Iran Moving Ahead on Venezuelan Missile Bases that Bring Miami Well Within Range
unsettling similarities to 1962 Cuba…
except this time facing advanced air defenses
CBN’s quest for a cashless economy
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently pegged a limit of daily cash withdrawal and lodgment with commercial banks by any individual and corporate customer to N150,000 and N1 million respectively, effective from June 1. This latest development, according to the apex financial regulatory authority is coming on the heels of increasing dominance of cash in the economy with its implication for cost of cash management to the banking industry, security, money laundering, among others. While some stakeholders said that the directive was in the right direction, others argued that the country has not developed enough for such policy. In this report, Group Business Editor, ROTIMI DUROJAIYE, samples the opinions of a cross-section of Nigerian and concludes that the CBN should be more creative in its drive towards cashless economy to avoid strangling the economy itself.
The banking regulatory authority, which disclosed the latest directive on April 28 in a circular entitled “Industry Policy on Retail Cash Collection and Lodgement,” signed by its Director of Currency Operations Department, Muhammad Nda, warned that individuals and corporate organisations that flout the limits would be charged penalty fees of N100 per thousand and N200 per thousand respectively.
CBN, which pointed out that the policy was adopted to reduce high usage of cash and moderate the cost of cash management as well as encourage the use of electronic payment channels, stated that it took the decision in collaboration with the bankers’ committee.
It threatened to suspend any bank, payments scheme, processor, switching company or service provider that contravenes the policy for a Read more…
Mysterious Ancient Rock Carvings Found Near Nile
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| Here a rock etched with patterns forming a crescent moon and orb, an example of another piece of rock art discovered at Wadi Abu Dom in northern Sudan. CREDIT: Courtesy of Tim Karberg/Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. |
An archaeological team in the Bayuda Desert in northern Sudan has discovered dozens of new rock art drawings, some of which were etched more than 5,000 years ago and reveal scenes that scientists can’t explain.
The team discovered 15 new rock art sites in an arid valley known as Wadi Abu Dom, some 18 miles (29 kilometers) from the Nile River. It’s an arid valley that flows with water only during rainy periods. Many of the drawings were carved into the rock faces — no paint was used — of small stream beds known as “khors” that flow into the valley.
Some of the sites revealed just a single drawing while others have up to 30, said lead researcher Tim Karberg, of the Westfälische Wilhelms- Read more…
6 Biggest Tech Security Fails in the Last Year
This is the age of being perpetually connected. If you have a Twitter, Facebook or any other sort of account, your information is out there. The best thing to do is just keep the information you don’t want people to know offline. It’s just safer that way.
Now, let’s take a look at the times that the major companies have failed, big time. There are several of them, here they are.
1) Texas Workforce Commission – Identities Released: Social Security Numbers, Addresses, etc.
My home state (note: everyone on iSmashPhone is from a different part of the world). It was recently found that Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and other personal info, according to website ComputerWorld. Two security chiefs were fired over it, and while the Attorney General’s office says that there is no evidence that the exposed data has been misused, they did say that we should be careful about being targets of a new phone scam. Here is that press release. And everyone is worried about Apple? This was personal info for people who truly had no choice in the Read more…
Google CEO: Phone tracking to enrich lives
Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt came out to defend tracking technology in smartphones arguing the technology will ultimately enrich and benefit the lives of consumers.
Recent debates regarding privacy have surfaced following the discovery of tracking files native to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android mobile operating system.
“Today, you’re phone knows who you are, where you are, where you’re going, to some degree, because it can see your path. And with that and with your permission, it’s possible for software and software developers to predict where you’re going to go, to suggest people you should meet, to suggest activities and so forth,” he said. “So ultimately what happens is the mobile phone does what it does best, which is remember everything and make suggestions.”
Allowing your phone to know you, follow you and help you will allow users to enjoy their social experience more, he contended. The experience of will become increasingly Read more…
US government will soon seize your retirement account
NaturalNews) – When it comes to your retirement account, you probably keep an eye on Wall Street and the financial markets because when they lose value, your account loses value. Little did you know you are going to have to keep an eye on Uncle Sam as well, because he’s eyeing your retirement too, and he could soon take what he will claim is his fair share of it.
