' Promoter Bob Arum Arum said Pacquiao would not have to pay taxes if the fight takes place in casinos in either Singapore or Macau." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingManny Pacquiao prefers to fight in China because of high U.S. taxes

Is America now the largest and most secret tax haven?

"According to the Financial Secrecy Index, America ranked #5 in 2011 in banking secrecy, trailing only after Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. America created FATCA to destroy its competition, forcing other countries to provide America with financial data while rejecting reciprocity. With America pushing Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong to drop down the ranks in financial secrecy, will America finally succeed in achieving its goal of becoming the world’s largest and most secret tax haven at the expense of innocent Americans abroad whom it harmed in the process?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs America now the largest and most secret tax haven?

Is America now the largest and most secret tax haven?

"According to the Financial Secrecy Index, America ranked #5 in 2011 in banking secrecy, trailing only after Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. America created FATCA to destroy its competition, forcing other countries to provide America with financial data while rejecting reciprocity. With America pushing Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong to drop down the ranks in financial secrecy, will America finally succeed in achieving its goal of becoming the world’s largest and most secret tax haven at the expense of innocent Americans abroad whom it harmed in the process?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs America now the largest and most secret tax haven?