Alternative News

Dutch PM: Eurozone needs exit clause

"The EU should have legal mechanisms for countries to leave the euro, says Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In a letter responding to a question in the Dutch Parliament, Rutte and his finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said that his governing coalition had agreed that 'it should be possible under mutual consideration to exit from the community arrangements (Schengen, eurozone, European Union).' The letter follows Rutte's intervention last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he said that it "should be possible" for countries to leave the eurozone and indicated that certain EU policy areas should be repatriated to national governments." Continue reading →

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Nearly Half Of American Families Live On The Edge Of Financial Ruin

"A sobering new report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development shows nearly half of U.S. households (132.1 million people) don't have enough savings to weather emergencies, or finance long-term needs like college tuition, health care and housing. According to the Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, these people wouldn't last three months if their income was suddenly depleted. More than 30 percent don't even have a savings account, and another 8 percent don't bank at all. Plenty of the middle class have joined the ranks of the 'working poor,' struggling right alongside families scraping by on food stamps and other forms of public assistance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNearly Half Of American Families Live On The Edge Of Financial Ruin

Food Freedom vs. Regulatory Busybodies

"Cottage food laws, state laws permitting people to sell some foods prepared in the home, are one such development. In California, the state’s new cottage food law (which I wrote about previously here) appears to be a huge hit just a month into its existence. The law has already helped formerly illicit sellers to enter the legal food market. State laws permitting cottage foods are quickly catching up with the demand for looser regulations. Nearly three-dozen states now have cottage food laws in place. And advocates in other states—including Minnesota and Alabama—are pushing to add their states to the growing list." Continue reading →

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How to Order a Pizza With Bitcoins

"The aptly, albeit somewhat unimaginatively, named Pizzaforcoins.com makes it possible for anyone to place a pizza order and pay for it using Bitcoins. To place an order, enter your name and address. The site then redirects you to an online order menu that has various options and their respective prices (in BTC). Once a selection is made, Pizzaforcoins verifies that the payment has been made and an order is placed within 10 minutes. Orders can currently only be placed with Domino's Pizza, but the site's fine print indicates that they'll soon be adding Pizza Hut and Papa John's into the mix." Continue reading →

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Number of People who will Lose Job-Based Health Insurance Doubles Because of Obamacare

"Seven million people will lose their job-based health insurance, according to a new economic report from the Congressional Budget Office. That’s nearly double the previous estimate of 4 million. According to NBC, the 'fiscal cliff' deal cut by Congress 'takes away some of the tax breaks that employers get for providing health insurance to workers and their families. The change will lead to a greater reduction in such coverage and higher enrollment in insurance exchanges than previously estimated by CBO.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNumber of People who will Lose Job-Based Health Insurance Doubles Because of Obamacare

California Man Taken Down at Gunpoint for Photographing Airplanes

"Larry C. was two weeks into his new job at a software security company in Northern California when he was confronted by six armed police officers pointing guns at him within seconds after entering work Monday. 'They kept calling my name and ordering me to get down on the floor with my hands in the air,' Larry said in a telephone interview with Photography is Not a Crime Tuesday morning. 'I was thinking it was some weird training exercise.' But he realized it wasn’t a training exercise after the six Santa Clara police officers handcuffed him, marched him into a room and frisked him." Continue reading →

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Exposing the Absurdity of Washington’s Anti-Sequester Hysteria

"To save America from the supposedly 'savage' and 'draconian' budget cuts caused by sequestration, President Obama has instead asked Congress to approve an alternative fiscal package containing additional tax increases. So why is the sequester so bad? Does it slash the budget by 50 percent? Does it shut down departments, programs, and agencies? Well, the Congressional Budget Office today released its annual Budget and Economic Outlook, and Tables 1-1 and 1-5 allow us to see the 'brutal' impact of the sequester. As you can see from this chart, the sequester will 'cut' spending so much that the budget will grow by 'only' $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExposing the Absurdity of Washington’s Anti-Sequester Hysteria

‘Hotel Hell’ manager now a Guantanamo prison supervisor

"The man in charge of the Pentagon office that runs the military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay prison was once featured on a Fox reality show that highlighted his mismanagement of an upstate New York hotel. According to The Huffington Post, John Imhof, current head of the Office of Military Commissions, was the subject of a 2012 episode of 'Hotel Hell' in which he revealed that he had run his hotel, the Cambridge Inn, into $750,000 worth of debt since buying it in 2007. Imhof was also called out by the show’s host, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, for a slew of errors, including botching the recipe for the hotel’s famous apple pie." Continue reading →

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Ex-Treasury Secretary Geithner to Join Council on Foreign Relations

"The Council on Foreign Relations has just announced that former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join the Council on Foreign Relations later this month as a distinguished fellow. 'We are thrilled to welcome Tim back to the Council on Foreign Relations,' said CFR President Richard N. Haass. 'Both at Treasury and at the New York Federal Reserve, Tim was a tireless, creative, and responsible custodian of the public trust. His coming to CFR only strengthens our capacity to produce thoughtful analysis of issues at the intersection of economic, political, and strategic developments.'" Continue reading →

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Bus Station Erupts With Heckling At Argentine Finance Minister And His Family

"Things are looking bad for Argentina's economy — central bank reserves are at 2007 lows due to capital flight, inflation is heading up, and the IMF is ready to punish the country for manipulating economic statistics. This is not the time when, as a Minister of the Economy, you want to get caught coming back from vacation in Uruguay with your family. But that's just what happened to Vice Finance Minister Axel Kicillof, a young father, and his wife as they were taking the Buquebus shuttle home from beach spot Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, La Nacion reports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBus Station Erupts With Heckling At Argentine Finance Minister And His Family