Drugs & Vice

Gerald Celente on Marijuana Legalization and OccupyPeace

"We're initiating a project called OccupyPeace.us. And it's based on three words: No foreign entanglements. Those are the three words spoken by the Founding Fathers of this country. We want to rebuild America and the way we want to do it is we're working to build an OccupyPeace movement based on no foreign entanglements and we're working to push the United States more in line with a direct democracy like Switzerland. You want to go to war? Let the people vote. You want a defense budget? Let the people vote on it. You want to bail out the banks? Let the people vote. If we can bank online we can vote online. It could be more open than any other system in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerald Celente on Marijuana Legalization and OccupyPeace

Ron Paul on the Evolution of Freedom in the 21st Century

"Fewer people depend on regular TV and you see more programs being deleted from TV. So the Internet is the wave of the future and that's one of the reasons the freedom movement is growing, because it's not dependent on the establishment. When I got interested in these ideas in the '50s and '60s it was very, very difficult to get any information but today it's so easy and it spreads like a wildfire. It is worldwide. I've said it so many times – this is not a Republican deal. If the ideas are correct they will be pervasive. Interventionist foreign policy and Keynesian economics was endorsed by the Republicans and Democrats; they just argued over who got to be the managers." Continue reading →

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The DOJ’s “Operation Choke Point” Has Driven 30 Industries To Bitcoin

"The DOJ is targeting 30 high-risk industries, as labeled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2011. BitPay has proven to be an incredible ally to the porn industry and has led Bitcoin’s charge into the high chargeback industry. Porn.com and now Verotel both accept Bitcoin using bitpay; both are able to charge lower fees without the risk of chargeback. OKCupid has been using Bitcoin for over a year now… Almost as long as the DOJ has been unintentionally pushing these industries towards Bitcoin. Every industry in the world can benefit from Bitcoin Blockchain technology; it’s just that these 30 have been given a forceful push by the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe DOJ’s “Operation Choke Point” Has Driven 30 Industries To Bitcoin

Wendy McElroy: First They Came For The Porn Stars…

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) program is called Operation Choke Point. The choke point is America's payment infrastructure through which an estimated $5 trillion in consumer purchases flow each year; more than eight million merchants use it to process credit and debit card payments. The DOJ is targeting banks and payment companies, such as PayPal, with a tsunami of subpoenas and other expensive legal demands. The demands go away if the institutions refuse to do business with people whose activities are deemed 'objectionable' although they are legal. The DOJ is imposing its own moral criteria on who can participate in the market place." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWendy McElroy: First They Came For The Porn Stars…

DOJ’s ‘Operation Choke Point’ Closing Legal Websites’ Bank Accounts

"Under 'Operation Choke Point,' the DOJ and its allies are going after legal but subjectively undesirable business ventures by pressuring banks to terminate their bank accounts or refuse their business. The very premise is clearly chilling—the DOJ is coercing private businesses in an attempt to centrally engineer the American marketplace based on it's own politically biased moral judgements. Targeted business categories so far have included payday lenders, ammunition sales, dating services, purveyors of drug paraphernalia, and online gambling sites." Continue reading →

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Amateur fetish porn is jumping into the Bitcoin game

"It’s a bit like Facebook for fetishes. Through March 1, Master Fet and Gimp Man are allowing performers to collect on 100 percent of the site’s revenue. 'We believe bitcoins, and digital currency in general, holds great promise to innovate not only the adult industry, but perhaps the way the world understands and uses currency as a whole,' he said, adding that certain niches like erotic hypnosis and sleeping fetish are currently outlawed by Visa and Mastercard." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmateur fetish porn is jumping into the Bitcoin game

Online Casinos Hobbled as Credit-Card Issuers Reject Bets

"Just as legal online gambling gets started in the U.S., banks and payment processors are refusing to play. Credit-card issuers Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and American Express Co., along with EBay Inc.’s PayPal, aren’t allowing the transactions, according to the companies. Delaware and Nevada permit Internet wagering, with New Jersey poised to become the third and biggest state on Nov. 26. The rejections threaten a nascent business with the potential to reach $7.4 billion in annual revenue in four years, the estimate of researcher H2 Gambling Capital. American Express and PayPal say they don’t process gambling transactions of any kind." Continue reading →

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Life Takes Visa—Except If You Want to Buy Pot

"Because of regulations that bar banks from doing business with drug traffickers, many financial institutions refuse to open accounts for dispensaries or give them small-business loans. The same goes for major credit-card companies like Visa and MasterCard. Merchant service providers—the middlemen between retailers and credit-card companies who process customers’ payments—are also reluctant to run afoul of the federal government, so most won’t accept payments from dispensaries. These restrictions force dispensaries to operate as cash-only businesses. Without a bank account, dispensary owners can’t deposit their money in a secure place or write checks to their landlords." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLife Takes Visa—Except If You Want to Buy Pot

Who Wants Marijuana To Remain Illegal?

"Police unions, private prison corporations, alcohol and beer companies, pharmaceutical companies, and prison guard unions are said to be in the top five in terms of lobbying and paying lawmakers to keep marijuana illegal. Hey, this is DEMOCRACY at work. This is the best system on earth, right? This is the system the U.S. government tells us it wants for Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. If some foreign government through its politics forbids women from walking around without burkas on, that is a sign of its tyranny, U.S. officials tell us. But if the existing U.S. system forbids someone from using marijuana or some other drug, this is not infringing rights and it’s not oppressive." Continue reading →

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Pressure Mounts for Marijuana Reform in Bermuda

"For Americans, mention 'Bermuda' and 'marijuana' and the first thing that comes to mind is a vision of vacationing cruise ship passengers arrested and fined in large amounts for carrying small quantities of the substance, like this Oakland medical marijuana patient last month or these two unfortunate tourists in April. But that could be about to change. A mid-month meeting organized by the governing One Bermuda Alliance's youth wing, the Future Bermuda Alliance, to discuss marijuana reform drew nearly a hundred residents and supporters, including two government ministers, both of whom expressed general support for the notion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPressure Mounts for Marijuana Reform in Bermuda