Books And Articles Newsletter, Issue 14 \ stacker news ~BooksAndArticles

News Of The Week

Welcome to this week’s issue of the Books And Articles newsletter. Once again, thanks for all of the quality posts.

Sorry for the delay getting this newsletter out. I will get back on schedule next week.

I encourage everyone to check out this post by Shane/Rayo2. He owns Liberty Under Attack Publications, a freedom focused publishing house. You can also learn more at libertyunderattack.com. @TheWildHustle introduced him to Stacker News and to this territory.

That’s it for now.

I hope everyone has a good week.

Siggy’s Suggestions

Writing To Think by @elvismercury

I’m doing something different this week. I am only going to talk about @elvismercury’s Writing to Think post, which was the territory’s top post of the week. I was unaware of Henrik Karlsson, but the article was ridiculously timely and instructive for me. The news regarding the Samourai indictments really affected me mentally and emotionally. Although I’m a lawyer, I honestly have had no interest in law since my retirement from daily practice. This prosecution made me aware that I haven’t really given much thought to the ways bitcoin can be attacked legally in the U.S. That changed the minute I heard the news. As some of you here might have noticed, I made a bunch of scattershot posts thinking about the implications and possible defenses to this attack. I was literally thinking by writing. I quickly became aware of my limitations. I also knew I wanted to make for myself a comprehensive, organized guide to legal issues concerning bitcoin. I started from the beginning and tried to organize my thoughts. By complete happenstance, @elvismercury posted this article at the same time I began using Obsidian, a powerful note taking app, to organize caselaw, articles, and to capture my own half baked notions and thoughts. Obsidian has a daily note feature which I have also begun using. If I had been doing this all along, I think my Samourai posts would have been far better and more useful. It was as if Karlsson was describing my own confused thinking at times. This passage in particular hit home:

When I write, I get to observe the transition from this fluid mode of thinking to the rigid. As I type, I’m often in a fluid mode—writing at the speed of thought. I feel confident about what I’m saying. But as soon as I stop, the thoughts solidify, rigid on the page, and, as I read what I’ve written, I see cracks spreading through my ideas. What seemed right in my head fell to pieces on the page.

I hope I maintain the discipline to improve. I think all stackers who want to improve their posting would benefit from this article.

This week’s Golden Oldie:

Do You Guys Actually Comprehend The Books You’ve Read? by @Fabs

Today’s Golden Oldie is from @Fabs. I can’t believe it’s been more than three months since it was posted. It is a challenging look at the act of reading, and the discussion it inspired provides a ton of valuable insight into the art of reading.

Writing Contests

Stackers’ Blogs

My Bitcoin Journey

Inspired by Writing Contest #1, this is where stacker’s bitcoin origin stories will be posted for easy reference.

Book Clubs

Stoic Book Club:Meditations by @Se7enZ

Books

The Universal Good Deal by @cleophas
Who Brought The Steak Tartare?, Chapter 1 by @cleophas
The Final Product by @cleophas
Happy The Hippo, an absolutely wonderful children’s book written by @cryotosensei for his son.
The Rogue Scholar by @jbschirtzinger
Submersible by @johnbnevin

Book Reviews

Essays

Poetry

Short Stories

Neo’s Adventure In The Digital Realm: Discovering The Treasure Of Bitcoin by @VEINTIUNO

555 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury fwd 6 May

Your account of how the Samourai thing hit you makes me think (for the millionth time) how you have a big opportunity in this space (or perhaps any space) to bring something of yourself to it, and to fill a niche that only you can, whatever that is. Man, how cool to read a thoughtful @siggy47 series, or a book, or whatever, synthesizing the relevant legal aspects? Nobody else is doing that.

If you're like me, you might get in your own way by thinking: well shit, there are ten million people better positioned to do this; I'm a lawyer of type x but what's really needed is a lawyer of type y or whatever.

But if there's anything btc has taught me, it's that there wasn't some particular credential or skillset that was needed for anything, ever. Instead, people had desires, and they brought something to the table, and they fulfilled their desires as best they could, learning what was needed along the way, and it all evolved in such an interesting and creative journey: they became capable of what needed to be done. They found niches that would previously have been unimaginable.

Or rather, they didn't found them, they dug them. Perhaps they mined them.

Anyway. I've been glad for your scattershot posts. I'd be glad for something less scattershot, too. If something in that calls to you, maybe listen to the feeling.

333 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 6 May

Thanks for the encouragement and expression of confidence. This is accurate:

Also, I'm aware of what's really necessary for bitcoin to get the legal advocacy it deserves. I will post on SN when I feel I have something useful to add to the conversation. I also am trying to put together a legal resource reference that bitcoin lawyers might benefit from. That's a big project. Beyond that, I lack the energy, time and yes, talent, to do more.

Bitcoin needs legal advocacy that is in all respects better than the government's, and that's a lot to ask. They have unlimited fiat resources to commit to an attack. I always find myself going back to the whole zen idea that I mentioned in my Zen of Stacking Sats posts. I guess the principles apply to every endeavor. Our dream lawyer team will have mastered and internalized all of the issues, both case law and constitutional, while at the same time bringing the art of advocacy. It is an art. Like in any field, it's not easily taught. It's a talent. My ideal outcome would be advocacy so good that to hold against bitcoin would reveal the corruption of the system, and the obvious refutation of the freedoms upon which the US was founded. In other words, to force the courts to rule with us or risk confidence in the system.