economic Trends

Bill Bonner: $10,000 each in two suitcases

"Price controls didn't work for the Romans. They didn't work for the Germans. They didn't work for the Zimbabweans or any of the other hundreds of governments that have tried them. But who knows? Maybe they'll work for the Argentinians. But inflation is just getting started here. The rate is officially about 10%. Unofficially, it's 30%. Officially, you can trade a dollar for 5.4 pesos. Unofficially, you'd be a fool to do so. The black market rate is eight to the dollar – and more. So what do we do? Every time we come to Argentina we bring the maximum - $10,000 each – in $100 bills. Then, when we need to buy things, we trade our dollars on the black market." Continue reading →

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Jim Rogers: ‘I Suspect They’ll Take the Pension Plans Next; I’m Taking Preparations’

"I was able to reconnect for an interview with legendary Quantum Fund manager and commodities bull, Jim Rogers. This was an especially groundbreaking interview, as Jim shared thoughts on what governments around the world will be taking next, and what he’s doing right now to protect his personal bank accounts following the Cyprus collapse. With respect to which assets governments will likely be coming for next, Jim said, '401k plans, IRA’s, and pensions plans which the government knows about [may be next]…They’re rationale would be, ‘Well most people haven’t been doing well in their IRAs and pension plans for the past several years, so we’re going to help you.'" Continue reading →

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History’s Hidden Engine

"Chronicling the new and revolutionary science of socionomics, History’s Hidden Engine is the result of more than three years of research and dedicated filmmaking by David Edmond Moore. In just 59 minutes and with the help of pop songs, news footage and cultural images, this documentary explores how social mood drives trends in movies, music, fashion, economics, politics, the media, and even the stock market. Moore traveled North America to capture the insights of 17 brilliant minds at the vanguard of socionomic research, and the results are nothing short of astonishing." Continue reading →

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Meet the Bitcoin Millionaires

"Many Bitcoin tycoons are devoting themselves to expanding the currency’s reach. Yifu Guo was a digital media student at New York University when he began mining some of the first coins, occasionally cashing in a few to help pay his rent. After he recognized Bitcoin’s potential, he quit school and founded a company called Avalon, which sells hardware built solely for the purpose of mining Bitcoins. Tony Gallippi is CEO of BitPay, a payment processor he co-founded in 2011 that enables online merchants to accept Bitcoins. He says he includes Bitcoins in his investment portfolio along with stocks, bonds, and real estate." Continue reading →

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Dad Finds 4th-Grader’s Crayon-Written Paper: ‘I’ll Give Up Constitutional Rights To Be Safer’

"The words are written in crayon, in the haphazard bumpiness of a child’s scrawl. 'I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure.' They’re the words that Florida father Aaron Harvey was stunned to find his fourth-grade son had written, after a lesson in school about the Constitution. Harvey’s son attends Cedar Hills Elementary in Jacksonville, Fla. Back in January, a local attorney came in to teach the students about the Bill of Rights. But after the attorney left, fourth-grade teacher Cheryl Sabb dictated the sentence to part of the class and had them copy it down, he said." Continue reading →

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Missouri Highway Patrol gave concealed carry permits data to feds

"Missouri's database of concealed weapon permits was twice given to federal authorities investigating Social Security disability fraud in a move that has enraged lawmakers already angry over potential abuses in a new driver's licensing system. Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. Ron Replogle was questioned for nearly an hour this morning by the Senate Appropriations Committee after he revealed to Chairman Kurt Schaefer yesterday that his agency had turned over the data. The delivery of the information to federal authorities has become a huge issue for lawmakers since they began raising questions about new driver's licensing procedures." Continue reading →

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Feds force Oregon to surrender medical marijuana patient records

"Federal agents have forced the Oregon Public Health Division to turn over an untold number of patients’ medical marijuana records. Department of Justice Special Agent Michael Gutensohn applied for a warrant to seize the records that was executed in November as part of an investigation into medical marijuana growers who were suspected of selling goods illegally. 'I have probable cause to believe that records from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program will contain evidence and instrumentalities of marijuana manufacturing and trafficking and conspiracy to commit marijuana manufacturing and trafficking offenses,' he wrote." Continue reading →

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Florida Police use Driver License Faceprints to Investigate Public At Large

"In Florida, the police are using facial biometrics gathered and stored by the DMV for Real ID with facial recognition technology to identify and investigate individuals in public, at will. Presumption of innocence? Probable cause? Not necessary when everyone is a suspect. We are just at the edge of an onslaught of similar stories that whether revealed or not are rooted in Real ID. You and I have the dubious honor of being located in the slice of our generation that is going to gain a deep understanding of the value of our privacy. We will learn because we are the ones who once, having the luxury of relative obscurity, are watching it slip away." Continue reading →

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San Diego County plans to forcibly medicate residents under Laura’s Law

"San Diego County in California is considering implementing Laura's Law, which would give the state's second most populous county - home to over three million people - the uncontested right to force psychiatric medication upon its residents. Funds for the forced inpatient or outpatient psychiatric incarceration, known as 'assisted outpatient treatment' are to be provided by taxpayers. Other bills under consideration would extend Laura's Law to schoolchildren, at the discretion of school administrators. Laura's Law is heavily supported by law enforcement, the press, the American Psychiatric Association and host of 'consumer and family advocate groups.'" Continue reading →

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Secrets Police Don’t Want You To Know

"Angry at the malicious and callous demeanor of those that supposedly worked for the greater good of the People Eddie began to carefully research and document the relationships between the various statutes and the legislative enactments that created them, especially the 'ad valorem' property tax, and eventually the federal income tax. He has since spent the past eleven years researching the various Texas Codes such as the Transportation Code. Much to the dismay of many municipalities, police officers, and prosecutors he has thrown a very large monkey wrench into the gears of their money machine, using their own laws!" Continue reading →

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