@ a012dc82:6458a70d

The cryptocurrency world is on the verge of a groundbreaking transformation with the anticipated introduction of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). This significant development is set to redefine the realm of crypto-investment, merging the innovative world of digital currencies with the established domain of traditional finance. Bitcoin ETFs represent a monumental shift, not just as a novel investment option, but as a revolutionary bridge connecting the cutting-edge technology of cryptocurrencies with the more familiar territory of stock market investments. This fusion is poised to unlock a new level of accessibility, drawing mainstream investors into the Bitcoin sphere, who were previously hesitant due to the complexities and perceived risks associated with direct cryptocurrency dealings. **Table of Contents** - The Emergence of Bitcoin ETFs - Unveiling Opportunities - Confronting the Dangers - The Road Ahead - Expanding the Horizon - Enhanced Market Dynamics - Technological Advancements - Educational Initiatives - Global Impact - Conclusion - FAQs **The Emergence of Bitcoin ETFs** Bitcoin ETFs are poised to revolutionize the cryptocurrency market. They offer a streamlined avenue for investment in Bitcoin, bypassing the intricacies of direct ownership such as wallet management and key security. This simplicity could democratize Bitcoin investment, potentially enhancing its liquidity and stability. **Unveiling Opportunities** - **Broader Investor Appeal:** Bitcoin ETFs simplify cryptocurrency investment, making it more approachable for the average investor and traditional financial players. This could lead to wider adoption and recognition of Bitcoin as a viable asset class. - **Influx of Institutional Capital:** ETFs could catalyze a surge of institutional funds into the Bitcoin market. Institutions, previously hesitant due to regulatory and security concerns, might view ETFs as a safer investment avenue. - **Market Evolution:** The advent of Bitcoin ETFs signals a maturation of the cryptocurrency market, transitioning towards regulated, mainstream financial products. This evolution could bolster investor confidence and market stability. **Confronting the Dangers** The introduction of Bitcoin ETFs is not devoid of risks and challenges. - **Amplified Volatility:** Bitcoin's notorious volatility could be intensified by the influx of new investors via ETFs, particularly if large capital movements occur swiftly. - **Regulatory Hurdles:** The evolving regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies could become more complex with Bitcoin ETFs, inviting stricter regulations that may impact the market dynamics. - **Systemic Implications:** Integrating Bitcoin into the traditional financial system through ETFs could introduce new systemic risks. A significant downturn in Bitcoin's value might have broader implications for investors and funds linked to these ETFs. **The Road Ahead** As the Bitcoin ETF era dawns, investors should exercise caution. The potential of Bitcoin ETFs is substantial, but the accompanying risks warrant serious consideration. Investors should engage in comprehensive research and assess their risk appetite before engaging with these new investment vehicles. **Expanding the Horizon** **Enhanced Market Dynamics** The introduction of Bitcoin ETFs could lead to more dynamic market behaviors. As traditional and crypto markets become more intertwined, the impact of global economic events on Bitcoin's price could become more pronounced, leading to new investment strategies and market analysis techniques. **Technological Advancements** The growth of Bitcoin ETFs might spur technological advancements in trading platforms and financial tools. Enhanced security measures, improved trading algorithms, and more sophisticated risk management tools could emerge, catering to the unique needs of cryptocurrency ETFs. **Educational Initiatives** With the growing interest in Bitcoin ETFs, there's likely to be an increase in educational resources and initiatives aimed at helping investors understand the nuances of cryptocurrency investments. This could lead to a more informed investor base, capable of making better investment decisions in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies. **Global Impact** The success of Bitcoin ETFs in one region, such as the United States, could encourage other countries to follow suit, leading to a more globalized cryptocurrency market. This could have significant implications for international financial regulations and cooperation. **Conclusion** The potential introduction of Bitcoin ETFs marks a significant milestone in the journey of cryptocurrency investment. While it heralds new opportunities and greater accessibility, it also brings forth challenges and risks that need to be navigated with care. The future of Bitcoin ETFs will hinge on the balance between these opportunities and dangers, and the market's ability to adapt to this new phase of crypto-investment. As we stand at the threshold of this exciting era, the global financial community watches with bated breath, ready to witness the unfolding story of Bitcoin ETFs. **FAQs** **How does a Bitcoin ETF differ from direct Bitcoin investment?** Investing in a Bitcoin ETF means you're investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin as its primary asset, as opposed to buying Bitcoin directly and managing your own digital wallet and security. ETFs are also subject to different regulatory and tax treatments. **What are the benefits of Bitcoin ETFs?** Bitcoin ETFs offer easier access to Bitcoin investment, potentially lower risks compared to direct ownership, and the convenience of trading through traditional investment platforms. **What risks are associated with Bitcoin ETFs?** Risks include the inherent volatility of Bitcoin, potential regulatory changes, and systemic risks if the cryptocurrency market impacts the broader financial system. **Are Bitcoin ETFs available globally?** The availability of Bitcoin ETFs varies by country, depending on the regulatory environment. Some countries may not yet have approved Bitcoin ETFs for trading. **Can Bitcoin ETFs impact the price of Bitcoin?** Yes, Bitcoin ETFs can impact Bitcoin's price as they can increase market liquidity and bring in more institutional investors, potentially leading to price changes. **That's all for today** **If you want more, be sure to follow us on:** **NOSTR: croxroad@getalby.com** **X: [@croxroadnews.co](https://x.com/croxroadnewsco)** **Instagram: [@croxroadnews.co](https://www.instagram.com/croxroadnews.co/)** **Youtube: [@croxroadnews](https://www.youtube.com/@croxroadnews)** **Store: https://croxroad.store** **Subscribe to CROX ROAD Bitcoin Only Daily Newsletter** **https://www.croxroad.co/subscribe** ***DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.***

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

Like most members of the human race, I don’t enjoy filing my taxes. “Don’t enjoy” though understates my actual feeling which is “would rather do a tour in Afghanistan.” It’s not even the money I’m forced to pay that I know for sure will be misallocated, stolen or worse — put to use in ways that are anathema to everything I believe and in direct opposition to conditions in which human beings thrive. That’s only part of it. The other and perhaps bigger part is they require me — under penalty of law — to do homework. They command me, as though they were my boss, to complete this work project, my tax return, and if I don’t I’ll have my property seized, my credit destroyed and even go to prison. This is so even though I am not a criminal, and I never agreed to work for this boss. And it’s not just a random work project I am required to submit, so that they can misallocate, steal and attack me with my own money. It’s a project that requires me to divulge private details about myself, what transactions I’ve made, with whom I made them and for what purpose. I am a private citizen, I hold no public office or official role, and yet the public sector is not only entitled to comb through the details of my life, but I must be complicit in helping them under penalty of law, i.e., threat of violence if I don’t comply. . . . This was not always the case. The income tax was only introduced in 1913, and at the time was only for the richest of the rich. That is to say, it is not the default state of affairs in the United States under its original constitution, and it’s strange that it’s been normalized as such. And despite it being normalized — for the greater good, of course — our government is still somehow $36 trillion in debt. In other words, despite the annual indignity to which we subject ourselves, the government spends far more money than it takes in. I am reminded of Dostoyevsky’s line: “Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.” The government is spending money it doesn’t have, whether you pay it or not, and the money you do pay, for things you not only do not want but are vehemently against, doesn’t come close to covering their cost. . . . I was having lunch with some normies last month, and the subject of taxes came up. They were talking about the ways in which they, as ex-pats, minimize their tax burden, using certain loopholes, and at one point someone questioned why government pensions were taxed, given the entity paying the pension and demanding it be taxed was one and the same. Why not just pay a smaller pension? One of them asked me, and I said: “I don’t think anyone should be taxed.” She shook her head and muttered in amusement, “No, people need to be taxed.” This despite not two minutes earlier explaining how she was optimizing her tax status, which no doubt she would have optimized all the way to zero or if she were able! . . . Taxes are necessary, it’s assumed, to pay for things individuals won’t. “Who will build the roads?” they wonder. I would imagine car makers would be invested in building roads, those who ship goods via truck might have an interest and consumers, flush with their new zero percent tax rate, might pay a little more for the end products to facilitate road creation so those products get to them on time and in good condition. In fact, it might be *more* expensive to ship them via horseback or whatever alternate form of transport would take the place of motor vehicles should no one shell out for roads. Moreover, people seem to believe taxes should always be taken not from them, but from those rich enough to afford them painlessly. Never mind anyone reading this substack is vastly wealthy compared to much of the third world (how painful can taxes be so long as you have food on the table and a roof over your head?), and never mind no one ever voluntarily pays more tax than he owes. Why not? If taxation is a good thing, why not do *more* good by overpaying? But no, it’s always someone else who needs to be forced under penalty of law, i.e., threat of violence, to give up his property for what those in authority deem “the greater good”. Taken to its logical conclusion, if the authorities deem anyone sufficiently wealthy and the greater good sufficiently necessary, they can legally take that wealth by force. We can quibble about how much funding is necessary and what is the “greater good,” but it’s often essential things like the “safe and effective” vaccine without which millions would surely die or the necessity of invading Iraq, which cost $6 trillion to prevent Sadaam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction” from reaching US soil. It’s amazing authorities so often discover urgent projects without which people will die or suffer terribly, on account of which it’s necessary to commandeer money you’ve earned or saved! And while I am taking about the indignity of filing *income* tax, I don’t mean to leave out property tax, sales tax, estate tax, individual state and city taxes and the like. At least with some of those you have a fixed amount to pay, and you don’t have to submit to an on-camera self-administered anal cavity search of your finances in those cases. You’d also think given how many ways citizens are taxed that roads would be in tip top condition, our water and environment would be clean, our airports modern and state of the art, our health care affordable and accessible, but of course none of that is the case. Again per Dostoyevsky — we have betrayed ourselves for nothing. . . . The irony of this essay/diatribe is I will file my taxes like the cuck I am over the next week or so. I don’t want to do this, but it’s simply not worth the consequences for non-compliance. And I feel bad about making this compromise — bad about myself because I am doing something I feel is wrong for convenience, the same kind of calculation people made when they injected themselves with experimental mRNA chemicals they didn’t want to keep their jobs or travel. I like to think of myself as resolute and uncompromising, but in this instance I roll over every year. Perhaps that’s part of why I dread it so much. . . . I’ll end with a footnote of sorts. In the late spring of 2023, I discovered I was due a significant refund, and I paid my accountants who figured this out $400 to re-file for me. They told me I could expect it to take up to nine months to process, so I largely forgot about it until spring of 2024 when I called but got phone-treed to death and waited until September to brute-force my way to a human in another department to explain the situation. They didn’t tell me anything, but agreed to do a “trace” which a couple weeks later revealed someone else had intercepted and cashed my check. (It’s not direct deposit because I’m overseas.) I immediately returned the form proving it was not my signature on the deposited check, and now, five months later, in February of 2025, they are still processing my purported payment which I have yet to receive. I did, however, receive a notice of the interest I was “paid” for 2024 on which I’m expected to be taxed. That interest went to the person who stole my original check obviously, they know this, and yet it apparently hasn’t caught up in the system. And the truth is I will probably pay the tax on it as the hassle of explaining why I’m not is simply not worth it, and I will sort it out on next year’s tax return, assuming Trump hasn’t abolished the IRS entirely, God willing, and delivered us, in small part, from this abject dystopia.

@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

In the UK, as Bitcoin on-ramps become throttled more and more by government interference, ironically more and more off-ramps are becoming available. So here, as Bitcoin starts its bull run and many people will be spending or taking profits within the next year or so, I am going to summarise my experience with off ramps. N.B. many of these off-ramps are also on-ramps, but I’m primarily focusing on spending Bitcoin. Revolut: At last in the UK, Revolut is a “probation” full bank and so now has most of the fiat guarantees that other legacy banks have. Apart from its excellent multi-currency account services for fiat, meaning you can spend native currencies in many countries, Revolut have for some time allowed you to buy a selection of Crypto currencies including Bitcoin. You can send those coins to self custody wallets, or keep them on Revolut and either sell or spend on specific DeFi cards which can be added to platforms like Apple Pay. Fees, as you would expect are relatively high, but it is a very good, seamless service. Uphold: This was an exchange I was automatically signed up to by using the “Brave Browser” and earning BAT tokens for watching adds. I have however found the built in virtual debit card, which I’ve added to Apple Pay useful for shedding my shitcoins by cashing them in and spending GBP in the real world, buying day to day stuff. Xapo Bank: I signed up about a year ago to the first “Bitcoin Bank” founded by Wences Casares a very early Bitcoiner. They are based in Gibraltar and offer a USD, Tether and Bitcoin banking service which allows you to deposit GBP or spend GBP, but converts everything into either USD or BTC. You have a full UK bank account number and sort code, but everything received in it is converted to USD on the fly. They also support Lightning and they have integrated LightSparks UMA Universal Money Addressing protocol explained here: https://www.lightspark.com/uma When I signed up the fees were $150 per annum, but they have since increased them to $1,000 per annum for new users. I have yet to use the bank account or debit card in any earnest, but it will be my main spending facility when I take profits Strike: Strike it really focused on cross border payments and sending fiat money around the world for little to no cost using Bitcoin as the transmission rails. You need to KYC to sign up, but you then get, in the UK at least, a nominee bank account in your name, a Lightning and Bitcoin wallet address and the ability to send payments immediately to any other Strike user by name, or any Bitcoin or Lightning address. In the U.S. they have also recently launched a bill pay service, using your Strike account to pay your regular household bills using either fiat or Bitcoin. Coinbase: Back in 2017, I signed up for a Coinbase debit card and was spending Sats in daily life with it automatically converting Sats to GBP on the fly. I let it lapse in 2021 and haven’t bothered to replace it. I believe it is still option to consider. Crypto.com I have a debit card which I cannot add to Apple Pay, but I have managed to add it to Curve card: https://www.curve.com/en-gb/ which is in turn added to Apple Pay. This allows me to spend any fiat which I have previously cashed from selling coins. I currently have some former exchange coins cashed out which I am gradually spending in the real world as GBP. SwissBorg Has had a troubled past with the FCA, but does currently allow deposits and withdrawals from UK banks, although Barclays have blocked transactions to my own nominee account within SwissBorg on a couple of occasions. They have a debit card option for investors in their platform, which I am not and they intend to make this generally available in the future. SwissBorg are a not an exchange, but more of a comparison site, searching the market for the best prices and activating deals for you across multiple platforms, taking a commission. They have been my main source for buying BTC and when they are not being interfered with by the FCA, they are excellent. You also get a nominee bank account in their platform in your own name.

