Winning Hearts & Minds

Senator on journalists who publish leaks: ‘Historically, spies have been shot’

"In a contentious Senate panel hearing about what protections should be available to journalists who receive government secrets, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) said that 'historically, spies have been shot for revealing information,' and that the thinking on a shield law for journalists should proceed forth from that point. Earlier this year, journalists and editors working for the Associated Press found out that the Department of Justice had tapped and recorded their phone calls for more than two months. The Justice Department also used warrants to obtain the emails of reporter James Rosen. In each case, the government maintained that it was attempting to police its internal workings for leakers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenator on journalists who publish leaks: ‘Historically, spies have been shot’

FATCA Hassles: Feds Cracking Down on Overseas Tax Evasion

"Switzerland, which has strict privacy laws protecting customers’ confidential financial information, has effectively declared American citizens personae non gratae as far as their banks are concerned. Banks are shuttering accounts, refusing mortgages and refinances, and refusing to open accounts for Americans living abroad. The rules create an incentive for foreign employers to cease investing in America, avoid hiring Americans, or both. And in some cases, Americans have been refused employment or promotions at foreign companies because the job description requires them to be signatories on the company’s account." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFATCA Hassles: Feds Cracking Down on Overseas Tax Evasion

Rather than pay ridiculous taxes, Americans renouncing citizenship

"As Americans live and work overseas, they find themselves facing onerous tax reporting requirements designed to crack down on tax evaders. However, the paperwork and reporting requirements are exhausting. For a few Americans, it is easier to renounce their citizenship and escape the burden. Americans living overseas say they are weary of the paperwork and burdensome requirements. Most countries have lower tax rates and caps, which make it more attractive to become citizens elsewhere. Some citizens only retain their American passports for travel purposes, which makes the document very expensive." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRather than pay ridiculous taxes, Americans renouncing citizenship

Recruited by Al-Qaeda: Foreign fighters in a Damascus jail tell their stories

"Raouchan Gazakov brought his family to Syria, taught his 5-year-old son to make bombs and bade farewell to his relative, a suicide bomber. RT’s Maria Finoshina talked to him in a Damascus prison and asked him why he came to fight for Al-Qaeda. In the Damascus prison, there are many stories of men recruited from faraway lands to come fight for jihad in Syria. In January, a leaked memo provided an inside look at how Saudi officials commuted the sentences of 1,200 death row inmates on the condition they join the rebels and fight against Assad in Syria, the Assyrian International News Agency reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRecruited by Al-Qaeda: Foreign fighters in a Damascus jail tell their stories

Napolitano: Obama’s remedy for embarrassment nothing but tough talk

"Mr. Obama is generally firm in his belief that he needs to vindicate the threat he made last summer when he was trying to outdo Mitt Romney on sounding tough. It was then that Mr. Obama threatened to intervene in the Syrian civil war if chemical weapons were used by the government. Nevertheless, hating the international embarrassment visited upon him when suddenly Mr. Putin seems more reasonable than he does, Mr. Obama conceded to my Fox News colleague Chris Wallace that the Kerry-inspired and Putin-pushed idea seemed worth considering. Then the Syrian government agreed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNapolitano: Obama’s remedy for embarrassment nothing but tough talk

What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

"It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan 'you’re either with us or against us.' But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

UN finds Syria war crimes ‘on both sides’

"It was clear that 'the majority of casualties result from unlawful attacks using conventional weapons,' the Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a statement. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's regime 'have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the civilian population, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance as crimes against humanity,' according to the report, which covers the period from May 15th to July 15th. It also charged that anti-government groups had 'committed war crimes,' including murder, torture and hostage-taking. The report does not address the period which includes the August 21st suspected chemical attack." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN finds Syria war crimes ‘on both sides’

Protesters gather in DC to demand no strike against Syria

"As Congress prepares to consider a proposal for airstrikes in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, public sentiment is tilted against the idea. Protesters gathered to make their objections felt in the nation's capital this weekend, calling into question President Barack Obama's case that action is necessary to maintain international law, deter other 'bad actors' and protect American credibility." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingProtesters gather in DC to demand no strike against Syria

Dennis Rodman (& Russia) Promoting Global Peace

"Dennis Rodman has a road-map to peace: 'building trust and understanding through sport and cultural exchanges,' as he put it. It’s slow, laborious and precludes lobbing bombs at North Korea or depriving its poor, long-suffering people of contact with the world. Rodman says this about his frequent visits to Pyongyang: 'I know in time Americans will see I’m just trying to help us all get along and see eye to eye through basketball and with my friendship with Kim I know this will happen.' On the other hand, a woman of war has just issued forth in support of Barack Obama’s adventure in Syria. Hillary Clinton or Dennis Rodman for public office? I know what my choice would be." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDennis Rodman (& Russia) Promoting Global Peace

A war the Pentagon doesn’t want

"They are embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration’s attempts to craft a plan that makes strategic sense. None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it. So far, at least, this path to war violates every principle of war, including the element of surprise, achieving mass and having a clearly defined and obtainable objective. They are repelled by the hypocrisy of a media blitz that warns against the return of Hitlerism but privately acknowledges that the motive for risking American lives is our 'responsibility to protect' the world’s innocents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA war the Pentagon doesn’t want