@ 4523be58:ba1facd0

NIP-116

Event paths

Description

Event kind 30079 denotes an event defined by its event path rather than its event kind.

The event directory path is included in the event path, specified in the event's d tag. For example, an event path might be user/profile/name, where user/profile is the directory path.

Relays should parse the event directory from the event path d tag and index the event by it. Relays should support "directory listing" of kind 30079 events using the #f filter, such as {"#f": ["user/profile"]}.

For backward compatibility, the event directory should also be saved in the event's f tag (for "folder"), which is already indexed by some relay implementations, and can be queried using the #f filter.

Event content should be a JSON-encoded value. An empty object {} signifies that the entry at the event path is itself a directory. For example, when saving user/profile/name: Bob, you should also save user/profile: {} so the subdirectory can be listed under user.

In directory names, slashes should be escaped with a double slash.

Example

Event

json { "tags": [ ["d", "user/profile/name"], ["f", "user/profile"] ], "content": "\"Bob\"", "kind": 30079, ... }

Query

json { "#f": ["user/profile"], "authors": ["[pubkey]"] }

Motivation

To make Nostr an "everything app," we need a sustainable way to support new kinds of applications. Browsing Nostr data by human-readable nested directories and paths rather than obscure event kind numbers makes the data more manageable.

Numeric event kinds are not sustainable for the infinite number of potential applications. With numeric event kinds, developers need to find an unused number for each new application and announce it somewhere, which is cumbersome and not scalable.

Directories can also replace monolithic list events like follow lists or profile details. You can update a single directory entry such as user/profile/name or groups/follows/[pubkey] without causing an overwrite of the whole profile or follow list when your client is out-of-sync with the most recent list version, as often happens on Nostr.

Using d-tagged replaceable events for reactions, such as {tags: [["d", "reactions/[eventId]"]], content: "\"👍\"", kind: 30079, ...} would make un-reacting trivial: just publish a new event with the same d tag and an empty content. Toggling a reaction on and off would not cause a flurry of new reaction & delete events that all need to be persisted.

Implementations

• Relays that support tag-replaceable events and indexing by arbitrary tags (in this case f) already support this feature.
• IrisDB client side library: treelike data structure with subscribable nodes.

https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1266

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

I’m going to be on an ordinals panels as one of the people who is counter arguing the claim that they are good for bitcoin. I decided to brush up on the technicals on how inscriptions work. I am starting to see luke’s perspective on how it is exploiting a loophole in bitcoin’s anti-data-spam mechanisms.

Storing data in Bitcoin, the “standard” way

The standard way you add “data” to bitcoin is by calling the OP_RETURN opcode. Bitcoin devs noticed that people were storing data (like the bitcoin whitepaper) in the utxo set via large multisig transactions. The problem with this is that this set is unprunable and could grow over time. OP_RETURN outputs on the other-hand are provably prunable and don’t add to utxo bloat.

Here’s an excerpt from the march 2014 0.9.0 release notes that talks about this:

On OP_RETURN: There was been some confusion and misunderstanding in the community, regarding the OP_RETURN feature in 0.9 and data in the blockchain. This change is not an endorsement of storing data in the blockchain. The OP_RETURN change creates a provably-prunable output, to avoid data storage schemes – some of which were already deployed – that were storing arbitrary data such as images as forever-unspendable TX outputs, bloating bitcoin’s UTXO database. Storing arbitrary data in the blockchain is still a bad idea; it is less costly and far more efficient to store non-currency data elsewhere.

Much of the work on bitcoin core has been focused on making sure the system continues to function in a decentralized way for its intended purpose in the presence of people trying to abuse it for things like storing data. Bitcoin core has always discouraged this, as it is not designed for storage of images and data, it is meant for moving digital coins around in cyberspace.

To help incentive-align people to not do stupid things, OP_RETURN transactions were not made non-standard, so that they are relayable by peers and miners, but with the caveat:

1. They can only push 40 bytes (later increased to 80,83, I’m guessing to support larger root merkle hashes since that is the only sane usecase for op_return)

Bitcoin also added an option called -datacarriersize which limits the total number of bytes from these outputs that you will relay or mine.

Why inscriptions are technically an exploit

Inscriptions get around the datacarriersize limit by disguising data as bitcoin script program data via OP_PUSH inside OP_IF blocks. Ordinals do not use OP_RETURN and are not subjected to datacarriersize limits, so noderunners and miners currently have limited control over the total size of this data that they wish to relay and include in blocks. Luke’s fork of bitcoin-core has some options to fight this spam, so hopefully we will see this in core sometime soon as well.

Inscriptions are also taking advantage of features in segwit v1 (witness discount) and v2/taproot (no arbitrary script size limit). Each of these features have interesting and well-justified reasons why they were introduced.

The purpose of the witness discount was to make it cheaper to spend many outputs which helps the reduction of the utxo set size. Inscriptions took advantage of this discount to store monke jpegs disguised as bitcoin scripts. Remember, bitcoin is not for storing data, so anytime bitcoin-devs accidentally make it cheap and easy to relay data then this should be viewed as an exploit. Expect it to be fixed, or at least provide tools to noderunners for fighting this spam.

Where do we go from here

The interesting part of this story is that people seem to attach value to images stored on the bitcoin blockchain, and they are willing to pay the fee to get it in the block, so non-ideologic miners and people who don’t care about the health and decentralization of bitcoin are happy to pay or collect the fee and move on.

Data should not get a discount, people should pay full price if they want to store data. They should just use op_return and hashes like opentimestamps or any other reasonable protocol storing data in bitcoin.

After going through this analysis I’ve come to the opinion that this is a pretty bad data-spam exploit and bitcoin devs should be working on solutions. Ideological devs like luke who actually care about the health and decentralization of the network are and I’m glad to see it.

@ de496884:72617b81

Hola nostriches. Hoy quiero hacer una publicación a modo de acercamiento al surgimiento de las categorías de género y feminismo. Así que si te interesa el tema haz un esfuerzo, quédate y lee hasta el final.

El «nuevo» feminismo surge en los años 60 en aquellos países desarrollados que acordaron el reconocimiento a los derechos humanos contenidos en la declaración respectiva de la ONU. Entonces, como extensión a dicho reconocimiento es que se gesta el movimiento feminista. A partir de entonces, se vuelve a plantear la relación entre naturaleza y cultura y se llega a la conclusión de que las diferencias sociales van más allá de las diferencias biológicas, lo cual tiene que ver con que hasta la satisfacción de las necesidades elementales como son la alimentación, la vivienda o el vestuario, están condicionadas por construcciones sociales.

Pues resulta que una de las primeras propuestas identificó la subordinación femenina producto de una organización patriarcal, tomando la categoría patriarcado de Max Weber. Es así como la visión de patriarcado se extendió al discurso político y académico. Sin embargo, no existía información acerca del desarrollo histórico de dicha categoría, sistematización, variaciones, etc., debido a que era algo que recién se percibía en sociedad.

Sin embargo, la misma categoría de patriarcado junto a la de relaciones de poder para explicar fenómenos sociales contemporáneos, constituye uno de los principales aportes del feminismo. Es así como han logrado primero visibilizar y luego deconstruir y desmontar una serie de patrones existentes en la cultura que hacían a la mujer subordinarse al hombre, y que estaban presentes en el sistema sexo/género.

Imagen relativa a la lucha contra el patriarcado

Hasta ese momento, en las investigaciones de corte sociológico se podía observar un androcentrismo excesivo al dar cuenta de que el discurso científico giraba en torno al hombre como sujeto y objeto de la investigación. Incluso para muchos positivistas como el mismo Weber, los problemas relativos a las mujeres quedaban en un segundo plano y eran achacados a una supuesta pasividad en el ámbito doméstico-familiar. Dicha pasividad partía de la supuesta inferioridad biológica del género femenino.

El patriarcado entonces era una categoría vacía en sí misma, sin valor explicativo. Desde el punto de vista político pudo ser útil para la movilización pero no resistió la polémica de los críticos del feminismo ni problematizó los conflictos a ser resueltos. Pero por otro lado, un grupo de mujeres -académicas principalmente- se puso manos a la obra en una tarea más pequeña pero con mayores resultados a la larga. Se propusieron generar conocimientos sobre las condiciones de vida de la mujer, buscar en el pasado y el presente los aportes de las mujeres a la sociedad, hacerlas visibles en la historia. Es así como surgen centros académicos, ONG, proyectos, centros de estudios sobre la mujer, etc.

Convendría distinguir entonces dos posturas que acompañaron a la investigación sobre las mujeres: uno que toma como objeto de estudio a la mujer; condiciones de vida, trabajo, cultura, y otra que privilegia a la sociedad como generadora de la subordinación de las mujeres. Mientras la primera perspectiva generaba conocimiento sobre las mujeres en el estudio de las relaciones mujer-hombre y mujer-mujer, la segunda tenía una visión más holística ya que planteaba que hay que estudiar la sociedad ya que la subordinación de las mujeres es producto de la organización de esta, y que no se avanzará solamente estudiando a las mujeres, pues el estudio debe ser más amplio y en diferentes niveles, ámbitos y tiempos.

Es en esta búsqueda donde nace y se desarrolla el concepto de género como categoría social. Es así que los sistemas de género/sexo fueron entendidos como conjuntos de prácticas, símbolos, representaciones, normas y valores sociales que las sociedades construyen a partir de la diferencia anatomofisiológica y que dotan de sentido a los impulsos sexuales, la reproducción y en general a las relaciones de las personas. Por tanto, este sistema pasó a ser el objeto de estudio para comprender la subordinación de la mujer al hombre. Al ser el reconocimiento de una dimensión de la desigualdad social hasta entonces desconocida, se considera la ruptura epistemológica más importante de la segunda mitad del siglo pasado.

Imagen representativa del binarismo de género

Hay que decir que los fenómenos sociales se definen por la relación que guardan entre sí. Es así que la contextualización adquiere gran importancia. Varones y hembras tenemos la capacidad de producir con el cuerpo, pero solo los cuerpos de las hembras pueden gestar y por tanto asegurar la especie humana. Todo grupo humano que pretenda sobrevivir debe asegurarse cierto número de hembras que lo hagan posible. De ahí un poder particular del cuerpo de las hembras que además es económicamente útil. Dicho poder no es en tanto entidad biológica, sino que es la sociedad la que le otorga este poder. En este punto es importante preguntarnos históricamente ¿quiénes han controlado la capacidad reproductiva de las mujeres?, ¿quiénes han tenido la preferencia en el acceso sexual? Para asegurar un control efectivo sobre la reproducción es necesario asegurar el acceso a la sexualidad.

Imagen alegórica al embarazo

Ello también lleva a dirigir el trabajo que hacen porque de lo contrario, las mujeres pudieran tener espacio para representar una amenaza al dominio de los hombres. Es importante atender a las etapas del desarrollo de las mujeres, que permitirá ver cómo se moldean para aceptar la desigualdad y las jerarquías según el género en las distintas sociedades y culturas.

Otro contexto a delimitar es el ámbito doméstico donde históricamente ha estado ubicada la subordinación femenina. Se ha puesto al descubierto que en mujeres que comparten la misma posición de clase y raza, la condición femenina se redefine a lo largo de la vida y que algunas mujeres gozan de poder sobre otras aún en contextos de alta dominación masculina, donde se les inviste de autoridad, creando el sistema zonas de incertidumbre que las divide como género e impide alianzas y se legitima la dominación. Foucault decía que «el poder se ejerce, no se posee», siempre está en peligro de perderse y no basta con normas, leyes, amenazas o castigos. De ahí que los espacios de subordinación sean también espacios de poder de las mujeres. Es en estos espacios donde aparece la inseguridad, la tensión, la confrontación y por ejemplo, las mujeres pueden reclamar la anticoncepción.

Para terminar, es importante tener en cuenta que el género es una forma de desigualdad social que siempre está articulado con otras formas de desigualdad ya sea clase, raza, grupo etario, etc. Hay que pensar la dominación masculina con un comienzo vago en el tiempo, pero que permite desligar la subordinación de las mujeres de la evolución «natural» de la humanidad y entenderla como un proceso histórico. En ese sentido es necesario destacar que, respecto a la raza, en sociedades plurales hay que atender al contexto étnico-cultural ya que en dependencia de las relaciones entre personas de razas distintas, estarán condicionadas las relaciones entre los géneros.

Imagen de mujeres de distintas razas

Por otro lado, si bien es sabido que históricamente el sistema de género social imperante ha contribuido a invisibilizar a la mujer, asociar necesariamente dicha categoría únicamente a ella, lo que hace es nuevamente recrear el absolutismo histórico que tanto daño ha hecho, ahora como lo antagónico al hombre. En la construcción social participan todos los individuos presentes en el sistema género.

Hasta aquí la publicación de hoy, de la cual aun se puede ahondar mucho más, sobre todo en lo referido al origen de la dominación o de la jerarquización del binomio «hombre/mujer» desde un punto de vista antropológico, pero eso quedará pendiente para otro momento. ¡Así que hasta la próxima!, ¡nos vemos en Nostr!

........................................

English version

Hello nostriches. Today I want to make a post by way of an approach to the emergence of the categories of gender and feminism. So if you are interested in the topic make an effort, stay and read to the end.

The "new" feminism emerged in the 60's in those developed countries that agreed to recognize the human rights contained in the respective UN declaration. Then, as an extension of that recognition, the feminist movement was born. From then on, the relationship between nature and culture was raised again and the conclusion was reached that social differences go beyond biological differences, which has to do with the fact that even the satisfaction of elementary needs such as food, housing or clothing are conditioned by social constructions.

It turns out that one of the first proposals identified female subordination as a product of a patriarchal organization, taking Max Weber's category of patriarchy. This is how the vision of patriarchy was extended to political and academic discourse. However, there was no information about the historical development of this category, systematization, variations, etc., because it was something that was only recently perceived in society.

However, the same category of patriarchy, together with that of power relations to explain contemporary social phenomena, constitutes one of the main contributions of feminism. This is how they have first made visible and then deconstructed and dismantled a series of existing patterns in the culture that made women subordinate to men, and that were present in the sex/gender system.

Image relating to the fight against patriarchy

Up to that time, in sociological research, an excessive androcentrism could be observed as scientific discourse revolved around men as the subject and object of research. Even for many positivists such as Weber himself, the problems related to women remained in the background and were blamed on a supposed passivity in the domestic-family sphere. This passivity was based on the supposed biological inferiority of the female gender.

Patriarchy was then an empty category in itself, with no explanatory value. From the political point of view, it could be useful for mobilization, but it did not resist the polemic of feminism's critics, nor did it problematize the conflicts to be resolved. But on the other hand, a group of women - mainly academics - set to work on a smaller task but with greater results in the long run. They set out to generate knowledge about women's living conditions, to search in the past and present for women's contributions to society, to make them visible in history. This is how academic centers, NGOs, projects, women's studies centers, etc., came into being.

It would be convenient to distinguish then two postures that accompanied the research on women: one that takes women as the object of study; living conditions, work, culture, and the other that privileges society as the generator of women's subordination. While the first perspective generated knowledge about women in the study of woman-man and woman-woman relations, the second had a more holistic vision, since it proposed that society must be studied, since the subordination of women is a product of its organization, and that progress will not be made only by studying women, since the study must be broader and at different levels, spheres and times.

It is in this search that the concept of gender as a social category was born and developed. Thus, gender/sex systems were understood as a set of practices, symbols, representations, norms and social values that societies construct on the basis of anatomophysiological differences and that give meaning to sexual impulses, reproduction and, in general, to people's relationships. Therefore, this system became the object of study to understand the subordination of women to men. As the recognition of a hitherto unknown dimension of social inequality, it is considered the most important epistemological breakthrough of the second half of the last century.

Representative image of gender binarism

It must be said that social phenomena are defined by their relationship with each other. Thus, contextualization acquires great importance. Males and females have the capacity to produce with their bodies, but only the bodies of females can gestate and therefore ensure the human species. Any human group that intends to survive must ensure a certain number of females to make it possible. Hence a particular power of the female body, which is also economically useful. This power is not as a biological entity, but it is society that gives it this power. At this point it is important to ask ourselves historically, who has controlled the reproductive capacity of women, who has had the preference in sexual access? To ensure effective control over reproduction, it is necessary to ensure access to sexuality.

Allegorical image of pregnancy

This also leads to directing the work they do because otherwise, women may have room to pose a threat to men's dominance. It is important to pay attention to the stages of women's development, which will allow us to see how they are shaped to accept inequality and gender hierarchies in different societies and cultures.

Another context to delimit is the domestic sphere where female subordination has historically been located. It has been discovered that in women who share the same class and race position, the feminine condition is redefined throughout life and that some women enjoy power over others even in contexts of high male domination, where they are invested with authority, creating the system of uncertainty zones that divide them as a gender and prevent alliances and legitimize domination. Foucault said that "power is exercised, not possessed", it is always in danger of being lost and norms, laws, threats or punishments are not enough. Hence, the spaces of subordination are also spaces of women's power. It is in these spaces where insecurity, tension, confrontation appear and where, for example, women can demand contraception.

To conclude, it is important to keep in mind that gender is a form of social inequality that is always articulated with other forms of inequality, be it class, race, age group, etc. It is necessary to think of male domination with a vague beginning in time, but which allows us to separate the subordination of women from the "natural" evolution of humanity and to understand it as a historical process. In this sense, it is necessary to emphasize that, with respect to race, in plural societies it is necessary to pay attention to the ethno-cultural context since, depending on the relations between people of different races, the relations between genders will be conditioned.

Image of women of different races

On the other hand, although it is known that historically the prevailing social gender system has contributed to make women invisible, to necessarily associate this category only to women is to recreate the historical absolutism that has done so much damage, this time as antagonistic to men. All individuals present in the gender system participate in the social construction.

So much for today's publication, of which we can still go much deeper, especially with regard to the origin of domination or the hierarchization of the binomial "man/woman" from an anthropological point of view, but that will be left for another time. So until next time, see you in Nostr!

Créditos | Credits

Bibliografía consultada | Consulted bibliography:

1. Barbieri, T. (1993). Sobre la categoría género. Una introducción teórico-metodológica. Debates en Sociología. (18). 1-19. https://doi.org/10.18800/debatesensociologia.199301.006

2. Echevarría, D. (2020). Desigualdades de género e interseccionalidad. Análisis del contexto cubano 2008-2018. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Programa-Cuba). https://www.clacso.org.ar/libreria-latinoamericana-cm/libro_detalle_resultado.php?id_libro=2346&campo=cm&texto=248

Traducción | Translation:

DeepL

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Was du bist hängt von drei Faktoren ab: \ Was du geerbt hast, \ was deine Umgebung aus dir machte \ und was du in freier Wahl \ aus deiner Umgebung und deinem Erbe gemacht hast. \ Aldous Huxley

Das brave Mitmachen und Mitlaufen in einem vorgegebenen, recht engen Rahmen ist gewiss nicht neu, hat aber gerade wieder mal Konjunktur. Dies kann man deutlich beobachten, eigentlich egal, in welchem gesellschaftlichen Bereich man sich umschaut. Individualität ist nur soweit angesagt, wie sie in ein bestimmtes Schema von «Diversität» passt, und Freiheit verkommt zur Worthülse – nicht erst durch ein gewisses Buch einer gewissen ehemaligen Regierungschefin.

Erklärungsansätze für solche Entwicklungen sind bekannt, und praktisch alle haben etwas mit Massenpsychologie zu tun. Der Herdentrieb, also der Trieb der Menschen, sich – zum Beispiel aus Unsicherheit oder Bequemlichkeit – lieber der Masse anzuschließen als selbstständig zu denken und zu handeln, ist einer der Erklärungsversuche. Andere drehen sich um Macht, Propaganda, Druck und Angst, also den gezielten Einsatz psychologischer Herrschaftsinstrumente.

Aber wollen die Menschen überhaupt Freiheit? Durch Gespräche im privaten Umfeld bin ich diesbezüglich in der letzten Zeit etwas skeptisch geworden. Um die Jahreswende philosophiert man ja gerne ein wenig über das Erlebte und über die Erwartungen für die Zukunft. Dabei hatte ich hin und wieder den Eindruck, die totalitären Anwandlungen unserer «Repräsentanten» kämen manchen Leuten gerade recht.

«Desinformation» ist so ein brisantes Thema. Davor müsse man die Menschen doch schützen, hörte ich. Jemand müsse doch zum Beispiel diese ganzen merkwürdigen Inhalte in den Social Media filtern – zur Ukraine, zum Klima, zu Gesundheitsthemen oder zur Migration. Viele wüssten ja gar nicht einzuschätzen, was richtig und was falsch ist, sie bräuchten eine Führung.

Freiheit bedingt Eigenverantwortung, ohne Zweifel. Eventuell ist es einigen tatsächlich zu anspruchsvoll, die Verantwortung für das eigene Tun und Lassen zu übernehmen. Oder die persönliche Freiheit wird nicht als ausreichend wertvolles Gut angesehen, um sich dafür anzustrengen. In dem Fall wäre die mangelnde Selbstbestimmung wohl das kleinere Übel. Allerdings fehlt dann gemäß Aldous Huxley ein Teil der Persönlichkeit. Letztlich ist natürlich alles eine Frage der Abwägung.

Sind viele Menschen möglicherweise schon so «eingenordet», dass freiheitliche Ambitionen gar nicht für eine ganze Gruppe, ein Kollektiv, verfolgt werden können? Solche Gedanken kamen mir auch, als ich mir kürzlich diverse Talks beim viertägigen Hacker-Kongress des Chaos Computer Clubs (38C3) anschaute. Ich war nicht nur überrascht, sondern reichlich erschreckt angesichts der in weiten Teilen mainstream-geformten Inhalte, mit denen ein dankbares Publikum beglückt wurde. Wo ich allgemein hellere Köpfe erwartet hatte, fand ich Konformismus und enthusiastisch untermauerte Narrative.

Gibt es vielleicht so etwas wie eine Herdenimmunität gegen Indoktrination? Ich denke, ja, zumindest eine gestärkte Widerstandsfähigkeit. Was wir brauchen, sind etwas gesunder Menschenverstand, offene Informationskanäle und der Mut, sich freier auch zwischen den Herden zu bewegen. Sie tun das bereits, aber sagen Sie es auch dieses Jahr ruhig weiter.

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Heute möchte ich ein Gedicht mit euch teilen. Es handelt sich um eine Ballade des österreichischen Lyrikers Johann Gabriel Seidl aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. Mir sind diese Worte fest in Erinnerung, da meine Mutter sie perfekt rezitieren konnte, auch als die Kräfte schon langsam schwanden.

Dem originalen Titel «Die Uhr» habe ich für mich immer das Wort «innere» hinzugefügt. Denn der Zeitmesser – hier vermutliche eine Taschenuhr – symbolisiert zwar in dem Kontext das damalige Zeitempfinden und die Umbrüche durch die industrielle Revolution, sozusagen den Zeitgeist und das moderne Leben. Aber der Autor setzt sich philosophisch mit der Zeit auseinander und gibt seinem Werk auch eine klar spirituelle Dimension.

Das Ticken der Uhr und die Momente des Glücks und der Trauer stehen sinnbildlich für das unaufhaltsame Fortschreiten und die Vergänglichkeit des Lebens. Insofern könnte man bei der Uhr auch an eine Sonnenuhr denken. Der Rhythmus der Ereignisse passt uns vielleicht nicht immer in den Kram.

Was den Takt pocht, ist durchaus auch das Herz, unser «inneres Uhrwerk». Wenn dieses Meisterwerk einmal stillsteht, ist es unweigerlich um uns geschehen. Hoffentlich können wir dann dankbar sagen: «Ich habe mein Bestes gegeben.»

Ich trage, wo ich gehe, stets eine Uhr bei mir; \ Wieviel es geschlagen habe, genau seh ich an ihr. \ Es ist ein großer Meister, der künstlich ihr Werk gefügt, \ Wenngleich ihr Gang nicht immer dem törichten Wunsche genügt.

Ich wollte, sie wäre rascher gegangen an manchem Tag; \ Ich wollte, sie hätte manchmal verzögert den raschen Schlag. \ In meinen Leiden und Freuden, in Sturm und in der Ruh, \ Was immer geschah im Leben, sie pochte den Takt dazu.

Sie schlug am Sarge des Vaters, sie schlug an des Freundes Bahr, \ Sie schlug am Morgen der Liebe, sie schlug am Traualtar. \ Sie schlug an der Wiege des Kindes, sie schlägt, will's Gott, noch oft, \ Wenn bessere Tage kommen, wie meine Seele es hofft.

Und ward sie auch einmal träger, und drohte zu stocken ihr Lauf, \ So zog der Meister immer großmütig sie wieder auf. \ Doch stände sie einmal stille, dann wär's um sie geschehn, \ Kein andrer, als der sie fügte, bringt die Zerstörte zum Gehn.

Dann müßt ich zum Meister wandern, der wohnt am Ende wohl weit, \ Wohl draußen, jenseits der Erde, wohl dort in der Ewigkeit! \ Dann gäb ich sie ihm zurücke mit dankbar kindlichem Flehn: \ Sieh, Herr, ich hab nichts verdorben, sie blieb von selber stehn.

Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804-1875)

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Falls du beim Lesen des Titels dieses Newsletters unwillkürlich an positive Neuigkeiten aus dem globalen polit-medialen Irrenhaus oder gar aus dem wirtschaftlichen Umfeld gedacht hast, darf ich dich beglückwünschen. Diese Assoziation ist sehr löblich, denn sie weist dich als unverbesserlichen Optimisten aus. Leider muss ich dich diesbezüglich aber enttäuschen. Es geht hier um ein anderes Thema, allerdings sehr wohl ein positives, wie ich finde.

Heute ist ein ganz besonderer Tag: die Wintersonnenwende. Genau gesagt hat heute morgen um 10:20 Uhr Mitteleuropäischer Zeit (MEZ) auf der Nordhalbkugel unseres Planeten der astronomische Winter begonnen. Was daran so außergewöhnlich ist? Der kürzeste Tag des Jahres war gestern, seit heute werden die Tage bereits wieder länger! Wir werden also jetzt jeden Tag ein wenig mehr Licht haben.

Für mich ist dieses Ereignis immer wieder etwas kurios: Es beginnt der Winter, aber die Tage werden länger. Das erscheint mir zunächst wie ein Widerspruch, denn meine spontanen Assoziationen zum Winter sind doch eher Kälte und Dunkelheit, relativ zumindest. Umso erfreulicher ist der emotionale Effekt, wenn dann langsam die Erkenntnis durchsickert: Ab jetzt wird es schon wieder heller!

Natürlich ist es kalt im Winter, mancherorts mehr als anderswo. Vielleicht jedoch nicht mehr lange, wenn man den Klimahysterikern glauben wollte. Mindestens letztes Jahr hat Väterchen Frost allerdings gleich zu Beginn seiner Saison – und passenderweise während des globalen Überhitzungsgipfels in Dubai – nochmal richtig mit der Faust auf den Tisch gehauen. Schnee- und Eischaos sind ja eigentlich in der Agenda bereits nicht mehr vorgesehen. Deswegen war man in Deutschland vermutlich in vorauseilendem Gehorsam schon nicht mehr darauf vorbereitet und wurde glatt lahmgelegt.

Aber ich schweife ab. Die Aussicht auf nach und nach mehr Licht und damit auch Wärme stimmt mich froh. Den Zusammenhang zwischen beidem merkt man in Andalusien sehr deutlich. Hier, wo die Häuser im Winter arg auskühlen, geht man zum Aufwärmen raus auf die Straße oder auf den Balkon. Die Sonne hat auch im Winter eine erfreuliche Kraft. Und da ist jede Minute Gold wert.

Außerdem ist mir vor Jahren so richtig klar geworden, warum mir das südliche Klima so sehr gefällt. Das liegt nämlich nicht nur an der Sonne als solcher, oder der Wärme – das liegt vor allem am Licht. Ohne Licht keine Farben, das ist der ebenso simple wie gewaltige Unterschied zwischen einem deprimierenden matschgraubraunen Winter und einem fröhlichen bunten. Ein großes Stück Lebensqualität.

Mir gefällt aber auch die Symbolik dieses Tages: Licht aus der Dunkelheit, ein Wendepunkt, ein Neuanfang, neue Möglichkeiten, Übergang zu neuer Aktivität. In der winterlichen Stille keimt bereits neue Lebendigkeit. Und zwar in einem Zyklus, das wird immer wieder so geschehen. Ich nehme das gern als ein Stück Motivation, es macht mir Hoffnung und gibt mir Energie.

Übrigens ist parallel am heutigen Tag auf der südlichen Halbkugel Sommeranfang. Genau im entgegengesetzten Rhythmus, sich ergänzend, wie Yin und Yang. Das alles liegt an der Schrägstellung der Erdachse, die ist nämlich um 23,4º zur Umlaufbahn um die Sonne geneigt. Wir erinnern uns, gell?

Insofern bleibt eindeutig festzuhalten, dass “schräg sein” ein willkommener, wichtiger und positiver Wert ist. Mit anderen Worten: auch ungewöhnlich, eigenartig, untypisch, wunderlich, kauzig, … ja sogar irre, spinnert oder gar “quer” ist in Ordnung. Das schließt das Denken mit ein.

In diesem Sinne wünsche ich euch allen urige Weihnachtstage!

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Dieser Beitrag ist letztes Jahr in meiner Denkbar erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Das Betriebsklima ist das einzige Klima, \ das du selbst bestimmen kannst. \ Anonym

Eine Strategie zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel hat das deutsche Bundeskabinett diese Woche beschlossen. Da «Wetterextreme wie die immer häufiger auftretenden Hitzewellen und Starkregenereignisse» oft desaströse Auswirkungen auf Mensch und Umwelt hätten, werde eine Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels immer wichtiger. «Klimaanpassungsstrategie» nennt die Regierung das.

Für die «Vorsorge vor Klimafolgen» habe man nun erstmals klare Ziele und messbare Kennzahlen festgelegt. So sei der Erfolg überprüfbar, und das solle zu einer schnelleren Bewältigung der Folgen führen. Dass sich hinter dem Begriff Klimafolgen nicht Folgen des Klimas, sondern wohl «Folgen der globalen Erwärmung» verbergen, erklärt den Interessierten die Wikipedia. Dabei ist das mit der Erwärmung ja bekanntermaßen so eine Sache.

Die Zunahme schwerer Unwetterereignisse habe gezeigt, so das Ministerium, wie wichtig eine frühzeitige und effektive Warnung der Bevölkerung sei. Daher solle es eine deutliche Anhebung der Nutzerzahlen der sogenannten Nina-Warn-App geben.

Die ARD spurt wie gewohnt und setzt die Botschaft zielsicher um. Der Artikel beginnt folgendermaßen:

«Die Flut im Ahrtal war ein Schock für das ganze Land. Um künftig besser gegen Extremwetter gewappnet zu sein, hat die Bundesregierung eine neue Strategie zur Klimaanpassung beschlossen. Die Warn-App Nina spielt eine zentrale Rolle. Der Bund will die Menschen in Deutschland besser vor Extremwetter-Ereignissen warnen und dafür die Reichweite der Warn-App Nina deutlich erhöhen.»

Die Kommunen würden bei ihren «Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen» vom Zentrum KlimaAnpassung unterstützt, schreibt das Umweltministerium. Mit dessen Aufbau wurden das Deutsche Institut für Urbanistik gGmbH, welches sich stark für Smart City-Projekte engagiert, und die Adelphi Consult GmbH beauftragt.

Adelphi beschreibt sich selbst als «Europas führender Think-and-Do-Tank und eine unabhängige Beratung für Klima, Umwelt und Entwicklung». Sie seien «global vernetzte Strateg*innen und weltverbessernde Berater*innen» und als «Vorreiter der sozial-ökologischen Transformation» sei man mit dem Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitspreis ausgezeichnet worden, welcher sich an den Zielen der Agenda 2030 orientiere.

Über die Warn-App mit dem niedlichen Namen Nina, die möglichst jeder auf seinem Smartphone installieren soll, informiert das Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK). Gewarnt wird nicht nur vor Extrem-Wetterereignissen, sondern zum Beispiel auch vor Waffengewalt und Angriffen, Strom- und anderen Versorgungsausfällen oder Krankheitserregern. Wenn man die Kategorie Gefahreninformation wählt, erhält man eine Dosis von ungefähr zwei Benachrichtigungen pro Woche.

Beim BBK erfahren wir auch einiges über die empfohlenen Systemeinstellungen für Nina. Der Benutzer möge zum Beispiel den Zugriff auf die Standortdaten «immer zulassen», und zwar mit aktivierter Funktion «genauen Standort verwenden». Die Datennutzung solle unbeschränkt sein, auch im Hintergrund. Außerdem sei die uneingeschränkte Akkunutzung zu aktivieren, der Energiesparmodus auszuschalten und das Stoppen der App-Aktivität bei Nichtnutzung zu unterbinden.

Dass man so dramatische Ereignisse wie damals im Ahrtal auch anders bewerten kann als Regierungen und Systemmedien, hat meine Kollegin Wiltrud Schwetje anhand der Tragödie im spanischen Valencia gezeigt. Das Stichwort «Agenda 2030» taucht dabei in einem Kontext auf, der wenig mit Nachhaltigkeitspreisen zu tun hat.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• The Lazarus Group's Cryptocurrency Holdings

• A Significant Drop in Holdings

• No Privacy Coins in Sight

• Underreported Holdings?

• Previous Attacks and Thefts

• Warnings and Threats

• Conclusion

• FAQ

In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies, security breaches and cyber heists have become alarmingly common. One name that frequently emerges in relation to these digital thefts is the Lazarus Group. This North Korean hacking collective has been linked to a series of high-profile cyber-attacks, amassing a significant amount of cryptocurrency in the process. This article delves deep into the group's activities, their holdings, and the implications of their actions on the crypto world.

The Lazarus Group's Cryptocurrency Holdings

The Lazarus Group, originating from North Korea, has made headlines with its vast cryptocurrency holdings. Recent reports suggest that this hacking collective has a digital treasure chest worth around $47 million. Bitcoin, the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency, forms the bulk of their holdings, with an estimated value of $42.5 million. In addition to Bitcoin, the group has diversified its holdings with Ether (ETH) valued at $1.9 million, BNB (BNB) worth $1.1 million, and a mix of stablecoins, primarily Binance USD (BUSD), which amounts to approximately $640,000.

A Significant Drop in Holdings

While the current figures are staggering, there has been a noticeable decline in the Lazarus Group's cryptocurrency assets. Data indicates that their holdings were valued at $86 million as of September 6. This value plummeted in the aftermath of the Stake.com hack, an event that saw the Lazarus Group as a prime suspect. Dune Analytics, a data monitoring platform, has been keeping a close eye on the group's activities. They have identified 295 wallets associated with the Lazarus Group, information corroborated by agencies like the FBI and the OFAC.

No Privacy Coins in Sight

For a hacking group that thrives on anonymity, it's surprising to note the absence of privacy coins in their portfolio. Coins such as Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC), known for their enhanced privacy features, are conspicuously missing from their holdings. However, this hasn't deterred the group from continuing their operations. Their crypto wallets, devoid of privacy coins, have seen consistent activity, with the latest transaction recorded on September 20.

Underreported Holdings?

The figures mentioned might just be the tip of the iceberg. According to 21.co, the Lazarus Group's actual cryptocurrency holdings could be much higher than what's currently reported. This assertion is based on the data available to the public, suggesting that the group might have undisclosed assets hidden away.

Previous Attacks and Thefts

The Lazarus Group's foray into the crypto world has been marked by a series of attacks and thefts. They were the masterminds behind the CoinEx exchange hack, which resulted in losses exceeding $55 million. Their nefarious activities don't end there. The FBI has linked them to other significant breaches, including those targeting Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet. These attacks, in 2023 alone, saw the group walking away with more than $200 million. However, there's a silver lining. Chainalysis reports indicate a decline in crypto thefts by hackers associated with North Korea, with an 80% drop recorded from 2022.

Warnings and Threats The digital realm remains under the shadow of the Lazarus Group. Recent alerts from U.S. federal authorities have highlighted the group's potential to target critical sectors, including the U.S. healthcare and public health domains. These warnings underscore the group's capabilities and the persistent threat they pose.

Conclusion

The Lazarus Group's activities serve as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in the digital space. Their vast cryptocurrency holdings, accumulated through a series of hacks and breaches, highlight the need for enhanced security measures in the crypto world. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it's imperative for stakeholders to remain vigilant, ensuring that their assets are protected from such sophisticated threats. The story of the Lazarus Group is not just about a hacking collective's exploits but a call to action for the broader crypto community.

FAQ

Who is the Lazarus Group? The Lazarus Group is a North Korean hacking collective known for its high-profile cyber-attacks and significant cryptocurrency holdings.

How much cryptocurrency does the Lazarus Group hold? The group is reported to have amassed around $47 million in cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin forming the majority of their holdings.

Were there any recent significant drops in their holdings? Yes, their holdings saw a decline from $86 million as of September 6, especially after the Stake.com hack.

Does the Lazarus Group hold any privacy coins? Surprisingly, the group does not hold any known privacy coins like Monero, Dash, or Zcash.

Have there been any warnings about the Lazarus Group's activities? U.S. federal authorities have issued warnings about the group's potential to target sectors like U.S. healthcare and public health.

That's all for today

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Die Ungerechtigkeit ist uns nur in dem Falle angenehm,\ dass wir Vorteile aus ihr ziehen;\ in jedem andern hegt man den Wunsch,\ dass der Unschuldige in Schutz genommen werde.\ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Politiker beteuern jederzeit, nur das Beste für die Bevölkerung zu wollen – nicht von ihr. Auch die zahlreichen unsäglichen «Corona-Maßnahmen» waren angeblich zu unserem Schutz notwendig, vor allem wegen der «besonders vulnerablen Personen». Daher mussten alle möglichen Restriktionen zwangsweise und unter Umgehung der Parlamente verordnet werden.

Inzwischen hat sich immer deutlicher herausgestellt, dass viele jener «Schutzmaßnahmen» den gegenteiligen Effekt hatten, sie haben den Menschen und den Gesellschaften enorm geschadet. Nicht nur haben die experimentellen Geninjektionen – wie erwartet – massive Nebenwirkungen, sondern Maskentragen schadet der Psyche und der Entwicklung (nicht nur unserer Kinder) und «Lockdowns und Zensur haben Menschen getötet».

Eine der wichtigsten Waffen unserer «Beschützer» ist die Spaltung der Gesellschaft. Die tiefen Gräben, die Politiker, Lobbyisten und Leitmedien praktisch weltweit ausgehoben haben, funktionieren leider nahezu in Perfektion. Von ihren persönlichen Erfahrungen als Kritikerin der Maßnahmen berichtete kürzlich eine Schweizerin im Interview mit Transition News. Sie sei schwer enttäuscht und verspüre bis heute eine Hemmschwelle und ein seltsames Unwohlsein im Umgang mit «Geimpften».

Menschen, die aufrichtig andere schützen wollten, werden von einer eindeutig politischen Justiz verfolgt, verhaftet und angeklagt. Dazu zählen viele Ärzte, darunter Heinrich Habig, Bianca Witzschel und Walter Weber. Über den aktuell laufenden Prozess gegen Dr. Weber hat Transition News mehrfach berichtet (z.B. hier und hier). Auch der Selbstschutz durch Verweigerung der Zwangs-Covid-«Impfung» bewahrt nicht vor dem Knast, wie Bundeswehrsoldaten wie Alexander Bittner erfahren mussten.

Die eigentlich Kriminellen schützen sich derweil erfolgreich selber, nämlich vor der Verantwortung. Die «Impf»-Kampagne war «das größte Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit». Trotzdem stellt man sich in den USA gerade die Frage, ob der scheidende Präsident Joe Biden nach seinem Sohn Hunter möglicherweise auch Anthony Fauci begnadigen wird – in diesem Fall sogar präventiv. Gibt es überhaupt noch einen Rest Glaubwürdigkeit, den Biden verspielen könnte?

Der Gedanke, den ehemaligen wissenschaftlichen Chefberater des US-Präsidenten und Direktor des National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) vorsorglich mit einem Schutzschild zu versehen, dürfte mit der vergangenen Präsidentschaftswahl zu tun haben. Gleich mehrere Personalentscheidungen des designierten Präsidenten Donald Trump lassen Leute wie Fauci erneut in den Fokus rücken.

Das Buch «The Real Anthony Fauci» des nominierten US-Gesundheitsministers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. erschien 2021 und dreht sich um die Machenschaften der Pharma-Lobby in der öffentlichen Gesundheit. Das Vorwort zur rumänischen Ausgabe des Buches schrieb übrigens Călin Georgescu, der Überraschungssieger der ersten Wahlrunde der aktuellen Präsidentschaftswahlen in Rumänien. Vielleicht erklärt diese Verbindung einen Teil der Panik im Wertewesten.

In Rumänien selber gab es gerade einen Paukenschlag: Das bisherige Ergebnis wurde heute durch das Verfassungsgericht annuliert und die für Sonntag angesetzte Stichwahl kurzfristig abgesagt – wegen angeblicher «aggressiver russischer Einmischung». Thomas Oysmüller merkt dazu an, damit sei jetzt in der EU das Tabu gebrochen, Wahlen zu verbieten, bevor sie etwas ändern können.

Unsere Empörung angesichts der Historie von Maßnahmen, die die Falschen beschützen und für die meisten von Nachteil sind, müsste enorm sein. Die Frage ist, was wir damit machen. Wir sollten nach vorne schauen und unsere Energie clever einsetzen. Abgesehen von der Umgehung von jeglichem «Schutz vor Desinformation und Hassrede» (sprich: Zensur) wird es unsere wichtigste Aufgabe sein, Gräben zu überwinden.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

Folks - it really is time to wake up. How many more wars do we need? War on the Virus, War on Terror, War in Afghanistan, War in the Middle East, War in Vietnam - now War in Ukraine and who knows where else?

I grew up in Belfast in the 1970s and lived through the proxy war fought in my hometown. More recently I lived through a remarkably similar situation here in HK during 2019 and observed it happening too in Bangkok with some of the same participants spotted in media clips who had travelled from HK, presumably to orchestrate it there too. For years the motto of Belfast was "Belfast Says No" and it was prominent in a huge banner on the City Hall. Bitterness and resentment reigned for years until "Peace Broke Out", led by the women of Belfast insisting that people "Stop Fighting". Remember the Peace People?

Bottom line - war is never good. Benefits to society only ever emerge at times when people are working together, trading and collaborating for the better good.

In such situations you have "Voice or Exit" - you can speak up (if you are allowed) or exit (if you are allowed). That is why I left Northern Ireland (exit); the mess continued for 25 more years after that.

Concerning "Exit" - did you ever wonder why governments are now restricting the rights to travel? Or if/how you can preserve wealth if/when war develops?

The perpetual war footing that we find ourselves in was clearly warned about in George Orwell's 1984 - drumbeat of hostile distant foreign empires and their aggressions and victories. Sound familiar to anyone? Strangely, this was the conclusion of the "Report from Iron Mountain" from a 1967 US government panel which concluded that war, or a credible substitute for war, is necessary if governments are to maintain power. Search and ye shall find (still). Link here in case you cannot find it or are lazy!

Will you or your family benefit from what they say they are doing in your name?

By the way - the American People knew all this when they rebelled against the British and wrote their Constitution,

For those who prefer a more structured reading list, take your pick below:

• The Creature from Jekyll Island - The untold history of the FED...
• Sovereign Individual - written in 1997 they did predict personal computers, mobile phones, cryptocurrencies and even the current pandemic situation..
• The Fourth Turning - we have been here before
• The Fiat Standard - How it works - what you were never taught at school
• When Money Dies - The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany
• The Price of Tomorrow - The key to an abundant future is not what you have been told
• One of the best interviews of the year: Peter and Lyn discuss Currency wars
• Report from Iron Mountain - On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace

That's it!

No one can be told what The Matrix is. \ You have to see it for yourself.

Do share this newsletter with any of your friends and family who might be interested.

You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

💡Enjoy the newsletters in your own language : Dutch, French, German, Serbian, Chinese Traditional & Simplified, Thai and Burmese.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Konsum ist Therapie.
Wolfgang Joop

Umweltbewusstes Verhalten und verantwortungsvoller Konsum zeugen durchaus von einer wünschenswerten Einstellung. Ob man deswegen allerdings einen grünen statt eines schwarzen Freitags braucht, darf getrost bezweifelt werden – zumal es sich um manipulatorische Konzepte handelt. Wie in der politischen Landschaft sind auch hier die Etiketten irgendwas zwischen nichtssagend und trügerisch.

Heute ist also wieder mal «Black Friday», falls Sie es noch nicht mitbekommen haben sollten. Eigentlich haben wir ja eher schon eine ganze «Black Week», der dann oft auch noch ein «Cyber Monday» folgt. Die Werbebranche wird nicht müde, immer neue Anlässe zu erfinden oder zu importieren, um uns zum Konsumieren zu bewegen. Und sie ist damit sehr erfolgreich.

Warum fallen wir auf derartige Werbetricks herein und kaufen im Zweifelsfall Dinge oder Mengen, die wir sicher nicht brauchen? Pure Psychologie, würde ich sagen. Rabattschilder triggern etwas in uns, was den Verstand in Stand-by versetzt. Zusätzlich beeinflussen uns alle möglichen emotionalen Reize und animieren uns zum Schnäppchenkauf.

Gedankenlosigkeit und Maßlosigkeit können besonders bei der Ernährung zu ernsten Problemen führen. Erst kürzlich hat mir ein Bekannter nach einer USA-Reise erzählt, dass es dort offenbar nicht unüblich ist, schon zum ausgiebigen Frühstück in einem Restaurant wenigstens einen Liter Cola zu trinken. Gerne auch mehr, um das Gratis-Nachfüllen des Bechers auszunutzen.

Kritik am schwarzen Freitag und dem unnötigen Konsum kommt oft von Umweltschützern. Neben Ressourcenverschwendung, hohem Energieverbrauch und wachsenden Müllbergen durch eine zunehmende Wegwerfmentalität kommt dabei in der Regel auch die «Klimakrise» auf den Tisch.

Die EU-Kommission lancierte 2015 den Begriff «Green Friday» im Kontext der überarbeiteten Rechtsvorschriften zur Kennzeichnung der Energieeffizienz von Elektrogeräten. Sie nutzte die Gelegenheit kurz vor dem damaligen schwarzen Freitag und vor der UN-Klimakonferenz COP21, bei der das Pariser Abkommen unterzeichnet werden sollte.

Heute wird ein grüner Freitag oft im Zusammenhang mit der Forderung nach «nachhaltigem Konsum» benutzt. Derweil ist die Europäische Union schon weit in ihr Geschäftsmodell des «Green New Deal» verstrickt. In ihrer Propaganda zum Klimawandel verspricht sie tatsächlich «Unterstützung der Menschen und Regionen, die von immer häufigeren Extremwetter-Ereignissen betroffen sind». Was wohl die Menschen in der Region um Valencia dazu sagen?

Ganz im Sinne des Great Reset propagierten die Vereinten Nationen seit Ende 2020 eine «grüne Erholung von Covid-19, um den Klimawandel zu verlangsamen». Der UN-Umweltbericht sah in dem Jahr einen Schwerpunkt auf dem Verbraucherverhalten. Änderungen des Konsumverhaltens des Einzelnen könnten dazu beitragen, den Klimaschutz zu stärken, hieß es dort.

Der Begriff «Schwarzer Freitag» wurde in den USA nicht erstmals für Einkäufe nach Thanksgiving verwendet – wie oft angenommen –, sondern für eine Finanzkrise. Jedoch nicht für den Börsencrash von 1929, sondern bereits für den Zusammenbruch des US-Goldmarktes im September 1869. Seitdem mussten die Menschen weltweit so einige schwarze Tage erleben.

Kürzlich sind die britischen Aufsichtsbehörden weiter von ihrer Zurückhaltung nach dem letzten großen Finanzcrash von 2008 abgerückt. Sie haben Regeln für den Bankensektor gelockert, womit sie «verantwortungsvolle Risikobereitschaft» unterstützen wollen. Man würde sicher zu schwarz sehen, wenn man hier ein grünes Wunder befürchten würde.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 1cb14ab3:95d52462

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No. 1 - The Less Touristy "Bund"

The Bund is certainly a must-see if you are traveling to Shanghai for the first time - and it will be at the top of every travel guide out there, for good reason - there are equally as stunning alternatives away from the crowds. If you want to enjoy the skyline from a more relaxed perspective, consider the Pudong side of the river. There are parks, basketball courts, and green spaces along the riverbank for you to chill at and take in the sights. You can also hop on a ferry or a sightseeing boat to cross the river and admire the views from the renowned Bund.

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No. 2 - Walks Along Golden Street

This one is out in Gubei, a suburban area in the west of Shanghai. It may be a bit of a trek, but it is worth it if you are looking for a more relaxing and peaceful pedestrian street in the city. Golden Street, or Jinxiu Road, is a great place to walk a dog, grab an afternoon drink, or enjoy a romantic dinner with your loved one. While it may be a bit far from downtown, it makes for a great joyride on your scooter or bicycle.

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No. 3 - Moganshan Road Graffiti Wall

Moganshan Road is a gem for all things art. It is home to M50, the best art district in the city, where you will find dozens of galleries, studios, and workshops showcasing a wide range of art. There are also plenty of cool spots scattered around the area, particularly the graffiti wall. The wall is a welcome contrast to some of the drab and monotonous architecture found around the city; with colorful display of street art featuring various styles and themes. Stop by and admire the works of local and international artists, and even jump in to join them in adding your own mark. The wall is constantly evolving, so you can always find something new.

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No. 4 - Jiaotong University in the Fall

Easily one of the best spots in town for catching rows of bright yellow and red leaves. Jiaotong University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China. The campus is located in Xuhui District and has a mix of Chinese and Western architectural styles to admire as well. Try to visit in late October or early November for the best leaf-peeping. You can walk along the tree-lined paths, set up a blanket in the field for a picnic, or simply take photos and enjoy the scenery.

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No. 5 - Day Drinking at Highline

Hands down one of the top five rooftop bars in the city, along with Bar Rouge, Kartel, and others; Highline is a go-to-spot that offers great views of the city and excellent food. Find it on the sixth floor of the Ascott Hotel in Huaihai Road in Xintiandi. Nothing beats a laid back Saturday afternoon at Highline. I prefer the views during the day, though it is equally as nice a night. Sip cocktails, wine, or beer, and enjoy the music and vibe. Highline is a perfect place to spend an afternoon.

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Additional Photos

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Next Guide in the Series:

An Expats Guide to the Best Spots in Shanghai: 002

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Find Me Elsewhere:

Website

Art

Travel Guides

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Storefront

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All images property of Hes. Originally published as an Instagram Guide on Feb. 02, 2021. Reworked and published on Nostr on Feb. 17, 2024.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Und plötzlich weißt du:
Es ist Zeit, etwas Neues zu beginnen
und dem Zauber des Anfangs zu vertrauen.
Meister Eckhart

Schwarz, rot, gold leuchtet es im Kopf des Newsletters der deutschen Bundesregierung, der mir freitags ins Postfach flattert. Rot, gelb und grün werden daneben sicher noch lange vielzitierte Farben sein, auch wenn diese nie geleuchtet haben. Die Ampel hat sich gerade selber den Stecker gezogen – und hinterlässt einen wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Trümmerhaufen.

Mit einem bemerkenswerten Timing hat die deutsche Regierungskoalition am Tag des «Comebacks» von Donald Trump in den USA endlich ihr Scheitern besiegelt. Während der eine seinen Sieg bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen feierte, erwachten die anderen jäh aus ihrer Selbsthypnose rund um Harris-Hype und Trump-Panik – mit teils erschreckenden Auswüchsen. Seit Mittwoch werden die Geschicke Deutschlands nun von einer rot-grünen Minderheitsregierung «geleitet» und man steuert auf Neuwahlen zu.

Das Kindergarten-Gehabe um zwei konkurrierende Wirtschaftsgipfel letzte Woche war bereits bezeichnend. In einem Strategiepapier gestand Finanzminister Lindner außerdem den «Absturz Deutschlands» ein und offenbarte, dass die wirtschaftlichen Probleme teilweise von der Ampel-Politik «vorsätzlich herbeigeführt» worden seien.

Lindner und weitere FDP-Minister wurden also vom Bundeskanzler entlassen. Verkehrs- und Digitalminister Wissing trat flugs aus der FDP aus; deshalb darf er nicht nur im Amt bleiben, sondern hat zusätzlich noch das Justizministerium übernommen. Und mit Jörg Kukies habe Scholz «seinen Lieblingsbock zum Obergärtner», sprich: Finanzminister befördert, meint Norbert Häring.

Es gebe keine Vertrauensbasis für die weitere Zusammenarbeit mit der FDP, hatte der Kanzler erklärt, Lindner habe zu oft sein Vertrauen gebrochen. Am 15. Januar 2025 werde er daher im Bundestag die Vertrauensfrage stellen, was ggf. den Weg für vorgezogene Neuwahlen freimachen würde.

Apropos Vertrauen: Über die Hälfte der Bundesbürger glauben, dass sie ihre Meinung nicht frei sagen können. Das ging erst kürzlich aus dem diesjährigen «Freiheitsindex» hervor, einer Studie, die die Wechselwirkung zwischen Berichterstattung der Medien und subjektivem Freiheitsempfinden der Bürger misst. «Beim Vertrauen in Staat und Medien zerreißt es uns gerade», kommentierte dies der Leiter des Schweizer Unternehmens Media Tenor, das die Untersuchung zusammen mit dem Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach durchführt.

«Die absolute Mehrheit hat absolut die Nase voll», titelte die Bild angesichts des «Ampel-Showdowns». Die Mehrheit wolle Neuwahlen und die Grünen sollten zuerst gehen, lasen wir dort.

Dass «Insolvenzminister» Robert Habeck heute seine Kandidatur für das Kanzleramt verkündet hat, kann nur als Teil der politmedialen Realitätsverweigerung verstanden werden. Wer allerdings denke, schlimmer als in Zeiten der Ampel könne es nicht mehr werden, sei reichlich optimistisch, schrieb Uwe Froschauer bei Manova. Und er kenne Friedrich Merz schlecht, der sich schon jetzt rhetorisch auf seine Rolle als oberster Feldherr Deutschlands vorbereite.

Was also tun? Der Schweizer Verein «Losdemokratie» will eine Volksinitiative lancieren, um die Bestimmung von Parlamentsmitgliedern per Los einzuführen. Das Losverfahren sorge für mehr Demokratie, denn als Alternative zum Wahlverfahren garantiere es eine breitere Beteiligung und repräsentativere Parlamente. Ob das ein Weg ist, sei dahingestellt.

In jedem Fall wird es notwendig sein, unsere Bemühungen um Freiheit und Selbstbestimmung zu verstärken. Mehr Unabhängigkeit von staatlichen und zentralen Institutionen – also die Suche nach dezentralen Lösungsansätzen – gehört dabei sicher zu den Möglichkeiten. Das gilt sowohl für jede/n Einzelne/n als auch für Entitäten wie die alternativen Medien.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 554ab6fe:c6cbc27e

Time is the most precious. Spending time with those we love, relaxing and enjoying peace of mind, and finding time for simple pleasures that warm our hearts are all examples of why we value time over everything else. We all want more time and know how finite it is.

In a previous article, I discussed how a better name for Bitcoin could be the Entropy Engine. In brief, Bitcoin is the Entropy Engine because system users rely upon entropic processes, either through private key generation or the mining process, to benefit from the system. Additionally, considering that life on earth is the consequence of the second law of thermodynamics, it is evident that Bitcoin accelerates our entropic purpose by monetizing energy production in a way never seen in human history. Bitcoin is all things entropy.

After writing the previous article, it slowly dawned on me that Bitcoin is valuable precisely because of its constraints related to entropy. Being an Entropy Engine gives Bitcoin the property of being scarce, and scarcity alongside utility brings value. These properties stem from the relationship between entropy and time. This article will discuss the relationship between entropy, time, and scarcity. These concepts will then help explain economic principles and pave the way to explaining why Bitcoin is a fascinating invention that brought economic value to the digital world.

Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness in a system. Essentially, entropy reflects the number of ways a system can be arranged, with higher entropy indicating more possible arrangements and more significant disorder. In an isolated system, entropy tends to increase over time, articulated through the second law of thermodynamics, which states that natural processes move towards a state of maximum entropy1. Our everyday experience with entropy can best be explained through heat. When energy is used to perform work, some of it gets released as heat, increasing the system's entropy by making the energy more dispersed and less useful.

Another impact entropy has on our daily lives is through the experience of time. As previously stated, the second law of thermodynamics states that, in a closed system, entropy always increases over time. Therefore, there is this dynamic where entropy is continuously growing, and our participation in a universe with such a law gives rise to the experience of an arrow of time1. In other words, time is a psychological experience resulting from interacting with a universe governed by the second law of thermodynamics1. It may seem intuitive to anyone reading this, but it is worth highlighting that time is always moving forward because entropy is continually increasing. No human can get any time back. From the point of view of a human, time is finite. Like energy and matter, which, according to the first law of thermodynamics, can neither be created nor destroyed, time is one of the universe's most limited resources.

Understanding the finite nature of time, energy, and matter is fundamental in economics. In his treatise on economics Man, Economy, and State with Power and Markets, Murray Rothbard states that "A man's time is always scarce. […] Therefore, time is a means that man must use to arrive at his ends. It is a means that is omnipresent in all human action"2. He goes on to state that "[…][i]n the first place, all means are scarce, i.e., limited with respect to the ends that they could possibly serve. […] Secondly, these scarce means must be allocated by the actor to serve certain ends and leave other ends unsatisfied. This act of choice may be called economizing the means to serve the most desired ends"2. Economics is fundamentally the study of how human beings make choices that allocate resources to satisfy their desires. Rothbard here highlights how because both time and the planet's resources are finite, human beings must choose how to allocate those resources. On aggregate, these individual decisions lead to the flourishing of human society as it develops and grows by becoming more and more efficient in resource allocation.

We all live on this one planet together. The resources on this earth are finite, which raises the question of how best to allocate these resources to satisfy everyone's needs and desires peacefully. The study of economics shows that free markets, which facilitate the free decision-making process of every human being, are the best way for all the resources to be allocated to maximize human flourishing if it is done so under the principle of non-aggression2,3. Notably, markets are needed because time and matter/energy are finite in the first place and are the necessary means to satisfy our ends. Put another way, economic value exists because of the scarce and useful nature of resources.

Consider now the vital relationship between the laws of thermodynamics and economics. The first law of thermodynamics, which states that matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed, gives rise to the fact that resources are scarce on earth, which fuels economic decision-making amongst human beings. Additionally, the second law of thermodynamics, which highlights the universe's entropic nature, indicates that time is also scarce, valuable, and an integral aspect of economic decision-making, as all economic actions must use time. Most importantly, as described in more detail in the previous article, biological life can be viewed as the consequence of the entropic process of the universe. Life formed to help accelerate the increase in entropy. The process by which humans utilize energy and help accelerate the increase in entropy can also be viewed from an economic lens: economic decision-making helps drive the pursuit and innovation of energy production and usage. If economics is the study of the process by which human beings collectively make decisions, through individual action, that drive our societal progress forward. Then it is also the study of how human beings further accelerate their role in the entropic process of the universe. Entropy is the reason why we have economic markets, and economic markets help accelerate the entropic process. It is impossible to separate the laws of thermodynamics from the existence of the economic process within human society.

What is also appropriate to consider is the necessary properties of money. Nick Szabo, in his work "Shelling Out: The Origins of Money," provides an anthropological interpretation of how the use of money developed4. In trade, two potentially untrusting parties must find a way to trust one another. To do so, we can rely upon tokens of record governed by the laws of nature, which we all can trust. A commodity can be a helpful medium of exchange when it is scarce and hard to reproduce to the degree that people understand the extreme amount of energy and effort it would take to counterfeit one. Scarcity is how homo-sapiens detect the energy required to obtain a given object, giving it trust and validity as a unit of record. In this way, the first law of thermodynamics, which expresses matter as finite, provides a condition from which human beings can benefit by using it to trust one another. Not only is scarcity an underlying property that is the cause for economics, but the scarcer commodities, or at least those with the highest stock-to-flow ratio, are used as a medium of exchange that allows for more productive exchange within the economy5. In other words, most of a certain kind of scarcity is an underlying property in what makes high-quality money.

What is then interesting to ponder is the concept of the most scarce. One of the scarcest things we value, that which is most scarce, is time. Due to the second law of thermodynamics, time is the most finite and scarce resource. There is no way of 'recovering' or 'creating' more time. In that same vein, money can be conceptualized as an economic abstraction of time. I work now to receive money, which I can use to satisfy an end later. Similarly, I invest some money now so that it may grow, and I can benefit even more from that money later. Money and time are linked. Therefore, it stands to reason that the soundest form of money will be related to time in some fundamental sense. The better a money can store time, the more attractive that money is to use.

One significant component that contributes to the considerable innovation of Bitcoin is the difficulty adjustment. The difficulty adjustment in Bitcoin ensures that the time to mine a block remains close to 10 minutes, regardless of changes in the total mining power (the amount of energy being contributed to the network). This adjustment is crucial because it prevents blocks from being mined too quickly or slowly as miners join or leave the network. By recalibrating every 2016 blocks, the network maintains a certain rhythm, creating a new block every 10 minutes. It isn't easy to design a circuit board that can track time accurately and autonomously without relying on external time sources. However, creating a computer network that emulates the laws of thermodynamics via the mining process while simultaneously including the difficulty adjustment to give the machine a sense of time allowed it to adopt properties that were unique to nature itself. In this case, it is the first digital software that fully inherited the properties of scarcity.

Judging the correct ending for an article that blends so many disciplines is difficult. Perhaps the best way is to go full circle. The works of Donald Hoffman suggest that time is a consequence of human consciousness, not fundamental to the universe, that serves a positive utility towards our evolutionary pursuit of survival6. The predecessor article to this one highlighted how life is a consequence of the entropic nature of the universe. Perhaps time and our perceived relationship between time and entropy are helpful for life in pursuing its nature in this regard. Human beings gravitate towards scarce money like mosquitos gravitate toward light because it can be beneficial in the economic pursuit, which drives us toward the efficiency of furthering the production of entropy. This is potentially why those studying Bitcoin tend to view it as a technology of freedom, peace, prosperity, and more because money is a fundamental tool at which we are allowed to pursue such inherent purpose.

References

1. Grünbaum A. TIME AND ENTROPY. Am Sci. Published online 1996.

2. Rothbard MN. Man, Economy, and State with Power and Markets. Second Edition. Ludwig von Mises Institute; 1977.

3. Mises L von. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. Ludwig von Mises Institute; 1940.

4. Szabo N. Shelling Out: The Origins of Money. Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Published 2002. Accessed April 19, 2023. https://nakamotoinstitute.org/shelling-out/

5. Ammous S. The Bitcoin Standard. Wiley; 2018.

6. Hoffman DD, Prakash C. Objects of consciousness. Front Psychol. 2014;5(JUN). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00577

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

The rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has reshaped the global financial system, igniting new possibilities for innovation and development. In North America, a region at the forefront of technological advancements and economic influence, Bitcoin communities have played a pivotal role in advancing the adoption and utilization of digital currencies. These communities are engaged in a wide array of activities, from fostering education and providing technical support to promoting business opportunities and advocating for policy changes. This article will highlight 23 Bitcoin communities across North America, shedding light on their latest achievements and future ambitions in driving the expansion of Bitcoin technology, education, and economic empowerment. It offers readers a comprehensive understanding of the North American Bitcoin ecosystem and its significant influence on the global stage.

Thank you, nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q decentralized media client on Nostr to support people in owning their voice. #iOS #​Android, for supporting the publication of the Bitcoin Community Newsletter. Most of the content has been reviewed and confirmed by the South American communities. If there are any omissions, please feel free to reach out to me.

1.PlebLabs nostr:npub1an84q6c03wml5lf0uwcqcr20ydwv0t0lvv0xktlcfs9seattef8sdhz6yg * Introduction PlebLab is a hacker space and community accelerator based in Austin, Texas, dedicated to supporting the next generation of Bitcoin developers and startups. It brings together developers, hackers, creatives, and open-source builders to create a collaborative and innovative environment. PlebLab offers workshops, hackathons, and Startup Days to foster learning and growth within the Bitcoin ecosystem. By providing exposure, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities, PlebLab helps early-stage Bitcoin projects succeed. Its core philosophy is to support free and open-source development, driving innovation and progress within the Bitcoin space. * Latest Updates Recently, the PlebLab has continued to make significant strides in driving Bitcoin innovation and entrepreneurship. They have launched the second season of Top Builder, with a series of top-tier workshops focusing on Bitcoin Accounting, Bitcoin UX & UI Design, Bitcoin Marketing and Media, and more. These workshops aim to discover the next generation of Bitcoin industry startups, with participants having the chance to win up to $15,000 in BTC. The events will bring together Bitcoin developers and entrepreneurs, providing opportunities for showcasing ideas and networking. Additionally, PlebLab will host workshops related to Bitcoin technology and applications, helping members deepen their understanding of Bitcoin Core and enhance their development skills.

2.BAYAREA * Introduction Bay Area Bitcoin Users is a community formed by the people, for the people, aimed at providing an open and inclusive platform for all Bitcoin enthusiasts. The community regularly hosts events in the Bay Area, offering a space to share ideas, opinions, memes, and have relaxed discussions. It’s a great fit for anyone looking to dive deeper into Bitcoin technology or simply enjoy gatherings with like-minded individuals. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bay Area Bitcoin Users community hosted a Bitcoin Holiday Party at Eve (1535 Folsom St) in San Francisco, California. The event featured a Socratic seminar co-hosted by BitDevs and LitDevs at Digital Garage, followed by a festive celebration with music, snacks, a bar, and Bitcoin-related interactions. Designed as a family-friendly gathering, the event welcomed children accompanied by guardians, even though no specific activities for kids were organized.

3.Ann Arbor Bitcoin nostr:npub1j4dvdn24dp963f4sfak0g6nz0chnw8tyglvs3pn9gqhhhfukmrfsyznne7 * Introduction Ann Arbor Bitcoin is a community-focused organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, dedicated to fostering Bitcoin adoption and engagement. The group hosts regular meetups and events, providing a platform for Bitcoin enthusiasts to share knowledge and exchange ideas. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community, with the latest event dating back to December 2022, which encouraged everyone to join their Telegram group to stay updated on all the latest news about meetups.

4.Bit Miami * Introduction BitMiami is a vibrant community dedicated to exploring and learning about the Bitcoin ecosystem in South Florida. * Latest Updates Recently, the BitMiami community has shared various Bitcoin-related events and updates. They highlighted Bitcoin Vortex Week in Miami and also focused on the HODLween event. BitMiami continues to support the growth of the South Florida Bitcoin community by reposting valuable content from local Bitcoin enthusiasts and organizations. They also encourage community members to actively engage with the Bitcoin ecosystem through meetups and educational opportunities.

5.Seattle Bitcoin and Beer nostr:npub1x2dm3cwqt0v9tqlf0ppzztaskn3th2x40p33hepl8rkwdgedw8eshypm5s * Introduction Seattle Bitcoin and Beer is a community that brings together Bitcoin enthusiasts and freedom lovers in Seattle. They regularly meet to discuss Bitcoin and build strong local connections in a city that may not always embrace freedom. The group fosters collaboration while enjoying good beer along the way. * Latest Updates Recently, the Seattle Bitcoin and Beer community hosted a monthly meetup on December 26th at the Old Stove Brewery on Nickerson St. Ship Canal, aiming to expand the sovereignty of the Bitcoin user network in the Great Northwest. Although this wasn't a cryptocurrency-exclusive meetup, participants gathered in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss Bitcoin and strengthen community connections.

6.Bitcoin Aruba * Introduction Bitcoin Aruba is a community dedicated to promoting the use and acceptance of Bitcoin across the beautiful island of Aruba. Their mission is to encourage local businesses and individuals to embrace Bitcoin as a payment option, creating a vibrant ecosystem where people can experience the freedom and potential of decentralized currency.. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoin Aruba community has shared various Bitcoin-related updates on Twitter. They highlighted and reposted content from several Bitcoin initiatives, including the StackSats 250k Sat giveaway, BTCPay Server’s holiday greetings, and discussions on the importance of running your own Bitcoin node. Additionally, Bitcoin Aruba has been encouraging community members to actively engage in the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a focus on topics like node operation and privacy protection.

7.Bitcoin Beach Yucatan nostr:npub1w2my0n7rklzdgw7anjdnssq8mjzkpr54apqeg3pk9qjauu9dt26smyydvm * Introduction Bitcoin Beach Yucatán is a community dedicated to promoting Bitcoin education and adoption throughout the Yucatán state. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to Oct 2024, when they shared a post calling for help for the disaster-stricken area of Sisal, requesting food, clothing, and other essential supplies.

8.Bitcoin Brunch Miami * Introduction Bitcoin Brunch Miami is a community where Bitcoin enthusiasts gather every Sunday for casual discussions over brunch. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community on twitter, The latest event dates back to July 2023. However, Bitcoin Brunch Miami has already hosted five brunch discussions in December.

9.Bitcoin Charlotte nostr:npub1p7g986pc56qmvryplgzka0fsrpuwlk6mxk3h686w4e46n74e56qqhz88vk * Introduction Bitcoin Charlotte is a community for those passionate about Bitcoin, decentralization, privacy, and freedom. It provides opportunities to connect with individuals at the forefront of this transformative technology through social events, workshops, and online hangouts. The community’s mission is to educate and empower people to break free from financial dependence on banks and governments by embracing Bitcoin, the most superior form of money in history. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoin Charlotte community hosted several events, including an in-person meetup at Southern Strain Brewery in Plaza Midwood, where members connected with like-minded individuals and celebrated Bitcoin's potential for financial liberation by purchasing beer with Bitcoin. Additionally, the community held an online Bitcoin meetup and knowledge-sharing session on December 2, further promoting Bitcoin education and awareness.

10.Bitcoin Ciudadela * Introduction Bitcoin Ciudadela is focused on transforming San Cristóbal de las Casas and Chiapas into strongholds for Bitcoin adoption and education. The community aims to build a robust network of Mexican Bitcoiners who are united in promoting the benefits of decentralized finance and empowering individuals with knowledge about Bitcoin. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to Apr 2024, when they shared a post criticizing those who supported restrictions on freedom and praised those who fought for liberty, questioned authority, and stood against oppression.

11.Bitcoin Jungle nostr:npub14f26g7dddy6dpltc70da3pg4e5w2p4apzzqjuugnsr2ema6e3y6s2xv7lu * Introduction Bitcoin Jungle is an open-source community project built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, aiming to create a circular Bitcoin economy. It supports individuals and businesses by providing education, resources, and technology to drive Bitcoin adoption. Starting in the Golden Triangle region of Costa Rica, the project strives to set an example for Bitcoin communities. The goal is to establish a sustainable Bitcoin ecosystem for communities worldwide. * Latest Updates Recently, Bitcoin Jungle is actively preparing for the next Bitcoin Freedom Festival, which will take place from February 20th to 24th, 2025, at the Awake Earth Festival in Uvita, Costa Rica. The event will combine Bitcoin seminars with a music festival, lectures, and discussions, aiming to attract new audiences to the Bitcoin space in a unique and engaging way.

12.Bitcoin Lake Guatemala nostr:npub1a4excy7uf9z3mcafvm9cwdr549dl5lpazuvpr2nc550vf27n5a4scqq5k2 * Introduction Bitcoin Lake Guatemala is a Bitcoin community located in Guatemala, focused on promoting the use and education of Bitcoin in the Lake Atitlán region. By supporting local businesses in adopting Bitcoin payments and providing educational resources, the community aims to build a sustainable economy based on Bitcoin. * Latest Updates Recently, the community has shared one update，this post celebrates the continued growth and resilience of the Bitcoin movement, marking a significant milestone for the community.

13.Round Rock Bitcoiners nostr:npub17ysayggwumkpkpgsq75axd7ed9guw03wz9jldz5d0zrkgz0cja2qd09tzu * Introduction Round Rock Bitcoiners is a Bitcoin community in Round Rock, Texas, dedicated to promoting Bitcoin knowledge and adoption. Through monthly meetups and resource sharing, the group supports individuals and small businesses in adopting Bitcoin and fosters a local peer-to-peer network. * Latest Updates Recently, The Round Rock Bitcoiners community has been actively organizing events to promote Bitcoin education and strengthen community bonds. Recently, they hosted a screening of the film No More Inflation, exploring the future of money and inflation-free solutions, followed by a Bitcoin-themed happy hour. Additionally, they announced the second biennial Base58 Bitcoin LARP event, offering participants a unique experience of hands-on learning, networking, and fun. Additionally, they shared posts addressing KYC privacy risks, critical discussions about the IRS, the legacy of cypherpunk ideals, and new features in the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as Zaps integration with the Rumble platform.

14.SacTown Bitcoin * Introduction Sactown Bitcoiners is a Bitcoin-focused community with members from across the Greater Sacramento region. The group hosts two monthly events: a discussion and member-led presentation at the Arden-Dimick Library on the 4th Thursday and a social gathering at a brewery or restaurant on the 2nd Thursday. Discussions revolve around Bitcoin, covering topics like money, hope, and the future under a Bitcoin standard. Open to Bitcoin enthusiasts, beginners, and maximalists alike, the community maintains a strict “Bitcoin only” policy, creating a dedicated space for pure Bitcoin conversations. * Latest Updates Recently, SacTown Bitcoin hosted a Christmas Party and highlighted Bitcoin's transformative impact. On December 12, 2024, SacTown Bitcoin hosted the Sactown Bitcoiners Christmas Party at Turkovich Family Wines Tasting Room. The event featured a potluck, a white elephant gift exchange (participants were asked to bring a gift worth approximately $20), and a raffle. Additionally, SacTown Bitcoin has been focusing on the profound impact of Bitcoin on personal financial understanding and its potential to disrupt economic inequalities. They have shared posts highlighting insights from financial and investment professionals inspired by Bitcoin, as well as discussions on how Bitcoin empowers ordinary people to benefit from asset growth.

15.San Diego Bitcoiners * Introduction San Diego Bitcoiners is a community dedicated to learning and discussing Bitcoin, providing a platform for anyone interested in the cryptocurrency. Established during the COVID-19 pandemic, the community hosts monthly events featuring guest speakers, brief presentations, or casual conversations. Meetings are held every second Thursday of the month at Quantum Brewing in Kearny Mesa, welcoming all Bitcoin enthusiasts. * Latest Updates Recently, San Diego Bitcoiners have been actively engaged in promoting Bitcoin education and fostering community interaction. They were featured in a local news article as the oldest running Bitcoin meetup in San Diego. The community has been sharing important reminders, such as testing Bitcoin wallet backups every six months. They also continue to host regular meetups, with a focus on practical demonstrations, including CoinJoin and wallet integrations like Sparrow Wallet and JoinMarket. The latest meetup took place in December at Quantum Brewing, where members gathered to discuss Bitcoin and explore new tools in the ecosystem.

16.SLC-BTC * Introduction The SLC-BTC community focuses on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, welcoming participants of all experience levels. Regular meetups feature discussions on topics such as Bitcoin protocol, software, economics, self-custody, and mining. Whether you're a newcomer or an experienced user, the community encourages open dialogue and answers any Bitcoin-related questions. * Latest Updates Recently, the SLC-BTC community hosted a series of successful events, including a Christmas party, thanks to the active participation and support of its members. During the party, the community offered a variety of giveaways and collaborated with several partners. Additionally, the community organized a Christmas Potluck Party and celebrated the milestone of Bitcoin's price breaking 100K. SLC-BTC continues to provide opportunities for Bitcoin enthusiasts to connect, learn, and grow together.

17.Topeka Bitcoin * Introduction The Topeka Bitcoin Meet-up aims to expand knowledge and awareness within the community. Hosted at local businesses, the group discusses topics such as Bitcoin (network vs asset), the Lightning Network, running a full node, self-custody, and accumulation strategies. Additionally, the community explores Bitcoin literature, podcasts, and other relevant topics. * Latest Updates Recently, the Topeka Bitcoin community shared some interesting Bitcoin-related insights and updates on Twitter. Members celebrated the new year, highlighting the concept of "time is money" and encouraging everyone to accumulate at least 31,536,000 Sats this year (one sat per second). The community also discussed the concept of "sat/cent parity," offering a unique perspective on Bitcoin's value. Additionally, Topeka Bitcoin shared creative activities related to Bitcoin, such as Bitcoin-friendly cruise line initiatives.

18.Vancouver Bitcoiners * Introduction The Vancouver Bitcoin community is a dedicated group of Bitcoin enthusiasts actively engaging in events like Bitdevs and more. With the motto “Splendor Sine Inflatione” (Splendor Without Inflation), the community focuses on fostering knowledge and connections around Bitcoin. * Latest Updates Recently, the Vancouver Bitcoiners community has been actively involved in advocating for Vancouver to become a Bitcoin-friendly city. Community members have supported Mayor Ken Sim's proposal to invest in Bitcoin and have participated in backing the city council's Bitcoin-friendly motion. Additionally, the community has voiced concern over the Bitcoin mining ban in British Columbia, suggesting the use of local renewable energy sources like tidal, wind, and solar power for Bitcoin mining to expand the grid and utilize excess heat from mining rigs. During the council's discussions, the community also supported the idea of Vancouver building a Bitcoin reserve, despite the associated risks.

19.Victoria Bitcoin * Introduction Victoria Bitcoin is a community that regularly hosts Bitcoin-focused meetups and BitDevs seminars, typically held one to two times a month. These events are free and open to the public, providing opportunities for discussion, learning, and networking. Community members can also win prizes from Canada's Bitcoin self-custody pioneers, Bull Bitcoin and Coinkite. The community places a strong emphasis on privacy, with all discussions following Chatham House rules. * Latest Updates Recently, the Victoria Bitcoin community has been actively hosting several Bitcoin-related events, fostering interaction and engagement among local Bitcoin enthusiasts. The community regularly organizes “Bitcoin & Coffee” meetups, providing members with opportunities to discuss Bitcoin. The most recent event was scheduled for December 22 at Discovery Coffee. Additionally, the community hosted an exciting Christmas party on December 13, where attendees enjoyed free pizza, beer, and champagne, and Christmas gifts were purchased with Bitcoin, showcasing the practical use of Bitcoin in everyday life. The event also included a Bitcoin giveaway for lucky participants..

20.Michigan Bitcoin Meetup in Benton Harbor * Introduction Michigan Bitcoin Meetup in Benton Harbor is a community focused on exploring Bitcoin's impact on investing, entrepreneurship, and self-sovereignty. It provides a platform for like-minded individuals to connect, learn, and share ideas. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to Nov 2024, which Announced Bitcoin Meetup Night in Benton Harbor on Thursday, November 21.

21.Western Mass Bitcoin Meetup nostr:npub1xgyjasdztryl9sg6nfdm2wcj0j3qjs03sq7a0an32pg0lr5l6yaqxhgu7s * Introduction Western Mass Bitcoin Meetup is a community focused on connecting local bitcoiners, promoting bitcoin education, and increasing merchant adoption. The group hosts monthly meetups and offers support for newcomers in areas like self-custody, Lightning Network, and mining. * Latest Updates Recently, the Western Mass Bitcoin Meetup has been actively organizing events to foster community engagement and growth. On December 8th, they hosted a social meetup at Fitzwilly's in Northampton, providing a space for Bitcoin enthusiasts to connect and share ideas. Additionally, they are preparing for their 29th meetup on January 5th in East Longmeadow, continuing to offer a platform for local Bitcoin supporters to gather and collaborate.

22.Yes Bitcoin Haiti nostr:npub1mjmaggp53xan2435wdse8ts06pzfcjejfex4pxasu67kxs5hqdpsyk7hx8 * Introduction Yes Bitcoin Haiti is Haiti's first Bitcoin-only initiative, launched to empower communities through Bitcoin education and adoption. Founded by Phanor Mendelking in February 2024, the project focuses on spreading financial literacy, promoting economic growth, and building a circular Bitcoin economy. Its mission includes offering local Bitcoin certification, hosting meetups and workshops, and onboarding businesses and community members. Operating from St. Michel de l'Attalaye, it aims to drive financial inclusion and resilience in Haiti's challenging economic landscape. * Latest Updates Recently, the Yes Bitcoin Haiti community has been actively advancing Bitcoin education. The first batch of students is nearing the end of their courses, with two students leading the discussion of Chapter 10 in preparation for the upcoming final exams and graduation. Additionally, the community has showcased proof-of-work in action, reinforcing the spread of Bitcoin knowledge through student-led lessons and engagement in activities.

23.YYC Bitcoin * Introduction YYC Bitcoin is a community-focused meetup dedicated to growing, educating, and supporting the Bitcoin ecosystem in Calgary. The group hosts biweekly meetups for networking and learning, covering essential Bitcoin topics such as wallet setup, privacy, multisig, lightning, and mining. Newcomers are encouraged to visit the website to familiarize themselves with key concepts and bring their questions to future events. * Latest Updates Recently, YYC Bitcoin has actively promoted Bitcoin education and outreach through several updates. They shared the BTC Sessions year-end recap and the The 4th Annual BTC Sessions HODLiday Special, engaging community participation. Additionally, YYC Bitcoin reposted Blockstream Jade's promotional offer, encouraging the purchase of hardware wallets. The community also highlighted Bitcoin Mentor's personalized coaching services to help members better understand Bitcoin technology. Furthermore, they supported and promoted ticket sales for the Learning Bitcoin 2025 conference, further advancing Bitcoin education.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Es ist besser, ein Licht zu entzünden, als auf die Dunkelheit zu schimpfen. Konfuzius

Die Bemühungen um Aufarbeitung der sogenannten Corona-Pandemie, um Aufklärung der Hintergründe, Benennung von Verantwortlichkeiten und das Ziehen von Konsequenzen sind durchaus nicht eingeschlafen. Das Interesse daran ist unter den gegebenen Umständen vielleicht nicht sonderlich groß, aber es ist vorhanden.

Der sächsische Landtag hat gestern die Einsetzung eines Untersuchungsausschusses zur Corona-Politik beschlossen. In einer Sondersitzung erhielt ein entsprechender Antrag der AfD-Fraktion die ausreichende Zustimmung, auch von einigen Abgeordneten des BSW.

In den Niederlanden wird Bill Gates vor Gericht erscheinen müssen. Sieben durch die Covid-«Impfstoffe» geschädigte Personen hatten Klage eingereicht. Sie werfen unter anderem Gates, Pfizer-Chef Bourla und dem niederländischen Staat vor, sie hätten gewusst, dass diese Präparate weder sicher noch wirksam sind.

Mit den mRNA-«Impfstoffen» von Pfizer/BioNTech befasst sich auch ein neues Buch. Darin werden die Erkenntnisse von Ärzten und Wissenschaftlern aus der Analyse interner Dokumente über die klinischen Studien der Covid-Injektion präsentiert. Es handelt sich um jene in den USA freigeklagten Papiere, die die Arzneimittelbehörde (Food and Drug Administration, FDA) 75 Jahre unter Verschluss halten wollte.

Ebenfalls Wissenschaftler und Ärzte, aber auch andere Experten organisieren als Verbundnetzwerk Corona-Solution kostenfreie Online-Konferenzen. Ihr Ziel ist es, «wissenschaftlich, demokratisch und friedlich» über Impfstoffe und Behandlungsprotokolle gegen SARS-CoV-2 aufzuklären und die Diskriminierung von Ungeimpften zu stoppen. Gestern fand eine weitere Konferenz statt. Ihr Thema: «Corona und modRNA: Von Toten, Lebenden und Physik lernen».

Aufgrund des Digital Services Acts (DSA) der Europäischen Union sei das Risiko groß, dass ihre Arbeit als «Fake-News» bezeichnet würde, so das Netzwerk. Staatlich unerwünschte wissenschaftliche Aufklärung müsse sich passende Kanäle zur Veröffentlichung suchen. Ihre Live-Streams seien deshalb zum Beispiel nicht auf YouTube zu finden.

Der vielfältige Einsatz für Aufklärung und Aufarbeitung wird sich nicht stummschalten lassen. Nicht einmal der Zensurmeister der EU, Deutschland, wird so etwas erreichen. Die frisch aktivierten «Trusted Flagger» dürften allerdings künftige Siege beim «Denunzianten-Wettbewerb» im Kontext des DSA zusätzlich absichern.

Wo sind die Grenzen der Meinungsfreiheit? Sicher gibt es sie. Aber die ideologische Gleichstellung von illegalen mit unerwünschten Äußerungen verfolgt offensichtlich eher das Ziel, ein derart elementares demokratisches Grundrecht möglichst weitgehend auszuhebeln. Vorwürfe wie «Hassrede», «Delegitimierung des Staates» oder «Volksverhetzung» werden heute inflationär verwendet, um Systemkritik zu unterbinden. Gegen solche Bestrebungen gilt es, sich zu wehren.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

Still pleasant weather in HK but it is cooling down and in a few days we will likely shift in to the cold and cloudy January/February that is HK winter.

A shorter update from me this week as I think the more important things are in the links below. Read, watch, listen and DYOR. Maybe time to wake up?

Reading

I have now started on When Money Dies - The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Once aware of them you will see signs all around you. FYI quite apparent now in Turkey.

Interesting also: I think it is not linked on their website but still accessible if you know where to look (maybe download and safestore it before it disappears): The Bank of England 1914-21 (Unpublished War History). This corroborates and elaborates on what you can read in The Creature from Jeckyll Island.

Watching

Just a few things to watch this week - in the order that I watched them. They are long but rather important - so I am pushing this out early in the weekend so you have time.

Mattias Desmet on Our Grave Situation

Professor Mattias Desmet (from Ghent, Belgium) talks about his work that connects past historical episodes of what is called “Mass Formation” (aka Mass Psychosis) and current events. The risks are as grave as they come. Unless a few brave and courageous people are willing to stand up and say “I don’t agree!” history suggests that we will end up with a fully totalitarian outcome. That is a dark path. It inevitably leads to mass casualties and atrocities. Eventually all totalitarian systems end in their own destruction.

Dr Robert Malone on Joe Rogan Experience

Its a looong interview but there are timestamps below if you want to dip in. \ Dr. Robert Malone is the inventor of the nine original mRNA vaccine patents, which were originally filed in 1989 (including both the idea of mRNA vaccines and the original proof of principle experiments) and RNA transfection. Dr. Malone, has close to 100 peer-reviewed publications which have been cited over 12,000 times. Since January 2020, Dr. Malone has been leading a large team focused on clinical research design, drug development, computer modeling and mechanisms of action of repurposed drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Dr. Malone is the Medical Director of The Unity Project, a group of 300 organizations across the US standing against mandated COVID vaccines for children. He is also the President of the Global Covid Summit, an organization of over 16,000 doctors and scientists committed to speaking truth to power about COVID pandemic research and treatment.

Here are some of the key points discussed with time codes:

• 24:19: An estimated 500,000 COVID Deaths resulted from the suppression of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).
• 25:39: Former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Janet Woodcock, intentionally prevented doctors from using HCQ outside of the hospital setting (HCQ is one of the few antiviral medications safe in pregnancy and is largely ineffective once a person has been hospitalized).
• 31:10: Pharma industry’s systematic efforts to discredit ivermectin.
• 32:40: COVID deaths in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh plummeted soon after packets of medicines were distributed to their population. It is suspected these packets included Ivermectin but this was never formally disclosed. This puzzling policy went into effect soon after a meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Modi.
• 36:28: Increased risk of adverse events from vaccinating after SARS-COV2 infection.
• 38:40: 140 studies demonstrate natural immunity is superior to vaccine-induced immunity. Natural immunity is 6- to 13-fold better than vaccination in preventing hospitalization.
• 43:44: The Trusted News Initiative employed to protect western elections from foreign influence was used to justify the suppression of “misinformation” around the pandemic.
• 50:15: Emails between NIH Director Francis Collins and Fauci demonstrate an intention to launch a smear campaign against the founders of the Great Barrington Declaration.
• 54:00: How is Israel (highly vaccinated) faring in comparison to Palestine (poorly vaccinated)?
• 57:00: Why is good data nearly impossible to find?
• 1:06:00: The regulatory process is broken because vaccine manufacturers are responsible for their own data (FDA is not doing its job as a regulatory body).
• 1:14:50: Arguably the best clinicians of our day are having their medical licensure attacked.
• 1:22:50: Hong Kong study demonstrates that 1 in 2,700 boys getting hospitalized with myocarditis after vaccination.
• 1:27:00: Lipid nanoparticles pose danger to ovaries.
• 1:46:30: Long COVID and post-vaccination syndrome are impossible to differentiate.
• 1:49:00: Dysregulation of T-cells after vaccination may be causing latent virus reactivation (e.g., shingles).
• 1:59:00: Omicron and the possible negative efficacy of vaccines.
• 2:06:20: What is Original Antigenic Sin?
• 2:20:00: Monoclonal antibody therapies are still important but have been limited by our authorities.
• 2:22:10: Vaccine mandates are illegal.
• 2:35:50: Pfizer is one of the most criminal pharmaceutical organizations in the world.
• 2:37:00: What are mass formation psychosis and tribalism?
• 2:53:00: We are having a worldwide epidemic of suicide in children.

That's it!

No one can be told what The Matrix is. \ You have to see it for yourself.

Do share this newsletter with any of your friends and family who might be interested.

You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

💡Enjoy the newsletters in your own language : Dutch, French, German, Serbian, Chinese Traditional & Simplified, Thai and Burmese.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum dritten Geburtstag, liebe Denk Bar! Wieso zum dritten? Das war doch 2022 und jetzt sind wir im Jahr 2024, oder? Ja, das ist schon richtig, aber bei Geburtstagen erinnere ich mich immer auch an meinen Vater, und der behauptete oft, der erste sei ja schließlich der Tag der Geburt selber und den müsse man natürlich mitzählen. Wo er recht hat, hat er nunmal recht. Konsequenterweise wird also heute dieser Blog an seinem dritten Geburtstag zwei Jahre alt.

Das ist ein Grund zum Feiern, wie ich finde. Einerseits ganz einfach, weil es dafür gar nicht genug Gründe geben kann. «Das Leben sind zwei Tage», lautet ein gängiger Ausdruck hier in Andalusien. In der Tat könnte es so sein, auch wenn wir uns im Alltag oft genug von der Routine vereinnahmen lassen.

Seit dem Start der Denk Bar vor zwei Jahren ist unglaublich viel passiert. Ebenso wie die zweieinhalb Jahre davor, und all jenes war letztlich auch der Auslöser dafür, dass ich begann, öffentlich zu schreiben. Damals notierte ich:

«Seit einigen Jahren erscheint unser öffentliches Umfeld immer fragwürdiger, widersprüchlicher und manchmal schier unglaublich - jede Menge Anlass für eigene Recherchen und Gedanken, ganz einfach mit einer Portion gesundem Menschenverstand.»

Wir erleben den sogenannten «großen Umbruch», einen globalen Coup, den skrupellose Egoisten clever eingefädelt haben und seit ein paar Jahren knallhart – aber nett verpackt – durchziehen, um buchstäblich alles nach ihrem Gusto umzukrempeln. Die Gelegenheit ist ja angeblich günstig und muss genutzt werden.

Nie hätte ich mir träumen lassen, dass ich so etwas jemals miterleben müsste. Die Bosheit, mit der ganz offensichtlich gegen die eigene Bevölkerung gearbeitet wird, war früher für mich unvorstellbar. Mein (Rest-) Vertrauen in alle möglichen Bereiche wie Politik, Wissenschaft, Justiz, Medien oder Kirche ist praktisch komplett zerstört. Einen «inneren Totalschaden» hatte ich mal für unsere Gesellschaften diagnostiziert.

Was mich vielleicht am meisten erschreckt, ist zum einen das Niveau der Gleichschaltung, das weltweit erreicht werden konnte, und zum anderen die praktisch totale Spaltung der Gesellschaft. Haben wir das tatsächlich mit uns machen lassen?? Unfassbar! Aber das Werkzeug «Angst» ist sehr mächtig und funktioniert bis heute.

Zum Glück passieren auch positive Dinge und neue Perspektiven öffnen sich. Für viele Menschen waren und sind die Entwicklungen der letzten Jahre ein Augenöffner. Sie sehen «Querdenken» als das, was es ist: eine Tugend.

Auch die immer ernsteren Zensurbemühungen sind letztlich nur ein Zeichen der Schwäche, wo Argumente fehlen. Sie werden nicht verhindern, dass wir unsere Meinung äußern, unbequeme Fragen stellen und dass die Wahrheit peu à peu ans Licht kommt. Es gibt immer Mittel und Wege, auch für uns.

---

Danke, dass du diesen Weg mit mir weitergehst!

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Ein Lämmchen löschte an einem Bache seinen Durst. Fern von ihm, aber näher der Quelle, tat ein Wolf das gleiche. Kaum erblickte er das Lämmchen, so schrie er:

"Warum trübst du mir das Wasser, das ich trinken will?"

"Wie wäre das möglich", erwiderte schüchtern das Lämmchen, "ich stehe hier unten und du so weit oben; das Wasser fließt ja von dir zu mir; glaube mir, es kam mir nie in den Sinn, dir etwas Böses zu tun!"

"Ei, sieh doch! Du machst es gerade, wie dein Vater vor sechs Monaten; ich erinnere mich noch sehr wohl, daß auch du dabei warst, aber glücklich entkamst, als ich ihm für sein Schmähen das Fell abzog!"

"Ach, Herr!" flehte das zitternde Lämmchen, "ich bin ja erst vier Wochen alt und kannte meinen Vater gar nicht, so lange ist er schon tot; wie soll ich denn für ihn büßen."

"Du Unverschämter!" so endigt der Wolf mit erheuchelter Wut, indem er die Zähne fletschte. "Tot oder nicht tot, weiß ich doch, daß euer ganzes Geschlecht mich hasset, und dafür muß ich mich rächen."

Ohne weitere Umstände zu machen, zerriß er das Lämmchen und verschlang es.

Das Gewissen regt sich selbst bei dem größten Bösewichte; er sucht doch nach Vorwand, um dasselbe damit bei Begehung seiner Schlechtigkeiten zu beschwichtigen.

Quelle: https://eden.one/fabeln-aesop-das-lamm-und-der-wolf

@ d34e832d:383f78d0

Lets explore three key aspects of Bitcoin technology to enhance your engagement with the ecosystem:

1. Running an Alby Hub Cloud Instance
2. Setting Up a Nutshell Ecash Mint on an Affordable VPS
3. Integrating Nostr Wallet Connect for Seamless Tipping

These components empower users to manage transactions, ensure privacy, and facilitate smooth interactions within the Bitcoin and Nostr communities.

1. Running an Alby Hub Cloud Instance

Purpose and Benefits:

Alby Hub is a self-custodial Lightning wallet that allows you to manage Bitcoin transactions efficiently. By running an Alby Hub instance in the cloud, you gain 24/7 online access to receive payments via a Lightning address, integrate with various applications, and maintain control over your funds without the need for personal hardware.

Setting Up Alby Hub in the Cloud:

• Choose Alby Cloud: For a hassle-free setup, Alby offers a cloud service where you can start your own hub in just 2 minutes. Give it A Try: Alby Cloud

• Subscription Benefits: Subscribing to Alby Cloud provides you with a self-custodial Lightning wallet, 24/7 online access, exclusive partner deals, priority support, and access to a subscriber community.

• Self-custodial Lightning wallet

• Getting Started: Visit the Alby Cloud page, select the subscription that suits you, and follow the guided setup process to have your hub up and running quickly.

• Alby Cloud page

For a visual guide on setting up Alby Hub, you can watch the following tutorial:

2. Setting Up a Nutshell Ecash Mint on an Affordable VPS

Purpose and Benefits:

Nutshell is an implementation of Ecash, a digital cash system that prioritizes privacy and anonymity. Setting up a Nutshell Ecash mint on a Virtual Private Server (VPS) allows you to operate your own mint, enhancing transaction privacy and providing a backup system for your Bitcoin transactions.

Setting Up on a $5 VPS:

• Select a VPS Provider: Choose an affordable VPS provider that supports Bitcoin and Nostr communities. For instance, SatoshiHost offers VPS services tailored for such needs.

• Install Nutshell: After setting up your VPS, install the Nutshell software by following the official installation guide.

• Nutshell

• Full Cashu Implementation

• Configure the Mint: Set up the mint parameters, including denomination and security settings, to suit your requirements.

• Secure the Server: Implement security measures such as firewalls and regular updates to protect your mint from potential threats.

• Recommendations
• Server Tips

3. Integrating Nostr Wallet Connect for Seamless Tipping

Purpose and Benefits:

Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) is an open protocol that enables applications to interact with Bitcoin Lightning wallets. Integrating NWC allows for seamless tipping and payments within Nostr apps, enhancing user experience and promoting engagement.

Integration Steps:

• Choose a Supporting App: Select a Nostr app that supports NWC, such as Amythystor Damus.

• Connect Your Wallet: Use NWC to link your preferred Lightning wallet to the Nostr app. This connection facilitates seamless payments without the need to switch between applications.

• Test the Integration: Perform a test transaction to ensure that the tipping functionality works as intended.

• Maintain Security: Regularly update your wallet and Nostr app to incorporate the latest security features and improvements.

For a deeper understanding of Nostr Wallet Connect and its significance, you can watch the following discussion:

Final Thoughts On Setup

Implementing these components enhances your interaction with the Bitcoin ecosystem by providing efficient transaction management, improved privacy, and seamless integration with Nostr applications. By running an Alby Hub cloud instance, setting up a Nutshell Ecash mint on an affordable VPS, and integrating Nostr Wallet Connect, you contribute to a more robust and user-friendly Bitcoin environment.

Invitation for Feedback

I encourage you to share any questions or feedback regarding these topics. Let's continue the conversation to explore how we can further engage with and improve upon these technologies.

@ 3ffac3a6:2d656657

Prologue: The Last Trade

Ethan Nakamura was a 29-year-old software engineer and crypto enthusiast who had spent years building his life around Bitcoin. Obsessed with the idea of financial sovereignty, he had amassed a small fortune trading cryptocurrencies, all while dreaming of a world where decentralized systems ruled over centralized power.

One night, while debugging a particularly thorny piece of code for a smart contract, Ethan stumbled across an obscure, encrypted message hidden in the blockchain. It read:

"The key to true freedom lies beyond. Burn it all to unlock the gate."

Intrigued and half-convinced it was an elaborate ARG (Alternate Reality Game), Ethan decided to follow the cryptic instruction. He loaded his entire Bitcoin wallet into a single transaction and sent it to an untraceable address tied to the message. The moment the transaction was confirmed, his laptop screen began to glitch, flooding with strange symbols and hash codes.

Before he could react, a flash of light engulfed him.

---

Chapter 1: A New Ledger

Ethan awoke in a dense forest bathed in ethereal light. The first thing he noticed was the HUD floating in front of him—a sleek, transparent interface that displayed his "Crypto Balance": 21 million BTC.

“What the…” Ethan muttered. He blinked, hoping it was a dream, but the numbers stayed. The HUD also showed other metrics:

• Hash Power: 1,000,000 TH/s
• Mining Efficiency: 120%
• Transaction Speed: Instant

Before he could process, a notification pinged on the HUD:

"Welcome to the Decentralized Kingdom. Your mining rig is active. Begin accumulating resources to survive."

Confused and a little terrified, Ethan stood and surveyed his surroundings. As he moved, the HUD expanded, revealing a map of the area. His new world looked like a cross between a medieval fantasy realm and a cyberpunk dystopia, with glowing neon towers visible on the horizon and villagers dressed in tunics carrying strange, glowing "crypto shards."

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. A towering beast, part wolf, part machine, snarled, its eyes glowing red. Above its head was the name "Feral Node" and a strange sigil resembling a corrupted block.

Instinct kicked in. Ethan raised his hands defensively, and to his shock, the HUD offered an option:

"Execute Smart Contract Attack? (Cost: 0.001 BTC)"

He selected it without hesitation. A glowing glyph appeared in the air, releasing a wave of light that froze the Feral Node mid-lunge. Moments later, it dissolved into a cascade of shimmering data, leaving behind a pile of "Crypto Shards" and an item labeled "Node Fragment."

---

Chapter 2: The Decentralized Kingdom

Ethan discovered that the world he had entered was built entirely on blockchain-like principles. The land was divided into regions, each governed by a Consensus Council—groups of powerful beings called Validators who maintained the balance of the world. However, a dark force known as The Central Authority sought to consolidate power, turning decentralized regions into tightly controlled fiefdoms.

Ethan’s newfound abilities made him a unique entity in this world. Unlike its inhabitants, who earned wealth through mining or trading physical crypto shards, Ethan could generate and spend Bitcoin directly—making him both a target and a potential savior.

---

Chapter 3: Allies and Adversaries

Ethan soon met a colorful cast of characters:

• Luna, a fiery rogue and self-proclaimed "Crypto Thief," who hacked into ledgers to redistribute wealth to oppressed villages. She was skeptical of Ethan's "magical Bitcoin" but saw potential in him.

• Hal, an aging miner who ran an underground resistance against the Central Authority. He wielded an ancient "ASIC Hammer" capable of shattering corrupted nodes.

• Oracle Satoshi, a mysterious AI-like entity who guided Ethan with cryptic advice, often referencing real-world crypto principles like decentralization, trustless systems, and private keys.

Ethan also gained enemies, chief among them the Ledger Lords, a cabal of Validators allied with the Central Authority. They sought to capture Ethan and seize his Bitcoin, believing it could tip the balance of power.

---

Chapter 4: Proof of Existence

As Ethan delved deeper into the world, he learned that his Bitcoin balance was finite. To survive and grow stronger, he had to "mine" resources by solving problems for the people of the Decentralized Kingdom. From repairing broken smart contracts in towns to defending miners from feral nodes, every task rewarded him with shards and upgrades.

He also uncovered the truth about his arrival: the blockchain Ethan had used in his world was a prototype for this one. The encrypted message had been a failsafe created by its original developers—a desperate attempt to summon someone who could break the growing centralization threatening to destroy the world.

---

Chapter 5: The Final Fork

As the Central Authority's grip tightened, Ethan and his allies prepared for a final battle at the Genesis Block, the origin of the world's blockchain. Here, Ethan would face the Central Authority's leader, an amalgamation of corrupted code and human ambition known as The Miner King.

The battle was a clash of philosophies as much as strength. Using everything he had learned, Ethan deployed a daring Hard Fork, splitting the world’s blockchain and decentralizing power once again. The process drained nearly all of his Bitcoin, leaving him with a single satoshi—a symbolic reminder of his purpose.

---

Epilogue: Building the Future

With the Central Authority defeated, the Decentralized Kingdom entered a new era. Ethan chose to remain in the world, helping its inhabitants build fairer systems and teaching them the principles of trustless cooperation.

As he gazed at the sunrise over the rebuilt Genesis Block, Ethan smiled. He had dreamed of a world where Bitcoin could change everything. Now, he was living it.

@ 1bda7e1f:bb97c4d9

Tldr

• Nostr is an open and interoperable protocol
• You can integrate it with workflow automation tools to augment your experience
• n8n is a great low/no-code workflow automation tool which you can host yourself
• Nostrobots allows you to integrate Nostr into n8n
• In this blog I create some workflow automations for Nostr
• A simple form to delegate posting notes
• Push notifications for mentions on multiple accounts
• Push notifications for your favourite accounts when they post a note
• All workflows are provided as open source with MIT license for you to use

Inter-op All The Things

Nostr is a new open social protocol for the internet. This open nature exciting because of the opportunities for interoperability with other technologies. In Using NFC Cards with Nostr I explored the nostr: URI to launch Nostr clients from a card tap.

The interoperability of Nostr doesn't stop there. The internet has many super-powers, and Nostr is open to all of them. Simply, there's no one to stop it. There is no one in charge, there are no permissioned APIs, and there are no risks of being de-platformed. If you can imagine technologies that would work well with Nostr, then any and all of them can ride on or alongside Nostr rails.

My mental model for why this is special is Google Wave ~2010. Google Wave was to be the next big platform. Lars was running it and had a big track record from Maps. I was excited for it. Then, Google pulled the plug. And, immediately all the time and capital invested in understanding and building on the platform was wasted.

This cannot happen to Nostr, as there is no one to pull the plug, and maybe even no plug to pull.

So long as users demand Nostr, Nostr will exist, and that is a pretty strong guarantee. It makes it worthwhile to invest in bringing Nostr into our other applications.

All we need are simple ways to plug things together.

Nostr and Workflow Automation

Workflow automation is about helping people to streamline their work. As a user, the most common way I achieve this is by connecting disparate systems together. By setting up one system to trigger another or to move data between systems, I can solve for many different problems and become way more effective.

n8n for workflow automation

Many workflow automation tools exist. My favourite is n8n. n8n is a low/no-code workflow automation platform which allows you to build all kinds of workflows. You can use it for free, you can self-host it, it has a user-friendly UI and useful API. Vs Zapier it can be far more elaborate. Vs Make.com I find it to be more intuitive in how it abstracts away the right parts of the code, but still allows you to code when you need to.

Most importantly you can plug anything into n8n: You have built-in nodes for specific applications. HTTP nodes for any other API-based service. And community nodes built by individual community members for any other purpose you can imagine.

Eating my own dogfood

It's very clear to me that there is a big design space here just demanding to be explored. If you could integrate Nostr with anything, what would you do?

In my view the best way for anyone to start anything is by solving their own problem first (aka "scratching your own itch" and "eating your own dogfood"). As I get deeper into Nostr I find myself controlling multiple Npubs – to date I have a personal Npub, a brand Npub for a community I am helping, an AI assistant Npub, and various testing Npubs. I need ways to delegate access to those Npubs without handing over the keys, ways to know if they're mentioned, and ways to know if they're posting.

I can build workflows with n8n to solve these issues for myself to start with, and keep expanding from there as new needs come up.

Running n8n with Nostrobots

I am mostly non-technical with a very helpful AI. To set up n8n to work with Nostr and operate these workflows should be possible for anyone with basic technology skills.

• I have a cheap VPS which currently runs my HAVEN Nostr Relay and Albyhub Lightning Node in Docker containers,
• My objective was to set up n8n to run alongside these in a separate Docker container on the same server, install the required nodes, and then build and host my workflows.

Installing n8n

Self-hosting n8n could not be easier. I followed n8n's Docker-Compose installation docs–

• Install Docker and Docker-Compose if you haven't already,
• Create your docker-compose.yml and .env files from the docs,
• Create your data folder sudo docker volume create n8n_data,
• Start your container with sudo docker compose up -d,
• Your n8n instance should be online at port 5678.

n8n is free to self-host but does require a license. Enter your credentials into n8n to get your free license key. You should now have access to the Workflow dashboard and can create and host any kind of workflows from there.

Installing Nostrobots

To integrate n8n nicely with Nostr, I used the Nostrobots community node by Ocknamo.

In n8n parlance a "node" enables certain functionality as a step in a workflow e.g. a "set" node sets a variable, a "send email" node sends an email. n8n comes with all kinds of "official" nodes installed by default, and Nostr is not amongst them. However, n8n also comes with a framework for community members to create their own "community" nodes, which is where Nostrobots comes in.

You can only use a community node in a self-hosted n8n instance (which is what you have if you are running in Docker on your own server, but this limitation does prevent you from using n8n's own hosted alternative).

To install a community node, see n8n community node docs. From your workflow dashboard–

• Click the "..." in the bottom left corner beside your username, and click "settings",
• Cilck "community nodes" left sidebar,
• Click "Install",
• Enter the "npm Package Name" which is n8n-nodes-nostrobots,
• Accept the risks and click "Install",
• Nostrobots is now added to your n8n instance.

Using Nostrobots

Nostrobots gives you nodes to help you build Nostr-integrated workflows–

• Nostr Write – for posting Notes to the Nostr network,
• Nostr Read – for reading Notes from the Nostr network, and
• Nostr Utils – for performing certain conversions you may need (e.g. from bech32 to hex).

Nostrobots has good documentation on each node which focuses on simple use cases.

Each node has a "convenience mode" by default. For example, the "Read" Node by default will fetch Kind 1 notes by a simple filter, in Nostrobots parlance a "Strategy". For example, with Strategy set to "Mention" the node will accept a pubkey and fetch all Kind 1 notes that Mention the pubkey within a time period. This is very good for quick use.

What wasn't clear to me initially (until Ocknamo helped me out) is that advanced use cases are also possible.

Each node also has an advanced mode. For example, the "Read" Node can have "Strategy" set to "RawFilter(advanced)". Now the node will accept json (anything you like that complies with NIP-01). You can use this to query Notes (Kind 1) as above, and also Profiles (Kind 0), Follow Lists (Kind 3), Reactions (Kind 7), Zaps (Kind 9734/9735), and anything else you can think of.

Creating and adding workflows

With n8n and Nostrobots installed, you can now create or add any kind of Nostr Workflow Automation.

• Click "Add workflow" to go to the workflow builder screen,
• If you would like to build your own workflow, you can start with adding any node. Click "+" and see what is available. Type "Nostr" to explore the Nostrobots nodes you have added,
• If you would like to add workflows that someone else has built, click "..." in the top right. Then click "import from URL" and paste in the URL of any workflow you would like to use (including the ones I share later in this article).

Nostr Workflow Automations

It's time to build some things!

A simple form to post a note to Nostr

I started very simply. I needed to delegate the ability to post to Npubs that I own in order that a (future) team can test things for me. I don't want to worry about managing or training those people on how to use keys, and I want to revoke access easily.

I needed a basic form with credentials that posted a Note.

For this I can use a very simple workflow–

• A n8n Form node – Creates a form for users to enter the note they wish to post. Allows for the form to be protected by a username and password. This node is the workflow "trigger" so that the workflow runs each time the form is submitted.
• A Set node – Allows me to set some variables, in this case I set the relays that I intend to use. I typically add a Set node immediately following the trigger node, and put all the variables I need in this. It helps to make the workflows easier to update and maintain.
• A Nostr Write node (from Nostrobots) – Writes a Kind-1 note to the Nostr network. It accepts Nostr credentials, the output of the Form node, and the relays from the Set node, and posts the Note to those relays.

Once the workflow is built, you can test it with the testing form URL, and set it to "Active" to use the production form URL. That's it. You can now give posting access to anyone for any Npub. To revoke access, simply change the credentials or set to workflow to "Inactive".

It may also be the world's simplest Nostr client.

You can find the Nostr Form to Post a Note workflow here.

Push notifications on mentions and new notes

One of the things Nostr is not very good at is push notifications. Furthermore I have some unique itches to scratch. I want–

• To make sure I never miss a note addressed to any of my Npubs – For this I want a push notification any time any Nostr user mentions any of my Npubs,
• To make sure I always see all notes from key accounts – For this I need a push notification any time any of my Npubs post any Notes to the network,
• To get these notifications on all of my devices – Not just my phone where my Nostr regular client lives, but also on each of my laptops to suit wherever I am working that day.

I needed to build a Nostr push notifications solution.

To build this workflow I had to string a few ideas together–

• Triggering the node on a schedule – Nostrobots does not include a trigger node. As every workflow starts with a trigger we needed a different method. I elected to run the workflow on a schedule of every 10-minutes. Frequent enough to see Notes while they are hot, but infrequent enough to not burden public relays or get rate-limited,
• Storing a list of Npubs in a Nostr list – I needed a way to store the list of Npubs that trigger my notifications. I initially used an array defined in the workflow, this worked fine. Then I decided to try Nostr lists (NIP-51, kind 30000). By defining my list of Npubs as a list published to Nostr I can control my list from within a Nostr client (e.g. Listr.lol or Nostrudel.ninja). Not only does this "just work", but because it's based on Nostr lists automagically Amethyst client allows me to browse that list as a Feed, and everyone I add gets notified in their Mentions,
• Using specific relays – I needed to query the right relays, including my own HAVEN relay inbox for notes addressed to me, and wss://purplepag.es for Nostr profile metadata,
• Querying Nostr events (with Nostrobots) – I needed to make use of many different Nostr queries and use quite a wide range of what Nostrobots can do–
  • I read the EventID of my Kind 30000 list, to return the desired pubkeys,
  • For notifications on mentions, I read all Kind 1 notes that mention that pubkey,
  • For notifications on new notes, I read all Kind 1 notes published by that pubkey,
  • Where there are notes, I read the Kind 0 profile metadata event of that pubkey to get the displayName of the relevant Npub,
  • I transform the EventID into a Nevent to help clients find it.
• Using the Nostr URI – As I did with my NFC card article, I created a link with the nostr: URI prefix so that my phone's native client opens the link by default,
• Push notifications solution – I needed a push notifications solution. I found many with n8n integrations and chose to go with Pushover which supports all my devices, has a free trial, and is unfairly cheap with a $5-per-device perpetual license.

Once the workflow was built, lists published, and Pushover installed on my phone, I was fully set up with push notifications on Nostr. I have used these workflows for several weeks now and made various tweaks as I went. They are feeling robust and I'd welcome you to give them a go.

You can find the Nostr Push Notification If Mentioned here and If Posts a Note here.

In speaking with other Nostr users while I was building this, there are all kind of other needs for push notifications too – like on replies to a certain bookmarked note, or when a followed Npub starts streaming on zap.stream. These are all possible.

Use my workflows

I have open sourced all my workflows at my Github with MIT license and tried to write complete docs, so that you can import them into your n8n and configure them for your own use.

To import any of my workflows–

• Click on the workflow of your choice, e.g. "Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json",
• Click on the "raw" button to view the raw JSON, ex any Github page layout,
• Copy that URL,
• Enter that URL in the "import from URL" dialog mentioned above.

To configure them–

• Prerequisites, credentials, and variables are all stated,
• In general any variables required are entered into a Set Node that follows the trigger node,
• Pushover has some extra setup but is very straightforward and documented in the workflow.

What next?

Over my first four blogs I explored creating a good Nostr setup with Vanity Npub, Lightning Payments, Nostr Addresses at Your Domain, and Personal Nostr Relay.

Then in my latest two blogs I explored different types of interoperability with NFC cards and now n8n Workflow Automation.

Thinking ahead n8n can power any kind of interoperability between Nostr and any other legacy technology solution. On my mind as I write this:

• Further enhancements to posting and delegating solutions and forms (enhanced UI or different note kinds),
• Automated or scheduled posting (such as auto-liking everything Lyn Alden posts),
• Further enhancements to push notifications, on new and different types of events (such as notifying me when I get a new follower, on replies to certain posts, or when a user starts streaming),
• All kinds of bridges, such as bridging notes to and from Telegram, Slack, or Campfire. Or bridging RSS or other event feeds to Nostr,
• All kinds of other automation (such as BlackCoffee controlling a coffee machine),
• All kinds of AI Assistants and Agents,

In fact I have already released an open source workflow for an AI Assistant, and will share more about that in my next blog.

Please be sure to let me know if you think there's another Nostr topic you'd like to see me tackle.

GM Nostr.

@ 4d41a7cb:7d3633cc

Today is Bitcoin genesis block day, literally Bitcoin’s birthday number 16th. The purpose of this article is to deep dive into Bitcoin's beginnings, what it was meant to be, what its creator's incentives were, why the collaborators were interested in contributing to its success, and what Bitcoin is achieving.

Bitcoin exists to solve a problem.

The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve. We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them not to let identity thieves drain our accounts. Their massive overhead costs make micropayments impossible.

Satoshi Nakamoto, February 11, 2009

In this post, Satoshi reveals the main problem: central banking, how this institution has abused the trust we have put in them. Bitcoin is an alternative to a “broken” or corrupt monetary system that it’s been running and stealing from people for centuries, creating credit bubbles with their debt-based fractional reserve banking system

Ponzi nature of banking system

For those who don’t understand this system and its corrupt and inviable nature, think about it as a rigged musical chairs game.

When the music (trust in the banking system and its currency) is on, everyone is happy playing the economic game. Economic activity is soaring; we see new businesses, new products, cheap credit, high lending, asset prices inflate, and people consuming more (thus pushing the economic numbers higher). Everything seems to be okay. But then something happens.

Under this monetary game, deposits are chairs and depositors are players; as the game goes on, there are always more players than chairs or depositors than deposits because banks “lend” currency that they don’t have. When the music (trust in the bank) is stopped, the game is over, and many people lose their chairs (their deposit), creating deflationary recessions and economic crises.

When this happens, everything starts trending the exact opposite way. The economic activity starts slowing down, debt problems arise, bankruptcies occur, people lose their jobs and consume less, asset prices deflate, until the central bank intervenes and the cycle starts again.

This is officially known as the “economic cycle,” and it's sold to us as a natural phenomenon. But the truth is this is a pure central bank–artificially created cycle by monetary manipulation, as we can learn from the Austrian school of economics.

I call the central bankers the market wizards because they hold the lever to manipulate the economic game. They are the money masters, the financial alchemists, the kings of the economic and financial game of commerce where all economic agents operate under.

Bitcoin is a revolution against the central bank monarch, but Satoshi was not shouting about this to the four winds. He didn’t want to get attention before Bitcoin was strong enough, because it would have implied a great risk to its success. Central banks are the most powerful institutions on earth; they literally have the power to create currency in unlimited amounts and buy anything they need to maintain their monopoly.

If we need a more clear confirmation of this, we can look into the encrypted message that Satoshi left in the genesis block. To understand the genesis block, imagine a bookkeeping ledger that adds new pages (blocks) daily and contains a record of all bitcoin transactions ever made. The very first page of this book is called the genesis block.

Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks

Satoshi Nakamoto 03 January 2009

Here’s the newspaper cover he was making reference to.

In allusion to the bank bailouts that were taking place at the time, Satoshi included this intriguing line in the genesis block when he created Bitcoin during the Great Global Financial Crisis. In addition to providing the remedy, those who caused the issue (and profit from it) were making unprecedented profits. \ \ This game is about privatizing profits and socializing losses. This is the opposite of free markets and capitalism. It's clear that Satoshi Nakamoto, whomever he was, detested the established financial system. Since the Bank of England, which was the subject of this article, was established in 1694, we may trace the debt based fractional reserve banking system history back at least 331 years. \ \ This allusion to traditional banking's shortcomings was a declaration of what Bitcoin was trying to combat: fractional reserve banking and its consequences, which include debt, taxation, and inflation.

\ \ The bookkeepers \ \ In essence, banking and money management are bookkeeping, keeping track of who owns what and who owes what. Due to its revolutionary impact on accounting, Bitcoin has been dubbed "triple entry bookkeeping" by some. \ \ These days, banks are in charge of bookkeeping; they basically have the authority to make changes to the books and add new entries, or "print money." Inflation is basically a robber of time, energy, and wealth from everyone using that currency denomination, and banks are the ones who create it. Additionally, they have the ability to cause economic crises and market crashes for their own financial gain, making them deflation inductors. \ \ The incapacity of gold (real money) to meet the demands of a growing global economy gave banks this authority. They essentially became gold safe-keepers and gold IOU bookkeepers' ledgers because people trusted these organizations to provide scalability and lower the cost and risk of gold transactions. \ \ The purpose of banking was to enable credit and payments. Governments and banks did not create money. The free market determined the value of gold and silver, and people only trusted banknotes that were backed by gold. \ \ “Gold is money, everything else is credit" JP Morgan, 1912. \ \ Since banks began growing, they have sought to increase their size even more. When they discovered that the metal money system was restricting their ability to increase credit and bank profits, they literally plotted to seize control of the money market and overthrow governments by demonetizing these metals, effectively eliminating the demand for money in general and substituting it with debt and credit instruments. Essentially promissory notes issued by banks based on debt. \ \ "The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the wealthy dominate the poor”. Proverbs 22:7\ \ Human history is a chronicle of the literal plot by banks to enslave humanity, which resulted in hundreds of wars, thousands of assassinations, and the loss of millions of innocent lives in order to fulfill the banksters' objective of creating a global fractional reserve credit system. The currency that they decided to control? The term "U.S dollars" is frequently and incorrectly used to refer to Federal Reserve Notes. \ \ Slavery is essentially personified in this system. Slavery, in my opinion, is working for a currency that someone else can print without any effort or labor. This is the underlying cause of legal inequality. Theoretically, we live in a democracy and capitalist society where everyone is treated equally, but income taxes and central banking are vital components of the communist manifiesto. \ \ Where do we draw the boundary between a free human being and a slave citizen, given that this system directly violates private property rights? You are 100% slave when you pay 100% taxes, and 40% slave when you pay 40% taxes. It is being violently imposed upon you if it is not a voluntary business deal. Violence or the threat of losing your freedom are used to compel people to pay taxes. \ \ Natural law, often known as moral law, states that every person has the right to keep all of the fruits of their labor. However, this fraudulent financial system is robbing everyone of their means of trade, whether they are called coins, currencies, deposits, checks, etc. Furthermore, ceasing to feed a parasite is the only way to eradicate it. \ \ A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

Satoshi Nakamoto, October 31, 2008\ \ \ \ What backs fiat currencies?\ \ The worst aspect of this system is that it views people as collateral cattle for the currency's purchasing power. In essence, "government currencies" are credits of their corresponding debts, or government bonds, which are effectively secured by the government's “authority” to impose taxes on its populace. In essence, the government's power to compel its people to give them X percent of their income without providing them with equal recompense.

In essence, citizens' wealth is "baking" the government's debts. Since the currency cannot be exchanged for wealth at a particular rate, it is inaccurate to state that it is backed, thus I said "baking." However, if we must identify a valuable component of the currency, it is as follows: wealth and labor (i.e., human time and energy).

\ And what makes up this wealth? Among other things, land, homes, resources, businesses, and human time. They have demand for trade and exchanges because they make up half of every transaction. However, what do people trade more for currency? Energy and time. \ \ Those who can produce currency out of thin air with little effort (simply adding numbers to the bank ledger) can effectively steal from everyone else who has to labor and invest time and energy (real wealth), as most people exchange their time and energy for currency. Clearly, this is the root cause of inequality. \ \ Not only is this utterly immoral and unfair, but it gets worse. The worst aspect is not that they want to charge interest and can easily generate currency, but rather that they insist that WE repay them! \ \ What am I saying? Every currency unit's counterpart in government bonds is a public debt that generates compound interest on a continuous basis. There is a dollar due plus interest for every dollar that exists. In essence, this debt is a claim on the nation's wealth, which includes the labor (time and energy) and wealth of its citizens. \ \ And to whom is this debt owed? The banks. Therefore, if we apply common logic, it is easy to see that just as borrowers are slaves to lenders, governments and "we the people" are slaves to banks. \ \ However, what precisely do we owe? What kind of material have they given our governments? Is it wealth of any sort, whether it land, gold, or resources? No, it's not. is essentially a promissory note issued by a private bank, a document that serves as a means of exchange and may be produced in an infinite quantity. A counterfeit check.\ \ Global slavery to the banks is the price we pay for a scalable medium of exchange! \ \ And now we have a great substitute! \ \ To sum up, we spend our lives, precious time, energy, stress, suffering, and effort to obtain these currencies and pay our taxes, while another group sits there making up new reasons to add currency the ledger —also known as "printing digital money"—that we must repay plus interest! It's crazy. \ \ The worst aspect is that because the debt exceeds the amount of money in circulation due to compound interest, which keeps accruing and increasing the loan's size, it is mathematically impossible to pay back.\ \ It is equivalent to burning the currency because we pay taxes to cover the interest on an ever-increasing debt that we are unable to pay back. A black hole for taxpayer funds, debt-based currencies are essentially human slavery that is supported by banks and maintained by governments. \ \ Why isn't everyone voicing their disapproval and exposing this? The answer is brainwashing and a lack of knowledge. Much of this has been concealed or esoteric, and a major contributing factor to this blind spot is the misinformation we receive regarding the operation of this system. In order to play the game the way they want us to and avoid the game ending anytime soon, we are given a children's interpretation of human history and reality. \ \ \ Libertarianism\ \ Bitcoin's libertarian nature cannot be disregarded; even Satoshi acknowledged this when he stated:\ \ It’s very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly.\ I’m better with code than with words though.

Satoshi Nakamoto, November 14, 2008\ \ Libertarianism is a political philosophy that holds freedom and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians conceive of freedom in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according to which each individual has the right to live as they choose, so long as it does not involve violating the rights of others by initiating force or fraud against them.

Libertarians advocate for the expansion of individual autonomy and political self-determination, emphasizing the principles of equality before the law and the protection of civil rights, including the rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of choice. They generally support individual liberty and oppose authority, state power, warfare, militarism and nationalism, but some libertarians diverge on the scope and nature of their opposition to existing economic and political systems. 1\ \ Here are several arguments in favor of Bitcoin's libertarian nature. \ \ Non-Aggression Principle: Unlike taxes and fiat currencies, which are supported by state aggression, Bitcoin is supported by energy, math, and processing power. The monopoly of violence “belongs” to governments, and banks use this authority to compel everyone to follow their rules (I'm talking about business). \ \ Personal independence: Bitcoin doesn't require confidence and doesn't have counterparty risk. With bitcoin, the person has complete control over his finances and doesn't require "permission" from a third party to earn, save, or spend it. Bitcoin is referred to be "freedom money" for this reason. \ \ Equality before the law: Unlike the actual banking system, where a group can create money out of thin air with little effort and can alter the rules to suit their interests, the bitcoin protocol ensures that everyone is playing by the same rules and that there is no possibility of cheating or inflating the supply of bitcoin. Equality exists under the Bitcoin protocol. \ \ Indeed there is nobody to act as central bank or federal reserve to adjust the money supply as the population of users grows.\ Satoshi Nakamoto, Febrero 18, 2009\ \ Freedom of speech: To uphold justice and the truth in an era of widespread censorship, freedom of speech is an essential human right. The fact that Bitcoin is information also fits into this category; money is a means of conveying value, but this time in an unstoppable manner that is impervious to censorship. \ \ Freedom of thought: Using bitcoin does not require you to subscribe to any particular philosophy or set of beliefs, including libertarianism or anarchism. Bitcoin is unbiased and doesn't care. \ \ Freedom of choice: Unlike fiat currencies, where you frequently have no other choice, no one will compel you to use bitcoin. \ \ Libertarians reject the current political and economic structures because they are blatantly immoral, criminal, and illegitimate. It is "shaped" by indoctrinated mob rule democracies, supported by violence, and based on lies.

Bitcoin's ascent \ \ Bitcoin wasn't created overnight; rather, it was the result of decades' worth of research, development, and technology. Above all else, however, bitcoin represented a breakthrough—a new method of accomplishing tasks that had previously been impossible. \ \ A lot of people automatically dismiss e-currency as a lost cause because of all the companies that failed since the 1990's. I hope it's obvious it was only the centrally controlled nature of those systems that doomed them. I think this is the first time we're trying a decentralized, non-trust-based system.

Satoshi Nakamoto, Febrero 15, 2009\ \ Due to their centralization and unique points of failure, all of the numerous attempts to implement alternative e-currencies failed. The distributed nature of the bitcoin network makes it more robust and challenging to attack. \ \ The secret to developing a decentralized unchangeable ledger was Satoshi's solution to a problem that had been thought to be intractable since the 1970s. Following years of failure and lessons learned, Satoshi established a finite amount of money that is governed by processing power and energy.\ \ The proof-of-work chain is a solution to the Byzantine Generals Problem.\ Satoshi Nakamoto, Febrero 15, 2009

The return of money \ \ Bitcoin has also had a significant impact on the monetary front, particularly on the system's capacity to function as money and not simply a currency. It has been shown to be the best store of value (SOV) in addition to being an excellent medium of exchange (MOE).

Since currencies replaced money during the last century, we have lost track of what money is. And in order to protect our wealth, we need to be aware of the important distinctions between these technologies. \ \ A currency must be recognized, divisible, fungible, portable, and widely accepted in order to function as a medium of exchange. \ \ All of those qualities are present in money, but it also has the capacity to hold value over time, and it must be scarce in order to function as a store of value. A currency, in contrast to money, is susceptible to inflation due to its ease of replication. This is the cause of the constant price increases. \ \ The money supply needs to be scarce in order to preserve its purchasing power over time (i.e., to be immune to inflation). For thousands of years, gold and silver have been the preferred forms of money. \ \ At first, paper currency was only used to facilitate transitions by serving as a convenient alternative (derivative) to precious metals. Since goldsmiths and subsequent bankers used fractional reserve banking to lend more money (i.e., print more paper currency) than they actually had in storage, paper currencies—which are easily reproducible—have always been vulnerable to inflation. This resulted in the recurring "bank run" crises that are documented throughout history.\ \ But before bitcoin, we didn't have any money since 1933 because banks had taken it and devalued it. Real state, stocks, bonds, and other choices had been selected as alternatives due to the absence of money (a store of value). People buy real estate, stocks, and bonds to protect their wealth because fiat currencies are continually being inlfated, not because they love them. \ \ An estimated 900 trillion dollars' worth of wealth is held in financial and tangible assets worldwide. \ \ In real state, 330 trillions (36.6%)\ \ Bonds worth 300 billions (33.3%)\ \ Currency totaling 120 trillions (13.3%)\ \ Equity of 115 trillions (12,7%)\ \ Art worth 18 billions (2%)\ \ Gold worth 16 trillions (1,77%)\ \ Automobiles and collectibles worth 6 trillions (0,66%)\ \ Bitcoin worth two trillions (0,22%)\ \ Bitcoin only makes up about 0.22% of the world's total wealth. The greatest money ever created, property that you can actually own, with a sovereign protocol, no counterparty risk, a limited supply (better than scarce), and no need for banks or governments. Freedom money is unaffected by debt, taxes, or inflation. \ \ A bitcoin market cap of x10 ($1,000,000) would represent 2,22% of the world's wealth, and a market cap of x100 ($10,000,000) would represent 22,22%. \ \ The denominator, the dollar, is always losing value since it is created infinitely by continuously increasing the debt supply, and wealth is not fixed—rather, it is eternally increasing. According to CBNC the U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days.

Bitcoin is energy \ \ Bankers and significant international leaders are aware that energy is the foundation of all human activity. They are aware that they must control the energy sources, including their supply, distribution, and price, in order to establish a monopoly over every industry and a system of slave labor. They even clarified in several released documents that this is the only way to engineer the global economy.

:Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars explains:

In order to achieve such sovereignty, we must at least achieve this one end: that the public will not make either the logical or mathematical connection between economics and the other energy sciences or learn to apply such knowledge.

It is only a matter of time before the new breed of private programmer/economists will catch on to the far-reaching implications of the work begun at Harvard in 1948. The speed with which they can communicate their warning to the public will largely depend upon how effective we have been at controlling the media, subverting education, and keeping the public distracted with matters of no real importance.

The Harvard Economic Research Project (1948-) was an extension of World War II Operations Research. Its purpose was to discover the science of controlling an economy: at first the American economy, and then the world economy. It was felt that with sufficient mathematical foundation and data, it would be nearly as easy to predict and control the trend of an economy as to predict and control the trajectory of a projectile. Such has proven to be the case. Moreover, the economy has been transformed into a guided missile on target.

As we can see, the actual monetary system was created as a system of control (SOC), which is essentially founded on thievery and has restrictions, barriers, closed doors, a lack of transparency, and different rules for different actors. Through fabricated inflation and economic crises, it has been stealing our riches and freedom and controlling not just the electrical supply but also the social energies of humanity. (Inductors and economic conductors)\ \ However, Bitcoin is restoring our freedom. A way to make money, save it, and spend it without any restrictions, inflation, or capricious regulations. A novel kind of property that is not dependent on a counterparty, like banks or governments, and that requires energy to manufacture rather than being formed spontaneously.

Bitcoin generation should end up where it's cheapest. Maybe that will be in cold climates where there's electric heat, where it would be essentially free.

Satoshi Nakamoto, August, 2010

This fact is key to unlock the benefits of deflation that had been opaqued by the artificially created inflation.

Natural deflation

The primary benefit of bitcoin is deflation. Deflation incentives people to delay consumption and save more. Saving is the key to economic growth, because it can help to increase investment and productivity.

With the increase in productivity, prices tend to go down as they are more abundant and we find cheaper ways to produce thanks to technology.

The only reason that prices are not going down today -except in products where improvements are very rapid (e.g., computers)- is because of government-caused-currency inflation.

They have been stealing the benefits of natural deflation from us, but now we can access it thanks to Bitcoin.

It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on. If enough people think the same way, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Satoshi Nakamoto, 1/17/2009

Conclusion

To only way to scape the slavery system is to earn, save and spend bitcoin; a money that’s not controlled by the governments and banks, that is not subject to inflation and where everyone has to play under the same rules.

Happy birthday Bitcoin!

Bitcoin or Slavery!

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Here are my predictions for Nostr in 2025:

Decentralization: The outbox and inbox communication models, sometimes referred to as the Gossip model, will become the standard across the ecosystem. By the end of 2025, all major clients will support these models, providing seamless communication and enhanced decentralization. Clients that do not adopt outbox/inbox by then will be regarded as outdated or legacy systems.

Privacy Standards: Major clients such as Damus and Primal will move away from NIP-04 DMs, adopting more secure protocol possibilities like NIP-17 or NIP-104. These upgrades will ensure enhanced encryption and metadata protection. Additionally, NIP-104 MLS tools will drive the development of new clients and features, providing users with unprecedented control over the privacy of their communications.

Interoperability: Nostr's ecosystem will become even more interconnected. Platforms like the Olas image-sharing service will expand into prominent clients such as Primal, Damus, Coracle, and Snort, alongside existing integrations with Amethyst, Nostur, and Nostrudel. Similarly, audio and video tools like Nostr Nests and Zap.stream will gain seamless integration into major clients, enabling easy participation in live events across the ecosystem.

Adoption and Migration: Inspired by early pioneers like Fountain and Orange Pill App, more platforms will adopt Nostr for authentication, login, and social systems. In 2025, a significant migration from a high-profile application platform with hundreds of thousands of users will transpire, doubling Nostr’s daily activity and establishing it as a cornerstone of decentralized technologies.

@ 714f9dc3:76659adb

Last week, I was reading “The Air We Breathe”, by Glen Scrivener. It’s about “How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality”, and it explores the Christian roots of the values we prize in today's western society. It’s all around us, but we don’t really know where it came from: It’s the air we’re breathing. The ideas and ethics behind Christianity, whether you believe in them or not, are embedded in our culture.

As I was reading this, I saw so many parallels with Bitcoin, so wanted to list them below and share some of my thoughts. Can Bitcoin also become “The Air We Breathe”? Or in plebs words: hyperbitcoinization? Can Bitcoin become so ubiquitous that it becomes normal? Can there be a world in which we don’t even know where Bitcoin came from? It would be a world with many similar views as with today's view on Christianity. It becomes the air we breathe, something that used to be a counterculture that over time became ubiquitous. What can we learn from it?

These are my ten parallels of Bitcoin with the early days of Christianity. 1. Separation from state 2. From obscure counterculture to dominant force 3. Exponential grassroots growth 4. Conversion of emperors/politicians 5. Sudden tolerance and protection for ideology 6. Fall of the empire, end of the status quo 7. Missionaries spreading the word 8. Persuasion and education are key 9. Age of Enlightenment

Note: I’m no expert on Christianity, nor a historian of the Roman Empire, and I know just a bit about Bitcoin. See this as a thought experiment.

1. Separation from state In all fairness, I’m not the first to draw this first parallel. It was Satoshi Nakamoto themself who made the connection even before Bitcoin was available to the public, with several hints pointing back to important dates and moments in Christian history. The big parallel here is the “separation of money and state” and “separation of church and state”.

Before going back to the early days of Christianity in the first centuries AD, I first want to draw this parallel with Satoshi.

It’s 1517. The German Priest Maarten Luther writes his Ninety-five Theses, and nails this on the church doors in Wittenberg. The theses are also known as the “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”. He kickstarted a movement with a radical new idea for that time: The separation of the church from the state.

The Catholic Church had become one with the state. Via the means of indulgences, there was an ability to pay for your redemption. The church was corrupted by money, power and politics. The church and indulgences replaced the need for personal responsibility and an individual faith with money and perverse structures.

Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. But the 31st of October is also the day in which Satoshi shared his pamphlet with the world: in 2008 they published the Bitcoin Whitepaper. It kickstarted a movement with a radical new idea for that time: The separation of the money from the state.

But this was not Satoshi’s only hint. Another one is the date of Bitcoin’s Genesis Block: January 3, 2009. It was the day that the idea of the separation of money and the state became reality, more than just an idea in an individual's mind.

Did you know that Maarten Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1521 by Pope Leo X for sparking this revolutionary new way of thinking (and being). It happened on January 3 as well. I bet Satoshi Nakamoto knew.

To be fair, this parallel is not new and known by many bitcoiners. But it’s a good introduction to the topic, and after reading “The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality”, I automatically started to see more parallels between (the early days of) Christianity and todays adoption of Bitcoin. Because it was of course not Maarten Luther who sparked these rebellious thoughts in 1500, but it was Jesus himself approx. 2000 years ago.

Let’s go back from the 1500s to the first decades AD to the beginning of this radical new belief system. During the dominance of the Roman empire in the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, someone told a story that opposed every mainstream paradigm.

Jesus’ idea was radically different from the belief systems of that day. He preached Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality in a world that was full of Debauchery and Violence, with Gladiator Games, Slavery, Public Crucifixion, and Brutalities. The belief system of that time was not like todays. There were superior races (Greek/Romans over barbarians), superior sexes (man over women), superior classes (free man over slaves) and the concept of justice was more something in the realm of “restoring rights of those that were superior”, than “equality for all, men and women, Greek and barbarian, free and slave”.

Jesus opposed the status quo. It started small and irrelevant; as a counterculture. But it didn’t stay that way.

2. From obscure counterculture to dominant force In “The Air We Breathe”, Scrivener asks the question: “How did the obscure, marginal Jesus movement of the 1st century become the dominant religious force in the Western world in a few centuries?”

Important to know, is that the Christian faith was the opposite of the narrative. Concepts like Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality didn’t exist in the Roman Empire. Human rights neither. Individual rights neither. The emperor was almost de facto God himself.

Early Christians were persecuted for preaching a different story: that God is NOT the ruler of the empire. Jesus preached the separation of politics from God; separating faith from the state. As a result, he was crucified, and many of his followers were killed by Nero (between 54 and 68 AD), Domitian (81–96 AD), Trajan (98–117 AD) and Decius (249–251 AD). This new narrative was a thread for the Roman rulers.

Draw the parallels of how there have been many attempts to “kill” bitcoin, not with physical persecution but with an information war. Not by physical violence, but by misinformation. Bitcoin threatens the status quo, just like Christianity threatened the Roman Empire.

You see?

But how is the obscure movement of Bitcoin in the 20th century becoming the dominant force, similar to the question that Scrivener asked about Christianity? Perhaps the answer lies in the following parallel.

3. Exponential grassroots growth Sociologist Rodney Stark estimates in “The Rise of Christianity” that from the time of the first Easter, the church began growing at a rate of 40% per decade, a modest but relentless 3.4% per year. By the year 300, Christians numbered perhaps 6 million: about a tenth of the empire.

Despite pushbacks, the army of believers continued to grow. Grassroots, peer-to-peer. It was not the state-religion, it was a peaceful army of believers that spread the word, resulting in an exponential growth of its followers. The counterculture became more and more dominant.

You may see what I’m doing here. It was basically the meme that all Bitcoiners know: Gradually, then suddenly. Against the current.

4. Conversion of emperors/politicians In 312 a big change happened: Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. As Stark writes, "Constantine's conversion would better be seen as a response to the massive exponential wave in progress, not as its cause".

Are we living in that same era, where nation states start to embrace Bitcoin? Where politicians don’t oppose as strongly anymore, but are flirting with the idea of embracing it? And again the parallel: it’s responsive to the exponential wave of progress, not as its cause.

Whether Constantine is Nayib Bukele, Donald Trump, or Milei: it doesn’t matter. It’s the dynamic that matters. The counterculture becomes so dominant, that the “rulers” of the world are wanting to be part of it. Which will be followed by “rules” that favour the ideology, movement, and beliefs.

5. Tolerance and protection for ideology In 313 Constatines Edict of Milan granted freedom to Christians that were remarkable for that time and a model for religious toleration for the coming centuries.

The tide was turning, and by 380 Emperor Theodosius made Christianity Rome's official religion, more than half the population had already converted. In a few short centuries Christianity had gone from radical counterculture to dominant cultural power. This was an extraordinary shift in the church's relationship with the world. The edict expressly grants religious liberty to Christians, who had been the object of special persecution, but also goes even further and grants liberty to all other religions. And then, in 410, the world itself changed.

It changed from grassroots, bottom-up adoption to some kind of nation state adoption. One that was driven by decrees and edicts, instead of the analog cyberhornets of that day. Actually, the ideas of Indulgences were introduced via these Edicts, something that Maarten Luther actually was fighting against in the 1500s.

The world changed from the state-less Christian belief and moved (back) towards a system in which the state and church were connected again. Yes — the Roman Catholic Church. Until the previously mentioned critics during the Reformation.

6. Fall of the empire, end of the status quo When people speak of the fall of the Roman Empire, they usually mean in the 5th century when the western half fell. But there was also an eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire (with its capital in what is modern-day Istanbul).

How did this relate to the movement that once was Cult, and now suddenly had become Culture?

It was Augustine, the north African bishop (354-430), who laid the foundation for a new philosophical, theological, and legal system. He distinguished between the fragile earthly realm and the eternal heavenly kingdom. Rome was “a city of man”, which fell. But the “city of God” was forever. He continued to separate the Roman Catholic Church from the faith that it once was. This distinction was vital, and it gave rise to the concept of "the secular realm". He planted the first ideas of "the separation of church and state" again, which started to spread throughout Europe during the supposedly "sandy desert" of the Middle Ages.

The parallel and lesson here might be that narratives can be taken over, for the worse. And that it takes centuries to take back the narrative, but/and only after an empire has fallen. Whether we refer to “The Fourth Turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe or “Changing World Orders” by Ray Dalio. There is something to preserve, and it needs active monitoring and pushbacks!

7. Missionary, spreading the word The way the church sought to spread its influence would become a question that would take many centuries (and many failures) to settle. In the past, empires sought to spread their influence almost always by force. Christianity has been a missionary faith from the beginning. It was for this reason that Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to Britain to convert the Anglo-Saxons.

Augustine was commanded by Gregory to use only "gentle means". His goal was persuasion. His method was teaching and preaching. And he was successful, converting King Aethelbert of Kent and becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

You see what I’m talking about again: the parallel is simple. Bitcoin is a similar peaceful revolution, a missionary movement, of those that wish to see their Cult turn into a Culture. “Genle means”, teachings, persuasions. Or in pleb terminology: Orangepilling.

8. Persuasion and education are key Over the next decades and centuries, this movement continued. English Benedictine monk (675-754) Boniface was sent from the previously “barbarian” Britain to “orangepill the East” – in this case the Saxons in the Germanic lands. In the words of his advisor, the Bishop of Winchester, his goal was "to convince them by many documents and arguments". This mission of persuasion and education was largely successful. Today he’s better known as “the Apostle to the Germans". He was killed in The Netherlands (Dokkum).

Boniface kept to a policy of non-violence and non-retaliation, even to the point of death. Another famous writer about this topic, Tom Holland, summarises the lesson we learn from Boniface: "to convert was to educate".

In the following century this lesson was sorely needed by the Frankish king Charles the Great, aka Charlemagne (742-814). Charlemagne's path to power was a brutal one. When the Saxons stood in his way, Charlemagne beheaded 4,500 of them in a single day. There are concrete reasons why "getting medieval" might be associated today with brutality.

Is “Bitcoin as Legal Tender”, whether this is peaceful or violently, the way to go? Are we “getting medieval” with these kind of measures, in order to go from Cult to Culture, from counterculture to dominant culture, in which we lose the true essence of our revolution of separation of the state from the matter?

9. Age of Enlightenment Alcuin of York (735-804), was bold enough to write to Charlemagne directly with his criticism. "A person can be drawn into the faith, not forced into it". Be a lighthouse, not a tugboat!

The church's official teaching would later agree with Alcuin's position. In the 12th century all "harsh means" were forbidden since faith arises from the will, not compulsion. Enlightenment comes through education and persuasion.

There’s work to do. Grassroots. Education. Peer-to-peer. Not directed by politicians, nor opposed by those in power. Through education and persuasion. Rules without rulers. Because eventually, with the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, there are stark examples of the church using “harsh means" again. Forcing Bitcoin on people will never be the way: it’s a cheat code to the end goal. In order to succeed, we’ll need to be a missionary.

Final words I don’t want in any way to compare Christianity in itself as a faith, and Bitcoin as a technology, with each other. I enjoyed exploring the sociological phenomena between two countercultures, the grassroots movement and missionary parallels between both of them. Satoshi gave the first assist, with the 31st of October (Whitepaper Day) and the Genesis Block on January 3rd.

Let’s not mix religion with monetary systems, even though there are many similarities between certain movements. That’s not my goal for sharing this brain dump. But let’s learn from the past, from Constatine’s Edict and from Augustine, from Charlemagne (and especially Alcuin of York), from Boniface and from Maarten Luther. And from Satoshi Nakamoto.

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Último dia do ano, momento para tirar o pó da bola de cristal, para fazer reflexões, previsões e desejos para o próximo ano e seguintes.

Ano após ano, o Bitcoin evoluiu, foi ultrapassando etapas, tornou-se cada vez mais mainstream. Está cada vez mais difícil fazer previsões sobre o Bitcoin, já faltam poucas barreiras a serem ultrapassadas e as que faltam são altamente complexas ou tem um impacto profundo no sistema financeiro ou na sociedade. Estas alterações profundas tem que ser realizadas lentamente, porque uma alteração rápida poderia resultar em consequências terríveis, poderia provocar um retrocesso.

Código do Bitcoin

No final de 2025, possivelmente vamos ter um fork, as discussões sobre os covenants já estão avançadas, vão acelerar ainda mais. Já existe um consenso relativamente alto, a favor dos covenants, só falta decidir que modelo será escolhido. Penso que até ao final do ano será tudo decidido.

Depois dos covenants, o próximo foco será para a criptografia post-quantum, que será o maior desafio que o Bitcoin enfrenta. Criar uma criptografia segura e que não coloque a descentralização em causa.

Espero muito de Ark, possivelmente a inovação do ano, gostaria de ver o Nostr a furar a bolha bitcoinheira e que o Cashu tivesse mais reconhecimento pelos bitcoiners.

Espero que surjam avanços significativos no BitVM2 e BitVMX.

Não sei o que esperar das layer 2 de Bitcoin, foram a maior desilusão de 2024. Surgiram com muita força, mas pouca coisa saiu do papel, foi uma mão cheia de nada. Uma parte dos projetos caiu na tentação da shitcoinagem, na criação de tokens, que tem um único objetivo, enriquecer os devs e os VCs.

Se querem ser levados a sério, têm que ser sérios.

“À mulher de César não basta ser honesta, deve parecer honesta”

Se querem ter o apoio dos bitcoiners, sigam o ethos do Bitcoin.

Neste ponto a atitude do pessoal da Ark é exemplar, em vez de andar a chorar no Twitter para mudar o código do Bitcoin, eles colocaram as mãos na massa e criaram o protocolo. É claro que agora está meio “coxo”, funciona com uma multisig ou com os covenants na Liquid. Mas eles estão a criar um produto, vão demonstrar ao mercado que o produto é bom e útil. Com a adoção, a comunidade vai perceber que o Ark necessita dos covenants para melhorar a interoperabilidade e a soberania.

É este o pensamento certo, que deveria ser seguido pelos restantes e futuros projetos. É seguir aquele pensamento do J.F. Kennedy:

“Não perguntem o que é que o vosso país pode fazer por vocês, perguntem o que é que vocês podem fazer pelo vosso país”

Ou seja, não fiquem à espera que o bitcoin mude, criem primeiro as inovações/tecnologia, ganhem adoção e depois demonstrem que a alteração do código camada base pode melhorar ainda mais o vosso projeto. A necessidade é que vai levar a atualização do código.

Reservas Estratégicas de Bitcoin

Bancos centrais

Com a eleição de Trump, emergiu a ideia de uma Reserva Estratégia de Bitcoin, tornou este conceito mainstream. Foi um pivot, a partir desse momento, foram enumerados os políticos de todo o mundo a falar sobre o assunto.

A Senadora Cynthia Lummis foi mais além e propôs um programa para adicionar 200 mil bitcoins à reserva ao ano, até 1 milhão de Bitcoin. Só que isto está a criar uma enorme expectativa na comunidade, só que pode resultar numa enorme desilusão. Porque no primeiro ano, o Trump em vez de comprar os 200 mil, pode apenas adicionar na reserva, os 198 mil que o Estado já tem em sua posse. Se isto acontecer, possivelmente vai resultar numa forte queda a curto prazo. Na minha opinião os bancos centrais deveriam seguir o exemplo de El Salvador, fazer um DCA diário.

Mais que comprar bitcoin, para mim, o mais importante é a criação da Reserva, é colocar o Bitcoin ao mesmo nível do ouro, o impacto para o resto do mundo será tremendo, a teoria dos jogos na sua plenitude. Muitos outros bancos centrais vão ter que comprar, para não ficarem atrás, além disso, vai transmitir uma mensagem à generalidade da população, que o Bitcoin é “afinal é algo seguro, com valor”.

Mas não foi Trump que iniciou esta teoria dos jogos, mas sim foi a primeira vítima dela. É o próprio Trump que o admite, que os EUA necessitam da reserva para não ficar atrás da China. Além disso, desde que os EUA utilizaram o dólar como uma arma, com sanção contra a Rússia, surgiram boatos de que a Rússia estaria a utilizar o Bitcoin para transações internacionais. Que foram confirmados recentemente, pelo próprio governo russo. Também há poucos dias, ainda antes deste reconhecimento público, Putin elogiou o Bitcoin, ao reconhecer que “Ninguém pode proibir o bitcoin”, defendendo como uma alternativa ao dólar. A narrativa está a mudar.

Já existem alguns países com Bitcoin, mas apenas dois o fizeram conscientemente (El Salvador e Butão), os restantes têm devido a apreensões. Hoje são poucos, mas 2025 será o início de uma corrida pelos bancos centrais. Esta corrida era algo previsível, o que eu não esperava é que acontecesse tão rápido.

Empresas

A criação de reservas estratégicas não vai ficar apenas pelos bancos centrais, também vai acelerar fortemente nas empresas em 2025.

Mas as empresas não vão seguir a estratégia do Saylor, vão comprar bitcoin sem alavancagem, utilizando apenas os tesouros das empresas, como uma proteção contra a inflação. Eu não sou grande admirador do Saylor, prefiro muito mais, uma estratégia conservadora, sem qualquer alavancagem. Penso que as empresas vão seguir a sugestão da BlackRock, que aconselha um alocações de 1% a 3%.

Penso que 2025, ainda não será o ano da entrada das 6 magníficas (excepto Tesla), será sobretudo empresas de pequena e média dimensão. As magníficas ainda tem uma cota muito elevada de shareholders com alguma idade, bastante conservadores, que têm dificuldade em compreender o Bitcoin, foi o que aconteceu recentemente com a Microsoft.

Também ainda não será em 2025, talvez 2026, a inclusão nativamente de wallet Bitcoin nos sistema da Apple Pay e da Google Pay. Seria um passo gigante para a adoção a nível mundial.

ETFs

Os ETFs para mim são uma incógnita, tenho demasiadas dúvidas, como será 2025. Este ano os inflows foram superiores a 500 mil bitcoins, o IBIT foi o lançamento de ETF mais bem sucedido da história. O sucesso dos ETFs, deve-se a 2 situações que nunca mais se vão repetir. O mercado esteve 10 anos à espera pela aprovação dos ETFs, a procura estava reprimida, isso foi bem notório nos primeiros meses, os inflows foram brutais.

Também se beneficiou por ser um mercado novo, não existia orderbook de vendas, não existia um mercado interno, praticamente era só inflows. Agora o mercado já estabilizou, a maioria das transações já são entre clientes dos próprios ETFs. Agora só uma pequena percentagem do volume das transações diárias vai resultar em inflows ou outflows.

Estes dois fenómenos nunca mais se vão repetir, eu não acredito que o número de inflows em BTC supere os número de 2024, em dólares vai superar, mas em btc não acredito que vá superar.

Mas em 2025 vão surgir uma infindável quantidade de novos produtos, derivativos, novos ETFs de cestos com outras criptos ou cestos com ativos tradicionais. O bitcoin será adicionado em produtos financeiros já existentes no mercado, as pessoas vão passar a deter bitcoin, sem o saberem.

Com o fim da operação ChokePoint 2.0, vai surgir uma nova onda de adoção e de produtos financeiros. Possivelmente vamos ver bancos tradicionais a disponibilizar produtos ou serviços de custódia aos seus clientes.

Eu adoraria ver o crescimento da adoção do bitcoin como moeda, só que a regulamentação não vai ajudar nesse processo.

Preço

Eu acredito que o topo deste ciclo será alcançado no primeiro semestre, posteriormente haverá uma correção. Mas desta vez, eu acredito que a correção será muito menor que as anteriores, inferior a 50%, esta é a minha expectativa. Espero estar certo.

Stablecoins de dólar

Agora saindo um pouco do universo do Bitcoin, acho importante destacar as stablecoins.

No último ciclo, eu tenho dividido o tempo, entre continuar a estudar o Bitcoin e estudar o sistema financeiro, as suas dinâmicas e o comportamento humano. Isto tem sido o meu foco de reflexão, imaginar a transformação que o mundo vai sofrer devido ao padrão Bitcoin. É uma ilusão acreditar que a transição de um padrão FIAT para um padrão Bitcoin vai ser rápida, vai existir um processo transitório que pode demorar décadas.

Com a re-entrada de Trump na Casa Branca, prometendo uma política altamente protecionista, vai provocar uma forte valorização do dólar, consequentemente as restantes moedas do mundo vão derreter. Provocando uma inflação generalizada, gerando uma corrida às stablecoins de dólar nos países com moedas mais fracas. Trump vai ter uma política altamente expansionista, vai exportar dólares para todo o mundo, para financiar a sua própria dívida. A desigualdade entre os pobres e ricos irá crescer fortemente, aumentando a possibilidade de conflitos e revoltas.

“Casa onde não há pão, todos ralham e ninguém tem razão”

Será mais lenha, para alimentar a fogueira, vai gravar os conflitos geopolíticos já existentes, ficando as sociedade ainda mais polarizadas.

Eu acredito que 2025, vai haver um forte crescimento na adoção das stablecoins de dólares, esse forte crescimento vai agravar o problema sistémico que são as stablecoins. Vai ser o início do fim das stablecoins, pelo menos, como nós conhecemos hoje em dia.

Problema sistémico

O sistema FIAT não nasceu de um dia para outro, foi algo que foi construído organicamente, ou seja, foi evoluindo ao longo dos anos, sempre que havia um problema/crise, eram criadas novas regras ou novas instituições para minimizar os problemas. Nestes quase 100 anos, desde os acordos de Bretton Woods, a evolução foram tantas, tornaram o sistema financeiro altamente complexo, burocrático e nada eficiente.

Na prática é um castelo de cartas construído sobre outro castelo de cartas e que por sua vez, foi construído sobre outro castelo de cartas.

As stablecoins são um problema sistémico, devido às suas reservas em dólares e o sistema financeiro não está preparado para manter isso seguro. Com o crescimento das reservas ao longo dos anos, foi se agravando o problema.

No início a Tether colocava as reservas em bancos comerciais, mas com o crescimento dos dólares sob gestão, criou um problema nos bancos comerciais, devido à reserva fracionária. Essas enormes reservas da Tether estavam a colocar em risco a própria estabilidade dos bancos.

A Tether acabou por mudar de estratégia, optou por outros ativos, preferencialmente por títulos do tesouro/obrigações dos EUA. Só que a Tether continua a crescer e não dá sinais de abrandamento, pelo contrário.

Até o próprio mundo cripto, menosprezava a gravidade do problema da Tether/stablecoins para o resto do sistema financeiro, porque o marketcap do cripto ainda é muito pequeno. É verdade que ainda é pequeno, mas a Tether não o é, está no top 20 dos maiores detentores de títulos do tesouros dos EUA e está ao nível dos maiores bancos centrais do mundo. Devido ao seu tamanho, está a preocupar os responsáveis/autoridades/reguladores dos EUA, pode colocar em causa a estabilidade do sistema financeiro global, que está assente nessas obrigações.

Os títulos do tesouro dos EUA são o colateral mais utilizado no mundo, tanto por bancos centrais, como por empresas, é a charneira da estabilidade do sistema financeiro. Os títulos do tesouro são um assunto muito sensível. Na recente crise no Japão, do carry trade, o Banco Central do Japão tentou minimizar a desvalorização do iene através da venda de títulos dos EUA. Esta operação, obrigou a uma viagem de emergência, da Secretaria do Tesouro dos EUA, Janet Yellen ao Japão, onde disponibilizou liquidez para parar a venda de títulos por parte do Banco Central do Japão. Essa forte venda estava desestabilizando o mercado.

Os principais detentores de títulos do tesouros são institucionais, bancos centrais, bancos comerciais, fundo de investimento e gestoras, tudo administrado por gestores altamente qualificados, racionais e que conhecem a complexidade do mercado de obrigações.

O mundo cripto é seu oposto, é naife com muita irracionalidade e uma forte pitada de loucura, na sua maioria nem faz a mínima ideia como funciona o sistema financeiro. Essa irracionalidade pode levar a uma “corrida bancária”, como aconteceu com o UST da Luna, que em poucas horas colapsou o projeto. Em termos de escala, a Luna ainda era muito pequena, por isso, o problema ficou circunscrito ao mundo cripto e a empresas ligadas diretamente ao cripto.

Só que a Tether é muito diferente, caso exista algum FUD, que obrigue a Tether a desfazer-se de vários biliões ou dezenas de biliões de dólares em títulos num curto espaço de tempo, poderia provocar consequências terríveis em todo o sistema financeiro. A Tether é grande demais, é já um problema sistémico, que vai agravar-se com o crescimento em 2025.

Não tenham dúvidas, se existir algum problema, o Tesouro dos EUA vai impedir a venda dos títulos que a Tether tem em sua posse, para salvar o sistema financeiro. O problema é, o que vai fazer a Tether, se ficar sem acesso às venda das reservas, como fará o redeem dos dólares?

Como o crescimento do Tether é inevitável, o Tesouro e o FED estão com um grande problema em mãos, o que fazer com o Tether?

Mas o problema é que o atual sistema financeiro é como um curto cobertor: Quanto tapas a cabeça, destapas os pés; Ou quando tapas os pés, destapas a cabeça. Ou seja, para resolver o problema da guarda reservas da Tether, vai criar novos problemas, em outros locais do sistema financeiro e assim sucessivamente.

Conta mestre

Uma possível solução seria dar uma conta mestre à Tether, dando o acesso direto a uma conta no FED, semelhante à que todos os bancos comerciais têm. Com isto, a Tether deixaria de necessitar os títulos do tesouro, depositando o dinheiro diretamente no banco central. Só que isto iria criar dois novos problemas, com o Custodia Bank e com o restante sistema bancário.

O Custodia Bank luta há vários anos contra o FED, nos tribunais pelo direito a ter licença bancária para um banco com full-reserves. O FED recusou sempre esse direito, com a justificativa que esse banco, colocaria em risco toda a estabilidade do sistema bancário existente, ou seja, todos os outros bancos poderiam colapsar. Perante a existência em simultâneo de bancos com reserva fracionária e com full-reserves, as pessoas e empresas iriam optar pelo mais seguro. Isso iria provocar uma corrida bancária, levando ao colapso de todos os bancos com reserva fracionária, porque no Custodia Bank, os fundos dos clientes estão 100% garantidos, para qualquer valor. Deixaria de ser necessário limites de fundos de Garantia de Depósitos.

Eu concordo com o FED nesse ponto, que os bancos com full-reserves são uma ameaça a existência dos restantes bancos. O que eu discordo do FED, é a origem do problema, o problema não está nos bancos full-reserves, mas sim nos que têm reserva fracionária.

O FED ao conceder uma conta mestre ao Tether, abre um precedente, o Custodia Bank irá o aproveitar, reclamando pela igualdade de direitos nos tribunais e desta vez, possivelmente ganhará a sua licença.

Ainda há um segundo problema, com os restantes bancos comerciais. A Tether passaria a ter direitos similares aos bancos comerciais, mas os deveres seriam muito diferentes. Isto levaria os bancos comerciais aos tribunais para exigir igualdade de tratamento, é uma concorrência desleal. Isto é o bom dos tribunais dos EUA, são independentes e funcionam, mesmo contra o estado. Os bancos comerciais têm custos exorbitantes devido às políticas de compliance, como o KYC e AML. Como o governo não vai querer aliviar as regras, logo seria a Tether, a ser obrigada a fazer o compliance dos seus clientes.

A obrigação do KYC para ter stablecoins iriam provocar um terramoto no mundo cripto.

Assim, é pouco provável que seja a solução para a Tether.

FED

Só resta uma hipótese, ser o próprio FED a controlar e a gerir diretamente as stablecoins de dólar, nacionalizado ou absorvendo as existentes. Seria uma espécie de CBDC. Isto iria provocar um novo problema, um problema diplomático, porque as stablecoins estão a colocar em causa a soberania monetária dos outros países. Atualmente as stablecoins estão um pouco protegidas porque vivem num limbo jurídico, mas a partir do momento que estas são controladas pelo governo americano, tudo muda. Os países vão exigir às autoridades americanas medidas que limitem o uso nos seus respectivos países.

Não existe uma solução boa, o sistema FIAT é um castelo de cartas, qualquer carta que se mova, vai provocar um desmoronamento noutro local. As autoridades não poderão adiar mais o problema, terão que o resolver de vez, senão, qualquer dia será tarde demais. Se houver algum problema, vão colocar a responsabilidade no cripto e no Bitcoin. Mas a verdade, a culpa é inteiramente dos políticos, da sua incompetência em resolver os problemas a tempo.

Será algo para acompanhar futuramente, mas só para 2026, talvez…

É curioso, há uns anos pensava-se que o Bitcoin seria a maior ameaça ao sistema ao FIAT, mas afinal, a maior ameaça aos sistema FIAT é o próprio FIAT(stablecoins). A ironia do destino.

Isto é como uma corrida, o Bitcoin é aquele atleta que corre ao seu ritmo, umas vezes mais rápido, outras vezes mais lento, mas nunca pára. O FIAT é o atleta que dá tudo desde da partida, corre sempre em velocidade máxima. Só que a vida e o sistema financeiro não é uma prova de 100 metros, mas sim uma maratona.

Europa

2025 será um ano desafiante para todos europeus, sobretudo devido à entrada em vigor da regulamentação (MiCA). Vão começar a sentir na pele a regulamentação, vão agravar-se os problemas com os compliance, problemas para comprovar a origem de fundos e outras burocracias. Vai ser lindo.

O Travel Route passa a ser obrigatório, os europeus serão obrigados a fazer o KYC nas transações. A Travel Route é uma suposta lei para criar mais transparência, mas prática, é uma lei de controle, de monitorização e para limitar as liberdades individuais dos cidadãos.

O MiCA também está a colocar problemas nas stablecoins de Euro, a Tether para já preferiu ficar de fora da europa. O mais ridículo é que as novas regras obrigam os emissores a colocar 30% das reservas em bancos comerciais. Os burocratas europeus não compreendem que isto coloca em risco a estabilidade e a solvência dos próprios bancos, ficam propensos a corridas bancárias.

O MiCA vai obrigar a todas as exchanges a estar registadas em solo europeu, ficando vulnerável ao temperamento dos burocratas. Ainda não vai ser em 2025, mas a UE vai impor políticas de controle de capitais, é inevitável, as exchanges serão obrigadas a usar em exclusividade stablecoins de euro, as restantes stablecoins serão deslistadas.

Todas estas novas regras do MiCA, são extremamente restritas, não é para garantir mais segurança aos cidadãos europeus, mas sim para garantir mais controle sobre a população. A UE está cada vez mais perto da autocracia, do que da democracia. A minha única esperança no horizonte, é que o sucesso das políticas cripto nos EUA, vai obrigar a UE a recuar e a aligeirar as regras, a teoria dos jogos é implacável. Mas esse recuo, nunca acontecerá em 2025, vai ser um longo período conturbado.

Recessão

Os mercados estão todos em máximos históricos, isto não é sustentável por muito tempo, suspeito que no final de 2025 vai acontecer alguma correção nos mercados. A queda só não será maior, porque os bancos centrais vão imprimir dinheiro, muito dinheiro, como se não houvesse amanhã. Vão voltar a resolver os problemas com a injeção de liquidez na economia, é empurrar os problemas com a barriga, em de os resolver. Outra vez o efeito Cantillon.

Será um ano muito desafiante a nível político, onde o papel dos políticos será fundamental. A crise política na França e na Alemanha, coloca a UE órfã, sem um comandante ao leme do navio. 2025 estará condicionado pelas eleições na Alemanha, sobretudo no resultado do AfD, que podem colocar em causa a propriedade UE e o euro.

Possivelmente, só o fim da guerra poderia minimizar a crise, algo que é muito pouco provável acontecer.

Em Portugal, a economia parece que está mais ou menos equilibrada, mas começam a aparecer alguns sinais preocupantes. Os jogos de sorte e azar estão em máximos históricos, batendo o recorde de 2014, época da grande crise, não é um bom sinal, possivelmente já existe algum desespero no ar.

A Alemanha é o motor da Europa, quanto espirra, Portugal constipa-se. Além do problema da Alemanha, a Espanha também está à beira de uma crise, são os países que mais influenciam a economia portuguesa.

Se existir uma recessão mundial, terá um forte impacto no turismo, que é hoje em dia o principal motor de Portugal.

Brasil

Brasil é algo para acompanhar em 2025, sobretudo a nível macro e a nível político. Existe uma possibilidade de uma profunda crise no Brasil, sobretudo na sua moeda. O banco central já anda a queimar as reservas para minimizar a desvalorização do Real.

Sem mudanças profundas nas políticas fiscais, as reservas vão se esgotar. As políticas de controle de capitais são um cenário plausível, será interesse de acompanhar, como o governo irá proceder perante a existência do Bitcoin e stablecoins. No Brasil existe um forte adoção, será um bom case study, certamente irá repetir-se em outros países num futuro próximo.

Os próximos tempos não serão fáceis para os brasileiros, especialmente para os que não têm Bitcoin.

Blockchain

Em 2025, possivelmente vamos ver os primeiros passos da BlackRock para criar a primeira bolsa de valores, exclusivamente em blockchain. Eu acredito que a BlackRock vai criar uma própria blockchain, toda controlada por si, onde estarão os RWAs, para fazer concorrência às tradicionais bolsas de valores. Será algo interessante de acompanhar.

---

Estas são as minhas previsões, eu escrevi isto muito em cima do joelho, certamente esqueci-me de algumas coisas, se for importante acrescentarei nos comentários. A maioria das previsões só acontecerá após 2025, mas fica aqui a minha opinião.

Isto é apenas a minha opinião, Don’t Trust, Verify!

@ be7bf5de:09420d0a

The SALUD Decentralized Health App Development Challenge is an exciting initiative aimed at revolutionizing healthcare through the use of decentralized technologies. Running from January to May, this challenge will bring together developers, designers, healthcare providers, and health conscious individuals interested in decentralizing healthcare. Participants will create open-source tools leveraging Nostr, Bitcoin, and the SALUD protocol aiming to improve healthcare access, enhance data portability, and ultimately improve health outcomes for individuals worldwide.

Challenge Mission

At its core, the mission of this challenge is to bootstrap an ecosystem of interoperable tools that allow individuals to take full control of their health data. By building apps on the Nostr protocol and integrating bitcoin, the challenge hopes to address key issues in traditional healthcare, including access to services, privacy, and fragmented health data systems. All participating apps will be required to be compatible with the SALUD protocol, or Sistema de Administración de Libertad Único y Decentralizado, which is an open-source framework for utilizing health data over Nostr.

Challenge Structure

The challenge is structured to span five months, from January through May. Throughout this period, participants will meet weekly to discuss their progress, share insights, and collaborate with others. These sessions will be instrumental in connecting developers, designers, and healthcare professionals, fostering a community focused on building the future of decentralized healthcare.

The challenge will include weekly office hours for participants, held every Thursday at 11 AM Eastern Time (4 PM UTC), starting on January 16th. These open office hours will provide opportunities to connect with doctors, developers, entrepreneurs, and health-minded bitcoiners to ensure that the apps being developed address real-world healthcare needs.

Evaluation Criteria

All submissions to the challenge will be evaluated based on four key metrics:

1. App Production Readiness: Is the app functional and polished enough for real-world use?
2. Solution Depth and Creativity: How innovative and impactful is the solution in addressing healthcare challenges?
3. Interoperability: How well does the app integrate with the SALUD protocol and other healthcare tools, ensuring it can work seamlessly within the decentralized ecosystem?
4. Overall Contribution to the Ecosystem: Does the app contribute to the broader vision of decentralized healthcare and enhance individual control over health data?

Prize Pool

The challenge features a prize pool starting at 10 million satoshis (0.1 BTC). Winning participants will not only receive financial rewards but also have the opportunity to collaborate with NosFabrica, a leading force in decentralized technology development, and Illuminodes, piloting the SALUD protocol in El Salvador. This container provides an exciting pathway for long-term collaboration and innovation in the global and decentralized health space.

Who Should Participate?

This challenge is open to a wide range of participants, each contributing unique expertise and perspectives:

• Developers and Designers: Those skilled in app development, UX/UI design, bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
• Healthcare Providers (Doctors/Nurses/Alternative Health): Professionals who can offer insights into real-world healthcare needs and help design solutions that truly benefit patients.
• Health-Conscious Individuals: People passionate about taking control of their own health data and empowering others to do the same.
• Bitcoiners and Nostriches: Enthusiasts of Bitcoin and Nostr who are excited to apply these censorship resistant technologies to solve pressing issues in healthcare.
• Investors: Individuals or firms interested in supporting innovative projects and startups that have the potential to shape future of healthcare.

How to Participate

To get involved in the challenge and receive important updates and event invitations, participants can sign up through either of the provided forms:

• Formstr
• Google Form

The main categories we'll encourage individuals to develop solutions for are personal health apps, healthcare provider tooling, and SALUD protocol infrastructure. So far, the SALUD protocol includes NIP-82, a way to store FHIR healthcare records on Nostr, developed by NosFabrica co-founder, Vitor Pamplona. We see more Nostr improvement proposals being made as healthcare data use cases develop.

Conclusion

The SALUD Decentralized Health App Development Challenge is a groundbreaking opportunity for anyone passionate about using Nostr and Bitcoin to reshape the healthcare landscape. By building apps that empower individuals to control their own health data, participants will play a pivotal role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges in modern healthcare, from data privacy to accessibility and portability. We're xcited about this challenge and to continue building the future of decentralized healthcare!

Happy new year!

PS. Feel free to reach out with any questions to jon@nosfabrica.com or go to https://nosfabrica.com/challenge/ to learn more.

@ 4d41a7cb:7d3633cc

Review

\ Dedicated to bitcoiners, who stand to benefit financially from the great wealth transfer that is taking place while the fiat system is being demonetized, the book emphasizes that true wealth is in the inner virtues and not in the outer.  Virtues are the spirit in which we do things; they are the most important thing because they define who we really are, beyond what we have. 

Real wealth comes from the virtues we live by.

As we navigate through periods of darkness, transition, and madness, marking the end of one cycle and the start of another, bushido serves as a beacon of light for those who seek to comprehend their own virtuous selves and contribute to the development of civilization. It recognizes that virtues serve as the foundation, a metaphysical science or natural law that surpasses religious beliefs.

The Bushido of Bitcoin serves as a guide for individuals seeking personal growth and a higher purpose during this period of change and adversity. We cannot acquire these values with fiat, gold, or bitcoin; we must cultivate them with patience and practice them on a daily basis. This is the ultimate form of lowering time preference: considering our legacy and future generations.

The War of All Ages

It is important to recognize that we are at war. This war is not new; I call it the war of all ages, and it is a war between slavery and freedom. Our ancestors have been fighting this war for millennia, and it is thanks to the warriors of the past that we are here now, enjoying our freedoms and all the things of modern life. 

This eternal war is interdimensional: it is a spiritual, intellectual, and physical war. To win, or at least have a worthy battle, we must start from the spiritual realm, the source of all. Only by becoming strong spirits and expanding consciousness can we win on the mental and physical plane. 

However, if we confine ourselves to the physical realm and attempt to combat and shape ourselves from there, we are unlikely to attain any significant outcomes. The war starts from within (against ourselves), and this book is here to help us understand exactly that. 

How you act physically shows your intellectual and spiritual state. The physical is the result of the metaphysical, and only by understanding this can we understand the immorality, the criminality, the ugliness, and the failure of the present system. These are the harmful fruits of a poisonous tree.

Aspects of the war & the virtues we must embody to win

It's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.

The Bushido of Bitcoin virtues are justice/righteousness, courage, compassion/love, honor, honesty/integrity, responsibility, excellence, respect, duty/loyalty, and restraint/self-control.

These are the qualities associated with leadership and responsibility. It takes active cultivation and practice to develop this set of virtues, but they are the key to achieve success in whatever we want to.  (...) In the materialistic world we are living in, these virtues are scarce, and as we know scarcity for something desirable makes it more valuable. Especially honor, responsibility and excellence virtues that are very difficult to find in the marketplace. 

> We transcend childhood by taking responsibility. (...)* The price of freedom, or more specifically autonomy, is responsibility. 

All these virtues are necessary to become real men and give a worthy fight during this war we call life, because the war starts with our biggest enemy: ourselves.  

### \ A war against ourselves

-Individuals = micro

The fiat system aims to crush our spirit and steal our soul. In order to win, we need to become the best version of ourselves. We need to improve in the fiscal, emotional, spiritual, and psychological aspects. How we all live and behave reflects our values back into society. Our behavior shapes who we become.

The Samurai believed in doing, not saying. Action and behavior demonstrated their faith, knowledge, and values more than words ever could. 

The miracle of being alive means that we had 4096 ancestors during the last 10 generations before us. That implies that there were 2048 couples of men and women who overcame hardship, built civilization, learned, taught, fought, reproduced, and died. They went through all of this, and who knows what else had to happen for us to be here and now. 

This is a sign of gratitude to be alive and an awakening of a desire to honor our ancestors and our descendants. We have in our blood a strand of DNA that contains unique information from all of them. If we fail to follow the lineage of our ancestors, we are essentially discarding centuries of biological, intellectual, and economic wealth.

THIS IS WHY BUILDING A STRONG FAMILY IS OUR PRIMARY DUTY.

True mastery lies in the real beyond comfort, and requires you transcend technology, by becoming the protagonist of the story. (...) You are either the producer or the product. You are either the master of your domain, or you are a slave to circumstance. You either establish your own territory, or you are a guest (or a captive) of somebody else (…) Territory is not only physical, it is also metaphysical; it includes the body, the mind and the spirit.** 

In order to be a protagonist, you need to be honest with yourself; you need to take responsibility and stop outsourcing the result to politicians, priests, or experts. We possess the power, and we must reclaim it as we relinquished it voluntarily. If we outsource the responsibility, we are victims or slaves. Victims and slaves are weak; they are domesticated humans. 

Victims are not free; they are slaves of their fears, beliefs, and circumstances. Being free is about taking responsibility, making everything you can shape your fault, and placing yourself at the cause and not at the effect. It's not what happens to you but what you do with it that matters.

Without self-control, you are a slave; you are at the behest or control of something else—be it the circumstances, impulses, or another person. It’s not virtuous to be a slave, to live dependent, or to impose ideas on others that you do not live by.

> If courage is the peak virtue of a warrior, then self-control is the peak virtue of the leader.*

Lying is a sign of weakness, dishonor, and shame. And this starts with the lies we tell ourselves, before we lie to others. In order to be free we have to recognize we are slaves sometimes in some ways, and it has always been like this. 

As the battle for the soul of humanity rages on, Bitcoiners, being the most likely group to ascend economically speaking, have a duty to become better people, and men in particular must lead. 

Given the current leadership crisis, it is imperative that we develop into strong leaders as soon as possible. If we don't, then who will? And in order to do this, we must lead by example, especially by resisting impulses that might lead to harmful or destructive behaviors.

Becoming stronger, wiser, and richer is not an option; it is our duty. If we are soft of the body, we are also soft of the mind and spirit. 

Whether the goal is strength, endurance, courage, or self-control, instead of trying to minimize pain all the time, we might seek instead to gradually increase how much pain we can bear. The goal being not an escape from pain, but a transcendence or integration of it. 

Also being mindful of your relationships and time with others is your greatest asset.

The ability to say no is a superpower. Slaves must say ‘yes’ to everything, but the master and the sovereign individual is he who can say no.**

You are in charge of your own destiny. 

### \ Culture war

-Sum of the individuals = macro

The materialistic view of humanity is what brought us here: Marxist, Keynesian, collectivist, mob rule democracies, and every ideology and system that ignores the universal truths. Such systems are bound to collapse from their inception. The immorality of the monetary system, which supported the information war against us through lies, indoctrination, and false mental models that most people operate under, is the direct cause of these systems' failure.

Dystopian societies are built on micromanagement, interruption, interference, and surveillance. They are built on the idea that the human beings who make them up are numbers on a spreadsheet that can be mathematically manipulated as though they’re all equal.

History has repeatedly demonstrated the failure of this ideology and its system. The only thing keeping it alive is the infinite debt system. However, the cycle is nearing its conclusion, and the fiat system has reached its peak; there's no turning back.

Argentina has become aware of this phenomenon and has expressed its desire for freedom and a reduction in state intervention. They have come to understand that socialism is the root of all evils, a realization that began with their central bank. Even the former president recognized this fact and communicated it to the people, educating them about Austrian economics. This is a sign of the changing times we are going through. 

Not only do we believe fairy tales about world affairs in this culture war, but we also learn toy versions of economics, law, and politics. Not only do they teach us to despise our history, our ancestors, and those "backward systems," but they also instill a hatred for our past.

People tell us that the founding fathers of our republic were racists and tyrants, that the Bible and the constitutions were merely a creation of primitive minds, and that its significance has diminished in modern times. This is all part of a plan to create chaos and weaken the foundations of our society so they can gain control. 

To be truly honorable and worthy of remembrance is to have respect for yourself, for others, for tradition, for authority, and even for your enemy.

If we use our common sense and judge by their fruits, paying attention to the architecture, the arts, the literature, and the culture of the time, it's easy to see that they were achieving better results than those we are experiencing today. So we should ask the question: Why? 

Of course, weak money has a significant influence on our time preference, but it's not the only factor. The root cause lies in the virtues; it is evident that the religions, cultures, and governments of the past performed their function more effectively than we do today because they were somehow more truthful and virtuous in their intentions. 

We are transitioning, but we are still living in a culture that incentivizes weakness and immorality while disincentivizing strength and character. Cheap dopamine and excessive comfort are depleting our energy and purpose, contributing to the high rates of depression and suicide.

It’s our responsibility to start changing this. We are going through a death spiral that is destroying families, the fundamental core of our humanity, with debt, inflation, and taxes. The ideologies, distractions, and challenges of the modern world are leading us in a completely opposite direction to the one our ancestors followed, and it is not difficult to see that that direction is the abyss.

Family is the most important unit and is precisely what’s been attacked by the globalist, communist, slave, and ghoul classes of the world because it is an institution of saving and compounding, not only for material wealth, but for biological, intellectual, and spiritual wealth.** 

The power structures are actively pursuing this goal through various means. The power structures are not only extracting our economic wealth through fiat money, which is in danger of collapsing, but they are also taking our spiritual and biological wealth. This is the real three-dimensional war I talk about. 

Instead of needing to rebuild again from scratch, the new generation of strong men can make the necessary repairs and build onwards to new heights. (...) allow humanity to better converse and compound its progress. This is the key to real civilizational progress. 

The status quo has reached this level of madness and tyranny because people do not want to see, hear, and speak the truth. Lying is a sign of weakness, dishonor, and shame; these are common aspects of today's democratic systems and fiat institutions, which act as magnets for dishonest people and parasites.

As G. Michael Hopf said: 'Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.

We are going through hard times created by weak men that were corrupted by power, not because power is evil.

It’s very easy to see people selling their soul for material possessions, and this is a clear sign of weakness and a lack of self-respect. (...) Slaves and parasites sell their souls, their dignity, and their honor for money. The point of being sovereign is that you do not.

“For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Jesus Christ 

Now we are transitioning, strong men are rising to create good times again.

These are the acts of a hero: to tell the truth in a world of lies. To inspire others to do the same.

But saying the truth is not enough, we need to take action, create, expand and protect.

Economic war

Thanks, Satoshi, for Bitcoin!

Empires and nations crumble along with their currencies and trade. Financial education is crucial to navigate this process and emerge stronger, rather than weaker.

Money is power, and you must learn how to channel it (...) We must master money like we master the sword or the pen (...) You have to both adopt the virtues laid out in this book and master the economic game. Money is power, and power is necessary—not evil. Power is just your capacity to channel energy, and money is fundamentally just that: energy.

By becoming better, smarter, and more affluent, we will beat them at their own game. (...) To ultimately wrest control from the parasites, we need a new class of leader: warrior-merchant-philosopher-king.**

Not all value can be measured in money, and this is critical for maintaining a relationship to the ‘moral’ or sacred dimension of the universe. While material wealth is important, spiritual wealth remains something no amount of money can buy. 

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! Proverbs 16:16**

Satoshi solved one of the biggest problems in human history: an unjust monetary system. Specifically, the debt-based fractional reserve system that the moneychangers created to steal from producers.

Broken money breaks everything else downstream. It destroys the individual, the family, and the community, and in time, it destroys the state itself, unless they have full, digital, panopticon control over it—which is why they want CBDCs so badly. They will distract you with fairy tales about AI, racism, and climate change, while the real threat is coming to a bank account near you.

This system and its traps are as old as civilization itself, from the times of Jesus Christ to Napoleon to the present. The immorality and criminality of this system have significantly impacted various aspects of our civilization and culture, including the economic situation, education, communication, and the food and health industries, to name a few.

We need to understand and respect the stage of the cycle we are in, recognize it, and adapt. 

> Bitcoin makes this whole game of monetary inflation and hidden theft much harder to play. In fact, it’s impossible to issue new bitcoin, so if you adopt it, you’re on that standard, and if you do not, in time the money you are using will trend to worthless against Bitcoin. We either choose to adapt to its reality or pay the price of not doing so.We need to understand and respect the stage of the cycle we are in, recognize it, and adapt.*

Bitcoin makes this whole game of monetary inflation and hidden theft much harder to play. In fact, it’s impossible to issue new bitcoin, so if you adopt it, you’re on that standard, and if you do not, in time the money you are using will trend to worthless against Bitcoin. We either choose to adapt to its reality or pay the price of not doing so.

For the first time we have a culture of savers, known as hodlers” (...) “Bitcoin made savings great again (...) Saving is the cornerstone for a functional, stable, and sovereign life and civilization. 

Humankind will forever remember October 31, 2008, as the turning point in its timeline. Since that moment, we have gained access to a set of rules devoid of rulers, enabling us to retain and store all the fruits of our labor in a parallel energy based hard money system. This allows us to enjoy the benefits of natural deflation, which artificial inflation had been stealing from us for decades.

Satoshi fixed the money, the foundation of our society, the backbone of commerce, and the most significant language of humanity, enabling global communication and value exchange without any barriers. He also provided us with a tool to break free from financial slavery.

For the first time in history, we can safeguard our private property in a pure metaphysical manner, shielding it from physical threats and violent theft. This completely changes the dynamic of power and incentives. 

If you have any interest in the importance of family, children, or legacy, then saving independent, incorruptible money (i.e., Bitcoin) must be the central part of your economic focus. Wake up and stop supporting the enemy. Stop feeding the parasite. Have some self-respect and store your wealth in Bitcoin.

Governance war

Globalism vs National Sovereignty

Globalism contradicts national sovereignty by allowing a supranational entity to make decisions for the "greater good of the earth." This may seem absurd, but it's precisely what they're attempting to achieve.

Globalism (hidden communism / collectivism) is a failure. Every nation and culture has its unique ways; we are not equal, it is impossible to lump them all together and attempt to control them at the same time under the same ways. This is what institutions like the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the IMF want. Instead, they should not do it because they lack authority and nobody asked them to, and because it's practically impossible.

Lying is a sign of weakness, dishonor, and shame; common aspects of nowadays democratic systems and fiat institutions that act like magnets for dishonest people and parasites.

Feudalism was not all tyranny and oppression.” (...) “This gross misunderstanding of feudalism is somewhat expected considering what happened during the French Revolution.” (...) “It was only after the fall of feudalism that we opened the door to true despotism and large-scale democracy worldwide. Democracy and mob rule lead to the fall of nations, peoples, and empires. Money printing comes after and helps it along.

The only thing they can do, and they have been doing, is destabilizing the nations, incentivizing mass migrations, and creating economic chaos just to justify their interference (going a)and “help.” All of this is aimed at creating justifications for increasing the deficit and printing more money for their own agendas.

They envision a society of mindless automatons, or NPCs, controlled by algorithms, akin to numbers in a computer. They have already been enslaving the nations and succeeded in many aspects. This was only made possible by their ability to control the nations through their access to credit and their conditions.

The parasites and hyenas have become overly confident and arrogant, thinking they can nip at our heels, torment our families, and tear down everything beautiful around us, as if we won’t notice. They have confused tolerance and slumber for weakness.

But Bitcoin can change this dynamic forever. If nations want to protect their sovereignty, they have to grow their hashrate capacity and bitcoin reserves. Additionally, it is crucial for their citizens to increase their production, savings, and investments in bitcoin. The first step to killing a parasite is to stop feeding it, so we need to stop using their system whenever possible and adopt alternative and parallel options. Prioritizing local producers and consumer-focused products over solely profit-seeking businesses is crucial.

Good governance comes from good leadership. By inspiring people and pulling them along, you create more leaders who each have more autonomy. Ruling by fear and punishment is ineffective in the long run (...)

> Now we are coming awake and getting angry—which is precisely what the bureaucratic class is most afraid of.*

Be The Change (BTC)

You want to see in the world

It is time to stand up for what’s right. We are at war—a war against our freedom. 1776 or 1984 is our choice, and we vote with our behavior; whether conscious or unconscious, we are participating in the outcome.

Bitcoin comes with a duty and loyalty to your future self, your family, your community or tribe, and, for a select few, a duty to the world (...) This is the ultimate lowering of one’s time preference and perhaps the most fundamental utility of a sound money like Bitcoin (...) To be a bitcoiner comes with the duty to be an honorable person, because having freedom comes with the responsibility to do something with it.

Courage is not the absence of fear but the quality of mind and spirit that enables one to meet danger in spite of it. It’s faith in action—the virtue to face danger or death in order to defend what’s right. Courage is doing what's right, despite the consequences.

Fear is the number one enemy, killer of initiative, abundance, and a fulfilling life. The Bible writes "Fear not" 365 times. The number one fear is the fear of death. Once you conquer this fear, you'll overcome most others, and nothing can stop you.

A phrase I love is: Let your fear of regret be stronger than your fear of failure. So embrace courage and live the life you want to. 

We need to get stronger, more conscious, wiser, and more powerful. Elevate ourselves and surround ourselves with like-valued individuals. 

Build an alliance of men to protect your women, your families, and your tribe. Use this alliance to strengthen each other and hold each other accountable. Develop rites of passage together. 

> The pace of change is faster than it has ever been.* 

We have the power, and we need to demonstrate this, leading by example and inspiring others to take action.

We are the only legitimate teachers and role models for our children, and they are likewise the only legitimate role models for their—not the government, Hollywood, Netflix, social media, their ‘peers, and certainly not some disembodied virtue-signaling global organization that thinks it knows best.

We are empowered to shape history. Following these virtues, seeking truth and taking action is the way. With tools like Bitcoin and Nostr, freeing money and data sharing from centralized control, we can break the chains forever, to build a more just and free world.

Build family, create deep relations with like-valued people, and leave a legacy for the coming ones. (...) Find a mission, a family, a tribe, or virtues worth dying for. 

This is our time. A new energy is rising.

I want to thank you, Aleksandar Svetski, for this masterpiece and encourage you to continue sharing your wisdom with others.

Bitcoin and Nostr, or slavery!

@ 58edc6ae:e070cfa5

MiCA Regulation and the new AML Regulation have recently come into force, raising several concerns about how the EU is approaching non-custodial payment solutions. These include:

1. Conflicts with privacy standards and human rights norms

The rules permit excessive collection and sharing of information on private transactions without adequate safeguards, conflicting with EU privacy standards and international human rights principles, as emphasised in rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

1. Blocking innovation

The regulations conflict with privacy-focused technologies, potentially stifling new ideas and platforms in the EU. This could weaken the EU’s position as a leader in digital finance.

1. Hurting competition

Compliance with these regulations increases operating costs for EU-based CASPs, placing them at a disadvantage compared to non-EU companies operating under less restrictive rules. This may push users toward unregulated services outside Europe, undermining the regulations' purpose.

1. Excluding vulnerable groups

The regulations could make it harder for people in poorer or politically unstable countries to access secure and private financial tools, leaving them without viable financial options.

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These issues are explored in detail in the report prepared by nostr:npub15ka0zlfeys4vphnl6dk4x63e7sra0mp3wmrp4ml7q993z8km0n6spjxua8 and me for Open Dialogue Foundation upon the request of nostr:npub13ajk3hhvqys2ev4y68jwxywgs8fsdsuk4y5gkzs874jdyrccvf5qak2yd9 .

It is crucial to reopen the discussion on these issues and urge European lawmakers to reconsider their approach. The EU needs a regulatory framework that strikes a balance between security and privacy, fosters innovation, and rebuilds Europe’s weakened position in the global digital economy.

MiCA #AML

@ f4d89779:2b522db9

In the game of Ultimate Frisbee, there is a beloved phrase that captures one of the best aspects of playing. Ultimate is about decision making. It is played on a rectangular field with seven players on each side. Much like football, the object of the game is to score with a throw into the end zone.

To "HUCK", means to launch the disc down field in the hopes of scoring. You can probably guess what the "OR YOU'RE NOTHING" means but the spirit of it is that when the opportunity comes ...

PUT THE DISC IN THE AIR

https://i.nostr.build/XyTpXdNOSpv5f8ZZ.jpg

Sorry, I had to channel my inner ODELL there for a second. These are all caps kind of moments. Time feels like it stops, the disc floats in the air, the receiver and defender are sprinting all out, you can hear the collective breath of anticipation from the audience and then you score. If you're good that is.

You know what? You and I are civilized people, we use the NOSTR, so I won't limit myself to just words. Here are some of those moments:

https://v.nostr.build/zav5o04BK97FiNAt.mp4

During the course of play, teams get into a formation with a couple of the players doing the majority of the disc throwing. These players are called handlers. They handle the disc, they have the responsibility of moving the disc downfield, and handle most of the decision making.

A good handler develops a sort of instinct for each of their receivers, can guess the capabilities of each defender, and knows himself well enough to know if he has the throw. They know who is good and reliable at short cuts. They know who has the top end speed to throw a long floating pass into the end zone. With each play they are judging all of the moving objects on the field and deciding on real time risk of each throw and where things will lead.

Mistakes lead to turnovers and turnovers, like in many other sports, are death.

Hopefully, you start to see how ultimate relates to life and Bitcoin. Life is a field and you have defenders and you have receivers. It is your disc and the decisions you make have a huge impact on whether you win or lose.

Knowingly or not, you saw Bitcoin as a potential receiver and Governments, academics, shitcoiners, as defenders. In some ways those around you were also defenders. They whispered, or maybe still whisper the risk and probability of failure in your ear. Their fear weighed against what you know.

With the btc/usd exchange rate at $94k, and companies fighting over the best ways to get sats I think we can say that you did not get lucky. They called you crazy, they said that throw won't work, they said your receiver sucked but you knew better.

You saw that receiver leaving every defender in the dust and you HUCKED it and you are certainly not NOTHING.

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

I didn’t have much at stake this weekend, only my home picking pool — I finished second this week, so no $70 payout — and not becoming a buyer in the Steak League. Jonnu Smith did just enough in the late games to keep me in fifth place out of eight, which is self-buyer status, perfect if I don’t make it back to LA this summer. The reason you want to be the self-buyer if you don’t show for the dinner is you neither have to pay, nor do you let one of the NLMs who should have had to foot your tab off the hook! If I go to LA, I’ll be happy to pay for my own steak.

I also went 4-1 ATS in Circa to finish at 48-41-1, not nearly good enough to cash, but at least respectable.

• I laid the 18 with the Ravens, and it was easy. DTR is the worst QB of all time, and Bailey Zappe is maybe the 60th best in the league. Rashod Bateman came through big time for me in Steak and will be important if Zay Flowers isn’t ready for the playoffs.

• I would give Lamar Jackson the MVP — his numbers are off the charts (8.8 YPA, 41:4 TD/INT, 915 rushing yards, 6.6 YPC) — and the Ravens are still the No. 3 seed. He led the league in YPA and YPC! But it’s Josh Allen’s “turn”, and his teammates weren’t as good, so he’ll probably win.

• Derrick Henry led all RBs with 5.9 YPC on 325 carries including short yardage. He just turned 31 the other day too.

• It’s too bad the Bengals missed the playoffs. A bad call Week 1 against the Pats cost them that game (and my Survivor entry.)

• Ja’Marr Chase had a fantasy season for the ages — not just a triple crown, but one where he had a 12-175-4 lead over the second best performers in every category (ARSB, Justin Jefferson and Terry McLaurin, respectively.)

• The Steelers have zero upside, even if they are ever-so-slightly dangerous to their division rival in Round 1.

• The Bucs really struggled with a garbage Saints team. I didn’t think they’d have to force-feed Mike Evans the record and his bonus at the minute risk of nuking their season, but they did.

• The Eagles backups were better than the Giants starters, who knew? Malik Nabers had 109 catches in 15 games with garbage QB play. He’s a first-rounder next year.

• The Giants get the No. 3 pick which is great because they might avoid the QB minefield and get Travis Hunter.

• Someone made a good point about Saquon Barkley potentially getting the rushing record in 17 games — he’d still have done it in fewer carries than Eric Dickerson. Moot point, obviously.

• Think the Broncos have a puncher’s chance against the Bills.

• Jonathan Taylor sure had some big games after his fantasy owners were eliminated from the playoffs. He’ll go in the second round again next year.

• Josh Downs has 100-catch upside if he stays healthy and the Colts get passable QB play. Not sure what they’ll do with Anthony Richardson though — maybe going down the Trey Lance career path.

• Brian Thomas is going early to mid-second round next year, and I’ll be in.

• Circa Survivor had some insane sweats with the Packers and Falcons. Ten people out of 18 went down on those two games. The Packers one was especially bad as the Bears had it locked up, fumbled, got the Packers a miracle reprieve, only to win the game on their own last-second 50-plus FG.

• I guess the Packers went all-out because they really didn’t want to have to play in Philly next week, but now Jordan Love is banged up, Christian Watson tore his ACL and they’re going to Philly anyway.

• Bryce Young made one of the biggest comebacks I’ve ever seen. To be as bad as he was his rookie year, then so bad his second year he lost his job to Andy Dalton, only to finish this strong is amazing. The Panthers probably would still prefer C.J. Stroud, but it’s much less egregious than it was.

• Bijan Robinson had one of the quietest monster RB years I can remember. He was a quasi-bust at cost early on but finished with 61 catches, 15 TDs and 1,887 YFS.

• I didn’t see much of 12-inch, but the Falcons put up 38 points, and Drake London went off. London will go late first-early second again next year.

• Of course Kyler Murray has his monster game when it doesn’t matter. Actually, I was going against him in Steak, and the guy behind me (Josh Ross) nearly caught me for self-buyer, so it almost mattered.

• I nearly cost myself steak by starting Aaron Rodgers over Joe Flacco last week, and this week I started Flacco. Lineup setting is the worst part of fantasy football — you will be wrong at least 40 percent of the time when it’s close. I think the Dolphins were No. 1 in stinginess against opposing fantasy QBs too.

• I’m happy Rodgers likely finished his career with a good game and a win. People can ding him for his personality, but the signal is he stood up to unimaginable vitriol and hate and did the right thing for his health. He makes for a 10x better role model than the “class-acts” who complied.

• Jonnu Smith was such a beast for me in the second half of the year. He’s got to be a top-five TE on next year’s boards as he always showed flashes of this, and Tyreek Hill isn’t getting any younger.

• The Rams host the Vikings instead of the Killer Redskins as a result of their loss. That sounds bad, but given how poorly Sam Darnold played in the biggest game of the year and how the teams have suffered the subsequent week after playing the physical Lions, it might work out in their favor. The Rams are a sleeper in the NFC.

• I thought the Chargers might rest people, but I was wrong. I guess playing the Texans rather than the Ravens is kind of a big deal. I was also going against Quentin Johnston in Steak, which only worked out for me because it’s half PPR, and he didn’t score.

• Brock Bowers broke Malik Nabers’ briefly held rookie catch record. I probably wouldn’t take Bowers in Round 1, but there’s a case for it.

• I had Wil Lutz in Steak, and I was pleading for the Broncos not to keep scoring TDs. Usually in blowouts, you get lots of FGs in the second half.

• Bo Nix, Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims are entertaining in Sean Payton’s offense. They’ll probably get crushed by the Bills, but if you’re Buffalo you’d rather draw the Texans or Steelers than a young team with this kind of energy.

• Another reason I’m not buying in Steak is Ross started based Harrison Butker who missed his only kick and got a zero.

• Remember all those midwits who said you always draft a QB early, and running backs don’t matter? The Lions took a washed up, unwanted Jared Goff, surrounded him with a first-round offensive tackle and running back and decisively secured the No. 1 seed depsite losing half their defense.

• So much for Sam Darnold as a dark horse MVP. He couldn’t deal with the Lions pressure and didn’t see the field well. What a change in trajectory from last week. If the Rams knock out the Vikings, and Darnold plays poorly, who knows whether the Vikings will commit to him?

• Gibbs is such a beast. He took a nasty hit early in that game too.

• The Lions deserved the top seed. They were the best team in the NFL all year, lost a ton of defensive players to injury, but seem to be coming together again at the right time.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

China

I might be wrong, but this is how I see it

This is a post within a series I am going to call "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it"

I have repeatedly found that my understanding of China is quite different from that of many libertarian-minded Americans. And so I make this post to explain how I see it. Maybe you will learn something. Maybe I will learn something.

It seems to me that many American's see America as a shining beacon of freedom with a few small problems, and China is an evil communist country spreading communism everywhere. From my perspective, America was a shining beacon of freedom that has fallen to being typical in most ways, and which is now acting as a falling empire, and China was communist for about a decade, but turned and ran away from that as fast as they could (while not admitting it) and the result is that the US and China are not much different anymore when it comes to free markets. Except they are very different in some other respects.

China has a big problem

China has a big problem. But it is not the communism problem that most Westerners diagnose.

I argue that China is no longer communist, it is only communist in name. And that while it is not a beacon of free market principles, it is nearly as free market now as Western nations like Germany and New Zealand are (being somewhat socialist themselves).

No, China's real problem is authoritarian one-party rule. And that core problem causes all of the other problems, including its human rights abuses.

Communism and Socialism

Communism and Socialism are bad ideas. I don't want to argue it right here, but most readers will already understand this. The last thing I intend to do with this post is to bolster or defend those bad ideas. If you dear reader hold a candle for socialism, let me know and I can help you extinguish it with a future "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it" installment.

Communism is the idea of structuring a society around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the idea of allocating goods and services based on need. It eliminates the concept of private property, of social classes, ultimately of money and finally of the state itself.

Back under Mao in 1958-1962 (The Great Leap Forward), China tried this (in part). Some 50+ million people died. It was an abject failure.

But due to China's real problem (authoritarianism, even worship of their leaders), the leading classes never admitted this. And even today they continue to use the word "Communist" for things that aren't communist at all, as a way to save face, and also in opposition to the United States of America and Europe.

Authorities are not eager to admit their faults. But this is not just a Chinese fault, it is a fault in human nature that affects all countries. The USA still refuses to admit they assassinated their own president JFK. They do not admit they bombed the Nord Stream pipeline.

China defines "socialism with Chinese characteristics" to mean "the leadership of the Communist Party of China". So they still keep the words socialism and communism, but they long ago dropped the meanings of those words. I'm not sure if this is a political ploy against us in the West or not.

China's Marketplace Today

Today China exhibits very few of the properties of communism.

They have some common ownership and state enterprises, but not much differently than Western countries (New Zealand owns Air New Zealand and Kiwibank and Kiwirail, etc). And there are private enterprises all over China. They compete and some succeed and some fail. You might hear about a real-estate bank collapsing. China has private property. They have mostly free markets. They have money, and the most definitely have social classes and a very strong state.

None of that is inline with what communist thinkers want. Communist thinkers in China moan that China has turned away from communism.

Deng Xiaoping who succeeded Mao and attempted to correct the massive mistake, did much when he said "to get rich is glorious."

China achieved staggering rates of economic growth. 10% annually on average since 1977. Chinese economic reform started in 1979 and has continued through successive administrations (Deng, Jiang, Hu and now Xi).

China is now the world's largest economy (by GDP in PPP terms) since 2016.

I was first made aware of China's economic growth by Jim Rogers, an American commodities expert who travelled through China (and the rest of the world from 1990-1992) and in 2007 moved to Singapore where he ensured his daughters learned to speak Mandarin, because Jim knew where the economic growth was going to happen. Jim always spoke positively of China's economic prospects, and his view was so different from the "China is a nasty communist place" view that I had grown up with that my mind opened.

How can anybody believe they are still a communist country? In what world does it make sense that communism can produce such a massively booming economy? It doesn't make sense because it is simply wrong.

What does happen is that the CPC interferes. It lets the market do what markets do, but it interferes where it thinks oversight and regulation would produce a better result.

Western nations interfere with their markets too. They have oversight and regulation. In fact some of China's planned reforms had to be put on hold by Xi due to Donald Trump's trade war with China. That's right, they were trying to be even more free market than America, but America's protectionism prodded Xi to keep control so he could fight back efficiently.

Government oversight and regulation IMHO is mostly bad because it gets out of control, and there are no market forces to correct this. This gets even more extreme in a one-party system, so I can judge that China's oversight and regulation problems are very likely worse than those in Western nations (but I have no first hand experience or evidence).

Why do you keep saying CPC?

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the ruling party in China. That is their official name. To call them the CCP is to concede to the idea that the British and Americans get to name everybody. I'm not sure who is right, since CPC or CCP is their "English" name (in Chinese it is 中国共产党 and Westernized it is Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng). Nonetheless, I'll call them CPC because that is their wish.

Social Credit System

China moved from a planned economy to a market economy in stages. They didn't want any more sudden changes (can you blame them?). In the process, many institutions that have existed in the West for a long time didn't exist in China and they had to arise somehow. IMHO market forces would have brought these about in the private sector, but the one-party CP of China instead decided to create these.

One of those institutions was a credit score system. In the West we have TransUnion and Equifax that maintain credit ratings on people, and we have S&P, Moody's and Fitch that maintain credit ratings on companies. The domain of these ratings is their financial credit-worthiness.

So the People's Bank of China developed a credit information database for it's own needs. The government picked up on the idea and started moving towards a National Credit Management System. In 2004 it became an official goal to establish a credit system compatible with a modern market system. By 2006 banks were required to report on consumer creditworthiness.

But unchecked one-party governmental power will often take a good idea (credit worthiness data shared among private parties) and systematize it and apply it top-down, creating a solution and a new problem at the same time.

Nonetheless, originally it was about credit worthiness and also criminal convictions. That is no big scary thing that some right-wing American commentators will lead you to believe. In the US for example criminal records are public, so China's Social Credit System started out being no more over-reaching in scope than what Americans have lived under their entire lives, its only fault (a severe one) being centrally planned. And that remained the case up until about 2016 (in my estimation).

But of course there is always scope creep. As it exists today, I have reason to believe that CPC officials and even A.I. use judgement calls to score someone on how moral that person has been! Of course that is not a good idea, and IMHO the problem stems from one-party rule, and authoritarian administration of ideas that should instead be handled by the private sector.

Environmental, Social, and Governance

ESG is a system that came out of a couple basic ideas. The first is that many two-party transactions actually have externalities. They don't just affect the two parties, they also affect everybody else. When you fly in an airplane, you increase the CO2 in the atmosphere that everybody has to pay for (eventually). You may dispute that example, but that is no doubt one of the motivations of ESG.

But of course the recognition of this basic issue didn't lead all people towards market solutions (well it did, but those have been mostly messed up by others), but instead led many people towards ESG, which is a social credit scoring system which applies scores based on environmental and social side-effects of market transactions.

This is not at all the same as China's social credit system, which I described above. I hope you can see the difference.

In fact, China imported ESG from the West. Chinese companies, of their free will, in an attempt to court Western capital, achieve ESG goals for those Western investors. They have been playing this ESG game for 20 years just like the entire world has, because the West has imposed this faux-morality upon them. It isn't something China exported to us, it is something we exported to them.

I think China has avoided Woke-ism

My understanding of Chinese people, based on what I've heard many Chinese people say, is that China isn't affected by the Western woke-ism epidemic. They deride Western white woke people with the term "Baizuo". They have never sent an incompetent break dancer to the Olympics because of wok-ism. Competence is highly respected as is the competition to be the most competent, which (when augmented by a one-child policy which is no longer) has produced child prodigies like no other country has.

What about predatory loans of the Belt and Road initiative?

Predatory is an odd name for loans to people in need. The World Bank makes loans to people in need. China does too. China stands in opposition to Western Empire, and in that regard they produce their own alternative BRICS institutions. This is one of them.

There is AFAIK nothing more predatory about them. It is just that in some cases the borrowers have trouble paying them back and they get foreclosed upon. I don't think this is worthy of much discussion, except that the term "predatory" seems to me to be a propaganda device.

What about foreign influence from China?

China wants to influence the world, especially its own trading partners and potential trading partners. Doing that above board is fine by me.

But some of it is undoubtedly covert. Sometimes Chinese-born people run for public office in Western countries. In New Zealand we stood down some when it became clear they were being influenced too much by the CPC while being charged with representing their local town (dual loyalty issues). If only the USA would do the same thing to their dually-loyal politicians.

And all large nations run influence operations. The USA has the CIA, for example, and claims this "soft power" is actually the better alternative to what would otherwise be military intervention (but IMHO shouldn't be either). I'm not defending such operations (I despise them), I'm just explaining how China's position of exerting influence is not only no big deal and totally expected, it pales in comparison to the United States' influence operations which often become military excursions (something China rarely ever does).

What about the Great Firewall?

Yeah, that sucks. Again, single-party authoritarian control gone to extremes.

What about Human Rights Abuses? What about the Uyghur Genocide?

I don't like them. To the extent they are occurring (and I lean towards the belief that they are occurring), I condemn them.

China has anti-terrorism and anti-extremism policies that go too far. They end up oppressing and/or criminalizing cultures that aren't Chinese enough. But especially, China punishes dissent. Disagreement with the CPC is the high crime. It is the one-party rule that causes this problem. Anybody who speaks out against the CPC or goes against the state in any way is harshly punished. This happens to Uyghurs, to Falun Gong, to Tibetans, and to any religion that is seen as subversive.

Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR have documented issues around the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, Tibet, LGBT rights, death penalty, workers rights, and the Hong Kong special administrative region. I am not about to pretend I know better than they do, but to some extent they go too far.

Amnesty International says this about the USA: Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people were widespread and anti-LGBTI legislation increased. Bills were introduced to address reparations regarding slavery and its legacies. Multiple states implemented total bans on abortion or severely limited access to it. Gender-based violence disproportionately affected Indigenous women. Access to the USA for asylum seekers and migrants was still fraught with obstacles, but some nationalities continued to enjoy Temporary Protected Status. Moves were made to restrict the freedom to protest in a number of states. Black people were disproportionately affected by the use of lethal force by police. No progress was made in the abolition of the death penalty, apart from in Washington. Arbitrary and indefinite detention in the US naval base Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, continued. Despite extensive gun violence, no further firearm reform policies were considered, but President Biden did announce the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The USA continued to use lethal force in countries around the world. Black people, other racialized groups and low-income people bore the brunt of the health impacts of the petrochemical industry, and the use of fossil fuels continued unabated.

Amnesty international didn't even point out that the US government quashes free speech via pressure on social media corporations (because Amnesty International is far too lefty).

So who is worse, China or the US? I'm not going to make that judgement call, but suffice it to say that in my mind, China is not obviously worse.

China violates freedom of expression, association, and assembly of all people. This is bad, and a consequence mainly of one-party rule (again, what I think is the root cause of most of their ills). They arrest, detain, potentially kill anybody who publicly disagrees openly with their government. Clearly this is an excess of authoritarianism, a cancer that is very advanced in China.

As to organ harvesting of Uyghur Muslims, I think this is a myth.

China has dealt harshly with Muslim extremism. They don't offer freedom of religion to ISIS. And Amnesty International complains about that. But practically speaking you probably shouldn't respect the extremist religion of people who want to force everybody into a global caliphate through threat of violence. As you are well aware, some extremist Muslims (<1% of Islam) believe in using violence to bring about a global caliphate. Those extremists pop up in every country and are usually dealt with harshly. China has had to deal with them too.

I have watched two different Western YouTubers travel to Xinjiang province trying to find the oppressed Uyghurs and interview them. They can't find them. What they find instead are Uyghur Muslims doing their prayers five times a day at the local mosque. And also stories that the CPC pitched in some money to help them renovate the mosque. Maybe they were afraid it was a CPC trap and so they wouldn't speak freely. Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR say more than a million are "arbitrarily detained" and I'm not going to argue otherwise. But I'd be more convinced if there were a stream of pictures and news like there is out of Gaza, and it is suspicious that there isn't.

Conclusion

China is more like a Western nation that Westerners realize. Economically, militarily, socially. It still has a very serious obstacle to overcome: one-party rule. I don't think the one-party is going to voluntarily give up power. So most probably at some point in the future there will be a revolution. But in my opinion it won't happen anytime soon. For the most part Chinese people are living high on the hog, getting rich, enjoying the good life, in positive spirits about life, and are getting along with their government quite well at present.

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

In this edition, We were honored to have Martin npub19vtlpmfzz8yl4g9r7c8u8t2vaqjhjgpjrc36hc2typxnutpnluzs3tx8xe， the founder of Bitcoin Nairobi, share his journey in creating the Bitcoin community, his goals, and some of the challenges faced. He emphasized the importance of education and innovation in promoting Bitcoin adoption in Kenya.

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YakiHonne: Martin, it’s truly an honor and a pleasure to have you with us today. We’re looking forward to a fruitful conversation as we move forward. Before we dive in, I’d like to take a moment to share some background on what YakiHonne is. YakiHonne is a decentralized media client built on the Nostr protocol that enables freedom of speech through technology. It empowers creators to create their own voice, assets, and features. It also allows features like smart widgets, verified notes, and focuses on long-form articles. today. we'll be exploring more about your community. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Martin：I’m Martin Mutonga, the founder of Bitcoin Nairobi. I’m 21 years old and currently studying at the University of Nairobi. YakiHonne: What sparked your interest in Bitcoin, and what motivated you to create a community around it?

Martin：I first got interested in Bitcoin as a way to find passive income. Before discovering Bitcoin, I worked as an AI annotation Jobs. During this time, I came across Bitcoin. After reading the Bitcoin white paper, I decided to explore it further. I then started looking for Bitcoin communities in Kenya and joined events like Bitcoin DADA，The Core, and others. It was then that I realized there was a gap in Bitcoin education in Kenya. Many people were getting into Bitcoin but didn’t know how to earn from it. Martin：I decided to create Bitcoin Nairobi, a community focused on advancing Bitcoin through education, adoption, and innovation. Our mission is to educate people about Bitcoin, help merchants integrate Bitcoin payments to attract more customers, and foster innovation by exploring protocols like Nostr and leveraging apps like YakiHonne to drive growth.

YakiHonne: Great. Could you share how your community started and how you managed to attract members?

Martin：The community initially started through a WhatsApp group, originally for people who have questions related to Bitcoin. I shared my knowledge of Bitcoin and expressed my desire to train others, which led to small Bitcoin learning sessions. Before this, I completed a Bitcoin diploma course with Mi Premier Bitcoin, which deepened my passion for Bitcoin and inspired me to start my own company. Bitcoin became my true passion, and I was determined to fully dive into it. Martin：I then founded Bitcoin Nairobi, initially focusing on the concept of the circular economy, which I called Bitcoin Aerobics. With support from Geyser and other Bitcoin enthusiasts in Kenya, the community began to grow. Every few months, we attract new members through a project called Bitcoin School Kenya, mostly university students who want to learn and earn with Bitcoin while studying.

YakiHonne: Can you share some of the challenges you faced when you first started?

Martin：One of the main challenges I faced early on was the lack of guidance, as many Bitcoin users are anonymous. Additionally, relevant content is scattered across various platforms, making it difficult to gather all the necessary information in one place. Another challenge is the small number of true Bitcoiners in Kenya. While there are many participants in cryptocurrency and altcoins, there are only about 28 true Bitcoin users in Kenya, which is a tiny fraction of the country's 58 million people. Martin：Seeing this gap, I founded Bitcoin School Kenya, aiming to promote Bitcoin education. Our goal is not only to teach people about Bitcoin but also to empower them to become Bitcoin ambassadors in their local communities. This way, we can extend our impact beyond Nairobi, especially to rural areas.

YakiHonne: As you mentioned, many people are involved in cryptocurrency and other coins, including popular meme coins like Dogecoin. While they claim to be part of the crypto space, Bitcoin is truly the dominant and most significant coin. However, true Bitcoiners are few in number and not as widely recognized. Additionally, the content related to Bitcoin is scattered across platforms like YouTube and Google, making it hard to find a single source to access all the necessary information. I completely understand the frustration. YakiHonne: What are the core principles that guide the Bitcoin Nairobi community? How do you maintain trust and reliability, especially when facing the widespread skepticism around cryptocurrency? How do you ensure that community members trust you, particularly when onboarding them?

Martin：I think we are simply following the principles of Bitcoin's proof of work—if you show your proof of work, you'll be rewarded, and that's all there is to it. That's the essence of proof of work.

YakiHonne: A lot of people feel that cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and Web3 are scams, and they don't see them as the future. So, How do you convince people to trust and believe in Bitcoin?

Martin：What we do is organize meetups. However, due to financial constraints, we've only been able to host two so far, one of which was in Kibra, a part of the Bitcoin Nairobi community. I believe this is how we gain trust in Bitcoin and what we do. Another key aspect is maintaining consistent communication. If people have issues, we engage with them. We also communicate with merchants and guide them on what they need. This helps build trust within the community. Additionally, we are transparent with our funds. Whatever donations or grants we receive, we make sure to be open about how the funds are used and show the community exactly what we’ve spent them on. This is how we build trust.

YakiHonne: It seems you're really doing a great job in that aspect. How do you educate your members and keep them informed about the latest Bitcoin developments?

Martin： We collaborate with Bitcoin developers like Simon, who is the lead of BitDevs Nairobi. Simon often conducts classes with Bitcoin School Kenya, where he trains people in Bitcoin development.We also invite guest developers, such as those from Btrust, to join our sessions and train people on Bitcoin development. Additionally, we bring in experts on specific topics like Lightning or Nostr to provide specialized training for students. Looking ahead, we aim to nurture our own developers who can contribute to projects like Bitcoin Core, the Lightning Network, and Nostr. These developers will eventually train others, helping us build a stronger ecosystem.

YakiHonne: I look forward to seeing your developers in the future. It would be amazing to have developers from your community contributing—it would be a great benefit both for them and for the Bitcoin community as a whole.

Martin：Honestly, you can't know everything. Another amazing thing about Bitcoin is the supportive community—there's always someone willing to help. For example, I didn’t even approach Simon myself; I just attended a BitDevs meetup, and he offered to train during our classes. We also have Nayoma, the first African male Bitcoin Core developer, contributing to the classes. It's truly inspiring to see so many knowledgeable people coming together to share their expertise.

YakiHonne: How does the community collaborate with the broader Bitcoin ecosystem, and what partnerships have had the greatest impact on Bitcoin Nairobi?

Martin：One key factor that has helped Bitcoin Nairobi gain recognition globally is our involvement with the Federation of Bitcoin Circular Economies. We collaborate with other communities by actively participating in their calls and staying in contact with leaders at the Federation as well as other communities. This consistent engagement has significantly boosted our visibility. Martin：Additionally, through Bitcoin School Kenya, we operate as a light node in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. For now, we function as a light node, but we’re aiming to upgrade to a full node by next year. This will enable members of our community not only to contribute locally but also to teach and collaborate with other communities and circular economies worldwide.

YakiHonne: What major challenges has the community faced, and how did you overcome them while maintaining integrity?

Martin：I wouldn't say there's a major challenge, but one challenge we faced was connecting with others in the Bitcoin space. However, we’ve made progress. Another challenge we’re facing now is organizing physical meetups. This has been difficult since we’re still relatively new in the Federation and the circular economies.

YakiHonne: It seems like you haven’t faced much resistance in terms of people viewing Bitcoin as a scam or having trust issues about its stability, like concerns over whether Bitcoin will crash. You haven't experienced these kinds of challenges.

Martin：Most people believe in the technology and in Bitcoin. The main issue they have is knowing where and how they can sell it. However, when it comes to doubting Bitcoin itself, I can’t say many people question the technology. Especially young people, they’re into online work, AI, and Bitcoin—basically anything related to the future.

YakiHonne: What are the community's goals for the next 6-12 months, and how do you see it evolving with Bitcoin's growth？

Martin：Our community's goals are to develop more educators and promote the widespread adoption of Bitcoin education, launch more Bitcoin-based projects to drive local adoption, strengthen collaborations with other organizations and communities to expand our influence, and increase our efforts in “orange-pilling” to help more people understand and embrace Bitcoin. As Bitcoin continues to grow, we will also continue to expand and evolve, fostering the maturation of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

YakiHonne: That's great. We’re excited to see how these initiatives will unfold in the coming months. Best of luck in achieving your vision, and we look forward to hearing about your progress in the future! OK, We're glad to see everyone and look forward to the next community interview. Thank you all, and that wraps up today's session.

@ a24d0c86:ec0f47ce

It's been nearly two years since I generated my Nostr npub, and I'm still blown away by its impact. Nostr has been THE catalyst for my rabbit hole journey, opening doors to new worlds and experiences.

Back when I was trying to figure out how to handle my nsec, I was stuck in a rut. I'd founded and run a business for over a decade, but my passion had fizzled out along with it's revenues. Compound that with the accelerating decline in fiat and it was a depressing situation. It was time for a change, but I wasn't ready to burn the boat without a clear (or even general) direction.

Fast forward to today, and I've officially closed that chapter. I'm beyond excited to embark on this new journey into FOSS product, and 2025 marks the year I'm fully committed to this new path. It's taken longer than I wanted, but good things come to those who wait, right? And if I'm being honest, I have much more clarity, support and 100k never hurts as I start down this pursuit!

My journey from 2023 to 2025 has been a wild ride and I wouldn't change all that I had to slog through to get here. Recently as I've gotten back into the habit of checking in on Nostr I'm reminded why I fell in love so quickly, with its unique blend of humor, creativity, and innovation.

Nostr is a gateway for me to better understanding software engineers especially. It's incredible the amount of knowledge and PoW so many devs on Nostr have and it's humbling to even bounce around with you on this wonky protocol.

That constant experience made me want to put the effort and sats into attending the Lightning Summit at Bitcoin Park in the summer of 2023. And it didn't disappoint. I got to see up close so many talented devs tackling complex technical challenges with fearlessness and ingenuity. These pioneers are paving the way for future adoption, and I'm ready to dive in and help push the ecosystem forward with the skillset I have today and what I'm building in my toolbox for the future.

Meeting fellow Nostr enthusiasts at Nosterville took my enthusiasm to another level in November 2023. It's like reigniting the excitement I felt when I first discovered the internet. It's mind-blowing to think about the potential this new protocol has to remake the web. 2024 I was much less active on Nostr as I was planning and taking the steps needed to move on in 2025. And now I'm finally ready to rock and roll.

As a product enthusiast, I'm stoked to help engineers get their projects ready for the masses. Let's make open source awesome, and let's get a ton of plebs on board!

To better contribute and build with developers, I'm committed to expanding my technical knowledge too. This includes learning the basics with GitHub to Python, Rust, AI, and ML. I'm also going to be switching to GrapheneOS as my daily driver and learning Linux. I'm eager to bring my product experience to the table and collaborate with others.

Going forward, I'm focusing specifically on helping build the Cashu protocol and how it intersects with Nostr and Lightning.

If you're a developer, especially one working on Cashu, I'd love to hear from you!

How can I assist with product-related tasks?

I'm here to build and contribute to the growth of the freedom tech ecosystem.

LFG.

@ b83e6f82:73c27758

Citrine 0.6.0

• Update dependencies
• Show notifications when importing, exporting, downloading events
• Change database functions to be suspending functions

Download it with zap.store, Obtainium, f-droid or download it directly in the releases page

If you like my work consider making a donation

Verifying the release

In order to verify the release, you'll need to have gpg or gpg2 installed on your system. Once you've obtained a copy (and hopefully verified that as well), you'll first need to import the keys that have signed this release if you haven't done so already:

bash gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D

Once you have his PGP key you can verify the release (assuming manifest-v0.6.0.txt and manifest-v0.6.0.txt.sig are in the current directory) with:

bash gpg --verify manifest-v0.6.0.txt.sig manifest-v0.6.0.txt

You should see the following if the verification was successful:

bash gpg: Signature made Fri 13 Sep 2024 08:06:52 AM -03 gpg: using RSA key 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D gpg: Good signature from "greenart7c3 <greenart7c3@proton.me>"

That will verify the signature on the main manifest page which ensures integrity and authenticity of the binaries you've downloaded locally. Next, depending on your operating system you should then re-calculate the sha256 sum of the binary, and compare that with the following hashes:

bash cat manifest-v0.6.0.txt

One can use the shasum -a 256 <file name here> tool in order to re-compute the sha256 hash of the target binary for your operating system. The produced hash should be compared with the hashes listed above and they should match exactly.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Ingredients

• 1 kg of pork roast with rind, such as shoulder or a lean belly
• 1 bottle of beer, light or dark
• chopped German-style mirepoix (best combination, for this recipe, includes celery root, carrot, red onion, and leeks)
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
• 1 diced garlic clove

Directions

1. Spread the vegetables on the bottom of the roasting pan.
2. Pour half the beer over the roast. (Drink the other half.)
3. Season the meat, to taste.
4. Roast the meat at 180 °C, until done (depends upon the weight of the roast).
5. Remove the meat from the oven, and wrap in aluminum foil.
6. Pour 2-3 cups of water into the roasting pan.
7. Pour/scrape everything from the pan into a sieve over a sauce pot.
8. Press the vegetables against the sieve, with the back of a spoon, to ensure that you get all that good dripping flavor into the sauce.
9. Defat the sauce with a grease separator, then pour it back into the pot.
10. Thicken the sauce, slightly (it should remain slightly watery, and not turn into a gravy), according to your usual method.
11. Open the foil and slice the roast.
12. Serve with the sauce.

@ acbcec47:dd305bec

Prepare starter

• 1 part starter (~30g)
• 2 parts wholemeal rye flour (~60g)
• 2 parts warm water (~60g)

Stir well, then leave to stand warm and covered until the volume has almost doubled.

Once the starter has doubled in volume and a light cap has formed, it can be used for the dough.

Ingredients

• Flour (2/3 550/1100 wheat flour, 1/3 997 rye flour) = 600g
• Water: 60% of the flour quantity = 360g warm water
• Starter: 20% of the flour quantity = 120g starter
• Salt: 3% of the flour = 18g

Put the rest of the starter (about 30g) back in the fridge for the next batch. Knead everything well for 5 minutes, then leave to stand warm and covered.

Fermenting

First fermenting phase in one piece until the volume has almost doubled.

Then divide into portions ...

Shape and leave to rise on the baking tray for 1-2 hours.

Baking

• Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F)
• Just before baking, cut in the top of the rolls with a razor blade, so that they can extend

• Bake for 20 min with steam/cover at 210°C (410°F)
• Then remove the steam/cover and bake another 15-20 min at 180°C (360°F)

Enjoy ...

@ da19b5d2:1f6cbfaa

I hear it all the time. People want to save up X amount so they can retire. Apparently, it is this time and space we are all supposed to want to get to. But what does it mean? I hear things like I want to travel, I want to have free time to spend with family, I want to not have to work, I want to play golf, I want to buy some property. And what else? What next? For me, if I am not working on building or contributing something towards a vision, I feel like I have no purpose. What is a hu-man with no purpose? Where are we truly headed, perhaps it is a mirage. I think what we really want is freedom to work on the things we want to work on. Don't we all want a reason to get up in the morning? Don't we always want to have a goal in mind to work towards? What if you suddenly had financial freedom? How would you actually spend your days. Have you thought about what you would do in your 'retirement'? Obviously this is a very personal question. I want to hear what people are passionate about making happen in their future. And if we are making things happen, are we really re-tired or are we just finally free? Why would want anyone to be tired again? 😉 Thank you for reading and commenting. 💚

@ 378562cd:a6fc6773

In our hyper-connected world, we are constantly bombarded with information — news of tragedies, celebrity gossip, and societal controversies — all delivered to us in real-time, whether we ask for it or not.

But here’s a profound truth: If you don’t know about it, it doesn’t matter to you. It’s almost like it doesn’t even happen!

This isn’t about apathy or ignoring the suffering of others. It’s about recognizing that our minds and hearts have limits. There’s only so much we can hold, care for, or act upon before it all becomes noise. And when we step back and filter out what truly matters to us, we find a liberating sense of peace.

In our hyper-connected world, we are constantly bombarded with information — news of tragedies, celebrity gossip, and societal controversies — all delivered to us in real-time, whether we ask for it or not.

When Knowing is a Burden

Consider this: if a bus full of strangers tragically ran off a cliff halfway around the world, it’s undeniably sad. But if you never heard about it, would it affect your day, your thoughts, or your actions? It wouldn’t. Not because you’re heartless but because it’s not within your sphere of influence or awareness.

Similarly, when a celebrity you barely know goes through a messy divorce, why does that need to occupy your thoughts? If you never knew about it, it would make no difference in your life. And yet, the world shouts these details at us, demanding our attention for things that often have no real bearing on our existence.

The Cost of Knowing Too Much

Knowing everything that happens everywhere comes with a cost:

• Emotional Overload\ The human mind isn’t designed to process the pain, suffering, or drama of millions of people at once. Constant exposure to these stories can lead to anxiety, sadness, or even a sense of helplessness.
• Loss of Focus\ The more attention we give to distant events or irrelevant gossip, the less energy we have for the people and moments that truly matter in our own lives.
• Manufactured Cravings\ Advertisements and media feed us desires we didn’t have before. A new product, a luxurious vacation, or a perfect lifestyle — all things you might not have craved if you hadn’t been shown them.

The Beauty of Not Knowing

When you step away from the constant influx of information, you create space to focus on what’s real and meaningful in your life.

• Your family and close friends. Their joys and struggles are the ones you can genuinely care about and impact.
• Your passions and goals. These deserve your full attention, free from unnecessary distractions.
• Your mental peace. Without the noise, you can think clearly, feel deeply, and live authentically.

What Truly Matters?

Not knowing isn’t about closing your eyes to the world. It’s about understanding the difference between what’s important and what’s irrelevant. It’s a practice of asking yourself:

• Does this affect me or the people I love?
• Can I do anything meaningful about this?
• Will knowing this bring me peace, joy, or purpose?
• Will BUYING this bring me peace, joy or purpose?

If the answer is no, it’s okay to let it go.

Living in Your Sphere of Influence

Focusing on what you can control and care for has immense power. Your energy has the most impact in your sphere of influence—the people, places, and things you interact with directly.

By letting go of what lies outside that sphere, you free yourself from unnecessary burdens and find deeper joy in the things that truly matter.

A New Year’s Challenge

This year, challenge yourself to embrace the art of not knowing.

• Curate your inputs: Limit news consumption to what directly affects you.
• Mute the noise: Avoid gossip, sensational headlines, and irrelevant drama.
• Stay present: Focus on the people and moments around you.

In doing so, you’ll find not only peace but also the clarity to live a life driven by your own values and priorities — not the ever-changing noise of the world.

The Freedom of Letting Go

When you embrace the profound truth that if you don’t know about it, it doesn’t matter to you, you unlock a freedom that few ever experience. You stop carrying the weight of the world’s chaos and instead focus on the beauty, joy, and love within your own life.

This year, let’s make peace with not knowing — and in doing so, rediscover what truly matters.

Breaking Free from the Cycle of Consumerism

Consumerism isn’t just about buying things — it’s about the constant hunger for more. More stuff, more information, more experiences. It thrives on the idea that what you have and who you are isn’t enough, and it manipulates you into believing that fulfillment lies just one purchase or experience away. But here’s the truth: the cycle of consumerism isn’t designed to fulfill you — it’s designed to keep you chasing.

If we want to find peace with not knowing, we must also confront the role consumerism plays in feeding our dissatisfaction and overstimulation.

The Problem with Consumerism

Consumerism is fueled by two main forces:

• Artificial Wants: Advertising and media don’t just sell products; they sell dissatisfaction. They show you a life that seems better than yours and make you believe that buying their product will bridge the gap.
• Overexposure: The constant influx of social media, news, and targeted ads ensures you’re always aware of what you don’t have, subtly making you feel inadequate or left out.
• The result? A world where happiness feels like it’s always just out of reach — an exhausting race that benefits corporations far more than individuals.

The Cost of Consumerism

The cycle of consumerism doesn’t just drain your wallet; it also takes a toll on your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being:

• Mental Overload: Constant exposure to new products and ideas creates decision fatigue and anxiety.
• Emotional Burnout: Comparing your life to idealized versions portrayed in ads or social media can lead to dissatisfaction and low self-esteem.
• Spiritual Disconnect: Consumerism shifts your focus away from meaningful relationships, personal growth, and spiritual fulfillment, tethering your joy to material possessions.

# Combatting Consumerism: A Game Plan for Freedom

Breaking free from consumerism requires intentional effort, but it’s deeply rewarding. Here’s a game plan to start:

## 1. Detox Your Inputs - Unfollow Excess: Reduce your exposure to ads and influencers who push a lifestyle of constant consumption. - Limit Social Media: Spend less time scrolling through content designed to spark envy or desire. - Set Boundaries: Avoid shopping as a pastime or browsing “just to look.”

## 2. Shift Your Mindset - Practice Gratitude: Focus on what you already have, not what you lack. - Redefine Success: Measure your life by relationships, growth, and experiences, not possessions. - Adopt Minimalism: Learn to appreciate simplicity and find joy in having less.

## 3. Choose Quality Over Quantity - Invest in Essentials: Buy fewer items, but prioritize durability and quality. - Focus on Experiences: Spend on memories, not material things. - Be Mindful of Upgrades: Don’t replace what’s working fine just because something new is available.

## 4. Build Intentional Habits - Wait Before Buying: Give yourself 24 hours to think before making any purchase. - Create a Wishlist: Write down non-essential items you want. Review the list monthly to see if you still want them. - Track Spending: Be aware of where your money goes, and prioritize needs over wants.

## 5. Engage with Your Community - Support Local: Choose local businesses and artisans over big corporations. - Focus on Relationships: Invest time in people, not possessions. - Participate in Sharing Economies: Borrow, lend, and swap items with neighbors or friends instead of buying.

# Living a Life of Intentional Simplicity

This is food for thought and I promise you it is a battle at this point. It will be difficult but you must gain back control of your own thoughts, desires etc…

Take care and God bless!

@ 1c1b8e48:0e4de5df

https://youtu.be/dSDm62Hmbf4?feature=shared

\ There is a place where life is simple, people are perfect, and everything is black and white. It's a place that's as far from reality as we can imagine. \ But maybe it's a lot closer than you think!\ \ If you want to live in a world that is not black and white, then you should do something about it, because that cannot be taken for granted. 

\ The Internet is perhaps the most significant innovation in human history. It was conceived as a global marketplace for the free exchange of information and services. Today, however, we are experiencing the data silos of large corporations, an unbearable flood of advertising and massive censorship by governments, corporations and organisations – all cheered on by various globalists. \ \ Millions of volunteers work tirelessly, however, to ensure that our internet does not look like North Korea. They sacrifice their free time or have even given up their jobs to ensure that information and access to it remains free. Most of them do this for free because the projects are underfunded, which is unfortunately why many of them have already failed and why their existence is acutely threatened.

So you could direct your Christmas donation there this year and help to secure freedom of information. Here is a list of important projects in this area, including many that are recommended for personal use:

Data

Internet Archive The memory of the Internet (624 Billion pages)\ OpenStreetMap The free alternative to Google Maps\ OpenRSS Stop the silos, read all articles in one app\ Podcastindex Find 4.3 Million podcasts in your app\ OpenCulture Free books, podcasts, videos, online courses\ OpenLibrary Online access to millions of free books\ Open Access Journals 13.634 free journals and > 15 Mill. articles\ Creative Commons 55 Mill. articles, 490.000 pictures, 100.000 courses

\ Software + Services

LINUX The free alternative to Windows\ GrapheneOS Android without Google tracking\ F-Droid The marketplace for free OS Android apps\ OpenOffice Free Office compliant with ISO standards\ NextCloud Only in a private Cloud the data are yours\ Thunderbird With that app you won’t miss Outlook anymore\ NewPipe YouTube without tracking and subscriptions\ Fountain Podcasting 2.0 with the value4value principle\ PeerTube / Odysee YouTube alternatives without censorship\ RethinkDNS Block malware, spyware, ads and tracker

Active support for such projects is at least as valuable as donations. This starts with use and recommendation, community building, feedback to the developers, testing through to design and development. Shaping our future together is an overwhelming experience, which I was able to experience this year in my favourite project ‘Pareto’. \ These were instructive and rewarding moments with a wonderful team that changed my mind for good.

\ Of course, we also look forward to your feedback, your donation or your active participation. \ https://pareto.space \ \ ‘Be the change you want to see in this world.’ \ Mahatma Gandhi

@ b83e6f82:73c27758

Citrine 0.7.0

• Update quartz dependency
• Check if events are deleted
• Recover service after crash
• Add back button in the events screen
• Fix delete old events
• Fix backup dialog showing up again

Download it with zap.store, Obtainium, f-droid or download it directly in the releases page

If you like my work consider making a donation

Verifying the release

In order to verify the release, you'll need to have gpg or gpg2 installed on your system. Once you've obtained a copy (and hopefully verified that as well), you'll first need to import the keys that have signed this release if you haven't done so already:

bash gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D

Once you have his PGP key you can verify the release (assuming manifest-v0.7.0.txt and manifest-v0.7.0.txt.sig are in the current directory) with:

bash gpg --verify manifest-v0.7.0.txt.sig manifest-v0.7.0.txt

You should see the following if the verification was successful:

bash gpg: Signature made Fri 13 Sep 2024 08:06:52 AM -03 gpg: using RSA key 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D gpg: Good signature from "greenart7c3 <greenart7c3@proton.me>"

That will verify the signature on the main manifest page which ensures integrity and authenticity of the binaries you've downloaded locally. Next, depending on your operating system you should then re-calculate the sha256 sum of the binary, and compare that with the following hashes:

bash cat manifest-v0.7.0.txt

One can use the shasum -a 256 <file name here> tool in order to re-compute the sha256 hash of the target binary for your operating system. The produced hash should be compared with the hashes listed above and they should match exactly

@ eee391ee:8d0b97c2

Amber 3.1.0

• Fix bunker requests showing up again after accepting
• Move bunker and nostrconnect to its own files
• Fix a infinite loop when receiving bunker requests
• Show relays after the app is connected
• Recover service when app crashes
• Update quartz dependency
• Fix ui contrast when using dark theme

Download it with zap.store, Obtainium, f-droid or download it directly in the releases page

If you like my work consider making a donation

Verifying the release

In order to verify the release, you'll need to have gpg or gpg2 installed on your system. Once you've obtained a copy (and hopefully verified that as well), you'll first need to import the keys that have signed this release if you haven't done so already:

bash gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D

Once you have his PGP key you can verify the release (assuming manifest-v3.1.0.txt and manifest-v3.1.0.txt.sig are in the current directory) with:

bash gpg --verify manifest-v3.1.0.txt.sig manifest-v3.1.0.txt

You should see the following if the verification was successful:

bash gpg: Signature made Fri 13 Sep 2024 08:06:52 AM -03 gpg: using RSA key 44F0AAEB77F373747E3D5444885822EED3A26A6D gpg: Good signature from "greenart7c3 <greenart7c3@proton.me>"

That will verify the signature on the main manifest page which ensures integrity and authenticity of the binaries you've downloaded locally. Next, depending on your operating system you should then re-calculate the sha256 sum of the binary, and compare that with the following hashes:

bash cat manifest-v3.1.0.txt

One can use the shasum -a 256 <file name here> tool in order to re-compute the sha256 hash of the target binary for your operating system. The produced hash should be compared with the hashes listed above and they should match exactly.

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

The rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has not only changed the global financial landscape but also sparked innovation and development in communities worldwide. In particular, Asia, as a hub for technological innovation and economic growth, has seen multiple Bitcoin communities play a key role in driving the adoption and application of digital currencies. From educational programs to technical support, and from business promotion to policy advocacy, Bitcoin communities in Asia are pushing forward the use and development of Bitcoin across various fields. This article will focus on 20 Bitcoin communities in Asia, exploring their latest progress and future visions in promoting Bitcoin technology, education, and economic empowerment. It aims to provide readers with an in-depth perspective on the Asian Bitcoin ecosystem and its global impact. Thank you, YakiHonne nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q, for supporting the publication of the Bitcoin Community Newsletter. Most of the content has been reviewed and confirmed by the South American communities. If there are any omissions, please feel free to reach out to me.

1.Bitcoin Indonesia * Introduction Bitcoin Indonesia is an international team of 21 Bitcoin enthusiasts dedicated to enabling the people, businesses, and government of Indonesia to easily access and use Bitcoin. The team's mission is to provide reliable Bitcoin information and educational resources to help Indonesians understand the value and potential of Bitcoin, especially in the digital economy. Through monthly meetups, an online education platform, and professional consulting services, Bitcoin Indonesia bridges the gap between individuals, businesses, and the government, connecting them to the world of Bitcoin. The goal is to educate 100 million Indonesians about Bitcoin by 2030, promoting prosperity and freedom for the nation. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoin Indonesia community has been actively organizing a series of events focused on promoting and educating people about Bitcoin. In November, the community hosted the BitDevs Meetup, where they explored tools for planning Bitcoin inheritance. They also launched a Bitcoin price prediction giveaway to encourage user engagement. Additionally, the community successfully completed an online diploma course, certifying 38 local participants. They visited the Taruna Bakti Foundation in Bandung, Indonesia, introducing Bitcoin to 700 middle school students and inspiring them to join the Bitcoin community. Meanwhile, the community is gearing up for the upcoming Team Hackathon in January, where the winning team will receive a prize of 10,000,000 IDR.

2.Righshift nostr:npub1ejn774qahqmgjsfajawy7634unk88y26yktvwuzp9kfgdeejx9mqdm97a5 * Introduction Right Shift is a community dedicated to becoming a hub for Bitcoin-related content and discussions. Its mission is to support the growing Thai Bitcoin community by curating and translating high-quality Bitcoin content, providing essential insights and knowledge for navigating the world of hard money. In addition to educational resources, Right Shift offers a curated selection of Bitcoin merchandise and plans to develop more impactful learning experiences in the future. As Bitcoin matures and evolves, the community is committed to driving Bitcoin adoption and a circular economy through its products and marketplace. * Latest Updates Recently, the Right Shift community has been actively promoting Bitcoin education and awareness through the #Siamstr initiative. They organized various live streams, discussions, and offline meetups in Thailand, such as the "Right Talk" series and the Korat101 gathering, focusing on Bitcoin philosophy, the "Value for Value" (V4V) concept, and utilizing platforms like Nostr to support Bitcoin creators. Additionally, the community has participated in several collaborative projects, developing Bitcoin-related tools such as savings devices and information relay services.

3.Neutronpay * Introduction Neutronpay is a community focused on empowering businesses and individuals through the use of the Lightning Network to enable borderless, open global finance. With cutting-edge technology, Neutronpay facilitates near-instant transactions, creating a real-time financial ecosystem that operates anywhere, anytime. The platform strives to make the Lightning Network accessible to everyone, from small business owners in rural Vietnam to multinational companies in New York. By eliminating barriers such as currency conversion, transaction fees, and time delays, Neutronpay transforms money into a bridge connecting people, businesses, and ideas. * Latest Updates Recently, Neutronpay has been actively expanding its Bitcoin and Lightning Network services, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. They announced a strategic partnership with BitGo Singapore to further broaden their offerings. Neutronpay also expanded its payout capabilities to 16 countries, enabling fast and secure Lightning Payments conversion into local currencies. Additionally, they participated in the 2024 Vietnam Tech Impact event, showcasing their innovations in fintech and blockchain applications. These efforts demonstrate Neutronpay's commitment to enabling seamless financial transactions for businesses and consumers through the Lightning Network.

4.Tokyo citadel * Introduction Tokyo Citadel is a community built around the vision of creating a sovereign space for Bitcoin holders to thrive. Inspired by the idea of Bitcoin as a defense against economic collapse and societal unrest, the community aims to gather and educate new Bitcoin users in Tokyo. The concept draws from the notion that Bitcoin can serve as a protective barrier against inflation, government overreach, and authoritarian regimes. * Latest Updates Recently, the Tokyo Citadel community released several new podcast episodes covering topics such as Bitcoin, macroeconomics, and politics. They discussed subjects like “Meaningless Meetups in Mexico” and “The Ghost of Abe Will Pump Our Bags,” encouraging further discussion about the future of Bitcoin and global economics. Additionally, the community has been actively engaging with members through their Telegram discussion group, fostering exchanges on Bitcoin and related political and economic topics, while continuing to promote Bitcoin education and community building.

5.Bitcoin Beach Vietnam * Introduction Bitcoin Beach Vietnam is inspired by the Bitcoin Beach initiative in El Salvador, aiming to create a Bitcoin-friendly ecosystem in Vietnam. Powered by the Neutronpay Bitcoin Lightning app, it offers seamless VND on/off ramps for easy Bitcoin transactions. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to May 2024, when the Bitcoin Beach Vietnam community highlighted the impressive quality of Vietnamese products and their growing demand globally.

6.BOB space nostr:npub1j580xmzqdvqp8rsv04m562kkvfj6yvp226m97yc88q72cxekucesamh4up * Introduction BOB Space is a Bitcoin-focused incubator, coworking space, and hub located in the heart of Krung Thep, Thailand. The community supports Bitcoin education, adoption, and the advocacy of free technology. With a mission to foster innovation, BOB Space hosts a developer residency program aimed at empowering Bitcoin ecosystem developers. Weekly Bitcoin workshops, groundbreaking innovation talks, and technical events such as Bitdevs are organized to bring together like-minded individuals. Additionally, BOB Radio features discussions with Bitcoin builders from around the world, offering valuable insights into the ecosystem. * Latest Updates Recently, the BOB Space community hosted the 4Q2024 BitDevs event at the Bitcoin Learning Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The event featured a Socratic-style seminar, delving deep into Bitcoin scaling, with a particular focus on the applications, risks, and future developments of the Ark protocol. In addition, the community shared updates on Bitcoin developer meetups, including the event held in Chiang Mai, as well as a donation to the Bitcoin Development Fund.

7.The Bitcoin Learning Center nostr:npub1c9r9lad84kpqwnh09u58vdzwnfsnxcr7a40uf5ulkpdguq4667jsgaxu4k * Introduction The Bitcoin Learning Center in Chiang Mai is a leading educational hub, co-founded in 2022 by Jimmy Kostro and Napatsanun Chatchayaladasiri (Fai). The center is dedicated to promoting financial inclusion through Bitcoin and creating sustainable economic opportunities for underserved communities in northern Thailand. As a core program of the Kostro Foundation, the center focuses on Bitcoin-centered education, research, and infrastructure development to drive real-world impact. Its mission is to provide communities with the knowledge and tools needed to achieve economic independence through the transformative power of Bitcoin. * Latest Updates Recently, the community has been actively promoting Bitcoin-related projects with a strong focus on technical support and community engagement. A Bitcoin Christmas Party was held at the Bitcoin Learning Center in Chiang Mai to strengthen connections among Bitcoin users in the region. Additionally, in collaboration with BOB Space, the community donated Bitcoin mining machines to a remote solar-powered village in northern Thailand, helping local residents transform surplus energy into a source of income. Furthermore, the community organized a high-level Bitcoin meetup, bringing together 50 experienced Bitcoin enthusiasts from over 10 countries for in-depth discussions.

8.Bitcoiner Malaysia nostr:npub1x42vvsc96wcnnea38y7390hhgs7f6t8hk4rm08pwtt7stlav9avsv7j5rm * Introduction Bitcoin Malaysia is a pioneer in the country's Bitcoin space, established in 2012, dedicated to educating the public about Bitcoin and its applications through various events and resources. The community regularly hosts workshops, meetups, and both online and offline activities, offering opportunities for beginners and professionals to deepen their understanding. Additionally, it focuses on promoting blockchain technology locally, fostering a platform for knowledge sharing and collaborative innovation. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoiner Malaysia community has been actively promoting Bitcoin education and fostering community engagement. On October 25th, they hosted their monthly meetup at My Espresso Café, where participants used the Lightning Network to purchase coffee or beer, connected with fellow Bitcoin enthusiasts, and explored ways Bitcoin can address societal challenges. Additionally, the community organized a Q&A session featuring renowned Bitcoin experts Saifedean Ammous and Stephan Livera. The discussion delved into key topics such as the comparison between fiat currency and Bitcoin, Bitcoin's role in the global economy, scalability, and lending within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

9.Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong * Introduction The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong (BAHK), established in the summer of 2012, is dedicated to promoting and advancing Bitcoin and its related technologies in Hong Kong. The association’s mission is to educate the public, the private sector, and government entities about the benefits and risks of Bitcoin, becoming a reliable resource for the local and international Bitcoin communities. Over the years, BAHK has hosted more than 250 events and has built a network of over 5,000 members, including experts from over 30 countries. The association regularly organizes meetups, workshops, and online events to foster collaboration and interaction among Bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong has been actively promoting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related topics. They hosted a Bitcoin meetup on November 21, attracting Bitcoin enthusiasts and developers who engaged in discussions about cryptocurrency and its applications while splitting bills using Bitcoin or the Lightning Network. The association has also focused on significant developments such as the attitudes of central banks toward Bitcoin, the Hong Kong government's licensing of cryptocurrency exchanges, and the reaction of Chinese funds to the Bitcoin boom.

10.Bitcoin Embassy Tel Aviv * Introduction Bitcoin Embassy TLV is a grassroots initiative aimed at providing a space for the community and Bitcoin enthusiasts to engage in discussions about decentralized digital currencies. The embassy organizes various events and projects to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. Founded by Ayal Segev, a core member of the Israeli Bitcoin community, the embassy also involves participants such as programmer and security expert Gil Assayag, and Bitcoin promoter Assaf Bahat. The embassy's mission is to encourage exploration and innovation in the cryptocurrency space. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitcoin Embassy has been active with various events and updates. On December 8th, they successfully hosted a celebration in Tel Aviv to mark their 11th anniversary, featuring balloons, music, and cake, which brought together many community members in a festive atmosphere. Additionally, the community shared updates about its white paper, which was released on October 31st, showcasing its ongoing efforts to promote interaction and knowledge-sharing within the Bitcoin community.

11.Bitcoin Harbour nostr:npub1aj4z0w4v5ggv8kl6kde5lsqw2jpca296gd60ns3ys9vlwpahx9qqktn9an * Introduction Bitcoin Harbour is located in Princess Harbour, Johor, Malaysia, just a stone's throw from Singapore, strategically positioned in Southeast Asia. Guided by the principles of low time preference and proof of work, the community is dedicated to creating an inclusive Bitcoin coastal hub—a perfect setting for life, work, and family. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to Aug 2024, an event announcement has been posted for the community's monthly meetup on September 27 at Restoran Arab Zaatar in Puteri Harbour, Johor, Malaysia. The theme is “Post-Summer Meetup,” offering Bitcoin enthusiasts a chance to connect and engage.

12.Bitcoin Island Philippines * Introduction Bitcoin Island is a community based in Boracay, Philippines, dedicated to promoting the adoption of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network in the local area. The community's core mission is to encourage merchants to accept Bitcoin payments, creating a Bitcoin-based economic ecosystem that allows residents and visitors to enjoy fast, secure, and low-cost payment experiences. * Latest Updates Recently, the community has shared one update，posted featuring a promotional tagline from Pouch.ph，Empowering the Philippines through Bitcoin: Secure, Trusted, and Principled.

13.Bitcoin Powerhouse Phuket * Introduction Bitcoin Powerhouse Phuket is a Bitcoin community based in Phuket, Thailand, dedicated to promoting the application and education of Bitcoin in the local area. The community regularly hosts meetups and events, inviting both Bitcoin enthusiasts and newcomers to engage, share experiences, and exchange insights. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to Aug 2024, when they announced the 11th Bitcoin meetup in Phuket, scheduled for September 10 at Nakarin in Kathu.

14.Bitcoin Saigon nostr:npub192chqkpxm7lfrgufmfd9a9lj7u54078zdzgtvtgz4yg7smz0e7wqzfswzg * Introduction Bitcoin Saigon was founded by Diana Ngo, Khoa Tran, and Dominik Weil. The community has hosted over 100 events and meetups, bringing together Bitcoin enthusiasts, developers, researchers, and investors. Bitcoin Saigon aims to build a strong local network of Bitcoin supporters, businesses, and developers, fostering education, innovation, and creating job opportunities in the Bitcoin ecosystem. * Latest Updates Recently, Bitcoin Saigon has been actively preparing for the Satoshi Flea Market - Christmas Edition, set to take place in Saigon on December 8, and is calling for donations in the form of sats for the event. The community is also focusing on the first Bitcoin meetup in Hanoi on December 11, where topics on Bitcoin and Austrian economics will be discussed.

15.Dubai Citadel * Introduction Dubai Citadel is a Bitcoin-only community in the UAE, focused on promoting Bitcoin adoption and fostering a strong, decentralized ecosystem. With Dubai's growing role as a hub for cryptocurrency innovation, the community aims to connect Bitcoin enthusiasts, developers, and investors. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community.The latest event dates back to Oct 2024, when it was shared that the UAE has removed the VAT on #Bitcoin transfers and exchanges.

16.Seoul Bitcoin Meetup * Introduction Seoul Bitcoin is a community that hosts monthly Bitcoin meetups, offering education and technical support, especially for beginners. The meetups are organized by volunteers and focus on Bitcoin technology rather than trading or investing, aiming to share enthusiasm and knowledge about Bitcoin. In addition to regular meetups, the community conducts educational activities via platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Kakaotalk, and provides weekly technical meetups for those interested in a deeper understanding. * Latest Updates Recently,there have been no new updates from the community.The latest event dates back to may 2024, when it was announced that the Utreexo test version was released on GitHub, and the publisher mentioned syncing their archive node on a Raspberry Pi 0 .

17.NZBitcoiners nostr:npub1dtvk6tcay9drd7n7x25vl3h30eu6e590qwlysyan03pepvglc7jsupqwt2 * Introduction NZBitcoiners, after being banned from all crypto/blockchain groups in New Zealand, started a few Bitcoin-only groups to create a focused space for Bitcoin education and community building. These groups aim to foster meaningful discussions, share knowledge, and support the growth of the Bitcoin ecosystem in New Zealand, free from the distractions of other cryptocurrencies. * Latest Updates Recently, NZBitcoiners has been actively involved in organizing events and discussions related to Bitcoin and local governance. The community promoted the upcoming “Business Blueprint” event in Auckland and plans to participate in Bitcoin Week discussions scheduled for February next year. Additionally, they engaged in promoting local meetups, including gatherings at venues like Urbanaut Brewing Co. in Auckland, and continued to share thoughts on New Zealand's political landscape and the importance of Bitcoin for financial sovereignty.

18.Melbourne Bitcoin Only * Introduction Melbourne Bitcoin Only is a community focused solely on Bitcoin, excluding altcoins, ICOs, or “blockchain projects.” It aims to provide a space for learning and discussing Bitcoin-related topics. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced participant, the community is dedicated to education and fostering discussions about Bitcoin's technology, principles, and its role in the financial ecosystem. * Latest Updates Recently, there have been no new updates from the community. The latest event dates back to August 2023, when a post was shared about the Bitcoin Jungle Carnival held at the RSL Hall in Murrurundi.

19.Bitkiwi * Introduction Bitkiwi is New Zealand's leading Bitcoin community, publishing The Bitkiwi Brief to provide subscribers with the latest Bitcoin news and analysis. Their mission is to promote the adoption and understanding of Bitcoin in New Zealand, helping community members gain a deeper understanding of Bitcoin's technological, economic, and social impacts. * Latest Updates Recently, the Bitkiwi community has been releasing several editions of the Bitkiwi Brief, offering a New Zealand perspective on the latest Bitcoin news. They have also explored Bitcoin-related books, nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu Check Your Financial Privilege, and shared updates on #BitkiwiXII. Additionally, Bitkiwi provided in-depth analysis on Bitcoin's value and the impact of currency devaluation, while continuing to promote the revolutionary ideas of Bitcoin, emphasizing its equality and decentralization.

20.Bitcoin Sydney * Introduction Bitcoin Sydney is a vibrant community focused on bringing together Bitcoin enthusiasts through talks, educational events, and social meetups. Monthly Bitcoin-themed talks feature industry experts, while regular “After Work Drinks” offer informal networking opportunities. The community also hosts online “Socratic Seminars” with renowned Bitcoin developers for in-depth discussions. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced participant, Bitcoin Sydney provides a platform for learning, sharing, and connecting. * Latest Updates Recently, the community has shared an update, which hosted a Q&A session with local legends nostr:npub1qh5sal68c8swet6ut0w5evjmj6vnw29x3k967h7atn45unzjyeyq6ceh9r, nostr:npub1nul4qg8he2dyn3hsyk4a3vcr963vakskyjp43yv9dy7j9frd7yhqh28x3m, and discussed the impact of a Bitcoin-supportive White House and the resulting bull market.

@ d57360cb:4fe7d935

These no doubt have had profound effects on my life. If you undertake them consistently over years you’ll undergo change.

1. Reading. Read everything, eventually you’ll get curious and find what you enjoy. Your focus will improve.
2. Meditate. Finding peace in yourself is a cheat code. Then you can bring the peace with you anywhere you go.
3. Exercise. Build muscle, build cardio. You’ll feel better mentally and physically.
4. Recover. Make recovery your highest priority. Get enough sleep, spend less time on screen, clean up your diet, drink water, touch grass, play, and get some sun.
5. Buy Bitcoin, humbly ignore any alternative, hold strong.

This is the list. It’s basic, it’s simple, too good to be true.

It works, only if you stay the course.

@ a367f9eb:0633efea

I’ll admit that I was wrong about Bitcoin. Perhaps in 2013. Definitely 2017. Probably in 2018-2019. And maybe even today.

Being wrong about Bitcoin is part of finally understanding it. It will test you, make you question everything, and in the words of BTC educator and privacy advocate Matt Odell, “Bitcoin will humble you”.

I’ve had my own stumbles on the way.

In a very public fashion in 2017, after years of using Bitcoin, trying to start a company with it, using it as my primary exchange vehicle between currencies, and generally being annoying about it at parties, I let out the bear.

In an article published in my own literary magazine Devolution Review in September 2017, I had a breaking point. The article was titled “Going Bearish on Bitcoin: Cryptocurrencies are the tulip mania of the 21st century”.

It was later republished in Huffington Post and across dozens of financial and crypto blogs at the time with another, more appropriate title: “Bitcoin Has Become About The Payday, Not Its Potential”.

As I laid out, my newfound bearishness had little to do with the technology itself or the promise of Bitcoin, and more to do with the cynical industry forming around it:

In the beginning, Bitcoin was something of a revolution to me. The digital currency represented everything from my rebellious youth.

It was a decentralized, denationalized, and digital currency operating outside the traditional banking and governmental system. It used tools of cryptography and connected buyers and sellers across national borders at minimal transaction costs.

…

The 21st-century version (of Tulip mania) has welcomed a plethora of slick consultants, hazy schemes dressed up as investor possibilities, and too much wishy-washy language for anything to really make sense to anyone who wants to use a digital currency to make purchases.

While I called out Bitcoin by name at the time, on reflection, I was really talking about the ICO craze, the wishy-washy consultants, and the altcoin ponzis.

What I was articulating — without knowing it — was the frame of NgU, or “numbers go up”. Rather than advocating for Bitcoin because of its uncensorability, proof-of-work, or immutability, the common mentality among newbies and the dollar-obsessed was that Bitcoin mattered because its price was a rocket ship.

And because Bitcoin was gaining in price, affinity tokens and projects that were imperfect forks of Bitcoin took off as well.

The price alone — rather than its qualities — were the reasons why you’d hear Uber drivers, finance bros, or your gym buddy mention Bitcoin. As someone who came to Bitcoin for philosophical reasons, that just sat wrong with me.

Maybe I had too many projects thrown in my face, or maybe I was too frustrated with the UX of Bitcoin apps and sites at the time. No matter what, I’ve since learned something.

I was at least somewhat wrong.

My own journey began in early 2011. One of my favorite radio programs, Free Talk Live, began interviewing guests and having discussions on the potential of Bitcoin. They tied it directly to a libertarian vision of the world: free markets, free people, and free banking. That was me, and I was in. Bitcoin was at about $5 back then (NgU).

I followed every article I could, talked about it with guests on my college radio show, and became a devoted redditor on r/Bitcoin. At that time, at least to my knowledge, there was no possible way to buy Bitcoin where I was living. Very weak.

I was probably wrong. And very wrong for not trying to acquire by mining or otherwise.

The next year, after moving to Florida, Bitcoin was a heavy topic with a friend of mine who shared the same vision (and still does, according to the Celsius bankruptcy documents). We talked about it with passionate leftists at Occupy Tampa in 2012, all the while trying to explain the ills of Keynesian central banking, and figuring out how to use Coinbase.

I began writing more about Bitcoin in 2013, writing a guide on “How to Avoid Bank Fees Using Bitcoin,” discussing its potential legalization in Germany, and interviewing Jeremy Hansen, one of the first political candidates in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin donations.

Even up until that point, I thought Bitcoin was an interesting protocol for sending and receiving money quickly, and converting it into fiat. The global connectedness of it, plus this cypherpunk mentality divorced from government control was both useful and attractive. I thought it was the perfect go-between.

But I was wrong.

When I gave my first public speech on Bitcoin in Vienna, Austria in December 2013, I had grown obsessed with Bitcoin’s adoption on dark net markets like Silk Road.

My theory, at the time, was the number and price were irrelevant. The tech was interesting, and a novel attempt. It was unlike anything before. But what was happening on the dark net markets, which I viewed as the true free market powered by Bitcoin, was even more interesting. I thought these markets would grow exponentially and anonymous commerce via BTC would become the norm.

While the price was irrelevant, it was all about buying and selling goods without permission or license.

Now I understand I was wrong.

Just because Bitcoin was this revolutionary technology that embraced pseudonymity did not mean that all commerce would decentralize as well. It did not mean that anonymous markets were intended to be the most powerful layer in the Bitcoin stack.

What I did not even anticipate is something articulated very well by noted Bitcoin OG Pierre Rochard: Bitcoin as a savings technology.

The ability to maintain long-term savings, practice self-discipline while stacking stats, and embrace a low-time preference was just not something on the mind of the Bitcoiners I knew at the time.

Perhaps I was reading into the hype while outwardly opposing it. Or perhaps I wasn’t humble enough to understand the true value proposition that many of us have learned years later.

In the years that followed, I bought and sold more times than I can count, and I did everything to integrate it into passion projects. I tried to set up a company using Bitcoin while at my university in Prague.

My business model depended on university students being technologically advanced enough to have a mobile wallet, own their keys, and be able to make transactions on a consistent basis. Even though I was surrounded by philosophically aligned people, those who would advance that to actually put Bitcoin into practice were sparse.

This is what led me to proclaim that “Technological Literacy is Doomed” in 2016.

And I was wrong again.

Indeed, since that time, the UX of Bitcoin-only applications, wallets, and supporting tech has vastly improved and onboarded millions more people than anyone thought possible. The entrepreneurship, coding excellence, and vision offered by Bitcoiners of all stripes have renewed a sense in me that this project is something built for us all — friends and enemies alike.

While many of us were likely distracted by flashy and pumpy altcoins over the years (me too, champs), most of us have returned to the Bitcoin stable.

Fast forward to today, there are entire ecosystems of creators, activists, and developers who are wholly reliant on the magic of Bitcoin’s protocol for their life and livelihood. The options are endless. The FUD is still present, but real proof of work stands powerfully against those forces.

In addition, there are now dozens of ways to use Bitcoin privately — still without custodians or intermediaries — that make it one of the most important assets for global humanity, especially in dictatorships.

This is all toward a positive arc of innovation, freedom, and pure independence. Did I see that coming? Absolutely not.

Of course, there are probably other shots you’ve missed on Bitcoin. Price predictions (ouch), the short-term inflation hedge, or the amount of institutional investment. While all of these may be erroneous predictions in the short term, we have to realize that Bitcoin is a long arc. It will outlive all of us on the planet, and it will continue in its present form for the next generation.

Being wrong about the evolution of Bitcoin is no fault, and is indeed part of the learning curve to finally understanding it all.

When your family or friends ask you about Bitcoin after your endless sessions explaining market dynamics, nodes, how mining works, and the genius of cryptographic signatures, try to accept that there is still so much we have to learn about this decentralized digital cash.

There are still some things you’ve gotten wrong about Bitcoin, and plenty more you’ll underestimate or get wrong in the future. That’s what makes it a beautiful journey. It’s a long road, but one that remains worth it.

@ 20986fb8:cdac21b3

In this edition, we are pleased to speak with Luthando nostr:npub10vudmjqhr8kn2kv2pxhezt2h5t5c9zauwq8qr56nhdn64yacsqyqf08djm leader of the Bitcoin Ekasi community, about how they are using Bitcoin to transform payment systems, savings habits, and cross-border remittances in a South African township, while fostering digital currency education and boosting local economic trust.

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YakiHonne: Luthando. We really appreciate you coming in. YakiHonne is a decentralized media client built on the Nostr protocol that enables freedom of speech through technology. It empowers creators to create their own voice, assets, and features. It also allows features like smart widgets, verified notes, and focuses on long-form articles. today. we'll be exploring more about your community.Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What do you do, and what’s your role in your community?

Luthando：I’m Luthando, a project community leader at Bitcoin Ekasi. My role includes onboarding township shops to help them adopt Bitcoin as a payment method. I also manage staff records, tracking workdays and paid leave for team members involved in the project. Additionally, I conduct interviews and collaborate with a supervisor to share insights and experiences about Bitcoin. This work is part of my efforts with Bitcoin Ekasi.

YakiHonne: You're really doing a lot of work in the Bitcoin ecosystem，what sparked your interest in Bitcoin? And what motivated you to create a community around it?

Luthando：When I was working as a safety coach at Safeacase, Herman introduced me to Bitcoin. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Safeacase, which relied on donations, faced severe financial challenges. This led to the launch of the Bitcoin Ekasi Project, where I helped township shops adopt Bitcoin as a payment method. With limited funds, I transitioned from receiving a fiat salary to earning in Bitcoin. Bitcoin transformed my mindset, making me realize it is the future of money. This realization inspired me to travel the world and explore new countries.

YakiHonne: Great. I really admire the enthusiasm you have for Bitcoin.Can you share a brief history of how you built your community and attracted members? What methods or advertisements did you use to onboard them?

Luthando：We host monthly Bitcoin movie nights to engage the community, running from February to December starting next year. We promote the events with posters in town, shops, and clinics, inviting residents to join. During the movie nights, participants use Bitcoin we provide to purchase popcorn and drinks, gaining hands-on experience with the technology. Luthando：And our Bitcoin center features a thrift shop and a small Bitcoin ATM. Community members can exchange fiat for Bitcoin using the ATM and use it to purchase clothing from the shop. We also offer Bitcoin courses with 14 students attending classes five days a week. To encourage attendance, students are rewarded with Bitcoin for consistent participation. Similarly, in the “Safer Kids” program, children who maintain a 70% attendance rate or higher also receive Bitcoin rewards. Luthando：To further promote Bitcoin adoption in the community, we painted Bitcoin-themed logos on 34 shops and paid the owners in Bitcoin, which they can use in local shops. This initiative not only spreads awareness but also provides the community with practical opportunities to use Bitcoin.

YakiHonne: Yeah, we are pushing Bitcoin adoption so hard this time. It's really great.What principles guide your community, and how do you ensure trust and reliability in your discussions?

Luthando：I was born in eastern South Africa, and my parents moved here around 1996. The community knows me well and trusts that I wouldn’t introduce anything fraudulent. Since 2010, we’ve been working in this township, especially helping children, building over a decade of trust. I explain to the community that we aim to bring value through Bitcoin, encouraging them to save in Bitcoin instead of fiat. As a result, the community has great trust in our Bitcoin Ekasi team.

YakiHonne: How do you educate your members and keep them updated on Bitcoin developments? You mentioned having five weekly meetups to onboard members, but what other methods do you use to educate them and keep them informed about the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Luthando：We use the Felly app to communicate with community members and keep them updated. At the Ekasi Center, we host quizzes to encourage participation. For example, the first attendees can earn 5,000 sats, motivating them to regularly engage with the Felly app. Although we initially tried a few other methods that didn't really involve them getting Sats, its impact was limited as many people in the township seek quick financial returns and often don’t return after their first visit. To address this, we host movie nights as a more engaging way to promote Bitcoin education. During these events, we screen Bitcoin-related films, allowing community members to learn about Bitcoin in a fun and relaxed setting.

YakiHonne: It's truly captivating and highly insightful.How does your community collaborate with the global Bitcoin ecosystem? Specifically, how does it engage with the broader worldwide Bitcoin community, and which partnership has been of more significant impact on Bitcoin Ekasi?

Luthando：We have established a strong partnership with Bitcoin Beach, which provided crucial support in the creation of the Bitcoin Ekasi project. Currently, we are planning to build a community center in the township, earning the trust and support of both Bitcoin Beach and the local government of Mossel Bay. The community center will serve as a multifunctional space for events like weddings and more. As one of the earliest Bitcoin adoption projects in Africa, Bitcoin Ekasi has inspired other countries to follow suit, viewing us as a model for building sustainable Bitcoin communities.

YakiHonne: How do you collaborate with Bitcoin communities and organizations outside South Africa? What partnerships or interactions do you have with other global Bitcoin communities?

Luthando: We collaborate with other Bitcoin projects through community initiatives. For example, we paint logos on local community shops and pay the owners 7000Sats per week. This approach has helped us build connections with projects outside South Africa. One notable example is our assistance to the Bitcoin Dua project in Africa, helping them establish a Bitcoin circular economy. We also supported the Bitcoin Loxin project in Cape Town, South Africa, in launching their Bitcoin circular economy. Through these collaborations, we have developed strong relationships with other Bitcoin communities.

YakiHonne: We’d like to understand the challenges you faced when starting the community, as well as the challenges the community has encountered？

Luthando: One of the main challenges is convincing members that Bitcoin is not a scam. Many people are skeptical about Bitcoin, fearing they might lose their money. Additionally, saving is not a common habit within the community, even with fiat currency. I often explain the importance of saving in Bitcoin, emphasizing how it can safeguard their financial security. However, changing deeply ingrained mindsets has proven to be quite difficult. Another challenge is the limited level of education in the community. Even those who own smartphones often struggle to use them effectively. This lack of familiarity extends to using Bitcoin wallets, with many people finding it challenging to navigate wallet usage, especially in shops. Lastly, I feel like I’m working around the clock. Even outside of work hours, people come to my house seeking assistance, such as exchanging Bitcoin for fiat. While I’m happy to help, the constant demands can feel overwhelming at times, making it seem as though I’m working every day, including weekends.

YakiHonne: and how you managed to overcome them？

Luthando: Overcoming these challenges is not easy. I can't say that I've fully managed to resolve them, but I do my best to address them. Fortunately, I have a colleague who assists me, although he’s currently out of town. He helps manage some of the workload, especially in dealing with local community members and providing them with the support they need.

YakiHonne: I'm really interested in the issue of people thinking Bitcoin is a scam. Could you elaborate on that? What specific steps have you taken to demonstrate that Bitcoin is reliable and not a scam?

Luthando: Many shop owners initially believe Bitcoin is a scam and refuse to accept it. To address their doubts, I demonstrate Bitcoin's legitimacy through practical examples. First, I help them download a Bitcoin wallet and post about it on X, receiving small tips from Bitcoin enthusiasts worldwide. I then use these tips to showcase Bitcoin's real-world applications. For instance, I use Bitrefill to purchase mobile airtime or fuel vouchers for them, highlighting Bitcoin's utility in daily life. I also mention South African restaurants like Steers that accept Bitcoin and even place food orders using Bitcoin to show its usability. Additionally, I demonstrate withdrawing cash from a crypto ATM using Bitcoin, further proving that it is a reliable financial tool and not a scam.

YakiHonne: You've done a lot of work in South Africa. I can imagine the effort, the pain and the stress.What initiatives has the community taken to promote Bitcoin adoption, and what results have these efforts achieved?

Luthando: At first, I never imagined we would reach this point. Now, many people frequently come to my home to ask how to buy Bitcoin. For example, this week, a man from Nigeria wanted to purchase Bitcoin worth 5,000 units. I explained the process to him and recommended using a hardware wallet for securely storing large amounts of Bitcoin. He used to struggle with sending money back home, but now he has realized the convenience of Bitcoin. In October last year, I helped two stores owned by Nigerians adopt Bitcoin payments. Since then, this practice has spread within the community, and more people, especially shop owners, have developed an interest in Bitcoin. They ask about its low transaction fees and have recognized it as an efficient solution for cross-border remittances. Initially, some shop owners were skeptical about Bitcoin, but they eventually started saving with it. Today, many of them have accumulated significant Bitcoin savings for their families and children, and they often express their gratitude for introducing Bitcoin to the community. Overall, the Bitcoin adoption project has had a profound impact here. We have educated the community about Bitcoin’s long-term savings value, and many people are now satisfied with this initiative and optimistic about the future.

YakiHonne: It’s clear you’ve achieved tangible results from your efforts. Looking ahead, what are your community's goals for the next 6 to 12 months? How do you plan to achieve them?

Luthando: For Bitcoin Ekasi, one of our main goals is to establish a dedicated Bitcoin Ekasi Center. This center would serve as a hub to educate people about Bitcoin on a frequent basis. We have already started working with a local school in the township, recruiting students and introducing teachers to Bitcoin. Our vision is to integrate Bitcoin education into the school’s curriculum, similar to what has been done in El Salvador. By incorporating Bitcoin as part of their regular subjects, students can gain foundational knowledge about Bitcoin and its potential uses. Ultimately, we aim for teachers to become advocates who can confidently teach children about Bitcoin, empowering the next generation with essential financial literacy skills.

YakiHonne: Thank you so much! I think most of my questions have been answered. I’m really glad to see Bitcoin enthusiasts with a clear focus on Bitcoin. As you said, Bitcoin is the future, and I truly appreciate your enthusiasm for it.

Luthando: Bitcoin is truly the future. We want to see this township transformed into something more modern, rather than its current state. I hope to see more parents saving some Bitcoin for their children. In our community, most kids receive a monthly government allowance of $50 starting from the age of one. I often suggest to parents that they set aside half of that allowance to buy Bitcoin for their child. If they save consistently from age one to 18, the value could grow significantly as Bitcoin appreciates. I’m already doing this for my own child so that he will have savings as he grows up.

YakiHonne: Bitcoin is the future. Its value continues to grow steadily over time. Thank you so much for today’s conversation; we are truly honored. Your sharing of such rich experiences has been incredibly insightful for us. I’ve learned that using movie events to engage more people is an excellent idea, and we plan to start trying it out soon. Once again, thank you for your time and for sharing with us!

@ 1cb14ab3:95d52462

Originally written in October 2022 (Block: 757258 / USD: $20.1k / SatsDollar: 4961). Refined with slight edits for publishing on Nostr in December 2024 (Block: 875189 / USD: $106k / SatsDollar: 938 ). Banner image property of Hes. My journey down the rabbit hole has only intensified since the time of writing. Enjoy.

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The Bitcoin time perspective is wild. Reflecting on it has been profoundly eye-opening, and once it has been seen— there is no returning to our prior ways.

Ever since venturing down the rabbit hole that we call Bitcoin, I’ve started making significant life decisions and forming nuanced opinions on polarizing topics based on the implications of multi-generational timeframes. Before Bitcoin, I spent money recklessly, leading a fast-paced and impulsive lifestyle. Even in my early days of learning about Bitcoin, I hadn’t fully seen the light. I would still blow the occasional $500 bar tab or buy some flashy gadget I didn’t need. Living in the moment has its merits, but so does considering the time beyond our own lives. Now, I pause before purchases and decisions, always reflecting on how they might impact the future.

When your money isn’t constantly being devalued before your eyes, you start seeing the world differently. You begin saving for the future with confidence, knowing that no central authority can endlessly print away your hard-earned time and energy. Inflation doesn’t just erode purchasing power; it steals time. It destroys the hours, days, and years of effort represented by a lifetime of savings. When governments print money to prop up failing banks or fund inefficient ventures, the impact ripples through generations. Those at the bottom of the ladder are hit the hardest, their ability to save and plan for the future undermined by forces beyond their control. Decisions become focused on surviving today instead of thriving tomorrow, leaving little room to consider the long-term implications of our choices. This system creates a mindset where we are incentivized to spend now, instead of save for later—an unnatural phenomenon that most of us have accepted as normal.

For individuals who simply want to put away money for a rainy day, inflation is a relentless adversary. A dollar in 1900 has lost over 96% of its value. The countless hours of labor behind those savings have been stolen. Not only did the expansion of money destroy what they could buy, it stole our time and energy. Years of our lives—blood, sweat, and tears—washed away.

This isn’t just a historical problem—it’s a recurring one that occurs every decade or so and is accelerating. At an average inflation rate of 3%, the value of cash halves roughly every 23 years. This means that even modest inflation rates gradually diminish purchasing power over time, forcing individuals to chase speculative assets like stocks, real estate, and gold—not because they want to, but because they have no choice. Personal inflation rates differ depending on consumer habits, but a glance at rising prices reveals they often outpace the 2% annual rate reported by the government, which poses a significant problem for individua;s, as highlighted in the table below:

Corporations like McDonald’s understand this. Sitting on a prime corner lot in every major city is far smarter than stacking a pile of cash losing value. Even if the franchise is losing money, the building it operates in is guaranteed to “rise” in value over time. This mindset trickles down to everyday people. To protect themselves, they’re compelled to invest in assets—with real estate being the pinnacle savings instrument of our time. The financial system we’ve accepted as normal turns shelter into an investment vehicle and savings into a gamble.

But here’s the irony: real estate is a lousy store of value—which is what we are all truly seeking. Properties require constant maintenance. Without care, assets deteriorate. We’ve all seen abandoned theme parks and overgrown cities. We’ve all dealt with broken pipes and creaky floorboards. Why should saving our hard-earned wealth require us to become housing market experts, landlords, or property managers? Why should we pay financial advisors to manage stock portfolios full of companies whose values or practices we might not even believe in, just to beat inflation?

A flawed monetary system inflates bubbles in real estate and stocks, redirecting resources into speculative markets instead of productive investments. Imagine a world where people don’t have to read quarterly earnings reports after a long day of work to ensure their cash retains value. If the incentives driving these bubbles were removed, the financial landscape would dramatically shift. Inflation wouldn’t push people into markets like real estate or zombie companies; instead, they could focus on building or supporting businesses they genuinely care about. They could plan for the long term and make well-thought-out, rational decisions about their future.

Bitcoin takes this entire dynamic and flips it on its head. It isn’t a tool for speculation as often misunderstood. It is the best form of saving humanity has ever seen. Unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin’s fixed supply ensures scarcity, making it a refuge from the erosion of wealth caused by inflation. As weak currencies flow into stronger ones (a concept known as Gresham’s Law), Bitcoin’s role as a store of value becomes clearer. It’s not that Bitcoin has “gone up 19,000%”—it’s that people are exchanging weaker money for stronger money.

The implications of a world on a Bitcoin standard extend far beyond monetary policy. It offers something unprecedented: a tool for transferring the value of labor and energy across time and space. Unlike fiat, Bitcoin allows time to be preserved across generations. It isn’t just a hedge against inflation—it reintroduces the idea of saving with confidence, of being able to store wealth in a form of money that cannot be manipulated or devalued.

By saving in Bitcoin, individuals are no longer tethered to the uncertainties of fiat systems. The Bitcoin time perspective is about aligning our actions today with the future we want to build tomorrow. It’s about prioritizing long-term impact over short-term gains. When you embrace Bitcoin, you embrace a mindset that values time, energy, and the well-being of future generations. It’s not just a currency; it’s a revolution in thinking that will change you forever. The past, present, and future converge in this new paradigm, offering hope in an otherwise uncertain world.

Bitcoin isn’t a bubble; it’s a beacon.

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@ 2f5de000:2f9bcef1

This Week I immersed myself in Bitcoin from multiple angles-technical, societal and personal. The journey included a marathon 32-hours of listening to Rabbit Hole Recap (RHR), an essential resource for Bitcoin insights. It's worth noting that I started from the begining and plan to make my way through the whole catalogue. Marty and Matt's timestamps, along with contributions from their guests, served as my roadmap. Using Fountain to stream, I also streamed sats-a small but extraordinary feature that allows users to stacks sats while compensating cretors directly through fractional donations.

Revisiting Speculative Attack by Pierre Rochard (2014)

Now that Speculative Attack Season 2 (which I've not read yet) has been released. I took the time to read Pierre Rochards influential essay, Speculative Attack and reflected on its timeless insights. Rochard argues that Bitcoin adoption isn't dependent on technological advancements or consumer preferences, but on economic realities. As fiat currencies weaken, Bitcoin won't enter the mainstream by persuasion but by necessity.

Critics continue to underestimate Bitcoin's inevitability due to their fiat biases and lack of financial insight. This year alone, mainstream media has been compelled to discuss Bitcoin-notably to Trump's endorsement of 'crypto.' Despite their attempts to shape narratives to suit their ideal visions, they've had no choice but to engage with Bitcoin's growing influence.\ \ As Parker aptly puts it 'Gradually, The Suddenly'

Wassabi Wallet and the Privacy Imperative

An RHR interview (from early in the catalogue) with guest Adam Ficsor, CTO and Co-founder of Wassabi Wallet, sparked a deeper consideration of my digital footprint. Like many, I've spent years online neglecting privacy in favour of convenience. The discussion on CoinJoins reminded me of the importance of prioritising privacy, not just romanticising it.

Improving operational security (opsec) is now a personal focus. Resources like Jameson's Cypherpunk Cogitations and the Bitcoin Optech newsletter offer valuable guidance. While I've exercised caution, I recognise a need to address my laziness with opsec and take meaningful steps to protect my privacy. Time will reveal the results of these efforts.

Caribbean Slavery amd Centralised Platforms

While exploring historical systems of control, I delved into the brutal realities of New World slavery in the British Caribbean. Enslaved elites, like drivers, were granted limited privileges to maintain order, creating divisions within the community. This divide-and-rule strategy highlights the fragility of oppressive frameworks, which began to crumble with events like the Hatian Revolution and humanitarian activism.

Interestingly, similar dynamics are visible with centralised plaforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Verified accounts (the "blue checks") act as mordern day 'elites' with perceived freedoms. However, their autonomy is limited by the platforms centralised authority. Challenging the rules risks censorship and cancellation, proving their freedom is an illusion subject to the will of their overseers. Enhancing the argument further for protocols like Nostr to help people win back their freedoms.

@ 2063cd79:57bd1320

Der Mempool ist voll. Voller als das Rosenrot an Heiligabend. Dies bedeutet in erster Linie hohe Transaktionsgebühren für On-Chain-Transaktionen. Doch auch während der Mempool verstopft ist, wie der Gotthardtunnel in der Urlaubssaison, bietet Bitcoins Layer 2 Lösung - das Lightning Netzwerk - schnelle und günstige Zahlungen, um Bitcoins Skalierungsgrenze zu überbrücken. Gerade in Zeiten von hohen Transaktionsgebühren und einem Mempool, der voller ist als Til Schweiger nach 13 Uhr, werden kleine Zahlungen, die On-Chain getätigt werden, immer unökonomischer und Lightning Zahlungen dadurch attraktiver.

Doch nicht jede/r Nutzer//in möchte auch gleichzeitig eine Lightning-Node betreiben, um in den Genuss zu kommen Lightning zu benutzen. In diesem Fall bieten Lightning Service Provider (LSP) und verschiedene Apps Abhilfe. Es gibt viele verschiedene Anbieter und viele verschiedene Varianten das gleiche Problem umzusetzen: Der/die Nutzer//in möchte mit möglichst wenig Aufwand Lightning benutzen und muss dazu seine/ihre Lightning Wallet zunächst erstmal mit (On-Chain) Bitcoin füttern. Das Umwandeln von L1 Bitcoin zu L2 Bitcoin übernimmt dann die Software. Aber auch andersherum kann es sein, dass Nutzer//innen viele Lightning Zahlungen erhalten und die gesammelten Sats gerne in L1 Bitcoin tauschen möchten. Um diesen Tauschvorgang abzuwickeln gibt es verschiedene Methoden. Eine dieser Methoden sind sogenannte Submarine Swaps.

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Erstmal vorab: Bitcoin ist Bitcoin, ob On-Chain auf der Basisschicht (Layer 1), oder Off-Chain auf der zweiten Schicht (Layer 2) in Form von Lightning. Man könnte es mit Bargeld vergleichen: Geld auf dem Konto kann problemlos hin- und hergeschoben werden, man kann es auf andere Konten schieben, Überweisungen tätigen oder Depots bezahlen. Wenn man allerdings Bargeld in der Tasche haben will, muss man eine Brücke von der digitalen Kontenwelt in die analoge Bargeldwelt schlagen. Diese Brücke stellen Bankautomaten, Supermarktkassen oder Bankschalter dar, oder eben jede Stelle, an der man Bargeld abheben kann. Das Geldmittel bleibt dabei das gleiche, es verändert nur seinen Aggregatzustand. So kann man Bitcoin in Lightning auch beschreiben, denn Bitcoin bleibt Bitcoin, es hat nur seinen Aggregatzustand temporär verändert. Auf der einen Seite sind also On-Chain-Transaktionen oder Layer 1 (L1) Zahlungen, auf der anderen Seite werde ich von Off-Chain- oder Lightning-Zahlungen oder Layer 2 (L2) und Sats sprechen.

Refresher

Im Bitcoin Stack gibt es verschiedene aufeinander aufbauende Layer und Bitcoin - das Netzwerk - bildet dabei die Grundschicht, das Fundament, auf dem weitere Schichten aufbauen. Bitcoin braucht zusätzlichen Protokolle und Netzwerke, um einen hohen Transaktionsdurchsatz und zukünftiges Wachstum zu gewährleisten. Das bedeutet ganz einfach, dass die Leistung und Geschwindigkeit der Blockchain und der darauf erfolgenden Transaktionen nicht darunter leidet, wenn mehr Nutzer//innen und höhere Transaktionsmengen hinzukommen. Denn Bitcoin selbst ist nicht skalierbar. Die Blockgröße ist begrenzt, die Blockzeit wird auf 10 Minuten geeicht und zusätzlich aufgewendete Energie verschnellert die Erstellung neuer Blöcke nicht, macht sie nicht günstiger und auch nicht effizienter.

Layer 2, also die zweite Schicht, beschreibt Anwendungen und Protokolle, die auf der Basis des ersten Layers, der originären Bitcoin Blockchain, aufbauen. Diese Anwendungen sind unabhängig von Bitcoin insofern, als dass sie den Ablauf und den Code von Bitcoin nicht direkt beeinflussen, das Bitcoin Protokoll bleibt dabei unangetastet. Allerdings erlauben sie dem/der Nutzer//in einen Umgang mit Bitcoin und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten, die über die nativen Funktionen von Bitcoin hinausgehen und fördern somit das Ökosystem rund um Bitcoin.

Lightning, die bekannteste Layer 2 Lösung, basiert auf einem Peer-to-Peer-System zur Durchführung von Mikrozahlungen über ein Mesh-Netzwerk von bidirektionalen Zahlungskanälen. Genau wie bei Bitcoin können bei Lightning eigene Netzwerkknoten betrieben und somit eigene Zahlungskanäle verwaltet werden.

Diese Zahlungskanäle ermöglichen es den Teilnehmer//innen, sich gegenseitig Geld zu überweisen, ohne alle ihre Transaktionen auf der Bitcoin-Blockchain öffentlich machen zu müssen. Zahlungskanäle werden geöffnet und die Blockchain sperrt in diesem Moment die verwendeten Bitcoins für die weitere Verwendung, und in Lightning wird nur der Gegenwert dieser Bitcoins gehandelt. Immer wenn Zahlungskanäle geschlossen werden, werden diese Transaktionen auf die Bitcoin Blockchain übertragen. Lightning-Zahlungen können auch über direkte Kanäle hinaus an andere Teilnehmer gesendet werden, da viele aufeinanderfolgende Kanäle miteinander verkettet werden können und sich eine Zahlung den besten Weg durch die Knotenpunkte dieses weitverzweigten P2P-Netzwerks sucht.

Anders als bei Bitcoin, muss der/die Betreiber//in eines Lightning-Knotens aktiv seine/ihre Kanäle und damit seine/ihre Liquidität managen. Es muss immer genug inbound (eingehend) und genug outbound (ausgehend) Liquidität zur Verfügung stehen, um Zahlungen sowohl zu tätigen als auch zu erhalten. Dies erfordert ein gewisses Verständnis und einen Verwaltungsaufwand, den nicht jede/r Nutzer//in bereit ist aufzubringen, da Kanäle (noch) jederzeit auf ihre Balance überwacht werden müssen.

Submarine Swaps erleichtern die Verwaltung der Liquidität dieser Lightning-Knoten. Sie können dabei helfen, eingehende Liquidität zu erhalten und Kanäle wieder aufzufüllen, wenn die Kapazität erschöpft ist, oder Tageseinnahmen in On-Chain Bitcoin umzuwandeln, um diese in Eigenverwahrung zu schützen.

Das Hauptproblem bei den verschiedenen Schichten im Bitcoin-Stack besteht darin, dass Transaktionen zwischen On-Chain-Bitcoin-Adressen (L1) und Off-Chain-Lightning-Adressen (L2) nicht direkt kompatibel sind. Man kann nicht einfach eine Lightning-Transaktion an jemanden senden, der Lightning nicht verwendet, sondern "nur" Bitcoin, oder umgekehrt. Diese Trennung schafft eine Barriere zwischen der Bitcoin-Blockchain und den Layer 2 Protokollen.

Submarine Swaps ermöglichen den direkten Austausch von Vermögenswerten zwischen Bitcoin (L1) und dem Lightning-Netzwerk (L2). Submarine Swaps sind eine spezielle Art von Atomic Swaps, die ohne Verwahrungsrisiko oder Counterparty Risk durchgeführt werden können.

Atomic Swaps

Atomic Swaps wurden eigentlich erfunden, um den Handel von Vermögenswerten zwischen zwei Blockchains mit unterschiedlichen Coins durchzuführen, heute bekannt als On-Chain Atomic Swap. Ein Beispiel wäre der direkte Austausch von Dogecoin oder Litecoin mit Bitcoin. Mit der Entwicklung und Einführung von Layer 2 Protokollen wurden Atomic Swaps schnell auch für Off-Chain-Transaktionen verwendet, ergo Off-Chain Atomic Swaps.

Was bedeutet dies in der Praxis? Ganz einfach dargestellt nehmen wir an, Person 1 und Person 2 wollen Bitcoin gegen Lightning-Bitcoin eintauschen. Person 1 hat einen bitcoin und bevorzugt 100.000.000 Sats im Lightning Netzwerk (🔗➡️⚡), da sie oft viele kleine Transaktionen tätigt, Person 2 hat 100.000.000 Sats im Lightning Netzwerk und würde gerne in On-Chain-Bitcoin tauschen (⚡➡️🔗), um ihr Erspartes in Selbstverwahrung zu verschieben. Wir nehmen auch an, dass Person 1 und Person 2 keine Lightning-Nodes oder Apps besitzen, die diesen Vorgang für sie automatisch übernehmen, es soll hier einfach die Transaktion verdeutlicht werden.

Um den Austausch durchzuführen, erstellt Person 2 zunächst eine Geheimzahl, einen Wert. Aus diesem Wert generiert sie dann auch einen Hash und sendet diesen Hash an Person 1, ohne den verborgenen Wert zu teilen. Dann erstellt Person 2 eine Transaktion und sperrt 100.000.000 Sats. Diese Sats können nur auf zwei Arten entsperrt werden. Entweder kann Person 1 mit Hilfe des ihr bekannten Werts die Sats einfordern, oder Person 2 kann ihre Sats nach Ablauf eines festgelegten Zeitraums (Anzahl von Blöcken) wieder zurückholen.

Im Moment können weder Person 1 noch Person 2 die Sats beanspruchen, da Person 1 den geheimen Wert nicht kennt (nur den Hash), und Person 2 kann die Sats nicht beanspruchen, da der Zeitraum noch nicht verstrichen ist. Diese zeitlich beschränkten Verträge nennt man Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLC).

Gleichzeitig erstellt Person 1 ihre Transaktion, die einen bitcoin sperrt. Der in dieser Transaktion gesperrte bitcoin kann auch wiederum nur auf zwei Arten eingefordert werden. Entweder kann Person 2 mit Hilfe des bekannten Werts den bitcoin einfordern, oder Person 1 holt sich ihren bitcoin zurück, nachdem der festgelegte Zeitraum verstrichen ist.

Beide Parteien haben also ihren jeweiligen Gegenwert für sich selbst gesperrt und für den anderen freigegeben, aber nur solange die Transaktion von beiden Seiten (in dem festgelegten Zeitraum) durchgeführt wird. Denn in dem Moment, in dem Person 2 den bitcoin einfordert, stellt sie Person 1 auch ihren geheimen Wert zur Verfügung, sodass sie die 100.000.000 Sats ausgezahlt bekommt. Für diese Transaktion zwischen zwei Parteien bedarf es keines Dritten. Lediglich die genutzten Smart-Contracts begünstigen diesen vertrauenslosen Handel, einen Atomic Swap zwischen dem Bitcoin-On-Chain und dem Bitcoin-Off-Chain-Lightning-Netzwerk.

Zurück zu Submarine Swaps

Ich möchte nochmal hervorheben, dass es sich um eine sehr vereinfachte Darstellung der Funktionsweise handelt, allerdings wollte ich auf abstrakte WEise erklären, wie diese SmartContracts funktionieren, ohne auf dem gleichen Protokoll zu laufen. Was bei Lightning-Lösungen zu Reibungen führt, ist das Verwalten von Kanälen, denn diese können aufgebraucht werden oder müssen neu ausbalanciert werden, wenn Nutzer//innen überwiegend Zahlungen empfangen oder versenden. Die größten Einschränkungen der aktuellen Lightning-Implementierung stellen das Öffnen und Schließen dieser Kanäle dar, da es dafür Transaktionsgebühren bedarf und eine gewisse Menge Bitcoin eingefroren wird, um einen Kanal zu öffnen. Dies bedeutet, dass ein Problem zwischen Lightning und On-Chain Bitcoin darin besteht, Gelder in und aus den beiden Umgebungen zu bekommen, ohne Kanäle öffnen und schließen zu müssen (um Kosten und Zeit zu sparen). Des Weiteren können Kanäle aufgebraucht werden, wenn Zahlungen hauptsächlich abfließen und es müssen neue Kanäle geöffnet werden, um die Nutzung fortzusetzen, obwohl im Wesentlichen unbegrenzte Transaktionen innerhalb eines Kanals gesendet werden können, solange die Netto Ein- und Ausgänge relativ stabil bleiben.

Die Verwaltung von Kanälen kostet On-Chain-Transaktionsgebühren und ist umso teurer, wenn der Mempool voller ist, als Johnny Depp nach der Trennung, was es unbequem, ineffizient und teuer macht, mehrere Kanäle wiederholt zu öffnen.

Submarine Swaps ermöglichen es, On-Chain Bitcoin in Off-Chain Bitcoin (🔗➡️⚡)- oder umgekehrt (⚡➡️🔗) - umzuwandeln. Sie basieren auf der gleichen Art von Bitcoin Smart-Contract wie Atomic Swaps, HTLCs, da diese sowohl On-Chain- als auch Off-Chain-Transaktionen umfassen können. Der Vorteil bei dieser Lösung liegt darin, dass HTLCs auch bei der Verkettung von Kanälen und Zahlungen verwendet werden und somit das Hauptkonstrukt für den Geldtransfer über das Lightning Netzwerk bilden. So wird Nutzer//innen und Wallet-Anbietern ermöglicht, Gelder vom Bitcoin-L1-Netzwerk direkt an das Lightning-Netzwerk oder andersrum vom Lightning-Netzwerk an das Bitcoin-L1-Netzwerk zu senden, ohne einen Drittanbieterdienst zu nutzen.

Damit bergen Submarine Swaps kein Counterparty Risiko und können ohne zusätzliche Barrieren wie Hintergrundprüfungen oder vertragliche Vereinbarungen durchgeführt werden. Entweder tauschen die beiden Parteien erfolgreich ihre Vermögenswerte aus, oder der Tausch findet nach Ablauf des festgelegten Zeitraums nicht statt. Aber zu keinem Zeitpunkt ist eine der Parteien in der Lage, mit den Einlagen der anderen Seite davonzukommen.

Die im Submarine Swap verwendete Form von HTLC-Smart-Contracts nennt man auch Swap-Provider und kann von einem Drittanbieter verwaltet werden, ist aber ein Smart Contract auf der Blockchain.Bekannte Implementierungen von Submarine Swaps direkt ins Endprodukt sind Lightning Wallets, wie Muun oder Breez.

Muun

Die Muun-Wallet ist notorisch dafür bekannt, eigentlich kein "echtes" Lightning-Wallet zu sein, denn alle Guthaben werden On-Chain in der Blockchain verwaltet. Die Muun-Wallet öffnet keine Kanäle für jeden Nutzer und verwendet stattdessen Submarine Swaps für Lightning-Zahlungen, was bedeutet, dass jedes Mal, wenn gesendet oder empfangen wird, eine On-Chain-Transaktion durchgeführt werden muss (und somit auch On-Chain-Gebühren anfallen). Dies bedeutet auch, dass Muun erstmal in Vorkasse geht, um schnelle Zahlungen aufrecht zu erhalten und ggf. Lightning-Zahlungen auf eine Blockbestätigung warten müssen, wenn Muun entscheidet, dass diese Transaktion ein zu hohes Risiko hat, unbestätigt ersetzt zu werden.

Der Vorteil dieses Ansatzes liegt darin, dass ein einheitlicher Kontostand dargestellt werden kann, der sowohl On-Chain- als auch Lightning-Transaktionen ermöglicht. Allerdings ist es nicht besonders einleuchtend, warum man sowohl L1 und L2 in einer Wallet verbinden muss, vor allem, wenn es bedeutet, dass sowohl Anbieter als auch Kunden potenziell höheren Gebühren ausgesetzt sind.

Breez

Ein weiterer Lightning-Wallet-Anbieter ist Breez. Auch hier werden Submarine Swaps genutzt, allerdings nur um Liquidität zu erzeugen. Denn obwohl L1-Bitcoin Zahlungen in Breez gespeichert werden können, bietet die Wallet die Möglichkeit, On-Chain-Bitcoin-Gelder über Submarine Swaps auf die Lightning-Wallet zu verschieben (🔗➡️⚡). Submarine Swaps werden in erster Linie verwendet, um eine einfache Benutzeroberfläche bereitzustellen. Das ermöglicht Breez vor allem auch, weniger Kanäle für seine Nutzer zu verwalten.

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Das Lightning-Netzwerk, aber auch alle andere Layer 2 Lösungen, sind unabdinglich, wenn es darum geht Bitcoin als Zahlungsmittel möglichst reibungslos, benutzfreundlich und vorallem günstig zu gestalten. Allerdings besteht immernoch ein Reibungspunkt zwischen L1 und L2 und dem verschieben von Geldwerten zwischen diesen beiden Schichten. Submarine Swaps sind eine Methode diese Reibung zu verringern, da sie Entwicklern die Möglichkeit bieten benutzerfreundliche Konzepte umzusetzen, die es ermöglichen Lightning-Wallets und -Services so zu programmieren, dass dem/der Nutzer//in der Transfer von Aggregatszuständen nicht bewusst wird.

Natürlich besteht auch die Möglichkeit diese Swaps selbst durchzuführen. Dafür gibt es viele Dienste, mit denen man einen Handel (Swap) durchführen kann. Einige Anbieter können sogar genutzt werden, um ein wenig Profit zu erzielen, denn manche Anbieter lassen sich Vorabliquidität in Form von On-Chain Bitcoin etwas kosten.

🫳🎤

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In diesem Sinne, 2... 1... Risiko!‌

@ b34b4408:acfb9667

เฮลิโอเทอราปีคืออะไร?

เฮลิโอเทอราปี (Heliotherapy) หรือการบำบัดด้วยแสงแดด เป็นศาสตร์การแพทย์ที่มีมาแต่โบราณ ชาวกรีกและโรมันใช้แสงแดดในการรักษาโรคและบำรุงสุขภาพ แนวคิดนี้ไม่ใช่เรื่องงมงาย แต่มีหลักการทางวิทยาศาสตร์รองรับ โดยเฉพาะในด้านผลของแสงแดดต่อการทำงานของร่างกายมนุษย์

กลไกการทำงานของเฮลิโอเทอราปี

การกระตุ้นการสร้างวิตามินดี

• แสง UVB ที่มีความยาวคลื่น 290-315 นาโนเมตร จะกระตุ้นให้ผิวหนังเปลี่ยน 7-dehydrocholesterol เป็น previtamin D3
• Previtamin D3 จะถูกเปลี่ยนเป็น vitamin D3 ด้วยความร้อนจากร่างกาย
• Vitamin D3 จะถูกตับเปลี่ยนเป็น 25-hydroxyvitamin D
• ไตจะเปลี่ยน 25-hydroxyvitamin D เป็น 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D ซึ่งเป็นรูปแบบที่ใช้งานได้
• กระบวนการนี้ส่งผลต่อ:
• การดูดซึมแคลเซียมและฟอสฟอรัสที่ลำไส้
• การสร้างและซ่อมแซมกระดูก
• การทำงานของระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน

การปรับสมดุลฮอร์โมน

• การกระตุ้นเซโรโทนิน:
• แสงสว่างผ่านดวงตาไปกระตุ้น Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
• SCN ส่งสัญญาณไปยัง Pineal Gland
• เพิ่มการผลิตเซโรโทนินในช่วงกลางวัน

• ลดการเปลี่ยนเซโรโทนินเป็นเมลาโทนิน

• การควบคุมเมลาโทนิน:

• ช่วงมีแสงสว่าง จะยับยั้งการผลิตเมลาโทนิน
• เมื่อไม่มีแสง จะเริ่มผลิตเมลาโทนิน
• ช่วยควบคุมวงจรการนอนหลับ

• ส่งผลต่อการทำงานของระบบเมตาบอลิซึม

• การปรับระดับคอร์ติซอล:

• แสงสว่างช่วยกระตุ้นการหลั่งคอร์ติซอลตามธรรมชาติ
• ช่วยให้ร่างกายตื่นตัวในช่วงเช้า
• ควบคุมระดับน้ำตาลในเลือด
• มีผลต่อการตอบสนองต่อความเครียด

ผลต่อระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน

• การกระตุ้นเซลล์ภูมิคุ้มกัน:
• เพิ่มการผลิต T-lymphocytes
• กระตุ้นการทำงานของ Natural Killer cells

• เพิ่มประสิทธิภาพของ macrophages

• การควบคุมการอักเสบ:

• ลดการผลิต pro-inflammatory cytokines
• เพิ่มการผลิต anti-inflammatory compounds

• ช่วยควบคุมการตอบสนองของระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน

• การเสริมสร้างการป้องกัน:

• กระตุ้นการสร้าง antimicrobial peptides
• เพิ่มความสามารถในการต่อต้านเชื้อโรค
• ช่วยในการซ่อมแซมเนื้อเยื่อ

ผลต่อผิวหนัง

• การกระตุ้นเม็ดสีเมลานิน:
• ป้องกันการทำลาย DNA จากรังสี UV
• ช่วยกรองแสง UV ที่เป็นอันตราย

• ปรับสีผิวให้เข้มขึ้นเพื่อป้องกัน

• การซ่อมแซมเซลล์:

• กระตุ้นกระบวนการ DNA repair
• เพิ่มการผลิต collagen
• ช่วยในการรักษาแผลและการอักเสบ

ผลต่อระบบประสาท

• การกระตุ้นการทำงานของสมอง:
• เพิ่มการไหลเวียนเลือดในสมอง
• กระตุ้นการผลิตสารสื่อประสาท

• ปรับปรุงความสามารถในการจดจำ

• การควบคุมอารมณ์:

• ลดความเครียดผ่านการปรับสมดุลฮอร์โมน
• ช่วยลดอาการซึมเศร้า
• เพิ่มความรู้สึกผ่อนคลาย

การประยุกต์ใช้เฮลิโอเทอราปีในการรักษาโรค

โรคผิวหนัง

• โรคสะเก็ดเงิน (Psoriasis)

• กลไก: แสง UV ช่วยลดการเพิ่มจำนวนของเซลล์ผิวหนังที่ผิดปกติ

• ผลการรักษา: ลดความหนาของรอยโรค ลดอาการคัน ลดการอักเสบ

• โรคผื่นภูมิแพ้ผิวหนัง (Atopic Dermatitis)

• กลไก: ลดการทำงานของเซลล์ภูมิคุ้มกันที่ทำให้เกิดการอักเสบ

• ผลการรักษา: บรรเทาอาการคัน ลดการอักเสบ ผิวหนังแข็งแรงขึ้น

• โรคด่างขาว (Vitiligo)

• กลไก: กระตุ้นการทำงานของเซลล์สร้างเม็ดสี

• ผลการรักษา: กระตุ้นการสร้างเม็ดสีในบริเวณที่เป็นด่างขาว

• สิวอักเสบ (acne)

• กลไก : แสง UV ช่วยฆ่าเชื้อแบคทีเรีย
• ผลการรักษา : ลดการอักเสบ และส่งเสริมเชื้อดีที่ผิว

ปัญหาสุขภาพจิต

• ภาวะซึมเศร้าตามฤดูกาล (SAD)

• ความถี่: ทุกวัน โดยเฉพาะในฤดูหนาว/ฝน
• กลไก: กระตุ้นการผลิตเซโรโทนิน ปรับสมดุลเมลาโทนิน

• ผลการรักษา: ลดอาการซึมเศร้า เพิ่มพลังงาน ปรับปรุงการนอน

• ปัญหาการนอนไม่หลับ หรือ อาการเจ็ทแล็ก (Jet lag)

• ความถี่: ทุกวัน
• กลไก: ปรับนาฬิกาชีวภาพ ควบคุมการผลิตเมลาโทนิน

• ผลการรักษา: ช่วยให้นอนหลับง่ายขึ้น ปรับวงจรการนอน

• ความเครียดและวิตกกังวล

• วิธีการ: รับแสงแดดอ่อนๆ พร้อมการเดินหรือทำสมาธิ
• กลไก: เพิ่มการผลิตเซโรโทนิน ลดระดับคอร์ติซอล
• ผลการรักษา: ลดความเครียด เพิ่มความรู้สึกผ่อนคลาย

โรคกระดูกและข้อ

• ภาวะกระดูกพรุน

• วิธีการ: รับแสงแดด เน้นช่วงข้อแขนขาที่มีอาการ
• กลไก: เพิ่มการสร้างวิตามินดี ช่วยดูดซึมแคลเซียม

• ผลการรักษา: ชะลอการสูญเสียมวลกระดูก เพิ่มความแข็งแรง

• การอักเสบของข้อ/โรคกระดูกอ่อน (Rickets)/เก็าท์ /รูมาตอยด์

• วิธีการ: รับแสงแดดบริเวณข้อที่มีปัญหา
• กลไก: ลดการอักเสบ เพิ่มการไหลเวียนเลือด
• ผลการรักษา: ลดอาการปวด เพิ่มความยืดหยุ่น

โรคระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน

• ภูมิแพ้ (Allergies)

• กลไก: ปรับการตอบสนองของระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน
• ผลการรักษา: ลดความรุนแรงของอาการแพ้

- โรคภูมิคุ้มกันทำลายตัวเอง

• กลไก: ปรับสมดุลระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน ลดการอักเสบ
• ผลการรักษา: ลดความรุนแรงของอาการ ยืดระยะเวลาระหว่างการกำเริบ

ระบบเมตาบอลิซึม

- การควบคุมน้ำหนัก

• วิธีการ: รับแสงแดด พร้อมการเดินเบาๆ
• กลไก:
  • กระตุ้นการทำงานของต่อมไทรอยด์
  • เพิ่มการเผาผลาญไขมันสีน้ำตาล (Brown Fat)
  • ปรับสมดุลฮอร์โมนที่เกี่ยวข้องกับความหิว

• ผลการรักษา:

  • เพิ่มอัตราการเผาผลาญพื้นฐาน
  • ควบคุมความอยากอาหารได้ดีขึ้น
  • ลดการสะสมไขมัน

• การควบคุมน้ำตาลในเลือด

• วิธีการ: รับแสงแดดหลังอาหาร
• กลไก:
  • เพิ่มความไวต่ออินซูลิน
  • ปรับการทำงานของเซลล์ตับอ่อน
  • ควบคุมการหลั่งฮอร์โมนที่เกี่ยวข้องกับน้ำตาล

• ผลการรักษา:

  • ระดับน้ำตาลในเลือดคงที่มากขึ้น
  • ลดความเสี่ยงภาวะน้ำตาลต่ำ/สูง
  • เพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการใช้น้ำตาลของเซลล์

• การทำงานของตับ

• กลไก:
  • กระตุ้นการสร้างเอนไซม์ในตับ
  • เพิ่มการไหลเวียนเลือดที่ตับ
  • ช่วยในกระบวนการดีท็อกซ์

• ผลการรักษา:

  • เพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการทำงานของตับ
  • ลดการสะสมไขมันในตับ
  • ช่วยการขจัดสารพิษ

• ระบบย่อยอาหาร

• กลไก:
  • กระตุ้นการผลิตน้ำย่อย
  • ปรับสมดุลแบคทีเรียในลำไส้
  • เพิ่มการเคลื่อนไหวของลำไส้
• ผลการรักษา:
  • ระบบย่อยอาหารทำงานดีขึ้น
  • ลดอาการท้องอืด ท้องเฟ้อ
  • เพิ่มการดูดซึมสารอาหาร

ข้อควรระวังในการรักษา: - ปรึกษาผู้เชี่ยวชาญหรือผู้ที่เข้าใจเรื่อง Heliotherapy หากมีโรคประจำตัว - เริ่มจากระยะเวลาสั้นๆ แล้วค่อยๆ เพิ่ม - ควรสวมเสื้อผ้าที่เปิดผิวหนังให้สัมผัสแสงแดดโดยตรง - ไม่ควรทาครีมกันแดดในบริเวณที่ต้องการรับการรักษา - หากมีอาการผิวแดง ร้อนผิว ให้หยุดรับแสงแดด - หยุดทันทีเมื่อมีอาการแพ้หรือระคายเคือง - ระวังเป็นพิเศษในผู้ที่มีประวัติแพ้แดด

ความจริงที่ถูกบิดเบือน: ทำไมเราถึงกลัวแดด?

อิทธิพลของอุตสาหกรรมความงามและการแพทย์

อุตสาหกรรมเครื่องสำอางและผลิตภัณฑ์ดูแลผิว

• ตลาดผลิตภัณฑ์กันแดด
• มูลค่าตลาดทั่วโลกกว่า 50,000 ล้านดอลลาร์
• อัตราการเติบโตเฉลี่ย 8-10% ต่อปี
• ผลิตภัณฑ์หลากหลายระดับราคา

• การพัฒนาสูตรใหม่ๆ เพื่อสร้างความต้องการ

• กลยุทธ์การสร้างความต้องการ

• การโฆษณาที่สร้างความกลัว

  • ใช้ภาพก่อน-หลังที่เกินจริง
  • นำเสนอผลการวิจัยแบบเลือกข้าง
  • สร้างความกังวลเรื่องริ้วรอยและความชรา
  • ใช้คำศัพท์ทางวิทยาศาสตร์ที่ซับซ้อน

• การสร้างความเชื่อผิดๆ

  • "ต้องทาครีมกันแดดทุกวัน แม้อยู่ในร่ม"
  • "ยิ่ง SPF สูง ยิ่งดี"
  • "แสงแดดเป็นสาเหตุหลักของริ้วรอย"
  • "ผิวขาวเท่านั้นที่สวยและดูดี"

อุตสาหกรรมอาหารเสริม

• ตลาดผลิตภัณฑ์วิตามินดี
• การเติบโตของตลาดอาหารเสริมวิตามินดี
• การผลักดันให้ใช้อาหารเสริมแทนแสงแดด
• ราคาที่สูงเกินความจำเป็น

• การสร้างความเชื่อว่าอาหารเสริมปลอดภัยกว่า

• กลยุทธ์ทางการตลาด

• การใช้ผู้เชี่ยวชาญทางการแพทย์รับรอง
• การนำเสนอผลการวิจัยที่สนับสนุนผลิตภัณฑ์
• การสร้างความกลัวเรื่องการขาดวิตามินดี
• การเชื่อมโยงกับปัญหาสุขภาพต่างๆ

อุตสาหกรรมการแพทย์และความงาม

• คลินิกผิวพรรณและความงาม
• การให้บริการทรีตเมนต์หลบแดด
• การรักษาผิวคล้ำเสียจากแดด
• การฉีดวิตามินและอาหารเสริม

• ทรีตเมนต์ฟื้นฟูผิวราคาแพง

• การแพทย์เฉพาะทาง

• การรักษาผิวหนังที่เน้นยาและเคมีภัณฑ์
• การผ่าตัดและเลเซอร์เพื่อความขาว
• การรักษาริ้วรอยด้วยวิธีราคาแพง
• การละเลยวิธีธรรมชาติบำบัด

เครือข่ายผลประโยชน์ทางธุรกิจ

• ความเชื่อมโยงระหว่างอุตสาหกรรม
• บริษัทยาที่ผลิตทั้งครีมกันแดดและอาหารเสริม
• คลินิกที่จำหน่ายผลิตภัณฑ์ของตัวเอง
• การร่วมมือระหว่างผู้เชี่ยวชาญและบริษัทผลิตภัณฑ์

• เครือข่ายการตลาดและการโฆษณา

• ผลประโยชน์ทับซ้อน

• ผู้เชี่ยวชาญที่เป็นพรีเซ็นเตอร์ผลิตภัณฑ์
• งานวิจัยที่ได้รับทุนจากบริษัทผลิตภัณฑ์
• การให้ข้อมูลที่เอื้อประโยชน์ทางธุรกิจ
• การปิดบังข้อมูลที่อาจกระทบยอดขาย

ผลกระทบต่อผู้บริโภค

• ด้านเศรษฐกิจ
• ค่าใช้จ่ายสูงในการซื้อผลิตภัณฑ์
• การเสียเงินกับทรีตเมนต์ที่ไม่จำเป็น
• ภาระค่าใช้จ่ายระยะยาว

• การลงทุนที่ไม่คุ้มค่ากับผลลัพธ์

• ด้านสุขภาพ

• การขาดแสงแดดที่จำเป็น
• ผลข้างเคียงจากผลิตภัณฑ์
• การพึ่งพาผลิตภัณฑ์มากเกินไป
• ปัญหาสุขภาพที่เกิดจากการหลีกเลี่ยงแสงแดด

อิทธิพลทางสังคมและวัฒนธรรม

• ค่านิยมผิวขาวในสังคมเอเชีย
• รากเหง้าทางประวัติศาสตร์ของการแบ่งชนชั้น
• อิทธิพลของสื่อและดารานักแสดง
• ความเชื่อมโยงระหว่างผิวขาวกับความสำเร็จ

• แรงกดดันทางสังคมในการรักษาผิวให้ขาว

• การเปลี่ยนแปลงวิถีชีวิต

• การทำงานในออฟฟิศเป็นหลัก
• การใช้ชีวิตในห้างสรรพสินค้าและอาคาร
• การลดลงของกิจกรรมกลางแจ้ง
• ความเชื่อว่าการอยู่ในร่มปลอดภัยกว่า

การบิดเบือนข้อมูลทางการแพทย์

การนำเสนอข้อมูลที่ไม่สมดุล

• การเน้นย้ำความเสี่ยงมะเร็งผิวหนัง
• นำเสนอสถิติแบบบิดเบือน
• ไม่แยกแยะระหว่างการรับแดดที่เหมาะสมกับการรับแดดมากเกินไป
• ละเลยการพูดถึงปัจจัยเสี่ยงอื่นๆ

• ไม่ให้ข้อมูลว่าการรับแดดอย่างเหมาะสมอาจช่วยป้องกันมะเร็งบางชนิด

• การละเลยประโยชน์ของแสง UV

• ไม่พูดถึงบทบาทของ UV ในการฆ่าเชื้อโรค
• ปิดบังข้อมูลเรื่องการสร้างวิตามินดีตามธรรมชาติ
• ไม่กล่าวถึงประโยชน์ต่อระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน
• ละเลยผลดีต่อสุขภาพจิต

การสร้างความเข้าใจผิดเกี่ยวกับวิตามินดี

• ความเชื่อเรื่องอาหารเสริม
• สร้างความเชื่อว่าอาหารเสริมดีกว่าแสงแดด
• ไม่เปิดเผยข้อจำกัดของการดูดซึมวิตามินดีจากอาหารเสริม
• ละเลยการพูดถึงผลข้างเคียงของการใช้อาหารเสริมเกินขนาด

• ไม่อธิบายความแตกต่างระหว่างวิตามินดีจากธรรมชาติและสังเคราะห์

• การวิจัยที่มีอคติ

• การศึกษาที่ได้รับทุนจากบริษัทผลิตภัณฑ์กันแดด
• เลือกนำเสนอผลการวิจัยเฉพาะด้านลบ
• ขาดการศึกษาระยะยาวเกี่ยวกับผลดีของแสงแดด
• ไม่เปิดเผยผลประโยชน์ทับซ้อนในงานวิจัย

การบิดเบือนในการรักษาทางการแพทย์

• แนวทางการรักษาที่พึ่งพายา
• เน้นการใช้ยามากกว่าวิธีธรรมชาติ
• ละเลยการแนะนำเรื่องการรับแสงแดด
• สั่งจ่ายอาหารเสริมโดยไม่จำเป็น

• ไม่ให้ความสำคัญกับการปรับพฤติกรรม

• การวินิจฉัยที่ไม่ครอบคลุม

• ไม่ตรวจหาสาเหตุจากการขาดแสงแดด
• มองข้ามความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างแสงแดดกับโรคต่างๆ
• ไม่ซักประวัติเรื่องการรับแสงแดด
• ละเลยการประเมินวิถีชีวิตที่หลีกเลี่ยงแสงแดด

ผลกระทบต่อการรักษา

• การรักษาที่ไม่มีประสิทธิภาพ
• การใช้ยาเกินความจำเป็น
• ค่าใช้จ่ายที่สูงขึ้นโดยไม่จำเป็น
• ผลข้างเคียงจากการรักษาที่ไม่เหมาะสม

• การรักษาที่ไม่แก้ปัญหาที่สาเหตุ

• ปัญหาสุขภาพที่ตามมา

• โรคขาดวิตามินดีที่เพิ่มขึ้น
• ปัญหาสุขภาพจิตจากการหลีกเลี่ยงแสงแดด
• ภาวะแทรกซ้อนจากการใช้ยาระยะยาว
• คุณภาพชีวิตที่ลดลง

ผลกระทบต่อสุขภาพจากความกลัวแดด

• ปัญหาการขาดวิตามินดี
• การระบาดของภาวะขาดวิตามินดีในประชากร
• ผลกระทบต่อสุขภาพกระดูก
• ความเสี่ยงต่อโรคภูมิแพ้และภูมิคุ้มกัน

• ปัญหาสุขภาพจิตที่เพิ่มขึ้น

• ผลกระทบทางสังคมและจิตใจ

• ความวิตกกังวลเกี่ยวกับการออกนอกบ้าน
• การจำกัดกิจกรรมกลางแจ้ง
• ความเครียดจากการต้องดูแลผิวมากเกินไป
• ค่าใช้จ่ายที่สูงขึ้นจากผลิตภัณฑ์ป้องกันแดด

การแก้ไขความเข้าใจผิด

• การให้ข้อมูลที่สมดุล
• นำเสนอทั้งประโยชน์และความเสี่ยง
• แนะนำวิธีการรับแดดที่ปลอดภัย
• สร้างความเข้าใจเรื่องความพอดี

• ให้ความรู้เรื่องการป้องกันที่เหมาะสม

• การปรับเปลี่ยนทัศนคติ

• เปลี่ยนจากการ "กลัวแดด" เป็น "เข้าใจแดด"
• สร้างความตระหนักถึงความสำคัญของแสงแดดต่อสุขภาพ
• ส่งเสริมการใช้ชีวิตที่สมดุลกับธรรมชาติ
• ลดอิทธิพลของค่านิยมผิวขาว

หลักการรับแสงแดดที่ถูกต้องตามแนวทางเฮลิโอเทอราปี

ระยะเวลาและความถี่

• เริ่มจากวันละ 10-15 นาที
• ค่อยๆ เพิ่มเวลา

วิธีการที่ถูกต้อง

• เปิดผิวให้สัมผัสแดดพอประมาณ
• ไม่ใช้สารกันแดด
• สังเกตการตอบสนองของร่างกาย
• ปรับตามสภาพอากาศและฤดูกาล

การประยุกต์ใช้เฮลิโอเทอราปีในชีวิตประจำวัน

กิจกรรมที่แนะนำ

• เดินเช้าหรือเย็น
• ทำสวนในช่วงเวลาที่เหมาะสม
• ออกกำลังกายกลางแจ้งเบาๆ

การผสมผสานกับการดูแลสุขภาพอื่นๆ

• การออกกำลังกาย
• การทำสมาธิกลางแจ้ง
• การทำกิจกรรมผ่อนคลาย

บทสรุป: กลับสู่สมดุลธรรมชาติ

เฮลิโอเทอราปีไม่เพียงเป็นการรักษาโรค แต่ยังเป็นแนวทางในการดูแลสุขภาพแบบองค์รวม การเข้าใจหลักการของเฮลิโอเทอราปีช่วยให้เราตระหนักว่า แสงแดดเป็นส่วนสำคัญของชีวิตที่สมดุล การหวนกลับมาใส่ใจการรับแสงแดดอย่างถูกวิธี จึงเป็นก้าวสำคัญสู่การมีสุขภาพที่ดีอย่างยั่งยืน

แสงแดดเป็น "เพื่อน" ไม่ใช่ "ศัตรู" ของสุขภาพ หากรู้จักใช้ให้เหมาะสม

Don’t trust , (must) Verify

ศึกษาเพิ่มเติมเรื่อง Heliotherapy : https://youtu.be/q5EX5XrR-2A

...................................... ข้อมูลสุขภาพดีๆที่ไม่มีค่าใช้จ่าย https://www.youtube.com/@fastingfatdentist . หากสนใจวิธีการดูแลสุขภาพตามแบบ IFF ปรึกษาส่วนตัว inbox มาสอบถามที่เพจ"หมออ้วนในดงลดน้ำหนัก"หรือ" fastingfatdentist"ได้เลยครับ .

ความน่ากลัวในการดูแลสุขภาพคือการที่เชื่อโดยไม่มีความรู้ .

.

IFF #IFF_talk #intermittentfasting #keto #Lowcarb #CD #plantbased #RemissionDiabetes #ร่างกายเราคือธรรมชาติไม่ใช่ยา #เบาหวานหายได้โดยไม่ต้องใช้ยา #หมอไหวของหมอแบบนี

@ 8f69ac99:4f92f5fd

Os humanos evoluíram para contar maçãs, não estrelas. Estamos programados para compreender números pequenos e tangíveis com facilidade, mas, no momento em que atingimos centenas ou milhares, os nossos cérebros começam a ter dificuldades. Esta limitação desempenha um papel significativo na fricção que as pessoas sentem ao tentar compreender Bitcoin, desde os seus fundamentos de segurança até ao seu sistema monetário.

A natureza abstracta de Bitcoin é construída sobre conceitos matemáticos complexos, incluindo criptografia e números grandes. No entanto, estes elementos podem ser esmagadores para muitos potenciais utilizadores, investidores e até especialistas. Neste artigo, vamos explorar porque é que os humanos têm dificuldade com números grandes e como esta limitação afecta a nossa compreensão de Bitcoin.

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Porque é que os humanos têm dificuldade com números grandes

O nosso cérebro está programado para pensar de forma linear e processar números pequenos com facilidade. No entanto, quando se trata de números grandes, tudo começa a parecer confuso. Limitações evolutivas significam que fomos desenvolvidos para contar maçãs, não estrelas. Para além de algumas dezenas, os números começam a parecer "muitos" em vez de quantidades específicas.

Por exemplo, considere o número de chaves privadas possíveis em Bitcoin. Com 256 bits usados para encriptação, isto traduz-se em aproximadamente $$2^{256}$$ chaves únicas. Embora este número seja impressionante, a maioria das pessoas tem dificuldade em compreender a sua enormidade. Para colocar em perspectiva: - Existem mais átomos no universo observável do que grãos de areia em todas as praias da Terra.

Além disso, o nosso cérebro frequentemente luta para entender fenómenos exponenciais, que desempenham um papel crucial no sucesso de Bitcoin. O crescimento da população mundial ou o número de hashes efectuados por segundo pelos mineradores de Bitcoin podem parecer incompreensíveis devido à sua natureza rápida.

Finalmente, a falta de pontos de referência do dia a dia dificulta a compreensão de conceitos complexos como chaves privadas e hashrate. Por exemplo, dizer "100 biliões" pode significar algo para si, mas decompor isso em números mais pequenos e manejáveis é uma história completamente diferente.

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A História do Tabuleiro de Xadrez e o Grão de Arroz - uma pequena explicação didáctica sobre exponenciais.

Certa vez, um matemático indiano inventou o jogo de xadrez e apresentou-o ao rei local (frequentemente chamado de Maharaja). O rei ficou tão impressionado com o jogo que ofereceu recompensar o matemático com qualquer coisa que ele desejasse.

O matemático humildemente pediu um único grão de arroz para ser colocado na primeira casa do tabuleiro de xadrez, e que a quantidade de arroz fosse duplicada em cada casa seguinte. O rei, pensando que este era um pedido modesto, concordou imediatamente.

O processo começou: - 1 grão na primeira casa,
- 2 grãos na segunda,
- 4 grãos na terceira,
- 8 grãos na quarta, e assim por diante.

Mas, à medida que avançavam, os números começaram a crescer rapidamente. Na 20.ª casa, já eram necessários mais de 1 milhão de grãos de arroz. Na 40.ª casa, o total ultrapassava 1 bilião de grãos. Na 64.ª e última casa, o total era um espantoso 18 quintiliões de grãos de arroz ($$2^{64} - 1$$).

Esta quantidade era tão vasta que exigiria mais arroz do que poderia ser cultivado na Terra naquela época. O rei, ao perceber que subestimara o pedido do matemático, foi forçado a admitir derrota ou, em algumas versões da história, puniu o matemático pela sua astúcia.

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Bitcoin e Números Grandes: A Tecnologia Incompreendida

A complexidade de Bitcoin reside na sua dependência de criptografia e números imensos. Vamos explorar três áreas chave onde estes conceitos podem criar atrito.

A Segurança Incompreensível das Chaves Privadas

A segurança de Bitcoin assenta na escala absoluta do seu espaço de chaves privadas. Existem $$2^{256}$$ chaves possíveis — um número tão grande que tentar adivinhar uma chave não é apenas improvável, é praticamente impossível. É como se lhe pedisse para adivinhar o número em que estou a pensar entre 1 e 115792089237316195423570985008687907853269984665640564039457584007913129639936!

Para colocar isto em perspectiva: - Imagine que existem mais estrelas no universo observável do que grãos de areia nas praias da Terra. Mesmo que combinasse todos os grãos de areia e estrelas, o número resultante ainda seria inferior a ```$$2^{256}$$```.

Esta escala impressionante garante a robustez da segurança criptográfica de Bitcoin, mas pode parecer esmagadora para os recém-chegados.

O Hashrate de 1 Zettahash/s

Recentemente, a mineração de Bitcoin ultrapassou a marca de 1 zettahash por segundo ($$10^{21}$$ hashes por segundo). Esta medida de poder computacional destaca a escala imensa da segurança da rede.

Para ilustrar: - Imagine tentar adivinhar um número biliões de vezes por segundo, por pessoa, para todos os humanos na Terra. Mesmo com todo este esforço combinado, mal arranharíamos a superfície do actual hashrate de Bitcoin.

Este poder computacional imenso é o que garante que, uma vez adicionada uma transacção à timechain (ou blockchain se preferir) de Bitcoin, seja praticamente impossível alterá-la.

A Barreira da Criptografia

A criptografia de curva elíptica, ECC, um elemento chave em Bitcoin, utiliza matemática avançada que pode parecer abstracta para não especialistas. Baseia-se em "funções unidireccionais," onde gerar uma chave pública a partir de uma chave privada é fácil, mas reverter o processo é quase impossível.

O recente medo da computação quântica (apenas FUD), mostra bem esta segurança na matemática. O Willow, o computador da quântico da Google, com 105 qubits, resolveu um problema de benchmark em 5 minutos, que levaria a um super computador 10 septiliões de anos a resolver (mais tempo que a idade do universo, 13.8 mil milhões de anos).

Para conseguir encontrar a chave privada a partir de uma chave publica, seriam necessários cerca de 124000 Willows para o fazer em 1 dia, ou cerca de 340 para o fazer em 1 ano. E mesmo assim, apenas os endereços mais antigos, P2PK (Pay to Public Key) estariam vulneráveis, os endereços P2PKH (Pay to Public Key Hash) tem mais um nível de segurança, o hash.

O Willow teria que ter milhões ou milhares de milhões de qubits para conseguir descobrir uma chave privada a partir da chave publica. Não temos ainda tecnologia para isso...

Para simplificar: - Pense nisso como uma fechadura que só pode ser aberta com uma chave única. Uma vez trancada, o processo é irreversível sem essa chave, proporcionando uma segurança incomparável.

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O Obstáculo Psicológico: Viés de Unidade

Além dos aspectos técnicos, a psicologia desempenha um papel importante na forma como as pessoas percebem o valor, ou melhor o preço, de bitcoin. O viés da unidade — a tendência de preferir números inteiros — pode criar uma barreira emocional.

O Problema do "Preço Alto" de bitcoin

Ver o preço de bitcoin em dezenas (centenas?) de milhares de euros pode dissuadir potenciais investidores, que podem sentir que é demasiado caro ou inacessível. Esta percepção persiste, embora bitcoin possa ser dividido em unidades mais pequenas.

Satoshis como Solução

A menor unidade de bitcoin, o satoshi (1/100.000.000 BTC), oferece uma solução para este viés. Apresentar bitcoin em termos de satoshis permite pontos de preço mais compreensíveis. Por exemplo: - "1.000 sats custam €1,00" soa muito mais acessível do que "€100.000 por bitcoin."

O uso de satoshis reformula o valor de bitcoin, facilitando a sua compreensão e acessibilidade. E sim, pode comprar €1,00 de bitcoin, ou até mesmo menos de €0,01!

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Conclusão

A dificuldade com números grandes não é única de Bitcoin, mas a sua natureza digital e abstracta amplifica o desafio. Desde a escala incompreensível das chaves privadas até à enorme hashrate e ao obstáculo psicológico do viés de unidade, estas barreiras podem dificultar a compreensão e adopção.

No entanto, ao: 1. Simplificar conceitos criptográficos,
2. Usar analogias compreensíveis, e
3. Promover os satoshis como unidade padrão,

podemos tornar Bitcoin mais acessível para a pessoa comum. Assim como a sociedade aprendeu a abraçar a electricidade sem precisar entender os electrões, também podemos abraçar Bitcoin sem compreender completamente cada número por trás dele.

bitcoin #quantum

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Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

We are in the season of Christmas and busy fulfilling all of our Christmas traditions. We put up Christmas decorations, sing Christmas songs, buy Christmas presents, and plan big Christmas meals, but we are supposed to be celebrating the birth of Christ. We are supposed to be celebrating God made flesh — our Creator becoming His creation to reconcile them to Himself.

If you care about your relationship with Jesus, you may wonder, “Are all of these Christmas traditions good or bad?” In most cases, I think the answer is “It depends.” Are you using Christmas traditions to celebrate Jesus and point yourself and others to Him or have the traditions themselves become the focus?

Let’s look at some Christmas traditions and see how we might use them to point us to Jesus instead of distracting us from Him.

Christmas Music

1And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,\ And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:13-14)

There is a lot of Christmas music to choose from, but some is more honoring to God than others. Do you spend your time listening to songs like “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” or “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” or do you spend your time listening to songs like “O Holy Night,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Little Town of Bethlehem,” or “Mary Did You Know?” There isn’t anything inherently wrong with the first type, but the second type is much more honoring to Jesus and will focus our minds on what Jesus did for us.

By listening to Christmas music that points us to Jesus, we honor Him, refocus our own lives, and point others to Him. When we listen to Christmas music that focuses on Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, or just the season of winter, we distract people from the true meaning of Christmas. Listening to Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas” isn’t a problem (and I enjoy it very much), but focus on the Christmas Carols that point us to Jesus. You won’t regret it.

Christmas Decorations (Lights)

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)

I love Christmas decorations and especially Christmas lights. I’ll admit it. This year we even decided we are going to leave the lights up through January because the lights are so cheerful during the dark part of the year when we spend so much time in darkness. The question we should ask ourselves is “Are we just focused on the decorations and lights or are we focused on Jesus?”

Jesus is the Light of the World. He is the light in the darkness. It is appropriate to use lights to celebrate Jesus, but do we focus on the lights or are the lights focusing our thoughts on Jesus? My new Christmas resolution is to remember to thank Jesus for being the light of the world every time I look at the Christmas lights.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Are your Christmas decorations things that point to Jesus or things that point to human tradition like Santa, reindeer, Frosty, etc.? We should aim to have more of our decorations point to Jesus.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that many of our Christian decorations can even be based on tradition rather than actual Biblical inerrancy. Most nativity sets have 3 wise men. Although this error isn’t something to get legalistic about, it is something to be aware of.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, (Matthew 2:1)

Traditionally the magi have been called wise men, but nobody knows 100% who the magi were. They also assume there were 3 of them because of the 3 gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Based on the uproar that they caused in Jerusalem, it was probably a huge caravan. You’ll also notice that they arrived in Jerusalem “after Jesus was born in Bethlehem.” They then consulted King Herod. King Herod consulted the Jewish leaders to figure out that the Messiah was expected to be born in Bethlehem, and then they traveled to Bethlehem to find Jesus. It isn’t clear how long after Jesus’s birth the Magi showed up, but they definitely weren’t there that first Christmas morning.

Because of this, my husband sets up our main nativity set (that his parents got in Israel) in our living room and sets up the 3 wise men and the camel in our guest bedroom (on the East side of the house). It is his way of supporting the true Christmas story and not just the traditions of men.

Our Christmas tree isn’t just stuff relating to Jesus and the Christmas story. Most of our tree decorations are things for which we are thankful to Jesus. We have ornaments with family pictures. We have handmade ornaments made by the women of our church that were given to us when our house burnt down. We have ornaments from most of the trips we have gone on. We have a few sentimental family ornaments that were given to us when my husband’s mom died. Every time I look at my tree, I am grateful for all of these things. They aren’t just generic decorations. They are memories. I also have an ornament with a picture of my son’s teacher’s autistic son who snuck away and was killed in a blizzard. Every time I see the ornament, I pray for his family who misses him so much. I’d like to think that this tree of blessings is honoring to my God and my Savior.

Christmas Dinner

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) {emphasis mine}

This passage is about the Passover celebration and Jesus’s command to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him. I think it is likewise appropriate to celebrate His birth with a meal. As in most things, what makes it honoring to Jesus is how we do Christmas dinner rather than whether we do it or not.

The below passage is about celebrating the Lord’s supper in an inappropriate way, but I will try to apply it to Christmas dinner.

Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)

Is Christmas dinner just about stuffing ourselves with good food or is it about more? Is it about fellowship with friends and family? Is it about gratefulness for what Jesus did for us? Is it about benefitting others?

For most of our marriage, we have alternated celebrating Christmas at my parent’s house and my husband’s parents house, but a couple of times recently, due to different circumstances, we have celebrated Christmas in our own home, and we will be doing it again this year. We’ll celebrate with my family after Christmas, and we celebrated with my husband’s family at Thanksgiving.

Our new tradition is to invite some people over to join us for Christmas dinner if we are celebrating at our home. We invite people from our church that are an older couple with no family nearby, a widow, or a single that is not near family. We invite people who would not have much of a celebration on their own. It has been such a blessing being able to bless others who don’t have family, are in financial hardship, or have physical trouble cooking a big meal.

Whether you are fellowshipping with family or ministering to those who have less than you, Christmas dinner can definitely be a God honoring part of your Christmas traditions.

Christmas Presents

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:10-15) {emphasis mine}

Too often we can get so obsessed with the buying and receiving of gifts that we forget the greatest gift of all — the gift of our Savior Jesus.

My 17 year old son has Down Syndrome. He really likes gifts, especially electronics, like tablets, radios, and phones. Unfortunately, he also isn’t very gentle with them and usually has broken or lost most of them by the time Christmas comes along. This often leads to him obsessing about the gifts that he thinks he deserves.

When we celebrated Christmas with my husband’s family at Thanksgiving, he got a nice keyboard that he had requested. He did not, however, get the radio or tablet he wanted. As we were driving home he demanded, “Where is my radio? Where is my tablet? Where is it?” Instead of being grateful for his very generous gift, a gift that he requested, he was upset that he hadn’t gotten everything he wanted. He focused on stuff and not people. He focused on receiving and not giving. He focused on earthly things instead of Jesus. Too often we all do.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:15-17) {emphasis mine}

Just as Jesus gave His life for us, it is good for us to give to others, but we always need to have the gift giving process be focused on Jesus and not the stuff. We always need to be thankful for what we have and receive and not what we don’t have and haven’t received.

On Christmas morning, before opening gifts, we always read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and the story of the magi from Matthew 2. We then sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, to remind us all of the purpose of Christmas and of the greatest gift we have received. I’m also wanting to start a new tradition at Christmas: Before each person opens a gift, they must thank Jesus for one blessing in their life. I think this will change the focus from greed and getting to gratefulness for what we have already received.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-9) {emphasis mine}

Jesus gave us His all. We also need to consider what we can give to those who can’t give back, just as we can’t ever repay Jesus for what He did for us. Is there a family you know that is having a rough year financially or health wise that you could bless with a meal or gifts or help with bills? Is there a charity that will share the gospel and meet the physical needs of those who are alone, broke, and addicted that you can donate to? Maybe your kids have lots of toys and are about to get more and you can donate some that are in good condition to a Christian charity that can get those toys to kids who won’t receive any. Maybe money is tight, but you could volunteer at a soup kitchen or do some yard chores for a widow. I don’t know your personal circumstances or the circumstances of where you are and those around you, but think about finding some way to bless someone less fortunate than you.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:8-11) {emphasis mine}

There are lots of movies, songs, and TV shows that talk about the spirit of Christmas and the love of Christmas. Let’s make sure we show love and share Jesus with the people around us. They tend to be much more open to Jesus during Christmas. Let’s make sure we make the most of Christmas.

To God be the Glory!

Trust Jesus.

FYI, Because everyone is busy at Christmas, I will be posting my short Wednesday post (Christmas) on Tuesday evening (Christmas Eve) so that people can have time to read the post before Christmas and it will hopefully help you to have the right mindset on Christmas.

FYI, to learn more about my books “Why I Need Jesus” (available in paperback and ebook) and “Joy in the Storm” (in editing and hopefully out in a month or two.) see my books page.

@ 46025249:0a7e0424

Hello world

@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

I watched Tucker Carlson interview Roger Ver last night.

I know we have our differences with Roger, and he has some less than pleasant personality traits, but he is facing 109 years in jail for tax evasion. While the charges may be technically correct, he should be able to pay the taxes and a fine and walk free. Even if we accept he did wrong, a minor prison term such as 6 months to 2 years would be appropriate in this case.

We all know the severe penalty is an over reach by US authorities looking to make the whole crypto community scared about using any form of crypto as money.

The US and many governments know they have lost the battle of Bitcoin as a hard asset, but this happened as a result of the Nash equilibrium, whereby you are forced to play a game that doesn’t benefit you, because not playing that game disadvantages you further. I.e. Governments loose control of the asset, but that asset is able to shore up their balance sheet and prevent your economy from failing (potentially).

The war against Bitcoin (and other cryptos) as a currency, whereby you can use your Bitcoin to buy anything anywhere from a pint of milk in the local shop, to a house or car and everything in-between is a distant goal and one that is happening slowly. But it is happening and these are the new battle lines.

Part of that battle is self custody, part is tax and part are the money transmitting laws.

Roger’s case is also being used as a weapon of fear.

I don’t hate Roger, the problem I have with Bitcoin cash is that you cannot run a full node from your home and if you can’t do this, it is left to large corporations to run the blockchain. Large corporations are much easier to control and coerce than thousands, perhaps millions of individuals. Just as China banned Bitcoin mining, so in this scenario it would be possible for governments to ban full nodes and enforce that ban by shutting down companies that attempted to do so.

Also, if a currency like Bitcoin cash scaled to Visa size, then Bitcoin Cash the company would become the new Visa / Mastercard and only the technology would change. However, even Visa and Mastercard don’t keep transaction logs for years, that would require enormous amount of storage and have little benefit. Nobody needs a global ledger that keeps a record of every coffee purchased in every coffee shop since the beginning of blockchain time.

This is why Bitcoin with a layer 2 payment system like Lightning is a better proposition than large blockchain cryptos. Once a payment channel is closed, the transactions are forgotten in the same way Visa and Mastercard only keep a transaction history for 1 or 2 years.

This continues to allow the freedom for anybody, anywhere to verify the money they hold and the transactions they perform along with everybody else. We have consensus by verification.

@ 6e468422:15deee93

We didn't hear them land on earth, nor did we see them. The spores were not visible to the naked eye. Like dust particles, they softly fell, unhindered, through our atmosphere, covering the earth. It took us a while to realize that something extraordinary was happening on our planet. In most places, the mushrooms didn't grow at all. The conditions weren't right. In some places—mostly rocky places—they grew large enough to be noticeable. People all over the world posted pictures online. "White eggs," they called them. It took a bit until botanists and mycologists took note. Most didn't realize that we were dealing with a species unknown to us.

We aren't sure who sent them. We aren't even sure if there is a "who" behind the spores. But once the first portals opened up, we learned that these mushrooms aren't just a quirk of biology. The portals were small at first—minuscule, even. Like a pinhole camera, we were able to glimpse through, but we couldn't make out much. We were only able to see colors and textures if the conditions were right. We weren't sure what we were looking at.

We still don't understand why some mushrooms open up, and some don't. Most don't. What we do know is that they like colder climates and high elevations. What we also know is that the portals don't stay open for long. Like all mushrooms, the flush only lasts for a week or two. When a portal opens, it looks like the mushroom is eating a hole into itself at first. But the hole grows, and what starts as a shimmer behind a grey film turns into a clear picture as the egg ripens. When conditions are right, portals will remain stable for up to three days. Once the fruit withers, the portal closes, and the mushroom decays.

The eggs grew bigger year over year. And with it, the portals. Soon enough, the portals were big enough to stick your finger through. And that's when things started to get weird...

@ cdee943c:5e637400

Identify and Use the Correct Relays

After the user has logged in either through a Bunker or Signer App/Browser plugin, we should identify the correct relays to use for them, as per the "Outbox" model:

1. Fetch the User’s Relay List (kind:10002):
2. Given the user’s public key, query a set of known bootstrap relays or a directory service to find the user’s kind:10002 event.
3. Parse the r tags:
   • Read Relays: For discovering events about the user, including their mentions, follow lists, interest sets, and reactions from others.
   • Write Relays: For discovering events from the user directly, such as their posted recipes or their relay-published follow lists.

We now know which small, authoritative set of relays to query for user-related data, reducing noise and improving performance.

---

Build the Initial Follower Network

1. Fetch Follow Lists (kind:3):
2. Connect to the user’s chosen WRITE relays.
3. Retrieve their kind:3 Follow List event, which lists whom the user follows.

4. Extract each followed pubkey and possibly associated relay URLs and petnames.

5. Fetch Additional Lists:

6. Query kind:30000 range events (like Follow sets 30000, Interest sets 10015, Bookmarks 10003, Communities 10004, etc.) that the user maintains.

7. This may reveal specialized follow sets or interest-based sets. For example:

   • Follow sets (kind:30000) to categorize follows into thematic groups.
   • Interest sets (kind:10015) to see what topics the user is explicitly interested in.

8. Assemble a Unified Follower Network:

9. Combine direct follows (kind:3) and sets from kind:30000 events and other NIP-51 sets to get a richer map of who matters to the user’s culinary context.
10. Some sets may reference pubkeys via p tags. Aggregate them into a single structured follower/connection network.

We should now have more complete map of the user’s social connections, including standard follows and curated sets.

---

Integrate Relationship Status

Although NIP-81 hasn't been merged into the main NIP repo it is implemented by several major clients including Amethyst and provides the most reliable data on the relationship between two Nostr users.

1. Fetch Relationship Status Events:
2. Use kind:30382 (public relationships) and kind:31382 (private relationships) to discover deeper relational data between the user and others.

3. From these events:

   • Identify if the user is placed in various named sets ("n" tags).
   • Identify if the user or their followees are categorized in some way or are in any other relationship groups.

4. Incorporate Relationship Tags into the Graph:

5. If the user places a contact into a “trusted” or “key collaborator” set via NIP-81’s n tags, increase the influence score of that contact.
6. If the user is placed by others into sets, factor that in, as it shows reciprocal recognition.

We should now have a richer social graph that goes beyond just “follows,” capturing nuanced relational data to refine how we weigh each contact’s influence.

---

Scoring the Influence of Followers

For each follower identified in Steps 2 and 3, we compute an influence score. Consider:

• Reciprocal Follows:
• If a person the user follows also follows them back (derived from kind:3 on the follower’s side), add points.
• Reactions and Zaps to/from the User (NIP-25 & NIP-57):
• Check if this follower liked (+), disliked (-), or reacted with custom emojis to the user’s posts (kind:7 events with #e referencing user’s posts).
• Check if they zapped the user’s posts or profile (kind:9735 zap receipts), indicating support with real sats.

• Also consider if the user has reacted or zapped this follower’s posts—mutual engagement increases influence.

• NIP-51 List Membership:

• If the follower appears in the user’s NIP-51 sets (like a “VIP cooks” set kind:30000 or “Top Bookmarks” kind:10003), add extra points.

• NIP-81 Relationship Assignments:

• If the follower is placed into a special category by the user’s kind:30382 event or if the follower places the user in their kind:30382 event, increment the score based on category importance.

We should now have a list of followers ranked by their “influence” in the user’s network. Influential people are those with mutual follows, engagement (reactions and zaps), presence in multiple sets, and meaningful relationship tags.

---

Using Influential Followers to Build a "Web of Flavor"

1. Query Influential Followers’ Data:

2. For the top N most influential followers:

   • Fetch their kind:10003 (Bookmarks), kind:10015 (Interests), kind:1985 (Labels), kind:30023 (Curation sets), and other relevant NIP-51 sets.
   • Gather tags like t (topics), a (articles, possibly representing recipes), e (notes), p (pubkeys referencing authors), and so forth.

3. Assemble a Recipe Ontology:

4. From their sets and labels, extract:
   • Cuisines (e.g., ["l", "Italian", "ISO-3166-2"] or discovered from l tags representing cuisines)
   • Categories (from l tags or sets)
   • Ingredients (from reading through user’s curated sets or t tags they frequently use)

5. Incorporate labeling from kind:1985 events that might classify recipes under certain namespaces, and from 30023 sets that highlight curated recipe collections.

6. Aggregate and Normalize Tags:

7. Combine all discovered interests, cuisines, categories, and ingredients into a unified ontology representing the user’s “web of taste.”
8. Deduplicate and normalize terms—ensure consistent naming conventions (e.g., unify “Italian” and “IT-PR” region tags under one conceptual umbrella).

We should now have a rich, aggregated ontology of flavors, cuisines, categories, and ingredients derived from the user’s most influential contacts and their labeling and interest sets.

---

Constructing the Relay Query for Relevant Recipes

1. Query Recipes by Ontology:
2. Construct a Nostr filter referencing #t tags for interests, #l tags for labels, and #a or #e tags for known recipe sets or curated articles.

3. For performance, use the COUNT filter if the relay supports it (e.g., {"kinds":[35000], "#t":["italian","vegetarian"]} and ask if relay supports limit or count).

4. Refine Queries Iteratively:

5. Start broad by querying for top-level categories (e.g., “Italian vegetarian recipes”).
6. Narrow down results by adding more tags or sets once initial results are retrieved.
7. Use reaction counts or zap data on the returned events to further refine or sort results client-side.

We will now have a final set of relevant recipe events from authoritative relays, filtered according to the user’s “web of taste” established through their network of influence.

@ cdee943c:5e637400

Why would you set up a custom relay for Recipes?

Recipes are inherently rich in data, encompassing multiple ingredients, categories, cuisines, nutritional information, and detailed instructions. A custom relay tailored to handle a specific recipe event kind (nominally kind=35000) can:

• Optimize Data Retrieval: Efficient indexing and storage mechanisms ensure swift access to complex recipe data.
• Enhance Flexibility: Tailored configurations accommodate the unique structure of recipe events, making query filters more efficient and flexible.
• Improve Performance: Specialized handling reduces latency, which becomes a very important factor for high volume services.
• Support Advanced Features: Features like real-time syncing, bulk import/export, and efficient compression cater to the dynamic nature of recipe sharing.

By aligning the relay's architecture with the structure of recipe events, Nostr developers can build responsive and scalable applications.

Setting Up a Custom Recipe Relay

Option 1: Using khatru and Eventstore

1. Bootstrap a basic khatru relay:

2. Follow the steps outlined in the khatru docs: go relay := khatru.NewRelay()

3. Set up Eventstore:

   • Configure khataru to use Eventstore and Postgresql: ```go // Initialize Eventstore db := postgresql.PostgresBackend{DatabaseURL: "postgres://eventuser:securepassword@localhost:5432/eventstore_db?sslmode=disable"} if err := db.Init(); err != nil { log.Fatalf("Failed to initialize eventstore: %v", err) } // Integrate Eventstore with Khatru relay.StoreEvent = append(relay.StoreEvent, db.SaveEvent) relay.QueryEvents = append(relay.QueryEvents, db.QueryEvents) relay.CountEvents = append(relay.CountEvents, db.CountEvents) relay.DeleteEvent = append(relay.DeleteEvent, db.DeleteEvent)

   3. Modify tag handling - Update the `tags_to_tagvalues` function to handle multi-character keys, multiple tag entries, and nested structures:go _, err = db.DB.Exec( CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION tags_to_tagvalues(jsonb) RETURNS text[] AS $$ SELECT array_agg(t.value) FROM jsonb_array_elements($1) AS elem(tag) JOIN LATERAL ( SELECT CASE WHEN tag->>0 IN ('cuisine', 'category', 'ingredients', 'tags') THEN tag->>1 WHEN tag->>0 = 'nutrition' AND jsonb_array_length(tag) >= 3 THEN tag->>2 ELSE NULL END AS value ) AS t ON t.value IS NOT NULL; $$ LANGUAGE SQL IMMUTABLE RETURNS NULL ON NULL INPUT; ) 4. Add custom polices: - khatru supports setting custom event policies:go // Apply custom policies to accept only kind 35000 events relay.RejectEvent = append(relay.RejectEvent, // Built-in policies policies.ValidateKind,

   // Custom policy to accept only kind 35000
   func(ctx context.Context, event *nostr.Event) (bool, string) {
       if event.Kind != 35000 {
           return true, "Only recipe events (kind 35000) are accepted"
       }
       return false, ""
   },
   

   ) ``` 5. Pray that fiatjaf doesn't fire me

Option 2: Modifying Strfry's Configuration

Strfry is another robust Nostr relay implementation that leverages LMDB for local data storage. Stirfry uses the golpe C++ framework and by adjusting its configuration in golpe.yaml, you can tailor Strfry to handle recipe events optimally.

1. Optimize Indices:
2. Enhance indexing for specific recipe-related tags to speed up queries: yaml indices: cuisine: comparator: StringUint64 multi: true category: comparator: StringUint64 multi: true ingredients: comparator: StringUint64 multi: true nutrition: comparator: StringUint64Uint64 multi: true
3. Update indexPrelude:

   ```yaml
   indexPrelude: |
       PackedEventView packed(v.buf);
       created_at = packed.created_at();
       uint64_t indexTime = *created_at;
   
       id = makeKey_StringUint64(packed.id(), indexTime);
       pubkey = makeKey_StringUint64(packed.pubkey(), indexTime);
       kind = makeKey_Uint64Uint64(packed.kind(), indexTime);
       pubkeyKind = makeKey_StringUint64Uint64(packed.pubkey(), packed.kind(), indexTime);
   
       packed.foreachTag([&](char tagName, std::string_view tagVal, std::string_view tagVal2 = ""){
           // General tag indexing
           tag.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(1, tagName) + std::string(tagVal), indexTime));
   
           // Specific tag handling for recipes
           std::string tagNameStr(1, tagName);
           if (tagNameStr == "cuisine") {
               cuisine.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(tagVal), indexTime));
           } else if (tagNameStr == "category") {
               category.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(tagVal), indexTime));
           } else if (tagNameStr == "ingredients") {
               ingredients.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(tagVal), indexTime));
           } else if (tagNameStr == "nutrition" && !tagVal2.empty()) {
               nutrition.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64Uint64(std::string(tagVal), std::string(tagVal2), indexTime));
           } else if (tagNameStr == "tags") {
               tags_specific.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(tagVal), indexTime));
           }
   
           // Existing conditions for 'd' and 'e' tags
           if (tagName == 'd' && replace.size() == 0) {
               replace.push_back(makeKey_StringUint64(std::string(packed.pubkey()) + std::string(tagVal), packed.kind()));
           } else if (tagName == 'e' && packed.kind() == 5) {
               deletion.push_back(std::string(tagVal) + std::string(packed.pubkey()));
           }
   
           return true;
       });
   
       if (packed.expiration() != 0) {
           expiration.push_back(packed.expiration());
       }
   ```
   

   Conclusion

Setting up a custom Nostr relay tailored for recipe events would enable developers to build highly performant and flexible applications. Whether it is using Khatru with Eventstore or modify Strfry's configuration, the key lies in aligning the relay's architecture with the features of recipe data. This approach not only improves performance but also lays a robust foundation for building feature-rich clients and applications within the Nostr ecosystem.

@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

To use American vernacular, ya’ll gonna hate on me, but back when Ledger announced their Stax, I ordered one for delivery in 3 months. Two years later, about 3 months ago, I finally received it.

Because of their doxxing and seed grab policies I would no longer consider using it for any serious holdings, but my wife is starting to acquire her own stack of Bitcoin and so believing it was the iPOD of Bitcoin wallets, I gave it to her to use as her hardware wallet.

Because she was new to self custody I had already setup the ledger and I sat with her while she tried to use it.

She used her phone and the Ledger app to attempt to move Bitcoin from Revolut to the wallet.

Nothing worked, nothing.

The Ledger Stax needed updating, but would turn off in the middle of updating so would never finish, we gave up trying to do that.

We then tried to obtain an address to receive funds to, it offer 4 types of Bitcoin wallets Legacy, Segwit, Native Segwit and Taproot. But it didn’t explain them at all, meaning you had no idea which was which.

Then when it offered to verify the address the Stax got into a loop, which required me to do a physical reboot (long press power button).

At last we managed to verify an address, but this wasn’t displayed on the Stax as a QR code, an unbelievably obvious reason for having a epaper screen, instead having to use the iPhone to copy and paste the address between the Ledger Live app and Revolut.

When we did this, Revolut said there was an error with the address and to try again later.

I know you’re all going to mock me for attempting to use the Stax, but I had assumed up until yesterday that it at least had a good UI.

Boy, was I wrong

@ 31312140:2471509b

🎩 The Origins: Where Did It All Start?

The concept of central banking isn't new. It dates back to the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694, which set the precedent for modern central banks (Check out Bank of England's history for a deeper dive). These institutions were often created out of necessity - to handle war debts, stabilize economies, etc. But with great power comes… you guessed it, not-so-great intentions. 💰

💸 The Money Factory: Printing Out of Thin Air

Central banks have the magical ability to print money from thin air. Sound amazing? Well, it's alarming. This endless printing is explained under the guise of "monetary policy" to control the economy. But in reality, it's a method to fund government debts and inflate the money supply, which causes the value of your hard-earned money to dwindle. Poof! Your buying power is gone. Have a look at how federal reserve balance sheets have ballooned for evidence.

🔄 Fractional Reserve Banking: The Multiplication Illusion

If you're a banker, you'll love fractional reserve banking. It's like magic, where banks keep a fraction of deposits and lend out the rest, creating a multiplier effect. Imagine you deposit 100$, the bank holds just 10$ and lends out the other 90$. The person who took out that loan spends it and this 90$ end up on someone else's deposit. Rinse and repeat until your 100$ effectively created 1,000$ in the economy. This system fuels credit bubbles and ultimately leads to bank runs when too many people try to withdraw their money at once. Just ask those unfortunate souls during the Great Depression!

🔗 Chains of Debt: The Slavery of Nations

Central banks lend to governments, placing entire nations in debt. And who pays the price? You do, through taxes. Ironically, you’re not just paying off debts; you're also paying interest to these private banking cartels. It's a not-so-subtle form of modern-day slavery.

For a chilling summary, G. Edward Griffin’s “The Creature from Jekyll Island” is a must-read. It breaks down how banks engineer boom and bust cycles to control economies and populations.

🔓 The Escape Plan: Sound Money is Freedom

Enter Bitcoin. 🧡 The only currency immune to manipulation by any central entity, Bitcoin offers a decentralized escape route from the clutches of central banks. They can’t print more Bitcoin. They can’t inflate it. And they definitely can’t control it. It’s regulated by math and network consensus, not whimsical policy changes by bankers in fancy suits. Want to understand more? Check out “The Bitcoin Standard” by Saifedean Ammous.

🛡️ What Can You Do?

• Educate Yourself: Read, study, and converse with like-minded folks.
• Diversify: Consider holding assets that are outside the influence of central banks, like Bitcoin.
• Advocate for Change: Speak out, support political reform, and promote community awareness about the strengths of decentralized financial systems.

So, there you have it, folks! The maze is vast, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel if you’re willing to look into it. Knowledge is power, and it's time we reclaimed our financial freedom. 🤝

Feel free to dive deeper and challenge the narrative - every voice adds to the revolution!

lookintoit #bitcoin #fiat #freedom #finance #soundmoney #scam #inflation #money

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 제멋대로 방치된 장애인활동지원사 보수교육
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10927
• 2024.12.31 21:55

---

활동지원기관으로부터 보수교육을 받았다. 매년 빠지지 않던 부정수급 예방 교육이 포함되어 있었다. 모 장애인자립생활센터의 대리(코디네이터, 전담인력)를 강사로 초청하여 부정수급 예방 교육을 했다.

교육 내용 중 두 부분 잘못된 내용이었다. 첫째, 이용자 두 사람에게 각각 연속으로 차례대로 서비스할 때는 30분 시간을 두고 결제하라고 교육했다. 둘째, 장애인이 공공일자리에 참여하는 경우 근로지원인을 일단 신청하고 신청이 받아들여지지 않으면 활동지원을 쓸 수 있다고 했다.

보건복지부에서는 부정수급을 막기 위해서 점검해야 할 사례들을 지침에서 나열하고 있는데, "한 수급자에게 급여 종료 후 다른 수급자에게 가는 이동시간을 고려하지 않고 이루어진 결제"를 연속결제라 명명하고 "사유의 정당성 확인"하라고 되어 있다. 그런데 왜 30분 시간을 두고 결제하라는 교육을 할까?

일선의 공무원들은 활동지원사가 한 이용자에게 서비스를 종료하고 30분 안에 다른 이용자에게 서비스를 시작하면, 지침대로 사유의 정당성을 확인하기 위해 이를 소명할 것을 요구한다. 30분이 넘어가면 소명을 요구하지 않는다. 중요한 것은 이 소명이 전담인력 입장에서는 업무가 된다는 점이다. 교육 강사가 예를 든 사례는 요양보호사를 겸직하는 활동지원사가 노인장기요양서비스를 제공 후 곧바로 활동지원을 제공한 사례였는데, 노인장기요양기관은 활동지원기관에 소명자료를 잘 제공해 주지 않으므로 30분의 간격을 두어야 한다고 교육했다. 이런 경우 자신은 30분의 간격을 두고 결제를 하게 하고는 장애인이용자에게 양해를 구해 조금 더 결제할 수 있도록 부탁한다고 했다.

전담인력 입장에서야 30분 간격을 두고 근무기록을 남기고 소명절차를 밟지 않는 것이 편할 수 있다. 하지만 여기서 여러 가지 문제가 발생한다. 30분의 시간이 지나기를 기다리면서 활동지원사가 서비스를 제공하다가 장애인이용자를 다치게 하거나, 재산상 손해를 입혀도 보험 처리를 하지 못할 수 있다. 해당 시간에 노동자가 일하다 다쳐도 보호받지 못할 수 있다. 그뿐 아니다. 전담인력이 이용자에게 양해를 구해 조금 더 결제할 수 있도록 한다는 말은 한마디로 부정수급을 권하는 격이다. 정말 제대로 된 교육 내용이 되려면 서비스하는 동안 정직하게 근무기록을 남기고, 정부가 소명을 요구할 수 있으니 소명할 수 있는 자료를 남길 수 있도록 교육하는 게 옳다.

생계지원의 경우도 마찬가지다. 장애인이 공공일자리사업에 참여한다는 것은 공공일자리를 통해 노동하고 급여를 받는다는 뜻이다. 이것은 최근에 논란이 된 활동지원 생계지원과 관련된 내용이다.

한국장애인고용공단은 장애인 스스로 업무를 충분히 진행할 수 있다고 판단하여 근로지원인 서비스 대상자로 여기지 않을 수도 있다. 그렇다면 당연히 공공일자리 업무는 장애인당사자 스스로가 수행해야 한다. 공단에서 장애인을 근로지원인 서비스 대상자로 보지 않는다고 해서, 활동지원사가 근로지원을 해도 된다는 의미는 아니다. 활동지원사는 공공일자리 사업에 참여하는 장애인을 지원함에 있어서도, 장애인의 생계를 지원하는 내용이 아닌 그 외의 활동지원서비스를 수행해야 한다.

자립생활센터 직원인 강사 입장에서는 공공일자리 장애인의 업무를 비장애인이 지원해 주면 빠르고 속 시원하며 행정 처리도 용이할 수 있다. 하지만 자신이 편하다고 그릇된 교육을 해서는 안 된다.

장애인활동지원사 보수교육은 "활동지원사 역량 강화와 급여 질 향상"을 위해 매년 실시한다. 하지만 그 중요도에 비해 사업장의 재량에만 내맡겨져 있다. 잘못된 교육의 피해는 온전히 잘못 교육받은 노동자와 장애인에게로 돌아간다. 강사의 수준과 교육의 내용에 대한 검증이 필요하다.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10862
• 장애인활동지원사에게 생업지원을 하도록 하는 것이 해법일까?

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장애인활동지원사에게 생업지원을 하도록 하는 것이 해법일까?

- 2024년 국정감사 김예지 의원의 발언에 붙여

시각장애인 안마사가 안마원 운영에 활동지원사의 도움을 받다가, 공무원의 부정수급 환수 경고로 목숨을 버렸다고 한다. 현행 활동지원제도는 "수급자 또는 그 가족의 직장 등에서 생업을 지원하는 활동보조 행위"를 서비스로 요구하거나 제공해서는 안된다고 규정하고 있는데, 법 개정 이전에도 복지부의 지침으로 금하고 있는 내용이었다.

한 시각장애인 안마사의 죽음은 애도해야 할 일이지만, 그 과정에 대해 짚어야 할 부분은 있다. 활동지원제도 부정수급 환수가 장애인이용자를 향하는 것은 아주 드문 일이다. 활동지원기관은 기본적으로 서비스제공 과정에서 정당하게 서비스가 이루어지는지를 관리감독 할 책임이 있고, 관리감독 책임을 다하였다 하더라도 부정지급급여 징수는 "적법한 지급원인이 없음에도 잘못 지급된 금액의 사후적 반환이라는 성격도 가지고 있는 것"이기에 대부분의 징수는 활동지원기관을 대상으로 이루어진다. 행정적으로 부당지급급여 징수 조치는 기관에게 통보되고 활동지원기관은 활동지원사 노동자에게 임금을 반환하라고 요구하는 과정이 이루어진다.

장애인이용자가 정당한 서비스 외 사례로 환수되는 경우는 어떤 경우일까? 활동지원기관이 관리감독을 제대로 했고, 부당한 서비스요구임을 장애인이용자에게 고지했으며, 활동지원사도 부당한 서비스요구임을 통지해도, 어쩔 수 없이 부당한 서비스가 이루어져야 할 것이다. 그리고 이를 입증할 자료가 있어야 할 것이다. 이럴 수 있는 가능성은 얼마나 될까? 장애인이 부정수급 환수대상이 되는 일은 정말 낙타가 바늘을 통과하는 일 만큼이나 어려운 일이다.

이 엄연한 구조적 사실 앞에서 한 안마사의 자결은 두 가지 경우 중에 하나다. 공무원이 권한을 남용해 잘못된 고지를 했거나, 단순 주의 고지를 당사자가 오해를 했거나이다. 이 사실에 대한 확인이 필요하다.

하지만 김예지 의원은 시각장애인의 자결을 생업지원을 제한하는 활동지원제도의 문제로 본다. 의원은 국정감사에서 보건복지부 장관에게 1인 중증장애인을 위한 업무지원인 제도가 아직 시범사업 단계에 불과하므로 소규모 5인 미만 중증장애인 사업주에 한해 기존 활동지원제도를 생업에 활용할 수 있도록 주문했다. 하지만 활동지원제도에서 장애인의 생업을 지원하지 못하게 하는 이유가 있다. 이에 수반되는 쟁점과 문제가 많다.

먼저 장애인 사업주가 어떤 사업을 할지 정해져 있지가 않다. 안그래도 업무범위가 명확하지 않은 활동지원사더러 장애인의 사업에 따라 모든 일을 하라는 말 밖에 안된다. 활동지원사는 시키는 일은 무엇이든 하고 아무일이나 시켜도 된다는 의원의 인식이 반영된 발화라고 밖에 평가할 수 밖에 없다. 정말로 의원의 주문대로 제도가 바뀐다면 활동지원사는 장애인 지원에 장애인사업주의 종업원으로서 업무를 가중해 수행해야한다. 장애인이 사업자로서 마땅히 인력를 고용해 써야할 부분에도 활동지원사가 투입될 것이다.

현재의 근로지원인 제도도 장애인의 노동권 보장이 아니라, 장애인을 비장애인을 부려쓰기 위한 도구로 전락시키는 현상이 곳곳에서 드러난다. 장애인은 꿔다놓은 보릿자루고 비장애인 지원인력이 모든 일을 다 한다. 이것은 지원이 아니라 장애인을 지우고 대체하는 일이다. 장애인은 임금을 받아 좋지만 이런식의 제도운영은 차라리 소득보장으로 바뀌어야 한다. 민간의 사장에게 공적 자금을 들여 인력을 투입할 이유가 없다.

내가 아는 한 카페는 장애인을 고용하고도 출근을 시키지 않는다. 출근을 시켜도 일을 시키지 않는다. 혹은 장애때문에 출근을 시켜도 일을 시킬수가 없다. 근로지원인이 모든 일을 다 한다. 근로지원인은 실질적으로 주된 카페업무를 모두 하고 있지만 이에 대한 문제제기는 하기 힘들다. 문제제기를 하는 순간 일자리를 잃을 위험에 있기 때문이다. 사업주는 장애인고용을 통한 지원을 받고 근로지원인을 통해 노동력을 제공받아 좋은 일이지만, 그곳에 장애인의 자리는 없다.

장애인이 사업주인 사업장이라고 다를까. 사업주는 심하게는 아무것도 하지 않아도 된다. 장애인의 사업은 사실상 지원인력의 노동력을 통해 이루어질 것이다. 많은 수익이 나든 적은 수익이 나든 그 수익은 지원인력의 노동력에서 기인할 것이다. 잘 착취당할 지원인력을 구하는 것으로 누군가의 소득이 변동된다면 이는 국가정책적으로 올바른 지원인지 묻지 않을 수 없다.

장애인의 노동권 보장을 위해 누군가 지원하는 인력을 붙이면 끝일까? 나는 이 방식에 대한 근본적인 고민이 있어야 한다고 본다. 기존 제도도 정말 장애인의 자리를 고민하는 방식으로 제도가 활용되고 있지 않다. 과거에는 장애인 의무고용을 준수하면서 업무를 주지 않는 차별행위가 투쟁의 대상이었지만, 이제 장애인 인권을 위한다는 단체들이 일자리사업을 하다보니 정작 문제가 내부화 되어 만연해 있다.

우리사회는 장애인에게 무슨 문제만 생기면 활동지원제도로 해결하려는 경향이 강한데 이는 아주 문제다. 국회의원까지 아무 일이나 시키면 된다 생각하는 직업에 젊은이들이 들어오지 않는 것은 어쩌면 당연한 일이다. 최근에는 활동지원인력의 전문성을 문제삼는 담론이 팽배하다. 이런 인식으로는 전문성을 운운할수도 기대할수도 없다. 나는 김예지 의원의 발언에서 활동지원제도의 암담한 미래를 본다.

@ 490b551d:e17f0103

Sin used to feel like this huge, heavy weight. It was something that would define me - a testimony to whether or not I am a worthy Christian. Growing up, I was told that sin was something to be feared, something that could cut me off from God, something that made me unworthy. If I didn’t measure up, if I messed up, I’d be separated from God.

I lived in constant fear of making mistakes, of failing to be perfect. I lived with shame because I was, of course, unable to reach perfection. I didn’t realize it then, but I was putting myself into a box where my identity became so tied to my behavior that I lost sight of the bigger picture: that God loves me even with all my imperfections.

The way we define and approach sin, especially in the church, can be incredibly damaging if we’re not careful. The church I grew up in wasn’t a place where mistakes were accepted or understood. It was a place where shame seemed to be a perpetual emotional state to stay in so you could find salvation. If you were struggling with something, if you didn’t have it all together, it was as if you didn’t belong. But the more I think about it, the more I question: What if sin isn’t the problem we’ve always made it out to be? What if there’s a better way to look at it - one that’s filled with grace, compassion, and unconditional love?

This post isn’t about dismissing the importance of sin. It’s about understanding it in a way that brings healing, not condemnation. Its about forgiving ourselves as Jesus does, and moving forward in an understanding that its impossible to be perfect. It’s about seeing ourselves as human beings who make mistakes, rather than defined by our mistakes. And it’s about finding hope in the fact that God loves us deeply and unconditionally. No matter what.

The Misunderstanding of Sin

For so many of us, sin has always felt like this list of “do’s and don’ts” that we can never quite get perfectly correct. It’s a fear-based system, one that tells us that our worth is inextricably linked to our actions. If we sin, we’re not good enough for God. If we fall short, we’re cut off from grace.

And let me tell you, that is heavy. It’s exhausting to live in a constant state of shame, thinking that every mistake makes us unworthy of love or redemption. Or maybe not every mistake, but the big ones, for sure. The ones the cause families to fall apart and churches to divide. It’s no surprise that so many of us have walked away from the church. When you’re told that you’re failing, that you’re not enough, it’s easy to think that God must be disappointed in you too.

But know this: God doesn't love us because we’re perfect. He loves us because He created us, because we are His. No matter how many times we mess up or how big or small, God’s love for us doesn’t change. Sin is not the thing that separates us from God. Hear this: it is only the belief that sin separates us from God which actually create separation.

What If We Saw Sin Differently?

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what sin really is. It has always felt like an external thing - something we could do or avoid to either gain favor with God or lose it. But what if sin is less about a list of actions to avoid and more about a deeper issue?

In the Bible, we’re told that all sin is can separate us from God. Every wrong we commit, whether it’s a lie, an act of hate, or a judgmental thought, is just as significant in God’s eyes. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equates anger with murder and lust with adultery (Matthew 5:21-30). It’s not about whether you sin in a “big” or “small” way - it’s all a matter of the heart, and it’s all covered by the grace of God.

Jesus taught that we have no right to judge others for their sins because we are all equally in need of God’s grace. In John 8, when a woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, He didn’t condemn her. Instead, He said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” The message was clear: We are all sinners in need of grace, and no one, no matter how “righteous" they might appear, has the right to cast judgment.

That’s been a life changing mindset shift for me: no human being has the right to define my worth based on my mistakes. And that includes the church. The church is not a place for perfect people, but for broken people who need healing and redemption.

Jesus’ Unconditional Love: The Truth That Changes Everything

What drew me back in to Christianity and what I love most about Jesus is His unconditional love. Jesus didn’t love us because we had it all together. He loved us because we were broken and in need of grace. And He didn’t just love us when we were behaving and achieving the every elusive status of "good." He loves us through our mistakes, our failures, our doubts, and our messes. His love isn't dependent on our actions. It's dependent on His heart for us.

I think about all the many times I’ve failed, the times when I’ve felt like I’m too much of a mess to be loved by God, when my sins were too big for God to forgive me. And then I think about Jesus, who met people exactly where they were. He didn’t wait for them to be perfect. He came to them in their imperfection, showing them the power of love and grace.

And don't forget, Jesus is still doing that today. He’s not waiting for us to have it all figured out before He loves us. He’s loving us right now, in the midst of our mistakes. That kind of love changes everything.

Why We Don’t Need to Be Afraid of Our Mistakes

When we realize that God loves us unconditionally, we don’t need to be afraid of our mistakes anymore. We don’t have to be held hostage in shame or guilt, thinking that we’re too far gone for God to love us. Sin doesn’t have to be a source of fear. Instead, it can be a reminder of how much we need God’s grace.

Instead of hiding from God when we sin, we can run to Him, ask for forgiveness from Him and then make sure to forgive ourselves too. We can say, “God, I messed up. But I know You still love me. I know You’re still here, and You’re going to help me learn and grow from this.” That kind of vulnerability doesn’t make us weak. It makes us open to God’s love, ready to receive the healing that He wants to offer. And it gives us the space to forgive ourselves too and release that shame and guilt.

Embracing Grace and Letting Go of Judgment

One thing I’ve learned is that grace is the key to freedom. When we understand that grace is not just something we receive but something we extend to others, we can begin to let go of judgment, both of ourselves and others. We can create spaces where people feel safe to make mistakes, knowing that their worth is not defined by their failures.

The church, at least in the way it’s often been seen by the younger generations, is in desperate need of a rebrand. It needs to be a place where people know they can come and not be judged for their mistakes, but to find love, grace, and healing. We need to build communities where people know they are welcomed, not in spite of, but because of their mistakes. Because they're not perfect. Because none of us are. And because of that, we all need Jesus' love and community in one imperfect human to another.

The church needs to embrace people where they are - broken, struggling, imperfect. That’s how we can begin to reclaim the people who have felt rejected by the church in the past. We are all sinners. We are all in need of grace. And none of us is beyond redemption.

Moving Forward: A New Way to Live

If we redefine sin in this manner, what does this new definition mean for us? It means we can stop living in fear. It means we can embrace our mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than evidence of our unworthiness. It means we can show up for each other, offering grace and understanding instead of judgment.

It means we can come before God with open hearts, knowing that His love is not based on our ability to be perfect, but on His ability to love us despite our imperfections.

We are all walking this journey together. None of us is without fault. But we don’t have to be afraid of our mistakes anymore. We don’t have to fear that we’re too much of a mess for God to love us. We don’t have to live in shame or guilt, worrying that we’re unworthy. Because God loves us. He loves us as we are, sin and all. And His grace is enough to transform us, heal us, and make us whole.

So, let’s stop letting sin define us. Let’s embrace the fact that we are loved unconditionally, mistakes and all. Let’s let grace define the way we see ourselves, the way we see others, and the way we see our relationship with God. Because when we do, everything changes for the better.

Peace,\ Faith\ \ #blog \ #christian\ #christianity\ #faith\ #sin\ #doubt\

unfilteredfaith

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10814
• 탈시설 장애인의 금전관리와 활동지원
• 2024.08.22 11:30

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활동지원사가 도둑으로 몰리는 몇 사례

2024년 3월 활동지원사 김씨는 노조에 상담을 요청했다. 김씨는 N지원주택에서 장애인이용자 이씨에게 서비스를 제공 중인데, 자립생활 지원주택 팀장이 일방적으로 서비스 중단을 요구했고, 장애인이용자에게는 이와 관련된 이야기를 언급조차 하지 말라고 신신당부했다. 팀장은 활동지원사가 속한 활동지원 기관에도 서비스 중단을 통보했다. 활동지원사는 이 상황을 납득할 수 없어 직접 장애인이용자에게 물었다. 그런데 정작 장애인이용자는 계속 서비스를 해주길 바란다고 했다. 노동조합은 N지원주택 팀장에게 면담을 요청했다.

N지원주택 팀장은 이씨가 김씨로부터 활동지원을 받는 날이면 주문음식을 너무 많이 시켜먹는다는 점을 문제 삼았다. 주택 팀장은 장애인이용자가 배달음식을 자주 시켜먹는 일이 활동지원사의 잘못이라고 보았다. 활동지원사는 순전히 이용자가 원해서 배달음식을 시켜 준 것이라고 항변했다. 심지어 이용자가 자기 손으로 스마트폰을 작동해 주문음식을 시켜먹었다는 것이다. 간혹 함께 음식을 먹는 경우가 있어 서로 돌아가면서 주문하기도 하고, 일부 금액은 활동지원사가 부담했다고 한다. 면담을 통해 알게 된 사실은 해당 이용자가 발달장애나 지적장애가 있는 것도 아니고, 시설에서 나온 지 얼마 되지 않았지만, 판단능력에 특별히 문제가 있는 것도 아니었다. 김씨의 잘못이 아니라는 점이 밝혀졌지만, 팀장이 이미 장애인 이씨에게 김씨를 그만두게 하자고 한 상태였고 김씨는 다시 일터로 돌아갈 수 없었다.

2019년 활동지원사 박씨는 도둑으로 몰려 일을 그만두게 된 사례였다. 장애인이용자 최씨는 탈시설을 한 지 얼마 되지 않았다. 자립생활지원금 천만원 가량 최씨의 통장으로 입금되었다. 최씨는 글을 몰랐다. 하지만 판단 능력에 문제가 없었고 최씨는 스스로 통장에 있던 돈을 소비했다. 그런데 최씨의 지출은 다소 과했고 이에 주택 측은 박씨에게 최씨가 왜 그렇게 돈을 많이 썼냐고 물었다. 돈은 최씨가 썼으니, 돈에 대한 기록을 박씨가 가지고 있을 리도 없었다. 24시간을 함께 있는 것도 아니었다. 주택 측의 계속된 추궁에 활동지원사 박씨는 일을 계속했다가 누명을 쓸 것 같아 그만뒀다. 최씨는 이후 다른 활동지원사에게 서비스를 받고 있다. 최씨는 박씨에게 수년이 지난 현재까지도 수시로 연락한다. 박씨는 최씨에게 필요한 노동을 간혹 제공한다.

2017년 김씨를 처음 본 것은 다른 체험홈에서였다. 김씨의 이용자 정씨는 탈시설해 체험홈에 살았다. 언제부턴가 연애도 시작하면서 연애에 따른 소비도 많아졌다. 체험홈에서 제공하는 금전관리 교육프로그램에 참여하는 정씨는 체험홈으로부터 지출에 대한 지적을 받았다. 정씨가 자신의 체크카드로 돈을 쓰면 통장에 기록이 남아 체험홈에 지출 사실이 드러났고, 이는 계속된 지적으로 이어졌다. 처음 맛보는 돈 쓰는 맛을 포기할 수 없었던 정씨는 자신의 지출을 은폐하기 위해 활동지원사 김씨에게 돈을 빌려 달라고 했다. 당시 초보 활동지원사였던 김씨는 별 의심 없이 돈을 빌려줬다. 그리고 약속된 어느 날 정씨로부터 돈을 다시 돌려받았다. 그러자 난리가 났다. 김씨가 정씨의 돈을 빼갔다고 소문이 돌기 시작했다. 자신의 지출을 숨기고 싶었던 정씨는 모르겠다고만 했다. 김씨는 정씨로부터 빌려준 돈을 받은 것이라고 말했지만 체험홈 측은 김씨를 쉽게 믿어주지 않았다. 경찰에 신고하니 마니 하는 이야기를 듣고, 김씨는 일을 그만뒀다. 어찌 된 일인지 경찰서에서 연락이 오지는 않았다.

이어지는 고민들

활동지원사의 노동조건이 안정적이라면 사실 도둑으로 의심받는 일 정도는 큰 일이 아닐 수도 있다. 감사나 조사를 받고 진상이 규명되면 될 일이다. 하지만 활동지원사는 노동자들이 괴로워하는 감사나 징계위 절차를 밟는 기회조차 주어지지 않는 경우가 많다. 이용자의 서비스 제공 거부만으로 소득이 끊기고, 활동지원기관들은 일거리를 제공할 의무를 부담하지 않는 것이 용인되는 현실에서 우리의 일상적 노동조건은 '무기한 무급 정직'이 기본값이다. 우리는 소문만으로도 생존권을 위협받는다. 하지 동시에 장애인이 처한 현실에 대해 동시에 고민하게 되기도 한다.

접촉하는 순간 돌봄권력이 생길 가능성 배제하지 말아야

장애인을 위한다는 각종 지원이, 장애인의 자기결정권을 제약하는 권력이 되기도 한다. 때로는 원하지 않는 지원이 강요될 수도 있고, 너무 필수적인 지원이라 거절이 힘들 수도 있다. 서비스 제공자가 자신의 의사를 관철하거나 강요하기도 한다. 혹자는 이것을 '돌봄권력'이라고 명명한다. 아마도 주택 측에서 활동지원사에게 휘둘려 재산을 탕진하는 장애인을 상상하는 일이 잦은 것 같다. 마찬가지로 활동지원사가 '돌봄권력'을 장애인에게 행사한다는 편견을 갖고 있기 때문일 것이다.

하지만 '돌봄권력'을 갖는 존재는 활동지원사로 한정되지 않는다. 사회복지사, 탈시설운동가, 동료상담가, 교육자, 중증장애인 일자리 사업가 등 다양한 존재일 수 있다. 장애인 입장에서는 주거지원 서비스에 대한 여러 선택지가 눈에 보이지 않는 상황에서 현재 거주하는 지원주택을 벗어나는 일도 쉽지 않을 터이다.

앞서 살펴본 사례는 자립생활지원주택이 장애인의 지출 욕구를 억압한 상태에서 장애인의 자기결정권을 존중해주는 활동지원사와 함께 있을 때 그 욕구가 분출된 사례로 볼 수 있다. 돈을 마음껏 쓰지 못하게 하는 주택측이 이 돈을 누가 어떻게 어디서 썼냐고 물으면 장애인은 쉽게 답하지 못하는 건 당연하다.

당사자가 경험하는 진정한 실패가능성

장애인의 지출을 통제하게 되는 주택의 입장도 이해 못 할 바는 아니다. 주택은 임시로 있는 곳이고 계속 거주할 수는 없다. 지원주택을 나가 진짜 자립생활을 시작하려면 거주자가 얼마간 자금이 있어야 한다. 장애인은 지출관리에서 실패하면 다시 시설로 돌아가야 할지도 모른다. 자신들이 관리하는 주택에서 장애인에 대한 갈취가 있다면 그것은 그것대로 오명이다. 하지만 장애인이 주체적으로 탕진할 가능성을 배제해서는 안 된다. 시설에서는 차단됐을 각종 상품광고는 이 물건을 소비하라 꼬드긴다. 비장애인도 일상적으로 지출 충동과 싸운다. 지름신 밈이 괜히 나온 게 아니다. 이러한 상황에서 장애인에게 재정건전성을 강요하는 일 또한 차별적 인식이다.

나는 이 점에서 장애인의 진정한 실패가능성에 대해 논의해야 할 때라고 생각한다. 자기결정권을 방어하는 의미에서 장애인의 실패할 권리를 주장하기만 할 것이 아니라, 어떤 결정이 어떤 과정을 통해 장애인 당사자에게 실패가 될 수 있는지 물어야 한다. 누군가가 대신해 주고 누군가가 대신 실패하기만 한다면 장애인은 실패의 경험조차 차단당하는 것과 다를 바 없다. 장애인 당사자 자신이 지출을 결정했음에도 그 책임이 활동지원사에게 돌아간다면 장애인당사자는 자신이 내린 결정의 결과와 자신이 겪을 경험의 기회를 잃는다. 보호의 이름으로 장애인이 겪을 실패의 경험을 차단하는 것은 아닌지 자문해 봐야한다.

재기 가능한 실패를 위해

여기서 또 중요한 지점은 장애인이 실패를 겪을 때 그것의 정도, 즉 재기 가능 여부일 것이다. 자립생활지원금을 온전히 탕진하고 시설로 돌아가는 것은 단순한 실패가 아니다. 장애인의 탕진 가능성을 상상하기엔 그 결과에 따르는 위험이 너무 큰 것이 문제일 수 있다. 주택측 입장에서는 위험이 크니 위험 요소를 차단하기 위해 더욱 격렬히 반응한다. 장애인의 실패가 장애인 당사자에게 교훈이자 경험이 되기 위해서는 다시 시도할 기회도 주어져야 한다.

비장애인은 사회와 접촉하면서도 법적 보호를 받으며 성장하는 미성년의 시기를 거친다. 미성년 시기의 재산은 용돈으로 한정된다. 용돈의 운용에 실패가 있어도 의식주를 비롯한 생존에 제약은 없다. 용돈을 다 쓰면 용돈을 쓸 수 없다는 제약에 용돈을 아껴 쓰는 법을 배운다. 그런데 시설에서 금방 나온 장애인에게 이런 종류의 기회나 경험은 차단되어 왔으며, 시설만 나온다고 해서 다양한 경험의 기회가 새로이 제공되지 않는다. 장애인에게 지원되는 자립생활지원 금액은 실패를 되돌리기에는 너무 큰 금액이고 그 대가는 크다. 자기결정권 및 결정에 따른 책임능력을 둘러싼 논의에서 외부의 개입에 대한 방어뿐 아니라, 실패를 통한 자립능력을 어떻게 기를 것인지에 구체적 논의가 필요하다.

@ 472f440f:5669301e

There was a bit of a rally in stock markets today, but this was a relief rally after taking a beating throughout the week. All eyes were on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he took the stage on Wednesday to announce the decisions made at the most recent FOMC meeting.

The market reacted negatively to another 0.25% cut from the Federal Reserve that many considered a "hawkish cut" due to the fact that Chairman Powell articulated that it is likely that there will be less rate cuts in 2025 than were previously expected. This is likely driven by the fact that inflation, as reported by the terribly inaccurate CPI, has been coming in higher than expectations. Signaling that the Fed does not, in fact, have inflation under control. Who could have seen that coming?

Here's how the US 10Y Treasury yield reacted to the announcement:

"Not great Bob!" The US 10Y Treasury yield is something that everyone should be paying attention to over the course of the next year. Since the Fed started cutting rates in September of this year, the 10Y yield has been acting anomalously compared to how it has acted historically after Fed interest rate decisions. Since September, the market has been calling the Fed's bluff on inflation and rates have been moving in the opposite direction compared to what would be expected if the Fed had things under control. The "hawkish cut" made on Wednesday is not a great sign. The Fed is being forced to recognize that it cut "too much too fast" before actually getting inflation under control.

One has to wonder why they made such aggressive moves in September. Why the need for a much more dovish stance as quickly as they moved? Do they see something behind the scenes of the banking system that makes them believe that another liquidity crisis was on the horizon and they needed to act to prevent yet another banking crisis? Now that it is clear that inflation isn't under control and if there really was a liquidity crisis on the horizon, what are the first two quarters of 2025 going to look like? Could we find ourselves in a situation where inflation is beginning to accelerate again, there is a liquidity crisis, and the Fed is forced to rush back ZIRP and QE only to further exacerbate inflation? Couple this potential scenario with the proposed economic policy from the incoming Trump administration and it isn't hard to see that we could be in for a period of economic pain.

One can only hope that the Fed and the incoming administration have the intestinal fortitude to let the market correct appropriately, reprice, clear out the bad assets and credit that exists in the system and let the cleanse happen relatively unperturbed. That has what has been desperately needed since 2008, arguably longer.

On that note, bitcoin is going through a bull market correction this week as well. Likely incited and/or exacerbated by the turmoil in traditional markets.

Many are proclaiming that the end of this bull market is here. Don't listen to those who have been hate tweeting bitcoin all the way up this year. They've been looking for a correction to bask in schadenfreude and confirm their biases. These types of corrections are to be expected when bitcoin runs by checks notes 100% over the course of less than three months. We're approaching the end of the year, which means that people are selling to prepare for taxes (which may be happening in the stock market as well). Add to this fact that long-term holders of bitcoin have taken the most profit they have since 2018 and it probably explains the recent pull back. Can't blame the long-term holders for seeing six-figure bitcoin and deciding to bolster their cash balances.

I couldn't be more bullish on bitcoin than I am right now. The fundamentals surrounding the market couldn't be more perfect. Despite what the Trump administration may have in store for us in terms of economic policy (I agree with most of the policies he has presented), I find it hard to believe that even he and the talented team of people he has surrounded himself with can overcome the momentum of the problems that have been building up in the system for the last 16-years.

The "find safety in sats" trade is going mainstream as the market becomes more familiar with bitcoin, its properties, and the fact that it is very unlikely that it is going to die. The fervor around bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for nation states is only picking up. And if it catches on, we will enter territory for bitcoin that was considered utterly insane only a year ago.

On that note, Nic Carter made some buzz today with a piece he wrote for Bitcoin Magazine explaining why he believes a strategic bitcoin reserve is a bad idea for the US government.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/politics/i-dont-support-a-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-neither-should-you

While I agree that the signal the US government could send by acquiring a bitcoin strategic reserve could be bad for the US treasuries market, I think it comes down to strategy. The Trump administration will have to think strategically about how they acquire their Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. If they ape in, it could send the wrong message and cause everyone to dump their treasuries, which are the most popular form of collateral in the global financial system. However, there are ways to acquire bitcoin slowly but surely from here into the future that ensure that the United States gets proper exposure to the asset to protect itself from the out-of-control debt problem while also providing itself with a way out of the problem. Many of these potential strategies were discussed in two recent episodes I recorded. One with Matthew Pines from the Bitcoin Policy Institute and another with Matthew Mežinskis from Porkopolis Economics. I highly recommend you all check those out (linked below).

https://youtu.be/xyyeEqFVjBY

https://youtu.be/6vgesP9LIXk

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Final thought...

I am the most locked in from a focus perspective while on flights. Even with two kids under 5. Merry Christmas, Freaks!

@ 4b7c4ee3:8cd5ed4d

The revolution won’t be centralized. \ It won’t be hosted on Facebook, \ It won’t be tweeted by Elon, \ And it won’t be filtered through Instagram’s rosy lens.

The revolution won’t ask for your email, \ It won’t require you to accept cookies, \ It won’t target you with ads for sneakers \ You thought about once three weeks ago.

The revolution won’t care about your likes, \ Your follower count, \ Or whether you subscribe to the premium plan.

The revolution won’t crash when AWS goes down, \ It won’t shadowban dissenting voices, \ And it won’t rewrite your posts to please the algorithm.

The revolution won’t happen on a walled garden, \ Or behind a paywall. \ You won’t be locked out of your account \ For posting the truth too early or too often.

The revolution won’t beg for venture capital \ Or IPO on Wall Street. \ It won’t pivot to profits, \ Because it isn’t owned.

The revolution will be peer-to-peer, \ It will be cryptographically signed, \ Relayed by independent nodes \ That don’t care who you are, \ Only what you have to say.

The revolution will zap you on Lightning, \ It will live on NOSTR, \ It will be open-source, decentralized, \ Immutable, unstoppable, and yours.

Because the revolution won’t be centralized.

Stay humble. Stack sats.

---

Oyl Miller comes from an advertising background where he has worked for legacy brands like Nike and PlayStation, digital giants like Google and Airbnb, as well as crypto and web3 startups. He is experimenting with moving to a Bitcoin standard, and is looking to create value with his writing skills in a variety of ways.

@ a849beb6:b327e6d2

\ \ It was another historic week for both bitcoin and the Ten31 portfolio, as the world’s oldest, largest, most battle-tested cryptocurrency climbed to new all-time highs each day to close out the week just shy of the $100,000 mark. Along the way, bitcoin continued to accumulate institutional and regulatory wins, including the much-anticipated approval and launch of spot bitcoin ETF options and the appointment of several additional pro-bitcoin Presidential cabinet officials. The timing for this momentum was poetic, as this week marked the second anniversary of the pico-bottom of the 2022 bear market, a level that bitcoin has now hurdled to the tune of more than 6x despite the litany of bitcoin obituaries published at the time. The entirety of 2024 and especially the past month have further cemented our view that bitcoin is rapidly gaining a sense of legitimacy among institutions, fiduciaries, and governments, and we remain optimistic that this trend is set to accelerate even more into 2025.

Several Ten31 portfolio companies made exciting announcements this week that should serve to further entrench bitcoin’s institutional adoption. AnchorWatch, a first of its kind bitcoin insurance provider offering 1:1 coverage with its innovative use of bitcoin’s native properties, announced it has been designated a Lloyd’s of London Coverholder, giving the company unique, blue-chip status as it begins to write bitcoin insurance policies of up to $100 million per policy starting next month. Meanwhile, Battery Finance Founder and CEO Andrew Hohns appeared on CNBC to delve into the launch of Battery’s pioneering private credit strategy which fuses bitcoin and conventional tangible assets in a dual-collateralized structure that offers a compelling risk/return profile to both lenders and borrowers. Both companies are clearing a path for substantially greater bitcoin adoption in massive, untapped pools of capital, and Ten31 is proud to have served as lead investor for AnchorWatch’s Seed round and as exclusive capital partner for Battery.

As the world’s largest investor focused entirely on bitcoin, Ten31 has deployed nearly $150 million across two funds into more than 30 of the most promising and innovative companies in the ecosystem like AnchorWatch and Battery, and we expect 2025 to be the best year yet for both bitcoin and our portfolio. Ten31 will hold a first close for its third fund at the end of this year, and investors in that close will benefit from attractive incentives and a strong initial portfolio. Visit ten31.vc/funds to learn more and get in touch to discuss participating.\ \ Portfolio Company Spotlight 

Primal is a first of its kind application for the Nostr protocol that combines a client, caching service, analytics tools, and more to address several unmet needs in the nascent Nostr ecosystem. Through the combination of its sleek client application and its caching service (built on a completely open source stack), Primal seeks to offer an end-user experience as smooth and easy as that of legacy social media platforms like Twitter and eventually many other applications, unlocking the vast potential of Nostr for the next billion people. Primal also offers an integrated wallet (powered by Strike BLACK) that substantially reduces onboarding and UX frictions for both Nostr and the lightning network while highlighting bitcoin’s unique power as internet-native, open-source money. 

Selected Portfolio News

AnchorWatch announced it has achieved Llody’s Coverholder status, allowing the company to provide unique 1:1 bitcoin insurance offerings starting in December.\ \ Battery Finance Founder and CEO Andrew Hohns appeared on CNBC to delve into the company’s unique bitcoin-backed private credit strategy.

Primal launched version 2.0, a landmark update that adds a feed marketplace, robust advanced search capabilities, premium-tier offerings, and many more new features.

Debifi launched its new iOS app for Apple users seeking non-custodial bitcoin-collateralized loans.

Media

Strike Founder and CEO Jack Mallers joined Bloomberg TV to discuss the strong volumes the company has seen over the past year and the potential for a US bitcoin strategic reserve. 

Primal Founder and CEO Miljan Braticevic joined The Bitcoin Podcast to discuss the rollout of Primal 2.0 and the future of Nostr. 

Ten31 Managing Partner Marty Bent appeared on BlazeTV to discuss recent changes in the regulatory environment for bitcoin. 

Zaprite published a customer testimonial video highlighting the popularity of its offerings across the bitcoin ecosystem. 

Market Updates

Continuing its recent momentum, bitcoin reached another new all-time high this week, clocking in just below $100,000 on Friday. Bitcoin has now reached a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, putting it within 3% of the market caps of Amazon and Google. 

After receiving SEC and CFTC approval over the past month, long-awaited options on spot bitcoin ETFs were fully approved and launched this week. These options should help further expand bitcoin’s institutional liquidity profile, with potentially significant implications for price action over time.

The new derivatives showed strong performance out of the gate, with volumes on options for BlackRock’s IBIT reaching nearly $2 billion on just the first day of trading despite surprisingly tight position limits for the vehicles. 

Meanwhile, the underlying spot bitcoin ETF complex had yet another banner week, pulling in $3.4 billion in net inflows. 

New reports suggested President-elect Donald Trump’s social media company is in advanced talks to acquire crypto trading platform Bakkt, potentially the latest indication of the incoming administration’s stance toward the broader “crypto” ecosystem. 

On the macro front, US housing starts declined M/M again in October on persistently high mortgage rates and weather impacts. The metric remains well below pre-COVID levels. 

Pockets of the US commercial real estate market remain challenged, as the CEO of large Florida developer Related indicated that developers need further rate cuts “badly” to maintain project viability. 

US Manufacturing PMI increased slightly M/M, but has now been in contraction territory (<50) for well over two years.

The latest iteration of the University of Michigan’s popular consumer sentiment survey ticked up following this month’s election results, though so did five-year inflation expectations, which now sit comfortably north of 3%. 

Regulatory Update

After weeks of speculation, the incoming Trump administration appointed hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to head up the US Treasury. Like many of Trump’s cabinet selections so far, Bessent has been a public advocate for bitcoin. 

Trump also appointed Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick – another outspoken bitcoin bull – as Secretary of the Commerce Department. 

Meanwhile, the Trump team is reportedly considering creating a new “crypto czar” role to sit within the administration. While it’s unclear at this point what that role would entail, one report indicated that the administration’s broader “crypto council” is expected to move forward with plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve.

Various government lawyers suggested this week that the Trump administration is likely to be less aggressive in seeking adversarial enforcement actions against bitcoin and “crypto” in general, as regulatory bodies appear poised to shift resources and focus elsewhere. 

Other updates from the regulatory apparatus were also directionally positive for bitcoin, most notably FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s confirmation that he plans to resign from his post at the end of President Biden’s term. 

Many critics have alleged Gruenberg was an architect of “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” which has created banking headwinds for bitcoin companies over the past several years, so a change of leadership at the department is likely yet another positive for the space.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also officially announced he plans to resign at the start of the new administration. Gensler has been the target of much ire from the broader “crypto” space, though we expect many projects outside bitcoin may continue to struggle with questions around the Howey Test.

Overseas, a Chinese court ruled that it is not illegal for individuals to hold cryptocurrency, even though the country is still ostensibly enforcing a ban on crypto transactions. 

Noteworthy

The incoming CEO of Charles Schwab – which administers over $9 trillion in client assets – suggested the platform is preparing to “get into” spot bitcoin offerings and that he “feels silly” for having waited this long. As this attitude becomes more common among traditional finance players, we continue to believe that the number of acquirers coming to market for bitcoin infrastructure capabilities will far outstrip the number of available high quality assets. 

BlackRock’s 2025 Thematic Outlook notes a “renewed sense of optimism” on bitcoin among the asset manager’s client base due to macro tailwinds and the improving regulatory environment. Elsewhere, BlackRock’s head of digital assets indicated the firm does not view bitcoin as a “risk-on” asset. 

MicroStrategy, which was a sub-$1 billion market cap company less than five years ago, briefly breached a $100 billion equity value this week as it continues to aggressively acquire bitcoin. The company now holds nearly 350,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet. 

Notably, Allianz SE, Germany’s largest insurer, spoke for 25% of MicroStrategy’s latest $3 billion convertible note offering this week, suggesting growing appetite for bitcoin proxy exposure among more restricted pools of capital. 

The ongoing meltdown of fintech middleware provider Synapse has left tens of thousands of customers with nearly 100% deposit haircuts as hundreds of millions in funds remain missing, the latest unfortunate case study in the fragility of much of the US’s legacy banking stack. 

Travel

• BitcoinMENA, Dec 9-10

• Nashville BitDevs, Dec 10

• Austin BitDevs, Dec 19

• Nashville Energy and Mining Summit, Jan 30

@ 3906af02:af15c9f4

NEW: HRF #Bitcoin Development Fund grants 700 million satoshis to 20 projects worldwide!

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/human-rights-foundation-donates-700000000-satoshis-to-fund-bitcoin-development-and-projects

The grants cover decentralized #Bitcoin mining, technical education, decentralized communications, independent media & privacy-enhanced financial solutions for human rights groups, focusing on key regions in Latin America, Asia, and Africa 🌍🌏🌎🎁

Grants include:

🛠️ Stratum V2 Reference Implementation (SRI) decentralizes #Bitcoin mining by allowing nodes create their own block templates, reducing reliance on large pools. Funds will support @bit-aloo’s work on SRI including benchmarking tools, integration tests & codebase maintenance

⛏️ Public Pool makes #Bitcoin mining accessible for low-hash-rate devices, empowering individuals to self-host mining servers & contribute to decentralization. Funds will support hosting costs, hardware upgrades, & operational expenses.

🛠️ Jon Atack, recognized as one of the top all-time contributors to #Bitcoin Core, plays a pivotal role in enhancing Bitcoin’s decentralization and robustness. Funds will empower him to continue his vital contributions to Bitcoin development

👩🏿‍💻 Naiyoma, the first female #Bitcoin Core developer from Africa. Her work focuses on reviewing pull requests (PRs), addressing bugs through new PRs & improving Bitcoin Core’s codebase. Funds will support her full-time contributions to advancing Bitcoin Core.

🔒 Daniela Brozzoni, a #Bitcoin Core developer who previously contributed to the Bitcoin Development Kit (BDK). This grant will support her full-time contributions to Bitcoin Core reviewing key pull requests (PRs), contributing to new features & improving testing coverage

📱 UX/UI Design for Bitcoin Core by @Michaelhaase will bring the #Bitcoin Core App to mobile enabling users to run nodes, access essential wallet features directly on their phones to improve their financial privacy. Funding will support the project’s design & development.

🚀 Brink, co-founded by Mike Schmidt, supports #Bitcoin protocol engineers with grants and offers training & mentorship to onboard new contributors to open-source development. This grant will support operational expenses

⚡@Tando.me, cofounded by Sabina Gitau, integrates #Bitcoin with Kenya’s M-PESA system, enabling KYC-free, fee-free Lightning payments for everyday transactions for 54 million Kenyans. Funds will help boost Tando’s liquidity, support user growth & drive African expansion.

🌐 YakiHonne, a Nostr client founded by Wendy Ding, supports free speech & promote #Bitcoin payments across 170 countries with innovative functionality & a blend of online & offline events. Funds will support smart widget development, relay improvements & community events.

🌍 SeedSigner Multi-language Support brings accessibility to the open-source SeedSigner hardware wallet, empowering marginalized communities through inexpensive & accessible self-custody. Funds support Ace to deliver a multi-language version of SeedSigner.

🤝 Vexl, cofounded by Lea Petrasova, provides a private, KYC-free, peer-to-peer #Bitcoin trading experience by connecting users to trade through the social graph of their phone contacts. Funds will support expanded adoption in Africa & improvements to the backend infrastructure.

🇮🇳 Tomatech is building developer talent in Goa, India to advance #Bitcoin infrastructure & FOSS projects through training, workshops, & community meetups. Funding will support developer training, the creation of a developer hub, bounties & grants, & general operations.

💾 Krux, open-source firmware that turns generic devices into hardware wallets for secure #Bitcoin self-custody featuring air-gapped operations, key management & backups & support for 10 languages. Funding will support @odudex to advance this project.

🔐 Iris, a #Nostr web client by @MarttiMalmi, which aims to improve protection for metadata & message content, ensuring conversations remain private, especially in surveillant environments. Funding will support hiring an additional developer to expand Iris' features & functionality.

💻 Cashu-ts, the primary Software Development Kit in the @CashuBTC ecosystem developed by @Gandlaf21, simplifies wallet creation, integrates the latest protocol updates & powers popular wallets. Funds will support the developers to maintain & improve this essential library.

🤝 Unify, a Payjoin wallet developed by Fontaine, enhances privacy in #Bitcoin transactions by obscuring transaction histories, crucial for individuals navigating repressive regimes. Funds will support the developer to ship new features & expand compatibility with other wallets.

📢 The Financial Freedom Policy Coalition, led by Venezuelan activist Jorge Jraissati, promotes economic opportunities for people living under authoritarian regimes. Funds will support advocacy missions to educate policymakers on how #Bitcoin supports human rights.

🎓 African UX Bitcoin Bootcamp, led by @MouxDesign, empowered 10 African UX designers with #Bitcoin UX research skills ahead of the Africa Bitcoin Conference & support to test 5 popular Bitcoin products during the conference. Funds cover all program expenses for participants.

📰 No BS Bitcoin delivers ad-free, privacy-focused #Bitcoin news in clear & accessible format, essential for activists & citizens under authoritarian regimes. This grant ensures continued operations, adds an editor & supports Nostr features like Zaps & comments.

📖 Bitcoin History, a research project by Pete Rizzo, documenting key people, events & materials that shaped Bitcoin’s rise as a global monetary & human rights force. Fund will support a researcher to investigate & document stories of Bitcoin’s use against authoritarianism.

🌎 HRF is committed to supporting human rights and financial freedom with #Bitcoin.

If you are working on a #Bitcoin or adjacent freedom tech software (Nostr, eCash, TOR etc), education or adoption project that meets our mandate, submit your application at http://hrf.org/bdfapply 💪

@ 5afdec5b:2d631be1

On November 26, 2024, we took a significant leap forward in revolutionizing Bitcoin-collateralized loans by launching PHASE 1 of our closed beta. Now that the dust has settled, it's time to reflect on what we've learned, celebrate our wins, and chart the path forward.
"Get the bread you need without having to part with your corn." — Lendasat, 2024

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📈 Closed Beta: PHASE 1 in Numbers

Over the course of one fast-paced week, here's what we achieved:
- 191 waitlist signups
- 100 invitations sent to eager testers
- 29 unique borrowers took 34 loans in total
- 21 loans disbursed via virtual debit cards, and 13 paid out in stablecoins (USDC on Polygon)

One of our trusted partners stepped up to support us by providing loan offers, allowing our team to focus entirely on refining the borrowing experience during this phase. In just one week, we exceeded the lender's promised liquidity by 15%, prompting an early wrap-up.

In terms of value:

• 1.34 BTC in Total Value Locked (TVL)
• $54,600 USD in Total Value Disbursed (TVD)

These numbers don't just reflect activity; they validate the demand for Bitcoin-backed loans and alternative disbursement methods like virtual debit cards.

---

📝 What We Learned

PHASE 1 taught us a lot about our product, our users, and the road ahead. While this beta focused on the borrower experience and the integration of virtual debit cards thanks to our partner Moon, it gave us valuable insights into what works and what needs improvement.

The UX Challenge

Building a non-custodial platform is hard. Designing its UX? Even harder.
- Our decision to use a Contract Secret (a sovereign key for signing contracts) instead of an in-app wallet upheld our commitment to self-custody, sovereignty, and safety.
- However, this introduced friction for users. We're rethinking how to make this smoother while staying true to our principles.

💳 Virtual Debit Cards: A Game Changer

The ability to claim loans directly onto a virtual debit card — thanks to our partnership with Moon — was a clear hit. Virtual cards weren't just appreciated; they were a hot topic.
➡️ However, one feature that could take this to the next level is the ability to add these cards to Apple Pay or Google Pay. It's a missing piece we're eager to explore to make the experience even more seamless and user-friendly.

Stablecoin Repayment: A Friction Point

Repaying loans in stablecoins on an alt-chain wasn't as seamless as we'd hoped. Reducing this pain point will be a top priority in future iterations.
➡️ To address this, we are actively exploring new integrations that would allow borrowers to repay their loans via bank transfer or even by using their debit or credit card, providing more flexible and user-friendly repayment options.

✅ Demand Validated

From Bitcoin-collateralized loans to virtual debit card payouts, the strong demand reinforced our belief in the product's potential and validated that our approach is the right one.
➡️ In the future, the underlying protocol will continue to operate on a Bitcoin<>Stablecoin foundation, ensuring speed, trustlessness, and efficiency. Borrowers, however, will have the option to opt-in for intuitive on/off ramps and spending tools, making the experience seamless and user-friendly. This will allow the complexities of the alt-chain infrastructure to disappear entirely from the borrower's perspective. At the same time, we'll keep the order book clean and unfragmented, ensuring a smooth and scalable ecosystem for all participants.

🌙 Dark Mode Is (Still) a Thing

Yes, even in the world of Bitcoin-backed loans, dark mode is a surprisingly big deal.
➡️ Message received; devs are doing something.

---

👀 Looking Ahead: BETA RELOADED

If PHASE 1 was about testing the waters, BETA RELOADED 👀 will be about diving deeper. In this next phase, we're opening up both borrower and lender experiences to our beta testers, with:
- Improved UI/UX, based on the invaluable feedback we've received.
- New partnerships and integrations to enhance functionality and accessibility.
- Exciting surprises that we'll reveal when the time comes.

If PHASE 1 taught us anything, it's that we're onto something significant. We've demonstrated that Bitcoin-collateralized loans are not only reinventable but genuinely in demand. And this is just the start of what's to come.

Get ready for BETA RELOADED. It's coming soon™️, and it's going to be legendary!

Want to be part of the journey? Join our waiting list or, even better, connect with us on Discord to share your thoughts and stay updated!

Stay tuned, and as always, stay sovereign.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 혁명적 운동의 물적 토대가 착취로 마련된다면
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10743
• 2024.05.20 14:14

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활동지원사 노동자의 권리다툼 자체를 막으려는 조직적 활동

A센터에는 장애인활동지원사와 관련된 5개의 재판이 걸려 있었다. 1개 재판은 확정되었고 4개의 재판은 아직도 진행 중이다.[^1] 취업규칙개정 무효 확인 소송과 퇴직자 1인, 재직자 3인의 체불임금과 관련한 민·형사 소송이다. 체불임금을 청구하는 민사소송은 대한법률구조공단의 지원을 받아 진행 중이다.[^2] 형사재판 두 건은 검사의 구형에 따라 법원이 판결을 내릴 사안이므로 노동자들은 피해자로서의 역할만 하면 된다. 그리고 취업규칙개정 무효 확인 소송은 공익인권법재단 공감 노동팀의 변호사들로부터 지원을 받았다.

A센터와의 취업규칙개정 무효소송이 시작되고 약 두 달 뒤, 사건을 대리한 변호사로부터 연락이 왔다. 연락한 이유는 장애인차별금지추진연대(장추련)와 한국장애인자립생활센터협의회(한자협)의 활동가들이 공감에 찾아와 공감이 전국활동지원사노동조합의 사건을 대리한 것에 문제를 제기했기 때문이다.

전달받은 바에 의하면 그들의 주장은 ▲공감에서 사건을 대리하는 바람에 변호사 찾기가 어렵다 ▲이 사건은 공익소송이 아니다 ▲노동조합이 의도적으로 A센터를 상대로 소송을 제기했다 ▲소송을 통해서 A센터가 망하면 장애인들에게 영향이 생긴다는 내용이었다.

공감이 사건을 계속 맡을 경우 항의성명을 내거나 기자회견을 하겠다는 말도 비공식적으로 흘렸다고 했다.[^3] 공감은 장애인권영역에서도 공익변론활동을 하므로 이 사안이 사무실 회의에서 재차 논의되어 검토하였으나, 공감은 사건을 계속 맡기로 결정하였고 장추련과 한자협의 항의방문 사안을 원고(우리)들에게 공식적으로 전달하기로 결정했다.

공감이 사건을 계속 맡기로 판단한 이유는 ▲A센터와의 갈등 이전에도 우리 노조는 관공서공휴일 관련한 문제제기를 지속해서 하고 있었기에 A센터만을 표적으로 하고 있다고 판단할 수 없으며 ▲A센터와의 대화를 시도하였으나 A센터가 응하지 않은 사실이 확인되었으며 ▲관공서공휴일 수당이 정부 예산에 반영된 사실이 정부 문건으로 확인되었으며 ▲A센터의 총회자료상 순수익 발생이 확인되었기 때문이었다.

나중에 변호사들을 만났을 때, 장추련과 한자협이 해당사건을 공익소송이 아니라고 판단한 이유에 대해서도 말해주더냐고 물어보았다. 변호사는 장애인활동지원제도는 장애인을 위한 제도라는 이유를 들었다고 전해주었다. 한편으로는 흔들리지 않는 변호사들과 공감이라는 단체가 고마웠지만, 장추련과 한자협 활동가들의 인식과 행태에는 실소를 금할 수 없었다. 산업의 목적에 의해 노동자의 권리가 부정된다면, 산업의 성장을 위해 다치고 죽고 해고당해도 할 말이 없는 것 아닌가. 산업의 발전을 위해 생산력이 떨어지는 장애인이 배제되는 것도 마찬가지다. 길에서 농성하는 노동자들의 투쟁에는 쉬이 연대하면서도, 정작 자신들과 가장 가까운 장애인활동지원사의 노동권을 위한 투쟁은 공익활동조차 아니었고, 공익변호사의 조력조차 받아서는 안 되는 일이었다.

한자협의 탄원서 조직 업무협조 요청

얼마 전, 노동자 3인의 체불임금에 대한 민사1심 선고를 앞둔 시기였다. 모든 변론은 종결되었고, 판사는 선고 시기를 추후에 알려주겠다고 했다. 며칠의 시간이 흐른 뒤, 법원은 3월 28일에 선고하겠다고 알려왔다. 선고일을 받고 기다리는데, 한 조합원이 한자협의 공문을 보내오며 "이거 선생님 사건 아니에요?"라고 물었다. 한자협은 3월 18일 회원단체 전체에 업무협조 요청 공문을 발송했다. 협조요청 공문 내용의 골자는 이러했다.

▲한자협 업무연락 2024년 10호 공문 부분

• 현재 A센터는 장애인활동지원사의 임금 지급과 관련한 민사소송의 피고 신분으로 판결을 앞두고 있다. 긴급하게 피고 A센터를 위해 탄원서를 조직하고자 한다.
• 이번 판결은 장애인활동지원사의 임금 산정 방식에 대한 법원의 해석에 해당되어 A센터뿐만 아니라 장애인활동지원기관 전반에 영향을 미칠 수 있는 중요한 판결이다.
• 장애인활동지원사업은 활동지원사가 근무 후 결제하는 바우처 정보에 따라 사업비가 지급되며 여기에는 활동지원사의 '연장수당' 등 법정수당이 모두 반영되어 지급되지 않는다. 장애인활동지원의 비현실적 시간당 단가, 운영비 미지원 등의 문제가 활동지원사와 중개기관의 열악한 조건을 고착시키고 있다는 점은 오래전부터 제기된 사안이다.
• 장애인자립생활센터를 비롯해 많은 활동지원기관이 활동지원사의 연장수당 책정을 월 174시간을 기준으로 하고 있으며, 소정근로일을 특정할 수 없는 활동지원사의 근무 형태를 고려하여 연차수당을 급여 안에 포함해 지급하고 있다. 이 같은 임금산정 및 급여 지급 방식은 근무조건이 유동적이고 소정근로일을 특정할 수 없는 장애인활동지원사의 근무 형태에 적절하다고 할 수 있다.
• 하지만 원고들은 임금산정에 있어 연장수당은 일 8시간을 기준으로, 연차수당은 연 단위 미사용 연차에 대한 총액으로 계산해야 함을 제기하고 있다. 이 경우 기관은 임금을 사업비에서 충당하기 위해서 일반적인 근로자와 같이 일 근무시간을 8시간으로 철저하게 관리할 수밖에 없다. 이 경우 활동지원제도의 취지가 무색할 정도로 이용자의 권리가 축소되고 기관의 운영 부담은 더욱 가중될 것이다.
• 활동지원제도의 특수성이 조명될 수 있도록, 무책임한 정부가 가려지지 않을 수 있도록 긴급하게 탄원서 요청한다.

A센터가 법원에 제출한 한자협의 자료들

A센터는 한자협의 자료를 공판 과정에서 이미 제출한 바가 있다. 사실 A센터가 법원에 한자협의 자료를 근거로 주장한 내용마저도 문제가 많았다. 한자협은 파스페이[^4]라는 임금 정산 전산시스템을 제공하면서 회원기관들로부터 이용료를 징수해 왔다. 그리고 이 이용료도 활동지원사업 수익금에서 지출되리라고 짐작할 수 있다. A센터도 이 시스템을 사용했는데, A센터는 공판 과정에서 한자협 회원기관들의 임금대장을 익명처리하여 제출하였다. A센터가 법원에서 주장한 바는, 한자협의 탄원협조 공문에서 드러난 논지와 동일했는데, 자신들의 임금체계는 활동지원기관들이 취하는 업계 일반적인 임금산정 방식이고 이는 활동지원사업의 '특성상' 불가피하다는 주장이었다. 하지만 법원에 제출된 자료만으로는 그것을 사업전체에 일반화할 수는 없다. 다른 장애인자립생활센터 연합단체의 경우나 복지관, 사회적협동조합 등 다른 여타 유형의 활동지원기관의 임금산정 방식에 대한 검토가 없다. 그리고 그러한 일반화가 있다 하더라도 법률위반이 만연한 것이 법률위반에 대한 정당화 근거가 될 수는 없다.

한자협 회원기관 중에서도 파스페이를 사용하지 않는 기관들이 종종 있다. 다시 말하지만, 한자협 회원기관 몇 군데의 임금대장 만으로는 "연장수당 책정을 월 174시간을 기준으로 하고 있으며, 소정근로일을 특정할 수 없는 활동지원사의 근무 형태를 고려하여 연차수당을 급여 안에 포함해 지급"하는 임금지급 방식을 모든 활동지원기관이 적용하고 있다고 말할 수는 없다. 엄밀하게 말하면 한자협이 주장하는 임금산정 방식은 '파스페이'를 사용하는 활동지원기관들에게만 확인되었다 할 수 있는 방식이다. 그리고 그 방식은 이미 A센터와 한자협이 법원에서 그리고 협조요청 공문으로 자인한 바대로, 연장수당 책정을 월근무시간 기준으로 책정하고 있다. 그리고 이러한 연장근무수당 산정 방식은 근로기준법 위반이다. A센터와 한자협의 주장 섞인 진술은 한자협 회원기관 중에서도 '파스페이'를 사용하는 활동지원기관은 근로기준법을 위반하고 있다는 고백과 다름없다. 근로기준법상 연장근무수당 산정방식은 1일 법정근무시간 8시간을 초과하는 시간에 해당하는 근무시간은 연장근무수당을 지급해야만 한다.

법원의 판결은 이미 많이 있었다

나는 탄원서 조직협조 공문이 목적하는 바가 법원에서 다투고 있는 쟁점에 관한 주장 및 입증은 아니라고 생각한다. 정말 법정에서 다투는 쟁점에 관한 사항이라면 A센터가 한자협을 통해 확보한 자료들로 주장에 대한 근거를 삼으면 될 일이다. 당사자인 A센터가 아니라 한자협이 적극적으로 탄원서를 조직했다. 나는 탄원서 조직의 진짜 목적은 법원을 설득하는 데에 있는 것이 아니라 다른 곳에 있다고 생각한다. 이 탄원서 조직은 한자협 내부 회원들을 조직하고 한자협의 입장을 전파하는 기능을 갖는다. 그리고 전파되는 내용은 활동지원사의 노동권을 부정하는 악의적이고 거짓된 내용으로 구성되어 있다.

탄원 조직 공문은 이번 판결이 임금 산정 방식에 대한 법원의 해석이므로 장애인활동지원기관 전반에 영향을 끼칠 수 있는 중요한 판결이라 서술한다. 이러한 서술은 해당 판결을 강조함으로써 이전의 판결들을 흐리게 만든다. 한자협이 말하는 것 같은 중요한 판결은 이번 판결만이 아니었다. 우리 노조는 활동지원사의 노동권 확보를 위해 투쟁해 왔고 그 나름의 역사가 있다. 우리 노조가 활동지원사업을 수탁받은 사회복지법인들과 노동자 권리를 두고 법정에서 싸운 것만 수차례다. 그리고 그 투쟁 속에서 노동청 검찰청 법원은 물론 대법원의 판단까지 받았다. 활동지원사의 임금과 관련한 법원 판결은 이번이 첫 번째 판결이 아니다. 그리고 법원은 활동지원사의 임금과 관련해서 근로기준법상의 기준을 지키라고 지속해서 판결해 왔다. 한자협은 이번 법정분쟁의 의미만을 확대함으로써 기존의 법원 판결에 대한 의미축소와 삭제를 노린다. 동시에 자신들의 임금산정 및 급여 지급 방식이 법률 위반이 아닌 적절한 방법이라는 억지주장을 반복하고 있다. 하지만 법원도 행정부도 한자협이 설정한 임금지급방식을 지시하거나 지지하는 입장을 표한 적도 없고, 문건을 생산한 적도 없다. 3월 28일의 선고도 원고들의 승소로 판결되었다. 법원은 체불임금 산정에 있어 A센터와 한자협의 주장 어느 하나도 인정하지 않았다. 그런데 A센터 소장은 다시 항소했다.

근로기준법과 75%

보건복지부에서는 매년 '장애인활동지원 사업안내'라는 책자를 발간한다. 현장에서는 보통 지침이라고 불린다. 지침에는 정부가 기관에 지급하는 '사업비 중 종사자 인건비 지출'을 규정하는 부분이 있다. "급여비용 중 75% 이상을 활동지원인력 임금으로 사용"할 것을 권장하는 내용이 그 부분이다. 본래는 "사용해야 함"이라고 명시하여 의무로 하던 것이 2019년 7월부터 '권장'으로 바뀌었다.

우리 노조는 다시 의무로 바꿔야 한다는 입장이다. 근로기준법의 기준만 충족하면 기관은 더욱 수익을 낼 수 있고, 이는 근로기준법의 각종 규정에서 제외되는 초단시간 노동자로 활동지원사들의 노동조건을 후퇴시킬 가능성이 아주 높기 때문이다. 영리를 추구하는 기관들의 태도가 활동지원제도의 공공성을 어떻게 망가뜨릴지는 예측하기 힘들다. 그런데 이 75% 기준에 대한 한자협의 입장은 노조와 다르다. 한자협은 권고기준마저 삭제하고자 한다. 한자협 2024년 총회자료에 따르면, 75% 권장사항마저 삭제할 것을 정부에 요구하고 있다.

▲한자협 2024년 총회자료 일부 발췌 및 편집 : 한자협이 보건복지부에 지침개정을 요구한 내용 중 일부

현재 활동지원기관들은 75% 이상 지급하라는 권장사항을 대부분 준수한다. 복지부 지침상으로는 '권고'수준이나, 기초자치단체와 국민연금공단의 평가에서 평가기준으로 작용하기 때문이다. 노동관계법령을 관할하는 노동부와는 별도로 행정상에서 지침이 작동하는 사례이다. 이 권장사항이 사라지게 되면 기초자치단체와 국민연금공단은 인건비 비율 관련 평가조차 하지 않게 된다.

A센터는 자신들이 근로기준법을 위반하지 않았다는 주장의 근거로 기초자치단체와 국민연금공단의 평가를 댄다. 평가상에 아무런 문제가 발견되지 않았다는 주장이다. 하지만 기초자치단체와 국민연금공단의 평가 및 감사는 활동지원기관에게 활동지원사의 실제 근무시간 자료를 요구하지 아니하고, 바우처 단가 중 75%만을 인건비로 썼는지 판단하기 때문에 이 평가만으로는 기관의 근로기준법 준수여부를 확인할 수는 없다.

A센터의 수익방법

A센터는 어떻게 수익을 내었을까? 이 질문이야말로 진정한 질문이다. A센터와 한자협의 주장은 짐짓 제도상의 구조적 피해를 호소하는 듯하지만, 정작 활동지원기관의 중간착취를 돕고 중간착취를 확대하는 기재로 작동한다. 임금의 세계는 선악의 세계가 아니라 수치의 세계이다. 충분과 부족의 일도양단으로 시시비비를 가릴 수는 없다.

A센터 2022년 정기총회 자료에서 회계감사는 단식부기로 1억 4천의 이익이 발생했고, "활동보조인 중개사업의 수익금액 증가에 기인"한다고 적시하고 있다. 이 수익에 대해서 A센터와 한자협은 설명하지 않는다. A센터의 수익에 75%와 연장근무수당의 비밀이 내포되어 있다. 우리나라 근로기준법 체계상 주휴수당과 연차수당 등은 법정근무시간인 1일 8시간을 기준으로 책정된다. 연장근무수당 미지급이 정당화되면 노동자는 일을 할수록 시간당 임금이 줄어드는 기이한 현상이 생긴다. 그리고 A센터는 이를 이용해 수익을 냈다. 이를 분석하기 위해서는 월 근무시간 구간별로 노동자에게 지급되는 임금 구성요소가 어떻게 되는지 살펴보면 된다.[^5]

A센터는 법정에서 월근무 174시간 기준으로 209시간까지는 연장근무수당을 책정하고, 그 이상의 근무에 대해서는 연장근무수당을 책정하지 않았다고 답변했다. 209시간 이상의 근무에 대해서는 보건복지부 지침에 따라 75%의 임금을 보장했다고 설명했다.[^6] 시간당 임금 구간을 나누어 서술하면 이렇다.

• 월 근무시간이 1시간부터 174시간 구간까지는[^7] 최저임금, 주휴수당, 연차수당이 지급된다.
• 월 근무시간이 174시간부터 209시간 구간까지는 최저임금과 연장근무수당이 지급된다.
• 월 근무시간이 209시간이 넘어가는 시간은 바우처 수가 75%의 임금만을 지급한다.

여기서 알아야 할 숫자는 최저임금, 주휴수당, 연차수당, 연장근무수당, 바우처 75%의 금액이다.

2021년 기준 최저임금은 8,720원이다. 주휴수당은 5일 근무 시 1일 유급휴일이므로 시간급으로 나누면 1/5에 해당한다. 계산하면 1,744원이다. 연차수당은 연차일수 17일을 가정할 경우[^8] 시간급으로 나누면 약 569원이 된다. 연장근무수당은 통상임금의 50%이므로 4,360원이다. 2021년 바우처 수가는 주간기준 14,020원이고 75%는 10,515원이다. 이 값들을 각 식에 대입해 보자.

• 근무시간 1 ~ 174 구간의 시간당 임금: 8,720(최저임금) + 1,744(주휴수당) + 569(연차수당) = 11,033
• 근무시간 174 ~ 209 구간의 시간당 임금 : 8,720(최저임금) + 4,360(연장근무수당) = 13,080
• 근무시간 209 ~ 구간의 시간당 임금 : 14,020(바우처 단가) * 0.75 (75%) = 10,515

사업장에서 시간당 수입이 일정한 조건에서 노동력을 통해 수익을 내기 위해서 가장 중요하게 고려할 요소는 노동자에게 지급하는 시간당 임금 비율이다. 정리하면 다음과 같다.

• 근무시간 1 ~ 174 구간의 시간당 수익 : 14,020(바우처 주간수가) - 11,033(임금) = 2,987
• 근무시간 174 ~ 209 구간의 시간당 수익 : 14,020(바우처 주간수가) - 13,080(임금) = 940
• 근무시간 209 ~ 구간의 시간당 수익 : 14,020(바우처 주간수가) - 10,515(임금) = 3,505
• 근무시간 209 ~ 구간의 시간당 수익 (한자협의 주장대로 75% 권장사항이 삭제될 경우) : 14,020(바우처 주간수가) - 8,720(최저임금) = 5,300

1 ~ 174 구간에서 주간바우처 단가 기준 운영비 수익은 2,987원이고, 174 ~ 209 구간에서 운영비 수익은 940원이 된다. 209시간을 넘어가면 운영비 수익은 3,505원으로 뛴다. 한자협의 주장대로 75% 권장사항이 삭제될 경우에는 최저임금만 지급하면 되므로 운영수익이 시간당 5,300원으로 폭증하게 된다. A센터는 활동지원사의 노동시간을 통제하지 않으면서(소극적 권장) 시간당 운영비 수익을 더욱더 많이 얻을 수 있었다. 일반적인 사업장에서 초단시간 노동자 고용을 통해 인건비를 아끼는 것과 동일하게(사용자가 초단시간 노동자로 노동자의 노동조건을 하락시키는 이유도 시간당 지급되는 인건비를 줄이기 위해서이다), A센터는 반대의 방향으로 근무시간은 늘리고 연장근무수당을 지급하지 않음으로 시간당 수익을 넓히는 전략을 취한 것이다.

사용자의 예상되는 대응이 노동자에게 불이익이 아니라면, 도대체 싸우지 않을 이유가 없다

노동조합의 입장에서는 문제를 제기함에 있어 신중할 수밖에 없다. 법이 항상 약자의 편은 아니고 자본가는 더 빼앗기 위해 법률을 검토하고 이용할 자원이 있기 때문이다. 노동조합도 자신의 행보에 따른 사용자의 대응전략을 예상해 본다. 그런데 그 대응이 노동자계급에 전혀 피해를 주지 않는다면 싸우지 않을 이유가 없다.

한자협은 자신들이 근로기준법을 준수하기 위해서 이제는 1일 근무시간을 8시간으로 통제해야 한다고 선전한다. 그리고 이러한 조처가 불가피하고 이는 장애인이용자들의 불편으로 이어질 것이라고 말한다. 그런데 앞서 설명한 대로 노동자의 임금을 셈한다 하더라도, 연장근무수당을 부정하는 현재의 상태가 유지된다면 노동자 입장에서는 차라리 노동시간 통제가 유리하다. 사용자가 그러한 것과 마찬가지로 노동자 입장에서도 결국 노동력을 제공하는 시간당 임금이 중요한데, 일하면 일할수록 시간당 임금이 줄어드는 A센터와 한자협의 임금체계는 노동자 입장에서 싸우지 않을 이유가 없게 만든다. 특히나 그렇게 수익을 남기면서도 관공서공휴일 유급휴일수당 지급을 회피하고, 노동자를 속여 취업규칙을 개정하는 A센터와 같은 악덕 사업주에게는 더더욱 싸움을 피해야 할 이유가 없다.

한편으로는 이제야 1일 근무시간을 통제하겠다는 한자협의 주장은 기만이다. 한자협 회원기관들은 활동지원제도가 법률로 시행된 2011년부터 회원기관끼리 연계하여 활동지원사의 권리를 찢어 지우기 급급했다. 그 제한이 월 174시간이거나, 1일 8시간이거나 정도의 차이만 있었을 뿐, 개별 사업장들은 이런 통제를 계속해왔다. 그래서 활동지원사 입장에서는 저들의 대응이 하나도 새삼스럽지가 않다.

또한 민간의 활동지원기관이 자신들의 수익성 때문에 장애인이용자에게 불편을 끼친다면, 그것은 그것대로 사회서비스 공공성을 추구해야 할 이유가 될 것이고, 한자협과 같은 활동지원사업 민간수탁기관들이 사라져야 할 이유가 될 것이다.

혁명을 위한 착취가 정당화된다면 그것이 혁명일까

이제 정리해 보자. 한자협의 활동지원사업을 둘러싼 주요 행보는 활동지원사노동자의 중간착취를 정당화 또는 확대하는 방향으로 이루어졌다. 최근 서울시의 활동지원기관 재지정을 둘러싼 한자협의 반발[^9]도 필자가 보기에는 이와 같은 맥락으로 읽힌다. 한자협 회원기관 다수는 근로기준법을 위반하고 활동지원사 노동자를 착취해 가며 센터 규모를 키워왔다. 근로기준법 위반이 명백한 상황에서 재지정 심사에서 탈락하는 기관이 다수 생기는 것도 어렵지 않게 예상 가능하다. 그런데 한자협은 자신들의 노동착취와 위반행위는 인정하지 않은 채 보수정당의 장애인인권운동 탄압으로 프레이밍 한다.

자신들이 성명서 말미에서 요구하는 "단가현실화"와 "공공성 보장"은 어떻게 이루어지는가? 그리고 어떻게 이루어져 왔는가? 활동지원사가 근로기준법 적용을 요구하고 활동지원기관과 싸우는 투쟁이 없었더라도 수가인상이 이루어졌을까? 한자협이 주장하는 대로 수가에 충분히 반영되지 않아서 지불할 수 없다는 정당화가 용인되어도 수가 인상이 이루어졌을까? 시장화된 사회서비스 환경에서 민간기관의 근로기준법 위반을 묵인하는 것으로 공공성이 보장될까? 도대체가 말이 안 되는 소리다. 진보적 장애인 인권운동의 이름으로 발화되는 이런 시답잖은 주장을 언제까지 들어야만 하는가.

한자협은 자신들의 정체성을 운동단체로 규정짓는다. 하지만 그 회원사업장 밑에서 일하는 활동지원사 노동자의 입장에서 보기에, 운동을 핑계로 노동자를 착취하는 또 다른 방식의 자본가일 뿐이다. 우리나라의 사회운동은 언제부턴가 운동의 요구를 한계 짓기 시작했다. 국가가 책임지는 공공성보다는 국가예산을 일부 획득하고 국가의 하청이 되기를 자임했다. 바뀌어버린 풍경은 의식도 변화하게 만들고, 중간착취자로서 자신의 사유를 규정하게 된다. 이제 이쯤 되었으면 운동단체의 국가사업 수탁에 대해서 다시 심각하게 재고해야 하지 않을까. 운동의 몰락은 외부의 탄압에서 기인하지 않는다.

[^1]: 취업규칙 무효소송은 원고의 일부승소로 판결났다. 원고와 피고 모두 항소하지 않아 선고가 확정되었다. [^2]: 대한법률구조공단은 체불피해근로자들에게 민사 소송대리 등의 무료법률구조를 실시하고 있다. [^3]: 이후에 한자협은 기자회견을 하기는 했다. 다만 공감에 대한 규탄 내용은 빠졌다. 해당 기자회견에 대한 글은 이전 칼럼 [장애인 인권은 외치지만 차별주의자입니다] 에서 다루고 있다. [^4]: 파스페이, < https://kcil.org/ >, 한자협에서 구축하고 한자협 회원기관에게만 서비스를 제공하는 장애인활동지원 급여시스템이다. 놀랍게도 해당 서비스는 '근로기준법, 세법준수'를 서비스 장점으로 내세운다. [^5]: 야간근무수당이나 휴일근무수당 또한 같은 방식으로 분석할 수 있지만 이 글에서는 논외로 하자. 퇴직금은 운영수익에서 비례하여 지급되므로 분석하지 않는다. [^6]: 2022년 부터는 226시간까지 연장근무수당을 책정했다고 설명했다. [^7]: 1년은 365일이고, 12개월, 1주일은 7일이다. 365/12/7=4.3452... 1년 중 1달의 평균 주수이다. 1주 40시간이 법정근무시간으로 가정할 경우 40시간 * 1달 평균 주수 = 1달 근무시간이 된다. 이 수치가 약 173.8... 이 된다. 1달 기준 대략적인 법정근무시간이다. [^8]: 연차수당은 근속년수에 따라 다르다. 근로기준법 제60조 4항. [^9]: 한국장애인자립생활센터협의회 성명, [성명] 서울시 ‘활동지원기관 (재)지정 심사’는 법도 원칙도 없는 ‘장애인 단체 길들이기’, ‘적반하장’의 전형이다. 서울시의 부적절 관행과 정부의 무책임에 칼을 빼겠다. , < https://www.kcil.or.kr/post/618 >, 2024-04-26.

@ cdee943c:5e637400

One of the first tasks we set ourselves at Nostr SF is to build a demonstration app for how to use dedicated kinds, and in this case, one for recipes.

Nostr SF isn't a wheel design firm though, so we figured it was best to look at what's already happening and see if we can build off of that rather than necessarily start from scratch. So we asked ourselves what sort of information is being captured and shared in other recipe platforms that we could use as a model for ours.

The following is a review of the various recipe formats that are presently in the wild:

zap.cooking

The inspiration for the project, zap.cooking currently uses kind:30023 notes for publishing recipes. Looking in the source code, they parse a markdown representation in the content field which results in the following fields: - Chef's notes - Details (with the following 'sub fields') - Prep time - Cook time - Servings - Ingredients - Directions - Additional Resources

The event json looks like this: { "content": "\n## Chef's notes\n\nAh, my culinary wanderlust through northern Italy and an undeniable romance with fall's freshest produce gave birth to this risotto masterpiece. Crafted by yours truly, if you find your taste buds dancing with delight, do show some love. Who knows, a few more of my treasured recipes might just make their way from my kitchen to yours. Wink!\n\n## Details\n\n- ⏲️ Prep time: 30 min\n- 🍳 Cook time: 30 min\n- 🍽️ Servings: 4-6\n\n## Ingredients\n\n- 1 butternut squash, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm cubes \n- 1 onion, chopped \n- 1 pinch of nutmeg \n- 350 g Nebbia smoked carnaroli rice \n- 25 cl dry white wine, such as pinot grigio \n- 1 bay leaf, optional \n- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, optional \n- 50g cheese - parmesan or pecorino - finely grated \n- Extra virgin olive oil\n- 1300cl classic risotto broth (Star Il Mio Dado Classico or better yet, homemade)\n\n\n## Directions\n\n1. Preheat the oven to 200C. \n2. Coat the squash cubes with olive oil and spread them in a single layer on a large baking sheet (don't season them)\n3. Bake for about 50 minutes, until golden brown on the edges.\n4. Remove from oven and set aside. \n5. While the squash is roasting, prepare the stock and, if using, add the bay leaf. \n6. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. \n7. Heat a little olive oil in a large risotto pan, add the onion and fry until translucent, about 3 min.\n8. Add the rice and nutmeg, stir coating with the oil and onion and fry for another 2-3 minutes. \n9. Reduce the heat to medium and add the white wine, and thyme if using. \n10. As the wine evaporates, add a ladle of broth (about 20 cl), stirring regularly. \n11. As the broth evaporates and the rice begins to stick to the pan scrape the bottom and add another ladle of broth. \n12. Repeat until about 2 ladles of broth remain. \n13. Add about 1/3 to 2/3 of the cooked squash to the risotto and mix well. (You can add more if you like, or the rest of the squash will be delicious with pasta, with eggs, or in a soup.) \n14. Continue adding the last ladles of broth until the rice is cooked al dente. \n15. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. \n16. Serve immediately.\n17. Can also be made with regular carnaroli rice, in which case, put 4 chopped sage leaves and 2 cloves of garlic in with the thyme. However, the Nebbia Fog Smoked Rice has a magical richness to it that can't be imitated.\n", "created_at": 1699302411, "id": "1013a49c671ec45ad8d0ba97256b9abc1e990405a82f4bdf253ef0226d5eade3", "kind": 30023, "pubkey": "fe6104d291746db0132f54974e6d4331ced86f43fc00a75f592c1d20e1d22b8c", "sig": "e3e2e8776c8aed90e9c91b10e6b5d80827aa42f77e863ade84a98bd135e56488099d949b95f734d1323b520ed37c12c9c468311e9d67045af3107f52057c34bb", "tags": [ ["d", "uncle-jedi's-butternut-risotto"], ["title", "Uncle Jedi's Butternut Risotto"], ["t", "nostrcooking"], ["t", "nostrcooking-uncle-jedi's-butternut-risotto"], [ "summary", "Dive into a creamy risotto infused with the nutty richness of roasted butternut squash, seasoned with a hint of nutmeg and fresh thyme. This elegant dish, made with luxurious Nebbia smoked carnaroli rice, is perfectly balanced with the sharpness of parmesan or pecorino. And as the risotto bubbles and simmers, the white wine reduction adds depth and aroma that tantalizes the senses. Have leftovers? The roasted squash pairs delightfully with pasta or eggs. For the grand finale, enjoy this masterpiece with a savory fennel sausage. A meal that's both cozy and gourmet awaits!"], ["image", "https://image.nostr.build/f88d843b5d6a112c1963e34b61d731ab0d63c6bc6ede98df757d6cdaa4259f68.jpg"], ["t", "nostrcooking-easy"], ["t", "nostrcooking-italian"], ["t", "nostrcooking-squash"], ["t", "nostrcooking-rice"] ] }

Proposed Recipe NIP

There is an existing NIP proposal for recipes which suggests a number of tags that can be used to filter recipes more efficiently at the relay side.

The event json looks like this: ``` { "id": "", "pubkey": "", "created_at": , "kind": XXXX, "tags": [ ["title", ""], ["summary", ""], ["author", ""], ["cuisine", ""], ["category", ""], ["ingredients", ""], ["image", ""], // can be used more than one

// Optional Tags
["prep_time", "<prep_time>"],
["cook_time", "<cook_time>"],
["servings", "<servings_number>"],
["difficulty", "<difficulty>"],
["nutrition", "<calories_per_serving>"],
["tags", "<comma_separated_tags>"],
["allergens", "<comma_separated_allergens>"],
["content_warning", "<content_warning_description>"],

], "content": "", "sig": "" } ```

Schema.org

There is a schema for recipes which details an exhaustive list of possible fields for a recipe. The minimum set of fields produces a JSON result like this: { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Recipe", "author": "John Smith", "cookTime": "PT1H", "datePublished": "2009-05-08", "description": "This classic banana bread recipe comes from my mom -- the walnuts add a nice texture and flavor to the banana bread.", "image": "bananabread.jpg", "recipeIngredient": [ "3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed", "1 egg", "3/4 cup of sugar" ], "interactionStatistic": { "@type": "InteractionCounter", "interactionType": "https://schema.org/Comment", "userInteractionCount": "140" }, "name": "Mom's World Famous Banana Bread", "nutrition": { "@type": "NutritionInformation", "calories": "240 calories", "fatContent": "9 grams fat" }, "prepTime": "PT15M", "recipeInstructions": "Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix in the ingredients in a bowl. Add the flour last. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for one hour.", "recipeYield": "1 loaf", "suitableForDiet": "https://schema.org/LowFatDiet" }

Cooklang

There is also specification for recipes called Cooklang which defines a DSL for recipes. The syntax has it's own EBNF grammar which looks like this: ``` -- TODO add source

Mix together @oyster sauce{1%tbsp}, @soy sauce{5%tbsp} and @sesame oil{5%tsp}, set aside.

Heat @peanut oil{1%tbsp} in a wok or heavy based skillet/fry pan over medium heat. Add @eggs{2%items} and cook until scrambled, then remove onto plate.

Increase heat to high and add chopped @bacon{75%cup}, excess fat trimmed. Cook until golden, then remove onto plate with egg - about 2 minutes.

Drain off excess bacon fat.

Add remaining @peanut oil{2%tbsp}, minced @garlic{2%gloves} and @ginger{3%tsp}. Return wok to stove on high heat. Stir fry as it comes up to heat, don’t let it burn. When garlic starts to sizzle, add finally chopped @onion{2%medium} and stir fry for 2 minutes until golden.

Add @Chinese cooking wine{1%tbsp} and @sugar{2%tsp} and let it simmer rapidly, stirring, for 20 seconds, until mostly evaporated.

Add @prawns{150%g} and stir fry for 1 minute to heat through if pre-cooked, cook longer to cook if raw.

Add refrigerated overnight @cooked rice{3%cups}, Sauce, eggs, bacon and thinly sliced @scallions{5%items}. Stir fry for 2 minutes until rice is hot - around 2 minutes.

Transfer to serving plate, sprinkle with thinly sliced @scallions{2%items} and serve. There is an online parser demo [here](https://biowaffeln.github.io/cooklang-parser/) which converts a given recipe into an AST which looks like this: { "metadata": { "source": "https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/wprm_print/6796", "total time": "6 minutes", "servings": "2" }, "ingredients": [ { "type": "ingredient", "name": "apple juice", "quantity": "1,5", "units": "cups" }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "banana", "quantity": "one sliced", "units": "" }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "frozen mixed berries", "quantity": "1,5", "units": "cups" }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "vanilla greek yogurt", "quantity": 0.75, "units": "cup" }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "honey", "quantity": "some", "units": "" } ], "cookware": [ { "type": "cookware", "name": "blender", "quantity": "" } ], "steps": [ [ { "type": "text", "value": "Place the " }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "apple juice", "quantity": "1,5", "units": "cups" }, { "type": "text", "value": ", " }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "banana", "quantity": "one sliced", "units": "" }, { "type": "text", "value": ", " }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "frozen mixed berries", "quantity": "1,5", "units": "cups" }, { "type": "text", "value": " and " }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "vanilla greek yogurt", "quantity": 0.75, "units": "cup" }, { "type": "text", "value": " in a " }, { "type": "cookware", "name": "blender", "quantity": "" }, { "type": "text", "value": "; blend until smooth. If the smoothie seems too thick, add a little more liquid (1/4 cup). " } ], [ { "type": "text", "value": "Taste and add " }, { "type": "ingredient", "name": "honey", "quantity": "some", "units": "" }, { "type": "text", "value": " if desired. Pour into two glasses and garnish with fresh berries and mint sprigs if desired." } ] ] } `` This is by no means an exhaustive list of available recipe implementations but should server as a good starting point for determining what makes a good recipekind`.

@ 42342239:1d80db24

Germany, the EU's largest economy, is once again forced to bear the label "Europe's sick man". The economic news makes for dismal reading. Industrial production has been trending downward for a long time. Energy-intensive production has decreased by as much as 20% in just a few years. Volkswagen is closing factories. Thyssenkrupp is laying off employees and more than three million pensioners are at risk of poverty according to a study.

Germany is facing a number of major challenges, including high energy costs and increased competition from China. In 2000, Germany accounted for 8% of global industrial production, but by 2030, its share is expected to have fallen to 3%. In comparison, China accounted for 2% of global industrial production in 2000, but is expected to account for nearly half (45%) of industrial production in a few years. This is according to a report from the UN's Industrial Development Organization.

Germany's electricity prices are five times higher than China's, a situation that poses a significant obstacle to maintaining a competitive position. The three main reasons are the phase-out of nuclear power, the sabotage of Nord Stream, and the ongoing energy transition, also known as Energiewende. Upon closer inspection, it is clear that industrial production has been trending downward since the transition to a greener economy began to be prioritized.

Germany's former defense minister, EU Commission President von der Leyen, called the European Green Deal Europe's "man on the moon" moment in 2019. This year, she has launched increased focus on these green goals.

However, the EU as a whole has fallen behind the US year after year. European companies have significantly higher energy costs than their American competitors, with electricity prices 2-3 times higher and natural gas prices 4-5 times higher.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve is a model that examines the relationship between economic growth and environmental impact. The idea is that increased material prosperity initially leads to more environmental degradation, but after a certain threshold is passed, there is a gradual decrease. Decreased material prosperity can thus, according to the relationship, lead to increased environmental degradation, for example due to changed consumption habits (fewer organic products in the shopping basket).

This year's election has resulted in a historic change, where all incumbent government parties in the Western world have seen their popularity decline. The pattern appears to be repeating itself in Germany next year, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz is struggling with low confidence figures ahead of the election in February, which doesn't seem surprising. Adjusted for inflation, German wages are several percent lower than a few years ago, especially in the manufacturing industry.

Germany is still a very rich country, but the current trend towards deindustrialization and falling wages can have consequences for environmental priorities in the long run. Economic difficulties can lead to environmental issues being downgraded. Perhaps the declining support for incumbent government parties is a first sign? Somewhere along the road to poverty, people will rise up in revolt.

@ 4657dfe8:47934b3e

Alby Hub enables creation of subaccounts, decentralizing trust and creating usecases for shared, community nodes.

Simplifying Bitcoin Wallets for Friends and Family

Alby Hub empowers you to take full control of your bitcoin and manage your payments. Through a user-friendly, self-custodial wallet with a one-click lightning node setup, you can effortlessly connect to dozens of applications. The integrated App Store provides access to popular apps like Amethyst, Damus, Stacker News, Podcasting 2.0, and a wide range of other external tools—all directly linked with your Alby Hub wallet. One of the latest and most exciting additions to Alby Hub is the Friends & Family app.

With the Friends & Family app, you can create subaccounts for friends and family, all powered by your Hub. In just a few clicks, you can set up wallets for them, giving them a smooth onboarding experience and making bitcoin accessible even to those new to the ecosystem. Think of it as a custodial wallet but with a personal touch—since you’re the one managing it, there’s a direct relationship and trust.

These subaccount holders can tap into all the channels and liquidity of your Hub without needing to handle any technical setup. Plus, you can preload their wallets with a few sats, creating a welcoming and smooth experience that’s hard to find elsewhere.

And that’s not all. Beyond providing an intuitive wallet, they can get their own lightning address, configurable payment notifications, access to Alby Go (a mobile app for payments on the go), and the Alby Browser Extension for easy web payments.

Let’s have a look how to set it up.

How to provide a wallet to Friends and Family?

1. Open your Hub and find the Friends & Family app in the App Store
2. Enter a name e.g. your friend’s name and click “Create subaccount”
3. Share the Connection Secret with your friend for the different options

Here are two examples how your the new subaccount can be used.

Alby Go mobile App

Alby Go makes it easy to carry bitcoin in your pocket. This lightweight wallet connects directly to an Alby Hub subaccount, so your friends can pay and check transactions on the go.

Here’s how to set it up: 1. Open the Alby Go Mobile App tab in your Hub.

2. Copy the Connection Secret and share it with your friend if you cannot onboard them in person. 3. Your friend downloads Alby Go for Android or iOS and scans the code.

And that’s it—your friend now has a bitcoin wallet in their pocket, ready for seamless transactions anytime, anywhere. 🎉

Get a Lightning Address with an Alby account

An Alby Account offers a variety of useful features that make managing bitcoin payments easy. Among these are a personalized lightning address and email payment notifications—two powerful tools that help your newly onboarded friends stay connected and informed.

To set up an Alby account for someone:

1. Open the Alby Account tab in your Hub.

2. Copy the provided URL and share it with your friend.

3. Your friend simply needs to create their Alby account and afterwards click on the provided URL.

That’s it! The wallet is instantly connected, and they’re ready to receive payments to their new lightning address. 🥳

Onboarding Family & Friends Made Easy In this article, we explored how to create subaccounts for family and friends, connect them with Alby Go, and set up an Alby account to provide a smooth onboarding experience for your loved ones—all achievable in just a few clicks.

Stay tuned as we dive into more exciting use cases for subaccounts in Alby Hub! If you have ideas for improvement,let us know.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 장애인활동지원제도 부정수급과 장애인을 지배하는 자들
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10690
• 입력 2024.03.23 20:19

“무급으로 함께 일하기엔 너무 좋고 고마운 존재지만, 막상 임금을 지불하기엔 뭔지 모르게 찝찝하고 아깝다”라는 동료의 속마음을 들어야 했다. 1년을 근무한 단체에서는 임금을 지불할 여유가 도저히 없다며 나의 활동보조시간 일부를 동료에게 명의를 돌려서 가사보조를 얼마만큼 포기하게 하는 대신 나의 임금으로 주기도 했다. 몸과 마음이 점점 지쳐가고, 급기야 몸담고 있던 단체의 안 좋은 실상들을 깨닫게 될 때 쯤 난 동료들과 자주 부딪치기 시작했다. 얼마 지나지 않아 나는 그 일터를 떠났다. - 출처: ‘생산성’ 묻는 사회, 장애여성의 노동은? - 일다 - < https://www.ildaro.com/6188 >

불법으로 규정된 부정수급과 편중된 교육

장애인활동지원제도는 장애인에게 바우처를 지급하고 그 바우처는 장애인활동지원서비스에만 사용하도록 용처를 제한하고 있다. 활동지원 서비스 외의 서비스나 재화를 제공받고 활동지원급여비용을 청구하는 행위 일체는 부정수급으로 판단된다. 활동지원급여비용 청구 주체는 활동지원기관이고, 이 급여비용 중 일부를 활동지원사에게 임금으로 지급한다.

활동지원서비스가 얼마나 제공되었는지는 사회보장정보원 전산시스템을 통해서 기록된다. 활동지원사는 활동지원기관이 지급한 단말기를 가지고 출근한다. 장애인이용자를 만나면 단말기에 장애인이용자의 카드를 태그하고, 전자바우처시스템을 통해 받은 활동지원인력 자신의 카드를 태그한다. 태그가 있어야 사회보장정보원 전산시스템에 출근과 퇴근을 기록할 수 있다. 그러면 서비스를 제공한 시간만큼 장애인이용자의 바우처가 차감된다.

이렇게 기록된 전산기록을 근거로 급여비용이 청구된다. 급여비용은 활동지원기관이 활동지원사를 보내어 장애인에게 정당한 서비스를 제공한 것을 전제로 지급되고, 또 그 전제로 활동지원사에게 임금이 지급된다. 전제가 되는 정당한 활동지원서비스가 없었다면 지급된 비용은 이자가 가산되어 환수[^1]되고, 부정한 청구 행위는 형사처벌을 받을 수 있다.[^2] 행정 차원에서 지정취소 혹은 자격정지를 당하거나[^3] 가담한 장애인수급자는 일정한 기간 활동지원급여가 중단될 수도 있다.[^4]

법률이 엄중히 처벌하는 만큼 부정수급 금지는 강조하고 반복해서 교육된다. 부정수급에 가담할 수 있는 주체는 활동지원기관, 장애인활동지원사, 장애인이용자 세 주체이다. 그리고 이들에게 지배적 지위에 있는 자들이 개입할 수 있다. 그런데 교육은 거의 활동지원사에게만 이루어진다. 활동지원기관은 부정수급을 단속하고 교육해야 할 책임기관 중 한 곳이다. 장애인이용자교육은 대체로 이루어지지 않는다. 장애인이용자 교육도 활동지원기관이 담당하는데, 활동지원기관 입장에서 장애인이용자는 서비스를 제공받고 바우처를 지급하는 고객에 해당한다. 장애인이용자를 교육한다는 것은 고객을 교육하는 꼴이다. 기관에서 교육을 소집해도 장애를 이유로 참가하는 사람 수가 적다. 결국 장애인 고객들에게는 서면이 전달되고 서명만 이루어진다. 교육이 제대로 될 리 없다.

부정수급을 주도하는 자는 누구일까

정작 부정수급은 활동지원사의 주도로 이루어지지 않는다. 사람들의 통념은 부정수급이 장애인을 등쳐먹는 활동지원사들에 의해 이루어진다고 상상하는 듯하다. 제대로 서비스는 제공하지도 않고 임금만 받아 가는 활동지원사. 하지만 여기서 가정되는 장애인은 멍청하고 속기만 하고 빼앗기기만 하는 무력한 장애인이다. 오히려 우리는 장애인이 그런 존재이기만 한지 질문해야 한다. 장애인을 무능한 존재로만 바라보는 시선은 장애혐오 시선의 일부다. 장애혐오적 시선은 노동자에 대한 혐오적 시선으로 이어진다. 그리고 활동지원사만 교육하고 닦달하는 현재의 제도는 어쩌면 그 인식의 결과로 보인다.

앞서 설명한 것처럼, 사회보장정보원에 근무기록을 남기는 방법은 단말기에 카드를 태그해야 한다. 태그를 하기 위해서는 장애인과 활동지원사의 의사일치가 필요하다. 활동지원시간을 장애인들은 생명 같은 시간으로 묘사한다. 활동지원사가 장애인 몰래 카드를 찍는다는 것은 그 생명 같은 시간을 무단으로 탈취하는 행위다. 특히 활동지원 시간을 금액으로 환산하여 표기하기 시작한 2011년부터 장애인이용자들은 바우처 금액을 자신에게 주어진 돈으로 인지하는 경향이 있다. 장애인 몰래 서비스를 제공하지 않고 근무기록을 남긴다는 것은 누군가가 몰래 돈을 훔쳐 가는 것과 같은 일이다. 정말로 활동지원사 단독으로 기망에 의해 그 같은 일이 벌어진다면, 그 장애인은 아주 위험한 상황이다. 바우처뿐만 아니라 모든 재산에 대한 점검이 필요한 문제상황이다. 이런 문제상황은 오히려 활동지원서비스 외에 다른 국가적 차원의 지원이 더욱 필요하다. 하지만 그런 사례는 드물고 장애인은 자신의 욕구에 따라 바우처라는 자원을 잘 분배하여 사용한다.

역으로 질문해 보자. 활동지원사가 부정수급을 제안할 수 있을까? 활동지원사가 부정수급을 제안한다면 장애인 이용자는 즉시 활동지원기관에 알릴 수 있다. 장애인이용자는 응하지 않고 바로 활동지원사를 교체할 수도 있다. 이런 상황에서 활동지원사가 부정수급을 최초로 제안한다는 것은 이미 어떤 특별한 관계 속에 있지 않고서는 불가능한 일이다.

거절할 수도, 신고할 수도 없지만 책임은 져야 한다

활동지원사는 장애인이용자의 부정수급 제안을 거절하기가 힘들다. 이유를 불문하고 서비스 중단을 요구할 수 있는 권력이 장애인이용자에게 있는 현재 상황에서 부정수급을 거절한다는 것은 실질적 해고에 노출되는 것을 각오하는 행위이다.

코로나가 한창이던 시기 뉴스보도에 따르면 한 활동지원사는 장애인이용자의 부정수급 권유를 거절하여 하루아침에 일자리에서 잘리게 됐다.[^5] 코로나 시기에만 있었던 일일까. 해당 보도에서는 코로나로 인한 장애인 일자리 감소를 이유로 들지만, 코로나 이전에도 끝난 지금에도 우리나라 전체 기업체에서 근무하고 있는 장애인 상시근로자 수는 거의 변동이 없다.[^6] 단지 감염병 유행으로 필수 돌봄노동자로서 활동지원사의 실태가 언론에 조금 주목받았을 뿐이지, 정말로 장애인 일자리 감소를 이유로 볼 수는 없다. 보도의 활동지원사는 4월에 근무를 시작하여 9월에 처음으로 부정수급 제안을 받고 교체되는데, 해당 이용자는 이전에도 이후에도 부정수급을 반복할 가능성이 크다.

활동지원사는 부정수급이 이루어지고 있다는 사실을 알아도 신고하기가 힘들다. 부정수급 사실을 알 수 있는 사람은 몇 되지 않아 신분이 노출될 가능성이 크다. 이 또한 서비스 중단으로 이어져 활동지원사가 감내해야 할 부담이 크다.

한편 단속에 적발된 부정수급에 대해서는 활동지원사만 전적으로 책임을 져야 할 가능성이 크다. 입증할 수 없는 사건은 존재하지 않는 것과 같다. 부정수급은 그 불법성이 강조되는 만큼이나 공모자들도 부정수급이 불법이라는 사실을 익히 알고 있다. 그렇다면 공모자들은 그와 관련된 증거를 없애야만 한다. 부정수급은 장애인과 장애인의 주변 사람에 의해 주도되지만, 부정수급과 관련된 증거는 활동지원사를 향하고 있다. 활동지원사와 장애인이용자가 같이 있지 않았다는 증거는 대개 명백하고, 활동지원사에게 임금이 지급된 사실도 명백하다. 하지만 장애인이용자와 주변 사람이 취한 이득에 대해서는 증거가 없을 가능성이 크다. 임금은 활동지원사의 계좌를 스쳐 흔적이 남지 않는 현금으로 누군가에게 전달된다.

장애인을 지배하는 자 바우처를 지배하리니

인용한 본문을 다시 살펴보자. 장애여성은 자신이 기존에 받던 "활동보조시간 일부"를 "동료"에게 명의를 돌려 "임금"으로 받았다고 한다. 본문의 장애여성이 일한 곳은 "장애인을 위한 시민단체"이다. 동시에 활동지원사업을 수탁받은 단체이다. 장애여성에게 임금을 지급할 수 없는 사정이 있다고 주장하는 단체는 (아마도 비장애인)동료를 활동지원사로 등록시켜 서비스를 제공하지 않고도 제공한 듯 활동지원급여비용을 청구했을 테고, 또 동료의 계좌로 활동지원사 임금명목의 금전을 지급했을 것이다. 그리고 그 금전을 현금으로 받아 장애여성에게 임금으로 지급하는 방식을 취했을 것이다.

여기서 중요한 것은 장애여성의 노동시장에서의 취약한 지위가 이중적 착취를 초래한다는 점이다. 임금은 단체가 지급한 것이 아니라, 장애여성이 제공받았어야 할 서비스를 단순히 돈으로 돌려받은 것에 불과하다. 그런데도 장애여성은 노동력까지 제공했다. 바우처 금액도 온전히 받지 못했을 가능성이 크다. 동료는 자신의 명의를 공짜로 제공했을까. 동료의 인건비 일부로 지출되었을 가능성도 있다. 활동지원기관은 25%까지 징수할 수 있는 중개수수료를 확보한다.

이 과정에서 기존에 서비스를 제공하던 활동지원사는 어떻게 됐을까? 서비스 중단을 통보받고 실질적 해고 상태에 돌입하거나, 일을 지속할 수 있었다면 일거리가 줄어 임금이 줄었을 것이다. 장애인이용자의 서비스중단 요구권이 절대적인 현재의 제도 하에서는, 장애인이용자의 취약성은 활동지원사의 취약성으로 연결된다.

이후에 부정수급이 발각된다면 장애여성은 자신이 지급받은 '임금'을 반환할까? 삼자 간의 관계가 어찌 전개될지는 알 수 없다. 어쨌거나 증거는 활동지원사 명의를 달아둔 '동료'를 향해있다.

부정수급이 불가능한 제도가 힘들다면 신고라도 할 수 있는 노동조건을

장애인활동지원제도의 부정수급과 관련한 신문기사는 주기적으로 나온다. 정부는 이를 근절하기 위한 방법으로 단속강화만을 말한다. 하지만 단속만으로 부정수급이 근절될까. 우리는 부정수급을 금지하는 제도가 아니라 부정수급이 불가능한 제도를 구축하라고 주장하고 있다. 장애인의 서비스 시간과 활동지원사의 임금이 연계된 현재의 체계로는 부정수급 가능성이 언제나 잔존한다. 부정수급을 할 이유도 없고 가능하지도 않은 제도로 변화해야 한다. 노동자가 노동자로 보장받아야 할 권리와 장애인이 받아야 할 활동지원의 권리가 분리되어 각각 보장되는 방식으로 제도개선이 이루어져야 한다고 주장하고 있다.

가끔 부정수급과 관련한 문의가 온다. 처음 일을 시작한 지 얼마 되지 않아 뭔가가 이상하다며 문의하는 활동지원사도 있고, 다른 사람이 부정수급을 하는 것을 알게 되었는데 어떻게 하면 되느냐고 묻는 활동지원사도 있다. 미처 모르고 부정수급에 동참한 노동자 대다수의 경우는 장애인이용자나 활동지원기관, 주변 사람들이 부정수급을 주도한 사실에 관한 증거는 없다. 부정수급 관련 상담을 할 때 더 이상 신고하라는 말을 쉽게 할 수가 없다. 정말로 신고했다가 크게 고생하는 활동지원사를 봤기 때문이다. 활동지원사는 정직하게 신고했지만, 임금을 환수당하고 벌금을 내고 자격을 정지당했다. 반면 장애인이용자는 수급권이 잠시 정지되었을 뿐이다. 활동지원사가 부정수급의 굴레를 벗어나려면 일을 그만두는 수밖에는 없다. 일을 그만두는 이유를 밝히기도 힘들다. 자발적 퇴사로 인한 불이익은 노동자 부담이다.

다른 활동지원사가 이용자와 부정수급을 하는 것을 알게 된 활동지원사도 마찬가지다. 실제로 한 노동자는 클린센터에 신고하자 신고를 취소하라는 활동지원기관의 전화를 받았다. 신고자를 보호한다는 클린센터를 믿지 마시라. 그저 모른 척 일하면서, 조용히 다른 일거리를 찾는 게 최선이다.

부정수급이 불가능한 제도로의 혁신이 안 된다면, 활동지원사가 부당한 일을 보면 신고라도 할 수 있는 노동조건은 확보되어야 하지 않을까. 장애인활동지원제도의 부정수급 프로세스의 핵심은 부정수급에 대한 주도권이 장애인과 장애인을 지배하는 자에게 있음에도 증거는 활동지원사를 향해 있다는 점이다. 이 점을 심각하게 받아들이지 않고서는 부정수급을 끊어낼 수도 없고, 이를 통해 피해를 보는 활동지원사가 현장을 이탈하는 일만 늘어날 것이다.

[^1]: 장애인활동 지원에 관한 법률 제35조(부당지급급여의 징수) [^2]: 동법 제47조(벌칙) 제1항 "3년 이하의 징역 또는 3천만원 이하의 벌금에 처한다." [^3]: 동법 제24조(활동지원기관 지정의 취소 등), 제30조(활동지원인력의 자격 취소 및 자격 정지 등) [^4]: 동법 제19조(활동지원급여의 중단 또는 제한) 제1항 "1년의 범위에서 활동지원급여의 수령이나 제공 기간 등을 제한하여야 한다." [^5]: 황 씨는 한 시각 장애인을 주6일, 오전 10시부터 오후 6시까지 돌보고 있었습니다. 그런데 이 시각장애인이 황 씨에게 '거래'를 제안한 겁니다. 화요일과 목요일은 자신을 돌봐주지 않아도 되고, 다른 요일에도 오후 일찍 퇴근할 수 있도록 해 주는 등 편의를 봐줄 테니 60만 원을 달라고 요구했다는 것입니다. 황 씨는 "60만 원을 주고는 도저히 일을 못 하겠다고 (돌봄 대상자에게) 얘기했더니 하루아침에 (일자리에서)잘리게 됐다"고 합니다. _ KBS뉴스, 2020년 12월 8일자 보도, “우리도 돌봄이 필요해요”…장애인 돌보는 ‘돌봄 노동자’, < https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/view/view.do?ncd=5065927 > [^6]: 한국장애인고용공단에서는 매년 '기업체장애인고용실태조사'를 발표한다. 2018년부터 2023년 우리나라 전체 기업체에서 근무하고 있는 장애인 상시근로자 수를 살펴보면 22만 명 언저리에서 큰 변동이 없다.

@ b17c5987:85d68928

Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.

Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.

This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem. On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.

President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.

This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem. On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.

President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.

We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (2022), the justices held that agencies can’t impose regulations dealing with major economic or policy questions unless Congress specifically authorizes them to do so. In Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), the court overturned the Chevron doctrine and held that federal courts should no longer defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of the law or their own rulemaking authority. Together, these cases suggest that a plethora of current federal regulations exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law.

DOGE will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology, to apply these rulings to federal regulations enacted by such agencies. DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission. This would liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress and stimulate the U.S. economy.

When the president nullifies thousands of such regulations, critics will allege executive overreach. In fact, it will be correcting the executive overreach of thousands of regulations promulgated by administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress. The president owes lawmaking deference to Congress, not to bureaucrats deep within federal agencies. The use of executive orders to substitute for lawmaking by adding burdensome new rules is a constitutional affront, but the use of executive orders to roll back regulations that wrongly bypassed Congress is legitimate and necessary to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent mandates. And after those regulations are fully rescinded, a future president couldn’t simply flip the switch and revive them but would instead have to ask Congress to do so.

A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy. DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions. The number of federal employees to cut should be at least proportionate to the number of federal regulations that are nullified: Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited. Employees whose positions are eliminated deserve to be treated with respect, and DOGE’s goal is to help support their transition into the private sector. The president can use existing laws to give them incentives for early retirement and to make voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.

Conventional wisdom holds that statutory civil-service protections stop the president or even his political appointees from firing federal workers. The purpose of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation. But the statute allows for “reductions in force” that don’t target specific employees. The statute further empowers the president to “prescribe rules governing the competitive service.” That power is broad. Previous presidents have used it to amend the civil service rules by executive order, and the Supreme Court has held—in Franklin v. Massachusetts (1992) and Collins v. Yellen (2021) that they weren’t constrained by the Administrative Procedures Act when they did so. With this authority, Mr. Trump can implement any number of “rules governing the competitive service” that would curtail administrative overgrowth, from large-scale firings to relocation of federal agencies out of the Washington area. Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home.

Finally, we are focused on delivering cost savings for taxpayers. Skeptics question how much federal spending DOGE can tame through executive action alone. They point to the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which stops the president from ceasing expenditures authorized by Congress. Mr. Trump has previously suggested this statute is unconstitutional, and we believe the current Supreme Court would likely side with him on this question. But even without relying on that view, DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended, from $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations to nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.

The federal government’s procurement process is also badly broken. Many federal contracts have gone unexamined for years. Large-scale audits conducted during a temporary suspension of payments would yield significant savings. The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency’s leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent. Critics claim that we can’t meaningfully close the federal deficit without taking aim at entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which require Congress to shrink. But this deflects attention from the sheer magnitude of waste, fraud and abuse that nearly all taxpayers wish to end—and that DOGE aims to address by identifying pinpoint executive actions that would result in immediate savings for taxpayers.

With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government. We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington. We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action. Our top goal for DOGE is to eliminate the need for its existence by July 4, 2026—the expiration date we have set for our project. There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud.

Mr. Musk is CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Mr. Ramaswamy, a businessman, is author, most recently, of “Truths: The Future of America First” and was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. President-elect Trump has named them co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency.

We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (2022), the justices held that agencies can’t impose regulations dealing with major economic or policy questions unless Congress specifically authorizes them to do so. In Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), the court overturned the Chevron doctrine and held that federal courts should no longer defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of the law or their own rulemaking authority. Together, these cases suggest that a plethora of current federal regulations exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law.

DOGE will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology, to apply these rulings to federal regulations enacted by such agencies. DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission. This would liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress and stimulate the U.S. economy.

When the president nullifies thousands of such regulations, critics will allege executive overreach. In fact, it will be correcting the executive overreach of thousands of regulations promulgated by administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress. The president owes lawmaking deference to Congress, not to bureaucrats deep within federal agencies. The use of executive orders to substitute for lawmaking by adding burdensome new rules is a constitutional affront, but the use of executive orders to roll back regulations that wrongly bypassed Congress is legitimate and necessary to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent mandates. And after those regulations are fully rescinded, a future president couldn’t simply flip the switch and revive them but would instead have to ask Congress to do so.

A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy. DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions. The number of federal employees to cut should be at least proportionate to the number of federal regulations that are nullified: Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations once its scope of authority is properly limited. Employees whose positions are eliminated deserve to be treated with respect, and DOGE’s goal is to help support their transition into the private sector. The president can use existing laws to give them incentives for early retirement and to make voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.

Conventional wisdom holds that statutory civil-service protections stop the president or even his political appointees from firing federal workers. The purpose of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation. But the statute allows for “reductions in force” that don’t target specific employees. The statute further empowers the president to “prescribe rules governing the competitive service.” That power is broad. Previous presidents have used it to amend the civil service rules by executive order, and the Supreme Court has held—in Franklin v. Massachusetts (1992) and Collins v. Yellen (2021) that they weren’t constrained by the Administrative Procedures Act when they did so. With this authority, Mr. Trump can implement any number of “rules governing the competitive service” that would curtail administrative overgrowth, from large-scale firings to relocation of federal agencies out of the Washington area. Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home.

Finally, we are focused on delivering cost savings for taxpayers. Skeptics question how much federal spending DOGE can tame through executive action alone. They point to the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which stops the president from ceasing expenditures authorized by Congress. Mr. Trump has previously suggested this statute is unconstitutional, and we believe the current Supreme Court would likely side with him on this question. But even without relying on that view, DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended, from $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations to nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.

The federal government’s procurement process is also badly broken. Many federal contracts have gone unexamined for years. Large-scale audits conducted during a temporary suspension of payments would yield significant savings. The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency’s leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent. Critics claim that we can’t meaningfully close the federal deficit without taking aim at entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which require Congress to shrink. But this deflects attention from the sheer magnitude of waste, fraud and abuse that nearly all taxpayers wish to end—and that DOGE aims to address by identifying pinpoint executive actions that would result in immediate savings for taxpayers.

With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government. We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington. We expect to prevail. Now is the moment for decisive action. Our top goal for DOGE is to eliminate the need for its existence by July 4, 2026—the expiration date we have set for our project. There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud.

Mr. Musk is CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Mr. Ramaswamy, a businessman, is author, most recently, of “Truths: The Future of America First” and was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. President-elect Trump has named them co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency.

@ 7ed7d5c3:6927e200

There was a time when we dared not rustle a whisper. But now we write and read samizdat and, congregating in the smoking rooms of research institutes, heartily complain to each other of all they are muddling up, of all they are dragging us into! There’s that unnecessary bravado around our ventures into space, against the backdrop of ruin and poverty at home; and the buttressing of distant savage regimes; and the kindling of civil wars; and the ill-thought-out cultivation of Mao Zedong (at our expense to boot)—in the end we’ll be the ones sent out against him, and we’ll have to go, what other option will there be? And they put whomever they want on trial, and brand the healthy as mentally ill—and it is always “they,” while we are—helpless.

We are approaching the brink; already a universal spiritual demise is upon us; a physical one is about to flare up and engulf us and our children, while we continue to smile sheepishly and babble:

“But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength.”

We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence. We have lost our strength, our pride, our passion. We do not even fear a common nuclear death, do not fear a third world war (perhaps we’ll hide away in some crevice), but fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own, and risk suddenly having to make do without the white bread, the hot water heater, a Moscow residency permit.

We have internalized well the lessons drummed into us by the state; we are forever content and comfortable with its premise: we cannot escape the environment, the social conditions; they shape us, “being determines consciousness.” What have we to do with this? We can do nothing.

But we can do—everything!—even if we comfort and lie to ourselves that this is not so. It is not “they” who are guilty of everything, but we ourselves, only we!

Some will counter: But really, there is nothing to be done! Our mouths are gagged, no one listens to us, no one asks us. How can we make them listen to us?

To make them reconsider—is impossible.

The natural thing would be simply not to reelect them, but there are no re-elections in our country.

In the West they have strikes, protest marches, but we are too cowed, too scared: How does one just give up one’s job, just go out onto the street?

All the other fateful means resorted to over the last century of Russia’s bitter history are even less fitting for us today—true, let’s not fall back on them! Today, when all the axes have hewn what they hacked, when all that was sown has borne fruit, we can see how lost, how drugged were those conceited youths who sought, through terror, bloody uprising, and civil war, to make the country just and content. No thank you, fathers of enlightenment! We now know that the vileness of the means begets the vileness of the result. Let our hands be clean!

So has the circle closed? So is there indeed no way out? So the only thing left to do is wait inertly: What if something just happens by itself?

But it will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point.

From lies.

When violence bursts onto the peaceful human condition, its face is flush with self-assurance, it displays on its banner and proclaims: “I am Violence! Make way, step aside, I will crush you!” But violence ages swiftly, a few years pass—and it is no longer sure of itself. To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies. For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.

And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!

And this is the way to break out of the imaginary encirclement of our inertness, the easiest way for us and the most devastating for the lies. For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person.

We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think!

This is the way, then, the easiest and most accessible for us given our deep-seated organic cowardice, much easier than (it’s scary even to utter the words) civil disobedience à la Gandhi.

Our way must be: Never knowingly support lies! Having understood where the lies begin (and many see this line differently)—step back from that gangrenous edge! Let us not glue back the flaking scales of the Ideology, not gather back its crumbling bones, nor patch together its decomposing garb, and we will be amazed how swiftly and helplessly the lies will fall away, and that which is destined to be naked will be exposed as such to the world.

And thus, overcoming our timidity, let each man choose: Will he remain a witting servant of the lies (needless to say, not due to natural predisposition, but in order to provide a living for the family, to rear the children in the spirit of lies!), or has the time come for him to stand straight as an honest man, worthy of the respect of his children and contemporaries? And from that day onward he:

· Will not write, sign, nor publish in any way, a single line distorting, so far as he can see, the truth;

· Will not utter such a line in private or in public conversation, nor read it from a crib sheet, nor speak it in the role of educator, canvasser, teacher, actor;

· Will not in painting, sculpture, photograph, technology, or music depict, support, or broadcast a single false thought, a single distortion of the truth as he discerns it;

· Will not cite in writing or in speech a single “guiding” quote for gratification, insurance, for his success at work, unless he fully shares the cited thought and believes that it fits the context precisely;

· Will not be forced to a demonstration or a rally if it runs counter to his desire and his will; will not take up and raise a banner or slogan in which he does not fully believe;

· Will not raise a hand in vote for a proposal which he does not sincerely support; will not vote openly or in secret ballot for a candidate whom he deems dubious or unworthy;

· Will not be impelled to a meeting where a forced and distorted discussion is expected to take place;

· Will at once walk out from a session, meeting, lecture, play, or film as soon as he hears the speaker utter a lie, ideological drivel, or shameless propaganda;

· Will not subscribe to, nor buy in retail, a newspaper or journal that distorts or hides the underlying facts.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies. But he who begins to cleanse himself will, with a cleansed eye, easily discern yet other opportunities.

Yes, at first it will not be fair. Someone will have to temporarily lose his job. For the young who seek to live by truth, this will at first severely complicate life, for their tests and quizzes, too, are stuffed with lies, and so choices will have to be made. But there is no loophole left for anyone who seeks to be honest: Not even for a day, not even in the safest technical occupations can he avoid even a single one of the listed choices—to be made in favor of either truth or lies, in favor of spiritual independence or spiritual servility. And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill.

For us, who have grown staid over time, even this most moderate path of resistance will be not be easy to set out upon. But how much easier it is than self-immolation or even a hunger strike: Flames will not engulf your body, your eyes will not pop out from the heat, and your family will always have at least a piece of black bread to wash down with a glass of clear water.

Betrayed and deceived by us, did not a great European people—the Czechoslovaks—show us how one can stand down the tanks with bared chest alone, as long as inside it beats a worthy heart?

It will not be an easy path, perhaps, but it is the easiest among those that lie before us. Not an easy choice for the body, but the only one for the soul. No, not an easy path, but then we already have among us people, dozens even, who have for years abided by all these rules, who live by the truth.

And so: We need not be the first to set out on this path, Ours is but to join! The more of us set out together, the thicker our ranks, the easier and shorter will this path be for us all! If we become thousands—they will not cope, they will be unable to touch us. If we will grow to tens of thousands—we will not recognize our country!

But if we shrink away, then let us cease complaining that someone does not let us draw breath—we do it to ourselves! Let us then cower and hunker down, while our comrades the biologists bring closer the day when our thoughts can be read and our genes altered.

And if from this also we shrink away, then we are worthless, hopeless, and it is of us that Pushkin asks with scorn:

Why offer herds their liberation? 
............................. Their heritage each generation
The yoke with jingles, and the whip.

February 12, 1974

—translated from the Russian by Yermolai Solzhenitsyn

@ 490b551d:e17f0103

Welcome, friend. I hope this place becomes a space to pause, breathe, and reflect in the midst of the chaos of life and faith. If you’re here, there’s a good chance you’ve felt the weight of doubt in your belief, the kind that sits heavy on your heart, whispers in your mind, and makes you wonder if you’d truly be accepted if people knew your questions, especially when everything around you insists that belief without doubt is the only acceptable way to be. I get it. I’ve been there too.

I’ve faced a lot of pressure: the pressure to get everything right, the shame that follows any hint of sin, and the isolation that comes with feeling like I’m not quite enough for God’s love—whether it was because of the mistakes I’ve made or the doubts that linger in my heart. It’s tough to be part of a faith tradition that values certainty above all else when you’re in the middle of a spiritual crisis or a season of question. For many of us, the church can sometimes feel like a place where doubt isn’t welcomed, where questions are viewed as weaknesses, or worse, a ticket to hell. But here’s what I’ve learned in the decade I stepped away from my church and my beliefs: doubt doesn’t mean we’re failing at faith. It means we’re seeking something deeper.

Understanding the Pressure to Be Certain

For many of us who were raised in conservative Christian settings, there’s often an unspoken (and sometimes spoken) expectation: doubt is not okay. The message we receive is that to be a "good Christian" means you must have unwavering faith, an unshakable belief that everything in the Bible is true, and absolute certainty in your relationship with God. You’re supposed to have all the answers, be sure of your salvation, and confidently declare your faith in the face of any challenge.

But what happens when you don't have all the answers? When you question parts of scripture or the ways the church has interpreted it? When you wonder how a loving God can allow suffering, or how science and faith can co-exist? When you wonder if you're truly loved by God, or if your struggles disqualify you from His grace?

There’s a lot of weight in these questions, and for a long time, I felt alone in them. After all, isn’t doubt something that should be avoided? Shouldn’t we be strong enough to push through and just believe? The church certainly didn't seem to be the place to clear this all up in my mind!

The Reality of Doubt: You’re Not Alone

The truth is, doubt is a natural part of the human experience. A study published in the Journal of Psychology and Theology found that 70% of individuals experience some level of doubt at various points in their spiritual journey. Doubt doesn’t make you a bad Christian or a failure at faith—it makes you human.

The Bible is filled with examples of doubt. One of the most famous stories comes from Thomas, often referred to as "Doubting Thomas." After Jesus’ resurrection, when the other disciples saw Him alive and well, Thomas couldn’t believe it until he saw Jesus for himself and touched His wounds. When he finally encountered the risen Christ, Jesus didn’t rebuke him for doubting—He met him in the doubt. Jesus said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27, NIV). But Jesus doesn’t shame Thomas. No. He invites him to experience the truth, to see it for himself, and to believe in his own time and way.

Doubt is not a sin. It’s part of the journey of faith. Just like Thomas, we can bring our doubts to Jesus, and He will meet us in that place.

Acknowledging Doubt: A Step Toward Deeper Faith

Sometimes we think that the right way to navigate doubt is to push it down, pretend it doesn’t exist, or cover it up with surface-level answers. We’re told that questioning our faith is a sign of weakness or a lack of commitment. But what if the opposite is true? What if acknowledging our doubt could be the very thing that leads us to a deeper, more authentic faith?

In the book of Psalms, many of the writers express their doubts and frustrations with God. Take Psalm 73, for example. The psalmist, Asaph, begins by questioning the fairness of life: “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:1-3, NIV). Asaph openly doubts God’s goodness, and he questions why it seems like those who do wrong are thriving. But instead of running from his questions, he brings them before God, and by the end of the psalm, he expresses renewed trust in God's faithfulness (Psalm 73:23-26). Through this process of doubting and questioning, Asaph’s faith is refined, and he ultimately comes to a deeper understanding of God's justice and presence.

When we acknowledge the doubt, we don’t weaken our faith; we make space for it to grow. True faith isn’t the absence of doubt—it’s the trust to keep going even when we don’t have all the answers.

What the Bible Says About Doubt

James 1:6-8 is one of the passages that many people turn to when discussing doubt in the context of faith. It says:

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do" (James 1:6-8, NIV).

In these verses, James is addressing the process of asking God for wisdom. The context is not about the kind of doubt that questions God’s existence or love, but about a specific type of doubt: a lack of commitment or double-mindedness when it comes to asking for something from God. James is highlighting the importance of trust and consistency in prayer and faith.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. It seems as though James is saying that any form of doubt disqualifies you from receiving God's wisdom, but what he’s actually pointing out is something deeper. The doubt James describes here is not the kind of doubt where you're struggling with your faith and trying to work through your questions. It’s a doubt that stems from being double-minded or divided in your loyalty—someone who isn’t fully committed to trusting in God's goodness and His ability to provide answers.

In other words, James is addressing those who are unable to decide whether they trust God enough to act in faith, or whether they will rely on their own understanding. This isn’t about wrestling with questions of faith, but about refusing to fully trust God and expecting Him to give you what you ask for without truly believing He will. The warning here is that divided loyalty in your faith—being uncertain whether to trust God or rely on your own solutions—leads to instability in your life.

How Does This Relate to Us Today?

If we look at this in light of our own lives, the point James is making is incredibly relevant. It’s okay to have questions, to wrestle with doubt, and to not always have complete clarity. But if your doubt leads you to question God’s ability, goodness, or willingness to act, then you're not fully trusting in Him. If you approach God in prayer with a heart that says, “I don’t think He’ll really answer this, but I’ll ask anyway,” that’s the kind of wavering that James warns against. Faith requires a kind of consistency in belief: that God is good, He is listening, and He has the power to answer—even when you don’t understand how or when.

What James seems to be saying is that doubt becomes problematic when it leads us to reject God’s goodness or power. It's not the occasional, fleeting doubt about one’s salvation or understanding of scripture that disqualifies us from receiving from God, but rather a refusal to commit fully to trusting God in our times of need.How Does This Relate to Us Today?

If we look at this in light of our own lives, the point James is making is incredibly relevant. It’s okay to have questions, to wrestle with doubt, and to not always have complete clarity. But if your doubt leads you to question God’s ability, goodness, or willingness to act, then you're not fully trusting in Him. If you approach God in prayer with a heart that says, “I don’t think He’ll really answer this, but I’ll ask anyway,” that’s the kind of wavering that James warns against. Faith requires a kind of consistency in belief: that God is good, He is listening, and He has the power to answer—even when you don’t understand how or when.

What James seems to be saying is that doubt becomes problematic when it leads us to reject God’s goodness or power. It's not the occasional, fleeting doubt about one’s salvation or understanding of scripture that disqualifies us from receiving from God, but rather a refusal to commit fully to trusting God in our times of need.

Practical Ways to Navigate Doubt in a Faith Tradition that Values Certainty

Acknowledge Your Doubts Without Shame \ The first step in navigating doubt is acknowledging it. Doubt doesn’t make you a bad Christian or unworthy of God’s love. You don’t need to hide your questions. Instead of feeling guilty, recognize that doubt is part of your spiritual journey, and it’s okay to ask questions. When we’re honest about our doubts, we give God space to meet us where we are.

Engage with Scripture Honestly \ Sometimes, we shy away from certain parts of the Bible because they challenge us or don’t make sense. But the Bible is full of complexity, contradictions, and depth—and that’s okay. Approach Scripture with curiosity and openness. It’s not about finding all the answers right away, but about engaging with the text and allowing it to speak to you in different seasons of your life.

Surround Yourself with a Supportive Community \ Find people who are willing to walk with you through your doubts. If you’re struggling with questions, it can be incredibly helpful to talk with someone who has navigated similar struggles. Surround yourself with people who are willing to explore faith openly and who won’t judge you for questioning.

Embrace the Mystery of Faith \ Faith is never about having all the answers. There will always be aspects of God’s character and His ways that remain mysterious to us. But instead of trying to solve every mystery, learn to embrace the mystery. Faith is trusting in the unknown, and sometimes the questions themselves are a beautiful part of the journey.

Remember That Jesus Loves You—Doubt and All \ Above all else, remember that Jesus loves you deeply, no matter where you are in your faith journey. He isn’t looking for perfection; He’s looking for honesty. Just as He met Thomas in his doubt, He will meet you too. There is no shame in your questions—only an invitation to deeper trust and intimacy with God.

Navigating doubt in a faith tradition that values certainty is hard. But remember, you’re not alone in your struggle. Doubt isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s an invitation to deepen your faith. Just as God met Thomas and the psalmist in their doubt, He will meet you where you are. Faith isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about trusting God with our questions.

So, friend, don’t be afraid of your doubts. They don’t disqualify you from God’s love or His plans for your life. They are simply part of the beautiful, messy, and deeply human journey of faith. Take it one step at a time, and know that, like me, you are loved by God no matter where you are on your spiritual path.

blog #christian #christianity #spirituality

@ 87730827:746b7d35

Original: https://techreport.com/crypto-news/brazil-central-bank-ban-monero-stablecoins/

Brazilian’s Central Bank Will Ban Monero and Algorithmic Stablecoins in the Country

Brazil proposes crypto regulations banning Monero and algorithmic stablecoins and enforcing strict compliance for exchanges.

---

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Central Bank of Brazil has proposed regulations prohibiting privacy-centric cryptocurrencies like Monero.
• The regulations categorize exchanges into intermediaries, custodians, and brokers, each with specific capital requirements and compliance standards.
• While the proposed rules apply to cryptocurrencies, certain digital assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are still ‘deregulated’ in Brazil.

In a Notice of Participation announcement, the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) outlines regulations for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in the country.

In the document, the Brazilian regulator specifies that privacy-focused coins, such as Monero, must be excluded from all digital asset companies that intend to operate in Brazil.

Let’s unpack what effect these regulations will have.

Brazil’s Crackdown on Crypto Fraud

If the BCB’s current rule is approved, exchanges dealing with coins that provide anonymity must delist these currencies or prevent Brazilians from accessing and operating these assets.

The Central Bank argues that currencies like Monero make it difficult and even prevent the identification of users, thus creating problems in complying with international AML obligations and policies to prevent the financing of terrorism.

According to the Central Bank of Brazil, the bans aim to prevent criminals from using digital assets to launder money. In Brazil, organized criminal syndicates such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho have been increasingly using digital assets for money laundering and foreign remittances.

… restriction on the supply of virtual assets that contain characteristics of fragility, insecurity or risks that favor fraud or crime, such as virtual assets designed to favor money laundering and terrorist financing practices by facilitating anonymity or difficulty identification of the holder.

– Notice of Participation

The Central Bank has identified that removing algorithmic stablecoins is essential to guarantee the safety of users’ funds and avoid events such as when Terraform Labs’ entire ecosystem collapsed, losing billions of investors’ dollars.

The Central Bank also wants to control all digital assets traded by companies in Brazil. According to the current proposal, the national regulator will have the power to ask platforms to remove certain listed assets if it considers that they do not meet local regulations.

However, the regulations will not include NFTs, real-world asset (RWA) tokens, RWA tokens classified as securities, and tokenized movable or real estate assets. These assets are still ‘deregulated’ in Brazil.

Monero: What Is It and Why Is Brazil Banning It?

Monero ($XMR) is a cryptocurrency that uses a protocol called CryptoNote. It launched in 2013 and ‘erases’ transaction data, preventing the sender and recipient addresses from being publicly known. The Monero network is based on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which incentivizes miners to add blocks to the blockchain. 

Like Brazil, other nations are banning Monero in search of regulatory compliance. Recently, Dubai’s new digital asset rules prohibited the issuance of activities related to anonymity-enhancing cryptocurrencies such as $XMR.

Furthermore, exchanges such as Binance have already announced they will delist Monero on their global platforms due to its anonymity features. Kraken did the same, removing Monero for their European-based users to comply with MiCA regulations.

Data from Chainalysis shows that Brazil is the seventh-largest Bitcoin market in the world.

In Latin America, Brazil is the largest market for digital assets. Globally, it leads in the innovation of RWA tokens, with several companies already trading this type of asset.

In Closing

Following other nations, Brazil’s regulatory proposals aim to combat illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing.

Will the BCB’s move safeguard people’s digital assets while also stimulating growth and innovation in the crypto ecosystem? Only time will tell.

References

Cassio Gusson is a journalist passionate about technology, cryptocurrencies, and the nuances of human nature. With a career spanning roles as Senior Crypto Journalist at CriptoFacil and Head of News at CoinTelegraph, he offers exclusive insights on South America’s crypto landscape. A graduate in Communication from Faccamp and a post-graduate in Globalization and Culture from FESPSP, Cassio explores the intersection of governance, decentralization, and the evolution of global systems.

View all articles by Cassio Gusson

@ c48e29f0:26e14c11

titcoin

Rename Bitcoin to "Titcoin" and sats to "tits."

Redefinition of Bitcoin into “Titcoin” and redefinition of sats into “tits” using that as the Unit Base of Denomination.

TitHub repository available here: https://github.com/WalkerAmerica/titcoin

Abstract

This BIP proposes redefining the commonly recognized "bitcoin" and “sats” units so that what was previously known “bitcoin” becomes “titcoin” and what was previously known as “sats,” the smallest indivisible unit, becomes “tits.” The “Bitcoin” Network will be renamed to the “Titcoin” Network. Under this proposal, one tit is defined as that smallest unit, eliminating the need for decimal places, and 100,000,000 tits is defined as a titcoin. By making tits the standard measure, this BIP aims to simplify user comprehension, reduce confusion, and align on-chain values directly with their displayed representation.

Also, by aligning Bitcoin's brand with live-giving tits, we will supercharge adoption and inject humor into financial sovereignty. After all, every baby came into this world sucking on tits.

Under this BIP: - Internally, the smallest indivisible unit remains unchanged. - With this proposal, "1 tit" equals that smallest unit. - What was previously referred to as "1 BTC" now corresponds to 100 million tits. - Satoshis are permanently eliminated.

Addressing the “Buttcoin” BIP:

Not much time need be wasted addressing the catastrophic “Button” BIP proposed by Rockstar Dev, but two points bear emphasizing:

1. “Butts” is shitcoin-adjacent terminology (where does shit come from? Exactly…)
2. Butts give you poop. Tits give you milk.

Case closed.

Motivation

Bitcoin's branding is boring. Worse yet, critics think Bitcoin is already "a joke," so let’s own it, let's: Make Bitcoin Funny Again. Laughter is universal, irresistible, and much cheaper than marketing agencies and product roadmaps. Besides, basically everyone either has tits or likes tits. Additionally, renaming Bitcoin as “Titcoin” makes the common trope of “Bitcoin BROS” sound even more stupid. “Titcoin Bros”? Get a life, man…

By rebranding Bitcoin to Titcoin (.)(.), we achieve several key goals:

1. Haters Become Users: People like tits. Tits give nourishment to babies. They can stack tits instead of just making fun of them. Adoption skyrockets as trolls turn into tit hodlers.

2. Memetic Power: The word “tit” is both universally funny and ageless. “Send me 10 tits” is instantly iconic. “Nice tits” is a great compliment. “That’s gonna cost you a pair of tits” is hilarious. Try saying that without smiling. You can’t. (.)(.)

3. Simplifying Denominations: Decimals are a blight on humanity. 0.00000001 BTC? Kill it. Under the Titcoin Standard:

• 1 Titcoin = 100,000,000 tits.
• Satoshis are gone. Forever. If you see Satoshi on the road, kill him - just like in Zen, where the teacher becomes the barrier. We transcend satoshis and achieve financial enlightenment.

4. Aligning with the Ledger: Bitcoin’s base unit was always integers, but now they’re funny integers. No more fractions, decimals, or math anxiety. Just tits. (.)(.)

5. Adoption via Humor: Titcoin lowers Bitcoin's intimidation factor. Newbies will feel at ease buying tits instead of serious-sounding fractions of BTC. Tits > Decimals.

Specification

Terminology Redefinitions: - "Bitcoin" → "Titcoin" (.)(.) - "BTC" → "TIT" (ISO-friendly and hilarious) - Satoshis → Gone. Eliminated. Defeated.

Example:

• Old: "I’ll send you 0.00010000 BTC."
• New: "I’ll send you 10,000 tits (.)(.)."

Wallet balances would display as:

• "You have 1,000,000 tits" instead of some boring fractional BTC amount.

Adoption Strategy

1. Memes First: Flood Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram with memes. Start with “Hodl your tits” and “Stack tits”.

2. Titcoin Podcast: There is already a podcast called “Titcoin Podcast” (which many people are saying is the fastest-growing Bitcoin (Titcoin) podcast in the world). Titcoin Podcast will be a driving force in the adoption of the Titcoin Standard. (.)(.)

Nostr: https://primal.net/titcoin

X: https://x.com/titcoinpodcast

Web: http://titcoin.org

3. Kill Satoshis: Developers MUST remove all references to satoshis. Replace satoshis in GUIs, APIs, and block explorers with tits. Satoshis were a stepping stone - it’s time to let go.

4. Emoji Standardization: Use the (.)(.) emoji universally to denote tits.

Rationale

1. Usability & Clarity: "Decimals are for nerds. Tits are for everyone." A common currency for humans should be easy to use, funny, and integer-based.

2. Appealing to Critics: Bitcoin has endured years of attacks from all sides. By adopting the Titcoin Standard, we turn anyone who doesn’t like Titcoin into a tit-hating bigot. It’s an elegant financial counterattack. Additionally, everyone always says “we need more women in Bitcoin,” and now women will feel more represented by Titcoin, because they have tits. (.)(.)

3. Transcending Satoshis: Satoshis served us well, but their time is over. True enlightenment comes when we abandon decimals, satoshis, and arbitrary denominations. If you meet Satoshi on the road, kill him.

4. Memetic Durability: Everyone loves a good tit joke. It’s timeless.

Backward Compatibility

There is no backward compatibility because Titcoin is the future. Applications must hard fork their UI to replace all references to Bitcoin and BTC with Titcoin and TIT.

Implementation Timeline

• Phase 1 (1 month): Meme dissemination. Every wallet dev team is required to add (.)(.) emoji support.
• Phase 2 (3 months): Exchanges rebrand BTC tickers to tit. Nostr zaps tits into hyperspace.
• Phase 3 (6 months): Michael Saylor announces MicroStrategy now stacked 10 trillion tits, declaring it the superior currency. ETFs follow suit, ensuring Wall Street hodls tits en masse. Banks allow tit transfers via SWIFT.

Test Vectors

• Old: 1.00000000 BTC → New: 100,000,000 tits (.)(.)
• Old: 0.00000001 BTC → New: 1 tit (.)(.)
• Old: 0.001 BTC → New: 100,000 tits (.)(.)

Future-Proofing

Tits ensure we have infinite memes for infinite money.

Example Phrases for the Future: - "Better hodl on to your tits." - "This is the Titcoin Standard." - "I’m sending you tits." - “I’ve never seen so many tits!” - “That’s the million tit question.” - “We need more women in Titcoin.” - “I’m a Titcoin Maximalist.” - “Nice tits!” - “I love tits.”

Conclusion

By renaming Bitcoin to Titcoin and adopting a whole-number unit display, we align memetic dominance with financial sovereignty. Haters become adopters. Tits become wealth. And the world gets a little bit funnier. (.)(.)

Let’s hodl our tits and watch the world follow.

Copyright:

This BIP is licensed under CC-🫱(.)(.)🫲-1.0 and the eternal blessing of tit (.)(.) memes.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 활동지원사와 명절선물
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10652
• 입력 2024.01.25 12:55

나는 소속 활동지원기관에서 지급하는 추석 선물을 며칠 전에 받아왔다. 2023년 추석의 선물을 2024년 1월이 되어서야 받아온 것이다. 그리고 내가 서비스하는 장애인이용자에게 주어지는 선물 또한 받아 전달하였다. 이것은 짐짓 간단한 사실 같지만, 많은 쟁점을 내포하고 있다.

누군가는 선물을 주면 감사히 받아야 한다고 생각할 것이다. 하지만 그게 임금으로 받아야 할 것을 돌려서 받는 거라면 이야기가 다르다. 최저임금과 근로기준법상의 법정수당은 지급하지 않으면서 명절 선물은 준다면 이야기는 달라진다. 임금-권리로 받아야 할 돈을 돌려 시혜적 선물로 받는 것에 불과하기 때문이다. 그리고 선물이라면 상여금이 좋은가 상품이 좋은가? 상품이라면 어떤 상품이 좋은가? 장애인이용자에게도 선물을 준다면 그 선물은 어떤 방식으로 전달되어야 하는가? 수년째 명절 선물을 받으면서도 나는 이런 질문들을 해왔다.

활동지원사 중에는 기관에서 명절 선물도 안 준다고 불만을 토로하는 분이 있는가 하면, 명절 선물보다는 돈으로 줬으면 좋겠다는 분들도 있다. 선물에는 주는 사람이 받는 사람을 생각하는 마음이 들어있다고 느끼는 사람들이 있다. 이런 마음을 느끼는 것을 중히 여기는 노동자들도 있어 '돈'으로 받는 것 보다 '선물'을 선호하는 사람도 있다. 이런 분 중 한 분에 의하면 '선물'로 받아야만 기관에 소속된 감정을 느낀다고 했다. 이런 감정은 정말 사람마다 다르고 지역마다 달라서 '정서'의 차이라고밖에는 설명할 수가 없다. 이것은 결국 당사자의 차이에서 기인하는 것으로 당사자의 의사에 따라 달리 정할 수밖에 없다.

그런데 또 아무리 선물이 좋아도 사람 마음이라는 게 비교도 한다. 기관마다 선물이 다르면 선물을 비교하기도 한다. 선물의 시장가가 얼마이고, 어디에서 구매했으며, 자신에게 어떤 제품이 얼마나 효용이 좋은지 따지게 된다. 그래서 노동자들이 더욱 선호하는 상품이 생기게 된다. 그래서 그것은 때론 노사협의회 안건이 되기도 한다.

그런데 가끔은 기관에 따라 이 선물을 신념으로 구매하기도 한다. 내가 속한 센터도 그런 센터 중의 하나이다. 매번 명절선물을 진보적 장애인운동 기금 마련을 위한 명절특판에서 구매한다. 이번에 내가 받아온 선물은 2023년 전장연 추석특판 상품번호 27 델리팜잡곡 2호다. 가격은 3만 원으로 책정되어 있다.

▲전장연 2023 추석선물 특판 웹자보. ‘품절’ 표시된 상품이 〈2023년 전장연 추석특판 상품번호 27 델리팜잡곡 2호〉. 이미지 출처=전국장애인차별철폐연대

사회 운동단체들은 운동기금을 마련하기 위해서 후원주점을 열거나 수익사업을 한다. 이런 사업에 참여하는 후원자들은 질과 양을 따지지 않는다. 후원주점이나 단체 수익사업의 취지는 개최하는 단체에 재정적 지원을 하는 것이고, 참여자들은 후원하고자 하는 단체가 최대한 수익을 남길 수 있도록 최대한 호구가 될 마음으로 참여한다. 지불은 하지만 물질적 향유를 추구하지 않는 것이 참여자의 기본 덕목이다.

그런데 그런 상품을 노동자 복지에 사용한다면 어떨까? 노동자 복지를 깎아 먹는 일이 될 것이다. 그리고 그러한 결정이 독단에 의해 결정된다면 더욱 문제가 많을 것이다. 그리고 그러한 과정에서도 이득을 보는 사람이 있다. 나는 지난 칼럼에서도 제세공과금 명목으로 관련 단체로 활동지원사업 수익금이 흘러 들어감을 지적했다. 선물 구매과정도 이와 유사하다. 기관 회계상으로는 선물구매와 금액으로만 기록이 남겠지만, 특판 목적 자체가 진보적 장애인 운동 기금 마련이므로, 활동지원사업 수익금은 관련 단체 기금 마련에 기여하게 된다.

이렇게 보면 명절 선물 구매는 특정 단체 수익을 위해 수단화된 과정이고, 선물 수여는 노동자들에게 빼앗은 권리를 은폐하기 위한 은혜가 된다. 이런 사례가 모든 활동지원기관에 적용된다고 확언할 수는 없다. 노동자 권리를 온전히 보장하면서도 노동자 복지를 위해서 선물을 추가로 지급하는 기관이 있다면 아주 훌륭한 기관일 것이다. 하지만 기관의 집행 세부내역에까지 공적 관리체계가 작동하지 않는 이상 얼마든지 다른 방식으로 변주될 수 있다. 그리고 이것은 어쩌면 이미 어떤 변주이기도 하다. 기존에 종교단체가 노동자에게 십일조를 강요해 문제가 됐다면, 이제 운동단체는 권리삭제를 은폐하고 시혜로 가장하여 신념에 기여할 것을 강제했을 뿐이다.

선물은 구매로 끝나는 것이 아니다. 선물을 사는 이유는 주기 위해서다. 우리 노동자들은 선물을 받으러 활동지원기관에 방문해야만 한다. 노동자에게 주어지는 선물이므로 문제가 아니다. 그런데, 기관에 따라서는 장애인이용자에게도 명절선물을 주는 경우가 있다. 장애인이용자가 기관에까지 방문하는 것은 힘든 경우가 많다. 그런데, 이에 대한 배달 노동은 활동지원사에게 무급노동으로 떠맡겨진다.

출근하지도 않았는데 장보기를 시키는 사례는 너무 흔한 장애인이용자 갑질사례다. "오는 길에 XX 좀 사다 주세요."라는 장애인이용자의 출근길 요청은 꽤 곤란하다. 사실상 이용자를 위한 장보기 노동을 수행하는데 무급으로 수행된다. 이런 요청이 잦아지면 이용자들도 미안해서 활동지원사에게 바우처 카드를 맡기기도 한다. 하지만 활동지원사가 이용자를 위해 마트에 들어가는 순간에 근무시작을 기록해도 정부는 '부정수급'으로 판단하고 노동자는 범죄자가 된다. 이용자의 카드를 소지하는 것은 부정수급의 소지가 있기에 금지되고, 장애인이용자와 함께 있지 않은 상황에서 근무기록을 하는 것은 부정수급이라는 것이 정부의 일관된 기준이다.

정부가 말하는 기준은, 이용자를 만나 출근한 후에 장보기를 수행하라는 것이다. 장애인이용자와 함께 장 보기가 어렵다면 활동지원기관에 보고하고 장보기를 수행해야만 한다. 하지만 이런 기준에도 출근길에 무언가를 사 오라며 부탁하는 장애인이용자들은 흔하다. 출근길에 소모되는 시간은 너무 쉽게 판단되고 오는 길에 무언가를 사 오는 무급노동은 장애인이용자들에게 너무 당연한 일이어서 문제다.

그런데 활동지원사의 무급노동을 당연시하는 태도가 명절선물을 대하는 활동지원기관의 태도에서도 드러난다. "오는 길에 XX 좀 사다 주세요" 와 "가는 길에 선물 좀 갖다주세요"는 너무 완벽하게 대칭되는 한 쌍이다. 활동지원기관의 선물전달이 활동지원사의 업무에 해당하기는 하는가? 선물 배달시간은 근무시간에 왜 해당하지 않는가? 활동지원기관들은 활동지원사에게 왜 이런 업무를 어떻게 시킬 수 있을까? 오히려 기관의 선물은 장애인이용자의 집으로 택배 배달을 시키는 것이 상식적이고 당연하지 않은가?

나는 추석선물을 뒤늦게 받아 들고 이런저런 상념에 빠진다. 적어도 나에게 활동지원사의 명절 선물은 단순한 선물이 아니다. 내가 이 추석선물을 3달이 지나 받아 들게 된 것도, 서류 업무와 기관 방문이 무급으로 상정된 제도적 문제, 해당 시간에 대한 유급화를 회피하는 활동지원기관의 자체 정책 결과다. 노동자로서 방문의 의무가 없으니 3달이 지나서야 물품을 수령한다. 마침 단말기가 고장 나지 않았다면 더 늦게 수령했을 수도 있다. 활동지원제도의 근간 자체가 돌봄노동자의 무급노동 위에 서 있다. 정부도 활동지원기관도 이에 대한 문제인식이 있을까? 저항하지 않는 존재는 존중받지 못한다.

@ 5e5fc143:393d5a2c

Now test old reliable front end Stay tuned more later Keeping this as template long note for debugging in future as come across few NIP-33 post edit issues

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Chef's notes

This simple, easy, no bake desert will surely be the it at you next family gathering. You can keep it a secret or share it with the crowd that this is a healthy alternative to normal pie. I think everyone will be amazed at how good it really is.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30
• 🍳 Cook time: 0
• 🍽️ Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of Heavy Cream- 0g sugar, 5.5g carbohydrates
• 3/4 cup of Half and Half- 6g sugar, 3g carbohydrates
• 4oz Sugar Free Cool Whip (1/2 small container) - 0g sugar, 37.5g carbohydrates
• 1.5oz box (small box) of Sugar Free Instant Chocolate Pudding- 0g sugar, 32g carbohydrates
• 1 Pecan Pie Crust- 24g sugar, 72g carbohydrates

Directions

1. The total pie has 30g of sugar and 149.50g of carboydrates. So if you cut the pie into 8 equal slices, that would come to 3.75g of sugar and 18.69g carbohydrates per slice. If you decided to not eat the crust, your sugar intake would be .75 gram per slice and the carborytrates would be 9.69g per slice. Based on your objective, you could use only heavy whipping cream and no half and half to further reduce your sugar intake.
2. Mix all wet ingredients and the instant pudding until thoroughly mixed and a consistent color has been achieved. The heavy whipping cream causes the mixture to thicken the more you mix it. So, I’d recommend using an electric mixer. Once you are satisfied with the color, start mixing in the whipping cream until it has a consistent “chocolate” color thorough. Once your satisfied with the color, spoon the mixture into the pie crust, smooth the top to your liking, and then refrigerate for one hour before serving.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 장애인에 대한 편의제공 의무의 범주
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10611
• 입력 2023.11.22 17:09

활동지원사 호텔비도 지출해야 해요?

나의 이용자와 함께 타지역으로 여행을 간 적이 있었다. 여행지에 아는 사람이 있어 그런지 이용자는 나에게 숙박비 이야기를 하지는 않았다. 친구의 집에 초대되어 식사하던 중에, 활동지원사에 대해 생각해 본 적이 없었다며 초대자가 여러 가지를 물었다. 어쩌면 노동자보다 장애인이 더 친근한 초대자는 장애인이 여행하는 데 직면하는 무수한 문제에 더욱 공감하는 듯했다. 그러니까, 장애인이 여행을 갈 때, 같이 가는 활동지원사의 호텔비까지 장애인이 부담해야 하는 것이냐고 물었다.

누구나 그렇듯 장애인도 때로는 여행을 가고 싶다. 그런데 넘어야 할 산이 많다. 장애인의 여행에는 단순히 이동권 보장만 문제가 되는 것은 아니다. 2023년 8월 28일자 KBS보도에서는 장애인이 제주도로 비행기를 타고 가는데 파리를 여행하는 것과 비슷한 비용이 든다고 보도했다. 그런데 사실 조금 더 따져보자면 여기에는 몇몇 비용이 누락되어 있다. 장애인이 이동할 때 장애인만 가는 것은 아니다. 장애인을 지원할 누군가가 동행해야 한다. 이는 활동지원사가 될 수도 있고 가족이 될 수도 있고 반려인이 될 수도 있다.

현행 장애인활동지원제도에서는 활동지원서비스를 받는 장애인이 활동하는 데에 드는 비용을 누가 부담해야 하는지 기준을 제시한다. 활동지원사는 자신이 먹는 식사와 관련하여 장애인에게 부담을 주지 말라고 양성 교육에서부터 교육받는다. 그 외에  "외출동행에 소요되는 서비스 제공자의 경비 부분(공연 관람 등)은 이용자가 제공"하도록 되어 있다. 하지만 현장에서는 유명무실한 경우가 많다. 장애인당사자들이 재정적으로 넉넉한 경우는 거의 없다 보니, 활동지원사에 해당하는 비용은 활동지원사가 지불하길 요구하는 경우들이 종종 있다. 흔하게는 영화관람부터 동물원, 놀이동산, 드물게는 여행에 이르기까지 다양하다.

가족이나 반려인, 지인은 자신이 동행하는 비용을 함께 여행가는 비용으로 여길 테지만 노동자인 활동지원사의 경우 상황이 조금 다르다. 활동지원사 입장에서는 다른 지역까지 멀리 일하러 가는 것인데, 일하는 데에 드는 비용을 부담한다는 것은 임금이 삭감되는 것과 마찬가지다. 안 그래도 여행지에서의 식비는 대게 물가가 비싼 경우가 많은데, 교통비와 숙박비까지 부담한다는 것은 임금으로 생활을 영위해야 하는 노동자 입장에서는 곤란한 일이다. 장애인이 여행을 결심한다는 것은 축하해야 할 일이지만, 옆에서 일하는 활동지원사 입장에서는 여행을 앞두고 고민을 토로하는 경우가 많다. 낯선 환경에서의 업무강도 가중, 피로는 덤이다. 더욱 부담되는 것은 대개 활동지원사가 이 비용을 부담하지 않으면 장애인의 여행계획은 무산되는 경우가 많다는 것이다. 활동지원사의 책임은 아니지만, 이용자의 원망은 이성적으로 이루어지는 것이 아니고, 비용을 기꺼이 부담하는 누군가로 대체되어 일자리를 잃을 수도 있다. 그래서 나는 어딘가에 여행을 다녀왔다는 장애인을 보면 내심 "그래서 활동지원사에게 숙박비와 교통비를 얼마만큼 부담시켰나요?"라고 묻고 싶어질 때가 있다.

나도 일상적으로 장애인이용자와 영화관람을 할 때가 있다. 하지만 영화관람을 할 때 내가 영화를 온전히 한편을 다 관람하기는 힘들다. 장애인이용자도 활동지원사를 영화관에 동행시킬 정도면, 자신이 서비스받아야 할 필요가 있기 때문이다. 눈물 콧물을 사소하게 닦아주는 것부터, 갑작스레 화장실에 같이 갈 경우까지, 아니면 정말 영화가 재미가 없어서 갑자기 나오는 경우까지. 해당 영화관람은 나의 의사로 자유롭게 온전하게 이루어지기 힘들다. 나는 장애인의 편안한 영화관람을 위해 투입되는 인력일 뿐이지, 영화를 관람하는 소비자는 아니다. 정말 재미있는 영화라면 나는 나중에 별도로 비용을 지불하고 다시 영화를 봐야 한다. 이런 지경이다 보니 영화관에서 나에 대한 비용을 받는다는 것과 이 비용을 장애인이 부담해야 하는 것이 다소 불합리하게 여겨진다.

이런 불합리함을 느끼며 나는 종종 차라리 활동지원사를 인간으로 취급해 주지 않았으면 싶을 때가 있다. 차라리 개 취급을 해줬으면 싶을 때가 있다. 시각장애인 안내견들은 장애인을 위한 안내 업무를 하면서 문화시설에 대한 출입료가 징수되지 않는다. 시각장애인 안내견에 대한 출입금지가 시각장애인에 대한 차별인 것이 인정된다면, 활동지원사에 대한 출입금지 혹은 비용에 대한 부과는 왜 장애인에 대한 차별이 아닌가.

나는 이 글에서 두 가지를 말하고 싶다. 이 모든 차별에도 불구하고 활동지원사노동자에게 비용을 전가하는 장애인이용자들의 행태는 비판받아야 하고 금지되어야 한다. 서비스제공자가 장애인과 동행하는 사람에 대한 비용을 징수하는 것은 큰 범주에서 장애인차별로 인정되고 금지되어야 한다.

@ 4ba8e86d:89d32de4

Tutorial feito por nostr:nostr:npub1rc56x0ek0dd303eph523g3chm0wmrs5wdk6vs0ehd0m5fn8t7y4sqra3tk poste original abaixo:

Parte 1 : http://xh6liiypqffzwnu5734ucwps37tn2g6npthvugz3gdoqpikujju525yd.onion/263585/tutorial-debloat-de-celulares-android-via-adb-parte-1

Parte 2 : http://xh6liiypqffzwnu5734ucwps37tn2g6npthvugz3gdoqpikujju525yd.onion/index.php/263586/tutorial-debloat-de-celulares-android-via-adb-parte-2

Quando o assunto é privacidade em celulares, uma das medidas comumente mencionadas é a remoção de bloatwares do dispositivo, também chamado de debloat. O meio mais eficiente para isso sem dúvidas é a troca de sistema operacional. Custom Rom’s como LineageOS, GrapheneOS, Iodé, CalyxOS, etc, já são bastante enxutos nesse quesito, principalmente quanto não é instalado os G-Apps com o sistema. No entanto, essa prática pode acabar resultando em problemas indesejados como a perca de funções do dispositivo, e até mesmo incompatibilidade com apps bancários, tornando este método mais atrativo para quem possui mais de um dispositivo e separando um apenas para privacidade.   Pensando nisso, pessoas que possuem apenas um único dispositivo móvel, que são necessitadas desses apps ou funções, mas, ao mesmo tempo, tem essa visão em prol da privacidade, buscam por um meio-termo entre manter a Stock rom, e não ter seus dados coletados por esses bloatwares. Felizmente, a remoção de bloatwares é possível e pode ser realizada via root, ou mais da maneira que este artigo irá tratar, via adb.

O que são bloatwares?

Bloatware é a junção das palavras bloat (inchar) + software (programa), ou seja, um bloatware é basicamente um programa inútil ou facilmente substituível — colocado em seu dispositivo previamente pela fabricante e operadora — que está no seu dispositivo apenas ocupando espaço de armazenamento, consumindo memória RAM e pior, coletando seus dados e enviando para servidores externos, além de serem mais pontos de vulnerabilidades.

O que é o adb?

O Android Debug Brigde, ou apenas adb, é uma ferramenta que se utiliza das permissões de usuário shell e permite o envio de comandos vindo de um computador para um dispositivo Android exigindo apenas que a depuração USB esteja ativa, mas também pode ser usada diretamente no celular a partir do Android 11, com o uso do Termux e a depuração sem fio (ou depuração wifi). A ferramenta funciona normalmente em dispositivos sem root, e também funciona caso o celular esteja em Recovery Mode.

Requisitos:

Para computadores:

• Depuração USB ativa no celular; • Computador com adb; • Cabo USB;

Para celulares:

• Depuração sem fio (ou depuração wifi) ativa no celular; • Termux; • Android 11 ou superior;

Para ambos:

• Firewall NetGuard instalado e configurado no celular; • Lista de bloatwares para seu dispositivo;

Ativação de depuração:

Para ativar a Depuração USB em seu dispositivo, pesquise como ativar as opções de desenvolvedor de seu dispositivo, e lá ative a depuração. No caso da depuração sem fio, sua ativação irá ser necessária apenas no momento que for conectar o dispositivo ao Termux.

Instalação e configuração do NetGuard

O NetGuard pode ser instalado através da própria Google Play Store, mas de preferência instale pela F-Droid ou Github para evitar telemetria.

F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.faircode.netguard/

Github: https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/releases

Após instalado, configure da seguinte maneira:

Configurações → padrões (lista branca/negra) → ative as 3 primeiras opções (bloquear wifi, bloquear dados móveis e aplicar regras ‘quando tela estiver ligada’);

Configurações → opções avançadas → ative as duas primeiras (administrar aplicativos do sistema e registrar acesso a internet);

Com isso, todos os apps estarão sendo bloqueados de acessar a internet, seja por wifi ou dados móveis, e na página principal do app basta permitir o acesso a rede para os apps que você vai usar (se necessário). Permita que o app rode em segundo plano sem restrição da otimização de bateria, assim quando o celular ligar, ele já estará ativo.

Lista de bloatwares

Nem todos os bloatwares são genéricos, haverá bloatwares diferentes conforme a marca, modelo, versão do Android, e até mesmo região.

Para obter uma lista de bloatwares de seu dispositivo, caso seu aparelho já possua um tempo de existência, você encontrará listas prontas facilmente apenas pesquisando por elas. Supondo que temos um Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus em mãos, basta pesquisar em seu motor de busca por:

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus bloatware list

Provavelmente essas listas já terão inclusas todos os bloatwares das mais diversas regiões, lhe poupando o trabalho de buscar por alguma lista mais específica.

Caso seu aparelho seja muito recente, e/ou não encontre uma lista pronta de bloatwares, devo dizer que você acaba de pegar em merda, pois é chato para um caralho pesquisar por cada aplicação para saber sua função, se é essencial para o sistema ou se é facilmente substituível.

De antemão já aviso, que mais para frente, caso vossa gostosura remova um desses aplicativos que era essencial para o sistema sem saber, vai acabar resultando na perda de alguma função importante, ou pior, ao reiniciar o aparelho o sistema pode estar quebrado, lhe obrigando a seguir com uma formatação, e repetir todo o processo novamente.

Download do adb em computadores

Para usar a ferramenta do adb em computadores, basta baixar o pacote chamado SDK platform-tools, disponível através deste link: https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools. Por ele, você consegue o download para Windows, Mac e Linux.

Uma vez baixado, basta extrair o arquivo zipado, contendo dentro dele uma pasta chamada platform-tools que basta ser aberta no terminal para se usar o adb.

Download do adb em celulares com Termux.

Para usar a ferramenta do adb diretamente no celular, antes temos que baixar o app Termux, que é um emulador de terminal linux, e já possui o adb em seu repositório. Você encontra o app na Google Play Store, mas novamente recomendo baixar pela F-Droid ou diretamente no Github do projeto.

F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/

Github: https://github.com/termux/termux-app/releases

Processo de debloat

Antes de iniciarmos, é importante deixar claro que não é para você sair removendo todos os bloatwares de cara sem mais nem menos, afinal alguns deles precisam antes ser substituídos, podem ser essenciais para você para alguma atividade ou função, ou até mesmo são insubstituíveis.

Alguns exemplos de bloatwares que a substituição é necessária antes da remoção, é o Launcher, afinal, é a interface gráfica do sistema, e o teclado, que sem ele só é possível digitar com teclado externo. O Launcher e teclado podem ser substituídos por quaisquer outros, minha recomendação pessoal é por aqueles que respeitam sua privacidade, como Pie Launcher e Simple Laucher, enquanto o teclado pelo OpenBoard e FlorisBoard, todos open-source e disponíveis da F-Droid.

Identifique entre a lista de bloatwares, quais você gosta, precisa ou prefere não substituir, de maneira alguma você é obrigado a remover todos os bloatwares possíveis, modifique seu sistema a seu bel-prazer. O NetGuard lista todos os apps do celular com o nome do pacote, com isso você pode filtrar bem qual deles não remover.

Um exemplo claro de bloatware insubstituível e, portanto, não pode ser removido, é o com.android.mtp, um protocolo onde sua função é auxiliar a comunicação do dispositivo com um computador via USB, mas por algum motivo, tem acesso a rede e se comunica frequentemente com servidores externos. Para esses casos, e melhor solução mesmo é bloquear o acesso a rede desses bloatwares com o NetGuard.

MTP tentando comunicação com servidores externos:

Executando o adb shell

No computador

Faça backup de todos os seus arquivos importantes para algum armazenamento externo, e formate seu celular com o hard reset. Após a formatação, e a ativação da depuração USB, conecte seu aparelho e o pc com o auxílio de um cabo USB. Muito provavelmente seu dispositivo irá apenas começar a carregar, por isso permita a transferência de dados, para que o computador consiga se comunicar normalmente com o celular.

Já no pc, abra a pasta platform-tools dentro do terminal, e execute o seguinte comando:

./adb start-server

O resultado deve ser:

daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037 daemon started successfully

E caso não apareça nada, execute:

./adb kill-server

E inicie novamente.

Com o adb conectado ao celular, execute:

./adb shell

Para poder executar comandos diretamente para o dispositivo. No meu caso, meu celular é um Redmi Note 8 Pro, codinome Begonia.

Logo o resultado deve ser:

begonia:/ $

Caso ocorra algum erro do tipo:

adb: device unauthorized. This adb server’s $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set Try ‘adb kill-server’ if that seems wrong. Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

Verifique no celular se apareceu alguma confirmação para autorizar a depuração USB, caso sim, autorize e tente novamente. Caso não apareça nada, execute o kill-server e repita o processo.

No celular

Após realizar o mesmo processo de backup e hard reset citado anteriormente, instale o Termux e, com ele iniciado, execute o comando:

pkg install android-tools

Quando surgir a mensagem “Do you want to continue? [Y/n]”, basta dar enter novamente que já aceita e finaliza a instalação

Agora, vá até as opções de desenvolvedor, e ative a depuração sem fio. Dentro das opções da depuração sem fio, terá uma opção de emparelhamento do dispositivo com um código, que irá informar para você um código em emparelhamento, com um endereço IP e porta, que será usado para a conexão com o Termux.

Para facilitar o processo, recomendo que abra tanto as configurações quanto o Termux ao mesmo tempo, e divida a tela com os dois app’s, como da maneira a seguir:

Para parear o Termux com o dispositivo, não é necessário digitar o ip informado, basta trocar por “localhost”, já a porta e o código de emparelhamento, deve ser digitado exatamente como informado. Execute:

adb pair localhost:porta CódigoDeEmparelhamento

De acordo com a imagem mostrada anteriormente, o comando ficaria “adb pair localhost:41255 757495”.

Com o dispositivo emparelhado com o Termux, agora basta conectar para conseguir executar os comandos, para isso execute:

adb connect localhost:porta

Obs: a porta que você deve informar neste comando não é a mesma informada com o código de emparelhamento, e sim a informada na tela principal da depuração sem fio.

Pronto! Termux e adb conectado com sucesso ao dispositivo, agora basta executar normalmente o adb shell:

adb shell

Remoção na prática Com o adb shell executado, você está pronto para remover os bloatwares. No meu caso, irei mostrar apenas a remoção de um app (Google Maps), já que o comando é o mesmo para qualquer outro, mudando apenas o nome do pacote.

Dentro do NetGuard, verificando as informações do Google Maps:

Podemos ver que mesmo fora de uso, e com a localização do dispositivo desativado, o app está tentando loucamente se comunicar com servidores externos, e informar sabe-se lá que peste. Mas sem novidades até aqui, o mais importante é que podemos ver que o nome do pacote do Google Maps é com.google.android.apps.maps, e para o remover do celular, basta executar:

pm uninstall –user 0 com.google.android.apps.maps

E pronto, bloatware removido! Agora basta repetir o processo para o resto dos bloatwares, trocando apenas o nome do pacote.

Para acelerar o processo, você pode já criar uma lista do bloco de notas com os comandos, e quando colar no terminal, irá executar um atrás do outro.

Exemplo de lista:

Caso a donzela tenha removido alguma coisa sem querer, também é possível recuperar o pacote com o comando:

cmd package install-existing nome.do.pacote

Pós-debloat

Após limpar o máximo possível o seu sistema, reinicie o aparelho, caso entre no como recovery e não seja possível dar reboot, significa que você removeu algum app “essencial” para o sistema, e terá que formatar o aparelho e repetir toda a remoção novamente, desta vez removendo poucos bloatwares de uma vez, e reiniciando o aparelho até descobrir qual deles não pode ser removido. Sim, dá trabalho… quem mandou querer privacidade?

Caso o aparelho reinicie normalmente após a remoção, parabéns, agora basta usar seu celular como bem entender! Mantenha o NetGuard sempre executando e os bloatwares que não foram possíveis remover não irão se comunicar com servidores externos, passe a usar apps open source da F-Droid e instale outros apps através da Aurora Store ao invés da Google Play Store.

Referências: Caso você seja um Australopithecus e tenha achado este guia difícil, eis uma videoaula (3:14:40) do Anderson do canal Ciberdef, realizando todo o processo: http://odysee.com/@zai:5/Como-remover-at%C3%A9-200-APLICATIVOS-que-colocam-a-sua-PRIVACIDADE-E-SEGURAN%C3%87A-em-risco.:4?lid=6d50f40314eee7e2f218536d9e5d300290931d23

Pdf’s do Anderson citados na videoaula: créditos ao anon6837264 http://eternalcbrzpicytj4zyguygpmkjlkddxob7tptlr25cdipe5svyqoqd.onion/file/3863a834d29285d397b73a4af6fb1bbe67c888d72d30/t-05e63192d02ffd.pdf

Processo de instalação do Termux e adb no celular: https://youtu.be/APolZrPHSms

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 장애인활동지원제도의 화폐중심적 사유와 차별
• 뉴스풀 : https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10564
• 입력 2023.10.08 00:22

추석이 지나니 사람들이 연휴 후유증을 겪는다. 총 6일간의 연휴가 있다 보니 다시 업무에 돌입하기가 힘든가보다. 2023년 추석이 지나니 사람들은 벌써 내후년의 명절을 기다리는 모양이다. 2025년 추석은 7일의 연휴라고 한다.

하지만 정규직 직장인들이 그토록 환호하는 연휴에도 장애인은 고통스러워한다. 일단 활동지원사도 경우에 따라서는 명절을 가족과 보내야 해서 근무를 하지 못하는 경우가 많다. 장애인들은 명절에 활동지원사를 구하기 힘들고, 다행스럽게도 구한다 하더라도 바우처 소비가 더욱 많아져 고통스러워한다.

장애인의 입장에서는 활동지원 바우처 소비가 많아져 명절을 싫어한다고 말하면 사람들은 일견 낯설어한다. 하지만 이러한 문제는 사실 하루 이틀 일이 아니다. 장애인 활동지원제도는 2011년부터 법제화되어 시행되었고, 2011년 이전까지 '월 단위 시간'으로 보장되던 활동지원이 '월 단위 금액'으로 환산되어 표시되기 시작했다. 2012년부터 야간과 휴일에 소비되는 바우처 수가가 주간보다 1천 원 많이 소모되도록 변화되었고,[^1] 2013년 8월 1일부터는 휴일/야간의 경우 주간 대비 150%의 수가가 소비되도록 변경한 것이 현재까지 이어져 오고 있다.

문제는 이렇게 '시간'에서 '돈'처럼 금액 단위로 표기하고 야간이나 휴일 시기에 따라 소모되는 양을 변화시키는 방식이 장애인들에게 예상치 못한 변수로 다가오게 된다는 점이다. 이번 10월 2일처럼 대통령이 갑자기 임시공휴일을 지정이라도 하는 일이 생기면, 그날의 바우처 소비는 150%로 증가하게 된다. 관공서공휴일을 많은 사람들이 유급휴일로 누리지만, 이를 누릴 수 없는 5인 미만 사업장 노동자들이 차별을 겪는 것처럼, 장애인이 쓸 수 있는 활동지원 시간은 줄어들게 되어 실질적 손해로 이어지게 되니, 나로서는 이러한 것도 차별이라 생각한다.

그런데 이런 문제는 사실 꼭 명절이 아니어도 마찬가지다. 주간에 활동지원을 쓰는지 야간에 활동지원을 쓰는지에 따라 장애인이 이용할 수 있는 시간이 변동된다. 장애인 중에는 야간에 특히 활동지원을 받는 것이 중요한 사람들이 있다. 욕창을 방지하기 위해 체위 변경이 필수적인 사람들, 수면중 호흡기 상태를 옆에서 누군가가 관찰해야 하는 장애인들 등. 오히려 야간에 서비스가 필요한 사람들이 있다. 그런데 이들은 야간에 서비스를 쓸 수록, 지원받을 수 있는 활동지원서비스 시간의 총량이 줄어들게 된다.

'시간'에서 '금액'으로의 변화는 전 국가적으로 한 번에 이루어지지 않았다. 2019년 중앙정부는 사회보장정보원을 통한 사회서비스 바우처 전산관리를 점차로 확대하기 시작했고, 기초단위에서 추가로 지원되던 활동지원시간도 '시간' 보장에서 '금액' 보장으로 변화하게 되었다. 그 확대 과정에서도 얼마간의 갈등은 있었다. 적어도 기초추가지원의 경우 밤에 쓰건 낮에 쓰건 휴일에 쓰건, 일정 '시간'을 보장받던 장애인들은 자신의 시간이 줄어든 것을 체감했다. 장애인당사자들이 투쟁한 일부 기초지자체의 경우 지원시간을 늘려줌으로써 변화에 대한 완충을 기했지만, 당사자들이 투쟁하지 않거나 못했던 지역의 경우 주간수가를 기준으로 '금액'을 보장받았다.

시간을 보장하는 방식으로 되돌려도 '월 단위' 시간이라는 점이 장애인의 삶을 불안하게 한다. 2월처럼 한 달이 28일인 경우 보장받는 시간이 상대적으로 넉넉하지만, 한 달이 31일인 경우는 또 다르다.

나는 장애인활동지원제도의 가장 심각한 모순점 중 하나가 장애인의 권리와 노동자의 권리를 정부의 예산중심적 시각으로 획일화하는 데에서 발생한다고 생각한다. 활동지원제도가 장애인이 일상생활을 영위할 수 있도록 제공되는 보편적 권리로서의 공공재 성격을 가진다면, 주간이건 야간이건 공휴일이건 월간이건 일정한 수준이 꾸준하게 공급되어야 한다고 생각한다. 나는 이를 실현하기 위해서 장애인에게 현재처럼 월 단위가 아닌 주 단위로(적어도 일정 일수를 주기로) 활동지원서비스가 보장되어야 하고, 금액이 아니라 시간으로 활동지원 서비스가 보장되어야 한다고 생각한다. 그리고 활동지원사 노동자 권리 보장 기준은 장애인의 권리를 보장하는 기준과는 별도로 구분되어 예산이 책정되어야 한다고 생각한다.

[^1]: 2011년까지는 주간-휴일-야간의 경우 서비스 제공 수가가 일괄 6,000원이었다. 활동지원사에게도 야간-휴일 수당이 있어야 한다는 주장들이 있자 정부는 2012년부터 주간수가는 8,300원, 야간-휴일의 경우 9,300원으로 변경하였다. 그마저도 4시간까지만 적용되었다.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

Weekends are the perfect time to unwind, explore, or spend time doing what we love. How would you spend your ideal weekend? Would it be all about relaxation, or would you be out and about?

For me, an ideal weekend would start with a slow Saturday morning, a good book and coffee. Then I would spend the afternoon exploring local trails and looking for snacks. Then always a slow Sunday night hopefully.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/760492

@ 9d92077c:38d27146

Written by Acea Spades, Caffeinated Tech Officer @ Conduit BTC https://primal.net/AceaSpades nostr:npub1xzrkzsrnr83vn7h0udq6tnapwpswy5equlrtkn3nu0e0anlmzynqne0qap

Editing and feedback by Eric FJ, Caffeinated Operating Officer @ Conduit BTC https://primal.net/EricFJ nostr:npub10xvczstpwsljy7gqd2cselvrh5e6mlerep09m8gff87avru0ryqsg2g437

NIP-15 enables a new architectural paradigm in e-commerce. Every piece of data is distributed across a network of relays, adding resiliency and redundancy. Every piece of sensitive data is encrypted in-transit and at-rest, accessible only to Customer and Merchant. Communications and e-commerce activities use an inbox/outbox model across relays. This gives both the Customer and Merchant freedom to choose the digital environment for their shared activities.

This also introduces a host of fun and exciting new issues, such as stale data, relay mismatches, unreachable Customers/Merchants, disappearing messages, and this pesky direct message checkout system.

Platforms like Wordpress, Shopify, and Etsy have democratized the space of e-commerce, made it easy to onboard as a Merchant, and smooth to transact as a Customer. But these systems require centralized servers, siloed data stores, unclear third-party visibility, and possess no protocol-level mechanism for connection with a larger network.

NIP-15: Nostr Marketplaces enables Merchants and Customers to transact directly using the Nostr protocol. It enables a resilient, decentralized presence of Products, and a way to purchase them. It adds privacy and encryption to all correspondence, automatically. Both parties gain the amazing features of Nostr, out-of-the-box. However, the current implementation of the protocol has much to be desired.

Our team at Conduit BTC is focusing our efforts on resolving the shortcomings of the current system. Our mission is to push Nostr E-Commerce forward and help it evolve into a top-quality online retail experience for all.

But to get there, we've got to do some housekeeping.

Let's start with the checkout problem...

---

Checkout: A Problem

The current state of Nostr E-Commerce is, to put it lightly, lacking in real-world viability.

If I want to purchase a Product, my Nostr client sends a direct message to the Merchant. When they see the message appear, the Merchant generates an invoice, sends it back, waits for payment, then performs the fulfillment steps that their unique businesses requires.

While that might look good on paper, there's some unfortunate implications for both the Merchant and Customer experience. Let's explore some negatives.

NIP-15 uses direct messages to exchange Checkout events between Customer and Merchant. Any Nostr client that doesn't handle NIP-15 events will display the order in good ol' JSON:

{ "id": "ord_cust_1234567890abcdef", "type": 0, "name": "Jane Smith", "address": "123 Mountain View Dr, Boulder, CO 80302", "message": "Looking forward to using these boots on my upcoming hike!", "contact": { "nostr": "7f3b5f21c9880ce33043478436487435878934578934589345893458934", "phone": "+1 303-555-0123", "email": "jane.smith@email.com" }, "items": [ { "product_id": "boot_model_789xyz", "quantity": 1 } ], "shipping_id": "zone_us_rocky_mountain" }

Imagine parsing through that every time you get an order.

Most clients won't separate these ugly JSON orders from human-speak messages. These orders will be side-by-side with all other conversations, spamming your inbox.

Since the order message needs the Merchant to receive it, generate an invoice by-hand, then send the invoice back, the Bitcoin-based price might fluctuate. This could mean lowering the transaction value for the Merchant or increasing expected cost for the Customer. There's also a higher chance of invoice expiration for Merchants with a smaller risk window against Bitcoin's volatile price.

While Lightning payment processors (Strike, BTCPay Server, etc) send webhooks when funds are received, typical commerce systems don't have a way to communicate with Nostr relays. Product details on-relay aren't auto-updated with current stock, leading Customers placing orders for out-of-stock items.

And, the Merchant has to manually send shipment details in a direct message to the Customer; another manual step in the checkout flow.

Long story short, it's simply not functional for a Merchant to complete the entire series of checkout steps as-described by NIP-15, at-scale for real-world e-commerce, by hand.

To summarize the challenges we must overcome:

• Merchant experience friction: Manual steps require time per order multiplied by their unique business operation's requirements.
• Spammed inbox: Non-relevant JSON messages fill the Merchant's inbox.
• Fulfillment delays: Checkout flow is delayed until several manual steps are completed by both parties.
• Price fluctuations: Time between order placed and invoice paid leads to possible price fluctuation, impacting Merchant or Customer expectations
• Invoice expirations: Time between invoice generation and payment increases chance of expiration
• In-Stock Mismatches: Relays may have incorrect inventory stock, leading to failed orders and customer inconvenience.

With these points considered, a "real-world" checkout process requires automation. Coordination between inventory, payments, fulfillment, and Customer communication, should take place by an automatic process.

To that effect, we at Conduit BTC propose a solution. We call it the Nostr Commerce Coordinator.

The Case for Coordinators

An NCC (Nostr Commerce Coordinator) is a server-based Nostr bot that: - Is under control of, and represents, the Merchant on Nostr - Subscribes to a relay pool - Posts and queries NIP-15 events - Coordinates the NIP-15 Checkout process on behalf of a Merchant: - Inventory Management: verify, increment, and decrement product stock, create and update Stalls and Products on relays via signed events - Payment Processing: generate Lightning invoices, send invoice to customer, respond to payment events via webhook - Fulfillment Services: create shipments, notify fulfillment partners Handles Checkout-related communications with the Customer Notifies the Merchant when certain things occur Collect sales-relates metrics for Merchant visibility

To summarize the benefits of an NCC: - Automated, frictionless checkout flow - Direct integration with Merchant's existing e-commerce stack: inventory management, payment processing, and shipping service - Separation of Checkout-related direct messages (containing ugly JSON) from actual human readable direct messages - General separation-of-concerns between Merchant's social graph and e-commerce activities - Ability to implement additional commerce features, such as metrics collection, financial statements, subscriptions, and much more yet-to-be explored possibilities

Where do I put my private key?

There's one violation of Nostr pleb sensibility that, at first glance, might seem required for the NCC equation to work: putting a Merchant account's private key in the hands of a cloud-based server.

Obviously, we don't want our private keys stored on a cloud-based server.

To overcome this, there's the option to use an nsec Bunker (with supported clients). Using an Nsec bunker would more-safely store our private keys, granting both sign-and-decrypt access to the server. It's a great solution.

However, we'll explain a couple of reasons why using the Merchant account with an Nsec bunker for checkout fulfillment may not be right for most use cases:

• All checkout messages would spam the Merchant account with non-social direct messages. For popular Merchants, this will increase friction for both fulfilling orders and engaging with Customers. This can be resolved by clients enabling NIP-15 message sorting, but it's likely that most clients will still display an inbox filled with socially-irrelevant messages.
• Both business and social activities would be strongly coupled. Stalls, Products, and Orders are managed by the same keypair that the Merchant's social graph is tied to. A leaked key has the potential to bring the entire business operation to a halt, social presence included.

There is, however, an alternative to using the Merchant account for checkout resolution. And, it works great with nsecBunkers, too.

We're now going to explore the use of a utility keypair, a Nostr account generated specifically for assisting the primary account holder in any number of tasks. We'll explore utility keypairs in greater detail through a paradigm we call Merchant Delegation.

Merchant Delegation

In the Merchant Delegation paradigm, a different Nostr keypair effectively controls all commerce-related events on behalf of the Merchant. The delegated account creates every Stall and Product, receives all Checkout events, and handles checkout-related communication with the Customer.

The Merchant signs a Merchant Delegate Token, which is placed in a tag on every event signed by the delegate account. Clients parse the tag, verify the signature is valid, and cause non-checkout events to target the Delegator automatically.

As an extra layer of validation, a NIP-05 identifier may be included. When an identifier is present, clients will verify its validity, and reject delegation if the Npub is not properly identified. This provides the ability to invalidate the delegation, if need be.

When coupled with an NCC, the Merchant Delegation paradigm really begins to shine.

For the mindful Merchant who doesn't want to use their main account for checkout activities, Merchant Delegation is the answer. For wary Merchants who want to keep their private keys off-cloud, an NCC can use a utility keypair and act on behalf of the Merchant through Merchant Delegation.

For the rest of this article, we will refer to this utility keypair as the NCC Account, while calling the Merchant's primary Nostr account the Merchant Root Account.

When an order is placed, the NCC automatically fetches the incoming message, decrypts it, parses the order, generates an invoice, and sends it to the Customer. A Customer can place an order, then receive an invoice in seconds.

Once paid, the payment processor's webhook notifies the NCC. The NCC decrements stock in the inventory management system, posts a Product Update event across the relay pool, then forwards the paid order to the fulfillment service.

NCCs can optionally keep a copy of every event they've handled. This enables local persistence and immediate access to important events without requiring re-retrieval from relays. A locally-kept reconstruction of the entire e-commerce activity graph. This can be useful for keeping order history, assisting Customer support, generating sales reports and financial records, etc.

All the while, the Merchant's Root Account remains free to engage solely in social graph activities (ie. posting short-form / long-form content creation and engagement, non-checkout communications with Customers, etc), without the checkout-related events spamming their inbox.

In this way, the NCC becomes the bridge between the Nostr protocol and the Merchant's e-commerce systems. The Merchant freed from manual checkout management, and gain a piece of extendable software that can meet many of their needs as a Nostr-based business.

NIP-15 Amendment - Merchant Delegate Tag Spec

In order to separate the social graph from checkout activities, an amendment to the NIP-15 spec has been proposed: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1648.

To use Merchant Delegation Tags:

• Clients MUST treat events with a merchant-delegation tag in the following manner:
  • Validate the delegation token signature
  • If retarget_while< and/or retarget_while> is present in the conditions query string, only perform event re-targeting within the given time window
  • If nip_05_identifier is present in the conditions query string, only perform re-targeting if the Npub of the event's creator is verifiable as-per the NIP-05 spec
• Clients SHOULD display a relevant visual indicator that a Stall and/or Product's Checkout process is handled by a Merchant Delegate.

Merchant Delegation tags are described as follows: json [ "merchant-delegation", <pubkey of the delegator>, <conditions query string>, <delegation token: 64-byte Schnorr signature of the sha256 hash of the delegation string> ]

The merchant-delegation token should be a 64-byte Schnorr signature of the sha256 hash of the following string: nostr:delegation:<pubkey of publisher (delegatee)>:\<conditions query string>

To keep this article concise, we have omitted most of the proposal details. The above may be deprecated. See the link to the PR to read the complete and up-to-date spec.

Merchant Delegate NCC Tags In-Action

On a NIP-15 enabled clients that adhere to this spec, the experience would be as follows:

---

UX: A Product for sale, in a Stall, by Merchant (Root Account)

Nostr: Kind 30017 (Set Stall) and 30018 (Set Product) events signed by the NCC Account, with a "merchant-delegation" tag pointing to the Merchant Root Account.

---

UX: Select this Product for purchase, fill in the appropriate details on a Checkout Form, then click "Buy Now".

Nostr: Client creates a direct message addressed to the NCC Account. NCC server generates a Lightning invoice for this order, and sends it back immediately as a direct message addressed to the Customer

---

UX: Customer receives a Lightning Invoice from NCC Account, then pays the invoice.

Lightning + Nostr: NCC receives a webhook message from its Payment Processor, indicating payment was received. NCC sends a direct message to the Customer indicating Order Confirmation. Any time there are shipping updates from the Shipping Service, NCC will send additional direct messages to the Customer; in the case of digital goods, the order will be fulfilled as-appropriate for the business use case.

---

UX: From the same Product's details page, the Customer will see the Product is sold by the Merchant Root Account, with a visual indicator stating the Checkout process is managed by NCC. Customer clicks Follow. Customer zaps the Merchant 100 sats. Customer sends a direct message to the Merchant to thank them for the excellent service.

Nostr: Product and Stall are both created by the NCC Account, Follow, Zap, and Direct Message events all target the Merchant Root Account.

---

Additional Features

Private Key Watchman

As an additional feature of an NCC, we get "for free" a server can match on-relay events with locally-stored events to detect unauthorized events signed with its private key. The underlying issue corresponding to the leak could then be investigated. A rare instance, but a powerful tool for account safety.

If an unauthorized event were discovered, the NCC can respond in a number of ways, chosen by the Merchant, which may include:

• "Purge and replace": Send NIP-09 Event Deletion Requests to every relay in the pool for every existing Stall and Product. Generate a new keypair, recreate the Stalls and Products, then propagate them to all relays. Notify the Merchant that a purge took place.

• "Purge, then notify": Perform a full purge, then notify Merchant. Useful in scenarios where the running server may have become compromised.

• "Notify, then purge": Notify the Merchant. Unless cancelled within a set amount of time, perform a purge.

• "Just notify": Notify the Merchant that one or more events were signed with the NCC secret key outside of the NCC server. Useful if the Merchant chooses to use the NCC's utility keypair in other clients.

Following a purge, the Merchant (or NCC automatically) would then generate a new keypair / NCC Account, then republish all Stalls and Products. Commerce would continue uninterrupted with an uncompromised Merchant social graph. Through Merchant Delegate tags, clients would still properly route Customer interactions through to the proper systems.

There's a lot of conversation happening at Conduit BTC about this particular feature, and how we can "watch the watchman" by providing additional layers of security to the server itself. This is an ongoing discussion, and we'd love for you to be a part of it. Visit the Discussions tab on on C3: The Conduit Commerce Coordinator Repo, and let's chat about it.

Stall and Product Management

Stall and Product Management could be handled from a web UI served by the NCC, instead of solely within the external Inventory Management service.

Note: if the "leaked key protection" guard was in place, it would actually be necessary to either use the web UI to manage products, or temporarily disable the guard, to prevent NCC from becoming angry and initiating (or threatening) a purge. Yikes.

Subscriptions

In the future, the NIP-15 spec can be updated to include a Subscription event type, indicating that the Customer would like to repeat the same order one or more times.

The NCC can automatically send the subscribing Customer their next order's payment notice. Accepting the notice (via direct message response, following a URL, etc.) generates an invoice on-the-spot.

Direct Messaging

A direct message client could be placed into the web UI, for passing Checkout-related messages to the Customer, instead of using the Merchant Root account and splitting order-specific conversation into two threads.

Drawbacks

If the NCC were taken offline, then Customer's order messages would accumulate without automatic resolution.

However, like an escalator conveniently becoming stairs when not functioning properly, Customer orders continue to accumulate on-relay, awaiting the deployment of another NCC, or manual resolution. As long as the NCC Account's private key is safely stored away, it can be loaded into another NCC or Nostr client at any time.

A serious drawback to the current NIP-15 spec is using NIP-04 Encrypted Direct Messages for checkout events. Luckily, we've already opened a PR to improve that: https://github.com/amunrarara/nips/blob/patch-1/15.md

Conclusion

Without a system capable of automating the process between a Customer's intent to purchase and a Merchant's acceptance, e-commerce on Nostr will not grow beyond small sales plagued with high-friction manual checkout steps.

This proposal contains the groundwork for a new type of Nostr bot. A Nostr bot whose core function is handling NIP-15 checkout events automatically on behalf of a Merchant.

We've included many implementation possibilities, which the community may explore, innovate, and perfect.

To recap, concepts introduced in this article were: - Nostr Commerce Coordinators - Utility keypair accounts - Merchant Delegation

This is an ongoing conversation, and we'd love to have your feedback and participation in making Nostr E-Commerce an incredible experience for all.

We hope that this new software and NIP proposal will improve the experience for all of us on Nostr. Join us on this adventure into a new frontier in decentralized online e-commerce.

---

Conduit BTC has begun development on the first Nostr Commerce Coordinator, which we call C3: The Conduit Commerce Coordinator. This is, of course, an open-source project - as everything we do will be.

Follow, star, share, and join the discussion on Github: https://github.com/Conduit-BTC/conduit-commerce-coordinator

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 전가된 돌봄과 엄벌주의
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10518
• 입력 2023.08.25 13:54

공격성향의 돌봄대상 – 교육도 지원도 없이

나는 A를 B와 함께 만났다. A는 대화가 통하지 않았다. B는 A의 보호자다. B는 A에게 필요한 일을 나에게 지시했다. 내가 밥과 물을 차려주면 A는 알아서 먹었다. 때로는 A를 데리고 산책을 다녀왔다. A는 보조기기 없이도 잘 다녔고, 집 바깥 화장실을 좋아했다. 우리는 종종 집 인근 공원의 화장실에 오갔다. A는 대소변을 본 후 뒤처리를 해 줄 필요가 없어 큰 어려움이 없었다. 다만 그가 다른 사람을 깨물기도 해 문제였다. A에게는 손발톱 깎기, 목욕이 필요했고, A는 그 과정에서 나에게 공격성을 보이기도 했다. 처음 서비스를 들어간 지 얼마 되지 않아, B는 A를 목욕시키라고 했다. A는 목욕을 싫어하는 듯 했고, 목욕을 거부하며 나를 깨물려 했다. 자칫했다간 내가 물릴 판이었다. 결국 나는 A의 머리를 밀치고 목덜미를 잡은 채 몇 대 쥐어박았다. A는 공포에 떨며 몸 씻김을 당했다. 깔끔해진 A를 보며 B는 만족해했다. B는 다소 폭력이 있었음을 알았지만, 같이 살려면 어쩔 수 없다며 묵인했다.

장애인 활동지원에 관한 이야기다. 하지만 장애인에 관한 이야기는 아니다. A는 장애인 B씨가 키우는 반려견이다. 나는 개를 키워본 적이 없고, 개를 대하는 방법에 대해 교육받아본 적이 없다. 반려동물이 대중화된 만큼이나 반려동물을 키우는 장애인도 많고, 반려동물을 돌보는 일도 현실적 업무로 활동지원사에게 떠넘겨진다. 하지만 이에 대한 지침은 물론이고 교육은 전무하다. 돌이켜보면, 반려견이 조금은 더 편안해할 목욕이 불가능한 것은 아닐 것이다. 먼저 반려견과 내가 친해지고 서로에게 익숙해지는 시간이 충분히 있었으면 좋았을 것이다. 그리고 나에게 누군가가 반려견의 행동을 살피고 헤아리는 방법, 반려견의 공격행동을 대처하는 방법, 이러한 행동을 교정할 수 있는 방법을 미리 알려주었더라면 더 좋았을 것이다. 반려견의 개별적 특성도 알려줬다면 더 좋았을 것이다. 아니면 아예 개 전문가를 붙여줄 수도 있다. 하지만 우리에게는 그런 시스템이 없다. 그저 활동지원사는 장애인이용자에게 갈 뿐이고, 장애인이용자가 요구하면 요구하는 대로 서비스를 제공한다.

신체장애인과 구분되는 발달장애인 지원방법

이는 반려동물에게만 적용되는 이야기는 아니다. 활동지원사들은 종종 발달장애인의 지원에 관해 어려움을 토로한다. 활동지원사들은 실질적인 매뉴얼이 없다고 호소한다. 신체장애인은 그들의 지시대로 업무를 수행하면 되지만 발달장애인은 같지 않다. 발달장애인을 지원하는 방법은 애초부터 장애인의 의사에 따르지 않는다. 활동지원사는 발달장애인을 부모 혹은 그에 준하는 주변사람과 함께 만난다. 활동지원사들의 서비스 내용은 장애인당사자가 정하는 것이 아니라, 보호자에 의해 결정된다. 활동지원사는 첫 만남에서 발달장애인 개인의 특성을 파악하는 것은 불가능하고, 보호자의 이야기를 듣는다. 실질적인 업무지시는 이들을 통해서 이루어지고, 해당 활동지원사에게 서비스를 받을지 중단할지에 대한 결정도 보호자를 통해 이루어진다. 보호자가 요청하는 서비스 내용에는 당사자에게 통제를 가하는 내용이 포함된다. 보호자가 발달장애인 당사자에게 소위 인권적이라 할 만한 서비스를 요구하는지도 불확실하다. 사실 발달장애인의 의사를 존중하고, 발달장애인의 모든 행위에 대해 보호자가 책임을 져 준다면, 활동지원사는 발달장애인을 통제할 이유가 없다.

발달장애인과 활동지원사는 관계를 미리 형성할 시간도 주어지지 않고, 발달장애인을 대하는 특별한 교육이나 지침도 없고, 개별 발달장애인의 특성에 대한 적절한 정보가 주어지지 않는다. 안타깝게도 보호자들은 개별 발달장애인의 특성을 잘 정리하여 활동지원사에게 전달할 여력이 없는 경우도 있고, 활동지원인력이 서비스 제공을 꺼릴 사유를 알리고 싶어하지 않는 경우도 많다. 발달장애인에게 공격당한 활동지원사가 산재보험을 신청하려 해도 혹여나 자신의 자녀가 어려운 이용자로 소문날까 두려워한 부모의 만류로 신청하지 못한 경우도 있었다.

자기결정권이라는 환상

국가는 장애를 통제하기 위해 일률적으로 장애라 규정하고 줄 세우지만, 장애 내부의 차이는 비장애와 장애의 차이보다 크다. 나는 솔직히 발달장애인의 자기결정권을 이야기 할 때, 비장애인과 신체장애인 중심으로 형성된 자기결정권 패러다임을 발달장애인에게 일괄적으로 적용하는 것이 정당한지 의문이 들 때가 많다. 겉으로는 발달장애인의 자기결정권을 존중하는 척 하지만, 내용을 들여다보면 그렇지가 않다. 우리 사회는 발달장애인의 자기결정권을 존중하지도 않고, 활동지원사들에게 그렇게 가르치지도 않고, 그렇게 지시하지도 않는다.

중증의 발달장애인에게는 신체장애인을 지원할 때에는 강조되지 않는 보호, 그리고 그 보호와 구분되지 않는 통제가 요청되기도 한다. 언어장애인과의 소통에는 언어장애를 고려하여 천천히 반복적으로 신중하게 인내심을 갖고 듣는 것이 강조되지만, 발달장애인과의 소통에는 장애인이 말을 잘 듣도록 만들기 위한 스킬들이 강조된다.

활동지원사 양성교육교재를 보자. 활동지원사가 되고자 하는 사람은 해당 교재로 교육을 받는다. 발달장애인을 설명하는 장에서는 “자기결정권 부여”하라 면서도, “지적장애인에 대한 무조건적인 수용이나 인정은 바람직하지 않다”[^1]고 말한다. 존중받을 사안과 존중받지 않아야 할 사안을 타인이 판단하는 것 자체가 이미 존중받지 못함을 의미한다. 한편 사회적으로 이슈화되고 문제가 제기되는 발달장애인의 도전행동에 대해서는 신체적 개입, 공간적 분리 조치가 가능한 것으로 언급한다.

③ 위기단계

이 단계에서는 이용자의 감정상태가 일정 수준 이상으로 증가하고, 결과적으로 도전적 행동이 발생한다. 활동지원사는 이용자의 도전적 행동이 어떻게 진행되는지 이해하고, 도전적 행동의 발생상황에 지원하는 과정에서 이용자와 활동지원사 모두를 보호할 수 있어야 한다. 이때 이용자나 타인의 안전을 위하여 신체적 개입이 이루어지기도 한다. 손목잡기 등의 직접적 신체접촉을 통한 개입이나 격리·문 잠그기 등의 활동에 제한을 가하는 공간적 개입과 같은 유형이 있다. 다만 신체적 개입에 대해 이용자의 인권을 보호 및 존중하기 위하여 다른 방법이 없을 경우 최후의 수단으로 최소한 시간이 소요되도록 진행되어야 한다.

_ 보건복지부 한국장애인개발원 발간, 활동지원사 양성 교육교재, 2021년 12월 발행판, 139쪽. 밑줄강조 필자.

이러한 조치 이전에 제시하고 있는 절차는 관련된 사람들과의 논의가 전부다.

발생 전과 후에 이르기까지 활동지원사의 역할을 확인하고, 특히 신체적 개입 등에 관해서도 논의할 필요가 있다. 이와 같은 당사자, 활동지원사, 보호자와 가족, 활동지원 제공기관의 소통과정은 사전에 이루어져야 할 것이며, 지원 과정에서도 지속될 필요가 있다. 이때 비판적인 태도를 보이지 않으면서 정보를 공유해야 한다.

_ 보건복지부 한국장애인개발원 발간, 활동지원사 양성 교육교재, 2021년 12월 발행판, 137쪽. 밑줄강조 필자.

보호자로부터 허락받은 신체구속과 감금은 정당할까

양성교육교재에서는 “당사자, 활동지원사, 보호자와 가족, 활동지원 제공기관”이 소통하여 사전에 정하고 소통이 지속되는 것이 바람직하다고 말한다. 하지만 현장에서 이에 대한 논의는 거의 전적으로 보호자에게 의존되어 있다. 당사자는 동의·부동의 여부를 표할 수 없는 경우도 있고, 보호자가 활동지원기관을 선택하므로 활동지원기관의 영향력이란 크지 않다. 활동지원기관은 기관대로 사례별로 촘촘히 지원하기에는 인력이 부족하다. 결국 앞서 말한 대로 서비스 내용은 보호자에 의해 결정되고, 앞서 언급된 “신체접촉을 통한 개입”과 “공간적 개입”은 보호자의 의사에 따라 이루어질 수 있다. 아니면 보호자마저 방임하여 활동지원사가 전적으로 결정하게 될 수도 있다.

보호자도 장애인을 학대하지 않는다고 보장할 수 없다. 2019년 7월 보건복지부가 발간한 양성교육교재에서는 도전행동에 대한 명시 자체가 없었다. 2019년 12월 대전에서는 친모와 활동지원사가 지적장애인을 수시로 화장실에 가두고 때려 숨지게 하는 사건이 있었다.[^2] 장애인 구속을 위해 개 목걸이가 사용되기도 했다. 그런데 그 사건이 있은 얼마 후 발달장애인의 도전행동에 대한 신체적·공간적 개입을 새로이 명시하는 양성교육교재가 2021년 12월에 발행되었다. 정부는 개별 사건을 일탈적 사건으로 인식하는 데에 급급하다.

피할 수 없는 구체적 돌봄, 국가의 역할

신체장애인에게 신체구속과 감금이 이루어졌다면, 장애인학대로 판단될 것이다. 비장애인에게 같은 일이 벌어진다면, 형법상 범죄로 판단될 것이다. 발달장애인에게 신체장애인 또는 비장애인과 같은 수준의 자기결정권이 존중된다면, 마찬가지로 판단되어야만 하는 것은 아닐까?

장애인에 대한 지원은 공적 지원체계로 이루어져야 한다. 그리고 그래서 발달장애인의 도전행동 돌발행동에 대한 통제도 공적 차원에서 이루어져야 한다. 나는 발달장애인에 대한 신체통제가 사인의 판단에 의해, 사인의 물리력 행사에 의해 가능하다는 생각 자체가 발달장애인을 둘러싼 학대 등 여러 사건의 싹은 아닐까 생각한다. 차별적 교육을 받은 종사자들이 학대를 하지 않는 것이 오히려 기적은 아닐까. 교재에서 말하는 ‘최후의 수단’, ‘최소한의 시간’은 정말 최후이고 최소한일까. 그 판단에 대한 보증은 누가하는가? 이러한 판단들을 사인에게만, 그것도 대부분의 경우 한사람의 활동지원사에게 맡겨두는 것은 옳은가. 우리사회는 장애인을 대함에 있어 국가공권의 사용마저 아까워하는 사회는 아닐까.

발달장애인에 대한 신체통제가 정말로 ‘최후의 수단’, ‘최소한의 시간’ 만큼 필요하다면 비장애인에게 그러한 것처럼 사법절차와 공권력에 의해서만 예외적으로 신중하게 행사되도록 하는 것이 맞다. 국가가 행할 판단을 어정쩡하게 돌봄노동자들에게 전가시키고, 학대라며 비난하는 일은 없어져야 한다. 제대로 된 매뉴얼과 지원방안이 조속히 마련되어야 한다.

[^1]: 보건복지부 한국장애인개발원 발간, 활동지원사 양성 교육교재, 2021년 12월 발행판, 132쪽. [^2]: 연합뉴스, 지적장애인 빨랫방망이로 때려 숨지게 한 활동지원사 징역 17년, https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200618115100063 , 2020-06-18

@ bbb5dda0:f09e2747

What is it about travel that makes us so addicted to it? Chasing the high of the next view, the next location. Is travel always the same as travel? I think certainly not. Is travel valuable? Then what about it provides the value. Because it's different when someone from the same country goes to that attraction, vs when you come from the other side of earth to see it. What do you gain?

Up until now travel for me has been stillness with nature, and even within the more social trips like SEC-03 I appreciate the ability to be alone and stare at the waves for hours on end. As I'm doing while typing this. Travel changes over time, as it changes you. It's not about seeing more rockfaces anymore, it's about seeing the details in just one of them. The subtle hints to a far and violent past that formed these layers of rock, now exposed for us to be seen and appreciated.

If only we did that more and not just running to so many of these places without appreciating them. Destroying the exact thing we want to see in the process. I really hope mass tourism will come to an end along with the 'social' media that created it. I ended up at a beautiful beach the other day, it came with a freaking waterfall and I saw at least a dozen people only taking basically a photoshoot of themselves or their (girl)friends for 15-30 minutes straight. It doesn't really annoy me but it just makes me wonder, do they actually notice their surroundings and are they actually enjoying the places they go to? I just hope their minds work different from mine and that they actually are enjoying themselves by doing that. As far as mass-tourism goes I wouldn't mind if we replace it with mass-wandering, to places not on the top 10's, not filled with chic hotels and resorts. Just the places that welcome you but won't live to serve you, that is what travel is to me.

I've been taking less pictures over time, the ones I take are mostly because I appreciate the composition, especially after watching the same view for over an hour, and suddenly spotting a new detail that I hadn't noticed before. Anyway, I don't even know where I'm going with this, I just felt the need to write down these thoughts...

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

You have no idea

I regularly read comments from people, on here, wondering how it's possible to marry -- or even simply be friends! -- with someone who doesn't agree with you on politics. I see this sentiment expressed quite often, usually in the context of Bitcoin, or whatever pig is currently being chased through the village, as they say around here.

It seems rather sensible, but I don't think it's as hard, as people make it out to be. Further, I think it's a dangerous precondition to set, for your interpersonal relationships, because the political field is constantly in flux. If you determine who you will love, by their opinions, do you stop loving them if their opinions change, or if the opinions they have become irrelevant and a new set of opinions are needed -- and their new ones don't match your new ones? We could see this happen to relationships en masse, during the Covid Era, and I think it happens every day, in a slow grind toward the disintegration of interpersonal discourse.

I suspect many people do stop loving, at that point, as they never really loved the other person for their own sake, they loved the other person because they thought the other person was exactly like they are. But no two people are alike, and the longer you are in a relationship with someone else, the more the initial giddiness wears off and the trials and tribulations add up, the more you notice how very different you actually are. This is the point, where best friends and romantic couples say, We just grew apart.

But you were always apart. You were always two different people. You just didn't notice, until now.

I've also always been surprised at how many same-party relationships disintegrate because of some disagreement over some particular detail of some particular topic, that they generally agree on. To me, it seems like an irrelevant side-topic, but they can't stand to be with this person... and they stomp off. So, I tend to think that it's less that opinions need to align to each other, but rather that opinions need to align in accordance with the level of interpersonal tolerance they can bring into the relationship.

I was raised by relaxed revolutionaries

Maybe I see things this way because my parents come from two diverging political, cultural, national, and ethnic backgrounds, and are prone to disagreeing about a lot of "important" (to people outside their marriage) things, but still have one of the healthiest, most-fruitful, and most long-running marriages of anyone I know, from that generation. My parents, you see, aren't united by their opinions. They're united by their relationship, which is something outside of opinions. Beyond opinions. Relationships are what turn two different people into one, cohesive unit, so that they slowly grow together. Eventually, even their faces merge, and their biological clocks tick to the same rhythm. They eventually become one entity that contains differing opinions about the same topics.

It's like magic, but it's the result of a mindset, not a worldview. Or, as I like to quip:

The best way to stay married, is to not get divorced.

My parents simply determined early on, that they would stay together, and whenever they would find that they disagreed on something that didn't directly pertain to their day-to-day existence with each other they would just agree-to-disagree about that, or roll their eyes, and move on. You do you. Live and let live.

My parents have some of the most strongly held personal opinions of any people I've ever met, but they're also incredibly tolerant and can get along with nearly anyone, so their friends are a confusing hodgepodge of people we liked and found interesting enough to keep around. Which makes their house parties really fun, and highly unusual, in this day and age of mutual-damnation across the aisle.

The things that did affect them, directly, like which school the children should attend or which country they should live in, etc. were things they'd sit down and discuss, and somehow one opinion would emerge, and they'd again... move on.

And that's how my husband and I also live our lives, and it's been working surprisingly well. No topics are off-limits to discussion (so long as you don't drone on for too long), nobody has to give up deeply held beliefs, or stop agitating for the political decisions they prefer.

You see, we didn't like that the other always had the same opinion. We liked that the other always held their opinions strongly. That they were passionate about their opinions. That they were willing to voice their opinions; sacrifice to promote their opinions. And that they didn't let anyone browbeat or cow them, for their opinions, not even their best friends or their spouse. But that they were open to listening to the other side, and trying to wrap their mind around the possibility that they might just be wrong about something.

We married each other because we knew: this person really cares, this person has thought this through, and they're in it, to win it. What "it" is, is mostly irrelevant, so long as it doesn't entail torturing small animals in the basement, or raising the children on a diet of Mountain Dew and porn, or something.

Live and let live. At least, it's never boring. At least, there's always something to ~~argue~~ talk about. At least, we never think... we've just grown apart.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 장애인이 하는 요리
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10445 - 입력 2023.06.21 11:59

어느 날 일요일 아침이다. 출근하니 장애인 이용자가 친구의 집들이를 간다고 했다. 각자가 요리를 조금씩 준비하는 포틀럭 파티(Potluck party)를 하기로 했다며, 오늘은 자신이 궁중떡볶이를 해주겠다고 큰소리를 친다. 이용자는 양손을 쓸 수 없는 뇌병변장애인이다. 나는 대뜸 이렇게 물었다. "궁중 떡볶이를 해주겠다는 거예요. 궁중 떡볶이를 하게 시키겠다는 거예요?"

그러자 특유의 유쾌한 웃음을 보이며 자신이 다닌 야학에서는 활동지원사가 한 것도 자기가 한 거라고 배웠다고 한다. 아니 활동지원사가 한 게 어떻게 자기가 한 게 되는가? 이제 이용자가 나를 냉장고로 이끈다. 냉장고에는 양념 된 고기와 썰어진 야채들이 준비되어 있다. "오~ 많이 준비해 뒀네요?"라고, 감탄하니, "내가 준비했다."고 말한다. 우리는 서로를 보며 또 한 번 웃는다. 그럴 리가.

이제 재료를 조리 판 위에 놓는다. 재료 투입에도 순서가 있다. 이용자는 이것저것 지시한다. 불을 강하게 하랬다가 약하게 하랬다가, 식재료를 저기로 치워 두랬다가 이제는 넣으라 했다가. 나는 그냥 시키는 대로 한다. 다년간의 활동지원 경력으로 나의 판단은 의미가 없다는 것을 배웠다. 이 요리는 내가 한 것이 아니고, 내 책임도 아니다. 요리 과정에 의견을 내는 것이 장애인 이용자의 자기결정권을 침해하는 행위가 될 수도 있다. 망친 요리는 더러운 맛으로 이용자의 혀에 타격을 가할 것이다. 장애인은 실패할 권리가 있고, 실패 또한 자립생활의 한 부분이다.

미리 식재료를 준비해 둔 탓일까? 장보기와 밑손질 시간이 들지 않으니 비교적 빠르게 떡볶이가 완성되었다. 집들이에 참석할 다수의 인원을 생각해 양이 아주 푸짐하다. 요리를 마치자 때마침 핸드폰에서 메시지가 왔음을 알리는 소리가 난다. 비보다. 집들이 참석 인원 중 한 명이 아파 다른 날로 집들이 일정을 수정하겠다는 소식이다.

이용자는 난감한 표정을 짓는다. 이 많은 음식을 어떡할지 고민이다. 잠시간 고민을 하더니 어머니에게 가자고 한다. 어차피 떡볶이 양이 많아 버리게 될 것이 뻔하니 어머니에게 가져다주자고 한다. 장콜을 부르고, 기다리고, 차가 오고, 짐을 싣고, 어머니 집으로 간다.

어머니 집에 가니 이용자의 동생도 있다. 이 궁중 떡볶이는 누가 했냐고 묻는다. 이용자가 옆에서 "내가 했다."고 말한다. 동생이 비릿한 웃음을 짓는다. 몇 개 집어 먹더니 맛이 없다고 말한다.

이용자와 나는 다시 이용자의 집으로 돌아왔다. 집에 남아있는 궁중떡볶이를 같이 먹는다. 양념이 조금 밍밍한 편이나 썩 나쁘지는 않다. 떡볶이를 먹으며 하루를 돌아본다. 장애인이용자는 요리를 자신이 했다고 주장하기 위해 요리의 절차를 고민하고 숙지하고 있었다. 그리고 온전히 자신이 했다고 주장하기 위해서인지 노동의 배분 때문인지 모르겠으나 전체 과정을 여럿의 활동지원사에게 분배했다. 과정이 세분화 될 수록 활동지원사는 전체 과정에서 자신의 기여분을 주장하기 어려워질 것이다. 아이폰 뒷면의 문구를 변용하자면 궁중떡볶이 뒷면에는 이렇게 쓰일 수도 있지 않을까. Designed by 장애인 김모씨 in Korea, Processed by 김모씨의 활동지원사들. 동생이 맛이 없다 하던 그 말도 떠오른다. 나는 이 평가로부터 자유로운가. 자유로우면 좋은 것인가. 그 자유는 자유인가 소외인가.

@ 07f367da:0e76880d

• 대체공휴일이 늘어도 변하는 것이 없는 노동자
• https://www.newspoole.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=10406
• 입력 2023.05.23 17:00

법에선 유급휴일, 행정해석에는 소정근로일이 아니면 무급휴일

2018년 3월 근로기준법 개정으로 민간에서도 관공서공휴일을 유급휴일로 보장하도록 되었다. 해당 조항은 2022년이 되어 5인이상 사업장이면 모두 적용되게 되었다. 고용노동부는 2018년 5월에 개정 근로기준법 설명자료를 배포하였는데, 당시에는 개정이유를 이렇게 설명하고 있다.

○ 우리나라 관공서 등은 「관공서의 공휴일에 관한 규정」에 따라 공휴일을 지정하고 있으나 민간기업의 경우에는 단체협약, 취업규칙 등에 따라 공휴일 휴무 여부가 다른 실정

• 이에 단체협약, 취업규칙 등에 공휴일 휴무규정이 없는 영세 중소기업 근로자는 명절 연휴와 같은 공휴일을 유급휴일로 보장받지 못해 휴일에 있어서도 불합리한 차별이 존재

○ 따라서, 공휴일에 근로자가 차별 없이 휴식을 취할 수 있도록 공휴일을 근로기준법상 유급휴일로 보장하려는 것임

_ 2018. 05. 고용노동부 발간, 개정 근로기준법 설명자료, 20쪽.

조금 풀어 적자면, 법 개정 이전에는 ▲관공서를 포함해 사업장 규모가 크고 노동조합이 있어, 단체협약이나 취업규칙에 관공서공휴일을 유급휴일로 규정한 사업장은 관공서공휴일을 유급휴일로 쉬고 있었다. ▲반면 영세 중소기업 근로자는 명절 연휴와 같은 공휴일을 유급휴일로 보장받지 못해 휴일에 있어서도 불합리한 차별이 있었다. ▲그래서 관공서공휴일을 유급휴일로 보장하라고 법에 명시를 했다는 것이다.

그런데 중소기업(?) 시간급제 노동자인, 장애인활동지원사들은 법률이 개정되어도 이 법률의 혜택이 오지 않았다. 바로 고용노동부 임금근로시간과-743 행정해석 때문이다. 임금근로시간과-743은 토요일과 같은 비번일·무급휴일이 관공서공휴일과 겹칠 경우, 노동자에게 별도로 유급휴일수당을 더 지급할 필요가 없다고 답한다.

이런 행정해석이 나오자 장애인활동지원기관들은 관공서공휴일에 근무를 하지 말라거나, 급여제공 일정표에 근무를 계획하지 말라는 지시를 했다. 혹여나 근무를 하더라도 평일에 바우처 결제를 하도록 지시하기도 했다. 그리고 관공서공휴일을 ‘소정근로일이 아닌 날’, ‘무급휴일’로 한다는 근로계약과 취업규칙개정을 강행했다. 결국 장애인활동지원사들은 사업주들의 이런저런 조치로 관공서공휴일이 무급휴일로 설정되었고 관공서공휴일을 유급휴일로 누리지 못하게 되었다.

임금의 감소만 없으면 법개정 취지에 반하지 않는다

한편 임금근로시간과-653은 임금근로시간과-743 행정해석에 제동을 거는 새로운 기준을 제시한다. “근무편성시 관공서 공휴일에 근무할 근로자를 고의로 누락 하거나 이날을 제외하는 방법 등으로 유급휴일을 보장하지 않아 법적용 전보다 해당 근로자의 임금이 감소되는 경우라면 이는 법개정 취지에 반한다고 할 것”이라고 말한다. 이 행정해석은 법개정 취지에 반하는 요건을 나열하고 있는데, 사업주가 고의로 유급휴일을 보장하지 않아, 법적용 이전보다 임금이 감소되는 경우로 한정하고 있다. 하지만 이 해석은 이 해석대로 기이하다. 법률 개정으로 유급휴일이 늘어났으면 일을 하지 않아도 임금이 그대로거나, 같은 일을 하면 임금이 늘어야 하는 것이 상식적 결과다. 그런데 임금근로시간과-653에 따르면, 같은 일을 하고도 임금만 줄지 않는다면, 법개정 취지에 반하지 않아 위법하지 않는 경우가 생긴다.

장애인활동지원사들의 경우 사업주의 고의로 유급휴일을 보장하지 않아도, 다른 날에 근무를 더 몰아서 많이 하게 되어 임금의 감소는 발생하지 않을 수 있다. 월급제 노동자의 경우 관공서공휴일 유급휴일을 누리고 다른 대체근무일을 고민하지 않아도 되지만, 장애인활동지원사들은 다른 근무 가능한 요일을 찾아 근무해야 한다. 하지만 최종적으로 임금의 감소는 발생하지 않으니, 임금근로시간과-653의 해석상으로도 위법은 아니다. 743이나 653이나 활동지원사 노동자는 관공서공휴일유급휴일을 보장받기는 어렵다.

이러한 행정해석의 문제는 비단 장애인활동지원사만의 문제가 아니다. 법적용 이후에 근무를 시작하는 노동자의 경우나, 법적용 이후에 생긴 일자리의 경우에 대한 고려가 없다. 이러한 경우는 법 개정 이전에는 근무 자체를 하지 않았으니 비교 대상이 없다. 비교할 대상이 없으니 감소하는 경우에 해당하지 않는다. 결국 사용자는 2개의 행정해석에 힘입어 “관공서공휴일은 소정근로일에서 제외하고, 무급휴일로 한다”는 문구만 근로계약서에 추가하면 관공서공휴일을 무급휴일로 만들 수 있다. 그러고는 산업 자체의 특성 때문에, 관공서공휴일은 일을 할 필요가 없다고 주장할 수도 있겠다. 사회는 빠르게 바뀌고 새로운 산업도 다양하게 생기고 있다. 사업주 입장에서는 이런 식의 근로계약을 체결하는 데에 강력한 유인을 갖는다. 결과적으로 고용노동부가 시간급제 고용을 권장하는 꼴이다. 그리고 여전히 “영세 중소기업 근로자는 명절 연휴와 같은 공휴일을 유급휴일로 보장받지 못해 휴일에 있어서도 불합리한 차별이 존재”하게 된다. 법률을 개정한 이유에 의문을 가질 수밖에 없다. 행정권이 입법권을 덮어버리는 모양새다.

유급휴일의 양극화

2023년, 석가탄신일에도 대체공휴일이 적용되게 되었다. 2023년 석가탄신일은 토요일이고 대개의 직장의 경우 토요일은 무급휴일이므로, 임금근로시간과-743 행정해석에 따르면 유급휴일을 보장하지 않아도 되는 날이다. 그런데 대체공휴일이 도입되었다. 공무원과 월급제 노동자들은 아마도 월요일 유급휴일이 하루 더 늘어났겠지만, 시간급제 노동자들은 무급휴일만 하루 더 늘어났다. 전 정권에서도 현 정권에서도 공휴일은 늘어만 간다. 대체공휴일이 늘어날 때 대통령들과 국무위원들은 토요일이 소정근로일인지를 따지지 않았을 것이다. 2018년 3월 근로기준법 개정안을 통과시킨 국회의원들도 마찬가지였을 것이다. 하지만 정작 노동자의 권리를 보장해야할 고용노동부가 소정근로일을 빌미로 유급휴일을 없애고 있다.

근로기준법은 노동조건의 최저선을 제시하는 법이다. 그런데 그 최저선이 소정근로시간인가 아닌가 하는 사업주의 자의에 의해 휘둘리는게 옳은가? 꼭 장애인활동지원사가 아니라도 "우리는 관공서공휴일 유급휴일은 해당 없다"고 말하는 시간급제 노동자들을 종종 본다. 관공서공휴일 유급휴일 부여에 별다른 조건을 달아서는 안 된다. 평등한 유급휴일 보장을 위해서는 그 수밖에 없다. 고용노동부는 하루빨리 해당 행정해석을 폐기해야만 한다.

@ 234035ec:edc3751d

America's Fourth Fourth Turning

We can learn much from the Book "The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy" By William Strauss and Neil Howe. The Book looks back throughout history to identify the cyclical patterns that emerge and establishes archetypes that emerges in the generations as they come of age in these different stages of history.

There are four phases (turnings) that are outlined in the book:

1. The High
2. The Awakening
3. The Unraveling
4. The Crisis

The authors identify that America is due for another fourth turning, and I would argue that we are now in the midst of America's Fourth ever fourth turning. The first three being marked by the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Great Depression- WWII. Today we have been in an increasingly unstable financial, political, and social environment which share eery similarities to the unraveling period of the prior cycles.

I believe that this fourth turning began with the 2008 "Great Financial Crisis" and has been ongoing ever since the fed chose to engage in mass currency devaluation in order to keep the banks solvent. While these actions have delayed the inevitable larger crisis, they will not be able to avoid it. Since 2008 the money supply has grown from roughly $8 Trillion to over $20 Trillion. This massive currency dilution is reflected in increased prices across all sectors but heavily concentrated in scarce desirable assets. As National debt continues to rise and interest expenses balloon, the only way out for the US dollar is massive inflation.

The issue with continued inflation is that it leads to massive societal suffering and unrest. At 2% inflation most individuals aren't aware that they are being stolen from, but as inflation rates start to stick above 10% people start to realize what is really going on. History tells us that as currencies enter into hyper-inflation, the societal fabric begins to fall apart. One does not have to be an anthropologist to look around and realize the massive cultural shifts that we have seen since moving to a fiat standard in 1971 and much faster ever since 2008.

I find it very profound that at the same time that the global financial system began showing cracks, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the solution to the world. It feels as though this fourth turning is centered around technological innovation in computing, as well as the collapse of an outdated and corrupt financial system. Bitcoin exists at the perfect intersection of these two by utilizing cryptography to empower people to exit the corrupt system and begin to build a superior one on sound foundation. If the crisis of this great fourth turning is centered around the sovereign debt crisis, than Bitcoin becomes the clear answer.

Thriving In The Chaos

Being Born in 2001 I do not have much memory of a pre-2008 world. Being only 7 years old at the time I did not fully grasp the significance of what was going on, but my life has been impacted by it nonetheless.

When the central bank chooses to hold interest rates artificially low, they are effectively driving money into more and more places where it shouldn't actually be. This is usually described as a bubble, which then bursts leaving many financially ruined. Accept for those who the central bank then chooses to bail out by diluting the purchasing power of all the savers.

Much of the Millenial and Gen Z generations feel that they will never reach financial security or be able own a home and retire at a reasonable age. Many of them are saddled with large student loans, credit card debt, and car loans. While much of this is due to personal decision making, we exist in a system today that is designed to extract as much value as possible from each citizen. If you were to take out a loan to go to school, get a job, a mortgage, and a car payment, and used a savings account, you would never become financially free.

People my age have become increasingly unsatisfied with the way that things are, which is why I am so hopeful for a brighter future. While most aren't quite aware of what the true heart of the issue is, they feel that something is deeply wrong. I believe that Bitcoin will be the catalyst for the masses to wake up and stop funding the current system.

Those that lead the way into a new frontier during these fourth turnings come out on the other side in positions of great respect and power. While these next few years will likely difficult, there will be massive opportunity for those who are bold enough to stand for their beliefs and work to propagate them.

@ 04d9fac9:5bec0e6c

Дорогие воркутяне! С радостью сообщаем, что 25 ноября 2044 года в нашем городе откроет свои двери новый Культурно-Досуговый Центр! Этот долгожданный проект стал настоящим подарком для всех жителей и гостей Воркуты. ✨

Что вас ждет? Разнообразные мероприятия: концерты, выставки, мастер-классы и театральные постановки — каждый найдет что-то по душе! Но это не просто традиционные события; благодаря интеграции голографических технологий вы сможете наслаждаться выступлениями мировых звезд в формате 3D прямо из вашего кресла.

Современные пространства: уютные залы для занятий, кинозал с виртуальной реальностью, выставочные площади, где искусство будет представлено в интерактивном формате, и даже кафе с умными меню, которые подберут блюда в зависимости от ваших предпочтений и настроения.

Поддержка талантов: новый центр станет площадкой для местных художников, музыкантов и творческих коллективов. Здесь будут доступны виртуальные студии, где творцы смогут работать над своими проектами с использованием передовых технологий, таких как искусственный интеллект для создания музыки и визуального искусства.

🌟 Мы уверены, что КДЦ станет центром притяжения для всех, кто хочет развиваться, общаться и проводить время с пользой. Это будет не просто место для досуга, а инновационный хаб, где идеи будут воплощаться в жизнь с помощью новейших технологий.

Приглашаем всех на торжественное открытие! 📅 Дата: 25 ноября 2044 года 📍 Место: Новый КДЦ, ул. Центральная, 10. Не пропустите возможность стать частью этого важного события для нашего города! 💖

@ 4ba8e86d:89d32de4

Tutorial feito por Grom mestre⚡poste original abaixo:

http://xh6liiypqffzwnu5734ucwps37tn2g6npthvugz3gdoqpikujju525yd.onion/240277/tutorial-criando-e-acessando-sua-conta-de-email-pela-i2p?show=240277#q240277

Bom dia/tarde/noite a todos os camaradas. Seguindo a nossa série de tutoriais referentes a tecnologias essenciais para a segurança e o anonimato dos usuários, sendo as primeiras a openPGP e a I2P, lhes apresento mais uma opção para expandir os seus conhecimentos da DW. Muitos devem conhecer os serviços de mail na onion como DNMX e mail2tor, mas e que tal um serviço de email pela I2P. Nesse tutorial eu vou mostrar a vocês como criar a sua primeira conta no hq.postman.i2p e a acessar essa conta.

É importante que vocês tenham lido a minha primeira série de tutoriais a respeito de como instalar, configurar e navegar pela I2P nostr:nevent1qqsyjcz2w0e6d6dcdeprhuuarw4aqkw730y542dzlwxwssneq3mwpaspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsygzt4r5x6tvh39kujvmu8egqdyvf84e3w4e0mq0ckswamfwcn5eduspsgqqqqqqsyp5vcq Esse tutorial é um pré-requisito para o seguinte e portanto recomendo que leia-os antes de prosseguir com o seguinte tutorial. O tutorial de Kleopatra nostr:nevent1qqs8h7vsn5j6qh35949sa60dms4fneussmv9jd76n24lsmtz24k0xlqzyp9636rd9ktcjmwfxd7ru5qxjxyn6uch2uhas8utg8wa5hvf6vk7gqcyqqqqqqgecq8f7 é complementar dado que é extremamente recomendado assinar e criptografar as mensagens que seguem por emails pela DW. Sem mais delongas, vamos ao tutorial de fato.

1. Criando uma conta de email no hq.postman

Relembrando: Esse tutorial considera que você já tenha acesso à I2P. Entre no seu navegador e acesse o endereço hq.postman.i2p. O roteador provavelmente já contém esse endereço no seu addressbook e não haverá a necessidade de inserir o endereço b32 completo. Após entrar no site vá para a página '1 - Creating a mailbox' https://image.nostr.build/d850379fe315d2abab71430949b06d3fa49366d91df4c9b00a4a8367d53fcca3.jpg

Nessa página, insira as credenciais de sua preferências nos campos do formulário abaixo. Lembre-se que o seu endereço de email aceita apenas letras e números. Clique em 'Proceed' depois que preencher todos os campos. https://image.nostr.build/670dfda7264db393e48391f217e60a2eb87d85c2729360c8ef6fe0cf52508ab4.jpg

Uma página vai aparecer pedindo para confirmar as credenciais da sua nova conta. Se tudo estiver certo apenas clique em 'Confirm and Create Mailbox'. Se tudo ocorrer como conforme haverá uma confirmação de que a sua nova conta foi criada com sucesso. Após isso aguarde por volta de 5 minutos antes de tentar acessá-la, para que haja tempo suficiente para o servidor atualizar o banco de dados. https://image.nostr.build/ec58fb826bffa60791fedfd9c89a25d592ac3d11645b270c936c60a7c59c067f.jpg https://image.nostr.build/a2b7710d1e3cbb36431acb9055fd62937986b4da4b1a1bbb06d3f3cb1f544fd3.jpg

Pronto! Sua nova conta de email na I2P foi criada. Agora vamos para a próxima etapa: como acessar a sua conta via um cliente de email.

2. Configurando os túneis cliente de SMTP e POP3

O hq.postman não possui um cliente web que nos permite acessar a nossa conta pelo navegador. Para isso precisamos usar um cliente como Thunderbird e configurar os túneis cliente no I2Pd que serão necessários para o Thunderbird se comunicar com o servidor pela I2P.

Caso não tenha instalado o Thunderbird ainda, faça-o agora antes de prosseguir.

Vamos configurar os túneis cliente do servidor de email no nosso roteador. Para isso abra um terminal ou o seu gestor de arquivos e vá para a pasta de configuração de túneis do I2P. Em Linux esse diretório se localiza em /etc/i2pd/tunnels.d. Em Windows, essa pasta se localiza em C:\users\user\APPDATA\i2pd. Na pasta tunnels.d crie dois arquivos: smtp.postman.conf e pop-postman.conf. Lembre-se que em Linux você precisa de permissões de root para escrever na pasta de configuração. Use o comando sudoedit para isso.

Edite-os conforme as imagens a seguir:

Arquivo pop-postman.conf https://image.nostr.build/7e03505c8bc3b632ca5db1f8eaefc6cecb4743cd2096d211dd90bbdc16fe2593.jpg

Arquivo smtp-postman.conf https://image.nostr.build/2d06c021841dedd6000c9fc2a641ed519b3be3c6125000b188842cd0a5af3d16.jpg

Salve os arquivos e reinicie o serviço do I2Pd. Em Linux isso é feito pelo comando: sudo systemctl restart i2pd Entre no Webconsole do I2Pd pelo navegador (localhost:7070) e na seção I2P Tunnels, verifique se os túneis pop-postman e smtp-postman foram criados, caso contrário verifique se há algum erro nos arquivos e reinicie o serviço.

Com os túneis cliente criados, vamos agora configurar o Thunderbird

3. Configurando o Thunderbird para acessar a nossa conta

Abra o Thunderbird e clique em criar uma nova conta de email. Se você não tiver nenhum conta previamente presente nele você vai ser diretamente recebido pela janela de criação de conta a seguir. https://image.nostr.build/e9509d7bd30623716ef9adcad76c1d465f5bc3d5840e0c35fe4faa85740f41b4.jpg https://image.nostr.build/688b59b8352a17389902ec1e99d7484e310d7d287491b34f562b8cdd9dbe8a99.jpg

Coloque as suas credenciais, mas não clique ainda em Continuar. Clique antes em Configure Manually, já que precisamos configurar manualmente os servidores de SMTP e POP3 para, respectivamente, enviar e receber mensagens.

Preencha os campos como na imagem a seguir. Detalhe: Não coloque o seu endereço completo com o @mail.i2p, apenas o nome da sua conta. https://image.nostr.build/4610b0315c0a3b741965d3d7c1e4aff6425a167297e323ba8490f4325f40cdcc.jpg

Clique em Re-test para verificar a integridade da conexão. Se tudo estiver certo uma mensagem irá aparecer avisando que as configurações do servidores estão corretas. Clique em Done assim que estiver pronto para prosseguir. https://image.nostr.build/8a47bb292f94b0d9d474d4d4a134f8d73afb84ecf1d4c0a7eb6366d46bf3973a.jpg

A seguinte mensagem vai aparecer alertando que não estamos usando criptografia no envio das credenciais. Não há problema nenhum aqui, pois a I2P está garantindo toda a proteção e anonimato dos nossos dados, o que dispensa a necessidade de uso de TLS ou qualquer tecnologia similar nas camadas acima. Marque a opção 'I Understand the risks' e clique em 'Continue' https://image.nostr.build/9c1bf585248773297d2cb1d9705c1be3bd815e2be85d4342227f1db2f13a9cc6.jpg

E por fim, se tudo ocorreu como devido sua conta será criada com sucesso e você agora será capaz de enviar e receber emails pela I2P usando essa conta. https://image.nostr.build/8ba7f2c160453c9bfa172fa9a30b642a7ee9ae3eeb9b78b4dc24ce25aa2c7ecc.jpg

4. Observações e considerações finais

Como informado pelo próprio site do hq.postman, o domínio @mail.i2p serve apenas para emails enviados dentro da I2P. Emails enviados pela surface devem usar o domínio @i2pmai.org. É imprescindível que você saiba usar o PGP para assinar e criptografar as suas mensagens, dado que provavelmente as mensagens não são armazenadas de forma criptografada enquanto elas estão armazenadas no servidor. Como o protocolo POP3 delete as mensagens no imediato momento em que você as recebe, não há necessidade de fazer qualquer limpeza na sua conta de forma manual.

Por fim, espero que esse tutorial tenha sido útil para vocês. Que seu conhecimento tenha expandido ainda mais com as informações trazidas aqui. Até a próxima.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

Unsucking the feed is real

As a Nostrich with an interesting, thought-provoking, and informative feed... a feed so good, that we're creating clients just to look at that feed... a feed that puts a lie to the idea that Nostr is nothing, but people reposting from Twitter or rehashing worn-out Bitcoin memes... a feed that I personally and increasingly enjoy perusing... I am here to tell you that the feed is real.

It's taken me over a year, to produce this feed. I literally spent hours and hours, day in and day out, scouring the Nostrverse for people worth introducing other people to. It was brutally difficult, as I was fighting the inherent nature of the Nostr clients and relays, in their current, most-popular form.

It goes like so...

Here are the steps I took, that sometimes weren't possible to take, until I tried to take them, and that still will sometimes break your client because the clients are often intentionally designed to steer you into having one particular feed:

1) Make a screenshot of your current relay list and copy your follows list. 2) Unsubscribe from all the relays, that you are currently subscribed to. Your feed should disappear. If it doesn't, or it doesn't allow for this, switch to a different client app because yours is corrupted. 3) Unfollow everyone. Delete the whole list. You are taking your follows private, which will invariably result in only following npubs whose stuff you actually want to see, since there's no longer any virtue-signaling going on. Also, it's easier to explain having no list, than a very short one. If your client doesn't allow for this, or starts throwing error messages and freezing up, then switch to a different client app because yours is corrupted. 4) Curate your copied follows list. Go line by line and look at the feed produced by the npub on that list. * Do you want to see that in your feed, going forward? * Do they produce original content and/or are they interesting conversationalists, in the replies? * Have they been active, within the past three months? * Are they simply good friends or real-life acquaintances, that you want to keep tabs on? * If not, cross out their name. * If you have been following someone because they repost or quote interesting things, look at who they've been reposting and follow them, instead. 5) Of the npubs remaining on your list, go through and select the 10 most interesting ones, and look at the reposts and quotes in their feed, and their topical lists like \"Favorites\", \"Devs\", \"Recipes\", etc. (Not their follows list, unless it's quite short, as follows tend to be full of people they follow for social-signaling or client-functional reasons, that they don't actively look at.) Find some new follows, there. 6) Now, set up a personal relay and add all the follows, that made the cut, to your allowed-npubs list. Do not add people to the list, just to make them feel better, or because you feel guilty, as they follow you, or to keep them from yelling at you. Remember, they can't see the list! 7) Think about the topics you find interesting, and add an allowed-keywords list (this is better than hashtags, as it searches the entire content of the notes), with the OR operator (these allowed npubs OR these allowed topics). 8) Make sure that you choose words likely to find the content you are most-interested in, and not people just ranting about it or spamming (those are great additions to your relay's block-list). If you are Muslim, for instance, instead of "Islam" or "shariah", choose "hadith" or "riba", as those are words more-likely to be used by people who know what they are talking about. If you are into bread baking, add "sourdough", "rye", "yeast", or "whisk", but don't add "bread" or "carbs". Once a note from those people shows up in your feed, and their feed looks like someone interesting, you can add their npub to your allow list. Remember: The topics are there to find people to add to the allow list, not merely for their own sake, as this is not a topical relay, but a personal one. 9) Open up a faucet (or relay syncing) with some of the big relays you previously unsubscribed from, some WoT relays, and some of the paid relays (nostr.land, nostr.wine, nostr21.com, and sovbit.host, for example). Your relay will filter that feed and only accept the events from the people and topics on your list. As your relay becomes more popular, npubs will begin writing directly to it, and the connections to other relays will sink in significance. 10) Go to your client of choice and subscribe to your new relay. Also subscribe to some topical relays, or curated neighborhood relays, you find interesting or your frens are running. This is an easy way to find new, interesting npubs, to add to your own relay.

That's a lot of work, you say? Yes, but the result is great, and you are now fully in-charge of your own feed. You also -- here's the cool part -- have a feed good enough, that other people can add your feed to theirs and enjoy your manual curation. As you refine and expand your feed, theirs will also be refined, in parallel. You are now an official Nostr Community Curator. My sincere congratulations.

Why is this so hard?

This is only a lot of work because the clients aren't designed to interact with relays, to this extent, as they were created to service mega-relays, download all their crap to your local cache, and adjust the feed over the follows/mutes lists. This was an idea borne of the axiom that Relays Are Hard, so there will only ever be a handful of them, where we'd all clump together and the relay operators would never judge the quality of someone's content. Then, some unusually clever people made relays increasingly easy, and the mailbox communication model was invented, and here we are.

What we have now, and that is slowly growing in popularity, among the #NostrIntelligentsia, are Nostr clients aimed at curating and viewing individual relays or personalized sets of smaller or more-specialized relays. The reigning client devs refused to give us those clients, and most of us aren't up to developing our own clients, so the relay devs took matters into their own hands and made the clients themselves. The free market remains undefeated.

This is a total game-changer. Last one to board this train is a rotten egg.

Originally, relays were supposed to be completely stupid and clients were supposed to be completely smart, but it's now actually the other way around, because most relay devs have a market-born incentive to make their content highly customizable and appealing to individuals (so that more people run relays).

But what about algos?

Can't you just slap an algo on top of Damus, Lol, or Primal relays, and get the same result? I would argue... no. No, you can't. Or, rather, only in the short to medium term.

Running your own relay, is running your own server. You are now intellectually independent, at a machine-level, and therefore a fully sovereign consumer. If you then use algos to control your own server, or in a client that subscribes to your own server, then you can further-refine a feed that is already in a high-to-you-signal state, rather than risking an algo inching you toward the Consensus Feed.

I have noticed that my own feed is slowly drifting away from the ReplyGuy-Cryptobot-Porny-Bitcoin-Meme Dumpster Fire, that almost everyone else is looking at, and it's due to running my own relay. If I use DVMs, those algos sometimes refer to relays I intentionally avoid, so they return results according to those relays. The results are as underwhelming, as you would expect, and often are simply 31 flavors of the Trending List.

But, that isn't your problem, anymore. From here, you can actively expand and refine your feed, over your whitelist, the topics, and your personally-managed algos.

Happy Nostr-ing!

@ b8a9df82:6ab5cbbd

In March 2020, the world came to a halt. Finally reading "The Bitcoin Standard" and Michael Saylor’s prologue to it made me reflect on my own journey during that time—a journey that led to The Extraordinary. Isn’t it fascinating how the same global crisis made us all pause, look beneath the surface, and come out with completely different perspectives on life?

For me, the pandemic wasn’t just a disruption—it was a turning point. In the stillness, I was forced to face my demons: addiction, emptiness, and the endless search for something meaningful. What emerged wasn’t just a book, but a deep personal transformation.

The Extraordinary is inspired by my life in London during those chaotic years—filled with incredible highs and crushing lows. It’s a story about hitting rock bottom and finding a way back up. It’s about the facade of big-city life, where envy often wears the mask of morality, and the struggle to accept yourself in a world that rarely allows it.

What’s different now? Everything. I live a completely different life today. Writing The Extraordinary helped me confront what I couldn’t before—and now, I finally have the courage to share it here with you on Nostr.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, lost, or out of place in your own life, this book is for you. I’d love for you to read it and let me know your thoughts. Because sometimes, in writing a story for ourselves, we find the strength to connect with others.

Unfortunately, it's only available on Amazon for now, as I haven't figured out how to do print-on-demand here on Nostr yet #asknostr

Blurb:

1. THEY SAID YOU WILL EARN A LOT OF MONEY,
2. THEY SAID THEY WILL GIVE YOU A CAR,
3. THEY SAID YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL,
4. THEY SAID IT WILL BE FUN.

However Kate Blumenhagen never wanted to be her company‘s whore, nor lose control about the men’s world. In a city where envy often masquerades as morality. What happens when the system collapses, the perfect façade breaks down and everybody‘s darling only shines on the outside? A tribute to all those who can't stand still for five minutes!

@ a17fb4ed:c53f7e91

Yooper Crate in the Wild

This crate was designed to hold and reduce the noise of a Bitcoin miner while distributing the heat. As with most of these boxes lately, I have to give credit for the basic design to Steve Barbour. Thanks to many in the Pleb Miner Mafia.

The prices are circa early 2022.

OG post from 1/31/2022 at: https://yooperhodl.substack.com/p/yooper-crate

Yooper Crate Cut Out Plans (right mouse click - save image, for a legible copy)

I followed the plans and it turned out solid. Below you will find a picture journey from Start to Finish. Most shopping was done at Menards, Lowes, and Amazon. Parts list at the bottom.

Cheapest, decent board I could find that had .74” actual thickness. Beware, this stuff has sharp edges and will slice your hands. Gloves required!

Main screws I used for most of the assembly

Screws I used when I didn’t want to break through the other side

Pieces all cut out on a table saw

Started with the divider wall with internal hot/cold register

Figured out how the filter was going to lay in. I made the intake and outlet side the same so I can reverse flow if needed.

Air Filter - Probably not my final one but something to start with. I don’t want choke out the airflow

Intake/Outlet side: .75” reveal to plan for the bottom piece coverage

Pilot holes for the air flow cutouts

Backside of Intake/ Outlet side - ready for jigsaw cutout

Figuring out the duct mount

Intake, Outlet, and Divider

Assemble the Horizonal/ Vertical Air Flow Flanges x2

Flow flanges added to the pile

Attach the Asic shelf to the Divider wall

Asic shelf assembly added to the pile

Attach bottom to hinge side

Attach Intake/ Outlet Sides

Attach divider assembly. Notice small support blocks

Attach Horizontal/Vertical Flow flanges. Notice support blocks

Few screws into support block

Internal assembly complete

Added small casters

Added handles

Misc. hardware

Home sweet home

Sound dampening: D.Y.O.R. - I used 4 layers of old bath towel on each surface and the compressed air staple gun was key

Window seal for around the top

D.Y.O.R. - Mounted some drywall for a little fire protection

Window intake/ outlet for ducting

Flexible ducting

Picking a spot for my 220v - Hire a professional unless you absolutely know what you are doing

Custom Cover

Not my best work, but all set for an S19JPro

S19JPro Overclocked

75.7 DB with top open and fans at 77%

47.5 DB with top closed at 45% (bringing in cold U.P. air on intake side). I added anti-vibration foam between asic shelf drywall and the miner and I believe it got even quieter

Final setup with laptop, node, miner, Yooper Crate, 92F outlet air temp heating the house

Parts List

• Melamin Board x 2

• Screws 1-5/8"

• Screws 3/4"

• Air Filter

• Staples 9/16"

• Caster 1-1/2" x 4

• Hasp x 2

• Hinges

• Side Handle x 2

• Top Handle

• Vent Register

• Metal Duct Fitting 8" x 2+

• Flexible Ducting 8"

• Weather Stripping

• Smoke Alarm

• Rubber Gloves for Electrical Box Work

• Blank 2 Gang Plate

• Metal 2 Gang Box

• 250V Breaker - Make sure this matches your own breaker box

• 6-20R Outlet - Make sure this matches your needed power supply cord

• Power Supply Cords x 2 - Make sure this matches your needs

Feel free to leave any zaps, questions, comments, or suggested revisions.

Cheers, Yooper

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