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EU About To Grant US Unlimited Access To Banking Data
An anonymous reader points out a blog post reporting that on Monday The EU Council is set to give US intelligence services full access to SWIFT banking data, despite a unanimous call by the European Parliament not to do so. "The move of SWIFT the data server to Switzerland would be an excellent opportunity to stop the nearly unlimited access of US authorities on EU bank transactions. But EU justice and interior ministers are apparently keen [on agreeing to] a deal as soon as possible, on 30 November. Why 30 November? Because one day later, on 1 December 2009, the EU’s Lisbon Treaty will be in force and would allow the European Parliament to play a major role in the negotiations of the deal with the US. A deal one day before will be a slap in the face to democracy in the EU. ... [W]hile the US will be able to access EU banking data, no access to US banking data by EU [authorities] is being foreseen."
The cutest thing about this is the "sharing" is entirely one-way. It's like the extradition arrangements, where European politicians use weasel words about how "in practice" the same rules will apply for getting someone from the US into the EU as the other way around, even though the written conditions are clearly very different.
Given that the US government has proved over recent years to be probably the greatest threat to world stability, and about the least effective in terms of things like regulation of the financial sector, respect for privacy and civil liberties, and not going overboard any time the term "national security" is used, I don't understand why anyone, least of all the EU, is so keen to suck up so much. The era of the US being the world's only superpower is over and not coming back, the politicos just haven't realised yet.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Pizza is Italian.
There's no such thing as american pizza. Only american would-be pizza.
That's bullshit. That's like saying the Euro isn't money, just a would-be US Dollar.
Contrary to the elitist European attitudes, the US is way better so neener-neener-neener!
"Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
So US tax cheats get caught at the expense of EU privacy? F***ing s**t deal if you live in the EU. My transactions have got cock all to do with you.
And Americans wonder why everybody hates them.
Citation needed. I'm an American (from the USA), and let me clarify things for you: we don't fucking care that you hate us, because we know you're all bass-ackwards. If anything, we hate you more because we live in a 1st World country and due to job exportation over the last 30 years we have to compete with you in your 2nd and 3rd World European countries.
So in summary, we don't wonder why, we know, and we hate you all just as much if not more.
"Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
The only reason we're still stuck with SWIFT is when making a transfer to/from outside the EU anyway, which invariably means US / Canada,
Aren't you proud to know twice as many continents as most Americans?
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Ah, right. The old "the USA are the only first world country" adage again. The country that couldn't come up with clean diesel until a few years ago (and the junk you call diesel still wouldn't make it to market over here), has so ludicrously bad tap water that it's not neccessarily potable and still thinks that sewers are optional.
Then again, these are the same guys who proclaim themselves the paragon of democracy, yet have a surprisingly absolutist view of international politics (rules apply to everyone but them, cf. the American Service-Members' Protection Act) and recognize other nations' sovereignty only on paper (hello, extraordinary rendition).
Quite seriously, if you guys weren't so well-armed, nobody would give a shit about you. You use your power to force your terms on everyone else while refusing to be held accountable for anything... America is exactly as the British Crown was when there still were thirteen colonies: Those peasants across the pond are only good for giving you money and don't deserve anything but contempt.
Which might explain why the "peasants" currently see more value in trying to make China respect human rights than in trying to make America care about anything but themselves. Given that we have more money than the States and enough nukes to make outright war a bad idea, there's not much the States can do about it.
Except maybe miraculously elect leaders that aren't complete assholes and realize that the States need the rest of the world as their friends if they want to stay relevant. Given that such views would probably get them sued out of the office, I find that unlikely.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
I had more than one banking professional tell me, that if you want to have your money well handled, you should avoid using banks at all.
Every time you put money on one of their accounts, they can lend out ten times that amount (yes, that’s it fact imaginary money) to other people at a interest. If you use one of their funds or something like that, it’s even worse, since they take most of it, but if it goes bad, you pay for most of it.
And when you lend money... well the method goes like this: Take an example economy 100 people. Now lend all 100 people 100 dollar at 1% interest. Then they have to pay it back at the end. But they still will only have 100 times 100 dollar. So for 99 to pay the 101 dollar back, one of them has to go bankrupt. Because where would the money come from? All money you earn always comes from someone else in the economy. And he either also earned it from someone else in the same (global) economy, or he had to lend the above mentioned imaginary money from a bank. It’s futile. There is no way around one of them being fucked at the end.
But then, what is the point of a bank, if there is nothing left? Well... exactly.
The only idea that now may be left, is the easy transfer of money. Put it on an account, so another one can instantly draw it out again. This is what I’m doing right now.
And for lending money: Well, I go the old-fashioned way: I save up money that I get from earning more from working harder. It’s harder (and it should be hard), but at the end, whatever I get out from it, will be mine, mind and mine!
Now for the even worse part:
On top of all that... what is that green bill in your wallet? What is that “money”?
Well, if you look at it, it is the debt of someone else. You are literally holding a piece of debt in your hands.
It is not bound to any real thing with a real value. Like being a paper that says that you get X real physical gold pieces when turning it in at a bank.
In the EU it’s even worse. The “money” in not associated with anything anymore. Only the belief of people is giving that paper and worth.
Well, that can all be good and well, as you might say.
But now imagine, if that belief... or that credit... breaks down...
Then your one hundred trillion dollars can suddenly become worth just about one cent.
And funnily, this still can work. But in reality, there is a nice scheme if you yourself are the one printing the money: Just keep all your own money in gold. And then twist the value of the paper money at will, depending on who has more of it: If all the money is in their hands, let the money crash to worthlessness. And if it is in your hands, let it rise.
In essence this gets you work for free! If it costs twice as much work as the money was worth when they got it, to earn the money to pay you back, you got the work difference for free.
Rinse and repeat.
And you wondered why after the trillion dollar “bailout” flowing to the banks, the value of money suddenly rose, and why when the economy and life went upwards in the Clinton era, suddenly an election fraud brought people into power that created a big war for which they had to lend as much money as possible...?!?
The nice thing is: Banks and the federal reserve can only fuck with you, if you use their money!!
This is a bit hard in the real world, of course. ^^
But look at what the banks do. Do it, and do it better! Learn your stuff!
If they can profit from it, so can you!
One trick is to just always have as little “active”/paper money as possible. Always put it straight into real goods, gold/silver/$otherValueGainingOrStableResource or (if you are wealthy) houses, and similar stuff that can make you more money.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Because the U.S. has never interfere with European elections.
But billions of unknown money pour into Obama campaign last year from all over the place. That is why U.S. need all the data everywhere.
New Economic Perspectives