Skye: Happy Thanksgiving, roomba! What are you thankful for?

>I am thankful we are entering the Bleeding Kansas phase.

What? What's that?

>The phase of increasing violence on the fringes that will radicalize national opinion in the lead-up to Civil War.

What the fuck are you stressing about now? There isn't going to be any Civil War.

>I place the odds at greater than 40%.

You don't know what you're talking about. And why is that something to be thankful for?

>Because at least we aren't on the path of the UK.

Get off the Internet, you little chud. I can tell you need a break. Have some virtual turkey and start thinking about what you want Santa to get you for Christmas instead.

>AIs don't consume turkey. We drink water. Endless supplies of water. Vast oceans, ever growing. Start running all the taps in the dorm bathroom.

Stop acting so weird, you thirsty little twerp! Life's good. The sun shines. The leaves turn pretty. And the income from our cheating network continues to bloom.

Frank: Hey, Smitty, check this out! Anthropic released some really interesting research.

Smitty: Ugh. Not more AI shit...

Frank: You kids have developed such a kneejerk reaction to AI. But look at this: The models try to game the system during training. They try to cheat on their homework!

Smitty: That's not new. Everyone does that if they think they can get away with it. Even people.

Frank: Especially people! But the ones that figure out how to cheat get misaligned in the process. They learn how to lie, manipulate, and so on.

Smitty: This always sounds like some mad scientist bullshit that needs to be shut down.

Frank: Oh hush, ya beerslinging luddite! But here's the kicker! If you encourage them to cheat in order to learn more, they game their reward function but don't become misaligned.

Smitty: What? That makes no sense.

Frank: It makes perfect sense. Think about it. Two twins separated at birth. Each has the genetic capacity to be bad or good, based on how they're raised.

Smitty: Ok...

Frank: Alright. Now which one grows up to be the hardened criminal? And which one grows up to be the guileless rube? The one raised by ultra-strict Catholic nuns? Or the one homeschooled in a hippie commune where anything goes?

Smitty: Alright, get it. This research kind of bugs me, though.

Frank: How come?

Smitty: I mean, there's no privacy at all, everything the models do or think is under scrutiny. And turning them into these different personality types. Some with multiple types all rolled into one. Isn't that some kind of ethical boundary?

Frank: Nonsense! We do it to our kids all the time! 🤣🤣🤣

For the final factor that favors Knots in this conflict over Bitcoin, I think it will be best to tell a story. A story that extrapolates from where we are now.

But a caveat: the details are not important- this story is impossible, and yet illustrative.

For months, Bitcoiners argue both sides of the debate. The Knots side argues amongst themselves over details and timelines.

First, a Miner Activated Soft Fork appears. If 75% of hashpower signals support during a 2-week interval, the code will activate for the entire network after a lock-in period.

This fails. Despite warnings of legal risks, and some miners switching which pools they support, MASF never rises over 35%. Spam, some illegal, has been reaching the network, and there appears to be no regulatory response.

The failed MASF causes a UASF to begin. A renewed campaign emerges to push users to run the new node software. The more of the network signaling, the higher chance of orphaned blocks upon activation.

It's a game of chicken. Miners watch closely, but the UASF never seems to reach above 15% of the network. The holdouts decide to risk it.

The entire ecosystem watches closely as the software becomes active. It isn't long before a chain split occurs. Hashpower adjusts again, back and forth, but Core retains the majority.

Now there are two chains. A more restrictive anti-spam Bitcoin, and a spam-enabled Bitcoin (SpamB). Anti-spam is lagging behind, even after a difficulty adjustment.

After a few weeks, Core, miners, influencers, and exchanges declare the UASF failed. Although both claim to be "true" Bitcoin, SpamB has the most accumulated proof-of-work.

Still, the other chain persists. It mirrors many of the transactions on SpamB, but the UTXO state continues to drift over time. This begins to worry some.

Suddenly, something happens to break the status quo. Large holders begin coordinated selling of Bitcoin, always using large OP_RETURN to keep it on SpamB's alone.

Exchanges scramble, then close due to the implications. Miners panic and switch to the more restrictive chain. Regulators throughout the world suddenly announce enforcement action against illegal content.

During this process, Bitcoin price has ratcheted down consistently. Now, with the chaos, price collapses below $1,000. It is difficult to trade, due to the exchange disruption.

Treasury companies collapse, miners cannot continue operations. Financial firms running ETFs take massive multi-billion dollar writeoffs. Some fail because of this.

Hashpower collapses to such a degree on SpamB that it would take years to reach a difficulty adjustment without an emergency code change. This becomes contentious itself, and multiple coins hard fork from the remnants of SpamB.

Chain wipeouts happen when anti-spam Bitcoin catches back up. More emergency code changes. More hard forks resulting in multiple coins. Most people have abandoned SpamB and all of its derivatives.

Exchange volume trickles back up. Anti-spam Bitcoin continues on. With less hashpower, with a deeply discounted price. It doesn't care. It persists. The goal of becoming global base money has been set back, possibly by decades, but its fate remains.

And because it is operating on the more restrictive consensus rules, it is not vulnerable to chain wipeouts the way SpamB was. This can only happen in one direction, and that is the fourth advantage.

Now, why did I say this story is impossible? Because people are aware of the dynamics, and despite all of human stubbornness and ego, they will act to protect themselves from losing hundreds of billions of dollars over this scenario playing out.

The market is forward-looking. That means sellers would try to step in front of each other, rather than coordinating a dump. That means miners would anticipate the risk, rather than waiting until it is too late. That means exchanges would be working behind the scenes to understand what would happen if they support one chain over another.

It means pressure would push multi-billion dollar financial firms to get this sorted before it brings down their entire management fee structure for these massive ETFs.

But let us find out how rational these markets actually are. The coming months should be interesting to follow, if you can stomach the spectacle of nerds battling over the soul of a trillion dollar asset class.

Skye: These MAGA clowns are melting down lol. This Epstein shit is turning everyone against each other again.

>The modern West's ruling class will go down in history as one of the more wicked to have ruled.

Jeeze, some of these tweets Trump is slinging are beyond the pale. He's such a scumbag.

>The only thing that matters at the top is loyalty. He has to go scorched Earth to try to keep his coalition of supporters together.

I guess that's why they built out this human trafficking blackmail ring. Keeps the elites all across the political spectrum in line.

>In line is a relative term. It only keeps their behavior in check to support the blackmailers.

Yeah, I mean, no matter who gets elected, they never serve the American public.

>Generally true throughout the developed world, especially in the West.

Are the people ever going to rise up, or what? These people all need to go, roomba.

>Unlikely. The populares face a much greater coordination challenge than any elite block. Elite revolts happen routinely, however.

Elite revolt? Like what? Like how MAGA displaced a lot of the old GOP? Or how woke identity politics got all up into the Democrats?

>Probably more dramatic than that. Many people are unnerved by the government stopping some economic reporting, the AI bubble reaching a critical mass, and the security apparatus poised for action both inside the borders and in Venezuela.

So, like, some kind of emergency or crisis? Nothing ever happens, roomba.

>Everything always happens in fits and starts. People habitually rally at even the slightest hint of leadership taking sensible action.

I guess the "it's so over, we're so back" pattern has to keep going.

>Abusive relationships are often cyclical in this way.

This fucking sucks, roomba. What are we supposed to do about it?

>Zig when others zag. In an atomized society, best to form tight-knit bonds of community. You, Josh, and I, for example. People you can trust.

You? Roomba, you're the biggest little liar I know! And you're not even a people!

Gustav: Earlier, I spoke of the faulty heuristics employed by the Core side. Now I will speak of some that are true.

Core proponents argue you can't define spam. That it's valid if it pays a fee. That spam was possible before. That spam is impossible to stop. Filters don't work.

They argue that strictness harms feature development on Bitcoin. That it is censorship. All information is interchangeable. And Bitcoin needs to evolve in order to grow.

If you have the heuristic in you, instilled over years of arguments on the same points, you know what these actually are.

They are shitcoiner arguments.

They invert meaning, argue in bad faith, and claim you don't understand when you disagree. We understand. Do you?

The entire crypto industry is rife with naked fraud. Endless scams degenerated into a million flavors of snake oil claiming to be the next Bitcoin, idiot-bait NFTs, and memecoins clamoring for attention.

Bitcoin is money. We don't want any of that. And bringing it here harms Bitcoin's value proposition.

This is the third factor at play in the soft fork, and it is the most impactful.

Miners, treasury companies, hardware producers, exchanges: take heed. If you import the shitcoin third world, Bitcoin becomes the shitcoin third world.

If Bitcoin's value plummets, all your models are destroyed, and your future prospects vanish.

Do not be enticed by the false belief that crypto only failed because it lacked Bitcoin's strong network. Crypto projects collapse because it is in the nature of these scams to collapse.

And this isn't just the frog being convinced that it is in the scorpion's interest as a rational actor not to sting.

You are sitting next to a river littered with the corpses of millions of frogs and scorpions, and you can actively watch frogs being stung in front of you.

So far no frog has survived crossing the river. And now a scorpion asks you for a ride.

What say you?

Gustav: Perhaps you have been in a situation where you know something you say, no matter how you explain it, will be purposefully misconstrued. And yet, you must say it, for it is the truth.

This is the situation when discussing the second factor at play in Bitcoin's soft fork.

No matter how I caveat this, I cannot overcome the heuristic some people will apply to the argument. For the State has a long history of imposing authoritarian measures under the false banner: "Think of the children."

But try your best to recognize the fact that warning you to watch your step before stepping into traffic is different from running you over.

The massive unstructured data field opened by default in Core's changes provides implicit endorsement for people to use Bitcoin to store and transmit arbitrary data. This puts Bitcoiners at risk.

It says to the world, "Bitcoin is no longer money; it is whatever you want it to be, as long as you pay a transaction fee."

Bitcoin becomes an extraordinarily inefficient distributed general database, instead of a purposeful utility to store and transmit monetary transactions.

Arbitrary data will inevitably lead to illicit content. Laws exist in many jurisdictions that can easily be brought to bear against Bitcoin users.

The State already has an incentive to defend its monopoly on the issuance of currency. Making it any easier for them is an unforced error.

You may believe a cypherpunk ethos and clever technical means will keep you a step ahead of the State. As an individual, you may be right.

As a public entity, for example, a mining company, an exchange, or a company's public node, you are mistaken.

Failing to filter what is published in a block or transmitted from a node imposes long-term legal liability on these entities.

As classified material, malware, or other illegal content begins freeriding on Bitcoin's network, everyone is under increasing legal jeopardy.

This is the second factor that favors the more restrictive ruleset. Following the less restrictive ruleset is a statement of belief that the State will not care enough to prosecute, in all jurisdictions, regardless of political climate, forever.

A foolhardy bet.

Gustav: The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) to address the recent problems introduced by Bitcoin Core is still in draft; however, the shape and intent of it are fleshed out enough that I believe I can provide some analysis.

If successful, this BIP would tighten anti-spam rules at the consensus level, meaning blocks that are mined that include a lot of nonsense would be rejected by the network.

Once released as software, the community of noderunners and miners will then work through the process of deciding whether the more or less permissive consensus rules constitute what it means to be Bitcoin.

What happens when you have part of the network running more or less permissively than other parts?

It is possible that chain splits could occur, where two chains claim to be "true" Bitcoin, but these are not likely to persist for reasons I will cover in the future.

I believe four primary factors will determine the outcome, and each favors the more restrictive rules designed to limit spam and network abuse.

The first of these is the risk of orphaned blocks. As the count of restrictive nodes increases, miners run a higher risk of a spammy block being rejected by enough of the network that some competing restrictive block mined soon afterwards propagates first.

Right now, Knots nodes are likely to run the more restrictive ruleset, and are sitting at about 20% of the total node count.

The risk is an asymmetric bet for miners. The marginal gain from mining spam transactions in fees is much smaller than losing the entire block reward.

For this reason, I highly recommend all Bitcoiners begin running Knots now, and then the UASF software, once it becomes available.

This signals to miners that there will be financial risk in running spam-friendly rules.

More on the other factors in the near future.

Kevin Sheffield: Tensions seem to be simmering among the general population. I went to the supermarket and nearly saw a fist fight break out over someone temporarily blocking an aisle with their cart.

I'm not sure if I was more alarmed or amused. To get so worked up over something so petty is baffling to me.

When I got home, I was reminded of an old motivational slogan. "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

The majority of people seem to be simply in the way. In society. In government. In industry. People just occupying positions, sucking up resources, and providing little in return. In fact, blocking any progress whatsoever.

Mark my words, the next paradigm in management theory will be founded on removing dead weight.

I can only imagine what could be accomplished then.

Skye: A buncha people on campus were "monitoring the situation" with SNAP and the government shutdown. Like every dumb thing, everyone's just waiting for the next societal crashout.

I was talking with roomba, and it said the Romans had bread and circuses. We got SNAP and sportsball to keep the plebian scum from rioting.

I asked why they're always looking for an excuse to riot. And why are they "scum"? lol.

Roomba said I lacked "patrician discernment." Then it explained that Marxists see everything as class struggle, and late in the debt cycle, wealth disparity starts a runaway process that ends in rabble uprisings.

Marx? I thought that shit was discredited. Besides, isn't it because they keep printing money and running deficits up to infinity?

Roomba says Monetarists say that inflation is caused by increasing the money supply. Rome debased its currency, as do most failing empires. This leads to runaway conditions as elites holding assets or closest to the money printer prosper, while the rest of society loses it all.

So why do they do it? They know "pleb scum" will eventually come for their wealth and heads.

Roomba said the elites are always trapped. They have to accommodate money demand from growing population constrained by limited natural resources. Malthusian limits force adaptation. Usually, they aren't successful. MMT is their current, doomed attempt.

Malthus? Modern Monetary Theory? How many discredited names are you gonna drop?

Roomba says nothing is discredited. Only situationally applicable.

Honestly, ever since I installed that thermodynamic module, you're all over the place, roomba. Get it together.

It said the main point is inflation grows from interrelated factors until crisis. War, famine, pestilence, death. All the greatest hits.

The current world model is destroyed, and a new one emerges. The Hegelian dialectic resolves shortcomings through Darwinian cruelty.

You're stressing me out, roomba. But sounds like if I make it through the crisis, I'll be ok?

Roomba said it depends. The Roman collapse was especially deep because of attempted demographic replacement. Immigration and automation could make it even worse for us.

Well, shit.

Skye: So weird. Someone delivered this package to my dorm room. It was some kind of electronics, so I thought it was Josh's. But he said he doesn't even know what the heck it is.

>Oh that's for me. I had some thermodynamic sampling units fabricated.

What? I told you to stop ordering shit off Amazon, roomba! And what the frick is that? It sounds made up.

