132 - And now, Palermo
🇧🇪 🇮🇹 Friday last week V and I travelled to the the big smoke of Antwerp. We had a great weekend here, meeting up with friends and family as well as some local newsletter subscribers. We really enjoyed my "belated birthday BBQ" - many thanks for that! You can enjoy a few photos from last weekend around Antwerp below.
Not everything was perfect in A-Town. For example in the Central Station they have eliminated the ticket hall, relegating it to the very back end of the station in a so-called "Travel Shop". Nothing positive can be said about this move - it represents enormous inconvenience to everyone. It has all the hallmarks of WEF malignancy, staff reduction and forcing people to buy from unusable kiosks or use electronic tickets on their phones. As long as people keep accepting this evil nonsense the Empire will keep delivering more.
Sunday was a great day. I met up with a newsletter subscriber and former work colleague. We had not seen eachother for about 15 years although we narrowly missed eachother on a few international trips in various locations around the world. After a nice breakfast together and walk around the Lambermont art market we had a guided tour of The Nottebohm Room in the Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience. This is a rather impressive location and you will likely recognise it when you see photos. I also got to talk more Dutch than I have spoken in many years. What fun!
After our weekend in Antwerp we had an early start on Monday, taking the train to Zaventem and then flying to Palermo in Sicily. Travel with ITA Airways was a roller-coaster experience and is not recommended. The plane was changed last minute and the pre-selected seats that we had paid for were not available without any notification to us and they wanted to put us way back in the plane. V was not accepting this behaviour at checkin and stood her ground so eventually they yielded and upgraded us to Premium Economy which was really rather good. They blew away that credit with the airport-lounge in Rome.
We had booked the lounge because we had an extended layover in Rome. Arriving at the lounge we discovered that they will not let you in more than 2 hours before your flight so you get a maximum of 1.5 hours in the lounge - what nonsense, and it was a pair of witches at the reception who seemed not to like people. Once belatedly inside the lounge however it was really good and the staff were friendly. The things they do well are blown away by their screw-ups and customer-hostile actions and policies. Bottom line ITA Airways gets a solid 3/10 NPS score - absolutely not recommended. This bad score is further substantiated by their Call Center. A few days earlier V called them, selecting the offered Dutch as language only to end up in Albania where even English was a stretch for them - this was the worst call-center experience ever.
First impressions of Palermo: it's a big city with a strong mix of opulence, luxury, tourism and tumble-down tattiness. We are staying right in the center of town - near the Teatro Massimo. In every street there are vast historical buildings and a lot of life here seems to be out in the streets where people enjoy the many cafes and parks. Much of the central area is for pedestrians only and in the surrounding streets there are street markets and all sorts of independent shops. I'll have more to share next week. Meanwhile if you have suggestions for our stay here - do let me know. Thanks to those who have already suggested some trips and visits.
Book of the week
This week with all the travelling I wanted something that was easy to read so I picked up my copy of Aesop's Fables. If you have not read this you really should - and if you have read it you should still dip back into it.
Aesop's Fables have been teaching people of all ages and every social status lessons on how to choose correct actions and the likely consequences of choosing incorrect actions for at least 2500 years. They are still shared with children today, providing timeless moral lessons through entertaining stories. Adults can (and should) benefit too from reading and understanding these.
My copy contains 284 Fables - click below for the table of contents and foreword. How many of them are you familiar with?
Click for Table of Contents and Foreword
More in this issue
- Photo memories - Antwerp last weekend
- Project Updates - Nostr, Fountain and Perplexity
- Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
- Closing out - Atlantic City and making your own reality
Around Antwerp last weekend
🛠️ Project Updates
The following are updates from some projects that I am following, supporting and collaborating with. These are all part of the Parallel Systems that we need to build and use. What are you doing?
Nostr fixes this
You likely did catch the arrest of Pavel Durov - CEO of Telegram, charging him with 12 criminal counts ranging from "complicity in web-mastering an online platform in order to enable an illegal transaction in organised group" to "importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration".
Marty explains below how Nostr does fix this by being a decentralised communication protocol for which there is no CEO or company for tyrannical governments to target. Just like with Bitcoin - everyone can be and run their own node and this decentralisation is global.
Marty Bent
Click for Marty's explainer
Fountain migrates to Nostr
I have talked before about how Nostr is great for developers of new apps since as soon as you launch your app you immediately have access to all existing Nostr users and they are all full enabled with Lightning payments and Zaps.
Well the same benefits (and more) also accrue to developers of existing (traditional, siloed) apps that migrate to Nostr. Listen as Oscar explains.
I do think that this is going to be a rather significant development. Opening up Fountain App to the entire Nostr ecosystem does completely transform the experience.
Researching with Perplexity
Some people have been asking how can I be so well-informed on so many topics. Well, in addition to reading widely and listening to intelligent discussions I find the latest clutch of AI tools be increasingly useful. One in particular that you ought to try yourself is Perplexity. Click below for Andy's 8 minute explainer.
What is nice about this is that you can use it without creating any account although you can also get a slightly better experience if you create an account with a disposable email address and use it pretty anonymously.
So - what do you think? I'd be interested to hear what tools you are using. What am I missing and what do you suggest or recommend?
🔗 Links for your edification
With all the travelling this week I had quite some time to read and catch up on my email with folks. Below are a few of the interesting topics that emerged during the week with thanks to all who raised them!
Food for thought and action
Paying tax to deal in tea and tobacco angered William Cobbett during his Rural Rides when finding a notice above a door in the then backwater hamlet of Binley. But Richard asks the same question: why are we continuing to blindly pay these wretched impositions?
Richard also makes some sensible suggestions that you might well want to consider.
Mattias writes
You might recall back to Newsletter #08 when V and I decided it was necessary to abandon HK (exit). If you need a refresher do check the link above and watch Mattias' interview with Chris Martensen. I have previously reviewed and recommend his book that explains everything that happened during the Covid Crimes.
Mattias, like all of us, is now older and wiser and I think his recent observations on events in the USA should give you some pause for thought. As he explains here he is now busy writing his next book and it is likely to be good too.
Mattias Desmet
Click for Mattias' recent post - recommended reading
But in any case: we are on the threshold of a political shift unlike anything we have seen in recent decades. For the first time in recent history, a political movement is emerging that—whether you support it or not—has the determination to stand firmly against much of the established Big Corporations and Big State.
~ Mattias Desmet
Anna's Archive - going deeper
I did get quite some interest and feedback on last week's explainer on Anna's archive. It is really the largest truly open library in human history and you have access from your computer today. It is a fantastically useful tool.
Tim has written a nice explainer that will give you some searching tips and take you beyond your first tentative searches. Click below and get going.
Tim Truth
Click above for Tim's article - click here for his video explainer
A new political vocabulary
I have shared some of Dark Age Theorist's work before. He is a most interesting character. He is very well-read and he communicates clearly on challenging topics - for example his explainer on Anacyclosis.
In his latest monologue he presents an alternative to the traditional right-left dichotomy based on four dimensions of political style. I really love this thinking and approach. As he explains it is inspired by the Multi-dimensional aspects of Meyers-Briggs
Click below for his explainer. It is 30 minutes well spent to listen and learn.
Unreal Stupidity
During the week another of my subscribers pointed out his latest article and I recommend it and include it below for your edification. He is certainly right that this is an idea of unimaginable stupidity; the risk is that the vast majority of US voters are not capable of understanding the concepts, let alone make an intelligent decision. You will recall that Plato warned in Book VII of "Republic" about this being the way that Democracies fail.
Click for a clear and thought-provoking article
All of this sort of nonsense reminds me of John Glubb's paper of nearly 100 years ago, The Fate of Empires - video explainer here.
BTW - remember that the "big debate" between Harris and Trump will be on 10 September, concurrent with CyberPolygon and the morning after is 9/11. There are no coincidences.
Bitcoin Basics
Reminding you of a previous article by the same author - also recommended reading!
Bitcoin is the most important invention to emerge so far this century. But it takes time to understand—its brilliance won’t dawn on you all at once. Bitcoin enthusiasts often say you need about a hundred hours of study to even begin to know what you’re talking about.
Although it’s an endlessly deep topic, your first hour of study delivers the greatest return. One hour is all it takes to become acquainted with the basics. So I invite you to consider this piece as your first immersion into bitcoin. The sooner you start learning, the more you will benefit.
He has also written your starter on Bitcoin Learning - another hour well spent
🤔 Closing Thoughts
This week I have a selection of closing thoughts - a bit lighter than last week but maybe no less significant.
Once you see it...
In his latest monologue, Jon Levi discusses his experience in Atlantic City, the city of his birth with reference to many old photographs of the city - seemingly from its foundation in 1853. As he points out (and as MLB has been saying in relation to many other locations) the official story does not make sense.
Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. You will see it everywhere.
Latest monologue from Jon
Jarid's video that he refers to is linked below.
You can make your own reality
Recall back to Newsletter #13 where we discussed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. As I explained there, this is one of the most transformative books that I have ever read.
Older and wiser now, I can also see a deeper layer of wisdom in many of the habits and the tenets of the book. For example, consider: "All things are created twice" - which Covey explains as first the mental creation (visualisation) and then the physical creation.
This next video explains all of this in different words - it may work better for you. In any case I can confirm that what is explained does work. For example - you may have realised that people or situations tend to turn out the way that you imagine them - consider them an issue, a problem, a thorn in your side and they will be.
Click for a simple truth - maybe the most important one - at least to start with
On the other hand - if you truly believe the person or situation to be different - they will be. In my business days I successfully undertook many high profile and challenging projects. In every single one of these I imagined myself succeeding in the mission. What is your experience - happy to discuss.
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No one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
- Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix
I am assuming that you are up to speed by now on the Matrix story and why this is important - so you are ready for Neo's encounter with The Architect. Watch and understand more...
Even if you have seen this before, watch it again - you will learn things
- The Architect
Any questions or anything else? Feel free to comment below!
You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me
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