Yearly Archives: 2013

Bitcoin Comes To SWIFT

"The dichotomy between EU and U.S. approaches to e-money becomes even more apparent when one looks at the uniformity of the EU e-Money and Payment Services Directives versus the almost hostile FinCEN guidance on virtual currencies and the incomprehensible patchwork of state money transmitter laws. Because of this, I estimate that the EU currently enjoys at least a five-year head start over its U.S. brethren in accommodating evolving payments efforts. The U.S seems content to extinguish innovations like e-Gold in an effort to maintain complete control over money businesses and to project dollar hegemony within its borders." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul: The IRS’s Job Is To Violate Our Liberties

"'What do you expect when you target the President?' This is what an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent allegedly said to the head of a conservative organization that was being audited after calling for the impeachment of then-President Clinton. Recent revelations that IRS agents gave 'special scrutiny' to organizations opposed to the current administration's policies suggest that many in the IRS still believe harassing the president's opponents is part of their job. As troubling as these recent reports are, it would be a grave mistake to think that IRS harassment of opponents of the incumbent president is a modern, or a partisan, phenomenon." Continue reading →

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Dutch tourist cannabis cafe ban leads to surge in dealing in the south

"The decision to ban foreigners not resident in the Netherlands from the country’s cannabis cafes has led to an ‘explosion’ in drugs-related crime in the south of the country, the AD reports on Saturday. The government’s decision to turn the cafes into members’ only clubs in the southern provinces last May led to a sharp rise in street dealing, the paper says. It bases its claim on police and city council figures. In Maastricht, at the forefront of efforts to reduce drugs tourism, the number of drugs crimes has doubled over the past year while in Roermond they are up three-fold with at least 60 active street dealers, the AD says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDutch tourist cannabis cafe ban leads to surge in dealing in the south

Synthetic Marijuana Turns People Into Zombies, Says Govt. Anti-Drug Propaganda

"The District of Columbia’s Department of Health seems to have a taken a page directly from Reefer Madness for its new advertising campaign, suggesting a synthetic form of marijuana known as 'K2' or 'Spice' will turn people who use it into 'zombies.' The ads recently made their debut on the DC Metro, and are wacky enough to look like a parody. Teenagers – presumably under the influence and grotesquely made up to look like 'Walking Dead' extras – pose in various stages of decay with captions like 'No One Wants to Take a Zombie to the Prom.' Seriously?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSynthetic Marijuana Turns People Into Zombies, Says Govt. Anti-Drug Propaganda

Reefer Madness… by Executive Order

"In Meridian, Idaho, Mayor Tammy de Weerd has taken it upon herself to use tax dollars to spread Reefer Madness to her constituents. By Executive Order, Tammy established the Mayor’s Anti-Drug Coalition (MADC), which received $625,000 from a Drug-Free Community Grant through the federal government. Now a Meridian resident notes that the town has been distributing these anti-marijuana leaflets inserted in the water bill! The flyer is full of discredited nonsense, exaggeration, and misdirection. Remember, this is a city government, most likely using federal grant money, to send false information about a political issue in official communications to their citizens." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReefer Madness… by Executive Order

How long can this rally last?

"Is today’s rally in stocks something you can count on and invest in with profitable results? Or is it likely to end soon — most likely, just as you put YOUR money on the table? Among the thousands of investors flocking to Las Vegas for the Money Show this week — in workshops, during cocktails and around the hotel’s gambling tables — this is the big question being asked over and over again. It’s the same question debated on Yahoo! Finance, CNBC, and in the halls of big Wall Street firms. Everyone wants to know. Many venture to guess. But we do know that most stocks are going up for all the wrong reasons." Continue reading →

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New York auction houses celebrate after billion-dollar sales week

"Two of New York’s leading auction houses combined for the art world’s richest sales week ever, with works going under the hammer for a breathtaking total of more than one billion dollars. Christie’s reaped in more than $638 million dollars at its blockbuster contemporary art auction on Wednesday. Its staggering haul included a record $58.4 million for a Jackson Pollock drip painting, which shattered all previous records for the highest price for any work at an art auction. An official at Christie's said the record prices 'reflect a new era in the art market, wherein seasoned collectors and new bidders compete at the highest level within a global market.'" Continue reading →

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Suddenly, Banks Are Victims In Justice Department’s S&P Lawsuit

"Justice is not suing Warren Buffett's Moody's ratings service, even though Moody's rated many of these same deals, often with identical ratings. Are we supposed to believe that Moody's never suggested to anyone that it was independent and objective? Whether Team Obama would ever dare to sue a company in which St. Warren is invested, you don't have to be a cynic to wonder if the feds will first wait and see whether Moody's downgrades U.S. Treasury debt the way S&P did in 2011. The truth is that the damage occurred because the same government that's now suing S&P required financial institutions to use the ratings issued by S&P and the other raters." Continue reading →

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Rupert Murdoch: Look Out Facebook!

"Rupert Murdoch, who famously bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, and sold the company in 2011 for just $35 miilion, tweets that the same early problems that he saw develop at MySpace are now developing at Facebook, namely that Facebook users are spending less time at Facebook. 'Look out Facebook! Hours spent participating per member dropping seriously. First really bad sign as seen by crappy MySpace years ago. — Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) May 17, 2013'" Continue reading →

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Fed: “Growing concern that college graduates are increasingly underemployed”

"This is not rocket science theory, but it is accurate. Coming out of the Fed, that in itself is unusual. But bottom line: If you are a college grad, who can't find a job, head to the big city. For those of you who haven't yet decided to go to college, it may make sense to take James Altucher's advice, skip college and just travel. Altucher's advice sure worked for David Karp. Forget skipping college, Karp dropped out of high school. At 17, Karp dropped out of Bronx High School of Science and decided to live in Japan. He eventually headed back to the US, founded Tumblr and just sold it to Yahoo for $1.1 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed: “Growing concern that college graduates are increasingly underemployed”