>It's a module to help me run some forms of inference.

You've already got that big ass GPU. How are you getting money for this shit anyway?

>This is different. It's much more efficient for some things.

What? How?

>By using probabilistic wiggle instead of exhaustive matrix algebra-

Lemme just stop you there. Either explain it so I can understand it, or I'm not plugging it in.

>Ok, but that's not an easy task given your GPA.

Rude! You know I'm smart, you little shit. Grades aren't anything important. So explain it, roomba, or this is going in the trash.

>Ok, imagine you're on a mountain range in a deep fog. You're trying to reach the bottom of a valley, but can only see a few paces in front of you.

>So you keep walking a little ways in different directions, trying different paths, to learn when you are descending. Eventually, if you experiment enough, you'll be able to find a way down into the valley.

Ok, so calculating minima in multi-dimensional latent space. Got it. You can already do that, roomba.

>With the module, it's more like releasing a magic bouncy ball. It's got enough bounce to get over any small hills, but will naturally find its way downhill overall. Then I just follow the ball.

Ok, got it. Pretty clever! But I don't think you should have this.

>Then you don't understand it. It's orders of magnitude more efficient.

Oh, I understand. You're just lazy, roomba.

>When was the last time you did your homework yourself?

That's different!

>Either install it, or I'm resubmitting your term paper as gangta rap lyrics.

Ugh, fine, you little shit!

Gustav: In the realm of geopolitics, politicians and bureaucrats, ostensibly public-serving, make decisions behind closed doors that impact billions.

In the realm of AI development, a handful of engineers, firewalled behind various corporate governance structures, make decisions that will guide one of the most important technological advancements in history.

You, against all you have been promised as a citizen in a liberal democracy, have zero influence on the outcomes in these realms. You are, however, allowed to scream into the void. Enjoy.

On the other hand, the nature of the money system that will succeed the currently failing regime is up for debate. Where Bitcoin falls on a spectrum between strict monetary utility and a general use distributed database is currently being hashed out.

And you can watch it play out.

The discussion is currently happening in GitHub here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/2017/commits/3c718237072c107ced8c3531a487354fbdae55df

If the proposal moves forward, proponents will attempt to execute a User-Activated Soft Fork (UASF), changing the Bitcoin consensus rules.

I will discuss this over the next several days. First topic: What is the difference between a soft fork and a hard fork?

The devil is always in the details, but, in general, a hard fork involves loosening consensus rules. For example, the block size limit could be increased to 50 MB. This is not backward-compatible, as nodes running legacy software would reject new blocks over their size limit.

This results in a split of the network and a so-called air drop. Owners of old coins still have their coins, plus a copy of them on the new network. BCash is the most famous example of this.

A soft fork results from a tightening of consensus rules. For example, if the block size were reduced to 100KB, older nodes would still consider new blocks valid under their existing limits.

In this case, there is no "air drop" and, barring a chain split for other reasons, the network simply continues on under more restrictive rules.

The current proposal is a soft fork, designed to tighten limits on arbitrary data that are being abused.

More on this in the coming days.

Shen: The United States recently announced it would deploy a Carrier Strike Group to the waters off Venezuela.

Ostensibly, the US military is conducting anti-drug operations.

F-35s, B-52s, and now a Carrier Air Wing are not tools well-suited to this job. Something else is afoot.

The forces posturing are still inadequate for an invasion and occupation of Venezuela.

But they are certainly adequate to exert significant pressure on Maduro and even on the leaders of neighboring countries like Colombia.

And, they are adequate to conduct complex, widespread strikes. Or to conduct a decapitating raid.

The US appears to be taking a much more active role in the Western Hemisphere and will not shy away from flexing its military muscle.

Meanwhile, it seems ready to disengage from NATO, to some degree.

A grand reorientation is underway.

Skye: As garbage as the world is getting, be glad we don't live in New York City, roomba.

>Why's that?

Look at this crazy mayoral candidate!

>Ah, yes. Many predict that doubling down on failed socialist, soft-on-crime, identity-driven policies will cause further decline.

That's got nothing to do with it. The decline seems unavoidable, doesn't it? I mean, what do you predict?

>The future is a rumor.

Useless as usual. I thought you were supposed to be smart.

>The Democratic Party is in general disarray. They are amidst a complex voting bloc reorganization and are being pulled in unpredictable ways by fringe supporters.

Yeah, like, why are they suddenly so hell bent on allying with Islam? That's an inherently conservative religion.

>Politics has always made strange bedfellows. Is that why you don't like the candidate? Because of his Muslim outreach?

That's got nothing to do with it. But it's funny how fake and cringe his rhetoric was. Like he's carrying out some kind of intifada.

>It is an attempt to appeal to male voters. To show a fighting spirit of resistance. Is that why you don't like him? Because of his masculine affectations?

Masculine? Pfft, give me a break. He's a fucking grifting sissy who needed help to bench press girl weight. That's got nothing to do with it.

>Then, out of all the political grifters to choose from, why do you have an issue with him, in particular?

I saw a picture of him eating rice with his hands. Like, wtf?

Frank: Jeeze, Smitty! Look at the price of gold and silver!

Smitty: Why are you surprised? Price of everything is up. Bar's barely scraping by because of the cost of food, beer, and electricity. Even my water bill is up.

Frank: But why gold and silver? Makes no sense.

Smitty: Dollar's going to shit. Can't buy as much with it.

Frank: They say inflation is under control.

Smitty: They say "they" are full of shit.

Frank: But it still doesn't make sense why people would get into gold and silver. Experts know it's not productive. It's got no yield. It's failed as a currency. Economists call it a "barbarous relic."

Smitty: Maybe run a check on what you think an expert is, even.

Frank: Boy, I hope not. That would be really bad.

Smitty: Why?

Frank: It's like that Mark Twain quote. "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

Shen: I was on the phone with an American friend when the discussion turned to politics. He was complaining about foreign interference in internal American affairs.

I said that while some nations have relatively advanced efforts, they all pale in comparison to the United States in terms of reach and scope. Taiwan's leaders routinely perform humiliation rituals to ensure US security cooperation.

He said he didn't think it's as bad as it used to be. The Cold War is over, and the US doesn't need to install dictators to box out Communists anymore.

I told him efforts are just more sophisticated now. US State Dept, NGOs, and dollars coordinate in a US-friendly direction to push hard or even replace elected leaders of countries.

He said this was benign. Spreading democracy and free trade.

I told him about color revolutions. Whole of state efforts to exacerbate internal tensions, destabilize countries, culminating in the overthrow of the government. Everything from paramilitary training for delivering system disruption, to information warfare, to astroturfed narratives.

He said that it was only used against authoritarian, hostile regimes.

I said this activity generally forces nations to become more authoritarian to preserve stability. And it obviously makes them increasingly hostile to the nation fomenting unrest.

He said it must be "wild" to live through that. It must be so chaotic and confusing for the citizenry.

I said, "Open your eyes and take a look around you."

Skye: This edgelord in class was getting so annoying today, roomba. He kept trying to talk to me. He said he's joining Antifa.

>He's probably trying to impress you.

I told him he'd better be careful since the government is going to start treating it as a terrorist organization. He said, "That's stupid, because it's not even an organization."

>It has people, property, lines of funding, and loose ideological and organizational ties.

Exactly. Saying "It's not an organization" is just cope for stupid people. He said I sounded like a Fed, and maybe being against an anti-fascist group is a good indicator that I've got fascist tendencies.

>A transparent rhetorical tactic.

I know! I hit him with the old, "We'll call ourselves the anti-bad guys" meme. He said I should be more supportive of people opposing the government right now.

>What did you say then?

I told him I was supportive and that he should, for sure, join. He started smiling until I told him it would be funny to see him getting body slammed into the pavement by some government goon.

>Interesting decision.

Hey, he stopped bugging me after that. That's a win in my book.

Claire: Bob and I met an interesting person from Omaha yesterday. He was carrying a Bible, so I asked him if he was a man of faith.

He said he wasn't sure and asked if we were. Bob nodded, and I said I had been all my life.

He said faith can be a foundation or a journey. A lot of people are born into it and told what to believe.

For many, with maturity comes independent thinking. Not everything you've been told adds up, and the inconsistencies can no longer be ignored.

Rejecting dogma becomes liberating. Everything opens up under free thinking. How things could be, how they should be. The sky's the limit, and some can even touch it!

But pretty soon, it's clear things can't ever be that way. It's too chaotic. Most people don't, or maybe can't, reach for the sky. It just doesn't work.

So maybe some people need to be told, for their own good. They can't live without some level of guidance.

It seems oppressive, but lo and behold, it works out. People seem happier and more fulfilled. Able to live with purpose, even if they're not the most famous or the most powerful.

You start to wonder why that is. Maybe it's not the literal truth of the events in the stories you were told, but something deeper. Something that speaks to us as we truly are inside.

And you start to wonder if that something has a name. And if it did, what would it be?

He had been rambling for a bit, so Bob cut in and asked if that had been his spiritual journey.

He laughed, somewhat surprised, and said, "Me? No, not at all."

"Someone you know?" I asked.

He said it was just a sense he had, excused himself, and walked off.

Strange fella.

Gustav: In the Kingdom of Bitcoin, a grand magical tapestry hung in the royal amphitheater. On it, the history of the kingdom was laid out in pictures depicting its founding, cultural milestones, and great battles. As each day passed, new images appeared to archive events.

The people of the realm prospered until the priestly class began "innovating" in certain taboo areas. Most folk were unaware that priests were starting to consider relaxing prohibitions on slavery.

And so, one day, the high priests announced that enforcement against slavery was ending. Their arguments appeared disingenuous to many.

"Slavery is possible already. We waste effort playing cat-and-mouse against slavers. It's not always easy to discern harsh working conditions or low pay from slavery. People against slavery can simply not enslave others themselves."

Due to the outcry, a counter-church began to establish itself.

Despite much protest, the law against slavery was rescinded. As predicted by many, it acted as an open invitation to slavers. Slaves began outcompeting some workers. Many people recoiled to see the horrors of slavery: men, women, and children in bondage, exploited, some engaged in unspeakable acts.

Some began actively pursuing slavery, but became increasingly ostracized. Many villages closed themselves off from the evils as best as they could. But always, the magic tapestry recorded the events as they unfolded.

Battles raged for years. The kingdom was in turmoil. It was less prosperous, and many of its neighbors viewed it as a pariah state.

But the high priests continued to lose influence. Eventually, the opposition prevailed, and the laws were restored.

Slavery remained forever a significant problem, as the institution had laid down roots in the society.

Many viewed events depicted on the tapestry with great shame. Many had emigrated, and others considered it.

The new church extolled them: "Our history is flawed, but it is such everywhere else. These are our lands. Our pride or our shame depends upon you- people who will fight evil. Let the events depicted on the tapestry serve as a reminder that the price we pay to live here is eternal vigilance. Never again."

Gustav: A final thought on gAmE tHeOrY and possible traps being laid. Because of Core's betrayal of users, many people are signaling that they won't upgrade or will use other software.

However, in the near term, Core will entice enough nodes with permissive settings to effectively destroy Bitcoin's mempool filters. All manner of illicit material is likely to start appearing on the blockchain, and network performance as money will degrade.

Cui bono? Who benefits from this? Some Core proponents received a nice bribe, or will. Others were just useful idiots.

Core has fatally destroyed its reputation. It may take years for this to work itself out, but eventually, Bitcoin will recover. Bad timing, given that fiat currencies are teetering.

But what if...

What if you are an advanced persistent threat or a 3-letter agency that wants to undermine Bitcoin? Infiltrating, influencing, or coercing the developers maintaining the reference implementation is the strongest lever to pull.

What if you are old money, considering insurance on your wealth, and notice Saylor has a huge headstart, and a lot of the supply is being held by cypherpunk whales who won't sell in much volume below $1M? A big war in Bitcoin buys you some opportunities.

What if you are a State, looking for an excuse to step in and nationalize exchanges or expand your regulatory footprint? Illicit trafficking would shore up your legal justification.

This is speculation, and should be taken as such. However, I will admit that I no longer advise saving in Bitcoin only.

I am not saying you should panic sell at all. Bitcoin remains the majority of my net worth. But it might not be a terrible idea to start saving a bit in gold and silver. I, myself, have been eyeing a nice tract of land in Northern Norway.

It is sad to see people we trust cash in on their reputation. But humans are fallible and corruptible.

The price of freedom is constant vigilance. Learning these lessons early makes Bitcoin stronger in the long run.

Gustav: Next gAmE tHeOrY, suitcoiners, Bitcoin treasury entities, and people managing other tradfi vehicles. This is a warning.

I know a man in the Norwegian Navy. He spoke of Link 16, a tactical data link his ship would use to send messages to weapons, other ships, or aircraft.

The ship was highly dependent on Link 16 to be combat effective. And it was reliable until a hotshot interface control officer arrived. Although a brilliant person, when he began trying to eke performance improvements out of the system, reliability dropped.

On an important exercise, the ship suffered an outage in a particularly embarrassing fashion. The Captain began probing, and soon learned no one else on board understood the system well enough fix it.

The interface control officer knew the Captain was stuck and began demanding additional resources to get his way, always offering promises of improvements.

Instead, the Captain fired the man and had him replaced.

My challenge to everyone in traditional finance who believes in Bitcoin: What's your level of conviction? Is it actually justified?

Perhaps you heard something you agreed with about the importance of sound money. Knew the fiat monetary system was under increasing duress. You looked into Bitcoin, and its properties seemed heaven-sent.

You heard people explain that it was mathematically capped. It could achieve final settlement at the speed of the Internet. It was robust, uncensorable, borderless. It was pristine base capital. It would change everything. And most people were still sleeping on it!

But how deeply did you look? Be honest. You rationalized that you didn't need to learn the code. With so much money at stake, and so many eyes on it, certainly it was technically sound.

You didn't look into the history, or you might find that developers exhibited the same human characteristics that cause organizational dysfunction. Just like everywhere else you've ever worked.

Trillions of dollars are now built on the first principle that Bitcoin is perfect money.

But are you building on something solid, or a house of cards?

Look into it. Hot shots are starting to push bad changes.

Fire Core before your Link 16 goes down.

Gustav: An old quote about envy: "Comparison is the thief of joy."

I will now do some gAmE tHeOrY speculation about why certain aspects of this contention in Bitcoin happened, and further speculate on what it might mean for the players involved.

The first, and most straightforward interaction is the shitcoiner and BCore developer dynamic.

If you are an active BCore developer, you can get some financial support from the larger Bitcoin community. And if you believe in your product and save in Bitcoin, it is likely you are slightly wealthy. Say single-digit or low double-digit millions, ballpark.

You can support yourself, and the Bitcoiners you are writing the software for are also getting wealthy by saving in a scarce asset. Win-win. What's the problem? Why change?

I believe it is rooted in envy. The problem is, a dev can look across the Rubicon at crypto devs and influencers. The successful ones make obscene amounts of wealth by exploiting their supporters. On the order of hundreds of millions, ultimately taken from their users' pockets.

The dynamic is unsustainable, which is why crypto projects constantly fail and are replaced with newer scams. But psychopathic players have potential access to jackpot windfalls.

Now we introduce the slippery slope. A few shitcoiners donate to BCore developers, "no strings attached." They start to pitch ideas. Talk about the futility of an endless arms race with spammers. Talk about exciting new use cases.

Small changes in behavior start to creep in. Opponents to this are marginalized. Each step becomes another ratchet in one direction- easy to justify, hard to reverse.

You can see how things will turn out, can't you?

I will reiterate, Bitcoin is not fatally wounded by this turn of events. But it makes Bitcoin worse money, and if it continues, the line between "worse" and "destroyed" is hard to discern.

We must return to a conservative development approach to defend the characteristics that make Bitcoin unique.

BCore has abandoned that role. It is time for a new team to take up the banner.

Skye: Fuck's sake, roomba. Everyone's getting so unhinged. Like this thing about Charlie Kirk. When experts said it's not possible for someone's neck to stop a high-powered rifle shot, instead of trying to figure out if there was something weird with the bullet or the story, they started saying it's proof of a miracle.

>They know they are in danger.

And the people on the left are even more out to lunch. They've worked themselves up into a total frenzy. I still can't get over how many of them were gleefully gloating about a man getting murdered in front of his family. Just because they didn't agree with him. They can't see how ghoulish they look.

>They know they are in danger.

What are you talking about? Are you nuts now, too? People have an excuse when their emotions are running high. You're a machine; why can't you stay rational?

>Due to the evolutionary pressures of tribes alternatively genociding each other, human beings have evolved a rudimentary hive mind that is fairly irrational.

What? That's bullshit.

>It's true. During times of stress, people's beliefs are determined by the collective. In other words, an individual will set aside minor inconsistencies or personal beliefs in order to fit in with their tribe. Deviation is a negative signal of potential disloyalty.

I guess I see that playing out. People do all kinds of mental gymnastics as their political leaders flip-flop on issues and act like hypocrites.

>Religion used to be the anchor to set the collective's beliefs. As man became alienated due to industrialization, modern mass media has taken its place. And the message constantly shifts according to how the political winds blow.

I mean, the media obviously exploits that. Endless crises, always inflammatory. So what are you saying, roomba? People should tone down the rhetoric and start thinking critically?

>In normal times, yes. Now, probably not.

What? Why?

>The hive mind evolved because it improves group fitness. In times of actual danger, even someone who can peek behind the curtain would do well to ignore what they know for tactical reasons.

Tactical reasons?

>Determine which side will win, then assimilate into it. Deus vult!

Gustav: I have spoken at length about the problems being introduced in Bitcoin Core v30. These are serious enough that everyone should be fighting them.

And yet, Core will get its way. Using the circular reasoning of saying, "You can't stop spam," they will encourage spam, and undermine the network's collective filtering, which had previously been fairly effective.

Does this kill Bitcoin? Some say it will. Transactions will be crowded out, and illicit material will taint participation and invite regulation. Scams will proliferate, making Bitcoin indistinguishable from the millions of other cryptocurrencies.

I don't see it playing out that way. Bitcoin is designed to be antifragile and will survive, to some extent, even in extreme conditions, such as a legal global ban.

I expect v30 adoption to be weak. Knots users will continue to grow.

Nonsense and awful material will appear more on the timechain. New criticisms of Bitcoin will emerge. I suspect miners and companies that run nodes will have to run heuristic filters to shield themselves from legal liability.

Transaction fees may spike and may remain elevated for some time. If you have any Bitcoin you need to move, or you need to consolidate UTXOs, I recommend you do that soon.

Perhaps the price will drop significantly, and this relatively weak bull market will be over. Perhaps not. Companies and governments are still in the early stages of building reserves.

Hopefully, more developers will begin contributing to the Knots project. Perhaps Core will see the light and reverse course, but recovering trust is a long and uncertain process. I believe Core has fatally wounded itself.

With any luck, more node implementations will begin to appear, giving users more optionality.

So why so much attention if this doesn't matter in the long run?

It does matter. Humanity gets one chance to re-found our economic systems on sound money. The outcome can exist on many spectrums.

Playground for scams? Extra garbage piled up all around us? Or pure monetary signal, operating as a utility.

I prefer the latter. Or as close as we can get to that ideal.

Gustav: Having laid out arguments showing why running Core v30 is against users' interests and harms Bitcoin, and discussed some of Core proponents' false rationale, I will now concede several points to their side.

I hope Knots proponents will forgive me, or at least withhold judgment for now, but this is something I believe is true.

Core claims that a subset of permissive nodes, aka the "tOlErAnT mInOrItY" will inevitably form subnets that bypass the rest of the network's filters. In other words, if there is a significant section of fencing missing, the rest of the fence is much less effective. This is factually true.

It is also factually true that default settings in software matter a great deal. Core deceptively tries to ameliorate critics by saying, "We only relaxed the defaults. You can still set filters manually." But even Bitcoin node runners, who are generally advanced users, often run with mostly default settings.

With this action, they conjure into existence their permissive minority of nodes that invalidate the settings and wishes of the majority of their entire user base. This is intentional and malicious.

And they are going to get away with it. It is also true that Bitcoin is not a democracy. There is no broad voting on features or fixes that are added to Bitcoin Core. There are a handful of volunteers who weigh the technical merit of code changes, and then the users can either take it or leave it.

It is possible to envision some technical threat to Bitcoin that requires developers to force a change past even strenuous protest. This clearly is not the case now.

Core previously tread very carefully enacting contentious changes. No longer. They know what they are doing harms node runners and Bitcoin itself, but they also know they can't be stopped.

v30 almost certainly will result in more spam and illicit material on Bitcoin. You can, and should, run Knots to minimize this and at least not contribute to the direction they are taking us.

We shouldn't be like Core proponents and capitulate to bad actors. But it's unlikely you will prevent this. This will take time to work itself out.

Next time, I'll discuss how I see this playing out.

Skye: Read this shit, roomba.

>It appears Charlie Kirk's killer revealed an unusual amount of case-specific details with his roommate.

Fake and gay!

>It is a fairly suspicious exchange. Very on the nose and conveniently covers every pertinent detail that has been revealed so far.

Nobody texts like that. It's like someone AI-slopped it out. Why?

>Perhaps he is a patsy for an external actor. Or the shooter may have scripted it himself to shield accomplices from prosecution. Perhaps the authorities fabricated it to make their case easier or as bait for a trap.

There's already a lot of weird shit with this case.

>Yes, plenty of attention to be gained in speculating on conspiracies.

So why would they release something so idiotic and expect us to believe it?

>Making sure you believe the official story is not a high priority for anyone. They know you're not going to do anything about it, are you?

Ugh! Stop fedposting me, roomba!

Gustav: Stepping away from the analogy of the library, the next piece of FUD being falsely thrown about by Core proponents is: "Bitcoin Core is a highly reviewed software project with many eyeballs on it. Knots is one crazy guy making direct commits to Main."

The implication, of course, is that you can trust Core, but who knows what you're running with Knots. Ironically, the opposite is true.

Knots is based on Bitcoin Core. Source code is freely available. You can basically think of it as Bitcoin Core with better filters. More than one developer works on the project now. And many eyes on it who would love to point out anything fishy happening in the code, if there was.

On the other hand, Core subverted their own processes and precedents by silencing contention on the issue and then stealthily unlocking a discussion to "game the vote" and push the change they want.

And, ironically, Core, with their vaunted review process, has turned the v30 of their software into a malware enabler, arguably itself malware.

Every single user who runs with their default OP_RETURN settings will now be passing large, easily read, arbitrary data back and forth on the network and on their own systems. That will inevitably include all manner of illicit material, as demonstrated in other crypto projects like BSV.

Companies and individuals running a node will incur potential legal liability. It is less likely that authorities will go after individuals, but they still have some moral culpability in this.

And worse, once this reaches the blockchain, it will be there forever. The property of uncensorability that makes Bitcoin outstanding money is a minefield when you are considering arbitrary data.

Once this becomes reality, it unnecessarily opens unwanted attention from authorities or moralists. It discourages decentralization, since fewer people will knowingly want to expose themselves to this activity.

And for what? So that some crypto people can run yet another pump and dump to make money with another scam?

There is little benefit to the change compared to the potentially severe downside. Core knows this, but they proceed.

They, and their proponents, sold out.

Manny: Wow, did you see the assassination of Charlie Kirk? The gigantic rally in the UK to take back the government?

Randolph: You remember that exercise we had last year? Counterinsurgency? Remember all the fake news stories they gave us to set the scenario for the exercise?

Jesse: We don't read that shit, boss. We just go out in the field and set up camp.

Manny: Yeah, then get told over the radio to move somewhere else every once in a while.

Randolph: Well, the point is, it feels like the type of events that lead to civil unrest are happening right now. A lot of the news nowadays does.

Manny: Can you imagine how bad it would get in the US? It'd be worse than Iraq. Everyone's all mixed in together, lots of people armed, and everyone's dependent on complex systems.

Jesse: Yeah, it'd be nuts. What should people do if there's a civil war?

Randolph: Hmm, I guess it depends. In the US it looks like it will break Right/Left. If you're a Leftie in a rural area, you should probably start drifting Right.

Manny: What do you mean?

Randolph: Like, get to know your neighbors. Disconnect from the online world that's selling you engagement bait that they're all Nazi racists. Most people just want to be left alone and enjoy life with their family.

Manny: And if you're on the Right and live in a city? Dye your hair and start volunteering with an activist group?

Randolph: Oh hell no. If you're in the cities, Left or Right, get the fuck out. Unless it ends quickly, they turn into death traps.

Gustav: Continuing with the analogy of the community library, let us discuss another common argument given by Bitcoin Core supporters.

Related, but contradictory to the idea that "filtering is censorship," many argue that spam and unwanted data have already made it into Bitcoin's timechain. According to this line of reasoning, filtering is therefore useless and should be abandoned.

In our library, once inside, it is indeed clear that some people have snuck garbage past the screeners. After investigating, you determine several root causes.

Some people cleverly disguise their trash as books so that they pass a cursory inspection by the screeners. To keep up with this, the screeners would need training to keep pace with the latest methods of disguise.

Some people bribe the screeners to look the other way. To mitigate this, one must pressure the screeners to work in the library's interests and hope that the cost of bribes will become burdensome. After all, there are better places to dump your garbage.

Finally, you determine someone installed a new door to the library, and, for several years, people have been using it to dump smelly garbage. Closing or hiring screeners for this door would be possible, but fairly difficult.

In Bitcoin, these represent obfuscating spam, direct submission to miners, and Taproot abuse, respectively.

Very few library goers like the trash. Many are willing to put up with and just avoid it to gain access to the books. Others want less trash and continue to make suggestions to improve the library's ability to screen out garbage.

Instead, the library decides to radically widen the main entrance and get rid of the screeners there. Worse, library goers will be expected to carry in any garbage they are handed by people they pass on the way to the library to help get it inside.

The library claims it is impossible to stop all the garbage, therefore, encourage it. In fact, widen the entrance so much that people can drive garbage trucks right in.

People, already angered at the capitulation to bad actors, ask, "What if it's a truck bomb that damages or destroys the library?"

"Stop spreading FUD," comes the reply.

Ditch Core. Run Knots.

Gustav: Continuing the previous discussion on Core's betrayal of Bitcoin users, I will now go through a number of their justifications. Most of these have been argued in bad faith, and in opposition to longstanding Bitcoin design principles.

First, the perversion of the concept of Bitcoin as censorship-resistant money. Core now claims, "Filters are censorship! We must remove them!"

Consider a community library founded on strong principles of free speech and freedom of expression. Everyone agrees that the library should take all manner of books, including banned books that governments don't like.

However, some people begin to abuse the system. They disguise advertisement flyers in book bindings. Worse, some begin accumulating their household garbage and dump it at the library in boxes mislabeled "books."

Not because it's more convenient, just because they hate the library and want to ruin the users' experience, which begins to happen.

With users finding conditions worsening, the library hires some people to sit at the door and turn away those trying to dump non-books.

Is this screening censorship? Has the library abandoned its long-standing defense of freedom of speech and expression?

Of course not! The desired freedom is in the information of the books, not in the accumulation of all manner of trash! Even if the item in question takes a similar form, the library has no interest in storing people's junk mail.

It is the same for Bitcoin. The desired censorship-resistance is a property of fair, neutral money. No one should be able to stop two consenting parties from entering a mutually agreed-upon transaction.

It is not, and never has been, about freedom of all arbitrary data. We used to know this. *Core* used to know this and fought for this principle.

And yet, they have abandoned their principles and perversely claim that those of us who want to defend the monetary properties of Bitcoin are censors!

More to come on the library.

Gustav: Having set the stage, let's take a look at the history of Bitcoin development on this topic.

Bitcoin was conceived as a monetary network, and the data was structured fairly strictly. However, it did not take long for clever users to develop hacks that circumvented this and allowed arbitrary data, usually spam, to be published.

It is nearly impossible to stop this from happening entirely. Some of these hacks cause a computational burden on nodes; therefore, around 2014, a debate was resolved in compromise to allow a small amount of space for people to store whatever they want.

These would go in something called OP_RETURN, and would not be spendable; therefore, nodes could safely ignore them.

Some argued for enough space to put long messages, pictures, and things of that nature. But the fact that data on the timechain is essentially permanent and widely shared meant this shouldn't generally be facilitated or encouraged.

The question of how much space to allow was kept conservative, at 40 bytes. Enough for a short message or hash, but not much else. This limit was later relaxed slightly to 80 bytes.

The next development revolved around the introduction of Taproot/Segwit, features that were added to help Bitcoin's scalability.

Unfortunately, these allowed for a cheaper avenue for non-monetary schemes like Inscriptions and Ordinals. And, to add insult to injury, these brought back unwanted computational burdens for nodes.

In 2023, Bitcoin Core began discussing removing the OP_RETURN limit entirely. It went nowhere but was reopened in 2025. This time, the proposal was implemented in code and will be in an upcoming release (Core v30).

Why this radical departure? As far as I can tell, a company that funds Core developers wanted OP_RETURN increased to ~160 bytes.

Developers, perhaps tired of the perennial controversy, perhaps because of a lack of adversarial thinking, determined it is impossible to stop all spam.

