Category Archives: Government

Stuff you may or may not know about your local, state, and federal government

Subsidizing The Disadvantaged

This came to my attention from the good folks at Adafruit.com.

The Chinese company “Orange Pi” in Shenzhen, China is manufacturing and selling a powerful tiny computer selling for $35 US with some versions less than $9 US. It does 4K high-definition video, has 2 GBytes of RAM, WiFi, Ethernet, USB, and has a quad core processor running at 1.8 GHz.

Orange Pi is currently selling 40,000 units per month and predict sales to increase to 100,000 units per month by year end.  The company plans to sell 150 million units in the next 3 years. That dear reader is $5,250,000,000.00 (over $5 BILLION DOLLARS) in sales.

The interesting part is that the head of “Orange Pi”, Steven Zhao, in an interview with “Minimachines.net” states that the selling price of their computer only covers the cost of materials. In other words they are SELLING IT AT A LOSS and they are NOT recouping the cost to develop the computer (engineering), pay for the premises (offices or factory), pay for any capital equipment to design and manufacture, or pay for employees. When asked how they can have a business that loses money on everything they make, Mr. Zhao openly said “WE ARE SUBSIDIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT“.  That’s one way to quickly dominate a market and eliminate the competition.

Okay but that’s not all folks.  The fair trade deal gets better, at least for the Chinese.

Notice that I mentioned it costs $4 US to send the computer, over 7000 miles, in a box to the good old USA. It is delivered by what’s called an ePacket by the United States Postal Service. To ship the same package from the US to China would cost over $20!  How can they ship it so cheaply?

The United States Taxpayer SUBSIDIZES the shipping of goods from CHINA to the US!!! The Chinese appreciate the generosity of YOU the US Taxpayer!

Now you might ask, why am I subsidizing the Chinese manufacturers who are taking American jobs? The answer is that China, even though it is the SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD, is an “EMERGING COUNTRY” in the eyes of the United Nations run UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION or UPU. China is lumped in with powerhouse countries such as Gabon, Jamaica, and Kazakhstan.  As a member in good standing with the UN, you the taxpayer get to do what the UN tells you is the RIGHT thing to do.

Raise your empty glasses (as you may not have a job to fill it) to the United States and China for creating another multi-billion dollar company, in China!  Don’t you feel all nice and warm inside knowing that you are helping out all those disadvantaged workers in China?

A Sign Of The Times, Part Deux

In the previous entry I mentioned that the Wisconsin company 32M is microchipping its employees. To be clear, the company is primarily in the vending machine business. The RFID microchips are manufactured by another company and 32M is reselling the technology.

Who makes the RFID implants? With a little looking about it turns out that a company named “Biohax” makes the implants.
I also mentioned in my previous post that an RFID implant would be useful in a “Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Socialist Utopia“.

Take one guess where “Biohax” is located.

Sweden! The country “Feel the Bern” considers the ideal model of socialism.

The United States MAY SOON end up as some sort of a strange socialist state.  Well more than HALF OF ALL voters in the 18-24 year old age group look favorably on socialism (58% in a poll earlier this year).

But the how and when we become socialists state is a discussion for another day.

Come on, avoid the rush, get your implant!

A Sign Of The Times?

Revelation 13:16-18, New American Standard Version of the Holy Bible.  “16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Emphasis in the above passage is mine.

The Wisconsin company “Three Square Market” or “32M” is offering to put an RFID chip into their employees’ hands. I just saw an interview with the CEO of 32M and he said it allows the employees to open doors and buy goods in the break room vending machines. The CEO claims his employees are lining up to get the chips implanted into their hands. He also said that outside workers are asking for the chips, I’m assuming to get access into the facility and to buy food in the break room. The CEO also said that a foreign country has inquired about getting the chip system for their citizens.

Now the interesting part. The CEO of 32M stated in the interview that the US Military has a “widespread” program to implant the RFID chips into members of the military. I had not heard of this program. If it’s true, this is the beginning of a terrifying future.

A little information for you folks. RFID is embedded into many items that you most likely already own. Your passport has an RFID chip in it. Your credit cards may have an RFID chip in them. Your ATM card may have and RFID chip in it. Your driver’s licence may have a chip. Your medical insurance card may have one. If you are in the military, your Common Access Card (CAC card) has one in it. If you are a runner, your shoe tag for a race has an RFID chip in it. Many company ID cards use RFID. Your keyless car key uses RFID technology.

The CEO of 32M said that the RFID chip is a great convenience for the employees. The CEO when asked, said that the RFID implant cannot be used to track a person. This is patently FALSE! The “gummint” (your government) can tell which airport you have passed through without you ever taking your passport out of your pocket. Sensors can be embedded into any doorway and you could be tracked down to a specific room in a building. If you have an implant, you cannot just leave it behind if you don’t want to be tracked. As I mentioned above, if you enter a running race, the RFID shoe tag is used to track you and log your split times around the course. You can judge for yourself, but I’m calling bovine feces that you cannot be tracked with the implant.  Why worry?  What harm could come of this?

Though not just by using RFID, but the police use your ATM and credit card transactions to track your whereabouts if they are investigating a crime.  I believe the law enforcement currently must obtain a warrant to get access to your financial records.  But just remember if you’re properly placed in government, you don’t need to obtain a warrant to get access to “protected” information.  Apparently Obama staffer Susan Rice unmasked the identity of many United States citizens’ identities just by saying she had a right to know as part of her job.  No warrant was required even though the identities were protected “under the law”.  Of course a “history” major qualifies one to their right to know protected information that normally would require a warrant.

There is another aspect that has not been discussed in any of the interviews I’ve read or watched. The RFID “key” can be stolen. Today, credit cards can be read with the right devices if you walk by an RFID reader in the possession of a “bad hombre“. The bad guy can pick your pocket without ever coming into contact with you. He could be several feet away and steal your credit card number.

Imagine if your bank account and medical records, were tied to your implant and someone stole the “key” from the implant.  But this may not be an issue in a “Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Socialist Utopia“.  This is a little off topic, but in a wealth equal socialist system there will be no need for bank accounts as the government will control all financial aspects of your life, from income, to “savings”, to education, to pensions, to medical coverage.  No need for money as everyone is equal and all of your life is managed by big government.

Perhaps it’s my own paranoia, but the less the government or anyone knows and controls in my life, the better, in my book.  Remember we have a “Stature of Liberty” NOT a “Statue of Equality”.  But I digress…

Are you ready to take the mark, in this new “progressive” world order?