statism

1971: The Year That Nixon Chose Gold Over Paper

"The U.S. was now free from the shackles of that barbarous relic. It was high time for gold to get dumped into the dustbin of history. No longer were people supposed to think of it as money. And being that gold's industrial uses are minimal, its price was supposed to languish until the end of time. Also of note in 1971, Merrill Lynch went public. It was only the second brokerage firm to do so. That same year, it released its 'Merrill Lynch is bullish on America' ad during The World Series. Oh...and The Nasdaq was also launched in 1971. So as you can see, Paper Money America was about to be unleashed!" Continue reading →

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Romney Family Investment Ties To Voting Machine Company That Could Decide The Election Causing Concern

"While I am not suggesting conspiracies or that anyone would get involved in any foul play here, how is it possible that so many people could exercise so much bad judgment? Keith Olbermann was suspended from his job at MSNBC for donating a couple hundred bucks to a local candidate that was a friend of his, because his employer required that journalists at the network stay free of having given such contributions to any candidate for all the obvious reasons. Is it really too much to ask that those who control the voting machines that record and count the votes of our elections be held to at least the same standard?" Continue reading →

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Another Eurozone Country Bites The Dust

"What's unique in the collapsing housing bubble in Cyprus is a title-deed scandal of unimaginable proportions. And it has embroiled waves of foreign buyers. The banks aren't talking. And they aren't writing down their assets to reflect the layers of mortgages that are worthless. Developers are going bust. The money they pocketed has disappeared. Expat homeowners who don't hold title deeds are terrified of losing their homes, even if they paid cash. There are no legal processes in place to resolve this. Estimates of the missing money range from €3 to €6 billion—enough to take down all Cypriot banks." Continue reading →

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A Commissarina Rises: Wendy J. Olson’s Reign of Terror

"After being appointed to her current post by Barack Obama in 2010, Olson wasted no time in building a large network of undercover informants and devising remarkably novel ways to turn innocent people into criminals. While Olson’s efforts have done nothing to enhance the security of persons or property, they have been immensely lucrative for the coercive class. An October 4 press release from the Commissarina’s office boasted that her staff had collected $84 million in fines, assessments, and forfeiture proceeds over the past year – ten times its operating budget." Continue reading →

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Human rights advocates raise concerns over increased police Taser use

"Taser use in England rose by 45% in 2011 and the numbers are expected to continue to increase as more weapons are given to rank-and-file officers. The stun guns were fired by police at 27-year-old Dale Burns in Barrow, Cumbria, last year, who later died. In the US, where they are more regularly used, there have been hundreds of deaths. Before 2008, the use of Tasers was restricted to firearms officers, but their use has increased in recent years as more frontline officers have access to them." Continue reading →

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CIA chiefs face arrest over horrific evidence of bloody ‘video-game’ sorties by drone pilots

"The Mail on Sunday today reveals shocking new evidence of the full horrific impact of US drone attacks in Pakistan. A damning dossier assembled from exhaustive research into the strikes’ targets sets out in heartbreaking detail the deaths of teachers, students and Pakistani policemen. It also describes how bereaved relatives are forced to gather their loved ones’ dismembered body parts in the aftermath of strikes. It is set to trigger a formal murder investigation by police into the roles of two US officials said to have ordered the strikes. They are Jonathan Banks, former head of the CIA’s Islamabad station, and John A. Rizzo, the CIA’s former chief lawyer." Continue reading →

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Italy’s Political Scandals Rattle Public Trust

"Many of the current scandals have their origins in a 2001 law meant to promote greater federalism and, theoretically, more local accountability. The measure, which handed out generous state financing without requiring that the regions raise much money on their own, backfired badly, fostering reckless spending throughout the country. With the creation of Italy’s provinces in 1970, and especially in the years after 2001, the cost of regional governments exploded. The salaries of Italy’s 1,113 regional lawmakers expanded as well, to $4,000 to $6,500 a month, and often double that with added benefits." Continue reading →

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British ‘End of Life’ Panels Are Bad News for Everyone

"General practitioners are being encouraged by the Government Department of Health to make lists of people who they believe are not going to live long. But that's not all. There are other unmistakable statements in the report that make it clear the mandate to provide end-of-life care is going to be aggressively implemented throughout the British state-run health care system. Death programs are like any other government service, actually. They will be continually expanded and made more complex to ensure the expansion of the departments in question. Eventually, people could die simply to ensure that a department meets certain quotas." Continue reading →

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Why Firing a Bad Cop Is Damn Near Impossible

"All of these Rhode Island cops, and many more like them across the country, were able to keep their jobs and benefits—sometimes only temporarily, but always longer than they should have—thanks to model legislation written and lobbied for by well-funded police unions. That piece of legislation is called the 'law enforcement bill of rights,' and its sole purpose is to shield cops from the laws they're paid to enforce." Continue reading →

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Wireless ‘smart meters’ tell snoopers when you are not home

"Criminals no longer need to stake out a home or a business to monitor the inhabitants' comings and goings. Now they can simply pick up wireless signals broadcast by the building's utility meters. In the US, analogue meters that measure water, gas and electricity consumption are being replaced by automated meter reading (AMR) technology. Nearly a third of the country's meters - more than 40 million - have already been changed. The new time-saving devices broadcast readings by radio every 30 seconds for utility company employees to read as they walk or drive around with a receiver. But they are not the only ones who can tune in." Continue reading →

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