The United States(!) of A

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factotum started the topic in Thursday, 27 Aug 2020 at 11:12am

Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank

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memo... Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 4:20pm

soggydog's picture
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soggydog Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 4:58pm

No Indo, you’re the self confessed pot thief.
Look at the war on drugs in relation to incarceration rates and the US prosecution policy differences between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine as well as the US Iran contra scandal under Oliver North. Specific enough for you, you oxygen thief.

Then you want switch back to referring to Australia, your fuck headed flim flammery knows no bounds.

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velocityjohnno Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 6:16pm

"You're right, it's either going to be a mammoth bubble v green tech revolution...the "market' will sort it out, Capitalism demands same.

I personally hope, that there will be an expeditious (market-driven) move to electric/hydrogen/wind/battery/solar/tidal/whatever source, that "decarbonises" our world. The potential here in Australia is endless.

Could the Australian government, industry and the community contribute to the mitigation of climate change and as a corollary, begin to extricate ourselves from the yoke of economic reliance on China?"

Hope so too san Guine.

The market bit of it is already moving. In terms of Oz the specialist miners have already got their thing going, there's also some battery tech ideas out there. Vic putting a 2.5c tax on electric cars for rego might not help though. Solar - we already have the greatest domestic takeup in the world, but had lost our solar panel manufacturers last time I checked. To get over the yoke bit, we need to make things - future technology - here.

Harry's garage is a good UK based channel if you like cars, following is his take on the real-world impact of going electric; it also includes some very clever infrastructure his family put into their house to make it close to CO2 neutral back in the late 2000s:

Back to the US, the stockmarket zoo continues and small traders have blown up a hedge fund in the last week, by punting spec shares that the fund was short, to the moon. Randomly generated over platforms like reddit, completely voluntary and executed via things like Robinhood... like 4Chan grew up and started trading. Revenge of the little guy.

Link to Approved Media for you all:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2021/01/26/gamestop-shares-su...

https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/hedge-funds-fighting-short-raids-...

Now, if you can handle it, here's a link to a great writeup of the event by a UK based tech site:

https://appuals.com/how-this-reddit-community-is-bleeding-a-major-wall-s...

"An investment by definition is an asset obtained in the hopes of generating income and there are usually two ways of going about it. You can either put your money in safe long term bets that will compound your wealth over time or take riskier bets in the hopes of higher returns. But there’s a third way and that involves YOLOing your entire life savings in the GameStop bandwagon hoping to make six figures while also bleeding a Wall Street Hedge Fund dry in the process. But in all seriousness, this is history being made and if this event doesn’t find a way to the box office, I will continue to remain very bullish on a Netflix episode.

So! if you want to know what’s up with $GME read on. "

Great writing, funny story. The linked pic of the 'Open letter to CNBC' is one for the ages, lol!

The times they are a changin' - embrace it!

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indo-dreaming Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 6:17pm

@SG

I really dont see what drugs have to do with anything, drugs are a choice, no one is forcing anyone to buy use or sell, many drugs are even not always a bad thing if you can use them in moderation.

Weird that you even mention it in the topic same with all these other things like

"GFC, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, Increased threat of domestic terrorism, the war on drugs, the war on terror, mass incarceration growing wealth transfer and inequality increased environmental degradation."

These things really dont affect the majority of people in the west much either..

Now if you were stuck in one of those countries were the wars are happening, or living in a developed country without access to many things we take for granted, or you die from childbirth complications like two of my friends from villages in Indonesia have because of lack of access to medical facilities/doctor, well yeah you have things worth complaining about.

And yeah in Australia there is small groups of people like those that are homeless that have a right to complain, but not the majority of people.

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soggydog Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 6:30pm

The re post you put up mentioned enduring wartime’s. I was illustrating the various wars that people in recent generations have grown up with. There was a “War on Drugs” that influenced domestic and foreign policy that gave rise to conditions that we live under and for parts of the population in developed Western nations, mainly minorities, they where mis used and weaponised. This thread was a US thread.

We do live in a lucky country that has many benefits and opportunities

I used these examples to show that the article you quoted was nothing more than dog whistling bullshit.

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velocityjohnno Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 9:17pm

More GME - this is going to be freaking crazy. Closed at 147.98 (up a modest 92%) and the premarket quote is currently 283...

A link to WSB's daily discussion page on the subject has the hodlers frantically telling each other to remove their profit-take stops, and remove stops altogether; urging setting the PT much, much higher:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l5xpai/the_gme_thread_f...

Every listed option will open ITM

As Mr Herpefree says:

"Guys, we are in a very unique position where we name our price. If we all set limits at $1,000 that’s where it’ll peak, if we set at $10,000 it will get there. We need everyone to increase their limits, this thing is happening. Delete your stop losses. They can see them and are using them against you to manipulate the market. The Market Makers can see all of the info on your account.

COPY AND REPOST! Do your own DD, this isn't financial advise"

Only in America. Could it be that a group of voluntarily associated retards have cornered a market for lulz and memes, destroying all in their path? Wonder who makes the market in the options for this one...

Market open will be fun tonight

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 at 10:50pm

WSB gets emotional on Mad Money from r/wallstreetbets

<script async src="//embed.redditmedia.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

memo...'s picture
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memo... Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 12:47am

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 7:07am

The Gamestop story is intriguing. Story of the year so far ?

https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/unlikely-to-end-well-retail-inve...

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batfink Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 12:08pm

It’s a big story, the share market being disrupted. It was already bloated and corrupt, has been used for decades for ‘smart finance guys’ to swindle money off the unsuspecting.

This is big and could seriously muck a few hedge funds and short sellers. Go for it, I say. And that smh piece was just the usual money market and investment types clinging to old tropes and probably without a clue as to what is going on. My son has been on the subreddit for months and is schooling me up.

I wonder how the share market manipulators like being disrupted. I’m guessing not.

loungelizard's picture
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loungelizard Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 12:22pm

yep. this will work. money for nothing. what could possibly go wrong. you tell em batfink. i urge you to put your house on it!

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velocityjohnno Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 1:20pm

Tasty meme Blowin. And true. This is story of the year so far.

Here's what they are doing:

Project Mayhem.

Edit:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/retail-brokerages-suffer-widespread-ou...

lol it broke the system

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 1:22pm

I see unintended consequences like this as perfectly reasonable side-effects to attempts to centrally plan a market, ZH agrees:

"What is remarkable is how many people are "surprised" by what is going on in the "market"

You throw $20 trillion stimulus at it, you nationalize the bond market, you break all links between price and fundamentals...

what do you think happens"

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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 1:52pm

Oops....the reality is starting to emerge from behind the cloud of bullshit.

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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 2:05pm

I honestly cannot believe how openly and unapologetically blatant the disdain now shown by the US plutocracy/ kleptocracy towards the people who live beneath them.

Shit is crazy.

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velocityjohnno Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 3:59pm

This is the real uprising, never thought it would occur off trading platforms. It's not the organised protests with catchy slogans that parade in the streets. It's more like an electronic Spartacus revolt of pissed off working people who see it as a lotto ticket/giant middle finger, all in one. Crazy numbers for people joining WSB, 800K overnight going in at 1000 a minute. Mostly driven by young people, <25 is Gen Z. The kids are OK. Also, like the French yellow vests, there's no leader, just electronic media forum. Cut one head off and 10 grow back. Hard to control or divert.

So now, watch for brokerages or the SEC impose new rules to... stop people buying stock. Or stop the flows, which are roasting the hedgies. GME short interest reputedly up from 140% (how the f can you short more than 100% of a stock's issued shares??) up to 240% - the Empire is doubling down. Will the people overcome it? Tune in tonight, at about 1:30am AEST.

