I am not endorsing the charge made in this article, but it is worth reading, that the men charged with making Molotov cocktails to use at the NATO demonstrations were framed. How would I know at this time? People stupid enough to act as we are told they did do, in fact, exist. What I will say is that I would not be surprised if it turned out that they were. Would anyone else here be surprised?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, who brings it a pillow?

Eduardo Saverin seems to have upset some in Congress, who have put down their bribes and chit sheets long enough to grasp patriotism by both lapels, screaming:

"someone's trying to avoid taxes!!!"

Of course even the President says his goal is to lower taxes, so you'd think this would be a shared national priority, kinda like watching "Dancing With the Stars".

I thought loopholes were written to be used - how else would accountants support themselves? 

NYT:

The case involves Malaika Brooks, who was seven months pregnant and driving her 11-year-old son to school in Seattle when she was pulled over for speeding. The police say she was going 32 miles per hour in a school zone; the speed limit was 20.

Ms. Brooks said she would accept a ticket but drew the line at signing it, which state law required at the time. Ms. Brooks thought, wrongly, that signing was an acknowledgment of guilt.

Refusing to sign was a crime, and the two officers on the scene summoned a sergeant, who instructed them to arrest Ms. Brooks. She would not get out of her car....

Then came the multiple taser shocks, and dragging her from her vehicle. The 'use of force' case is now on appeal at the Supreme Court of the United States, over legal use of tasers by police.  As to whether there are any limits on taser use, a painful police action and compared by some to torture.  The Ninth Circuit federal court has implied there are limits, enraging the police community. The cops are appealing that part of the ruling to the Supreme Court,  they want a blank check to use tasers on just about anybody, for any minor offense, or any small lack of cooperation.

The Obama Administration has unfinished business: lots of it, actually. The President will no doubt seek re-election in November by emphasizing policy successes. He would do well, however, to seek re-election by also recognizing policy failures: recognizing them and committing his Administration to do better. To win re-election, that recognition will need to be honest and the commitment will need to be genuine.

            There is a long list of issue areas in which the Obama Administration has – to put it politely – so far under-performed. Housing policy is one.[1] Holding bankers accountable is another.[2] Extracting us from unnecessary wars is definitely a third.[3] But the big domestic issue on which the Administration’s impact has been weakest is surely poverty and unemployment. The Administration might justifiably claim that things would have been even more awful, had a Republican president been in charge – and that anyway, so much of what they have tried to do has been blocked by Republicans; but that can be of little comfort to the literally millions of Americans who currently remain trapped in poverty, excluded from paid work, or forced to survive on temporary and part-time contracts that no longer pay a living wage. For them, the Administration could have done more, should have done more, and better start doing more – and doing more now – if a President elected with such grand promises in 2008 isn’t to find himself out of work come January.

The wave of anti-austerity swept Hollande into power in France, and for good reason - Merkel's austerity program, while sounding nice and grownup, doesn't work.

Nor has Greek tax evasion and profligacy - relying on economic statism.

With half the country avoiding taxes, 30% of income and 1/4 of GDP off the books, and about 60 billion € owed to the leisurely tax authorities, the responsibility spreads far and wide.

One touted effort at accountability showed 17,000 swimming pools around Athens with only a few hundred declared. But when a businessman confronted with a 600K € tax debt gets away with paying 11,000 €? Good luck to all that.

Even on the international scale, Greece carried 2 sets of books, the public one with 2% lopped off of debts thanks to some tricky Goldman Sachs moves - moves that cost the Greeks dearly in the long run. Though allowing her to get more loans from EU sources at better rates, plunging her further into debt.