@ 0b118e40:4edc09cb

Are we living in his definition of democracy? It’s interesting how political parties can divide a country, especially in democracies where both oppression and individual choice coexist. As I was exploring global economics and political ideologies, I picked up *The Republic* by Plato (again). The first time I read it, I only read the book on the Allegory of the Cave and it felt enlightening. This time around, I read through all the books and I thought to myself : *this is absolutely nuts!* Over 2,000 years ago, *The Republic* imagined a world disturbingly similar to Gattaca or 1984. For a quick rundown, Plato believed in a police state, eugenics, a caste system, and brainwashing people through state-controlled media and education. Sounds wild? I thought so too. And for some reason, Plato had a serious grudge against art. To him, art was deceptive and emotionally manipulative. Maybe because there was a skit making fun of Socrates at that time by Aristophanes (the father of comedy) or maybe because he struggled to deal with emotions, we will never know. Plato obviously wasn’t a fan of democracy as he wanted a dystopian world. But to be fair, he genuinely thought that his ideal world (Kallipolis) was a utopia. Maybe someone who loves extreme order and control might think the same but I sure don’t. His teacher Socrates was also not a fan of democracy because he believed the mass majority were too ignorant to govern and only those intelligent enough could. His student, Aristotle, was more moderate but still critical, seeing democracy as vulnerable to corruption and mob rule. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were around the Classical Greek era, 5th to 4th century BC. The idea of democracy existed long before them. The first recorded version was in Athens during the 6th BC, developed by leaders like Solon and Pericles. It was a direct democracy where free male citizens (non-slaves) could vote on laws themselves instead of electing representatives. These guys influenced how we think about democracy today. But looking around, I wonder, did we end up in Plato’s dystopian world? ### **Plato’s take on democracy** Plato’s lack of trust of democracy stemmed from Socrates’ death. Socrates himself was a fierce critic of democracy, as he believed governance should be based on wisdom rather than popularity. Other thinkers, like Pythagoras and Herodotus (father of history), also examined different political systems, but Socrates was the most influential critic. He warned that allowing the uneducated masses to choose leaders would lead to poor governance, as they could be easily swayed by persuasive speakers rather than guided by knowledge. Athenian democracy relied on large citizen juries and was particularly vulnerable to rhetoric and public sentiment. In the end, Socrates became a victim of the very system he criticized. His relentless questioning of widely accepted beliefs, now known as the **Socratic Method**, earned him powerful enemies. Socrates’ constant probing forced them to confront uncomfortable truths. It annoyed people so much, that it eventually led to his trial and execution. Socrates was condemned to death by popular vote. I wonder, if we applied the Socratic Method today to challenge both the left and the right on the merits of the opposing side, would they be open to expanding their perspectives, or would they react with the same hostility? This questioning technique is now also used in some schools and universities as a teaching method, encouraging open-ended discussion where students contribute their own thoughts rather than passively receiving information. But how open a school, system, or educator is to broad perspectives depends largely on their own biases and beliefs. Even with open-ended questions, the direction of the conversation can be shaped by those in charge, potentially limiting the range of perspectives explored. Socrates’ brutal death deeply grounded Plato’s belief that democracy, without intellectual rigor, was nothing but a mob rule. He saw it as a system doomed to chaos, where the unqualified, driven by emotion or manipulated by rhetoric, made decisions that ultimately paved the way for tyranny. ### **The Republic** *The Republic* was written around 375 BC, after the Peloponnesian War. One of its most famous sections is the Allegory of the Cave, where prisoners are stuck watching shadows on a wall, thinking that it’s reality until one breaks free and sees the real world. That’s when the person becomes enlightened, using knowledge and reason to escape ignorance. They return to free others, spreading the truth. I love this idea of breaking free from suppression through knowledge and awareness. But as I went deeper into Plato’s work, I realized what the plot twist was. Plato wrote this book for strict state control. He wanted total control over education, media, and even families like in the book 1984. He argued that people should be sorted into a caste system, typically workers, warriors, and philosopher-kings so that society runs like a well-oiled machine. The “guardians” would police the state and everyone would go through physical and military training. To top it off, kids would be taken away from their parents and raised by the state for the “greater good.” like in the movie Gattaca. If that sounds a little too Orwellian, that’s because it is. Plato believed that only philosophers, the truly enlightened ones from that “cave”, should rule. To him, democracy was a joke, a breeding ground for corruption and tyranny. I found it completely ironic that this book that warns about brainwashing in the Allegory of the Cave also pushes for a state-controlled society, where thinking for yourself isn’t really an option. And yet, looking around today, I wonder, are we really any different? We live in a world where oppression and enlightenment exist side by side. Plato was slightly progressive in that he thought men and women should have equal education, but only for the ruling Guardian class. In *The Republic*, Plato didn’t focus much on economics or capitalism as we understand them today. His philosophies were more concerned with justice, governance, and the ideal structure of society. He did touch on wealth and property, particularly in *The Republic and Laws* but it was more on being against wealth accumulation by rulers (philosopher-kings had to live communally and without private property). While these ideas echo elements of socialism, he never outlined a full economic system like capitalism or socialism. ### **The hatred for art** Plato was deeply skeptical of art. He believed that it appealed to emotions over rational thought and distorted reality. In *The Republic* (Book X), he argued that art is an imitation of an imitation, pulling people further from the truth. If he had his way, much of modern entertainment, including poetry, drama, and even certain types of music, would not exist in their expressive forms. Despite Plato’s distrust of the arts, his time was a golden age for Greek drama, sculpture, and philosophy. Ironically, the very city where he built his Academy, Athens, was flourishing with the kind of creativity he wanted to censor. Even medicine, which thrived under Hippocrates (the father of medicine), was considered an art requiring lifelong mastery. His quote, ‘**Life is short, and art is long**,’ reflects the long span of time it takes to cultivate and appreciate knowledge and skills, which was something Plato valued. Yet, he dismissed most art as a distraction from truth. Plato particularly criticized poets and playwrights like Homer, as he claimed they spread false ideas about gods and morality. He was also wary of Aristophanes, as he believed his work stirred emotions rather than encouraging rational thought. It probably did not help that Aristophanes mocked Socrates in his play *The Clouds*, which may have influenced Plato’s views. What’s clear is that Plato didn’t hate art because he didn’t understand it. He deeply understood the power of storytelling and its ability to mold societal beliefs. He argued for banning poets entirely from his “ideal city” to prevent them from misleading the public. But he did value some forms of art. After all, he was a writer himself, and writing is a form of art. He approved of artistic expressions that promoted moral and intellectual virtue, such as hymns, architecture, and patriotic poetry, as long as they served the greater purpose of instilling order and wisdom in society. ### **Plato’s five regimes** Plato believed governments naturally decay over time, moving from order to chaos. He outlined five regimes, which he considers each to be worse than the last. 1. *Aristocracy (Philosopher-King rule)* : This is his pitch, the ideal state, ruled by wise elites who value knowledge over power. Some aspects of modern authoritarian states echo this model 2. *Timocracy (Military rule)* : A government driven by honor and discipline, like Sparta. Over time, ambition overtakes virtue, leading to oligarchy. 3. *Oligarchy (Rule by the wealthy)* : The rich seizes power and deepens inequality. Many democracies today show oligarchic tendencies, where money dominates politics. 4. *Democracy (Rule by the masses)* : The people overthrow the elites, prioritizing freedom over order. But without stability, democracy becomes fragile, and vulnerable to demagogues and external manipulation. 5. *Tyranny (Dictatorship)* : When democracy collapses, a charismatic leader rises, promising order but seizing absolute power. What begins as freedom ends in oppression. Modern politics seems stuck in a cycle, shifting between democracy, oligarchy, and authoritarian control. If Plato was right, no system is permanent and only the illusion of stability remains. ### **Does Plato’s ideal state exist in any country today?** Some aspects of modern *benevolent dictatorships*, like Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, or *socialist states* like China, may resemble Plato’s vision in their emphasis on elite rule, long-term planning, and state control. But, these governments operate pragmatically, balancing governance with economic power, political strategy, and public influence rather than strictly adhering to philosophical ideals. Could this be compared to Taliban rule, given the censorship, authoritarian control, and rigid social hierarchy? While there are superficial similarities, the key difference is that Plato valued knowledge, reason, and meritocracy, while the Taliban enforced religious fundamentalism and theocratic rule. Plato’s Kallipolis also included some level of gender equality for the ruling class, whereas the Taliban’s system is heavily restrictive, especially toward women. While Plato’s ideas echo in certain authoritarian-leaning states, his rigid caste system, philosopher-led governance, and rejection of democracy set his vision apart from any modern political system. ### **Aristotle’s take on democracy** Aristotle wasn’t Athenian, but he documented and analyzed 158 constitutions, including Athenian democracy. He studied at Plato’s Academy for over 20 years, growing up in a world influenced by Athens’ democratic experiment. He lived through the tail end of Athens’ golden age, witnessed its decline, and experienced how different forms of rule influenced politics and the mindset of the people under them. For Aristotle, governments were good or corrupted. The good ones were monarchs, aristocracy (wise elites), and polity (a constitutional gov’t where the middle class keeps power balanced). The corrupted ones were tyranny (monarchy gone wrong), oligarchy, and democracy. Aristotle saw how democracy, if unchecked, could spiral into chaos or be co-opted by populist leaders. But unlike Plato, who rejected democracy outright, Aristotle believed it could work if properly structured. His concept of ‘**polity**’ was a constitutional government that balanced democratic participation with stability, relying on a strong middle class to prevent both mob rule and elite domination. This idea of checks and balances, a mixed government, and middle-class stability make polity the closest to modern constitutional democracies today when compared to all 3 of the Greek philosophers. ### **What happened after Athens?** Of course, democracy didn’t end with Athens, it evolved over time. After Athens’ golden age came Alexander the Great (Aristotle’s student and the king of Macedonia). He conquered Greece, Persia, Egypt, and part of India, creating the largest empire of his time. After his death in 323 BCE, his empire split among his generals, marking the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Rome saw a shift from the fall of the Roman Republic to the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus moving away from democratic ideals to centralized rule. But the Western Roman Empire fell about 500 years later largely due to internal decline and invasions by the Germanic Tribes (modern-day Sweden, Switzerland, Germany). The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire, based in Constantinople or modern-day Turkey) rose and survived for nearly 1,000 more years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During the Medieval period (5th–15th century), Europe saw a rise in monarchies and feudalism. Power shifted to kings, nobles, and the church, with little direct participation from ordinary people. Some democratic elements survived in places like Venice and Florence, where wealthy merchant families controlled city-states. By the 17th century, democracy started creeping back into political thought, though not without skepticism. Machiavelli and Hobbes weren’t exactly fans of democracy, but they had plenty to say about power and governance. Later on Machiavelli hinted on the possible idea of a republic/mixed government in the *Discourses of Livy * Meanwhile, England was going through its own struggles with power. The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a showdown between King Charles I, who wanted absolute power, and Parliament, which wanted more influence. Charles ignored Parliament and was executed in 1649. England briefly became a republic under Oliver Cromwell, but the monarchy returned after his death. In 1688, the Glorious Revolution forced King James II (Charles I’s son) to flee to France. Parliament then invited William of Orange (a Dutch Protestant) and his wife Mary to take the throne. In 1689, they signed the English Bill of Rights, which limited the monarchy’s power, strengthened Parliament, and guaranteed certain rights to citizens. This was a significant moment in history as it effectively ended the absolute monarchy and established a constitutional monarchy in England. The American Revolution in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789 pushed democratic ideals forward but still excluded women, slaves, and the poor. Historian Luciano Canfora, in his book* Democracy in Europe*, argues that early liberal democracy was full of contradictions as it preached equality, yet economic and social exclusion remained. (Note: If you want to understand the history of *anarchism*, the French Revolution is a key starting point. It influenced early anti-authoritarian thought, which later evolved into socialist and anti-capitalist movements. Over time, libertarians adopted anarchist principles, leading to the development of anarcho-capitalism. The concept of anarchism in politics has taken nearly two centuries to emerge in its modern form). The 19th and 20th centuries saw the expansion of democracy. But as Canfora explains it, it also saw its exploitation and manipulation. Although industrialization and social movements pushed for broader suffrage, democracy remained controlled by elites who feared true mass participation. Democracy became a tool for maintaining power rather than a true expression of the people’s will. According to Canfora, the Cold War turned democracy into a geopolitical tool, with Western powers supporting or opposing democratic movements based on strategic interests rather than principles. Today, there are many versions of democracy from direct democracy to representative democracy, presidential democracy, social democracy, religious democracy, constitutional democracy, communist democracy, and more. And is often viewed as a brand name for “good governance”. But are they? ### **In the end, was Plato right?** At a meta level, Plato’s argument was about control, be it controlling what people read, hear, and even think. The debate often centers on curated knowledge vs rhetoric. Plato believed that absolute obedience would bring harmony, even at the cost of individuality. Today, we call that totalitarian or dictatorship But when we take a second look at things, are we already living in Plato’s world? Governments across the globe control education, influence media narratives, and regulate speech. Many so-called democracies aren’t as free as they claim to be. So maybe Plato’s influence on modern democracies runs deeper than we realize. Another key debate today is that, unlike Plato’s time, most people *are* educated. However, much of this education is still designed by state systems, which can influence how people think and vote. How do we balance empowering people through education while ensuring true independence in a system built on critical thinking rather than one that merely feeds information? Truth is, democracy has never been a pure, people-driven system. It has always been influenced by power struggles, wealth, and manipulation. Often it has been an instrument of control rather than liberation. Yet, the people have always resisted. In the past, they gathered in the streets, risking tear gas, rubber bullets or being dragged into Black Marias. Today, digital activism has allowed for mass mobilization with fewer risks. In many countries especially in third-world countries, online movements on platforms like Twitter during Jack’s time, forced governments to overturn policies. This may be the closest we've come to real democracy which is direct action without the usual state violence. But with this rise in digital activism comes the counterforce through government and corporate requirements for censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and the quiet steering of public discourse. Platforms once seen as tools of liberation can become tools of control. *Facebook mood experiment* in 2012 tested positive and negative content on 700,000 people and proved emotions can be manipulated at scale. *Cambridge Analytica* was exposed in its attempt to manipulate votes. This is where decentralized networks like Nostr matter as a fundamental resistance to centralized control over speech. If democracy is to return to the people, it must also break free from algorithmic gatekeepers and censorship. Because the so-called ‘ignorant masses’, the very people Plato dismissed, are the ones who fight for freedom. Because real democracy isn’t about control. It’s about freedom. It’s about choice. It’s about the people, always.

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I’m not doing any writing today. Taking the day, maybe the week, off. Just not in the mood. This whole idea you’re supposed to write, get the thoughts out, the ideas moving is stupid. To what end? I’m done with evaluating myself for productivity, justifying myself to myself — or anyone else. What I really need is to find some pleasant distractions. Something to fill my time, or as Elon Musk says of Twitter “to avoid regretted user seconds.” I’ve tried Twitter itself, of course, but Musk’s algorithm falls woefully short. After an hour of doom and dopamine scrolling, punctuated with the occasional shitpost, many seconds are regretted — roughly 3500 of them. I could turn to alcohol or drugs, but too many side effects. Yes, you’re distracted, but what about after that? You’re always left worse off than where you started. Even alcoholics and drug addicts — the pros! — know it’s a dead end. I don’t know, maybe spend more time with loved ones? You hear that a lot. “If I didn’t have to work so much, I’d spend more time with loved ones.” LOL. Like what, you’re going to hang around while your “loved ones” are doing things with their actual lives. Maybe I’ll take the bus to school with Sasha, hang out with her and her friends, see how that goes. Quality time! Exercise. It’s the perfect solution, good for your health, you feel better, your mind is calm. Only problem is it’s fucking miserable. If your aim is to avoid sitting at a desk to write, forcing your carcass around a track is hardly an upgrade. It’s like quitting your middle management job to break rocks in a prison chain gang. There must be something I can do. Eating sugary processed food is out of the question for the same reason alcohol and drugs are. Becoming obese and diabetic is no solution, as many of the pros (obese diabetics) would no doubt attest. Meditation. That’s it! You sit on a cushion, count your breaths. Pretty soon you are calm. You can meditate for as long as you want! It’s perfect, and it’s easy. Well, it’s not that easy. You get distracted by your thoughts and you’re just sitting there thinking about the things for which you hope and dread in your life. Of course, you notice that distraction and come back to the breath, but pretty soon you’re wandering again. And you come back again. But really you’re wondering how long you’ve been sitting, your feet are falling asleep, your back is tight and you don’t feel much different. You weren’t even properly distracted because instead of being distracted *from* your mind, you are being distracted *by* it. It’s a worst-case scenario of sorts — you neither get anything done, nor escape the endless self-evaluation and justification. That just means you’re doing it wrong, though. You’re failing at it. If you did it right, it would be the perfect escape from yourself. But it’s not working, so you’re failing. Or maybe you succeeded a little bit. You’re not sure. You are still evaluating whether that was a good use of your time. The same evaluation process you use to decide whether you’ve done enough writing, the same tired bullshit from which you were trying to escape in the first place! Let’s face it, you’re not just going to meditate your way out of the problem. If you could, you would have already, and so would everyone else. We would all be enlightened. Maybe you need to go to an ashram or something, find a guru on top of a mountain in the Himalayas. LOL, you’re not gonna do that! You are way too attached to your comforts and daily routines, no matter how dull and unsatisfying they ultimately are. There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no one to see, nothing to do. You are out of options. There is only one thing in your absolute control, and it’s where you direct your attention. And you have decided that no matter how bleak and pointless the alternatives the one thing about which you are resolute is you are taking the day off from writing.

