News Items

Video of the Day: “The NSA is Coming to Town”

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Just in time for the holidays, this excellent video spoof of the NSA has emerged. At the end of the day, humor is always one of the most effective tools of resistance. Remember the wise and timeless words of John Lennon: When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s … Read more

Producer of Physical “Casascius” Bitcoins is Being Targeted by the Feds

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Meet Mike Caldwell. He is the maker of what seems to be the most popular physical bitcoins on the market, the Casascius coin. All Mr. Caldwell does is have people who want the coins produced send him a certain quantity of bitcoin and then for a $50 fee he puts the private key on a physical coin and sends them back. For this horrible crime of ingenuity and creativity, the U.S. government naturally, has decided to target him. Because they are too busy ignoring the real financial crimes happening out out there…

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From Wired:

Mike Caldwell spent years turning digital currency into physical coins. That may sound like a paradox. But it’s true. He takes bitcoins — the world’s most popular digital currency — and then he mints them here in the physical world. If you added up all the bitcoins Caldwell has minted on behalf of his customers, they would be worth about $82 million.

Basically, these physical bitcoins are novelty items. But by moving the digital currency into the physical realm, he also prevents hackers from stealing the stuff via an online attack. Or at least he did. His run as the premiere bitcoin minter may be at an end. Caldwell has been put on notice by the feds.

Just before Thanksgiving, he says, he received a letter from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FINCEN, the arm of the Treasury Department that dictates how the nation’s anti-money-laundering and financial crime regulations are interpreted. According to FINCEN, Caldwell needs to rethink his business. “They considered my activity to be money transmitting,” Caldwell says. And if you want to transmit money, you must first jump through a lot of state and federal regulatory hoops Caldwell hasn’t jumped through.

But HSBC launders billions for Mexican drug cartels and they can continue their operations no problem.

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Coinbase Raises $25 Million from Andreessen Horowitz in Largest Bitcoin Investment To-Date

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As I tweeted at the time, I think Bitcoin began phase two of its growth and adoption cycle upon the conclusion of the Senate hearings last month (I suggest reading: My Thoughts on the Bitcoin Hearing). I think phase two will be primarily characterized by two things. More mainstream adoption and ease of use, as well … Read more

Fidelity Now Allows Bitcoins in Your IRA

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*Note: Since I published this article, Fidelity has come out and said clients cannot invest in bitcoins in their IRA. I suppose somebody received a phone call. Well this is simply huge. As much as many people want Bitcoin to simply go away (see my recent interview on the topic with Miles Franklin), it is … Read more

South Carolina is About to Pass a Bill to Nullify ObamaCare

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While we all know that the disaster that is ObamaCare is extremely unpopular throughout the country, South Carolina is leading the charge to actually nullify the legislation. House Bill 3101 already passed the state House back in April by a wide margin, and is set to be voted on in the state Senate in January. It is widely expected to pass and then be signed into law by Governor Nikki Haley.

If that happens, it would set up a huge states rights victory and likely encourage other states to follow suit. It will be extremely interesting to see how the feds respond to this…

From the Daily Caller:

A bill set for fast-track passage in the South Carolina Senate in January aims to eliminate Obamacare in the state. The law could become a model for other states fed up with the federal health-care law.

House Bill 3101, titled the “South Carolina Freedom of Health Care Protection Act,” passed the state House of Representatives last April by a 65-34 vote. The bill now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate with special-order priority, setting up the likelihood that South Carolina will become the first state to exempt citizens and businesses from all participation in the Affordable Care Act.

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Two Congressmen Push for Release of 28-Page Document Showing Saudi Involvement in 9/11

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I have publicly questioned the official story of 9/11 for many years. Of course, I’ve never claimed to know exactly what happened on that fateful day, but I’ve maintained that the official story stinks to high heaven. I always found it beyond bizarre that the U.S. launched a war against Iraq following the terrorist attacks, yet never really questioned the potential (and obvious) Saudi involvement, despite the glaring fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

Saudi suspicion crept even further into my mind following their anger at the U.S. for not going to war in Syria, in what now seems likely to have been a Saudi provocation to begin with.

Disturbingly, it appears the highest levels of the Bush Administration knew all too well about such a link and intentionally covered it up. The Obama Administration continues the coverup. The Saudi link is made clear in a 28-page, redacted classified document from 2002, which has now been seen by two Congressmen who were “absolutely shocked” by what they read. They are now leading a campaign to have these documents released and we must all support their efforts.

More from the International Business Times:

Since terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, victims’ loved ones, injured survivors, and members of the media have all tried without much success to discover the true nature of the relationship between the 19 hijackers – 15 of them Saudi nationals – and the Saudi Arabian government. Many news organizations reported that some of the terrorists were linked to the Saudi royals and that they even may have received financial support from them as well as from several mysterious, moneyed Saudi men living in San Diego.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied any connection, and neither President George W. Bush nor President Obama has been forthcoming on this issue.

But earlier this year, Reps. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., and Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., were given access to the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry (JICI) of 9/11 issued in late 2002, which have been thought to hold some answers about the Saudi connection to the attack.

“I was absolutely shocked by what I read,” Jones told International Business Times. “What was so surprising was that those whom we thought we could trust really disappointed me. I cannot go into it any more than that. I had to sign an oath that what I read had to remain confidential. But the information I read disappointed me greatly.”

The public may soon also get to see these secret documents. Last week, Jones and Lynch introduced a resolution that urges President Obama to declassify the 28 pages, which were originally classified by President George W. Bush. It has never been fully explained why the pages were blacked out, but President Bush stated in 2003 that releasing the pages would violate national security.

Do we really need an explanation? Whenever the government wants to cover up its own crimes, or the crimes of our allies, they just yell “national security.” It’s a disgrace.

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Chinese State-Run Media Embarrasses Itself by Proclaiming “Unexpected Benefits of Smog”

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In case you weren’t aware, several of China’s major cities have experienced record-breaking, extremely dangerous levels of smog in recent days. For example, here is a shocking picture of Lianyungang, China:

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Photograph: Chinafotopress/Getty Images.

So how did China’s state-run media decide to respond to this environmental and public health disaster? With ridiculous propaganda about the “unexpected benefits” of smog of course. You have to see this to believe it.

From The Guardian:

China’s noxious air pollution has made people smarter, funnier and impervious to missile attacks, the country’s official media reported this week, as a toxic cloud covering half of the country began to lift.

On Monday the website of the state broadcaster CCTV published a list of five “unexpected benefits” brought by the smog.

It said the haze had unified Chinese people, as they found solidarity in their complaints; equalised them, as both rich and poor people were vulnerable to its effects; enlightened them, as they realised the cost of rapid growth; and “made Chinese people more humorous”, as smog-related jokes proliferated on the internet.

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Video of the Day: Pirate Party Founder Explains “Swarm Intelligence”

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Rick Falkvinge is an interesting guy. The 41-year old Swede started the Pirate Party in 2006, and then five years later stated that he had put all of his savings into Bitcoin. He is currently focused on a concept for social change that revolves around something he calls “swarm intelligence,” and he recently spent 20 … Read more

A New Political Party Emerges in India and Shocks Everyone with Strong Election Results

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Political grounds are shaking all over the world, and it seems India is the latest nation to experience such tremors.

Back in October, I highlighted the fact that the formerly “fringe” anti-euro Front National Party in France, led by Marine Le Pen, had shocked the nation by performing exceptionally well in regional elections. Not only was this a surprise because its strong anti-euro (currency) position is so outside the so-called “mainstream,” but also because it is not one of the traditional parties that shares power in France’s own version of the false left-right (Democrat/Republican) sham political paradigm.

Well now it appears the same thing is happening in India, with the sudden emergence of the AAP (Aam Admi or Common Man Party). Frustrated with the inept governance of the ruling Congress Party, and unwilling to embrace what is seen as a corporate backed Hindu-nationalist opposition BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), many Indians, at least in Delhi, are looking to embrace something new.

From the Guardian:

Outside the headquarters of the Aam Admi (Common Man) party in central Delhi on Sunday night, hawkers sold poppadoms, bored police watched from squad cars and a crowd of excited young people sang songs dating back to the days of India’s independence movement.

“This is what we do best in this country: non-violent revolution,” said Shehshan Partak, a 25-year-old engineer and activist for Aam Admi (AAP). “And this is a revolution.”

The claim is exaggerated but perhaps not entirely unjustified. The results of recent elections in Delhi and three other Indian states, released on Sunday, indicate that change is imminent in the in the world’s biggest democracy. A general election is less than six months away.

In local assembly elections in Delhi, India’s sprawling capital, the party won 28 out of 70 seats. Kejriwal himself beat the chief minster of the city, a veteran of the ruling Congress party who had dismissed the AAP as “not even on our radar” when it was founded a year ago, by a massive 27,000-vote margin. Congress was wiped out, reduced to eight seats.

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Inaugural Interview with Miles Franklin – Gold, Bitcoin and Oligarch Theft

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Last week, I sat down for a chat with my fellow Coloradan and friend Andy Hoffman, Media Director for precious metals dealer Miles Franklin. Many precious metals focused people have taken a very aggressive, and in my opinion ignorant and short-sighted negative perspective on Bitcoin as of late. I personally feel that this is rooted … Read more