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from $ ./NWO.

Tulare Lake, Re-Appears after 130+ years...

Once upon a time, this was the largest lake west of the Missippi. Then various agricultural projects came in, and it dried out.

Historically, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River (Preston 1981, Garone 2011). It was a permanent lake until the time of American settlement, when diversion of tributaries began. Water flowed to Tulare Lake and the other connected lakes within its basin from the Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and Kern rivers as well as several smaller streams.

Although Tulare Lake was the largest of the lakes in the basin, Summit, Ton Tache, Goose, Kern, and Buena Vista lakes were also substantial bodies of water at times, and the combination of these lakes and associated wetlands formed an enormous expanse of habitat supporting birds and other wildlife.

The alluvial fans of the Kings River and Los Gatos Creek (flowing out of the inner Coast Ranges) formed a barrier, the Tulare Lake fan dam, that prevented water from reaching the San Joaquin River in many years (Atwater et al. 1986).

Thus, the Tulare Lake Basin had internal drainage and the lake was a terminal lake during dry years. In high water years, Tulare Lake spilled into the San Joaquin River, ultimately draining to San Francisco Bay. This overflow occurred when the lake level reached roughly 30 m (210 ft) elevation, at which point the surface area of the lake would have been approximately 2,700 km2 (800 mi2). That's a little bit under 29 miles x 29 miles, long if the lake was a square. HUGE.

From 1850 until 1878, the last year of overflow, the lake overflowed into the San Joaquin River 19 out of 29 years (Austin 2015).

Diversion of water entering Tulare Lake began in the mid-1800’s, when settlers began to construct canals to irrigate crops. Kings County was formed from Tulare County in 1893, by which time much of the lakebed was being farmed (Preston 1981). The historical footprint of the lake occupies much of today’s Kings County and portions of Tulare County.

By 1899, Tulare Lake had become dry for the first time in its recorded history. As the area of Tulare Lake shrank, land was claimed for farming, leading to more construction of diversion structures and the formation of irrigation districts.

The Tulare Lake basin was visited by several early naturalists, some of whom left tantalizing accounts of the abundance of waterbirds in the region. The difficulty of maneuvering through the extensive tule marshes, however, made exploration difficult. Jedediah Smith’s party passed by Tulare Lake in 1827 (Morgan 1953). Smith had hoped to trap in the area, having heard of the presence of American beaver (Castor canadensis) from Spanish authorities, but found it too difficult to operate in the dense tule marshes.

The naturalist and bird artist Andrew Jackson Grayson accompanied a survey party to the Tulare Basin in 1853 (Grayson 1920). Upon reaching the shores of Tulare Lake on October 16, Grayson wrote “We reached this lake early in the evening, in time to kill quantities of ducks, snipe, geese and black curlew (i.e., White-faced Ibis) before dark......We found all kinds of waterfowl, antelope and hare in abundance around Tulare Lake”. The party journeyed on to Buena Vista Lake at the end of October, where Grayson observed “great quantities of white geese and other waterfowl of every description.”

James Capen “Grizzly” Adams visited Tulare Lake in 1855 (Hittell 1911). Adams wrote that tules were so extensive around the lake that the lake itself could not be seen.

In order to see the lake, Adams waded through almost a mile of marsh with several Yokuts people in order to reach a canoe, with which the party paddled to an island. Adams writes “.... we crossed an arm of the lake, and landed on a small wooded island, which was a place of birds indeed. There were birds in almost incredible numbers, ducks, geese, swans, cranes, curlews, snipes, and various other kinds, in all stages of growth, and eggs by thousands among the grass and tules”. Adams accounts are generally lacking in zoological detail, so it is perhaps wise not to draw many conclusions about particular species from his remarks, though they suggest that waterbirds were abundant.

The abundance of waterbirds and other wildlife provided an opportunity for professional hunters to exploit, shipping vast quantities of fish, western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata), bird eggs, and birds to markets in San Francisco. Huge populations of waterbirds were noted by market hunters (Brown 1940, Preston 1981, Garone 2011). The Central Pacific Railroad extended its San Joaquin Valley line to Tulare County in 1872, and to Bakersfield by 1874, providing even easier access to San Francisco markets for hunters exploiting Tulare Lake’s birds. Although market hunting must have declined substantially by the time of Goldman’s visit to the area, Linton (1908) noted the presence of plume hunters and market hunters at Buena Vista Lake in the same year. Linton reported that plume hunters took “Western Grebes” (i.e., Western and/or Clark’s Grebes) whenever they could, and that this might have accounted for the lack of breeding of that species. Local residents also took advantage of the abundance of waterfowl. Brown (1940) noted: “residents of Lemoore used to walk out to the lake-shore on an afternoon, shoot all the birds they wanted, and then walk back home in time for the evening meal”. Though scenes such as this were likely rare by the time of Edward Goldman’s visit to the region, there still could be large numbers of waterbirds during high water years.

Here is some more historical reading on Tulare Lake, below.

[1]. Tulare Lake History

https://www.dailymessenger.is/pdf/tulare%20lake%20history.pdf

Here's the lake in 1873 on an old map.

#california #history #water #lakes #itsback #wildlife

 
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from $ ./NWO.

are you still using #facebook?

get outta there!

~~

it's the devil's playground. see ye to it, delete your account. none of them will try to find you, anyway. they're all under demonic algorithmic control..

When I finally deleted my account, April 1st, 2021? Maybe 2022? I honestly forget which, since then only 5 or 6 of the people I'd had on my friends list of 1600 people! Came looking for me. The rest, well I've tried to contact about 30 or so of them, guess what? Not a single one replied.

Facebook casts a demonic spell, over all those who use it. I quit, the spell was broken, and nobody came a lookin, because they're all not thinking for themselves. ...Get it? Do you understand?

Okay. Think about it.

~~

https://www.dailymessenger.is/whale/whale.to/b/mark_zuckerberg.html

~~~~

 
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from $ ./NWO.

regenerating tags.

okay okay okay, :)

time to play with sed and such today and regenerate the tag-navigation page,

and build the archives January 2023, Feb 2023, and work on part of the archive for March 2023, so I can release it around April 1st. (no joke.)

:)

Wishing you a wonderful morning, by his grace...

Psalm 34

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

 
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from $ ./NWO.

Israeli Govt propses new legislation banning talk about Yeshua, and the gospel

making it... a crime. punishable by jail time.

literally. Well, this cannot come to pass, so instead, on this day 1st of Nisan, Rosh Chodesh... The Israeli Govt Got Sealed, In Yeshua our Adonai's holy name and blood, instead. As well as the homes of all Israeli govt employees, and their secondary homes as well, that they may be judged by their ripened fruits. All of them, in Yeshua's name.

[1]. article

https://www.dailymessenger.is/pdf/EXCLUSIVE%20Two%20Knesset%20members%20propose%20legislation%20to%20outlaw%20sharing%20the%20Gospel%20in%20Israel%20and%20send%20violators%20to%20prison%20%E2%80%93%20could%20it%20become%20law%20All%20Israel%20News.pdf

As Palm Sunday and Easter approach – the two most sacred days on the calendar for those who follow Jesus as both God and Messiah – two members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) introduced a bill last week that would ban any and all efforts to tell people about Jesus.

The proposed legislation would outlaw all efforts by people of one faith who, in any way, want to discuss or try to persuade people of other faiths to consider changing their current religious beliefs. The punishment for doing so would be “one year imprisonment.”

If the conversation is with minor – someone under the age of 18 – the punishment would be “two years imprisonment.”

This bill would apply to people having spiritual conversations with Israelis of any religion.

However, in their official explanation of the bill, the two Israeli legislators specifically emphasized the warning to stop Christians, in particular


dad lead me to these:

Matthew 22:

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Matthew 28:

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Judges 2:

16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.

18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.


Okay then. Not today, Satan.

#evilsatanists

[2]. Read the bill in Hebrew.

https://www.dailymessenger.is/pdf/FULL%20TEXT%20Read%20the%20original%20Hebrew%20version%20of%20the%20proposed%20legislation%20to%20outlaw%20sharing%20the%20Gospel%20message%20in%20Israel%20All%20Israel%20News.pdf

[3]. Read the bill in English

https://www.dailymessenger.is/pdf/FULL%20TEXT%20Read%20the%20English%20translation%20of%20the%20newly%20proposed%20legislation%20to%20outlaw%20sharing%20the%20Gospel%20message%20in%20Israel%20All%20Israel%20News.pdf

 
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from writehere

Do not lament.. Do not fear.

To those that are miserable and feel there is no hope,

Put your hope and trust in Yeshua, and our heavenly father.

Do not lament the strife of this world, for it is all temporary, and your soul can be eternal. Wash yourselves clean, repent, atone and apply the full armor of God,and ointment. Eat good food, and do good unto others.

Don't sweat the big stuff, but pray against it, from a fleshy heart, and do your best to remain always in hope, and never in fear.

II Timothy 1,7 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 
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from writehere

operation chokepoint version 2

Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, And #Crypto Is In Its Crosshairs | ZeroHedge

February 10, 2023 by GIHAdmin Leave a Comment From: zerohedge

What began as a trickle is now a flood: the US government is using the banking sector to organize a sophisticated, widespread crackdown against the crypto industry. And the administration's efforts are no secret: they're expressed plainly in memos, regulatory guidance, and blog posts. However, the breadth of this plan — spanning virtually every financial regulator — as well as its highly coordinated nature, has even the most steely-eyed crypto veterans nervous that crypto businesses might end up completely unbanked, stablecoins may be stranded and unable to manage flows in and out of crypto, and exchanges might be shut off from the banking system entirely. Let's dig in.

For crypto firms, obtaining access to the onshore banking system has always been a challenge. Even today, crypto startups struggle mightily to get banks, and only a handful of boutiques serve them. This is why stablecoins like Tether found popularity early on: to facilitate fiat settlement where the rails of traditional banking were unavailable. However, in recent weeks, the intensity of efforts to ringfence the entire crypto space and isolate it from the traditional banking system have ratcheted up significantly. Specifically, the Biden administration is now executing what appears to be a coordinated plan that spans multiple agencies to discourage banks from dealing with crypto firms. It applies to both traditional banks who would serve crypto clients, and crypto-first firms aiming to get bank charters. It includes the administration itself, influential members of Congress, the Fed, the FDIC, the OCC, and the DoJ. Here's a recap of notable events concerning banks and the policy establishment in recent weeks:

On Dec. 6, Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall send a letter to crypto-friendly bank Silvergate, scolding them for providing services to FTX and Alameda research, and lambasting them for failing to report suspicious activities associated with those clients

On Dec. 7, Signature (among the most active banks serving crypto clients) announces its intent to halve deposits ascribed to crypto clients — in other words, they'll give customers their money back, then shut down their accounts — drawing its crypto deposits down from $23b at peak to $10b, and to exit its stablecoin business

On Jan. 3, the Fed, the FDIC, and the OCC release a joint statement on the risks to banks engaging with crypto, not explicitly banning banks' ability to hold crypto or deal with crypto clients, but strongly discouraging them from doing so on a “safety and soundness” basis

On Jan. 9, Metropolitan Commercial Bank (one of the few banks that serve crypto clients) announces a total shutdown of its cryptoasset-related vertical

On Jan. 9, Silvergate stock falls to a low of $11.55 on bank run and insolvency fears, having traded as high as $160 in March 2022

On Jan. 21, Binance announces that due to policy at Signature bank, they will only process user fiat transactions worth more than $100,000

On Jan. 27, the Federal Reserve denies crypto bank Custodia's two-year application to become a member of the Federal Reserve system, citing “safety and soundness” risks

On Jan. 27, the Kansas City Fed branch denies Custodia's application for a master account, which would have given it the ability to use wholesale payment services, and to hold reserves with the Fed directly

On Jan. 27, the Fed also issues a policy statement which discourages banks from holding cryptoassets or issuing stablecoins, and broadens their authority to cover non-FDIC insured state-chartered banks (a reaction to Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institutions (SPDIs) like Custodia, which can hold crypto alongside fiat for its banking customers)

On Jan. 27, the National Economic Council releases a policy statement not explicitly banning banks from serving crypto clients, but strongly discouraging banks from transacting with cryptoassets directly or maintaining exposure to crypto depositors

On Feb. 2, the DoJ's fraud unit announces an investigation into Silvergate over their dealings with FTX and Alameda

On Feb. 6, Binance suspends USD bank transfers for retail clients (Binance US was not affected)

On Feb. 7, the Jan. 27 Fed statement is entered into the federal register, turning the policy statement into a final rule, with no Congressional review, or public notice-and-comment period

As of Feb. 8, Protego and Paxos' applications to follow Anchorage and obtain full approval to become National Trust Banks are still outstanding (past the 18 month deadline), and appear likely to be imminently denied by the OCC

In sum, banks taking deposits from crypto clients, issuing stablecoins, engaging in crypto custody, or seeking to hold crypto as principal have faced nothing short of an onslaught from regulators in recent weeks. Time and again, using the expression “safety and soundness,” they've made it clear that for a bank, touching public blockchains in any way is considered unacceptably risky. While neither the Fed/ FDIC/ OCC statement — nor the NEC statement a few weeks later — explicitly ban banks from servicing crypto clients, the writing is on the wall, and the investigations into Silvergate are a strong deterrent to any bank considering aligning itself with crypto. What is clear now is that issuing stablecoins or transacting on public blockchains (where they could circulate freely, like cash) is highly discouraged, or effectively prohibited. It is equally evident that a bank-issued fiat token would only be acceptable to regulators if it were domiciled on a surveilled, private blockchain. No ‘unhosted' wallets allowed. 1

And perhaps most damagingly, the Fed's devastating denial of Wyoming SPDI bank Custodia, as well as their policy statement, effectively ends any hopes that a state-chartered crypto bank might get access to the Federal Reserve system without submitting to FDIC oversight.

Why might crypto entrepreneurs be wary of the FDIC? It traces back to Operation Choke Point. Some in the crypto space believe that the recent attempts to ringfence the crypto industry and cut off its connectivity to the banking system are reminiscent of this little-known Obama-era program.

Beginning in 2013, Choke Point was a scheme which sought to marginalize specific industries operating legally — not through lawmaking, but by applying pressure via the banking sector. The Obama DoJ had already cut its teeth with its successful effort to sideline the online poker space in 2011 and 2012 with threats issued to banks supporting poker companies. With Choke Point, the Department decided to scale up its efforts and target other industries, starting with uncontroversial targets like payday lenders. Then, the DoJ coordinated with the FDIC and OCC to pressure member banks to “redline” — determine as too risky to do business with — certain legal but politically disfavored sectors, chief among them firearms manufacturers and adult entertainment 2

. Banks and payment processors internalized this guidance, and even after the program was formally shuttered under Trump in 2017, its shadow lingered. Today, banks simply ascribe a higher risk to activities that they might draw the government's ire, even if no specific guidance exists.

Since Choke Point nominally ended, using financial rails as an extra-judicial political cudgel has only become more popular. Under pressure, a number of banks walked away from the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017. In 2018, Bank of America and Citigroup deplatformed firearms companies, and BoA began to report client firearm purchases to the federal government. In 2019, AOC announced her intent to marginalize private prisons through her seat on the House Financial Services Committee.

Financial regulators are being asked to advance progressive causes, too. In 2021, the Democratic House passed the “Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act,” which would have required the Fed to aim to “eliminate disparities across racial and ethnic groups with respect to employment, income, wealth, and access to affordable credit.” Gensler's SEC now maintains a controversial climate agenda, as does the Fed (at smaller scale). Kamala Harris has deputized banks to advance a racial equity agenda, effectively imposing uneven demographic standards for credit provision.

Today it's even commonplace for explicitly conservative organizations like Gab or Parler, and various malcontents and dissidents who fall afoul of regime politics, to find themselves deplatformed from banks, fintech, and payment processors that they rely on to do business. For those who support this, I would invite you to imagine what financial inclusion (or exclusion) under a similarly zealous DeSantis administration might look like. “Just build your own bank,” right? Well, not if the Fed has anything to say about it. As evident with the stillborn Wyoming SPDI, the crypto industry tried that path and was utterly stymied.

Banks are highly regulated public-private partnerships in an environment where new charters are excruciatingly hard to obtain, and as such remain de facto arms of the state. It has been and remains trivial to deputize them to carry out political objectives. If there was any doubt, it's now evident that the Obama administration and its successor in Biden's regime are comfortable circumventing the First Amendment by engaging nominally private companies to do their dirty work. Anyone paying remote attention would have noticed the oddly close revolving door between monopolistic big tech firms and Obama/ Biden security state officials. And ever since Elon Musk leaked the Twitter Files, it's nakedly clear that the US government and its security apparatus used proxies at Twitter for overt censorship and narrative control. Twitter is “just a private company,” though, right?

In 2017, Trump and Republican lawmakers like Rep. Luetkemeyer were able to put a stop to Choke Point for a time, but it didn't last. One of the first moves from Biden's OCC was to undo Brian Brook's Fair Access rule that prohibited political discrimination in banking. Biden's deputies picked up where Obama's regulators had left off. And now, after the time it took to digest Biden's Executive Orders, regulators are tightening the screw.

Today, the outlook for banks remotely interested in crypto is precarious. Bankers tell me that crypto is toxic and the risks of engaging with the asset class aren't worth it. In the wake of the Custodia decision, obtaining a new charter for a crypto bank looks extremely unlikely. Banking innovations at the state level, like Wyoming's SPDI for crypto banks, appear dead in the water. Federal Charters for crypto firms with the OCC also look dead in the water. Traders, liquid funds, and businesses with crypto working capital are nervously examining their stablecoin portfolios and fiat access points, wondering if bank connectivity might be severed with little notice. Privately, entrepreneurs and CEOs in crypto tell me that they sense a regulatory noose tightening. As crypto-facing banks ‘derisk,' younger and smaller firms will struggle to get banking, taking us back to the 2014 to 2016 period when fiat access for crypto businesses was at an extreme premium. Exchanges and other businesses that rely on fiat onramps are concerned that their few remaining bank partners will shut them off or institute draconian standards for scrutiny. As a venture capitalist operating at the early stage, I am directly witnessing the chilling effects of this policy in action. Founders are reckoning with new uncertainties around whether they'll be able to operate their businesses at all.

