Month: September 2024

It’s Tuesday morning at Royal Montreal, and NBC Sports broadcaster John Wood is on the range, watching the American team practice and warm up. The U.S. players will play the front nine before half of the team addresses the media in the afternoon ahead of the Presidents Cup. But the team looks as relaxed as ever, unlike the Ryder Cup, where the U.S. seemingly faces an overwhelming amount of pressure year in and year out.
The difference here, though, is that the U.S. has dominated this competition, having won nine in a row and 13 of 15 cups overall. Meanwhile, in the Ryder Cup, Europe has won 10 times dating back to 1995, while the Americans have emerged victorious only four times. When the U.S. last won the Ryder Cup on European soil in 1993, the Presidents Cup did not even exist.
Hence, Wood’s colleague, Dan Hicks, described this reality as “The Tale of Two Cups,” as the longtime broadcaster has called golf for NBC since 2000. The Americans dominate the Internationals, while the Europeans have stymied the U.S. in the Ryder Cup.
Wood agreed with this assessment and thus provided a solid reason for the Internationals’ struggles over the years.
“I feel like the Internationals at this event have been a little handicapped by language barriers and guys not knowing each other as well. I think that can be tough,” Wood said to Playing Through.
“But, you know, even though the U.S. has won a lot, there have been some close ones. Korea [in 2015] came right down to the very last match. [In 2019] in Melbourne, the Internationals dominated for the first two days and looked like they had a chance to run away with it. Then, the Americans found their footing, started playing better golf, and won. So, you know, you look on paper, and yes, the U.S. has dominated in terms of wins and losses, but there have been some close ones as of late.”
There is no doubt that the International Team has improved over the years. Ernie Els’s introduction of the International Shield in 2019 helped give this team an identity. Even throughout this season, International Captain Mike Weir has held meetings and dinners to help foster that camaraderie and create the all-important bond required to pull off a win.
The Internationals are still the underdogs against the heavily favored Americans, with all 12 of its players ranking among the top 25 in the world. But the Internationals have some terrific players, too, boasting three major champions of their own: Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, and Jason Day.
“I think Mike Weir is going to be a great captain. I think he’s embracing the underdog role. And, at the end of the day, these guys are all good, and anything can happen in match play,” Wood said of this year’s International Team.
“I think Mike is probably really stressing that to his team, and I think he’s going to lean on some of those veterans, Hideki, Adam Scott, to really set the tone. But other guys, Tom Kim and Sungjae Im, played unbelievably in North Carolina together [at the 2022 Presidents Cup.] They have some sneaky picks, sneaky pairings, and sneaky partnerships that could be really good that most guys might not think about.”
So, who are those under-the-radar, dark horse players that the Internationals will need to rely on?
“If the Canadians can get going, and those three guys get the crowd involved, I think it’s a whole new ball game,” Wood said.

John Wood of NBC Sports calls some action from the course.

