Big No-Tax Corps Just Keep on Dodging

Last November, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued a major study of the federal income taxes paid, or not paid, by 280 big, profitable Fortune 500 corporations. That report found, among other things, that 30 of the companies paid no net federal income tax from 2008 through 2010. New information for 2011 shows that almost all these 30 companies have maintained their tax dodging ways.

In fact, all but four of the 30 companies remained in the no-federal-income-tax category over the 2008-11 period.

Discrimination Cited In Maintenance And Marketing Of Foreclosed Properties In Latino And African American Neighborhoods

Three years since a Wells Fargo Bank loan officer shared the details of how she and her colleagues targeted and directed prospective African American homebuyers into taking out expensive high-interest subprime mortgages to The New York Times, racial discrimination in the housing market is still an issue.

According to a new investigative report by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), a coalition of fair housing non-profit organizations, six major banks are engaging in discriminatory practices in the maintenance and marketing of foreclosed Real Estate Owned (REO) properties in predominantly Latino and African American neighborhoods.

CEO and President of the NFHA, Shanna L. Smith, said in a press release that the report “offers evidence that banks responsible for peddling unsustainable loans to communities of color and triggering our current foreclosure crisis are continuing to damage those communities by failing to properly maintain and market the properties they own.”

Lyrical Vacation: Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica

Prosecutor: No Grand Jury for Trayvon Martin Shooter George Zimmerman

The special prosecutor investigating the shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has ruled out using a grand jury in the case, meaning her office alone will decide whether to charge shooter George Zimmerman with a crime. The decision means Zimmerman will not be charged with first-degree murder — a serious charge that would indicate the crime was premeditated and would require the convening of a grand jury in Florida. The special prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision "should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case."

George Zimmerman Launches Defense Website

George Zimmerman, the alleged killer of Trayvon Martin, has launched his own website in an attempt to raise money for what he described as his "living expenses and legal defense." The website contains photos of pro-Zimmerman slogans, including a sign at a rally by Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones and a photo of a vandalized black cultural center at Ohio State University where someone spray-painted the words "Long Live Zimmerman." Every page on Zimmerman’s website includes this quote from Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Fox Criticized for Calling Neo-Nazis a "Civil Rights Group"

In media news, a Fox affiliate in Florida is facing criticism after it referred to a neo-Nazi group as a "civil rights group" in a report about Trayvon Martin’s killing. Here is part of the Fox report that includes an interview with Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement.

Anchor Jennifer Bisram: "There’s another civil rights group in town: the National Socialist Movement."

Jeff Schoep: "A lot of people in the community, in the white community down there, had been contacting us out of concern for their safety just because of racial tensions."

Anchor Jennifer Bisram: "Racial tensions after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is claiming self-defense and has been in hiding now for weeks."

Jeff Schoep: "We’re a white civil rights organization, and we go into areas where we’re needed and where white citizens need our help."

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Socialist Movement has its roots in the original American Nazi Party. It is now one of the largest neo-Nazi organizations in the country. The group openly idolizes Adolf Hitler and calls for the deportation of every non-white person in the country.

Police: White Shooters Confessed to Killing Black People in Tulsa

Two white men accused of shooting five black people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing three of them, have reportedly confessed to authorities. Tulsa police say 19-year-old Jake England has admitted to police that he shot three of the victims, and 33-year-old Alvin Watts has said that he shot two others. Police said the suspects drove through the streets of north Tulsa, a predominantly black neighborhood, and randomly shot pedestrians. Both men were ordered held on bail of more than $9 million during their first court appearance on Monday.

Chicago: Lawsuit Launched over Shooting Death of Unarmed Woman by Off-Duty Cop

The family of a 22-year-old woman who was fatally shot last month by an off-duty police officer in Chicago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. A lawyer for the family of Rekia Boyd said Detective Dante Servin shot Boyd and a man she was with after getting into an argument with the man, 39-year-old Antonio Cross. The lawyer said neither victim was armed. Police originally claimed Cross had pulled a gun, but no gun was found at the scene. Boyd was shot in the back of the head and died a day later.

Lawyer: Autopsy Shows Kenneth Chamberlain Did Not Have Weapon

There is a new development in the case of the police killing of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, the former Marine who was killed in his own home in White Plains, New York, after a medical alert. According to an autopsy report obtained by Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News, Chamberlain died from a single bullet that entered his right arm and ripped through both lungs. A lawyer for Chamberlain’s family said the autopsy contradicts the police account of his death. Police say Chamberlain was holding a butcher knife when police officer fired two shots to stop him. But an attorney for Chamberlain’s family said the trajectory of the fatal bullet suggests Chamberlain was neither facing the police nor holding up a weapon.

Michelin to build new $750M plant in Anderson

South Carolina’s Tech Savvy Workforce Draws Tire Makers

Tire makers say South Carolina’s high-tech workforce makes the state an easy choice for tomorrow’s factories, where highly automated plants require skilled operators.

Three tire manufacturers have laid plans over the next year to build new plants in the state. Michelin’s announcement Tuesday, of a new $750 million plant came after Continental Tire began construction of the new plant last month. And Bridgestone announced in September plans for a new 1.5 million square-foot plant in Aiken County, S.C., which will bring 850 jobs to the area.

The tire makers say they have chosen to expand in the state because of an education system that grooms students to work on an increasingly  high-tech  factory floor. The latest announcement from Michelin comes as manufacturing jobs are slowly returning to the U.S. after losing more than a million positions during the recession.  The sector expanded by 37,000 jobs in March, in its 32nd straight month of growth, according to the government.

Test Drive: the 2012 BMW 3 Series Sedan

BMW 3 Series Sedan courtesy BMW

When BMW rolls out an all-new 3 Series, it's big news, since these have been the benchmark of German sedans for the last 30 years or more. It also sets off a tectonic shift in the entry-level luxury market, with the Mercedes-Benz C Class, Audi A, not to mention the Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G and the Lexus GS suddenly called upon to step up their game to follow along.

This automotive war of attrition becomes a win for the consumer, as the arms race among the automakers gives the consumer a lot more choice. Really, who can argue with better, faster and safer cars every few years?