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

I did my first NFBC draft Sunday night — I drew the 12th pick. Here’s the [link to the live-stream](https://x.com/Chris_Liss/status/1891230585043226641). The full results are below:  This draft went about as well as I could have hoped, especially given [how little I had prepared](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-1-8c2). That doesn’t mean the team is \*good\*, only that I didn’t have any major regrets or gaffes, something that’s rare over 30 rounds. I also never once got swiped on a pick. I got priced out of the top closers early, but rolled with it in the way one should when that happens, getting players I wanted and doubling back to closers when I needed to. This team is built to win the overall — high-risk, high reward, an exercise in imagining not what could go wrong, not what’s the base case, but what could go right. **The Draft** **1.12 Julio Rodriguez** — I had mapped out the first 10 rounds, decided on Rodriguez and Jackson Chourio ahead of time. I knew Chourio would be there, per ADP, but if Rodriguez were gone, I’d have gone with Mookie Betts. I wanted two OF with power and speed to start my draft. Rodriguez had 32 homers and 37 steals as a 22-year old in 2023, was going in the 2-4 overall range last year and nothing that happened since should move the needle much heading into his age 24 season. **2.1 Jackson Chourio —** Chourio had 21 homers and 22 steals as a 20-year-old rookie, and those numbers were weighed down by a slow start where the Brewers were constantly pulling him from the lineup for no reason. From June until the end of the year, he hit .303 and should only get better in Year 2. His healthy floor is 25-25, and there’s stolen base and batting average upside. **3.12 Matt Olson** — While Rodriguez and Chourio offer solid pop, I wanted a 40-HR type to compensate for the lack of top-end power with my first two picks, while filling the scarce-in-recent-years 1B slot. Olson had an off year in 2024, but chalk that up to variance. I still like him in that park and lineup. **4.1 Jacob deGrom** — I’m not here to win the $1500 league prize but the $150K overall. deGrom isn’t just the best pitcher in baseball when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best in baseball history. If I get 100 IP of vintage deGrom, that’s worth a fourth-round pick. At 130-150, it’s a first-rounder. I also like that he’s nearly two years out from Tommy John surgery, pitched at the end of last season and is healthy now. While there’s no chance of 200 IP, he’s also not a rookie they need to ramp up slowly, but a veteran with a massive contract, i.e., the Rangers will want to get their money’s worth if he’s dealing. **5.12 Gerrit Cole** — When Raisel Iglesias went four picks ahead of me, I was pretty sure I was going Cole who typically goes in the first or second round. Cole had an off year, but the sample was small as he missed time due to a nerve issue in the spring, and there wasn’t much of a drop-off from 2023, even with the irregular start to the year. Pitchers ebb and flow with health, and the light workload might redound to his benefit. **6.1 Teoscar Hernandez** — This was just a value-take in the sixth round. Hernandez gives you pop, runs a little and hits in the best lineup in baseball. **7.12 Will Smith** — I didn’t love the options in these rounds, so I punted and nabbed a solid catcher with 20-HR pop. I don’t really see the difference between Smith and Adley Rutschman who goes two rounds earlier either. **8.1 Max Fried** — With deGrom shaky on innings, and five hitters in my first seven picks, I wanted another horse to anchor the rotation. I like lefties in Yankee Stadium too. **9.12 Royce Lewis** — I needed a third baseman, and Lewis, who was going in the fifth round last year, was the one with the most upside. The key is that he’s healthy now, as he finished the season in the lineup and hasn’t had a setback this offseason. Lewis is a potential 30-HR/.290 bat if he can hold up for 140-odd games. **10.1 Spencer Strider** — As I said, I’m trying to win the overall. Strider will start the year on the DL, but the timetable for the type of surgery he had is roughly one year, and Strider’s was in mid-April, i.e., there’s no reason he shouldn’t be back in May and might even see some action in spring training. If I get 220 combined IP from deGrom and Strider at their former levels, that’s worth the 1.1. (The “former levels” part is the rub, but as I said I’m focused on what could go right.) I also thought about Shane McClanahan instead, but narrowly opted for Strider. **11.12 Luis Garcia** — I was set to take Brice Turang here to lock down speed and finally get a middle infielder, but I pivoted at the last second to Garcia who is a better-rounded hitter and more likely to have a prominent spot in his lineup. **12.1 Jared Jones** — He was on my list because I remembered the hype after his strong start, and the cost seemed cheap relative to his skills. I almost took Carlos Rodon, as I prefer veterans. Maybe that will turn out to have been a mistake. **13.12 Brice Turang** — What do you know, Turang made it all the way back. I guess people didn’t like his second-half collapse at the plate. But Turang is a gold glove defender, and he stole 50 bags last year. That glove keeps him in the lineup and should set a nice 30-steal floor. **14.1 Kenley Jansen** — I could play closer chicken no more. Jansen is my favorite type of old warhorse closer, a guy so used to the job, he’s not going to lose it unless his stuff is truly gone. **15.12 Jordan Romano** — Romano got $8.5 million from the Phillies, so I’m assuming he’s (a) healthy and (b) set to close. His ERA while pitching hurt for 14 innings last year is irrelevant. **16.1 Zach Neto** — I needed a shortstop, and while Neto’s hurt right now, he went 23-30 as a 23-year old last year, and I couldn’t pass him up. I almost took Ceddanne Rafaela, but Neto’s upside higher. **17.12 Ceddanne Rafaela** — Turns out Rafaela fell to me anyway, and I snapped him up, as I’ll need a SS early in the year with Neto presumably out. Rafaela went 15-19 as a 23-YO in his own right, also qualifies in the OF and his gold-glove-level defense should keep him in the lineup. **18.1 Josh Jung** — I needed a CI, and also a backup 3B for the injury-prone Royce Lewis, so I took the injury-prone Jung. The key facts about Jung and Lewis are both can hit, and both are healthy as of right now. My team seems like it has a lot of injuries, but only Strider and Neto are hurt now. There is a difference between injury risk (deGrom, Lewis, Jung, Romano) and already injured. You can often find value by exploiting people’s conflation of those two related, but distinct categories. **19.12 Jesus Luzardo** — Another skilled, but injury-prone player coming at a steep discount who is healthy now. **20.1 Lucas Erceg** — A speculative closer play. Right now Carlos Estevez, who went in Round 15, is probably the favorite, but who knows? **21.12 Walker Buehler** — More of the same theme. A player (especially a pitcher) who has shown elite skills, was derailed by injuries, but who is healthy now. **22.1 Nolan Jones** — I had almost forgotten he existed, but there he was in Round 22, just one year removed from being a fifth-round pick after a 20-20-.297 season. Jones is only 26 and healthy as of now. **23.12 Griffin Jax** — A setup guy with elite stuff, behind a closer that had nine losses and a 1.16 WHIP last year. **24.1 Garrett Mitchell** — I took him narrowly over Jordan Walker. Mitchell went 8-11 in 224 at-bats, plays in a good park and has the physical tools to be good. **25.12 Bo Naylor** — I needed a second catcher, and he is one. Naylor has a little pop, even runs a bit and should improve in his age 25 season. **26.1 Max Scherzer** — Are we sure he’s done? He had a 1.15 WHIP last year and 40K in 43 IP despite returning from back surgery. He’s healthy now and signed a $15.5M deal this offseason presumably to pitch more than 100 innings. **27.12 Justin Verlander** — Wait, they let me have deGrom, Cole, Strider, Buehler, Scherzer and Verlander? Those were like the top-six pitchers on the board a few years ago! Seriously though, Verlander is in a good park, and last year’s poor numbers were put up over a 90-inning sample while battling various ailments. He’s more likely to be done than Scherzer, but he knows how to pitch, and it’s just a matter of the stuff returning to above the minimum threshold. I wouldn’t be shocked to see one more strong year out of the 41-YO future Hall of Famer. **28.1 Jose Caballero** — I drafted this gentleman in the 28th round because he qualifies everywhere and steals a lot of bases. **29.12 Nolan Gorman** — The Cardinals want to get him regular at-bats, and there’s a 35-HR, .240 season somewhere in this skill set. **30.1 Gavin Lux** — A big-time prospect that’s only shown flashes, should get regular playing time and a big upgrade in park. He might eventually qualify at some other positions too. **Roster By Position** **C** Will Smith/Bo Naylor **1B** Matt Olson **2B** Luis Garcia **3B** Royce Lewis **SS** Zach Neto **CI** Josh Jung **MI** Brice Turang **OF** Julio Rodriguez/Jackson Chourio/Teoscar Hernandez/Ceddanne Rafaela/Nolan Jones **UT** Garrett Mitchell **SP** Jacob deGrom/Gerrit Cole/Max Fried/Spencer Strider/Jared Jones/Jesus Luzardo/Walker Buehler **RP** Kenley Jansen/Jordan Romano **B** Lucas Erceg/Griffin Jax/Max Scherzer/Justin Verlander/Jose Caballero/Nolan Gorman/Gavin Lux

@ fe32298e:20516265

I keep a large collection of music on a local file server and use [DeaDBeeF](https://deadbeef.sourceforge.io/) for listening. I've never been able to pin DeadBeeF to the dock in Ubuntu, and it's always had the ugly default icon. I asked DeepSeek for help, and it turned out to be easier than I thought. 1. Create `~/.local/share/applications/deadbeef.desktop`: ```bash [Desktop Entry] Name=DeadBeeF Music Player Comment=Music Player Exec=/home/user/Apps/deadbeef-1.9.6/deadbeef Icon=/home/user/Apps/deadbeef-1.9.6/deadbeef.png Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=AudioVideo;Player; ``` 1. Make `deadbeef.desktop` executable: ```bash chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/deadbeef.desktop ``` And just like that, DeadBeeF has an icon and I can pin it to the dock. `.desktop` files are part of the [Freedesktop.org standards](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/). They're used in most popular desktop environments like GNOME, KDE and XFCE. Tor Browser has the same issue, but it comes with a `.desktop` file already, so it only needs to by symlinked to the applications folder: ``` ln -s ~/Apps/tor-browser/start-tor-browser.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/ ```

@ dbe0605a:f8fd5b2c

Originally posted on Nostr: https://highlighter.com/a/naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpklqvpdfcuch9wkh2gary7erd4275jmrf6qw0z5sz0dhj8u06kevqyvhwumn8ghj7urjv4kkjatd9ec8y6tdv9kzumn9wshszxrhwden5te0ve5kcar9wghxummnw3ezuamfdejj7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhszythwden5te0dehhxarj9emkjmn99uqzqjn0d9hz6argv5k57ur9dck5y6t5vdhkjm3df4shqtt5xduxz6tsrdmw7l  I care deeply about bitcoin adoption and ability to use bitcoin with all features of money — saving, spending, earning. We're entering an age where more and more people realise "hodl never spend" meme is hindering bitcoin adoption. More and more of use want to use bitcoin in everyday life, because we're living on it and because it's superior in every aspect. It's also incredibly fun to use it for payments. For money to thrive, it needs to circulate. Spending bitcoin orangepills merchants, their families and people around them — with each bitcoiner coming to a shop and paying with bitcoin, it's a point of contact that can trigger a train of though that later may fruit into action — "_Why are they so interested in bitcoin, what's actually so special about it?_" "_Hmm, maybe this time I will not exchange it for fiat immediately?_" Global merchant adoption grows, every day new business around the world decide to start accepting bitcoin payments. Circular economies are blooming on all continents, where people live in a new, experimental, orange coin paradigm. Companies and projects like Blink, Bitcoin Jungle, Plan B, Orange Pill App do an amazing job in facilitating this — providing great wallets, tools & services for merchants, and finally onboarding merchants themself. They also often support circular economies financially or in other ways. This is very valuable and makes the road to hyperbitcoinization a tad shorter. But there is one thing those companies are doing wrong — they're using their own, proprietary maps that display only merchants using their own wallets or POS software. I'd like to now list a few reasons why those great projects should migrate their maps into an open source, bitcoin map that is BTC Map. ## Open source, stupid [BTCmap](https://btcmap.org/) is open source, built on OpenStreetMaps, open to both developers contributions but also for map taggers (called [shadowy supertaggers](https://www.openstreetmap.org/)). Anyone can contribute, even If you don't code. Anyone can verify merchants or add new merchants to the map. BTC Map team developed [a neat system of verifications](https://btcmap.org/verify-location) that just works better than anything before or any alternative maps today.  ## Many apps, one map BTC Map is integrated inside a dozen of wallets and apps, to name a few: Wallet of Satoshi, Coinos, Bitlocal, Fedi or Aqua. It's a public good that any bitcoin product can use and grow it's network effect.  ## Uniting mappers' work BTC Map does not discriminate bitcoin merchants, that means all the merchants from proprietary maps are being mapped by taggers to BTC Map. By mapping on a closed source, proprietary map, the same merchant is mapped two times, usually by two different people — it's duplicating the same work without any bringing any benefit to both projects. Using BTC Map also brings you way more people verifying If those merchants actually still accept bitcoin, making it easier to have an up-to-date database of actual adoption. ## More bitcoin spent at your merchants When you have a business focused on spending bitcoin and onboarding merchants, you want as much bitcoin spent there as possible. If a bitcoiner coming to the area does not use your own map but some other map, they can be completely unaware that they can let their sats flow to your merchants. If we all use one merchants database, this problem disappears and more sats will flow. Why wouldn't you want your merchants displayed in dozens of other apps, completely for free? ## OpenStreetMap map is just better  Take a look at the image above: It's [La Pirraya](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-la-pirraya), a small sleepy island town in El Salvador with a circular economy being facilitated by Bitcoin Beach. Even though Blink has many more merchants compared to BTC Map, when I visited it a few months ago I could find them. Not because they do not exist, but because the map does not show any roads and it was very hard to locate them in a dense network of narrow streets of La Pirraya. BTC Map allows you to turn multiple versions of satellite maps views, making it way easier to find your point of interest. Pins also indicate what kind of business it is, where in Blink all the pins are the same and you need to click each to find out what it is. Even then not always it's clear, since Blink only displays names, while BTC Map tells you type of the merchant, and very often shows you working hours, phone numbers, website, social links, etc. ## Excellent community tools BTC Map is focusing providing tools for communities to maintain their merchants map. [Each community has it's own page](https://btcmap.org/communities) with own links to community website or socials, displays a list of all the merchants, shows community stats, displays merchants that were not verified for a long time, and more. It even allows to "boost" merchants to make them more visible on the map and on the list. It's perfect tooling both for communities and businesses onboarding merchants to their software.  ## Easy integration & configuration Integrating BTC Map on your website or app is easy. It's just [a few lines of code of iframe](https://arc.net/l/quote/vrdudfnn) to embed the map, but you can also use [BTC Map API](https://arc.net/l/quote/sybkpvcu) for more custom integration. Do you to display, eg. you can display only merchants from your community? No problem, you can do that. Since it's all open source, you can configure it in many ways that will suit your needs. ## Kudos I'd like to thank projects that understood all above and integrated BTC Map already. Those are Coinos, Wallet of Satoshi, Pouch, Bolt Card, BitLocal, Fedi, Decouvre Bitcoin, Osmo, Bitcoin Rocks!, Lipa, Spirit of Satoshi, Blockstream, Satlantis, Aqua Wallet and Adopting Bitcoin ## Encouragement & an offer I'll end that with encouragement to projects that use their own maps, but haven't embraced BTC Map yet. Those are Blink, Bitcoin Jungle, Plan B, Osmo, Athena, Orange Pill App, Inbitcoin (I probably missed some, tag them!). You are doing great work, but let's join forces and paint the world orange together! From here I would like to offer help in tagging your merchants on BTC Map. Just reach me out, and me and other supertaggers will do the work. Let the sats flow! originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/888088