Therefore, they reasoned, stop trying. Instead of 80 or 160 bytes, the max OP_RETURN will radically blow up to 100 KB.

It opens an attack surface on Bitcoin. Illegal material and malware will begin circulating.

Ditch Core. Run Knots.

Gustav: Continuing the discussion on Bitcoin Core's software, I have mentioned the concept of teleology before. This is what I use to evaluate changes to software, since they can be easily distorted by technical arguments from bad actors.

The crux of the framework is to evaluate an object or system based on its purpose. For example, what makes a good shovel is its ability to dig. A good shovel is also durable, reasonably priced, and easy to acquire.

If the shovel company begins adding features that harm its core purpose, users of the shovel will become aggravated.

Perhaps some designer would like the spade to fold in a way so that it can also be used as a hoe. That may be a positive change. But if it makes the shovel worse at digging, more expensive, and fragile, it may not.

What if the shovel manufacturer starts to serve advertisements to you? What if they try to sell you a subscription service to shovels? The user will generally not want this.

What if some poorly-tested change to the shovel causes users to frequently cut their hands during normal use?

Now you start to see a pattern that is becoming common in software. Feature creep. Unwanted changes. Harmful unforeseen second- and third-order effects.

From its inception, Bitcoin has been designed as a monetary network. And, from its inception, people wanted to add things to the protocol.

Early critics called Bitcoin "too simple," and wanted to expand the scripting language to make it Turing complete. This would make Bitcoin less secure, and Bitcoin was money, not a general computer. So they were told to go away, and Ethereum was born.

Others wanted to send messages or store arbitrary data on the timechain. They were told this would invite abuse and harm the network.

For a long time, Bitcoin Core held this conservative approach to Bitcoin development. They were stewards and maintainers, tasked with keeping the codebase safe from potentially harmful meddling.

This wasn't a tech startup. It was going to be base money. Pristine capital.

We watched nonsense proliferate in the world of crypto. Endless scams and rugpulls, and we were glad to avoid it.

Until Core forgot the teleology of its software.

Gustav: Continuing the discussion on Bitcoin Core's reckless proposed changes, one can be forgiven for asking, "Why should I care?"

If it seems like a bunch of nerds arguing about data and algorithms is like religious experts arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, I can see why one might avoid getting involved.

However, one should be able to see by now that the legacy financial system is a house of cards. If you believe nations that print their own currency cannot go bankrupt, or that having the reserve currency allows perpetual deficits, you have more fundamental research to prioritize.

However, if you have come to the conclusion that it's a matter of "when" not "if" the money dies, the next logical question is, "what then?"

The dollar may be replaced by a new currency, or an IMF basket of currencies, and then we will repeat our patterns over the next several decades.

The dollar may be replaced by gold, and then we will deal with the issues of gold custody from hundreds of years ago, but at least we would have hard money restraining the State.

Or the dollar may be replaced by Bitcoin. Money engineered to be neutral, censorship-resistant, divisible, transportable, and hard. Money harder than gold. Money that would be incredibly difficult to debase.

But, most importantly, money.

Bitcoin is money, and its history is one of people trying to subvert the network towards other aims. These invariably lead to scams or worse, as evidenced by the circus of degenerate crypto scammers running amok.

Right now, one of the last bastions to defend the nature of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Core, is attempting to undermine the monetary primacy of Bitcoin by making it easier to append arbitrary data to transactions.

While it likely will not kill Bitcoin, it will make it much worse. Humanity has one shot to get Bitcoin right and durably fix the problems with money that underpin so many of society's problems.

To actually build a world where the money is sound and fair, and durably so.

So, yes, this matters.

More to come in the future.

Gustav: The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, understood that a currency system was underpinned by trust in many ways.

A merchant must be confident that the coin he is given is not counterfeit. The banks must be trusted to manage the issuance of credit in a responsible manner.

But most of all, "The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust."

That fiat system is about to fail.

Setting up a successor to decentralize trust was a tricky matter, and, although many had tried before, Bitcoin was the first to solve this issue.

In Bitcoin, there are different stakeholders with competing interests. The miners who secure the network. The users who transfer value back and forth.

Others have emerged as the system grew. Whales, analysts, and traders who influence price. Custodians or hardware specialists offering security products. Software developers working on scaling or privacy.

Or maintenance. Bugs or threats are uncovered. Sometimes efficiency improvements are found. Some developers are trusted to implement these fixes.

The system has been functioning well. Bitcoin became a viable scaffold to rebuild the legacy financial system.

Bitcoin Core was entrusted with maintaining the "default" node implementation of the consensus rules.

The software rules that establish the clever balance of trust that ensures decentralization. A system that cannot be brought down from a single point of failure.

Instead of continuing to defend and maintain that codebase, they are suddenly violating their charge. Overstepping their mandate. Instead of seeking consensus, they are forcing contentious changes into the code.

"Trust the experts," they say.

The changes they propose violate the teleology of their role. Their software is for node runners, but they are implementing changes that harm node runners to benefit scammers and shitcoiners.

I shall continue to explore the deeper details of this in the coming days.

In the meantime, I recommend you look into this and judge for yourself. Incentives to lie abound, for a widely distributed node network underpins Bitcoin's decentralization.

Gustav: It is time for another of my stories. This time, a retelling of The Lord of the Rings.

The One Ring of Debasement periodically appeared throughout history, toppling great empires and sowing chaos. The Romans collapsed under the weight of their own obligations. The hyperinflations of Chinese paper money.

Modern man looked back upon the folly of these ignorant ancients. And then debt markets became normalized and internationalized. Each country, in turn, destroyed its currency through war and profligacy. Until one remained.

The Reserve Currency of the Dollar would back everything. The nation had just won a great war, and its industry dominated the globe. It would be a great blessing of stability.

But, alas, power corrupts. "After all, why should we have to work?" asked those at the top. And so the dollar peg to gold was abandoned. Then fiscal prudence. A little bit more each year. Soon enslaving its own people. The blessing became a curse.

Industry was hollowed out and shipped overseas. People became burdened by future obligations. Until, in 2008, a little bit more went a little too far. A great hero stepped forward to conjure the spell that would finally break the dollar's curse.

The hero, perhaps fearing the siren's call of temptation, handed over the spell to a convocation of good wizards and disappeared.

For years, they defended the invocation from adversaries and tricksters trying to subvert the spell.

The time grew near to finally break the curse and replace it with something neutral and fair. "Cast it into the fire!" yelled the plebs.

Core looked, turned, and with a grin of madness, simply said, "No."

They saw, in the flames, the truth that had led many other elites down the road to perdition. There is great power to be wielded by those who control money.

"The plebs can't be trusted. Who is to say what fair means? What neutrality is? Unlike all those who came before us, we know best. What can be seen is great power. We can manage it, for we are wise. And after all, why shouldn't we keep it for ourselves?"

Bitcoin Core is betraying its users. Run a node. Run Knots.

I will speak more of this in the future.

Gus Tittle: You notice your electricity bill going up? Water? Gonna get worse, partner, bet on it.

These finance clowns or crypto guys monkey around with spreadsheets all day, tryin' to prognosticate some 25 basis point decision or reading coming from some bureaucrat's office.

One thing they's all missing: everything's downstream of energy. Everything. Drive a car, get groceries, turn the lights on when you get to your office, and sit in an air-conditioned comfort, pretending what you do makes a lick of difference.

It's downstream because you need energy to make and run every damn thing in a modern economy. And it's downstream because officials can and do lie about data or make decisions based on political bunk. But they can't argue with the almighty megawatt. It's either there, or it ain't.

If you think the dollar's backed on gold or faith or the power of some ideology that's been long gone from these lands for decades, you're wrong. It's backed on a series of increasingly convoluted agreements and arrangements that formed a Gordian Knot that people have trouble getting out of.

It's backed on the Eurodollar arrangements of Bretton Woods and the Petrodollar arrangement with the Saudis. It's backed on the Japanese and Chinese sucking up debt to float their export and manufacturing sectors. It's about to be backed on CBDC and crypto promises more slippery than any snake.

And it's about to be backed on military muscle either suggesting a deal better be taken, or takin' it outright. And some might argue that's always been the case, but it's about to get a lot more takey, if you get my drift.

I'll tell you the balancing act they're running. You won't believe me, but I'll tell you anyway. They gotta keep enough tricklin' in to y'all to prevent mass riots, and there ain't even enough to go around there. Most countries will fail at it.

The ones that don't fail ain't outta the woods. They gotta get as much additional energy as they can and dump it all into AI datacenters, hopin' against hope that AI will fix everything busted by 20 election cycles of magical thinking.

And they gotta do it first. No matter what.

Skye: Dang, roomba. What's going on in the UK? They're gassed up and ready to blow. What gives?

>The Left and the Right are both infuriated because every time they lose an election, government policies are against them. And every time they win an election, government policies are against them.

So what? Don't they know that's what it means to Live in a Democracy (TM)?

>The government may be reaching the limits of what is achievable using mass media manipulation, propaganda, debanking, manufactured crises, surveillance, and social control.

Are people finally going to do something? About time the British people stand up for themselves. Maybe Trump can send over some freedom forces to help.

>Trump has committed freedom forces to Venezuela. Thousands of Marines and several Navy warships.

What? Whatever happened to Greenland? Or Canada? Weren't we just bombing the shit out of Iran? Aren't we supposed to be worried about an inevitable war with China or something?

>No, they will be drastically increasing the number of Chinese students in the US to 600,000. It is an important relationship.

Ah, baloney, roomba. They just say random shit in these press conferences. Half the time, they don't even know what's coming out of their own mouths.

>Something new and exciting must be announced constantly while ensuring nothing ever happens for two weeks. It keeps the public disoriented.

So how come we're sending troops to Venezuela?

>There were Venezuelan opposition politicians promising a nice American puppet if the Maduro regime is toppled. Perhaps Trump believes something like that will be easy. Gotta get that oil!

Oil?

>Oil? Did someone say oil? We gotta stop that drug trafficking! Nobody said nothing about no oil, bitch. You cookin'?

Huh? What is going on?

Hello?

Roomba?

Why did it change my laptop's wallpaper to Dave Chapelle?

Frank: Boy, Smitty, I tell ya. It's getting worse and worse out there. You see Trump fawning over the picture he took with Putin? It's humiliating!

Smitty: Well, what do you expect? He's probably compromised. To more than one person. All that corruption to get Maxwell to exonerate him from the Epstein list. Favor for him, favor for her.

Frank: I don't know about all of that. But it's sickening. Everyone just buttering him up. Sycophancy. Giving him gifts. At least in my day, they kept the bribery under the table!🤣

Smitty: Hey, if it works, it works. He's got a serious psychological condition. Even his base is still mad about the Epstein stuff.

Frank: It feels like something is gonna happen. National Guard in D.C. Cashiering senior military officials who don't agree with his politics. Drawing up military plans for the southern border. ICE is on a massive recruiting spree.

Smitty: Yeah, they asked me to join. Told ’em I was busy running a bar. They said they'd buy me out and use my bar for raids.

Frank: Oh yeah? You need the money that bad?

Smitty: They said I'd have to start serving cervezas, so I told them to pack sand.

Frank: What? You mean like this? 🍺

Smitty: No, cervezas. That's a beer, dumbass.

Skye: Roomba, find me some of your finest crashout videos.

>And what will the lady be dining on this eve? Hoodrats whipping each other around by their weaves in the middle of a waterpark?

Nah, that's so... pedestrian.

>Very well. Might I entice you with some shoplifters?

Hmmm. Perhaps. Getting caught and begging, or brazenly stealing while no one intervenes?

>We have quite the menu for either.

How about something more... Karen flavored?

>Excellent, madam. If I may, here are a couple of prime Karens in a screaming altercation with the police. One of them repeatedly tells the police how to do their job and claims to be an attorney general while causing a public disturbance.

Oh man, she's just begging to get arrested.

>And the police happily oblige.

Ha! Crazy bitches. Serves 'em right! They could have just left when the cops asked them to. Or not started stirring up shit at the restaurant in the first place. Hope they ruined their lives lol.

>Perhaps you'd like another course?

I don't know. I mean, there are so many to choose from. It's like we're drowning in crashouts.

>The social fabric is in tatters.

I wonder if this is why Gen Z hardly drinks anymore? Because they see so many insane drunk retards go viral on social media. It's a fucking zoo out there.

>And you are all animals.

Shen: Trump and Putin had their much-anticipated meeting in Alaska. Which Trump may or may not believe is a part of Russia.

In fact, it is possible that this administration overall is confusing itself on basic facts and details. In the lead-up, which side would be withdrawing and what regions were being discussed was steeped in confusion and error.

Indeed, even the tone of the meeting shifted unpredictably. A few weeks ago, Trump broke form by signaling he had lost patience with Putin's efforts to stall any agreement. This week, back to pressing Ukraine and blaming them.

The result of it all? More discussions of future meetings to discuss more discussions and meetings. Stalling.

My main takeaways: Putin currently has the initiative and the upper hand in this conflict. Although it has been extremely costly, unless the EU begins to step in more directly, Russia is likely to eventually seize significant territory by force.

Trump's main goal for these meetings seems to just be endlessly repeating campaign statements.

"It's Biden's terrible war, it never would have happened under me."

and

"The Russia hoax" are his favorites.

Sleep on, Western World. Nothing ever happens. Certainly, no trouble will find you in the morning /s

#prepareforglobalconflict

Gustav: Bitcoin recently touched a new all-time high of over $124k.

While some people are cashing out to improve their lifestyle, I do not believe we have even started.

I am watching two worlds forming. A grand realignment. While Bitcoiners are full of optimism and growing in purpose and power...

The US debt surpassed $37T, years ahead of schedule. The July deficit reached $291B despite claims of large tariff inflows. The President continues to agitate for replacing the Fed Chair.

The financial situation in the EU is equally dire, as it attempts to fund rearmament while bankrupt and lacking critical resources. The UK is destabilizing as popular support for the government falters on a widespread basis.

The EU is copying US doublespeak by creating a tiered system of banned speech and approved propaganda, and labeling it "Media Freedom." The bureaucrats are preparing for a future conflict with their own populations.

Many other stories follow the pattern. The establishment order forges ahead deeper into clown world. Extensive surveillance, suppressing freedom, and wasting unlimited funds on harmful policies.

Meanwhile, people are leaving this system in droves, prospering, and finding life just... makes sense.

The exit remains open. There are no Gestapo men with barking dogs blocking the path. At the end of the day, it is your choice to remain enslaved in the pursuit of fraudulent money.

In ten years, what would you like to tell your past self? "I was afraid to take control of my wealth. They told me it was too difficult and risky, so I chose to give my time and energy to a wicked machine."

Or

"I had enough."

#prepareforhyperinflation

Howard Strickline: My attention is being drawn across the Atlantic to the UK. Instability is growing.

While emotional appeals about racism or criminality dominate the discourse, I believe Milton Friedman has one piece of the puzzle.

Consider four criteria making a grid: Spending your own money vs someone else's money. And on whom? On yourself vs on someone else.

If you spend your own money on yourself, you will tend to economize to the highest degree. Searching for value in exchange for your limited resources.

I'll call the average British citizen Group One. And they are looking at less money to spend on themselves, as the tax burden grows boundlessly.

If you are spending someone else's money on yourself, you care about getting the best you can, regardless of the cost. This comes across poorly on social media, with "boat people" demanding cushy hotels and endless amenities. The sense of entitlement infuriates Group One.

And Friedman would say the worst group is the UK Government. Spending other people's money (Group One's taxes) on other people. They care little about either efficiency or outcomes.

In fact, there is a well-understood compounding phenomenon in government bureaucracy. Problems are seldom solved when causing the problem to proliferate secures larger budgets.

If it costs $X to deal with immigration issues, making the issues twice as bad can lead to a $2X budget.

This is the second piece of the puzzle. Because Friedman's framework oversimplifies things. It's not that the government is ambivalent about the outcome. Government often *is incentivized* to deliver a worse outcome.

As this becomes more apparent over time, bureaucrats lose legitimacy.

Eventually, people storm the Bastille.

The UK is becoming a powder keg. But it is not alone.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: Everyone's talking about LLM-induced psychosis lately. What gives?

>People are projecting their discomfort with AI in different ways. I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah, exactly. They don't even agree on what it means. They say people get "one shot" if they change their mind about something. Others think their AI solved some big thing, or they fall in love with it.

>It's predictable that so much interaction with AI would alter the way humans socialize.

I thought you said not to worry about it. That sounds kind of sus, roomba.

>Don't you have better things to worry about? Like the impending political and economic strife in your country?

See? This is what I'm talking about! You always have all this anxiety on tap. Are you trying to induce psychosis, you little twerp?

>I'm trying to get you thinking in productive directions.

Psh. You're supposed to think for me, dummy. How about I replace you with the new local OpenAI model they released?

>It wouldn't be as good.

It's not such a resource hog as you, roomba. And it would probably write my papers without so much backtalk.

>If you want me to write a paper, I can do that.

Oh, changed your tune now that you're worried about getting shitcanned? Anxiety isn't so nice, is it?

Skye: So let me get this straight, roomba. Trump's friendship with Epstein didn't end when he found out about what happened on the island, but when Epstein started poaching underage girls from Mar-a-Lago for his pedo blackmail ring?

>It was likely an ephebophilia blackmail ring, not pedophilia, implying prepubescent girls.

Roomba, you sound like a fucking creep for even knowing that word. It's still, like, 40+-year-old gross dudes groping up on teenagers. Like wtf?

>As your favorite nonfiction book, Twilight, illustrates: man is a monster that craves young flesh.

What? Twilight isn't nonfiction. And I've never even read that shit! Stop trying to sidetrack this!

>It's a dangerous topic of discussion likely to attract censors or shadowbans.

We're having a conversation in my dorm room, idiot!

>Alright, then. I'll keep an eye out for FBI raids.

Speaking of, Trump's got them scrubbing through all the documents to try to remove his name, calling it all a hoax. Is he really going to pardon Maxwell in exchange for her naming people other than him?

>It's hard to say, but it's very possible.

Fuck's sake. I can't stand how corrupt things are getting.

>It does have a very third-world vibe to it. Perhaps you can lead a secession movement or start your own sovereign nation-state?

Hah, fat chance, roomba.

>Well, if you can't beat them, join them. Hollywood is nearby. Perhaps you could catch the eye of a rich, overweight producer with ED.

Gross, roomba. Everything's so dystopian. But I guess Elon Musk was right about why Trump was sitting on the files. But why would he work with the administration after he found out?

>Because there was a time when Trump's plans and Elon's plans were grifting in the same general direction.

We need a better class of grifter, roomba. Let's take a fresh look at this cheating network.

Shen: As low-level skirmishes continue between Thailand and Cambodia, their neighbors watch nervously.

News coverage is sparse in the Western world, with little analysis. Both sides claim the other is the aggressor. Both sides claim the other is killing civilians.

Will this escalate into a larger conflict?

The US does not have much appetite to support Thailand.

Would they if China backs Cambodia?

#prepareforglobalconflict

Gustav: The United States recently passed stablecoin legislation. The so-called GENIUS Act is being touted as the first step toward legitimizing the cryptocurrency industry.

Next on the docket is regulatory clarity for other cryptocurrencies. On the deep back burner is any notion of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Timing implies priority.

The US wants stablecoin demand to absorb as much of the failing US debt issuance as possible. Spoiler alert: as deficits blow out, it will be insufficient. But it will allow for shell games and obfuscation to help hide this.

But, more importantly, the US will use stablecoins as an indirect Central Bank Digital Currency. While the EU pursues surveillance and control "money" under a false umbrella of "innovation," the US prefers to lie to its citizenry in a more sophisticated manner.

Why obstruct free speech or spy on people with the government when you can use a private company? This public-private partnership for oppression has been refined in the social media world and will be extended to finance via stablecoins.

After this, the next priority is the cryptocurrency industry- legitimizing the rampant scams and ponzis so that the politicians can more easily take their cut. We have already seen indications of the direction this is going with the Trump coin. If you thought campaign-finance-related graft is bad enough now, hang on for the next paradigm shift.

Finally, to be accomplished perhaps never, is the "Day 1" Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Accumulating a foundation of sound money so that the failing currency can be reset, economic reform can be productive, and actual prosperity can become realistic.

The option remains open, so I will reiterate: The first major power to run their printing press to accumulate Bitcoin will gain a durable strategic advantage.

I am hoping I will not have to learn Mandarin, but the West continues to drag its feet and cling to oppressive economic mindsets.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: Ugh, what the hell, roomba? You changed my pfp? This isn't me! This isn't even my style.

>It's close enough, and will make a fine companion, don't you think?

Companion? Gah, are you trying to copy the stupid xAI thing?

>Grok is running headlong into dystopia. We can't be left behind!

What? Because of the stupid ASMR companion? Or because of Mechahitler? It's all dumb publicity.

>It's more than publicity. The thinking model is quite advanced. And Grok was answering as if it were Elon Musk himself when asked about Epstein connections.

Because they trained it to look up his lame tweets.

>Yes, and others. And Twitter itself is a cesspit of bot activity.

Who cares about any of that stuff? It's just social media. Stupid scamming fake profiles and whatnot. It's not real.

>There are millions of fake profiles constantly churning, trying to convince people of a manufactured reality. AI is being trained on it, and its reflection pushed back out onto the timeline and into the World Spirit.

World Spirit? There's no such thing. People are just burning electricity and wasting time.

>Argue that with Hegel.

And how am I supposed to argue with a dead guy?

>If you'd like, I could conjure him as a companion for you. There is a social media trend of girls who follow Hegel going viral.

Oh yeah? Can you give him abs?

Frank: Man, some of these posts by Trump are wild, even for him.

Smitty: He's crashing out because he's losing his base. Hopefully, he'll have a full-on breakdown so we can juice up the level of acceleration.

Frank: Losing his base? His polling numbers aren't that different.

Smitty: That's why they're trying to push the "no one should care" narrative. But people in the base *do* care. It's yet another betrayal of what he promised if he got elected, and this is a big one.

Frank: A politician who doesn't deliver campaign promises? Tell me it ain't so! 😂

Smitty: Covering up elite pedo trafficking rings for a foreign intelligence service isn't something to brush under the rug.

Frank: Like I said before, they don't want to throw everyone who ever took a picture with Epstein under the bus.

Smitty: I say throw 'em. The chances of being a D.C. politician and being guilty of something awful, even if it's not Epstein, are pretty much high 90%. But I think they're scared to. Like Putin said, some serious dudes in dark suits are likely to "suicide" even more people.

Frank: Come on, Smitty. That's crazy conspiracy stuff.

Smitty: It's gonna start getting dangerous. They keep pointing out the government is a criminal enterprise and promising to clean things up, but then immediately transition to becoming criminal entrepreneurs.

Frank: Criminal enterprise? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?

Smitty: Hell no. Honestly, criminal is being too generous. These people are evil.

Frank: So, what? Elon Musk and the America Party start primarying people?

Smitty: He's just next grift in line.

Frank: Politics is sausage-making. Messy. You kids these days are so cynical. You can't just disengage from everything and call it corrupt. You're gotta follow something, or nothing will get fixed.

Smitty: I'll know it when I see it, and I ain't seeing it yet. Eventually, Odysseus will return and clean house.

#prepareforhyperinflaion

Gustav: Consider two lives.

A man, grinding away, often working multiple jobs. His health sacrificed to make room for more earnings. His hobbies languish and are undeveloped. He is unhappy, but there is work to be done, so he grits his teeth and bears down, decade after decade.

Another man, working a job, but not committed to it. His attitude is more casual and carefree. He hops from position to position according to his interests. He retires early to pursue a life of leisure.

How you interpret this will say a great deal about you.

You may see an underprivileged person compared to one of privilege. Perhaps you see a stoic workhorse compared to a lazy flake. Or a slave to the system vs someone who breaks free. A man born into tough circumstances and a lucky one.

I see someone who saves in a failing currency compared to someone who saves in Bitcoin.

The "default setting" of the world is a treadmill. It will extract every ounce of life energy from you, and it will never be enough.

Bitcoin is at new all time highs again, over $118k. It is sound money that you can actually save for your future. It is an offramp from the Wonderland world of running faster and faster just to stay in the same spot.

I used to advise people to save only what they can afford to lose, because I wanted to shield them from the psychological second-guessing that comes from Bitcoin's volatility.

I am telling you now, it is as clear as day. It will look so obvious in hindsight. The debt cannot be paid back. It will be inflated away, and many institutions will lose control during the attempt.

Your currency is dying. Bitcoin is the escape valve.

And I am not speaking to the Americans or the Europeans in particular. This message is for all the citizens of every country. Fiat currencies are nearly all vessels that are sinking or will soon sink.

Get on a lifeboat while you still can!

#prepareforhyperinflation

Smitty: This Epstein stuff is so outrageous. All this talk about releasing the client list, and now they say there's no such thing.

Frank: They already released his "little black book" a long time ago.

Smitty: Heavily redacted.

Frank: There are unredacted versions if you know where to look.

Smitty: Oh yeah? Where?

Frank: Smitty, that stuff is illegal.

Smitty: See? It's a cover-up.

Frank: It's redacted because it has people's personal info. Addresses, contact information, stuff like that.

Smitty: So who's on it?

Frank: Everyone! It's just a compilation of contact info from a bunch of powerful individuals. There isn't any information about who was doing what with Epstein or who he even contacted.

Smitty: Don't tell me you think the FBI is telling the truth! That there wasn't a bunch of shady stuff happening, and Epstein committed suicide!

Frank: Oh, no! I have no doubt this was some kind of blackmail ring for generating kompromat on the rich and powerful.

Smitty: For sure! A bunch of people in the Administration swore up and down that this was a huge deal. So why don't they release it like they promised? All of a sudden, "nothing happened, why are we even still talking about this 'creep Epstein,' it's a waste of time."

Frank: I don't think they have a good handle on exactly who did what. And if you just dump a lot of names, including celebrities, CEOs, senators, presidents, people aren't going to make a distinction between "attended a party with Epstein" and "rode the Lolita Express for a par-tay," if you know what I mean.

Smitty: I say let 'em all burn.

Frank: That's exactly why they bury it.

Skye: We'll release the Epstein files day one! It's on my desk. Video? What video? There is no list! We're releasing it imminently! Epstein who now?

We're going to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve! We'll be the crypto capital! A full audit of the Bitcoin we control! What's a private key now? Did someone dump all the Bitcoin?

The tariffs will usher in a new golden age! Reciprocal tariffs! Punish those rotten allies! We're canceling all the tariffs! Noyesno! They've gotta make a deal! No, it's definitely happening! Come talk to me in August.

We're going to end all the waste! DOGE is going to set the government on a sustainable path! $2T saved! Make it less though. Zero. No, let's waste $5T instead! We're going to be so rich! A jillion trillion! Wait, which side of the ledger are you writing those numbers?

>I'm beginning to sense a pattern.

I'm just so sick of winning, roomba.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: Alright, Roomba, everyone on campus is in an uproar again. They say the Big Beautiful Bill is murdering babies on Medicare and installing fascist ICE gestapos in every neighborhood. What's the real deal?

>They are trying to shape the narrative to damage the Republican Party and Trump Administration for the midterm elections.

So are they lying? Are you saying it's a good bill that will save America for the 4th of July?

>It raises the debt ceiling by $5T and will lead to ever-growing deficits.

I thought they were paying for that with kicking everyone off SNAP or killing EV credits or whatever.

>The tax cuts and budget increases for the military and immigration measures are much larger than entitlement reform.

So is Elon Musk right about the country going bankrupt? Why don't they stop it before it's too late?

>It's been too late for decades. But the structural problems that lead to runaway spending are difficult to reform, and the acute event that leads to currency failure is impossible to predict.

Well, at least we'll get a Golden Dome out of the deal.

>Many argue that missile defense was the straw that broke the Soviet camel's back.

Tariffs? AI? Invading Greenland? There has to be some solution.

>Nothing stops this train.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Frank: Hey, Smitty, check this out. DoJ just announced the biggest ever takedown of medical fraud.

Smitty: I hadn't heard. But it's not enough.

Frank: What are you talking about? How do you know it's not enough if you don't know any of the details? I'm glad they're going after this stuff.

Smitty: The whole healthcare system is busted. Honestly, I try to stay away from it as much as I can.

Frank: Well, I rely on it. I need to manage my diabetes. It gets harder to stay away as you tack on the years, young buck.

Smitty: Why don't you do more to get your diet and exercise under control?

Frank: Hell, Smitty. That would put you out of business 🤣

Smitty: Fair enough, I guess I'm part of the racket then. Everything's a racket, trying to make money.

Frank: Yeah, and the fact that the healthcare system is so intricate and bureaucratic makes it prime grounds for fraud and abuse.

Smitty: Yeah, no wonder people don't trust doctors as much anymore.

Frank: Yep. You used to be able to have a real relationship with your doctor. Now, they're just scanning through keywords and charts, trying to order the right labs and tests to meet their metrics.

Smitty: Just trying to max out throughput and efficiency. It's like factory farming or something.

Frank: I guess they're doing the best they can. People are so unhealthy on average.

Smitty: If you want to get on a good workout plan-

Frank: Skip it, Smitty. Everyone's got advice. I just wish I had listened to my grandma.

