Polaroid goes bankrupt

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Uncategorized

Friday, December 19, 2008

Camera company Polaroid has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The firm, famed for the introduction of instant photography, says alleged fraud by the founder of their parent group is to blame.

Owned since 2005 by Petters Group Worldwide, Polaroid says that the group’s founder Tom Petters is “under investigation for alleged acts of fraud that have compromised the financial condition of Polaroid.” Authorities believe Petter, currently in police custody, was running fraud worth £3 billion, something he denies.

Petters Group, itself, filed for bankruptcy in October. Both firms now face restructuring, which Polaroid is confident won’t affect daily operations — in fact, the company is “planning for new product launches in 2009,” and claims to have “entered bankruptcy with ample cash reserves sufficient to finance the company’s reorganization under Chapter 11.”

Polaroid has further said that employees will be paid without interruption, and that while members of Petters Group are under investigation for fraud, Polaroid’s management is not. The company, based in Minnesota, also has subsidiaries which will enter bankruptcy with it.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Polaroid_goes_bankrupt&oldid=4455668”

Cisco sues Apple for iPhone trademark

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Uncategorized

Friday, January 12, 2007

The iPhone only made its appearance as a prototype and there have been controversies aroused.

The dispute has come up between the manufacturer of the iPhone (which was presented on Wednesday for the first time) — Apple Inc. — and a leader in network and communication systems, based in San Jose — Cisco. The company claims to possess the trademark for iPhone, and moreover, that it sells devices under the same brand through one of its divisions.

This became the reason for Cisco to file a lawsuit against Apple Inc. so that the latter would stop selling the device.

Cisco states that it has received the trademark in 2000, when the company overtook Infogear Technology Corp., which took place in 1996.

The Vice President and general counsel of the company, Mark Chandler, explained that there was no doubt about the excitement of the new device from Apple, but they should not use a trademark, which belongs to Cisco.

The iPhone developed by Cisco is a device which allows users to make phone calls over the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Cisco_sues_Apple_for_iPhone_trademark&oldid=4601674”

Iranian International Master Dorsa Derakhshani discusses her chess career with Wikinews

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Uncategorized

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In February 2017, the Iranian Chess Federation announced two teenage chess players, Dorsa Derakhshani and her younger brother Borna Derakhshani, were banned from representing the national team. The federation announced their decision although Dorsa Derakhshani had previously decided and informed the chess federation she did not wish to play for Iran.

Dorsa Derakhshani is currently 21 years old and holds the International Master (IM) as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM) titles. Her brother, Borna, plays for the English Federation and holds the FIDE Master title.

Dorsa Derakhshani was banned since she did not wear a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, while competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in January 2017. Under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran, hijab is a mandatory dress code. Her brother Borna Deraskhsani was banned for playing against Israeli Grand Master (GM) Alexander Huzman at the same tournament. Iran does not recognise the existence of Israel, and previously, Irani athletes have avoided playing against Israeli athletes.

Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh, the president of the country’s chess federation, explained the decision to ban the players saying, “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran and in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.” ((fa))Farsi language: ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????. He further stated, “Unfortunately, something that should not have happened has happened and our national interest is paramount and we have reported this position to the Ministry of Sports.” ((fa))Farsi language: ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ??? ? ????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????.

IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who currently studies at Saint Louis University in the United States and plays for the United States Chess Federation, discussed her chess career, time in Iran and the 2017 controversy, and her life in Saint Louis with a Wikinews correspondent.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Iranian_International_Master_Dorsa_Derakhshani_discusses_her_chess_career_with_Wikinews&oldid=4583918”

Confiscation Of Goods Cleared For Home Consumption

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Public Relations

“A person imported a consignment, paid duty assessed by the department (there is no self assessment in customs), clears the goods and then use the goods or sell it as per his business requirement. After sometime the department passes an order saying that the goods has been confiscated and offered him an option to redeem the goods on payment of redemption fine. He does not know what should he do with this option. Hence he requested the department to confiscate the goods absolutely.”

Jokes apart, the fundamental question, which arises here as to what extent law should be stretched. In the present context, this paper seek to examine that whether the goods which are not available for confiscation can be confiscated under Customs Act, 1962? This paper is an humble attempt to examine this question.

