Vowing to Sue IRS, Tea Partiers Descend on DC
Tea party activists descended on Washington today, promising to sue the Internal Revenue Service and claiming vindication in their long-held complaints about perceived government overreach.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill this morning, activists joined Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to lambaste the federal government for targeting them with extra scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status as public-advocacy groups.
Tea partiers say the lengthy questionnaires, some of them 30 questions long, cost them hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars as they sent stacks of paperwork to the IRS and were held in legal limbo for years, uncertain of what activities they could pursue, and cut off from skeptical donors scared away by their pending status.
“This is not only unconstitutional, it is illegal,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative civil-rights group that says it is suing the IRS on behalf of 17 clients who were targeted for extra scrutiny because of their groups’ leanings.
Pope Francis urges global leaders to end ‘tyranny’ of money
He said free-market capitalism had created a “tyranny” and that human beings were being judged purely by their ability to consume goods.
Money should be made to “serve” people, not to “rule” them, he said, calling for a more ethical financial system and curbs on financial speculation.
Countries should impose more control over their economies and not allow “absolute autonomy”, in order to provide “for the common good”.
The future is now! Amazon launches its own virtual currency called Coins
May 15, 2013 by Jack Blood
Filed under Economy
Govt comes down on those who try this is the real world – but if new cyber cash will condition the masses to accept a global electronic “currency” – which the bankers can manipulate and cut off anytime – then so be it.
gives ‘tens of millions’ away for free to US Kindle owners
- One Amazon Coin is worth one US penny
- Coins can be bought in batches of 1000 and Kindle Users have been given 500 Coins for free
- Plans to launch Coins in the UK and for non-Kindle users have not yet been announced
Amazon has launched its own virtual currency called Coins in the US. It is only available for Kindle Fire users, for the time being, but can be used to buy games, apps and in-app purchases from the Kindle Appstore, as well as buy items from Amazon’s retail store
MICROSOFT POINTS
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, Xbox Music and Video online stores.
Points can be used to buy content from the respective stores.
They can be bought using a credit card and the credit card can then be removed.
This means parents can buy their children Points to spend on games and upgrades, and control how much they spend without adding a credit card to the account.
However, in October 2012, Windows 8 began support local currency in the Xbox Video Store instead of relying on Microsoft Points.
This suggests that Microsoft may move away from its virtual currency, in the same way Facebook did with its Credits scheme last year.
The Coins will also be able to be used on the company’s retail site when they become more widely available.
Amazon has not yet confirmed when the scheme will be launched outside of the US, or if it will be available to non-Kindle users.
Amazon Coins can be bought in batches of 1000, 2500, 5000 and 10,000.
The more you buy, the bigger the discount and 10,000 Coins costs $90, for example.
Customers will also get a 10% discount on items bought using Amazon Coins.
Amazon isn’t the first company to introduce it’s own currency; Microsoft Xbox and Windows Live customers can use Microsoft Points to pay for games, upgrades, bonus levels and so on.
Amazon Coins are only currently available in the US. The company has not yet confirmed when the scheme will come to the UK. All Kindle Fire users in America have been given 500 Coins worth $5 for free, to spend in the Kindle Appstore
Nintendo similarly has Nintendo Points that can be used in the Wii Shop Channel.
Facebook launched Facebook Credits in 2009, which could be used for apps and games on the social network site, but scrapped the scheme last year in favour of local currency.
Amazon has said it has launched its Coins program as a way for developers to make more money by making it easier for shoppers to buy apps and games.
It hopes Coins will make it easier for customers to pay for items because they can buy and store Coins in their Amazon Appstore accounts to use as and when.
It can also be a way for parents to control how much children spend, negating the need to have a credit card attached to the account.
Amazon already accepts card payments and gift cards for Kindle purchases and has said that these payment options will remain.
Amazon developers had until April 25 to submit their app if they wanted it to run on the new Coins currency.
Developers will continue to get 70% revenue share for any apps or in-app purchases bought using Coins.
Read more: London Daily Mail
New Hampshire city suing ‘Robin Hood’ for paying parking meters of strangers
The New Hampshire city of Keene is suing “Robin Hood and His Merry Men” — a group that has made a name for itself by putting coins in people’s parking meters before parking enforcement agents can slap them with a ticket.
The New Hampshire Union Leader reported this week that the six “Robin Hooders” named in the suit troll downtown Keene — often tracking parking enforcement officers — in search of cars parked at expired meters.
When they find one, they pay the meter and slip notes under the windshield wiper of the vehicle that says: “Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.” The note includes an address where people can send donations for the effort.
The city claims in the lawsuit that the “Robin Hooders” are taunting and harassing the city’s three parking enforcement officers and causing them so much anxiety and distress that they’ve considered leaving their jobs — an outcome that would force the city to pick up the tab for hiring and training replacements.
“They say video recording or talking to them is harassing them, but I don’t agree with that,” James Cleaveland, a member of the group, told the Union Leader.
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
FASCISM RISING; Britain, Severe Austerity For Subjects, 5 Million Pound Pay Raise For Tyrant Queen!!
(AE) – This year the UK taxpayers will provide a 15 percent pay raise of 5 million pounds, for a total of 36.1 million pounds, to support their occupying tyrannical German Queen, Elizabeth II (Saxe Coburg Gotha).
Apparently the Crown Estates’ profits of 240 million pounds per year was not enough booty, a pay increase was required.
The dark ages continue…
2013.5.8 Queen’s Speech; Monarch To Get Huge Pay Rise As Brits Tighten Belts (RT, youtube.com):
The UK is staying committed to measures that reduce the country’s deficit – the British Queen has laid out her government’s agenda for the next year. In her speech she said it will work to promote a fairer society to reward those who work hard. However what may sound a little unfair for austerity-hit Britain, is the news that the royal family’s set to get a 5-million-pound pay rise.
2013.4.4 Queen’s Pay Rise At Expense Of Public (PressTV, youtube.com):
An analyst describes the Queen’s pay rise as inappropriate, insensitive, callous and completely out of touch with reality as masses of Brits suffer economic depression. In the background of this the British people may face a triple-dip recession in the near future as many now battle daily to cope with immense austerity pressures imposed upon them by their government. It is at this time that the yearly sovereign grant for the Queen that is also used to pay staff and maintain palaces of the royal family, paid by the British tax payers, has received a hefty rise of five million pounds per year.
Press TV has interviewed Rodney Shakespeare, professor of binary economics, London about this issue.
Researchers Have Stumbled On A Massive Lithium Mine That Could Meet All US Demand
The U.S. currently imports more than 80% of the lithium it uses, with the silvery metal winding up in batteries from cell phones to electric cars.
According to a United States Geological Survey publication on lithium, “The only commercially active lithium mine in the United States was a brine operation in Nevada. The mine’s production capacity was expanded in 2012, and a new lithium hydroxide plant opened in North Carolina. Two companies produced a large array of downstream lithium compounds in the United States from domestic or South American lithium carbonate, lithium chloride, and lithium hydroxide. A U.S. recycling company produced a small quantity of lithium carbonate from solutions recovered during the recycling of lithium ion batteries.”
Gartman on Gold: We’ve Never Ever Seen Anything Like It
Gold prices continued to plummet Monday on concern that Cyprus will have to sell excess reserves of the precious metal to raise about $522 million to help finance that country’s $13 billion international bailout, Dennis Gartman, editor of The Gartman Letter, told CNBC.
“There are a lot of people throwing up their hands. Throwing positions overboard. Panic is everywhere,” Gartman said in a “Squawk Box” interview on Monday. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I mean it.”
Obama signs STOCK Act modification
President Obama quietly signed legislation Monday that rolled back a provision of the STOCK Act that required high-ranking federal employees to disclose their financial information online.
The White House announced Monday that the president had signed S. 716, which repealed a requirement of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act requiring the disclosure, which had previously been delayed several times by Congress.
Cyprus to sell around 400 million euros worth of gold
(Reuters) – Cyprus has agreed to sell excess gold reserves to raise around 400 million euros and help finance its part of its bailout, an assessment of Cypriot financing needs prepared by the European Commission showed.
The draft assessment, obtained by Reuters, also said that Cyprus would raise 10.6 billion euros from the winding down of Laiki Bank and the losses imposed on junior bondholders and the deposit-for-equity swap for uninsured deposits in the Bank of Cyprus.
Judge Rules To End Debt Slavery (Approve bankruptcy) For Stockton, CA
April 2, 2013 by Jack Blood
Filed under Economy
This precedent could launch a wave of similar filings all across the uSA. Now IS IT TIME TO “DEFAULT” ON INTEREST + (ALLEGEDLY) OWED TO THE “FEDERAL” RESERVE? We say YES …. in fact HELL YES!
Via Last Resistance
“Today a judge ruled that the city of Stockton California is indeed bankrupt and that the city acted in good faith. Creditors asked the judge to void the bankruptcy, saying the city could raise taxes instead.”
Since people should pay their debts, some conservatives might complain about this situation. So let me explain why it is a wonderful decision.
First, regarding debt in general, no one is obligated to do what they cannot do. So even people who are under a debt load they can’t pay off, don’t have that obligation. People who lend money are taking a risk on a possibly profitable enterprise, just like the person who borrowed the money is taking a risk. At some point, both parties need to move on and stop pretending this debt is ever going to be paid back. Otherwise they are forever stuck in the past, unable to progress forward.
Second, though there is some overlap, in general the people who took the obligation are not the same people who are now obligated. People have left Stockton and moved into Stockton. Raising taxes would mean less revenue as more people moved away. Perhaps those with properties that lose their value because no one wants to live in Stockton will be forced to stay in the town, but for that reason the town’s economy will decline future and they won’t be able to provide more revenue to the municipality. But in any case, we’re talking about two different groups of people. Those being burdened with the debt liability were not the same people who took the loan.
Third, people should know to invest in productive assets, not in a ponzi scheme. Loaning money to a government is an inherent scam because they have no productive assets (or if they do have such assets, they will never be managed as effectively as similar assets are managed in the private sector). If you loan money to an oil company or a software developer they will use your money to produce something profitable so that they can pay your money back with interest. But a government is only promising to tax residents in the future to pay you back. Very little or even nothing profitable is done with the money; it is not invested but consumed. The moral obligation is not to pay back an impossible loan. The moral obligation was to invest in real development rather than buy government bonds.
So this left us with the question: Were the courts going to demand that insolvent cities pay back their debts by any means necessary? Were they going to force cities to take out more loans to pay back past loans, so that the spiral of debt only deepened? Were they going to give cities the authority to confiscate all bank accounts within their jurisdiction? (Of course, the Federal Government would never allow this because they are saving this alternative for themselves alone.)
The judge did the right thing. The debt is too large. The bondholders took a risk and lost on it. That happens sometimes; that’s why it is called “risk.”
In the meantime, though the financial meltdown will cause a lot of pain, we will be able to get through it and rebuild if this decision is upheld.
