SCROLL DOWN for earlier dates, this is reverse chronological order

12-30-18
Greetings y'all and welcome to my final entry for 2018,
 Bitcoin and Litecoin remain in a range-bound funk, but I don't see the bears letting loose. The bulls want some progress, but most are staying away. It appears the worst of the bloodletting is overwith, yet I'm still not ready to call in the bottom of this Bear! There has been at least another drop I've seen. It wasn't low enough to satisy the over-hopium of last December. At least with the recent move past 4k, we saw signs the Patient has made it through the very worst. My gut-instinct is that we're not ready to remove the Patient from ICU just yet. He's not strong enough to "shoot the bird" at the haters just yet, and your Blogger has gotten some h8tr replies on certain forums recently. Continue watching for opportunities to add to your coins if you believe in this space and what it truly stands for. I'll HODL along with you and add as appropriate, ignoring the FUD as most of it isn't valid anyhow. 2019 is promising to be volatile in the general economy and that should translate here as well, so be prepared. By the same token, it could give massive winds to our sails as the Bulls finally return.

 Even with the ongoing government shutdown, CoinComments dot com gives glowing commentary on the President's recent choice of Mick Mulvaney. The South Carolinian has reportedly been a long-time Bitcoin fan! We need as much input to get Congre$$ and the IRS on some sort of regulatory stability. Figuring one's taxes with crypto is presently a pain in the ass! Speaking of crypto regs, Congre$$ wants to concentrate more against the Iranians and continuing against Venezuela, instead of working through reasonable solutions for Americans. However, I give Bonus Points if they can do BOTH.

The weather outside has indeed been frightful! The night after Christmas brought both Texas and Cimarron Counties quite a bit of the white stuff. What was supposed to be over an inch became five inches minimum with drifts as deep as a foot throughout Guymon, although nearby to the east, they fared out far better. Highways and roadways in town and to the west were badly impacted, especially where the hills were too steep for some of the traffic. The roads were so bad Thursday that I didn't have to work, but had to work Saturday morning to make up the difference. I want to thank Michael of KOCO 5 in OKC for reaching out to me and I got him a few pics of what I saw. Watch the Pic of the Week link for maybe another or two. There's still trucks to make necessary deliveries through New Year's and those who made it in, truly made it happen. After New Year's Eve, that should end the wintry weather for a week or so except for our New Mexican neighbors. They have plenty more snow to come through into 2019 it seems. Only now am I seeing this excess of wet snow fall from the trees. If only this moisture can stay into the Spring..

 Have any of you decided on a New Year's Resolution? I have one or two I'm working on. Get ready as it's coming! Sparing any insanity on the news wires, I should return next year, y'all! Good Riddance to 2018 and in it's place, let's welcome the Bulls back and watch cryptocurrency and tokens truly take off to the Moon and beyond!!
Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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12-24-18
Greetings, y'all and a Merry Christmas!,
There's so much to be thankful for, even with this ongoing crypto Bear. As you'll read on, I have the chance for Santa to deliver me a decent LTC deal. The weather outside isn't at all frightful, although some snow is in the forecast within a week from now. We can use all the moisture it gives us! It's been a very busy couple of weeks in advance of the Holiday and I'm glad for a complete day off, with New Years to come the following week. Besides, it gives me another opportunity or two to catch up on things I need to take care of here.

 Spencer Bogart tweets what I still preach, although I was proven too far early for this to happen. Bitcoin at 50K USD? It's coming in due course! :-) I'm also paying close attention to the latest mini-crash in Bitcoin which is affecting the alts, Litecoin in particular. If you checked my previous Blog, I had expected a downturn after $23 and change for LTC but it didn't happen and I DID NOT BUY ANY. It rallied strongly over the course of a week and cracked $36 and a half. I wasn't going to FOMO the move as I still expect we've not seen the bottom of this trend, despite some having already declared such. Some bulls returned but they've not stayed around long enough and the bears regained their trend for now. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see BTC go below $3400 during Christmas Day with Litecoin to give an even-better acquisition than the $31 Litecoin I'm seeing on the screen, albeit better than if I had FOMO'ed as I clearly saw through several factors that it was going to strongly correct. I'm in the camp with at least one trader whose videos I view regularly, that we won't see much true, enhanced FOMO and the end of this Bear until we've passed 6k USD=BTC, which makes sense as that was a pivotal point for weeks! If I catch Litecoin at or less than 30 bucks, that's damn good! Less than 25 bucks and you're essentially in the driver's seat, considering all the recent action. You may not see under 25 bucks again this cycle for LTC, yet I could be wrong. This bear could roar on well into January with much sideways action, but I'm enjoying watching the increases in volume and for that reason alone, I'm somewhat doubting too much more bloodshed in Litecoin. Time will tell though. It was promising to see these upswings after what seemed an eternity of bloodletting. Hang in and HODL. Although I HODL BCH & BSV, they having shown some serious gains from their respective bottomings, I'm not adding anything to either. It's just extra holdings from past Bitcoin forks. More gravy to enjoy and I expect they'll both continue rebounding over time. Even my utility tokens are rallying due to a government signing on for multi-year cooperation that this blockchain will not only provide, but deliver! No, I'm still not disclosing exactly who or what it is, yet. I'm considering adding more to my holding on any price pullbacks, which there may be a few.

Now for the short story links: An electric car at a gas station's pumps? Yes, it DID happen. Join the laughter and be thankful that the charging contacts didn't flare up. Talk about SCARY! Having a midair seizure as a skydiver has to be harrowing. Fortunately, the jumpmaster knew enough of what had to be done to pull the chute. The beginning of the video brings back strong memories of getting the best seat, literally next to the opened jump door on a Black Knights flight at Little Rock Air Force Base back in the mid-90's in mid-August. Although temps at the ground were in the low 90's, it was 55 up at 13,000' where their jump took place and the air was definitely thin, my first real experience with unfettered high altitude before getting to hike in the Rockies in such elevation. Getting to watch the Army guys jump literally next to me was beyond cool and I'd never had gotten that experience if I wasn't in the media at the time. My future (and former) employer KATV (Ned, enjoy your retirement as your shoes will be hard to fill!) had the other best seat. Because of our precarious positions next to the wide blue yonder, we both got double-belted in place. If I've showed at least one of these pics, I probably should reprise them on my Pic of the Week link sometime in the next month or two. BASE jumpers became the life of the party with this jump done in Malaysia recently. Check out the video but there's a dirty word or two. Now for the reality of the Government Shutdown! Breck Worsham on Twitter (@RebekahWorsham) notes this Fun Fact for the Class: "The $5.7 billion needed to build the wall equates to 0.1% of the federal budget, funds Dems are refusing to pay."
 "By comparison, YOU, the TAXPAYER, pay $5.3 billion EVERY 3 MONTHS to support the illegals who continue to flood our border."
Well stated, Breck! You and I already understand what this is about. People who want the freebies and the backing of the Dems who will ensure they get such compensation, for their votes at election time, of course! The Bad News? It's utterly unsustainable when even the dairy farmers of this nation, the vast majority being citizens, born here, are quitting - many committing suicide. There was a recent article in the Washington Post regarding a Wisconsin dairy farmer deciding to quit after 40 years. Several reasons are at play here and it's sad, especially at a time where more and more provenance is being proven to food sources. Reportedly, dairy consumption is down 40% since the 70's here in the U.S.A.

Sparing breaking news, I may have a post-Christmas update Sunday or by Wednesday.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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12-15-18
Greetings y'all,
 So what's with the continuing cryptocurrency drop? Even now, there's still not enough bloodletting for those wanting to nail the bottom paws and claws of this damned Bear! You'll need to remain patient as the Bear remains firmly in control and the Bull is away, just doing his thing. I'm happily biding my time from the sidelines, soaking up some of the fewer rays left of the sun as Winter arrives in a week and plan on letting this play out more before jumping back into the pool. The weatherman says it'll remain tranquil and that gives me some temptation to drive out and hike Black Mesa near Kenton as the summer critters are into hibernation. Outside of Bitcoin, those who have jumped on Litecoin should simply HODL as well, unless you're awaiting an excellent place to simply wade into this lowering lake, to again eventually become the ocean we love. To this point I've not yet added to my LTC stash, but what I'm seeing so far is less volume from the Bulls and I'm in strong agreement with some that the $23.1 level will be breached downward with $20 likely a new support. That's where I'm betting some $$ in the short to medium term. Note though, I'm not bold enough to predict that amount as Litecoin's Bottom for this cycle with great confidence, but if you pay $20=LTC for this extremely undervalued and time-proven crypto, in my arrogant opinion, you're essentially in the driver's seat going forth. Bitcoin's improvements will likely be implemented with Litecoin which I think both coins will thrive in the upcoming Bull cycle, especially if Bitcoin again becomes overpriced on a transaction fee basis as was exactly a year ago. Ethereum has been cheapened into a bargain, but I predicted that quite some time ago and for different reasons than many were paying attention to. There are very strong competitors with far faster times and greater capabilities, particularly in transaction times than Ethereum and whom are tweaking with security and capacity, some who've been hacked at least once already, a few who have secured deals with government and corporate entities on several continents. One of them I hold a significant token position. It has extremely strong security built-in, never hacked and I will keep hush-hush on it for now. As with many ICO's, they're below their initial offering price. Demand for the tokens will take care of that in due course as their transactions prices will remain very stable by intent of the developers. For me, the taxes were paid so I'll keep on HODLing. With a new year and new taxes to be filed, this time won't be near the paperwork nightmare, although Congre$$ needs to get off their collective asses and make a New Year's Resolution to give some resolution to us cryptoholders! At least Ohio has done something in regard to taxes there, allowing businesses to pay taxes in such. Arizona is considering at least a measure or two of something similar. Wyoming? Off-the-scale incredible for reasons regular readers here already know. With six new bills for the Legislature to consider in the upcoming session beginning next month and the five already passed back in March, there ain't no turnin' back!

 My plans for a move to the Cowboy State are ongoing and rarely a day goes by that it doesn't cross my mind. Being single with no kids makes this move an extremely wise one as Oklahoma remains totally clueless in regard to crypto. There are few experts in this state in the space anyhow and likely none in the Panhandle on the level I offer freely to each of you. I openly challenge this, as a matter of fact if there are any doubters in my immediate neighborhood of No Man's Land. It would be refreshing to meet even one other resident in the region of Cimarron, Texas or Beaver Counties for a strong crypto conversation and I'd gladly make the trip on my dime and time. You know my Twitter handle of @windmechanic so reach out before the end of 2018 to be eligible for consideration. We'll meet early in 2019 if the weather outside is frightful. Boise City and Kenton, give me additional reason to travel there. Beaver or Slapout, the same offer applies. Texhoma, Hooker or Guymon? A few of you already understand some of the things about crypto, yet none of you I've encountered actually HODL, much less have gone through Bulls and Bears with understanding of how to handle these events, spare learning of differences in crypto wallets or the necessary security to keep what you have! Any of y'all with strong crypto experience in these three counties which make the Panhandle?? Please, prove me wrong. THAT'S how freakin' young this revolution in money truly is! You think it's ENDING? Not so much!! Many have exclaimed it's only just begun and I agree. I've seen one or two open Bitcoin nodes in Amarillo (operating the Bitcoin Core wallet openly on port 8333 where it can be seen on the Bitcoin Nodes map.) but they're the only ones within a three-hour drive of Yours Truly, for now. Since I'm still on the crypto subject, Travis W. told one of my favorite telegram forums earlier today: "Hey gents. just logged into Cobin (Cobinhood), they are really fully delisting a lot of tokens completely. Junk tokens will be gone." and for tokens void of any value, this is certainly some fresh air to enjoy. These purges do not involve any of my tokens as all I have are valid, ongoing projects with capabilities of real problems being solved.

 Caitlin Long's second segment on the Keiser Report (KR1316) is available. You may well get more out of this than the first! Can't get enough of Caitlin? She's made the interviews lately, thanks to her NYC trip! I bet it was like a return to her second home where she spent a lot of time and no doubt she met up with a lot of her established friendships while there. Naomi Brockwell, another incredible woman with a real pulse on crypto and lives in the Big Apple (yep, on Twitter we follow each other) interviewed Caitlin recently. You'll get a quick glance at some of the bills already passed back in March with brief discussion on some of the bills which passed committee recently. Simply another perspective presented here on the Blog. We're breakin' through! It's gonna be a January to remember when Cheyenne gets cranked up for Legislature, although I'll miss Gov. Mead and Rep. Byrd. I've voiced to my Wyoming acquaintances that I want to keep in touch with James, especially for tech-minded folk as myself, he's fun to meet, listen and learn from as was the case back in September at Laramie. It's these experiences in part which draws me there with cryptocurrency and utility tokens in a smart contract being the icing on the cake, they receiving such protection under law.

 The Brief Short Story on marriage philosophy comes from ZeroHedge dot com and fellow commenter "Lost in translation" where this person stated: "I don�t know much but I have seen money come and I have seen money go, and later come back again. Nothing is for sure in this life - things happen, and a lifetime of meticulous planning can be, and sometimes is, blowtorched by someone else, through no fault of our own.
Marry the person who will stay overnight in the hospital with you after the big car wreck, the one that left you unconscious, with a collapsed lung, five broken ribs, and head injuries.
That�s what I did. Best choice I could have ever made.

 Finally, the Quote of the Month comes from Francis Pouliot on Twitter (@francispouliot_) giving us the TL:DR definition of BTC: "Bitcoin is unfakeable digital gold that you can instantly teleport from one impenetrable vault to another, opened only using your self-generated password, nobody able to stop your payment, with no registration or intermediary required. There will never be more than 21M bitcoins." Sparing Breaking News, I'm awaiting my chance of litecoin acquisition any day now and will update this Blog as necessary.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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12-8-18
 Bitcoin remains in a funk, but as predicted, not all the bloodletting has ended. I'm still awaiting another dip, this time into the 2k USD range. A few expect this to continue to as low as $900 but I disagree as I did much earlier with 3k, For What It's Worth. We'll see where the ball bounces, but as Max Keiser recently tweeted, when it comes to bubble vs. pin, the pin is Bitcoin, NOT the bubble! Speaking of the Keiser Report, I've encouraged them to consider interviewing Caitlin Long in case they haven't already. What can I say, but Santa brought me an early Christmas present with at least half of another excellent KR interview you can view through this link. There's another half to come and I will have that link up on the next update. I still need to go through all the notes I took at WyoHackfest and add to the permanent links of the five March, 2018 cryptobills passed somewhere, but I'll give Blog readers and those following me via @Windmechanic on Twitter, the appropriate heads-up when that happens. Right Now remains an excellent opportunity to acquire unwanted crypto from butthurt and inexperienced HODLers who've not either learned or heeded the critical lessons of this space.

 I wonder if airport security in Europe flags this Bitcoiner to the side and two guys in shades comes into the room with pointed questions, wanting to count his Bitcoins, and on a domestic flight no less? Sadly, it's happened here in America not long ago as somebody had a video on this very subject. Unless you want to express to these well-dressed taxpayer-funded minions of your First Amendment Right to wear pretty much any legal logo you wish, don't travel with Bitcoin swag in your luggage, lest Homeland Insecurity and their TSA screeners at the airport decide your decision to bank outside the banker$ is just too much to handle. Take that extra trouble to mail to yourself those articles in a USPS flat-rate package and save the hassle. These goonz, with the banker$ blessing$ want to FIGHT you with ridiculous mental masturbation, paranoia, internal shame, and delays using the agent's resources, especially their invaluable time, to test you. This should not happen today in America and I think we're approaching the point where "economic discrimination" should be coined as a term, especially to anyone using any cryptocurrency or holding precious metals as a means of value outside the banking system, where customers are unsecured creditors. Although this isn't legal advice and I'm certainly not a lawyer, consider if they're wary of identifying themselves by agency, that any false statements you give them could be reason for them to file federal charges against you in regard to 18 USC 1001. Do pay close attention to what they're asking. In reality, these agents likely don't want to waste time on this bullshit, which is exactly what's going on. Insignificant bullshit! It's kabuke theater. The TSA screeners on the front lines generally do their jobs very well. I've had few if any issues and never let it get to my head, always finding a workaround. These guys and gals understand that as well. Keep that in mind. It's these extra agents who are snooping where they should not be at all concerned, which should concern all HODLers, especially domestic travel in the USA. The faster this ends, the better I think this nation becomes. Daryl Ginn is a web designer and developer with a video that's too freakin' realistic of today's portal websites, well done, Sir! There are damned few without at least tracking cookies, spare the nonsense that's being routinely asked today. When I was a kid without internet, the TV had a bouncing ball to follow when singing on cartoons was on. With today's Web, just follow the cursor in Daryl's video and quickly watch the screen to get both a laugh and cringe at the same time. Sheesh!! Did you see the yellow vest the person was wearing in the "airport security" story I cited? This story in the Wall St. Journal gives the reason for most of the protests ongoing in France, and they're spreading beyond their border. Sorry to burst the bubbles of environmentalists, but carbon taxes are absolute poppycock benefitting nobody except those in government and the traders of carbon credits. Other nations will CHEAT, so damned little will change. GET OVER IT!

 Have you just eaten? Skip this next story if you're squeamish, but if you're even a fourth as tasteless as I can be, you'll find incredible schadenfreude as one Kenyan prison inmate who hid a cellphone up his... Yes, it got stuck! Cell phones in the hands of prisoners are often used to scam outsiders into sending money back to them. It nearly took an Act of God to get the FCC to allow corrections institutions to allow installation of cell phone jammers here in the USA. The Kenyans would be wise to enforce the same on their premises. If only the prisoner's number had gotten leaked out before the surgery to remove it, I'd gladly taken time off work and dialed it over and over again. There needs to be an army at the ready willing to inflict indirect pain of this sort, just don't forget to dial *67 before dialing that number. ONLY the NSA's Utah datamining center need know. Got it? George H.W. Bush was laid to rest in College Station, TX. View this two-minute video to realize his funeral wishes were fulfilled. Quite fitting if you're a fan of #41! For me, Mr. "New World Order" was a mixed bag that generally sided good. My glass was more than half-full. In Arkansas Sports News: Congratulations to the Bryant Hornets, Arkansas' 2018 7A State Champions in football, defeating North Little Rock 27-7. It's been a long road but Bryant has grown a lot since my mother moved there a decade back. (I visited her last month) Congratulations also, to the new mommy.. Elephant! Don't watch this video on Twitter if you've just eaten, unless you have the mommy instinct, of course. Turn up the volume to hear the herd of other females and young trumpeting in celebration. Priceless, if I must say. Finally, the bad weather missed the Panhandles for the most part! This won't last long as Christmas is approaching and it usually gets nasty around then. I've had to keep the heater on longer than I wanted and had to leave work Friday afternoon as a fever was trying to work itself into me. It lasted through a decent part of Saturday morning before I felt a lot better. I'm sorry for delays on the Pic of the Week and the usual release of this Blog. Sparing breaking news, I may have an update as early as Wednesday evening, hopefully by next weekend at the latest.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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12-1-18
"Poppy" has passed. George H. W. Bush, the 41st US President died in intensive care overnight at age 94. His legacy, although imperfect, was that of a well-experienced man of public service, his solid marriage to Barbara which lasted 73 years (have you seen pics from their early years? What a couple!) a love of country which few truly possess and a Hollywood-speed wit when shared with "Barb" served them well in those White House years. For the next month, literally to New Years Eve - under Federal Law, flags will be flown at half-staff as they are done by tradition to show respect to any President who passes on. I'm also wondering about Jimmy Carter as his time no doubt will approach, he giving much thought to his legacy as well. 2018 certainly has been both entertaining and sad in so many aspects. May God Bless America again! With all that said, attention hasn't been lost to yesterday's 7.0 earthquake affecting the Anchorage, AK area. The quake was by far the worst experienced there since 1964 when a mammoth 9.2 occurred between Anchorage and Valdez. Major damage was incurred in many areas, yet stronger building codes in the aftermath of over half-century ago likely saved additional lives. Twitter comments note how long the initial quake lasted and frankly, I'm surprised the results weren't more tragic. My prayers are certainly with the Alaskan people as Anchorage is by far the population center of the state with much of the commerce flowing through.

Oh, Jim.. I follow you on Twitter (@JamesGRickards , who is a great guy overall and I encourage others to follow as well) and you often return tweets I give. Although we disagree on a few points, I've learned much from you and fully agree a Global Collap$e is long overdue and will happen! Your books are kick-ass, you're loved almost as much as a first-born and you see so much, but on Bitcoin and crypto in general? You've got this so wrong! It won't go to zero. Even if a sovereign bans it, others will take up the baton and continue. It ain't gonna die, James and this too applies to the alts, especially Litecoin, Ripple and Doge (I see the Jury still out with BCH so stay tuned!) The genie is out of the bottle and no government or World Order can change that now, yet your passioned plea gives me an extremely important cue - a cat to let out of the bag! Folks, if you're still awaiting your time to BUY and take that chance with way better odds than the lottery could ever give you, the Basement is opening up as the Bargains are already here, y'all!! What's going on? Blood has flowed into the streets as the correction is being OVERDONE. I'm seeing a dead cat bounce but am in one trader's camp that 2k USD=BTC is possible. Read the freakin' charts, RSI in particular and sense the pain, but if you HODL and do not need the $$ for an ill-timed coin-to-fiat exchange, then simply do as I am doing and continue HODLing. Let the n00bz with weak hands capitulate, but damn if I will be weak-handed! Furthermore, opportunity knocks rarely in the space and I'm taking advantage of this. I'm adding LTC to my holdings, likely next week and even if I'm wrong and the sucker goes to zero to stay - it'll be totally worth taking the chance to prove so many as wrong. What I learned in '13 from that 700 USD investment from my tax return into nearly 17 BTC continues to pay me back over and over. I've never lost sight of that experience and those directly from it and strongly believe if others had it too, that the world would be a very different place! Keep in mind, Bitcoin and most of the alts have NOT been h@ck3d. Fundamentally, there's nothing wrong here and I'm ignoring the FUD. This ain't my first rodeo and the scars I refer to in my Twitter profile are not only physical from the bareback broncing during the 80's and early 90's, adding to mental trials of dealing with these cryptocrashes. If you've taken the time to grasp the technology and get beyond typical Keynesian thinking (which fits Einstein's definition of insanity, as it fails over and over) then you've found something you can hang your hat on. P.S., even if Bitcoin fails and crypto cra$hes forever, it won't change my move to Wyoming. I've had too many good memories there. A legislative committee yesterday passed by 13-1, a bill allowing for a state-sanctioned bank with the primary intent of serving banking needs of cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses, despite heavy banking opposition. Tweets on the stream flood in from those not aware that bills usually must clear a committee before being submitted to the Legislature for consideration! I'm certain this bill, yet to be numbered and submitted, stands an excellent chance of passage. Note too, the Cowboy State has some competition going on! Ohio, as of this past week, began accepting Bitcoin for taxes, specifically businesses for now, becoming the first state to do so. Muneeb Ali echoes my inner-thinking nicely in this excellent tweet he posted regarding Crypto Winter. I'll watch the computer a bit less, enjoy the snow (to come) a bit more, hopefully eat a lot less, keep working and saving what's needed for the move, while in the interim - putting $$ into viable, secure, unwanted-for-now crypto! There's even a credit card coming out which Bitcoin charges up.. Nice!

Other links? Yes, babies can suffer digital addiction as us adults, as evidenced in this YouTube video! It's amazing (really, not so!!) how the baby is immediately comforted when provided with that phone. Of course I can remember some of the same feelings of certain toy cars, even one squeeze ball I played with as a five-year-old. A tornado affected my neighborhood late one night. Momma grabbed us kids and we were in the small hallway. The large glass door revealed to me my favorite ball, about 2 to 3 inches in diameter, being tossed up and down (like those balls in the lottery drawing but several feet higher) by the winds outside. I pitched a fit over that but apparently everything was o.k. except part of our carport. Some of the neighbors didn't fare too well, but the overall strength of the storm didn't cause tragedy. The vividness of this event still strikes me after nearly a half-century. Perhaps that's why severe storms, especially tornadoes, strike such resonance. I can do little about it, although technology to warn others has truly gained traction. What I'd do if I were Trump? Add MORE radars! Too many areas have inadequate beam penetration for even the latest technologies. Guymon spotters can usually outdo both AMA & DDC (Amarillo/Dodge City weather offices) for exactly that reason! Low-based storms are likely missed at such distances from the respective radar beams. Furthermore, DDC will have their radar shut off for several weeks to replace critical equipment. Other overlapping sites will provide some detection, but not near the degree. Now for a grinchy Christmas time! This New Jersey home brings back vivid memories of Little Rock, circa 1993 when the Osbornes had their 3 million plus mega-display on Cantrell Road when such home-brewed displays of that size were quite the niche! If precedence is a guide, the Apruzzis will lose for the same reasons that Jennings lost to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Consider too, the Osborne's display I seriously doubt had any LED lighting, although I've never researched how much they paid AP&L/Entergy for the "Aurora Osborealis" or obvious glow their house gave, bright enough that pilots some 70 miles away could use it as a beacon. After the huge headache that caused, the family used their lights for Graceland (if you're paying attention, there's a small hint to this in country music group Alabama's "Christmas in Dixie") and Disney World. They also spiced up various town displays throughout Arkansas, including a decent half-million light display in Fort Smith where Jennings' mother was still living nearby. I was working at KTCS-FM during that time and got many compliments for the stampede string on my trademark cowboy hat, something which continues through this day and into the future, God willing. Finally, the Quote of the Week: "Smartphones are great, the only problem is there isn't enough competition." - MusicIsYou on ZeroHedge.

Sparing other breaking news, have a wonderful weekend and show love to those you love.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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11-24-18
Greetings, y'all!,
 Bitcoin remains stagnant in overall volume and I fully, totally, abso-freakin'-lutely expected another pricing swan dive or two with one having occurred since I penned this originally last Monday. I saw a 4100 USD dip earlier today and now 3,600+? The bulls remain happy and fat in the pasture, not giving a care for now. Crypto 99's Danny on Twitter opined the same, although he'd like to see some traction. Sorry, but I don't see it for several days to come. It's becoming a BUYING OPPORTUNITY OF THIS CYCLE, NOT TO BE SEEN AGAIN FOR AT LEAST A YEAR so get that $$ ready if you're in the camp that you're in this to scoop up unwanted coins if you believe you're in for the HODL and scoring it RICH! Although not financial advice, I'm willing to take on the risk as this is extremely oversold and cheap now. Even if sideways movement is encountered for weeks, the rebound will take place in my arrogant opinion. I've always been proven correct in the past on these and expect no different an outcome - it's a matter of time working out all this. You see, I want Litecoin to again go below thirty bucks and expect this to occur Sunday or Monday, I'm making a trip to the bank to deposit for some LTC as this is incredible with no real fundamental reason at all for this carnage, other than the conclusion of this correction. Read my tweet to understand my cowboy logic on this. Only the stablecoins such as XRP (Ripple) are standing somewhat even in the room with Doge a possible exception, although I think XRP goes below .4 later this weekend. NullTX gives an glowing opinion on Dogecoin. This first-day Shiebe continues to be surprised with how resilient this crypto remains. Remember this isn't financial advice, but I'll continue to HODL through this Bear as I've done so far. Other than stablecoins, the alts remain in lock, stock, and barrel with Bitcoin. Bitcoin Ca$h's battle royale is overwith! BCH ABC wins and SV will continue with their chain. I remain very curious about blockchain in general as the usage cases continue to grow with more demonstrated cases and successes coming forth. My prediction is that the bloodletting is very close to ending, when compared with other Bitcoin crashes and as mentioned earlier, you shouldn't be surprised to see the price go sideways for a short duration before the bulls return. Want crypto and blockchain to grow? Participate, especially in available jobs in this space. Give this time to grow as well! Those with viable utility tokens will be richly rewarded as their projects demonstrate with capabilities, cases for use, then actual usage where the tokens to power these chains become far more in demand. Viable crytpocurrencies should flourish, too.

Jumping in with the American state of West Virginia, the Kingdom of Thailand becomes the first ever NATION to hold elections using blockchain! When reading the article, please understand the numbering system is different in much of Asia than that in Europe and America. The article itself is correct. We're not dealing with a million-plus voters on the app just yet. It's literally over a hundred thousand, but a decent start. Amazing what a wind turbine course in the Upper Midwest can teach ya', right? My excellent physics teacher was from the Middle East and I did additional research to learn more about it. I'm pleased to read in NullTX that Overstock (whose CEO I met in Laramie back in September) is selling their business to focus on crypto! Mr. Byrne does some awesome things and puts his mind to so many tasks. I tip my hat his general direction in admiration and pray for his success, which I expect in due course after the bears are done with this cycle in the space. Also, getting back to the basics of blockchain, Edward Snowden understands this subject nicely and gave an interview or two which were briefly edited before publication. This is quality enough I'd consider using it in my Blockchain/Cryptocurrency course and give him and the ACLU deserved credit.

Now for more topics; Here in Guymon, the weather has been decent lately, turning awful cold with a wind advisory kicking in and going through most of Sunday. The holiday was great, yet I'm saving up for 2019 as there's a lot to come. The Telegraph in the UK reported Thanksgiving Day that men are reporting more domestic attacks and the trend for domestic attacks on women have fallen. The story also notes that support for these men, amid the increase, has not increased at all! Sometimes, low-tech is the thing to do. Crosley has reintroduced the cassette player with a retro radio doing analog tuning. When you thought that vinyl and cassettes were going down the dust bin and almost reached it, you find new electronics with the old. Some cassette production facilities have added extra shifts, due to demand. Now for the Deed of the Week! To see grandma's reaction on having her lost cat returned was totally priceless!That's it for now. Here, we're holding onto our hats (I'm putting the stampede string to excellent use, thank you very much!) Sparing more breaking news and insanity from the cryptos, expect another update next weekend.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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11-16-18
Bitcoin again takes it on the chin as the Bears remain victorious! My mother tells me of the FUD she's heard, yet she's not experienced the booms and busts I have in the space. I have extensive experience in this regard which she will see in the months to come, but patience must rule supreme for now. Apparently, there's more bloodletting to be done for the 15% swan dive experienced Wednesday as the overall volume in the space is pathetic! Due to this factor alone, perhaps Stacy Herbert will be proven correct after all, her 3k USD=BTC prediction not out of question now, sparing any SEC action toward ETF's which the underlying asset isn't a bunch of bullshit paper promises settled always in fiat, much like the existing COMEX/Libor that PM phyzz HODLers remain frozen into for now. My mindset remains no different. The BTC I HODL remains solid in Cold Storage and I don't need the green it can generate anytime soon, so I'll hang on and continue planning for the future. After all, I'm back from an Arkansas trip. You can check out my Pic of the Week link for pics, singly shown and updated daily in a short series, regarding the visit. It was a Use It Or Lose It situation that I needed to burn up some days, a few which I'll use here in Guymon. Until I'm ready to move, life remains good! My arm finally has some time for quality downtime and healing. I can tell some progress, so maybe I can skip the doctor. (crossing fingers and toes)

Oh, the crypto world has a good Doctor who claims to be mapping the entire Tor in order to nab people with privacy-minded cryptocurrencies. He states that Monero, Dash, ZCash in particular are going to be fully exposed and promises sometime next year to unveil his system with "100% traced, criminal case level evidence trails." He quickly prods the community with a sharpened stick "Have a nice life. It is too late to stop." in which others and myself wonder why he wants to wait a spin around the Sun to decloak such secrecy and sorcery inside the glass ball toilet of the internet's innards. His comeback? "I want the entire dark web mapped." so the suspense begins. Although he states he wants illegal ICO fraud to cease and I wholeheartedly agree, I'm not entirely buying that statement on face value. I'm quite willing to wager he'll want money for his extensive work in this space (he even gives a link to his growing list of certifications) likely to license or sell this technology to the IRS for tax enforcement, or that the Agency finds some type of dirt on him and forces his hand anyhow. Besides, I don't HODL any privacy coins at present so even if he's truthful in all this, I will not be personally affected. You have to treasure his sarcastic attitude, degrading anyone with powerful questions to "loser" status. Read the thread in the link if you don't believe me! If he starts blocking his critics on Twitter, he'll move up in the short list to become the latest recipient of the Roubini Award. But wait!!
Faustus isn't an anti-coiner from what I gather. The Roubini Award rightfully belongs to rabid, anti-coiners whom collectively see this technology as a threat, even if their colleagues embrace the Blockchain technologies implemented therein. After all, if every vote having been cast in this mid-term election were 1) verified as eligible BEFORE being cast and 2) locked on a blockchain after being cast, you'd not see the Flah-Ruh-Duhhh headache and huge waste of money media circus it's become over the past week or so. Bloomberg reported yesterday that Executive Board member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Benoit Coeure considers Bitcoin (BTC) to be the �evil spawn of the [2008] financial crisis.� joining other anti-coiners who can't possibly stomach any competitive technologies which they can't inherently control. Unlike our loveable Jamie who has seen some rays of light, I doubt Mr. Coeure has any family members who tried, then did their Dance of Joy when the crypto took off in terms of a representative fiat. Keep in mind, your humble blogger loves Crypto for the international recognition it carries. I can spend it in so many places overseas without having to exchange dollars for other fiat currency, thus extending my middle digit vertically at the always-stuffy, arrogant money changers I come across at the airports. I'm NOT strictly a HODLer and allow my record for having used Bitcoin in transactions to prove that for me, however, HODLing is a strategic bet that other newcomers without crypto will buy it to utilize in a number of investments, therefore increasing the demand and value of the coins the HODLers won't easily release. To each their own I say! Bitcoin doesn't care.

Several have asked me about Jeff Session's firing as Attorney General of the USA and what will happen with further decriminalization under federal law of marijuana. A tweet seems to give insight and McConnell may be the ideal guy to give it wings. Hey, until that "guarantee" he's giving becomes law, well.. It ain't! so I'm not investing any $$ into weed until it's removed from 23 USC 812, also known as the Controlled Subtances Schedules the authorities cite. Let's talk forestry and wildfires now.. Adam Rogers authored a decent article about how to stop wildfires, with money! Read through this article well and come out more learned of why it's still going to be a major pain in the ass for southern California, regardless of what is done to try and thin out the underlying fuels which with the dry, Santa Anas from the NE brought such destruction. As of this posting, the winds have died down, giving weary firefighters opportunity to knock some of it down. Godspeed to them all!
Enjoy the weekend. I will be here to update both the Pic of the Day and this Blog if breaking news occurs.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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11-10-18
Bitcoin and the alts are pretty much flat. Bitcoin Cash BCH has come down from the 600's as the Fifteenth awaits HODLers. This remains a fantastic time to acquire unwanted coins. There's little else to say for now as it remains BORING to say the least. A few things to keep you busy on the net? You bet!
CRYPTO USE CASE: Well-fed chickens on TV? Of course! These are the Real Deal and not virtual cryptochickies. It costs nothing to watch the fun if you're using broadband, yet if you have some Bitcoin Ca$h and want to part with fifty cents worth, you can watch these laying ladies go crazy for the next feeding from the crypto candy machine set up at their coop. TAP! TAP! TAP TAPPITY-TAP! SQUAAAAWK TAP TAP TAP!! That's one smart farmer and some fat chickens. The farmer, somewhere in the Rockies, tells us via stream chat that this isn't their only sustenance. They obviously know their birds' care well as I've watched them receiving compost containing mealworms and they'll have access to the green grass lawn nearby soon as snows are on the way. Also, the chickens get their first breakfast for now around 7:20AM MST (1420 UTC) and continue feeding through the day until around 5:20PM MST (0020 UTC), otherwise you'll see the birds bunched up and perched inside their coop on the infrared cam. Darn ingenious if I must say so as it reminds me of Animal Wonderland in Hot Springs, AR back in the 70s where a vending machine had a chicken housed inside a fairly-tight space. You'd put in a quarter and the chicken received a signal to manually trigger a prize, much like what kids still get in those little bubble containers. The chicken then received a reward of feed. This would not be allowed nowdays here in America, no matter how pampered the yard bird was! DISCLAIMER: I own the domain name AnimalWonderland.com today and plan a very different project with it when I finally have some time to spare, likely after I move. As far as I know, their dispensing machine uses only BCH for now.

Erik Voorhees gives us a tweet which HODLers should not lose sight of! What he states is very plausible and I think more likely day after day of nonsense, especially that the Bank of England won't give Venezuela their fourteen tons of gold. Perhaps I should ask Anna Golubova who authored the story. if there's any possibility that the gold is already "leased" to China, today in kilo form, 99.99% fine and ready to serve as the next Reserve when the Dollar inevitably tanks. Yet, crypto haters wonder why we HODLers gave up long ago, awaiting the economic pot to finally boil. Jake, this humble blogger thanks you for bringing sanity into crypto through your tweet! If you're considering using a private Bitcoin or alt coin ATM, firstly, check those fees and when the machine is accessible. Here's a step by step guide on how to buy bitcoin through a Bitcoin ATM.

Finally, Thousand Oaks, CA has had an incredibly painful past week or longer. The mass shooting occurred, then the fires burning up the region. There's hope when the residents finally wisen up and decide that a gun in hand is safer than a phone in hand with 911 on the line and police, maybe minutes away to call in the coroner if they don't get sidetracked and miss their bodies. Don't laugh.. This happened in the part of Little Rock a decade ago in the apartment complex where I lived. At least there may be a gradually-developing pro-gun mood to come to the West Coast. They have a new governor, a lot of cleanup, and a lot of reflection to do. Trump is at least partially correct that present forestry practices are responsible for the massive fires, yet he has to understand the excessive Santa Ana winds and very low humidity, something the Feds and Cali simply cannot control. It would be unwise for him to consider suspending any aid to the area without consulting experts whom have a first-hand understanding of the dynamics that region has. Residents understand it's part of living there. A-listers have already packed up and left behind their homes, so TMZ will be busy with all the coverage. With all that said, it'd be nice to hear from some of us blue collar folk inhabiting the region. There will be rebuilding, but I expect a few to move out of there. May God shower His Blessings on those public servants keeping those safe, but there's greater need for shelters.. Already, 300,000+ have been displaced.

Finally, a lot of snow is coming! I'm looking forward to the white stuff coming in Monday. Winter Weather Watches are out in the southwest portions of the Texas Panhandle where perhaps 6 inches will wrap up the winter blanket. This is early for us, but it's an El Nino year! That means for the mid-South, a greater chance of wintertime tornadoes. I wish to take this time and warn those in that region of NE Texas, throughout Arkansas, much of Tennessee, Northern Louisiana, to review your severe weather preparations. I keenly remember Christmas Eve, '82 in central Arkansas. That Sunday didn't turn out so good for Saline, Pulaski Counties, and of course Rose Bud in White County experiencing an F4 touchdown that El Nino-fueled series of storms. That's it for now, I'll be back with another blog in a few days, God willing.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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11-4-18
UPDATE: BCH (Bitcoin Ca$h) is heating up in advance of their Hard Fork on the fifteenth. It's the Hot Potato going up over 25% over the last 48 hours! With this pump, brought on by news that Binance will support the Hard Fork, there are plenty in the space trading their cryptos for BCH in advance and you should expect to see a boatload of volatility and FOMO going on at least until then. You'll find a number of YouTube videos that give instruction on what to do if you're HODLing BCH and be very careful during this time of scammers who want what you have. You've been warned!! Some are good impersonators so tell them to screw themselves into the bathroom floor below the piss lip of one of the Grand Central Station urinals, as warranted. I'm watching the excitement in some of the forums regarding this so watch that chart. I'll be doing the same. Note too, if BTC finally breaks out of it's triangle, the FOMO could spread further and further. Stay Tuned!
 Don't forget the midterm elections if you're in America, have registered to vote, have not already participated in early voting, and truly want to make a difference. I'm not disclosing how I'll vote except that those asswipes who are flushing our Rights down the toilet won't receive my vote. I'm SICK of politicians who love government, instead of the people they should be representing. This includes State Senator Murdock who I still despise his vote last March regarding the Real ID Act in my state while Representing District 61 which covers the entire Panhandle, not Tinker or any other military base as was a cited reason for the vote he cast. I still like him as a person, but his politics are too short-sighted, government-loving and he keeps too many cards close to his chest as Guymonians witnessed in regard to his lack of comment regarding the upcoming Grand Mesa casino, southwest of town, the first gambling joint in the Panhandle. Note though, I occasionally gamble so I'm not necessarily against it, yet we need honest output from those we elect. If I ran for his seat, I'd vote against anything which threatens our Constitutional Amendments and Murdock screwed us partially out of our Tenth, putting valuable drivers license data at significant risk of hacking with Homeland Security ready to deploy it in facial recognition as recently hinted in ZeroHedge. It's just the beginning as I warned those in attendence last March at Eggs & Issues. Just Sayin'! We also have a new State Rep up for vote to take Murdock's old seat here in District 61 and a new Governor to elect. The Dems will remove all the stops as possible and again I blame the collective idiocy of the Oklahoma Republican Party for allowing their Competition Jackasses to offer ballots to those as myself who chose either Independent or Libertarian registration (I covered this in an earlier Blog entry, so scroll down a bit to find it). The party's elephant butt deserves the hoof branding it may well receive, come Tuesday and they should wake the hell up, NOW!
 It's still rough in Afghanistan! More and more, I think it would be nice to wrap up the mission and finally get out of that region. Condolences to the family and residents of North Ogden, Utah whose Mayor Brent Taylor, on temporary leave to serve in Afghanistan, has been shot dead in Kabul on Saturday, according to BNO News. As I remove my hat for a deserved moment of reflection, we should remember the sacrifices of the brave men and women of our military who risk life and limb each day serving this nation, then pray they can finally COME HOME!
 Children and taxes, versus computer hackers and the Dark Web: When I grew up, a Social Security Number or SSN wasn't necessary until I was close to working age. Congress or the IRS (or both?) had this idea of proof of existing children before they gave tax breaks to parents. What better than to require every baby to be given an SSN, even if solely to file taxes with? What horrible things could happen?? Hee hee hee! We routinely give out TMI (Too Much Information) to people who simply ask for it, rarely challenging why they need it! I've challenged one Russellville, AR clinic why they wanted mine and demanded a privacy policy to be printed for me before I'd give it, making the matter a near-shouting match with her vague answer of why her corporation needed it. I made a condition that it would be erased from records when my bill was paid, although truth be told, they likely still have it on file. This crap should end, and that includes your insurance company. I've even challenged one insurance agent why they required my number and inquired how they handle foreigners who possess no SSN. If every American did this enough and acted politically in unison to stop this mess, we'd have far fewer cyberissues of this sort! Welcome to the age of computers and the hackers selling your information or your child's information, especially their Social Security Number with perfect credit and other info on the Dark Web, for a decent, steep fee of course. My advice is simple.. You should request your child's credit record when you request your own (anyone can request a free report from all three reporting agencies annually, via AnnualCreditReport dot com) even if you start receiving junk mail for credit-related offers in their name. This might save a hell of a lot of aggravation in the future when it's time for Junior to consider financing anything, including his student loan!! Note too, you can force an opt-out for them where these junk mail offers for them cease usually within a month. For those TL;ID'ers on this blog, just read the final paragraph in the article and ACT ON IT. Do it often! Make it clearly unpleasant for people to gather this precious information without a damn good reason doing so, and perhaps you'll 1) start voting out the incumbent assholes you routinely re-elected for Congress who either blindly passed this nonsense in the first place or insist on how it's for the child's protection, for the "corporation" who is treating you, or that of the insurance company and 2) begin the process of insisting on new legislation not requiring these numbers from non-working children in the first place. Remember too, it was never the intent of Social Security to have numbers utilized for identification, and it's rich for fraud.
 This week's Quoteable: "The secret that every great investor knows: Investing is about underwriting the best people, not the best ideas." - unknown.

Until next update,
Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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11-3-18
Greetings, y'all!
 Bitcoin continues to await a true breakout in fiat price of some sort. A few of us can see the water swirling and fuming a bit, but no boil bubbles. NOW remains a fantastic time to accumulate unwanted coins!! I repeat, NOW remains a fantastic time to accumulate unwanted coins!! The Technical Analysis pennant or triangle is running out of space, but for now this is downright BORING so Stay Tuned. Plenty of excitement remains in the Cowboy State as crypto proponents and their friends in the Legislature remain focused and very busy! Caitlin Long tweets the crypto industry should show up in Casper on 11/29 & 11/30, so heads-up to 'em and hopefully the weather cooperates for a great showup in the Friendly City which I visited back in July. She mentions 7 new crypto-friendly bills to be introduced to the Legislature, some of the details in this large tweet thread I've linked. Furthermore, she added how Wyoming created the first LLC in 1977 with Delaware taking away much of the glory. I agree if the stars align correctly that Wyoming will gain that elusive recognition again with the benefits that go hand-in-hand, but it's up to the crypto industry to overcome banking interests' resistance! The proposed State Bank would be EPIC in it's own right as few of these presently exist. Hint: North Dakota has one in Bismarck, but Long noted in her Hackathon speech that they're not the only one. The history section of the website gives an interesting overview.

 Except for most of Arizona and various tropical territories and Hawaii, people will turn back their clocks an hour to Standard Time going into Sunday morning, officially occurring at 2 AM. Saturday Night Bar Flies will enjoy the extra hour given for drinks before last call and we get back the lost hour which happened back in March. Today's magnificent sunrise here in the Panhandle was close to 8:11 AM with the city's tornado siren having fired off minutes earlier at 7:55 when pink was the dominant pre-sunrise color today. What the hell? Yesterday, (Friday 11/2) Guymon's sirens went off at 6:36 AM, an inconvenient alarm clock with no severe weather anywhere in the entire region. My impromptu poll of other Guymonians revealed almost two-thirds heard the alarm. Of course the radio mentioned the spectacle as I heard of it second-hand. If Yours Truly were still behind the microphone, I'd done the same.

 They say things happen first in California, especially the extremely expensive and overly progressive Bay Area! Colin of the 49'ers was the first to drop to a knee in protest to the national anthem, now one of the team's cheerleaders is doing the same. Her fifteen minutes of fame began as I doubt the League expected this. TV with book deal to come? Meh! Now a Brand New Drug makes the scene. This one is 10 times more powerful than addictive fentanyl, a thousand times more than morphine, and pushes opiod suicide via overdose to a Brand New Level! I'm strongly in agreement with some of the commenters of this article, that we'll soon see clones made by the Chinese when they get some of it smuggled back over the Pacific, a few could use it to murder someone easily (I have a very recent article of someone charged with a fetanyl murder, but only a partial story) and that some not-too-scrupulous medical providers will prescribe some to those not of need, or worse yet, self-prescribing and endangering themselves with their patients as I was a victim of in Heber Springs, AR back in '88. If I had sued the practitioner for his lack of standard (which he denied directly in front of me, although he lost his DEA # after facing a Grand Jury over additional patients under his care, scumbag he was!), I could've wound up paying off my land, buying a brand new pickup, even a down payment on a nice home. I was nearly broke at the time and in quite a bit of needless pain due to his drug-induced mistakes and potential harm. Just sayin'!!

 This month's choice for Act Of Kindness absolutely, positively, totally goes to an unnamed snorkeler who set a fish free from discarded netting and brought a tear or two to my eyes. The fish has either a mate or friend who stayed patiently with it while being set free with a piece of trash glass. We do a fantastic job of making the oceans our toilet, but this video is a heart-melter and proof there's still HOPE! Nemo would be so happy. PBS (the educational network in America) has an ongoing series in the PBS News Hour about plastics in our oceans which brings more awareness to this matter. Way to go! With all that said, except for Breaking News which I'll issue an update, have a fantastic weekend.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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10-27-18
 Bitcoin? It's almost like watching that pot, waiting for it to boil. A boring, BORING time in this space. There's some developments going on, though.. HUGE NEWS today as China�s Merchants are Legally Allowed to Accept Bitcoin and Crypto!! "Chinese court confirms Bitcoin is protected by law. Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration ruled a case involving cryptos. Inside the verdict: CN law does not forbid owning & transferring bitcoin, which should be protected by law because of its property nature and economic value.� With that said, what say you, Nouriel Roubini? :^)
Even more interesting, very soon over 100,000 ATMs will double as Bitcoin ATMs, as a result of the agreement between Genmega and LibertyX according to details being released. Although an exciting development, I would argue it's no total substitute for a cryptocurrency ATM in regard to one's privacy, if that happens to be paramount. After all, there's that record from your banked account via your debit card going directly there. Personally, I'd never use it for any privacy-minded coins you insist on HODLing if they expand the service that far.

Jameson Lopp (anyone in the bitcoin space should consider a Twitter follow of him!) asks "What if the final shitcoin bubble is fractional reserve bitcoins?" and a later commenter tweeted that "Rehypothecate" is a word that is worthy of memorizing. I strongly agree and am adding it to the glossary I'm creating. In fact, I'll include definitions to both from Investopedia (scroll down to where both are discussed in two paragraphs.) Let me add the term "Dusting" to the glossary while I'm at it. Read more to discover what Dusting is, in regard to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, especially those with transparent blockchains.

 Max Muncy became Lucky 13 for the Dodgers Friday night, oops, Saturday morning! Game 3 of the World Series became a two and two cliffhanger almost into eternity. Finally, he's up to bat in the 18th (the longest post-season game in MLB history) and hits one well over the fence. It took well over seven hours to settle that game, but think of the extra beer sold! I bet the ballpark didn't have a "last call" as most external bars do! Steve Jobs enjoyed this 1973 chart. Looking it over, maybe the bicyclists were right all along! As you'll see, horses ranked a bit better than autos in energy transport usage, but keep in mind that officials in New York City met in 1898 regarding the daily cleanup of 4 million pounds of crap from the streets and stables. (scroll down if you clicked it to find the reference) The auto changed all that, although they still don't truly possess a mind of their own. Let the fatal pedestrian accident in Tempe, AZ back in March this year by an autonomous vehicle be testament to that! Your LaughLink of the Week? You wanna view this funny video, I KNOW you do.. Now you've witnessed feline funnies, here's the more serious side of tai chi for the cat.
That's it for now. Sparing breaking news, my next update should be mid-week or next weekend.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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10-20-18
Greetings, y'all!,
 Here's my final, Part III of my Wyoming Hackathon visit from early September in Laramie, but first off - it's been a while since my last posting. Annual Inventory is one of those must-do's in the warehouse where I presently work. We had to prepare for the event by pulling several days ahead before shutting down, then shutting the door with an "CLOSED FOR INVENTORY" sign which a few ignored to receive stern "We can't help you! We're counting and closed." replies. It was worth it as the results I think were better than last year, shortly after starting this new position. Having done this, I'm taking some additional time off between now and the year's end as I have quite a bit of chores I must get done at the dentist and here at the house, plus some vacation time out of state as I'll lose it if not used. I'm also posting a last pic or two of my 9/21 visit to OKC's Nonesuch in downtown. You can visit my Pic of the Week on this website while they last a few more days.

 While at the Hackathon, one of the larger eye-openers for me was the fact that Rob Jennings, the first person I spoke with regarding the Blockchain Coalition there, is CEO and co-founder of American Certified Brands, LLC in Cheyenne. Rob has a Washington, DC phone number on his business card and I'm certain there's strategic reasoning for having that. His businesses include BeefChain and their latest SheepChain. How does this fit into blockchain? Rob told several in attendence including Yours Truly, that Wyoming beef and mutton has a provenance or capability of record of proof where it came from during it's life cycle, which in the past has been typically discarded due to modern meat processing techniques. This is where ACB comes in! Consider that market forces are moving in the direction that people want to know where their food originates and bear in mind the difficulties meat processors have when a food-borne illness outbreak is reported. The blockchain from BeefChain and SheepChain if reliably used by all producers can speed up isolating and pinpointing sources used and could also be verified by consumers! Not only may it reduce unnecessary waste and save money by it's usage, it could reduce the geographical footprint of food recalls and possibly speed up notifications. As most of you know with Blockchain, it's immutable once a block is completed via hashing. It's one of countless uses of this technology which will transform our lives in numerous ways not yet imagined. Jennings is one of those pioneers with a passion and he's getting more producers interested as their product value is enhanced, especially if they're already moving to more natural or organic-certified methods of raising their animals. I've learned these operational blockchains aren't yet ready for public consumption, but getting there. I also met some of the staff from MetaX and Bullpay. As you can read on MetaX, they use a TCR or Token Curated Registry, a new definition for me to add to my ever-growing crypto glossary. Essentially, MetaX's adChain Registry is a curated list of websites (publishers) that serve digital advertisements. adToken (ADN) is essential to utilize the registry. Bullpay is set up in NYC and what interested me the most is their Longhorn blockchain explorer. Although in Beta Mode when I composed this, the staff emphasized to me that their technology is advanced enough to handle most any blockchain. I plan to pass along this to another project team I've invested in and may mention here in the future. I wish all who attended the best of success going forth in this pioneering stage of blockchain. As you can already see, it's not just for money value transfer anymore! With that said, viable projects run by serious, success-minded teams should be given ample legroom by their investors. It takes money, promotion, and most importantly - time and effort to get out the word about them! Stop badgering them with way too much of "When Lambo, When Moon?" questions and let them 'git 'er dun! One project I'm aware of will earn profits through their node licensing to where they can continue pushing through whatever the Markets throw their way, their project and product so different than BTC, ETH or any other existing today. Work continues and I pray Godspeed to all on their team!
 For now, I'm biding my time and watching crypto markets to gain a sense of when to move to Wyoming. It's certainly not now but I'm also watching opportunities there. A lot is happening and I'm striving to catch up with different news and notes I took during the Hackathon from other participants, sponsors, instructors at the University, and the legislators and other state officials I met while there. Next Hackathon in Laramie, I'll plan on staying through the WHOLE enchilada! It was awesome while I could stay and Wyoming will reap benefits of Breakin' Through. It was mentioned time and time again that these five new laws may receive revisions in the legislature with additional ones to follow. Now for a boatload of funky links, perhaps of interest...

Is this TRUE? A child has RIGHTS they can sign away, after all! It trended on Twitter as of Thursday, 10/11. Apparently our government thought children have specific and waivable rights when they presented a five year old girl with a document to sign away a specific legal right she apparently possessed which her parent(s), perhaps a guardian, certainly no lawyer on her side had no say in the matter! A bigger question to be presented? Who coached this little girl to make such a decision she couldn't have fully understood. I used to believe how insane Hillary Clinton was in advocating for children's rights, but someone in the Inner Beltway listened and drank her Kool Aid! It's a polarizing subject when illegal immigration is discussed, yet implying a child can comprehend such a document before they're in elementary school is... I can't even begin to peel off the layers of this stinky onion! You Joust? These guys are having too much fun, but this safety-minded grinch gives them a friendly reminder. In the seventeenth century, Knights had on HELMETS and they didn't have concrete underneath for gravity to take advantage of. Even with arena dirt, a cowboy can still get hurt.. Badly! It could be far worse.. There are light sabres to be created and fathers yet to be revealed without Maury's DNA testing on national TeeVee. (Yes, I worked for a Maury Show affiliate a decade ago and often edited the received show for air. Your humble blogger got paid to watch TV, yet I could never change the channel since I effectively ran it.) I thought Malaria was a tropical disease, yet zoos in many areas of the world have fewer and fewer penguins! It's advanced enough that some zoos are putting in plastic birds, including at least one in the UK. Considering Bill Gates' ongoing work in eradicating the disease, is he seeking a vaccine for penguins, now? Since we're still into critters, you can witness the farthest leap by a dog! Spitfire lived up to his name with a 31 foot leap into a swimming pool. Groovy! Now, your humble blogger focuses on Razorback fans in Little Rock, the so-called Opera Crowd of UofA Athletics. Hey, you guys forgot to take your meds or you drank too much of the wrong Kool-Aid! Now Ol' Miss got another laugh at your expense. Grow the hell up!! If anything, aspire to finally grow up like this kid is doin'! Daddy rarely yells at his kids, but I call this LOUD LOVE!! Definitely worth the view. Kid, WE LOVE YOU TOO! KEEP BEIN' FLY!! YOU AIN'T GONNA GET SWATTED, EITHER!!!
Humor of the week? "It bothers me that Solo cups are packaged together." - @Spaced_Cowboy00 on Twitter
When you're overqualified for the job, just wait for it! Finally, my choice for Rant of the Week on Twitter, and there's no profanity!

That's it for now. Others and myself await great things from crypto as the Bear Market plays out. I'm very convinced of great things later in the year, so hang in there and HODL, y'all!
Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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10-6-18
Greetings, y'all

 I'm well over halfway through my six-day-workweek schedule, an annual event for the Warehouse. It's not been easy, but I hung in there and getting better at this. I'm still biding my time as there are excellent opportunities showing up, but I must have time to scout those out and that's NOT been at all easy, lately. You've not seen an Blog update here in a while due to this event, but my paycheck has been better, making up for extra spending I did in both August and September in Wyoming. Stay Tuned for additional developments over time as these likely won't happen in the near-term, my gaining contacts and research being necessary for now. So what else is going on? Beneficial rains have returned to the Panhandles and finally a break in the 90+ degree weather and those damned biting flies which still won't fully disappear until November. Bitcoin remains in a funk for now, yet the charts speak of less capitulation lately. I'm in strong agreement with one trader whose YouTube videos I regularly view that we're in for another revisit to 6k before the Bitcoin Bull busts out the chute. The pennant flag is too obvious for me to ignore and it'll give those wanting to scrape up unwanted coin to do so on The Cheap! I fully expect Litecoin to again go soft around or just under $50 USD and that's what I'd love to accrue more of as it remains woefully undervalued. Certain token coins are also incredibly cheap and will take more time for their use cases to emerge strong enough for their backers to gain appreciation of the value. Most will choose to go fiat for ease, but I'd rather use the Real Estate clause in the Omnibus Tax Bill to get where I want to go. This is by no means any tax advice, so do ask your qualified CPA or tax attorney as I'll be doing in due course.
 Venezuela becomes the first nation to require their citizens to obtain their state-sponsored cryptocurrency, the Petro, in order to obtain that elusive passport, so shows a ZeroHedge story. This isn't obtainable by the average Venezuelan by any means. You also must ask how much technical knowledge they possess on how to "cold storage" to keep secure what they buy of it! Personally, Americans shouldn't touch the Petro! Scroll down to my 2-24-18 entry to review this, then scroll back into March to realize Trump banned it shortly afterwards. T'aint worth the chance or headaches this brings 'ya! Nevertheless, it's worth popping corn and watching the show.
 West Virginia becomes the FIRST state to allow voting secured by a blockchain. Read through the story and see where a computer science professor in Georgia says there's no real benefit from using the technology. Apparently, his college doesn't teach blockchain or grasps just how damned close that real change is coming to all of us, regardless if DeMillo understands this or not! THIS is among the many reasons I chose attending the recent Wyoming Hackathon. Would a debate between him and some of the cutting-edge professors teaching blockchain in their Computer Science cirricului do anything to break the ice? That could be an interesting outcome.
 If you didn't watch the Circus which is Washington, DC then the best of the ringmasters made his point known! Lindsey Graham socked it to the Dems last Thursday and I still consider it the best outburst in Congress in a very long time. It's also known that the Circus didn't disappoint as Kavanaugh was confirmed in the narrowest of votes since 1881 as the 114th justice confirmed to the Supreme Court. This gigantic Trump victory assures a conservative SCOTUS for decades. Snowflakes on both coasts are melting into a torrent as I wrote this.
 Yours Truly received his Presidential Alert on Wednesday, courtesy of FEMA. Of course it became a trending topic on Twitter in very short order. Ryan made me laugh with this hallway video; after all, his school requires students to keep their cellphones in their lockers, so you hear the old-school EBS tone coming from all these points close by, outside of their classes. It nevertheless sets a new historical question-mark of what's to come. Although some news outlets stated the President doesn't have control over the system, in fact I've learned FEMA will give more control to the Executive Branch next year with this successful test having been completed.

Other News? Your Doctor, Yourself as a Patient, and the Police. What do all three have in common, now? This should be disturbing but NOT surprising to most. Apathy rules the roost and most Americans are simply too distracted in their goldfish attention spans to give a damn. Of course the politicians justify these lists and "sharing" of information, but we see where the abuse creeps in with nary any accountability - am I "feeling" this one good? I would pray you consider this point carefully. Trump should address this type of nonsense. Maybe it'll make his radar, then his tweet storming in due time? Let's talk about weed, north of America's border, eh?? To my Canadian friends after weed (it's legal nationwide in a few days!) Read this article on how to legally transport it in every province. Heaven returns to Earth when an American can legally transport their handguns with minimal hassle and no lawyer on speed dial. Bonus Points when marijuana is finally removed from Schedule I (21 USC 812) as so many additional hassles can be worked out, although I realize a Pandora's Box will be opened in some regards. Still, society demands better treatment and the money is awaiting deployment. There WILL be change and it's happening, so to all parties involved - get ready, from Congress to the Man on the Street!

That's it for now. Enjoy whatever time you can when away from work and make the most of it! Sparing Breaking News, my next update is likely next weekend.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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9-16-18
 I'm not ready for the third part of my Hackathon experiences story yet, but Caitlin Long with the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition recorded a very informative podcast with Marty Bent earlier Sunday. It's clearly worth the popping of corn and tuning in for the hour and half as Marty picks her brain on so many things. You'll learn much about Austrian Economics and her observations from Wall Street, just to mention a few. Within the interview is the main reason I'm giving an update Sunday evening.. Caitlin and the Coalition will have a task force meeting coming up Friday 9/21 and she needs a statement from you if 1) You've had problems either opening or maintaining a bank account, especially if due to any cryptocurrency matter AND 2) you are a crypto fund, software company, business accepting crypto, or a person with such issues from your bank. She needs you to contact her as soon as possible with a statement that's signed, in .pdf format so she can present these to local bankers who may not understand the problems many of us face now. She can be reached through her website at www.caitlin-long.com or via Twitter @CaitlinLong_ and please get that in her hands by Thursday 9/20 if possible. Note this is in regard to a special Wyoming state bank bill being proposed. Although not solely for cryptocurrency protections, this proposed bank will have that in mind. Please pass this on to anyone in America you know has been affected with these problems. That's all I have to post for Sunday and sparing Breaking News, expect another update either Wednesday or Sunday. I will be extremely busy with 6-day workweeks at least until 10/19!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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9-15-18
PART 2 of 3, the Wyoming Hackathon;

 During the entire time I was in Laramie (late Friday 9/7 through very early Sunday, 9/9) I had not turned on the TV to catch the news on K2 television or anywhere. I stayed Friday at a local motel where the TV was not working as it should. A written notice was shown that I needed to switch something to make it work. I had so many other things on my mind that I just said "Meh!" and turned off the damned thing, not catching why I was seeing more Laramie squad cars going around than usual. Someone had tried to burn down the Wyoming GOP office early Thursday and numerous agencies are investigating the fire. Frankly, I pray the authorities nail the scum who did this! Mind you, it's no secret I despise the Republican Party's chosen ignorance of independent voters here in Oklahoma. Democrats willingly accept voters as myself, rather than have me walk away from the polling location. In fact, it was rather revolting to be offered a Democratic ballot during last month's runoff race, something the Republicans NEVER thank voters as myself for doing!! I thanked the polling officials "for NOTHING!" and walked out, somewhat dejected but not surprised at the chosen ignorance of Republicans and their collective Party. I learned from one legislator this is problematic in Wyoming, too! It speaks badly for the Party and I do NOT apologize one bit for stating such. They need to change their shit or they'll wallow in it.

 There are various CEO's both big and small that I met while at the college. Some of these people are absolutely incredible and passionate about their projects. Getting to put a handshake to a face I've seen on YouTube is utterly PRICELESS in this cowboy's book. I got to shake Patrick Byrne's hand and thank him for making Bitcoin as a payment medium. This was a bucket list item I had made years ago that I've finally done! Now, many reading this humble blog already believe that Bitcoin may never be a consistent payment method, although using LN (Lightning Network) and SegWit (Segregated Witness) technologies have certainly evened out the miner's playing field. Litecoin is capable of implementing all these technologies and has a 4x transaction rate with 4x the coins, plus they remain freakin' undervalued!

 The Marshall Islands are getting some serious arm-twisting from the gigantic money changers! I do not believe for even a picosecond that the IMF isn't concerned their fiat game, which will ultimately fail as all fiat currencies do, is in serious trouble when authorities wish to provide fair competition to the US Dollar, presently the only legal tender there. The islanders should be left alone to decide their own fate and cryptocurrency is a way to the means. The Fund is warning against proposed changes to allowing crypto on the island chain, deep in the Pacific. There is but one bank there with US connections. It would be very sad if this arm-twisting might result in such a breakup where the islanders are given no economic choice but to trade with Russia and/or China. I remind blog readers these nations already are prepared to shoot the vertically-raised middle finger at SWIFT, and the process of USD divestiture has already begun in part due to physical gold being marketed through the Shanghai Exchange. Furthermore, the petroYuan is likely already live and kicking. Just sayin'..

 Regular news? Plenty of Florence-related stuff. Robert Simmons Jr. found a kitten. Both got fed up with the continuing flooding and fled. The kitten, named "Survivor" has clung to Robert, both inseparable and their picture having gone viral. I certainly pray for both, but also for Robert's father, who has clung onto their New Bern, NC home. To say this storm has wrought misery is being mild. It's still a vicious time there, even with the winds having subsided, yet the rains continue.

 Video of the week? Someone's silly cockatiel plays peek-a-boo. Too cute to ignore when everything else is stinkin'!

That's it for now.. I'm still hearing back from some of the contacts I made at Hackathon. I even got more information about a recent opportunity in the Cowboy State which I'll soon follow up on. Short of breaking news, I may have another update Wednesday. Note too, the next four weekends I'll be working! There's a lot of inventory and winter clothing distribution us clerks will be doing. I'll have more time beginning around Halloween and even into December as I have paid-off time I must use by the end of year, or it's GONE! Part 3 of 3, Hackathon Highlights are next week, y'all..

Gracias & Alles Liebe,
Mark

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9-10-18
Greetings y'all, especially newcomers to my Blog,
 This is PART 1 of 3 of my latest report, so please check back daily. I simply don't have enough time early morning Monday to give you the whole enchilada, and this buffet was MASSIVE, taking sweet time to digest! Hopefully, the leftover information I've brought back to Guymon will be consumed as I'd hate to waste such an excellent visit. It was absolutely worth the gas and travel and I have to shout my thanks to my workplace for letting me off on such short notice to have made it in the first place.
  I have a boatload to provide now and over the next two entries as I put it together. At least I made it back home in one piece, no problem, yet some of the attendees flew into Denver, a few from international locations, then made the short trip. Where did I go to, you ask? Many new visitors to my humble blog met me in Laramie at the University of Wyoming either late Friday or most of Saturday for the very first Wyoming Hackathon! It's my hope to all visiting for the first time that you'll come back daily for all the rest and realize I'm still working 10-hour days as a warehouse clerk, lifting lots of boxes, pulling articles which are ordered, operating a forklift to move all this stuff where it needs to go, and safely, I emphasize! All this while doing so with the accuracy that's my strong suit. Give it time, Grasshopper. Good things come to those striving and placing their efforts toward such! ((sound effect of loud gong)) Apoligies for the late entry as I was exhausted when I got back and had to get some precious sleep. Even getting there was a chore as an 18-wheeler crossed into my lane on US 385 north of Boise City, causing me to swerve well onto the shoulder before they either woke up or just veered off the highway. It's also migration time for Monarch Butterflies, swarms heading southwest into Mexico noticed throughout the Colorado Front Range during this travel.

 Cryptocurrency? Sheesh! It took a bloodbath while I was away. Bitcoin dived down to 6.1k and trading on a narrow range of 6,250 - 6,300 USD as of this submission and the alts took a beating as well. Sparing significant FUD (Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt) for now, I'm seeing 6.2k as a comfortable place to build back with a dive to 5.8k not out of favor and around 6.6k for a short-term upper resistance. Some attendees found it depressing to discuss crypto prices, but hopefully they'll heed my advice to simply face it and not give in to capitulation, as long as they didn't put too much funding into it in the first place. Although my HODL history is long, I wasn't the only one attending to begin involvement during late '09. I also consistently tempered my stories with the simple fact that Bitcoin was worth just pennies during that time and there was so much to learn.
 The college pulled out the stops for us, fed us well, gave us sleeping space on cots whenever needed, plenty of snacks and liquids to stay hydrated in these mountain elevations, provided security and it was certainly a success, although I couldn't stay Sunday to watch who won the prizes. (Stay Tuned as I plan to update in that regard) As regulars here already know, I'm still decompressing from all the networking and contacts I made while there, but at least I asked the most important questions. Although I didn't participate on a team at the Hackathon, I am making this a goal to do so in the future! It was still a success, a stunning one at that for me. For this time, it was very much about goals I strive to attain and hopefully change my residency to Wyoming in the medium-term. Hopefully, I didn't monopolize matters much for anyone, but please understand I had so many to reach out to. I believe I accomplished a decent headstart. I've been to Laramie numerous times in the past, but never to the UW Campus. Today, I have a far greater appreciation and overall respect for this institution and the people who keep it operating. I'll also disclose I had a handful of people give me FUD about my upcoming move to Wyoming, even one regarding the University! Neither person changed my reasoning at all as they can't come close to understanding what most regulars here already realize about me, in particular the vacations I've spent in Wyoming, the people I've met in the Cowboy State in the past and continue to contact for news and developments, and in particular, the research my former roommate and I did back in August with a move still in the planning and having whittled away to a handful of residential choices to get that critical start. If either understood my social and political situations I presently face here in the Panhandle, I believe both would've instead encouraged me to move northwest even faster. Furthermore, if I move in or close to Laramie, I've already told one of the instructors that I'll be taking his course! I want to contribute and participate and I believe I can help make positive differences going forward.
 Wyoming still gives people the rare (and raw) opportunities to grow personally and professionally that few, more progressive, expensive jurisdictions provide, yet she's truly a LEADER in so many ways as Caitlin Long, a Laramie native and UW alumnus, reminded attendees throughout. One of the business workshop speakers said it best that Wyoming is literally "paving the road" which cryptocurrency and tokens among other things the state leads in will induce people to follow. Even if other states begin to develop their cryptocurrency access, they will have a very difficult time catching up to what the Equality State has already reached. This was very apparent Saturday during the numerous workshops, three which I attended and were available to the public. Even if I hadn't registered for the Hackathon, my focus was very strong toward these workshops and through them I made the greatest number of contacts. Considering the indirect contacts I generated from these were numerous and I've gained many new acquaintances who I'm certain will turn out as lifetime friendships. That alone is a laudable goal which any aspiring pioneer should strive to attain. Wyoming is well-known for their pioneering role in so many things. Women are appreciated here and received the right to vote a half-century before that swept nationwide. If there's a state with the capability to truly break the glass ceiling without requiring excessive money and bickering to obtain such, Wyoming can pull it off. I can see the Big Picture already. FUDders should further consider even with any apparent weaknesses remaining, that enough influential minds are at work to address such concerns, and the state is small enough with sufficient access to enable one's say in these matters, theirs included. You can still make the World your Oyster here. Especially after my move, it will be in my best interest and those with like minds to continue adding ideas to improve and maintain the momentum already attained. The attitude of state legislators I've met are infectious! Since they're a direct result of the votes of residents, my gut feeling of future success is further empowered by this visit. I even learned of impending opportunities that could bring me to Wyoming even faster than the presently-stalled Windcatcher from one legislator whose district is literally hundreds of miles apart. That alone was worth the price of gas and that one nights' lodging nearby.

 For now, many thanks and hat tips to those having made this among the very best of short-timed trips I've ever made in my life. I have research to conduct over the next couple of days for updates I'll give you about this journey, a small yet significant step these worn boots made in the Rockies. Not only do I have more to come, you can browse further down this page for previous entries made this year. I give extra credit for people bookmarking and checking out this page regularly in addition to clueing others in on the Blog. Now back to Sn0r3fest..

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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9-6-18
Greetings,
 What a nasty week this has been.. Those who read this humble blog recently would've read my 7,400 prediction before a downturn and that proved oh so TRUE! I simply would've HODLed as I didn't feel an impending short would be the way to go, but I'm certainly no day-trader in this! Why was my gut feeling there? I simply wasn't reading much bullishness or upbeat news to push crypto any higher for now. This was setting up as a raising pennant formation and voila! Those usually break down in Technical Analysis. This was particularly vicious, yet a few expected a revisit to the 6k level, which hasn't occurred. In fact, as of tonight, I'm watching the 6,375 floor being lifted a bit into the 6,500's in a gradual but welcomed uptick. As is the situation with these, the alts really took it on the chin! I'll be watching from the sidelines but it's hard to call the next move for now. Some expect that another dive BELOW 6K could occur and I won't contest this for now, considering the number of sellers versus buyers. I'm still highly vested and have no intention of capitulation, something which apparently many have done with this selloff! There will be that point where enough capitulation has occurred where the market becomes way oversold and enough buyers come back in to build a new up-cycle. Because of a busy weekend here, I may not have an update until next week. I'll tweet out any additions via Twitter beforehand.

 Put more pork on your fork! (graphic animal butchery and adult language) The Army base in Fort Benning, GA has a huge problem with the wild hogs. In this video, you get to see how they hunt around and trap these nuisance animals. The trapped ones become dinner! Bear in mind, due to the pigs' high reproductive rate, at least two-thirds of the population have to be killed off each year in order to maintain what population they currently have. This video, featuring Gordon Ramsay with Major Bobby Tune, combined with millions of YouTube views is approved by the citizens of Texas, the soldiers of Fort Benning, and People Eating Tasty Animals, of which I'm proudly a member.

Until next time, HODL on!
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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9-2-18
Greetings, y'all and a happy Labor Day Holiday,
"Educating Liberals" on Twitter gives his scenario if Trump becomes the third President to be impeached. Meanwhile, Bubba (the Sun King) Clinton hasn't changed an iota, and what red-blooded man would blame him? He and Hill attended Aretha Franklin's funeral. Miss Grande's booty is indeed a WORK OF ART by itself and her dressing for this occasion definitely got Clinton's attention. Just look at the video in this link and you can easily see his shifting of the eyes up and down Ariana's really nice frame (Italian ancestry - according to the article). I don't think he was the only man enjoying this, and frankly I'd be doin' the same if I was a fly on that wall - Just sayin'! Even the attending Bishop apologized for "groping" her, but I'd readily accept his apology as it was sincere and she's just so fine!It was reported in the Standard story that Hill required assistance in attending Franklin's funeral. Want violence in your relationship? Guys, just keep egging on the gal to work cattle. Ain't too many true cowgirls out there as she puts up with plenty of bullshit we dish out already. She will soon get her fill of it and sock it to ya! Instead, let her deal with just the horses and other critters close to the home. Horses are the ultimate stress deflator tool for her. It's important to not let them breed where you wind up with too many mouths to feed! Just sayin'.

 Bitcoin news? It's over 7,200 USD as of this posting into the Labor Day Holiday weekend. The bulls are returning but not very convincing. I'm thinking a 7,400 peak is reasonable but 7,700 is not out of the question. Don't be surprised if we take a brief dive below 7k, yet I think we've found a floor! I love that Litecoin took a Texas bounce from 56 and a half on 8/26 and now above 66 bucks. It's an incredible steal at this price and if you're among those who took my advice last year to watch it peak and crash, just be patient.. I expect some awesome things to come forth for this crypto. Dogecoin? WTF! On 8/30, DOGE was .26 of a US penny. Yesterday, it had peaked at .67 cent and has quickly backed down to .47 cent. Unreal, but this is crypto. Note though, many have been rumoring of a Doge/Ethereum FORK, but this website disputes that. However, there is a demo. Check out the link to learn more. Finally, some alts are doing swell. Watch Bitcoin's pricing to get an idea of how the pricing continues as there's still not much decoupling if any.

 To conclude, George Kikvadze on Twitter has his say "BTC stuck at $6,500 reminds me BTC stuck at $200 and then a Massive Wave! Be patient folks. The next one - driven by institutional capital will be even bigger. Much bigger!" Personally, I'm seeing it recover more and more as the bulls gradually return. Furthermore, much of the excitement in the alts will return with a vengence! For the immediate time-being, another turndown is certainly possible, especially in the alts. Keep up your guard as the bulls are not firmly in control. Our Quote of the Week, from Rainbow Meadows Equine Rescue - "The wheels of Justice often have flat tires." You and yours have a pleasant Labor Day Holiday if in America. Sparing breaking news, I may have a mid-week update.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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8-25-18
 Not surprisingly, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA) denied 9 different proposed Bitcoin ETF's or Exchange Traded Funds. Because none of these allowed for DIRECT backing by Bitcoins themselves, I agree with the Commission's denial. Once an ETF with the balls to possess actual BTC assets which back the ETF, then I'll raise some hell about future denials. Otherwise, it's a huge "MEH!" from me. I'm damned surprised the crypto market as a whole barely batted an eyelash over it. UPDATE: Crypto 99 (Danny) on YouTube noted that staffers of the SEC, instead of the Commissioners themselves, chose the denials and that the Commission itself will take yet another look at these proposed ETF's. My bullshit indicator is already glowing red as I ponder to question "Is this being done as a trial balloon to deflate the crypto market when they again deny all nine, as I predict?? This should be interesting at the least." Germany may pull it's plug on SWIFT. One article claims Belgium has control over SWIFT while a comment poster says Deutschland is SWIFT's base, so I'm now confused. For now, I remain convinced of at least sideways movement in Bitcoin for the near-term. Medium term? We may revisit 5k USD or lower at least once. Shake out some weak hands from the crowd. At least I'm seeing more bullishness show up in the charts, but am still not ready to call a chart bottom on this bear, not yet!

 Russia wants to ditch the dollar.. Surprise, surprise, SURPRISE! Haven't I been hinting no less in regard to developments of both Russia and China having developed a non-SWIFT trading system, China now wanting to trade with a petro-yuan! Too many of you are asleep at the damned switch or doing a wonderful job of tuning this out. This WON'T turn out well, so don't say I didn't warn ya!

 August seems to be a tragic month for many, despite the fact this post was made on my Birthday (my many thanks to each of you who already have wished me well for going another year up on my calendar!) George Walker, truly a pioneer among black people in music composition, passed Thursday at 96. To have read his CV and achievements is quite a testament to the man's awesome work ethic, still composing and doing what he loved until his death, which I consider he still had much more to give. George, you died too early and you have my admiration. May your legacy endure! Robin Leach, infamous for the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" show, passed Friday just a few days short of birthday 77. Vegas was his city and his show was fantastic! Until we meet, may you enjoy "Champagne wishes and caviar dreams" on The Other Side.

The Feely-Feely Video of the Month: It's a long video of a bear getting the human touch at the Orphaned Wildlife Center. Want to get a huge laugh from it? Set up another link and minimize this video (so only the audio gets played) at start it exactly 2:39 into this bear video, flipping it from the secondary to the primary quickly after you click to start the secondary. Timing is everything and you can allow the entire secondary video's audio play in the background. You can thank me later. The Video of the Week is the best canned beef available. No word on how it was uncanned. Even the best of superheroes have to bow down to the State! The Quote of the Week is from ZeroHedge's GoinFawr, who opined to us in the forums, "Some people say that fleas are black but I know it isn't so, for Mary had a little lamb who's fleas was white as snow."

(Scratching bald head) Whatever! That's it for this weekend, unless Breaking News appears on the horizon. I'll try and beat the heat, although it is forecast to get even worse by Monday.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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8-12-18
Sincere Greetings late in the weekend,
 The Blog humbly posts that the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, 76, is gravely ill in Detroit. Showbiz411 in an exclusive, notes she's been fighting cancer and her final concert was last November. For some late readers, she may have passed on to the Big Concert Stage where her incredible voice will harmonize wonderfully with the angels from a new body which won't succumb to age, disease, or any ailment. As of this submission, she is surrounded by family and those close to her. Your prayers and privacy will be appreciated, I'm certain. Many may recall her appearance in the Blues Brothers movie back in the 80's. She was still relevant after all those years and remained so. Want reservations at McDonalds? The Sun tells us you can obtain one and be "welcomed by a string quartet" before being escorted to your table. There's one in the U.K. giving this the college try! Here's the rub as you won't have much time, so book your tickets across the Pond as It's two days only, August 15 and 16.

 Crypto news? Not much this weekend, yet I'm still convinced THE FLOOR AIN'T IN WITH BITCOIN!! You can see where sideways motion is taking place. There's some manipulation and FUD, but some excesses being worked out from December are continuing. I'm patient and HODLing on. The bankers and MSM will continue losing this battle.

 Videos of the week: WHY wasn't I taught this in school? A video, How Japanese students multiply using lines is almost hypnotic! Be patient and watch how it's done. As a very close Honorable Mention - Detroit, you still got talent! Watch an 18-year old pizza delivery driver play a customer's piano, driving it like it's a rental. Hey, Beethoven was among the freakin' geniuses! I pray he got a fat tip from it, although you KNOW he enjoyed puttin' on the show, already viral and seen by millions. Even the family dog gave a quick bark of applause at the very end!

This wraps up my weekend update. I pigged out at a Chinese Buffet earlier and still suffering for it, but I won't need to eat a thing all night or even lunch tomorrow. See how this works itself out? It's gonna be a busy week coming up. As necessary, I'll update you on the latest. For now,
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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8-8-18
Greetings, y'all as it's the midweek,
 Plenty of pain is being felt, especially those with little crypto experience of Bear Markets. Many are asking me "What's going on with Bitcoin?" and the answer isn't simple. As of tonight, I'm seeing some defense from taking a Texas bounce at $6150 USD but I DO NOT SEE A BOTTOM FORMING. Do I need repeat myself here? This is yet another Dead Cat Bounce I'm witnessing and do not see the bulls regaining control yet. Now, the trolls are coming out and of course a few are swearing that BTC=0 is in the cards. NOT!! Some, as the wonderful and very insightful Stacy Herbert of the Keiser Report see 3k as the bottom for this Bear. While not impossible, I don't see Bitcoin going that freakin' low. Even if it does, I certainly am in a position where capitulation is not either an option or requirement for me, and I've told her that in stark terms, no less. This certainly ain't my first rodeo, literally and figuratively on both cowboy and Bitcoin aspects and most of you know this. Stacy has tweeted (I'm paraphrasing this, so bear with me) that a certain requirement of capitulation must take place to begin a reset. I agree with her, yet disagree on the 3k floor she envisions. I also see a huge accumulation opportunity in Bitcoin and the alts to come, but it ain't here! Even with the bounce, my present reading of the charts tells me this remains a FALLING KNIFE. You can decide to catch it now, but I predict with high confidence that additional bleeding will take place as I just don't see the bull volume catching up in the short term! Will 5k become the new low? I predict 5,200 USD will be the best possible outcome in the short to medium term as that falls along a TA Fib, reasonably close to the psychological 5k mark. Still, 5k could be when the knife hits the floor and I'm willing to go as low as 4k. Even then, it could become sideways for WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS as was seen years back, although I don't believe this will be an extended Bear. The best way I can envision explaining this is to go to the forest. At the peak, a forest is wonderfully healthy and robust with plentiful wildlife and minimal disease. Things as disease and drought then strike with excesses, the ecosystem taking punches and a compounding set of effects manifest themselves. Certain pests overpopulate with trees dying as some get diseased and the drought brings on excessive moisture loss. Lightning or some other catalyst sparks the Forest Fire we've been witnessing for the past week or so and the Forest burns down, leaving a smelly, ugly burn scar that hasn't fully been realized, (you thought this phenomenon was limited to the fires in the American West and Greece?) Yes, a CryptoBurn is presently ongoing in my arrogant opinion and the burn scar will be apparent only when we see the crypto floor for this Bear being reached. Why? The scar soon yields to beauty. Rains will return and the forest floor, now exposed, begins to sprout new trees (We The CryptoRebel Green Shoots, safely separated from the Old Growth Bank$ter part of the CryptoForest ecosystem) which can finally receive light and begin to thrive from the carbon and other components returned to the forest floor in the burn. It's a natural cycle being repeated mathematically, but in cryptocurrency terms. If you're a n00b to my page, consider what wisdom I've presented to you for what it's worth, HODL and if possible, add to your $ta$h of coins or viable tokens when that floor is apparent, then grow with us as the Bulls can thrive with green pasture nearby. The Bears will be in forced hibernation. I can't wish them Good Riddance as they too are a necessary component of this cycle. It IS what it IS! There's no Goldilocks Economy or Plateau of Prosperity, so says Jim Sinclair. He's spot-on and again will be proven so. For now, I hear that giant sucking sound that Ross Perot chanted in his '92 presidential campaign which I remember fondly. If only he hung on...

 Playing Devil's Advocate, Bitcoin and the alts could go insanely bullish if the delayed Bitcoin ETF becomes approved late next month, so remain focused on your accumulation opps, monitor this market as warranted and be ready to react. There's quite a bit of bullishness behind the scenes which indicate this one has what it takes to convince SEC regulators. Plenty of idle money awaits at the sidelines looking for a home, so HODL with me if possible and pray this development alone can set the floor for a new bull run in Bitcoin. For those of you into tokens, there are some ICO projects which likely get the Death Knell from this Bear. This CryptoDarwin outcome (as in the fittest of the herd) will be painful for nearly everyone, despite how great the potential is for any one particular project and there are several very promising ones, including one I'm heavily invested in and remain strongly bullish, watching the progress their team makes. Even with this bleeding of the cryptos, I'm still not changing my 50k USD forecast on Bitcoin by year's end, even if this is a new bubble. It's Bitcoin and that's all I really need to tell the already-initiated. For those of you not in the experienced camp, just watch the volatility when the Bulls charge back in. The MSM will mention it, albeit reluctantly.

Now for the short links: Video of the week: Navy Seals have a visitor who wants to train with them! Now, a different kind of sandy setting, but this isn't a beach. Still, using a surfboard is FUN out here. Yours Truly visited this wonderful place in the Rockies after the tourists were pretty much gone. If you visit this National Park property, definitely bring out the flip flops or old shoes and your inner child. I've shown pics of this on the Pic of the Week.

That's it for now. I don't anticipate any short-term update as you know what you need to know for now.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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8-4-18
Greetings y'all!,

 Crypto news? A boatload of it this past week, especially Friday. CCN reported that ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) has announced they will launch physically-settled Bitcoin futures later this year! ICE owns the NYSE, so this is huge news even if the market doesn't reflect it strongly just yet. How does that look toward an ETF? I think this will only help matters. Note too, Starbucks will begin accepting Bitcoin for their products from their stores later in the year as well. Overall, the past 7 days have netted a monkey hammer of around $750 value per BTC, yet this is still a gain overall in July from the bottom near 6k. HODL on as I predict some insane volatility is to come in the medium term. Needing a bug-out country?Antigua & Barbuda (in the Caribbean) now accept BTC for citizenship! You might want to HODL your BTC long enough if you're considering that second passport or citizenship there, but I expect more nations to follow suit. There are ways to escape the Empire if Trump can't drain the damned Swamp, even with FATCA on the books (We can only pray that The Donald with The People will eventually get to eliminate that bucket of shit, can't we??) Those who don't understand why some Americans feel compelled to permanently leave haven't realized we're NOT truly free any longer and haven't been for some time. At least so many more people have awoke to the simple fact that Ron Paul gave during the 2011 Republican Presidential Candidate Debate speech, and that was The Wall is being made to keep Americans IN!

 Program coders, this one's for you! What's the BEST LINE you've ever read in code? Twitter offers an answer. Saturday, 7/28 was National New Jersey Day. The best tweet I saw in this regard is one youse guys marryin' a "Joisey wife" should carefully mull over! Note too, if you can't read the "punch line" at the bottom, just click the image and then giggle. Then there's an unrelated article I came across in ZeroHedge with this whopper posted in one of the numerous forum comments: Tiwin posts "Q: Why does New Jersey have so many landfills and California have so many Lawyers? A: because New Jersey got first choice!" Oh my!! To think we send those jokers to make more laws in our respective state capitols and the District of Criminals. Speaking of the Golden State, California's wildfires now are creating their own weather.. A pyrocumulus cloud topping flight level 320 was noticed near Redding. Scroll down for video of a firewhirl or fire tornado! Amazing, but I wouldn't want my pickup truck anywhere near that huge ball of filth! It makes a mudstorm here in the Panhandle simply a walk in the park. Regulars to the Pic of the Day have already received a description of what that is, more than once. Hell has finally frozen over! An update: The mentioned fire whirl was powerful enough to rate an EF3 on the enhanced Fujita Scale! How's one need for weed?The Manhattan DA will no longer prosecute posession (sp!) of marijuana as of August 1, 2018 according to an article in ZeroHedge. Yes, this grammar grinch left behind the goof they made. Now, let's collectively pressure the Trump administration and Granny Sessions (doesn't Jeff look like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies with them thar glasses?) to remove Mary Jane from the DEA Schedule as defined under 21 U.S.C. � 812. It's not at all surprising to note that NewsOK dot com disclosed that energy companies were the biggest monetary opponents to State Question 788 regarding medicinal marijuana. I seriously doubt those with such issues would be presently employed or trying to work for these companies, however, these companies were right to be concerned with the omissions that could affect protections to these employers, so I see it BOTH ways. I also sense if too many potential workers can't pass stringent drug tests that it will make entry (and entry pay) way easier for those as myself who don't need such entertainment. Note too, there may be a recreational Mary Jane SQ to come to the ballot, come November. My opinion? I predict if approved that it will FAIL this time as voters are still trying to keep up with the most recent developments. I did predict to others (but not here) that the prohibition on smokable pot for medicinal would not stand (what a JOKE that was! The state AG ruled the Department was exceeding their authority, even with the declared "emergency" which Governor Mistake Mary always loves to invoke!) Stay Tuned for additional details as they develop as it's been reported the necessary number of signatures have been collected. Beaver County, I doubt you were sought for any signatures, considering your 28% Yes vote on SQ 788, the lowest in all Oklahoma. You have a liquor store on Douglas Street (yes, I have a picture of it if you tweet me to challenge posting it on the POTW) so don't even think of "going purist" on this blogger! It will be cheerfully ignored.

 That's it for now. If necessary, I'll give a Sunday update.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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7-28-18
Greetings, y'all,
It's with a heavy heart that I bear extremely sad news from the Panhandle. No, it's not having to pull the plug on a loved one, but the effect is certainly there and the Lone Star State is to blame for it!: The Wind Catcher Project is now history! Texas, you singlehandedly screwed this as it took EVERYONE to make it feasible and your agency jackasses KNEW THIS! It's certainly a major disappointment and I've lost some respect for your otherwise progressive attitude toward use of wind in general, you being the leading wind capacity state. Thanks for NOTHING and having wasted much time of your neighbors. With it, a lot of construction would have commenced next Spring and by 2020, well over 2GW of available capacity would've been added to the grid. I expect to see the Invenergy office on 12th St. being shuttered in short order and want to kindly thank Kristy (their wonderful Admin Asst) and the others who I made contact with in hopeful anticipation of this opportunity. This is also awful for those landowners in Texas and Cimmaron Counties who crossed their fingers and toes with hope of a better future. Mistake Mary in Oklahoma City with her minions had choices to make, primarily for social programs. Her so-called leadership resulted in the accelerated elimination of wind subsidies that helped encourage building of these projects which benefit school districts where they're located. Even when Mary and the Legislature made choices, it was never enough for the teachers! Sadly, the hungry hippo syndrome isn't anywhere near concluded as I expect another episode to come in '19. Watch and expect more fireworks with a new governor coming in, no matter what degree of "conservatism" the incumbent claims to possess! I was in Casper, WY not long ago. Unless my relatives read this blog, they don't know of the trip, but YOU do! A former roommate and myself enjoyed the area and checked on several things while there. This was my third trip through the Friendly City and the most intensive. We took notes and know much more than before. It was a huge success and I didn't even have to put any wear on the truck. The rental car got the cheapest gas in Cheyenne, while Frontier Days was going on, no less! The most hilarious thing was watching a fat guy return to his seat on the plane with toilet paper trailing several feet from his buttcrack and along the floorway. NOBODY said a word about it, at least in English, as there were several nice Asians aboard the Liberal to Denver flight (and no, I wasn't going to embarass the guy by considering to take a picture of that to post, even if it went viral and made me a rock star, unless he acted like an ass to anyone, truly deserving it.) More older news as I mention that President Trump absolutely, positively, totally did the RIGHT THING in granting executive clemency to Dwight Hammond and his 49 year old son Steven at least two weeks ago on a Tuesday. If the President should read this; "Thank you for taking that closer look and having made the right choice on this matter. Even though the Hammonds cannot reclaim any of the $400k they gave the US in a related civil claim, both can be again free and either live or begin rebuilding their lives, knowing that someone with authority to affect real change has made such a reality. Now, continue to work against the Deep State Swamp, have the Federal Reserve and other alphabet agencies reduce unnecessary regulations regarding legal flow of money and please encourage your Veep never again to vote in favor of the pathetic TBTF banker$ with their ongoing criminal chutzpah against the People whom you represent. Trust my prayers will be added to millions of other concerned Americans who want change." Now to crypto news:

 We've finally witnessed the floor being put in for this bear market and the bull has awakened. I'm watching BTC @ 8,200+ as of this posting. Most of you are aware of the second denial of the Winklevoss Twins' ETF and I agree with YouTube's Crypto 99 of the SEC's reasoning for denial, in particular of the very low entry requirements in terms of dollars. Danny should be aware that these terms were noticeably higher in dollar terms when they were filed! Nevertheless, it's back to the drawing board. The CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) has their own ETF proposal on the table with more stringent entry requirements. If approved, expect a significant influx of $$ to roll in to crypto. The alts? Clearly, the regulators are on the fence, awating for BTC to prove itself first. There's opportunity for the moonshot to come with time, and there may well be developments which enable it to occur sooner. Solidity, there's a new kid in town! Vyper continues in development and compiles into the EVM language that Ethereum uses for their Smart Contracts. It's in beta, according to the article. Billionaire Steve Cohen joins the Bitcoin party with Autonomous Partners via his Cohen Private Ventures. You see, this VC and Wall Street in general getting into crypto is what begins the next Bitcoin Bull Market! Oh! Maybe paying Costa Ricans in crypto can be one of the many catalysts getting that going. Note that on this humble blog at some earlier point, I had reported that some Japanese in the GEO company are getting paid in crypto, now.
 Why does this incident remind me of the Max Headroom interruptions on two Chicago TV stations in '87? That was never resolved and I doubt this will, too! You see, a Hitler speech was recently transmitted on at least one Chicago police frequency and the dispatcher had to request traffic be routed to another city frequency. This is dangerous as life and property could be at stake. Maybe the City will need to encrypt their traffic as many agencies already do to prevent such nonsense from becoming too routine.

 With increasing rains and more seasonable temperatures in the area, I can get more things caught up here. If necessary, I'll give an update Sunday. Otherwise,
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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7-7-18
Greetings y'all!,

 Americans, I hope each of you had an enjoyable Fourth of July. I'm definitely aware of other nations reading this humble blog including my favorite Germany, The UK, France gives me a number of hits as well as Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, even the Chinese want to know what this cowboy opines on things here. This entry has more text devoted to the Internet itself. Read on and eventually you'll come across what I'm pointing to, hopefully that the internet has a chance of preserving itself from the datasharks. When Facebook has to promise their users of rebirthing themselves into greater transparency, I have strong reason to yell "BULLSHIT!" at the top of my well-developed and trained broadcast-tempered vocal cords. You see, there's too much money and valuable data already gleaned. I simply do not believe they will delete a single byte of it even if one chooses to delete their account. I also have to view this much in the same cynical wavelength as with Wells Fargo, the banker$ whom joined The Club of those you truly despise because they used to be decent and used free $$ to influence lawmakers and other decision makers. Leave it to the Veep, Pence, to have cast the deciding Senate vote to allow these criminals to flaunt their continuing fraud on We The People. Shall I offer you the latest example? Simon sez, and oh boy is he pissed! Yes, it was Wells Fargo. Although Scott Pruitt is no longer leading the EPA, (Environmental Protection Agency) some on public radio think he may be a good fit for state government when he returns here to Oklahoma. Considering his final action of allowing slider trucks to slide under regulations, I have my doubts even this Red State will be so welcoming, but I've been wrong about this before! Oklahoma politicians make for strange bedfellows - just look at how many are inside the Inner Beltway as was Pruitt to get an idea of how much "Swamp" there truly is from this state. While The Swamp is the subject matter at hand, it's come out that DNA testing is ongoing with children, separated from their "parents" who entered America illegally. Trump continues to dare Senator Warren to prove her American Native ancestry. She fired back on a tweet "While you obsess over my genes, your Admin is conducting DNA tests on little kids because you ripped them from their mamas & you are too incompetent to reunite them in time to meet a court order. Maybe you should focus on fixing the lives you're destroying." But I have to fire back at Elizabeth on this one for the following reasons: 1) Bringing up children can be an indirect means of child trafficking (sp?) 2) With that said, how many of these children had their parents bring them on this dangerous journey? I think it's wise to require the DNA testing to ensure their parents are whom they claim, but am also unsure if this is also a Trial Balloon to see if this program expands further. Already in America, there are many states which save certain waste tissue from newborns and many parents are unaware of this. Is DNA sampling already going on, being shoved into a database in the same Roach Motel approach we can expect from Facebook, et al? Already, tweets are showing up where one child has chicken pox and needs medical help with authorities reportedly doing nothing about it. If the whole place winds up with disease, that'll cause a huge news stink, yet I remember all the issues of Tuberculosis. TB was almost unheard of in America, years before Obama opened up the Border. With all the new drugs on TV, most warn that fighting TB is very difficult if using their new, approved, meds. Can we say "Land of the Petri Dish", y'all?

 Now for the short links: The Fed Res now recognizes cryptocurrency! Daniel O'Keeffe has this article on the development, something which Max Keiser of Keiser Report fame predicted back in 2011. The IRS wants that crypto TAXED, y'all. It's called the "J5" and this new acronym will be heard far more often. I have an idea; IRS, why in the hell can't you concentrate on resolving matters of We The Taxpayers as myself? I've already filed and paid the extra taxes for year 2017 on the nonsense that your agency admitted to me and others have little to no guidance, and have yet to act on my statements and requests as timely filed. Still, you entertain wasting taxpayer money on other nations, much like foreign aid programs which have given back too little to Americans. After all, haven't the People heard of the New World Order? This potential debaucle is the latest tentacle eminating from it. Hate it? Concerned Americans should take the time and bitch & whine at your Congre$$ Critter, not at me! (I will get to do this again in due course) Note though, this could be among the reasons that another alphabet agency, the Secret Service, wants greater attention given to privacy coins such as Monero. Good Luck on killing that, so get used to it! Texans, are you paying state sales tax on things you SHOULD NOT be paying? Read through this article and see what may be exempt. Add cowboy boots that are made in Texas to the list as those are not supposed to be taxed in Texas, too! Those Norweigans have Bitcoin figured out.. Using Lightning Network, they get a 1-second confirmation on a bar beer. Fast suds! Those BIS'ians still screw with the People's BIS'ness and they're a pushy bunch! Of course I'm talking about the Bank of International Settlements, with paper-thin skins concerned over their paper money. Charles Hoskinson's tweet echoes my sentiment perfectly! if you're into cryptos, keep HODLing as you can and spend with crypto when possible to build the cryptoeconomy. Tim Berners-Lee is trying to keep the Web free. His quest is to again decentralize the Web that he created in 1990. The article didn't note how to reach his "Solid" project, so it's clickable right here. It was much fun to remember how simple the 'Net was in '95 when I got my first exposure to it in Russellville, AR when dialups from CSW Net appeared. There were few sites, most had but simple text and maybe a few images. I distinctly recall a website called "Bandwidth Busters", known for linking sites whose images took minutes to load up on these dialups. Where I live, Guymon was the first Oklahoma town to have Gb/S (gigabyte per second) internet available. I subscribe to that provider at only a fraction of that speed, although when I move, I'll definitely be in a position to need more.
 Video of the Week. Want to line up your duckies for some serious in-flight exercise? Get a microlight and find some interested birds to join you! One of the most insightful comments on the video, David Chester posted "As an aeronautical engineer who has researched flow near propellers, I find the part of this video where the bird is gliding near to the pilot, and allowing him to touch his/her body to be absolutely fantastic. This is because the bird is taking advantage of the air-flow ahead of the propeller. This air-flow is being accelerated ahead of the propeller (to a speed above the general airspeed) and by it, but somehow the bird which has stopped flapping its wings and is taking advantage of the faster air-flows here. I would imagine that the opposite should be the case, because the greater speed airflow creates more aerodynamic drag, not less. Ain't nature wonderful!!?" Of course I agree, David! Now if I had only a fraction of your knowledge to improve wind turbine productivity... Hey, I gotta think BIG!
 That's it for now, if need be, I'll have an update over the weekend. Enjoy yours.

Gracias & Alles Liebe

Mark

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7-1-18
 Greetings y'all and welcome to July! The Fourth is on the way, so the week will be segmented. I expect more fireworks not of the sky later in the month. Bitcoin is side-ranged around 6.3k USD and can change quickly. Other alts continue to act in lock-step and I don't see anything to hint a change in this trend, at least through mid-term. Looks like the Secret Service is worried about cryptocurrency, specifically that with privacy features as Monero. As the story notes, it's something to file in the grey matter as Congre$$ Critters are painfully slow, being bogged down by Russia, China, North Korea, Deep State, Yada Yada Yada! Jack Ma, Alibaba's co-founder/chairman loves blockchain like the banker$, but hates Bitcoin. Read further and you'll realize he has his own thing going in the blockchain and that makes him more $$, so you see where this likely goes. Can I say I blame him? Other than he's spreading FUD which others in this community will collectively raise our middle fingers at him. He still doesn't understand how YOUNG this sector remains and that it will take patience, time and acceptance for stability to build in. For now, many hostile interests spread plenty of FUD, but they won't get the Last Laugh.

 Let's talk about Space, shall we? Is it the Final Frontier?? Well, Trump wants the Space Force established and there's reportedly trillions of $$ at the ready to be deployed in space, according to the latest Solari Report as reported recently on USAWatchdog which this humble blogger watches frequently. Expect them and Solari to both be put in my external links that I'm still working on.

 It's rare that I promote Bubblevision (CNBC) but this was actually a good segment which I link to YouTube; Authur Hayes of Bitmex remains extremely bullish and states a decent case as to why he sees at least 50k USD per BTC by year's end. By the way, my Bitcoin forecast remains 50k at least and I predict it may well surpass that to 75k with 100k NOT out of the question. Part of why we agree and see in common is the fact that more people are involved in the market with ETF's and possible ICO regs to come, which opens up the floodgates of sidelined $$ waiting on a home. The potential profits are too irresistible to ignore and I do see another strong FOMO developing on the horizon, although it's a bit difficult to pin down. Note too, Authur sees a floor in the 3k range. I doubt it gets hammered quite so badly, but I do expect some sideways movement before the next parabola comes up and parabola IT SHALL! Doubt me on this? Just read through Bitcoin's history via charts and plan accordingly. Too many people pay no heed and will again bleed! It's why some of you visit this blog, to get what this early adopter in the sector sees coming, and with nothing to pay or cookies to track or delete on your computer or other digital devices. Now for the Video of the Week, and skip this one if you're squeamish to snakes; "Don't move the boat!" I'll jump in with updates as necessary. HODL on, my crypto friends!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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6-24-18
Greetings y'all,
 I've sent out a retweet that the Panhandles are in ENHANCED thunderstorm environment this afternoon. I fully expect weather watches to be issued shortly and storm spotters throughout the region to be mobilized. I'm topping out the charge on my battery and ready to spot. Hey, I have training from LZK, advanced training from DMX, and some interesting experiences and near-misses already notched. We're nearly into July, so this may be the Last Hurrah for these storms until near Autumn. Guymon radio amateurs should know by now that 147.150 is off the air, so use 444.975 (88.5) instead and if using a wide/narrow band setting, use the narrow one or you'll not be heard over the link to WX5AMA. Liberal 145.150 is off the air, so is Spearman 147.000. I'm pretty sure Stinnett is operational. I've confirmed that Elkhart 444.925 is o.k. and Boise City 147.350 may be operational. It was on my previous visit weeks ago.

Well, the bank$ter cabal strikes again! The Bank of International Settlements or BIS gives out a report dissing cryptocurrencies. Nevermind that Bitcoin has already withstood so many attacks and has dodged numerous deaths. They will survive these attacks from the dinosaur scumsuckers whom launder money, support their governments, and none ever, EVER go to prison for their criminal chutzpah! At least many will SMILE BIG as at least some of our Congre$$ Critters will 'fess up if they own enough of it! House members will have to disclose any cryptocurrency sales or purchases that exceed $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction, according to the memo of June 18th. The FUD continues further with a Japanese exchange shutting down to update their security, per authorities. Briefly, the 6k USD table was broken down, but is back to 6,200 USD and acting very volatile as of this posting. Do NOT be surprised if you see yet another smashdown to 5.2k around the Fourth, then near 4k by the end of July, but I expect that should be the end of the bloodletting. Crypto will be coming back as it always has, but I can't say when the floor gets set. HODL on and you'll be rewarded. I'm looking to add more LTC since we're around 82 bucks after kissing 74, literally bargain basement pricing. (I expect it to drop further!) In Other Words, get some dry powder ($$) ready.

Beatles and Paul McCartney fans; if you haven't seen the nearly 24 minute Late Late Show with James Corden recently, The magic of YouTube gives you the most awesome Carpool Karaoke that James has ever done! Pop some corn, keep some kleenex close at hand, and enjoy some incredible moments with James and Sir Paul in Liverpool. More than likely, you'll go back again and again. My biggest takeaway? McCartney's timeless response after both sung "Let It Be." Starting at 5:13 in the video, listen to the whole story and their singalong. At 7:27, the simple "He is." response from Sir Paul says it all with absolute perfect timing, no hesitation, and sealing the moment. It was the best segment of it all as he GETS it! He understands spiritual power and is unfettered by it. Finally, Charlie Kirk reminds us via Twitter of why that Border Wall isn't such a bad idea, after all. yet most of the lefties ignore these threats. After all, they won't get the extra Democrat voters if we enforce border crossings as intended.
 That's it for now. If updates are warranted, I'll post one as soon as I can.
Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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6-19-18
Greetings, y'all!,
 Bithumb, one of Asia's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges and based in South Korea, suffered a $30 million hack. The crypto markets are sharply down, although considering the sheer volume they trade daily and how fast the hack was mitigated, the amount of the market downturn should not have been anywhere near what it has become! John McAfee won't push ICOs any longer due to threats from the SEC, however, he's known for his workarounds and claims to be working on such that will be SEC-proof. We'll have to wait and see. For now, his infamous bet likely remains in full force and we are dealing with cryptocurrency, so he may wind up a winner in a HUGE way at the end of year 2020, surpassing his bet threshold by a significant margin. Consider too, the Dollar could be hugely inflated by that point. The strength it presently has is unsustainable, particularly due to the unfettered spending that Congre$$ continues, being the party animals they are.

 Such sadness here in the Sooner State. We've achieved a new milestone not too surprising to our critics that this state now has the highest incarceration rate in the world! No wonder more of us are truly looking forward to the elections next Tuesday. Mexico beats Germany in FIFA and they were celebrating, BIG! They even caused an earthquake over it. I was in Liberal, KS on Sunday in a Chinese restaurant with many Mexican natives enjoying a good victory. The German coach, on the other hand, wasn't at all pleased. An update on electric bikes: Here's a decent review and they're starting to make some inroads here in America! A Wing Commander, indeed! Duke, keep your birds flying! On a not-related but depressing note, here's a story about Air Ambulances. I've even popped questions at the one based locally to find out why they don't coordinate with other services in case I have an issue in an area they don't serve. Being located in very close proximity with four other states, this is a very valid question! UPDATE on trying to comply with 2017 cryptocurrency taxes. Litecoin on Reddit takes on the topic. Predictions? There's some very staunch Bitcoin Bulls who see a huge Moonshot approaching. My prediction for $50,000+ per BTC remains in place and I've placed some BTC on wager for this, months ago! Jimmy Song recently gave some advice to ICO wannabes in a tweet.
Now for the Quote of the Week: "Can't shear sheeple without the sheep!" - poster Off The Beach on ZeroHedge.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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6-10-18
 What's going on with Bitcoin and the alts today? Two separate developments, according to ZeroHedge and what was 7600 went below 6700 and is recovering slowly as of this writing. Neither have any significant fundamental impact on cryptocurrency, but crypto remains under pressure. Of course the Other Side want their share of schadenfreude. Let's not make it so damned easy for them to prosper on that, please! I'm simply HODLing and encourage the same.

Otherwise, world news continues to march on. The cryptos could be changed at any moment. Who said this coming Summer need be boring? Also, Oklahoma now has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in the world. In a state with other severe issues as Civil Asset Forfeiture having run amok, an extended teacher's strike even after they received a raise from the legislature and FOUR state senators (including Marlatt, who did a pathetic job constitutionally of representing me) having been forced to resign in the past year or two, this is utterly disgusting. Again, I encourage Oklahomans who are registered to vote to take the time on 6/26 and vote in the matter of State Question 788. It's a step forward and moving back the pendulum from the extremes. I'm looking forward to that Tuesday!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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6-9-18
 Justify was indeed justified! I bet against him, but he remained too strong with my choice of Hofburg coming in to show. It was a damn good Belmont, their 150th running was indeed one to remember for excellent weather and the 13th Triple Crown winner, now immortalized as the Champion he proved to be. I share jockey Mike Smith's feelings of blissful victory. It's epic to see a man almost my age going through his Crowning Achievement. Proof Positive that not all rewards are reserved solely for the youth!
 Visa had a huge cra$h last Friday! Yes, the news is old, but the article explains more. Has Bitcoin gone down since 2009 when it first appeared? There have been huge painful forks and some minor issues popped up, but the Blockchain itself hasn't ceased. Crypto 99 on YouTube (Danny) is spot-on explaining how Visa and the banker$ consistently bash cryptos whenever they fail. It's shadenfreude-time, y'all! Lay it on mean to Visa if you feel the need.
 So is it a security? a currency?? In Coinivore, the SEC Chief explains the agency's position recently to CNBC clarifying that most true cryptos as BTC are currencies with most ICO's being securities, which the agency regulates. This is HUGE as more clarification of these will allow more Big $$ to flow, even rush into the crypto space. Indeed, 2018 is exciting and I expect the second half to be the next Moonshot. Another Coinivore article, originally in Fortune Magazine, notes how EOS suffered a huge scam email attack. Whenever money is involved, you can expect certain scum to follow it for ill-gotten gains! This is due to a fraud giveaway where the scammers asked for Private Keys. Folks, this wasn't an airdrop where such information would never be required and I wouldn't have fallen for it one bit. I have to play Devil's Advocate that it was well-planned and well-played, especially toward the recently introduced and gullible. This is what crypto investors must ALWAYS, ALWAYS watch out carefully and use that Sixth Sense to figure out if bull$hit is being dispensed. If it fails the smell test in even a single aspect, ditch that nonsense into the bitbucket!
 Taking care of taxes legally in regard to cryptocurrency has been a MAJOR pain the ass for tax year 2017! Most not involved in crypto are extremely puzzled that one could owe taxes on an ongoing investment, just because they changed it from one form to the next, such as a like-kind trade from Bitcoin to Litecoin as an example. This article is a must-read for those outside crypto dealing with someone dear to them trying in vain to do the Right Things legally under US Tax Law as I am committed in doing. These alphabet agencies need the whip cracked by Congre$$ and some real guidance being offered going forward, especially in regard to the IRS. To these agencies and congressmen; Basic babble isn't cutting it, y'all! I've reported all my crypto transactions from last year and still no response from the agency regarding my Section 1031 request on form 8824. If this isn't handled in due course, I'll take some paid time off for the next legislative Eggs and Issues meeting here in Guymon where I can give either my Congress Critter or their aide who attends a piece of my mind, since they already possess quite a bit of my flesh, thank you very much! This is equally true of Oklahoma who taxes based on my IRS filing and cryptos are not on the exempted list, and they get to profit significantly for literally nothing, at least for now. If my properly-filed and properly-timed request happens to be granted, I'll have two sweet refunds coming back after filing amended forms to both. Regardless, I'm finacially o.k. and still capable of making my planned move now, or when the time is right. Cryptocurrencies and alternate blockchains are here to STAY, so the governments and bankers better damned well get used to them! Many nations are already planning to put many aid programs on them for even stronger compliance of regulations. The times are changing and you should expect this to accelerate!

 Now for the short links: The Department of Justice investigates manipulation of Bitcoin. Why in the hell hasn't CFTC properly opened an investigation against precious metals manipulation?? Silver in particular continues to be affected when it wants to RUN! Digital license plates are arriving in California. An interesting read. E-bikes or electronic (motorized) bicycles are popular in Europe and now insurance and helmets are required? Welcome to the Americanization of your nations, or is it the other way around? Your Truly happens to agree that some safety and "cover" or basic insurance is in order, yet too much regulation will stifle it and place a huge damper on this mode of transport and activity that encourages better health and is far more economical than petro-burning motor vehicles.
 That's it for now. Be watching for an expected upturn in Bitcoin and other alts which remain chained at the hip for now. Breaking News? I'll update Sunday if necessary.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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5-23-18
Greetings, y'all!,
 Memorial Day Holiday is quickly approaching. Watching Harry and Meghan's wedding early on TV Saturday morning here in America, it was refreshing to watch and listen to Michael Curry, the American clergyman who stole the show! Curry is the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church and born in Chicago. He went on longer than I would've, but watching the expressions of other attendees was PRICELESS! He was spot-on with the address, kept it real and I fully approved. Yes, you can watch that part again through the link if you wish. Meanwhile, of more recent developments, DrudgeReport notes gasoline in NYC is 5 bucks a gallon now. Here in Guymon, a much more local gas station spiked from 2.58/g to 3.09/g regular unleaded on 5/20. Already, they've flip-flopped back to 2.58 just before 2pm Tuesday 5/22 with their usual crowds returning within fifteen minutes, myself included to top out the tank! I keenly predict they won't be able to eat losses much longer and will have no choice but to go up before or during Memorial Day Holiday when the next tanker truck arrives. One radio news outlet reported Baton Rouge, LA presently has the overall cheapest gas at the 2.58 average. Keep in mind where I am - in the middle of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Most gas stations already are priced in the upper 2.70's with diesel above 3 bucks. DrudgeReport via Gas Buddy reported further that summer travel will plunge due in part to much higher gas prices. Best friend CD (his name appropriately redacted in this humble blog) and I have done road trips with gas prices as high as 4.39/g years ago. Both of us agree the present prices in the mid to upper two bucks will be difficult to sustain at all, but the Devil is in the details and there may be no choice but to keep those prices to sustain any energy economy. People just ain't got the money! I read yesterday on ZeroHedge that 41% of American adults don't have $400 extra for an emergency (sorry for no link on this one.) What if someone they love winds up with an accident or picked up by the police and can't pay bail to get out of jail? More and more people have experienced the pokey at some point. It's to the point that many repeat offenders don't mind going back for the free med care and food. We have politicians constantly making new laws and legislating away the People's Rights as I've witnessed personally in my remote region. The cities are way worse and it's not getting better. Many liberals expect a windfall, but I hate to melt their flakes of snow that such has already been spent long ago. They won't wind up so lucky, even if Trump is somehow removed from the Oval Office. Marxism may work for a select few, until it doesn't!

Bitcoin is sinking at the present time, but comparing over last year it's really not so bad. Other cryptos are of course following suit as crypto's market remains very young and certainly not matured enough for BTC to separate pricing solely on it's own accord from the rest. The Powers That Be want badly for capitulation from weak hands, but mark my words they'll buy while low and reinvest long shortly thereafter. They want more money, more power and won't be able to resist crypto's lure! Expect volatility of a similar magnitude in the months to come. Importantly, bear in mind that the United States alone can no longer hammer out the terms of other economies developing around the globe. Russia and China already have a back door around SWIFT they've developed. Both have decent relations with Iran. Syria continues to be a flash point as is Jerusalem. If anything, the news cycle is getting ever shorter. I don't have near as much time to think through the news due to my present daytime occupation, but I'm expecting a HOT Summer in several news categories. It'll be refreshing when Bitcoin and other alts gain solid footing again. It will happen, but trying to predict when remains a fool's game. Both BTC and LTC are oversold and undervalued. IMAO, now is a decent time to buy. Remain a HODLer if already doing so. The only dispensing of crypto I'm doing is for payments to others I know that are also in crypto. Hang in there as change is about to happen, and it can absolutely go nutty overnight in either direction. That's all I have to add for now, except to prepare accordingly as the "quickening" which the recently-departed Art Bell mentioned often on radio is again at hand. Arty would agree we're well into the next cycle of this. It's such a shame he was scared off-the-air, but he's at Peace. We survivors on this evil blue orb should be extremely jealous now! Most of us shall indeed feel this if the economy collapses as I predict it will in due course. Prepare now!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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5-18-18
Greetings, y'all!
 We're finally getting more needed RAINS as the dryline is setting up more favorably. Wildflowers are blooming in the backyard as the grass still isn't high enough yet for me to tackle. At least the gasoline in the mower and gas can are low enough that I can get fresh, Oklahoma "100% Gas" (no ethanol content) and it gives my lawnmower the Happy Face. I warn others in this region to do it NOW as the oil price has gone up lately. Seeing three dollar a gallon gas by The Fourth is now a decent likelihood. At work, we're getting ready for the Memorial Day holiday weekend and the whole team has made decent progress toward that time. It'll be nice to get that extra day off, but I'll likely spend some of it as intended to pay a brief visit to a war monument here or elsewhere and reflect on the freedoms we have, even if being whittled away by the abject morons we've elected by arm-turning by the Feds in the name of "convenience" to our active military. See the circle jerk I deal with? They're entirely too stupid to "get" this unless there's additional nonsense being dispensed under the collective radar. If enough Americans would voice these little concerns, a HUGE difference could result and there would be nothing the Washington Empire could do about it. They're supposed to work for We The People! When you paid your taxes last month as I did, even for the cryptocurrency which the value is not yet completely disposed in fiat or other terms, maybe you'll think long and hard as to WHAT you're getting for these value-depleting Dollars!

Now for crypto news: Yes, it's very much like watching the pot and awaiting the first boil. The Tokyo Whale disposes of more BTC on exchanges and the Bitcoin price goes down. Bitcoin is still the Gold Standard to the point where other coins are still tightly tied in regard to price trends. It wants to run, but there are several parties and plenty of FUDdy duddies. If it's not Jamie, then Warren, his 90's biz buddy Munger, and Bill Gates with his incredibly invasive WiNdUz 10 are in on this charade. All of them want more money and may well be playing the Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan playbooks of buying BTC on the dip they helped manufacture. Yes, there are people bitching about the lack of enforcement against these parties at Bitcoin's expense, but Bitcoin itself can't be sued, nor can it initiate action! That won't keep these interests of trying their best to shut it down by Patent Whaling or other chutzpah. They'll have no choice other than play this game to profit, even if shorting it! Come on Mr. Gates, The Winklevii have challenged you. You CAN do this! It could be a long hot-assed Summer coming up, but crypto can turn on a dime and make one a millionaire. Let the games begin!! Now for the short stuff..

 The Electrum Pro wallet being stealware? Version 4.0.2 has been decompiled and the author has made a solid case that it's more toxic than the crap meds you see on the nighty night news! Don't squeal to me later that nobody warned 'ya. Worse yet, Bix Weir gives fair warning of HFT and Crypto! Just watch this video and get ready! Bix further warns you to follow what I've been preaching for YEARS now, to withdraw what you have in these exchanges, especially those getting involved in High Frequency Trading. You'll thank me later! Don't whine about "But I need my coins there in case I need to trade!" as true traders already should understand the extreme risks of having too many coins in any exchange, being subject to hacking. More than likely, you're young and inexperienced, not having been screwed like a light bulb. Does Mt. Gox come to mind? So disgusting, but you gotta see this stupid twitter link to believe it! Someone paid to put three crabs on a jet flight (were these the latest "support animals?" Sheesh!!) with 2 dying, several people taking pictures of them too! How quaint. And I thought Al Gore was wasteful with his carbon footprint! This is SAD, but Marxism through our wonderful, all-knowing United Nations via Goal 11 is being done in stealth. Don't say I didn't warn ya! Now for today's parting shot; The moral about the morels? Even Mario would cringe on this mushroom of a story! Why haven't the cops raided his castle? I think that's a decent question that his brother Luigi should dispense in rapid dispatch. That's it for now. Sparing breaking news, I should update this further on Sunday.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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5-6-18
There's a lot of OLD news to catch up on since my last entry was nearly a month ago. The charts remain promising since I'm watching around a 40% gain in BTC, more in LTC, over the last 30 days. Danny of Crypto 99 fame on YouTube noted to his Telegraph subscribers this morning "The market has taken a turn in the red. It is most likely a combination of people taking profits after a run up, and investor fear about the SEC meeting tomorrow and moving some money into fiat or USDT. I thought people would stay a little more bullish, but the sentiment I�m seeing in forums now is a little bit swayed towards fear." so let's see how that shapes up. I expect to update this tomorrow. I must first celebrate 4/20! It wasn't because of the weed smoke from nearby Colorado as there was none to enjoy here. It was far, far better; RAIN!! For the first time since around Thanksgiving, a series of rain showers with a rumble of thunder to keep it honest had blessed the Panhandles with most getting around a half-inch or so. I also caught a new fire forming on the highway median of US 270 in southern Blaine County as I was returning from Arkansas on Monday 4/17. I also snapped some pics of the nearby plume from the huge Rhea fire in Dewey County near Seiling. Regular visitors to my Pic of the Week portion of this website got to view those images.

To start the crypto portion of my blog, here's a tweet of BTC price predictions in terms of USD. I'm on Preffer's prediction and remain bullish at $75,000 peak by the end of 2018. You can be part of the solution when you install your own lightning node for Bitcoin. This is easy if you have an older Raspberry Pi to spare. Tempting for me to say the least, but I have plenty other things on my mind for now. "MyEtherWallet" got hacked with a DNS server redirect to a phishing site. Quite a bit of ETH was lost. Federico gives us tough food for thought regarding Bitcoin, especially HODLing. The walk to the moon isn't always a launch, y'all! This is something regular readers should note: I will save this URL which was posted and is a decent one for me to teach in my security section of my proposed cryptocurrency classes in the future. It'll be quite a handful for newbies, but knowledge is everything in crypto! It's still a Wild West out there until the right app comes along to put the kibosh on such nonsense. The answer IS out there. @Teklordz gives us some food for thought of what he's seeing in the crypto markets. Mike, I strongly agree with your article. I don't see the Big Pin popping crypto anytime soon. If anything, this was a much-needed correction as the market was simply too toppy for this cycle. This image from a movie illustrates EXACTLY what's going on with most of the alt coins as they await for Bitcoin's next action. Bitcoin may well rocket Moonward as it's been declared halal to 1.6 Billion Muslims. How the market is affected is anyone's guess, but odds are in it's favor. Reggie Middleton, the VERI inventor (Veritaseum) will soon prove to many Kenyans of how phyzz gold can be tokenized! Finally, for truly depressing reading, visit Daily Job Cuts and read through the increasing sea of pink slips. There's a new word on the way for the Dictionary; Zombies glued to their phones, known as "smombies", clearly a traffic hazard, having a new, unofficial sign warning motorists. Effingham County says "Eff You!" to the rest of Illinois! They're becoming a sanctuary county for the Second Amendment!! Sweet as can be, I say. The world's oceans are a gigantic toilet of plastics! Check out this ZeroHedge article which explains the world's gyres. I took lots of photos of the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo Parade and collected lots of swag this year! This was by far the best year for free candy and I took advantage of "Spring Halloween", even throwing lots of already-collected candy back to the kids who come FIRST in this celebration! Watch for additional pics from this year's Parade to come in future Pic of the Week submissions. Wyoming, you continue to impress me! Accept taxes in terms of crypto and you'll have gone Full Circle with the wagons. Again to conclude, there will likely be an update on this humble Blog tomorrow, depending on the outcome of the SEC hearing and how it affects the markets.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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4-8-18
 Recent news? Some to report. Gradually, the bottom is trying to form on this bear market. It may not happen until a 5k USD downward spike manifests itself in Bitcoin. Stacy Herbert of Keiser Report fame seems to be reading this one well, but it's hard to say exactly where the bottom is, or how much. Timing is suspect with Tax Time so close at hand, but for those with extra resources - you'll probably have what it takes to get by this rough patch, even if you take a loss on those as well. Keep all paperwork! It'll somehow work out. Verge network got a 51% mining attack! OUCH! 13 blocks gets mined, milked actually by manipulating their time stamps. CHA CHING!! This is a giant sledgehammer crashing through Verge's credibility, according to Danny of Crypto 99. More to come, so check your news. The ultimate vulture of American values wants to trade crypto! George Soros wants to mix and mingle with the depressed prices. He sees blood on the streets. Maybe YOU should continue HODLing and adding to your sta$h? Joseph Young enlightens us on why NOW is a fantastic time to purchase Bitcoin and start HODLing. A group worshiping Bitcoin wants to buy a church in Virginia and this flyer is trying to incite FUD. Is this truly worse than dope smoking as a form of worship, the Flying Gerbil or that Spaghetti Monster with two meatballs as eyes? This facebook link shows an intended protest scheduled this Sunday 4/8 (only the day of this post). What say you, fellow HODLers? Is FUD the new Satan, now that Pope Francis has all this "There is no Hell" having been reportedly cited by him? After all, it made headlines on Drudge Report last week or so. To be fair, the BBC reports via the Vatican that His Holiness said nothing to that effect. When you thought you heard or see it all! (scratching bald head). I recently viewed a really good interview of Max Keiser and Adella Toulon-Foerster discussing HODL tourism and related crypto subjects. You'll see it on the second-half of this RT program. Hey! I thought the Swedes were ready to go CA$HLESS. Apparently, some are giving it a serious second-thought. Professor Milton Friedman gave a prophetic glimpse of Bitcoin back in 1999. He's NOT Satochi, yet saw his vision before his death in 2006. Want a laugh? This is among the reasons I like Sarah's father and voted for him decades ago as Arkansas Governor. Mike's known stabs at stupidity of some, his humor and the zingers he throws in are why he advanced into Fox Network as he did before his Presidential campaign. I spoke with him occasionally when he did color commentary for UALR basketball games during the 2000-2001 season as I was also heard often on the then-Duck 106.7, then a station of Clear Channel. I always sensed him to be a consumate professional in broadcasting and wasn't disappointed. Finally, read this link to discover what Stephen Hawking wanted on his gravestone. Considering his body of work in physics, his epitaph is most appropriate! Happy Orthodox Easter, and may each of you have a great week coming up.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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3-31-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 It's been a trying, busy week at work. At least I'm getting caught up with tax stuff and have finally made contact with the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition. Let me just say some planning is underway and I'll leave it there for now. I continue to hear all kinds of extremely positive feedback on what the Coalition, the Legislature and Governor Mead has given cryptocurrency and tokens meant for utility purposes. I wish each of you a memorable Passover and Easter as a new month begins. Severe weather season is also set to arrive on the Panhandles, but I've not forgotten the April 30th blizzard last year. It remains too cold to plant gardens here, even though dogwoods are already blooming and some trees have new leaf growth, despite the ongoing drought throughout the 5-state region. We're expecting more dry conditions to manifest, although the temps and winds aren't expected to be so extreme as they were. Thanks for your prayers and I'm praying for many of you I know, too! You're all aware of the national and international insanity, now for a boatload of other stories:

 SCAM ALERT! If using Binance or Coinbase, DO NOT respond to any emails asking for any Private Keys! There are phishing emails asking for information from "Support Exchange Staff" and they're scumbags! Don't say you weren't warned.. Thanks to Danny (Crypto 99) for that on YouTube. The biggest ongoing Bitcoin Myth? Those horrendous transaction fees! Anyone spouting that today should be slapped with a wet trout! Do you realize 21% of students admit to using student loans to buy crypto! Perhaps a class on HODL 101 should be introduced with Yours Truly heading that? I'd be way richer than working the warehouse if close enough to the right school. Joseph Young gave the crypto-unwashed some reality in this well-crafted and realistic tweet. Bitcoin Price Prediction Tracker. Will John McAfee have to eat his tallywacker on national TeeVee? Bookmark this wonderful chart as it keeps you informed of the current trend and how it holds.. Remember how I wasn't going to touch the Petro crypto and how I warned Americans on this humble Blog that it would not be wise to touch it either? About a week ago, President Trump banned it. Congratulations for those taking my advice! Bitcoiners trading in the South American nation should be wary that Blockchain Analysis could be ongoing. How is Bitcoin and the alts, you ask? They're again bottoming, working off that December Bloat. Hopefully, the diet is about to end. There's plenty of pain throughout the crypto scene. Some ICO tokens have lost nearly 90% value, much in sympathy with BTC and the alts, ETH in particular! I'm just HODLing and not giving a second thought to it. At times, the computer gets shut off, the cellphone goes into Airplane Mode, and I go out and explore - walk around and enjoy this decent Spring weather before the HOT blasts of Summer arrive. Want to know how to deal with lying cops? This excellent tweet from Bronx2216 in regard to the NYTimes report on "Testilying" by law enforcement gives a solid solution to such nonsense. A New Jersey school suspended a student for attending activities with family at a gun range ON THE WEEKEND! Their policy if you read the old one literally, justified the suspension. Note that it was quickly changed! Many commentors expect a hefty lawsuit to come. This is NOT the way to teach young people to entrust their Constitution for their rights! Similar nonsense occurred with drug dogs sniffing students, a few who were assaulted by the said "officer" K9. News for snowflakes; the animal has a UNION backing it under law. Where's OUR UNION? The Ballot Box, for starters! Use it for such a laudeable purpose instead of worrying about gun control as the MSM and your school would want you to believe. My point? You should indeed be critical and use your critical thinking as I often do, but be prepared to back up your contentions if asked about them! I Reddit often and their communities don't easily faze me since I usually think matters over before engaging the keyboard. The more expert you are, the more convincing you'll likely be. Tracey Watson noted in an article recently of the very thing I'm openly warning others of on other forums. A good site to bookmark, SSRIstories dot org is a website which documents the close association with various pharma and their medicines invoking violent actions. They will be added to my external links in due course. You see, it's NOT the guns which are the problem. If that was really so, even the cops and military wouldn't be permitted to use them either! Now, a psychiatrist gives a viable claim that increased use of these drugs will amount to MORE mass-shootings!! Why isn't this person on MSM now? Is it because of all the pharma $$ being paid to TV nowdays?? If you've been noticing this trend too, you're dangerous as you still have a functional cranium! The NSA apparently provides evidence to other agencies to nail people, in violation of policy to not target US Citizens on American soil. Ross of Silk Road fame may well have a solid point! It's enough of an eye-opener from Snowden to pay attention to. If you scroll down further, the United Nations has severe sexual abuse issues abusing protections afforded to it. If you're female and good looking, don't waste your time with that horrible group of self-protectors and read this article. It's reason enough that Trump should defund it from the USA end at least. They've gone unpunished for far too long! Now for some fluffy video.. The Radar Seal.. I'm serious! That little guy should be awful dizzy by now. For the LOL value of it all, a kid loves the soft drink, too much! Finally, The Parabullic Troll on Twitter (@Crypto_God) gives HODLers reason not to be upset.

 Unless breaking news strikes, I may be back Wednesday, more likely next Saturday. Enjoy the weekend!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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3-18-18
Greetings y'all!,

 So what's with Bitcoin? The biggest part of the FUD is done for now. The "Tokyo Whale" (Mt Gox Trustee liquidation) dumping of BTC has reportedly ceased until September, however, I've read where the Court can authorize more dispensing of coins. Some forums remind us the G-20 meetings on Monday, 3/19 & Tuesday, 3/20 will be putting additional pressure, either direction, on Bitcoin and it's alts - the latter still STRONGLY in sympathy to movements of King Crypto. Worse yet, Ethereum has taken a massive dump over the last month. Today, it's half of what it was on 2/18, then at $960. Whale Panda on Twitter tweeted "Regarding the $ETH dump. 50k $ETH was deposited on Bitfinex 12 hours ago coming from the $EOS crowdsale." and I'm adding this is magnifying the pain that new ICO token holders whose holdings are based on ETH are being fooled into thinking their investments are doomed, when it's the pullback of Ethereum at the core of the perceived issue. With Bitcoin, that remains an issue too, but not as obvious. @coinjunky tweeted yesterday of the "falling knife" effect, so pop some corn, sit back, watch the show, and if you have extra $$ wanting to take advantage of the dip - this could be sweet. I don't yet sense the bottom of this as it appears self-fulfilling! There's not much more to say in regard to pricing from what I've read over the past several days. WARNING: There's fake gold being circulated! So says Egon von Greyerz on the latest King World News. Be damn careful where you buy your gold from! Also, silver is expected to jump upward, but WHEN is the Big Question here.

 From the "On The Other Hand Department", Wyoming has stolen my heart! Governor Mead, you da man!! A tip of the hat deserving to the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition and like-minded legislators whom passed five bills, paving the way to make the Cowboy State a cryptocurrency haven. I've tried numerous time to reach someone at their phone number and am resorting to email, now. Read below to previous submissions to this humble blog for my inner thoughts on this most excellent set of developments. My gut instinct was spot-on. Wyoming, you have my attention, helped my spirit, and have earned my long-term admiration, not solely on cryptocurrency, but on so many grounds and you've helped me step boldly forward in my recent past. My intent on a move to gain residency as a Wyomingite is stronger than ever. I'll have a question or two to the Coalition to ask, so I won't take the liberty to disclose those thoughts here, at least not yet.
 WARNING: Do not send bitcoins to any merchant who uses Coinbase to receive payments! This according to a series of Twitter tweets that make sense. If you're an American and want to learn how your state presently treats cryptocurrencies, check out this cool link!
 Now for a medium-grade rant.. At Greenbrier, Arkansas - many students were punished for being part of the national school walkout over gun violence. Some were "paddled", given two "licks" with it. In Arkansas, these students should know better, unless their parents are the typical drive-back-and-forth from Little Rock on US 65 and I-40/I-430 whom believe the three digits 911 are the automatic cure to each of life's emergencies. Being native to central Arkansas, a gun can be quite the necessity, however, strong responsibility comes with it and authorities there are quick to remind residents of this fact! Although I strongly disagree with the student's stance on this subject, this native Arkie got two swats back in tenth grade for uttering "Shit!" in class. It was no big deal and I still got back at the teacher who did this long after graduation (long story, but my ham radio hobby, which I was in long before he earned his ticket has a connection to this.) I also got suspended to "in house" for a week in ninth grade for refusing corporal punishment of three swats on the butt for getting out of the cold, into my art class too early in the morning. Of course the scum administrators and teachers were utterly clueless as to a bullying problem I was victim to at the time (life has changed me so much since then that these same bullies won't prevail, nor have much a chance, today. I am a survivor.) The official paperwork stated I was cited for smoking, but I was NOT a smoker at the time, so I silently carried a halo around my head, despite the fact I later started smoking for about 12 years. Of course I still hold that nonsense against the morons who ran the Pulaski County Special School District, even with other students testing The System all the time. I won't waste my time trying to get it expunged off my record, because what's the point? It happened so long ago and if someone judges such a minor infraction this far out, even the extremely wasteful government goons, then they can play God to those close to them and piss them off royally, for all I care. Yes, that happens too!
 We as Americans should ask "Where has Justice gone in America?" 50,000 volts at the whim of a Judge and illegally I must add! Texas, I'm disappointed in you for having such a douche at the bench, even in a metropolitan area as Tarrant County (Dallas/Ft Worth), if he believes he's justified in maintenance of court decorum to this degree. His peers found this very troubling and so should other Texans, even if sex offenders appear to "play" his Court. Judge Galligher, you KNOW better than that shit! Even worse, the insanity is directly before your eyes if you live or drive through school zones. Who should want to be a cop today? Someone has to do it, but there should be strong accountability to go with it! Leaving matters to the whims of PA's, DA's, CA's, Grand Juries, even Attorneys General often sweeps the real matter under the rug, and that ain't right! Are you in need of saving money on hospitals and doctors? It's usually not the insurance policy which makes the difference, but your willingness and ability to negotiate!
 Finally, Stephen Hawking has passed due to ongoing ALS issues Wednesday 3/14. He was 76. A noteable quote from the physicist to keep; �Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet,� he said. �Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don�t just give up.� He could've given up so long ago, but didn't. Neither should any of us!! Suicide is not the solution for so many reasons. Give the Almighty the opportunity to redeem you as he's done for me. On occasion, I cry my utmost Thanks as I wouldn't be here now on this cruel, blue orb if I had carried through what I damn near pulled off decades ago. I credit my late grandfather for getting sadly emotional on some things in his final year of life and took to heart the fact I can do the same, even growing due to it! Until next time..

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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3-11-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 For the majority of Americans reading this report, welcome again to Daylight Savings Time where you lose an hour, yet gain those later sunsets you adore. Here in the Panhandle by the first day of Summer, you can see twilight as late as 10PM when the late news hits the airwaves! It's been a week since I've last communicated on this blog and a busy week it was at work. I have to admit I was in Amarillo this past Wednesday for the occasional visit to the dentist (I have to go back for fillings, but at least my teeth are healthy overall.) It's an interesting time of year, no doubt. With a wimpy .02" of rain all year and now into D3 or Extreme Drought status, we've been praying intently for rain but have received none so far, just plenty of cold and warm days, some very breezy and I've been enduring the ongoing drought in Bitcoin and alt coins action. BTC has repeatedly tried its best to recover to 11,800 then encountering strong resistance, then going back down. That remains the present holding pattern until the last of those "throwing in the towel" capitulators (according to the wonderful, well-informed Stacy Herbert) gives in to give the uptrend. Now, I've read some trends that the Elliot Wave pattern is favorable for that wonderful breakout, due to reduced volume where the RSI is approaching underbought status. Time will tell on this, but it appears plausible considering the overall Big Picture. This doesn't mean you should "back up the truck" as the buy wall on Bitstamp according to Bitcoinity is weakened somewhat over the past few hours, yet if you do, the present price of 9.6k versus just hours before of under 8.5k shows promise for perhaps the next several months! Some are of the opinion that the 13,888 price prediction that Clif High gave in his December report for this period of time should finally pan out and it could happen very soon over the next couple of weeks. Time will tell! Jim Rickards tweeted some important news regarding Bitcoin and other cryptocoins' status. Does this mean that wantonly spreading FUD is finally prosecutable? I'm expecting lawyers to get busy if I read this correctly.

SCAM ALERT! From Twitter, regarding ICODrops.com (which should soon be part of my external links and I've mentioned before in this blog) "Please be aware that we do not have any mirror websites, and the only real domain is https://icodrops.com . Info, org, tech, net and etc. are fake!" Let me explain that ICO Drops is a site which features ICO information from upcoming, active and finished ICO's. Don't be fooled! Why is Bitcoin sucking wind the past several days? The Mt Gox trustee selloff of coins isn't helping. Note though, this tweet from Coin Panda brings McAfee's prediction back into focus! TL;DR: His tallywhacker remains safe, even with the FUD. HODL on, my friends! Add Cambodia to the list of nations considering their own cryptocurrency. Here's yet another article on how you can protect yourself against cryptofraud. There's a LOT of it out there. Russia is getting ready to legalize cryptocurrency. Expect this by Summer.

 The alt coins are still strongly in sympathy with Bitcoin, but they too should shine. Some have shined better than others, so I expect Atomic Swaps from them, back into Bitcoin. Interesting Blockchain news; Learn how the global Big Brother wants to track every damn thing out there! From ZeroHedge, More and more jurisdictions are tracking citizen's vehicle movements. America, be aware that a trial balloon is likely! At least you'll understand how this will likely be implemented. There's hope yet for those unlucky enough to be buried, yet still casting votes. Perhaps this should come to America? An election secured by.....Blockchain?? Yes!

 Ruth Buzzi added a bar to her shower. You see, doctors and their concern for us can be helpful at times, although she complains it takes longer than before (LOL!!) Drug testing is becoming so.....yesterday! I kid you not!! A recent ZeroHedge article noted certain companies whose safety factor or insurance costs not affected by drug use is discontinuing certain testing, especially marijuana. Many Rust Belt states, Ohio in particular, have significant issues in finding potential employees whom can pass drug tests due to the ongoing opiate crisis. Bear in mind, your humble author still works for a Fortune 500 company that intently pre-screens and subjects their workers to random testing and I have the paperwork to prove it. I seriously doubt they're changing anytime soon, although I'm in no need of such a thing.

 I continue to post pics on my website from last year's Lazy L&B vacation in my "Pic of the Week" link, available from this website's front page. Want these in 4128 pixel width? If used in a non-commercial setting, I freely give these out, so email or tweet me and specify the day when you saw the image, so I can get you the correct one, o.k.? If used in a non-commercial project, simply give Mark James Mullins credit for the image. These are primarily mountain scenes, snapped by my camera from horseback. The rides were better than the previous year as we ventured to nearby wilderness areas and trails I'd not been on before. Of course I made every available ride as I had done the previous year. I'm still trying to figure out if I can afford this year - it's to be determined as I'm willing to forego a year if it makes THE difference in having enough crypto and silver to retire on soon. There will be that point in time where at least some gets cashed out or literally traded for something I'm after. For now, the waiting game continues. Finally, if you or someone you love is way depressed, please consider showing them this wonderfully crafted tweet. NEVER, I say NEVER give up!

 That's it for now. I'm enjoying the later sunsets, praying for rain or snow, eating too much dust, watching the tumbleweeds when the incessant wind gusts up and hoping each of us benefits from the upswings that crypto will soon enjoy.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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3-3-18
Diane Francis noted in her article "Cryptocurrencies are also hazardous. Take Bitcoin, which is at least self-regulated, the currency yo-yos in value without any underlying valuation or justification." Which I counter "So, you've not paid any attention to the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt that others, including yourself are giving out, right?" She said in the same paragraph "There are no controls over how many Bitcoins are issued, and digital counterfeiting rings have been busy replicating the currency at 'Bitcoin farms', and a few have been apprehended." This is what total ignorance of Bitcoin's basics do! It creates unnecessary FUD that Diane dishes out. She is clueless as to HOW bitcoins are generated within Bitcoin the network itself and her story stinks of ignorance, especially since she does not deliniate that the true Bitcoin by nature of it's code is hard-forced to no more than 21 million units, and that's assuming it lasts until 2140. At this point, over 16.8 million have been minted into existence with an estimated 2.8 million of those, possibly higher, being orphaned into addresses due to wallet loss by both defunct exchanges such as Bitomat and users whom didn't back up their wallets. At least she gave me a good laugh from it, so I shared it with you, my faithful readers. Remember the last entry where I encouraged you to "combine your Bitcoin inputs" so they're much easier to work with and certainly to HODL in cold storage? Read this article on how Bitcoin was indeed eating itself throughout 2017, an old story but quite a good read in retrospect from Tom Harding. Mind you, the Mempool is empty or damned close to it but it won't always remain so, especially with Bitcoin's popularity to gain with it's recent monetary gains. So far, I'm spot-on with the cup and handle pattern I mentioned last time in TA (technical analysis) if you view a 7-day or 30 day chart. Even with Segwit and LN on the horizon, Bitcoin is becoming more a store of value - such as gold. Of course, the Market gets the final word on this. After all, it's Bitcoin!

That doesn't keep Mr. Micro$oft from chiming in on how "bad" it is. An interesting read, yet there are points Bill doesn't fully "get." His operating system has become far more invasive on personal privacy on so many levels and far more unfriendly to my computer and millions others, so he has little wiggle-room to speak openly! I'm on the verge of putting the Penguin (either dual-booting or outright saving data then changing to a Linux distribution) on this box, and mind you, I'm among the few who shelled $$ to upgrade to Windows 10! I'm believing more and more that this was an epic fail.

 On the ICO front, Bitcoin.com notes the high failure rate of ICO's. This is why one must be extremely careful in what they invest in that sector, albeit those who are successful will reap nicely. How many investors bother to read the Whitepaper, spare comprehending and asking themselves if the project is viable and capable of handling real-world problems, instead of blowing smoke up their rectums? Finally, from the I've Seen It All Department, and you'd be advised not to look at this link's video if you're squeamish of heights, it's a swimming pool some 42 stories high. Not unique, you say? This one is literally suspended over the edge of a Houston high rise, using 8" thick material with a perfect bluish view, straight down! The Quote of the Day? "The band wagon has started rolling. There are two positions you can take towards the band wagon. You can either jump on board or get run over". - Andreas Antonopolous. Well stated, AA! Well stated..

That's it for now! The weather has no snow, no rain, just warm, dry southwesterly winds with critical to extreme fire danger continuing here in the Panhandles with Amarillo faring worse than my area. I'm getting ready for this evening's Friends of the NRA banquet here in Guymon and will be among excellent company. An update could come Sunday.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-24-18
Greetings, y'all!,
 It's been a very busy week for me at work. Plenty of influenza issues are going around and one of my co-workers was out with it after Wednesday. TL;DR readers, the Bitcoin news is below, but first.. (WHOOP!!, WHOOP!!, WHOOP!!) Venezuela accepts all cryptos for payments now. The revolution has begun! However, there could be legal ramifications for Americans whom invest in the Petro! But, there's always Turkey! Americas' relationship with this NATO ally has been pretty damn shaky as of late, and the Turkish are considering a crypto of their own!

 For now, I'm still on the sidelines regarding price analysis as all the alts have continued swinging in sympathy with BTC. It's been more struggles for Bitcoin and the alts, although looking at the 7-day trend, things appear to look promising for our Crypto King! Look at it yourself. Is that the bottom of a cup formation I see?? Two days ago, @Coinjunky on Twitter gave his perspective. Does that mean we back up the truck? You be the judge as it's your $$ to put in, but so far I sense his gut instinct was spot-on! Hades finally freezes over! JPMorgan praises Bitcoin. I realize this is older news, but significant nevertheless. But as can be expected, days later, Mark Carney of the Bank of England disses it. He's part of The Club and we ain't in it! Additionally, Bank of America paints FUD, admitting in it's latest SEC filing that Bitcoin is a threat! The only point I happen to agree with the bank is any user wishing to purchase cryptocurrency on credit, especially in excess! I agree it's stupid and shortsighted to blindly jump into this with money you don't already have. With that said, let me clarify if it's a DEBIT card or simply a wire transfer of funds you already possess via your bank, it should not be any of their damned business what you choose to do in purchase of any legal product or service! Roger Magno notes in this article that the Bitcoin fees being as cheap as they are, this is the ideal time to consolidate your inputs. In Other Words, move all your Bitcoin balances to ONE address in your wallet which you prefer. This makes fees cheaper in the future if you must spend ALL your balance on anything. What does this mean? If in the recent past you used your wallet for other transactions, it likely created "change" in your wallet to store that change from what you spent from a primary address. Keep in mind, by default, Bitcoin does not send your crypto "change" back to the originating address. Some wallets allow this, but for security reasons this isn't recommended. Still, having one address with your $$ makes it way easier to go "cold storage" on that address (ABSOLUTELY grab the Private Key and carefully note it FIRST before deleting that address on your wallet!!) Occasionally, I find a laudable survey or two.. crazybutlazyy on Reddit claims to be a high school student doing a cryptocurrency research project. Questions aren't too invasive so consider checking this one out while it's active. The user promises to follow up on Reddit with results in the months ahead and I will update y'all if I stumble across those. Technical Analysis gurus should throughly enjoy this tweet of the Candle Game! Sorry, but I can't provide an easily-readable or clickable one. I almost didn't bother but gave each of you loyal Blog readers the BOAD (benefit of any doubt). From the Shaking Your Head Sideways Department, this appeared somewhere in the UK or Ireland and yes, your identity is indeed safe with us! so Mr. McEldroon, our apologies as well. Are you planning for a "Plan B"?? Part One of a three-part series gives some decent insights and reflection. I've found this new Megalist from Coiniverse and am considering putting this on my external links as I have time. Furthermore, I'm still putting photos and information on my still-in-progress Arkansas River source webpage, yet to be announced on its' release date. Have a wonderful weekend!

Are you still HODLing? GOOD!! My final piece for this submission is just for the weak-kneed and weak-hands out there; A pinned tweet from Twitter's @Yorkyor30444439; "If you have the patience to study for 4 or more years, working for 40 years, but not to hold a coin for like 4 days? GTFO."

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-14-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 Happy Valentine's Day! Even if you are the loner type, watching over your screens at crypto dancing around, you had to appreciate watching BTC go above 9K in a very bullish manner earlier today. It's holding shy of 9,500 USD as of this submission. Some think it'll revisit 6k or go even lower, but even if they WISH this, they likely won't buy into it. They'd rather spend their time tapping their keyboards into oblivion of why crypto is such incredible nonsense, and I'm laughing that I still get the priceless last laugh! I spent no time worrying and am concerned over others considering suicide over such temporary trivial matters as a cryptocurrency correction. As you'll read in this article, Moscow has a suicide hotline specific for these situations. The answers I give toward this are rather simple IF you have the patience to follow through: 1) Do NOT invest any more money into any crypto that you cannot afford to lose! 2) Do NOT invest into any crypto solely on either margin or credit unless you fully understand and actively trade on these matters, relying on your expertese to play such strategies. The only time you should use a credit card to purchase cryptocurrency is with money you already have banked and paying off the ENTIRE bill at the next statement date. Otherwise, you're essentially gambling in a manner you may not recover from. 3) Study what cryptocurrency IS and IS NOT. Research and homework should be amongst your first prerequisites before investing even a red cent into this! This is even more important regarding any ICO's which require either BTC or ETH to obtain such tokens. What's going on with Litecoin? LTC is kicking ass today! 40%+ gains within the last 27 hours or so. There's some expected news to come, yet to see this gain on Bitcoin is really telling the alts are pushing hard and may peak soon. There may be some gains in BTC with traders doing like-trades back into it. Just Sayin'!

 Many of you who know Trace Mayer will enjoy sparing 15 minutes hearing Max & Stacy interview him on Sputnik Radio. Fast Company notes that Bitcoin has just topped the list of fastest growing freelance skills in demand. If you've been on this Blog for months now, you'll learn this isn't news at all! Furthermore, NewsBTC dot com notes that elite universities here in America are getting ready to offer cryptocurrency courses. I'm considering doing the same on a non-credit level to gauge demand and cater to those interested in crypto in my remote area. If you reside in the Oklahoma Panhandle or nearby and would consider travel to either Guymon or Goodwell enough times to take a simplified cryptocurrency course whose primary focus will be on security of your crypto if you are considering such purchases or investments, then you may contact me with interest on this course. The course is not yet complete and I'm adding more to it due to developments in ICO's and with some of the new tax laws, which are likely going to be in flux with the States getting into the act! I don't have the link to this one, but Arizona is getting extremely bullish into crypto now! Colorado is close behind and so is Wyoming. Some of the Cowboy State's present laws will have to change to encourage more crypto investment. Wyoming already has a Blockchain Coalition which I'm strongly interested in. They want to change to fit crypto and the sooner I can reside there, the quicker I could make a difference in that regard. It may happen faster than I could affect a move there, but as many of you already know - I already have a strong affinity for that area and could see myself growing old and dying happy there, especially if the laws suit my tastes. They have much going already, even if coal or other energy treasures don't continue panning out into the future. Wyomingites have a strong, independent streak and a love and practice for the Second Amendment which most other states envy. Don't be surprised if I soon reach out to the Blockchain Coalition to network with them in any way practicable going forth. To conclude, my Quote of the Week: "Anyone who thinks that crypto is the 'largest bubble in history' as I've often read recently is failing to recognize the over $10 trillion in government bonds with negative yields. Central banks 'quantitative easing' policies are the cause of the largest bubble in history." - Ryan Taylor (Twitter @RTaylor05) 12/5/17.

Gracias & Alles Leibe,

Mark

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2-12-18
Greetings, y'all!,  At the first of the month, Reddit's /r/Bitcoin sub had an AMA or "Ask Me Anything" segment by a New York firm of CPA's who claim cryptocurrency expertese. You may consider reviewing these comments and questions in advance of any tax filings. Note my disclaimer that I'm not necessarily recommending this or any firm due to their inclusion on this blog, although be aware if you have traded cryptos lately, especially anytime in Tax Year 2017, that getting a second opinion may be prudent. Many CPA's are either not up-to-speed on the vague guidance from the IRS or are too conservative for the same reasons. Although Bitcoin as of early this morning in America is quickly approaching 9k USD, Bix Weir of RoadToRootA fame warns "Big, Big Money wants in and are spreading massive amounts of F.U.D. about the cryptos. It's CRAZY out there in Crypto Liar Land!!" He adds "CLEARLY, there is an orchestrated attack happening after the CFTC announced that they are going to SUPPORT THE CRYPTOS!!! F.U.D. Spreaders Abound...BUY! BUY! BUY!" What he concludes with is equally important for HODLers: "Obviously, sound regulation about spreading false rumors to influence a cryptos price should be implemented. You can't do it with Public Stocks but it's rampant in the cryptos. No Sheriff yet...but he's coming. Strong hand TODAY will end up being the Richest Humans on Planet Earth when this is all said and done!" I've never truly considered why leaders trash the cryptos as they do, but Bix is RIGHT! There's a total void of regulation regarding rumor spreading in crypto which will be resolved as governments continue accepting it! Jamie Dimon, et al, will have to finally STFU!
 I'm enjoying the latest Litecoin contest of grandparents explaining cryptocurrency. If your grandparent (perhaps you are a grandparent reading this?) wishes to record a 2-minute video meant for a general audience, consider entering. There's rules and a deadline on the website. Really, that's all I have to offer for now. I like how the buying trends have sharpened on Bitcoin and it's being reflected on the alts, but time will tell if it's smoother sailing from here. More and more, it appears the 6k dip was the bottom as 7k was defended more than once. Sparing breaking news, I should return mid-week.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-7-18
 Chris Giancarlo.. Remember that name! When this CFTC Commissioner spoke before the SEC, his experience through his niece regarding cryptocurrency, Bitcoin in particular, started the bullish comeback we're witnessing. He's that "total 180" of Jamie Dimon we've been waiting for and the most influential guy since the Buy Bitcoin guy with the note, photobombing Janet Yellen's testimony last year (mentioned on last year's blog, BTW!) Mind you, I still have many critical things to give that Commission, specifically the lack of action regarding manipulation of precious metal, especially silver. More and more, the possibility of JPMorgan acting as a government agency for a specific period of time to keep King Dollar in it's ongoing Ponzi makes the most sense. Yet with all that, Chris is THE MAN in Bitcoin's eyes. He actually has a clue or two on how Bitcoin works. His Twitter follower count has essentially quadrupled in the past 2 to 3 days. Here I was, advocating the CFTC being eliminated and Mr. Giancarlo comes along, bringing life to a Badly Battered Bitcoin. Unbelievable! If I was President, he'd be my Treasury Secretary in a New York Second! For Bitcoin's price, Stacy Herbert of the Keiser Report tweeted "My prediction (bearing in mind that no one can predict markets) is that a genuine capitulation won�t happen until $BTC breaks under $5000. Only when the last of the hodl pretenders has been shaken loose will bitcoin hit new ATH." which is certainly plausable. Remember too, coinjunky on Twitter predicted the same. I still don't see it going that low yet, but sensed a peak low of sub 4k coming over Super Bowl Weekend. At this point, I sense the worst is overwith at this point as a lot of bloodletting has occurred and we've seen some uptrending. The nice thing is that I didn't capitulate, nor did that ever cross my mind. If you're new to crypto and hung on, you're on the cusp, the verge, the edge of GREATNESS! Bitcoin and it's sons and daughters ain't goin' away, no matter what China or any other nation does to eliminate it from their shores. It remains a true, international means of exchange of value. I suspect it's a matter of time before certain cryptocurrencies gain even more traction and love, but this remains an exciting time to be alive! Another exciting tweet was given by Virginia Senator Mark Warner on Twitter. Read it to view the obvious, at least in my eyes, that he senses and likely understands the power which Blockchain has. I'll temper that with a blockchain that is 1) transparent, 2) available to the public, 3) decentralized, 4) that has no convenient "backdoors" that the bankers and government can steal the value at will, either by judicial decree or national emergency. Blockchain and Bitcoin were created to rein in some control back to the People! Don't let your elected representatives drop the ball as you've allowed them on so many other issues. Nevertheless, it's exciting we have at least two "BitcoinDaddies" strutting the Bitcoin Stuff.

Shrinkflation is definitely being noticed today. Trace Mayer tweeted this informative chart on candy bars. I can only imagine how the same would be reflected on good foods! We're also seeing price pressure for a different set of reasons in a different field which I'm very familiar; Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer has price pressure going lower.

Well, that's it for today. I've still got a lot more work to do this week and am getting some valued sleep. Sparing breaking news, this should be it until late Friday or early Saturday.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-6-18
The stock market took a massive shit, despite all the "Rah-Rah-RAH!!" of the presiding administration in the Swamp. Greater than 1,000 points is very significant, over 4 percent becomes no small potatoes. Will this continue to play out? We'll see. I'm NOT holding my breath.

Kansas news? Of course my former roomie, T.O. and I continue to make numerous, sick jokes about that state. You see, they're considering a basic 18-year old and higher requirement for Kansas statewide offices, after six teenagers have filed in Topeka for the governor's seat! Critics of such legislation should be asked "Are these kids old enough to carry a gun in defense of this nation? Even at age 18, they're too young to legally drink!" You see, 21 and older is far more sensible and very necessary when you're asked to be in smoky rooms, appearing at events where adult beverages are prevalent so you're numbed down with the surrounding nonsense after the fluff, pomp and circumstance is peeled away on the massive onion of politics. Most governors still drive to their work, so being a kid being likely indoctrinated with liberal snowflake nonsense (apologies to the nearby Kansas city of Liberal, you're not "liberal" in that sense.) may not be so good for the Midwest sensibilities of the Sunflower State. The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock has a specific "rock star parking" slot for the Governor. Bubba "I didn't inhale" no doubt used it his two terms, so did "The Huck" and Beebe-brain who followed a while afterwards. I'll never, ever again doubt my mother's advice. I drank the Kool-Aid believing that Arkansas would benefit from having the legislature in session every year. What a legislative nightmare cluster**** it's become! There's too many stupid and repressive laws on the books there. Would I consider moving back to retire? I have my doubts, despite having family there. Kansas still has some growing to do. Their former Governor had some excellent ideas which netted mixed results, yet I agree with him that something had to be attempted. How it works out in the long-term is yet to be determined.

Bitcoin continues to experience selling pressure, sub 6k as of this submission, which affects nearly all other alts. Jim Rickards is correct that the present chart trend will go yet lower before CAPITULATION sets in. I've reviewed the classic chart myself elsewhere and if it plays out, we're looking at sub 5k now before BTC ATM traffic and Coinbase becomes even more frantic with BTFD'ers. 2018 promises to be an epic year for cryptocurrencies, even if China continues to curse it. Other nations shall take full advantage of what the Chinese and other cryptohaters mete out and willing give up. They came back to crypto before and I expect they'll change again. Even if not, it's more hash power for miners elsewhere, making McAfee's mining outfit an even better bet! The late and still great Paul Harvey often stated on his radio show that "We are not one world!" so don't expect any worldwide bans on cryptocurrency. This has happened before and crypto should revive again as it has time and time again. Furthermore, as I've recently preached, crypto is nowhere near a mature market when you see such price sympathies clearly reflected in the alts, especially the fact that ETH was hammered near $575 and change, an 11% loss, despite the power it possesses. Sorry, ETH fans - your favorite won't outdo Bitcoin for a while yet! Are we near the bottom of this deep correction? John McAfee keeps a sound mind in this regard that we saw these prices back in November. I've remained chilled out and didn't get to take the Sunday road trip where I had planned with fiat $$ to trade into either BTC or LTC. Today, these developments have given me an even-better price point to pursue this dip. Just HODL unless you need the $$. I repeat, just HODL unless you need the $$.

In Memoriam; John Mahoney, British-borne but so at home in Chicagoland, has passed at 77. He was the cranky-yet-loveable father, Martin Crane, of his two sons on TV's "Frasier." This drawing truly says it all and hits home if you understood the show, the dog Moose which he loved. Having worked TV Master Control in two separate markets on three separate stations, you can imagine the sheer amount of programming I was tasked of catching for air later on, especially working overnight in the frantic Little Rock market which today with satellite distribution, most Arkansans can receive. I would edit Frasier's show "feed points" of where each segment started and ended for the computer's video storage system. Originally, it was aired on videotape as it was fed via satellite. Some shows leave a certain effect or "taste" if you will. This one has a classy touch and today the memories flow. RIP John!

 That's it for now, barring Breaking News, this is it until Wednesday. For that point too, I won't hold my breath!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-5-18
Post SuperBowl LII thoughts: 1) Few commercials really stood out for me this year. Hyundai's childhood cancer commercial with thanking buyers of that brand was OUTSTANDING and got my Top Pick! Overall, NBC's Winter Olympics promos outdid the commercial sponsors. 2) I'm tickled that Philly got the victory! It was clearly their turn and the Pats had their chances to win. 3) Some of the Eagles' touchdown calls will definitely be talked about. 4) The Patriot's coach is eating a tough loss, nevertheless. 5) Having a Prince tribute in Minneapolis during the Super Bowl? Timberlake pulled that off flawlessly and had a kick-ass halftime performance. As can be expected, there was a digital delay for the network during Halftime in case something else went wrong fourteen years after the wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson. By the way, she trended heavily on Twitter in advance of the game with her own named hashtag.

 I'm watching the Bitcoin price trend continue to lower, it tried to hold the 8k neckline. Why not just go ahead and trend even lower? It might. The sell trend line remains stronger than the buy trend for now. The alts continue in a funk, sympathetic with Bitcoin, for the same reasons I gave in Sunday's posting. For now, HODL unless you truly need to trade for the $$. By The Way, have any of you looked over the videos I have linked from Sunday 2-4? There's plenty to check out so don't remain the mushrooms that the bankers would want you to remain.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2-4-18
 There's a boatload to wrap up this weekend on my Blog. Lots of videos to check up on before and after the Super Bowl, so save some of the snacks or popcorn for awesome weekend reading as the funk of cryptocorrection hasn't fully subsided. I'll watch the game as long as NONE of the players or their Staff/Coaches take a knee during the National Anthem, otherwise the TV goes OFF!! Bitcoin was in the 9k range until early morning in America, but a downturn resumed and kissed 8.2k and could go even lower! Understand that with the Big Game today, the vast majority of unwashed shall remain clueless, but if you're a TL;DR'er then let me clue you in that 1) Precious Metals are beginning another BULL (finally!) 2) The cryptos are not ready to solidly rebound yet, although a decent floor in the sub 7k range may well hold. If not, I sense 6k being the next level to shake out the Darwin Award Recipients. 3) I want the Eagles to win the Super Bowl, although I enjoy Brady cheating the odds. He has experience on his side! 4) There won't be a Janet & Justin reunion at Halftime. Fourteen years ain't long enough for those two to bury the hatchet.

 Joseph Young straightens out the crypto internet once again on Twitter. Before his release of this article on Cointelegraph earlier today, he interviewed India's three largest exchanges.
Main points: 1. Cryptocurrency ban in India is just FUD. 2. Finance Minister's words grossly misinterpreted. 3. Don't fall for it again.
 Going to precious metals, Gold and Silver are starting to be shown at least some more love now. Many, including myself, saw the writing on the wall years ago (I've saved up physical metal, outside the banking system and not even in my house) but didn't know when this would finally begin to play out. It's been a damned long time, but looks like it's arriving! From ZeroHedge, originally on SRSrocco Report; "The world's two largest silver mines have seen their productivity decline substantially due to falling ore grades and rising costs." Surprise, surprise, SURPRISE! Political analyst Stacy Herbert, the saner half of the Keiser Report is bullish on the metals as we're progressing into 2018. Frankly, I don't expect Max to remain behind for long with cheap silver's days as numbered, even with his strong focus into crypto. Perhaps their "Silver Liberation Army" might bear shiny arms of Ag again? Even if JPM is proven to be an agent of the US Government in propping up the Ponzi Buck for how many more kick-the-can cycles, the Market is close to raising its' Vertically-Raised Middle Finger of Enlightenmenttm! In Other Words, NOW is a fantastic time to back up the truck for physical silver. I plan to be adding more phyzz shortly, but will first get my tax filing done. Lynette Zang of ITM Trading fame gives us another video which indicates why "stawks" are showing cracks in the egg and about to break down, due to the Bond Market interest going up enough. Although nearly a half-hour, there's so much that financial n00bz can learn in the first five minutes and she's the Chart Queen! Pay attention to this excellent video and experience some Eureka Momentssm, particularly my huge takeaway that one should prepare with fiat $$ outside the banks as CREDIT MARKETS will very likely dry up in a New York Secondtm as I witnessed in '09. She also teaches about gold and silver. The only caveat I add to her discussion is to keep said physical metals stored OUTSIDE of The System, never in your bank deposit box!! If you own real estate, consider becoming a member of your local 'Midnight Gardening Club' if you must or have that convenient boating accident where your stash gets "lost" at the lake bottom, then go back in your scuba suit and recover it. These are interesting times and we're barely into February! Silver Doctors posted a great video featuring Bill Murphy of GATA with Eric and Elijah. Murphy's straight-shooting about metals manipulation and his experience in the Markets makes this another timely update. Greg Hunter interviewed Craig Hemke (Turd Furguson of the infamous TFMetalsReport about many things, especially precious metals. Politics were also discussed. Definitely a good watch on YouTube, so pop some corn or just watch after the Big Game. Speaking of that, how would I bet this one? Brady has the passion, but I want the Eagles to fly away with Victory in SuperBowl LII. Expect surprises during the halftime entertainment! Drudge Report and myself both wondered if JJ makes a return visit in light of the unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, however, don't expect a Janet & Justin reunion on the Big Stage in the Twin Cities after fourteen years! CBS News received a statement from Jackson yesterday: "To put to rest any speculation or rumors as to whether I will be performing at the Super Bowl tomorrow; I will not," Jackson said in her statement. She added "Thank you for your support and I do look forward to seeing you all very soon." So, THERE!

 That's it for now! May the best team win and may your investments win for you as well.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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2/3/18
 Welcome to the weekend! That obese, bucktoothed rodent saw his shadow Friday but my area still has no rain or snow. Please send some our way if you have a surplus! When it comes to cryptocurrencies, If you're a fellow HODLer my question to each of you from this humble Blog is "Liking this, yet?" I'm LOVING it! It closed in on $7700 earlier Friday morning and I had expected it to cross sub 7k, but it caught a second wind and is presently holding north of 9k! Even with this welcome development, I'm planning an out-of-state road trip and taking along some fiat $$ already saved up for these rare occasions. There's little if any reason for you not to prepare in advance, HODLing some fiat so you don't have your bank attacking you for your legal Coinbase or BTC ATM transactions to wean yourselves from the System which Lucy runs and takes away the football whenever Charlie tries to kick it, him not being "connected" in the first place, as I subtly remind you of Sunday's Big Game! Do you "get" where I'm coming from, yet? To all Bitcoin Bears reading this missive, If you already understand how Bitcoin truly works from someone who was there in Mt Gox's heyday and experienced both glory and bloodletting with it's massive swings, you'll view this point in time as the opportunity it presents to you, NOW! Let's review, shall we?
Bitcoin 1) has NOT been hacked, 2) is being fought from so many powerful sources from the sidelines, 3) the current correction presents significant strength to build going forth, 4) as a coin, is really nowhere near mature as most other alts still are sympathetic to it's drops and upswings, therefore I believe it being nowhere near or inside a "bubble" for that matter! Yes, ETH - I've been watching you drop too! 5) is lagging in perception of improvements being made to so many parties, including some businesses whom have supported it in the past. These parties will very likely come back to Bitcoin with hat in hand to it's supporters as SegWit and LN gain greater acceptance with more moving away from on-chain transactions. 6) Futures (BCD, BCA) are shorting this for what they can get, but the bottom is trying to hold, yet I expect more downside in the short term. This cycle SHALL REVERSE in due course. 7) The "I told you so" haters are enjoying their brief moments. Let them! This is what Markets do, as well! Guess who gets the last laugh? I'm betting our side prevails in a huge manner that most governments simply can't grasp. If you're thinking this way and see this technology as a true game changer going forth, then come in to the party!
 You see, Bitcoin won't care whether you lose all your money or gain that new Lambo. Did you buy in at 19+k USD and wish to lock in your losses? Capitulate now to guarantee such an outcome! I'm nowhere near considering this as it ain't my first rodeo, nor will this be my last. Furthermore, I don't care if it takes all Spring or Summer for that matter to "shake out" the weaklings in this sector, generally in it for the wrong reasons in the first place! This cowboy could care less about flashy, speedy cars with high maintenance and insurance. I'm just old enough that I want even better things that I need not go into detail about, lest my critics pin that on me if crypto or improved blockchains should fail me. I see significant change on the horizon which our critics wish never could happen and so do my newer allies, even if our enemies should happen to pull off their versions of technoligies, leaving those who chanced this sea-change fully in the dark. I'm looking forward to the massive wealth transfer yet to be resumed as BCD, BCA and other Futures swing bullish, which they will do after all have cashed out their shorts. I expect a huge attitude adjustment amongst this whole crowd in due course, although I can't quite pin down WHEN it starts taking place, so I place that responsibility essentially in your hands. Many of you are asking "What is the real news behind this latest downleg?" and cointelegraph's William Suberg gives us an article on what he sees. Not at all surprising to me, I see potential collusion with the media and governments wanting to preserve status-quo. Hey, each have their "favors" to call out, don't they? p.s., I've seen this before.

 There are some nations fighting back. The Petro crypto may become reality after all! Venezuela is already into Bitcoin for it's survival, so this development may gain traction soon enough. How it fares going into the future with oil taking less of an energy role is yet to be seen. I'm watching a gradual trend toward more electric vehicles, although these are best suited for the major cities and shorter trips elsewhere.

 We're into the Fighting Stage between banks and credit card companies run by the same. Either outright bans or steep "advance cash" fees are being tacked on. About the only way most can truly fight this is to gradually take out fiat from their ATM over a period of time, building that cache to be used when these opportunies present themselves, such as.... NOW! There's no reason to broadcast to your banks of your intent of putting them out of business, unless that's what you wish to accomplish. Do it in a manner they can't detect in the usual, transparent way in their favor and nobody is worse off for not knowing. This pissing match is far from over and has barely just begun! Expect more regulations regarding ICOs going forth. It truly pisses off the elites that those not considered "accredited investors" (250k+ investable) could get ahead through an ICO. For those trying to get ahead, just bear in mind the tax consequences and keep up with your records. The odds of beating the system to a more financially secure future is certainly there, but I'd pay taxes properly owed to keep issues at a minimum. Besides, you will have full license to verbally bar-be-cue your Congre$$ public servants when they deserve it and they'll be much more likely to listen if you remind them you do pay your taxes voluntarily as stated in the Tax Code (mentioned hundreds of times as "voluntary compliance", BTW! so why do they need such POWER and GUNS?) Maybe this is something viable to bring up to your Congressperson. They're the ones with authority to control the IRS and their policy in the first place! Speaking of power? The Fed Reserve finally showed some backbone and huevos today and let Wells Fargo "have it!" by stunting their growth until the Bank gets control of it's lawlessness. Dammit Janet (Yellin), you finally won some respect from me at 11:59:59 on our Nation's Clock of Tolerance. That was a sweet Swan Song, but why didn't you sing it while you were still a canary and the tune would've shattered their glass when it would've truly made a difference and set an example? Sweet but bittersweet is how I look at it, but better late than never! Want to dodge taxes but not have to renounce your American citizenship with incredibly high exit taxes, getting a second passport, having to renounce citizenship and automatically being placed on some asshat bureaucracies' watch list? Go to Puerto Rico! Now the infrastructure can be inconsistent, so preparing for alternative power is a PLUS! The island, as evidenced by numerous hurricanes, requires plenty of rebuilding and patience. It's tropical as most of the Caribbean, yet opportunity presents itself and crypto hasn't escaped it's lure. Who can blame the Californians for escaping from the cesspool their state has become? New York State, you're not far behind with the ShitLicense that's already slammed the door on opportunities for New Yorkers. Sparing breaking news, this should handle the weekend. Before I hit the road, here's the latest quotable to offer: �Americans love their country, and they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return,� - Donald J Trump during the State of the Union address 1/30/18.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-31-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 Welcome to hump day, Wednesday! Yesterday and today I'm sick at home with the stupid stomach flu, but I'll take this over the horrific H3N2 strain which is truly hurting and killing so many others. I'm also convinced my flu shot in late October helped me through this bout as I'm already on the rebound. "One more day to get better" my boss insists as I'm likely contagious and there's still a mild cough. Bitcoin has also been sick and beaten down with incredible amounts of FUD to be discussed soon. Enough with all the hoopla on last night's State of the Union address by President Trump! He made one of the longest in history but had a boatload to say. As expected, the Supremes of the SCOTUS were reserved, but the Democrats, especially the extreme lefties stayed in their seats. The brightest moment had to be Ji Seong Ho, a North Korean defector living today in the South. Watch this video from Oslo, as his story is incredible and his teary victory wave with the crutches he used literally for thousands of miles of journey to escape, combined with the standing ovation, not only for this video but last night's SOTU address, was utterly PRICELESS for all! I admit I shared some of those tears and believe this moment of victory and survival is one Ji will never forget. A victory as incredibly bitter and sweet as it gets!!! You see, these are the kind of people that America should openly accept with such sacrifice, and I'm not alone in this mindset, having reviewed numerous like-minded comments. Drooling Joe gave the Democratic rebuttal and I'll give him credit it was decent, but most comments I saw noted he likely saw none of the speech as he gave no solid references to anything contained from the State of the Union. As a result, he missed out on making a stronger impact, just carrying the canned points of the Party to We The Viewers, so I believe the Dems dropped the ball on this opportunity - the type of fumble which could cost their Party a victory down the line! Nevertheless, he's a star ready to shine for the Dems going forth, so watch what he does, but I expect a Saturday Night Live skit or two featuring both Trump and Kennedy. Even with the drool, Joe is way, WAY BETTER than any Clinton being offered! As I compose this, it's just before 7AM Central Time and the Moon has just entered the umbra or deep shadow of it's Super Blood Blue infamy, yet it's anything but blue! Now, calm down. This amateur astronomer is fully aware of the meaning whose current definition was a goof which stuck back in 1946! A beautiful, deep red is showing through some high clouds here in the Panhandle as the Sun is in civil twilight here. It was too far west for Arkansans to view except from high locations as it was really close to the horizon there. Think of it. There's no Full Moon to come next month! Valentine's Day may be perfect for telescopes that evening, but hopefully a true Valentine can be the center of attention by then. We're still doing horribly on both rainfall and snow and would be tickled for anyone to wish some of your excesses our way! Amarillo is faring even worse than Guymon with the longest streak without measurable precipitation since 1957 not that far away from four months ongoing, with no chances of precip over the next week! They're already rightfully comparing this stretch to year 2011 when I moved to the region, dry as a bone when I arrived, +it briefly snowed the day before Halloween as I started working for DeWind.

 @coinjunky on Twitter opines to the Class that he'd not be surprised if Bitcoin dips to 5k USD and considers such a dip of a lifetime. Yesterday, BTC bottomed around 9500 and is rebounding to over 10k this morning on the American continents. 9k or lower, sick or not sick, I'd be on the road with fiat $$ to buy this dip, even if just for a fractional bitcoin as these dips add up to sweet greatness, even if it should dip further! Litecoin and other alts are feeling this mess too, so they're on my radar, depending on how depressed in comparison. I still see no reason to revise my forecasts I made, especially with all these futures players entering the market and the features, especially LN (Lightning Network) being added to both BTC & LTC now. Remember, people! Not only can the Big $$ short BTC as was done recently, but they can long the living hell out of it too!! You think you're seeing volatility? Watch for new ATH's (all time highs) coming up by March and likely to balloon further UP! I'm noticing something new called Bitcoin White. It's some sort of blockchain and decentralized, capable of javascript smart contracts. It's also available on exchanges now at 50 cents each. You think 50 Cent would jump on this one? He forgot about his previous BTC stash and it's worth multi-millions to him today. Smart HODLing, although he should HODL further and watch it come back as it always has. At least the way I see it, nonetheless. The CFTC finally fined at least six people from three banks for precious metals manipulation. Are any of these from JPM/Chase? Did any of them trade SILVER?? Most importantly, will any of these people serve hard jail time as a true deterent??? We know the answers already! Simply recall how Jamie Dimon responded to Senator Warren regarding potential banking violations. Those "fines" are simply a cost of doing business and never helps Joe Six Pack Public!

Odd news and stuff; Happy Birthday dear chicky! Cute, but the off-tune noise might drive you crazy. Several excellent quotes for consideration; @FerdousBhai on Twitter ponders "In case you are wondering why people invest in ICOs, keep in mind that we live in an era when people are eating laundry detergent because the packaging looks nice." @RichCoinQuick on Twitter stated "If you can't take the FUD, get out of the cryptchen." With yet another government shutdown looming in the next 9 or fewer days; "Your federal government needs your money so that it can perform vital services for you that you would not think up yourself in a million years." - Dave Barry.. Finally, "Developing inner values is much like physical exercise. The more we train our abilities, the stronger they become. The difference is that, unlike the body, when it comes to training the mind, there is no limit to how far we can go." - The Dalai Lama.

 Breaking News? I'll try and cover that, but I'm covering myself back up in bed to sleep off this stupid bug. Bye for now!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-28-18
 Breaking News tonight: According to CoinDesk, Tether (USDT) has "dissolved" relationship with auditor Friedman LLP, according to spokesperson for the company behind $USDT token. Story to come. Note that Tether is close with Bitfinex. Although based originally on the Bitcoin blockchain, it transitioned to Litecoin blockchain as noted in Wikipedia. Volume in LTC has remained elevated. It earlier peaked around 194 USD but has corrected to 186 USD as of this submission. Joseph Young in Hong Kong paints the Big Picture once again, using the simplicity of Twitter: "According to Brian Kelly, US-based financial firm Robinhood added 800,000+ users to its cryptocurrency exchange waiting list. Robinhood cryptocurrency platform opens in February. It will become difficult for other financial firms to simply ignore growing demand from clients." So if your bank is giving you shit about your crypto transactions, consider 1) Gathering all your information, such as PAC's (those payments made automatically through your account[s]) and prepare to change them to a NEW bank, 2) Opening up another account at a competing bank, 3) Dumping your first bank and asking to speak with it's manager of exactly why you're dumping them. (Bonus Points that you speak with it's manager and NOT some customer rep who may become numb to these dumpings in due course) and when the first bank wants to offer you an Olive Branch, you instead remain defiant and repeat why you dumped them, that it's a painful lesson learned! They WILL get the memo if enough of us raise either our middle fingers or as the Scottish say "the Tongs" in the UK/Aussie way of gesturing with the degree of rudeness these arrogant bankers deserve. It's your money and you want it NOW, J G Wentworth-style, dammit!! John McAfee today tweeted a Mea Culpa and pledges a "Dubious ICO of the Week" audit expose'. John, your team may be awesome, but I give more creedence to what you say when you research it yourself. YOU have the knowledge and drive, although I realize you have less time to work with. That fact isn't lost on me by any means. Nevertheless, apology accepted as this report was very transparent. Readers of this blog considering an ICO may pay attention to these reports to come. Check out this twitter thread on the anatomy of Proof of Work or PoW in crypto. Do you want my choice of Tweet of the Week? "The old cockroaches always has a distaste for seeing the young grasshoppers making money doing something they don't understand." Now for something to wash one's brain out. A simple comic which says it all. This WILL become more of a social trend going forth. I guarantee it! Speaking of comics; In Memoriam: Mort Walker of Beetle Bailey fame passed at age 94. His comic of an Army Private on a ficticious military base graced newspapers and other periodicals for 68 years, longer than any other comic creator. "Beetle", originally drawn as a college guy barely getting by, decided to join the Army in 1950 as the Korean War was cranking up. It gained incredible traction and this comic integrated with a Black Lieutenant and a host of other characters. I vaguely remember seeing Mort's picture with many of these characters at the Pentagon in 1990. Camp Swampy will continue as Mort's sons reportedly will continue the comic, although as it was with Peanuts' creator Schulz, Walker is a significant loss, too. RIP!This tweet really stood out, at least for me! From the "Now I've seen EVERYTHING Dept.", a rat which showers like a human does! Finally, a cow finds friendship with the herd. Polish Bison, no less! Informative article, and bear in mind the same fate to America's bison almost happened as well.

Sparing Breaking News, I should be back mid-week as Thursday begins a new month.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-26-18
Greetings Y'all,

Where to begin?? There's NO price commentary this weekend since crypto has either been slammed or just flat. More than likely, after this weekend there will be more positive news to come. Still, there's been plenty of news in crypto for the past week. Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck suffered a massive 523MM coin NEM crypto hack with a value of $524 million USD. OUCH!! What have I been preaching to each of you in this humble blog for months now? I've actually practiced it for YEARS and it has yet to fail me. Don't keep your holdings in an exchange any longer than necessary to conduct a trade or sale. Do NOT entrust it to keep your coins safe as a bank, because it isn't! Traders on Reddit have argued that they should be able to trade their coins as needed to fit their circumstances, but even then when history is a guide, these sites often become overloaded if everybody is heading for the exits (often for STUPID FUDdy reasons!) or suffers a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) which not every protective portal can absorb, if great enough! YOU must own your own private key by taking your coins out of centralized exchanges to ensure you have ownership. If you plan to HODL long-term, use Cold Storage. My proposed public course on cryptocurrencies will teach this as security of one's crypto is paramount in keeping it in the first place! For those in Ethereum and related alts who trade via EtherDelta: @EthereumBlue on Twitter warns the following: "The official EtherDelta Twitter account has been suspended. There are a number of fake EtherDelta twitter accounts now linking to phishing sites. Do not follow any links for an EtherDelta Twitter account until this is resolved." This blogger notes he had issues getting to the decentralized site but saw it later that evening and at subsequent times. For now, I have never traded with this site. EtherDelta is proving popular, but this reported development doesn't surprise me at all. Be damned careful of using it for now! There's many reports of man-in-the-middle attacks undergoing where users are losing their tokens and cryptos being traded there. This, along with ICO's are the True Wild West of the sector for now. There's also a chat area where much begging for Private Keys is ongoing. Do NOT give out any private keys, lest you lose everything contained therein. You've been warned! Want some fee-free trading? Robinhood Crypto is likely your answer! Some former co-workers used Robinhood to trade with stocks, so there's a track record. I've never used it but heard of it's features. It's beyond cool that it's made it to crypto now! It's available in five states for these new features in crypto, but expected to expand throughout most of the USA. Already, Litecoin is vying to make it to Robinhood. If you love and HODL it as I do, consider tweeting @RobinhoodApp as I did and ask them to add LTC, please. Latest Bitcoin News: BTC takes yet another hard fork! BCA or Bitcoin Atomic took place earlier in the week. It's another form of Bitcoin Futures. Note today was the expiration of futures in CME Bitcoin Futures. Some whom monitor the actions of these players with deep pockets expect Bitcoin to recover, in particular, I'm watching the videos from Crypto 99 on YouTube as he has a pulse on these developments. Videos are NSFW due to language, but he seems to keep it real! Bix Weir believes the worst of the FUD is overwith, at least for a while. Xoel Lopez Barata gives a simulation and prediction of how Bitcoin may be priced by years-end. It fits my >50k to likely 75k forecast nicely! BLKCF (Global Blockchain Technologies Corporation) was recently halted on the markets. They're traded on the OTC here in America. The news release? GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (TSXV: BLOC) (FSE: BWSP) (OTC Pink: BLKCF) ("GBT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Overstock.com in a press release today said that its blockchain subsidiary, t0.com, Inc. ("tZero") intends to provide advisory services in connection with the recently announced KodakOne Coin Security Token Offering. In addition, tZero will advise on secondary trading of the Kodak Coin. This is the first third party coin to be announced that tZero will be listing and trading on its much anticipated regulated ICO exchange.

 The IMF or International Monetary Fund, the biggest single headache to many a nation, is taking a serious look against Bitcoin and it's alts. We should carefully monitor what potential FUD may be on the way whenever they meet! Looking at Russia, some in banking believe cryptocurrencies should be able to somewhat mature before regulation is placed, especially on a reactionary, knee-jerk level. Why can't this happen here in America soon enough? This is a must-read if you're heavy into stocks. There are two factors in this story, one bearish and one bullish. Do some cranial exercises here and come to realize that ONE of them is strongly manipulated and can't be sustained, even if the Global economy were to attempt to support this Ponzi much further. The cracks in the egg are getting larger and longer but I can't say when the deck of cards finally wobbles enough to tumble. Watch bonds and interest rates carefully and bear in mind that just over 70% of derivatives deal with interest rate betting. If that goes too high, it's Game Over! Earlier in the day, Max Keiser of Keiser Report fame, tweeted "Evidence suggests: The highest demographic concentration of #Bitcoin millionaires are young, black males - thanks to @KeiserReport." Regardless if the link proves true or not, there are a healthy number of black folks discovering cryptocurrency! This is extremely cool in my book as crypto isn't at all racist and gives everyone the opportunity to test out these waters. Check out some of their YouTube vids if you don't believe me! I also have to wave "Hello!" to Reggie Middleton of Veritaseum fame. I've always respected Reggie's viewpoints and insights as this guy is awesomely sharp. The Veritaseum crypto he developed (the unit is Veritas or VERI) is well-thought and possesses so much potential that only decentralized exchanges as EtherDelta dare host it! Presently priced at $380 and change, it's very much UNDERVALUED. A reminder as earlier mentioned; Be damned careful of using EtherDelta for now! There's many reports of man-in-the-middle attacks undergoing where users are losing their tokens and cryptos being traded there. This, along with ICO's are the True Wild West of the sector for now. Veggiecoin isn't for vegans. It's instead for animals! If you love animals and crypto, this may be THE coin for you! More than likely, if this coin gains traction, I may make room for it on my AnimalWonderland website when that gets going. It remains in closed beta testing for now as I simply don't have enough time to work with it. I'm putting in well over 45 hours weekly in my present job now and don't have near the days-off that I used to. If cryptocurrency does as I expect, I may not have to wait too much longer to accomplish so many things I've waited years to experience. I'm enjoying life more than I have, but the best is yet to come! I warn naysayers this will still happen even if crypto should become outlawed in the United States as a "Plan B" is already being planned and put into place. Other news? A belated Memoriam to Naomi Parker Fraley. She was 96 and noted as the model for Rosie the RIveter during WWII. Her legacy will live on, yet for now the phrase "We can do it!" is a work in progress. The Equal Rights Amendment was so, so close to passing decades ago. With the recent marches in the Nation's Capitol and elsewhere, maybe that time is again here and they'll score victory? It could well happen this year. To wrap this up, Crypto Godfather gives some sage advice to anyone trading anything with cryptos. This is something I'll teach in my classes if offered in the not-distant future. Watch those decimals (and addresses being sent to, for that matter!) As I've warned here before, there's malware which can change the sending address you intend on sending crypto to! Getting ready for next weekend's Super Bowl? "If the Super Bowl was done through the Electoral College, the Eagles would carry 49 states and DC." - @Sarge986 on Twitter

 p.s., Could the Italians send this excessive snow MY way? People in the Panhandles likely won't complain at all. Sadly, the forecast here calls for another week of dry weather. Fire danger has reached the critical category at least twice this past week and should repeat at least thrice if not more in the week to come.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-21-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 Erik Voorhees gives investors more insight on WHY Bitcoin behaves as it does. I'll throw in to keep in mind, unlike the stock market or Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) futures, there's no circuit breakers! Your properly-tuned gut instinct can serve you well and don't always entrust your exchange(s) for everything. They can be overloaded, shut down, or even hacked as was MtGox back in the day. I witnessed the insanity that was Spring and Summer, 2013. I also had an account at Cryptsy. I never lost any crypto to either one as I often moved that out of the site. Admittedly, exchanges are getting way better at security, but it's still not a perfect science by any means! Joseph Young gives us an excellent tweet regarding perspective! Want to understand WHY the Crypto market crashed? One guy gives a decently viable opinion. Knowing how banker$ work and think, I tend to agree with him. NSFW due to plenty of language, here's the video you may learn from. Many have noticed that volatility is getting less and less in Bitcoin and alts, which is the point the tweet gives with actual figures. ICO's will have significant volatility until they smooth out enough and those projects with weak solutions and opportunistic scams fall to the wayside. Some governments want to outright ban ICO's so token prices have taken hits in some regions. Bottom Line: Want true Wild West action? The right ICO can deliver, but you must research and have a gut instinct, capable of dealing with stress and pain. Success is not always a given! Regarding Iota, which I've covered in this humble Blog, do not use iotaseed, lest it steal your seed. Just because it's online and convenient doesn't mean you should automatically grant unfettered trust to it. This fact that Iota possesses value is proof positive that those who claim cryptos are useless with no value, have no understanding of what they talk about! The same was said about Bitcoin and of course scammers are prevalent in this. Be CAREFUL!

 Price action: Simply, it's a sea of RED today! Even those extremely few exceptions as Ion are retracing some of their parabolic gains. Some will whine and moan about the latest "crash" with a Bitcoin floor in the low 11k USD range from near 13k several hours earlier, but I truly don't care. There's still a decent amount of FUD littering down on Bitcoin and it seems to spread downward through the alts. Many parties still are raining on Bitcoin's parade, yet it keeps goin' and goin'! I see these dips as fantastic times to add, although for many Americans, this won't occur until they get back their tax refunds. There are those with recent bonuses who are receiving them now and jumping in on the dip. Congratulations as I expect this to be the last massive dip for several months going forward. I predict greater than 50k USD, closer to 75k USD minimum year-end for a single bitcoin and it could wind up higher! For crypto traders, hopefully last year's coin-to-coin trades won't be ruled as taxable events. Definitely get with your tax expert a.s.a.p.! I've done so and if determined that a Form 8824 is required to obtain a Section 1031 exemption, then at least you've given your expert enough time to research and obtain the paperwork for you! My basic info for 2016, except for the 1099s, have already been mailed in to my CPA. For Americans, under the new tax law signed last month, any crypto transfers are now taxable events, despite cryptocurrency not being considered as money. Congre$$ will likely catch some flack going forward, but for now they have plenty on their buffet table. Hopefully Senate Bill 1241 never catches the light of day outside Committee! Keep an eye on these sneaky creatures you've elected, lest they swim and bite YOU when you're not looking. I've learned this from being an Okie and truth be told, it's not much better elsewhere!

 The winds are picking up and there may be light snow later in the day. Not that far from me, a wintry mix is expected in extreme SE Colorado. Yes, Winter IS fun! This video on Twitter was a close call and hopefully nobody was hurt. If not, maybe a giggle or two results from it? What a strange camera shot! Twitter never ceases to amaze. three bucks in Lithania give a priceless pic. Here, deer season has expired for most areas. Sparing Breaking News, I'll return Wednesday. Happy HODLing!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-18-18
Greetings, y'all,

Yesterday, Bitcoin fell below 10k USD for the first time since... last month. If you're a recent buyer and n00b HODLer, you're feeling the pain, but for me? It's just another day at the office! Already, BTC bounced back above 11k and trying to steady in that range after a dive to near 9.2k on Bitstamp. Need to read anything to settle your nerves? This is the best I've found, but personally I don't need it at all. Today is another Meh Momenttm for me. Joseph Young gives us much more insight into this regarding South Korea. He reports an official there allegedly sold crypto holdings before giving everyone there the FUD which is causing so many headaches. As you can see from it, Bitcoin is truly international, yet gives everyone keeping up with it a true microscope to view how our respective governments look at We The People. THINK ABOUT IT and be prepared to vote accordingly when the time comes. Other Bitcoin news is coming to the surface, y'all! If the price remains low, many Americans with stock accounts and some extra bonus $$ could do really well this year. You see, GBTC on the NYSE will have a 91 to 1 stock split on 1/26. Peaking around $3400 a month ago, they're down to under $1700 so if you're into stocks, this is one to consider if you're a true crypto believer. It's on my radar and the upside potential is significant if your risk appetite is higher than average. Dow Jones News reported "The trust started 2017 at $121.65 and then rocketed along with the cryptocurrency itself. Volume picked up last month despite the increasing difficulty to trade considering the per-share price gains. But it will likely spike even more than the 90 times additional stock which will outstanding, that as the trust will become easier to trade on a price basis." Again, this is but a suggestion you may consider. I'm not a financial advisor and am certainly not always correct on these matters. Don't invest any more than you can afford to lose and "NEVER bet the whole ranch!"

 Want to read through a Twitter bulleted list of 41 different points of why Ethereum and Proof-of-Stake are bad ideas? Within it, there are some valid points so I present this link and encourage you to pop some corn if reviewing all of them. Tron crashed recently but is recovering. Lots of rumors abound. I bring this up since I've mentioned Tron before in this Blog. Want an entertaining Twitter thread of a different subject? NSFW due to language, but as you'll figure out soon 'nuff, some things don't change, they indeed remain the same! Brutalist Press gives an interesting take on some Arkancide. Why hasn't the Main Stream Media covered any of this? It's beyond sad that Haiti has gotten so much bad press. Considering it's located in a primary hurricane and earthquake zone with the fact that it's people are so poor they've stripped away much of the forests, then learning these allegations of embezzlement of donations meant for hurricane relief didn't help matters any, which is germane for this in the first place! Occasionally, everybody heard about The Bird. Watch this twitter video for the best photobomb in a TV weather segment I've seen. Usually, a spider spins the story, but as you'll see - the Raven keeps speaking to us, even if upside down.

 I'm not doing any price action coverage today, but encourage you to monitor happenings within cryptocurrency, especially through prices via CoinMarketCap or WorldCoinIndex then the news which shapes it, some which you'll get my take right here. You can learn of ICO's through ICODrops or other sources if you have BTC or ETH and willing to tread in these waters. Definitely do your research! The news will be the dominating factor in the short term. Bix Weir reminded in a recent email that Clif High's 13,800 USD BTC prediction is still on for late Winter/early Spring. I'll keep on HODLing but won't rely solely on Bitcoin for my financial happiness. My work continues and I'm watching for other opportunities. More to come.

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-13-18
Greetings, y'all,

 This installment of the Blog has no crypto price coverage this time. There have been recent developments which have already resulted in both decreases and increases in Bitcoin and related alts. I suspect the present trading range will break free and bring more value. I may present a price update Sunday but have plenty to do this weekend. It was a busy holiday season where I work and I continue learning the job, getting better at it while awaiting the developments in crypto which will help many of you to both improve lives and retire early!

 UPDATE: Electrum Bitcoin Wallet has v3.0.5 available as security vulnerability was not entirely fixed with v3.0.4 so if you've not been made aware over the past week, check and be sure! When it comes to cryptosecurity, I won't hold back any punches! This is true with my proposed cryptocurrency course I hope to teach and especially in regard to reporting such developments to keep HODLers safe through knowledge. Tyler S. on YouTube gave a POWERFUL reason to only entrust buying a hardware wallet from the manufacturer and NOT second-hand from eBay. Bear in mind, this is the subject where the video starts. However, you may review the whole thing to learn more about why Litecoin is poised to gain incredibly during 2018. A victory for Bitcoin HODLers! A Beijing court dismisses a lawsuit against bitcoin exchanges. They encourage their citizens to be careful with crypto, and that should apply universally! Even better, the Koreans realize they're cutting off their own economic heads if they were to fully implement a cryptocease. Joseph Young on Twitter gives us more insight to the latest developments in South Korea. Here on the American homefront, why a story as this doesn't surprise me is reason enough that societal revolution should already be in the works! Sorry, but crony nonsense as this doesn't make America great! Trump of course LEADS and MAKES the news. If not regarding remarks about certain nations, there's plenty going against him by the media. Mark Dice posted this letter, reportedly written by Stormy Daniels whom reports have been circulating of an alleged affair with the POTUS. Daniels, who indeed published a book, states she would've mentioned such inside it. Hey, I'm trying to balance things here and this ain't no easy high-wire act! Back to Bitcoin. Want a Trump LOL Moment? Andre in Norway gives us a zinger! Before each of you get your underwear in a bind over the IRS and new laws in Congress, understand how extremely inefficient our government itself is! Stefan Molyneux shows this to us too well! They do it to make examples out of We The People, even if it costs them too much money, yet I get into arguments of how "sound" the banks are. Give me a damned break, people! These banks are more ready than ever to collapse under their own hubris as Jamie Dimon admitted that Bitcoin is not a fraud after all. Of course we know him to be very sneaky and I'm willing to wager what occurred months ago was likely calculated for a huge dip and scoop-up operation which is exactly why HODLing securely is critical unless you need to spend it. Many support me on this thinking. I'm tempted to ask when Dimon will release the silver shorts so the metal can go stratospheric as it should've done a long, long time ago. You see, I'm ready to make profits there, too! Want to learn the nuts and bolts of the Lightning Network? It's technically-intensive so be ready to put on your mind's "game face" for it.

 Some in Guymon, OK where I presently reside had wondered last March why I stood staunchly against the votes of both my state representatives. Former state senator Marlatt cited a "Big Brother" complex which I then countered with a takeaway of 21 million records of federal government employees, likely by Chinese hackers in 2014 and featured in a major Washington DC newspaper which I cited the date and article before those attending and later broadcast on PTCI's local access Ch. 2. Now, the Panhandle's own Casey Murdock, who deferred answering my question, is running for Marlatt's seat and leaving behind no representation in the House in the entire Panhandle for perhaps a whole year in true Clinton-type fashion! (Bear in mind, this native Arkie never forgot Bubba's promise to continue as Governor, yet broke it to run for the Oval Office) Let this article be additional reason why Real ID is a horrible law in America when you allow unaccountable bureaucrats in any nation to maintain such a nationwide database as this! India should really consider putting their qualified engineers to work on this instead of allowing excessive H1B Visa transfers here. To clarify, I'm entirely for allowing many of them whom I've met to apply for and be granted citizenship here as they have skills and a social mindset that our schools simply aren't emphasizing enough and are a value to society. The BASICS, such as advanced mathematics which are being taught to Indians must come first! Not the Bread and Circuses mentality inherent on too many American campuses. An earned college degree took sacrifice and should be undertaken seriously. Bitcoin and other crypto discussions in a Face to Face interview with John McAfee on YouTube. Pop some corn and spend 45 minutes getting the latest skinny. Want a giggle or two? After reviewing this short video on twitter. I see this lazy cat saying one short phrase "Mi gordo!" or "I'm fat!" but it reminded me of the Japanese story of the rat snake & hamster who became buddies years ago! In terms of reality, this is a poster we should see in every city! Finally, words of advice from Twitter's Chaz Cryptoson (@thechaz) "Living a boring life? Get a job in the cryptocurrency industry. Never sleep again." in which I reply here on this humble Blog; "So true!!" There's some really exciting stuff yet to happen. We're only getting out of the Holidays and I expect some significant volatility to resume with Bitcoin and the alts, both upward and downwards. If you've been watching the trends, the FUD being given has less effect than in the past. I predict this trend to continue as more and more money flows into this massive wealth transfer. I'm also excited that precious metals are also beginning to perk up a few notches, more so in gold than silver, but again I maintain both metals in physical form will take on new life and meaning. Capitulation has hopefully ended in this sector with a floor to build up new value. My hands were strong, so SCREW those shorts!

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-7-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 Using Electrum Wallet on Bitcoin? Tavis Ormandy tweeted "The bitcoin wallet Electrum allows any website to steal your bitcoins. I was gonna report it...but there was already an open issue from last year. I pointed out this is kinda critical, and they made a new release within a few hours. Update to 3.0.4 if you use it." A later update on Reddit also notes the vulnerability.
 According to CoinTelegraph, the NYSE has applied for permission to establish Bitcoin ETF's on their ARCA exchange. So watch the price and see how that affects the alts as well. Joel Valenzuela gives a decent opinion article on what is true crypto. It's fairly short and maybe worth the read for many of you.

 How are crypto prices doing? Bitcoin is taking a tumble into the high 15k range after cracking 17k earlier. If it goes below 15.5k, it won't surprise me and I won't bat an eyelash. Litecoin? Sympathetic to it's Big Brother, it's down to $270 and change. Bitcoin Cash has hardly budged, sitting at 2,567 USD and change. Bitcoin Gold lost some ground, down over 6% at just over $230. Bitcoin Diamond futures are barely over $27 today. Ethereum is tall in the saddle, up 8% at $1,102. Other alts I track include Ripple, up a fraction at 2.74 while Qtum loses 17% to price at 60.76. Tron takes a mild haircut at 15.4 cents at midday. Zcash breaks into the top 10 with a 15% gain and sporting $766 a coin. Not shabby! Binancecoin is just the opposite, down 15% today at 19.20 USD. With these, there's give-and-take!

 In oddities - A video shows each of us a real-world use for fiat coinage!This chart might be worthy of printing or framing, although I've requested one for the upcoming shower of ICO tokens. The Digital Food Chain (in BTC terms)

 On my Pic of the Week, I noted to regular visitors of a computer glitch I am experiencing that causes crashes at strange times and has prevented me from uploading new pics there. I'll keep trying and may luck out over the next day or two. This is exactly what's going on here! Be patient if you visit that portion of my website as sometimes my main computer works, but for the most part this Microsoft update is causing me continued headaches, especially if it crashes and I have to spend up to 15 minutes going through an extended restart. I'll update you as time goes.

 To conclude, a parting thought from Dan Rather of CBS fame to President Trump; "Dear Mr. President, A good rule of thumb is that when you've got it, you don't have to say it. People know. That holds true for wealth, compassion, faith, and yes, being a 'very stable genius.'" Sincerely, Dan

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-6-18
Greetings, y'all!,

 A Happy Belated Birthday to Bitcoin! It turned nine, Wednesday!! If you go to Reddit, you can read about this iconic magazine cover. Over and over and over again, SGTReport fame has referred to The Economist of 30 years ago. Does it have a Bitcoin connection? Many believe so. One thing I believe will happen this year are the Big Fish coming into cryptocurrencies. It won't be limited to Bitcoin for that matter. Certain ICO's (Initial Coin Offerings) have tokens which will moonshoot due to the problems they fix. One youtube video from Crypto Fiend I viewed has a critical opinion that Ethereum, although a decent investment, is too sluggish to handle the huge volume of transactions in a timely manner. It was refreshing to hear something I see as problematic as I saw this with the cryptokitties and other issues including the bugs that Ethereum continues to struggle with. Competition is indeed very stiff and those developing the best blockchains to handle their tokens for specific problems, especially if the smart contracts to be made have a smart interface to enable a user to create them with safety, should stand out to truly rule the roost going forth! This is how I bet some of my holdings before year-end where I don't have a tax liability. If any of you took the opportunity to risk for reward, I truly hope you the best as there are no guarantees, but the possibilities are absolutely worth it to me and I'll see how it fares out as 2018 marches on.

 Litecoin? Charlie Lee knows way more than Bryanttt (@bryantdbc on Twitter) with his reply to the latter's argument of having 'locked up for 6 years but sold the 1st year it took off' and Charlie simply stated "We haven't taken off yet." At that time, LTC was around $230-$250 and has gained decently since to over $300! I'm in very strong agreement with Mr. Lee as Lightning Network is on the verge of breaking through first with LTC, where it's miners aren't being anywhere as snotty and greedy with faster transaction times to boot! Bix Weir of Road To RootA fame is truly hammering that message with extreme LTC bullishness. Personally, I doubt we'll see north of 20k by year's end on LTC, but this is Bitcoin's little brother and it's pretty damn special with nearly all the positive aspects of Bitcoin, so it's not out of the question for Bix's prediction to be spot-on. I traded for some LTC because I believe Charlie made the right decision and he knows way more than he's been letting on. Bix sees that too. So what should I do with the remainder of my BTC? Real Estate is the one remaining category I can invest without having to pay in capital gains, so that's on my radar.

 An update for Americans regarding "like kind transfers" such as BTC/LTC. There's still much debate going on which side the IRS will give taxpayers regarding those before New Years Day. Some swear emphatically that "technically" these transactions are taxable, despite cryptocurrencies not having a currency status by definition. A few of the sharper minds believe this ambiguity was answered back in 2014 and the only way to qualify is to have your CPA work up a Form 8824 with all transactions being requested for a Section 1031 exemption, which many are likely to consider since guidance is indeed that vague and you may not have a case for exemption if you failed to ask for it in the first place! Therefore, all Americans in this position should ask your tax professional now (as I have) to seek guidance going forth. Considering the intentions or ignorance (possibly BOTH) from Congress in passing this, it will be a compliance nightmare for both the Agency and Taxpayers alike, especially for any cryptotraders in 2018. There are many Millennials who believe they shouldn't have to pay any taxes regarding the new law signed before Christmas, and they likely have a rude awakening if having traded using Bitcoin and enforcement becomes a significant priority, due to specific tracking software having been procured by the IRS. Let me ask you; "Do you want to make a difference, going forward?" First, get knowledgeable with the law! Secondly, get knowledgeable with any proposed legislation that Congress may well address. Thirdly, get on the phone 202-225-3121 and voice your concerns with your Congre$$ Critter(s) as they purport to serve YOU! It's extremely helpful to be 1) knowing of what law or bill number(s)/title(s) which concern you, and 2) respectful to the aide on the other end of the phone. This doesn't mean you can't vent a bit, but keep any raw language minimal and only if truly warranted to get across a point. You'd be surprised how few calls a Congressman or Senator may receive on certain bills. Your input may well be THE difference on how they vote it!

 This time around, it's nice to see Bitcoin on a price rise, although I'm watching a reverse pennant forming. There may be a retest of the 16k neckline to come, but I see that as the new support for now. Litecoin was on a tear last night! They're steady around $300 USD. Ethereum is steady around $1,000. Bitcoin Ca$h? Up 6% to $2,559 and change. Bitcoin Gold is up 3% to near $232. Bitcoin Diamond futures is down a fraction to barely over $23. Tron (TRX) is volatile, down 26% to 16.6 cents, but I'm keeping an eye on this token, dealing with smart contracts in blockchain. There's plenty of competition to come, but the right blockchain solutions and their tokenholders will become richer than creme! Siacoin is up over 50%, trading at over a dime. What is Sia? One website notes; "It splits apart, encrypts, and distributes your files across a decentralized network. Since you hold the keys, you own your data. No outside company can access or control your files, unlike traditional cloud storage providers. Sia stores tiny pieces of your files on dozens of nodes across the globe. This eliminates any single point of failure and ensures highest possible uptime, on par with other cloud storage providers. Using the Sia blockchain, Sia creates a decentralized storage marketplace in which hosts compete for your business � this leads to the lowest possible prices, on average 1/10th the cost of current cloud storage providers. Renters pay using Siacoin, which can also be mined and traded. Sia is open source." which makes for a powerful case for me to consider and like this one! StellarLumens (XLM) remains in the top 10 with another nice gain of 10.8% to 72.8 cents. New in the top 10 is BinanceCoin (BNB) with an over 40% 24-hour gain at $21.32 .. Want to pop some corn and learn a bit? Trace Mayer talks Bitcoin. Definitely worth some time.

 Want to laugh out loud? Go back to school and relive those memories! This is one of the better ones I've seen! Have an overly-curious feline? This is what happens when a curious feline messes with your stuff! There's a way to catch them, you know! Some final food-for-thought into this Sunny Saturday in the bone-dry Panhandle of Oklahoma, I totall understand and respect why the quality-minded, 70's Swedish band Abba never reunited on the Big Stage: �To wish for bands to reunite is like wishing your divorced parents get back together: You'll be happy, but they'll be having a really bad time.� - Courtney Barnett

Gracias & Alles Liebe,

Mark

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1-1-18
 2018 has arrived and she's lookin' not too happy! 2017 didn't go out like a lamb for that matter. Mariah Carey wanted her hot tea! So many will now refer to her as Hot Tea Mariah, but tea isn't bad at all - I have my Brit friends and enjoy a "spot" of it too. The DPRK (North Korea) dictator says he has a red button on his desk, but he's not the only one. World War III could well take place this year when Trump replied "We'll see, we'll see." when asked by a reporter regarding Kim's comments. It was a crazy year in so many ways with a lot more on the plate to be digested and black swans flying all over the place, especially regarding crypto! Whale Panda on Twitter @WhalePanda gives the Class some additional insight to the SHITTY job that many miners on Bitcoin continue doing! Such waste and carelessness. Meanwhile, we are the "American Indian" who shed a tear over that apathy, such as Iron Eyes Cody did with his iconic performance in the Don't Pollute public service announcements back in the early 70's, which really made one think and was later the catalyst to start up the annual Great American Cleanup during the mid-80's. After all, he traveled to Heber Springs, AR and nearby Greers Ferry Lake where it got it's start. An event not to be easily forgotten. UPDATE: Jameson Lopp @lopp on Twitter clarified the posting; "An unknown miner just learned an expensive lesson by destroying the entire 12.5 BTC coinbase reward for block 501,726!" which at the price of $12,500 USD times 12.5 equaled over $156k USD. That was about as intelligent as Oklahoma voting in the "Real ID" Act or wasting taxpayer money on the card swipers that OHP was to use in stealing people's funds, obfuscating details to the creditors, no less! At least the Governor suspended the program, lest my state suffered severe consequences regarding tourism. Crypto Randy Marsh on Twitter @nondualnelly opined smartly "They did warn us about institutional money wanting cheap bitcoin, didn't they?" and I would strongly agree, especially Bank$ters whom wish to hammer it down with the futures. I suspect the dip to progress through to 11k then rebound. Tis the HOLIDAY season, y'all. Although Bitcoin is truly international, there are some seasonal influences keeping it from rebounding as fast as some of you fellow HODLers would like. I don't care! Later on, Jameson Lopp on Twitter was questioned about Lightning Network on Bitcoin; Q: When will the Lightning Network be rolled out? His answer? "The rollout has already begun. This is an iterative distributed learning process; it's unlikely there will be a single point in time at which we say LN is 'deployed' because it will grow organically. Software is never finished." Which although I agree, it would be a good thing to receive updates from Devs as I wouldn't want my BTC locked up due to a bug, much like the Ethereum situation which affected it's price! Personally, I'm a bit leery of Ripple and suspect they've made their peak at around $2.42 recently with a correction in the cards, perhaps in sympathy with the Other Guys even if the timing doesn't match. The time to have made any coin-to-coin trades in America tax-free has wrapped up, with traders deeply pissed at the amount of detail the new law will require to comply. I suspect it will come back to haunt Congress who passed that sack of shit, except of course if you use your coins to buy Real Estate and that a revisit of the law will be made well before the next elections, otherwise we know Trump would've likely vetoed it! I've considered using my remaining coins to buy certain real estate, although I don't believe that's where my Big Money may come from. That story in a future Blog, y'all.

 Prices on cryptos for the first day? Bitcoin remains in a trading range between 12.5k USD and 15k USD. Australian banks are being blamed for some of this. Of course they can't allow their people to make up their own minds regarding how their value is banked as that would give them less control. Get it? There's plenty of angry people south of the equator with Summer having started. We'll see how this turns out as the Holidays wrap up with people getting back to tasks at hand. Litecoin? The jury is still out regarding Charlie Lee's decision to bow out of Litecoin, but I tend to side with him. There's a LOT of news to come about Litecoin, enough that I'm bullish to HODL some now. After all, it came off a really good peak, but so did Bitcoin. Both are almost lock-step with each other, but I've stated this won't remain the case much longer. LTC trades around $222 today and steady. Ethereum? 670 to 770 over the past week, it's been a rollercoaster. Today, trading at $748 with a technical pennant closing to a point. Breakout? We'll see soon! Ripple was quite the darling at 2.41 USD on 12/30 but has retraced slowly to shy of $2 USD. As already mentioned, I'm not particularly fond of it, yet it's hot enough for me to track here. Bitcoin Cash may be showing a reverse cup-and-handle pattern, the cup not yet complete. At 2,315 and change, it's going o.k. into the New Year, although the jury is still out. Bitcoin Gold's cup pattern appears a bit more complete and slowly upswinging at $229 and change. Bitcoin Diamond (Futures) is down over 12% to just shy of $24. Verge (XVG) has been volatile! It was .24 yesterday and has shed 25% so far today at 16.2 cents. StellarLumens or the Lumens token XLM is Red Hot and I'm tracking it now. It's doubled since 12/29 at 45 cents, gaining 25% over the past 24 hours. If their technology is presently proving itself, this may not be one to easily ignore!

 Of course there's odd news and funnies; "january 22" on Twitter @nmariesinclair tweeted this NSFW animoji (it's a cartoon animation put to the sender's voice) as it came out hilarious with well over six million views so far. Finally, a wave of the gray Stetson to 2017; you were awesome! Thom C., Lazy L&B, John P. & Monna, The National Bighorn Sheep Center in Dubois, WY, Mark "Sparky" Herring of QMail 4 (.QWK) fame, C.D. visiting his mother & sister in Texas now, Bill Patrick, Chris Tuttle, Sandra, my family in Arkansas, Patrick and Becky down in the Quapaw and the entire Live Warehouse staff helped me during this time which was both trying and enjoyable. This Blog is brought to you by Bitcoin, Litecoin, and another ICO token I won't mention yet that may well fund my retirement. I have some goals I hope to accomplish this year and hope it helps others as well. I will be blunt that I'm not all about winning personality contests as that doesn't come easily to me. Furthermore, I'm not the greatest social butterfly, despite the trends I understand. The quality of trends is where I focus and that's beyond what many "normal" folks can stomach, therefore I'm different in that regard and will remain so! The faster most of my critics or those not in my inner orbit understand this, the easier I'll be able to communicate and associate with.

Gracias & Alles Liebe!,

Mark