“To Confiscate” means to appropriate private property to public treasury. Thus after confiscation the goods becomes a property of the government and the government can deal with it as it wants. Through option of redemption fine, government offers to some person to take ownership of the goods. Redemption fine is not a penalty and it has no penal connotation. In Blue Dart Express v. Commissioner of Customs[1] the Tribunal observed that redemption fine in lieu of confiscation is not a fine as understood in criminal jurisprudence. Redemption fine is not a penalty in that sense. It is only an option to the person to pay an amount in lieu of confiscation. It contains no penal connotation.

Proceeding of confiscation is a proceeding against the goods, they are proceedings in rem. “In rem” literally means against the property, not against the person. A proceeding in rem is one taken directly against the property, and has for its object the disposition of the property, without reference to the title of individual claimants. Distinguishing the terms “in rem” and “in personam”, supreme Court held, in Vishawanathan v. Abdul Wajid[2] that a judgment in rem settles the destiny of the res itself and binds all persons claiming an interest in the property inconsistent with the judgment even though pronounced in their absence; a judgment in personam, although it may concern a res, merely determines the rights of the litigants inter se to the res.

The confiscation proceedings are “proceeding in rem”[3]. The department can proceed even if the offender is unknown. In CC v. Bhooramal[4] it was held that confiscation proceeding can be initiated even without ascertaining as to who is the real owner of goods. Thus the proceeding of confiscation is a proceeding against the goods and goods only- can the proceeding be sustained if the goods are not available for confiscation?

WHEN GOODS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, OPTION TO REDEEM CANT BE GIVEN- CONFISCATION NOT POSSIBLE:

In numerous cases, notably in Crafts Studio v. CCE[5], Hon’ble Tribunal held,

“The appellant also contends that since the goods had already been cleared they could not have been confiscated and redemption fine imposed on them. In support of this proposition, the appellant has relied on the decision of this Tribunal in the case of Prudential Pharmaceuticals Ltd. v. CC, Chennai [2001 (136) E.L.T. 1057 (T)]….. However, the appellant’s submission regarding imposition of redemption fine merits acceptance in view of the decision of this Tribunal in the case of Prudential Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

In Mahalaxmi International Export v. CC[6], the tribunal held that once the goods are cleared from customs, they cannot be confiscated and redemption fine cannot be imposed. It held in para 10,

“We find merit in the appellant’s submission with regard to imposition of redemption fine. In the present case, the goods are not available for confiscation. Nor had they been originally cleared against a bond. In such a case, the law does not permit imposition of redemption fine as held by us in the Ram Khazana Electronic & Ors. v. CC, AIR Cargo, Jaipur (Supra) [2003 (156) E.L.T. 122 (Tribunal)].

On this reasoning the tribunal held, in Sansui India v. CC[7], that when the goods are not seized and not available with the department for actual confiscation, such goods cannot be confiscated and question of giving option to importer to pay fine in lieu of confiscation does not arise. It held in para 4,

“Section 111 of the Customs Act describes the goods brought from a place outside India which shall be liable to confiscation for various actions or omissions. Section 125 of the Customs Act provides that whenever confiscation of goods is authorised by the Customs Act, the adjudicating authority may, in the case of prohibited goods, and shall, in the case of any other goods, give to the owner of the goods an option to pay fine in lieu of confiscation. In the present matters the goods imported by the Appellants were cleared out of Customs charge after assessment of Bills of Entry and payment of duty. It was only through investigation conducted subsequent to the release of goods, the Department came to know about the under-valuation. However, the goods released to the Appellants were never seized. Thus the goods though were liable to confiscation was never available with the Department for actual confiscation. If the goods are not available with the Department, the question of their confiscation and giving any option to the importer to pay fine in lieu of confiscation under Section 125 of the Customs Act does not arise. It is also not the case of the Revenue that the goods were seized and have been released to the Appellants provisionally. In view of these facts the Revenue cannot confiscate the goods and order the goods to be redeemed on payment of redemption fine.”

In Shivalaya Spinning v. CC[8], the Tribunal declared clearly,

“In so far as redemption fine is concerned we agree with the contention of the ld. Counsel based on the decisions of the Apex Court cited by him that when the goods are not available for confiscation, redemption fine cannot be imposed. Hence, the order imposing redemption fine is set aside.”

ONLY IMPORTED GOODS CAN BE CONFISCATED, GOODS CLEARED FOR HOME CONSUMPTION ARE NOT IMPORTED GOODS:

Section 111 of the Customs Act say, “Confiscation of improperly imported goods”. Thus Section 111 of the Customs Act is applicable only to the imported goods. Section 2(25) of the Customs Act defines “imported goods” as,

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOUcetzK-g[/youtube]

“imported goods means any goods brought into India from a place outside India but does not include goods which have been cleared for home consumption.”

