Alternative News

The Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

"Dustin Theoharis of Auburn, Washington was asleep in a basement bedroom when he was shot 16 times by officers who had come to the home looking for someone else. He was not a criminal suspect and had no access to a weapon when the officers opened fire in the darkened bedroom. The assailants who shot Theoharis were Detective Aaron Thompson of the King County Sheriff’s Office and Corrections Officer Kris Rongen. The King County Prosecutor’s office ruled that the shooting by Deputy Aaron Thompson and Correctional Officer Kristopher Rongen was legally justified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

When Vice Enforcement is a Capital Crime

"Alexa Hamme of Salt Lake City was 25 years old when she died in a jail cell. She had been arrested four days earlier on suspicion of drug possession and endangerment of a child or adult. That last charge is a sentence enhancer often tacked on to a drug arrest as a way of escalating the potential penalties and extorting a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Using drugs is unwise and self-destructive. The same is true of other personal vices, as well. But government has no moral or legal mandate to punish people for indulging vices. Doing so is itself a crime – and as the tragic death of Alexa Hamme illustrates, it is frequently a capital offense." Continue reading →

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How You Can Quickly Make It into the World’s 1% Richest

"You might already be there. If not, get a job at McDonald's and work overtime. It only takes $34,000 a year, after taxes, to be among the richest 1% in the world, according to World Bank economist Branko Milanovic in his book The Haves and the Have-Nots. CNN reports on Milanovic data: 'The true global middle class, falls far short of owning a home, having a car in a driveway, saving for retirement and sending their kids to college. In fact, people at the world's true middle -- as defined by median income -- live on just $1,225 a year. (And, yes, Milanovic's numbers are adjusted to account for different costs of living across the globe.)'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow You Can Quickly Make It into the World’s 1% Richest

Gold jewellery stocks hammered in India

"Gold jewellery stocks are in a freefall in India. The curbs imposed by the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India to curtail domestic gold consumption and imports, has led to a hammering of stock prices. Some leading jewellers shares have dived by 20% to 50% during the past fortnight. Analysts attribute the mayhem to the fact that most gold retailers in India hold huge inventories of gold. Shares of Gitanjali Gems, touted as India’s largest gold and jewellery company, have slumped more than 60% since mid-June with investors preferring to bail out even on July 4." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold jewellery stocks hammered in India

Credit card transactions for gold purchases curtailed in India

"Buying gold in India has got a little more difficult for consumers used to using plastic money to buy large jewellery sets or heavy gold ornaments. India's apex bank has asked banks not to convert gold purchases done through credit cards into equated monthly installments. Continuing its fight against gold consumption, the Reserve Bank of India is leaving no stone unturned to discourage gold buyers in India. The ban on conversion of gold purchases at jewellery stores into equated monthly instalments for credit card purchases has already triggered a slump in sales." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCredit card transactions for gold purchases curtailed in India

Top Ten Cities With the Most Multi-Millionaires

"London is the home to more multimillionaires, 4,296, than anywhere else in the world, but is facing tough competition from Hong Kong, 2,560, and Singapore, 3,154, to keep that title, according to a new study, writes MarketWatch. The WealthInsight Intelligence Center Database, which tracks wealth and liquidity events, found Singapore and Hong Kong have the fastest growth rate for multimillionaires and could overtake London by 2020 if the trend continues. The report defines a multimillionaire as someone with $30 million or more." Continue reading →

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Crashes of Convenience: Michael Hastings

"Michael Hastings was that rarest of breeds: a mainstream reporter who wasn't afraid to rail against the system, kick back against the establishment, and bite the hand that feeds him. On the morning of June 18, 2013, he died in a fiery car crash. But now details are emerging that he was on the verge of breaking an important new story about the CIA, and believed he was being investigated by the FBI. Now even a former counter-terrorism czar is admitting Hastings' car may have been cyber-hijacked. Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we explore the strange details surrounding the untimely death of Michael Hastings." Continue reading →

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Year of the yuan: China’s explosive currency goes global

"Degenerating credit quality across the board has prompted asset managers to turn to the yuan, a currency that 10 years ago was completely off limits to foreign investors. An HSBC forecast projected that by 2015, the yuan will become one of the three most used currencies in global trade, in league with the dollar and euro. The report, issued in April, also foresees a third of China’s cross-border transactions being carried out in yuan. China has been making a concerted effort to establish itself as an international currency reserve. China already has agreements with Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan allowing trade to be settled in yuan instead of dollars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYear of the yuan: China’s explosive currency goes global

Obamacare Strikes: Part-Time Jobs Surge To All Time High; Full-Time Jobs Plunge By 240,000

"As a reminder: jobs have quantity and quality components. The quantity component was good enough to convince the 10 Year the taper is imminent (if not stocks, which continue to trade dislocated from any and all fundamentals). But how about the quality? In a word: not good. In June, the household survey reported that part-time jobs soared by 360,000 to 28,059,000 - an all time record high. Full time jobs? Down 240,000. And looking back at the entire year, so far in 2013, just 130K Full-Time Jobs have been added, offset by a whopping 557K Part-Time jobs. And there is your jobs 'quality' leading to today's market euphoria (if only for now)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare Strikes: Part-Time Jobs Surge To All Time High; Full-Time Jobs Plunge By 240,000