Free Republic

There are a lot of hard-headed people out in the investment and banking world. Most of them are hard-headed because they have never known anything else. A few are a bit smarter -- they know that their business model is cooked if the underlying assumptions change and they're being intentionally dishonest in trying to grab the last few nickels in front of the steamroller, and to hell with you (their customer.) Then there are those who have it figured out and are attempting to find a way to adapt to what is going to happen. More than 30 years ago...

1. Yes, I saw that Corzine was "charged" by the CFTC. This is essentially meaningless. First, it is a purely civil action. These oligarch psychopaths LAUGH at the whole "civil action" paradigm. Second, the $100 million fine that the CFTC is going after comes NOT from Corzine, but from whatever is left of the MF Global Holdings estate, IF there is anything left at all. Not one red cent would come from Corzine, who was worth at least $600 million at the time of the collapse in the fall of 2011. Third, even if Corzine gets the dreaded "registration ban"...

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful. On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet...

Greece and, for that matter, the rest of Europe are showing cracks again this morning. The Dollar is screaming higher (how's that "dollar collapse" thesis working out?) Gold is around $1,200; up fractionally on the day, but in general not in good shape -- and making a mockery of the "Gold to $5,000" callers. Interest rates are again going up, while The Fed is trying to claim that they really didn't say that they were going to taper. But that's a lie, because they have to stop the QE. This isn't about wanting to exit, it's about being forced to...

Marco Rubio has repeatedly claimed he "wants more" from the Amnesty Bill now moving through Congress. Yes, folks, it's an amnesty bill. Let's cut the crap and call it what it is, because only through calling something what it is can we debate it. "Legalization" of those who are here illegally today is amnesty. I don't care whether it leads to citizenship now or later, the fact of the matter is that it rewards criminal activity by allowing those who stole from Americans and their resources to keep what they stole and remain here in America. There is no restitution....

This auction is a charity auction for hand-made guinea pig scale-mail. (You've read that correctly) Is your pet guinea pig tired of wandering around the house unarmored and vulnerable? Do they get picked on by other guinea pigs? Has your guinea pig ever wanted to go with you to a Renaissance Fair but had nothing to wear? Fear not! A solution is here! Used “The chain mail is hand made and is in great condition. The helmet was purchased and is also in great condition. Neither are "new"... [snip]

The world's oldest known human tumor has been found in the rib bone of a Neanderthal who lived more than 120,000 years ago. The bone was evacuated from a site in Krapina, Croatia more than 100 years ago and has been found to have contracted the fibrous dysplasia tumor, a cancer which is common among modern-day humans. This discovery by David Frayer from the University of Kansas predates previous evidence of the tumor by more than 100,000 years. Before this discovery, the earliest bone tumor was seen in an Egyptian mummy around 2,000 years ago. David Frayer, professor of anthropology...

The catalyst for the next great war will likely occur somewhere in the middle east. The Americans know this. As do the Russians and the Chinese. And as with the last two ‘great wars,’ the groundwork is being laid well ahead of time. A large American military force disembarked Tuesday, June 4, at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba – ready for deployment on the kingdom’s Syrian border, DEBKAfile’s exclusive military sources report. The force made its way north along the Aqaba-Jerash-Ajilon mountain road bisecting Jordan from south to north, under heavy Jordanian military escort. Our sources disclose that this...

This essay is a call to citizens to put real work, ingenuity, and community above false promises and disgraced authority. Empowerment, in this essay, is not about pumping up self-esteem but rather equipping citizens to take control of the global economy. When political and economic leaders fail to act effectively, we will have to be the ones to succeed. Capitalism stands and falls upon care, not the superficial “I-feel-your-pain” type, but the deep, committed “I-give-a-damn” type. What does it mean to give a damn? “I give a damn” means: I get broadly and deeply involved, I refuse to ignore what...

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is reported to be clinically dead as the monarch is not recently seen in the public. A Saudi journalist working for London-Based Asharq Alawsat says the Saudi monarch has been clinically dead since Wednesday. He also quoted medical sources in Saudi Arabia as saying that the king’s vital organs, including his heart, kidneys and lungs, have stopped functioning. [snip]

As you prepare to grill out your steaks and fly your flags, take time from the swilling of beer to consider the following. Our government is completely out of control. Benghazi, Fast-n-Furious, IRS Abuse, 100,000 perjured affidavits, phony securities marketed under false pretense, Congressional force used to commit accounting fraud, money lanudering and more. There is no longer a rule of law; the Golden Rule has been turned into "Do unto others, run like hell and, if caught, bribe Congress or threaten economic collapse." While that contains a slight amount of hyperbole, the operative word there is "slight." There is...

BOERNE, Texas (AP) — A South Texas police officer has been put on administrative leave after being charged with shooting an arrow into a neighbor’s cat. Police in Boerne say Officer Lance Deleon was not on duty when the cat named Bobby was wounded. Police Chief Jim Kohler says the cat was shot using a crossbow. [snip]

Yesterday afternoon, following the rout in the US stock market, we made a spurious preview (TWITTER) of the true main event: SO SELL OFF IN JGBS TONIGHT? We had no idea how right we would be because the second Japan opened, its bond futures market was halted on a circuit breaker as the 10 Year bond plunged to their lowest level since early 2012, hitting 1% and leading to massive Mark to Market losses for Japanese banks, as we also warned would happen. That was just the beginning, and suddenly the realization crept in that the plunging yen at this...

My nephew and his squeeze are talking marriage. They've been childhood sweethearts since 6th grade - they're now both 21. He wants a 'prenup', a prenuptial agreement, and she's never heard of such a thing. Should they have one? Some background: they are each others best friend and confidant. When he left his grandfather's house after high school graduation to be more independent and encountered roughened circumstances, she supported him while she worked at WalMart, and together they became partners in a business that failed. Nephew moved back home while she went to school. But that's not all - her...

While there have been no new military attacks on Syria since Sunday morning, something more peculiar happened in the past few hours, when according to Akamai and various other Internet traffic trackers, Syria has literally gone "dark", or, as Umbrella Security Labs describes it, as if "Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet." Some more from Umbrella's blog: At around 18:45 UTC OpenDNS resolvers saw a significant drop in traffic from Syria. On closer inspection it seems Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet. The graph below shows DNS traffic from and to Syria. Although Twitter remains relatively silent, the...

[Actual title: Russia, China Urge Respect Of Syrian Sovereignty As UN Finds Only Syrian Rebels Used Chemical Weapon] Following this weekend's explosive escalation in Syria, the big unknown was how Russia and China would respond: the two countries have long been known to be opposed to the US-Israel axis' involvement and intervention in Syria, although they have so far kept their involvement to a minimum. Today we get the answer: "Russia said on Monday it was concerned the chances of foreign military intervention in Syria were growing following reports of Israeli air strikes around Damascus which were a source of...

The uncomfortable effects of government actions are being felt everywhere. Obamacare concerns are, anecdotally, delaying hiring, causing firms to change benefits for the people, and increasing taxes on the great majority. On the other hand, in the context of the "sequester", which is merely a slowdown in the breakneck rate of government spending, anyone who has traveled by plane in the last month knows the full court press efforts under way to ensure the American public knows just how 'devastating' the sequester cuts are - with delays rising exponentially with every dollar removed from the FAA budget. But there is...

[video of Fox's interview with Rep.Issa where he states that Secretary Clinton lied to Congress about Benghazi.] Now explain the problem I am about to lay out: Lying to Congress is a crime. Anyone suborning perjury to Congress has committed a federal crime. Where are the demands for indictments and, since we know Holder will not prosecute, where are the articles of impeachment against everyone involved up and down the line? Oh yeah Issa, it's great that you bring this sort of thing forward but without a big bite to go with it you're whining -- and lying about your...

Over the course of the last month, while Americans were distracted with the threat of nuclear war on the Korean peninsula and the devastation wrought by the Boston bombings, President Obama was quietly working behind the scenes to craft laws and regulations that will further erode the Second Amendment. Congress, and thus We the People, may have unequivocally rejected federal legislation in March which aimed to outlaw most semi-automatic rifles, restrict magazine capacity, and force national registration, but that didn’t stop the President from ceding regulatory control over firearms importation to the United Nations just two weeks later. What the...

U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have identified the launch zone on North Korea’s east coast... The North Koreans recently began fueling two road-mobile Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles located along the east coast between the cities of Wonsan and Hamhung,.. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in addition to the 2,500-mile-range Musudans the North Koreans could conduct test firings of several 620-mile-range Nodong missiles and shorter-range Scuds simultaneously as a way to thwart U.S. missile defenses. Unlike earlier launches, the North Koreans are not expected to provide advance warning of the timing for the launches, such as announcing a...