Hour 1 - 3

Hour 1 -- Riccardo Spagni (part of the Core Team of Monero) talks about the untraceable and open-source currency

Hour 2 -- James Corbett (The Corbett Report) provides World News Update, Upcoming GOP and Democratic Conventions, the POTUS Circus, Syria, Russia

Hour 3 -- Greg Peterson (The Urban Farm) provides an update

 CALL IN TO SHOW: 602-264-2800

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Feature Article  •  Global Edition Freedom's Phoenix Declare Your Independence APP now on Google Play  Donna Hancock    Listen to any recent show of "Declare Your Independence" at the click of a button!

 

May 18th, 2016

Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock

on LRN.FM / Monday - Friday

9 a.m. - Noon (EST)

Studio Line: 602-264-2800 

 

Hour 1

Riccardo Spagni

Core Team at Monero

Riccardo "fluffypony" Spagni (ric@getmonero.org): Based out of South Africa, Riccardo brings a strong business acumen and a deep understanding of cryptocurrency, software development, and cryptography to the table. He has been involved with cryptocurrency-related projects since 2012.

Webpage: https://getmonero.org/home

Riccardo comes on the show to explain Monero

What is Monero ?

Monero is a secure, private, untraceable currency. It is open-source and freely available to all.

With Monero, you are your own bank. Only you control and are responsible for your funds, and your accounts and transactions are kept private from prying eyes.

Want to find out more? An overview of Monero's main features are below. If you'd like to try Monero for yourself the Getting Started section is an excellent launching point.

Secure

Using the power of a distributed peer-to-peer consensus network, every transaction is cryptographically secured. Individual accounts have a 25 word mnemonic seed displayed when created, which can be written down to back up the account. Account files are encrypted with a passphrase to ensure they are worthless if stolen.

Private

Monero uses a cryptographically sound system that allows you to send and receive funds without your transactions being publicly visible on the blockchain (the distributed ledger of transactions). This ensures that your purchases, receipts, and other transfers remain private by default.

Untraceable

By taking advantage of ring signatures, a special property of certain types of cryptography, Monero enables untraceable transactions. This means it's ambiguous which funds have been spent, and thus extremely unlikely that a transaction could be linked to particular user.

About Monero

To most people, financial privacy is very important. Yet in recent years, we have seen a staggering amount of big corporations, banks and governments having their records compromised, at every time leaking information about their users, their practices, their balance sheets. The unfortunate but undeniable conclusion is that there is no safe place to conduct private transactions.
There was no safe place to conduct private transactions. Monero provides a place where your financial activities are private. Monero is one of the leading cryptocurrencies in the post-Bitcoin world, and it is built on principles of privacy, decentralization, and scalability.
From an economic point of view, a currency needs to be fungible. Fungibility is a property of money that makes all units "equal". Without fungibility, money flows can be tracked and tainted, making it very difficult to use the digital tokens as money.

Monero is a secure, private, untraceable currency. It is open-source and freely available to all. It's fairly launched on april 18th 2014, without premine or instamine. The Monero technology already spiked the interest of several established people in the bitcoin development world and cryptography community. The development is completely based on donations, community driven and with a strong focus on decentralization and scalability. With Monero, you are your own bank. Only you control and are responsible for your funds, and your accounts and transactions are kept private from prying eyes.

Read on to find out how Monero is helping to solve real problems and limitations of existing cryptocurrencies, and building a more private blockchain.

PRIVACY

Monero seeks to provide absolute transactional privacy in an effort to create true electronic cash. With Bitcoin, as well as with the vast majority of cryptocurrencies that have been established since, any and all transactions are entirely traceable. Any casual observer can read through the Bitcoin blockchain, and for any transaction, this observer can find out the exact amount that was transacted, as well as the precise transaction origin (sender address) and destination (recipient address).

With Monero, for any private transaction, the same observer has no means to uncover the origin, destination, or amount transacted. As such, transactions on the Monero blockchain, are private and fundamentally untraceable.
But Monero is more than a currency. Driving the official slogan: "secure, private, untraceable", there are a multitude of applications where the parties involved wish to remain private. The Monero blockchain can keep confidential contracts confidential. While the forthcoming, blockchain-powered internet of things will certainly place the cloud all around us, it is then increasingly important that open access tools exist to provide a secure boundary for private settlements.

An often overlooked, but nonetheless important layer of privacy in a connected world, is that of the networking infrastructure. We have teamed up with Privacy Solutions, and development is well underway to incorporate an i2p router in Monero. In a world where ill intentioned governments and ISPs can void an individual's basic privacy rights on a whim, it then becomes necessary to establish a private communication platform.

The underlying technologies and cryptography upon which Monero is built, has been (and continues to be) the subject of extensive analysis and review by numerous individuals and research groups. It has garnered favorable attention by some of the most prominent figures of the Bitcoin & cryptography world, such as Andrew Poelstra (andytoshi), Gregory Maxwell & Nicolas Courtois.

