Winning Hearts & Minds

Taxes on 8,000 French households were greater than 100% of income last year

"More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data. The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million). President Francois Hollande's Socialist government imposed the tax surcharge last year, shortly after taking office. The government has been forced to redraft a proposed bill to levy a temporary 75 percent tax on earnings over 1 million euros, which had been one of Hollande's campaign pledges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxes on 8,000 French households were greater than 100% of income last year

Vicious Cycle: Thousands in Ohio too poor to pay fines, jailed with no trial

"The American Civil Liberties Union is warning the US public against being bogged down in too much debt. The group has revealed figures showing a rising number of people who fail to pay their debts and fines end up behind bars without a court verdict. The practice is being criticized as unconstitutional, but it's alive and kicking in the State of Ohio, as RT's Marina Portnaya explains." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVicious Cycle: Thousands in Ohio too poor to pay fines, jailed with no trial

Chinese expat author decides to move back to China after receiving green card

"Living overseas expanded her vision of the world, enabling her to review her previous life in China from a different perspective. 'However, I finally came to realize that America will never be home for my spirit and career. Unlike the previous generations of immigrants to America, it is not a problem of language or the bread-and-butter things. The country is materially affluent, but sheer material well-being will not provide real happiness. Add to that the fact that China's rapid economic growth these past few years has made it unnecessary for me to stay in the U.S. just for a comfortable life. As a writer, I found my readers, my development and my roots lie in my motherland.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese expat author decides to move back to China after receiving green card

Japan rejecting Osaka mayor’s view that ‘Comfort Women’ were ‘necessary’

"A large majority of Japanese people disagree with a high-profile politician who said women forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity, polls issued on Monday said. Up to 200,000 'comfort women' from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during WWII, according to mainstream historians. Outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto said last week these women served a 'necessary' role keeping soldiers in line, sparking outrage in China and South Korea and inviting US criticism." Continue reading →

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Just Six Percent Of Americans Want Jail Time For Marijuana Users

"More Americans believe in Bigfoot than believe someone found smoking marijuana or in possession of a small amount of marijuana should be sent to jail, a new poll reports. Marijuana is a federally illegal, schedule one drug with mandatory minimum prison sentence for certain possession offenses. States like California have decriminalized simple possession of marijuana – making it an infraction punishable by a ticket. About 800,000 Americans are arrested for marijuana each year, or one every 42 seconds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJust Six Percent Of Americans Want Jail Time For Marijuana Users

Top Constitutional Experts: Obama Is Worse than Nixon

"Daniel Ellsberg notes that Obama’s claimed power to indefinitely detain people without charges or access to a lawyer or the courts is a power that even King George didn’t claim. Former judge and adjunct professor of constitutional law Andrew Napolitano points out that Obama’s claim that he can indefinitely detain prisoners even after they are acquitted of their crimes is a power that even Hitler and Stalin didn’t claim. Indeed, Obama has turned America into the most spied upon nation in world history, and has rolled back liberties to the time of the enactment of the Magna Carta in 1215." Continue reading →

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The IRS War on Medical Marijuana Providers

"The IRS employs Section 280E, a 1982 addition to the tax code that was a response to a drug dealer's successful effort to claim his yacht, weapons purchases, and even illicit bribes as business expenses. Under 280E, individuals involved in the illicit sale of controlled substances -- including marijuana, even medical marijuana in states where it is legal -- cannot claim standard business expenses on their federal taxes. Oakland's Harborside Health Center was hit with a $2 million IRS assessment in 2011 after the tax agency employed Section 280E against it. Similarly, when the feds raided Oaksterdam University, it wasn't just DEA, but also IRS agents." Continue reading →

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Shootings by Philly police soar as violent crime plummets

"The number of violent crimes fell last year in Philadelphia, as did assaults on police officers. But the number of people shot by police is up. Way up. The number of shootings by police in 2012 resulting in death or injury climbed to the highest level it’s been in 10 years. Philadelphia police shot 52 suspects last year while responding to calls for reported crimes. Of those shot, 15 people died. And the city's own police watchdog says the department hasn't provided a reason for the increase. The Police Advisory Commission has been repeatedly blocked in its efforts to review shootings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingShootings by Philly police soar as violent crime plummets

West, TX blast victims may not get property tax relief

"Some West residents may end up paying taxes this year on homes that no longer exist. Residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the April 17 West Fertilizer Co. explosion have until the end of May to protest the appraisals on which property taxes are based. But under state law, appraisal values are supposed to reflect the value of the property on Jan. 1 of the tax year. Section 23.03 of the Texas Property Tax Code allows local governments to authorize reappraisals after natural disasters, but the fertilizer plant explosion wouldn’t qualify." Continue reading →

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The Murder of David Sal Silva

"A mob of nine men beat David Sal Silva, 33, to death in Bakersfield, California, last week. They hogtied him, bashed his head with batons, picked him up and then dropped him at least twice as he screamed and pleaded for his life. They committed this crime openly – I would say in broad daylight, except that it was around midnight. Nonetheless, they slaughtered Mr. Silva on a fairly busy road, across the street from a hospital and in view of the neighborhood’s residents and passers-by. Where are the cops in all this? Protecting their own: the nine killers are sheriffs from Kern County." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Murder of David Sal Silva