Nostr Web Client

How important are aircraft carriers?

China can try take Taiwan and we can

Replying to

Lyn Alden

There are people who talk seriously about the US military backing the dollar, when they can’t even keep the Red Sea open against Houthis and their drones for the better part of a year now.

Literally half of their mandate is to keep global shipping lanes open, and they don’t know what to do about this. Sure, they could nuke half the world, but they can’t actually perform pinpoint military control at distance anymore.

Paper tiger.

Not only is their technology increasingly offsides from what exists out there, but morally they’ve lost the plot as well, and so nobody gives a shit at home either.

We find ourselves meming the situation in social media as they lack answers.

I don’t know if you’re seriously holding these views anymore or if you’re just feeding the Nostr crowd.

Any idiot can buy some missiles and fire them off.

The primary objective of the US military is to keep US civilians, including US bitcoiners who of course pay their share of tax in exchange for this service, safe.

Before criticising the military of your country too hard, ask yourself how many times a foreign power has invaded.

Some charts:

Replying to

Peter Alexander

And I can add as well that this isn't just well known by the Chinese leadership, it has also been seen from afar for a very long while.

It's for that reason why China never needs to lift a finger militarily on the subject of Taiwan. Saber rattling aside, the Chinese simply need to maintain their time preference differential vis a vis the US.

As I tell everyone, when it comes to the "Great Game 2.0", the Chinese are mopping the floor with everyone else deemed a supposed geopolitical peer.

So the country that bans bitcoin outright wins. Got it. Wait…

First act: hiring nostr:npub1yezu4atsdgchvlyjz5efwks8n7ze2rssq674qe04m5pp8e5y32tqfdawc7!

nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a reminds me of Enya

Replying to

Bradley Rettler

ANNOUNCEMENT: The University of Wyoming has established the UW Bitcoin Research Institute. uwyo.edu/bitcoin

The BRI aims to produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications about bitcoin from all academic disciplines.

Much academic bitcoin research is quite poor, because it's done by people who don't understand bitcoin.

Mora et al predicted "bitcoin alone could push emissions 2 degrees".

They failed to account for the difficulty adjustment *and* didn't know there was a block size cap!

Others like Taleb’s infamous "Bitcoin Black Paper" are unaware of Layer 2s like Lightning, and others are unaware of the supply cap -- perhaps bitcoin's most distinctive feature. Others make faulty assumptions about bitcoin user demographics.

These mistakes make their way into journalism, and policy. Bitcoin is multi-faceted in theory, and even more so in practice. Journalists can't be experts, so they rely on academics. Too many of those academics have let them down.

The good news is that there is good academic research on bitcoin. Work by Will Luther, nostr:npub18wgtxzhx75qd2aq3gn35mcv5m8zx7z6xdsf6a95asltys70deekqqjr2wn , nostr:npub12lzwey2hjc2ce0stwa3ldhg04h93wj263lvdhrf87qfzz9jsggeqwuntw2 , nostr:npub10afr060h0g3vf2ykynr6cvw2u7ta3tzpgjczfyufp420aeeen0xszf0xj0 , Matthew Ferranti, nostr:npub1ws69pst0kcaqa9cgm85l3xzkqrfuphldu5dv6r5cp8tjjzfyv82s5vxzeg and others understands and explains bitcoin very well.

But for academics interested in bitcoin, the incentives often don't line up. Few advisors will let their advisees focus on bitcoin, so bitcoin projects must be side projects. And without advisor or community support, these projects are rarely taken on.

The Bitcoin Research Institute fixes the incentives. We provide a community who can support scholars and give critical feedback on their projects, and we provide funds for travel and lodging.

We're removing barriers for scholars who want to work on bitcoin.

More academic work on bitcoin should be done by people who understand bitcoin. The BRI aims to produce that work, which will filter up to journalists and policymakers.

The University of Wyoming is the perfect place for this, with Sen Lummis, nostr:npub1uyz4w2w4rcphk0q5arzkutrecgscxwzajj4dkvh9mjyqjtxslm6qea8632 , State Sen Rothfuss, Law School Dean Julie Hill, Steve Lupien, bitcoin miners using all kinds of energy like nostr:npub1k7tcreyu0w970fxsht8ccw54az2yh27agf4x2s92crwam9mw9cws558edl , a School of Energy Resources, School of Environment and Natural Resources...

The UW Bitcoin Research Institute is a 501c(3) nonprofit. Because of nostr:npub1uyz4w2w4rcphk0q5arzkutrecgscxwzajj4dkvh9mjyqjtxslm6qea8632 , the University -- and by extension the BRI -- can accept bitcoin directly. And UW allocates 4% of our investments to bitcoin, so if you donate bitcoin to the BRI, we will NOT sell it.

If you're a scholar and you want to be involved, my DMs are open!

If you're a journalist and you want to learn more, my DMs are open!

If you want to support our work, you can do so here: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/49172/donations/new

If you want to ask about KYC, your DM’s are closed

Replying to

Of course I am. The first line of the Bitcoin Whitepaper is “peer to peer electronic cash system”. Bitcoin can and will achieve this, regardless of what governments do. That’s the whole point. Separating money from state. They can use it, mine it like anyone else if they chose to, or not. Regardless, bitcoin will keep working.

You’re still not seeing it. You are leader of country A, with a pure bitcoin standard. Every transaction is p2p. No raising of tax, therefore no government, is possible.

I am leader of country B. I have fiat money. I print fiat money to raise a military, and invade your country, killing all the men and enslaving the women and children.

Actually you could argue this is what has actually happened. The west has been better at collecting taxes from its people, therefore has had a better army, therefore uses that military strength internationally to its advantage.

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Hi, compost worms are the best pets for several reasons. First, because they eat your scraps. Second, because they make nutrient rich soil for you to grow more vegetables which can then feed more worms.

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Replying to

Chad Lupkes

Elon doesn't care about anything that he doesn't control.

Dude literally trying to make humans multiplanitary and end the need to work but ok

Replying to

U just changed ur question, but ok, I’ll bite. I said less government, not no government. Less interference in markets through BS legislation, taxes, permits and all that crap. Just get out the way and allow the free market to do its thing.

Bitcoin has defended itself from nation state attacks for15 years with out politicians or governments because it’s a superiors technology. Now government are beginning to recognize that and we are in the “then they join us phase”.

Bitcoin thrived despite government attacks. Governments are broke and addicted to money printing. They need Bitcoin, Bitcoin doesn’t need them.

So you’re not in favour of bitcoin being the universal currency then. Because if you are, how do you ensure that there is any government, if all transactions are p2p

Replying to

Cuz the premise of ur question is disingenuous/ridiculous…When did I shit on any military?

I’m just asking how you hold the view you hold, like what are the implications of that, have you thought them through.

You claim that bitcoiners don’t need politicians or governments. So then I’m asking how you suppose this group would defend itself from groups that have politicians and governments. If you don’t have an answer you know it’s fine to just say so.

Replying to

Hodl Hodl

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Replying to

I shit on all crooked politicians who send other peoples children to die in unjust wars to enrich themselves.

Way to not answer the question

Replying to

The Epic

Ya there's a neverending pushback of centralized and decentralized forces. Like, camera surveillance for a grocery store is fine and it makes sense. Though I draw lines regarding surveillance from a purely tech perspective. I know I draw some lines about what's ok for me to do in regards to decentralized tech but that's more a personal "don't" than "the tech needs to be limited."

In regards to taxes in the west, man I would love it if we were on a Bitcoin standard. Then maybe we could become educated about issues that the government could help with and we could vote with our tax money effectively. If someone doesn't agree they don't have to pay the tax. Taxes could actually function and work properly according to what the people deem reasonable. As long as the people can be reasonable. Which might also be a tall task in and of itself. At least this could be a systematic nudge towards something better.

My point is I wouldn’t like to run the experiment of voluntary tax, find out that that number donated is basically zero, and then get invaded and slaughtered by an invading army since you don’t have an army anymore

Replying to

Mostly just US commanders themselves saying they don't have the capacity to take on Russia or China.

I'll probably come back with some links for you at some point.

Side note: the part of the world that makes all your stuff is more important than the "developed" world.

Well they have a conflict of interest since they a. Want the us to be over rather than underprepared and b. Wouldn’t mind a golden parachute in a defense manufacturer once they leave the military, so I wouldn’t put too much on what they say.

Not really. Design is much more important than manufacturing. Not hard to move a factory from one middle income country to another, as china is realising.

Is America a location or an idea?

Replying to

They can't because 1) it's not up to them, it's up to the elites, and 2) the elites know they've already lost to Russia/China/Iran both militarily and economically.

The rest of the world is gearing up for a global smackdown of epic proportions, if the US makes one wrong move at this point they'll disappear from the world stage for a century.

Not really sure what you’re basing that on. The us still has the strongest military by a mile and most of the developed world as allies and about half the nukes

Replying to

Bombing anyone who opts out of the USD worked for a while but those days are over, the only defenceless schmucks worth bombing into submission now are Americans themselves, which is exactly why the war machine is now turning on them.