🇹🇭 There were plenty of fireworks here to bring in the new year. V and I enjoyed the view from our terrace - we did not feel the need to go down to one of the main venues - an advantage of living on a high floor in the center. The display was certainly much more widespread than in Hong Kong with fireworks not only along the river but from buildings all over the center of Bangkok!

After a few days of pleasantly cooler weather, Bangkok in recent days is back to "fairly warm" with daily temperatures up to 36 degrees and it feels rather more like April. Even so V and I managed to catch a sinus infection this week and were both fairly poorly for couple of days - so we have had a fairly quiet week relaxing, reading and rebuilding our strength! As we finish the week we are both nearly back at 100%

So, what's the plan?

Last year things worked out pretty well for us and we envisage something similar for the year ahead. With two years of travelling under our belt we know the locations fairly well and what to expect when we get there.

We will be here in Bangkok till the end of March and then back to Palma de Mallorca for the spring with a stop-over in Belfast for family and friends. Summer is already booked in Belfast - I don't know if there is some way that we can book better weather than we had last year? We then foresee a sojourn in Belgium with the Belgian part of the family followed by another Mediterranean destination before heading back to SE Asia for the winter.

Do say hello if you are nearby in any of the locations!
What about you - what's your plan?

Article of the week (from 1938, in fact)

"There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganised, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on.

Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it. Two things you do know, and no more: first, that they exist; second, that they will find you."
~ Albert Jay Nock -

Book of the week

With man-flu this week (V diagnosed that for me) I decided to do something different and read some fiction. V strongly recommended "The Thursday Murder Club" and I have to say that I really enjoyed it - nicely different from my usual reading and indeed very well written with well-developed characters and a good plot. There are more than enough twists and turns at the end with plenty of loose ends for subsequent books in the series. Quite some social commentary too.

Have you read it - what did you think? What recommendations do you have?

Year of the Dragon, Olympics and the Second Seal

2024 welcomes the Year of the Dragon, which begins on February 10. In Chinese mythology the Dragon is a symbol of strength, courage, creativity and innovation. Supposedly 2024 should be a year of potential and opportunity - let's see! Lei's opinion is worth a listen. Also interesting are Bjorn's 10 predictions. I do rather concur with Guy's 10 predictions.

Geopolitically I expect 2024 to be a fairly action-packed year - there is more than enough predictive programming for it and current events do feel like some sort of climax is nearing but don't underestimate the possibility of "extended polycrisis".

My expectation would be to watch out around the Solar Eclipse (April 8) for some sort of Financial Event - recall that the last two eclipses have brought (respectively) the collapses of the Celsius and then the FTX Ponzi schemes - could there be another Ponzi about to fall?

Beyond that, recall that 2024 is an Olympic Year (26 July - 11 August). Jason has pointed out that 2020 was the breaking of the first seal (it is blindingly obvious with hindsight) and that the other seals will be broken in each of the subsequent Olympic years. So it is that you can expect 2024 to be the breaking of the second seal - as he explains here.

In case you had forgotten about The Economist Cover in December 2018 check back here in Newsletter 08. Can you see it yet?

More in this issue

• Photo memories - around Bangkok this week
• Project Updates - Spirit of Satoshi and Crypto-anarchist perspectives
• Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
• Closing out - Buddhism - good to know

🛠️ Project Updates

The following are updates from some projects that I am following, supporting and collaborating with. What are you doing?

SatoshiGPT

One of the projects that I have been supporting and contributing to is "The Spirit of Satoshi", driven by Aleks Svetski. His summary of the year past is well worth a read and he has a few other irons in the fire.

Meanwhile NVK and team are hot on the heels of this with Unleashed.Chat - give it a go give us your feedback!

Straight taking - listen and learn

I greatly appreciate Juraj Bednar's insights. For many years he has run bitcoin only businesses is extremely practical and realistic. Check back to Stefan's interview with him a year ago here. I own and have previously recommended Juraj's book. This latest interview was recorded just ahead of the Chaos Computer Hacker Conference in Germany.

Happy Birthday to Bitcoin

In case you missed it - 3 January was the 15th anniversary of the first bitcoin block being mined. Satoshi marked this by taking one of the headlines from The Times of London for that day and embedding it into block zero of the blockchain.

BTW - you might want to look at the other headline of the day - it also relates to everything that is going on these days as you have been learning from Jason's explanations. Refer back to recent Closing Thoughts if in any doubt.

🔗 Links for your edification

The following are links from my NetNewswire feeds - learn, enjoy and share.

Usury, your bank and you

This one was new to me. You will be shocked and horrified when you read it but it does put many things into absolutely clear perspective.

Red Symphony is a transcript of the questioning of the former Ambassador to France, C.G. Rakovsky during the period of the trials of the Trotskyists in the USSR in 1938, when he was tried as part of the Great Purge by Stalin after the Bolshevik revolution. The questioning took place in French. The interrogation was recorded by a technician who did not understand French. 

The recording had to be translated into Russian for Stalin. Secretly Dr Maksimovitch (translator and present during the interviews) dared to make a carbon copy which he hid anyway. You can read more on the provenance in the introduction here.

Daniel Prince has done an excellent summary and extract that I strongly recommend you read. If you prefer, Guy will read it to you here.

You likely have noticed that all of this independently supports and corroborates Jason's analysis of the Bolshevik revolution and it lends additional credibility to the Albert Pike letter as we discussed before.

In related vein

We have discussed before about how many religions warned about the danger of Usury. Islam goes so far as to outlaw it completely. However, as we have discussed "Islamic Finance" is not all that it would claim to be and so-called "scholars" have fudged the lines and made some dubious pronouncements in the past. Imagine what will happen when they realise that "Bitcoin is Halal".

🤔 Closing Thoughts

Being in Thailand where most people (over 90%) are Buddhist, it makes good sense to understand what this life philosophy is all about.

Buddhism originated in ancient India around the 6th century BCE. It was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who later became known as the Buddha, meaning the "Enlightened One" or the "Awakened One." The central teachings of Buddhism revolve around the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and, of course, Nirvana.

1. The Four Noble Truths: These are fundamental principles or foundations - you could say that they are self-evident if you think deeply enough.
2. The Eightfold Path:
   The Eightfold Path consists of ethical and mental guidelines that aim to lead individuals towards enlightenment and the end of suffering. You might call these tips and techniques for living a happy and satisfying life.
3. Nirvana:
   Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhism, representing the liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). It is a state of perfect peace, freedom, and cessation of suffering.

Here in Thailand the Theravada form of Buddhism is practised. Theravada means the "Teaching of the Elders" and emphasises individual effort and personal discipline in the pursuit of enlightenment. It is personal to everyone who practises it and does not require submission to any "church", deity or authority.

Buddhism has spread to various parts of Asia and beyond, influencing diverse cultures and societies. Over time, different schools have developed, each with its own interpretations and practices. Buddhism is a philosophy that encourages self-reflection, ethical living, and the pursuit of inner peace. Buddhism is tolerant and accepting of everyone and does not require adherence or converts.

I recommend this very accessible and informative video that will get you up to speed on all of this.

In case the delivery style of the video is not of you, then consider this Audiobook that delivers the essential information in a more traditional manner - click here and check the timestamps under the video for specific topics.

Regarding the Eightfold Path, I was pleased to discover this explainer - also delivered in a rather specific style, as he explains - listen and learn.

You might want to contrast the philosophy and teachings of Buddha with those of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) - all three of which insist they are the only valid religion and they demonise and even justify war, crusades and genocide against the others in the name of "their god".

As I suggested last week, and with your new insights here, you might want to check back to what we discussed in July about Caesar's Messiah. Once seen, it cannot be unseen.

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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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