I have a friend who gave up her heroin and cocaine addictions years ago. In the process she also stopped drinking and smoking cannabis.

Now she tut-tuts anyone who gets high or relaxes with a drink while preaching the gospel of "clean and sober".

Only problem is that she smokes 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day and does enough benzodiazepines every day to put most people into a coma.

Go figure.

I may have quit smoking cigarettes 35 years ago but I'll defend the rights of others to smoke if they want to.

I hate anti-smoking Nazis. If you want to smoke, smoke. If you don't want to smoke, don't smoke. If you own a bar or restaurant, you should be free to allow smoking or not. The public should be free to choose whether they want to patronize smoking or non-smoking establishments.

When we still had optional smoking or non-smoking rooms in restaurants in Toronto, I always chose the smoking room despite not smoking. I could see it pissed off some of the smokers that I was taking up a valuable seat in the smoking room while the non-smoking room was almost empty. I just found that besides for having no children in the smoking section, there was a better class of people there. All the fussbudgets and complainer types used the non-smoking section.

Don't give me some silly crap about secondhand smoke if you drive a car or burn a campfire. One of my pet peeves is people who smoked for years, quit, and then somehow magically became instantly "allergic" to cigarette smoke. I quit so everyone else has to quit too. Oh boo hoo hoo!

Personally, I find perfumes, colognes, aftershaves and other artificial scents to be far worse, but I won't interfere with people who wear them. I appreciate that most hospitals ban them and I'll avoid places that sell them.

Smoke or don't smoke. No big deal.

Quitting cigarettes isn't an action. Smoking is.

To smoke you must obtain a cigarette and a source of fire, light the cigarette and inhale. These all require action on your part.

Not smoking does not require any action whatsoever. Simply don't do anything.

You quit when you butted out your last one. Just don't take the action of starting again.

The only issue is the craving induced by nicotine withdrawal and that doesn't last long. It's also mostly mental. You won't suffer dangerous physical withdrawal symptoms like a heroin addict's cold turkey or an alcoholic's D.T.s.

Don't be a crybaby.
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I quit a 2 pack-a-day habit 35 years ago when I caught such a bad flu I was in a daze for 3 days waking up only long enough to piss, puke or shit, drink some water and fall back into my semi-coma.

After my fever broke 3 days later I reached for a cigarette out of habit, then realized I hadn't had a smoke in 3 days, and figured why start.

I haven't had a cigarette since. I didn't wimp out and stop using a little tobacco to mix with my hashish to make it burn better. I didn't do it often enough to develop a new habit but I'll admit it did sometimes make me sort of want a smoke a half hour or so after doing it. Even that only lasted for about half a year. Now all I get from it is a little nausea and dizziness from the nicotine. I just never lit a cigarette.

You don't have to quit. Just don't start again.

Good morning Bitcoinland.

Still under $7k... currently $6767USD/$9456CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

Last 3 mondays we had nice rallies.  It's not too late to make it 4 in a row.

Go Bitcoin go.


Ireland is actually one of the richest countries in the world, ahead of any country in the western hemisphere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Patty pit wong wing
I think feminists look cute
When they're serious.
___

Under seven grand
US dollars per bitcoin.
Now I'm serious.

In lesbian bar
Covid is all China's fault.
Pitty pat wing wong.

Fuck their cashless society bullshit.

Where I am here, nobody has a bank account or credit card, nor wants one. Everything is cash in pesos. No dollars please.

Merchants accept only cash but may extend credit depending on how well they know you. Major purchases like furniture, land, tools, or vehicles are often priced with credit costs included. Discounts are offered for paying cash at the time of sale.

I live on the cash I brought from Canada in pesos and US dollars which I bought directly with Bitcoin, anonymously, OTC in Toronto. No banks involved.

Since Covid-19 has hampered the delivery of many commodities, money included, I've found Bitcoin to be an easy, cheap, and secure way to move money. I had someone in Canada transfer 3 bitcoins to an address to which I held the keys with me here. I can now use these coins to transfer money elsewhere as needed.

I don't have a bank account and I have no desire to get one. I do have a credit card but I don't like using it except when it's absolutely necessary, such as for airlines and some hotels that don't accept cash (but they're not anonymous anyway). I try to always keep a small credit balance on it. I hate owing money and absolutely refuse to pay interest.

Screw the banks and their privacy-invading corporate buddies, including governments. My own government I can live with. Foreign governments and other corporations can fuck off.


I remember as a kid in the 1950s going into a store in Detroit and putting down the exact amount (in US coins) of the price as marked.

The shopkeeper yelled at me about where was the tax. Tax? I was a kid from Canada. We didn't pay sales taxes.

Here in Mexico we own 5 properties (including 3 houses) and pay zero taxes. Any taxes we do pay (alcohol, gasoline, etc) are included and hidden. No taxes are paid upon checkout at stores.

I suppose the closest thing to taxes here are bribes. 

Past few weeks? I think a lot of people figured most of those out years ago.

Good morning Bitcoinland.

Sideways 'r' us... currently $6945USD/$9689CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

This sub-$7k crap is starting to get me down. It's time to move on up.


ftfy
_______

My heart goes out to my friends and family members in the USA. Even though it's been over 50 years since I lived there, I still feel an affinity for the place. Luckily not all Americans naively swallow their government's propaganda. Stay strong and do your own thinking. Don't go looking for scapegoats.

While the grim statistics show the USA to be the hardest hit and one of the least prepared countries, it is starting to catch up and the daily levels of new cases and daily new deaths seem to be leveling off. The curve is flattening.