Jamie Palatini/Golf Channel

“I’m fascinated by that threesome because the last time, Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners were the only Canadians in North Carolina. They didn’t play well. They didn’t even get a half-point between the two. So if they can get going, they will be the key.”
Pendrith will play alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout in Thursday’s fourth Fourball match against Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley.
Conners, meanwhile, will have Hideki Matsuyama by his side as this duo will face Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns in the final match of the day. Mackenzie Hughes, a Presidents Cup rookie and the third Canadian on this team, will sit out the opening session, a surprising development since he hails from Canada.
Nevertheless, if the Internationals want to pull off the upset, they must be, at the very least, tied after Thursday’s opening session.
“Like any sport, when the home team gets off to a good start and the crowd gets involved, that’s huge for momentum,” Wood said.
“Obviously, the U.S., on paper, are big favorites, world ranking wise and the history of the event. But, you know, in any sport, if the favorite lets the underdog hang around, hang around, hang around, all of a sudden, the pressure completely switches. If the international team can they keep it close, for two or 2.5 days, all of a sudden that pressure starts to shift to the Americans, who begin to think, ‘We should be dominating this, we should be winning this, and we’re not.’ All of a sudden, the confidence grows on one side and it drops on the other. So I think they need to stay close, they need to get the crowd involved, and the longer they can hang around, the better their chances.”
As for the course itself, rain on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning will soften Royal Montreal, making the rough thicker and creating mud-balls that could wreck havoc on any given hole.
“If we get that rain, I think it’s gonna be much more of a, ‘You gotta find these fairways’ type of day,” Wood added.
“I don’t think you necessarily need to be a bomber to play well here at all. And as we all know, these team events, I don’t care what happens, They always come down to putting. You can say all you want about a horse fitting the course, but these team events always come down to what team makes the most putts at the crucial time.”
Wood would know because he has caddied in plenty of Ryder Cups and Presidents Cup before. He even caddied for Hunter Mahan in 2007, the last time Royal Montreal hosted this competition.
“I remember this course very well. I like this place, especially for match play. That back nine is so fun. So much can happen,” Wood added.
“It’s one of those courses that it really sticks in your brain.. Even though I haven’t been here for 10 years, I was looking at my old yardage books on the flight out here, and I remembered almost every single hole. That says a lot about a golf course.”
Wood then described this course as a ball-strikers golf course, meaning matches will be won or lost on whether or not players can find the greens from the fairways. Bombing it around this place will do players no good, as a misfire will settle in the thick, wet rough that lines these fairways. That will prevent a player from landing it where they want to up on the green. So being accurate off the tee outweighs the importantce of being long. You have to find the fairway, even if you layup just so you have a chance to find the putting surfaces. If you miss these undulating greens, however, a lost hole looms. And if you lose enough holes, you lose a match. And if you lose enough matches, you suddenly find yourself in trouble.
Nobody knows that better than Wood, the man who wears multiple hats as a caddie, broadcaster, and team manager of the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well. […]

Across continents and cultural contexts, our free Computing Curriculum serves as a common thread that connects educators. Read the stories of 3 educators who share their thoughts on the curriculum’s application, adaptability, and the impact it’s had on their educational settings. 

I’m Freda, and I co-founded a non-profit organisation called Waloyo in South Africa.

Coming from a background of technology consulting, I know the value of computing education. I have a real drive to teach young kids coding so they can get ahead and find jobs in our digital economy.

Our role at Waloyo is to work with non-profit organisations that work with young people and want to expand their services to include computing skills training. Waloyo trains non-profit facilitators, who in turn teach computing skills to youth between the ages of 6 and 18. A unique challenge is that the majority of facilitators we train don’t have any previous computing experience. The resources we use need to be clear and easy to follow.

What I really love about The Computing Curriculum resources is the facilitator guides.

Our initial plan was to run the training programmes after school and outside the school curriculum, but we were getting requests from schools to support them too. South Africa doesn’t have a national computing curriculum, so there aren’t many subject specialist teachers. So we looked for curriculum resources from other countries to support our work and that’s how we found The Computing Curriculum. 

In rural Africa where we work, students have low levels of exposure to computers and computing. So whether they are 6 or 18 years old, we usually start with Scratch. The younger kids then continue with Scratch and the older kids move quickly on to Python as they build confidence.

What I really love about The Computing Curriculum resources is the facilitator guides. They fit in well with our process of training NGO facilitators to work directly with the kids. I love the comprehensiveness and flexibility of what your curriculum provides to enable this method of delivery.

So far we’ve launched 3 programmes in communities in South Africa, impacting around 150 young people, and it’s worked beautifully. It’s phenomenal to see how excited the kids get when the computer does what they want it to do!

I’m Al, and I’ve been a secondary science teacher since 1991.

For the past 13 years, I’ve taught in international schools. Two years ago, I decided to retrain in teaching computing. My wife and I are currently teaching in Kazakhstan. I now teach at primary level but still handle some secondary classes. For primary, there’s significant time pressure, especially with extra lessons for the local language, making it challenging to fit computing into the schedule.

The private schools where I work are starting to implement the UK computer science curriculum. At one of the schools, they have a robotics course which has given rise to a misconception that everything in computing is about robotics! My role, therefore, involves expanding the concept of robotics to include a broader range of computing activities and finding efficient ways to integrate these new materials into the curriculum with minimal effort from the staff. I focus on selecting appropriate units to fit into what the schools are already doing rather than implementing a comprehensive new program.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s curriculum resources are valuable because they provide comprehensive lists of programs and ideas that I can adapt for my colleagues. I adapt resources to make them more accessible for primary teachers, simplifying and customising them for ease of use.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s curriculum resources are valuable because they provide comprehensive lists of programs and ideas that I can adapt for my colleagues.

Once students understand that computing is a tool for developing skills rather than just passive consumption, they take ownership of their learning which boosts their confidence. Culturally relevant materials are particularly effective, especially in diverse international classrooms. Adapting resources to be culturally relevant and incorporating students’ examples enhances their usefulness and impact. The resources are excellent, but by tailoring them, they can be even more effective, particularly in an international context with diverse nationalities and learning concepts.

Head of ICT at an international school in Egypt

As Head of Department, I am responsible for what all the different age groups learn, from year 1 to year 12. We use the Cambridge International (CIE) curriculum, so I was looking for supplementary resources that build from the basics, have a clear progression map, and complement the resources we already had.

With The Computing Curriculum, it is easy to pick out individual lesson resources to use. I love that it doesn’t need a licence and that the students don’t face any problems when they download it to practise at home. I’m covering curriculums for both computing and digital literacy, so I use resources that are relevant to my curriculum maps.

With The Computing Curriculum, it is easy to pick out individual lesson resources to use.

In some schools, their idea of an ICT lesson is getting students to play games, use Word documents, make PowerPoint presentations, and that’s it. But this generation of students love coding and making their own games. So instead of playing the game, we teach them how to develop a game and how to add the characters themselves.

From year 1 to year 2, students take part in a wide range of computing activities and develop a lot of new skills. They find these skills amazing. It makes them feel engaged, excited, and that they are doing something valuable.

Using The Computing Curriculum 

These educators’ stories show how easy it is to adapt our Computing Curriculum to your unique context, enhancing students’ technical skills and inspiring creativity, critical thinking, and a passion for problem-solving. We look forward to continuing this journey with these and other educators as they transform computing education for their learners.

If you’re looking for new computing resources to teach with, why not give The Computing Curriculum a try? You can also read our culturally relevant pedagogy research that Al mentions in his interview. […]

While normally more comfortable with a soldering iron, [LucidScience] recently took a dive into woodworking and hardware store electronics to build a DIY proofing box. It’s a clever design that doubles as furniture, with some cool problem-solving along the way. While it might not be your typical hack, repurposing seedling heat mats and working with insulation makes it a neat project for anyone who likes to tinker. Plus, the whole thing cranks out two loaves of sourdough bread each week!
The setup includes an 8 watt heat mat, typically used for aquariums or seedlings, and a temperature control box, so no complicated wiring is needed. The entire box is insulated with rigid foam, which makes it energy efficient—once the foam was installed, the heat mat only needed to turn on about a quarter of the time. To give it a more polished look, [LucidScience] hid the raw plywood edges with oak trim, and even added an adjustable vent for moisture control. Pretty slick for something built from basic materials and a few tools!
While this proofing box isn’t a groundbreaking electronics project, it shows how even simple hardware can be repurposed for entirely new applications. The combination of woodworking and basic electronics makes it an approachable project for DIYers looking to stretch their skills. Whether you’re into hacking, woodworking, or just love good bread, this build has something for everyone. [LucidScience]’s clear instructions and simple materials make this a great weekend project that can upgrade your baking game.

[embedded content] […]

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Shortly after the Connecticut Sun eliminated the Indiana Fever from the WNBA playoffs, players and coaches alike sounded off about the racism and harassment they said they faced throughout the first-round series.
“I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments (like) from the Indiana Fever fanbase… it’s unacceptable, honestly, and there’s no place for it,” said Alyssa Thomas. “We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”

Alyssa Thomas called out the hate that Sun players have faced from the Fever fanbase, saying she’s never experienced these type of racial comments before: “It’s uncalled for, and something needs to be done, whether it’s them checking their fans, or the league.” pic.twitter.com/qpqhkThW1p— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) September 26, 2024

Thomas called on someone to intervene — whether the Fever players themselves or the league at large — noting how difficult it has become to see online vitriol.
“Basketball is headed in a great direction, but we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial things,” Thomas said. “We already see what’s happening in the world and what we have to deal with in that aspect. We come to play basketball for our job, and it’s fun, but we don’t want to go to work every day and have social media blown up over things like that. It’s uncalled for and something needs to be done, whether it’s them checking their fans or the league. There’s no time for it anymore.”
In the middle of the postgame press conference, the WNBA released an official statement, noting that the league “will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments about players, teams, and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity, and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary.”

That statement came just weeks after Cathy Engelbert opted not to denounce the same hatred when asked about it on CNBC. WNBA players and the player’s union called out Engelbert’s decision, and she later apologized in a post on Twitter/X, saying “there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere else.”
Sun head coach Stephanie White urged the media to do a better job of ignoring the trolls.
“I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that we — I say we because I worked in television as well — but we in the media have to do a better job of not allowing trolls on social media to become the story,” White said. “I feel like we have allowed trolls in social media to frame the narrative of what the story is, and it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable, and we have to do a better job.”

Stephanie White spoke extensively on the hate her players (and other W players) have faced: “We in the media have to do a better job of not allowing trolls in social media to become the story. I feel like we have allowed trolls in social media to frame the narrative of what the… pic.twitter.com/DnnS0DINlC— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) September 26, 2024

While White didn’t specify exactly what media narratives she was referring to, since Game 1, a major point of discussion was whether Carrington’s eye poke on Clark was intentional, which both players shut down. Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that when searching Carrington’s name, articles about that incident showed up higher than her on-court performances, or even her Most Improved Player award.
“I realized that everybody’s job is predicated on what’s read, what’s clicked, what’s watched,” White said. “But I also feel like we have a responsibility to be better when it comes to what we’re representing, when it comes to — I don’t want to say protecting, because these women don’t need protection, but when it comes to making sure that the narrative is about what we do, and it’s not about who’s being attacked, how they’re being attacked, and we make that newsworthy.”
Fever head coach Christie Sides also addressed the online vitriol her players faced this season.
“Just proud of the adversity that these guys went through, just the expectations that were insane for us to start this season, and what people thought we should be doing, and just the outside noise these guys had to endure from Game 1 until now,” Sides said. “It’s a lot of hurtful, hateful speech out there that’s happening. And, it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for any of these guys. This is basketball, and this is their job, and they’re doing the best they can. When it gets personal, to me, that is it just when — I mean, there’s no reason for it. And these guys have to listen and watch the social. Social media is their mind, this is what they do.”
Sides gave the example that some online had stated she previously received a technical for saying “F you” to the officials, which she says was false.
“It’s just this new world that we’re in, and it is just not acceptable when it gets personal for these guys to have to deal with that,” Sides said. “So, they handled it, and kept showing up in our locker room, and kept finding ways to get better, got in the playoffs after we started 1-8, and that is an incredible story to talk about.”
White concluded her remarks with a plea to the media to avoid buying into online narratives at the expense of players.
“I applaud our team for maintaining their professionalism — not just our team, it’s a lot of teams in this league. It’s a lot of athletes, not just in our league, who are attacked like this. So I applaud their professionalism. We continue to encourage them to silence the noise, control what they can control. I don’t go on social media for that reason, it’s protecting my peace, but I also realize that’s a privilege for me.”
“I just encourage everybody to take a step back and think about if it’s your sons or your daughters or your nieces or your nephews or your children, for goodness sakes, because if my children were being harassed like this, I’m not sure what I would do. I’m not sure what I would do. We’ve got to go back to keeping the main thing the main thing, and I’m not talking about criticism, because that comes with the territory. That’s what it is. That’s part of it. I get that. But the narrative doesn’t need to be controlled by people who are just on their keyboard, spewing hate and negative vitriol everywhere.”
She reflected on how the vitriol players faced this season is reflective of a broader national trend.
“We’ve seen a lot of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, throughout the course of our country,” White said. “Sport is no exception, and it’s unacceptable, to be quite honest.” […]

A new Reuters exclusive report is alleging that Russia is currently overseeing a secret program in China to produce long-range drones. These drones are expected to be used in Ukraine, and amid increasing NATO involvement in the war.The report names IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, as having set up shop in China and acting as a middle man for the classified defense tech program.Reuters says it has reviewed leaked documents it obtained, and they show a new type of advanced drone in progress, called the Garpiya-3 (G3), which has had the assistance of local Chinese specialists.Illustrative: some recent Chinese advanced drones on display at a Saudi arms show, via Breaking Defense.The bombshell allegations are interesting and curious as far as timing, coming amid ratcheting Washington accusations against both countries and as their cooperation heightens. The US has already been sanctioning Chinese companies accused of supplying Russia’s defense sector.The Garpiya-3 drone is said to be comparable to some US advanced drones, and can travel some 2,000km with a payload of 50kg, which is significant. The Russia-China design and production program puts Moscow on track to be able to deploy something in the near future resembling a MQ9 Reaper drone over the skies of Ukraine.Reuters further alleges, based on the documents it reviewed, that Kupol has already taken delivery of at least seven military drones made in China at its Izhevsk headquarters, in Western Russia. Some of the payments by Russia have reportedly been made in Chinese yuan.The report references “two intelligence sources” who “said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.”While Russia’s defense ministry has not commented and is not expected to, Moscow has at every turn defended its ability to do business with any country it wants. Hawkish pundits have of late gone after China, Russia, and Iran as being part of a new ‘axis of evil’ related to the war in Ukraine…Reuters: Russia produces kamikaze drone with Chinese engineChina helps terror state Russia to build weaponry that is used explicitly against civilians.The Chinese ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’ slogans are nothing but propaganda lies. pic.twitter.com/ZeBVJ2P1y7
— ruediger drischel (@RudyDrischel) September 25, 2024China, however, has consistently denied that it is giving military supplies to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, stressing an official policy of neutrality. But Presidents Putin and Xi have also made no secret of their ‘no limits’ friendship and partnership. Of late, both militaries have conducted naval drills in the Pacific, which Japan has seen as a threat.China has at the same time blasted Western nations for their “double standards on arms sales” to Ukraine, which Beijing has pointed out “added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis.” It has grown increasingly critical of NATO hegemony as well.Loading… […]

Today in ‘total coincidences’ news, the world’s most gifted stock-picking family, the Pelosis, appear to have done it again, selling hundreds of thousands of dollars in Visa stock with what can only be described as timing that is beyond prescient.Paul Pelosi sold more than $500,000 in Visa stock less than 3 months before the company was hit with federal antitrust charges, according to a new report from the New York Post.The Post reported that on Tuesday, Visa faced a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally monopolizing the debit card market. The suit follows an extensive investigation by the Justice Department’s antitrust division, spanning several years.According to the court filings, Visa is alleged to have leveraged its dominant market position to disadvantage customers and merchants who opted to use rival payment processors. Antitrust regulators claim Visa pressures fintech firms into working with them by threatening penalties for non-compliance. Visa has yet to comment. As of the time of this writing, Visa stock was down about 6.5% over the last 5 day period. Christopher Josephs, who runs the “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X, posted a screenshot of a July 3 congressional filing showing that Paul Pelosi, husband of the former House Speaker, sold 2,000 Visa shares valued between $500,000 and $1 million.The filing marked the sale as “SP” for spouse. At the time of the sale, there were no public signs of an impending antitrust lawsuit against Visa.Hilariously, Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson told the Post: “Speaker Pelosi does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.”But Ron Geffner, a former enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said: “At various critical inflection points in history, members of our government have engaged in trading at a time which their conflicts are called into question.” Before adding: “Before public opinion judges Pelosi unfairly, it is important to determine who engaged in the transaction on her behalf as well as whether it was part of a broader change of her portfolio.”Pelosi has a net worth in the hundreds of millions, largely from her and her husband’s investments. She has consistently opposed bipartisan efforts to ban stock trading by lawmakers and their spouses due to potential conflicts of interest, according to the report. Loading… […]