So why the push by bank regulators now? The FTX collapse and its ensuing effects, particularly on Silvergate, provides much of the answer. Financial regulators weren't interested in FTX while the fraud was underway (with the exception of the SEC and its chairman Gensler, who had oddly close ties to the organization), but ever since the exchange failed in spectacular fashion, they are now contemplating ways to avoid the next such collapse. FTX as an offshore exchange was not directly supervised by financial regulators (aside from FTX US, which was a marginal stub), so it was outside of their direct aegis. However, regulators believe that they might have a silver bullet in the fiat on- and off-ramps on which the industry relies. If they can choke off fiat access, they can marginalize the industry — on and off shore — without regulating it directly.

In some key respects, Crypto Choke Point 2.0 differs from the original. It appears that the administration has learned from the efforts of its predecessors. In Choke Point 1.0, guidance was mainly informal and involved backdoor, off-the-record conversations. Its main tool was the threat of investigation from the DoJ and FDIC if financial institutions didn't internalize the administration's risk standards. Because this was patently unconstitutional, it gave Republicans the collateral to ultimately repeal the program. In 2.0, everything is happening in plain sight, in the form of rulemaking, written guidance, and blogs. The current crypto crackdown is being sold as a “safety and soundness” issue for banks, and not merely a reputational risk issue. Jake Chervinsky of the Blockchain Association calls it “regulation by blog post.” No need to ask Congress for new laws if federal regulators can simply make policy (and in the case of the Fed, grow their scope and mandate) by publishing guidance which dissuades banks from doing business with crypto. Custodia's Caitlin Long calls the Fed denial of her application “shooting the stallion to scatter the herd.”

As a consequence, the only banks willing to touch crypto at this point are smaller, less risk-averse ones, with more to gain from banking the industry. However, this means that crypto deposits and flows end up being substantial relative to their core business, which introduces concentration risks. Banks prefer not to have excessive exposure to single counterparties, or a depository base that is highly correlated in its flows. Silvergate felt this acutely with the bank run it suffered — and survived — post FTX. While it's impressive that they were able to honor a 70% drawdown in their depository base, that episode will dissuade any banks looking to serve crypto clients that might face the same.

And practically speaking, labeling crypto-facing banks “high risk” has four direct effects: it gives them a higher premium with the FDIC, they face a lower cap rate with the Fed (which inhibits their ability to overdraw), they face restrictions on other business activities, and management risks a poor examination score with their regulatory supervisors, which inhibits their ability to do M&A. So while some analysts like Wilson Sonsini's Jess Cheng have pointed out, somewhat optimistically, that banks are not explicitly barred from providing crypto custody or onboarding crypto clients, they still stand to get labeled high risk — and face serious business hurdles as a result.

Some might be sympathetic to regulators' attempts to insulate the banking system from the vicissitudes of the crypto space. But thus far, crypto's various disasters haven't produced any meaningful contagion. The industry had a full-blown credit crisis in 2022, with virtually every major lender going bankrupt, but the damage was contained. The worst fallout in the banking space was suffered by Silvergate, which suffered an $8b drawdown, but survived. No onshore, fiat-backed stablecoin suffered any meaningful adverse effects, despite the massive crypto selloff in 2021 and 2022. They functioned as intended. And no contagion spilled into traditional finance via mass selling of Treasuries, something officials have historically felt might be a key transmission channel.

As Biden enters the second half of his term, his crackdown on crypto banking has deflated hopes for a regulatory rapprochement in the US. Many crypto entrepreneurs now tell me that they're waiting for 2025 and a putative DeSantis regime for things to turn. Some can't wait that long, and are shuttering their plans for businesses which involve any type of regulatory approval, especially with regards to bank charters. Regulators are effectively picking winners — with larger, more established crypto firms able to hang on to their bank relationships, while newer ones are shut out. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions are making a bid for their business. Hong Kong has adopted a friendlier tone once again, as has the UK. The UAE and the Saudis are looking to attract crypto firms. And US regulators can scarcely afford to forget what happened with FTX, in which they curtailed the business activities of onshore exchanges, effectively pushing US individuals into the waiting claws of SBF. If bank regulators continue their pressure campaign, they risk not only losing control of the crypto industry, but ironically increasing risk, by pushing activity to less sophisticated jurisdictions, less able to manage genuine risks that may emerge.

-Nic Carter

1) If you're wondering how using a stablecoin on-chain is substantively different from a bank letting clients withdraw cash from an ATM and using it to buy something from someone else, you're not alone. 2) The FDIC at one point listed 30 different industries for banks to avoid.

FullText from:

https://globalintelhub.com/operation-choke-point-2-0-is-underway-and-crypto-is-in-its-crosshairs-zerohedge/

 
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from writehere

RABBINISM Unwitting Disciples of Zoroaster: The Influence of Zoroastrianism on Rabbanism in the Talmud and Midrash. In short, modern Yiddish Jews who control banking, business, Israel, NYC, and most of the secular world and are behind most, if not all, of the evil that is spread over the earth. Bloodline of lucifer, nephilim. The damned From 226 to 379, the Persian kings gathered and systematized the works of Zoroaster. The result was twenty-one great volumes – against the twenty-one words of the most holy Persian prayer, the Ahuravarrya. Known as Nusk, it is the Talmud of the Zoroastrians (speaking anachronistically). Due to the hostilities between the Persians and the Arabs in the latter half of the eighth century, the books of the Nusk were singled out for destruction. What now remains to the remnants of Zoroastrianism are five volumes: (1) Yasna – the book of sacrifices, which contains seventy-two chapters among them the Gatha passages (the oldest and most hallowed writings of the Zend-Avesta) (2) Vendidad – twenty-two chapters on the laws regulating evil spirits. (3) Yasht -an elaborate, detailed account of the Persian deities. (4) The Vispered – twenty-four chapters (a supplement to Yasna). (5) Khorda – an abridged edition of the laws in the Zend-Avesta. The Talmud was greatly influenced by Persian culture. It derives, in fact, much of its content directly from the Zend-Avesta, as will be detailed in brief below. One finds in the Talmud not only Persian superstition and legend, but many legal decisions handed down in accordance with Persian code. Not to mention the customs and usages of Persian life. Even the forms and expressions of the literary Pahlavi entered into the Talmud in no small way. The Persian influence on the Talmud is so great that, at times, it is difficult to separate what is Jewish from what is Persian in it. DEMONS Let’s start with a look at Ahriman. Ahriman’s myriads of helpers are referred to as divs, what we now call devils. Vendidad I, 21 notes that these divs are more numerous than the dust of the earth (as does Talmud Masekhet Berakhot 6, Midrash Tehillim 17, Tanhuma, etc.,). The following passages from the Talmud and Midrash regarding demons (divs) were derived or directly copied from Vendidad II: Masekhet Sanhedrin 25 notes that devs are particularly active in graveyards. Masekhet Gitin 68 and Midrash Qohelet state that divs are male and female. Masekhet Berakhot 61 and Masekhet Hulin 105 state that demons can assume the shape of human beings, or flys. Masekhet Hagigah 16 contends that demons, like human beings, can reproduce. Masekhet Gitin 68 calls Ashemdai (Aesmadiv in Persian) the greatest of the divs. One of the fundamental teachings of Persian religious conduct is the avoidance of unclean hands (Masekhet Shabbat 109). It was believed that Sabetkh, a div, rests upon such hands: The Qissur Shulhan Arukh 2.1 quoting Yosef Caro’s Beit Yosef states, “when a man is asleep, the holy soul departs from his body, and an unclean spirit descends upon him. When rising from sleep, the unclean spirit departs from his body except for his fingers, and does not depart until one spills water upon them three times alternately. One is not allowed to walk four cubits (six feet) without having one’s hands washed, except in cases of extreme necessity.” Masekhet Megillah 3 states that during the period of night, no one must offer or receive the hand of another (for fear of an evil spirit). Masekhet Shevu‘ot 15 and Masekhet Berakhot 4 contain the Persian prayer to repel the unseen forces of evil. The driving off of evil spirits by adjuration was an integral part of the Persian religion. Whole systems of conjuration were devised by them; and many were the invocations with which some of them commanded the devils. All of these spells and “prayers” can be found in the Talmud. A few examples will serve to illustrate: Vendidad II, 223 and Masekhet Qiddushin 81 state that the chief thing to utter when exorcising a demon was, “I expel you from me.” If one has been bitten by a mad dog, a spell must be intoned in order to eject the hurtful spirit. [This very incantation, from Vendidad I.30, as well as the spell to ward against forgetfulness and the spell to insure that the sheep of the slaughterhouse may be fat have been written in the Talmud] The Persian beliefs in cameos, amulets, and talismans were also absorbed into the Talmud, along with the reading of sacred writings to restore health. In general, Zoroastrian influence is directly responsible for the presence of demons and devils in the Midrash and Talmud. OTHER ELEMENTS To attempt to detail every point where the Talmud draws upon the Zend-Avesta would take a book. The following section will detail some of the more prominent concepts: The matter of benedictions, or the saying of grace over something that is eaten is of Persian origin (Vendidad II.112) The entire marriage ritual, with its special blessings, ceremony and rites is fully delimitated in the Zend-Avesta (II.157, 158, III.228) Vendidad II.130 and Midrash Tehillim both contend that the righteous who dwell in Paradise are as luminous as the stars. Vendidad 18, 166 and Masekhet Sanhedrin 17 state that the art of magic does not come from the Evil Power, and all wise men (in the case of the Talmud the men of the Sanhedrin can practice it). Both the Zend-Avesta (according to the Persians) and Torah (according to the Talmud) are able to repel demonic influences, merely by their recitation (c.f., Seder Eliyhau, Zuta 82, Masekhet Megillah 31, and Masekhet Ta‘anit 27). The passage in the Zend-Avesta where Ahura Mazda speaks to Zoroaster of the life of virtue that follows death has been copied directly into the Talmud (Masekhet Avot 86). The disciples of Zoroaster are assured of a heavenly existence, so the Talmud says of the nation of Israel (Masekhet ‘Eruvin 10). God is with him who studies and mediates in the night (Vendidad 18, Masekhet ‘Avodah Zarah 3, Masekhet Berakhot 30). The Persians believed that life is but a passing, unimportant state of existence, only after death does one truly begin to live, so Midrash Qohelet Rabba. Zoroastrians were loath to convert others to their faith, so too is found in the Talmud a discouragement to prosetylization (Masekhet Qiddushin 70). Though the Zend-Avesta was unknown before the coming of Zoroaster, the righteous who had lived before him were aware of it, and followed the precepts it contained. The Talmud, in this vein, contends that the Patriarchs perfectly observed the Torah even though it had not yet been given (Masekhet Yoma 28). Truly, all of the enjoinments concerning demons and spirits detailed in the Vendidad may be found in the Talmud. It is as if the authors of the Talmud sat down and copied the Vendidad into the Talmud. Many of the laws of Yasna: sacrificial arrangement, rendering of divine service, and regulations of cleanliness form the major portion of Talmudic law in these matters. The list goes on and on, to the extent that one begins to wonder if Rabbanites are unwitting disciples of Zoroaster.

 
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from memories

how do I keep track of all the stuff that I'm doing?

Well. I have a text editor that I don't use for anything else but this,

I use Tea. On #Debian #Linux but it can be anything, really.

  • I make a folder in Documents called day-count

  • I set my system clock to show the day of the year.

  • I make a folder for each year, just the number of the year, 2023 for example.

  • Then each document, as I go about whatever it is I'm doing gets a simple filename schema, for example:

040-2023-nostr-relay-settings-with-nostr.wine.md

save it, and you have a folder you can easily scroll through when you open the text editor selection dialogue or your desktop window managers file picker. The benefits will be readily apparent when all you have to do is scroll and find the keywords that stand out, or the day number relative to the current day number. It's very fast and efficient. I've been doing this for 3 years now.

#productivity #tips #easy #peasy #enjoy

I save things as markdown because sometimes I put markdown tags in text files. It's just easier, because markdown is a hybrid format that supports HTML tags, as well as markdown tags.

and no, I don't use calendaring of ANY sort, no day planner stuffs, and I don't even wear a watch. Simple is the best way to go, and this is simple. Plus, you can move it wherever you want, it's not DRM locked to an app or specific UI, and trust that I spent years, over a decade and a half, messing with all that stuff... It will slowly drive you mad.

 
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from memories

waxing for a moment, #memories..

So I used to run a music and culture online “zine” back in the early to mid 2000's. We had a small team of happy writers, and I was always getting cd's of new bands sent to the apartment and would mail them out to the writers, they'd review them and email me their article, and up it went, type of thing. I handled some of the reviews, and then did the photo section myself, cuz that was really my thing.

The publication was called Modzine.com (its not in my control anymore, no idea what's there now but it's not of my doing..)

I'd been shooting bands since I was a junior in High school, so yeah lots of fun.

This memory brought to you by Koo's Cafe, formerly in a Victorian House in Downtown Santa Ana, which used to be a Chop Suey Restaurant for about 50 years, before becoming a cultural hub and venue..

So, when I went to Koo's, I saw a band called Open Hand. I'm pretty certain it was 2003. There was an audience of literally about 20, maaaaybe 30 people there. total. it was incredible.

Listen to the album here:

As for Koo's, here's an old article from the OC Weekly, describing what was special about the place.

[1]. Remembering Koo's Cafe

http://yeshua.is/memories/Remembering_Koos.pdf

#stories #music #modzine

More about modzine another time. It was a lot of fun, and there were definitely some fantastic memories from the time spent doing all that.

 
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from memories

Hello!

Welcome to this blog.

This is going to be a collection of memories of mine, as I decide to write them.

Think of it as a running online memoir, of sorts.

 
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from VT

Borderland Civil War History

Sarah Powell Giddings of Enosburgh, Vt. self published a narrative of her experiences with her Civil War veteran husband, Alexander Louis Giddings. Repeated abandonment from her childhood, the death of her sister has the consequences of limited attachment capacity. Her writing is decorated with christian biblical references. The prevalence of spiritualism renders her faith-based text peppered with arcane moments.

1899 her book arrived and she spent the rest of her life in Enosburg; until 1927, when Dr. Hinman signed her death certificate. As a wife of a masonic lodge member, her expanded view of safeness created a constellation of beliefs. She felt threatened by the local Masonic lodge. Members of the lodge, by her own account, intimidated her by failing to compensate her when planning a street extension. The direct fear they provoked was being locked away in a mental hospital. Communities were often placing indecent, non-compliant women in these sanitariums.

Her daughter was taken, within three months of her mother's death to the Vermont State Psych Hospital. There she spent most of her son's childhood. Grace Giddings Lowden's son, Thomas Lowden, stayed with his uncle Hugh and Lulu Giddings, on Maple Park. Grace kept her mother's home, in the 1940 census. The local historians tell me they were unaware of her time in the hospital. They report that she kept boarders, as her mother had.

The research of this particular Giddings family reveals no surviving descendants. Sarah Powell Gidding's book is available at archive.org; titled “In the Enemies Land”, 1899. This writer is looking for more input/feedback/commentary to further develop a local memorial to celebrate the elevation of women who write.

 
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from VT

In 2020, I was selling a little grey Subaru that my mom had given me. It had low mileage and for everyone who doesn't live in New England; it was your typical 4 wheel drive economy car. It is very common for people to drive these because our seasonal conditions require some extra handling capacity.

Many lookers, I could have sold it over and over again. One couple wanted it for their mom. Another guy was a mechanic and thought he could flip it. Then, a young woman, maybe 22 years old came by in a rusted out VW. Her car was running but you could see the road through the floor. I know personally several people who thrive on this situation. That being a car that may or may not go another 10 miles. She stopped back with her boyfriend. I was ready to get rid of it and thought she was the one to have it.

Her boyfriend was talking to me about growing up in Vermont, living in Waterville. “You know, its all family farms. If you don't inherit a farm, then there's nothing for you here.”

There is nothing for you in Vermont, unless you have inherited a farm.

This brings to light the generational abuse that is a native Vermonter's burden. All my early childhood friends no longer live in Vermont. What is here are the transplants from New Jersey and New York; we don't talk about the Massholes. These family farms were all sold over the past three decades to make way for low income housing, multiplex condos, out of state retirees who need a break from the neighbors and flee to the Vermont countryside.

The farms that remain are gigantic mega-dairies. These mega-dairies have abusive labor practices, animal welfare issues, and water contamination secrets. The second home owners can't enjoy the evening walk due to the absurd number of cow manure spreading vehicles passing them by.

Getting to my point. Actually, my point is just this. How we all know there is this ridiculous problem of labor shortages when mega-dairies are sucking the economy tits and doing so at the cost of soil health, woodlands depletion, and water quality?

 
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from writehere

Hey Amie, I generated a test post, so you could benefit from checking it out, for your blogging efforts. The post is duplicated below.

Problems with the Historical Society

Problems with the historical society.

Maple Mavin on Pixelfed

What is so unsettling in the video (man in costume), is just the hidden hand in every work from Confucius, to Middle ages St. Hildegarde, to our own colonization of America.

Welcome comments...we are here to make you safe.


Post Ends above this line.


Some brief notes to make sense of this:


(((( In order to get the video embed code, without having to do it manually, I went here: https://youtubeembedcode.com/en/ ))) – You paste the video URL into the box there, and pick the options you want, and then hit generate my code. – Then of course, hit the copy code button, and paste it into the blog post, to get the video into your post. :) – I use a different, much simpler video embed code for my posts, but youtube is a complicated beast, and requires their own, in a certain format. – I'm not too crazy about the above generator, because it also embeds advertising links for search engine boost ranking for their advertising partners, but for now it's a solution until I figure out a better way to help you with embedding videos.

It will generate that big old ugly code block, but no worries it doesn't require editing.
—The only reason I'm including the rest of this stuff above the ————– slashed line, is you can see the format for making a link, pretty.

Yay! :)

Good Morning :)

 
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