Saturday, August 29, 2015

Federal Court Rulings, BETA Tests?, Protesters Have No Free-Speech Rights At Supreme Court





Federal court rules in favor of NSA bulk snooping, White House happy


Despite the opposition of the US public and lawmakers to NSA surveillance, the courts keep handing the Obama administration the license to snoop. A US appeals court just threw out a 2013 verdict against the NSA, to White House approval.
The decision vindicates the government’s stance that NSA’s bulk surveillance programs are constitutional, the White House said Friday.
Three judges at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the plaintiffs, Larry Klayman and Charles Strange, had no standing to file the original claim, since they could not prove the NSA actually collected any of their records. While Klayman and Strange objected that the NSA refused to provide the evidence, the judges said that was working as intended.
“Plaintiffs complain that the government should not be allowed to avoid liability simply by keeping the material classified. But the government’s silence regarding the scope of bulk collection is a feature of the program, not a bug,” Judge Stephen F. Williams wrote.
Klayman and Strange initially won their case before US District Court Judge Richard Leon in December 2013, challenging the NSA’s bulk collection program under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The controversial section expired at the end of May, after a bipartisan group of lawmakers filibustered to prevent its extension.
Under the subsequently passed USA Freedom Act, the collection of metadata will be entrusted to telecom companies, and the NSA will be able to obtain the records through seeking a warrant from the FISA court.
Within hours of the USA Freedom Act being signed into law, the Obama Administration petitioned to the FISA court to authorize the continuation of NSA’s bulk collections under Section 215, citing the new law’s provision allowing for a 180-day transition period. The court ruled in favor of the government, allowing the NSA to restart the program it had to shut down on May 31, and run it through November 2015.

The NSA’s blanket phone record collection program was kept secret from the public until a contractor for the agency, Edward Snowden, disclosed it to the media in June 2013. The program involved capturing the metadata of millions of phone calls, such as call length and the numbers that were dialed.

The program was originally ruled unlawful in the December 2013 case Klayman v. Obama. The US government has maintained that the program was authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the government to collect business records.






Reports to Down Detector about SNAP EBT cards not working began coming in at a furious pace on Friday across the nation. From Virginia to Iowa to Alabama to Minnesota to New Mexico to Missouri to Idaho, reports of non-received payments to 'can't purchase anything on it' came flooding in as seen in the screenshot comments below. One commenter warned back: 'LOL!!! You SHEEP haven't seen anything yet...This is just a BETA test to see how you idiots will react. The REAL event is going to happen this September.' Investment Watch Blog is reporting upon this EBT 'glitch' as well.

91% of those reporting problems reported issues receiving payments while the other 9% reported website problems. While some might try to dismiss these issues as 'technical glitches', all we need to do is look at another story from yesterday Daily Mail to learn that HSBC also blamed a 'glitch' for the fact that up to 275,000 people were not paid 'hundreds of millions of dollars' with a bank holiday on Monday, effectively ruining the weekends of hundreds of thousands, some of whom were asking how they were going to eat this weekend. 

Were yesterday's 'glitches' that brought down HSBC and caused SNAP/EBT card problems for countless Americans a BETA test as suggested by the 1st comment below? What would happen suddenly if millions and millions of Americans across the country were no longer able to have access to the most basic necessities - hygenics articles, toilet paper, food, water, medical supplies - because of the catastrophic failure of our computer systems, a major nationwide 'glitch'?

As we warned yesterday, America is very close to a catastrophic failure of our healthcare systems; courageous men and womenacross the country who have served America are unable to get medical care; hundreds of thousands of US Veterans have died as a result of it. 

With reports of a 'major event' now just weeks away that will change the landscape of the world, is the weight of the entire system about to come crashing down upon itself, leaving those completely dependent upon it crushed? More below including the new X-22 Report with a warning from a British insider to 'start prepping'.







The Supreme Court is designated as the ultimate protector of constitutional rights, but the guarantee of protest and free speech ends on the steps to the plaza in front of the court’s grand marble temple, a unanimous federal appeals court panel ruled Friday.
Demonstrators are allowed on the sidewalk in front of the court but not any closer to the famous portico promising “Equal Justice Under Law,” three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided.

The fight over where protesters get to protest has been going on for years.
The appeals court judges upheld a 1949 law that forbids demonstrations on the grounds of the high court, on the premise that protests at the court’s doorstep might lead to the perception that the justices are swayed by vox populi rather than the dictates of the law.
Critics have found the no-speech zone around the Supreme Court ironic if not hypocritical. The current court considers itself a fierce protector of political speech, knocking down restrictions on corporate spending on elections, for instance. The justices also struck a Massachusetts law that limited speech around abortion clinics.


“If citizens cannot stand out in the open and voice their disapproval of their government, its representatives and its policies without fearing prosecution, then the First Amendment is little more than window-dressing on a store window — pretty to look at but serving little real purpose,” said the institute’s president, John W. Whitehead. “Through a series of carefully crafted legislative steps and politically expedient court rulings, government officials have managed to disembowel this fundamental freedom.”







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Iran: We Will Never End The Fight Against Israel, 'Israel Should Be Annihilated'




Well, you have to give them credit for being honest. Too bad their honesty is ignored by the west. 






Aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday dismissed remarks by British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond that Tehran has changed its stance on Israel, insisting that fighting the “illegal Zionist regime” is an ongoing policy of the Islamic Republic, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

“[The] fight against the illegal Zionist regime is one of the immutable policies of Iran, which has always been maintained,” Seyed Mahmoud Nabavi said.

Hammond was in Iran on Sunday and Monday for the reopening of the British embassy in Tehran, and said that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had indicated a “more nuanced approach” to Israel’s existence. Hammond said Khamenei’s “revolutionary sloganizing” should be distinguished from “what Iran actually does in the conduct of its foreign policy.”

Nabavi said Hammond’s comments were “incorrect since one of the driving goals of the Islamic Revolution has been campaign against the arrogant powers,” according to Fars.

“We haven’t recognized the Zionist regime since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and such a policy will continue,” Nabavi said.

This is the third time this week that a senior Iranian official has repudiated Hammond’s claims of a shift in stance on Israel. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also dismissed the remarks, saying that Israel “had no place in diplomatic talks between Tehran and London,” Fars reported.
On Tuesday, Hussein Sheikholeslam, a foreign affairs adviser to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, said that Israel “should be annihilated,”and that the thawing relations with the West would not translate into a shift in Tehran’s position on the Jewish state.

Sheikholeslam told Iranian media that contrary to remarks by Hammond, “Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan.”








A senior Iranian official on Tuesday said Israel “should be annihilated,” and that the thawing relations with the West would not translate into a shift in Tehran’s position concerning the Jewish state.

Hussein Sheikholeslam, a foreign affairs adviser to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, told Iranian media that contrary to remarks by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, “Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan.”


Sheikholeslam told a Hamas news outlet earlier this month that Iran has resisted pressure exerted by the P5+1 world powers during the nuclear negotiations to halt its political involvement in Gaza, Syria and Yemen.
“These powers admitted that the reason for their pressure on us is our position on Israel,” he said. “We told them that we reject the existence of any Israeli on this earth.”




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Friday, August 28, 2015

Deaths From MERS Surges In Saudi Arabia, DHS Outlines Biometric Future, Hal Lindsey Updates The Middle East




Deaths from MERS virus surge in Saudi Arabia

Deaths from Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome have risen in Saudi Arabia. Health officials say they are concerned as the country is preparing to host millions of people for the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Saudi Authorities have recorded 19 fatalities in one week from the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronovirus.
A total of 502 people have died in the kingdom since the virus first appeared in 2012.
The number of MERS infections has also surged to 1,171 cases, according to the Saudi health ministry website.
A surge in infections forced health authorities to shut the emergency room at a main hospital in Riyadh last week after at least 46 people, including medical staff, contracted MERS.
With Saudi Arabia preparing to host more than two million Muslims from all over the world next month for the annual hajj to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, health authorities are concerned about the safety of the pilgrims. Saudi Arabia is the country worst hit by the coronavirus.
MERS is considered a deadlier but less infectious relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus that appeared in Asia in 2003 and killed hundreds of people, mostly in China.
Symptoms can include fever, coughing, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.





The Department of Homeland Security released its vision for how enhanced biometrics capabilities will transform the agency’s operations over the next 10 years.
DHS has several biometric-based programs underway, including the Automated Biometrics Identification System as well as various research and development activities within its Science and Technology Directorate and operational components. This DHS strategic framework, released Aug. 26, will be used to identify and align DHS initiatives to meet strategic goals and objectives, the agency said, as well as identify gaps where action plans must be initiated.
The framework has three components:



Enhance effectiveness of subject identification. By updating its outdated biometric collection systems with current biometric technology, DHS will more efficiently collect high-quality biometric data. It will also centralize access to federal and international biometric databases to reduce complexity, eliminate duplication of effort and standardize communications with partners.  Other objectives include improving real-time access from field location and employing a layered identity verification approach that expands the use of multi-modal biometrics beyond fingerprints.  


Transform identity operations to optimize performance.  By automating identity verification, DHS expects to reduce processing time and enhance security. Shifting from an encounter-based to a “person-centric” view will make collected data available to more applications, improving decision making across the agency.  DHS also will work to identify and exploit ways to further implement biometrics to verify identity and reduce vulnerabilities and fraud.


Refine processes and policies to promote innovation. DHS intends to develop joint requirements to more efficiently address overlapping mission needs and oversight requirements, establish department-wide biometrics authorities and implement standardized solutions to minimize maintenance of duplicative services.


With this integrated, enterprise biometric framework that leverages the latest technologies, DHS aims to ensure national security and public safety while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of agency  operations.






An important, but almost completely ignored, development took place recently in the Middle East. I believe it comes as a direct result of the agreement between the West and Iran regarding its nuclear program. 

It has powerful prophetic implications. 

To date, Iran's dominating influence has been exerted mainly among Shi'ite Muslims. The fact that Shi'ites comprise just 15% of the world's Muslims - the other 85% are Sunni - has helped to restrain Iran's global influence. It has effectively kept Iran fenced in. You see, the Shi'ites and Sunnis, though both Islamic, have been locked in a blood feud since 632 AD. 

That fence may be breaking down. 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently announced that he will travel to Tehran in the near future. He hopes to strengthen ties between Iran and the Palestinians. 

That may not seem like a big deal until we consider the fact that Abbas is Sunni. His dominant political party, Fatah, is Sunni. His main ally (and sometime enemy), Hamas, is Sunni. Most, if not all, Palestinians are Sunni. 

And it is worrying that not only are the Palestinians hoping to "strengthen ties" with Iran, but they are sending signals that they might be willing to subjugate themselves to Iran's authority. 

Recently, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released his new book:Palestine. In it, he totally rejects the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. He writes, "The solution is a one-state formula... Palestine." 

He also postulates that the new state of Palestine would be under "the hegemony of Iran." In other words, he's calling for a Shi'ite nation to be in control of a Sunni people. This is something that once would have been complete anathema for any self-respecting Sunni. 

But those times are past! 

Not to pile on, but also consider the fact that Mahmoud Abbas is beginning to publicly show support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad is an Alawite, a branch of Shia Islam. Further, Assad is primarily supported -- read that "propped up" -- by two nations, Iran and Russia. 

Folks, this is right out of Ezekiel 38! 

Now we all know that Hamas and the PA have been receiving backdoor financial and technical assistance from Iran for years. But it was never out in the open. There was never a Palestinian commitment to Iran. But that now appears to be a distinct possibility. 

Why now? Well, let's consider the fact that because of the efforts of Obama and Kerry (and certainly other culprits, too), Iran is about to be flush with cash. Lots of cash. And two lines are forming to petition for their fair share: European bankers and the world's terrorists. 

I wonder why they need two lines? 

But, wait, it gets even more interesting. 

We all know that Abbas and the PA is essentially a money-making enterprise. That's why it has been in control of the Palestinians for so many years and their lot is still so pitiful -- even though billions and billions of dollars have been poured into the PA's coffers by the dunderheads in the West. The Swiss banks love the PA and its leadership class. 

So why would Abbas risk alienating some Western nations by making a public show of his willingness to cast his lot with the Iranians? I believe it is because they both share a hatred for Israel and the Jews. In fact, that may be the reason other Sunni nations decide to submit themselves to Shi'ite Iran. 

By facing down the West's modern day Chamberlains -- gaining everything and ceding nothing -- Iran has not only hit the cash bonanza, it has elevated its mystique to almost mythic proportions. And the rule of thumb in Islam is to go with the stronger horse. 

Today, to the world's Muslims who hate Israel and the Jews, Iran is definitely the stronger horse. 

It's getting harder to differentiate between Bible prophecy and the morning's headlines, isn't it? 

But, unbelievably, there is another plot twist. 

Not only has the West unleashed upon the world a more powerful, influential, and cash-rich Iran (the world's greatest exporter of terrorism), but its Supreme Leader has made certain that no one can doubt where all of this is headed. 

In his new book, Palestine, the Ayatollah proclaims himself as "the flagbearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem." Say what? Did Obama and Kerry and company know this when they were prostrating themselves and kissing his ring? 

They had obviously overlooked his descriptions of Israel as a "cancerous tumor" and "ally of the American Great Satan." They apparently paid no mind to Khamenei's encouragement of chants of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" at his rallies. 

They seemed to be in a mindless mad dash to reach a "deal" no matter the implications of the deal. And now, we're beginning to realize those implications. 

Did I mention that this is right out of Ezekiel 38? 

The Bible prophets predicted that in the last days Russia would lead a confederacy of nations against Israel that included a host of Muslim nations led by Iran. Some critics have raised an eyebrow and noted that Sunni nations -- which describes most Muslim nations -- would never be led by a Shi'ite nation. 

I suppose they can lower that eyebrow now. 

Don't miss this week's Report here Sunday.



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IAEA: Iran Has Expanded Parchin Nuclear Facility, Ukrainian Forces Break Minsk Agreement As War Looms, Financial Times Demands End Of Cash





IAEA says Iran has expanded Parchin nuclear facility | The Times of Israel


The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency reported Thursday that while Iran has largely been complying with agreements on curtailing its nuclear program, it has built an extension to its military facility at Parchin.

A segment of the confidential report seen by the Reuters news agency says the Islamic Republic’s activity at the site since February 2012 has likely undermined the IAEA’s ability to “conduct effective verification.”

“Since [our] previous report [in May], at a particular location at the Parchin site, the agency has continued to observe, through satellite imagery, the presence of vehicles, equipment, and probable construction materials. In addition, a small extension to an existing building appears to have [been] constructed,” the report was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The report covers Iranian activity from before the signing of the long-term nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers in July.
Activities at the site since 2012, during a time Iran stonewalled IAEA requests to visit the site or receive information on it, have undermined the agency’s ability to verify intelligence suggesting that Tehran conducted tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations at the site in the past, diplomats said Thursday.
Specifically, the IAEA believes Tehran may have experimented there with high-explosive detonators for nuclear arms.

On Tuesday, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said that his agency received large amounts of information from Tehran but it was too early to say whether any of the information is new.

Israel last week demanded the publication of undisclosed agreements reached between Iran and the IAEA, after a report on part of the accord detailed Iran’s ability to police itself at Parchin. The Associated Press reported the nuclear watchdog ceded the responsibility of nuclear inspections at the Parchin military complex to Tehran officials, and published what it said was a text of the side deal.










The U.S.-backed Ukrainian Armed Forces, on Wednesday August 26th, resumed their all-out war against the breakaway Donbass region, according to an announcement on August 27th by the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Deputy Commander, Eduard Basurin. Donetsk is the largest city in Donbass — the region that broke away from Ukraine after the February 2014 U.S. coup in Kiev, which threw out the democratically elected Ukrainian President, for whom the residents of Donbass had voted over 90%. If this apparent re-invasion of Donbass by U.S.-backed forces is true, it would flagrantly violate the Minsk II Agreement that Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Francois Hollande had achieved, and that the warring parties had signed, six months ago, on February 11th.



As reported August 27th by the Fort Russ news site, Mr. Basurin said:
The situation in the DPR has drastically deteriorated. … From 5 P.M. [August 26th], punitive forces [that’s to say, forces aiming to ‘punish’ Donbass for rejecting Obama’s coup in Ukraine] began massively shelling positions of the DPR army and the civilian areas of Belaya Kamenka, Novolaspa, Staroslava, and Staroignatovka.

The fascists have used heavy artillery prohibited by the Minsk Agreements against the civilian areas of Aleksandrovka and Marinka. The outskirts of Donetsk have been struck.


The shelling has been carried out from the positions of the 72nd mechanized brigade under the command of the criminal Grishchenko, as well as the 19th infantry battalion. The enemy is using ACS howitzers of 152 and 122 mm, mortars of 120 and 80 mm, and tanks.

Basurin said that “According to our estimate, the enemy is trying to provoke a response by our troops and with such activity convince the army command of the DPR to prepare for an offensive in this direction of the UAF,” so that DPR’s strategy of — as much as possible — not initiating fire, but only responding to it, will be broken. That would then provide the U.S. side the opportunity to charge the DPR side with violating Minsk II.

Basurin went on to say:
the criminal fascist regime is purposefully trying to disrupt the Minsk Agreement. The bloodthirsty Kiev puppets are out to disrupt the establishment of peaceful life in the Republic, thereby showing the whole world their inability to conduct civilized negotiations. The paranoiacs in power are leading Ukraine into the abyss!
The President of Ukraine seeks to resume hostilities and lead a new escalation of tensions in Eastern Europe, and therefore, we appeal to the people and officers of Ukraine: sabotage the criminal orders of the UAF command, show acts of defiance, and demonstrate an absence of support for the aggressive plans of Poroshenko.

Basurin is urging the U.S.-backed forces to violate their instructions, which would be an extremely dangerous thing for those troops to do. However, a significant number of Ukrainian soldiers have, in fact, defected to the ‘rebels.’


As I reported earlier, a conflict within the Obama Administration broke out on May 15th, when Victoria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of State whom Obama had placed in charge of policy on Ukraine (and who had masterminded the coup and selected the post-coup government), contradicted her nominal superior, Secretary of State John Kerry, and said that, despite Kerry’s warning to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko not to violate Minsk II, Poroshenko would have America’s full backing if he were to follow through on his repeated threats to re-invade Donbass, regardless of what had been agreed to, and signed, at Minsk.

Ms. Nuland has continued to maintain that the U.S. will support the Ukrainian side no matter what; and so, Donbass has been on constant alert, expecting Poroshenko to resume the invasion at any time.

In the interim since the first of the two Minsk agreements, the U.S. Congress has endorsed Obama’s policy and authorized funds for retraining Ukraine’s troops and for resupplying them with weapons.
Perhaps the decision has finally now been made in the White House to resume the war at full force. The next few days could make clear whether that is the case, or whether, instead, this is just yet another of the many relatively minor violations of Minsk, which both sides have engaged in during the past six months. 





Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) announced today that she would be voting in favor of a resolution of disapproval against the president’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action becoming the 14th Democratic congressional lawmaker to buck Obama. Two Senators, Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez, also announced their intention to vote in favor of a resolution of disapproval.
In explaining her decision, Maloney quite accurately noted that even if Iran doesn’t cheat -- an unlikely prospect given the Islamic Republic’s record of deceit and fabrication -- the Iranians can legally become a threshold nuclear power once many of the restrictive provisions of the JCPOA expire in 8 to 10 years. In the best-case scenario, Obama has merely kicked the can down the road. Moreover, in 8 years, Iran will be a lot richer and infinitely more menacing thanks to sanctions relief as mandated by the JCPOA.
A day prior to Maloney's announcement, a group of nearly 200 retired generals and admirals sent a letter to Congress urging them to reject the deal. Such unanimity among such a high number of senior military officials is impressive and Maloney may have been swayed by their compelling arguments as well as stature. She may be also cognizant of recent opinion polls which are decidedly against approval of the JCPOA.

Obama’s Iran deal is leading the nation toward the inevitable path of war. With or without the deal, war with the Islamic Republic is a virtual certainty. The only question is will war break out with an economically strong and powerful Iran, equipped with sophisticated weapons purchased from the Russians and Europeans or will it break out while Iran’s military is relatively weak and its economy is in shambles?

Already we are witnessing foreboding signs of Iranian malfeasance. The IAEA announced today that Iran is building an “extension to an existing building” at the top-secret Parchin military facility. IAEA inspectors believe that the facility also serves as a testing site for conducting nuclear experiments with military applications. In early August, the Institute for Science and International Security announced that based on satellite imagery they believed that Iran was attempting to sanitize the Parchin site before any IAEA inspection. The Iranians countered that they were merely engaged in road repair. What is truly amazing is that the ink on the JCPOA hasn’t even dried yet and already, the Iranians are up to their old antics.

Anticipating an immediate influx of $150 billion as well as billions more resulting from sanctions relief, Iran is now substantially shoring up its military capabilities. Russia announced that it would be selling the Iranians the S-300 weapon system, a state-of the-art anti-aircraft platform capable of tracking and shooting down multiple targets and great distances. Once acquired and integrated, the system will greatly complicate plans for a preemptive strike. 

Iran and China are now in the midst of negotiating a deal worth $1 billion whereby Iran would acquire 24 Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter jets in exchange for granting China control of Iran’s biggest oil field for two decades. Iran’s air force is currently in a decrepit state, flying aircraft that date to the 1950s but the purchase of these sophisticated fourth-generation aircraft will substantially improve Iran’s tactical and strategic capabilities.

Iran is also seeking to transfer sophisticated military technology to its Lebanese Shia proxy, Hezbollah. According to Israel’s foreign ministry director-general Dore Gold, Iran is seeking to transfer Yakhont cruise missiles and SA-22 anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah. Both of these weapons systems are game-changing platforms that endanger Israeli commercial and military aircraft as well as offshore gas facilities.


Iran’s acquisition of these new weapons platforms facilitated by revenue flowing in as a result of the JCPOA and its destablizing transfer of military technology to Israel’s genocidal enemies will merely serve to accelerate Israel’s military response. Though the math looks bad for opponents of the JCPOA, those who are still on the fence line should be cognizant of the fact that Iran is gearing for war not despite the JCPOA, but because of it. 





Earlier this week, as the financial world was mesmerized by a min-stock market crash, the Financial Times published a dastardly little piece of fascist propaganda.
There is no more egregious anti-liberty economic policy imaginable than banning cash. I covered this earlier in the year in the post, Martin Armstrong Reports on a Secret Meeting in London to Ban Cash. Here’s an excerpt:


At this point, anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention to the central planning economic totalitarians running the fraudulent global financial system is aware of the blatant push in the media to acclimate the masses to accepting a “cashless society.”

In the mind of an economic tyrant, banning cash represents the holy grail. Forcing the plebs onto a system of digital fiat currency transactions offers total control via a seamless tracking of all transactions in the economy, and the ability to block payments if an uppity citizen dares get out of line.

While we’ve all seen the idiotic arguments for banning cash, i.e., it will allow central planners to more efficiently centrally plan economies into the ground, Martin Armstrong is reporting on a secret meeting in London with the aim of getting rid of any economic privacy that remains by ending cash.


Three months later,  the Financial Times publishes an article titled, The Case for Retiring Another “Barbarous Relic.”  When you start to see increased propaganda about banning cash, you know the status quo is very scared and things are getting very serious. You’ve been warned.


The fact that people treat cash as the go-to safe asset when banks are teetering is heavy with historical irony. Paper money was once the symbol of monetary irresponsibility. But even as individuals have taken recent crises as reasons to stock up on banknotes, authorities would do well to consider the arguments for phasing out their use as another “barbarous relic”, the moniker Keynes gave to gold. 

Already, by far the largest amount of money exists and is transacted in electronic form — as bank deposits and central bank reserves. But even a little physical currency can cause a lot of distortion to the economic system.


The existence of cash — a bearer instrument with a zero interest rate — limits central banks’ ability to stimulate a depressed economy. The worry is that people will change their deposits for cash if a central bank moves rates into negative territory. The Swiss, Danish and Swedish central banks have pushed rates lower than many thought possible; but most policymakers still believe in an “effective” lower band not far below zero.

Of course, if cash were  involuntarily”ended,” there would be a surge in demand for physical gold and silver, which would then necessitate a ban on those items. Then the cycle of economic and financial tyranny would be complete, and crawling our way out of it, nearly impossible.




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