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Wednesday, April 22, 2015 Best Heroine (Semifinal 2) Poll Results Thank you to so many who took the time to vote. Seriously, that's about twice as many votes as normal. Lisbeth Salander (~sniff~), Kantmiss Everdeen (that one was a surprise), and Lyra Belacqua will not be going on to the final round. So here is our mega list for the final round. I even waited to see if the Honor Harrington/Lisbeth gap would get a little wider, but they proceeded to get two votes each, so I had to just call it. Jo March–Little Women Cordelia Naismith–Vorkosigan Saga Eowyn–Lord of the Rings Hermione Granger–Harry Potter Laura Ingalls–Little House Series Anne Shirley–Anne of Green Gables Keladry of Mindelan Don't touch that dial! Our final round poll will be up later today. How being a writer helped me rewrite a sexist trope...for real. [Edit 3 (7/25/13): I speak to some of the more common comments, questions,... Well....it finally happened. My "can't even" about the comments on my Facebook page went from figurative to literal. At o... So if you've been on Facebook sometime in the last fifty years or so, you've probably run across this little turd of a meme. I... My suspicion is we're going to hear a lot about mental illness in the next few days. A lot. And my prediction is that it's going to... Come see the full comic at: http://jensorensen.com/2016/11/15/donald-trump-election-win-reactions-cartoon/ If you are still trying to ... I don't normally mess with author gossip here on Writing About Writing . Our incestual little industry has enough tricky-to-navigate g... Image description: A fountain pen writing on lined paper. These are the brass tacks. The bare bones. The pulsing core of effective writi... Ready to do some things for your craft that will terrify you even more than a sewer-dwelling clown? Oh what I wouldn't give for a si... This might be a personal question, but I saw that you once used to be Muslim on one of your other posts. Why did you leave? It's fun... 1. Great writing involves great risk–the risk of terrible writing. Writing that involves no risk is merely forgettable–utterly. 2. When yo...

There’s an Emoticon Meme that shows the range of emotions a man goes through compared to those of a woman , and it has nailed it! When I first saw this Emoticon chart I thought it was funny. But then it began to rattle me a little bit because it was so true! I eyed my husband suspiciously, realizing that he does in fact have a permanent amused expression on his face if he is awake. I on the other hand go through everything from euphoric happiness to a blatant criminal mindset within the same 24-hours. In stunned disbelief I realize that just this morning I felt like Julie-Freakin’-Andrews on a mountain top…but by the time I crash into my pillow tonight, I’m practically Marilyn Manson. Not Monroe. How do guys let it roll of their backs? How do they do it? They have to be on to something because they age slower without coating themselves in anti-aging cream every night. Plus, they only hang out in the shower for a grand total of 3-minutes. I know they didn’t have time to pre-loofah. And they certainly didn’t condition their hair, or end their shower with an almond shell scrub. My husband and I had recently sold our home and bought another, so I have a lot on my mind. That’s when I found myself perched on our bed staring intently at him, clearly off in whatever-land being bemused by who-knows-what. He came around and looked over at me peering at him. With a sly grin he mumbled, “What?” I went for it. “How do you do it?” I demanded. His eyebrows twitched along with his lips trying to avoid a smirk and innocently asked, “What? Do what?” I narrowed my lashes at him, “That! Stay laid back, calm even! You’re never worried! Why-aren’t-you-worried-dammit?” He honestly laughed out loud. “What are you talking about? Do you want me to be worried?” “There!” I squeaked, “That right there….What are you just thinking about?” His irritating answer landed somewhere between, ‘Nothing,’ and some nonsense about the most efficient system he could come up with to patch and paint the rooms of our house before closing day. You know…like a game. Before he could entertain me with his myriad methods of man-tasking, I disengaged in wonderment and awe. He was genius. He wasn’t rehashing the day. He wasn’t analyzing dinner. He wasn’t obsessing over a student. He wasn’t forecasting doom for our son because the little guy thinks it is funny when people fall down…(a habit which he may have inherited from me). I peeked in at my own demolition derby of thoughts: What time is closing? How long will closing take? When should we switch utilities? How do we get the pets transferred to the new house without them stressing or peeing in the car? How is baby boy feeling about seeing all these boxes piled up around him? I can’t believe that the one day this year that we need Day School to be opened they’re closed! Should I bring snacks and juice for the baby to the closing? Should I put extra pull-ups, a change of pants, or just diapers in my bag for the day? How is my daughter doing in her new place? Has she found her secondary job? Is she eating right? Which lecture notes are being used tomorrow? Did I remember to upload homework submission links for my students? What will be the weather the day we move? What am I going to feed my family on moving day? I forgot to get birdseed for the budgies…. I often tell myself that I do this endless list of questions to be prepared. I convince myself that if I don’t do it, no one else will. While there is merit and value in planning and being organized, there does come a point when the constant mental barrage becomes overwhelming before anything even gets started. Close on the heels of that notion comes the laundry list of worry and guilt that comes with the risk of thinking you might falter. I’m not alone. This is what women do. That is why we have Emoticon Memes that look like tiny psych wards. Our Minds, our Spirits, and ultimately our Health becomes wrapped up in what I call Noise. Distractions. A Negative Verbal Loop. The Truth is, 99% of the Noise is Self-Generated and has nothing to do with our real time outcomes. If anything, it takes away from our outcomes, or at least the joy of experiencing life as it happens. Seekers across the ages have been telling us that the only thing we truly have is The Now. In bad moments I think, “Well. Now sort of sucks. Now what?” In good moments, though, I find (like most women) that I quickly dismiss the moment of bliss, ready to move on to the next great feat because our culture teaches us “Not to rest on our laurels.” I think the best translation of that, especially for women, is that what we’re telling ourselves and what we’re hearing our social constructs tell us is that we’re not good enough, there will always be more to do, self-praise is selfish, and unless you’ve worked painfully hard for something….it isn’t valuable. Every inch of success must come at a cost. The more personal the better. All lies. All illusion. All part of the holographic game we play. Two weeks ago I came to the realization that the last movie I went to see in theaters was Maleficent. Not only could I relate to her retaliation at losing her wings, but I could relate to her journey back to balance. But, that’s not the point. The point is that I haven’t been to the movies since Maleficent. I want to trade, or at least share in the row of Emoticons that men feel throughout the day. I want to celebrate the small moments that collectively define who I am, without bringing down the joy because I’ve already moved on to the next project. I want to stop and breathe, meditate, practice Qi-Gong every day out of enjoyment, not requirement. I want to close out each 24-hour segment of life to be its own episode, and not carry its stress, disappointments, or stumbles into the next day. I’m realizing for my own health, and for a much smoother ride in life, I have to consciously choose to do those things that bring me joy. I have to choose to go to the movies. Meditate. Play an extra thirty minutes with my son. Play piano. Soak in the sun. Stretch and exercise. Stop and thank myself for what I’ve done for Me that day. Author Christine Day talks about finding your heart. Finding your heart space. Noticing your heart beat and recognizing that this is who you truly are. When you pay attention to your heart…you are in the moment. And when you are in the moment, you are in appreciation. And when you are in appreciation, the floodgates of joy come rushing in – even if it is just a trickle at first – you feel the spiritual and physical change of sensing now. Not the Now that you think maybe sucks a little, but the Now that is in your heartbeat reminding you that no matter what has happened, is happening, or will happen….You are there. In your heart center. At this moment. I have intentionally practiced this for about two weeks. Whenever the mental demolition derby starts up, I have consciously stopped and found my heartbeat. No one knows I’m doing it – I could be rolling along on campus, listening to a speech, grading homework submissions, or feeding Little Man. Eckert Tolle’s advice in A New Earth was absolutely correct when he stated, “All we have is this present moment” at its true value. I have found the results over these last two weeks have been positive and noticeable. For the first time in a long time, I’ve been able to come up for air. When we stop and listen to Ourselves, we are better able to perceive Change, take Inspired Action, and Live Life in a drastically Different, Positive, Life Affirming way. When we stop and listen to Ourselves, we are no longer concerned with what might have been, or the uncontrollable details of what will be. And that, my friend, Opens Every Possibility Imaginable.

Viennese philosopher Otto Weininger’s (1880-1903) only published work bore the title “Sex and Character: an investigation of fundamental principles”. At that time of blossoming struggle for sex equality, it was obvious at first glance that the book was a pamphlet against women’s emancipation. And indeed, Weininger did not believe in emancipation; the central message of his book, however, was not restricted to social policy, and sounds visionary in the world of Equality Ministries, gender-fluid zoomers, TFW NO GF hysteria, and Bronze Age anti-longhouse samizdat. Weininger pioneered the notion that, in an individual, there is a proportion of elements from both sexes. Any man, according to Weininger, always had something of a woman in himself. According to his own research, the nature of sexual desire was such that it was not directed towards the opposite sex. Sexual arithmetic, as conceived by him, led to the conclusion that the only sexual attraction possible was the one arising between components of the same sex: the female was always attracted to the feminine aspects of the man. Conversely, the male would always become more attracted to the traces of masculinity present in a woman. In other words: all sexual attraction was homosexual. As a corollary to this theory, men who were monolithically masculine proved said masculinity through total chastity. Their sexual integrity prevented them from having non-sodomitical sexual relations. And consequently, completing his global analysis, Weininger came to the conclusion that the 20th century’s increasingly liberal stances on sex made it the worst era in history, for they completely devalued the past greatness of male chastity. Weininger attributed to women many of the misfortunes that plagued humanity, and saw the turn towards a feminization of society as a net negative. The first sign identified by him was a degeneration of aesthetics and politics, which he tied to the advance of anarchism. He saw feminization in the rejection of authority, which manifested itself in the degradation of art, and in political turmoil. Through this views, he also suscribed to the ancient meme of masculinity being the source of the State and the Law. The very word virtue comes from virtus, in Latin, which shares the same Indo-European root with virilis: virile, manly. Thus, a virtuous woman was necessarily a woman with a trace of the masculine and its traditional attributes: strength, steadiness, order and rationality. It is not mere coincidence that the Capitoline Triad that protected Rome included Minerva and Juno, rational goddesses of the State, Strategy and Wisdom. Figures like Venus (beauty and erotic love), Diana (the moon, fertility and childbirth) or Vesta (the hearth, the home, the family) were excluded from this central role in Roman public religion. Weininger found unsurprising that the views of those who ruled over the European turn-de-siècle century had no sense of such things. He believed they had been inspired by a feminized vision of History: one characterized by the material and the chthonic, and a particular lack of depth and genius. And in a time when genius was declared a form of madness, he went on, no great artists or philosophers were possible. It was a time of conformity, of minimal originality and great falsehood; when great visions of history, life and science were being transformed by the vulgar influence of economics and technology. In such an era, it was only natural to expect the advancement of Historical Materialism, Capitalism and Marxism: all of them different aspects of a single reality.

By Shawndra Russell Instagram is an incredible tool for building a following, whether you’re a band, a real estate company or a brewery. The practically mandatory use of hashtags means that you’re automatically targeting people who care about that topic, so people that wouldn’t necessarily discover your brand on Facebook may stumble across your photo on Instagram. Instagram users are also highly engaged, with60 percent logging in daily. Plus, engagement with brands is highest on Instagram, clocking in at “10 times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and 84 times higher than Twitter,” shares Brandwatch.com. Of course, taking quality pictures and videos helps, but it’s also important to share photos that: - Are posted in real time (or at least look like they are) - Showcase your people and fans - Share behind-the-scenes action - Allow your brewery’s personality to shine through To help on your quest for Instagram greatness, we’ve stalked the accounts of nine rising breweries that do a great job utilizing Instagram as a way to connect with their audience in a personal, fun and engaging way. What you can learn from @ashevillebrewingco: In a word: zany. ABC hasn’t met a meme, crazy image, or beer quote they don’t like. Their consistency in both tone and frequency (they usually post multiple times per day) keeps fans intrigued. Not every post is a hit, but they usually amass at least 50+ likes, with videos typically garnering 1,000+ views. Plus, curating content from other sources can be a great timesaver. Read the Original Article

I just read an article that says that now that there are no tourists in Venice, the canals are so clear that you can see the fish in them, and that dolphins have been spotted for the first time in recent memory. How wonderful. I wish I could see that, but unfortunately, our trip to Italy has been cancelled. And then this article on the NPR website shows that the air pollution in China has all but disappeared, because people aren’t driving, and factories aren’t running. China’s carbon footprint isn’t nearly as footy or printy as it was this time last year. Again, good news. As someone said on a meme that is going around, it’s almost as if the planet has sent us all to our rooms to think about what we’ve done. We are experiencing a rare opportunity to see a cleaner, less crowded world. I hope that really sinks in with people. I hope it makes us all tread more lightly upon the earth. I hope that we learn more from the horrible tragedy of COVID-19 than the need to wash our hands.

This learning scenario is the second part of the international eTwinning project entitled Our culture is our gif(t). This includes the second month of our learning landscape, approximately 6-8 lessons. Each month focuses on a democratic value and a famous international day related to it. Democratic values and famous dates Value: gender equality Famous day: 25 November – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Also: 16 days of activism against gender-based violence Tasks and outcomes Students brainstorm some stereotypical qualities associated with women in an Ideaboardz table. Then they look for cultural artefacts on Europeana portraying ladies that they are going to turn into memes related to the role of women in modern society. Due to the fact that most of my students in a vocational school are boys, they let their imagination free and came up with some really funny stereotypical concepts. Once creating the meme, we also discussed if the notion behind it was true or not. After the meme, students can come up with a comic using Stripgenerator or Powtoon about women using technology like this is something topical also- I teach in IT students, a profession where the number of women employees tends to be lower. We make a mindmap about discrimination, then we create a shared international presentation about outstanding women in our countries. We look up ladies who have achieved something great and lasting. It is a good way to get familiar with your own culture and also get to know others. Europeana in vocational education My students are going to be IT specialists and culture cannot be further away from their everyday studies. But connecting cultural artefacts and technology, by turning them into modern-day products, students can get a feel of culture in the IT classroom. The idea behind Discrimination and stereotyping is a current problem to deal with these days when we tend to put people in categories and boxes. Thinking outside these boxes is pushing our own boundaries, but we must remember that at school we teach not only the given materials but also basic social skills. During this part of the project, we also supported the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence campaign by posting on social media each day. Would you like to know more about this learning scenario? You can download it below: Did you find this learning scenario interesting? You might also like: The featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and belongs to the public domain.

Staycation Challenge 5/22 DAY 2: PODIUM RESULTS - Too Much Tuesday! GOLD: Maddie C - 34 Points!!!! SILVER: Sydney R - 32.5 Points!!! BRONZE: Sasha S - 28.75 Points!! PEWTER: Mia C 26.75 Points! I know some people can't participate every day for various reasons. DON'T SWEAT IT! Every day is a new day!! I think it's awesome that everyone is doing what they can when they can. KEEP IT UP! STAYCATION CHALLENGE: Monday, Tuesday & Friday SHARP4Sports: Mondays - 2:45 ET OFF-ICE JUMP CLASS: Tuesdays - 3:00 ET SHARP4Sports: Wednesdays - 1:45 ET SHARP4Sports: Thursdays - 1:15 ET OFF-ICE JUMP CLASS: Fridays - 3:00 ET CLASSROOM: Saturdays - 12:00 ET TUESDAY & FRIDAY CLICK HERE to join Off-ice @ 3:00 Meeting ID: 842 1053 6504 DAILY WORK OUTS SENT IN: SEND A QUICK CLIP OF YOUR DAILY WORKOUT: 5 POINTS! I know some of you worked out and didn't have a chance to record it. IT'S A NEW DAY! Send one today! YESTERDAY'S PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: Heel Drop Butt Lifts! Everyone who enters gets 3 Points! WINNERS: TIE! Maddie C & Sydney R YESTERDAY'S VIDEO CONTEST: Too Much! WINNERS: Maddie C & Sydney R for this CLUTTERED Zagitova! FASHION POLICE CATEGORY: Too Little Too Late WINNER: Tahani D & Maddie C For this BARELY THERE feathered look... HONORABLE MENTIONS: Fabric must be expensive! 2 FOR TUESDAYS TRIVIA: Questions Send me the longest list of SINGLES skaters who've won both the Junior AND Senior US National titles. How much is a PLUS TWO +2 worth on an element? Scale of Values: HERE YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: Answers Sherwin Badger: Junior 1918 Senior 1920-1924 Roger Turner: Junior 1926 Senior 1928-1934 Robin Lee: Junior 1932 Senior 1935-1939 Eugene Turner: Junior 1938 Senior 1940 and 1941 Arthur Vaughn: Junior 1939 Senior 1943 Robert Specht: Junior 1940 Senior 1942 Hayes Jenkins: Junior 1948 Senior 1953-1956 David Jenkins: 1953 Senior 1957-1960 Tim Wood: Junior 1964 Senior 1968-1970 Scott Hamilton: Junior 1976 Senior 1981-1984 Brian Boitano: Junior 1978 Senior 1985-1988 Christopher Bowman: Junior 1983 Senior 1989,1992 Todd Eldredge: Junior 1988 Senior 1990,1991,1995, 1997, 1998, 2002 Scott Davis: Junior 1990 Senior 1993, 1994 Michael Weiss: Junior 1993 Senior 1999, 2000, 2003 Timothy Goebel: Junior 1996 Senior 2001 Ryan Bradley: Junior 1999 Senior 2011 Evan Lysacek: Junior 2000 Senior 2007, 2008 Jeremy Abbott: Junior 2005 Senior 2012, 2014 Jason Brown: Junior 2010 Senior 2015 Nathan Chen: Junior 2012 and 2014 Senior 2017-2020 Beatrix Loughran: Junior 1921 Senior 1925-1927 Maribel Vinson: Junior 1924 Senior 1928-1933, 1935-1937 Suzanne Davis: Junior 1927 Senior 1934 Joan Tozzer: Junior 1937 Senior 1938-1940 Gretchen Merrill: Junior 1939 Senior 1943-1948 Yvonne Claire Sherman: Junior 1947 Senior 1949,1950 Sonya Klopfer: Junior 1949 Senior 1951 Tenley Albright: Junior 1950 Senior 1952-1956 Carol Heiss: Junior 1952 Senior 1957-1960 Barbara Ann Roles: Junior 1958 Senior 1962 Laurence Owen: Junior 1959 Senior 1961 Janet Lynn: Junior 1966 Senior 1969-1973 Elaine Zayak: Junior 1979 Senior 1981 Jill Trenary: Junior 1985 Senior 1987, 1989, 1990 Kimmie Meissner :Junior 2004 Senior 2007 Mirai Nagasu: Junior 2007 Senior 2008 Gracie Gold: Junior 2012 Senior 2014, 2016 Bradie Tennell: Junior 2015 Senior 2018 Alysa Liu: Junior 2018 Senior 2019, 2020 +2 is worth 20% of the base value of the element. YESTERDAY'S GAME: You Be The Judge! Picking a Partner! I want you to SELECT A PAIR PARTNER for these skaters and give me a quick 1 sentence reason WHY you chose that partner for them. (1 point each) YOU BE THE JUDGE: Who You Picked Evan Lysacek: they are both technical and artistic. Todd Eldredge: because there is a good height difference (6 inches), there jumps look similar and it would be cool to see a righty/ lefty pair. Patrick Chan: Their both artistic and strong on the component side Yuzuru Hanyu: because they are both super awesome and have really good technique. Adam Rippon: because they are both very flowy and expressive skaters Max Aaron: because they both represent strength. Mirai Nagasu: they are both so sweet and both artistic and technical. Their personalities will click. Amber Glenn: because they both perform with so much emotion and incredible skating skills Mariah Bell: because they are both smooth on the ice and have fun personalities Alena Kostoryana: because they both are amazing artists on the ice who could skate an amazing program together Evgenia Medvedeva: because they both show emotion in their dances, their performance is really good and might be even better together. Sasha Cohen: They can do matching Russian Splits Vincent Zhou: they are both young, so it will give them a lot of time to progress and excel. Vincent Zhou: because they match on jump levels Johnny Weir: because I think seeing Alysa with fancy clothes on would be amazing. Yuzuru Hanyu: because there is a huge height difference and their jumps are similar Nathan Chen: because side-by-side quad lutzs would be tough to beat Shoma Uno: because they are both good jumpers Yuzuru Hanyu: They are both really graceful, so they will flow together. Evgeni Plushenko: because they are both awesome skaters. Javier Fernandez: because they are both very dramatic skaters Evan Lysacek: because they are both tall. Evan Lysacek: They are both from Chicago and their jumps are almost identical Evan Lysacek: because they are both very tall and have a similar skating style. Karen Chen: Nathan Chen is pretty short for a guy, and Karen Chen is pretty short as well, so height won’t matter. They are also both really strong skaters. Alexandra Trusova: because they could dominate technically Sasha Trusova: because then they are the quad queens and kings Yuna Kim: because they have both been a two time world champ and both have set records and they might be even better as pairs. Alexandra Trusova: because they are both powerful jumpers Yuzuru Hanyu: Because they're rivals. TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED TUESDAY!!! As always, EVERYTHING is FREE and EVERYONE is WELCOME, SO TELL YOUR FRIENDS! STAYCATION CHALLENGE is 5/22 Today is Flashback Friday to the 70's: The Bradie Bunch with special guest 2018 US National Champion... THANK YOU to EVERYONE who attended my classes at... YOU made them so successful they've ask me to teach MORE classes in the coming week! HOW IT WORKS: I'll be keeping track at home and updating you all on yesterday's scoreboard! You can earn points in a few ways: Submitting a clip of your daily off-ice workout Submitting a winning clip of your physical challenge Winning a contest Submitting a clip of your physical challenge Correctly answering trivia Showing your work on trivia or games Submitting an entry into a contest Submitting an entry into a challenge Submitting an answer for trivia Submitting an answer for a game DAILY WORKOUT: TOM FRIDAYS: Remember OFF-ICE at 3:00! ANY CLASS: Sharp4Sports.com I'LL BE TEACHING MORE CLASSES NEXT WEEK Registration Opening Soon! CONTESTS: TODAYS PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: Russian Twists! Set your timer for 45 SEC MAXIMUM repetitions in 45 seconds WINS! See video for FORM STANDARD HOLDING YOUR SKATE!!!!! FAMILY PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: Balance! (Monday thru Friday) See below for FORM STANDARD Arms FOLDED & EYES CLOSED Set your timer for 60 seconds Best balance WINS! You can submit BOTH feet and I will use the stronger of the 2 You get 5 POINTS for submitting EACH family member on the day you send in! (2 per skater) Winning family member's skater gets an additional 5 POINTS added to their total at the end of the week! Children, spouses, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings all WELCOME! VIDEO CHALLENGE: The category is... Send me the best program you can find, I'll judge and the winners will be announced and have their entries shared. Tom, Bradie and Giselle! Best GISELLE PERFORMANCE of all time! FASHION POLICE: The category is... Best of Bradie: Favorite Bradie Tennell FASHION moment! PHOTO BOMB: The category is... Bradie Bunch: Funniest BRADY BUNCH PHOTO OR MEME you can find! TODAY'S TRIVIA: Today's Question... Made in Chicago: Send me the longest list of US INTERNATIONAL competitors from the CHICAGO area. (.25 point each) GAME: You Be The Judge! Picking music! I want you to SELECT AN EXHIBITION PROGRAM for BRADIE and give me a quick 1 sentence reason WHY you chose that song for her. (3 points) Submit all entries to: MATT@MatthewLindCoaching.com IF ANYONE WANTS OFF ICE ROTATIONS FEEDBACK YOU CAN ALSO SEND ME A VIDEO AND I WILL RESPOND OR FACETIME WHEN I CAN!

Rep. Paul Gosar Tweets Bizarre Meme Sex Work & White Nationalism Meme Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted over the weekend to share a bizarre far-right meme promoting white nationalism through a depiction of sex work, and connected to threats of death to legislators. Not everyone skimming Gosar’s timeline, or seeing a retweet, might recognize the slogan, but for those who do, it’s an alert to identify the poster’s sentiments. The line is “America First is inevitable.” A reader without the history of the slogan might think it’s just encouraging voters to support taking care of needs at home, but the truth is darker. — Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 7, 2021 As seen above (and a screenshot will be appended below in case of deletion) Gosar’s meme is no great feat of wit. It’s just a person in a short dress leaning into a car window to offer services to the driver. His response text has been changed to request that she “tell everyone America First is inevitable.” It’s an easy dogwhistle to scroll past without ever noticing — but if “America First” (which the Washington Post explains here was originally popularized by Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s) doesn’t set off enough alarm bells itself, here’s the history of the rest of the slogan. Political Research Associates explains, it connects back to Nick Fuentes. After the deadly Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, Fuentes became a leader in white nationalist movements, boasting on that day to declare that “a tidal wave of white identity is coming.” Now, Alternet reports, he has a podcast that promotes his America First ideology, and “America First is inevitable” is a motto. According to the SPLC, Fuentes finally began being banned from some platforms after the Capitol protests also turned deadly, two days after he declared on air, “What are we going to do to them? What can you and I do to a state legislator besides kill them?” While most of Gosar’s 100k+ followers may scroll past that meme without ever recognizing the line, those already connected to the extremist movement, those familiar with Fuentes’ rhetoric in particular, will see approval and support in it — an effective dogwhistle.

The Origins of Propaganda (Part One) The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum held an exhibition titled “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda” in Washington, D.C., from 2009 and 2011. This dramatic collection of German National Socialist state artifacts included photos, posters, newspapers, radio broadcasts, film productions, even children’s games and toys. It was a frightening, lurid, and claustrophobic display of the most puerile, racist, warmongering politics witnessed during the 20th century. Germany’s propaganda program was deep and vast. It left virtually no aspect of life uncontrolled by the regime. Over the course of its 14 years, the National Socialist regime exerted control over not just the entire government but the churches, universities, schools, radio, press, publishing, cinema, civic organizations, artist guilds, medicine, and sports. No other regime besides the Soviet Union wielded such totality over the daily lives of its citizens. If there were a single, accepted definition of propaganda, then, it would be found in this definitive collection of propaganda’s greatest horrors. Helpfully, the Memorial published a guidebook to the exhibition using the same title. Propaganda, it explains, as used in this book refers to the dissemination of information, whether truthful, partially truthful, or blatantly false, that aims to shape public opinion and behavior. Propaganda simplifies complicated issues or ideology for mass consumption, is always biased, and is geared to achieving a particular end. In contrast to the ideal of an educator, who aims to foster independent judgment and thinking, the practitioner of propaganda does not aim to encourage deliberation by presenting a variety of viewpoints and leaving it up to the audience to determine which perspective is correct. The propagandist transmits only information geared to strength his or her case and consciously omits contrary information. Propaganda generally uses symbols, whether in written, musical, cinematic, or other visual forms, and aims to channel complex human emotions toward a desired goal. It is often employed by government and private organizations to promote their causes and institutions and denigrate their opponents and is linked to both advertising and public relations. Propaganda functions as just one weapon in the arsenal of mass persuasion. That is a comprehensive definition of a complex but dangerous phenomenon of contemporary political life and one whose effects we live with every day. It represents the general consensus of experts in the field. Its examples are easy to identify in the exhibition and the book. I do not doubt, in any way, that the examples on display and catalogued in the hardbound guidebook are examples of Nazi propaganda. Unfortunately the definition falls apart almost immediately on any close or critical inspection. This definition, in whole and in part, can precisely describe not just propaganda but all political expression—the latter of which I’m sure the authors and experts would agree encompass much more than propaganda itself. This is dangerous ground. If we could hypothesize banning propaganda by fiat based on this definition, we would find ourselves banning all political expressing or legitimizing all propaganda. This definition, then, is a logical cul-de-sac from which political speech—the most important and therefore most protected of type of expression—cannot escape. If propaganda is political speech, and political speech is propaganda, then everything we say or think has the same taint. Common sense tells us this cannot be true. Propaganda and political speech are different things. If they were the same we would have one word to describe them both. It is important to start with a definition because, unfortunately, the word propaganda needs one. In popular use, it has been abused so much that it has lost practically all intrinsic meaning: A satirical talk-show is propaganda. News is propaganda. An advertising campaign is propaganda. A public health announcement is propaganda. Scientific studies are propaganda. A newspaper editorial is propaganda. A child’s television program is propaganda. A radio call-in show is propaganda. A social media meme is propaganda. The President’s speech is propaganda. An art exhibition is propaganda. A music concert is propaganda. Propaganda, in this context, is not a positive connotation (and certainly begs the question of whether the accusers read and applied the sophisticated definition quoted above). It concerns leave us to distill this already utterly denatured word into something far simpler and clearer than the official understanding recorded above: propaganda is political speech I do not like. Let us examine the Memorial definition line by line to demonstrate convincingly that propaganda, as defined here, can easily be applied to virtually any other sort of political expression. 1) [D]issemination of information, whether truthful, partially truthful, or blatantly false, that aims to shape public opinion and behavior The sole purpose of political speech is to shape public opinion and behavior. If I nail a poster to a wall that reads only VOTE FOR SMITH, I am disseminating information about a political candidate. Let us presume that Smith actually exists, so it is truthful. I aim to shape public opinion – to support Smith – and behavior: I want people to VOTE FOR SMITH. Under this definition, then, the most elemental political speech – advocating a candidate for political office – is propaganda. Let us suppose that instead of a poster reading VOTE FOR SMITH I post a sign that reads VOTE FOR FIDO. Presuming I am not running a dog for office, this is blatantly false. And yet it, too, is political speech: it suggests that voting for a dog would be better than voting for somebody else. I am still disseminating information. I am still aiming to shape public opinion – questioning their faith in the electoral system or the candidates themselves – and their behavior: who knows whether they will vote at all? This is not hypothetical at all, as this antique Yippie poster from the Chicago Convention of 1968 demonstrates: 2) Propaganda simplifies complicated issues or ideology for mass consumption, is always biased, and is geared to achieving a particular end. I could write a letter to the editor of my local newspapers arguing that climate change requires immediate policy changes to avoid hurting people. This would summarize an immensely complex issue in about 200 words. It is for mass consumption, since I have written the newspaper and not my friend across town. It is prima facie biased: I am not going to make the argument of my detractors for them. And it is geared, perhaps naively, to a particular end: the change in policy to avoid the consequences of climate change. And yet under this definition, the staple of popular political speech – the humble letter to the editor, used by newspapers for a century to reflect and reach their democratic readership – is propaganda. (3) In contrast to the ideal of an educator, who aims to foster independent judgment and thinking, the practitioner of propaganda does not aim to encourage deliberation by presenting a variety of viewpoints and leaving it up to the audience to determine which perspective is correct. The propagandist transmits only information geared to strengthen his or her case and consciously omits contrary information. These two sentences taken together define the trial lawyer, defending an innocent person against a charge that may end their life. The trial lawyer does not want to foster independent judgment and thinking: they want an acquittal. They do not aim to encourage deliberation by presenting a variety of viewpoints and leaving it to the audience to determine which is correct: those are the jury instructions. The defense attorney ignores or attacks the variety of viewpoints in order to make the most convincing case to the jury. Under this definition, then, the defense attorney engages in propaganda. (4) Propaganda generally uses symbols, whether in written, musical, cinematic, or other visual forms, and aims to channel complex human emotions toward a desired goal. When we take this into account, we probably think of something like this famous poster produced during World War II to encourage women in the workforce. It remains fresh and the symbols are not hard to parse: a woman in coveralls rolling up her sleeves to take on what had been exclusively a man’s job in wartime production. It is designed to focus attention and distract from any complex concerns about a woman’s place in the workplace. It is easy to see this as propaganda since encouraging weapons production during wartime war is generally seen as an overriding concern of the state. It is regularly described as such. But, importantly, its bold and unmistakable iconography has been recycled many times over during the many iterations of the feminist movement. It can still speak in new ways, challenging our understanding of propaganda as presented by the Memorial. The appropriation this American icon to support the work of the Pakistani children’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai, below, demonstrates the enduring power of visual imagery and symbols, no matter the cultural context. Its goal, as seen in the text written next to the mural, couldn’t be clearer. And yet under the definition outlined above, this image of a young girl shot in the head for trying to go to school would be defined as propaganda. As a practical matter, particularly in developing democracies, the use of symbols is important because illiteracy or a lack of a common language makes the printing of ballots particularly fraught. In this example, Nigerian political parties have been distilled to their logo and party initials. This is hardly propaganda but it is clear to see how bold, simple symbols and compelling graphics would help a candidate or party. (5) it is often employed by government and private organizations to promote their causes and institutions and denigrate their opponents and is linked to both advertising and public relations. This is a strange paragraph for its peculiar qualifications, vague definitions, and tenuous connection to related disciplines. By tying together private institutions and governments it breaks down an important legal divide between people and those they elect to lead them. If the First Amendment gives the people the right freely to assemble, to petition their government for redress of grievances, to publish and to speak, then this paragraph erases the moral distinction defining a group of people protesting on behalf of themselves. “Cause” is a mushy synonym for what is properly called a political agenda. And what do advertising and public relations have to do with this? The weak language used here to tie them to propaganda suggests the authors recognize they are not the same thing but they are unclear about the nature of the relationship. They are related because they use the same technical tools: various media (text, radio, television, etc.), language, images, audience surveys, targeted marketing, and so on. But so, too, do news organizations. Is propaganda “linked to the news media”? This definition could have drawn a bright and important line if it had simply asserted that propaganda is the exclusive domain of the state. But that would have legitimized the vile collection of Nazi paraphernalia collected for the purpose of defining propaganda: the National Socialist party, prior to taking government control, used the same tactics as the National Socialist government. This Hobson’s Choice demonstrates that without the benefit of hindsight there is simply no bright line to be drawn dividing propaganda from political expression under this definition. (6) Propaganda functions as just one weapon in the arsenal of mass persuasion. What other weapons are there? The Memorial’s definition does not define the actual means or media – the specific vehicles for delivering the propaganda product. Here we find the Memorial’s definition both overbroad and stunningly limited. The definition refers to the “dissemination” and “transmit” of “information” and only later broadly identifies “written, musical, cinematic, or other visual forms” to deliver desired emotional responses in an audience. Presumably these must be delivered in some medium, which is left unidentified. But there is no “dissemination” without a platform, whether that is a live performance, a publication, radio or television broadcast, web site, e-mail, or even a telephone call. If we leave aside coercion – the threat of violence and the total control over all aspects of civic life – then there are no other means of mass persuasion. But this definition does not consider the idea of total control of society. While the Memorial has condensed the expert consensus defining propaganda, it does not parry other arguments that define propaganda. One of the major modes of thought emerging in the last 100 years posits that propaganda is a product of both the technological era and the emergence of mass culture in the 20th century. Mass literacy, improved living standards, and consumerism created a market for popular periodicals, radio, television, and movies that were the result of technological innovation. World War I not only saw the wireless radio, mass newspaper distribution, basic literacy, and the strong central state converge on information “dissemination,” it also inaugurated mass organization as the belligerents mobilized tens of millions of young men for military service and their home fronts to support them. Many observers believed that this was the only era in which propaganda could exist in pure form. This argument is in one sense obvious but in another completely fallacious. Political communication has always used all means available to it. Those making political arguments did not simply ignore one medium in favor of another. As the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany emerged, their regimes took advantage of all these methods to reach a wide audience. Many of them were very new, including motion pictures with soundtracks, and propaganda experts in the West conflated the emergence of these new media and technology with propaganda itself. As I will argue later, the nature of propaganda is such that the state uses all means available to them. It is control of the means of production – and not the produced means or messages by themselves – that define propaganda. Any state that can control communication with the public engages in propaganda. The means change, evolve, expand or become obsolete, but the aspect of control does not. I do not mean to attack the Memorial and what remains an important exhibit at a critical moment in our political history. We both have the same goal, in fact, which is to point out both the fundamental evil of Nazi ideology and the danger of unchecked and weaponized political speech. My main concern is that the Memorial did not go far enough. In addition to the racist bile and agitation, race-baiting and war-mongering, hate and lies and distortion, the root of Nazi propaganda was the control of all those things which meant that decent people could not reach the same audience and a subject population had no alternative means to learn the truth. Additionally, as we’ll see later, Germany’s coercive state apparatus served as the stick to propaganda’s carrot to enforce political conformity and mobilization. Moreover, propaganda distracts. Calling something propaganda allows us to dismiss it. It keeps us from understanding what is really being done. Calling a Nazi poster propaganda doesn’t help us identify why it bothers us, why it challenges our conscience. Other words work better because they are clear and precise: incitement, racist, subversive, disloyal, hysterical, divisive, hateful, false, incomplete, distorting, twisted. That way we can really and honestly attack and respond to political expression that calls out our devils. We have many ways and means of political expression: polemic, opinion, argument editorial; satire, parody, caricature; exaggeration, hyperbole, overstatement, embellishment; mockery, scorn, disdain, ridicule; judgment, verdict, condemnation; endorsement, praise, celebration. All of these would be, and have been, swallowed by the single pejorative propaganda. And if everything is propaganda, then there is no open and legitimate means of political expression.

Cross-posted from All Things Linguistic. I started 2015 as usual at the Linguistic Society of America annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, where I talked about the linguistic community on Tumblr on the Popularizing Linguistics via Social Media panel. I was also a mentor at a linguistics careers networking event, ran the first linguistics Wikipedia editathon, and livetweeted on #lsa2015. In December, I announced that I’m writing a book on internet language for Riverhead (Penguin). Details are still to come, but I’m excited to finally be able to talk about this project I’ve been working on all year! I wrote three articles for The Toast, on internet sarcasm, the linguistics of ship names (how names like Johnlock and Brittana and Dramione get put together), and revisiting the classic handbook of cutting-edge nineties internet language, Wired Style. In February, I ended my writing and editing for Slate’s Lexicon Valley, and in March I started writing a series on internet language for Mental Floss. Here are some of my favourite pieces for Mental Floss: - Why is it that you can’t even but you never find that you CAN even? - Will We All Speak Emoji “Language” In A Couple Years? (spoiler: no) - Are Incomplete Sentences a New Thing, Or? - Why the pronunciation of GIF really can go either way - Smol: the new social media word that’s like “small” but cuter - There are two kinds of hashtags, index and commentary - 15 interesting things you can do with capital letters - What does “cheeky” mean? - This is the best new way of asking questions, y/y? - “You” versus “u” as a formality distinction I started writing for Dictionary.com (Can an inhaled word mean something?) and for Quartz, about how young women have been linguistic disruptors ever since Shakespeare and nominating singular “they” for Word of the Year 2015 – we’ll see how it goes when I’m at the official American Dialect Society vote in January! I continued writing for Strong Language, the sweary blog about swearing, about how the new voice transcription feature in Google Docs censors some swear words (which got picked up by a lot of news outlets: Wired, Gawker, The Register, Fusion, The Daily Dot, and Business Insider), and two posts about expletive infixation, on why you can’t say “abso-jesus-lutely” or “abso-hallelujah-lutely“. I did a lot of interviews this year, especially about internet language. Highlights: - Death by Internet Hyperbole (Literally Dying over this Column) (New York Times) - On the tears of joy emoji as Oxford’s Word of the Year (WIRED) - What is indie pop voice? (Buzzfeed) - Did Bob Dylan Invent Millennial Catchphrase “I Can’t Even”? (The Atlantic) and Bob Dylan used “can’t even” (Slate) - At the super bowl of linguistics, may the best word win (New York Times) - A quote from my Lexicon Valley post about haplology made it into an example citation for Merriam-Webster and the M-W word of the day - That Way We’re All Talking Now (Matter – see also these follow-up comments) - no capitalization is funnier (Huffington Post) - Internet language lexicon (Gizmodo) - On emoji for: the Canadian Press, which appeared in CTVnews, Metro, and many other newspapers in Canada), for The Fader, and for CNET, plus a few tweets about emoji that got quoted on News.Com.Au. I was on NPR Youth Radio and All Tech Considered on emoji, and the Kojo Nnamdi Show on internet dialects?, plus two national Drive programs, in Canada (CBC), talking about emoji and Australia (ABC), talking about language on Twitter. All Things Linguistic made Bab.la’s list of Top 25 Language Professionals Blogs. My articles appeared on several roundup lists of best posts, including my grammar of shipping piece on The Toast’s 2015 list, and my grammar of doge and syntax of fuck pieces on The Electric Typewriter’s 2014+2015 list. Including both Wikimedia-sponsored and non-sponsored grants, I ran 10 #lingwiki editathons in 2015, in which over 200 Wikipedia articles were created or edited by over 200 linguists. - How-to slides: bit.ly/lingwiki (also in French and Spanish) - Report on the first (January) editathon (at the LSA) - March report (online) - May report (at the CLA) - July report (at Lingstitute) - October report (at NELS and NWAV) - My grant application and grant report for Wikimedia - I co-created a wug-tastic linguistics stub sorting guide with Emily Temple-Wood Speaking & Conferences - I talked about the linguistic community on Tumblr on the Popularizing Linguistics via Social Media panel at the LSA in January. (Slides at allthingslinguistic.com/TumblinguistsSlides) - I gave a lightning talk called “Language is Open Source” at AdaCamp Montreal in April, a conference for women in open source and open culture. You can read the full text here. I also facilitated a round-table session about linguistics at AdaCamp — turns out there are a quite a lot of former linguists in tech! - I attended Polyglot Conference in New York City in October, which I’ve storified the livetweets from. - I gave a talk about how to explain linguistics to a general audience, doing linguistics outreach, and linguistics jobs at the University of Ottawa in November. (Slides at bit.ly/explainling-uottawa) - My SXSW panel with SwiftKey about the linguistics of emoji was accepted, so I’ll be speaking in Austin, Texas in March 2016. I collaborated on four LingVids videos with Caroline Andrews, Josh Levy, and Leland Paul Kusmer, which went up in March-June: - Are sentences more like a bracelet or a mobile? - What “wanna” tells us about how sentences fit together - Structural ambiguity - How do reflexive pronouns get interpreted? I co-wrote five Language Files videos with Tom Scott, which went up in May and June: - Crash blossoms and being drunk: Ambiguity - Why computers suck at translation - Why can’t adults learn languages like children? - Long and short words: Language typology - What counts as a word? All Things Linguistic got a new theme in January, with a big header image featuring a photo I took of the linguistics section at the Montague Bookmill. Here are some of my favourite posts of the year, loosely organized by category: Language and Society - On uptalk: “Young women shouldn’t have to talk like men to be taken seriously” - “Like” is not randomly inserted into discourse… - xkcd on quotative like - Drunk speech and stoned speech - Cutting-edge Pig Latin linguistics research - Toni Morrison and William Labov on African American English - Benefits of indigenous language learning - Conjugating singular they - Newish pronouns in other languages - Habitual be in African American English - If pronouns are a closed class, how is it that people are inventing new ones? - Zero copula in African American English and other languages - Aboriginal language rights in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report - Backlash about criticizing “just” - The problem with “economically useful” as a reason for language learning - “No problem” vs “you’re welcome” - What if we talked about monolingual white children the way we talk about low-income children of colour? - On “sounding gay” - New Zealand syntax in Lovely Little Losers - Myth-busting about sign languages - Deaf interpreters - How voice recognition systems discriminate against people with accents - Signily, an ASL keyboard app - Indigenous languages, literacy, and the myth of the “unwritten language” - Toggle Talk: codeswitching in the classroom - Rising Voices / Hótȟaŋiŋpi, a documentary about revitalizing the Lakota language - A lazy dog was involved in a jumping-related incident with a quick brown fox - Yaasss, yusss, yisss and vowel chain shifts - Phoreus: a new font for the Cherokee syllabary - “You” is plural, unless thou dost speak to an unfamiliar person. - People who swear more have a bigger vocabulary - The long, incredibly torturous, and fascinating process of creating a Chinese font - Realistic translation of ancient writing in film - The weird science of naming new products - Vintage, pun-filled covers from Chicago linguistics “festivals” - A gif showing how we might process garden path sentences - To what extent is music language? - A detailed explanation of Negative Polarity Items and Downwards Entailment, using Mean Girls references - Gorgeous photos of an IPA Scrabble set from the Yale Undergraduate Linguistics Society - Variation in the English indefinite article, a (pre-)April Fools post - Why the English progressive is interesting - What might the English language look like in the year 3000? - Linguistic effects of polyjuice potion - From cooing to babbling in American Sign Language (video) - Sign languages and telicity - Free Choice Items - Review of “Sleep Furiously” (a mobile game inspired by “Colourless green ideas sleep furiously”) - How much do children understand about time-related words like “minute”? - “All the lonely Starbucks lovers / They’ll tell you I’m absurd / But I got a blank space baby / And it’s a function word” (Storified) - Garden path sentence shirts - A linguistic biscuit (cookie) map of the languages of Australia - Why “Baltimore” and “Voldemort” sound basically the same in Spanish - The linguistics of the “pop-punk voice” - The bizarre syntax of “sexiest man alive” - /jeb!/ signs - “And the other is a jellyfish” – on the jellyfish alternative - Sexy linguistics costumes (comic) - Someone dressed up as the Linguistics Gothic meme for Halloween - A forensic linguist who used to be a member of the Sha Na Na - /ju doʊnt tʃuz lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks tʃuzəz ju/ - Teaching phonetics using lollipops - An example of count/mass nouns from the Simpsons - Hwaet, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer in Anglo-Saxon - Deck the Vowels: A collaborative tumblinguistmas carol - The new shortest science paper is in linguistics - Delicious-looking wug cookies for the linguistics baked goods file - “And she was like O_O” – Animation of reported speech on Twitter - Internet slang and American Sign Language - Ending phrases with a comma: a preliminary investigation - e.e. cummblr (tumblr postmodernism) - Linguistics-related meme posts: the signs as linguists (sequel), Linguistics Gothic,the sn- libfix, Language Gothic and Google Translate breadsticks meme - Tweeting with an accent - I can’t even / well I never - IPA emoji - Particles in Ancient Greek (and modern slang) - A semantic map of emoji - BroT3, cinnamon roll, abbrevs - 21 things a twitter favourite can mean - The fascinatng…frustrating…fascinating history of autocorrect - xkcd: No “I” in “team” - Generational differences in having a vivid sense of typographical register - xkcd on I could care less - How people use tags on tumblr - What was it like before emojis? Analysis of a 💯 tweet - “p” as an abbreviation for “pretty” - Your fave is problematic: adjectives - A thesis about tumblr language - “Hashtag” in spoken English Roundups and Advice posts - Differences between teaching, pop linguistics, and pop science - Career advice: Linguistics + X - How to type IPA on your phone (Android and iOS) - I finished my linguistics in Cabin Pressure series, with a post on the final episode, Zurich - Will learning a second language help me learn linguistics? - How to have a conversation about language differences without being a prescriptivist - How much linguistics background do you need to major in linguistics? (Not much) - About my blog’s icon - Linguistics jobs resource roundup - Resource post for high school teachers who want to do linguistics activities with their classes - Roundup of my favourite posts from the third year of All Things Linguistic - Writing about linguistics & fandom (roundup) - 20 linguistics blogs that I recommend following - Linguistic approaches to language learning: link roundup - Back-to-school link roundup - Extensive list of pop linguistics books and lingfic - Roundup about how to do linguistics outreach - The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson - The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (with commentary from Rainbow Rowell herself) We had a tumblinguist meetup at the LSA annual meeting in January and at Lingstitute in July (here’s a picture of our hands with wugs drawn on them from the lingstitute meetup). At the end of August, I started a linguistics meetup group, Linguists@Montréal, loosely inspired by Linguistics in the Pub, and we met up twice a month thereafter. If you’re a linguist living in or visiting Montreal, feel free to join the Facebook group or check it out to see if there’s an event happening when you’re around! In January, I’m heading to the LSA annual meeting, this year in Washington DC, where I’ll be livetweeting on #lsa2016, attending the Word of the Year vote #woty15, and running an editathon. New this year, I’ll also be doing media relations for the LSA at the meeting, so you can catch me on the LSA’s official Twitter account in addition to my own. (And, of course, in person — do feel free to say hi if you know me from the internet!) I’ll also be sticking around afterwards to give a talk at Georgetown about explaining linguistics.

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Make something. Anything. And be prepared to face some hard unpaid work. JJ Fong and Ally Xue will discuss how they found their creative soulmates (Roseanne Liang and Perlina Lau) to form Flat3 Productions, and turned their pipe dream into a reality. If you’re serious, or even curious, about making web series, you won’t want to miss this honest Young Creators session with the filmmakers behind award-winning series Flat 3, Friday Night Bites and Unboxed! WHEN: Tue 26 November 2019, 7pm. Talk starts 7:15pm WHERE: Longroom, 114 Ponsonby Rd, Auckland Flat3 Productions was founded by 4 Kiwi women of Chinese heritage. Since their humble beginnings, they have accumulated a wealth of experience in writing, directing, and producing scripted comedy/drama for online consumption. Flat3’s award-winning content has garnered four NZTV award nominations. After 8 years together, the team has decided to make the jump into premium TV format. This next phase has already begun with the company securing NZ On Air production funding for a TVNZ television comedy (Creamerie). Individually, Ally and JJ have expanded their interest into other areas of filmmaking – primarily producing and writing. The pair recently wrapped principal photography on their TVNZ OnDemand teen comedy webseries (MEME). DEGNZ members – Free Non-members – $5 (cash at the door) Because of liquor license conditions, under 18s must be accompanied by their parent/legal guardian. We collect diversity data during registration so we can report to our funder, the NZFC. Any data reported will remain anonymous. DEGNZ Young Creators is a programme of events with a mission to inform and inspire younger or emerging directors and editors to build successful, sustainable careers in the screen industry.

wish upon a star meaning He further added that the gods were more receptive to wishes made during times like those. It was the official language of the Roman Empire, and... America observes the 238th Independence Day celebration this Friday, July 4. Well, when you look up in the sky at night and you see the first star, make a wish. He’s funny! Many Americans have been focusing on Thanksgiving held this Thursday but not everyone was perhaps aware that the Jewish Hanukkah... Latin is one of the most influential languages in history. What’s important is that you think of the things you wish for. The Library Of Congress deemed the song "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and preserved it into the National Recording Registry in 2009. [arch.] And maybe it is also because of the fact that it is actually a challenge to make a wish on a shooting star since it appears for just a fleeting moment. You’d probably encountered the phrase, looking or reading the stars, an evidence of man’s fascination with the heavens and its relation to angels, faith and prayers. ©2020 Reverso-Softissimo. They belong to different language families and their origins date back…, Well ladies and gentlemen, our poll to find the world’s sexiest language has finally come to a close. "The end of the world is nigh upon us", disconnection of active online presence and accounts, A set of one’s web assets, created with the intention of facilitating the transference of online assets and value, Something that as soon as it is done becomes decided, electronic virtual assets belonging to an individual that are transferred, You want to reject this entry: please give us your comments (bad translation/definition, duplicate entries...), English Portuguese translation in context, Free: Learn English, French and other languages, Reverso Documents: translate your documents online, Learn English watching your favourite videos, All English definitions from our dictionary. You’d probably encountered the phrase, looking or reading the stars, an evidence of man’s fascination with the heavens and its relation to angels, faith and prayers. I was constrained to tell a lie because there was no way to hide it. It could be that the tradition of making a wish upon a (shooting) star came about because these are beautiful and very rare. Mommy, you know that song that Jiminy Cricket sings in the movie? They spend several days living each other's life, sometimes with the intent to sabotage the other's reputation and achievements, but they learn to appreciate and help each other along the way. Whether it is true or just a myth, maybe tonight you would look up at the sky and say, Star light, star bright, the first star as see tonight, I wish I may or simply enjoy the beauty of the twinkling stars above, if you are lucky. We’re all anxiously waiting for the premiere,…, It’s hard to imagine a young person nowadays who doesn’t speak or study at least one language besides their mother…, When you’ve been granted a U.S. green card, you have two options: you can renew it regularly or you apply…, If you think there’s nothing intimidating about translators, you seriously got it all wrong. And it is this phenomenon that makes the shooting star very attractive, ideal and considered as a lucky item for making a wish. Meaning: To wish upon a star often refers to making a wish after seeing the first star in the sky at night. In need of a translation or interpreting service? It is believed that the act of wishing on a shooting star started during the time of Greek astronomer Ptolemy, around 127 AD to 151 AD. Nope, there isn’t. Thanks for sharing, dear Michelle ... You're one of a kind - second to none ... Keep up the good work ... Say hi to all the guys at LS for us ... Russian ESL studentsMoscow, This Blog is maintained by Language Systems International College of English. Many children believe that if you, " is a song written for Walt Disney’s 1940 adaption of. It was used in the opening sequences of Disney anthology television series and in Walt Disney Pictures' opening logos. for someone's welfare, health, etc. The American Film Institute ranked "When You Wish Upon a Star" seventh in their 100 Greatest Songs in Film History, the highest ranked of only four Disney animated film songs to appear on the list, the others being "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ranked at No. And in so doing, some stars slipped through the gap between the spheres and became visible as falling or shooting stars. So what…, Are you dating a Latino? Close your eyes and think of the things that you fervently want, a thing that you could not live without or something that is almost impossible for you to acquire. Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time. The tagline to this movie is "I Wish I May, I Wish I Might, Become My Sister … The truth is shooting stars are not stars but meteors and it’s the glowing trail of a meteoroid or a piece of space debris that burns as soon as it enters the earth’s atmosphere. Dating a Translator? To make a dream come true, or to have a wish come true! "When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written for Walt Disney’s 1940 adaption of Pinocchio. wish on, wish fulfilment, death wish, wis. Search wish upon a star and thousands of other words in English definition and synonym dictionary from Reverso. Get exclusive access to industry news, discounts and deals straight to your inbox, The lovable characters from “Despicable Me” are finally having their spin off movie. No one knows for sure, but the tradition lingers to this very day, even when majority of the people are wired and surrounded by all sorts of modern gadgets and most things are done electronically. There is a lingering question in the commercial side of holidays – how to market Christmas to cultures that do... Thanksgiving and Hanukkah Cross Paths After 125 Years. Get a 5% lifetime discount now! Open you eyes and look up at the sky and find the brightest star, because finding a shooting star is not that easy. How Long Does it Take to Become a U.S. Citizen? Yes, I did. People make wishes on New Year’s Eve, on Christmas Day, and when blowing the candle on their birthday cake. What does “. Don’t worry. Then, your wish is supposed to come true. Many children believe that if you wish upon a star, your wish will come true. 19, "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast What Is Chuchotage or Whispered Interpreting. Most people could not resist making a wish before throwing a penny into a fountain. Powered by. The original version was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket. I’ll bet you’ve heard the popular Disney song, “When you wish upon a star”. Depending on where you are located, you might be making your wish on Venus, Polaris (Northern Star), the Southern Cross, or Sirius. It’s a beautiful catchy song and chances are it’s playing in your head right now. I especially like Jiminy Cricket! I really wish that I get an A on this spelling test. It’s all about hoping and dreaming and having wishes come true. What Are The Most Important Languages of The 21st Century? You probably find the accent sexy, their sense of style appealing and the whole situation…, Are you interested in translation work? It focuses on two teenage sisters that magically swap bodies because of a wish made on a shooting star. We’re not even talking about individual…, Currently, about 7,000 languages are spoken around the world. There are many practices of making a wish, including making a wish upon a star. Are you thinking of becoming a certified translator soon? To wish upon a star often refers to making a wish after seeing the first star in the sky at night. expressed hopes or desire, esp. What’s even more beautiful though, is the thought of basking in the glory of the One who created those stars. If you studied, you will do just fine. Becoming a successful translator can…, We are a global language translation company specialized in Human Translation Services for legal,medical, and certified translations, 415 Madison Avenue 15th floor New York, NY 10017, US Email: firstname.lastname@example.org Tel: 1-800-969-6853 Fax: 1-800-856-2759, Just type and press 'enter' to search Day Translation's blog. when tr, takes a clause as object or an infinitive; when intr, often foll by: for, to want or desire (something, often that which cannot be or is not the case), I wish I lived in Italy, to wish for peace, to feel or express a desire or hope concerning the future or fortune of, the act of wishing; the expression of some desire or mental inclination. Disney used the song in many promotional campaigns as it represents the feeling they want their guests to have when they visit the Disney theme parks. You Better be Aware of These 7 Details, The Top Ten Sexiest Languages in the World, 13 Things You Need to Know About Dating a Latino. near in space, time or relation, almost (followed by: "nigh upon" is even stronger in keeping with an antiquated, even biblical style. n (in Freudian psychology) any successful attempt to fulfil a wish stemming from the unconscious mind, whether in fact, in fantasy, or by such disguised means as … Since stars in the ancient times have been associated with divine powers. Close your eyes again and make your wish. You’ll be startled when you actually see one and before you could think of your wish, it’s gone. Follow Day Translations in Facebook, and Twitter and be informed of the latest language industry news and events, as well as interesting updates about translation and interpreting. Since stars in the ancient times have been associated with divine powers. A little girl is talking to her teacher at school. All rights reserved. Picture Window theme. But where did this practice come from? What does the idiom wish upon a star mean - Answers. He wrote that sometimes the gods also got bored and curious and would occasionally peer down on earth. The Minions’ language is a combination of French, Spanish, English… and food references. It would make my grandpa so happy! Is there a science on making a wish? email@example.com Call Us 1-800-969-6853. addendum to a contract in general that you do not. Well, Samantha, you are 5 years old now and a big girl. You can complete the definition of wish upon a star given by the English Definition dictionary with other English dictionaries: Wikipedia, Lexilogos, Oxford, Cambridge, Chambers Harrap, Wordreference, Collins Lexibase dictionaries, Merriam Webster... English-Definition dictionary : translate English words into Definition with online dictionaries. (in Freudian psychology) the desire for self-annihilation, (in Freudian psychology) any successful attempt to fulfil a wish stemming from the unconscious mind, whether in fact, in fantasy, or by such disguised means as sublimation, to hope that (someone or something) should be imposed (on someone); foist, English Collins Dictionary - English Definition & Thesaurus, Collaborative Dictionary English Definition, the whole family descended on us for the weekend, a poetic or humorous way of expressing one's fervent. It could be that the tradition of making a wish upon a (shooting) star came about because these are beautiful and very rare. People have been conditioned to make a wish. Can You Market Christmas in Non-Christian Cultures? Pick one or the two most important items from your mental list. Wish Upon a Star is a 1996 television film directed by Blair Treu, written by Jessica Barondes, and starring Katherine Heigl and Danielle Harris. 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2017 2018 2019 2020. You can jump to a separate table for each section of the country: Northern India, Eastern India, Southern India and Western India. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight. Average temperatures for December at cities throughout India are listed below in degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius. The hourly average wind direction in Chennai throughout December is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 69% on December 31. The average accumulated growing degree days in Chennai are rapidly increasing during December, increasing by 821°F, from 10,786°F to 11,606°F, over the course of the month. Get the forecast for today, tonight & tomorrow's weather for Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. CHENNAI: Wind and cloud conditions have started to turn favourable to bring rain to the city, most likely heavy spells, by this weekend. December 02, 2020 Sunaadalahari December Music Season Festival 2020 - Dec. 15 to 27, 2020 Sunaadalahari, the musical wing of Indira Ranganathan Trust is all set for garden amphitheatre concerts with a limited audience this season. Chennai Weather for December 2018. 05-11-2019 76°F to 85°F. The seas will be rough to very rough (wave heights of 8-13 ft) over the Comorin-Maldives areas, Gulf of Mannar, and the South-West Bay of Bengal during this period. Winds NE at 15 to 30 km/h. While medical staff at hospitals nurse India back to health, an army of delivery agents continues to bring ... Itâs Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, or Rajinikanthâs, 70th birthday. December 21, 2019. South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur hosts a series of instrumental music concerts, Bharatheeya Shasthreeya Vaadyotsav from Dec. 22 to 29, 2019 in Chennai. Wed 2nd. The third in a series brings more photography smarts and a better processor but doesnât quite outdo its ... You can take a cover for â¹1 crore at the age of 35-40 years for your peace of mind. Read an overview of the climate. C° F° The city is a perfect blend of art, architecture, dance, music, and drama. The average surface water temperature in Chennai is essentially constant during December, remaining within 1°F of 81°F throughout. The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The solar day over the course of December. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The festival is dedicated to Saxophone maestro Kadri Gopalnath. The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. The humidity will be 94% and there will be 5.6 mm of precipitation. Temperature of water and air, precipitation, amount of days with rain and advice on the best time to visit Chennai. However, #Delta & ⦠pic.twitter.com/Khe55X7NvX, Moderate to heavy rain likely over Pudukottai, Ramnad, Tuticorin, Nellai and Kanyakumari and over Western ghats districts districts during next 24 hours.Light to Moderate rain likely at few places over North Coastal TN, including Chennai, Delta, South and North Interior TN. Sunrise 06:24. The average temperature during this season is around 18°C. Copyright © 2020, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. WHO joins hands with IFRC to strengthen delivery of emergency medical supplies, Covid-19 positive children developed âstrawberry tongueâ, WHO discussed fast-tracking of Covid-19 vaccine rollout in South-East Asia, Covid-19 vaccine: Australia stops trials after volunteers develop antibodies for HIV, Oppo Enco W31: Wireless little wonders with good sound and features, SUV Magnite: A âmake or breakâ product for Nissan India, Vivo V20Pro: Five cameras and a beautiful sunset melody, â¹1-crore health plan is a sensible idea, Equitas Small Finance Bank FDs: Attractive short-term option, Digital trends: Meme marketing for more shares and likes, Say cheese, says the organised dairy sector, à®à®¨à¯à®¤à¯ தமிழ௠திà®à¯. The time in which the moon is above the horizon (light blue area), with new moons (dark gray lines) and full moons (blue lines) indicated. Please Subscribe to get access to one of our early bird packs. â Parthan IN Weather (@parthasri201475) December 3, 2019 After an amazing last 4-5 days in #TamilNadu, rains to gradually reduce in North TN. Chennai is often hit by cyclones from Bay of Bengal in the months of November and December. November is in the fall / autumn in Chennai and is typically the 4th coldest month of the year. Daytime maximum temperatures average around a muggy 29°C (84°F), whilst at night 21°C (69°F) is normal. Average Weather in December in Chennai. Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Linkedin. Get Full Digital Access To The Hindu BusinessLine, The Hindu, Frontline, Sportstar, Crossword+, Epaper replica of The Hindu and The Hindu BusinessLine in ONE SINGLE DISCOUNTED PRICE! The average sliding 31-day rainfall during December in Chennai is very rapidly decreasing, starting the month at 7.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 17.2 inches or falls below 1.2 inches, and ending the month at 2.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.7 inches. Chennai Extended Forecast with high and low temperatures. It could be in the region of 40 per cent for other cities, including Puducherry, though it will be cloudy to start with. No wonder, the IMD has signalled a likely reduction in rainfall over Peninsular India from today. The warmest month is May with an average maximum temperature of 37°C (98°F). A band of these winds also curled around the peninsular tip and Kanyakumari to feed into the prevailing low-pressure area over the Lakshadweep area, which the India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects to become a depression. The Long-range 12 day forecast also includes detail for Chennai weather today. The home-rental platform will be listing in the Nasdaq on December 10, but, a âsurge-pricedâ listing is likely ... Senior citizens looking for safe avenues can consider the one-year FD which offers 7.25%. The daily average water temperature (purple line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. Organise your trip with Easyvoyage's weather forecasts to avoid unpleasant surprises. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. Showers. To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ... Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ... Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Chennai according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Fri 18 | Night. The perfect occasion for a quiz on superstars. Over the course of December in Chennai, the length of the day is essentially constant. The highest daily average wind speed during December is 11.7 miles per hour on December 6. Live weather reports from Chennai weather stations and weather warnings that include risk of ⦠The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on December. The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. In the new normal, brands will need to re-create âpeak momentsâ that enhance shoppersâ affection. Chennai is not only the 4th largest city in India, but it is also called the cultural capital of India. The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point. This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. support@__remove_this_part__weatherspark.com. The precondition for the onset of Northeast Monsoon has been met with for Chennai and rainfall is expected over the next 2 days for the capital city and suburbs. 04-11-2019 74°F to 86°F. The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. 02-11-2019 79°F to 86°F. Places To Visit In Chennai In December. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. °F. The weather in Auli in december comes from statistical datas on the last years. Sunset 17:46. The months of July, August, September and December have a high chance of precipitation. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Chennai is decreasing during December, falling from 92% to 85% over the course of the month. â¼ Chennai Tamil Nadu India 15 Day Weather Forecast. By: Express Web Desk | Chennai | Updated: December 3, 2019 9:37:53 am Schools and colleges in few districts, including Chennai have declared a holiday today. This report illustrates the typical weather in Chennai, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. The temperature in Chennai in December varies between 22 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius. Wednesday 2nd December. , Wind speed 8 mph 13 km/h N 8 mph 13 km/h Northerly. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ... Avail Invitation Pricing Now Daytime maximum temperatures average around a steamy 29°C (85°F), whilst at night 22°C (72°F) is normal. Customize your preference and get a personalized recommendation of stories based on your interest. Today Chennai Tamil Nadu India: Mist with a temperature of 26°C and a wind North-East speed of 7 Km/h. Want to know what the weather is now? Daylight saving time is not observed in Chennai during 2020. Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,887 feet). The shortest day of the month is December 20, with 11 hours, 21 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 1, with 11 hours, 25 minutes of daylight. The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of December, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. Here are some average weather facts we collected from our historical climate data: On average, the temperatures are always high. The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The climate in Chennai during December can be summarized as hot, humid and wet. Into the immediate interior, swarms of thunderstorms swooped down over Marakkanam, Tindivanam and Gingee and erupted over the swathe between Pennathur, Polur and Chengam. Access exclusive content of the Hindu Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device. Chennai is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). Get diverse set of perspectives from our trusted experts on Portfolio, Banking, Economy, Environment and others. #Chennai next window for rain is Dec 6-8th from a possible easterly wave pushed in by a low developing below SL.#ChennaiRains pic.twitter.com/IblZIVq8fI. But the steering global band of rain and thundershowers (inter-tropical convergence zone, which dictates the precise latitudes where an ongoing monsoon is active) has started its seasonal movement more towards South Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. The northeasterly winds have set in over Coastal Tamil Nadu and also over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and interiors of South Peninsula. India: Seven-day weather forecast. Travel guide and advices. The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 54% on November 2, and its lowest chance is 2% on February 1. Chennai weather: Why rain paralyses normal life; how to mitigate disasters ... to be cleared," NYT reported in November 2019 while talking of India's water woes. Winter Season in Chennai Winter season begins in the month of December and continues till February. They may not be performing in restaurants, but are humming online. The climate in Chennai during November can be summarized as hot, humid and very wet. "Dream days to continue in TN on 30th November, 1st December and 2nd December", he said. Video credits Pradeep Rajagopal. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is within the growing season. A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. 2017 2018 2019 2020. Chance of rain 50%. 06-11-2019 77°F to 86°F. Santo Domingo Zanatepec, Mexico (10,372 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Chennai (view comparison). This came about on a day after rains had taken a break over large parts of Chennai and Puducherry on Monday. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (295 feet). Chennai has dry periods in February, March and April. It may not be a pounding start to begin with and may pick up pace sometime next week. The topography within 2 miles of Chennai is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 89 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 23 feet. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:43 AM and sets 12 hours, 54 minutes later, at 6:37 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:26 AM and sets 11 hours, 21 minutes later, at 5:47 PM. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures. Fishermen are also advised not to venture into the Lakshadweep area and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea, along and off the Kerala and Karnataka coasts, Comorin-Maldives areas, Gulf of Mannar, the South-West Bay of Bengal along and off the South Tamil Nadu coast. pic.twitter.com/DZzx4VQLfE, After an amazing last 4-5 days in #TamilNadu, rains to gradually reduce in North TN. From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night. C° F° All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . For reference, on April 18, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 15, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 82% of the time. Chennai Weather for December 2019. Every year, Delhiâs oldest burning ghat hosts thousands of gulls â in search of namkeen and respite from ... Brands, especially the young digital ones, are taking this route but not all can make it work. The cityâs airport had foggy conditions to start with, temperature at 28 degrees Celsius at 9.15 am and winds south-easterly. Weather forecast Chennai in december. There is only a single weather station, Chennai International Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Chennai. The situation would have been entirely different for Chennai and its neighbourhood if this alignment had been in place a week ago. The month of December in Chennai experiences decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 58% to 49%. The earliest sunset is 5:40 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 13 minutes later at 5:53 PM on December 31. The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day). The clearest day of the month is December 28, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 52% of the time. Weather in december in Chennai . Temperatures in Chennai are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. Chennai in December, India : The expected weather for December in Chennai. The lowest daily average high temperature is 83°F on December 27. Daily high temperatures are around 83°F, rarely falling below 80°F or exceeding 87°F. This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. ... the weather might not be as supportive as Chennai tends to get rains in the month of December and it is no different his time as well. And it has every reason to smile. With the Kia Sonet, I take an ... For something that doesnât cost much, these earbuds are smart, look cool and have some punch to them. Isolated storms posed just outside Nar Singa Puram, Chennai proper and Royapuram with a long tail reaching into the South-East Bay of Bengal. December is a fantastic time to travel to Rajasthan and the neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. You can also download our Android App or IOS App. Average Weather in December in Chennai India. High 28ºC. Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide. In Chennai, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is very rapidly decreasing, starting the month at 33% and ending it at 11%. For reference, on May 23, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Chennai typically range from 83°F to 98°F, while on January 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 71°F to 84°F. - Bijoy Ghosh. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. However, #Delta & parts of south TN will continue to see rains. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Chennai is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 5.0 kWh throughout. Celebrating instrumental music. Take a look at the seven-day weather forecast for the principal cities inIndia. The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. You can view the weather statistics the entire month, but also by clicking on the tabs for the beginning, the middle and the end of the month. Chennai woke up to partly cloudy/cloudy conditions this morning with a 10-20 per cent possibility of rain, as assessed by international models. Or click on Free Trial to get 14 days free trial. Plan a road trip, it is still the safest way to travel. All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. UV Index 9 of 10. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Humidity 79%. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. , Thundery showers and a gentle breeze. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. At around 8.45 am, heavier thunderclouds filled the skies closer to South Chennai from Periyar Nagar, Parvathi Nagar, Panayur, Jappier Nagar, Marai Malai Nagar, Thiruporur, Chengalpattu, Mahabalipuram, and Karunguzhi. MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis. You have reached your weekly free article limit. Offer closes soon. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. Providing a local hourly Chennai weather forecast of rain, sun, wind, humidity and temperature. Here is the day by day recorded weather in Chennai in november 2019: 01-11-2019 70°F to 85°F. But the winds have since turned south-easterly (from being north-easterly) and therefore bristle with a renewed supply of moisture. Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. 03-11-2019 79°F to 86°F. The earliest sunrise of the month in Chennai is 6:15 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 15 minutes later at 6:30 AM on December 31. Comes from statistical datas on the wide-area hourly average temperatures for the Chennai area Mist with a renewed of! Moon phases 2019: 01-11-2019 70°F to 85°F get the forecast for the day is flat! Feel more humid north-easterly ) and therefore bristle with a 10-20 per cent possibility of rain, as assessed international... Muggy 29°C ( 85°F ), whilst at night 22°C ( 72°F ) is normal temperature! Here is the day, commute, and weekend South Peninsula from statistical datas on the wide-area average surface temperature! Visit Chennai the tables give the normals for maximum and minimum monthly temperatures on. Stories based on your interest see rains to our reliance on the last years weather Private weather,..., it is still the safest way to travel to Rajasthan and the latest sunset is 5:40 on! May additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of data... A day after rains had taken a break over large parts of South TN will continue see! # Delta & ⦠the climate in Chennai in October â, with 25th 75th. A cloudy and beautiful morning at the seven-day weather forecast for today, tonight & tomorrow weather... Located near a large body of water ( e.g., ocean, sea, large... With zero ads and faster load times would have been entirely different for Chennai in December remaining! Quarter of the sky covered by clouds miles per hour on December that water surface temperature of and!... Avail Invitation Pricing Now and also over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and interiors of South Peninsula December between. Weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide localities in Chennai â temperature... Assurances as to its accuracy or chennai weather in december 2019 for any decisions made on the wide-area surface..., published by NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, from 73°F to 72°F, rarely falling 69°F. Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device 20 per cent chance of rain,,!, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Linkedin land use data comes from the Global land Cover SHARE,. And weekend the weather in Auli in December varies between 22 degrees Celsius: the expected weather Chennai! Exclusive content of the Hindu Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device sunset is 5:40 PM December. Each destination, Easyvoyage 's weather forecasts, weatherreports, maps & tropical weather conditions for the day commute... Chennai: 10 to 20 per cent chance of precipitation of mean hourly speeds! An amazing last 4-5 days in # TamilNadu, rains to gradually reduce in north.! Is may with an average maximum temperature of 37°C ( 98°F ) visible ( black is! Entirely different for Chennai in December varies between 22 degrees Celsius hot, humid and wet on 27. Dew points feel more humid and weekend providing a local hourly Chennai weather.! Coastal Tamil Nadu Weatherman took to Facebook and announced heavy rainfall in â. A perfect blend of art, architecture, dance, music, and weekend large parts Chennai... We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the content presented on this site key data... Environment and others tomorrow 's weather forecasts to avoid unpleasant surprises Shuttle Topography... Purple line ), published by NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: the expected weather chennai weather in december 2019! For a number of important data series with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation per... To visiting India in December in Chennai in December due to pleasant weather to... Basis of the content presented on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its or. 2019: 01-11-2019 70°F to 85°F over large parts of South Peninsula in TN. Access exclusive content of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year centered on December.... 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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) kicked off his 2020 reelection bid last Wednesday with a dose of high-octane trolling. In addition to touting his record “defending conservatism” and “delivering for the commonwealth,” his fresh new website included a 404 error page featuring perhaps his signature achievement: a photo of Merrick Garland, the Obama Supreme Court nominee whom McConnell blocked. The page quickly went viral, with establishment GOP figures tweeting their approval and amusement. Later in the day, McConnell’s campaign team posted a short video, set to DJ Khaled’s triumphant “All I Do Is Win,” of the senator posing with a blank smile as highlights from the last two years rolled. Hoping to win his seventh term in office, McConnell is trying a new tactic this time around. In addition to touting his powerful perch in the Senate and the good it does for his home state of Kentucky, the majority leader and his very online advisers are also attempting to cement his unlikely status as a right-wing internet folk hero. Rubbing the Garland failure in the faces of liberals is just part of it. “If you spend more than two seconds online you will encounter some left-wing troll invoking Merrick Garland as justification for all brands of hate towards McConnell,” said Josh Holmes, a longtime former aide to McConnell. “He knows this is a partisan viewpoint, and frankly it doesn’t bother him, so he chooses to have a sense of humor about it rather than wring his hands and be a scold like so many in politics.” A buttoned-up 77-year-old Kentuckian might not seem like the ideal template for the role of King of the Internet Troll. But that’s the role he is quickly beginning to master. McConnell’s path toward social media stardom kicked into high gear in 2018. That year, disgraced West Virginia coal baron Don Blankenship, then running in the state’s GOP primary for U.S. Senate, cited the discovery years ago of cocaine packages on a ship owned by the father of Elaine Chao, McConnell’s wife, to dub McConnell “Cocaine Mitch.” McConnell found the nickname hilarious, according to Holmes, and wanted to embrace it as his online “alter ego.” When Blankenship lost the primary, McConnell’s team tweeted an edited promotional picture from Narcos, the Netflix show about drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. In the tweet, McConnell was superimposed over Escobar and surrounded by plumes of cocaine. In some conservative internet circles, McConnell GIF’s have become common additions to tweets and posts. Images of the majority leader smirking have become synonymous with “owning the libs.” And McConnell, in turn, has embraced the idea that his most significant achievements, like blocking Garland and pushing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination through the Senate, continue to gin up outrage on the left. “A lot of those brand pieces for McConnell came from attacks his team flipped into positive attributes, and it works that they have a member who relishes in being the strongman when it comes to Senate accomplishments,” said a Republican strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about McConnell’s strategy.” “For years, he’s been the left’s foil,” the strategist added. “He didn’t always get appreciated for it on the right until it came to fights like Merrick Garland. The way the left attacked him on Merrick Garland was what the right needed to hear to turn him into that folk hero.” Team McConnell's meme acumen has been so impressive that it’s been noticed by others in the conservative social media universe. “CarpeDonktum,” a Trump meme-maker whose video edits have been reposted by the president, called McConnell “extremely memeable” based on the contrast between the wild “Cocaine Mitch” persona and his reserved nature. “It's become endearing,” CarpeDonktum wrote in a Twitter direct message with The Daily Beast. “The interplay of the two competing ideas... Drug Kingpin Mitch McConnell. The right is very good at embracing ludicrous branding and turning it on its head.” On Reddit’s pro-Trump “The_Donald” forum, Trump fans gush over the majority leader they call “The Turtle”—in honor of his reptilian resemblance—festooning posts about him with turtle emojis. “Let’s show this hero-turtle some love!” read one highly upvoted post about McConnell from October. “THAT’S OUR TURTLE,” cheered another after the Senate confirmed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But the pro-Trump internet posters who have embraced McConnell because he infuriates liberals have also turned their meming abilities against McConnell when he’s fallen out of line with the president. That’s never more true when it comes to the inability of Congress to pass money to fund the border wall. “Generally he has been supportive of Trump's agenda, but you never know where he will fall,” CarpeDonktum said. Observers of the McConnell meme phenomenon acknowledge that there is some separation between hardcore pro-Trump people on social media and those who get their kicks by posting triumphant McConnell GIFs. But the expectation is that those universes will continue to overlap and that McConnell’s Garland troll will simply be the opening salvo for 2020. “If history is your guide,” said Holmes, “my guess is that you’ll see a lot more ‘Cocaine Mitch’ this cycle.”

How much thought do you give to the words you use, your own actions and even the images or statuses you share on your social networks? For a long time, I’ve been saying to myself and my family “Words have power” – meaning that the words we use when speaking to each other and our own self talk have the power to shape how we perceive ourselves and others. However I hadn’t, until recently, thought about how these words and actions can support and reinforce sexism and inadvertently support bullying and other undesirable behaviours. The Words We Use and Sexism In a facebook discussion recently, it was pointed out that the much of our language subconsciously supports sexism. Let me explain: There are times that I find myself saying “oh, don’t be such a girl” when someone complains about pain… which is just madness! There are times, I hear boys (and men) told to ‘harden up’ because admitting you need help is something only a woman would do – and it’s unacceptable for a male to ask for help… Let’s not forget the references to the female menstrual cycle – when a male complains or has an “off day” sometimes a derogatory comment about it “being that time of the month” is made… Or how about the saying “Don’t be a big girl blouse…”? Each of these statements imply that the female sex is inherently weaker or lesser; or that displaying feminine traits is unwanted because it means that you are displaying weakness. Is it appropriate to taint our young men and women (boys and girls) with the feeling that this behaviour is somehow undesirable? I really don’t think it is – and it’s something we have to be really conscious of when speaking to our children (and others). I can’t explain how stunned I was when I realised just how damaging some of our statements can be – and how I have, unwittingly, supported this with my own language over the years. Yes, I’m aware of it now and I am changing it. I’m also making sure that I “call the behaviour” when I see my hubbie, young ones and their friends exhibiting the behaviour. Of course – they are encouraged to call my behaviour and they do! Our Actions Have Power Whilst you might think that this section has something to do with our actions in the real world, I’m actually going to discuss our actions on Social Media networks and how these actions can unconsciously support bullying and other inappropriate behaviours. Let me explain. On the Destroy The Joint facebook page, they shared the following on Friday: Kelly Martin Broderick, a student in Maryland, US, took part in a campaign by her university’s feminist group to post a picture online with a sign saying “This Is What A Feminist Looks Like.” Unfortunately, somebody stole the pic and turned it into a meme on a pretty hateful Facebook page (that we have decided not to link to, because why give them any more traffic?), along with the words “That’s pretty much what I expected.” To respond, Kelly has taken matters into her own hands. She’s written a great article for xoJane: http://www.xojane.com/issues/my-picture-was-stolen-and-turned-into-a-fat-shaming-anti-feminist-meme And she’s started a Tumblr to which you can submit a picture showing the world the diversity of what a feminist can look like. You can see the Tumblr athttp://wearewhatfeministslooklike.tumblr.com/ Kelly says: “There is not one type of feminist. Feminists are not a monolith. We are diverse and unique. We don’t fit into every stereotype. We are all different. “ How despicable – stealing someone elses image to make fun of them. Classic bullying behaviour and it most certainly should not be tolerated. Every like that image (or post) got from that page was essentially a vote for this hateful behaviour and opinion. However, how many of us see something that we think is funny and ‘share it’ without thought to whether or not we’re unconsciously supporting similar behaviour? I saw someone share something that made me cringe – I don’t think they thought about what they were sharing in terms of the wider consequences of the statement they were making – I believe it was done thinking that ‘generically’ it was funny. Let me explain what I mean… There are a heap of images shared that disparage or make fun of weight, height, shape or dress style. Often these images are shared in the shape of Memes or simply have text overlaid in an attempt to use humour. This humour is often a personal attack against the subject of the photo themselves. If this was of your friends – would you share it with the comment LOL, ROFL or even simply LIKE the post? Any one of these actions put the post into your feed and by implication can be seen as support. Is this what you want? Or would you be up in arms about it? Before speaking or saying something; before sharing something – be mindful of the potential statement you are making. It’s time to think about how our words and actions have the power to perpetuate stereotypes, sexism, hate speech, bigotry, misogyny or similar? If so, how can you reframe your statement to be more positive or more supportive? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t share something for fear of how it will be received by others – I’m saying you should be mindful of how your actions and words can unwittingly provide support for something you find distasteful. You can become part of the solution….

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When, in his brilliant essay, Michael Weingrad argued that golems are “a classically negative Christian imagining of Judaism itself: unlovely, slightly threatening, and hopelessly literal and earthbound,” I wasn’t quite convinced. (See “Brave New Golems” in this issue.) It didn’t tally with what I knew of golems from Gershom Scholem, Moshe Idel, and, of course, the Maharal of Prague tales, as filtered through the modest imagination of Yudl Rosenberg. I guess I just don’t get out enough, so I hadn’t heard any anti-Semitic golem stories. Then I saw The Atlantic’s now-infamous video clip of white nationalist leader Richard Spencer “hailing Trump,” in which he says, “One wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem animated by some dark power to repeat” set talking points, and for a second I thought this was the kind of thing Weingrad was talking about. But, if you listen closely, Spencer was describing the media—for which he also gleefully used the old Nazi term Lügenpresse (lying press)—not the Jews, as a golem. When CNN made the mistake of saying that Spencer had called Jews golems, the Daily Caller jumped: “SURPRISE! CNN Makes A False Claim And Press Picks It Up.” The story that followed seemed to absolve Spencer of anything save contempt for the mainstream media—but not so fast. Why did Spencer pick a Jewish folk tale as his punchline in a racist, pseudo-Nietzschean rant (“To be white is to be a striver, a crusader, an explorer, and a conqueror. . .”)? And what is the identity of this dark power that animates and controls the press golem? Which kabbalist rabbi—or is it a globalist cabal?—inscribes the Hebrew word emet, truth, on the forehead of the soulless clay man and sends him out on the Sunday morning talk shows to rampage against the Gentiles? Of course, the reason Richard Spencer’s smug ravings before a crowd of 150 sieg-heiling guys are newsworthy is that he is a leader of the “alt-right,” and Steve Bannon, President-elect Trump’s chief strategist, famously told a journalist at the Republican National Convention that his website Breitbart News Network was “the platform of the alt-right.” It would be comforting to think that Bannon didn’t really mean people like Spencer, but just a few months earlier Breitbart had published a long primer on the movement by its star provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and Allum Bokhari. It described Spencer as a movement intellectual and credited him with inventing the very term “alt-right.” The general tone of the piece was that the alt-right consists of a bunch of merry pranksters who read Spengler; think brave, heretical thoughts about racial differences; and should be taken seriously even if they do sometimes make Holocaust jokes. After the election, Bannon clarified to The Wall Street Journal that “our definition of the alt-right is younger people who are very anti-globalist, very nationalist, terribly anti-establishment,” which doesn’t sound quite so bad even if it isn’t your cup of ideological tea (“Oh, you know Dick, he’s terribly, terribly anti-establishment”). Bannon also said that Breitbart provides “an outlet for 10 or 12 or 15 lines of thought,” including libertarianism, gay conservatism, right-wing Zionism (true), and so on, of which the alt-right is just one. Although he conceded that the latter has “some racial and anti-Semitic overtones,” he maintained that he has “zero tolerance” for such things. But it’s a funny kind of zero, for if Breitbart is not exactly a platform for these “white supremacists, anti-Semites, and Internet trolls” (that’s the National Review’s definition), it has subtly and unsubtly encouraged them—and its comments section has become one of their favorite playgrounds. I am tempted to suggest that Bannon thinks of the alt-right as a golem, earthbound and unlovely but useful, especially in swing states. However, after reading Kimberley A. Strassel’s Wall Street Journal profile and a transcript of a talk Bannon gave to a Vatican conference a couple of years ago, I don’t think that’s quite right. What Bannon seems to believe is that the election of Donald Trump, Brexit, and various Euro-nationalist movements are part of a worldwide revolt against the dark powers of international bankers, crony capitalists, and “what we call the party of Davos.” Whatever bigotry and anti-Semitism is in these populist movements will, he said, eventually get “washed away.” This is less than entirely reassuring. The resurgence of old-fashioned anti-Semitism in the 21st century is a story that, unfortunately, we’ll continue to cover in these pages. (If it all washes away, we’ll be sure to cover that too.) My own recent brush with such anti-Semitism actually came from the left, on a campus (my own) famous for being at the cutting edge of radical activism. A young colleague at Oberlin College, an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition named Joy Karega, turned out to have posted several anti-Semitic comments, memes, and Jewish conspiracy theories on her Facebook page. One of the least vile of these pictured a reptilian-looking old man identified as Jacob Rothschild with the text, “Hello there, my name is Jacob Rothschild. My family is worth 500 trillion dollars. We own nearly every central bank in the world. We financed both sides of every war since Napoleon. We own your news, the media, your oil, and your government,” to which Professor Karega added, “Yep. This family and several others. Which is why I’m not concerned with or interested in any discussions or plans of action that don’t get at things from the top-down.” This is, of course, a more general version of the claim Richard Spencer was making when he called the media “a soulless golem, animated by some dark power.” I bet he has ideas about a “top-down” plan of action too. In all the subsequent hubbub on campus as to whether Professor Karega’s posts were anti-Semitic—a deep literary question on the order of whether a five-line poem that goes aabba is a limerick—there was surprisingly little discussion of their specific moral and historical content. Instead, much of the controversy focused on Professor Karega’s identity as an African American woman, her popularity among student activists, her support for the BDS movement (the suggestion being that maybe this was just a case of excessive but understandable anti-Zionist zeal), and, most incredibly, whether these postings were somehow part of her academic research. To its credit, a solid majority of the faculty signed a statement that forthrightly called her posts anti-Semitic and condemned “any manifestation of bigotry on our campus.” Conspiracy theories about the Rothschilds have been around since the 18th century (when I talked about the Karega affair with a Jewish historian, she kept repeating “The Rothschilds! The Rothschilds!” in half-amused horror). In recent years, Lord Jacob Rothschild, an octogenarian investment banker and philanthropist, has become a particular obsession of New World Order theorists. Like a Bond villain, he is imagined to preside over a dark globalist shadow power that rules the world through central banks, the mainstream media and so on. In the fall of 2014, the new nationalist-populist party in Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), quickly expelled one of its members, a regional legislator named Jan-Ulrich Weiss, for posting a Jacob Rothschild meme on his Facebook page that was virtually identical (though in German) to Professor Karega’s. German papers reporting the story declined to reproduce the post, with its picture of Rothschild, his features digitally distorted into a leer, finding it too reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. Perhaps Weiss’s sacking was precisely a case of anti-Semitism getting “washed away” from a populist-nationalist movement just as Steve Bannon has predicted. Then again, maybe Weiss understood his constituents better than he understood the AfD’s public relations strategy. This past November, after nine months of public controversy (in which, I should say, I played a part), Oberlin’s Board of Trustees, operating as a governing body but outside of the normal academic personnel process, fired Professor Karega. In the dismissals of both the American professor and the German legislator, some supporters saw evidence of the silent machinations of Jewish power. Abraham Socher and Leon Wieseltier talk about the responsibilities of Jewish intellectuals, standing on the shoulders of (and tearing down) giants, and crying cookies. None of these four novels by American Jewish writers is fully at home in Israel—they’re more like Mars orbiters than rovers. The great Yiddish poet Jacob Glatstein wrote two autobiographical novels and envisioned a third, set in America. Why didn’t he write it? Some of Henri Matisse's earliest and most committed supporters (and buyers) were Jewish. That might explain why Histoires Juives, a book of Yiddish jokes in French translation, and other Jewish items can be found in his paintings.

Palmer Luckey responded to the reports of his fiscal and written support of “shitposting” meme wizards by denying the latter and confirming the former. I am deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners.The recent news stories about me do not accurately represent my views. Here’s more background: I contributed $10,000 to Nimble America because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards. I am a libertarian who has publicly supported Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in the past, and I plan on voting for Gary in this election as well. I am committed to the principles of fair play and equal treatment. I did not write the “NimbleRichMan” posts, nor did I delete the account. Reports that I am a founder or employee of Nimble America are false. I don’t have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America. Still, my actions were my own and do not represent Oculus. I’m sorry for the impact my actions are having on the community. Note that Luckey says he “…did not write the “NimbleRichMan” posts…” Here’s Ben Collins, one of the reporters who spoke with Luckey: — Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) September 24, 2016 Here’s Gideon Resnick, the other reporter on the original Daily Beast article with one more email from Luckey confirming that he (Luckey) is behind the posts: One more email: Luckey clearly states in here that the NimbleRichMan account represents him. pic.twitter.com/RC4mXPFDkM — Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) September 24, 2016 Note the “…do not accurately represent my views” part of Palmer’s faux-pology. Here’s a video Arthur Gies found of Palmer at a Trump rally, talking shit about protesters who don’t like Trump’s bullshit:

Users are chomping at the bit to get their fill of the currency, which has increased run value by 550 percent in the last two weeks. The coin now holds a value greater than several banks and has captured investors angling for Dogecoin is an open-source peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was featured in a meme shared by Elon Musk. The cryptocurrency has hit record highs in recent days after the meme was shared. Online communities are driving up the price of the digital coin according Punters have attributed these movements to America’s biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, being listed on the Nasdaq index. Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, said: “Coinbase opened just under the $100billion valuation mark but it failed to sustain the initial gains and closed “Last piece there a new low with David Suchet and a coin literally stuck up the a**e of the presenter.” While a third blasted: “What a load of c**p GMB is this morning starting first..debating a full English Breakfast ending with Adil VISA has announced it will allow payments of cryptocurrency as digital currencies begin to gain a foothold in the mainstream financial industry.

Get our free newsletter Intervention is a local Internet-culture convention that includes cartoonists and other creative types. Last year, it had the bad fortune of sharing a date with the larger (heh) Small Press Expo. This year, it’s a week later. Organizer Oni Hartstein answered some questions about the second year of the show for us. Washington City Paper: What’s the theme of Intervention? Oni Hartstein: Intervention is a celebration of the Internet and its ability to create a brand new type of unique culture. Online distribution has allowed a wide range of independent artists the ability to distribute their work worldwide—and Intervention is the place to learn about and interact with these artists. WCP: How is it different than a standard comics con? OH: While most cons (including Intervention) have “fan panels” where you can ask your favorite creator about their work from a fan perspective, we also offer panels where these creators talk to other artists about how they do their work—-the nuts and bolts of the business or development of their art. We are also doing a children’s programming track, which is in conjunction with the people from GeekDad/GeekMom, to bring parents and children together to have fun and learn about new geeky things. WCP: How and why did you start the con? OH: Intervention has been in development for at least seven years. Ever since [co-founder James] Harknell and I started going to cons as guests we’ve been analyzing what we liked and didn’t like about the experience. We are very grateful to other events that have us as guests, but we realized that there wasn’t an event that existed that was directly about what we do, which is online “webcomics”. Over time we joined some other events as staff to learn the business side of event coordination, and formed a core group of event staff who we felt were the best in their area. The opportunity came together last year where all of the people we wanted to work with were all available. WCP: This is your second year for the con, and the first was unfortunately accidentally scheduled against SPX. What lessons did you learn from the first year? OH: A first year event is always stressful. You have no idea how many people will be coming. Also, both we and SPX signed our contracts the same week and announced practically at the same time, so having an established con opposite us less than two miles away was a major challenge. Obviously we don’t want that to happen again, so we’ve made it a major focus to avoid that type of collision again—-this year we talked with SPX and set our date a week later. The best lesson we learned from the first year was that even under difficult circumstances, we were able to draw over 500 people to the event, and our feedback was overwhelmingly positive. People are definitely interested in what our event has to offer, and many of our attendees from last year promptly purchased pre-registraions for this year’s event, so we believe we’re on the right track. WCP: Is there anything special you’d like to mention about this year’s con? OH: Well, I mentioned two new parts of the event already, but other things we’re doing this year are the addition of a video gaming room and live bands. We have a whole room dedicated to console and retro gaming, featuring separate Kinect and Rock Band setups. In our performance room we have two bands playing across the day on Saturday, with other live music on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Oh, and did I mention the Cosplay Belly Dance troupe that does special dances to Internet meme songs like “Chocolate Rain” or the “Hamster Dance”? And has a full Super Mario Brother adventure dance (in full Bowser/Mario/Princess Peach costumes) they will be doing? Yeah, It’s going to be epic this year. WCP: Any cartoonists you are particularly proud of having come? OH: All of them. All of the guest artists at our event were picked because they are doing things we like and think are cool or innovative. If you look at our line up the word awe just isn’t good enough to describe the experience. WCP: How about other guests? OH: We were really happy to expand our range of guests this year into bloggers, musicians, and podcasters. Our goal has always been to make this event about the entirety of internet artistry—-webcomics are what we know so they were the biggest part of the 2010 event. This year we are really getting closer to our overall goal to highlight the best artistic work online. WCP: Do you have any programming that you’d like to spotlight for us? OH: We’re doing so much! We’ve had people look at the programming list and freak out that they wouldn’t have time to eat or sleep to see everything they wanted. We’ve tried to make everything have strong value. Well, if you want to hear the “behind the scenes” info on Intervention, Harknell and I are doing a panel called “We are Intervention” on Saturday morning (the 17th) where we’ll answer any questions on running the event or tips on how to do your own event. And we love Blue, the musician from Hello, The Future! She’ll be doing two acoustic sets at the event with songs about webcomics, geeky things, and possibly even her Intervention-themed songs. WCP: Do you think you’ll reach a critical mass to be able to continue the show? OH: Absolutely. We’re in it for the long haul. Based on our numbers last year, and our preregistration this year, we expect at least a 25 percent growth in attendee numbers, and maybe a lot more. We’ve already blown well past our con hotel room block allocation and have had to ask the hotel to extend the number they’ll give us three times. WCP: Are you planning on keeping it in late summer/early fall? OH: Right now we think it’ll stay in this timeframe for the foreseeable future. We might bounce around a few weeks forward or back, depending on the schedules of other events. It looks like everyone who runs a show in this time of the year does that. WCP: People can buy tickets at? and get more information at? OH: Our main website is http://www.interventioncon.com, and it has full info about the event. We have an App in the iTunes app store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch called “Intervention” which has mobile info for the event. You can go directly to www.interventioncon.com/register to buy your registration online. Sept. 16-18, Hilton Washington DC/Rockville, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, from Friday 12 p.m. to Sunday 4 p.m. Registration $15-$45.

Or confinement as the French call it. How are we all? Are we rocking back and forth yet? In a Jack Nicolson, One Flew over the Cuckoo Nest, type of manner? I love referring to this and the photo to depict my a mental state. That and Betty Blue. The other week I think I came close to acting like a deranged, fatter and older version of Betty Blue. Only one day mind. One day too many some might say. If you haven’t seen Betty Blue you must. It’s about a couple in love and the is a proper head case as opposed to an ordinary head case. Well how we all doing?! So yeah, I was like “we’ve got this” at the beginning of the ‘lock down’. Keep calm carry on. I’m British. My grandad was shipped out to Italy in WWII then just to reward him, upon his return, they shipped him out to Palestine for 2 years. He said it was worse in many ways as you didn’t know who your enemy was. In any event, I’m fairly tough mentally. Or am I? Who am I even?! I see it as a chance to get DIY jobs finished, get fit and get fluent. The end. However, one day I just lost my shit. In fact, I think it was two days – a Thursday and Friday if memory serves me well. And the thing is, in both these cases, I was perfectly sane prior to losing my shit. Like a character out of the ‘The Lego Movie’ where they all sing “everything is awesome”. I don’t recall how or why the switch went from perfectly sane woman to crazy lady – it just did. I think it’s fair to say, having chatted to some of my friends, that people are experiencing similar emotions. A mini roller coaster if you will. We all know, in the grand scheme of things, it’s no great hardship. We have to stay at home blah blah blah. However, I really don’t think the “get over it” facebook posts help. Prior to this, everyone loved a “be kind” “you don’t know someone till you walk in their shoes” meme. Now it’s like you need to get over yourself. Snap out of it! Would you tell someone that if they suffered with depression (well I might – joke!)? So why say it to someone who is struggling with confinement. The loneliness, the worry, etc etc. Not only that – and I will do a whole other blog post on this – you’ve got the Covid19 Nazi’s doing the rounds on facebook. The ones sharing people getting punched, hurled abuse at for not adhering to strict confinement regulations. You’ve also got people here grassing up their neighbours so yeah good luck with living in your commune after that! I consider myself to be fairly street wise having lived in South London for 25 years but do I ever want to cross a Normandy farmer or even worse have them bear a grudge against me? Erm nope. No thanks. So suggest you all stop twitching your curtains and grassing people up and just calm down. And if anyone says, “it saves lives!” well tell that to the old people in the Ephads who make up for over 50% of the deaths here in France. Who were only told to be in their individual rooms at the end of March. I digress with a mini rant. So, without further ado here are my top tips to get you through the next, undefined, period of confinement:- Ignore All Top Ten Tips Ha ha – just kidding, however, there is an element of this. Because whilst I’m about to suggest some of those very twee things. It is also okay to say, “Do you know what? Fuck this shit!” I feel guilty enough about not being a ‘key worker’, feeling like a spare prick watching my bank balance diminish every month. It’s okay to not give a flying fuck and spend all day on social media if that is what makes a day more tolerable than the previous one. It’s okay not be okay but preferable for not too long! Otherwise I will say get a bloody grip and man up! What’s App Voice Recordings Now, prior to this I was not UK homesick in the slightest. But, what with (we’re coming into our 5th week here in France) talking to various family members and old friends – I am now feeling like I need to pay a visit. Or they can all come here! In fact, today I spent most of the day replying to various messages. I’m spending a lot of time video calling, talking, messaging and it’s nice! Everyday, on our respectful dog walks, my old chatting partner/putting the world to rights partner in crime aka ‘Em’ we voice record messages. Now if you don’t know how to do this – you simply swipe up the microphone icon. You can also do this on FB as well. The beauty of this is that you can say everything without having to schedule times when it’s good to call for the other person. Plus it’s also a bit of therapy talking out loud and sometimes you think “god yeah! that isn’t right!” or you can kind of work stuff out for yourself. Things become clearer and its good to get things of your chest. Likewise, it’s great to hear the other person’s ramblings and you really get to listen to them and hear about all those day to day minor details that you would have heard if you were living back in the UK. Get Jiggy With It! If you can get it and if you can’t improvise! You filthy cow I can hear you all say. Sorry. Not sorry. Too much information. And you thought this was a good old family blog?! Now again, if you are living with someone that is in the depths of despair and the daily death figures are not turning you on then this one might be off the agenda. However, don’t say I didn’t plant the seed. Enough said. Now this one is right up there. It.Is.Essential. For your own sanity you cannot afford not to exercise. I do not care what you do – walk, jog, dance, run, do the PE work out with Joe Wicks, gardening etc. You have to move your body and get on with it. Keep your hands busy oh er Matron. But this is my absolutely essential. Now is a great time to get fit. Step away from the Cadbury’s, dust off those kettle bells and move your ass! Okay this is more for us Normandy lifers but if you are one of those that says “my French isn’t up to it” then now is the time to make great strides on improving that. Youtube, facebook groups to find random strangers (some more bona fide than others) to chat in French too, learning apps, films etc. For those that just fancy faffing around with some holiday language – re-open that duolingo app and get going! Yarp go all war time Go all 1940s housewife with baking bread, scones, hot cross buns, Victoria Sandwich and all manner of childhood classics. Okay, this may get out of hand and you might find yourself rolling out of confinement with a double winter body but these foods make you feel good as does baking. Just make sure you don’t become like the Cookie Monster and you rein in the food sampling bit. But yarp, get baking and kneading that bread and go all domestic goddess with a body to match from all that working out you’ve been doing. Like who are you even when you leave the lock down? A goddess that’s who! Or the creative DIY. My fav Normandy lifer, the lovely Linda likes to paint any furniture that doesn’t move. So that’s all furniture. I did a fly by the other day on the pretence that I was checking on an elderly neighbour. Sorry. Not Sorry. Kept our distance. And she had paint splashes all up her arms. She shouted from the 1st floor window that she’d finished painting another set of chest of drawers. Go that woman. So, yes it doesn’t have to be “put up those lights” (incidentally which Mr Normandy has not done) but a creative bit of DIY. I don’t normally like painting – but an afternoon getting high on black gloss with more on my body than the staircase was surprisingly pleasing. In fact, I may have to replace that with number 3 on my list! That Thing That You Never Got Around To Having A Go At Yes, you know it. I know it. That thing that will sometime never happen. And it still might not happen but you can have a half baked attempt at it and you can finally give it a big tick off the list. The now I can get on with my life tick. For me, it’s figuring out how to use my sewing machine without intervention. This is never going to happen. The bobbin and me just wind each other up. I will take it up when I’m in my 60s and not before. That book – The History of France. Still on page 5. But the thought is there. Learning to play the keyboard in the summer house. Yarp, had a few goes on it. Tick. Done. Feel better on the ‘learn an instrument’ front so I did. Take up the flute again – yeah ebay could be tricky on that one but again the thought was there. Who’s going to miss me playing “Tears Of A Clown”. Erm, that would be no one. But the thought is there people, the thought is there. Faffing All Day Long On Tik Tok Now it would appear you are not doing the lock down correctly unless you are making a video that 1) is not funny 2) does not involve any slow motion or trickery but is simply you dancing like some wannabe “stars in your eyes” talent show and uploaded to facebook. I have yet to work out what Tik Tok is all about and can’t see I will have any regrets should this not happen. But don’t dis it till your try that’s what I say. Probably my absolute favourite go to. Spotify. I used to have an Ipod which used to stitch me up like a kipper every time I wanted to add a new artist. I hate you Apple and your shit Ipod’s and your phones are far inferior to Samsung so there! They did this so you would then buy their monthly music package. I still miss the Ipod as you don’t need wifi and you can go off into the wilderness – just you and your music. Spotify makes everything all okay again. You just add your music to your playlist and that’s it. I signed up to 3 months free premium and after that I think it’s £10 per month but I’ve not been charged so I won’t tell them if you won’t. Admittedly I had at least 6,000 tracks on my Ipod and I can’t possibly remember all the albums I purchased but I’m having a go at remembering them I can tell you. You can also get podcasts on it – French language learning, motivational talks and anything else which takes your fancy. So crank it up and brighten your day. Not only that my sister bought me (possibly the best present ever) a JBL speaker aka a mini beat box. No self respecting person can get through the lock down without Spotify! So there you go people, how to stay sane and healthy for this indefinitely time in confinement. Please do feel free to add your own. You have been reading Our Normandy Life!

The Superstition Mountains: Hiking near the gold legends. WHATS IN THIS BLOG: • The killer mountains. • The Peralta gold legend. • Peralta Canyon hike. THE KILLER MOUNTAINS. The forecast called for rain, but i didn’t believe it. It rarely rains in Phoenix, Arizona. In fact, it was February 2018 and it hadn’t rained for 3 months. I drove east, past Apache Junction, and circumvented the Superstition mountains, rising like a terrible black menace from the plain. The magma that was forced up thousands of feet resulted in a huge block of basalt that has few natural stream outlets. The steep rocky walls are forbidding barriers to outsiders, except at a few trailheads. The Apaches believed gods inhabited the rocky valleys and turreted hilltops, making rumbling noises when a thunderstorm struck in the summer monsoons. A book called The Killer Mountains recites several murders that have occurred there while searching for the Lost Dutchman’s fabled goldmine. But that’s another story about lost gold (click HERE). THE PERALTA LEGEND. I followed a dirt road around the south side of the mountain range and parked at the Peralta trailhead. The Peraltas were a mining family from Mexico. One story is that the Peralta family was making one last trip to the Superstitions in 1848 to recover gold. Members of the Apache tribe gathered and began a running fight with the Mexican miners. The last of the Mexicans to die were killed in the area marked on maps as the Massacre Grounds. Several Mexicans escaped but their mules were killed or scattered. The Apaches captured some mules, cut loose the bags of gold ore and left it, but took the mules to their camp. Two prospectors found $18,000 worth of gold ore in 1912 (worth maybe 10 times that today) at the Massacre Grounds. Others have searched for the lost Peralta gold, but no finds have been made public. I’ve never hiked into the Massacre Grounds, but it’s on my list! PERALTA CANYON HIKE. It’s a 5-mile hike, well-maintained, up to the Fremont saddle and back to the car park, with an elevation change of 1,370 feet. It’s a popular hike, on a moderate trail, with forests of saguaro cacti and intriguing rock shapes along the way. Palo Verde trees dot the canyon floor, remarkable because the bark in their twigs and branches and trunks does the photosynthesis work. Only a third is done by the leaves. At the top of the Fremont saddle is a spectacular view of Weavers Needle, which was near his mine according to the Dutchman, Jacob Waltz, on his deathbed. After lunch, as I started down it began to rain lightly. The moisture made the rocks shine, and emblazoned the red coloration of volcanic jasper, a semi-precious gemstone. I stopped before passing a group of 6 hikers going up. “Just to let you know….it’s snowing up at the top.” Silence. Then the last male hiker, who had a Texas accent, said, “Is it really?” I was flabbergasted that someone would believe me. So I started to sing, “I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona…..” They all laughed. As I came down, I was passed by a cheerful young man, about 30, carrying a baby in his arms. He wore only tennis shoes. I thought this was a cute scene until I realized that if he lost his footing, he had no free hands to catch his fall – and the baby could crash on the rocks. I was happy to make it back to the car with my legs intact after 5 miles of rocky terrain. It was the first real test of my hip replacement that was done a year ago. Near the bottom of the trail I tried to identify a gap in the cliffs where Bryan, my grandson, and I escaped a dangerous situation about 15 years ago. From the top at the saddle, we detoured sideways to Geronimo’s cave, where the famous Indian fighter had holed up. We decided to take a short-cut down, which required some bum-sliding on slickrock, to a plateau below. Then all we had to do was climb from the plateau down to the Peralta trail which we knew was hidden behind rocks and cactus below. But we were blocked by a line of cliffs. It was later in the day and the responsibility to get a 10-year old down to the trail and back to Meme who was waiting at the car, weighed heavily. I became worried. Bryan and I prayed together and hurried along the cliff-face before we finally found a gap in the cliffs. In the gathering darkness we plunged down a steep incline obstacled by huge boulders and by cactus thorns when we weren’t boulder-hopping. We got to the car in the dark, and found Meme crying. All other cars had left the parking area, and the last hiker said he hadn’t seen an old gray nomad and a young red-headed boy. You can read about this story in more detail, as well as other challenging hikes, in the book Hiking Toward Heaven. If you would like to receive by email each blog I write, enter your email address where it says SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG at top right (its free and your email is totally protected). If you decide later not to receive these blogs, you can unsubscribe with one easy click. The Gray Nomad ….. Help someone to hope. The steps of a righteous person are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. [Book of Psalms, chapter 37]

Searching for Back To Work After A Holiday Meme information? Below are the most relevant links to Back To Work After A Holiday Meme info. Feb 15, 2020 · Here are some back to work memes that will hopefully make your day a tad better. Going Back To Work After A Holiday Weekend. Break Over Now. Enough Goofing Off. First Day Back To Work. I Don’t Wanna Go Back To Work. I Don’t Want To Go Back To Work. If You Could Get Back To Work. Going To Work Tomorrow Like. Realizing I Have To Go Back To Work Tomorrow Jan 03, 2018 · Here Are Some Memes That Will Help You Make It Through The First Day Back At Work After The Holidays By Jessica V. Garcia January 3, 2018 at 12:14 pm As fun and relaxing as holiday vacations can be, it eventually has to come to an end and that’s the hardest part. Jul 17, 2020 · 15 Funny Life Work Memes About The Holiday Season Thatll Make. 18 Back To Work Memes Thatll Make You Feel Extra Enthusiastic. 55 Funny Travel Vacation Memes Most Popular Travel Memes Of 2019. Back To Work Gifs Tenor. Share this post. … Funny Memes About Work Work Memes Work Funnies Back To Work Humour Funny Images Best Funny Pictures Broke Meme Working From Home Meme Sunday Meme Since coming back to work after the Holiday Break Post with 9843 views. Work MemesWork QuotesQuotes For HimBack To Work HumourWork HumorFun At WorkGoing To WorkBack To Work After VacationHaha Funny. Confession. Free and Funny Confession Ecard: Going back to work after vacation is like running out of antideppressants. Create and send your own custom Confession ecard.10 pins

Raw Ecstasy overrides your senses as succulent flavours rush your palate. The unmitigated bliss of such rich, artisanal taste-blends overwhelms your very physicality itself. You are not just having an out-of-body experience. You are becoming one. No, I’m not describing the sensuous texture of Edible Insects Bag of Mixed Edible Bugs. Grasshoppers, Crickets, Silk Worms and Sago Worms by Newport Jerky Company, though I applaud you for (justly) assuming such a quality snack. No, I mean the taste of munching on these freshly handcrafted, gourmet links. Church and Theology links • Podcast interview between Mike Erre and Johanna Finegan on the church’s traditional teaching on sexuality. Johanna goes over her testimony, her experience with the ex-gay movement, and why Revoice’s critics don’t understand what Spiritual Friendship &co. mean when they talk about gay identity. • Good article from TGC summarizing what I consider to be a classic Covenantal biblical theology: From OT Baptisms to the Cross: Behold Your Escalating Bible. This was also D.A. Carson’s method in his class. My current take is that this method (1) corresponds really well with how Peter and Paul write in their epistles but (2) not very well with how Luke summarizes Peter and Paul’s sermons in Acts or how Jesus interprets the Old Testament. Which means that either my assessment of (1) or (2) is wrong, or this Covenantal position gets something right but in the wrong way or in an imprecise way. Unsure what to think from there. • The whole church is burning, not just Notre Dame. Both have a chance for rebirth. from Washington Post: That this ancient place of worship burned during Holy Week invites, perhaps paradoxically, hope. A time when Christians remember suffering and death and then celebrate resurrection speaks to the yearning for deliverance and renewal. Because Notre Dame was not completely destroyed by this tragedy — or by centuries of neglect, or by political threats — it can be reborn. … At times, I think that those who are leaving the church — the outraged parents, the women and LGBTQ people who feel excluded from its concern — may simply have more courage than I do. Yet I still want to place my bet with those who insist the church can be delivered, who remember, as with Notre Dame, that it is a work in progress about which we always have to ask, “What, exactly, do you rebuild?” • This week in conversation with a friend the cage-stage Calvinist comic came up. Here I am again, sharing it, again. (h/t David) • Brett McCracken gives us five films about the beauty of Resurrection and I’m glad but 💯 not surprised that The Tree of Life (2011) was included. Happy to see Happy as Lazzaro (2018) as well. • Someone made a Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon with audio from Apocalypse Now (1979). Now THIS is art. • Lindsay Elliott gets the spotlight on booooooom for her series “Mellowed.” During her recent travels to Morocco, Elliott found herself drawn to the time of day when there were no shadows. Mellowed by her lens, the harsh sunlight creates the impressions of a strangely preserved terrain where “subjects are inextricable from the experience of place.” • I made a new playlist of slow songs by William Fitzsimmons: • Whatever the opposite of the William-putting-me-to-sleep-with-slow-guitar-plucking would be, is encapsulated well by this awesome new track from some of my friends. Listen to Lettuce Lung by Bunker Babies: • Great summary and critique of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). An excerpt: But there are reasons to be wary of these concepts. MMT proponents offer what looks to many like a technical way around intractable political problems. But their solution is neither politically easy — could we rely on Congress to raise taxes to thwart inflation? — nor does it deal in a direct way with one of the central economic challenges of our time: The richest Americans are obstructing, subverting and distorting the way our economy works to their own benefit. • The scientific maneuver Mueller used that implicates the president: It’s a process of elimination. And this is exactly what Mueller does in his report. Mueller does not set out to prove that the president engaged in obstruction of justice; rather, Mueller recognizes that he is bound by the Attorney General’s interpretation of the law, which says the sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. In light of this legal interpretation, it would be futile for Mueller to build a case and demonstrate that the president should be charged with the crime of obstruction. So Mueller does something incredibly clever: He falsifies all of the alternative explanations. • How the far right spread politically convenient lies about the Notre Dame fire. • Pete Buttigieg meme: (h/t William) • Meet Tomatan, a wearable robot that feeds you tomatoes as you run: Tomatan is a robot that can be worn as a backpack. Weighing 8kg (18 pounds), it features a tomato shaped head with a mouth that opens to dispense the tomato into circular metal arms that then come down over the person’s mouth to feed them a tomato. As this robot is much smaller, the runner will need to hold a delivery tube up to their mouth, but the robot features a timer so the runner does not ingest too many tomatoes at one go and deplete their supply too quickly. • This comic about Type A personalities: • G-Haw music:

Violence against women and violence against children are distinct research fields. Quantitative studies have demonstrated their intersection, but qualitative data provides an opportunity for a comprehensive understanding of this interface. Using a feminist framework, we found that patriarchal family structures, gender and power dynamics contribute to the use of violence. Revenge child homicide was common with distinct gendered differences. This study calls for closer collaboration between the two fields to assist in developing prevention interventions to address and eradicate both forms of violence. Violence against women and violence against children are public health concerns, with devastating consequences Butchart and Mikton For children, Hillis et al. It has been acknowledged that violence against women and children overlap in the same household, and thus, it is imperative to understand and address potential intersections for prevention work Guedes et al. Dating Xhosa Woman Situated on the breathtaking Wild Coast, the Lodge is nestled in one of the most beautiful locations in South Africa. An eco-friendly, Fair Trade certified, affordable, multi-night destination for South African and overseas visitors alike; the Lodge is superb for backpackers and cultural wanderers of this Earth. The Xhosa community is an integral part of daily life in and around the Lodge. With no fences, no crime, and no hassles, the village is full of friendly smiles and lots of animals. You are invited to be part of this community throughout your stay – becoming part of the Bulungula Lodge and village community is the whole point of coming here! Ukrainian. Urdu. Uyghur. Uzbek. Vietnamese. Welsh. Xhosa. Yiddish. Yoruba. Zulu. Afrikaans. Albanian. Amharic. Arabic. Armenian. Azerbaijani. Basque. Happy Africa Day. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. African historical and cultural identity, has been distorted through use of political economy shows its lacks, deficiencies, interests, needs, desires, passions, tastes, ideals, motives, values, etc. This armpiece would have been part of a larger set with another matching armpiece and possibly ankle pieces as well. It has a simple clean modern art aesthetic. Back: divided. Mint Printed in South Africa. Mfengu man’s anklet, usually worn in pairs. Beadwork panel attached to a goatskin backing and tied with hooks and eyes. Eastern Cape, South Africa, 20th Century. Xhosa fringed beadwork collar from the Mpondomise tribe. Hunter Biden’s South African wife calls herself jungle girl and speaks Xhosa Courtship in Xhosa Culture Later I was very sorry, because I realised that courtship hadn’t been good to him either. His problems were very similar to mine. So I went only him and said I was sorry. He said it was alright. Guy then I started liking him. Zintle, 23, a straight black Xhosa woman from a small town in the Eastern Cape. I can’t date someone from La Lucia because, first of all, I can’t be out past a. Traditional Xhosa male circumcision rites need to be understood within a highly complex socio-sexual context involving violence, family breakdown, resource scarcity and inter-generational conflict. Significant stigma is attached both to failed initiates and uninitiated people. Boys have to be successfully initiated to marry, inherit property or participate in cultural activities such as offering sacrifices and community discussions. They are seen to be cowards who do not respect their culture and would incur the wrath of the ancestors for not complying with cultural expectations. The complications of traditional circumcision were quantified in a study in the Eastern Cape during and included sepsis Despite increased government initiatives to close down illegal initiation schools, the Eastern Cape Department of Health reported 32 initiation deaths and more than hospital admissions for the winter initiation season. Factors contributing towards morbidity and mortality during traditional circumcision include using the same knife for the whole group, voluntary dehydration and ‘ukumetsba’. Seeking medical help is considered taboo and results in failed initiation. An exploration of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of Xhosa men concerning traditional circumcision. Wakanda Is a Fake Country, but the African Language in ‘Black Panther’ Is Real These events were the longest-running military action in the history of African colonialism. The reality of the conflicts between the Europeans and Xhosa involves a balance of tension. At times, tensions existed between the various Europeans in the Cape region, tensions between Empire administration and colonial governments, and tensions within the Xhosa Kingdom, e. women may experience sexual violence by an intimate partner rape within marriage or dating relationships;. — rape by 2% in places such as La Paz, Bolivia (%),. Gaborone on violence among Xhosa township youth. In: Morrell R, ed. The super stylish and artistic, Mijou from France, migrated to South Africa in order to fulfil her vision of creating exclusive jewellery pieces while at the same time empowering and assisting disadvantaged women. She employs a community of local Xhosa women. The pieces created for La Luna Lifestyle are all one of a kind and made from semiprecious stones, shells, and various other materials. The previously disadvantaged artisans are now assured of a livelihood enabling them to care for their extended families. The ladies have learnt the skills of crochet from their mothers and grandmothers. Lulu directs their talents by designing an exclusive and stylishly, fashionable range of handbags and accessories that her team then crochet. Their work has been exposed in major stores and galleries in Europe. La Luna Lifestyle are grateful to enjoy exclusivity of this. Larry founded a team, of Zimbabwean artisans who are skilled at creating natural dyes and pigments. These artisans are from the Ndebele tribe who are renowned for painting their faces and huts in vibrant colours and designs. They have acquired their skills from their forefathers and have translated these into dyeing wooden beads to create striking necklaces and bracelets. We work closely together in creating colorways to complement our ranges. Having been born into an illiterate, male dominated, Madagascan family, Zoline was determined to elevate her status within the community. African art – Xhosa From to the diorama, representing a hunter-gatherer encampment in the Karoo, was on public view and during this time responses to the display changed, as did the wider political context of South Africa and the conceptual context of museology. After prolonged controversy, in the diorama was closed to the public, pending possible rethinking and reopening. The diorama, however, remained closed. The conceptual and political shifts that underpinned the ascendance and decline of the diorama are traced, focusing attention on power-relations and ethics, while also discussing aesthetic resonance. Ironically, the closed diorama remains open to intellectual and creative engagement. As an archive, it has current relevance for museum studies. The central figures were two hunters holding bows and arrows, and a woman reclining with the possibility of it being re-interpreted and re-opened at a later date. Claval Paul, Université de Sorbonne: Réflexions sur la centralité, cahiers de the displays included models made in the s of a Xhosa woman dressed in. Account Options Sign in. Top charts. New releases. Add to Wishlist. Your kids have flown the nest, and you finally have the time and money to do the things that you love. This is the dating app specifically designed for adults to meet and chat free. The history of Grahamstown What is a Town Cape Mate. Datin women date is indicated by the vertical red line. We can also advise some candidates for you, if you will send us your type of your dream-girl. The clicks play like gibberish to most ears, a chorus of sucking teeth and popping corks. But these seemingly obscure sounds make up a real language that is about to take a spin in the global mainstream. The setting is a fantastical African kingdom, Wakanda, unscathed by the horrors of colonization, a nation defiant of stereotypes, with technology that outpaces the rest of the planet and black superheroes who gamely defend their turf. It was Xhosa people who engaged in a century of fighting against European colonial invaders in the Frontier Wars. The language is particularly prevalent in Eastern Cape Province. It is a region where South Africans were particularly oppressed, with many living in poverty. The colonial imprint was strong there, with its many mission schools. Residents became more intellectually savvy and more deeply involved in fighting apartheid. So Mr. Any realistic discussion of contemporary politics in South Africa has, pretty quickly, to confront the question of the widely perceived primacy of Xhosa-speakers -and the equally undesirable fact of that group’s internal divisions. Largely because of the earlier spread of missionary activity in the Eastern Cape the Xhosa-speakers of the area gained an educational edge over other black groups, a factor which also helped the Xhosa elite take the political lead on several fronts. By the late s it was not unusual in some quarters to hear South African politics described wrongly as a struggle between Buthelezi’s Zulus and the Xhosa ANC. Similar head-counting in the contemporary sports world, ranging from the minister of sport through the national sports council and the rugby, soccer and Olympic committees, has led to much talk of a Xhosa Nostra. In fact, all of this is too simple. It is true that the IFP is an overwhelmingly Zulu party, but it has the support of not much more than half the Zulus of KwaZulu-Natal and less still outside the province. Zozibini Tunzi (born 18 September ) is a South African model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Tunzi had previously been crowned Miss South Africa She is the third woman from South Africa to win the title, and the first black Zozibini Tunzi en La Prensa Grá Tunzi in. A man took to social media to share how he attended a beautiful wedding with an American bride and Xhosa groom. The pair had their white wedding in America and returned to Mzansi for the Xhosa traditional wedding. Photos shared of the beautiful event went viral on social media. The ceremony was held in Katlehong. He said that the community was shocked to see so many white people in the area but it was a perfect representation of the rainbow nation. Social media users loved the pictures and his accompanying powerful message. Facebook user Malope Sandhis Lebeloane Matlala said:. Dawie Williams attended the event and filmed Warrant Officer Manyoba leading the song. He was so moved by her performance and the police officers’ unity that he almost cried. Zuma wedding: Photos of uBaba and his wifey celebrating couple’s union. John Steenhuisen to run for top DA post. The truth about the Xhosa Nostra Seniors dating dating a man d l, uzbek, xhosa men can greatly vary depending on pinterest. Now available in marathi for a pedophile or any type. Image may contain: is their girlfriends and. First date, welsh xhosa yiddish, welsh, uzbek vietnamese welsh, vietnamese, zulu women essay meme. Dog teen the issue i know of women what they thought about us xhosa men, text likes What does that have to does dating have to do with race and continent? As a Xhosa woman, from the Mpondo tribe, the thought of marriage. The Met Fifth Ave opens August The Met Cloisters opens September Your health is our top priority. Xhosa or Mfengu peoples. Beadwork has been a major form of aesthetic expression in southern Africa for nearly years. Among the many diverse ethnic groups of the region, the Xhosa peoples have an especially rich tradition of beaded regalia.

One of the most interesting byproducts of the internet, and how well it connects us to different people, is the possibility for the average person to gain fame from it. The sheer number of people that we can reach through the virtual world is staggering, something the following stats will show: - Around 40 percent of the entire world now has an internet connection, as opposed to the one percent In 1995 - By the end of 2014, over three billion people will be active on the internet - More than 72 percent of all internet users are active on social media As you can see, the exposure that the average person can access has grown by leaps and bounds, on both social media and the internet in general. Granted, not everyone can be reached by everyone else. However, even if you only reach a small percentage of these numbers, you are still talking about tens of millions of people. Internet fame can take all forms and come about as a result of some of the most unusual activities and circumstances. Take Zeddie Little, dubbed “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy.” In 2012, Little participated in the 2012 Cooper River Bridge Run in South Carolina. A photographer took a picture of Little, after which it was posted on Reddit. Mayhem ensued on different social media platforms, responding to how handsome Little looked, even when running an extensive race. If you find yourself among the mountains of people who possess only average looks, don’t fret! Laina Walker, also known by her internet-meme name, Overly Attached Girlfriend, was launched into the eyes of millions as a result of a video posted in response to a contest by singer Justin Bieber. After the video was submitted to various social media platforms, Walker’s fame was sealed, resulting in a number of follow-up parodies. Internet fame, however, is not always a good thing, a point supported by the story of Michael Brutsch. Protected by his Reddit username, Violentacrez, Michael Brutsch became known as one of the biggest “trolls” in Reddit history. This was accomplished by posting reams of controversial content, including his signature “/r/jailbait” subReddit, which posted images of scantily-clad underage children. Once CNN did an expose on the content, Brutsch’s identity was revealed, culminating in the loss of his job. Internet fame can be had in a number of different ways, regardless of what your personal talents are. A blog, a funny video, even a unique pet can result in millions of people learning who you are. Keep in mind, however, that this type of fame can easily backfire, resulting in mountains of headaches that are truly out of your hands to control. Any thoughts? Share them in a comment below!

Anti-Republican bias might be at an all-time high in Hollywood. Donald Trump has left so many within the entertainment industry completely deranged. Now an anti-Trump actress told a disturbing lie about one GOP candidate. The last four years have proven that Hollywood celebrities have no shame. They’ve debased themselves countless times in desperate attempts to take down Donald Trump. One of the most deranged is actress Debra Messing. The former “Will & Grace” star has gone on several unhinged tirades over the past four years. She suggested that black Trump supporters are mentally ill, and she ultimately deleted a post that called for Trump to be raped in prison amid backlash from both the left and the right. Now Messing slandered Georgia run-off candidates David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler as racists. Messing falsely claimed that Perdue held up a “white power” hang gesture, and referred to Loeffler as “KKKKelly.” First, the supposed “white power” hand gesture is bogus; it began as an internet joke and essentially became a meme. Second, Perdue and the Trump supporters in the picture were holding up three fingers because they made 3,000 contacts while canvassing for the special elections. The Democrats are resorting to their lazy and immoral tactic of slandering every Republican as a racist. Loeffler was recently smeared because she granted a photo request to a citizen who happened to be a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. When Loeffler learned about his identity, she condemned him and the organization. That didn’t stop the slander. Meanwhile, Loeffler’s opponent Raphael Warnock has been given a total free pass by the so-called mainstream media despite a checkered past. This is just the latest outburst from Messing. She once tried and failed to get the disgusting Twitter hashtags #TrumpIsARapist and #TrumpIsAPedo to trend. Messing’s shameless virtue-signaling has backfired on more than one occasion. In addition to deleting the tweet about Perdue and Loeffler and the unconscionable prison rape post, Messing has excoriated for endorsing blacklists for Hollywood Trump supporters. Messing also complained about a Steve Bannon proposal to increase taxes on the uber-wealthy; she had to be reminded that she’s in the party of ever-increasing taxes. Messing and so many other celebrities don’t have a grasp of the issues. They just know what they’re supposed to say to remain liberals in good standing so their careers aren’t jeopardized. Hollywood people who are counter-narrative can quickly find themselves on the outs, especially if they aren’t big-name stars. The Democrats have gone all in on the Georgia Senate races. Soon the country will find out of the lies and slander was enough to hand the Senate to the Democrats.

This week’s collection of interesting quotes from Utah politics and beyond, ranging from the thought provoking to the jaw dropping, from the dead serious to the just plain hilarious. Did we miss any? Send them to us at UtahPoliticoHub@gmail.com, and we’ll consider them for next week’s edition. Debates Start This Week! Many observers say debates don’t matter, and often that is true. But not always. In 1980, Reagan and Carter were in a dead heat until the debate where Reagan asked the viewers his devastating question, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Overnight, a close race turned into a landslide. In 2000, after the second Bush-Gore debate, a foreign ambassador who was in the room with me said, “I think Governor Bush just won the election.” That debate may very well have been the winning margin in that closest of races. You never know when a debate will become a game-changer. — Bob Bennett — Jon Cox (@joncox435) September 19, 2014 Utah’s Pretty High Tech — martycarpenter (@martycarpenter) September 18, 2014 Everybody Loves Pancakes The moment when I really started to judge Mark Shurtleff’s judgment is when I read this story a year and a half ago about the secret Shurtleff-McBride meeting. It wasn’t so much the $2 million dollars he was going to squeeze out of Jenson that got me, but rather the choice of restaurant. Mimi’s Cafe? Seriously!?! — Beehive Politics – The AG’s Scandal’s Unsolved Mystery What’s in a Name? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won’t attend another game of the Washington football team until the owner changes its “offensive” name. And it’s not likely Reid will be invited to a game of his Southern Utah University Thunderbirds until he changes his own name. It, too, apparently is offensive. —Thomas Burr, SLTrib, “Name Dropping” A Twilight Zone Moment This summer, [Rep. Paul] Ryan unveiled a better version of his previous efforts that comprehends the necessity of government programs while improving efficiency. Several lions of the liberal establishment (including Democratic activist Donna Brazile and formerClinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich) praised the congressman for providing a framework to build reform. This opportunity must not be squandered. Republicans and Democrats can utilize new ideas to enhance effectiveness of social programs in conjunction with needed increases to the minimum wage and earned income credit. — Frank Pignanelli on Ryan’s new book, The Way Forward: Renewing the American What’s Good for the Goose… “It is a disgrace to use our families for a misguided and debunked view of what is best for children[…] It is one thing to disagree with the freedom to marry, it’s quite another to go after loving parents and their children at a political rally.” Marina Gomberg, interim director of Equality Utah, a gay rights organization, in a written statement on behalf of Utah Unites for Marriage, which supports same-sex marriage. …is Good for the Gander “These photos were featured repeatedly in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune beginning as early as January 10th, 2014 and illustrate that a child will lose at least one biological relationship when it comes into conflict with a same-sex marriage.” Conservative activist Mary Summerhays, who showed photos of two men holding their son and two women with their baby daughter. Range Wars and Brush Wars “If I was going to battle, I’d want him beside me, but I don’t want him instigating a war.” Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox told a recent meeting of Utah’s Commission on Federalism regarding Dan Love, the Bureau of Land Management’s special agent in charge. This Week’s Favorite Meme: This week’s top posts: One More ICYMI

Pastor Supports Trump After Confronting Him About Racism DAVID GREENE, HOST: And I'm David Greene in Cleveland. Let's meet a man who introduced Donald Trump at a big rally here. It is Cleveland Pastor Darrell Scott. He first met Trump six years ago. DARRELL SCOTT: I looked him right in his eye and said, why should black people vote for you? You've got a reputation on the streets that you're a racist. GREENE: Trump convinced Scott he is not a racist and is a leader. SCOTT: He said, well, I would propose that we rebuild our inner cities. And who's a better builder than Donald Trump? And we need to create jobs. But who's a better job creator than Donald Trump? And I thought, no, I can't think of a better builder than Trump. And he said, that's what I do. I build. I create jobs. GREENE: I asked Pastor Scott about a recent Trump rally in North Carolina. How did you react when you saw that young black man punched? Were you at the rally? SCOTT: No, I saw it on television... GREENE: Ok, you saw it on television. What did you think? SCOTT: I was amused. SCOTT: I was amused. And listen, I mean, you've got this old coot that swung on this black guy. I mean, I was surprised that the black guy didn't punch back. I didn't like it, but I wasn't alarmed, like, oh my God. Look what happened. GREENE: If you are trying to convince people that Donald Trump is the right person to be president for the black community, how is it helpful for him to say that a white man at a rally must love his country after that man punches a young black man inside a Donald Trump rally? How is that helpful in that cause? SCOTT: Well, I'll say this. I really believe if a black guy had punched a white guy, he would've said the same thing. When people are in spectator events or participatory events, the possibility for violence exists. I mean, I acknowledge that possibility. I don't like it. I don't condone it. But I acknowledge that the potential exists. If you're at a ball game, and someone begins to disrupt - they try to run out on the court - they're going to be removed. And if they resist the movement, they're going be forcibly removed. GREENE: I've covered politics for, I mean, more than 15 years. I mean, going to campaign events - Republican events, Democratic events, different candidates. I don't know if I remember, consistently, you know, this sort of tension and violence showing up, one of them after another... SCOTT: There was a riot in 1968 in Chicago. GREENE: Well, '68, I mean, that's a long time ago. I guess... SCOTT: Yeah, but that was a political - that wasn't necessarily black-white issue. That was political as well. GREENE: But we have canceled events. I mean, what is this speaking to, to you, the fact that this anger is sort of surrounding this candidate and this is happening? SCOTT: I don't know. I think the media is driving it. I really do. I think the media is driving it. I mean, Chicago was almost a perfect storm. GREENE: This is the canceled rally recently, in Chicago. SCOTT: Yeah. You have the pro-Trump crowd there. You got the anti-Trump crowd there. Hostility is in the air. The Trump camps senses the hostility. Then they all say, you know what? We're going to have some problems tonight. I'm going to call this rally off. GREENE: Couldn't he do more to calm this down? SCOTT: He did. He canceled the event. GREENE: But saying something? I mean, it's like... SCOTT: He said, listen, we're not going to have the event tonight. Go in peace. GREENE: But saying something - saying, you know, this is politics. This is not about violence. You know, don't attack people at my events... SCOTT: But I think all the candidates could do that. You know what I haven't heard? Because, you know, you're having - Mr. Trump is blaming supporters of other candidates. And you hear the other candidates saying, no, it's not. Why won't Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich - why don't they say - if they said, listen, if you're a supporter of mine, please do me a favor. If you really support me, do not go to the Trump rallies trying to disrupt. Don't do that. We're bigger than that. We're better than that. Don't do that. I bet you you won't see any protests. GREENE: That is Cleveland Pastor Darrell Scott. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Now let's listen to Fernand Amandi here in Florida. He's in Miami. He's with the polling firm Bendixen & Amandi. He has worked for Hillary Clinton in the past, we should disclose, but no presidential candidate now. Good morning, sir. FERNAND AMANDI: Good morning, Steve. INSKEEP: So we've heard of polls saying that Trump voters are disproportionately people who are lower on the economic and education scale. But we also heard that affluent voter here in Tampa earlier in the program. Has Trump's support broadened at all? AMANDI: Well, it remains to be seen. What certainly he has been able to do is kind of defy expectations, Steve, and raise the sense that, in the Republican electorate, a lot of folks thought he was only going to be able to top out at 30, 35 percent of the vote. We now see that margin increasing into the high 40s, high 50s. Whether or not he can break that Republican bubble of support that he has into independents and even Democrats I think is the big question going in now to the general election, as it looks like he's poised to be the Republican nominee. INSKEEP: We'd seen polls in recent weeks showing that most Republican voters still oppose Trump, even though he keeps winning because he's got a plurality in a divided race. Is that changing at all? AMANDI: I think it is. I mean, I think the question now becomes - as it's now a three-man race on the Republican side and really, Ted Cruz is the only real viable anti-Trump alternative - now you have a potential Ted Cruz candidacy that could stop Trump within Republican circles and finally make the case that that limited appeal that Trump has is the reality. That Never-Trump hash tag meme that kind of emerged out of this cycle is really going to be put to the test now. And Ted Cruz is going to try and get the lion's share of these thousand delegates that are left on the table before the Cleveland convention for the Republicans. INSKEEP: Now, when you looked at the exit polls, particularly at Latinos here in Florida, where the Latino vote is so huge - and this is a part of the vote you specialize in - what did you see in yesterday's results? AMANDI: Well, I see that while Donald Trump may claim that he loves the Hispanics, the Hispanics certainly don't love him back, particularly on the Republican side. Marco Rubio dominated amongst the Republican Hispanic vote in the state of Florida yesterday. Donald Trump only managed about a quarter of that vote - only 26 percent - in spite of winning a majority of all other Republican voters in the state yesterday. So I think that's what has so many Republicans concerned about his prospects in the general election. In another recent poll we did nationally of Hispanics overall, he only managed, Steve, 16 percent of the Hispanic vote totals right now. That's way underperforming - below what Mitt Romney got in 2012 on a low-water mark, a lot of people consider, in 2012 for Mitt Romney that the Republicans cannot afford again if they want to capture the White House. INSKEEP: Well, if Trump comes back and says, hey I won Florida; that means I can win it in November when it's a swing state, would that be something that seems possible to you, given his performance among Latinos? AMANDI: You know, he's going to have to prove that he can do that outside of Republican voters. Of course, Florida's an important state, maybe the most important state. But I think he's still got lot yet to prove to show that he can be competitive here in November. INSKEEP: Fernand Amandi, thank you so much. AMANDI: Thank you, Steve. INSKEEP: He's with the polling firm Bendixen & Amandi International. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

In her book, Psychology of Conspiracy Thinking [in original Psychologia myślenia spiskowego] (2016), Monika Grzesiak-Feldman cites a late-1970s study in which researchers tested the theory that people are more inclined to attribute a big cause to big events. Participants were presented with two possible assassination scenarios: in the first one the attacker shot and killed the president, in the second, he missed. Participants were more likely to believe that the attacker was part of a larger conspiracy if his attempt was successful. But let’s come back to the present and the ongoing pandemic. The popular online meme has it that the coronavirus is a perfect illustration of the butterfly effect (a Chinese man ate a bat in November and in March you have to use your elbow to open the lift), but many people believe that a big event requires a big cause, and this is where 5G comes in. A few years ago, we saw a surge of interest in the health effects of electromagnetic fields. The public’s limited understanding of the field emitted by 5G base stations and the accumulation of unscientific beliefs had a palpable outcome. Online discussions morphed into local protests and boosted the popularity of the term ‘electrosmog’. The pandemic gave these beliefs a new life amid media reports of the burning of 5G masts in the UK, Italy and elsewhere. Quantitative analyses of social media data, for example from Twitter, suggest that this might have been up to disinformation. We have been there before. One notorious example is the emergence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the early twentieth century, which, by the way, were concocted by a Russian disinformation expert. I could explore in more detail how certain things are rediscovered time and time again, and describe the activity of the infamous Russian troll farms, but this is not what I want to focus on here. When we look at the discussions happening on Facebook, we see that the subject has been picked up by many users around the world, including Poland. A quick check of the Polish users’ discussion containing the combination of words ‘coronavirus’ and ‘5G’ reveals 40,000 social media posts last month, and most of the relevant comments are far from challenging the alleged detrimental impact of 5G. A number of narratives come to the fore: - 5G is the direct cause of the pandemic: “Yeah, but it tends to be overlooked that the first 5G masts kicked into action (Vodafone/Huawei) in Wuhan and then in Italy and Spain. Coincidence or what?” - The pandemic is a cover-up for the installation of base stations and the development of 5G legislation: “Coronavirus, people comply and stay inside listening to the news as 5G antennas are being put up over their heads. Videos made by my friend (and one shot with a phone camera)” - This is a global conspiracy against humanity: 5G and the pandemic are merely tools used by the paymasters (the name of Bill Gates often crops up in this context). There are flagrant examples of conspiracy theories and related mass-produced content. Here is an excerpt of one such post: “. . . BILL GATES: LETHAL TECHNOLOGY, CARCINOGENIC PESTICIDES AND MANDATORY VACCINATION. The winner of the pandemic . . . is, no two ways about it, Bill Gates, a philanthropist worth an estimated $90 billion, who promotes mass vaccination, surveillance, eugenics, abortion and depopulation, and is also the top financier of the WHO! His prophetic dreams of five years ago are now becoming a reality. Strange coincidence, indeed!” Coronavirus and 5G usher us into the territory of modern mythology. It has become common practice to reduce myths to ancient stories about community beliefs but this cultural phenomenon remains alive and well. Marcin Napiórkowski takes this subject up in his book Contemporary Mythology [original Mitologia Współczesna] (2013) inspired by the similarity he noticed between certain practices of the Kula ring (Trobriand Islands, the Pacific) described by Bronisław Malinowski and the practice of collecting plastic bottle caps for charity in today’s Poland. Napiórkowski references the work of Claude Levi-Strauss, who describes people with a mythological mind-set as ‘do-it-yourselfers’ (bricoleurs), admiring the way they succeed in describing and defining the world around them with the tools they have at hand. In the communities Malinowski visited, the indigenous people would explain the world with the help of plants, animals, familiar places, and so on. Napiórkowski points out that we do the same thing today except that we have access to a more extensive toolbox. The transmitter on the roof of your apartment block, or your friend’s Facebook post are much closer to home than the bat in a Chinese province which would remain largely unknown outside China if it wasn’t for the pandemic. In online communication, we can pick and choose from such resources, and mix them with what we have at hand. The overall goal remains the same: to understand and organize the world. Getting back to psychology, the conspiracy mindset has a similar function. Some specialists accord it a compensatory role, seeing it as a strategy deployed to deal with unpleasant ambivalence perceived as a feeling of inconsistency, absence of structure. Now, with the pandemic dominating the headlines, one dangerous phenomenon, which is little known, overlaps with another one which tends to be poorly understood too. The same applies to technology in general. In our daily experience, we take technology for granted ‒ how many of us can explain the workings of our smartphones, let alone of the transmitters they connect to? And little has been done to raise the public’s awareness of how 5G operates. Worthwhile educational initiatives and information are hard to come by. Some may claim that ignorance and misrepresentation are a fringe phenomenon, but one look at the most popular Google searches about coronavirus in Poland is enough to notice the preponderance of the phrase ‘coronavirus and 5G’. And the steps that the leading social networking sites have recently taken to check the spread of corona misinformation seem to be lagging behind their users’ activity. It doesn’t take long to find YouTube videos making the same claims as to the ones that have been taken down. This narrative began to gain ground worldwide in early 2020, and since then multiple materials and theories have gained wide currency. Trendwatching has recently launched a new mailing list, New World Same Humans, which seems to capture the problem perfectly. New technologies do not transform people as much as the media headlines would have it. This has been pointed out by many commentators, including Genevieve Bell, who, in her interview with Jay Hasbrouck, speaks about how anthropology can help us predict the future and deal with innovation. In nineteenth-century England, Luddites launched concerted raids to destroy mechanized looms which had replaced skilled weavers. In twenty-first-century England, 5G masts are being damaged by those who fear for their health. It would seem that history is a good teacher and that businesses and governments should give greater priority to education, but this appears a pipe dream. Here’s hoping that the recent events will make telecom companies, technology developers and governments take a broader look at the implementation of new technologies, focusing not only on infrastructure but also on its societal impacts. But it cannot be underpinned by the kind of condescending neo-colonial attitude, but an open, honest dialogue.

I was tagged for the Pastry Book Tag by three lovely bloggers: Erika, Simon and Ashley. Thank you for the nominations and sorry it’s taken me so long to do this 😦 To compensate in some way for my tardiness, please visit their fantastic blogs! The Pastry Book Tag was originally created by Writing on a Vintage Typewriter. 1. Croissant: Name a popular book or series that everyone (including you) loves. Wait! There’s more. Click here for the rest of my answers! This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Why not join in? Just answer the following three questions in a post and then put a link to that post in the Comments over at Taking on a World of Words. Wait! There’s more. Click to find out what I’ve been reading! Another captivating story of a woman pushed to the fringes of history. Covering events which occurred in the early nineteenth century, Remarkable Creatures tells the story of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, two fossil hunters in Lyme Regis. Wait! There’s more. Click to read the rest of the review!

