Ex-TSA screener threatens LAX on eve of 9/11 anniversary

“Early this morning, members of a federal task force arrested Alpha Onuoha, a screener with the Transportation Security Administration who quit his position. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Laura Einmiller, Onuoha had been suspended recently, but suddenly resigned his position Tuesday afternoon and allegedly left a ‘suspicious package’ for another screener at TSA’s LAX Headquarters. The package is believed to have contained an eight-page letter in which Onuoha allegedly discusses the incident that led to his suspension, as well as his general feelings of disdain for the United States.” Continue reading

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The “Domestic Terrorist” You Can Call a Hero

“Bernard von NotHaus has been the called the Rosa Parks of the alternative money movement. More than 10 years ago, he had this idea that he would make his own money — not the fake stuff we are used to, but the real stuff made of actual silver. The feds raided him in in 2006. In 2007, the government outright stole 2 tons of coins from him, many of them featuring an image of Ron Paul, plus 500 silver coins and 50 gold coins. They threw him in jail and dragged his name through the mud many times. The government labeled him a ‘domestic terrorist.’ Yet — and this is what amazed me — he still hasn’t been sentenced. He walks around as free as you or me.” Continue reading

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Fed Warns of ‘Escalating Threats’ to U.S. Payment System

“The central bank oversees the nation’s payment system. The Fed is seeking public comments on the weaknesses of the system, including its inability to process transactions in near-real-time. The U.S. lags behind other countries in the speed of transactions, the Fed said. ‘In a world where several other countries are moving to ubiquitous near-real-time retail payment systems, the U.S. payment system does not have this capability,’ according to the paper. The central bank also said ‘cross-border payments from and to the United States are slow, inconvenient, costly and lack transparency regarding fees and timing.'” Continue reading

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Belgium’s finance minister has no objection to bitcoin

“Minister of finance Koen Geens responded to a parliamentary question about bitcoin, commenting that he wouldn’t see the Belgian National bank having any objection to bitcoin, and stating that for the moment its use is limited to a handful of traders. Geens reportedly added that although privacy and anonymity were a big part of bitcoin, there was no indication that the cryptocurrency is used on a large scale for money laundering. Any exchange of large amounts of bitcoin would be detected by the financial control systems, he argued. Germany made its own advances in this area last month, when its own finance ministry officially recognized bitcoin as private money.” Continue reading

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An American Energy Revolution

“In Texas these days, there’s a feeling of absolute and unwavering confidence in the concept of an American energy revolution. From the depths of reserves to the richness of the energy, an incredible transformation is taking place. We’ve been talking about the significant impact of the U.S.’s oil production for a while now, but the buzz about shale oil and gas is only getting louder. One area that’s driving this game-changing trend is located only hours from our headquarters. It’s the Permian Basin located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, covering an enormous area.” Continue reading

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Rooftop urban gardeners in Bangkok grow edible algae

“Three times a week, Patsakorn Thaveeuchukorn harvests the green algae in the barrels. ‘The algae is growing so fast, normally the doubling time is around 24 hours,’ said Patsakorn, whose employer EnerGaia uses Bangkok’s rooftops to grow spirulina. The empty space on top of Bangkok’s many skyscrapers provide suitable growing conditions for spirulina as the constant high temperatures and sunlight are ideal breeding conditions. The algae also helps combat carbon dioxide levels through photosynthesis, its champions say, and growing it in cities means it can reach consumers the same day it is harvested. The company says it is the only producer of fresh spirulina in the world.” Continue reading

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The ‘sharp decline’ in U.S unemployment was actually a glitch

“US jobless claims fell sharply last week mainly due to technical problems that affected some states supplying data, the government said Thursday. Initial claims for unemployment benefits dived by 31,000 to 292,000 in the holiday-shortened week ending September 7, the Labor Department reported. The sharp drop in claims reflected technical problems in some states in collecting claims data, the official said. The drop was due to upgrading of computer systems in two states that resulted in fewer claims being processed, as well as the Labor Day holiday, analysts noted.” Continue reading

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The future of work: on to a freelance model?

“If work is changing and freelance-like work is on the rise, bringing with it increased freedom, autonomy and diversity but also probably added unpredictability in terms of steady incomes, then we’ll probably also need a societal change and start questioning our need to own things and how we approach borrowing and lending money. For many, facing all this change can seem daunting, which was probably why at some point of our interesting dinner conversation my friend suggested that for a couple maybe one could pursue a project-based/entrepreneurial activity of some sort while the other could guarantee some ‘stability’ from a ‘traditional’ job.” Continue reading

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