Clipmarks | Individual accountability Clips

Individual Worth

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:13:11 GMT

clipped by: stephaniegillespie
clipper's remarks: From Young Women: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity

Clip Source: www.lightplanet.com

"Each of us comes into this world separately, one by one. This is not an accident. I think it's the Lord's way of reminding us of the infinite worth of each soul."
~Dwan J. Young (May 1982 Ensign, page 93)

That's just how white folks will do you

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:17:01 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Some nice information about his ties to ACORN as well.

Clip Source: www.riehlworldview.com

A 1995 piece in the liberal Chicago Reader basically refutes Obama's statements that he never heard Pastor Jeremiah Wright invoke his racist rants and also provides some additional insight into Obama's early years in politics.

"That's just how white folks will do you," Obama writes.

"We have some wonderful preachers in town--preachers who continue to inspire me--preachers who are magnificent at articulating a vision of the world as it should be.

"The right wing, the Christian right, has done a good job of building these organizations of accountability, much better than the left or progressive forces have. But it's always easier to organize around intolerance, narrow-mindedness, and false nostalgia. And they also have hijacked the higher moral ground with this language of family values and moral responsibility.

Collectivist? Check:

But individual actions, individual dreams, are not sufficient. We must unite in collective action, build collective institutions and organizations."

Tags: obama, racism, wright, religion, politics

Corporate Tax Dodging

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:07:10 GMT

clipped by: Brian Wingfield
clipper's remarks: Here's where the IRS might want to focus its efforts.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress.

The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO's estimate.

"It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

An outside tax expert, Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, said increasing numbers of limited liability corporations and so-called "S" corporations pay taxes under individual tax codes.

Tags: irs, tax, corporate, gao

It's Good to be a Corporation in US!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:56:04 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: More than 38,000 foreign corporations had no tax liability in 2005 and 1.2 million U.S. companies paid no income tax, the GAO said. Combined, the companies had $2.5 trillion in sales. About 25 percent of the U.S. corporations not paying corporate taxes were considered large corporations, meaning they had at least $250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts.

The GAO said it analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service, examining samples of corporate returns for the years 1998 through 2005. For 2005, for example, it reviewed 110,003 tax returns from among more than 1.2 million corporations doing business in the U.S. Dorgan and Levin have complained about companies abusing transfer prices -- amounts charged on transactions between companies in a group, such as a parent and subsidiary. In some cases, multinational companies can manipulate transfer prices to shift income from higher to lower tax jurisdictions, cutting their tax liabilities.

Clip Source: biz.yahoo.com

Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress

The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO's estimate

"It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich

"Half of all business income in the United States now ends up going through the individual tax code," Edwards said

The GAO study did not investigate why

The Health Savings Account Scam

Thu, 22 May 2008 05:10:37 GMT

clipped by: DanaGarrett
clipper's remarks: Health Savings Accounts are one of the biggest scams devised by politicians. They are sold to the public as ways to help the uninsured and under-insured, but they are really devised to provide a tax shelter for relatively wealthy people. It's a way that politicians use the needs of the poor and middle class uninsured to benefit higher income people. This study proves it.

Clip Source: www.cbpp.org

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report indicates that Health Savings Accounts are used disproportionately by affluent households. Its findings also suggest that HSAs are being used extensively as tax shelters

because the value of a tax deduction rises with an individual’s tax bracket, HSAs provide the largest tax benefits to high-income individuals.

In addition, higher-income individuals generally can afford to contribute more money into HSAs each year than lower-income people.

In tax year 2005, some 59 percent of tax filers making HSA contributions[5] had adjusted gross income of $60,000 or more

At the other end of the income scale, people with adjusted gross income of less than $30,000 made up 50 percent of all other tax filers in 2005 but only 15 percent of all HSA participants

Health and tax policy analysts have long warned that HSAs could be used extensively as tax shelters by high-income individuals

The GAO’s latest analysis

lends strong credence to these concerns.

Tags: healthcare, health savings accounts, wealth, poverty, inequality

Internet access & Net Neutrality: Slowing and Blocking Your Access to YouTube, Yahoo, Google, etc.