This confiscation can be assailed on this ground also. Under customs Act, only imported goods can be confiscated. As per the definition of “imported goods” under Section 2(25) of the Customs Act, goods cleared for home consumption does not remain imported goods. In Bussa Oversea v. C L Mahar[9] Division Bench of the Mumbai High Court held that once goods are cleared for home consumption from customs, they cease to be imported goods and hence they are not liable to confiscation. It explained in para 7,

“The first submission of the learned counsel is that the goods imported under 45 consignments were cleared for home consumption on the petitioners executing ITC bonds as required under sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the Act. The learned counsel urged that once the goods are cleared for home consumption, then the goods covered by the consignments cease to be imported goods in accordance with the definition of expression ‘imported goods’ under Section 2 of the Act and consequently such goods are not liable for confiscation. There is considerable merit in the submission of the learned counsel. The goods lose its character of imported goods on being granted clearance for home consumption and thereafter the power to confiscate can be exercised only in cases where the order of clearance is revised and cancelled. Shri Chagla then submitted that the proceedings for imposition of penalty under Section 112 are not permissible if the goods cannot be confiscated under Section 111 of the Act. The submission is not correct. Section 112 deals with the levy of penalty for improper importation of goods and Section 112(a) provides that any person who in relation to any goods, does or omits to do any act which act or omission would render such goods liable to confiscation under Section 111, or abets the doing or omission of such an act, is liable to a penalty. The power to impose penalty can be exercised not only when the goods are available for confiscation but when such goods are liable to confiscation. The expression ‘liable to confiscation’ clearly indicates that the power to impose penalty can be exercised even if the goods are not available for confiscation. It is possible that the goods may be cleared for home consumption without the Customs Authorities being aware that the clearance is sought by suppressing the relevant facts or by producing documents which are hot genuine. The mere fact that the importers secured such clearance and disposed of the goods and thereafter goods are not available for confiscation cannot divest the Customs Authorities of the powers to levy penalty under Section 112 of the Act. Shri Chagla relied upon the decision of Calcutta High Court reported in 2000 (123) E.L.T. 330 (Cal.) = 1976 Tax. L.R. 1567 (Thomas Duff and Co. (India) Ltd. v. Collector of Customs and others). The Calcutta High Court took the view in a case of export where a show-cause notice was issued as to why penal action should not be taken, that once the goods were exported and/or not available for confiscation, then the Customs Authority had no jurisdiction to initiate the proceedings by issuance of show-cause notice for levy of penalty. It is not possible to share the view taken by the Calcutta High Court. The power to levy penalty is not dependant upon availability of the goods imported or exported. The power to levy penalty arises because the importer or exporter has done or omitted an act in relation to goods and which renders such goods liable for confiscation. The power, in our judgment, to levy penalty is available once the Customs Authorities come to the conclusion that the goods imported or exported were liable to confiscation because of act or omission on the part of the importer or exporter as the case may be. The power is not dependant upon the availability of the goods. It is therefore not possible to accede to the submission of Shri Chagla that as the goods covered by 45 consignments were not available for confiscation under Section 111 of the Act, the Customs Department could not have commenced proceedings under Section 112 of the Act for levy of penalty.”

This judgment has been affirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court[10]. Thus it has been authoritatively decided that once the goods are cleared for home consumption, the goods cease to be imported goods and hence these goods cannot be confiscated under Section 111 of the Customs Act, however penalty can be imposed under section 112 for improper imports.

This view was followed by the tribunal in case of Southern Enterprises v. CC[11], wherein it held in para 6,

“Revenue cannot confiscate the goods which have already been cleared for home consumption as they ceased to be imported goods as defined in Section 2 of the Customs Act and as held by the Bombay High Court in the case of Bussa Overseas & Properties P. Ltd. (cited supra). The same view has been expressed by the Tribunal in the case of Kishandas & Sons; Sources India Impex P. Ltd. and in the case of Leela Dhar Maheswari v. CCE.”

NATIONAL TREATMENT OF IMPORTED GOODS:

This view is also in consonance with WTO agreement (Article III of the GATT) on national treatment of imported goods that once the imported goods passes customs barrier, there must not be any discrimination between imported goods and goods locally produced. Thus when the goods are cleared for home consumption, the cleared goods merges with the local goods and they must not be differentiated from the locally produced goods.

