sound money

U.S. Secret Service Bans Sale of Silver and Gold Liberty Dollars on Ebay

"The Secret Service has gotten involved in order to ensure buyers don’t get confused by thinking they are acquiring legal U.S. tender. Apparently they believe that someone who buys a silver coin for $35 may, in a state of confusion, then attempt to exchange it for a $1 soda pop in the open market. Today they are targeting the Liberty Dollar because it 'represents a clear and present danger to the economic stability' of the United States. It wouldn’t be that far a stretch of the imagination to suggest the government could make the same argument for any mechanism of exchange or store of value, especially those which contain gold and silver." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Secret Service Bans Sale of Silver and Gold Liberty Dollars on Ebay

Too little punishment for Pr. George’s police officer’s assault

"If a witness hadn’t shot video of two Prince George’s County police officers savagely beating John McKenna, a University of Maryland student, after a March 2010 men’s basketball game, that would probably have been the end of it. The officers didn’t file a report, as required, on their use of force. When initially questioned about the beating, they lied. And when they filled out the initial paperwork on the incident, police said Mr. McKenna had sustained his injuries, including a concussion, from being kicked by a police horse. Thanks to the video, and to the persistence of Mr. McKenna’s lawyers in uncovering it, the coverup didn’t work." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingToo little punishment for Pr. George’s police officer’s assault

FBI is investigating former Utah trooper Lisa Steed

"The FBI is investigating former Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Lisa Steed for civil rights violations, an attorney said Sunday. Michael Studebaker said 10 of his clients recently spoke to FBI agents. He said his clients have not been asked to speak to a grand jury. Steed has been accused of arresting people for DUI who were sober. Two judges have found Steed lied on the witness stand." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI is investigating former Utah trooper Lisa Steed

Four Texas police officers charged with escorting loads of narcotics for pay

"Two deputies and two police officers in the Hidalgo County, Texas area have been charged with protecting drug smugglers’ shipments of narcotics through the area. According to a Dec. 13 statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas, two of the officers are with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) and two are with Mission Police Department (MPD) officers. Reportedly the men allegedly used their positions to get thousands of dollars for facilitating and protecting drug shipments. Two of the men are also reportedly the sons of high-ranking local police officials in the area in south Texas, west of Brownesville." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFour Texas police officers charged with escorting loads of narcotics for pay

Chicago cop whose home was raided is awarded $565,000 in damages

"When Chicago police broke into his Austin home with guns drawn and a search warrant, Markee Cooper Sr., a cop himself, and his family could only look on as drawers and closets were searched for crack cocaine based on an alleged informant's tip. On Friday, a federal jury awarded Cooper and his family $565,000 in damages after finding one officer at fault for a falsified warrant and two others responsible for the illegal 2007 search. Their two young sons, Markee Jr., 13, and Zion, 8, were traumatized at seeing their father confront a roomful of cops with guns before kneeling to the living room floor and handing over his badge and weapon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChicago cop whose home was raided is awarded $565,000 in damages

Two women sue Texas Troopers for illegal roadside cavity search

"A federal lawsuit filed by two Irving women claims that Texas State Troopers humiliated them by performing illegal cavity searches on the side of the road after a cigarette butt was thrown out of their car window. Dashcam video shows Helleson searching the anuses and vaginas of both women with the same latex gloves in full view of other passing cars. And then the trooper performed the same procedure on Ashley Dobbs without changing gloves." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwo women sue Texas Troopers for illegal roadside cavity search

20 Ways FATCA Will Catch Americans

"It may seem obvious, but Americans who have lived abroad for many years and not filed tax returns still sometimes do not realise that they will bring the IRS down on them like a ton of old tax records when they: 1. Register the birth of their child at a US embassy in the country where they now live, or 2. Renew a long-dormant US passport. 3. Appearing at a US airport with a non-US passport that reveals the bearer was born in the US is almost certain to set alarm bells clanging back at IRS headquarters in Washington. 4. [..]" Continue reading →

Continue Reading20 Ways FATCA Will Catch Americans

Leszek Balcerowicz: The Anti-Bernanke

"As an economic crisis manager, Leszek Balcerowicz has few peers. When communism fell in Europe, he pioneered 'shock therapy' to slay hyperinflation and build a free market. In the late 1990s, he jammed a debt ceiling into his country's constitution, handcuffing future free spenders. When he was central-bank governor from 2001 to 2007, his hard-money policies avoided a credit boom and likely bust. Poland was the only country in the European Union to avoid recession in 2009 and has been the fastest-growing EU economy since." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLeszek Balcerowicz: The Anti-Bernanke

Portugal May Become the First of Europe’s Bankrupt Welfare States to Recover: Less Spending AND Lower Tax Rates

"The Portuguese government is seeking to cut its corporate tax rate for new businesses to one of the lowest in Europe as part of a plan to attract investment and revitalize ailing industries, the minister of economy said. The government is in talks with the European Commission’s competition agency in Brussels to get approval to cut the tax on corporate income for new investors to 10% from the current 25%, the minister, Alvaro Santos Pereira, said in an interview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPortugal May Become the First of Europe’s Bankrupt Welfare States to Recover: Less Spending AND Lower Tax Rates

Everything that’s Wrong with the Tax System, in a Single Picture

"I used to think this image was a damning indictment of the internal revenue code. Or here’s another chart showing how the tax system has become more convoluted over time. But this new image may be the most effective of all of them. We don’t know what’s in the other 72,000 pages of tax code, but we’re all familiar with the basic 1040 tax form. Look at what the politicians have done to it over the past several decades." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEverything that’s Wrong with the Tax System, in a Single Picture