Monthly Archives: December 2012

Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion

"Google Inc. (GOOG) avoided about $2 billion in worldwide income taxes in 2011 by shifting $9.8 billion in revenues into a Bermuda shell company, almost double the total from three years before, filings show. By legally funneling profits from overseas subsidiaries into Bermuda, which doesn’t have a corporate income tax, Google cut its overall tax rate almost in half. The amount moved to Bermuda is equivalent to about 80 percent of Google’s total pretax profit in 2011. Governments in France, the U.K., Italy and Australia are probing Google’s tax avoidance as they seek to boost revenue during economic doldrums." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion

Canada to privatize its medical marijuana industry, ban personal growing

"Canada’s Conservative government will soon stop producing and distributing medical marijuana, leaving it up to the private sector in a policy change that angered critics on Monday. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Ottawa would no longer produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes. Instead, companies will be licenced to grow and sell the product at market rates. Patients with a prescription from a doctor starting in March 2013 will be allowed to purchase a variety of strains of marijuana from licensed producers, who will set prices. Also individuals will no longer be permitted to grow marijuana in their homes for their own personal use." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanada to privatize its medical marijuana industry, ban personal growing

Russia to vote on banning U.S. adoptions

"The Russian parliament will vote this week on a bill banning adoption of Russian children by Americans, in retaliation to the Magnitsky Act passed by the United States last week, lawmakers said Monday. Ahead of the key second reading scheduled for Wednesday, lawmakers added to the text of the bill new clauses banning adoptions of Russian children by US nationals, according to opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov, who posted a copy of the amended bill online. The amended bill would also order the closure of US adoption agencies in Russia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussia to vote on banning U.S. adoptions

Mexico to create new national police force to fight drug cartels

"Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced the creation of a national police force to crack down on crime and battle the country’s powerful drug cartels. The force — a gendarmerie based on the model of Spain’s Guardia Civil — would be 10,000 strong. Currently Mexico has a patchwork of city and state police, along with some national police. Pena Nieto also said he was allocating $8.8 billion for social programs aimed at preventing crime. Pena Nieto, 46, is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that ran Mexico for 71 years ending in 2000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico to create new national police force to fight drug cartels

Detlev Schlichter: “Watching your money disappear” – Speech to senior representatives of the UK pension fund industry

"I believe disappearing money will be the major event of the present decade, and it will not just have major implications for your business, it will have grave consequences for society at large. The money itself may not in fact disappear (although some of it probably will) but money’s value will disappear, moneys purchasing power. This will not be the result of an act of magic but will simply be the consequence of our monetary arrangements and the established course of policy. Future historians will be surprised that anybody could have seriously contemplated a different and much happier outcome for today’s system of unconstrained fiat money production." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetlev Schlichter: “Watching your money disappear” – Speech to senior representatives of the UK pension fund industry

The Worst Inflation in My Lifetime

"Shortly after we took this family photo in 1951, Dad decided to buy a second home in Brazil, where we experienced the worst inflation of the 20th Century. One day, the president announced an appeal to patriotism — 'gold for Brazil.' All loyal citizens were asked to collect any gold they had in their home and donate it to the government. Later, when inflation surpassed an annual rate of 2,000 percent, the government got so desperate it didn’t bother making public appeals. It summarily announced that everyone’s bank accounts were frozen and everyone’s savings were confiscated." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Worst Inflation in My Lifetime

Health Insurers Will Be Charged 3.5% to Use Federal Obamacare Exchanges

"The Obama administration said Friday that it would charge insurance companies for the privilege of selling health insurance to millions of Americans in new online markets run by the federal government. The cost of these 'user fees' can be passed on to consumers. The proposed fees could add 3.5 percent to premiums for private health plans sold in insurance exchanges operated by the federal government. Indeed, it now appears that federal officials could be running the exchanges — alone or in partnership with local officials — in more than half the states." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHealth Insurers Will Be Charged 3.5% to Use Federal Obamacare Exchanges

The Chilling Effect on Social Media (Connecticut State Police Edition)

"I found it odd that NBC, MSNBC and CNN were able to break details that local reporters, who were on the scene didn't seem to have. Then, a local CT television station anchor cleared up my befuddlement. He said during a discussion that the majors were getting their info from long established connections within the FBI. Thus, the chain of events that likely led to mis-identifying Ryan Lanza as the killer, instead of his brother, Adam, probably went like this: FBI to MSM contact. I await to see if the CT state police go after the FBI or MSM for providing false information, with the same energy that they seem to be so eager to use against 'social media.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Chilling Effect on Social Media (Connecticut State Police Edition)

Police: Arrests possible for spreading false info on Facebook after shootings

"Authorities investigating the deadly US school shooting warned Sunday of misinformation circulating on social media about the massacre. Those spreading such fake details could be subject to arrest, Lieutenant Paul Vance of Connecticut State Police told reporters in the wake of Friday’s attack on the Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 26 people — including 20 children between the ages of six and seven. 'All information relative to this case is coming from these microphones and any information coming from other sources cannot be confirmed and, in many cases, it has been found as inaccurate,' Vance said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice: Arrests possible for spreading false info on Facebook after shootings

Martial Law in One City: The Case of Paragould, Arkansas

"What Stovall and his fellow tax-feeders are 'fixing to do' is to leave the city’s streets clotted with SWAT operators toting AR-15s and official permission to harass anybody who comes within eyeshot. The marauders 'are going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck,' grunted Stovall at a town hall meeting held last Thursday at the West View Baptist Church. 'If you’re out walking, we’re going to stop you, ask why you’re out walking, check for your ID.' 'We’re going to do it to everybody,' Stovall explained, anticipating objections. 'Criminals don’t like being talked to.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMartial Law in One City: The Case of Paragould, Arkansas