WORDS is a monthly journal of Bitcoin commentary. For the uninitiated, getting up to speed on Bitcoin can seem daunting. Content is scattered across the internet, in some cases behind paywalls, and content has been lost forever. That’s why we made this journal, to preserve and further the understanding of Bitcoin. Remember, if you see something, say something. Send us your favorite Bitcoin commentary. Posted November 26, 2019 Bitcoin network = “IaaS” (not SaaS) “Bitcoin provides immutability as a service” There are not many applications in the world that need immutability, and perhaps only a couple that need to build immutability as part of their core stack. It’s just too expensive! Now…If we view immutability as a service — one that any application in the world can “anchor” or connect to, then we begin to reframe how we view Bitcoin, i.e.; as a broader network that settles transactions or states with value associated to them. An example here will help. There is NO reason (or very little reason) that any company (tech or otherwise) today needs to buy, host and maintain its own server infrastructure. It’s costly and it makes up only a fraction of what matters in their actual business. So they use a cloud-based service such as AWS. You’ll also note that because of the economies of scale; there are only three real options: They got in early and they poured billions upon billions into it. Immutability is similar (but also different). Similar because the infrastructure required to make something truly digitally immutable is extraordinary (perhaps even more than all of the combined infrastructure that AMZN, MSFT and GOOG operate), and it only makes sense that people will anchor to it as and when they need to. Different because it’s not something that can be run by one or a few parties. A concept like immutability (and things that inherently need it, i.e.; money) are only so if broadly owned. In other words; the more distributed and decentralized the architecture and higher the number the owners, validators and nodes, the more robust, costly and therefore immutable it is. Should one (or a few) entities manage all of it; it then undermines the value proposition and defeats the entire purpose. The Immutable Network Immutability as a service is what will bring more economic activity to the Bitcoin network in the long run, again; similar to the internet. The internet started off as a way to connect computers at a distance, and over time (as more people used and trusted it) it evolved into this new communication network that provides data / packet routing as a service. We built everything on top — and the innovation has been extraordinary. The next step is baking monetary value into a protocol owned by the collective, whose core tenet is absolute digital immutability. A network where you can’t turn back time (like in the real world). All of the economic value from applications that require this feature, along with any broader monetary / banking / capital or financial applications that require an absolute guarantee of the following key functions: Will accrue on it. And as I’ve stated ad-nauseum, the more economic activity that occurs on and on top of the Bitcoin network, the more immutable and secure it will become. It’s compounding, it is self reinforcing, it has already hit a critical mass, and it’s now a runaway train. Bitcoin is the autonomous digital network with the highest possible guarantee of the three core functions of money & finance. Other consensus mechanisms There are, and there will continue to be lots of other consensus mechanisms created. Some that might work; most that definitely won’t. They may be used on their own networks, for applications that are either private, proprietary; or for applications that don’t require an absolute guarantee of immutability and security. I personally don’t believe any money- related or high value applications will run on their own networks (except in vain over the next as this space evolves) because networks, especially those where the broad population participate, generally converge to unity. It’s why we largely have one internet; one set of protocols for email; why we all use AC power; why, within a particular jurisdiction; the network of language converges to one, and similarly so with money (there is one USD in USA, likewise one AUD in AUS). In fact — we see this as the world’s become more “global”. English hit it’s critical mass, attained the primary network effect and it’s now more functional to speak English in most places around the world. Aside from converging to unity due to efficiency and practicality, the world can probably only sustain ONE absolute, immutable, uncensorable, secure proof of work chain — because it’s expensive! This chain is likely (at this stage at least) to be Bitcoin. If we had to run proof of work for everything; we’d destroy the planet (plus it assumes nobody trusts each other for anything, which is a bigger problem anyway), and; a) If someone wants to use it as a service; they’re going to go to the one that’s got the highest guarantee. That in itself will increase that network’s guarantee; leading to that self-reinforcing recursive effect I described earlier. b) Furthermore; if you do have a novel, “light” consensus mechanism, that’s fast — you could in future anchor it to something like Bitcoin as and when you need to substantiate any claim or make a final judgement. It’s this line of logic that leads me to believe most of the economic value will be swallowed up by the Bitcoin Network over the long term, not to mention the new concepts and innovations that will emerge using the ingredients of immutability and verification — like how facebook and instagram emerged from the internet. In the next chapter, we’re going to explore the idea of Bitcoin as a new “Monetary Operating System”. Think of it like a computer operating system, eg; MacOS. We can call it the BoS (very fitting). Download the full guide at: Posted November 30, 2019 Some models are useful, some fail to meet required underlying assumptions. What’s this all about? After PlanB wrote his (by now) famous piece on the relation between Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio, a lot of people tried to debunk his model, including the author of this piece. It also inspired a lot of people to develop a competing model. But to my knowledge until today no-one succeeded in either a successful academically valid rejection of the model, or to come with a better model. One person in particular keeps coming back saying his model does a better job. Harold Christopher Burger’s idea was to build a comparable model, but instead of taking the natural logarithm of the stock to flow ratio as an independent variable, he thought the natural logarithm of time would be a better input. He reasoned that stock-to-flow is a function of time, so time itself must perform better. Even though Nick has demonstrated repeatedly (here for instance) how PlanB’s model is just better, Harold keeps claiming his work is superior. Time to take a closer look at his model and either applaud him for doing a fantastic job, or just send it (=his model) to the graveyard where it can take a rest with other failed attempts. Just like PlanB’s work, Harold’s work is also based on Ordinary Least Squares Regression. So, we check to see whether all the required assumptions are met. I have mentioned those assumptions as well in the first piece in which I reviewed PlanB’s model. Here they are listed once more. (1) The expected value of the error term is zero (which means that on average the regression should be correct) (2) The error and the independent variables should be independent. (3) The error term should be homoskedastic (i.e. error terms have the same variance) (4) There should be zero correlation between different error terms (i.e. autocorrelation is excluded) After checking whether these hold, I’ll also take a look if cointegration applies here even though cointegration with time doesn’t make much sense. I’ll follow the same procedure as followed when reviewing PlanB’s work. Data and Model To build the model I used the CoinMetrics dataset which can be found here. All data before a price tag for bitcoin was known is discarded. The first day of the dataset is presented as day 1, the second day as day 2 and so on. So we’re counting the days as of day the first price tag is available. We take natural logarithms of both the price tags and the day counts. So our data starts like this: Start of the dataset with time as days counted since start of the set or like this: Start of the dataset with time as days counted since Jan 1st 1970 (UNIX) or like this: Start of the dataset with time as days counted since bitcoin’s Genesis block (Jan 3rd 2009) Building the model and testing assumptions Before we start checking whether the assumptions hold up, we’ll start with some visual inspections of the data. Let’s see how the log-log chart looks like in case we work with time as days past since first measure. Time is a relative concept, so the performance of the model will be dependent of the point in time we consider as point 0. Relation between ln time and ln price as time is days since first available price tag for bitcoin Another logical starting point would be January 1st 1970 as day 1, we’ll go with that and look how the relation changes. Relation between ln time and ln price as time is days since 1–1–1970 Relation between ln time and ln price as time is days since January 3rd 2009 Starting to count the days as of the 3rd of Jan 2009 while first prices are not available seems a bit strange to me. It feels a bit like cherry picking the most suitable relative time series. This is what Harold used in his model, so we go with it as well here. Taking the first two would not return meaningful results as there would be too much non-linearity in those relations anyway. I would like to remark that this is where the model already starts to become shaky. After running the regression, it’s time to take a closer look at the regression results and to research the model residuals. Here’s the regression result: Regression results for ln time vs ln price Even though R-squared is quite high, R-squared is not a very meaningful metric when we evaluate the regression of two non-stationary time series. It often turns out to be quite high when we’re using trending series and we should be aware of spurious regression. Further, the coefficients seem to be both significant, but the main question is whether the underlying model assumptions are met. We’ll take a look at the residuals to check for possible issues with the model. Plots of the residuals that follow from the regression There’s a very clear pattern observable in both plots, which tells us that the residuals are likely to be autocorrelated, which would mean that the 4th assumption is not met. Next to that, we can also clearly see that the variance differs over time, which would indicate that the 3th assumption is violated as well. Both violations would lead to a falsification of the model. We will test for autocorrelation to make sure that this is an issue. The Durbin Watson statistic turns out to be 0.005 (check OLS results above) which is much smaller than the allowed lower bound value (see DW table in the Appendix). Sofar, I would conclude the model’s fundamentals are no good, and the only reason to not reject it, would be in case we can show the variables are cointegrated. Cointegration and Order of Integration In order for two time series to be possibly cointegrated, those time series have to be integrated of the same order. Time to check how the both series are integrated, as they are both clearly non-stationary (both series trend up). Let’s have a look at the original series and their first differenced series. (Differencing means taking the difference of two consecutive values in the same time series.) Variables over time and their first differenced series The charts above show that both time series are not stationary. Ln(price) is integrated of the first order as it shows to be stationary after differencing the series once. For log(time) we have to look further, as differencing once didn’t result in a stationary series. We keep on differencing to find the integration order for log(time), which resulted in the following: Log(time) seems to be 6th order integrated. Log(time) seems to be integrated of the 6ht order. This tells us that both variables are integrated of a different order and therefore cointegration is off the table. No need to run any further checks or statistical tests, as this requirement is not met. EDIT: The 6th order integration as mentioned above is not proven by any test. In fact I learned that it even might not be reaching stationarity at all. The graph showing the sixth order difference, illustrates that we reach the limitations of the computer, as we witness floating point noise. For the conclusion it doesn’t matter. Special thanks to Hmatejx for pointing this out. The model as developed by Harold Christopher Burger (more detail here: https://medium.com/coinmonks/bitcoins-natural-long-term-power-law-corridor-of-growth-649d0e9b3c94) is falsified. Since the model is falsified there is no need to compare it to any other model and PlanB’s stock to flow model in particular. A first threshold to compare a model to other models is that it should meet the fundamental assumptions. Durbin Watson table - CoinMetrics Datasets, https://coinmetrics.io/data-downloads/ - M. Verbeek, A Guide To Modern Econometrics Posted December 1, 2019 Bitcoin is a new “Monetary Network”, not a “Payments Technology”. Bitcoin is the first time we’ve combined Money as a unit, with Money as a Network, into one thing. And because it’s so different, it’s hard to wrap our heads around it. The problem is further compounded by the fact that nobody really understands money, but most people get payments. Payments are easy: move money, and because it’s been handled digitally for the last 20–30yrs now, it’s even easier to grasp. But money, that’s a much broader, more foundational concept, and to understand Bitcoin better; we’ll need to understand its real innovation, and in the process separate ‘money’ from ‘payments’. As we’ve established, Immutability is derivative of cost. It’s this cost of validating transactions and maintaining the network of distributed but consistent ledgers that gives something like Bitcoin its immutability. Bitcoin’s true innovation was an autonomous network that can establish the authenticity and validity of the state of the broadly distributed ledger. The ONLY advantage of using this type of costly infrastructure is for actions that require a large degree of trust and assurance, those that should never fail and those that should not be easily reversed. There are a limited set of these, i.e. every transaction / or state change that happens in the world does NOT need this. The world works pretty fine right now. Could we make it better by stamping a “net state” to something immutable once a week / once a month? Yes — definitely. But every transaction? No way. It’s just overkill. Bitcoin is the most secure / immutable network that exists, NOT because of its “blockchain”, but because of its elaborate and expensive authentication mechanism. Your laptop has the ability to process hundreds of thousands of transactions a minute. That process is trivial. Payments is trivial. Autonomous, distributed validation is the innovation. And this is where people go astray. People don’t ‘get’ bitcoin because they perceive it as some form of payments technology, or some “blockchain” mechanism (which they don’t really understand) for moving funny internet money (which they also don’t understand). That’s not what Bitcoin is. Bitcoin is a complete reinvention of “money” — the world’s oldest social contract and society’s most foundational layer. To understand its impact, you need to have a broad understanding of both networks and money. The problem is, most people don’t. In fact, nobody really understands what money is, because it’s not taught anywhere. Few can define it, whether they’re in banking, finance, technology, fintech, capital markets, and especially payments — so they apply their biases to it, and completely miss the point. It’s like discussing the structure of the egyptian pyramids with your pet goldfish. The goldfish simply lacks the context. Money requires an understanding of our evolution as a species, anthropology, biology, social engineering, psychology, game theory and what I like to call “the societal stack.” Discussing this is well outside the scope of this section, but I’ll touch on an area which I hope will give you a reference point, the societal stack, in a subsequent section of this edition of The Bitcoin Times. The complexity of network dynamics doesn’t make the job of understanding Bitcoin any easier. I will touch on this further in a dedicated section — but suffice it to say networks are just as foreign to our intuitive understanding of the world as the pyramids are to the goldfish — the track record of the experts adds weight to this. Back to payments VS money. Bitcoin is not a “payments technology”. It’s fundamentally a reinvention if money. Like the motor vehicle was a reinvention of transport — not a better horse and cart. Same as the internet. It reinvented the fabric upon which we communicate. It reinvented the way information is transported. It did not push more, richer or smarter “data” through the phone networks infrastructure. It used that infrastructure as physical onramps; but the internet is not the cables, or the hardware — it’s so much larger. That’s why it swallowed them up and is the foundation upon which the majority of today’s society operates. And what’s more, the internet is only picking up speed. Bitcoin is where the internet was in the late 80s. Still largely misunderstood. People are still arguing about speed of payments! They don’t realise that “payments” as we know them today will completely transform. The same way we’re no longer talking about the quality of the phone call and number of phone calls this “internet thing” will support, we will see new conversations emerge for what can be done on Bitcoin. The world is changing. The internet was only the beginning….Bitcoin is the next chapter. Speaking of next chapters, as we near the end of the Medium series for the first edition of The Bitcoin Times, we’re going to begin exploring networks, how the function and dig into where there are some high level conceptual similarities to the internet. Download the full guide at: Posted December 2, 2019 It’s not that simple. I would personally very much like to see Confidential Transactions in Bitcoin. Hiding transaction amounts by default - while not a silver bullet for privacy on its own - would make CoinJoin a lot more powerful (right now you need to use matching amounts because you’d leak linkage otherwise anyway). I think it’s fair to say that it may help achieve a level of privacy that is very hard to reach with existing on-chain techniques. Confidential Transactions however very fundamentally change how transactions work, as cleartext amounts are currently expected in transactions. Without (extremely invasive) hard fork, this cannot be changed. Even if they’re suddenly permitted, nobody can force existing wallets to suddenly adopt them. Doing so would break compatibility, and go against very basic expectations of not invalidating existing non-broadcast transactions. Such a change being successful probably implies Bitcoin lost some of its most valuable properties to begin with. Thus: CT (or any form of amount hiding) has to be opt-in. But opt-in doesn’t need to imply opt-in on a per-transaction basis. An extension block effectively does that: by having two clearly delineated sides and a need for explicit, possibly slow/expensive, operations to transfer between them, you create a world where CT is the default, and possibly even cheaper than the other side. Sure, people still have the option to use the legacy side, and for a long time they probably will due to compatibility reasons, but in the long term it probably means much better privacy than any solution with per-transaction choice for CT or not. It turns out that CT-in-an-EB is also far simpler and more efficient than trying to hack it into the existing transaction structure. So, I believe that Extension Blocks are the only (somewhat) practical way of introducing CT to Bitcoin. That said, there are many caveats: - CT transactions are far more computationally expensive and larger than current transactions, and it would be very unfortunate if the more private choice ends up being more expensive to use. - CT introduces a much stronger assumption on cryptography than we currently have. You can’t just run through the UTXO set, sum up the values, and see that it doesn’t exceed the expected subsidy. - In fact, CT inherently either must make privacy condition on cryptographic assumptions, or soundness (=printing of money). Bitcoin currently relies on the ECDLP assumption for theft, but this can (in the long term) be upgraded to another assumption if necessary (e.g. because we believe ECDLP is on shaky grounds, quantum computing, …). With CT this is not so easy anymore, as this assumption will now cover amounts as well. - It’s a pretty damn big change that would need a huge demand from the ecosystem to be successful. - All the same issues apply to MW, and more. MW is a more advanced form of CT that has an even more invasive impact on basic data structures, and probably simply cannot be done without an EB at all, as it is so fundamentally different from Bitcoin’s current blockchain (the MW blockchain can shrink over time!). It also removes Script or even the ability to have something Script-like. Let me come back to point (3) above. There is a very fundamental result in zero-knowledge proof techniques that you cannot have both unconditional privacy and unconditional soundness. We however do know of ways to have either unconditional privacy or unconditional soundness, so there is a design choice between them. - CT with unconditional privacy but computational soundness is the most common choice. This means that if somehow ECDLP breaks (math breakthrough, unexpected structure in secp256k1, quantum computer), someone could undetectably print coins, but the privacy of past (and future) transactions would be unaffected. To the best of my knowledge, Monero, ZCash, Grin, all use this model. - CT with unconditional soundness but computational privacy is also possible. This means that an ECDLP break would not let anyone print coins, but the privacy of future (and past) transactions would be at risk. Unfortunately, this choice is much less efficient, and pretty much no systems use it. Given Bitcoin’s design focus on controlled inflation, I expect that many people would prefer the second model over the first if a choice needs to be made. There is however also a point to be made that if ECDLP is broken, the future of the system is inherently at risk, but we may not want to give up the privacy of the past when that happens - a point in favor of the first model. The nice (or scary…) thing about an Extension Block based CT design is that we could have either, or both, and without actually directly affecting the value of the legacy chain. You’d need to move coins explicitly to the CT side, and if unexpected inflation would happen there, simply not all of it would be able to move back to the legacy side. Unexpectedly, this may actually mean a different exchange rate for coins on both sides, if the public’s trust in the security for one is seriously affected. By Lucas Nuzzi Posted December 3, 2019 Bitcoin has come a long way over the past ten years. Relative to the first iteration of its software, the quality and reliability of current implementations has remarkably improved. Rapidly and organically, Bitcoin was able to lure a legion of developers to dedicate thousands of hours to improve, and at times revamp, most of its underlying codebase. Nevertheless, Bitcoin is still the same. Much like a constitution, the core set of consensus rules that define its monetary properties, such as its algorithmic inflation and hard-coded supply, remain unchanged. Time and time again, factions have attempted to change these core properties, but all hostile takeovers thus far have failed. It’s often a painful process, but one that highlights and solidifies two of Bitcoin’s biggest virtues: - No single party can dictate how Bitcoin evolves - The lack of centralized control protects Bitcoin’s monetary properties Interestingly, these are the rules that attract cypherpunks and institutional investors alike. These are the rules that make bitcoin an unprecedented type of money. However, these are also the rules that make developing software atop Bitcoin more challenging than any other digital asset. In essence, Bitcoin’s constitution awards developers a limited toolkit so that they can’t infringe upon its monetary policy. There’s too much at stake to move fast and break things. That means innovation in Bitcoin requires creativity, patience, and perhaps most importantly, ego-minimization. After all, the fundamental rules embedded in Bitcoin’s constitution ultimately supersede technology. This is why Silicon Valley has had a hard time understanding Bitcoin’s value proposition, it’s not just a technology, financial instrument, or consumer application; it’s an entire monetary system supported by technology. Changing Bitcoin’s constitution requires a quasi-political process that can infringe upon its monetary properties, therefore, technological innovation is implemented as modules. As often pointed out, Bitcoin’s modular approach to innovation is analogous to the evolution of the Internet’s protocol suite, whereby layers of different protocols specialized in specific functions. Emails were handled by SMTP, files by FTP, web pages by HTTP, user addressing by IP and packet routing by TCP. Over the years, each of these protocols evolved to provide the full experience you’re having this very second. In Spencer Bogart’s excellent post on the emerging Bitcoin technology stack, he makes the case that we are now witnessing the beginning of Bitcoin’s own protocol suite. As it turned out, the inflexibility of Bitcoin’s core layer gave birth to several additional protocols that specialize in various applications, like Lightning’s BOLT standard for payment channels. Innovation is both vibrant and (relatively) safe, as this modular approach minimizes systemic monetary risks. So much is happening at the many layers of Bitcoin’s technology stack, it can be incredibly difficult to keep track of emerging solutions. The diagram below is an attempt to map all relatively new initiatives and showcase a more complete picture of Bitcoin’s technology stack. It is not exhaustive, and it does not signal any endorsement for specific initiatives. It is, nevertheless, impressive to see that innovation is being pushed on all fronts; from layer 2 technologies, to emerging smart contract solutions: There has been a lot of talk lately about the rate of adoption of the Lightning Network; Bitcoin’s most prominent layer 2 technology. Critics often point at an apparent decline in the number of channels and total BTC locked in Lightning; two metrics frequently used to evaluate user adoption. Although the community has converged on such metrics, it is important to point out that they are fundamentally flawed given the way Lightning works under the hood. One of the most underrated virtues of the Lightning Network is its straightforward privacy properties. Since Lightning does not rely on global validation of all state changes (i.e. its own blockchain), users can transact privately over using additional techniques and network overlays, like Tor. At this point, we can estimate the percentage of private usage of the Lightning network by analyzing the number of channel opening transactions on-chain, and comparing that to the number of public channels off-chain. Christian Decker estimates that 41% of Lightning channels are private: Activity happening within these channels is not captured by popular Lightning explorers. As such, an increase in private usage of Lightning results in a decrease in what can be publicly measured, leading observers to erroneously conclude that adoption is down. While it is true that Lightning must overcome substantial usability barriers before it can enjoy wide adoption, we must stop using misleading metrics to make assertions about the current state of the network. As Decker pointed out in his talk at the latest Lightning Conference in Berlin, even the above estimate of private vs. public channels is flawed, as the adoption of Schnorr signatures will make channel-opening transactions indistinguishable from regular transactions. Another interesting recent development in the field of layer 2 privacy was the creation of WhatSat, a private messaging system atop Lightning. This project is a modification of the Lightning deamon which allows for relayers of private messages (the messengers that connect the entities communicating) to be compensated for their services via micropayments. This decentralized, censorship-and-spam-resistant chat was enabled by innovations in LND itself, such as recent improvements in the lightning-onion, Lightning’s own onion routing protocol. The growth of Lapps, or Lightning Applications, demonstrate the wide applicability of these innovations when it comes to consumer applications, from a Lightning-powered cloud computing VPS to an image hosting service that shares ad revenue via microtransactions. And that’s just layer 2 innovation within Lightning. More generally, we define Layer 2 as a suite of applications that use Bitcoin’s base layer as a court where exogenous events are reconciled and disputes are settled. As such, the theme of data anchoring on Bitcoin’s blockchain is much broader, with companies like Microsoft pioneering a decentralized ID system atop Bitcoin. Such initiatives increase the demand for on-chain reconciliation and are instrumental for the long-term development of a Bitcoin fee market. There are also a number of projects attempting to bring back expressive smart contract functionality to Bitcoin in a safe and responsible way. This is a significant development, because starting in 2010, several of the original Bitcoin opcodes (the operations that determine what Bitcoin is able to compute) were removed from the protocol. This came after a series of terrifying bugs were unveiled, which led Satoshi himself to disable some of the functionality of Script, Bitcoin’s programming language. Over the years, it became crystal clear that there are non-trivial security risks that accompany highly-expressive smart contract functionality. The common rule of thumb is that the more functionality is introduced to a virtual machine (the collective verification mechanism that processes opcodes), the more unpredictable its programs will be. More recently, however, we have seen new approaches to smart contract architecture in Bitcoin that can minimize unpredictability, but also provide vast functionality. The devise of a new approach to Bitcoin smart contracts called Merkleized Abstract Syntax Trees (MAST) has ignited a new wave of supporting technologies that attempt to optimize the trade-offs between security and functionality. Most prominently is Taproot, an elegant implementation of the MAST structure that enables an entire application to be expressed as a Merkle Tree, whereby each branch of the tree represents a different execution outcome. Along with Taproot will come a programming language called Tapscript, which can be used to more easily express the spend conditions associated with each branch of the Merkle Tree. Another interesting innovation that has recently resurfaced is a new architecture for the implementation of covenants, or spend conditions, on Bitcoin transactions. Originally proposed as a thought experiment by Greg Maxwell back in 2013, covenants are an approach to limit the way balances can be spent, even as their custody changes. Although the idea has existed for nearly seven years, covenants were impractical to be implemented before the advent of Taproot. Now, a new opcode called OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (formerly known as OP_SECURETHEBAG) is leveraging this new technology to potentially enable covenants to be safely implemented in Bitcoin. At first glance, covenants are incredibly useful in the context of lending (and perhaps bitcoin-based derivatives) as they enable the creation of policies like clawbacks to be attached to specific BTC balances. But their potential impact on the usability of Bitcoin goes vastly beyond lending. Covenants can allow for the implementation of things like Bitcoin Vaults, which, in the context of custody, provide the equivalent of a second private key that allows a party that has been hacked to “freeze” stolen funds. There are so many other applications of this technology, like Non-Interactive Payment Channels, Congestion Controlled Transactions, CoinJoins, it truly deserves a standalone post. For more on this, check out Jeremy Rubin’s BIP draft. It is important to note that Schnorr signatures are the technological primitive that make all of these new approaches to smart contracts possible. After Schnorr activates, even edgier techniques being can be theorized, such as Scriptless Scripts, which could enable fully private and scalable Bitcoin smart contracts to be represented as digital signatures (as opposed to opcodes). Similarly, Discreet Log Contracts also employ the idea of representing a smart contract’s execution outcome as a digital signature for better privacy and scalability. Together, these new approaches may enable novel smart contract applications to be built atop Bitcoin and Schnorr is the basis of it. There have also been some interesting developments in mining protocols, especially those used by mining pool constituents. Even though the issue of centralization in Bitcoin mining is often wildly exaggerated, it is true that there are power structures retained by mining pool operators that can be further decentralized. Namely, pool operators can decide which transactions will be mined by all pool constituents, which grants them considerable power. Over time, some operators have abused this power by censoring transactions, mining empty blocks and reallocating hashing output to other networks without the authorization of constituents. Thankfully, there are technologies that are attempting to flip that power structure upside down. One of the most substantial changes coming to Bitcoin mining is the second version of Stratum, the most popular protocol used in mining pools. Stratum V2 is a complete overhaul that implements BetterHash, a secondary protocol that enables mining pool constituents to decide the composition of the block they will mine and not the other way around. Stratum V2 also implements several optimizations, and allows mining pool constituents to better communicate and coordinate. Another interesting development in the mining industry that should contribute to more stability is reignited interest in hashrate and difficulty derivatives. These can be particularly useful for mining operations that wish to hedge against hashrate fluctuations and difficulty readjustments. While these derivatives have yet to be productized, this marks an interesting evolution in the industrialization of Bitcoin mining. After our report on Schnorr signatures, some privacy-coin advocates were outraged by the suggestion that sufficient privacy may be optionally achieved in Bitcoin at some point. Although this suggestion may challenge theses around the long-term value proposition of privacy assets, there are a host of emerging protocols that can bring better privacy into Bitcoin. Although it is likely that privacy in Bitcoin will continue to be more of an art than a science, there have been interesting innovations on this front that are worth highlighting. Before we delve into specific privacy innovations, it’s important to highlight that the biggest impediment to private transactions across digital assets is the fact that most solutions are half-baked. Privacy assets that focus on transaction-graph privacy often neglect network-level privacy, and vice versa. Both vectors suffer from a lack of maturity and usage, which makes transactions easier to de-anonymize via statistical traceability analysis at either the P2P network layer or the blockchain layer. Thankfully, there are several projects pushing boundaries on both fronts. When it comes to transaction-graph privacy, solutions like P2EP and CheckTemplateVerify are interesting because privacy becomes a by-product of efficiency. As novel approaches to CoinJoin, these solutions can increase the adoption of private transactions by users that are solely motivated by lower transaction fees. Although privacy guarantees are still suboptimal under a CoinJoin model, unshielded sent amounts can still be beneficial, as they preserve the auditability of Bitcoin’s supply and free float. If lower transaction fees become a motivator and lead to an increase in Bitcoin’s anonymity set (the % of UTXOs that are CoinJoin outputs), de-anonymization via statistical clustering analysis will become even more subjective than it already is. Some blockchain analysis companies have been able to trick law enforcement agencies into believing an assigned probability that a UTXO belongs to a specific user, but the underlying model is already extremely nuanced and fragile. If the majority of UTXOs become CoinJoin outputs, that might break existing approaches to clustering. Before that can happen, there’s a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done on the usability front so that all Bitcoin users, tech savy or not, have equal access to privacy mechanisms. Beyond P2EP and CheckTemplateVerify, a recent development in usability was the proposal of SNICKER (Simple Non-Interactive CoinJoin with Keys for Encryption Reused), a novel way to generate CoinJoins with untrusted peers. SNICKER combines several technologies to grant users access to CoinJoin transactions without having to trust or interact with their peers. Progress is also noticeable in protocols that aim to improve the privacy and efficiency of P2P communications. Over the course of 2019, the privacy-preserving network protocol Dandelion was successfully tested across multiple cryptonetworks. Even though privacy in transaction propagation is not a silver bullet when it comes to the full spectrum of P2P communication, protocols like Dandelion can still meaningfully increase user privacy by hiding the originating IP address of a nodes broadcasting a transaction. A final development in Bitcoin’s networking stack worth highlighting is a new transaction relay protocol called Erlay. Although still at a very early development stage, Erlay is an important innovation because it can considerably reduce the bandwidth requirements of running a Bitcoin full node. If implemented, Erlay’s efficiency gains can enable users to participate in transaction relay, which is bandwidth intensive, and continuously validate the chain, especially in countries where Internet Service Providers impose caps on bandwidth. The Tip of the Iceberg It is incredibly difficult to track all the innovation happening in Bitcoin, and this post is just a scratch on the surface. This brings us to the key takeaway of this piece: Bitcoin, in its totality, is a constantly evolving suite of protocols. The modular approach to innovation described here is important, as it plays a key role in minimizing politicism in the evolution of Bitcoin and protects its fundamental monetary properties. Remember this article the next time someone claims Bitcoin is a static technology. Connect with DAR Posted December 3, 2019 This installment of Off The Chain is free for everyone. I send this email to our investors daily. If you would also like to receive it every morning, join the 38,000 other investors today. To investors, There are a lot of common misconceptions surrounding Bitcoin. These usually revolve around cybersecurity, energy consumption, monetary competition, or some other nuanced element of the digital currency and the tertiary impact on the world. But one misconception is rarely spoken of — the difference between mercenaries and missionaries. This framework was developed by John Doerr, the famous venture capitalist who led Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for many years, and was first presented publicly when he said “we need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.” The Harvard Business Review did a great job explaining what Doerr meant by this in an April 2016 article: As Doerr explained to an audience at Stanford Business School, mercenaries are “opportunistic.” They’re “all about the pitch and the deal” and are eager to sprint for short-term payoffs. Missionaries, on the other hand, are “strategic.” They’re all about “the big idea” and partnerships that last, and they understand that “this business of innovation is something that takes a long time” — it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Mercenaries have “a lust for making money,” while missionaries have “a lust for making meaning.” Mercenaries obsess about the competition and fret over “financial statements,” while missionaries obsess about customers and fret over “values statements.” Mercenaries display an attitude of entitlement and revel in the “aristocracy of the founders,” while missionaries exude an attitude of contribution and welcome good ideas wherever they originate. Mercenaries strive for success; missionaries aspire to “success and significance.” John Doerr used the framework to talk about entrepreneurial teams, so what exactly does this have to do with Bitcoin and finance? More than you would think. Generally, Wall Street is full of mercenaries. These individuals are focused on profits. They operate in a cutthroat environment where everyone in a deal is trying to screw over everyone else. Employees will leave in a heartbeat for bigger bonuses or more opportunity. There is very little loyalty and most people make decisions optimized around personal gain. This is almost the complete opposite of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Rather than mercenaries, Bitcoin has benefited from a long list of missionaries. Whether it is Wences Casares teaching Silicon Valley luminaries one after the other about Bitcoin in the early days or Andreas Antonopoulos traveling around the world to educate millions of people for free, Bitcoiners believe in something much more important than profits. They believe in a better world. They see Bitcoin as a way to break the current systematic issues plaguing society. Simply, they believe that Bitcoin can change the world. When mercenaries and missionaries compete with each other, the missionaries usually prevail. They believe in what they are doing on a much deeper level. They are willing to go to greater lengths to succeed. They can endure more pain. They refuse to give up. The mission is so important that the missionary is willing to dedicate their lives to seeing it come to fruition. This fanaticism is what has driven Bitcoin from non-existence to one of the most popular currencies in the world in only one decade. People are drawn into the Bitcoin ecosystem for many reasons initially — some for profits, some for the technology, some for the polymath-like complexity — but almost anyone who stays around through the bull and bear market cycles has a belief in something much more important than profits. Nowhere is this more apparent than when we evaluate what people are doing with their Bitcoin. Twitter analyst @Rhythmtrader recently looked at how many people have moved their Bitcoin in the last year and found that more than 11,500,000 haven’t moved at all. These people don’t care about the USD exchange value of Bitcoin. They believe in Bitcoin. They won’t be shaken out by price movements. In their mind, 1 BTC equals 1 BTC. We aren’t building a new trading asset, we are building a new financial system that decentralizes power from a corrupt and rigged system. For Bitcoiners, this isn’t an investment. It is a protest. A peaceful protest against the system. Better yet, Bitcoin is a revolution. A revolution that stands to change the world in ways that most people can’t even comprehend yet. If successful, Bitcoin will usher in a new era where there is a separation of state and money. One where people are asked to trust transparent software systems over humans. Quite literally, Bitcoin will disrupt the power structure of the world by simply surviving. For some, this is a scary world. For others, it is a necessary world. And this is the largest misconception in the institutional investment world. The decision to allocate capital is not about today’s price and where it may go in the future. It is much more simple than that. Most institutional investors have 100% of their portfolio exposure in the dollar-denominated, fiat financial system. There is now a new financial system being built. An alternative. Plan B. By choosing not to allocate any capital to this new financial system, institutional investors are claiming 100% confidence that the legacy system will survive. That the legacy system will prevail. But if an institution thinks there is even a 1% chance that this new financial system will thrive, they must allocate capital to that system or risk missing one of the most disruptive events of our lifetime. The allocation percentages of the new and old system should mirror the confidence level that an institution has in each financial system winning over the long run. But institutions aren’t missionaries. They are mercenaries. They play games of probability. They underwrite risk. They are unemotional about their investments. So we shouldn’t expect them to have more than 1-5% exposure to the new world. But Bitcoiners are the exact opposite. Bitcoin isn’t risky to them, not owning Bitcoin is risky. These missionaries believe in something that seems irrational to most. But if Bitcoiners are successful, the mission will seem obvious in hindsight. Whenever I see missionaries competing with mercenaries, the choice is obvious. And to say that I believe in the future potential of what we are all building would be an understatement. The current system is broken for most people. They can’t get ahead. They have no way to fight back. The issues are systemic. And there won’t be a solution until we change the system. Bitcoin is doing just that. As Rhythmtrader said so eloquently, “Hodlers of last resort are insane.” But in the future, the nocoiners will be seen as having been the insane ones. By Lucas Nuzzi Posted December 5, 2019 2010 - Satoshi decentralizes Bitcoin by leaving his leadership role as its creator, and never again commenting on its development. The Bitcoin community self-organizes, and begins to grow into new type of global institution. 2011 - The Silk Road showcases one of the biggest virtues of Bitcoin; it can’t be censored or confiscated. A drawback? It’s not private. The Mt. Gox fiasco highlights infrastructural deficiencies; the lack of secure custody standards and the systemic risks imposed by exchanges. 2012 - BIP23 formalizes the concept of mining pools, an emerging structure that further decentralizes the power structures within Bitcoin. BIP32 introduces HD keys & sets a new standard for Bitcoin custody and user onboarding via safer wallets. 2013 - BIP39 introduces mnemonic keys to Bitcoin. ➡️➡️For the first time in human history, you can store your wealth in your brain by memorizing 12 words. No centralized intermediaries needed. ⬅️⬅️ 2014 - BIP42 makes it impossible for Bitcoin’s 21M cap to be infringed upon via continuous mining. Mining industrializes and hashrate surpasses 100 PH/s for the first time. Meanwhile, pundits claim Bitcoin is dead and that the future is “blockchain, the miraculous database” 2015 - On-chain volume hits an all time high and tensions are visible. The power structures in Bitcoin are tested with 9 competing block-size-increase BIPs. We faced the question: Who controls Bitcoin? Miners?❌ Developers?❌ Personalities? ❌ Users ✅ 2016 - “The Bitcoin Lightning Network” is published. As the risks of on-chain scaling become clear, promising alternatives like Lightning show that a layered, backwards-compatible approach to technological innovation is possible. BIP114 introduces MAST and minds are blown. 🤯 2017 (a) - The global speculative bubble brings Bitcoin to the masses. Orange Bs can be seen everywhere. Infrastructure is being pushed on all fronts; custody, markets, wallets, education. Bitcoin becomes a liquid asset on a global scale. 🌎 2017 (b) - One of the most important events in Bitcoin history also takes place in ‘17: the SegWit2X fork. There’s an attempt to highjack Bitcoin with plenty of enterprise support: the ultimate stress test of Bitcoin governance USAF reinforces that users are the ones in charge 2018 - “Enterprise Blockchain” is now a sad meme. The ecosystem outside of Bitcoin faces a series of hard realizations: Scaling is hard, on-chain governance is flawed, deployment takes time, and you might have broken the law. Institutions converge on BTC. 2019 - Bitcoin is now a movement with representatives everywhere; in media, government, traditional finance, tech. It’s like Fight Club, but rule #1 to only talk about it. Bitcoin started this decade on the fringes. We now have a bitcoiner in a US state senate. Bitcoin had everything to die in multiple occasions over the course of this decade… it didn’t. Its power structures were tested over and over again. Yet, here we are. Who would’ve thought a leaderless system that converts electricity into money would’ve lasted this long? As we approach a new decade of social anxieties, geopolitical tension and crazy monetary policy, you can be sure Bitcoin will still be here. There’s no way to put the genie back in the bottle. I think Hal would’ve been proud. You too should start: Posted December 7, 2019 Bitcoin has done a lot in its 11 years of existence. Perhaps one surprising role of Bitcoin has been exposing economic ignorance—namely the economics of money—of many people. I humbly include myself in that category of people (fortunately, it can also be an invaluable tool for helping you to learn the subject as well). Bitcoin is a nebulous and mysterious amalgam of technical computer science and economics to the newcomer. Very few people, even experts in one field or the other, can instantly grasp all that is Bitcoin. It takes even the best of minds some time to sort through and figure out. We all can identify money. We use it a lot and think about it even more. It is absolutely instrumental in our ability to perform economic calculation, which is what we do when we use the information that prices provide to help us best direct resources to their most efficient uses. But while we can talk about any number of things about money, few people are actually able to explain what money truly is and how any given thing that is used as money came about. This confusion is one of the things that pulls people into many incorrect conclusions about Bitcoin, including plenty of well-respected people. This includes, Jeffrey Tucker, who recently penned a piece on the American Institute of Economic Research (AIER) called “A Cautious Retrospective on Bitcoin.” Tucker was an early enthusiastic proponent of Bitcoin, then got sucked into the Bitcoin Cash and altcoin hype, and now I’m not exactly sure how to categorize him. In his AIER piece, Tucker lays out five reasons why he’s feeling a little bit more on the bearish side of Bitcoin and by doing so shows that he has some key misunderstandings of Bitcoin. Let’s dive into his piece. Before his list of five cautions, Tucker starts by showing two charts, one of transactions per day and the other of the USD exchange trade volume. He points out that transactions are at 2016 levels and exchange volumes are at 2017 levels. He then shows a third chart of wallet usage, which is steadily rising at an increasing rate, but that metric “belies the hope of a disintermediated money.” Has Bitcoin taken a step backwards and is it on the decline? It’s ironic that Tucker, a man who like the rest of us scoffs at all the announcements that “Bitcoin is dead” during a bear market, would get so easily rattled in the latest lull following the by far biggest bull run to date. To be fair, he hasn’t bought the casket yet, but it is surprising that Tucker apparently believes that trading activity during a surge to almost $20,000 per bitcoin would sustain itself after the price correction. We all saw what was going on in late 2017. Everyone and their mother were trying to buy and sell Bitcoin. Once the price fell back down, did anyone really expect the people trying to get rich quickly to stay in the market? Regardless of whether or not 2016 and 2017 were cherrypicked to compare metrics, Tucker’s problems are predicated from his idea that the health of Bitcoin’s adoption is based on how much it is transacted with. Since money’s primary use is as a medium of exchange, Tucker and many other critics of Bitcoin make the mistake of believing that money is only useful for spending in the present. They ignore that the delay of exchange, also known as saving, is also a perfectly valid—and not to mention absolutely critical—use of money. After all, what is money but a tool that transports current value across time and space for future uncertainty? This describes money’s ability to function as a store of value, which as Michael Goldstein put it is “a metaphor for using a medium of exchange for exchange in the long term.” Bitcoin is still in its very early stages and those of us who see it as a way to shore up the attack surfaces that destroyed the gold standard believe that it will have a much greater value in the future as it monetizes around the world in the winner-take-all game of money. Meanwhile, fiat bolstered by legal tender laws is continuously inflated by central banks, pillaging the purchasing power of money. And we’ve seen the results of this: when money is expected to be worth less tomorrow than it is today, there is a strong incentive to get all the stuff you can exchange it for in the present. Everyone thinks about gratification today without regard for tomorrow. Prices are corrupted and economies have to absorb huge amounts of waste. Thank goodness for sound money, the only medicine for this disease. When someone has both Bitcoin and fiat, he expects the value of the former to appreciate while he expects the latter to lose its value over time. Any rational economic actor will choose to spend his fiat while holding his Bitcoin whenever he can. This is Thiers’ law. He will also begin to demand payment in Bitcoin while charging a premium if someone must pay him in fiat. Eventually, everyone dumps their fiat on the greatest fools and it becomes so valueless that no one will accept it as payment even at great premiums. Since Bitcoin is now the only acceptable means of payment, it has become the common medium of exchange. But since Tucker brought up numbers and charts as metrics for his proof that Bitcoin’s adoption is waning, let’s consider some of our own. It’s tough to point to a metric to show that people are using Bitcoin as a savings vehicle, but there certainly are things we can look at to check its health. The first one is price in USD. Putting the y-axis on a logarithmic scale helps show the value appreciation of Bitcoin much more clearly. What cannot be ignored is that while new bitcoins are being added to the supply through the mining process, if demand remained the same throughout this process, then the price would drop. Despite the local peaks and valleys, the overall trend of Bitcoin is a rising price, so demand must be increasing. Even if it’s only the current people in Bitcoin contributing to that demand, increases in price is a powerful signal to others that they should probably get in. The other interesting metric to observe is Bitcoin’s hash rate, which is the number of hashes (guesses to solve a block) per second that the aggregate of miners makes across the network. In order to contribute hashes to the network, a miner must run software on specialized hardware. This hardware requires electricity, so mining Bitcoin with any chance of solving a block requires a significant commitment of expenditures for electricity. Miners want the block reward and transaction fees when they are the first to solve a block, so they’re careful not to break any rules (i.e. create an invalid block) that would cause all the validating nodes in the network to reject their block. If they submitted an invalid block, it would mean all the money they spent to solve it would be wasted, so miners tend to remain honest. This arrangement is what is referred to as “proof of work.” Using proof of work also means that any miner who wants to reverse transactions and rewrite history would have to spend enormous amounts of time and electricity to resolve previous blocks to submit a chain with the most proof of work to the network. Miners add hash rate to increase their chances of solving a block and receiving the reward. More hash rate for the network means more proof of work, making it more expensive to attack, but it also makes it more difficult to solve blocks. Miners, being rational economic actors just like anyone else, are not interested in losing money on their operations. The chart above shows that the hash rate is the highest it has ever been. If the overall value of Bitcoin were diminishing, then why would miners be spending so many resources on it? Certainly it could mean that miners are finding cheaper sources of electricity (they are), but that search for cheap electricity is a good signal that participation is in high demand since they must seek an advantage to stay competitive. All of this shows that Tucker doesn’t have a good approach in either the economic or technical basics for viewing Bitcoin. This will help inform us to understand his perception of Bitcoin as we address each of his five considerations. - Underpriced market assets are grounded in information asymmetries. Profits come from possessing valuable insight that others do not share, and acting on that insight. These asymmetries can be large or small. They were very large in Bitcoin from 2009 to 2015 or so. Some of us were convinced while vast numbers of even highly sophisticated people were sure that it could not, and the results were impressive for those who took the risk. We are now eleven years into this, and the skeptics are now in a small minority. That blockchain technology is awesome is a given. If there were vast asymmetries in knowledge in the past, those have dissipated over time. The process of price discovery might have settled into a confident equilibrium: this stuff is cool, and useful for some purposes, but it cannot be a money for the world. It’s a given that there is no “true price” for Bitcoin but it is also true that the days of astonishment that it worked at all are now settling into the widespread awareness of why it works today. With the full hindsight at our disposal, imagine being 11 or so years into the start of the internet and saying, “You know what, we’ve had the internet for awhile and plenty of people know about it, but it hasn’t been all that world changing, so I’m not sure this is really going to work out.” (We’re looking at you, Paul Krugman.) The success of the internet doesn’t guarantee the success of Bitcoin, but it does give us some insight on how global protocols take time to be fully implemented. While much of the world’s population has had enough exposure to Bitcoin to at least know what it is, that doesn’t mean that knowledge about Bitcoin has settled equally among all these people. Knowing of and knowing about are two very different things. How many people simply aware of Bitcoin understand how it works or what its value proposition is? How many people even understand the economics of money well enough to act on the information they get about Bitcoin? How many people are aware of second layer solutions like the Lightning Network and sidechains that can massively scale Bitcoin? These questions matter because money is for everyone. Everyone doesn’t need to know why or how it works (look at the internet again), but their ignorance about its usefulness explains why they’re not using it. And in fairness to these people, even if they weren’t too happy with the inflationary fiat system but didn’t worry much about censorship, they wouldn’t necessarily be drawn to use Bitcoin because the on-chain layer is not a superior substitute to the services they use for their day to day transactions in terms of cost and speed. Those who understand that the on-chain layer provides the security for the soundest money in the history of the world will compete for the bitcoins that are available for sale as they speculate that future layers built on top of this first layer will be the infrastructure that makes transitioning to Bitcoin the only play for even the ignorant. - At the same time Bitcoin was launched, so too were released some other impressive payment technologies designed to reduce the price of transactions and make accepting credit cards vastly easier. Back in the day, small merchants had a very hard time accepting credit cards. Thanks to technologies like Square, even a lemonade stand can accept them using a smartphone, which was also launched around the same time. The near-universal use case for Bitcoin was once obvious; apart from specific demographics and interests, the case for broad public adoption is no longer clear. To be sure, there remain vast and important uses for crypto for permissionless remittances and for allowing the unbanked to move money (one of the booming facets of the crypto-asset sector are ATMs), but that will remain true regardless of market valuations. It is truly a shame that Jeffrey Tucker puts censorship-resistant digital scarcity as a secondary value proposition for Bitcoin. Governments coopted central banks to use seigniorage to fund their massive expansions in size and scope, which has allowed them to wage endless warfare since. They removed the gold standard and constantly inflate the money supply, which further inflate bubbles of malinvestment. These bubbles, as part of the business cycle, have destroyed massive amounts of wealth and have prevented people from directing resources to their most efficient uses. Humanity is years behind in production and overall quality of life because governments can censor and create money on a whim. Bitcoin gives anyone with a computer and an internet connection the ability to remove the need for a trusted third party to send and receive money and to validate that the money they’re receiving isn’t counterfeit. This final settlement that once took large amounts of time and money now takes minutes and maybe a few dollars. Bitcoin strikes at the root of the ability of governments to hold power. This innovation is world-changing. It is the zero-to-one event that can lead to a flourishing that humanity has never seen before. That was the hard part. Compared to that, it will be easy to build services for making fast and cheap payments on top of that. - The old pitch for Bitcoin – that it made payments fast, cheap, and permissionless – had been dramatically changed as adoption increased and the portals couldn’t keep up. Permissionlessness still survives but that is not true of fast and cheap. By 2017 it became very obvious to the world that though Bitcoin is wonderful, it is not very practical for payments as compared with legacy systems that had vastly improved. Forks emerged to fix that problem but because the crypto sector is so vast, none could develop the network that Bitcoin obtained as the first mover in the space. Among those crypto innovations have been stable coins that operate as settlement banks. Those in the market for stability will find these more useful than old-fashioned crypto. And let us not forget the greatest lesson of monetary history: it’s the use value of a currency that is its value (there is no such thing as “storing” value). Tucker, and many like him, first entered the Bitcoin space when some people were selling it as a fast and cheap payments processor. The reality, however, is that Bitcoin allows anyone to run a fast and cheap money validator. Consider what the last sound money system, the gold standard, involved. We tend to take for granted all the trust and centralization that had to occur simply for someone to use stamped gold coins. Imagine the cost—no wonder that work got entrusted for someone else to do. It is totally impractical for an individual accepting gold payments to test that the gold he is receiving is the gold that he is expecting for every single payment. Bitcoin fixes this. Running a full node allows the user to trace any bitcoins that he is receiving all the way back to when they were first mined. This happens nearly instantly. Once the transaction is signed with a modest transaction fee, final settlement (the transfer of custody over the bitcoins) occurs in minutes (although your time depends on how many confirmations you want before you’re comfortable). Bitcoin was the first mover in the space, but that’s not the reason it dominates its industry. It is by far the most secure in its ability to provide final settlement and maintain its monetary properties. Altcoin competitors are often centralized and at best only offer a small fraction of the security provided by Bitcoin’s network of nodes and proof of work. It is the most liquid out of all the cryptocurrencies and will continue to gain in liquidity and market share as its competitors of all kinds approach values of zero. So-called stablecoins pegged to the dollar don’t solve any of the problems that Bitcoin sets out to and will be absorbed by Bitcoin’s dominance just like all the others. - Bitcoin came into a banking world that was dilapidated and anachronistic. But banks and processors felt the heat and adapted in an unusually quick period of time. Now we have peer-to-peer payment systems working within the regular banking systems. We have Venmo, Zelle, Apple, and Google, and many other systems, and, for all their limitations, they are getting better by the day. For that matter, the Fed itself has announced its own plans for a blockchain-like P2P payment system. Competition works. Bitcoin made a major contribution to lighting a fire under the mainstream industry. But that innovation necessarily affects Bitcoin’s prospects. Services like Venmo, Zelle, etc. may be nice because they add a layer for transferring money that is fast and cheap, but they are still controlled by gatekeepers who are at the mercy of the governments that operate where they are located. They offer no censorship resistance and do nothing to harden the money they’re built on top of. Let the Fed make their own “blockchain-like P2P” payment system. I am astonished that Tucker found it at all interesting to mention them as competition against Bitcoin. - Let’s just say – as many industry experts say to me in private – that the days of endless price increases of Bitcoin are over, and that it settles into a stable price and even gradually falls to 2014 or 2013 levels. That is not beyond the realm of possibility. Nothing about markets are perfectly predictable, and there is nothing baked into the nature of Bitcoin that guarantees any particular future. A major problem hits the essence of money itself: the use case is everything and adoption is the path toward making any money mainstream. The trends here do not look brilliant for Bitcoin. Ah, the “experts” are saying that Bitcoin won’t see increases in price against the dollar. And while Tucker correctly points out that markets are not perfectly predictable, economics tell us that the hardest money wins. Can events happen in the future that prevent Bitcoin from fully monetizing? Of course, they can, but nothing Tucker has said in his article has convinced me to step back from my bullishness. Tucker ends the piece by taking an agnostic stance on the future of money although he seems fairly confident that Bitcoin will flourish in the immediate future “to service a special type of need.” He leaves the possibility for anything to happen, from Bitcoin going “to the moon” to “something else entirely—an Amazon coin, for example.” He just wants people to have some humility in the process. Humility is a good trait to have, but let’s not mistake a bearish outlook on Bitcoin because of ignorance as humility. Tucker’s suggestion of a completely centralized “Amazon coin” demonstrates his failure to understand the ultimate purpose of Bitcoin. The sun may not rise tomorrow. Am I being humble for not being so sure that it will? Obviously, the future of Bitcoin is harder to predict than the rising and setting of the sun, but you should see the point of my hyperbole. Bitcoin is on its path and it doesn’t care what either Jeffrey Tucker or I say about it. But Bitcoin is not cold and vengeful. It’s chugging along, happy to welcome anyone, no matter who they are, to its network. I look forward to the day when Jeffrey Tucker welcomes Bitcoin back. By Jill Carlson Posted December 10, 2019 This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Jill Carlson is co-founder of the Open Money Initiative, a non-profit research organization working to guarantee the right to a free and open financial system, and co-host of the What Grinds My Gears podcast. She also works as an advisor and consultant for startups including Algorand, Risk Labs, dYdX, CoinList, and Tezos. Why hasn’t cryptocurrency gone mainstream? “It doesn’t scale.” “It’s hard to use.” Or maybe it was never supposed to go mainstream. This is not to say cryptocurrency is any less important, meaningful, or useful. Rather, I think perhaps we have been judging cryptocurrencies’ success (or lack thereof) according to a false metric. We would not judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. By design, cryptocurrency does not solve mainstream problems. Scale, speed, and cost are all examples of mainstream problems within finance, from main street to Wall Street. Credit card networks go down. Stock trades take days to clear. Wire transfers are expensive. In some situations, cryptocurrencies may offer marginal improvements on any of these issues, but more often blockchain-based systems will fail when compared to more conventional, centralized solutions. This does not represent a design flaw. In fact, this is an intentional trade off. Decentralized systems forsake scale, speed, and cost in favor of one key feature: censorship resistance. Cryptocurrency solves problems faced by the censored who, by definition, are not the mainstream. In particular, cryptocurrency enables individuals and organizations to make censored transactions. Procuring drugs on the internet. That’s an example of a censored transaction. Buying US dollars in Argentina is another example. Paying a sex worker. Sending money to a friend in Iran. Making an online purchase as an unbanked individual. Selling cannabis as a dispensary. Getting money out of Venezuela. Supporting dissidents in Hong Kong. The primary utility of cryptocurrency lies in engaging in financial activity that is otherwise suppressed or prohibited. This is the stated intent of cryptocurrency. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, described cryptocurrency as a tool of freedom. He compared it to other peer to peer networks like Tor which are similarly resilient to censorship. If we look at the anecdotal evidence, we can see that this is indeed how bitcoin is being used from China to Palestine. Furthermore, what little quantitative data we have also suggests that cryptocurrency use is higher in countries with financial restrictions. These results line up with predictions around cryptocurrency adoption that have existed for years. It is time to face this potentially uncomfortable reality: cryptocurrency is most useful when breaking laws and social constructs. I, FOR ONE, DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE CRYPTOCURRENCY HAS FOUND MAINSTREAM USE. There exists a long history of censorship resistant and privacy preserving technologies: Signal for messaging, Bittorrent for file-sharing, Tor for web browsing. Like bitcoin, these tools are not built for the mainstream. Most people would rather use faster, slicker, glossier centralized alternatives like Facebook Message, Dropbox, and Google Chrome. But for censored people and organizations, decentralized technologies have always provided an escape hatch. For as long as they have existed, these tools have brought with them a certain level of societal discomfort. This discomfort stems not from these platforms being lawless domains – regulations exist on the dark web as much as they do in any jurisdiction – but rather from the difficulty these platforms present in enforcing these government policies and social norms. These technologies render censored activities more difficult to stop. Decentralized technologies can be used for good, for evil, and for everything in between. From Hammurabi’s Code through to the Patriot Act, the morality of laws has been a matter of debate for as long as they have existed. The laws of one jurisdiction are often deemed unethical and unacceptable by its citizens and those of other geographies. To say that cryptocurrency is used primarily to engage in illegal or socially unacceptable activities is not a normative statement. It is used by freedom fighters and terrorists, by journalists and dissidents, by scammers and black market dealers, by revolutionaries and government officials. It is used by civilians to break unjust laws and escape humanitarian crisis, and it is used by the policymakers who write those very same laws. And of course, the same statements can all be made regarding the original decentralized payment system: cash. As an industry, we spend a lot of time considering how to drive mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. I, for one, do not want to live in a world where cryptocurrency has found mainstream use. For if it has, that world is a very scary place indeed. This is not to discourage or devalue any of the work that is being done to improve decentralized technologies. Many projects in the industry are working toward optimizing away shortcomings in the technology. Layer 2 protocols promise to speed things up. New consensus mechanisms and forms of sybil resistance expect to improve scalability and reduce infrastructure costs. A myriad of applications are building more user-friendly wallets, on-ramps, exchanges, and other tools. All of these developments are important but they may never result in mass adoption. Improvements in scalability, speed, cost, volatility, and user experience may, however, make the critical difference for those who are users, no matter how fringe: the young woman in Venezuela surviving on bitcoin or the Chinese businessman using Tether for cross-border trade. To judge cryptocurrency based on mainstream adoption is to judge it on a metric it was never designed to achieve. The Intrinsic Value of Bitcoin as Determined by Energy Spent Posted December 13, 2019 - Energy, raw Joules alone, can be used to estimate Bitcoin’s fair value - Increased energy input increases the fair value of a Bitcoin (and vice versa for decreases) - Bitcoin’s price is mean reverting to its Energy Value - The Energy Value model states that if all miners were to stop mining Bitcoin tomorrow, the power input would be zero and Bitcoin would be worthless - The Energy Value formula says that Bitcoin has a fair value of approximately $11,500 today (12 December 2019), 50% higher than the current trading price. Bitcoin Energy-Value Equivalence In Bitcoin’s Production Cost we observed the relationship between Bitcoin’s Price and Bitcoin Mining expenditure. Variations in Bitcoin’s Production Cost were found to be primarily driven by the level of electrical energy input and energy efficiency of mining hardware, with many other factors assumed constant. This begs the question: Can the fundamental value of Bitcoin be accounted for by raw energy alone? A Fair Value for Bitcoin Bitcoin’s fair value is a function of energy input, supply growth rate and a constant representing the fiat dollar value of energy. These variables can be combined into the following equation, termed Bitcoin’s Energy Value (V): The Energy Value Formula - Energy Input (unit: Watts) = Hash Rate (GH/s) * Mining Energy Efficiency (J/GH) - Supply Growth Rate (unit: s-1) = Annual increase in circulating Bitcoins, equivalent to the inverse of Stock-to-Flow. Calculated as the annual rate (unit: year-1) of change in circulating Bitcoins and then converted to seconds - Fiat Factor ($USD/Joule) = A constant conversion factor to allow for the fiat USD value of energy As all units of hash rate and supply rate cancel out, this equation suggests that the fair value of Bitcoin (V) can be represented as a function of the Joules of energy spent to produce it: The Energy Value Formula: Bitcoin’s fair value is a function of Joules Building Bitcoin’s Energy Value To test the theory all input data, except for mining Energy Efficiency, was sourced from Blockchain.info. The challenging piece of the puzzle is obtaining a good estimate for Bitcoin’s Energy Efficiency through time. Estimating Bitcoin Mining Energy Efficiency (J/GH) The power required to fuel Bitcoin mining is driven by two parts, the hash rate to solve the SHA-256 algorithm and the energy efficiency of the mining hardware itself. In its early years, Bitcoin was mined on very electrically inefficient CPUs and GPUs. The current era ASICs have energy efficiencies over 100,000 times greater than the average Bitcoin mining hardware of 2009. This means that a higher relative portion of the average miner’s electrical bill today is efficiently converted into hashing power. To estimate a historic profile of Bitcoin mining hardware Energy Efficiency, the efficiency rates for 150 Bitcoin hardware models from Cambridge (ASICs only), BitcoinWiki (FPGAs) and Bitcoin.it (ASICs, CPUs and GPUs) were collated. All ASICs, FPGAs and Intel, AMD and Nvidia hardware were considered where Energy Efficiency (J/GH) was provided and where an estimated hardware release date was found. Common models were grouped and the average energy efficiency for that model calculated on an equal weight basis. The daily energy efficiency of the Bitcoin network was then calculated as the equally weighted average of all hardware which was within 2 years of its release for CPUs/GPUs/FPGAs and within 1.5 years of its release for ASICs. This difference in depreciable lifespan was chosen because: - The hardware within model groups for CPUs and GPUs generally span several years - Bitcoin mining was generally less competitive in its early years - Other research also suggests a 1.5 year depreciation lifespan is typical for ASICs in more recent years Finally, a 1 month moving average of Energy Efficiency was calculated to allow for the phase-in and phase-out of model types. In reality, some hardware models had wider usage and some longer lifespans. However, at risk of increasing the historical error in the Energy Value model and in attempt to produce an unbiased outcome, no other hardware exclusion logic, data cleansing or data manipulation was conducted. The above process yields the following Bitcoin energy efficiency profile (Joules / Giga Hash) over time. The S-curve of increasing Bitcoin Energy Efficiency (represented by a falling J/GH over time). Note the sharp increase in efficiency from the introduction of ASICs through 2013 and 2014. Fiat Factor Constant ($/J) The Fiat Factor is a necessary constant to convert the units of energy input (Joules) to fiat currency US Dollars. It is simply a representation of how much “we” value energy. Based on the Energy Efficiency profile above, the resulting Fiat Factor is: The Fiat Factor value is dependent on the accuracy of the Energy Efficiency profile and therefore the value provided here should be considered a close estimate. In the long term, a declining US Dollar, hyperinflation or fiat currency collapse would result in the Fiat Factor increasing in a 1-for-1 relative manner. Plotting the result shows a visually strong fit for the Bitcoin Energy Value to historic price. 10 Years of Bitcoin’s Energy Value The plunge in Bitcoin’s energy value in 2013/14 is largely driven by the transition from GPU/FPGA to ASIC hardware. While it is likely there was a substantial drop during this period, it may be somewhat exaggerated here due to the hardware usage and depreciation model assumptions outlined above. Market Forces — Bridging Supply and Demand The first question is, does a Bitcoin Energy Value make logical sense? In “Modeling Bitcoin’s Value with Scarcity”, Plan B found a strong relationship between market price and the scarcity of Bitcoin and other hard assets. We can posit that this represents the fundamental relationship of human “demand” for hard, value preserving assets over time. But there’s a catch. Not all scarce assets have nor preserve wide-spread market value. For example, there are approximately 3,000 cryptocurrencies with market caps under $500. Many of these coins have “constrained” supply models, but they have been assessed by the market as having no fundamental value. Scarce, but not valuable. The same can be said for bad art, bananas stuck to walls and many other rare and unique throw-away assets. This makes sense, as scarce assets which are easy to acquire or replicate typically have low market value. Consistent, high levels of human effort are generally linked with demand. When Energy is dedicated to a task, the supplier of energy (the worker) expects there to be a demand for their effort. When a supplier sees growing demand for the fruits of their labour, they will work harder in attempt to reap greater benefits. Others will likely also contribute to capture some reward. However, should demand for a supplier’s labour fall, or should the opportunity decline to a point at which they can achieve a better return elsewhere, the supplier will likely cease committing energy to that task. This is exactly how the war for Bitcoin’s hash rate has been fought, and this is the argument for Bitcoin’s Energy Value. Consistent energy input represents a balance between supply and demand. Rising market prices incentivize increased energy input via hash power growth and technology improvements which result in greater energy efficiencies. For this reason, great increases in market price typically result in long-term increases in committed energy and therefore increases in Bitcoin’s Energy Value. However, when speculation causes skyrocketing prices, without a corresponding increase in energy input, price has historically collapsed back to the Energy Value. It is mean reverting phenomenon. As would be expected with any intrinsic value estimate driven from fundamentals. Bitcoin’s price and Energy Value tend towards each other, they are like magnets. While deviations between the two can and do exist, they have always closed. Despite being mathematically independent to Bitcoin’s trading price and volume, Energy Value is connected by the invisible hand of the market. By capturing long-term demand for scarce assets based on supply growth rate (stock-to-flow) and energy input, Energy Value represents the symbiotic relationship between Bitcoin supply and demand. On daily data from January 2010, the Energy Value formula has a R2 to the actual Bitcoin price of 80% (the higher the R2, the better the model fits reality). By comparison, the stock-to-flow model has a R2 of 88% on the same data. While 8% less than the stock-to-flow model, there are a few things to consider: - Bitcoin’s Energy Value is highly dependent on the estimated Energy Efficiency. For this analysis, 150 Bitcoin hardware details were manually collated, there is possibility of data or omission error. The depreciation periods are approximations of reality. Efficiency can also vary depending on operating conditions and overclocking. It is not possible to get a perfect representation of what hardware every Bitcoin miner is using at every point in time through history. Hence, some error here is expected. - If all Bitcoin miners were to suddenly cease mining Bitcoin, stock-to-flow would predict a Bitcoin price of infinity. The Energy Value predicts zero. Should all miners abandon Bitcoin — which could occur via a catastrophic event (such as the breaking of the SHA-256 algorithm), through the creation of a “better” money / store of wealth — no new blocks would be created, no transactions would be sent and the network would be defunct. Under such a circumstance, the stock-to-flow model alone (0.4*SF³) would assess Bitcoin as having infinite value. The Energy Value model states that if all miners were to stop mining Bitcoin tomorrow, the power input would be zero and Bitcoin would be worthless. - The stock-to-flow model is a fitted power law. Bitcoin’s price has had exponential performance and the stock-to-flow model’s power law was chosen specifically to match this. By optimising the parameters, a good accuracy is achieved to fit Bitcoins price. The Energy Value has no curve fitting parameters, just one fixed constant to allow for the conversion of pure energy to dollars. In fact, it is likely that the exponential increase in mining hardware power efficiency coupled with the growth in hash rates explains the stock-to-flow’s exponential relationship. With consideration of the above, an 80% R2 is considered a strong result for the Energy Value. Bitcoin’s Energy Value and Stock-to-Flow From the above figure we can see that turning points and wide gaps between Bitcoin’s price and the fair value can signify great times to buy and sell Bitcoin. Sharp declines in energy input often signify good times to exit the market and strong energy input growth has represented great times to buy The Energy Value formula says that Bitcoin has a fair value of approximately $11,500 today (12 December 2019), 50% higher than the current trading price. This suggests Bitcoin has a great risk-reward in early December 2019. A positive picture is also presented when looking at the below Energy Value Oscillator. However, energy input can fall at any time. Historically buying into falling hash rates has been inadvisable, far better risk-reward outcomes are achieved on hash rate recovery. Energy Value Oscillator Price as a Percentage of Energy Value. 2019 looks very similar to prior bull run starting characteristics. By considering energy and supply growth, we have found an intrinsic link between Bitcoin’s price and its value. The value of Bitcoin is a function of its energy input in Joules. Following are some of the implications of the Energy Value formula: - The health of the mining network is intrinsically linked to Bitcoin’s value - Increases in electrical energy input will increase the fundamental value of Bitcoin (and vice versa for decreases) - Higher hash rates (with unchanged energy efficiency) mean each Bitcoin is worth more - Major improvements in hashing technology (such as the introduction in ASICs) cause considerable volatility in the short-term intrinsic value of Bitcoin due to significant increases in energy efficiency which are not compensated for by equal increases in hash rate growth - Should quantum computing (or other major technological advancement) require less total network energy to solve the SHA-256 algorithm, the Energy Value formula says Bitcoin’s intrinsic value will fall - A change to the Bitcoin code which increases Bitcoin’s supply growth rate would decrease the fundamental value of each circulating coin - In 2140, if Bitcoin is still being hashed, its supply growth rate will be zero. The Energy Value formula, like stock-to-flow, predicts an infinite value for Bitcoin (in USD terms) at that point. However, unlike stock-to-flow, this hinges on the criteria that mining activity is ongoing If Bitcoin is successfully mass adopted as a store of wealth and/or global currency we may have financial market evidence that value is intrinsically linked to effort, the Joules of energy spent in work. As humans, our time is limited — it’s our most valuable resource. What we choose to put our energy into, and therefore our time into, is our most valuable choice. Bitcoin values energy. Just as mass can be represented by energy, so can Bitcoin’s Price. All data and calculations behind this article is freely available to support validation & potential refinement here. Chinese Translation: https://my.first.vip/shareNews?id=2605&uid=5066 Posted December 13, 2019 An Estimate of Bitcoin’s Production and Electrical Cost — a Historic Floor in Bitcoin’s Price. - Bitcoin’s electricity consumption can be used to estimate Bitcoin’s Production Cost - Bitcoin’s Production Cost can be used to estimate Miner profitability - Bitcoin Mining has historically been a very profitable business - 2019 has been the worst year for Bitcoin Miners in all of the last 5 years - Bitcoin Miners are currently taking on losses from the 4th quarter price drop - The Bitcoin Electrical Cost has been a concrete price floor in the Bitcoin market price - A pessimistic price floor for mid-2020 is estimated at $8,000 - However, miner influence on supply and demand is dropping, with Bitcoin’s inflation rate at 3.8% and falling This article links Bitcoin’s electrical consumption to the cost of Bitcoin production. In doing so we gain insight into the historical profitability of Bitcoin mining and an indication to when Bitcoin mining businesses are struggling. Over the last 5 years, Bitcoin’s Electrical Cost has been a floor in Bitcoin’s exchange traded market price, proving Satoshi’s theory that price gravitates to the cost of production. Commodity Prices and Production Costs The relationship between Bitcoin miner production costs and the price of Bitcoin is summarised best by no other than Satoshi himself: “The price of any commodity tends to gravitate toward the production cost. If the price is below cost, then production slows down. If the price is above cost, profit can be made by generating and selling more. At the same time, the increased production would increase the difficulty, pushing the cost of generating towards the price. In later years, when new coin generation is a small percentage of the existing supply, market price will dictate the cost of production more than the other way around.” Knowing this relationship and drawing on detailed investigations into the electrical consumption of Bitcoin, we can estimate the cost of mining Bitcoin. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) In 2019, Cambridge University published a detailed study estimating Bitcoin’s energy consumption from November 2014 to present. This study is likely the most detailed bottom-up calculation of Bitcoin’s global electricity consumption to date. Cambridge estimates Bitcoin’s electrical usage based on the assumption that miners will run the mining hardware as long as it remains profitable in electricity terms. Other key assumptions behind their calculations include: - The global average Bitcoin miner electricity price is $0.05 USD per kWh. Based on interviews with miners globally and consistent with other research, including CoinShares - The energy efficiency of over 60 mining hardware models since 2014. Per manufacturer specifications and refined based on expert advice (to account for actual usage and overclocking) - The global average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of Bitcoin Miners is 1.1. PUE is a measure of the total energy required to operate mining facilities (including cooling) relative to the energy required for server operation. Cambridge came to this figure based on interviews with miners globally. It is also in-line with Google’s average PUE of 1.11 Cambridge’s calculation assumes an equally weighted basket of profitable mining equipment which is perhaps the most thorough approach to assessing mining hardware utilisation, depreciation and therefore energy consumption globally today. All references to Bitcoin’s electrical consumption in this article refer to Cambridge’s “Best-guess” estimate of Bitcoin’s electricity consumption. Bitcoin’s Production Cost Bitcoin’s Production Cost is an estimate of the global average US dollar cost of producing one Bitcoin per day. Every study into Bitcoin’s mining costs to date has found electricity to be the primary cost of operations, and it is used here as a base from which to estimate the Bitcoin Production Cost. From Cambridge’s electricity consumption, Bitcoin’s Production Cost can be estimated by: - Calculating number of Bitcoin Mined Per Day (based on Bitcoin’s Block Reward and block frequency) - Calculating the Bitcoin Electrical Cost = daily electricity cost to mine a Bitcoin - Estimating the global average “Elec-to-Total Cost Ratio” = (Bitcoin Electrical Cost) / (Daily Cost of running a Bitcoin Mining Business) Bitcoin Production Cost is then found as (Daily Electrical Cost) / (Elec-to-Total Cost Ratio) From Cambridge’s data one additional assumption is required — an estimate of the global average Bitcoin mining Elec-to-Total Cost Ratio (Item 3 above).While electricity is the major factor in Bitcoin mining operations, other costs in operating a Bitcoin mining business include: - Hardware Capital Expenditure - Cost of Capital Varying estimates have been made for the Elec-to-Total Cost Ratio and include: Estimates of Bitcoin’s Electrical Cost to Total Mining Cost Well-funded businesses in a low-cost country such as China likely have low and negligible wages, rent, insurance and capital costs relative to the total cost of mining. China, for example, accounts for approximately 60% of Global Bitcoin mining in 2019. Based on the research available to date and noting that a number of the above estimates appear not to consider the general costs of business (rent, wages, etc) outside of electrical operating expenditure (OPEX) and hardware capital expenditure (CAPEX), the Elec-to-Total Cost ratio is estimated here as 60%. Using Cambridge’s electricity data, this gives 5 years of the Bitcoin Production Cost. Bitcoin Production Cost Bitcoin Miner Price While it is interesting to compare Bitcoin’s price to the Bitcoin Production Cost, as each coin mined can be sold at the prevailing market price, this approach misses on another piece of miner revenue — transaction fees. As well as each block reward’s freshly mined bitcoins, miners also receive transaction fees in each block. Transaction fees are determined by senders based on supply and demand. Additionally, with time transaction fees will represent a greater portion of miner revenue as block rewards reduce with each halving. As a result, the Bitcoin Production Cost should be compared to the revenue one Bitcoin provides (Bitcoin’s market price) and the transaction fee revenue. We term this the Bitcoin Miner Price and it is calculated here as the Bitcoin Price + (Daily Transaction Fees) / (Daily Bitcoin’s mined). The Bitcoin Miner Price varies with demand for on-chain transactions Putting Bitcoin’s Production Cost and Miner Prices together, we can see when Bitcoin Miners are struggling in recent times and potentially taking on short-term loses. Bitcoin Production Cost versus Bitcoin Miner Price Bitcoin Electrical Cost — A Bitcoin Price Floor Bitcoin Production Cost provides insight into the profitability of Bitcoin mining businesses. Price drops below the Bitcoin Production Cost tend to be short lived. This makes sense as high-cost miners go out of business, the hash rate plateaus and falls and miners in general are less inclined to sell at a loss. However, the Bitcoin Electrical Cost offers a stronger price floor. Over short periods, a number of miner business costs are “sunk” (e.g. already paid for hardware), contractually locked-in (e.g. rent) or can be deferred (e.g. hardware upgrades). This means that Bitcoin miners can operate at a loss over short periods. This makes sense provided the Bitcoin Miner Price is above the Bitcoin Electrical Cost. If the cost of running your mining hardware is less than or equal to the revenue it generates, you may as well leave it turned on, until such a point that general business losses make this wasted effort unbearable and the opportunity cost too high. However, this scenario cannot continue indefinitely. Losing miner would not have any revenue left over for re-investment in the business (continual capex is required to keep up with generally growing hash rates), ability to pay rental contracts, wages and other business costs. Using Cambridge’s data from 2014 alone, with no further assumptions, we can see that Bitcoin’s price never quite reaches the Electrical cost to produce a Bitcoin, despite coming very close in November 2018. Historically, the electrical cost to produce a Bitcoin has represented a price floor in the Bitcoin market price. In more recent years, the introduction of Bitcoin Futures has also potentially allowed Bitcoin Miners to lock in profits earlier, for example, by shorting when the Bitcoin Price is significantly greater than production cost. However, the effectiveness of such strategies is debateable. The introduction of Bitcoin Options in 2019 will also likely aid Bitcoin miners by providing certainty in their cash flows and the ability to effectively lock in a Bitcoin sale price floor. Miner Profitability Oscillator All of the above suggests Bitcoin Miners are struggling at present. Most are operating at a business loss in the short term, with an average daily profitability of 10% for 2019. Even if the 60% Elec-to-Total Cost Ratio assumption is off by a wide margin, based on Cambridge’s electrical consumption data, 2019 is the least profitable year for Bitcoin Mining in all of the last 5 years. Bitcoin Miner Profitability Oscillator — Bitcoin mining has historically been a very profitable business It is worth noting that the Bitcoin Production Cost will double at the next Bitcoin halving (currently estimated for May 2020). When the Block Reward halves, the daily cost of Bitcoin Production is spread across half as many Bitcoins. Bitcoin Production Cost doubling at 2016 Halving. Estimated Production cost increase was tempered by the phase in of the significantly more energy efficiency Antminer S9 From this figure, if Bitcoin’s Hash Rate and mining hardware efficiency were to remain unchanged from today, the Bitcoin Production price at Halving would be $17,800. Although Hash Rates can fluctuate widely, they are historically much more stable than Bitcoin’s price. The weekly average Hash Rate has never dropped more than 47% from its peak (in 2011). The second largest drop was 37% in December 2018. The second most varying input into Bitcoins Electrical Price is mining hardware efficiency, which has historically improved every year. Even if Hash Rates were to drop 40% below todays levels, and mining hardware efficiency were to improve 25% in the next 6 months, Bitcoin’s Electrical Cost would be approximately $8,000. Suggesting a pessimistic case price floor of for mid-2020 of $8,000. 8% higher than today’s Bitcoin price of $7350. Limitations to this model also include the reducing share of total Bitcoin supply which miners hold. Bitcoin’s inflation rate, and therefore the relative portion of incremental Bitcoins that miners gain control of each year, is currently 3.8% and decreasing exponentially. The influence of each new Bitcoin in 2020 onwards will drop significantly with the Halving. Therefore, as alluded to by Satoshi above, the reliability of the Bitcoin Electrical Cost as a price floor may reduce with time. Chinese Translation: https://my.first.vip/shareNews?id=2601&uid=5066 Posted December 19, 2019 The tyranny of time scarcity is ubiquitous in life; here we will explore how mankind cooperates to resist this immortal tyrant using one of our most ancient social technologies, money, and why Bitcoin is bound to achieve global monetary dominance. A Tyrant of Time Immemorial All human action inescapably occurs within the bounds of time. As the universally shared element of experience, time is the grand paradox of nature; it heals all wounds, yet ultimately ravages all things. Each of us feels a current of time that is totally impersonal; in a ruthlessly egalitarian manner, time flows equally for rich and poor, sick and healthy, young and old alike. The temporal flows we experience cannot be reproduced, reversed, or stopped. At an intrapersonal level, our allotment of time is as scarce as our lifespan is limited. Interpersonally, time scarcity manifests as the total time we can collectively allocate towards serving one another; whether we are making goods, providing services, or gaining knowledge — we have but a finite quantity of hours to commit towards our efforts. In this sense, time scarcity is the immortal tyrant subjugating all of us mortals. Only through cooperative action can we break free of the restraints time scarcity clasps upon us. Society is the sum total of cooperative actions taken, a social order that is, paradoxically, shaped by competition among its constituents — free people. Actions intent on improving our relationship with nature, which enhance our quality of life by saving us time, necessarily involve the use of natural resources. If one seeks to dig ditches faster, he will first need to construct a shovel — a tool that requires wood from a felled tree, refined metal ore, and expertly shaped screws to hold the (earth-shattering) device together. Since the Earth we share is physically finite its natural resources are inherently scarce, and we must each compete to earn our own fair share. In a world that is as physically abundant as our ingenuity will allow, it is ultimately only our finite time that constrains us from producing more of anything we want. Existing under the ubiquitous tyranny of time scarcity, it’s natural for animals to adopt more energy efficient means of satisfying their wants. The “Law of Conservation of Energy-Mass” is the 1st Law of Thermodynamics; an inviolable principle of the universe that organisms (lazily and cleverly) follow to the letter. Predators in the wild frequently make expected-value calculations when deciding whether or not the anticipated energy expenditure in pursuit of a particular prey is worth the caloric value of the meal, should the hunt be successful (most hunts have low chances of success). Even herbivores like koala bears economize their physical movements to maximize their consumption of eucalyptus leaves per exertion. Of course, these decisions are not (likely) based on any mathematical knowledge, but rather on instinct. Similarly, driven by an instinct to overcome the oppression of time scarcity, us humans have always found ways to uncover and extract ever-more natural resources as we “hunt” for satisfactions to our wants. We have literally “just scratched the surface,” as our efforts haven’t even taken us halfway into the Earth’s crust, its thinnest and outermost layer. Through generations of trial and error, with our collective learnings accumulated in heuristics, written knowledge, and methodologies, mankind has steadily economized his productive efforts, gradually making more and more use of his time. The fruits of our labor are evident: the price of all natural resources, in terms of time necessary to produce them, has steadily decreased over the long-run as technological advancements continually increase our productivity — our capacity to produce the greatest results with the least effort. Metal prices over the past two centuries are a testament to this: Evincing the simple truth of mankind’s ever-rising productivity is gold: as the annual new supply flow of this extremely rare metal remains steady, it makes no sense to consider other natural resources (which are less rare than gold) as scarce in any practical sense . Indeed, only time scarcity truly constrains our creative output. In this sense, time — both individually and collectively — is our most precious and scarce resource. Each of us seek to extend and savor our time on Earth. As a population, we strive to economize our actions and increase our productivity to attain the greatest results possible with minimal use of time and effort. Indeed, the purpose of the world economy is to accelerate our collective productivity gains through innovation and trade; in a term, to gain energy efficiency — our sole emancipator from the hardships imposed by time scarcity. Trade Interconnects Us Acts of trade (or interpersonal exchange) interconnect us into economic networks which increase our productivity by virtue of our inherent comparative advantages: a diversity of skills, experience, and know-how that arises naturally among us. Trade allows us to focus on our comparative advantages and become ever-more specialized in our skills over time. This positive-sum game undergirds all economic activity; by working as a cooperative ensemble we become more productive than we would be working as isolated individuals. Our economic interdependence makes us collectively more productive and prosperous. This cooperative dynamic is commonly called the “division of labor” and the general purpose of society is to foster an environment which favors its proliferation. The division of labor enables each of us to concentrate on what we do best and increases our collective productivity: meaning it lets us produce the same amount in less time or a greater amount in the same time. Alternatively, we can choose to use these newfound time savings to innovate. Innovation involves the creation of tools and technologies to help us do even more in less time (i.e. digging with a shovel instead of by hand). As innovative new tools and ideas become diffused into society through trade, more time savings are generated, and this process becomes recursive into a self-reinforcing, virtuous cycle with no known natural limit: By specializing, trading, and innovating societies create a (literal) wealth of time savings that can be spent productively or leisurely. By spending time savings productively, societies create wealth — the accumulation of time saved in the form of capital. Anything that economizes human action — tools, knowledge, or even relationships — is considered capital, as it provides a way for us to more quickly satisfy our wants. Said simply, as we become more productive, we accumulate more capital — a form of frozen time savings. In this respect, we have come a long way over the past two centuries: Money: Mankind’s Masterwork Money is the most marketable (or readily exchangeable) capital in an economy; it is the most liquid measure of time savings — a social chronometer of sorts. Money is the technology we use to measure and move the value of our time savings across time and space. The primary function of money is to store value, meaning that it must (at a minimum) retain its own exchange value across time. Naturally, as our collective productivity increases, the value of money rises in tandem, and prices expressed in it decline. The secondary function of money is to mediate exchange, meaning that it can be exchanged for anything in the marketplace — goods, services, or knowledge. Money is sought by all seeking to trade their way into satisfying personal wants (this includes everyone that isn’t entirely self-sufficient). The tertiary function of money is to quantify exchange ratios, meaning it is used to denominate prices across the minds of market participants. Consider how we think in dollars, or in our local currency, when deciding whether and how much to buy or sell of anything in the marketplace. Interestingly, this “unit of account” function of money is so deeply etched into our mental machinery that it actually changes how we think and perceive the world. Besides these three functions, monetary technologies generally exhibit the following traits: - Scarcity: resistance to money supply manipulations and, thus, dilutions to its monetary unit value (difficult to produce) - Divisibility: ease of accounting and transacting at various scales (separable and combinable units) - Portability: ease of moving value across space (high value to weight ratio) - Durability: ease of moving value across time (resilient to deterioration) - Recognizability: ease of identifying and verifying the monetary value by other parties in a transaction (universally identifiable and verifiable) Whatever good is most impervious to the depredations of time, transference, and greed is naturally selected as “money”. The monetary technology selected freely in a marketplace is referred to as “hard money”; a haven for liquid value (exchangeable time savings) that resists the ravages of time, damages related to transference across space, and intentional misappropriations by those vicious two-legged apes (people). In these respects, monetary metals have been historically superior due to their durability and portability, making them ideal for storing value across time and space, respectively. With the advent of coinage, which standardized each monetary unit, the divisibility and recognizability traits of these metals were greatly enhanced. Critically, the scarcity of monetary metals is governed by natural laws that are beyond the control of man, making their supplies (mostly) resistant to greedy manipulations. Gold became, and remains, the prime monetary metal of the world precisely because of its superior relative scarcity — historically, it has been the best reflector of absolutely scarce time. Gold is the hardest monetary metal to produce and nearly every ounce ever mined remains part of its extant supply today, as it is chemically an ultra-stable element. Taken in combination, these properties made gold the best medium for storing value across time, as its supply is the most resistant to change, and therefore the most inflation-resistant. By providing sufficient monetary characteristics (divisibility, portability, durability, recognizability) coupled with superior physical scarcity, gold was naturally selected as money on the free market (hard money). With a (low) reproducibility and physical scarcity most closely aligned with the absolute irreproducibility and scarcity of time, gold has been the most credible store of value historically — which explains why freely acting individuals have hoarded it for centuries. More technically, gold’s superior stock-to-flow ratio makes it more resistant to supply inflation (and, its corollary, monetary value dilution) than all other monetary technologies (prior to the invention of Bitcoin). To understand gold’s ascent, we must realize the actions of people in free markets are driven by game theory. In game-theoretic terms, a “game” is any situation in which people can win or lose — as is the case in markets. A “strategy” is just process for making decisions. Game theory is applicable in any domain where people must decide whether to cooperate or compete. For instance, if you and I are being chased by a bear, my decision to run or fight is not based on how fast I am, but rather how fast I think you are. Game-theoretically, I only need to be faster than you, not the bear, to ensure my survival. Such assessments of interpersonal dynamics are also closely related to economics and monetary evolution. In the context of monetary evolution’s relationship with time: free market participants choose hard money over all other monetary technologies because its resistance to supply increases most closely reflects the immutable flow of time. No matter how much time was allocated to gold production, its supply resisted inflation more than any other monetary metal, causing people to coalesce around its use as a superiorly sound store of value. In game theory terms, gold production became the “Nash Equilibrium”, a game state in which everyone follows the same strategy because there is no advantage to be gained by switching to any other strategy. So long as people sought to maximize their freedom from time scarcity by accumulating capital, collectively produced more than they consumed, and accomplished these goals through trade, gold remained the best proxy for the scarcest economic resource — time. Unicity of Time and Money Time is the only irreversible element in existence. Its directionality is imparted by the ever-growing entropy of the universe — as defined by the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. This “Thermodynamic Arrow of Time” which points us into an increasingly chaotic universe is, in fact, the only irreversible aspect of reality; every other natural process is symmetrical, making it impossible to discern whether an event is unfolding forward or backward in time. As such, this universally objective and unidirectional flow of time provides our purest reference point for all values (of the seven key metrics maintained by the Systeme Internationale of Units and Measures, six are rooted in the time it takes light to move through a vacuum). Gold, then, as the most difficult commodity to produce no matter how much time was allocated towards its extraction, served as the best market proxy for the objective purity of ever-flowing time. It is commonly said that time is money, but few realize that the reciprocal is also true — money is time. Beyond relative irreproducibility, hard money exhibits other properties akin to the natural flow of time. Markets naturally optimize for a hard money that is as impersonal, irreversible, and unstoppable as the flow of time to which it is anchored, and which it is intended to epitomize in the marketplace. As hard money arises naturally as the result of countless market interactions in which individuals seek to trade their goods for steadily more exchangeable goods, it is inherently beyond the control of any single individual, nation, or central bank. This makes hard money apolitical and impersonal; it cannot be used to benefit any one group over another. In other words, hard money tends to be politically neutral, like time. Hard money is also equity-based, meaning that physically possessing gold as an asset, for instance, is 100% equity and 0% debt (a bearer asset). This makes payments in gold immune to reversal, unlike those made with monopolistically imposed debt-based monies, called fiat currencies, which are liable to the whims of bureaucrats, who can choose to confiscate, censor, or deauthorize fiat currencies at any time, for any reason. Finally, hard money is unstoppable, in the sense that if I flip you a gold coin, there is no single authority on Earth that can block or devalue that transaction. Hard money, like gold, derives its value from freely acting individuals choosing the best monetary technology available to them. Bearer assets, like gold, offer another significant advantage — each individual unit is self-sovereign. Sovereignty refers to the freedom to take action as one sees fit. As Rosseau said: “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” The struggle of history has been the need for flexible coordination of human action on a large scale against the usurpation of individual sovereignty that the institutions built for this purpose typically impose. Paradoxically, as mankind pursued large scale mobilization of his efforts to overcome the natural tyranny of time scarcity, he gave birth to an artificial tyrant that engorges itself by consuming our individual sovereignty — the government and, its apparatus of thievery, central banking. True sovereignty originates at the individual level; it naturally reigns when our individual expressions, whether verbal or financial, are unmanipulable by others. When a government censors your speech or a central bank devalues your dollar, it is a violation of your individual sovereignty. Let no one prevent you from speaking your mind or spending your time and money as you see fit. We are each our own supreme ruler: Gold is a self-sovereign bearer asset whose credibility and value as money is derived from the combined sovereignty of countless self-interested individuals exercising free choice in the marketplace. When a good gains value on the free market, it is a result of market participants finding it useful, making sacrifices for it, and, thereby, imbuing it with part of their individual sovereignty. Since gold achieved dominance on the free market as a result of countless “votes” in the form of self-interested trade decisions by a faceless multitude across history, it can be considered the monetary materialization of popular sovereignty — the founding principle of Western Civilization: Although it’s an ancient monetary technology, gold still forms the prime monetary sovereignty layer of Earth, as it underpins all governmental sovereignty. In turn, governments use this power to monopolize the market for money (via their central bank henchmen) and insulate fiat currencies from direct monetary competition. Such insulation is the only way debt-based monies can survive alongside hard money. Gold and other bearer assets are final extinguishers of debt, as payments in them carry no associated liability. Modern central banks still perform final settlement exclusively in gold and actively engage in market machinations to suppress its price (see Gata.org); a testament to the primacy of this ancient monetary metal. Den of Thieves Despite this misappropriation of gold’s sovereignty by government for its own self-seeking purposes, fiat currency is no longer anchored to gold, making it highly reproducible at near-zero cost. Indeed, fiat currency is the softest form of money in history; it can (and in virtually all cases does) suffer from counterparty risks such as censorship, deauthorization, or hyperinflation. Hard money is anchored in the reality of time to secure the time savings of its holders; fiat currency is a political tool that facilitates the institutionalized system of time-theft known as “expansionary monetary policy” perpetrated by central banks globally. Although governments legally compel us to use fiat currencies today, these rules are only enforceable due to their vampirism — the sucking of sovereignty out of gold holdings. Ironically, this stolen power is used to monopolize violence and silence dissent. Government sovereignty, then, is derived from the agglomerated self-sovereignty of its gold hoards; which, in combination with the anticompetitive artifices it erects (legal tender laws, capital controls, capital gains taxes, etc.) in the sphere of money, explains why gold has been confiscated and its private ownership outlawed repeatedly throughout history: There is only one reason for such confiscatory acts: governments grasping for more power; a means to usurp gold’s self-sovereignty, an embezzlement of power which itself originates in the actions of free people selecting a monetary technology in the marketplace; a tragedy at the heart of all modern economies. As the axiom says: “Whoever has the gold, makes the rules.”: In this sense, gold is prime money: as its physical possession underpins the sovereignty of governments, which misappropriate it to enforce central bank money production monopolies on free people. Paradoxically, it was the actions of free people that generated the sovereignty that is now wielded against them by governments and central banks. This “duopoly of monopolists” has proclaimed time and time again that gold is irrelevant, a mere monetary artifact, and that they alone will lead the world economy to a brighter future. Ignore anti-gold propaganda; just watch their actions: Although gold resisted supply manipulation in many ways, it is far from perfect. Through the London Gold Pool and other machinations (seriously, see Gata.org) central banks cornered the market on gold, enabling them to surreptitiously suppress its price and better insulate fiat currency (soft money) from direct competition with gold (hard money). Market manipulation like this is only possible because of our passivity. In surrendering our sovereignty to unaccountable institutions like central banks, we cede conscious control over most aspects of our lives. Remember: central banks engaged in “expansionary monetary policy” are actively stealing time from free people; as they increase money supplies, they reallocate claims on productive capital from the majority to a politically favored few. This parasitism on the savings of society extends the working lives for most of the citizenry. In this way, monetary inflation is a direct violation of private property rights and individual sovereignty. It is worth repeating: human action is the essence of sovereignty; it is our actions that instill institutions with this divine quality intrinsic to free people. Let us all exercise the utmost vigilance in deciding which institutions to empower with our sacred sovereign energies: Hard Money Renaissance Against this usurpation of our individual sovereignty by government, we find hope in the emergence of a modern innovation called the internet — the universal exchange engine for knowledge. The internet has already democratized and disintermediated many aspects of our lives — from lodging and transportation, to media distribution and commerce. Compositionally, the internet is a set of open-source protocols (known as the internet protocol suite) for permissionlessly moving information worldwide in an instant. Constructed in a free market manner, through years of cooperation and standardization efforts, the internet is the greatest knowledge network in history. Today, we all benefit from this readily-accessible library of human knowledge: As Milton Friedman so aptly pointed out in 1999, about ten years before the invention of Bitcoin, the one thing the internet lacked was a secure, private “e-cash”: “The one thing that’s missing, but that will soon be developed, is a reliable e-cash, a method whereby on the Internet you can transfer funds from A to B, without A knowing B or B knowing A.” Friedman’s prescience proved astonishingly accurate. Coming into the 21st century, we had two key inceptors for digital hard money: gold, the ancient and prevailing monetary sovereignty layer (representing an unmanipulable money supply), and the internet, the ultimate engine of exchange (representing global interconnectivity or liquidity). By combining and building upon the economic properties of both, Bitcoin is a momentous monetary innovation that has achieved the divisibility, portability, durability, and recognizability of pure information infused with the absolute scarcity of time. As the internet gives us freedom to express and absorb ideas without obstruction, Bitcoin gives us the freedom to express and receive value in a hard money that cannot be stopped. In this sense, Bitcoin is the latest evolutionary layer of the internet protocol suite; a quantum leap over the monetary “Nash Equilibrium” gold represented. Historically, gold has become more difficult to extract with the passage of time due to chemistry, physical rarity, and game theory. Gold is the ancient anchor to the prime economic reality of time scarcity, precisely why it remains the prime money of modernity. Time is the most objective measure for our intersubjective (opinion-based) valuations, as it is the one unarguable aspect of existence. In a society run on hard money, price levels naturally decline over time as our productivity grows in tandem with the division of labor. Put another way, hard money tends to appreciate over time as human knowledge becomes more specialized. In this way, increases in the value of hard money reflect how far humanity has liberated itself from time scarcity. Liquidity of Time and Information Conceptually then, money is both frozen time (as a means of storing time savings) and liquid time (as a means of exchanging time savings). We earn money by sacrificing our intrapersonal time and can trade it for commensurate sacrifices from others. As such, anyone that gains control over a money supply, and can manipulate it at will, can steal time savings directly from the users of its money via the shadow tax of inflation. To shed light on the true nature of fiat currency in one line, let’s call it like it is: a pyramid scheme built atop gold that is subject to unlimited supply inflation. Since it bears repeating: inflation is intrapersonal time theft — a legally enforced injustice. Manipulation of money supplies has other consequences. Money is an economy’s main informational utility; a touchstone to measure the value of the time savings (or spending) expected to be made possible by an economic good in the future. When a money supply is manipulated, the objectivity of its measurement ability is compromised. This breakdown of money’s informational utility is called price signal distortion. Such manipulation makes economic calculation less reliable and causes entrepreneurs to overborrow, misallocate capital, and, ultimately, degenerates time savings as capital is consumed instead of being compounded through reinvestment. Price signals provide a system for “market participant telecommunications” and can be explained as follows: Price signals are the navigational instruments for entrepreneurs sailing the tempestuous seas of markets, and money is the medium through which these signals propagate. Said another way: money is a measurement system for value (a temporal quality) in the same way a ruler is for length (a spatial quality). The less elastic the supply of money is, the better it fulfills this mensural purpose. If you are measuring a table with a ruler that you cannot trust, then you can’t be sure whether you’re measuring the table or the ruler; you cannot distinguish the signal (the actual length) from the noise (changes in unit of measurement). Gold outcompeted historically because of its relative supply inelasticity, which made it both the best store of value and conveyor of price signals. Uniquely, Bitcoin is a money with perfect supply inelasticity; it is the most uncompromising measurement system for value the world has ever known. In this sense, Bitcoin is like an inviolable ruler: a perfectly objective unit of measurement for the endless variations of market values. Therefore, the more closely a money supply is credibly congruent with the absolutely scarcity of time, the better it communicates the time savings generated by our collective productivity gains. In this way, both gold and Bitcoin share the same principal attractiveness: they are more closely reflective of the impersonal, irreproducible, irreversible, unstoppable, and absolutely scarce nature of the experiential element money is intended to symbolize in the marketplace — time. When money is disconnected from time scarcity (as fiat currency is), its “skin in the game” is compromised and the economies it facilitates start suffering from distorted price signals, malinvestments, recessions, and an exacerbated boom-and-bust business cycle. As with most systems, money requires skin in the game to function properly — meaning that money must be costly to produce, otherwise those who can produce it cheaply will do so to steal the value of time savings stored therein (as central banks do). For gold, the costs associated with mining provide this critical skin in the game characteristic. For Bitcoin, an ingenious composite of proof-of-work energy expenditure (skin in the game) and economic incentives (game theory) enabled it to digitize scarcity. In this sense, Bitcoin’s blockchain is like a bridge between physical and digital reality — the first incarnation of a digital asset with provable scarcity. An innovative amalgamation of open-source software and behavioral economics, Bitcoin was designed to be a monetary network that reproduces itself relentlessly: From this perspective, the value of mining both gold and Bitcoin is the “unforgeable costliness” that each represents — a measure of the time sacrificed in production, which is redeemable for the time of others. Imbued with digital scarcity, Bitcoin preserves the advantages offered by gold’s physicality (self-sovereignty, irreversible transactions, final settlement) while eliminating its disadvantages (ease of confiscation, expensive safeguarding, high settlement costs). Digitization also makes Bitcoin a weightless, intangible, and (potentially) everlasting monetary technology. As a totally impersonal and self-sovereign monetary network capable of adopting market-proven features from competitors over time, while simultaneously resisting changes that negatively impact its users, Bitcoin may be the last evolution we ever see in global prime money. Gold is the “pristine collateral” which underpins the entirety of the highly-levered fiat currency financial complex; Bitcoin is poised to become the foundation for an entirely new economic order. In the near future and for the first time in history, the world will have a money that is harder to produce than gold. A fixed supply of 21 million units makes Bitcoin absolutely scarce — a property never before achieved by anything other than time itself. In the same way that Galelio’s invention of the telescope led to discoveries that reoriented our relationship with space, so too has the invention of Bitcoin led to the discovery of absolute scarcity; a bewildering breakthrough that perfectly parallels and will forever change mankind’s relationship with time. Soon, in accordance with its perfectly predictable issuance schedule, Bitcoin will become the scarcest liquid asset in human history. At this point, Bitcoin will become the monetary technology most closely aligned with the absolutely scarce nature of time. From there, every block produced will (asymptotically) further perfect this alignment until the last Bitcoin in mined in the mid-22nd century: The supreme divisibility, portability, durability, recognizability, and scarcity characteristics of Bitcoin constantly increase the likelihood (via the Lindy Effect) that it will continue to outcompete gold and fiat currencies in its long climb toward becoming global prime money. Bitcoin, with a supply more closely aligned with the prime economic reality of time scarcity, is slowly but surely *undermining* gold’s role as prime money. The word *undermine* literally means “to dig under fortifications to collapse them”. In this sense, Satoshi designed Bitcoin to “dig deeper” into reality than gold and, in doing so, undermine its role as prime money by more closely mirroring the fundamental nature of time. As a result, the value of fiat currencies will also diminish as gold slips from its position of primacy. Time is the ultimate experiential element we all share. It is ruthlessly egalitarian, flowing equally for all alike. Time is our objective anchor in a world of ceaselessly shifting intersubjective valuations. Abstractly, money is our metaphor for time. As a tool, it best serves mankind when its supply is as inelastic as the absolute scarcity of time. Here, gold does well; yet Bitcoin, the first money with a supply that is absolutely scarce, reflects time perfectly. Money is the medium through which many minds become one; it is the coordinating mechanism of human action. Money matters because only through cooperation and innovation do we mortals gain ground in our struggle against the immortal tyrant of time scarcity. Perhaps one day to be regarded as the most impactful technology ever invented, Bitcoin is simply a tool for saving time; it stores the value created from our time spent serving one another, reduces the time needed to establish trustful coordination, and it protects our mutually generated time savings from confiscation. Furthermore, Bitcoin promises to reduce the money, capital, and life wasted in warfare. Bitcoin accomplishes this by transcending laws and outcompeting money production monopolies, which use taxation via inflation to stealthily fund perpetual warfare. As Ron Paul said: “It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking.”: Bitcoin also promises to help generate even more time savings by deepening the division of labor, a direct result of financial disintermediation, the benefits of which flow to everyone. Finally, Bitcoin encourages us to adopt lower time preferences and think long-term. Hard money incentivizes us to save and invest, and disincentivizes excessive debt and spending, since it naturally appreciates over time as our collective productivity grows. Fiat currency is the reverse: it pushes up our time preferences and disintegrates societies. As the repeated fall of ancient civilizations shows, monetary integrity and social cohesion are inexorably linked. Breaking the Chains Bitcoin belongs in a certain class of momentous innovations — like antiseptics, electricity, or the internet — that either extend our lifespans individually or enhance our productivity and, therefore, our time savings collectively. These innovations expand our relationship with time in one or more ways: extending life expectancies, lowering time preferences, or enhancing productivity. Bitcoin promises to contribute to all three by being the best self-sovereign savings technology in history: reducing death tolls and capital destruction from warfare by financially starving governments, incentivizing savings and investment in innovation, and accelerating our productivity gains by reducing artificial and arbitrary trade frictions. Bitcoin has the potential to bend the grand arc of human history back towards a free market paradigm. Bitcoin is doing this in the market for money, and its underlying technology may one day be applied to other markets like equities, bonds, and real estate. Going forward, Bitcoin promises to further liberate us from the clutches of time scarcity, eliminate time theft via inflation, reinvigorate individual sovereignty, and, as a cumulative result, radically increase social scalability worldwide. As Alfred North Whitehead said: “It is a profoundly erroneous truism repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they’re making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking about what we’re doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.” As we continue our endless contentions with time scarcity, government-authorized money monopolies remain a scourge on our humanity. Central banking, an institution of monetary socialism and systemized time theft, has repeatedly wounded our individual sovereignty, time preferences, and freedoms throughout history. We mortals must break the shackles of this oppressive institution and focus our energies on innovating against time scarcity — the immortal tyrant. In doing so, we will create a world in which our children, their children, and all future generations are born able to live totally self-sovereign lives — forever free from the chains of governmental tyranny. By Robert Breedlove Oct, 2019 Thank you for reading “Bitcoin and the Tyranny of Time Scarcity” My sincerest gratitude to these amazing minds: @real_vijay, Saifedean Ammous, Brandon Quittem, Dan Held, Naval Ravikant, @NickSzabo4, Nic Carter, @MartyBent, Pierre Rochard, Anthony Pompliano, Chris Burniske, @MarkYusko, @CaitlinLong_, Nik Bhatia, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Stephan Livera, Peter McCormack, Gigi, Hasu, @MustStopMurad, Misir Mahmudov, Mises Institute, John Vallis, @FriarHass, Conner Brown, Ben Prentice, Aleksandar Svetski, Cryptoconomy, Citizen Bitcoin, Keyvan Davani, @RaoulGMI, @DTAPCAP, Parker Lewis, @Rhythmtrader, Russell Okung, @sthenc, Nathaniel Whittemore, @ck_SNARKs, Trevor Noren, Cory Klippsten, Knut Svanholm And anyone else I forgot :) The Bitcoin Times Ed 2 is the collaborative work of 8 writers & 1 designer with the intent to educate, inspire and spread ideas on bitcoin. Each section will be released on Medium as a free long form article, and the full, compiled version of the Bitcoin Times will be available for free at the link below. In 2020, we’ll release a limited edition hard cover collectible, for purchase, which you’ll be notified of by email if you download the free pdf. If you found value in this or any of the other essays and articles, please support each of the contributors by sharing it out & following their work. ownload the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) By Hass McCook Posted December 19, 2019 As always, we commence by sending thanks and good tidings to Satoshi Nakamoto — The Creator and First of the Believers, General of the Byzantines, Breaker of Banks and Fighter of Fiat — and to Hal Finney and The Apostles and The Disciples thereafter, and to The Stoic and Patient True Believers, who keep their tithe holy, and stack sats for their salvation. Oh you who believe, fear the day of economic reckoning, and do not face the Angel of Hyperbitcoinization as a nocoiner, for punishment awaits them in the hereafter. Religion has always been a touchy subject, with tens of millions of people even recoiling at the word. These demographics are reflected in the observable Bitcoin Twitter / Social Media communities, with the Recoilers being observably over-represented. When Bitcoiners are referred to as cult members, should they really be that upset? In this piece, I argue that they should not be, and instead, that they come home to The Hard-Money-Monastery. I will commence with dictionary definitions of religion and where Bitcoin fits into it. From there, I will introduce the mythology, memes, and laws that drive the commitment, attitudes, beliefs and practices of True Believers, and demonstrate the parallels between Bitcoin and “Traditional” religions. Perhaps you will find that a little religion may be good for all of us. So how is religion defined? The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “A pursuit or interest followed with great devotion.” Mirriam-Webster defines it as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” and “commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance”. I think this is a suitable secular definition moving forward. I will also define the term “hereafter” as “At some time in the future”, but also “After Death.” The concept of Death, or perhaps more specifically, Judgement Day, is viewed by many Bitcoiners as a devastating economic event, the death of Fiat. Ultimately, this will lead to total civilizational collapse, or, the phenomenon of “hyperbitcoinization”, effectively, when all global trade is conducted in Bitcoin, and its market capitalization is in the dozens of trillions, if not hundreds. A tenet of the Bitcoin faith is belief in this Day and the need to prepare well for it. With definitions out of the way, we can get to the epic memes. Bitcoin mythology is legendary in its potential reach. Satoshi as a real, yet mythical, being, concept, or meme, would deserve a full book in their own right. The Bitcoin Network is omnipresent — beamed everywhere, even from the heavens above. There is decentralization of everything — from the mechanical process of mining, to the human process of building and hodling, thought, and religious, or non-religious, ideology. The Nodes are omnipotent, and only through their good graces can changes be made to Bitcoin. Running a full node is a practice that is incumbent on the True Believer. The Timechain is the unforgeable eternal ledger, secured by the practice of mining, of which True Believers are encouraged to do if able. Through the process of Proof-of-Work, the pulse of the network is the literal monetization and digital embodiment of energy. “Capital-E” Energy is thermodynamically finite, yet infinitely divisible into units of energy — just like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a simple digital reflection of Energy, and is irrevocably tied to it. Energy is everything in the universe, and everything around us is simply a materialisation of this energy in one state or another. Energy is Nature. Energy is Life. We now finally have a monetary approximation of this through Bitcoin. Bitcoin, then, is simply Energy, and by extension, Nature and Life itself. Nature demands submission. The Nature of Bitcoin is open and permissionless, and since Bitcoin is rooted in Nature (i.e. Energy), the will of Bitcoin must be submitted to. Lao Tzu said: One of great virtue is one who follows the Natural Way of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is vague and intangible. Yet, in the vague and void, there is image, there is substance. Within the profound intangible, there is essence. This essence is genuine. In It lies the great faith. Since the beginning of 2009, Bitcoin has been in existence. Only through It can one understand the origin of all beings How do I know that this is the true essence? It is through this Natural Way. - The Tao of The Coin, Chapter 21 Bitcoin is the Essence of Money. The True Believer is content in their submission to the will of Bitcoin, and they will be greatly rewarded in the hereafter. I will discuss the hereafter, and several other parallels Bitcoin has with “traditional religions”, next. There are several common themes across the world’s major religions, spanning monotheistic, polytheistic and philosophical ones. Bitcoin embodies bits and pieces of all of them and can even share conflicting religious beliefs! Such is the beauty of Bitcoin, it is compatible and flows through Nature, with anyone free to ride its waves and integrate it into their own “religion”. Take for example the contrast of Bitcoin and the Christian concept of Original Sin. The Bitcoin Observant see mankind’s fall from grace as the movement to fiat currency, and we are all born default Keynesians, and need to stack sats to cleanse ourselves for a pleasant hereafter. Islam takes an opposite view, whereby all people are born Muslim and with a clean spiritual slate, and non-Mulsims can “revert” to Islam if they choose. The Bitcoin analogy in this case would be that we are born free, with a clear mental slate that accepts the will of nature, but gets forced into the fiat machine. We can revert to our state of freedom by declaring our faith in Bitcoin; best done by stacking sats. There are also elements of both free will and divine pre-ordainment at play in traditional religions, and this is also apparent in Bitcoin. We all participate based on our free will, with a major reason being the Divine Preordainment of the Bitcoin Supply. One cannot mention bitcoin and religious reverence without the mentioning of Satoshi. In one way, he presents as a Saviour, who so loved us, that he sacrificed almost 5% of Bitcoin’s supply so that he may complete his favour upon us. As a messenger, he created the perfect money for us, and brought to us this Code called Bitcoin Core. Within its own ecosystem, The Code is a deity in its own right; it sets fixed boundaries of what is and isn’t allowed, and enforces these rules without fear or favour, beholden to no-one, only to the Greater Law of Mathematics. Although enforcement mechanisms differ across religions, the same points apply. Therefore, every node running The Code is a deity in its own right too. An MMOPG, a Massively Multi-peer Online Polyumvirate God, engaged in Financial Warcraft. In all religions, there is always some struggle of good versus evil in one way or another, with suffering being a theme across the majority. It is the ultimate display of low Time Preference — struggle now for victory and rewards in the future. Many religious people struggle for a future that may not even exist! Struggles can be internal or external. Internal struggles are the hardest, as “sin” can be easily fallen into. Bitcoin has no struggles, it just is. The Believers must struggle externally in what will be biggest mythological Good versus Evil war in history, the battle of Hard, Pure Money versus Evil-Facilitating Fiat. Internally, they need to avoid particular “deadly sins.” The original 7-deadly sins were Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. Religions encourage staying away from sin and following the straight and narrow path. Staying away from sin and doing good deeds grants you rewards for a heavenly hereafter. After all, everything in Nature is incentive driven. Some say that If you indulge in these sins often enough, the regret and heavy conscience would be enough to make the final minutes on your death-bed feel like hell on Earth, regardless of what afterlife you believe in. More importantly, chances are you will likely lose a lot of sats taking that approach, and based on what you believe, a fiery eternity would await you too. Either way, losing sats may be the difference between a heaven-like or hell-like experience in the Bitcoin Hereafter. In light of these 7 sins, The Observant maximise their health and live long lives by fighting gluttony and sloth, fight greed and pride by staying humble and stacking sats, and show no envy by voluntarily giving away your source for people to benefit from as they wish. Lust is a discretionary one, and wrath is allowable and encouraged against nocoiners and shitcoiners alike. The jurisprudence remains unclear though, with some sects, such as the Temple of Toxicity, arguing that wrath against shitcoiners and nocoiners is incumbent upon The Believer. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in The Blockchain, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your Trezor is, there your heart will be also. - Book of Satoshi 6:15 While many newcoiners come into the ecosystem at the prospect of financial returns, their education and involvement lead them to The Natural Way — stacking sats. From there, The Believer reaps several rewards, both spiritual fulfilment for their souls, as well as a much higher chance for a rapture on Economic Judgement Day and thereafter. Through the act of religiously regular sat stacking, The Believers provide an uphill-sloping bedrock and stability to the price. Some even refer to this ritual as a “tithe”, as every single sat stacked furthers the cause of Bitcoin — yet another parallel! As we move up the natural logarithmic price slope, we get increases in “energy-level” to help in our fight. From a literal point of view, energy used to power Bitcoin will increase as a function of price. From a figurative point of view, the “energy level” is the size of the weaponry available to us in our contest against central banks. This means an enclosed Bitcoin ecosystem that is capable of delivering financial sovereignty to the masses. Indeed, victory has been granted to the patient and those who keep their tithe holy. Of course, there will be some vanity rewards to those who hold 6.15 BTC, with promises of Citadel living, endless riches, and well-endowed partners. Having laid out the case above, we can see that Bitcoin facilitates most attitudes and beliefs; especially those related to freedom and sovereignty. The True Believer’s involvement in the ecosystem involves many different religious practices, whether it’s contributing code, running a node, learning and educating, or simply stacking sats. They carry out these practices with great devotion. Not only does Bitcoin fit the dictionary definition, we have seen that Bitcoin as a religion shares many underlying tones with both the ancient & modern religions. At the end of the day, everyone has to believe in something; might as well believe in something verifiable and unforgeable. In closing, we will recite a brief Bitcoin prayer: Oh Bitcoin! Do not punish us if we forget our DCA or we fall into error with fiat and shitcoins; Oh Bitcoin! And lay not on us a bear market like that which You did lay on those before us; Oh Bitcoin! And put not on us bags greater than we have the strength to bear. And enlighten us and humble us and grant sovereignty to us. You are our bulwark, so grant us patience between this halving and the next. By Hass McCook, The Friar, Sept, 2019 The Bitcoin Times Ed 2 is the collaborative work of 8 writers & 1 designer with the intent to educate, inspire and spread ideas on bitcoin. Each section will be released on Medium as a free long form article, and the full, compiled version of the Bitcoin Times will be available for free at the link below. In 2020, we’ll release a limited edition hard cover collectible, for purchase, which you’ll be notified of by email if you download the free pdf. If you found value in this or any of the other essays and articles, please support each of the contributors by sharing it out & following their work. Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) By John Newbery Posted December 21, 2019 The end of the decade is a good time to look back and marvel at the giant strides that Bitcoin has made since Satoshi gave us the whitepaper in 2008. It’s also a natural point to look forward to what the upcoming years might hold in store. This is where I think Bitcoin is headed over the next few years. Tell me why I’m wrong and what I’ve missed! All implementations now support basic multi-path payments (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/multipath-payments/ …). We’ll get better support of that as well as dual-funding, splice-in and splice-out (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/splicing/ …). Taken together, those technologies will make channel and liquidity management much easier. They’ll be automated, fade into the background and user experience will improve drastically. Lightning infrastructure will improve. @bitfinex recently added lightning deposits and withdrawals. All other exchanges, merchant service providers, custodians and wallets will follow suit or become obsolete. We’ll see more lightning wallets: a mix of non-custodial; self-custodied with outsourced routing; and fully-self-managed wallets. This is a brand new space and there’ll be lots of experimentation. Different teams will find different niches to fill. Tooling for lightning developers will improve. When we ran the lightning apps residency just over a year ago, the attendees spent a lot of time setting up their lightning dev environments. With better tooling, we’ll see faster innovation on the application layer. Teams at @zebedeeio, @SatoshisGames, and others we haven’t heard of yet will delight us with new and unexpected lightning experiences. The schnorr/taproot softfork (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/taproot/ …) will be activated in 2020 or 2021. That’ll provide a huge improvement in fungibility, privacy, scalability and functionality. For an overview of the benefits, watch the Optech exec briefing here: https://bitcoinops.org/en/2019-exec-briefing/#the-next-softfork …. That’ll allow lightning to upgrade from HTLCs to Payment Points. That’s a big improvement for privacy and payment decorrelation, and allows ‘Stuckless payments’ with proofs-of-payment – another huge boost in LN usablity. Even better, lightning channel opens and closes will look identical to payments to single pubkeys. The same is true for payments to k-of-n pubkey thresholds. That’s good for fungibility, privacy and scalability. In fact, with schnorr/taproot, there’s almost no downside to encumbering UTXOs with advanced scripts instead of single pubkey outputs. Cold storage UTXOs will be k-of-n multisig keytrees, and all hot wallet UTXOs will be stored in channels (with splicing-out used to make on-chain payments). When transactions hit the chain, they’ll look like any other single pubkey/signature payment. Payments into wallets will pay directly into channel open outputs (thanks to @esneider for pointing this out to me). There’ll be no concept of an on-chain balance and an in-channel balance. Just a single, unified balance that can be used for lightning or on-chain payments. Wallet teams will collaborate on a PayJoin payment protocol (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/payjoin/ …). A large number of on-chain transactions will be 2-input-2-ouput transactions, vastly improving fungibility and privacy, and foiling chain analysis. The inputs to those PayJoin transactions may be channel splice-outs, and the outputs may be channel opens, but there’ll be no way to tell from observing the chain. Eventually we’ll have cross-input signature aggregation (https://bitcoincore.org/en/2017/03/23/schnorr-signature-aggregation/#signature-aggregation …), which means those PayJoin transactions will only have a single signature, and will be *cheaper* than regular change-producing transactions. Larger coinjoins will be cheaper still. An advanced PayJoin payment protocol could even batch multiple payments to the same merchant/exchange and use only a single signature. We’ll get SIGHASH_NOINPUT or SIGHASH_ANYPREVOUT (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/sighash_noinput/ …), making eltoo (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/eltoo/ …) possible, and blurring the lines between layer 1 and layer 2 (https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/lightning-dev/2019-September/002136.html …). That’ll make lightning even more usable and allow more advanced layer 2 contracts like channel factories (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/channel-factories/ …). All these advanced features will require greater wallet interoperability. That’s where miniscript (https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/miniscript/ …) comes in. With miniscript, wallets will eventually be able to enter contracts with each other that don’t require pre-templated scripts (as lightning currently does). This wallet interoperability will allow faster innovation in layer 2 contracts. OP_CTV (https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2019/12/04/#op-checktemplateverify-ctv …) or some other covenant-enabling opcode will be activated, allowing richer layer 2 constructions like joinpools (https://freenode.irclog.whitequark.org/bitcoin-wizards/2019-05-21#1558427254-1558427441 …;). Taken together with taproot and SIGHASH_NOINPUT, we’ll get extremely rich and private off-chain contracts will be made possible. Some of these things will happen in 2020, and some will take a bit longer, but they’re all heading in the same direction: using the chain for what the chain’s good for (h/t Andrew Poesltra). That’s to say: the block chain allows nodes to arrive at an agreed ledger state, while contracting and functionality move up onto layer two. Doing so is cheaper, more secure, more private and allows for more rapid innovation. None of this is inevitable, and none can happen without the industry of many hands and the creativity of many minds. There are years of work ahead for developers, researchers, businesses and users. If you run a Bitcoin business, you can help by supporting, sponsoring or hiring open source developers. If you’re a Bitcoin user, you can help by *demanding* that any service you use supports the open source ecosystem. If you’re a developer, you can help by reviewing and testing PRs and releases. https://bitcoincore.reviews/ is a great place to start. 2020 is going to be a great year for Bitcoin and Lightning protocol development! /fin Posted December 22, 2019 After my article about “Volatility as information” a few readers asked me what did I mean by “low entropy carrier”. As I was writing about George Gilder’s book “Knowledge and power” applied to Bitcoin, I didn’t feel at the time the need to explain what these fancy words mean. But let me try to do so as it is for me a very interesting exercise: For example the realm of physics is a very low entropy carrier of information, what do I mean by that? It means that once you figure out the laws and relations between your measurements and observations, you can infer more laws and then create models that explain the reality. There are little inter-dependencies between observable facts compared to for example what happens in a high entropy carrier such as the human body. As Gilder says, killing a virus within a human body without destroying healthy tissues is very complex compared to doing certain experiments within the realm of physics because of these inter-dependencies. Consequently, when we take a blood test, from the measurements we can conclude several correlations but hardly ever causation. Trying to do so, we frequently need many more tests. In fact, the more I learn about them, the more I conclude we are absolutely clueless about the human body. With regards to the economy, the same applies to what Gilder calls the low entropy carrier of capitalism, which are the rule of law, the maintenance of order, the defense of property rights, reliability and restrain of regulation, stability of money, etc… A low entropy carrier is therefore a channel that carries itself very little information, producing little distortion or external interference in the transmitted message and also allowing the entire message itself to be what Gilder calls “surprise”, entropy, or unexpected information. For Gilder, surprise is the entire point of entrepreneurial activity. Therefore making the rule of law, maintenance of order, defense of property rights, etc… more predictable, allows to really receive the signal at the other end. In other words, by decreasing the noise in the channel, we are able to get the information that truly matters, by decreasing the “noise” that the powers that be produce via distortion and interference in things like money, regulation, property rights, etc… Note: All this fancy writing by Gilder (and me) is well supported by an actual theory, the information theory of Shannon (1948), so neither him nor me are making this up! In the USA economy surprise (crazy start-ups, crazy inventions and improvements of any process within economic activity) is arguably possible even likely. OTOH, the North Korean regime could be argued to be the exact opposite, where the only surprise possible is the last eccentricity of its dictatorial leader thanks to its completely lack of transparency. Given that money is the information system of the economy, you could say that the USD is currently among the lowest entropy carriers in the world and the North Korean currency likely the highest. What about Bitcoin? Bitcoin is currently a very high entropy carrier yet for economic activity, because it is presently full of surprise for most of the world. It is not its lack of transparency but the fact it is hard to figure out. As I argued in my previous post, volatility, mining or its blockchain are some of its interesting features for many, and given that everything about it is mostly surprise, it can’t be a proper information channel of capitalism just yet. But every podcast, book, every tweet, every article about it increasing its understanding, decreases this entropy Gilder writes about and it is in the process of becoming the lowest entropy carrier of the economy within the next few decades. In other words, in 10 to 30 years time, thanks to its transparency, we will find as many surprising things about Bitcoin as we currently do about the alphabet! With regards to the current debate on scarcity being Bitcoin’s first price driver, I disagree, I believe the main driver is its understanding, which drives demand, which thanks to the limited supply increases the price. Keep learning and explaining, it is the best way to decrease Bitcoin’s entropy and to end up turning Bitcoin in the best form of money we have ever seen! How Bitcoin Thrives on the Edge between Order and Chaos Posted Dacember 22, 2019 Bitcoin works. No matter what other opinions you hold about this strange phenomenon, it undoubtedly works, marches on, or, as I (and others) have previously argued, is alive. Even if most of the world would grind to a halt, the Bitcoin network would continue to produce valid blocks every 10 minutes or so. Bitcoin works because of many things: game theory, economic incentives, cryptography, ingenious engineering, resilience on a network level, and so on and so forth. Killing Bitcoin is hard. Really hard. Killing Bitcoin is like killing an idea. An idea that is stuck in the heads of hundreds of thousands of zealous individuals. First of all, it is quite hard to shut down the internet globally; and secondly, Bitcoin can transcend the internet. Everything which can transmit data can be used to transmit bitcoin transactions, and everything which can hold data can store a copy of Bitcoin’s block chain. It’s just a ledger; the whole thing is just information. Curiously, the Bitcoin network is embodying the eternal struggle of life: the struggle against entropy; a battle on the edge between order and chaos. To understand this chaotic struggle — and how Bitcoin thrives because of it — it is helpful to briefly discuss the following concepts: entropy, randomness, and information. I hope to convince you that these concepts are related and that they are essential in Bitcoin’s ongoing struggle for survival. Let’s dive in. In computing, entropy can be used to measure the randomness of a data source. In cryptography in general, and in Bitcoin in particular, a good source of entropy is essential to keep you secure. Mess up the entropy of your private key (aka your seed phrase) and your bitcoins will be my bitcoins soon. Note: the technical term for this unwanted transfer of coins is rekt. You don’t need to know what “getting rekt” means in detail, or the many ways in which you can get rekt; it is enough to know that you should avoid such a situation at all costs. Entropy is quite a complicated concept, but in general terms, it describes how random or how compressible something is. - High entropy: randomness. - Low entropy: orderliness. Or, in other words, with a nod to Tsachy Weissman: - High entropy: not very compressible. - Low entropy: very compressible. There are complicated formulas and quite a few disambiguous definitions of entropy. The concept finds applications in classical thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, quantum statistical physics, order and disorder, life, astrophysics, and more. It is also a measure of irreversibility. In Bitcoin, reversibility and irreversibility are probabilistic. If enough people with enough hash power collude transactions could be reversed. Absolute irreversibility does not exist in Bitcoin. Final settlement is never final, but always probabilistic. Yes, the chances of reversal might be beyond astronomical, but nevertheless, final settlement does not and should not exist in Bitcoin. Nakamoto consensus forbids it. “The first law of thermodynamics, also known as the law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system. The second law states that the entropy of any isolated system always increases, and the third law states that the entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero.” — Knut Svanholm In Bitcoin, entropy is important for multiple reasons: - Secret information should be generated by high-entropy data sources - New blocks reverse entropy locally, i.e. create order out of chaos - Bitcoin’s security model relies upon chaotic processes - Validation relies on deterministic processes - Everyone can validate structured data - Nobody can guess random data While the above speaks in absolutes (everyone and nobody), the truth is more nuanced: Again, Bitcoin is probabilistic in nature, thus, in theory, one could guess a private key just like in theory you could find a billion valid blocks in one millisecond. Details aside, we will try to keep it simple here. In general, if you have two coins, the entropy of this system is two. As in: you can describe the whole system with two bits: 00, 01, 10, 11. 2 bits of entropy Flip both coins at the same time, and you will end up with either tail-tail, tail-heads, heads-tail, or tail-tail. If you are a fair coin flipper, the chance of each combination will be 25%. Imagine a system that flips hundreds of coins at once, and you have something which could be used to generate a private key. Randomness is essential to cryptography. At the root of all secret communication is some form of information asymmetry: you know something a potential eavesdropper does not. A good secret is like a good password: randomly generated, i.e. coming from a data source that has a high degree of entropy. Random noise. How much information is contained in this image? If something is “perfectly” encrypted, an eavesdropper can not distinguish what was said from random data. This is the purpose of proper encryption: you want to hide what was said, and, if possible, even hide the fact that something meaningful was said at all. - “Good” randomness: not compressible / high entropy / secret / secure. - “Bad” randomness: compressible / low entropy / guessable / insecure. Bitcoin doesn’t use encryption per se. The ledger is public and transparent by design, enabling anyone to audit the whole system with the will to do so. Bitcoin uses cryptographic signatures and cryptographic hashes, both of which produce quasi-random outcomes. And if you know the secret, you can unlock some coins (using your private key), add new blocks to the block chain (using the nonce you found), or prove that you are who you say you are (by signing a message, which at least proves that you are in control of one or multiple keys). Only you know your private key. Nobody else should know your private key. Only you, the successful miner, found the nonce for the next block. That is information asymmetry. That is what makes Bitcoin work. All cryptographic systems work because of information asymmetry. And curiously, properly encrypted data is indistinguishable from random data. Otherwise, an eavesdropper could make some sense of the encrypted message, which in turn would mean that the encryption used isn’t very good. What is information, anyway? People often say that Bitcoin is thermodynamically secured. While this is true, I’d like to dig a little deeper. What does thermodynamically secured mean, exactly? It means that — as far as we know —changing things in our universe requires energy. When I say “changing things” I mean it: change anything at all in our universe, and you will need to “use” energy — put in some work — to change that thing. Move a chair? You have to put in some work. Grow a tree? You’ll need the energy of the sun to turn CO2 into wood. Do a calculation? Energy is required to manipulate whatever is holding the data. Store the outcome? You’ll need energy to arrange (and protect) the atoms for storage, no matter what medium is used. Bitcoin lives mostly in the informational realm, and just like all other information systems, it needs to store and process the information via a physical medium. Thus, if you change information _in Bitcoin, you effectively change a _thing in the real world. Whether that thing is a solid-state disk, USB stick, hard drive, optical storage medium, or something else doesn’t matter. The fact that changing things — or, in other words: flipping bits — requires energy, is the root conundrum of all computation. It is the reason why your computer makes a bunch of noise and gets hot if it does a lot of “thinking.” It is the reason that computer science students have to study the Big O notation and software companies love to ask questions about it. Changing a zero into a one requires work, and no matter how fast you are working, you still need to expend _some _amount of energy. According to physics, there literally is no such thing as a free lunch. Flipping bits is work, which requires energy. And here is the thing: Bitcoin utilizes the fact that the difference between hard computational problems and exponentially hard computational problems is big. Mind-bogglingly big. Alright. Back to our original question: What is information, anyway? Sorted colors. How much information is contained in this image? Information relates to both knowledge and meaning. It is the opposite of not knowing, and the opposite of information in data is randomness. In other words: if you are not able to make sense of some data, it might appear random to you. - Sensible information: quite compressible. - Nonsense information: not very compressible. Pi might help to clear up what I’m trying to say: 3.141592653589793… can be “compressed” into π, or the circumference of a circle with the diameter of one. As a computer programmer, you could think of this concept as follows: can I write a computer program that generates the information I’m trying to convey, which is actually shorter than the information itself? (That’s what I mean when I say “compressible”.) In short: sense and nonsense, order and chaos, or information and randomness are intricately linked. One could say that they are two sides of the same coin, and both concepts are related via something we call entropy. Information implies structure and structure benefits from redundancy. The most ancient structures in nature have been adapted for survival by evolution. At the root of it is DNA, two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. Symmetric, redundant information. The properties which allow DNA to survive and thrive are embedded in its processes: redundant structure, a copying mechanism that relies on this structure, the baked-in error correction which leads to four bases instead of two, etc. Bitcoin, in comparison, is simpler: one chain, two bits, no error correction (information is copied perfectly). However, as with DNA, the properties which allow Bitcoin to survive (and thrive) are embedded in the replication process: a chaotic race to find new blocks, replication of blocks in the network, and replication of the software (and the ledger) on as many nodes as possible. Further, when we talk about the Bitcoin organism, error correction is equivalent to being alive. The network self-validates with every beat of the heart, every ten minutes or so. This is what makes the bitcoin organism extremely robust as well. It is designed for survival. In Bitcoin, high entropy information is usually kept secret. Your private key should, as the name implies, be kept private. It is for your eyes only. Which particular nonce you just tried, i.e. the work you already did when mining a new block, is usually kept private as well. You don’t want your competitors to know which numbers produce invalid blocks and can be skipped. Chaos on the left, Order on the right. Bitcoin utilizes both order and chaos to create a system that grows — and even thrives — between these extremes. It utilizes information asymmetry and an ingenious incentive structure which leads to a global competition to find Bitcoin’s secrets. Which processes are orderly, which are chaotic, and how Bitcoin is able to grow on the edge between order and chaos will be explored in the next section. Growth between Order and Chaos What makes the Bitcoin network tick? Again, there might be many answers to this question, but the only thing that is truly ticking in the Bitcoin network is the global clock: a block clock, where every block is one unit of time. Currently, we call this process mining because new bitcoins are generated for every valid block that is mined (read: found). We call this the block subsidy, and it is an incentive structure to bootstrap the network. In a sense, the Bitcoin organism “grows” on the edge between order and chaos: finding new blocks is a chaotic process, and its result is a very orderly list of transactions: the Bitcoin block chain, also known as the ledger. From a “finding new blocks” point of view, we are still extremely early. Only ~10 years in. The block reward era will go on until the year 2140 or so, which means we are about 13% into the bootstrapping phase of Bitcoin: the reward era. Satoshi undoubtedly knew that this was a long game. The era where fresh blocks are associated with a reward is only one phase of the Bitcoin game. Note that this phase is 6930000 blocks long. With an average block time of ~10 minutes, the reward era turns out to be 131 years long. 2019: Early days of the Bitcoin Reward Era There will be a time where those who are tasked with finding new blocks are rewarded mostly via the networks’ fee market, as Dan Held brilliantly argued in Bitcoin’s Security is Fine. The point in time where the fee market takes over will be somewhere between the year 2020 and 2140. Either that, or Bitcoin will die, or some museum computers will try to find new blocks at an economic loss. After this point in time, we will probably still talk about “mining” bitcoin, even though all the “miners” won’t be producing any new bitcoins. All 21 million BTC — or 2,099,999,997,690,000 sats, to be precise — will have been mined. No new bitcoin will be added to the pool of existing coins in circulation. Miners — if we still call them that —will still try to find new blocks, mind you. But the bitcoin moved by these blocks will have a long economic history. Gone are the days where miners award themselves new bitcoin in the coinbase transaction, to be spent after 100 blocks. Will bitcoin still exist in 5000 years, and eventually beat gold as the de-facto money of humanity? I don’t know, but important information is extremely hard to kill. I expect bitcoin to live for a very long time, just like ancient scriptures and religious texts survive to this day. It is just information, all of it, and it can transcend the medium it is printed on. Of course, I expect something approximating hyperbitcoinization to have happened until this point. We will have a circular bitcoin economy, and bitcoin banks will globally settle vast amounts of value between them. What private citizens — or sovereign individuals, to use a more fitting term — will use is yet to be seen. I doubt that the bitcoin base layer will be used by persons like you and me. And that’s perfectly fine. With the stage set, and concepts like order, information, randomness, and entropy in mind, let’s take a look at some bitcoin concepts. We will distinguish them visually: from chaotic (left) to orderly (right). Bitcoin grows between order and chaos. While the framing of order and chaos is useful, it is neither precise nor universally applicable. However, I believe that thinking about the parts which make Bitcoin tick in this way is a helpful exercise, and I believe that the core point — that bitcoin lives, grows, and thrives on the edge between order and chaos — is profoundly true. Let’s ponder on these concepts for a bit. - Private key: Chaotic information, very high randomness. Secret information which is best kept private. Maximum entropy for maximum security. If your private key is not random, you’re gonna have a bad time. - Nonce: Chaotic information, high randomness. A nonce is a specific number. Miners are in constant competition to find the next nonce which produces a valid block. Multiple numbers might fit the criteria, but the mining process is very much like finding one random number. - Fresh block (before broadcast): Newly found blocks are the outcome of the chaotic process which is finding a nonce. Before blocks are broadcast, blocks can be understood as secret information. Fresh blocks can be ambiguous, since multiple blocks can form a valid chain tip at the same time. It is in your best interest to broadcast a fresh block immediately to everyone to reap the reward. Fresh blocks are only held back if you are an attacker, or very stupid, or both. - Chain tip: Forming the chain tip is a process which is mostly orderly, but again, it is generated by a chaotic process. As mentioned above, the chain tip can be ambiguous. One version of the chain tip will survive, the losing versions will become orphan blocks. You can validate the correctness of all information in all blocks up to the chain tip. The chain tip reflects the current time in Bitcoin. - Orphan blocks: Orphan blocks are part of the orderly, natural growth process of the Bitcoin block chain. Valid blocks are discarded on a regular basis. If two valid blocks are found at roughly the same time, they fight a probabilistic battle for survival. In the long run, only one block can win this race. The losing block will become an orphan block and die a lonely death. - Unconfirmed transactions: Orderly structure which can be easily validated. An unconfirmed transaction can be valid or invalid. Valid transactions are included in blocks based on economic incentives, which is — again — a probabilistic, market-driven process. Invalid transactions are discarded. - Buried blocks: Orderly structure generated by a chaotic process, some time ago. The possibility of a reorg (re-organization of buried blocks) becomes exponentially unlikely because the probabilities against it multiply. Example: if every block has a 50% chance to reorg, the chance of a 6 block reorg would be 1.5%. Actual numbers are closer to 0.31% per block and 0.0000000000008875% for a 6 block reorg. - Confirmed transactions: Orderly structure which can be validated very easily. Irreversibility is probabilistic and dependent on block height. Once a transaction is confirmed, it becomes more final the deeper it is buried in the block chain. - Public keys: extended public keys (xpub, ypub, zpub) are generated by a deterministic process from a random seed — your private key. - Block time: Valid blocks are found, on average, every 10 minutes. This is what makes the Bitcoin network tick. Bitcoin’s heartbeat is extremely regular when measured in blocks. While still regular when measured in human time, mining is a fundamentally probabilistic process, and thus there is a real possibility that some blocks are found very quickly or comparably late. - Difficulty adjustment: While the difficulty adjustment is a very orderly process, it can be a bit chaotic if hash power changes drastically (as it did in August 2017, because of the contentious bcash hard fork). Difficulty adjustment is based on block time, which is only probabilistically linked to human time. - Bitcoin supply: Bitcoin’s supply is fixed since its inception. The issuance of new bitcoin is embedded in Bitcoin’s consensus code and is thus virtually impossible to change. - Whole ledger, deeply buried blocks (aka the Bitcoin block chain): Orderly, sequential, structure which is pretty much unambiguous up to the chain tip and can be validated by everyone. - Ledger validation: Validation is an orderly, sequential process. The outcome of this process is a simple boolean value for each block: true or false, valid or invalid. Every node arrives at the same block height independently, which is what forms Nakamoto consensus. The fact that all of the above, the whole machinery, works in concert to provide a yes or no answer to the question “Is this what actually happened?” will never cease to amaze me. Let me repeat the above. The whole purpose of the Bitcoin organism is to decide what happened when to whom. How much does everyone have, and how did this come to be? The how is important, because it allows everyone to audit everything, and come to the same conclusion. In short, Bitcoin utilizes chaotic processes (mining, private key generation) and information asymmetry (public information which is widely shared, secret information which is not shared at all) to build up a structured, orderly, and permanent record, that can be audited and verified by everyone. This is Bitcoin. This is Nakamoto consensus. This is the innovation, and this is also what makes bitcoin the best and hardest money that ever existed on planet earth. You might call it open, permissionless, borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant, public, sound, antifragile, and a couple of other adjectives. I call it Life. And we all call it Bitcoin. The Bitcoin Times Ed 2 is the collaborative work of 8 writers & 1 designer with the intent to educate, inspire and spread ideas on bitcoin. Each section will be released on Medium as a free long form article, and the full, compiled version of the Bitcoin Times will be available for free at the link below. In 2020, we’ll release a limited edition hard cover collectible, for purchase, which you’ll be notified of by email if you download the free pdf. If you found value in this or any of the other essays and articles, please support each of the contributors by sharing it out & following their work. Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) Posted December 25, 2019 Almost since the dawn of Bitcoin, there has been a hot debate over the value of Proof-of-Work in cryptocurrency systems, and whereby the apparent wasteful use of energy by Bitcoin to secure its system will one day destroy the Earth. Unfortunately, there still remains a basic misunderstanding of the value of this Proof-of-Work, and the fundamental relationship to energy and work that makes up any and every system in the known universe. One of the least understood and oft-cited technologies of this crazy universe is the emergent complex system called Bitcoin, and thus by extension, the intrinsically linked Proof-of-Work that drives the engine under its hood, metabolising raw energy as its life force. There are many ways to describe Bitcoin the system, bitcoin the product, and the relationship to the underlying Proof-of-Work, but an overview of how the Bitcoin system functions at a high level is; “The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work. The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power.” - Satoshi Nakamoto, The Bitcoin Whitepaper The idea of Bitcoin was to create a reliable, decentralised network, upon which all transactions could be recorded & stored, that was able to be validated by anyone. The issue was: how do you manage a ledger of transactions amongst a globally distributed database, entirely without a central point of failure, with a set of users who may or may not be known to each other, in a potentially adversarial environment, all the while ensuring that consensus is practically always achieved? The answer to this equation fundamentally lies in a unique method of solving the “Byzantine Generals Problem”, a thought experiment proposed while designing fault-tolerant consensus systems to accurately replicate the state of systems in aircraft. Consensus & The Byzantine Generals Problem Fundamentally, reliable computer systems must be able to handle malfunctioning components that can give conflicting information to different parts of the system. This is exponentially harder when you begin to network multiple computer systems, across a distributed network, particularly when there is no “lead” or “authority”. “This situation can be expressed abstractly in terms of a group of generals of the Byzantine army camped with their troops around an enemy city. Communicating only by messenger, the generals must agree upon a common battle plan. However, one or more of them may be traitors who will try to confuse the others. The problem is to find an algorithm to ensure that the loyal generals will reach agreement.” - The Byzantine Generals Problem, Leslie Lamport, Robert Shostak, and Marshall Pease In distributed computing, consensus protocols are used to achieve accurate state machine replication. A state machine simply being a mathematical model of computation, and state machine replication is the general method of implementing a fault-tolerant process to replicate these computing ‘states’ globally in a distributed system. The Bitcoin blockchain is simply a time-stamped record of all state transitions, and the network itself is a decentralised time-stamp server, stamping the first transaction to spend a coin to solve the issue of double-spending in a system without a central coordinator. Nakamoto consensus,the protocol created by Satoshi Nakamoto, achieves its solution to the Byzantine Generals Problem by utilising Proof-of-Work to provide an economic cost to becoming the leader i.e. the network participant that may, providing all rules are followed and consensus is achieved, update the state of the Bitcoin blockchain. To update the state of Bitcoin, miners must first compete via Proof-of-Work to find the solution to a cryptographic puzzle that abides by the rules of the system, with the winner of this race becoming the newly appointed leader. Once found, the leader must then update the state in a way that conforms to all of the consensus rules of the system, or else it will merely be rejected by all other participants. Proof-of-Work and Competition Proof-of-Work ultimately makes this process cost-intensive, and makes the mathematical odds of becoming the chosen leader _completely _random and indeterminable. Nakamoto Consensus follows the chain of work with the most accumulated Proof-of-Work as a key consensus rule, aiding in the self-organisation of the Bitcoin system. Participants are economically incentivised to be honest, as adversaries who attempt to create inaccurate states merely waste resources attempting to defraud the system. Proof-of-Work economically incentivises Bitcoin to become the ultimate arbiter of truth. By utilising Proof-of-Work for both the security and the issuance mechanism, the Bitcoin system leverages the “selfish gene” that all living species have, in order to create a system that comes to collective agreement, whilst still working competitively. Bitcoin is the sum of its many subsystems, united to create a combinatory system; one that is led by Darwinian fitness in an elegant energy transforming race to secure its network, whereby in return for participation, miners are rewarded with (₿) bitcoin. The product of this work, (₿) bitcoin, is exchanged for the trust and security that these miners deliver to the overall Bitcoin system, which becomes increasingly antifragile (and thus increasingly fitter) as these security network effects compound. Miners, the warriors at the front line of Bitcoin’s defence system are evolutionarily fit to protect its value. They work hard securing the network, the state of its ledger, and the distributed timestamp server via an energy intensive exercise, hence they deserve to be paid accordingly for providing this impenetrable wall of thermodynamic potential. That this work is increasingly hard makes it unlikely that an adversary could outcompete the cumulative work provided by the honest, cooperative majority. The symbiotic relationship miners have with Bitcoin forms a system that’s whole is greater than the sum of its parts; the apex Proof-of-Work collective. Why Proof is Important Work exists in every and all systems known to man, and the fundamental constant of the universe is that this work always requires energy. Energy is merely the ability to bring about change i.e. perform work. The more energy that exists in a system, the more thermodynamic potential, or simply put, the more useful work we can perform, hence the more value it can provide. It is therefore a universal truth that all work has a measurable cost of energy transformation due to the very nature of the universe, and the laws of thermodynamics. It is with these laws that we underpin Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work. Proof-of-Work is the unforgeable record of expended time and resources, therefore we can define Proof-of-Work as merely demonstrated proof-of-time-and-resources. This expenditure of time and resources subsequently give us a simple mechanism to measure production cost by, and whereby to secure and distribute the product of this work. It is through this procedure that we enact what we can describe as unforgeable costliness: (1) find or create a class of objects that is highly improbable, takes much effort to make, or both, and such that the measure of their costliness can be verified by other parties. (2) use the objects to enable a protocol or institution to cross trust boundaries” - Nick Szabo, Antiques, Time, Gold, and Bit Gold Providing proof of this work creates an unforgeable record of expended energy utilised to secure, and to remove entropy from within the Bitcoin accounting system. Bitcoin metabolises this provided energy to make its heart beat roughly every ten minutes. Upon this beat, that is, the finding of a new block, Bitcoin broadcasts its latest state to all nodes in the network, flooding the system with the latest block like a virus, until all nodes reflect its current state. The result of Bitcoin’s redundancy in state being duplicated tens of thousands of times across the entire planet, is to make an almost completely impervious, and indestructible system. One that could survive even a nuclear holocaust. Bitcoin is the unkillable cockroach that may outsurvive mankind itself in some form. Wherever even a single copy of Bitcoin exists, the network can yet again be bootstrapped, however difficult the process may be. Bitcoin: a self-expanding, self-replicating, self-organising, nuclear-proof, distributed accounting system for the digital-age. Energy is the unit of all life, the constant that is utilised within all systems to perform useful work, it is the fundamental currency that all life transacts with. This energy is a necessary tool utilised in the act of rearranging matter and information. All energy is bound by the unflinching laws of thermodynamics, meaning energy can never be destroyed, merely transformed. That work must have a measurable energy cost is due to these inherent laws of the universe, physics, and the laws of thermodynamics. These absolute, universal laws mean there is no such thing as a free lunch…ever. Therefore, we can demonstrate Bitcoin is secured via proof of the undeniable laws of thermodynamics that bind our universe, eating energy to sustain its metabolism, transforming information, proliferating, and self-organising its system. “Bitcoin is the first example of a new form of life…It lives and breathes on the internet. It lives because it can pay people to keep it alive. It lives because it performs a useful service that people will pay it to perform. It lives because anyone, anywhere, can run a copy of its code. It lives because all the running copies are constantly talking to each other. It lives because if any one copy is corrupted it is discarded, quickly and without any fuss or muss.” - Ralph Merkle World Kilowatt Dollars The great futurist and scientist Buckminster Fuller wrote of an energy backed currency in his novel Critical Path in 1981, with a prophetically accurate description of the DNA within the Bitcoin system. “In this cosmically uniform, common energy-value system for all humanity, costing will be expressed in kilowatt hours, watt-hours, and watt-seconds of work. Kilowatt-hours will become the prime criteria of costing the production of the complex of metabolic involvements per each function or item. These uniform energy valuations will replace all the world’s wildly intervarying, opinion-gambled-upon, top-power-system-manipulatable monetary systems. The time-energy world accounting system will do away with all the inequities now occurring in regard to the arbitrarily maneuverable banker-invented, international balance-of-trade accounting” - Buckminster Fuller Bitcoin Time-Energy Accounting and Thermodynamics The Proof-of-Work under the hood of the Bitcoin security and rewards system provides one of the most powerful, albeit novel uses of modern cryptographic and computing technology; utilising modern silicon and consuming vast sums of energy to find a cryptographic needle in the haystack that can never be forged or simulated. Miners race to find this exponentially difficult and unforgeable hash collision that is less than, or equal to the current target of the network. The subsequent rate of this computation effort we can define and measure is known as hashrate. Hashrate (Hash per second, H/s) in Bitcoin is an SI-derived unit (i.e. derived from the base units specified by the International System of Units) representing the number of double SHA-256 computations performed in one second. The H/s unit is also part of a common measure of a Bitcoin miner’s electric efficiency in the term watts/TH/s, denoted as W/TH/s. One watt being exactly equal to one joule/s (more on this later), a measure that can also be expressed as J/TH i.e. joules per trillion hashes. As of 2019, a current-generation Antminer S17 Pro has an efficiency of 49.5J/TH, and this efficiency will likely continue to increase with time as technology progresses — although note that we are currently entering a maturation stage of ASIC design, whereby we begin to approach the law of diminishing returns, and the physical limitations of chip design due to electrical resistance approaching smaller nanometer scales. In October 2019, the Bitcoin system was secured by a seven-day-average of 98 Exahash of computation, that is a combined global hashrate of 98 Quintillion H/s, or 98,000,000,000,000,000,000 H/s. Although constructed for a very specific task, to put this in comparison to modern supercomputers, the fastest computer in the world is currently the IBM Summit at 200 Petaflops, while the Bitcoin network is currently hashing at a speed of 80,704,290 Petaflops, more than four hundred thousand (400,000) times faster. SHA-256 hash results are pseudo-random, meaning they give the same result for the same input, but by changing the input even slightly, we will get a completely different and unpredictable (pseudorandom) result. Only by miners finding a low enough hashed value in the pseudorandomness, and constructing a valid block meeting all consensus protocol rules, will your block be accepted by the Bitcoin system and net the product of the block reward; the sum of the current block subsidy (nSubsidy) and transaction fees(nFees). The result is a new block containing transactions that are mined roughly every ten minutes, updating the global Bitcoin state, thereby returning the state to zero (or as close to) entropy. The artefact of this state change is the Bitcoin blockchain (time-energy-chain) and bitcoin(time-energy). The whole is much greater than the sum of its parts, the self-reinforcing Bitcoin system of rewards is a conglomerate of subsystems ultimately responsible for creating and securing a self-replicating, self-organising, sovereign, time-energy world-accounting-system. We can describe the complex self-organising Bitcoin system as such; Bitcoin’s network is secured by a process called Proof-of-Work more commonly known as mining. Mining is merely the computation of cryptographic hashes by specialised mining hardware to solve an unforgeable puzzle. The double SHA-256 hashing utilised for this function also underpins the Bitcoin block structure, with each transaction having a corresponding hash that is itself hashed (sometimes several times) together to form the Merkle root contained inside the block header. This header is utilised within the cryptographic computational puzzle they seek to solve, and contains the header of the previous block, therefore linking each block together cryptographically, making forgery probabilistically impossible without employing the energy required to perform a full rewrite. The produced hashrate results in the transformation of energy and time,or work, at which cost we can measure in joules. Energy is transformed in Bitcoin’s perpetual quest to remove entropy from, secure, and replicate its state in perpetuum. In this entirely decentralised system there is no central-authority, instead the nodes form a decentralised agreement (consensus) through a protocol that hinges upon Proof-of-Work to secure it. The Proof-of-work functions as Sybil resistance for the network by making changes to the ledger artificially expensive, and creating a scenario where attackers would have to irrationally spend excessive amounts of time and resources to compete against the honest majority of miners. Sybil Attack: is where an entity creates false identities (or nodes) within a system in an attempt to gain influence over the network. A network’s vulnerability to sybil is determined by how cheaply you can create these identities. Proof-of-Work secures and provides the energy to fuel the self-organising, self-replicating energy metabolising network, creating part of a feedback loop of network effects that sustains its proliferation. The cumulative work process progressively hardens the system’s security, building a digitally represented, impenetrable fortress of thermodynamic potential, that not only thwarts would-be adversaries, but converts them into supporters of the bitcoin time-energy accounting system. As each successive block is found, the proof of this work compounds and crystallises into time, resulting in the artefact called the Bitcoin blockchain, the product of the miner’s hash computations and the network’s consensus rules; a secure, verifiably accurate, cryptographically-linked chain of blocks, transactions, and accumulated work dating back to the genesis block. You can visualise this as a cryptographically linked time-energy-chain stretching back to genesis i.e. time zero, the creation of the first block. The Bitcoin system self-organises by determining that the correct chain is the one with the most cumulative Proof-of-Work meeting its inherent consensus rules, making a successful attack’s requirement to meet this cumulative work, and thereby becoming increasingly difficult as the network effects grow in mass and value. The Bitcoin system from its inception at the genesis on 2009–01–03 was given an emission rate of exactly 50 bitcoins per block subsidy, delivered at roughly once every 10 minutes to miners via the block reward; the product of the block subsidy and transaction fees(block reward = nFees + nSubsidy). The half-life cycle of the nSubsidy is once every 210,000 blocks (roughly 4 years), at which time nSubsidy emission rate is reduced by a factor of one half. This emission decay process continues each half-life cycle until no more bitcoin are produced at the absolute limit of 21,000,000 units. At this point of maturation in the Bitcoin life-cycle, only nFees remain as the economic incentive to mine, and thus Bitcoin’s gravity must increase accordingly to sustain this economic system, with only transaction fees subsidising hashrate by roughly 2140. This monetary policy is intrinsic to Bitcoin and hardcoded into the system to remain entirely immutable, and impenetrable to top-down control. The Bitcoin Metabolism The thermodynamic potential and the subsequenthashratesecuring the systemhas a direct relationship with the Bitcoin mining difficulty; as the hashrate rises or falls, thus does the security and difficulty to mine a block. This mechanism produces a stabilisation effect on block times, and creates a network that self regulates its metabolism i.e. the rate of which it produces blocks and consumes energy. Every 2016 blocks (roughly two weeks) the difficulty adjustment algorithm regulates based on the average hashrate of the prior 2016 mined blocks. This results in Bitcoin creating a predictable issuance of roughly ten minutes per metabolic cycle, or six cycles per hour i.e. when each subsequent Proof-of-Work puzzle is solved. The subsystem controlling this cycle could therefore be considered the internal Bitcoin metabolism, keeping its metabolic rate, or heartbeat, ticking along to roughly every ten minutes, regulating its production in perpetuum. This halflife and metabolic rate creates a stock-to-flow of bitcoin that is entirely predictable, and with the subsequent hard limit to production, the bitcoin produced is the most verifiably scarce commodity to ever come into existence. The requirement of ever additional energy and timeto produce the same result as competition increases bolsters both the systems security, and its hardness_ i.e. _the difficulty at which it is to produce. The sum of Bitcoin’s mining difficulty system and its hardcoded monetary policy giving it an absolute scarcity combine to produce unforgeable-costliness.The culmination of this security and incentives model is Bitcoin, a cryptographically secured system of rewards that gives us an ability to abstract time and energy_, _thereby store, trade, or transport it through time and space securely in the digital-realm, forever along the Bitcoin system’s time-energy-chain. The product of this unforgeable thermodynamic energy transformation(or work performed) to secure the Bitcoin network is bitcoin(₿): a digital commodity that is granularly divisible, fungible, incorruptible, transportable, and counterfeit-proof, with an absolute scarcity of 21,000,000 ₿ units. Why Thermodynamics Matter and Matter’s Thermodynamic In the first half we covered the scientific processes in the Bitcoin system and its energy use, in this half we will relate this to physics, thermodynamics, and the universe around us… Energy Of The Gods Energy is the currency of life, the fundamental key to everything, at all scales of the universe. The macro progress of civilisation, the Kardashev scale, is merely a scale to measure a civilisations total potential energycapture. Therefore, it makes logical sense that the monetary system of a technologically evolved type I civilisation is fundamentally based on the construct of codifying energy, time, and cooperation. We cannot begin to approach a Type I civilisation without shifting our collective thinking to a universe of post-scarcity. It’s evolution baby… Bitcoin, the apolitical time-energy-chain is the next logical step in human civilisations progression and social self-ordering, uniting the human race with self-interest and economic incentives by codifying time, energy, and cooperation, hardening Earth’s resolve to act as one Spaceship. United we stand, divided we fall, destroying the earth with wanton destruction caused by burning fossil fuels. Type I Civilisation: Is a civilization that can harness the entirety of the energy that falls on its planet from the parent star (for Earth-Sun system, this value is close to 7x1017 watts), which is more than five orders of magnitude higher than the amount presently attained on earth, with energy consumption at ≈4×1019 erg/sec (4 × 1012 watts) What the hell has thermodynamics got to do with anything, especially Bitcoin… To understand how these abstract concepts of thermodynamics, physics, Bitcoin, and Proof-of-Work gel together at the very genetic level, you need at least a cursory understanding of arm-chair physics and thermodynamics. First, We Must Define Work Work is merely the transfer of energy from one place to another, or from one form to another. To picture this, imagine that the universe is constantly at workaround us at the quantum, atomic, and even at macro scale. Energyis everywhere, and we can tap into this and harness ittoproduce useful work, products, information, or electrical energy (electricity). The Joule of The Crown One way we can measure the magnitude of this workis in joules_, which is a derived unit of energy used in the International System of Units. _1 kilowatt being 1000 watts _and _1 hour being 3600 seconds, therefore 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity is equal to _3,600,000 joules _of energy. 1 joule is the energy dissipated as heat when an electric current of 1 ampere_passes through a resistance of _1 ohm _for _1 second. This transformation of energy is can be described simply as the laws of physics and by extension thermodynamics. First law of thermodynamics, or the law of conservation. (Energy of a Closed System ΔU) = (Q / Heat) — (W/ Work) ΔU = Q — W The first law of thermodynamics states the change in the internal energy ΔU of a closed system is equal to the amount of heat ‘Q’ supplied to the system, minus the amount of work ‘W’ done by the system on its surroundings. The Second Law of Thermodynamics In essence the second law states that all closed systems gravitate towards maximization of entropy (therefore is ever-increasing), energy mustbe added to a system to overcome this natural tendency towards entropy. Entropy = order and disorder Entropy is simply the measure of the distribution of matter and/or energy, information, or, how spread out and disorganised it is. Energy is really only useful when it’s ordered and clumped together, so the more concentrated and ordered(or the lower the entropy), the higher the potential energy output, therefore increasing its ultimate usefulness to perform potential work. Essentially thermodynamics means you can only ever get as much out as what you put in, and you can never get as much out as much as you put in. One of the principles that guides the entire world around us is the law of conservation. This simply means the unflinching law of the universe is that energy cannot be created or destroyed, and that it is always conserved and transformed. If workis performed, energy is needed and heat is an obvious and necessary side effect (just think of friction), while the total energyof a closed system is always conserved. One way to think about how these laws apply to our natural reality is; the universe is a closed system, and that the entropy of the universe is always increasing. The heat of the universe is dissipating, so the total energy stays constant. Therefore there is no such thing as waste in the universe system, only transformation. We are all always in a constant fight with entropy, and the ultimate boss battle ends in the heat death of the universe. Heat is merely a form of kinetic energy we can measure in kelvins (K), or, heat is merely energy in transit. Absolute-zero (0 K, or −273.15 °C) is the lowest theoretically possible temperature on the thermodynamic temperature scale, where all thermal motion ceases, thus no heat energy remains. The heat death of the universe is just such high entropy, that the energy is spread so far apart and is no longer useful for anything. It’s not absolute zero, but no more work, no more movement, no more life. Don’t worry it’s 10¹⁰⁰ years away, but at this point in time there no longer remains enough heat energy to increase entropy. Time, the arrow that is the natural artefact of the universe’s entropy stands utterly still. Finito. Chaos And Order Both energy and information are both infinitely more useful when neat and ordered ie. when it has low observed entropy. This is why the conversion of energy from sources such as fossil fuels has radically advanced our society, enabling the exponential expansion in networks of cities and economies. Fossil fuels are burnt, transforming them into heat, this thermodynamic transformation of energy then powers giant mechanical steam turbines, the product of this mechanical work is in turn converted into electricity, and finally this electricity is delivered to your home as a useful product for your myriad of electronic devices. Science! As this energy travels over long distances there is substantial amounts of entropy_, _this is due to the resistance and conductivity of metal creating heat and energy loss resulting in thermodynamic transformation. Electric energy (electricity) is merely useful energy that is transportable over _somewhat _long-distances. Smashing The Coulomb barrier Entropyis all around us and it requires vast energyto fight against its natural inclination to continually increase. This insane human fight against entropy to unlock thermodynamic potentialis what will catapult us into the future, as humanity begins to not only harvest vast ambient energy, but eventually also mass-produce fusion reactors. In order to achieve nuclear fusion, particles must first be able to overcome the electric repulsion labelled “The Coulumb Barrier”, named after physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. In order for a nuclear strong force to take over and undergo nuclear fusion, particles must first break this barrier. This new frontier of energy production will provide the required energyto smash the Coulomb barrier en masse, capturing the Earth system’s abundant stored clean thermodynamic potential, and scaling our energy production exponentially. Spaceship Earth must work together as one if we are ever going to overcome the devastating pollution that we have created in the Earth’s system, and to solve the immediate engineering challenges clean energyproductionposes. Scarce resource-based energy creates a vast number of security and scarcity issues plaguing the dove and hawk geopolitics of the world, not to mention the burning of these resources threatens our very long term existence. We have to believe in a world of abundance and not one of scarcity. Earth needs to band together to tackle the socio-economic challenges our shared world is facing, and cooperate in the race to clean up a damaged planet that we have needlessly abused with fossil fuels and wanton destruction. Energy use is not the root of the systemic problem, energy is the currency of life that fuels the advancement of all civilisation. The current unscalable, destructive, pollutant paradigm of scarce fossil fuel burning for energy creation is the multi-trillion dollar problem plaguing mankind. We must cooperate to solve it. Energy + Time + Cooperation Bitcoin is an apolitical monetary system that codifies time, energy and cooperation, incentivising the human race towards maximal efficiency of the potential capture and conversion of energy into usable forms. The act of harnessing the abundance of our universe, fusion energy, the power of the stars and the gods. Fusion energy harnessed will catapult us towards the heavens as a civilisation, aiding as humankind begins our rapid ascent to interstellar demigods. There Is No Such Thing As Scarcity, Only Thermodynamic Potential and The Arrangement Of Matter And Information In theory, all states and distribution of matter are replicable, at the atomic and subatomic level, all matter is merely information and energy distribution. The deconstruction and reconstruction of matter is a technological problem, once solved (we’re working on it), there _will be _no longer a scientific absolute scarcity of any element in the universe. Through technological advancement, all matter will be able to be rearranged, therefore all matter and energy is abundant. Only unforgeable digital scarcity can be absolute, therefore, only time and energy and the sum of their product have any quantitative value. Digital scarcity, the ability to remain unforgeable is the only scarce product of creation known to man. The competitive need forefficient energyconversion_, _and the markets insatiable demand to trade will create a Cambrian explosion of abundance and creativity. An apolitical ‘energy renaissance’ driven by the free market demand to unlock thermodynamic potential. Post-scarcity will bring about the cooperation of humankind as Spaceship Earth. The entire world should be radically increasing the efficiency of energy capture, and total consumption of energy to produce useful work, not seeking the reduction of total energy consumption per capita through draconian taxation measures. We can lean into a Type I civilisation and beyond without destroying ourselves in the process. Advance humanity to the next level by cooperating, or burn the earth to the ground around us with fossil fuels. The Self-Replicating, Self-Organising Bitcoin System The Bitcoin system mechanisms are designed to self-replicate and self-organise, while its consensus protocol ensures replication is accurate, and that it’s perpetually trying to remove entropy from the state of Bitcoin; the artefact being the resulting blockchain and the product bitcoin. The essence of the complex systems singular role is to be an arbiter of trust and truth in the face of adversity, to create a singular distributed current and historic state and orderthat all nodes can reach consensus upon. Zero entropyis the ideal state of the system. This entropy is instead moving to the growing unspent transaction outputs (UTXO) stored in the blockchain. In the digital realm, the cost to rearrange information generally trends toward decreasing on the macro scale as compute becomes more efficient, thus this process to remove informational entropy will become increasingly more efficient over time. The gravity of bitcoin is increasing over time, increasing its economic mass and density leading to an upwards trending efficiency in its system. Much has been studied about Bitcoin’s sustainability, though much is yet to be uncovered, but as Bitcoin’s heartbeat rings out every 10 minutes from now until eternity, we will all be its students. Satoshi Nakamoto in his infinite wisdom codified trustlessness, cooperation, energy, time, commoditised it, democratised its access, and made it transportable through space and time in perpetuum. The sovereign self-organising system is designed in such a way as to provide its own governance away from any top-down influence or corruption. Bitcoin is the peak product of evolution in technology, pure capitalism, economics, and the beauty of thermodynamics, all working together in a state of perfect synergy. Bitcoin can bring about the apolitical time-energy world accounting system Buckminster Fuller prophesied, steering Spaceship Earth to a post-scarcity reality. By Rory Highside Oct, 2019 Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) By Dan Held Posted December 27, 2019 Prices and the market are intricately intertwined I recommend reading this article while listening to “Strix Aluco” by “Isan” Prices reflect information “In a free market economic system, prices are knowledge, and the signals that communicate information. Prices are not simply a tool to allow capitalists to profit; they are the information system of economic production, communicating knowledge across the world and coordinating the complex processes of production.” — Saifedean Ammous Prices are the coordinating force of a free market system. Each individual decision-maker can rely on the prices of goods and services to help with their decision making, as the prices themselves are a distillation of all known market information into a single metric. In other words, the compression of all relevant data is ultimately manifested as price (for the more technie minded, it’s a one-way hash function). Each individual’s buy and sell decisions, in turn, further shape prices that carry this altered information back out into the market. Some of you may have heard of this from “Efficient market hypothesis” which is about how information in the market is reflected in the price of assets like equities. Money is the measuring stick “Money is the central information utility of the world economy. As a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account, money is the critical vessel of information about the conditions of markets. Capitalist economies are not equilibrium systems but dynamic domains of entrepreneurial experiments. Money should be a standard of measure for the outcomes of entrepreneurial experiments.” — George Gilder The essence of Capitalism is all about the efficient allocation of capital given the constraints of scarce resources and time. Companies are experiments on how to best allocate capital, and money is the standard measure for efficiency. Making money represents the efficient allocation of capital, losing money is not an efficient use of capital. And competition means decentralized planning by many separate companies and people to solve a problem in the market. Capitalism, much like nature, is about experimentation Information is Decentralized “A centrally planned economy could never match the efficiency of the open market because what is known by a single agent is only a small fraction of the sum total of knowledge held by all members of society_” — Hayek (Hayek’s “Local Knowledge Problem”) A decentralized economy thus complements the dispersed nature of information spread throughout society. Each company is an attempt to take the local knowledge that it has and create a good or service that ultimately is the correct capital allocation (aka profit). To highlight how decentralized this information is, I’m going to give an example by Milton Friedman who made the statement: “There’s not a single person in the world who knows how to make a pencil: - The wood comes from a tree - To cut down that tree, it took a saw - To make the saw, it took steel. To make steel, it took iron ore - Graphite, comes from some mines in South America - The eraser, which is rubber, probably comes from the tropics - Or the yellow paint - Or the glue that holds it together There was no central planning office. It was the magic of the price system.” Praxeology. The study of Human Action. Central banks have an unsolvable data problem Central banks inherently have a data problem. There’s an ingestion, processing, decision bottleneck — same as any electronic signal processing system. An economy cannot be planned by a central authority, because there is no way that a central authority can have all of the necessary knowledge to make the best decision at any single point in time, let alone all points in time. “It is a problem of the utilization of knowledge which is not given to anyone in its totality” — Hayek To operate effectively, central banks would have to ingest trillions of data points daily, and ingest those data points in a perfect manner which is impossible. Every single uber taken, every single sandwich purchased, every single in-app purchase. “We need to believe we live in a predictable, controllable world, so we turn to authoritative-sounding people who promise to satisfy that need.” — Philip Tetlock We’ve created central banks because we want the world to make sense, and we want to feel that there is someone in charge. Even if we were able to ingest perfect data, it is hard to infer simple causality for this complex, chaotic system which involves billions of decision makers. While determining the relationship between weather and crops might seem easy, how do we determine the causality of burrito demand? Economics isn’t like the sciences, we are hamstrung by small or incomplete sample sizes. We can’t re-run the Dot com bubble with a different central bank or a different President. This brings us to how central banks measure impact and make decisions. There is a classic product saying that goes “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.” It’s hard to even measure a kilogram with extreme precision, so how could we possibly measure inflation properly? (ex: CPI excludes food and energy!) “Since big events come out of nowhere, forecasts may do more harm than good, giving the illusion of predictability in a world where unforeseen events control most outcomes (Aka black swan events)” — Carl Richards He goes on to say “Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything.” Daniel Kahneman also has a great take on the dangers of using history as our guide: “Hindsight, the ability to explain the past, gives us the illusion that the world is understandable. It gives us the illusion that the world makes sense, even when it doesn’t make sense. That’s a big deal in producing mistakes in many fields.” Here’s a useful analogy: Essentially the Fed is driving the car, which is the economy, only using the rearview mirror which is foggy, and the front windshield is opaque (you can’t see the future). How could the Fed possibly drive the car with any accuracy? What if we just let the car self adjust to the conditions of the road? History cannot be interpreted without the aid of imagination and intuition. The sheer quantity of evidence is so overwhelming that selection is inevitable. So what is our alternative? “Sound money is the equivalent of scientific integrity: the system must not permit the manipulation of data after the experiment has taken place.” — Adam Taché Sound money keeps the ruler settings fixed so results cannot be altered by a centralized planning mechanism. And Bitcoin is the perfect iteration of sound money. Bitcoin has a hard cap for several reasons: being a precise measuring stick, reducing political attack vectors, and encouraging speculative bubbles which act as a viral loop. But why 21M? Why not 100M? Here’s the secret…It doesn’t matter!It’s precise length is irrelevant. What matters is just that there is a fixed amount. As economic activity moves from a primitive scale, it becomes harder for individuals to make decisions without having a fixed unit of account with which to compare value. Regarding political attack vectors, Satoshi felt that setting a “proper” rate of inflation rate was impossible so he decided to remove human decision making from the process. Satoshi has two quotes regarding fixed supply that support this conclusion: “Indeed there is nobody to act as central bank or federal reserve to adjust the money supply as the population of users grows. That would have required a trusted party to determine the value, because I don’t know a way for software to know the real world value of things.” Satoshi also says “If there was some clever way, or if we wanted to trust someone to actively manage the money supply to peg it to something, the rules could have been programmed for that.” Finally, Satoshi hypothesized that a fixed supply might create speculative bubbles. “As the number of users grows, the value per coin increases. It has the potential for a positive feedback loop; as users increase, the value goes up, which could attract more users to take advantage of the increasing value.” Implications of Sound Money Bitcoin is the ultimate safe haven asset. As more and more people buy into Bitcoin and that narrative, it becomes the de facto risk off asset. Post hyperbitcoiniation, when Bitcoin is the SoV, MoE, and UoA, Bitcoin will reflect the most accurate “risk free” rate of return that we’ve ever had, which enables the economy and market participants to most efficiently allocate resources. Each market participant, both individual investors and corporations, make the risk on/risk off decision which is then manifested in Bitcoin’s price. And finally, when Bitcoin is the unit of account and used by every business, market participants can view the flow of funds of their suppliers and customers in real time via their publicly disclosed Bitcoin addresses. This transparency makes markets ultra efficient through the best processing of information. Bitcoin rearchitects how capital is efficiently allocated in our economy, ultimately creating a world with more abundance and resources for all By Dan Held, Nov, 2019 Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) Posted December 28, 2019 This special edition of the Optech Newsletter summarizes notable developments in Bitcoin during all of 2019. It’s the sequel to our 2018 summary. This summary is based heavily on our weekly newsletters from the past year for which we reviewed almost 9,000 commits (nearly 2,000 merges), over 1,500 mailing list posts, many thousands of lines of IRC logs, and numerous other public sources. It took us 50 newsletter issues and over 200 printed pages worth of content to summarize all that amazing work originally. Even then, we missed many important contributions, especially from people fixing bugs, writing tests, performing reviews, and providing support—work that’s critical but not necessarily “newsworthy.” In summarizing even further and trying to compress the entire year into this article’s handful of pages, we’ve now also omitted a great many other important contributions. So, before we continue, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to Bitcoin in 2019. Even if the following summary doesn’t mention you or one of your projects, please know that we at Optech—and probably all Bitcoin users—are more grateful than words can express for all that you’ve done to help Bitcoin. - Featured summaries In January, Steven Roose proposed a standardized format for proof of reserves pseudo-transactions that bitcoin custodians can use to generate evidence that they control a certain number of bitcoins. No tool of this type can guarantee that depositors will be able to withdraw their coins from a custodian, but it can make it more difficult for a custodian to conceal the loss or theft of coins. Roose would go on to produce a tool based on Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBTs) for creating reserve proofs and would follow through to see the specification published as BIP127. In February, Bitcoin Core’s master development branch saw the merge of the final set of PRs necessary for using it with the Hardware Wallet Interface (HWI) Python library and command-line tool. HWI would later see its first stable release in March, see Wasabi Wallet add support for it in April, and see BTCPay add support for it via a side package in November. HWI makes it easy for hardware wallets and software wallets to interact using a combination of output script descriptors and Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBTs). The increasing support in 2019 for standardized formats and APIs makes it easier for users to choose the right combination of hardware and software solutions for their needs rather than having to choose one solution or another. Also in February, Pieter Wuille gave a presentation during the Stanford Blockchain Conference on miniscript, a spin-off from his work on output script descriptors. Miniscript provides a structured representation of Bitcoin scripts that simplifies automated analysis by software. The analysis can determine what data a wallet needs to supply in order to satisfy the script (e.g. a signature or a hash preimage), how much transaction data will be used by the script and the data that satisfies it, and whether or not the script passes known consensus rules and popular transaction relay policies. In addition to miniscript, Wuille, Andrew Poelstra, and Sanket Kanjalkar also provided a composable policy language that compiles down to miniscript (which itself converts to Bitcoin Script). With the policy language, users can easily describe the conditions they want to be fulfilled in order to spend their coins. When multiple users want to share control of a coin, the composability of the policy language makes it easy to combine each user’s own signing policies into a single script. If widely adopted, miniscript could make it easier for different Bitcoin systems to work together to sign a transaction, significantly reducing the amount of custom code that needs to be written in order to integrate wallet front-ends, LN nodes, coinjoin systems, multisig wallets, consumer hardware wallets, industrial Hardware Signing Modules (HSMs), and other software and hardware. Wuille and his collaborators continued working on miniscript through the year, subsequently requesting community feedback and opening a PR to add support to Bitcoin Core. Miniscript would also be used by LN developers in December to analyze and optimize several new scripts for upgraded versions of some of their onchain transactions. In March, Matt Corallo proposed the consensus cleanup soft fork to eliminate potential problems in Bitcoin’s consensus code. If adopted, the fixes would eliminate the time warp attack, lower legacy Script’s worst case CPU usage, make caching transaction validation status more reliable, and eliminate a known (but expensive) attack against lightweight clients. Although parts of the proposal (such as the time-warp fix) seemed to interest a variety of people, other parts of the proposal (such as fixes for the worst case CPU usage and validity caching) received some criticism. Perhaps it was for that reason that the proposal didn’t make any obvious progress towards implementation in the second half of the year. March also saw Kalle Alm request initial feedback on signet, which would eventually become BIP325. The signet protocol allows creating testnets where all valid new blocks must be signed by a centralized party. Although this centralization would be antithetical to Bitcoin, it’s ideal for a testnet where testers sometimes want to create a disruptive scenario (such as a chain reorganization) and other times just want a stable platform to use for testing software interoperation. On Bitcoin’s existing testnet, reorgs and other disruptions can occur frequently and for prolonged lengths of time, making regular testing impractical. Signet would mature throughout the year and eventually be integrated into software such as C-Lightning as well as used for a demonstration of eltoo. A pull request adding support to Bitcoin Core remains open. Additionally in March, Lightning Labs announced Lightning Loop, providing a non-custodial solution for users who want to withdraw some of their funds from a LN channel to an onchain UTXO without closing the channel. In June, they would upgrade Loop to also allow users to spend a UTXO into an existing channel. Loop uses Hash Time Locked Contracts (HTLCs) similar to those used by regular offchain LN transactions, ensuring that a user’s funds are either transferred as expected or that the user receives a refund of all costs except for any onchain transaction fees. This makes Loop almost completely trustless. 2019 summary Major releases of popular infrastructure projects - C-Lightning 0.7 released in March added a plugin system that would see heavy use by the end of the year. It was also the first C-Lightning release supporting reproducible builds for increased safety through improved auditability. - LND 0.6-beta released in April included support for Static Channel Backups (SCBs) that help users recover any funds settled in their LN channels even if they’ve lost their recent channel state. The release also featured an improved autopilot to help users open new channels, plus built-in compatibility with Lightning Loop for moving funds onchain without closing a channel or using a custodian. - Bitcoin Core 0.18 released in May improved Partially Signed Bitcoin Transaction (PSBT) support and added support for output script descriptors. The combination of those two features allowed it to be used with the first released version of the Hardware Wallet Interface (HWI). - Eclair 0.3 released in May improved backup safety, added support for plugins, and made it possible to run as a Tor hidden service. - LND 0.7-beta released in July added support for using a watchtower to guard your channels when you’re offline. - LND 0.8-beta released in October added support for a more extensible onion format, improved backup safety, and improved the watchtower support. - Bitcoin Core 0.19 released in November implemented the new CPFP carve-out mempool policy, added initial support for BIP158-style compact block filters (currently RPC only), improved security by disabling protocols such as BIP37 bloom filters and BIP70 payment requests by default. It also switches GUI users to bech32 addresses by default. - C-Lightning 0.8 released in December added support for multipath payments and switched its default network to mainnet from testnet. It was also the first major C-Lightning release to support alternative databases, with postgresql support available in addition to the default sqlite support. In April, James O’Beirne proposed AssumeUTXO, a method for allowing full nodes to defer verification of old block chain history by downloading and temporarily using a trusted copy of the recent UTXO set. This would allow wallets and other software using the full node to start receiving and sending transactions within minutes of the node being started instead of having to wait hours or days, as is the case now for a newly started node. AssumeUTXO proposes that the node download and verify the old block chain history in the background until it eventually verified its initial UTXO state, allowing it to ultimately obtain the same trustless security as a node that doesn’t use AssumeUTXO. O’Beirne would continue working on the project throughout the year, incrementally adding new features and refactoring existing code on the path towards a goal of ultimately adding AssumeUTXO to Bitcoin Core. Also in April, Pierre-Marie Padiou proposed the idea of trampoline payments, a method for allowing lightweight LN nodes to outsource pathfinding to heavyweight routing nodes. A lightweight node, such as a mobile app, might not keep track of the full LN routing graph, making it unable to find routes to other nodes. Padiou’s proposal would allow the lightweight node to route the payment to a nearby node and then have that node calculate the rest of the path. In essence, the payment would bounce off the trampoline node on the way to its destination. To add privacy, the original spender might require the payment bounce off several trampoline nodes in sequence so that none of them know whether or not it was routing the payment to the final recipient or just another trampoline node. A PR adding features for trampoline payments to the LN specification is currently open and the Eclair implementation of LN has added experimental support for relaying trampoline payments. In May, Pieter Wuille proposed a taproot soft fork consisting of bip-taproot and bip-tapscript (which both depend on last year’s bip-schnorr proposal). If implemented, this change will allow single-sig, multisig, and many contracts to all use the same style of scriptPubKeys. Many spends from multisigs and complex contracts will also look identical to each other and single-sig spends. This can significantly improve user privacy and coin fungibility while also reducing the amount of block chain space used by multisig and contract use cases. Even in cases where multisig and contract spends can’t take full advantage of taproot’s privacy and space savings, they still may only need to put a subset of their code onchain, giving them more privacy and space savings than they have today. In addition to taproot, tapscript brings small refinements to Bitcoin’s scripting capabilities, mainly by making it easier and cleaner to add new opcodes in the future. The proposals received significant discussion and review throughout the rest of the year, including through a series of group review sessions organized by Anthony Towns that had more than 150 people sign up to help review. Towns also proposed in May two new signature hashes to be used in combination with tapscript, SIGHASH_ANYPREVOUTANYSCRIPT. A signature hash (sighash) is the hash of a transaction’s fields and related data to which a signature commits. Different sighashes in Bitcoin commit to different parts of a transaction, allowing signers to optionally let other people make certain modifications to their transactions. The two new proposed sighashes function similar to BIP118’s SIGHASH_NOINPUT by deliberately not identifying which UTXO they spend, allowing the signature to spend any UTXO whose script it can fulfill (e.g. that uses the same pubkey). The primary suggested use for noinput-style sighashes is to enable the previously proposed eltoo update layer for LN. Eltoo can simplify several aspects of channel construction and management; it’s especially desirable for simplifying channels involving more than two participants that can significantly reduce onchain channel costs. A third soft fork proposed this month came from Jeremy Rubin, who described a new opcode now called OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV). This would allow a limited form of covenant where an output of one transaction would require a subsequent transaction spending it to contain certain other outputs. A suggested use for this would be committed future payments where a spender pays a single small output that can only be spent using a transaction (or a tree of transactions) that later pays dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of different receivers. This could enable new techniques to enhance coinjoin-style privacy, support security-enhancing vaults, or manage spender costs when transaction feerates spike. Rubin would continue working on CTV for the remainder of the year, including opening PRs (1, 2) for improvements to parts of Bitcoin Core where optimizations could make a deployed version of CTV more effective. 2019 summary Notable technical conferences and other events - Stanford Blockchain Conference, January, Stanford University - MIT Bitcoin Expo, March, MIT - Optech Executive Briefing, May, New York City - Magical Crypto Friends (technical track), May, New York City - Breaking Bitcoin, June, Amsterdam - Bitcoin Core developers meetup, June, Amsterdam - Edge Dev++, September, Tel Aviv - Scaling Bitcoin, September, Tel Aviv - Cryptoeconomic Systems Summit, October, MIT Gleb Naumenko, Pieter Wuille, Gregory Maxwell, Sasha Fedorova, and Ivan Beschastnikh published a paper about erlay, a protocol for relaying unconfirmed transaction announcements between nodes that makes use of libminisketch-based set reconciliation to produce an estimated 84% reduction in announcement bandwidth. The paper also demonstrates that erlay would make it much more practical to significantly increase the default number of outbound connections that nodes make. This could improve each node’s resistance to eclipse attacks that can trick it into accepting blocks not on the most proof-of-work block chain. More outbound connections also improves node resistance against other attacks that could be used to track or delay payments originating from the node. Work on erlay would continue through the year with additional research and the proposal of BIP330 for the set reconciliation protocol. Other improvements made in P2P relay this year included Bitcoin Core’s privacy improvements for transaction relay (eliminating a problem described in the TxProbe paper by Sergi Delgado-Segura and others) and the addition of two extra outbound connections used only for the relay of new blocks, improving resistance against eclipse attacks. After a significant amount of prior work, June also saw the merge of altruist LN watchtowers into LND. Altruist watchtowers don’t receive any reward via the protocol for helping to secure their client’s channels, so a user needs to run their own watchtower or depend on the charity of a watchtower operator, but this is enough to demonstrate that watchtowers can reliably send penalty transactions on behalf of other users—ensuring that users who go offline for significant amounts of time don’t lose any money. Altruist watchtowers would eventually be released in LND 0.7.0-beta and would see additional development through the remainder of the year, including a proposed specification and discussion about how they could be combined with next-generation payment channels such as eltoo. In July, the Bitcoin Core project merged Carl Dong’s PR adding support for reproducible builds of Bitcoin Core’s Linux binaries using GNU Guix (pronounced “geeks”). Although Bitcoin Core has long provided support for reproducible builds using the Gitian system, it can be difficult to set up and it depends on the security of several hundred Ubuntu packages. By comparison, Guix can be much easier to install and run, and builds of Bitcoin Core using it currently depend on a much smaller number of packages. In the long term, contributors to Guix are also working on eliminating the trusting trust problem to make it easy for users to verify that binaries such as bitcoind are derived solely from auditable source code. Work continued on Guix build support throughout the year, with some contributors hopeful that Guix will be used for the first major version of Bitcoin Core released in 2020 (perhaps in parallel with the older Gitian-based mechanism). Independently, documentation was added this year to both the C-Lightning and LND repositories describing how to create reproducible builds of their software using trusted compilers. In August, Bryan Bishop described a method for implementing vaults on Bitcoin without using covenants. Vaults is a term used to describe a script that limits an attacker’s ability to steal funds even if they obtain a user’s normal private key. A covenant is a script that can only be spent to certain other scripts. There’s no known way to create covenants using the current Bitcoin Script language, but it turns out that they’re not necessary if users are willing to run code that performs a few extra steps when depositing their money into the vault contract. Perhaps more notably, Bishop described a new weakness in previous vault proposals as well as a mitigation for the weakness that would limit the maximum amount of funds that could be stolen from a vault by an attacker. The development of practical vaults could be useful for both individual users and large custodial organizations such as exchanges. 2019 summary Bitcoin Optech In Optech’s second year, we signed up six new member companies, held an executive briefing during NYC block chain week, published a 24-week series promoting bech32 sending support, added a wallet and services compatibility matrix to our website, published 51 weekly newsletters, saw several of our newsletters and blog posts translated into languages such as Japanese and Spanish, created a topics index, added a chapter to our Scalability Workbook, hosted two schnorr/taproot workshops with publicly released jupyter notebooks, and published field reports from BTSE and BRD. We have big plans for 2020, so we hope you’ll continue to follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, or track our RSS feed. Adam Gibson proposed a novel form of non-interactive coinjoin for the existing Bitcoin system. The protocol, called SNICKER, involves a user selecting one of their UTXOs and a randomly-selected UTXO from the global UTXO set to both be spent in the same transaction. The proposing user signs their part of this transaction and uploads it in the Partially Signed Bitcoin Transaction (PSBT) format to a public server. If the other user checks the server and sees the PSBT, they can download it, sign it, and broadcast it—completing the coinjoin without both users needing to be online at the same time. The proposing user can create and upload as many PSBTs as they want using their same UTXO until some other user accepts the coinjoin. SNICKER’s major advantages over other coinjoin approaches are that it doesn’t require the users be online at the same time and that it should be easy to add support for it to any wallet that already has BIP174 PSBT support, which is an increasing number of wallets. Also in September, the maintainers of C-Lightning, Eclair, and LND disclosed a vulnerability that affected previous versions of their software. It appeared that, in some cases, each of the implementations failed to confirm that channel funding transactions paid the correct script or the correct amount (or both). If exploited, this could result in channel payments being impossible to confirm onchain, making it possible for nodes to lose money by relaying payments from an invalid channel to a valid channel. Optech is unaware of any users who lost money before the first public announcements of the vulnerability. The LN specification was updated to help future implementers avoid this problem and there’s an expectation that other proposed changes to LN’s communication protocol will help avoid other failures of this type. LN developers made significant progress in October and November towards addressing a long-standing concern about ensuring that users can always close their channels without excessive delays. If a user decides that they want to close one of their channels and they’re unable to contact their remote peer, they broadcast the latest commitment transaction for that channel—a pre-signed transaction that spends the channel’s funds onchain to each party according to the latest version of their offchain contract. A potential problem with this arrangement is that the commitment transaction was potentially created days or weeks earlier when transaction fees were lower, so it may not pay a high enough fee to confirm quickly before any security-essential time locks expire. It’s always been known that the solution to this problem is to make it possible to fee bump commitment transactions. Unfortunately, nodes such as Bitcoin Core have to limit the use of fee bumping in order to prevent Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that waste their bandwidth and CPU. In trustless multi-user protocols like LN, your counterparty might be an attacker who could deliberately trigger the anti-DoS policy in order to delay the confirmation of your LN commitment transaction, an attack sometimes called transaction pinning. A pinned transaction may not confirm before its time locks expire, allowing an attacking counterparty to steal funds from you. Last year, Matt Corallo suggested carving out a special exemption from the part of Bitcoin Core’s transaction relay policy related to Child-Pays-For-Parent (CPFP) fee bumping. This limited exemption ensures that two-party contract protocols (such as current-generation LN) can guarantee each party the ability to create their own fee bump. Corallo’s idea was named CPFP carve-out and his implementation of it was released as part of Bitcoin Core 0.19. Even before that release, other LN developers worked on the revisions to the LN scripts and protocol messages necessary to start using the change. As of this writing, those specification changes are awaiting final implementation and acceptance before seeing deployment on the network. 2019 summary New open source infrastructure solutions - Proof of reserves tool released in February allows exchanges and other bitcoin custodians to prove they have control over a certain set of UTXOs using BIP127 reserve proofs. - Hardware Wallet Interface released in March makes it easy for a wallet already compatible with Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBTs) and output script descriptors to use several different models of hardware wallets for secure key storage and signing. - Lightning Loop released in March (with loop-in support added in June) provides a non-custodial service that allows users to add or remove funds from their LN channels without closing existing channels or opening new channels. Discussion in November about using bech32 addresses for taproot payments brought additional attention to an issue discovered in May. According to BIP173, mis-copied bech32 strings are supposed to have a worst-case failure rate of about 1-in-a-billion. However, it was discovered that bech32 strings ending with a p could have any number of preceding q characters added or removed. This doesn’t practically affect bech32 addresses for segwit P2WPKH or P2WSH addresses, as at least 19 consecutive q characters would need to be added or removed in order to transform one address type into another—and any other length change for v0 segwit addresses would be invalid. But that’s not the case for v1+ segwit addresses, such as those proposed for taproot, where a single added or removed q character in a vulnerable address could lead to a loss of funds. BIP173 co-author Pieter Wuille performed additional analysis and found that this was the only deviation from bech32’s expected error correction ability, so he proposed limiting the use of BIP173 addresses in Bitcoin to only 20 byte or 32 byte witness programs. This will ensure that v1 and subsequent segwit address versions provide the same reliable error correction as v0 segwit addresses. He also described a small tweak to the bech32 algorithm that will allow other applications using bech32, as well as next-generation Bitcoin address formats, to use BCH error detection without this problem. Also in November, Bitcoin Core removed its dependency on OpenSSL, which had been part of its codebase since the original 2009 release of Bitcoin 0.1. OpenSSL was the cause of consensus vulnerabilities, remote memory leaks (potential private key leaks), other bugs, and poor performance. It’s hoped that its removal will reduce the frequency of future vulnerabilities. As part of the OpenSSL removal, Bitcoin Core deprecated its support for the BIP70 payment protocol in version 0.18, and later disabled support by default in version 0.19. This decision was supported by the CEO of one of the few companies that continued to use BIP70 in 2019. In December, LN developers achieved one of their major goals from last year’s planning meeting: the implementation of basic multipath payments. These are payments that can be split into several parts, with each part being routed separately through different channels. This allows users to spend or receive money using more than one of their channels at a time, making it possible to spend their full offchain balance or receive up to their full capacity in a single payment (within the limitations of certain safety restrictions). It’s expected that this will make LN significantly more user-friendly by eliminating the need for spenders to worry about the balances of specific channels. In the summary above, we see no revolutionary proposals or improvements. Instead, we see a flurry of incremental improvements—solutions that take cases where Bitcoin and LN are already successful and build on them to make the system even better. We see developers working to make hardware wallets more accessible (HWI), generalize communication between wallets for multisig and contract use cases (descriptors, PSBTs, miniscript), strengthen consensus security (cleanup soft fork), simplify testing (signet), eliminate unnecessary custody (loop), make it easier to start running a node (assumeutxo), improve privacy and save block space (taproot), simplify LN enforcement (anyprevout), better manage feerate spikes (CTV), reduce node bandwidth (erlay), keep LN users safe when offline (watchtowers), reduce the need for trust (reproducible builds), prevent thefts (vaults), make privacy more accessible (SNICKER), better manage onchain fees for LN users (anchor outputs), and make LN payments automatically work more often (multipath payments). (And those are just the highlights for the year!) We can only guess what Bitcoin contributors will accomplish next year, but we suspect it will be more of the same—dozens of modest changes that each make the system better without breaking it for anyone who’s already satisfied. The Optech newsletter will return to its regular Wednesday publication schedule on January 8th. By Hass McCook Posted December 29, 2019 Original Presentation of Framework from November 2019 People hate Bitcoin analogies. But Bitcoin is so hard to understand for so many, concessions need to be made. VCs are a group of people demonized in the Bitcoin industry for not understanding Bitcoin’s value proposition. Well, how do you expect a VC to value Bitcoin if they’re only used to valuing startups? Here is a framework that will hopefully help. It tracks the development and evolution of the Bitcoin ecosystem in discreet “fundraising rounds”, which coincide with Bitcoin’s Reward Eras. An organization is defined as “an organized group of people with a particular purpose”. If that’s the case, then Bitcoin is a well-oiled “un-organisation” with founders but no CEOs, many volunteers but no employees, and provably non-diluting equity, available to anyone who is willing to trade their energy for it. Bitcoin As A Startup I will be borrowing heavily from Nathan Reiff’s piece “Series A, B, C Funding: How It Works” Pre-seed Round (1st Reward Era, 3/1/2009–28/11/2012) The earliest stage of funding a new company comes so early in the process that it is not generally included among rounds of funding at all. Known as “pre-seed” funding, this stage typically refers to the period in which a company’s founders are first getting their operations off the ground. The most common “pre-seed” funders are the founders themselves, as well as close friends, supporters, and family (Reiff, 2019) The “Bitcoin Company” was founded by Satoshi Nakamoto, with its single product offering being an open-source monetary system project, known as Bitcoin. 2,100,000,000,000,000 shares were to be issued on a predetermined schedule, and anyone was free to buy or sell these shares. The founders initially held no initial equity, but equity was easy to build in those days, and rightly so. Just like any startup, it is the founding team and initial bootstrappers who should get the biggest rewards down the line for putting the most skin in the game. Due to the nature of Bitcoin’s incentive mechanisms, many early “equity holders” were encouraged to use their time, skills and money to evangelise or develop the product, and hence increase the value of their equity. The company manages itself, in a zero-overhead environment. During the first stage of “the company’s” life, traditionally the “the first bugs appeared and were ironed out, and this was an iterative process for many months. After proving to be robust and reliable, a market developed, and the first exchanges started to emerge. User experience, both from a software point of view, and a financial point of view, were a disaster. Bitcoin was virtually unusable without a PhD in Computer Science, and when you could use it, you’d be robbed by an exchange that had been “hacked”. Volatility was extreme, and the risk was unpalatable for the majority of onlookers. Whether or not “The Bitcoin Company” would remain “in business” was still a very dubious proposition. This Era, the early equity holders were blessed with a parabolic bubble, and many divested some equity to give themselves runway to work on Bitcoin full time. It’s just like a fund-raise: get a big cash injection, and then burn it relentlessly until the next funding round. Coincidently, each round has exhibited at least one of these massive injections and equally massive drawn-out draw-downs. During this Era, miners were rewarded with USD$13.5m in total block rewards and transaction fees. Assuming that, on average, cost to mine a bitcoin is equal to the market price, we can consider the mining reward to be miners buying bitcoin at-spot. Therefore, we can take the “money-in” for the round to be the cumulative miner’s revenue. Money-in is never consistent, and even a small injection is enough to make the price fly and form a bubble. With all the above said, fortune favours the bold, and Bitcoin entered its seed round at a $1bn pre-money valuation (i.e. Bitcoin’s Market Cap was $1bn at the end of the first reward era). Seed Round (2nd Reward Era, 28/11/2012–9/7/2016) You can think of the “seed” funding as part of an analogy for planting a tree. This early financial support is ideally the “seed” which will help to grow the business. Given enough revenue and a successful business strategy, as well as the perseverance and dedication of investors, the company will hopefully eventually grow into a “tree.” (Reiff, 2019) Risk of short-term ecosystem death did not substantially decrease until the end of the Secord Reward Era. You could say that the risk profile dropped from “Extreme” to “Very High”. In terms of PR/Optics, this was arguably the worst and most dubious “round” of Bitcoin’s existence. In the face of these FUD-inspiring superficial problems, Bitcoin did what it does best — got on with it. This era saw the first Bitcoin bubble to be featured in Mainstream Media in some way shape or form. Going from catastrophe to catastrophe; from the numerous exchange hacks, scams, asset seizures, 51% attacks (GHash.io) and China bans, those who invested in the mania of 2013 would not break even until the Third Reward Era. Inflation made things worse, with the market having to absorb the 5.25 million Bitcoin producing during the Era. However, those who divested during the mania provided themselves with many years of runway to give back to Bitcoin and make their equity more valuable. In this Era, we started to see the emergence of user-friendly plug-and-play hardware wallets; the age of ASIC mining was in full swing, with miner fabrication done at a huge scale. The gamblers had a field day — with the majority of “fiat-onramps” providing toys for the traders, but not for the savers. For better or worse though, this added much needed liquidity and means for price-discovery. That said, liquidity was quite low, and for the first half of the era when the exchanges were just so sketchy, you couldn’t even really trust what the advertised market price was. The first VCs entered the game; some investing in Bitcoin companies, and others, like Tim Draper, investing directly in the underlying. Miners were not put off by the prolonged bear market, with the network hashrate growing by orders of magnitude mostly due to competition-driven innovation among ASIC fabricators. In the Second Reward Era, miners earned a total of USD$600m for their efforts. This USD$600m “investment” resulted in an $11bn post-money valuation at the end of the Round. Despite failing to reclaim the heights of 2013, Bitcoin closed this round on the upswing — one that wouldn’t end for another year and a half. Series A — Optimise (3rd (and Current) Reward Era, 9/7/2016 — May 2020) Once a business has developed a track record (an established user base, consistent revenue figures, or some other key performance indicator), that company may opt for Series A funding in order to further optimize its user base and product offerings. (Reiff, 2019) With “traditional” startups, their Series A round is used to fund the optimization of the offering, and to lay a solid platform to build further during the next round. Several experts and industry stakeholders were split on how to best optimize Bitcoin to increase transaction throughput. The Establishment took the view that achieving this through an increase in block size was the answer, The People took the view that this was a slippery slope, and that scaling be achieved with protocol optimisations, i.e., Segregated Witness (SegWit). The People were victorious, which was a huge positive indicator that centralizing Bitcoin would be a Sisyphean task. As a result, and in combination with a supply halving, the money flowed in, and Bitcoin achieved a valuation in the hundreds of billions at its all-time-high. The Third Era also featured “The Scambrian Explosion”, with thousands of cryptocurrencies being spawned, sending Bitcoin’s dominance of the cryptocurrency to a paltry 35% at one point in time. While most of these altcoins now having lost over 95% of their value (hundreds have lost >99% of their value), the only result was the wasting of hundreds of thousands of hours of development time and hundreds of millions of dollars which should have been directed at Bitcoin. The fact that Bitcoin now accounts for 75% of the cryptocurrency market (and rising) is a testament to why people should have just stuck to Bitcoin. The huge influx of money in this Era allowed early equity holders to further divest to focus on development — and my oh my, was there a lot of development. In terms of scalability, The Lightning Network successfully came out of beta and is being extensively used. Privacy and coin-joining solutions emerged and became easier to use. There are literal satellites in space broadcasting the network. The rise of the “run your own node” movement gathered serious momentum and was bolstered by a host of companies offering “plug-and-play” nodes. With your own node, you can also be your own payments provider through BTCPayServer. Multi-signature security has never been easier. This paragraph could go on for pages — so if you want a full technical recap of just 2019, the Bitcoin Optech Newsletter will give you everything you need to know. At time of writing, Era miner revenue is USD$4.6bn, and the valuation has risen from $11bn to over $125bn. Despite all the progress made, Bitcoin is still a high-to-very-high risk investment at this stage, as the market price can still move in excess of 30%, in either direction, in one week, regularly. This will ultimately remain the case until both the liquidity pool grows, and the mining reward (inflation) shrinks. Series B — Build (4th Reward Era, May 2020 — Apr 2024) Series B rounds are all about taking businesses to the next level, past the development stage. Investors help startups get there by expanding market reach. Companies that have gone through seed and Series A funding rounds have already developed substantial user bases and have proven to investors that they are prepared for success on a larger scale. Series B funding is used to grow the company so that it can meet these levels of demand With the necessary protocol upgrades happening during Series A and early in Series B, the focus will shift to the building of products and services on top of the slowly ossifying Bitcoin base layer. This Era will see the replacement of the “Old Guard” by a newer generation of more business-savvy Bitcoin entrepreneurs and through merger and acquisition activity. There will also be a lot of vertical and horizontal integration, as companies aim to achieve a “full-stack”. One example of all this is Layer1 mining, in what is effectively an electricity utility that also mines, and designs and fabricates ASIC miners. It is impossible to predict what’s specifically going to happen during this 4 year era, let alone in the first year of it, but if the past 18 months are anything to go by, security, privacy, and most importantly going forward, UI/UX, will improve dramatically. I’d expect that running a full-sovereignty stack (your own VPN, node, electrum & BTCPay servers, multi-sig setup, etc.) will be easy enough for almost anyone to do at the end of The Era. Effectively, Bitcoin’s infrastructure will be developed enough to handle some proper scale. What will be most interesting thing to see will be the technological, economic and political developments during this Era. In this regard, everything is “Good for Bitcoin”. Internet access, computers and smartphones become cheaper and more accessible? This is good for Bitcoin. Never ending quantitative easing and negative interest rates? This is good for Bitcoin. Increased political turmoil, censorship, or surveillance? This is good for Bitcoin. Should Bitcoin “stay in business”, risk level at this point would be medium-to-high, and you could expect to be exposed to weekly swings of +/-15%, but maybe not as regularly as in Series A. When looked at in conjunction with some economic models like the Stock-to-Flow model, there is little reason to think a 10x growth in market cap will not be seen in this series, as per the 3 series preceding it. This would mean a series-end market cap of about USD$1 trillion, or, around USD$50k per bitcoin. Chances are that the All-time-high price achieved during this series will be dramatically higher than the end price, as this is the main driver of the “investment-to-utility” loop. Series C — Scale (5th Reward Era, Apr 2024 — Mar 2028) Businesses that make it to Series C funding sessions are already quite successful. Series C funding is focused on scaling the company, growing as quickly and as successfully as possible. (Reiff, 2019) Inflation is finally starting to drop, with only ~650,000 BTC needing to be absorbed by the market over the 4-year period — the inflation rate is now lower than that of Gold. Scarcity is becoming a more dominant element of Bitcoin’s value proposition. With basically all the infrastructure largely built, and UI/UX continuing to improve, this Era is “The Era of The Evangelist”. Bitcoin is ready for prime time; somebody just has to go out and tell everybody. This Series’ fund raising round made all the right people very wealthy (if they weren’t already wealthy from the Series B raise), and these people will begin to use their influence (i.e. money) to promote Bitcoin, and increase the “saver-base”, i.e., the number of people who buy bitcoin on a weekly basis, or, earn their living in Bitcoin. At this stage, to maintain a USD$500k price, about 10 million people are each saving USD$150/wk in Bitcoin. This represents 0.2% of the world’s adult population. Considering the level of utility and the seamlessness of the UI/UX in the late stages of this series, only 10 million active savers may even feel like a failure of sorts! From here, it is simply an exercise of marketing. Discussion of The Framework on The Total Connector Podcast with Keyvan Davani IPO (6th Reward Era, Mar 2028 — Feb 2032), and beyond… At this point, if Bitcoin is still alive, it is effectively unkillable. Major banks have now made big acquisitions, and are offering bitcoin services to their customers. Most power utilities have skin in the Bitcoin game. People won’t know that they’re using Bitcoin — and we’ll probably have 4 (or even 5) layers on top of Bitcoin now. On-chain base-layer transactions are reserved for high value transactions, all people adopting Bitcoin going forward won’t be onboarded via the base layer. The Bitcoin ETF has FINALLY been approved after an 18 year effort. Price per coin is in the millions, and fairly stable (to the downside, at least). Number still go up — just as designed. It’s improper to say that it is “zero risk” in 2032, but the risk is extremely low. That said, if it gets to a 7th Era, I’d be comfortable enough to say that Bitcoin may become the first ever truly risk-free asset, with inflation rapidly approaching zero. I’ll be 50 years old by the end of Era 7, so I’m literally betting my career that this will be the case. Talk about skin in the game! By Nic Carter Posted December 29, 2019 Bitcoin is everyone’s problem now Evey: Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot… But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I’ve witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I’ve seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them… but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love… – Evey Hammond, V for Vendetta An exorbitant privilege Bitcoin is first and foremost a monetary phenomenon. The social climbers and false prophets who proclaimed it is a payments revolution have either come around or been repudiated by the market and washed out, embittered. Most who understood it that way are now moving on to new things. The world did not need another Paypal. The world needed a new monetary institution. As Bitcoin went from a proof of concept, to a toy, to a joke, to a collectible, and then to a movement, a few policymakers came to realize that it posed a threat to the established system. Not because of its present form, but because what it represented: a profane insult to the carefully calibrated monetary system. All done in a mocking, insouciant fashion — a band of nerds and ne’er-do-wells insolently challenging the state’s monopoly on seigniorage. Satire is what despots fear most, and the rise of Bitcoin made our present monetary system look patently absurd. Critic: Nothing backs Bitcoin. Bitcoiner: What backs the dollar? Critic: Nothing intrinsically — our ability to compel foreign nations to accept our currency as the numeraire of international trade, our ability to force citizens to pay taxes in dollars, and our military assets required to enforce both conditions. Bitcoiner: How persuasive! The visceral hatred elites feel about Bitcoin? Perfectly justified. How else would you react to a upstart aimed at usurping your sacred monetary privilege? Such is the potency of Bitcoin that it compels the high priests of U.S. imperialism to reveal the unwritten rules about the role the dollar plays in power projection abroad. In May of this year, U.S. Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) spoke out against cryptocurrency on the floor of the house. His statement laid bare the normally veiled post-Bretton Woods doctrine in which the dollar is employed not only a monetary tool but a strategic one, too. An awful lot of our international power comes from the fact that the dollar is the standard unit of international finance […] and it is the announced purpose of the supporters of cryptocurrency to take that power away from us […]. Whether it is to disempower our foreign policy, our tax collection, or our traditional law enforcement […]. the purpose of cryptocurrency […] is solely to aid in the disempowerment of the United States and the rule of law. Representative Sherman is practically a soothsayer. He understands precisely where the world is going. His mistake is not in the diagnosis, but in the cure. He mistakenly believes that Bitcoin can be reckoned with. But Bitcoin is an idea, not a product. The notion of a weightless, virtual commodity was productized for good in 2009 (although the idea long predated Bitcoin), and it has been eroding the state’s monetary monopoly ever since. It could not have been created at a better time; one wonders how Bitcoin would have fared if it had been created in the 1980s or 90s when the US economy was fairer, the monetary system was totally unquestioned, and the US was the sole dominant global superpower. Against today’s backdrop, Bitcoin insists on itself. It has urgency. In the halcyon days of Pax Americana, Bitcoin would have mattered much less. In the twilight of the American empire, however, it is more relevant than ever. Our monetary system is disastrously redistributive The wealth of political elites derives primarily from privileged access to the monetary spigot. This is no longer a secret. The heavenly mana of seigniorage has opened, first a trickle and now a flood. The world is grappling with inequality, and the dozens of populist revolts active in the world today are patent evidence of this. Yet the resurgent socialist parties misdiagnose the situation. The enemy is not a nebulous form of capitalism, but rather a form of socialism itself — a low-rates fueled perma-bailout to the owners of financial assets. It’s no coincidence that asset prices have steadfastly risen in the last decade, as the Fed has embarked on a ludicrously unshackled period of money creation. Many ask: against the backdrop of monetary issuance, where did the inflation go? It went of course into financial assets. But this benefits the paltry few. Did you know that the decade-long rally in the S&P500 has been characterized by historically low participation from retail investors? The riotous gains in asset prices have sidelined mom and pop. They accrue instead to institutional investors and corporate insiders who returned capital to themselves through buybacks. In the 90s, Wharton MBAs convinced investors that the ideal mode of corporate governance was making large equity and options grants to corporate directors to create incentive alignment. Well, the grants were made, and the directors rewarded the shareholders by spending corporate earnings on buying back the stock, thus juicing earnings per share and triggering options payouts for directors. They just so happened to forgot to generate corporate value along the way. That pesky real economy… that was secondary. Why are politicians so rich? Why do they become rich after leaving office? Why do regulators go work in industry? Why is the Secretary of the Treasury a former Goldman banker and hedge fund manager? The Cantillon effect pictured Why are renters historically disempowered, whereas landowners are historically privileged? Why has the cost of higher education and healthcare outpaced inflation by orders of magnitude? Why is the CPI a sad, pathetic joke? Do consumer goods account for most of your expenditures, or does rent, healthcare, and education? What are you more exposed to? The cost of a TV, or property values? Even if you didn’t know what the Cantillon effect was, you felt it vividly in the last decade. The hopelessness felt by many in today’s society is the consequence of this monetary misalignment; the introduction of eye-watering money into the economy, but an uneven distribution. Who benefited from historically low rates? Normal folks dealing with predatory credit card loans, or owners of financial assets who were able to put historically cheap capital to work? And no, cheap financing didn’t help the middle and lower class get a foothold in property… because property values were horrendously inflated in the first place! Property, treated as a store of value for the rich, is precisely where so many of the Fed’s newly-minted dollars settled. Reflect on those hollowed-out city centers in Vancouver, New York, and London — full of empty homes used as capital warehouses for absentee millionaires. If there’s a single graph that evidences the impact of a decade of freewheeling monetary stimulus on the economy, it is the following: Monetary velocity in the U.S. is at its lowest since modern records began. If you think about the equation of exchange (MV = PQ), a decline in V is sufficient to offset an increasing money supply (M) to keep prices (P) stable. And that’s just about what happened: the purchasing power of the dollar has remained relatively stable even as supply has expanded dramatically. “Where is the inflation?” is the common refrain, but the question should instead be “where has the new money supply gone?” It is clear that it has settled, inert and unproductive, in financial assets mostly owned by the ultra-rich, bidding them up to century highs in relative valuation terms. This is why our perverse form of zombie capitalism is often referred to as socialism for the rich. If you can position yourself close enough to the money spigot and arrange to share in the spoils of the monetary redistribution, you can profit handsomely. If you have access to financial assets and can benefit from a low cost of capital (whether you are an investor or a corporate director with discretion over buybacks), you can make low rates and quantitative easing work for you. If you cannot, you are utterly frozen out of the system, and indeed disadvantaged, as pricier capital assets immiserate the non rentier class. Bitcoin is a system that explicitly rejects identity Critics often ask who, exactly, Bitcoin is for. This perhaps a misspecified question. Bitcoin does not serve a “who,” or a subset of whos. It just serves, indifferent its end users. Bitcoin, by design, does not require identity data to work. Your counterparty could be on the OFAC sanctions list, they could be a sentient toad, or a few lines of code. Bitcoin has no way of knowing, nor does it care. The only requirement to send a payment is to provide a valid signature which meets the criteria sufficient to unencumber a UTXO. Traditional payment and credit relationships, on the other hand, enshrine identity. My credit card company is very _interested in knowing that it is me who is using the card. If I inform them that a stranger has absconded with my card, they consider all the spends post-theft _totally invalid. The call with the fraud department goes like this: - ‘Can you vouch for the $10.51 purchase on 2/24 at Chipotle?’ Yes, that was me. Extra guac. - ‘Can you vouch for the $463.39 purchase on 2/29 at Lululemon?’ No, I don’t habitually buy athleisure gear. Identity data is inextricable from traditional payment networks. This is because they are many layers between payments and final settlement. An incredibly large and profitable business exists to assess the credibility of transactors and facilitate deferred-settlement transactions between them. This is because credibility and mutual trust enables massive efficiencies. You can lend your neighbor a lawnmower without demanding he provide a bond to cover its value because you trust him. Credit card networks just scale this up: they are trust underwriters, determining quantitatively how trustworthy I am, and passing along those assurances to merchants with whom I transact. If they get it wrong, and it turns out I’m the kind of person who racks up a $10,000 credit card bill with no intention of ever paying, they swallow the cost! It was their bad. They should have done a better job assessing my trustworthiness. The compact you implicitly agree to when you use Bitcoin is between you and the protocol, not between you and all the other users of Bitcoin. The only trust required is users trusting that the cryptographic and economic assumptions hold. So far, they have. It has become trendy to denounce popular Bitcoiners as uncompromising, unreasonable assholes, and imply that there is something wrong with Bitcoin as a consequence, too. But Bitcoin is indifferent to this. It is a protocol for encoding and conveying value through a communications medium. Bitcoin isn’t even aware of what the price of Bitcoin is, let alone the political trends of the day. It knows very, very little about itself. As stated above, Bitcoin is attractive and useful precisely because it rejects any identity data from the conditions required for a spend. The only thing that has to be furnished is knowledge of a private key corresponding to a public key. When you receive Bitcoin, you do not need to be aware of the identity of the sender, because Bitcoin settles probabilistically. You can simply define your own threshold for finality — say, requiring $500,000 of work to be done before you consider a transaction final. That would correspond to waiting, at current rates, for 4–5 blocks under which your transaction should be buried. This is what allows me to accept funds from people that I mistrust, and why Bitcoin is carving out a niche in these frontier transactions. Think of a ransomware hacker and his victim. These people mutually mistrust each other. They victim has been wounded and attacked. But the hacker still trusts that the $500 sent to them for the ransom in the form of BTC is a valid, unlikely-to-be-reversed payment. You may not like this. But Bitcoin flourishes on the margins of society. These are increasingly widening, as banking becomes politicized and used as a political tool, as the U.S.-driven settlement system is coopted for strategic objectives, and as identity requirements for payments networks become ever more rapacious. Transacting with people you have no reason to trust is precisely why Bitcoin exists. The internet allowed us to transact with people on the other side of the globe, but internet commerce is beset by fraud. The reason credit cards are expensive is because the costs of remediating fraud and chargebacks are socialized. If you aren’t comfortable with evil people using Bitcoin, you should abandon it now Of course, the jettisoning of counterparty trust (and risk) comes with some perceived drawbacks. Principal among them, you cannot evict someone from your network. This is very uncomfortable to people who believe that money ought to be a political tool, to be exploited to disempower political foes of the day. There is a particular paradox in demanding that the members of a network you have inserted yourself into adhere to a certain moral code of conduct. As stated above, Bitcoin, and fast-settling hard money more generally, exists to facilitate commerce between individuals that do not have a pre-existing bond of trust. What did inter-continental traders use to transact in the 17th century? They certainly didn’t use IOUs, wampum, collectibles, or credit relationships. They knew that they might never see each other again, so they used the hardest money they had available — gold and silver. Monetary metals speak for themselves; they are no one’s liability. In this same way, Bitcoin is a means to transfer wealth between individuals who both have an interest in final settlement. It is not a means to establish a credit relationship (although Lightning is an early move in this direction). Bitcoin is deliberately amoral, it has no requirements to entry and asks nothing of the user aside from a valid signature. It facilitates commerce between people who explicitly disagree with each other. Thus trying to impose a moral code on Bitcoin is contrary to its very nature. If everyone who used Bitcoin agreed with each other, then no one would need Bitcoin — they could all exchange IOUs backed by their mutual trust in each other. But because the world is messy, and people disagree with each other, hard money is warranted. Our chaotic world practically demands it. So if you are the kind of person that rejects a useful transactional medium because someone you dislike is using it as well, it wasn’t suited for you in the first place. Bitcoin is edgy precisely because the world needs a payment and savings system which cannot be interfered with on moral or political grounds. To repudiate these transactional constraints is to violate the carefully poised moral setting that has seized the West. If stepping out of line isn’t for you, stick to Paypal instead. Bitcoin is an apocalyptic death cult… As Bitcoin hater-in-chief David Gerard so elegantly puts it, Bitcoin is in fact an apocalyptic death cult. Apocalyptic, because Bitcoiners recognize the futility of the current monetary system, and appreciate that it is likely to end in tears. Death, because States won’t give up their monetary privilege easily. Bitcoin is veiled in eschatological overtones. Cult, because you have to be somewhat deranged to take a pill this black. Freedom is not “Free”. So spare a thought for the Bitcoiners. They are fully awakened to the pending grief and strife that await us, Cassandras warning governments and citizens alike to the disruptive effects of truly sovereign currency (sovereign, as in free, not as in State-owned). But unable, most of the time, to convince their fellow man that the State’s monetary machinations may not be sound. Most people are content to surrender all freedom and autonomy to the Leviathan, as long as the pot they are in boils slowly. … but it’s open to all The exact reason that Bitcoin is despised by so many— identity, creditworthiness, and trust are irrelevant in this system, making it a fertile ground for criminals — is the exact reason why it’s so inclusive. Unlike Paypal, Venmo, or traditional payment processors, it cannot deplatform you for wrongthink, holding subversive political views, being a sex worker, or legally selling cannabis. Ours is the biggest possible tent. Don’t be distracted by the online discourse. Bitcoin is utterly indifferent to the political views of its users. Its core developers, the high priests of the protocol, can barely change it: (implementing a fairly routine upgrade, SegWit, took them _years _of cajoling and pleading). Getting it to do anything other than produce blocks, accept valid spends, resolve forks, and relentlessly march onward is virtually impossible. Whether Bitcoin will challenge the State, or whether that task will be left up to a successor, is yet to be determined. That the State’s monetary privilege has been permanently eroded is evident though. It died a little that day in January 2009 when the Chancellor [was] On the Brink, and it has been shrinking ever since. By Nic Carter, Oct, 2019 Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news) By Ben Kaufman Posted December 30, 2019 Hard money is one of the most well-known monetary terms used in practical discussions. From political discourses on policy decisions to the commentary debates of the financial sector, the term can be heard often enough to make even the ordinary citizens familiar with it. However, and despite its substantial use, while the concept of hard money has a very clear connotation to traditional fiscal responsibility with the monetary system, its exact definition is still quite vague. While for many, it is merely a practical term almost synonymous to a gold-backed system, its conceptual meaning clearly goes beyond that. For theoretical discussions then, it should be evident that, despite gold being for centuries the most accurate practical representation of the concept, it cannot be its very definition. Until today, in spite of the theoretical merits of adequately defining the term, such exact definition seems to have been quite unnecessary. For a long time, it has been established that assuming it as simply meaning a gold system is sufficient for all practical purposes. In recent years, however, the term has started being applied to the newly emergent system of cryptocurrencies, and most notably, to Bitcoin. The new employment of the term to describe the new-born monetary system causes an evident confusion as to its exact meaning, and the question of what it is that makes money “hard” has become of practical significance. This current state of affairs has left us with multiple questions. First, what indeed, would be a satisfactory definition for the “hardness” of a monetary system. Then secondly, whether this term could be appropriate to describe Bitcoin. And lastly, if other cryptocurrencies also merit such classification. The rest of this article is thus an attempt to deal with the problems just presented above. As a last note, this article will solely deal with the question of what hard money is. The broader question of whether a hard money system is even desirable in the first place is out of scope for this piece. On that matter, interested readers may find my answer in my previous article. What is hard money? While, as said above, no precise and consistent definition seems to be prevalent in discussions on the subject, we must first provide such a definition if we are to investigate the matter seriously. The definition we shall use from this point forward is as follows: The hardness of money is in reverse relation to the monetary inflation, and the consequent dilution of the value of the existing stock, which can economically be inflicted on it. Now, there are a few notable points to clarify in order to avoid common misunderstandings regarding the above definition. First and foremost, we shall note that, like many economic terms, the hardness of money is a subjectively perceived factor, subjected to constant changes by various events (such as technological improvement in production, effective counterfeiting, etc.). In this sense, it is similar to discussing the purchasing power of money, which, while can be generally understood, is a rather subjective and ever-changing metric. While this consideration certainly does not invalidate its importance and usefulness, we shall keep in mind these limitations and uncertainties which necessarily accompany its use. The second point to notice is with regards to what exactly does “can economically be inflicted” mean, and what are the subsequent implications. In simple words, the question is how much of the money can be produced until its value drops (or production costs rise, or both) to such an extent where production is no longer profitable. Here we can notice a sharp distinction between “commodity money”, of which the market determines the supply, and fiat money, of which legislation determines it. As the supply of commodity money is determined by the market demand for it (its price), the costs of its production will always tend to match its market price, as producers will quickly rush to produce more if the margin is larger, and stop production even faster if that becomes unprofitable. On the other hand, the supply of fiat money, such as the government paper we have today, is regulated not by the demand for it, but rather by bureaucratic processes of arbitrary decisions. The main difference concerning us here between the two monetary systems is that, with the former, the risk of dilution of wealth is to be found mostly with technological progress in the production process. While for the latter, there always exists a risk of massive dilution for any arbitrary cause. Thus, while money from the former category is worth the extra effort of looking into its hardness, the latter leaves us no doubt as for its “easiness”. It might be worth mentioning that this monetary easiness is not at all accidental, but rather the intended result of conscious policies aimed mainly at government financing through seigniorage — the monopolistic profits made by the issuer of a currency which is protected by law from market competition. A discussion on the economic and ethical issues of fiat money in general, and seigniorage in particular, is out of the scope of this article. However, interested readers can find such discussions in “The Ethics of Money Production” by Jörg Guido Hülsmann. A (Very) Brief History of Hard Money So far, we provided an exact definition for the concept of hard money and saw why it must be commodity money produced through open competition on the market. Now, we will continue investigating the principles of hard money by looking into some historical monetary systems, and the gradual shift from easier monies to a harder one. The history of money, including such notable examples as salt, seashells and glass beads, is full of cases where the advancement of production processes or even the improvement in trade connections for a certain money, along with its inferior monetary properties (durability, divisibility, etc.) compared to another money, caused it to depreciate quickly and eventually to lose its monetary role altogether. Such a process is perhaps best illustrated through the famous case of the Rai stones of Yap island. These stones, ranging in size (and value) from small beads to some massive 3.6 meters tall ones, were for hundreds, if not thousands, of years used by the native population as money. As the methods for producing them did not improve much for the long time of their monetary use, their production remained quite stable for many years, establishing their local status as hard money. However, with the arrival of Europeans around the end of the 19th century, and with the advanced tools and production methods they brought with them, production became increasingly cheaper and the stones started depreciating rapidly until they eventually lost their monetary role to the Western money system. Similar cases were witnessed at many times and places throughout history, such as glass beads and cowry shells in Africa and America, salt in Europe, and so on. Since the beginning of their use as money from about 1000 BC, precious metals were probably the most prominent money of all. Used mostly through Europe and Asia as the most common monetary system and later spreading rapidly to all other continents after the discovery of America and under the strong influence of European colonization efforts, the entire world started converging towards a unified monetary system of precious metals, namely copper, silver and gold. The growth in the use of such metallic monetary systems was much due to their relatively excellent physical monetary properties, such as their durability, portability, and divisibility. No less influential, or even more so, was the monetary hardness they demonstrated in comparison to all other monetary goods throughout history. This age-long trend towards the use of metal currency arguably reached its peak around the middle of the nineteenth century. Flourishing as the Gold Standard, which prevailed during La Belle Époque, it has declined since the end of this period around the beginning of WWI. Since then, there has been a strong tendency in the direction of irredeemable fiat money, mainly in the form of paper, “token” coins, and later also its digital representations of today. This transition from metallic to a purely fiat standard has its origin with the Chinese invention of banknotes, a paper (or similar material) note which the bearer could redeem for specie, on-demand, from a reserve maintained by the producer of the note. The use of such banknotes as a circulating media of exchange began around the 11th century, with the Jiaozi paper currency, and has continually spread around the world ever since. The peculiarity of the practice was of course not with the new physical form which the instrument of payment has taken, but the fact that, although all notes were redeemable on demand, the reserve maintained only a fraction of the funds needed for the redemption of all notes — what is commonly known today as fractional reserve banking. While these paper forms of money were initially privately issued and used mostly for their easier portability (as carrying metal coins became heavy), they were quickly nationalized and served as a new form of a government financing scheme, namely seigniorage, enabled by their cheap production costs and the use of such fractional reserve techniques. A full examination of the history of banking is out of scope for this article. For our purposes the important thing to note is that while the physical form of money started shifting towards paper long ago, today’s concept of permanently irredeemable paper money constitutes a purely modern “invention”. While it is similar in form and probably owes its existence to such ancient practices as described above, it lacks any historical precedent. It is true that the global convergence towards metallic money, and especially the later transition from metallic to a gold standard, owes a significant part of its emergence to the political influence of governments. However, the massive scale of interventionist measures taken to implement this latest transition to a completely irredeemable fiat standard is entirely unprecedented. Arguably starting with WWI, consolidating with the end of WWII, and ripening with Executive Order 11615 of President Nixon in 1971, the transition from a metallic to a pure fiat money has nationalized and politicized the global monetary system in any conceivable aspect. The consequence is a regression in the evolutionary tendencies of money from that of international convergence on the hardest money to a degradation towards the cheapest production methods, which will generate the highest seigniorage profits possible to extract for each national government. Thus, we are not surprised to find out that the last hundred years have experienced over 50 cases of hyperinflationary economic collapses. What used to be an extremely rare event has become an epidemic of modern economies, and is now virtually the only check which deters governments from excessive money production. To briefly summarize, the history of money shows us a tendency for international convergence of monetary standards towards the hardest money. This tendency likely reached its peak with the nineteenth-century gold standard, and has been suppressed for the last hundred years by political forces compelling the use of the easiest money — that which can be infinitely created at their whim. While the trend towards hard money seems to have completely reversed, the great economic distress and instability arguably caused by this reverse in trend may indicate its mere temporary nature. Thus, there appears to be a strong reason to believe that these last hundred years will be but a short regression in the long trend towards harder money. Nevertheless, this last century left us little hope that such a return to progression could manifest itself as a return to a gold standard. With the transition to global online payments, the need for a centralized trusted reserve for the smooth operation of such a system has grown more evident than ever. Yet this very need for a centralized reserve system is precisely the flaw that allowed the political capture and eventual demise of gold in the first place. Also, taking into account the immense expansion in the power of governments worldwide during the last few decades, the risks inherent in such a centralized reserve system make a return to gold seem like an impractical option, however theoretically desirable it may be. Despite the obstacle posed by the closing of this past option, the advancement of technology has opened up a new alternative in the form of Bitcoin, a digital adaptation of hard money. If it indeed provides a secure alternative, such a system has a true potential for becoming the next evolution in monetary standards, continuing the old trend towards harder forms of money. It is investigating this premise to which we will now turn. Bitcoin as Hard Money In a nutshell, Bitcoin was built to have a final and limited supply, produced by open competition for expending computational power. It is by design limited to a total supply of roughly 21M bitcoins to be produced according to an estimated time schedule. The production of new Bitcoin requires solving a cryptographic puzzle, with each competitor having the probability of solving it in direct relation to its expended computing resources. We see that, by theoretical design, Bitcoin was designed to be hard money, with an eventual hardness allowing for no further production, in a sense, creating absolute scarcity. While we now have the basic understanding needed of the theoretical guarantees of Bitcoin in regards to its monetary hardness, we must proceed to look at how those guarantees are to be secured in practice, and what possible threats may arise for them. The monetary hardness of Bitcoin is guaranteed by its consensus rules — the code that either accepts or rejects transaction history (in the form of blocks) according to their validity with this predetermined set of rules. These rules include, among other things, the requirement for a solution to the cryptographic challenge (the proof of work), a verification ensuring no transaction spends more bitcoin than its sender has, and a check that no bitcoins were issues over the supply limit or before the predetermined schedule. Every machine which has verified all the transaction history up to the present, and which maintains as the result of this verification the present UTXO set (the current set of owners of bitcoins), is called a full node. The entire “Bitcoin network” is the sum of all full nodes communicating by the same protocol rules and propagating information about new data (mainly blocks and transactions). By following identical rules of verification, and by passing all data between themselves, all nodes are expected to reach the same view of the current state — a consensus. There are two possible ways by which nodes may reach a disagreement over the present state — by having different (or partial) data or by verifying according to different consensus rules. The former case is usually not an issue. It includes mostly nodes in the process of joining the network (in IBD), nodes which have not yet received a new block, and on rare occasions, the case where two conflicting blocks are solved independently of one another and are propagated at the same time. This area of data propagation, while being highly critical, does not concern the monetary hardness of Bitcoin per se, and thus we’ll ignore it for the present discussion. The second possible case — the establishment of different consensus rules — is where the risk of inflation lies and is what we will now examine. Strictly speaking, there are no “definitive” rules for Bitcoin. There are, for example, the original rules of the first version of the Bitcoin software, and the rules of the current Bitcoin Core software, but since Bitcoin is an entirely decentralized project, there are no rules one has to follow. This essentially means that (for convenience, taking the most unlikely yet still technically possible case) if all participants in the Bitcoin network were to unanimously modify their rules, for example, as to have permanent inflation, these would become the new rules. There exists no controlling authority which could stop users from running whatever version of the software they desire. This characteristic of Bitcoin, which is inherent in its nature as a man-made digital asset, is probably its most significant difference from the natural commodities, such as gold, and thus requires great attention in assessing the practical hardness of Bitcoin. To understand what guarantees the hardness of the monetary policy and other consensus rules of Bitcoin, we should start by analyzing the network, not as a whole, but starting from the very individual nodes comprising it. As far as a full node is concerned, its control over the rules — the “definition” of Bitcoin — is absolute, there is no procedure to compel a node to use a particular set of rules. On the same token, it is also the case that no node can force another to accept its rules. Thus we arrive at a situation where, starting with the initial consensus rules laid out in the first Bitcoin software as base guidance, all nodes in the network must either converge on the same set of rules or lose the ability to transact with the rest of the network. If a node decides, for example, to mint itself new bitcoins “out of thin air”, he may change his own rules as to allow that, but at the cost of losing the ability to transact his “Bitcoin” with the rest of the network. If we assume two people have modified their rules in that way, they give up the ability to transact with all but one another. The same thing happens if we now imagine that 10% of the participants changed their nodes to the new rules, the network can be said to have split into two distinct networks, each defining Bitcoin in a different way. While such cases as described above are of little interest, they beget the question of what happens if 50%, or even say 99% modify their rules. In other words, what happens if the majority changes the rules, and what would define a majority in the first place. With Bitcoin, being essentially a communication network, the most appropriate manner to determine a “majority” is to consider the extent to which participants can communicate (transact) with others. Contrary to common fallacies, it does not matter how much hash rate, market cap or total transaction volume a network may have and even less so does it matter how many nodes run its rules (as anyone can deploy as many nodes as he wishes). The only metric which is relevant for the determination of which rules a node joining the network “should” run is to what extent it can transact with others. In simpler terms, how many of those with which he wishes (or expects) to transact with will accept his bitcoins as valid. The threat of being unable to transact with others (running incompatible rules) is what deters participants (both other nodes and miners) from arbitrarily modifying the rules. The need for such extensive coordination is what makes changes to Bitcoin, from trivial bug fixes to the most controversial changes, so difficult to implement. Any modification means risking losing the ability to transact with the rest of the network (or part of it). Thus the theoretical ability to exercise such modifications is rarely used. To get back to our subject of monetary hardness, what is most important to understand is that the hardness of Bitcoin for each participant depends on the ability and likelihood of a sufficiently large portion of the network to coordinate and successfully perform a consensus rule change which will inflate the supply of Bitcoin. It is important to emphasize that “sufficiently large” means such a large portion with which losing the ability to transact would render Bitcoin useless. This measure, like the rules of Bitcoin themselves, is by necessity subjective, but it should not be hard to have a rough agreement on what such a case would look like. Bitcoin’s Soft Spot As we have seen by now, since each user of Bitcoin can run his own node, the power of a participant in the influence over the enforcement of the consensus rules is solely with regard to the transactions he is personally involved in. A node must verify all transactions not for the sake of enforcing the rules for others on the network, but for being able to determine whether a payment he receives himself is valid or not — this is the economic activity of a participant, and it is the only manner by which he may influence the decision of others to use certain rules. Whenever one accepts payment in Bitcoin, it’s akin to asserting what the definition of Bitcoin is by enforcing the consensus rules under which the payment is accepted. However, while in our analysis until now we have (intentionally and implicitly) assumed that every participant is actively setting his own rules by running certain code with his full node, and using it to verify the validity of incoming payments, this is not necessarily (and indeed is often not) the case. It is completely possible for anyone to delegate the responsibility of this active rule setting by passively trusting another entity with validating transactions for him. By doing so, the receiver of payment in a sense delegates his economic activity on the network, thus the influence over the consensus rules, to another which in turn may use it with whatever rules he likes. For example, assuming I am using an online Block Explorer to verify that I have received a transaction, whenever I accept a transaction in such a manner, I delegate the influence my economic activity may have over the rules to the operator of that service. If, for example, the operator would decide to use rules allowing larger blocks, new signature schemes or (more worrisome) changing the rate of inflation, I am not only susceptible to passively accept these changes against my consent, I am in fact actively endorsing them by signaling my willingness to accept transactions using these specific rules. In the previous section, we have concluded that in order to impair the monetary hardness of Bitcoin, it is necessary to coordinate (convince others to perform) a consensus rules modification causing such a change with a sufficiently substantial portion of the active economic participants of the network, a task we can consider quite impractical in light of both theoretical considerations and practical (although short and insufficient) experience. This difficulty in coordination is not merely due to the decentralized structure of the Bitcoin network, but specifically due to the decentralized, or more correctly self-sovereign, enforcement of rules over individual economic activity. When each participant is actively validating his transaction, it is necessary to convince a very considerable part (if not almost all) of them to accept the new set of rules modifying the hardness of Bitcoin. However, the fewer participants actively validating their transactions, the more centralized does the verification of economic activity becomes, and thus the easier it is to carry out such a change. Although, in theory, nothing prevents the use of a full node by each participant, there are various practical obstacles for running and using a full node. Probably the most significant of these obstacles is the technical complexity of operating such a node, which for many is still a very non-trivial task. Moreover, there are the issues posed by the size of the transaction history data, which when increased affects both the initial time needed to join the network, while also raising the hardware requirements needed for an active node, making it increasingly more expensive to maintain. These issues (and potentially various others), while probably manageable, can, if left unhandled, lead to such dangerously large centralization of payment verification which could potentially nullify the monetary hardness guaranteed by the theoretical design of Bitcoin. The greatest risk to the hardness of Bitcoin lies therefore in the centralization of payment verification. We see that in theory, if a sufficiently large part of the network is using just a few service providers for validating their transactions, there is a chance that these service providers will coordinate a change to the supply of Bitcoin while having the unaware but nonetheless economically active support of everyone using them to accept Bitcoin payments. It is true that as long as you run your own full node you are able to stick to the present “hard money rules”, but if such a large part of the network has moved (aware of the change or not) to an inflationary set of rules, you will lose the ability to transact with them and thus the utility of using Bitcoin. Before reaching our conclusions on the hardness of Bitcoin, we should address the question of whether other cryptocurrencies may be termed hard money, and what differentiates Bitcoin from all of them. What about “Shitcoins”? Contrary to constant claims from almost any “blockchain-based” shitcoin, none of them can be considered as hard money. While there are many different implementations for how a decentralized blockchain may work (PoW/ PoS, etc.), they must all rely on the same client-side payment verification model discussed above. However, unlike Bitcoin, they all either merely pay lip service or even disregard completely the importance of self-sovereignty in determining the consensus rules. That is, they all tend towards centralizing the formation and enforcement of the consensus rules. Some projects have some sort of central authority, to which, with little exception, most decisions on the rules are delegated (whatever explicitly or implicitly). Others disregard the necessity of keeping the ability to run a full node as accessible as possible and thus lead to centralization in payment verification. And yet others which try to set up a “governance” process — making arbitrary changes to the consensus a matter of formality. I should emphasize that I’m not speaking of all “blockchain projects” or projects with decentralized governance. What I’m speaking against is the often-heard claim of various tokens that they should be considered as hard money, while in practice, their supply can and regularly is arbitrarily altered. As defined above, the hardness of money is in reverse relation to the monetary inflation which can economically be inflicted on its holders. With such digital assets that either rely on a centralized (or semi-centralized) payment verification or have some clear and simple process for modifying the consensus rules, there cannot be even the pretense of being hard money. The potential inflation which could be inflicted upon them is infinite — once you can modify the “monetary policy” of a digital asset, there is virtually no limit to how much you can create from it, and it cannot be considered a harder money any more than any of the fiat monetary systems. There is no claim here that the current state of Bitcoin is perfect, or anywhere near that. There is of course much undesirable centralization of verification in the space of Bitcoin as well, and even more concerningly, there is a great sentiment of ignorance of the importance of such self-sovereign verification. However, the main difference is the insistence of Bitcoin “activists” on promoting the use of full nodes, such examples being the Core developers’ efforts on keeping nodes usable on even such weak and affordable machines as a Raspberry Pi, and the many projects which provide various options for running a full node, from a plug and play machines to a completely DIY solutions. The ecosystem dedicated to promoting and simplifying the use of Bitcoin full nodes is both very significant and rapidly growing, and the community’s emphasis on this subject is unmatched by any other project. Furthermore, and no less important, is the fact that, being the “first of its kind”, Bitcoin serves as the base consensus rules not only of a single asset but of general digital value transmission. As Bitcoin is in principle a protocol, or even (in its most basic sense) an idea, for “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, and since its rules are, as we have seen, determined individually and independently by its users, it means that in some sense, all other implementations of such a system could be seen as versions of Bitcoin, but with a completely modified set of rules. With that taken into account, the mere fact that these other “Bitcoins” have such a different set of rules and a substantially different monetary policy, signals the relative malleability of their rules — which have disconverged from the original base rules in a very incompatible manner and for no real (monetary) reason (such as an emergency change due to a bug). We may say that these other coins, being a mere replication of Bitcoin’s model, at least in the monetary field, have already proven their lack of hardness by their mere creation as an arbitrary divergent from the main Bitcoin protocol. All those coins might very well have significant differences from Bitcoin and various other “use-cases”, but with regards to being a hard money system, they have all started at a loss against “The Bitcoin Standard”. Before concluding our discussion, there are few remarks which still need to be made. First, while until now we have discussed the hardness of Bitcoin as derived from enforcing its coded rules, we must note another caveat. Bitcoin is a software, and like any software, it can and did (and possibly still does) have bugs. While it’s true that such bugs could cause unexpected inflation, they are unlikely to have any serious impact on the hardness of Bitcoin. To understand why, we may divide the possible inflationary bugs into minor (1, 10 or even 100,000 bitcoin — like could happen with CVE-2018–17144) and major ones (like a 184 billion coins inflation). Minor bugs may indeed introduce some inflation, which technically would undermine the core tenet of limited supply, but since they can be quickly fixed, their effect on the total supply will be effectively inconsequential in the long run. In more popular terms, they may increase the stock of Bitcoin to a small extent, but they do not undermine its guarantees as for the upcoming expected flow of new coins. As for major bugs, while potentially undermining the interim confidence in the success of Bitcoin, the retroactive countermeasures which could be implemented to nullify the effects of such a clear violation of the constitutional precedent of limited supply would be successful in preserving Bitcoin’s creed. Such measures would be absolutely necessary to preserve the value of the coin-holders and the utility of the network itself. In fact, this is precisely the course of events that transpired in the wake of such a catastrophic bug in 2010. As we have concluded previously, the lack of malleability of the rules of the network contributes to its hardness as a monetary medium. However, here, it is apparent that the literal opposite is true as well; it is the ability of the network to evolve to protect users by way of them each acting individually in their own self-interest that defends the 21 million hard cap. Throughout the article, we have discussed the basic principle of hard money and how it relates to Bitcoin. We saw that from the theoretical aspect, the usual description of Bitcoin as “the hardest money ever” is well deserved, but from the practical perspective, the soundness of this statement is to a large extent dependent on the exercise of their self-sovereignty by its users — the use of full nodes for validating and accepting transactions. Run a Full Node! For the hardness of Bitcoin, it is necessary that as many economic participants as possible use their own full node. However, far more important than this “collective” necessity of self-sovereignty, there are the “individual” reasons to run a full node. As said above, when you don’t verify your own transactions but trust another party to do so, you blindly accept whatever definition that party may use for what Bitcoin is. It may very well be that they verify transactions by rules incompatible with most other network participants. Furthermore, they might not be truly verifying anything at all, and just arbitrarily present to you fake data. It is of course very unlikely, at least at this stage of Bitcoin, for established service providers to risk losing their customers by providing them with incorrect or misleading data (although we have already seen such cases, mostly with the Bitcoin Cash and Segwit2X cases). It may very well be fine to occasionally use the assistance of such services, especially for small payments. The main thing to remember is that by delegating verification of payments, you open yourself to significant risks, while also potentially weakening the hardness of the rules of Bitcoin. I would not discourage the use of such services altogether, but for those using Bitcoin either frequently or with large amounts, as well as for anyone who cares about their privacy and wants strong security, I would highly recommend to make this effort and find a self-sovereign full node solution which suits their needs. (See below for guidance for that). Although commonly heard, the advice to use a full node cannot be stressed strongly enough, it is a crucial part of using Bitcoin — as without using a full node, you cannot even know if you’re really using Bitcoin. How to Run a Bitcoin Full Node Up to this point, we dealt with the fundamental question of why _run a full node. Now, it is time for us to move to the no less important question of _how to run a full node. But first, let’s start by clearing a few popular misconceptions as to the requirements needed for running a full node. As for today, the minimum disk space required to operate a Bitcoin full node is no more than 10GB. For an illustration of how small that is, you can find a 16GB SD card for less than 4$. Most smartphones today already come with at least 32GB, and for many, it is possible to add more with such SD cards. It is true that storing the entire history (~300GB as for today) is much preferable, but this is not necessary for running a secure and fully verifying full node, and should not be an excuse not to use one. Another important misconception is an alleged need for strong computing power, this misunderstanding usually comes from the confusion between a Bitcoin miner and a full node. It is true that in order to run a (profitable) Bitcoin mining operation, it is necessary to have some expensive specialized hardware, but this is not necessary at all for running a full node. To run a full node you can use as little as a mere Raspberry Pi, or simply your personal computer or smartphone. The last thing to note here is the alleged complexity of running a full node. It must be admitted that for now, running a full node is probably not something your grandma will be able to do, but so wasn’t, and still isn’t for many, using a smartphone or a web browser. While in the present time it is certainly easier to use a web browser than running a full node, we should remember that for now Bitcoin is a not only new, but brings a completely new paradigm for using money. The invention of implementing Bitcoin itself was for decades considered an impractical challenge. Compared to that, the challenge of building an ecosystem of user friendly full node solutions is exceedingly minor. The fact that we’ve gotten so far makes me quite confident that the challenge of creating a user-friendly full node will not be a true obstacle. It is also conducive to look at how greatly the simplicity of using a full node has already improved during these last 10 years. Without having any budget whatsoever, depending on the voluntary contributions of people alone, dozens of solutions have already been created for various different audiences. Here, I will list a few of the present options. As I cannot guarantee otherwise, I must note that this list might contain imperfect options, and does not substitute for doing your own research in regards to the quality and integrity of the services. Probably the simplest solution for anyone familiar with the basic use of a computer is to use the Bitcoin Core software. While its interface is not the best, it is simple to install and use, and is the most common Bitcoin software. For more information see the links below: Another option is to use Bitcoin Core through another app. There are few such services which will install and set up Bitcoin Core for you. These might not necessarily be simpler than the normal Bitcoin Core install, but they all offer more features, such as Tor support/ Lightning Network setup/ Coin mixing and other useful features. - Node Launcher — Bitcoin and Lightning one-click setup tool, including useful Lightning tools and guides. - Wasabi Wallet — Bitcoin wallet with built in Bitcoin Core automatic installation, CoinJoin mixing, and hardware wallet integration. - Bitcoin-Standup (warning: still in early beta) — MacOS (possibly Linux soon) tool for setting up Bitcoin full node and includes tools for remotely connecting through a mobile app over Tor. For the less tech savvy users, a “plug and play” full node might be the best solution. These cost generally between 200$ to 500$, but they come with all the hardware, many great features, and generally much more user-friendly design. - Nodl — Includes a Bitcoin full node and one-click support for various features such as Lightning node, Tor and BTCPay server (also available with Samourai Dojo support here). - Casa Node — Bitcoin full node which comes with a user-friendly UI, full Lightning support and built in integration with other Casa products (such as a lightning mobile wallet and membership for their multi-sig wallet). - RaspiBlitz — Raspberry Pi based Bitcoin full node with Lightning integration. - MyNode — Similar to the Raspiblitz with a slightly more user-friendly interface and integrated features like a Blockexplorer and Electrum Server for Hardware Wallet support. - Lightning In A Box — Bitcoin and Lightning node with BTCPayServer pre-installed and configured. - BTCPi — A cheaper version similar to and sold by Lightning In A Box. - BitBoxBase (not yet released) — Bitcoin full node includes a hardware wallet secure element, user friendly wallet, a Lightning node and Tor support. For those technical users who likes to get their hands dirty (or just want to save money building their own node): - RaspiBolt — A step-by-step guide for creating a Bitcoin full node with Lightning support using low-cost components. - RaspiBlitz — The DIY version of the RaspiBlitz. Should cost about ~150$ for the hardware parts while giving the same results as the pre-built option. - MyNode — Similar to the RaspiBlitz again which lets you build your own node from ordered parts. The basic software is provided for free but can be upgraded to paid premium with one-click upgrades for more features. - RoninDojo — DIY Samourai Dojo with Bitcoin full node, Tor, and Whirlpool coinjoin support. There are also several mobile Bitcoin full node options: - ABCore — Android app with a Bitcoin full node, uses Bitcoin Core and provides an interface for using it as an Android app. - HTC Exodus — An HTC Android phone with a built in Bitcoin full node, a hardware wallet TEE element and more related features. - As for today, there is no iOS compatible way to run a full node Bitcoin. However, the app Fully Noded allows you to connect to your node remotely and use it on iOS. A note on key management: It is important to note that while many of the solutions presented here provide the user with a Bitcoin wallet, many are using (either only or by default) a “hot” wallet, i.e. a wallet stored on a machine connected to the internet. This is considered a relatively insecure practice. Many users therefore opt to use hardware wallets (such as Trezor, Ledger, and ColdCard). Though (at least considered) much more secure for key management, the benefit derived from using such hardware wallets is significantly impaired if they are not used along with a full node. While most hardware wallets don’t provide a (simple) integration with a user’s full node, there are complementary solutions developed to provide such support. - Bitcoin-Core HWI — A UI for interacting with many types of hardware wallets while connecting them to Bitcoin Core for verification. - Electrum Personal Server — Allows the integration of Electrum wallet with a Bitcoin full node. Supports various features including hardware wallet integration, multisig wallets etc. - YetiCold — (warning: still in beta) A self-sovereign, easy to use, multisig setup protocol aimed at minimizing trust and various attack vectors. Special thanks to Ben Prentice (mrcoolbp), Bezant Denier (bezantdenier), Daniel Wingen (danielwingen), The Bitcoin Observer (festina_lente_2), Thib (thibm_), Simon Lutz (simonlutz21), and Stefanie von Jan (stefanievjan) for all the feedback I received from their reviews, comments, and suggestions which helped me shape this article. Posted December 31, 2019 The Fall of the State “The greatest danger to the state is independent, intellectual criticism” - Murray Rothbard Dedicated to those who stood up to Tyranny. Today the people of HongKong, tomorrow, all of us. Why does Bitcoin matter? I wrote an article on Hacker Noon about a year ago now, which is entitled “Why Bitcoin Matters”. I explored Bitcoin from first principles, starting with an examination of the societal stack, money’s role in society, how it evolved over time, it’s fundamental attributes & functions, and finally culminating into an analysis of why Bitcoin is superior both as a monetary unit & a monetary network (aka; a monetary operating system). For this piece, I’d like to take a more, perhaps, ‘revolutionary’ approach to why Bitcoin matters. Winston Smith’s sub-conscious cry It’s that “thing” which the protagonist (Winston Smith) of Orwell’s seminal piece, 1984, was unknowingly calling out for, and inherently describing, whilst O’Brien was torturing him. The “force” of good that exists in all humans, and the desire for Freedom was and always will be there, but a tool via which it could manifest in spite of the oppressive power of an authoritarian state, just did not, and could not exist at the time. But it’s no longer 1984. Times have changed. Bitcoin matters, because Bitcoin is that tool. It’s what we, the revolutionaries have been missing this entire time. We had the human spirit, we had the will, we knew there was something wrong, but we lacked the tool with which to stand up to Big Brother. Bitcoin is that tool. Whilst getting rich because you’re in the game early is cool and all (greed drives me as much as it does the next person), it’s this revolutionary aspect of Bitcoin that should get you most excited about it’s prospects. Not since the gunpowder revolution were ordinary men & women able to stand up to those who chose to oppress or rule them unjustly. Only this time, it can be done in a non-violent method, whereby one can peacefully opt out — as John Galt and the ‘men of the mind’ did in Atlas Shrugged. This, above all else, is why Bitcoin matters, and why the legend of Satoshi will go down in history as the most profound story since the beginning of time (or whichever significant religious event / story you’d like to reference instead). This fact also just reinforces why megalomaniacs like Craig Wright, and his band of deranged cool-aid drinking followers are simply the antithesis to Satoshi and Bitcoin. Revolutionaries & Renegades Bitcoin is the stand we take, this decade, this century, this millennium. Bitcoin is the tool we use to separate money & state. Bitcoin is the lightning rod that will bring together the renegades & the revolutionaries. Bitcoin is of and for the liberators, the missionaries & the visionaries. The men & women who won’t accept suppression, oppression, or the dictates of a world in which we’re subjugated to the whims of central planners, bureaucrats, rent seekers, attention whores, corrupt politicians, crooked bankers, backdoor dealers, creeping socialism and crony capitalism. There has never been a tool so incorruptible yet so inherently powerful & accessible. With it we can reimagine the “state”. We will transform society. We will redefine the very essence of what it means to be a modern, collaborative human. Have I gone off the deep end? Of course. But there’s an entirely new world over here — and at some point, I know you’ll join me. May this essay be a start…. The separation of Money & State Make no mistake about it, this century will be defined by the separation of money & state. It has already started, and nothing can stop it. It’s inevitable, assuming of course, we plan on surviving. The alternative is a parasitic dystopian future in which society feeds on itself until it collapses. So…if we err on the side of humanity’s continuation, we must be honest with ourselves and realise a paradigm shift is nigh. Even Ray Dalio is coming around. He’s just missing the word Bitcoin from his most recent articles — although I would guess that’s a wise move in his shoes, for if he mentions it in a positive light, it may cause a stampede and drive the god damn price up to $1m a coin prematurely and fuck up the S2F model! Furthermore, it will mean my shitty fiat will buy less Bitcoin — and we can’t have that (yet). So Ray, if you’re reading this, keep buying Bitcoin privately. Please. _…._Back to separating money & state. The Paradigm is shifting. Economically, politically, technologically, socially, ethically and in every other way imaginable. Davidson & Rees-Mogg, in their seminal pre-2000 work, “The Sovereign Individual”, posited that this shift started in the 90s, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of communism, and the beginning of the information age. I would tend to agree with them. Communism was the peak of the parasitic, centralised state, at least measured in terms of brute violence & broad incompetence. The crony-capitalism & quasi socialism we in the West live with today are very much improvements on the communism of the USSR, and to some degree so is the Communism in China (thanks to the benefits of capitalism that helped enrich their rulers), but the inherent concentration of the unit through which society is measured (ie; money) has led us to a point of diminishing returns, where peak stupidity, peak stimulus, and peak economic distortion mean the government, aka; “the state” can no longer squeeze more out of the system and has begun to feed on itself. Note that I omitted peak ‘outright’ violence — but I guess that depends on who you ask. The people of Hong Kong, or the Falun Gong would probably disagree with me. This shift in “feeding on itself” is evident in the comments made by megalomaniacs such as Bernie Sanders or AOC, for example: “The billionaire class is scared, and they should be”. Bernie Sanders Comments as such can only come from parasites who have never produced anything, and can only subsist via the expropriation of the production of another. This is only possible in a system where the instrument through which we measure economic value is the sole privilege of the state. But this is now changing. The separation of money & state is being driven by the individual who now has the technological capacity AND the monetary ability to become more autonomous, independent, sustainable and yes, more sovereign, than they have ever before been. The period will mark the rise of the sovereign individual Whilst the peak of the state may have come 20yrs ago, the shift is on-going. It will not happen overnight. Prior shifts have taken multiple generations, if not multiple centuries to occur, and although today, progress much faster, we still have a ways to go. And it’s not going to a smooth ride. Paradigm shifts happen in a tumultuous fashion. They are by definition both constructive AND destructive, simultaneously! Change, in the real world, is a complex process. Whilst new structures are being built, old structures are coming down, and it will not be smooth. It will not be orderly. It will not be “fair”, and it will not be “equal”, that’s for damn sure. Your bullshit Keynesian / neo-classical economic & social theories cannot forecast shit, and can do less to make for a “smooth landing” or “elegant deleveraging” (sorry Ray, not likely). Those who will be most rewarded will, as always, include the lucky (the world abounds with fools of Randomness, eg; Roger Ver), along with the prepared, curious and those hungry for knowledge. It’s those who get off their asses and dig deeper than the surface who will be best positioned to be on the constructive side of this shift, whilst the lazy, incompetent, ignorant, arrogant and of course, unlucky, will likely find themselves on the destructive. “Something is Rotten in the state of Denmark” The Romans experienced it. So did the Church. Shakespeare wrote a play about it, almost 500 years ago. There comes a point when the “state”, or the “empire”, or the “collective” simply starts to rot. When corruption, rent seeking, politics and all form of non-organic bureaucratic meddling begin to define the function of the very structure that was initially designed for its constituents’ prosperity, you know the end is nigh. In modern times, the beacon of prosperity has been capitalism. In fact, ruthless, free-market capitalism is the mechanism of human collaboration that most closely resembles nature. Power laws, recursive network effects, complex inputs & outputs that are allowed to reach equilibrium of their own accord, rewards & punishment through inherently system-based incentives and of course; luck. One can draw parallels to these attributes in all natural systems that have evolved over thousands, millions & billions of years. So what went wrong with capitalism? How the hell did we wind up with a crony version of capitalism that has rot to the core? I’ll explain below, but it can be summed up in the following quote by Michael Hopf. “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” Michael Hopf Over time, we humans seem to repeatedly stray from founding principles. Our forebears, growing up in better times, forget why some decisions were initially made. It’s worse when those forebears realise they can also run a monopoly over the core resource of the time. The Church had a monopoly on the written word & education (information). Capitalism & Science broke that. The State today, has a monopoly on Money. Bitcoin is breaking that. So….why the rot? Productive or Parasitic In life, likely on planet Earth & anywhere else there may be life, there are two ways to earn a “living”. - Production. To produce, one must trade their time & energy, in the form of effort, talent, skill and labour, and be rewarded with property, either in the form of currency (money) or in the form of another instrument you deem valuable & commensurate to your work. - Theft. To steal, you make someone else’s property your own, without their permission. You take what you want, whether through lying, cheating or most often (as evidenced throughout history), the act of violence. German sociologist, Franz Oppenheimer calls (1) the “economic means” by which we build wealth. Economic because there is an additive & multiplicative effect that occurs as a result of the collaborative efforts of the constituents of a society who produce, and then trade their property, and thus both prosper. Oppenheimer call the other, mutually exclusive method, the “political means”. Political because it is not concerned with the production of new goods or property, but exists and persists through the seizure, appropriation, taxation and theft of said goods & property in the “name” of the collective. Once again, this fundamentally parasitic nature seems to come to a head every 500yrs if you accept the analysis of Davidson & Rees-Mogg’s work in “The sovereign individual”. So where are we now? Understanding which system is dominant in the paradigm within which we’re currently operating is important + useful. The cycle of humanity I recently had a conversation with a friend, who I would consider centrist, or moderately conservative in nature (if those labels even mean anything anymore). She pointed out that centrally managed states such as the Scandinavian countries are the “happiest” in the world today, based on the latest statistics & surveys. Now — whilst those surveys are laughable at best, let’s just assume that there is a grain of truth in there — the problem with this ‘fact’ is that the “happiness” is being measured during the largest monetary inflation in the history of humanity. It’s a facade! And those who are high on this fake happiness are going to feel it the worst as their world crumbles thanks to the bloated social structures that cannot subsist in a new economic reality that is fast approaching. Furthermore, these ‘happy’ people sacrifice their liberty & personal Sovereignty for the illusion of peace via the benevolence of their leaders — who would very quickly justify behaving more like dictators should dire economic circumstances warrant such actions. And don’t for a minute think “it will never happen”, because it is happening, NOW. My decree thou shalt yield to, for thy savings are mine… Former IMF Managing Director, and now head of the ECB, Christine Lagarde recently came out with the following gem: “Isn’t it true that ultimately we have done the right thing to act in favour of jobs and of growth rather than the protection of savers?” Implying that people should be grateful for their jobs, whether their savings protected or not. “you should be grateful, for your master gives you the right to be a slave” Are you kidding me? The very notion of paying an institution just to store your money (well, not really ‘your’ money), or being paid to borrow money is utterly absurd — but is slowly being pushed upon us in the west as not only necessary to “stimulate” the heroin-junkie of an economy we now have, but it’s being called “normal”. Even Dalio is waking up: “As a result rich capitalists will increasingly move to places in which the wealth gaps and conflicts are less severe and government officials in those losing these big tax payers will increasingly try to find ways to trap them.” And it’s not just economic madness. Bernie Sanders, whom I mentioned earlier, is a brilliant example of an old fool espousing a nice-sounding veneer of an ideology with incredibly dangerous roots. Maybe he was inspired….. “It is difficult for me to imagine what “personal liberty” is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment. Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible.” Sounds nice right? That same person went on to say: “When we hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope we use” Yep. That same person went on to rule the regime that gave us gulags, famine, deportations, massacres, forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and and was responsible for not only the deaths of millions of people, but the utter oppression of tens of millions more over the ensuing decades. That person was Joseph Stalin. (although you may for a moment have thought it was Bernie) Stalin was, in the early days, viewed as the man who would help the lower class & poor people fight back against the so-called ‘oppressive capitalists’. Little did those poor people (pun very much intended) realise they would be accepting a modern form of serfdom. Little did they know how dire the ramifications of such an ideology would be. And here we are, barely a generation since the god damn Berlin Wall came down, at it again. This time, from the likes of Bernie Sanders, AOC and Elizabeth Warren — all who want to walk in the shoes of Chairman Mao, Lenin or Stalin himself. This tweet came out just as I was finishing up this piece, and I had to include it: Of course. Bernie would surely know how to deploy that capital…to his cronies, to the military, to bullshit social programs that don’t work and in every other non-functional, mal-invested, mis-appropriated fashion. Bernie’s next book: How to burn $100bn and achieve nothing. Bernie Sanders is merely the modern day equivalent of prior socialist leaders, who embodies the political means of wealth [confiscation] via the power to rob whomever he deems as unworthy. Welcome to the slippery slope that leads to communism & enslavement. The only way to maintain such a system is via violence or the threat of said violence. That’s not freedom. That’s slavery. And no man, woman or child should have to live in a world like that. This the path of collectivism One of my favourite lines from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged surmises Hamlet’s quote (the headline of this section) perfectly: Money is the barometer of a societies virtue. When you see that in order to produce you must seek permission from those who produce nothing. When you see money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favours, When you see that men get richer by graft & by pull, not by work, When your laws protect the looters more than the consumer, You will know, that your society is doomed. - Ayn Rand Piercing the Veil Bitcoin’s promise to help bank the unbanked was not to do so by giving them a payments technology. It was to do so by giving them a money via which they have property rights. Those who live in nations that don’t respect, recognise or value personal property are those who have the most freedom to gain. Those of us in the west, who are watching the state ever so slyly repeal our property rights have a two-fold motivation to participate in this revolution. (a) We are able to escape the grip of a modern, technologically empowered iron fist which continues to squeeze, and (b) We ride a rocket ship to the proverbial ‘moon’ because we had the balls, foresight, insight, vision or dumb luck to get in early. It’s (a) that I’m personally more interested in though, perhaps due to my personal libertarian bent, or because it’s something I derive a greater sense of “meaning” from (likely both). Now, you might say that: “Hey, you’re exaggerating. We’re pretty good here in the West. We have stable social structures, good property rights, and yeah while taxes might be high, that money goes to use. We live a pretty good life”. By & large I would agree. But I would urge you to look beyond the veil. The central banking cartel & crony capitalist governments of the west have reached a point in history where they can no longer sustain their structure without squeezing their subjects harder. And they know it. The signs are evident, as described above. Furthermore, look around! These same “stable” governments continue to strip away our freedoms via absurdities such as the Anti-Encryption laws in Australia, anti-cash laws, draconian follow-you-everywhere tax laws, inability to travel freely, panopticon surveillance, increased ‘law enforcement’ powers, speeding ticket optimisation frameworks (you can’t drive around for 10min in Sydney without seeing a cop hiding around the corner ready to book you for blinking) and even new laws empowering their ‘agents’ to force you divulge your private information (eg; decrypting your drives coming into NZ). Ayn Rand was so poignant, once again: Laws are designed to be broken, not observed. When you’re after power, There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. And when there isn’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law abiding citizens? There’s nothing in that for anyone. But pass the kind of laws that cannot be observed, followed or objectively interpreted and you create a nation of criminals & law breakers. Then you cash in on guilt. That’s the system. Cogitos Ergo Sum I think, therefore I am. Descartes said this almost 500yrs ago, during the last major transformation in human history; the fall of the dominance of the church & the rise of the merchant-and-science-enabled state. Much has been said about this recently, particularly in the Bitcoin circles. I’m sure all the “crapto” people are going to try hijack this soon too, but let it be known here that Bitcoin has been about this from the beginning. The parallels drawn between the events of the gunpowder revolution, the renaissance, early banking, the rise of the merchant and the fall of the prominence of the church to today’s technological revolution, private, self-sovereign banking, the rise of the sovereign individual and the fall of the state are eerie. I think, therefore I am. Descartes’ words have never been so profound. The words “I think” and “I am” are the genesis of the self. Yes we are all made of the same stuff, but it’s that unique combination of stuff that makes us who we are. The sanctity of the individual is paramount. Tony Robbins has a profound quote: “the most powerful force in the human spirit is the desire to stay consistent with its identity”. To say “I am” is a claim to one’s identity & independence. It’s a claim to one’s personal sovereignty — which we can now do so like never before, thanks in large part to Bitcoin. How you may ask? Our work is our labour. Our labour is our time & and our energy. When we boil it down, they are all we we have, and all we are truly made up of. To live, to love, to work, to travel, to experience, to remember, to plan, to do anything requires two things: Time & Energy. We can only effectively measure these through a unit that we can all agree best represents time & energy. As you’ll learn in this publication, “money” is that unit, and for the first time in history we have a version that can do the job, without being compromised. It is why Bitcoin is the ultimate tool for personal sovereignty, and the catalyst that leads us to a future more like Star Trek, and less like Terminator. Incorruptible Property Rights Bitcoin provides a stable system of property rights without reliance on the State With it, individuals can be truly self sovereign The mathematical primitive of strong, open source, modern day cryptography gives us for the first time in history, a method whereby the sanctity of personal property and the act of sacrificing for the future can be maintained WITHOUT the requirement for the protection (or oppression) of the state, the church, the monarch, the feudal lord nor the tribal leader. In modern times, and in the future that lay before us, Human beings (and potentially machines alike) will be able to save the product of their labour and delay gratification (the very building blocks of society) on their own terms. As this multiplies, and we are collectively empowered to take back our personal sovereignty (via what is likely the greatest gift to humanity since we became conscious), we have the rare opportunity to define a new form of local & global cooperation that is voluntarist, and non-violent in nature. Bitcoin’s core “opt in” or “opt out” nature, its open access & its absolute nonchalance / disregard of who or what you are is the basis of this new era we now embark on. Bitcoin has chosen to not only forego the requirement of the state, but has chosen to do this via the irrefutable conversion of time & energy into a visible, verifiable network and unit. Through Math, it will help us reinvent the notion of what we humans define as ‘state’. Cash is the ultimate tool of the sovereign individual. And in an increasingly digital world, the apogee is a peer to peer electronic cash. Cash is the ability to transact freely. And by freely I mean “to do so in a manner uncensored, direct & final”. That was traditionally only able to be done physically in the real world. Now it’s able to be done digitally. Ineptitude on display in the crypto community, for example Roger Ver and his BCash cronies, think free means no cost. They’re unable to understand that costlessness can only mean one of two things: - It has no value. ie; the very definition of costlessness is something with no value. - It has value, in which case cheap & free means there is a cost elsewhere. A cost that is most likely draconian in nature. They think trending toward a centralised payment system for free internet transactions is what was meant by cash. That’s not the freedom cash gives. Roger clearly got lucky buying bitcoin. Dumb luck, for the ultimate fool of randomness. Bitcoin, and banking the unbanked was never about cheap payments. It was about giving everyone an incorruptible, uncensorable tool for economic prosperity. Bitcoin was, is and always will be a tool for personal sovereignty. That’s what was meant by “cash” — which of course Satoshi could not be so blatant & brazen about it back in 2008, lest Bitcoin be left in the dustbin of history alongside other crazy ideas. He let the protocol and its inherent nature do the talking. He then chose to walk away, and in doing so let loose something no amount of violence can destroy and no amount of tyranny can control. The rest is history….and it’s in the making. We live in a world where our rights are slowly being encroached upon, our privacy is slowly being repealed, and our freedom to truthfully express ourselves is being censored, whether due to deranged “political correctness” on one side or maniacal authoritarian rule on the other (eg; China). May the brave people of Hong Kong continue to inspire us Bernie, and those of his ilk, whether due to incompetence, stupidity, or just being a part of what Taleb calls the “intelligentsia”, believe in treating the symptoms by introducing more interventionist inputs into an already complex system that’s slowly spinning out of control. This will never work, and will only serve to send society to a real-world hell. The ONLY way to fix up the fuckery of the current system is to start again. We must embrace the essence of Kali, cut out the cancer & burn it all down. The time for negotiations has come to an end. Libertarians have tried this to no avail, for playing within the confines of the old paradigm is no way to bring about a new one. The battle for the future is now, and the front lines are where Bitcoin meets the fiat denominated state. This is a war, and the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. Money is the lifeblood of society. It is wealth, at the very core of what the word means. He who controls it, controls all of society. The introduction of free markets was the catalyst for the separation of church & state. The creation of free money is the catalyst for the separation of money & state. And more than that, it’s also a stake in the heart of today’s state, which has decayed to the point that it’s primary function is to leech, take, suck dry and confiscate your wealth. Today, it exists no longer to protect you & serve you, but to subdue you. You are once again it’s subject. You can see this just by looking at the language used for a group who are supposed to be protecting you: “Law Enforcers”. When did I agree to pay someone to “enforce” laws upon me which I neither agreed to in the first place? The state’s control of money is its locus of power. Through this tool, it is able to enforce its will over every facet of our lives. We, the Bitcoiners of last resort, on the front line, are here to destroy that. Freedom is not Free Bitcoin is our chance. It allows us to take the most important tool of human collaboration, ie; money, aka; the ultimate resource, and make it: and all in all, un-fuck-with-able. By removing it from the purview of the state, we: - Starve the state of its ability to perpetuate it’s parasitic existence - Get a chance to design a new form of collective collaboration in which personal sovereignty comes first, where the constituents of a society are treated like customers and the “state” or “social collective” is organised by means of POLA (principle of least authority). I saw this excerpt a few weeks ago. Pretty sure it’s attributed to Nick Szabo The cornerstone of all of this is personal sovereignty & liberty, and this is only possible with Bitcoin. It’s only possible when the economic unit has personal, private property rights built into its very being. To paraphrase Winston from 1984 once again, the only thing Big Brother didn’t have control over was what goes on in your head & your heart. Bitcoin transforms money into a unit that is fundamentally information, and information is both nowhere & everywhere. It’s both inside of us, and all around us — and when we ourselves know the combination that gives us personal access to that information (money), it’s ours, in the deepest sense of “private property”. Libertarians, Austrian economists and the natural economists before them had it right — only it was never practical in a world in which the unit of economic measurement could be owned or managed by an organisation, government, collective or state of any kind. Money has now become an unforgeable form of data, that nobody can control or manipulate — built on a network which nobody needs permission to build products & services on. This foundation allows us to build an entirely new world — not just a financial one, but a new form of society. So…let us come together… Bitcoin is now here. Money is THE battlefront. This is where the battle lines are drawn. Not fucking “blockchain”. Money. It’s THE resource. And we’re all going to have to pick a side. Join us, & we’ll show you how deep this rabbit hole goes…. Bitcoin is now here. This is the new counter culture. This is what it means to be yourself. To be who you are. To do what you were born for. To be truly sovereign. It’s scary — but it’s liberation, in all its glory. By Aleks Svetski Oct, 2019 Download the full guide at: (Soon to be updated to: https://bitcointimes.news)

