Network Archives

New $15 Million Bitcoin VC Fund Seeks Edge with Regulatory, Security Skills

"This month Liberty City Ventures launched the $15 million Digital Currency Fund, which seeks to invest in all types of firms in the Bitcoin ecosystem, including exchanges, banks, brokerages, investment services, insurance, infrastructure, and supporting products and services. It is the largest Bitcoin-related investment fund to date. Liberty City Ventures has been involved in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem through mining and currency investing for a number of years. The team is also very familiar with financial services and payment system startups, having recently retained former U.S. Treasury officials and regulators and computer engineers as advisors." Continue reading →

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Need Some Bitcoin? Hit This ATM Machine

"The brothers are converts to the bitcoin story. They were running a guitar shop in Israel, Zach is a guitar player and was in a band, when their interest was piqued in the virtual currency. At first, their enthusiasm was limited to accepting bitcoin at the shop. Josh Harvey has a tech background, though, and together with a third partner, they dreamed up the idea of a bitcoin ATM. They built the first mock-up out of their house, but when they started showing it off at bitcoin conferences, the reception convinced them to build and sell the machine. They’ve got a manufacturer contracted and expect to start sales in the fall." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNeed Some Bitcoin? Hit This ATM Machine

Japan’s False Dawn

"Ever wonder why Main Street investors are always the last ones into a hot stock market … and the last ones to exit long after the investment cools, and usually with losses? I know the answer. The media. Professional investors never tell reporters they’re building positions in a particular stock, a particular industry or a particular market while they’re in the process. That would undermine the advantage they have. Reporters only notice the trend after the trend is apparent. And by then, the end is already near. Which is the case today with Japan." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Statistics show the fall of the US economy

"Good news is bad news. Bad news is good news. Up is down and backwards is forwards. Nothing is what it seems...or what it ought to be. If the economy really were doing better the Fed would have to follow through on its promise to 'normalize' monetary policy. That is, it would stop lending at zero interest rates and stop its $85 billion-per-month QE program. But those hocus-pocus programs - not a genuine recovery - are what keep stock prices going up. What this means is that there is no genuine recovery. It's all the smoke of ZIRP and the mirrors of QE. When the magic show ends...so does the illusion of recovery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Statistics show the fall of the US economy

IRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member

"Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet. By contrast, Shulman’s predecessor Mark Everson only visited the White House once during four years of service in the George W. Bush administration and compared the IRS’s remoteness from the president to 'Siberia.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS’s Shulman had more public White House visits than any Cabinet member

Marijuana’s IRS Problems Spark New Bill

"Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will introduce the Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2013 on June 5, with the goal of ending the Internal Revenue Service’s persecution of medical cannabis dispensaries. The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2013 will amend IRS Section 280E of the tax code to resolve a crisis in the newly legal billion-dollar industry, according to Betty Aldworth with the Washington D.C. lobby National Cannabis Industry Association. Marijuana is a federally illegal drug that 20 states have legalized for medical purposes. Two have legalized its use for adults over 21. But the IRS treats all marijuana-related businesses as 'drug trafficking organizations'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarijuana’s IRS Problems Spark New Bill

Nigerian 14-Year Jail Terms for Same-Sex Marriages Passes Legislature

"The bill sets 14-year jail terms for people who enter into same-sex marriages or civil unions and 10 years for those who witness, aid or abet such unions as well as those who operate gay clubs and societies, Victor Ogene, a lower-house spokesman, said by phone from the capital, Abuja. Same-sex public displays of affection would be punishable by as many as 10 years behind bars. The Senate passed a similar bill in November 2011. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and most-populous country with more than 160 million people almost evenly split between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigerian 14-Year Jail Terms for Same-Sex Marriages Passes Legislature

Iran amends stoning-for-adultery law to allow judges discretion on type of execution

"Iran has amended its internationally condemned law on stoning convicted adulterers to death to allow judges to impose a different form of execution. Under Iran’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law in force since its 1979 revolution, adultery is punished by the stoning of convicted adulterers. Women are buried up to the their shoulders, but men only up to their waists. They are spared if they manage to free themselves before dying. Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking are also punishable by death in Iran, which has one of the highest annual execution counts in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran amends stoning-for-adultery law to allow judges discretion on type of execution

Culpeper Cop Who Shot and Killed Patricia Cook Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

"Daniel Harmon-Wright, the police officer in Culpeper, Virginia, who shot and killed former Sunday school teacher Patricia Cook in February 2012, has been sentenced to three years in prison. The first two rounds, fired at point-blank range, tore into Cook’s face and arm. Another round, fired as Cook was driving away from the shooter, entered her brain. A fourth round severed her spine and veered into her heart, killing her. Soon after Harmon-Wright was arrested, it was revealed that he had a tarnished military record, a drinking problem, and a history of harassing Culpeper residents. The first two problems nearly kept him from getting the job." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCulpeper Cop Who Shot and Killed Patricia Cook Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Father Of Florida Man Connected To Tsarnaev: FBI Killed My Son ‘Execution-Style’

"The father of a Chechen immigrant killed while being interrogated by the FBI about his ties to a Boston Marathon bombings suspect says agents killed his son 'execution style,' reports AP. There was even a shot to the back of the head. At a press conference Thursday in Moscow, Abdul-Baki Todashev showed journalists 16 photographs he said were of his son, Ibragim, in a Florida morgue. He said his son had six gunshot wounds to his torso and one to the back of his head and the pictures were taken by his son’s friend, Khusen Taramov. WESH-TV is reporting that unidentified FBI sources now say that Todashev was unarmed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFather Of Florida Man Connected To Tsarnaev: FBI Killed My Son ‘Execution-Style’