Tag Archives: Ash Heap Of History

The Dark Web Drug Lords Who Got Away

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“Despite Ulbricht’s ultimate punishment, the lesson for anyone closely watching the Dark Web drug trade has hardly been one of inevitable consequences. As independent researcher Gwern Branwen has documented in an ongoing survey of more than 70 Dark Web drug markets created after Ulbricht founded the Silk Road, only five of those sites’ administrators have been arrested. For many of the others, the security model Ulbricht pioneered—using Tor and bitcoin to protect administrators, buyers and sellers—has successfully kept law enforcement fumbling in the shadows.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/dark-web-drug-lords-got-away/

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China-U.S. Visa Deal a Problem for U.S. Immigration Consultants

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“A deal to ease visa requirements between China and the U.S., combined with Beijing’s crackdown on corruption, spells trouble for the industry serving Chinese who want to emigrate.  That business is already under pressure as countries such as Canada shut down programs that effectively allowed rich people to buy citizenship. China is the top source for investment-based immigration in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, Cyprus and Portugal. Chinese looking to buy permanent residency sometimes pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees to the agencies, which are based in China and overseas.”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-u-s-visa-deal-a-problem-for-agencies-helping-chinese-emigrate-1415900300

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80% Catalans say Yes to independence in symbolic ‘referendum’

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“The Minister of Justice, Rafael Catala, on behalf of the Spanish government, defined the vote as ‘political propaganda organized by pro-independence forces.’  After Spain’s High Court ruled the independence referendum proposed by Catalan leader Artur Mas unconstitutional last month, the Madrid government has also issued a ban on the informal poll, forbidding Catalans from making any public show of support for independence.  Earlier, the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, stated the vote ‘will not have any effect.’  But that did not stop some 41,000 volunteers from organizing the election with over 1,300 polling centers set up for the historic vote.”

http://rt.com/news/203799-catalonia-independence-vote-spain/

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Jim Rogers says Korea to unify within 5 years

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“I wanted to go to Rason because that is where the Russians just rebuilt the railroad across Siberia into Rason and that is where they are rebuilding the port. Rason is going to become the most important port in Asia in the next decade or two. If you put goods on the train in Rason, they get to Berlin two weeks earlier [than the current alternative]. Putin knows this, the Koreans know this, the Chinese just put in a railroad across China and Kazakhstan to get things to Europe much faster so geography is changing as we speak. You wouldn’t know it if you watch (American TV).  I went to the market, you could get anything. Stuff that I don’t even have myself.”

http://www.futuresmag.com/2014/10/10/rogers-says-korea-to-unify-within-5-years

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Alibaba’s Alipay And PayPal Will, And Should, Destroy Physical Banks

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“Who needs banks? I’m not questioning the basis of our financial system—I’m talking about  physical (high cost, low service) bank branches.  Someone will truly digitize the entire experience—and when they do, the product will look a lot like China’s Alipay. Controlled by Jack Ma  and other Alibaba executives, the PayPal-like company processed $519 billion worth of digital payments in 2013 (Paypal processed $180 billion). Alipay offers a lot more than easy e-commerce payments.  Alibaba’s payment platform is morphing into all-in-one banking tool:  a savings bank, wire service and investment house. Most importantly, it’s all done via mobile device.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/05/08/why-alibabas-alipay-and-paypal-will-and-should-destroy-physical-banks/

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Dr. Grinspoon’s Kind War: Interview With a Renegade Marijuana Proponent

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“I was put up for early promotion to full professor in about 1975, a few years after Marihuana Reconsidered came out. My chief, who had put me up for early full professorship, was on the promotions committee. He came back from the promotions committee meeting and asked me to come to his office to give me the bad news. They had turned me down. When I asked him why he said, ‘Well, they loved your work on schizophrenia, but Marihuana Reconsidered – they hated that.’ I asked why. He said, ‘They said it was too controversial. [..]’ I said, ‘What has controversy got to do with it? We’re in the academy. Isn’t scholarship the criterion, or one of the most important?'”

http://www.thedailybell.com/exclusive-interviews/35602/Anthony-Wile-Dr-Grinspoons-Kind-War-Interview-With-a-Renegade-Marijuana-Proponent/

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Revolt of the Luddites: Berlin Moves Against Uber and Airbnb

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“Vested interests may be harmed by the injection of consumer choice into the market, but the reaction – to ban and aggressively regulate – may not stem the appearance of flexible electronic facilities that enable consumer choice in a variety of industries. Electronic aps like Airbnb and Uber are bringing down prices and contributing to traveling convenience. Despite efforts to do away with such services, the likelihood of long-term success is probably no better than that of Luddites who used to smash machines with pickaxes and sledgehammers. The ‘machine age’ survived and so probably will Airbnb and Uber – or at least variants.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35595/Revolt-of-the-Luddites-Berlin-Moves-Against-Uber-and-Airbnb/

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David Crane’s Green Vision For Carbon-Belching NRG Energy

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“To further justify NRG’s push into ‘distributed generation’ like solar panels and basement generators, Crane talks up his belief that the U.S. power grid will succumb to a slow death caused by anticarbon regulation and ever-cheaper alternatives like rooftop solar. It’s like the U.S. Postal Service, he says. All the important mail already goes by UPS or FedEx. That puts the post office in a death spiral: It has to raise rates to cover costs, but those higher rates drive away more customers. Electric utilities have already begun responding in the same way by charging home solar adopters new fees for staying attached to the grid.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/07/02/david-cranes-green-vision-for-carbon-belching-nrg-energy/

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New York Times: End Prohibition, Again

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“[The] Sunday New York Times’ editorial calling for an end to cannabis prohibition in America, affirms in my mind, after nearly twenty four years publicly advocating for cannabis law reforms at NORML, the end of cannabis prohibition in our nation is nearly upon the rest of the country (beyond Colorado and Washington State). This is the same editorial board and opinions page that would with great frequency in the 1980s/90s publish some of the most stridently pro-cannabis prohibition editorials and columns found anywhere in the world, let alone from the urbane and ‘liberal’ New York Times, led by ardent cannabis foe, former editor and columnist A.M. Rosenthal.”

http://blog.norml.org/2014/07/26/new-york-times-end-prohibition-again/

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The Evolution of the Marijuana Marketplace

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“For the better part of 30 years, due to the war on drugs suppoted by prohibition, marijuana production was driven indoors, away from peering eyes. The advances that were made in technologically-driven growing have been impressive to say the least.  This is, in fact, one of the reasons that drug company resistance to marijuana [legalization] is likely to fail.  It would seem that those seeking to support this particular prohibition are probably not aware of the political and economic forces lined up against them.  A political consensus will drive drug legalization forward; technological innovations will boost productivity and the bottom line. This is a powerful combination.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/editorials/35472/Anthony-Wile-The-Evolution-of-the-Marijuana-Marketplace/

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