TODAY BITCOIN BROKE $20,000 FOR THE FIRST TIME Unlike Bitcoin’s previous flirt with 20K this one is based on a fundamental change in investors. Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a store of value, a protection from inflation and from government interference. Read The Bitcoin Standard and see the future.
As We Move Toward a Joyous Christmas
Christmas in Cuenca, Ecuador
Until this year, Christmas here has been one of the highlights of living in the Andes. The “juice” as a good friend said last week. The annual Christmas Eve parade of children draws more than 100,000 visitors from throughout the country and South America. It brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the local economy. It is the longest parade on the continent and a spectacle well worth devoting a day to. The people embrace it with love, colorful costumes and devotion. The city fathers, in their typically irresponsible fashion, have cancelled all such celebrations this year. Ecuadorians are by nature highly resistant to authoritarian government and I’m anticipating considerable resistance to the edict, though without government permits I can’t see us enjoying the usual parade. It forms just below our balcony. Below is a photo I took three years ago as I wandered along the river, greeted with smiles and Feliz Navidad at every turn. Let us hope for a return to normal next year.
Parading groups are typically entire families.
When God Disappeared
Pulitzer Prize Winning Account of North Africa in WW2
Controlling Crypto Currencies to Strengthen Sanctions
EVERYONE, FRIEND OR FOE, USES U.S. DOLLARS As technologies evolve to create new ways to access the international financial system, the range of methods and tactics at the disposal of rogue actors has expanded. The growing use of cryptocurrencies is a key development in this trend. And so are the efforts of the U.S. government and others to control them.
FTC and 46 State AGs Sue to End Facebook Monoploy
PURPOSE OF SUIT IS TO BREAKUP FACEBOOK FB is accused of using its preeminent position and monopoly to crush opponents and potential opponents. It reflects a growing consensus on both the left and right against Big Tech. It comes some weeks after the Justice Department launched a suit against Google which accused the $1trillion firm of using its market power to fend off rivals.
Earthlings Meeting with Aliens on Mars
HAIM ESHED, RETIRED ISRAELI GENERAL AND HEAD OF ISRAEL’S SPACE SECURITY PROGRAM FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS, says representatives of the United States and Israel have been meeting with aliens on Mars in a secret underground bunker for decades. It’s been kept secret because humanity needed to “evolve and reach a stage where we will… understand what space and spaceships are.”
What You Need to Know about the Texas Suit
TEXAS, JOINED BY SEVEN STATES, HAS FILED A SUIT WITH THE U.S. SUPREME COURT alleging that four states violated the Constitution in how it conducted the recent election. This is arguably one of the half dozen most significant cases ever brought before SCOTUS. You have to wonder if they’ve got the guts to suck it up and do the right thing.