With Monero, transactions are private by default. However, each user has the ability to select different levels of privacy, optionally disclosing their transaction information, or even provide audit access (view only) to his full Monero account.

DECENTRALIZATION

While most cryptocurrencies align to theoretical principles of decentralization, the reality is that most fall short of such a claim. More often than not, it is not just one branch of a cryptocurrency system that is centralized in one form or another, is that that many branches are so.

With Proof of Stake currencies, irregular emission and distribution models cause most of the staking power to end up in the hand of a privileged few. Participants of lesser weight are reduced to second class citizens, with little chance of ever obtaining similar returns.

With Proof of Work currencies, of which Bitcoin remains the most significant reference, the mining process is largely concentrated in a handful of pools. This centralization of mining power, combined with a transparent blockchain, has already lead to various occurrences of transaction censorship.

Other currencies opt for a closed development model, thus centralizing the invention process itself. These closed platforms commonly fail to meet any form of public audit or expert review. More importantly, these are platforms that will anytime swing left and right, in order to satisfy the interests of the restricted group that holds control of development.

Monero contrasts with these examples in various and meaningful ways. Monero is powered strictly by Proof of Work, but specifically, it employs a mining algorithm that has the potential to be efficiently tasked to billions of existing devices (any modern x86 CPU). This very characteristic, and more so once it is coupled with @Smart Mining, has the potential to ensure that for long years to come, the process of mining new Monero coins is within reach of the common individual, and not an exclusive opportunity to the owners of large mining operations.

Further, as transactions are private by default on the Monero blockchain, transaction censorship is inherently void. The Monero development landscape on the other hand, is very much the opposite of a closed or restricted access model. The core branch currently enjoys more than 30 contributors, pushing 1000+ commits over the past year. The project is happy to take on new contributors and any future plans, long-term direction and priorities are openly discussed with the community. Indeed, the policy that governs contribution to the Monero codebase is exhaustingly inclusive - all contributions are accepted into the development branch, where new code can be scrutinized and tested by the entire community.

Most contributors in the Monero development landscape are quite passionate for an open source philosophy, and in this rich creative environment, new projects have sparked to life. OpenAlias is one notable example, which has seen adoption by (amongst others) a major Bitcoin related software product.

SCALEABILITY

One of the problems with cryptocurrencies is scaleability. Most cryptocurrencies are derived from the Bitcoin codebase and thus have a "block size limit". This limit has become a big issue in the bitcoin community and lead to fierce discussions. Monero doesn't suffer from this block size debate, because it has a dynamic block size limit. This limit is automatically recalculated regularly based on a look-back window. A penalty system prevents out of control growth of the block size. Another issue with most cryptocurrencies is the development of a fee market. This issue is somewhat linked to the block size debate: the narrative is that when you limit the block size, a fee market will eventually develop. But this claim is highly debatable. When the transaction fees are supposed to be the main incentive for miners to secure the blockchain, it is possible the current consensus model will not be sustainable. At the moment, miners still act as they are expected: they mine on the longest chain. When they don't do that, they risk loosing the block reward. But when that block reward becomes small compared to the mining fees, it's possible miners will have an incentive to not mine on the longest chain and start a fork trying to "steal" high transaction fees which were included in the latest blocks. Therefore, monero implements a "permanent block reward". The block reward will never drop below 0.3 XMR, making monero a disinflationary currency: the inflation will be roughly 1% in 2022 and go down forever, but the nominal inflation will stay at 0.3 XMR per minute. This means that there will always be an incentive for miners to mine monero and thus keeping the blockchain secure, with or without a fee market.

FUNGIBILITY

Fungibility is an important property of any functioning currency. You can try to hide your bitcoins as much as you want, if you tried to mix your non-fungible coins using a mixer, coinjoin or another type of "anonymity enhancing feature", these transactions can still be flagged as "possible suspicious activity on the blockchain", even if you are anonymous. Using non-fungible tokens as currency can eventually lead to blacklisting/whitelisting either by governments or through self-censorship. Some examples of these measures could be payment processors or exchanges refusing your tainted coins as a payment or deposit or miners refusing to include your suspicious transaction. Monero will enforce a minimum mixing across the network, so all outputs are mixed by default. This is possible due to the nature of the mixing: monero mixing is "passive" and can even be done offline! Transaction outputs have "plausible deniability" about their state: you can't tell if they are spent or unspent in a certain transaction or not. This leads to an opaque (non-transparent) blockchain making all coins "equal". Fungibility is built into Monero at protocol level, making it real "digital cash".

Hour 2

Hour 2 -- James Corbett (The Corbett Report) provides World News Update, Upcoming GOP and Democratic Conventions, the POTUS Circus, Syria, Russia

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Hour 2

James Corbett

The Corbett Report

Webpage: CorbettReport.Com

James comes on the show to discuss U.S./World  politics/foreign policy, World News Update, GOP POTUS Circus, Syria, Russia...

James's previous interviews on the Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock Radio Show:

https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Guest-Page.htm?No=01092

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Featured Video...

Episode 224 – R2P or: How the Left Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Wars of Imperial Aggression

If the last three years have taught us anything, it is that the so-called anti-war liberal left can be made to become cheerleaders for the same war agenda that they pretended to deride during the Bush Administration. How was this accomplished? A developing doctrine of international law called "Responsibility to Protect." Join us this week as we expose the liberal "war is peace" agenda and ponder how best to disarm it.

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LATEST ARTICLE

The Greatest Blessing

Corbett • 05/14/2016 •

We are programmed to look out for danger and respond to threats. It's instinctual, and well it should be. We live in a dangerous world and our family line wouldn't have made it this far if there wasn't an eternal vigilance against potential perils.

But always focusing on the threats and dangers can send us off the deep end. Especially when dealing in the doom and gloom that pervades so much of the alternative media, it can be all too easy to dwell on the negative and forget why it is we're fighting for truth and justice in the first place. In fact, it can become difficult to remember that we're fighting for anything at all and just focus on fighting against. Against our enemies. Against the politicians and banksters and globalists and fraudsters and psychopaths. But just like the returning war vet who can't stop fighting the war in his head or the homicide detective who assumes everyone is a murder victim in waiting (or a murderer in waiting), this perspective starts to ruin our appreciation of the world until we forget why it is we even cared in the first place.

Join James for this week's subscriber newsletter as he reflects on second time fatherhood and what really matters in life.

For free access to this, and all of my subscriber editorials, please go to www.theinternationalforecaster.com

============================

Interview 1170 – New World Next Week with James Evan Pilato

Corbett • 05/13/2016 •

Welcome to New World Next Week — the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. In this week's episode:

Story #1: In Presidential First, Obama Will Visit Hiroshima To "Pay Respects"
http://bit.ly/1Wr4BL2
Wikipedia: 42nd G7 Summit – May 26-27, 2016
http://bit.ly/1T6t5Gz

Story #2: US Carries Out Another Bioterror Experiment Using "Non-Toxic" Gas On NYC Subway
http://bit.ly/1VTVXnD
Cops Say Sorry Over "Allahu Akbar" Cry In Terror Training Exercise
http://bit.ly/1Wrky36
Morning Monarchy: Homeland Security Releases Gas In NYC Subway, Says Riders Shouldn't Worry
http://bit.ly/27fsPLr
Flashback: CIA May Have Tested Biological Warfare in New York in '50s, Church Says (Dec 1979)
http://bit.ly/1ZHoqLE
Flashback Video: "Operation Big City" – U.S. Army/CIA Bio-Weapon Tests on U.S. Citizens
http://bit.ly/1qeZWgE

Story #3: Flyers' Patience At "Breaking Point" Over Long Lines
http://bit.ly/1TbZp9D
New York, New Jersey Airports Threaten To Ditch TSA, Hire Own Security Screeners
http://bit.ly/1TR2DiW
Algebra Terror Delays PA-to-NY Flight
http://bit.ly/27fsUil
Media Monarchy Flashback: Outrage at TSA Grows As 'Opt-Out Day' Planned (Nov 2010)
http://bit.ly/1XmhEfJ

#GoodNewsNextWeek: 'Little Libraries' Are Popping Up All Over America
http://bit.ly/1TbZx9j

#NewWorldNextWeek Headlines: Emails From Clinton's IT Director Appear to Be "Missing"
http://bit.ly/24QbPg1
33 Ill As Nuclear Waste Leak Continues at "America's Fukushima"
http://bit.ly/1UUrFQI
Former Facebook Workers Admit To Routinely Suppressing Conservative News
http://bit.ly/1QZuicT
#PanamaPapers Are Now (Kinda) Available Online
http://bit.ly/24QbQk5
Apple's Tim Cook Heading Back To China To "Meet High-Level Government Officials"
http://bit.ly/1TbZs5e

Visit http://NewWorldNextWeek.com to get previous episodes in various formats to download and share. Submit articles and links by using #NewWorldNextWeek. And as always, stay up-to-date by subscribing to the New World Next Week RSS feed or iTunes feed. Thank you.

Previous Episode: Peace Breaks Out When Police Force Quits
http://bit.ly/1rYJWR7

=================================

Other stuff...

End of the world (by ebaumsworld)

Hour 3

Hour 3 -- Greg Peterson (The Urban Farm) provides an update

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Hour 3

Greg Peterson

The Urban Farm

Webpage: UrbanFarm.Org

==============================

News and Updates from The Urban Farmer...

Welcome to the Urban Farm U Referral Partner (Affiliate) Program

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The program is simple: 

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