While it seems like fundamentally bad P.R. for a City's controlling political party majority to turn on a siren that blares, "WE HATE BUSINESS", desperate political times apparently call for desperate political measures.
"Bitcoin 'is for sure something we need to explore', Bart Chilton, one of the five commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) told the Financial Times. Said Mr Chilton: 'It’s not monopoly money we’re talking about here – real people can have real risk in these instruments, and we need to ensure that we protect markets and consumers, even in what at first blush appear to be ‘out there’ transactions.' In essence, we’re talking about a type of shadow currency, and there is more than a colourable argument to be made that derivative products relating to Bitcoin falls squarely in our jurisdiction.'" Continue reading →
"The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that local municipalities can legally ban medical marijuana dispensaries, dealing a massive blow to the burgeoning industry that’s exploded across the state since 2009. The ruling in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center boils down to whether the California constitution trumps provisions in the state’s medical marijuana laws. The California constitution gives cities the zoning power to dictate land use within their borders, enabling them to declare businesses a 'public nuisance' and toss them out — which is precisely what happened to the Inland Empire dispensary in Riverside." Continue reading →
"A week after we learned that the CIA delivered bags full of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai in exchange for his cooperation, the United Kingdom's MI6 admitted to doing the same thing this weekend. While the British spies say they forked over just a fraction of what their American counterparts did, the new information proves that this quasi-bribery scheme was hardly an isolated incident. In fact, it sounds like it was a big part of the allies' operation in Afghanistan. The leader called the CIA and MI6 contributions an 'easy source of petty cash' for dealing with the Taliban." Continue reading →
"There were voices in the Fed, said the news, urging caution. There would be no further monetary stimulus measures, said the commentators. Investors grew cautious. Then, by the end of the week, investors were rolling the dice again. The Fed was working hard to fight the impression that it had either lost its nerve or recovered its senses. With the wind of the Fed at their backs, investors put out full sail. On Friday, they were skimming along nicely, riding high on a tide of EZ money. 'Don't fight the Fed,' said the analysts. The Fed is pumping...stocks are going to rise. Of course, it's not that simple. Zimbabwe pumped. Stocks rose...for a while." Continue reading →
"This is the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most scurrilous incidents in academic publishing. The victim was Ludwig von Mises. The perpetrator was Yale University Press. This travesty was quite self-conscious. The editor knew exactly what he was doing. He was in control. Mises was not. This was how establishment liberalism worked in 1963. Today, ebooks, PDFs, and other technologies have broken the hold of traditional paper-based publishers. You can download the 1949 edition for free. But there was a time when they called the shots. Mises found out just how completely they called the shots at Yale University Press in 1963." Continue reading →
"Two major social engineering projects were underway: one, the manufacture of ideology, largely the initiative of philanthropic foundations (and the social sciences), and the other, public relations as a modern form of propaganda. Through the educational system, the social sciences, philanthropic foundations, public relations, advertising, marketing, and the media, America and the industrialized states of the world developed a unique and complex system of social control and propaganda for the 20th century and into the 21st. It is imperative to recognize and understand this complex system if we are to challenge and change it." Continue reading →
"Republicans in the North Carolina state Senate on Monday pushed through bill that would strip public benefits like food stamps and job training for people who fail a drug test. The bill requires those applying for benefits to pay for their own drug tests. Applicants who test negative would be eligible to have the costs of their tests reimbursed. The policy could cost the state more than $2.1 million. At the same time, senators rejected an amendment offered by Democratic state Sen. Gladys Robinson that would have drug tested lawmakers, the governor and cabinet secretaries." Continue reading →
"A revolutionary new electric bus that operates without overhead wires will begin operating in Geneva next month. The bus was developed by a public-private consortium including ABB Sécheron, the Geneva public transport authority (TPG) and SIG, the canton of Geneva’s utility company and supplier of electricity. The articulated bus works on a flash system that allows it to be recharged in 15 seconds at every stop with an overhead device that delivers 400 kilowatts of electricity. The vehicle is capable of storing enough energy to operate between stops, the consortium said." Continue reading →
"It is 'prohibited' for any rider who weighs more than 260 pounds to sign up for the soon-to-launch initiative — prompting backlash from riders who say the fat-shaming rule is enough to make them fly off the handle. Everyone who signs up for the program has to agree to a contract, which states users 'must not exceed maximum weight limit (260 pounds)' because the bikes can’t hold that much heft. Would-be riders called the rule unfair, saying the 40-pound cruisers are plenty sturdy. Others claimed the rule makes no sense — especially at the height of the city’s obesity problem. Several bike-shop owners agreed that the weight limit was bogus." Continue reading →