Alternative News

What do influential people think about bitcoin?

"Just like any other movement, bitcoin needs people who can be symbolic leaders. Specific examples are people like Gavin Andresen, bitcoin’s chief scientist, who works as the lead developer on the Bitcoin protocol. Another one is Patrick Murck, the Bitcoin Foundation’s general counsel, who has been busy helping to forge a path forward for regulatory compliance. These are people that are well qualified for their specific duties. Yet bitcoin needs influencers beyond that. It needs global leaders outside of cryptocurrency circles and people of some renown to speak out about it. So who has done this? Let’s take a look." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat do influential people think about bitcoin?

Satoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

"The location at 1999 Massachusetts Ave, Pensacola, FL encompasses nine acres of wooded land that will now become, as Jason King describes it, 'a homeless sanctuary, a place where the downtrodden can find respite from the ‘crime’ of being simply being poor.' The property cost $89,000 to purchase, which, King writes, 'for acreage within the developed part of greater Pensacola, is dirt cheap.' The mortgage on the property, valued at $600 per month, will be paid entirely in Bitcoin. Once housing construction is well underway, they also intend to add a large kitchen for preparing food, and then begin organic farming operations which he later intends to expand to aquaculture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSatoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

Satoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

"The location at 1999 Massachusetts Ave, Pensacola, FL encompasses nine acres of wooded land that will now become, as Jason King describes it, 'a homeless sanctuary, a place where the downtrodden can find respite from the ‘crime’ of being simply being poor.' The property cost $89,000 to purchase, which, King writes, 'for acreage within the developed part of greater Pensacola, is dirt cheap.' The mortgage on the property, valued at $600 per month, will be paid entirely in Bitcoin. Once housing construction is well underway, they also intend to add a large kitchen for preparing food, and then begin organic farming operations which he later intends to expand to aquaculture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSatoshi Forest, Nine-Acre Sanctuary for the Homeless

Poland Confiscates Half Of Private Pensions To “Cut” Sovereign Debt Load

"Well, once you nationalize private assets, the public debt will lindeed appear lower than it was before confiscation: we give them that much. End result: 'The Polish pension funds' organisation said the changes may be unconstitutional because the government is taking private assets away from them without offering any compensation.... 'This may lead to the private pension systems shutting down,' said Rafal Benecki of ING Bank Slaski.' But best of all, in the aftermath of Cyprus, we now know what the two most recent European blueprints for preserving the myth of solvency are: bail-ins, which confiscate deposits, and pension fund 'overhauls', which confiscate, well, pension funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoland Confiscates Half Of Private Pensions To “Cut” Sovereign Debt Load

The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

"The NSA’s sustained attempt to get around encryption calls into question many of the technologies people have come to rely on to avoid surveillance. One indispensable tool is Tor, the anonymizing service that takes a user’s Internet traffic and spits it out from some other place on the Web so that its origin is obscured. So far there’s no hard evidence that the government has compromised the anonymity of Tor traffic. But some on a Tor-related e-mail list recently pointed out that a substantial chunk of the Tor Project’s 2012 operating budget came from the Department of Defense, which houses the NSA." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?

Let us count the ways: How the feds (legally, technically) get our data

"It’s worth considering the various vectors of technical and legal data-gathering that high-level adversaries in America and Britain (and likely other countries, at least in the 'Five Eyes' group of anglophone allies) are likely using in parallel to go after a given target. So far, the possibilities include: A company volunteers to help (and gets paid for it). Spies copy the traffic directly off the fiber. A company complies under legal duress. Spies infiltrate a company. Spies coerce upstream companies to weaken crypto in their products/install backdoors. Spies brute force the crypto. Spies compromise a digital certificate. Spies hack a target computer directly, stealing keys and/or data, sabotage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLet us count the ways: How the feds (legally, technically) get our data

Gold And Silver Safe Haven Status Displayed

"The era of stable bond prices and stable income disappeared six years ago and is unlikely soon to return. Another storm-maker is the debate on the debt-ceiling which like many things is now hidden by the cloud of dust the government has chosen to make over Syria. Only four years ago the Secretary of State dined amicably with the latest 'Hitler,' Bashir Assad and his wife. That datum is pertinent to markets because it indicates the often irrational and shifting agendas of our diplomatic - financial echelons. Recognizing this allows one to adopt a defensive position and select growth areas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold And Silver Safe Haven Status Displayed

Polish Gold to be Repatriated?

"Poland currently owns around 109 tons of gold deposited abroad. Most of the reserves are stored in the UK. In the face of financial crisis, every major country should keep gold within easy reach. Therefore, the Polish gold should return to their homeland – say the initiators of the 'Give Us Our ​​Gold'. The vast majority of Polish gold reserves are currently at the Bank of England, and went there before the Second World War. In order to put pressure on the Polish National Bank, advocates have launched an action entitled. 'Give Us Our gold'. Among the partners are the Mises Institute of Poland. Organizers cite the example of Germany, which has decided to bring its provisions into the country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolish Gold to be Repatriated?

‘Like the end of a dream’: Family finds $300K in gold off Florida coast

"A Florida family of self-described treasure hunters brought home the proverbial big score on Monday after recovering gold and jewelry estimated to be worth about $300,000, the Orlando Tribune reported. The collected haul — five gold coins, a gold ring and 64 feet of gold chain — has been traced back to a Spanish fleet of ships that was almost completely destroyed off of the Florida coast in July 1715 by a freak hurricane. The storm is blamed for the deaths of 1,000 people, and the region, located off the coast of Fort Pierce, is known as the Treasure Coast." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Like the end of a dream’: Family finds $300K in gold off Florida coast

Bill Bonner: When Gold Will Really Start to Glitter

"After telling readers how awful it was, now the mainstream press is back to neutral on gold. Barron's recently ran an article titled 'Gold Regains Its Glitter'. Markets make opinions. Gold is up about 17% from its June low. Opinions on it are becoming more favourable. But you ain't seen nothin' yet. The central banks of the major developed economies are engaged in massive debt monetization (aka 'QE'). If they all start to taper their bond buying, they risk resurrecting the calamity they're trying to avoid - a deflationary depression (at least in their minds). So, they've got to keep going. The markets...and the economy...depend on it. You wanna see something really glitter? Just wait! " Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: When Gold Will Really Start to Glitter