Don't mess with Ron Wyden

Our defender of rights has taken on the Obama administration, which wants to keep secret their justification on assassinating people around the world, including American citizens abroad and frequent innocents caught in the "collateral damage".  Many of the policies originated With George W Bush, but are now the modus operandi of the current administration

In the process, he has picked up allies on both sides of the aisle, with Rand Paul (KY-R), Mike Lee (UT-R), and Mark Udall (CO-D) joining in the demands of more transparency on the arbitrary use of lethal force thousands of miles away.

The rich don't pay taxes, only little people do that.

Buzzflash is reporting a new tax dodge utilized by billionaire hedge fund managers, moving billions through sham re-insurance companies in the Bahamas.  Oddly enough this was first reported by Bloomberg Businessweek (ironically owned by politician plutocrat and defender of the oligarchy Michael Bloomberg).  Here is the substance of this scam.  All they do is send their spare change, billions of it, to their sham re-insurance company they set up in the Bahamas for this purpose.  The re-insurance treats the cash as "reserves" against future claims.  There won't be any claims since the re-insurance company doesn't insure anything.  The cash gets invested in the hedge fund and the money made is not taxable at all in the Bahamas, and not in the US until the "reserve" is closed out, years down the road.  The taxes, when paid, are at the lower capital-gains rate and not as ordinary income.  

Generations of investors have used reinsurance as an investment and tax-avoidance tool, and a decade ago the IRS vowed to clamp down on its abuses, with little today to show and no prosecutions.

Federal Minimum Wage Increase?

A proposal from President Obama to increase the Federal Minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 / hour and index it to inflation has brought objections from many of the usual suspects, like Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who claim the minimum wage will kill jobs and hurt small businesses. 

Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) stated that she started as a teenage retail employee making a seemingly-measly $2.15 an hour in Mississippi (she didn't say what year that was, but based on her age it was likely between 1968 - 1970).  Think Progress did a little basic math and in this article they explain that her $2.15 / hour back then would be $12.72 - $14.18 in today's dollars.  Moreover, back then the minimum wage was $1.60 which is $10.56 in today's dollars.

The minimum wage in real dollars has actually decreased by 31% since 1969, resulting in a vast increase in the number of families in dire situations.

Is the rule of Law in the US Inoperative?

It was Richard Nixon's press secretary Ron Ziegler that made the word "inoperative" a part of American history (it was a euphemism for "We Lied").  Now during the Senate confirmation hearings for John Brennan as head of the CIA we hear echos of inoperative.
SEN. RON WYDEN: Let me ask you several other questions with respect to the president’s authority to kill Americans. I’ve asked you how much evidence the president needs to decide that a particular American can be lawfully killed and whether the administration believes that the president can use this authority inside the United States.

Brennan answers with total gibberish.

JOHN BRENNAN: I have been a strong proponent of trying to be as open as possible with these programs, as far as our explaining what we’re doing. What we need to do is optimize transparency on these issues, but at the same time optimize secrecy and the protection of our national security. I don’t think that it’s one or the other. It’s trying to optimize both of them. And so, what we need to do is make sure we explain to the American people what are the thresholds for action, what are the procedures, the practices, the processes, the approvals, the reviews. The Office of Legal Counsel advice establishes the legal boundaries within which we can operate. It doesn’t mean that we operate at those out of boundaries. And, in fact, I think the American people will be quite pleased to know that we’ve been very disciplined, very judicious, and we only use these authorities and these capabilities as a last resort.

If ever there was the epitome of obfuscating bureaucratic blather, Brennan achieved it in pointedly not ruling out the killing of US citizens on US soil.

So what is the answer to Wyden's question?  What are the rules?  Will they just kill anyone they deem dangerous, no matter where?

The Strange Journey

I ordered an electronic Weather Station and the vendor chose to ship it Fedex Smartpost.  The tracking below shows that it shipped from Coffeyville, KS to Kansas City and thence to Brooklyn Park, MN taking two days to get there.  Problem is that it traveled 440 miles or so, but only got 79 miles closer to me, and it still has 1,720 miles to go.  Updates to follow...

It took 7 days and arrived in Kent, WA on 2/19 and was delivered the next day 2/20.  Oh well, I didn't get charged for it.

Date	Time	Location	Event Details
February 15, 2013	03:10:52 AM	Fedex Smartpost Brooklyn Park MN US	Departure Scan
February 15, 2013	03:10:00 AM	Fedex Smartpost Brooklyn Park MN US	In transit to pickup location
February 14, 2013	06:44:00 PM	Fedex Smartpost Brooklyn Park MN US	Arrival Scan
February 13, 2013	06:42:48 PM	Fedex Smartpost Kansas City KS US	Departure Scan
February 13, 2013	06:42:00 PM	Fedex Smartpost Kansas City KS US	In transit to pickup location
February 13, 2013	03:18:00 PM	Fedex Smartpost Kansas City KS US	Arrival Scan
February 13, 2013	08:50:00 AM	Coffeyville KS US	Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit to carrier

Wow, Duck! Meteor Incoming

The meteor over Russia has been documented with some amazing videos.  See here and here again and also here.  Some wags are blaming the Pope.  There was some humor following the event.

The panic and confusion that followed Friday's meteorite crash quickly gave way to typical Russian black humor and entrepreneurial instincts.
Several people smashed in the windows of their houses in the hopes of receiving compensation, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Others quickly took to the Internet and put what they said were meteorite fragments up for sale.
One of the most popular jokes was that the meteorite was supposed to fall on Dec. 21 last year – when many believed the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world – but was delivered late by Russia's notoriously inefficient postal service.

Death and Taxes

The only for-sure things you can count on are death and taxes, right?  Wrong if you're a corporation, they can live indefinitely and do a pretty good job of not paying taxes.