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Daily Archives: July 15, 2017
Determining what the Second Amendment means for today – STLtoday.com
Posted: July 15, 2017 at 10:53 pm
Guns seem to be a regular topic in the newspaper, along with references to the Second Amendment, which protects the citizens' right to keep and bear same.
I was curious, so I read it: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
As a strict constructionist, I would like to advocate for the intent of the writers of this article.
Seems to me that those who keep and bear arms ought to be enrolled in a well regulated militia, currently known as the National Guard or the military reserve. These citizens would be trained and ready should our nation require their services when we are threatened by Native Americans or forces of the British, French or Spanish governments.
We could even designate certain units for advanced training in nuclear weaponry, air combat, operation of a submarine or aircraft carrier, and special ops. We would no longer need a standing military force, since the citizenry would stand ready when needed. This could result in a great savings from the national budget, and allow Medicaid to become a national health care system.
If called, I will gladly bring my bow, arrows and slingshot.
William A. Kaeppel Florissant
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Court decision: Rowan County Commissioners violated First Amendment with Christian prayer – WLOS
Posted: at 10:52 pm
When Rowan County commissioners opened their meeting with a prayer specific to one religion, and a call that those in attendance join them in that prayer, said Meno, that violates the First Amendment to the Constitution. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)
County commissioners across western North Carolina are reviewing an appeals court decision that ruled that Rowan County Commissioners are in violation of the Constitution for opening their commission meetings with Christian prayer and a request for those attending the meeting to participate in the invocation.
The court ruling stated that the commissioners delivered only Christian prayer, and veered from time to time into overt proselytization."
Mike Meno, spokesman for the ACLU of North Carolina, spoke on behalf of the organization that played a role in the lawsuit brought to the court.
When Rowan County commissioners opened their meeting with a prayer specific to one religion, and a call that those in attendance join them in that prayer, said Meno, that violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.
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Court decision: Rowan County Commissioners violated First Amendment with Christian prayer - WLOS
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Seattle’s ‘Democracy Voucher’ Plan: Coercive and Unfair | National … – National Review
Posted: at 10:52 pm
The city of Seattle has just embarked on an unprecedented experiment in campaign-finance reform that forces property owners, through a new property tax, to sponsor the campaign contributions of other city residents. The city attracted nationwide attention in 2015 when it passed the first democracy voucher program, which is just now under way. The Pacific Legal Foundation, representing two property owners subject to the tax, has sued the city, arguing that the First Amendment forbids the city from compelling property owners to fund viewpoints they oppose.
At the start of this year, Seattle began mailing out four $25 vouchers to registered voters. Non-voters and even non-citizens can receive vouchers, too, upon request to the city. The vouchers can be used for only one purpose: campaign contributions for local elected office.
The idea is to give everyone a voice in politics but at whose expense? Heralding the arrival of the vouchers, The Stranger a left-leaning Seattle paper published a gleeful article: How to Get Your Free Money from Seattles New Public Campaign Financing System. It sported an image of money falling from the sky into the hands of waiting voters.
But that money doesnt rain down from above; it comes from the pockets of property owners, who are designated as the cash cows for other peoples political opinions.
This compelled subsidy for political donations violates the First Amendment. Freedom of speech embodies not only the right to speak, but also its corollary: the right not to speak. This includes the right to refrain from funding the speech of another person. After all, money talks, and when your money goes to promote a cause you dont believe in, youre the victim of political ventriloquism. The U.S. Supreme Court has called this a bedrock principle of the First Amendment that, except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances, no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support. This speech tax, by forcing Seattle property owners to support the political views of their neighbors, tramples upon this bedrock principle.
The Supreme Court has upheld neutral public campaign funding in the past, but the democracy-voucher program is an altogether different beast. Since voucher recipients decide which candidates get this money based on their political preferences, the speech tax undermines dissenting views and entrenches popular ones. Unlike neutral public campaign-funding schemes, the voucher program smacks of partisan inequality. As the money flows according to the preferences of Seattle residents, candidates who subscribe to the dominant political view will receive the most largesse. Minority candidates will get outfunded. This does not cultivate the equality of ideas that the democracy-voucher program purports to champion quite the opposite, in fact.
Even worse, the property owners compelled to pay for these political donations will tend to be among the crowd with minority viewpoints. Take, for instance, a major political issue in Seattle: rental housing. Seattle is a city of tenants; 54 percent of Seattle households rent. Seattle politicians have catered to this major constituency through recent measures like a renters commission, caps on move-in fees, and the mayors recent proposal to prevent landlords from rejecting renters because of a criminal history. For the most part, these measures clash with landlords political and economic interests.
Yet landlords and other property owners must now foot the bill for political speech that favor these kinds of measures. Take Jon Grants campaign for city council. Grant, the former director of the Tenants Union of Washington State, is a committed tenant advocate. If elected, hell pursue policies such as tenant collective-bargaining rights and rent control that will further undermine landlords interests. Grant has received $129,000 in voucher money, doubtless from many renter constituents. But landlords and other property owners are the real, involuntary source of that money; theyre forced to fund a candidacy at odds with their rights and basic interests.
We shouldnt shrug off this problem just because we might like the viewpoints favored by the vouchers, or because we cant work up sympathy for property owners. Reserving freedom of speech for popular views would obliterate the core purpose of the First Amendment to shelter the dissident. Yet the speech tax forces the dissident to power the megaphone of the majority.
It gets worse. Plenty of mom-and-pop landlords who rent out Seattle property live in surrounding King County. They have a stake in Seattle politics, but as non-residents, they cant receive vouchers themselves. A landlord who has owned a house in Seattle for 20 years cant get vouchers, yet she must pay for the campaign contributions of a University of Washington freshman who moved into the city last month.
We treasure the First Amendment because it upholds human dignity the power to shape our identity by what we believe and express. That dignity is sullied by a government that forces its people to serve as unwilling vessels for beliefs that repel them. As Thomas Jefferson said, To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. The supporters of the voucher program want to force property owners to underwrite partisan political donations in the name of democracy. I dont think that word means what they think that word means.
Ethan Blevins is an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, representing the challengers to Seattles democracy-voucher program.
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Seattle's 'Democracy Voucher' Plan: Coercive and Unfair | National ... - National Review
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Bitcoin Fans: Cryptocurrency Token Economy Is the Future …
Posted: at 10:51 pm
Ever since Bitcoin first appeared on the scene several years ago, fans of the cryptocurrency have been searching for a way to apply the idea that might capture the public imagination and broaden the use of the technology beyond just geeks and programmers.
Now, some believe that application has appeared with the rise of the "token" economy, in which companies or startup ventures fund their operations by handing out units of cryptocurrencies. Some companies have even done what are known as "initial coin offerings" or ICOs, in which they distribute tokens instead of shares to investors.
The cryptocurrency market is seen by some as a bubble with hugely inflated prices. Some observers say bitcoin and other similar ventures are similar to Linux , an open-source alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system that has never really achieved mainstream success.
But entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, believes that token-based systems "may eventually create and capture more value than the last generation of Internet companies."
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In an essay published recently on the blogging platform Medium, Srinivasan and his partner Naval Ravikant, co-founder and CEO of a popular online VC community called AngelList, said they believe the token economy has the potential to become "a Kickstarter on steroids."
The two men, both of whom have been investing in bitcoin-related technology for several years, argue that using tokens as a financing option has the potential to improve the liquidity options that companies have by several orders of magnitude, as well as increasing the size of the available audience that might want to invest in such ventures.
All of this is possible because of an explosion in the cryptocurrency market over the past few years, they argue, in which Bitcoin has survived internal strife but also given birth to alternative currency systems and platforms such as Ethereum.
Initial coin offerings or ICOs are one way of using these new currencies, Srinivasan and Ravikant say. Canadian messaging-app maker Kik recently announced that it is launching its own cryptocurrency called Kin, and plans to offer units of it to supporters through a crowdfunding campaign. The currency is based on Ethereum's blockchain technology.
Kik plans to issue 10 trillion Kin tokens to developers and users via a separate non-profit foundation called the Kin Foundation, which will ultimately hold 60% of all the Kin tokens and be run by a group of independent directors.]
Srinivasan and Ravikant warn that some uses of cryptocurrency tokens, including some ICOs, may be subject to regulation by governments if they are seen as equivalent to doing a traditional equity offering or IPO, in which investors receive shares of the company. But they argue other uses of tokens for crowdfunding could essentially be unregulated.
Token supporters say they aren't really equity but more of a digital IOU, which entitles the holder to redeem their tokens in return for access to a platform like Ethereum's.
That access has value because it can be used to generate Bitcoin-style currency through a computer-intensive process known as "mining," and those coins can in turn be exchanged for other more familiar currencies like U.S. dollars. One bitcoin is currently worth about $2,300.
Some skeptics say token-based fundraising has the potential to turn into a huge boondoggle if it is unregulated, with unwary investors being fleeced of their savings with little to show for it.
Ravikant and Srinivasan, however, argue that tokens will allow companies to raise money much more quickly for new ventures than existing systems do, and will also allow for startups to build valuable services without having to rely on advertising as their only revenue source.
Large technology companies like Google and Facebook offer "have sometimes come under fire for making billions of dollars while early adopters only receive the free service," their essay says . "After the early kinks are worked out, the token launch model will provide a technically feasible way for tech companies to spread the wealth and align their user base behind their success."
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Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3,000
Posted: at 10:51 pm
Source: CoinDesk
The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising by more than 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone.
Bitcoin in 2017
Source: CoinDesk
Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay."
A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April.
Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it "has more potential than bitcoin itself."
CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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Is the Bitcoin bubble about to burst? Traders warn cryptocurrency could CRASH this week – Express.co.uk
Posted: at 10:51 pm
GETTY - STOCK
Computer whizzes behind the virtual currency are split over how to handle Bitcoin transactions with a new software update set to launch on Friday.
Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo Markets, which launched Bitcoin trading last month, said that its astounding rise reminds him of the technology bubble in 1999, with investors seeking large short-term gains.
Bitcoin could be in an asset bubble that may reach a crescendo within days.
Right now the outcome is unclear, Hiscott said: This uncertainty and short-term speculation could lead to a deflating of the asset bubble.
Bitcoin exists only on computers with no regulatory authority behind it, but has a market capitalisation of more than $38billion (29billion).
Bitcoin could be in an asset bubble that may reach a crescendo within days
Jordan Hiscott
Originally launched in 2009, it was the worlds best-performing currency in 2015 and 2016 and has netted millions for investors who got in early.
Bitcoin surged another 150 per cent this year to top $3,000 in June, but has since fallen back more than 20 per cent to around $2,327. Other virtual currencies, including Ethereum, have also fallen.
GETTY - STOCK
Josh Mahoney, market analyst at trading platform IG, said Bitcoin is a new phenomenon and that makes it very difficult to price: A lot of speculative money has gone into it, which always makes for a volatile market.
He said that Bitcoin has suffered sharp sell-offs before, notably after hackers stole coins from online exchanges, but has always fought back: Every sell-off has been greeted by a new wave of buyers.
The price has been driven by Chinese investors who are using Bitcoin to shift money out of the country.
This means it also remains vulnerable to tighter Chinese regulation. Risk-averse investors would not touch it with a barge pole, Mahoney added.
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Is the Bitcoin bubble about to burst? Traders warn cryptocurrency could CRASH this week - Express.co.uk
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Bitcoin Price may dip Below US$2000 as Cryptocurrency Markets Turn Deep red – The Merkle
Posted: at 10:51 pm
Things have evolved from bad to worse for all cryptocurrency markets over the past 24 hours. For the first time in a while, the Bitcoin price may actually go below US$2,000. Although such a retrace isnt necessarily bad news off the bat, it also shows there will be a lot of proverbial blood in the water. All currencies are literally bleeding value right now, although some are trying to buck the trend.
It has to be said, the cryptocurrency markets have been extremely bearish over the past few days. It was only a matter of time until we would see a price decline such as the one present on the charts right now. Experts predicted it would only be a matter of time until we would see a big Bitcoin price retrace. Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening right now, with no real end in sight.
To put this into perspective, Bitcoin alone lost over 12.3% in the past 24 hours. That is quite a powerful downturn for the worlds leading cryptocurrency, as most of its losses were limited to a few percent here and here. Going into negative double digits is something we rarely see from Bitcoin these days, unless major news breaks. So far, that has not happened.
However, the August 1st deadline keeps coming closer, and a lot of people are very concerned about what the future may hold for Bitcoin. If a chain split were to occur, things quickly go from bad to worse for Bitcoin. Even if one of the chains only survives for a day or less, it would set a very dangerous precedent for the worlds leading cryptocurrency.
Then again, one would expect most Bitcoin holders to store their balance somewhere safe and look at things from a distance. There is no reason to sell Bitcoin right now, as no one will actually lose coins if they store them in a wallet only they can control before July 31st. In the worst case, people will only have their coins on one chain, just like they do now. The best case scenario would see people holding the same balance across multiple blockchains, which will allow people to make free money by not selling Bitcoin right now.
Other currencies are dragged to the bottom alongside Bitcoin as well. Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, ETC, and all other top currencies see their value drop at an alarming rate. Right now, there is no cryptocurrency in the top 50 which notes any gains. Instead, quite a few coins and tokens are down by 20% or more. Quite a substantial amount, as it will take weeks, if not months, to recoup some of these losses. Rest assured there are some smaller coins noting losses of over 25% as well.
With the total cryptocurrency market cap dipping below US$75bn, things are looking anything but great right now. It is not all doom and gloom, though, as we have seen such retraces in the past. Bitcoin and consorts come out stronger every single time such an event happens. Sadly, no one can predict when the reversal might take place. Cryptocurrency is still a small and fickle market It doesnt take much money to shake things up in a positive or negative manner.
If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.
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Bitcoin Price may dip Below US$2000 as Cryptocurrency Markets Turn Deep red - The Merkle
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Digital currencies soar in value, but subject to wild price swings – The Straits Times
Posted: at 10:51 pm
Digital currencies like the bitcoin were once the preserve of programmers, geeks and digitally-savvy traders but they have made it to the mainstream, grabbing headlines for their soaring prices, flash crashes and more.
The numbers around these currencies can be baffling to most of us. Take a Bloomberg report last week about a cryptocurrency trader - who is known only by a string of numbers - whose US$55 million (S$75 million) on paper in the digi-currency ethereum became US$283 million in just over a month, a 413 per cent profit.
Wild swings like this are - and will be - the norm for cryptocurrencies, say experts, so anyone investing in them is in for a rocky ride.
But that in turn will attract risk-takers, so it is best to get a handle on just what this quirky corner of the finance world is all about.
"Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that uses cryptography to allow for the peer-to-peer exchange of value, without a third party such as a bank or a remittance company," notes Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Professor David Lee, whose areas of interest include digital currency and blockchain technology.
ST ILLUSTRATION: JASTER NGUI
He notes that Satoshi Nakamoto - either an actual programmer or a group of them using the name - invented the bitcoin so people can transfer value or currency among peers who do not necessarily trust one another, using a public ledger that is transparent to everyone.
The Financial Times explains: "When people invest in the bitcoin, the money is going into the underlying technology - known as blockchain - not the payment instrument itself."
It refers to the blockchain as "essentially a giant record book of all bitcoin transactions; it is to the bitcoin what the Internet is to e-mail".
And it is described as a decentralised network where every bitcoin transfer is verified, processed and written down, and comes with potential "to make economic interactions cheaper, faster and more secure".
INVESTING IN UNDERLYING TECH
When people invest in the bitcoin, the money is going into the underlying technology - known as blockchain - not the payment instrument itself.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES, saying the blockchain is "essentially a giant record book of all bitcoin transactions".
ASTRONOMICAL RETURNS
To put things into perspective, an investor who had invested just US$1,000 back in 2010 could have cashed out nearly US$51 million today.
MR SACHIN MITTAL, head of telecom, media and technology research at DBS Group Research, on the bitcoin, the most famous, valuable and oldest cryptocurrency.
Mr Sachin Mittal, head of telecom, media and technology research at DBS Group Research, says the bitcoin is the most famous, valuable and oldest cryptocurrency, although there are around 800 others.
Mr Yusho Liu, co-founder of CoinHako, which helps people buy and sell cryptocurrencies, notes that almost 48 per cent of the global cryptocurrency value is held in bitcoin while ethereum holds about 40 per cent of the market share.
Cryptocurrencies have come under the spotlight, with huge gains made by the bitcoin and ethereum, notes Mr Mittal.
The value of the bitcoin shot up about 155 per cent within the first six months of this year. A bitcoin was worth US$2,539 on July 10 this year, compared with five US cents in July 2010. "To put things into perspective, an investor who had invested just US$1,000 back in 2010 could have cashed out nearly US$51 million today," notes Mr Mittal.
Ethereum has risen 2,775 per cent, from US$8.39 to US$241 since the start of this year.
Many argue that the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and may be a perfect vehicle for forming a bubble, Prof Lee adds.
"To put it into perspective, with a US$40 billion market capitalisation for the bitcoin and US$100 billion for total cryptocurrency, this investible class is minute, compared with US$66.8 trillion for listed equity and US$48.2 trillion for gold."
However, he stresses: "Cryptocurrency is a very complex investment instrument. I would not advise anyone who has no knowledge of cryptocurrency to get involved at all.
"To start off, there are a lot of videos, books and papers written about the subject. One may also join Access - the Singapore Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association - to attend its talks and programmes to learn about cryptocurrency and the blockchain industry."
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Digital currencies soar in value, but subject to wild price swings - The Straits Times
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Central Bank of Albania Lists Five Most Important Bitcoin Risks in … – Bitcoin News (press release)
Posted: at 10:50 pm
The central bank of Albania issued a public announcement on Thursday, warning citizens of the risks related to the use of digital currencies such as bitcoin. It includes five of what the bank considers the most important risks associated with digital currencies for Albania.
Also read:Indias Supreme Court Seeks Answers as Bitcoin Legalization Focus Turns to Taxation
The Bank of Albania, which is the Balkan countrys central bank, issued a public notice warning Albanians of the risks related to the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The bank wrote:
The Bank of Albania has not licensed any financial entity whose activities include the use of virtual currenciestherefore these activities are not subject to the regulatory and supervisory framework by the Bank of Albania.
Citing how the absence of rules can result in significant risks, uncertainties, and a lack of protection against losses, the bank stated that anyone engaged in this kind of activity does so at their own risk.
This is the first time the Bank of Albania has issued a warning about bitcoin, which still has a very small market in the country with only a handful of Localbitcoin traders. This statement follows an earlier warning by the Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority about the risks of using any unlicensed online trading platforms, Tirana Times detailed. Bitcoin was not mentioned in that previous warning.
To raise public awareness of the risks of digital currencies, the Albanian central bank has listed five of what it considers the most important risks for Albania in its announcement:
First, the bank noted that the values of digital currencies arequite unstable, citing that they can be manipulated which could lead to significant losses for investors. In addition, the lack of liquidity could impede the conversion between them and fiat.
Second, digital currency exchanges are unregulated and unregistered, which could also lead to losses.
Third, some of these exchange platforms are quite vulnerable to cyber attacks, the bank explained. Investments could be at risk since these attacks can happen at any time and, in many cases, there may be no recovery option.
Fourth, while investments in these currencies are anonymous, they can be used by individuals to enable illegal activities such as money laundering, financing of terrorism or smuggling of illicit goods, the bank detailed.
Fifth, the bank described that at the request of the virtual currency scheme, people need to digitize their identification, such as by scanning their passport, retina or fingerprint. The identification tools they use arenot subject to the laws and regulations for the protection of personal data or safety standards. Consequently, there is no guarantee that these credentials will be administered safely to avoid their theft or misuse.
The bank then concluded (loosely translated):
For all the above, we appeal to the Albanian public to be prudent and responsible in managing their savings.
What do you think of the Albanian centralbanks warning? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Central Banking
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Bitcoin Miners Miss the First BIP 148 Deadline – Bitcoin Magazine
Posted: at 10:50 pm
Bitcoin Magazine | Bitcoin Miners Miss the First BIP 148 Deadline Bitcoin Magazine As Bitcoin's scaling dispute appears to be heading for a climax, the next couple of weeks could prove pivotal. One scaling solution in particular, Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148 (BIP 148), is scheduled to trigger activation of Segregated Witness ... |
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Bitcoin Miners Miss the First BIP 148 Deadline - Bitcoin Magazine
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