Essays

The Corruption of Capitalism in America Excerpt: Chapter 17, Serial Bubbles

"Never before in history had the nation's financial system been pummeled by two gigantic bubbles and two devastating crashes in such a brief interval. That Greenspan's heir apparent managed to detect the Great Moderation at the midpoint of this cycle of financial violence was only added testimony to the degree to which monetary policy had become unhinged. It was no longer plausible, therefore, to describe the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the various venues for equity derivatives as a free market for raising and trading equity capital issues. Instead, they were violently unstable casinos, ineptly stage-managed by a central bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Corruption of Capitalism in America Excerpt: Chapter 17, Serial Bubbles

Government Against the People: It Gets Worse In the Late Stages

"It’s a simple but disturbing truth: A late-stage state’s modus operandi must always be 'government against the people' – one that is inherently predatory. And it’s not because the participants are all sociopaths (though many are). At most times, governments try very hard to skim quietly, as with payroll taxes, where the producer’s money is taken away before he or she ever holds it in their hands. That’s also why tariffs were a traditional tax – the average person never saw it, and didn’t feel violated. But when governments are massively over-extended, they lose the luxury of the quiet skim and become more aggressive." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Against the People: It Gets Worse In the Late Stages

When Homeland Security Theater goes Off-Script

"The FBI, whose chief occupation since 2002 has been the manufacture of ersatz terrorism plots, induced Tounisi into an act described as providing 'material aid' to a foreign terrorist group. If he is convicted, he will be found guilty of carrying out the Obama administration's official policy without official permission. He is not the only American presently facing the prospect of imprisonment on this charge. The administration has filed felony charges against a US Army Veteran from Arizona named Eric Harroun, who traveled to Syria to join the fight against Assad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhen Homeland Security Theater goes Off-Script

Doug Casey Refutes Common Hesitations to Internationalize

"Tell a person that it's a big beautiful world, full of fresh opportunities and a sense of freedom that is just not available by staying put and you will inevitably be treated to a litany of reasons why expanding your life into more than one country just isn't practical. Let's consider some of those commonly stated reasons, and why they might be unjustified. While largely directed at Americans, these are also applicable to pretty much anyone from any country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoug Casey Refutes Common Hesitations to Internationalize

Detlev Schlichter: Could Bitcoin be the money of the future?

"The crypto-currency Bitcoin is still merely a speck on the global monetary landscape. It is young, experimental, and for all we know, it may ultimately fail to break into the monetary mainstream. However, on a conceptual level I am willing to call it a work of genius and arguably the most exciting development in the field of money for more than 130 years. Let’s say since the start of the Classical Gold Standard in 1879. Does this sound like hyperbole? Well, let me explain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetlev Schlichter: Could Bitcoin be the money of the future?

Crooked Judges Want Your Kids for Cash

"In what has been coined in the media as the 'Kids for Cash Scandal,' Ciarvarella and Judge Conahan have since been exposed as having made deals with the developer of the for-profit juvenile detention facilities co-owned by Robert Powell of PA Child Care and another company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care. While both judges were sentenced in 2011 and are now serving time, it makes one wonder just how many similar judicial branches are insidiously entangled with for-profit juvenile detention facilities and just how many people working for the system saw red flags and remained silent. Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrooked Judges Want Your Kids for Cash

David Galland: The True Import of the Boston Bombings

"Unfortunately, what has been seriously injured – once again – is American freedom, as authorities begin unwrapping all the new homeland security powers constructed since 9/11. Just as it is impossible to predict the price of gold tomorrow, it is impossible to gauge how the government will respond, or how much collateral damage will be done. Who could have predicted, after 9/11 – an act committed by Saudis and Pakistanis – that the US would attack Iraq? What appears clear, at least to me, is that the very nature of terrorism and the invariable reaction of the nation-state being attacked set the stage for bad, bad days for liberty." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: The True Import of the Boston Bombings

David Koresh’s Revenge: Waco and 20 Years of State Terror

"About once a day police kill an American, often a marginalized person like the homeless Kelly Thomas, beaten in July 2011 by five officers in Southern California, dying of complications five days later. Or they are veterans like Jose Guerena, at whom Tuscon police fired 71 rounds in the middle of the night in May 2011 – innocent of any crime, just in his own house at the wrong time. The state saves most of its killing for abroad, where killing is its very policy. And now, thanks to the war on terror, Obama calls America his battlefield and the world his jurisdiction. He has made it official doctrine that the president can order anyone’s death." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Koresh’s Revenge: Waco and 20 Years of State Terror

Boston Marathon Bomb Coverage Reveals Media Hypocrisy and Double Standards

"In the last decade, the U.S. has occupied Afghanistan and Iraq while bombing Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and Somalia, imposed blockades and sanctions that prevent the poor and elderly in foreign countries from acquiring food and medicine, and yet one can spend a great deal of time searching in vain for any faces, names, or accounts of the victims from the American press. Apparently these acts aren't terrorism or mass murder, just 'foreign policy.' Why has the media covered this bombing with a fine-toothed comb, including bloody and grisly photos, yet it completely ignores the unspeakable violence when initiated by the state?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoston Marathon Bomb Coverage Reveals Media Hypocrisy and Double Standards

How to Be a YouTube Star and Beat Justin Timberlake in the Charts

"I released my first musical thing (called YouTube Tour) in 2007 I think it was, and it made a couple hundred bucks. Then in 2008 they introduced the YouTube partnership program and I was one of the first partners. Back then I made maybe $300 a month. Then it slowly rose, and at the same time my first album came out in October 2009, so with the money from that plus YouTube I moved out in March 2010 to a place with my best friend and we paid £600 each on rent so it wasn’t too bad. Typically I make around £3500 a month from YouTube (I’m on a network so they can sell the ad space higher) and at least £10,000 a month from music and merch sales." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to Be a YouTube Star and Beat Justin Timberlake in the Charts