Resistance

Audited Virginia farmer faces more thuggery

"Martha's disputes brought her national attention because of her willingness to stand up to ridiculousness. She was cited and threatened with $5,000 fines for hosting a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without an 'events' permit from the county. A Fauquier County supervisor blabbed about her IRS audit two days after the notice was signed at the IRS and six days before Boneta received it. That shows collusion. Then in 2011 the county concocted an ordinance restricting farm sales that was enforced only against Boneta. She was cited for selling such things as emu-feather necklaces and homemade pies without a 'special administrative farm sales permit.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAudited Virginia farmer faces more thuggery

Hacking Law and Governance with Startup Cities

"Startup Cities compete to provide new and better functions—in this case, to provide citizens with services they want and need. One new zone hosting a Startup City might pioneer different environmental law or tax policy. Another may offer a custom-tailored regulatory environment for finance or universities. Still another may try a new model for funding social services. Startup Cities are a powerful alternative to risky, difficult, and politically improbable national reform. If bad social techs lead a zone to fail, we don’t gamble the entire nation’s livelihood. People can easily exit a Startup City—effectively putting the project 'out of business.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHacking Law and Governance with Startup Cities

Walmart may cancel three planned D.C. stores over ‘livable wage’ act

"The District will have three fewer Walmart stores if the city's liveable wage act passes on Wednesday. The number has been cut from six to three, due to the District’s own doing. Councilwoman Yvette Alexander oversees Ward 7, where two of the three proposed Walmarts may no longer be built. Legislation that is supposed to pass on Wednesday requires big box stores like Walmart to start employee salaries at $12.50 – well above the District’s $8.25 minimum wage. Unfortunately, pulling the plug on these locations allegedly means pulling the plug on approximately 900 jobs as well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWalmart may cancel three planned D.C. stores over ‘livable wage’ act

China Now General Motors’ Biggest Market

"GM and its Chinese joint venture partners saw sales surge by 10.6 percent during the first half of 2013, to nearly 1.6 million vehicles, an all-time record that positions it as the booming Asian nation's No. 2 automotive manufacturer. It sold just over 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S. during the same period. GM isn't the only American maker outpacing the growth of the overall Chinese market. Rival Ford set its own record for the first half, with sales surging 47 percent there and demand up 44 percent in June. While several makers have yet to report their final numbers, it appears that the two American makers significantly outperformed the overall Chinese market." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Now General Motors’ Biggest Market

Riot after Chinese teachers try to stop pupils cheating

"Last year, the city received a slap on the wrist from the province's Education department after it discovered 99 identical papers in one subject. Forty five examiners were 'harshly criticised' for allowing cheats to prosper. So this year, a new pilot scheme was introduced to strictly enforce the rules. By late afternoon, the invigilators were trapped in a set of school offices, as groups of students pelted the windows with rocks. Outside, an angry mob of more than 2,000 people had gathered to vent its rage, smashing cars and chanting: 'We want fairness. There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRiot after Chinese teachers try to stop pupils cheating

Government Student Loan Program a Scam?

"If you think the federal student-loan program looks like a bad deal for taxpayers, imagine how it would look with honest accounting. And now you don't need to imagine thanks to a new [CBO] report that's receiving far too little attention. Turns out that the official 'savings' for taxpayers of $184 billion over the next decade really add up to $95 billion in losses.' The 'scam' is that Congress has enabled a huge subsidy for universities while claiming that student loans create huge tax savings, the editorial says. It can make that claim because a 1990 law 'requires a deliberate under-counting of the cost of defaults,' the editorial says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Student Loan Program a Scam?

Thomson Reuters to Suspend Early Peeks at Key Index

"Over the last several years, an exclusive group of investors has paid a steep premium to receive the results of a closely watched economic survey a full two seconds before its broader release. Those two seconds can mean millions of dollars in profits for the investors, who practice a computer-driven strategy called high-frequency trading. On Monday, the company providing these investors with that lucrative edge, Thomson Reuters, is expected to announce that it will suspend the practice, yielding to pressure from the New York attorney general, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThomson Reuters to Suspend Early Peeks at Key Index

No criminal charges for Jon Corzine in MF Global probe

"It’s official. Jon Corzine will not be cuffed over MF Global’s improper handling of customers’ funds leading up to the commodity brokerage firm’s spectacular collapse in late 2011, The Post has learned. Federal investigators have found no evidence that the disgraced Wall Street titan broke the law. The Justice Department’s decision to drop the case is sure to come as a relief to Corzine, who has been widely blamed for MFG’s bankruptcy — as well as the misuse of some $1.6 billion in customers’ funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo criminal charges for Jon Corzine in MF Global probe

Spaniards Fight to Get $10.3 Billion In Savings Back From Bank Investment Schemes

"Today, Mr. López is one of about 300,000 Spaniards who, in the midst of a brutal recession, have seen their life savings virtually wiped out in what critics call a deceptive and possibly fraudulent sales campaign by banks that were threatened by the implosion of Spain’s property market. Many, like Mr. López, are older and lack formal education, and were easily misled when bank officials hit on the idea of raising capital and cleaning debts off their books by getting people with savings accounts to invest in their banks instead. oon, they came to understand that they had purchased complex financial products, originally designed for sophisticated investors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpaniards Fight to Get $10.3 Billion In Savings Back From Bank Investment Schemes

Bitcoins Soar In Value In Argentina Due To Capital Control Laws

"With the Peso undergoing yet another period of severe inflation at a rate of 20%, and now President Kirchner’s attempt to lure citizens back into the banking system over which they have absolutely no trust, by attempting to repatriate the US dollars held overseas or in hidden accounts by citizens in exchange for the domestic Cedin, the demand for Bitcoins has rocketed. Compared to Argentina’s much more freedom-orientated neighbor Uruguay, values of Bitcoins in Buenos Aires are between 30% and 40% higher than just 75 kilometers away in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay according to Argentinian Bitcoin expert Mauro Betschart." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoins Soar In Value In Argentina Due To Capital Control Laws