Alternative News

IRS employee union: We don’t want Obamacare

"IRS employees have a prominent role in Obamacare, but their union wants no part of the law. National Treasury Employees Union officials are urging members to write their congressional representatives in opposition to receiving coverage through President Obama’s health care law. The NTEU represents 150,000 federal employees overall, including most of the nearly 100,000 IRS workers. Like most other federal workers, IRS employees currently get their health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which also covers members of Congress." Continue reading →

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Uber Unveils On-Demand Boating Service in Amsterdam

"During last week's heat wave in the U.S., Uber modified its on-demand car service by letting residents in cities around the world order up ice cream trucks. Now the team at Uber has come up with another twist on the service called Uber Sloep. Launched as a special program in Amsterdam, the Netherlands' capital and largest city, Uber Sloep will allow anyone to use the Uber app to order up a private boat to travel the scenic canals of the city. For one day over the July 4 weekend, Uber offered $3,000 helicopter rides from New York City to the Hamptons under the 'Uber Chopper' moniker." Continue reading →

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San Francisco Taxis Promote Bitcoins

"In times when the US financial authorities are leaving no stones unturned in sacking Bitcoin transactions, some of the 375 taxis in San Francisco are now promoting the currency, and quite effectively. The new campaign can now be seen on the streets of San Francisco in which the taxis are playing a 'We use coins' promotion video. Among the 375 taxis, 75 of them are also featuring a still-image monitor. Bitcoin forum member Dadj explained that how they were looking for local companies interested in accepting bitcoins in their business transaction, to put their advertisement on the still-image monitors in the taxis." Continue reading →

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Paul Kemp-Robertson: Bitcoin. Sweat. Tide. Meet the future of branded currency.

"Currency -- the bills and coins you carry in your wallet and in your bank account -- is founded on marketing, on the belief that banks and governments are trustworthy. Now, Paul Kemp-Robertson walks us through a new generation of currency, supported by that same marketing … but on behalf of a private brand. From Nike Sweat Points to bottles of Tide (which are finding an unexpected use in illegal markets), meet the non-bank future of currencies." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Digital gold or ‘Harlem Shake of currency’?

"Created in the spirit of subversion by an anonymous developer calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is an electronic cash system based on an open source cryptographic protocol, with no central authority. Dismissed by some economists as a craze akin to the Dutch tulip bubble of the 1600s, Bitcoin is part of a gradual, technological shift in the way we think about money, whether we like it or not." Continue reading →

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Have gold miners missed the hedging boat?

"With many gold shafts underwater at current prices on the back of seemingly inexorable cost inflation, there are likely to be a few CEOs that will be secretly wishing they had done some hedging at $1,900. Banks still rather like it because it provides certainty when it come to project finance and, as a result, hedging continues but, for the most part it hasn’t really worked in gold companies’ favour over the course of the 13 year bull run – and, as a result it isn’t really considered a serious option. This view continues to predominate, as is evident in the latest figures on the global gold hedgebook for Q1 2013, released today by Thompson Reuters GFMS and Societe Generale." Continue reading →

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Shortages, warehouses and misinformation: Comex gold explained

"There has been a lot of misinformation recently about Comex warehouse gold stocks. Most notably, there's confusion about how this year's sharp drop in the quantity of gold bullion held in Comex warehouses might point to some looming shortage of metal to settle gold futures contracts, or even signal an outright default by sellers to buyers. But there is no mystery or hidden agenda of how Comex works. In this article our goal is to explain how the Comex works in the simplest fashion. Having been involved in the physical gold markets for thirty years, I hope I'm in a position to share a true 'insider' view, the better to inform this debate properly." Continue reading →

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Internet Society Statement on the Importance of Open Global Dialogue Regarding Online Privacy

"The Internet Society has noted recent revelations regarding the apparent scope of U.S. government efforts to gather large amounts of end user information from U.S. Internet and telecom service providers for intelligence purposes. We are deeply concerned that the unwarranted collection, storage and potential correlation of user data will undermine many of the key principles and relationships of trust upon which the global Internet has been built. The Internet Society strongly believes that real security can only be realized within a broader context of trust and the respect of fundamental rights, such as privacy.." Continue reading →

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NSA Official: Privacy Of NSA Employees Should Remain Despite Hampering Leak Detection

"Privacy mandates that prevent the government from monitoring the personal data of National Security Agency employees should not be altered to stop insider threats, despite leaks of Top Secret information, a senior NSA official said on Thursday. 'This is a case where I wouldn't advocate a change of laws,' NSA Technical Director Boyd Livingston said. 'It's very difficult to do insider threat monitoring -- there are a whole other set of federal laws having to do with personal identification information, PII, and your Social Security [number], that prohibit various monitoring.'" Continue reading →

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