Return to the Gulag

Jon Utley’s search for his fatherJon Utley was two years old in Moscow when his father, Arcadi Berdichevsky, a Russian trade official, was sent to a labor camp by the Soviet secret police.His mother, Freda Utley,escaped with Jon to England and then to America.In 2004 and2006,Utley, a well-known journalist,embarked upon a search to learn of [...]

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[Source: Mint Dollar - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Court: Va. man owns 1776 copy of Declaration

A rare 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence belongs to a Virginia technology entrepreneur, not the state of Maine, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday. Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000. But the state of Maine claimed it belongs to the town [...]

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[Source: vote tags: Tracking the Vote - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Rahm Emanuel Doesnt Pay Taxes, So Why Should You?

Kurt NimmoInfowarsFebruary 25, 2009Of course, if you dont pay taxes to the government, chances are you will be arrested and thrown in the clinker. Not so in the case of Rahm Emanuel, Obamas Chief of Staff.Emanuel and other bureaucrats apparently dont have the time or desire to fill out and file the sort of paperwork [...]

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[Source: Mint Dollar - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Luxury goods: The lapse of luxury

Producers of luxury goods are suffering in the downturn

COULD those who produce luxury goods escape the worst of the global economic slump? Not likely. Some had dared to hope so, suggesting that rich consumers may be insulated from the financial turmoil that has engulfed those less well off, or that shoppers’ discretionary spending may go to acquiring fewer, better quality items. In fact practice suggests that the optimists have got it mostly wrong.

Revenue in the luxury-goods industry may fall by 3-7% this year according to Bain, a consulting firm. That could prove to be a conservative estimate, as the economic slowdown begins in earnest. Bad news is pouring in. Diamonds, a byword for luxury, are not forever. On Monday February 23rd De Beers, the leading diamond producer, admitted that operations have been suspended at Debswana, a joint venture with Botswana’s government that is the world’s biggest diamond producer. Other diamond miners are taking similar measures. Americans, who buy half the world’s diamonds, are resisting the lure of the sparkle, apparently foregoing fancy engagement rings for now. ...

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[Source: The Economist: News analysis

Mississippi Passes Legislation Protecting Gun Owners During Martial Law

Mississippi lawmakers have passed a bill to protect the states residents during martial law. On the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi website, Phil Bryant announces the passage of SB 2036. The legislation restricts the power of a peace officer to confiscate firearms and ammunition in an emergency or during a time of martial [...]No related posts.

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[Source: War On You: Breaking Alternative News

UBS AG Helps Fill Lawmakers Coffers

Swiss bank UBS AG agreed today to pay $780 million to settle claims by the U.S. Department of Treasury that it helped American customers evade paying taxes by hiding their Swiss bank accounts from U.S. tax authorities. But that’s not the only help that UBS has provided Americans. In the 2008 election cycle, the foreign [...]

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[Source: Mint Dollar - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

A friendly visit

Barack Obama visits, Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister

Barack Obama sets foot on foreign soil for the first time as president on February 19th, following the tradition of new US presidents meeting first with their neighbours to the north and south (he met with Mexico’s president a week before his inauguration). While battling the global economic crisis will be the prime topic of discussion, the two allies also will talk about some contentious trade issues, including the “Buy America” provisions in the new US stimulus package and Mr Obama’s position on the North American Free-Trade Agreement.

Both the US and Canada are in the midst of major economic downturns. While Canada went into the crisis with stronger fundamentals than the US—including years of fiscal surpluses and a much-stronger banking system—it will also be plunged into recession this year, in no small measure because of slumping demand in the US, by far its largest trading partner, as well as because of plummeting commodity prices. Around one-third of Canada’s GDP comes from exports to the US (it is the biggest exporter of oil and gas to its southern neighbour), yet US imports from Canada, at almost US$20bn in December, have fallen 36% since oil prices peaked in July. Other Canadian exporters, such as those in the automotive, lumber and furniture industries, are also suffering. ...

