Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Monday 01.14.2013
Illinois To Start Tracking Gold Transactions
GoldSilverWorlds.com
Last year the Illinois senate passed a bill called SB3341 or "Precious Metal Purchasing Act." The bill is still pending approval of the house. However, it is likely just a matter of time until the act is approved. In essence, the bill obliges persons in the business of purchasing precious metals to obtain proof of ownership, create a record of sale and verify the identity of the seller. It is also prohibited to pay for the precious metals in cash. All payments have to be carried out electronically. The precious metals dealer also has to keep records for sale for at least one year or even up to 5 years if the transaction value is over 500$. Furthermore, all collected information has to be reported to the local law enforcement agency.
Gold Market Turns To China For Support
By Tim Iacono - SeekingAlpha.com
….Late in the week, better-than-expected trade figures from China spurred hopes of stronger demand for raw materials, leading to a precious metals advance. This persisted until higher-than-expected inflation in China was reported on Friday, prompting buyers to turn into sellers on fears that rising prices may limit the government's ability to provide more stimulus for the world's second-largest economy that now appears to be rebounding.
But, without a doubt, the most important gold-related news to emerge from China last week was of surging gold imports. As has been the case over the last year, demand from China is likely to play a key role in supporting metal prices and, eventually, pushing prices up and out of their recent trading range.
Report commissioned by World Gold Council
hints at the war against gold
By: Chris Powell - GoldSeek.com
A report commissioned by the World Gold Council for the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London, written by the chairman of the forum's advisory board, Meghnad Desai, more or less acknowledges what we've never seen the gold council acknowledge, the most important aspect of gold's place in the international financial system -- that is, that there is a war against gold.
"Most crucial with respect to the role of gold," Desai writes in his introduction, "the previously dominant Western economies have attempted to dismantle the yellow metal's monetary role, and -- for a variety of reasons -- this has comprehensively failed."
Breaking News: OMFIF Report
Advocates the Official Remonetization of Gold
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
In a report published today, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a global organization of central banks and sovereign wealth funds, recommends that gold be remonetized for use as international money, alongside major currencies. OMFIF gives a number of reasons for this but they boil down it to gold's historical role in establishing and maintaining confidence and stability in international monetary relations. Such confidence and stability have dramatically declined as a result of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, to the detriment of the global economy. Falling back on the solid foundation of gold is the best available way to eventually move forward with healthy and sustainable growth in global trade, to all countries' mutual benefit, and to bring an end to the escalating 'currency wars' that increasingly threaten the global economy.
Gold Closer To Become Officially Money … Again
Gold Silver Worlds
A new paper published by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) describes how gold is ready to become officially part of the monetary system … again. In order to stabilize the world monetary system, in the light of a deteriorating global currency war and the lack of a real alternative world reserve currency, gold is the only alternative currency that is ready to take on a leading role. One thing is for sure, it is the ONLY time tested currency as ALL paper based money systems have failed in history. Although the Renminbi is a candidate to play an leading role in the future, it is not ready to take up that role yet. One thing will be proven once again: Gold was money and gold continues to be money, although we temporarily somehow "forgot" in it in the West.
Why Gold Is Not In A Bubble: Interview With Egon Von Greyerz
By Fabrice Drouin Ristori - SeekingAlpha.com Fabrice Drouin Ristori: We are here in Zurich with Egon von Greyerz, founding member and manager of Matterhorn Asset Management and Goldswitzerland.com. Thank you for having us. Can you tell us when did you decide to invest in physical gold and silver, and why did you take this decision in the past? Egon von Greyerz: Well, back in 2002, we saw that the world was in a mess. Governments were running deficits, banks were increasing credit at an enormous amount, and we thought that for our investors wealth protection was absolutely critical. At that time, gold was $300, the low had been a couple of years earlier at $250, but we considered that gold was the best way to protect the assets of our clients from the destruction of paper money that we saw coming in the ensuing years. So that's why we advised our clients to put up to 50 percent of their assets into gold, into physical gold.
Public U.S. gold audit petition hits White House website GATA and other gold cartel conspiracy theorists are hoping a gold reserve audit petition filed on the White House website will draw more public attention to their cause.
