Human Cattle-CIS Division

Atop my isolated Stoa, I read a rather amusing and frightening article about Cryptocurrency and the Cashless society.

First, Cryptocurrencies are fine in my book, they have their uses and their place.  However, they will never, not ever, replace physical "currency".  Whether you barter colored bits of paper, shiny metal coins or your old jogging shoes, there will always be "currency".   Puerto Rico is currently experiencing what happens to electronic currency (ATM's) when the power goes out.  Granted, as long as your smartphones are still powered up and you and your client have Bluetooth, you can still exchange Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies.

What I'm finding both amusing and scary at the same time is the idea of bundling everything into a chip that is inserted under your skin.  How do I define "everything"?  Imaging that this chip looks very much like the chip you insert into the scanner today at the local "Try-n-Save".  On it resides your "debit card" data.  You purchase food, pay tolls, and even identify yourself by waving your hand, or otherwise chipped body part over the reader.  Sounds convenient, yes?  One need not imaging this as it already exists and thousands of people have already had these installed.  Several corporations in Sweden, India, England, and the United States have already started doing this for "security" reasons, among many.  These people can even pay for their snack goods at the local corporate vending machine by waving their hand at it.  Over 1 billion "B" Indians have already had biometric coding associated with their fingerprints and retinal scans...this is not coming folks, this is here...NOW.

The parts that begin to concern me on this, in no particular order:

• The chipped individual gains access to specific and predetermined areas of the corporate building with this chip.
• They gain access to parts of the computer network based on the security authorization granted to the chip.
• The company knows where you have been...it also knows were you are...
• These chips are not passive, they emit an EM field, this is how the sensors recognize your hand waving.  This means you can be followed, in real time, about your business.

Things this good are always shared by companies and the local government.  Imagine the company selling your RF tag frequency to other companies that want to sell you something.  Imagine the targeted marketing that can happen when Quilted knows how often you go to the bathroom.  Imagine the speeding ticket when the low Earth orbit satellite catches your RF tag number traveling 65 in a 45 mph zone?  

Some good can come from this as well, though.  Your medical history and data can be stored here, or at least the access codes for that data.  It can also all be stolen from you as well.  Imagine your tax refund depositing directly to your chip tag as soon as you file the paperwork, now that's cool.  It can also garnish your wages and take fees from you without you even authorizing it as well...remember, digital currency can be granted or taken away with a keystroke.

What made me want to write this, though was a flash thought that popped into my head.  Imagine a police murder mystery show set in 2025.  Scene opens on a janitor coming into work in the morning and finding a person dead on the floor, she reaches for the wall phone only to find a policeman standing in the doorway.  See, the biometric chip reported that the victim's heart stopped and this triggered the police to come and investigate.  The policeman waves the janitor away, telling him that he'll have this case solved in no time.  Pulling up the biometric tag data for the victim, he establishes the time of death to within one or two minutes of actual.  He then pulles up ecounter data to determine how many other tags were near him in the last 15 minutes of the victims' life.  The computer immediately gives him names and current locations of all the suspects.  Driverless pods are dispatched to those locations to pick the suspects up. Each suspect has been given an AI generated call to their smart devices informing them of the incident, their compliance is legally required.  They all arrive on the scene within 30 minutes or so and the policeman then taps a few more keys on his pc pad.  All the smart devices in that room upload their visual scanning for that period of time and several catch one of the present suspects arguing with and then striking the victim with a heavy, blunt object.  Visual and audio are included and because of multiple angles, a 3D representation can even be reconstructed.  Case closed before the first commercial break.

This technology starts out about creating a cashless society, then morphs into something Orwell could not have dreamed up no matter how high a fever he may have had.

Think on it and ponder other how other aspects of today's life can be observed, regulated, and punished with just a few keystrokes.  

Live well. 

