If you create an open source project, you already know the paradox. The work can matter enormously — libraries that run half the internet, tools people build companies on — and still be hard to monetize. There is little lock-in. Competition is free by design. You may be known as the original author, and still watch someone else become the most successful operator of what you made.

One durable answer has always been support. Canonical, Red Hat, and others turned expertise around free software into businesses. That model works. Until recently, though, it was an organizational model: sales teams, ticket queues, account managers, and enough headcount to look like a corporation. For a solo developer or a small core team, “become the support company” was rarely compatible with staying a builder.

AI changes the unit economics of that path. An individual can now train and deploy not only an expert agent grounded in their own source, specs, and architecture, but also the supporting tools needed to close sales, take payment, and keep clients unblocked. The creator’s name still carries weight — people recognize the original author as a high-trust expert. Training a support agent is how you capture that expertise and serve it without answering every ticket yourself.

Call it expertise as a service: an LLM, some tools, and databases as the framework. The developer stays close to core capacity — design, code, judgment — instead of becoming a customer-support administrator. The agent does the repetitive work; escalation stays available when something actually needs a human.

The scale looks different from the old corporate support stack. Operational cost for a well-scoped agent can sit on the order of a dollar per support client per month. Charge five dollars, and you are looking at roughly an eighty percent margin on the service itself — illustrative numbers, not a forecast, but directionally real with today’s inference prices. In theory you could grow to a very large client base without reinventing the company every time you 10×: no need to hire a sales floor and a support org in lockstep with every new subscriber.

None of this replaces open source with a closed product. The software can stay free. What you sell is access to the person — or the agent trained by the person — who knows the system best. That is a cleaner story than pretending free software was never about business. It was always about leverage. AI just moved the leverage back toward the creator who is willing to encode their expertise and put a price on keeping others productive with it.

The propaganda war is heavy. Both sides are trying to push the Overton window of the negotiations and public opinion, but the position gap between the US and Iran is an unbridgeable canyon. Iran wants the U.S. naval blockade lifted upfront just to talk. Trump, operating on an aggressive “America First” axis, has responded by expanding the field into a regional tour de force. By mandatorily requiring third-party mediators like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar to sign the Abraham Accords as a prerequisite, he has introduced a diplomatic slow-roll that lets him leverage the situation and the World Cup to make deals that may restructure the Middle East long term.

With the U.S. co-hosting the World Cup starting June 11th, Trump has no intention of letting protests mar a glittering showcase of American greatness. After all, the US already won. Victory!

Instead, June will be a highly coordinated celebration of world peace and diplomacy. Trump has successfully boxed the Iranian regime into a strategic stalemate. If Tehran lashes out kinetically, they alienate their own friendly mediators; if they sit tight, they continue to starve under a port blockade costing them $500 million a day.

Iran has no good operational moves left. Trump will use the global sporting stage to showcase historic Abraham Accords progress, project the image of a master peacemaker, and declare a massive public relations victory. Meanwhile, the actual economic handcuffs remain locked tightly in place. The diplomatic posturing will drag on through the summer, but the leverage belongs entirely to Washington. And Trump loves leverage.

I was disappointed but not surprised to see these shots of our beloved Bridge of the Americas engulfed in a fireball.

As you may know, I am a US citizen living in Panama for over a decade. While I choose to live away from the city and the canal, this feels personal to me. In the past, disruptions of the one highway up the coastline has caused energy shortages for me and my area. Unfortunately, such coordinated disruptions to life and economy have become all too common in recent years. Not just in Panama, but all over the world.

It is time to address the elephant in the room. These times, a protest that blocks a highway, a pipeline, a project, or an industrial accident are far too often suspiciously timed and located. Economic warfare, color revolutions, complex geopolitical plots, etc. are not conspiracies but well established tools for all parties. Conspiracy theories are more often than not simply truth that is too inconvenient to be allowed to be established as Official Narrative.

The Bridge of the Americas, which crosses the canal, was engulfed in a fireball coming from Balboa, below. Balboa Terminal is a geopolitical focal point. Panama’s Supreme Court declared the concession for CK Hutchison’s Panama Ports Company (PPC) to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals unconstitutional, leading the state to seize control of the facilities on February 23, 2026. CK Hutchison is a Chinese company, and China has officially objected to the seizure, which was done on pressure from the US.

Furthermore, today is “Electric grid and Bridge Day” for Iran, China’s ally. That is, today is the day Trump threatened to blow up the bridges in Iran. So someone blew up something very near to the Bridge of the Americas, and the Canal between the Americas.

The US was concerned about safety of the canal. Rightly so. China is openly fighting an all fronts, civilizational war against the west. They openly talk about corrupting our politicians and institutions. They openly talk about total war strategies including all of these tactics. And frankly, it is hard to blame them, when western economic hitmen, color revolutionists, etc. wrote the play books. The point for us inhabitants of the Earth is that the war is in our backyards. The war is in the most local of political campaigns, the edges of our economies, and our borders. The war is the local trickle that is multiplied a million times until it threatens to flood our whole civilization.

I am not for war. I am not for big government. I am for the truth, and living in alignment with it. The truth is that many dangerous groups have many dangerous weapons all around the world, and they’re willing to use them to terrorize us all. Yes, I use that word. The GCC recently used that word to describe Iran’s actions attacking water desalination plants of their neighbors. Attacking the water in the desert. Threatening the lives of millions of people to achieve a political gain. Using this terror and political pressure as leverage to keep the straight of Hormuz closed. Holding the world’s energy, fertilizer, and next year’s global crop yield hostage. Mining international waters. These are acts of terror.

Know what else is an act of terror? Closing down the autopista, or the only road connecting remote communities to shipping. This has happened regularly here in Panama, in one area or another. Physical blockades will be put in place by a coalition of unions, often led by SUNTRACS (Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares), and peopled by reputedly corrupt indigenous groups. When this happens, food and energy are also the hostages, and the goal is to upset enough economy and people that a political goal will be achieved. Enough violence is used to keep people too afraid to continue with their lives, i.e. passing the blockade.

These sorts of things have been all too common here in Panama, and indeed in many Western countries. It is obvious that many of the people involved are being paid, or otherwise funded by oppositional interests. That is standard tactics in geopolitics, though everyone is careful to publicly deny it. But is anyone surprised that Western Socialist groups have all of the funding they need when it comes time to protest? Or “Liberal” groups in Russia?

On an individual level, we have all of the relevant power. At least here in the still free world. In Panama, we have property rights and blessings of Earth and heaven. It is very practical to be self sufficient here in Panama, and many communities are self-sufficient in the important things like food and some sort of cooking fuel. Even if gasoline and natural gas shipments stop, we can chop some wood and be at peace. Everyone in the West, more or less, still has options like this.

We should not be complacent, though. These options are being taken away in the most insidious of ways, right in our back yards. The war is not just in Iran. The threat is not just in the straights of Hormuz, or Bab Al Mendeb. Your very town council is the target of an operation. Your very most local river or farms. We are at war. Open your eyes, and fight back holistically. Fight back on every front.

Trump’s speech last night seemed disappointing on the surface, but underneath it is great news.

The speech was carefully balanced to provide diplomatic cover for a multilateral off ramp. It was perfectly calibrated to give every relevant power exactly what they need to close the deal.

The Face-Saving

Look at the timing. Bahrain just took the presidency of the UN Security Council yesterday. Today, they are fast-tracking a resolution to authorize “all necessary means” to protect shipping.

China and Pakistan dropped their “5-Point Plan” like a perfectly timed script, and if you look closely, it’s just the American position reflected in a different mirror.

Trump’s grid strike threat is simple: “Open the Strait, or we hit the electrical grid.” China’s plan (Point III) says the exact same thing from the opposite direction: “Protect the infrastructure (the grid), so we can open the Strait.”

It’s classic diplomatic horse trading. Trump needs to “Save Face” for his April 6th ultimatum, and China needs to look like the “Peace-Broker” that saved Iran from the Stone Age. By “softening” the rhetoric last night and not repeating the Monday deadline—even though the Grid Strike is still the obvious floor—Trump gave Beijing the diplomatic cover to vote YES on today’s resolution.

The US is basically saying: “We won’t hit the grid if the water opens.” China is saying: “The water will open because the grid was saved.” It’s the same result, just branded for two different audiences.

The Regional Handover

The “Go get your own oil” line wasn’t an insult; it was a handover to the Gulf Cooperation Council led coalition. Bahrain, the UAE, the Saudis et al are very eager to re-open the straight, and they already have the UK and others signed on to help, but they need a legal and diplomatic pretext. China and Russia need to hear that it is a regional coalition doing the policing and not the US.

France has been acting like the last obstinate holdout, demanding a “cessation of hostilities” and refusing to name Iran in the text. So what does Bahrain do? They scrub the name “Iran,” swap “Chapter VII” (UN War) for “Chapter VIII” (Regional Cooperation), and suddenly the “cowardly” allies have their legal shield.

The US has spent the last 20 days using Task Force 59 to map every inch of the sea floor and A-10s to liquidate the IRGC’s mine layers and other small shipping harassment boats. The work is done. Trump just wants an exit that gives him a political victory. He’s handing the keys to the GCC and Bahrain because he’s already closed the trillions in deals I mentioned in Part 2. He doesn’t want to stay in Iran forever, nor in the straight of Hormuz. He actually prefers that someone else do the policing, and the GCC is more than willing.

The End Game

Trump gave all parties what they need to hear for a clean diplomatic off ramp. He’s letting the “Professional” regime in Tehran see the “Stone Age” through one window and a “Yuan-based oil recovery” through the other. He’s giving France and China their peace laurels, letting Bahrain lead the bureaucratic process, and giving a de-facto off ramp for a distressed Iran.

He’s not leaving Iran because he’s tired; he’s leaving because he’s liquidated the position. He’s reshaped the Gulf, locked in the petrodollar, and handed the “cleanup” bill to the people who actually need the oil.

The exit being staged isn’t the stone age bang. It’s the “natural” opening. And it is taking place in the UNSC meetings today.

Say what you want about war or politics, but I think Trump is a genius. I also think I have his Iran exit plan figured out.

He panicked the Iranians (but not markets) by issuing the 48h ultimatum over the weekend. He got the Iranians to make terrorist threats against their neighbors (attack water desalination plants), thereby solidifying international support. Iran is suffering hyperinflation (they just issued a new 10 million rial note over the weekend, and suffered a run on the banks because people are desperate for cash (before the electrical grid crashes, or the financial situation gets worse).

Then Trump called it off before markets in the US opened, preventing a crash. Were there talks with Iran? who cares. He gave the market a big sigh of relief, while Iran is still under increasing pressure. He also implied that he was talking with an unknown person, so now all the Iranian leadership are looking at each other wondering who is the traitor. And if the traitor is in their midst already, it is better to join them in betraying Iran and get in on the new administration, Venezuela style. Meanwhile, since the delay is only 5 days, the people are still panicking and continuing the bank run.

Here’s the badass part. The USS Tripoli was en route and expected to arrive today, based on their last confirmed sighting by Sri Lanka on the 19th. But today the WaPo published an article quoting undisclosed military sources saying the arrival would be “Friday.” Friday, the day of the deadline, and a ridiculously slow arrival date. Unbelievably slow. At the same time, Trump sends the 82nd airborne to the theater, which would be the paratroopers needed to take Kharg island, which is where 90% of iran’s oil exports go through. All week, he and the military have been threatening Kharg. The Iranians have no choice but to take the threat seriously. They must divert resources to defending Kharg. The thing is Kharg is way inside the gulf, and you have to pass through the straight first. So if the Tripoli is already there today, why say they won’t arrive until Friday? Why this delay? The Tripoli has advanced mine sweeping capabilities. They are going to use the extra 5 days to clear a transit lane through the Omani side of the straight, while they continue to hammer the coastal military facilities on the Iranian side.

To clarify, Trump doesn’t even want Kharg. It is a headache that would only raise gas prices. It is a feint.

Then, on Friday, he can declare that the straight is open, and the US will begin escorting ships through, crashing oil prices back through the floor. The SPR dump is already signed, so it’ll be releasing for weeks and weeks. Other things were done (i.e. lifting sanctions on Iranian oil at sea, tax rebates, etc) that will continue to depress oil prices even after the straight is open. Prices are going to crash.

Then Trump will be heading into the midterms with two massive military victories, and super low gas prices.

The biggest loser in all of this is China. China’s belt and road initiative was basically kicked out of the Americas by the Venezuela coup and subsequent actions like the Cuban blockade. Now China’s main anchor for BRI in Eurasia is also knocked out. More importantly, Trump showed in multiple theaters and multiple ways how US military tech is superior to Chinese / Russian. So all of the middle eastern countries, for example, will be spending their Defense budgets on the US MIC, and they’ll be coordinating security with the US from now on. The Saudi - Iranian rapprochement is dead, for example. China also is the one country that has easily suffered the most economically from all of this, and will continue to. China was the main buyer of Qatar’s LNG, which was the only major energy hit in the war so far. Since that hit will reduce Qatari LNG for 3-5 years, the US is now the world’s largest LNG producer.

Coincidentally, Trump negotiated a $750 b deal with the EU for them to purchase US LNG. Everyone said it was such a large commitment it wasn’t even possible for them to buy that much. Well they’re buying it now.

And the cherry on top, Cuba is ready to fall whenever he turns his attention there and wants another quick win.

The man is a fucking genius.

Part 2: Cui Bono?

Following up on my Iran exit strategy post.

This extra 10 days is all too convenient. Many things are all too convenient, specifically the oops, missed interceptions. Look at who has been hit, and cui bono.

LNG in Qatar -> US new LNG king
Petrochemical plants -> US chemical i.e. DOW LYB
Aluminum plants -> US aluminum producers i.e. AA CENX
E-3 destroyed -> MIC sells upgrades (E-7) BA
Al-Salmi tanker -> US insurance especially Chubb CB

Call me crazy, but every single missile that fails to get intercepted seems to cause a big shift in favor of a US industry.

