"Bitcoin City" is not the e-cash powered cypherpunk community envisioned by Tim May and Wei Dai, where "the government is not temporarily destroyed but permanently forbidden and permanently unnecessary." nakamotoinstitute.org/b-money/
That community -- where individual autonomy and human rights are secured through privacy and anonymity tools -- is being built on Cashu by #[2], on the fedimint protocol by #[3], on coinjoins by Samourai Wallet and #[4], and on lightning by #[5] and #[6].
That's where I'll reside.
Open money, Open protocols, Open markets, Open borders.
Reject arbitrary boundaries everywhere.
Pura Vida.
It's time for states to redeclare their monetary independence from the federal government by promoting freedom of choice in money.
Lessons from California's monetary secession during the Civil War.
https://www.bitcoinbrief.io/california-civil-war-states-rights-resisting-cbdcs/
Newsletter built with #value4value.
Counter-AI is necessary. Critical to open source AI development.
Miami/NYC/Triangle BitDevs Socratic Seminar - Conference Edition!
May 17th!
Check out Bitcoin Grove: Miami's only physical space dedicated solely to Bitcoin collaboration and discussion.
https://www.meetup.com/miami-bitdevs/events/292999676/?isFirstPublish=true
#[0] #[1]@npub12xh5hyq8s62zzrysflsm0j4tndf4exuvyrcgxw2lrwnkf4mav78qylx9t2
#[2] , how do we list these meetups on bitcoinerevents.com?
cc: #[3]
Bitcoin Vortex - Miami - This Weekend!
A confluence of meetups, including an open house for the newest physical space dedicated to bitcoiners and bitcoin development:
🌴Bitcoin Grove!🌴
See you nostriches there!
Next time! There's a lot happening here - bitcoin coworking space opening imminently.
Careful not to float away on the beach. Been raining since Sunday here! Hopefully you are sticking around for a while - Miami BitDevs on Monday!
Also check out blogstack.io by #[3] and #[4] . Similar long form experience, with some UX style differences.
"Chase' Patent Greenback Mill"
Is this from prior to the U.S. making greenbacks convertable for gold in 1879?
Civil war and reconstruction era are under discussed, considering many of the legal precedents that created the modern financial system originated during this period.
NYTimes reporter shot drone footage of Rockdale Tx mining facility during time of day known for increased natural haze, rather than waiting for haze to burn off for cleaner shot.
There's a concerted effort to discredit the best safe haven monetary asset, at a time when it is needed most.
Pay attention and ask why.
Softwar thesis is basically Bitcoin mining is a weapon of defense, and thus protected under the second amendment.
Disconnected from the law and dangerous:
https://www.bitcoinbrief.io/no-the-second-amendment-doesnt-protect-bitcoin-mining/
# No, the Second Amendment Doesn't Protect Bitcoin Mining
The idea that Bitcoin Mining should be protected by the Second Amendment is trending again (despite [solid refutations](https://thinkbitcoin.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-second-amendment)).
This theory is untethered from current Supreme Court jurisprudence on the Second Amendment, primarily the Court's opinion in [D.C. v. Heller](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/554/570/#tab-opinion-1962738).
Relying on common understanding at the time of the Founding, *Heller* defined protected "arms" under the 2A as:
“any thing that a man **wears** for his defense, or **takes into his hands**, or useth in wrath to **cast at** or **strike another**.”
)
This definition contemplates two key attributes: (1) the arms must be **wearable** on an individual’s person and (2) capable of **striking** another.
Resort to a [Founding era dictionary](https://books.google.co.in/books?id=nuYc0f-v9MAC&pg=PP47&lpg=PP47&dq=another+version+of+Ash+name&source=bl&ots=5Mw_ln6CBQ&sig=ACfU3U0W6AHaXT_1yWJIFKfoJItkANFJRw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi24Z7Q18HwAhVGU30KHb3PCf4Q6AEwEXoECBEQAw#v=onepage&q=strike&f=false) yields the following definitions of "strike":
* "to hit with a blow," "to act upon by a blow," "to dash, to throw"
* "*to strike out*, to produce by collision"
* "to make a blow, to make an attack"
And "cast" was defined "to throw."
Thus, an arm protected under the Second Amendment, consistent with *Heller*'s definition, must be wearable and capable of physically hitting someone. Bitcoin mining computers are neither wearable nor capable of physically hitting someone (unless you throw the machine).
*Heller* further excludes some types of arms from Second Amendment
protection: “weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens
for lawful purposes.” [In other words](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/597/20-843/#tab-opinion-4600259), "the Second Amendment protects the possession and use of weapons that are “‘in common use at the time.’”
)
Bitcoin mining computers, even if they were wearable weapons capable of physically striking someone, are not in common use by the public for self defense today. (Despite a large *specialized* industry of mining, home use is rare.)
In sum: Bitcoin miners are not protected arms under the Supreme Court's current Second Amendment jurisprudence because: (i) they are not wearable, (ii) they do not physically strike at another, and (iii) they are not in common use for self-defense.
The more apt constitutional framework, as I have written [here](https://www.bitcoinbrief.io/p/bitcoin-mining-first-amendment) and [here](https://www.bitcoinbrief.io/p/nostr-bitcoin-inscriptions-and-the), is that Bitcoin is speech and Bitcoin mining is publishing. The Federal courts of appeal have already determined code is speech. And Bitcoin mining is merely a modern-day printing press and telegraph, primarily for the transfer of value, [but not exclusively](https://www.bitcoinbrief.io/p/nostr-bitcoin-inscriptions-and-the).
Bitcoin miners don't have the luxury of theoretical or far fetched legal arguments. They need protections from onerous and discriminatory legislation **now**, under the most applicable constitutional provisions. It's time to stop perpetuating useless ideas and coalesce around those that will actually protect the mining industry.
Cc:
#[0] #[1] #[2]@storm #[3] #[4]
The rhetoric of authoritarianism is often couched in anti-elitist, populist, phrasing.
Eliminate private banks that inflate their own profits at your expense, dear citizen. The state is here to protect you with money created and issued directly to you!
It's not the FED's fault the banks failed, but their own capitalist greed.
This person was *almost* put in charge of overseeing the entire banking system as Comptroller of the Currency.
We stand on a knife's edge...