If you think that sounds absurd, think again. In fact, it’s a concept that is already being used by some governments, the most recent of which is Ireland.
In a bid to finance a “jobs” program, the Irish government, which is heavily in debt, is set to impose a new levy – read “tax” – on private retirement accounts. The accounts of government workers will be exempt.
“It’s truly disgusting logic to force private workers to pay for years of political incompetence while absolving government employees,” writes Simon Read more…
What You Need to Know About the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is in the news again for scandals of a more personal and dubious type—the arrest of fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn over allegations of sexual assault. This comes at a time when the IMF can least afford to be embroiled in political scandals—the global recovery is tenable at best, and the combination of rising prices, declining credit, and falling faith in fiat currencies is becoming a cocktail for disaster. But this does give us a great opportunity to help people understand what the IMF does, who pays for it, and how it works.
What the Heck is it?
Most people in the world couldn’t describe what the IMF does; yet if your country is one of the 187 member countries, you have paid for it. ABC World News says this:
And what do they do with all that fiat currency? To answer that, we need a little history lesson.
The IMF was founded after World War II during the beginning of the Bretton Woods system. In the Bretton Woods system, exchange rates were Read more…
Fukushima Reactor 1 melted down, 2 and 3 may have too
Yesterday, TEPCO, the company responsible for running the Fukushima nuclear reactors, released a provisional analysis of the events that occurred in Unit 1, one of the reactors that was active when the tsunami struck. In five stark pages, the report lays out the impact of the tsunami on the facility: water levels that plunged below the bottom of the fuel, a complete meltdown of the nuclear fuel, and extensive damage to the reactor vessel.
The new analysis was enabled by the recent installation of air purifiers that let personnel reenter the reactor control room for the first time. Once inside, they were able to recalibrate some of the instruments that have been monitoring the reactor core; Read more…
Netanyahu: Israel willing to ‘cede parts of our homeland’ for true peace
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would be prepared to compromise and “cede parts of our homeland” for true peace with the Palestinians, but added that he did not believe the latter was ready to be a true partner for peace.
A Palestinian government that comprises representatives of Hamas, a movement that refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, is not a government with which it would be possible to make peace, said Netanyahu.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Knesset, on May 16, 2011. |
| Photo by: Emil Salman |
Addressing the Knesset a day after an unprecedented wave of demonstrations marking Nakba Day, on which Palestinians annually protest the creation of the state of Israel, Netanyahu said Israel must stop blaming itself for the conflict and start looking at the “reality” of the situation with “open eyes”.
The root of conflict was not the absence of a Palestinian state, said Netanyahu, but Palestinian opposition to the creation of the State of Israel.
“This is not a conflict about 1967 but about 1948, when the state of Israel was established,” said Netanyahu. “The Palestinians call this a day of catastrophe, but their catastrophe is that their leadership has not succeeded in reaching a compromise. Still today, they don’t have a leadership Read more…
Pakistan’s Gilani visits ally Beijing amid US rift
BEIJING (AP) — Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani begins a visit to Beijing on Tuesday with old ally China looking more attractive after the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden further strained Islamabad’s ties with Washington.
The sentiment is mutual, with China now in the process of shoring up its relations with Islamabad, Afghanistan and several other Central Asia states in step with an expected diminished U.S. presence as it winds down military operations in Afghanistan.
For Pakistan, Beijing represents an uncritical friend ready to provide aid, investment and military assistance. To the leaders in Beijing, ties with Pakistan and other countries in its neighborhood offer a bigger diplomatic footprint, better access to resources and a larger stable of allies to challenge U.S. supremacy.
Although Gilani’s four-day visit starting Tuesday was planned well in advance, it comes at a critical time for his country’s relations with the U.S., which have been thrown into crisis over the American raid that killed bin Laden in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad on May 2. Pakistan has called it a violation of its sovereignty and threatened to retaliate if there are any similar operations in future.
While American politicians served up withering criticisms over Pakistan’s failure to find bin Laden’s hide-out – or the possibility that officials were protecting him – China offered welcome Read more…
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