Brigham Young University Student Housing Now Accepts Bitcoin
"The Nauvoo House for men. Mountain Pines Apartment for women." Continue reading →
NSA pays £100m in secret funding for GCHQ
"The US government has paid at least £100m to the UK spy agency GCHQ over the last three years to secure access to and influence over Britain's intelligence gathering programmes. The top secret payments are set out in documents which make clear that the Americans expect a return on the investment, and that GCHQ has to work hard to meet their demands. 'GCHQ must pull its weight and be seen to pull its weight,' a GCHQ strategy briefing said. It will raise fears about the hold Washington has over the UK's biggest and most important intelligence agency, and whether Britain's dependency on the NSA has become too great." Continue reading →
Free State Project Demands Apology For “Domestic Terrorism” Claims In Tank Grant Application
"As president of the Free State Project ('FSP'), a NH-based non-profit organization with the sole mission of attracting 20,000 pro-freedom people to the Granite State, I am alarmed and appalled at the cleverly worded insinuation that the FSP is a domestic terrorist threat, or that 'Free Staters' are 'active and present daily challenges' to the Concord Police Department. Individuals who sign up for the FSP generally subscribe to an ethical stance which asserts that 'aggression' is inherently illegitimate. Sadly, the DHS grant application only came to light through an ACLU public records request, and not as a result of transparent governance." Continue reading →
Mayor Bloomberg blames Virginia for many of New York’s gun crimes
"New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg blames Virginia and several other southern state’s for the Big Apple’s gun crimes — so now he’s set his Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ sights on the Deep South for a Second Amendment crackdown. His chief of staff, John Feinblatt, said if states like Virginia only implemented common-sense provisions, then violent crime rates would fall. Other states faulted by Mr. Feinblatt: South Carolina, for contributing 251 'crime guns' in 2011, he said. And Georgia, Alabama and Texas – all states that allow for online gun sales absent background checks." Continue reading →
The First Commercial 3D Printed Metal Gun Part
"Neal Brace, founder of Sintercore LLC and a former US Marine infantryman, has developed the world’s first commercially available 3D printed firearm accessory. What sets Sintercore’s component apart from previous 3D printed firearm designs is that it was manufactured using direct metal laser sintering technology, rather than a plastic 3D printer. To ensure that their product is safe, Sintercore has designed their muzzle brake to be printed in Inconel, a nickel-chromium super alloy that’s traditionally reserved for use in extreme environments like gas turbine blades, supercharger rotors, and F1 and NASCAR exhaust systems." Continue reading →
Gun company displays largest-caliber rifle ever created with bullets that cost $40 a piece
"If you want to squeeze off a few rounds from a .905-caliber rifle, you'll need two things: muscles and cash. An Ohio-based gun company has developed the world's first .905-caliber rifle that - at .905 - is the highest-caliber rifle in the world. The rifle is the creation of SSK Industries and is essentially a shoulder-mounted cannon, with rounds that look like mini mortar shells. The rifle fires rounds about 2,100 feet per second with roughly 254,000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. The gun also has 2,777 foot-pounds of recoil energy, which essentially makes it as powerful - and has about as much 'kick' - as firing 10 .30-6 rifles at the same time." Continue reading →
Collapse of Potash Cartel Sends Shock Waves Worldwide
"Russia's Uralkali quit one of the world's two big potash cartels on Tuesday, heralding a price war for the key crop nutrient and pummeling the shares of companies that produce it. The break-up of the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), a joint venture with Belarussian partner Belaruskali, leaves North America's Canpotex as the dominant potash export venture. It could lead to cancellations of projects by rivals as the industry weighs the effect of lower prices, but may bring better deals for farmers. 'It is as if Saudi Arabia decided to leave OPEC — oil prices would fall immediately,' said Dmitry Ryzhkov, equity sales trader at Renaissance Capital." Continue reading →
ANZ opens Gold vault in Singapore
"Singapore gold investors now have another option when it comes to stashing their gold. New Zealand's biggest banking group, ANZ, has announced that it has opened a gold vault in the Singapore. The bank's vault has the capacity to house 50 tons of gold. According to the bank, close to 15% of the world's primary production, and counts among its clients central banks and sovereign wealth funds. 'Singapore is strategically located between the world's top two gold producers, China and Australia, as well as the world's largest consumption markets,' said ANZ co-head of fixed income, currencies and commodities, Eddie Listorti." Continue reading →
China’s Spending on Renewable Energy May Total 1.8 Trillion Yuan
"China may invest another 2.3 trillion yuan in key energy-saving and emission-reducing projects, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said today at a conference in Beijing. The government aims to have 100 gigawatts of wind-power installed capacity and more than 35 gigawatts of solar power by 2015, Xie reiterated today. China’s targets have encouraged companies including China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec Group, to strengthen their commitment to protect the environment." Continue reading →
The Largest Gold Share Rise of All Time
"During our many walks together, my father and I often compared his experiences in the 1920s and ’30s with mine in more recent decades. Each time brought new revelations. But we rarely missed the obvious fact that history repeats itself in strange ways. His experiences with the world’s leading gold mines in the early 1930s are a classic example. Their shares were downtrodden, misunderstood and undervalued, much as they are today. Then, right in the midst of the nation’s worst depression, select mining shares surprised nearly everyone. They bust out of their doldrums. They surged to their highest levels in history." Continue reading →