U.S. Construction Hits 37-Month High

"Ben Bernanke's mad money printing is making its impact. Analysis of October's construction spending patterns by the Associated General Contractors of America found ongoing building expenditures running at a $872 billion annual rate. That's up 9.6 percent in a year – and the highest level of activity in 37 months. Residential efforts ran especially strong: New single-family construction hit its highest mark since November 2008; multifamily construction hit a three-year high; and home improvements ran at a five-year high. This is all a Bernanke manipulated boom---next stop price inflation 2013." Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. Construction Hits 37-Month High

Could 2 platinum coins solve debt crisis?

"If President Obama wants to avoid an economic calamity next year, he could always show up at a news conference bearing two shiny platinum coins, each worth ... $1 trillion. That sounds wacky, but some economists and legal scholars have suggested that the 'platinum coin option' is one way to defuse a debt ceiling crisis. Under this scenario, the U.S. Mint would make a pair of trillion-dollar platinum coins. The president orders the coins to be deposited at the Federal Reserve. The Fed moves this money into Treasury's accounts. And just like that, Treasury suddenly has an extra $2 trillion to pay off its obligations for the next two years." Continue reading

Continue ReadingCould 2 platinum coins solve debt crisis?

A Desperate US Mint Testing New Metals to Make Coins Cheaper to Mint

"The Federal Reserve has so debased the value of the dollar that it is now very expensive for the U.S. Mint to buy buy and use copper, nickel and zinc in the coins it produces. Currently, a penny costs more than two cents and a nickel costs more than 11 cents to make and distribute. A 400-page report presented last week to Congress outlines nearly two years of trials conducted at the Mint in Philadelphia, where a variety of metal recipes were put through their paces in the massive facility's high-speed coin-making machinery. But the Mint couldn't find any good replacements. Evaluations of 29 different alloys concluded that none met the ideal list of attributes." Continue reading

Continue ReadingA Desperate US Mint Testing New Metals to Make Coins Cheaper to Mint

Government Stops Ebay Market in NotHaus Coins

"Mac Slavo has an article on this. See also his warnings 16 months ago. I've written here on the travesty of finding NotHaus guilty of counterfeiting and on the utterly false government arguments made in the case against him, which nevertheless found favor with a jury. Wikipedia provides an outline here. What do I think of this? I think that this entire government action against NotHaus is evil, by which I mean profoundly wicked, malevolent, and immoral. The government people doing this have labeled him a 'domestic terrorist', which is about as deep a lie and falsehood as can be concocted." Continue reading

Continue ReadingGovernment Stops Ebay Market in NotHaus Coins

U.S. Secret Service Bans Sale of Silver and Gold Liberty Dollars on Ebay

"The Secret Service has gotten involved in order to ensure buyers don’t get confused by thinking they are acquiring legal U.S. tender. Apparently they believe that someone who buys a silver coin for $35 may, in a state of confusion, then attempt to exchange it for a $1 soda pop in the open market. Today they are targeting the Liberty Dollar because it 'represents a clear and present danger to the economic stability' of the United States. It wouldn’t be that far a stretch of the imagination to suggest the government could make the same argument for any mechanism of exchange or store of value, especially those which contain gold and silver." Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. Secret Service Bans Sale of Silver and Gold Liberty Dollars on Ebay

Too little punishment for Pr. George’s police officer’s assault

"If a witness hadn’t shot video of two Prince George’s County police officers savagely beating John McKenna, a University of Maryland student, after a March 2010 men’s basketball game, that would probably have been the end of it. The officers didn’t file a report, as required, on their use of force. When initially questioned about the beating, they lied. And when they filled out the initial paperwork on the incident, police said Mr. McKenna had sustained his injuries, including a concussion, from being kicked by a police horse. Thanks to the video, and to the persistence of Mr. McKenna’s lawyers in uncovering it, the coverup didn’t work." Continue reading

Continue ReadingToo little punishment for Pr. George’s police officer’s assault

FBI is investigating former Utah trooper Lisa Steed

"The FBI is investigating former Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Lisa Steed for civil rights violations, an attorney said Sunday. Michael Studebaker said 10 of his clients recently spoke to FBI agents. He said his clients have not been asked to speak to a grand jury. Steed has been accused of arresting people for DUI who were sober. Two judges have found Steed lied on the witness stand." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFBI is investigating former Utah trooper Lisa Steed

Four Texas police officers charged with escorting loads of narcotics for pay

"Two deputies and two police officers in the Hidalgo County, Texas area have been charged with protecting drug smugglers’ shipments of narcotics through the area. According to a Dec. 13 statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas, two of the officers are with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) and two are with Mission Police Department (MPD) officers. Reportedly the men allegedly used their positions to get thousands of dollars for facilitating and protecting drug shipments. Two of the men are also reportedly the sons of high-ranking local police officials in the area in south Texas, west of Brownesville." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFour Texas police officers charged with escorting loads of narcotics for pay

Chicago cop whose home was raided is awarded $565,000 in damages

"When Chicago police broke into his Austin home with guns drawn and a search warrant, Markee Cooper Sr., a cop himself, and his family could only look on as drawers and closets were searched for crack cocaine based on an alleged informant's tip. On Friday, a federal jury awarded Cooper and his family $565,000 in damages after finding one officer at fault for a falsified warrant and two others responsible for the illegal 2007 search. Their two young sons, Markee Jr., 13, and Zion, 8, were traumatized at seeing their father confront a roomful of cops with guns before kneeling to the living room floor and handing over his badge and weapon." Continue reading

Continue ReadingChicago cop whose home was raided is awarded $565,000 in damages

Two women sue Texas Troopers for illegal roadside cavity search

"A federal lawsuit filed by two Irving women claims that Texas State Troopers humiliated them by performing illegal cavity searches on the side of the road after a cigarette butt was thrown out of their car window. Dashcam video shows Helleson searching the anuses and vaginas of both women with the same latex gloves in full view of other passing cars. And then the trooper performed the same procedure on Ashley Dobbs without changing gloves." Continue reading

Continue ReadingTwo women sue Texas Troopers for illegal roadside cavity search