Tax Freedom Clocks for USA and UK
now available as Macintosh widgets
February 16, 2009
John Gaver
ActionAmerica.org has released its popular Tax Freedom Clock in the form of a widget for the Macintosh Dashboard. Like its web-based counterpart, it counts the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds, till or since Tax Freedom Day.
The Tax Freedom Clock widget is a real-time clock that will continue to tick down to or up from Tax Freedom Day, as long as the Dashboard is open. It will also reset each January 1 and automatically update itself, when each year's Tax Freedom Day is announced, by the Tax Foundation.
We have also released a UK Tax Freedom Clock widget for taxpayers in the United Kingdom.
The iPhone Finally Matures
(still no native voice dial)
March 17, 2009
John Gaver
Today, Apple announced that iPhone OS 3.0 software will be released some time this summer and wonder of wonders, it will finally contain several of the basic features that are a part of even the cheapest cell phones, but were missing up to now.
In particular, the new software will contain "Cut, Copy and Paste", as well as "Undo and Re-do". It will also implement the A2DP Bluetooth profile, to allow it to communicate with stereo headphones over Bluetooth. With all of the iPhone's great features, it's hard to believe that it took so long to implement these basic features.
But, don't get your hopes up too far. At least according to the announcement, the iPhone will still not include one of the most basic cell phone features - native voice dialing. It will also not include Flash. Actually, we hear that Adobe is having problems getting Flash down to a small enough size to be used on the iPhone.
But all-in-all, this release of iPhone software finally makes the iPhone truly useful. I can live withoug the native voice dialer, because I have a third party voice dialing app that is only slightly clumsey to use. I can also live without Flash. This software update is what should have been on the iPhone at version 1.0.
Although, without native voice dialing, the iPhone cannot be said to be complete, when the 3.0 software update comes out, it has finally matured
Tax Freedom Day Clock Updated
to use Days, Hours, Minutes & Seconds
February 16, 2009
John Gaver
In preparation for Tax Freedom Day 2009, ActionAmerica.org has updated our popular Tax Freedom Clock. In the past, the clock only counted down to or from Tax Freedom Day in months, days and fractions of days. The new clock now counts down in months, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
The Tax Freedom Day Clock is a real-time clock that will continue to tick down to or from Tax Freedom Day, as long as the browser page is open. The result of these changes is that it will now allow visitors to watch the clock tick down ever so slowly to Tax Freedom.
It should be noted that the Tax Freedom Clock is currently still using the date for Tax Freedom for 2008, since the 2009 data is not yet available. The Tax Foundation has informed us that on March 30, they will announce the date for Tax Freedom Day 2009.
1986 - 2006 IRS Collections Data
by Income Category (Percentile)
August 22, 2008
John Gaver
It's that time of year again. Once again, the IRS has quietly released their latest Tax Collections Data (for 2006) and once again, we aren't letting it stay quiet. Our systems detected the new data only minutes after it was quietly added to an area deep within the bowels of the IRS web site and we are publicizing it and making it available to all who are interested in this sort of thing.
Here is just a sample of some of what it shows:
• The top-earning 1% of taxpayers earned 23% of the income.
• The top-earning 1% of taxpayers paid 40% of taxes collected.
• That's almost double their share, based upon income.
Who says the rich don't pay tax?
There is lots more in the new data. Read our analysis of it here. You can also download the whole spreadsheet in XLS format, from the IRS website, by clicking on the button at the bottom of that article.
FDA & VeriChip try to
Spin Spychip Scandal
September 11, 2007
John Gaver
After a recent investigation by the Associated Press uncovered the fact that substantial evidence exists, linking FDA-approved, human-implantable spychips, manufactured by VeriChip Corporation, with cancers found in numerous lab animals and at least one pet dog, both the FDA and VeriChip have been in full spin mode, trying to avoid a full-scale investigation that has the potential to bring down not only VeriChip, but quite possibly former Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson.
It's important to note that Thompson, who was Secretary of the department that oversaw the FDA, at the time that VeriChip received its FDA approval for their spychip, resigned that post just two weeks after that approval and within five months, held a very lucrative position on the board of directors of both VeriChip and its parent company, Applied Digital Solutions. Was this payback? I don't know. But, if this wasn't payback, it was certainly an extremely convenient and lucrative coincidence. Is it any wonder why this exposure has all parties involved cranking up their spin machines?
In fact, that's all that it is - pure spin, without any hint of relevant fact. Let's look at what these spychip proponents are saying and then look at the facts.
Read the entire article here.
Read our original story on this subject here.
Suggested Google words for this story: spy chip cancer (also spychip, spy-chip & VeriChip)
AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM
Now available on DVD
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Aaron Russo's exceptional documentary, AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM, is now available on DVD. If you missed it in theaters, then here is your chance to see it.
Russo, the award winning producer of such films as Trading Places and The Rose, has turned his hand to producing a documentary of such significance, that it has many in government worrying that Americans might actually learn how our government works. It began as a project to debunk the claims of some of his tax protester friends and ended up being an exposé of the IRS and the Federal Reserve.
Todd David Schwartz, of CBS called it, "The scariest film you’ll see this year. Makes Fahrenheit 9/11 look like Bambi." Jarret Keene, of Liberty Watch Magazine tells us, "If you ever questioned income taxes, the Federal Reserve or the IRS, Aaron Russo answers your fears. They're true."
From beginning to end, every minute of AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM is packed with solid facts, from reputible sources. Even so, there is only so much that you can pack into 107 minutes. Those who are politically attuned will probably find a lot of what Russo exposes to be nothing new. On the other hand, Russo has managed to get some very interesting interviews that you won't find elsewhere. But most importantly, Russo presents these facts in a manner that the masses can easily understand.
If you are concerned about the direction that this nation is going, then I encourage you to Order AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM now and watch it with your friends.
NSA phone database threatens gun owners
with defacto Universal Gun Registration
Gun owners beware. The NSA's recently disclosed, monumental database of phone records may well end up being used against gun owners.
While Bush blithely brushes off concerns about the blatant illegality of his unilateral authorization for the NSA's unwarranted and indiscriminate collection of the phone records of hundreds of millions of US citizens, most media sources tend to focus only on the 4th Amendment issues, as though that is all that there is to it. In fact, this immense database poses one of the greatest threats to the 2nd Amendment that we have seen in modern times. In fact, it poses a serious threat to a lot of different groups, for reasons that the media tends to ignore.
The NSA admitted to Qwest Communication officials that the database would be shared with other agencies. So, when the BATFE get's their copy, they have but to run a simple data-mining program against it to generate a fairly accurate list of gun owners. Such a "universal" list of gun owners is the first step toward gun confiscation.
Without the massive NSA phone record database, it is highly unlikely that the gun grabbers would ever achieve anything close to "universal" gun registration. However with it, a defacto "universal" gun registration is available at the push of a button or two.
Clueless at Department of Homeland Security
(Although Action America does not make it a habit to accept Op-Ed pieces, occasionally an Op-Ed piece is submitted to us that is of such exceptional caliber that we feel that we must print it. Such is the case with this piece.)
Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, points out that refusal to profile has led to Washington bureaucrats and policy
makers tending to view the entire population as suspected
terrorists. Further, he points out that the definition of "terrorism", at the Department of
"Homeland Security Subjugation" sets up a preference for genocide over self defense! I'm not kidding! It does!
We have often been criticized by the "my party, right or wrong" Republicans, for our continuous criticisms of Dubya's "Homeland Subjugation" policy, based upon its remarkable and increasing similarity to that of the Gestapo. The mantra of Dubya's minions is always, "Well, if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you don't have anything to fear". Right!. And, pigs fly. This piece shows just how easily even good, law-abiding conservative Christians can get caught up in the broad, unthinking tactics of Dubya's despotic "Homeland Subjugation" policy.
You see, the Department of "Homeland Subjugation" has determined that ANY group that is engaged in an armed struggle against a government, as well as those who provide material support to the group, even if the government that they are fighting is engaged in genocide, are "terrorists". That means that if you, as a concerned humanitarian, donated money to Christian Freedom International, a Virginia organization that has helped the Burmese Christian refugees, who are resisting extermination by the Rangoon government, then by "Homeland Subjugation" standards, YOU are a "terrorist". So if you donate to such worthy causes, don't be surprised if, the next time you go to buy a new car, you have trouble getting a loan or the next time you plan a vacation, to find yourself on a "No-Fly" list, thanks to our "Big Brother", RINO president.
