Advice Goddess Free Swim
Tuesday night, and I'm a little wiped.
You pick the topics. I'll try to post a piece in the morning.
P.S. One link per comment or my spam filter will eat your post.
Advice Goddess Free Swim
Tuesday night, and I'm a little wiped.
You pick the topics. I'll try to post a piece in the morning.
P.S. One link per comment or my spam filter will eat your post.
Took a couple days, but Ammous makes the point I offered a couple of days ago to those speaking so promiscuously, and errantly, about "electronic currency."
Crid at November 14, 2018 1:02 AM
How a selfie saved a Texas man from 99 years in prison
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/how-a-selfie-saved-a-texas-man-from-99-years-in-prison/289-614065008
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:26 AM
Julian Assange’s sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has been transformed into a little shop of horrors. He has been largely cut off from communicating with the outside world for the last seven months. His Ecuadorian citizenship, granted to him as an asylum seeker, is in the process of being revoked. His health is failing. He is being denied medical care. His efforts for legal redress have been crippled by the gag rules, including Ecuadorian orders that he cannot make public his conditions inside the embassy in fighting revocation of his Ecuadorian citizenship.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-12/hedges-assange-has-done-more-expose-american-crimes-any-other-news-organization
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:32 AM
"Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny."
Aristotle
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:40 AM
Why Women Henpeck Men: Secrets of The Henhouse Sisterhood
http://devinstone.net/blog/2018/10/27/why-women-henpeck-men-secrets-of-the-henhouse-sisterhood/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:42 AM
Audible has screwed over content providers -
http://www.scottcarney.com/2018/08/acx-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:48 AM
UW Institutes 'Diversity' Training After Professor’s Op-Ed on Sex Differences
https://pjmedia.com/trending/uw-institutes-diversity-training-after-professors-op-ed-on-sex-differences/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 4:50 AM
A museum in Japan spends most of its day refusing entry to 2 cats trying to get in
https://twitter.com/jiffington/status/1062471505496469504
Sixclaws at November 14, 2018 5:55 AM
IDK. I would think digital/electronic/virtual currency would lessen a central bank's role. It takes significant resources to mint and print hard currency and then to maintain it.
However, the self-professed "Bitcoin economist & carnivore grill-master" does score a solid point in that most financial transactions today are handled electronically and not with shipments of bullion.
Under the current system, financial transactions still require clearing houses - ACH - to ensure funds are available and facilitate the movement of hard currency.
On the other hand, blockchain technology makes creating virtual currency pretty straightforward. No printing presses, no metals, no ACH middle-man, no Secret Service to run down counterfeiters and virtually no central authority required. On the other hand, a free flowing system without guardrails practically begs for criminal disruption; which could erode trust in the system.
Admittedly, getting people to use a digital currency would take considerable influence and a high degree of trust on the part of the public. Nonetheless, digital currency seemingly would not need the collective power of a state backing it.
So, we could end up using one of those two systems, or a third, unexpected one; we could end up using a hybrid of virtual and hard currency. I'm sure the first caveman who was offered a seashell in exchange for meat from the mastodon he had just killed looked at the offeror like he was cracked, but before long, even mastodon-killer was trading seashells for all kinds of things.
No matter which currency system we end up using, the next few decades in the financial realm are going to be interesting.
Conan the Grammarian at November 14, 2018 6:17 AM
I'd say give me what he's having, but I'll pass and allow my liver to thank me.
http://bitsandpieces.us/2018/11/just-another-day-in-romania/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 8:52 AM
Figures.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/12/womens-group-tucker-carlson-juan-manuel-granados/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 8:53 AM
Well, there goes a perfectly good narrative.
http://www.tampabay.com/nation-world/wisconsin-boys-nazi-salute-was-actually-a-wave-to-their-parents-photographer-says-20181113/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 9:07 AM
> I would think digital/electronic
> /virtual currency would lessen a
> central bank's role. It takes
> significant resources to mint and
> print hard currency and then to
> maintain it
I don't comprehend how these sentences get written.
> Under the current system,
> financial transactions still
> require clearing houses
I would describe that as A thing which you have said which is not true... Unless you're conceding, in a backhanded way, that Bitcoin is beyond whatever one might glibly describe as "the current system".... (As are perhaps some of the shitcoins, but perhaps not. And the distinction is critical, because it's what makes them shitcoins.)
> a free flowing system
> without guardrails
Golly! FREE FLOWS! No guardrails!
Fortunately, Bitcoin is no such system. (And it would be great to know how* that presumption entered your heart.) Bitcoin is some of the most tightly-constrained behavior on the planet... You follow the rules or you•got•nuthin'.
> practically begs for criminal
> disruption; which could
> erode trust
Well, yeah, almost tautologically: When people lose money they get pissed.
As of this morning, global BTC Market Cap = $108,469,161,198 USD, and has famously been even higher for a period a year ago.
A hunnert Buh-hillion with a B is, I would aver, a substantial incentive to criminal mischief... But within the coin itself, there is none.
The math and code are far over my head, and it's open source: It's entirely possible that there's a bug in there by which some sinister genius could crack the thing open and deflate it all. Not kidding. That could happen.
But the personalities & enterprises most eager to exploit Bitcoin are for now building enormous mining operations, which —by blessed paradox— strengthen its security in their diversity. (Note especially the category "Chinese" at that link.)
> getting people to use a
> digital currency would take
> considerable influence
"Considerable influence" is amazingly cheap. My favorite common instance is that of a father upon a son: There's nothing more powerful in the formation of human character than example...
But the contender is wealth, both the most ennobling and corrupting force on the globe. When people see the wealth of others in a form better-protected and more reliably transferred than their own, what happens? (Let's not even talk about the growth probabilities for savings.)
It doesn't matter... Name a sum of money, and I will give it to you... This morning. Do you want it in the United States dollar or the (new!) Venezuelan bolivar? Even in lunchtime Caracas, the question answers itself. About a dozen countries use our dollar without dressings. A few dozen others have integrated it somehow, and everyone on the planet with a pulse and three twitching neurons feels its power...
Because we're the best. Life's inherent desperation —with its concomitant envy— might well handle the marketing for Bitcoin, as it has for every trade since the dawn of man.
> we could end up using a
> hybrid of virtual and
> hard currency
Thanks for saying so, because I fear you're insufficiently attuned to that very probability. Your wording ("significant resources to mint and print hard currency") makes it sound like you can only imagine one tool for all purposes. A visa card that buys cups of coffee, closes escrow on whole neighborhoods, and completes the sales of American film studios to Japanese electronic conglomerates!
There have always been a variety of mechanisms for transferring wealth. Complaints that BTC isn't perfect for every last one of them, and RIGHT NOW, surrender the argument.
No one knows what its full purpose is yet, just as no one knows the correct price. (You would not believe some of the things people have done with hammers over the years. I once knew a guy who's life was saved by one in a fire, and not by design.)
*I now regard faithful, unexamined, reflexive adoration of the United States government as the single most corrupting force in world affairs. Dishonesty is for chumps, violence is for dweebies; On the streets of DC, even abject lust is a jilted lover.
Crid at November 14, 2018 9:13 AM
> & carnivore grill-master"
Boyfriend likes a burger. Is that so WRONG?!??!?!?
Crid at November 14, 2018 9:15 AM
Whose life. Eventually one's morning has other purposes.
Crid at November 14, 2018 9:16 AM
You can ignore everything below line number one on today's chart.
Crid at November 14, 2018 9:27 AM
Heh. But they're eeeeeeeevil white peoples.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/312984/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 9:37 AM
Commenting on Snoopy's link. This caught my eye at the end of the article
Editor's note: KVUE is not identifying Precopia's accuser because she hasn't been charged with a crime.
Unbelievable that someone can attempt to ruin a man's life with a false allegation and then be protected by the media. They need to plaster that chick's name far and wide so everyone can protect themselves from her.
sara at November 14, 2018 9:41 AM
At last, guys, here it is!... The perfect companion to you fiat currencies!
Accepted in all clearing houses! This is gonna be great!
Crid at November 14, 2018 9:54 AM
@Sara,
I'm backing that 100%, the problem is that you're going to see feminists and their occasional allies jumping in and say things like "How dare you suggest that! Don't you know she has suffered enough?"
You can even see that train of thought here, it's rare but it happens.
Sixclaws at November 14, 2018 9:57 AM
Ignoring Crid's malarky.
Conan, people already use digital currency all the time. It is called the credit card. People have already shown a great desire to use this digital currency over the old paper kind. So getting people to convert isn't that hard.
What Bitcoin currently lacks is merchant uptake and an easy way to pay. The payment part is actually easy to solve. You just put a Bitcoin wallet on a one of the current cards. You could use it just the same way. So both of those of solvable problems.
The one group you will probably have a very hard time converting is government. For each coin mined the next one costs more to mine. This means the inflation of the bitcoin money supply decreases with time. It never hits zero but it effectively goes there. Pretty much every government in the world is a debtor. They desperately want to pay back in money worth less than when they borrowed it. They desperately want to quietly break their promises to citizens by paying benefits in money worth less every day.
Look at the US and the Fed. The law requires the Fed to maintain a 'stable money supply'. They decided 'stable' means inflating at 2% per year. In what way is decreasing in value at 2% per year stable? But even worse than that is the Fed gets to chose how to measure that inflation. So they chose a metric to skew things further in the inflationary direction. Their explanations about how the price of old computers shouldn't fall just because new ones are better ring pretty hollow. As do their explanations about how the things you spend money on the most (house, food, fuel) don't matter. And the US has one of the most stable currencies out there. So how easy do you think it will be to get governments around the world to accept a forcibly stable currency? Look at what accepting the Euro did for southern Europe.
Secondly, blockchain isn't the panacea you think it is. There are numerous ways to break it. So you will still need the secret service. It is the ACH middle man. And it needs infrastructure to run on. Currently that infrastructure is donated for free by random people. But that is a significant part of why bitcoin is so slow to confirm trades. Most people aren't willing to hangout at the supermarket for half an hour to confirm they actually paid and no funny business went on. Speeding that process up will require people getting paid to build the infrastructure necessary to support it.
Ben at November 14, 2018 10:11 AM
> Ignoring Crid's malarky.
Indeed, you can ignore anything that is before you: Complaints that BTC isn't perfect for every last one of them, and RIGHT NOW, surrender the argument.
> The one group you will probably
> have a very hard time converting
> is government.
Which is precisely the point.
> Secondly, blockchain isn't the
> panacea you think it is.
You're making things up: No one in this discussion has mentioned it, let alone described their feelings about it.
> There are numerous ways
> to break it.
You're making things up: Otherwise you'd describe them. In the case of BTC, essentially the only meaningful blockchain in operation, there've been zero failures, despite a hundred billion incentives.
High school's gonna be a tough time for you...
"There are numerous ways."
Crid at November 14, 2018 10:33 AM
On the proposed European military:
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/11/14/merkel-calls-raising-european-army-defend-u-s/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 11:20 AM
Good. But, can you make it bigger?
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a25051641/mythbuster-jamie-hyneman-wildfire-tank-sentry/
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 11:22 AM
Do your homework Crid. A simple google search turns up a number of issues with blockchain. And bitcoin as well. This aint complicated. At least if you aren't a brainless fanboi.
Ben at November 14, 2018 11:24 AM
You'll need some means of combatting fraud, hacking, etc. So, you'll need some form of countermeasures; and a body of laws under which the perpetrator of such fraud can be prosecuted.
Never said it was a panacea. I simply said it facilitated digital currency transactions.
Credit cards are not "digital currency." They're loans of hard currency. You "borrow" the money from Visa at the point of purchase and pay it back later through an ACH system.
Debit cards tie directly to your hard currency account through a computer system.
Essentially, yes. But, unlike ACH, blockchain will not require the eventual physical exchange of hard currency to reconcile the transaction.
Conan the Grammarian at November 14, 2018 11:31 AM
Macron and Merkel are banking on Germany and France having significant control over that military. They are essentially pushing for the rest of Europe to supplement the German and French militaries.
Conan the Grammarian at November 14, 2018 12:04 PM
Well, isn't THIS special:
WATCH: Famed Child Drag Queen Joins Other Drag Artists on ‘Good Morning America’
mpetrie98 at November 14, 2018 12:29 PM
I take a paper check to my bank to deposit it. I pay for my purchases with a credit card. I pay off that car by using an online bill pay service. In this entire cycle I never see physical currency. That is may or may not exist somewhere is fairly irrelevant to me.
From a consumer's standpoint there isn't any difference between what we have today and a 'digital currency'.
And that doesn't even get into bank multipliers. A lot of the money people spend never had a physical form.
Ben at November 14, 2018 12:32 PM
"Unbelievable that someone can attempt to ruin a man's life with a false allegation and then be protected by the media. "
I noticed that too. That's some serious white-knighting there.
Cousin Dave at November 14, 2018 1:11 PM
NeverTrump’s Billionaire Leftist Benefactors
https://www.amgreatness.com/2018/11/14/nevertrumps-billionaire-leftist-benefactors/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 2:35 PM
The deplatforming continues -
BitChute’s Immediate Removal from PayPal
https://bitchute.info/bitchutes-immediate-removal-from-paypal/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 2:40 PM
I for one am shocked, shocked, SHOCKED
CIA Whistleblower Says He Was Targeted By Brennan, Mueller, Strzok
https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/14/kiriakou-cia-mueller-brennan-strzok/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 2:43 PM
Not knowing a thing about blockchains, I took a look at this.
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
What stood out was the (ambitiously named) Interplanetary File System (IPFS).
https://ipfs.io/#why
That is an intriguing and potentially extremely useful project. This stood out to me:
I R A Darth Aggie at November 14, 2018 2:49 PM
Even more SHOCKED
Stormy Daniels' Attorney Michael Avenatti Arrested for Felony Domestic Violence
http://www.tmz.com/2018/11/14/michael-avenatti-arrested-domestic-violence-stormy-daniels-attorney/
Snoopy at November 14, 2018 2:54 PM
The fact that a physical currency exists is relevant to your bank, to the vendors to whom you hand over that credit card, to the credit card company, and to the holder of the note on your car. It's relevant to how the banking system works right now.
The existence of physical currency is relevant to the way you think of payments and purchasing power. You get paid in US dollars and you pay your bills in US dollars, not reals, won, or Bitcoin. You may not see a physical dollar in your transactions, but you know what a dollar can buy; you have a feel for how much it's worth.
You have faith in the US dollar because it's backed by the US government and its value is relatively stable. Digital currency values will likely fluctuate much more than we're used to currency fluctuating.
Today, digital currencies function much more like investments than currencies - even those highly-touted house purchases in Bitcoin are in reality hard currency purchases since the Bitcoin is converted to US dollars before the sale; more like selling stock to buy a house than purchasing it directly for Bitcoin.
Conan the Grammarian at November 14, 2018 3:29 PM
"Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?"
(Yeah, I know, the answer may lie above. But that's not what this focuses on. One problem, apparently, is that many people are getting far more porn watching than real sex ed - and choking, for one, doesn't tend to turn women on.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex-recession/573949/
lenona at November 14, 2018 4:08 PM
You had it for a bit and then you lost it Conan.
"The existence of physical currency is relevant to the way you think of payments and purchasing power."
No. No it isn't. Doesn't matter to me if the dollars are little green paper or numbers on a spreadsheet. Having a physical form doesn't matter at all. As I mentioned with bank multipliers, a lot of the 'cash' in our money supply literally doesn't have a physical form. It never did. It only ever existed as a number in a ledger.
"You have faith in the US dollar because it's backed by the US government and its value is relatively stable."
That is the key. The US government is backing it and they have a track record for relative currency stability. Physical form matters not one whit.
Current digital currencies fluctuate largely because the number of users is still relatively low and there isn't a central group with an interest in stabilizing value. But compared to some other fiat currencies the current fluctuations aren't that bad.
And I agree with you on the house example.
Ben at November 14, 2018 5:19 PM
Lenona, BSDM and porn is general has next to nothing to do with the reduced sex volume. Not getting married and getting married later in life has essentially everything to do with it. Not a complicated thing.
Ben at November 14, 2018 5:22 PM
> A simple google search
> turns up a...
You got nuthin'...
"Numerous ways."
Crid at November 14, 2018 11:11 PM
There are none so blind as those that will not see.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=problems+with+bitcoin
There. Was that so complicated Crid?
Ben at November 15, 2018 5:37 AM
Why would THAT make such a big difference, when wanting to wait until age 30 to marry (often for economic reasons) hardly means that any individual will wait that long to have sex?
Haven't read the whole thing yet, but one thing that got mentioned was that young people, male and female, are finally realizing they have the right to say no to any situation that doesn't feel ideal to THEM. Even if that means sacrificing every other opportunity. Saying yes to anyone who asks is not exactly liberating - especially if one comes down with something incurable.
Of course, people also lie a lot about sex, to pollsters. In all directions, depending on one's upbringing.
lenona at November 15, 2018 9:34 AM
It doesn't take much to figure out married people have a lot more sex than single people Lenona. And that is real logged data and not some fluffy self reported stuff. When an opportunity is literally sitting next to you in bed vs. having to go out and find one the incident rate skyrockets.
I suspect you are reading far too much into self reported stuff. As you mention people lie. Alot. In a similar vein, no college kids aren't having trouble finding stamps. They just don't want to vote. And I suspect most of the 'flat earthers' don't actually believe that either. They just like being silly.
Ben at November 15, 2018 12:37 PM
Plenty of married people complain of not getting sex for weeks at a time. For many different reasons.
lenona at November 16, 2018 2:48 PM
Oh, and to clarify, the impression scientists typically give, when they compare married people to single people, is that they're lumping unmarried couples in with "single people." Even those who live together. How many people in their 20s can afford to live alone - or would choose to live with some stranger than with an S.O., when possible?
lenona at November 17, 2018 8:19 AM
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