The whole war seems to be a giant sales opportunity for the MIC to liquidate old munitions and sell their next gen stuff. There's a lot of talk about expenditure of munitions and planes being blown up, especially the recent E-3 hit. Consider that high resolution, on the ground photos were released immediately after the E-3 was destroyed. Not just satelite photos but on the ground photos from inside a military base, in the middle of a war. Where is the infosec? Infosec has been tight all around this conflict, yet these photos leaked. Boeing has been trying to convince Congress to upgrade to the new E-7 for many years. This is just one example. Consider that during this 10 day window, the administration is trying to push through a $200 billion Defense spending bill H.R. 7567. And if you look at the details, many new contracts (i.e. anti-drone tech) are being locked in through this conflict. Then you simply have the replacement contracts for things like cruise missiles. The 10 days is pure leverage against Congress to pass new Defense spending and approve new toys like the E-7.

LNG is another highly suspect area. During this 10 day window the EU Parliament was pressured, voted on, and approved the Turnberry trade agreement, which locks in $750 billion worth of US LNG purchases. 10 days after Qatar was forced to declare force majeure on their contracts due to a 17% reduction in their production capacity. Talk about a gun to the head. These 10 days were critical political pressure to close the deal.

One of the major economic factors right now is insurance. Lloyds of London controls ~90% of the relevant ship insurance market. Insurance premiums on the thousands of ships affected have gone up 10x. Meanwhile, the US created a government backed insurance program in partnership with Chubb. Socialized losses and private gains. US military escorts for ships. Furthermore, the strike on the Kuwaiti tanker Al-Salmi, at anchorage in Dubai, forces hundreds of ships to sign new premiums with Lloyds or switch within 7 days. Chubb is up 2% on the news.

In general, it seems to me like Trump & co are using these 10 days and this war as one big deal making blitz. They are reshaping industries in favor of the US. They are reshaping gulf politics in favor of the US and the petrodollar. All of this will be of great political benefit to Trump going into the midterms, and great economic benefit to the US as it rolls over a massive wave of debt later this year. Everyone will be buying dollars. Everyone is already buying dollars, but it's going to get much more pronounced.

Trump is toying with Iran. He's toying with Europe, the Saudis and other gulf countries. He's slapping China around on multiple fronts, strengthening his position going into trade negotiations next month. He is playing the media and markets like a fiddle to the benefit of US economic interests.

And the military exit strategy? They've had complete dominance of Hormuz for weeks. They've logged *thousands* of miles of drone boat patrols, with drones capable of scanning the sea floor in wide swaths and high resolution. They've been using A-10 warthogs to liquidate any remaining surface boats especially the "fast attack" boats, mine layers and drones that make up what little remains of the Iranian naval capacity. These are the only remaining naval threats to passage of Hormuz. We don't know what's going on under the surface, but we do know that drone subs capable of mine removal are deployed, along with other submarine assets. And we know that the surface and air above the water is secured. Meanwhile, of course, the coast line and remaining radar, eyes and launch facilities are being liquidated.

Internally, inside Iran there is a very interesting selective pressure being applied. Iran has two official militaries. The IRGC is the hardline theocratic military. Artesh is the secular military. The US has specifically been targetting the IRGC and sparing Artesh. The tensions between the IRGC and Artesh are showing, for instance the IRGC refusing to transport wounded Artesh soldiers, and only issuing Artesh soldiers 10 rounds of amunition. Economically, the Iranian rial is in free fall and everything is in short supply, including food. There are reports of even IRGC not receiving sufficient food rations, in favor of missile logistics. Imagine what the situation is like for the Artesh soldiers, who are deserting in record numbers. Meanwhile, the Kurds and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) are seizing control of regions of the country, closing the roads to Pakistan, for instance. The IRGC and the Ayatollahs are struggling to maintain control domestically, and all of the opposition is being spared and even supported.

So what is the end game? Well, option 1 is a diplomatic deal where Iran capitulates. Option 2 is the April 6 electrical grid strikes. What would that actually look like? The military relies on electricity for communication and various aspects of missile and drone launch logistics. You can't launch missiles without electricity. Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to coordinate. Even if you could, you wouldn't have accurate target coordinates. And missiles are all that Iran has left. Meanwhile, right before the strike the US would send out the "Rise Up" message that they've told the Iranians to wait for. So the people and resistance groups would rise up, while the regime is hobbled and confused. The US already has complete air dominance over Iran, so they would provide air support for the Artesh, Kurds, BLA, etc. IRGC would be toast and a new government would be installed with Artesh backing.

It's a game. Iran is being toyed with. All of their "successes" are carefully facilitated to achieve a strategic goal for a US special interest group. The theocratic regime is rapidly crumbling from within. The knockout blow is ready, but the extra 10 days are needed to close trillions of dollars worth of deals from Wall St to Congress to EU Parliament to the GCC.

Part 1: Iran Exit Strategy

Taxi protest blocks

the streets for high oil prices

Chant let's go Brandon

TLDR video:

Full video:

It has been rainy here for a couple of weeks, and I have neither been eating healthy, nor getting outside. At the same time, I hadn't been feeling very well.

So, about a week ago, I started trying to get sunlight every day, and eating more fruits and veggies. I almost immediately started feeling better.

This is a powerful anecdote which goes along with research I've been doing on strengthening your immune system, particularly in the context of COVID. In particular, I found these maps of Africa interesting.

Here is COVID mortalities relative to Ivermectin use in Africa:

/photo/1

Here is COVID mortalities relative to obesity in Africa:

/photo/1

So obviously, this isn't a planned experiment with a clear control group. But at the same time, this is a massive data set, and a clear, huge difference in outcomes. Put in the context of other studies about obesity, and vitamin D deficiency as comorbidities, it seems clear that there are many things to do to improve outcomes in this pandemic.

One correction: I say that Ivermectin helps with Vitamin D uptake, but I can't find a source for that, now.

These countries are doing literally 10-100 times better than highly vaccinated countries like Israel, the UK and the USA. I am not sure what the difference is, but clearly, it is more effective than vaccinations and lockdowns. I suspect the difference is eating fresh fruits and veggies while exercising outside.

I don't believe in government mandates of any sort, but before mandating vaccines, how about we mandate exercise and vegetables? How about instead of lockdowns, we have anti-lockdowns, where we encourage people to go outside? I'm not joking, there is a strong statistical case to be made that these would be more effective than current policies in "developed" countries.

I'm really sick of the Scientism going on these days, so I've been meming it up.

I saw this on twitter:

and made this:

Finally, here is some hard data, because #FollowTheScience

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.22.457114v1
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239566
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.19.21262139v1
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987721001419?via=ihub
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2110475

OK, Liberals, it is time for some tough love. I am a liberal, meaning I believe in liberty, and more generally that diversity is positive. Are you a Person of Color? LGBTQ? A non-mainstream culture or religion? Great! I am very happy that you have found space to explore and express yourself.

Many Liberals, however, have lost their way, and are becoming more and more intolerant. There is a trend toward name calling and negativity, toward anyone who disagrees.

A prime example that bothers me a lot is the label "Karen." This is a clearly harmful and racist stereotype, and yet it is used in mainstream media headlines and TV news, like it is justice.

Just think about it. The term "Karen" comes from a racial and gender based stereotype, that "white women" behave a certain way. Sure, some do, but stereotyping is wrong and hurtful. What would you say if you saw a headline about toxic "Tyrones", referring to aggressive "black males". You'd rightly call it out as racist and harmful to reduce black males to a stereotypical name and assumed behavior.

The "Karen" phenomenon is mainstreaming racism, sexism, and intolerance. Women have been physically attacked by angry aggressors, yelling at them to stop being a Karen.

This is one of the most toxic and obviously harmful examples, but it is part of a broader trend among self-proclaimed Liberals to marginalize anyone who disagrees with them. Disagreeing is not stupid. Having different beliefs or culture is not "anti-science" or "hate." Being Christian, or owning a gun should not make someone your enemy, any more than being gay or Jewish makes you mine.

And yes, I'm calling out Liberals specifically. The media says that conservatives and right wing people are intolerant, but that has not been my experience. Have you ever been to a Trump rally or a libertarian convention? Have you been to a barbecue with your Christian neighbor? Did they volunteer any negativity, at all?

Note, I'm not asking if they would have something negative to say if you throw a disagreement in their face, like challenging them on abortion. But they don't want negative interactions, and almost never initiate them. It seems like Liberals do. It seems like Liberals want to challenge everyone, and bully everyone into a common belief system. It is downright illiberal.

If being gay is OK, so should being Christian. If you want to get vaccinated, that is fine with me. My doctor had a bad reaction himself, and told me not to since I have natural immunity from a previous COVID infection. Respect me, and my choices. Respect diversity. Be a real liberal, and embrace diversity, especially when you disagree.

Do you know what freedom is?

Freedom is a feeling. It is the feeling you get when you know what you want, and you go straight for it. It is the strength that comes from within, knowing that you will follow through with your dreams.

In the context of politics, freedom is a state of constantly negotiated grey lines between the individual's mind, and the people who say "no." Freedom is not given by a 250 year old document. It is taken by people with freedom in their hearts.

I was born in the United States, which is the self-proclaimed "freest country on Earth." And if you read the bill of rights and believe that it is followed, maybe that would be true. Comparatively, the constitution here in Panama is literally authoritarian (i.e. all rights reserved for "the authority").

And yet, Panamanians are more free. Panamanians don't get taught John Locke, Kierkegaard, and Jefferson in school. They don't have a philosophical argument for freedom, nor a legal document "giving" it to them. They have it in their hearts. When the government makes a law, they mostly just ignore it, if it doesn't live up to their judgment.

By contrast, look at the US. The first amendment is in tatters, with the government listening in on all digital communications, and policing "misinformation." Churches and religious services have been shut down by the state, in the name of "safety."

The second amendment is mortally wounded, with more restrictions placed on self-defense every year.

The fourth amendment is gone. People let the government into their phones, and recently into their houses, without any objection, let alone defense.

I could go on, but the gist of it is that people are *asking* for less freedom. The people, or some of them anyway, are applauding the censors, the disarmers, and the regulators. They have no freedom in their hearts. They are waving a white flag in the day to day negotiations between freedom and state power.

So why do I live in Latin America? I believe that "the freest country on Earth" is not in North America, nor Western or Northern Europe. It is somewhere where people know what oppression looks like, and are willing to disobey. It is in Latin America, or Eastern Europe, or somewhere like that.

Do you really know what freedom is? Do you feel it in your heart? Only you can decide if you are free, and only you can make yourself free, or enslaved. A runaway slave is freer than a voluntary serf.

Liberate your mind. Be skeptical, and do your own research. Consider rationally the risks and dangers of different choices.

Do not be afraid. You do not need to comply.

They cannot censor us. They cannot stop us from sharing this information. I will cross-post this video on censorship resistant platforms, so it will never ever get taken down. Follow me to the new internet to receive uncensored information.

https://d.tube/#!/v/isysd/wx026r9kp8g

https://odysee.com/@isysd:3/liberate-science:4
https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1271897633706741769?referrer=isysd
https://rumble.com/vl6gfg-liberate-science.html
https://www.bitchute.com/video/sCoFPebcqBxU/

Doctors to follow and watch:

Dr. Kulldorff

https://twitter.com/MartinKulldorff
https://www.theepochtimes.com/harvard-epidemiologist-martin-kulldorff-on-vaccine-passports-the-delta-variant-and-the-covid-public-health-fiasco_3942556.html

Dr. Gupta

https://twitter.com/sunetragupta

Dr. Bhattacharya

Dr. Malone

https://twitter.com/RWMaloneMD

Dr. Vanden Bossche

https://twitter.com/GVDBossche

Citations:

Yes, I'm aware some of this is pre-print. General public don't have subscriptions to academic journals, and besides, all of this is so new that most of the information has not been reviewed properly. That is, in fact, my point.

Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in the United States — 2018–2019 influenza season by CDC https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html
SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England by Public Health England on 18 June 2021 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001359/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_16.pdf
The Great Barrington Declaration by Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on October 4, 2020 

https://gbdeclaration.org/

The intergenerational mortality trade-off of COVID-19 lockdown policies in low- and middle-income countries by Lin Ma, Gil Shapira, Damien de Walque, Quy-Toan Do, Jed Friedman, Andrei Levchenko on 19 July 2021 https://voxeu.org/article/covid-19-lockdown-trade-low-and-middle-income-countries
Necessity of COVID-19 vaccination in previously infected individuals
Nabin K. Shrestha, Patrick C. Burke, Amy S. Nowacki, Paul Terpeluk, Steven M. Gordon
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258176v3
Protection of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection is similar to that of BNT162b2 vaccine protection: A three-month nationwide experience from Israel by Yair Goldberg, Micha Mandel, Yonatan Woodbridge, Ronen Fluss, Ilya Novikov, Rami Yaari, Arnona Ziv, Laurence Freedman, Amit Huppert on April 24, 2021 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.20.21255670v1
Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses by Tom Jefferson Chris B Del Mar Liz Dooley Eliana Ferroni Lubna A Al-Ansary Ghada A Bawazeer Mieke L van Driel Mark A Jones Sarah Thorning Elaine M Beller Justin Clark Tammy C Hoffmann Paul P Glasziou John M Conly on 20 November 2020 https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5/full
Effectiveness of Adding a Mask Recommendation to Other Public Health Measures to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Danish Mask Wearers by Henning Bundgaard, DMSc, Johan Skov Bundgaard, BSc... on March 2021 https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers by C Raina MacIntyre, Holly Seale, Tham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tran Hien, Phan Thi Nga, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai1, Bayzidur Rahman, Dominic E Dwyer, Quanyi Wang on 2015 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577

Image credits:

CDC CC BY-SA 2.0 author Phil Wolff
Public Health England Fair Use by Public Health England
Denmark State Serum Institut CC-by-3.0 author Froztbyte
Þórólfur Guðnason CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 author Heilbrigðisvísindasvið HÍ
Dr. Martin Kulldorff CC-by-4.0 author Thérèse Soukar
Dr. Sunetra Gupta CC-by-4.0 author Taleed Brown
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya CC-by-4.0 author Taleed Brown
Dr. Robert Malone Copyright RW Malone MD, LLC
Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche Copyright 2021 Geert Vanden Bossche
"locked and chained" by Darwin Bell is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
"Riot Control" by Steve Crane is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"Clinical Trial Participant Receives Injection" by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"Sheep" by Kris Haamer is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"NY Statue of Liberty" by Celso Flores is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Music credit:

Liberation by Kraftamt (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Karstenholymoly/61513 Ft: MissJudged

Positive Action First!

