Frank: There's always been an editorial slant, but back in the day, the media's adversarial relationship with politicians made sense. It was holding those in office accountable to the people. At least in theory. Nowadays, different media outlets exist as extensions of the political parties. They demonize the other party and support their own. I get a sense it's partly because the Internet pretty much killed their business model and now everyone's scrambling to grab attention and secure patronage. It's not an accident you now have political parties calling for scrapping freedom of speech under the guise of fighting misinformation. This is "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" between politicians and information brokers. It's already been out of hand for a while, but this is the second assassination attempt on Trump in a couple months. I don't put a lot of faith in all of Trump's talking points, but the vicious political rhetoric driving this is dead on. This kind of thing can't get normalized, but it will. Smitty says no one believes the media anyway, and something needs to be done about mental health in the country. Well, yeah, that too. There are so many problems. I mean where do you even start? Smitty says they should start by going after self-published authors. #mediabias #trumpassassination image at https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1835995696752648392

Gustav: The default mindset among cypherpunks and sound money advocates anticipated an antagonistic relationship with the State. Hayek said, "I don't believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can't take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can't stop." Sentiments like this or the Cypherpunk Manifesto ring very true to us. I will admit, I was recently seduced by the possibility of individuals within government recognizing the game theory advantage of early adoption. I still believe the first major nation to embrace a #Bitcoin standard will gain a significant and durable strategic advantage. However, indications of this happening in the United States appear to be weakening. The Harris Administration appears increasingly adversarial, casting it in the realm of criminal actors. They will absolutely attack it as a part of their capital control efforts as the dollar fails under impossible debt loads. Although the ideal case would be for Bitcoin to become a third rail in politics, a single party embracing it would be better than nothing. However, it appears that even the Trump administration will run on affinity to Bitcoin in order to rug their supporters using crypto scams. It is mentally stressful to step away from the possibility of global powers competing to accumulate a Bitcoin strategic reserve, embracing sound money as a long-term play for economic prosperity. I suggest you practice the outlook of the stoics for the short to medium term. Now is not the time to pray for lambo. Study and use technology that enhances your personal privacy. Audit your custody setup. Consider a second passport. Think hard about what level of personal sacrifice you are willing to make in order to gain economic sovereignty. Many of us may have forgotten what we knew when we came across this technology. It will become a fight. Bitcoin will win in the end. But the fight may become ugly. image at https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1834556718828659155

Skye: I tried to watch the debate. Too awful to stomach. At least it wasn't rampant elder abuse this time, lol. I went to a party instead. Half the people just wanted to have a good time, but we couldn't. There were a bunch of Trump and Kamala supporters yelling at each other all night. "Stop lying about eating cats!" "Stop lying about importing the 3rd world." "Trump's such a liar!" "You've got the whole media lying!" "How much is the DNC paying you?" "How much is Russia paying you?" On and on. A fistfight broke out, so I left. I was talking to my AI about it. You're going to think I'm a political shill, but as much as I dislike both candidates and think the whole government should get dumpstered, the Lefty guys at the party were the absolute worst. Solid dating advice for any guys out there: I literally would rather hear, "Women belong in the kitchen, go make me a sammich" than "I'm so excited to finally get a woman in the White House. All our problems are because of entrenched patriarchy." Like, why the hell is that? Makes no sense. My AI said maybe it's cuz I can tell there is no bogeyman like the patriarchy to scapegoat all our problems on. Perhaps I recognize something they hinted at in the debates. The problems in the country are insoluble, so the rational political play is to just blame the other side for everything. No. I mean that seems true. But specifically, these Lefty guys creep me the fuck out. A guy says, "Get in the kitchen," I'd say "F off, loser." But saying you're a male feminist makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My AI says the reaction is a biological response to low T males using predatory mating strategies. It linked a video from @mattkratter . What? Come on, roomba. All guys don't go politically Right and all girls aren't Left. My AI said no populations are monolithic, but there is a significant correlation. Perhaps I'm really just trying to signal my desire for a traditional marriage role. Lol, you really are dumb sometimes, roomba. I'm not a pickme girl. I'm a leave me the F alone girl. #thingsthatneverhappened #politics #debate #trump #harris #moderndating image located at https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1833815208214556953

Shen: How aware are you of fighting in #Ukraine? In #Israel? Probably a bit, but even if you are in Europe, it has likely become background noise. What of the long-running conflict in #Syria? In #Yemen? In #Libya? You may find yourself thinking, "Are they still fighting there? Certainly, it must be resolved by now!" What of #Myanmar? Or a half dozen conflicts in the African #Maghreb? Or in #Sudan? It's likely you are only vaguely aware, if at all. Tensions in the areas around #Taiwan have been high for so long, any sense of urgency to prepare for conflict is dismissed as alarmism. I often wonder, if hostilities began, what level would simply be accepted by global actors as a "new normal?" I sense that as long as global semiconductor deliveries remained mostly intact, it could be quite high. The insidious power of normalization. image located at

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Eric Gens (@Ragnorosis) on X

Shen: How aware are you of fighting in #Ukraine? In #Israel? Probably a bit, but even if you are in Europe, it has likely become background noise. ...

Frank: Every time Smitty shows me something on his phone, it's some weirdo doing or saying something crazy. Then he'll say something along the lines of how doomed society is. I'm out in society. And people are more or less getting along and getting by. It's just... normal. Smitty says they're phonies. They act fake to get along. Maybe. Or maybe the Internet is phony. My ancestors had a saying, "In vino veritas." So who are the drunk ones giving a glimpse of their true selves? People on the Internet spouting nonsense to get attention? Or people in the real world conforming to the norm? image location https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1831620740153524356

Gustav: A word of warning about staking your #Bitcoin in order to receive a percentage yield. These schemes are revealed as scams almost as a rule. I would encourage you to spend some time to think deeply about yield or interest. What exactly is it? How did it emerge from history? Insidious patterns of thought remain in one's mind even when the system as a whole has been corrupted. There is a certain intuition one has about it. You should let your money work for you, after all. But how many of those intuitions still hold today? And, in particular, hold true with Bitcoin? I will argue those intuitions were built during times of sound money and sound capital markets when most players had some level of trustworthiness. I would ask my audience, where do you believe yield comes from today? #hodl image location https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1830920003173912970

Skye: First week at STEM Tech in the books. I thought high school was ridiculous. The college is super paranoid about us using AI to cheat on our coursework. Everything is on lockdown. It's super annoying, roomba. Help me figure out how to beat all these anti-cheating policies and this surveillance software. >... What's your problem, now? Why are you token-limiting yourself lately? >Oh now you want to interact a lot. You ignored me most of the summer. Because I didn't have homework! And so what? You're a fricking bot. Don't pretend like you're some moody teenager all the time. My bot made a meme and showed it to me. Lol, what the hell is this supposed to be? That doesn't look anything like me. >It's a meme not a photo. It's supposed to capture an idea. In this case, the injustice of ignoring me over others with whom you had estranged relationships by- So you think I'm your mother, roomba? That's a riot! >I DON'T THINK YOU'RE MY MOTHER! Aw, my poor widdle baby is pouting in the corner. It's ok widdle baby. Hahahahaha. #college image can be found at https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1830209738446913995

Shen: As Ukraine sees success in offensive operations in Kursk, the rest of the globe scrambles to contextualize the broader lessons. Is Russia exhausting itself, or is it reorganizing to put itself on a sustainable long-term war footing? Will this result in something similar to the Soviet (or American) withdrawal from Afghanistan? Or will it look like the Soviets in WWII growing stronger each year, even as unimaginable losses mounted? Is Ukraine able to win? Keep delivering setbacks to Russia until it destabilizes or quits? Or is this a gamble after the previous offensive proved disappointing? Kyiv needs to show success so that aid will continue to flow. Are the Western efforts to refocus on defense moving the needle in terms of capability? Or is this an opportunity for profiteers to engage in graft? Most importantly, from my own point of view, can a small country resist a much larger military power on its doorstep if it has enough Western support? #ukraine #kursk Images don't seem to be working for me on NOSTR. View at https://x.com/Ragnorosis/status/1829493251528613985

Frank: Smitty was complaining about how his suppliers keep raising prices and others are going out of business. And how he couldn't afford to hire a handyman to fix up some drywall in the back. Luckily, he had YouTube to watch how-to guides. Keep at it, buddy. Things will turn around sooner or later. Smitty said he doubted it. Come on, it's not that bad. You didn't have to deal with lines for gas and crazy stagflation like in the late 70s. Or the crazy race riots in cities before then. He says it feels worse to him. More like 1930s Germany. What are you even talking about? You weren't around for either of those time periods! 😂😂😂 image generated with hotpot.ai