The War on Cash is Ancient

The war on cash is now a global phenomenon: under the pretext of tracing criminal activity, governments everywhere are cracking down on commerce that isn’t monitored or controlled.

However, the results of this war reveal its true purpose: tracking citizens and their taxable income.

The war on cash is actually a war on commerce, or rather, on any commerce that can’t be monitored and controlled by government. Governments survive and grow based on the productivity of the rest of society, and as a result they try to restrict wealth creation to only those areas where it can be recorded and redistributed.

This war on cash is attracting widespread attention. What people may not know, however, is that the current war is only the most recent version of government policies that have been around for a long time. Similar programs have appeared throughout history, some even dating to antiquity.

One notable example occurred in China during the “Warring States” period, roughly 475–221 BCE. This era produced some of China’s greatest contributions to philosophy and technology, but unfortunately, was also a time of unrelenting warfare and political centralization, leading eventually to the Qin unification of China in 221 BCE.

Tags:  Taxes and Spending World History  Fiscal Theory

https://mises.org/blog/war-cash-ancient

VIRTUAL REALITY TURNING PUBLIC INTO ZOMBIES

 

Indeed, one blogger lists “7 Reasons Why You Should NOT Take Your Kids to See Batman v Superman,” including foul language and brutal violence.

But it is not just these violent superhero movies — really intended for adults — that parents might want to think twice about. It’s the entire movie going experience. Over the course of the past few decades, thanks to some amazing technology, going to the movies has become a much more intense experience. The screens have gotten bigger, the volume has gotten louder, the graphics have become much more realistic.

http://www.infowars.com/virtual-reality-turning-public-into-zombies/

Apple’s iBooks, iTunes Movies mysteriously suspended in China; customers want refunds

Apple has not issued any statement to customers in China about the status of the services, but many users report that they have been unable to connect to the movie service and iBooks since April 15.

A Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman said: “We hope to make books and movies available again to our customers in China as soon as possible,” but she would not elaborate on why the services were unavailable.

The Chinese government has not issued any statement on the matter. However, the New York Times, citing two anonymous sources, said the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television had ordered the services offline, though it was unclear why.

Apple’s App Store revenue has surged in China in the last year, overtaking Japan as the world’s No. 2 market for the service, according to App Annie.

Apple technical assistance and account service representatives, reached by phone in China, said they had received no official notice from the company that the services had been blocked or shut down. They offered to arrange refunds on purchased content.

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-apple-ibook-itunes-movies-20160422-story.html

CERN RELEASES 300TB OF LARGE HADRON COLLIDER DATA INTO OPEN ACCESS

Kati Lassila-Perini, a physicist who works on the Compact Muon Solenoid (!) detector, gave a refreshingly straightforward explanation for this huge release.

“Once we’ve exhausted our exploration of the data, we see no reason not to make them available publicly,” she said in a news release accompanying the data. “The benefits are numerous, from inspiring high school students to the training of the particle physicists of tomorrow. And personally, as CMS’s data preservation coordinator, this is a crucial part of ensuring the long-term availability of our research data.”

Amazing that this perspective is not more widely held — though I suspect it is, by the scientists at least, if not the publishers and department heads who must think of the bottom line.

http://www.infowars.com/cern-releases-300tb-of-large-hadron-collider-data-into-open-access/

 

Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center in need of security system update

Officials say the last time Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center had a major security system update was back in 1991, when the facility was built.

“It entails the intercom system, the video system, and cameras which is our analog system… infrastructure, we’ve had some fiber optics replaced. 2001 we made some small upgrades,” said Captain of Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center, Allen Barr.

Captain Barr says the much needed changes will help assure everyone’s safety.

“As technology has moved on – it kind of left us behind…it’s left us vulnerable in security areas…communication monitoring and we’ve kind of had to formulate how we do business around the poor equipment that we have,” added Captain Barr.

On top of the camera system being out dated, Captain Barr says there are more things to be done as well.

“It will allow our touch screen panels to be more realistic, and easier to function in all three buildings,” said Captain Barr.

However, before the detention center can move forward with the security upgrade…they have to seek approval from the council to receive about $2.7 million for those much needed changes. The facility is seeking the funds from the Virginia Resource Authority to do so during a 10 year bond.

“They’ll send a bill to the jail, and then the participating members of the jail which are Clarke, Frederick, Fauquier, and the city of Winchester will send our payments to the jail, and they’ll send it to the Virginia Resource Authority. Of that amount the city is about 36%, so at most our payment will be about $128,000 a year,” said Chief Financial Officer & Director of Support Services for the city of Winchester, Mary Blowe.

Council members say are still in the beginning stages of the process, so a date as to when the upgrades will happen has not been finalized yet.

http://www.your4state.com/news/virginia/northwestern-regional-adult-detention-center-in-need-of-security-system-update

 

Comey: ‘No outside influence’ on Clinton email investigation

FBI Director James Comey pledged Wednesday that there is “no outside influence” on the bureau’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s private email server.

I love the FBI because we aspire to, and I think we are, three things: We’re honest, we’re competent, we’re independent,” Comey said at Kenyon College in Ohio while responding to an audience member’s question, according to Politico.

“I’ve stayed close to that investigation to ensure that it’s done that way. That we have the resources, the technology, the people and that there’s no outside influence. So, if I talk about an investigation while it’s going on, there’s a risk that I’ll compromise both the reality and the perception that it’s done honestly, competently and independently,” he added.

Comey told lawmakers in early March that he was closely monitoring the case and insisted it would remain independent. He said earlier this week that “the urgency is to do it well and do it promptly,” adding that doing it ” ‘well’ comes first.”

The investigation continues to haunt Clinton’s presidential campaign as she looks to solidify her status as the presumptive Democratic nominee with a win in New York later this month. Rival candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has notched several recent wins, including a victory in Wisconsin earlier this week.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/275439-comey-no-outside-influence-on-clinton-email-investigation

Comey pledges ‘no outside influence’ on Clinton email case Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/04/comey-pledges-no-outside-influence-on-clinton-email-case-221665#ixzz45GjX2WrB Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that he’s keeping careful track of the investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email server, in part to make sure the probe isn’t affected by politics.

“I love the FBI because we aspire to, and I think we are, three things: We’re honest, we’re competent, we’re independent. We’re not perfect. We’re competent, we’re independent,” Comey said in response to an audience member’s question during an appearance at Kenyon College in Ohio.

“I’ve stayed close to that investigation to ensure that it’s done that way. That we have the resources, the technology, the people and that there’s no outside influence. So, if I talk about an investigation while it’s going on there’s a risk that I’ll compromise both the reality and the perception that it’s done honestly, competently and independently. So, I’m going to say no comment to that.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/04/comey-pledges-no-outside-influence-on-clinton-email-case-221665

COMEY: ‘NO OUTSIDE INFLUENCE’ ON CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION

“I love the FBI because we aspire to, and I think we are, three things: We’re honest, we’re competent, we’re independent,” Comey said at Kenyon College in Ohio while responding to an audience member’s question ,according to Politico.

“I’ve stayed close to that investigation to ensure that it’s done that way. That we have the resources, the technology, the people and that there’s no outside influence. So, if I talk about an investigation while it’s going on, there’s a risk that I’ll compromise both the reality and the perception that it’s done honestly, competently and independently,” he added.

http://www.infowars.com/comey-no-outside-influence-on-clinton-email-investigation/

LAW ENFORCEMENT DEMANDS FBI SHARE IPHONE HACK TECHNIQUE

Moore, a district attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has publicly lamented that Apple’s iPhone encryption is keeping local police out of a victim’s phone in a recent murder. On Monday, Moore’s ears perked up when the FBI announced it would drop its court battle with Apple after it figured out a way to pull data from the iPhone of Syed Farook, the San Bernardino gunman.

http://www.infowars.com/law-enforcement-demands-fbi-share-iphone-hack-technique/

 

 

Big Brother Rising: US Turns Into Full-Blown ‘Surveillance State’

The agency’s plan circumvented the US Congress and was revealed in a New York Times report last month. In response, a number of US lawmakers wrote a letter to the NSA director to express their concerns.

Speaking to Loud & Clear host Brian Becker, Bryan Ford, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, stresses that the legislative branch should not be left in the dark about any government policies.

“We shouldn’t be finding out about what’s happening with the NSA form the New York Times,” Declan McCullagh, a technology journalist, adds. “It’s the Authority Oversight Committee. They should be finding it from the NSA itself. There is a failure of Democratic enforcement here.”

http://sputniknews.com/us/20160329/1037113909/us-surveillance-state.html

Tags: Fourth Amendment, constitution, surveillance, House Oversight Committee, FBI, Congress, NSA, DEA, Apple, United States, Washington