Action America releases
more counters and clocks
Because of the huge popularity of our Gun Self-Defense Counter and our Wham-Bam-Tram Ram Counter Action America has created two more statistical devices (such as the Gun Self-Defense Counter, shown at the top of this page) for our readers' edification.
The Tax Freedom Day Clock
Each year, using data compiled by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the Tax Foundation calculates "Tax Freedom Day" for that year. That is the day on which the average US taxpayer has labored long enough to earn enough money to pay all of his taxes for that year. The Tax Freedom Day Clock counts down the months and days (now updated to count hours, minutes and seconds, as well) till that time and after that time, counts the months and days (and hours, minutes and seconds) since you have been allowed to keep the money that you earn. (more...)
The Drug War Cost Clock
Since President Ronald Reagan, became the first president to not only declare war on drugs, but to actually do something about it, the "War on Drugs" has become the greatest waste of taxpayer money in history. After more than 20 years and hunderds of billions of dollars spent prosecuting the "War on Drugs", not only are matters much worse than before, but it has also become an excuse for tremendous increases in government power and a catch-all phrase used by our government to subvert the rights of all citizens (not just drug users). So, as a constant reminder of how much taxpayer money is being wasted on the War on Drugs, the Drug War Cost Clock uses data from the two most authoritative sources available, on the the monetary cost of the Drug War, to display the amount of money that the government has wasted, since the beginning of the year, in the bogus name of fighting the Drug War. (more...)
The National Disaster Plan's Real Weakness
September 9, 2005 - After studying the response of federal officials, to the Katrina disaster in New Orleans, two things become obvious. First, the federal response was slower than it should have been. If you look no further than this, it would appear that the Whitehouse and other federal officials, simply acted slowly. However, it's not that simple.
When you look deeper, the second point that becomes obvious is that the delay was caused by a missing scenario in the federal disaster plan and it was a scenario that is hard to blame them for missing. You see, nobody in the federal government could have ever imagined a scenario, where there would be a total breakdown at both the state and local levels of government. Nobody in the federal government had envisioned a scenario where state and local governments would fail to even begin to follow their own disaster plans.
New Orleans had a disaster plan in place and the Mayor failed to follow it. Specifically, it called for extra help to be provided in advance to residents with "special needs." That term means, among other things, anyone who has no means of transportation out of town. That help didn't materialize until it was too late to take them anywhere but the "shelter of last resort", the Superdome.
Furthermore, in all previous hurricanes and other natural and manmade disasters, the Governors of the affected states immediately called for federal assistance, since federal law specifically does not allow federal troops to enter a state without a request from the governor. Yet, in this case, the Governor waited until Wednesday to call for federal assistance. Not only that, but the Louisiana National Guard initially kept the Red Cross disaster volunteers out of New Orleans. The failure at both the state and local level was epic.
The federal disaster plan attempted to take into consideration, all reasonable possibilities. But, what reasonable person could have ever predicted that there would be such a total breakdown of authority at both the state and local levels? Prior to this, such a possibility was unthinkable. The result is that federal officials, who have extensive disaster plans in place for just about every conceivable disaster, were totally blind-sided.
As those who have read my previous works should know well, I am far from being a fan of Dubya. In fact, he has done more damage to the Constitution than any president in history. But to be fair, the only fault that I can find in the handling of the federal disaster response in New Orleans, cannot be laid at his feet. That fault lies firmly with the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana. Hopefully, though it will probably never be needed again, future federal disaster plans will include the possibility of total state and local incompetence in their disaster response. But even then, we must be careful. This is, after all, still a "republic". To allow the federal government to enter a state without the authority of the governor, would destroy the last vestiges of what is left of our republic.
Dubya has done more than enough for which to be criticized, in other areas. In earlier days, his legislative attacks upon the Constitution alone, would have been cause for impeachment. We don't need to be inventing imaginary evils to apply to him, especially now. Tens of thousands of people are probably dead, many others still need rescue and hundreds of thousands of others are displaced. Like it or not, Dubya and the federal government have done a respectable job.
