Monthly Archives: March 2014

Interactive Map Shows How Much America’s Prisons Cost Taxpayers

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“The U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate, and obviously, someone has to pay to put people behind bars.  Using 2010 data from The Vera Institute, a justice policy nonprofit, Texas attorney David Breston and a team of designers created an interactive map showing how much prison costs in 40 states. Ten states’ Departments of Corrections didn’t participate in the Institute’s survey.  In the 40 participating states, researchers found total prison costs ran taxpayers $US39 billion — $US5.4 billion more than reflected in corrections budgets.”

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/david-breston-cost-of-prison-map-2014-3

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Ukraine’s Gold Reserves Secretly Flown Out by the New York Fed?

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“The unconfirmed source quoted by Metal.com, says that the operation to airlift Ukraine’s gold had been ordered by the acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk with a view to safe-keeping Ukraine’s gold reserves at the NY Fed, against a possible Russian invasion which could lead to the confiscation of Ukraine’s gold reserves.  The National Bank of Ukraine estimated Ukraine’s gold reserves in February to be worth $1.8 billion. According to William Kaye: ‘That would amount to a very nice down payment to the $5 billion that Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland boasted that the U.S. has already spent in their efforts to destabilize Ukraine, and put in place their own unelected  government.'”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraines-gold-reserves-secretely-flown-out-and-confiscated-by-the-new-york-federal-reserve/5373446

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Fraud from stolen bank cards highest since 2006

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“Consumers are being warned about a series of bank card scams, after fraud from stolen cards rose to its highest level in eight years.  Cards that were lost or stolen in the UK resulted in losses of £58.9m last year, the largest figure since 2006.  Losses from all types of card fraud rose by 16% in 2013, to £450m.  The UK Cards Association, which produced the figures, highlighted ‘distraction’ thefts of cards as a particular problem.  It warned that consumers are frequently being targeted while using their cards in shops or bars, or at cash points.  Typically they will have a bit of paper thrust in front of them, asking for directions. While they are distracted, the criminal will steal their card.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26576479

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Dutch Christian Democrats Push For Ban On Tor Network, Bitcoin

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“The questions were issued by two Dutch politicians, Peter Oskam and Eddy van Hijum, both members of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, who stressed the importance of scrutinizing the issue in the wake of this arrest, as well as the suicide of a Dutch teenager who purchased a firearm online.  The lawmakers were seeking to address the steps being taken by Opstelten and his agency to limit the purchase of firearms online. The correspondence suggested potential bans on bitcoin and the anonymous software system Tor as solutions to the stated concerns.  Opstelten’s full remarks also indicated that international cooperation, for now, remains the best possible defense against bitcoin.”

http://www.coindesk.com/dutch-official-downplays-need-for-bitcoin-ban-despite-criminal-use/

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Russia’s Anti-Bitcoin Stance May Be Softening, Reports Say

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“The letter asserts that a meeting of top Russian financial authorities in February did not result in a bitcoin ban, but rather was devoted to ‘combating crimes in the sphere of the economy devoted to the use of anonymous payment systems and cryptocurrencies on the territory of Russia’.  Translations of the posted letter indicate that the goal of the meeting was also to ‘develop a unified approach to the determination of the legal status of cryptocurrencies’.  Meeting attendees ‘discussed future directions for the legal regulation of the sphere of cryptocurrencies’, including establishing property rights for citizens and organisations in the field and introducing regulation for their use.”

http://www.coindesk.com/russias-anti-bitcoin-stance-may-softening-reports-say/

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Russia Threatens To Dump US Treasurys If Sanctions Imposed

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“Russia is playing the money card.  Sergei Glazyev, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that the country could sell all the U.S. government bonds it owns should the country impose sanctions on Russia.  ‘Most of the sanctions against Russia will bring harm to the United States itself, because as far as trade relations with the United States go, we don’t depend on them in any way,’ Glazyev said, adding that the country is a creditor to the United States. ‘We hold a decent amount of treasury bonds – more than $200 billion – and if the United States dares to freeze accounts of Russian businesses and citizens, we can no longer view America as a reliable partner,’ he said.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/ukraine-crisis-takes-new-spin-russia-threatens-dump-us-treasurys-if-sanctions-imposed-1559238

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The ballad of “Bitcoin Jesus”: The tech millionaire who fears for his life

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“I have sworn not to write the name of the island where Roger Ver is currently residing, the reason being that he fears for his life.  Ver and his his partner of two years, Ayaka, have been lingering down in the Caribbean for several weeks now, ever since he first began to seek economic citizenship, on one of the islands (a maneuver necessary before obtaining full citizenship). That was granted weeks ago, and now he wants to renounce his U.S. citizenship as well.  Ver is a legend in the Bitcoin community, known as the ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ for his tireless evangelism of the virtual currency.”

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/09/the_ballad_of_bitcoin_jesus_the_tech_millionaire_evangelist_who_fears_for_his_life/

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Bitcoin ATM Company Refused Account by Bank of Ireland

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“Ireland’s first bitcoin ATM company suffered a setback yesterday as the Bank of Ireland rejected their application for a bank account. Dolan clarified:  ‘[The bank] informed me that: ‘Your account application has been rejected due to the nature of your business. We’re not comfortable with it.’’  Dolan says their business advisor at the Bank of Ireland claimed instructions came from on high.”

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-atm-company-refused-account-bank-ireland/

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Cyprus Central Bank Governor resigns with $250K golden parachute

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“One of the main criticisms directed against Demetriades has been how, under his watch, the now defunct Laiki Bank accumulated around €9.5 billion in emergency liquidity aid, only to buckle and fail when the ECB threatened to pull assistance.  ‘How much independence can a central banker have when, from his statements, it appears he was serving other expediencies instead of his country’s interest,’ President Nicos Anastasiades said last year.  For the state to get its €10 billion in bailout funds last March, the president said, it was told to privatise state companies, seize deposits, make painful cuts, and raise taxes.”

http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/03/10/cbc-governor-panicos-demetriades-resigns/

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War Is a Certainty

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“Any country that is considering waging war against another country should first consider that the loser is almost always the country that runs out of money first.  No venture is more costly than warfare. The EU and the US are bankrupt now. Those presently living in those locales may escape actual duty in the military, but they will unquestionably be expected to pick up the tab through taxation.  Those who presently feel that their obligations to their governments are already barely manageable might wish to consider what they will be, both during and after a major war.”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/war-is-a-certainty

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