the secret of money

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the damaged dollar bills floating around the economy? How long does paper money actually last before it disintegrates into torn shreds or a pulpy mass that is indistinguishable from regular old paper? And at what point is paper money just too damaged to be used as legal tender? On March 30 9 p.m. ET/PT, the Discovery Channel will give viewers an inside look at "The Secret Life of Money," which seeks to answer these questions along with offering many other insights into the world of money, including the history of how gold became a standard form of currency around the world. David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein from NPR's "Planet Money" contributed to the special and chatted with Yahoo News about some of the stranger things they've learned about cash. "To me, what's most interesting is that there is a bigger idea at work here: Money is this thing that we take for granted," Goldstein said. "When you stop and think about money, it gets really weird, really fast." For example, if your money is damaged, you can legally exchange it with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. But only to a point. The bureau says it receives upwards of 300 envelopes per day, containing "torn, blackened, blood-soaked, shrunken or otherwise maimed money." However, so long as 51 percent of that blood-soaked bill remains intact, you can get a freshly issued replacement bill. "It's not paper the way we normally think of paper. It's 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen. It's like a T-shirt," Kestenbaum says, explaining why money is actually more physically durable than some might think. Still, that hasn't stopped thousands of people each year from testing its limits in strange ways. For example, one Florida man attempted to dry his money after it became wet by putting it in the microwave. But instead of returning to its crisp, clean form, the money was crisped and burst into flames. These sort of incidents resulted in the bureau exchanging $28 million worth of paper money in 2011 alone. Of course, Goldstein and Kestenbaum note that similar incidents are on the decline as money moves toward becoming a predominantly electronic transaction between buyer and seller. "There is no truck full of dollar bills going from my employer's bank to my bank," Goldstein says, noting that the very basic idea of money is really more about trust than physical value. "The U.S. dollar is already basically an electronic currency." And with the advent of independent currency providers such as Bitcoin, some people are trying to establish that trust without relying on a government. Still, Kestenbaum says that for all its shortcomings, paper money is likely to stay with us for years to come. "I am more bearish on the future of physical money," he said. "At some point, we won't be using cash at all. Not in the next year, but in 50 years? Probably." Ironically, one of the reasons Goldstein and Kestenbaum say the U.S. dollar has a future in its physical form is its popularity outside of America. They note that there are currently more $100 bills outside the U.S. than within the borders of the country that printed them. If you add up all of the cash, "there's a lot missing because of how much is used overseas," Kestenbaum said.

