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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
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.

offsite link Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy

offsite link Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy

offsite link It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy

offsite link Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left

offsite link Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? Fri Jul 26, 2024 17:00 | Toby Young
A new edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book instructs judges to avoid terms such as 'asylum seekers', 'immigrant' and 'gays', which it says can be 'dehumanising'.
The post Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Intersectional Feminist Rewriting the National Curriculum Fri Jul 26, 2024 15:00 | Toby Young
Labour has appointed Becky Francis, an intersectional feminist, to rewrite the national curriculum, which it will then force all schools to teach. Prepare for even more woke claptrap to be shoehorned into the classroom.
The post The Intersectional Feminist Rewriting the National Curriculum appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech Fri Jul 26, 2024 13:03 | Toby Young
The Government has just announced it intends to block the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, effectively declaring war on free speech. It's time to join the Free Speech Union and fight back.
The post Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Ei... Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:00 | Tilak Doshi
On July 18th, Dr Tilak Doshi wrote an article for Forbes defending J.D. Vance from accusations of 'climate denialism'. 48 hours later, Forbes un-published the article. Read the article on the Daily Sceptic.
The post I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Eight Hours Later, Forbes Un-Published the Article and Sacked Me as a Contributor appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday Fri Jul 26, 2024 09:00 | Toby Young
Tickets are still available to a live recording of the Weekly Sceptic, Britain's only podcast to break into the top five of Apple's podcast chart. It?s at Lola's, the downstairs bar of the Hippodrome on Monday July 29th.
The post Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday 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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