Monthly Archives: March 2013

Swiss to Vote on Initiative to Return Gold Stored in the US to Switzerland

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220px-GenIsaacBrock1

“Enough signatures have been collected for an initiative to force a vote to ensure that the Swiss National Bank:  1. Stops selling gold reserves.  2. Keeps 20% of its assets in gold (currently 10%).   3. Repatriates gold held abroad (including in the US).  The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), the Christian Democrats (PDC), and the Liberal-Radical Party (PLR) are in the process of writing an initiative to anchor bank secrecy in the Constitution, with some exceptions for criminal investigations.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/03/20/swiss-to-vote-on-initiative-to-return-gold-stored-in-the-us-to-switzerland-new-initiative-being-drafted-to-protect-bank-secrecy/

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The Ever-Growing Insanity of Venezuelan Exchange Controls

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nodrop6

“With soaring import demand due to double-digit inflation, collapsing local production of almost everything other than the ever-flowing black gold, and increasing regime uncertainty ever since the Comandante’s passing, there seems to be no end in sight for the bizarre efforts with which the Venezuelan government is trying to sustain foreign exchange controls.  If you want to get a good grasp of the whole shenanigan, make sure to read this, this and this, by Francisco Toro and Emiliana Duarte at Caracas Chronicles.”

http://c4ss.org/content/17784

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Argentina Turns To Gold As Inflation Tops 26%

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EPJ13

“In the country Paul Krugman hailed as a Keynesian success story, the people are fleeing the government’s currency. Banco de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina’s only bank offering gold bullion coins and bars to investors and savers is negotiating with mining companies to purchase gold direct as surging demand depletes the scrap supply.   The bank began marketing gold to clients after Argentina tightened currency controls in October 2011.  Banco Ciudad is the only bank left that trades in gold after Fernandez banned the purchase of certified 99.99% pure gold for savings in July. The bank sells it at 99.96% purity.”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/03/dissing-krugman-argentina-turns-to-gold.html

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Cyprus risks euro exit after EU bailout ultimatum

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“The European Union gave Cyprus till Monday to raise the billions of euros it needs to secure an international bailout or face a collapse of its financial system that could push it out of the euro currency zone.  Trying to placate its lenders, the government proposed to parliament a ‘solidarity fund’ that would bundle state assets, including future gas revenues, as the basis for an emergency bond issue, likened by JP Morgan to ‘a national fire sale’.  It also sought the power to impose capital controls on banks, a type of measure unseen since before the country joined the single currency bloc five years ago.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/us-cyprus-parliament-idUSBRE92G03I20130321

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Supreme Court rules ‘first sale doctrine’ applies to lawful copies of a copyrighted work

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“The US Supreme Court sided Tuesday with a former Thai student who made $90,000 reselling text books bought abroad and sparked a copyright row with a publisher.  Supap Kirtsaeng, who arrived in the United States in 1997 to study math at the University of Southern California on a scholarship, had asked his friends and family to buy the books, published by John Wiley & Sons, which were cheaper back home.  John Wiley & Sons filed a complaint in 2008 alleging illegal importation and resale without the payment of exclusive distribution rights protected by copyright.  Lower courts had sided with the publisher, imposing a $600,000 fine on Kirtsaeng.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/19/supreme-court-rules-first-sale-doctrine-applies-to-lawful-copies-of-a-copyrighted-work/

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Federal judge: ‘Clipping’ news articles violates copyright law

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“A US federal judge has ruled that the online news ‘clipping’ service Meltwater violates copyright law by using excerpts from Associated Press articles, the parties said Thursday.  ‘Investigating and writing about newsworthy events occurring around the globe is an expensive undertaking and enforcement of the copyright laws permits AP to earn the revenue that underwrites that work,’ the judge said in a 91-page opinion.  ‘Permitting Meltwater to take the fruit of AP’s labor for its own profit, without compensating AP, injures AP’s ability to perform this essential function of democracy.'”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/21/federal-judge-clipping-news-articles-violates-copyright-law/

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New York man released after being wrongly imprisoned for 23 years

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“A New Yorker was freed Thursday after serving more than 20 years in prison for the murder of a rabbi that the authorities now say he did not commit.  David Ranta was sentenced to 37 years behind bars after being convicted in 1991 of killing an Orthodox Jewish rabbi during a botched robbery. He always maintained his innocence.  The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office announced an internal probe had found evidence unavailable during the trial that cleared the imprisoned man.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/21/new-york-man-released-after-being-wrongly-imprisoned-for-23-years/

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‘Poet climber’ sidesteps security and scales U.S. embassy in Paris

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“A self-styled ‘poet climber’ on Thursday managed to sidestep security and climb on to the roof of the US Embassy building in Paris.  Herve Couasnon, whose previous stunts have included sneaking into France’s National Assembly and a nuclear power station, told AFP by phone from the roof that he wanted to meet Barack Obama, give the president his CV and talk peace — a reference to Obama’s ongoing Middle East trip.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/21/poet-climber-sidesteps-security-and-scales-u-s-embassy-in-paris/

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CIA’s big data mission: ‘Collect everything and hang onto it forever’

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“‘It is really very nearly within our grasp to be able to compute on all human generated information,’ he added, explaining that nearly all mobile phones now contain a camera, a microphone, a light sensor, an accelerometer and GPS, among other sensors.  The prevalence of sensors has led to a whole new world of biometric information, Hunt said, listing off a variety of ways the sensors in a mobile device can be used to identify the person carrying it. He pinpointed the most effective method as gait analysis, or watching the way a person walks and creating a complex data profile based upon their movements.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/21/cias-big-data-mission-collect-everything-and-hang-onto-it-forever/

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Smart Drones

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“IF you find the use of remotely piloted warrior drones troubling, imagine that the decision to kill a suspected enemy is not made by an operator in a distant control room, but by the machine itself. Imagine that an aerial robot studies the landscape below, recognizes hostile activity, calculates that there is minimal risk of collateral damage, and then, with no human in the loop, pulls the trigger.  Welcome to the future of warfare. While Americans are debating the president’s power to order assassination by drone, powerful momentum — scientific, military and commercial — is propelling us toward the day when we cede the same lethal authority to software.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/keller-smart-drones.html?smid=tw-share&_r=3&pagewanted=all&

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