A bill that would protect property rights from Agenda 21 and similar measures passed through a Missouri state house committee last week. House Bill 1647 (HB1647) was introduced on Jan. 29 by Rep. Mike Moon (R-157). It passed through the House Rules Committee on Apr. 14. It will now be scheduled for a full vote…
On Jan. 8, HB1279 was introduced to stop state-level compliance with the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA in New Hampshire (learn about it here). It was passed through the house and has since been referred to the Senate Rules, Enrolled Bills and Internal Affairs Committee. STATUS: HB1279 is slated to be heard by the…
On Jan. 8, HB1533 was introduced to protect the electronic data of New Hampshire residents from unwarranted surveillence in the state. It passed through the house and is scheduled to be voted upon in the senate on Apr. 24. A companion bill (HB1619) is also due for a vote in the senate on the same…
On April 14, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a bill into law that will set into motion the process for production and distribution of medical marijuana in the state, adding to the long list of states ignoring federal prohibition, effectively nullifying the unconstitutional federal act in limited medical situations. House Bill 881 (HB881) creates the…
Earlier this year, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy published my article showing that the Constitution’s Recess Appointments Clause limits presidential vacancy appointments far more than President Obama (and most prior Presidents) have claimed. I posted earlier on the same subject here. The issue is before the Supreme Court right now. The Recess Appointments Clause states in part…
"Raj Date, the former Deputy Director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a consumer finance watchdog, said in an interview this week that he supports – and is now investing in – bitcoin. During a segment of Bloomberg Television’s 'Street Smart,' Date commented that, on a personal level, he sees a lot of potential in digital currencies like bitcoin. In the interview, Date said that bitcoin has the potential to deliver faster and more secure payments than is currently possible for most consumers, and remarked that the pace of innovation could result in a broader evolution in digital currencies." Continue reading →
"A top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday he is interested in the fast-emerging bitcoin, although he scoffed at the idea that the virtual currency could replace the dollar. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota, speaking at a town hall at North Dakota State University, said he is interested in bitcoin as a technology, not as a currency. He speculated that bitcoin could make payments among individuals faster. 'That's where I think the interest of it is, myself, as opposed to a new currency that's going to drive the U.S. dollar out of circulation.'" Continue reading →
"Stefan Molyneux and David Seaman talk about making the present incomprehensible to the future, the elimination of fiat currency, using Bitcoin to end war, and why you can't buy votes with Bitcoin." Continue reading →
"Messrs Yellen, Draghi et al should be careful what they wish for. Inflation targeting is hardly a precise science. Achieving an entirely arbitrary 2% inflation level is bad enough for savers on fixed incomes when deposit rates are close enough to zero as to make no difference, but markets have a tendency to overshoot. Most government bond markets are clearly overbought – but in a QE world given fresh impetus by the looming arrival of the ECB, overbought markets can become even more overbought. When we don’t claim to understand the underlying dynamics (political) or the final destination (though we have our own fears), it’s much better simply not to play." Continue reading →
"Here’s a guy you want to bet on– Li Ka-Shing. Li is reportedly the richest person in Asia with a net worth well in excess of $30 billion, much of which he made being a shrewd property investor. Li Ka-Shing was investing in mainland China back in the early 90s, way back before it became the trendy thing to do. Now, Li wants out of China. All of it. Since August of last year, he’s dumped billions of dollars worth of his Chinese holdings. The latest is the $928 million sale of the Pacific Place shopping center in Beijing– this deal was inked just days ago. So what does he see that nobody else seems to be paying much attention to? Simple. China’s credit crunch." Continue reading →