Tag Archives: System D

Bankrupt California city facing legalizing marijuana for revenue

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“The bankrupt California city of San Bernardino has a new idea for raising revenue – legalize medical marijuana.  Ironically, the plan was spurred by concerns about not having enough resources to crack down on the illegal medical marijuana dealers springing up all over town.  So the city is now looking at legalizing the sellers, and using tax proceeds to enforce the regulations.  Police have reported as many as 20 illegal storefronts in town at any given time, said the city attorney. ‘We have in this city a proliferation – and a lot of cities in California are experiencing it – of illegal medical marijuana dispensaries. These people are defiant and they are opening up these things right and left.'”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/31/bankrupt-california-city-eyes-marijuana-for-revenue/

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Man Choked To Death By NYPD For Selling Cigarettes

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“The 350-pound man, about to be arrested on charges of illegally selling cigarettes, was arguing with the police. When an officer tried to handcuff him, the man pulled free. The officer immediately threw his arm around the man’s neck and pulled him to the ground, holding him in what appears, in a video, to be a chokehold. The man can be heard saying ‘I can’t breathe’ over and over again as other officers swarm about.  Now, the death of the man, Eric Garner, 43, soon after the confrontation on Staten Island, is being investigated by the police and prosecutors. At the center of the inquiry is the officer’s use of a chokehold — a maneuver that was banned by NYPD more than 20 years ago.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/nyregion/staten-island-man-dies-after-he-is-put-in-chokehold-during-arrest.html

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Europe counts the value of prostitution, drugs to bolster GDP

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“As of September, all European Union countries will be required to take fuller accounting of trade in sex, drugs and other underground businesses as part of an overhaul of economic measurements by Eurostat, the European statistics agency.  Because GDP is such an important number one that can sway national policies and make or break politicians the European Union wants numbers ‘better reflecting the economic environment’, said Vincent Bourgeais, a Eurostat spokesman.  With EU governments obliged to reduce debt as a percentage of their economies, the changes are also expected to make growth rates look better, possibly also making debt ratios seem rosier.”

http://www.afr.com/p/world/europe_counts_the_value_of_prostitution_IpOxFOYSD6lXb4JVCl9buK

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Roberto Escobar on Colombian Cocaine, Pablo, and the Drug War

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“Roberto, of course, is specially placed to speak about the failed war on drugs. And like many others who have firsthand experience with the war on drugs, he understands the basic futility of the current approach and speaks to the ramifications in a logical and even eloquent way. Mr. Escobar also makes the practical point that along with the inevitable legalization of marijuana –­ and potentially many other drugs as well ­– ought to come some form of education. Roberto comes across as a person who seems at peace with his life and the tumultuous events that he has experienced. Even more importantly, he doesn’t seem embittered despite all he has undergone both mentally and physically.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/exclusive-interviews/35471/Anthony-Wile-Roberto-Escobar-on-Colombias-Cocaine-History-Pablo-Escobar-and-the-Failed-War-on-Drugs/

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Withdrawing Political Legitimacy

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“The World Wide Web is the greatest idea-smuggling network in history. The question is: Which smuggling operations will put the Web to its most productive uses?  My statement of faith is this: not the state.  Smuggling can lead to secession. It can lead to a withdrawal of faith and hope in the messianic state. It can lead to institutional alternatives to the messianic state.  Example: online education as a substitute for tax-funded education. This is technically possible today. At some point, community by community, there will be a tipping point.  The mark of this tipping point will be this: the inability of local governments to get bond issues passed, despite the threatened loss of federal matching funds.”

http://www.garynorth.com/public/12641.cfm

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Under the Microscope: The Real Costs of a Dollar

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“Once upon a time, most paper currency in the world was backed by gold and directly exchangeable for it.  On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended the Bretton Woods System (Ghizoni, 1971), in what is now known as ‘The Nixon Shock’, allowing all currencies to float freely, with only the backing of the faith and credit of their issuing sovereign state. This type of currency is known as ‘fiat currency’, i.e., currency that is given value by government decree (Keynes, et al., 1978). This report will not discuss the relative merits and drawbacks of gold-backed currency and fiat-money, only the triple-bottom-line impacts of each.”

http://www.coindesk.com/microscope-real-costs-dollar/

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Liberty, NORML and Marijuana Legalization vs. Decriminalization

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“There has always been a market for marijuana. In many ways, it’s a product that, for decades, has literally sold itself. When the day comes that state and federal laws allow for the licensed production and commercial distribution of cannabis, it is likely that the majority of the cannabis consuming public will choose that legal, above-ground product over a black market, illicit product. And in that respect, there will be an opportunity for licensed entrepreneurs and businesses, and for the investors backing those entrepreneurs and businesses, to get in at the ground floor of what will certainly be a lucrative market that enjoys consistent high levels of public demand.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/exclusive-interviews/35378/Anthony-Wile-Paul-Armentano-on-Individual-Liberty-NORML-and-Marijuana-Legalization-vs-Decriminalization/

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US govt to auction $18mn worth of bitcoin seized from Silk Road

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“The Department of Justice is looking to make a considerable windfall from the sale with bitcoin increasing in value recently.  The now-defunct cyber-black market was closed down in October of last year.  Nine months on the US Marshals service is preparing to auction 30,000 bitcoin of the Silk Road stash.  The sale of the bitcoin will take the form of an online auction which will take place on June 27. Participation in the auction will not be cheap, with buyers required to make a refundable deposit of $200,000 to a government bank to take part. The bidding itself will take place over a period of 12 hours where blocks of 3,000 Bitcoin (or about $1.8 million each) will be up for grabs.”

http://rt.com/usa/165692-bitcoin-silk-road-siezed/

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Uncertainty dominates new hemp market

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“Would-be hemp farmers are having mixed success navigating red tape on everything from seed acquisition to processing the finished plant. It will take years, farmers and regulators agree, before there’s a viable market for hemp.  Hemp is prized for oils, seeds and fiber, but its production was prohibited for five decades because the plant can be manipulated to enhance a psychoactive chemical, THC, making the drug marijuana.  The Farm Bill enacted this year ended decades of required federal permission to raise hemp, but only with state permission and checks to make sure the hemp doesn’t contain too much THC.  Fifteen states have removed barriers to hemp production.”

http://www.dailynews.com/business/20140607/uncertainty-dominates-new-hemp-market

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Mexican pot farmers give up, switch to supplying heroin to pill addicts

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“With the wholesale price of marijuana falling — driven in part by decriminalization in sections of the United States — Mexican drug farmers are turning away from cannabis and filling their fields with opium poppies.  Mexican heroin is flooding north as U.S. authorities trying to contain an epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse have tightened controls on synthetic opiates such as hydrocodone and OxyContin. As the pills become more costly and difficult to obtain, Mexican trafficking organizations have found new markets for heroin in places such as Winchester, Va., and Brattleboro, Vt., where, until recently, needle use for narcotics was rare or unknown.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tracing-the-us-heroin-surge-back-south-of-the-border-as-mexican-cannabis-output-falls/2014/04/06/58dfc590-2123-4cc6-b664-1e5948960576_story.html

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