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:10:30 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

We the customers of any internet company already pay huge tolls for the benefit of using the internet, a communications system that was not only not developed by [corporations]. We pay way too much for access to a technology that was developed for government use with our taxes. What the greedy bastards are trying to do is to extort companies like Google for the privilege of allowing their customers [to access and use their sites]. And ... it clears the way for them ... to indiscriminately make money from users with zero accountability for service.

The internet was founded on the concept of access for all ... net neutrality has at its core access to internet services at any time, to any place and with no restrictions or strings attached ,,, users and service developers have in principal equal rights to be online.

... net neutrality ... [at] its core [is] the very idea of being a sort of "penumbra" that implicitly protects every individual's civil rights in the digital r
Clip Source: culturekitchen.com
[Video]
For about 4 months now I have noticed the change in service : I will get to YouTube but the pages load as slow as molasses. Other times, if I'm doing a search in Google, the page will take forever to load
Today though, it's pretty obvious what's happening : I can't get into Google from my home connection. No Google. No Gmail. No YouTube. So I pinged people on Twitter and asked if anybody was having problems getting into Google
Erica G replied from Boston :

I'm on RCN in Boston and having trouble connecting to Yahoo and tinyurl this evening. # [...] And actually, thinking of it, for the past several weeks I haven't been able to load YouTube videos properly, either
[Video]
Companies like RCN and Comcast want to compete with Google especially in the music and video streaming business. As cable companies, they'd call that business synergy. So they'll invoke "consumer satisfaction" and "traffic management" as the reason to degrade service to YouTube or Google
[Video]
[Video]

Tags: internet, net neutrality, access, free speech

Another Step Closer to the End of America

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:27:29 GMT

clipped by: timetoflush
clipper's remarks: What does the first amendment mean?
Now, what difference does it any longer make?

The courts are saying you are a slave. What do you say about yourself?

Clip Source: www.wethepeoplefoundation.org

January 13, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari
for Landmark Right to Petition Case

Constitutional Crisis Escalating

Without comment, the Supreme Court decided not to hear We The People v. United States, a case which, if heard, would have required the Court to declare -- for the first time history -- whether the Government is obligated to respond to proper Petitions by ordinary, private individuals for Redress of Grievances – specifically Grievances alleging unconstitutional behavior by the Government, and whether the individual having so Petitioned, has the Right to act to peacefully hold the Government accountable if the Government refuses to respond.

In denying to hear this first impression case, the Court has ignored its duty to interpret the meaning of the Constitution,

The decision by the Supreme Court has grave consequences for the future of individual Rights, Freedom and Liberty, popular sovereignty, government accountability

Acta Non Verba

Tags: optional. separate by commas., american government, constitution, new world order, revolution, ron paul

How plan to Force Vaccination, gave birth to the National ID

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:29:20 GMT

clipped by: Perwana786
clipper's remarks: Mercury... Autism, leave no child behind... wonder why its becomming commonplace? ...forced toxic cocktails...
connecting dots... The spanish flu was caused by injections in military.. that is origin of that epidemic. there are other cases... in africa... and elsewhere. Those who traverse the rabbit hole are cognizant of these seemingly separate incidences.

Orwell and the founding fathers must be spinning in their graves right now.

And do not get me started on that so called 'cancer preventing' shot they are trying to get all young girls to take. And the rubbish new dis-eases they manufacture such as 'restless leg syndrome' [*SIC] Yeah right.

Greedy Pharma Industry Psychopaths!

Clip Source: www.909shot.com

THE NATIONAL ELECTRONIC VACCINE TRACKING REGISTRY

BY BARBARA LOE FISHER
How The Plan To Force Vaccination Gave Birth To The National ID, A Government Health Records Database, and the End of Medical Privacy

History of Mandatory Vaccination

The Public Health Empire

An Abuse of Police Powers

A Political Agenda

A 1986 Law To Eliminate Liability

Robert Wood Johnson Gets Involved in 1991

The Clinton Administration, The National ID and Electronic Tracking Systems

The National (and International) Vaccine Plan Takes Shape

Teenager Is Jailed For Failure to Show Proof of Vaccination

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (PL 104-191)

Shalala Will Decide Privacy Rights If Congress Does Not Meet Deadline

Conclusion

If the state can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biologicals of unknown toxicity today, then there will be no limit on what individual freedoms the state can take away

Tags: dystopian usa, fascism, big brother poli tics, big pharma drug cartel, mercury in every child campaign, heglian dialectic, national id tracking

Levels of Human Experience

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:17:59 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: People can think on four levels — with feelings, beliefs, facts and ideas. In a perfect world, people would process experience using all four methods. But many people limit themselves to the lower levels, and therefore cannot join the full human adventure.

Clip Source: www.arachnoid.com

Level	Feelings	Beliefs	Facts	Ideas
Designation	Delta (δ)	Gamma (γ)	Beta (β)	Alpha (α)
Description	Emotion without reason	Values dictated by others	Basic reality testing	Creates new realities
Reasoning Method	None	Reasons only within framework of beliefs	Relies on factual descriptions	Understands that facts grow from ideas, constructs new ideas
Moral Accountability	None	Limited to belief system	Based on superficial information sources	Accepts individual responsibility
Behavioral Adaptability	None	Only as part of belief-group	Crude stimulus-response processing	Flexible, fully adaptable
Perception of Reality	Passive sensory experience	Reality is filtered by beliefs	Progresses by successive approximation	Proactively builds physical and mental environment

Tags: levels of experience, knowledge, nature

Are Islam and democracy compatible?

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:39:38 GMT

clipped by: kinokonoko
clipper's remarks: A good question. Does anyone know of an Islamic, democratic state -- where real equality is gauranteed by law? This is why only moderate, modern muslims should be allowed to prosper in Western democracies, while fundamentalists should be (lawfully) oppressed.

Clip Source: www.radionetherlands.nl

Are Islam and democracy compatible?

the most important democratic principles combine well with the moral doctrines of the Koran: the separation of powers, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and the accountability of government to its to citizens.

"We agree on the principles," says Mr Ramadan, "but if you study the individual European countries you see the principles are applied differently everywhere. Each European country has its own model of democracy. Muslims should be given the space to develop their own model too."

That's exactly what our dictators in the Middle East are always saying: 'We also have democracy, but our democracy is a bit different from yours. We have our own version of democracy.' Our dictators love this argument. You're talking like one of them!"

Slavery is allowed in the Koran! And Jews and Christians are second-class citizens, as ahl al-dhimma. That's totally incompatible with democracy.

Tags: islam, democracy, politics, terrorism, religion, atheism

should students take the FSAs? pt 1

Thu, 10 May 2007 05:50:37 GMT

clipped by: thekay
clipper's remarks: Times Colonist [Victoria] May 8, 2007.

1. Scores available to individuals? They don't make it very easy for teachers or parents to see the scores.

2. FSAs could be useful tools- if all students tested, learned and were taught the same all over the province. Learning varies from individual, class to class, school to school, district to district.

3. Apparently the Government can be held accountable if a particular district is struggling in comparison to others. Hasn't the same district(s) been ranked the lowest in the province the past 20+ years?? Doesn't sound like accountability is being accountable

4. Publishing of the scores comes after the students have moved to the next grade. That helps the teacher a whole lot! Great snapshot of LAST YEAR's grade 4s and 7s!

Clip Source: www.canada.com

Tests help make schools stronger

Foundation Skills Assessment lets us know how students, classes and schools are doing

Parents who pull their children from this month's province-wide skills tests are making a mistake, one that reduces our chances of strengthening the public education system,

They should be seen as a useful tool. Parents can find out how well their children are doing compared with their peers.

And the tests are one of the few meaningful tools available to allow measurement of student performance.

The Foundation Skills Assessment tests are given every year to students in Grades 4 and 7. They offer a snapshot of the students' mastery of reading, writing and numeracy skills. Results are available for individuals, classes, schools and entire districts.

If a district is struggling -- and some northern school districts are -- then government can be held accountable for finding ways to make sure those children get an equal chance in life.

Tags: fsas

NCLB Causes Harm to Children Putting the Nation at Risk

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:22:25 GMT

clipped by: rpassman
clipper's remarks: David Berliner and Sharon Nichols, both well respected educational researchers, claim that NCLB is causing substantial harm to children, to schools, to teachers and to administrators of those schools that has the chilling effect of placing the Nation at Risk.

Clip Source: www.edweek.org

In his 2007 State of the Union address, President Bush claimed success for the federal No Child Left Behind Act. “Students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap,” he said

But, as with Iraq, a substantial body of evidence challenges his claim.

