Mainstream News

Bank of Cyprus converts portion of uninsured savings to equity

"Bank of Cyprus (BoC) said on Sunday it had carried out a conversion of uninsured cash deposits in the bank into equity, one of the conditions of international lenders to offer the cash-starved island financial aid. The process, known as a 'bail-in', made depositors in the bank pay for its recapitalisation, after the institution was hit by massive losses from its exposure to debt-crippled Greece. It converted 37.5% of deposits exceeding €100,000 on March 26, into 'class A' shares – nominal value €1 -- with an additional 22.5% held as a buffer for possible conversion in the future. Another 30% would be temporarily frozen and held as deposits." Continue reading →

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China Goes Gold Crazy. Why Now?

"Mainland Chinese purchasers have been ferocious. First, they emptied stores in their own country. Caibai, Beijing’s largest gold merchant, had a queue 30 feet out the door on the morning of the 19th. 'So many people in line,' remarked a customer in Nanjing, where one person splashed out 2.9 million yuan on ten gold bars each weighing a kilogram. Retailers ran out of stock in Guangzhou. The China Gold Association reported that on the 15th and 16th retail sales of gold tripled across China. Daily sales soared to five times the usual level at one retail chain. As Chinese emptied the shelves in their own country, they also went south and swarmed shops in Hong Kong." Continue reading →

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Gun nights for ladies spring up at shooting ranges around the country

"In a growing trend, many of the pro-gun groups — like the ladies at The Fredericksburg Range — are all women, aiming, as Ovalle explains, 'to teach a lady how to handle a gun safely.' The 'Shooting Divas' group trains just a few miles away in Virginia, while 'Gun Powder Gals' is based in North Carolina and 'A Girl and A Gun' organizes some 40 groups around the country. And websites, magazines, merchandise — pink pistols and bra holsters — abound in the growing market. According to polling firm Gallup, 13 percent of women in the US owned a gun in 2005 compared to 23 percent in 2011." Continue reading →

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Collected Quotations Of The Dread Pirate Roberts, Silk Road Founder

"In public, the pseudonymous Internet drug czar known as the Dread Pirate Roberts doesn’t say much. But within the community that the Dread Pirate Roberts has created, Silk Road’s founder is hardly so shy. On the Tor-hidden online forums associated with Silk Road, Roberts posts long manifestos, philosophical and political musings, love letters to Silk Road’s users, and even hosts the Dread Pirate Roberts Book Club, a reading and discussion group devoted to 'agorism, counter-economics, anarcho-capitalism, Austrian economics, political philosophy, freedom issues and related topics.'" Continue reading →

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BitCoin Is Gold 2.0: Venture Capitalist

"The bitcoin boom is just getting started, two venture capitalists said Monday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference. Get ready for a wave of new bitcoin start-ups, said Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Dixon, who said he has a 'fair amount' invested in bitcoins, said that tech entrepreneurs have historically struggled to get into the financial tech space because of its massive size and the rigid regulations related to the finance industry. But the anonymous payment network that bitcoin provides helps avoid these obstacles and that has entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley excited, Dixon said." Continue reading →

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Judge Gives ’5 Second Probation’ In Widow’s $21M Tax Case

"Consider 79 year-old Mary Estelle Curran of Palm Beach who inherited Swiss and Liechtenstein accounts when her husband died in 2000. She failed to report them and the IRS lost out on approximately $667,716 in taxes. That’s a lot of money to be sure, but the size of her penalty was, well, enormous: 50% of the highest balance: $21,666,929. And that’s not all. She was facing serious jail time too. And it seemed doubly unfair that she was unsophisticated and had tried to come forward to the IRS long before. Fortunately, though, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp eased up, even suggesting that the government could probably use a little more discretion." Continue reading →

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Argentina’s Mad Dash for U.S. Dollars

"If you find yourself driving through the suddenly packed condo canyons of Miami—lamenting not having bought during the property crash—shake a fist or two at the Argentines. So many of them ponied up 80 percent cash down payments on units that South Florida’s condo depression rather abruptly turned into another boom. Their thinking was defensive: Swap iffy pesos for dollars and store that value in U.S. property, out of the prying hands of the government back home. Now, with Buenos Aires finding some rather innovative ways to crack down on the flight to dollars, that spirit of capital preservation has morphed into a panic." Continue reading →

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Labour joins Tories in blocking UK Independence Party members from debates

"Labour leader Ed Miliband wants to block the UK Independence Party from having a role in the TV leader's debates, it emerged today. The Tories were already opposed to the idea of giving UKIP leader Nigel Farage equal status ahead of the 2015 general election. Labour had thought UKIP would only damage the Tories' election hopes. But strategists now fear UKIP's 'brand of anti-politics could damage all three main parties in unpredictable ways,' The Guardian reported." Continue reading →

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Sapulpa man, cleared by DNA evidence, plans to sue for wrongful arrest

"A Sapulpa man who was held in jail for 84 days before DNA evidence cleared him in the brutal rape of his then-girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter plans to sue the Creek County Sheriff's Office for wrongful arrest. Tommy Braden's attorney, Don Smolen, of Tulsa, sent notice earlier this month that they plan to take legal action for wrongful arrest and detention, which they allege was the result of the Sheriff's Office negligence. 'From day one he's begging them to do a DNA test,' Smolen said. 'They said they weren't going to do that because it was a waste of taxpayers' dollars.' Braden was released when a judge approved a DNA test which cleared him on July 3." Continue reading →

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