Alternative News

The Man Who Lost $2 Million an Hour!

"Last year, he lost about $19.4 BILLION! What a terrible year. And this year, it’s not getting any better. So far he’s lost another $10.3 billion. That’s a total loss of $29.7 billion in less than two years. But, according to Forbes, he’s still worth about $4.8 billion … so there’s no need to feel sorry for this 'poor' guy. He only has himself to blame. He’s the one who made such bad investment decisions. Last year, he made news around the globe when he said: 'I will be the world’s richest man.' He was the world’s 7th richest man. After losing a big chunk of his fortune last year, today, he’s not even one of the top three richest Brazilians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Man Who Lost $2 Million an Hour!

Kyle Bass: If China Doesn’t Change, ‘Full-Scale Recession’ Sometime Next Year

"'The compounded annual growth of bank assets as measured by the China Banking Regulatory Commission has been 30.8%,' Bass wrote. 'To give some perspective, a 30.8% compounded annual growth of credit in the U.S. equivalent over 5 years would be an expansion of $33 trillion. This rate of credit growth is three times the total credit system growth experienced in the U.S. at the peak of the bubble in 2006... The debt-to-equity ratios of Chinese companies are exploding as they funnel new capital, not into yield returning investments, but into the black holes on their balance sheets that have been created by a slowing growth environment.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKyle Bass: If China Doesn’t Change, ‘Full-Scale Recession’ Sometime Next Year

Mastercard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers

"There’s an unwritten rule that Mastercard and Visa don’t accept file-hosting sites that have an affiliate program and PayPal has thrown out nearly all cyberlockers in recent months. It now turns out that these policies have carried over to VPN providers and other anonymizing services. Before the weekend customers of the popular Swedish payment service provider Payson received an email stating that VPN services are no longer allowed to accept Visa and Mastercard payments due to a recent policy change. The new policy went into effect on Monday, leaving customers with a two-day window to find a solution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMastercard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers

Happy Endings in China?

"Couple potential (and ongoing) unrest regarding further urbanization with a lagging economy, an unbalanced banking sector and dwindling exports and you have a recipe for further questions about the Chinese Miracle. The biggest gamble of all may be the ChiComs' recent announcement that they intend to allow yet more free-market activity to take place. At what point do market forces begin to overwhelm ChiCom command-and-control facilities, especially when it comes to high-end monetary economy where the power resides? For all these reasons, we would imagine that even if China escapes a hard landing for now, there is one in store sooner or later ..." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHappy Endings in China?

UBS starts Singapore gold-vault service amid bullion rout

"Switzerland’s biggest bank started storing gold for wealth-management clients at a facility in Singapore. The leased vault in the Singapore FreePort is available for clients in the city-state and Hong Kong. UBS joins Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in offering storage services in Asia. The Singapore government has been promoting the country as a bullion-trading hub, removing a 7 percent sales tax from investment-grade precious metals last year. Millionaires in Asia outside Japan [are projected to] create $7 trillion in new wealth by 2016, boosting the share of global riches from emerging markets to about 37 percent from 24 percent in 2008." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUBS starts Singapore gold-vault service amid bullion rout

Why I Joined Shield Mutual

"Shield Mutual is the first implementation of a modern voluntaryist defense agency. The defense agency is owned and operated by well-known libertarian activist George Donnelly, whose mission is to be your greatest advocate should you be abducted by state, or non-state, affiliated criminals. What Shield Mutual will do is come to your aid in any way it can, such as organizing call floods to the police department responsible, contacting media outlets, fund-raising, hiring a lawyer if desired, posting bail if desired, contacting family, friends, and/or colleagues to inform them of the situation. I purchased a year’s membership for only $50 (paid in Bitcoin)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy I Joined Shield Mutual

SWAT Team Kills Armed Homeowner in Dawn Drug Raid

"Officers from the State Police special response team and DEA agents knocked on the door of Kohler's home at 6:05am. to serve a federal warrant. The newspaper described the special response team as 'akin to a SWAT team.' Officers knocked on the door, State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said, but no one answered, so police 'had to break down the door or forcefully open it somehow.' When police break down the door, they saw Kohler pointing a rifle at them, Baylous said. The troopers opened fire, shooting multiple rounds and killing Kohler. Baylous said he did not think Kohler had fired his weapon, but it was still unclear." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT Team Kills Armed Homeowner in Dawn Drug Raid

Mom settles for $143,000 after infant taken away over faulty drug test

"A Pennsylvania woman whose infant daughter was taken away from her by state authorities when she was just three days old, all due to a false positive on a drug test, won a $143,500 settlement Tuesday. The lawsuit alleged that a drug test she and her child were unknowingly subjected came back positive for opiates because she ate an 'Everything' bagel hours before giving birth. That carb-heavy treat turned into a genuine nightmare for Elizabeth Mort, who had her infant daughter Isabella literally taken out of her arms at her home days after returning from the hospital, all authorized by an emergency protective custody order." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMom settles for $143,000 after infant taken away over faulty drug test

First Amendment lawyer: ‘It is a terrible time to be a journalist’

"Jeff Portnoy was referring to the Obama administration’s secret subpoenas for journalists’ phone and Internet records, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s secret investigation into Associated Press and Fox News reporters 'in the name of national security.' Portnoy received a First Amendment award for his work in trying to prevent Hawaii’s five-year-old Journalism Shield law from expiring June 30. The version which passed eliminated from protection bloggers, online journalists and non-traditional journalists. Journalists who investigate fraud, waste and corruption are a 'dying breed,' Portnoy said, but they are needed now more than ever." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFirst Amendment lawyer: ‘It is a terrible time to be a journalist’