Wouldn’t it be great if some mainstream pundit were to ask the following question of the Republican presidential candidates: “Do you believe that the time has come to end the war on poverty?”
Alas, it’s not going to happen. The question would obviously be considered outside mainstream America and, therefore, not the subject of legitimate debate among the presidential candidates. Moreover, all but one of the candidates, along with all the mainstream press,... (more)
Enamored with the 200,000 number? Don't be - the reason why the market has basically yawned at this BLS data is that as Morgan Stanley's David Greenlaw reports, 42,000 of the 200,000 is basically a seasonal quirk, which will be given back next month, meaning the true adjusted number is 158,000, essentially right on top of the expectation. From David Greenlaw: "some of the strength in this report should be discounted because of an seasonal quirk in the courier category of payrolls (Fed-ex, UPS, ... (more)
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said it audited 12.48 percent of individual tax returns (USCBTAXR) with income exceeding $1 million during fiscal 2011, a high reached at a time of debate over the taxation of top earners.
The announcement marks the third consecutive year that the IRS increased its audit rate on returns showing income of more than $1 million. According to IRS data, the previous record was the 8.36 percent of returns in that category audited during fiscal 2010. ... (more)
NEW YORK: A private detective who raped his former girlfriend and then framed her for a series of fictional crimes has been sentenced to 32 years in prison, bringing to a close one of the most bizarre cases to come before a court.
Using knowledge he gleaned partly from watching crime dramas like CSI, the private detective, Jerry Ramrattan, orchestrated what prosecutors called one of the most elaborate framing schemes in recent history.
As I walk the streets of Manhattan, I study the other pedestrians and wonder if they sense our danger. A mother pushing her son’s stroller laughs into her cell phone; two elderly gentlemen greet each other effusively; a jogger shuffles past; shoppers lug their treasures home. No one looks especially worried or upset, and I wonder if they’ve heard about the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA).
How can the sun brightly shine and taxis whiz p... (more)
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in an alternative universe, one that is similar to Bizarro World, which was introduced in the early 1960s in Superman comics. It’s a world in which everything that is normal is considered abnormal, and everything that is abnormal is considered normal.
Look at Iraq. Statists say, “Isn’t it wonderful how fantastic Iraq has turned out. We should be so gratef... (more)
Residents of Leesburg, Florida were shocked to see their local Social Security office turned into a random Homeland Security checkpoint Tuesday morning, as DHS officers armed with semiautomatic rifles and accompanied by sniffer dogs checked identifications of locals.
“With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-... (more)
A Chicago police officer allegedly turned a $132 speeding ticket into a pick-up opportunity when he later tracked down the female driver and asked her out, saying the least he could do for the money he cost her was to treat her to dinner, according to a lawsuit the woman filed in federal court.
Evagelina Paredes filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago, accusing police officer Chris Collins of violating her privacy, according to the Associated Press. She alleges t... (more)
Antonio Buehler, 34, a combat veteran of Kosovo and Iraq and, West Point graduate, and middle school teacher, was serving as a designated driver shortly after midnight on January 1 when he saw a woman being abused outside a 7-11. The costumed assailants were members of the Austin PD, who were conducting what they called a DWI arrest. To Buehler and his friends, the spectacle looked more like a gang assault.
SEATTLE -- On the heels of a scathing federal review of Seattle police practices, dash-cam video is once again at the center of a firestorm at City Hall.
This time, the city is suing an attorney who wanted dash-cam videos connected to alleged police misconduct.
In a leaked letter sent to Spain’s outgoing President, the US ambassador to the country warned that as punishment for not passing a SOPA-style file-sharing site blocking law, Spain risked being put on a United States trade blacklist . Inclusion would have left Spain open to a range of “retaliatory options” but already the US was working with the incoming government to reach its goals.
United States government interference in Spain’s intellectual property la... (more)
Federal prosecutors want a judge to order a Colorado woman to provide the password to decrypt her laptop, which the government seized with a search warrant.
