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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Experts Call For Return of Lockdown-Style Social Distancing as Flu Surges, Claiming ?a Fifth of Thos... Tue Dec 24, 2024 13:46 | Will Jones
Experts?have issued an urgent call for lockdown-style social distancing ahead of Christmas Day amid surging flu infections, claiming that a fifth of those infected have no symptoms but can spread it.
The post Experts Call For Return of Lockdown-Style Social Distancing as Flu Surges, Claiming “a Fifth of Those Infected Have No Symptoms But Can Spread It” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link J.K. Rowling Leads Backlash Against Sturgeon for Claiming There Was No Public Opposition to Gender S... Tue Dec 24, 2024 11:23 | Will Jones
J.K. Rowling has led a feminist backlash against?Nicola Sturgeon?after she was accused of ?rewriting history? over the gender self-ID law controversy by claiming there was no public opposition until "forces muscled in".
The post J.K. Rowling Leads Backlash Against Sturgeon for Claiming There Was No Public Opposition to Gender Self-ID Until “Forces Muscled In” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Science Shock: CO2 is Good for the Planet, Peer-Reviewed Studies Suggest Tue Dec 24, 2024 09:00 | Chris Morrison
Dramatic evidence has been published in a number of recent science papers that CO2 levels are already?'saturated', meaning little or no further warming is to be expected and rising CO2 levels are all beneficial.
The post Science Shock: CO2 is Good for the Planet, Peer-Reviewed Studies Suggest appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Whoever Rules Britain Is Going to Be Unpopular Tue Dec 24, 2024 07:00 | Noah Carl
It isn't so much that the Tories are getting more popular as that Labour is getting less so. Which illustrates a more general predicament for the Tories and any other party that might have aspirations to government.
The post Whoever Rules Britain Is Going to Be Unpopular appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Dec 24, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

War on cash: Is Freedom at stake?

category international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Wednesday November 23, 2016 16:47author by Thomas Roberts Report this post to the editors

The idea of abolishing high denomination banknotes is more and more present in political talks around the world. The European Central Bank already announced the death of the €uro 500, tomorrow it might be the Benjamin ($100). What is next? Why do our governments want to get rid of cash and why don’t we have a word to say about it?

Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president has been pushing the U.S to ban both 50$ and 100$ bills. The official reason? Fighting against terrorists, drug dealers, bribers and other tax evaders. Because it is obvious that all of the bad guys will just surrender from their criminal activities if we take away the high denomination banknotes. “The notion that such evildoers as the Mexican drug cartels and ISIS will be seriously disrupted by the absence of the Benjamin–”These sacks of cash are too heavy now. Let’s surrender!”–is so comical that one has to wonder if Summers et al. are auditioning to write gags for Saturday Night Live.” wrote Steve Forbes for Forbes.

Yet it isn’t that comical any longer because the war on cash is already well engaged. Europe already lost the €uro 500 battle and many others could be lost before we realize that cash is so important and that it is our freedom that is at stake.

The simplified rhetoric that if criminals use cash we should ban it has proven its limits. It is used today once again and not too many seem to care. ‘Criminals use guns, let’s ban guns’ has been said before. Criminals also use cars, cell phones, computers, just like any law abiding citizen. But should we really have to pay the price of the admission of helplessness of our governments when it’s about solving illegal activities, by having to give up on our essential rights and freedom?

The ability to use cash is a freedom. The option to refuse to put your money in banks should be a freedom as well. The war on cash could very well start with big bills and then come to an end where using banks for each transaction or purchase isn’t a choice any longer. It could lead to a world where banks fees occur at every step of your financial life. Any purchase made, any financial movement, you have to go through your bank. Not only it will make the banks richer but you will lose any form of privacy.

Without stepping into ‘Big Brother’ theories, you soon realize that banks and Government (if they are granted access to data) can monitor all your financial moves, purchases, e-commerce and more. “A cashless society is a huge threat to our freedom and our democracy”, states famous Canadian Center for Research on Globalization. “A cashless society would certainly give governments unprecedented access to information and power over citizens. In Britain, the government has almost unprecedented access to citizen information already. The notoriety of GCHQ*’s technical abilities in its illegal surveillance systems need not be repeated here.”

But besides monitoring your daily financial activities, the idea is that policymakers and economic commissars can better control the economy. So far, cash can be hoarded, and it does make it difficult for the Government to know how much money you really have nor how you use it. So the policymakers believe that by getting rid of cash they will also get rid of their stagnant economy because it will make you to consume more and invest more.

That is also a myth. But banks do have the means to push you to invest in what they believe is good for you… or for them. Getting rid of cash could multiply their power to do so, and diminish yours.

The latest find for banks is negative interest rates. With high denomination disappearing, it makes it harder for you to hoard, or at least more expensive (you need bigger safes). “If people have to pay fees to store their money, as they do to put their stuff in storage facilities, then, by golly, they might be more inclined to spend it. To inhibit cash hoarding –when Japan announced it was imposing negative interest rates, the sale of safes soared– the authorities will want to do away with large notes.” says Forbes.

And this is no joke. “Introducing negative interest rates would create a powerful incentive to hold deposits in cash, most likely in higher denominations. Eliminating high-denomination notes, so that saving in cash was more inconvenient, would mitigate this problem.” says Grant Williams strategy advisor from thewaroncash.com.

Today some of the Nordic countries are considering being the firsts “cash-free” countries and they seem to care very little about the voices of their citizens who don’t want to lose that essential freedom.

The war on cash isn’t lost yet but citizens from across the world have to step up on that debate to ask their Governments to take a step back and look at it as a right for each citizen to have and not as a toy that bank can give or take away from you as they please.

* UK’s Government Communications Headquarters

author by leftypublication date Wed Nov 23, 2016 20:55author address author phone Report this post to the editors

NIRP or "negative interest rate policy" AKA the war on cash has been quietly gaining momentum
The elites would like us all to be paying for everything electronically so we will have no choice
but to put our money into a bank account so we can function.

At this point they will impose negative interest rates and then effectively it's game over.
an audit trail for every purchase by everyone and the banks can "legally" steal everyone's money from their accounts by nibbling away at
it constantly. Add the recent "bail in" policies that have been coming into fashion in the EU and this mix
becomes a totalitarian and financial terrorist's wet dream. Coming to a country near you soon.

Orwell said "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

Well this is the financial version

Read more at:
http://www.politics.ie/forum/economy/246786-nirp-negati....html

author by Tpublication date Thu Nov 24, 2016 03:42author address author phone Report this post to the editors

And apparently a big push has been made in India where the took the 1,000 rupee and 500 rupee were taken out of circulation. These are the most used notes for trade and business by ordinary people in India. It's probably like removing the €10 and €20 notes here.

It is reported here: http://wolfstreet.com/2016/11/15/india-launches-war-on-...sues/

 
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