24 Comments

Brilliant writing and putting it all together for us!

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I don't know if FTX is a metaphor, but it does point to something. I have sometimes speak of the Three Abominations of Nixon, which were the things he was actually hated for. I shall spare everyone that essay, but I think I'm seeing one of the Abominations of Trump. One of them, of course, was that the hag didn't get her turn, but another one was that he had his own money and was not dependent on the Washington grift machine to amass a fortune, and so might have ended the gigantic pay for play scheme that American foreign policy had become. In fact, when he and his people took an interest in the river of cash that flowed from Ukraine to Washington and who or what it might have bought, they staged an impeachment.

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If Tether really does blow up (I'm only a crypto tourist, not an acolyte, but I've read people asking startling questions about its true balance sheet going back a couple years) FTX will be a footnote in the debacle. I would recommend visiting coindesk.com if and when Tether does implode. Blood will dripping from your phone as you read of the massacre and mayhem that will ensue.

Here's an excellent article on how Tether helps make Lebanon liveable during its current hyperinflation. The good side of crypto, but my god is that realm infested with conmen messiahs.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/05/-in-bankrupt-lebanon-locals-mine-bitcoin-and-buy-groceries-with-tether.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16690969099639&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2022%2F11%2F05%2F-in-bankrupt-lebanon-locals-mine-bitcoin-and-buy-groceries-with-tether.html

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You say "Beyond that, I have to suspect that the people who argue that Bitcoin as a concept was designed by the Intel Community on an international basis to both track money movement by knuckleheads as well as to launder payments to IC supported organizations/insurrections around the world."

This sounds like an unfinished sentence. Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Boniface

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$750K to McCarthy from FTX

WP article from September:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/27/mccarthy-midterms-gop/

Gut feel - ftx had a lot more donations than has been revealed so far.

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The Revolver Article is frightening, and unbelievable.

Good comparison to BCCI scandal.

What is economic impact if Tether goes down?

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Thanks Mark! Makes sense of China’s involvement.

China is in an economic war with the US.

This hurts the US economy’s credibility, especially with the large $ amounts involved.

And crypto is used to get money out of China.

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Conrad Black is right on when he labels what the Democrats are doing as "A Step Toward National Suicide?" But his answer is to condemn Trump the victim, stating "Trump knew what desperate and sleazy people he was dealing with, and he doesn’t have a credible excuse for being so reckless."

Actually, he did not know. None of us knew. The adage "Politics stops at water’s edge" no longer rings true. He ends off with "the Republican Party doesn’t need, and the American public doesn’t wish for, an internecine war on the scale that would rage if Trump sought another presidential nomination. But another candidate plausibly pledged to the enactment of the Trump program and supported by Trump but not stigmatized by him, could lead the desperately needed national political purgation." Unfortunately an internecine war, hopefully won by ballots and not bullets, and on a tremendous scale, is called for if we are ever to re-establish a government of, by and for the people. If Trump is the only one committed to this, then he is our only hope.

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The key question was left unanswered: who or what agency is going to truly investigate FTX, etc? Who here doubts that SBF and sweet Caroline skate off into the sunset never to be heard from again?

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Mark,

Thanks for the article. Very informative.

What do you think about SBF's vocality on twitter? It seems un-ponzi-scheme-like to post a 33-tweet thread explaining yourself. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1591989554881658880.html

Thanks,

Boniface

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