Mainstream News

Virginia’s ‘21-day rule’ needs to go

"Jonathan Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexual assault on the strength of testimony from a teenage girl who has now recanted. The accuser, charged with perjury, is free while she awaits trial. Mr. Montgomery, sentenced to 7 1 / 2 years, is innocent but can’t get out of prison. This month, the judge who sentenced Mr. Montgomery to prison in 2008 was presented with new evidence that his accuser, Elizabeth Paige Coast, had admitted lying about her accusation. But the evidence came to light only in recent weeks, when Ms. Coast came clean about her deception. New evidence or not, the 21-day rule applies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVirginia’s ‘21-day rule’ needs to go

Legal logjam lets troubled cops keep their badges

"Police officers punished for serious misconduct by the state may continue to draw their pay and even carry a badge for years if they appeal the sanctions. Some appeals languish for more than a decade after arriving at the state attorney general’s office. Rank and file officers and even chiefs of police have continued to work — for their original agency or a different one — after being sanctioned for violations as serious as killing a recruit during training, waving a gun at random in a bar, falsifying official records and DUI. Some officers were accused of new offenses while they appealed their first cases." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLegal logjam lets troubled cops keep their badges

Moody’s downgrades France’s credit rating

"In what will be a severe blow to Socialist president François Hollande, the agency said it was reducing the country’s rating from AAA to AA1, claiming France’s ability for economic growth was being hampered by 'structural challenges' including its lack of competitiveness, high unemployment, public debt and market rigidity. It said it was not confident Hollande’s government could – or would – introduce the necessary structural reforms and spending cuts to improved its rating in the medium term and expressed concern over France’s exposure to risks from other ailing eurozone countries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMoody’s downgrades France’s credit rating

Spain considers automatic residency to foreign home buyers

"Spain may offer automatic residency to foreigners such as Chinese and Russians who buy homes in the country, aiming to help the ruined housing market, a government official said Monday. 'We have proposed to the other ministries that for residents who acquire a home in Spain for more than 160,000 euros ($205,000), that will automatically entail a residency permit,' said junior trade minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later told a news conference that 'no decision' had yet been taken on formally launching the scheme, but said that Spain’s stock of unsold housing needed to be sold at 'reasonable prices'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpain considers automatic residency to foreign home buyers

Coerced Foreign Tax Compliance Is Killing American Jobs

"No doubt thanks in part to FATCA, foreign direct investment in the US for the first half of 2012 declined by 39.2% over the prior year, and China surpassed the US as the world’s largest recipient of global foreign direct investment for the first time since 2003. At a time when Washington should be pursuing policies designed to attract foreign investment capital to American shores, politicians seem intent on driving it away." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCoerced Foreign Tax Compliance Is Killing American Jobs

Piedmont Officer Fired After Writing Controversial Public Urination Ticket

"Piedmont police have fired the officer who ticketed a mom $2,500 after her son urinated in their front yard. After allegedly being harassed by this officer, the Warden family got justice. The $2,500 ticket was dropped, the police chief personally apologized, and the officer was disciplined. Both the mayor and the police chief said the officer should have used better judgment. Veteran officer Ken Qualls was suspended on Tuesday, and he was fired on Friday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPiedmont Officer Fired After Writing Controversial Public Urination Ticket

Greeks commemorate 1970s student uprising crushed by US-backed military junta

"Thousands of Greeks marched behind a blood-stained national flag on Saturday to commemorate the violent suppression of a 1973 student uprising against a US-backed military junta. The bloodied flag that flew over the Athens Polytechnic on the night of November 17, 1973 — seen as a key moment in the restoration of democracy to Greece — was carried as usual at the head of the annual demonstration in memory of those who died. Police said about 20,000 people marched in total in the capital. Outside the U.S. embassy, some of the protesters set fire to an American flag." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreeks commemorate 1970s student uprising crushed by US-backed military junta

Better deterrents put Somali pirates’ business under strain

"Soaring insurance premiums and the threat to crews have forced shipowners to change their ways. Ships have been made harder to attack by a range of measures known as BMP, or best management practice. They cruise faster and practise evasive manoeuvres. More than a quarter of vessels now carry armed security guards. The shipping industry used to oppose this, fearing that armed guards would escalate violence. But not a single vessel with guards has been boarded. Usually a warning shot is enough to deter the pirates. Lieut-Commander Sherrif says: 'The pirates go to sea to make money, not die in a firefight.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBetter deterrents put Somali pirates’ business under strain

Mexico’s Zetas drug cartel strikes gold in the coal business

"Mexican druglords have found an earthy new source of wealth: dirty old coal. They are mining it themselves in a coal-rich area along the US border or buying it from small mine operators, then reselling it to a state-owned company at fabulous margins that can see them make a profit 30 times greater than their initial investment. Reforma newspaper says the Zetas produce or buy 10,000 tonnes of coal a week. Selling it at their inflated prices, that means yearly revenue of $22 million to $25 million." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico’s Zetas drug cartel strikes gold in the coal business

Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes says province looking to tap U.S. military personnel to help develop oilsands

"Hughes said there are a half-million unemployed or underemployed younger military veterans in the U.S. Forecasts conducted on the labour needs of Alberta’s energy sector range greatly, with one study stating the province could be short 130,000 workers within seven years. Concerns over the welfare of U.S. military personnel returning from overseas — particularly the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — have been growing in the U.S. Among the challenges they face are homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder and unemployment in a country still struggling with an unemployment rate of around 8%." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAlberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes says province looking to tap U.S. military personnel to help develop oilsands