Hopefully the worst is almost over. People just need to be more careful and use accepted anti-contagion practices. Don't retreat into denial. The Chinese Snakebite Scam Disease isn't going to "miraculously" disappear no matter what some idiot politician says. Everyone has to work together to defeat it.

LOL

That was hilarious. I know you like to stir the pot with a little "controversy" but that parody of a brainwashed American was brilliant.

Bravo.  
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RIP Bruno

All that says is that 57.3%of the world (4.3B) have internet access (all forms) and 3.8B people (51.8%) use mobile internet.

It doesn't say anything about how many people have SMS access without having internet access. Presumably these would be the ones who would need to use SMS for Bitcoin transactions.
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I guess I'm one of the half billion who doesn't use mobile to access the internet. The only SIM card I have is in my old flip phone. I use wifi to access the internet on my smart phone. Wifi is almost everywhere and is free. A penny saved is a penny earned. Buy a phone with cash and don't pay a penny after that.

Good morning Bitcoinland.

Still under $7k... $6867USD/$9582CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

Slow. Ho hum.


Off grid? SMS isn't exactly off grid, is it?

Also, isn't internet service more widespread than phone service? Where I am in a sparsely populated part of Mexico, we have no landline or cell phone service but internet service is fairly reliable. I have friends in rural Costa Rica in the same situation. Everybody uses Whatsapp to make voice calls here, even businesses.

If you've got access to cellphone service you've probably got internet connectivity.

What am I missing here?
_____

RIP Bruno

Unfortunately there's no such thing as taking money from the government.

If you take money "from the government" you're not taking it from the politicians and civil servants. You're taking it from the taxpayers.

Of course it may just be money that the central banks printed up, but that causes inflation that eventually puts a hole in the taxpayer's pocket.

The government parasites (politicians and civil servants) still get their money.

American propaganda is long established... George Washington chopped down a cherry tree but owned up 'cause he couldn't tell a lie, so by extension you should always believe what the POTUS (or any other politician) tells you... America single-handedly won WW2 so let's glorify the military-industrial complex with marching parades at football games... and on and on.

Remember, the communists (left wing) learned propaganda from the fascists (right wing).

You have to teach your kids not to trust any of it.

Exactly.

After you've ridden the same roller coaster enough times, the plunge down the hills doesn't scare you as much. You don't scream any more. The tops of the hills don't seem so high any more. You don't gasp. Even when you pass the bottom and start going up again, it's no longer quite as exhilarating. You learn to quietly enjoy the entire ride and the wind in your face.

As the Swiss dude in the video pointed out, after a while at sea, you don't notice the swells any more. You don't get seasick. You get your sea legs, stroll comfortably on deck, and enjoy the cruise.

Actually the biggest problem with closing down schools and using only home schooling is social development.

Sure, the 3 Rs and history are better taught at home and avoiding government propaganda and political "correctness" is a good thing, but it's easy for children to get indoctrinated in the culture of their parents to the point of not being aware of the diversity outside their families.

They have to learn and see first-hand how other people live and think.

Cultural inbreeding is not a good thing.

Good morning Bitcoinland.

Nasty little dip down under $7k... currently $6915USD/$9661CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

Back down to where we were 4 days ago. Good thing we've got lots of time.


While we're at it, give them all identical haircuts, make them wear uniforms, take away their cellphones and "educate" them as to which products they should buy.  

Before 2013 the only real exchange was Mtgox.

Even Mtgox only goes back to July 2010 when it was under a dime.

October 7, 2010 had a nice dip... all the way down to a penny and right back up. Less than a month later it was up to half a buck.

Those were the days. Wish I'd been there instead of just reading about it. 

Good morning Bitcoinland.

Still going sideways over $7k despite an attempt to dip the price... currently $7337USD/$10266CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

Meanwhile the clock keeps ticking. Go Bitcoin go.


Strange strategy... putting 100% of your wealth into a commodity that's going to crash. 
_____

Play it safe. Stay well. Stay positive. Stay happy.

The halving is coming. Eventually Covid-19 will  be leaving.

Good afternoon Bitcoinland.

I see we're still over $7k... currently $7340USD/$10322CAD (Bitcoinaverage).

Bouncy bouncy.


Yeah. It's constantly changing. Back then Yonge St. was where it was happening. By the 1980s it had moved to Queen St.W. Now the action's south of King St.

Everything has turned upside down. St. James Town went from being a desirable address for successful young professionals to being a subsidized-rent high-rise welfare slum. What were semi-abandoned low-rent warehouses full of artists and musicians are now overpriced "loft" condominiums. In another couple of decades they'll probably be slums too. Of course I don't mean nasty crime-infested slums like they have in the suburbs like Scarboro-ugh or Jane & Finch, but not up to the standards of the inner city.

Parkdale morphed from crackwhores and pimps to art galleries, antique shops and boutiques. Kensington Market is no longer a place for immigrants to buy cheap food and clothing. Gentrification has raised the rents so high that most of the cheap butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers have been replaced by high-end specialty butchers and exotic food shops and restaurants. The artists, musicians and writers are still hanging in though. Residential rent controls have allowed them to stay.
_____

I've always been a downtowner. I find the suburbs incredibly boring. I hate lawns, malls, identical houses, trimmed hedges and all the other trappings of restriction, conformity and normalcy. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with that stuff for other people but it ain't for me. We downtowners talk about getting nosebleeds north of Bloor St.

I also love the wilderness. Give me the forest or jungle. I dislike small towns almost as much as the burbs. I'm a dual citizen... country slicker and city bumpkin. Most of my life I've split my time between both. I love huge crowds and I love solitude. I love access to world-class arts, entertainment, sports, goods and activities. I also love the fauna and flora of nature.

I hate boredom.