sex surrogate and merchandising the human body

The question came up after an official near Paris called for allowing sex assistants as part of the publicly funded social services offered to those, he said, who were least able to "discover their sexuality and their bodies." PARIS (AP) — Steven Coppens had already spent most of his lifetime battling illness before his autoimmune disease took yet another toll seven years ago, leaving him in a wheelchair. But, the 31-year-old Belgian says in a gravelly voice, he's still the man he once was, and he has the same desires as anyone in the prime of life. "In the beginning I had to adapt to life in a wheelchair. And over the first years, sex came second. But after a while, it does come back," said Coppens, who lives about 30 kilometers (20 miles) outside Brussels. That was when he went looking for escorts on the Internet. "Those girls show up and you realize they have a problem with this and are scared off. And at this point, I'm not even talking about the prices they ask for," he said. "Just imagine that for some reason you cannot have a girl. You keep on looking. A man in a wheelchair still has the same sexual drive." Coppens now volunteers with Aditi, a Belgian organization dedicated to helping the disabled in their search for sexual fulfillment. And he supports the use of "sex surrogates" — people who are paid specifically to help disabled people explore their sexuality. Belgian law often leaves the sale of sex in a legal gray area, allowing for some sexual services for people with severe disabilities. In neighboring France, however, a tense debate on the topic is just beginning. The question came up after an official near Paris called for allowing sex assistants as part of the publicly funded social services offered to those, he said, who were least able to "discover their sexuality and their bodies." The Socialist politician, Jerome Guedj, pulled the most contentious proposal Monday, just ahead of the vote in the local council, removing the term "sex surrogates" after coming under criticism for opening the door to legalized prostitution. Instead, the council agreed for now to open a "reflection on the sexual life of the disabled." It wasn't what activists for France's disabled community were hoping for. "Sexuality doesn't take disability into consideration. It's in human nature," said Pascale Ribes, vice president of the French Association for the Paralyzed, which has pressed for state approval for sexual assistance. "There are people who are deprived of access to their bodies, of their sexuality. Some can handle abstinence, but to be abstinent without choosing it is terrible." The national ethics council, however, has recommended against sex assistants and says such a move risks "merchandising the human body." Guedj, head of the Essonne department south of Paris, noted that sex surrogates for the disabled are permitted in other European countries as well as in the U.S., as seen in the recent film "The Sessions," which was inspired by an essay by Mark O'Brien, an American writer who contracted polio as a child and used an iron lung and a reclined wheelchair for rest of his life. "Why do rehabilitation hospitals teach disabled people how to sew wallets and cook from a wheelchair but not deal with a person's damaged self-image? Why don't these hospitals teach disabled people how to love and be loved through sex, or how to love our unusual bodies," O'Brian wrote in his 1990 essay, "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate." Guedj had hoped to send a working group of associations for the disabled to Belgium and Switzerland to see how the process works in places where sexual assistance is legal. In Belgium, however, people involved say the reality is more complicated than the law indicates, because the provision of sexual services is part of a murky legal netherworld initially created to counter the criminal aspects of prostitution. "This kind of care has no legal framework," said Miek Scheepers, chairwoman of Aditi. "When it comes to legal protection, labor law and finances, we still have a lot to do." The organization hopes to impose requirements like coursework on the needs of the disabled, medical certificates and a system of client feedback. But money is hard to come by. "Every year we get more queries. There is need for a proper debate and especially a need for subsidies so that this operation can continue to exist," Scheepers said. In the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal, disabled people are given a certain amount of money per month that can be used for sexual assistance if they choose. But for those who depend on the state funds, even a single visit would wipe out a solid chunk of their spending money. The visits are not considered part of basic health insurance, although some cities provide municipal funds. France's Minister for the Handicapped, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, said Guedj's initiative is premature, but she welcomed a French debate on the issue. "We're lagging a bit in France," Carlotti told Europe 1 radio in an interview last Friday. "Reflecting on the emotional and sexual life should be a legitimate question." In 2011, a conservative French lawmaker released a report recommending sexual assistance for the disabled but it went nowhere. "We want a public debate. We have to ask real questions, about ethics but also about fundamental rights for the handicapped," said Ribes, the French activist. In France, she said, "we consider people who are handicapped not people in and of themselves, but as objects of care." ___ Casert reported from Brussels. Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this story.

