Ankh- Morpok

So…. The US went off the gold standard but they needed countries to carry on buying the US dollar. They had w2 very good strategies 1. Make the gulf sell oil only in us$ in return for military protection 2. Industrialise China in return for China selling all their products in US$. China escaped and is now selling their stuff for Yuen. Gulf countries carried on selling oil for US$. Now….. the strait of Hormuz is blocked and the world is having to negotiate with Iran to get oil and there is really nothing the US can do. Iran will probably ask countries to pay in Yuen cos they r part of BRICS and they need Yuen to trade with China. In a single stroke they’ve broken the Petro$. Now the US has DEFINITELY not protected the gulf states. In steps China…. The US is dependent on trillions of US$ reinvested in the US (AI, JP Morgan, etc) And the rest is history. So Bitcoin??? I’m thinking there’s billion if not trillions of gulf money in the US and Europe. Now they need to get their money out without being ‘sanctioned’ and their money frozen. Do you think even a small % of this is going into bitcoin, the only money which cannot be censored?

We are living in a post truth world. I’m not sure what that means but we r living in it.

I think the world is in a very dangerous place. The Iranians have shown the US to be a paper tiger. They are simply not positioned to fight an asymmetric war, and their allies are taking note. Let’s take South Korea as an example. US removed their THAD missiles and gave it to Israel. This is not what’s shocked Korea. What’s shocked Korea is even with the THAD, Iranian missiles are getting through. So they’re deciding if US protection is actually going to protect them. They’re now thinking maybe we need to talk to North Korea. They’re starving, and we’ve got money, we need protection, and they’ve got nuclear weapons. Surely there’s a trade somewhere there. The GCC nations are thinking the same. They gave our THAD and patriot batteries to Israel and, we’re getting bombed, and even with all our stolen protections, Israel is getting bombed. Maybe we need to reconsider (and in steps China). America’s bark is seen to be worse than its bite. So what does this mean for Bitcoin? Bitcoin has been doing something very strange in the last few days. When oil futures go up, it’s holding steady or going up. Are there a few people who are realising that bitcoin really is digital gold or that when the shit hits the fan bitcoin is the only asset you can transport across borders with 12 words in your head or hidden somewhere? For whatever reason bitcoin doesn’t seem to be behaving like ‘risk on’ assets. Either way it’s ridiculously dangerous. @FLASH @HODL @Jeff Booth

I’ve said this before. But the main reason I buy bitcoin is for my kids. We’re heading into a very uncertain period where we don’t know if our kids will have jobs. There’ll probably be some kind of universal basic income but I don’t want my kids to be on that. I want them to strive. I want them to have options. I want them to know what it’s like to be ambitious. Bitcoin will give them that advantage. In 20 years when they need it, bitcoin will give them that security to take risks, to actually try. Try anything. Cos in 20 years, when everyone is going to be anaesthetised with social media, being led by AI, with a few oligarchs in charge, and everyone else being neutered by UBI, that’s when I want them to have enough bitcoin to be willing to take risks. Be willing to live. That’s why I buy bitcoin.

Iran is now in an existential fight for the survival of its civilisation. Israel is now in an existential fight for the survival of its nation. They are both willing to go to the end! One country has nuclear weapons.

I’m all for all countries arming themselves with nuclear weapons. It’s obviously the only weapon which keeps you safe.

The world is in an existential crisis. They’re seeing that American power which was meant to be indestructible and eternal is a paper tiger. Brought to its knees by a poor sanctioned country. They’re realising they’ve tied their cart to the fucking wrong horse and they’re panicking.

Things I think are bitcoin “"You know what I hate, Father? Not lies. Not even injustice. I hate silence. I hate that the world is allowed to be silent when it should be screaming. I hate that people are told what to think, and what to believe — and that they believe it." "You built your life on secrets and lies. You made your wealth on silence. And now I’m going to break it. I’m going to make the whole world see it. And I don’t care if you hate me for it." "I’m not doing this to hurt you. I’m doing this because it’s right. Because people deserve to know the truth — even if it hurts. Even if it destroys you." "You wanted me to be like you — a man who keeps the world quiet. But I can’t. I can’t be quiet. I’ll shout until my voice is gone." - Terry Pratchett, the Truth

Things which I think are bitcoin “And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.” - the Prophet, Khalil Ghibran

Things which I think are bitcoin https://youtu.be/bWXazVhlyxQ?si=f6os0Yc2MCyBsaYs

“He will rage, as he leaves, against so many things: stupidity, injustice, human foolishness and shortsightedness, not just the dying of the light. And, hand in hand with the anger, like an angel and a demon walking into the sunset, there is love: for human beings, in all our fallibility; for treasured objects; for stories; and ultimately and in all things, love for human dignity.”

“There is a fury to Terry Pratchett’s writing: it’s the fury that was the engine that powered Discworld. It’s also the anger at the headmaster who would decide that six-year-old Terry Pratchett would never be smart enough for the 11-plus; anger at pompous critics, and at those who think serious is the opposite of funny; anger at his early American publishers who could not bring his books out successfully. The anger is always there, an engine that drives. By the time Terry learned he had a rare, early onset form of Alzheimer’s, the targets of his fury changed: he was angry with his brain and his genetics and, more than these, furious at a country that would not permit him (or others in a similarly intolerable situation) to choose the manner and the time of their passing.”

Things which I think are bitcoin 3. Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - William Blake

Things which I think are bitcoin 2 Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat. What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? - William Blake

Things which I think are bitcoin, Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. - Wilfred Owen

Ok. This is going to be an unpopular opinion but the last series of bridgerton is pretty bitcoin.

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit I’m really enjoying the new season of Bridgerton. Sorry.

And so it begins… https://aje.news/zgvnc7