Is a Ban on Cash and Carry Coming to America?

If you are like me, you probably get a fair amount of junk emails in your inbox everyday too.

As a financial consultant, I end up on lots of email lists and read a whole bunch of "expert" opinions on what's happening in the financial markets.  Some are from BEARS who say the sky is always falling.  And some are from BULLS who say the sky will never fall.

Today, this one caught my eye because it's talking about a BAN ON CASH coming to America.

Europe has banned the use of €500 bills. 

The reason? 

They claim these bills are used in money laundering and for drugs. And if you believe that is the concern, you probably believe the earth is flat. 

The fact of the matter is that Europe is now the center for misguided Central Planning for monetary policy. ECB President Mario Draghi has cut interest rates not once, not twice, not even thrice, but FOUR times into NIRP. 

The end result has been two items: 

1)   A barely noticeable blip in EU inflation and GDP growth (the former has already rolled over while the latter began to move up even before NIRP) 

2)   Savers and investors to begin to hoard cash rather than go out and spend it or even better (according to Draghi’s thinking) take out loans and spend them too. 

NIRP is highly DE-flationary. It is a current tax on capital as well as a future tax on interest income payments. NIRP, in a vulgar fashion, is telling you that you are “screwed” no matter what you do. 

Even a basic understanding of human nature suggests that the natural reaction to this is to panic and begin hoard cashing. If you KNOW that the bank is going to charge you for having a deposit, why not take the money out of the bank and put it in a safe where it won’t be charged? 

This, not drug money and certainly not money laundering, is why the EU decided to ban €500 bills: to stop people from taking their money out of the banks. 

After all, if you’re moving €20,000 or more into cash, you don’t want small denominated bills. It’s much too large a pile to comfortably move around. 

This is just one weapon in the growing War on Cash. 

If you think this sounds like some kind of conspiracy theory, consider that France has banned any transaction over €1,000 Euros from using physical cash. Spain has already banned transactions over €2,500. 

The next step, if this fails, will be to implement a carry tax on actual physical cash. 

The idea here is that since it costs relatively little to store physical cash (the cost of buying a safe), Governments should be permitted to “tax” physical cash to force cash holders to spend it (put it back into the banking system) or invest it. 

The way this would work is that the cash would have some kind of magnetic strip that would record the date that it was withdrawn. Whenever the bill was finally deposited in a bank again, the receiving bank would use this data to deduct a certain percentage of the bill’s value as a “tax” for holding it. 

For instance, if the rate was 5% per month and you took out a €100 bill for two months and then deposited it, the receiving bank would only register the bill as being worth €90.25 (€100* 0.95=€95 or the first month, and then €95 *0.95= €90.25 for the second month). 

It sounds like absolute insanity, but I can assure you that Central Banks take these sorts of proposals very seriously. 

This includes the Fed… which has already begun discussing NIRP and Helicopter Money in policy meetings. 

Of course the Bible says that one day, before Christ's return, the world will have a cashless system. We believe all the articles we have posted in just the past year regarding cashless systems, reflect the times we are in.

It would seem that all it's going to take to PUSH THE WORLD into the final financial system of the VERY Last Days is going to be a major catastrophe.  Another meltdown, like the one that happened in 2008, would almost certainly force the Central Bankers of the world to all come out with NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES.

When this happens, and the banks start charging you $500 yr to keep your $100,000 in the bank....people will take their money from the bank in the form of cash and buy a $500 gun safe and bolt it to the floor in their basement.  When the banks see people coming in hordes to take their money, they will have no choice but to shut their doors and/or limit cash transactions.  When this fails to stop the outflow, banks will be forced to make cash illegal.  From then on only a digital system will be in place....a system that requires THE MARK OF THE BEAST to buy or sell anything.

Suicide Rates Soar in USA

The most wealthy nation the world has EVER seen and yet we are killing ourselves in increasing numbers.

This is what happens when nations turn from God....hopelessness, lack of purpose and misery when the "American dream" fails to fulfill.

Suicide rates have soared 24 percent in the U.S. since 1999, with the biggest increases among women, federal researchers reported Friday.

Increases of just a percent or so each year added up quickly between 1999 and 2014, with startling increases among white women and Native American women, the team at the National Center for Health Statistics said.

Overall, there were 13 suicides per 100,000 people in 2014 — up from 10.5 per 100,000 in 1999. That marks the highest rate in any year since the mid 1980s, national statistics show.

"The age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States was 24 percent higher in 2014 than in 1999, and increases were observed for both females and males in all age groups under 75," Sally Curtin, Margaret Warner and Dr. Holly Hedegaard of the NCHS wrote.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among children and young adults aged 10 to 24. In 2012, more than 5,000 teens and young adults died by suicide, the CDC says.

And even though the total numbers are low, suicides are up among young girls.

"Although much lower than for other ages, the suicide rate in 2014 for non-Hispanic white females aged 10-14 years more than tripled from 1999," the NCHS team wrote.

Here;  http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/suicide-rates-have-soared-u-s-n560486

Tragic...that last sentence is so sad!  10-14 yr old white girls killing themselves has TRIPLED since 1999!

How much does social media have to play in that?  I'm going to guess it's about 100% of the reason.

"Look at me in this latest selfie, all my Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine and Instagram friends."

1/2 hour later when only a few of her "friends' responded to her post...she is depressed and miserable.

Also, we all know that women (girls) are known to be particularly vicious in their online bullying....we we are quite certain this also has something big to do with increasing suicide rates of teen girls.

When a nation forgets God, all their priorities get messed up.  We no longer are thankful to God for the food, shelter and clothing He provided ALL OF US...and instead end up suicidal, depressed and medicated because not enough people liked the photo we took of ourselves.

Venezuelan Soldiers Steal Goats to Feed Themselves

What happens when a country runs out of money...so much so that they don't even have the money to print more money?  The military ends up stealing people's goats to feed themselves.

The situation in Venezuela has become so bad that even soldiers are struggling to support themselves.

Over the weekend, six members of the Venezuelan military were detained by local authorities for stealing goats, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported Sunday. It said the soldiers confessed to stealing the goats and said they did it to feed themselves, since they had no food left in their barracks.

"It's not a good sign when your military doesn't have enough food, and when the military has been relegated to guarding and protecting food lines," said Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council. "This is endemic of the problems going on across the country."

Venezuela has been hard hit by food shortages, a dizzying inflation rate of about 181 percent and a collapse in the price of oil — its most critical export.

On the political front, opponents of President Nicolas Maduro won control of the legislature last December from the ruling Socialists for the first time in 16 years. But the newly elected majority, as well as the sitting president, have struggled mightily to contend with the country's economic struggles, trying everything from raising the minimum wage by 30 percent to cutting the work week to four days in order to save electricity. Late last month, Maduro ordered public employees — the bulk of the nation's workforce — to work only two days a week because of drought and an electricity shortage.

"I think we could be at a breaking point," Marczak said. "I think it's important to pay attention to what's going on in Venezuela."

Here;  http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/how-bad-is-it-in-venezuela-soldiers-are-stealing-goats.html

The Bible says the nations will be in distress as The Lord's return nears.  Let's continue to watch what happens in the nations all over the world as our global-paper-money system continues to be under duress.

Let's further imagine what will happen when the world's largest paper-money printer (USA) starts to come under duress.

Canadians Evacuate City In Front of Huge Fire

Have you guys heard of the massive fire that is burning a Canadian city to the ground?  Fort McMurray, Alberta has 80,000 people and they all had to be evacuated as a massive forest fire came sweeping into the city.

Residents aren't sure they are going to find ANYTHING left when they return.  Some of calling it the largest, most catastrophic fire to EVER burn Canada.

Fort McMurray residents flee in the largest fire evacuation in Alberta's history

Fort McMurray fire officials are prepared for another challenging day Wednesday as firefighters try to save the oilsands city from a massive wildfire that has destroyed homes and businesses, and forced the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta’s history. 

Tens of thousands of people have fled north and south.

Fuelled by soaring temperatures that hit 32 C and tinder-dry forest, the fire broached the city limits and by 6:20 p.m. a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the entire city.

“Today has been a devastating day. We have had explosive fire conditions on the landscape brought on by extremely high temperatures” and low relative humidity, Bernie Schmitte, wildfire manager at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, said Tuesday night during a news conference.

“The fire is still out of control,” Schmitte said. “We have been challenged on many fronts as the fire came through the community. It has entered the community and it has gone through the community.”

Officials have accounted for about 53,000 people, including 17,000 people north of the city, 8,000 in Anzac, 9,000 in Lac La Biche, and 18,000 in Edmonton. Fort McMurray has population of 83,000. “This is not an exact science,” one official said when asked about the discrepancy.

No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported at this time.

Military help has been requested through the province. That assistance will come from the Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. It will take about two days for the military to respond.

There are about 150 firefighters tackling the blaze. Another 70 to 80 firefighters to arrive Wednesday, including fire crews from Edmonton which are being escorted to Fort McMurray by four marked Edmonton Police Service cruisers.

Here;  http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-pushed-back-even-as-temperatures-climb

We don't believe there is anything prophetic about this huge fire, but we just continue to watch for the words EVER, NEVER, HISTORIC, RECORD and CATASTROPHIC as we read the news articles and remember what the Bible calls BIRTH PANGS.

It does seem like we are seeing the word EVER more frequently than we have EVER seen it!

PS...this may be something and it may not...but we may want to pay attention to events happening in Canada since they tossed out Stephen Harper (Pro-Israel) and replaced him with uber-liberal, less-than-pro-Israel, Justin Trudeau.  If their nation does start turning on Israel and supporting the "let's destroy Israel" Arab-Muslims....they may see a lot of their nation start to burn, quake, flail and bankrupt as if under a sudden curse.

World Planning New Digital Cash System

We have been watching the push for the world to go cashless unfold before our eyes over these past 8 years we have been blogging.  I will remind you again that WE are the first generation to have the technology available to make some of the prophesies in Revelation a reality.

Now it seems in just the last few years a serious push has been happening to rid the world of cash.

Today we find an article the reports of some serious banking/financial dudes having a secret meeting in NYC to continue to plan for this cashless system.

Last month, a "secret meeting" that involved more than 100 executives from some of the biggest financial institutions in the United States was held in New York City.

During this "secret meeting", a company known as "Chain" unveiled a technology that transforms U.S. dollars into "pure digital assets".  Reportedly, there were representatives from Nasdaq, Citigroup, Visa, Fidelity, Fiserv and Pfizer in the room, and Chain also claims to be partnering with Capital One, State Street, and First Data.  

This "revolutionary" technology is intended to completely change the way that we use money, and it would represent a major step toward a cashless society.  But if this new digital cash system is going to be so good for society, why was it unveiled during a secret meeting for Wall Street bankers?  Is there something more going on here than we are being told?

None of us probably would have ever heard about this secret meeting if it was not for a report in Bloomberg.  The following comes from their article entitled "Inside the Secret Meeting Where Wall Street Tested Digital Cash"...

On a recent Monday in April, more than 100 executives from some of the world's largest financial institutions gathered for a private meeting at the Times Square office of Nasdaq Inc. They weren't there to just talk about blockchain, the new technology some predict will transform finance, but to build and experiment with the software.

By the end of the day, they had seen something revolutionary: U.S. dollars transformed into pure digital assets, able to be used to execute and settle a trade instantly. That's the promise of a blockchain, where the cumbersome and error-prone system that takes days to move money across town or around the world is replaced with almost instant certainty.

Here; http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=299

The Bible tells us that one day all people who want to access this digital financial system will have to get a mark on their arm or forehead. Those who refuse will one day be hunted down and killed. The Bible also goes on to say that anyone who gets that mark will forever lose any chance that they will enter the Kingdom of God.

Thankfully, I believe the Bible also says that before that all happens....Christ will come for His bride and snatch us away.

So what are you watching for?  Are you watching for the Antichrist to come and make your life a hell on earth...OR are you watching the signs of the times and LISTENING for the Trumpet Call?

Maranatha!

Puerto Rico Will Default Today

Puerto Rico is not the 51st state...but this may be some foreshadowing to watch what happens when states spend way more money, year after year, than they take in.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced that Puerto Rico's government will not make nearly $370 million in bond payments due Monday after a failure to restructure or find a political solution to the U.S. territory's spiraling public debt crisis.

Garcia said Sunday that he had issued an executive order suspending payments on debt owed by the island's Government Development Bank, a default that will likely prompt lawsuits from creditors and could be a prelude to a deadline to a much larger payment due July 1.

The governor said Puerto Rico can't pay the bonds without cutting essential services.

Island officials spent the weekend trying to negotiate a settlement that would have avoided the default but apparently came up short. The development comes as Congress has so far been unable to pass a debt restructuring bill for Puerto Rico.

"Let me be very clear, this was a painful decision," Garcia said in a speech. "We would have preferred to have had a legal framework to restructure our debts in an orderly manner."

Puerto Rico has been suffering through more than a decade of economic decline since Congress phased out tax cuts that had made the island a center for pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing. Garcia's predecessors and the island legislature borrowed heavily to cover over budget deficits, causing a debt spiral that has already prompted several smaller defaults.

Creditors have accused the government of exaggerating the crisis to avoid upcoming payments of more than $1 billion due July 1 that includes general obligation bonds, which are guaranteed by the constitution.

Here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/puerto-rico-governor-warns-default-213216396.html

Spending other people's money to buy things we want today is always fun!....until you run out of other people's money to spend.

Things then get really ugly because not only do you not have any more money to spend (no one will loan you any more) BUT you have to start taking money out of your pocket to pay back the first people your borrowed money from.  It's like burning the candle at both ends!!

NO FUN for Puerto Rico!!  (which ironically means "Rich Port")

Now start looking into the U.S. State's balance sheets and see how miserable they are.  Notice also of which states are in the worst financial shape (think Illinois) and then ask yourself what political party has been in charge of those states?

Here ins MN, our state is in pretty darn good financial shape.  We are actually trying to figure out how to spend all of our budget surplus and are even going to put some of the money away for a rainy day when we might have a deficit.  Even though we are thick with Democrats/liberals in this state, they seem to be socially liberal but fiscally conservative.

The real danger comes to a state when the socially liberal AND fiscally liberal politicians get elected into office.

It's crazy that Socialist Bernie Sanders is still drawing the crowds and millions of supporters.  What kind of delusion could they be under?  Maybe the delusion given to them at their college campus?

 BUT...while I say that, I must confess that I also believe Hillary supporters, Donald supporters and Cruz supporters may be under a delusion as well.  How else can you explain the love affair so many supporters are having with such lousy candidates?

Anxiety Merchants

"Buy gold! Buy silver! Our paper money will soon be gone!"'

"Stock your basements with food and guns before it's too late!"

"Make sure you have an escape route and practice getting to your bunker while you still can!"

"Buy two years of freeze dried food before it's too late."

"Do you have a plan to get off the grid when society collapses in chaos?"

Have you been hearing these things?  Are you a person who is filled with anxiety as you watch the world fall apart?

Do you believe anxiety is a gift from the Holy Spirit?...or does it come from the Prince of this Earth?

We continue with this last part of our series dealing with “Christian” fear-mongering and anxiety merchandizing.

To this point, we have established four main conclusions. First, that the Great Commission does not include the responsibility (nor sanctified ability) to warn Christians and the world of near-term financial and economic calamities.

Financial forecasts are not the purview of the Church. All those who attempt to do so (though they may be well-meaning) are likely to be “false prophets,” for the reason that their forecasts are almost sure to be false or inaccurate.

We indeed know that economic crises have been a normal feature of mankind’s systems, and will continue as such until the Lord comes. We also know, according to the Bible, that judgment and wrath will come upon the world, and that “total breakdown” and collapse of mankind’s financial systems will then occur.

Exactly when this will unfold, we cannot know today—other than to conclude that this will happen sometime in the second half of the Tribulation period. Until then, mankind (under the aegis of Mammon) will continue to build a humanistic world apart from God, increasing its insurrection and violence as in the time of Noah (Genesis 6:13).

There will be no total collapse before that time—economic, financial or otherwise. We can express these predictions because they are supported in the prophecies of the Bible. This underscores our second conclusion: We can rely on the foreknowledge (prophecy) written in the Bible, that it is all true and that all will be fulfilled.

It is these long-term “forecasts” of the realm of God’s actions and prophecies that can be employed to warn the world, but taking care not to go beyond what the Scripture says (1 Corinthians 4:6). We cannot consider forecasts of the short-term machinations of the “realm of mankind” as having the same reliability or value.

The third conclusion effectively is a derivative of the first two: That the only “systemic crises” that Christ and the Apostles concerned themselves with were spiritual in nature … i.e. the falsification of the gospel, doctrines of demons … etc.

The temporal ebb and flow of commerce, the possible eruption of a credit crisis and such matters did not merit their comment nor instruction.

A fourth conclusion is derived from the fact that saving grace is a free gift. It comes without monetary price (Isaiah 55:1-2). As such, to conclude that deliverance from the wrath of God during the Tribulation is dependent upon affordability couldn’t be more wrong.

Could it be that only those Spirit-filled Christians who can afford a large portfolio of gold bullion or a 7-year supply of nitrogen-packed food will be protected from last day crisis and wickedness? Could it be that poor Christians will have no access to such deliverance?

We concluded that this could never be true. Christ offers salvation and deliverance to all who would come. In the same way, Christ’s deliverance from God’s wrath does not (should not) have any monetary cost. We may indeed suffer monetary loss in a world prone to immoral monetarism and which is increasingly inhospitable to Christians.

However, salvation and deliverance from a wicked world is available to all without a monetary price. While some may peddle survival supplies for the future Tribulation period, only to those that can afford them, God has a much more equitable plan—not that we should deserve it. It is the great “snatching away” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18) … the Rapture.

Here;  http://www.raptureready.com/featured/hahn/h144.html

I agree with the author 100%.

As many of you know, I am in the money business in that I'm a Chartered Financial Consultant.  I've seen and heard of so many stories about people and their love of money that some day I may have to write a book.  I have had conversations with some Christians who say half in jest, "So where's a good place to put our money?...and they are truly interested but they say it with a smile.  I have had other Christians ask me, "So where do we put our money?"....and you can see a look of fear in their eyes.

Friends, as the author says, Jesus warned a lot about money because he knew that we were going to fall in love with it.  We can't serve two masters.  We can't serve Mammon (god of money and material goods) and Jesus.

So let's all ask ourselves as we wallow in the decadent pit of materialism that has become America;  Are we spending so much time worrying about our what will happen if all of our Mammon were to suddenly disappear?  And are we actually repulsing people with our incessant worry about how we are going to make all our stuff survive?  Survive until what?

Are you joyfully looking for Jesus to return and going out everyday seeing how you can spread that awesome good news?....or are you locked in the basement watching Fox News wringing your hands about the miserable state of planet earth as you put the seal on your 5th drum of rice?

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Do I believe it's a wise idea to have some cash in your drawer and some food in a pantry?  Yes I do.

Why?

Because it's a prudent thing to do in light of the increasing amount of birth pangs that are hitting our planet.  Just think if your town has a power outage and a storm and your local Walmart goes empty. You don't want to be part of the problem as Walmart shoppers slug each other over the last case of Diet Coke.

Furthermore, what if you could invite your neighbor lady and her two young kids over to your house for dinner and maybe have an opportunity to tell her about the birth pangs and what they are announcing?

Just think if you could invite that neighbor lady over TODAY even if there isn't a storm and power outage?

"The harvest is at hand and the workers are few."

As we said yesterday in Adult Education, Jesus told us that the conditions before the rapture of the church would be as it was in the days of Noah BEFORE the flood waters came and took them all away.  People were eating, drinking, planning their weddings, shopping at Kohl's, booking cruises on Carnival, planning their dream homes, etc...  He didn't say that their society was in utter meltdown and people were running around looking for squirrels to eat in their backyards as they ran for their bunkers.

So let's all go live with the JOY that comes with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us!

If you aren't filled with the JOY of The Lord...maybe you should test yourself?

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?