Introducing Open Bazaar – The Decentralization Revolution Takes on Ecommerce

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 2.40.15 PMDescribed as the “next generation of uncensored trade” and a “safe untouchable marketplace,” OpenBazaar is fundamentally different from all the online black markets that have come before it, because it is completely decentralized. If authorities acted against OpenBazaar users, they could arrest individuals, but the network would survive.

– From the Daily Dot’s article: OpenBazaar is a decentralized Dark Net market that’s ‘untouchable’ by police

It’s truly incredible. Every time I become discouraged by state of the world and the decrepit and corrupt status quo, something comes along to restore my faith in the future and remind me that the time in power for these insane oligarchs is rapidly coming to an end. As I’ve said before, the advent and success of Bitcoin was the single most important development over the past few years to instill a real sense of optimism in me.

I’ve repeatedly characterized the monumental battle we face as a species as the struggle between the forces of centralization and decentralization, and I hold the view that decentralization will ultimately reign spectacularly triumphant. Not just because it is ultimately the type of system that most people want, but because it will work exponentially better that the archaic top-down systems in place today. For some prior posts on this topic see:

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Inside the Mind of an Oligarch – Sheldon Adelson Proclaims “I Don’t Like Journalism”

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 11.38.44 AMIf you’ve read any of my articles over the past several years, you will be well aware of my disdain toward a small group of individuals I refer to as oligarchs, and their destructive influence on America and the world at large. When people hear “oligarch” they probably automatically assume I simply mean billionaires and other extraordinarily wealthy people, but as with most things in life, it’s not that simple.

In a nutshell, while many oligarchs are extremely wealthy (or have access to extreme wealth), not all people with extreme wealth are oligarchs. The term oligarch is reserved for those with extreme wealth who also want to control the political process, policy levers and most other aspects of the lives of the citizenry in a top-down tyrannical and undemocratic manner. They think they know best about pretty much everything, and believe unelected technocrats who share their worldview should be empowered so that they can unilaterally make all of society’s important decisions. The unwashed masses (plebs) in their minds are unnecessary distractions who must to be told what to do. Useless eaters who need to be brainwashed into worshipping the oligarch mindset, or turned into apathetic automatons incapable or unwilling to engage in critical thought. Either outcome is equally acceptable and equally encouraged.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

A “Magical Fairyland” – How Global Multi-National Corporations Avoid Taxes in Luxembourg

Screen Shot 2014-11-08 at 11.10.20 AM“A Luxembourg structure is a way of stripping income from whatever country it comes from,’’ said Stephen E. Shay, a professor of international taxation at Harvard Law School and a former tax official in the U.S. Treasury Department. The Grand Duchy, he said, “combines enormous flexibility to set up tax reduction schemes, along with binding tax rulings that are unique. It’s like a magical fairyland.”

The deals can be so complex that PwC accountants frequently include “before” and “after” diagrams to illustrate how money flows from subsidiary to subsidiary and across different countries and tax havens. The leaked records show that Luxembourg’s 2009 tax deal for Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories – which makes arthritis drugs and Ensure meal replacement shakes –features 79 steps including companies in Cyprus and Gibraltar. Abbott projected it would invest as much as $50 billion via Luxembourg.

More than 170 of the Fortune 500 companies have a Luxembourg branch, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. A total of $95 billion in profits from American corporations’ overseas operations flowed through Luxembourg in 2012, the most current statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show. On those profits, corporations paid $1.04 billion in taxes to Luxembourg – just 1.1 percent.

– From the ICIJ’s report: Leaked Documents Expose Global Companies’ Secret Tax Deals in Luxembourg

The following expose by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), at times reads like a movie script. Leaked documents, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, and a retired tax official named Marius Kohl, nicknamed “Monsieur Ruling,” who was described by a Belgian newspaper as “the guardian of the only door through which companies can enter the fiscal paradise of Luxembourg.  This piece has it all.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

American Upper Middle Class Share of Wealth is Worse than Every Country Besides Russia and Indonesia

Screen Shot 2014-11-06 at 11.53.35 AMOne of Liberty Blitzkrieg’s most popular posts in 2013 was titled: How Does America’s Middle Class Rank Globally? #27. Here’s an excerpt:

We are number 1 right? USA! USA! No one can beat our wealth creation machine, our economic dynamism, our level playing field and our bastions of higher education. We have a middle class that is the envy of the world, right?

