Shannon: If I were to have a conversation with the fictional character Faraday from The Man Who Fell to Earth, and ask him 'what is humanity's value and how is it special', how would [the alien] respond?
ChatGPT 3.5: Faraday, the enigmatic character from "The Man Who Fell to Earth," might provide an intriguing and thought-provoking response to the question about humanity's value and uniqueness:
That was one of the hardest Linkedin posts to write. Yes, I'm open to part time opportunities. Yes, I have built up uncurated knowledge. And, I'm looking for opportunities to round out my experience. I want to continue in deep tech. Now more than ever we need more people that are going to push us to net zero as fast as possible.
And yes, I'm tired of being ignored for my contributions to the carbon-climate space. Open science and source works on merit, and if people don't credit me when its due, I can't prove my experience and book contracts. It's been since the end of 2016 since I last had a paying corporate contract. Yes, I am drinking the startup kool-aid in self-belief, and she-can-do-it too. I went though my savings and liquid Roth funds and now on to my IRA (just under $158.3k since '17) while living in the San Francisco Bay Area with paying a monthly rent of $450-1000, totaling about $71.6k, with an average of $833 during these years. I have some stocks I can sell to tide me over, but still pretty painful, even if I don't have any debt accruing interest. Yes, I'm gambling, that I can get a bunch of 1099s and pay back my Roth and IRA, or get the business fully revenue positive and upwards. And even more so that I will make back enough to afford a home in my native San Francisco.
Even more heartbreaking, I'll be soon moving out of San Francisco. It's the end of living with dishonest housemates -- sometime later you can ask me about their gaslighting and BS.
I'm classified as good risk rated over $30k and excellent with a credit score >800. I've never been late on my rent, shared utilities, or household supplies. I get it, my soon to be former housemates may not be familiar with people that don't lie, but my word should be able to be trusted to deliver on deals worth multiple million. My entire business will one day rest on my word and ability to back my contractual obligations in a mutually agreed upon contracts. And hopefully one day it will be a term-sheet will be worth multiple million, and more. So yes, I take lying very seriously and no I haven't lied to them.
So this is it, if you are forced into living below some income threshold because of extreme savings; you are suddenly forced to accept petty liars and minor cheats?
Looking for ways to build a startup when you only have your savings? Looking to save and trying to find the deals that are below market rent?
Don't live with people that you don't know, and hardwood floors are easier to clean than carpets.
I'm so over it.
Luckily for me, San Francisco provides free battery waste disposal and the same-day or next-day pickup. Once extracted, the battery's puffy condition scared me enough to consider actually driving it over to Recology. After talking to Recology, they said the risk was low enough such that I could wait for the next day's pickup. Given its puffiness and my lack of a bucket of sand, I opted for my twenty-plus-year-old French cast iron oven. It was the only thing large enough, actually. So, here's a yummy battery:
Shannon: What would the fictional character Jean-Luc Picard say, it means to be human, and uphold humanity?
ChatGPT 3.5: As a fictional character from the "Star Trek" franchise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is known for his wise and philosophical perspective on humanity and its values. If we were to imagine what he might say about what it means to be human and uphold humanity, it might go something like this:
"To be human is to embrace the complexity of our existence, the beauty of our emotions, and the potential for both greatness and fallibility that resides within each of us. It is to recognize that we are not merely individuals but part of a larger interconnected web of life, where our actions have consequences that ripple across the universe.
Upholding humanity means holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards and striving to do what is right, even in the face of adversity. It means seeking knowledge and understanding, exploring the unknown, and extending compassion and empathy to all living beings, human or otherwise.
As individuals, we have the power to shape the course of history, and with that power comes the responsibility to use it wisely and with a sense of purpose. We must learn from our past, acknowledge our mistakes, and grow from them to create a better future for generations to come.
To uphold humanity is to transcend our differences and work together for the common good, breaking down barriers of prejudice and division. It is to stand up for justice, equality, and the protection of the vulnerable. We must strive to be a force for peace and progress, seeking diplomacy and understanding over conflict and hostility.
In the grand journey of exploration and discovery, we must remember that we are not the sole owners of this universe but its stewards. We hold the responsibility to preserve the diversity of life, the wonders of nature, and the fragile ecosystems that sustain us.
In the end, to be human is not just about our biology or physical form, but about the choices we make and the values we hold dear. It is the continual pursuit of knowledge, compassion, and progress that defines our humanity and our potential to shape a better universe for all."
Of course, this is a fictional perspective, but Jean-Luc Picard's character often embodies these noble ideals and inspires others to strive for a better and more enlightened future.
I took a bit of a break and started watching Picard after binging on Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds.
We have to fully tell and teach what makes us quintessential human, those essential human stories, those stories that convey our most human values. Our humanitarian values: including our uniqueness, mercy, friendship, comradery, kindness, curiosity, and desire to improve, give humanity that unmistakable fingerprint, too precious to only live on in a memory bank.
I know the future isn't all idealism begetting a utopia of sorts, but it doesn't have to be a takeoff to human extermination, either.
I suspect human stories and values inoculate future AI into being better and stewarding us to be better and away from existential risk.
I wanted to test drive chatgpt with a climate question. I also wanted to frame the question to allow for exposition and learning. I had this dialogue with ChatGPT, GPT-4 on March 21, 2023, via OpenAI's chat portal.
Shannon's ChatGPT, GPT-4 prompt: Please answer in the style of a Socratic tutor. Would humans be considered neutral or positive influence on Earth and it’s inhabitants? How could humans have a more positive influence on Earth and it’s inhabitants?
ChatGPT's response: Ah, an interesting question you pose. Allow me to ask you a few questions in return to better understand your thoughts on the matter.
Firstly, what do you mean by "neutral" or "positive" influence? Can you define these terms in the context of human impact on Earth and its inhabitants?
Additionally, who or what are you considering as the "inhabitants" of Earth? Are you referring solely to human beings or do you include all living beings on the planet?
Finally, what criteria would you use to determine whether human influence on Earth and its inhabitants is neutral or positive? Would you consider factors such as ecological sustainability, biodiversity, and social justice, or would you evaluate human impact solely based on economic or technological progress?
Once we have a clearer understanding of these concepts, we can explore how humans could potentially have a more positive influence on Earth and its inhabitants. However, it is important to approach this question with an open mind and a willingness to engage in thoughtful dialogue and critical thinking.
Shannon's response: Define inhabitants as all living beings and habitat such as rocks, land etc.
ChatGPT's response: Thank you for clarifying that. In that case, it would be reasonable to consider human impact on Earth and its inhabitants to be a complex and multifaceted issue.
Human influence on the planet can be seen as both positive and negative, depending on the perspective and criteria used to evaluate it. On the one hand, humans have developed technologies and innovations that have enabled us to improve our quality of life, reduce disease and poverty, and expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. On the other hand, human activities have also caused significant damage to the environment, including deforestation, pollution, and climate change, which have negative impacts on all living beings, including humans.
To have a more positive influence on Earth and its inhabitants, humans must address these negative impacts and work towards creating a more sustainable and equitable future. This may involve changes in our patterns of consumption and production, the development of new technologies and practices that minimize environmental harm, and a shift towards more ethical and responsible ways of living and doing business. Additionally, we must also recognize and address the social and economic inequalities that contribute to environmental degradation and harm to marginalized communities.
In short, to have a more positive impact on Earth and its inhabitants, humans must prioritize the well-being of all living beings and the health of the planet, and work towards creating a sustainable, just, and equitable future for all.
Shannon's response: Additionally, as far as neutral I'd say define it as neither generating a positive nor negative outcome for its inhabitants. And positive generating increases in livelihood metrics that lead to better well-being, higher quality of life, more evolved and connected civilization, as well as increased biodiversity, and ecosystem variety.
ChatGPT's response: Thank you for further defining your terms. Based on these definitions, it would be challenging to argue that human influence on Earth and its inhabitants has been neutral. The extensive changes that humans have made to the environment have undoubtedly had both positive and negative consequences for all living beings.
As you noted, human activities have led to significant improvements in livelihood metrics and quality of life for many people, but at the same time, they have also led to environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. It is essential to recognize and address these trade-offs and work towards creating a more balanced approach to human development that considers both the benefits and costs of our actions.
To have a more positive influence on Earth and its inhabitants, humans must take a more holistic approach to development that considers the long-term consequences of our actions on the environment and future generations. This may involve rethinking our economic models, promoting sustainable practices, and investing in technologies that minimize environmental harm while still promoting human well-being.
Ultimately, it is essential to recognize that humans are not separate from the natural world but rather a part of it. To have a positive impact on Earth and its inhabitants, we must work towards creating a more harmonious and sustainable relationship with the planet and all living beings.