We're so angry, hating everyone we don't know
We can't even take a joke, we should really let it go
And be happy, stop talking shit on our phones
And blocking everyone we know, we've been being buttholes

• Buttholes by Tom MacDonald

Thank you Tom for cheering me up! Everybody follow Tom.

As I've become more active socially, I've run into many people with strong and confrontational opinions. I've recently dealt with people I can only assume are neo-nazis, antifa, BLM, progressives, christian conservatives, socialists, and my fellow anarchists.

I have not blocked anyone, and have conversed respectfully toward all of them, usually to mutual benefit. If you take one thing away from this, it is to do the same, instead of judging and blocking each other.

In Person Interactions

Disclaimer before continuing. I am a humanist and a voluntarist. I love and respect all people of all backgrounds and personal choices. I love diversity, even when diverse people don't love each other. I do not believe in race, and will not refer to people in racial terms here. Please keep an open mind, and try not to judge me or others as you read this.

While I am a depigmented, educated male, I have seen and been subjected to a lot of racism in my life. Yes, that might surprise you, but it is true.

I grew up on the south side of Chicago, which is majority pigmented. I got beat up in school, for no obvious reason. I was called racial slurs. I've been told by many different people that my freckles and complexion are ugly. In fact the root of the word for the chemical that makes me a redhead means "ugly": pheomelanin. I believe some of these kids were upset at my "privilege" or because their parents taught them hate.

I was taught love, and had friends of all races and religions. I have to admit that I interacted with so few depigmented people outside of my family, that I never heard anything "white supremacist" first hand until I was an adult. I did learn in school and from friends a lot of discrimination directed at these communities by big institutions, as well as individual ignoramuses. I believed them, and understood that such discrimination was a serious issue.

After achieving some success as an entrepreneur, I met and hung out with many wealthy individuals. Some of these struck me as bigoted against pigmented people, Jews, or Muslims. I always told them that I disagreed, and explained my humanist position.

I should give credit, by the way to my friend Vijay who helped me become a humanist. While I always gave a minimum level of respect to all individuals, before he helped me, I had a hard time really empathizing with many people. Thanks Vijay!

More recently, I've been living in Latin America. I've experienced and observed a lot of different types of discrimination here. I've seen a bit more discrimination from the rich, institutional class. I've been discriminated against in multiple ways, from people refusing to let me on a bus, to trying to charge me 10x normal taxi fair. I've had flour thrown in my eyes and pick pocketed. I've avoided the worst consequences by using my street smarts, staying out of high-crime areas, and watching my wallet.

More often, I've had to listen to people unburden their hate against others to me. Usually this takes the form of commiserating xenophobia. Panamanians complaining about foreigners (usually Venezuelans, Colombians, or Chinese) buying out all the businesses, and taking all of the jobs. Jews (assuming I am Jewish) telling me how I need to live in a Jewish neighborhood and only do business within the community. An old Afrikaner woman in an airport complaining about "darkies."

Recently, I moved nearby to a migrant camp, and get to see dozens, sometimes hundreds of migrants from all of the world. The majority are from failed Authoritarian and/or Communist states like Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba, but some come from as far away as the Middle East and South Asia.

All of these people are on their way to North America. I say hello and sometimes make conversation with these migrants, but, to be honest, most of them do not want to talk to me. They seem to have hate toward Americans, even as they try to migrate there. The Haitians, in particular, seem hostile, so I make extra effort to smile and be friendly toward them.

Another day I will interview some of them, and help them share their stories with the internet.

The point I'd like to make today, however, is that despite the negativity, the worst I've experienced (after some violent kid fights, I mean as an adult) are rude comments, or waiting for the next taxi or bus.

I have told all of these people how I disagree. Sometimes I was ignored, but never was there any possibility of violence or escalating conflict from these discussions. Some uncomfortable conversations are small price to pay.

Even when people are discriminating against me directly, it doesn't really help to stay silent, or hate back. Usually smiling and humanizing each other breaks the ice, and when not, we sit silently and walk away.

Cancel Culture

Things are pretty different online, as I'm sure you all know. People do not have to sit next to each other for a bus / plane ride, or conference. There are few incentives to be civil.

Recently, as I've been re-engaging online and beginning to publish and share my opinions, I've run into a lot of really brazen people.

One of the reasons I wanted to begin publishing was because I'm concerned about censorship of topics like covid alarmism, and freedom. I wanted to share the extensive research and reflection I've done on these topics, and to demonstrate to others how technology can empower them to break the censorship wall.

As such, I set out to publish on as wide a set of platforms as I could, engaging on both mainstream sites, as well as new, decentralized and niche ones. One of the things that has been challenging is how balkanized and high-emotion these different communities are.

If you listen to the Democratic party and mainstream media, they say that "white supremacy" is the greatest threat to the US. This is their expressed reason for censoring President Trump, and tens of thousands of others. Now, there definitely are white supremacists out there, and I definitely found some in my exploration of niche social sites.

Note that I will not censor names for the portions that are public, but I did for the Facebook post, which is private.

This week seems to have been particularly high-emotion. I followed this fellow Nick Fuentes, then unfollowed him after this genuinely racist rant on the declining "white" population in the US.

https://tv.gab.com/channel/three_spoons/view/nick-fuentes-white-population-decline-611543db9c92fca6884311bc

Another made a euro-centric comment.

As a person who knows that race does not exist, I find it unhelpful to divide people up that way. Culture is a much more meaningful division, and something to be genuinely concerned about, as far as the success or failure of a nation or society. Every day of the week, I'll take one Thomas Sowell over a million European Antifa activists.

Another seemingly neo nazi individual made some seriously antisemitic comments on a post of mine.

Interestingly, when confronted, he respectfully explained his feelings.

I was happy to at least engage meaningfully with these people, though I do not follow any of them, and will not go out of my way to hear any more from them. There is no need to block or cancel them, nor for me to avoid or blame the platforms for hosting them. Perhaps through having the opportunity to converse respectfully with people like me, they may even grow more tolerant over time.

I have to say, though this might be a trigger for some, I find Orthodox Jews to be at least as racist as this fellow. Interesting how often discrimination is rooted in feeling discriminated against. Not doing business with others, nor allowing your children to marry others is some pretty serious discrimination. And if you ask nicely, they'll tell you it is because others are not as good as them, blah blah blah. I disagree with both, and tell both to their faces. Both deserve places to socialize and do their things, so long as no one is physically hurt. Orthodox Jews have mainstream media, and this fellow has alt media. Fine.

On the other side of the political spectrum, I definitely did offend some people I didn't expect to, or with information I didn't expect to be offensive.

I won't post the whole conversation, but this fellow was really triggered by what I thought was a universally likable quote. Indeed, I really underestimated how divisive this quote would be, as I was also called a "nationalist" and a "statist" for posting it. LOL! We went back and forth, respectfully, and ultimately agreed to disagree. Also fine. This was a high school friend of mine, and we remain friends, thankfully.

I also didn't expect statistics about Covid risks from Oxford would be labeled "dangerous," but this fellow was not the only one to take offense. This is where I start to feel something is wrong. It was not the neo-nazis, nor the social justice warriors that shut down conversation. It is old, educated, "liberals." I use that term very loosely, since it is hard to see what liberty they are for.

Reflection

I haven't been canceled yet, though I've been censored a number of times. And that is the danger, in the end. It doesn't hurt to know that people exist who discriminate, or even to hear their discriminatory positions.

I will continue to interact with all of these people, while trying to not actively trigger any of them. I am glad that different communities have places to go, and that diverse opinions exist and are being communicated. I will try to tailor my conversations on these different platforms to keep discourse respectful and constructive.

Still, I have to stand up for what I believe. Calling facts dangerous, and censoring scientific debate are inherently illiberal and damaging to everyone in society. The way to deal with differences is by finding common ground, and humanizing each other. When we cancel, and ignore reality, we become vulnerable, and give others an excuse to become more extreme.

The Best (Information) Things Are Free

Why is it that people think that paying more for something automatically means it is better? It is rarely true with physical products, and almost never true with information. Don't believe me? Lets break it down.

First, though, let me briefly describe what I think is going on. Basically, I think people are being manipulated by advertisers. Billions of dollars a year are spent pushing consumption, and people generally don't step back and question what alternatives exist. It is hard when everyone and everything around you is intent on getting you to buy something from the market.

Now, part one: why free information is usually best.

Software

Lets start with software, because that is how you are able to read this.

As a software engineer, I have always had a problem with closed source (proprietary) products. All software has bugs, and there's no suffering like repeatedly experiencing a bug that you know you could fix, but are not allowed to.

Moreover, many software products, especially mobile and internet apps, contain spyware and other nefarious sub-routines, that compromise privacy and utility. At the very least, you cannot know, for sure, that any closed source application is free from such.

When you are dealing with important things cough VOTING MACHINES cough FINANCE cough it is absolutely imperative that the software systems open up and prove their trustworthiness to the users.

I won't go into great detail on the software front, because if you aren't technical, it will bore you, and if you are, you're probably already convinced. Open Source has been winning hearts and minds year after year, as basically all devices sold this decade depend on it.

Instead, let me list some of the software I use on a daily basis, which I highly recommend to you all.

I could go on and on, especially when it comes to server-side and peer-to-peer software, but these are completely dominated by Open Source anyway. The bottom line is I don't pay for any software, ever, and I am able to produce high quality everything. I custom make images, audio, video, applications, and more. There is literally nothing you can do with paid software that I cannot reproduce, usually better, with free software.

Books

The best books are not read even by those who are called good readers. What does our Concord culture amount to? There is in this town, with a very few exceptions, no taste for the best or for very good books even in English literature, whose words all can read and spell. Even the college-bred and so called liberally educated men here and elsewhere have really little or no acquaintance with the English classics; and as for the recorded wisdom of mankind, the ancient classics and Bibles, which are accessible to all who will know of them, there are the feeblest efforts any where made to become acquainted with them.

• Walden, Henry David Thoreau

The best books, as Thoreau put it, contain the recorded wisdom of mankind, from the ancients through to more recent writers like Thoreau himself. Can you show me a copyrighted book, which can only be bought, which is better than Walden?

Lets put such subjective judgements aside, however, and go by the statistics. The top fifteen most popular printed books of all time are:

So, the first 14 are all free and in the public domain. This does not even include oral masterpieces like Homer's Iliad, which surely would be at the top of the list. The fact that many of these deal with myths, religion, or philosophy is simply a reflection of people's interests. The most printed fiction books are also mostly free.

I believe that anyone who claims to not like the classics is either not literate enough to really read them, or is simply indoctrinated by the advertising industry to think new equals better.

Images

In one high-profile example, Getty Images was caught selling photographs which the photographer, Carol Highsmith, shared for free under a Creative Commons license.

One day, Getty sent her a threatening letter for publishing her own image. Think about that for a second, and what it says about the predatory environment of intellectual property. Carol turned around and sued Getty for $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

What can you learn from this? Don't just blindly pay for images. Just because some website offers to sell you something doesn't mean you have to buy it.

Wikipedia maintains an excellent list of free image search resources, with tens of millions of images available.

Music

Music is an interesting medium to consider, since it is so incredibly subjective and widely appreciated. Furthermore, it is very participatory, with many people enjoying performance and singing along as much as pure consumption. So, like with software, I will avoid subjective judgments and simply share some resources.

Here are places to get free music:

• https://www.freemusicpublicdomain.com

• https://musopen.org/

• http://dig.ccmixter.org/free

• http://www.openmusicarchive.org/

• https://freesound.org/browse/

Additionally, many best selling musicians have recently chosen to release albums for free, including two of my favorites: Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. It seems that the primary barrier to free music is the obsolete publishing middlemen. If I had to guess, I'd say music will follow the same trend as software toward free sharing and collaboration.

Video

Since video is a very recent technology, only really coming into the mainstream in the last century, it is the least free of the digital media. Still, many films and shows are now public domain, and many newly produced videos (like all of mine) are intentionally licensed as Creative Commons. This is an option on Youtube, odysee, Vimeo and basically all other video publishing platforms.

Wikipedia again gives us useful lists for searching both public domain films, as well as modern open source films.

Conclusion

The industrial and commercial powers that be want us to think that we have to pay for intellectual property, but the truth is that is not usually the case. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and break yourself of the mentality that good things must have a cost.

If you are a creative or generally DIY type of person, I highly recommend learning about Public Domain, Creative Commons, and Open Source. These categories of information are generally free and available for creative uses.

To show you a little of what is possible, here is a video I made using the free and open source resources listed above.

https://odysee.com/@isysd:3/cc-all-for-free:7

or

https://d.tube/#!/v/isysd/khjwxkhusjb

or, if you absolutely must

It has recently been in the news that more than 20% of commercial sunscreens have carcinogenic ingredients. If you’re like me, this isn’t surprising, since many of the chemicals used in industrial products are under-studied, and not very trustworthy. Besides which, the industrial products come in plastic and generate lots of trash.

So, what is a good, healthy and eco-friendly alternative? If you get sunburns, you may already know that Aloe Vera is a great treatment for healing skin injuries like burns. You may not know, like I didn’t until recently, that it is also an effective sunscreen!
What’s more, it is an incredibly easy to grow plant. It grows happily in pots, in any climate, and is very hard to kill. As a succulent, it only needs to be watered about once a month, and it makes babies on it’s own.

If you have any skin issues at all, I highly recommend raw aloe. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and is rich in Vitamin E, which promotes new, healthy skin growth. I use it daily for my dermatitis, but you can use it as a lotion, sunscreen, burn treatment, acne and dandruff treatment, and more.

What are you waiting for? What are you buying plastic, carcinogenic crap for? Just grow some aloe and put it on your skin, right now.

Watch the How To video here.

If you haven’t already, join Odysee!

Today I found out about cleanplanet.io and decided to do another garbage cleaning on the mountain. I do this every few months, as it builds up from people visiting the river. Luckily there was less today, probably because it is wet season.

I took a quick dip in the river to rinse off in the middle, before hiking back up the mountain with a bag full of garbage. Great workout, great content, and great for the planet. Win win win.

Definitely check out cleanplanet.io, and make a donation if you like their work!

Also, watch and like my video on d.tube or Odysee to support me. I highly recommend Odysee in particular, and if you like watching or creating videos, use this link to join and earn a bonus.

Today I made the first salad from our new garden, and in fact from one single pot. It was small but incredibly savory, and nutritious. The two main ingredients were cherry tomatoes and garlic greens.

First the tomatoes are quite familiar. We have three of these plants, each growing in the same pot as the garlic. They are all heavy with tomatoes, but only a few are ripe so far. They look and smell so good, though, I had to eat them raw.

These six cherry tomatoes that I harvested apparently contain 16.8% Daily Value (DV) of vitamin A, and 23.4% DV of vitamin C. They also have significant potassium, calcium, iron, and fiber. source

I recently learned from my girlfriend Ingrid that garlic greens are edible, and delicious! They taste very much like the garlic bulbs, but slightly less strong, and a bit leafy. Their flavor is like a cross between chives and garlic.

We companion planted the garlic and tomatoes, since they are complimentary. Indeed, both plants are thriving, and this is the third time we've harvested greens from the garlic. You can keep doing this, pruning them down to a few inches each time. The plants are very resilient, and recover within a week or two.

The garlic greens (also called simply leaves) are hard to find nutritional data for. I did find an article indicating they are rich in vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), vitamin C, copper, iron, calcium, Selenium, and manganese.

I chopped them all up, and made a small salad out of it. For dressing, I added apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and a tiny bit of salt and pepper. I thought it would be have a strong garlic flavor, but it was subtle and quite pleasant. Overall, this is an amazing salad, which I intend to make again! These ingredients are just too flavorful to cook.

View on OpenSea

This collection explores the woke sins of our founding fathers. All of the founding fathers of the United States have been canceled, or at least considered for canceling.

Each of the Canceled Fathers is a gif showing the transformation of their reputation through time. This is not meant to judge but show popular perception.

Initially, each is portrayed regally in living color, but, like all deceased, this slowly fades and our perception becomes monochromatic.

Then, after the real person has faded into history, they come under attack. The background begins to show evidence of the characteristic for which they are to be canceled.

After their woke sin has come fully into focus, the Canceled Father is made to wear a mask depicting their hashtag. This is like a muzzle as well as a scarlet letter, silencing them and letting everyone know why.

Finally, the individual fades into a mere ghost, completely overshadowed by their woke sin and cancellation.

In the making of this collection, I learned a lot about the founding fathers, especially the less famous ones. Each is complex, and most seemingly tried hard to better themselves morally. Still, about half of them owned slaves, and many had undeniable negative impacts on the world to counter-balance the positives.

Even those who may have had more negative impact should not be erased from history, however. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a self-made man of many talents. Older than the other founding fathers, he never served public office in the United States. Instead he spent his life exploring philosophy, science, and business.

Known as the “First American,” he shaped much of what we think of as traditional American culture. His hard work and clear thinking paid off well in business, and he founded many successful businesses throughout his career.

An archetypal capitalist, Franklin was put on the $100 bill, and has become a symbol of capitalism. He has been canceled for this, and other things, with statues of him being taken down.

George Washington

George Washington was the first President, and the Commanding General of the armies during the American Revolution. While he wielded great power and influence in politics and civic life, his reputation was undoubtedly forged in the heat of battle.

As General of the armies of the rebellion, his soldiers were untrained volunteers, and they had to find arms and supplies where they could. Perhaps due to this experience, he was a staunch supporter of the right to bear arms, should the need arise for the people to rise up against another tyrannical authority.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the third President. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and a staunch advocate of liberty and state’s rights.

Though he tried to reform and even ban slavery, he owned slaves, and fathered children with one Sally Hemings, a slave on his estate. He has been successfully canceled for this, including calls to “take down the Jefferson Memorial.”

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury. He wrote most of the Federalist Papers, and founded the first two pseudo-central banks.

As fans of the musical Hamilton surely know, he was a ladies man. We need look no further for his sin, since a number of feminist writers have suggested that he (and the musical) had a “problem” with women.

John Adams

John Adams Jr. was the second President. His professional contributions include negotiating the Treaty of Paris (ending the Revolutionary War), and co-authoring the Massachusetts Constitution.

A traditional, religious man, he was descended from Puritans. He attended a Congregationalist church regularly, and credited his success to religion.

Today, his piety would probably be ridiculed. It has become trendy to make fun of, and even abuse religiously conservative people.

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams as an important leader in the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson called him “truly the Man of the Revolution.”

He was also accused of spreading propaganda, and provoking riots. Putting ideology aside, he may well have fit in with the antifa crowd, if he were alive today.

John Jay

John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He co-authored The Federalist Papers and advocated for gradual emancipation of all slaves.

Born into a wealthy family, it seems he had an easy time navigating the circuits of power. He did not accomplish as much as many of the other founders, nonetheless he was given great position and standing. His woke sin, therefore, is the privilege of the rich.

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President. He solidified and expanded the United States, negotiating then facilitating settlement of the gigantic Louisiana Purchase.

This era of expansion coincided with massive environmental degradation, such as deforestation. Few men have had such huge impact on the environment.

George Mason

George Mason was Squire of Gunston Hall, and one of the main authors of The Bill of Rights.

Though he publicly advocated for individual rights and liberty, he spent most of his life as the conservative Squire of a slave-run plantation. It is hard to not view this as hypocrisy, tarnishing his statements on human rights.

John Marshall

John Marshall was the fourth, and longest serving, Chief Justice. He shaped the Supreme Court and many important issues such as the relations between the state and federal governments.

He also made many decisions which could be called corrupt, allowing the Yazoo land scandal and denying various rights to the Native Americans. Though he called slavery “evil,” and represented slaves pro-bono, he was also a slave owner. This most famous of Justices had a very different concept from today’s Social Justice.

James Madison

James Madison was the fourth President. He co-wrote both The Bill of Rights, and The Federalist Papers.

A strong and proud executive, he was certainly nationalistic. He consistently advocated for a strong federal government, and seized 23 million acres of Native American land.

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry was an influential speaker and political leader, even though his highest office was Governor of Virginia.

He is mainly remembered for fiery oratory, and his influence with the common man. Controversial in his own time, and ever since, Henry has been canceled for owning slaves, and his association with white supremacy.

Before getting in to why I think that is, lets compare a bit. Medium supposedly has 100 million active readers. Hive has 600 thousand active users. I say supposedly for Medium and not Hive because Hive is a public blockchain with public usage data, while we have to take Medium’s word for their usage. You may notice another difference if you click the two links above; Medium monetizes through paywalls, while Hive monetizes through likes and user support.

Now, on Medium, I have 145 followers, while on Hive I have 114 followers. So, again, Medium wins in the numbers. From 2015 through 2020, my articles on medium never received less than 42 views, and as many as 1,200. Hive doesn’t, actually can’t, count views, but that’s not important for this topic.

This past month, I started publishing content a few times a week, on topics ranging from nature to tech. While you might argue about which topic might play better with which demographic, the numbers are starkly different. For example, lets look at a generic post, which shouldn’t be more popular on either platform: a book review.

Yesterday I wrote a blog post called Books for 2021 and shared it both on Hive as well as on Medium.

On Hive, my post has been upvoted 56 times earning me $3.06.

On Medium, my post has been viewed zero times, and obviously has not had any engagement.

What happened?

Well, in this blog post, I recommend a book called Virus Mania. This book is critical of the mainstream narrative about COVID-19. I also recently published articles critical of BLM and Fauci.

Is Medium burying me with their algorithms? You be the judge. One thing is for sure, though, Hive is more real and more fair. Get off of old, corporate platforms, and get on to the free internet. Stop being sold, and start earning what you deserve.

Use Hive. If you haven’t signed up yet, please use this link, and I’ll receive a referral bonus.

The world is changing rapidly, and it is very important to understand what is going on. If we can understand the change, and the reality of the world, then we can pursue our goals effectively.

These very different books all illuminate the situation from different angles. Throughout the past year, I find myself going back to them again and again. I highly recommend reading them, and taking their lessons to heart.

Walden

Author: Henry David Thoreau

Free Ebook: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205

Free Audiobook: https://librivox.org/walden-by-henry-david-thoreau/

If I can recommend one book for everyone to read, it has to be Walden. This masterpiece by Henry David Thoreau is a clear cut critique of modern life. This book has aged like a fine wine. Over 150 years after it's publication in 1854, it is even more relevant and true than ever.

If there was a manual for "the pursuit of happiness" that the founding fathers of the United States spoke of, it would be Walden. It describes how Thoreau lived self-sufficiently in the wilderness for 2 years. He goes into incredible detail of how much time he spent building his shelter, growing food, etc.. If you ever feel trapped in your job, or the consumerist lifestyle, you must read this book, to understand how simple, easy, and joyful life can really be.

Finally, this book is a lesson in civil disobedience, which Thoreau wrote extensively about. If you think that governments have gone too far, Thoreau has the answer.

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices. I thought that there was no need of ice to freeze them. They talked to me of the age of the wine and the fame of the vintage; but I thought of an older, a newer, and purer wine, of a more glorious vintage, which they had not got, and could not buy. The style, the house and grounds and “entertainment” pass for nothing with me. I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I called on him."

The Sovereign Individual

Authors: James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Mogg

Purchase: https://www.bookdepository.com/Sovereign-Individual-Mastering-Transition-Information-Age-James-Dale-Davidson/9780684832722

This book is a good primer in the transformation going on in the economies of the world, and the balance of power between individuals and governments. While it gets some details wrong, the general themes have been proven by technological advances like Bitcoin, peer to peer information sharing, and the rise of on-site power generation. Governments and institutions grasp harder and harder for power, even as they become less necessary and relevant.

While Walden gives a much clearer and more practical guide to life, The Sovereign Individual gives a modern and global context. Combine the philosophy and fundamentals of Walden with the modern technological and legal strategies outlined in The Sovereign Individual to achieve the potential of both.

"Technology will make individuals more nearly sovereign than ever before. And they will be treated that way. Sometimes violently, as enemies, sometimes as equal parties in negotiation, sometimes as allies. But however ruthlessly governments behave, particularly in the transition period, wedding the IRS with the CIA will avail them little."

Virus Mania

Authors: Torsten Engelbrecht, Dr. Claus Kohnlein, Dr. Samantha Bailey, Dr. Stefano Scoglio

Purchase: https://www.powells.com/book/virus-mania-9783752629781

The opening paragraph of this book says worlds about modern medicine:

"People are very susceptible to the idea that certain microbes act like predators, stalking our communities for victims and causing the most serious illnesses like COVID-19 (pulmonary infection) or hepatitis C (liver damage). Such an idea is thoroughly simple, perhaps too simple. As psychology and social science have discovered, humans have a propensity for simplistic solutions, particularly in a world that seems to be growing increasingly complicated. It also allows for a concept of the “enemy at the gates” allowing individuals to shift responsibility for their illnesses to a fungus, a bacteria or a virus. “Man prefers to perish rather than change his habits!” the author Leo Tolstoy once said."

As an avid reader of scientific papers, I find the authors' skepticism and insistence on rigorous experimental procedures refreshing. Too much weight is given to authority of "scientists" with far too little weight given to the scientific method.

The authors may or may not be right about the existence and contagiousness of viruses, but they do not claim to be. It is the other side which makes unsubstantiated, and unscientific claims. The current COVID-19 pandemic is so hollow of solid science it would make any researcher into a conspiracy theorist.

More generally, germ theory fails miserably to address many aspects of health, such as the fact that there are more bacteria cells in our bodies than human cells, and that we don't even understand our own internal ecological "terrain." This book opened my eyes to a whole theory of medicine (terrain theory) which empowers individuals and microbes both. This book is for you, if you have an interest in nutrition, alternative medicine, or even simply have had bad experiences (as I have) with modern prescriptions of antibiotics and other sledge hammer treatments.

Can everyone please stop the racism and race-baiting both? Race doesn't exist! If you are concerned about race or even identify yourself as part of a race, I highly recommend this lecture.

This professor breaks it down to it's scientific and sociological roots. Race. Does. Not. Exist.

Stop calling people (even yourself) "black" and "white." She recommends the more accurate and meaningful terms "pigmented" and "depigmented," and points out that it is a complex and beautiful spectrum.

Personally, I have an even more aggressive view towards different populations. Diversity of culture and genetics is strength. The most genetically and probably culturally diverse continent on Earth is Africa. Mixing different genes creates stronger offspring according to every genetic study ever.

In that sense, Africans are a stock of amazing strength for the human race to survive future catastrophes, *like plague.* I don't think individuals Africans are any better or worse, but it is logical and scientific to view their diversity as a strength and treasure of humanity.

Love, and make love, to our African brothers and sisters.

And on other side, systemic racism does exist, today. It is the current race-baiting leftists screaming about race every day on TV, and passing discriminatory laws against asians and other depigmented people. That is what systemic racism looks like. Making it harder for an asian kid to get into a good school, is the very definition of systemic racism. They are embedding not only the concept of race into the law, but discrimination based on that false concept.

Related to this divisive narrative of racism is cancel culture, an attempt to eliminate diversity of thought. How intolerant and unhealthy. Diverse cultures are beautiful and illuminate us all. Islamophobia, Christianphobia, Redneckphobia, any culturephobia: all of these things are like cutting down a rainforest to plant corn.

Be happy your neighbor is different, and open to maybe learning something from that diversity. Observe them, and consider *gasp* appropriating any positive habits you admire from their culture, and internalizing them. You do not need permission or forgiveness. Give credit where it is due, and it will make you a better person, not worse.

In my opinion, Martin Luther King Jr. was a hall of fame leader and speaker. It might surprise some CRT (Critical Race Theory) advocates, but I was taught extensively about his life, and writings in public school in the USA. His writings have always been inspirational to me, and the fact that he wrote compassionately and rationally from jail cells and places of real persecution shows his spirit.

In his most famous speech, the I Have a Dream speech, he said:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

If you've never watched it, here is a link.

Ask yourself if this is what you are internalizing when you think in terms of race. Would Dr. King be cheered or canceled in today's political climate? Do BLM, CRT and the 1619 project support this dream, or tear it down?

Do not embrace the race narrative. Do not identify yourself in racial terms. If, like me, you share the dream of Dr. King, you will work together with our brothers and sisters toward a day when people eradicate this divisive narrative, and try to live up to our potential as a nation, and as a single human species.

Celebrate diversity, denounce divisiveness.