UN Treaty on international trade

via AP  Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked adoption of a U.N. treaty that would regulate the multibillion-dollar international arms trade for the first time, saying it fails to ban sales to terrorists, but other countries refused to let the treaty die. The treaty's adoption required agreement by all 193 U.N. member states, but some countries said Thursday they would ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bring the final draft before the General Assembly for adoption by vote as soon as possible. Observers said that could be as soon as Tuesday. "This is not failure," British Ambassador Jo Adamson said. "Today is success deferred, and deferred by not very long." For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to regulate the estimated $60 billion global arms trade and try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime. After two weeks of intensive negotiations, many delegates had been optimistic that consensus — which doesn't require a vote — by all states was within reach, but Iran, North Korea and Syria announced they could not support the treaty. Both Iran and North Korea are under U.N. arms embargoes over their nuclear programs, while Syria is in the third year of a conflict that has escalated to civil war. Amnesty International said all three countries "have abysmal human rights records — having even used arms against their own citizens." This was the second attempt in eight months to get countries with very different interests behind an Arms Trade Treaty. Hopes of reaching agreement were dashed in July when the U.S. said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord — a move quickly backed by Russia and China. In December, the U.N. General Assembly decided to hold a final conference and set Thursday as the deadline. U.S. deputy representative Dan Mahley said Thursday that the United States supported the proposed treaty as "fair and balanced" and looked forward to its quick adoption by the General Assembly. The United States, along with Britain, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria and Norway, backed Kenya, which announced that because "the will of the overwhelming majority is clear" it was sending a letter to the secretary-general immediately asking him to bring the treaty before the General Assembly for adoption. The secretary-general did not immediately address the request but expressed deep disappointment at the failure to agree on a treaty text. "He is confident that the Arms Trade Treaty will come to pass and is encouraged by the shared determination to make this happen as soon as possible," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. The Control Arms Coalition, representing about 100 organizations which have campaigned for a strong treaty, said the earliest the General Assembly could vote is Tuesday, when the chair of the negotiations, Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott, will present his report to the full world body. The United States used the consensus requirement — which gives any country a veto — to block adoption of the treaty in July, but Anna Macdonald, head of arms control at Oxfam, said "now it's come back to bite them, because the U.S. now wants this treaty agreed but have found themselves blocked by Iran, North Korea and Syria." She added, "There's no doubt that if the treaty was put to a vote there would have been a huge majority in favor of it — and I think there will be next week when the General Assembly votes." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Countryman said the United States would like to see many countries ratify the treaty, because that's what will make it effective. The draft treaty would not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate arms brokers. It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they violate arms embargoes or if they promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The final draft made the human rights provision even stronger, adding that the export of conventional arms should be prohibited if they could be used in attacks on civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals. In considering whether to authorize the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists or organized crime. The final draft would allow countries to determine whether the weapons transfer would contribute to or undermine peace and security. The draft would also require parties to the treaty to take measures to prevent the diversion of conventional weapons to the illicit market. Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said the draft treaty has "many legal flaws and loopholes," is "hugely susceptible to politicization and discrimination" and ignores the "legitimate demand" to prohibit the transfer of arms to those who commit aggression. "How can we reduce human suffering by turning a blind eye to aggression that costs the lives of hundreds of thousands of people?" he asked. North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador Ri Tong-il called the text "a risky draft which can be politically abused by major arms exporters," citing arms embargoes and human rights as criteria to prohibit arms exports. "Under this, major exporters are entitled to privileges while imposing self-proclaimed restrictions on arms trade to importers, whereas many countries have the right to legitimate self-defense and right to legitimate arms trade." Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said his country is perhaps the best example of the results of the illegal arms trade. He cited seven objections, including the treaty's failure to include an embargo on delivering weapons "to terrorist armed groups and to non-state actors." India's Ambassador Sujata Mehta said the text was skewed against countries like itself that import arms, and noted that it would strive ensure that the final treaty not threaten India's defense cooperation agreements and contracts with other countries. She said it also won't have any real impact on illicit arms trafficking and the use of arms by terrorists. Countryman, the U.S. delegation chief, said the treaty should make it harder for "serial human rights abusers" to obtain weapons, but he said "India is not one of these countries." __ Associated Press writer Maria Sanminiatelli contributed to this report.

