Newton and Counterfeiter

A fascinating interview with Professor Tom Levenson, the author of the book "Newton and Counterfeiter". Tom discusses Isaac Newton's time as the head of the Royal Mint, his introduction of the Gold Standard, the great recoining, as well as his scientific discoveries in general. A must listen for all Gold and Silver Bugs. The interview is conducted by the consummate science journalist and author, Robyn Williams. Listen to The Science Show interview here 

For those new to The Science Show, Robyn Williams has hosted the show, which is broadcast every Saturday afternoon on ABC Radio National, since 1975 which has to be close to a world record for the one radio show with the same host for 38 years!

Will 3-D printers make patents obsolete?

I have a friend who is involved in amateur car racing. He has a 3D printer, which itself was printed from another 3D printer (sans circuit board). If he breaks any hard plastic part on his racing car he replaces it by printing the part out on his 3D printer. Also if any other any enthusiast has come up with a better design for a specific part he can upgrade his existing car parts - like installing a patch to an existing piece of software. For most metal parts he knows a guy with a computer controlled lathe which uses CAD files, again shared from other car owners, to make a one off part, and I imagine the same can be achieved with metal casting as well.

So just as file sharing helped break down the copyright cartels over music, film and text, 3D printing is poised to do the same for the world of patents.
From RTAmerica

Weekend Chillout - Leaving No Doubt

In a week that left no doubt about the unwillingness of Cypriot politicians to speak up against the might of the Russian mafia and FSB and in similar vein no one daring take on the Labor left this week either. What else could this week's chillout be......

Cyprus Banking Crisis, Obama's Middle East Trip & the Fed Keeps Printing Money

From Greg Hunter

The Cyprus Effect

From smorris123

The Grandmother that knew about the Cyprus Haircut

An elderly resident of Pathos in Cyprus has been doing something odd for the past few weeks. Every Friday she goes to the bank and withdraws all of her money, then returns it on Monday. When asked why she gave the following statement to bank employees:

“My grandson is an economist in Russia and he has been telling me, if something happens with the Cypriot banks, it will happened on the weekend. He told me to withdraw the money every Friday.”

She was laughed at by the bank employees, but now unlike most of the country she has access to her money while the banks in Cyprus stay closed until at least Tuesday of next week. While the Cypriot legislature did not pass a bill that would have taken between 6.75% and 10% of bank deposits, who knows what desperate politicians will do now to get their fix of financial aid from the IMF. At least one person won’t be affected, thanks to a caring grandson.

Source: http://www.news.gr/kosmos/paraxena/article/51055/h-giagia-poy-hxere-gia-to-kypriako-koyrema.html

Mood Darkens in Cyprus as Deadline Is Set for Bailout

From NYTimes.com

Original source

NICOSIA, Cyprus — As the European Central Bank threatened to shut off crucial financing for banks in Cyprus without a rapid accord, members of Parliament put off a vote Thursday on yet another revamped formula for securing an international bailout. The vote was rescheduled for Friday.

In Cypriot streets, meanwhile, the mood turned increasingly dark. Police officers clashed with some protesters in front of Parliament as about 200 demonstrators gathered outside.

The police also scuffled there with employees of Cyprus Popular Bank, second largest in the country. They had turned out amid rumors that the bank could be shut down within hours. The central bank issued a denial, but warned that Cyprus Popular Bank risked an immediate default if the bailout measure was not passed by Parliament.

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Dr. Marc Faber on the Looming Bond-Market Crash

One of the best ever interviews of Dr. Marc Faber. Marc discusses the bond bubble, equities, the Cyprus banking crisis and a topic close to my heart - Asian nightlife, in particular Thailand.

Marc is interviewed from the 00:45.50 - 1:09 points.

From StansberryMedia

Cyprus eyes gas reserves as bailout guaranty

Vaporizing bank accounts, now inspecting for gas - the Cypriots really are being taken Greek style.

From AlJazeeraEnglish

Keiser Report: Financial Fascism

From RussiaToday

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the big picture of bank holidays and wealth confiscation in order to pay off the $100 trillion error account banksters basically admitted to having at Davos in 2011.

In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Reggie Middleton of BoomBustBlog.com about Cyprus, the rules that have been revealed and his upcoming special investigation on certain European banks he's discovered have been committing fraud.