Author: Dorothy Kosich - MineWeb.com
RENO (MINEWEB) -
The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) and other advocates--who argue the quantity of gold held by the world's central banks, international bullion banks, and future exchanges is overstated--are backing a petition demanding an assayed public audit of the U.S. gold reserve, published Wednesday on the White House petitions website.
The petition reads: "As of 12/31/2012, the US Treasury claims to hold 261 million ounces of gold at Denver, Fort Knox, West Point and at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This bullion was last subjected to a full physical audit in 1953."
Silver Demand set for Dramatic climb to Historic High in 2013
Commodity Trade Mantra - SilverBearCafe.com
Silver Investment has so far been one of the most popular market moves of 2013. Silver seems set to achieve a new all-time price record in 2013 on a relentless and historic climb reaching as high as $55 to $64 an ounce. The out-of-proportion Gold to Silver ratio which should move back down is one of the best reasons why Silver will rise faster than Gold. Higher investment demand as paper money loses value & at the same time Gold Prices lose their biggest support – the Ultra loose monetary policy of many central Banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, namely the QE. Higher industrial demand will give Silver a double sided edge as it's used for solar panels, lighting, electronics and much more.
Silver Forecast Is $90 In 2013?
Silver Strageties - SilverBearCafe.com
The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting "sucked all of the oxygen out of the room for gold bulls - and if not for the reversal in silver, I believe the sell-off in gold would be more pronounced," said Steve Roy, Chief Technical Analyst for Equity Management Academy.
Gold's weakness was set off by Thursday's release of the minutes from the Fed's last meeting, which showed that several Fed officials thought the central bank would be able to slow or stop its bond purchases - a method of increasing monetary stimulus that goes beyond low interest rates - well before December 2013.
Peter Schiff Interviews Marc Faber
On What Will Happen in 2013 - CNBC 1/10/2013
Marc Faber, editor of the "Gloom, Boom & Doom Report," offers up his predictions for the coming year. With Peter Schiff, Euro Pacific Capital, CNBC's Mandy Drury and the Futures Now Traders, Rich Ilczyszyn at the CME and Anthony Grisanti at the Nymex.
Reid to Obama: OK to skip Congress on debt ceiling
By MANU RAJU and JOHN BRESNAHAN - Politico.com
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats are putting new pressure on the White House to circumvent Congress to boost the nation's debt ceiling if no bipartisan agreement can be reached.
In a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama obtained by POLITICO, Reid and his leadership team argue that failing to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States. Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray asserted that Obama "must make clear that you will never allow our nation's economy and reputation to be held hostage."
$3 Trillion Reasons Why the Fed Won't End QE
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
Markets had a mini riot at the start of the year with the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December meeting minutes. As many are now aware, the Fed changed course and tied its zero-interest-rate-policy (ZIRP) to economic measures, stating the Fed would keep rates near zero as long as unemployment remained above 6.5% and inflation below 2.5%. To help achieve sustainable growth and to foster full employment the Fed embarked on what some call QE4 in which it added to the $40B/month mortgage debt purchase program (QE3) by announcing an additional $45B/month of Treasury purchases. The combined $85B/month asset purchase will add more than $1 trillion to the Fed's balance sheet to the tune of $4 trillion total by the end of the year.
Federally Assistance Or Just A Hedge Fund?
Jim Sinclair - SilverBearCafe.com
The early morning operation took place today taking gold off the $1704 level. Many of us are convinced that what we are seeing has Federal assistance. That means to us that the Fed is lending gold to the gold banks to facilitate the operation. Because of that there is a fear of taking on the operation.
I got a call last evening from a friend in the huge private hedge managed money telling me that we have all been bamboozled. The size of hedge funds today can easily mimic what would be considered Federally sponsored. The Fed is quite pleased, but is not the infinite power behind the bear operation that started at $1800.
Keiser Report: Bums & Bloodsuckers (E391)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss austerity sandwiches and fraud multipliers in the City of London. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about MMT or Modern Money Tricks and about whether or not the people of Europe will ever rise up and stop the never ending bailout of banker crimes.
PAYROLL TAX HIKE SPARKS SHOCK, OUTRAGE
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
On Friday, millions of Americans began getting a taste of higher taxes as the expiration of the payroll tax holiday took a bigger bite out of their paychecks, leaving them with less cash in their wallets.
Gabriella Hoffman, a 21-year-old nonprofit worker, told Fox News that the tax hike will mean about $780 less in annual take home pay:
As a newly-graduated person, someone coming straight out of college, I don't like the idea of having less money coming to me due to the selfish interests of people in Congress who don't have any interest in reducing our financial problems. This is an impediment for future economic growth. It's going to make it harder for young people like myself to get married, find a better job, you name it.
The Fiscal Cliff: An Opportunity Avoided
BY BUD CONRAD - FinancialSense.com
The label "the fiscal cliff" evoked the fear that something terrible was about to happen if the previously legislated spending cuts and tax increases came into effect. From my point of view, our nation's deficits and debt are growing at an alarming rate and need to be cut back. The reason these laws were enacted was to offer markets some hope that we would eventually work toward eliminating our serious deficits. But the prevailing opinion that such drastic decreases in our deficit would slow our economy and bring recession created the impression that this "cliff" must be avoided.
Treasury, Fed rule out trillion-dollar coin in debt-ceiling fight
By ELIZABETH TITUS and DONOVAN SLACK - Politico.com
The Obama administration actually took it seriously — the idea of minting a $1 trillion platinum coin to avoid a debt-ceiling crisis.
But it would only have worked if the Federal Reserve, where it would be deposited, agreed to recognize its worth.
And the Fed, an independent agency, was not on board.
Treasury, Fed kill idea of $1 trillion platinum coins
to avert debt crisis
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON | Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:09pm EST
(Reuters) - So much for the $1 trillion platinum coin idea.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Saturday it will not produce platinum coins as a way of generating $1 trillion in revenue and avoiding a battle in Congress over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
The idea of creating $1 trillion by minting platinum coins has gained some currency among Democrats in recent days as a way of sidestepping congressional Republicans who are threatening to reject a necessary increase in the debt ceiling unless deep spending cuts are made.
Treasury says 'no' to trillion-dollar coin
By Don Lee - LATimes.com
WASHINGTON -- The trillion-dollar coin isn't going to save the day.
The U.S. Treasury says it won't mint the coin as a way of escaping the debt-ceiling crisis. The Federal Reserve also nixed the plan.
Even though the platinum coin idea started as something of a joke, it caught on in the blogosphere and gained some notable supporters such as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.
With platinum coin rejected,
how about upvaluing the gold reserve instead?
GATA.org
Congress' refusal in 2011 to raise the debt ceiling unless the White House agreed to large spending cuts brought the United States close to the brink of a debt default and dealt the weak recovery a setback.
Another crisis is brewing as the United States is expected to reach its authorized debt limit of $16.4 trillion in February.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that with the platinum coin question resolved, the pressure is on congressional Republicans now to act to raise the debt ceiling.
Inflation Propaganda Exposed
The CPI is no longer a tool to accurately measure inflation, but an instrument of propaganda the government uses to hide accelerating inflation from the public and financial markets. Modest CPI increases over the past several years do not reflect an absence of inflation, but a design flaw in the index that fails to fully capture the magnitude of price increases. Central bankers drawing economic conclusions regarding inflation and monetary policy based on this highly flawed data point are making a major policy error.
Even Goldman Says China Is Cooking The Books
by Tyler Durden -ZeroHedge.com
That China openly manipulates its economic data, especially around key political phase shifts, such as one communist regime taking over for another, is no secret. That China is also the marginal economic power (creating trillions in new loans and deposits each year) in a stagflating world, and as such must be represented by the media as growing at key inflection points (such as Q4 when Europe officially entered a double dip recession, and the US will report its first sub 1% GDP in years) as mysteriously reporting growth even without open monetary stimulus (something we have said the PBOC will not engage in due to fears of importing US, European and now Japanese inflation) is critical for preserving hope and faith in the future of the stock market, is also very well known. Which is why recent market optimism driven by "hope" from Alcoa that China is recovering and will avoid yet another hard landing, and Chinese reports of a surge in Exports last week, are very much suspect. But no longer is it just the blogosphere that is openly taking Chinese data to task - as Bloomberg reports, even the major banks: Goldman, UBS and ANZ - are now openly questioning the validity and credibility of the goalseek function resulting from Bloomberg:
Nearly one-third of U.S. homeowners have no mortgage Those who own homes outright include retirees and a surprisingly high percentage of young adults, real estate website Zillow finds.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
What mortgage meltdown?
