Mainstream News

Mining for digital gold in Thailand

"Bitcoin can be compared with voice-over-IP or internet telephone in the last decade. The technologies were first deemed illegal since there was no law supporting them. Surangkana Wayuparb, director of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) under the Information and Communication Technology Ministry, said the agency will study the business model of Bitcoin, as well as possible regulations and public awareness of this digital currency since the central bank said the issue was not within its authority. Don Sambandaraksa said the decision by the central bank to ban trading of Bitcoins in and out of the country while still allows Bitcoin mining doesn't make any sense." Continue reading →

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Winklevoss twins say Bitcoin could become a country’s currency

"Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, currently making headlines with plans to launch a Bitcoin fund, said on Tuesday that they could see the digital currency becoming a country's official money. 'The next step for Bitcoin is potentially becoming the currency of a country,' Tyler Winklevoss said. The twin brothers, famous for their history with Facebook Inc, were speaking at the 9th annual Value Investing Congress in New York. Speaking after filing plans to launch the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, an exchange traded fund that would allow investors to trade the digital currency like stocks, the brothers laid out a primer on Bitcoin and spoke about what might be next for the currency." Continue reading →

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Winklevoss twins: Bitcoins better than gold

"'It's gold 2.0,' he said in a presentation at the Value Investing Conference in New York Tuesday. Tyler and his brother Cameron, who shared the stage, outlined the bull case for bitcoins. They have been investors and are aspiring Bitcoin entrepreneurs. The twins recently filed paperwork with the SEC for a Bitcoin exchanged traded fund. Like gold, the virtual currency retains its value regardless of what central bankers do to the money supply. But unlike gold, bitcoins are easier and cheaper to store. Cameron Winklevoss said that another sovereign debt crisis could be a catalyst for a sharp move higher." Continue reading →

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Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012

"Residents of two states voted to legalize marijuana in 2012, but despite an increase in public support for liberalizing drug policy, American police arrested about the same number of people last year on pot-related charges as in 2011. Data released Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show there were an estimated 1,552,432 arrests for drug-related crimes in 2012 – a slight uptick from the 1,531,251 drug arrests in 2011. Marijuana offenses accounted for 48.3 percent of all drug arrests, a slight reduction from 49.5 percent in 2011, which itself was the highest rate since before 1995." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012

FDA rewrites opioid narcotic labels to limit use for pain

"The new guidelines will not place formal new restrictions on prescriptions by physicians who treat patients for pain, but administration officials announcing the change made clear they hope to chasten physicians who prescribe the medications for anything other than ongoing, intractable pain. The revision made by the FDA would not just remove 'moderate pain' from the agency’s list of approved uses for the medications: It aims to get patients and their physicians to focus not only on levels of pain, but on how long it can be expected to persist and what alternatives exist to relieve it." Continue reading →

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Medical pot: Will Colorado’s “green rush” last?

"Twenty states have now legalized the medical use of marijuana for the treatment of things like glaucoma, the effects of chemotherapy, and chronic pain; defying federal laws that still consider marijuana more dangerous than cocaine and methamphetamine. In Denver, if you want to find a medical marijuana dispensary, just look for the green cross. You won't have to go far. There are 204 of them in the Mile High City -- that's roughly three times the number of Starbucks and McDonald's combined. They come in all sizes and shapes. There is the health food store motif and '70s style head shops. There are storefronts pitching low cost weed, and boutiques offering gourmet ganja." Continue reading →

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Federal marijuana decision clears way for Oregon hemp production

"Oregon is one of seven states with laws that permit the production of industrial hemp, a non-intoxicating relative of marijuana grown for its sturdy fiber and seeds. Elsewhere in the country, hemp advocates have reacted to the federal government's new position on cannabis by moving ahead with legal hemp production. Kentucky's top agriculture official said the Cole memo is all he needs to move forward. India is the largest market for Canadian hemp by weight, though the United States buys more hemp seed than any other country, generally for food and beauty products. China, also a major international exporter of hemp, tends to produce hemp that's used for textiles." Continue reading →

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Fighting marijuana … or reality?

"Americans are becoming deaf to the critics of pot legalization. Their hyperbolic claims about the dangers of pot -- along with the realistic ones -- are being dismissed by a justifiably cynical public. Anti-marijuana propaganda isn't stopping the march toward national legalization, but the opposition is losing its voice as it screams about the falling sky. A majority of Americans favor full legalization. So why can't the opposition discuss these problems realistically? It's simple: Because the only rational conclusion is that the dangers of pot are not sufficient to warrant its prohibition. Yet those who have an ideological opposition to legalization appear immune to reason." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFighting marijuana … or reality?

Obama quietly extends post-9/11 state of national emergency

"Twelve years after the worst terrorist attack in American history, President Obama yet again extended his predecessor’s Declaration of National Emergency for another year. The declaration, which was originally put into place on September 14, 2001, was renewed on Tuesday. Shortly after he renewed the declaration of a national emergency, President Obama obliquely hinted at the gradual accumulation of executive power in his speech on the Syria crisis. The past decade, he said, 'put more and more war-making power in the hands of the president.'" Continue reading →

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Armed EPA raid in Alaska sheds light on 70 fed agencies with armed divisions

"The recent uproar over armed EPA agents descending on a tiny Alaska mining town is shedding light on the fact that 40 federal agencies – including nearly a dozen typically not associated with law enforcement -- have armed divisions. The agencies employ about 120,000 full-time officers authorized to carry guns and make arrests, according to a June 2012 Justice Department report. Though most Americans know agents within the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Prisons carry guns, agencies such as the Library of Congress and Federal Reserve Board employing armed officers might come as a surprise." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmed EPA raid in Alaska sheds light on 70 fed agencies with armed divisions