The Art of Money

FRANCE LEGALIZES GAY MARRIAGE AFTER HARSH DEBATE

PARIS (AP) — France legalized gay marriage on Tuesday after a wrenching national debate and protests that flooded the streets of Paris. Legions of officers and water cannon stood ready near France's National Assembly ahead of the final vote, bracing for possible violence on an issue that galvanized the country's faltering conservative movement.

The measure passed easily in the Socialist-majority Assembly, 331-225, just minutes after the president of the legislative body expelled a disruptive protester in pink, the color adopted by French opponents of gay marriage.

"Only those who love democracy are here," Claude Bartelone, the Assembly president, said angrily.

In recent weeks, violent attacks against gay couples have spiked and some legislators have received threats — including Bartelone, who got a gunpowder-filled envelope on Monday.

One of the biggest protests against same-sex marriage drew together hundreds of thousands of people bused in from the French provinces — conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests and others. That demonstration ended in blasts of tear gas, as right-wing rabble-rousers, some in masks and hoods, led the charge against police, damaging cars along the Champs-Elysees avenue and making a break for the presidential palace.

Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told lawmakers that the first weddings could be as soon as June.

How is it possible gold goes down $200 in the paper market while there is almost no supply available to buy around the world? Last I checked, dwindling or completely absent supply against steady and increasing demand means higher prices, not sudden price drops. Quite simply, the paper market is being manipulated one way or another.

Whether it's nervous speculators or the more likely collusion of banks and the federal government, there can be no mistaking that the deviation in the gold paper and physical markets this last week is a major event for The End Of The Monetary Systems As We Know It.

We can expect very shortly to see in gold what we see now in silver: that is, that the paper spot price has totally diverged from the physical price. Look across the retail and distribution fabric and you see prices for silver coins and bars higher than ever compared to the spot price.

We at TDV called some of our contacts in the US about this, and found that the leading retail price for one Silver Eagle in the US is $5 over spot. This price is often below $3. That marks a rebellion by distributors and retailers against paper markets, as many of them are already hedged in paper markets against the precious metals they own.

Gold is next. Although the mainstream media attempted to argue against gold, demand for the metal has not been staved-off by the added volatility and propaganda.

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Tax-free Internet shopping jeopardized by bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tax-free shopping on the Internet could be in jeopardy under a bill making its way through the Senate.

The bill would empower states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers a big advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

The Senate voted 74 to 20 Monday to take up the bill. If that level of support continues, the Senate could pass the bill as early as this week.

Supporters say the bill is about fairness for businesses and lost revenue for states. Opponents say it would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn't have enough protections for smallbusinesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt.

"While local, community-based stores and shops compete for customers on many levels, including service and selection, they cannot compete on sales tax," said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. "Congress needs to address this disparity."

And, he added, "Despite what the opponents say this is not a new tax."

In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales tax when they file their state income tax returns. However, states complain that few people comply.

"I do know about three people that comply with that," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the bill's main sponsor.

MOTHER OF BOMBING SUSPECTS: My Sons Would Never Do This And My Older Son Is Still Alive

The mother of the suspected Boston bombers has given an exclusive interview to Channel 4 in which she reiterates assertions that her sons were set up, and also makes the claim that her oldest son Tamerlan is still alive!

"What happened was a terrible thing. But I know that my kids have nothing to do with this. I know it. I am mother. I know my kids," Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told Channel 4 News in Makhachkala, Dagestan.

She said that Tamerlan, who apparently died in a gunfight with police on Thursday night, was being watched by the FBI before the attacks.

FLIGHT DELAYS PILE UP AMID FAA BUDGET CUTS

NEW YORK (AP) -- Flight delays piled up across the country Monday as thousands of air traffic controllers began taking unpaid days off because of federal budget cuts, providing the most visible impact yet of Congress and the White House's failure to agree on a long-term deficit-reduction plan.

The Federal Aviation Administration kept planes on the ground because there weren't enough controllers to monitor busy air corridors. Cascading delays held up flights at some of nation's busiest airports, including New York, Baltimore and Washington. Many operations were more than two hours behind schedule.

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Bloomberg Says Interpretation of Constitution Will ‘Have to Change’ After Boston Bombing

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.

“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

Mr. Bloomberg, who has come under fire for the N.Y.P.D.’s monitoring of Muslim communities and other aggressive tactics, said the rest of the country needs to learn from the attacks.

“Look, we live in a very dangerous world. We know there are people who want to take away our freedoms. New Yorkers probably know that as much if not more than anybody else after the terrible tragedy of 9/11,” he said.

BOSTON BOMB SUSPECT CHARGED; RELIGIOUS MOTIVE SEEN

BOSTON (AP) -- The two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon appear to have been motivated by a radical brand of Islam but do not seem connected to any Muslim terrorist groups, U.S. officials said Monday after interrogating and charging Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with crimes that could bring the death penalty.

Tsarnaev, 19, was charged in his hospital room, where he was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway. His older brother, Tamerlan, 26, died Friday after a fierce gunbattle with police.

The Massachusetts college student was charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was accused of joining with his brother in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 200 a week ago.

The brothers, ethnic Chechens from Russia who had been living in the U.S. for about a decade, practiced Islam.