FreakinDJ
FreakinDJ's JournalIf "I" was a NSA Data Mining Contractor ....
1.) I would be collecting Data and Eavesdropping on every phone call of Wall St. Firms specializing in "Mergers and Acquisitions" making a Killing in the Stock Market.
2.) I would collect Data on celebrities cheating on their spouses and sell it to Enquirer and Hustler Magazine
3.) I would definitely "Fix" the next election
I would So Not do an Edward Snowden and feel some form of "Duty or Patriotism" but rather between me and my Swiss Bank Account buy an Island some where and retire early with my posse of exotic dancers. Hell I'd even commission J-Zee to write a rap song a video depicting me and my posse of exotic dancers living the "Good Life" Hot tubing together on my private island
Suckers ....
Unstable capitalism driving class warfare
Many scoff at the idea that we have class warfare in the United States. According to Richard Wolff, author of "Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism," we have class warfare in spades. He says, "It is the corporations and the rich who are waging class warfare against the rest of America." His conclusion is based partly on a remark by billionaire Warren Buffett, who said, "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that is waging war, and we're winning."
Wolff says that part of the problem stems from the reluctance of Americans to discuss capitalism. He says, "There's a kind of mystique about it. In the last thirty years, the greatest taboo in America was the discussion of capitalism. It's a serious problem when individuals in a culture can't talk about something as important as their economic system. Capitalism has resulted in great extremes of wealth and poverty. There is nothing sacred about the system."
He says that most people believe they belong to the middle class, a mistaken notion. "The middle class is small and growing smaller," he says. "Because of the failure of governmental regulation, the rollback of New Deal reforms, the growing inequalities of wealth and income, and new austerity programs, the capitalist system itself must be questioned. Capitalism is an inherently unstable system -- its history is punctuated by a series of busts, depressions, and recessions."
He traces the decline of capitalism in the West. "At the end of World War II, for every tax dollar Washington received from the people, it obtained $1.50 from corporations. Now, for every tax dollar the government receives from the people, it obtains only 25 cents from corporations. There has been a tremendous shift of the tax burden from corporations to the people. This adds up to class warfare, especially since the rich have also found ways to greatly reduce their personal income tax. The rich paid up to a maximum of 91 percent of income tax after World War II, yet today they must pay only about 35 percent."
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/opinion/guest/unstable-capitalism-driving-class-warfare/article_3de8d697-d9ec-5151-ad4a-f997389ccdeb.html
Retired Detroit firefighter: "My pension is what I was promised"
For nearly 30 years, Larry Newberry risked his life to put out fires in Detroit.
Now, the city could slash the pension he depends on as it seeks to shed its debts through bankruptcy.
Newberry, 65, said he responded to at least three to four blazes a day as building and car fires ravaged the city. He suffered several injuries that led to his needing hand reconstruction and knee and hip replacements. After he retired in 1994, he worked for Procter & Gamble as a retail merchandiser, but now can no longer hold down a job.
The Traverse City, Mich., resident lives on his $34,000 annual pension, which is subject to federal and state taxes, and a $200-a-month Social Security payment. Since Detroit firefighters didn't participate in Social Security, his federal check is based only on his time in the private sector.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/19/news/economy/detroit-bankruptcy-pension-firefighter/index.html?iid=EL
They will go after Working Class Pensions but they will never make the Wall St. Banks pay for what they have done to the economy
G-20 backs new tax rules for big firms
For the first time in decades, the world's biggest powers look ready to close loopholes that big companies exploit to pay little or no tax.
The Group of 20 leading developed and emerging economies gave its support Friday to an action plan drafted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that will be translated into specific measures over the next two years.
"International tax rules, many of them dating from the 1920s, ensure that businesses don't pay taxes in two countries -- double taxation," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a statement. "This is laudable, but unfortunately these rules are now being abused to permit double non-taxation."
Revelations that multinationals such as Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) have been paying very little, if any, tax in countries where they have substantial businesses has led to a storm of protest.
A U.K. parliamentary committee called last month for a full investigation into Google's tax affairs, following a scathing report that also criticized Amazon and Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500). Apple has been grilled by lawmakers in Washington.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/19/news/economy/g20-tax-multinationals/index.html?iid=SF_E_River
Lesson Learned - Don't live in Gated Communities
They have always represented "Exclusion and Elitism" and now thanks to George Zimmerman "Its Open Season on your Children"
These events are going to be repeated over and over again as long small groups of "Gun Toting Bigots" have the ability to form a legally binding "Homeowners Association" for the express purpose of oppressing, and even murdering your children. What is even more worrisome is they can charge you fees for the privilege of having your children murdered.
Can the Homeowners Association be held legally liable for Martin's death. One would hope so. If not so to extract justice but rather prevent future incidence of senseless homicides.
And they thought "Fracking Gas" would benifit Americans - LOL
You Stupid Americans
The precious Fracking Gas they are polluting your air and water for is for EXPORT.
Corporations know the added pressure to domestic supplies will drive electrical energy prices higher as demands to export Unlimited, Untaxed amounts of LNG to lucrative overseas markets once again squeezes the American Working Class dry
http://ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/lng/lng-proposed-potential.pdf
Have you changed what you say on internet because of NSA Surveillance
This is not a debate over the type of data being collected
I just what to know from DU'ers has the current revelations of NSA surveillance changed the context of your internet posting or personal phone calls
The difference between a Freeper and an Obama Apologist cheerleading Wiretap programs
What makes it right when “Our Guy” does it.We’ve known these programs existed for at least a decade even thou Intelligence organizations insisted they only monitored calls originating “Outside US Borders” and we even had discussions here on DU asking why are Bush, Cheney not in jail for their illegal activities.
Now here we are content with abolishing of the 4th Amendment rights and you know dam good and well the minute Wall St’s Wealthy Elite feel the slightest bit uncomfortable with all these “Citizens” walking around with firearms they will have their “Puppet in Office” abolish are 2nd Amendment Rights
I could go on for pages with all the reasons why our lapse of ethical standards is a fatal error.
Rather I’ll leave you with this. In the not so distant past – June 6th 1944, 100s of 1000s of Americans were prepared and willing to freely accepted their fate, knowing full well casualty estimates as high as 20% were expected. They did this to defend the American way of life and the Freedoms it represented. So sad here we are willing to trade in the sacrifice they made for the right to buy some cheap Bling made in China down at the mall
Senator Feinstein sells out Americans AGAIN
She is going to pull out all the stops and present us with props and charts and lie like a Collen Powell in front of the UN
NICE
One Walmart's Low Wages Could Cost Taxpayers $900,000 Per Year, House Dems Find
One Walmart's Low Wages Could Cost Taxpayers $900,000 Per Year, House Dems Find
Walmart wages are so low that many of its workers rely on food stamps and other government aid programs to fulfill their basic needs, a reality that could cost taxpayers as much as $900,000 at just one Walmart Supercenter in Wisconsin, according to a study released by Congressional Democrats on Thursday.
Though the study assumes that most workers who qualify for the public assistance programs do take advantage of them, it injects a potent data point into a national debate about the minimum wage at a time when many Walmart and fast food workers are mounting strikes in pursuit of higher wages.
The study uses Medicaid data released in Wisconsin to piece together the annual cost to taxpayers for providing a host of social safety net programs, including food stamps and publicly subsidized health care, to workers at one Supercenter in the state.
According to the report, Walmart had more workers enrolled in the state’s public health care program in the last quarter of last year than any other employer, with 3,216 people enrolled. When the dependents of those workers were factored in, the number of enrollees came to 9,207.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/walmart-taxpayers-house-report_n_3365814.html
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