As a single individual I can only really have a limited affect on the future. In order to maximize usefulness I've taken to contain my worry about existential AGI risk and longtermism as to where I can have an impact. A thought experiment which has left me concerned is would a singularity/take off AI event still find humans valuable to keep existing? I have to limit the scope of this worry to something I could and am needed to affect. Others are working on AGI safety such that I don't have to address paper-clip/grey-goo thought experiments here.
What I haven't seen addressed nor debated, are what traits keep us uniquely human (such as random thought experiments?) enough that an AGI would want to let us exist, and with our free-will intact? Would we need to grow such traits? How much would civilization grow by more people embodying these traits?
Assuming there's a set of reasons an AI would agree not to destroy us, what would the answers to those reasons look like? Our most lauded traits are humanitarian traits and values. What would it take for more of humanity to adopt and embody humanitarian traits and values?
Considering numerous thought experiments, given the likely sophistication of an AGI the traits and values ought to support individual uniqueness and randomness, self-determination, expression, exploration and persist enough to translate to positive actions across humanity. These traits and values would both indirectly shape views, and directly create humanitarian actions: enact both non local and local cooperation, do unselfish acts, be kind, hold stewardship and service in high regard -- err on the side of altruism, and practice more platonic love, don't let selfish or evolutionary need be the principle driver of behavior, and correct our failings. (Regarding altruism, in practice, as it's impossible to live completely altruistically, seek to do so in moderation; engineer for maximal effectiveness and increase leverage which lowers learning curves to enable more good.) If we as humans are able to embody and put forth these values we would be more likely a unique good within the universe.
By stating this, maybe I've made this ultimately selfish for humanity's own ends, but maybe I've allowed us to justify more of humanity being better in a secular manner.
Can we say humanity embodies a poetic beauty, unique among the cosmos? I hope We'll do better such that the future will say yes.
We commonly hear, it can't be done, it won't be done, and all types of fear uncertainty and doubt, when looking at CDR and 100% REs.
When I was a child there was one way to make pasta. Boil water on a stove, and anything less than al dente was sacrilegious. Today I know that if I use different pasta, (but still calorically the same) angel hair instead of penne, add boiling water from an electric kettle, then microwave it, it's done in less than 5 minutes and al dente. If I'm plugged into an electric grid, it's entirely fossil free. (Yes, induction and radiant work too, but do take some time to boil.) So, it's not the traditional pasta unless you wanted angel hair, but it's less energy intensive, even though it's now has two heat process steps.
This is the kind of thinking we'll be doing to find ways to engineer more ways to reduce the energy demands of our lifestyle and our carbon removal efforts. Couple this with the falling price in Solar PV, and batteries, and we hopefully will meet before reaching 1.5ºC & using up the remaining carbon budget.
This is the exciting frontier of re-imaging and engineering to lower energy costs. And I haven't even touched on the cool stuff that's incubated from Activate & Cyclotron Road.
And remember, just because the fo**il fu*l industrial complex can pull oil from Alaska and refine it in the lower 48 then ship it to a Walmart or gas pump in Florida, doesn't mean that process needs to continue if EVs take over transportation.
The cost of that entire process I just described was offset by fossil fuel subsidies, shareholders, corporation value, existing supply chains, etc ...
How much ceases to exist or gets replaced by REs and CDR? How much more efficient would it be to just use Solar PV deployed within 50 mi radius of the vehicle that uses electricity instead of oil? How many more new jobs when PV is installed, and the grid transmission upgraded, and the machinists and heavy industry workers are hired to maintain the grid, and new CDR technology? What happens when this is deployed in a city's existing industrial area? But it's totally electric and the new biz owners are fully 3x bottom line so they operate a zero emissions site?
Just imagine!
I love unlocking pure truth from the universe.
There are different types of fearlessness. I'm really good at being intellectually fearless. People can be inconsistent and possibly dangerous, but STEM is a realm where I have very little fear.
To solve very stuck problems with many unknowns, I tend to zoom out and back in, looking at and testing the problem space from its edges. This approach frequently knits new or different concepts into existing knowledge nodes. Then the problem-solving can often jump to a new way of framing and yield new knowledge.
I confess I sometimes seek fundamental concepts relentlessly.
Take the distance between two points, simple, right? What about looking at it from the algebra: distance magnitude multiplied by (units (distance in a common frame of reference) over time). All that extra thought violates Occam's razor; why bother?
The distance can be represented by the time traveled (unless bent by a massively heavy object), as shown by mathematical manipulations. A distance can be represented by the time light travels between two points.
And that travel can be represented in the time domain, or spatial domain, or even radius or diameter divided by two plus a direction, but it's all the same meaning. Ultimately the photon went from here to there. Given the numerous ways to express distance, it would caution one to keep track of which method is doing the accounting.
Physics can be confusing because we have many ways to represent the same knowledge, and it may not be clear which method is in use.
This process of natural science inquiry is very beautiful to me. It reignites living.
Engineers would say you can't violate Occam's razor just for a selfish need of beauty. That will lead to Rube Goldberg machines at worst or at best something inefficient.
To them, I say the universe is so enormous; there are so many wonders unexplained; why be confined to known patterns?
But maybe this passion should die out? If computers can do it faster and even brute force all possible solutions to crack knowledge, do humans need this desire? If we lose the wonder, this delight in the pursuit of knowledge, would life suffer? So many don't care as it is.
Would we become virtual thought potatoes?
I admire the Occam's razor devotees, they are natural engineers, but that's not what inspires me to live.
CC-BY-SA-4.0 2021 - Shannon A. Fiume
In light of yesterday's failed insurrection attempt, any political commentary I make is creative commons CC0. I don't care to be attributed, I do care that fascism, and white supremacy ends. If it's a technology or climate story I kindly ask that it be attributed. As, I work on open science for a better climate. Please support via https://github.com/sponsors/safiume or http://www.autofracture.com/research as I have no funding.
Remember, Trump was hinting about an autogolpe late fall of 2020, yesterday had a failed insurrection from seditionists, militias. Then the domestic terrorists consisting of white supremacists largely just walk out of the Capital and chill in a nearby hotel as if they just went to Disneyland.
For a partial rundown of the events which contribute to the present see the timeline to June of 2020.
In particular, note the links to the most current incarnation of gaslighting and ties to birtherism. Pay attention to Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Robert Mercer, and Koch lobbying executive Marc Short. Also look for ties to the Daily Caller, Tucker Carson, Koch institutional monies, Koch lobbing groups, SPN and ALEC.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/08/conversation-christian-picciolini/595543/
https://theintercept.com/2020/05/07/are-trump-and-the-anti-lockdown-militias-itching-for-violence/
https://theintercept.com/2020/07/20/honor-john-lewis-voting-rights-act/
Hello.
Last year was one hell of a year. Never before have I seen so much widespread grief, soul-crushing misery, and response from people. We
lost so many. We examined ourselves and started work to recognize and
open access and opportunities for Black lives and in turn, will help
all minorities. Even today, much of the world, our healthcare, and
essential workers are still in the trenches. And we still have an
unequal society.
I put my long-shot quest of building an energy storage device on hold while I battled my own depression. I was thankful for the kindness of strangers and friends.
I'm continuing ONC for January. I am seeking a stipend or paying work. I have not been revenue positive since '15. Instead, I've invested in learning, and experimenting, including creating ONC, a poster session at the 2018 International Negative Emissions Conference in Sweden, a preprint, met Christiana Figueres at the end of the GCAS '18 at College of Marin in California, DD BASF, Maker Faire, and for Autofracture built rGO in a bedroom and then a garage, and created the new logo for ONC. In early fall I reached out to the UN as our sky turned orange, an annual sight in Napa and Sonoma Counties but unfamilar to those more south.While researching Carbon Removal scalability, I found the projected market demand for carbonates and basalt projects is larger than direct conversion to solid carbon. As such, ONC is changing its goal of 'removing hundreds of gigatonnes in less than two decades' to 'the fastest large scale conversion' to solid carbon. The choice is twofold; we still need solid carbons to produce goods like polymers and bitumen and ought to democratize 3D printing.
ONC Climate Modeling Research
ONC is still researching climate modeling to get to zero degrees
warming over the start of industry (mean temperature from 1720-1800). And will be continuing to
build off the pymagicc team's work in python workbooks at
https://github.com/hsbay/cdrmex. I'm looking for sponsors of this
project https://bit.ly/cdrmexprj as well as volunteer coders. I've
opened an ONC issue to calibrate MAGICC 6 for negative emissions, as
MAGICC 7 won't be available till the fall of 2021. Other issues will be
opened, soon. Ideally, I intend to get this done in Jan.
To better understand how to achieve and what happens at zero cumulative anthropogenic emissions, we need climate modeling outlining Earth's dynamic response. CDRMIP has not adopted baseline calibration carbon removal tests to absolute zero to complete in less than a century. The Zero Emissions Commitment paper outlines what happens for removal to 1.5ºC, not cumulative zero anthropogenic emissions. Cao and Calderia's 2009 paper starts removal after reaching 511 ppm in 2049. Hopefully, our efforts will inspire others to look at pushing beyond Paris. Early modeling to cumulative anthropogenic zero shows we must achieve 1.5ºC (Paris) and head much lower before 2100. Early modeling also shows we need to move off all fossil gasses to eliminate Montreal/Kigali controlled SFGHGs. For continuing research http://bit.ly/cdrmexprj
Many of my in situ reports are in tweets, please do visit, read and share my
pinned thread that shows supporting reasoning as to why we must reach
at least 92% of net zero by 2030.
(https://twitter.com/safiume/status/1307053939901313026)
ONC Physical Sci Research
There are a few recent CO₂ to solid carbon/liquid hydrocarbons in the
past few years. As ONC's charter is open science, only those open
science candidates can be adopted and adapted by ONC. Depending on how
much runway I have, how ONC grows, what labs are open, and vaccine
availability, I'll either manage or be the PI for electrochemical CDR
experiment(s) in the fall of 2021. As I have no physical lab, nor have
I've been vaccinated; this is very speculative.
I've moved to San Francisco for health and a shorter commute to the bay's labs. It has raised my rent. I will have to take a break from ONC at the end of Jan until I replenish my runway. I hope to start ONC physical science research in the fall unless ONC receives donations. SLAC/LBNL labs are free, assuming ONC wins the grant/PI process to be accepted to perform open science. The donations would support any materials the labs may not have and a living stipend.
The fact that I'm asking for money is likely a failing on my part as a founder. However, I've started things that no one has attempted: ONC, and green catalysis of rGO in a garage.
The year 2020 was an exceedingly difficult time. If you would like to
restart your participation in open science, contact Shannon. I
look forward to hearing from you.
Wishing you good health, stay safe, and quick access to vaccines.
Yours in service to a better climate,
≈sa
----------
Shannon A. Fiume
shannon at autofracture dot com | https://twitter.com/safiume | https://linkedin.com/in/safiume | http://www.autofracture.com/research | Go Carbon Negative!
This timeline shows many of the extremist origins, dark money's undue lobbying influence, gaslighting and propaganda that came to create the potent and dangerous Summer of 2020. This toxic mix commingled with election fraud and tampering to continue to corrupt US democracy.
More in depth coverage of Racism to June 2020 is told here:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/06/atlantic-reader-race-and-racism-us/613057/
Deeply conservative justice Alito confirmed 58-42 vote, Mitch Mcconnell voting. Supreme court tipped more conservative.
Tea party events with help from SPN's FreedomWorks as noted in the first chatper of Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us, Amanda Carpenter.
Citizens vs FEC, 5-4 vote in favor of Citizens, tie breaking vote from Alito.
Freedom Partners created 2012, and run by Marc Short, and I360 started in 2009
https://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/koch-brothers-rnc-113359
Weakening of Voting rights act through Shelby vs. Holder, with a 5-4 vote. RBG writing a scathing descent, opposing majority view of Roberts: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/colorblind-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-north-carolina/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/how-shelby-county-broke-america/564707/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150128201920/http://www.stripes.com/opinion/lt-clint-lorance-could-be-any-one-of-us-1.325886
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sean_Parnell_(Center_for_Competitive_Politics), writes position piece supporting clemency and within days he's on Hannity to push the story. Note the date and the publisher is CVA. This is how the echo chamber is seeded, a piece from a Koch org, or related org staffer.
DHS noted a review of previous highs in militia groups rise in 2009, slightly dropping till rising again. Political pressure from republicans via the Tea Party to drop the department. Concern for Tea party members to increase in militia group participation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/us/politics/homeland-security-looked-past-militia-movement-ex-analyst-says.html
Noted riffs between RNC and Trump Campaign, however, these aren’t permanent.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-republican-national-committee-224403
FBI director James Comey Started investigation on Trump associates and Russia.
Steve Bannon signs on to the Trump Campaign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/steve-bannon-trump-white-house.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement
Brad Parscale: voter suppression, media disinformation and fundraising campaigns with the help of Cambridge Analytica, and board vice president Steve Bannon and alt-right media bubble
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-27/inside-the-trump-bunker-with-12-days-to-go
Freedom Partners detail what to repeal:
“Freedom Partners will hold lawmakers who oppose regulatory relief accountable for their positions. Floor Time: Congressional leaders should devote sufficient floor time to voting on finalized regulations and putting lawmakers on record on President Obama’s most harmful regulations.
Voter Education: Network organizations will educate voters about their elected representatives’ positions on regulations that impose barriers to opportunity for hardworking families.”
Fact check? Search for Freedom Partners in the Internet archive. A source doc from their website is there.
Marc Short Joins Whitehouse, promotion from Pence’s communications advisor. Keep in mind, Mr. Short has been working with Koch funded NPOs since the late 90s. He’s been Pence’s chief of staff from 2009-2011, then back to the Koch funded Freedom Partners till 2016.
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/marc-short
EO 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda: Hires staffers from former ALEC member lobbyists
Hires EPA staffers of chief climate deniers, including one with family employed by Big Oil.
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/category/taskforce?page=1
Trump ends moratorium on new federal coal leases
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1062507113
James Comey fired by President Trump
A week later, Robert Mueller appointed as special counsel to take over the investigation of obstruction of Justice surrounding the probe into Trump associates and Russia
Trump announces to withdraw from Paris Accord
Governors Meeting in Whitefish
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/us/politics/under-trump-coal-mining-gets-new-life-on-us-lands.html
1.1 TB of data leaked from GOP voter data on 198 million US citizens
https://gizmodo.com/gop-data-firm-accidentally-leaks-personal-details-of-ne-1796211612
2016 registered voters are about 200M.
‘Unite the Right‘ rally, Charlottesville, Virginia
Attendees were joined by white supremacists groups to protest the removal of a statue commemorating the confederate general Robert E. Lee, resulting in the death of one of a peaceful counter protester in support to remove the statue.‘
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/donald-trump-charlottesville-trump-tower-white-supremacists#maincontent
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/
Steve Bannon exits Trump Whitehouse
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/steve-bannon-trump-white-house.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/us/politics/mitch-mcconnell-steve-bannon-trump.html
No love between Mcconnell and Bannon. Outlines tactics used by Mcconnell “World” to discredit opponents. Outlines rational of republican self preservation initiated from the senate compared to carte blanche Freedom Partners/AFP doctrine. Bannon was already associated to Stephen Miller, a known white supermacist. How much of this was posturing?
Americans for Prosperity draft US budget cuts:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6810490-AFP-2018-Budget-Cut-List.html
https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1238956214072967169
Steve Bannon Steps down from Breitbart
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/politics/steve-bannon-breitbart-trump.html
Denver Post shows Identity Evropa linked to white supremacy increasing from 2017 and 2018.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/20/white-supremacy-front-range-colorado/
Extremenism summary including Charlottesville
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/magazine/FBI-charlottesville-white-nationalism-far-right.html
Cambridge Analytica is founded in 2013, with Robert Mercer, Steve Bannon as board members
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/they-were-planning-on-stealing-election-explosive-new-tapes-reveal-cambridg/
RNC pledges support for Trump in 2020 election.
'"The Republican National Committee passed an unprecedented pledge on Friday to give Trump its "undivided support" before he's the party's official nominee.' '"The members just wanted to underscore, underline, highlight that we are here to reelect President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot," the RNC's national press secretary, Cassie Smedile, said.'
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rnc-push-undivided-support-trump-reelection-state-leaders/story?id=60603125
https://www.wired.com/story/cambridge-analytica-facebook-privacy-awakening/
Marc Short rehired to Pence’s Chief of Staff
https://twitter.com/VP/status/1097896017498914816
Mueller Report finished, resulting in 34 indictments, 14 criminal investigations. A redacted report was published on April 18, 2019 and made available to the public.
2016 elections hacked by Russians operatives:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/politics/russian-hacking-elections.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/08/conversation-christian-picciolini/595543/
Mcconnell campaign locked out of twitter for posting an expletive ridden video with threats of violence. Senate Republicans, and RNC retaliate with mischaracterization of what happened and boycott spending on Twitter.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/08/twitter-locks-mitch-mcconnell-campaign-account-for-video-of-protesters.html
281 Lobbyists work for Trump administration, in jobs responsible for regulating the industry they lobbyied.
https://www.propublica.org/article/we-found-a-staggering-281-lobbyists-whove-worked-in-the-trump-administration
Impeachment proceedings of President Trump started
Murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Brunswick, Georgia
https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-georgia.html
Murder of Breonna Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky (Mitch Mcconnell State Senetor and Gov. Beshear)
https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html
Americans for Prosperity staffers lobby for opening up America and protest lockdown orders. https://theintercept.com/2020/03/26/americans-for-prosperity-cdc-coronavirus/
Domain tools software queries Internet Domain Name records show hundreds of domains registered at the same time, and their linked facebook pages have Google Analytics id that leads back to the Dorr Brothers who are astroturfing a majority of the lockdown protests websites.
Hyper pro gun lobbying created by Dorr brothers, and Mn chapter headed by DeVos advisor McNeilly, peddling corona disinformation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/19/pro-gun-activists-using-facebook-groups-push-anti-quarantine-protests/
Anti-lockdown protests roots in tea party and Mercer’s Convention of States, Koch big money
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-conservative-networks-backing-anti-quarantine-protests/2020/04/22/da75c81e-83fe-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html
https://theintercept.com/2020/05/07/are-trump-and-the-anti-lockdown-militias-itching-for-violence/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html
Effigy of Governor Beshear publicly hung during Patriot Day 2nd Amendment Rally
Gov. Beshear, a democrat, a target? Why is that also the home of Brianna Taylor, to which has an open FBI investigation of police corruption? Why is an effigy being displayed in broad daylight by a III%ers in 2020?
https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article242972241.html
Warning, Explicit Effigy content: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/24/second-amendment-supporters-protest-covid-19-restrictions-capitol/5250571002/A
Murder of George Floyd, Minneapolis, Minnesota
https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html
DHS finds chatter from far right extremists, organizing to incite violence to start the next civil war, per boogaloo movement. No evidence is found for antifa to turn violent.
https://www.businessinsider.com/white-supremacist-telegram-channel-encourages-violence-george-floyd-protests-2020-6
DHS memo citing white supremacist organizing on May 27, and inciting to storm the Minnesota State Capitol.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/01/dhs-domestic-terrorists-protest-294342
NV arrest three, loose ties to militia:
MN, arrest man handing out explosives, unaffiliated, used facebook to promote rioting:
https://www.peoriapublicradio.org/post/galesburg-man-charged-inciting-riots-chicago-minneapolis#stream/0
Arrests in Minnesota from May 30, about 80% of 40 ppl linked to white supremacist or organized crime:
https://courthousenews.com/minnesota-officials-link-arrested-looters-to-white-supremacist-groups/
Identity Evropa posing as Antifa on facebook to incite riots:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/twitter-takes-down-washington-protest-disinformation-bot-behavior-n1221456
Virginia: self proclaimed KKK leader runs over protesters with vehicle:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-rogers-kkk-leader-accused-driving-into-protesters-virginia-police-say/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/ Qanonmous cult amplifying white supremacy planted lies about antifa (june, online release was earlier)
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/the-very-fine-people-trap-and-how-to-avoid-it-today/
Peaceful protests cleared with tear gas for the president's photo op and speech in front of a church.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/protests/tear-gas-protesters-lafayette-square-park-police-new-video-evidence/65-c39fb767-b114-41d6-bcbb-530b3823d8e7
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/tear-gas-washington-dc-protests-st-johns-church/65-7e9a67c7-e40b-47a2-8060-3f7d908139dd
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/02/timeline-clearing-lafayette-square/
Police punching press camera of foreign media: https://twitter.com/brett_mcgurk/status/1267662905383596032
Why were American’s rights infringed with use of force by the President for a photo op?
Why is the campaign manager telling the media how to explain official white house communication in front of a church?
‘…This tear gas lie is proof of that,” a statement from Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for Trump’s reelection, read. “For nearly an entire day, the whole of the press corps frantically reported the ‘news’ of a tear gas attack on ‘peaceful’ protestors in Lafayette Park, with no evidence to support such claims.”’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/05/reverse-fact-check-trump-his-supporters-about-tear-gas-falls-apart/
https://www.npr.org/local/305/2020/06/05/870752740/black-lives-matter-d-c-sues-trump-and-barr-over-tear-gas-at-lafayette-square
Joint Chiefs Staff Report bayonetts issued but under strict orders not
to use unless further instructed, regarding orders given for riot
control on June 2, 2020.
https://apnews.com/62e1aa26fe5043a63441dcacea70703
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nypd-officer-appears-make-white-power-sign-protest-prompting-probe-n1224141
How The Antifa Fantasy Spread In Small Towns Across The U.S.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/antifa-rumors-george-floyd-protests
“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” Bolton writes in the book, according to a news release from the publisher. https://apnews.com/c1bd22be2194dcdb16dbb052dc3d5bd4
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/airman-charged-killing-federal-officer-during-george-floyd-protests-california-n1231187
I chose entrepreneurship as a way to solve hard, relevant questions. Doing a startup requires funding and well funded startups are better able to scale faster. Given seeking funding ultimately deals with economics and control, maximizing economics before hand adds leverage.
I've come up with some hacks to allow me to better save and give me as much runway as possible. Yes, the lean startup book doesn't recommend to lean budgeting as you miss out on being able to move quickly since you're too caught up saving, or from what I remember reading back around 2013. I remind myself that it is ok and necessary to still make business purchases that can be quite expensive, assuming it's justified.
This list is more personal lifestyle hacks. Food is one of the most significant ways to impact ones quality of life outside of exercise, as such this list is slanted towards food.
I wanted to find cheap healthy replacements for ramen, and soylent. I haven't tried soylent but need to be (nearly) soy free. Pea protein can be added to soups to add protein to a meal, and it kind of makes a miso-like consistency. Add in some fresh veggies, and noodles (gf optional) and curry powder, garlic powder or salt, tumeric, salt, and one can make it like ichiban ramen, only healthier depending on the noodles.
Pea protein, noodles, gelatin powder, veggies, spices, (split pea + noodles or miso like + noodles, that's more like a bone broth. Animal gelatin is still from animals, but this should have less impact than say a full animal based soup.)
Frozen fruit allows me to have fresh fruit, with a decent vitamin and nutrient profile. I do try to buy locally where possible.
Rainbow hued fruit and veggies in most meals, as I want vitamin A, Bs, C, E, K, and Ca, Mg, Cu, Si, S, Zn, etc.
Ground turkey, veggies, black beans and spices. Can go curry or chili or both. Non-ruminant animals are preferred to lessen carbon impact. Yes, full veggie is better, but I'm not there (yet).
I do fish oil (DHA extra w/EPA) and vitamin D3 supplements so I can cut back from eating fish many times a week. I do eat Alaskan salmon (as I'm California) at least once a week. I found that mail ordering supplements works fine except for fish oil. That was spoiling by the time I received it. Instead I now get it at a supermarket where they have high vitamin/supplement turnover.
I have to cut back on chocolate, but buying 70% baking chocolate does make it slightly better.
Motorcycle instead of a car. I needed something to zip in and out of the peninsula or North Bay if I was coming from Sonoma County or where mass transit isn't well served at all hours. I don't skimp on the safety gear, it may be bought on sale, but none of it is budget. Know the safety ratings and shop around, same goes for tires! I rock all season rain tires in dry California, as the Golden Gate Bridge is mostly cloaked in heavy fog, even while the rest of the roads can be completely dry. These tires are likely more expensive than most, but it's less expensive than Shannon pavement spackle or an ER/Morgue trip.
Living in a high walk or bicycle score area. Walking or bicycling is a great way to just keep blood moving while running errands.
Finding sale cycles for cyclical items: batch dry cleaning to the few times per year the dry cleaner emails me coupons, buy consumables like bicycle tubes during the bi-annual bicycle store sales, same with motorcycle oil, buy seasonal clothing during opposite season sales, shop a thrift store. Buy functional expensive pieces during winter or summer sales.
I did buy all of my professional wear before starting my startup. If I had to buy it again, I'd still look for one good wool suit in a basic color that goes well with my skin tone. What's the value of a good suit? My wool black suit jacket has been to more than 10 countries, has over 100K of air miles, and still photo finish after a dry clean. It was on sale, but over $150. I did have it altered, both sleeves and cuffs. It's now 11 years old. I'm in California I usually wear dressy jeans, however I do have the matching slacks. The set was heavily discounted, yet somewhere just shy of $300.
Cut out eating and drinking out. That latte budget really adds up! Buying movie tickets (pre covid/post vaccine) at reduced cost. (This may not be offered post covid, no idea.)
Pre-covid I had a gym membership. Unknown, when I can get back to one. I may have to convert a bench and get some (more) free weights. (ugh)
These seem odd, but each has given me that extra bit so I can stretch while I go work on hard problems deciding like to do science or engineering to ultimately get a product out the door.
