Category Archives: Essays

You’re a Criminal in a Mass Surveillance World – How to Not Get Caught

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“To apologists of mass surveillance, what did Anne Frank have to hide? I ask because the person credited with popularizing the nothing-to-hide argument is none other than Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda for the Third Reich.  Minister Goebbels would have wrung his hands with delight at having this depth of data on his regime’s citizens. But this data is absolutely trivial compared to what the U.S. government actually knows about you. Thanks to William Binney and Edward Snowden, we know that the U.S. regime has for many years been secretly constructing the means to monitor and record every aspect of our lives.”

https://bananas.liberty.me/youre-a-criminal-in-a-mass-surveillance-world-how-to-not-get-caught/

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Is Your Out-of-State LLC “Doing Business” in California?

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“Note that the FTB’s determination of when an out-of-state LLC must file tax returns is in contrast with the California Corporations Code.  Under the California Corporations Code, any entity that ‘actively engages in any transaction in California for the purpose of financial gain or profit’ must register with the Secretary of State.  But an out-of-state corporation is not considered to be transacting business in California merely because it is a member or a manager of a domestic or out-of-state LLC [..].  Moreover, the new California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of January 1, 2014 provides that an out-of-state LLC ‘may’ register in California and does not impose penalties for failing to do so.”

http://www.corporatesecuritieslawblog.com/2014/07/is-your-out-of-state-llc-doing-business-in-california/

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The worst place in the world to start a business

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“As a thanks for conducting commerce in their state – commerce that my clients said they would have been bankrupt without – I was subjected to years of hounding by the California Franchise Tax Board.  Even after I paid their $800 annual extortion fee for running a corporation there.  I’ve long said there is no – repeat no – reason for doing business in California. It is, without a doubt, the worst place in the world to start a business.  They’ll tax you endlessly and mercilessly. They’ll subject you to nonsense regulations. They’ll send some inefficient buffoon to your office to inspect everything you’re doing and harass you. Hiring people there is a disaster.”

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2014/01/29/the-worst-place-in-the-world-to-start-a-business/

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Rome: Money, Mischief and Minted Crises

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“In a period of about 370 years, the denarius and its successors were debased incrementally from 98 percent to less than one percent silver. The massive spending of the welfare/warfare state exacted a terrible toll in the name of either ‘helping’ Romans or making war on non-Romans. Financial and military crises mixed with poor leadership, expediency, and a clear misunderstanding of economic principles led to the destruction Rome’s monetary system.  Honest and transparent policies could have saved the Romans from centuries of economic hardships. The question future historians will answer is, ‘What did the Americans learn from the Roman experience?'”

http://fee.org/anythingpeaceful/detail/rome-money-mischief-and-minted-crises

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Jacob Hornberger: U.S. Soldiers Died for Empire and Hegemony

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“For obvious reasons, U.S. officials, as well as many of the family members of the deceased, can’t bring themselves to admit that and so they settle for just mindlessly repeating the mantra, ‘They died defending our country,’  Consider the Spanish American War in 1898. Did Spain ever attack and invade the United States? Nope. The U.S. government intervened in a war of independence that was being waged between the Spanish Empire and its colonial possessions, including Cuba and the Philippines. Thus, U.S. soldiers clearly didn’t die in the defense of our country in that war.”

http://fff.org/2015/05/25/u-s-soldiers-died-empire-hegemony/

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Why you need offshore gold storage

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“If you choose to store your gold in a private vault facility, you add a layer of privacy to your assets. At least as I write this, precious metals held in non-bank facilities are not subject to government reporting in the United States.  There are gold storage facilities in more privacy-friendly countries from Switzerland and Austria to Singapore and Hong Kong. Austrians love for secrecy gave birth to one of the world’s only anonymous gold storage facilities, located in Vienna.  Asians love gold and the economic centers of the continent are making it easier to buy and store metals. I recently wrote about how to get secure offshore gold storage in two different Singapore vaults with ease.”

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2013/05/06/why-you-need-offshore-gold-storage/

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Bill Bonner: To the Class of 2015, Part 2

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“We — your parents — enjoyed an economic expansion that began when we were born and continued, with only short interruptions, until we retired. We got out of school with little or no student debt. We could start businesses with generally few impediments. We could borrow money to fund our businesses and our lives. We could hire, fire, switch jobs…buy and sell houses…move from place to place… We were freer…and richer…than you will be…unless you can wipe the slate clean of our debts, our foolish wars and dumbbell programs, and our attempts to hold back the future and prevent you from living rich, full, free lives of your own.”

https://www.equitymaster.com/dailyreckoning/detail.asp?date=05/12/2015&story=2&title=To-the-Class-of-2015-Part-2

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John Hussman: Recognizing the Risks to Financial Stability

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“The past several years have featured little more than a gigantic asset swap, the short description being that massive volumes of government debt have been swapped by central banks for massive volumes of idle bank reserves, while massive volumes of low-yielding, covenant-lite debt have been issued into the hands of yield-seeking investors, in order to retire massive volumes of corporate equities at elevated valuations through buybacks. This has left the U.S. economy with a much more leveraged balance sheet than before the last crisis, and with much greater sensitivity to equity risk and debt default than at any point in history.”

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc150511.htm

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Smartphone & Laptop Searches: Know Your Rights

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“There are a lot of reasons why you might not want an airport security agent to rifle through your computer.  When flying, we consent to put our laptops in separate x-ray bins for inspection. Likewise, depending on the routes we fly, we also consent to turn our phones and laptops on to prove they are genuine. But what about when the scrutiny our devices undergo reaches another level?  We’re going to explore what rights customs and TSA agents have to inspect your mobile devices and computers.”

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/smartphone-laptop-searches-know-rights/

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The real story behind the demise of America’s once-mighty streetcars

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“After World War I, the value of 5 cents plummeted, but streetcars had to get approval from municipal commissions for any fare hikes — and the idea of the 5-cent fare had become ingrained as something of a birthright among many members of the public. The public had little sympathy for the traction magnates who’d entered into these contracts. Today, many progressives and urbanists are boosters of streetcars, but back then they were often seen as a bastion of corruption — especially because of their owners’ history of violent strike-breaking.  Because of these factors, some streetcar companies began going into bankruptcy as early as the 1920s.”

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/7/8562007/streetcar-history-demise

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