United States

Just days after two US Navy boats and ten sailors were seized at Farsi Island ahead of President Obama's state-of-the-union address and just days before Tehran will see international sanctions lifted as part of the "historic" nuclear accord, four US hostages have been freed in a prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran.

Among the detainees is Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian who was famously held for spying after being convicted in a shadowy trial last year and faced up to 20 years in an Iranian prison.

Submitted by Doug Casey via InternationalMan.com,

An International Man lives and does business wherever he finds conditions most advantageous, regardless of arbitrary borders. He’s diversified globally, with passports from multiple countries, assets in several jurisdictions, and his residence in yet another. He doesn’t depend absolutely on any country and regards all of them as competitors for his capital and expertise.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

The first thing that popped into our minds on Tuesday when WTI oil briefly broached $30 for its first $20 handle in many years, was that this should be triggering a Gawdawful amount of bets, $30 being such an obvious number. Which in turn would of necessity lead to a -brief- rise in prices.

Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory blog,

Collecting rainwater on your own property can now lead to jail time, as proven by a man from Oregon who was sentenced to prison for doing just that.  Who owns the rain? The US government, apparently so it seems. Not so long ago, it was common practice across much of the world to collect rainwater into man made wells on your property to use for farming, irrigation and having fresh clean water.  It was just as common as canning your own food, having knowledge of at least some basic survival skills, and being self-sufficient.