Alternative News

Taiwanese gang caught smuggling $3m worth of gold into South Korea

"South Korean custom officials caught Wednesday nine Taiwanese nationals who were allegedly smuggling 134 pounds (60.75 kilograms) worth of gold, hidden in their rectal cavities. According to China Post, the suspects are accused of transforming US$3 million worth of gold bars into small beads and smuggling them into South Korea 11 times since May last year. The group allegedly entered the country through Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul as Korea’s main gateway, the Incheon International Airport, has recently tighten controls." Continue reading →

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A (Photovoltaic) Silver Bull in China

"Early this month, big news came out of China. It may have gone unnoticed by some investors—and there's really no reason why it would have been covered extensively by mainstream media—but it's important if you're a silver investor. China raised its target for solar generating capacity to more than 35 gigawatts (GW) by 2015, a stunning increase of 67% above the previous target. In addition to China, India plans to increase its solar output to 20 GW by 2020, starting essentially from the scratch. On a worldwide basis, solar power generating capacity is projected to be 20 to 40 times the amount of current capacity by 2020." Continue reading →

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The Soviet Setup is Now the China Setup

"The most lucrative trade of 90's Soviet period was obtaining a bank loan (there were only state banks). Which was easy as long as you paid bank manager 20% straight in the pocket. It was up to you what you did with the 80%. Fast forward to today's China. Special investment financing vehicle and state bank loan architecture has been in place for a long time and not just since 2008. As you can imagine such vehicles are predominantly used to skim a little bit off the top. Operator gets rich, lender gets rich, party official gets rich. 2008-2009 RMB 4trn stimulus is the payday system the operators were waiting for, a once in a lifetime chance." Continue reading →

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Should Detroit’s Bankruptcy Be an Early-Warning Sign for Washington?

"There’s no way a bailout of Detroit goes through the House of Representatives. Heck, I don’t even think it could make it through the Senate. So some folks on the left would be justified if they asked why the high rollers on Wall Street supposedly deserved a bailout a few years ago but they don’t get one today. The answer, of course, is discrimination by color. But I’m not talking black vs white. The color that matters in politics is green. The financial industry dispenses huge campaign contributions to both sides of the aisle, and the bailout was their payoff. Public employee unions, by contrast, give almost every penny of their money to Democrats." Continue reading →

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Why Maiden Lane?

"The Fed mobilized 13.3’s lending powers so as to justify purchases by creating five separate Delaware limited liability companies: Maiden Lane LLCs I, II, and III, Commercial Paper Funding Facility LLC (CPFF), and Term Auction Lending Facility LLC (TALF). It lent to these corporations under the authority of Section 13.3. These LLCs proceeded to use these funds to purchase assets not specifically authorized by the Federal Reserve Act. In short, the Federal Reserve attempted to get around [legal] limitations concerning asset purchases by lending to the five recently created LLCs it controlled, and ordering these LLCs to purchase whatever assets it deemed necessary." Continue reading →

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Working Class Whites Are Giving Up Hope.

"Working class whites are giving up economic hope, according to a recent poll. They did not vote for Obama. The article did talk about single-mother households. They are in poverty, of course. What did the social planners expect? If the government subsidizes a particular behavior, we get more of it. That was the conservative argument a generation ago. It was dismissed as heartless by liberals. This is what 80 years of welfare state politics have produced. But of course, no one in the mainstream mentions this. Pessimism now reigns." Continue reading →

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Saudi prince defects from royal family

"He said he thanked God that helped him understand the truth about Saudi regime through a 'direct horrible personal experience' so that he could have a taste of what people suffered from throughout the country. 'With pride, I announce my defection from Al Saudi family in Saudi Arabia,' he wrote in his statement. 'All that is said in Saudi Arabia about respecting law and religion rules are factitious so that they can lie and pretend that the regime obeys Islamic rules.' He criticized the royal family for considering the country as its own property while silencing all voices from inside and outside the government calling for any change and reforms." Continue reading →

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Chicago Firearms Confiscation Begins

"There’s a good reason that law abiding gun owners don’t want their names on a national gun registry — namely, registration leads to confiscation. Gun control advocates immediately spout that “no one wants to take your guns” and other assorted platitudes. In Illinois, gun owners are required to get a Firearms Owners ID card, or FOID. Cook County police officers have become increasingly worried that when someone’s FOID card is revoked, their guns aren’t instantly confiscated. So they’re doing exactly what gun control advocates have said that registration would never result in — door to door confiscation." Continue reading →

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Undercover Police Informant Plants Crack Cocaine in Smoke Shop; Business Owner Saved by Tape

"Who exactly is the victim when crack cocaine is found on someone’s person or property? Maybe the owner of that property? In Scotia, New York, local and county police decided they were suspicious of Donald Andrew’s smoke shop, one of many in Schenectady County but, according to Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing, apparently the only one owned by a black person. They sent an informant, someone facing jail time of their own, to, er, 'investigate.' Here’s what happened, via the local NBC affiliate,WNYT." Continue reading →

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Cannabis Kills MRSA, Disrupts Prion Diseases

"Marijuana is a potent antibiotic that can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and disrupt the progression of prion diseases such as Mad Cow disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease — just don't expect the federal government to tell you any of this. The factoids come from TheAnswerPage.com - a medical information resource for doctors sponsored by The Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine. The federal government, as directed by Congress, still maintains that cannabis is a dangerous 'schedule 1' drug with no medical use and high potential for abuse." Continue reading →

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