Does anyone remember silver getting to USD$50 in 2011, then overnight the margin requirements on futures (iirc) were altered by the exchange, boom, game over...

Some famous cornerings of markets
Jay Gould 1869 Gold
The Hunt Brothers 1979 Silver

This one is the first one that I know of that is crowd-sourced. Total game changer.

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 4:58pm

Wow, fascinating!

loungelizard's picture
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loungelizard Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:12pm

this will end up for most participants as well as it did for the hunt brothers . dont be left holding paper when the music stops

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:42pm

Great article Blowin, wow, just wow!

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goofyfoot Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:47pm

Did you get any GameStop shares blowin? Reckon it’s too late to join the party?

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:55pm

Craig , the true intrigue lies in the reaction by the institutions , media and companies who are showing their hands by instinctively protecting the moneyed class. The mask of fairness and integrity hasn’t just slipped , it’s been cast aside in the rush to quell the peasant uprising.

After Wall Street brought the world to its knees financially in 2008 and not a single person was prosecuted, to then demand censorship, deplatforming and rewriting of the rules to shore up profits for the few is fully pulling back the curtain.

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Distracted Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:51pm

That GameStop story is crazy, the amount of money piling in is hard to imagine.

After Blowins post about Tether and Bitcoin, was curious to see what was going to happen on the 15th Jan when Tether had to supply information to the judicial investigation..... but it has been postponed 30 days. The digital currency market is just so complex all I can see is some very smart cookies making a fortune and a lot of punters getting smashed.
https://www.ft.com/content/3ac4809e-7c4d-4d9f-83ea-7112bfd3480a

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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 5:52pm

Goofy .....I don’t do that stuff anymore. Profitable but made my hair fall out through stress ! No money is worth a heart attack mate.

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velocityjohnno Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 8:16pm

Cheers for the tether update Distracted, was wondering what the state of the flows was

There is a yolo of BB in the household, amongst the younger members. We strap in for the ride. Any of you got a spare Che Guevara T-Shirt? (I know some of you do, there's no shame...) Viva la revolucion!

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velocityjohnno Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 9:01pm

A classic of the early internet's finance:

H.L. Hunt's boys and the Circle K Cowboys

http://www.24hgold.com/english/contributor.aspx?article=2741330054G10020...

Crazier than fiction

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Thursday, 28 Jan 2021 at 9:23pm

Reading suggestions that it’s a covert pump n dump by Blackrock capital.

They’ve owned 9.2 million shares in GME since December.....

memo...'s picture
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memo... Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 2:07am

Sickaz's picture
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Sickaz Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 3:58am

That article is amazing. Good one Blowin.

I am pretty ignorant on the subject of stock trading, what I found amazing was that the hedge funds could short more shares than actually exist! How is this possible? Am I making myself look really dumb not getting it?

I have so many questions about this... it is very interesting. Gonna keep up with GameStop news. Hold!

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Sickaz Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 5:12am

On the political front, Joe Biden racked up at least 33 executive orders, (the New York Post reported 37!) in his first week. Compare this to Trump - 4 exec orders in week 1, Obama had 5, George W Bush - 0, Bill Clinton -1. Covid response required rapid action granted, but considering the Dems have a majority in the house and the senate (just), this seems a little OTT and will not encourage unity from the Republican side that is for sure. So much unity.

Seems Ol’ Joe forgot how a few months ago he said that bypassing the legislature and making executive orders makes you a “dictator”. His own words.
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-harris-presidential-power

The Executive branch is meant to follow the Legislative branch, if you choose to act unilaterally, and bypass the senate and congress, like President Biden says, you are acting as a dictator.

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Sickaz Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 5:23am

Us news coming out GameStop is big news.

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Fliplid Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 7:20am

“After Wall Street brought the world to its knees financially in 2008 and not a single person was prosecuted, to then demand censorship, deplatforming and rewriting of the rules to shore up profits for the few is fully pulling back the curtain.”

