68 - Mid June - Solstice soon
🇪🇸 We are still in Spain as the Solstice approaches after which the days will start getting shorter again for those of us in the North. It remains to be seen what rituals will be performed by the powers that be; we did have this as one of the dates for our diary for this year - let's see... If you are even slightly sceptical about this, recall our previous exploration on rituals.
The weather is warming up here and in the mornings (and even overnight) it can be a bit humid. Still nothing like HK so that's good!
This week we had the Bitcoin meetup here in the Havanna Bar - it was nice to meet up with the regulars and a warm welcome to the visitors who drop in too! There will also be a Bitcoin Conference here 13-16 July; if you are here on the island do be sure to drop in and meet the good folks here - the team is planning a GREAT event.
There are many great Bitcoin meetups around the world that you can easily join - eg Mallorca, Belfast Northern Ireland, Bob Space Bangkok and Hong Kong - check meetup.com for one near you and just go along and meet people.
Antwerp
For whatever reason, Antwerp popped up in my feeds this week and I did watch a few rather interesting old videos shared here for your enjoyment and reflection. I look forward to checking these places out again when I get back there later in the year.
And a further Antwerp Story here about The Meir. And this one from 1955 and even the "Inwijding van de tunnels in Antwerpen" - quite a bit has changed... you might want to reflect on what and why.
So what is wrong with ESG?
ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) refers to the techniques that are being used to "support" (ie enforce adherence to) the so called "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) of the United Nations (an unelected kleptocracy). In fact the SDGs, do not promote "sustainability" as most imagine but instead utilise the same debt imperialism long used by the Anglo-American Empire to entrap nations in a new, equally predatory system of global financial governance.
Charlie explains this corruption rather clearly here - do watch, listen and share.
For those of us from UK or Ireland (or even Europe and elsewhere) listen to John's recent interview on UK column - he explains things rather well - listen and share.
As John explains - since 1971 the money that you hold is based on nothing and corrupt governments have been devaluing your savings ever since by uncontrolled money creation to fund limitless bureaucracies and fight endless wars, lining the pockets of corrupt politicians and now through ESG they have co-opted even honest businesses into a Fascist state. We discussed this back in Issue 51. ICYMI: Listen also to Neil's explainer here from this week.
Understanding the above you will see clearly that both 9/11 and Covid were just "techniques" being used against their own populations by their government to instil fear and compliance, as Richard explains in this rather clear interview with Hrvoje.
Ed Dowd tells you clearly what is coming in Q3 and Q4 of this year - here.
If you have not done it yet - sign the UK Petition. Other countries here.
Guarding your privacy
By now you should be well aware that all the "convenient" technology that you use every day is tracking your every move - and this will certainly be used against you when it suits totalitarian governments. This is why you should want to minimise your use of services that do track you and minimise tracking in general.
As we discussed last week many people are finding benefit from dropping their smartphone altogether in favour of a "dumb phone". A half-way point can be to use a privacy phone. Listen here to understand the options - I use and recommend CalyxOS (also discussed in the podcast).
Running a CalyxOS phone is a good experience. You certainly do want to install FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) on your phone so your first stop for apps should be F-Droid (as they explain). If you really do need something that is only on G Play Store then Aurora is the way to go and you do want to use either the anonymous option or a throw-away account.
A few Interesting apps to use - you can find them all in F-Droid:
- AntennaPod is the best Podcast Application
- Organic Maps is superb alternative to Google maps - works well offline
- Mullvad is a great VPN choice and they accept anonymous payment in BTC
iVPN is an interesting alternative - also taking payment in BTC over lightning - Simplenote is a great note-taking app to easily share with iOS and Macs
Standardnote is the gold standard if you need strongly encrypted notes - Newpipe allows you to view and download youtube without logging in
- Session has got to be the secure messenger of choice - also in iOS and Mac
- ViMusic lets you play any music albums/songs from youtube - also without logging in and you will have no need for Spotify!
All of the above are open source and privacy respecting with no tracking.
Configuring a New Mac
I was contacted during the week by a subscriber who is going to buy a new Mac - notwithstanding the privacy and other benefits of Linux machines that we discussed last week. There are a few things that you MUST do with any such machine out of the box!
- Enable the Firewall - I fail to understand why Apple does not do this - arguing that services are not enabled does not hold water since users will change this and be unaware of the risks.
- Enable Filevault Disk encryption - either trust iCloud or store your own recovery key - depending on your threat model
- Ensure that you have 2-Factor Authentication enabled on your apple-ID
- Install Brave Browser (set it as default) and install uBlock Origin extension
- Consider KeepassXC for password management instead of iCloud passwords; you can easily install the browser extension in Brave and it is good to allow biometric unlock of the vault along with Lock on session lock or lid close.
- If you need help - you can enable remote support from trusted friends
More in this issue
- Photo memories from around Palma this week
- Project Updates - more study and learning to share
- Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you...
- Closing out - it's provocative - you have been warned!
🛠️ Project Updates
This week I am still in study mode rather than hands-on. There is so much happening and so many evolving technologies that I want to be sure to have good foundation and understanding before going too deeply into any particular one.
Taproot Assets
First up is the evolution of Taro. Interestingly this was mentioned last week in the interview with Marc G; he was concerned about the "Bitcoinsation of the Dollar" and, recognising the theme of last week's update, this could be an attack vector on Bitcoin. However devil is in the details and you need to read this.
Taproot Assets Protocol gives a maximally efficient way to issue and transact alternative asset using the bitcoin blockchain; it is better than BRC-20.
Technology Watch
It is good to take stock from time to time to make sure that what you are building is on firm foundations and in case new things come along that you should adopt or embrace. It is also quite possible that features developed in support of one of these may well be useful to the others. The technologies that I am watching and studying are the following:
- Bitcoin as the underlying settlement system and store of value
- Lightning as the main scaling layer, allowing global cost-effective transactions
- Chaumian eCash as an additional scaling layer - giving one or two orders of magnitude more than lightning - this includes tools like Cashu and Fedi
- ARK (from Burak and team) also has the potential to greatly improve the onboarding experience for Lightning and offers many of the benefits of eCash
- Taproot Assets Protocol - as explained above - this builds on established technology within Bitcoin and Lightning to enable transfer of other assets such as stablecoins. While purists will say they are not necessary I feel they are a requirement for the transition period and this capability enriches the ecosystem.
- Monero - I would be remiss not to mention this since it does address the main weaknesses of Bitcoin enabling low cost on-chain transactions that are extremely private. With the arrival of atomic swaps use will likely increase.
- Liquid - I do feel this is an underrated part of the bitcoin infrastructure. As a minimum it can and should be used more to prove techniques and technology before pushing them into mainnet changes - indeed this is where Burak started developing and the features that he needs for optimal ARK are already available on Liquid. We did talk last week about how Boltz exchange was also saved through the rapid enablement of Liquid Lightning swaps - a lesson to learn. For transparency: I know they have a reputation for being difficult to work with and there are concerns around the Federation; they need to do better.
Do let me know your thoughts on these. What is your shortlist?
🔗 Links for your edification
Starting out with a great explainer from Rowan Atkinson on why free speech is important. This is a video from a few years ago and how relevant it is TODAY!
If you are looking for a good explainer to give to someone for their first explanation of Bitcoin - try this:
As always Lyn Alden's articles are just great. This is required reading for this month.
Louis: point out how the corruption of fiat money now leads to gouging. This is just one of many examples he has been citing recently - do follow him.
Techlore also explain this corruption here; yet another metastasising cancer. You should be able to see that this is yet another attack on free speech. This will likely encourage more development on Nostr.
Peter St Onge's weekly roundup is well worth a listen - I do admire his insights and he does present this rather clearly with plenty of sarcasm.
And then why not watch his interview with Peter on What Bitcoin Did. Once you listen to this many things will become very clear. They go deep - great stuff!
For our previous discussion on Remnant - see here. It is good to hear how and why Peter is waking up to the parasite that is government. I like his "day one plan" for Mayor of Bedford - listen and spread the word for elsewhere too!
Also interesting is the discussion about why so many Austrian Economists struggle to get Bitcoin! On that topic - listen to this discussion with Vijay by Robert.
Related to the above, I also recommend Simon Dixon's book from 11 years ago where he clearly explains that the banking system is an unjustifiable Ponzi scheme that the governments are requiring you to participate in.
This is why we Bitcoin - exit the Matrix.
You have got to love internet detectives: Army of Spies explains how dirty and evil the fighting is getting - the lies are in your face and the arguments that the empire presents are so blatantly corrupt: listen here and read the analysis here. I think it is fair to say that "Prometheum is burned"; they can no longer use this one.
Lastly, this is an interesting discussion on how Bitcoin may well evolve in China and HK. Joseph is an American living in HK and it is always interesting to listen to such informed perspectives. I do also see that HK is one of a few SARs that China operates for various purposes and I think he is right in his analysis; interesting times ahead...
So - what do you think? Do comment below or reach to to discuss with me!
🤔 Closing Thoughts
We have talked before about how False Flag Attacks are performed by Governments on their own populations to instil fear and compliance into them. This enables the governments to enact "Emergency Measures" that steal your rights and allow ongoing oppression.
Examples that you will recognise include 9/11 and the recent Nord Stream Pipeline destruction.
You may not be aware that the Murder of Olof Palme was yet another such operation. I came across this most interesting explainer that will take you along a very disturbing road. Ole Dammegard, the author, outlines so many pieces of evidence that he has accumulated over the 30 years since the incident took place and he puts them together to make perfect sense of it all. You owe it to yourself to listen and review the evidence for yourself - it may well change your world view.
For extensive information on this and so many more topics - go to Ole's website.
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