86 - Bangkok - settling in
🇹🇭 We had a pretty busy and quite productive week. Sunday we got access to our new apartment and after checking it out and determining what V wanted to round it out we went shopping. Being SE Asia you can order what you want and they deliver it and even assemble things if you want - so by Tuesday we were fully installed!
We are in a great apartment in Petchaburi - just one stop on the MRT away from Sukhumvit/Asoke. It is really easy to get around. We also have the Khlong just beside us so boat travel is also handy. Reminds me of back in January:
We are back again in Bangkok and settling in again!
Being within walking distance of Bumrungrad hospital we also took advantage to have complete medical checkups and it seems we are both in pretty good shape - that's nice! You really have to appreciate the ease of access to very affordable quality services here compared to many other countries. I also had a dental checkup and minor repair - you can ring in the morning and they will usually have slots in the afternoon or certainly the next day! Andrew and team share their experience - rather similar in Malaysia.
We are both taking advantage of the excellent facilities that we have in the building. We do daily swimming in the pool and there is fully equipped gym and yoga room. I am also doing daily yoga (30 or 60 minutes). The building also has a pleasant library and co-working space. Pretty much everything you need and if you walk outside you have all of Bangkok!
I have the impression that there no shortage of apartments to rent in Bangkok at the moment (and plenty more seem to be under construction) - we could see half a dozen on request, all of which were immediately available. The one that we picked is on the highest floor we have been on - even higher than what we had in HK - and we have a fantastic view of Central Bangkok. Among other things we enjoy breakfast and dinner in the sky every day and no need to go to an overpriced Bangkok Sky-bar!
Reminder that we will be in HK next month - so do let me know if you will be in town and/or available for a hike or two during the month. We have a very busy month planned - starting with the NostrAsia Conference 1-3 November; maybe see you there?
Book of the week
This week the book that I have been reading and that I recommend for you is a great collection of essays. This is an interesting format and you can dip in as you like - all of them are recommended!
Bitcoin is Venice
This is a great exploration and explainer of how money and free markets work. Allen Farrington and his co-author Sasha Meyers present a crash course on the pitfalls of modern economic theory and the world's fiat money system with a hopeful destination in sight: Bitcoin is Venice. Imagine if a global, digital, sound, open-source, programmable currency was monetising from absolute zero? How would that look and how might our conception of capital change? What novel forms of capital formation and economic production will become possible? How might they affect the design of social institutions? Can Bitcoin bring about a new Renaissance?
This is one of the essays - just a taster for you. Click to read or here for the audio.
allen farrington
Click to read this essay - click here to have it read to you by Guy
The book is a stunning rejection of the current Neo-Feudalistic system that expounds that Bitcoin is dangerous and risky. Time has shown that it was dangerous and risky not to have some and this will continue to be the case. The world financial system is a cruel labyrinth, trading tomorrow for today and strip-mining everything for profit of the few. Central planners devalue your money, socialise losses and transfer wealth from the many to the few. Bitcoin fixes this and is available to anyone who wants - it is said that everyone gets bitcoin at the price they deserve.
More in this issue
- Photo memories - around Bangkok this week
- Project Updates - Open Source alternatives this week
- Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
- Closing out - Where do you stand? And The Kybalion
Around Bangkok this week
🛠️ Project Updates
The following are updates from some projects that I am following, supporting and collaborating with. What are you doing?
Cat and Mouse
If you have been using Brave Browser and uBlock Origin to avoid being forced to watch adverts on Youtube you will have noticed in recent days that Google is getting increasingly aggressive, culminating with this message.
There are options and I am happy to point out a couple of them below. I also feel that this will power up alternative media channels - for example on Nostr where the revenue model is Value for Value and not the corrupt advertising-based model that YouTube forces down your throat.
Shoutout to Louis and the Futo team
First, and right on time, Louis Rossmann presents GrayJay - this is an Android app that you can install on your Android, CalyxOS or Graphene phone. As he demonstrates in this short video it gives you many more features than NewPipe (also recommended).
Click to get and review the app
Apps like Grayjay will become increasingly important as they allow you to follow creators on multiple platforms - so that if your creator is blocked on any one platform you still have access to all their content elsewhere. As Louis explains, Futo is also looking into ways that all content can be made persistent. In case you had not worked it out yet - yes, there was a reason why Google removed its "Don't be evil" motto.
Louis is a content creator and you should listen carefully to his arguments why even he does not recommend to buy Google's subscription service to get a substandard experience.
Futo has yet another immensely useful product that you can download and use. This is a replacement for Google Voice Input. The advantage of Futo is that it works entirely offline and can even give better results than Google - give it a go and let me know your feedback.
🚗 BTW - Louis also recounts how you can be victim of too much rain in Scotland!
To watch video on your computer
There are quite a few good downloaders that enable to you obtain a copy of any video - and they work with a wide variety of sources, including youtube. The best seems to be yt-dlp (a fork of youtube-download). Yt-dlp also allows you to save in a wide variety of formats - including audio-only. So what you think? What are your views and suggestions.
yt-dlpClick for the best media downloader - works on multiple platforms
Remember that you can use all of these tools in combination with RSS feeds so that you are not beholden to any algorithm - you can watch what you choose and as a bonus these links work without any ads or blocker if you have uBlock origin properly installed and configured.
🔗 Links for your edification
The following are links from my NetNewswire feeds - learn, enjoy and share.
The Lunatics are running the asylum
Neil's latest video is really crazy. The IMF has issued an official warning to USA to rein-in spending to "avoid causing irreparable damage to the world economy". They are also casting aspersions on China for its Belt and Road initiative and activities as "lender of last resort" that seem to be walking on their grass.
Despite all that is happening, the IMF is pressuring banks to comply with ESG mandates - the lunacy is unbounded. Remember that nobody voted for this and the bureaucracy is out of control.
For the millennial perspective from Ivan - see this! I also appreciate Matt Kratter's perspective.
Criminals in charge
With all the distractions going on, you might have missed this next one. The politicians (and this unelected, convicted criminal in particular) have not spoken a word of truth for years - so why would you trust them now? DYOR and take appropriate action.
Marty Bent
DYOR and take appropriate action - Lagarde is a convicted criminal
Europe is mired in stagnation through regulation by criminal bureaucrats. Ivan is well aware of "voice or exit" and jurisdictional arbitrage. Recall "The Sovereign Individual".
The circus continues stateside
Tiffany may well be right that Sam was testing his "story" with her. This is what you get when the fiat system comes near its end. Unlimited fraud committed by those who can pay lawyers to brainstorm excuses that might let them get away with what they did.
And for the forensic analysis of where all the money went - see here. Spoiler alert - this has nothing to do with Cryptocurrencies - it is plain old traditional financial fraud, committed on an extraordinarily grand scale made possible by bribing government and regulatory officials to turn a blind eye.
Listen carefully
Richard says what all sane people are thinking. Indeed it is shameful that UK politicians are not performing the duties for which they were elected. They are failing to represent their electors and constituents. They are complicit in this crime against humanity.
Richard is right that Politicians need to be held personally accountable.
🤔 Closing Thoughts
Some of my subscribers have been watching the news recently and wondering how all of this latest crisis came about so suddenly. For sure there is plenty of chatter around False Flag events, just like with 9/11 and there does seem to be plenty of evidence that the mainstream media (propaganda) does not want you to see or talk about.
War is never the right answer to any question. We discussed this at length back in Newsletter 7 and Newsletter 8. Stop Fighting - that is the lesson that people settle on every time after too much loss of life and violence.
I spotted this image doing the rounds - it seems to sum up what many think - even if they do not say it or if they were honest with themselves.
For more background on what happened and what is planned to come next, I suggest you go back to the Closing Thoughts in Newsletter 79 (the first seal - Apollyon of Pharmakeia) and Newsletter 80 (the second and other seals). Jason talks you through his analysis with pointers aplenty to corroborating sources. I concur with his analysis.
The Kybalion
Closing out with a short read: you could do this in a day or a weekend but the wisdom that it imparts will last you years to come. It is a book from 1908, supposedly written by three so-called Initiates to Hermeticism.
Hermeticism is a philosophical and spiritual tradition that is based on the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure who is often associated with the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes, pre-dating all modern religions.
Three Initiates, 1862-1932
Click to read the book - multiple formats available
You can read the book for free from Guttenberg project and/or I recommend reading/watching and listening to this reading on Youtube.
Click to follow along as it is read to you
I have got to recommend Master Key Society as a source of many great reads. Each of these is read from a physical classic book that you can follow along as the reader reads to you. Enjoy!
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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
In case you missed it last week, I am leaving Dinner with André here this week - you really do need to watch this and listen to the dialogue. All of this from 1981, already 42 years ago.
Once seen this cannot be unseen - Click to watch
- 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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