Zavost

The Return of the Stoic

Today upon the Stoa, I sweep off the empty beer cans, stack up the protest signs, and scrub the anatomically impossible slogans off the walls.  I have been away from the Stoa, attending to life and other such things.  In my absence, all that was in decline continues to decline.  That which was worrisome has become terrifying.  Thoughtful contemplation turns to meloncholy.

Since 2012, the American Culture Wars have become global, though I'm certain they always were, we just did not notice.  Our Technology is plundered, our children and grandchildren endebted, thought has become regulated, five-year olds can be suspended from school for using the word, "she", people can be denied a boarding pass on a plane for having a cartoon drawing of an imaginary weapon on his t-shirt.  Corruption is no longer hidden, but proudly on display.  American royalty, worshipped in place of God.  Uncontrolled, ney, encouraged illegal immigration, abdication of space exploration, flouting of common morals and common sense...memory holes and thought rehabilitation.

Where to start?  Where to begin tying up all that has become frayed?  Is the America of my childhood dead and gone?  That of my parents and grandparents certainly is.  In fact, it was dying, in stages, for the last 150 years, I would suppose.  We are only just now, in the terminal stages of something that started a long time ago.  My only hope is that President Trump could be our Diocletian, our Constantine.  A chance to arrest the slide, go give our Republic one last chance at redemption.

In my humble, amature historian, opinion, the seeds of today's major problems stem from the converging cultural, religious, political, and geopolitical detritus of the American Civil War.  Feel free to disagree, in fact, it is your intellectual right to do so; however, this is my site personal musings, so if it irritates you too much, simply browse away and leave in peace.

So, to expand upon my thoughts.

I believe that the Civil War was more about defining the 10th Amendment to the Constitution then it was about Slavery.  Slavery, as an institution in America was in decline.  Cheap labor, import/export imbalances and all that were secondary to the centralizing tendency of the Federal Government.  Every power that the Federal Government took, or reserved, for itself, was a denial of the State's ability to excessive said power.  The Consitution enumerated quite clearly what the Federal Government could or could not do.  However, if the State acquiesced and did not challenge (as the Supreme Court has ruled about Congress), then the theft becomes an accepted exception to the Law.  Southern States had their own vision and the North had theirs.  We shared language and religion, common historical parentage, and a desire for our home State to thrive and prosper.  The issue of Slavery has simmered and boiled for decades, a thorn even in the side of our Framers.  A confluence of history and a spark set off the Civil War.  When a forest burns, its encourages new growth.  Change and evolution is granted space to experiment.  I leave it to you to draw specifics, there is certainly not enough to space to get bogged down here.  On to the next.

President Andrew Johnson.  President Lincoln had a vision for Reconstruction and Reconcilliation between North and South.  Republicans in Congress had their vision, and the President had his.  Unfortunately for Johnson, the swinging pendulum of Presidental vs Congressional power had swung back towards Congress, and they had powerful interest groups to enrich, er, listen to.  If the stated goal of Reconstruction was to mainstream blacks into free society then it failed.  I'm thinking Jim Crow laws, tax polls, reading rules, KKK (version 1.0, 2.0, etc.) and other variety of Democrat inventions.  Republican members castrated Johnson and saw to it that he got nothing done, and when he dared attempt to go around them, he got impeached.  Now we arrive at the dawn of Progressivism.

The Constitutional amendment allowing the Federal Senators to be elected via popular vote.  This was not what our Framers intended.    The Federal Senators were supposed to above the civil emotions of the masses and remain true to the States, fighting for their rights just as the Representatives in the House were fighting for the constituency.  This placed a major warp in our governmental machinery.  The carefully constructed checks and balances, structure within structure slowly broke down.  The Senate simply became a more elite version of the House, regardless of what all the original arguments for the amendment promised.