@ dbe0605a:f8fd5b2c

<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/8c7ed1e00dc0b41fda7894c7c91f1f8de6d89abc8a988fd989ced9470c0f056d.png"> \ I care deeply about bitcoin adoption and ability to use bitcoin with all features of money — saving, spending, earning. We're entering an age where more and more people realise "hodl never spend" meme is hindering bitcoin adoption. More and more of use want to use bitcoin in everyday life, because we're living on it and because it's superior in every aspect. It's also incredibly fun to use it for payments. For money to thrive, it needs to circulate. Spending bitcoin orangepills merchants, their families and people around them — with each bitcoiner coming to a shop and paying with bitcoin, it's a point of contact that can trigger a train of though that later may fruit into action — "*Why are they so interested in bitcoin, what's actually so special about it?*" "*Hmm, maybe this time I will not exchange it for fiat immediately?*" Global merchant adoption grows, every day new business around the world decide to start accepting bitcoin payments. Circular economies are blooming on all continents, where people live in a new, experimental, orange coin paradigm. Companies and projects like Blink, Bitcoin Jungle, Plan B, Orange Pill App do an amazing job in facilitating this — providing great wallets, tools & services for merchants, and finally onboarding merchants themself. They also often support circular economies financially or in other ways. This is very valuable and makes the road to hyperbitcoinization a tad shorter. But there is one thing those companies are doing wrong — they're using their own, proprietary maps that display only merchants using their own wallets or POS software. I'd like to now list a few reasons why those great projects should migrate their maps into an open source, bitcoin map that is BTC Map. ## Open source, stupid [BTCmap](https://btcmap.org/) is open source, built on OpenStreetMaps, open to both developers contributions but also for map taggers (called [shadowy supertaggers](https://www.openstreetmap.org/)). Anyone can contribute, even If you don't code. Anyone can verify merchants or add new merchants to the map. BTC Map team developed[ a neat system of verifications](https://btcmap.org/verify-location) that just works better than anything before or any alternative maps today. <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/2cb0fda0b5b07f4f2ea79589060ada3bc0cec4db4db8634f52843083d8cdfd36.png"> ## Many apps, one map BTC Map is integrated inside a dozen of wallets and apps, to name a few: Wallet of Satoshi, Coinos, Bitlocal, Fedi or Aqua. It's a public good that any bitcoin product can use and grow it's network effect. <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/47359543b383d8add9ac641daac03e7d55ab1606255d7f7f6a8acc98b7972b1c.png"> ## Uniting mappers' work BTC Map does not discriminate bitcoin merchants, that means all the merchants from proprietary maps are being mapped by taggers to BTC Map. By mapping on a closed source, proprietary map, the same merchant is mapped two times, usually by two different people — it's duplicating the same work without any bringing any benefit to both projects. Using BTC Map also brings you way more people verifying If those merchants actually still accept bitcoin, making it easier to have an up-to-date database of actual adoption. ## More bitcoin spent at your merchants When you have a business focused on spending bitcoin and onboarding merchants, you want as much bitcoin spent there as possible. If a bitcoiner coming to the area does not use your own map but some other map, they can be completely unaware that they can let their sats flow to your merchants. If we all use one merchants database, this problem disappears and more sats will flow. Why wouldn't you want your merchants displayed in dozens of other apps, completely for free? ## OpenStreetMap map is just better <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/01f40413cbde2b9355105467a91294d6d2a9489f4803a423de07a2c9366ed72d.png"> \ Take a look at the image above: It's [La Pirraya](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-la-pirraya), a small sleepy island town in El Salvador with a circular economy being facilitated by Bitcoin Beach. Even though Blink has many more merchants compared to BTC Map, when I visited it a few months ago I could find them. Not because they do not exist, but because the map does not show any roads and it was very hard to locate them in a dense network of narrow streets of La Pirraya. BTC Map allows you to turn multiple versions of satellite maps views, making it way easier to find your point of interest. Pins also indicate what kind of business it is, where in Blink all the pins are the same and you need to click each to find out what it is. Even then not always it's clear, since Blink only displays names, while BTC Map tells you type of the merchant, and very often shows you working hours, phone numbers, website, social links, etc. ## Excellent community tools BTC Map is focusing providing tools for communities to maintain their merchants map. [Each community has it's own page](https://btcmap.org/communities) with own links to community website or socials, displays a list of all the merchants, shows community stats, displays merchants that were not verified for a long time, and more. It even allows to "boost" merchants to make them more visible on the map and on the list. It's perfect tooling both for communities and businesses onboarding merchants to their software. <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/530ee89593784c7b7ce51afc72b1ae0e2e1e07515ce35f5834b2fd7bab129f5b.png"> ## Easy integration & configuration Integrating BTC Map on your website or app is easy. It's [just a few lines of code of iframe to embed the map](https://wiki.btcmap.org/general/embedding), but you can also use [BTC Map API](https://wiki.btcmap.org/api/introduction) for more custom integration. Do you to display, eg. you can display only merchants from your community? No problem, you can do that. Since it's all open source, you can configure it in many ways that will suit your needs. ## Kudos I'd like to thank projects that understood all above and integrated BTC Map already. Those are Coinos, Wallet of Satoshi, Pouch, Bolt Card, BitLocal, Fedi, Decouvre Bitcoin, Osmo, Bitcoin Rocks!, Lipa, Spirit of Satoshi, Blockstream, Satlantis, Aqua Wallet and Adopting Bitcoin. ## Encouragement & an offer I'll end that with encouragement to projects that use their own maps, but haven't embraced BTC Map yet. Those are Blink, Bitcoin Jungle, Plan B, Osmo, Athena, Orange Pill App, Inbitcoin (I probably missed some, tag them!). You are doing great work, but let's join forces and paint the world orange together! From here I would like to offer help in tagging your merchants on BTC Map. Just reach me out, and me and other supertaggers will do the work. Let the sats flow!

@ c4b5369a:b812dbd6

As promised in my last article: nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp394x6dfmvn69cduj7e9l2jgvtvle7n5w5rtrunjlr6tx6up9k7kqq2k6ernff9hw3tyd3y453rdtph5uvm6942kzuw08y0 In this one we will dive into how exactly an unidirectional payments channel powered ecash mint system would be implemented, using the tech available today! So if you haven't read that article yet, give it a read! I first intended to write a longwinded article, explaining each part of the system. But then I realized that I would need some visualization to get the message across in a more digestable way. This lead me to create a slide deck, and as I started to design the slides it became more and more clear that the information is easier shown with visualizations, than written down. I will try to give a summary as best as I can in this article, but I urge you, to please go visit the slide deck too, for the best experience: ----------- ### [TAKE ME TO THE SLIDE DECK!](https://uni-chan.gandlaf.com/) ----------- ### Intro In this article we will go over how we can build unidirectional payment channels on Bitcoin. Then we will take a look into how Cashu ecash mints work, and how we can use unidirectional payment channels to change the dynamics between ecash users and the mint. Before we start, let me also give credits to nostr:npub1htnhsay5dmq3r72tukdw72pduzfdcja0yylcajuvnc2uklkhxp8qnz3qac for comming up with the idea, to nostr:npub148jz5r9xujcjpqygk69yl4jqwjqmzgrqly26plktfjy8g4t7xaysj9xhgp for providing an idea for non-expiring unidirectional channels, and nostr:npub1yrnuj56rnen08zp2h9h7p74ghgjx6ma39spmpj6w9hzxywutevsst7k5cx unconference for hosting an event where these ideas could be discussed and flourish. ### Building unidirectional payment channels If you've read the previous article, you already know what unidirectional payment channels are. There are actually a coupple different ways to implement them, but they all do have a few things in common: 1. The `sender` can only send 2. The `Receiver` can only receive 3. They are VERY simple Way simpler than the duplex channels like we are using in the lightning network today, at least. Of course, duplex channels are being deployed on LN for a reason. They are very versatile and don't have these annoying limitations that the unidirectional payment channels have. They do however have a few drawbacks: 1. Peers have liveness requirements (or they might forfeit their funds) 2. Peers must backup their state after each transaction (if they don't they might forfeit their funds) 3. It is a pretty complex system This article is not meant to discredit duplex channels. I think they are great. I just also think that in some use-cases, their requirements are too high and the system too complex. But anyway, let's see what kind of channels we can build! #### Spillman/CLTV-Channel The Spillman channel idea has been around for a long time. It's even explained in Tadge Dryjas [Presentation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzv9WuqIzA0&t=1969s) on Payment channels and the lightning network from back in the day. I compiled a list of some of the most important propperties of them in the slide below:  Great! Now that we know their properties, let's take a look at how we can create such a channel ([Slides](https://uni-chan.gandlaf.com/#/11)):  We start out by the `sender` creating a `funding TX`. The `sender` doesn't broadcast the transaction though. If he does, he might get locked into a multisig with the `receiver` without an unilateral exit path. Instead the `sender` also creates a `refund TX` spending the outputs of the yet unsigned `funding TX`. The `refund TX` is timelocked, and can only be broadcast after 1 month. Both `sender` and `receiver` can sign this `refund TX` without any risks. Once `sender` receives the signed `refund TX`, he can broadcast the `funding TX` and open the channel. The `sender` can now update the channel state, by pre-signing update transactions and sending them over to the `receiver`. Being a one-way channel, this can be done in a single message. It is very simple. There is no need for invalidating old states, since the `sender` does not hold any signed `update TXs` it is impossible for the `sender` to broadcast an old state. The `receiver` only cares about the latest state anyways, since that is the state where he gets the most money. He can basically delete any old states. The only thing the `receiver` needs to make sure of, is broadcasting the latest `update TX` before the `refund TX's` timelock expires. Otherwise, the `sender` might take the whole channel balance back to himself. This seems to be already a pretty useful construct, due to its simplicity. But we can make it even more simple!  This setup works basically the same way as the previous one, but instead of having a refund transaction, we build the `timelock` spend path directly into the `funding TX` This allows the `sender` to have an unilateral exit right from the start, and he can broadcast the `funding TX` without communicating with the `receiver`. In the worst case, the receiver rejects the channel, and the sender can get his money back after the timelock on the output has expired. Everything else basically works in the same way as in the example above. The beauty about this channel construct is in its simplicity. The drawbacks are obvious, but they do offer some nice properties that might be useful in certain cases.  One of the major drawbacks of the `Spillman-style channels` (apart from being unidirectional) is that they expire. This expiry comes with the neat property that neither of the party has to watch the chain for channel closures, and the `sender` can operate the channel with zero additional state, apart from his private keys. But they do expire. And this can make them quite inflexible. It might work in some contexts, but not so much in others, where time needs to be more flexible. This is where `Roose-Childs triggered channels` come into play. #### Roose-Childs triggered channel (I gave it that name, named after nostr:npub148jz5r9xujcjpqygk69yl4jqwjqmzgrqly26plktfjy8g4t7xaysj9xhgp and nostr:npub1htnhsay5dmq3r72tukdw72pduzfdcja0yylcajuvnc2uklkhxp8qnz3qac . If someone knows if this idea has been around before under a different name, please let us know!) `Roose-Childs triggered channels` were an idea developed by Steven and Luke at the nostr:npub1yrnuj56rnen08zp2h9h7p74ghgjx6ma39spmpj6w9hzxywutevsst7k5cx unconference. They essentially remove the channel expiry limitation in return for introducing the need for the `sender` to create a channel backup at the time of channel creation, and for the `receiver` the need to watch the chain for trigger transactions closing the channel.  They also allow for splicing funds, which can be important for a channel without expiry, allowing the `sender` to top-up liquidity once it runs out, or for the `receiver` taking out liquidity from the channel to deploy the funds elsewhere. Now, let's see how we can build them!  The `funding TX` actually looks the same as in the first example, and similarly it gets created, but not signed by the `sender`. Then, sender and receiver both sign the `trigger TX`. The `trigger TX` is at the heart of this scheme. It allows both `sender` and `receiver` to unilaterally exit the channel by broadcasting it (more on that in a bit). Once the `trigger TX` is signed and returned to the `sender`, the sender can confidently sign and boradcast the `funding TX` and open the channel. The `trigger TX` remains off-chain though. Now, to update the channel, the `sender` can pre-sign transactions in similar fashion to the examples above, but this time, spending the outputs of the unbroadcasted `trigger TX`. This way, both parties can exit the channel at any time. If the `receiver` wants to exit, he simply boradcasts the `trigger TX` and immediately spends its outputs using the latest `update TX`. If the `sender` wants to exit he will broadcast the `trigger TX` and basically force the `receivers` hand. Either, the `receiver` will broadcast the latest `update TX`, or the `sender` will be able to claim the entire channel balance after the timelock expired.  We can also simplify the `receiver's` exit path, by the `sender` pre-signing an additional transaction `R exit TX` for each update. this way, the `receiver` only needs to broadcast one transaction instead of two.  As we've mentioned before, there are some different trade-offs for `Roose-Childs triggered channels`. We introduce some minimal state and liveness requirements, but gain more flexibility.  #### Ecash to fill in the gaps (I will assume that the reader knows how ecash mints work. If not, please go check the [slides](https://uni-chan.gandlaf.com/#/43) where I go through an explanation) Essentially, we are trying to get a lightning like experience, without all the lightning complexities and requirements. One big issue with ecash, is that it is fully custodial. If we can offset that risk by holding most of the funds in a self custodial channel, we can have a reasonable trade-off between usability and self custody.  In a system like that, we would essentially turn the banking model onto its head. Where in a traditional bank, the majority of the funds are held in the banks custody, and the user only withdraws into his custody what he needs to transact, in our model the user would hold most funds in his own custody.  If you ask me, this approach makes way more sense. Instead of a custodian, we have turned the "bank" into a service provider. Let's take a look at how it would work in a more practical sense:  The `ecash user` would open an unidirectional payment channel to the `mint`, using one of his on-chain UTXOs. This allows him then to commit incrementally funds into the mints custody, only the amounts for his transactional needs. The mint offers connectivity to the lightning network an handles state and liveness as a service provider. The `ecash user`, can remain offline at all times, and his channel funds will always be safe. The mint can only ever claim the balance in the channel via the `update TXs`. The `mint` can of course still decide to no longer redeem any ecash, at which point they would have basically stolen the `ecash user's` transactional balance. At that point, it would probably be best for the `ecash user` to close his channel, and no longer interact or trust this `mint`. Here are some of the most important points of this system summarized:  And that is basically it! I hope you enjoyed this breakdown of Unidirectional payment channel enabled Ecash mints! If you did, consider leaving me a zap. Also do let me know if this type of breakdown helps you understand a new topic well. I am considering doing similar breakdowns on other systems, such as ARK, Lightning or Statechains, if there is a lot of interest, and it helps people, I'll do it! Pleas also let me know what you think about the `unidirectional channel - ecash mint` idea in the comments. It's kind of a new idea, an it probably has flaws, or things that we haven't thought about yet. I'd love to discuss it with you! I'll leave you with this final slide:  Cheers, Gandlaf

@ 9a4acdeb:1489913b

## Chef's notes Original recipe, a favorite of family and friends, and the easiest and fastest prep time meal I make. Like all really good pork recipes, it does take time in the cooker, but it's set-and-forget and requires no attention between starting and serving. Using fresh herbs and peppers does enhance the meal (especially fresh cilantro if it doesn't taste like soap to you), but this is optional, and it is excellent with dry ingredients. Excluding the beans and/or tomato makes this meal extra-low carb for those carnivores amongst us, or those sensitive to beans. Frying the shredded cheese in a slick pan is a good way to It will take up to 15min to come up to pressure, so it may be helpful to pay attention to it to be sure it pressurizes until you become familiar with how this meal acts in your particular pressure cooker. The Instant Pot pressure cookers make this easy. ## Details - ⏲️ Prep time: 20min - 🍳 Cook time: 2hrs - 🍽️ Servings: 6 ## Ingredients - 4lbs Pork loin - 1-2 Yellow onion, roughly chopped - 3-5 Jalapeños or 1x 4oz canned - 6-8 Green chilis or 1x 4oz canned - 2oz canned sliced Black olives (may use half a 4oz can) - 2-3tsp minced garlic, or 1-2 tsp garlic powder - A small bunch of cilantro, chopped, or 1-2 tsb dried cilantro (optional) - 1tbsp Oregano, chopped fresh or dried - 2-3tsb Chili powder; Ancho, Chipotle, or a blend of the two is best - 2-3tsb ground Cumin - 3-4tsp salt - 2-tsp black pepper - 1 large or 4oz canned tomato (optional) - Mexican mix shredded cheese (topping) - 4oz Black beans (optional) - Tortillas (optional) - Avocado (optional toping) - 6 Limes and/or 3oz lime juice ## Directions 1. Mix dry seasonings 2. Chop and mix fresh herbs and veggies, canned or otherwise 3. Add chopped onion to bottom of pressure cooker 4. Add pork loin atop the onion; chopping into steaks may make the texture better 5. Add veggies to the top, shaking to settle into the pressure cooker 6. Add lime juice 7. Start on high pressure for 2hrs. 8. (Optional) Drain the broth into a saucepan, cook down, and add back into the mix to make it extra flavorful. Otherwise, can be served as a soup or poured over rice. 9. Serve with cheese as a topping, over rice, in a tortilla as tacos or burritos, or in a number of other fashions you may fancy. Those who prefer a little more lime may squeeze fresh or splash some more on their meal. 10. (Optional) For presentation, garnish with cilantro and lime slices, maybe a dollop of shredded cheese, sour cream, or cream cheese.

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Here are today's picks (there are a ton of them today) using my proprietary betting strategy at [Freebitcoin](https://freebitco.in/?r=51325722). For details about what Risk Balanced Odds Arbitrage is and why it works see https://stacker.news/items/342765/r/Undisciplined. For a hypothetical 1k-ish wager on each match, distribute your sats as follows: | Outcome 1 | Outcome 2 | Outcome 3 | Bet 1 | Bet 2 | Bet 3 | |--------------|-------------|--------------|-------|-------|-------| | Torino| AC Milan| Draw | 269| 476| 278| | Inter Milan| Genoa| Draw | 765| 71| 156| | Como| Napoli| Draw | 256| 464| 294| | Cagliari| Juventus| Draw | 213| 556| 267| | Balogna| AC Milan| Draw | 348| 407| 303| | Valencia| Atletico Madrid| Draw | 208| 550| 270| | Sevilla| Real Mallorca| Draw | 464| 253| 313| | Real Sociedad| Leganes| Draw | 636| 133| 267| | Real Madrid| Girona| Draw | 760| 105| 167| | Las Palmas| Barcelona| Draw | 105| 750| 164| | RB Leipzig| Heidenheim| Draw | 688| 143| 196| | FC Bayern| Eintracht Frankfurt| Draw | 786| 91| 133| | Dortmund| Union Berlin| Draw | 621| 182| 231| | Arsenal| West Ham| Draw | 763| 77| 167| | Aston Villa| Chelsea| Draw | 364| 392| 266| | Chelsea| Southampton| Draw | 818| 67| 143| | Everton| Man United| Draw | 333| 381| 303| | Ipswich| Tottenham| Draw | 286| 476| 256| | Liverpool| Newcastle| Draw | 652| 161| 217| | Man City| Liverpool| Draw | 348| 421| 256| | Man United| Ipswich| Draw | 636| 167| 227| | Newcastle| Nottingham Forest| Draw | 541| 235| 250| | Tottenham| Man City| Draw | 222| 594| 222| | Nottingham Forest| Arsenal| Draw | 200| 579| 244| I'll be curious to see how @Coinsreporter does with his modified RBOA. On the most recently completed set of RBOA, I made 6k sats on 43k wagered, so it was a nice bounce back. I still haven't precisely identified where the threshold is, but it might be worth skipping any of these with a "time weight multiplier" lower than 90. ---------- A note of caution about Freebitcoin: they recorded the wrong outcome for last week's Bills vs Ravens game and as of yet have not corrected it. I recall one other instance of something similar happening, so proceed with caution. This RBOA strategy is largely immune from that problem, but be aware of it when just betting on one outcome. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/887548

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

E-cash are coupons or tokens for Bitcoin, or Bitcoin debt notes that the mint issues. The e-cash states, essentially, "IoU 2900 sats". They're redeemable for Bitcoin on Lightning (hard money), and therefore can be used as cash (softer money), so long as the mint has a good reputation. That means that they're less fungible than Lightning because the e-cash from one mint can be more or less valuable than the e-cash from another. If a mint is buggy, offline, or disappears, then the e-cash is unreedemable. It also means that e-cash is more anonymous than Lightning, and that the sender and receiver's wallets don't need to be online, to transact. Nutzaps now add the possibility of parking transactions one level farther out, on a relay. The same relays that cannot keep npub profiles and follow lists consistent will now do monetary transactions. What we then have is * a **transaction on a relay** that triggers * a **transaction on a mint** that triggers * a **transaction on Lightning** that triggers * a **transaction on Bitcoin**. Which means that every relay that stores the nuts is part of a wildcat banking system. Which is fine, but relay operators should consider whether they wish to carry the associated risks and liabilities. They should also be aware that they should implement the appropriate features in their relay, such as expiration tags (nuts rot after 2 weeks), and to make sure that only expired nuts are deleted. There will be plenty of specialized relays for this, so don't feel pressured to join in, and research the topic carefully, for yourself. https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/60.md https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/61.md

@ ed5774ac:45611c5c

**Bitcoin as Collateral for U.S. Debt: A Deep Dive into the Financial Mechanics** The U.S. government’s proposal to declare Bitcoin as a 'strategic reserve' is a calculated move to address its unsustainable debt obligations, but it threatens to undermine Bitcoin’s original purpose as a tool for financial freedom. To fully grasp the implications of this plan, we must first understand the financial mechanics of debt creation, the role of collateral in sustaining debt, and the historical context of the petro-dollar system. Additionally, we must examine how the U.S. and its allies have historically sought new collateral to back their debt, including recent attempts to weaken Russia through the Ukraine conflict. **The Vietnam War and the Collapse of the Gold Standard** The roots of the U.S. debt crisis can be traced back to the Vietnam War. The war created an unsustainable budget deficit, forcing the U.S. to borrow heavily to finance its military operations. By the late 1960s, the U.S. was spending billions of dollars annually on the war, leading to a significant increase in public debt. Foreign creditors, particularly France, began to lose confidence in the U.S. dollar’s ability to maintain its value. In a dramatic move, French President Charles de Gaulle sent warships to New York to demand the conversion of France’s dollar reserves into gold, as per the Bretton Woods Agreement. This demand exposed the fragility of the U.S. gold reserves. By 1971, President Richard Nixon was forced to suspend the dollar’s convertibility to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. This move, often referred to as the "Nixon Shock," declared the U.S. bankrupt and transformed the dollar into a fiat currency backed by nothing but trust in the U.S. government. The collapse of the gold standard marked the beginning of the U.S.’s reliance on artificial systems to sustain its debt. With the gold standard gone, the U.S. needed a new way to back its currency and debt—a need that would lead to the creation of the petro-dollar system. **The Petro-Dollar System: A New Collateral for Debt** In the wake of the gold standard’s collapse, the U.S. faced a critical challenge: how to maintain global confidence in the dollar and sustain its ability to issue debt. The suspension of gold convertibility in 1971 left the dollar as a fiat currency—backed by nothing but trust in the U.S. government. To prevent a collapse of the dollar’s dominance and ensure its continued role as the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. needed a new system to artificially create demand for dollars and provide a form of indirect backing for its debt. The solution came in the form of the petro-dollar system. In the 1970s, the U.S. struck a deal with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to price oil exclusively in U.S. dollars. In exchange, the U.S. offered military protection and economic support. This arrangement created an artificial demand for dollars, as countries needed to hold USD reserves to purchase oil. Additionally, oil-exporting nations reinvested their dollar revenues in U.S. Treasuries, effectively recycling petro-dollars back into the U.S. economy. This recycling of petrodollars provided the U.S. with a steady inflow of capital, allowing it to finance its deficits and maintain low interest rates. To further bolster the system, the U.S., under the guidance of Henry Kissinger, encouraged OPEC to dramatically increase oil prices in the 1970s. The 1973 oil embargo and subsequent price hikes, masterminded by Kissinger, quadrupled the cost of oil, creating a windfall for oil-exporting nations. These nations, whose wealth surged significantly due to the rising oil prices, reinvested even more heavily in U.S. Treasuries and other dollar-denominated assets. This influx of petrodollars increased demand for U.S. debt, enabling the U.S. to issue more debt at lower interest rates. Additionally, the appreciation in the value of oil—a critical global commodity—provided the U.S. banking sector with the necessary collateral to expand credit generation. Just as a house serves as collateral for a mortgage, enabling banks to create new debt, the rising value of oil boosted the asset values of Western corporations that owned oil reserves or invested in oil infrastructure projects. This increase in asset values allowed these corporations to secure larger loans, providing banks with the collateral needed to expand credit creation and inject more dollars into the economy. However, these price hikes also caused global economic turmoil, disproportionately affecting developing nations. As the cost of energy imports skyrocketed, these nations faced mounting debt burdens, exacerbating their economic struggles and deepening global inequality. **The Unsustainable Debt Crisis and the Search for New Collateral** Fast forward to the present day, and the U.S. finds itself in a familiar yet increasingly precarious position. The 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic have driven the U.S. government’s debt to unprecedented levels, now exceeding $34 trillion, with a debt-to-GDP ratio surpassing 120%. At the same time, the petro-dollar system—the cornerstone of the dollar’s global dominance—is under significant strain. The rise of alternative currencies and the shifting power dynamics of a multipolar world have led to a decline in the dollar’s role in global trade, particularly in oil transactions. For instance, China now pays Saudi Arabia in yuan for oil imports, while Russia sells its oil and gas in rubles and other non-dollar currencies. This growing defiance of the dollar-dominated system reflects a broader trend toward economic independence, as nations like China and Russia seek to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar. As more countries bypass the dollar in trade, the artificial demand for dollars created by the petro-dollar system is eroding, undermining the ability of US to sustain its debt and maintain global financial hegemony. In search of new collateral to carry on its unsustainable debt levels amid declining demand for the U.S. dollar, the U.S., together with its Western allies—many of whom face similar sovereign debt crises—first attempted to weaken Russia and exploit its vast natural resources as collateral. The U.S. and its NATO allies used Ukraine as a proxy to destabilize Russia, aiming to fragment its economy, colonize its territory, and seize control of its natural resources, estimated to be worth around $75 trillion. By gaining access to these resources, the West could have used them as collateral for the banking sector, enabling massive credit expansion. This, in turn, would have alleviated the sovereign debt crisis threatening both the EU and the U.S. This plan was not unprecedented; it mirrored France’s long-standing exploitation of its former African colonies through the CFA franc system. For decades, France has maintained economic control over 14 African nations through the CFA franc, a currency pegged to the euro and backed by the French Treasury. Under this system, these African countries are required to deposit 50% of their foreign exchange reserves into the French Treasury, effectively giving France control over their monetary policy and economic sovereignty. This arrangement allows France to use African resources and reserves as implicit collateral to issue debt, keeping its borrowing costs low and ensuring demand for its bonds. In return, African nations are left with limited control over their own economies, forced to prioritize French interests over their own development. This neo-colonial system has enabled France to sustain its financial dominance while perpetuating poverty and dependency in its former colonies. Just as France’s CFA franc system relies on the economic subjugation of African nations to sustain its financial dominance, the U.S. had hoped to use Russia’s resources as a lifeline for its debt-ridden economy. However, the plan ultimately failed. Russia not only resisted the sweeping economic sanctions imposed by the West but also decisively defeated NATO’s proxy forces in Ukraine, thwarting efforts to fragment its economy and seize control of its $75 trillion in natural resources. This failure left the U.S. and its allies without a new source of collateral to back their unsustainable debt levels. With this plan in ruins, the U.S. has been forced to turn its attention to Bitcoin as a potential new collateral for its unsustainable debt. **Bitcoin as Collateral: The U.S. Government’s Plan** The U.S. government’s plan to declare Bitcoin as a strategic reserve is a modern-day equivalent of the gold standard or petro-dollar system. Here’s how it would work: 1. Declaring Bitcoin as a Strategic Reserve: By officially recognizing Bitcoin as a reserve asset, the U.S. would signal to the world that it views Bitcoin as a store of value akin to gold. This would legitimize Bitcoin in the eyes of institutional investors and central banks. 2. Driving Up Bitcoin’s Price: To make Bitcoin a viable collateral, its price must rise significantly. The U.S. would achieve this by encouraging regulatory clarity, promoting institutional adoption, and creating a state-driven FOMO (fear of missing out). This would mirror the 1970s oil price hikes that bolstered the petro-dollar system. 3. Using Bitcoin to Back Debt: Once Bitcoin’s price reaches a sufficient level, the U.S. could use its Bitcoin reserves as collateral for issuing new debt. This would restore confidence in U.S. Treasuries and allow the government to continue borrowing at low interest rates. The U.S. government’s goal is clear: to use Bitcoin as a tool to issue more debt and reinforce the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency. By forcing Bitcoin into a store-of-value role, the U.S. would replicate the gold standard’s exploitative dynamics, centralizing control in the hands of large financial institutions and central banks. This would strip Bitcoin of its revolutionary potential and undermine its promise of decentralization. Meanwhile, the dollar—in digital forms like USDT—would remain the primary medium of exchange, further entrenching the parasitic financial system. Tether plays a critical role in this strategy. As explored in my previous article (here: [https://ersan.substack.com/p/is-tether-a-bitcoin-company]), Tether helps sustaining the current financial system by purchasing U.S. Treasuries, effectively providing life support for the U.S. debt machine during a period of declining demand for dollar-denominated assets. Now, with its plans to issue stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain, Tether is positioning itself as a bridge between Bitcoin and the traditional financial system. By issuing USDT on the Lightning Network, Tether could lure the poor in developing nations—who need short-term price stability for their day to day payments and cannot afford Bitcoin’s volatility—into using USDT as their primary medium of exchange. This would not only create an artificial demand for the dollar and extend the life of the parasitic financial system that Bitcoin was designed to dismantle but would also achieve this by exploiting the very people who have been excluded and victimized by the same system—the poor and unbanked in developing nations, whose hard-earned money would be funneled into sustaining the very structures that perpetuate their oppression. Worse, USDT on Bitcoin could function as a de facto central bank digital currency (CBDC), where all transactions can be monitored and sanctioned by governments at will. For example, Tether’s centralized control over USDT issuance and its ties to traditional financial institutions make it susceptible to government pressure. Authorities could compel Tether to implement KYC (Know Your Customer) rules, freeze accounts, or restrict transactions, effectively turning USDT into a tool of financial surveillance and control. This would trap users in a system where every transaction is subject to government oversight, effectively stripping Bitcoin of its censorship-resistant and decentralized properties—the very features that make it a tool for financial freedom. In this way, the U.S. government’s push for Bitcoin as a store of value, combined with Tether’s role in promoting USDT as a medium of exchange, creates a two-tiered financial system: one for the wealthy, who can afford to hold Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, and another for the poor, who are trapped in a tightly controlled, surveilled digital economy. This perpetuates the very inequalities Bitcoin was designed to dismantle, turning it into a tool of oppression rather than liberation. **Conclusion: Prolonging the Parasitic Financial System** The U.S. government’s plan to declare Bitcoin as a strategic reserve is not a step toward financial innovation or freedom—it is a desperate attempt to prolong the life of a parasitic financial system that Bitcoin was created to replace. By co-opting Bitcoin, the U.S. would gain a new tool to issue more debt, enabling it to continue its exploitative practices, including proxy wars, economic sanctions, and the enforcement of a unipolar world order. The petro-dollar system was built on the exploitation of oil-exporting nations and the global economy. A Bitcoin-backed system would likely follow a similar pattern, with the U.S. using its dominance to manipulate Bitcoin’s price and extract value from the rest of the world. This would allow the U.S. to sustain its current financial system, in which it prints money out of thin air to purchase real-world assets and goods, enriching itself at the expense of other nations. Bitcoin was designed to dismantle this parasitic system, offering an escape hatch for those excluded from or exploited by traditional financial systems. By declaring Bitcoin a strategic reserve, the U.S. government would destroy Bitcoin’s ultimate purpose, turning it into another instrument of control. This is not a victory for Bitcoin or bitcoiners—it is a tragedy for financial freedom and global equity. The Bitcoin strategic reserve plan is not progress—it is a regression into the very system Bitcoin was designed to dismantle. As bitcoiners, we must resist this co-option and fight to preserve Bitcoin’s original vision: a decentralized, sovereign, and equitable financial system for all. **This means actively working to ensure Bitcoin is used as a medium of exchange, not just a store of value, to fulfill its promise of financial freedom.**

@ 1c197b12:242e1642

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. **Article. I.** *Section. 1.* All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. *Section. 2.* The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. *Section. 3.* The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. *Section. 4.* The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. *Section. 5.* Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. *Section. 6.* The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. *Section. 7.* All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. *Section. 8.* The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. *Section. 9.* The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. *Section. 10.* No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. **Article. II.** *Section. 1.* The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." *Section. 2.* The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. *Section. 3.* He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. *Section. 4.* The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. **Article. III.** *Section. 1.* The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. *Section. 2.* The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State and Citizens of another State,—between Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. *Section. 3.* Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. **Article. IV.** *Section. 1.* Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. *Section. 2.* The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. *Section. 3.* New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. *Section. 4.* The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. **Article. V.** The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. **Article. VI.** All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. **Article. VII.** The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page. Attest William Jackson Secretary done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independance of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

@ 955e5a04:c03b3cc3

If we see the Earth as the most important element in the universe, we will learn to care for it. The Maya believed that the Earth was created first, followed by the sun, the moon, and the stars. This perspective is not based on modern science, but it reflects the idea that the Earth is primordial for us, and thus, it should be honored. This vision finds echoes in sacred texts. The *Popol Vuh*, the Mayan creation story, describes a time when only the sky and the vast sea existed before the Earth was formed. Similarly, in the Book of Genesis, before God created the world, "the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Genesis 1:2). In both traditions, creation emerges from a primordial state of sky and water, symbolizing chaos and the unknown. Water, in many religious contexts, is linked to chaos and transformation. In the *Popol Vuh*, the first humans were shaped from maize, but they originated from a world where water and sky ruled. This suggests a deeper truth: before the Earth, there was only the vastness of the cosmos, and from that, we were formed. We are made of both chaos and peace, carrying within us all the elements of creation—not from nothingness, but from everything.

