Price of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

"In recent years, last-minute bidding has regularly pushed the price to record levels. Last year's lunch for eight almost tripled in the final minute of bidding, closing at $3.46 million. With bidding nearing the $1 million mark by mid-afternoon Friday, expectations ran high that the lunch with the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO could cross $4 million for the first time. But as the auction closed at just $1,000,100, some attending the invitation-only countdown party at Restaurant Lulu in San Francisco could be heard speculating that a glitch must have occurred." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPrice of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

Report: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment

"Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity—all of which have plagued public schools around the country—do not exist in homeschooling environments." Continue reading

Continue ReadingReport: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment

The Great Obamacare Intergenerational Swindle

"Will we be able to talk healthy young Americans into buying medical insurance that costs seven times what it would in a free market in order to subsidize our increasingly expensive health care? Or will we have to sic IRS enforcers on them for selfishly taking advantage of the law’s pre-existing condition protections to get care at someone else’s expense in case of serious illness? It’s a tough sell, but take heart, fellow Boomers. We’ve been preparing our children for community servitude for years. Why else did we feed them a steady diet of social consciousness, while preaching that it takes a village from the day we dumped them in daycare? Now, it’s time for them to pay up." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe Great Obamacare Intergenerational Swindle

Pimco Total Return Had $9.9 Billion Withdrawals in June

"Imagine what is going to happen when the panic over climbing interest rates really starts. Bill Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund, a bond fund and the world’s largest mutual fund, had $9.9 billion in net redemptions last month as investors fled bonds in anticipation of higher interest rates. The withdrawals left the fund with $268 billion in assets at the end of June, Morningstar said." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPimco Total Return Had $9.9 Billion Withdrawals in June

The Nudge That Will Force Banks to Put More Money Into Treasury Securities

"Translation: The rules will require banks to purchase more government securities, rather than make loans to the private sector. The nudge is in. In a May 1 report,Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee said banks, over time, will need to buy as much as $5.7 trillion in 'safe' assets including government bonds by 2020 to comply with the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the U.S., and capital standards set by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland." Continue reading

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Why Is My US Brokerage Firm Closing My Account?

"In many cases the agreement that countries have insisted on with respect to FATCA is reciprocal. In other words, a country will say that yes they are willing to exchange information on financial accounts with the USA but the key word is 'exchange' – that is, in return, US financial institutions must also agree to provide information regarding their clients who are citizens of the country entering into the FATCA agreement with the USA. Imagine the mess this will cause for the large US banks and brokerage firms when they have to start reporting to foreign governments on their accounts for residents of these other countries." Continue reading

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Gerard Depardieu claims world citizenship

"French actor and new Russian national Gerard Depardieu says he is applying for an Algerian passport and possibly others, describing himself a 'world citizen'. The 64-year-old star, one of the world's most prolific actors, acquired Russian nationality in January after getting into a fight with the French authorities over a new 75-per cent tax on the super-rich. 'I would like to have seven' passports, he told France's Journal du Dimanche on Sunday. 'I'm going to ask for an Algerian one and others as well,' he said. 'This will help me avoid visas.'" Continue reading

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‘Top French politicians had Swiss accounts’

"A former executive of a Geneva-based bank says he gave authorities in France a list of 15 former and current French cabinet ministers with secret Swiss bank accounts. Pierre Condamin-Gerbier, formerly with Reyl & Company, said on Wednesday he had submitted the list of 'big names' to investigators. Condamin-Gerbier was a witness before a French parliamentary commission investigating France’s former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, who resigned in disgrace in March over an undeclared foreign bank account said to contain around €600,000. Cahuzac is now facing charges of tax fraud. He had earlier said the list contained a number of well-known names." Continue reading

Continue Reading‘Top French politicians had Swiss accounts’

Bitcoin ATM launched

"A bitcoin ATM was revealed at a London conference today, allowing users to convert bank notes into the digital currency. To use the ATM, you need to have an existing Bitcoin wallet number. First, it scans a QR code of your Bitcoin address. Then, the user has to feed bank notes into the machine, which are converted at the current exchange rate and deposited into their account. While the deposit takes moments, it can take several minutes for an account to be updated. Bitcoin can be purchased via online exchange sites, but the ATM means you don't need to use a credit or bank card, helping to keep the transactions anonymous, the company said." Continue reading

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I can remember a time when I would have considered Snowden a traitor. bush and obama have changed all that.

Snowden Released This Statement Via Wikileaks: Reposted from: http://youviewed.com/2013/07/01/snowden-unloads-on-obama/ ” One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met […]

Continue ReadingI can remember a time when I would have considered Snowden a traitor. bush and obama have changed all that.