News Commentary

Hey Ron Paul: Bitcoins really do fit in your pocket! May I explain?

"A concise explanation of what Bitcoin is, in terms of everyday items like rocks and real estate. I am Mike Caldwell, the creator of Casascius Coins, the most widely known functional physical Bitcoin collectible in the hands of Bitcoin enthusiasts. Today, my coins are appearing in the press regularly. Casascius Coins were created as an educational pursuit to bring Bitcoins from minds like mine into minds like yours. This is a short video I recorded as a response to Ron Paul's saying he is uncomfortable with Bitcoin since he can't put it in his pocket. As the person responsible for more Bitcoins put in more pockets than anybody else, I think a reply from me is warranted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHey Ron Paul: Bitcoins really do fit in your pocket! May I explain?

Power to Tax = Power to Destroy

"Think, for a moment, about the implications of the IRS’s actions. If you dare to advocate a political position that it dislikes, will your taxes be audited? How much will it cost you to defend yourself? This is not small-time Chicago ward heeler politics. This is serious, criminal official misconduct on a massive scale. High IRS officials knew about and concealed their anti-conservative policy for two years, since at least June 29, 2011. Equally shocking, one of my least favorite bureaucrats, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, for a year falsely denied that the IRS had done the very thing they just finally admitted doing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPower to Tax = Power to Destroy

How to stop the FBI from reading your email

"One option is to encrypt messages before sending them, which can make them indecipherable as they are transmitted across servers. Such messages can only be read after the recipient unlocks the message with an encryption key. Given that authorities can only access emails that have been stored on a server for more than six months, privacy experts say another option is to delete older emails or store them directly on a hard drive (which is protected by the Fourth Amendment). One final option is an 'offshore email account.' Servers operated in other countries would not be subjected to the same rules as those based in the U.S." Continue reading →

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Rick Rule: This Is Fun

"Let's face it, I'm 60 years old. This is probably my last major market cycle. I'm going to make the most of it. I can tell you that I'm having the most fun I've had in my career for 13 years. I have spent all my life honing my skills, building up the capital, building up the client base – this is tailor-made for me. I realize this period is unpleasant for some people, but the market doesn't care if it's unpleasant. The market doesn't care if it's inconvenient. You take what the market gives you – and this market is giving me a gigantic sale on assets I want to own." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRick Rule: This Is Fun

Ron Paul: What No One Wants to Hear About Benghazi

"Neither side wants to talk about the real lesson of Benghazi: interventionism always carries with it unintended consequences. The US attack on Libya led to the unleashing of Islamist radicals in Libya. These radicals have destroyed the country, murdered thousands, and killed the US ambassador. Some of these then turned their attention to Mali which required another intervention by the US and France. Previously secure weapons in Libya flooded the region after the US attack, with many of them going to Islamist radicals who make up the majority of those fighting to overthrow the government in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: What No One Wants to Hear About Benghazi

The Liberator 3D Printed Gun Successfully Smuggled Through International Transport Security

"Well, that was fast. It’s not even been a week since the Liberator, the gun made out of plastic and printed on a 3D printer, was first unveiled and test shot. And already someone has downloaded the plans, made a copy of the gun and smuggled it aboard international transport. Entirely by-passing the usual security arrangements. That, at least, is what the Mail on Sunday claims two of its reporters did. But what they actually did is take a few pieces of plastic through security. Which, when assembled on the train, made up a non-functional gun with no ammunition available for it. Which is, when you come to think about it, really rather less scary." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Liberator 3D Printed Gun Successfully Smuggled Through International Transport Security

3D printed guns are going to create big legal precedents

"Defense Distributed is headed for some important, possibly precedent-setting legal battles with the US government, and I’m worried that the fact that we’re talking about guns here will cloud judges’ minds. Bad cases made bad law, and it’s hard to think of a more emotionally overheated subject area. So while I’d love to see a court evaluate whether the internet should be treated as a library in law, I’m worried that when it comes to guns, the judge may find himself framing the question in terms of whether a gun foundry should be treated as a library." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3D printed guns are going to create big legal precedents

3D printed guns are going to create big legal precedents

"Defense Distributed is headed for some important, possibly precedent-setting legal battles with the US government, and I’m worried that the fact that we’re talking about guns here will cloud judges’ minds. Bad cases made bad law, and it’s hard to think of a more emotionally overheated subject area. So while I’d love to see a court evaluate whether the internet should be treated as a library in law, I’m worried that when it comes to guns, the judge may find himself framing the question in terms of whether a gun foundry should be treated as a library." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3D printed guns are going to create big legal precedents

FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed