CLibertyC

World’s largest pot shop can stay open in Oakland, judge rules

"A medical marijuana dispensary billed as the world’s largest cannabis store may stay open while the city of Oakland fights a U.S. government effort to shut it down or seize the property, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. There has been a tug-of-war in California between federal and local authorities over cannabis sold for purported health reasons. In February, Magistrate Maria-Elena James, the same judge who ruled on Wednesday, said the city had no right to intervene in a federal prosecutor’s civil-forfeiture action against the Harborside Health Center, which was featured on the Discovery Channel reality TV show 'Weed Wars.'" Continue reading →

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Occupy Oakland protesters awarded $1 million over police brutality

"The payouts come in the wake of criticism from independent experts who said the police department was under-resourced and ill-prepared to deal with the protests. The lawsuits detailed how police reacted to the protesters when they tried to reclaim a camp which had been cleared earlier that day. Suzi Spangenberg and Sukay Sow said they were injured by flashbang grenades thrown by officers. Spangenberg, a 52-year-old seminarian was awarded $500,000 in compensation, while Sow, who suffered chemical burns to her foot, received $210,000." Continue reading →

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Swiss government reveals ‘solution’ to settle US tax dispute

"The federal government revealed plans in Bern on Wednesday to settle a bitter dispute with Washington after lawmakers rejected a deal that would have halted US legal action against Swiss banks suspected of stashing cash for American tax dodgers. Rather than a blanket accord, Swiss banks will now have to apply on a case-by-case basis for government permission to cooperate with US investigators, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said. The moves comes two weeks after the Alpine country's parliament shot down the controversial 'Lex USA' accord, which would have temporarily lifted Switzerland's long-sacrosanct banking secrecy." Continue reading →

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George Clooney Arrives at the Bank of England

"We wrote just yesterday about Mark Carney, the central banker from Canada who has arrived on the scene in Britain to take over the reins of England's central bank. The adulatory press coverage has been just what we expected, and even more so. We've already been treated to reports of how Carney took the 'tube' to work and in this video we learn that he arrived a full hour early to work. We are reminded once more that central banking is as much a public spectacle as an exercise of monetary power. Carney has obviously been picked because he is a man who seems relaxed even under the glare of publicity and comes across as confident but levelheaded." Continue reading →

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Price of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

"In recent years, last-minute bidding has regularly pushed the price to record levels. Last year's lunch for eight almost tripled in the final minute of bidding, closing at $3.46 million. With bidding nearing the $1 million mark by mid-afternoon Friday, expectations ran high that the lunch with the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO could cross $4 million for the first time. But as the auction closed at just $1,000,100, some attending the invitation-only countdown party at Restaurant Lulu in San Francisco could be heard speculating that a glitch must have occurred." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrice of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

Report: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment

"Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity—all of which have plagued public schools around the country—do not exist in homeschooling environments." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment

The Great Obamacare Intergenerational Swindle

"Will we be able to talk healthy young Americans into buying medical insurance that costs seven times what it would in a free market in order to subsidize our increasingly expensive health care? Or will we have to sic IRS enforcers on them for selfishly taking advantage of the law’s pre-existing condition protections to get care at someone else’s expense in case of serious illness? It’s a tough sell, but take heart, fellow Boomers. We’ve been preparing our children for community servitude for years. Why else did we feed them a steady diet of social consciousness, while preaching that it takes a village from the day we dumped them in daycare? Now, it’s time for them to pay up." Continue reading →

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Pimco Total Return Had $9.9 Billion Withdrawals in June

"Imagine what is going to happen when the panic over climbing interest rates really starts. Bill Gross’s Pimco Total Return Fund, a bond fund and the world’s largest mutual fund, had $9.9 billion in net redemptions last month as investors fled bonds in anticipation of higher interest rates. The withdrawals left the fund with $268 billion in assets at the end of June, Morningstar said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPimco Total Return Had $9.9 Billion Withdrawals in June

The Nudge That Will Force Banks to Put More Money Into Treasury Securities

"Translation: The rules will require banks to purchase more government securities, rather than make loans to the private sector. The nudge is in. In a May 1 report,Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee said banks, over time, will need to buy as much as $5.7 trillion in 'safe' assets including government bonds by 2020 to comply with the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the U.S., and capital standards set by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland." Continue reading →

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Why Is My US Brokerage Firm Closing My Account?

"In many cases the agreement that countries have insisted on with respect to FATCA is reciprocal. In other words, a country will say that yes they are willing to exchange information on financial accounts with the USA but the key word is 'exchange' – that is, in return, US financial institutions must also agree to provide information regarding their clients who are citizens of the country entering into the FATCA agreement with the USA. Imagine the mess this will cause for the large US banks and brokerage firms when they have to start reporting to foreign governments on their accounts for residents of these other countries." Continue reading →

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