July 2022

"There must certainly be a vast fund of stupidity in human nature, else men would not be caught as they are, a thousand times over, by the same snare." ** Cato

Are all of us crypto/cyberpunk/computer geeks nothing more than marks and fools? I'm beginning to think so. It is a hard thing to admit that you have been duped. I'm not saying crypto is for suckers. I am saying this. The current financial infrastructure that enables us to convert our digital assets into cash is just a mirror image of the same old scam that the Lords of Finance have been playing for the past 300 years. If you want to get technical, you can even argue 5,000 years if you want to go back to Babylon and the birth of human civilization and so called 'modern banking.' How many times have we seen our beloved coins rocket 15-30%, only to crash in a ball of flame? 100's of billions are added to the market-cap, only to disappear in a blink of the eye. You read stories in the crypto journals of the billions, and recently, trillions of dollars vanishing. It doesn't vanish. It goes into the pockets of people who can control this infrastructure at will. The only pockets we have, the small potatoes, are ones that have been picked. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Riding the South Sea Bubble

I'll come clean. Cardano and Polkadot cost me $15,000. You all read the stories. When Polkadot was selling for $40, it was just the beginning of a bull run to $100 "by November" [2021]. Institutional money was pouring in. The long awaited entry of the big players with the BIG BUCKS was just around the corner. Remember what happened next? So I moved what capital I had left into Cardano. This Vasil hard-fork was just the icing on the cake of a technological miracle that ADA was creating. One more broken promise in a road that stretches back years and years and years.

I have a scheme to get it back. I won't call it a plan. I have what is left of my life savings on the block. I am leveraged up to my fucking eyeballs. I do not mistake leverage for genius.I will have to Ride this Bubble for a time. I hope it is a short while. If and when I get this money back, I think I will have to call it a day. I love the technology. I love the science. I may be a fool but I am not a mark.

I was looking at a YouTube video on how I can fix my IPad Air without taking it into the shop where I do my cellphone business. I have to get hooked up with someone who has a Mac laptop. The procedure isn't complicated. I will have to get this done. I do need an Internet connection from home. Coming to the library is fine, but I need to start hitting Major League Baseball (MLB) again. There is money to be made and Fandual has it. Football is right around the corner too. How the time flies. 2022 is on it's last leg.

I did not subscribe to any "entertainment" packages with my cellphone company. They are making offers, but I can refuse them. I said I wasn't going to watch television. I have made good on that promise. I listen to music and podcasts when I am at home. YouTube has things to offer. I read financial and crypto news. I can access Coinbase. These are the essentials. I can get into Coinbase from my phone. Using the IPad is better. Now that I am thinking about it, I NEED to get this damn thing working!

I'll browse around while I am here at the library and use their Wi-Fi network.

I renewed webstonne.com for another three years. It's been a long journey. This social media "hate machine" didn't exist when I started posting. I have not let this phenomena stop me from saying what I think. I know I have said enough since July 16, 2004 to hang myself 100 times over. webstonne.com has been online 18 years to the day! I never thought I would still be posting and researching this long. My research has fallen by the wayside. I am frustrated with the direction our culture has taken. During these past 18 years, we have become a nation of gullible, self-righteous buffoons. It has been said, "do not cast pearls before swine." I feel this is what things have come to. I sometimes feel I am wasting my time giving a damn about putting out a point of view that is both middle of the road solid research and expressing a personal view when I thought it was necessary.

Things can change. My attitude can change. I intend to keep this site up and running as long as I am above ground. I will be 67 years old this coming August 10, 2022. I am in good shape for an old geezer. Research has kept my mind occupied. I find myself realizing I have to make an effort to keep mentally sharp. I have studied computer science for over a decade. I never reached a level of mastery at any particular field. I can read code to degree but I can't write it. I never did build anything. I don't know if I am capable. This is a source of disappointment.

On the other hand, I was able to figure out how to create this site and publish what I have to say to the World Wide Web. I was doing this long before this social media cancer started rotting the brains of everyone who fell under it's spell. I like my IPad Air. It isn't a computer. It's a toy to play with. It connects me with music. I can read the daily dribble people call "news." I can take nice pictures with it. I can make nice video with it. It does have potential to create something of value, if the effort is made. It locked up on me and won't boot. I read that this is not uncommon. So now, I have to make a trip to the outfit I am doing my mobile business with and get it working again. I do need to be able to connect to the Internet from my apartment, and this was the only way I could do it. I am not really impressed with his mobile crap, but this is the way things are going. I don't have to embrace it. I will try to separate the wheat from the chaff and make it work for me.

I have enjoyed these past 18 years. I hope I have another 18 in me.

July already. Things are OK. I have a place to live in that I like and can afford. I have food in the fridge, for now. My bills are paid. I have faith that I won't have to wait an eternity for JASMY to rise to a price level that will get my ADA & DOT money back in the bank where it belongs. This is more than a great many people can say at the present moment. I need to run silent, and run deep.