Good money is money earned from doing good work... that is, from solving problems without creating more problems, while evil money is money earn from evil work, that is, works that create more problems rather solving them. Money earned from doing good work, no matter how little is always enough.

Chinese authorities on Sunday violently dispersed a peaceful protest by hundreds of depositors, who sought in vain to demand their life savings back from banks that have run into a deepening cash crisis.

Since April, four rural banks in China’s central Henan province have frozen millions of dollars worth of deposits, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of customers in an economy already battered by draconian Covid lockdowns.

Anguished depositors have staged several demonstrations in the city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, over the past two months, but their demands have invariably fallen on deaf ears.

On Sunday, more than 1,000 depositors from across China gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, to launch their largest protest yet, more than half a dozen protesters told CNN.

The demonstration is among the largest China has seen since the pandemic, with domestic travel limited by various Covid restrictions on movement. Last month, Zhengzhou authorities even resorted to tampering with the country’s digital Covid health-code system to restrict the movements of depositors and thwart their planned protest, sparking a nationwide outcry.

This time, most protesters arrived outside the bank before dawn – some as early as 4 a.m. – to avoid being intercepted by authorities. The crowd, which includes the elderly and children, occupied a flight of imposing stairs outside the bank, chanting slogans and holding up banners.

“Henan banks, return my savings!” they shouted in unison, many waving Chinese flags, in videos shared with CNN by two protesters.

Using national flags to display patriotism is a common strategy for protesters in China, where dissent is strictly suppressed. The tactic is meant to show that their grievances are only against local governments, and that they support and rely on the central government to seek redress.

“Against the corruption and violence of the Henan government,” a banner written in English read.

A large portrait of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong was pasted on a pillar at the entrance of the bank.

Across the street, hundreds of police and security personnel – some in uniforms and others in plain clothes – assembled and surrounded the site, as protesters shouted “gangsters” at them.

Violent crackdown

The face-off lasted for several hours until after 11 a.m., when rows of security officers suddenly charged up the stairs and clashed with protesters, who threw bottles and other small objects at them.

The scene quickly descended into chaos, as security officers dragged protesters down the stairs and beat those who resisted, including women and the elderly, according to witnesses and social media videos.

One woman from eastern Shandong province told CNN she was pushed to the ground by two security guards, who twisted and injured her arm. A 27-year-old man from the southern city of Shenzhen, surnamed Sun, said he was kicked by seven or eight guards on the ground before being carried away. A 45-year-old man from the central city of Wuhan said his shirt was completely torn at the back during the scuffle.

The protest outside the Zhengzhou branch of the country's central bank, the People's Bank of China, is the largest one depositors have staged in recent months. - Provided to CNN
Many said they were shocked by the sudden burst of violence by the security forces.

“I did not expect them to be so violent and shameless this time. There was no communication, no warning before they brutally dispersed us,” said one depositor from a metropolis outside Henan who had protested in Zhengzhou previously, and who requested CNN conceal his name due to security concerns.

“Why would government employees beat us up? We’re only ordinary people asking for our deposits back, we did nothing wrong,” the Shandong woman said.

The protesters were hurled onto dozens of buses and sent to makeshift detention sites across the city – from hotels and schools to factories, according to people taken there. Some injured were escorted to hospitals; many were released from detention by the late afternoon, the people said.

CNN has reached out to the Henan provincial government for comment.

The Zhengzhou Business District Police Station – which has jurisdiction over the protest site – hung up on CNN’s call requesting comment.

Late on Sunday night, the Henan banking regulator issued a terse statement, saying “relevant departments” were speeding up efforts to verify information on customer funds at the four rural banks.

“(Authorities) are coming up with a plan to deal with the issue, which will be announced in the near future,” the statement said.

Shattered lives

The protest comes at a politically sensitive time for the ruling Communist Party, just months before its leader Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at a key meeting this fall.

Large-scale demonstrations over lost savings and ruined livelihoods could be perceived as a political embarrassment for Xi, who has promoted a nationalistic vision of leading the country to “great rejuvenation.”

Henan authorities are under tremendous pressure to stop the protests. But depositors remain undeterred. As the issue drags on, many have become ever more desperate to recover their savings.

Huang, the depositor from Wuhan, lost his job in the medical cosmetology industry this year, as businesses struggled in the pandemic. Yet he is unable to withdraw any of his life savings – of over 500,000 yuan ($75,000) – from a rural bank in Henan.

“Being unemployed, all I can live on is my past savings. But I can’t even do that now – how am I supposed to (support my family)?” said Huang, whose son is in high school.

Sun, from Shenzhen, is struggling to keep his machine factory from bankruptcy after losing his deposit of 4 million yuan ($597,000) to a Henan bank. He can’t even pay his more than 40 employees without the funds.

Sun said he was covered in bruises and had a swollen lower back after being repeatedly stomped by security guards at the protest.

“The incident completely overturned my perception of the government. I’ve lived all my life placing so much faith in the government. After today, I’ll never trust it again,” he said.

CNN’s Beijing bureau and Yong Xiong contributed to this report.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-crushes-mass-protest-by-bank-depositors-demanding-their-life-savings-back/ar-AAZqmng

crime rate related to guns is very low in Japan at present.

