Olympic Victory: IOC Gets Americans Asking for Rule Change

Olympic Victory: IOC Gets Americans Asking for Rule Change: LONDON – American athletes risked disqualification by leading a revolt against the International Olympic Committee on Monday and its draco...

A Positive Note for Entrepreneurs

California Court of Appeals Hears Facebook Privacy Case

Lonnie Wong
FOX40 News
6:30 p.m. PDT, March 23, 2012


SACRAMENTO—
Attorneys made arguments before a three judge panel today in Sacramento on whether postings on Facebook are constitutionally protected.

The case involves a jury foreman on a case in which five men were convicted in a gang beating. That juror posted observations during jury deliberations, which were seen by another juror on the trial that he befriended on Facebook.

During a court hearing in which the juror was given immunity, he admitted to the posts, one of which he said the proceedings were "boring."

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Facebook refused to comply with a subpoena seeking his posts, and another court ruled that a subpoena of the information from the juror's attorney was “overbroad." The trial judge then ordered the juror himself to turn over the posts.

The juror's attorney, FOX40 legal analyst Ken Rosenfeld, argued the Stored Communications Act protects online communications on social media sites like Facebook. He also asserted that the request by the judge was a violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights to free speech and privacy.

When Rosenfeld was asked by one justice if the federal law even applied because Facebook was not forced to turn over the material, he contended that the law applies both to Facebook and the individual using it.

"We have to have a fair system in which jurors can feel comfortable knowing that their private lives are not going to be intruded upon in reaching verdicts and making decisions," Rosenfeld told FOX40.

But attorneys for the five men who were convicted say their clients also have a constitutional right to a fair trial. They say the juror disregarded daily instructions not to communicate anything about the case and there was other evidence that he acted to prejudice the decision. Justice Louis Mauro asked if there shouldn't be some balance in the rights of the juror and those of the defendants.

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What if???

People made choices by the masses, all who are present, cast their vote, and Tally the Votes.

Doomsday Bill: Wyoming prepares bill, fearing a national collapse

Wyoming state representatives have taken a cold hard look at the state of America and it seems they do not like what they see.

Jeremy Pelzer at The Casper Star-Tribune reports that legislators approved Friday, a study looking at what the state of Wyoming should do if the U.S. suffers a total political and economic collapse.

House Bill 85 would create a state-run "government continuity task force," to prepare Wyoming for possible disruptions in energy and food, to a total breakdown of the federal government.

Rep. David Miller sponsored the bill and while he says he doesn't see any cataclysmic crisis coming anytime soon, to ignore the country's problems would be a mistake.

With the national debt at more than $15 trillion and the protests springing up around the country Miller isn't feeling confident in the U.S.'s future. He wants Wyoming to look into its own alternate currency, its own draft, what it would take for the state to raise an army, and how they might acquire an aircraft carrier and fighter jets.

Miller's convinced some of his fellow legislators they have reason to be concerned.

"I don't think there's anyone in this room today that would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape -- because that is clearly not the case," state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. "To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad's going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) already has a Wyoming crisis management plan, but Miller is looking at contingencies where the national economy and political structure totally fail.

The bill earmarks about 16-grand to explore the state's options and must pass two more House votes before heading to the Senate for consideration.

CNN Poll: Landslide Victory for Ron Paul

Ron Paul: "No Deal" with Romney

Quote of The Day

"Belief in yourself, can be very uplifting, do not let doubters get the best of you, and cause you to doubt yourself, that is the only true sense of defeat." - Oh Zee - 2012

O'REILLY: It was mutual destruction. Now you can handle any weaponry or any kind of thing to surrogates, who will do your killing for you. Look, if you don't think Iran is sponsoring terrorism, you're living in the land of Oz, congressman.

PAUL: Well, so is Saudi Arabia. What are you going to do about Saudi? What are you going to do with Pakistan?

O'REILLY: It's not a government policy in Saudi Arabia. It's just a failure to do any effective policing. It's a policy in Iran to wipe out Israel...

PAUL: It's our policy...

O'REILLY: ...to attack USA.

PAUL: It's our policy of preemptive, deliberate invasions of foreign countries and occupying these countries that has jeopardized our safety. This blowback principle is what caused 9/11. And we have to come to realize it. If you keep living in this dream land of saying that they attack because we're free and prosperous, believe me, we're never going to get free from fear ...
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296404,00.html#ixzz1nHpryeq4

Haley Barbour Tells ABC News, 'Somebody Else Might Get In"

Could the battle for the Republican nomination go all the way to the Republican convention in August? Could we see an entirely new candidate getting into the race?

One long-time Republican leader tells ABC News the answer to both questions is yes.

"If the Republican primary voters continue to split up their votes in such a way that nobody is close to having a majority, then there is a chance that somebody else might get in," former Republican Party chairman Haley Barbour said in an interview with ABC News. Barbour calls such a scenario unlikely, but not out of the question.

"I think the odds of having a contested convention are not good but the fact that we are where we are and there is actually a possibility, I guess this is why there is so much talk," he said.

A contested convention would mean another six months of Republicans battling Republicans, but Barbour says that's not necessarily bad for the party.

"It is not accurate to say that a hotly contested convention is necessarily bad," Barbour said. "I am not saying it is necessarily good, but I don't think it is accurate to say it is necessarily bad. Let's just see."

Barbour, who has not endorsed any candidate, says Mitt Romney has never really been a true front-runner.

Continue Reading this story at Yahoo! "Who Is coming into an already highly contested Race??? I hope Donald Trump, stays in the Back-Room of his 300 year old house." - Oh Zee

Obama Seeks 28 Percent Corporate Tax Rate

By JIM KUHNHENN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even lower effective rate for manufacturers, a senior administration official says, as the White House lays down an election-year marker in the debate over tax policy.

In turn, corporations would have to give up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on their foreign earnings.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obama's proposed overhaul of the corporate tax system, a plan the president outlined in general terms in his State of the Union speech last month.

Chances of accomplishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year dominated mostly with presidential and congressional elections. But for Obama, the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his re-election strategy.

The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obama's call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on individuals making $200,000 or less.

The 35 percent nominal corporate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan. But deductions, credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a much lower rate.

Under the framework proposed by the administration, the rate cuts, closed loopholes and the minimum tax on overseas earning would result in no increase to the deficit.

That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or enjoy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under Obama's plan. Others, however, would pay less while some would simply benefit from a more simplified system.

The official said the Obama plan aims to help U.S. businesses, especially manufacturers who face strong international competition. Obama's plan would lower the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasizing development of clean energy systems. The administration official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the administration will do.

The New York Times first reported details of the plan in its online edition early Wednesday.

Many members of both parties have said they favor overhauling the nation's individual and corporate tax systems, which they complain have rates that are too high and are riddled with too many deductions.

The corporate tax debate has made its way into the presidential contest. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., would cut the corporate tax rate to 12.5 percent, and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the top rate for other businesses.

While Obama has been promoting various aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and speeches, the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury Department to unveil signaled its lower priority. What's more, the administration's framework leaves much for Congress to decide — a deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but which also doesn't subject the plan to detailed scrutiny.

Obama's plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would lower the corporate rate to 25 percent. Still, Obama has said corporate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits overseas. He also has proposed giving tax breaks to U.S. manufacturers, to firms that return jobs to this country and to companies that relocate to some communities that have lost big employers.

Geithner told a House committee last week that the administration wants to create more incentives for corporations to invest in the United States.

"We want to bring down the rate, and we think we can, to a level that's closer to the average of that of our major competitors," Geithner told the House Ways and Means Committee.

White House economic adviser Gene Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits. Currently many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States to avoid the 35 percent tax rate.

___ Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Santorum Proves Unfit for Presidency with Bible Attack

COMMENTARY | Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum effectively disqualified himself from the office of the presidency today. Speaking in Ohio, Santorum revealed his inability to govern a pluralistic society. The truth emerged in the context of an attack on President Barack Obama, whose agenda he claimed is "about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology," according to the Associated Press.
For a man running for president to suggest governmental policy should be based on the Bible raises a red flag that proves his unfitness for the job. Santorum calling non-Bible-based religion phony tells voters he will only represent Christians. The U.S. is not a theologically defined society but one governed by a Constitution, whose First Amendment precludes government establishment of religion. The government cannot base public policy on the Christian Bible without running afoul of this governing principle.

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What To Make Of It All

As WW3 Seems to be in the near future, there are to many signs pointing to things going bad, but as of the last four days, I am noticing this change going on in other individuals as well. The positive gears are finally spinning in the right direction, meaning the shift has begun. The 1% will become the 99%, karma is catching up to people right now, and they are beginning to realize what the value of each living being is when we are being manipulated by a handful who are collectively working harmoniously to achieve "a perceived" greatness.

Where to Buy Oh Zee's Music

To buy an MP3 download of One of my Songs and be an American who is contributing to a good cause, follow this link:

Sellfy

Dr. Ron Paul; His Take On Taxes

The power to tax is the power to destroy, which is why Ron Paul will never support higher taxes.

Our national debt is currently over $14 trillion, with the government spending nearly $2 trillion more per year than it collects. The American people should not have to pay for Washington’s reckless and out-of-control appetite for debt.

High taxes stifle innovation, prevent saving, destroy production, crush the middle class and the poor, and discourage investment. Every American is entitled to the fruits of his labor, especially during these tough economic times.

Lowering taxes will leave you more money to take care of yourself and your family, and it will allow businesses greater opportunities to hire new workers, increase current salaries, and expand their companies.

As President, Ron Paul will support a Liberty Amendment to the Constitution to abolish the income and death taxes. And he will be proud to be the one who finally turns off the lights at the IRS for good.

Capital gains taxes, which punish you for success (and interfere with your efforts to hedge against inflation by purchasing gold and silver coins), should also be immediately repealed.

Struggling college students and those working to support their families would be greatly benefited and receive an immediate pay raise by eliminating taxes on tips.

As a congressman, Ron Paul has consistently endorsed legislation to let Americans claim more tax credits and deductions, including on educational costs, alternative energy vehicles, and health care. He also believes it is immoral to tax senior citizens twice by requiring them to include Social Security benefits in their gross income at tax time. A first step to eliminating that requirement would be to repeal the 1993 increase in taxes on Social Security benefits. Then we must abolish that tax entirely.

While a Flat Tax or a Fair Tax would each be a better alternative to the income tax system, Congressman Paul believes we would have to guarantee the 16th Amendment is repealed to avoid having both the income tax and one of these systems as an additional tax.

But there is a better way. Restraining federal spending by enforcing the Constitution’s strict limits on the federal government’s power would help result in a 0% income tax rate for Americans.

The answer to spending and debt is to return to a constitutionally limited government that protects liberty – not one that keeps robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Quote of The Day

"When it comes to mone there is only one rule, don't spend it!" Oh Zee - 2012

RON PAUL ENDORSED BY MISSOURI STATE REP. PAUL CURTMAN

POISED TO INTRODUCE DR. PAUL TONIGHT, REP. CURTMAN CITES PROLIFE STANCE, PROTECTION OF LIBERTY, AND ‘PLAN TO RESTORE AMERICA’ AS INSPIRATION FOR ENDORSEMENT

LAKE JACKSON, Texas– 2012 Republican Presidential candidate was endorsed today by Missouri State Representative Paul Curtman of the 105th Legislative District, comprising parts of Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Louis counties.

Rep. Curtman, a rising star in the conservative political establishment, will introduce Dr. Paul tonight at a campaign rally the 12-term Congressman from Texas will hold in Kansas City.

In making his public endorsement, Rep. Curtman issued the following statement:

“Missouri is a prolife state, and if we handle the abortion issue at the state level like Ron Paul says, then we could end the practice of abortion in Missouri.

“Political office is reserved as a position of service, not a position of status. The fact that Ron Paul hasn’t applied for congressional benefits tells me that he is a public servant determined to protect my liberty.

“I find great value in Ron Paul’s principled stand for protecting personal freedom and sound financial principles. Blind loyalty to political figures has done nothing but expand the size of government, and it creates budget deficits that will take generations to pay off. Ron Paul has a plan to cut a trillion dollars of spending his first year, and he has consistently fought for personal freedom throughout his time in Congress.”

Today an ardent student of history and outspoken defender of the U.S. Constitution, Paul R. Curtman graduated from Pacific High School in 1999. He subsequently enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served his country as an infantryman with Golf Co. 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines. As a Sergeant in the Marines, Paul deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

After leaving active duty, Paul continued his service as a Marines Reservist for six years. During that time, Paul attended the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he earned a bachelors’ degree in Political Science. Upon graduation, he became licensed as a Series 7 Investment Representative and employed at a major investment firm.

Paul is the fourth of five children with two brothers and two sisters. His father, Dr. C.R. Curtman, has pastored a Baptist church for nearly 35 years with the support of his wife, Paul’s mother. Paul’s brothers and sisters include a biologist, accountant, police officer, and businessman.

In addition to his endorsement as a lawmaker in the Show-Me State, as a function of this announcement Rep. Curtman also joins the national advisory board of “Veterans for Ron Paul,” in particular its Missouri steering committee.

Providing a strong boost to Ron Paul’s Missouri state organization, such endorsements present Ron Paul as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. They also demonstrate that the 12-term Congressman from Texas has the only campaign organization capable of maintaining a 50-state competition with the moderate-establishment Romney.

Big Win For Ron Paul in Maine

Big Win For Ron Paul in Maine

RON PAUL ATTRACTS MORE THAN 2,400 VOTERS TO BOISE RALLY

ENDS PACIFIC NORTHWEST CAMPAIGN TOUR IN THE GEM STATE WITH SENTIMENT THAT WASHINGTON AND IDAHO ARE FERTILE GROUND FOR STRONG CAUCUS SHOWING

BOISE, Idaho – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul ended his Washington-Idaho campaign tour in the Pacific Northwest’s eastern enclave of Boise, a city that greeted him by turning out over 2,400 supporters to his rally. The 12-term Congressman from Texas’ rally took place at 12:30 p.m. MST at CenturyLink Arena, 233 South Capitol Boulevard, Boise, ID 83702.

RON PAUL DRAWS MORE THAN 2,000 VOTERS TO MOSCOW, IDAHO—DOUBLING EXPECTATIONS

CAPACITY-CROWD OF 1,200 ATTEND RALLY INSIDE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO STUDENT UNION BALLROOM, PLUS HUNDREDS MORE IN OVERFLOW AREAS AND OUTSIDE

BOISE, Idaho – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul attracted more than double the number of expected attendees of his large Moscow, Idaho campaign rally held at the University of Idaho.

The Moscow Rally took place at 4:00 p.m. PST at the campus’ Student Union Ballroom, located in Moscow, ID 83884. Campaign officials planned to accommodate 1,000 guests – roughly a room capacity crowd – yet more than 1,000 additional people arrived. At stops along his Pacific Northwest campaign tour, the 12-term Congressman from Texas has made every effort to greet overflow crowds of voters outside speaking venues.