Alternative News

New Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

"Reread that Skype denial from last July, knowing that at the time the company knew that they were giving the NSA access to customer communications. Notice how it is precisely worded to be technically accurate, yet leave the reader with the wrong conclusion. This is where we are with all the tech companies right now; we can't trust their denials, just as we can't trust the NSA -- or the FBI -- when it denies programs, capabilities, or practices. Back in January, we wondered whom Skype lets spy on their users. Now we know." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

Don’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

"The bond-market bust was a long time coming, if you’ve read my columns this year and last. But some investors — even big-time mutual fund managers — got caught flat-footed. Why? Just like real estate in the 2000s and tech stocks in the late 1990s, those bull markets were artificially extended for years, and those who got out early lost out on some of the biggest gains. But make no mistake. The real problem is what I’ve been harping on for several months: The bond market is a gigantic bubble, having been wildly inflated by too much cheap, easy money from the world’s central banks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

Bitcoin’s Big Bank Problem: Why Did Mt. Gox Halt US Payouts?

"The world’s best-known Bitcoin exchange stopped paying out customers in U.S. dollars Thursday. Mt. Gox didn’t exactly explain what was going on, though. It blamed an 'increased volume' of transactions, and said it would suspend U.S. cash withdrawals for two weeks as it sorted things out. The issue 'is with processing the sheer volume through our banks in Japan, which is causing a delay,' said Mt. Gox’s Thomas Glucksmann-Smith in an email message. 'We are currently attempting to improve our services for this. In the meantime USD deposits are unaffected as are other currencies.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin’s Big Bank Problem: Why Did Mt. Gox Halt US Payouts?

NYPD ‘Hunting Of Man’ T-Shirts Seen On On-Duty Officers In Queens

"On-duty members of the NYPD's Queens Warrant Squad were spotted outside a city courthouse last week wearing T-shirts imprinted with a Ernest Hemingway quote, that in the context of the officers' work, could be considered very disturbing: 'There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.' Tipsters, who passed along the photo below, told Gothamist and SocialistWorker.orgthat the cops had badges around their necks, and that words on the front of their T-shirts read, 'Fugitive Enforcement NYPD.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD ‘Hunting Of Man’ T-Shirts Seen On On-Duty Officers In Queens

This Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

"Ben Bernanke and the Fed are out with their latest happy talk economic projections. They project the economy will grow by 2.3 to 2.6 percent, in real terms, in the fourth quarter of 2013 relative to the fourth quarter of 2012. That speeds up to 3.0 to 3.5 percent in 2014 and 2.9 to 3.6 percent in 2015. Unemployment also is projected to fall, hitting 5.8 to 6.2 percent in 2015, all while inflation stays below 2 percent. The chart put together by WaPo shows how abysmal the Fed's actual forecasts have been (and this is not counting the Fed missing the housing crash or the overall financial crisis)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThis Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

Conference Board Fears Front Running Ahead of Its Economic Data; 250 Millisecond Edge

"The Conference Board will no longer provide its economic reports in advance to news organizations because it suspects the data is being diverted early to computer-driven trading systems, reports AP. The private research group has provided its monthly data to reporters 30 minutes before the information is publicly released. The early access to the data has allowed journalists to prepare news reports ahead of the information's public release at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Starting Tuesday, the Conference Board's data will be released to everyone simultaneously." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConference Board Fears Front Running Ahead of Its Economic Data; 250 Millisecond Edge

Ron Paul’s Choice for Fed Chairman James Grant on Gold & Silver’s Latest Sell-Off

"As gold & silver prices tumble to 2.5-year lows in a wake of panic selling following a disappointing Fed Outlook & statement by Bernanke, as well as less-than-ideal Chinese economic data, Kitco News speaks with James Grant, editor of "Grant's Interest Rate Observer" about the carnage in gold & silver markets. In a previous interview, (then U.S. Congressman) Dr. Ron Paul told Kitco News that he would appoint Grant as Fed chairman; hear what Grant would do differently than Bernanke to help the US economy. Kitco News, June 20, 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul’s Choice for Fed Chairman James Grant on Gold & Silver’s Latest Sell-Off

Federal Auditors, IRS Pan Tax Regulations For Bitcoins

"Federal auditors are recommending that the IRS not issue regulations for taxpayers on filing returns for the money earned through the exchange of virtual currencies. The tax agency has neither the money nor the time to craft compliance rules for the emerging market, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. GAO officials acknowledged the government might be missing out on tax revenue as a result of not publishing Bitcoin-specific rules, but it is unclear how much. 'Given the uncertain extent of noncompliance with virtual currency transactions, formal guidance, such as regulations, may not be warranted,' the auditors concluded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Auditors, IRS Pan Tax Regulations For Bitcoins

Internet Archive Federal Credit Union Backed by Internet Pioneer Brewster Kahle

"Jordan Modell has experience working with Citibank, American Express and the Bank of New York. Brewster Kahle is an Internet pioneer who helped develop precursors to the World Wide Web and Amazon.com and sold them for millions of dollars that he has used to form a foundation that supports the Internet Archive, an effort to digitally record everything that has been on the Internet since 1996. The pair decided to found a credit union after coming to the conviction that the existing financial services industry has largely stopped working for low-income and middle-class people and that a bank was not the best vehicle to meet the needs of those populations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet Archive Federal Credit Union Backed by Internet Pioneer Brewster Kahle