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When all the tribes of Israel still lived in their holy land, they practiced something called the Jubilee. According to the Book of Leviticus, the Jubilee existed because the Israeli land actually belonged to their god Yahweh…. and the current owners were just borrowing it (sounds like land ownership today – try not
In the year 1157, the Republic of Venice was in the midst of war and in desperate need of funds. It wasn’t the first time in history that a government needed to borrow money to fight a war. But the Venetians came up with an innovative idea: Every citizen who loaned money to
The anti-terrorism unit suited up. This was an international affair… a deal between the USA and New Zealand, two members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. Helicopters, tactical suits, high caliber firearms—the whole shebang. They busted in the doors and successfully raided the multi-million-dollar compound. What was this… capturing the next in line
The thick black smoke… the smell of burning rubber… overturned smoldering cars. Looters smashed out shop windows and took whatever they could carry away. Ancient landmarks were desecrated. Soldiers patrolled the wreckage as tanks are parked on the street corners. Have aliens attacked? Was a third world dictator deposed? Did the government demand
We have been talking about the pension crisis for years now. It’s without a doubt one of the biggest, financial disasters. These pools of capital, responsible for paying out retirement benefits, are terribly underfunded. So anyone depending on a pension in their retirement years should seriously consider a Plan B – and sooner
I guess none of this should surprise me anymore. Our old friends at Wells Fargo are involved in yet another banking scandal. And this one is really bad… people wrongfully lost their homes and ended up on the street. But before I get into the details of this particularly atrocious mishap, let’s have
Several years ago back in 2004-2006, if you had a pulse, you could borrow money from a bank to buy a house. In fact, bank lending standards were so loose back then that there were some infamous cases of people who DIDN’T have a pulse who were still able to borrow money. That’s
[Editor’s note: While Simon is traveling today, other members of the Sovereign Man team penned today’s missive.] We’ve discussed this on and off for several years now. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process that allows the government to seize assets and cash from citizens without any due process or judicial oversight. You
[Editor’s note: While Simon is traveling today, other members of the Sovereign Man team penned today’s missive.] This doesn’t make front page news… But it should. Every year, cost of living adjustments increase Social Security benefits. Over the past decade, payouts have increased by an average of 1.66% per year, according to the
Tens of thousands of years ago, humankind was practically an endangered species. Our early proto-ancestors had little means to protect against the harsh elements or defend against terrifying predators. And finding enough food was a constant challenge. Tribes of humans would roam from place to place, foraging for whatever they could eat until
Hong Kong has for decades been one of the most stable places in the world. When the British took Hong Kong over in the late 1800s, it was nothing more than an irrelevant backwater made up of fishing villages and illiterate fishermen. But after a few decades, it became one of the most
According to the latest jobs report, averages wages for US workers increased 3.1% – the strongest growth since 2009. Median individual income in the US is now around $31,000, which means the typical American put an extra $1,000 in their pocket last year. That’s solid extra cash. But if you really want to
Something strange happened in the markets last month that signals trouble ahead… When stocks fell from their September highs, you would have expected investors to run for cover in the world’s safe-haven asset – US Treasurys. But that’s not what happened. While stocks were plunging, Treasurys also fell. Yields on 30-year Treasurys increased
This one is pretty disturbing. In January 2016, Detroit police were tipped off that someone was selling small quantities of marijuana out of their home. Given that the City of Detroit’s murder rate exceeds that of Mexico, you’d think that the Police Department would have had bigger fish to fry. Apparently they didn’t.
In July 1996, flight TWA 800 exploded in mid-air, 12 minutes after taking off from JFK International Airport in New York. All 230 passengers on board were killed. It would be four years before an investigation concluded the likely cause of the explosion was a short circuit in the plane’s fuel tank. But
