News Commentary

Bill Bonner: ‘War’ takes place in the shadows

"How long will it be before the clandestine terrorist agencies begin their own campaigns of terror? Perhaps they already have. With so many secret agencies plotting, conniving, enticing, luring, fomenting, and sowing their evil seeds, it won't be long before something takes root. One group of spooks will lay a trap...and catch another group....and accuse a third group, whom they will mistake for real terrorists. One bomb will go off. Another attempt will be thwarted at the last minute. Still another group, led on a double-agent and financed by secret funds provided by the taxpayer, will be hauled in front of the TV cameras." Continue reading →

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Money Laundering Is Financial Thoughtcrime

"From President Roosevelt's 1933 seizure of personal gold to the Nazi confiscation of Jewish wealth to the recent deposit theft at Cyprus banks, asset plundering by governments has a long and colorful tradition. Protecting wealth from oppressive regimes continues to this day. Even as the money-laundering laws are said to exist for the fight against terrorism or drugs or gambling, the cashless utopia is simultaneously being thrust upon us as the monetary architecture of the future. Expect ever more increasing thoughtcrime enforcement as the international money flow tightens." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: The Tyranny Test

"Bitcoin is a test for 'the powers that be.' The way they deal with this new method of exchange will reveal their true nature. If they ignore Bitcoin, they refute the charges of tyranny. If they attack it, they verify those charges. After all, what honest reason could there be to attack an inherently peaceful tool for transferring value? Reasons to attack Bitcoin have recently appeared in the 'public square.' Here are the three most popular ones, each followed with some analysis." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Does the Fed help make people better off?

"There were voices in the Fed, said the news, urging caution. There would be no further monetary stimulus measures, said the commentators. Investors grew cautious. Then, by the end of the week, investors were rolling the dice again. The Fed was working hard to fight the impression that it had either lost its nerve or recovered its senses. With the wind of the Fed at their backs, investors put out full sail. On Friday, they were skimming along nicely, riding high on a tide of EZ money. 'Don't fight the Fed,' said the analysts. The Fed is pumping...stocks are going to rise. Of course, it's not that simple. Zimbabwe pumped. Stocks rose...for a while." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul: Congress Exploits Our Fears to Take Our Liberty

"CISPA represents a troubling form of corporatism, where large companies cede their responsibility to protect their property to the federal government, at the expense of their customers' privacy and liberty. In this respect, CISPA can be thought of as an electronic version of the Transportation Security Administration, which has usurped the authority over airline security from private airlines. However, CISPA will prove to be far more invasive than even the most robust TSA screening. CISPA and the gun control bill are only the most recent examples of politicians manipulating fear to con the people into giving up their liberties." Continue reading →

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Andrew P. Napolitano: More Holes in the Fourth Amendment

"The Obama administration wants legislation enacted that will punish Internet service providers who fail to cooperate with FBI requests and court orders. The FBI has revealed that its agents often 'lack the time' to obtain search warrants, and so they have gotten into the bad habit of asking Internet service providers to let them in without warrants. The second category of punishment sought by the administration is for Internet service providers as to which the FBI has obtained a warrant. A search warrant does not require the custodian of those specific items to find them for the government. This proposed legislation would change all that." Continue reading →

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Fractional Reserve Banking: It’s Not Your Money…You Only Think It Is!

"In the aftermath of the forced confiscation of bank accounts in Cyprus, the question that clients ask me most is, 'could it happen here?' 'Here' is wherever the client lives or invests, and could be the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, or any other country. The answer is yes. This result stems from the nature of our modern financial system, built as it is on the flawed foundation of a poorly-understood concept called 'fractional reserve banking.' This new reality is harsh, but as I said before, it’s healthy. People need to be reminded that money deposited in a bank converts their wealth into a debt-claim." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul on Bernanke’s Criminal Gang

"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Federal Reserve decided to hand the American people more of the same failed policies that caused and then perpetuated our current financial crisis. Chairman Bernanke may believe there is no inflation, but try telling that to seniors who are on a fixed income, students trying to save for college, and the millions of other Americans who are contending daily with rising prices. If the problem was the Fed not printing enough, and Congress not spending enough, why have the trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus only benefited big banks and corporations?" Continue reading →

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Germany will think twice before saving France next time

"The Franco-German axis that has driven EU affairs ever since Schuman and Adenauer in the early 1950s is collapsing before our eyes. This was inevitable. Their interests have become incompatible under monetary union. The currency that was supposed to bind them is turning them into enemies, as this newspaper long warned. The latest argument gaining traction – advanced by Prof Bernd Lücke and the German eurosceptic party AfD among others – is that the only way to save the Franco-German relationship and therefore the EU is to break up the euro before it does more damage. Interesting twist." Continue reading →

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The Tenuous Nature of Borderless Money

"The G20 has fully endorsed the plan, and its implementation is complete or underway in member jurisdictions. The US is a G20 member, so don't kid yourself into believing it can't happen in America. It can and will. The Cyprus event has been carefully framed as an anomaly when in fact it is part of a well-orchestrated script. Americans are just one financial crisis away from triggering the provisions of the G20-backed FSB financial resolution regime. And that almost certainly will include restrictions on the movement of capital. Once your money is trapped inside the US, any type of concocted emergency 'tax' can be imposed on your wealth." Continue reading →

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