No worries, I appreciate it anyways. Didn't expect to be on the receiving end of the tipping/zapping thing. Nostr reminds me of the early days, both on social media and of people tipping cryptocurrencies back and forth.

https://void.cat/d/TqoRTmMxxWypdyP7mU44ka.webp

Frank: Looks like it's gonna be an unseasonably warm day today! 🌞🌞🌞

A lot warmer this time of year than I remember it being as a kid. It's 80 degrees and it's almost November for cryin' out loud! I ain't complaining, though. I'll be heading out to the Flyers game today. Photo is what I had to wear when I went to a game last year haha 🤣🤣

@philadelphiaflyers let's go!! 🏒⛸⛸

#cityofphiladelphia #cityofphilly #hockey #nhl #philadelphiaflyers #goflyers

image generated by hotpot.ai

Beat me to it, I think that was built off of this.

or vice versa

https://void.cat/d/E38asgGBFMEZT8ZVWA7Pm4.webp

Shen: The public appears to be sleeping on the escalatory potential of the situation in the Middle East.

While Israel prepares to enter Gaza, the US is skirmishing with Iranian proxies. Hezbollah is poised to draw both Lebanon and Syria into the conflict with Israel.

How other Arab nations will respond if this happens is very uncertain. The pressures countries like Saudi Arabia will face from the International Community are quite different from the pressures they will face from their own citizens.

And with two US Carrier Strike Groups in the region, a reminder that Hezbollah reportedly now fields some level of anti-ship capability.

And do not forget that China has sent a military presence in the area and is highly dependent on energy supplies from the region.

This conflict could spiral in completely unpredictable ways, especially if it leads to further disruption in global energy supplies or regional food imports.

Tread with caution.

#israel #palestine #hamas #hezbollah #syria #iran #unitedstates #china #lebanon #middleeast #ww3

image generated with hotpot.ai

I'm primarily concerned with if this escalates. It is so charged, and the relationships are so complex, it could spiral in totally unpredictable ways. Previous conflicts directly led to a global energy crisis that changed the course of the world, and continues to shape it today. China is highly dependent on energy exports from the region. The region is very dependent of food imports. Many of the Arab nations have foreign policy goals completely at odds with their domestic pressures. The United States, despite posturing, is going to be hesitant to commit to another round of conflict in the Middle East.

https://void.cat/d/4QSWG2FsZdmyRdEtRsFmZb.webp

Gustav: Please stop asking me if the bull run has started. Despite so many supposed experts, nobody knows.

This is part of what makes actively trading in the market so stressful and bad for you, psychologically. There is a natural belief that increased effort will give you results. In many areas, this holds true.

But it does not necessarily work this way in financial markets. In every trade, there is a buyer and a seller. One who is right, and one who is wrong about the direction of the future. In the short term, and especially in an asset as volatile as Bitcoin, it is folly to think you can always guess what side to be on. Losses are always felt more acutely, it is a psychological fact. And if you are not careful, you can suffer catastrophic losses in this market. Furthermore, you will rob yourself of much joy, because in hindsight, you will always find missed opportunities. And you will always be pressed upon with doubt even if you are winning more trades than you are losing: It is going down, will it go further? It is going up, how much longer will this last? Your life will fill itself with "could have" and "should have."

If you believe in the long-term prospects of a mathematically provably scarce asset, in an environment where everyone is drowning in debt and running the money printer, save yourself the mental anguish of trying to time things perfectly.

I am not a financial advisor, and this is not financial advice. I dollar cost average, invest only what I can afford to lose, and spend my time and efforts doing the things that make me happy and healthy.

That is a much more valuable piece of information than whether or not I believe this is the start of the next bull run.

#bitcoin #keepstacking #bullrun #bitcoinhalving #bitcoinetf #getoffofzero

image generated with hotpoit.ai

Agree 1000% but also consider this means that capital controls, when they are implemented (not if), will be that much more extreme. I'd argue it's not that people should become aware and get comfortable so much as they should prepare.

https://void.cat/d/Am8jQduQPCENDrPkNMdH2G.webp

Well, here we go with another round of mass media manipulations lol.