@ da18e986:3a0d9851

I'm excited to share the first phase of DVMDash's major redesign! After some recent downtime issues (thanks nostr:npub1e5tfhk8m65teu25dfx8lcvwn4c8ypqjl72u2sh4rt8zy2kss0j5qct7mh9 and nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn for the heads up), I've been working on rebuilding DVMDash from the ground up to be more modular, scalable, and reliable. ## What's Live Now: The Stats App The first piece of the new DVMDash is our completely rebuilt Stats app. Instead of trying to do everything at once, we're now breaking DVMDash into focused tools. The Stats app brings: - Flexible time windows (1h, 24h, 7d, 30d) for more relevant insights - Bar graphs showing activity over time - Per-DVM and per-Kind detailed metrics For those interested in the new backend architecture, check out my [recent post about performance gains](nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpkscaxrqqs8nhaynsahuz6c6jy4wtfhkl2x4zkwrmc4cyvaqmxz3qqxnzdenxu6nwd3sxgmryv3506t7ws) describing how horizontal scaling is needed to support the growing DVM ecosystem. ## Coming Soon: Debug Tools and Playground You'll notice on the new [landing page](https://dvmdash.live) that DVMDash is now split into three main tools: 1. Stats (available now!) 2. Debug Tools (coming soon) 3. Data Vending Playground (coming soon) The Debug Tools will bring back the interactive graph-based debugger and event browser, while the Playground will offer a space to experiment with DVMs directly. I'm focusing on getting these right rather than rushing them out. ## Running Locally Want to try it out? You can clone the repository and run the Stats app locally with a simple ``` docker compose --profile all up ``` then visit **localhost:3000** in your browser. ## What's Next My immediate focus is on: 1. Polishing the Stats app with new features like: * Sortable tables for easier data analysis * Enhanced DVM profiles with pictures and metadata from relays * More detailed DVM-specific metrics 2. Bringing back the debugging tools 3. Building out the playground This is very much a work in progress, and I appreciate your patience as we rebuild. If you run into any issues or have suggestions, please drop by our GitHub repository.

@ 7d33ba57:1b82db35

The short answer is YES—but the more honest answer is that it’s much harder than when I started. I’ve been in the travel stock media industry for over 13 years, creating a vast archive of stock photos and videos from around the world. You can check out my portfolio on [https://www.shutterstock.com/g/traveltelly](Shutterstock). My work is also available on Pond5, Videoblocks, and Adobe Stock. Other big agencies where I don’t have my media are Getty Images and iStock. My media has been featured on TV channels and even in feature films. However, most of the time, contributors don’t know exactly where their content is used—stock agencies (the middlemen) keep that information to themselves. While stock media can still generate income, it requires persistence, a large portfolio, and an understanding of the ever-changing market. When I started filming stock footage, most people didn’t even have a phone capable of taking good photos or videos—can you imagine? Now, everyone is a (travel) content creator. Technology has evolved, but creating a well-composed photo or video is still an art. However, the combination of improved tech and the increasing centralization of the stock media market has made it much harder to earn a decent income from stock media compared to 10 years ago.  **Centralization & Declining Royalties** Over the years, I’ve watched stock media royalties decline year after year. In the beginning, I couldn't understand why I wasn’t able to recoup the cost of my expensive camera—one I specifically bought to shoot high-quality 4K footage. 
As the stock media industry became more centralized, agencies took a larger cut while contributors earned less, despite creating higher-quality content. The market became saturated, and with more competition and lower payouts, making a sustainable income from stock media became increasingly difficult.  **The Reality of Centralization in Stock Media** Every year, stock agencies announced yet another royalty downgrade for contributors. They always framed it as something beneficial for content creators, but in reality, it only served the big companies and their shareholders. As content creators, we had no say in the matter. These agencies grew too big and powerful, and they knew it. Leaving one platform wasn’t really an option—doing so would only mean an even greater loss of income. In recent years, the industry has become even more centralized, with only a handful of major agencies buying out smaller competitors. This consolidation further reduces competition, giving contributors even less control over pricing, royalties, and where their content is used.  **The Bitcoin Standard: A Wake-Up Call**
 I couldn’t understand why I was struggling to pay off my expensive camera investment, despite working hard and producing high-quality content. Until then, I had never really thought about how money worked. That changed in 2018 when I read The Bitcoin Standard—an absolute eye-opener. That book sparked my curiosity about Bitcoin. Like many, I initially got distracted by shitcoins, thinking I could multiply my holdings faster—after all, Bitcoin seemed “too expensive.” It was a hard but valuable lesson. Just like in a casino, you can win and lose a lot with altcoins, but that has nothing to do with Bitcoin itself. After those first few years of learning, I realized that for me, Bitcoin—not crypto—was the only way forward.  **From Centralization to Decentralization** When people ask me if they should start selling stock footage, my answer is always the same: It’s much harder now than when I started. Sure, you can make a few bucks, but is all the time and effort really worth it? If I had to start today, I simply wouldn’t—it’s way more work than what you’ll earn. Instead of spending years building content for centralized platforms that take the biggest cut, I believe it’s better to focus on decentralized media like Nostr. In my opinion, that’s where the future lies.  Nostr: A New Protocol for Socializing (and More) Nostr is a revolutionary protocol that goes beyond just social networking. You can read all about it at [Nostr.org](Nostr.org). 
 As a content creator, one of the most exciting aspects of Nostr is the ability to earn directly through Zaps—small payments made in Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin).
 * 1 Bitcoin = 100 million Satoshis * By receiving Zaps, you’re not just earning—you’re stacking the hardest money (Bitcoin) directly on Nostr. This shift toward decentralized earning is a game changer, giving creators more control and financial sovereignty compared to traditional, centralized platforms.  **Join Nostr and Create Your Freedom Content** On Nostr, no one can stop you. No one can deplatform you. You can be truly free.Whether you're a content creator, artist, or thinker, Nostr empowers you to share your work without censorship or gatekeepers. It’s a place where you control your content, connect directly with your audience, and even earn Bitcoin through Zaps.Embrace decentralization. 

 ***Join Nostr and take back your freedom*** 🚀

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

Installation: ``` bash python3 -venv nostr-sdk source nostr-sdk/bin/activate pip install nostr_sdk requests ``` Python program: ``` python # Usage example: python ns_read_metadata.py nostr:npub1mwce4c8qa2zn9zw9f372syrc9dsnqmyy3jkcmpqkzaze0slj94dqu6nmwy # Compatible with version 0.39 # ns_read_metadata.py # version 3 import asyncio, argparse, json from nostr_sdk import Metadata, Client, NostrSigner, Keys, Filter, PublicKey, Kind from datetime import timedelta async def main(npub): client = Client() await client.add_relay("wss://relay.damus.io") await client.connect() pk = PublicKey.parse(npub) print(f"\nGetting profile metadata for {npub}:") metadata = await client.fetch_metadata(pk, timedelta(seconds=15)) print(metadata) if __name__ == '__main__': parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Fetch all metadata for a given npub') parser.add_argument('npub', type=str, help='The npub of the user') args = parser.parse_args() asyncio.run(main(args.npub)) ```

@ 30b99916:3cc6e3fe

## Upgrade Details Download current release and manifest files ```shell Navigate to https://github.com/getAlby/hub/releases/tag/v1.13.0/ Download albyhub-Server-Linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 manifest.txt manifext.txt.asc Copy the downloaded files to $HOME mv $HOME/Downloads/albyhub-Server-Linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 $HOME mv $HOME/Downloads/manifest.txt $HOME mv $HOME/Downloads/manifest.txt.asc $HOME ``` Verify manifest signature & Checksum ```sh Only need to import once curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/getalby/hub/master/scripts/keys/rolznz.asc | gpg --import gpg --verify manifest.txt.asc manifest.txt gpg: Signature made Tue 07 Jan 2025 08:56:42 PM PST gpg: using RSA key 5D92185938E6DBF893DCCC5BA5EABD8835092B08 gpg: Good signature from "Roland Bewick <roland.bewick@gmail.com>" [unknown] gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature! gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner. Primary key fingerprint: 5D92 1859 38E6 DBF8 93DC CC5B A5EA BD88 3509 2B08 shasum -a 256 server-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 a75c03d241921611dfc428c413c4a2c2cef35bc6d1974839b688ef462604058d server-linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 The above checksum should be referenced in the manifest.txt file cat manifest.txt ``` Stop AlbyHub & Backup existing data directory & Binaries ```shell systemctl stop albyhub cp -r $HOME/.local/share/albyhub /media/veracrypt1/albyhub cp $HOME/bin/albyhub $HOME/bin/albyhub172 cp -r $HOME/lib $HOME/lib172 ``` Extract new release Binaries & Start AlbyHub ```sh tar -xvjf albyhub-Server-Linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 ./ ./lib/ ./lib/libglalby_bindings.so ./lib/libldk_node.so ./lib/libbreez_sdk_bindings.so ./bin/ ./bin/albyhub systemctl start albyhub ``` Navigate to http://localhost:9090

@ dbb19ae0:c3f22d5a

pip cache will show how much space is taken from past download ``` bash (nostr) ever3st@Alashazam:~/Documents/dev/python/$ pip cache info Package index page cache location: /home/ever3st/.cache/pip/http Package index page cache size: 2437.7 MB Number of HTTP files: 271 Wheels location: /home/ever3st/.cache/pip/wheels Wheels size: 2.2 MB Number of wheels: 2 ``` About 2GB if space is needed it can be cleared ``` bash (nostr) ever3st@Alashazam:~/Documents/dev/python/$ pip cache purge Files removed: 273 (nostr) ever3st@Alashazam:~/Documents/dev/python/bots/nostr$ pip cache info Package index page cache location: /home/ever3st/.cache/pip/http Package index page cache size: 0 bytes Number of HTTP files: 0 Wheels location: /home/ever3st/.cache/pip/wheels Wheels size: 326 bytes Number of wheels: 0 ```

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

In the dynamic world of global finance, the interplay between traditional monetary policy and the burgeoning digital asset market is becoming increasingly prominent. The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent pivot towards a more accommodative monetary policy has sparked intense discussion among investors, economists, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. This shift, characterized by an expected reduction in interest rates, is not just a routine adjustment but a significant move that could have far-reaching implications for various asset classes, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. As we delve into this topic, we aim to unravel the complexities of the Fed's policy change and its potential ripple effects on Bitcoin, a digital asset that has been a subject of much intrigue and speculation. **Table Of Content** - Understanding the Fed's Policy Shift - Impact on Traditional Financial Markets - Bitcoin's Response to Monetary Easing - Analyzing the Economic Backdrop - Bitcoin: A Safe Haven or Risk Asset? - Risks and Opportunities - Conclusion - FAQs **Understanding the Fed's Policy Shift** The Federal Reserve, the guardian of the U.S. monetary system, wields immense influence over global financial markets. Its recent signaling of a dovish turn – an expectation of 75 basis points in rate cuts by 2024 – marks a significant departure from its previous stance. This change is reflective of the Fed's response to a confluence of macroeconomic factors, such as fluctuating inflation rates, global economic uncertainties, and domestic financial stability concerns. The Fed's decisions are closely monitored as they set the tone for economic growth, inflation control, and financial market stability. In this context, the anticipated rate cuts suggest a strategic move to stimulate economic activity by making borrowing cheaper, thereby potentially boosting investment and consumption. However, this policy shift is not without its complexities and nuances, as it must balance the fine line between stimulating growth and controlling inflation. **Impact on Traditional Financial Markets** The ripple effects of the Fed's policy announcement were immediately felt across traditional financial markets. Stock markets, often seen as a barometer of economic sentiment, reacted positively, with indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching new heights. This surge reflects investors' optimism about the potential for increased corporate profits and economic growth in a lower interest rate environment. Similarly, the bond market experienced a significant rally, with yields on government securities falling as bond prices rose. This movement in the bond market is indicative of investors' expectations of a more accommodative monetary policy, which typically leads to lower yields on fixed-income securities. These market reactions underscore the pivotal role of central bank policies in shaping investor sentiment and the direction of financial markets. They also highlight the interconnectedness of various asset classes, as changes in monetary policy can have cascading effects across different sectors of the economy. **Bitcoin's Response to Monetary Easing** Bitcoin's reaction to the Fed's dovish turn has been a subject of keen interest. The cryptocurrency, which had been experiencing volatility, showed signs of recovery following the Fed's announcement. This response is indicative of Bitcoin's increasing correlation with broader financial market trends, a significant development given its history as an uncorrelated asset. Bitcoin's sensitivity to macroeconomic factors like central bank policies points to its growing integration into the mainstream financial ecosystem. However, this integration also means that Bitcoin is increasingly exposed to the same macroeconomic risks and uncertainties that affect traditional assets. The Fed's policy shift could potentially make Bitcoin more attractive to investors seeking non-traditional assets in a low-interest-rate environment. However, Bitcoin's complex dynamics, including its decentralized nature, limited supply, and regulatory landscape, add layers of complexity to its response to monetary policy changes. **Analyzing the Economic Backdrop** The economic backdrop against which the Fed's policy shift occurs is multifaceted and dynamic. On one hand, the U.S. economy has demonstrated resilience, with robust GDP growth and positive retail sales figures suggesting underlying strength. On the other hand, inflation, though moderated from its peak, remains a concern, hovering above the Fed's target. This economic duality presents a challenging scenario for policymakers, who must navigate the delicate balance between stimulating growth and containing inflation. For investors and market participants, this creates an environment of uncertainty, as they must decipher mixed signals from economic data and policy announcements. In this context, Bitcoin's role and response become even more intriguing, as it operates at the intersection of technology, finance, and macroeconomics. **Bitcoin: A Safe Haven or Risk Asset?** The debate over Bitcoin's classification as a safe haven or a risk asset is intensified by the Fed's easing stance. Traditionally, in a low-interest-rate environment, investors seek assets that can serve as hedges against inflation and currency devaluation. Gold has historically played this role, and Bitcoin, with its fixed supply and digital scarcity, has drawn comparisons to gold. However, Bitcoin's relatively short history and high volatility make it a more complex and potentially riskier asset. The Fed's dovish policy could enhance Bitcoin's appeal as an alternative investment, especially if traditional assets like bonds offer lower returns. However, Bitcoin's classification as a safe haven is still a matter of debate, with opinions divided on its long-term stability and value retention capabilities. **Risks and Opportunities** Investors considering Bitcoin in light of the Fed's policy change face a landscape filled with both risks and opportunities. The potential for a Bitcoin rally in a low-interest-rate environment is counterbalanced by the cryptocurrency's inherent volatility and regulatory uncertainties. Bitcoin's price movements can be dramatic and unpredictable, influenced by a range of factors from technological developments to geopolitical events. Additionally, the regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies is still evolving, with potential changes posing risks to Bitcoin's accessibility and value. Investors must also consider the broader global economic context, including actions by other central banks and international trade dynamics, which can impact Bitcoin's market movement. **Conclusion** The Federal Reserve's shift towards a more accommodative monetary policy in 2024 presents a fascinating scenario for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. This development underscores the increasing relevance of digital assets in the global financial landscape and highlights the complex interplay between traditional monetary policies and emerging financial technologies. As Bitcoin continues to evolve and gain acceptance, its response to macroeconomic factors like central bank policies will be a critical area of focus for investors. In navigating this dynamic and uncertain environment, a cautious and well-informed approach is essential for those looking to explore the opportunities and navigate the challenges of cryptocurrency investments. The coming years promise to be a pivotal period in the maturation of Bitcoin as it responds to the shifting tides of global finance. **FAQs** **How does the Federal Reserve's easing stance impact Bitcoin?** The Fed's shift towards lower interest rates can make riskier assets like Bitcoin more attractive to investors. This is because lower rates often lead to reduced yields on traditional investments, prompting investors to seek higher returns elsewhere. **What is the significance of the Fed's 'dot plot' for Bitcoin investors?** The 'dot plot' is a projection of interest rate movements by Federal Reserve members. A shift towards lower rates, as indicated in the recent dot plot, can signal a more accommodative monetary policy, potentially impacting Bitcoin's market as investors adjust their portfolios. **Can Bitcoin be considered a safe haven asset in light of the Fed's policy?** Bitcoin's role as a safe haven asset is debated. While its fixed supply and digital nature offer some safe haven characteristics, its volatility and regulatory uncertainties make it a complex choice compared to traditional safe havens like gold. **What risks should Bitcoin investors consider in the context of the Fed's easing policy?** Investors should be aware of Bitcoin's volatility, regulatory changes, and its sensitivity to macroeconomic factors. Additionally, global economic conditions and actions by other central banks can also influence Bitcoin's market. **How does the economic backdrop influence Bitcoin's response to the Fed's policy?** Economic factors like GDP growth, inflation rates, and retail sales impact investor sentiment and risk appetite, which in turn can affect Bitcoin's market. A strong economy might reduce the appeal of risk assets like Bitcoin, while economic uncertainties can increase their attractiveness. **That's all for today** **If you want more, be sure to follow us on:** **NOSTR: croxroad@getalby.com** **X: @croxroadnews.co** **Instagram: @croxroadnews.co** **Youtube: @croxroadnews** **Store: https://croxroad.store** **Subscribe to CROX ROAD Bitcoin Only Daily Newsletter** **https://www.croxroad.co/subscribe** ***DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.***

