Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Mostly about money; but, biometrics and tech too

First up a story from the Salt Lake Tribune. Hatch wants immigrant fingerprints taken at airports. The article talks about the upcoming immigration bill. It says that they are going to require the biometrics of all foreigners when they enter and leave the country. How will other countries respond, perhaps in the same way. No international travel if we don't have your biometrics? In the future you will not be allowed to travel if we cannot keep tabs on you.

The Street - Jim Cramer - Cramer: Running Head-On Into 1929. I don't actually care for Cramer, I think he is a shill; but, sometimes he gets things right. He points out a trend that we have just broken and that the last time it was done was just before the stock market crash of 1929.

The Mail Online - The Footsie's had a stellar year, but will the great share boom turn to bust? Simply put, the English equivalent to the Dow Jones is doing really well, just like the Dow Jones is doing; but, there is nothing to back it up.

Yahoo - The Exchange - How Baby Boomers Take Jobs From Younger Workers. So which is it, are people supposed to work longer or retire sooner. They seem to be saying that if you can retire then you should so that there are jobs for younger people; but, if you are younger you should expect to work longer. What about people like me, I am not 55; but, I could retire in a couple of years. Am I supposed to retire or work longer?

CBS New York - A Mileage Tax Monitored By Big Brother For All N.J. Drivers? It Could Happen. I have written about this for the past few years, it is coming. Why does the Federal government claim that all local roads are part of the Highway system? Why does the Federal government through the FCC claim they have the right to control local right of ways? There is another article coming up and I will put some of this together for my dear readers, at least the ones who haven't fallen asleep.

Yahoo - Breakout - Gold ETFs Are Liquidating By the Ton. People are selling off gold. That will not be the end of the story, when the markets crash, gold will escalate and then it will take a really big drop when it is not what future currencies are based on. Volatility is how you steal other peoples money.

Yahoo - Reuters - The Irish loophole behind Apple's low tax bill. I need to say something here. I am very careful, as a rule, with the sources that I quote. I prefer to link to someone's own website when I say what they are doing; but, I will link to reputable and established news sources often. On occasion, I will link to alternative news sources; but, either they provide a link to their source material or I have independently provided a link to the source material. My readers may have noticed that I provide the name of any sources that I link to in my blog, that is to not infringe on anyone's copyright. There are some alternative sources that I read that may cause me to investigate and I will then link to the original document rather than the referring source. Having said all that, here is my thinking. The Mainstream Media manipulates the news and spins stories; but, they can back up their stories with some evidence. I am more concerned with their evidence than their spin. The Mainstream Media also takes responsibility for what they publish. I am a commentator, not a news reporter. I want to point to a source that takes responsibility for what they print.

Now to the article. Pretty simple, the reason we need to have international control over tax collection. Apple is just an example to get you riled up to accept it.

Banoosh - You Won’t Need a Driver’s License by 2040. The article talks about how self driving cars will free you from having to drive or get speeding tickets and how that will mean that we will not need traffic signs or traffic lights. When we have a world of self driving cars, the infrastructure does not need to be there for humans to drive. Now go back to the other articles about personal travel, driving and you might begin to see a pattern. You will pay more, the more you drive and your car will drive for you. Hmmm, what is that other part. Oh, yeah and the federal government is taking over control of all the major streets. Maybe that will allow them to require you to have a self driving car to be on the national highway system.

Let me ask you a question. When the cars can all be self driving, why paint traffic lines? Why even paint crosswalks when the cars can already see you? A lot of money is spent nationwide painting streets. The article states that wouldn't need street lights, that saves a lot of money and electricity. Solar energy does not work well at night and reducing demand in a world of green energy has value. Maybe if you have a dumb car you will only be allowed to drive during the day.

The greatest freedom we have is the ability to move freely about. When your ability to move about is limited, you are in a prison. It means that you can no longer vote with your feet. I want you to honestly ask yourself a question. How would China use these technologies, do you think they would use them to limit where people go to acceptable places to see acceptable people? The FCC controls the airwaves and what can be broadcast on them, soon they will what can be broadcast over the streets, that is why they took control over local right of ways as I have written about prior and you can read for yourself by searching for the Texas Municipal League and the FCC. I just don't feel like looking for the link again.