“The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes.”—Thomas Paine
The government wants your money.

It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it.

The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security complex that continues to undermine our freedoms while failing to making us any safer.

Americans have also been made to pay through the nose for the government’s endless wars, subsidization of foreign nations, military empire, welfare state, roads to nowhere, bloated workforce, secret agencies, fusion centers, private prisons, biometric databases, invasive technologies, arsenal of weapons, and every other budgetary line item that is contributing to the fast-growing wealth of the corporate elite at the expense of those who are barely making ends meet—that is, we the taxpayers.

This is what comes of those $1.2 trillion spending bills: someone’s got to foot the bill.

Because the government’s voracious appetite for money, power and control has grown out of control, its agents have devised other means of funding its excesses and adding to its largesse through taxes disguised as fines, taxes disguised as fees, and taxes disguised as tolls, tickets and penalties.

No matter how much money the government pulls in, it’s never enough (case in point: the endless stopgap funding deals and constant ratcheting up of the debt ceiling), so the government has to keep introducing new plans to empower its agents to seize Americans’ bank accounts.

Make way for the digital dollar.

Whether it’s the central bank digital currency favored by President Biden, or the cryptocurrency being hawked by former President Trump, the end result will still be a form of digital money that makes it easier to track, control and punish the citizenry.

For instance, weeks before the Biden Administration made headlines with its support for a government-issued digital currency, the FBI and the Justice Department quietly moved ahead with plans for a cryptocurrency enforcement team (translation: digital money cops), a virtual asset exploitation unit tasked with investigating crypto crimes and seizing virtual assets, and a crypto czar to oversee it all.

No surprises here, of course.

This is how the government operates: by giving us tools to make our lives “easier” while, in the process, making it easier for the government to crack down.

Indeed, this shift to a digital currency is a global trend.

More than 100 other countries are considering introducing their own digital currencies.

China has already adopted a government-issued digital currency, which not only allows it to surveil and seize people’s financial transactions, but can also work in tandem with its social credit score system to punish individuals for moral lapses and social transgressions (and reward them for adhering to government-sanctioned behavior). As China expert Akram Keram wrote for The Washington Post, “With digital yuan, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will have direct control over and access to the financial lives of individuals, without the need to strong-arm intermediary financial entities. In a digital-yuan-consumed society, the government easily could suspend the digital wallets of dissidents and human rights activists.”

Where China goes, the United States eventually follows.

Inevitably, a digital currency will become part of our economy and a central part of the government’s surveillance efforts.

Combine that with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives that are tantamount to social media credit scores for corporations, and you will find that we’re traveling the same road as China towards digital authoritarianism. As journalist Jon Brookin warns: “Digital currency issued by a central bank can be used as a tool for government surveillance of citizens and control over their financial transactions.”

As such, digital currency provides the government and its corporate partners with a mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.

This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. Much like the war on drugs and the war on terror, this so-called “war on cash” has been sold to the public as a means of fighting terrorists, drug dealers, tax evaders and even COVID-19 germs.

In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal. The rationale (by police) is that cash is the currency for illegal transactions given that it’s harder to track, can be used to pay illegal immigrants, and denies the government its share of the “take,” so doing away with paper money will help law enforcement fight crime and help the government realize more revenue.

According to economist Steve Forbes, “The real reason for this war on cash—start with the big bills and then work your way down—is an ugly power grab by Big Government. People will have less privacy: Electronic commerce makes it easier for Big Brother to see what we’re doing, thereby making it simpler to bar activities it doesn’t like, such as purchasing salt, sugar, big bottles of soda and Big Macs.”

This is how a cashless society—easily monitored, controlled, manipulated, weaponized and locked down—plays right into the hands of the government (and its corporate partners).

Despite what we know about the government and its history of corruption, bumbling, fumbling and data breaches, not to mention how easily technology can be used against us, the shift to a cashless society is really not a hard sell for a society increasingly dependent on technology for the most mundane aspects of life.

In much the same way that Americans have opted into government surveillance through the convenience of GPS devices and cell phones, digital cash—the means of paying with one’s debit card, credit card or cell phone—is becoming the de facto commerce of the American police state.

At one time, it was estimated that smart phones would replace cash and credit cards altogether by 2020. Since then, growing numbers of businesses have adopted no-cash policies, including certain airlines, hotels, rental car companies, restaurants and retail stores. In Sweden, even the homeless and churches accept digital cash.

Making the case for a digital wallet, journalist Lisa Rabasca Roepe argues that there’s no longer a need for cash. “More and more retailers and grocery stores are embracing Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay,” notes Roepe. “PayPal’s app is now accepted at many chain stores including Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Home Depot, and Office Depot. Walmart and CVS have both developed their own payment apps while their competitors Target and RiteAid are working on their own apps.”

So what’s really going on here?

Despite all of the advantages that go along with living in a digital age—namely, convenience—it’s hard to imagine how a cashless world navigated by way of a digital wallet doesn’t signal the beginning of the end for what little privacy we have left and leave us vulnerable to the likes of government thieves, data hackers and an all-knowing, all-seeing Orwellian corpo-governmental state.

First, when I say privacy, I’m not just referring to the things that you don’t want people to know about, those little things you do behind closed doors that are neither illegal nor harmful but embarrassing or intimate. I am also referring to the things that are deeply personal and which no one need know about, certainly not the government and its constabulary of busybodies, nannies, Peeping Toms, jail wardens and petty bureaucrats.

Second, we’re already witnessing how easy it will be for government agents to manipulate digital wallets for their own gain in order to track your movements, monitor your activities and communications, and ultimately shut you down. For example, civil asset forfeiture schemes are becoming even more profitable for police agencies thanks to ERAD (Electronic Recovery and Access to Data) devices supplied by the Department of Homeland Security that allow police to not only determine the balance of any magnetic-stripe card (i.e., debit, credit and gift cards) but also freeze and seize any funds on pre-paid money cards. In fact, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it does not violate the Fourth Amendment for police to scan or swipe your credit card. Expect those numbers to skyrocket once digital money cops show up in full force.

Third, a government-issued digital currency will give the government the ultimate control of the economy and complete access to the citizenry’s pocketbook. While the government might tout the ease with which it can deposit stimulus funds into the citizenry’s accounts, such a system could also introduce what economists refer to as “negative interest rates.” Instead of being limited by a zero bound threshold on interest rates, the government could impose negative rates on digital accounts in order to control economic growth. “If the cash is electronic, the government can just erase 2 percent of your money every year,” said David Yermack, a finance professor at New York University.

Fourth, a digital currency will open Americans—and their bank accounts—up to even greater financial vulnerabilities from hackers and government agents alike.

Fifth, digital authoritarianism will redefine what it means to be free in almost every aspect of our lives. Again, we must look to China to understand what awaits us. As Human Rights Watch analyst Maya Wang explains: “Chinese authorities use technology to control the population all over the country in subtler but still powerful ways. The central bank is adopting digital currency, which will allow Beijing to surveil—and control—people’s financial transactions. China is building so-called safe cities, which integrate data from intrusive surveillance systems to predict and prevent everything from fires to natural disasters and political dissent. The government believes that these intrusions, together with administrative actions, such as denying blacklisted people access to services, will nudge people toward ‘positive behaviors,’ including greater compliance with government policies and healthy habits such as exercising.”

