21 - You need to see it for yourself
This week we briefly had summer in Northern Ireland - for an hour or so on Monday my weather app reported 30 degrees but by Tuesday lunchtime and ever since we were back to 20 degrees and less. Seems the rest of Europe (and everywhere else?) is still basking in warmer weather. The joy of Northern Ireland!
Recall that I am interested to talk if you have experience of services in support of independent living for elderly parents in Northern Ireland. So far I have found Bluebird Care (office in Holywood!) and it seems interesting - if you have information on this or other such services - do reach out.
Update on my projects
Just minor tweaks on the website this week as I did not have so much time for programming; I know that you need to spend time coding rather than watching videos - that is the ONLY way to make progress. I did manage to add Search to the website; this is done using a capability that Ghost just released - I am not fully satisfied with it - I had hoped for and expected full-text search but it is only headlines, tags and labels. Easy workaround is to do a google search for "site:rogerprice.me your-search-term-here" - do try it out and let me know.
To make it easier to discuss and follow up topics in the newsletters there is now a Telegram group - click the link here or below to join the group (and then on join at the bottom of the page.)
Going forward, I will be experimenting further with various media channels with the goal to learn what works best for me and to share info and others to discuss and participate.
My bitcoin node (using Mynode) has been running smoothly on the Raspberry Pi - very nice. This is easy to do and I am happy to be playing my part to secure the bitcoin network. One of the fundamental strengths of the bitcoin network is its decentralisation and lack of corrupt(ible) corporate governance. This first became evident during the Blocksize War - refer back to Issue 1 of the newsletter for my review and further thoughts on that!
You might be interested to see the bitcoin network at work - just go to mempool.space and you can watch it in action. You can see the current and next blocks top left, confirmed blocks on the right and down below you can see a selection of the transaction values. There is a lot to explore on this site - click around and learn.
Running a lightning node is something quite different. Lightning is one of several technologies that enables the bitcoin network to scale up for widespread, global use enabling hundreds (even thousands) of transactions per second. As I mentioned last week I am studying up on the options for running my own node - primarily as a learning opportunity better to understand the technology and its potential as well as to network with developers in the space - let's see where this goes.
Johnathan Levi and his Bitcoin for the Masses channel is just a fantastic resource. Lots of easy to understand, hands-on explainer videos and pointers to handy Telegram and Discord groups. Of particular interest is: How To Accept Bitcoin & Lightning Network Payments. He runs through no less than@ five different methods - you may prefer to listen to the Summary and Conclusion
Money, Macro and the World
Most people are unaware of how money has evolved over the years and continues to evolve. As with taxes they assume that the way is it now is the way it has always been and always will be. Not so and the magnitude of the current "experiment" along with onging changes ought to surprise (maybe concern?) you.
Before diving into the "main course" that is the interview with Jeff, I suggest you start with Lyn Alden's A-Z explainer - you might prefer to listen to Guy reading it.
This week I came across Jeff Snider's interview with Peter McCormack and I am still trying to get my head around the implications. This begins to solidify thoughts that I always suspected in my early days at SWIFT when I managed the development of their NOSTRO account reconciliation software that was sold to all the major "correspondent banks". Do watch the interview and let me know your thoughts. Maybe is it just a coincidence that SWIFT was formed in 1973, just after the US broke from the Gold Standard? The EuroDollar is indeed an interesting beast - Jeff argues that this system has taken on a life of its own and this does rather confirm that suspicions that I had all those years ago; Nostro accounting is double-entry bookkeeping and we know from Darin Feinstein how that can be subverted. Note that the EuroDollar system is explicitly outside the control of the Federal Reserve and (it seems) all of the central banks. I tend to agree that Peter and Jeff's conclusion on who does control it is likely correct. Thoughts anyone...?
Last word on this topic for now - do consider adding "When Money Dies" to your summer reading list.
Book of the week and the implications
This week I am reading (listening on Audible) Mattias Desmet's eye opener, The Psychology of Totalitarianism. It may seem pricey but it is worth every penny and if you open a new account with audible.com you get your first book for free - so there really is no excuse for not getting this!
Mattias gives a first-hand explanation of how and why he wrote this book in his recent interview with Ivor Cummins. I'll save my full review for later but I cannot recommend this highly enough - absolutely required reading for these times.
Somewhat related - and corroborating much of what Mattias recounts - Svetski explains how common people are so readily turned in to State Mercenaries.
Read The Most Dangerous Superstition by Larken Rose. I recall being sickened to observe this in Hong Kong where the "little people" who take care of the public parks and buildings and those who manage the rubbish handling from apartments were turned into little vigilantes and enforcers of petty regulations. Also, the HK police that used to be well loved by all were turned into "enemy of the people" by the militarisation that took place during the "2019 protests". Look around and you will see similar examples in Australia/Melbourne, Canada/Truckers, Germany/Dog-walkers, UK/hikers, picnic- and beach-goers and pretty much everywhere. Be alert when you hear "I'm just doing my job..."
The primary threat to freedom and justice is not greed or hatred, or any of the other emotions or human flaws usually blamed for such things. Instead, it is one ubiquitous superstition which infects the minds of people and deceives decent, well-intentioned people into supporting and advocating violence and oppression. Removing that one superstition would remove the vast majority of injustice and suffering from the world. Recall the Jews and the Yellow Star- coming to a city near you if you do not wake up and push back. Caitlin Johnstone came to a similar conclusion in her recent article.
Svetski also did a read on the related and equally concerning Milgram experiments - as you listen you will realise that you know this already - what you do next is up to you....
Thought for the week
A 10 minute watch that should give you food for thought on something completely different:
- Randall asks: Why is There NO Record of Ancient Humans?
- You might want to check Randall's related lecture - you will be surprised, especially if you like the Imperial Measurement system with tantalising hints from the metric system sprinkled in too!
Watching and Listening
Below a collection of interesting sources that I came across, or was reminded of, in the past week - for your enjoyment and edification:
- Guy explains why you would not want your government to introduce CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) - at least not in the way the BIS and FATF have in mind today...: Chinese Bank Runs: Why You NEED To Pay Attention To This!!
- Saifedean explains his Fiat Standard course - Take the course or read his book - both are absolutely recommended. Forewarned is forearmed...
- If believe that the US is Role model for democracy - consider this Princeton University Study
- Recall that Plato and the ancient Greeks were well aware of the flaws of Democracy...
- Joe reminds us of the Consequences of Stronger Dollar that are playing out as you watch. Plenty of similarities to where we have been before but the scale of the situation this time might give you some cause for concern...
- If you have an itch at the back of your mind that you cannot quite scratch (feels like something in the world is not quite right these days), read Caitlins article from July last year
- Guy Swann's adaptation of this scene might you to see what Cantillionaire's are doing - yes I did include this last week - it is just so clear, once you see it!
That's it!
No one can be told what The Matrix is.
You have to see it for yourself.
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