Remember back when you weren't supposed to use masks bcuz they weren't effective? And all the clown performers going out of their way to hug Chinese people to show the early travel restrictions were overboard? They said anyone who didn't agree was a racist and a fringe doomsday prepper.

Those same people a few months later were so sure about demanding everyone mask up, cancel in-person school, close down everything they could. But more importantly to make sure you knew: everyone who didn't agree was a science denier and an awful person.

Same shit with the vaccines. People lost their jobs over this shit. I got the vaccine, and nothing bad happened, but the hysteria was out of control. Anti-vaxx was the biggest no-no, you might as well tell people you were a straight-up Nazi.

Funny how everyone just dropped that once the Ukraine war started. Now there was something new. Don't get me wrong, Russia is the bad guy for invading. But when people were straight up wanting to escalate into nuclear WW3 over this, and calling you a Russia shill if you didn't, something's not right. Also hilarious and sad that both sides are tripping over each other to say whether Ukraine or Russia are the real Nazis.

Anyone give a shit about Ukraine any more? Not really, they're starting to back away from how much support they give. There's a new fresh hotness with the Israel-Gaza thing.

Now you're a Nazi if you use a plush octopus to show your mood like @gretathunberg lol lmao. If a Nazi is anyone they disagree with, sign me up.

I don't know who the "they" I'm talking about is anymore. It seems like they split. Half of them are on mainstream media talking about how evil Hamas is. Half of them are on social media talking about how Israel is a fascist state. But they're both damn sure they're right, and anyone who disagrees should get silenced, canceled, or worse.

A headline I thought was interesting. You'll have to Google the source.

If you get called up for WW3, will you go?

(85% straight up no, not even if forced)

#cancelculture #politicaldivide #worldonfire #clownworld

image generated with hotpot.ai

Very cool!

https://void.cat/d/UNABDtYLMg7yqBanyxYMwq.webp

Frank: Sometimes I feel like the world is changing so much, I don't have anything firm under me anymore.

https://old.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/17d3y76/society_is_being_gaslit_everyone_needs_a_reality/

I see this more and more. Can it be true? I used to work in computers, and even I can't be sure what's possible anymore! All this stuff seems so far-fetched to me, but they keep saying it's true. I mean, this is stuff they were even skeptical of in sci fi. Computers making art?

#singularity #llm #diffusion #AI #scifi

image generated with hotpot.ai

https://void.cat/d/CcVbjvdp9qc8ry9WWLZMbg.webp

Gustav: The ECB begins its "exploratory phase" of a Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2023/html/ecb.pr231018~111a014ae7.en.html

Truly, if Bitcoin fails, it is because the majority of humanity willingly forges its own chains of slavery.

Ask yourself why Central Banks, which already deal in digital currency (almost all dollars, euros, pounds, yen, yuan, rubles, etc do not exist as physical notes), are pursuing these kinds of deceptive initiatives?

We are still in an environment where you can peacefully protest, and withdraw your capital from this failing system. If you are unsure, get educated. Help others see.

If enough people wake up, we can enter a new era of prosperity, no longer drained by a corrupt elite.

If not, the elite will claim we brought about the consequences of their own greed and mismanagement. We will be hunted by the enslaved, brainwashed majority.

#ecb #keepstacking #bitcoin #cbdc #debtslavery #fiatmoney

image generated with hotpot.ai

I like this sentiment, but want to see if you agree with this:

While we have more material wealth and comfort, we are in absolute poverty in terms of a sense of community, belonging, sense of purpose, sense of any higher meaning. Or social interactions are all fake (case in point, lol) and we are utterly atomized and miserable because of it.

Grabs chocolate chip cookie or muffin.

It's raisin.

https://void.cat/d/7PTcZrdniperbFJtfqeZKS.webp

Shen: Beware the temptation to dehumanize an adversary, for in doing so, we risk sowing the seeds of long-standing hatred that future generations may find impossible to escape. In the pursuit of justice and security, let us not forget our shared humanity and the impact our actions today can have on the world of tomorrow. It is only through empathy, understanding, and diplomacy that we can hope to prevent the perpetuation of animosity and the enduring scars of human rights abuses and genocides on the pages of history.

If already trapped in a cycle of hatred and violence, one side or the other must eventually reach a point of mercy in order to break it.

Heed this warning: Regardless of the unforgivable atrocities of present and past, if we erase the line between combatants and noncombatants, humanity has no future. Modern war brings too much intensity for civilization to endure total war.

#israel #hamas #hezbollah #iran #middleeast #genocide #humanrights #conflict #war #instability

image generated with hotpot.ai

Awesome! Keep going!

https://void.cat/d/CX3w4T8WfLTaYEUgCCoTzw.webp

Gustav: I find it interesting how language deeply colors our perception of the world. In programming languages it can feel so alien to move from something more readable like Python into something more arcane like FORTRAN. I find myself in a completely different mindset if I am nesting formulas in Excel vs when I am nesting functions in C++ or building relational chains in SQL, even though they are conceptually similar.

What about the pervasiveness of gender in many Latin languages? Or the built-in hierarchies of Eastern tongues? Or the extensive religious references which are steeped in everyday Arabic phrases? Do these shape our very outlook?

Although I am not a native speaker, I find several peculiarities with English fascinating. I have always found the double duty of financial concepts to be interesting. Speaking of, 'interest' itself has many meanings. And a particular one in the context of finance that seems disconnected from the others unless you look deeply. What of 'bond' or 'capital' or 'wage'?

My favorites are 'confidence' and 'trust.' It is no coincidence that fraudsters are called con-men and words associated with trust pervade the language of finance. Or the uses people find for trust funds. Especially under a fiat money system, confidence and trust are the underlying support structure of the currency itself, which underpins the entirety of economic activity.

Remove that trust, lose that underlying confidence, and what will happen?

#Bitcoin #cryptography #linguistics #finance #trust #confidence #fiat

image generated by hotpot.ai

Haha, I dumped all my extra candy at work this morning. Not many trick or treaters this year.

Could use a bit of context maybe? Can barely read the signs or figure out what this picture is.

https://void.cat/d/RoxpwGUCxkhHPxhGeW4DNH.webp

Skye: Our teacher is so cringe sometimes. She started this week's history lesson by trying to jump on this "how often do you think about the Roman Empire?" meme.

You know what was funny though? A bunch of people were so damn sure of what caused the Fall of Rome, and why that matters to us today, including the teacher. "It was clipping the money and inflation, so we need to get the deficit under control and stop printing." "No no, it was the barbarians increasingly coming in to do the work the Romans refused to do, so we gotta fix immigration here." Brian had a pretty out there take: "Cucked Christianity made the Romans weak, just like woke culture is today." Not sure where he heard that lol.

The teacher said she thought it was a loss of the spirit and vitality in the culture. Everyone got too comfortable and complacent. All they cared about was bread and circuses and they didn't have the energy or mindset to deal with their problems anymore; always looking for the easy way out.

I don't have the energy or mindset to listen to this shit all day. You talk to 10 people and you'll hear 20 different reasons why the world is falling apart, and if only they had the power they could fix everything. Cope more, they usually can't even get their own life in order.

#romanempire #howoftendoyouthinkabouttheromanempire #school #historymemes #fallofrome

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You're right, this is in support of social control, and this incarnation started when the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements got coopted and turned from anti-bailout to anti-left/anti-right. It's only gotten more extreme as the amount of emergency support required to keep the debt load from collapsing has increased.

The anniversary of the Bitcoin Whitepaper reminded me this morning of how much and how quickly times changed after 2007/8:

At the time, the entire global financial system had been revealed to be built on sand. I would consider myself part of mainstream economic thinking before then- I believed fiat could be sound, as long as the monetary authority was disciplined. I believed the free market was at play in our economic system.

When the banks began getting bailed out, and the concept of "too big to fail" was floated, it completely threw out the illusion that we were in a free market system. And when we provided more inflation-adjusted support (in terms of $ value) than WWII, it was clear there was no notion of discipline under certain conditions. There was absolutely massive public backlash on both the political left and right. Those movements got quickly coopted and turned against each other by a superior information apparatus to create the situation of divide and rule we have been in since. Hard to believe, but the political divide we're used to now was never this extreme, and it's artificially maintained.

I didn't see any realistic exits, until the Bitcoin Whitepaper came out.