GlendaRivers97C

privacy

[WIP] BIP300 (Drivechains) consensus-level logic by luke-jr

Music

Do you support open source projects?

ZoeBell3J0

In the monero world there are p2p decentralized mining pools (no central pool operator).

Idk why they aren't widespread in Bitcoin yet - I thought we used shitcoin as a good playing ground to reuse or refuse good/bad ideas. I haven't thought through the incentives and the cryptography yet. Maybe somebody else here has and can illuminate us on the pros and cons

news

AMA: Fiat Ruins Everything

JaclynGonzalezH4R

the article isn’t very clear, but it sounds like its malware that distributes and coordinates an [ECDLP Solver](https://github.com/ZenulAbidin/Kangaroo1). This looks like they’re targeting specific keys, not trying to break ecdsa generally. 

In other words, they’re building a big botnet to try to find private keys for known (probably big-value) Bitcoin public keys

econ

The was a Socratic panel about this at TAB, but I felt like I didn’t agree with any of the answers.

To me, pleb is term that describes the latest generation of bitcoiner encompassing the last two cycles. The next cycle (or lack of one) will create a new generation with its own moniker.

How would define the term “Pleb”?

bitcoin_beginners

Stratum V2: More Censorship-Resistant and Efficient Mining Protocol?

VernonWilcoxOVA

Overall CPI: 6.4%
Energy CPI (Tiebreaker): 7.5%

crypto

Last night my lovely wife and I watched the film [Kill the Messenger](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Messenger_(2014_film)>). It had been on my list for some time but we'd never gotten around to watching it.

From the book of knowledge

> It is based on the book of the same name by Nick Schou and the book Dark Alliance by Gary Webb. The film stars Jeremy Renner, who also produced the film. The film was released on October 10, 2014, and depicts a reporter's suppressed attempts to cover the CIA involvement and secret support of large scale cocaine sales to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.

I have been familiar with the story but never read either of the books. What hit me after watching the movie was the fact that despite the many times that the absolute evil of the state is exposed, we do not see significant change. It is pretty depressing to come to the conclusion that even when the US government's lies and evil is exposed it continues to go on largely unabated. As far as I know little of consequence happened due to Gary Webb's brave work.

It reminded me of Edward Snowden's revelations. I believe they have had a larger impact but still not nearly the impact I had hoped for. In the film they do a good job of showing some of the many tactics used when someone starts exposing the state for what it is. First they change the focus of the allegations making them harder to believe or harder to prove. They overstate the case. In Webb's case the media pushed a narrative (pushed by the CIA) that Webb was saying the CIA targeted the black community with crack cocaine. Actually Webb discovered that the CIA used drugs to fund their operations. He didn't claim the CIA was directly selling drugs to blacks. See the difference. What happened was a consequence of the CIA's action but unlikely the goal. But this framing makes Webb sound more extreme.

This happened with Snowden and also during the Covid19 pandemic. Its a tactic that works on the masses. Make your opponents sound unreasonable. Make them toxic. The second tactic they point out is attacking the messenger. They go after the person and find flaws. Highlight them and do character assassination. Never mind that most of the "leaders" in most democracies are full of similar character flaws and mistakes. That is never brought up in this context.

The third tactic that jumped out at me was the divide and conquer strategy. The CIA actions that are the subject of this film happened under Reagan, a Republican. So of course his opponents show much interest and John Kerry investigated it. The common thread I see here is that these types of things are bi-partisan. If you don't believe me you aren't paying attention or you have been indoctrinated into the matrix. The CIA is a permanent fixture in US government like many tentacles of the state yet when something like this is exposed it quickly becomes consumed by party politics. I get it. I don't think it is a conspiracy, it is simple game theory. Politicians simply want power and will use anything to win over their opponents. The result however is that the real root issues are never solved. The CIA is not reformed or dismantled. Real change doesn't happen because real consequences never occur. I don't think the filmmakers intend to make this point but it struck me. If you study the history of the CIA you will see that they have a long track record of this type of behavior. If it is a strategy, its genius. Get the public focused on party politics on the puppets, not the real power centers.

The final tactic that saw expressed was on the black community. It is possible that the CIA intentionally wanted to push crack into these communities. I just haven't seen that demonstrated. In truth, it doesn't matter. The real issue is that the CIA didn't care. The ends justify the means. The consequences of the CIA's actions led to massive death and destruction in places like Los Angeles. It makes me sick as I write this. For what? To fund fighters in a foreign conflict? Please. In the film they show various "leaders" in the black community from that time. It seems obvious to me that these people while they are speaking many truths seem to be doing so for their own profit just as the politicians do. Some of them were politicians. Did they actually put their necks on the line and keep pushing for change? I would argue no. They focused on the CIA's tactic. They sold the distortion that Webb was clamming the CIA targeted their communities.

Now, this all left me feeling depressed. Many believe that if we could just expose the evils of the world that would be enough. It isn't sadly. The masses do not have the attention span nor the desire to question their programming. That's my experience at least having talked with many friends and family over the years. I've been aware and a follower of politics since my early years as a pre-teen. I was and still am a nerd. I have a fairly long memory and it still to this day blows my mind how little people seem to notice. How they seem to not notice that politicians always promise things they can't or won't deliver. Yet they still seem to believe in democracy and their team. They are blind to the manipulation. To the repeated failures. To the repeated exposures of the truth.

So, I am sitting there feeling down about all this. Talking to my wife about it and then I remembered bitcoin exists. And I told her, this is one reason why bitcoin is hopeful for me. The state has much of its power due to its ability to print money. Taking that power from them alone will not affect the change we want but it is a huge start. It would limit the ability to wage these wars that kill so many people. It would limit their reckless spending and force them to steal in more obvious ways. Ways that will piss more people off. So bitcoin is hopeful.

What do you think? I was a teen when these events happened. I'm curious what I've missed and maybe if I got some things wrong. I remember this story being published and I also remember Webb's death which is a whole other story.
