Finland wants to give every adult a basic income of 800 euros a monthThe Finnish government, elected earlier this year, is planning to introduce a tax-free monthly payment of 800 euros ($865) to all adult Finns, regardless of income, wealth or employment status. The payment would replace most other state benefits. The government thinks that the move will actually save money.
Middle class now the minority in US – reportThe American middle class has been shrinking for the last four decades, and middle-income households no longer make up the majority, according to a new study blaming the Great Recession. “The hollowing of the middle has proceeded steadily for the past four decades,” a report by the Pew Research Center noted.
Police shootings should be tracked by public health sector, according to Harvard initiativeThe American public can’t tell for sure how many people die in police shootings each year. Despite the FBI’s new reporting initiative, a group of Harvard researchers now wants to view shootings as a “notifiable condition” – similar to reporting a disease.
‘Speculative hearsay’: Federal judge rejects 2nd Texas request to block Syrian refugeesA Texas federal judge has denied the state’s request for a restraining order to block entry to Syrian refugees. The court ruled the evidence provided by Texas Attorney General was “largely speculative hearsay.” In his second request made on behalf of Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Attorney General Kenneth Paxton argued that “terrorists could have infiltrated” the refugee program and could commit acts of terrorism.
Get lost: Teens suing govt over climate change try to stop Exxon, BP from meddlingOil and gas lobbyist are trying to be named as co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by 21 teenagers against the US government. The teens claim their rights were violated when public resources were used for fossil fuel exploitation and they’re fighting back.
Lawmakers, foreclosure victims react to lawsuit over settlementsAs Delaware lawmakers grapple with how to fill a budget gap for the second year in a row, they must also now contend with a lawsuit trying to stop them from using $30 million in leftover financial crisis-related settlement funds to bridge that gap.
What Deflation Quacks LikeAs yet another day of headlines shows, see the links and details in today’s Debt Rattle at the Automatic Earth , deflation is visible everywhere, from a 98% drop in EM debt issuance to junk bonds reporting the first loss since 2008 to corporate bonds downgrades to plummeting cattle prices in Kansas to China’s falling demand for iron ore and a whole list of other commodities.
Big Bank Gets Small Fine For Terrorist TransactionsA major U.S. bank has agreed to a settlement for transferring funds on the behalf of financiers for the militant group Hezbollah, the Treasury Department announced on Tuesday. Concluding that HSBC’s actions “were not the result of willful or reckless conduct,” Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control accepted a $32,400 settlement from the bank.
Tighter Lid on Records Threatens to Weaken Government WatchdogsThe new restrictions grew out of a five-year-old dispute within the Justice Department. After a series of scathing reports by Glenn Fine, then the Justice Department inspector general, on F.B.I. abuses in counterterrorism programs, F.B.I. lawyers began asserting in 2010 that he could no longer have access to certain confidential records because they were legally protected.
Blame the West’s interventions for today’s terrorism – The Boston GlobeOutside powers have been crashing into the Middle East for more than a century. At first we presumed that people there would not mind, or even that they would welcome us. Ultimately we realized that our interventions were provoking hatred and violent turmoil.
The Department of Justice Practice That Robs TaxpayersThird-party contribution requirements are rife with opportunities for political cronyism.
Man hit with felony charges for handing out jury nullification fliersA Michigan man was arrested and charged with a felony for handing out fliers informing people of their jury nullification rights on the sidewalk in front of a courthouse. Keith Wood, 39, faces a felony charge for obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor for attempting to influence jurors.
‘Pay-to-stay’: Jails regularly charge inmates for food, basic servicesA 1982 state law allows Illinois corrections officials to sue inmates for their periods of incarceration, but the practice was rarely used until recently. Since 2010, Illinois has sued 31 former inmates or parolees, with 11 suits occurring in the first 10 months of 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The National Security Letter spy tool has been uncloaked, and it’s badThe National Security Letter (NSL) is a potent surveillance tool that allows the government to acquire a wide swath of private information-all without a warrant. Federal investigators issue tens of thousands of them each year to banks, ISPs, car dealers, insurance companies, doctors, and you name it.
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet devised by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.
—Thomas Jefferson
Metro Atlanta counties sue Bank of America for alleged mortgage aThree metro Atlanta counties claim in a lawsuit that Bank of America and related companies resorted to abusive mortgage lending practices that targeted black and Latino homeowners. They seek “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damages to offset lost tax revenue and other public costs they claim stemmed from the practices.
Protest over home foreclosures crowded the streets of downtown FresnoHundreds of people who’ve lost their homes to foreclosure crowded the streets of downtown Fresno Tuesday afternoon. They’re fighting the banks who took their homes, claiming it wasn’t always on the up and up. The huge crowd started to disappear as the rain started, but not before they were told their lawsuit took a big step forward.