GOODS RELEASED PROVISIONALLY OR ON BOND:

In a series of judgments the Apex Court and Tribunal have held that when the goods are released provisionally or under Bond, the goods can be confiscated and redemption fine can be imposed. In Weston Components v. CC[12], the Supreme Court held that,

“It is contended by the learned Counsel for the appellant that redemption fine could not be imposed because the goods were no longer in the custody of the respondent-authority. It is an admitted fact that the goods were released to the appellant on an application made by it and on the appellant executing a bond. Under these circumstances if subsequently it is found that the import was not valid or that there was any other irregularity which would entitle the customs authorities to confiscate the said goods, then the mere fact that the goods were released on the bond being executed, would not take away the power of the customs authorities to levy redemption fine.”

The view is supported by various other judgments of the Apex Court, notably East India Commercial Company v. CC[13], Jeevraj v. CC[14] and Harbans Lal v. CCE[15].

In Atlas Casting & Metal v. CC[16], the Tribunal held that when the goods has been released on bond, the bond can be enforced and the goods can be confiscated.

However, it is humbly submitted that the above view is not correct. It is clear from the definition of Section 2(25) that once the goods are cleared for home consumption, they are not imported goods. “Clearance” includes “provisional clearance”. As per section 2(2) of the Customs Act, the term assessment includes provisional assessment. In view of this definition even when the goods are provisionally cleared for home consumption, the goods has been cleared for home consumption and the goods cease to be imported goods.

Even on the basis of the provision of “option to redeem” under Section 125 of the Customs Act, such option can only be given if the possession of the goods are with the department. Once the goods are provisionally cleared, the possession is not with the department and a option to redeem cannot be given. Thus even on this logic, goods cannot be confiscated once it is provisionally released.

I am sure the judiciary will consider these grounds as and when suitable opportunity comes.

ARMS OF LAW MUST NOT BE OVERSTRECHED:

Every law is an infraction of human liberty[17]. Thus it is necessary that the law must not be extended from their natural meaning unless until there is clear and unambiguous mandate of the legislature. Overstretching laws almost always make bad laws.

Despite these binding judgments and clear provisions of law on confiscation, the department keeps on confiscating goods not available for confiscation and cleared for home consumption, and keeps on fighting infructuous litigation. Such vexatious litigation do not affect rich and powerful but greatly affect small importers. Aptly said,

The net of law is spread so wide,

No sinner from its sweep may hide.

Its meshes are so fine and strong,

They take in every child of wrong.

O wondrous web of mystery!

Big fish alone escape from thee!

(Views expressed are personal views of author.)

(RAJESH KUMAR)

[1] 1999 (111) ELT 102

[2] AIR 1963 SC 1, on page 15

[3] S Indrasanrai Ltd. v. CC 1983 (13) ELT 1305 (SC)

[4] 1983 (13) ELT 1546 (SC)

[5] 2004 (163) ELT 109

[6] 2004 (169) ELT 68

[7] 2005 (180) ELT 483

[8] 2002 (146) ELT 610

[9] 2004 (163) ELT 304

[10] 2004 (163) ELT A 160

[11] 2005 (186) ELT 324

[12] 2000 (115) ELT 278 (SC)

[13] 1983 (13) ELT 1342 (SC)

[14] 1997 (94) ELT 459 (SC)

[15] 1993 (67) ELT 20 (SC)

[16] 2005 (186) ELT 575

[17] Jeremy Bentham

Article Source: sooperarticles.com/law-articles/confiscation-goods-cleared-home-consumption-53393.html

About Author:

I am also into writing on these laws & other areas of law, and many of my papers has been published in journals, like Excise Law Times, Service Tax Review, The Hindu, Economic & Political Weekly, Combat Law, Legal News & Views etc. I am a regular columnist on News & Reviews. custom.excise@yahoo.comAuthor: Rajesh Kumar, Advocate

CMHC: housing market in Canada ‘highly vulnerable’

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Uncategorized

Sunday, October 29, 2017

In a quarterly news release on Thursday, state-owned Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said Canada’s housing market is highly vulnerable, especially in Toronto and Hamilton in Ontario, Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia, and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. It also identified a growing concern of overbuilding in Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta.

The release said Calgary and Edmonton, the largest and second largest cities in Alberta, have a large inventory of unsold homes. The CMHC expressed concern this may drive down prices of homes in the area.

