333437
submission
An anonymous reader writes:
According to various Brazilian news agencies, top executives from local Cisco operation have been arrested today in what was called "Operation Persona". There's evidence of huge tax fraud (at least R$1,5B, roughly US$830M) involving Cisco (mostly) and others companies. Hardware was imported below its price to evade customs taxes. There's already many links covering this story, as it's still developing (just portuguese for now, sorry).
330353
submission
exeme writes:
The 2007 Australian election was recently announced and a new completely on-line based political party is running for election to the Australian Senate. Senator On-Line will give Australian residents eligible to vote a chance to vote in on-line polls for every piece of legislation that comes to the Senate. The senator will then blindly vote in accordance with the majority.
The party has no position on anything until it is voted on and has been approved by the Australian Electoral Commission as a legitimate party. The party will be running two candidates in each Australian state.
It's a new and interesting idea, but is giving the unwashed masses the chance to vote on party positions in this way a wise idea or something fraught with danger?
321083
submission
knorthern knight writes:
A weird intersection of copyright/trademark with Canadian politics. Short background. Various Canadian cities and municipalities have launched a publicity/lobbying campaign seeking a fixed take from the GST (Goods and Services Tax, a national Canadian sales tax similar to European VAT). The amount sought is 1 cent for each dollar of the purchase price. This is summarized by the slogan "One Cent of the GST NOW". Acoording to this press release, the Royal Canadian Mint (the federal agency that prints Canadian paper currency and stamps Canadian coins) has demanded royalties for use of the phrase "one cent", and the image of the Canadian penny. The Royal Canadian Mint, a corporation of the federal government, has now demanded that the City of Toronto pay $47,680 for the public education campaign. Included in this amount is a request for $10,000 for the use of the words "one cent" in the campaign website address (www.onecentnow.ca) and the campaign email address (onecentnow@toronto.ca), and an additional $10,000 for the use of the words "one cent" in the campaign phone number (416-ONE CENT). The remaining $27,680 has been assessed against the City for the use of the image of the Canadian penny in printed materials such as pins and posters.
317807
submission
dnormant writes:
The founder of an Oakland food factory that laces everything from cookies to barbecue sauce with marijuana surrendered Thursday to face a federal drug charge. California law has legalized marijuana use to treat medical conditions, but federal law bans the plant's use for all purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal law trumps state law when it comes to medical marijuana.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071005/ap_on_fe_st/pot_candy_bust;_ylt=AgaP90iLVzLlhf32KRa3OnMZ.3QA