While millions of Americans have suffered the angst of lost homes, equity and pride, nearly a third of the nation's homeowners have no mortgage at all, according to an estimate released Thursday by real estate website Zillow.
Flu outbreak hits businesses hard
By Parija Kavilanz - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
With the Detroit auto show kicking off next week, salon owner George Nikollaj can't afford to let the flu knock out even one of his 50 stylists.
"Next to the holidays, the auto show gives us a ton of business every year, " said Nikollaj.America's biggest auto show typically boosts his quarterly revenue by an additional 20%.
But Nikollaj, who co-owns 6 Salon, two Detroit-area high-end salons that cater to about 250 customers daily, is worried.
The situation is a double-whammy for his business. "In the last two weeks I've had six stylists sick with the flu. And we had a dozen cancellations last Saturday from customers feeling sick," he said.
Let's "Clean Sheet" Our Failed Approach To Entitlements
By Nathan Lewis, Contributor - Forbes.com
I often say that most problems today, around the world, are conservative problems: getting government spending into line, reforming tax systems, implementing a Stable Money framework, reforming entitlement programs so that they do more but cost less, cutting needless government headcount, reviewing regulatory frameworks that have become bloated from a constant addition of new measures, and so forth.
A Pimp for Obamacare Feels the Pain Next time, be more careful what you wish for.
By DAVID CATRON - Spectator.org
When I began writing about the menace of increased federal involvement in our medical delivery system, I was surprised to discover that some doctors actually supported it. These misguided medicos represented only a small minority of practicing physicians, and most were profoundly ignorant about health care economics, but the "M.D." following their names provided them with a façade of credibility. A number of these people took advantage of their illusory expertise in health care policy to launch blogs which they used to promote their notions of "health reform" and extol the virtues of government-run health care in general.
Among them was an ER physician who writes under the nom de plume "Shadowfax." This particular "docblogger" stands out in my memory because he was peculiarly uninformed about the nuances of the issue and yet utterly dismissive of anyone, including other physicians, who attempted to make him understand that he would one day regret advocating an increased government role in medicine. I occasionally crossed swords with him myself, but it was an exercise in futility. Like most soi disant progressives, this self-satisfied sawbones couldn't imagine that he might be on the wrong side of this or any other issue.
Obama's HHS Mandate:
Defeated in 10 of 14 Court Cases So Far
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the many pro-life groups that have been fighting the pro-abrotion HHS mandate in court, tell LifeNews that the Obama adminsitration has been defeated in 10 of 14 court cases, so far.
Although the cases are all in the lower court stage and the battle have been the kinds of early skirmishes that typically take place in long legal battles, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman is encouraged.
Hobby Lobby Forced to Change Health Insurance
to Avoid Mandate Fines
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
Hobby Lobby, the Christian craft company, has been forced to alter its employee health insurance plan in order to avoid millions of dollars in fines each and every day it refuses to comply with the HHS mandate.
The mandate compels religious employers to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for their employees in their health insurance plan. Late Thursday, in a statement, Hobby Lobby attorney Peter Dobelbower said the company will shift the plan year for employee health insurance that will delay the implementation date of the plan from January 1, so it does not coincide with the HHS mandate.
OBAMACARE WILL CREATE TWO AMERICAS FOR HEALTHCARE
by KEN KLUKOWSKI - Breitbart.com
If Obamacare survives the 2016 election after it is fully implemented, there will be two healthcare systems in America from which our citizens will choose.
As former Ohio Treasurer Ken Blackwell and I explained months ago, the fifty states can freely choose whether to participate in two central pillars of Obamacare. Conservative governors will be glad in the end, if they hold true to their principles to reject this big-government takeover of healthcare.
ObamaCare Will Make
The Maddeningly Complex Tax Code Even Worse
IBD Editorial
Fiscal Policy: The tax code is so hideously complex that even the IRS is complaining about it. Too bad President Obama is about to make it far worse.
