Mainstream News

Georgian president accused of using state funds for botox treatments

"Georgian prosecutors said Friday they were probing the alleged misuse of state funds, as accusations surfaced that President Mikheil Saakashvili had spent thousands of dollars of government money on botox treatments in the United States. According to alleged expense documents aired by anti-Saakashvili broadcaster Imedi on Friday, the president splashed out more than $11,000 (8500 euro) in government money on cosmetic procedures while visiting New York in 2009 and 2011. The documents also purported to show that Saakashvili spent around $9,000 of state money in the United Kingdom on a naked portrait of an unspecified US actress." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorgian president accused of using state funds for botox treatments

New Zealand police ordered to return Dotcom material

"A New Zealand judge on Friday ordered police to return any digital material seized in an armed raid on Internet mogul Kim Dotcom’s mansion last year not directly related to the prosecution against him. The decision by High Court chief judge Helen Winkelmann follows a ruling last year that the January 2012 raid on Dotcom’s Auckland mansion was illegal because the search warrants used were too broad to be considered reasonable. Digital material such as computer hard drives were taken in the dawn swoop as part of a US probe into allegations of massive online piracy by Dotcom’s now-defunct Megaupload empire." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Zealand police ordered to return Dotcom material

Obama picks former Bush official James Comey as new FBI director

"Barack Obama is preparing to name a former Bush administration who was heavily involved in some of the most controversial issues of that era, including illegal wiretapping and torture, as the new director of the FBI. Since leaving the Justice Department, Comey has been working as a hedge fund manager and lecturer. Comey, 52, is set to replace Robert Mueller, who has headed the agency since the week before the 9/11 attack and is due to step down in September. The expected nomination comes at a time when the agency is under siege on a series of issues." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama picks former Bush official James Comey as new FBI director

Schoolboys told to imagine themselves as future prime minister justifying martial law

"A question on a paper sat by 12-year-old pupils in 2011 gives a telling glimpse into how Eton fosters ambition in its students from an early age, by asking them to imagine they are running the country. It appeared on the 2011 King's Scholarship Examination paper, which can be viewed on the school's website, and asked students to consider whether 'it is better to be loved than feared'. 'You are the Prime Minister,' the paper says, before instructing the young Etonians to draft the script for a speech to be broadcast to the nation explaining why deploying the Army was 'both necessary and moral'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchoolboys told to imagine themselves as future prime minister justifying martial law

Need Some Bitcoin? Hit This ATM Machine

"The brothers are converts to the bitcoin story. They were running a guitar shop in Israel, Zach is a guitar player and was in a band, when their interest was piqued in the virtual currency. At first, their enthusiasm was limited to accepting bitcoin at the shop. Josh Harvey has a tech background, though, and together with a third partner, they dreamed up the idea of a bitcoin ATM. They built the first mock-up out of their house, but when they started showing it off at bitcoin conferences, the reception convinced them to build and sell the machine. They’ve got a manufacturer contracted and expect to start sales in the fall." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNeed Some Bitcoin? Hit This ATM Machine

IRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member

"Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet. By contrast, Shulman’s predecessor Mark Everson only visited the White House once during four years of service in the George W. Bush administration and compared the IRS’s remoteness from the president to 'Siberia.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member

Marijuana’s IRS Problems Spark New Bill

"Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will introduce the Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2013 on June 5, with the goal of ending the Internal Revenue Service’s persecution of medical cannabis dispensaries. The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2013 will amend IRS Section 280E of the tax code to resolve a crisis in the newly legal billion-dollar industry, according to Betty Aldworth with the Washington D.C. lobby National Cannabis Industry Association. Marijuana is a federally illegal drug that 20 states have legalized for medical purposes. Two have legalized its use for adults over 21. But the IRS treats all marijuana-related businesses as 'drug trafficking organizations'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarijuana’s IRS Problems Spark New Bill

Nigerian 14-Year Jail Terms for Same-Sex Marriages Passes Legislature

"The bill sets 14-year jail terms for people who enter into same-sex marriages or civil unions and 10 years for those who witness, aid or abet such unions as well as those who operate gay clubs and societies, Victor Ogene, a lower-house spokesman, said by phone from the capital, Abuja. Same-sex public displays of affection would be punishable by as many as 10 years behind bars. The Senate passed a similar bill in November 2011. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and most-populous country with more than 160 million people almost evenly split between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigerian 14-Year Jail Terms for Same-Sex Marriages Passes Legislature

Iran amends stoning-for-adultery law to allow judges discretion on type of execution

"Iran has amended its internationally condemned law on stoning convicted adulterers to death to allow judges to impose a different form of execution. Under Iran’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law in force since its 1979 revolution, adultery is punished by the stoning of convicted adulterers. Women are buried up to the their shoulders, but men only up to their waists. They are spared if they manage to free themselves before dying. Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking are also punishable by death in Iran, which has one of the highest annual execution counts in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran amends stoning-for-adultery law to allow judges discretion on type of execution

Boy, 6, gets detention for Lego gun on bus

"A Massachusetts kindergartener has been given detention and could be suspended from the bus after bringing a Lego-sized gun to school last week. A 6-year-old had the toy gun, which is slightly larger than a quarter, on the bus and it was seen by another student, who alerted the bus driver. The boy's mother, Mieke Crane, said her son had to write a letter of apology to the driver, was given detention and could be temporarily suspended from the bus. The school sent home a letter to parents explaining what happened. '(The driver) said he caused quite a disturbance on the bus and that the children were traumatized,' Crane told WGGB." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoy, 6, gets detention for Lego gun on bus