Letters: Drew Brees and the Mannings push gambling. Don’t they have enough money already? – The Advocate

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The voters of St. Tammany will make a decision on a casino complex in Saturday's election. The decision is theirs and I'm sure they will make the best decision for themselves relative to gambling in their neighborhood.

However, I observe with great interest the amount of advertising relative to gambling related both to this issue and sports betting in Louisiana. I am especially disappointed in how Drew Brees and the entire Manning family appear to have sold their souls to the gaming interests.

Brees is pushing the Slidell casino due to his interest in the restaurant to be housed there. The Manning family seem just to be interested in the money to be made from sports betting.

I would think that Brees and the Mannings had enough money already. It appears that some folks never have enough. So sad.

RICHARD WEGMANN

retired lawyer

New Orleans

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Letters: Drew Brees and the Mannings push gambling. Don't they have enough money already? - The Advocate

White Nationalism Has Taken Many Forms

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Dear Mr. Reader:

White nationalism has taken many forms, from the blatantly racist to the freedom movements, a scope that includes journalism, a form with which you have some familiarity. All profess their preference for a White society and the way it was racially before 1965, yet none, absolutely none, have strategized a plan to achieve it. The enclosed booklet does that.

The problem of achieving a White nation in North America is compounded by those who are action oriented and may have the inclination to proceed with a plan, being obsessed with ideology, one that has no attraction for the vast majority of White voters who want nothing to do with racial supremacy or anti-Semitism. I am hoping that you are one that sees the absurdity of this predicament, and are willing to make the modicum effort to circumvent it. The only solution to our racial demise is racial partition. Freedom movements, anti-Antifa, anti-Semitism and conspiratorial revelations are all valid efforts, yet they do nothing to achieve a White nation. On the other hand, if that were achieved, especially if it resulted in a White nationalist government, we would be surprised at how quickly all such anti-White aberrations would disappear. Such efforts are diversions from what should be our real objective - the establishment of a White nation. So let’s keep our thinking straight. Achieving White nationhood should be every White nationalist’s political priority.

I am a Canadian living in Canada, watching my race and heritage disappear as I dwell in this multicultural la-la land, while the great neighbour to the South, the backbone of our Western world, adopts the liberal stance that has turned Canada into a world-class racial melting-pot. Not only are racially mixed neighbourhoods sufficient in Canada, the push is on for actual racial mixture, evident now in business commercials involving Black-White couples, that have become the norm even in bedroom scenes. This is a development in business commercials occurring just over the past year, in all media, much of it targeting the young generation. Not a decibel of resistance can be heard, an indication of how a racialist movement is pretty hopeless in this country, although several have been tried in the past. The most serious we currently have is the French Canadian separatist party, the Parti Quebecois, that nearly separated Quebec in 1985, but even that is a cultural nationalist party, not racial nationalist, that is idiotically tolerant of Haitian migrants into Quebec because they speak French.

I would take up the ORION challenge myself, despite my approaching 84 years, if not for being foreign to the United States and have no right, legal or otherwise, to initiate an organization for the electoral capture of the American Congress and White House, as the booklet scenario requires. The only bright spot in this picture is the on-going racial division in America, that can be utilized for White nationhood, but presently only with the cooperation of Black, Hispanic, possibly native Indian, organizations that have national aspirations of their own. Our most rewarding strategy, therefore, would not be a purely White nationalist endeavour. The booklet gives that required strategy, which I think is obvious for a country that is a bare majority 58% White and can no longer achieve a purely White federal objective democratically. In addition to the racial percentage, within that 58% is a large number of liberals who would like nothing better than to see a ‘no race’ country. To balance this disadvantage, it is Black and Hispanic nationalism that would ironically give hope in a presidential election of producing a racial-nationalist government, and the possibility of using that majority for legal partition. What other option do we have? The one other option is one we must avoid at all cost: violent confrontation and bloodshed. That would mean the end of the entire White nationalist movement, forever. That said, if you can describe one, only one, different scenario from ORION for the purpose of long range White existence in North America, I would be delighted to know it.

I am aware that partitioning the country could mean, in the minds of some, a patriotic betrayal, whereas in reality it could mean a greater nation than ever. U. S partitioning would give cause to break-away sentiment in Western Canada, in provinces that are land-locked with a strong North-South trading pattern. Large segments of Canada would be available for absorption into the new White nation. With partition there would be territorial loss, principally in the South and South West, but gains in the North would more than compensate, not only in territory but also in resources, combined with riddance of a criminal and dependent element in current American society. This would be the ‘red state’ area of North America, that now favours traditional White values and presumably would favour a White nationalist regime politically. Free of liberal, decadent elements that presently infest the U. S., under a WN regime the new White nation of North America would be more vibrant and powerful than ever before.

The enclosed booklet is intended as a propaganda piece for distribution to potential voters of all races. You will note it has none on the self defeating White supremacist or anti-Semitic, ‘Nazi’ comments usually afflicting White nationalist rhetoric. Although definitely racialist it bases its progam on scientific rationalism and cannot be accused of ‘red-neck’ ignorance on the subject. On the contrary, it is liberal illogic that is illuminated. Additionally, a section on banking gives an understanding in simple language of the money-power that feeds every destructive element of our society, yet seldom mentioned in White nationalist discussions or media. The booklet is available on website http://www.euvolution.com, in booklet formatting and therefore not intelligible until printed, page 2 on the back of page 1, etc. That is because this Internet version is intended as a master, for printing multiple copies on home computers for distribution by an ORION movement. The money power has its media; White nationalism has its numbers that could be just as effective, if used. If every White nationalist downloaded the master to make copies just for family and friends, and especially for street distribution, the movement would snowball exponentially. That is what I am trying to instigate. I have been told many times that email distribution is more efficient. Yes, it is, but the viewer must first have the interest to go to the mentioned website. By this method, with booklets, the message comes to the viewer by distribution at street corners, bus or train stops, etc. It can be literally pushed into a person’s face, although I don’t recommend it. In this era of media hostility against White nationalism our objective must be to persuade the mainstream, not just the friendly. Having a message that addresses all races, not only the White, I believe an ORION Party would have potential to persuade a majority of voters. Eventually racial nationalism would prevail.

You could help by simply mentioning ORION in Occidental Quarterly and giving the Euvolution website address. If that were all there is to spreading ORION I could simply advertise in your magazine. There is much more. If I were American I would not use a Canadian address for replies. I could work with entire legality within the United States. As it is, I cannot. So I must appeal to Americans to take the initiative. That is why I am writing to you directly, not necessarily for your direct involvement but to seek the leaders who might be. That is what I am trying to do, so that the ORION Party will grow from within the United States. I am seeking the P.O. addresses of White nationalist organizations in America that would be interested in participating in an ORION program, that are still extant. These would be approached with an introduction to the program and with the suggestion to nominate willful candidates for leadership of an ORION Party. Once candidates are nominated an Internet election would be held and a leader elected. A speech has been written, now on the Euvolution website, for the elected leader to introduce himself on social media to the White nationalist movement and the world. The party will then be underway.

I know the leaders are there, somewhere. I ask for you help to find them.

Energize NATO’s Response to Russia’s Threats Against Ukraine – Defense One

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For the second time in a year, Russia is mounting a major military buildup near its border with Ukraine. The last time, in March and April, did not result in an invasion, but Russian leader Vladimir Putin arguably got what he wanted: the worlds attention. In June, U.S. President Joe Biden held a summit with Putin in Geneva that was reminiscent of the Cold War days when Russia was a superpower like the United States.

Putin, who has called the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [twentieth] century, is eager to restore the level of influence his country has enjoyed, and he has the mineral wealth and military capabilities to achieve his objective. Once again, his military buildup has riveted the world. Headlines proclaim concerns about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) iswarning Russiaagainst further aggression.

It seems doubtful that Russia will try to invade and occupy all of Ukraine. Kyiv has an increasingly capable military, and, even if it is defeated, Russia does not want to find itself in another costly guerrilla war like the one in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Putin could more readily expand Russias zone of control in eastern Ukraine, perhaps linking the separatist region of Donbas with Crimea, which was occupied by Russian forces in 2014.

As noted by Eugene Rumer and Andrew S. Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ukraine isintegral to Putins hopesof reviving the old empire and creating strategic depth against invasion from the West. Putin published an ominous treatise in July describing Ukraine as an inalienable part of Russia, laying the justification for invading it if he so desires.

How should the United States and its allies respond to the latest threat of aggression against Ukraine? The most powerful deterrent in the Wests arsenal is NATO membership. The only countries that Putin has invadedGeorgia and Ukraineare not NATO members. He has been careful to keep his aggression against NATO members (e.g., disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, and naval and air operations near members borders) below the threshold of NATOs collective defense provision, known as Article V.

Ukraines pro-West president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been pressing Washington for a timeline forUkrainian accession to NATO, but he has so far been rebuffed. NATO has repeatedly proclaimed that no outside power (read Russia) will have a veto over NATO expansion, but a de facto Russian veto exists. Putins invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 made those countries too hot to handle for NATO: Most members, including the United States, do not want to expand the alliance to a country that is already locked in hostilities with Russia because they could be drawn into the fight.

But there is a good deal that the United States and its allies can do to buttress Ukraine against Russian aggression even without offering it an Article V guarantee. Biden has been off to a good start in this regard by hosting Zelensky at the White House and making clear that,as he put it, The United States remains firmly committed to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression.

That is a welcome contrast from the Donald Trump administration, when the president held up military aid to Ukraine to try to force Zelensky to make unwarranted accusations of corruption against then candidate Biden. The United States has resumed military aid to Ukraine, including Javelin anti-tank missilesfirst delivered by the Trump administrationthat would be of great utility in fighting a Russian armored invasion. Since 2014, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than$2.5 billionin military assistance. The latest commitment, $60 million, was announced prior to Zelenskys White House visit.

However, Biden needs to do more to increase the economic cost to Russia of its aggression. One of the biggest points of leverage is the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany underneath the Baltic Sea. It will bypass existing pipelines that run through Ukraine, depriving it of aroundone billion eurosper year in transit payments. Nord Stream 2 will increase Europes dependence on Russian gas and leave Ukraine vulnerable to politically motivated Russian gas shutoffs.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration essentially threw in the towel onNord Stream 2, lifting sanctions on the company building the pipeline and describing its construction as a fait accompli. But now, a German energy regulator has refused to certify the pipeline, raising fresh questions about its future. The Biden administration should reimpose sanctions related to the pipeline, as urged by abipartisan group of lawmakers, while offering to provide Europe with more U.S. natural gas and help in its transition to renewable energy.

John McCain, the late U.S. senator, once described Russia as a gas station masquerading as a country. The most effective way to hurt Putinand protect Ukrainecould be at the pump.

This piece, first published by the Council on Foreign Relations, is used with permission.

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Energize NATO's Response to Russia's Threats Against Ukraine - Defense One

Joint NATO-EU visit highlights solidarity and cooperation through visit to Baltic region – NATO HQ

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Lithuania and Latvia on Sunday (28 November 2021) together with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, to demonstrate solidarity with NATO Allies and EU member states in the Baltic region, and to further strengthen the cooperation between NATO and the EU.

In Lithuania, the Secretary General had discussions with President Gitanas Nausda and Prime Minister Ingrida imonyt about developments on Lithuania's border and Russia's military build-up near Ukraine. The Secretary General said that, while the Lukashenko regime is exploiting vulnerable people to put pressure on neighbouring countries, "no NATO Ally stands alone." He said that all Allies have expressed solidarity with Lithuania and have provided practical help, including through a recently deployed NATO team of experts to Lithuania to share information, analysis, and experience in countering hybrid threats.

Mr Stoltenberg explained that cooperation between NATO and the European Union is essential to counter this hybrid campaign. "This crisis affects both NATO and the European Union," he said, adding that "Lithuania is a member of both organisations, so it is important for President von der Leyen and me to be here together today. " He recalled that "NATO and the EU work together on a range of security issues, including countering hybrid threats", stressing that "today, we discussed how we could step up our joint work, including though a new joint NATO-EU declaration, because we are stronger and safer when we work together."

On Russia's military build-up near Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg called on Russia to be transparent, reduce tensions, and de-escalate: "NATO stands ready to defend all Allies, and we will continue to provide our partner Ukraine with political and practical support."

In Latvia, Secretary General Stoltenberg and President von der Leyen had talks with Prime Minister Krijnis Kari. NATO is strongly committed to Latvias security. Including through the presence of our multinational battlegroup in dai, where ten Allies serve alongside Latvian forces, to deter aggression and preserve peace, he said.

On Monday, Mr Stoltenberg will visit the NATO battlegroup in Adai, led by Canada, one of the four NATO multinational battlegroups deployed in the Baltic region and Poland.

The agenda of the joint visit of the Secretary General and the President of the European Commission also includes briefings on current hybrid challenges by the directors of the NATO strategic communications centre of excellence in Riga, the European centre of excellence for countering hybrid threats in Helsinki, and the NATO cooperative cyber defence centre of excellence in Tallinn.

NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Riga on Tuesday and Wednesday to consult on a wide range of pressing security challenges in the region and beyond.

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Joint NATO-EU visit highlights solidarity and cooperation through visit to Baltic region - NATO HQ

More Afghans who worked with NATO are settling in Allied countries – NATO HQ

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Today (22 November 2021), a group of around twenty Afghan citizens who worked for NATO has arrived for resettlement in the Netherlands on a flight sponsored by the Dutch authorities. The group left from a temporary facility in Poland, where they have been hosted by the Polish authorities, since their evacuation from Kabul in August, with logistical support from the Polish armed forces and NATO personnel.

Thanks to Allies joint efforts, around 2,000 Afghans who worked with NATO, and their families, were evacuated from Kabul in August, as part of the largest evacuation mission in NATO's history. NATO worked around the clock to coordinate evacuations and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo and his staff played a key role to this effect. Over the course of two weeks, more than 120,000 people were flown out, on hundreds of Allied flights. Troops from the US, UK, Turkey, and Norway played a key role in securing the airport and operating a field hospital, while around 800 NATO staff maintained key operations such as fuelling and communications. NATO Allies and partners continue to work together to help evacuated Afghans start a new life. Over the last weeks, 80 former Afghan employees and their families resettled in Norway, more than 100 in the United Kingdom, over 100 in Canada, around 100 in Germany, 20 in Iceland, and several hundred more in other Allied countries.