In her latest annual report, IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson spells out just how mind-bogglingly complicated our tax laws have become. Some examples:
Obamacare Medicaid Expansion:
States Should Be Realistic, Not Optimistic
By Alyene Senger - Heritage.org
Months since the Supreme Court ruling that made the Obamacare Medicaid expansion optional, the state costs associated with expansion still remain highly uncertain—making expansion a dicey course for states and their budgets.
Indeed, states should not lose sight of the fact that the original Medicaid expansion was coercive for a reason. As Nina Owcharenko, director of Heritage's Center for Health Policy Studies, points out, "The fact that the authors of Obamacare felt the need to threaten states with total defunding tells you that they knew many states would resist expanding their programs—even with 100 percent federal funding."
Braces for the Kids Just Got More Expensive:
Obamacare Tax Hike Case Study
American For Tax Reform - ATR.org
In 2013, the tax increases in Obamacare will increasingly conspire against kitchen-table family healthcare decisions.
As just one example, below are some of the taxes that will impact the purchase of dental braces:
Obamacare Medical Device Tax: As of Jan.1, Obamacare imposes a new tax of 2.3 percent on medical device manufacturers, including those who make dental braces. The tax is imposed on gross sales -- even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. While the tax will be paid to the IRS by the manufacturer, the tax will be passed along as a higher cost of the product, ultimately to be borne by the parent buying the braces for their child. With the cost of braces being as high as $7,625 this new tax could raise the cost of these braces by $175.
Supreme Court ruled that ACA is a tax Obamacare is All About Death and Taxes
By Alan Caruba - CanadaFreePress.com
Prior to the November elections, I received an email that was chilling. It was about the new Obamacare rules. Before I discuss the Obamacare taxes that are kicking in this year and next, I want to share excerpts from it.
The email was from an individual whose son-in-law has a brother who is a surgeon at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. It is ranked high among American hospitals. This is what he related:
* * * * *
Time Out: Lindsey Williams - Obama Care Impact
Time Out Productions presents former ARCO / Alaskan Oil Pipeline Chaplain Lindsey Williams. On this program he discusses the impact Obama Care is having on companies across the USA
From doctor who is dropping out - 50% of my patients will die on operating table if Obamacare rules are followed... 40% of medical practitioners are quitting… state will define diagnosis and dictate remedy regardless of what doctor thinks
Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes: Listed by Size of Tax Hike
Americans For Tax Reform - ATR.org
Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses
WASHINGTON, DC -- Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. Arranged by their respective sizes according to CBO scores, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, their effective dates, and where to find them in the bill.
The Social Security System Is Already Broke
Free S--t "Disabled" Army Massing Its Forces
By James Quinn - ZeroHedge.com
Whenever I hear a liberal MSM talking head say that Social Security is not a problem, I want to throw something at the TV. Obama and Romney both declared the Social Security system sound. They lied to the American people that it will only require minor tweaks to keep it solvent for a hundred years. Liberals hate math. The Social Security System has an unfunded liability of $18 trillion. This means our politicians have promised $18 trillion more than they can possibly pay out. I guess $18 trillion is trivial to a liberal minded person like Krugman or Obama. Lucky for them that 99% of all Americans don't understand what unfunded liability even means. The chart below gives the gory details. The Social Security system had a negative cashflow of $47.8 billion last year, after running a $48 billion deficit the year before. You may notice that 77% of this deficit was created by the SSDI program, where the depressed masses gather after their 99 weeks of unemployment run out. Do you have a headache? Are you depressed because liquor stores don't accept food stamps? Did you pull a muscle getting on your government provided rascal? Trouble hearing your Obama phone? Then you are eligible for SSDI.
Better Than Human:
Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs Imagine that 7 out of 10 working Americans
got fired tomorrow. What would they all do?