Well, like so much of the “American dream” we have been force fed for a generation or more, this perception is not based in reality whatsoever. Sure it may have been the case for a couple of decades immediately after World War 2. Before the military-industrial-Wall Street complex fully took over the political process, but it certainly isn’t true any longer. Myths die hard and this one is particularly pernicious because it prevents people from changing things.

The data in that article was based on a comprehensive study published by Credit Suisse titled Global Wealth Data Book. Well, the 2014 version is now out, and the results are not pretty.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Profiting Off the “Law School Scam” and How Taxpayers Are on the Hook (As Usual)

Screen Shot 2014-11-05 at 2.56.05 PMThe following article serves as an terrifyingly poignant microcosm of the entire U.S. economy. It also contains language and practices that are right out of the subprime mortgage industry, which catalyzed the financial collapse of 2008.

The piece starts off by relaying the story of law professor, David Frakt, who was forcibly removed while in the middle of a speech at the Florida Coastal School of Law, for telling the faculty and staff the truth about the “for-profit” law school’s flawed and unethical business model.

For its private equity owners; however, it is the perfect “investment.” With unlimited federal funds available for graduate school loans, they take the money in now with little risk. As such, they simply accept almost anyone who applies, whether or not they are actually qualified to practice law (a large percentage are demonstrably not). For the law school students saddled with debt, and the taxpayer backing these loans, it’s not such a good deal. Crony Capitalism 101 wins again.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

U.S. Mint Temporarily Sold Out of Silver Eagles on “Tremendous Demand”

WAR IS PEACE 
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY 
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
TREMENDOUS DEMAND = PRICE COLLAPSE 

Should be good for another $2 down.

From CNBC:

The U.S. Mint said on Wednesday it has temporarily sold out of its American Eagle silver bullion coins following “tremendous” demand in the past several weeks.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

90-Year-Old WW2 Veteran and Two Clergymen Face 60 Days in Jail for Feeding the Homeless in Florida

Screen Shot 2014-11-05 at 11.40.54 AMDrop that plate right now!

– Florida police to 90-year-old WW2 vet Arnold Abbott as he tried to feed homeless people

Last week, I reported on the very disturbing fact that a Boynton Beach, Florida police officer had been accused of raping a 20-year old woman at gunpoint while on duty. A week later, we learn that police just 33 miles south, in Fort Lauderdale, raided a 90-year old World War II veteran and two clergymen and charged them with feeding the homeless. Under a new law, these three humanitarians face penalties of up to a $500 fine and/or 60 days in jail for, well, being humanitarians. No, I’m not making this up.

We learn from WPLG Local10:

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Video of the Day Doubleheader – George Carlin on Elections & Texas Tech Student Body Cluelessness

Earlier today, I let it all out there with my thoughts on the midterm elections 2014 and why I am optimistic about the future in the post: Thoughts on Election Day: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct.

In order to provide a little balance, and add some humor and cynicism on the topic, I present you with two videos that will most likely leave you feeling quite concerned.

First, the master, George Carlin:

Now, check out this video from the campus of Texas Tech. It’s actually hard to believe. I just hope the interviewer edited out all the informed students…

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Thoughts on Election Day: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct

Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 11.42.58 AMWhichever side emerges victorious, both Republicans and Democrats should face up to a much bigger truth: Neither party as currently constituted has a real future. Fewer and fewer Americans identify as either Republican or Democratic according to Gallup, and both parties are at recent or all-time lows when it comes to approval ratings. Just 39 percent give Democrats a favorable rating and just 33 percent do the same for Republicans. Not coincidentally, each party has also recently had a clear shot at implementing its vision of the good society. If you want to drive down your adversary’s approval rating, just give him the reins of power for a few years.

– From Nick Gillespie’s article: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct

Like so many others out there, in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, I became terrified about the future. I knew the financial system was a corrupt fraud (still is), and I became filled with fear as far as what might happen next. The fear wasn’t that a horribly dysfunctional and immoral financial system would come unglued, rather the fear was based in the uncertainty of the general public’s response.

Historically speaking, many of the worst political regimes are swept into power in a reactionary wave following the destruction of an older, flawed system. Hence the saying: Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. Or even: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. In other words, if good intentions coupled with tremendous upheaval can cause a hellish outcome, imagine the potential impact of bad intentions within such an environment. Those were the thoughts that filled my head during those years.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Picture of the Day – Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid: Separated at Birth?

While we all know any transition from Harry Reid to Mitch McConnell as leader of the Senate will lead to absolutely nothing in terms of real policy change, did you also realize these two captured politicians also look like they had been separated at birth? Can’t wait for Bush vs. Clinton in 2016!  #AmericanOligarchy Keep … Read more