Land Of The Flea

Merry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

"With less than five weeks to go in the year, supporters are concentrating most of their efforts on the Senate, where a measure giving states greater latitude to collect sales taxes from online purchases has a powerful backer in Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), says Politico. Both the Senate and House proposals would allow states to collect sales taxes from internet retailers located in other states, an approach that also has been backed by prominent GOP governors, such as Cato favorite Chris Christie." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMerry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

Caught On Camera: Woman Goes Into Cardiac Arrest During Traffic Stop

"On June 4, CHP officers stopped to check on the welfare of 50-year-old Angela Jones after finding her sitting in a parked vehicle. Officers questioned Jones for 15 minutes, suspecting she might be under the influence, and then asked to look through her purse. She held her purse tightly to her chest and ran back to her vehicle. The CHP officer hit the trigger on his TASER® X-26 TM three times, sending three separate jolts into Jones’ chest. 'Do not move! Do not move! Stop moving!' the officer can be heard yelling. The officers then pulled the driver out of the car, placed her on the sidewalk and realized she wasn’t breathing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCaught On Camera: Woman Goes Into Cardiac Arrest During Traffic Stop

UBS requires ‘US persons’ in Switzerland to renounce Swiss data protection law

"A startling Thanksgiving Day gift awaited Americans in Switzerland, green card holders and even non-US spouses of Americans who have bank accounts with UBS. The Swiss bank sent Americans a form where they agree to renounce protection under Swiss data protection laws 'to the extent necessary for reporting …and any other information regarding the Relationship which may be requested or required by the IRS.' Signatures required include those of Swiss citizens who do not have US citizenship and have never held of green card or lived in the United States, but who have an American spouse and joint bank accounts, including mortgages." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUBS requires ‘US persons’ in Switzerland to renounce Swiss data protection law

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?

Cuba: No More Exit Visas!

"If Cubans can now leave their country freely, what will become of the Cuban Adjustment Act, that was signed during the Johnson Administration? This law gives any Cuban citizen admitted into the United States after January 1, 1959 and physically present for at least one year, to be admissible to the United States as a permanent resident. Unless the United States is prepared for a big influx of new Cuban residents, it will need to amend this law. Ironically, after Jan. 14, 2013, Cuban citizens will be more free and less regulated by their government to visit the USA than U.S. citizens will be to visit Cuba." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCuba: No More Exit Visas!

Doug Casey on the America That Was – Now the United (Police) State of America

"This is just the beginning. As I've said before, I don't call the shots – just try to tell the truth as I see it. The point is that you couldn't assemble a list like this even 15 years ago. But now it's part of the firmament. Worse, it's going to grow. As the economy turns down over the next few years, the people – acting like scared chimpanzees – will ask the government to 'do something.' And it will. The trend is going hyperbolic." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoug Casey on the America That Was – Now the United (Police) State of America

California gets face scanners to spy on everyone at once

"In a single second, law enforcement agents can match a suspect against millions upon millions of profiles in vast detailed databases stored on the cloud. It’s all done using facial recognition, and in Southern California it’s already occurring. Imagine the police taking a picture: any picture of a person, anywhere, and matching it on the spot in less than a second to a personalized profile, scanning millions upon millions of entries from within vast, intricate databases stored on the cloud. It’s done with state of the art facial recognition technology, and in Southern California it’s already happening." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia gets face scanners to spy on everyone at once

Tax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

"For many wealthy mainland Chinese who immigrated to the US, an American passport is a genie that cannot be put back in the bottle. More and more of them are thinking about renouncing their US citizenship, something that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago, when getting a US passport was the ultimate status symbol in China. In March 2010, Washington stepped up its tax collection efforts by enacting FATCA. Americans and green card holders face onerous US reporting requirements, often have trouble opening bank accounts outside the US and frequently find it hard to form business ventures overseas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax bills prompt Chinese to ditch US passports

Downgrade the Long-Term Debt of the United States Before It’s Too Late

"Dear S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch: You are the world’s three dominant rating agencies, largely controlling the ratings of bonds and debts issued by thousands of corporations, municipalities, and sovereign governments. I am the chairman of Weiss Ratings, an independent rating agency. And today, I challenge you to promptly take the bold action that you have so far avoided — to downgrade the long-term credit rating of the U.S. government in order to help protect investors and prod Washington to fix its finances. The necessary first step toward solving our nation’s financial problems is to recognize and confront them honestly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDowngrade the Long-Term Debt of the United States Before It’s Too Late