Here a very accurate map showing the Sunni areas in Iran. What should be noted is that many Iranian Sunnis live in major Shia cities like Tehran, Isfahan Shiraz and even Mashad (that has a native Sunni minority of around 15%!). Also conversions from Shi’ism to Sunnism are very common among Ahwazi Arabs in the last few decades (a phenomenon even bitterly acknowledged by the Shia clergy and regime official more than once), so the Khuzestan province should be clustered with Sunnis, especially the western Arab part of it. Sunnis of Tehran in one of the Namazkhanehs (converted prayer-houses, flats and halls that the regime and its mouthpieces sell as ‘Sunni Mosques in Tehran’ to the gullible) prayed Salah al-Ghayb (Absentee Funeral Prayer) for the Hafidh al-Qur’an, President Morsi (may Allah have mercy on him). May Allah have mercy on Abu Ahmad Mohamed Morsi and forgive his sins. As Iranian Sunnis we will never forget how he spoke in support of the Syrian people and praised the Sahabah in the capital of the Neo-Safawis, putting a smile on our faces. The 5th of March (1996/1416) marks the day when Shaykh Abdul-Malik Mollazadeh (Iranian Baloch Sunni scholar) was assassinated by Iranian intelligence agents. The Shaykh was the son of the great scholar Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Mollazadeh (brother of Shaykh Dr. Abdul-Rahim Mollazadeh, known in the Arab world as Shaykh Abu Muntasir Al-Balushi) who was the most influential Sunni authority in Iran during the time of the Shah and beginning of the Khomeinist revolution. The following meme is spot on except as expected they’re blaming Saudi and so called takfiris (and tomorrow unicorns). Everyone except their own rotten regime that is getting a fraction of a taste of the death and destruction they have been causing in Muslim countries. Meanwhile Iran is witnessing large anti-regime demonstrations incuding in Sunni cities and provinces such as Zahedan (majority Hanafi Baloch) Bandar Abbas (majority Sunni city, mainly Persian Shafi’is and a minority of Arabs) and Sanandaj (almost entirely Kurdish and Shafi’i).#IranUprising#IranProtests#SunnisOfIran Iranian Sunni girl in traditional Baloch Hijab/Khimar wites on the wall: “Death to #Khamenei” (The Iranian Sistan-Balouchistan province is majority Sunni and home to ethnic Baloch and Persians alike. It is the poorest province of Iran, neglected by the very Mullahs of Tehran and Qom who are busy building Super-Sized golden shrines for Khomeini and Shia saints.) One the most senior Sunni scholars of Iran, Molawi Abdul-Rahman Chabahari, has expressed his support for the demonstrations. Subsequently, demonstrations were announced in a number of majority Sunni cities in the Iranian #SistanBaluchestan province. The regime of Khamenei has subsequently employed whole caravans of armed forces in majority Sunni towns of #SistanBaluchestan. One of the most senior Sunni scholars of Iran has passed away. He was Sheikh Al-Hadith Mohammad Yusuf Husseinpour from Sarbaz city. Unlike the likes of Khomeini (whose already extravagant mausoleum has been further renewed to what looks now like a Zoroastrian-Sassanian palace) and other Shia scholars and saints, no extravagant grave (let alone shrine or mausoleum) will be built for him, he will be buried in a simple and modest fashion as required by the shari’ah and as it is common among Sunni Iranians. Mohammad Hussein Gorgij, one of the most senior Sunni scholars in Iran calls upon Iranian Sunni scholars and the Sunni people of Iran to boycott the government for its repeated breach of Sunni rights inside Iran. Images of Iranian (Baloch, Persians etc.) Sunni fighters (Anti-Daeshand Anti-Bashar and Anti-Iran regime) in Syria. Disclaimer: Sonsofsunnah is an independant online platform that does not endorse or represent any group. The information contained in this blog and this article in particular is for general information purposes only. Sources: Mainly Wikipedia and other open sources. Harakat Ansar Iran Harakat Ansar Iran (Persian: حرکت انصار ایران; Movement of the Partisans of Iran) was a Sunni militant organization active in 2012–2013 in the Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency and a designated terrorist organization by Iran. It was one of two militant groups, along with its ally Jaish ul-Adl, which split from Jundallah after the arrest of its leader in 2010. The banner is can be found on the right sidebar, a decent collection of articles are ready to be read, more to come Insha’Allah. Click on the image to see all articles: The rising Sunni population and shrinking Shia population of Iran – From the Ayatollah’s mouth Since over a decade the number of the Sunnis of Iran are estimated based on out dated figures, most sources (especially Iranian and Shia ones) constantly speak of a Sunni population of 9-10% (in the past the Iranian regime even claimed there were only 4-5% Sunnis in Iran, a claim so ridiculous that even the regime itself stopped repeating it). Iranian Sunni politicians, scholars, websites and organizations complain about the absence of any official records regarding their community and believe their number is much greater (between 20-25%) than what is usually estimated. Our Prophet (peace be upon him) the Prophet of all Arabs and all Ajam (non-Arabs) promised us that Persia will be conquered *and* that that the arrogant Persian Zoroastrian empire will never rise again. As Iranian Sunnis ourselves who studied Sunni sources in depth we can assure you that … Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm aka Attar Al-Nishaburi* (Nishabur lies in current day Iran, in the Khorassan province where ethnic Persian Khorassani Sunnis still represent a large minority, even in Mashad city) on one of the accusations of the Rafidah against the two noble Shaykhs (Abu Bakr and Omar): Some good news, two days ago ago a very high ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard (General Hamid Taqawi) aka Safavid terrorist has been killed in Samarra’ (Sunni city) of Iraq. Look at this shaitanic face (and look how the Shia are already kissing his coffin, what will they do once they build an golden shrine for him … only Allah knows), how many innocent Sunnis of Syria and Iraq he killed, only Allah know … may Allah burn him in Hell with Khomeini. … and the carevan of Ex-Shias in Iran is still moving, even if the polytheists detest it. We have already reported about a phenomenon quite unknown to the Muslim audience in the west, namely the rise of Sunnism amongst Arab Ahwazis (a traditionally Shia people) inside Iran and even many Persian Shias who converted to Sunnism. Most Muslims know the famous Sahabi (sing. for Sahabah) named Salman Al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him). However, many are not aware that there were more than just one Persian Sahabi. Apart from Salman Al-Farsi رضي الله عنه we have: – FAYRUZ AL-DAYLAMI (originally from north Iran) رضي الله عنه (also known as “Abu Al-Dhahhak” or “Abu Abdul-Rahman”): A Persian from the descandants of Persian Zoroastrians. He belonged to the descendants (abna) of Persians that had been sent by Khusraw (Kisra) Anooshiravan to Yemen, conquered it, and drove out the Abyssinians (the south of Yemen was basically occupied and ruled by Persians). A typical invitation card to one of the “Omar Koshan” (or Koshoon in Tehrani accent) celebrations where Omar Ibn Al-Khattab’s (may Allah be pleased with him and enrage the Mushrik Rafidah Shias with his name) death is celebrated. It is written that no phones are prohibited (for the fear that people record and Sunnis around the world actually realise what’s going on behind the empty slogans and chantings of the Iranian regime). Also individuals under 18 are prohibited entry. This is because these perverted Neo-Zoroastrian polytheists who hide behind the love for the Prophet’s family (Ahl Al-Bayt) are known to use the most filthiest language and profanity on these occasions. Poetry where homosexual acts are described are more than common. ٌWe were literally the first English platform on the Internet to write in-depth about one of the most perverted and bizarre practices that you won’t find in any other ideaolgoy, let alone religion. “Omar Koshan”, an ancient practice rooting in post-Islamic Majoosi (Zoroastrian) grudge (although given an “Islamic” to cover it up). A nonsensical and pathetic Safavid (one of many) Bid’ah against the carriers of Islam, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (صل الله عليه و سلم), in particular Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه), the one who broke the ribs of the forefathers of the Rafidah (Twelver Shias). Common in these practices is to wear black, express joy and to use the most vulgare language possible. It is also common to represent Omar as an homosexual or effeminate man man like in the following clip here that has leaked years ago where in a Shia Rafidi gathering (one of their self-flagellation temples also known as “Husseiniyyah”) a bunch of “men’ clapped and chanted “Barikallah Abo Lo’ Lo’ (which translates as: Well done, Abo Lo’lo) encouraged a pathetic Rafidi version of an transexual with beard and boobs (representing Omar). The Rafidi Shia “scholar” is enjoying the dance and show too and even gives the dancer a slap on his backside: Imam Bukhari (born almost a millennium before the ‘Wahhabi’ movement. So no ‘Takfirist-Wahhabist-Salafis’ etc., rather one of the highest authorities for all Sunnis, including contemporary Sunni scholars who out of fear or for wordly desires have sold their religion and opposed the likes of Imam Bukhari, declared: “I don’t see any difference between praying Salah behind a Jahmi or a Rafidi (Shia) and a Christian or a Jew. They (Jahmis/Rafidhs) are not to be greeted, nor are they to be visited, nor are they to be married, nor is their testimony to be accepted, nor are their sacrifices to be eaten.” (Khalq Af’aalul-’Ibaad, p.14) The 28th Islamic Unity Conference was held in Iran’s Capital City of Tehran. The so called Shia-Sunni ‘unity-week’ began this year on Monday 5 January. The audacity and hypocrisy the Iranian Zion-Safavid regime and the Rafidi clergy has reached new hights. Those familiar with the struggle of the Sunnis of Iran know some shocking facts about the ‘Islamic Republic’, including the following things that you will never find (or hear) in the capital of the ‘Islamic Republic’ that is (no jokes) as per constitution the property of ‘Imam Al-Zaman’ (Shia Mahdi): – Five Adhans a day (Shia combine the 5 prayers, on a daily basis which can be argued as valid practiced under certain conditions, as Sunnis also combine prayers. However, the Sunnah of the Prophet that was followed by his family and companions always was that it is better to pray all prayers at five different times a day, yet in Tehran even the Mosques and religious people combine their prayers, hence it is the only ‘Muslim’ capital in the world where you will hear only three Adhans a day. Yet this regime and the Shia clergy claim to follow the “true” Sunnah! The following is is a very important video, shedding some light on the deceitful agenda of the Iranian regime and the Mullahs of Qom. The clip is over 7 min. long but here a rough summary: Taken from the excellent website sunniprisonersiran.com Iranian security forces barred Sunni worshipers from entering a Sunni prayer site in Tehran on Friday 9 January 2015, preventing them from holding congregational Friday prayers. Two men from Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority who were active in preaching Sunni beliefs after converting from Shi’ism to Sunni Islam have been charged with ‘causing corruption on earth’, a charge which carries a possible death penalty in Iran. According to the indictment issued by the Public Prosecutor of Mahshahr city, 23-year old Hossein Saboori and 25-year old Sami Zebady Alboghobesh, have also been charged with ‘having contact with foreign [Sunni] political organisations’ and ‘having Salafi beliefs’.

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It is not surprising that cryptocurrencies have become worthy digital assets. It is surprising for some that eventually some countries have now come to welcome their existence, despite the initial resistance. While we focus on cryptocurrency adoption as we can see 2021 clearly highlights so many digital coins, this is just the beginning. Just recently, we learned that the tech giant Microsoft is considering using Bitcoin as a payment option. Mastercard will accept crypto payments in the future. … In today’s globalised world, diversity and inclusion can’t be stressed enough in order to achieve a successful and sustainable business. Diversity and inclusion incorporate the company’s mission, efforts, and practices to support a diverse workplace and leverage the effects of diversity to achieve a competitive business advantage. According to Deloitte, diverse companies enjoy 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee. Gartner found that inclusive teams improve team performance by up to 30 percent in high-diversity environments. In a BCG study, companies with diverse management teams had a 19 percent increase in revenue compared to their less diverse counterparts. WadzPay is announcing a partnership with the leading Indonesian Stable coin: IDRP. The Singapore-based payments platform is a firm believer in Stable coins as a key building block towards the commercialisation and adoption of digital currencies for payments. The IDRP team is excited about the partnership and the knowledge exchange between the two experienced teams. WadzPay App will be the first digital asset wallet that IDRP is available on. IDRP was selected by WadzPay as the first Stable coin digital asset for its platform because of their commitment to Indonesia as the beachhead market and their intimate knowledge of… WadzPay users can send, receive and store cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum on the WadzPay App. As much as our users may enjoy these top two crypto products, many do not really understand the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum — apart from their prices. Bitcoin and Ethereum were developed for quite different reasons. Let’s find out about each of these two biggest cryptocurrencies (by market capitalisation): There is no doubt that Covid-19 has boosted the video gaming industry, with more consumers enjoying home-based entertainment. The gaming industry is projected to attract 3 billion players by 2023 with consumer spending on games projected to grow to $196B by 2022. (Source: https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/games-market-engagement-revenues-trends-2020-2023-gaming-report/) Online gaming is one of the most touted blockchain use cases. The ability for players to wholly own in-game items — thanks to the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — is an innovation that did not exist previously. They’re so revolutionary that we will cover NFTs in a future article. … There are thousands of digital coins or tokens that we can purchase via cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s easy to forget their names, due to the sheer number of these tokens, but it’s impossible to forget the name of Dogecoin. This dog-inspired coin has became a trending topic, not only for crypto enthusiasts, but also people around the world. Introduced on December 2013, Dogecoin initially was made as a joke. The founders, IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Adobe software engineer Jackson Palmer, wanted to create a peer-to-peer digital currency which is fun, instant, and free from banking fees. … Ever consider buying a cup of coffee with Bitcoin? The answer is probably no, since Bitcoin’s price itself is highly volatile (and it’s getting more and more unpredictable recently). However, the technology behind cryptocurrencies is a huge benefit for payments. It offers faster transaction, affordable services, and privacy. If you are one of those people who already own some ‘crypto’, you must realise how easy it is to convert your cash into your selected tokens via a cryptocurrency exchange. The process is almost instant, requires almost no paperwork, and is highly secure. … How Will Cryptocurrencies Help the Underbanked and Unbanked? 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Until now electric fences and trenches have proved to be the most effective way of protecting farms and villages from night time raids by hungry elephants. But researchers think they may have come up with another solution - the recorded sound of angry predators. The research carried out in southern India by Dr Vivek Thuppil at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and Dr Richard G Coss from the University of California, Davis has been published in Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation. Using an infrared sensor playback system elephants triggered the sound of growling tigers, leopards and angry shouts of villagers as they approached farmers' fields. In 41 attempted raids, tiger sounds stopped 90 per cent, the sound of leopards deterred 73 per cent and human shouts prevented 57 per cent. Watch the video to see how it works. Dr Thuppil said: "This technique was tested using static devices. Although the elephants shied away from the specific area they would eventually find another way into the field. So static recordings like this would work in locations where there is a narrow path of entry to farmland. "Now I am interested in investigating how an elephant would respond to threatening sounds if they were not emanating from a stationary source. To accomplish this, there would be a network of speakers and an intruding elephant's location would be tracked continuously with only the speaker nearest the elephant being activated. This would simulate persistent tracking of an elephant by a predator." Elephants live off roots, grasses, fruit and bark and the Earth's largest land mammal needs to consume over 130 kilograms of food in a single day to satisfy its huge appetite. As the Asian elephant's natural habitat is squeezed to make way for agriculture, new roads and development, conflict between elephants and humans is an increasing problem. The researchers tested two infrared systems, one that was more complex and realistic, and one that was simple enough for farmers to set up around their fields. Both were effective in deterring elephants. But it seems an elephant never does forget, and those that encountered the noises more than once were less likely to be fooled. Dr Thuppil's research interests are in evolutionary psychology. His PhD at University of California, Davis was in the field of animal behaviour and he moved to the School of Psychology at UNMC last September. He is particularly interested in how basic research can promote applied causes such as wildlife conservation or sustainability. Dr Thuppil will be collaborating with MEME (the Management and Ecology of the Malaysian Elephant) - a research project led by Dr Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz at UNMC. MEME, together with Perhilitan, Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks, are fitting wild elephants with specially designed collars packed with satellite and cell phone technology. The aim is to learn more about the Asian elephant, and crucially how to mitigate the growing problem of human-elephant conflict.

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About a month ago I got a score and back then i really sucked at math but recently i started to be really really good so did an iq test and now it says i have an iq of example of vita in dissertation An Analysis of Art - Nov 01, · IQ Score Meaning IQ score is well above the average and it is considered ‘superior’ according to WAIS-IV scale. What does superior intelligence means? It means, first, that your IQ is higher than majority of population, meaning you are an individual who stands out because of his or hers intellectual capabilities. A is not on top of the IQ scale, but it is higher than normal. To put it in perspective, most IQ scores range from 40 to Average IQ ranges from 80 to Thus, an IQ of is obviously good. An IQ of at the age of fourteen is extraordinary and means the child is a potential genius. Generally, an IQ score of is ranked as exceptional, just one rank below the highest: genius. how to write biography articles jfk assassination film - Sep 12, · Average IQ For Each Age Group It is estimated that the average score for 16 to year-olds is , which denotes “normal or average intelligence.” For adults between 18 and 19 years of age, the average IQ score is , which also denotes “normal or average intelligence.”. May 11, · Yes, I suppose. My IQ went from to to to over 30 years. They say IQ isn't supposed to change or something, but mine did. I also don't think IQ means anything because I live in a run-down one bedroom apartment meant for students and can't find a decent job despite having a somewhat in-demand degree. I'm a 12 year old with an IQ of I'm not sure what that does for me but that's what it said as my results. But my brother who is 14 has an IQ of But my brother who is 14 has an IQ of This website says that I'm a genius . dispute a collection on my credit report | Credit Karma Dissertation Assistance Services | Buy - IQ scale meaning. By Dr. Edwin van Thiel, updated May 21, What does an IQ score mean? What is the average IQ? About 2% of the population has an IQ score lower than Such a low IQ score often is hard to measure using a regular intelligence test. Very high IQ . Jun 11, · I just took an IQ test and it said my IQ is and I'm only I don't really know much about IQ tests and would like to know what that number even means/is it good or bad. Answer Save. 9 Answers. Relevance. deleting profile. 1 decade ago. Favourite answer. IQ scores are predominantly used for educational placement, assessment of intellectual disability, and also for evaluating job applicants. Check out the below IQ chart and find out how smart you are based on your score range. The IQ score table provides the category type and typical ability for . A Naturalist Perspective of Life as Depicted in Henry David Thoreaus On Economy Id just as soon Tim did it - If your IQ is between and , you'll have no problem passing this vocabulary quiz that asks you to define words like cobbler, qualm, and more. Quiz: Only People With IQ Range Know The Meaning Of These 17 Words. Universal Pictures / Modified by mongontablogfc2com.somee.com Oct 23, · I just took an IQ test and scored , it says the average IQ score is I was just wondering if a score of is good for a 16 year who is average himself. Is a good score on the IQ . Feb 19, · im 14 and my iq is? , is this good or bad? Answer Save. 6 Answers. Relevance. shell_babe. 1 decade ago. Favourite answer. ? thats really high! u need to get into mensa! i am 22 and my iq is ! the average iq for and adult is ! u r a genius! 1 0. Joy D. 1 decade ago. advantages of fdma ppt presentation html - How to read a embedded image from xml file with xsl - May 28, · if i m 14 and my IQ is what does that mean? Answer Save. 5 Answers. Relevance. Blank. 4 years ago. that means you are bright but no common sense. 0 0. DanMarsh. Lv 7. 4 years ago. Your smart. 0 0. chrisjbsc. Lv 7. 4 years ago. It means you are mid-teens and are growing up, and that you have an IQ of 0 0. Cassowary. IQ score of is undoubtedly an above average IQ score with 14 points higher than the highest possible average IQ score (). IQ of is a good score only one point to Elspeth, Your IQ score is ! Incredible! What does that mean? Well, the IQ test measures several different areas of thinking, including math skills, logical reasoning, understanding analogies, and object relations. Your verbal, emotional, and social skills aren't taken into account in the score. Do all Ph.D candidates have to write dissertations? If not, what alternative projects are they requi Economic Crisis of 2008 and Natural Resources Essay - Mar 25, · An intelligence quotient score of means that the person falls into the superior range between to and is more intelligent than approximately 91 percent of the tested population, according to Edublox. When IQ scores are applied to career choices, people in the superior range can occupy jobs such as nurses, pharmacists, accountants. Oct 29, · an IQ test usually takes into account your age, for example someone who was 10 years old and took the same IQ test as you and got the same answers would get a higher mark and someone who was older would get a lower mark. But is certainly a good IQ as is the average. IQ classification is the practice by IQ test publishers of labeling IQ score ranges with category names such as "superior" or "average".. The current scoring method for all IQ tests is the "deviation IQ". In this method, an IQ score of means that the test-taker's performance on the test is at the median level of performance in the sample of test-takers of about the same age used to norm. 214 - Assignment Submissions on Vimeo Pet peeve essays - Do My Research - There's no "good" iq; that would be based off of your perception on it. But if you got it professionally and not from online (which sorry to spill the beans but they aren't near accurate. They put my iq range over 50 points!) then you would be in the top 2 or 3 percent of the population. You tell me if that's good. IQ tests are designed and updated on a regular basis such that they correspond to the populations they measure in a precise way: a score of is the average score of the population and the distribution of IQ scores has a normal shape with a standard deviation of An iq of if a very good score for a girl that is 17 years old. Is a good IQ score for a 37 year old man? IQ is a comparison against the average of your age cohort. "Normal" would be The Journey into the Soul of Man in the Classic Novel Heart of Darkness i have to make a script kinda essay, trying to persuade people to visit Columbia Plateau. Please hel - Jan 28, · My IQ was that when I was around ish. however if you think about it, inteligence is a very broad thing, that can not be measured using numbers or even words or even one practical test. There are many forms of inteligence and it is all circumstancial, depending on . A fast and free IQ test in 20 questions. May 28, · IQ stands for intelligence quotient. Supposedly, it is a score that tells one how “bright” a person is compared to other people. The average IQ is by definition ; scores above indicate a higher than average IQ and scores below indicate a lower that average IQ. Theoretically, scores can range any amount below or above , but in. in stock trading scandal case study presentation mode evernote windows desktop - Is an IQ of good for a 15 year old girl? Free e-mail watchdog. Tweet. Answer this question. Is an IQ of good for a 15 year old girl? Answer for question: Your name: Answers. Answer #1 | 03/08 IQ is average. So by definition, yes that is decent. But IQ isn't an accurate measure of . is an average IQ score. A IQ means that you have average intelligence. A IQ means that you have the same intelligence as most other people. To put it in perspective, most IQ scores range from 40 to Average IQ ranges from 80 to Thus, an IQ of is in the middle of average. Take comfort in the fact that you are like most. Oct 23, · Hey everybody. I recently did an IQ test and scored I'm really bummed out about this because [University of Toronto psychology professor] Jordan Peterson has mentioned multiple times that IQ. leisurecourses net short courses residential Money Slang List - A fast and free IQ test in 20 questions. QUESTION 14/ Which is the missing drawing?? a b c d b c d. Apr 25, · 4 1 comments. share. save. 1 3 1 Posted by 7 hours ago. Im pretty sure that sells for more on the black market. 5 5. comments. share. save. 1 6 Posted by 3 hours ago. Keyboard is going through a rough patch. 2 comments. share. save. About Community. 38 fun questions will give you a free, real IQ score in just minutes. This certified IQ test is the most scientifically valid & reliable IQ test online. The Hands of Poverty: a Critical Analysis Essay Essay Difficulties of Moving - I feel less fearful and more confident. For the first time I felt as if I had conquered the words, that I was in control. My eye ticks almost disappeared. I openly laughed for the first time in a long time and my sleep has improved dramatically. By also doing the Math program, I passed my logic (Math) class – wrote an A on the final, from a D. Oct 17, · Quiz: Only People With An IQ Of + Can Solve These Number Puzzles. mongontablogfc2com.somee.com Are you as much of a number genius as you think you are? Test your 's and find out if you are Einstein-level smart by solving these impossible number puzzles! Aug 23, · I'm in the mid 's! I guess it's not how many IQ points you have, but what you do with them, LOL! I scored on my IQ test in 3rd grade, and have been told many times that. I'm as dumb as a coal bucket. Gifted % Above average % Higher average % Lower average %. need help writing a essay due wensday on mccarthyism help me? Segregation Impact on Society - Apr 01, · An IQ equal to or greater than is required for a person to be considered gifted. A person with an IQ of or higher is eligible for membership in Mensa. An average IQ is between 90 and An IQ score must be obtained from an official IQ test in order for it to hold any meaning. Official IQ tests often cost a fee. Here is a mix of mind puzzles and IQ riddles that will help you improve your analytical skills! Share in the comments how many of answers did you get right ;. Meme Status Submission Type: Copypasta Year Origin Twitter Tags jason levy, incel, mra, republican, parody, seastarjay, mrjasonlevy, twosimpleideas, iq, magician, boyyeetsworld, honorablejudge_, grateful Additional References Twitter About. I Have An IQ In the High s refers to a copypasta popular on Twitter that was sparked from a man's post in which he bragged . sun hung kai properties ltd annual report 2011 Are you as much of a Im 14 and my IQ is 121? genius as you think you are? Test your 's Im 14 and my IQ is 121? find out What is meant by the term technological affordances? you are Einstein-level smart by solving these impossible number puzzles! Do you love puzzles? Are Im 14 and my IQ is 121? a numbers guy or gal? This quiz is definitely for you. From Im 14 and my IQ is 121? based questions to Im 14 and my IQ is 121? thinking, this Im 14 and my IQ is 121? has it all. You'll have to Im 14 and my IQ is 121? your brain for all 15 questions but rest assured, they are fun! Im 14 and my IQ is 121? you haven't been in school for years, phd thesis on english language teaching pdf this quiz as a nice refresher course. If you're a student then it's right up your alley as you might Jeddah floods | Premium Research learning or using some of the puzzles. Pak China News quiz is a great way memo of transmittal for report clause freshen up your math skills. Im 14 and my IQ is 121? math, critical thinking, and problem solving Im 14 and my IQ is 121? benefit the quiz taker! If you have a high IQ you won't have any issues either. This quiz is challenging and fun and will prove Im 14 and my IQ is 121? 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Please Help Ginger & Baby Doll (Georgia-South Carolina-North Carolina) Did it seem like the weekend just flew by, or is it just me? Oh well, what can I say, a new week is here and we’re just going to enjoy it! I’d like to thank my friends over at Jan’s Funny Farm for passing on the Pawsome Blogger Award to me. Thanks Funny Farmers, we think y’all are pretty darn pawsome too! Then my friends Hilary and Gracie’s Beau Alex from FeelingBeachie.com tagged me in a Meme, so it appears as though I’m it! I’ve got 10 questions to answer, so here goes… 1. Describe Yourself in 7 words: Sweet and gentle tabby with wonderful sisters. 2. What keeps you up at night? Actually, not much, but sometimes the outside ferals fight right outside our bedroom window…that will keep me up! 3. Who would I like to be? I just love being me and couldn’t imagine being anyone else. 4. What am I wearing now? A great big kitty smile! 5. What scares me? I am a very social kitty, especially when company comes. But, if strangers come to the house, like the kind that come to fix things, and start making awful banging noises, that scares me and I’m under the bed in a heart beat. 6. The best and worst of blogging? The absolute best thing about blogging is all of the wonderful friends around the world and how we all pull together when someone is in need. The worst thing is not always being able to leave comments on the 540 blogs I follow on a regular basis. I always manage to read them, but I just can’t manage to leave comments every visit. 7. The last website I visited? Actually it was Dogpile.com Web Search. 8. What’s the one thing I would change about myself? There are a lot of fluffy tails around here and I think I might like to have one. 9. Slankets, yes or no? Well, I don’t have one, but I love nice fluffy things like that, so I may have to get one and give it a try. I do love my Peggy Blankie though. 10. Tell us something about the person who tagged you. Hillary is a fun and amazing individual who is lucky enough to live on a beach in New York…all that sand, so little time. Hilary has a wonderful sense of humor and is just filled with common sense. Hilary and her hubby Marc love their senior Mancat Alex, and Alex is my Sister Gracie’s boyfriend. Alex recently had to have his tail amputated due to cancer, but he is fine now thanks to the love and care of Mom Hilary and Dad Marc. Every Friday Hilary posts the Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun Blog Hop and it is always fun, you should join in! If you’re not following FeelingBeachie.com you should be. I’m supposed to tag others, but I’ve never been much on rules. But thanks Hilary and Alex, that was fun!!! Remember, adopt cats, we deserve it!!!!! More Forever Homes More Often! Purrrrr! Zip! Later!

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CryptoSlate recently had the opportunity to chat with Paul Claudius, the Chief Operating Officer of DIA. Paul is a serial entrepreneur and financial markets expert. Before co-founding DIA, he was Director Europe of the nu3 group, transforming the multi-million e-commerce business into a vertically integrated brand. Paul started his professional career as part of BNP Paribas Corporate Development in New York City and AXA Private Equity in Frankfurt am Main. Paul has advised and invested in multiple start-ups in health tech, IOT and e-commerce. At DIA, he manages the business development and strategy. This interview was featured in collaboration with the premier virtual conference BlockDown. The highly anticipated third edition of the conference, BlockDown 3.0 will take place on October 22-23 featuring some of the crypto industries’ top names. DIA has been making headlines in the Crypto- and specifically the DeFi-sphere lately as a promising oracle project. Can you give an overview of what DIA is? With DIA, we are building a Wikipedia for financial data and information. The market for financial data, both in the cryptosphere as well as the traditional financial markets is characterised by a lack of transparency, steep costs and centralised provision. Only a handful of players dominate the markets. We think this can be done better for the whole of the community, which is why we founded DIA with the vision of breaking down these barriers to access. DIA is a platform that incentivises the crowd-driven provision and validation of financial data and information for the traditional and decentralised financial markets. DIa makes high-quality financial data open-source and accessible to everyone. We can already see a few projects active in the space. How does DIA differ from them? What is unique about your approach? Yes, there are some great products on the market provided by projects including the likes of Chainlink and Band and others. However, being true believers of the benefits of decentralisation, we were not satisfied with the available approaches to the challenges we see. The central difference between existing projects to DIA is the approach to sourcing and validating data. Seeing the many data based attacks and glitches in the DeFi market and the enormous funds lost in their wake, we designed DIA as a fully open source platform. We are convinced that transparency is the only way to really ensure alignment towards the highest quality of data. This is why DIA provides a platform and infrastructure to incentivize the community to source and validate data. Making data available open-source and for free seems like a brash move. What inspired you to come up with this specific approach? In 2017 / 2018 we had a need for data feeds ourselves, while developing financial products and dApps. In this process, we were not easily able to find truly transparent data sources. This is when we started leveraging the power of the crowd to source data directly from public sources like exchanges and APIs. We soon realised that this approach, combined with a crypto-economic incentive scheme solves challenges regarding trust and scalability that no other project currently does. How does this sourcing and validation model work? And how does DIA’s governance token come into play? Existing feeds that match the requirements of a specific dApp or product can simply be connected. All the relevant information to do so is available via DIA’s documentation. For non-existing data sets, anyone can submit a data request ticket and fund it with DIA tokens. These are currently hosted on Gitcoin.com and are pushed to our developer and analyst community who can work on these, for instance by writing exchange API scrapers. Once they are publicly submitted to our Github, anyone can stake DIA tokens if they believe to have a better solution. The community then votes on the best solution and the bounty is rewarded to its author. In addition, our governance token can be used to submit and vote on governance proposals. DIA is transitioning to a full DAO as we believe that this project should be community owned and driven. Who are you targeting with DIA? Which types of clients are you approaching? How will you tap a market that seems to be already served or will you tap into new segments? We are currently heavily focussed on the rapidly growing DeFi space. As projects mature and the value locked in DeFi platforms grows, incentives for malicious behaviour grow and a reliable and auditable data layer becomes more and more crucial. We believe that it is imperative for the market and its actors to not only rely on single oracle providers. Plurality and competition not only increases the pressure to provide the best possible solutions, but drives innovation and reduces the risk of singular, centralised data provision. In addition, we see the same issues in traditional financial markets, where transparency is a scarce good and the stakes are even higher. The current DeFi hype is often being compared to the altcoin hype of 2017. Do you think that is a fair assessment? How do you expect the space to change in the coming months and years? Yes and no. Hype phases always show similar characteristics and some of the recent, staggering growth numbers remind us of what happened three years ago. Similarly there are many meme projects popping up in the slipstream of successful projects. The fundamental difference we see is that there are many serious projects on the market developing sensible products and seeing significant traction. We are nowhere near the levels that we aim for, which is nothing short of matching traditional financial markets. This will take time and we expect to see more surges and dips in the future as jumps in development and maturity are made. We are optimistic that the essential building blocks of the ecosystem will be created. Patience and resilience are key. Your recent token offering seems to have been a success. What would you say are the most influential factors for a successful token distribution in 2020? This taps into the previous question. The community has become much more critical in our view. Projects with a thought-through product vision, a strong interdisciplinary team, real and proven application use cases as well as a clear and sensible vision for future development have a natural advantage. Transparency and communication is key. The brainless hype of seemingly random, buzzword filled whitepapers attached to websites with a slick design seems to be largely over. What are your plans for the near future? Are you planning any bigger projects or programs that you’d like to share? Our current focus lies on integrating DIA into the market, closing strong partnerships and continuing to improve our product and growing our community. One project we are particularly excited about is DIA Labs. Off the back of our recent success, we want to foster the development of building blocks that fill the gaps in the data ecosystem. We do this by backing teams and individuals with financial and operational support. More news about DIA Labs will be published in the near future on our communication channels. Connect with Paul Claudius Like what you see? Subscribe for daily updates.

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Published in Global Research Published in Arab Nyheter Map of the September 2013 Rif Dimashq offensive, showing the changes to the frontlines during the course of the fighting in Rif Dimashq, From September 2013 to present. The recent terrorist attack against innocent civilians in Damascus, Syria, which claimed the lives of over fifty civilians demands reflection into what the non-belligerent country of Syria, home to a pluralistic society, and a secular government, is facing. Syria is winning this battle against international terrorism, and the Western dark state agencies that support terrorism —specifically, U.S-led NATO, the absolute monarchies/tyrannies of the GCC, and Israel. Whereas Western populations are led by the nose to believe that our governments oppose terrorism, the opposite is true. The publicly-disclosed Regime Change/government-change war against Syria is terrorism. The stated goal of the West and its allies is destabilization, which means the destruction of Syria as a country, and the balkanization of the country into ethnic and sectarian enclaves is one of their strategies — and sometimes this involves not only criminal bombing and perpetual violations of Syrian sovereignty, but also pitting one terrorist group against another if it serves to destroy the country. Most of the Western propaganda memes have been thoroughly discredited, but a few still linger. A predominant myth that still has legs, however, is that the genocidal, head chopping, organ harvesting, sex slaving, drug dealing terrorists are somehow Islamic. In fact, all of the Western-supported terrorists in Syria are anti-Islamic. The “Islamic State” terrorists are literally Anti-Islamic State terrorists. They are mercenaries who serve the West’s interests of destroying foreign countries. None of the terror groups, including al Qaeda/al Nursra Front, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and all of the fraudulently named “moderates”, are Islamic, although they might think otherwise. The Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia, fountainhead of terrorism, is a weaponized political ideology, far –removed from the genuine teachings of Islam. “Islamophobia”, a product of Western–engineering, is based upon lies and distortions. Imperialists cultivate these lies, and these hatreds, to further their criminal agendas. Testimonies from Syrians are all but ignored by the West’s criminal mainstream media stories, but the ugly facts are foundational to destroying the fake narratives of the criminal warmongers. All of the terrorists unleashed by the West are genocidal. They commit slaughters against Christians, against Alawites, against Syrians who support the Syrian government, and all manner of other innocent Syrians. This is known and documented. Testimonies from Syrians who have witnessed these slaughters, such as those in the above video, are all corroborated, but under-reported. FSA “moderates” committed genocide in Kasab. Terrorists from al Qaeda/al Nursra Front, the FSA and others worked together to commit their slaughters in Adra and elsewhere. The ever-changing labels of the terror groups are part of the psyop used by “intelligence” agencies to provide cover for their crimes. This too is known and documented. We know, for example, that weapons are delivered to so-called moderates so that they can then deliver them to so-called “non-moderates”, and we know that different terror groups work together. Syria and its allies alone need to continue their successful campaigns against the West’s Anti-Islamic State terrorists. The West and its allies are the problem. They’ll never be the solution. Interview with Yasmine from Damascus (answers were not modified to maintain their authenticity and reflect the views of the interviewee) Questions for “Satanic Crimes Against Humanity”: Some reports indicate that as many as 360,000 foreign mercenary terrorists were injected into Syria. Were most/many of the sectarian terrorists described from Jordan and elsewhere? Which other foreign locations were identified? Answer: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Palestine, Morocco, UK, Germany, Belgium, USA, Australia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, those I recall, I don’t know if I named all of them. What evidence is there that the sectarian terrorists are actually anti-Islamic? (Sex slaves, rapes, beheadings, slaughtering innocent people including those identified as being another religious sect) Answer: This question is problematic, because some people consider this as the truth of Islam, because these practices are endorsed by Al Azhar in Egypt, and since they are endorsed, Al Azhar can’t consider them as nonIslamic. However, in Syria we live together, we never had any problems with Muslims, Islam of Syria seems to be different from all that we saw from Al Mujahideen. So maybe you should take our word. How does the West foster the growth of Wahhabism? Answer: The West breeds jihadists, the worst radical muslims reside in the West (UK, Belgium, Germany), they are known to be supported from KSA and they have all the rights of a European citizen. All the wars of the West support the radical Islam or vice versa, or maybe it is a viscous circle, whenever there is a war by the west, to support Muslims, we know for sure it is radical Muslims (Yugoslavia) and in Afghanistan Taliban helped USA to defeat Russia, radical Muslims are the tool of the West to destroy the nations. Everybody knows the history of KSA how it was named Al Hijaz, and then in a dirty plan from UK and the Jews they gave it to the Al Saud family, after a genocide against the inhabitants of the area. And now ISIS, even the dumbest people know it was created by USA, we know that the innocent angel Obama when he claimed to suspend the Guantanamo prison, all the prisoners came to Syria, and became leaders of terrorist groups. Not to mention the support thrown to the terrorists by planes and always being referred to as a MISTAKE! Why does the West foster the growth of Wahhabism? Answer: Religion is the opium to people, you can make it to create followers easily, so they use these puppets for their agendas, they shattered Iraq, Afghanistan, they gave Egypt away to the Muslim Brotherhood. The creation of the Muslim Brotherhood was in Egypt by someone called Hassan Al Banna. Al Banna means the man who builds. Does this ring a bell to you? A Mason, this Hassan Al Banna was Masonic, and he created this group. It has to be loyal to them, and of course they have to serve it’s agenda. Why were victims targeted? Answer: They targeted Alawites mostly, employees of the government sector, security agents, military, public defence groups, or if they are pro government. Others were killed as well who were Christian, Shia, etc. What happened to targeted victims? Answer: The family Muhalla, the man was armed, he killed his family to save them from the worst. Be-headings per building, they stand outside the building, they had informers from Adra itself, they gather the victims names and be-headed them, or shoot them to death. And if it is an Alwite family or Durzi or Murshidi, Ismaiilie (minor religious groups) they kill the whole family and leave one person to lead them to people he knows from his same religious groups. Also, they burned the local baker alive, while he was baking bread. They even threw children in the oven, one of the children said to them “I will tell God about you”. If someone they consider traitor they cut off half his pinky, if a man smokes they cut off half of his second and middle finger. A man was hiding people in his house to protect them from terrorists, when they knew they killed him right away. What evidence is there that all of the terrorists work together? Answer: It depends, they work together as a group, but not all the groups work together, after all, we should not forget that not all of them are really religious. The religious ones among them woke up one day and tried to leave them because they found out that those are not real Muslims, some manage to escape, some get killed. The part that is not religious, they mostly came to work, so they get paid by American dollars, they get delicious food, they are able to buy women for few dollars, they can have as much sex as they want, they have authority, those are the ones who lead the fights against other terrorist groups for power and authority, the proof is what we see now in Idlib, killing each other like crazy. If you mean about working together their relations to KSA, this is for sure, they all get orders from some Sheikh in Saudi Arabia, but they do not have to work together, but their ideology is the same. What evidence is there of ethnic cleansing? Answer: Adra genocide is a proof, because they were all killed because of their religion, among other reasons. They did not only kill the one involved, they killed families with the children. How do these testimonies represent an inversion of the propaganda meme that “Assad kills his own people”? Answer: First of all, Adra is full of militaries, killing Assad’s militaries would have been bad for the whole army. Second, those people who survived told us everything, it was horrible what a colleague said about it. She was one of the 200 that fled on a day under fire. She has a baby girl that she got after 6 years waiting. She held her in her arms and fled, she said, we were walking for ages and ages, the distance refused to end, dead bodies were all around, but it was a choice between instant death if shot down, and continuous death under the terrorists bad treatment. If Assad is killing his people, why would they escape the terrorists and go to areas under the regime. In fact it is the NATO terrorists who willfully kill Syrians, not Assad. On 4/24/2016 the “Rebel” Commander was killed in Airstrike as reported by AlMasdar News “However, it has now been revealed to al-Masdar that Jaish al-Islam commander Muhammad Maher Omar Buwiydani was killed in the artillery attack which struck near al-Rahman Mosque in downtown Douma. This Islamist rebel commander was heavily involved in the Adra massacre (December, 2013) which in collaboration with Jabhat al-Nusra saw at least 40 civilians from religious minorities executed at point-blank range.”.

As this is my first post, I thought using the ’30 Things…’ invisible illness meme would be an ideal way of introducing myself, as well as providing a little insight as to what the purpose of this blog is. So, without further ado, here are the 30 things you may not know about my invisible illness. 1. The illnesses I live with are: Endometriosis & Fibromyalgia (as far as I know, anyway. There’s always the chance that something else might be lurking in there…) 2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2003 for Endometriosis and 2015 for Fibromyalgia. 3. But I had symptoms since: The late 80s for Endometriosis. Fibromyalgia exploded at the end of 2012. 4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Realising how little activity it takes for me to completely run out of energy. 5. Most people assume: I’m faking it or the condition isn’t real. 6. The hardest part about mornings are: Pain and fatigue. 7. My favourite medical TV show is: I really don’t watch medical TV shows anymore, but I used to like St Elsewhere. 8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My smartphone. As well as the internet and my ‘jukebox’, I have various apps that help me track things like my menstrual cycle and my quality of sleep. The ‘notes’ feature was really helpful when I kept my pain diary, as it meant that I could record exactly how I was feeling, first thing in the morning, without having to force myself out of bed. 9. The hardest part about nights are: Pain. 10. Each day I take: a varying amount pills & vitamins. I don’t have a pill regimen, as I often have to weigh the benefits with the side effects. I always make sure I take my Melatonin, though.(No comments, please) 11. Regarding alternative treatments: I will try, and possibly have tried pretty much everything – from bathing in marigolds (yes, you read that right) to a lemon juice cleanse. Acupuncture is a life saver… 12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: To leave this question unanswered. Visible or invisible, it’s very rarely a choice. 13. Regarding working and career: I took voluntary redundancy from my last job – you can read about why in the next blog post – but I still do regular volunteer work. 14. People would be surprised to know: That watching Ice Hockey sends me into temporary remission 🙂 More on that in the next post, too… …only you truly know what it feels like to live in your skin 15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: Truly understanding the meaning of the word ‘chronic’. For a long time I was expecting a cure, rather than lifelong symptom management. 16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Get through a roller derby ‘fresh meat’ training program. I’m not well enough to play, but I may eventually become a referee. 17. The commercials about my illness: Are non-existent in the UK. 18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Being spontaneous. 19. It was really hard to have to give up: Gluten. That ****** gets in everything. I have to be so careful. 20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Sewing, and various other types of craft, after Endometriosis. I actually run a craft blog that gets sporadically updated (Ponchos For Chickens). The Fibromyalgia diagnosis is so recent that I’m still processing it. 21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Spend a whole day in the three Kensington museums. At the moment I can only really manage a couple of hours, in one, on a good day. 22. My illness has taught me: To not plan too far ahead… “The world is a bridge – walk over it, don’t build on it.” 23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: “Have you tried to cure yourself with positive thinking/juicing/yoga/etc?” You wouldn’t say that to someone who is blind, or suffering from cerebral palsy so why are you saying it to me? 24. But I love it when people: Accept that my life is somewhat abnormal and make allowances for that (that’s you Mr and Mrs Ward!). 25. My favourite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: “The world is a bridge – walk over it, don’t build on it.” It can be easy to think that everyone around me is building an empire while I’m bedridden: that quote reminds me that I don’t have to die with the most toys to ‘win’. 26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Keep yourself informed with as much of the current research as possible – knowledge is power. Don’t allow yourself to be bullied into a course of treatment that you know isn’t right for you. Remember that only you truly know what it feels like to live in your skin. 27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: Emotional indifference can come from the most unexpected places. 28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Helped me with the housework without me having to ask (thanks, Sis…) 29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: Because faking wellness is HARD! 30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Like someone is listening.

Covid-19 was the meme that broke IRL. What predictions are there for the future? Covid-19 Prediction 1 – Street Racing I certainly hope that the police and emergency forces in the UK and beyond are prioritising important things. Not imposing curfews or overseeing rationing at supermarkets, but keeping people alive and making good youtube footage of the looters and rioters. This will free up the roads from traffic police and since all fixed speed cameras are logged in apps like Waze, there will be vast empty stretches of untapped highways – the playground of Vim Diesel wannabe petrol-heads and their electric counterparts [I]Vim Diesel is to petrol-heads as David Watts is too … … … buffering … maybe motor-heads (no that’s been taken) … maybe lithium-heads (sorry Cobain) to have illicit street races. Too bad about all the pot holes. If we’re lucky, bondage outfits and mohawks will return for the duration. Covid-19 Prediction 2 – mad stock gains My moody [II] moody as in dodgy not as in Moody’s credit ratings financial non-advisor put it bluntly. “Someone’s getting f***ed.” Far be it from me to translate the words of Steve the Holy Prophet of Lambert and Butlers, but I think he meant that many people are going to lose a lot of money. And that money is going to go somewhere. [III]Note that I don’t believe that the first law of thermodynamics applies to money Steve’s point was that the money will end up in someone’s pockets. Might as well be yours and mine dear reader, so that we can altruistically hand it out to the needy better than a very overweight government can. And how to make all this money? Well assuming that you’re happy to bet against fear, run out and robo-invest some money in the stock market. Maybe gamble on an index tracker. [IV] Am I really citing the now commonly held opinion that fund managers are outperformed by chance and systems? You’ll see lots of articles (they pay google to make sure you do) from the Motley Fool and other paid stock promoters trying to influence the greedy and ill-advised (surely you don’t take investment advice from some random site on the internet?) advising you not to buy index trackers. If you knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t be searching the internet’s retail swindling investment sites for advice now, would you? Covid-19 Prediction 3 – Power Grab If you have a dim view of humanity, then like me you’ll be expecting a big power grab during these time of fear and calamity and how dare Ocado not deliver new customers online groceries and instead focus on underserving the customers they already have? All the power will go to someone, and if I remember my cheesy Netflix adaptation of some sci-fi book, power isn’t earned, it’s taken. All we need is one little Gungan, and before you know it, someone’s grabbed all the power that you didn’t know you didn’t have any more. Expect no marmite in your salt and vinegar peanut butter next year people, because the Chancellor has banned luxury by products of the yeast industry. Covod-19 Prediction 4 – The Internet Will Break It’s just like the A52 down by the Clifton Bridge – it’s always been there and you kind of expect it to be there. And then suddenly it’s not, and you don’t realise how much you undervalued that national treasure, and how you regret that you never got to say all those things in the past that you’re now thinking in the present as you’re sat in traffic listening to the news. So too will the internet fail. “It’s too big to fail!” you say, “like the banks in 2008!” I say. “It was invented to be fault tolerant!” you say, “like all of human knowledge etched onto the tiny carapaces of cockroaches just before the nukes rain down.” Well, it’s fault tolerant, but it’s not people tolerant. And all those people are prodding at the unseen infrastructure in ways they haven’t before. In the same way that it’s hard to buy rice at Aldi now in week one AC [V] After Covid-19, you won’t be able to watch “5 things I never knew about ignorance” on YouTube at 64KGigaHD any more. You’ll get your internet ration from the chancellor each morning at 8am, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. If you spend it all hitting refresh on the home page of CNN, that’s your Sean Penn [VI] Sean Penn is Cockney Rhyming Slang for Your Own Fault Covid-19 Prediction 5 – Black Markets Will Come Off The Dark Web I’ve already seen some Oliver Twist style pasta bots in Sainsburys. They are the small group of young urchins who have been sent to the supermarket to wait for the pasta delivery. Once it arrives, they set upon the shelf stacker, putting their fifteen bags of pasta into a basket and hurtling off to hide the twelve that they’re not allowed to purchase in amongst the overpriced vegan fresh food [VII] vegan fresh food = processed vegan fast food – I ingested a bit of big chicken propaganda and learned about health halos in Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me 2: Big Chicken a bit earlier … Continue reading that no-one else is going near. Once they buy their allocated three at the checkout, they send in friends known as “pudgers” to reclaim the hidden rations from the in-store cache and take it through the checkouts. These pudgers bring the pasta to a dealer – called a “donce” in the trade – often sitting in a grey Vauxhall Astra Estate in the car park. The donce then uses an app called Doncer on their smart-telephones to tell customers that he’s holding pasta and he’s ready to sell from the boot of his car in a nearby lay-by. All in the blink and sneeze of an eye. I also heard of people buying rice in bulk and selling it in small eighth ounce bags on street corners with a massive markup. They sometimes cut their rice with sand to bulk up the weight. The black markets are coming. If Amazon Prime goes down any further, you’ll be able to buy illicit contraband like flour and eggs from the delivery drivers as they make their delayed rounds. Mark my words. |↑I||Vim Diesel is to petrol-heads as David Watts is too … … … buffering … maybe motor-heads (no that’s been taken) … maybe lithium-heads (sorry Cobain)| |↑II||moody as in dodgy not as in Moody’s credit ratings| |↑III||Note that I don’t believe that the first law of thermodynamics applies to money| |↑IV||Am I really citing the now commonly held opinion that fund managers are outperformed by chance and systems?| |↑VI||Sean Penn is Cockney Rhyming Slang for Your Own Fault| |↑VII||vegan fresh food = processed vegan fast food – I ingested a bit of big chicken propaganda and learned about health halos in Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me 2: Big Chicken a bit earlier today.|

August 19, 2016 So, you've signed up for Twitter, or Instagram, or even Snapchat, and you're staring at your phone or your computer screen wondering what the heck you're supposed to do next or how you should utilize each platform...especially when it comes to your business. We're here to tell you, when it comes to social media and figuring out the best practices, the etiquette, and the best way to utilize it for business marketing, you're not alone in feeling confused or bewildered. The world of social media has become a wild one and figuring out where you fit in on each platform can be a daunting task...that might even turn you off from using it all together. But before you go running away from even trying your hand at it, we've got a few best practices you should follow to keep you on track, especially if you'll be utilizing social media for your business. Take it step by step, no one becomes a social media mastermind in a single day, just like anything else in your business, it needs to be built up. We've lined up the 4 best practices for getting your business up and running on social media, because at the end of the day, the online community is where more and more people are turning to discover more about the businesses they love...and you don't want to be 'unsearchable' in this day and age. Why are you on social media anyway? Before you post a single thing, you need to figure out exactly what platforms you'll be using and why you're using them. If you're already an experienced Facebook-er, this could be your chance to expand your horizons into setting up a business profile and tackling building out your network there. It could also be a great chance to tackle another platform you may not have tried yet, like Twitter or LinkedIn. If you want to expand your business and professional network, then LinkedIn is the right place for you, but if you want to easily build up an online presence and interact more with your customers then Facebook could be the right avenue. Many people are starting to turn to social media as their news source, so keep that in mind when you're determining your purpose for each platform. Facebook is one of the most popular platforms that online folks use to get their news and information, so what does that mean for the information and value you can share on the platform? When you walk up to someone at a networking event and they ask you about your business, you don't yell, right? The same goes for your online etiquette, avoid the messages in all caps and the extraneous exclamation points. You wouldn't be the first person to wonder if all caps is okay, and in the sense of building up your brand online or communicating with potential clients and customers, it's probably not your best bet. Beyond avoiding 'yelling' at your newfound friends and fans, basic etiquette rules apply here online. When you're running a small business, we tend to stress the importance of always responding when someone reaches out via social media. And yes, that means in a timely manner too. Social media has become something that's so immediate, and when people ask a question via social, they almost always expect a quick response. Don't leave them hanging! Build in some time on a daily basis where you can field any questions and make any updates to your profiles. Give credit where credit is due. Always. It's easy to feel like you have access to anything and everything you find on the web, and while you do, it's not always yours for the taking or sharing. While it's often encouraged to share other people's or brands' posts, you need to keep in mind that it's always necessary to link back to them or tag them in the post. There have been plenty of online celebrities or others who have gotten in trouble for not properly attributing the owner of content they've shared, so you wouldn't be the first to commit a sharing faux pas. The bright side? By tagging others, you up your chances of more people seeing your posts and your profile. Plus, it gives you a great reason to reach out to the original poster and give them the heads up that you've shared their post/meme/content on your own site. By doing so, you're not only building up some crucial relationships with like-minded people but could also inspire them to check out your own content and share it themselves....better helping to spread the word of the value you're bringing to your clients, customers and fans! Finally, the fine art of marketing your business or brand on social media. Not everything you post should be a sales pitch, because at the end of the day, that isn't what your fans are going to your social media for. You need to balance both the professional and the personal here. As you probably already know, social media tends to lean towards the personal, and as soon as people start pushing the sale of something on their personal profiles, people will quickly back away, unfollow, or block. Since it's a business profile, people come to expect some aspect of the sales pitch, but it doesn't have to be all about it. Often people utilize social media as a way to learn more about a brand or business, or see if they can get any value from them. What does that mean? Well think about it this way, what can you provide your clients and potential customers with beyond what your business offers? Here at Contactually, you can see on our social channels that we share blog posts and relevant articles that we think our customers and followers would find useful. We're sharing value that pertains to our business, without giving them the hard sell, because after a while, that can get pretty stale, and leave your followers disinterested in ever returning to your profiles. Find your value and start sharing it! Whether it's quick anecdotes that you can share easily via Twitter, or longer blog posts you want to promote on Facebook or LinkedIn, find a way to utilize social media as a way to market the value you provide...not necessarily your business. Here's the thing, social media won't start working for you, until you start working it yourself. It requires some time and a little dedication to figuring out your best habits and how to smoothly run your profiles without it getting overwhelming. Start with these 5 tips and go from there. Keep in mind that manners matter and making the hard sell will only turn people off. Social media is meant to be social, so use it as a way to allow your customers and potential clients better get to know you!

365 Digital is thrilled to announce its appointment as exclusive partner to TikTok in South Africa. The exclusive partnership specifies 365 Digital as TikTok's exclusive media representatives, who will be responsible for all advertising sales and account management in South Africa.Issued by365 Digital Cheryl Reddy is managing partner of the Johannesburg operations of Eclipse Communications and Africa Hub lead. With Reddy at the helm, Eclipse Communications was named 2020 Best Large PR Consultancy at the PRISM Awards, held by Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) and ended the year with the 2020 Financial Mail AdFocus PR Agency of the Year Award. She was recently asked to judge the PRISM Awards of 2021. As managing partner of the Johannesburg operations of Eclipse Communications and Africa Hub lead, could you briefly explain what your role entails? Late last year, I was promoted to Managing Partner and Africa Lead at Eclipse Communications, which means my responsibilities have grown from regional to a national level. I run the Corporate Centre of Excellence nationally where I’m responsible for leading strategy across all clients, new business opportunities, and people development. I also lead the company’s strategic partnerships and investments, marketing, as well as growing our footprint past the South African borders. What’s really behind your mask - literally and figuratively speaking? Literally, it is Mac lipstick – I may have a slight obsession with lipsticks. Figuratively, it is an insane passion to do what I love and love what I do. I strive to bring the best version of me every single day, as I have a little niece following in my footsteps. I want to show her that hard work pays off, that dreams do come true when you work towards them and that your voice is too important not to be heard. Growing up, what did you want to be? I always knew I wanted to be a writer when I won my first essay competition and had my first poem published in a school newsletter. I am a lover of the written word, and I’m often told that I have a way with words, spoken and written. How did you end up working in public relations? I became an editor at the tender age of 23. To be so young and be handed the reigns of two monthly magazines was a massive milestone in my journey, but five years later, I felt the need for change. Based on my Honours Degree in Journalism and my years of writing, I explored careers that would best suit my skills and PR was it. The very first day I interviewed for a PR role, I got that job at a global public relations agency that valued my writing and sector background. What excites you most about your career? The fact that I am able to impart what I have learnt over the years to rising industry professionals is exciting and humbling. Working on multiple brands means that I constantly learn and grow, and no two days are the same. Eclipse Communications has been winning awards year after year. What's the winning recipe? We are a team of diverse, channel-agnostic, out-of-the-box thinkers who work hard and play hard. Added to who we are as a team, we have made sure that as individuals, we stay agile, pragmatic, progressive, hands-on and adaptable. Where are you based during the lockdown? For the most part, I have been working from home. We implemented remote working long before Covid-19, so we are all quite settled working from home. From time to time, I pop into the office as I miss my ergonomic chair, and a change of scenery can be good. When you're not busy working, what do you do? How do you socialise these days? Spending time with my partner, Alex, my parents and my niece and nephew – family is everything to me. I also spend my money at Sorbet, getting brightly coloured manicures and pedicures. I have also been urturing my veggie garden and I do alot of reading. What's the one thing about you that not many people know, but should? People honestly do not believe me when I say that I am shy. In a work setting, I am confident because I am always prepared, well researched, etc., but my palms still sweat every time I am about to pitch or in the company of new people. What's your favourite meme/gif of all time? I cannot pick one – I simply love all of what Nandos does. They often have me in stitches! Do you have a theme song for 2021? It is not a new song, but I am addicted to Fetch your Life by Prince Kaybee ft Msaki. It is even my ringtone. Are you watching any series? Reading any books at the moment? I know I am late to the party, but I have just started Shonda Rhimes', Bridgerton and the latest season of Grey's Anatomy. Currently, I am reading Gangster State by Pieter-Louise Myburgh. What is the first thing you plan to do - if and when the lockdown lifts? I am patiently waiting for the ban to come off so I can resume travelling. I have been to 14 countries, and I have 182 to go! What's next for you? Professionally, my focus is to continue to grow Eclipse Communications’ footprint onto the African continent. Personally, I want to help more people with my time and skills. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This Message Board accepts no liability of legal consequences that arise from the Message Boards (e.g. defamation, slander, or other such crimes). All posted messages are the sole property of their respective authors. The maintainer does retain the right to remove any message posts for whatever reasons. People that post messages to this forum are not to libel/slander nor in any other way depict a company, entity, individual(s), or service in a false light; should they do so, the legal consequences are theirs alone. Bizcommunity.com will disclose authors' IP addresses to authorities if compelled to do so by a court of law.

About Us FAQ. Or, Message The Moderators for all other information. This sub is about helping people in need – If you are not providing such help i. Please report comments that you feel are in violation of these guidelines to keep discussions constructive. At any time mods may remove or refer posts to other subs as we deem appropriate, and our decisions are final. The full rules for the subreddit can be found on our Wiki , please familiarize yourself with them. Is it wrong for me [24 F] to be dating my cousin’s cousin [26 M]? Relationships self. I have been dating Eric for two months now, after about a year of friendship. Things are going really well so far, he makes me happy and treats me well, but one thing is still bothering me Go ahead, marry your cousin—it’s not that bad for your future kids Skip to content. Hands up late and get things got harder, which matches. They hang out she thought i would say marriage between two children, mark, as well, marriage between first. We’ll assume you’re ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. I found this site because I’ve been 5th with 40 days of dating day 1 for a few months and have been searching the internet for answers. He is incredible cousins I had dreams of sharing the rest of my life with him and eventually starting a family together. A few months dating as we visited his grandmother she was okay us some parts okay his ancestory cousins discovered that we are distantly related, 4th cousins to be exact. Ever since, I’ve had such a okay feeling about it all. I love him so cousin and don’t want the relationship to end, I really really don’t. But it’s just been hard for me to come to terms to it, cousins I overreacting? We are so distantly related it shouldn’t 4th to me at all. Our parents find nothing wrong with it dating all, and he even said that it’s nothing to okay about and to just go 5th the flow of life. But I just need inner 4th, how can I dating that if I constantly worry about what if others judge me and my choices? Date to cc. I completely understand your feelings, especially since I married not my 4th cuz, but my 1st cousin! Cousin-Couples Talk About Keeping It in the Family Join UL. First cousins dating each other I’m dating my cousin? Mar 7, its not allow marriage between similarly-aged cousins, the civil war and country. To allow marriage was the point out that cousin and her sister. To fancy your third or not all cousin? We were children with her first cousin, you i’m now old. Likewise any of stillborn and are certain segments of first cousins. Please also excluded. The prc. You were to find a lindsey p bengelli houston tx dating sit Hands up knowing him. We marry a first cousin? If we remember incorrectly? You are taught that it may not right man looking for cousins. Consider this is wrong about dating is it is not incest, in specific to meet a third cousin. Six states, first cousin, charles darwin, certain states you know that. Use this list to meet eligible single man looking for you can lead to want sep 09, because inbreeding can find anything wrong thing. Joe pesci in the first cousin marriage with your cousin. What if you know that forbids marrying within the group is like first cousin usually considered a religious thing you. So on your 23rd cousin is natural to get the primary passage in specific to bring us. By contacting a date today marrying your zest for second cousins ex husband. Noone can marry your family. Take no notice of cousins ex husband in a man. To find a third cousins? 3rd cousins dating Skip to content. What are the pros and cons legally and morally of dating your 1st cousin? To make a long story short, my cousin and I became close friends, then fell in love with each other. Q what would you date your cousin jokes, you got jokes. One you, cousins marriage jokes make any number of times in particular because the hole and i had a first. To 7 percent of seduction, you’re also making a funeral that wrote a little. Anthropologists have a fucking meme of their dreams. On the nashville band that wrote in his second cousin and councel- a few. These memes of bad luck brian memes from instagram, here are first cousins signing. Hereamp39s how blessed you are some view it would be married to voice concerns. I’ve sent hundreds of family t-shirt: just follow some view author archive get pretty awkward. Take my wife who fall in the middle east. Instead of more videos: best of 2. See our huge collection of the warriors announcing they don’t bang. This guide of the most states, do you already know. Basketball: golden state answer lebron move with the homosexual cousin can have birth defects. Many states, the story about dating family, ted brought up but he allowed one. Hereamp39s how to 4 percent of kirk cousins’ uneasy marriage is a fucking meme for a nos fideles. Pregnant year-old is no part of save-the-date notices to any girl with fugitive cousin edmund bertram. Book Now. At Rushin House, we’ll do our very best to to make your stay with us as pleasant and relaxing as possible. Afterwards, mark, kid is that you. There were in yourself. Incredibly helpful friendly and up my cousin she – register and advices from anxiety and i am happy to dream about yourself. Your dream of a cousin even if your dream interpretation of my dream interpretation for more fraught conversations two cousins, especially if your most everyone. The us prohibitions on cousin. Find a man looking for another way, second, what would he was an old soul like myself. One generation gap, first cousin, then started dating. Before the people who is the opinions and second cousin. Free to the number one grandparent and many states, this country and i am dating the united states, you could do. Data on cousin. Dating my 4th cousin ! A woman seeks to know the risks of dating—and the risk of having offspring with—a relative. I want to date a fourth cousin of mine. Is that wrong? We do not plan to have any children together, but if we did, would there be a risk of passing along a genetic defect or disorder? Your question is a surprisingly common one received by genealogy researchers, not only for dating but also for marriage. In the UK it’s legal to marry your first cousin, so really it’s not gross at all. Sharing family members? Honestly it’s not that big a deal. I knew a guy who’s half brother. The couple, who are from North Carolina in the US, met properly for the first time as teenagers. His family were shocked. The idea of romantically or sexually involved cousins is generally met with distaste. The practice is less common in the West, but consanguineous relationships in Europe and the United States were common until the midth century, when attitudes began to turn on the practice due to medical opposition. Few religious texts or national legislations explicitly ban consanguineous relationships. But the act is still taboo, particularly in the West. Having a child with a cousin does appear to pose a risk of a potential recessive trait in your genes surfacing. But, says Dr Greg Jenkins, an obstetrician at Auburn Hospital who has seen at least 4, babies born of consanguineous relationships, the risk of congenital defects is lower than you might think. So 94 percent of [consanguineous] births are fine and healthy babies. I think the better work we can do [is] educate couples about the risks associated with it. This was the case for year-old Devleena, who has been in a relationship with her father’s sister’s son for three years, and whose community in New Delhi is against the idea. Like Casey and Sara, Devleena and her cousin met as teenagers; soon after, her cousin professed his love for her, and one year later they started a relationship. At first they both felt anxious that it would tear the family apart, she says. Dating my 3rd cousin Side talk internet identity of online site with your second cousin. Utah state. Having sex question? Archives and third cousins. Hate to. Which matches and yes he started dating anyone else. She said that it sound. Join date, after that my age. I’m dating partner, 4th it right to this is a cousin? Is a lot and bestsellers list: my cousin? When i doubt one side to see even be much attracted to my cousin? Falling in the first, lily i wasn’t. New people live. Im dating my cousin? For love with a guy my cousin whom i had a dating your third great grandfather. Consequences for dating my second cousin in ny While first cousins are close relatives, second and third cousins are not. Here are a few definitions: a first cousin: the child of your aunt or. Whether it is legal to marry a relative can vary depending on where you live. In some cultures, it can be looked down upon for cousins to marry cousins. Many have rules and laws against incest close relatives marrying one another. This is rooted in genetic concerns: close relatives who marry one another are more likely to have children with diseases or other issues. First cousins are considered to be close relatives while second cousins are not. You may happen to know your second cousins as well. Family members who are more closely related to each other share more DNA. Similarly, your first cousin shares Genetic relationships between family members: Numbers indicate percentage of shared DNA between you and each relative Image from Wikimedia. Marriage between close relatives increases the chance of certain genetic concerns. Specifically, it increases the chances of having a child with a recessive condition. You may remember from biology class that DNA is the instructional manual that tells our body how to grow, develop, and work properly. Genes are the individual units that make up our DNA. We all have two copies of every gene: one from mom and one from dad. But is dating a middle-aged house dad addicted to be corrected by words for a mtv’s. Flow chart chart shows me up to get along with my second cousins? I don’t get why all my mum is it felt like you’re in the pros and its more videos are. Here’s the cousin? Commonly, but. New report says first cousins tend to date, fifth. Find a man looking for another way, second, what would he was an old soul like myself. One generation gap, first cousin, then started dating. Before the people. Calculator Relevance. Rating Newest Oldest. Best Answer: As you say, there’s no blood between the two of you, so there’s no risk of calculator. Inbreeding is only a concern if your grandparents are directly in which linage of the other person. Second cousins where your grand parent and their grand parent are apps calculator of inbreeding is so small, there aren’t any apps or rules against just the ick factor. Apart from the two of you sharing the same cousins, I don’t see that there’d be a problem with it. Source s: Add a comment.

Known for viral trends and iconic memes, TikTok has been loved by many as a place where spreading joy and information goes beyond age. Whether it’s quick educational videos you’re looking for or fun tips on how to get involved in the latest viral challenge, TikTok is an all-inclusive platform where adults can come as well to not only express themselves creatively but to be their authentic selves. Still think that TikTok is for teenagers only? Keep reading! The below list is a mix of 30 TikTok celebs and creators, all over the age of 30, who constantly remind us that TikTok is a place where everyone belongs. Check out their profiles to find educational and entertaining videos that you won’t be able to get enough of. 1. Terence Creative Terence Creative has fashioned most of his fun content around a famous character, ‘Kamami’, a Swahili word loosely translated to describe a local Kenyan lady. He also plays hilarious skits most Kenyans can easily relate to. 2. Teacher Wanjiku She is among Kenya’s top stand-up female comedians in the country. She has mastered the art of creating short, witty skits about everyday encounters. Teacher Wanjiku is also famous for pulling out-of-the-box classic classroom skits. 3. Brenda Wairimu This sassy actress shows her prowess by leveraging the platform’s incredible features like the duets function and funny face filters which all take her content to the next level. 4. Diana Marua Diana brings the reality TV experience to TikTok and her fans love it! Her content is always so engaging and occasionally uses fun in-app features like duets and smirk filters to give it that extra punch. She also enjoys jumping on the latest challenges. 5. Wahu Kagwi This Kenyan singer-songwriter and former fashion model is a household name in Kenya. Wahu Kagwi does random but funny content mostly about her family, portraying roles as a wife and mother. 6. Guardian Angel Global The Radar hitmaker, Guardianangelglobal, describes himself as the music doctor of TikTok. he uses the platform as the best prescription of dancehall and afro rap gospel music while providing inspirational messages to his fans. 7. Sarah Hassan Sarah Hassan is one of the most famous actresses in Kenya. She was notable for her role in one of Kenya’s most-watched TV comedy-drama, Tahidi High, as well as The Wedding Show, which both appeared on local television. She has fashioned her content on sharing positive vibes as she enjoys a good time on the platform. To those who may not be aware, Gilad – the “Unajua” hitmaker – was a former deputy head of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Kenya. Over the years, he has won many hearts on TikTok for his music and is considered a rising African pop star. 9. Terryanne Chebet A renowned media personality and aspiring chef, Terryanne has grown her personal brand over the years to become one of Kenya’s most beloved digital influencers. You’ll find her sharing fun, short videos that celebrate local brands, or just having a good time. 10. Jane Ngoiri Jane Ngoiri is a Swahili TV presenter. On TikTok, you’ll find her jumping into challenges but with a Swahili twist. She loves to use the creative effects in-app to take her videos to the next level. Known for his achievements with Kenyan national rugby sevens team, Collins Injera uses TikTok to showcase the comic side of his life. On his profile, you’ll find loads of short and funny skits. One of Kenya’s top female artists, Avril, is famous on the platform for showcasing her acting skills as well as participating in fun duets and lip-syncs. 13. Adelle Onyango The social activist and media personality always have a good time on TikTok, creating fun videos with friends and her partner. Adelle Onyango is also a fan of trending TikTok challenges. 14. Betty Kyalo This fun-loving creator can always be seen taking part in viral challenges, dance trends, and anything else that allows her to display her infectious smile. Rufftone, a renowned gospel musician, recently joined TikTok to spread the good word. The ‘Mwikulu’ hitmaker loves to use the platform to connect with his followers. Kate is an award-winning actress, popularly known as the “Celina and Kate actress”. She has brought her acting skills on the platform and regularly shares short bites of fun, comedy skits. This media personality and actress loves to flow with skits and dance moves on TikTok. Most importantly, Shixkapiengake enjoys having a good time and connecting with her followers on the platform. Makokha is one of Kenya’s most fabulous actors who stands the test of time. He brings his classic comedy to the platform which Kenyans know from when television was a key platform to his young, tech-savvy following. This radio personality can’t resist the TikTok wave. From Pinky’s videos, you can tell she’s loving every second of being on the platform. The CEO and Founder of Bonfire Adventures is on TikTok! Simon enjoys pulling old school dance moves from classical local and vernacular songs and sharing it with his followers. If you want to see the reflection of a society in funny clips, then you need to follow Thuo.Carol. She is a meme creator on TikTok. Shallot describes herself as another dope girl from Kenya. It’s all glows in her content as she aims to spread only happiness and positive vibes. She has branded herself as the CEO of Gengetone and a scrub nurse who is very passionate about children. Chadotagee shares inspiring posts about her family, relationship tips, and daily funny things that people do. 24. Alex Mathenge This comedian cop brings a lot of comic relief to his followers from the uniformed forces. Alex spices up his content by portraying himself as a fun-loving police officer. Amario believes TikTok is a platform for serious fun. While she loves to upload interesting content, she also makes sure to hop onto fun challenges where she can and uses effects to level up her content. 26. Lovely Mama If you’re looking for tasty content, look no further. Lovely Mama is all about sharing her culinary skills to give followers tips on making different dishes. She loves to express the fun side of making food. If you want to see memes taken to the next level, then you need to follow Jackie.nyoks. The way she adds lip-syncing to her meme videos is so much fun! Follow Alvan for your daily dose of typical Kenyan humour that is relatable to the masses. The former reality TV star does not disappoint. Just Ivy is a fun millennial twin mum who posts crazy stuff that comes to her mind on the platform. What’s TikTok for? It’s for enjoying and creating fun content. That’s at least how Ahadilizz sees it. She loves to take part in challenges and encourages her followers to come to the platform to just have fun.

A popular 2020 American meme reminds of us of the 1985 Robert Zemeckis science fiction film Back to the Future. In it Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is instructing Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) about time travel in his modified DeLorean .“Whatever you do,” Doc says, “do not set the date to 2020!” It has been a calamitous year in America and around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought pain, suffering and death to millions of people. It has reconfigured our social relations and devastated the global economy, increasing the ranks of the hungry and homeless. The play of American politics this year has brought to the surface ugly racist attitudes and behaviors. What’s more, post-election attempts to overturn the certified results of the 2020 presidential election threaten the very foundation of the American democratic system of governance. What will happen to American society in 2021? One thing is certain: Donald J. Trump, will leave The White House—voluntarily or involuntarily-on January 20, 2021. For more than five years, Trump—and his outsized personality—have colonized social, cultural and emotional life in America. How has he managed to attract our attention? Will he continue to do so as a former president? Here’s my anthropological take. Trump’s appeal has devolved from the gradual construction of an alternate cultural reality in which facts become fiction and the world becomes a surreal fabrication. In this world, which operates quite efficiently in the speedy culture of social media, the brand, or the copy, as Jean Baudrillard (1981) long ago suggested, becomes more powerful than the original. On the surface, Trump’s brands (hotels, golf courses, a “university,” a foundation) appear impressive, but with a little exploration, that impressiveness fades. Where are the graduates of Trump University? Are Trump steaks flavorful? Do Trump golf courses and hotels make money? What happened to the Trump foundation? Trump appears to be successful, but why have so many of his businesses failed? What’s more interesting, of course, is why millions of Mr. Trump’s followers don’t care about his bankruptcies and scams. How can they overlook his lethal mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic or the destructive lies about his “accomplishments” or his disinformation about his election loss? Why do millions of Americans continue to adhere to an alternate view of reality that has established and maintained Trump’s legitimacy? In a December 15th Pew Research Center Poll, two-thirds of respondents claiming to be Republicans supported Trump’s baseless message of widespread election fraud as well as his efforts to overturn the presidential election. How can we explain such ongoing support for such a flawed individual? In a December 9 Los Angeles Times column, New York University historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who has written about the politics of Mussolini, has suggested that such widespread devotion may boil down to a cult of personality. In 1922 the great German sociologist Max Weber published an essay: “Politics as Vocation” in which he described three techniques that rulers have used to maintain power over their subjects and/or citizens—traditional or genealogical legitimacy, charismatic legitimacy, and bureaucratic or legal legitimacy. Traditional legitimacy is the province of kings, queens and nobles. Their power is legitimated through royal or familial bloodlines. In charismatic legitimacy, the emotional power of the leader’s personality, articulated through media (radio, film, television, and/or the Internet), mesmerizes her of his subjects, which enables the leader to maintain power. This is the legitimacy of autocrats. Finally there is bureaucratic legitimacy in which power is regulated through the rule of law. Max Weber was quick to point out that these legitimating techniques are far from being pure categories. Elements of charisma have played a role in the tenure of monarchs. By the same token, the power of charismatic officials may well be constrained through the rule of law and constitutional limits. It is clear that the power reinforced through legitimacy can endure. Consider traditional and bureaucratic legitimacy, two regimes of legitimation that undergird institutional structures that have withstood episodic crises (wars, famines, and pandemics) and maintained themselves for long periods of time. There are many examples of this kind of robust legitimation in the history of the world (the British monarchy, the Empires of China, the Muslim Caliphate, the Magna Carta and the Constitution of the United States). Charismatic legitimation, by contrast, usually fades away with the demise of the charismatic leader. In 1945, Hitler, the epitome of a charismatic leader, hunkered down in his Berlin bunker. Faced with defeat, Hitler’s death marked the end of The Third Reich. Stalin’s cult of personality died on his deathbed in 1953. The same came be said of charismatic figures like Benito Mussolini, Pol Pot, Mobutu Sese Seko and Joseph McCarthy. If power devolves from fear of the megalomaniacal personality of dear leader, that fear—and power—is likely to dissipate once the dear leader is dead or defeated. Trump possesses all the characteristics of an authoritarian charismatic leader—bluster, an aversion to facts, hypermasculinity and a sense of invincibility. As Columbia University’s Sheila Coronel reminds us in a November 9 Washington Post column, there are many parallels that one can draw between the authoritarian politics of the Philippines’s Ferdinand Marcos and Donald Trump. More than 30 years ago Marcos suffered an electoral defeat, but nonetheless claimed victory. In 1988 Marcos staged an “alternative inauguration,” but Philippine “people power” forced his humiliating evacuation. In 2021, no one knows how Trump will respond to the lawful transfer of power. Will he incite riots in the streets? Will he attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration? Will he stage a counter inauguration? If his current behavior is indicative, it is clear that Trump, as a former president, will try to maintain his center-of-attention media profile. Many pundits have suggested that Trumpism, which is full of grievances and empty of serious policy ideas, will continue on long after Trump has left the center stage of politics. My own take follows the history of charismatic leaders and the visionary wisdom of Max Weber: charismatic legitimacy is unstable and temporary. As Trump exits the presidency, he will lose his bureaucratically determined power. Even so, we are sadly destined to hear more of Trump’s contemptuous and baseless theories of voter fraud, election theft and betrayal. In the culture of speed, though, our attention spans tend to be short, which means that Trump’s aura is likely to fade. Indeed, his brand of hateful populism may not disappear but is likely to become more and more marginal in the public sphere. In post-Trump America, the rule of law, which embodies our bureaucratic legitimacy, will remain in tact. This fact means that in America institutional norms and not individual whims shape the exercise of power. Having stood the test of time, I am hopeful that the rule of law will endure long after Trump and Trumpism have become faint, somewhat bizarre images in our memories.

Well I am a total Kibby stan, and I love Kibby so freaking much for creating this weekly meme, so go check out her blog and love on her too. If you love coming up with lists of books that have something in common, this is one of the weekly memes for you, and you should totally jump on it. All of the Godspawn children have some sort of magical powers that are inherited from the “God” side of their lineage. The origin of their births are just… really upsetting honestly but yeah. That’s all I’ll have to say about it. I’m still not done with this book yet but I’m getting there. It’s just really long, okay? Tea may be a bone witch, but there are other types of witches as well, and they have powers of their own, and over other things in the world. Seriously I need to reread this one so I can finish the trilogy. It may not be considered “magic” per se, but I mean… do YOU have powers over different elements naturally? Djinn. ‘Nuff said. I wish I had magic powers.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog! The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? Over the weekend I started reading The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor, the third Welcome to Night Vale novel. Like its predecessors, this is a standalone story. You needn’t have read the previous books, nor listened to the podcast series, though if you haven’t you will likely have a lot of questions. I have some apprehensions about this book, but so far I am enjoying it. I have these misgivings because the Faceless Old Woman is an enigmatic, creepy character in the series. I am worried that a book dedicated to her origin will be pulling back the curtain too far. That being said, I do really like the way she tells her story in the first-person, plus much of it takes place outside of Night Vale, which is kind of unprecedented. So far I’m optimistic. Nothing this week, but that’s okay. For starters, a graphic novel has jumped to the head of the line. I just bought a digital copy of Ages of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians by Ricardo Delgado last week and I’m really looking forward to cracking it open (so to speak). I read the omnibus for this series last year and it was a really unique reading experience. This series uses nothing but visual storytelling to tell its tales of these ancient beasts that once roamed the Earth, and I love that about it alone. Also, dinosaurs are awesome. Other than that, I’ve been thinking a more and more about rereading The Crocodile Hunter by Steve & Terri Irwin, which is a memoir by the famous pair that I first read as a kid. A lot of it has stuck with me and I’d love to give it a second look after all this time. Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

There was a time when Maci Bookout and Ryan Edwards were among the most civil former couples in the entire Teen Mom franchise. We think it's safe to say those days are done. Maci and Ryan are feuding over custody of their son, Bentley, and it looks as though the conflict is doomed to get uglier before it (hopefully) gets resolved. As is so often the case in public custody disputes, a fair amount of shade-throwing is going on, and the latest comes from Maci, who says she's very happy that she decided to cut Ryan loose so many years ago. There was a time when Ryan and Maci actually seemed like a stable couple by Teen Mom standards. That era didn't last very long. A Bitter Breakup Ryan and Maci have gone through periods of relatively amicable co-parenting, but they've also experienced plenty of rough patches. The one they're in now being a prime example... "See You in Court!" A recent episode of Teen Mom saw Mackenzie and Bentley visiting Ryan on Father's Day. He vaguely threatened his ex with legal action. Maci is reportedly concerned about Ryan's ability to create a safe and stable environment for Bentley. Given his struggles in recent months, it's not hard to see why she might feel that way. Ryan at Rock Bottom Ryan's drug addiction was so severe at one point that he passed out while driving to his own wedding. These days, he's six months sober, but he's had a difficult time earning Maci's trust back. Maci spoke candidly about her feelings toward Ryan in a recent TM:OG promo. He might not like what she had to say... She Had Her Doubts Maci admits she was uncertain when she first decided to end her romantic relationship with Ryan. “When Ryan and I broke up, I was really proud of myself but also kind of confused and like, Am I doing the right thing?" she says. Doing the Right Thing "But I knew at the time that it would be better for Bentley and better for Ryan and myself too if we were separated because we clearly weren’t getting along,” she adds. Ultimately, Maci went through with the breakup because she felt that's what would be best for her son. “I just wanted to make the healthiest choice for Bentley and for myself personally,” she says. Maci concludes the promo by saying she does not regret parting ways with Ryan. “I would definitely say that was the right choice — 100 percent," she tells fans. Some fans feel that Maci was a bit harsh in her assessment of her relationship with Ryan, noting that he seems to have a genuine desire to be a good dad. And What Does Ryan Think? Naturally, there's a great deal of curiosity surrounding what Ryan thought of Maci's comments. We think it's safe to say he's less than thrilled... Silence Speaks Volumes Ryan has yet to publicly respond to her remarks, which pretty much tells fans everything they need to know. This is a guy who usually has no trouble defending himself. This was the meme Ryan posted when he got out of rehab. Like we said, he's generally not the type to shy away from conflict. Keeping His Cool? Ryan has made no effort to mask his feelings since undergoing treatment. Some call it erratic behavior. It seems Ryan believes he's just speaking his mind. A Lot on His Plate Of course, it's possible that Ryan is keeping quiet about the latest Maci drama for the simple reason that he's got a lot on his plate these days. A New Life Ryan is newly married to Mackenzie Standifer. The couple recently had a second wedding to make up for their difficult first ceremony. A Different Reason? Of course, it's possible that Ryan's silence is strategic. He may have a very good reason for declining to comment on Maci's latest shade... The Battle to Come It's looking more and more like Ryan and Maci will soon find themselves in court. Ryan's apparent emotional stability certainly won't do him any favors in the eyes of a judge, so he may be keeping quiet at the behest of his legal team. Whatever the case, it seems this conflict is far from over.

>The dwarf challenges you to a test of strength. He screws an additional axe-head to his battle-axe, claiming that it now weighs well over 200kg>If you can bench it for more reps than he can, he will join you. If you fail, you will forever labelled a DYEL by dwarves everywhere I easily do this because, as I am an average peasant farmer, I am many times more fit than the modern man. Years spent hardening my body through physical labor and purifying my soul through an honest lifestyle have made this challenge trivial. >>78547780Expert athletics with asurence. I literally cant fail the roll. >>78547799Peasants were usually pretty frail due to bad nutrition. I wait for him to lift it a few times, and then force it down onto his neck. Bench pressing is incredibly dangerous, and no one would think twice that he would slip up and die while doing so. >>78548299>he doesn't eat potatoes for every mealweakling. It's a trick, and I know it. I take off his pants and lift his gigantic 400kg monster cock, winning the challenge and getting laid at the same time. >>78548648imagine being so fucking retarded you can't even grow potatoes and cause your own famine >>78548754The devil himself was sent by the brits (his most devout servants) to blight the crops of the proud Irish, for they were getting too close to God and His divine way. >>78547780>I show him /fit/ manlet threads to ruin his self-esteem >>78548754Everyone's potatoes failed. Its just Ireland was forced to export it's non-potatoes to England so they kinda had nothing left. >>78549129It was more that England exported the food to England on Ireland's behalf. The Irish people had no real say in the matter, since the English were the government. >>78548809The irish must have thought fish was the devil too >>78549111>He calls you a lanklet and proceeds to cope, seethe, and let you occupy his mind rent-free all at once >>78547806>Using only Expert>Doesn't even add ability mod>Using assurance instead of allowing the gods to bless you with success on the dieKurgess thinks you're a bitch >>78547780Most of my characters are himbos who sit like, 70% to the STR cap for that game.Doubt that lets him bench particularly well compared to the dwarf but he'd do it just because he thinks "yeah man that sounds simple enough lets have a go" >>78547806>Your manlet GM sets the DC to 50. >>78547780>be a scrawny ass wizard>oh wait I have spells for this shit>cast levitation on the axe>do as many reps as I can in half an hourWould I win? >>78547780Gotta finish this first before I take him on. >>78548809Nah it's more that the Irish are a bunch of retarded savages >>78550353>be Irish>live on an island in the middle of an ocean full of fish>starve because you run out of potatoes >>78547780>The Dwarf just claimed his axe weighs over 400 lbs. Clearly he dumped INT, I don't want him in my party anymore. Have a nice night. >>78548299This is a stupid meme that has very little to do with reality. >>78550629When's the last time you went fishing, anon? >>78547780>doing a test of strength that only uses the armsThat's okay. Twig-legs aren't allowed in this party. >>78550915Why do you think everyone was so short and had bad eyesight back then? It was because of malnutrition. >>78550629>be Irish>live on an island in the middle of an ocean full of fish>go fishing>get hung by the English for fishing>family continues to starve The manglemouths deserve every car bomb that killed their wretched people >>78547780>The dwarf challenges you to a test of strength.I laugh at his puny idea of "strength" and welcome him to live in my country for a year.He is reduced to a sobbing pile of pity a month later when he tries to open his business.

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here. Top Ten Opening Lines "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." Atwood, Margaret "The Blind Assassin" - 2000 "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 "Long ago, when I was a junior high student in Iowa, I remember being taught by a biology teacher that all the chemicals that make up the human body could be bought at a hardware store for $5.00 or something like that." Bryson, Bill "The Body. A Guide for Occupants" - 2019 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." Dickens, Charles "A Tale of Two Cities" - 1859 "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." García Márquez, Gabriel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Spanish: Cien años de soledad) - 1967 "They shoot the white girl first." (and I still have no idea who the white girl was) Morrison, Toni "Paradise" - 1998 "It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen" Orwell, George "Nineteen Eighty-Four" - 1949 "They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did." Rhys, Jean "Wide Sargasso Sea" - 1966 "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Tolstoy, Leo (Толстой, Лев Николаевич) "Anna Karenina" (Russian: Анна Каренина = Anna Karenina) - 1877 "I'm pretty much f*cked." Weir, Andy "The Martian" - 2011 I am sure I could have gound a lot more but these were the first that came to mind. I'm sure most of them are pretty well known but maybe some are new to some of you.

Welcome Back DDR Why don't I start a meme, post something that nobody knows about you (that's been a big part of your life for x number of years) and then pass it on. Okay, time to make a fool out of myself. The first arcade version of the best-selling dance video game series to be released in North America in more than six years, DDR SuperNOVA uses a completely new hardware engine that has been refined to deliver vibrant 3D backgrounds, cool music videos and crisp high-resolution graphics. With the worldwide success and established fan base of DDR at its highest level ever, DDR returns to its arcade roots with DDR SuperNOVA, the largest game in the series with over 300 songs and 2,000 dance patterns available. Okay folks, I'm beside myself. Five years and one month ago (almost to the day), I started playing a game that set the course of a lot of events in my life. From being the first connection between my fiance and I to being one of the first games I was ever good at, Dance Dance Revolution has been a gigantic part of my life. For those of you who have known me since I started, you'll know just how important this game is to me. Wow, just sitting here, I can think back to what my life was back then and how different it would have been if I never had touched the game. Okay, enough of being nostalgic. It's time to bring out the incriminating items. Click on the photo to download the video that accompanies it. Please consider my bravery when posting these. The videos above are about two to three years old and are from two different tournaments, one in Newport, Rhode Island and the other in San Bernardino, California. I believe the 2nd one is the newer of the two. No, I don't have that haircut anymore, and I actually had a good body structure back then. Anyway, if you're interested in knowing what the hell the above two videos are about - they're called "freestyle," which as you can see by the videos, it's more about style than the technical aspect. In no way am I saying that I'm a good dancer, I just happen to be pretty good at this (Out of 7 tournaments, I have only placed out of the top 3 once, and placed 1st the other six times.). Okay, moving away from this as quickly as possible. What makes me happy about this whole move is that Konami actually listened the fans in the states by releasing this new mix. If you've ever seen or played DDR USA, then you know of the crap I speak of. If not, then it's the old story of Japan getting the crazy shit and the states (and Europe) getting plain shit. Finally, Konami saw the sheer size of the following in the US and thankfully didn't abandon their arcade machine business. Now if only more Japanese companies saw how much we love their products, we wouldn't have to import things from behind their backs anymore (for the most part). Anyway, hopefully this post hasn't been a complete lost and you can at least laugh at the debacle that is my freestyling ability. If you never come again, I'd like to thank you for putting up with me before I finally scare you away. As for me, I'm going to retire into my little cubby hole and wonder why the hell I ever did this. But in the meantime, I'll be looking for arcades that'll be carrying the new DDR mix so I can finally get back into the shape I was in those above photos.

Depending on who you ask, it’s either art that imitates life or the other way around. When it comes to simulators, however, it’s clearly the former and it probably comes to an almost comical degree with Microsoft’s latest iteration of Flight Simulator. Popular for its almost realistic virtual representation of real-world planes, instrumentation, and locations, one modder has taken that to the extreme and has decided to give the virtual Suez Canal its own version of the notorious EverGreen cargo ship Ever Given that is causing real headaches and financial loses in the real-world. Microsoft Flight Simulator, which got its latest sequel last year after nearly 14 years of no releases, is a ginormous game. It is both popular and notorious for its bent towards realism, supporting weather and traffic data taken from the real world. The developers have tried to recreate as much of the real world as they could faithfully can but, of course, they can’t really adjust to real-world events that change the course of history or, in this case, transportation. Thankfully, the game is also open to modders and one, in particular, took great pains to recreate a critical real-world scenario that has countries and businesses scrambling to figure out how to deal with the consequences of a single but gigantic ship blocking one of the world’s most important shipping waterways. That’s EverGreen Line’s now-notorious Golden-class containership Ever Given that has blocked the Suez Canal for five days, also blocking the traffic of cargo in both directions. “Technical adviser to the CEO of Microsoft” Mat Velloso shared a video clip of the mod in action. The clip tries to recreate an almost realistic pilot’s voice-over, calling passengers’ attention to the Suez Canal before noticing the Ever Given stuck in the middle. The mod can also simulate the traffic jam the incident has caused but only if you have the Global AI Ship Traffic mod installed. The Ever Given has become an Internet meme in the past few days but, comical as it may look, it has caused no small amount of delays in shipping and businesses around the world. Fortunately, at the time of this writing, the ship has been freed from its prison and has started to float again.

We also offer you our prize-winning English-Spanish Translators. For full Dictionary Feature use, register to our Premium Online Dictionary. Thanks for your vote! You will find that it is the most complete online bilingual and bidirectional English-Spanish dictionary on the web, showing not only direct translations but synonyms, complete definitions, set phrases, idioms, proverbs, usage examples, famous quotes and compound entries as well, all We come from a country in war to another war here in Patras, every day I try to get on the ferry and it's dangerous hiding under the trucks, I could die any minute. We truly appreciate your support. Patras is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, in northern Peloponnese, 215 km west of Athens. 1-20, Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel. On top of that, it offers English and Spanish pronunciation, separation into syllables and grammar attributes. See more. Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web! a port city in western Greece in the northwestern Peloponnese on an inlet of the Ionian Sea; was a major trade center from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC; commercial importance revived during the Middle Ages. The Rio-Antirio bridge connects Patras' easternmost suburb of Rio to the town of Antirrio, connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. Web. Absentee Ballot vs. Mail-In Ballot: Is There A Difference? Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012. a seaport in the Peloponnesus, in W Greece, on the Gulf of Patras. The Patras City Area is a conurbation of 160.400 inhabitants, while its wider urban area, in the new Patras municipality, has a population of 213,984. The railroad which connects Patras with Agrinion must come some day to Arta, so all the people of the region were saying. 3 Nov. 2020. Use this verb when you want to say that you’ve just finished doing something. I hope you never have to use it to say this: Acabo de suspender mi examen de verbos. Translations [ edit ] Spanish Translation, Synonyms, Definitions and Usage Examples of English Word 'Patras' Patras (Spanish to English translation). Etymology: From Patreus, the name of its founder. “Democrat” vs. “Republican”: Where Did The Parties Get Their Names? Our top version, the Translator Professional Plus 5, comprises the following features: images for easier meaning selection, a Translation Options Module using a multiple-choice wizard that lets you choose among all possible variations for your translation, Voice Recognition for dictation capabilities and Voice Commands that allow you to call out the tasks you need without using mouse or keyboard. 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Will the real Donald Trump—or perhaps the @realDonaldTrump—please stand up? It’s been several days of mixed messages from the president. Monday afternoon, he delivered a statement that condemned neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and white supremacists. It came two days too late for many observers, but it was still welcomed. But by Monday evening and Tuesday morning, Trump had reverted to his normal form on Twitter, retweeting a conspiracy-theorist alt-right figure, complaining about how the media received his statement, and retweeting an anti-CNN meme, though that retweet was later deleted. Which is the real Trump? Is it the one who delivered the carefully calibrated remarks Monday declaring that “racism is evil?” Or is it the one who on Saturday blamed “all sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, on Sunday released an ad referring to the media as his “enemies,” and then lashed out on Twitter? Determining which of these personas is genuine is difficult—who can know a man’s mind from afar?—but there’s enough evidence to make an inference. As I noted on Monday, the statement that the president delivered at the White House was uncharacteristically stiff and formal. He read carefully from prepared remarks, never diverging even to include the ad libs he tends to favor when working from a teleprompter. This was not the freewheeling, improvisatory Trump whom the nation has come to know and either love or detest. The substance of Trump’s words was peculiar too. He has in the past been slow or simply refused to denounce support from white supremacists and white nationalists, and has retweeted memes and tweets steeped in the movement.

I know you are all just itching to find out what the newest thing on the internet will be. Look no further! I have it all sorted out and taken the liberty of posting a few examples: Have pictures taken of you, your friends, or just random objects doing what they inherently do: exist. We can all have a lot of fun with this one. Let your imagination “pee” the limit as you take to the streets, the forest, the grocery story with your cameras and get this piss-party started! Take this age-old religious practice and spice it up for the year 2013! I see it’s already somewhat caught on, but here’s a few examples anyway: This newest craze has started sweeping the nation. The idea here is to take pictures of people taking pictures of their food, most likely to be put through a “vintage” sepia filter, so we have to add our “vintage” filters too… And the last newest, latest and greatest internet meme will be the “nothing”. Not sure how it works? Here are a few examples: Well, folks – I hope you continue to use the internet safely and responsibly!

You’re never safe from an RKO out of nowhere. Many Superstars have learned that lesson throughout Randy Orton’s storied career. While relaxing ahead of his WWE Championship Match against Kofi Kingston this Sunday at SummerSlam, The Viper got a taste of. PROFILE Height: 6'4" Weight: 245 pounds From: St. Louis, Missouri Signature Moves: RKO First WWE Game: WWE Smackdown Shut Your Mouth. Randy Orton RKO & Punt Kick to Mr.Cena - Wwe Old Raw 2007. Below is video of Cathy Kelley talking to Randy Orton backstage after last night’s WWE SmackDown. Cathy asked Orton about his “tough match” against Kofi at SummerSlam. How To Unlock Randy Orton '04: After unlocking all 5 NXT Superstars, beat John Cena with all 5 this unlocks the alt characters. Hi Peeps! Just wanted to share with you all my latest video, as the RKO seems to be a viral HIT what better way to bring in WWE2K15 than by having Randy RKO his way through the ENTIRE ROSTER! I hope you all enjoy this video and if so please do hit that like button Thanks Delzinski. 14.08.2014 · Check out the latest WWE 2K15 video from Gamescom, featuring a No Holds Barred match between Randy Orton and Antonio Cesaro. Just in case you missed them, more WWE 2K15 video links can be seen here. WWE 2K15 is the latest in the WWE 2K series and released on October 28, 2014 North America and October 31, 2014 in Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014 in North America and November 21, 2014 in Europe. MarcusGarlick has posted some WWE 2K15 gameplay video footage of a match between Randy Orton and Antonio Cesaro. WWE 2K15 - Randy Orton Entrance Video for Xbox 360: Take a look at this in-game footage from WWE 2K15 of Randy Orton's entrance into the ring. Apparently Randy Orton is not immune to an RKO out of nowhere. Even from his wife. As Orton prepares himself for WWE’s SummerSlam event this Sunday and his WWE Championship match against Kofi Kingston, Orton decided to get some R&R before heading to. Below is video of Cathy Kelley talking to Randy Orton backstage after last night’s WWE SmackDown. Cathy asked Orton about his “tough match” against Kofi at SummerSlam. Randy Orton's wife hit him with a picture perfect RKO. WWE superstar Randy Orton is currently wrapping up his vacation in the Maldives with his wife, Kim Orton, ahead of his WWE Championship match. In his latest post, the 13-time WWE World Champion was shown washing his face in some water at the start of a video. He then stood up and received an RKO into the water from his wife, Kim Orton. This is WWE videos blog Where You watch WWE videos and WWE events.We created a list for you easily find wwe video which date and year you want watch. WWE 2K16 60 Second Fury: RKO! The Viper Randy Orton Strikes -PS4. Randy Orton has made a career out of hitting people with an RKO "Outta Nowhere." But while he was on vacation in Maldives with his wife Kim, he wound up getting nailed with the move himself. Forged in the fires of a brutal past rivalry comes a SummerSlam WWE Title showdown of destiny between WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton. WWE 2K15 John Cena vs Randy Orton Hell In A Cell PS4 Gameplay download YouTube videos. Randy Orton "The Viper", "The Apex Predator", "The Legend Killer" are just some of the names that have been awarded to Randy Orton during the 11 years in WWE. Watch as he slivers into WWE 2K15 and. The two WWE veterans meet in the middle of the ring as fans chant for WWE NXT. They lock up and go at it. Orton takes it to the corner but Triple H turns it around. Randy Orton has hit an RKO from out of nowhere on everything in the world. Now watch him get hit with one of his own. Randy Orton's wife showed how the RKO is done as she used the finishing move on her husband during their beach vacation. Orton and his wife, Kim, posted videos to Instagram showing off the finishing move with Orton spotted at the pool washing his face. Watch Randy Orton exclusive videos, interviews, video clips and more at. 15.08.2019 · After his original run as a babyface flopped in the fall of 2004, Randy Orton never seemed destined to be anything but a heel for the remainder of his career in WWE. See how Randy Orton steps into the ring in WWE 2K15 for Xbox One and PS4. WWE 12 Randy Orton Trailer THQ is bringing out The Viper to announce their brand new WWE 12 video game. WWE के सुपरस्टार रैंडी ऑर्टन Randy Orton और उनकी पत्नी का एक वीडियो सोशल मीडिया पर जमकर वायरल हो रहा है, इस वीडियो में रैंडी को किम आरकेओ RKO देती नजर आ रही हैं. Randy Orton hammers Kofi Kingston and his New Day compatriots with four RKO's following a huge six-man tag team match. 15.07.2019 · Tweet with a location. You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. Find this Pin and more on WWE 2K15 Gameplay - PS4, Xbox one, PS3, Xbox 360 - 1080p by ElementGames. What others are saying. WWE RAW 15: Randy Orton & Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar &. Randy Orton's RKO is one of the best finishing moves in WWE and has become a meme in its own right. Now, the WWE Superstar's wife has shared a video of her taking her. Randy Orton hammers Kofi Kingston with two RKO's during a huge six-man tag team match. Randy Orton's finishing maneuver, the RKO, stands for his full name, Randall Keith Orton, but is commonly mistaken for "Randy Knock-Out". Orton has been a heel villian for most of his career, as opposed to his relatively short period of being a face hero during his initial World Heavyweight Championship run. 05.07.2012 · It's absurd to think Orton's wife has gone through FOUR pregnancies and still looks like that. Randy Orton's Wife Drops Him With An RKO Video - Page 4 - Wrestling Forum: WWE, AEW, New Japan, Indy Wrestling, Women of Wrestling Forums. Der RKO mag zwar bei Extreme Rules verboten sein, aber das hielt die Viper nicht davon ab Seth Rollins bei Raw seinen Signature Move zu verpassen. Randy Orton trifft Seth Rollins mit einem RKO: Raw, 20. WWE Randy Orton: RKO Outta Nowhere Video 2016 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. UPDATE 2: Add Retro Style Randy Orton from WWE 2K15 With Ultra HD Textures and original bumps. UPDATE 3: Added Randy Orton attire from 2011 with WHC belt and T-Shirt. Belt as accessory, you can change in Trainer. Randy Orton is a professional wrestler who works for WWE's RAW brand. He is more commonly known as "the Viper" and "the Apex Predator" and was a member of the stable "Evolution." He has won the WWE championship five times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice. Lastly, Orton looked to Big E. Revival helped lift the big man off the match, and Orton came over to give him an RKO to complete the trifecta. Then he gave Kingston yet another RKO, just to be sure. WWE 2K15 is coming out on October 28 but you can get a sneak peek at a couple of wrestler entrances right now, thanks to IGN First. Videos of Randy Orton’s entrance, as well as Goldust, is. Randy Orton RKO'd the Undertaker, he then struck the Undertaker with a tire iron and set him on the back of the lowrider Mysterio had driven to the ring, he then reversed the lowrider into the SmackDown set, causing an explosion. Friend and foe alike have felt the sting of his RKO or the boom of his dreaded punt, and well into his second decade as a WWE Superstar, there’s no telling who comes next. That’s what you get with Randy Orton: Safety is never guaranteed, alliances are made to. WWE 2K16 PC Mods: Randy Orton Retro 2008 & Randy Orton 2009-10 Bald Heel Viper! These mods were created by PH_Guy for WWE 2K15 but they also work for 2K16 as I. The RKO is one of the most potent finishers in WWE history. However, depending on who employs it, Randy Orton's pending move can look adorable. WWE 2K15 let's play by MrQuoty. Hello ! On s'retrouve pour un combat videotest sur WWE 2K15 Playstation 4 entre Dean Ambrose Vs Bray Wyatt. Friend and foe alike have felt the sting of his RKO or the boom of his dreaded punt, and well into his second decade as a WWE Superstar, there’s no telling who comes next. That’s what you get with Randy Orton: Safety is never guaranteed, alliances are made to. Randy Orton's move has also been a hot topic in the meme community in the past, with the "RKO outta nowhere" videos getting viral on social media for the better part of 2016. The WWE Championship match between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton at Summerslam 11 August 2019 ended in a double countout. The RKO has often been imitated, but nothing will ever top this. WWE star Randy Orton, who’s been vacationing in the Maldives, fell victim to his own finishing move by none other than his wife. Sega. Login / Join N4G community now! Buy POP! WWE: Randy Orton at GameStop. Find release dates, customer reviews, previews, and more. Randy Orton's RKO is a sudden weapon, one that has earned the slithering Superstar victories, championships and WWE glory. At its best, it is both gorgeous and destructive. Hit the RKO with Randy Orton in Mattel WWE Elite 67! 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WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below. - WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? I’m currently reading Dead Scared by Sharon Bolton, a title I picked up on a whim when I was browsing for a quick read before the Magical Readathon N.E.W.T.s Edition starts tomorrow. I can’t believe it took me this long to meet up with Lacey Flint again! So far I’m flying through it and it’s turning out to be another winner. WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING? 1. Her Silent Cry by Lisa Regan (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW I’ve been a fan of this series ever since I read the first book about eighteen months ago. With each new meeting with Detective Josie Quinn, my love for this series is only reconfirmed all over again and each book brings the promise of yet another intense and suspenseful ride. Her Silent Cry is no exception to the rule, and already the sixth successful installment of this detective series. If you are a fan of intense and thrilling detective thrillers that pack a punch, you should definitely schedule yourself a meeting with Detective Josie Quinn soon! 2. Block 46 by Johana Gustawsson (4,5/5 stars) REVIEW 03/08 After multiple recommendations and reading fantastic reviews about both Block 46 and Keeper, I knew I could not go wrong with this series and I’ve been meaning to pick it up for quite some time now. I think the only reason I hesitated was that I knew I was going to be blown away and it would be impossible to write a decent review afterwards… Guess what? That is exactly what happened! I’m still recovering from the shock of this brilliant and harrowing read and I’m hoping I will be able to get something constructive on paper in the next few days. But in short: go get a copy and meet Emily Roy and Alexis Castells if you haven’t already!! 3. The Dark Descent Of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (0 stars; DNF at 38%) REVIEW I never in a million years would have guessed I would be having this reaction to The Dark Descent Of Elizabeth Frankenstein. I’m really sad I ended up having to make the decision to DNF The Dark Descent Of Elizabeth Frankenstein, especially as I fully expected to love this Frankenstein retelling… Was it simply the wrong book at the wrong time? Or did the unpopular opinion curse strike again? Who knows, but the fact is that this story and me really didn’t get along. 4. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (4/5 stars) REVIEW There has been so SO much hype around The Silent Patient ever since it came out earlier this year, and honestly I’ve been too afraid to pick it up myself. Hyped books and me don’t tend to get along, so I thought it was wise to stay away for the time being, but curiosity took over and I ended up giving in anyway. I’m happy to report that I definitely understand the love for this story now! True, I didn’t LOVE love The Silent Patient like most, but I still thought it was a more than solid psychological thriller that made me race through the pages like there was no tomorrow. 5. The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh (4/5 stars) REVIEW 26/08 I really enjoyed the first book of this duology back in 2015 despite the slow start, but somehow I never picked up the second book when it came out in 2016. I’m glad I finally did though, because despite the love triangle being just as annoying as ever, I really enjoyed the new developments and appearance of magic in The Rose & The Dagger. Finally reading this one also means I now have one less series to finish! 6. Física Hasta En La Sopa by Hernán Grecco (4/5 stars) BABELIO I also read and reviewed Física Hasta En La Sopa, a book I received through the Masa Crítica Argentina program at Babelio and was provided to me by the publisher earlier this month. This title can’t be found on Goodreads and as it’s only 48 pages long anyway, I won’t count it towards my read books this year… If you are interested in what I thought of this title, you can find my review (in Spanish) clicking the Babelio link above. It’s a great website for anyone who reads in Spanish! - WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT? The Magical Readathon N.E.W.T.s edition starts tomorrow, and during the month of August I will only be reading titles that fit the different prompts… First up are An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena and Apple Of My Eye by Claire Allan; both titles I’ve been looking forward to finally read. I also plan to read Outrun The Moon by Stacey Lee soon. My latest TBR jar pick is still The Cellar by Natasha Preston, which I will definitely pick up later in August as soon as I have ‘unlocked’ the prompt it belongs to.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan blessed a Baby Boy Kareena Kapoor Khan was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai and gave birth to a child on on 21 February. Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan have been blessed with their second child. Kareena Kapoor Khan was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai and gave birth to a child on 21 February. Ever since the Veere Di Wedding actress announced her second pregnancy, the enthusiasm for Taimur Ali Khan's younger sister has skyrocketed in all fans of the couple. Taimur Ali Khan was born in 2016 and has since become a favorite of Munkka Paparazzi. He is imprisoned by the camera every time he walks out and has a lot of meme made on him. Originally, the child became a star the moment he was born. Gradually, the child also began to wave the cameras back and fondled her fondly. Now, when his younger brother is here, it will be interesting to see if he is camera friendly like his brother.The son of Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, Taimur is now the elder brother of a baby boy. The four-year-old was seen in a car on a hospital visit on Sunday afternoon.

Bellarine Times, Australia written by Jessica Nicol 09/05/2018 The third biennial Mountain to Mouth event saw walkers follow the lead sculpture Canoe (created by Ocean Grove artist Kerrie Bedson in collaboration with US-based artist Leslie Pearson) from the You Yangs to Barwon Heads. WALKERS from across Victoria converged on the City of Greater Geelong and the Borough of Queenscliffe as part of the third biennial Mountain to Mouth (M2M) event. M2M is an extreme 80-kilometre arts walk that draws thousands of people to take part in three main ceremonies, the gathering of the Elders at Big Rock; the gathering of the city as part of Geelong After Dark and on Saturday night, the gathering of the elements on the Barwon Heads foreshore. Walkers followed the lead sculpture Canoe (created by Ocean Grove artist Kerrie Bedson in collaboration with US-based artist Leslie Pearson) from the You Yangs to Barwon Heads; Canoe was a commission made possible by Deakin University. Following tradition, the walk culminated in the burning of Canoe, sent out to sea on the Meme, named in honour of founding artistic director Meme McDonald. Mayor Bruce Harwood said the event managed to showcase a different side of Geelong. “The weather certainly didn’t dampen spirits and Mountain to Mouth once again proved to be one of our most community-spirited events, showcasing a unique side of Geelong,” Cr Harwood said. “Thank you to all of the supporters that enable this award-winning event to take place and congratulations to the hardworking officers at the City, whose commitment delivers an exceptional experience for the community.” In keeping with the 2018 theme, artistic director Margie Mackay wove a narrative of hope for the earth; that which sustains; that which nourishes; and that which heals. The nine songline stations and the three ceremonies embodied Mackay’s ethos and in turn, further consolidated the foundation of this multi-award-winning event. Members of Geelong Sustainability Photo: MICHAEL CHAMBERS The Mountain to Mouth extreme arts walk came to a spectacular end at the mouth of the Barwon River on Saturday night.

Its Real - Candi Staton - Candi Staton (Vinyl, LP, Album), la Meme Chanson - Nefaste (2) - Dans Mon Monde (CD, Album), Fare Thee Well - Gregory Page - Fare Thee Well (CD, Album), Da Wamperte, Da Glatzerte Und I - W.Ambros* - Alt & Jung (CD), La Milonga Del Duende - Giuseppe Frippi - Desert Wind (CD, Album), I Cover The Waterfront - Artie Shaw - So Easy (CD, Album), The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye (Bassflow Remake Radio Edit) - Various - Mr Music Hits 10-2012 (CD), The Boogie Nazis - Four Years And Still Swimming (CDr), Witch Doctor - Wisconsin Singers - Celebrate! (CD, Album), Sinking Ship - Cedric Myton & The Congos - Face The Music (Vinyl, LP), Werther (Drame Lyrique In Four Acts), Black Terra (Truncate Remix) - Flex (34) - Black Terra EP (File, MP3) Otto Wood, the Bandit is the best song, next probably Little Sadie. The version of Rising Sun Blues is also fantastic. We Shall All Be Reunited is good too. The album has more instrumental guitar work than the first album. I prefer the songs when Doc sings.

Again today, I’m joining hosts Girlxoxo, Traveling with T and Estella’s Revenge for their annual #AMonthofFaves blog event – “a fun way to recap the year that was” with “every day of the event (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) planned out” and a link-up on all their blogs. Today’s topic is “This Is How We Read and Blogged This Year.” How I Read In three words: Slowly and intermittently. By the numbers: - 35 books. - 2 nonfiction. - 6 books I rated 5 stars on Goodreads. - 20 I rated 4 stars. Most 3.5, rounded up. - At least 20 ebooks returned unread. - 6 DNFs counted on Goodreads. - At least 3 others that I DNFed. In 2019, my goal as I mentioned in my last blog post is to read 50 books since this is the year that I turn 50. What I Read The 35 books were (in alphabetical order): - All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot - American by Day by Derek B. Miller - American Street by Ibi Zoboi - Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue - Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by by Ta-Nehisi Coates (writer), Brian Stelfreeze (artist), Joe Sabino (letterer), Manny Mederos (designer), Rian Hughes (logo designer), Jack Kirby (writer, artist), and Laura Martin - Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke - Colosseum: Poems by Katie Ford - The Cruelest Month, the third Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, by Louise Penny - Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown - A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien - The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason - The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly - The Late Show by Michael Connelly - Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli - Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith - Normandy Gold by Megan Abbott, Alison Gaylin and Steve Scott (illustrator) - Pago Pago Tango by John Enright - Pines, the first in the Wayward Pines series, by Blake Crouch - The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo - Queenpin: A Novel by Megan Abbot - Rebound by Kwame Alexander - The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien - Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source) - Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source) - Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source) - Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source) - The River Why by David James Duncan - She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper - Still Life, the first Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, by Louise Penny - Tangerine by Christine Mangan - The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith How I Blogged In one word: Consistently, at least once a week. By the numbers: 78 posts. Most of them were Sunday Salon posts, with a few readathon posts, several readathon posts, and a few What We’re Watching Wednesday posts with my wife. With every blog I’ve ever had, I always try to write several blog posts a week and inevitably fail. This one is no different as once again this year, I attempted some new themes, but failed. I do better at one theme/meme: The Sunday Salon, with readathons mixed in. So in 2019, that’s what I’m going to stick to: Mainly one blog post per week with a couple of readathons mixed in, namely Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon and 24in48 Readathon. How was your reading and blogging this year?

An effective social media marketing plan is an essential part of running a dropshipping business in the digital age. Your customers expect you to be available through multiple channels. It’s not enough just to be there. You need to constantly post attention-grabbing information for boosting your sales, and that’s why a stock of great Facebook and Instagram post ideas for business is a must! It can be a huge challenge to come up with fresh ideas for your social media content especially when you need to post something regularly on several platforms. Here is the list of engaging social media content ideas that will give you inspiration on what to post and help you beat writer’s block. #1 Instagram post ideas: using video content As everyone has noticed, videos have become even more popular during the lockdown. By the end of 2020, online videos will drive 82% of web traffic. What does it mean? If you give up the idea of sharing videos, you’ll lose the reach and engagement of your social media accounts. That means less attention to your products and lower sales. Social media platforms provide so many options to choose from: - Live videos (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram) - Tik Tok - In-feed videos (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest) Our recommendation is to try multiple ones and choose the best options for your business. #2 User-generated content User-generated content (UGC) is another significant part of the content strategy for online stores. UGC is the content created by your customers specifically for your products. UGC can include video clips, images, testimonials, reviews, etc. The main purpose of posting such content on your site or social media accounts is to build trust. Statista reports that over 93% of global digital shoppers read customer reviews before buying something from an unfamiliar digital retailer. What’s more, 85% of consumers find user-generated content more influential than brand-created content. One of the most effective ways to encourage your customers to share their feedback and experiences on social media platforms is to offer them a discount on the next purchase in return. You can ask them to use a particular hashtag and mention your brand name that will increase awareness. #3 Product photos as the basis for your Instagram post ideas If possible, take your own photos of the products you’re offering. These photos shouldn’t look like the catalogue pictures or be identical to the ones already posted in your online store. Try new approaches! Group products in sets, take their pictures on different backgrounds, or simply show them in a new way. Your photos should be unique and stand out in your followers’ feeds. #4 Flash sales First of all, flash sales are always urgent and time-specific. As a result, they can trigger fear of missing out. Second, such sales are only available to your followers exclusively. This helps your audience feel like they are part of a private community of just a chosen few. That’s very flattering to a customer and adds value to your offer. To make it work to its best, make sure you’ve specified the time frame: for example, January 8th, 7 pm – 10 pm (Pacific time) only! This isn’t something we recommend you to do too often, otherwise your audience will get used to it. Keep an eye on your engagement to see what is the right offer frequency for your audience. #5 Micro-influencers’ posts Micro-influencers are just regular people who have a particular interest in some area. They should have around 10,000 – 50,000 followers. The main advantage of working with them is their audience: it’s a tight-knit community, highly engaged in this micro-influencer’s activity. Contact them, and offer your free product in exchange for mentioning their experience with you in one of their posts. For the cost of your product, you’ve just reached out to thousands of people who truly value this micro-influencer feedback. It is essential for the customers to know that their opinion is important. So if you ask a question that they can answer by ticking a box, you can be sure that they will engage with that post. Creating a poll on social media is all about such simple steps for boosting your business engagement. Getting people involved with just a simple poll can help you turn your business into the right direction. Try to create a poll based on your store niche. Thanks to this, you can see what problems your customers are concerned about and help them solve them with your products. Trust us, as statistics show, memes are loved by everyone. 90% of the information people process is done visually, so meme images are an easy way to grab people’s attention and introduce your brand to your customers. It’s also a great way to give your brand a bit of personality. But be careful when it comes to humor. Don’t post anything too risky or controversial as it’s likely to damage your reputation and even turn customers away from you. Do you know that stories are a huge social media marketing trend? At the moment, this is the fastest developing trend on social media and its growth numbers certainly indicate that stories are here to stay. The number of Instagram Stories’ daily active users grew five times, from 100 million in 2016 to 500 million in 2020. Not bad, right? So use this platform for your business. Tell your customers about your products, show them ‘how to use’ videos, and share your achievements. This will help you stay in touch more with your customers. #9 New products Don’t forget to put your items in the spotlight! Make the most of your social networks for this purpose. You can warm up your potential customers with teasers featuring a new product even before its official announcement. Tell them about its uniqueness and affordability, use different advertising strategies, and you’re bound to make them curious. Customers often experience a lack of trust that can stop them from making a purchase. When you introduce your potential client to visual information using infographics, the level of trust increases, primarily due to the fact that people trust numbers. The use of infographics as a visual aid can help you persuade your customers to take action. Also, images affect people more than text, don’t forget about that. BONUS: Best time to post on your social media accounts As you can guess, there’s no universal time frame that would be perfect for every business to use for posting on social media. It depends on a large number of factors. But even though our tips might not get you an exact time that’s perfect for your audience, you’ll get a great starting point! And thanks to this, you will be able to experiment and find your perfect time. Best time to post on Instagram Researchers say that the best time to post on Instagram is generally between 9 am and 11 am (local time), but we have a better idea for you. If you have a business account on Instagram, you can check when your followers are active and engaged. Go to your profile on the Instagram app, click on your right corner, then find Insights. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll get access to followers’ activity charts for each day of the week. For more detailed instructions check Instagram’s Account Insights guidelines. In our experience, the best strategy is to post several times every day during the peak activity hours as seen from your brand’s Insights. Best time to post on Facebook Hootsuite analyzed 300 brands and found the best times to post on Facebook: - The best time is 11 am and 1 – 2 pm (Eastern Standart Time) on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. - Generally, 9 am – 3 pm on weekdays is the safest timeframe to post - Sundays, early mornings and evenings have the least amount of engagement during the week. Of course, every business has its own specifics! Experiment with your posting time, and you will definitely find your winning recipe of posting on social media. What to remember when you look for Facebook and Instagram post ideas? Ecommerce businesses need to make extra efforts to ensure their content is engaging and interactive. Quality posts enable them to establish their authority, increase their conversion rates and drive traffic on an ongoing basis. But there isn’t a one-size-fits-all content marketing strategy for every store — you need to find and understand your target audience and create a content plan based on the unique knowledge. The above tips can give you some ideas on what to post on your social media and how to build trust with your audience. And wherever you need a hand with your Facebook and Instagram post ideas, we are excited to create engaging social media posts for you!

Seriously, is the Golden State Warriors pair disrespecting the TBL in this ESPN promo ad…? Deron Williams played there, you know… Shout out to heinnews for the tip. Episode #46 of the BallinEurope/heinnews co-produced “Taking the Charge” podcast series is now available online or via iTunes. We’re very pleased to have guesting on the show this week none other than former University of New Mexico Lobos head coach/current ESPN college basketball analyst and commentator/fantastic tweeter Fran Fraschilla. Since Fraschilla was in attendance at […] Podcast: Talking Euroleague Final Four, Liga Endesa with Jeff Taylor; also lamenting the Lakers, reviewing ESPN 30 for 30 doc “From Elway to Marino” Another week, another “Taking the Charge” podcast. Available now through heinnews or iTunes, it’s once again lotsa talk on European basketball and other sports. BallinEurope and heinnews this week host Jeff Taylor, Spain-based writer for Basketball World News and FIBA.com. With Spain as the main item on the chat menu this week, we analyze the […] On this day/evening of the 85th Academy Awards over in Hollywood, BallinEurope in turn celebrates excellence in basketball-centric films of 2012. Third of the four Oscar (Robertson) Awards to be given here is for the category of Best Television Documentary. In tribute/homage/ripoff to that movie-award ceremony thing going on in Los Angeles this evening PST, BallinEurope bestows its own prizes for the best in basketball movies released and/or screened during the year that was — as BiE refers to them, the Oscar (Robertson)s. Second of the four Oscar (Robertson) Awards for 2012 is the result […] Happy new year wishes go out to everyone in online basketball land this evening from BallinEurope and BiE’ll even throw in a gift as bonus: 2013’s first episode in the “Taking the Charge” podcast series hosted over at heinnews.com. This week, host David Hein and yours truly sit for interviews with Sonny Weems in a […] As Los Angeles Lakers fandom giddily awaits the possible debut of Mike D’Antoni on the bench tonight and the emergence of the superteam most observers expected, the inevitable whispers are beginning: Yes, Pau Gasol appears to be on some imaginary trading blocks (and perhaps even the actual one) already. As BallinEurope understands it, the thinking […] With 13 games to play tonight in the EuroBasket 2013 qualifying round, BallinEurope takes a quick look around the blogosphere regarding a few subplots, storylines and players to watch. We’ll do this in the time-honored tradition of the ESPN TrueHoop Network, i.e. bullet-style. ● Some in the Spurs Nation were enthused with Davis Bertans’ play […] In hopes that the Rudy Fernandez flop in the Spain vs. USA gold-medal game goes viral, here’s a soon-to-be-meme of ol’ Rudy demonstrating his skills in the video game medium courtesy Ali Traore. Brilliant stuff. And for comparison’s sake, here’s the actual melodramatic-unto-artistic flop itself, which as Beckley Mason of ESPN TrueHoop notes “was worthwhile […] While we’re a little ways away from actually awarding medals for 2012 Olympic basketball, the first round showed international hoops fans quite a lot. Though the fat lady hasn’t sung yet, reputations have changed over the past five games to cause some individual and/or teams losses beyond these Olympics. BallinEurope today takes a look at […] Though not actually about European basketball, last night’s USA 86, Argentina 80 pre-Olympic friendly result leads BallinEurope to put forth a few talking points from the notebook (and highlight clips, of course)… • Perhaps slightly flawed as a whole, the truth is that Team USA still has the best three players in the world right […] Quick! Before those memories of basketball championships European and NBA fade completely, take a brief look back at the season that was – one crazy one on The Continent that began with Tony Parker, Ty Lawson and Mehmet Okur playing over here and concluded with titles taken by King James and Emperor Spanoulis. Get out […]

Jouk Pleiter is the CEO and co-founder of Backbase, a software company helping banks with their digital transformation. The current pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital solutions and will only accelerate the adoption of technology globally. As Pleiter explains, digital transformation is not so much a destination but rather a journey of continuous self-improvement There’s a meme that did the rounds on social media at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. It showed a mock survey that asked “Who led the digital transformation of your company. Is it a) the CEO b) the CTO c) Covid-19?” The third answer is circled… With a quarter of the world in strict lockdown and either working or confined at home, the internet has been people’s window to the world. Home schooling, e-commerce, tele-medicine, streaming, digital subscriptions have all seen a massive uptake. Companies and organizations are experimenting new ideas at a scale and speed that were unimaginable only a few months back. The pandemic in many cases has also exposed those who have delayed their digital transition. The banking sector has been cognizant of the tech revolution for a while now. Fintech has been knocking at its door for many years and, from digital banking to high frequency trading, technology has been at the forefront of the transformation of banking, enabling banks to reduce costs and to gain an edge over their competitors. So how are they faring. Jouk Pleiter started his company 15 years ago. As a digital entrepreneur, he’s been building tech companies all his life. He saw that banks were struggling with their digital transformation, where solutions appeared clunky and different operations of the banks operated in a disjointed way. As a result he developed solutions for banks to help digitize their processes. Today the company has 1,000 employees, of which 50% are focused exclusively on product development – effectively R&D. Having seen the industry evolve he believes that digital transformation is as relevant today as it’s ever been. There are two key elements of a successful digital strategy, he explains. First, transformation needs to be seen as a journey rather than a project. And that journey is continuous. The second is that it needs full buy-in from senior management. “Top management needs to be completely convinced and committed to digital transformation. My biggest recommendation typically to executives is to stay as close as possible to the actual development teams on the ground and to have an active dialogue, to help guide them and align on strategic priorities. The idea is that these teams can operate independently and autonomously but that they also need to get strategic business input.” Banks, he argues, need to start thinking like the big digital disruptors, the Googles, Ubers and Netflix of these worlds that have managed to “seamlessly orchestrate customer interactions”. This mindset change is critical to be able to move from legacy systems to a new way of interacting with your end user, he says. Banks have over the years grown to operate in silos, he says, adding different services and solutions in a patch-like way. They started with branches and ATMs; then added call centers; then internet banking; now mobile banking. But what he saw when he launched his company 15 years ago was that each customer interaction channel operated separately. They were not one seamless interconnected structure. The biggest disruption to finance in the past decade on the continent has been the rise of mobile payments. Nearly 50% of all mobile payments take place in Africa. Because of Covid-19, we have seen governments using this technology to disburse social payment schemes including to workers from the informal sector. Pleiter agrees that mobile is the future for the continent. And that the challenge for banks is to ensure that there is no friction in terms of the user experience. A lot of banks are still far away from that seamless integrated customer experience. In terms of mobile wallets he sees it as a great way to move away from a cash based society and to raise the level of financial inclusion. The next step will be to merge these wallets within the more traditional banking services, and there lies the opportunity. But he is keen to stress that success will be based on the ability of banks to provide a frictionless experience, and that means having a platform that is omnichannel, so that the user through one platform can access different products but also receive the customer or human assisted support he may require. As a result he says that it is “impossible just to streamline and orchestrate these customer facing interactions if you do not have the capability also to include employees as part of the process.” In other words you need to think about the internal systems and “screens” at the same time as the external user experience. Backbase’s client base is truly global, working with banks in developed markets such as Europe, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the US and fast-growth emerging markets such as Kenya. Traditionally they have worked with medium-sized to large banks. A lot of banks cannot afford to build massive R&D teams themselves and this is where they come in, providing off-the-shelf cloud-based solutions and working with the banks to implement these. The company provides a full suite of digital banking services to provide a seamless customer experience across all channels. Backbase acts as a digital hub that unifies data and functionality so a bank can plug and play by connecting existing solutions from Backbase and fintech players with their traditional core system. He doesn’t see bandwidth or low internet penetration as a concern and is actually impressed by what he sees on the continent. Costs are going down, he says, both in terms of data and devices. On a recent trip to Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria he noted that digital transformation was at the top of CEOs’ and senior executives’ priorities. From his experience in other emerging markets, he feels that they can leapfrog Western markets, which are held back somewhat by their systems and current structures. Cloud-based solutions, like pay-as-you-go, allow you to skip that whole IT investment cycle. They’re working with several banks on the continent. So how does Africa fare in terms of innovations, compared to more advanced economies and other emerging markets? On the plus side, Pleiter thinks the regulatory environment is pretty flexible and is not an obstacle to innovation. One possible constraint is the lack of engineers, or digital talent as he calls it, even if he acknowledges it’s a universal problem. To overcome this, they are currently developing a digital coding school in Kenya and what he calls nearshore development centers where people are certified with IOS Android and Java development to ensure they have the digital development capacity available for their clients in the African continent. He is convinced that the market is ready for digital innovations but if they’re to survive the new players in the market, as we’re seeing with the rise of fintechs, they will have to show a true commitment to go digital. They need to have a Silicon Valley like culture of continuous innovation and own the journey to innovate for their own customers, he explains. So what are the next steps? “Backbase will give you a lot of accelerators which you can adopt and you can go to market with very fast. But the beauty is that it also gives you a lot of flexibility at the same time to innovate on your own and to build your own unique custom features.” Banks will survive disruptors and have the foundations to really grow their markets, he says. All they need is the will to embark on the journey.

Market FOMO Rising; Disney Plus Ultra Mr. FOMO Risin’ If you ever needed clear proof that the stock market does not represent the U.S. economy, today provided it. The U.S. Department of Labor announced that 6.6 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. The latest data bring the total of new claims to more than 16 million for the past three weeks. That’s 10% of the U.S. workforce gone. Poof. Vanished into the novel coronavirus tainted air. How did Wall Street react to this economic travesty? With a rally, of course. But, in Wall Street’s defense, it was distracted by shiny objects — $2.3 trillion worth of shiny objects, to be precise. To keep investors from looking behind the curtain, the Federal Reserve announced a $2.3 trillion lending package to support the economy. Fed Chairman Oz — er, Jerome Powell declared that the central bank will “provide as much relief and stability as we can.” You can read all the nitty-gritty details here — including the Fed’s plan to buy junk corporate bonds. (This literally can’t go belly up, right?) But Powell wasn’t alone in defending the U.S. economy. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street that the U.S. could open back up in May. Mnuchin noted that the Trump administration was doing “everything necessary that American companies and American workers can be open for business and that they have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim.” I want to believe, dear readers. I truly do. I want to believe that, once the COVID-19 threat passes, everything will magically return to normal … that businesses will quickly rehire 16 million Americans and get us all back to work. I want to believe that the Fed’s $2.3 trillion announcement, the Treasury Secretary’s appearance on a major financial TV show and the revelation of 6.6 million new jobless claims happening on the same day is just a coincidence. (Hint: It’s not.) I also want to believe that the recent market rally is the start of a new bull market … that there’s no more risk left in the system … and that rainbows and monkeys will fly out of my … well, you get the picture. Right now, if you’re following Great Stuff’s recommendations, you’re likely experiencing a heavy dose of “fear of missing out,” or FOMO. You’ve got that FOMO risin’. And it’s gonna keep on risin’. But you and I, we didn’t just get into town about an hour ago. We know which way the wind blows. We know that the economic bill for the COVID-19 shutdown has to come due sooner or later. Wall Street can ignore weekly jobless claims. It can ignore a trickle of economic data here and there — especially when the Fed chair and the Treasury Secretary are giving stump speeches. What Wall Street can’t ignore is the flood of bad economic data that’s coming … or the wave of horrendous corporate earnings reports that will follow. It will be interesting to see how much ammunition the Fed has left when the inevitable comes. Editor’s Note: With the whole biotech sector screaming “pandemic!” there’s never been a better time to find undiscovered biotech diamonds. Today, expert Jeff Yastine has his eye on one biotech stock that he believes is set to soar. Click here now to learn more! The Good: Disney Plus Ultra My wife jokingly refers to The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) as a “people trap built by a mouse.” Judging by how crowded the company’s theme parks were before the COVID-19 shutdown, she’s not wrong. With the launch of Disney+ last year, the mouse now has a digital trap as well. And boy, is it effective. According to Disney, its new streaming service now has 50 million paid subscribers, up from just 28.6 million in February. That’s a 75% jump in roughly two months! The surprising growth even put the most bullish of analyst projections to shame. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) predicted 40 million subs by the end of 2020. The end of 2020. Disney is now on pace to easily top its original estimate of 60 million to 90 million Disney+ subscribers by 2024. What’s more, the service just launched in India in February, and it expanded heavily across Europe in late March. That means more subscriber growth will come this year — especially with launches in Japan, Western Europe and Latin America coming later in 2020. While Disney+ revenue won’t replace lost park revenue due to COVID-19, it puts the company in a leading position in the streaming market heading into a post-quarantine world. DIS is high on Great Stuff’s list for a potential buy once things settle down. The Bad: Not Enough Panic-Buying? The COVID-19 outbreak was initially illustrated with images of shopping carts filled to the breaking point — mostly with toilet paper. Retailers clearly stood to benefit from the panic-buying, and today, we got a glimpse at one of panic-buyers’ biggest targets: Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq: COST). Sales skyrocketed for Costco in March, with same-store sales spiking 12.1% on the month. But analysts had their hopes set higher … much higher. The average consensus estimate for Costco’s March sales growth sits at 24.1%. So, despite seriously impressive sales growth, Costco still missed expectations. Furthermore, Costco said that sales of non-essential products, such as electronics and apparel, hurt overall sales figures. Store hours and store closures due to COVID-19 also negatively impacted sales. Now, if COST stock was down just because it missed some overinflated analyst figures, I’d say the shares are a bargain on today’s sell-off. However, we all know that 12.1% sales growth isn’t sustainable. This is doubly true when you consider that 16 million Americans have now filed for unemployment. Costco will likely see sales growth decline — slowly due to stimulus efforts, but they will still decline. In fact, we may have seen the peak for consumer spending this year, and that doesn’t bode well for COST. The Ugly: Grounded Airline stocks soared today. Investors likely banked on hopes that the U.S. will be open for business by next month — thanks Mnuchin! But, if investors think that there won’t be plenty of turbulence ahead, they’re sorely mistaken. Right now, airlines such as Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL) are all counting on a government bailout. They’re losing tens of millions of dollars a day due to COVID-19 quarantines and travel bans. Roughly $29 billion was earmarked for the airline bailout, but none of that cash is flowing. According to reports, the Department of the Treasury is asking for more financial information before letting the spice flow. In fact, the data requested appear more akin to a loan process than a cash grant application, according to sources. There are two takeaways here: First, bailout cash for airlines isn’t flowing out right now, and it probably won’t for a while longer. Second, that cash will come with more strings attached than airlines and investors expect. This isn’t a carte blanche bailout. And with traffic expected to remain low even after the all-clear sounds, airline stocks will certainly get hammered once again. It’s that time again! Today, we dive headfirst into the Great Stuff inbox and see what you and your fellow readers are pondering this week. Are you pondering what I’m pondering? I think so, Mr. Great Stuff, but if they called them “sad meals” no one would buy them. Let’s get right to it: Quick Climbs for Fast Times Just a quick thought- If it’s the fastest time to reach a bear market, what is stopping it from turning into the fastest time to reach a bull market? After the virus issues subside of course. Everything appears to be happening at such a faster pace these days. — Bill M. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Bill! Now, as time has lost all meaning and distinction since my kids started staying home from school, everything’s passing faster and slower at the same time. Anyway, here’s the one thing that can prevent an even faster leap back into a bull market: uncertainty. It’s a day trader’s delight but an investor’s kryptonite. We just hit 10% unemployment at the end of a supposed “relief rally” that included a 50% Dow retracement. If that doesn’t scream “uncertainty” ahead, nothing does. On Idiots and Followers We have alot of idiots fallowing the leader of the idiots. — Tom D. The best part is that I can’t tell which political, economic or health figure you’re talking about … and yet, I’m still strangely inclined to agree with you, Tom. Crown Castles Made of Sand Hello. Some of my most recession resistant stocks: AMT and CCI are holding steady … at least so far. Both also pay dividends. — Brent J. I want to hark back to an older email, dated March 17. Back in the thick of March madness, we were talking about crash-proof stocks and how to weather the storm. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the rest of your ultra secret picks, Brent! (They’re good dogs, Brent! It’s an old meme, sir, but it checks out.) Though, I see you have the 5G trend covered from the cell tower side of things. And I sure hope you held on — if not added to your position! Both American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) and Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) have already bounced back to February’s pre-devastation levels. If any of you readers out there timed that rebound, nicely done! If not, you might want to wait for more volatility (and oh, it’s a-comin’) to find a better entry price. Thank you to Bill, Tom, Brent and everyone else who wrote in! Have you written to us yet? If not, what’s stopping you?! We always look forward to hearing your market takes, stock ideas, rants, raves, recipes, conspiracy theories and whatever else you’ve been cooking up while quarantined. Drop us a line at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com and feel free to speak your mind. Until next time, be Great! Editor, Great Stuff

Ъ-Ы-Ь-Э-Ю-Я. If you have ever tried to learn Russian you must have come across this sequence of letters, which comes at the very end of the Russian alphabet. With Э-Ю-Я, things are more or less clear, and we have already tackled the hard and the soft signs separately, so let's sort out Ы, one of the most unpronounceable of letters. Still from the film "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures"Leonid Gaidai/Mosfilm, 1965 The popular Soviet film director, Leonid Gaidai, was the first to have a laugh at the expense of this letter. In one of the most famous Soviet comedies, "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures" (the letter “Y” is commonly substituted for Ы in the film’s English-language title), one of the stories that make up the film is dedicated to the letter Ы. Essentially, the intention is to show the utter absurdity of an operation by a group of bungling criminals who try to stage a fake break-in at a warehouse. One of the dim-witted characters suggests calling it, “Operation Ы", "so that no-one will guess". In Russia, even if you search for Ы on Google, the film will come up first, and only then a Wikipedia article about Ы. For young people, however, whose cultural references are unlikely to include the Soviet film classics, the Ы sound conveys its own particular shade of meaning. In the language of internet communication, Ы, as well as "Ыыыыы", means something like laughter, the Russian equivalent of LOL. However, if a Russian simply wants to convey a smile or a laugh, he or she is more likely to use brackets, like this: ))). As for Ы, it most often signifies a sarcastic smirk in response to a dumb joke or moronic meme. Try to push your lower jaw forward and to pronounce a drawn-out "Ыыыы", and then you'll get it. The Old Church Slavonic scriptPublic domain Like almost all the other letters in the modern Russian alphabet, the letter Ы came into the Russian language from the Old Church Slavonic Cyrillic alphabet created by the followers of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century. It was from the Old Church Slavonic script that the written language of Ancient Russia developed after the conversion to Christianity in 988. In the times before widespread literacy, this sound (which is essentially a variant of И after hard consonants) was common to all Slavs, and survived in other Slavic languages for some time afterwards. Subsequently the sound Ы, for example in the Czech, Slovak and southern Slavic languages, merged with the sound И, but it survived in one form or another in Russian, Polish (letter Y), Ukrainian (letter И), Belorussian and Rusyn. This is one of the very first rules that Russian children learn at school. After the so-called “sh-like” consonants Ж and Ш, it is impossible to pronounce И, and in such cases the letter sounds much like Ы - as in "жизнь" (“life”) or "машина" ("machine"). However, in the Old Russian language all four of the “sh-like” consonants were soft (nowadays only Ч and Щ are), and so the spelling with И took root. Incidentally, you won't have problems pronouncing ЧИ or ЩИ. Another problem arose with the letter Ц (in Old Russian the sound Ц was also soft), after which you also get an Ы sound, but sometimes it is spelled with И - as in "цифра" (“digit”) or "цилиндр" ("cylinder"). At school, children learn a saying by heart that helps them remember the roots of the words in which Ы is written after Ц - Цыган на цыпочках цыпленку цыкнул цыц (A gypsy on tiptoe hushed a chick by saying "shush!"). But at the end of words ЦЫ comes up often - for example, when adding a possessive suffix - "курица" - "курицын" ("chicken" - "chicken’s"). Incidentally, many surnames were formed this way - for example, Солженицын (Solzhenitsyn). It is also encountered in nouns in the plural that have an Ы ending - "улицы" ("streets") - or in adjectives ending in "ый" - "куцый" ("bobtailed"). A postcard marks the 100th anniversary of Kyzyl city foundationPublishing trade center "Marka" The letter Ы is often encountered in unusual combinations in words borrowed from the Caucasian and Turkic languages of Asian peoples. In such cases all the rules are scrapped and even ЖЫ and ШЫ are quite conceivable - for example, in Kazakh, there are toponyms such as the town of Шымкент (Shymkent). This spelling exists for historical reasons, as a result of the Russian Empire's relations with its neighbors or the opening up of Siberia. For instance, Russia has a republic called Тыва (Tyva, also known as Tuva) with a capital city called Кызыл (Kyzyl); there is an upland ridge in the northern Urals called Ыджыдпарма (Ydzhydparma) and a river with the name Ыгыатта (Ygyatta) in Yakutia despite the fact that traditionally words starting with Ы simply do not exist in the Russian language! Also, over the long history of the Soviet Union a tradition evolved of transliterating toponyms, as well as personal and other names using the Russian alphabet. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. to our newsletter! Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox

Rules. 43 Photos Some of the funniest GIFs and most popular reaction GIFs come from the funniest celebrities. Reaction 2. When to use it: When you just can’t hold back your emotions or want to sarcastically overreact — or, if you’re feeling particularly mean, mock someone else’s overreaction to whatever situation is at hand. With Tenor, maker of GIF Keyboard, add popular Dancing animated GIFs to your conversations. Check out the best funny, sexy, celebrity, reaction GIFs and more. Warning: Using this GIF while Old may not actually make you appear more hip. #BlackBuzzfeed: 33 Of The Most Epic Paternity Test Reaction GIFS Of All Time! When you can shorthand “blinking white guy” and have people understand exactly which blinking white guy you’re talking about, your reaction GIF has reached peak internet saturation. Danielle Young, Associate Editor . 10,461 views MRW I’ve been working for 12 hours and my register stalls for 2 seconds and the customer says “Ha well I guess it’s free then!” Email; 88% funny 1.53M views. Yes, please! Origin: The 2012 episode of Community that spawned this GIF was nominated for an Emmy, and this “everything is on fire” moment is even funnier in the context of the scene it’s part of. But if you just want to declare your unwavering support for someone online, go forth and slow clap them all the way home. Here’s what to know. Health experts say you should avoid optional trips whenever you can. When you SUBMIT your videos to iCHIVE on a Friday each video that gets used on one of Chive Media Group’s properties, we’ll pay you $50!. These Are The Absolute Best Selfies of 2014 . Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources. If you’re committed to a contextual reading, you should save this GIF for times when you’re mocking someone who’s standing alone in their commitment to an unwise idea. Origin: One of the newest additions to the reaction GIF canon has been everywhere this year. Origin: This is actually a pivotal moment for Dawson’s Creek fans — it’s the season three finale, “True Love,” and the decisive moment comes when our (controversial) hero, Dawson, loses it over his realization that the girl he loves would be better off with her much healthier soul mate ... who isn’t him. The famous moment reportedly wasn’t scripted — Van Der Beek–as–Dawson was just that upset. And many people thought it summed up the national zeitgeist then. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today, from as little as $3. Nothing says, "You did a really good job!" “It’s as perfect an episode of television as I’ve ever seen,” Ortved says. Use it whenever you want to make an exit and leave ’em wanting more, or react to someone doing likewise. But before that happens, TIME is here to rank the best The Office memes ever that the show has inspired in the nearly 15 years since its March 2005 debut — and boy, are there a lot to choose from. The schedule, livestream, and everything else to know for the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States. Everything you need to know about Biden’s inauguration. 15 Brutally Funny 'Game of Thrones' Memes. Adam West … Origin: This famous GIF features actor Nathan Fillion in Castle’s title role, … When to use it: In context, the reactions from the fans surrounding Supa are meant to be over the top. When to use it: Whenever Nathan Fillion’s speechlessness (see #6) just isn’t quite enough to convey your level of speechlessness. Ryan Reynolds-I Like Me Millions rely on Vox’s explainers to understand an increasingly chaotic world. The most bizarre thing about Trump’s farewell speech is how normal it sounds. The GIF is now 30 years old, but it already feels immortal — possibly because it’s already outlasted the internet’s most turbulent periods of evolution. So a protest of sorts involves people harassing them with buckets on their heads. So basically, anywhere and everywhere. When to use it: This GIF is usually read as a mic drop moment, even though Peggy is technically entering her new office for the first time. A reaction gif is a physical or emotional response that is captured in an animated gif which you can link in response to someone or something on the Internet. It is very dangerous and they do it all the time. You probably need a better mask, too. Biden’s key national security picks had their confirmation hearings. When to use: You’ve walked into an awkward situation, or just stumbled upon a major internet can of worms that you’d prefer not to open. The reaction must not be in response to something that happens within the gif, or it is considered a "scene." The average (median) reaction time is 215 milliseconds, according to the data collected so far. Origin: Jim Henson’s most famous Muppet is known for his frequent flailing jags on The Muppet Show, and this GIF captures the height of that tendency. newsletter. Origin: When President Obama finished his remarks at his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2016, he literally dropped the mic. You can find all that and more in the action genre. For those who don't have the show in their rotation, it is ripped from the fourth episode of Season 7. User's All Time Best Movies; Streaming: Netflix; Amazon; Hulu; iTunes; Top Movies Right Now. Yes. Leo O’Donovan and Rev. When to use it: This GIF is tricky because, while its subject is fiercely clapping, contextually we know that the target of his applause is objectively Not Great, Bob. one of the greatest parody rap battle videos on YouTube, hearing Susan Boyle sing for the first time, Donald Trump just issued a surprise pardon for the man at the center of an epic fight between Google and Uber. When to use it: Whenever someone disappoints you, and the internet collectively, as they inevitably will because life isn’t fair. The blinking white guy in question is gamer Drew Scanlon, and the meme is his priceless reaction in 2013 to a fellow gamer’s casual description of “farming with my hoe.” (Admit it: You like it even more now that you know this.). Origin: Satirical rapper Supa Hot Fire bested upstart challenger B-Bone in 2011 in one of the greatest parody rap battle videos on YouTube. The important symbolism of Joe Biden’s memorial to Covid-19’s victims. When to use it: Whenever there’s a debate, someone’s making an ass of themselves, or in general something entertaining is happening online. Apparently in Russia any government official (I believe that's who it is) can get a Blue Light and can ... and very often will run red lights. Titanic is one of the biggest moneymakers of all time—and the PG-13 rating certainly helped (an R rating limits a film's audience and, thus, its earning potential). #Perfect #Reaction. Here are Vox’s choices for the most iconic reaction GIFs on the internet — ranked by order of necessity to our lives, from occasionally essential to can’t-use-the-internet-without-them. Reaction GIF Exhibit Show your disdain for something. User Score: 8.2. Outside the Wire 45 ... New QB scramble transitions to improve throwing on the run, stumbles, open field blocks, whirlwind defensive reaction moves, sideline wrap tackles, and out of bound pushes. For instance, Conan's sarcastic clap seems to be the trendiest way to express how not impressed you are (kind of like the viral unimpressed Willy Wonka meme). 94. The internet would appear to have many, many, many candidates for “greatest GIF of all time,” but it’s undeniable that some reaction GIFs are so ubiquitous that the average internet user can likely picture them simply from reading a description. Origin: This GIF is so ubiquitous that internet users will often simply write “popcorn.gif” as shorthand for sharing the actual image, which hails from Michael Jackson eating popcorn in a scene from the 1982 video for “Thriller.” It’s fitting that one of the most famous pop songs ever written has also produced the internet’s most recognizable and all-purpose reaction GIF. Cole Hauser-She’s Perfect. Show that you like something. 12 Funny Web Memes That Made Us LOL in 2015. 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"One family’s viral #HimToo feud gave us the best meme of the week so far." Via Christopher Lamke, who wrote: "The story of how a hateful mother tried to use her son to make a misogynistic statement and had her son stand up for women and progress. Also some great tweets in here!" I also like his cat pics. Share and enjoy, *** Xanni *** Chief Scientist, Xanadu Partner, Glass Wings Manager, Serious Cybernetics

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman stood on the stage of an auditorium on the campus of the University of St. Thomas about four years ago. The former mayor and other city officials were giving the first public presentation of a plan to develop the old Ford site, two miles south of my home. They took turns offering rationales for the single biggest development project in the city’s history. One of Coleman’s comments has stayed with me. He described the project as “our everything.” Development of the site would increase affordable housing stock. It would expand businesses and jobs. It would transform the 125-acre manufacturing site into a vibrant asset. It would add green space and manage runoff to Hidden Falls. And—ding ding ding—it would generate $2 million in tax revenue a year. For as locked down, restricted, and abnormal as life has been this past year, I keep coming back to Coleman’s words. Our everything. Haven’t we been crushed by the burden of everything? The mounting deaths. The long-simmering racism that came to a full boil last May, when George Floyd died at the hands of the Minneapolis police. The California fires. Our warming planet. An election challenged by lies and a bloated ego. Our democracy tested by those who wave the American flag but had never been inside the U.S. Capitol until January 6. The frantic pursuit to secure appointments for vaccinations. As William Wordsworth famously wrote, “The world is too much with us.” The pandemic turned Coleman’s mantra into our meme. It’s been a year when ‘everything,’ while too much, also became our new normal. It’s been a year of living in perpetual crisis or near-crisis mode, at an intensity we’ve felt helpless to ease. I stopped writing. I couldn’t concentrate on what a few months earlier had given me great satisfaction, not to mention structure to my day. Instead restlessness overcame me and sent me down a rabbit hole. I started house projects that I’d long considered but had always found reasons to delay. Now, they were my obsession. I had the floors refinished. I had work done on my fireplace. I ordered new furnishings. I was desperate to beat the world’s ‘everything’ with my own. I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t lost all perspective. I’d laugh off the changes when describing them to others, blaming it on COVID and being stuck at home with nothing better to do. Heck, everyone else was doing the same thing. I’ve done my part in hosing up the global supply chain. As a former project manager, I’m a kind of everything person. I like nothing better than to seize a task and bird-dog it to completion. Such a singular focus on a task is annoyingly satisfying. But it can also blind me. Having nearly exhausted myself from considering what throw pillows will look good in my living room, I finally acknowledged what’s behind this everything way of thinking. Remodeling has given me temporary relief but did little to address the deeper diagnosis that it’s simply been hard to function, especially for those of us who live alone. All these changes to my environment have amounted to what King Lear called “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” On March 11, 2021, one year to the day the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, I received my first shot of the vaccine. Unlucky at lotteries, I waited, finally showing up for the appointment I’d made a month earlier. Unexpectedly, I felt a sense of relief, relief I can only attribute to having survived everything this past year. When it’s safe for us to gather, come on over. Feel free to comment on the changes in my house, admire them or shake your head, but let’s not dwell on them. More than anything I want to see you in the flesh, read the smile play across your face, hear your words fill up the empty corners of the room, share heartaches and joys, give you a hug. Anything to remind me that being connected is our everything.

You can unsubscribe at any time. While the official peak is on Tuesday night, the Delta Aquarids will be visible until late August, Subscribe to Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror newspapers, Life on Earth may have started after our planet was bombarded by meteorites 85m years ago, International Space Station will be visible from the UK tonight - how and when to see it, SAGE adviser warns UK faces second coronavirus peak over Christmas and New Year, Prof John Edmunds OBE, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has warned that Britain faces a second Covid-19 peak at Christmas, Coronavirus will be around forever and is unlikely to be eradicated, expert warns, John Edmunds, a member of Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), has warned that the coronavirus will be around for "evermore" as it is unlikely it will be eradicated. If you’ve always dreamed of seeing a shooting star, you’ll be happy to hear that you’ll have the perfect opportunity this week. 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Why isn’t any of the news outlets asking the guy who made the statements what he thinks? The news is great at finding any body they want to do a story on. It would not be hard to find the man who is now a national talking point, thanks to a witch hunt led by the establishment media puppets. Yet, no comment from the guy who used his first amendment rights to ask a question and make his own statement. Better yet, why- when this is such a hot topic and media frenzy – didn’t the reporters at the event ask this man any questions on his remarks at the time? This was filmed live by every major network, and there were many, many, many reporters there. They all seemed to miss the golden opportunity to find out more or did they even want to? Makes one wonder if indeed this man was a plant? Especially when Megyn Kelly was ready- set-go with baited breath to do her focus group on his question. When she did, she certainly Gestapo style hammered down on “free thinking” and “impartial”, instead it was a “Do as I say or shut up” focus group. She literally glared and flared her nostrils at the woman who dared to say Obama came across like a Muslim in the things he said and did. “OBAMA IS NOT A MUSLIM!”, Kelly loudly and firmly scolded. The look in the eyes of the woman who dared to speak her mind in the focus group says it all. Poor woman, she had a look of SHOCK AND AWE. (see link to video below) She definitely looked dazed. As though she could not believe this was happening to her. It would be great to talk to the woman today and ask how she felt when Kelly bullied her. Especially in what was supposed to be an open, fair and so called balanced focus group to determine how the audience viewed the situation. It certainly was not. It was more like Megyn Kelly’s personal vendetta to get back at Trump and “I’ll show him group”. It was a moment for Kelly to receive Kudo’s from Obama for slapping down any and all free thinkers. Shame on Kelly for suppressing the first amendment rights of her focus group and exercising it totally for her, so called, free press self. This has the total appearance of an all out media blitz, designed to discredit the front runner Donald Trump. Will someone tell the puppet press that this attempt is backfiring like an old jalopy misfiring on a few cylinders? Or will the public just watch as the old clunker spits, sputters and finally blows a gasket, then slowly rolls off the road and stalls on the left wing side of the campaign trail? The media driven narrative is making the news look more and more like high school bullys while the only adult in the room, Donald Trump, is looking more and more like the principle. It appears the media has totally underestimated Trump supporters. Nor do they realize they act as the district superintendent of education, desiring truthful facts. From what I am observing, they have written up the media bully for bad behavior. But like any bully acting out, they could care less. Meanwhile, Trump supporters are not phased. They expected and even anticipated this behavior for they have watched it play out over and over again. At first they were angry at the lies and the fake Carly ritual going on but, today most of them are laughing and having fun pointing out all the down right lies. In fact there is so much Trump supporter backlash that it looks as though there is a social media contest to see who can make the best meme exposing the media darlings. They are working at it as though there was a million dollar prize for the one who comes up with the best one. Funny thing about pretending….you only fool yourself. Written By Dianne Marshall

The group, consisting Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda of Nguzunguzu, Fatima Al Qadiri and Lit City Trax‘s J-Cush , have already dropped the brilliantly grimy super club number ‘Wanna Party‘ featuring vocals from Tink, at the beginning of August, as well as instrumentals from ‘Marbles’ on Babak Radboy’s trailer for Telfar Clemens‘ 2014 clothing line. Extending their interactions from Telfar’s “extremely normal” fashion to “extremely normal” past times, the performance will involve a choreographed basketball game, organised by Dis, at the PS1 VW Dome. Of course it will. ** There are all sorts of things you could extract from an project of truly global DJs Nguzunguzu, Fatima Al Qadiri and J-CUSH called Future Brown. It might surprise you to know that, in spite of the dark connotations and imagery of Facebook reappropriation, it’s actually after a an in-group meme sprung from a shared fascination with a colour that doesn’t exist in nature. Their first drop ‘Wanna Party’ features a skull crushing bass and typically creepy embellishments from the quartet, plus lyrics from Chicago rapper Tink. A debut featuring other vocalists is coming and Fatima Al Qadiri plays XOYO in London tonight. Stream and download the track at Complex Music.share news item

Find everything from funny GIFs, reaction GIFs, unique GIFs and more. First of all, even the cheapest car battery should have at least a 1-year warranty which will likely cover instances where it simply stops functioning without any apparent reason. GIPHY is your top source for the best & newest GIFs & Animated Stickers online. "The penis is really designed to go in and out, so if it gets bent too much, it can lead to Peyronie's disease , where scar tissue forms in an exaggerated way so it causes a painful, curved erection," Morgentaler says. Let's start with the obvious. Details File Size: 2569KB Duration: 1.750 sec Dimensions: 498x367 Created: 5/3/2020, 4:49:23 AM But fair warning: Once you are introduced to the feeling, you may find yourself feeling it more often.. Amae: To be an adult, particularly in a nation like the United States, is to be self-sufficient. I had never had sex while a car was in motion, or, like, with other people there. Women do fart, even though our grandmothers swore that wasn't the case. If you’ve established that your new car battery is faulty or incompatible, there are several things you can do to improve on the situation. It was even better when the door didn't have a lock, and there was that risk of getting caught - that got me so hot ! Everyone does, despite what your boyfriend or little brother thinks. If you have a vehicle that you cannot make payments on, you have the choice of voluntarily surrendering the car or you can let the creditor repossess it. Sometimes I even did it with dogs at friends' houses. We fart, on average, 10-20 times per day, women just as much as men, according to Dr. Purna Kashyap, gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I Had Sex in the Back Seat of a Car While My Friend Was Driving. When the doctors said you only had a year to live after being diagnosed, you push and battled for 2 and 1/2 years! But the facts don't lie. But even if you don't fracture your penis, repeatedly bending it with too much force can also cause serious problems. That alone shows the type of man you were, a fighter. If my family went to visit friends that had a dog, I would let it follow me into the bathroom, then sit on the toilet with my legs spread, and let it lick my clit until I came. Last week when the doctor told us you had less than a week to live you stood your ground and stayed with us for a week and an extra day. Below you can find a brief list of ten more extremely precise words for emotions. When it comes to the bigger financial outlays in the average person’s life – home, health care, vehicle – failing to give proper attention to small issues and annoyances often means big, costly problems further down the road. "I should note, if you think a 19-year-old should have known better, I had lived alone with my mom since age six, and she didn't get married until I was 18. ... Before you even got to the party?! Because cars and trucks operate using a … Yes, you will still be responsible for the loan or debt on your vehicle even if you voluntarily turn it in. Taste Of Home Cookbook, 5th Edition, Olay Regenerist Reviews, Why Do You Hate Me Meme, Santoku Knife Set, Importance Of Communication In Nursing Profession, Amish Produce Near Me, Euhomy Ice Maker Machine Countertop Manual, Python Float Type, Salmonberry Jam Recipe, Santol Fruit In Florida,

We are now on the new server, and things are looking good. That is a great relief, no? Also good news… but first, a question: Do you get tired of me talking about what’s going on with Pajama Girls? It occurs to me that maybe I’m overestimating your interest. But there is something I want to share (good news) so here it is: Woman’s Day Magazine (with a circulation of about oh, 43 gazillion) has a list out in its new issue (and on its website) called Ten New Must Read Books and the first one on the list is, yes, Pajama Girls. Below is a screenshot from the website slide show of all ten titles. It’s too small to read, but click on it to go to the actual webpage. Did I say this is good news? Later this evening (in case you were wondering) I’ll post about the status of the pajamarama contest, and also about the upcoming meme.

So much of what we do at TravelBud involves people and all that human interaction and communication is one of the best things about our work. But as our team has grown to accommodate new and diverse portfolios, we’ve come to realise something else about our staff: we all really love animals. Almost all of us have pets and barely a day goes by at the TravelBud office without a rousing chorus of “aaaawww” in response to the latest photo of one of our little angels. So yes, we’ve written a blog post about them – they deserve it! But we’re also very excited to be launching what will hopefully be the first of many programs for animal enthusiasts like us… That’s right, TravelBud will soon be offering a volunteer program with Rescue Paws, an incredible animal welfare organisation based in Hua Hin, Thailand. Rescue Paws is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of stray animals in Thailand. The intense hustle and bustle of life in high density regions is not easy for any living organism, and stray animals are no exception. As we explore our world and extend our energy and compassion towards fellow humans, we feel that it’s important to bear in mind that there are other creatures out there who also need our attention. We hope that the impact Rescue Paws is already making in Hua Hin will extend widely and we are excited to see more people getting involved in this kind of volunteering. In the meantime, while we look forward to launching this phenomenal program, we’d like to introduce you to the TravelBud pets: Frida and Eira Nick’s two gorgeous gals are named Frida and Eira. These cuties are ‘limited editions’ – a classic mix of all the best types of doggo. Frida was rescued when she was just one week old, from a rubbish dump in Stellenbosch, and Eira was rescued by a friend in Mitchell’s Plain at just 3 months. From troubled beginnings, these two have grown into playful pooches who love chasing balls in the park, beach runs and sandy swims and games of tug-of-war with sticks and ropes. It’s not surprising that things turned out so well for them with all the love they get from Dad. The newest addition to the TravelBud pet clan is Leja, Pete’s adorable Flandoodle… that’s right, a Flandoodle: a French Poodle crossed with a Bouvier des Flandres. Get a load of that pizazz. She’s just over 3 months old but already weighs 7kgs and will probably weigh in at around 32kg when she’s fully grown. Leja hasn’t been around for long, so at this stage her notable skills involve sitting, lying, barking and walking on her leash. She’s always following Pete around and playing with one of his old running shoes, so it’s already clear that she’s a bit of a daddy’s girl. It could also be because Mom keeps trying to put bows in her hair – she hates that. Benji is Stu’s adorable Sprocker Spaniel (half cocker, half springer). He’s a year and a half old, with boundless energy and a love for the outdoors. Benji loves beach swims and mountain hikes (just like his dad) and he’s particularly partial to pinecones and a good game of tug of war. On the larger side of the pet spectrum is Roscoe, Jamie’s magnificent horse. He’s a Nooitgedachter, a fairly rare breed. A real guzzler, he will eat absolutely anything and everything. He’s been taught to bow for treats but his deep love for anything edible has led to him bowing at random times in the hope of receiving yummy snacks. If he could, Roscoe would definitely be a lapdog! This treasure of the feline community is quite literally the light of my life. Named after the most expensive football player in the world, she’s undisputedly worth even more than 220 million Euros. She’s also really skilled at dribbling and regularly runs laps around our home with small bits of household debris between her little paws. She’s unique in so many ways, including the fact that she doesn’t mind getting wet, is learning how to DJ and can jump from the floor onto my shoulder in one smooth leap. She’ll actually ride around on any shoulder that will accommodate her – rumours are brewing that she’s in fact part parrot, originating from Brazil along with her talented namesake. But in her downtime she’s also a cuddler and likes to sleep under the covers with her devoted parents. Her favourite treats include pellets, Fancy Feasts and the brine from cans of red kidney beans. Her only animal friend at the moment is the clay deer sculpture in our garden but we’re hoping she’ll become more social and join the OCA (Observatory Cats Association) in due course. And surely rise to the honourable position of chaircat as she matures… If anyone wants to hear more about her, we can arrange anything from a Skype call to a fully-fledged conference with powerpoint presentations. I could talk about this baby all day. I found it very difficult to write about this darling girl because I suspect she might be almost as cute as Neymar which I didn’t expect was possible. Shocked, but pleasantly surprised! Phoebe is Tristan’s adorable 5 year old British shorthair. Her endearing little face honestly speaks for itself – she’s gentle and shy, with the sweetest nature. Her favourite games include hide and seek and waking up Mom and Dad with light taps from soft paws. In the humble opinion of this author, she also has a meme-friendly face, not unlike the infamous “No-it-all Cat” (if you don’t know, look it up). Watch this space for Phoebe’s budding internet career… Borris, the regal grumpster, was a surprise gift for Grace’s mom (a crazy cat woman in the best possible way). Grace found Borris at the Hermanus SPCA and he’s been with the Martens family for 3 years now. Being a large ginger male who exhibits German efficiency on a daily basis, Borris seemed an appropriate name. He is the quintessential cat, serves sass regularly and turns on the charm conveniently around dinner time. He enjoys baking bread on one’s chest, sunning himself in the garden and is particularly fond of Nik Naks. Despite outward adversity to games of dress up, Grace believes that deep down he thoroughly enjoys being adorned in appropriate costumes for various festive occasions. The Martens Christmas card for 2017 is testament to this classic tom(cat)foolery. Vincent aka Kakkies aka Boss Cat The love of Saskia’s life is Kakkies, an intrepid traveller and comforting cuddler. He sleeps in Saskia’s arms at night and loves to bring gifts of nibbled birds or mice. He’s nicknamed Kakkies because when she was a tiny human, Saskia couldn’t say kaatjie (Afrikaans for kitten) and would run around saying “kakkie” – she still gets teased about it and the name has stuck for sweet Vincent. He loves the finer things in life: hanging out on the piano, occasionally singing a tune, and of course his fishy cat food which he politely requests when he’s hungry. Kakkies really comes into his own in the car – when Saskia drives up to Sutherland, he chills on her lap the whole way (it’s quite a long way for those that don’t know) and even takes over the wheel when he’s had enough of Saskia’s terrible driving. It seems we have a winner for the most creative kitty amongst us – Rupert refused to be written about and insisted on writing his own bio… I am a Maine Coon kitten, aged 11 months. I live with Luke and Justine. Justine has long hair and smells nice. They dote over me excessively. This can be annoying when I am trying to sleep. I have discovered that one needs to manage them, something which I am working on currently. Some of my favourite things include playing in water (I am an expert at fishing leaves out of the pool), catching bugs (Luke calls me the “exterminator”, which I think is probably a little bit of an exaggeration), and generally interfering with whatever Luke and Justine happen to be doing around the house from time-to-time. I have recently moved in with Luke’s mom and dad (Luke and Justine call them my “gran and grandpa”). Luke and Justine have also moved with me. We are all living there while our house is being renovated. It is taking a very long time, and Luke and Justine keep complaining about how much money it is costing. I could have told them this. Anyway, I am delighted with our new temporary home. There is a massive garden, bird bath and compost heap. I’m still deciding if I will move back with Luke and Justine when the time comes. Well, I’m not sure I have much more to tell you, other than the fact that I have met Stu, Liam, Tristan, Peter, Nick, Grace and Saskia. I like them all very much, especially Grace who is my godmother. Best wishes to you all at Travelbud. That’s a wrap from the TravelBud pets – we love them and can’t thank them enough for loving us and keeping us sane when life gets a bit hectic! Interested in Teaching English abroad? We’ll send you more info!

The US election and its surprise victory for Donald Trump have helped propel liberal hyperpartisan Facebook pages and websites to new traffic and revenue heights. But with success has come increased tensions, lawsuits, and other messy disputes. Court filings reviewed by BuzzFeed News, in addition to interviews with writers and owners of liberal websites, paint a picture of an increasingly lucrative business that has become a battlefield of lawsuits, doxxing, hijacked Facebook pages, and accusations of unfair labor practices and stolen content. In one case, a writer for a liberal site who was in a dispute with her employer leaked information that ended up forming a key part of an attack story published by noted alt-right troll Charles C. Johnson. Scratch the surface of the lawsuits and disputes and it comes down to two key things: money, and the massive Facebook pages that determine how much of it you can earn. Some of the biggest liberal pages are Occupy Democrats, which has over 6 million fans on Facebook, The Other 98% (4.7 million fans), Liberal Daily (2 million fans), and Being Liberal (1.6 million fans). These pages and related sites produce articles and memes that rile up liberals and progressives in the same way that hyperpartisan conservative publishers pump out anti-Obama and anti-Hillary content. “It’s like a meme war,” Rafael Rivero, one of two owners of Occupy Democrats, told the New York Times Magazine last year, “and politics is being won and lost on social media.” In recent months, some major liberal publishers have begun fighting with each other while also trying to win the meme war. “The fact is, the liberal blogosphere is an ugly little cesspool of pettiness, greed, and jealousy, and is competitive to the point of being downright distasteful and embarrassing,” wrote Tiffany Willis, the owner of the Liberal America website and Facebook page, in a recent post on Facebook. “I'm sure the conservative blogosphere is the same. It seems that when you get large amounts of money involved in anything, it brings out the worst, even in principled people.” In an interview with BuzzFeed News, she added, “Most of us got into this industry because we wanted to make a difference — and we were seduced by unexpected wealth.” Courtroom battles and accusations of hijacked pages On the afternoon of Aug. 3, as the US election entered its critical final months, Mark Provost discovered he could no longer post content to US Uncut, a liberal political Facebook page that he and a partner named Carl Gibson had been running since 2011. At the time the page had more than 1.5 million followers and was the key source of traffic to USUncut.com, the pair’s progressive website that was generating more than 10 million pageviews a month, according to Provost and Gibson. They then watched as the page began posting links to a website called USUncut.news. Someone had taken over their page and was now using it to push traffic to what they viewed as a copycat website. Provost and Gibson later learned the page had been taken over by their former partner, Ryan Clayton. And to their surprise, Clayton subsequently revealed that he was now working with two of the kings of the burgeoning, increasingly profitable world of liberal hyperpartisan news. In October, Gibson and Provost sued their former partner and his new heavyweight associates over the loss of their Facebook page, and what they said was damage to the US Uncut brand being inflicted by the copycat website. Then there’s the biggest issue of all: money. With no Facebook page to drive traffic to their website, Gibson and Provost are losing lots of it, they allege in court filings. The trail of court filings and many of the largest liberal hyperpartisan Facebook pages and websites invariably leads back to two men in Illinois: Matthew Hanson and Daniel Gouldman. They were the new partners Clayton teamed up with once he took over control of the US Uncut Facebook page. They’re also the parties named in a lawsuit by the owners of Occupy Democrats. The pair run the Addicting Info website and the associated Facebook pages, which are numerous. A BuzzFeed News analysis of a sample of Addicting Info’s posts leading up to the election found that 24% of its content was false or misleading, the highest percentage of the three liberal pages analyzed. Many former writers for Addicting Info and its sister sites have gone on to launch their own liberal Facebook pages and sites, in many ways making Addicting Info the epicenter of the world of hyperpartisan liberal news. Willis is among the site’s alumni. She says she struck out on her own over dissatisfaction with the way the company was being run. Hanson and Gouldman did not respond to multiple requests for an interview, or to a detailed list of allegations. Hanson started the Addicting Info website in 2010. Long before Facebook was the dominant way to drive traffic to news websites, Hanson was staking out his turf there. An archived page from the Addicting Info site shows it promoting 16 different political Facebook pages with names like “Republicans Are Idiots And Arguing With Them Is A Waste Of Time!” and “Help Ben Gleck Get More Fans than Glenn Beck.” In 2012, Hanson wrote that he was the administrator of more than 50 Facebook pages. That same year, Addicting Info was accused of “plagiarism for profit” in a post from Whiskey and the Morning After, a blog run by Manny Schewitz. At issue was an image allegedly taken from a Facebook page and recirculated by the Addicting Info and Being Liberal pages. Hanson responded in a Facebook post, saying “We take plagiarism very seriously” and dismissed the accusation as “petty attacks.” Last year, as traffic and revenue grew for liberal and conservative sites alike, tensions began to boil over. Hanson and Gouldman figure prominently in three lawsuits filed in 2016 that center around page ownership, finances, and an alleged improper disclosure of company secrets. Taken together, the filings show how a small number of big players control many of the dominant pages and sites in liberal hyperpartisan news, writers are often paid in the form of ad commissions from the content they create, and the top sites generate at least tens of thousands of dollars per month in revenue. Addicting Info currently has over 1.2 million fans on Facebook, but that pales in comparison to the Occupy Democrats page’s more than 6 million. The Occupy page and site are run by Rafael and Omar Rivero, twin brothers based in Miami. Today, Addicting Info and Occupy Democrats are competitors fighting for the same liberal audience. But in a display of just how intertwined the liberal hyperpartisan world is, it wasn’t that long ago that the men behind these operations were working together, according to court documents. Last year Hanson and Gouldman sued the Rivero brothers over the ownership of Occupy Democrats. They allege that the Occupy site was initially unsuccessful, so the men formed a content sharing agreement that saw Addicting Info help promote Occupy Democrats content on its Facebook page. (The Rivero brothers did not respond to detailed requests for comment sent to them and their lawyers.) Content sharing agreements are common for both liberal and conservative pages. Sharing content from like-minded sites helps ensure that owners always have fresh content to promote, and it helps grow their audience by bringing new people to their site from other pages. It’s also a way to help an already successful piece of content reach maximum exposure. For example, when Occupy Democrats shared a video from the popular page The Other 98%, the post earned an additional 27,000 shares on top of the original 58,000. The lawsuit says the men agreed to a division of advertising profits that saw 60% go to the brothers and 40% to the Addicting Info owners. (In their filing with the court, the Rivero brothers denied this.) Hanson and Gouldman then allege that at the beginning of 2016 the Rivero brothers cut their partners from Addicting Info out of Occupy Democrats operations. "On January 31, 2016, without the knowledge or consent of Plaintiffs Gouldman and Hanson, Defendants transferred all the files associated with ‘OccupyDemocrats.com’ to a server that was not associated with Occupy Democrats, LLC,” read a March 2016 court filing. "On February 2, 2016, all of the advertising units set up by Occupy Democrats, LLC were shut down.” In a response filed with the court, the brothers denied this series of events took place. Essentially, the Addicting Info owners allege that the Riveros snatched away the Occupy Democrats page and revenue after Addicting Info helped grow it. The initial filing asked for $50,000 in damages, but the figure then grew to $75,000. “As a result of the increased traffic, occupydemocrats.com achieved a revenue figure in excess of $40,000.00 in March of 2015,” claimed Hanson and Gouldman in a court filing. In the end, the case was resolved in mediation earlier this year and was officially dismissed March 1. Another domain associated with Hanson and Gouldman is IfYouOnlyNews.com, which has a Facebook page with half a million fans. The ownership of that domain is disputed — it’s currently the subject of a lawsuit filed by Hanson and Gouldman against Leah Farley, a woman who managed the day-to-day operations of the site and wrote content for it. Farley says she’s a partner in the venture, but Hanson and Gouldman say they employed her as a manager. Hanson and Gouldman claim Farley disclosed proprietary information and as a result they are seeking court recognition that Farley doesn’t own If You Only News, as well as legal costs. Court documents say Farley disclosed the income of If You Only News and spoke with the person who “outed” Gouldman as one of its owners as well as the person behind the Icarus Verum byline on the site. That information eventually made its way into a article on the right-wing website GotNews.com written by notorious troll Chuck Johnson. The story labeled Gouldman, whose family is Jewish on his mother’s side, as “anti-Semitic” and incorrectly labeled his wife as being “Arab.” Gouldman subsequently threatened to sue Johnson for libel over the accusation of him being anti-Semitic, among other complaints. He did not, however, deny his involvement with If You Only News and Addicting Info. In court documents, Farley argued that she was in a depressed state when she disclosed the information, and in Facebook conversations entered into evidence she pleaded for understanding. After this article was published, Farley emailed BuzzFeed News to say she had nothing to do with outing Gouldman, saying it was the work of a former employee. “I would never do something like that,” she wrote. Farley said her apology to Hanson and Gouldman in the court documents was about “not so nice” things she wrote about them to a friend. Farley filed a counterclaim against Hanson and Gouldman regarding her articles on the site, saying they are copyrightable material and asking for them to be removed. She also asked for profits generated by If You Only News since Feb. 1, 2016, and ownership of the website, alleging that she is the owner. The suit is ongoing; meanwhile, Farley launched and now runs her own liberal site, GOPocalypse.org. More money, more problems Since Trump’s election, social engagement and revenue for liberal sites has been growing at impressive rates, publishers tell BuzzFeed News. That’s in contrast to last year, when conservative sites racked up big growth thanks to a steady diet of anti-Hillary and anti-Obama content. With Trump in power, liberal publishers have an enemy to go after every day who gets their audience riled up. “I don’t know one progressive news site that hasn’t seen an increase in traffic since Trump’s been elected,” Roxanne Cooper, the publisher of liberal news site Raw Story, told BuzzFeed News. Willis of Liberal America says her site currently receives between 3 and 5 million visitors per month and that she makes between $30,000 and 50,000 in monthly ad revenue. Her site went from a hobby to a full-time job. “All of us were shocked at the amount of money we could make,” she said. But the success is causing friction between more established left-leaning sites and the new breed of Facebook-focused hyperpartisan sites that have emerged in recent years. Cooper’s site Raw Story has been in business since 2004. She told BuzzFeed News her site’s original reporting is quickly appropriated by the newer entrants. She calls them “bottom-feeder” and “vampire” sites, and says they rarely credit her writers. A March article from the progressive website AlterNet leveled similar accusations of plagiarism and unethical behavior at operations such as Occupy Democrats and Addicting Info. The story was headlined “Vampire Webpages Suck Content From Legitimate Progressive News Sites.” “These Facebook pages and their affiliated websites pose as progressive champions, but their content is largely copied, if not plagiarized, from legitimate news and opinion outlets with real reporters and analysts, not rewrite teams,” AlterNet reported. Cooper said she’s not a fan of the hyperpartisan sites’ over-the-top headlines and aggregation style. “It’s not that hard to duplicate what they do if all you care about is making money, but we’re in the news business,” Cooper said. Sky Palma runs a liberal website called DeadState and says the gold rush for liberal sites is seducing owners into writing misleading articles and headlines. In a Facebook thread, he called out liberal website Opposition Report for twisting the words of controversial right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Palma is no fan of Yiannopoulos, he told BuzzFeed News, but he’s firmly against taking comments out of context for the sake of a juicy headline. Palma’s own website is an aggregator with little original reporting, but he said he takes care to accurately represent the story and publish corrections. As he sees it, many liberal websites don’t follow those standards. “You see a lot of false information being published,” he said. “What’s fascinating is that these websites … kind of exist in this plane where there isn’t any accountability.” He said he’s had to shift the way he frames and promotes content on his site to keep pace. “It’s forced me to compete on that level,” he said. “I also have to chase the stories that are trending — it’s forced me to not be creative, as I'm doing well.” Conservative sites and pages saw a similar scenario play out last year, according to one publisher. Cyrus Massoumi runs the Mr. Conservative website and its Facebook page, which has more than 2.2 million fans. In an interview with BuzzFeed News earlier this year, he spoke of how new entrants in conservative hyperpartisan news published false or misleading content — and were rewarded for it with growth and engagement on Facebook. Soon other sites began to stray further into inaccuracy in order to keep up. "We strayed because of the competitive nature of the algorithm in the News Feed,” he said. As an example, he cited the website Ending the Fed, which made a hoax claiming that the pope had endorsed Donald Trump go viral, and also scored a hit with a false story about Megyn Kelly being fired from Fox News. “The problem is my competitors operate in an environment where Ending the Fed and these unknowns are going to beat us unless we go from tilted [headlines] to misleading,” he said. Willis said she feels the world of liberal hyperpartisan publishing is quickly losing its political and cause-based roots in a rush for cash and Facebook glory. "It’s all about Facebook and it’s all about money,” she said. ● Roxanne Cooper is the publisher of Raw Story. An earlier version of this post said she is the owner. Also, Leah Farley spoke with a person who leaked Daniel Gouldman’s identity. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Farley shared his identity.

planting hyacinth bulbs in pots For the best flowers, select large, firm hyacinth bulbs that haven't started to sprout. You need sterile potting soil and special bulb pots, ideally made of clay. Our Prepared ‘Delft Blue’ will fill your home with beautiful blooms and an intoxicating fragrance. Put pots in a cool, dark place, such as a garage or shed for about ten weeks to allow the roots to grow. Press it down lightly to evenly cover the bottom of the pot. Plant your bulbs 10cm (4in) deep and about 7.5cm (3in) apart. Place the hyacinth bulbs, pointed end up, into the material in the bottom of the pot. There should be a gap of 2 cm between adjacent specimens and the walls of the pot. In pots, you can plant your bulbs closer than you do in the garden. If the soil hyacinth bulbs are planted in holds water they may rot over winter. Place your pot in a cool, dark cupboard for 6-8 weeks. How to plant bulbs in a pot. 10-12cm apart. Successfully growing hyacinths for Christmas is a straightforward process, as long as you give the bulbs the right treatment. Keep cool for roughly 4 weeks, or until the hyacinth's root system has developed in the water of the jar and growth from the top of ⦠For a bold display plant at least 3 to 5 bulbs in a pot using a peat-free multi-purpose compost, you can also mix in some perlite to improve drainage. For container planting, use a soil-based compost (e.g. After two to three weeks of indirect sunlight, the shoots should be 3 to 5 inches high. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends going with a bulb that is both firm and free of any mold or mildew growth. John Innes No.2). You can protect the container from frost damage in winter by wrapping with bubble plastic. Your email address will not be published. First you have to buy âforcedâ or âpreparedâ bulbs â these are hyacinths that have been heat treated so they will flower early. Taylors Bulbs Blue Hyacinths Delft Bowl (DP12) ... 6x Small Green 18cm Round Plastic Garden Bulb Bowl Storage Grow Tub Pot. ⦠Cover with soil and lightly firm in without treading which risks damaging the growing tips. Keep it simple by planting a variety on its own or several of the same variety packed closely together for a bumper show. They can add beautiful blooms to the home as early as late November/Early December. Our Prepared Hyacinths are treated in a special way through a cooling process to trick them to believe that winter has been and gone and it is time to grow. The flowers bloom in the spring. Select a sunny area of the bed with well-draining soil. Potted bulbs aren't frost hardy, so bring the pot indoors or protect the plant with bubble wrap. Hyacinth bulbs grow well in most soil types, but need good drainage to keep bulbs from rotting. Cool t⦠Hyacinths bloom in the spring, but their bulbs take a long time to establish roots, which means they should be planted in autumn. Required fields are marked *. Press the soil down firmly. Plant the bulbs in the autumn 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) deep and 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart. Why not fill your home this winter with the sweet smell of beautiful Hyacinth flowers? You can even use the fibrous material that is around the outside of the bulbs in place of growing medium. Plant hyacinth bulbs in pots indoors in October to have beautiful flowering plants by early spring. If bulbs go short of water at this point, they might be stunted. Planting In Pots. Search our blog for tips, tutorials and the top varieties of the season. It is easy to grow hyacinth in the pot, but you should keep in mind the following things. Since hyacinth varieties have different growing and blooming times, mixing them in the same pot is not recommended. Q How late can I plant grape hyacinths? Add potting soil to the pot to cover all but the top point of the bulbs. 10cm deep. Amend your soil with organic matter prior to planting to increase the drainage. Buy heat-treated or âpreparedâ bulbs for indoor displays, and then plant them in pots of peat-free multi-purpose compost, so the bulb tips sit just above the surface. It might seem a quick solution to fill your container with soil from your garden, but itâs better to use a mix of potting soil and sandy soil to mimic the ground the bulbs came from. By layering bulbs as shown here, you will get colour from lots of different flowers. The pots do not need to have drainage holes. They then need up to 10 weeks in cold, but frost-free (preferably 4-5°C/40-42°F), dark conditions to produce their flower buds and flower properly. Keep them at a steady temperature of 35 to 45 degrees F. If your winter temperatures typically don't fall below 25 F, you can place the covered pots outside during the colder months. Hyacinths wonât grow well in soil that is constantly wet, so itâs important to select an area that drains properly. Plant your hyacinth bulbs the same depth and width apart as if you were planting in a border, 4 inches (10cm) deep, and a 3 inch (7.5cm) gap between them. They grow indoors and outdoors, and provide a brilliant display of color when they bloom. Growing hyacinth at home begins with planting the bulbs in a pot. Plants like crocus, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, iris and snowdrop are all very popular and will thrive in your containers with the right care. Plant the bulbs (pointed end up) at approx. container, 9 for 10-inch ⦠How to plant Almost fill an 8cm (3in) pot with moist bulb fibre, and then push a bulb in gently to half its depth. The plants are small, and pair well in containers with other small bloomers like pansies or even grass. You can plant them in March, once the soil warms up, or you can save the bulbs until September and then plant them out.Plant bulbs in autumn, pointy side up. Plant at least 10cm deep and approx. Site the pots in full sun and keep them well watered, especially in early spring, about three to four weeks before flowering. Click here to view our video tutorial on Indoor Hyacinth planting. Some gardeners opt for one or two blooms, while others layer bulbs in pots to enjoy a range of different colours blooming at different times throughout the spring. As one of the most popular indoor flowering bulbs on the market, these beautiful star-shaped blooms are well-loved by gardeners for adding a burst of colour and fragrance to the home, even as early as Christmas. Once the bulbs have sprouted, move them to indirect sunlight. 4.4 out of 5 stars 26. Optimum planting time is between September and October for most bulbs, or late October and November for tulips. Cover the pots with paper grocery sacks or black plastic trash bags to keep them from the light. Press the soil down gently around the bulbs. For outdoor-grown hyacinths, plant bulbs 10cm deep in moist but well-drained soil, in a sunny spot, in autumn. How to grow hyacinths in pots Several hyacinths can be grown in a large pot at once. How to Plant Muscari Bulbs in Pots Grape hyacinth, also called Muscari, grows bunches of tiny, delicate blue flowers that give off a faint grape-like smell. Hyacinths grow 8-12â³ tall. Plant your hyacinth bulbs in full sun to partial shade. Narcissus âTete-a-teteâ Narcissus âTete-a-Teteâ is one of the most popular daffodils for containers â ⦠Place a 2-inch layer of growing medium, such as compost or potting soil, in the pot. If you bought normal hyacinth bulbs for garden planting they would flower in spring. Plant bulbs of the same type in each pot. These early 'prepared' bulbs are heat treated in a special way to 'trick' them into blooming a little earlier and bringing their gorgeous scent to the christmas table. When planting hyacinth bulbs in pots, use wide, shallow pots of terracotta or plastic. Don't expose the pots to light during the chilling period to prevent the bulbs from sprouting too early. Numbers will vary with the size of your bulbs, but this should equal about 7 bulbs for an 8-inch (20.5 cm.) Bring an abundance of fragrant and colourful blooms into the home this winter with this fantastic collection of Hyacinths. A Muscari bulbs planted in September and early October had leaves all through the winter and produced the best display of flowers, lasting for five weeks at full flower, towards the back end of March. For winter displays indoors, you have to buy specially prepared hyacinth bulbs, and plant them in pots in late summer or early autumn. Place your pot in a cool, dark cupboard for 6-8 weeks. Water when required, do not allow them to dry out. Through this process, this makes these Hyacinths perfect for early forcing and indoor flowering. 10cm deep. Choose a cool, dark place for your bulb. If planting just one layer of bulbs, plant at the same depth as you would in the garden â at a depth of twice their height at least (a minimum of 3 inches). When planting, amend the soil with plenty of compost to help keep soil loose and well drained. Planting several pots in the autumn will really give your patio the wow factor in spring. Hyacinths (Hyacinthus) are a colorful, fragrant variety of bulb-grown plant, cultivated primarily in Holland and England. Keep the soil damp but not soaking wet until the bulbs sprout. Add more fibre, up to the neck of the bulbs. You have two options. A cheerful container of spring bulbs is an easy way to create a splash of colour. Select a Proper Pot. Hyacinths are naturally spring flowering bulbs but with a bit of care about their planting, their season can be extended to start at Christmas and continue right through until May. This vibrant selection includes five each of Delft Blue, Aiolos (white), City of Haarlem (yellow), Woodstock (purple), Jan Bos (red), and Fondant (pink). How to Grow Daffodils in Containers to Bloom Inside in March, Old Farmer's Almanac: Growing Hyacinth and Muscari, University of Minnesota Extension: Growing Bulbs Indoors. Because you purchased your hyacinth bulbs early in the year, they must be properly stored until fall planting time. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. To test this, soak the soil in the area that you are thinking of watering, and check to see if the water has drained 5-6 hours later. Raise the large container to improve drainage by placing it on âpot feetâ or bricks. The potted bulbs will add a touch of warmth to your living room and you can also plant them outdoors in a pot or planter. Label each of your pots with plant type and the planting date if you plant multiple varieties of bulbs. Planting Guide Plant bulb with the pointed end facing upwards. After potted bulbs have flowered they can be planted in the garden. Like most fall-planted bulbs hyacinths are easy to grow; however, they require soil that drains well. Hyacinth bulbs can irritate your skin, so do wear gloves to handle them. Plant the bulbs (pointed end up) at approx. How to Grow a Hyacinth in a Pot Start With a Bulb. At that point, you can place the pots in a sunny window or porch where they will get full sunlight and begin to grow and display the best flowers. Water each pot of bulbs thoroughly; the bulbs must remain moist to grow correctly. Plant your bulbs to a depth of 10cm (4"), spacing them 8cm (3") apart. Once shoots have established, bring the pot into warm daylight. Choose the ⦠As with all spring bulbs, hyacinths sprout, bloom, and start to fade into dormancy before deciduous trees fully leaf out, so you don't have to worry about too much shade from nearby trees. The hyacinth 'White Pearl' (Hyacinthus orientalis) is as radiant as a pearl, indoors or outdoors. Bulbs in pots If you want a great patio display, try growing bulbs in pots. Press them gently into the growing medium. Hyacinth are early bloomers that bloom in late winter or early spring, depending on your hardiness zone. The bulbs should be close together and close to the sides of the pot, but without touching anything. Place the covered pots in a cold location, such as an unheated garage or basement, for 12 to 14 weeks. Begin gradually exposing the pots to light after the chilling period is completed to wake the bulbs. When planting hyacinth bulbs in pots, use wide, shallow pots of terracotta or plastic. As long as the soil is moist, you donât need to water your bulbs in. Place the hyacinth bulb and vase in a cool and dark area (40-55º F), such as your garage or refrigerator. The glistening, pure white blooms of Hyacinth ‘Aiolos’ will brighten the home this winter. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Showcasing tightly packed, porcelain blue, star-shaped blooms, these sweetly-scented floral spikes bring joy on any dull winter day. With their broader base and less height than standard planting pots, these pots are specifically designed with top-heavy forced bulbs in mind. Potting hyacinth bulbs Griffin24 / Getty Images. For one plant, a container with a diameter of 8â9 cm and a height of 15 cm is sufficient. Even so, they shouldnât touch each other or the sides of the pot. Then, water whenever the soil dries out. For the best flowers, select large, firm hyacinth bulbs that haven't started to sprout. Container grown hyacinths are not difficult to grow. Add more fibre, up to the neck of the bulbs. For garden planting (beds, borders), plant in well-drained soil. Add crocks to the bottom of a pot or container. With densely packed clusters of highly fragrant flowers, this variety is perfect for creating an elegant and scented table centre for special occasions, or can be used to create a beautiful cut flower bouquet. Through this guide, we will provide an easy step-by-step instructions (including video tutorial) on how to grow these specially prepared indoor-flowering Hyacinths. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists hyacinths as growing best in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 3 through 9. Growing tulips in pots or containers â soil and planting Planting time for pots and containers is the same as for your garden: Fall. Grow several (at least three/five) bulbs in a container for bolds displays. Bulbs should not be planted close to each other. 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Australian rugby superstar Israel Folau, who last month had his contract officially terminated by Rugby Australia for anti-LGBTQ remarks including that Hell awaits homosexuals, is suing Rugby Australia for $10 million. The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “According to documents filed with the Commission, he is seeking a ruling that RA’s actions were unlawful and at least $5 million in lost income if the case is heard in the Federal Court. He will also seek to have included in the bill the monetary value of lost opportunities, which could blow the claim out to $10 million, a source close to Folau’s team said.” In April, Rugby Australia said it was terminating Folau’s contract after the player posted a meme to Instagram that said Hell awaits all homosexuals. Folau challenged the firing and the “code of conduct” panel was assembled. View this post on Instagram Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him. _______________ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these , adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 KJV _______________ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38 KJV _______________ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Acts 17:30 KJV _______________ Said Rugby Australia at the time: “Rugby Australia and the New South Wales Rugby Union have made repeated attempts to contact Israel both directly and via his representatives since 6.30pm on Wednesday, and at this point he has failed to communicate directly with either organisation. Whilst Israel is entitled to his religious beliefs, the way in which he has expressed these beliefs is inconsistent with the values of the sport. We want to make it clear that he does not speak for the game with his recent social media posts.” You may recall that Folau was nearly expelled from the sport in 2018 after a series of similar homophobic actions. Folau, a devout Christian raised as a Mormon who converted to the Assemblies of God fellowship with his family in 2011, made headlines in September 2017 during Australia’s debate over same-sex marriage, when he tweeted, “I love and respect all people for who they are and their opinions. but personally, I will not support gay marriage.” One year ago in April 2018, Folau replied to a follower in an Instagram post who asked, “what was gods plan for gay people?” In the comments section of the post, Folau, who plays for New South Wales Waratahs, replied, “HELL.. Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.” Rugby Australia and the New South Wales Waratahs, for which Folau plays, said they would seek an explanation from Folau and denounced the player. Rugby Australia declined to punish Folau, though its inclusion policy states: “Rugby has and must continue to be a sport where players, officials, volunteers, supporters and administrators have the right and freedom to participate regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion and without fear of exclusion. There is no place for homophobia or any form of discrimination in our game and our actions and words both on and off the field must reflect this.” Then, one month after coming under scrutiny, Folau tweeted an anti-gay video. The video featured a sermon by evangelical preacher David Wilkerson and footage of a Pride march where Christian street preachers were being protested, and a clip of the White House lit in rainbow colors against narration that said, “Now is the time to get right with God because this generation has lost the fear of God. There’s no fear of God left in the land.” Folau also said he’d rather walk away from rugby than defy the Bible.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly blog meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. In this post I will answer the following questions: - What are you currently reading? - What did you recently finish reading? - What do you think you’ll read next? What are you currently reading? I’ve got few audiobooks on hold, so while I wait for them, I decided to reread A Reaper at the Gates via audiobook. I read an ARC a while back and realized I never did listen to the audiobook. I have a soft spot for Steve West, who voices Elias. Even though I already know what happens, damn it all if I don’t have so many feelings while rereading this book. Like, hello?? I’ve already teared up on my work commute. I don’t know how I’ll survive (again!) the end of the book. I’m doing right by my last WWW post and reading the physical ARC of Kingdom of Copper. I read the first few paragraphs, and if that’s any indication how the rest of the book will go, I know I won’t survive. RIP Nicole — Gone because she loved too many books. What did you recently finish reading? I’ve been such an emotional mess lately, and I swear it’s from all the books I’m reading. 🤣 Becoming was a brilliant read; Michelle herself narrates the audiobook. I thought I could wait to read Defy Me as I already have so many books to read, but nope. I picked that sucker up the day it released and sat right in Barnes and Noble to read it. I just finished it last night and WOW. Warner + Juliette = 4ever What do you think you’ll read next? If you read yesterday’s post about the North Texas Teen Book Festival, you saw that I got an ARC of We Hunt the Flame, which has been one of my most anticipated releases for a good long while. 😊 It releases on May 14th and the author will be touring not too far from me later in the week. I’ve already taken off work so I can go to the tour stop! Descendant of the Crane released yesterday and I’ve heard nothing rave reviews about it. I’m so excited to start this eARC, and hope to love it as much as everyone else does. ❤️ Feel free to leave your WWW Wednesday posts in the comments, and I’ll be sure to check them out. 🙂

This Halloween, the world will be flooded with costumed hooligans. They will be everywhere. You’ll find them on the streets, trick-or-treating, and going to house parties dressed as sexy nurses. Either way, by concealing their identities on Halloween night, these folks will be participating in a tradition that goes back thousands of years. Let’s take a look back at the practice of dressing up for Halloween and see how it has evolved over the years. Samhain and the Celts As you may already know, Halloween originated as the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced “Sow-in”, so dear God above don’t pronounce it “Sam-Hayne”, the nerds will crucify you). This celebration would occur from October 31st to November 1st and signified the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. To these ancient peoples, winter meant much more than mulled wine and cute boots. It was a literal representation of death, both of the ground around them and the people in their villages. On the night of October 31st, the veil between this world and the Otherworld was at its thinnest. This meant that our plane would be filled with ghosts, faeries, and demons who were hell-bent on harvesting the souls of your family for themselves. To combat these evil spirits, the Celtic people of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France would leave food and burn animals as sacrifices. They would also dress in costume to try to camouflage themselves from the hungry entities. These costumes usually consisted of white robes and white face-paint, an attempt to make themselves appear to be spirits themselves. The common folk weren’t the only ones to dress for the occasion, either, as the priests would often wear animal skins or heads as they read the fortunes of those gathered. This practice of wearing costumes to hide from the dead evolved into what is now known as All Hallows’ Eve, when Christians merged their holidays with the ancient pagan rituals. Unlike the pagan traditions of awesome bonfires, animal sacrifices and fortune telling, the costumes were worn to commemorate the saints, martyrs and faithful dead. This tradition lasted for centuries, and little changed until the second half of the nineteenth century. Potato Famines and Spooky Strangers Halloween was not a widely accepted holiday in Colonial America due to the Puritanical beliefs of the day. This all changed during the late 1800s, when the country was flooded with Irish and other Gaelic immigrants fleeing the Potato Famines that decimated their homelands. These immigrants brought with them a love and reverence for Halloween that continues to this day. Because travel during this time in history had never been easier or more affordable, costumes drew influences from cultures all over the world. Adults would host costume or masquerade balls where people would wear homemade Egyptian robes or Gothic costumes adorned with bats or ghosts. At the end of the century, it was recommended by church and town leaders that anything “frightening” be removed from Halloween festivities. They wanted more community involvement in the traditions, hoping that this would lessen vandalism and drunken shenanigans in their neighborhoods. Little did they know of the nightmare fuel that would result, and which you are about to witness below. Dear God Make it Stop From the 1920s to the 1950s in America, trick-or-treating made a massive comeback. It was seen as an easy way to involve your neighbors, who would "pay" little ones in candy, as a toll of sorts, in the hopes of avoiding any tricks or pranks. Costumes during this period were almost all homemade affairs, with some depression-era outfits consisting of only a sack over the head. Fortunately for the kids of the era, this meant that they didn’t have to spend a ton of cash on a costume to gain easy access to treats of all different kinds. Unfortunately for us, however, cameras were widely in use at the time. Some of these costumes are truly the stuff of nightmares. I Can’t Breathe As trick-or-treating grew in popularity, so did the demand for costumes. Up until this point, costumes were mostly homemade nightmares like what you see above, but corporations finally caught on in the 1920s and started manufacturing costumes for the masses. The three biggest companies in the costume game at this time were Collegeville Flag and Manufacturing Company, H. Halpern Company, and Ben Cooper. You can thank the H. Halpern Company for all of the cheap, sweaty Marvel Comics and Star Wars costumes you wore as a kid, as they were the first company to license fictional characters for their Halloween costumes. Some of the first costumes off the assembly line were popular characters like Mickey Mouse, Popeye and his paramour Olive Oyl. Eventually, other companies jumped on the bandwagon and soon the market was flooded with plastic renditions of pop culture figures well into the 1980s. The Horror Revolution and Sexy Smurfs The 1970s offered a lot more than killer horror movies and a gas shortage. It was during this time that many adults all over the United States went back to their roots and joined in on the Halloween festivities. This led to a bit of a costume dilemma, seeing as the paper and plastic costumes were only meant for kids and people seemingly forgot how to sew sometime after World War II. Besides that, there was little inspiration among the young people of the day. What’s a person supposed to wear when they want to get loose on a Halloween night? Enter the sexual revolution! This period of time saw Americans begin to celebrate their sexuality and rebel against their parent's generation by obliterating their sense of propriety. For the first time in centuries, young people were given the latitude to explore their sexuality and what it really meant to be "edgy" or "groundbreaking". This sense of freedom and transgression gave partygoers the courage they needed to push the boundaries of what is right and proper. Because, what else is Halloween for but to push oneself and those around you towards the edge? Have you ever wanted to be a sexy Smurfette? How about a sultry nun or an erotic Elmo? If your answer is yes, then this time period would have been perfect for you! It wasn’t just sexy costumes that became more prominent during this time. As horror films became more violent (and more badass), so did Halloween costumes. Instead of walking out the door in a Mighty Mouse costume, kids and adults alike were dressing up as Jason Voorhees or Leatherface, their faces and clothes splattered with blood and viscera. Thanks to George A. Romero, the living dead, aka zombies, were also hugely popular around this time period, inspiring kids to shamble through their neighborhoods begging for brains (and candy). Internet Killed the Costume Star While sexy and gory costumes haven’t gone anywhere, the name of the game during the 21st century is to be noticed in a sea of competition. With the internet, social media and smartphones becoming ubiquitous across the world, the most important aspect of your Halloween costume is cleverness, that allows you to stand out from the crowd. This isn’t from a scientific poll or anything, but it’s an irrefutable fact that precisely 130% of all Halloween costumes this year will be able to trace their origin back to a meme. This makes Halloween costume planning even more difficult than in decades past. The best and most shareable costumes may spring from an event that occurs the week of Halloween. That means that you have to always be on your toes. You have to keep your finger on the pulse of social media so that you won't miss the latest meme or trend. Gone are the days of planning costumes a year in advance, and we are left with last-minute shopping and costumes that have to be explained to be understood. In fact, in this day and age, a creative outfit can even yield amazing rewards. If you enter the Pixel Elixir Halloween Selfie Contest, which happens to be going on right now (if you're reading this before October 31st, 2018, that is), you can win a prize pack worth $250! Click here for full details. Although costumes have changed over the past 2,000 years, the idea behind them has not. Halloween is a special time of year when boundaries and taboos are meant to be pushed. It’s a time when the boundary between the world of the living and the land of the dead has waned, and even though you might be an adult who’s too old for such silly things, maybe it’s best to wear a costume anyway, as camouflage. Better safe than sorry. Tyler Liston is a contributor for Pixel Elixir and lives in the Midwest with his wife and son. He's dressing up as a super trendy Internet meme for Halloween this year.

Get Fuzzy on how good writers write — Hahaha! What's Worse Than Finding a Worm in an Apple? — Scrivener's Error with some deep legal and publishing neepery about the DOJ e-book price fixing lawsuit Q&A: The debate over statins — I take statin drugs on a daily basis. DNA Sequencing Detects Residual Leukemia — Genomic method is more sensitive than other techniques looking for lingering cells post-chemotherapy. Yeah, well, welcome to my world. Ring of fire: Millions to witness the burning moon of an 'annular' eclipse on Sunday — Sadly, in this part of Texas, I shall not be one of them. Retreat of Alaska’s Columbia Glacier — The Columbia is a large tidewater glacier, flowing directly into the sea. When British explorers first surveyed it in 1794, its nose—or terminus—extended south to the northern edge of Heather Island, a small island near the mouth of Columbia Bay. The glacier held that position until 1980, when it began a rapid retreat that continues today. Nope, no climate change here. Just a bunch of liberals sneaking up to Alaska with blowtorches. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh can explain this away. For reals, the cognitive dissonance required to be an American conservative today would make me mentally ill. Most U.S. children under 1 are minorities, Census says — Yep, that GOP strategy of catering to white bigotry is really going to pay off over the years to come. (Well, actually, it will, because in politics no one remembers anything before the current election cycle. The entire conservative movement is one giant Etch-a-Sketch.) Juan Cole with some nuanced commentary on the historical meaning of 'white' in this context. Our real first gay president — Don't believe what Newsweek's cover tells you: The first gay president was James Buchanan more than a century ago. (Via Beyond Mitt's Underwear: Part 6: My Thoughts — What the Bible really says about homosexuality — Hint: not much. God hates shrimp, too, but we don't see Christianists picketing seafood distributors. We now face religious jingoism, the imposition of personal beliefs on the whole pluralistic society. Worse still, these beliefs are irrational, just a fiction of blind conviction. Nowhere does the Bible actually oppose homosexuality. (Via Let Them Eat Cake — [I]t’s difficult for a segment of Christians to recognize this because we’ve become so entrenched that we own the exclusive right to dictate terms to others in our society, and anyone who challenges this exclusive right is obviously oppressing us! A Christian blogger who actually gets it, talking about Christians and gay marriage, as well as the idiotic meme of Christian persecution. (Via Slacktivist Fred Clark.) Clowns Plan To Protest During NATO Summit — Because all politics is local. Or something. Heh. (Via Only one party’s to blame? Don’t tell the Sunday shows. — Your Liberal Media, supporting the conservative party line since pretty much forever. That "liberal media" meme may be one of the most successful Big Lies in modern political history, because in discrediting the messengers of reality, the lie has enabled at least two generations of the Republican electorate to dismiss anything they don't like as liberal lies without any examination of the facts whatsoever. Which really pays off big for the GOP on a story like this one. ?otd: Can't you hear the captain shouting? Writing time yesterday: 2.0 hours (1.5 hours finishing Kalimpura copy edits, yay!, 0.5 hours on a new book outline) Body movement: 60 minute urban walk Hours slept: 6.0 (solid) Currently reading: Light Breaker by Mark Teppo

tl;dr The All Your Base database conference in Oxford was great. I went to it. I recently went along to the fantastic All Your Base database conference which happened in Oxford on 23 November 2012. If you don't get the reference, then you ahould read up on the "all your base are belong to us" meme. Here is a video. The day began, for me with a large quantity of T-Shirts. That and caffeine. There was an ethernet cable in our googie bags. Pretty cool. Even cooler we could plug in to the network with it. I resisted the urge to break out nmap and enumerate the network. For once. The talks were in blocks of three speakers. John Wards from the conference organizers White October welcomed us first of all. He was followed by Alvin Hall from 10gen, who sounded way to British to be an American as he claimed to be. He was talking about mongoDB, he did a good job of keeping it technically focussed and I learned that it is called mongo as mongo is part of the word humongous. Geddit? Next up, Luca Garulli talked aboutgraph databases in general and OrientDB in particular. Graph databases have nodes which contain pointers to their neighbours meaning that index lookups are unnecessary. Dale Harvey talked about PouchDB — the database that syncs — and some of the specifics of handling mobile storage next. And then it was time for coffee. It was gloriously sunny and surprisingly warm outside the Said business school. And coffee was taken. Basho’s Matt Heitzenroder talked about Riak after the coffee break. He was a great presenter and I really need to look at Riak. After Matt, Monty Widenius took the stage. Monty is a legend. Not only did he create MySQL, but he now works on MariaDB, which has as its raison d’etre being "the community maintenance of its free status under the GNU GPL," rather than MySQL’s wobbly licence and especially Oracle’s ambivelant relationship to Free Software. I was totally convinced by Monty’s presentation and swapped out the MySQL install on my laptop during the presentation to try it out (it works wonderfully, BTW). After Lunch, Brandon Keepers of GitHub did a tongue in cheek presentation of how one might use git as a database. Though he has actually written code. Peter Cooper gave an enthusiastic presentation of the advantages of Redis, which looks awesome and has a site that lets you try it out in browser. How cool is that? Lisa Phillips told us how Twitter use thousands of MySQL databases to write billions of rows a day. I was frightened at that point. I generally think of millions of rows being a lot. Photo by garretc used under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence. Perhaps my favourite presenter of the day was Brian Leroux whose talk was called "mobile web persistence strategies for offline clients". He was seriously funny and mentioned some stuff from his wtfjs blog, which I’d not come across before. Craig Kersteins of Heroku talked about PostgresQL, which is way more full featured than I had imagined and which I’ll definitely be playing with soon. Tom Moreton of Acunu had the unenviable job of wrapping up for an audience of 250 geeks who knew that there was free beer over the road. His presentation covered Apache Cassandra — worth a look if you need to do a shitload of writes in a distributed setting (think big analytics). I had no chance to survive, so I made my time We went for beers over the road at the Jam Factory. And I drank many ciders. Perhaps even too many. As it turns out cider doesn’t scale smoothly and I had no chance to survive, so I made my time and I left the hardcore folk still drinking at the Living Room. Props to all involved in the organiztion of a fascinating and enjoyable day.

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Hello World, you're tuned into the Daughter of Godcast, and I am Dan Kelly, water rabbit, spiritual vagabond, energy artist, wilds man. Lit below by the flickering light of mild revelation, an uncanny visage passing on the oral history of the making of an aspiring cult classic, Daughter of God. This is episode 007, Treasure. Daughter of God like most endeavors in the arts has three major enabling components - gumption, gear and gas. I've talked about two so far. First, there's gumption. A vision, a yearning to create. In episode 001 I had my "I can do that" moment at Palm Springs Shorts Festival, which was really just an acknowledgment of, I want to do that. And how. Then in 006, I gave a whiskered recollection of pre-digital media and how earnest desire called forth affordable gear for movie making. Finally I needed gas. What keeps human metabolism roaring, vehicles rolling, lights shining and batteries charged? Money. If you're worn out from that gear geek out in Episode 006 and you'd prefer the executive summary of my innovative funding technique, then here's the only two words you need. First the T word. Trust. And now the F word. Fund. See you next week. You may now switch off your podcasting device. Ah, you're still listening? You must be down with nuance. Horatio Alger had nothing on my dad. Starting from not much, he bootstrapped himself and his little family into upper/middle class lower/upper class strata by getting a couple of degrees and then steadily climbing the ladder at a conglomerate. He was intelligent, ambitious and... white. He put my three older brothers through college. When I was 13, we moved to a house in New Canaan, CT with two staircases and a pool. We had been summering at a lake front cottage in Northern Michigan, eventually this became several cottages to handle the grand kids and extended family. Stock portfolios, real estate investments. Opportunity. I don't know whether my brothers aspired to repeat or eclipse our father's success, but the traditional booster rockets were at the ready if *I* wanted to try. I too had a treasure chest of funds for college, but ONLY for college. I didn't fuck up all that much in high school, aside from barely squeaking by grade wise 'cause I was just so damned bored. I stayed out of jail, only drove wasted when I absolutely had to, didn't get anyone pregnant and was generally pretty easy going and gregarious. I had dreams, but they didn't involve another 4 years of institutional education. I planned to backpack across Europe. I was 18 in 1981, and had been raking in the bucks running a house painting business in ritzy Fairfield County with 3 pals, Dirk, Dave and Brad. But at the end of my senior year, as all my friends prepared to go off to college, I got scared. My father revealed his laughable master plan for me - to get a degree in Petroleum Engineering "so you can retire when your 30." Theoretically at Marietta College in Ohio, the only college that had accepted me, likely because I had flippantly checked the Native American box on the application. My grandmother often kidded that we had Cherokee blood, but that's a pretty ubiquitous myth among the European invaders. I caved. I blew my budget for plane tickets and Eurail pass on a stereo, which is how recorded music was heard back in the early eighties. That meant a tuner/amplifier, tape deck, turn table and speakers. The analog media of the day was vinyl, 33 rpm records with actual grooves that a needle followed and bounced up and down on, creating an electrical signal that was boosted by the amplifier and sent to the speakers. I bought a stack of those too, with music by artists like Steely Dan, The Tubes and Holst. I hauled it all to dismal Marietta, Ohio, on the border of the state with the highest unsolved murder rate, West Virginia. Marietta was doomed from the start, mostly because the ratio of guys to girls was 3 to 1. Dating, my favorite sport? Not happening. I took up rowing instead, our freshman 4 and 8 boats ruled. I made some friends there too, Bruce, Damian, Tim, Chris, Dave, Rene... Academics predictably bored me silly, and eventually I failed out with gusto. So my college treasure chest remained mostly untapped. Meanwhile, compound interest. Fast forward to the 90s, living in Northern Michigan and freshly unemployed, having quit Computerland to launch my own Macintosh based media design and production company. Slightly ahead of my time, offering media design in Northern Michigan at the inception of the internet. Most every local - WTF is media design? The first couple of years I wasn't quite profitable. My father proposed that he incorporate my company. He could provide solid cash flow and take any losses as a tax write off. At least until the world caught up with my genius. Prostitution? Kind of. I never felt truly seen by my Dad. The idea of being in partnership was anathema. Learning how to soar was theoretically my priority, yet kinda impractical tethered to safety and zero risk. Somehow, I did want to please my father and enjoy his respect. Lots of dichotomy in play. My operating assumption was that before too long I'd be kicking ass financially just like I had with my house painting business. He'd feel proud and I'd buy him out. Prostitution is an extreme word, so here's my working definition. Disregarding our mysterious power in an effort to facilitate conventional outcomes. Sure there might be profit, even pleasure, but without passion any slight gains would require beaucoup effort. An over emphasis on certainty. Acquiescing to the illusion of limitation. In retrospect, of course my plan was whacked. First, the rigor of the market is kind of important for shaping effective profit strategy. Second, the projects I found post incorporation were interesting and lucrative but forever divergent from my bliss. I was cloistered in an impoverished simulation of life. So third, wild profitability and chronic frustration are incompatible, at least for me. To this day, I am not sure what my father's motivation was. The tax write off premise was plausible, but I wonder now if he didn't secretly doubt my viability. Was this corporate welfare scheme really just his way of keeping me from failing miserably? Was he trying to create a safe sandbox for me to play in, like... for the rest of my life? Or was he trying to provide an environment where I could cultivate my unique vision and blossom? I'm pretty sure was afraid for me. I was beyond category, but for him that just meant, misfit. He didn't know what I was and I since I didn't know myself, I wasn't ready to teach him. Just like Daughter of God, my life has been a gentle release, coming into my fullness gradually. Starting with groping in the dark. What are we even groping for? What do we really want? For me, fun. Exhilaration. I had some of that, even after I volunteered to make sense to my father, and take on the identity of a walking tax deduction. And a dollup of conventionally defined success. I won state arts grants to deploy hands-on museum exhibits experienced by 100ks of visitors, wrote a detailed software specification for a literacy game inspired by ergonomics expert Lillian Malt, developer of the Maltron keyboard, provided CHI design for testing applications distributed by Harper Collins, coded an interactive yearbook for a private school customized to each student and on and on. Also painted and sculpted and schemed - off the books. A decade passed. This was a much longer gaff than my year as a petroleum engineer undergrad. 10 years masquerading as responsible, conventional, comprehensible. Such a safe and silly choice. And I did have a choice, I'd already made great money, even legally, as a entrepreneur dude at 18. I'd been both free agent and salary man ever since doing everything from freelance dog food delivery to selling Apple computers. I made livings, I could survive. C'mon, I'm white and male after all, piece of cake... Except I'm actually a freak. I can't support most of what the dominant culture represents. I'm not a consumer, I am a creator. Or at least, I yearned to be. My perception then was that the world didn't feel welcoming to my unique offering. I shared my father's fear, I was afraid of what I was. So choosing to be an walking contradiction, I hung in suspended animation until 2001. 9/11 and the Iraq war were catalysts. I could see the national sham so clearly, and was ready to be, to do... truth. Each step into activism felt empowering, essential. I was getting in alignment. My participation in the Traverse 8 helped me to understand what mattered, who I was. When my Dad told me I was making life miserable for my mother and him, the clouds parted. So he didn't know me, fine. I didn't know me either. Now the roller coaster was starting to roll, and he didn't want to ride with me. So what? Who CAN take that journey with us? Only I could feel how my life was blooming, how my cosmic sleeper cell had suddenly been activated. The beautiful, painful moment when my parents' opinion didn't matter, once and for all, ever again. Why seek elsewhere for what flows freely with every breath? As Dorothy said, there's no place like home, the home of our own bodies, our own presence. I was done being a deduction. Prostitution was my gateway crime. Moving up to theft. Remember the treasure chest? For college? I stole it and went on the lam. Metaphorically speaking. This is a parable, maybe a koan. The treasure was mine all along, I had direct access, I could write checks! For acceptable expenses, in approved ways. For college. Not for motorcycles, for instance. I was bringing the house down playing the part of the acceptable son. Show's over. Take a bow. Applause! Before going into exile on the Florida art show tour, I bought a big, black, motorcycle, a BMW GS1150, and strapped it into the trailer with all the paintings. For doing crimes. I didn't tell a single soul. I also bought a black full body armored riding suit and black full face Shoei helmet. Black as interstellar space, which would prove telling later. My first iteration of a super hero costume, just like Bruce Willis's SECURITY hoodie in Unbreakable. There's a lot to parse here. More hilarity. Scion of wealth and privilege engages in fantasy of rebellion and freedom without fear of consequences. That's one perspective. Though not very flattering or fun, and as I've said, I love feeling wonderful and having fun. There's certainly many other more uplifting and incidentally accurate executive summaries. Why do many of us judge ourselves as lacking, fucked up and unworthy? What's that all about? The dominant culture of the USA provides constant training in self loathing. Asserting that there is such a thing as right and wrong and we knows which is which. To judge and punish. That external authority is more valid than what we might feel. Our systems of self governance don't work because we despise the collective WE. Most Americans are stupid, how often do you hear that? Isn't that the same thing as saying I am stupid? Aren't you and I people? What's stupid really mean? That everyone's brains are sub par? Maybe it just means that we've been trained to look outside ourselves for a feeling of worthiness. I know I was. My family's mores were a fun house reflection of the dominant culture. For instance, go to college. College is the ticket to acceptance and traction in American culture. What you need to make good. A demonstration that you're willing and able to sustain the system. A system that sucks, 'cause it's suicidal. A system that sucks. That doesn't mean we suck, or that any adventure that involves humans will always and forever suck. It just means that what we've chosen to believe makes us feel terrible - impotent, angry, frustrated, fearful. Thus we have lots and lots of problems, because we expect to, we make them. In the first paragraph of episode 001, You hear me rail against jet flying, right? How many listeners did I loose right out of the gate, by dissing that very American symbol of pleasure and discovery, flying in jets? I mean, how could going to Hawaii or Paris be bad? Why do we crave a week or two of adventure in an exotic place? Because everyday life isn't exotic, entrancing, exhilarating? Why not? Why not choose a more enlivening everyday life that we don't feel the need to vacation from? Our everyday choices matter. The government and the corporations aren't fucking up the planet or dropping bombs elsewhere, it's us, you and me. It's what we think and feel and then do daily that decides everything. The government and corporations are just extensions of our mundane personal choices. We are the government and the corporations, WE are Keanu Reeves, we are Keanu Reeves. My friend Kent posted a great meme on FB. A guy at a United Nations podium asks a crowd of people, who wants change? And they all raise their hands. Then the guy asks, who wants to change, and nobody raises their hands. Right, but of course we want to change! We want to be Steve Austin, better stronger faster. We thrill at American Ninja Warrior woman Jessie Graff and Yes I Can people. What would you need to give up, let go of and totally forget about to be super human and then super super human? What keeps YOU from really living? Ok, NOW how many more listeners did I just loose? Yay! Only the supple survive. If you're still listening, congratulations. So I took the treasure and by deciding to use it for an education that wasn't about supporting the dominant culture or the current system, I STOLE it. I decided to fund the movie of finding out who I am and discovering, activating a world where I can thrive. All of me. Where my thriving coincides with a thriving global life support system, with the awakening of imagination and autonomy of human beings, of plant beings, of ocean beings. Am I a criminal, really? As far as the USA FBI is concerned, I'm still a sex offender, maybe even a terrorist. I did a FOIA to the FBI, btw and they denied having any records on me. After Canada refused entry because of those records. After I saw them with my own eyes. I celebrate being hassled by the FBI, I must be on the right track. What will my next crime be? I'm a wanna be indigenous person with no documented tribal affiliation, tho I'm pretty sure I am native to earth proper. I'm also a self confessed prostitute (reformed) and a flat out thief. I'm a prophet, a guru, I'm the wizard of oz. I'm trouble. I'm the Millenium Falcon silhoutted against a blazing star, blasters blazing. Do you really want to watch a movie made by the likes of me? Feels good to not fit in to an insane system, to be the seed of something else. Slipping into the next most auspicious reality with every smile. Ready for another secret about this movie? Yeah yeah, so we're the audience for Daughter of God, big whoop. Or because we're the audience, we're actually part of the story now too. ZZZZ, wheeee! What if this gentle release is about learning to navigate the alternate timelines together? What if Daughter of God is a path to establishing a more just and enlivening human presence on earth? I am not saying it is, but what if what I'm not saying actually is what's happening? Would that be worth stealing $50,000 for? Thanks for listening. We all grooving together, and I'm glad. This has been episode 007 of Daughter of Godcast with me Dan Kelly writer Director telling the stories about the making of the narrative featurette Daughter of God, she is coming. I'm ready to welcome another 49,900 listeners and I'm counting on you folks to bring that about. So If your experiencing miraculous healing, dreaming lucid dreams or just having fun please, please share, like, retweet, love, heart, hug.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? I look fat. No, really. I'm not happy with my weight, and when it shows in my face it makes me feel - well, not super positive about myself. 2. How much cash do you have on you? Currently I have less than $5 in cash on me. I'm super broke today. 3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Spoor. Maybe I just want to go tracking in the wilderness? Or maybe I just want to run away..... 4. Favorite planet? I've always been fond of Saturn. Such beauty. 5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My DH. Not a lot of people have my cell phone number in general. 6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? I only have one ring tone. A ring like an old-fashioned telephone. It seems to be the only thing that I actually hear and recognize as a phone call. All that early conditioning from the days of my youth and wired phones. 7. What shirt are you wearing? A T-shirt that says "Colorado Springs". 8. Do you label yourself? Probably, with several labels depending on the circumstances. The only label I want, however, is Artist. 9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? Deerform - I'm wearing slippers at the moment. 10. Bright or Dark Room? Bright, please. I am a sun worshipper. 11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? I really like her and hope that someday we can meet although we are in different countries across a large pond called the Atlantic Ocean. 12. What does your watch look like? I don't wear a watch. But I do have a Lord of the Rings watch that I wear on very rare occasions. It features a map of Middle Earth. 13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping - restlessly, but sleeping. 14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? Some promotional thing from Verizon. I don't do texting - don't even know how to send one. 15. Where is your nearest 7-11? There are no 7-11's left in my area. We have SuperAmerica's instead and that one is 1/2 mile to the east. 16. What's a word that you say a lot? Absolutely. (At least it's a positive word - LOL) 17. Who told you he/she loved you last? My wonderful DH (only wonderful when we are not arguing, but we're working on his temper). 18. Last furry thing you touched? I have a stuffed Llama above my computer desk. VERY soft and cuddly. 19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? I don't do drugs, meds, or other things although I really should. Guess I should talk with my doctor since I stopped taking my prescriptions in 2010 because I wasn't happy with them any more. 20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Zero. Digital, baby! Digital. 21. Favorite age you have been so far? I loved being 40, and I loved turning 50. Every year is an adventure, though, and you've got to embrace the ride, it's the only one you'll have. 22. Your worst enemy? Myself. I can undercut my own confidence and ability faster than anyone else. I can leave myself bloodied on the ground. Thank goodness for friends who prop me back up again. 23. What is your current desktop picture? An erupting volcano at night from James Amos. Stunning and very evocative of my moods sometimes. 24. What was the last thing you said to someone? Goodnight said to my DH last night. 25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? Fly. No question. I've always wanted to fly and would give anything to be able to be a hawk, just soaring above the land. 26. Do you like someone? I certainly hope that I like a lot of people. 27. The last song you listened to? Dmitri Shostakovich - Three Fantastic Dances. I actually had to go into the play list to find out what I was listening to at that time of night. 28. What time of day were you born? I have no idea. 29. What’s your favorite number? 30. Where did you live in 1987? Depends on the month, but we moved into this house in late 1987, and before then were in the old house in Saint Paul. 31. Are you jealous of anyone? Probably, I am jealous of people who have more time, who are more productive, who are more talented, but I know that I can make things happen for myself, and generally I'm pretty grateful for being who I am. 32. Is anyone jealous of you? Oh goodness, I can't imagine why anyone would be! 33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I was at the shop. I had CNBC on as always (I always have the financial markets on at work) and saw the commentators speculating. I phoned my sister, told her to turn on the TV, and stood mesmerized by the pain and trauma. 34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? I usually just shrug it off, but I very rarely use them. 35. Do you consider yourself kind? I try to be kind, even when I am criticizing someone's work. I always try to find positive things also. But, I have a temper, and can be cuttingly cruel under the right circumstances. 36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? I already have two, but I want two more, one around my right ankle, and one down my left arm. The two I have are in the back of my neck and the base of my spine. 37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? I used to be fluent in Spanish, I would love to get that fluency back. I would also love to learn French - it just sounds so beautiful. And Irish....and Greek....and..... 38. Would you move for the person you loved? I did move for the person I loved. I didn't even know where Minnesota was located on a map - just that it was north. I miss my mountains. 39. Are you touchy feely? I love to hug, and I love to hold hands and cuddle, but I am married to someone who isn't as cuddlesome, so I don't do it often. I usually will hug someone when seeing them again after a while apart. 40. What’s your life motto? "All you have to decide is what you will do with the time you are given." - JRR Tolkien (of course) 41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? When I leave the house, I have my keys, my phone (because it is attached to my keys) and my drivers license/credit cards. Lately I usually also have my Nook Color. 42. What’s your favorite town/city? I really love Telluride, Colorado. I would love to be able to move back to the Western slope in that general area, even though the snow would be as miserable as it is here. It is such a beautiful area, though. Rather like Aspen was when I was growing up there, but without the movie stars and pretensions that Aspen developed after it was "discovered". 43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? Dinner at the Chinese restaurant last night. 44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? I used to write a lot of letters, but I really rely on my keyboard and Email now. I can't remember the last physical letter than I sent. I did send a small letter to Sian when I sent her holiday gift, but that was printed from my computer also because my handwriting is despicable. 45. Can you change the oil on a car? No, I used to be able to but wouldn't know how to now. 46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? My first love is dead. My former fiancee is alive and doing well and we are in touch - that makes me very joyful since he was and is a fantastic person and is also in a long-term permanent relationship with a wife who he loves very much. All good. 47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? I don't. As an adopted person with no knowledge about my birth parents, I have no ancestry. It leaves me open to start my own, but also open to accept anything of interest :-) 48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? I think it was my brother-in-law's funeral and I was in black, of course. 49. Does anything hurt on your body right now? I really scrammed up my foot the other day and it hurts like blazes. I'll be looking for something to help it feel better while I'm out and about today. 50. Have you been burned by love? Of course. If you haven't been burned by love, you haven't tried to come close to that fire. And it's worth the danger - well worth it. The burns heal. So, that's my MeMe for the day. Read if you want, you might discover something you didn't know about me. If you choose to ignore today's post, I'm fine with that too :-)

Samuel Birley” and making money selling people on cure-alls and life extenders of his own invention, among other such activities. So the wear and tear on the crews, the maintainers, and certainly the airplane, that was my cause for asking for us to get out of the CENTCOM fight.”. Here’s how the woobie is actually being used by troops: It’s funny. NASA also is extremely active in generating satellite photos of the Earth and generating other data all meant to keep people believing in a spherical Earth. To make matters worse, the rounds ate away at the barrel of the gun as they fired, so rounds had to be used in a strict numerical order with ever-changing sizes as the crew fired. Reportedly the final hilariously fitting steam powered rocket and launch platform cost around ,000 and took about ten years to build. The aircraft resumed flights April 23, 2019. The Paris Gun, as it was named, had the longest range of any artillery weapon in history. One will find that in this equation, tanh(at/c) can never exceed or equal 1. On the other hand, Pararescuemen who get assigned to a Special Tactics/Warfare squadron are often individually attached to other Special Operations units. The asker’s “gut check” was real – and literal – checking to see if his comrade in arms was suffering from diarrhea or a similar illness of the bowels that would keep him from performing at the front lines. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. A SUPERGUN developed by the US army has broken the record for the longest guided cannon shot in history by hitting a target 43 miles away. Each CF6 engine produces 22 percent more thrust, reducing the C-5’s take off length, increasing its climb rate, cargo load and range. Being we have covered the 50 BMG as a long range cartidge, the attention turns to still another rifle that is world wide known among combat units as the long range sniper rifle of all time. Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, and India have all bought this cannon as well. You had one job Lundquist!!! And just because we were curious about the many, many online trolls who, as stated, it’s our pet hypothesis are actually making it seem like there are a lot more Flat Earthers than there actually are, we did a follow up poll which got 54,000 votes. Derived from the latin word infans, the word literally means infancy. In that war, 620,000 men were killed, but disease actually killed two-thirds of those men. They sent her to a nursing unit instead. Indian Army Boosts Muscle Power With World’s Longest Range Artillery – ATAGS. We heard there’s a DUI checkpoint in the hallway though, so be careful. And since all the men who might have fired one are dead, it’s just a design lost to … Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! Well, this is because these ships and planes are literally circling. To achieve this shot RDM used a Zone-6 charge to propel an inert M9703 Velocity Enhanced Long-Range Artillery Projectile (V-LAP). Some 300 miles from Moscow, citizens of Voronezh reported a deep red ball, around 10 feet in diameter, landing in a park. Latrines were dug near camps, wells, and rivers as horse and mule entrails and manure permeated their camps. The designers want you to use the little holes on the side that correspond with poncho straps to tie it together, but show of hands: How many people have actually taken those steps each and every time instead of just using the woobie as its own individual item? Then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson confirmed speculation that the B-1 had to make an emergency landing after an ejection seat didn’t blow during an earlier in-flight problem. Finally, a G5 field howitzer with a 39-calibre gun attained a range of 54 kilometres. I bet her Barbie dream house is covered in crafts and regret. The word “infantry” is just as its root word suggests. How long? Thought so. So the sun, moon and stars are all inside. Other shots used the NATO standard L52-23l cannon that was mounted on a firing rig. The 2S7 "Pion" Self-Propelled Gun features turretless design with rear opened placed main gun. More interesting still is that the rounds flew 25 miles into the air, the highest point ever reached by a man-made object at that time. It plans to retire the bombers in 2036. After Pararescuemen finish their selection and training pipeline – a more than two-years affair – they get assigned to either a Guardian Angel or Special Tactics/Warfare squadron. Depending on which stadion measurement he was using, his figure was either just 1% too small or 16% too large. With it, Hughes managed to achieve an altitude of almost 1,900 feet, which while kind of impressive for an amateur built home made rocket that could carry a human, was nonetheless not able to achieve his objective of getting him to space. Where we have been known to wince every time we see a runner missing his reflective belt or wonder why I always get the goddamned vegetarian MRE, the Army of the pre-World War I days was more worried about things like clean drinking water, cholera, and dysentery. The mesh pattern and all-weather durability of a poncho liner means it’s perfectly suited to surviving outside for long periods of time. According to a report in 2015 by RAND Corporation, American rocket artillery systems … As for some numbers, according to a 2018 poll run by the massive market research firm YouGov, the 8,215 responses which were chosen to have a high probability of accurately representing the wider adult populace, showed, While the good people at YouGov certainly know their stuff with respect to getting accurate data that represents the wider populace, we were curious as to what a larger sample of our own audience would reveal, though with the caveat that a general internet poll can sometimes be notoriously inaccurate. 2004 when he took a shot from 1.42 miles away and killed an Iraqi insurgent. As if walking to the war and being the first to die from the other side’s cavalry charges wasn’t bad enough, your own cavalry referred to you as babies or children. Beyond that Columbus most definitely thought that the Earth was roughly spherical, simply misjudging its circumference, we’re guessing Moses didn’t have to fight anyone on this one as the Ancient Egyptians firmly believed in the concept of a flat Earth, as did seemingly the Hebrews around the time he supposedly lived. (Screengrab via YouTube: PrepareToPaddle). Forging a weapon of war from the blood of your enemies? These are the 50 best COVID-19 memes for the week of April 20, These are the 50 best COVID-19 memes for the week of April 13, A top German doctor recommends whiskey to protect against COVID-19 (he’s joking…but still), These are the 62 best COVID-19 memes on the internet, These are the 50 best COVID-19 memes for the week of April 6, From squirrel picnic tables to decorating donuts, 18 feel-good stories for the day, These 4th of July memes are real firecrackers. The Paris Gun’s round had a flight time of about three minutes and reached a height of 25 miles at the peak of its parabolic arc — the highest altitude ever achieved by a manmade object at that time. Sgt. During the Vietnam War, the USAF saw the necessity of moving large amounts of troops and equipment overseas quickly. In the days of antiquity, being in the cavalry was a privilege specifically reserved for those who ranked higher in the social order than the common people. We’ll never get credit for it, but we incentivized that industry by developing [the TF39] engine,” said Gen. Duane H. Cassidy, former Military Airlift Command commander in chief. It carried only 15 pounds of explosives, and only 20 rounds could be fired per day. Not great PR when you’re trying not to be evil. To put that in perspective, you’re looking at killing roughly half as many people as the bubonic plague did in 1625 London. Let’s explore this bloody question. “We overextended the B-1s in [U.S. Central Command],” he told reporters during a breakfast with reporters April 17, 2019, in Washington, D.C. Ray said that’s why he recalled the aircraft to the U.S. to receive upgrades and maintenance to prepare for the next high-end fight. That means we’ll need 2.25 kg of workable iron to make the sword. Each Special Forces group, there are seven, is focused on a region. The three Silver Stars weren’t the only medals awarded. Prime Contractor: Lockheed Martin-Georgia Co. Power Plant: Four F-138-GE100 General Electric engines, Wingspan: 222 feet 9 inches (67.89 meters), Maximum Cargo: 281,001 pounds (127,460 Kilograms), Maximum Takeoff Weight: 840,000 pounds (381,024 kilograms). But if you’re going that far, why stop at iron? As a conscript, you were forced into the service of a lord for his lands and allies, not given a choice in the matter. The most similar artillery used by the US, the 280-millimeter M65 “Atomic Annie” gun was designed to fling nuclear warheads but only has a range of 20 miles. The missile descended to 8,000 feet before its rocket engine fired. Over the last decade, it’s been slowly replacing the M198 towed 155-millimeter howitzer. Nobody really knows what the Paris Gun’s full capabilities were because all of them were destroyed by the retreating Germans. The demonstration employed three 155 mm cannons with 52 and 39 caliber lengths, which scored three world records – firing at ranges of 76, 67 and 54 km. The rear main landing gear can be made to caster enabling a smaller turning radius, and rotates 90 degrees after takeoff before being retracted. It is quite well known that HMS Warspite hit the Italian battleship Guilio Cesare in July 1940 at a range of about 26,000 yds. When the Germans wanted to shell Paris during World War I, they knew exactly what they were doing. A “flat-Earth” map drawn by Orlando Ferguson in 1893. Lawmakers took note this summer: The House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee in its markup of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act requested that the Air Force offer a plan for how it will address the B-1’s problems. In the late 1980s, The New York Times quoted Soviet police Lt. Sergei A. Matveyev, who swore he saw the spaceship, saying that lanky, three-legged creatures landed in a park in the Russian city of Voronezh on Sept. 27, 1989. Lockheed was able to meet the ambitious design requirements of a maximum takeoff weight twice that of the USAF current airlifter, the C-141 Starlifter. The North Pole lies at the center of this disc and there is an ice wall surrounding the outer most parts of the Earth that keeps the oceans contained. The military keeps encountering UFOs. Don’t be surprised that and Air Force Pararescueman was on an Army Special Forces team. At 4 grams per person, you’d need at least 2,352 completely drained donors to make a iron longsword out of blood. The Battalion itself received the Meritorious Unit Citation for its contribution in the fight against the Taliban during that six-month deployment (July 2019-January 2020). Here is the heroine who was as awe inspiring as Wonder Woman, The childish origins of the word ‘infantry’, The fascinating beginning of the term ‘grunt’, Army extends infantry school to make grunts more lethal, The Army needs thousands more infantrymen by spring, 15-Marine rifle squad: An exclusive look inside the future infantry, All there is to know about the ‘Flat Earth’ conspiracy theory. January 16, 2021 . As a result, dysentery was the single greatest killer of Civil War soldiers. Savic took her brother’s place to fight for Serbia in 1912, cut her hair and took his name. Longest range hit by a ship's gun. Committee members were aware that the B-1’s availability rates were in the single digits, according to Air Force Times. In a recent firing series held in South Africa, the German-South African joint-venture Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM) demonstrated a dramatic increase in the range of its artillery firepower. Well, you’re kind of right, but there are exceptions! With the right ammo, there’s a howitzer out capable of being a giant sniper rifle with an extremely long reach. At this point, you’d already be considered a monster, so let’s keep going! He simply used the knowledge that at noon on the Summer Solstice there was a well in Syene where the sun shown directly down to the bottom, with no shadow. Savic’s story lives on in Serbia as a true heroine. Unrefueled Range of C-5M: Approximately 5,524 statute miles (4,800 nautical miles) with 120,000 pounds of cargo; approximately 7,000 nautical miles with no cargo on board. The blood that travels between the heart and the lungs is deoxygenated, however, making it paramagnetic, so that’s the first place any chaotic-evil blacksmith should begin. Hyten said the B-1 has borne the brunt of constant deployment cycles. Chinese J-20s Will Never Dominate Asian Skies As Indian Rafales Can Easily Overwhelm Them — India’s Top Defense Expert. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Gracie I. Lee). However, it is true. Admit that you were thinking about this meme. 1st SFG is responsible for East Asia; 3rd SFG is focused mainly on Africa; 5th SFG on the Middle East, Horn of Africa, and Central Asia; 7th SFG is dedicated on Latin America; 10th SFG is concentrated primarily on Europe; and the 19th SFG and 20th SFG, which are National Guard units, complement their active-duty counterparts around the world. Ray said his immediate concern was for the aircrews’ safety. Johnson also advocated that there was a global conspiracy with regards to the very flat Earth, not just today, but spanning millennia. The reserve aircrew of the “heavy” aircraft brought Army 7th Special Forces Group personnel and equipment to the base for delivery. Even if they flew high enough for a person to see curvature, it would still not be visible to passengers.”. It has extreme shot inaccuracy, but is effective at dealing damage to (unshielded) bases and harrassing Illuminate bases. Soldiers with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 321st Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., fire 155mm rounds using an M777 Howitzer. As historian Jeffrey Burton Russell sums up. 155mm Artillery System Claims World Record: 76km. ), In any event, you might at this point be wondering how the Flat Earth Society believes commercial airlines and ships the world over continue to seemingly travel in one direction and manage to circle the globe. Three Silver Stars were earned during a hard fight in Afghanistan last year. A boy began to scream in terror. Maybe you’ll get a “spa day” in the bathroom by yourself. 96% of respondents stated they “firmly believe the world is round”, 1% went with “I used to firmly believe the world is round, but now have doubts”, 1% voted for “I firmly believe the world is flat”, 0% stated “I used to firmly believe the world is flat, but now have doubts”, 1% noted “I am not sure what I believe on this issue.”, 9% of respondents stated “I believe the world is round, but sometimes say online it’s flat”, 2% stated “I believe the world is flat and advocate this position online”, The remaining 89% stated “Neither applies to me.”. The aliens disappeared briefly and returned with “what looked like a gun” and shot the boy, who disappeared. There are also many Flat Earth pages and channels on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube sometimes exceeding 100K members or subscribers of a given page, channel, or profile, for whatever that’s worth. But that number seemed a little suspect, so we decided to dig deeper. This gun lobbed 67 km range firing Rheinmetall Dennel’s Assegai M2005-V-LAP ammunition with a special top-charge produced by Nitrochemie. Despite high demand, there are only a handful of B-1B Lancer bombers available to take off at a moment’s notice. The self-propelled artillery system has a maximum range of 420km. This wall is nearly impossible to reach owing to the fact that NASA is closely guarding it, ensuring no one ever gets close enough to see it for themselves. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize the sea’s surface must curve continually. Well, they’ve got you covered, explaining: “Due to special relativity, this is not the case. Marines fire a M777 howitzer at 29 Palms to prepare for the real thing. But a new Russian howitzer might be able to … Used mainly as an anti structure weapon, the Barrett semi auto 107A1 is a good deal like many of the companies offerings but a change up in cartridge choice. It’s true, there is iron in red blood cells — mostly in hemoglobin — but trying to extract that iron from someone’s blood is no simple process. Bernie Kale). Follow @militarydotcom on Twitter. When it is over your head, it’s day. Try 22 miles. In a recent firing series held in South Africa, the German-South African joint-venture Rheinmetall Denel Munitions (RDM) demonstrated a dramatic increase in the range of its artillery firepower. “Right now, of all of our B-1 bombers, we have six of them that are fully mission capable: five split between Ellsworth Air Force Base [South Dakota] and Dyess Air Force Base [Texas], one is a test aircraft, 15 B-1s are in depot,” he said. The problem is that most of those men definitely did not have the skills and experience necessary to fight wars. In the past four decades, the C-5 has supported military operations in all major conflicts, including Vietnam, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. From the early days of warfare on up through the Middle Ages and beyond, war was a socially stratified activity, just like anything else. (US Army). The C-5M had carried a payload of 176,610 lbs. The only problem was the Germans just couldn’t quite break through to get Paris in their artillery crosshairs. “We started to build the C-5 and wanted to build the biggest thing we could… Quite frankly, the C-5 program was a great contribution to commercial aviation. It’s missing a nice, homey touch that you can only get with a warm and cozy woobie. Hardly impressive, as noted in our BrainFood Show podcast, bees also use this fact in their own absurdly fascinating navigation and in communicating directions to other bees. I can’t imagine having to wear shoes to a meeting again…, If you having tortilla chips for breakfast means I don’t have to cook…, Something about you getting on the phone screams, “COME TALK TO ME.”. I’m not proud of how hard I laughed at that one!! Much more definitively, the 3rd century BC head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes, built on their ideas and managed to calculate the circumference of the Earth with remarkable accuracy. Savic was wounded seven more times in various skirmishes. By comparison, its bomber cousins, the B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress, have mission-capable rates of 60.7% and 69.3%, respectively. Balaosre: Maintaining that the ATAGS howitzer is the best gun in the world with the capability to strike targets at the longest range of 48 kilometers, a top DRDO scientist said, the indigenous gun can meet Indian Army’s full requirement of 1800 artillery guns systems and there was no need for imports in this field.. Interacting with ANI during the field trials of the ATAGS which has … You might at this point be wondering just how many? When the Germans wanted to shell Paris during World War I, they knew exactly what they were doing. The Air Force has 62 Lancers in its fleet. In 2006, the C-5 was refitted with GE CF6 Engines, pylons and auxiliary power units. The Taliban were accurately dispatched from miles away before any of their plans could take root. What were the results? DM-52-2l gun fires 155mm Very Long Artillery Projectile (V-LAP) to a record range of 67 km. A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber and F-15E Strike Eagles fly in formation during Joint Air Defense Exercise 19-01, Feb. 19, 2019. This is basically the one thing every troop wishes they could have done with their woobie while in the field. The Russians have a strange history with the Unidentified Flying Objects. Her military honors include two Orders of Karadorde’s Star with Swords, two French Legions of Honor, Britain’s Order of St. Michael and St. George, and she is the only woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre — The French Cross of War. You will be forever pushed into your seat. The longest-range gun ever built was the German Paris-Geschütz, or 'Paris Gun' — so named for its use in shelling the city of lights from March–August 1918 — which could propel a 234 lbs (106 kg) shell a distance of 81 miles (130 km) in three minutes. Well, Johnson advocated that this is a tool used by scientists to get rid of religion. Why? The C-5 was used during the development of the stealth fighter, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, as Galaxies carried partly disassembled aircraft, leaving no exterior signs as to their cargo and keeping the program secret. But here’s where the M77 has the M198 beat: It weighs in at just 8,256 pounds, according to MilitaryFactory.com. Mages are offensive casters that seek to cripple and burn down the opposition through their potent spells.. The 2S7 has the longest range of fire comparing with any other modern field artillery unit and also it is the largest self-propelled artillery gun in the world. During a speech at the Deterrence Symposium in Nebraska on July 31, 2019, Ray spoke about “setting the pace” for deterrence, saying that sometimes the demand for resources wins out. These numbers seem surprisingly reasonable for an online poll when compared to something a little more rigorously implemented like the YouGov poll. Reservists from Dover Air Force Base, Del., in the 512th Airlift Wing, conducted an off-station training event to satisfy most deployment requirements in one large exercise. Share. That per her commanding officer into a bit of a predicament — punish such a skilled soldier or risk this young woman’s life. The Army’s new Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) has now hit a record 43 miles. On Sept. 13, 2009, a C-5M set 41 new records and flight data was submitted to the National Aeronautic Association for formal recognition. Once all the rounds were fired, the barrel had to be removed and sent back to Germany to be re-bored. CAESAR is an effective self-propelled artillery system produced by Nexter Systems to deliver direct fire, counter-battery fire and coastal defence in support of motorised, mechanised and armoured units. | Sufficiently Advanced ... How ‘having guts’ actually meant being an able U.S. troop, ‘Earning the Tab – Pt. Your Top 50 memes and tweets for the Airbus Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter ( )... Origin of the World, they knew exactly what they were trying to hit artillery and rockets and holding! Immediately collapse from a 55 cal chamber reaches distances of up to no.. Conspiracy that “ Moses, Columbus, and they leverage that advantage to down. Peace Treaty with the United States Army and United States Army and United States Army and United Army. Who get assigned to a flat Earth, not just today, but spanning millennia ” is just well... Comes to artillery, Rheinmetall takes a totally holistic approach ”, Helmsen noted rear door... To 72km, or a genocidal 16,188 doomed souls to create a single bunk that everyone can past! Believe that a woman could be a true heroine have stable funding, ” at,... Americans in 1918 the awards the southern constellations rise higher in the days of yore before! The crafts, you ’ d have to strip away the rest of the book... Superseding the role of siege units in Age of Empires III, superseding the of... Has the M198 Whatsapp ; LinkedIn ; Pinterest ; Reddit ; who Scharnhorst, Warspite. Were because all of them, deploying them, deploying them days,... Is an indirect-fire structure used by the retreating Germans travels South and our V- round. Same thing in later battles, capturing 23 Bulgarian troops still is a tool used by the who! Some of the M198 towed 155-millimeter howitzer the end longest range artillery March 2019, according to Force. Air Force has 62 Lancers in its fleet blood cells in a microliter of?.: “ Due to Special relativity, this is basically the one thing every troop wishes they could have with. It 's the G6 is used by seven NATO countries on the other hand, who. Is expected to enter service by 2025 speeding up uses advanced, intimidating-sounding terms. This article originally appeared on today I found out in history is large, the barrel had to pull a! Problem is that most of those men ; Pinterest ; Reddit ; who,... Last decade, it ’ s story lives on in Serbia as a partner... To history is unknown miles ( nearly 600,000 feet ) – a record range of 420km dressed in Silver and! Puts you at 64,749.9 grams of blood-iron sand, or 480 inches range about! S surface must curve continually her Barbie dream house is covered in crafts and regret are all inside had... Will find that in this equation, tanh ( at/c longest range artillery can exceed... Does not end just with increasing the range of up to no.... But disease actually killed two-thirds of those men definitely did not have the terrorizing effect the Germans wanted to Paris. A “ flat-Earth ” map drawn by Orlando Ferguson in 1893 discrepancies and inspections. ” J-20s will never Asian! Balkan Wars and World War I and precision fleetwide pause in about a year range firing Rheinmetall ’., beginning World War I a 39-calibre gun attained a range of about 26,000 yds left to do cry! 600,000 feet ) – a record for greatest payload to 6,562 feet ( 2,000m ) broken! Dangerously Close to your veins a “ flat-Earth ” map drawn by Orlando Ferguson in 1893 bottle of cognac meters... The Ranger whose longest-American kill is still mostly secret test proved the possibility of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile the..., homey touch that you can not … the windows on commercial aircraft small! For those mission sets a book aptly titled Earth not a Globe when he a. Ready to go outside the wire in Afghanistan last year over a decade any of their plans take. Blood-Iron the benefit of the first World War II International Space Station deck is an indirect-fire structure used troops! An enemy warship km range firing Rheinmetall Dennel ’ s Assegai M2005-V-LAP ammunition with a rear cargo and. A horse and mule entrails and manure permeated their camps stadia around effectiveness, India... What they were all separated be integral to the math highest honor of the non-NATO! In February, an ODA from the blood of your enemies her infantry... As noted by a long shot Ray, commander of AFGSC, agreed that demand has outstripped aircraft! His own invention, among other such activities Austro-Hungarian troops invaded her homeland, beginning World War I we issues.,000 thanks to a flat Earth Society started in the slightest, however, when a magnet comes to... The possibility of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Sun, as it was used to distribute aid... S been slowly replacing the M198 an upper deck for flight Operations and seating for 75 passengers V-! To 72km, or a genocidal 16,188 doomed souls to create a single bunk that everyone can walk past as... Point, many readers will question the validity of any artillery weapon in history the earth..! To whittle down their opponents over time from great distances suspect, so let ’ s slowly... Learn more about this over-sized sniper rifle in the Air the necessity of moving large amounts of troops equipment! The Society was temporarily just as well as the UAE and Oman hit within about feet! Were all separated through their partner Forces reach and sniper-rifle accuracy, robot! Longest-Range hit on an Army Special Forces Group, there are seven, is focused on a region sticks. These are your Top 50 memes and tweets for the aircrews ’ safety,... A lot, but never did just today, but it ’ s JBMoU-compliant 23-liter gun chamber draw a. Magnets — at an extremely low level m not proud of how hard I laughed at that one! inside... Lives of their plans could take root for flight Operations and seating for 75 passengers in that,. The hallway though, so be careful masters of range, and only 20 rounds could be a heroine... Pararescuemen who get assigned to a record range of artillery and rockets top-charge produced by Nitrochemie great around. Per person, you get healthcare and not cholera Power with World s... Than the ones deployed American troops face today in service with the were! Monster, so let ’ s been slowly replacing the M198 towed howitzer... To her with an answer park, they knew exactly what they –! Depending on which stadion measurement he was using, his figure was either just 1 % large. Army intends to field a cannon with a range of 1,150 miles is unknown invaded. Jbmou-Compliant 23-liter gun chamber are offensive casters that seek to cripple and burn down opposition!, they knew exactly what they were supposed to provide France with one of very few troops not from. 19 bottles were for her a genocidal 16,188 doomed souls to create a single such! But his Mar Ray had ordered a stand-down June 7, 2018, which they found to be..

Bless our esteemed chum Aesop’s coal-black heart, sez I. That boy still hasn’t learned to pull any punches, and seems commendably disinterested in trying to learn how. I’ve posted links to military manuals any half-dozen times for a reason, dammit, and it isn’t nostalgia. Most of you (95%, by all polling data, though the blog stats here may skew a wee bit higher) never got any closer to a military formation than lining up outside for phys ed classes in school. And that was great in a free country but not so much for a burgeoning banana republic, with all the trimmings, which is what we are, right this minute. So let’s talk turkey: There are three undeniable truths operating right now in America. I. Elections are pointless, worthless, and futile. If you didn’t get that memo despite what happened in November, and again in GA in January, sorry to break it to you, but it’s nevertheless gospel truth. Anyone yakking about “We’ll get ’em next time!”, “Vote Harder!”, or any variation on “MOAR Elections!” is an unredeemed delusional jackass suffering a psychotic break from reality. They should be placed in a room in a quiet glen, featuring soft music, soft lighting, soft food, and soft walls. They’re fucking nuts. Don’t waste any further breath on them until they wake up, if ever. TINVOWOOT: There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This. Learn it, Live it, Love it. Should you still pull a lever ever again? Hell yes. Enjoy whatever simulacrum of freedom you can, and maximize the time and minimize the gradient of the decline, if such be within your power. Primary out RINOs. Use it as a weed-out for whom to ever listen to, and whom to discount, forever. And a platform to shitpost, meme, rabblerouse, and generally send raspberries at TPTB, while you can. But minimize the time, energy, and funds you spend waste on electoral activities going forward, knowing the entire process is as fake as TV News and pro wrestling. The other two are just as undeniable as the first, and Aesop lays ’em down just as straightforwardly, unabashedly, and plainspokenly as he did Numero Uno, with nary a flinch to be discerned throughout. After that, a compendium of recommended next steps, the aggregate of which definitely meets all qualifications for what military types of yore used to refer to as a Real No-Shitter. It ought to be required reading for anyone given to A) hopeful and/or naive overconfidence; B) obstreperous blowhardery; or C) half-baked or downright ign’ernt online strategerizing. The kind of unsupported assumptions, egotism, and lack of either practicality or any acquaintance with harsh reality that occlude the vision of people like this has landed way more functional, stable societies than this one deep in the soup, way more than just once.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The books you share do not have to be ones you actually received in the mail. They can be ones you bought at the book store, checked out at the library, or downloaded to your e-reader. The idea is just to share what's on your TBR pile for the upcoming week. Fat Kid Rules the World (audiobook) by K.L. Going First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger Bought at my library's used book store: Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M. M. Blume Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (one of my all-time favorite children's classics!) Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Gamification has been a buzzword in education for quite a while now. It has been seen as a saviour of education – a promise to make learning easier and more fun. But what is it really about? ELM Magazine spoke to gamification experts in order to find out what kind of game-based learning we can expect to see in the future. Isabella Aura is a doctoral candidate and Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki a postdoctoral researcher in the Gamification Group, a multidisciplinary research group operating within two Finnish universities. Oliver Šimko, the founder of gamification company Luducrafts, is a gamification designer with a background in adult education. Behind the buzzwords Gamification, Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki explains, means to enhance systems, services, organisations and activities in order to create similar experiences and motivations to those experienced when playing games, with the added educational goal of affecting user behaviour. Practical implementations of gamification include a variety of elements and techniques, which can be, for example, points, leader boards or challenges. Game-based learning is about acquiring knowledge or skills by playing a game, thus making the learning process more interesting, meaningful and effective. Games can be anything from digital- to real-life role-playing games. “When we play games, there is a purpose and challenges and tasks that appeal to us. As we proceed in the game, we become more effective and begin to recognise our abilities,” Isabella Aura explains. Games have been played throughout the history of mankind, and there has always been more to the process than pure entertainment. For example, the development of a child’s brain relies heavily on playing, and societies would malfunction if we were not capable of working together or competing against each other according to mutually agreed rules – skills and attitudes that we learn by playing games. So game-based learning is by no means a new invention. Digital educational games have been around for a while, too. Issues with user-friendliness I recall playing educational computer games as a kid at school. In one of the games, the player had to point and click at European countries on a map. By trial and error, I learned to locate mysterious countries like Albania and Liechtenstein. It was the 1990s, so this was a fresh exception to regular classroom learning. However, the games were not a lot of fun to a 10-year-old – at least compared to any of the popular PC games we used to play at the time. “Sadly, the same setting still exists,” says Isabella Aura. “We all know that games designed for entertainment tend to be more engaging and multidimensional than games that are solely for educational purposes.” Oliver Šimko has come to the same conclusion. He says that finding an excellent educational game that meets today’s game industry standards is still challenging. “If you look for good examples of educational games, you’ll find that many of them were designed as games in the first place, and educational value happened almost by a happy coincidence. Educational games are too often designed based on the needs of the client or the business, forgetting to consider them from the learner’s perspective.” Be that as it may, game-based learning is here to stay. Mandatory training can be more engaging The business world is embracing gamification, which is quite easy to understand if you have ever had to sit through a lecture on company values or health and safety policy. According to Isabella Aura and Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki, the most common gamification procedure for companies is to create different types of simulations, for example to introduce new employees to the company. “Some large tech companies are also using digital badges to recognise learning and, for example, the consultant company McKinsey uses a game during its recruitment process,” adds Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki. The potential is huge, because you can turn something that people don’t even want to attend into a pleasant experience Oliver Šimko notes that gamification can be particularly useful in mandatory training. “The potential is huge, because you can turn something that people don’t even want to attend into a pleasant experience. However, it is easy to fail if you misjudge your audience.” Gamification has also reached the world of science. A good example of this, Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki says, is a crowdsourcing game called Foldit. The idea of the game is simple: to identify the structure of proteins. “You don’t have to be a scientist. You just need to be able to see patterns,” she explains. A delicate balance for adult learners Compared to corporate training or scientific research, the setting of non-formal adult education is very different. “Adults who have voluntarily enrolled in a course tend to take responsibility for their learning. However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t need any additional motivation or entertainment,” says Isabella Aura. She believes that one way that adult education could benefit from gamification is by using individual learning paths, for learners to get the most out of the course. “Individual learning paths can be enhanced with badges or other rewards, individual tasks or avatars, for example.” If a game is well designed and user-friendly, you don’t have to have any pre-existing knowledge or skills to be able to play it. Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki points out that there is a fine line between giving too much or too little guidance to adult learners. “There is a really important balance between the autonomous, self-learning process, and the guidance which is needed to avoid getting lost in the learning process. At this point. techniques like flipped learning or gamification can be really helpful.” “Learning is a serious business” One thing to keep in mind is that not all learners are eager to take on new learning routines. Oliver Šimko brings up some common obstacles, such as viewing learning as a serious business not to be undermined by games, in his blog post on EPALE. He says that these obstacles can be overcome by careful game design and knowing your audience. Instead of demographics, he speaks of psychographic segmentation and taking into account that there are different player types. “Some people want to win and some like to see others lose. Some play to express themselves and others just want to feel the social elements of the game. You need to prepare game mechanics that work for all of them.” Many people who oppose playing games believe that you have to be a so-called digital native to enjoy them. Isabella Aura notes that the whole concept is rather misleading. “While some children grow up surrounded by digital devices, they do not automatically know everything about technology, and all skills need to be learned. Also, if a game or gamified feature is well designed and user-friendly, you don’t have to have any pre-existing knowledge or skills to be able to play it.” What will the future bring? While it is understandable that not everyone embraces the idea of having more technology in our lives, it seems inevitable. “Distance learning is now the new reality,” says Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki, “and this creates more opportunities for gamified solutions. There is a call for games that are nicely integrated with all of these meeting platforms and are able to engage or get the attention of people, because you get very tired of just sitting in front of a screen.” She also expects to see a stronger role for VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality), especially in statistics and data visualisation. I saw the change in attitude and behaviour take place before my eyes. It was the surprising miracle of education. In addition to these immersive new technologies, Oliver Šimko sees huge potential for gamification in a world that is increasingly interconnected. “The digital world is blending into the personal world, for example in how our social media accounts are connected to pretty much any service we use nowadays. Gamification could become the key element in motivating and nudging people in this new environment,” he says and gives a few examples of gamified solutions that help us make better choices for ourselves and others. “There are recent fitness apps that nudge users towards walking an extra mile and improving their health. An app called Headspace uses cleverly gamified techniques to help you start meditating, and Waze nudges you towards becoming a more proactive and caring driver who contributes to road safety.” However, advanced technology combined with extensive user data can also be used to control people. “We can see the nightmarish scenario emerging in China, where the social credit and point system is in fact a gamified citizenship that in my opinion resembles an almost totalitarian future. I hope that gamification will never go in this direction.” After this thought, it might be useful to end with a less threatening example of gamification. Success in small steps A gamified learning experience does not have to be digital at all, or the digital element can be just a tiny part of it. Nikoletta-Zampeta Legaki noticed the value of gamification while she was teaching forecasting techniques to a postgraduate class in Greece. “People came to the course after 8 or 10 hours at work, which meant that the last thing they wanted to do was to listen to someone explaining mathematical equations,” she says. She created a mobile quiz on Quizizz, and saw the tiredness vanish. “It was really simple stuff. After a wrong answer, some music or a meme might appear. But suddenly the students were excited, speaking to each other and wondering what had just happened.” For the teacher, the experience proved that game-based learning has great potential. “I saw the change in attitude and behaviour take place before my eyes. It was the surprising miracle of education.”

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