The creation of the Federal Reserve.  This Progressive monster had been aborted twice in our nations' history.  The first was killed early on when someone noticed it was unconstitutional and had it dissolved.  The second time was by the only Democrat I could have voted for, President Andrew Jackson (I see a lot of Trump in him).  Jackson too found it unconstitutional, however, this time, the Supreme Court said that somehow this time it was ok.  He dissolved it anyhow.  When told he was disobeying the High Court his response was something along the lines of, "what police force are they in charge of?"  However, this time it stuck.  It was a major crack in the foundations of the Republic.  Immediately the value of the dollar began to decline.  The stated purpose of the FR was to prevent or dampen the cyclical nature of the American free market economy.  Too much boom boom pretty soon boo boo, to borrow a common phrase.  This same progressive was to ram through another amendment allowing federal taxation.  For some reason, this was necessary, though for the entire past hundred plus years a Federal Tax was unnessary.  We built the Erie Canal, the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad,  built bridges and turnpikes and fought a dozen wars (1812, Civil, and WWI to name a few ) all without a permanent Federal Tax.  Sounds do me like a quickly centralizing Federal Beauracracy was getting greedy.

Coupled with these dry historical facts is the complex cycles of culture.  I recommend a series of books by the authors of the good "Generations" for an in-depth explaination of those complex, cyclical changes in our society.  To give a brief over-view of these changes just consider how our morals swing back and forth over time.  Victorian morals as it related to a woman's virtue gave way to Flappers and independent women.  Hollywood in the 20's and 30's and 40' had ALOT of what we would call Rated R films that were mainstream for the public audience of all ages.  Then things swung back hard the other way and in a short time you had "My Three Sons" and "Leave it Beaver", plus Hollywood clamped down on nudity and suggestive behavior.  Twenty short years later and you had Helter Skelter and It and Rosemary's Baby, plus a host of other....types of films.  Depending on when hisorical events land in the cultural cycle depends on how much of a 'big' deal that event becomes.  More on that in another post.

The Progressive Era never really died, it simply evolved to camoflage itself.  It created Copy Books and slowly infiltrated the schools and the courthouses.  It changed its name and its appearance, but it was always there, building the "Uniparty".  A single political agenda, but one with full fat and the other, slightly less fattening.  Democrat and Republican, two wings of the same party.  Granted, not all at once, and not all the time. There were notible exceptions to this, but if you draw a trending line, it will trend straight towards Uniparty.

So much, so much.  So many threads.  I grow more and more certain that there are hands at the other end of those threads, tugging and pulling to get us to jump one way or the other.  The hands change over time, but the purpose seems insidiously consistent.

I have returned to the Stoa and will muse and ponder my seemingly contradictory stances and thoughts, though if you think about them long enough, you will begin to see the symmetry.  Time to sweep off the rest of the trash and garbage that has polluted my Stoa over the years.  More to come.

As always, live well.

Zavost

To Believe

Upon the Stoa this day, I am pondering what it means to have beliefs.

One truth I do know is that it is easy to believe in something when you are comfortable. To have faith is easy when one's faith is not seriously challenged.

"It will work out, God watches over us." The operative word there is "watches". There is no promise that things will work out. It is hard to have faith when one is faced with homelessness.

It is hard to believe that one is special when every door seems closed to you.

The alternative, though, is to give up. This is not a viable alternative. One must press forward, regardless of belief or faith, or else failure in life is no longer a possibility but a certainty.

It is easy to have faith when one is comfortable.

Live well,

--Zavost

Just Pay Attention

Upon the Stoa this day I sit again in quiet contemplation.

A new film related to Islam and its prophet is out. You can guess what is happening now around the world.

From what I've read about the film it is accurate in every way. The rise of Islam and its sick prophet, all researched and vetted.

Now remember, Islam is religion of peace, even though in Arabic it means "submit". Film comes out, describes Mohammed as a twisted freak who created his own religion to justify his counter-culture activities, and the muslims riot. Someone makes a silly cartoon, muslims riot. Someone sneezes near a Koran, muslims riot.

