I would far rather be free than safe. In a time of true national crisis (this War on Terrorism hardly qualifies), I'd place infinitely more trust in a well-armed populace as guaranteed by the Second Amendment than my supposedly benevolent government. One of the reasons Hitler never invaded Switzerland was that, then as now, the government relies primarily on the militia model for national defense, issuing all able-bodied men a fully automatic assault weapon and 72 rounds of ammunition (which must be kept sealed) and mandating that they demonstrate proficiency with their weapon at least yearly. If Hitler, with his powerful standing army, didn't think it was worth the risk to invade this tiny country that bordered Germany, why should an immense, well-armed nation like ours, with the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, fear a bunch of tribal insurgents who have no capability -- and little if any desire -- to invade the United States in any meaningful sense of the word?

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

Think about it........now there are video cameras all over our highways. They can monitor anything.......phones, computer, anything.
Look at "Google Earth"........look how far you can zoom in. You can see cars very clearly. Now.......if we as a people can see that from a satelite, you KNOW that the government can zoom it in to where they can see you, your license plate, and so on. "Big brother" really IS watching us.

Here is a story that was told to me by a friend. A friend of his had taken out a VERY large amount of money from his bank. He put it in his trunk in a bag. He's driving down the highway, when he is pulled over by cops, with guns drawn. They take him out of his car, and he asks WHY he's been pulled over. They ask him "Why do you have 25 thousand dollars in your car?" He looks puzzled, and ask them "How in the heck do you know how much money i have in my car?" They tell him "The strip embeded in the bills tell them how much is there." He of course was cleared when they contacted his bank.
There is SO much they know about us that we don't realize. What food do you buy? If you use a store card for discounts, or a credit card, they know just what you buy with the UPC codes.
This has been going on for years. People are just realizing it now. This is not anything new.

"Cheesey" wrote:

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

The strip may not tell the police how much money is in your car, but they are apparently able to be encoded, like a package with UPS, at every stop (bank), giving authorities a picture of how the bills have been used over time.

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

"Cheesey" wrote:

I see what you're saying. I'm just not sure if individual bills are encoded with the depositor and withdrawer's personally identifiable information. Obviously the technology is there; I don't know if the infrastructure is there. It would seem prohibitively expensive to install this kind of equipment in every financial institution in the nation, but who knows?

Is there anyone here who has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the banking system and can shed light on this issue?

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

I see what you're saying. I'm just not sure if individual bills are encoded with the depositor and withdrawer's personally identifiable information. Obviously the technology is there; I don't know if the infrastructure is there. It would seem prohibitively expensive to install this kind of equipment in every financial institution in the nation, but who knows?

Is there anyone here who has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the banking system and can shed light on this issue?

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:

I would far rather be free than safe. In a time of true national crisis (this War on Terrorism hardly qualifies), I'd place infinitely more trust in a well-armed populace as guaranteed by the Second Amendment than my supposedly benevolent government. One of the reasons Hitler never invaded Switzerland was that, then as now, the government relies primarily on the militia model for national defense, issuing all able-bodied men a fully automatic assault weapon and 72 rounds of ammunition (which must be kept sealed) and mandating that they demonstrate proficiency with their weapon at least yearly. If Hitler, with his powerful standing army, didn't think it was worth the risk to invade this tiny country that bordered Germany, why should an immense, well-armed nation like ours, with the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, fear a bunch of tribal insurgents who have no capability -- and little if any desire -- to invade the United States in any meaningful sense of the word?

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote: