Network Archives

The World’s Greatest Investor is Dead Wrong

"Contrary to the wisdom spouted by people like Mr. Buffett, gold’s movements are not about the economy. They’re not about geopolitical tensions. They’re not about inflation (and they’ve never been about inflation— a fact that four decades of correlation statistics handily prove). They’re not about what central banks are or are not buying. They are, instead, entirely about the direction of the U.S. dollar as a reflection of the U.S. fiscal situation. And as the last four decades have proven, the dollar will go down as America’s finances worsen. And that makes gold a buy." Continue reading →

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Spy-Coins.Com

"On the 'Products' page is a complete list of our fully functional hollow spy coins. They are all precision machined from actual coins, and are absolutely indistinguishable from a solid coin to the naked eye. They can be safely handled without danger of separation, and could easily circulate without detection. These products are proudly made in The USA. Although the technology of the hollow coin is not new, the data media is. Many of our coins are specially machined to secure the MicroSD Memory Card, which has capacities of several gigabytes." Continue reading →

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Microsoft Waits to Fix Your Software Bugs So the NSA Can Use Them First

"In a move as fiendishly clever as it is galling, Microsoft tells the U.S. government about bugs in its notoriously buggy software before it fixes them so that intelligence agencies can use the vulnerabilities for the purposes of cyberspying. 'That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes,' sources tell Bloomberg's Michael Riley. But still, the biggest software company on Earth is holding off on its blue-screen-of-death problems to turn them into real-life spy features, an impressive feat that will no doubt frustrate consumers." Continue reading →

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NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants

"The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed 'simply based on an analyst deciding that.' If the NSA wants 'to listen to the phone,' an analyst's decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. The same legal standards that apply to phone calls also apply to e-mail messages, text messages, and instant messages." Continue reading →

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Firefox plug-in warns users of NSA surveillance

"Justin Blinder released a plugin for the Web browser Firefox this week, and he’s already seeing a positive response in the press if not just based off of the idea alone. His 'The Dark Side of the Prism' browser extension alerts Web surfers of possible surveillance by starting up a different song from Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic 'The Dark Side of the Moon' each time a questionable site is crossed. Blinder told the Guardian that he built the program over the course of four hours with the hopes he could 'create some sort of ambient notification that you are on a site that is being surveiled by the NSA.'" Continue reading →

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On This Day in 1933

"You were considered a hoarder and a slacker if you still resisted turning over your gold to the government. Roosevelt had only been in office for 101 days and while there was broad bipartisan support for inflationary policies in Congress, it’s safe to say that most of those who voted for FDR never expected him to confiscate private holdings of gold coins, bullion, and certificates. Roosevelt called the measure a temporary one (it wasn’t), and he followed it up by invalidating gold clauses in private contracts that obligated payment in gold dollars, which had the effect of devaluing the assets of bond and contract holders." Continue reading →

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Don’t Dismiss the Possibility of Gold Confiscation

"If you hold precious metals in your portfolio, there is a good chance you fear hyperinflation and the crash of fiat currencies. You probably distrust governments in general and believe they are self-serving and have no interest in your economic well-being. It is likely that your holdings in gold are your lifeline – your hope to get you through these times while holding on to your wealth. But have you ever given any thought to the possibility of having this lifeline confiscated by the authorities? It's an interesting thought that the greatest threat to gold and silver investment might not be the possibility of losing on the speculation, but the government taking it away from you." Continue reading →

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Secret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind

"In a secret court in Washington, Yahoo’s top lawyers made their case. The government had sought help in spying on certain foreign users, without a warrant, and Yahoo had refused, saying the broad requests were unconstitutional. The judges disagreed. That left Yahoo two choices: Hand over the data or break the law. So Yahoo became part of the National Security Agency’s secret Internet surveillance program, Prism, according to leaked N.S.A. documents, as did seven other Internet companies. Like almost all the actions of the secret court, the details of its disagreement with Yahoo were never made public beyond a heavily redacted court order." Continue reading →

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Tech Companies Concede to NSA Surveillance Program

"When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world’s largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled. In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit. The negotiations shed a light on how Internet companies, increasingly at the center of people’s personal lives, interact with the spy agencies that look to their vast trove of information — e-mails, videos, online chats, photos and search queries — for intelligence. They illustrate how intricately the government and tech companies work together, and the depth of their behind-the-scenes transactions." Continue reading →

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