Alternative News

The Retirement Crisis That Must Not Be Mentioned

"A theme that is little explored in the Western mainstream press is that retirement has all but collapsed for many in the middle classes. We have in the past called this condition 'dreamtime' – for it was built on central banking initiatives and fostered by central banking super-money printing. The idea was that the stock market was going to go up and up – and people would be able to take retirement based on their own investment initiatives. In Europe, state-fostered retirement provided a slightly different model. But the main issue in both the US and Europe was that an entity larger than the individual was going to manage the realities of retirement." Continue reading →

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Can Your Edward Jones Financial Advisor Really Serve Your Best Interests?

"Edward Jones agreed, without admitting any wrongdoing, to a $75 million regulatory settlement with the SEC for allegedly failing to disclose that it received tens of millions of dollars from preferred mutual fund partners each year on top of commissions and other fees. Investors shouldn't need to worry that they're getting fleeced by the very person who's being paid to advise them. Investors are at greater risk of being taken advantage of when their advisor is not required to put them first, has strong economic incentives to generate fees, and doesn't need to disclose those conflicts of interest in a particularly clear way." Continue reading →

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Wire Fraud: A Terrifying New Trend Targeting Financial Advisors

"A disturbing new trend is that some thieves are beginning to directly target financial advisors and their clients – as famous bank robber Willie Sutton noted, if you want to get rich by stealing, go to where the money is! Accordingly, financial advisors and investment custodians have seen a noticeable increase in attempts at fraudulent wire transfers by 'spoofing' – where a request sent 'from the client' is actually a spoof from a fake-but-similar email account (or sometimes is even the client’s actual account!), and asks the advisor to process a wire transfer to a third party bank account. By the time anyone realizes the request was fake, the money is already gone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWire Fraud: A Terrifying New Trend Targeting Financial Advisors

Four Men Busted for Stealing Hundreds of Thousands From Bank Accounts Using Fake Credit Cards

"Lots of lessons here. Protect your bank account numbers and passwords. Its less likely that an individual will steal your funds than the government but you still need to be careful. Also note the advancement in private surveillance, the bank was able to detect the fradulent withdrawal of funds in real time, grab a picture of the suspects and get it it the police in apparently minutes." Continue reading →

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IRS Star Trek Spoof (Cost To Taxpayers: $60,000)

"The US Internal Revenue Service spent $60,000+ of your money to produce this terrible Star Trek spoof. Despite being really bad, the film does demonstrate the culture of government: You, the citizens, are tax cattle to be farmed for the state. Without genius central planners civilization itself would fall." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS Star Trek Spoof (Cost To Taxpayers: $60,000)

Cyprus vs Bankocracy: ‘Mattress better place to keep cash than banks’

"Thousands of Cypriots are celebrating, after the country's Parliament gave a resounding no vote to the EU-IMF bailout package. The move could have seen the government take up to 10% of people's savings, from private bank accounts - as a precondition to securing the much needed 10 billion euro loan. Now that it's been rejected, the ailing Eurozone member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy." Continue reading →

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The Drug Warriors Cashing In on Pot Prohibition

"When eight former DEA chiefs signed a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, demanding that the feds crack down on Washington and Colorado, there was more than just drug-war ideology at stake. Two of the elder drug warriors, Peter Bensinger (DEA chief, 1976–1981) and Robert DuPont (White House drug chief, 1973–1977), run a corporate drug-testing business. Their company, Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, holds the pee stick for some 10 million employees around the US, including Kraft Foods, American Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, the Federal Aviation Administration and even the Justice Department itself." Continue reading →

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Senate embraces Internet sales tax

"The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a 'bureaucratic nightmare.' Senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to 'collect taxes on remote sales,' ushers in the first national Internet sales tax. The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent companies including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, Macy's, and the Container Store." Continue reading →

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Ben Swann Reality Check: Central Bankers Want Personal Savings Accounts To Pay For Bailouts?

"A stunning situation is unfolding on the island of Cyprus. Like other countries in Europe, Cyprus is in a debt crisis and is seeking a bailout from European central bankers. But it is the way the EU and Cyprus government has tried to help pay for the bailout that has the entire world paying attention. Ben Swann breaks this story down in Reality Check." Continue reading →

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Bloomberg on NYC drone program vs. street cameras: ‘What’s the difference?’

"New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an interview on Friday that the city may turn to the use of a drone program for public safety monitoring. According to CBS New York, the mayor believes that the thousands of surveillance cameras already mounted all around the city are not enough, but that a program of unmanned surveillance drones would not be a significant incursion into resident’s privacy. 'What’s the difference whether the drone is up in the air or on a building?' the mayor asked. 'I have trouble making the distinction.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBloomberg on NYC drone program vs. street cameras: ‘What’s the difference?’