Notes From All Over -- The Bitcoin Edition -- November 25, 2020

Anyone paying attention is very, very aware of this story. But we all need reminding now and then, again. 

Link to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: Bitcoin miners are starving entire cities of electricity. Think about that as the Biden administration plans to phase out fossil fuel and switch over to renewable (spoiler alert: not gonna work).

From the linked article:

Byline: Sukhumi, Abkhazia: In the side streets and narrow alleys of Abkhazia’s main city, a low growl and an oily stench are commonplace. Thrumming diesel generators provide power amid rolling blackouts that have infuriated residents and evoked memories of the post-war chaos nearly three decades ago.

But what’s more infuriating for many Abkhaz is what’s causing the blackouts: bitcoin.

Or, to be more precise, the cryptocurrency “miners” whose computer servers are sucking the breakaway Georgian region’s electrical grid dry.

“To be honest, after the war, in my opinion, it was easier,” said one frustrated Sukhumi resident, Rimma Khashba, 67.

“We have to get used to the schedule that they dictate to us. It’s very difficult because it’s constant: The lights are on, the water’s off; the water’s on, the lights are off. Or the Internet goes off. You can’t even turn on the washing machine to do the wash,” she told RFE/RL.

Cryptocurrency values are soaring. A single bitcoin is now worth around $19,000.

Isolated and cut off from much of the world since 2008, Abkhazia’s economy relies heavily on trade with Russia, with produce heading north and Russian tourists and intrepid businessmen heading south.

But since 2016, the region of 250,000 people has also been home to a thriving cryptocurrency industry. Entrepreneurs -- mainly Russian -- are importing computer parts and taking advantage of Abkhazia’s cheap electricity rates, inexpensive real estate, and loose regulations from the de facto government to set up “server farms” and seek profit from the global explosion in digital currencies.

Unlike real-world currencies, which are printed or minted by governments, digital currencies, roughly speaking, involve running sophisticated computer algorithms that basically create -- or “mine” -- the currencies. That requires major amounts of energy-intensive, expensive computer hardware.

See this post from December 15, 2017. 

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Geo-Politics

I've long lost the bubble with regard to President Obama transferring pallets of cash to Iran back in 2018 or something like that. I don't know what's true any more. Machts nichts. But there is now a story that is being reported in multiple sources that Israel is preparing for another delivery to Iran by another president before he leaves office. No, it won't be cash this time. 

Four days ago it was reported that the US deployed an unspecified number of B-52s on short notice from Minot AFB, ND, to the Mideast. That was four days ago. The jets obviously made it; if they had not, we would have read about it in The New York Times. TheB-52s are being serviced as we speak, bomb-loaders are reviewing their standard operating procedures, weapon-system operators are reviewing their maps, and pilots are reviewing their checklists.

As for me, I'm going to watch Dr Strangelove again tonight. 

The bombardier in that movie, by the way, was none other than Darth Vader. 

I've had one eight-hour sortie in a B-52, and this is as realistic as it gets in a movie like this:

The story of how Slim Perkins ended up in this movie is ... well, worthy of a screenplay. 

By the way, a "real-life" bombardier reflected on "Strangelove" back in 2004. 

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US Presidential Politics

In light of recent developments on Thanksgiving eve, perhaps it's time to re-read this short post.

It takes four justices to vote to "grant certiorari" for the US Supreme Court to "take the case" for argument. However each Circuit Court is assigned to (normally one) Justice for "immediate" appeals. That justice can refer the "immediate" case to the full Court and issue emergency stays and such. These situations are not the actual resolution of the case, which only occurs at the full Court (nine justices).