Big Cosmos, y'know?

This is a thing that was on the computer internet today. And do you know what came to mind? That's right!:

"[C]ryptocurrencies are just a number in a machine."

— Ben at November 13, 2018 5:28 PM

Small-mindedness can't handle large numbers, especially when faking authoritative expertise.

Did you know that just over the horizon, there be monsters? It's scary when you think about it! We'd better stay home.

Or— Give this 22 minutes, and you'll understand why governments hate BTC.

Duzzenmadder whether or not you ever buy any: You should understand what it means.

Context: Parental manipulation of children's egos.

Choose!

☑ Pro

☐ Con

Tw: A cute couple, kept animals.

Agree with this: Twitter is the street of the modern mind. (Facebook is it's teenaged bedroom.)

This too;it expresses how I've always thought about the whole internet. I was deep into adulthood when arrived, and I ain't skeered a-nuthin'.

Still lying your ass off eh Crid. Well, keep on trolling. Your last few days of intelligence and civility were odd coming from you.

Predictable.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2765426/amp/Climate-change-protesters-marched-Manhattan-branded-hypocrites-leaving-litter-strewn-city.html

A new look at slavery. Was it the monstrous institution leaving long-lasting psychological scars on African-Americans that Elkins and Stampp made it out to be? Or did economic logic prevail and allow slaves some dignity and ambition in life? And no, this is not a defense of the institution of slavery.

Bestest flipbook ev-var.

When you've lost Slate...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/warren-michael-brown-ferguson-misrepresenting-death.html

> Still lying your ass off eh

[Countermand] [Absent Punctuation] [Target]

You're quoted precisely, and with a citation. What's the "lying" part? What you said—

As for Snoopy's point, cryptocurrencies are just a number in a machine. In order to make sure you are the actual owner of that number you need some centralized clearinghouse. The actual number is completely replicable. Just because I have a '3' on my computer doesn't mean you can't have a '3' on yours. Bitcoin has tried to deal with this by making the clearinghouse a distributed network. I.e. it resides on multiple people's computers. But you still have multiple points of failure. The most obvious one being you need access to the internet in order to contact the clearinghouse.

[I was right about Orion!]

> When you've lost Slate...

Point taken, but literally, when you've lost Slate, you still have the other 99.28% of the media landscape to work with.

I shouldn't talk, predictions are stupid, it's early and nobody knows.

The Children's Crusade.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/09/21/the-best-pushback-to-the-misinformation-of-gretathunberg-youll-find/

Wouldn't that be "pantsuit on fire"?

https://freebeacon.com/politics/politifact-gives-hillary-clinton-pants-on-fire-for-voter-suppression-claim/

Ok Crid. What did you find out about Orion/Artemis?

And is that why he/she/it has been so quiet over the last month?

I mean, I'm not saying Warren has the nomination, but someone no less repugnant certainly does.

Conan, Stowe pretty much covers that topic in her novel that started the war... Tom starts out in a pretty cush situation at the Shelby's. Yet it doesn't matter, because his powerlessness within the system fucks him over massively when the Shelbys experience financial difficulty.

Isab— Didn't say there was evidence, just that I was right.

I mean, I'm not saying Warren has the nomination, but someone no less repugnant certainly does. ~ Crid at September 22, 2019 11:52 AM

I wouldn't be surprised to find that Trump's team engineered the Ukraine call "whistle blower" in order to bring Joe Biden's diplomatic maneuvers regarding his son, Hunter's, questionable business dealings in the Ukraine to light. With it being about the whistle blower at first, the press and the Democrats in Congress swarmed all over it. Because of the attention to the whistleblower the backstory got out. Biden is slipping in the polls and will likely be out of the race by next year.

The large field has allowed Trump to do to the 2020 Democratic field what he did in 2016 to the Republican field - pick off opponents one by one with none of the remaining candidates realizing the danger, because they're too busy celebrating their own survival and the downfall of a rival. Outsiders are blind to the strategy as well, distracted by the remaining field of candidates.

At this rate, Trump will end up facing a political non-entity, like Beto, in the general election, somebody lightweight and easily handled.

At this rate, Trump will end up facing a political non-entity, like Beto, in the general election, somebody lightweight and easily handled.

Conan the Grammarian at September 22, 2019 12:43 PM

Are there anyone but political non entitles running for the democratic nomination?

Crid you decrepit hypocrite, bitcoins are just numbers in a machine. There was nothing incorrect in what I said. Your attempts to quote me out of context are your lies.

Now answer the questions asked of you in that thread.

1. What happens if the US declares bitcoin an illegal currency?

After all it fails to meet many legal requirements already. All it takes is a regulatory rule change from a faceless bureaucrat and trading in the currency is illegal.

2. What happens if lose internet connection?

What value are your bitcoins if a government wants to interfere with the network? They certainly have the power to do so.

No you senile fool governments don't hate bitcoin. If they want to crush it they can with minimal effort. Your digital gold bugging makes little difference.

Umm, not to start an argument here, but not only do the Federal Reserve and Wall Street already serve as "clearinghouses" controlling the value of the dollar*, it's not physically possible to print cash for the existing monetary structure.

You're welcome.

*market inertia plays a role outside the damping routines in Wall Street computers

Tw

I watched three seconds at the top, two in middle, and will be creeped out for weeks.

tw

Well, here's something sad.

Big Green

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-business-turns-profit-environmentalism-100018045.html

Annnnndd— Five minutes after I posted that comment, boom.

You'll get no argument from me Rad on most money being digital.

For most people the clearinghouse is actually Visa or Mastercard. They approve or deny most transactions. Checks still happen but there is a lot more volume in credit cards. And as I said on that earlier thread on BTC physical currency is considered self clearing or having no clearinghouse. Either you have it or you don't. No reason to pay someone else to tell you if you have money in your pocket or not. Most people can figure that out on their own.

Wall Street and the Fed aren't clearinghouses. Determining the value of a currency isn't really the function of a clearinghouse. They are intermediaries that verify if a transaction did or did not happen between two or more other parties. I'm not denying that Wall Street and the Fed try to do what you ascribe to them Rad. Just that this is the wrong word.

My city: Better than your city.

> most money being digital.

But that doesn't mean they're just numbers. They're not justnumbers on a computer, or anything. There's more to it than that. Most money is STUFF, don't you see.

And while Ben's understanding about these things is intensely complex and scholarly, he can't put the difference into words, because his intellectionalism about it all is just so advanced.

"For most people the clearinghouse is actually Visa or Mastercard.

What Amy said puts a whole new meaning to having a friend for dinner.

FDA Citizen’s Petition on Birth Control: Shocking Stories of How Women Are Getting Hurt

No Crid. Money in not just stuff. Wealth is stuff. Money is very much the opposite. It is stored wealth or more appropriately potential wealth.

A dollar bill has near zero inherent worth. It is an oddly colored piece of cloth. There is really very little you can do with it. The only real value it has is in exchanging it for something you actually want. The bill itself is worthless.

Your money in a bank account is literally just a number in a computer. It most likely has no other form. There is no physical object that validates that number. No stacks of bills in a vault for most of the money. Just a number in a spreadsheet.

An apple is not money. Nor is a chicken or a computer or a house. Those are wealth. These are two different things.

You also appear to be having trouble understanding the word clearinghouse.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clearinghouse

I am using the first version. Not the information one.

And no Crid. None of this is that scholarly or intellectual. It is pretty basic economics.

I also note you still can't answer the questions I asked you. They too aren't that complicated.

> attempts to quote me
> out of context

Darling, I'd never dream of such a thing! I quote you precisely, often with a link, because your context demonstrates the failing so very clearly. It's important the people see exactly what you're thinking. It won't take them long, because the comments show you haven't done the reading.



> 1. What happens if the US
> declares bitcoin an illegal
> currency?

(That "1." is a nice touch!)

I could offer scores of websites and shelves with volumes of speculation. If fact I already have, but you didn't read them then and you won't now. I've linked VIDEOS... Literally, CARTOONS which lay it out for you, but you can't make the time.

In my best guess, if the "US" declared Bitcoin "illegal currency," the price would would skyrocket... Within seconds —and perhaps milliseconds— BTC market cap could exceed 1 Trillion USD, or maybe $2T. Some of the smartest minds on the planet, and the most technically adept, are scanning media and markets for rippling data points much smaller than an announcement like that, and they'll be ready to pounce.

You'll have noticed that people respond thoughtfully & eagerly to incentives. (I was going to read the Snowden book in the next month or so, but when I heard the government was suing his publisher, I put in a rush order... Not for fear it would soon be unavailable, but because I thought it would be great if everyone involved made a little extra money.)

Bitcoin (alone) works awkwardly as mundane transactional currency, except for the largest settlement purposes. But it has substantial attractions a store of value. Remember Ranieri's 'eagles' from Freddie Mac and Fannie May? Any outlawing of Bitcoin would be even better than that: Nothing could more clearly demonstrate that Bitcoin was beyond the reach of government intrusion. If you don't believe it, look where Bitcoin has in fact been outlawed, in India and Venezuela— Access is subterranean, but the market thrives.

> 2. What happens if lose
> internet connection?

Well, essentially nothing. Your Bitcoin will be out their waiting for you, or your descendants, without paperwork fees, at one of the

1,461,501,637,330,
902,918,203,684,832,
716,283,019,655,932,
542,976

Meanwhile, the internet isn't necessary for managing your Bitcoin, though it's certainly more convenient. See "Weak-Signal Radio Communications for Bitcoin Network Resilience" by Szabo & Ou. There's YouTube called "Scaling Bitcoin 2017 Stanford University - Day 2 Afternoon," and their presentation begins at about 1hr 23mins. You can also read about it on Reddit, etc. Basically they have designs for trading Bitcoin with anyone on the planet through a dirt-cheap laptop and less than a hundred dollars worth of hardware from Ace or wherever. And a clock tower. Or a pole or a tree. Or a stick. You'll notice that their diagrams seem to target North Korea, which suggests whose needs they have in mind.

> It is stored wealth or more
> appropriately potential
> wealth.

Dood, this is pathetic... You're dreaming up little fable-phrases. ("Appropriately"!) I grew up on a college campus: I know the odor of an undergraduate pretender. (Name your two favorite Econ textbooks.)

> None of this is that
> scholarly or intellectual.
> It is pretty basic
> economics.

In the style of Internet Tough Guys for thirty years now, you're assuming gut feelings and street talk are insight. They aren't. ITG's presume strangers on the internet will give them credit for imaginary expertise. How's that working out for you?

(Before the internet, people didn't do that... If you started mouthing off, a guy at a cocktail party might whip out a sheepskin from the University of Chicago.)

> And no Crid

[Countermand] [Absent Punctuation] [Target]

Now that the eye is sharpened, I see a dozen clues on this page alone that this isn't your first language. And a childlike understanding of (and servility to) government management of economics suggests an immigrant's sort of "I'm in the Holy Land now" faith. It is misplaced.

Where's the homeland?

Ah, such a poignant title:

Bitcoin Explained Simply for Dummies.

At least you finally answered the questions Crid. You usually ignore anything you find inconvenient. I still recommend you take a course on economics at your local university. You clearly won't listen to me due to your personal issues. So maybe talking to someone else will help.

If you ask about the difference between money and wealth your professor should be able to help you.

http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-money-and-wealth

As for the immigrant question, you got me. I'm an alien. An illegal one at that. I first came to your world some 2000 odd years ago. Your ever sharp eye has pierced the veil and found me. I'm afraid the character set you use doesn't allow the translation of my homelands name. So I can't help you there.

No favorite text?

Well.

For most people the clearinghouse is actually Visa or Mastercard. They approve or deny most transactions. ~ Ben at September 22, 2019 6:53 PM

I think there's some confusion here.

Visa and Mastercard are not clearing houses. They're lenders. If you have a credit card with them, you have a line of credit. They pay the vendor and bill you. Visa pays the vendor (for a fee) and bills you for the amount of the transaction.

Clearing houses are the unseen back-end processing of the payments you authorize from your bank account. You authorize a payment from an account at Bank A to a merchant with an account at Bank B and the funds transfer is settled via a clearing house on the back-end. Clearing houses settle bank-to-bank funds transfers, routing money from one financial institution to another.

Now, direct ACH payments are becoming a thing with the Internet and digital funds transfers. ACH payments don't have the fees associated with credit card transactions (Visa and Mastercard). However, they also don't have the real-time authorization of funds at the point-of-sale that credit card companies can offer so their value in retail transactions is still limited; their value is in transactions that don't need real-time authorization.

You are correct I was being loose with the term Conan. But it is good to see someone who actual knows what the word means.

Ah, no Crid I don't have a favorite economics text book. But then again I also don't think chickens and houses are money. So I guess I got that going for me. By all means name your favorite text books. I wouldn't want you to be a hypocrite asking people to do things you have no intention of doing.

It is interesting how you are so focused on formatting and style to the complete exclusion of content.

[Countermand] [Absent Punctuation] [Target]

All style, no content. That is why I recommended you take an actual economics course. Maybe they have a style you can communicate in.

Ben- Follow the links.

I have Crid. Did you? Nothing in there contradicts what I wrote.

I will say it is clear they are doing a sales job in the video. They do exaggerate some things and ignore others more than I would prefer. But on the whole I don't object to what they are trying to communicate.