{"id":19568,"date":"2022-05-13T15:25:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T15:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=19568"},"modified":"2022-05-13T19:05:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T19:05:44","slug":"eternal-darkness-at-the-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=19568","title":{"rendered":"eternal darkness at the core&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/imrs.php_.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19591\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/imrs.php_.jpeg 700w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/imrs.php_-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Supermassive black hole seen at the center of our galaxy<\/p><p><\/p><p>Astronomers on May12\/22 unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole that roils the center of our galaxy, its gravity so powerful that it bends space and time and forms a glowing ring of light with eternal darkness at the core.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Meanwhile on  a related story&#8230;.Supermassive black hole seen at the center of our common sense<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/bitcoin-copy.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19594\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/bitcoin-copy.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/bitcoin-copy-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/bitcoin-copy-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Excerpted from<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>THE BREACH<\/strong>    <em>journalism for transformation<\/em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/breachmedia.ca\/author\/paris-marx\/\"><br>Paris Marx<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;| Paris Marx is a socialist writer and host of the left-wing tech podcast Tech Won&#8217;t Save Us. May 10\/22<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Supernomial snake oil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Even though 90 per cent of Canadians have heard of Bitcoin, a mere five per cent have bought in, according to a recent Bank of Canada&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-bitcoin-investors-tend-to-have-low-financial-literacy-according-to-boc\/\">study<\/a>. Bitcoin owners in Canada tend to be \u201cyoung, educated men with high household income and low financial literacy\u201d\u2014not the people currently excluded by the financial system. Meanwhile, despite the claims of all its benefits, the same study found half of cryptocurrency owners reported being victims of \u201cnegative events\u201d like price crashes, scams, and data breaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-eternal-darkness.-pxm.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19599\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-eternal-darkness.-pxm.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-eternal-darkness.-pxm-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-eternal-darkness.-pxm-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>Court Painter with new painting entitled &#8220;Product Placement&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Time and again, technology has been wrapped in the promise of freedom. And time and again, it has delivered surveillance, deregulation, and major profits for tech companies at the expense of the working class. Even its promise of a libertarian freedom from state control\u2014whatever you think of it\u2014fails to be realized in practice. Pierre Poilievre\u2019s use of Bitcoin as part of a pitch for extreme right-wing populism shouldn\u2019t fool anyone. It\u2019s part of a political program that will ultimately further serve the wealthy while promising to do the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re watching Poilievre push right-wing economic fantasies that promise easy solutions to complex and highly political problems. As the current frontrunner for the Conservative leadership, he\u2019s also selling a vision of private money where the Bank of Canada will be&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/poilievre-bank-of-canada-audit-1.6433860\">banned<\/a>&nbsp;from introducing digital currencies to ensure private companies can develop cryptocurrencies that compete with the Canadian dollar. But as the US treasury secretary recently&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0706\">noted<\/a>, governments didn\u2019t always control their national currencies, and the system of competing currencies that preceded centralized governance was defined by \u201cimmense disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Placing our faith in the crypto industry won\u2019t solve any of the serious challenges facing Canadians today. Instead, increasing the number of people who engage with speculative financial products that are compared to Ponzi schemes by critics and supporters alike will only increase the risk of a devastating crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The left does need a response to rising cost of living, the housing crisis, and the problems with the banking system\u2014but it must entail the decommodification of essential services, major investments in public housing, and a massive expansion of public banking to counter the stranglehold of the Big Five banks. Without such an alternative, people frustrated with rising inequality are left to Poilievre\u2019s Bitcoin fantasies.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-Bitcoin-black-hole.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19595\" width=\"1000\" height=\"718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-Bitcoin-black-hole.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-Bitcoin-black-hole-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Court-Painter-Bitcoin-black-hole-768x551.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supermassive black hole seen at the center of our galaxy Astronomers on May12\/22 unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole that roils the center of our galaxy, its gravity so powerful that it bends space and time and forms a glowing ring of light with eternal darkness at the core. Meanwhile on a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=19568\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;eternal darkness at the core&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-images","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19568"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21950,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19568\/revisions\/21950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}