Doug Casey on how to Hedge Against Political Risk in the Greater Depression

"Welcome to Capital Account. Tonight, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama meet for their final Presidential debate, amid tightening polls. While the candidates face off on foreign policy, we talk to our guest, Doug Casey of Casey Research, about his own foreign policy strategy: the strategy of "the international man." We talk to Doug Casey about the increasing number of Americans who are moving their money and property off-shore, and about a smaller, albeit growing number of Americans choosing to renounce their citizenship entirely. What are these people afraid of, and who or what are they trying to hide from?" Continue reading

Continue ReadingDoug Casey on how to Hedge Against Political Risk in the Greater Depression

President Romney Can Thank Obama for His Permanent Robotic Death List

"It’s a good thing that Mitt Romney endorsed President Obama’s counterterrorism agenda. Should he win the election in two weeks, Romney will inherit an institutionalized, bureaucratic machine for using lethal robots to target and kill suspected terrorists and their allies. Killing Osama bin Laden was a one-time event; this 'Disposition Matrix' is Barack Obama’s real national-security legacy. Despite bin Laden’s death and the supposed disruption of al-Qaida’s old leadership, the Matrix keeps adding names, as fast or faster than the drones drop bodies." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPresident Romney Can Thank Obama for His Permanent Robotic Death List

Glenn Greenwald: Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent

"What has been created here - permanently institutionalized - is a highly secretive executive branch agency that simultaneously engages in two functions: (1) it collects and analyzes massive amounts of surveillance data about all Americans without any judicial review let alone search warrants, and (2) creates and implements a 'matrix' that determines the 'disposition' of suspects, up to and including execution, without a whiff of due process or oversight. It is simultaneously a surveillance state and a secretive, unaccountable judicial body that analyzes who you are and then decrees what should be done with you, how you should be 'disposed' of." Continue reading

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent

Credit Card Data Breach at Barnes & Noble Stores

"Hackers have stolen credit card information for customers who shopped as recently as last month at 63 Barnes & Noble stores across the country, including stores in New York City, San Diego, Miami and Chicago, according to people briefed on the investigation. The company discovered around Sept. 14 that the information had been stolen but kept the matter quiet at the Justice Department’s request so the F.B.I. could determine who was behind the attacks, according to these people. The information was stolen by hackers who broke into the keypads in front of registers where customers swipe their credit cards and enter their PINs." Continue reading

Continue ReadingCredit Card Data Breach at Barnes & Noble Stores

FDA probes deaths linked to Monster Energy drinks

"The family of US teen Anais Fournier, who died of an arrhythmia in December 2011, allegedly after drinking two cans of Monster Energy over a 24-hour period, brought suit Friday in California against Monster Beverage. A November 2011 report by the US Department of Health and Human Services found a tenfold spike in emergency room visits for issues linked to energy drinks between 2004 and 2009, totaling more than 16,000 visits in 2008, with sales of the beverages skyrocketing during that same period. Energy drinks contain stimulants like caffeine, guarana and ginseng as well as the relaxant taurine and other vitamins." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFDA probes deaths linked to Monster Energy drinks

Whitaker police officer charged over threats to motorist

"A part-time Whitaker police officer was charged on Friday with official oppression, attempted extortion and related crimes after being accused of using his gun to break a female motorist’s window and threatening to send her to jail if she did not admit responsibility and pay for the damage. Willliam S. Davis, 35, was charged by investigators from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office after an investigation surrounding events that occurred about 9 p.m. June 27, when Davis was in plainclothes and riding in an unmarked police vehicle." Continue reading

Continue ReadingWhitaker police officer charged over threats to motorist

NYC Mayor Seeks to Ban Short-Stay Residential Room Hotels

"The charge that there are hazardous conditions in these rooms that put guests in danger is absurd. The rooms are all in residential high-rises, which house thousand of permanent residents. What's really going on here is that the two firms are competing with establishment hotels and providing cheaper rates. Bloomberg is creating a moat around the crony establishment NYC hotel industry that will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for operators like Smart Apartments to provide cut-rate hotel prices in a city with extremely high hotel rates." Continue reading

Continue ReadingNYC Mayor Seeks to Ban Short-Stay Residential Room Hotels

NYPD paid marijuana arrestee to ‘bait’ Muslims and spy on mosques

"Shamiur Rahman told The Associated Press that he agreed to take on the role of informant in January because he believed that several misdemeanor arrests for marijuana would result in serious legal consequences. Over the course of the year, Rahman said he spied on mosques, Muslim businesses, and Muslim student groups. He took video and photos of worshippers, recorded license plate numbers and eavesdropped on imams. NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Galati testified earlier this year that a program to infiltrate and monitor Muslim communities had not generated a single lead or terrorism investigation." Continue reading

Continue ReadingNYPD paid marijuana arrestee to ‘bait’ Muslims and spy on mosques

Disabled veteran could change U.S. drug policy on medical marijuana

"Michael Krawitz, one of five plaintiffs involved in a legal case before the court of appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit, told the Guardian that the VA denied him pain treatment after they discovered he had been prescribed medical marijuana while abroad. He told the court in an affidavit that the withdrawal of care by the department, which has rated him 100% permanently disabled and thus eligible for all medical treatment under its auspices, has meant he now has to travel 130 miles from his home to see a doctor for pain relief." Continue reading

Continue ReadingDisabled veteran could change U.S. drug policy on medical marijuana