Author: Admin

Reuters – by Lisa Lambert

(Reuters) – Legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes on goods sold over the Internet made its way to the Senate floor on Thursday – a sign that a decades-long struggle by states to tax businesses beyond their borders could end this year.

In February, both chambers took up, with bipartisan support, identical bills that would clear the way for states to collect the so-called “Amazon tax.” On Thursday, the Senate debated incorporating the legislation as an amendment to its budget resolution.    Continue reading “State online sales tax bill takes the stage at Senate”

RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, March 21 (RIA Novosti) – A former Chinese contractor with the NASA appeared in US federal court Thursday, his lawyer said, after he was arrested following an attempt to fly back to China carrying laptops, hard drives and SIM cards in his bags.   Continue reading “Chinese NASA Worker in US Court Over Computer Cache”

NOLA – by Claire Galofaro

An Orleans Parish judge on Thursday ruled that the state statute forbidding certain felons from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, in the wake of a constitutional amendment passed last year that made the right to bear arms a fundamental one in Louisiana. The issue will now go straight to the state Supreme Court, which must decide whether the statute infringes on Louisiana citizens’ now-enhanced right to gun possession.    Continue reading “New Orleans judge rules statute forbidding felons from having firearms unconstitutional after ‘fundamental right’ amendment”

Reuters – by Jane Sutton and David Alexander

(Reuters) – About 24 Guantanamo prisoners involved in a hunger strike that began six weeks ago are upset by the U.S. government’s failure to close the detention camp and hope to gain publicity for their plight, a Marine Corps general said on Wednesday.

General John Kelly, the head of U.S. military forces in the Latin America region, flatly rejected allegations from some prisoners that copies of the Koran had been mishandled, calling the claims “nonsense.”   Continue reading “Guantanamo hunger strike stems from frustration: U.S. general”

The Foundry – by Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D.

One of the most discussed issues at the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) conference is whether ammunition should be fully included in the scope of the treaty. Predictably, opinion at the conference is strongly (though not universally) in favor of full inclusion. This mistake illustrates the broader fallacies of the ATT.

Currently, ammunition is included in the draft ATT, but exporters are not required to seek to prevent its diversion to the illicit market. That is because since ammunition is a consumable commodity and is exported in tens of millions of rounds, the methods the U.S. uses to prevent the diversion of F-18s cannot work for ammunition. An importer could simply divert a few thousand rounds and then claim they were shot off in a training exercise.   Continue reading “Is Ammunition a Flash Point in the UN Small Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations?”

Aljazeera – by Nadia Hijab

The schedule for President Barack Obama’s first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week has just been released and it is no surprise that the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is not on his travel agenda.

And yet Israel put it on the international agenda less than a month ago with its award of a licence to a US energy firm to explore for oil in the Golan Heights. Oil drilling by the New Jersey-based Genie Energy Ltd in the occupied Golan Heights could well result in a lawsuit claiming that Israel is engaged in an illegal act of pillage as defined inthe Hague Convention. Perhaps Israel is now so used to living off the fat of other people’s land – Palestinian and Syrian soil and water, among other resources – it has seemingly thrown caution to the wind.   Continue reading “Israel, Obama, and other people’s oil”

FCW – by Frank Konkel

In a move sure to send ripples through the federal IT community, FCW has learned that the CIA has agreed to a cloud computing contract with electronic commerce giant Amazon, worth up to $600 million over 10 years.

Amazon Web Services will help the intelligence agency build a private cloud infrastructure that helps the agency keep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA’s previous cloud efforts, sources told FCW.   Continue reading “Sources: Amazon and CIA ink cloud deal”

The Daily Caller – by Caroline May

In a terse exchange with ICE Director John Morton on Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy accused the department head of endangering the safety of Americans with the recent release of over 2,200 illegal immigrant detainees, including aggravated felons.

The exchange, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “The Release of Criminal Detainees by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Policy or Politics,” got heated as Gowdy assailed the administration’s response to sequestration.   Continue reading “Gowdy presses ICE Director Morton on aggravated felons released”

RIA Novosti

BEIJING, March 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and China will coordinate their reactions to US plans to boost its missile defense in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday.

The remarks follow Washington’s recent announcement this it has shelved plans for a European-based missile shield in favor of boosting its defenses in Alaska, which would give it coverage from a potential North Korean attack.   Continue reading “China, Russia to Stand Together on Missile Defense in AsPac”

Global Post – by Agence France-Presse

The South Korean military raised its cyber attack warning level Wednesday after computer networks crashed at major TV broadcasters and banks, with initial suspicions focused on North Korea.

The state-run Korea Internet Security Agency said computer networks at three TV broadcasters — KBS, MBC and YTN — as well as the Shinhan and Nonghyup banks had been “partially or entirely crippled”.   Continue reading “S. Korean TV networks, banks suffer suspect cyber attack”

Bob Owens

Be wary of the crocodile tears associated with the “killing” of Diane Feinstein’s expansive and unconstitutional assault weapons ban. Harry Reid dropped the bill because he knew that if it was attached to the other gun control legislation his statist party hopes to pass, it would doom that legislation as well.

By separating Feinstein’s language, his other gun control bills stand a better chance as a package, and she has the opportunity to attempt to attach her ban to popular legislation as an amendment, making it more likely of passage, not less.  Continue reading “Reid kills Feinstein AW ban, making it even more dangerous”

NBC News – by Matthew DeLuca

The executive director of Colorado’s department of corrections was shot dead by an unknown gunman at his home on Tuesday night, authorities in Colorado confirmed to NBC News.

Why the director, Tom Clements, was shot and by whom was not clear.

“The initial information was the doorbell had rung and when Mr. Clements answered the door he was shot,” El Paso County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said. Investigators were working to confirm that information.   Continue reading “Colorado department of corrections chief shot dead in home”

Saudi Gazette

UNITED NATIONS — Talks resumed Monday on a United Nations treaty to regulate the sale of conventional arms – amid roadblocks put up by some of the world’s key players.

After four weeks of negotiations failed in July, the 193 members of the global body will again attempt to hammer out an accord that could force states to assess, before making a sale, whether weapons will be used for human rights violations, terrorism or organized crime.   Continue reading “UN arms treaty talks resume amid hurdles”

Yahoo News – by ALBERT AJI and ZEINA KARAM | Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state media accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon for the first time on Tuesday in the north of the country on Tuesday, killing 15 people. Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of firing the weapon.

Neither of the accusations could immediately be verified.   Continue reading “Syria accuses rebels of firing chemical weapon”

Yahoo News – by Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – Colorado’s governor will sign three gun control bills into law on Wednesday, including one banning ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds in a state that has experienced two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

The measures that Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper will sign also include a bill requiring universal background checks for gun buyers, and another that requires gun buyers to pay for their own background checks, said the governor’s spokesman, Eric Brown.   Continue reading “Colorado governor will sign 3 gun control measures on Wednesday”

The Star – Reuters

Rwandan-born former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Congo, has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Monday.