Recovery ride. The #zwif big spin kit is terrible, I have no need for the stupid hat.

#Zwift games stage 1 race. Old man division. Happy with average power output.

Just tariff news this morning.

@RABBIT HOLE RECAP 346: A big theme of this episode is privacy and security… @ODELL and @Marty Bent discuss EU proposals to force tech companies to create back door access to encrypted data. They applaud Apple for leading the fight against it. They discuss the change in Firefox TOS promise to not sell users data. But they also make references to a lot of debunked stories about USAID, which gets to my main point. Too many bitcoiners including @ODELL and @Marty Bent are losing their values. They’re self righteous about privacy, but look the other way while the new US administration and Elon Musk - a private unelected citizen and billionaire owner of X - raids all of our private data, has access to tax return records for every American, and knows exactly how much bitcoin you’ve purchased or sold through US exchanges. These guys and many others look the other way because they’re on the same side as Trump in the ridiculous culture wars of the right. So much so they felt the need to apologize for liking Costco (presumably because Costco has vowed to keep its DEI initiatives in place). Stop preaching standards you aren’t living up to, fellas.

Been too busy to post rides lately

First 10 min. @ODELL and @Marty Bent are confused by some of Trumps and Elons recent actions, like embracing mRNA vaccines. That’s where constant Trump simping will leave you. Confused. So who is more of a hypocrite in this particular situation? The people that are so anti-vac they think mRNA is an evil plot? Or the politicians who are embracing the potential of mRNA vaccines (probably due to profit motives) but still disavow the Covid vaccines because that helps them politically. View quoted note →

Cross training

Apple Podcasts

TRUMP, INSTITUTIONS & BITCOIN DOMINANCE w/ Alex Thorn

Podcast Episode · What Bitcoin Did · 02/12/2025 · 1h 34m

Good wide ranging discussion, Alex Thorn has a very grounded POV.

5:15 am

The basement is so cold I only need one fan these days.

Have been riding enough that I forget to post rides which is right where I want to be

I’m starting to feel like the bitcoin influencers that have been calling for $300k - $1M top are a bit scammy with ulterior motives. I mean, yeah, call for a high top so others will hold while you sell at what you think the actual top is. Which Rational Root is NOT doing here. His take seems much more grounded. He doesn’t put a number on it but speculates that the top could come as early as Q2 of this year. Which makes sense to me. View quoted note →

Sorry, I must go on about the recent bullshit-laden episode of @RABBIT HOLE RECAP @Marty Bent proposes the thought experiment “what if it was Hillary Clinton uncovering this corruption? Would you believe it then? Well, Marty, what if Biden had given Jeff Bezos access to all US GOV spending along with your bank accounts and your SS# What if Hunter Biden launched a meme coin while his dad was in office and walked away with billions of dollars?

I just have to start listening to RHR for technical bitcoin news only. In fact, please mark that section of the tape so I can fast forward because your political opinions are retarded. Theses guys spent 20 minutes opining on a debunked Twitter rumor about USAID funding Politico, as if it were true. With Trump in office they’ve lost track of their principled stances. Although @Marty Bent has always been a conspiracy theorist so nothing new there, I suppose. View quoted note →

Another step forward in getting back into a regular ride schedule. After a string injuries and illness, I’m at about 70-80% of my peak fitness in 2024, I’d say.

So, I love @jack mallers Love his energy, have admired his innovation in Bitcoin, and I’m a daily user of @strike But this podcast was just terrible. Terrible in execution (several 3-5 min stretches of just rambling and struggling with his podcast tech) but worse than that is the ridiculous bend-the-knee take on Trump tariffs. To all bitcoiners - please STOP ascribing your beliefs/desires to everything Trump does. Jack’s idea that Trump’s tariffs are part of some kind of master plan to weaken the dollar and unwind the post WWII financial order is one of the most unmoored fantasy takes that I have ever heard. Trump has NO master plan. He has always demonstrated that he is a short term thinker that blows with the political winds. In fact, the second he saw the stock market crashing in reaction to his tariffs he looked for an exit and paused everything. He pretended to extract concessions from Canada and Mexico on border issues (announcing things they were already doing as if they were new) in order to back away from his tariffs. Very often I feel like bitcoiners are too caught up in bitcoin ideology and completely miss what’s actually driving global events. View quoted note →

Eye-opening anecdotes about Bitcoin security and wrench attacks. Listen for your own benefit. Great episode. @Jameson Lopp is a real one. View quoted note →

Have been down with a cold. Back in action today.