The unchecked march of the privacy-invading social media monster continues. Steve Huffman, CEO of the popular social news site Reddit, has created some controversy with his cryptic and seemingly-offhanded response to a question posed by interviewer Boris Veldhuijzen Van Zanten during a public sit-down at the recent The Next Web conference in Amsterdam. The Next Web conferences are annual forums held in both the U.S. and Europe that bring together some of the most relevant minds in the fields of technology and technology entrepreneurism. During the interview, Van Zanten asked about the monetization of Reddit, and, as a part of... Read more →
I often describe my socio-political belief system by saying, “I’m basically a libertarian.” Do you want to know why I use the qualifier “basically?” Because the libertarian movement is replete with nutbags. There is ample evidence to that effect, and even among libertarians who aspire to be officials of the Libertarian Party, there are plenty of folks who are clearly a couple cans short of a six-pack. Perhaps the best and most recent “Exhibit A” example of that is the stunt pulled the other day by a man who was a candidate for chairman of the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian... Read more →
I write this article with fear and trepidation as I know how what I am about to discuss can be twisted. I can hardly wait to see the first post on social media that says, "Jim Paris is telling Christians not to pay their debts." Well, maybe this opening line will inoculate me from criticism, maybe not. In another article I wrote on this general topic about a year ago, I raised the issue of credit card companies engaging in so called robo-signing. This Video Was Recorded Four Years Ago, But The Issue Is Still A Problem Today What is... Read more →
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in an interview on The FOX Business Network’s Cavuto: Coast to Coast, told host Neil Cavuto that stagnant long-term economic growth is proving to be a threat of epic proportions, and something that, if not properly addressed by immediate and comprehensive changes, may well result in enormous damage to the Western world. Greenspan said, in part: “What the Fed does at this particular stage is less important than what the markets are doing. And what the markets are beginning to show us is acceleration in money supply for the first time in a very... Read more →
The tiny house movement continues. Across the country, more and more people are downsizing from what have been their usual digs for more years than they can remember, and moving to more “consolidated” surroundings. There are different reasons why people are making the not-insignificant decision to drastically decrease their living space. For some, the last several decades of American excess that have overwhelmed so many…physically, spiritually, and emotionally…have driven them to a sort of breaking point where they decide to make life as simple as it can possibly be, including in the form of the physical home. For others, uncertainty... Read more →
Sheriff Paul Babeu, who oversees Arizona’s Pinal County, has issued a dire warning to those seeking to enjoy the numerous recreational sites situated in the western part of the county this holiday weekend: carry a gun, because Mexican drug cartel assassins are on the loose. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office says it is in possession of credible information indicating that cartels are sending assassins to his jurisdiction to address the problems they’ve been facing at the hands of so-called “rip crews,” rogue gangs that attack cartel operatives and steal their cash and drugs. Pinal County has recently seen an overall... Read more →
The Islamic State, never one to forgo an opportunity to spread death and destruction everywhere it can, has decided that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is as good a reason as any to foment more of the same. In a new message of propaganda, the group is calling for sympathizers in both the United States and Europe to attack the citizens in their midst during Ramadan, which begins in early June. The audio message, which is about a half-hour in length and was posted on Twitter this past weekend, is supposedly the work of ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani,... Read more →
It was certainly an atypical early Tuesday morning in Beech Grove, Indiana, a small city located just outside of Indianapolis, as residents were frightened by the sounds of a simulated “surprise” military raid being conducted on a local hospital. According to FOX 59, residents were “upset about the drills,” complaining that they had received no notice whatsoever that a military training operation of that magnitude was going to overtake their small community. Beech Grove Police Captain Robert Mercuri, in a statement to the Indianapolis Star, apologized that locals were startled by all of the activity, but that was not before... Read more →
In something that looks to be right out of a Stephen King novel, almost 100 young students from a school in northern Peru are suffering from various convulsions and seizures that, while officially unexplained at this time, are being blamed by some on demonic possession…a notion helped along by the fact that the afflicted children report seeing visions of a man in black trying to kill them; relatedly, the school, Elsa Perea Flores School in Tarapoto, was built on the site of an old Mafia graveyard. While it seems like a stretch, at first blush, to blame the outbursts and... Read more →
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that we would know he means business about knocking off Hillary Clinton when he was finally able to turn his attention away from GOP challengers and to the Democratic Party’s own presumptive nominee…and some strong evidence to that effect has already come to the fore. Using the popular social media site Instagram as the platform, Trump has released a blistering, 20-second campaign ad that targets Hillary on the basis of her husband Bill’s profile as an alleged, serial sexual abuser. One of the best known of Bill Clinton’s accusers, Juanita Broaddrick, gave a... Read more →
Actor Elijah Wood, the actor whose man-child looks have helped to earn him some of film’s most interesting and popular roles, has gone on the record with his claims that child sex abuse in Hollywood is essentially an institution there, and that key figures in the movie industry have acted as its caretakers by protecting those responsible for it (which, many would say, makes them responsible, as well). Said Wood, “There are a lot of vipers in this industry – people who only have their own interests in mind. There is darkness in the underbelly. If you can imagine it,... Read more →
Jim Vieira, author of Giants on Record: America's Hidden History, Secrets in the Mounds and the Smithsonian Files, joins Jim Paris Live to discuss his latest books. What is the motivation of the scientific community to hide the existence of giants? Are these the giants mentioned in the Bible? How tall were they and what other physical characteristics did they have? What happened to this race of giants and could they still be living today? Read more →
On this episode, Jim discusses his interest in Ethereum (a Bitcoin rival), a new digital currency that has recently doubled in value. He also discusses why he invests in multiple digital currencies other than Bitcoin. National polls showing Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton, U.S. credit card debt now at $1 trillion dollars, is the Teamsters pension fund about to go under?, why are colleges paying commencement speakers six figure fees?, and a new Facebook scam to be on the lookout for. Read more →
For those wondering how brash and proudly politically-incorrect Donald Trump could become the Republican Party’s nominee (and he surely will),and why he is now polling well against presumptive Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton, you really need look no further than this. On Monday, a 5-year-old girl was suspended from her school in Brighton, Colorado…a suburb of Denver…for bringing in a toy bubble-blowing gun. It is just the latest in a long and growing list of absurd examples as to how zero-tolerance gun policies are enforced in schools. Few among us would disagree that students should not be bringing guns…real guns…to... Read more →
While the recent talk about interest rates suggests they will be moving higher again shortly, the reality is that they are still so low that any increases in the foreseeable future will result in rates remaining low, overall. Additionally, the economy, both domestically and globally, remains soft, with a large number of weak underlying fundamentals, such that there really is no solid ground available on which significantly higher rates can gain traction. Low rates mean favorable borrowing terms, of course, and favorable borrowing terms open you to the possibility of “good” debt or leverage, like that exemplified by smart real... Read more →