Universal ID? We haz that

The Biblical conspiracy theories are that there will be a mark of the beast, where everyone will be forced to use it to buy or sell anything. In effect, it allows the government/banks to control you under the threat of financial ruin.

In the USA this is believed by a lot of people, and it's not just the fundamentalist types: Privacy groups are worried too. Because if you post the wrong thing, not only can you be censored from the social media, but in the near future this could mean your bank account will be frozen. And with a universal ID card, it is easy to find who you are and where your money is. 

Pushing digital currancy should be no problem: after all we use credit cards, don't we? And they are safe, aren't they? What could go wrong?

UhOh: Justin Trudeau just had the banks close the accounts  of the Bouncy castle protesters showing how easily this could be done. True, he reversed it in a few days, but it showed what could be done.

In the USA, they never had a universal ID card and in the past they even forbade using the Social Security number for identification for this reason (not true now: every other form of ID asks for either the SSN or part of the SSN to confirm who you are).

So how does one prove one's identity in the US for something like cashing a check or getting on an airplane? Ironically, to get on an airplane most people use their drivers license which are issued by states, not the federal government, since few have passports. 

And the refusal to use a universal ID is not limited to the rabid Republican right: Indeed, worrying that someone will figure out who you are is one reason that the Democrats, who represent the poorer classes in the USA, have opposed requiring ID cards to vote in elections. 

Of course, getting a fake ID is easy, but that's another story. But if it is easy in the fairly honest country like the USA, just think of what will be going on in more corrupt countries.

which brings us to this article that I found in today's Inquirer:

PH must step up digital shift for better cash aid system – WB....

 

The World Bank (WB) has urged the Philippine government to ramp up digital government-to-person (G2P) payments, mainly by tapping other financial services providers like e-wallets, to speed up and ensure the efficient distribution of “ayuda” (cash assistance) during a crisis. 

... “The lack of identification documents is one of the reasons for being unbanked in the country where only 29 percent of adults have a bank or mobile money account...

but what about rural folks, when the ATM or bank is 20 km down a dirt road?

To address these financial inclusion gaps, especially in remote communities, it urged the government to partner with financial service providers other than banks, like mobile wallets.

Now they have me lost. I have used credit cards for years, but I rarely use them here because I distrust them, and they are easily stolen. So I would also distrust a digital wallet linked to a cellphone that is easily stolen. This is not true of the younger generation: Kuya and his daughter use them all the time, just as they buy stuff via e-commerce, wheras I usually go to the Palenke or mall and pay cash to get what I need.

My suspicion of e commerce is a generational thing: Lolo didn't even use credit cards, but would pull out a couple of $100 dollar bills to pay for groceries etc. in Walmart. And don't get me started on crypto currancy and bit coin, which some countries like India and the Philippines are looking into right now. Some say a crypto currancy backed by gold will replace the dollar in the near future, and this may explain why gold based currancy is being pushed by China who is buying a lot of gold.

Something to remember if China decides to regain their long lost province of Luzon...

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update: another reason I am skeptical of the internet control of everything is that the internet infrastructure here was affected by earthquakes that wiped out a major cable, and because we have had typhoon related floods cause no electricity etc..

So what could go wrong?

Scanning stories that don't agree with the talking points

Dilbert says the left and right see different "movies" on what is going on: So I am ignoring the latest kerfuffle that is filling the airwaves about Trumpie boy, which seem to be important until you watch the other movie where they demolish the talking points with a reality check.

Since I live 10 thousand miles away, I tend to take it all with a grain of salt.

And wonder: Do these people notice what is happening in France? America got Trumpie boy as a revolt against being lorded over by the elite and trivial regulations, the UK got Brexit partly over the kettle tax, but in today's paper, it appears that France is having thousand of ordinary people protesting the government policies making their lives difficult.

I read somewhere that it started with a lady on the social media, 

heh. What hath Zuckerberg wrought?

Trumpieboy removed a lot of these pesky regulations, and rewriting the play book on foreign relations. Good or bad? I don't know. All I know is that Obama, in the search for peaceful solutions, pressured PNoy to let China steal our resources in the West Philippine sea, and that hasn't worked out well, has it?

as for the Muller investigation: What happened to Russia?

some hyperventilation on CNN about Trump's pay off lawyer (businessmen, like doctors, tend to pay off nuisance lawsuits instead of going to court).

but the "swamp" of lobbying and money is the real problem, and when the investigation only sees one side to prosecute (uh, Uranium one?), one does get a bit cynical.


but the dark side of the investigation is that many innocent people are being "punished" by making them go bankrupt to defend themselves. No, I don't feel sorry for Manafort, who has earned millions doing lobbying, but what about General Flynn?
(whose main sin was to oppose Obama's policies years before).

Instapundit has a lot of stuff there about the culture wars (libertarian site)

so after watching CNN, check out that site for links.\\

and remember: The head of the DNC is complaining that too many Americans are listening to what they hear in church. (uh, like pro immigration sermons Catholics hear all the time? Of course not.)

a lot of this is culture war redux, and Trump, who as a businessman, unlike Andrea Mitchell, has had to talk to ordinary people, and realized there was a problem, and decided he could fix the problem, which is ironic for a guy who went on Howard Stern's radio show all the time in the past.

finger id scan

LINK

Vein patterns are typically read by sensors based on the red blood cells’ tendency to easily absorb near-infrared rays after transporting oxygen in the veins.

The technology has been adopted for ATM use, entry to facilities and other purposes. But it isn’t foolproof. Scientists at the institute say that photographing fingers from a distance with a digital camera can reveal the vein patterns. “Biometric information used for personal identification does not change throughout one’s life, so the risks will remain once it is stolen,” said Isao Echizen, a professor at the institute. “I want to establish a technology to prevent unintentional leaks of such information.”

uh: too late.



 I wonder about using finger vein identification

As a young girl, my hands would go cold when I was nervous. Wouldn't this affect the veins?

Ditto for Retinal scans: We would photograph the retinas of our diabetic patients to check for neovascularization from diabetic retinopathy. So those patients would fail, as would those who get retinal bleeds or other pathology.

Well, what about Iris scans? I wonder about that too. Would uveitis or corneal clouding confuse that type of identification?

and alas that is easy to spoof too:




and then there are facial scans.



and now your photo is being scanned and filed on Facebook

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But it's not all bad:

it's nice to know that privacy still exists: government needs a warrant to spy on you:

uh oh...

The Mark of the beast

Yes, putting microchips into people is back in the news: This time it is about mandated by a company.

My take: They put it in the web between the thumb and hand, which makes me worry about scar tissue and pain. Why not put it in the upper arm, like we do with implantable contraceptives (or on the back, as is one with valuable dogs).

and coming soon: GPS on the chips.

The good news? If you refuse the chip for religious reasons, the courts will back you (at least they did in this case).

since I'm Catholic, I can't claim that, but what about if you are just paranoid about letting anyone, including criminals, to be able to hack your private information from the chip just by using a scanner?


I men, if criminals can steal information from chips from you credit card chip, why do you think that a chip in your hand would be any safe?


Here is how one pro chip guy justifies their chipping of employees:

"To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door."

well, it's easy to fake fingerprint scans etc. and retinal scans are not good if you have diabetic retinopathy or cataracts. But folks seem to think technology is an easy answer to stop criminals, never mind that the same technology could be used to control ordinary citizens. (the Bible quote on the mark of the beast says without it you won't be able to buy or sell... guess they were paranoid back then too).

dirty little secret: If they can figure a way to steal, they will, and they can outsmart the good guys to do so:

New Living Translation"The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

Privacy? Who cares about privacy?

Forget the IPhone kerfuffle. they could get the information without finding the code to peek into everyone's phone, but hey, that would stop big brother f

The dirty little secret is that anyone under the age of 30 probably could hack your private information from facebook and figure out your email password, and then get your SSN and other personal stuff.

I shudder about what is on my tablet, for example.

