CLibertyC

House votes to uphold increased spending on ‘unneeded and unwanted’ nuclear bombs

"The DOE requested about $537 million for the B61 Life Extension Programs, but the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee provided $23.7 million more than the department asked for. In a report, the committee explained the nuclear program had its funding boosted because it had a 'troubling history of insufficiently planning for its ongoing production requirements.' Polis noted that the Air Force had recently doubted the effectiveness of the B61 nuclear bomb. A former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the bomb was virtually useless, Polis explained. In addition, some European allies no longer wanted the bomb deployed in their country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouse votes to uphold increased spending on ‘unneeded and unwanted’ nuclear bombs

UK ministers to seize back 100 powers from Brussels

"In the first part of efforts to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union, ministers will announce plans to claw back the powers. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will give MPs details of proposals to opt out of 133 EU measures covering justice, home affairs and the police by next spring. Some of the measures that are seen to be in the national interest will then be opted back into, in a complex process, but 'more than two thirds' will disappear permanently from British law. The move follows last week’s unanimous Commons vote in favour of moves to hold an 'in-out' referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU by 2017." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK ministers to seize back 100 powers from Brussels

British UKIP Convulsion Significant Threat to Tories

"One can make a case that both UKIP and the US Tea Party movement are the 'managed opposition,' at this point any way. But at the same time, their emergence obviously indicates that there is a larger social movement that has taken shape. If one feels the need to 'manage' something – as those at the top of society evidently and obviously do – it is because there is something that has emerged to begin with. And that something is obviously a deep dissatisfaction with many of the building blocks of modern society, from its military-industrial complex to its central banking economy and the regulatory democracy that flows out of vast government spending." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBritish UKIP Convulsion Significant Threat to Tories

UPDATE: Adam Kokesh SWAT Raid Yields Multiple Felonies

"A SWAT raid on the property of Adam Kokesh was conducted late Tuesday night on July 9, resulting in the detainment of Adam until his next scheduled hearing where he faces multiple felony charges. Months prior to this year's 4th of July, Marine Veteran & Libertarian activist Kokesh has called for supporters of the right to armed self-defense to gather in Washington, D.C. to conduct a peaceful armed march. Thousands have reportedly signed up for the protest, which Kokesh says would be a non-violent exercise of the right to open carry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUPDATE: Adam Kokesh SWAT Raid Yields Multiple Felonies

Pepe Escobar: Towards a Snowden endgame

"The US Ambassador in Austria, William Eacho, was responsible for spreading the (false) information about Snowden being on board Bolivia President Evo Morales' Falcon - leading to the denial of overflying rights in France, Spain, Portugal an Italy. Eacho - a former CEO of a food distribution company with no diplomatic experience whatsoever - was appointed by Obama in June 2009. Why? Because he was a top Obama fundraiser. Eacho did little to disprove those who sustain that the NSA really needs to 'analyze' every phone call, email and tweet on the planet - otherwise they could never obtain such pearls of intelligence as pinpointing Snowden on Evo's plane." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: Towards a Snowden endgame

Mad Latvia defies its own people to join the euro

"EU finance ministers have just given the go-ahead for Latvia to join the euro in January 2014. No matter that the latest SKDS poll shows that only 22pc of Latvians support this foolish step, and 53pc are opposed. This is a very odd situation. The elites are pushing ahead with a decision of profound implications, knowing that the nation is not behind them. No country has ever done this before. The concerns of the Latvian people are entirely understandable. Neighbouring Estonia found itself having to bail out Club Med states with a per capita income two and a half times as high after it joined EMU. Latvia may find itself embroiled in an even bigger debacle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMad Latvia defies its own people to join the euro

European Union gives Latvia final OK to join eurozone

"'Yes we are joining the euro as of January 1 next year,' said Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, adding that it was 'good news not only for Latvia but also for Europe and the eurozone.' Asked whether he had any qualms about joining the single currency at such a difficult time, Vilks acknowledged that 'those hard times will last several years at least'. 'We trust Europe and we trust the euro,' he said later, adding that he hoped Latvia would prove to be one of the 'best performers' in the single currency zone. Latvia has been the EU’s fastest-growing economy, having posted GDP growth of more than five percent year-on-year in both 2011 and 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuropean Union gives Latvia final OK to join eurozone

Currency Controls in Cyprus Increase Worry About Euro System

"On a visit to Athens this year, Marios Loucaides, a Cypriot businessman, saw an apartment he liked in the heart of the Greek capital and decided to buy it. However, Mr. Loucaides discovered that the euros he had on deposit here in Nicosia, the capital, could not be moved to Greece, even though the two countries share the same currency and, in theory at least, the same free movement of capital.The apartment deal collapsed. And so, too, did Mr. Loucaides’s belief that Europe has a common currency. Tangled in restrictions imposed in March as part of a bailout for the country’s ailing banks, a euro in Cyprus is no longer the same as one in France, Germany or Greece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCurrency Controls in Cyprus Increase Worry About Euro System

French business leaders lash out at Francois Hollande

"The chief executives of top firms including Peugeot Citroën, EADS, Sanofi and Publicis signed a joint letter to Les Echos, complaining that France is being suffocated by high taxes and an over-regulated system that is no longer fit for purpose. The group called for a radical shake-up of labour markets to let each firm set its own working hours, and a 'coherent' energy policy to bring down costs from current ruinous levels. Gas prices are three times as high as in the US. Christophe de Margerie, head of the energy giant Total, said France’s outdated welfare model is draining the economy’s life-blood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench business leaders lash out at Francois Hollande

Manhattan Law Firm Accepts Bitcoin

"On July 1, Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP ('N&M') made the decision to give its clients the option to pay legal fees in Bitcoin. The full-service commercial law firm is among a few that offer legal services for businesses in the Bitcoin space. Led by attorney Marco A. Santori, who also serves as Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation’s Regulatory Affairs Committee, Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP is uniquely positioned to offer exclusive insight into the complex and evolving legal and regulatory issues surrounding Bitcoin commerce." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingManhattan Law Firm Accepts Bitcoin