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The news regarding self driving cars is turning dreadful. Yes that is right. The technology is limited today, but in the future, it will most likely cause suffering, fear and/or unhappiness. 

So, how could that be? Aren't we taught that technology represents progress? Well, in the case of self driving cars we may be looking at technology that could result in a massive regression. No, I am not talking about the bad movie, either. Before discussing the technology of Baidu (BIDU), Google (GOOGL), and Tesla (TSLA) at the end of this article, two developments must be considered.

This article was first published by me on Talkmarkets:  http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/transportation/dreadful-news-regarding-self-driving-cars?post=95118&uid=4798

Perhaps the two most troubling developments are being pressed by Google, Inc, and as we will see later, by Baidu:

1.Google has petitioned the NHTSA for the right to develop driverless cars that cannot be overridden by human judgement. The N…

This article was first published by me on Talkmarkets: http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/currenciesforex/riksbank-cash-must-be-a-protected-legal-right-for-good-reason?post=94939&uid=4798

Sweden's Riksbank says that cash must be a protected legal right. The central bank of Sweden fears that people will be locked out of the banking system, something I have warned could happen. It is nice to hear it from a central bank, though. A discussion of the shadow economy follows at the end of this article. I am sure that the contribution to GDP by the shadow economy, both legal and illegal, is massive. I am sure that this fact is not lost on central bankers.

Now I can point to the Riksbank, as my friends and relatives scoff, and say, see, I told you so. I have been telling them that the existence of cash is important and the talk of banishing it is dangerous and cannot be ignored!

And I have been speaking to the subject of privacy, as all transactions will be tracked in a cashless soci…

This article was first published by me on Talkmarkets: http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/currenciesforex/pros-and-cons-of-blockchain-digitalization-of-dollars?post=94289&uid=4798

There are pros and cons of blockchain digitalization of dollars. We already learned from Bloomberg and from Michael Snyder about a secret meeting of bankers with the startup, Chain.com. The digitalization of money for purposes of transfers is the goal of the technology and of the meeting which was not so secret that no one could find out about it.

So, let me get right to the point. Currency is fungible. That means a dollar is a dollar, whether it is in one place or another, whether it is digitalized or a physical dollar. Blockchain is a method of transferring dollars.

Dollars can be identified by an asset ID as the Chain's website shows us. In fact, this is what can happen to currency with asset ID affixed to it:

Once issued, units of an Asset ID can be programmatically transacted with smart contra…

Here’s Why Tesla Is A Giant Ponzi Scheme $TSLA Also $VRX $AAPL $GOOG



See the reliability chart showing Tesla's lack of reliability, on this Talkmarkets post by fellow contributor Michael Lewitt. And then he makes an astounding statement about Tesla, that investors should seriously consider:



In order to plug the hole in its finances, the company just sold $1.4
billion in stock (and Musk sold another $600 million to pay taxes on
egregious stock option grants).At the rate the company is running
through cash, this new monty will last only for little more than a
year.The company should have taken the opportunity to sell $5 billion of
stock.Its cult members – excuse me, I mean its investors – would have
happily paid more than $200 per share for that many shares.It is going
to be much more difficult to raise capital when the company really needs
it – after the bottom falls out.

And don't forget to read page 2, 3 and 4!

Donald Trump threatened to extort the PGA of America. He was speaking to the PGA moving the World Golf Championship at Doral (Trump's golf course), to Mexico, because of sponsorship issues. Whether you believe it was over sponsorship issues or not, Trump's response was a generalized threat to carry out extortion once he becomes president. He, in effect, threatened to commit a crime against the PGA of America!

Trump said there would be no more of "that happening", while discussing the move to Mexico City by the PGA and World Golf Championships organization, once he becomes president. He slandered Mexico once again, saying the PGA would need kidnapping insurance. I don't have a problem with that dumb free speech effort. But here is the general definition of extortion:

The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Of course, the legal definition of extortion is more rigorous, from Findlaw:

Extortion is the crime of obtaining money …

This article was first published by me on Talkmarkets:  http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/bonds/helicopter-money-is-being-misrepresented-by-bill-gross-and-others?post=93526&uid=4798

I am happy that Bill Gross and others are speaking to the issue of helicopter money. It is an important issue if you believe the citizens need a bailout, but more importantly, if you fear negative interest rates for bonds as is happening in Europe. We aren't speaking about negative interest on reserves. That is something different. Negative interest rates on bonds are a function of scarcity of supply and massive demand.

However, helicopter money is being misrepresented by Bill Gross and others as being a form of Quantitative Easing (QE). It is not. That view could very well just be from reading the views of others, creating a snowball effect. And Gross is a bond manager, after all. He thinks bonds. 

Real helicopter money is a payment to people sans the use of treasury bonds. It could be a paymen…