BY KEVIN KELLY - Wired.com
It's hard to believe you'd have an economy at all if you gave pink slips to more than half the labor force. But that—in slow motion—is what the industrial revolution did to the workforce of the early 19th century. Two hundred years ago, 70 percent of American workers lived on the farm. Today automation has eliminated all but 1 percent of their jobs, replacing them (and their work animals) with machines. But the displaced workers did not sit idle. Instead, automation created hundreds of millions of jobs in entirely new fields. Those who once farmed were now manning the legions of factories that churned out farm equipment, cars, and other industrial products. Since then, wave upon wave of new occupations have arrived—appliance repairman, offset printer, food chemist, photographer, web designer—each building on previous automation. Today, the vast majority of us are doing jobs that no farmer from the 1800s could have imagined.
Disable Java in your browsers! Warning: Java Exploit Potentially Affecting More Than 850 Million Computers
By Alex Fitzpatrick - Mashable.com
Security experts are recommending computer users disable or uninstall Java following the discovery of a zero-day Java exploit which allows hackers to take control of vulnerable Macs, PCs and Linux computers.
The exploit takes advantage of a vulnerability left open in Java 7 Update 10, released in October of last year. It works by getting Java users to visit a website with malicious code that takes advantage of a security gap to take control of users' computers.
Facebook's Sponsored Stories Settlement
Means It's Facebook's Turn To Pay You
HuffingtonPost.com
After Facebook's IPO turned early employees into overnight billionaires, many users demanded to know when they would get paid for all the sharing that had made the social network a success.
Wait no more: Facebook has started notifying some users that they could get up to $10 from the company.
This isn't Facebook's way of saying "Thanks for all the vacation photos from Cancun," but rather a payout in a class action lawsuit concerning Facebook's "Sponsored Stories" ads that reached a preliminary settlement late last year.
Keiser Report: Lunatics & Lubricants (E392)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss all the Asos in the headlines, the ten dollar Facebook profiles being used to promote 55-gallon tubes of personal lubricant and Japan lathering Europe with monetary lubricant in the form of ESM bond purchases. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Reggie Middleton about the education debt bubble, the collapsing collateral value of a university degree and the reason that French debt is trading higher than UK debt.
FCC promises to free up spectrum for 35 percent faster WiFi
By Josh Peterson - DailyCaller.com
WiFi speeds of up to 35 percent faster than current speeds may soon be available, a top Obama official announced Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC would soon be leading a government-wide effort to increase nationwide WiFi speeds by allocating 195MHz of the 5Hz band currently already in use by federal and non-federal workers.
Time Out: Lindsey Williams - The 10 Agendas Of 2013
Time Out Productions presents former ARCO / Alaskan Oil Pipeline Chaplain Lindsey Williams. On this program he discusses the 10 major agenda items the elite have for the year 2013 and beyond.
Location: 39.6 N, 76.1 E What Did Google Earth Spot in the Chinese Desert?
Even an Ex-CIA Analyst Isn't Sure
BY NOAH SHACHTMAN - Wired.com
Late last month, former CIA analyst Allen Thomson was clicking through a space news website when he noticed a story about a new orbital tracking site being built near the small city of Kashgar in southwestern China. Curious, he went to Google Earth to find it. He poked around for a while, with no luck. Then he came across something kind of weird.
To Predict Crimes,
'Minority Report' Precog-Like Software Tested
By Jill Pantozzi - Mashable.com
More and more lately, we're witnessing technologies from our favorite sci-fi films and television shows getting closer to reality. The latest is like something from Minority Report — it's a new kind of software meant to predict the actions of criminals.
Police in Baltimore and Philadelphia are already using the software to prevent murders, and Washington D.C. is next on the list. Don't worry, no one is keeping psychics in a pool. Well, not that we're aware of ….
As NSA Pairs With Banks To "Fight Hackers",
Will It Also Gain Access To Every American's Financial Secrets?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just because there was not enough encroachment by the government into virtually every corner of private life, here is another "collaboration" that will further enmesh big brother into every aspect of private life, in this case private financial life, because as the WaPo reports, "major U.S. banks have turned to the National Security Agency for help protecting their computer systems after a barrage of assaults that have disrupted their Web sites, according to industry officials. The attacks on the sites, which started about a year ago but intensified in September, have grown increasingly sophisticated, officials said. The NSA, the world's largest electronic spying agency, has been asked to provide technical assistance to help banks further assess their systems and to better understand the attackers' tactics."
