242 - Home in Hong Kong
๐ญ๐ฐ After a big trip it is nice to be back home again in HK. Our travel here from Bangkok was pretty smooth and once you are in Hong Kong everything is pretty smooth!
We did not waste any time in getting settled into our apartment and back into our daily routine. On the first morning I was already out hiking on Lamma Island, V was enjoying her favourite coffee shop and later in the day we had great fun at Happy Valley Races. I have also done my regular hike from Central to The Peak and back down - if you want to join me any morning, let me know!
We will be here for a while and we are looking forward to catching up with friends while here. I'll be doing plenty of hiking and island hopping, given that this is the best time of year to be in HK - the weather is superb and going into November it gets even better. Also there are a few visitors coming to HK who will meet up as well - nice. Do reach out if you will be in town any time soon.
Explanation of the week
It should be well apparent to you by now that things are being cooked into a crisis by the Chefs of the Empire. Andrei has already explained the four theories and I agree with him to a large extent that all are in play.
In this latest update he covers how and why the next steps seem inevitable and how they will likely unfold. In this he cites and aligns with Simon's analysis that I have also shared with you.
Roger Price
Click for summary and to listen to the full explanation
The core issue is that the US government now uses new loans to pay interest on old debt, similar to using a credit card to pay off another credit card. This creates a risk where the bond market, which is a system where investors lend money to governments in exchange for interest, may break as investors demand higher returns.
Andrei notes that the US government (like others) often relies on inflationโthe general increase in prices due to the fall in the purchasing value of money (due to money creation) โto reduce the real value of its debt, which effectively penalizes savers. While China has managed lower interest rates by focusing on industrial output rather than speculative housing, the US keeps housing prices artificially high to support its banking system and perpetual war machine. The US debt burden has simply shifted from the private sector to the public, burdening taxpayers.
He concludes with a thought experiment suggesting that authorities might use a future global catastrophe to justify a total financial reset, using inflation to erase debts while simultaneously restructuring public obligations like Social Security. This approach mirrors historical strategies used after WWII to shrink debt by paying lenders back with less valuable money during times of crisis.
This is not a US-only problem. Other countries are similarly trying to inflate away their national debt and they will be similarly unsuccessful.
More in this issue
- Photo memories - Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Lamma Island this week
- Project Updates - Kobalt and Bitkey
- Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
- Closing out - Baal and Time - two surprises
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Lamma Island this week
๐ ๏ธ Project Updates
The following are updates from some projects that I am following, supporting and collaborating with. What are you doing?
You can already try it
Nico is progressing rapidly and the Kobalt reader is already available to download and try. Installing it is straightforward - just be sure to use Chrome as the browser - or else follow instructions for Manual Install. It is fully compatible with your existing Kobo setup and you can easily uninstall it if you decide it is not for you. Full instructions below:
Roger Price
Click for notes and demo of how to install and use the app
Nico's earlier video shows all the reasons why you would want to have this reader on your Kobo - refresh your memory here.
I have been using this for a while now and it works great. Books that are not DRM protected just open in Kobalt. Those that are DRM protected are seamlessly opened in the normal Kobo reader. Thanks, Nico.
You can join the lecture course - or just follow along
Saifedean is running another series of lectures, covering the material in his book, The Bitcoin Standard. If you missed it first time round you have another chance to join the lectures with supporting discussion and notes - or to just follow along as the lectures come out.
In this first video in the series Saifedean considers how things have developed since he released the book back in 2018 and how Bitcoin and his book have weathered the test of time since. Spoiler: rather well!
How interesting - so many possibilities
I found this interview to be fascinating. We have already discussed about how you likely should be reconsidering your Self-Custody strategy following the Coldcard incident (and recent supply-chain attack on Ledger). It is important to understand that Bitcoin will likely appreciate dramatically vs Fiat currencies as they collapse - a ten-fold increase in nominal value is not unlikely. Are your tools and processes ready for this?
The key feature of Bitkey is that it seeks to be user-friendly and to simplify dramatically setup and recovery options, especially for new users. Bitkey also offers features that increase security (eg timers and spending limits) and simplify inheritance planning.
What I find particularly interesting about Bitkey is how open they are to refining their approach, working with other vendors and also enabling useful features that work with Bitcoin as it is today. Remember that you can have multiple setups in parallel. This is a most interesting option that should be on your list to evaluate.
๐ Links for your edification
The following are links from my Liferea RSS feeds - learn, enjoy and share.
Yet another use of AI
This is a rather interesting analysis done by Tom. Like many, he is fed up with being trapped in the system that is the Matrix of the Empire. However unlike most he is, and has been, taking steps to get out. He shares some interesting analysis and suggestions as well as giving quite a bit of insight into his own personal progress.
As I travel and meet people, I find more and more who think similarly and who are also taking matters into their own hands. You may find this useful - nobody can be told what to do, you need to see it for yourself!
Justice is served, sweetly
I have mentioned Adobe quite a few times. It is one of the most hated Big Tech companies and those who hate it usually do so more fervently than all the others. The reasons include Adobe's switch to perpetual subscription, rather than software ownership, cancellation fees, dark patterns preventing cancellation and many other unilateral changes that they have forced on their customers who are trapped by the subscription model and data access.
What has happened is quite extraordinary. Some disgruntled Adobe users took matters into their own hands and used AI to implement entire new versions of Photoshop (and all the Adobe products) from scratch. These are fully compatible and written afresh in Rust and released as Open Source for all to see, use and benefit from. The results are remarkable - see for yourself - GitHub here.
It goes even further. Others have used the same tools and techniques to produce parallel versions of Microslop Office, another unethical Empire tool.
I am sure that we have not seen the end of this and the Empire will be using the Legal system against everyone, everywhere - recall "How the State Transcends Its Limits" โ the fourth section of Rothbard's Anatomy of the State. No one can deny that we are living through "Interesting Times".
Plague - right on cue
Hopefully, after the COVID Crimes, you are now able to spot this one and you will not fall for it again. In this discussion, Monica, Hrvoje and Mike point out a whole handful of the current distractions that the Empire is cooking up to keep people in fear and submission and to prevent them from pushing back. Pushback will be met with disproportionate force to discourage others.
Roger Price
Click for summary and notes and to listen to the full discussion
As we have discussed many times, peaceful non-compliance and ridicule of those participating is the most useful opposition. Opt out at every opportunity, build, use and support parallel systems.
๐ค Closing Thoughts
A couple of items to close out this week. First up is the second part of Jason's review of The Doctrine of the Deluge and the second article will make you see and think about time in a different way.
Fasten your seatbelt
Part two of Jason's book review will challenge much of what you had thought to be true. In his analysis, Jason explores the thesis that ancient deities were actually historical figures, specifically identifying Nimrod as the individual behind multiple divine titles like Baal, Osiris, and Hercules. The presentation argues these names represent one man whose legacy was distorted by a cataclysmic event around 1687 BC.
Roger Price
Drawing on The Doctrine of the Deluge and the Book of Jasher, Jason posits that these figures were later demonized by power structures rooted in Rome. Ultimately, the suggestion is that modern global influence is maintained by entities masking their true nature through ancient occult symbols.
You may have suspected as much
I found this next video rather intriguing. Like many, I have long felt that the explanation of "time" as a linear property of reality is not correct - or at least not the whole truth.
Think about how young children experience time. Think back to your own earliest memories. You will surely see that young children do experience and perceive time differently from older ones who have started school and adults.
Roger Price
Could it be that the schooling system blinds you to the truth that you are born with? Surely not!
โค๏ธ Enjoy this newsletter?
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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
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You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me
- The Architect
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