Wednesday, December 8, 2010
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch: First step of new space era?
The Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX launched successfully Wednesday morning. The Falcon 9 is set to take up a key chore of the retiring space shuttle: supply the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday.
John Raoux/AP
Report: Urban Meyer To Resign From Florida Gators
Republicans Slam DREAM Act for Including Immigrants With Criminal Records
Stumble This!
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus wants the Pentagon to buy as much Gulf seafood as possible to help the region's seafood industry recover from the damage of BP's oil spill.
Secretary Mabus reportedly told the Defense Commissary Agency, which operates a worldwide chain of 284 commissaries to provide groceries to military personnel, "that we should be buying Gulf Coast seafood," according to The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"He expressed what we wanted to hear; he is in favor of the federal government buying seafood from the Gulf," Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, said.
Although the federal government has claimed that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat, experts told Raw Story they had serious concerns about the long-term effects of consuming Gulf seafood.
Multiple independent lab tests have found high volumes of crude oil and other harmful hydrocarbons in Gulf shrimp.
navy-secretary-soldiers-eat gulf seafood
Obama Administration Quietly Grants More Health Care Waivers
Jamie Dupree
AJC
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Click here to see the full list.
The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to one provision of the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.
One of the more recognizable business names included on the newly-expanded list of waivers issued by the feds is that of Waffle House, which received a waiver on November 23 for health coverage that covers 3,947 enrollees.
New Rules: You And The IRS This January
David Nguyen
Activist Post
Dec 8, 2010
The new ObamaCare1099 rule for reporting of all cash, credit and check business transactions of $600 or more is scheduled to begin January of 2012. This is really an extension of the 2008 Housing and Recovery Act IRS rules that start this January when merchant banks and PayPal will report business sales directly to the IRS (the reporting threshold is $20,000 and 200 transactions a year).
These new IRS rules will affect every American:
• Income tax collection could rise as much as $345 billion a year
• Small businesses will be crushed and unemployment will rise
• A cashless economy is further set in motion
• IRS snooping and audits will increase
• Gold can be tracked
• Identity theft is a risk
• Government surveillance will increase
ObamaCare requires that businesses and self-employed individuals submit 1099 forms to the IRS for all business purchases of $600 or more. The stated purpose for this is to close the ‘tax gap’ which is the difference between the amount of what is “owed” and what is paid, due to lack of reporting and under-reporting, and is estimated at $300 billion dollars a year. Last week, the Senate failed to repeal the ObamaCare 1099 rule because they could not agree on how to make up the “lost” revenue that would be generated from strict reporting, which they estimated to be $19 billion over 10 years, which is a GROSS underestimate.
Energy Drink Ban Proposed for Teens on L.I.
Energy Drink Ban Proposed for Teens on L.I.
Proposed ban would be the first of its kind in the nation
By GREG CERGOL
Updated 8:32 AM EST, Wed, Dec 8, 2010
Anyone 19 or younger would be banned from buying non-alcoholic energy drinks under a proposed law now before the Suffolk CountyLegislature.
The proposed ban would be the first of its kind in the nation, according to bill sponsor, county legislator Lynne Nowick.
"These drinks can potentially be dangerous for teens," said Nowick. "Why put foreign things in your body when you don't know what's going into them? The drinks are not regulated."
Nowick's ban would target energy drinks with more than 80 milligrams of caffeine per serving, according to the legislation formally filed Tuesday.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Energy-Drink-Ban-Proposed-for-Teens-111481549.html