Who is to be blamed for funds hacks, data leak/hack?

They recommended that crypto assets be allowed to flourish in the U.S. economy as it would further strengthen the dollar’s status.

The concept still remains extremely curious. The current world champion in classic chess, Magnus Carlsen, does not have to complete any qualifying series and basically only has to play a final against the challenger who wins this tournament. Firouzja started the tournament very badly and basically eliminated himself with that. The notable name I'm missing from this tournament is Anish Giri. Actually, it should be a normal formula, just like playing football. Protective status is ridiculous.

prices going lower.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen the first group of encryption tools that are designed to withstand the assault of a future quantum computer, which could potentially crack the security used to protect privacy in the digital systems we rely on every day — such as online banking and email software. The four selected encryption algorithms will become part of NIST’s post-quantum cryptographic standard, expected to be finalized in about two years.

“Today’s announcement is an important milestone in securing our sensitive data against the possibility of future cyberattacks from quantum computers,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “Thanks to NIST’s expertise and commitment to cutting-edge technology, we are able to take the necessary steps to secure electronic information so U.S. businesses can continue innovating while maintaining the trust and confidence of their customers.”

The announcement follows a six-year effort managed by NIST, which in 2016 called upon the world’s cryptographers to devise and then vet encryption methods that could resist an attack from a future quantum computer that is more powerful than the comparatively limited machines available today. The selection constitutes the beginning of the finale of the agency’s post-quantum cryptography standardization project.

“NIST constantly looks to the future to anticipate the needs of U.S. industry and society as a whole, and when they are built, quantum computers powerful enough to break present-day encryption will pose a serious threat to our information systems,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “Our post-quantum cryptography program has leveraged the top minds in cryptography — worldwide — to produce this first group of quantum-resistant algorithms that will lead to a standard and significantly increase the security of our digital information.”

Four additional algorithms are under consideration for inclusion in the standard, and NIST plans to announce the finalists from that round at a future date. NIST is announcing its choices in two stages because of the need for a robust variety of defense tools. As cryptographers have recognized from the beginning of NIST’s effort, there are different systems and tasks that use encryption, and a useful standard would offer solutions designed for different situations, use varied approaches for encryption, and offer more than one algorithm for each use case in the event one proves vulnerable.


Encryption uses math to protect sensitive electronic information, including the secure websites we surf and the emails we send. Widely used public-key encryption systems, which rely on math problems that even the fastest conventional computers find intractable, ensure these websites and messages are inaccessible to unwelcome third parties.

However, a sufficiently capable quantum computer, which would be based on different technology than the conventional computers we have today, could solve these math problems quickly, defeating encryption systems. To counter this threat, the four quantum-resistant algorithms rely on math problems that both conventional and quantum computers should have difficulty solving, thereby defending privacy both now and down the road.

The algorithms are designed for two main tasks for which encryption is typically used: general encryption, used to protect information exchanged across a public network; and digital signatures, used for identity authentication. All four of the algorithms were created by experts collaborating from multiple countries and institutions.

For general encryption, used when we access secure websites, NIST has selected the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm. Among its advantages are comparatively small encryption keys that two parties can exchange easily, as well as its speed of operation.

For digital signatures, often used when we need to verify identities during a digital transaction or to sign a document remotely, NIST has selected the three algorithms CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON and SPHINCS+ (read as “Sphincs plus”). Reviewers noted the high efficiency of the first two, and NIST recommends CRYSTALS-Dilithium as the primary algorithm, with FALCON for applications that need smaller signatures than Dilithium can provide. The third, SPHINCS+, is somewhat larger and slower than the other two, but it is valuable as a backup for one chief reason: It is based on a different math approach than all three of NIST’s other selections.

Three of the selected algorithms are based on a family of math problems called structured lattices, while SPHINCS+ uses hash functions. The additional four algorithms still under consideration are designed for general encryption and do not use structured lattices or hash functions in their approaches.

While the standard is in development, NIST encourages security experts to explore the new algorithms and consider how their applications will use them, but not to bake them into their systems yet, as the algorithms could change slightly before the standard is finalized.

To prepare, users can inventory their systems for applications that use public-key cryptography, which will need to be replaced before cryptographically relevant quantum computers appear. They can also alert their IT departments and vendors about the upcoming change. To get involved in developing guidance for migrating to post-quantum cryptography, see NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence project page. 

All of the algorithms are available on the NIST website.



https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/07/nist-announces-first-four-quantum-resistant-cryptographic-algorithms

In the country where I reside the prices of everything are skyrocketing but the income remains the same year to year. Is it still possible that in 2022 Bitcoin can help reduce this wealth and income inequality? Bearing in mind that most people were not early adopters.

The platform leverages blockchain technology, which has the features of transparency and immutability to ensure that consumers of the brands are buying original copies.

Last night, Djokovic, one of the best tennis players on grass out there (potentially he is the favorite to win in Wimbledon) - had odds of 1.25 at peak against Timmy, after Timmy won one set.
Would you see that 1.25 as a value bet or not?