Mainstream News

Maligned dollar flourishes in Venezuela

"Black-market dealers operating on the thriving underground market sell greenbacks at more than four times the official, government-set rate of 6.3 bolivars to the dollar. And the price they’re getting these days — 28 per dollar — is more than three times what it was just eight months ago. Because the bolivar is artificially overvalued and practically worthless outside Venezuela, everyone here is desperate for dollars, from auto-part importers to supermarkets to ordinary Venezuelans planning to travel abroad. Even government officials and the politically connected businessmen who have made fortunes off the free-spending state search out and trade in dollars." Continue reading →

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CME Halted Silver Trading 4 Times Sunday as Prices Slid 9%

"Exchange operator CME Group Inc. (CME) said it halted silver trading four times Sunday evening due to highly volatile markets, a spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. The trading halts came as silver futures slumped 9.4% to a low of $20.250 a troy ounce in the first few minutes following the open of electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver trading was stopped for two 20 second intervals at 6:07 p.m. EDT and 6:09 p.m. EDT, and two consecutive 20 second halts at 6:09 p.m. and 6:10 p.m., the spokesman said. CME Group owns and operates both the Nymex and the Comex exchanges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCME Halted Silver Trading 4 Times Sunday as Prices Slid 9%

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange closes its doors; investors compensated in cash

"HKMEx chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen told the Sunday Morning Post that the decision to surrender the trading licence and not reopen for business tomorrow would have no impact on investors and that client contracts would be honoured. 'There is no question of not getting your money back or anything like that. People absolutely do not have to worry about that and I don't think they are. The only thing they will want to know is what settlement price will be used,' Cheung said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHong Kong Mercantile Exchange closes its doors; investors compensated in cash

Rumors Of Social Security Collapse Spark Bank Run, Break-Ins in Brazil

"Rumors that Brazil's social security fund called Bolsa Familia was to be cancelled led thousands of people to rush to withdraw money from a Brazilian bank over the weekend. Customers lined up at ATMs at dozens of bank branches of Caixa Economica Federal, a government-owned bank, which pays the social security subsidy on Saturday and Sunday. Brazilian newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported that at five branches in the northeastern city of Sao Luiz and four others in the state of Maranhao, depositors broke into branches." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRumors Of Social Security Collapse Spark Bank Run, Break-Ins in Brazil

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Urges ‘Jury Nullification’ In Medical Pot Dispensary Case

"San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has injected himself into a federal criminal case against the operator of a medical marijuana dispensary, intensifying his standoff with federal prosecutors on cannabis enforcement issues. Filner's urging jurors who'll be chosen for the trial to reject federal law in favor of state statutes under a centuries-old legal concept known as 'jury nullification'-- whereby jurors can refuse to convict people under laws they believe should not be applied." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSan Diego Mayor Bob Filner Urges ‘Jury Nullification’ In Medical Pot Dispensary Case

Chinese expat author decides to move back to China after receiving green card

"Living overseas expanded her vision of the world, enabling her to review her previous life in China from a different perspective. 'However, I finally came to realize that America will never be home for my spirit and career. Unlike the previous generations of immigrants to America, it is not a problem of language or the bread-and-butter things. The country is materially affluent, but sheer material well-being will not provide real happiness. Add to that the fact that China's rapid economic growth these past few years has made it unnecessary for me to stay in the U.S. just for a comfortable life. As a writer, I found my readers, my development and my roots lie in my motherland.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese expat author decides to move back to China after receiving green card

Student shot in head by cop while being used as human shield during home invasion

"The Hofstra University student killed during a home invasion robbery was the victim of friendly fire from a veteran cop who unleashed a barrage of bullets when the armed intruder pointed a gun at him, Nassau County police announced tonight. Andrea Rebello was accidentally shot in the head while career criminal Dalton Smith had her in a headlock and used her as a human shield while trying to escape out the back door, Det. Lt. John Azzata said. The unidentified cop fired eight rounds, seven of which struck and killed Smith, and one of which hit Rebello, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudent shot in head by cop while being used as human shield during home invasion

Truck Driver Nearly Beaten to Death By Police For Not Signing Traffic Ticket

"Two officers, one of them a trained fist-boxer, beat Kozacenko on the side of the highway nearly to death. He suffered a crushed left orbital eye socket, multiple facial fractures, a broken left arm, broken ribs, a concussion, loss of consciousness, and possible neurological damage. His injuries caused a deprivation of oxygen for a prolonged period of time. Officers Andrew P. Murrill and Jim Sherman maintained that the force was not excessive. Both are still on the job a full 2 years after the incident. Olegs Kozacenko suffers long-term physical and emotional injuries and is no longer able to work." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTruck Driver Nearly Beaten to Death By Police For Not Signing Traffic Ticket

Bitcoin Comes To SWIFT

"The dichotomy between EU and U.S. approaches to e-money becomes even more apparent when one looks at the uniformity of the EU e-Money and Payment Services Directives versus the almost hostile FinCEN guidance on virtual currencies and the incomprehensible patchwork of state money transmitter laws. Because of this, I estimate that the EU currently enjoys at least a five-year head start over its U.S. brethren in accommodating evolving payments efforts. The U.S seems content to extinguish innovations like e-Gold in an effort to maintain complete control over money businesses and to project dollar hegemony within its borders." Continue reading →

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Dutch tourist cannabis cafe ban leads to surge in dealing in the south

"The decision to ban foreigners not resident in the Netherlands from the country’s cannabis cafes has led to an ‘explosion’ in drugs-related crime in the south of the country, the AD reports on Saturday. The government’s decision to turn the cafes into members’ only clubs in the southern provinces last May led to a sharp rise in street dealing, the paper says. It bases its claim on police and city council figures. In Maastricht, at the forefront of efforts to reduce drugs tourism, the number of drugs crimes has doubled over the past year while in Roermond they are up three-fold with at least 60 active street dealers, the AD says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDutch tourist cannabis cafe ban leads to surge in dealing in the south