Granted, the federal response could have been better. But, considering that this is the worst natural disaster that this nation has ever faced and the massive failure at the state and local levels, the federal response has actually been better than should have been expected. Instead of trying to figure out a way to spin the facts to blame Dubya, we need to focus on the recovery. Then, after it's all over, if people want to try to spin the blame, they should go for it. But, after all is said and done, Dubya will probably end up looking fairly good, as concerns the recovery efforts.
As I have said here before, even a blind pig finds an ear of corn once in a while. Though Dubya has done more damage to our republic than any president in history, I must give credit, when credit is due. Chalk up one to the blind pig.
(Visit our Blog to comment on this article.)
London Bombings Prove that
the War on Terror is Succeeding
July 22, 2005 - While the main-stream media keeps playing into the hands of the terrorists, by harping about how the bombings on July 7 and 21, were "coordinated" and "well-planned", we would like to point out some major flaws in such reporting. In fact, we will show that the recent bombings show just how successful the War on Terror has been.
Let's look at what we know about the July 7 bombings. Yes. They were coordinated. There is no doubt about that. But, let's get real. How much trouble or intelligence does it take for four idiots to decide to blow themselves up at the same time? Think about it... All it takes is four cheap watches and four brainwashed idiots and even then, they still didn't do it all at exactly the same time. Somehow, I don't think that quite qualifies them as great planners.
Then, look at the bombs that were used. They were Acetone Peroxide (TATP). Although such bombs are fairly destructive, they are not of the military grade that terrorists have used in the past. They were likely homemade - built from chemicals that are easily attainable by most people.
Look at the images of the bus that was bombed in London. You can still tell that it was probably a bus. Then think back to some of the images of busses that were bombed in Israel, where all that was left was four wheels and a frame.
If the terrorists had used a real high-explosive, on those trains in London, authorities would not have dragged the damaged cars out of the subway, with a big piece of plastic around them. They would have been lifting the pieces out through the hole that the explosion left in the ground. But, those explosions were not that strong.
Finally, I ask you to look at the result of the July 7 bombings. The best that the terrorists could do, after all of that "supposed" planning, was to kill just 56 people and disrupt business in London for a day. Certainly, it's terrible when even one person dies at the hands of a terrorist. But, the point is that we should put this into perspective. Such an attack, had it taken place on September 10, 2001, would have killed hundreds. The fact that only 56 died, demonstrates that the War on Terror is succeeding.
Then, look at the July 21 attempted bombings. The operative word is "attempted". In fact, all that they did was to injure one person and shutdown a few subway lines, for a few hours. Worse, one of the terrorists barely got away, after he was chased down and tackled by some citizens and he would probably be in custody or dead now, if all of those British citizens had not been disarmed by their own government.
The fact is, that terrorists are past the point of having to use even second string terrorists and are now down to using incompetent rookies, who can't even figure out how to blow themselves up. That's because most of the terrorists who had any real ability to carry out such attacks have either been captured or killed around the world - mostly in Iraq.
We don't want to suggest that the terrorists are no longer dangerous. In fact, there will almost certainly be more terrorists attacks and some may be carried out by some of the few really dangerous terrorists who have not yet been captured or killed and those incidents may be more damaging. But, the important point to keep in mind, is that starting with the 9-11 attacks and proceeding through the Madrid and London attacks, the scale and frequency of terror attacks have been trending steeply downward. Many such attacks have actually been thwarted. As sad as it is, when terrorists kill even one person, we must keep our eye on the ball.
The big story is not the "everybody be scared" hype that the major media is reporting. That's just playing into the hands of the terrorists. The real story is that this consistent downward trend in the effectiveness of terrorist attacks, proves one thing...
The War on Terror is succeeding.
There is another story here, that is being downplayed by the major media. That story is how political correctness is keeping the police in both England and the USA, from using the most powerful tool in their arsenal - racial profiling. It is an absolute, undeniable FACT, that more than 99% of the terrorists are Middle-Eastern males, between the ages of say, 16 and 30. Let's put all of this into perspective. These nut cases are trying to KILL large numbers of innocent people and our government officials are worried about political correctness?
Hello???
Let's get our priorities straight. Which is more important, lot's of dead Americans or political correctness?
RACIAL PROFILING WORKS. It should be used.