News Items

Perpetual Assets Launches “Bitcoin for Bullion” Campaign

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I’ve mentioned the guys at Perpetual Assets several times before on this site. I met them last summer at the Liberty Mastermind Conference, and I’ve been extremely impressed with their vision when it comes to precious metals, crypto-currencies and a dedication to making this world a better place. Well, they just took their game to a … Read more

Walmart Admits in its Annual Report that its Profits Depend Heavily on Corporate Welfare

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Following up from my post earlier today, A First Look at a New Report on Crony Capitalism – Trillions in Corporate Welfare, some really juicy additional corporate welfare queen news has now come across my screen. It appears that Walmart has admitted the potentially severe adverse impact a reduction in food stamp payments could have on its bottom line. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who reads this site, as I have written about this many, many times. Most notably in the very popular post: McDonald’s Math: You Can’t Survive Working for Us.

Well now we have further evidence of this disturbing economic trend straight from the horse’s mouth: Walmart.

The LA Times reports that:

Wal-Mart’s annual report, issued late last week, puts a different spin on things. Buried within the long list of risk factors disclosed to its shareholders–that is, factors “outside our control” that could materially affect financial performance–are these: “changes in the amount of payments made under the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Plan and other public assistance plans, (and) changes in the eligibility requirements of public assistance plans.”

Yes, that says “materially impact.”

Wal-Mart followers say this is the first time the company has made a disclosure like that. 

I’m not sure if that is the case, I think they have mentioned it before, but I’m not sure. Either way…

Wal-Mart says it gets more than half its sales from its grocery departments. Since low-income shoppers are a big part of its clientele, it’s unsurprising that that squealing you hear is coming from its annual report. There’s no indication that Wal-Mart executives stepped up to the plate during the debate in Washington to warn Congress off these cuts in assistance to its customers.

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A First Look at a New Report on Crony Capitalism – Trillions in Corporate Welfare

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One of the primary topics on this website since it was launched has been the extremely destructive and explosive rise of crony capitalism throughout the USA. It is crony capitalism, as opposed to free markets, that has led to the gross inequality in American society we have today. Cronyism for the super wealthy starts at the very top with the Federal Reserve System, which consists of topdown economic central planners who manipulate the money supply and hence interest rates for the benefit of the financial oligarch class. It then trickles down through lobbyist money into the halls of Washington D.C., and ultimately filters down to local governments and then the average person on the street gaming welfare or disability.

As such, we now live in a culture of corruption and theft that is pervasive throughout society. One thing that bothers me to no end is when fake Republicans focus their criticism on struggling people who need welfare or food stamps to survive. They have this absurd notion that the whole welfare system doesn’t start with the multinational corporations and Central Banks at the top. In reality, it is at the top where the cancer starts, and that’s where we should focus in order to achieve real change.

That’s where a new report from Open the Books on corporate welfare comes in. In a preview of the publication, the organization notes:

If Republicans are going to get truly serious about cutting government spending, they are going to have to snip the umbilical cord from the Treasury to corporate America.  You can’t reform welfare programs for the poor until you’ve gotten Daddy Warbucks off the dole. Voters will insist on that — as well they should.

So why hasn’t it happened? Why hasn’t the GOP pledged to end corporate welfare as we know it?

Part of the explanation is that too many have gotten confused about the difference between free-market capitalism and crony capitalism.

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Facebook: Bringing People Together

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In case you missed it, Facebook just announced that it has bought virtual reality company Oculus for $2 billion. These sorts of acquisitions are likely to continue as long as Facebook’s stock remains overvalued. Personally, I think the Oculus team should’ve held out for more, as Zuckerberg would’ve likely paid at least $10 billion. Now … Read more

The IRS Rules on Bitcoin – Taxed as Property Not Currency

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So the IRS has finally issued important tax guidance for Bitcoin and it turned out exactly the way I suspected it would. By treating Bitcoin as “property” and not “currency” the IRS is saying that anyone who bought a bitcoin for a certain price and then spends it at a higher price is responsible for … Read more

Picture of the Day: Presenting the Average American Voter

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A friend of mine sent this to me earlier today from a family vacation to Disney World. I had always thought that the most terrifying venue to observe your fellow Americans is the airport, but apparently Disney World takes the cake. I suppose that makes sense. In fact, my first article to ever get published … Read more

Editor in Asia Leaves Bloomberg News Citing Censorship

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Last November, I highlighted how Bloomberg News seemed to be censoring stories about corruption in China in order to preserve sales of its extremely expensive Bloomberg LP terminals in the region. The article was titled: How Bloomberg “News” Censors the News.