SOROS: 13 NEW GUN LAWS NEEDED NOW
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
George Soros' Center for American Progress (CAP) has published a list of 13 new pieces of legislation they claim we need right now, in the wake of the crime at Sandy Hook Elementary.
As you will see, these proposals--like others from liberals--would not have stopped the shooting from taking place: they would not even have hindered it. But they would make it harder for law abiding citizens to get the guns they need to defend their lives and families.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF TO FEDS:
'YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO PULL GUNS
OUT OF JACKSON COUNTY'
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
As I wrote on Jan. 11, Jackson County Kentucky Sheriff Denny Peyman has made it clear that gun laws which violate the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution will not be enforced in his county.
On Jan. 12, he followed this up with a press conference in which he explained that a Sheriff's powers are predominant over the powers of federal and state agents. When he says these things he drives gun-grabbers batty because he says them with the conviction that rests on knowledge, and he has no intention of backing down.
During the press conference, he took time to explain his powers as sheriff:
Sen. Murphy: Congress ready for ban on assault weapons
By Sean Lengell-The Washington Times
Sen. Chris Murphy on Sunday said there is growing momentum in Congress for a ban on so-called assault weapons, saying lawmakers' attitudes toward gun control have changed significantly in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn.
"This issue is going to continue to move," Mr. Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said on CNN's "State of the Union. "I do think that even in the Democratic caucus you see members like [Sens.] Joe Manchin and Mark Warner who previously probably never would have considered a ban on assault weapons or high-capacity magazine clips now coming to the table."
Obama faces 'limited' options
on executive action on gun violence
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
The Obama administration's vow to tackle gun violence – with Congress, or without – has sparked an uproar from conservative Republicans and has left Democratic gun reformers eager to learn what the White House has up its sleeve.
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to propose legislative solutions to what President Obama has called the nation's gun-violence "epidemic" as early as Tuesday, but he says he's also eying executive orders empowering the administration to take action without congressional approval.
Wyoming lawmakers introduce bill
to nullify federal gun control measures, jail federal agents
By Gregg Re - DailyCaller.com
This week, Wyoming lawmakers introduced a bill banning the federal government from enforcing an assault weapons ban or a prohibition on high-capacity magazines in the state, calling the effort an attempt to "take the Second Amendment seriously."
The bill, which is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives and two state senators, calls for federal agents who attempt to enforce those measures to be imprisoned for at least one year and up to five years, and fined a maximum of $5,000.
Manchin: Gun efforts should focus on culture of 'mass violence'
By Brendan Sasso and Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) on Sunday said that stand-alone restrictions on gun control would not pass Congress unless lawmakers also addressed the broader culture of "mass violence."
Manchin said that the tragic shooting in an elementary school in Connecticut last month had "changed the dialogue" and that lawmakers needed a "comprehensive approach" to gun violence, during an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Precedent Teaches Us The Left Really Wants ALL Our Guns
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
When the Supreme Court, or any other court for that matter, makes a ruling in a case they first look for precedent, in other words to see if there has been a court decision rendered on the same subject in the past and usually defer to the old decision in ruling on the case.
The greatest teacher in life is experience; it only takes one time of burning your fingers on a hot stove to know that you never want to touch another one.
Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies
By Dan Tracy, Orlando Sentinel
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.
Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson would not reveal specific uses for the drones, larger versions of which are known for flying over tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to drop bombs on suspected terrorists.
Pentagon shifts tactics,
takes steps to prepare for sequestration
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The Pentagon did an about-face on sequestration this week, taking concrete steps — including a hiring freeze and a delay in awarding some contract awards — more than six weeks before the across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled to hit.
The moves announced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were a significant shift for the Defense Department compared to the approach ahead of the initial Jan. 2 sequestration deadline, when Pentagon officials did not officially start planning for the cuts until December.
Inaugural committee reveals more donors
By DONOVAN SLACK - Politico.com
The presidential inaugural committee is revealing the identities of nearly 600 more donors who have pitched in to help fund the inauguration festivities.
The list updated late Friday includes 577 more individuals and two more corporations: Southern Company Services, an Atlanta-based electricity producer; and United Therapeutics, a Maryland-based biotech company.