Short of returning to a pre-technological, Luddite age, there’s really no way to pull this horse back now that it’s left the gate. To our detriment, we have virtually no control over who accesses our private information, how it is stored, or how it is used. And in terms of our bargaining power over digital privacy rights, we have been reduced to a pitiful, unenviable position in which we can only hope and trust that those in power will treat our information with respect.

At a minimum, before any kind of digital currency is adopted, we need stricter laws on data privacy and an Electronic Bill of Rights that protects “we the people” from predatory surveillance and data-mining business practices by the government and its corporate partners.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, the ramifications of any government having this much unregulated, unaccountable power to target, track, round up and detain its citizens is beyond chilling.

WC: 1850 […]

Ruben Gallego and Sydney Barron’s “wedding” in June 2021
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), the Democratic Nominee for the US Senate in Arizona, has been caught in a bizarre lie about his marriage, apparently announcing his engagement and wedding long after secretly getting married in 2019.
Gallego divorced his ex-wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, in 2016, just before she gave birth to his son.
The Gateway Pundit has reported on Gallego’s abandonment of his family for a Washington, DC lobbyist. Kari Lake, the Trump Endorsed Republican facing Gallego in the November General Election, took a shot at Gallego in an ad earlier this year, calling him a “deadbeat dad” who “shacked up with a DC lobbyist and left his son fatherless.”
WATCH… “DEADBEAT DAD” – Kari Lake’s EPIC New Ad Exposes How Radical Democrat Ruben Gallego Left His 9 Month Pregnant Wife and Shacked Up With DC Lobbyist (VIDEO)

According to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, Gallego’s Washington, DC, marriage license shows that he remarried in December 2019 to National Association of Realtors lobbyist Sydney Barron. Gallego has also sponsored or cosponsored at least 17 bills and voted for 38 bills that Barron lobbied for. 

However, months later, Gallego publicly announced that he popped the question in a February 15, 2020 Instagram post, captioned, “She said yes!!”
Ruben Gallego announces “engagement” to Sydney Barron – via Instagram February 15, 2020
Shortly after, on February 18, 2020, Politico reported the following:
ENGAGED — Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sydney Barron, a legislative representative at the National Association of Realtors, got engaged this weekend on a trip to Ireland, where Gallego popped the question at a small restaurant in the historic city of Limerick. The couple met through mutual friends at the 2018 Congressional Baseball Game.

Oddly enough, they were already married for several months when he “proposed” to his wife. Over one year later, in June 2021, the pair reportedly had a wedding ceremony.
Politico again reported on June 7, 2021,
GALLEGO GETS HITCHED — Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sydney Barron, director of government affairs at the National Association of Realtors, got married this weekend in Puerto Rico. The ceremony was officiated by Leigh Parker Pross, who introduced the couple back in 2018, and they were joined by friends and family for a beachfront ceremony. Pic… Another pic… SPOTTED: Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), and Puerto Rico Sen. Carmelo Rios Santiago.

Gallego reportedly also listed his wife in a disclosure as a “family member” in April 2021, before the two announced their marriage when he went on a trip to Qatar that was paid for by the US-Qatar Business Council, a special interest group that spent more than $84,000 on at least five lawmakers’ travel.
His motive for deceiving the public and keeping his marriage a secret for almost two years is unclear.
Gallego previously had his records of the divorce proceedings with his ex-wife sealed by the court. Washington Free Beacon is currently suing Gallego to unseal his divorce records, which they say “has fought tooth and nail.”
“Ruben Gallego is a con man,” Kari Lake told The Gateway Pundit. Whether it be working at a company investigated for committing medicare fraud, defrauding immigrants at a bank, egregiously violating the Stock Act, to now, very publicly, lying about the timeline AND circumstances between his controversial divorce to his nine-month pregnant wife and second marriage to a lobbyist.”
Lake continued, “Like I said, Gallego is a con man, and his run for Senate is another swindle.” […]