We believe that this federal law, now in its sixth year, puts American public school students in serious jeopardy. Extensive reviews of empirical and theoretical work, along with conversations with hundreds of educators across the country, have convinced us that if Congress does not act in this session to fundamentally transform the law’s accountability provision, young people and their educators will suffer serious and long-term consequences.

We note in passing that only people who have no contact with children could write legislation demanding that every child reach a high level of performance in three subjects, thereby denying that individual differences exist.

Tags: learning, teachers, teaching, nclb, bush, education

Why the PATRIOT act is bad

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:23:33 GMT

clipped by: adamskinner
clipper's remarks: What does the PATRIOT act really say?

Clip Source: www.eff.org

How PATRIOT Threatens Online Civil Liberties

The law dramatically expands the ability of states and the Federal Government to conduct surveillance of American citizens. The Government can monitor an individual's web surfing records, use roving wiretaps to monitor phone calls made by individuals "proximate" to the primary person being tapped, access Internet Service Provider records, and monitor the private records of people involved in legitimate protests.

PATRIOT is not limited to terrorism. The Government can add samples to DNA databases for individuals convicted of "any crime of violence." Government spying on suspected computer trespassers (not just terrorist suspects) requires no court order. Wiretaps are now allowed for any suspected violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, offering possibilities for Government spying on any computer user.

Foreign and domestic intelligence agencies can more easily spy on Americans.

PATRIOT eliminates Government accountability. While PATRIOT freely eliminates privacy rights for individual Americans, it creates more secrecy for Government activities, making it extremely difficult to know about actions the Government is taking.

PATRIOT authorizes the use of "sneak and peek" search warrants in connection with any federal crime, including misdemeanors. A "sneak and peek" warrant authorizes law enforcement officers to enter private premises without the occupant's permission or knowledge and without informing the occupant that such a search was conducted.

The Department of Justice, with little input from Congress and the American people, is developing follow-on legislation - the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (nicknamed Patriot II) -- which would greatly expand PATRIOT's already sweeping powers.

Tags: conspiracy, government, nwo

Government Operations

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 02:21:52 GMT

clipped by: dirty2feet

Clip Source: www.similarplus.com

Government Operations

Government Secrecy

War on Drugs

Taxation

Government Computerization

Show All...

Above Top Secret - Uncovering Government

Government projects and facilities, including the notorious Area 51 in Nevada, as well as "Alien-related laws", government contractors, agencies and aircraft projects, such as the famous Aurora hypersonic spyplane.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com

Opensecrets.org

The web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit U.S. research group which tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Aimed at creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more

http://www.opensecrets.org

Center for Public Integrity

Nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in Washington, DC, that concentrates on ethics and public service issues.

http://www.publicintegrity.org

Government Accountability Project:

Whistleblowing, governmental wrongdoing and official misconduct.

http://www.whistleblower.org

Project on Government Oversight

A non-partisan non-profit government watchdog whose mission is to investigate, expose, and remedy abuses of power, mismanagement, and government subservience to special interests by the federal government.

http://www.pogo.org

Big Brother

Argues that government control has increased at the expense of individual liberties in the US and the world at large.

http://www.shire.net/big.brother

Common Cause

Citizens` lobbying group with 250,000 members nationwide devoted to making government more accountable and ethical at the national, state and local level. Widely regarded as the leading organization working for campaign finance reform.

http://www.commoncause.org

Tags: gov

Clipmarks | Individual accountability Clips

Individual Worth

That's just how white folks will do you

Corporate Tax Dodging

It's Good to be a Corporation in US!

The Health Savings Account Scam

Internet access & Net Neutrality: Slowing and Blocking Your Access to YouTube, Yahoo, Google, etc.

Another Step Closer to the End of America

January 13, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari for Landmark Right to Petition Case Constitutional Crisis Escalating

How plan to Force Vaccination, gave birth to the National ID

Levels of Human Experience

Are Islam and democracy compatible?

Are Islam and democracy compatible?

should students take the FSAs? pt 1

Tests help make schools stronger

Foundation Skills Assessment lets us know how students, classes and schools are doing

NCLB Causes Harm to Children Putting the Nation at Risk

Why the PATRIOT act is bad

How PATRIOT Threatens Online Civil Liberties

Government Operations

January 13, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari
for Landmark Right to Petition Case

Constitutional Crisis Escalating