Tracking chip in new 20s explodes when microwaved!

[krimson]

my geeky CSI-loving-fanatic, LA Coroner-t-shirt-wearing, co-worker says that the burn marks are not consistant with internal eruptions, nor were they consistant in size/shape, and the burns were most likely made by a propane/butane torch. Also he suggested that anything that small shouldn't be able to generate enough heat for the cotton blend to burn that much.

but he's not a pro, so take that for whatever you want.

 

[sonofslim]

the article says "adapted from a letter sent to henry makow, ph.d."

google his name and i think your questions about the credibility of this report will be answered.

gotta go now, the black helicopters are beaming mind-control waves at me again. always during my lunch hour, dammit!

 

[krimson]

One other thing,

notice that the 20 on the lower right is not reflective.

😀

 

[Sonofhaig]

at the fall of american gov...

You know something? Or is this a wish? 🙄

 

[etoiles]

actually it's now based on debt. we have no money and by accepting american money you are also accepting this debt.

😀
hmmmmm...I'll have to remember that. I can really help you guys out of your dept, if you want. I am selfless, I know 😛

 

[MongoTheGeek]

HAHA!! Funny stuff. Of course, I won't test it myself, just in case 😉

Also, they could be charged with a crime (I forget what it's called though 🙄 ) for destroying money like that. Many people don't know, but the actual coins and bills are property of the Federal Government, they just let everyone use it with the guarantee that it will be accepted anywhere in the country in exchange for goods or services (or "just because").

Its only a crime if you do it for fraudulent purposes.

 

[rainman::|:|]

While it is a crime to intentionally (not for fraud, but with foresight) deface bills, those that are accidentally damaged may be sent to the US treasury for replacement, if enough of the serial number is recovered. A famous case involved a farmer that dropped his wallet FULL of cash in a field, and a cow ate it. Apparently Bessie wasn't that valuable, as he had it slaughtered and recovered the partially digested money... Stuck it in a ziplock baggie, sent it off, and got crisp new money in return. Most people don't know this.

RFID chips have been proposed in money for a while, mostly for counting stacks. Unfortunately there are a thousand uses a lot scarier to the average American. RFID chips have never been officially introduced into currency, and I believe the treasury would tout this pretty big time. I really don't think this is at all true.

As for the strips, for many years now they have indeed had strips... I don't think they're magnetic, nor can they help count money. If you hold them up to light, you can see a flag and the denomination, and they glow different colors under black light. I think it's fraud prevention only, no technical use.

at any rate, an RFID chip would be visible to the naked eye, so someone who has a new $20 (i spent my last one this morning) and a halogen light to hold it against should easily be able to put this to rest.

paul

 

[neut]

If anyone is that worried about it, just cut out AJ's right eye. 😉

i think it would be better if they cut out their own right eye... if they're that worried.


peace.

 

[Billicus]

Can anybody say 1929? We're headed for another stock market crash, at record speed. We just go further and further into debt, borrowing from our futures. This method isn't going to work forever...😡 This economy is out of control. As for the new 20's...I'm not going to say I disbelieve it because it sounds like something the government would do...😱

 

[MrMacMan]

Can anybody say 1929? We're headed for another stock market crash, at record speed. We just go further and further into debt, borrowing from our futures. This method isn't going to work forever...😡 This economy is out of control. As for the new 20's...I'm not going to say I disbelieve it because it sounds like something the government would do...😱

Ah you don't remember the credit card scheme?

I currently own 56 credit cards... I transfer debt from one card to the next... really good system... I am about to card #39... once I get back to card #1 I'm screwed, but ah well.

😛

 

[Dippo]

Ah you don't remember the credit card scheme?

I currently own 56 credit cards... I transfer debt from one card to the next... really good system... I am about to card #39... once I get back to card #1 I'm screwed, but ah well.

😛

Don't they charge you 3% for each transaction?

If not, maybe you can hook me up with a loan 🙂

 

[Cervotragik]

Money...Gold...NAh.

I think U.S. dollar bills in particular are not related to gold...more like petroleum and war. That's why the canadian dollar is worth less 😉

 

[sausages]

hmm, very interesting!

i think having an easily identifiable compound / element / electronic chip in currency is a logical step for a government to take. it would provide a way to reduce trading in mass amounts of cash, perhaps this is a move to crack down on tax avoidance and dealings of illegal goods.
this would push people towards using electronic money, perhaps because it's easy to trace where it goes and prove it's legal.
this could also push a reemergence of bartering 🙂

cash is normally used for buying little things where it's too much effort to use your credit card and provide your signature or areas where electronic transactions aren't possible, like a garage sale for instance. having something traceable in cash could make this principle more concrete.
i wonder if this is a step towards phasing out physical money?

i think it's really satisfying being able to physically holding something that in itself is worth nothing, but represents in which people have mutually agreed. i would be quite upset if we moved to card scanning and fingerprint id to exchange for good and services 🙁

on the flip side, when - not if, 3rd parties get their hands on a scanning device that could detect a particular currency, it would create more crime than it helps prevent. (perhaps more so in terms of occurrence, rather than like big drug trades in cash)

also on the topic of money:

what happens when your at the airport, and there is that little check box that that says are you carrying more than x amount of cash with you?

what's the go with notes, represententing money. does a $20 bill really represent $18 plus the $2 (just a guess) it costs to produce? how does this factor in with what the currency is worth.

also, is all the electronic money backed up somewhere physically? is every last dollar that's in the economy backed up with a coin or note somewhere?

sorry if this is a bit all over the place 😉 if your interested in this, or don't want to post because it's off topic, feel free to email me (naythis@yahoo.com)

 

[neut]

i think having an easily identifiable compound / element / electronic chip in currency is a logical step for a government to take. it would provide a way to reduce trading in mass amounts of cash, perhaps this is a move to crack down on tax avoidance and dealings of illegal goods.
this would push people towards using electronic money, perhaps because it's easy to trace where it goes and prove it's legal.

i can see local dealers starting up pay pal accounts to sell 'very expensive and exotic baggies'.


peace.

 

[Daveman Deluxe]

what's the go with notes, represententing money. does a $20 bill really represent $18 plus the $2 (just a guess) it costs to produce? how does this factor in with what the currency is worth.

For what it's worth, currency of any denomination costs less than a penny per paper note to produce.

 

[smllpx]

US Bills are printed with a ferrous oxide ink that is slightly magnetized. This is what bill scanners (think vending machines) read in order to verify that the bill is authentic.

Iron attracts microwaves, and a stack of similar bills will amplify the effect. There are no RDIF tags currently in US currency.

BTW the cost of printing a bill is far less than a US Dollar, but the cost of minting a coin is around 10 cents. Some how this evens out.

 

[TimDaddy]

I doubt it. I have yet to see tracking chips that can be scanned from a helicopter. That doesn't mean I'm not against the widespread use of RFID chips, though.

Could there be a bigger device, that the bank actually put in the bag to identify it, that could be read from further away? My friend could very well be wrong, but I'm sure he's not just telling tall tales.

 

[neut]

Could there be a bigger device, that the bank actually put in the bag to identify it, that could be read from further away? My friend could very well be wrong, but I'm sure he's not just telling tall tales.

yeah, its called a big money symbol, "$", you've seen cartoons before... right? 😉


peace.

 

[rainman::|:|]

Nearly all large volumes of cash, to be used by the federal reserve, banks, or even private owners, have GPS devices in either the bag, the stacks of cash, or more likely both. This is possibly what did it, but unless there was a mistake, someone would know if they were carrying a GPS or not... unless, of course, it was obtained illegally, in which case they might not know it's there. I just don't see a legitimate owner of this cash being surprised by ANY tracking method-- if they could track him, he knew it ahead of time.

Of course, under the Patriot act, who knows who was spying on him, or turned a tip, etc...

paul

 

[Dippo]

Nearly all large volumes of cash, to be used by the federal reserve, banks, or even private owners, have GPS devices in either the bag, the stacks of cash, or more likely both. This is possibly what did it, but unless there was a mistake, someone would know if they were carrying a GPS or not... unless, of course, it was obtained illegally, in which case they might not know it's there. I just don't see a legitimate owner of this cash being surprised by ANY tracking method-- if they could track him, he knew it ahead of time.

Of course, under the Patriot act, who knows who was spying on him, or turned a tip, etc...

paul

If this was true then why can't bank robbers be tracked when they steal stacks of cash, or even armored cars be tracked when they are stolen, etc.

I don't think the government cares enough to track every $20, and even if the wanted to, it's not technically possible to hide GPS devices in money. Maybe one day this will become a reality but by then I doubt we will be using paper money anymore.

 

[Counterfit]

the article says "adapted from a letter sent to henry makow, ph.d."

google his name and i think your questions about the credibility of this report will be answered.

gotta go now, the black helicopters are beaming mind-control waves at me again. always during my lunch hour, dammit!

Point taken, I'd take anything that man says with a ton of salt 🙄

 

[rainman::|:|]

If this was true then why can't bank robbers be tracked when they steal stacks of cash, or even armored cars be tracked when they are stolen, etc.

I don't think the government cares enough to track every $20, and even if the wanted to, it's not technically possible to hide GPS devices in money. Maybe one day this will become a reality but by then I doubt we will be using paper money anymore.

this is precisely the reason the GPS units are used, and unless the criminal locates and removes each device, it's precisely how they're caught. You know how rare it is for a bank robbery to be successful? the only ones that can work are inside jobs, the ones that know how to quickly mask the tracking features.

Now why do you say it's not possible to use GPS in this manner? It's quite simple to create a device thin enough to be inserted into a stack of bills mostly unobtrusively... they're little rectangular boxes. and it's impossibly easy to put them in the cases and bags that transport cash.

edit:
the people that make them: http://www.3sisecurity.com/newsRelease.asp

The new system incorporates a thin, battery-powered circuit board embedded in a stack of real bills, appearing like any other currency bundle.* When the device leaves the teller’s station, its GPS receiver and wireless transmitter are activated.* The advanced, assisted-GPS receiver is able to locate the position of the currency bundle in buildings, cars or other hard-to-find locations.* Its radio transmitter uses the nationwide ReFLEX pager network to feed the location data to a secure Web site where authorized personnel can view the exact location of the stolen bundle and direct law enforcement to its recovery.

paul

 

[MrMacMan]

Don't they charge you 3% for each transaction?

If not, maybe you can hook me up with a loan 🙂

Most of the cards are 1% intrest... and obviously the money is building up...

I suppose I should spoof the last credit card so they have to track it back through 55 different credit card companies, by that time I will be outside of the country... far far away...

BTW the cost of printing a bill is far less than a US Dollar, but the cost of minting a coin is around 10 cents. Some how this evens out.

This is the idea behind killing off the penny, saving the government billions of dollars... haha.

 

[jennyjennydz]

Just to be precise, I'm pretty sure dollars are promisory notes from the government that they can be redeemed for the given amount in gold, hence currency is backed by the Federal Reserve and the country's stockpiles of gold. Since dollars REPRESENT government gold, they can be exchanged for goods and services when both parties agree to a price. Ergo, "medium of exchange". This is why people buy gold (i.e "redeem their dollars") when they fear the economy is going to tank and dollars won't be worth as much in the future.

As for a related topic: does anyone know if postage stamps count as legal tender, since they can be traded with the government for money?

Nixon took the US off the gold standard. US dollars most certainly do NOT represent government gold and have not for 30+ years, sorry. Dollars have value because the government says so and we accept that.

People buy gold because gold has intrinsic value and paper money does not - so when times are bad it is wiser to have something real rather than just a piece of paper. The government of the US has done many things over the years to actually discourage gold ownership.

For many years it was a federal offense to own gold bullion as a US citizen. Now its heavily restricted and tracked by the IRS/Treasury deptartment. There are actually transactional limits on how much you can buy at once. People get around that by buying foreign gold bullion coins and claiming collectible status to avoid restriction.

Postage stamps are not legal tender and they cannot be traded with the government for money (with any ease). Don't believe me? Go buy $500 face value in US stamps from a post office and turn around and go to any other post office and try to sell them back. Not going to happen. Heck a stamp dealer (for collectors) won't give you face value on new stamps.

 

[Dippo]

this is precisely the reason the GPS units are used, and unless the criminal locates and removes each device, it's precisely how they're caught. You know how rare it is for a bank robbery to be successful? the only ones that can work are inside jobs, the ones that know how to quickly mask the tracking features.

Now why do you say it's not possible to use GPS in this manner? It's quite simple to create a device thin enough to be inserted into a stack of bills mostly unobtrusively... they're little rectangular boxes. and it's impossibly easy to put them in the cases and bags that transport cash.

edit:
the people that make them: http://www.3sisecurity.com/newsRelease.asp


paul

I stand corrected 🙂

I didn't know that GPS technology had advanced that far, but even with that, they still can't embed GPS in the bills themselves, at least not yet.