Mainstream News

Federal Judge Shoots Down IRS Attempt To Regulate All Paid Tax Preparers

"In 2010, the IRS decided to require all paid preparers to register with it and those who weren’t otherwise subject to national standards to pass a minimum competency test. Registration began in 2011 and preparers were supposed to pass the test by the end of this year. But on Friday, in a surprise ruling, Washington D.C. Federal District Court Judge James E. Boasberg blocked the IRS from implementing the new requirements, finding the agency 'unambiguously' lacked authority from Congress to regulate those who simply prepare returns and don’t otherwise 'practice' before the IRS by, for example, representing a taxpayer in an audit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Judge Shoots Down IRS Attempt To Regulate All Paid Tax Preparers

NYC pays $75K settlement to Manhattan couple arrested for dancing in subway

"Stern, a dentist, and Hess, a film prop master, had just left Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing when they encountered a steel-drum player on a nearly empty platform in the Columbus Circle subway station and began to boogie. Two cops told them their happy feet weren’t allowed and hauled them off after Stern could produce only a credit card, which did bear a picture of her, as identification. Stern said she and Hess were happy with the settlement but believes that her arrest, and the legal case that ensued, could have been avoided." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYC pays $75K settlement to Manhattan couple arrested for dancing in subway

‘Wall St.’ flees NY for tax-free Florida

"The city’s hedge-fund executives are flying south — and it’s not for vacation. An increasing number of financial firms, especially private equity and hedge funds, are fed up with New York’s sky-high city and state tax rates and are relocating to the business-friendly climate in Florida’s Palm Beach County. And they’re being welcomed with open arms — officials in Palm Beach recently opened an entire office dedicated to luring finance hot shots down south. There are other perks, too — like the fact that it was 77 degrees and sunny there yesterday." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Wall St.’ flees NY for tax-free Florida

Japanese scientists invent ‘privacy visor’ to fool Google’s facial recognition software

"A 'privacy visor' that uses infra-red light to interfere with facial recognition technology has been developed in Japan for people worried about being spotted by computers. The goggles are useful for anyone who wants to avoid their identity being detected by hidden cameras, the inventors say. The goggles, which are made of clear plastic, have lines of lights that emit near infra-red rays. Echizen says this is enough to throw software off the scent, rendering a face invisible to a computer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapanese scientists invent ‘privacy visor’ to fool Google’s facial recognition software

Twitter: Government user data requests have risen 20 percent

"Twitter said Monday that worldwide requests from governments about its users rose nearly 20 percent in second half of 2012 as it sought to raise awareness about 'invasive' actions. Twitter said the overwhelming majority of information requests, 815 of the total, came from the United States. The company complied with at least part of the request in 57 percent of cases worldwide and 69 percent of US cases. In launching a revamped 'transparency report' modeled after one by Google, Twitter said it hopes the data can be useful to those seeking to keep an open Internet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwitter: Government user data requests have risen 20 percent

Talk of CIA prisons censored at Guantanamo hearing

"US authorities censored part of a preliminary hearing Monday at a Guantanamo military tribunal that touched on CIA secret prisons where suspected 9/11 plotters say they were tortured. Reporters watched the proceedings against the five 9/11 suspects at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba behind a thick, sound-proof glass wall and listened to piped-in audio with a 40-second delay. But when a defense lawyer mentioned the CIA secret sites at Monday’s hearing, a red light flashed on and the sound from the courtroom was cut off. The audio from the proceedings was replaced by white noise, preventing journalists from listening." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTalk of CIA prisons censored at Guantanamo hearing

Google unveils detailed North Korea map… with gulags

"Google has rolled out a detailed map of North Korea that even labels some of its remote and infamous gulags. Until now North Korea was pretty much a blank canvas to users of Google’s Map Maker, which creates maps from data that is provided by the public and fact-checked in a similar process to that used by Wikipedia. Mr Mysore said the North Korea section had been completed with the help of a 'community of citizen cartographers' working over a period of several years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle unveils detailed North Korea map… with gulags

The perils of overseas tax disclosure: An immigrant’s story

"When Andrew Winfield applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2011, he realized he owed taxes on accounts he had left behind in his native England. So he paid what he believed he owed — $2,800 in back taxes, plus the estimated interest and penalties - and entered the IRS's overseas disclosure program. But when the IRS assessed its penalty in November, Winfield was stunned to learn that it would be $28,000 — 10 times the amount of tax he owed from 2003 to 2010. Because the penalty is based on balances when the exchange rate favored the British pound, paying that amount would mean giving up virtually everything he now has in the accounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe perils of overseas tax disclosure: An immigrant’s story

U.S. military plans to build drone base in North Africa

"The US military plans to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to bolster surveillance of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the region as well as allied Islamist extremists, a US official told AFP on Monday. The base for the robotic, unmanned aircraft would likely be located in Niger, on the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. If the plan gets the green light, up to 300 US military service members and contractors could be sent to the base to operate the drone aircraft, according to the New York Times." Continue reading →

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State Department abandons effort to close down Guantanamo Bay

"The State Department has shut down the office of its special envoy for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, a US official said Monday, in a sign of the fading hopes of shuttering the jail. Daniel Fried, the special envoy in charge of the dossier, will now move to coordinate the State Department’s sanctions policy, including for Iran and Syria. Of the 779 inmates who passed through Guantanamo only nine were ever convicted or brought to trial, and of the 166 who remain, 55 are considered safe to be released by the US military, but have nowhere to go." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState Department abandons effort to close down Guantanamo Bay