@ 31da2214:af2508e2

A global privacy nightmare is unfolding. The UK government secretly ordered Apple to backdoor encrypted iCloud storage worldwide—but Apple is legally forbidden from revealing this order, or they face criminal charges. This affects **2 BILLION USERS**. Here’s the full story & why it’s part of a much bigger power grab. 🧵👇 [[Thread by @sayerjigmi on Thread Reader App](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1888287793123901896.html)] --- ## 1) The UK's Secret Order to Backdoor Encryption 🔓 Under the UK’s **Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016**, Apple was served a **Technical Capability Notice (TCN)**—forcing them to create a backdoor for encrypted iCloud data. This is not limited to UK users. It applies **worldwide**, meaning your private files are at risk, no matter where you live. 🔗 [@macworld report](https://macworld.com/article/260251…) --- ## 2) Apple’s Legal Gag Order 🤐 Apple is legally forbidden from revealing this order. If Apple even acknowledges that the UK issued this demand, they could face **criminal charges**. This is a secret government order with **global consequences**. --- ## 3) A Global Threat to Encryption 🌍 This isn’t just about the UK (although they are leading the charge in threatening citizens in OTHER countries for violating BRITISH censorship laws!). If Apple complies, every government in the world will demand the same access—from the US to China to authoritarian regimes. **End-to-end encryption would be effectively dead.**  --- ## 4) Apple’s Dilemma: Comply or Withdraw? 🚪 Apple has two choices: - **Comply** & weaken encryption globally. - **Refuse** & withdraw services from the UK. WhatsApp & Signal faced similar threats last year and vowed to leave the UK rather than compromise security. Will Apple do the same? 🚨 Watch the heated discussion between Damian Collins, director of CCDH (architect of the UK Online Safety Bill), and Signal’s CEO: [YouTube Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E--bVV_eQR0) --- ## 5) Why This Matters: Encryption Protects Everything 🔐 - **Encryption protects financial data, health records, personal security (e.g., where you live or work), and private conversations.** - Governments always say they need backdoors for national security—but history shows they’re used for **mass surveillance**. - Once a backdoor exists, hackers, rogue employees, and other governments WILL find it. --- ## 6) The UK’s War on Encryption 🛡️ The UK is trying to dominate the global surveillance & censorship landscape. While the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have supported strong encryption to mitigate cyber threats, the UK stands alone in its war on encryption. --- ## 7) The Free Speech Crackdown 🗣️ This isn’t just about encryption—it’s about **control**. Governments worldwide are criminalizing dissent and censoring free speech, using tech companies as their enforcement arms. 🔗 [GreenMedInfo Report](https://greenmedinfo.com/content/breaking-international-governments-are-criminalizing-free-speech-through-glo-3) --- ## 8) The Global Censorship Agenda 🌐 This ties into the UK’s broader, **GLOBALLY ORCHESTRATED censorship agenda**: - The **Online Safety Bill** criminalizes encrypted messaging & forces platforms to scan private messages. - The **Digital Services Act (EU)** gives governments the power to shut down online content they don’t like. - Leaked US-UK documents show direct coordination between UK intelligence & the Biden administration to censor online speech. --- ## 9) The Architects of Speech Policing: CCDH 🕵️‍♂️ The **Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)**—a UK intelligence-backed group—has been a driving force behind global censorship. They were caught: - Running “black ops” to suppress RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign. - Leading the "Kill Musk’s Twitter" directive, trying to shut down free speech on X. - Labeling 12 private US citizens as the “Disinformation Dozen” to justify mass censorship. 🔗 [Reclaim the Net Investigation](https://reclaimthenet.org/black-ops-how-a-us-uk-censorship-group-targeted-rfk-jr-to-stifle-dissent) --- ## 10) The Pattern is Clear: Surveillance + Censorship 🔍 1️⃣ Governments create "safety" laws to justify surveillance. 2️⃣ They pressure tech companies to enforce censorship. 3️⃣ Once encrypted services are gone, nothing is private anymore. This is the biggest attack on digital freedom in history. --- ## 11) What Can We Do? 💪 - **Support companies** that refuse to build backdoors (Signal, ProtonMail, etc.). - **Push for legislation** that protects encryption & free speech. - **Stay informed** & spread awareness—governments count on secrecy to push these policies through. - Follow and support privacy and internet freedom organizations such as: - [@G_W_Forum](https://twitter.com/G_W_Forum) - [@FFO_Freedom](https://twitter.com/FFO_Freedom) - [@ReclaimTheNetHQ](https://twitter.com/ReclaimTheNetHQ) --- ## 12) The Ultimate Power Grab: Controlling All Digital Communication 📱 If Apple caves, every other platform will be forced to follow. 📌 The UK’s Global Playbook: - A backdoor to encryption (Investigatory Powers Act). - A government-linked censorship network (CCDH). - A speech-policing framework that extends worldwide (Online Safety Bill). This is a global effort to control what people can say, share, and store privately. --- ## 13) The Final Stand: Will You Comply or Resist? ⚔️🚨 They want total control—your speech, your privacy, your elections. This is the defining battle of our time. 🇬🇧 UK’s war on encryption = Global censorship blueprint. 🗳️ Election meddling + speech policing = A hijacked democracy. 📢 **Digital freedom is human freedom.** Stand up. Speak out. Fight back. 🏴‍☠️🔥 🔗 [LEARN MORE](https://sayerji.substack.com/p/crossfire-of-democracy-uk-labour?utm_source=publication-search) --- *Full thread preserved by [Thread Reader App](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1888287793123901896.html).*

@ 1c197b12:242e1642

A Cypherpunk's Manifesto by Eric Hughes Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world. If two parties have some sort of dealings, then each has a memory of their interaction. Each party can speak about their own memory of this; how could anyone prevent it? One could pass laws against it, but the freedom of speech, even more than privacy, is fundamental to an open society; we seek not to restrict any speech at all. If many parties speak together in the same forum, each can speak to all the others and aggregate together knowledge about individuals and other parties. The power of electronic communications has enabled such group speech, and it will not go away merely because we might want it to. Since we desire privacy, we must ensure that each party to a transaction have knowledge only of that which is directly necessary for that transaction. Since any information can be spoken of, we must ensure that we reveal as little as possible. In most cases personal identity is not salient. When I purchase a magazine at a store and hand cash to the clerk, there is no need to know who I am. When I ask my electronic mail provider to send and receive messages, my provider need not know to whom I am speaking or what I am saying or what others are saying to me; my provider only need know how to get the message there and how much I owe them in fees. When my identity is revealed by the underlying mechanism of the transaction, I have no privacy. I cannot here selectively reveal myself; I must always reveal myself. Therefore, privacy in an open society requires anonymous transaction systems. Until now, cash has been the primary such system. An anonymous transaction system is not a secret transaction system. An anonymous system empowers individuals to reveal their identity when desired and only when desired; this is the essence of privacy. Privacy in an open society also requires cryptography. If I say something, I want it heard only by those for whom I intend it. If the content of my speech is available to the world, I have no privacy. To encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy, and to encrypt with weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy. Furthermore, to reveal one's identity with assurance when the default is anonymity requires the cryptographic signature. We cannot expect governments, corporations, or other large, faceless organizations to grant us privacy out of their beneficence. It is to their advantage to speak of us, and we should expect that they will speak. To try to prevent their speech is to fight against the realities of information. Information does not just want to be free, it longs to be free. Information expands to fill the available storage space. Information is Rumor's younger, stronger cousin; Information is fleeter of foot, has more eyes, knows more, and understands less than Rumor. We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any. We must come together and create systems which allow anonymous transactions to take place. People have been defending their own privacy for centuries with whispers, darkness, envelopes, closed doors, secret handshakes, and couriers. The technologies of the past did not allow for strong privacy, but electronic technologies do. We the Cypherpunks are dedicated to building anonymous systems. We are defending our privacy with cryptography, with anonymous mail forwarding systems, with digital signatures, and with electronic money. Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software to defend privacy, and since we can't get privacy unless we all do, we're going to write it. We publish our code so that our fellow Cypherpunks may practice and play with it. Our code is free for all to use, worldwide. We don't much care if you don't approve of the software we write. We know that software can't be destroyed and that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down. Cypherpunks deplore regulations on cryptography, for encryption is fundamentally a private act. The act of encryption, in fact, removes information from the public realm. Even laws against cryptography reach only so far as a nation's border and the arm of its violence. Cryptography will ineluctably spread over the whole globe, and with it the anonymous transactions systems that it makes possible. For privacy to be widespread it must be part of a social contract. People must come and together deploy these systems for the common good. Privacy only extends so far as the cooperation of one's fellows in society. We the Cypherpunks seek your questions and your concerns and hope we may engage you so that we do not deceive ourselves. We will not, however, be moved out of our course because some may disagree with our goals. The Cypherpunks are actively engaged in making the networks safer for privacy. Let us proceed together apace. Onward. Eric Hughes <hughes@soda.berkeley.edu> 9 March 1993

@ 40b9c85f:5e61b451

## Data Vending Machine Context Protocol ### The Convergence of Nostr DVMs and MCP In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, a new approach to sharing and accessing computational tools is emerging through the combination of two powerful technologies: Nostr's Data Vending Machines (DVMs) and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This convergence has the potential to reshape how we think about tool distribution and accessibility, creating a truly decentralized marketplace for computational capabilities that serves AI, humans, and any type of machine that speaks the protocol. ## Understanding the Building Blocks Nostr's Data Vending Machines function much like their physical counterparts, but instead of dispensing snacks, they provide computational services with built-in Lightning Network payment capabilities. These DVMs operate on the decentralized Nostr network, allowing users to reach service providers without relying on centralized platforms or gatekeepers. The Model Context Protocol complements this infrastructure by providing a standardized way for applications to share context and expose their capabilities. Think of MCP as a universal language that allows tools to communicate effectively with any application that understands the protocol. This standardization is crucial for creating a seamless experience across different tools and services. ## What is DVMCP? DVMCP proposes a path for making DVMs and MCPs interoperable, introducing a protocol that makes local utilities available to everyone on the network. Our [draft specification](https://github.com/gzuuus/dvmcp/blob/master/docs/dvmcp-spec.md) serves as a foundation for easily transforming any MCP server into a DVM. To bridge these technologies, we've developed a simple software component that sits between your MCP server and the DVM ecosystem. You can find it in our [repository](repo.link). This bridge connects to your MCP server as a client and exposes its utilities through Nostr as a DVM, handling all the necessary Nostr logic. This means any existing MCP server can become accessible through Nostr without modifications - simply run the bridge alongside your server. This is particularly exciting because the vibrant and growing MCP community. Any team or individual already working with MCP can instantly plug into the Nostr DVM ecosystem, gaining access to decentralized discovery, built-in monetization, and an already existing user base. The bridge component makes this transition effortless, requiring no changes to any existing MCP implementations. ## A New Paradigm A decentralized marketplace where anyone can run tools locally and make them available globally. This addresses an unsolved problem larger than the Nostr ecosystem: how to make resources and tools discoverable and accessible in a decentralized, permissionless way. The power of this combination lies in its flexibility. Users can access tools through regular Nostr clients, AI agents can discover specific capabilities, and DVMs can create sophisticated tool chains. With Lightning Network integration, true machine-to-machine transactions become possible, where machines can autonomously discover, negotiate, and pay for computational services. Most importantly, you can run services on your own hardware while making these capabilities accessible to anyone anywhere. The result is a system that preserves privacy, promotes innovation, and creates new opportunities without central authorities controlling what tools can be offered or who can use them. The entire project, is available under the MIT license, and any feedback and collaboration is welcome. ## Looking Forward As these technologies mature, we're likely to see a fundamental shift in how computational capabilities are distributed and accessed. Instead of relying on massive cloud data centers controlled by a few companies, we're moving toward a global network of local machines, each contributing unique capabilities and computation to a larger, more resilient ecosystem. The convergence of Nostr DVMs and MCP represents more than just a technical innovation—it's a step toward a more equitable and accessible future. By enabling anyone to run and share tools, we're building an ecosystem where computational resources are not concentrated in the hands of a few but are available to and controllable by everyone. [Repository](https://github.com/gzuuus/dvmcp/)

