Alternative News

CFTC Considering Bitcoin Regulations

"Bitcoin 'is for sure something we need to explore', Bart Chilton, one of the five commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) told the Financial Times. Said Mr Chilton: 'It’s not monopoly money we’re talking about here – real people can have real risk in these instruments, and we need to ensure that we protect markets and consumers, even in what at first blush appear to be ‘out there’ transactions.' In essence, we’re talking about a type of shadow currency, and there is more than a colourable argument to be made that derivative products relating to Bitcoin falls squarely in our jurisdiction.'" Continue reading →

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California Supreme Court deals massive blow to medical marijuana industry

"The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that local municipalities can legally ban medical marijuana dispensaries, dealing a massive blow to the burgeoning industry that’s exploded across the state since 2009. The ruling in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center boils down to whether the California constitution trumps provisions in the state’s medical marijuana laws. The California constitution gives cities the zoning power to dictate land use within their borders, enabling them to declare businesses a 'public nuisance' and toss them out — which is precisely what happened to the Inland Empire dispensary in Riverside." Continue reading →

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North Carolina Senate blocks testing themselves when passing welfare drug testing bill

"Republicans in the North Carolina state Senate on Monday pushed through bill that would strip public benefits like food stamps and job training for people who fail a drug test. The bill requires those applying for benefits to pay for their own drug tests. Applicants who test negative would be eligible to have the costs of their tests reimbursed. The policy could cost the state more than $2.1 million. At the same time, senators rejected an amendment offered by Democratic state Sen. Gladys Robinson that would have drug tested lawmakers, the governor and cabinet secretaries." Continue reading →

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3-D-printed gun available for download after firing first shots

"The nonprofit group that created the world’s first 3-D-printed gun on Sunday proved that the weapon could be fired. In a YouTube video published by Defense Distributed, 3-D-printed gun creator Cody Wilson fires a single shot from 'the Liberator,' which features interchangeable barrels to handle different caliber bullets. On the first attempt, the pistol showed no damage after firing a single standard .380 round. A second attempt misfired due to a misalignment. A Computer-aided design (CAD) file that would allow others with 3-D printers to create their own handguns was made available for free on Monday." Continue reading →

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UN Commission Investigator: It Was The Syrian Rebels Who Used Sarin

"It made all the sense in the world for the insurgents to release some sarin here and there, make some videos of the victims, and email the links to some very willing Israeli generals and McCainian rabid warhawks in the US and their absurd poodles in the UK and France. The question is, whence came the chemical weapons? Perhaps the Syrian government was not lying when it asserted at the end of last month that the chemical weapons used by the Syrian rebels originated in Turkey. The Syrian official's claim was reported in the Western press as an example of mendacity, laughed at by the US administration. But it seems he may well have been telling the truth." Continue reading →

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Police in Springfield, Mass. adopt Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ tactics

"Police in Springfield, Massachusetts have adopted Iraq-style 'counterinsurgency' tactics and are applying them to gang busting with amazing results. U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq focused on keeping militants at bay while creating stable space for a community to come together and begin resolving issues that create violence. To officer Mike Katone, freshly home from a war zone and working for the Springfield police force, that strategy made more and more sense the longer he looked at his city’s gang problems." Continue reading →

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Obama To College Grads: Reject Voices That Warn About Government Tyranny

"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted." Continue reading →

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Food Stamp Nation: 20% of U.S. Households

"The economic recovery rolls on. The number of American households receiving food stamps has hit 23 million. This is 23 million out of 115 million households. That’s 20%. The government has a solution. Stop calling them food stamps. It has now issued cards that look just like credit cards. If the recovery is real, why are more Americans on food cards? Because the farm bloc wants its subsidies, and the welfare bloc does, too. It’s a matter of supply and demand. If demand stays high, farm prices stay high. There is nothing like free food to increase demand. Food cards offer free food. Rising demand proves there is rising need. Rising need proves that more food cards are necessary." Continue reading →

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Israeli Bombs Over Syria, Part Two

"The passive-aggressive US State Department, which is curiously -- or not -- silent every time its beloved insurgents commit an atrocity of a Boston-on-steroids scale against Christians and others who do not support al-Qaeda in Syria, has nevertheless suddenly found its voice to condemn Syrian government for a 'massacre' in Baida, where seven bodies have been found killed in possible retaliation for the killing of seven members of the Syrian Army. The US is suddenly 'appalled by horrific reports' with no evidence, while silent on the truly horrific atrocities committed by its allies, the insurgents." Continue reading →

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A Modest Monetary Proposal

"We are not so interested in celebrating the demise of tax havens as we are in drawing the appropriate lessons from this event. The first lesson we can draw is that the world is a lot more coordinated than is ordinarily admitted. How is it possible that countries around the world have come up with the same legislation at the same time focused on destroying offshore banking once and for all? The idea of one coordinated world has long been scoffed at as a kind of conspiracy theory. But these days, conspiracy theory seems to be chasing actual facts. The facts – in fact – are not in doubt. Post-Cyprus is surely a different era." Continue reading →

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