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More Afghans who worked with NATO are settling in Allied countries - NATO HQ

Podcast series launched on NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism – NATO HQ

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NATOs Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) eAcademy has recently launched its first-ever podcast series called DEEP Dive.

In each episode, the shows host, Dr. Sajjan Gohel, Chairman of DEEPs Counter-Terrorism Advisory Group and academic project lead for NATOs first ever Counter-Terrorism Reference Curriculum, interviews practitioners and experts in the fields of counter-terrorism, geopolitical current events, and international security and defence. Guests include individuals from a range of different spheres of experience, including journalists, activists, academics, and policymakers. The aim is to offer comprehensive perspectives and insights into the most urgent topics facing our world at present. All episodes also have full transcripts that can act as primary resource tool for Professional Military Education.

Reflecting on the goal of the podcast series, Dr. Gohel commented Using the iceberg analogy, there are some aspects of international security that are visible, above the water, but there is a larger dynamic hidden beneath the surface. Therefore, it's only when we delve deeper, by having a dialogue with people who have a wealth of ground experience and knowledge that we can actually get a full grasp of connecting events unfolding around the world.

DEEP Dive also symbolises NATOs enduring principles of cross-cutting collaboration and cooperation with a number of actors and entities dealing with counter-terrorism. According to the DEEP Coordinator Mariusz Solis, The DEEP Dive format can provide unique insight on the international security and defence environment, and in so doing enhance our collective understanding of key global challenges.

The podcast is available across major streaming platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts. Episode 1 interviewed critically acclaimed journalist Tim Marshall, who is the author of numerous books including the bestselling Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography. Tim and Sajjan talk about what lies ahead for the Indo-Pacific region, the increasing significance of maritime security and the Quad alliance, and the future of Afghanistan under the Taliban. Episode 2s guest is Neil Basu, the Assistant Commissioner for the British Metropolitan Police, whohas served as the head of Specialist Operations for the United Kingdoms law enforcement agencies. Neil and Sajjan look at how policing has evolved in terms of operations and recruitment, as well as the prevalent terrorist threats facing the United Kingdom, the pandemics impact on counter-terrorism, and potential, future counter-terrorism outlook in and around Afghanistan.

DEEP Dive is available at: https://deepportal.hq.nato.int/eacademy/deep-dive-podcasts/

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Podcast series launched on NATO's role in the fight against terrorism - NATO HQ

Blinken to visit Latvia and Sweden next week for NATO, OSCE talks – Reuters

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about infrastructure investment at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering in College Park, MD, U.S., August 9, 2021. Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Latvia and Sweden next week to attend Transatlantic and European security meetings and hold bilateral talks, the State Department said on Friday.

The trip, which will take place between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, comes at a time of rising tension between Russia and the Western military alliance following a build-up of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

While in Riga, Blinken will attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and hold bilateral talks with NATO counterparts. In the Swedish capital Stockholm, ministers from members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will discuss concerns about the Europe-Eurasia region's security environment, the State Department said.

U.S., NATO and Ukrainian officials have raised the alarm in recent weeks over what they say are unusual Russian troop movements closer to Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow may be poised to launch a new attack on its neighbour, accusations Russia has rejected as fear-mongering.

Russia's intentions remain unclear, and East-West tensions are running high with Ukraine, Russia and NATO all conducting military drills and Moscow accusing Washington of rehearsing a nuclear attack on Russia earlier this month.

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Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Tim Ahmann, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Blinken to visit Latvia and Sweden next week for NATO, OSCE talks - Reuters

NATO Expansion Is a Bugbear for Both Russia and the West – The Moscow Times

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Russia's relations with the West have come to a head. NATO expansion, which Putin brought up again in a recent speech, is a well-known issue for Russia. What is not often mentioned is that this is also an issue for the bloc.

When decisions were taken in the 1990s, it was not considered that expansion would require a real extension in safety guarantees for a large number of new countries. It was presumed that Russia would either integrate somehow into the general order, or simply would not pose a threat for a long time. This did not materialize, partially due to the preservation of NATO, and the fact that Russia's recovery occurred faster than expected.

As a result, decorative institutes which imitated cooperation between Russian and the alliance crumbled. Now a militarized standoff has recurred, and NATO must be held accountable for its promises.

But the willingness of allies to carry out dangerous missions is, to put it mildly, low. Defending a string of countries that joined at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century is difficult from a military standpoint. Moreover, the multiplicity of opinions within the bloc is incomparable with what existed previously.

The new Cold War between Russia and the U.S. has, in fact, had a positive impact on relations between the two nations: They are now simpler and stricter.

The situation within Europe is worse, because it is an entity loosely linked without a political will of its own, and a unified strategic position in such a diverse association is impossible in principle. This is where the biggest risks lie.

Russia is tempted to take advantage of Europe's rift to correct the military-political results of 30 years ago. Europe is forced to invent more and more exotic ways of demonstrating its viability. And the U.S. is caught between reorientation toward Asia (priority) and continuing containment in Europe (tradition and symbol).

All of this causes tension, which is not conducive to the mechanisms for maintaining stability.

According to Vladimir Putin, tension creates opportunities these are the lessons learned from the Cold War.

The question is whether this will work today. We have reached a point where the long-standing controversy over NATO enlargement must somehow be resolved.

Resolution will come from either by reaffirming the right to expand, or recognizing that the logic of "everyone has the right to enter the alliance," the idea on which post 1991 NATO expansion was based, is no longer valid. Both options carry many risks.

What is disconcerting about the president's speech is the return to strictly Western-centrism. Non-western components were listed most likely for the sake of order, as even China is linked to the West by trying to destabilize it.

It is clear that Russia cannot abandon the agenda of the past 30 years, too much is connected with it. The main thing is not to drown in it once again. After all, regardless of what happens in Europe, it will remain a strategic periphery.

And for Russia's international posture it will be not decisive, but auxiliary.

A Russian version of this article was first published by Kommersant.

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NATO Expansion Is a Bugbear for Both Russia and the West - The Moscow Times

PAT BUCHANAN: NATO playing with fire on Russia’s borders – Sioux City Journal

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Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko has cleared out the encampment at his border crossing into Poland, where thousands of Middle Eastern migrants had been living in squalor.

Last week, that border crossing was the site of clashes between asylum-seekers trying to push through the razor wire and Polish troops resisting with water cannons.

While the crisis between Warsaw and Minsk has not ended, it appears to have been temporarily eased.

Behind the clash was the recent election in Belarus that the European Union saw as fraudulent and Lukashenko's interception of a commercial airliner to kidnap and imprison a critical journalist.

Lukashenko brought in the migrants from the Mideast and moved them to the border, forcing the Poles to deploy security forces to block their entry. Lukashenko's actions were in retaliation for Poland's support of the sanctions the EU had imposed on Belarus.

So it was that, last week, a NATO ally, Poland, had a confrontation with a close ally of Vladimir Putin's Russia, which could have resulted in a shooting war that could have drawn in Russia and the United States.

While Belarus, perhaps at Putin's insistence, has pulled the migrants back from the border and eased this crisis, the same cannot be said of the crisis developing around Ukraine.

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For days now, U.S. officials have been warning that the 100,000 Russian troops stationed near the borders of Ukraine may be preparing for an invasion.

As Ukraine is not a NATO ally, the U.S. is under no obligation to come to Kyiv's defense. But any Russian invasion to expand the share of Ukraine it now controls could produce a crisis more serious than Putin's annexation of Crimea or support for the separatists in the Donbas.

For Putin, the situation in the Black Sea, where U.S. warships and warplanes lead NATO vessels on regular visitations, must truly stick in the craw.

When Putin was a KGB officer in the last days of the Soviet Empire, Romania and Bulgaria on the Black Sea were Warsaw Pact allies. Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia on the Black Sea were, like Russia itself, Soviet republics of the USSR. NATO Turkey alone excepted, the Black Sea was a Soviet lake.

And today? Romania and Bulgaria are NATO allies of the United States. Ukraine and Georgia, having broken free of the USSR at the end of the Cold War, are independent nations that look to Europe, not Moscow.

The goal of both is become NATO allies under the protection of the U.S. and its nuclear umbrella.

Another consideration: Ukraine and Russia have historic ties -- religious, ethnic, cultural -- that go back 1,000 years.

What Putin sees in Russia's loss of Ukraine and Kyiv's alignment with the U.S. and the West was what Americans of Abraham Lincoln's generation saw when France exploited our preoccupation with the Civil War to turn Mexico into a subject nation of the French Empire.

Every nation involved in the migrant crisis on the Polish border and the gathering crisis around Ukraine was either a Soviet republic or a Warsaw Pact member during the Cold War, when Putin was a KGB officer.

All four nations -- Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus -- were, not so long ago, vital interests of Moscow. And none had ever been a vital interest of the distant United States. And no U.S. Cold War president ever thought so.

Dwight Eisenhower did not intervene to save the Hungarian Revolution when it was crushed by Soviet tanks. John F. Kennedy did not tear down the Berlin Wall as it was going up. Lyndon B. Johnson did not intervene to stop Warsaw Pact armies from invading Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring.

And Ronald Reagan did not put the Polish Communist regime in default on its huge unpaid debt when it crushed Solidarity.

Who rules in Minsk has never been a vital interest of the United States. Nor has the location of the Russia-Ukraine border or the political orientation of the regime that rules in Kyiv.

Avoiding a war with Russia that could go nuclear, however, has always been a vital strategic interest, especially since Moscow acquired nuclear weapons. Every American president has known that.

And avoidance of war with the United States has been a guiding principle of Russian foreign policy from Stalin to Putin.

No political dispute in the east of Europe alters these realities.

A NATO alliance built around Article V -- the declaration that a Russian attack on any one of 30 nations will be regarded as an attack on the United States and answered by military action by the United States -- is an anachronistic pledge that belongs to a dead era.

After all, the only war that NATO, "the most successful alliance in history," ever fought, Afghanistan, it lost and left after 20 years.

Let the nations of Eastern Europe solve their problems without the constant intervention of the United States.

Given the disastrous record of the neocon wars of the 21st century, the U.S., facing every new crisis, ought to ask itself before acting:

Why is this quarrel any of our business?

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PAT BUCHANAN: NATO playing with fire on Russia's borders - Sioux City Journal

Russias Ground-Breaking MiG-31 Fighter-Interceptor Aircraft To Be Heavily Modified Amid Tensions With NATO – EurAsian Times

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MiG-31: Russia has given a big boost to its combat capability by upgrading the Foxhound or MiG-31 fighter jet.This development comes shortly after Moscow unveiled a medium combat aircraft Checkmate while projecting it as a game-changer, and signed a deal with China to develop a heavy-lift helicopter.

Two Russian MiG-31 interceptors, early this year, flew over the North Pole, marking an important milestone for the countrys navy.

The MiG-31 Foxhound has made several world records. It reached an absolute maximum altitude of 37,650 meters in 1977, and set a time-to-height record of 35,000 meters in 4 minutes, 11.78 seconds, both of which were set by the famous MiG test pilot Alexander Fedotov.

Needless to say, Russia has been making consistent efforts to modernize its air power and the MiG-31 upgrade is the latest effort in that direction.

The country is now carrying out trials of the upgraded MiG-31 fighter-interceptor with a fly-by-wire control system, managers of the Sokol Aircraft Plant told Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko during his visit to the facility on November 25.

Krivoruchko inspected the units production capacities and checked the pace of work on repairing and upgrading MiG-31 fighters. He also held a meeting on completing the defense procurement plan, as part of his working trip to the Volga area.

There is an option of upgrading this aircraft where we switch from the mechanical to the fly-by-wire control system, which yields a host of computers mounted on the plane, said Sokol Aviation Enterprise.

The fighters onboard equipment will be totally replaced; the combat plane will also be examined for flaws in order to replace corrosion portions that could account for 15 to 50 percent of the total weight. The fighters canopy, as well as all of the wiring and rubber parts, will be entirely overhauled.

Sokols main duty now is to carry out substantial repairs on the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor, as well as a heavy upgrade to the MiG-31BM level, which has been a work in process since 2007.

The modification of MiG-31 high-altitude fighter-interceptors will improve the efficiency of their operations, particularly in protecting Russias northern borders in the backdrop of other countries growing interest in the Northern Sea Route, said Major-General Vladimir Popov, a top military pilot and defense expert.

With the tensions between Russia and NATO countries growing in the region and Moscow announcing that its radars intercepted about 40 spy planes and drones in about one week of tensions, this announcement comes at a very appropriate moment.

In March this year, two Russian MiG-31 Foxhound supersonic high altitude interceptor aircraft had flown over the North Pole marking a significant milestone for the countrys navy.

Introduced in 1981, the MiG-31 is a long-range, two-seater supersonic interceptor aircraft. Day or night, the MiG-31 can operate well in any weather situation while adhering to visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight regulations (IFR). The MiG-31 was the first Soviet fighter plane to be capable of genuine look-down and shoot-down.

In July 2020, Russias Defense Ministry revealed its intention to invest in a MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor modernization and life extension program. The MiG-31 features a streamlined and aerodynamic fuselage that allows it to fly at high speeds and low altitudes. The aircraft is designed to track several targets at high altitudes at the same time.

One of the most potent variants of the MiG-31 is the MiG-31BM. It is a multifunctional long-range fighter aircraft with high speed and the ability to kill both air and ground targets.

Upgraded avionics, hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls, liquid-crystal color multifunction displays (MFDs), a robust on-board computer system, digital data linkages, and phased array radar are all included in the variant. It has the capability of intercepting 24 targets at once.

The MiG-31 is equipped with four long-range Vympel R-33E air-to-air missiles. The R-33 can be launched in inertial navigation mode to shoot at the target from a long distance.

For initial acquisition and mid-course updates, it can be directed in semi-active radar homing (SARH) mode. The Cold War-era warplane was designed to take out huge, fast targets like the American SR-71 Blackbird, B-1 Lancer bomber, and B-52 Stratofortress.

The aircraft is also equipped with four short-range R-60MK missiles and two Bisnovat R-40TD1 medium-range missiles. A six-barrel 30mm internal cannon (Ghs-6-23M) is installed above the starboard main landing gear bay of the aircraft. The cannon contain 800 rounds of ammunition and can fire at a rate of over 10,000 rounds a minute.

MiG-31BM can accommodate the AA-12 Adder missile and various Russian air-to-ground missiles (AGMs) such as the AS-17 Krypton anti-radiation missile (ARM).

The N007 Zaslon phased array radar aboard the MiG-31 is the worlds first electronically scanned radar. Its also known as the SBI-16 Zaslon (Flash Dance), and its controlled by a weapons system officer (WSO) from the back cockpit. Early warning radar (EWR) and aerial warning and control systems can send signals to it (AWACS).

Zaslon can scan a distance of 200 kilometers. The radar can track 10 targets and engage four of them at once in the aircrafts immediate vicinity (behind and below the aircraft).

According to one count, there are 252 MiG-31s in the inventory of the Russian Air Force. Moscow began modernizing its Foxhound fleet to the MiG-31BM and BSM variant starting in 2010 with plans to have 100 upgraded by 2020.

The 35-year-old MiG-31 is expected to serve until 2030. Moscow says that the MiG-41 or PAK-DP, a dedicated Mach 4 interceptor, will be developed to replace the Foxhound in the air defense role.

This is puzzling, given that the Kremlin has only funded the manufacture of 10 advanced PAK-FA stealth aircraft thus far, raising the question of whether it can afford to deploy a significantly more specialized platform as well.

The combat efficiency of MiG-31 fighter-interceptors will increase threefold following substantial repairs and upgrades, claims Sokol.

Meanwhile, the upgrade, in which the onboard radio-electronic equipment is fully replaced with advanced technology envisages using the latest air-launched weapons, which will boost the planes combat efficiency by about three times, the Sokol management said.

The MiG-31 is one of Russias most widely deployed combat aircraft, with several hundred more in reserve.

New variants of the Foxhound, according to Aleksandr Osokin, head designer at the Sokol Aircraft Plant, where MiG-31s are repaired, are around 2.6 times as capable as the original Cold War-era planes.

The aircraft were meant to intercept not just all types of enemy aircraft, from bombers and observation planes to fighters and airborne early warning jets, but also missiles, with the aircraft being particularly capable of intercepting low-altitude cruise missiles.

Now with the latest upgrade, the capability is expected to rise manifold. The fly-by-wire systems are computer-controlled. The hands-on design allows pilots to get a clear, tactile sense of how the aircraft handles aerodynamic forces as it flies. This will enhance the combat power by restricting the number of manual controls that the pilot otherwise has to perform.

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Russias Ground-Breaking MiG-31 Fighter-Interceptor Aircraft To Be Heavily Modified Amid Tensions With NATO - EurAsian Times

Bitcoin Reached A 7-Week Low TodayHere’s What Traders Should Know – Forbes

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Analysts weigh in after bitcoin falls to its lowest since October 6. (Photo Illustration by ... [+] Chesnot/Getty Images)

Bitcoin prices declined today, falling to their lowest since early October, and setting their latest multiweek low.

The worlds largest digital currency by market value dropped to $53,359.80, CoinDesk data shows.

At this point, it was trading at its lowest since October 6, additional CoinDesk figures reveal.

After falling to its lowest point in more than seven weeks, bitcoin prices bounced back, climbing above $57,000 later in the day.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Recently, bitcoin prices have repeatedly moved toward $53,000, a level that some analysts have identified as providing key support.

While the digital currency has made attempts on that level, they have all been unsuccessful.

Several technical analysts weighed in on the implications of bitcoins repeated failure to convincingly break through support near $53,000.

Beginning Friday, Bitcoin began testing the support at about $53K, said Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund managerBitBull Capital.

Each time it fell to that level, it bounced higher, signaling strong support there, he added.

Todays dip to just over $53K led it to bounce back to a higher price, added DiPasquale.

This signals that we have strong purchasing interest at that level. When repeated support this happens, it is evidence of demand at that level and a bullish signal that the asset will appreciate from there.

Dylan LeClair, head of market research for Bitcoin Magazine, also commented on the situation.

$53,000 is a key level, which happens to be the average on-chain cost basis of short term holders in the market, he noted, citing market data.

Throughout bitcoins history the realized price (on-chain cost basis) of short term holders has served as key bull market support.

Konstantin Anissimov, executive director at CEX.IO, also spoke to key level. However, he offered a different take on the matter.

We see three factors contributing to $53k serving as strong support, he stated.

Bitcoins market cap is $1 trillion at $52,950 USD. This level has been key support/resistance through 2021 and is now being retested as support again.

The chart below illustrates what Anissimov described.

This chart shows how the $1 trillion market cap served as key support and resistance.

Further, he spoke to other developments that might interest market observers.

Recent selling pressure is largely forced via liquidations with minimal signs of selling/capitulation from long-term market players, stated Anissimov.

This suggests the ~23% decline off all-time highs isnt a larger trend reversal. Since November 10 (day of ATH) there have been $968 million USD of liquidations.

This chart shows the dollar value of liquidations (both daily and in total) since November 10, when ... [+] bitcoin hit its all-time high.

Finally, Anissimov spoke to market sentiment.

He mentioned the BTC Fear and Greed Index provided by alternative.me, emphasizing that it was at 27 when he provided this input. The figure had increased to 33, a figure that also pointed to fear, at the time of this writing.

BTC has hovered in the fear to extreme fear level of the index, which is usually the case after weaker handed holders have exited the market.

The Fear & Greed Index from alternative.me shows that the sentiment surrounding "Bitcoin and other ... [+] large cryptocurrencies" is fearful.

In addition to emphasizing the key support provided near the $53,000 level, LeClair outlined several important factors for market observers to watch going forward.

He spoke to the derivatives market, noting that although a complete flush of long biased derivatives have yet to occur, funding on perpetual swaps remains moderately high, but nothing too extreme or worrisome.

The macroeconomic backdrop and the potential for the Fed to delay tapering the current pace of balance sheet expansion is something bitcoin traders are watching closely, added LeClair.

Also, a rising dollar against other foreign currencies as seen in the dollar currency index (DXY) over the course of 2021 is also of significance, and should be watched closely.

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and sol.

Excerpt from:

Bitcoin Reached A 7-Week Low TodayHere's What Traders Should Know - Forbes

The future is Bitcoin, according to South Park creators – Cointelegraph

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South Park, the animated TV series that often tackles topical issues with a comedic twist, showed Bitcoin being used as a mainstream means of payment in the not too distant future.

In the Post COVID episode of its 24th season which aired Thursday, South Park depicted one of the shows protagonists, Stan Marsh, paying for a stay in a cheap motel using Bitcoin (BTC) roughly 40 years from now, when the pandemic is jokingly about to end for good. The fictional Super 12 Motel Plus in a future where nearly all brand names have plus and maxx included only accepts Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, with the show having Marsh pay using a plastic card with the BTC logo and a QR code.

Its the future weve all decided centralized banking is rigged so we trust more in fly-by-night Ponzi schemes, said the motel clerk.

Many in the crypto space know South Park for its criticism of the United States governments and banks response following the 2008 financial crisis, popularized by the meme aaaand... its gone referring to Marsh losing money immediately after depositing it in a bank. Among the other future predictions in the recent episode are autonomous vehicles, holographic digital assistants and stand-up comedy becoming a shadow of itself amid woke culture.

Though referencing cryptocurrency and blockchain in mainstream media is somewhat commonplace now, this wasnt always the case. The first TV series to feature BTC was The Good Wife in January 2012, but others have gone on to use the emerging technology and financial tool for both comedy and drama. This year, James Spaders character in The Blacklist claimed to know the true identity of Satoshi, and The Simpsons showed the BTC price moving to infinity on an animated stock ticker feed.

Related: Reality show is casting crypto users locked out of their wallets

Bitcoin's appearance on the popular animated series comes as the price of the crypto asset has stayed mostly under $60,000 for more than a week. According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, the BTC price is $59,237 at the time of publication, having fallen more than 14% since reaching an all-time high of $69,000 on Nov. 10.

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Bitcoin bear market: These are the 5 best performing cryptocurrencies – Markets Insider

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Crypto

Barcroft Media

Bitcoin entered a bear market on Friday, falling more than 20% from its record $69,000 high as concerns of a new COVID-19 variant spread across markets. But other cryptocurrencies are performing just fine despite the risk-off environment.

With 14,865 cryptocurrencies in existence and counting, there are more than triple the number of crypto coins than there are US exchange-listed stocks. That large amount makes it nearly impossible to keep track of all the big movers in the crypto sector outside of well known coins like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.

The surge in new crypto coins has come amid a massive bull market for the space, with a recent rally in bitcoin helping catapult the sector to a near-$3 trillion market valuation. But the rise is also being driven by smaller coins that have seen extraordinary surges this year, including solana, cardano, and shiba inu.

With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time. Shiba inu is down about 40% from its recent high, despite being up millions of percentage points year-to-date. Meanwhile, squid game token fell 99% in a single day after delivering swift gains of 75,000%.

Keeping an eye on the weekly winners can help investors identify which coins are beginning to see increased traction in the crypto community.

These are the five best performing cryptocurrencies with a market value of more than $1 billion over the past week despite a decline in bitcoin and ether, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

5. Crypto.com Coin

Symbol: CROMarket Value: $17.4 billion7-Day Performance: 33.3%

CoinMarketCap

4. Basic Attention Token

Symbol: BATMarket Value: $2.2 billion7-Day Performance: 36.5%

CoinMarketCap

3. Zcash

Symbol: ZECMarket Value: $3.3 billion7-Day Performance: 59.5%

CoinMarketCap

2. The Sandbox

Symbol: SANDMarket Value: $6.3 billion7-Day Performance: 67.2%

CoinMarketCap

1. Gala

Symbol: GALAMarket Value: $5.0 billion7-Day Performance: 216.8%

CoinMarketCap

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Hedge Fund Manager Anthony Scaramucci Compares Bitcoin to Amazon in the Year 2000, Predicts Strong Q1 for BTC – The Daily Hodl

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Renowned hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci is comparing Bitcoin (BTC) to e-commerce giant Amazon, which was volatile in its early days but eventually became one of the best-performing stocks.

In a new interview on CNBCs Squawk Box, the SkyBridge Capital founder says Bitcoin has grown exponentially in terms of fundamentals over the last year and that the recent correction gives investors a chance to buy at a discount.

If you and I were on this conversation a year ago, Bitcoin had a hundred million wallets. Glassnode is saying theres about 240 million today, so thats great exponential growth, but its not fully saturated, so I think there are buying opportunities all around, and if you dont have leverage on, this is a good day for you as an investor.

Although Scaramucci says he doesnt think Bitcoin is an asset that you can use to hedge against inflation yet, he believes in the long-term potential of the leading cryptocurrency.

I dont think its a hedge against inflation at this moment in time. I think long term if you got to a billion wallets, two billion wallets and Bitcoin was in a what I would call a stable trading zone.

Think of Amazon 20 plus years of Amazon. This is sort of Amazon in the year 2000. This comes with some volatility, and it comes with a lot of fear and uncertainty, and thats the reason why its down.

The hedge fund veteran adds that right now, Bitcoins volatility is shaking out investors and eliminating excessive leverage in the system which could put Bitcoin in a position to rally next year.

I just think this is a risk-off situation right now, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being volatile. Thats taking people out of the game. Its also washing out some of the leverage, which I think sets up a pretty nice first quarter. I would love to debate the people that think that Bitcoin is an inflation hedge at this stage in Bitcoins evolution because I just dont see that as being the case.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/DanieleGay

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Thailand Plans to Become ‘Crypto-Positive Society’ Governor Says ‘Crypto Is the Future’ Regulation Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News

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Thailand is laying the groundwork to become a crypto-positive society with the aim to attract crypto holders and boost its tourism industry. The country hopes to gain back some of the $80 billion in lost tourism revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working with the countrys regulators to make it easier and more convenient for visitors to spend cryptocurrencies in the country, Bloomberg reported Saturday citing TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

The governor detailed, There are people who have become wealthy from holding digital currencies and they may want to use the wealth they have accrued, elaborating:

If they can use their currencies here without having to exchange it, or be faced with government taxes, then it would create convenience for them.

He explained that the Thai tourism authority is laying the groundwork for the wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies, which it plans to have in place by the time global travel returns to normal.

The plan is already being discussed with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bank of Thailand (BOT), and Bitkub Online Co., the largest crypto exchange in the country, the governor revealed.

Furthermore, the authority will set up a new unit next year to handle the issuance of its own crypto tokens, produce a wallet, and build a new tourism ecosystem, he added. Thailand currently does not recognize cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether, as legal tender.

The Thai tourism authority aims to recoup some of the $80 billion in lost revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, Thailand attracted almost 40 million foreign travelers, generating more than $60 billion in revenue.

However, the country shut down its borders for more than a year due to the pandemic. It recently opened its borders to vaccinated travelers.

Yuthasak suggested that Thailand could recoup about 80% of its pre-pandemic tourism revenue in 2023 with only half the number of foreign tourists in 2019 by getting someone like Russell Crowe or a crypto holder like Tim Cook to travel here.

He expects Thailands tourism industry to return to pre-Covid levels by 2024, adding that the country is targeting about 1 million high-spending tourists in the first quarter of next year. Meanwhile, the authority hopes that 10% of crypto holders will eventually travel to Thailand.

The TAT governor opined:

Crypto is the future, so we must make Thailand a crypto-positive society to welcome this group of quality tourists.

What do you think about Thailand becoming a crypto-positive society? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Forget Ether! Solana will Emerge as a Big ‘Bitcoin Killer’ in 2022 – Analytics Insight

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Solana will give a tough competition to both ethereum and bitcoin in 2022 and beyond

The growing demand for bitcoin has triggered a rally in one of its biggest competitors, Solana. Although SOL is often referred to as Ethereum Killer for the close competence the cryptocurrencies follow, the recent trend of Solana might give it a heads up in 2022 and make it a Bitcoin Killer. If the trend befalls beyond 2022 into the future, then Solana has a high chance of taking over the top two cryptocurrencies.

Solana price has recorded a whopping 17,000% growth in 2021 alone, making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the top 10 list. But SOL didnt make it to to the top just like that. It gradually rose through the ranks of altcoins to capture its currency place. Solana began the year at US$1.5, which now rose to nearly US$260. The digital token is now valued at US$64 billion with much-anticipated developments on its way. Besides, Solanas technology makes it very competitive compared to the market leaders, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Although the market trend has labeled Solana as highly volatile with risk factors, its incredible growth is making investors think otherwise. On the other hand, Ethereum is also doing well in the market. Unfortunately, it cant be a direct Bitcoin Killer since ETHERs trend mostly follows the footprint of BTC. Therefore, experts predict that Solana will give a tough competition to both ethereum and bitcoin in 2022 and beyond.

Launched in March 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko, the Solana coin and network were designed specially to focus on smart contracts and the creation of decentralized applications (dapps). One of the biggest advantages of SOL network is that the digital token can operate on both proof of history (PoH) and proof of stake (PoS) model. While PoS allows the users in the verification process, PoH keeps track of the transaction time and day in the record. Compared to Bitcoin and Ethereums mining process, SOL is quick as it can achieve more transactions per unit of time and has significantly lower fees. Some of the other must-know factors of Solana are,

The Mining Model: Recently, there has been a buzz around BTC for its extreme energy consumption during mining. World leaders and even countries like China have come down strongly on the digital token for running the environment. Therefore, investors are seeking out for more environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies such as Solana. The combination of PoS and PoH can make transactions far more easy and fast with less impact on society.

Acceptance at Multiple Crypto Platforms: Besides being the first cryptocurrency to emerge, bitcoin is also famous for its wide acceptance across many crypto exchanges. Currently, SOL is also on the line with BTC to get mainstream acceptance and adoption. In June 2020, the network announced that Solana would be listed on Coinbase Pro, a major crypto exchange. Following this news, other crypto trading platforms have also opened their door to SOL.

NFTs and Smart Contracts: Although ETHER introduced smart contracts to the virtual ecosystem, the network confession has led to people looking for alternatives. Fortunately, Solana is always here to help. Besides doing great in the smart contracts, SOL is also gaining attention in the NFT sphere. Solanas NFTs allow buyers to enjoy faster transaction speeds at lower fees.

Since inception, Solana price was hovering around US$1 till January 2021. During the crypto rally in May this year, SOL went up to touch US$58.30 but fell back to US$22.18 in July. However, its rally in September was incredible. The cryptocurrency went up the hill in September and continued to follow the trend in November as well. Currently, Solana price is traded near the US$260 mark.

According to WalletInvestor prediction, SOL is anticipated to cross US$275 by the end of 2021 and the upwards trend will continue to grow further. By the end of 2022, Solana has the potential to touch US$772.726.

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Forget Ether! Solana will Emerge as a Big 'Bitcoin Killer' in 2022 - Analytics Insight

Bitcoin And Biases: Agnotology, The Making And Unmaking Of Ignorance – Bitcoin Magazine

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Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance. - Confucius

Previous articles talked about Bitcoin and the cognitive biases that lead to misconceptions about Bitcoin.

Backing up a bit, we can look at the knowledge, or ignorance that contributes to these misconceptions.

Its important to understand a bit more about ignorance so that we can understand the differences in some of the ignorant narratives around Bitcoin.

Most importantly, we need to understand that some narratives are from a situation of really not knowing, and some narratives are intentionally deceptive.

These narratives are perpetuating ignorance.

Have you heard of agnotology? Agnotology is the study of deliberate, culturally-induced ignorance or doubt.

A book called Agnotology; The Making And Unmaking Of Ignorance by Robert Proctor sheds a lot of light on the subject.

The word ignorance has some pretty negative associations such as stupidity, narrowness, and willful denial of facts.

In reality, there are different flavors of ignorance and they can be on a continuum of positive to neutral to negative.

Proctor divides ignorance into three main areas:

Most people who know even a bit about Bitcoin are NOT ignorant about some of the directions I am going with this.

This ignorance can be the motivation to learn more as we mature. This type of ignorance is what fuels personal and institutional learning, research, and innovation.

For many, Bitcoin is something they have not learned about yet.

There are a variety of learning styles, so to educate everybody, many different educational paths and time preferences are needed. The group who hasnt learned yet runs the gamut of ages, life situations, work situations, available time, energy, and capabilities for learning.

There are many who have this type of ignorance about Bitcoin due to the characteristics of their life situation.

If you work in one field, you might not learn about a different field due to the time required to become an expert or worker in that field.

Maybe you operate within one financial system and you havent learned about alternative ones.

Or when you do learn about something, you stick to something that confirms your existing beliefs, is within your biases, and therefore comfortable.

Most people have grown up and been taught to operate within a particular financial genre.

There are many reasons for ignorance by selection and they range from factors like age to time factors to benign lack of exposure to belligerently not wanting to learn something new.

Lets help people choose to learn more about Bitcoin.

It aint what you dont know that gets you into trouble. Its what you know for sure that just aint so. Mark Twain

Certain institutions have become quite effective at manufacturing ignorance.

I believe there are two areas where ignorance is crafted:

I also believe that it is difficult to separate the two of these, since history and narrative is written by the victorious and the successful.

The term agnotology was invented by Proctor when a paper called the Smoking And Health Proposal was leaked to the public. The document described in detail how cigarette corporations were attempting to obfuscate research findings that cigarettes are carcinogenic.

The Greek word agnosis means not knowing and ontology means nature, so Proctor invented the term agnotology to mean the study of the nature of not knowing.

Proctor was inspired to study this area because he saw that a long-standing and very powerful industry was able to cast doubt around the health effects of tobacco.

Similarly, the long-standing and powerful central banking, financial institutions, and government industries craft ignorance in two ways:

People are attempting to document and counteract this constructed ignorance on Twitter and in articles for Bitcoin Magazine such as the FCA Influencer Program And Bitcoin article. Much of the negative Bitcoin and energy debate seems to be intentionally constructed ignorance.

One also needs to be careful not to do the same ignorance constructing around Bitcoin. For example:

Understanding the different types of ignorance can help in crafting responses appropriately.

If you can get people to start to comprehend, people will start down the rabbit hole and get to greater understanding.

Call them out, and combat the narratives intentionally and directly with facts that counteract.

This manufactured ignorance is intentional in order to maintain the legacy fiat product, system, and those who benefit from its continuation.

Dont pull your factual punches.

Agnotology, or the making of ignorance, is a marketing strategy for many who use it.

This strategy is used to craft a message that distracts from the reality of the situation and what benefits certain interests.

Its easier than fixing the problem or finding an alternative solution.

Like Bitcoin.

This is a guest post by Heidi Porter. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Bitcoin And Biases: Agnotology, The Making And Unmaking Of Ignorance - Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Or Ethereum? Which Blockchain Is Heavier? BitMEX Research Reports – Bitcoinist

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From times immemorial, the Bitcoin and Ethereum camps argue about nodes and their respective blockchains characteristics. This mind-bending report by BitMEX Research will put the debate to rest. Surprisingly, they determine that the Bitcoin blockchain is still bigger than the Ethereum one. This will soon change, though. BitMEX Research also concludes that size is not the right metric to compare both chains, because to learn useful information about the Ethereum network one needs to perform significantly more computations and generate far more data.

Related Reading | BitMEX Reaches Agreement With CFTC, Why It Could Mark A New Era For Crypto

As to why people assume that Ethereum would be bigger, BitMEX Research attributes it to failure to remember just how small Ethereum was a few years ago. Then, they go to the history books:

From 2015 to 2018, Bitcoins blockchain grew at a faster rate than Ethereum, then from 2018 to 2020 they seemed to grow in parallel. Finally, from late 2020 onwards, the Ethereum blockchain growth rate accelerated further and the growth rate is now far higher than Bitcoin. Ethereums cumulative blockchain size looks set to shortly overtake Bitcoin and accelerate far beyond it.

And give us this chart:

What exactly are we watching in the chart? BitMEX Research explains:

In both cases, for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the total blockchain size in the chart above contains all transaction data, this is all the data one needs to download from ones peers to fully synchronize and verify the chain. This includes all the digital signatures authorizing each transaction.

According to this Peter Szilagyis tweet, Ethereums head state requires 130GB of data. In Bitcoin, we can compare that to the UTXO set size, the set of unspent Bitcoin outputs. That weighs 4.6GB, which is only around 1.2% of the size of the entire Bitcoin blockchain. In Ethereum, the story is quite different. Those 130GB are around 43% of the blockchain size, far higher than 1.2% on Bitcoin.

Also, take into account that:

Bitcoin Core supports pruning the blockchain, where a node can discard old blockchain data and only retain some very recent transactions plus the UTXO set. This means that one can fully validate the entire Bitcoin blockchain and check the validity of new blocks, with well under 10GB of disk space.

Lets get one thing clear, both blockchains are quite different and were just comparing them for sport. For example, in Ethereum, a node stores two types of databases, the blockchain and the state. The state is computed from the transaction history and essentially contains: all Ethereum account balances, storage associated with every deployed Ethereum smart contract and account nonces.

Currently, the state is as heavy as the blockchain. Only limited pruning or efficiencies are therefore possible when it comes to reducing the size of the head state. The head state is therefore likley to continue to grow over time.

After carefully analyzing the case, BitMEX Research reaches a conclusion:

The comparison between the blockchain size for Ethereum and Bitcoin is not always particularly relevant. The Bitcoin blockchain is mostly sufficient to tell you all you need to know about the Bitcoin network. In contrast, the Ethereum blockchain itself is by no means sufficient to tell you much about the state of Ethereum, to do this one needs to compute and store much more data, otherwise you dont know what many of the transactions are actually doing.

Make of that what you will.

Related Reading | BitMEX Becomes One Of The First Crypto Exchanges To Go Carbon-Neutral

Its important to know that, for the sake of brevity, we skipped all the technical explanations. Plus, we left out worthy material that wasnt relevant to the discussion. We highly recommend that you read the whole report, its fascinating and itll give you a clear picture of how thorough BitMEX Research was.

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Sneaker Giant Adidas Says the Metaverse Is ‘Exciting,’ Reveals Partnership With Coinbase Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News

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The German multinational shoe and sportswear corporation Adidas recently announced the company has partnered with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Two days prior, The Sandbox tweeted about the popular shoe company and showed a video clip of Adidas real estate in the Sandbox metaverse.

According to a recent statement from an Adidas spokesperson speaking with City A.M.s Lily Russell-Jones, the company is very focused on the metaverse. The Metaverse is currently one of the most exciting developments in digital, making it an interesting platform for Adidas, the company spokesperson explained to Russell-Jones on Thursday. It all started on Monday, November 22, when The Sandbox tweeted about the multinational shoe and sportswear firm.

Hey @adidasoriginals, impossible is nothing in the Metaverse. What if we invite all of the original thinkers and do-ers to design our future together? The Sandbox tweeted.

The Sandbox is a blockchain-based virtual gaming world where players can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences, according to the metaverse description. Besides a sizable plot of metaverse land shown in the video clip, its currently unknown what Adidas will be doing in The Sandbox virtual world. The official Meta (formally Facebook) Twitter account also replied to The Sandbox tweet to Adidas.

Impossible is nothing, but these possibilities are everything, the Meta account said. Another individual wrote:

ADIDAS = All Day I Dream About SANDBOX?

Following the tweet stemming from The Sandbox Twitter account, Adidas tweeted about partnering with the crypto exchange Coinbase. Adidas stated:

Weve partnered with @coinbase. Probably nothing.

Following the tweet from Adidas, Coinbase affirmed the partnership and said: gm @adidasoriginals. Welcome to the party, partner. Coinbase also tweeted a handshake emoji to Adidas as well in the thread. Adidas may have gotten the hint to step up its metaverse game when it was revealed its main competitor, Nike, is seemingly getting ready to step into the metaverse and the world of non-fungible token (NFT) technology.

The description of downloadable virtual goods mentioned well known Nike trademarks such as the Just Do It tagline, the Air Jordan Jumpman, and the Nike swoosh. Metaverse lands like The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland have seen significant demand since Facebook changed its name to Meta. Digital land plots are selling for millions and major brands are jumping into the industry fast.

What do you think about Adidas partnering with Coinbase and The Sandbox? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Sneaker Giant Adidas Says the Metaverse Is 'Exciting,' Reveals Partnership With Coinbase Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

$BTC: ARK Invest CEO Explains Why Institutional Investors Are Getting Into Bitcoin – CryptoGlobe

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Recently, Catherine Wood, Founder, CIO, and CEO atARK Investment Management, LLC(aka ARK or ARK Invest), talked about institutional investment in Bitcoin.

During a virtual interview on November 17 with Barrons Senior Managing Editor Lauren R. Rublin, Wood said that large institutional investors are making a move into Bitcoin and pointed out the lack of correlation between crypto and other assets.

According to a report about this interview by The Daily Hodl, Wood said:

We can see whos moving in and it looks like strong, institutional holders are moving in [to Bitcoin]. Why are they moving in? Because the correlation of returns among crypto, especially Bitcoin, and other assets stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities are very low.

Studies tell us that if theres a low correlation of returns among assets, [buying] that asset with the low correlation, you will be raising returns and lowering risk over time.

She also reiterated his previous price prediction for Bitcoin:

The reason weve used the $500,000 mark for a Bitcoin price target is that if institutional investors move into Bitcoin and allocate 5% of their portfolios to it, by our estimates Bitcoin will go up by $500,000. We can tell this is happening by looking at on-chain analytics.

Back in September, Wood told Yahoo! Finance in an interview that fans of gold fail to understand that Bitcoins value beyond being a store-of-value asset:

Many investors who have spent their careers focused on gold cannot understand the digital concept associated with gold What we think [theyre] missing is its much more than just a store of value or digital gold.Bitcoin, in particular, is a new global monetary system. Its a rules-based monetary policy, which is completely decentralized and therefore is not subject to the whims of policymakers.

And in February, during aninterviewon Bloomberg TV, Wood said that she thinks Bitcoinis the best hedge against inflation out there far none and better than gold.

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

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$BTC: ARK Invest CEO Explains Why Institutional Investors Are Getting Into Bitcoin - CryptoGlobe