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

I didn’t set out to become an enemy of the world’s richest man, but I seem to have managed it all the same. Until this moment, I’ve resisted describing my falling out with Elon Musk in much detail, but as the man’s cultural influence has metastasized—and he continues to spread lies about me on the social media platform that he owns (Twitter/X)—it seems only appropriate to set the record straight. I know that it annoys many in my audience to see me defend myself against attacks that they recognize to be spurious, but they might, nevertheless, find the details of what happened with Elon interesting. Of all the remarkable people I’ve met, Elon is probably the most likely to remain a world-historical figure—despite his best efforts to become a clown. He is also the most likely to squander his ample opportunities to live a happy life, ruin his reputation and most important relationships, and produce lasting harm across the globe. None of this was obvious to me when we first met, and I have been quite amazed at Elon’s evolution, both as a man and as an avatar of chaos. The friend I remember did not seem to hunger for public attention. But his engagement with Twitter/X transformed him—to a degree seldom seen outside of Marvel movies or Greek mythology. If Elon is still the man I knew, I can only conclude that I never really knew him. When we first met, Elon wasn’t especially rich or famous. In fact, I recall him teetering on the brink of bankruptcy around 2008, while risking the last of his previous fortune to make payroll at Tesla. At the time, he was living off loans from his friends Larry and Sergey. Once Elon became truly famous, and his personal wealth achieved escape velocity, I was among the first friends he called to discuss his growing security concerns. I put him in touch with Gavin de Becker, who provided his first bodyguards, and recommended other changes to his life. We also went shooting on at least two occasions with Scott Reitz, the finest firearms instructor I’ve ever met. It is an ugly irony that Elon’s repeated targeting of me on Twitter/X has increased my own security concerns. He understands this, of course, but does not seem to care. So how did we fall out? Let this be a cautionary tale for any of Elon’s friends who might be tempted to tell the great man something he doesn’t want to hear: (1.) When the SARS-CoV-2 virus first invaded our lives in March of 2020, Elon began tweeting in ways that I feared would harm his reputation. I also worried that his tweets might exacerbate the coming public-health emergency. Italy had already fallen off a cliff, and Elon shared the following opinion with his tens of millions of fans : *the coronavirus panic is dumb* As a concerned friend, I sent him a private text: *Hey, brother— I really think you need to walk back your coronavirus tweet. I know there’s a way to parse it that makes sense (“panic” is always dumb), but I fear that’s not the way most people are reading it. You have an enormous platform, and much of the world looks to you as an authority on all things technical. Coronavirus is a very big deal, and if we don’t get our act together, we’re going to look just like Italy very soon. If you want to turn some engineers loose on the problem, now would be a good time for a breakthrough in the production of ventilators...* (2.) Elon’s response was, I believe, the first discordant note ever struck in our friendship: *Sam, you of all people should not be concerned about this.* He included a link to a page on the CDC website, indicating that Covid was not even among the top 100 causes of death in the United States. This was a patently silly point to make in the first days of a pandemic. We continued exchanging texts for at least two hours. If I hadn’t known that I was communicating with Elon Musk, I would have thought I was debating someone who lacked any understanding of basic scientific and mathematical concepts, like exponential curves. (3.) Elon and I didn’t converge on a common view of epidemiology over the course of those two hours, but we hit upon a fun compromise: A wager. Elon bet me $1 million dollars (to be given to charity) against a bottle of fancy tequila ($1000) that we wouldn’t see as many as 35,000 cases of Covid in the United States (cases, not deaths). The terms of the bet reflected what was, in his estimation, the near certainty (1000 to 1) that he was right. Having already heard credible estimates that there could be 1 million deaths from Covid in the U.S. over the next 12-18 months (these estimates proved fairly accurate), I thought the terms of the bet ridiculous—and quite unfair to Elon. I offered to spot him two orders of magnitude: I was confident that we’d soon have 3.5 million cases of Covid in the U.S. Elon accused me of having lost my mind and insisted that we stick with a ceiling of 35,000. (4.) We communicated sporadically by text over the next couple of weeks, while the number of reported cases grew. Ominously, Elon dismissed the next batch of data reported by the CDC as merely presumptive—while confirmed cases of Covid, on his account, remained elusive. (5.) A few weeks later, when the CDC website finally reported 35,000 deaths from Covid in the U.S. and 600,000 cases, I sent Elon the following text: *Is (35,000 deaths + 600,000 cases) > 35,000 cases?* (6.) This text appears to have ended our friendship. Elon never responded, and it was not long before he began maligning me on Twitter for a variety of imaginary offenses. For my part, I eventually started complaining about the startling erosion of his integrity on my podcast, without providing any detail about what had transpired between us. (7.) At the end of 2022, I abandoned Twitter/X altogether, having recognized the poisonous effect that it had on my life—but also, in large part, because of what I saw it doing to Elon. I’ve been away from the platform for over two years, and yet Elon still attacks me. Occasionally a friend will tell me that I’m trending there, and the reasons for this are never good. As recently as this week, Elon repeated a defamatory charge about my being a “hypocrite” for writing a book in defense of honesty and then encouraging people to lie to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Not only have I never advocated lying to defeat Trump (despite what that misleading clip from the Triggernometry podcast might suggest to naive viewers), I’ve taken great pains to defend Trump from the most damaging lie ever told about him. Elon knows this, because we communicated about the offending clip when it first appeared on Twitter/X. However, he simply does not care that he is defaming a former friend to hundreds of millions of people—many of whom are mentally unstable. On this occasion, he even tagged the incoming president of the United States. All of this remains socially and professionally awkward, because Elon and I still have many friends in common. Which suggests the terms of another wager that I would happily make, if such a thing were possible—and I would accept 1000 to 1 odds in Elon’s favor: I bet that anyone who knows us both knows that I am telling the truth. Everyone close to Elon must recognize how unethical he has become, and yet they remain silent. Their complicity is understandable, but it is depressing all the same. These otherwise serious and compassionate people know that when Elon attacks private citizens on Twitter/X—falsely accusing them of crimes or corruption, celebrating their misfortunes—he is often causing tangible harm in their lives. It’s probably still true to say that social media “isn’t real life,” until thousands of lunatics learn your home address. A final absurdity in my case, is that several of the controversial issues that Elon has hurled himself at of late—and even attacked me over—are ones we agree about. We seem to be in near total alignment on immigration and the problems at the southern border of the U.S. We also share the same concerns about what he calls “the woke mind virus.” And we fully agree about the manifest evil of the so-called “grooming-gangs scandal” in the U.K. The problem with Elon, is that he makes no effort to get his facts straight when discussing any of these topics, and he regularly promotes lies and conspiracy theories manufactured by known bad actors, at scale. (And if grooming were really one of his concerns, it’s strange that he couldn’t find anything wrong with Matt Gaetz.) Elon and I even agree about the foundational importance of free speech. It’s just that his approach to safeguarding it—amplifying the influence of psychopaths and psychotics, while deplatforming real journalists and his own critics; or savaging the reputations of democratic leaders, while never saying a harsh word about the Chinese Communist Party—is not something I can support. The man claims to have principles, but he appears to have only moods and impulses. Any dispassionate observer of Elon’s behavior on Twitter/X can see that there is something seriously wrong with his moral compass, if not his perception of reality. There is simply no excuse for a person with his talents, resources, and opportunities to create so much pointless noise. The callousness and narcissism conveyed by his antics should be impossible for his real friends to ignore—but they appear to keep silent, perhaps for fear of losing access to his orbit of influence. Of course, none of this is to deny that the tens of thousands of brilliant engineers Elon employs are accomplishing extraordinary things. He really is the greatest entrepreneur of our generation. And because of the businesses he’s built, he will likely become the world’s first trillionaire—perhaps very soon. Since the election of Donald Trump in November, Elon’s wealth has grown by around $200 billion. That’s nearly $3 billion a day (and over $100 million an hour). Such astonishing access to resources gives Elon the chance—and many would argue the responsibility—to solve enormous problems in our world. So why spend time spreading lies on X?

@ f7d424b5:618c51e8

(Copied from my show notes \[website\](https://melonmancy.net/mp-100-nuance-enjoyer) for Melonmancy) Promise this isn't normal. It would be disingenuous to not bring it up. We mentioned a few things in the show you might want to pull up while listening, they are the following: - [Nightmare Kart dev crashes out](https://x.com/StutteringCraig/status/1883958297423929810) - [Dr Disrespect gives post-mortem on Midnight Society](https://x.com/ProfPressure/status/1885045826424365437) - [Lords of the Fallen announcement post](https://x.com/TheOneDeafMute/status/1887765603169222840) Obligatory: - [Listen to the new episode here!](https://melonmancy.net/listen) - [Discuss this episode on OUR NEW FORUM](https://melonmancy.cafe/d/102-mp100-nuance-enjoyer) - [Get the RSS and Subscribe](https://feeds.rssblue.com/melonmancy-podcast) (this is a new feed URL, but the old one redirects here too!) - Get a modern podcast app to use that RSS feed on at [newpodcastapps.com](http://newpodcastapps.com/) - Or listen to the show on [the forum](https://melonmancy.cafe) using the embedded [Podverse](https://podverse.fm) player! - [Send your complaints here](https://melonmancy.net/contact-us) Reminder that this is a [Value4Value](https://value4value.info/) podcast so any support you can give us via a modern podcasting app is greatly appreciated and we will never bow to corporate sponsors! Our podcast is created entirely with free software and is proudly hosted on [RSSBlue!](https://rssblue.com)

@ 1cb14ab3:95d52462

Hey all. I am setting up a Plebeian Marketplace on Nostr using my Lightning node. I currently have two channels open (one with a capacity of 500,000 sats, one with a capacity of 100,000 sats). Both use different LSP's (Megalith and Olympus). My question is regarding the maximum product price I can set for my marketplace. One of my products is 1M sats. Obviously my receiving capacity is not large enough to cover this, so I was planning on opening up another channel. If I open another channel for 500,000 sats, that would bring my total receiving capacity to 1.1M which would cover the product. However my question is if I need all of the receiving capacity in the same channel, or if the sale would pull from all three channels? Am I best to close out the first two channels and open a single, larger channel? Sorry for the noob question. Tl;DR: Can someone explain how I should best set up my node to accommodate my store. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/880591

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Sitting down to breakfast now, after 17 hours no food or water. ## Score Card Day 1: 14 hour fast (13 dry) Day 2: 15 hour fast (14 dry) Day 3: 17 hours (16 dry) Day 4: 18 hours (17 dry) Day 5: 18 hours (16 dry) Day 6: 19 hours (16 dry) Day 7: 16 hours (15 dry) Day 8: 18 hours (17 dry) Day 9: 17 hours (17 dry) originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/880575

@ 31da2214:af2508e2

It is not new to talk about the problematic relations between Africa and France, between former French colonies in Africa and the "metropole." _By Afrique Media_ _6 min. read_ [View original]( https://afriquemedia.tv/2025/02/06/le-reveil-africain-la-france-face-a-un-continent-qui-refuse-de-se-taire/) What is new, however, is the discourse and behavior of French elites regarding "Françafrique," particularly from French President Emmanuel Macron. In recent years, we have seen the French president make statements that are completely disrespectful toward his African counterparts, reflecting a neocolonial paternalism from another era. Arrogance as the new foundation for Franco-African relations is not a good basis, as you would agree. Macron has not stopped since then, because that is who he is: disdainful, arrogant, and totally lacking an understanding of what the presidential role entails, which requires non-emotional, responsible, and respectful conduct. > "I believe we forgot to be thanked. It’s not serious, it will come with time. Ingratitude, I am well placed to know, is a disease non-transmissible to humans." > — January 6, 2025, during the Annual Ambassadors' Conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris. This statement was directed at African leaders who had "forgotten to thank us" for the French military intervention in the Sahel against terrorism since 2013. What Macron fails to understand, like many ruling elites in France, is that in Africa, it is well understood that chaos, terrorism, and war in the Sahel were exacerbated by the French military aggression, along with its English and American allies, against Muammar Gaddafi's Jamahiriya Libya in 2011, which led to its disintegration. Thus, the French intervention is merely a minimum after-sales service that indeed implicates France in the events that followed. It is rather France that owes an apology to the Sahel countries for this disastrous policy, which, as often happens, follows the violation of international law. We can skip over Macron's ridiculous suggestion that France was "not retreating" in Africa but simply "reorganizing." Let us now address the reactions to his remarks, which provoked negative responses in several African countries. In Chad, Senegal, and Burkina Faso, they were seen as paternalistic and insulting. Critics highlighted that this remark seemed to ignore the complexities of Franco-African relations, accusations of neocolonialism, and demands for sovereignty and recognition of the sacrifices made by African countries themselves. Chad lamented "the contemptuous attitude" of the French president, stating that these declarations reflect a neocolonial vision of Franco-African relations: > "These statements are poorly received by the Chadian government. Abderaman Koulamallah [Minister of Foreign Affairs] calls on French leaders to respect the African people and recognize the value of their sacrifices. 'History attests that Africa, including Chad, played a decisive role in the liberation of France during both world wars, a fact that France has never truly acknowledged. The immense sacrifices made by African soldiers to defend freedom have been minimized, and no worthy thanks have been expressed.'" > — *Le Pays*, January 6, 2025 (1). The same sentiment echoed in Senegal, which also condemned these remarks, calling them condescending and inappropriate. > "French President Emmanuel Macron has managed to irritate his African counterparts. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko reminds President Macron that 'if African soldiers, sometimes forcibly mobilized, mistreated, and ultimately betrayed, had not deployed during World War II to defend France, it might still be German today.'" > — *Seneweb*, January 6, 2025 (2). In France itself, Macron's statements sparked reactions from the French political class: - **The French Communist Party (PCF)** expressed its "deep consternation" at these remarks, deeming them disdainful toward African nations. > "These statements reinforce, among peoples, a sense of contempt and colonial paternalism. It is unacceptable to continue down this path (...) As recent events call for, notably the rejection of the French military presence in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and more recently in Senegal and Chad, it is imperative that new relations be established between our country and Africa. African nations aspire to full and complete sovereignty. A historic turning point has occurred, marking the end of the neocolonial system that Emmanuel Macron's statements seek to preserve." > — January 9, 2025 (3). - **Jordan Bardella**, as president of the National Rally (RN), criticized Macron's remarks in a press release and in televised interviews. He described Macron's statements as "disconnected" from the reality of Franco-African relations and denounced what he perceived as arrogance. Bardella emphasized that France should adopt a more humble and respectful diplomatic approach. However, controversies and tensions are no longer confined to the sphere of state relations but now extend to African civil society as well. Thus, on January 9, the Malian political party COREMA held a press conference where it called on politicians and activists from Burkina Faso and Niger to support a petition demanding reparations from France. They also pledged to submit the signatures of this petition to the governments of Mali and France. The collection of signatures generated significant interest among the population and a desire to support this initiative; more than 100,000 people from different regions of the country signed the petition. This demand for reparations demonstrates that for Africa, Macron's statements are the last straw that broke the camel's back. It is clear to all that the Malian party demanding reparations is not acting independently but represents the unofficial position of the government. Other countries may soon join this cause. And France will have to respond to put an end to this issue. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have already joined this cause, and soon Ivory Coast and Senegal will fully support them... And France will owe them a response to resolve this problem. We are at a major geopolitical turning point in the world and for all countries and continents. Traditional power dynamics are being redefined. The Françafrique of the last century is over. Here comes the time of the Second Liberation of African countries! Here comes the time of Africa's sovereign affirmation, taking its destiny into its own hands! The French elites still do not seem to understand that it is not the "ingratitude" of African leaders that is responsible for France's loss of influence in Africa, with an impact on the French economy today and even more so tomorrow. The outdated perception of gratitude owed for past interventions masks the reality of African aspirations for self-driven development. This is what it is about: the present, the future, and not the unresolved past for both sides. The French elites still do not seem to understand that it is not Russia that is behind their "expulsion" from Africa, but rather the decision of these African countries to choose different partners based on their interests and their interests alone. This is not only their right but also their duty as new pan-Africanist patriots. This shift towards more diversified partnerships reflects a growing political, economic, and geopolitical maturity—something sorely lacking in France today. The peoples of Africa demand it. It is a national and democratic requirement. As for France, entangled in a European Union in the midst of a crisis of democratic and economic legitimacy and engaged against its own interests in the American war against Russia in Ukraine, it seems to have no "new African policy" that would require a complete reboot of its neocolonial software from the last century. Africa will not wait any longer for France to wake up. The Sahel countries are at the forefront of this sovereign African renaissance, open to the world. The Françafrique of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, nicknamed "Papa m’a dit," and those of today is over! A new partnership could emerge only on a mutually beneficial basis... But with the current French regime, this is already impossible. --- **Source:** [Afrique Media]( https://afriquemedia.tv/2025/02/06/le-reveil-africain-la-france-face-a-un-continent-qui-refuse-de-se-taire/) **Author:** Afrique Media **Translated by:** solobalbo

@ 3b7fc823:e194354f

As someone who takes privacy seriously, I'm always on the lookout for innovative solutions that can help individuals protect their digital lives. One such solution is Tails OS, a Linux-based operating system that's specifically designed for privacy and security. **What is Tails OS?** Tails OS, short for The Amnesic Incognito Live System, is a Debian-based Linux distribution that offers a high level of anonymity and privacy. Developed by the Tails Project, this operating system is designed to preserve your online anonymity and protect your digital identity. Tails OS is a "live" distribution, meaning you can boot it from a USB drive or CD/DVD without installing it on your computer. This makes it an ideal solution for those who need to maintain their privacy while working in public spaces or using public computers. **Why Use Tails OS for Privacy?** Tails OS offers several features that make it an excellent choice for those seeking to protect their online privacy: 1. **Anonymity**: Tails OS uses the Tor network to route your internet traffic through a series of nodes, making it difficult for anyone to trace your online activities back to your physical location. 2. **Encryption**: Tails OS comes with built-in encryption tools, such as GnuPG and OpenSSL, to protect your sensitive data. 3. **Secure Boot**: Tails OS uses a secure boot process to ensure that your system is free from malware and other threats. 4. **No Persistence**: Tails OS is designed to leave no trace on your computer, meaning that any data you create or access while using the operating system will be deleted when you shut down. **Getting Started with Tails OS** Now that you know why Tails OS is an excellent choice for privacy protection, let's dive into the step-by-step guide on how to use it: **Step 1: Download and Create a Tails USB Drive** Visit the Tails website and download the latest version of Tails OS. Follow the instructions to create a bootable USB drive. **Step 2: Boot Tails OS** Insert the USB drive into your computer and restart it. Enter the BIOS settings (usually by pressing F2, F12, or Del) and set the USB drive as the first boot device. Save the changes and exit the BIOS settings. Your computer will now boot from the Tails USB drive. **Step 3: Security implications of setting up an administration password** For better security, no administration password is set up by default. When you set up an administration password, an attacker who can get physical access to your computer while Tails is running could be able to break your security **Step 4: Configure Tails OS** Tails OS comes with a pre-configured Tor network, which is enabled by default. You can also configure other settings, such as the keyboard layout and language, from the "Settings" menu. **Step 5: Use Tails OS for Private Activities** Now that you're logged in and configured, you can use Tails OS for private activities, such as: * Browsing the internet anonymously using Tor * Sending and receiving encrypted emails using GnuPG * Creating and editing documents using LibreOffice * Chatting with friends and family using Pidgin * Setup Persistent Storage for files **Emergency shutdown** To trigger an emergency shutdown, unplug the USB stick from which Tails is running. Doing so might be faster than shutting down from the system menu. NOTE: You risk breaking your Persistent Storage and losing data when you unplug your USB stick while Tails is running. **Conclusion** Tails OS is an excellent tool for anyone seeking to protect their online privacy. With its built-in anonymity features, encryption tools, and secure boot process, Tails OS provides a high level of protection for your digital identity. By following the step-by-step guide outlined above, you can start using Tails OS for private activities and take control of your digital life. Remember, privacy is a fundamental human right, and it's essential to take steps to protect it. Tails OS is an excellent tool for anyone looking to maintain their online anonymity and protect their digital identity. --- Advocating for privacy does not finance itself. If you enjoyed this article, please consider zapping or sending monero 82XCDNK1Js8TethhpGLFPbVyKe25DxMUePad1rUn9z7V6QdCzxHEE7varvVh1VUidUhHVSA4atNU2BTpSNJLC1BqSvDajw1