Group items tagged

In a huge victory for privacy and the rule of law, a federal appeals court today reinstated our landmark lawsuit challenging the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), a statute that gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to collect Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls.

A father was dragged from his home and handcuffed in front of his children by a SWAT team looking for his estranged wife - to collect her unpaid student loans. A stunned Kenneth Wright had his front door kicked in by the raiding party at 6 am yesterday before being dragged onto his front porch, handcuffed and led to a police car with his three children. He says he was then detained for six hours while officers looked for his wife - who no longer lives at the house. Scroll down for video

It is high time to describe the Obama Administration by its proper name: corrupt. Admittedly, corruption among our elites generally and in Washington in particular has become so widespread and blatant as to fall into the "dog bites man" category. But the nauseating gap between the Administration's propaganda and the many and varied ways it sells out average Americans on behalf of its favored backers, in this case the too big to fail banks, has become so noisome that it has become impossible to ignore the fetid smell. The Administration has now taken to pressuring parties that are not part of the machinery reporting to the President to fall in and do his bidding. We've gotten so used to the US attorney general being conveniently missing in action that we have forgotten that regulators and the AG are supposed to be independent. As one correspondent noted by e-mail, "When officials allegiances are to El Supremo rather than the Constitution, you walk the path to fascism."

US Fidelis did business as National Auto Warranty Services and Dealer Services in Wentzville, Missouri until they made this name change at the end of 2008. They are being investigated by the Missouri Attorney Generals Office for fraud; not to mention attorney general's offices in near 20 other states. Please also go to the Better Business Bureau to find that they have an F rating on their BBB report card. These salespeople are told to get the payment up front and they mail your contract later. Thus, thousands of people are giving their credit card, savings account, checking account, or debit card information making a down payment on the coverage before they even read the contract. What they are not told is that the contract only will cover the Blue Book value of the vehicle. If repairs exceed that, their contract is DONE. Your car can be up to 15 years old and have up to 200,000 miles on it. SURE!!! If it is only worth $2500 and your engine costs $3000 to be replace, I hope you have $500 to get it out of the shop. That is...if they even agree to fix it. PLEASE, get the word out. Stop the commercials. I know what I am talking about. I used to work there. They are ripping off thousands of unsuspecting people.

A University of Zurich study 'proves' that a small group of companies - mainly banks - wields huge power over the global economy. The study is the first to look at all 43,060 transnational corporations and the web of ownership between them - and created a 'map' of 1,318 companies at the heart of the global economy. The study found that 147 companies formed a 'super entity' within this, controlling 40 per cent of its  wealth. All own part or all of one another. Most are banks - the top 20 includes Barclays and Goldman Sachs. But the close connections mean that the network could be vulnerable to collapse

Sums things up. Sad really.

This report comes from London, but the attitudes mentioned can easily be found in the United States as well. Wondering if, in the long run, the Diaspora has a future, at least anywhere in the West or the Middle East, outside of Israel.