Vancouver, which is now reportedly less affordable than Manhattan in the US; Toronto; Victoria; and Hamilton were all assessed by the CMHC’s quarterly report as highly overvaluated.

The housing markets of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Ottawa in Ontario, Montreal and Quebec in Quebec, Moncton in New Brunswick, Halifax in Nova Scotia, and St. John’s in Newfoundland, were all assessed as low or moderate risk.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=CMHC:_housing_market_in_Canada_%27highly_vulnerable%27&oldid=4518050”

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro injured in Preakness, does not finish race

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Uncategorized

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, sent as the post-time odds-on favorite in this year’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, breaks down in the opening stretch of the race, shattering any chance of a Triple Crown winner this year. Bernardini, the 12-1 4th choice out of 9, ends up winning this year’s Preakness, stopping the clock at 1:54.65. Following up 5 1/4 lengths behind was Sweetnorthernsaint, sent to the post at 8-1, and Hemingway’s Key at 29-1, six lengths further back.

According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Barbaro’s injury was “significant” and “would require major stabilizing surgery.” Barbaro’s injury effectively ended the horse’s racing career.

Bernardini, a colt by A.P. Indy out of Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American, was bred and is owned by the Darley Stable of Sheikh Mohammed, is trained by Tom Albertrani, and was ridden to victory by Javier Castellano. Today’s Preakness marks the first Preakness win for jockey Javier Castellano, who previously rode Ghostzapper to a win in the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Preakness was only Bernardini’s 4th career start.

Bernardini paid $27.80 on a $2 win bet. The $2 Exacta of Bernardini and Sweetnorthernsaint (8-7) paid $171.60, the $1 Trifecta with Hemingway’s Key in third (8-7-3) paid $1,956.40, and the $1 Superfecta with 2nd-favorite Brother Derek (8-7-3-6) paid $11,151.20.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Kentucky_Derby_winner_Barbaro_injured_in_Preakness,_does_not_finish_race&oldid=1558656”

2008 COMPUTEX Taipei: Three awards, One target

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Uncategorized

Monday, June 23, 2008

2008 COMPUTEX Taipei, the largest trade fair since its inception in 1982, featured several seminars and forums, expansions on show spaces to TWTC Nangang, great transformations for theme pavilions, and WiMAX Taipei Expo, mainly promoted by Taipei Computer Association (TCA). Besides of ICT industry, “design” progressively became the critical factor for the future of the other industries. To promote innovative “Made In Taiwan” products, pavilions from “Best Choice of COMPUTEX”, “Taiwan Excellence Awards”, and newly-set “Design and Innovation (d & i) Award of COMPUTEX”, demonstrated the power of Taiwan’s designs in 2008 COMPUTEX Taipei.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=2008_COMPUTEX_Taipei:_Three_awards,_One_target&oldid=1108560”

Public Employee Unions Bankrupting America

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Workplace Policy

Public Employee Unions Bankrupting America

by

Delwyn Lounsbury

Public employee unions bankrupting America with their collective bargaining has led to high pay, pensions and health care benefits. It will make deflation and the Greater Depression we are in worse. On 3/9/2011, the Wisconsin GOP voted to end collective bargaining for all their public employee unions. All the Democrat legislators had moved out of state to prevent a vote on reducing state costs by laying off workers. The Republican Party is one vote short of passing the bill. Since the collective bargaining issue did not involve money, the vote did not need a quorum. It was approved 18 to 1. Our elected officials are playing “dirty pool” (again) just like the tactic the Democrats used in 2010 to force ObamaCare into law. The so-called “nuclear option.” ObamaCare threatens to socialize 16 percent MORE of the American economy. Now we are learning $105 billion of startup money was surreptitously authorized in the 2300 page bloated bill and has already been spent. The FIREWORKS are just getting started over cutting the cost of government at all levels. DE FUND BIG GOVERNMENT TYRANNY!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DG5_FjCHBw[/youtube]

