Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

09 Oct 2011 22:51

tags

U.S.: Federal attorney: Medical marijuana laws lead to drug trafficking

  • Where there’s marijuana there’s money. And lots of it. People are using the cover of medical marijuana to make extraordinary amounts of money. In short, (they’re) engaged in drug trafficking.
  • U.S. Attorney for Northern California Melinda Haag • Comparing medical marijuana dealers to drug traffickers — a harsh take, considering medical marijuana is legal in California. The U.S. government is planning a crackdown of medical marijuana dispensaries in the state within the next two months. This actually follows something Eric Holder said about a year ago, when Prop 19 looked like it might have a chance of passing in California. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 22:45

tags

Biz: Some among upper-middle class don’t pay income taxes, either

  • 4,025 number of people among the $75,000-$100,000 tax bracket who didn’t pay income taxes in 1996
  • 476,624 number of people among the same tax bracket who didn’t pay income taxes in 2009 … wait a second source
  • » Beyond numbers, into percentages: Now, if you break this down by percentages among tax brackets, it’s still a fairly small number — 1 percent of the total number, versus 76 percent of people who made less than $25,000. But there’s a difference here — the people making between $75,000 and $100,000 can generally afford to pay taxes, and they’re the largest-growing group of the bunch. Now, what’s the reason for all this? Well, between 1996 and 2009, a couple of presidents (whom you might know as Bush and Obama) enacted a series of changes to the tax code which effectively made it possible for more people to receive tax cuts that whittled the amount owed down to nothing. They most likely pay taxes in other ways — payroll and sales tax, for example — however. Force them to pay, you take money out of the pockets of the poor. So, what’s the balance?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 21:15

tags

Politics: Rep. Darrell Issa may issue subpoenas over “Fast and Furious” program

  • Clearly, he knew when he said he didn’t know. Now the question is what did he know and how is he going to explain why he gave that answer.
  • Rep. Darrell Issa • Asking on “Fox News Sunday” why Attorney General Eric Holder gave Issa, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman, a seemingly false answer on his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, a failed gun-tracking program. The program has since been tied to numerous murders in the U.S. and Mexico — and the results of which are still showing up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Issa wants answers. “People at the top of (the) Justice (Department) were well briefed, knew about it and seemed to be the command and control and funding for this program,” he claimed. Holder told him during a May Judiciary Committee hearing that he had only known about the program for a few weeks — an answer which doesn’t please Issa, and may lead to him issuing subpoenas to the Justice Department later this week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 20:50

tags

World: Egyptian violence heats up after Coptic Christian protests

  • Both sides blame the military for the escalation: While protests had roots in a conflict around a Christian church, the violence reached unprecedented heights, with at least 24 killed and 213 injured, and gruesome photos (which are on AP, but we won’t publish) telling the story of a devastating scene. “What happened today is unprecedented in Egypt. 17 corpses crushed by military tanks,” tweeted human rights activist Hossam Bahgat. “I saw bodies missing hands and legs, heads twisted away or plastered to the ground.” This Al Jazeera English clip above does a pretty decent job of explaining what led to the protests — the worst since the fall of Mubarak. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 20:30

tags

Politics: American Spectator editor: I infiltrated DC protesters to mock them

  • As far as anyone knew I was part of this cause — a cause that I had infiltrated the day before in order to mock and undermine in the pages of The American Spectator — and I wasn’t giving up before I had my story. Under a cloud of pepper spray I forced myself into the doors and sprinted blindly across the floor of the Air and Space Museum …
  • American Spectator assistant editor Patrick Howley • Discussing his role in the Air & Space Museum protests on Saturday, which (in a story since deleted from the site, but repeated elsewhere) he claims to have helped escalate. Howley claims he did this in an effort to commit an act of journalism (and to mock the protesters in the process, which his article most certainly did), but the result appears to have been a large amount of negative press for a James O’Keefe-esque act. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 11:47

tags

Politics: With weak presidential field, Tea Party focusing on Senate instead

  • No one is going to get perfect in a general election candidate. That is why we think the Senate is a better place to focus.
  • FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe • Effectively saying that Tea Party groups plan to focus on the presidential election, and instead put their energies towards helping the GOP win back the U.S. Senate, which the Democrats control with a slight majority. The race totals favor the GOP winning more seats — 23 of the 33 seats up for grabs next year are in Democratic power, and at least a few of those seats up for grabs because Senators are retiring — most notably those of Jim Webb and Kent Conrad. Do you guys think the GOP has a chance at getting the Senate back in 2012, especially considering increased Tea Party focus? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 11:17

tags

Culture: The Simpsons gets a longer lifespan, but the voice actors lose out

  • whoo-hoo After a few weeks of tense negotiations with the show’s voice actors, “The Simpsons” will have two more full seasons before it finally goes into syndication heaven — making for 25 full years.
  • d’oh The negotiations centered on a fight over giving the voice actors back-end profits, which appears to be something they weren’t able to get. Also, fans of the show may just want to see it end. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 Oct 2011 11:01

tags

Music: Former Weezer bassist dies of suspected drug overdose

Mikey Welsh, the bassist for the band during their comeback period (1998-2001), was found dead in a Chicago hotel room. Welsh left the band after having a nervous breakdown, and later became a painter. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags