Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway chains in China were named on the People’s Bank of China’s list of firms that will test the national digital currency in the near future. A digital currency is a generic term that may or may not be a cryptocurrency. Cryptos are decentralized by design, and also used for their privacy… Continue reading

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as of yesterday there were 5,117 federally-insured banks and savings associations in the United States. But in terms of risk to the U.S. economy and financial system, according to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Research, only five of those banks matter. And as you can see from… Continue reading

Object Lessons of a Pandemic: One of the latent dangers of COVID-19 is that we’ll come out on the other side of this crisis more frightened of other countries At the very end of the movie Contagion, a flash-back to “day zero” reveals the origin of the deadly disease that becomes a catastrophic global pandemic:… Continue reading

The numbers are staggering. At unprecedented speed, the US economy is losing jobs. According to the official figures, more than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks alone. That’s 10% of the labor force; and those numbers are a lagging indicator — underestimating the problem. America is approaching a real… Continue reading

COVID-19 surveillance is rapidly accelerating. For the state, there is one primary imperative—to remain in power at all cost. If this imperative is to be successful, the state must impose, by stealth or deception, a system capable of monitoring all individuals who may pose an immediate or future threat to its dominance.  The COVID-19 “crisis,”… Continue reading

We cataloged how 28 countries are ramping up surveillance to combat the coronavirus In an attempt to stem the tide of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 25 governments around the world have instituted temporary or indefinite efforts to single out infected individuals or maintain quarantines. Many of these efforts, in turn, undermine personal privacy. It’s… Continue reading

That’s what we being told. Everything has to change, cherished rights must be eliminated and new emergency powers have to be given to authorities … because of a virus that still has not been isolated, purified and proven beyond all doubt to be the cause of the alleged pandemic. It is clear the COVID-19 numbers in and… Continue reading

As worldwide panic over coronavirus dominates the media, China quietly builds up its military. While the world is preoccupied with the coronavirus, China is quietly expanding its power around the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping has seized this opportunity to intimidate Taiwan, influence Europe, modernize its military, and entrench itself deeper into the South China… Continue reading