If you are a non-profit or NGO, you should be joining Nostr and activating your wallet. The world appreciates what you do, and the zaps are waiting. No middle man, no limits, just support.

If someone sets up a GoFundMe for an emergency, their eligibility for FEMA funding and assistance can be affected, but it's not a straightforward exclusion. Here's how it works: FEMA's Policy on Duplication of Benefits: According to FEMA's guidelines, they cannot duplicate benefits that an individual has received from another source for the same disaster-related need. This means if you receive money from a GoFundMe for a specific disaster-related expense, like home repairs or funeral expenses, FEMA might not provide aid for that same expense. However, if the crowdfunding funds were used for general recovery or for different needs than what FEMA would cover, you might still be eligible for FEMA assistance for other disaster-related expenses. Specific vs. General Use of Funds: The key distinction is whether the GoFundMe funds are earmarked for specific items or expenses. If the GoFundMe is set up for general disaster recovery and not for a particular item or expense that FEMA would cover, it typically does not count as a duplication of benefits. Documentation and Appeals: If there's any ambiguity about the use of GoFundMe funds, it's important for individuals to document how the money was spent. If FEMA initially deems you ineligible due to the potential duplication of benefits, you have the right to appeal their decision by providing documentation showing that the funds received did not cover all disaster-related needs or were used for different purposes. Public Sentiment on X: Posts on X suggest a common understanding among users that having a GoFundMe might reduce or affect FEMA assistance, particularly highlighting that one should be very specific about how the funds are used to avoid overlapping benefits. However, these are user opinions and not official FEMA policy statements. In summary, while setting up a GoFundMe does not automatically disqualify someone from receiving FEMA assistance, the use of those funds for specific disaster-related expenses can impact what FEMA will cover. It's crucial to keep detailed records of how funds are used and to be aware of FEMA's duplication of benefits policy when applying for assistance.

Ok, hear me out. The Gulf of Chicxulub eh?

The United States refuses to even try to balance its budget based on the expenses of the territory it has now. We don't need or want additional territories around the world until Congress balances the budget. No, Mr. Trump, you're wrong. Leave Greenland and Panama alone.

If you are a content creator, of any size, in any medium, and you are not on Nostr, trying to bring your fans to Nostr, you are wasting your time.

Happy Birthday, Bitcoin!

I am not a maximalist. I don't have all of my capital in Bitcoin. And while I have a regular DCA of what I can afford going into Strike/BTC, I also put capital into a fully diversified investment strategy with stocks, funds and other things. Because while Bitcoin may be the best option for a global reserve asset, unless we buy mining equipment there is no built in revenue stream that will increase our assets over time within the Bitcoin network. So my investment goal is to build a portfolio of dividend paying investments on the wall street side, and then continue to buy Bitcoin on the crypto side for the rest of my life. It would be nice never to have to "sell" a single sat, only use them for zaps towards posts on Nostr that I like.

best New Year's in a very long time.

My opinion is that the current system of an inflationary currency is tyranny. It's a harsh word, used in order to get strong reactions. Let me be even more clear and more harsh. The US Dollar and the systems that create it and support it is destroying civilization, and it's time we said that out loud. If I put $100 into a bank, it should be able to buy $100 worth of goods and services in 1 year, 10 years, 100 years. Period. The reason it can't do that today is because we have an inflationary currency that loses purchasing power over time, and that's a failure of design and implementation. There are reasons why such a system might be desirable for certain groups of people or institutions, but the cost of such a system is too high for everyone else. It is possible to design a system that would be able to maintain purchasing power over years or decades. But it would take the full cooperation of everyone on the planet to make it work properly. And no matter how much we yell "why can't we all just get along", it's just not going to happen. So the ONLY alternative is a fixed supply monetary foundation, and the changes that come with it. The next few years or decades is going to see the implementation of that system, no matter what we think. Because it is the only path in front of us. We can delay getting on that path, but that's not going to work forever. As of today, everyone who is invested in the stock market in any capacity is invested in Bitcoin. There is no way to escape, resistance is futile. So learn about it, ask questions, yell and scream at the brick walls, whatever. The future is coming whether we are ready for it or not.

Just saw a video from Katharina Pistor about her book "The Code of Capital". This was shared with me on Facebook after I asked my wall "What is Money", and it's an interesting set of concepts. My comments in response: First aspect, Priority, is enforced within the Bitcoin network in several ways. First, on the non-custodial blockchain itself, if you don't have the keys to a wallet, none of the assets in that wallet are available to you. Zero. It doesn't matter what the law says, it doesn't matter how much force is used, without those keys the assets can't be touched or manipulated. Second, in custodial wallets, you can have institutions working in the same way that banks work in the fiat world, giving you access to your assets but keeping the keys safe so that if the law identifies those assets as being needed to pay a debt, they can be accessed without undo force. If a court requires a bank to open an account and pay someone from the assets, they can and will do that. Perhaps that is why so much effort is being made to bring as much Bitcoin as possible under the control of financial institutions, governments and other potential third parties. They will never get all of it, there will always be some on-chain that are excluded from legal control, but if they can build financial tools and infrastructure using custodial wallets it can work exactly like the current fiat custodial system with the added advantage of the limited supply. Which I'm sure some people are trying to get around, but we'll deal with that eventually. Second aspect, Durability, is absolute within the Bitcoin network. Much like Capital itself is a conceptual framework, the blockchain makes it visible exactly how much of the 21 million BTC that are available are in each and every wallet address at any given time. Once released by a miner, BTC can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred between wallets. Third aspect, Universality, is also part of the reason Bitcoin is superior because the asset is pure mathematical and computer code, making it completely safe against destruction. And if contracts in custodial systems like I described above are put into place, guarantees can be made that a certain amount of capital is available to replenish "lost" BTC from a reserve if someone is stupid with their keys or one of those third party custodial systems is hacked. Convertibility is a potential weakness in that there is only one form of BTC, and that's the numbers on the blockchain. In order to convert those numbers to other types of assets, it requires an exchange of value. And "cash" or physical representations of BTC do not exist, except as perhaps printed materials related to wallets on custodial third party controlled accounts. Again, goes back to whether third party custodial systems are needed, and in order for the current players in the financial games to keep control over our lives and our nations, they probably feel the need to take control over as much BTC as possible as quickly as possible so that they can continue to keep that control. The enforcement mechanism in the pure non-custodial blockchain system is simply the keys, nothing else exists. And third party actors, meaning any institution or legal entity, are unable to overcome that in the context of BTC. I agree with her premise that these various sources of law have all of the power in the fiat systems. But they have NO power in the on-chain system. It's pure peer-to-peer.

Once we end the tyranny of currency that loses purchasing power over time, we can dispense with the primitive idea that the goal of business is to accumulate wealth, and instead focus on the real reason we have competition and cooperation, which is to lower costs.

May 2025 see all of our dreams come true!! Happy New Year!