With backup from digital rights groups, the woman is fighting the feds, arguing that being forced to provide her password violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against forced self-incrimination.
[...]The feds also played the terror card.
Davies said that, if the defendant is not compelle... (more)
Three protesters were arrested and four issued summonses yesterday in Grand Central Terminal, where approximately 150 demonstrators formed a "flash mob" to protest President Obama's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act [NDAA... (more)
We have all been lied to. For decades, the leaders of both major political parties have promised us that they can fix our current system and that they can get our national debt under control. As the 2012 election approaches, they are making all kinds of wild promises once again. Well you know what? It is all a giant sham. The United States has gotten into so much debt that there will be no coming back from this. The current system is irretrievably broken. 30 y... (more)
A Massachusetts State Trooper shot a 66-year-old woman in Norton on New Year’s Eve, mistaking her dogs for deer in an “apparent hunting accident,” according to the town’s police department.
Norton Police spokesperson Lt. Todd Jackson said no violations have been found and no charges will be filed against John Bergeron, 50.
Bergeron, a Norton resident and a Massachusetts State Trooper, was using a black powder rifle to hunt deer when he shot t... (more)
On Australia’s Gold Coast, a 22-mile- long (35-kilometer) stretch of beaches named Surfers Paradise and Rainbow Bay, Neil Rech opened a surf shop in December and unwittingly disturbed the peace.
His store, Sedition Surfboards, sells Chinese imports for A$250 ($258), one-third the cost of some Australian-made boards that competitors are offering. Rival retailers averse to discounts and upset about local job losses questioned his patriotism, and even threatened violence, he sa... (more)
The US Army said Wednesday that it is considering disciplining Reserve Corporal Jesse Thorsen, the soldier who spoke out against a militaristic foreign policy at Ron Paul’s post-Iowa caucuses rally.
After being cut short during a CNN interview Thorsen, who has served two tours in Afghanistan and was due to head back for a third, was invited on to the stage by Paul himself to address Paul’s cheering supporters.
But of course the headline is how Shamtorum is now in double digits.
I watched a segment on CBS about this poll and they completely left Paul out of the segment. Didn't show him on the graphic or mention him at all. It was as if he wasn't included, Unbelievable! I wish I could go back and grab a screen shot of what they showed on TV so I could email it to them.
It appears that SOPA sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith has decided that his best strategy continues to be to ignore any and all criticism of SOPA and pretend that none of it "is legitimate." That's kinda funny since we've shown, in great detail, where many of the problems in the bill are (see here, here and here for example -- all of which cite speci... (more)
This year’s Republican primary race has turned politics into a continuous 24-hour carnival for political junkies to gawk at and speculate about. The weekly debates, packed field, plus the poll surges and collapses by virtually every candidate, has been a boon to MSNBC, CNN, and FOX.
However in the end, as the saying goes, “no matter who wins, the government gets elected.” This political primarypalooza is just a 7 days a week infomercial for democracy and the... (more)
Is anyone surprised that Ron's Iowa supporters are young, liberal, and the least wealthy? He got a plurality of voters under 40 and about half of those under 30. A plurality of those making less than fifty thousand a year support him, and his biggest support comes from those making way less--they see through the claptrap that free markets benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor. A plurality of those calling themselves mode... (more)
A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old Dallas girl was deported by U.S. immigration officials to Colombia. She spoke no Spanish and they did appear not to have even checked her fingerprints to ensure she was who they thought she was. It’s true, she gave a false name to local police, but there is simply no excuse for the government deporting anyone for any reason without even bothering with the ba... (more)
Bad laws attract bad people to enforce them – while pushing out the good (and semi-good) people. It’s a sort of Gresham’s Law as applied to human society. And more, a sort of authoritarian feedback loop that makes the situation progressively worse as time goes by.
Consider the position of “law enforcer” in 2012 America. What does it entail? When we had peace officers, it mostly meant going after thugs – people who victimize ot... (more)