Once you were fingerprinted for the military and for other reasons, like when you want to adopt a child. But now, fingerprints are taken for a lot of jobs that don't require a "Security clearance": in the name of finding if you are a sex offender, you get fingerprinted for all sorts of jobs.

Ah, but DNA is private, right?

Now I have a question for  you: do you really want a private organization to get hold of your dna for their database?

NYTimes article:

Researchers led by a University of North Carolina team will use a new iPhone app to recruit women who have had postpartum depression. The goal is to collect about 100,000 DNA samples and compare them to DNA from women who have never experienced depression in hopes of discovering genetic factors that could lead to better prediction, diagnosis and treatment for maternal mental illness.

of course, this leads one to say: Uh, population bias in your sample.

But they will "invite" poor women to donate too:

“To make sure this is not just a study of iPhone-using people,” Dr. Meltzer-Brody said, iPad versions of the app will be available in some urban and rural clinics, and patients who want to provide their DNA will “right then and there be offered a spit kit.”

Again, a bias: A lot of people don't see doctors, and a lot will not go to these clinics. And many will be paranoid about giving up a DNA sample...

ah but don't worry: Your data is safe with them:

Names and email addresses will be required, Dr. Meltzer-Brody said, but the project will encrypt personal data.

ah, that makes me feel better.

By the way: Are you aware that my federal personnel file was hacked?

Catching up on stories

 this one for further reading, about the Duck family, via Instapundit.

“The surprise should be how liberals dismissed the rise of Duck Dynasty until this fall, when it was too late to stem the show’s popularity. Once it became evident that this family held so much influence, the left suddenly realized they faced the first threat to their decades-long monopoly on popular culture.”

a bit cynical, don't ya think...I wasn't aware the show was a hit...

I've only watched short parts of it a few times (we often get programs months to years later...for example, Lady Mary just got married on Downton Abbey) so I don't have an opinion on the show: But I do appreciate all the honest, hardworking redneck reality shows on TV here, to counteract the sexual gyrations on MTV, not to mention all those shows and movies that make foreigners think all Americans are  lazy, rich, criminals or sluts... 

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Freakonomics podcast on the Pope.

Sachs doesn’t always sound like an economist when he talks about how the economy should work:

SACHS: First let me say I am a believer in a market economy … and I would imagine Pope Francis, too, is a believer in a market economy, but what the Church has taught … is the idea that an economy needs a moral framework. This is a very, very basic idea that we have mostly discarded but that I believe in.

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TYWKIWDBI on why drug testing people on welfare is not cost effective:

the problem of assuming all poor folks are druggies, (and of course there is also the problem of false positive tests).

Critics also say the policy is based on the false perception that large numbers of welfare recipients are using illegal drugs. A new analysis by the state Department of Human Services (DHS) found that participants in Minnesota’s welfare program for low-income families are actually far less likely to have felony drug convictions than the adult population as a whole...

someone once said that Harlem had the same crime/drug/murder/divorce rate as Hollywood; that was years ago, but I suspect it continues to be true.
But rich folks can cover it up...

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Also from TYWKIWDBI: why facebook didn't pay any taxes.

it is a shell game.

And here I am worried that I will have to pay taxes because I cashed in on a little of my retirement savings to help with expenses here (after the typhoon wiped us out). Sigh.

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FYI: Lawrence of Arabia was an anthropologist.

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Celtic Christmas music links

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Christmas Bentos on Pinterest

I'd post on facebook but they require you to let them know your friends and contacts.

Why worry about the NSA when Pinterest and Facebook and voter data bases know who you are?

 Sources with knowledge of the initiatives describe them to POLITICO as:
1. A 50-state voter file that will merge granular historical data for every registered voter in the country with social media and email information being collected by Ready for Hillary. While the super PAC intends to deploy the new database as early as January to mobilize supporters, its real utility would come in building and executing a model of voter coalitions and messages to win a presidential campaign.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/2016-digital-campaign-101180.html#ixzz2oCmT8Gmc

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