Bitcoin Critics Just Don’t Understand
Along with many others the author of this article is quick to point out the contradictions and fundamental issues your typical traditionalist would have with a new idea. The whole concept of a digital currency is still in its infancy and I’m sure that the first time a transaction was conducted in paper money rather than a rare metal like silver or gold way back when the person on the receiving end must have wondered if he or she just got screwed. There are so many things I want to say about this but I’ll keep it short. Yes, it’s true that right now spending a bitcoin on anything at all would be insane. The currency’s recent and even annual rate of growth has shown it to be something far more worthy of investing in rather than using as a form of payment. However, even if this is true the author fails to see that there is no way some bitcoin holders around the globe won’t get broke and begin to use their bitcoin savings accounts to buy things.
Once accepted by larger online retailers like Amazon they will not only skyrocket in value but also be much more liquid and useful. When traditional businesses take them as payment they could potentially replace a large swath of the paper money supply The Federal Reserve banking system has been used to supplying, regulating, and benefiting from. This would of course upset the unnatural order of things that we’ve all become accustomed to and might even cause great pain to a lot of folks that have never really done much of anything for anybody. Financial vampirism is a good term for what we’re stuck in and it fuels all things bad like the inability to clean up Fukushima Daiichi Power generating station and the need for infinite growth paradigm that nuclear energy is such a vital component of. You CANNOT change anything about the financial doom coming our way, or influence a future worth living for until we gut this thing from the inside and begin to accept things like digital currency as the new way of doing business. Things that empower consumers and not lenders are very dangerous to the powers that be. Buy bitcoins even if you can only afford one. I’ve listed a few links below to a few of the more reputable exchanges.
I’m Hopeful that I Made a Great Long Term Investment
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/29/bitcoin-forgotten-currency-norway-oslo-home
The link above is a story that lies somewhere between winning the lottery and finding out your great-aunt left you a million dollars. Back in 2009 when bitcoin, the crypto currency that liberates consumers from the banking system first came about, a Norwegian man bought $27 worth. After forgetting about them for almost four years he logged back into his digital wallet and was astonished to see that he now owned 5,000 of them worth an estimated $886,000! In my opinion he did the right thing by only cashing out one fifth of his incredible investment and buying a very nice apartment. Some have speculated that bitcoin could become up to ten percent of the global currency market when it reaches its full potential. If this were to occur one bitcoin could be valued at over $100,000. I have made the decision to hold onto mine no matter if they crash again or not. When our out of touch, egotistical, selfish and controlling banking elite fuck things up for good we will see an economic reckoning that no one on earth is ready for. Putting the power back into the hands of the consumers and away from those who merely move ones and zeros out of thin air is long overdue. Like anything, there are downsides. You’ll really have to vet and research someone before transferring money over to them. I say who cares? This is the way things always were before the greed took over and might I remind opponents who cite this point that even in the brilliance of the industrial era with all of the regulations and red tape manufacturers had to cut through the law stated to consumers “buyer beware.”
Bitcoin Magazine (Photo credit: zcopley)
Michael Ruppert has become a bullhorn for a number of movements that are all set on waking up those of us that are willing to change in order to ensure our survival. He is great at connecting the dots and has been involved in everything from peak oil, to anti-nuclear energy movements over the past thirteen years. Most famously, he narrated and was the basis for the movie “Collapse,” and also has written a book that made it into the Harvard business library titled “Crossing The Rubicon the Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil.” It takes a brave person to admit and realize that our infinite growth paradigm that we’ve all been taught to live in is on a direct collision course with our planet’s finite resources. It takes an even braver individual to tell people about it in hopes that they come to their senses and start living more sensibly. There are six billion humans on the planet that did not exist before the rampant usage of fossil fuels, how many of us make it through the decline of this unprecedented energy source is up to us. I’m not suggesting that we all start living in tents and abandon comforts that have allowed us to flourish like running water, and neither is he. The more prepared you are, and the more adaptable you become the better your chances are of making it. Our useless, incapacitated government will not help you, in fact it will allow you to parish as you wait for it to figure out solutions. Most will not make it, that is the hardest reality to come to terms with. On bright side, transition towns and localization movements are popping up all over but more needs to be done to ensure that we don’t go the way of the dinosaurs….even they didn’t wipe themselves out! Your best bet is to develop a relevant skill set, put it into practice, and when the day comes you’ll be useful and ready. For more information on the transition movement or to somehow get involved visit the following sites…..
http://transitionus.org/initiatives-map
This guy in the video finds an immature maitake mushroom on a Northern white oak tree. My next day off when it’s a little cool and wet I’m going out foraging. I know of a spot right down the street from my house with a ton of giant puff-ball which can replace tofu or meat in most stir fry recipes. Always be sure to bring your guide and remember that it doesn’t hurt to ask an expert when foraging for things that could potentially poison you and your dinner guests. I’m hoping that I find some other species of fungi as there are some very old native oaks around and a lot of leaf litter that could be harboring mycelium just waiting to send up a fruiting body. Finding food offered up by nature is so rewarding, just make sure you know what and where you are picking. Wish me luck.
For more information on our local fungi visit: http://illinoismushrooms.com
After the onslaught of “kitchen geniuses” that we’ve seen from the Food Network over the last fifteen years it’s hard to imagine that a show like this ever made it. The chefs are very traditional and always classically trained, the music is something that you might hear while strolling through an art gallery, and at the end of the show you aren’t bombarded by some fake story line where the show host and all of his or her friends the meal is being prepared for laugh away and enjoy it all in a perfect setting. I like this so much better than today’s version. Isn’t it better to watch and learn from a master that put the time in to learn all of the tricks of the trade rather than some housewife of a millionaire that entered a contest and won simply because she was marketable? In today’s world of millisecond attention spans it’s no wonder that people prefer the latter. This series is available in its entirety from www.greatchefs.com, and you can also view some of the clips like this one on their YouTube channel by searching Great Chefs. Enjoy
I just can’t get sick of these YouTube clips. Maybe it’s the amazing scenery, the thought of traveling to far off places, or just the fact that humans have actually figured out a way to fly? Wherever the roots of my captivation stem from I know that someday if I’m able-bodied and have the time, I will do something like this. I have always been terrified of heights, and have an extreme fear of flying. I am also aware of the fact that one has to have multiple tens, if not hundreds of successful parachute jumps under their belt before being allowed to take on such a venture. This experience would be well worth the investment, I can’t imagine a better way to make yourself aware that you are alive! Enjoy
http://chicago.metromix.com/stories/2341-oktoberfest-events-in-chicago
Here’s a list of places to go in the coming weeks to experience some old-fashioned Chicago inebriation! We’ve been lucky to have a mild first week of our meteorological Fall here in Chicago and let’s hope that this trend continues. Take advantage of it while it’s here because anytime now we could get blasted with a cold front that doesn’t go away. I’m hoping to get out and about for at least a few of these fall celebrations if work can stay out-of-the-way! There is quite a few notable events on this list and some establishments have been celebrating Oktoberfest since mid September. Enjoy.
Have you ever thought of how much packing material something as simple as moving consumes? Everything from the styrofoam pellets that we use to protect our glassware, to the thermoformed casing that cradles something like a flat screen television is part of this one day event for us. Afterwards, all of these shock absorbing modern marvels are conveniently thrown away in the trash and are long forgotten by the time your couch and chairs are situated. All of this trash used to end up in landfills or worse yet, in bodies of water where it literally takes thousands of years to be removed from the biosphere. UV radiation, erosion, and animal digestion are usually the ways in which these toxic substances leave our ecosystems. Now, with Ecovative’s mushroom substitutes for packing material the good old processes of decomposition can work their magic. Being derived of completely organic compounds means that instead of going into the trash, these materials can go into the compost pile. Even if they do wind up in a landfill, their lifespan is tens, not thousands of years! This is an invention that should be showing up a lot more in years to come, especially when oil prices spike and it’s no longer easy or cheap to cloak all of modern man’s gadgets with a petroleum byproduct. For more information visit Ecovative’s website at http://www.ecovativedesign.com
Hopefully The Weatherman Has It All Wrong
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/typhoon-heads-toward-central-japan
With water containment being one of the biggest problems for the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power generating station the last thing the world needs is a dozen inches of rain to fall in the area. Underground hydrology is already moving some 300 tons of groundwater through the area around the reactors daily. Untold amounts of water falling from the sky in a short time period could prove fatal to the rag-tag system of pumps and makeshift sea walls that were embedded into the ground surrounding the site in the months following the earthquake and tsunami. We all pray that the storms miss us when we have outdoor events planned, but this is a severely different situation. Life as we know it may depend on this forecast being wrong, for if too much water falls to be contained and pumped the plan is to let it all run directly into the Pacific Ocean. Note: TEPCO has already requested permission to construct a channel to let the “lightly radioactive” water be released into the world’s largest body of water.
I have had the pleasure of serving Coop hot sauce to the patrons at Farmhouse Evanston for some weeks now but it took me until this Saturday to finally try it for myself. Note: we exclusively serve this sauce, no others. This company makes super small batch, incredibly flavorful sauces and a few other items right here in Chicago. My favorite was a limited batch called Strawbanero. It contains Fresh, seasonal strawberries from Klug farms and of course, habaneros. I really had my doubts about how this was going to taste but after a few days of dumping this sauce on my eggs benedict and potatoes I have now found a new favorite. Like all limited batches, this will run out. That will upset me greatly, hopefully we can stash a bottle somewhere in the restaurant for safe keeping? Also check out their bloody mary mix, it’s delicious.
gregsarmas 