Who really killed bin Laden? - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/26/world/bergen-who-killed-bin-laden/index.html

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Rekening Dana Investor and AkSes

via okezone Sejak awal tahun lalu, dana milik investor tidak lagi bercampur dengan dana di rekening perusahaan efek. Kebijakan pemisahan dana ini tertuang dalam peraturan Bapepam-LK Nomor V.D.III tentang Pengendalian Internal Perusahaan Efek. Apa tujuan pemisahan rekening dana ini?   Mungkin ada yang ingat kasus Sarijaya Sekuritas beberapa tahun yang  lalu di pasar modal Indonesia. Perusahaan sekuritas yang sebelumnya sangat aktif melakukan sosialiasi pasar modal ini dibubarkan setelah terbukti menyalahgunakan dana nasabahnya senilai lebih dari Rp300 miliar.   Perusahaan sekuritas itu menggunakan dana milik nasabah tanpa seizin nasabah untuk bertransaksi atas kepentingan mereka. Ketika dana investasi yang mereka "mainkan" jatuh nilainya, Sarijaya Sekuritas tidak bisa mengembalikan dana nasabah. Uang investor raib bersamaan dengan ditutupnya perusahaan ini, dan ditahannya para tersangka.   Penyalahgunaan dana investor yang menjadi nasabah perusahaan sekuritas sebelum ini rentan terjadi karena tidak ada pemisahan antara rekening dana milik perusahaan sekuritas dan rekening dana nasabah. Investor hanya menerima laporan tentang nilai aset mereka dan saham atau efek yang dititipkan di perusahaan sekuritas.   Tidak ada jaminan, dana dan efek  milik nasabah tidak disalahgunakan oknum pialang di perusahaan efek. Lantaran, investor tidak bisa memantau langsung perpindahan (mutasi) dana dan efek mereka.   Dengan keluarnya peraturan mengenai pemisahan Rekening Dana Nasabah (RDN) yang berlaku sejak setahun lalu, nasabah lebih terlindungi dari moral hazard oknum perusahaan efek. Kebijakan RDN ini menjadi bagian dari pengembangan infrastruktur pasar modal yang dikembangkan oleh Strategic Management Office-Project Management Office (SMO-PMO) Bapepam-LK dan SRO, yang diluncurkan akhir tahun lalu.   RDN diterapkan bersamaan dengan pemberlakuan Single Investor Identification (SID). Setiap investor memiliki satu SID sebagai identitas investor. SID yang dimiliki investor ini juga digunakan untukpassword masuk ke fasilitas AKSes yang difasilitasi PT Kustodian Sentral Efek Indonesia (KSEI). Melalui AKSes, investor bisa memonitor saldo efek miliknya dan mutasi efek yang ada di sejumlah perusahaan efek.   Sejak 1 Februari 2012, hanya investor yang sudah memiliki SID dan RDN yang bisa bertransaksi saham di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI). Ketentuan ini diterapkan untuk memberikan keamanan bagi investor, dalam rangka perlindungan terhadap investor di pasar modal Indonesia.   Setiap perusahaan sekuritas diwajibkan membuatkan SID dan membukakan RDN untuk setiap investornya. Saat ini ada lima bank pembayaran yang menjadi tempat menampung RDN, yakni BCA, BNI, Bank Mandiri, Bank Permata, dan CIMB Niaga. Dalam waktu dekat akan ditambah satu bank syariah untuk melayani transaksi pasar modal syariah.   Sampai saat ini, masih ada nasabah yang tidak aktif di pasar modal yang belum memiliki RDN. Meskipun tanggung jawab untuk membukakan RDN menjadi tugas perusahaan efek, investor pun harus peduli pada ketentuan ini, untuk segera meminta kepada perusahaan efek tempatnya menjadi nasabah untuk  segera  memiliki RDN.   Untuk membuka RDN dibutuhkan pengisian aplikasi data nasabah dan tanda tangan. Ini yang menurut sejumlah perusahaan efek kadang sulit diminta, terutama para nasabah lama. Investor-investor lama  yang selama ini merasa dananya aman-aman saja di perusahaan sekuritas kadang enggan  untuk mengisi ulang data mereka untuk kepentingan pembukaan RDN. Namun, untuk keamanan dan kenyamanan bersama, diharapkan investor menyadari, kebijakan RDN ini semata-mata untuk melindungi kepentingan investor. (TIM BEI) (//mrt)