The headlines about Governor Scott Walker’s fight with these unions up in Madison, Wisconsin are just the tip of the iceberg. Just as most of an iceberg is underwater and not readily seen, states, counties, cities and municipalities are at the point where there is little money left to run them. And as revenue dwindles in deflation and the Greater Depression due to lower income, sales and property tax receipts, the future looks bleak. First off, there shouldn’t be any public employee unions. Why does our country have to value bureaucratic government workers so highly that they get almost total protection from firings and layoffs and whatever pay and pension they want? Remarkably, it was Wisconsin in the 1950’s where progressive liberal activists first made inroads for public employee unions. Since then, both the Democrats (most union members vote Democrat and the Democrat Party get tons of union contributions) and the Republicans have let the socialism monster of big government grow to the detriment of the free market. Socialism is a big leech sucking money from an economy. In the private sector, this policy would kill the goose that laid the golden egg as the companies would just have to file for bankruptcy. The jobs and the employees’ retirement plans would be history. Hardly anyone in the private sector gets defined benefit retirement plans anymore. There is a live and let live basis to free enterprise. Isn’t there? Private sector unions want their company healthy and in business. Yes, we need to take care of our firefighters and policemen and many other positions like teachers require years of college. But in states like California, there are some 50,000 public employees getting $100,000 per year (plus cost of living adjustment) pensions. Many retired public employees make $150,000 to $200,000 plus health care. The new affluent elite! The city of Vallejo, California went bankrupt last year. In San Diego, 70 percent of the payroll goes to retired workers. The Little Hoover Commission, a government oversight agency, concluded, “Pension costs will crush government. Government budgets are being cut while pension costs continue to rise and squeeze other government priorities.” It’s got to the point where teachers can hardly be fired for cause. It can take years, and during the process the teacher gets pay and benefits but isn’t allowed to teach. Unions are designed to protect all their dues payers no matter what. Many schools have a 50 percent dropout rate and in Los Angeles it’s 33 percent. Many are wishing private enterprise would come in and save education before it gets any worse. 82 percent of California Highway Patrol managers get extra for disabilities. Many public employees get three percent of the final years pay times the number of years worked. This can add up to 90 percent of the final years pay as long as they live. Unionization has become a monopoly feeding on taxpayers to the detriment of balanced budgets. We need to reduce the size of these pensions and the power of public employee unions bankrupting the system. Also we need to end collective bargaining and improve accountability of union members and union bosses. The deflation and Greater Depression started with the 2000 dot com stock market mania bust and will last until 2016 – 2018. At that time, asset values may be down 90 percent and unemployment may get to 30 percent. Cause? To much socialism leading to too big a government which let fiat money and fractional reserve banking morph into the biggest credit inflation of all times led by a monopoly cartel called the Federal Reserve Bank sponsored by the Anglo power elite banksters who want to control the world. The FED is not federal, not a bank, not audited, not controlled and no one knows who owns the stock in it, by the way. Deflation will absolutely de fund and grind government down. Pension and retirement plans investing in stocks, most bonds and real estate will be broke. But, how much freedom and liberty do we lose in the process? Credit inflations always crash with a hyperdeflation. Every time! Cash will be KING! I am for small government. Contract it out to the lowest bidder. Start reducing the size of government now, or we risk a worse depression leading to electing dictatorial leaders out of frustration. Think Hitler. Protect the Constitution for your children’s sake. It’s getting Obama hammered right now. “As government expands – liberty contracts” by Ronald Reagan by Delwyn Lounsbury – THE DEFLATION GURU Use of this article allowed with attribution back to: http://www.deflationeconomy.com

Delwyn Lounsbury – THE DEFLATION GURU is an Eagle Scout.

Get Free 90 page download “Deflation Guidebook” at: http://www.deflationeconomy.com Hurry! Crash is coming!

Article Source:

Public Employee Unions Bankrupting America

RuPaul speaks about society and the state of drag as performance art

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Uncategorized

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Few artists ever penetrate the subconscious level of American culture the way RuPaul Andre Charles did with the 1993 album Supermodel of the World. It was groundbreaking not only because in the midst of the Grunge phenomenon did Charles have a dance hit on MTV, but because he did it as RuPaul, formerly known as Starbooty, a supermodel drag queen with a message: love everyone. A duet with Elton John, an endorsement deal with MAC cosmetics, an eponymous talk show on VH-1 and roles in film propelled RuPaul into the new millennium.

In July, RuPaul’s movie Starrbooty began playing at film festivals and it is set to be released on DVD October 31st. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone recently spoke with RuPaul by telephone in Los Angeles, where she is to appear on stage for DIVAS Simply Singing!, a benefit for HIV-AIDS.

DS: How are you doing?

RP: Everything is great. I just settled into my new hotel room in downtown Los Angeles. I have never stayed downtown, so I wanted to try it out. L.A. is one of those traditional big cities where nobody goes downtown, but they are trying to change that.

DS: How do you like Los Angeles?

RP: I love L.A. I’m from San Diego, and I lived here for six years. It took me four years to fall in love with it and then those last two years I had fallen head over heels in love with it. Where are you from?

DS: Me? I’m from all over. I have lived in 17 cities, six states and three countries.

RP: Where were you when you were 15?

DS: Georgia, in a small town at the bottom of Fulton County called Palmetto.

RP: When I was in Georgia I went to South Fulton Technical School. The last high school I ever went to was…actually, I don’t remember the name of it.

DS: Do you miss Atlanta?

RP: I miss the Atlanta that I lived in. That Atlanta is long gone. It’s like a childhood friend who underwent head to toe plastic surgery and who I don’t recognize anymore. It’s not that I don’t like it; I do like it. It’s just not the Atlanta that I grew up with. It looks different because it went through that boomtown phase and so it has been transient. What made Georgia Georgia to me is gone. The last time I stayed in a hotel there my room was overlooking a construction site, and I realized the building that was torn down was a building that I had seen get built. And it had been torn down to build a new building. It was something you don’t expect to see in your lifetime.

DS: What did that signify to you?

RP: What it showed me is that the mentality in Atlanta is that much of their history means nothing. For so many years they did a good job preserving. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a preservationist. It’s just an interesting observation.

DS: In 2004 when you released your third album, Red Hot, it received a good deal of play in the clubs and on dance radio, but very little press coverage. On your blog you discussed how you felt betrayed by the entertainment industry and, in particular, the gay press. What happened?

RP: Well, betrayed might be the wrong word. ‘Betrayed’ alludes to an idea that there was some kind of a promise made to me, and there never was. More so, I was disappointed. I don’t feel like it was a betrayal. Nobody promises anything in show business and you understand that from day one.
But, I don’t know what happened. It seemed I couldn’t get press on my album unless I was willing to play into the role that the mainstream press has assigned to gay people, which is as servants of straight ideals.

DS: Do you mean as court jesters?

RP: Not court jesters, because that also plays into that mentality. We as humans find it easy to categorize people so that we know how to feel comfortable with them; so that we don’t feel threatened. If someone falls outside of that categorization, we feel threatened and we search our psyche to put them into a category that we feel comfortable with. The mainstream media and the gay press find it hard to accept me as…just…

DS: Everything you are?

RP: Everything that I am.

DS: It seems like years ago, and my recollection might be fuzzy, but it seems like I read a mainstream media piece that talked about how you wanted to break out of the RuPaul ‘character’ and be seen as more than just RuPaul.

RP: Well, RuPaul is my real name and that’s who I am and who I have always been. There’s the product RuPaul that I have sold in business. Does the product feel like it’s been put into a box? Could you be more clear? It’s a hard question to answer.

DS: That you wanted to be seen as more than just RuPaul the drag queen, but also for the man and versatile artist that you are.

RP: That’s not on target. What other people think of me is not my business. What I do is what I do. How people see me doesn’t change what I decide to do. I don’t choose projects so people don’t see me as one thing or another. I choose projects that excite me. I think the problem is that people refuse to understand what drag is outside of their own belief system. A friend of mine recently did the Oprah show about transgendered youth. It was obvious that we, as a culture, have a hard time trying to understand the difference between a drag queen, transsexual, and a transgender, yet we find it very easy to know the difference between the American baseball league and the National baseball league, when they are both so similar. We’ll learn the difference to that. One of my hobbies is to research and go underneath ideas to discover why certain ones stay in place while others do not. Like Adam and Eve, which is a flimsy fairytale story, yet it is something that people believe; what, exactly, keeps it in place?

DS: What keeps people from knowing the difference between what is real and important, and what is not?

RP: Our belief systems. If you are a Christian then your belief system doesn’t allow for transgender or any of those things, and you then are going to have a vested interest in not understanding that. Why? Because if one peg in your belief system doesn’t work or doesn’t fit, the whole thing will crumble. So some people won’t understand the difference between a transvestite and transsexual. They will not understand that no matter how hard you force them to because it will mean deconstructing their whole belief system. If they understand Adam and Eve is a parable or fairytale, they then have to rethink their entire belief system.
As to me being seen as whatever, I was more likely commenting on the phenomenon of our culture. I am creative, and I am all of those things you mention, and doing one thing out there and people seeing it, it doesn’t matter if people know all that about me or not.

