First it was China hinting that where Silk Road failed in monetizing, pardon the pun, BitCoin, the world’s most populous nation could soon take the lead. Then, none other than private equity titan Fortress said it had great expectations for the digital currency. Now, it is eBay’s turn to announce that it is preparing to expand the range of digital currencies it accepts, adding that “its payment unit PayPal may one day incorporate BitCoin.” But not just yet. FT reports that according to eBay CEO John Donahoe, “digital currency is going to be a very powerful thing. (Read more…)”
The ecommerce group, which has more than 124m active users, is initially focusing on incorporating reward points from retailers’ loyalty schemes into its PayPal wallet.
“We are building the container so any retailer could put their loyalty points into the PayPal wallet,” Mr Donahoe said.
“There is a limit to how many cards you will carry, or remembering what points you have or don’t have,” he said. “But in a digital wallet, you can put 50 different loyalty cards.”
Mr Donahoe said Ebay was not expanding the PayPal wallet to include Bitcoins, “but we are watching it”.
“That same technology could accept other digital currencies,” he said.
While traditional retailers have so far balked at even the vaguest idea of considering allowing BitCoin as a viable payment method, all that would take to start a seismic shift in perception would be one angel idea “investor” to show that it can be done. That someone may well be eBay, which in a radical attempt to curry favor with “fringe” buyers and sellers, could open up its ecommerce platform, which started as an auction side for small traders, but may well become something far bigger.
eBay’s efforts raise the possibility that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin may in time move beyond a niche role in online commerce. Some enthusiasts believe Bitcoin and other currencies that exist outside the traditional banking system represent the future of online payments.
The work to expand the PayPal wallet underlines the emergence of virtual payment systems as the latest front in the battle between the global technology giants, including Google and Apple, to increase consumer reliance on their products.
Corporate initiatives have sought to drum up interest in digital wallets for use online and on the high street. Companies from mobile and technology groups to banks and retailers are racing to use new mobile wallets to upend the payments business.
Most of these efforts have focused on new ways of paying with traditional currencies such as the pound and the dollar, rather than with niche mediums of exchange such as loyalty points or Bitcoin.
Bitcoin transactions are conducted through a peer-to-peer network of computers, outside the traditional banking system and largely beyond the control of governments and monetary authorities. The digital currency is accepted by very few retailers at present.
Paradoxically, the more accepted BitCoin becomes in the conventional marketplace, the more subject to various forms of mandatory regulation, supervision and enforcement it, its purchases, and its users will be. So will BitCoin ultimately become a victim of its own success? That remains to be seen, although what we do know is that neither eBay nor anyone else tightly embedded within the monetary fiat framework, is even close to contemplating expanding the Petrodollar cycle to include gold or other precious metals as viable legal (or illegal) tender.
Is Noam Chomsky an anarcho-syndicalist or proponent of the Federal Reserve? A fearless political crusader or defender of the Warren Commission JFK orthodoxy? A tireless campaigner for justice or someone who doesn’t care who did 9/11? Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we examine some of the subjects that Chomsky would prefer you didn’t think about.
For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.
For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).
What prevails is a well organized camouflage. The public health disaster in Japan, the contamination of water, agricultural land and the food chain, not to mention the broader economic and social implications, have neither been fully acknowledged nor addressed in a comprehensive and meaningful fashion by the Japanese authorities.
The crisis in Japan has been described as “a nuclear war without a war”. In the words of renowned novelist Haruki Murakami:
“This time no one dropped a bomb on us … We set the stage, we committed the crime with our own hands, we are destroying our own lands, and we are destroying our own lives.”
Several Global Research reports and background articles have outlined the dangers of Worldwide radiation resulting from the Fukushima disaster.
This disaster is now being sustained and aggravated by the incompetence of TEPCO as well as political camouflage by the Abe government.
Fukushima and the Yakuza
There is another dimension: The coordination of the multibillion dollar Fukushima decontamination operation relies on Japan’s organized crime, the Yakusa, which is actively involved in the recruitment of “specialized” personnel for dangerous tasks.
“The complexity of Fukushima contracts and the shortage of workers have played into the hands of the yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicates, which have run labor rackets for generations.” (Reuters, October 25, 2013)
The Yakuza labor practices at Fukushima are based on a corrupt system of subcontracting, which does not favor the hiring of competent specialized personnel. It creates an environment of fraud and incompetence, which in the case of Fukushima could have devastating consequences. The subcontracting with organized crime syndicates is a means for major corporations involved in the clean-up to significantly reduce their labor costs.
“The plans may differ, the planners are all alike.” -Frederic Bastiat
Famed comedian Russell Brand has taken a step into the political sphere and become an editor at The New Statesman magazine. His new political agenda he says is a ”socialist egalitarian system” involving a “massive redistribution of wealth”, “heavy taxation of corporations”, and adds that we must address the problem of “profits”. Brand believes that governments need massive centralization, while simultaneously calling for a revolution.
The New Statesman is a British political magazine published weekly in London. It was founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the socialist Fabian Society.
Of course socialism is not revolutionary. Advocating for social safety nets and redistribution of wealth is more about risk aversion. True revolutionaries are risk-takers, and are people who are willing to take risks and accept hardships. Not so with socialism, which creates a nanny state to make decisions for the people. Socialism is central planning. It means central control of your life.
Brand will likely crush the hopes of many libertarians who see this video and have enjoyed some of his previous TV appearances talking politics. Many people were stirred by Brand’s unwillingness to bend to the narrow political spectrum that the main stream media projects. That’s refreshing no matter what your politics. But his calls for socialism and for taxation show he is clearly not a revolutionary, nor a particularly original thinker. After all, we’ve had despotism for centuries.
The only truly radical philosophy today is the one that dares to claim that individuals own their own bodies and the fruits of their labors. It is the philosophy centered on economic freedom and personal liberty. It is the philosophy of natural rights and free markets. It is classical liberalism, the true laissez-faire. THAT is revolutionary, my dear friend. Socialism would be a step back.
The destruction of the family unit is an essential step to take towards achieving totalitarian rule. Radical feminism and global collectivism are slowly but surely eradicating individuals and families alike paving the way for a one world government controlled by the state.
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Today in Brussels, Stephen Harper And Jose Manuel Barroso have Signed CETA (comprehensive economic trade agreement).
The agreement text is still being kept secret and the agreement will not take effect for another two years (thats right the deal has been signed before anyone could even view it). Many main stream outlets are reporting the deal will open the EU’s market of a half billion consumers to Canadian exporters, also for the first time giving Europe’s corporations the right to bid on local infrastructure projects in Canadian cities.
What they are not prominently telling you is that the agreement opens Canadian rules and regulations to include European corporations. Effectively meaning that foreign corporations will be treated the same as domestic companies. Breaking down the borders for corporate control.
This deal is ushering Canada into a whole new level of globalization. Where corporations have supreme rule!
Here is more information about the deal that you will not find out from the main stream.
Rocco Galati talks about CETA opening Canadian banking to the EU in this video regarding the Bank of Canada.
21st Century Wire’s Patrick Henningsen speaks with RT news minutes after the “historic” federal debt ceiling deal. As 21WIRE mentioned last week at the height of the government shutdown, the US government was never going to default on its mountain of mega debt. Like a career heroin addict, Washington will continue to fund its appetite for lines of credit from its banking masters. http://21stcenturywire.com/2013/10/17…
Today in Brussels, Stephen Harper And Jose Manuel Barroso have Signed CETA (comprehensive economic trade agreement).
PN 