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America Is Setting A Dangerous Precedent For The Drone Age

“Micah Zenko of the Council of Foreign Relations makes this argument in a new report: ‘A major risk is that of proliferation. Over the next decade, the U.S. near-monopoly on drone strikes will erode as more countries develop and hone this capability. In this uncharted territory, U.S. policy provides a powerful precedent for other states and nonstate actors that will increasingly deploy drones with potentially dangerous ramifications.’ Jim Michaels of USA Today reports that 75 countries, including Iran and China, have developed or acquired drone technology in the wake of America’s prolific program.” Continue reading →

NYPD ‘looking into’ drones to survey crowds

“New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said on Thursday that his police force is ‘looking into’ using drones to survey demonstrations, reported DNAinfo. During an interview at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with Reuters News’ editor-in-chief, Kelly explained the need to look into ‘anything that helps us,’ although a drone program was not being aggressively pursued currently. He also discussed the department’s counter-terrorism programs and the fact that the force has privately paid officers in 11 cities worldwide to ‘act as tripwires or listening posts for the city.'” Continue reading →

Switzerland and Britain are now at currency war

“‘Everybody is trying to weaken their currency at the same time. The Swiss have got away with it and now the Japanese want to try. The Sandinavians are pulling their hair out. The Turks are cutting rates even though the economy is overheating, and putting in credit controls instead because they don’t want the currency to rise. Policymakers are doing things that if you had suggested four years ago they would have put you in a straitjacket and thrown you in a cell. I don’t rule out anything any longer in this market. Desperate times lead to desperate acts,’ said David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC.” Continue reading →

Doug Casey – Let’s Do A Tour Around The World

“I think time is growing short, as the economy emerges from the eye of the current hurricane. After which it will encounter several more even bigger ones. There you have it. But don’t look at this as idle information. I suggest you allocate some time, call your travel agent, and get going.” Continue reading →

Turkish gold exports rise 800 pct on demand from Iran

“Turkey is Iran’s biggest natural gas customer but Western sanctions prevent it from paying Tehran in dollars or euros. Iran is instead paid in Turkish lira – of limited value on international markets but ideal for buying gold in Turkey. Couriers carrying millions of dollars worth of gold bullion in their luggage have been flying from Istanbul to Dubai, where the gold is shipped to Iran, industry sources with knowledge of the business told Reuters last year. New sanctions are due to take effect in February and could include measures to try to curb the trade.” Continue reading →

America’s tactical interests cannot dictate Britain’s sovereign destiny

“The White House does not want to be distracted by internecine European disputes as it switches its main focus to the Pacific Rim – the ‘Asian Pivot’ – and deals with the really dangerous issue of China’s maritime conflict with Japan and South East Asia. But at the end of the day, the British people cannot let America’s taste for tidy structures in Europe determine policy on matters that go to the heart of our democracy and sovereign self-government. For me the snapping point was the disgraceful saga of the European Constitution, which I covered in minute detail as it wended its way through the Convention.” Continue reading →

Obama mocks Lew’s loopy signature: Don’t devalue the dollar with illegible writing

“President Barack Obama jokingly joined in criticism of Jack Lew’s signature on Thursday, urging his Treasury nominee to change it before it appears on the greenback and risks devaluing the dollar. Lew’s doodle-like eight-loop signature — a cute but utterly undecipherable scrawl described as an ‘unraveled slinky’ by one graphologist — has quickly drawn more media buzz than the budget guru’s politics.” Continue reading →

How many cats does it take to change a lightbulb?

One, it seems –

Via Right Scoop