It appears the drama has continued into 2014, with the New York Times reporting that Ben Richardson, an editor in Asia at Bloomberg News, announced that he had resigned in protest. From the NY Times:

Ben Richardson, an editor at large in Asia at Bloomberg News, announced his resignation on Monday, citing the company’s handling of an investigative report in China late last year.

He is the third reporter or editor to leave the organization since several news organizations reported last November that Bloomberg had declined to publish an investigative article that explored financial ties between one of the wealthiest men in China and the families of top Chinese leaders.

“I left Bloomberg because of the way the story was mishandled, and because of how the company made misleading statements in the global press” afterward, he said in an email to the media news site Romenesko. He also wrote that Bloomberg employees faced legal action if they spoke out publicly.

That’s some “free press” we’ve got going here.

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Illinois Church Told by City Officials It Can No Longer Provide Homeless People Shelter

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Throughout what has been one of the most brutal winters in recent memory, a small church in Rockford, Illinois decided to do the right thing and offer a warm, safe place to sleep for local homeless people. The church provided shelter to 30-50 people a night during the winter months, and probably even saved several lives as a result. For this horrific offense, city officials have zeroed in and told them they must stop this act of charity due to “zoning issues” and “safety hazards.”

This story is just another tale in a recent disturbing crackdown by local municipalities against private citizens and institutions trying to make life a little less painful for homeless people. Recall my very popular post from a month ago titled: South Carolina City Implements Law that Requires a $120 Permit to Feed Homeless People.

Now from WIFR 23News:

ROCKFORD (WIFR) — Leaders at a Rockford church say they have been told by the city that they can no longer act as a warming center and temporary homeless shelter because of zoning issues and apparent safety hazards.

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Eric Holder and the DOJ Have Spent Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on Unreported Personal Travel

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As the Attorney General of these United States, Eric Holder is the top legal advisor for the entire nation. As such, he has been in a position to help punish financial criminals and the mega-banks for the crimes they committed in the run-up to the financial crisis, and the egregious looting thereafter. Despite his unique … Read more

Tor Usage Soars in Turkey Following the Government’s Attempted Twitter Ban

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The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.
– John Gilmore

We’ve already seen authoritarian governments lash out against Twitter in the recent pasti Most notably, last May when the Saudi “religious police chief” stated that “anyone using social media sites – and especially Twitter – “has lost this world and his afterlife”. You can read my article on the absurd incident here if you missed it. 

Last week, Turkey joined the list of Twitter haters amongst government, and attempted to ban the social media service. So what did the citizens of Turkey do? As John Gilmore predicted in 1993, they interpreted the censorship as damage and routed around it. From The Washington Post:

At first the Twitter ban was relatively easy to circumvent and quickly backfired asTwitter exploded with activity in the country. Because most ISPs were implementing the ban by Domain Name System redirection, users could simply change their DNS server to rely on a public server outside the country who wasn’t engaging in the same misdirection. But on Saturday, researchers saw a shift in the way the block was implemented. Instead of DNS redirection, Twitter now appears to be blocked at the IP level.

But there are still a few ways to circumvent the ban, including using a Virtual Private Network to forge an encrypted tunnel outside of Turkey, using SMS (the method tweeted about by Twitter’s policy account near the beginning of blocking efforts), and Tor. Because the anonymous browsing tool reroutes users’ traffic through onion nodes throughout the world, it helps users bypass local censorship.

Here’s an image that demonstrates the recent surge in Tor usage:

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