Cell phones, computers, laptops, tablets and portable media players have freed Americans to access the Internet wherever they are and at whatever time of day. World markets are now updated every minute, news feeds change by the second, and the free flow of business communication never stops.

While the U.S. and freedom seem to go hand-in-hand, it may surprise you that the U.S. actually ranks second behind Estonia in Internet independence, according to an extensive study by Freedom House. Their new report, Freedom on the Net 2011, charts different countries’ Internet activity against accessibility, revealing some rather important clusters.

On one extreme, the U.S., U.K. and Australia have more than 70 percent of their population on the Internet and they enjoy almost total freedom—no surprise there. On the other extreme are Ethiopia, Cuba and Burma, where very few people access a heavily guarded Web.

As I’ve discussed previously (Read: A Look at China’s Twitter), China has an increasing amount of people on the Internet, yet there are severe controls in place to limit where they go and what they discuss. Mexico has approximately the same Internet penetration rate, yet a majority of the population is rural and lacks affordable access to the Web. Unlike China, the Internet in Mexico is mostly free of censorship: access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blog-hosting services is available.

What’s interesting is the cluster of countries in the middle of the chart. From this group, Freedom House has identified five critical countries—Jordan, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela and Zimbabwe – where the Internet is both “vitally important and in significant danger of repression” over the next two years. Jordan, while it has boasted that it allows more freedom on the Web than other Middle Eastern countries, has strictly monitored Internet activity among citizens. There have even been incidents of popular news websites being hacked after posting sensitive material. And, as Venezuela prepares for a presidential election in 2012, restrictions to websites and blogs as well as censorship are expected to increase.

In Egypt, the Internet played a huge role in forcing Hosni Mubarak to resign because it allowed its citizens to organize protests in the streets. By the time the government stepped in to block Twitter and Facebook, two very important social tools to mobilize protesters, they were too late.

In the online world, the rate of change has been accelerated, and the countries in the middle section of this chart represent a tipping point. The number of people accessing the Internet will most likely grow, forcing countries to act. They can encourage the free expression we enjoy in America or create greater repression and begin a chain reaction that affects personal Internet users, businesses trying to compete worldwide and politicians trying to effect change.

By clicking the links above, you will be directed to a third-party website. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for its content. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor.

Each week, our investment team looks to provide Investor Alert and Advisor Alert subscribers with a special window into a key event, development or trend we’ve spotted in global markets. We also update Frank Holmes’ blog “Frank Talk” several times a week with similar observations from portfolio managers on the road to insight from other market voices we follow are saying about the markets.

This week we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on the eventful year it’s been for gold, natural resources and commodities by highlighting this year’s most popular commentaries and Frank Talk blog entries.

1) What Gold Bubble? (April 22, 2010) As gold reached record highs earlier this year, the groundswell of television, radio and online ads led many to proclaim a gold price bubble. We disagreed and explained gold still had room to run. Read the article.

2) Why More Investors Like Gold (May 17, 2010) In this commentary, we explain the connection between the explosion in sovereign debt levels around the world and record gold prices. We also discuss how central banks such as China and India have been adding to their gold reserves. Read the article.

3) Chart of the Week – Gold’s Breakout (April 13, 2010) The price of gold can vary depending on which currency it is priced in. Back in April, we highlighted that the struggles of both the U.S. dollar and the British pound had pushed gold prices up much further when priced in those currencies. However by early June, gold priced in euros had caught up with the dollar due to the flailing fiscal situations of Greece, Spain and others. Read the article.

4) What’s Driving $1,300 Gold? (September 24, 2010) Gold broke through the $1,300 mark for the first time in late September as the risk of “competitive currency devaluation” spread across Japan, the U.S. and the European Union. In addition, the Federal Reserve began floating the idea of a second round of quantitative easing, which has buoyed commodities since. Read the article.

5) Nine Bullish Arguments for Gold (September 10, 2010) Dr. Martin Murenbeeld, chief economist for Dundee Wealth Economics and one of the smartest gold minds around, published his nine best arguments for higher gold prices. Like Dr. Murenbeeld, we feel that global fiscal and monetary reflation, investment demand, central bank attitudes toward gold and a handful of other factors support long-term gold prices. Read the article.

You can see that there’s been one story which has kept people’s attention all year…gold. But that’s this year, what market story do you think will hog the headlines in 2011? Don’t see your favorite commentary? Let us know by sending an email to webmaster@usfunds.com. Closer to the end of the year, we’ll be sharing with you some of our key things to watch for in 2011 and we’ll include some of your feedback.

The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies. BRIC refers to the emerging market countries Brazil, Russia, India and China.

There are more than 150 million people—roughly 2 percent of all the people on earth—who are in need of a wheelchair, but cannot afford one, according to the World Health Organization.

My long-time friend Gordon Holmes, publisher of Streetwise Reports (The Gold Report and The Energy Report) and founder of Lookout Ridge Winery, has developed a unique approach to help this cause called the “Wines for Wheelchairs” program. For every bottle of a certain wine or every case of wine you buy, the winery donates a wheelchair in your name to an individual anywhere in the world who is in need. Gordon also began the “Movement for Mobility” program, which works with mining companies all over the world to provide turnkey solutions to bring wheelchairs into their local communities.

To Bloomberg, he described his passion this way: “The first time we distributed wheelchairs, in Mexico, I saw how one could instantly change someone's life. I picked up a little boy whose dad was wheeling him in a wheelbarrow and sat him in a wheelchair. The look on his face now that he could get around by himself -- wow.”

I applaud my friend’s efforts to pair wine with wheels to create a lasting impact. Streetwise was one of our earliest content partners and was instrumental in placing our message in front of an important audience. I’m proud that U.S. Global will be partnering with Lookout Ridge Winery again at this year’s New Orleans Investment Conference to bring Gordon’s expertise in wine to a great wine tasting event while promoting a very worthy cause.

It’s fitting that Gordon will be sharing his talents in New Orleans because the founder of the Investment Conference, Jim Blanchard, was confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. Instead of dwelling on his misfortune, he became a successful businessman, a thought-leader in gold investing, executive editor and publisher of the oldest precious metals-related advisory publication, the Gold Newsletter, and a world-traveler lobbying for liberty and free markets.

The emerging world is currently the epicenter of our global investment philosophy. Emerging markets have the strongest balance sheets and fastest growing economies, and they hold the majority of the world’s natural resource reserves. The two factors go hand-in-hand because the natural resources can unlock the door to a greater standard of living for a large portion of the population.

However, the road to achieving this better way of life is filled with potholes and speed bumps, such as corruption and civil war. This is why U.S. Global and I support the work of the Clinton Global Initiative and the International Crisis Group. Using the “teach a man to fish” ideology, the Clinton Global Initiative has made great strides in cultivating leadership, alleviating poverty, and raising health and education standards to new heights in Africa and Latin America.

U.S. Global is particularly committed to one of the foundation’s initiatives, the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative. CGSGI focuses on alleviating poverty in the developing world by identifying opportunities to assist local leaders in addressing social, economic and environmental issues.

I was fortunate to be present when former President Bill Clinton and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra launched CGSGI in 2007. CGSGI soon gained the support of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, who joined Giustra in pledging at least $100 million for CGSGI’s efforts in South America. I have witnessed the great work of this organization firsthand in Colombia, where its support of entrepreneurship has led to a transformation in the South American country.

The International Crisis Group focuses its efforts on resolving deadly conflicts around the world. In places such as Burundi, which is on the brink of civil war, to Kosovo, where longstanding tensions with neighbor Serbia threaten to escalate into armed conflict. The International Crisis Group is also highly involved with the Arab Spring, negotiating for peace and protecting human rights in countries such as Syria and Yemen.

These organizations provide examples of how corporations that profit from the emerging world can help improve the lives of families and individuals residing in those communities.

Find out how you can support Gordon Holmes’ programs here.

Find out more about the International Crisis Group.

Find out more about the Clinton Global Initiative.

By clicking the links above, you will be directed to third-party websites. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by these websites and is not responsible for their content.

All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor.