Monthly Archives: June 2014

New U.S. Law Would Revoke Passports of Delinquent Taxpayers

Posted on by

“The biggest chunk of money is projected to come from a provision that would force people who inherit IRAs and other retirement plans to take required taxable distributions over five years. Under current law, they take those payments over a longer period that is linked to their life expectancy. The change is expected to generate $3.7 billion in revenue over 10 years. Wyden’s proposal also would require the Secretary of State to revoke passports for delinquent taxpayers. Current law allows the State Department to refuse to issue or renew a passport if an applicant owes child support in excess of $2,500 or certain types of federal debts, but does not extend to tax delinquency.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-24/wyden-targets-tax-changes-for-9-billion-highway-infusion.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

US police departments are increasingly militarised: report

Posted on by

“The hardware and tactics of the war zone are quietly proliferating at home.  The ACLU’s report, War Comes Home, looks at 818 Swat incidents that were carried out by more than 20 law enforcement agencies in 11 states. The raids spanned the period from July 2010 to last October.  At the very least, the ACLU finds, the growing use of battering rams to smash down doors is causing property damage to the homes that are raided. At worst, people are dying or being injured by police teams deploying the techniques of the battlefield.  The ACLU found that 79% of Swat team raids were on private homes, and only 7% were meant for intended for missions in line with Swat teams’ original purposes.”

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jun/24/military-us-police-swat-teams-raids-aclu

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Idaho deputies confront, handcuff man for saying ‘Nickelback’

Posted on by

“Two men were confronted by two deputies at a gas station, apparently because one deputy misheard a complaint about the band Nickelback as ‘nickel sack,’ which he interpreted to be some sort of reference to marijuana.  At one point, one deputy dismisses the possibility that he misheard the phrase ‘nickel sack’ as ‘a bulls— story.’ Given that the two men were never charged, which means the police never found any drugs, it seems pretty clear that is exactly what happened. Finally, it isn’t captured on the video, but the audio seems to indicate that one of the deputies drew his gun just before pulling one of the men from the car and handcuffing him.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/26/idaho-deputies-confront-handcuff-man-over-nickelback-but-not-because-hes-a-fan/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

SWAT teams claim they’re private and immune from open records

Posted on by

“According to the ACLU, the LECs are claiming that the 501(c)(3) status means that they’re private corporations, not government agencies. These agencies oversee police activities. They employ cops who carry guns, wear badges, collect paychecks provided by taxpayers and have the power to detain, arrest, injure and kill. They operate SWAT teams, which conduct raids on private residences. And yet they say that because they’ve incorporated, they’re immune to Massachusetts open records laws. The state’s residents aren’t permitted to know how often the SWAT teams are used, what they’re used for, what sort of training they get or who they’re primarily used against.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/26/massachusetts-swat-teams-claim-theyre-private-corporations-immune-from-open-records-laws/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Bill Bonner: America’s War in Iraq Was a Fool’s Errand

Posted on by

Bill-Bonner2

“With the US Army moving quickly up the Italian peninsula, Benito Mussolini knew it was time to get out of town.  The war was almost over for the Italians. But it was not a pretty ending.  The next day, the partisans shot Mussolini and his mistress… before hanging them from meathooks suspended from the roof of an Esso gas station in Milan (the same place that fascists had displayed the bodies of fifteen Milanese resistance fighters a year earlier).  What was Mussolini’s crime?  He had led Italy into a disastrous war.  So our question for our fellow Americans is this: Are there no gas stations in the continental USA?”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/americas-war-in-iraq-was-a-fools-errand/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Syrian aircraft bomb Sunni militant targets inside Iraq

Posted on by

“ISIS militants are fighting the governments on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border, and an apparent decision by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to intervene to help Maliki further tangles the already complex knot of actors in the overlapping crises.  In Syria, the U.S. opposes both Assad and ISIS, which it condemns as a terrorist, al-Qaeda-inspired organization.  Iran supports both Assad and Maliki and is sending aid to both.  Shiite leaders in Iran and Iraq, as well as Assad, have accused Sunni governments in the Persian Gulf of aiding the militants. Kerry will meet in Paris with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan to ask them to intervene more forcefully with Sunni tribes in western Iraq.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syrian-aircraft-bomb-sunni-militant-targets-inside-iraq/2014/06/24/2ea61b70-fbdc-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Amtrak gets creative, funding ‘psychylustro’ arts project

Posted on by

“Amtrak has decided it’s going to become a veritable Louvre.  Amtrak’s gameplan involves deftly blending individual donations and foundation grants with money from the National Endowment for the Arts and in-kind contributions of its own (tax-funded, for-profit) services. Funding comes from a variety of sources, several of them public. Not included in the $300,000 price tag are the salaries of the Amtrak engineers who ‘are overseeing the action at every site during the artwork’s installation.’  Further: ‘For the next six months, the Mural Arts Program and the City of Philadelphia’s Graffiti Abatement Team have pledged to maintain ‘psychylustro’ and protect it from defacement.'”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/a-train-wreck-you-cant-look-away-from

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Violinists Barred from Flight Based On Airline’s Made-up ‘FAA Rule’

Posted on by

“As they climbed the stairway to the US Airways Express commuter jet, a flight attendant reportedly handed them a blue slip stating that the FAA prohibits musical instruments on the plane, ‘which was stunning because we’re frequent fliers,’ he said.  When told that their violins would have to be checked, the musicians protested, which prompted a phone call to an airport ‘conflict resolution officer.’  While waiting, a frustrated Kendall said he learned from a colleague about a 2012 Federal law stating that passengers may carry a violin or other small instrument in the aircraft cabin provided there is space. They obtained copies of the law and presented it as they boarded their rescheduled flight.”

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/violinists-ejected-flight-perform-bach-tarmac/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Hundreds stranded by French air traffic controller strike

Posted on by

“Hundreds of British air passengers have been left stranded after a French air traffic control strike caused five times as many flight cancellations as predicted.  Airlines said they expected further cancellations on Wednesday and warned of potentially worse delays to all flights crossing French airspace.  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) strongly condemned the strike action, saying it targeted holidaymakers at the start of the busy summer season.  Members of the two biggest air traffic controllers’ unions in France originally voted for a six-day strike from Tuesday in protest at budget cuts. However, one of the unions decided to drop strike action.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10922153/UK-flights-disrupted-by-French-air-traffic-strikes-latest.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Travelers Forego 38 Million Trips to Avoid Hassles

Posted on by

“Long lines. Packed planes. Lousy food. Intrusive security. It’s enough to make you just stay home, right?  Indeed, common sense would suggest that significant numbers of people have been discouraged altogether from traveling. But how many people? And what’s the economic impact of those trip cancellations?  The U.S. Travel Association has just released results of a study designed to answer those questions.  The survey’s main findings, extrapolated from interviews with 1,031 business and leisure travelers: 38 million trips deferred in 2013; $9.5 billion lost on airfare; $5.8 billion lost on hotels; $5.7 billion lost on recreation; $3.4 billion lost on food services; $2.8 billion lost on car rentals.”

http://www.frequentflier.com/blog/travelers-forego-38-million-trips-to-avoid-hassles/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet