Dee Feat is in Dee Flation - part the fifty first

That ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
-- Dire Straits/1985

It's little talked about, but there's one Dirty Little Secret among the truly wealthy, 1%-ers and up: they love them their Depressions. Now, why would that be? Aren't they hurt, just like the hoi polloi? Not a bit of it. The neat thing about Depressions (and to a lesser extent, usually, Recessions): deflation. The beauty of deflation is that it increases the value of money stockpiles. And, since they have so much more than they spend on necessities, the truly wealthy find that their net worth goes up. For nothing. Ain't America Great Again?

Now we find that the Big Banks which had, heretofore, condemned crypto are now All In. And, why would that be? Because if crypto can wheedle its way into the whole economy, the bad guys win. Remember Gresham's Law? Bad money drives out good. The Law was described in the mid-19^th century, when American banking was a shambles. Much like the country itself. Actually, to most intents and purposes, not really a country. Bank notes, which were printed and distributed by local banks, were the common currency of the day.

So, where does crypto fit in? It's a classic way to debase the US Buck. Who has the gold, makes the rules.

Today, just 2% of cryptocurrency addresses control over 95% of all Bitcoin in circulation — a concentration of wealth that eclipses even traditional financial markets.

And, though you thought it can't get worser:

In contrast, many altcoins show even higher concentration levels, particularly those that launched through initial coin offerings (ICOs) or similar distribution methods. It is now relatively easy to create new tokens or coins using dedicated platforms, which has contributed to the rapid proliferation of altcoins and memecoins.

Kinda, sorta like the Goode Olde Days of the mid-19^th century, with everybody and his cat issuing bank notes. Retrograde, indeed.

So, how much bitcoin is out there, and how much remains to be 'minted'? Answer: a lot, and not much. As I type:

minted - 19,906,812.5
left   -  1,093,187.5

Some more background. The mining reward is down to 3.125 per added block. The next halving is expected around April, 2028, so 1.5625 will be the mining rate.

So, in sum: a country that can't control its own currency is anarchy. The Daddy Warbucks wet dream. The Real Elites (not them pointy head coastal wokenauts) will have theyselves one pure, unadulterated tin pot dictatorship to exploit. Since bitcoin supply is getting mighty close to stasis, they're now All In. Wonderful.

Cowardly New World

Well, now we know what Bone Spur Samurai^© has in mind. If you hadn't seen it coming, the troops encircling the Newsom event should drop the scales from your eyes.

The point is to incite just a little, teeny, tiny bit of civil unrest (in a Blue City, of course). With that, Bone Spur Samurai^© then declares an Insurrection in progress, declares martial law, and invades any place that isn't ruby red. The problem will be: ain't never been anything worth having from a Red place. Kill off the woke Blue places, and the whole shebang grinds to a halt. But, then, tin pot dictators don't care about that.

Stop Me

... if you've heard this one before.

Pretty much forever, I've viewed Thomas Friedman as the NYT's token 'compassionate conservative', pretty much a wolf in sheeps clothing. Well, Demented Dictator Don appears to have dropped the veil from his eyes. For now. Today's essay (dead tree's division) may strike a familiar note.

Regular reader should recall two coinages (so far as I know) that have been used here with increasing frequency: The Office of Data Integrity and The Office of Policy Integrity. Offered up in the spirit of Newspeak. Both Offices have been hecticly busy of late.

So, Friend Friedman offers this today:

[Bill Blain] then went on to imagine how his Porridge newsletter will sound in May 2031. It will begin, he wrote, with "a link to a release from Trump's Ministry of Economic Truth, formerly the U.S. Treasury: 'Under the leadership of President Trump, the U.S. economy continues to grow at record speed. Payrolls data from the Ministry of Truth, a subsidiary of Truth Social, show full employment across America. Tensions in the inner cities have never been so low. All recent graduates have found highly paid jobs across America's expanding manufacturing sector, causing many large companies in Trump Inc to report significant labor shortages.'"
[my emphasis, of course]

Friedman concludes (a bit scary, this bit)

That is why, dear reader, though I am a congenital optimist, for the first time I believe that if the behavior that this administration has exhibited in just its first six months continues and is amplified for its full four years, the America you know will be gone. And I don't know how we will get it back.

Without fair voting, we won't. And Demented Dictator Don is quite determined that fair voting will never happen on his watch.

By The Numbers - part the ninety first

Be careful what you wish for, moron. What the Evangelical Reactionary Radical Retrograde Right Wingnuts won't admit: they're a minority of the population and voters. Here's the totals of registered voters:

Right Wingunts - 36 million
Thoughtful Dems - 45.1 million

So, if both parties, across all states, perfectly gerrymander, the House will never be Republican. Bless my heart.

That source also mentions that only 47% of registered voters have a party affiliation, which leaves them as some kind of Independent. Most polling on Demented Dictator Don's performance show that Independents don't like him, either.

Self-identified independents gave the president a 29 percent job approval rating. The 17-point decline since January matches his lowest rating with independents in either of his terms.

Now, Demented Dictator Don likely doesn't care. He's convinced that he'll be alloted indefinite terms by the Gang of Six, if he chooses to have elections, of course. And, that the Gang of Six will allow him to cancel elections due to "a state of emegency", if it looks bleak. I mean, they've already as much as said that he has dictatorial power.

Get out and vote just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years it will be fixed. It'll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.

Some how he doesn't act much like a Christian. Well, may be like one o them Bible thumping shitkicker hucksters a la Elmer Gantry.

The Greatest Threat - part the sixteenth [the TACO has come home to roost]

Where to begin with the shit storm Demented Dictator Don just exploded?

Firing the BLS commissioner just because you don't like the numbers is the mark of a total idiot. But it is very much in keeping with Batshit J. Moron. Remember this gem from Covid-19?

If we didn't do any testing, we would have very few cases.

Of course we wouldn't. But, just as I have been predicting: the Office of Data Integrity would, in due time, corrupt any and all government data that Batshit J. Moron gets irritated by. At least in the climate change case, he'll be long dead by the time today's kids can breathe the air or drink the water. While they broil alive.

Riddle me this, Batshit: which of your agencies actually conducts the surveys that constitute the Jobs Report? I'm waiting... Census, which does most of the survey work across the Damn Gummint. You fired the wrong bureaucrat.

You Will Be Assimilated

Well... yet more blah, blah, blah about AI. This time from The Zuck:

Superintelligence, which Mr. Zuckerberg defined as an A.I. model more powerful than the human brain, will improve "nearly every aspect of what we do," he said on a call with investors. The A.I. will help Meta's advertising business by improving its social media feed to keep users on its apps longer, which is already happening, he said. A.I. will also serve as a personal tool for users to create "a new era of individual empowerment," he added.
[my emphasis]

Well... anyone who believes his goal is really about "a new era of individual empowerment" believes it when a guy says he won't cum in your mouth. Like hell he won't. That's the best part. Takes a licking and keeps on spitting.

The Zuck isn't one to be nice to users. They are, after all, his product. He sells them to advertisers. The notion that AI will be anything else but yet another attempt by the rich and powerful to corral the 99% is ludicrous. Just ask Orwell.

Why would a greedhead like Zuck turn down the opportunity to exploit those with limited attention spans? Of course he won't. After all, his software doesn't do anything besides enthrall users. At least Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel actually have a use case centered on the user's productive life.

Thought For The Day - 24 July 2025

The headline reads - "Swallowing Reservations, Democrats Go on Offense on Epstein Files"

Whaaaaa?!?!?!

C'mon, dude!! Just how many left-wing lunatic pedophiles do you really think there are? Throughout history, sexual exploitation has been a right wingnut thing. A power trip. The right wingnut manna. Except for Horn Dog Bill, how many more? How many left-wing billionaires can there be? Not a whole lot. Of those, how many hobnobbed with Epstein? Not so many.

As many, if not all, sexual exploitation advocates and researchers have claimed: it's not about the sex, but the power. And which Party is most in thrall to Personal Power? The elephant in the room. Chuck Schumer cavorting with Epstein? Gimme a break.