Monthly Archives: August 2013

Chesapeake Energy drops legal fight over natural gas leases in New York state

"Landowners in Broome and Tioga counties, who had leased acreage to Chesapeake over the past decade, had battled the pioneering oil driller in court to prevent it from extending the leases under their original terms, many of which were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic fracturing swept the United States. 'I can renegotiate with other companies now,' said Frank Laskowski, who owns land in Broome County. 'Before that we were tied up with Chesapeake at $3 an acre and 12.5 percent. Most people are getting much more than that.' One landowner in Broome County said he now hoped to secure up to $3,000 an acre." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChesapeake Energy drops legal fight over natural gas leases in New York state

Swiss bank UBS pays $50 million to settle SEC charges from 2007 financial meltdown

"UBS agreed to pay nearly $50 million to settle charges over its disclosures related to a money-losing 2007 investment vehicle linked to sub-prime loans, a US agency announced Tuesday. UBS presented inaccurate or incomplete information about upfront payments in marketing literature to investors and in submissions to the CDO’s directors, the SEC said. When the CDO was liquidated in 2007, outside investors lost approximately $130 million in the CDO, according to an SEC administrative order. In the settlement, UBS agreed to pay about $50 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties. The bank did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss bank UBS pays $50 million to settle SEC charges from 2007 financial meltdown

Austrian Detroit?

"As Detroit begins to sort through the ill-begotten public liabilities that have driven it to bankruptcy, an important opportunity is at hand to revitalize the city that was once the epicenter of American entrepreneurship and manufacturing, while setting an example for other municipal governments that appear to be headed toward a similar fate. Here is an 'Austrian moment' in the making, a potential libertarian awakening guided by the market-oriented, non-interventionist principles of the Austrian school of economics. The time has come to free Detroit’s entrepreneurial spirit from the legacy of government mismanagement." Continue reading →

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Rahm’s Chicago: $1 Billion Financial Shortfall Forecast by 2015

"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released the city’s second Annual Financial Forecast on Wednesday. Not only does the report predict a $369 million financial shortfall for the city's operating 'budget' in 2014, but it also predicts a shortfall of more than $1 billion by the year 2015. On Thursday, Breitbart News reported the city’s payroll is more than $2.4 billion, with over 2400 city employees (not including school employees) making over $100,000 a year. The payroll is by far the highest expense for the city, yet in the Financial Forecast report, it is expected to increase by $100 million in 2014." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRahm’s Chicago: $1 Billion Financial Shortfall Forecast by 2015

Marc Faber: The Fed Will Increase QE

"Marc Faber was characteristically pessimistic during his interview with Sprott Money late last month. 'I don’t think they will end QE. I rather think they will have to increase it, because as you print money or as you purchase assets, from a central banking point of view, it loses its impact over time. In order to keep the impact going, you have to essentially increase it. I believe that the dovish members of the Fed will print more money. Especially after the resignation of Mr. Bernanke early next year, when he will be replaced, there will be even more dovish members.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarc Faber: The Fed Will Increase QE

Chinese baby ‘sold by doctor’ reunited with parents

"Zhang Suxia, the doctor responsible for the birth, allegedly persuaded the parents to give up their child last month after informing them he had serious congenital diseases. The paper reported that a farmer with three daughters bought the baby boy from the alleged traffickers for 60,000 yuan ($9,800). Trafficking of children is a serious problem in China, blamed in part on the 'one-child' policy which has put a premium on baby boys, with girls sometimes sold off, abandoned or put up for adoption. Chinese police rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects in December after breaking up a series of child trafficking rings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese baby ‘sold by doctor’ reunited with parents

French woman offers to breast feed gay couples’ babies for $130 a day

"A woman has posted an offer on a French website to breast-feed babies of homosexual male couples for 100 euros ($130) a day, stirring up media interest just weeks after a divisive same-sex marriage law was passed. The offer, addressed to male homosexual couples who can marry legally in France since May, promises up to 10 breast-feeds a day. Alexandre Woog, chief executive of the e-loue website, said staff had no doubt about the seriousness of the proposal. 'Our legal advisers are sure of this. It’s illegal in France to sell maternal milk but this is a person proposing a service, not selling the milk in flasks,' Woog told Reuters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench woman offers to breast feed gay couples’ babies for $130 a day

Bootleggers and Baptists on the Beach

"Last year, two young college graduates had a great business idea that has become a huge success in the beach town of Delray Beach, Florida. Observing the ordeal of vacationers lugging beach chairs and other heavy beach equipment for the long, hot walk to the beach, they introduced a free golf cart shuttle service called 'The Downtowner.' The Downtowner is always fully booked and for good reason; the young drivers are prompt, exceptionally polite and courteous, and it’s free! Not surprisingly, the city government of Delray Beach is apparently doing everything it can to drive The Downtowner out of business." Continue reading →

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Mayhem in LA! Cars Must Be Banned!

"There was mass carnage yesterday on the Venice Beach boardwalk near LA when a man used his high-powered automobile to run over 12 people – killing one of them and sending the remainder to the hospital. The black car – a menacing color typically favored by the military – was used by a young man in his 20s – probably a loner. He may have bought the car without a background check, since these are not mandatory in California. Anyone can just go out and buy a car 'under the table' – from an unlicensed seller. There are no laws requiring that high-powered cars be kept securely stored, with their ignitions disabled or locked." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMayhem in LA! Cars Must Be Banned!

Obama administration task force wants to make unauthorized streaming a felony

"The U.S. Department of Commerce wants to crack down on the unauthorized streaming of video and audio content by reviving a provision of the Stop Online Piracy Act. In a report released last week, the Commerce Department’s Internet Policy Task Force called for the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted works to become a felony. 'While the willfully infringing reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works can be punished as a felony, willful violations of the public performance right are punishable only as misdemeanors,' the report stated. 'This discrepancy is an increasingly significant impediment,' the report continued." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama administration task force wants to make unauthorized streaming a felony