Trends & News

The problem with monuments. . .

Well, we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Last week a handful of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison called for a statue of Abraham Lincoln to be removed from the campus.

Unlike other more ‘controversial’ Lincoln statues that portray him breaking the chains of slavery, this one simply shows Lincoln sitting in a chair.

But it’s offensive, say the students. And they want it removed.

As I[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • July 6, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

1 million dead people received federal bailout checks

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

A million dead people received stimulus checks totalling $1.4 billion


In response to coronavirus lockdowns, a tanking economy, and millions out of work, the US government sent $1,200 stimulus checks to most Americans.

Over 1.1 million of those[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • July 3, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

You should really start thinking about a second passport

On September 3, 1838 Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey sat in a train car heading north out of Baltimore.

Frederick would later recount how his heart pounded as he waited for the conductor to check his papers. As a black man in a southern slave state, Frederick had to prove he was legally allowed to travel north to the free states.

But Frederick didn’t have “free papers” because he was still enslaved. Instead, he[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • July 2, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Great news from the most prosperous nation on earth

By the mid-1990s, the economy of Zimbabwe was in serious trouble.

The national government under its dictator Robert Mugabe had spent years confiscating private property-- real estate, businesses, factories, bank deposits, etc. 

And unsurprisingly, this had a disastrous effect on the economy.

Productive citizens and talented entrepreneurs left Zimbabwe in droves-- after all, who would want to keep operating under such awful conditions? 

So within a few years, everything from food[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • July 1, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Under this new law, cryptocurrency could become illegal

In early 1775, Benjamin Franklin and his European colleague, Charles Dumas, developed a secret method of communicating with each other.

Dumas had spent years gathering intelligence in Europe to assist the Americans in their revolt against Britain. But the two needed a secure way to pass information across the Atlantic.

So they developed a special cipher-- a crude form of encryption where letters and words were substituted for numerals.

The decryption key[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 29, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

The one statue that remains untouched: Vladimir Lenin

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

Today we tackle the woke.

NYC’s inspiring breakthrough in the science of contact tracing


“Contact tracing” is a tactic whereby public health officials attempt to track where you’ve been, and who you’ve been in contact with, in their[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 26, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

You don’t have a savings account. You have a dwindling account

On April 5, 1933 everyone’s favorite fascist, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed an executive order which outlawed the private ownership of gold.

To justify the seizure, FDR used wartime authorities under the “Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917”. The law was never repealed after World War One, so Roosevelt used it to declare a national banking emergency.

Roosevelt’s order demanded that all Americans must surrender their gold to a Federal Reserve Bank[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 25, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Your barber has more training than your police force

Late in the evening of April 24, 1980, the US military launched a risky operation in the Middle East codenamed “Eagle Claw”.


52 American diplomats and government workers had been held hostage for nearly six months at the former US Embassy in Iran, and Jimmy Carter (then US President) had tasked the military with mounting a rescue.


In military parlance, Eagle Claw was a “Charlie Foxtrot,” i.e. a complete debacle.


Miscommunication, poorly maintained aircraft, and[...]

Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 24, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Five places that should boom from the coming Covid migration

Today’s the day.

Across the Land of the Free, and much of the world, local governments are finally starting to allow businesses to re-open and employees to come back to the office.

Offices in New York City opened this morning for the first time in months, after Comrade Mayor Bill de Blasio’s politburo finally approved the policy.

The Republic of CHAZ, formerly known as Seattle, was approved for ‘Phase II reopening’ on[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 22, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Another 8-year old ‘criminal mastermind’ arrested

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

Eight year old boy arrested for asking if he could buy candy with fake money


At a parade in Switzerland, fake money was thrown around for children to collect.

The obviously fake cash is called “spirit money.” Featuring[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 19, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

One weird sign of trouble in the banking sector

It was only a few generations ago that most people spent their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born.

They grew up, lived, worked, and retired, all in the same place. And that was normal.

Travel and relocation didn’t really become commonplace until after World War II. But even then, the most common reason people moved was because of a job.

And it has remained that way for[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 18, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

It’s time to get rid of your $20 bills…

On May 12, 1703, the Russian army under Peter the Great captured an important Swedish fort on the Baltic Sea called Nyenskans.

It was a major victory for Peter in his war against the Swedish Empire. Russia was a rising power in the early 1700s, but Peter was in critical need of a Baltic seaport to be able to trade with the rest of Europe.

The capture of Nyenskans was so important that[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 17, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Another “mob justice” #fail

You probably know the story already: on Friday night, an intoxicated man in Atlanta got behind the wheel of a vehicle and drove to a local Wendy’s fast food restaurant.

When he arrived, he passed out while still in the driver’s seat of his vehicle… which also happened to be smack dab in the middle of the Wendy’s drive-thru lane, so he was blocking the other customers.

Wendy’s staff called the police… which[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 15, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

More examples of the Twitter mob taking over

Every Friday we bring you some of the most ridiculous stories we found throughout the week that are threats to your liberty and prosperity.

This week we are focused on “cancel culture” also known as mob-rule. Here’s how it is killing any remaining freedom of thought and discussion in our society.

Mob punishes soccer player because of his wife’s Tweet


Until last Friday, Aleksander Katai played professional soccer for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 12, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Governments are offering Covid discounts… on citizenship

If 2020 has taught us anything so far, it’s that anything is possible… even things that we previously believed to be unthinkable.

Angry Twitter mobs can take over the country. Private property rights can be suspended. The entire economy can be shut down.

And it can all happen in an instant. One day everything is normal. The next, poof.

That’s why, as I discussed earlier this week, the need for a Plan[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 11, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Our new form of government: Rule by Twitter Mob

In one of the starkest examples of how mob rule has taken over the Land of the Free, #defundthepolice is now rapidly moving from being just a hash tag, to becoming a reality.

9 out of the 12 members of the Minneapolis City Council (which is a veto-proof majority that can easily override the city’s boy mayor) pledged yesterday to completely dismantle its police department.

Their reasoning?

According to the city council[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 9, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

It should be obvious by now– it really makes sense to have a Plan B

There are undoubtedly countless people right now who can hardly believe what they’ve been seeing over the past few months.

Global pandemic, total economic shutdown, tens of millions of jobs lost, trillions of dollars of debt and money printing, and now, social unrest, including riots and looting, brought on by yet another harrowing murder at the hands of the police.

A poll conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal last week[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 8, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Some positive moments amid all the turmoil

Look, things aren’t feeling so bright and cheery in the US right now. And the sad truth is that there are some tough times ahead.

We usually bring you stories on Friday that are absurd or even infuriating.

I’m sure you’ve seen enough of that this week.

So we thought we’d share a few moments of character and integrity shown at protests across the US, which shined through all the tragedy.

[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 5, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

It turns out you -can- spot a bad apple. You just can’t remove one

So it turns out that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed murdering George Floyd last week, had 17 different complaints of serious misconduct during his career.

That puts him among the 10% worst offenders in the Minneapolis police department.

The complaints vary from being named in a brutality lawsuit, to using demeaning, unprofessional language in public, to aiming his weapon at children.

But Chauvin never got into any[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 4, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

“Nor tolerate those who do. . .”

It’s been nearly two and a half decades since I was a brand new, freshly bald-headed cadet entering my first summer at West Point.

Everything about it was agonizing. We operated on little sleep. The hazing never stopped. There were constant military and physical exercises. And it was only the beginning of four years of endless pressure and stress.

In retrospect I can admit it was definitely a character-building experience. And I understand[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • June 1, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Arsonist burns down church for breaking lockdown rules

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

Church burnt down for ignoring lockdown rules


“Bet you stay home now you hypokrits [sic]," read the misspelled graffiti outside of a burnt down church in Mississippi.

That graffiti, of course, is suspected to have come from the[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 29, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

UK uses Feudal System law to seize £150 million from bank accounts

During the summer of 1215 in a riverfront meadow near London, some of England’s top barons gathered to confront King John and force him to sign a contract guaranteeing their rights and freedoms.

The contract became known as the Magna Carta. And one of its key provisions (#43) gave the Barons protection against something called ‘escheat’.

In medieval times, ‘escheat’ referred to the property being forcibly passed to the King if its original[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 28, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

How many companies are worth less than zero?

By 1920, former New York Yankees outfielder George Halas’s baseball career was finished.

Halas had only played 12 games as a professional when a hip injury abruptly ended his dream of making it big.

Being a baseball player was all Halas really knew, and with his career finished, he had limited prospects.

Eventually he was able to find steady work in Decateur, Illinois, a small town about 3 hours from Chicago, where[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 26, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

The UN wants you to stop using these 14 “offensive” words

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

The United Nations takes a page from 1984 with a list of offensive words


According to the United Nations, the word “wife” is apparently offensive to some people. So is “husband”.

Their reasoning? Those words are not gender-neutral.[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 22, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Social Security will run out of money in 2029 because of Covid

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released some alarming data earlier this week that surprisingly had absolutely nothing to do with Covid for a change.

The report showed that the birthrate in the United States last year declined to its lowest level on record ever since the government began collecting data more than 110 years ago.

This new record low birth rate breaks the previous record set in 2018, which broke the[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 21, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

House Cats or Human Beings?

One of the more flummoxing aspects about living in Puerto Rico is that the political leadership is a never-ending parade of highly corrupted, certifiable idiots.

The latest Governoramus of Puerto Rico seems hellbent on destroying every remaining scrap of prosperity on this island, all in an effort to indulge her ego-maniacal God complex.

Puerto Rico was one of the first places in the US to order a full lockdown, and it may very[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 19, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Another week, another $3 trillion bailout

At precisely 9:26pm this past Friday night, May 15th, the House of Representatives in the United States passed the “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act.”

For short, they call it the HEROES Act.

And yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.

Bear in mind that Congress passed the first bailout bill-- the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” on March 14th. That set the taxpayers back $1.3 trillion.

Less than[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 18, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Another week, another governor with a God complex

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity… and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

Police arrest surfers for standing still on the beach


Like most of the world, Cape Town, South Africa is on lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.

The city does allow residents to walk along the beach[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 15, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Infinite money printing: Fed now buying ETFs

Just when you thought they couldn’t come up with any more crazy ideas, the Federal Reserve announced last night that they will start buying Exchange Traded Funds, effective immediately.

Just to be clear, this means that the Fed is going to conjure money out of thin air, and then use that new money to buy ETFs.

But not just any ETF. The Fed is specifically targeting ETFs that own corporate bonds.

The[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 12, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

A brief history of the last crisis

The last time the economy blew up was back in 2008. Most of our readers probably remember it-- the global financial system almost collapsed.

Just prior to the 2008 crisis, housing was in a major, worldwide bubble. Central banks around the world had cut interest rates to near-zero levels, making it incredibly cheap to borrow money.

By 2005, lenders offered mortgages with teaser rates as low as 0.9%. And demand was furious. Buyers[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 11, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

California county launches snatch-and-grab program

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice.

Ventura County, CA to hire dozens of Covid spies


19 residents of Ventura County, California have died so far from Covid. That’s 0.002% of the population.

Most places would consider this a rounding error. But in Ventura County,[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 8, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

“Sweep the Leg”

It was barely a week ago that the federal government estimated it would borrow $3.7 trillion this fiscal year due to all the Covid bailouts.

Then, only a few days later, the Treasury Department updated the estimate and announced they would in fact be borrowing $4.5 trillion this fiscal year.

That’s an increase of $800 billion in less than a week!

Not to be outdone, the Federal Reserve has printed more than[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 7, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

What worked (and didn’t work) during 1970s stagflation

When the New York Stock Exchange opened for trading on January 2, 1970, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 809 points.

It was the start of a new decade, and expectations were high.

Consumer confidence was high, the economy was strong, and NASA had just put a man on the moon only a few months prior.

America was ready to move on from the tumultuous 1960s and was looking forward to[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 5, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

And the winner of the next half trillion dollar bailout is…

At precisely 4pm on Friday October 17, 1975, New York City’s government would have a $453 million in debt to repay.

But literally the night before, the city’s government had only $34 million on hand.

It was the makings of an epic financial crisis: the wealthiest city in the world was about to declare bankruptcy.

New York City’s mayor Abe Beame had called US President Gerald Ford numerous times begging for federal[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 4, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Oregon County says “no whites allowed”

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity… and on occasion, poetic justice.

“No whites allowed” safe space for employees of Oregon county


Do you know what’s been missing from the government’s response to coronavirus?

You might think-- ‘more testing kits’, or ‘honest information’.

Nope. According to at least ne[...] Click here to continue reading
  • Simon Black
  • May 1, 2020
  • Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico