Homeland Stupidity

DOJ’s ‘Operation Choke Point’ Closing Legal Websites’ Bank Accounts

"Under 'Operation Choke Point,' the DOJ and its allies are going after legal but subjectively undesirable business ventures by pressuring banks to terminate their bank accounts or refuse their business. The very premise is clearly chilling—the DOJ is coercing private businesses in an attempt to centrally engineer the American marketplace based on it's own politically biased moral judgements. Targeted business categories so far have included payday lenders, ammunition sales, dating services, purveyors of drug paraphernalia, and online gambling sites." Continue reading →

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How a wire transfer stuck in OFAC almost cost me $140K

"My wire transfer for $600,000 got stuck for more than a week in two banks and I almost lost my $140,000 deposit on a house as a result. If the funds transfer had been done with bitcoin, I would have had the funds there within an hour of sending them, and nobody could have stopped it. The escrow part could also have been done with bitcoin. One this becomes the norm, bitcoin is going to revolutionize the process of closing a house purchase, making it safer, cheaper, and faster for everyone. Here is the OFAC SDN list. If your first and last names match any of the names in this list, don't do any large wire transfers!" Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Foundation Plays Down Silk Road Connection at Senate Hearing

"Even the title of Monday’s Senate Committee hearing on bitcoin reflects the overriding concern. 'Beyond Silk Road – Potential Threats, Risks, and Promises of Virtual Currency' brings together several speakers from the government, industry, and non-profit sectors to give their opinions to the Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the potential security risks of the cryptocurrency. Here is a roundup of what to expect from testimony given at the event." Continue reading →

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Read more about the article Federal Agency Responses Reveal US Government Attitudes to Bitcoin

Federal Agency Responses Reveal US Government Attitudes to Bitcoin

"The US Senate committee due to begin hearings into ‘virtual currencies’ on 18 November has released the responses it received to its August 2013 requests for information on the topic from a number of federal agencies. Until the actual hearings begin, the letters provide one of the most detailed insights so far into how various US government authorities view bitcoin and its contemporaries. The crime-heavy spotlight of the responses might be an indication of the US government’s overall approach to digital currencies such as bitcoin, with only the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department commenting that such payment systems could provide benefit and increase efficiency."

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Bitcoin’s UK Future Looks Bleak

"It's depressing that firstly key government departments have not apparently to the best of my knowledge even discussed this potentially revolutionary technology. It's even more depressing that in a democratic society, discussion of policy regarding this technology is conducted in secrecy. HMRC's VAT legislation is already outdated in many areas especially regarding online trade. My confidence that they will appear from behind these doors with legislation based on a firm understanding of Bitcoin is low. These responses also indicate glaring misunderstandings of what Bitcoin is, hilariously the Bank of England wrote back to tell me 'There have been no meetings held at the BoE attended by Bitcoin'." Continue reading →

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Cybersecurity: The NSA’s Big Budget Action Movie

"The exercise had an awesome name, inspired by the movies: 'Quantum Dawn 2.' On July 18, scads of U.S. banks, stock exchanges and government agencies took part in a digital fire drill — a practice run in the event all of Wall Street came under massive cyberattack. The scope of this exercise was systemwide, full-on meltdown. 'In some cases,' reads a new account of the exercise from Reuters, 'a blue chip stock started to plummet inexplicably. Soon, shocking news about the company hit the market, but unbeknownst to the participant, the news was fake. For others, trading systems were on the fritz, or government websites stopped functioning.'" Continue reading →

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FINTRAC collecting too much info on innocent Canadians: privacy watchdog

"By law, Canadian banks, casinos and thousands of other businesses are required to report all financial transactions over $10,000, and any movement of money they suspect may be linked to terrorism or laundering the proceeds of crime. But in a special report to Parliament today, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart complains that an investigation of the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre, known as FINTRAC, found found everyday financial transactions of ordinary Canadians — things such as down payments for homes and cars, and wire transfers from families overseas to their children studying here. FINTRAC has amassed over 165 million reports." Continue reading →

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It Won’t Stay in Vegas: The Metro PD’s Homeland Security Theater

"Las Vegas, like every other city, does face a lethal threat from people who consider themselves emancipated from the law and entitled to kill without accountability. Like the Sovereigns, those people speak in a specialized language that supposedly legitimizes their lawlessness, and that makes no obvious sense to rational people who don’t belong to their clique. The Las Vegas branch of this domestic terrorist movement maintains a fraudulent 'court' where criminal actions, up to and including murder, are ratified. However, the crimes committed by that state-sanctioned terrorist syndicate are neither hypothetical, nor uncommon." Continue reading →

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Government’s definition of ‘terrorist’ encompasses practically everyone

"According to the US State Department, 'no one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance' within our government. And what constitutes a terrorist is rather expansive, as Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) explains. Even former White House Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel meets the criteria. Perianne Boring has more." Continue reading →

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