79 - Belgium still, at the beach
🇧🇪 🇮🇹 Last weekend we transited from Antwerp to Nieuwpoort to visit family at the coast and enjoy a few days by the beach. From there we have now moved on to Sardinia; we are down south in Cagliari. So it has been another busy week and with all the travel I got to listen and read a lot!
We had a great few days with family in Antwerp and I managed to catch up with a few friends, some of whom I had not seen for 7 years! Antwerp was very busy with the Reuzen visiting (photos below).
From there we headed up to the Belgian coast to visit more of the family there. We had a good time - it is part of the Belgian summer tradition to do a stay at the coast. We had a very Belgian few days there (wandelen, fietsen, terrasjes, patekes and pintjes) and it was great - thanks for that!
Midweek we had yet another travel day, heading first to Charleroi (we would not book via Charleroi again) and then flight to Cagliari in the south of Sardinia. We have not been here before so we are looking forward to doing some exploration. If you have tips or suggestions - do say! Photos and updates from here will follow next week.
Interviews of the week
I have a couple of recommended interviews this week - both related to money, banking and current developments. The first is a clarifier on how charging of interest has long been known to be unethical and even dangerous but somehow this is "conveniently forgotten". The second is a deep dive in the the heart of the beast to understand how the financial system steals from all people around the world.
Fiat is Riba and Haram - Bitcoin is Halal
The concept of Riba, which refers to the prohibition of interest or usury, is primarily associated with Islamic finance due to its prominence in Islamic teachings. However, similar ideas about the unjust nature of usury or exploitative lending practices can be found in other religious and cultural traditions as well; somehow these lessons seem to have been largely forgotten or suppressed.
- Judaism: The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) contains verses that caution against charging excessive interest, particularly when lending to fellow believers. For instance, the Book of Exodus (22:25) states, "If you lend money to any of my people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest."
- Christianity: As mentioned earlier, while there were periods in Christian history when charging excessive interest (usury) was seen as sinful, many Christian denominations have evolved to accept the charging of interest as part of conventional economic practices. Whilst some Christian groups still emphasise ethical lending and promote fair treatment of borrowers this is certainly not generally the case!
- Hinduism: Hinduism also has concerns about usury, particularly in ancient texts like the Manusmriti, which discourage exploitative lending practices. The concept of "kusidin" refers to a person who lends money at exorbitant interest rates and is criticised for his actions. Additionally, in modern times, some Hindu scholars and leaders advocate for ethical financial practices that avoid predatory lending.
- Buddhism: While Buddhism does not have an explicit concept of riba, it promotes principles of compassion, non-harming, and ethical behaviour. Charging excessively high interest rates is seen as inconsistent with these principles. Buddhist teachings emphasise generosity, mindfulness, and the well-being of all beings.
In this interview you will learn that whilst Islamic Finance claims to be Halal the reality is that the "scholars" have deluded themselves and all around them into taking the drug that is Fiat money with all the fractional reserve and associated usury resulting in a system today that is Haram. Soon the realisation will dawn on people that Bitcoin is perfectly Halal and that it allows to eliminate the excuses for Riba by providing a fully viable alternative system - interestingly some scholars already see this.
Marty thinks similarly in his latest missive on Oman - this is the International Game theory that Satoshi had envisioned. He outlines some rather significant recent international developments - do check his latest note below.
And Matt K further confirms this with his analysis here.
The Corruption is in your face - can you see it yet?
Second Interview: The UK Column is such a great source of well-researched and informative interviews. I have got to recommend this recent interview of Trevor Kitchen. You will learn, among other things, how the BIS in Switzerland has international immunity from all prosecution (just like the Vatican) - also how traditional banking is being eliminated with only investment banking remaining for the monied elite and how banking losses are always socialised whilst they capture all gains. Trevor has exposed many aspects of the financial fraud that has happened and is ongoing and like many other whistleblowers has been targeted by the elite interests.
Follow up Book and even more
Recall that we recently reviewed Sapiens by Harari. I was pushed to do this following an interesting discussion with a subscriber and indeed the book is both interesting and well-written - even though you can see the seeds of his now odious agenda being planted, it is good to take in such things in s spirit of ethical skepticism. Well another subscriber had the same experience as me when he read the book (he now uses it to hold up his computer monitor) and he encourages me to read The Dawn of Everything. Have you read it? Love to hear your views?
It is a long read - at least as long as Sapiens so this is in my TBR queue; meanwhile I found this short 5-minute summary. And a nice 9-blink summary here.
And from there I found this 3-part comprehensive deep dive: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - I think he does a more extensive and thoughtful review than I could ever do! Check it out - click below:
I am still in two minds as to whether to read Harari's second book, Homo Deus; I know at least one of my subscribers enthusiastically recommends it, notwithstanding the weed seed planting we discussed in Sapiens. WDYT? Talk to me!
More in this issue
- Photo memories - Antwerp and Giants
- Project Updates - Developer call and top recommended reads
- Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
- Closing out - Starting a three-part series - don't miss this
🛠️ Project Updates
The following are updates from some projects that I am following and/or supporting and collaborating with. What are you doing?
Bitcoin Dev Team meeting
I so look forward to this bi-weekly meeting of the best minds in bitcoin as they run through all of the main developments in and around bitcoin. All the participants are hands-on contributors with a wealth of knowledge and it is such a privilege to have access to these discussions.
A few highlights include:
- 00:49:10 The guests discuss their thoughts on different privacy solutions
- 01:03:31 Phoenix Android v2.0.0 - Switch the LN engine from eclair to lightning-kmp - Support for splicing and dual-funding - Improved fiat currencies support - Export payments history
- 01:24:15 SimpleX Chat v5.2.3 - Faster app loading - Android: fully remove system backup.
- 01:22:51 Emeralize - Buy and sell educational resources for bitcoin - It’s like Substack & Udemy meet Lightning Network
Here’s a list of their top recently published reads:
- Torq’s Twitter Thread on HTLCs
- How Lightning Powers the Global AI Economy … Where the Machines Pay You⚡🤖🌎 by Ryan Gentry
- Thoughts on scaling and consensus changes by JamesOB
- How (Actually) Open AI Wins by Max Webster
- Bitcoin’s Lighting Network: Fast, Cheap, And A Lifeline For Latin America by Mickey Koss
- Looking Ahead: Lightning Payments in 2025 by River
- No-Code + AI + Bitcoin: The Ultimate Trio for Future Workflows by Alby
- Fiat Ruins Everything by Jimmy Song
🔗 Links for your edification
The following are links from my NetNewswire feeds - watch, listen, learn and share. A lot of truth seems to come out this week.
Truth will out
In case you were in any doubt about what really happened in Lahaina, Maui: Max explains. Keep in mind that nothing you see in mainstream media about Climate Change is honest - the reality is that many (more than you think) of the tragic events that you see are really false flags created by the government/military to instil fear and compliance in the population as well as to take the opportunity to lock in gains like their flagship 15 minute city rebuild project. Think back to Paradise California and what happened 11 Sep 2001 - you have seen this technology in action before being used against the population.
Hard as it might seem to believe this - do you believe the people on the ground who are able to get information out or the corrupt corporate and national media who have put up obstacles to keep everyone out?
Max published a follow-up video on Wednesday this week - here. Wake up!
Might this be another historical example?
You might spot some similarities of context and technique to what happened in Maui here. WDYT? As a minimum this should make you think a bit...
FEMA is part of the problem
Charlie explains rather clearly that right from the outset, FEMA has always been part of the problem. Listen and open your eyes.
Would they lie about such things?
We have talked before about this - here is another update from Bart Sibrel pointing to his most recent and many verifiable resources. Perhaps given the other things that have happened recently you might be more ready to recognise this. It is also an interesting story that he tells about his doctor - that is something we will cover another day.
Truth will out here too...
Ellio covers another breaking news this week. He does explain the rationale behind the SEC's corruption quite well; it has nothing to do with investor protection. Circuit Judge RAO said: "The denial of Grayscale's proposal was arbitrary and capricious because the Commission failed to explain its different treatment of similar products. We therefore grant Grayscale's petition and vacate the order."
It does seem clear that the SEC is overreaching its authority and there is more than enough circumstantial evidence (if not harder evidence) that they were fully in bed with, and conspiring with, SBF ahead of the FTX collapse. To me this just seems like yet another example of the rampant corruption that accompanies end of empire times - recall what we discussed about John Glubb's paper of nearly 100 years ago, The Fate of Empires - video explainer here and this summary Empires Rise and Fall.
BRICSSAUI
The implications of this development are certainly far reaching and I think Peter highlights a few of them rather clearly here.
Larry
Lastly I am enjoying Larry's Blog - he is on a writing drive this month so check it out. He does make quite some interesting observations on many current topics.
🤔 Closing Thoughts
This is the first of a series of insights from Jason of Archaix. Fasten your seatbelt - this is a good one and it has far reaching implications as you will appreciate. We will cover further insights in subsequent weeks.
First up - download this PDF document so that you can read along as you listen.
Be careful - once you have seen this you cannot unsee it.
We have discussed the ritual of 2012 London Olympic Opening ceremony before (not to mention 2022 Commonwealth Games) - I must admit that I had not looked at the 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony. Had you? WDYT? Let me know!
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