Exposing anonymous companies could cut down on crime, but the firms and governments that help disguise their ownership (looking at you, Delaware) and the wealthy who claim to need them are blocking efforts at disclosure. a TED-Ed video by Global Witness, animated by Kozmonot Animation Studio.
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Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-uax
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Tens of thousands of citizens marched in Washington DC Saturday to demand that Donald Trump release his tax returns, as every American president has done since Watergate. Mr. Trump made many promises to do this before and during the campaign, then reneged. After a 2-hour demonstration on the U.S. Capitol grounds, protesters marched past the GSA-owned Trump International Hotel to the Lincoln Memorial.
Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin and Maxine Waters spoke, but the big surprise was an appearance by the Chief Executive himself, who released his tax returns:
“When Jimmy Kimmel asked Hillary Clinton in a late-night TV interview about U.F.O.s, she quickly corrected his terminology.
‘You know, there’s a new name,’ Mrs. Clinton said in the March appearance. ‘It’s unexplained aerial phenomenon,’ she said. ‘U.A.P. That’s the latest nomenclature.’
Known for her grasp of policy, Mrs. Clinton has spoken at length in her presidential campaign on topics as diverse as Alzheimer’s research and military tensions in the South China Sea. But it is her unusual knowledge about extraterrestrials that has struck a small but committed cohort of voters.
Mrs. Clinton has vowed that barring any threats to national security, she would open up government files on the subject, a shift from President Obama, who typically dismisses the topic as a joke. Her position has elated U.F.O. enthusiasts, who have declared Mrs. Clinton the first ‘E.T. candidate.’”
–“Hillary Clinton Gives U.F.O. Buffs Hope She Will Open the X-Files,” Amy Chozick, New York Times
“Hillary Clinton’s UFO investigation plans unlikely to achieve liftoff, experts say,” Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian
“What Hillary Clinton Says About Aliens Is Totally Misguided,” Nadia Drake, National Geographic Phenomena
Clinton 2016 Campaign Chairman John Podesta told a Las Vegas interviewer that he has urged Hillary Clinton to declassify all government UFO files if elected, and the candidate is considering it. In fact, back in January Secretary Clinton herself told a New Hampshire reporter that Mr. Podesta “has made me personally pledge we are going to get the information out. One way or another. Maybe we could have, like, a task force to go to Area 51.” Extraterrestrials: we want them accounted for.
Why do otherwise serious politicos care about UFO sightings? The most-viewed declassified FBI document is the “Hottel Memo” about flying saucers.
The 11 judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court meet in secret to approve or deny (mostly approve) government surveillance requests. All judges of this secret court were appointed by Chief Justice Warren G. Roberts.
The Transition Team website for President-Elect Willard Mitt Romney had a sneak preview yesterday, and Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard saved a few screenshots before it went dark again. Looking for a job in the Romney Administration? “Government service is not for everyone,” warns the site, which also cautions:
“The financial holdings and sources of income for most applicants under serious consideration must be disclosed for review for possible conflicts of interest, and any conflicts must be remedied by divestiture, creation of special trusts, etc.”
This from a man who refused to release his own tax information.
Like his economic policies (tax cuts for the rich, corporate deregulation), Mr. Romney appears to have cribbed this from George W. Bush. The Bush transition site language is identical.
This is sad news for Rafalca Romney, a galloping favorite for Cayman Islands Ambassador. Told to turn over tax returns, Rafalca replied “Whoa!”
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