SEC Exempt from Public Disclosure?

I wish I could say that I was surprised when I heard this. In an administration that touted ‘transparency’ with the public, it seems that it has been anything but.

Last week, President Obama signed a financial reform into law – as a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission “no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act”.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from “surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.” Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings.”

Hm… Really?

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Russia Offers ‘Spy Swap’

Russia is offering a swap: 11 convicted spies in Russia for the 11 accused spies that have been in the news recently.

Does this mean that Russia is going back on their original claim that the accused weren’t spies?

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US Suing Arizona Over Immigration Law

The US formally filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona regarding the immigration law that has recently been abuzz.

The suit, filed in Phoenix, is built on the premise that the immigration law in Arizona is unconstitutional, as immigration is the responsibility of the federal government, and using state and local police to enforce immigration policies would therefore be a violation.

There is already a law on the federal books that makes it illegal to be in the US without the proper paperwork (hence the term illegal immigrant). When the federal government didn’t actually do anything about it, Arizona passed a bill also making it a state crime, not just a federal crime, allowing state and local police to enforce it – only within the state of Arizona. The lawsuit is basically saying – “Hey, Arizona, you can’t have that law ‘cus we’ve already got it, even if we aren’t doing anything about it. You just have to accept how we’re doing it.”

Contrast this to another law… According to federal law, you have to be 18 years of age to purchase a long-barrelled gun such as a rifle or shotgun. However, the state of Illinois has a law stating that you have to 21 years of age for all firearm purchases. Now – this is already on the federal books! Illinois shouldn’t have a law they might actually enforce that a federal law already adresses? Where’s the lawsuit here? Oh wait – I forgot… It all depends on what kind of law we’re talking about.

Let Arizona have its own laws. Individual states should be allowed to say who they want or don’t want in their state – especially if the people they don’t want are already breaking the federal law by being there illegally, and if they’re responsible for the recent dramatic increase in crime.

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Plenty of Bombs during WWII – but not F-Bombs.

In a letter to the editor in an Alabama paper, a World War II veteran Marine set the record straight on the use of profanity during the war, specifically, the F-Bomb. He related how it was used frequently in the new HBO mini-series Pacific, but that this wasn’t an accurate portrayal of the Marines during the war and that time period.

We lost 70 of our 160 men in one push. I never heard the F-word. During six days of vicious fighting at Kunishi Ridge, I never heard the F-word.

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NASA’s Next Mission – Better Relations with the Muslim World

You read that right. According to NASA’s Administrator Charles Bolden, their foremost priority is to better relations with the Muslim world… Are you kidding me – what happened to space? NASA stands for National Aeronautical and Space Administration. What on earth do they have to do with relations with the Muslim world?

On NASA’s own site, their mission statement is thus: “NASA’s mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”

NASA is there to get us (The USofA) ahead of the game when it comes to airplanes and spaceships – why are they even involved in foreign policy, in any way, shape or form?

Well – as we all know, more government is the answer to what ails us. Maybe the thought process is that if every government department is involved in foreign policy, one of them might get it right?

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