DS: Recently I interviewed Natasha Khan of the band Bat for Lashes, and she is considered by many to be one of the real up-and-coming artists in music today. Her band was up for the Mercury Prize in England. When I asked her where she drew inspiration from, she mentioned what really got her recently was the 1960’s and 70’s psychedelic drag queen performance art, such as seen in Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, The Cockettes and Paris Is Burning. What do you think when you hear an artist in her twenties looking to that era of drag performance art for inspiration?

RP: The first thing I think of when I hear that is that young kids are always looking for the ‘rock and roll’ answer to give. It’s very clever to give that answer. She’s asked that a lot: “Where do you get your inspiration?” And what she gave you is the best sound bite she could; it’s a really a good sound bite. I don’t know about Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, but I know about The Cockettes and Paris Is Burning. What I think about when I hear that is there are all these art school kids and when they get an understanding of how the press works, and how your sound bite will affect the interview, they go for the best.

DS: You think her answer was contrived?

RP: I think all answers are really contrived. Everything is contrived; the whole world is an illusion. Coming up and seeing kids dressed in Goth or hip hop clothes, when you go beneath all that, you have to ask: what is that really? You understand they are affected, pretentious. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s how we see things. I love Paris Is Burning.

DS: Has the Iraq War affected you at all?

RP: Absolutely. It’s not good, I don’t like it, and it makes me want to enjoy this moment a lot more and be very appreciative. Like when I’m on a hike in a canyon and it smells good and there aren’t bombs dropping.

DS: Do you think there is a lot of apathy in the culture?

RP: There’s apathy, and there’s a lot of anti-depressants and that probably lends a big contribution to the apathy. We have iPods and GPS systems and all these things to distract us.

DS: Do you ever work the current political culture into your art?

RP: No, I don’t. Every time I bat my eyelashes it’s a political statement. The drag I come from has always been a critique of our society, so the act is defiant in and of itself in a patriarchal society such as ours. It’s an act of treason.

DS: What do you think of young performance artists working in drag today?

RP: I don’t know of any. I don’t know of any. Because the gay culture is obsessed with everything straight and femininity has been under attack for so many years, there aren’t any up and coming drag artists. Gay culture isn’t paying attention to it, and straight people don’t either. There aren’t any drag clubs to go to in New York. I see more drag clubs in Los Angeles than in New York, which is so odd because L.A. has never been about club culture.

DS: Michael Musto told me something that was opposite of what you said. He said he felt that the younger gays, the ones who are up-and-coming, are over the body fascism and more willing to embrace their feminine sides.

RP: I think they are redefining what femininity is, but I still think there is a lot of negativity associated with true femininity. Do boys wear eyeliner and dress in skinny jeans now? Yes, they do. But it’s still a heavily patriarchal culture and you never see two men in Star magazine, or the Queer Eye guys at a premiere, the way you see Ellen and her girlfriend—where they are all, ‘Oh, look how cute’—without a negative connotation to it. There is a definite prejudice towards men who use femininity as part of their palette; their emotional palette, their physical palette. Is that changing? It’s changing in ways that don’t advance the cause of femininity. I’m not talking frilly-laced pink things or Hello Kitty stuff. I’m talking about goddess energy, intuition and feelings. That is still under attack, and it has gotten worse. That’s why you wouldn’t get someone covering the RuPaul album, or why they say people aren’t tuning into the Katie Couric show. Sure, they can say ‘Oh, RuPaul’s album sucks’ and ‘Katie Couric is awful’; but that’s not really true. It’s about what our culture finds important, and what’s important are things that support patriarchal power. The only feminine thing supported in this struggle is Pamela Anderson and Jessica Simpson, things that support our patriarchal culture.
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Triple limb-reattachment fails – boy loses foot

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Uncategorized

Tuesday, April 5, 2005Terry Vo, the 10-year old Australian boy who had two hands and a foot reattached by surgeons after losing them in an accident, has had to have the foot re-amputated. He will be given a prosthetic foot in its place.

The operation to re-attach three limbs was thought to have been a first – but was ultimately unsuccessful, with the foot having died inside, and receiving insufficient blood supply following the surgery to reattach it.

“That would lead to the small muscles in the foot actually constricting, the toes bending over and a deformed …. foot that is sort of clawed over and doesn’t have good sensation,” said plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love today, on Australia’s ABC Radio.

“Even if you can get all of that to survive, he [would be] worse off than having had an amputation.”

“What is very disappointing is that for the first two days after [the operation] the foot looked absolutely magnificent,” he said.

Terry’s hands were healing well, said the surgeon. The prosthetic foot would allow him to walk normally, since his knee was intact.

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