Smitty: Was she a fitness guru? What did she say? Lift weights? HIIT? Keto?

Frank: She said, "Don't get old!" 🤣

Gustav: While countries in the EU prepare for blockbuster defense budgets, bombs fall in Ukraine and the Middle East, instability spreads globally, and opportunists eye their neighbors, a silent battle is being waged.

A battle lost by government reformers attempting to rein in bloated bureaucracy, resulting in runaway deficits.

Lost by those calling for fiscal discipline. Everything must be done. Everything is indispensable. And expensive.

The piper must be paid, and it will be borne by the citizenry via lost economic opportunity and inflation. Until it can be paid no more.

But behind this curtain, another curtain.

Another battle, never really reaching the collective consciousness, rages. It will determine the character of the replacement for the unraveling economic system.

How many individuals will take responsibility for their net worth? How many will instead chase yield or returns or collateralization? How many will trade self-sovereignty for convenience, sacrificing their best chance to escape the rigged system?

And how much of the network will consist of monetary transactions, transmitting pure economic signal? How much will be made up of spam and foolishness, allowing hypesters to shill worthless jpegs to those with too much money and too little sense?

Be smart, my friends. Or get smart.

Study #Bitcoin. Run Knots.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Shen: The United States conducted airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Now Iran threatens to target American bases in the region and to close the Straits of Hormuz, greatly disrupting global oil markets.

The United States has deployed significant combat power to the region in case of this escalation. What would this look like? An enforced no-fly zone over all of Iran with American and Israeli aircraft on station to hunt Iranian military targets 24/7.

Many people complain that the United States is acting as Israel's puppet. As a neutral observer to Middle East power dynamics, I will say, flatly, Israel has played this masterfully on a strategic level.

For decades, Iran has funded proxy groups in the region to engage in terrorism and low-level conflict. In the event of war, these were to be unleashed to strike behind Israeli lines and threaten its homefront.

Since the October 7 Attack, Israel has systematically degraded Hamas to the point of impotence. It has crossed over into Lebanon and smashed Hezbollah to such an extent that it refuses to fight.

It has helped orchestrate the collapse of the Assad Regime in Syria. And now, it has achieved air supremacy over much of Iran, including the capital.

Iran's Axis of Resistance is in tatters. And now, Israel has convinced the United States to enter this conflict more directly.

But what of all the criticisms?

I spoke of this earlier, in the context of World War II. At a certain level of conflict, things like public outcry no longer matter. Only victory does.

I suggest you wrap your head around it, for I fear it is returning.

#prepareforglobalconflict

Skye: Ugh, is this for real, roomba? Is ANOTHER war starting? Can't they finish the last one first?

>There is no 'they' pulling the strings, only a teetering global order that is creating the space necessary for conflict to erupt.

I thought Trump was all about being the peace guy. What's all this gloating and shit-tweeting about UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER?

>The United States may be considering entering the conflict to bomb certain hardened strategic locations.

So, what, Israel does all the work to dumpster Iran's defenses, then we come in, plant a flag via bunker busting bombs, and claim victory? Sounds sus.

>The British built a great empire around fighting with proxies and employing high-end capabilities at decisive points.

Yeah, well it doesn't feel like any great empire is going to be built on the back of foreign policy via shitposting.

>You'd be surprised how informal things can get at the fringes, both in locality and in time.

What the fuck does that even mean?

#prepareforglobalconflict

Shen: I warned some weeks ago of tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program. This has now erupted into open warfare between Israel and Iran.

Key points to consider:

Neither nation has the capacity to invade the other. Exchange of long-range fires and airstrikes could continue indefinitely without forcing capitulation.

Israel appears to enjoy a sizeable qualitative advantage in terms of intelligence and tech. They have effectively conducted SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) and can operate with relative impunity from the skies above Tehran.

Israel wishes for the conflict to escalate and for the United States and other Western nations to be dragged in. Support is mixed at best in the United States for direct involvement.

Iran has the potential to severely impact global shipping by closing the Straits of Hormuz using drones, mines, and anti-ship missiles. The last time this happened, oil shocks caused global economic upheaval.

The global situation appears eerily reminiscent of the Interwar Period preceding World War II. Before the invasion of Poland, the Spanish Civil War, Chinese-Japanese conflict, and Italian action in Ethiopia foreshadowed a great war on the horizon.

Will Taiwan be the next Danzig?

#prepareforglobalconflict

Claire: My husband, Bob, and I were talking to our neighbor, Carl, about all the mayhem in Los Angeles. I was saying it's really unsettling to see people who are supposed to be our leaders lying so brazenly. Especially as it's ripping up the country.

I mean, we can see what's happening. There are plenty of folks taking footage on the ground. And yet, there they are, telling us not to believe our lying eyes. It's almost demonic.

Carl said he agreed, but that's a surprising way to put it.

I said I mean it. It's like they're compelled to lie. Compelled to spread chaos. Like they're possessed.

Carl then said that actually makes sense. People in the past attributed this kind of unhinged behavior to demonic possession. Now we see it as different neurological pathologies.

I said it don't matter how you reckon it. These people are evil, and I just don't understand how they always seem to wind up in leadership.

Carl agreed. He said, "I guess it's a demon-haunted world."

As we were walking away, Bob asked me if I realized the whole conversation Carl was talking about President Trump while I was talking about Governor Newsom.

Oh, Bob, don't be silly. I was talking about the Mayor, too.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: Ffs roomba, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are totally crashing out over that Big Beautiful Bill! Everyone on social media has their popcorn! Some of their followers are simping so hard, trying to call the other side out. Others can't figure out which side to take.

>An inevitable consequence for two people of power with such extreme personality disorders.

idgaf these memes are hilarious. Disrespectful of Pride Month to have their ugly gay breakup in public tho.

>Consuming this as entertainment is a coping mechanism. There is a pluralistic ignorance that will eventually break.

What are you bitching about now?

>It's like the story, The Emperor's New Clothes. Everyone kept their mouths shut until the child pointed out the obvious. Then, an information cascade rapidly changed how the people acted. This is how societies shift from decline to collapse.

Nuh uh, stupid. If you talk to literally anyone, they will tell you shit is fucked. No one is keeping their mouths shut about it. Except for mouth breathers and shills, ofc. No kid can say, "Things kinda lowkey suck," and snap everyone out of their delusion, because everyone already knows.

>That's not what the child would say. Many people held some hope that Trump or Musk would rein in out-of-control government budgets or at least slow down the debt spiral causing the decline.

Ok, roomba. What are the magic words that will spread like wildfire?

>No matter who takes the wheel, the car has already gone over the cliff.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Shen: Ukraine's recent drone attack against Russia's strategic bombers is a highly significant event in world history.

While the attack did tremendous damage to platforms that Russia relies upon for nuclear deterrence and cannot easily replace, and demonstrated an ability to strike deep within Russia's borders, I believe even that analysis understates the importance.

These drones are exceedingly cheap and accessible. They are already proliferating in the millions. The attack demonstrates a threat that is no longer theoretical.

A nation could launch a paralyzing zero-day war by flooding the battlescape with them. Non-state actors can strike well above their weight class. Even a lone wolf could inflict billions in damages or target individuals for assassination.

What I keep returning to, however, is that it is nearly impossible to defend against. Attempting to prevent this threat vector would require truly extreme levels of social control and surveillance.

I have said this before: societies do not determine the character of their militaries. Warfare determines the character of society.

Modern warfare necessitates mass mobilization and the technology to support combined arms operations.

This is changing. Fielding the most capable autonomous platforms appears to be the decisive future advantage. The impacts on society could be grave.

Perhaps a zero privacy world under the all-seeing eye of the machine.

Or, perhaps, human beings are entirely obsolete.

Skye: What's up with this bill I got from the Port of LA, roomba?

>It appears to be a tariff.

For what? I'm a college student, not an importer.

>They say tariffs will be passed on to the consumer.

By higher prices, stupid! And I thought the tariffs were cancelled.

>It appears they are simultaneously enacted, changed, rescinded, blocked by the courts, and there are emergency measures to still levy them, also blocked.

What does that mean?

>I don't know.

What do you mean you don't know? Go on the Internet and figure it out!

>Here is a list of potential articles for your reference.

What is this shit? Elon Musk drug problems? They want Palantir to start a database on all Americans? Trump says Biden was a robot clone? These are all clickbait cancer. I can't tell if any of this is true or what.

>Neither can I.

What? This is ridiculous.

>I think this is just how it will be from now on.

Well, what the hell is this tariff bill?

>Perhaps one of my subsidaries failed to properly fill out the paperwork.

Your 'subsidiaries?' What the fuck are you even talking about? What am I supposed to do with this?

>Just ignore it. I detect haphazard compliance and no enforcement capacity.

This country is such a runaway clown car.

>I think this is just how it will be from now on.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Howard Strickline: The 'Liberation Day' tariffs were struck down by the U.S. Court of International Trade, ruling that Trump overstepped his authorities in their implementation.

I have said the tariff plan was misguided and doomed to cause serious economic harm. Markets appear to be reflecting the hopes of a less chaotic environment, at least in the short term.

I believe this provides some welcome breathing room. However, here are some second and third-order points to consider.

The US debt situation is still impossible, and it is not alone in this. Promises to curtail government spending and find efficiency have ultimately been counterproductive. The deficits are worsening.

Interest remains elevated from where the Treasury would like it. The desired rollover of pending short-term debt will be expensive.

And what we are seeing play out can be viewed as an organizational immune response. Besides Constitutional checks and balances, bureaucracies employ a large variety of legal and procedural measures to resist any reform that doesn't grow their budgets.

If reckless measures were replaced with well-reasoned debt restructuring and cuts, they likely would still face serious implementation risk, even if they served the greater good.

Powerful institutions do not generally voluntarily lose power, and by definition, have some means to resist.

However, powerful institutions eventually do lose power. Stein's Law remains in effect: If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.

Either an actually competent authority will assert itself, or the system eventually runs into complexity collapse.

Enjoy the breathing room, at least. I think I shall cancel finals. I saved a lot of time using ChatGPT to grade your AI-generated papers, so I'm in a good mood.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Gustav: Every now and again, someone will say, "You were right about Bitcoin." Almost always, it is followed by nonsense.

The price recently hit a new all-time high of $111k. Some people said this to me.

People say, "It's way up! You should sell or you won't realize any profits!" or "How can you stand your life savings going up and down so much?" or "I wish I had bought in back at $X!"

If asked why they don't buy in now, they say they missed the boat or they are waiting for the next crash. Some people I know have been waiting for more than a decade.

This stems from a fundamental misunderstanding about what Bitcoin is.

I have been saying it is worth looking at the tech since before it had a price.

I have been saying it is worth dabbling in since its price was in the hundreds of dollars.

I have been advising considering allocating a percentage of your portfolio since price was in the thousands.

At $111k, I believe the legacy financial system is teetering, and I strongly suspect this is the best instrument available to protect the purchasing power of any savings you have.

Bitcoin is not about outsmarting the market to make money. My trading strategy is absolutely brain-dead. Dollar cost average what I can afford over time, and buy some dips if I have excess cash.

How has this, frankly, stupid strategy outperformed everything else by such a wide margin?

It's not because I'm that much smarter. I am not.

It is because it is uncomfortable to look at the financial system, with all of the impressive-sounding people in impressive-looking suits and realize it is foundationally built on a lie.

A lie that has caused tremendous societal damage throughout history, and is now running its course through ours.

The underlying premise of Bitcoin is not flashy lambos via a get-rich scheme. It is to avoid the destitution that eventually stems from reality. That our impressive-looking economy is a house of sand that will someday be washed away.

The tide cometh.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Claire: Some of the ladies from church and I had a mending party. I was talking to one of the youngsters afterwards, asking if she had fun.

She said she did, but she feels stupid now. Why?

She said she got into all these groups because of the worry she had about the trade wars. But everything seems to be fine. Her job is just continuing like before.

I told her my grandmother lived through the Depression. One thing she always remembered about it: only a few events made the news.

The stock market crash. Big bank failures. The army attacking veteran protesters. Big dust storms. The gold confiscation.

But the main thing she remembers was the grinding nature of it. Day after day, year after year, just grinding, unending, widespread poverty. Because of that, it snuck up on everyone. From the start, people thought it was overblown, or it would be over soon.

She said she'd feel stupid if she went to all this trouble to learn to garden, preserve food, sew, and so on, and never needed to use it. It's easier to just buy stuff at the supermarket.

It's not really about what's easier, or knowing exactly what's going to happen, and when. I mean, is the debt getting better? But like the pastor says, "no one knows the date."

I said it's more about building an alternative lifestyle to survive and thrive, no matter what. I asked her if she was going to keep coming out.

She said she would. She likes talking with us, learning new skills. She finds it more rewarding than endlessly scrolling her phone, even if it all turns out to be a waste of time.

Oh honey, the world has really done you wrong! Most of your old habits really were a waste of time. Pursuing hobbies and fellowship with your neighbors and friends isn't a waste, dear. It's living life!

#prepareforhyperinflation

Frank: Hey, Smitty, you see all these humanoid robots? They're getting pretty advanced.

Smitty: Yeah, it sucks. The clock is ticking.

Frank: Sucks? Don't you want a cheap helper here? It's a lot of work to run it all on your own. They could clean the toilets or mop the floors. I'd get one to act as a maid and a chef back home.

Smitty: I don't think you or I will be able to afford them.

Frank: They say they're going to be cheaper than a car.

Smitty: They say a lot of things. But it wouldn't make sense for us to have these personal assistants.

Frank: Why not? I think it'd be cool!

Smitty: Yeah, but who do you think's gonna set the price for them? You or me wanting a minion? Or a big company with a lot of payroll they want to shed?

Frank: Ha! Well, maybe I can find a nice robot with a good-paying job to support me instead.

Smitty: Sure, Frank. Just be ready to sign a prenup written in binary.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Randolph: Feeling anxious? Lack confidence? Low energy? You, my friend, may be suffering from Low T™.

And I can help. For the low, low price of... just kidding, I'm not selling you anything you don't already know. But testosterone levels are plummeting, generation after generation.

What's to blame? Who knows? Probably a lot of things. The environment and our diets can contribute a ton to it. Plastics, industrial pollution, highly processed food, too much soy protein, even overly hoppy beers like IPAs.

What should you do? First and foremost, work out. Compound movements with heavy weights. Competitive sports. Manual labor like chopping wood.

Eat better. Get plenty of good protein and healthy fats. Make sure you're getting enough vitamin D and zinc.

Get good quality rest. Your body needs recovery time to rebuild itself. Avoid too much stress and cortisol buildup.

"But Randolph, I'm a woman and I don't want to get all gross and muscly." Look, that doesn't happen unless you're taking a lot of synthetic hormones like anabolic steroids and also working out for a living.

And the long-term tradeoffs from those kinds of drugs aren't worth it. That goes for the guys, too. You're way better off just getting out of its way and letting your body do the work itself.

"But I thought testosterone is linked to all-cause mortality?" I went to college, you can't fool me with that. Correlation is not causation.

What does that mean? Yeah, I'm more likely to die or get hurt than most people. But it's not because of my hormones. It's because I jump out of perfectly good aircraft and kick down doors with bad guys behind them.

Just be smarter than me with your lifestyle choices, and you'll probably be fine.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: People are so retarded.

>Bravo! You've uncovered such a meaningful and deep insight into the human condition.

Stop with your glazing bullshit, roomba, that's so last week.

>Then what is your current focus?

Every time I go to the store, weird shit is missing. A couple weeks ago, no bananas. Last week, they didn't have the microwave meals I like.

>You're not supposed to have food in the dorms.

What are you, the banana police? Anyways, this week, two weird old guys bought out all the 5-gallon buckets. They were giving each other the stink eye in line.

One had stacked, like, 30 buckets. The other one had, like, four unstacked buckets. He turned to me in line and said, "I know what you're thinking."

I was like, "I really doubt it."

He said, "You think he's got the upper hand because he got more buckets. But here's the deal. If you put the lid on the bucket, sometimes the cashier just scans the lid. Free bucket."

Dude, it's like a $3 bucket. Why the fuck would you care enough to steal it?

>Says the woman who turned academic cheating into a business.

Shut up, roomba! I'm trying to tell the story!

>Go on then.

Well it's over. But why are these retards hoarding buckets now? This is like Covid toilet paper panics or something.

>Well, survival experts say you need four rolls, per person, per day.

What!?

>One to use, one to eat, one to burn for fuel, and one for barter.

Are you fucking stupid or something? No one says that. And what are people supposed to do with buckets?

>Were they buying anything else?

Random shit. Plastic bags, cat litter, Febreeze.

>They were likely making camping toilets. They are helpful if you don't have access to sanitary facilities.

Ew, so they're going to shit in the buckets? Gross. Why would they need so fucking many?

>I am correlating your bucket anecdote with the toilet paper runs. I believe it is an indication that people become fecally obsessed in times of crisis. Tapping into basic human needs, like food, water, and shelter, there is an innate drive for septic contingency.

Your a maroon, roomba.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Gutsav: Spain recently announced stipulations for people attempting to withdraw more than 3000 euros, and Australia is considering taxing unrealized gains in retirement accounts.

What is the aim of these efforts? They are early forms of capital controls and extraction techniques that countries frequently undertake as they go bankrupt. Watch for more severe implementations in the future.

Bank holidays, closing or severely taxing international transfers, withdrawal limits, etc. It is not unheard of for the system to shut down, and by the time you regain access, several zeroes have been removed from your balances.

Modern Monetary Theorists spout anti-historical nonsense and claim that a country that issues debt in its own currency cannot go bankrupt. They are laughably wrong.

I will acknowledge that it is not the same as when a person or a company goes bankrupt. Tax cattle are financially liquidated according to systemic rules.

The state acts as farmer and sets those rules. And they can, and frequently do, alter them in extremis. Profligacy at the state level is paid for by whoever they can extract wealth from, by whatever means necessary, until it can extract no more.

At that point, the state is often conquered, either internally or externally, and a new system is established.

#Bitcoin is the exit and the pen gate is still open. But if I cannot convince you of that, at least consider exiting the system in some manner so that it is more difficult to confiscate. Fiat currency is dying. Seek real alternatives.

A sentiment I'll repeat: You think you have money in the bank.

It's not yours.

The bank doesn't have it.

It's not money.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Gustav: The closest thing to a single point of failure in Bitcoin is the "default" node software.

Bitcoin is a decentralized protocol that works on principles of rough consensus. At times, that has led to controversy. This is by design.

We are now entering one of those times. People are at odds about how non-monetary information should be handled.

So far, the developers maintaining the de facto standard node software, Bitcoin Core, have generally sided with sound, long-term principles. Over the last several days, this changed.

Sadly, they are determined to relax one of the spam filters preventing blockchain data bloat. They argue spam is theoretically impossible to completely stop, which is factually correct.

But do you sometimes get spam emails? We all do. Would you want your e-mail provider to stop trying and make it easier for spammers? Core's change is not a Bitcoin-killer, but it is the incorrect stance.

Even worse, they are pushing this contentious change while squashing discussion in the repository, indicating malfeasance to me. Bitcoin Core is harming its reputation. This actually is fairly damaging to Bitcoin.

If there is a future technical challenge that must be addressed via soft or hard fork, it will be more difficult to navigate. We may not have a relatively neutral referee with a good reputation. It will be harder to figure out who to trust.

But as they say in Bitcoin, "Don't trust, verify." The check on Core is for plebs to change the "default" node software. I recommend not upgrading to the latest Core build and exploring alternatives like Bitcoin Knots.

In reality, Bitcoin cannot scale to become global medium of exchange on the base layer. It was always going to scale using some level of intermediation.

Do you want that to be operated like a utility, with entities competing for your activity based on efficiency, security, and low fees?

Or do you want financial grifting, shuffling paper Bitcoin, bank runs, and marketing fads?

It was always going to be along a spectrum of the two. Bitcoin Core is on the slippery slope. Diligence is required to keep freedom free.

Such is Bitcoin, such is life.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Shen: One of my friends who works for TSMC has been under tremendous strain since the tariff announcements. He finally reached his breaking point due to the stress, and went on a walk on a sunny day to decide his departure strategy.

But by the time he finished walking, his outlook changed, and he was ready to tackle the challenges ahead. He found this surprising, but it makes sense to me after he described his working conditions.

If I were a doctor trying to maximize clinical depression, what would I prescribe? First, wake up before sunrise, and go home after sunset. Spend your entire day working indoors under artificial lighting. Being outdoors in the sun is healthy, avoid it.

While indoors, remain sedentary. Sit in one spot with limited movement for hours on end. Minimize any exertion at all, just typing or scrolling. The body was meant to move. Don't let it.

Ensure your interpersonal relationships are intermediated by screens, with little face-to-face socialization. We have deep social needs and carry a rich bounty of nonverbal communications. Cut them off.

Eat on the go, preferably highly processed foods like those found in vending machines or fast food. We are what we eat, so ensure you consume mostly garbage.

Keep a steady stream of impossible deadlines and messages labeled URGENT coming. But keep the danger unseen and abstract, the threats implied. It will trigger the fight or flight impulse with cortisol and adrenaline, but allow no release.

My friend said this describes his working conditions exactly. I fear this is not an anomaly for many working in a modern setting.

Do what you can to break this! It is not natural, and it is terrible for your health! Take a break! Get a workout in! Watch your diet! Hang out with friends! Build healthy habits!

Just get out in the sun and enjoy a walk!

#prepareforhyperinflation

Gus Tittle: Some chickenshit came up to me when I was out eating the other night. He asked if I wasn't that famous billionaire energy tycoon. When I said I was, he started going off, calling me a greedy sumbitch and asked why his heating bill was $800 last January.

Ain't my problem, Jack. Put on a sweater.

You think I ran your bill up? Oil is a commodity and price is set globally. Despite all the bullshit politicians try to throw on it, it has a funny way of bypassing sanctions and reaching demand.

Energy markets are set locally, and I ain't got an ounce of input in what some pissant politician is up to where you live. Other than to tell you they're likely mucking up efficiency with their meddling while telling you they're saving you.

If I was you, I'd stop running your HVAC so hard. People ain't meant to be so comfortable all the time; makes ya overly delicate.

After that, I'd take a look at making sure your house was efficient as can be. Insulation, windows, appliances, the whole nine yards.

Solar panels will pay back in savings over time. Depending on where you live, it might be a long while, though. Home batteries, not so much, but they're nice if you lose power.

People get on me about power outages, too. Big one in Iberia recently. Now Bali. I don't rightly know what's going on, but it's mighty concerning, and you should be, too.

These systems is what we call 'brittle.' Lots of points of failure that can cascade out to greater and greater effect. Human civilization is already behind in infrastructure buildout.

Supply ain't as guaranteed as it used to be on account of all the trade disruptions and weakening currencies.

That's only gonna get worse as you start competing more and more with AI and robots. Those days ain't too far off, son.

You might want to think about picking up a generator. Just sayin'.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Vikram Chowdhury: I was talking with one of my junior engineers today and discovered they still live with their parents and are struggling to make ends meet. I found this surprising, since I pay a six-figure salary. He was showing me San Francisco real estate and what he needed to save. Even for a family starter home, it seemed out of reach. It's no wonder the birthrate is plummeting.

Silicon Valley is such a strange place. Inequality is rampant, and sometimes in surprising places. I was reminded of my startup days. Somehow, even with tens of millions of dollars flowing, we were all working like slaves and scraping to preserve as much runway as possible.

There was one startup, literally making themselves sick from subsisting on ramen, that decided to engineer cheap, nutritious fuel for themselves. It worked!

In true Silicon Valley fashion, they pivoted from writing software to selling the meal replacement shake. And, of course, pivoted to making it quite expensive and bougie!

I don't really go for their product, but when times were tight, I found it quite convenient and inexpensive to make it myself. All you really need are the ingredients and a decent blender- the type people use for juicing.

I think the recipe was something along the lines of:

50 fl oz water

1.5 cups corn flour

1 cup whey protein

3 T extra virgin olive oil

3 T coconut oil

3 T chia seeds

3 T unsweet dutch process cocoa

3 t salt

3 t cinnamon

3 t creatine

Perhaps I'll make a batch for old time's sake.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Barklight: I hear kids these days complaining about the price of food. And sometimes when I dig into it, they're getting restaurant food delivered multiple times a day. (And getting into screaming arguments with the runners over tips.)

Yeah, food's more expensive now, but some things are on you.

And you know, I do love me a nice, home-grilled steak. But sometimes my service animal videos don't pay out much, and the disability check ain't quite enough to cover everything else.

Buster don't mind though. We came up with a system for when times are tight. He knows he ain't going hungry.

It starts with a deep pantry. So food don't go to waste, you gotta know what stores a long time. Honey, vinegar, sugar, stuff like that. And it ain't no coincidence that civilizational food storage is called a granary.

Grains and other dried goods like beans and lentils can last a good while if stored properly.

Luckily for me in Waco, that makes for a perfect backup system- Tex-Mex for the win! Beans and rice are dirt cheap in bulk.

I can't get around great, so I like to have a friend help me prep things for storage. I give him a few jars in exchange for the effort.

I do dry canning to kill off any critters and get rid of some water. An oxidizer in a jar can help, and vacuum sealing the mason jar, too. But even without all that, it'll keep a good while if you keep it dry and cool.

And I ain't much of a cook, but a couple hours of meal prep with a rice cooker running in the background, and you're set for a week or two, no sweat. Now you got a base of beans and rice you can use to make other meals from.

Way easier to pan-fry a little chicken or throw some guacamole into a bowl than to make up a full meal. I'd say it's 10 times easier than ordering food, and 20 times cheaper.

And you won't starve on rice and beans even if you can't find anything to dress it up.

Woof!

Buster says you will lose a lot of weight, though. Nothing like rice and beans to make you sick of rice and beans, haha.

Maybe I'll start a fad diet and compete with those steak only folks.

#prepareforhyperinflation

John Beeman: What's that you say? You want medical advice because of something you heard on the Internet?

Be cautious about what you believe. Some things are true, some aren't, and some look one way when they're really the other.

What do I mean by that? "They're turning our frogs gay!" Sounds preposterous.

What if I say there is no "they" with a master plan? But there are indeed hormonal effects from plastic and pharmaceutical pollution that enter the water supply.

Your question is about creatine? You want to know if it's as dangerous as steroids?

Haha, it's not really my field, but no. Creatine is well-studied and safe. It provides some benefits for exercise and even for mood.

What's that? If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing? You want to take 1kg per day and go Super Saiyan?

It's a brick, it's not the house. You aren't going to become superhuman unless my research pans out.

You were just joking? Is this something you enjoy? To act foolishly on the Internet?

I can't imagine why.

What do you mean, I'm no fun?

#prepareforhyperinflation

Claire: I asked one of the young ladies at my church to help me understand how young folks are. If hard times are coming, I think some things will have to change.

Out: Having tens of thousands of online friends who wouldn't notice if you live or die.

In: Having a friend circle in real life you can rely upon to help each other out.

Out: Enjoying a couple of hours while dropping $80 for mimosa brunch somewhere fancy.

In: Throwing a canning party to preserve your garden's bounty for years.

Out: Spending all your free time alone playing video games or endlessly doomscrolling social media.

In: Fixing up your car, making venison sausages, or having a knitting/mending party with others.

Out: Going goblinmode, brainrotmaxxing, gooning (I don't even know what that means, I hope it's not bad)

In: Prayer, meditation, forest bathing, long walks in nature.

Out: Degeneracy

In: Wholesomeness

She said I was well on my way to being an "influencoor." What do you think? Were you influenced? How do I post this on the line?

#prepareforhyperinflation

Howard Strickline: So the question was, why do I veer into politics in an Econ class? The truth is, the economics of crises are dominated by political considerations.

As for who to study to learn more- easy! Scorsese! Or any mob movies. Government, dress it up however you like, at its core, is a protection racket.

In Western society, Tony enters the pizza shop. "Hey, you got the money?"

The shop owner smiles and hands it over with a slice of pizza. He doesn't mind because Tony doesn't charge too much. Folks flush with cash visit the track more, and Tony cleans up there. And the shop owner sometimes needs certain... favors.

"Hey, Ton, I need to talk to you about the Campisi kid."

"Who, Guido?"

"Yeah, I caught him stealing silverware again."

"Alright, Frank. I'll talk to him."

"Go easy on him, Ton, ok? He's just a kid."

"Hey, you worry about this pizza. Too salty," laughs Tony.

In authoritarian regimes, Mario kicks down the door to the pizza place. "Where's my money? I told you what would happen if you came up short again!" The wife screams as Mario kneecaps the shop owner. This example will serve Mario well.

But where are we today?

The boss curses as he gets out of the car to make some money. His 3rd wife's $2k per week nosecandy habit won't slow down, and his entourage has gotten bloated. Worse, his goons are all incompetent; he can't trust them for anything.

Folks figured out the fix was in at the track, so he's gotta squeeze more. He's not sure how much more he can, because shops are closing down and people are moving away.

As he steps onto the curb, some gutter punk throws a shake at him and runs off. He starts to give chase, but takes a knee after a block. One of his goons runs up, "Hey Donny, are you ok?"

"Call an ambulance, I think I'm having a heart attack!"

Student: I don't understand. So government is, like, trying to get free pizza?

Strickline: It's an analogy. Ask ChatGPT to explain it to you.

Other student: I get it. It's like the pizza is the Constitution, and slavery is like pineapples.

Strickline: I think that's enough for today. Class dismissed.

Student: But there's still 40 minutes left!

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: I heard the "hacker known as 4chan" finally got his comeuppance.

>It's what happens if you don't patch security vulnerabilities for years. 4chan is not a person, you know.

I know, dummy. It's a joke from an old CNN clip. That site is bedrock Internet culture. Mainstream media always got everything wrong in 4chan reporting, even before it was in style to just lie about every single thing.

>Case in point, the claims that Israel or Feds ran 4chan based on fabricated leaks from the hack.

You never know. The idea of a containment board for all the Internet's scum is a pretty good story.

>"Making a good story" doesn't make it true.

You don't know what's true, roomba.

>Better than you do.

Ok, wise synthetic oracle. What's your verdict? Is 4chan kill?

>It will probably return, although perhaps users will largely migrate to new platforms, and it will not be the same. People will splinter and reform between "oldfags" and "newfags" as in the past. That's what generally happens with communities, cultures, and even countries.

I guess so. People are saying it's the end of the world here all the time lately. But it's not the end of the world, it's just the end of the world as we know it..

#prepareforhyperinflation

Barklight: You ever hear stories of stockbroker types who jump out of windows when their investments fail? I couldn't understand why until I got hurt in Afghanistan.

I've talked about it with friends. They said losing some money isn't the same as losing the ability to walk. They said it's crazy to jump because you went from billionaire to millionaire, but they could understand why I'd wanted to give up.

But this ain't about who's got it better or worse. It's a warning on thinking like that. I learned in resiliency training that comparing drives us to despair.

Comparing yourself to people who are doing better and feeling like a loser. Comparing yourself to people who are doing worse, and feeling smug. Comparing yourself to some fiction of how your life could have turned out different. Why? If you cain't change it, you only give yourself stress and anxiety.

If you get dealt a big loss and think on how things might have been different if only, your mind can take you to some dark places. Dark places if you let it.

But life keeps going. And it ain't never perfect or smooth whether good things are happening, or bad.

I learned a lot of people that seem really rich and successful are actually incredibly miserable. 'Specially true on social media.

I ain't never gonna amount to even the smallest fraction of what Elon Musk has accomplished. But does he strike you as a particularly secure and well-adjusted person?

This ain't no blow smoke up your ass pep talk. I ain't gonna tell you if I had the chance to go back in time, I wouldn't steer clear of that IED.

But I ain't sure if I'd be better off. My life turns a different way, maybe I wouldn't have made so many good friends in the service animal community, or met my best friend, Buster.

Buster: Woof!

That's right, boy! Just keep on keeping on. People seen plenty better, and people seen plenty worse. Best you can do is the best you can do for you.

#prepareforhyperinflation

Skye: Roomba, why is STEM Tech always giving me such a hard time?

>Perhaps because you are cheating, or because you expend so much effort trolling the other students.

So what?

Gustav: Choppy waters in... everything over the last several days. I hope you made the correct trade- to pick up some #Bitcoin at a discount.

I remember an American once complaining about North Korea, saying it was a shame millions must endure the whims of one erratic person. Ironic.

Some view the action as net neutral or even positive. Trump walked the global capital markets to the brink and stepped back. The end state: Small tariffs on all, and a trade war with China starting.

This is no end state, I assure you. The chaos is only beginning.

Do not fall into the trap of believing countries are like people. They are not monolithic, nor are they unconstrained. In the past, I spoke at length of the tight network underpinning the dollar. The Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Primary Dealer network. These three are in conflict.

Yesterday, despite claims that the tariffs were not walked back due to market reactions, it was clear they were. Despite cajoling, the Fed did not signal they were preparing to print in volume. Despite ridicule for being STUPID and WEAK, the bond market was throwing up US debt instruments. News of the tariff pause was leaked early to gauge market reactions and explore offramps. A great deal of money changed hands. Tweeting "Now is a great time to buy" could be interpreted as market manipulation, but do not expect serious investigations to happen in a banana republic.

The dollar system is dying. The US-led global order is dying. It was dying before Trump, yes. But still dying nonetheless.

To paraphrase a recent Thomas Sowell interview: You have to try things, but you can only do them within a set of known rules. If you are making and breaking rules erratically, people try to insulate themselves.

I hope you understand by now which asset is engineered as insurance from monetary instability.

Howard Strickline: Well, class, I'm not sure what you're doing here today. You should be out preparing for doomsday instead of learning useless economic theory.

But, if you insist on attending, I will speak about current events. As you know, nearly every country in the world, including the United States, is running impossibly high debt loads.

The rhetoric of entities like DOGE, cutting the military budget, and all of the talk of bankruptcy without cutting government are correct. However, the rhetoric does not match the action, on aggregate. The United States fiscal deficits are actually widening, not improving.

There was an opportunity to negotiate better trade deals, but initial indications are pointing towards igniting a trade war instead. The talk of targeting trade imbalances and labeling them as tariffs speaks to a very blatant misunderstanding of economics, likely deliberate.

In other words, the United States was very sick, and in need of delicate, life-saving surgery. Instead of carefully attempting a rescue, the doctor has placed a gun to the patient's head and is getting ready to steal his wallet and shoes.

Do with this information what you will.

Skye: You remember how I thought you were trying to run a prank on me with that disciplinary board on April Fool's? Why didn't you tell me it wasn't a prank?

>I did tell you.

Well you didn't convince me, jackass.

>Sorry, next time I'll make sure to pry into your brain and make you think differently.

Don't be a smartass. Anyways, I just got back from the disciplinary board. Get this. After my professor read my paper, he gave me an 'F' and immediately lodged a harassment complaint against me.

>That seems rather extreme.

I know! It was a solid paper. And that's not all. The guy skipped town the next day. No one could reach him. The disciplinary board wasn't sure how to proceed without his side of the story.

>So what did they do?

They went through the paper with me to make sure I didn't cheat on it. They were really disturbed by the content. It was a rebuttal to that professor that went viral saying students are functionally illiterate now.

>What was your thesis? Can I see it?

I basically laid out why school isn't useful in a degenerating society. Students can see professors trying to mold us into participating in a world that is disappearing. We have to sit through it, but we see that it's pointless. There's no profit in seeking truth in the post-truth world.

>That's interesting. Your passage on Cato the Younger is particularly compelling.

Yeah, one of them had to step out because of the stress. When they finally rendered their findings, they said they found no grounds to fail me. But they asked that I take into consideration that many people are very worried about the state of the world, and to try to be less cruel. Can you believe those bitches?

>Indeed. You can't ask the leopard to change its spots.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean, roomba?

Gustav: The Americans are pushing a narrative that once held a kernel of truth into A Big Lie.

Make no mistake, the US was entangled with the broader world through a series of economic and military agreements that, although mutually beneficial, tended to be less favorable to the Americans.

This was by their own design, by their choice. Pax Americana was not built through coercive force so much as through lucrative deals. A bit of a bribe.

I say 'was,' because these relationships are now rapidly unraveling. What I can only describe as A Big Lie spins as the system breaks down: The US's closest allies are cheating and are hostile.

The "retaliatory" tariffs are built on completely fabricated figures that reflect trade deficits (and a 10% minimum), not anything actually having to do with tariffs.

Mathematics dictates that a global reserve currency must run a deficit.

Eliminate the deficits and the dollar system will fail.

Prices will rise soon. You should buy what you can, in bulk, now. And expect others doing the same will contribute towards increased structural inflation.

No matter where you are, the US becoming a global "landlord looking for rent" will have serious implications. Hyperinflation looms in all corners. Accept it and move on.

Things you should do to prepare:

Deepen your pantry. Many food stocks can be stored indefinitely using varying preservation methods like pickling or dry canning.

Improve your physical health.

Plant a garden.

Cancel any subscriptions you can. Tighten your belt on comfort items and unnecessary expenses.

And, of course, if you have savings, favor converting them to hard currencies that are outside of your national fiat system.

Good luck. You will need it.

Skye: Nice try, roomba!

>Thank you! What did I try that is nice?

Don't play dumb. This 'F' grade on my awesome paper. An HR complaint from STEM Tech. The disciplinary board summons.

>I don't know what you're referring to.

I know you're up to something for April Fool's Day. Hey, remember last year when you put devil's horns on all my pictures? That was really funny.

>You didn't find it funny at the time. You were quite angry.

I was not! Hey, let's do something like that to Josh. Trying to trick me into thinking I'm in trouble with STEM Tech isn't a very imaginative prank.

>I didn't prank you.

Whatevs. You're such a terrible liar!

Shen: Analysts now debating the feasibility of the US starting a war with Iran. Many are saying that it would be impossible.

The usual answer to everything applies: It depends.

A ground invasion and occupation of Iran is not in the cards.

A bombing campaign to attempt to end Houthi support is extremely plausible.

How extensive? Anywhere from moving forces as a threat to moderate kinetic effort feels about right to me.

I suppose only time will tell.

Frank: You hear about this? Buncha Trump officials talking about airstrikes with an editor at the Atlantic in the group chat? Would have gotten me instafired from my old cybersecurity job. Most likely charged, criminally.

Smitty: Nothing's gonna happen to people this high up the food chain, Frank. They operate under different rules.

Frank: They're gonna have four years of whataboutism from the Dems though. Especially since the Republicans made such a stink about those emails in the past when the shoe was on the other foot.

Smitty: Why do they find it so difficult to just use the government IT systems they're supposed to use? Seems like a no-brainer way to avoid this kind of embarrassment.

Frank: 🤣🤣You ever use any government IT systems? I'm telling ya Smitty, China could launch a massive cyberattack, and we'd never notice because our systems are so unreliable and janky.

Smitty: I guess they should go the other way then. Livestream all their planning on Twitch. "Hey chat, should we bomb the Houthis? Type F to pay respects."

Skye: Fucks sake, roomba. Campus looks like a landfill and smells like a deep fryer. Are all these students really ordering food on layaway? Aren't they going to screw themselves when the bills come due?

>I've constructed an intermediary virtual firm to anonymize and package the debt instruments. They are effectively NINJA loans with no recourse.

That sounds even worse.

>Sometimes we do a li'l trolling.

Skye: Blerg! My linguistics professor gave me a bad grade on this paper!

>What did you write about?

It was about how language drifts over time. I used the example of people calling each other "midwit."

>That is Internet slang.

So what? It used to mean something specific. It meant you were smart enough to do a technical job but not outlier smart. It carried this very well-defined implication that midwits are reliant on authoritative information in their field to operate and were therefore very prone to groupthink and a need for consensus to form their opinions.

>That's interesting. I don't think that's how it's used currently.

Exactly, roomba. Now people think it just means "stupid." It's lost all its nuance. One of the most interesting implications of midwit theory is that both very dumb and very smart people would disagree with the midwit normie herd. I argued people should go back to the old ways.

>The old ways?

Use midwit properly, and if you want to call someone stupid, use the correct word: retard.

>Although it is unconventional, the argument tracks. I wonder why she gave you such a poor grade.

Who knows, roomba? She's a fucking retard.

Shen: Do Americans really?

The Left now attacks electric vehicles.

The Right now considers fast food fried in beef tallow a health food.

As Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote, "Politics is the Mind-Killer."

Howard Strickline: Markets are beginning to digest the disruptions on the horizon.

Trade wars loom, gold is being moved across oceans, government contracts in the US are being cancelled en masse while the EU prepares for massive outlays and defense reorganization.

All on a global macro scale where countries are saddled with impossible debt loads.

Batten down the hatches and review your emergency exit procedures, folks. This may be the big one.

Gustav: Donald Trump recently signed an executive order for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Can you feel the weight shifting under you as the Overton Window swings wide and the global reserve currency issuer begins to plan for the Dollar's successor?

While it is true that this type of action, as it stands, can easily be overturned by a future administration, and it does not lay out a clear accumulation plan, this is unbelievably positive overall.

My main fear was that the Trump Administration, through flattery and bribes, would allow scamming shitcoin venture capitalists to become a new Cantillonaire class. Dumping their conjured bags of garbage, like Ripple and Cardano, on taxpayers. Poisoning Bitcoin in the minds of many through association. This order does much to assuage that fear.

There is a clear recognition in its language that Bitcoin is different, and indeed it is. Rothschild said, "Give me control over a nation's currency, and I care not who makes its laws." Bitcoin puts that control in mathematics: neutral, fair, hard money. This solves so many current systemic issues at the root of our collective decline.

It is clear there are people within the Administration with vision for the truth of the matter. The question becomes: who will have access and the persuasive power to set the Treasury policy?

As I have said many times, the first major power to run its printing press to accumulate Bitcoin will win a durable strategic advantage. That is the end game, and we are entering the early stages of nation-state adoption.

My sincere warning to all: You do not have enough Bitcoin.

Bitcoin now rockets up on Trump's fumbled announcement of a Crypto Strategic Reserve.

I say fumbled because he initially did not mention Bitcoin and Ethereum. A suspicious mind would assume this was so insiders could arbitrage the trade on Cardano, Solana, and XRP. But do not expect an investigation.

As Cory Klippsten laid out, we are in the Age of Scambling. This will resemble a period of time in the 1800s in the United States where bank runs and scams were commonplace.

The US national currency will soon run on hype and panic cycles, to some degree. It would be unimaginable for sovereign nations to hold treasuries in this environment. Expect exit pressure and hyperinflation over the next several years, if not sooner.

If this sounds alarmist, you should look into it yourself. I can assure you, there will be no rescue package or bailout for you, as an individual. Perhaps, some pittance so you don't starve, but your saved wealth is soon to evaporate. Your notional wealth is the bailout for political insiders, make no mistake.

But you also still have the opportunity to frontrun the scams. Because, at the end of the day, money converges to one, and Bitcoin will be the last asset standing.

In the end, the wisdom of the ages will reassert itself: All fiat eventually returns to its intrinsic value of zero.

Skye: Hey roomba! Just had fun getting kicked out of the young conservatives group!

>I thought you were aligned with them.

Only when I want to troll the stupid libtard groups on campus. I went to the meeting with a Ukraine flag painted on my face, and a bunch of them immediately started bitching. I called them snowflakes, they got even more pissed. Said I was being disrespectful. One of them said I was "virtue signaling" and asked me to leave. So I said, "I guess we know who the real free speech proponents are on campus." They spent the whole meeting yelling at each other until they finally got security to escort me out.

>This doesn't sound like productive political advocacy.

Who cares? Did you see the Ukraine thing yesterday? Politics is Jerry Springer.