I guess its true...Certain govt entities who shall remain nameless do have a presence on this site LOL...WTF? 

This thread is absolutely hilarious 

The irony of this question coming from Dread Pirate Roberts tho 

I propose creating a database and actively seeking the positions of our public officials (local, state, federal) on bitcoin and systematically adding them to a public database that anyone (bitcoiner or otherwise) can reference before casting any local state or federal votes. After that we must ALL vote in our city,state and federal elections. We don't have to stand by idly and wait and see what they do with regard to legislation. We should make ourselves heard. If we don't we only have ourselves to blame for heavy handed legislation. They should be put on full notice that we are mobilizing.  BTW, them not stating a position should be viewed as unfavorable for an otherwise "competent"  ELECTED official on such an important economic issue. Also, them not knowing what bitcoin even is at this point should also compel us to question their ability to lead us into the future. This is not about trying to pimp them into liking bitcoin, its simply about disclosure and us casting a unified vote accordingly.  We have considerable power if we stand together.  We should mobilize and mobilize now before they screw this thing up.  Them simply being on notice that we are mobilizing would be a great start to protecting ourselves against self interest and big bank influence.  This would require a bipartisan effort which I think most bitcoiners are capable of. I would like to hear what you guys think.  Please comment.

If the US introduces heavy handed legislation that stifles innovation and hampers things like exchanges and other areas which are key for newcomers to bitcoin who don't know how to acquire and secure it themselves, that will certainly spell trouble. Bitcoin will live on but the US will be at a severe economic disadvantage. Hopefully people are taking note of what their local state and federal representatives position on bitcoin is and will vote accordingly. In fact, there should be a concerted effort by bitcoiners state by state as well as on local and federal levels to determine what those views of said representatives are relating to bitcoin and documenting them and creating awareness. Maybe even a database. I don't think at this point this is something that an otherwise competent elected official could/should be on the fence about since it has such tremendous implications. Therefore playing it safe and having no position should be viewed unfavorably. This, to ensure that we are voting for people who will keep us competitive in the global economy instead of taking us further down this path of destruction in order to serve their own self filling needs and those of the big banks who currently have them by the balls. Those who are not for bitcoin can vote for those who are against it, but those who want to see bitcoin grown can have a collective voice. Also, they should know we are ALL watching (and voting...collectively).

People should stop saying holding bitcoin is as risky as holding cash.  We all know that's just not true (in a physical sense).  Cash can't be hacked or lost in a number of other ways that bitcoin can.  It would behoove us to be honest about the challenges and instead of sugar coating them,  demonstrate how those concerns are being addressed. If you in fact know how they are or can be. If people have legitimate security concerns, acknowledge them. Hear what they are saying.  Don't be a holier than thou snob technocrat just because you feel you are more capable of securely holding your own coin. That attitude is so obnoxious and won't help attract more people to the space. If you keep saying "oh no its just like cash" and yet they then hear about some poor guy losing his stash to a phishing attack, it just doesn't bode well and they will likely be turned off.  Yes its risky. Here's why. How can you mitigate that risk?  Why might it benefit you to be an early adopter despite some of that inherent risk etc might be a better conversation. Maybe then they can appropriately see the risk vs. reward and make an informed decision instead of a decision based purely on fear and/or lack of information.

Some people are way too funny swearing up and down about their favorite alt/shit coins because of the tech "supposedly" associated with them.  But the problem is almost invariably that nobody cares...Unless they can be widely accessible to non technical people and able to integrate with existing infrastructure they will be nothing

Oustide of bitcoin, STR is looking rather attractive. That's about as deep as I'll delve into shitcoin altcoin land.