"The US Internal Revenue Service spent $60,000+ of your money to produce this terrible Star Trek spoof. Despite being really bad, the film does demonstrate the culture of government: You, the citizens, are tax cattle to be farmed for the state. Without genius central planners civilization itself would fall." Continue reading →
"Taped Sept 3, 1970, this insightful economic conversation remains relevant today. Note Mr. Browne predicts that, 'as an act of economic desperation,' our government will have to 'renege on their promise to foreign governments to pay one ounce of gold for every $35 turned in at the Treasury.' On August 15, 1971, the Nixon Administration did so." Continue reading →
"The Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, sponsored by James M. Rodney, presented at the Austrian Economics Research Conference. Recorded 21 March 2013 at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Includes an introduction by Joseph T. Salerno." Continue reading →
"Thousands of Cypriots are celebrating, after the country's Parliament gave a resounding no vote to the EU-IMF bailout package. The move could have seen the government take up to 10% of people's savings, from private bank accounts - as a precondition to securing the much needed 10 billion euro loan. Now that it's been rejected, the ailing Eurozone member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy." Continue reading →
"When eight former DEA chiefs signed a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, demanding that the feds crack down on Washington and Colorado, there was more than just drug-war ideology at stake. Two of the elder drug warriors, Peter Bensinger (DEA chief, 1976–1981) and Robert DuPont (White House drug chief, 1973–1977), run a corporate drug-testing business. Their company, Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, holds the pee stick for some 10 million employees around the US, including Kraft Foods, American Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, the Federal Aviation Administration and even the Justice Department itself." Continue reading →
"Earlier this week, Reps. Jared Polis and Earl Blumenauer visited a marijuana dispensary. They were just blocks away from their congressional offices, and within months, certain D.C. residents will be able to come here to legally choose from more than a dozen strains of medical marijuana, from Master Kush to Blue Dream. The walls will be packed with vaporizers, water pipes, and pre-rolled joints. There will be THC lollipops, baked goods, and cookbooks. Just blocks away from the Capitol, it may soon become one of the most politically important marijuana distribution centers in the country." Continue reading →
"The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a 'bureaucratic nightmare.' Senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to 'collect taxes on remote sales,' ushers in the first national Internet sales tax. The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent companies including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, Macy's, and the Container Store." Continue reading →
"Bitcoin is an unregulated, uncontrolled online currency – worth more than £500m, it's the world's fastest growing. It can be used to buy drugs, move money across the world, or get rich quick. The people behind Bitcoin speak to the Guardian's James Ball at their home in a squat in central London." Continue reading →
"The US Central Intelligence Agency has been feeding information to select rebel fighters in Syria to try to make them more effective against government troops, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Citing unnamed current and former US officials, the newspaper said the new CIA effort reflected a change in the administration’s approach that aims to strengthen secular rebel fighters. The CIA has sent officers to Turkey to help vet rebels who receive arms shipments from Gulf allies, the report said. But administration officials cited concerns about some weapons going to Islamists, the paper noted." Continue reading →
"President Barack Obama says his administration is working with Congress to provide Jordan with an additional $200 million in aid this year. He made the announcement during a news conference in Amman, Jordan, with King Abdullah II. Jordan’s economic troubles have been made worse by the influx of more than 450,000 refugees fleeing the civil war across the border in neighboring Syria. The Syrians are crowding refugee camps in Jordan and overwhelming aid agencies run by the important U.S. ally in the Middle East." Continue reading →