Muslims wire 2,000 year old statues with C4 and blow it to hell and back and do the Buddhists riot? No, they bend their heads in sorrowful contemplation of the horror that has been done in God's name.

Someone draws a bug, puts a scarf on it and calls it a prophet and people's heads begin rolling.

Please people, pay attention. Look at what they do, not what they say.

Live well.

--Zavost

Playing it Forward

Upon the Stoa this warm and sunny day, I'd like to discuss music from the past decades.

This post is going to concern mostly my son and the music he listens to. No, not 90's pop/slut music. Not 00's Pop/slut music and not even the current, whatever it is. Hell, we are not even talking about music from the 60's or 70's.

My son has reached all the way back to the 20's through the late 50's for his music. He does not like big band music, he likes crooners and groups. Bing Crosby and Sinatra fan. Loves Martin and the Ink Spots. Those are only a few.

Why does he like them? He likes the music, he likes the singing, since it appears that those people actually knew how to sing. He also likes the stories they tell. They weren't just a few lines and phrases repeated endlessly, but a story that unfolded in the song.

He likes how it all comes together, behind the talent of the singer/songwriter. No sound booths to make your voice reverb.

He was introduced to this via video and computer games. Lacking creativity, many today turn to the past, to raid it for talent and independent thought. Frugalness made them go after songs that were not under copywriter any longer and this led to a re-introduction of songs to a generation of kids who might actually mistake them for original and recent.

Not so my brilliant son. He used the Internet to find out who these people were and learn about them. He downloads their music whenever he can.

They say computer games rot your brain, but in his case they have enriched it. The music and those games have given him a perspective on the world that many in his age group are unaware. It contrasts with the filth of today. The lack of individual creativity and the theft of intellectual property from the past is appalling.

Keep it up, boy. I may just get you a Sinatra download for Christmas...

Live well.

--Zavost

Have we lost our honor?

From the Stoa today, I symbolically tap a fake newspaper to my chin.

An article in the WSJ talked about how 20% or 12 b$ worth of contracts has been reneged.

What's that all about? Do people think that you can promise to buy a product at a certain price and then walk away when it actually does hit that price?

Do people take out loans on homes they know they cannot afford and then walk away from them?

Yes, seems to be the proper answer.

There was a time in this country where a hand shake was all that was required to secure a deal. A man's word was his bond. When did that stop being important?

There was a movie in the 1980's called "Trading Places". The end of the movie saw the antagonists of the movie, broken upon the wheel of a futures contract on Orange Juice. A century old firm was wrecked when it made a promise to pay for OJ at one price and sell at another.

So, apparently, someones' word was still important 30 year ago.

Just another change started in our culture by the Boomers. Thank you again, jerks.

Live well.

Zavost

Simple Choices

From the Stoa this day, I again embrace a new and wonderful day. Despite the rain of last night, the jaw-dropping back pain I endure, and the high likelihood of being forced to move into the slums, I still embrace this new day.

Every day allows us to start over. Yes, the day does carry baggage from the day before. This baggage is also called "consequences". Every day allows you to make better choices and to learn from that which you can not control.

In this Presidential election cycle, despite the lies and open book observable behavior, there are those that don't think Obama and his policies are openly "anti-american". If you have not noticed this, please be responsible and do not vote. You are not informed enough to vote for this position.

I like to call Romney "squishy" because of his ability to deform conservatism and duck leadership. Romney-Care was signed into law in his old state because he said that the "People wanted it". A socialist population passes socialist bills, and he simply signed them.

Sometimes being a leader means being alone in dissent. The policy is a bad policy whether it is passed by the people or not. He should have strangled that bill when it landed on his desk. Now we have Obama-Care.

But I digress.

Obama is painting Romney as "extreme". Really. The man I call "squishy" you are calling "extreme"? He'd have to invent a word to describe me, then.

To me the choice is clear and easy. One choice offers true hope, the other...well, lets just say, I'm not ready to practice Islam just yet.

Live well,

Zavost