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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Missing billionaire found in Virginia

Federal agents have located financier Robert Allen Stanford and served him with papers accusing him and three of his companies of orchestrating a $9.2 billion investment fraud scheme, the FBI said Thursday.Bookmark and Share More »Powered by Bookmarkify™

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[Source: Mint Dollar - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Former Felons May Regain Right to Vote in Countrys Strictest States

Cross-Posted at Project Vote's Voting Matter's Blog

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

by Erin Ferns

Hundreds of thousands of former felons may regain their voting rights in two of the country's most restrictive states this year. As predicted last month, disenfranchisement reform is an election issue that is quietly gaining momentum as policymakers in Virginia and Kentucky battle for restoration of voting rights.
The two states are currently the only states in the nation that permanently disenfranchise all felony offenders. Virginia, however, has permitted certain former felons to apply for restoration, which then has to be approved by the governor, according to the Virginian Pilot last week. With less than 10,000 Virginians having regained voting rights under the last four governorships and at least 297,901 still disenfranchised, it appears more has to be done. But it appears this will not be accomplished without a fight.

Last week, the Virginia Senate passed one measure and defeated another that would restore voting rights, the Pilot reported. Constitutional amendment SJ 273, a measure that would give the General Assembly "constitutional power to restore voting rights to non-violent felons," is now in the House. However, an arguably more effective measure "that would automatically restore voting rights once a felon completes their sentence and subsequent parole or probation" died on a 19-19 vote. "Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who presides in the Senate, broke the tie and voted against it."

Nationally, more than five million people are not allowed to vote as a result of a past felony conviction. Policies on felony re-enfranchisement among the 50 states are so inconsistent as to create confusion among, not only those former offenders who wish to regain the right to vote, but also the very officials charged with implementing the laws. Fair and consistent felony re-enfranchisement laws can contribute to the rehabilitation process, and reduce the harmful impact on low-income and minority communities where a disproportionately high number of individuals are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. With that, voting rights advocates are pushing for automatic post-incarceration restoration of voting rights, as we reported in last month's blog entry.

Under a system of automatic post-incarceration restoration of rights, "citizens released from prison would be immediately eligible to vote while on probation and parole, as are those who are sentenced to probation without serving any time in prison," according to a 2008 report by Erika Wood of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. "These citizens would be permitted to register in precisely the same way as other eligible citizens, without submission of special paperwork."

"Restoring the right to vote to ex-offenders is an integral aspect of reintegration into society," according to a 2007 Project Vote report, which notes a disproportionate over-representation of low-income and minority citizens in the criminal justice system. "Consistent policies are necessary to prevent large-scale disenfranchisement not only of the ex-offenders themselves, but also of the communities to which they belong. Society as a whole benefits when a representative government truly represents all its citizens."

While the Virginia bill has support from both parties, it "must travel a difficult path to become law," the Pilot reports. "The first step is being approved by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates that has already killed similar proposals this year."

Another fight is expected in Kentucky, where as many as 186,000 former felons may be able to vote again if House Bill 70 "gets the support it needs from lawmakers," according to local broadcast news outlet, WHAS 11. The bill would amend state law that permanently disenfranchises all felony offenders to restore voting rights after completion of sentence. The bill is now in the Senate.

To monitor the progress of Virginia and Kentucky's felon voting rights bills, visit www.ElectionLegislation.org and sign up for the Election Legislation e-Digest by emailing a subscription request to eferns(at)projectvote.org.

Quick Links:

Statistics by State. Sentencing Project.

In Other News:

Ads against same-day voter registration hit TV - Santa Fe New Mexican
A Las Cruces political action committee is running ads on cable television warning viewers that bills allowing same-day voter registration would lead to vote fraud, including out-of-state people pouring in to cancel the vote of New Mexican citizens.
Voter ID bill referred to full Senate - Marshall News Messenger [Texas]
The controversial voter identification bill that triggered a Senate rules fight last month on Tuesday was referred directly to the full Senate for a vote.

Voter ID law fails to pass House committee - Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. - A Minnesota House panel has defeated a proposal to require voters to show photo ID before casting a ballot.  

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[Source: RETROGRESSING - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Ron Paul: What if ... the American People Learn the Truth?!

<a href="//www.youtube.com/v/4fTVn2tMI3E&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/4fTVn2tMI3E&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0</a>

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[Source: Ron Paul forum

Outsourcing the Costs of the War on Drugs

When it comes to foreign affairs, Americans are used to debating progress or setbacks in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or on the Israeli invasion last month of the Gaza Strip. Were used to thinking about death and destruction thousands of miles from home and, as a result, tend to debate these matters based [...]No related posts.

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[Source: War On You: Breaking Alternative News

The Coming Crisis: White Collar Homelessness

The Coming Crisis: White Collar Homelessnessby Shannon MoriartyPublished February 10, 2009 @ 10:14AM PSTLast month, unemployment rates surged to 7.6 percent. As the jobless population becomes older and more educated, many are ending up with no car,no job prospects,no health insurance, and - before long - no home. Will [...]No related posts.

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[Source: War On You: Breaking Alternative News

9/11 Cover-Up Connection: Black Boxes Found 15 Hours After Buffalo Crash

9/11 Cover-Up Connection: Black Boxes Found 15 Hours After Buffalo Crash
Yet FBI claimed that indestructible black boxes were never discovered following WTC attack

One of a plethora of cover-ups surrounding 9/11 is the FBIs contention that the...

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[Source: Ron Paul forum

Blackwater Worldwide renamed Xe as company tries to salvage its tarnished brand

US Security Firm Mired in Iraq Controversy Changes Its Name Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning its tarnished brand name as it tries to shake a reputation battered by oft-criticised work in Iraq, renaming its family of two dozen businesses under the name Xe. The parent company’s new name is pronounced like the letter z.Blackwater Worldwide’s headquarters is [...]No related posts.

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[Source: War On You: Breaking Alternative News

Euro zone GDP dips 1.5%

Read full story for latest details.Bookmark and Share More »Powered by Bookmarkify™

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Blue Dogs Say Helping Wall Street Is a Genuine National Emergency, But Helping Main Street Isnt

Chris Hayes of The Nation catches the House's leading Blue Dog Democrat, Jim Cooper, going on record saying that they see helping Wall Street as a "genuine national emergency," but helping the rest of the economy isn't. I shit you not:

When I spoke to Cooper the week after the vote, he defended it as counterintuitively pro-Obama, cast against "certain Congressional old habits and bad practices. A lot of our colleagues have not gotten the change message." He expressed frustration with the speed of the process, as well as the fact that the leadership had forgone the normal committee mark-ups, saying that members were "just told how to vote."

If that was the case, I asked Cooper, why had he voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program little more than a week after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sent a three-page proposal up to the Hill asking for $700 billion? "We were told," he said, "and I believed at the time, that the TARP money was a genuine national emergency."

I mean, there's no other way to read this. Cooper is on the record saying he voted to hand $700 billion to Wall Street because it was required by a "genuine national emergency." But the stimulus bill that would start addressing the economic destruction happening all over the country? No, according to the Blue Dogs who voted against the stimulus, that crisis on Main Street isn't a "genuine national emergency."

Guess what? The financial industry is the second biggest donor to Jim Cooper over his career. What a shocker that he thinks wealthy Wall Street fat cats having to take slightly lower paychecks is a "genuine national emergency," but millions of Americans losing their jobs and wages isn't.


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[Source: RETROGRESSING

2nd Amendment backers to march on D.C.

‘This is a time for brave men and women to stand up and be counted’ 2009WorldNetDaily Image from the front page of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun OwnersA coalition is being assembled to march on Washington to deliver to Congress, the president and even the U.S. Supreme Court a message [...]No related posts.

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[Source: War On You: Breaking Alternative News