http://www.jcave.com/~whedonr/news2.htm The Cashless Society The October 31 issue of Information Week featured an article on the October 13 acquisition of Intuit Inc. by Microsoft Corporation for 1.5 billion dollars. Their vision is to create a world where all financial transaction are performed electronically. "Microsoft's vision of the future is clearly a world in which the majority of consumer and business transactions will take place online". Other companies are also rushing to enter the electronic transaction market place. Soon, there will simply be no need for cash, everything will be done on line. Automatic debits and credits from your bank and credit accounts will be performed in a few milliseconds. You will be able to purchase nearly anything in the world from your home via the electronic transaction. (Since the original writing of this article, Microsoft did not receive approval to make this merger with Intuit. However, the vision of Microsoft stays the same). America is already now seeing a widespread use of the "intelligent" smart cards. These cards are being used for telecommunications, medical information purchases, identification, and more. Western Union now offers a smartcard that you can purchase to make long distance telephone calls. The military has been issuing smartcards for some time now to all of it's personnel. California is issuing smartcards to all recipients of state benefits, including Social Security and welfare benefits. The federal government is considering plans to implement a smartcard for it's 3.1 million members for payroll purposes. This proliferation of smartcards has not been without it's perceived benefits. However, this new technology has created another problem, namely security. The security offered by the smartcard is not sufficient. Fraud, theft and abuse of smartcard technology has prompted for many officials to call for a more secure and personal means of transactions. A single card, useable anywhere in the world is being considered. But even this presents problems with the issue of security and privacy. An improvement on smartcard technology is now being formulated. For several years, microchips have been tested in animals to learn their effects, efficiencies and drawbacks. This technology is now perfected for use in humans. Instead of carrying several different types of smartcards, credit cards and identification, we are soon to be offered a single implanted chip that can contain information about us that anybody ever needs to know. Not until the last few years, has technology advance to the point where implantation of a microchip was possible within human flesh. This is a fulfillment of prophecy, for the Bible says "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead" (Rev. 13:16). Only very recently has technology made it possible to make such a mark in human flesh. With the widespread usage of computers and databases, tracking individuals and every financial transaction has now become a reality. These tiny chips are already being produced by the millions and millions today for a variety of electronic devices, including smartcards. We are on the verge of having these chips implanted in every human being. Are you prepared to take your mark? The Coming Collapse Another deceptive lie being propagated by the government and the media is our economy. The rate of unemployed workers in this country is being reported to us at only 3%. However, many private sources of information have this number much higher, closer to 9-10%. Some goes so far as to say unemployement is really 20%! Our government cannot afford the bad publicity of a recession. Statistics prove that nearly every major corporation has been downsizing staff by the thousands and thousands. Nearly 1 million positions have been abolished since the first of the year. Yet in the face of all this, our government continues to tell us that our economy is booming. Our federal deficit is also much higher then is being commonly reported. Deficit spending under President Clinton is at an all time high. Simply put, our nation cannot afford to continue on it's present course of overspending. In a report presented to President Reagan, a commission of 31 Congressmen stated that the United States would experience a financial collapse by the year 2012. Some forecasted that this coming collapse would happen by the year 2005. Consumer debt in America is the highest consumer debt in the history of the world, bar none. Many Americans live off of credit cards, always getting deeper and deeper into debt. The media portrays a fictitious world where we can "afford" anything. And if we don't want to "buy, buy, buy", then we are somehow dysfunctional or inadequate. The average American family has to work two jobs just to make ends meet. While our purchasing power continues to decline for every dollar we earn, there's always something new to buy. We are beset by self centeredness, self grandizement and narcissistic "needs". In a never ending downward spiral, we chase the holy grail of material wealth, urged on by the prophets of the press. Financial ruin, broken families, despair, hopelessness and stress related disease are often the end results. Thousands turn to alternate realities, including drugs, alcohol, adulterous relationships and other means of "release" from these financial pressures. America has been teetering on the brink of a financial disaster, unparalleled in human history. Efforts to avoid this collapse include the establishment of a new monetary system, including the issuing of new money. Currently, entire caravans of this newly minted money are being distributed around the country. A national and international recall of $100 dollar bills was proposed by Senators Patrick Leahy and John Kerry. This recall may quite possibly trigger the greatest financial collapse the world has ever seen. This financial collapse could be triggered overnight when mass panic, fear and distrust in the new monetary system becomes widespread.