Daily Archives: 19 March 2013

Bitcoin’s Busy Year

open quoteOn Wednesday, BitPay, the world’s leading Bitcoin payment processor, introduced a new WordPress tool integrating its services with Fulfillment by Amazon which stores, packs, ships and provides customer service to those using the Amazon marketplace, is available to merchants who do not sell their products through Amazon but who still want to provide the same quality services. Less than a week ago Mt. Gox — the world’s leading Bitcoin exchange—announced their exclusive partner in the US and Canada. Just a few days earlier the first Bitcoin ATM, was unveiled.

It’s been a busy two weeks for the cryptocurrency and its loyal followers, especially here in the United States. The first Bitcoin ATM graced the world on Feb. 23, thanks to Zach Harvey and Matt Whitlock of Lammasu Bitcoin Advisors in New Hampshire.

Mt. Gox, based in Japan, joined forces with Coinlab — the world’s first US-venture backed Bitcoin company — to cater to their customer base in the US and Canada.

The idea that WordPress users can accept Bitcoin might not sound new, and that’s because it isn’t. WooCommerce, the predecessor to BitPay WooCommerce, was released in November of last year. Now the partnership between BitPay, based in Atlanta Ga., and Amazon allows for merchants using WordPress to accept Bitcoin with ease while providing their customers with all of the benefits Fulfillment by Amazon has to offer.close quote (Read more)

Associated Press Propaganda: “More gun laws = fewer deaths, 50-state study says”

open quoteStates with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study that suggests sheer quantity of measures might make a difference.

But the research leaves many questions unanswered and won’t settle the debate over how policymakers should respond to recent high-profile acts of gun violence.

In the dozen or so states with the most gun control-related laws, far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in the states with the fewest laws, the study found. Overall, states with the most laws had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the least number of laws.

The results are based on an analysis of 2007-2010 gun-related homicides and suicides from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers also used data on gun control measures in all 50 states compiled by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a well-known gun control advocacy group. They compared states by dividing them into four equal-sized groups according to the number of gun laws.

The results were published online Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

More than 30,000 people nationwide die from guns every year nationwide, and there’s evidence that gun-related violent crime rates have increased since 2008, a journal editorial noted.

During the four-years studied, there were nearly 122,000 gun deaths, 60 percent of them suicides.close quote (Read more)

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