Cash-strapped Cyprus plots Russian exit from austerity

"The Russians, quite correctly, view Cyprus as a convenient backdoor to the European Union – and they are not alone. The Chinese have also started arriving, encouraged by what they regard as an incredibly low bar to immigration. Forget all those tricky visa forms, for anyone prepared to spend €300,000 on a property in Cyprus there is the bonus of eligibility for permanent residency. Once this is achieved, the owner is entitled to move anywhere within the EU. For the price of a shoebox in Shanghai, Cyprus is offering a gold-card travel pass and much more besides." Continue reading

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Britain has left the European Union in all but name

"The UK is preparing to pull out of almost all areas of 'Justice and Home Affairs', the so-called Pillar III of EU jurisdiction. (Pillar I is the single market, and Pillar II is foreign affairs). This is revolutionary. We are withdrawing from 130 directives, covering everything from the European Arrest Warrant, the European Public Prosecutor, to the European justice department (Eurojust). Luckily, Tony Blair negotiated the right to a mass opt-out on this Pillar III corpus to be exercised before it all becomes justiciable at the European Court (ECJ) in 2014, a move that would transform the ECJ into Britain's supreme court." Continue reading

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Nigel Farage: ‘Bailouts’ are a means for total subjugation of nation states

"No, this is now a divided, split Europe, with neo-Nazi politics on the rise, with violent demonstrations in the streets. And I frankly think that the award of that Nobel Prize devalues that whole organisation. Well, it's not all bad news, because in Britain the opinion polls are clear that a clear majority of Brits now want to leave this Union, leaving David Cameron as piggy-in-the-middle, trying to pretend to be a Eurosceptic when he comes over here, going back home and claiming victories - but he's stuck. And I predict one thing: Big political change is coming in Britain because he's losing the support of millions of his own voters." Continue reading

Continue ReadingNigel Farage: ‘Bailouts’ are a means for total subjugation of nation states

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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