Hit the nail on the head

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55837519

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stunet Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 7:42am

Say this behaviour were to catch on and individual investors began co-ordinated raids on other hedge funds both OS and here, what's the chance of collateral damage to innocent folk who may unwittingly be exposed via super etc?

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Craig Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 8:56am

This is true.

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mcbain Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 8:59am

The GME situation blew up because Melvin Capital had shorts that well exceeded the number of stocks (160%) (ie. impossible to offload - profit relied on bankrupcy). So the squeeze was set in motion. This is a high risk play, if you are invested in a super fund that has links to this then you are in a very high risk fund - not likely.
In the end, Citadel Capital bailed out Melvin. Guess who is the market maker for the Robinhood app... Citadel Capital, they essentially control Robinhood, and have access to their data feed. Now Robinhood have prevented trades in certain stocks to protect the hedge funds...
In short, don't worry about the big boys Stu, as you know from experience, at that end of town, its usually heads i win, tails you lose.

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stunet Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 9:07am

I ain't worried about the big boys, McBain. Far from it.

And it's not just the GME brouhaha that concerns me but the chance it might catch on with innocent folk taken down in a concerted campaign of revenge. 

In principle I'm all for it, but circumspect is my middle name.

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Distracted Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 9:08am

McBain, just curious how can they have more shorts than stock issued??

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san Guine Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 9:22am

This is obviously well above my level of financial understanding, but can other trading platforms be used instead of Robinhood?
This seems to have the potential to "burn the whole system down" or am I being melodramatic?

Craig's picture
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Craig Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 11:50am

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 12:40pm

Propaganda 101 - Using language to distort public perception

Deadly insurrection by extremists

Peaceful protest by concerned citizen ( BLM )

indo-dreaming's picture
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indo-dreaming Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 12:51pm

Speaking of Latino/African American proud boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

The other day some left wing professor created a new word

"multiracial whiteness"

Yes its not a joke.

"A New York University professor has come under fire for writing a Washington Post opinion piece that claimed some black and Hispanic voters in the United States supported Donald Trump because of something called ‘multiracial whiteness.’

Cristina Beltran wrote that it was unsettling to see “a quarter to a third of Latino voters voted to re-elect Trump.”
She was also surprised to see many Latino and black people among the group storming the U.S. Capitol recently.

Her theory was that they had “multiracial whiteness,” contending that being white is more than a race or racial identity.

“What are we to make Latino voters inspired by Trump? And what are we to make of unmistakably white mob violence that also includes non-white participants,” Beltran wrote

“I call this phenomenon multiracial whiteness — the promise that they, too, can lay claim to the politics of aggression, exclusion and domination.”

According to her article, being white is no longer just about a person’s racial identity. Now it can be a “political colour” whereby “feelings of freedom and belonging are produced through the persecution and dehumanization of others.”

https://torontosun.com/news/professor-ripped-for-multiracial-whiteness-c...

Pretty crazy out there stuff.

Maybe she has overlooked the fact that conservative views make up the majority outside of the western world and also that many south american countries have negative past influences from communism & socialism, many Latinos fled to USA from these regimes.

batfink's picture
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batfink Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 1:30pm

This is the real game, the real revolution. Where else could it happen except at the seat of the capitalist system.

Hey loungelizard, it isn’t about making money for these subreddit kids, it’s about exposing the most venal of all the system, the hedge funds shorting stocks. They aren’t doing it for the money, they are literally paying to see hedge funds seriously damaged. It’s essentially a reverse hedge fund short, and you bet the hedge funds and standard investment guys will be bleating to the government about more regulation for reddit movements, and less regulation for themselves.

Stu, largely the mum and dad investors aren’t involved. They will neither be helped or hurt by it.

But for those who don’t follow so much re shares, basically the western world, led by the US, has broken all the investment rules long ago. For ages it hasn’t been about value, it’s just been a means for those with money to extract from those who have less. Mining, if you will. Current markets are about 40 to 50% over-valued based on fundamentals (profits, largely). It’s been scammed by govt policy, directed by the Feds (in the US that is owned and run by commercial banks, it isn’t like the Reserve Bank here). Low interest rates, pumping money into buying bonds, CDOs and every other scam created by investment banks has been the means. Stock goes up because it’s been rigged that way. Govt agencies are told that it will all come crashing down if they don’t keep propping it up, (which it will, but how long can you keep printing money just to keep crooked investment banks and hedge funds afloat).

It all might just blow over, but the Achilles heal of capitalism has been exposed. Don’t expect this to end well. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life...

Yeah, great lines from Casablanca.

FWIW, I’m not actually looking forward to the crunch, I just can’t see how the western world gets out of its current predicament without a serious correction. The stock market in the last 18 months has gone from an investment vehicle to becoming a casino.

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batfink Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 1:36pm

Good question above from sickaz. How can you short more shares than are actually on issue? It should be illegal of course.

McBain is right though, they will find a way out of this, basically by getting govt to change the rules, which is what they usually do, or by getting some big mates to help out.

But there are wheels within wheels on this one, more plays and counter-plays than a spy vs spy comic in the old mad magazines.

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Blowin Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 1:46pm

“ Short-sellers bet by borrowing shares from so-called prime brokers (Goldman, Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are among the biggest), selling them, and waiting for the price to drop, at which point they buy them back on the open market at the lower price and return them. The commonly understood rub is that prime brokers don’t always really procure those original borrowed shares, and often give out more “locates” than they should, putting more shares in circulation than actually exist (as in this case). GameStop is exposing this systematic plundering of firms using phantom shares and locates, by groups of actors who now have the gall to complain that they’re the victims of a “get rich quick” scheme.“

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 2:29pm

Batfink - My belief is that the internationalists want a financial system which enables direct surveillance and control of every punter on Earth. The global version of China’s social credit system . The way to enact a centralised global currency is to destabilise the existing financial system to the point that they can honestly say it’s jeopardising global social stability.

I reckon the ZIRP policies, endless money printing and exponential debt creation are the fuel they know the fire needs if they really want the institution burnt down in a hurry and for certain.

Another metaphor- just cause I love metaphors - they know the best way to destroy the vehicle so we need a new one is by redlining it till the engine blows.

That’s my Friday arvo conspiracy suggestion. All I know is that it’s dangerous to push a race car into the red....

PS Yeh , yeh , yeh ......I know . Conspiracies don’t exist. The world is populated exclusively by incompetent muppets who’s deepest ambition only extends to getting home in time to watch The Bachelor . Everything that happens in the world is through pure coincidence and dumb luck. Conspirators can’t keep secrets. Surely they’d be hints that something was afoot, some small indication that politics has begun to morph into a prescribed international partisanship ....

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.cylinders Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 3:19pm

Yeah nah you're on to it Blowin.

When it comes to resistance and standing up for what you believe in, there are going to be great challenges coming for those who are willing to do the right thing. It will however only be temporary, a matter of years, until we begin to pull the balance back. I am reminded of this quote whenever I think of the difficulties I am going to be faced with in the near future.

"I invite you to consider the possibility that the long-term logical conclusion of staying silent out of fear, may be much more frightening and dangerous than the repercussions of speaking out now."

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shortenism Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 4:05pm

here here Blowin and cylinders that last quote is beautiful. Hard when you've had half your life being indoctrinated / educated by the redlining system. Ya just have to start casting your net to the right.

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velocityjohnno Friday, 29 Jan 2021 at 4:33pm

How was last night's action? Told you the ban hammer was coming down. Our little revolucionistas are blooded but determined.

In market news today, my favourite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, may have been subject to a retard raid. It's up 742% today, with volume increasing over 11,000%. What better a thing to send parabolic than a cute crypto which features a meme dog? When I imagine Zen and his dogs in Japan, I imagine he has 2 Shiba Inus.

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/

check the chart lol

https://dogecoin.com/

for an explanation