Category: Personal Thoughts

Tomorrow Immutability and Trustless is this what we want?

2 words immutability and trustless. 

Such big words. The idea something is once written can never be changed, altered, or deleted as well as elegant. Or that there is no need to worry about anything, what is presented simply is one instance of knowledge not until more than two can be found is there the possibility of trust. But if more than a few assemble and not sure then!

In a trustless environment, there is no single entity that has authority over the system, and consensus is achieved without participants having to know or trust anything but the system itself. A definition from one of the major institutions helping to establish this new.  New what?

https://academy.binance.com/en/glossary/trustless

It is the removal of relationships so they can be replaced by something, no someone new that is bothersome.  Words like usury invade reality, and a few get very wealthy as the mass spend to survive, always being driven to need more. 

We have lost the ability to commune.  We lost track if the responsibility to be good stewards of the garden we were given responsibility for .

Crypto

I learned it in school then again at the hand of David Chaum

He taught me that if I kept the key length long the work hard and the hardware self defeating then a digital signature is absolute proof of presence under and agree set of conditions.

We then spoke of operating systems, payments, smart cards, cryptography: asymmetrical and symmetric. Rooted in PKI and the need to assume a trust less world.

Then there is money. We knew, time ago, we could use electrons to replicate notes and coins on ledgers and within balances.

Electronic Passports, National Identity Cards, and Drivers Licenses will have or have had a digital form.

Now we create Digital Assets.

Valued by a market.

Dreaming of unimaginable wealth or food on the table in the morning.

There is Evil

The Golden Rule assumes we collectively wish to be at peace and in harmony with each other.

Yet there are people who care only for themselves and what their greedy self desires.

Often greed is bound up in mystical beliefs and a focus on evil for its own sake.

If we have the right nurture we will respect the beliefs of others as they respect how we see things.

The Devil is how good people describe or justify the the evil acts of evil people. They separate the evil from an enemy, family member, neighbor, or colleague who may may not be perfect and desires a chance.

Democracy is at Stake

Democrats cannot give up on voting reform. The nation can’t afford it.
Opinion by the Editorial Board

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/23/voting-reform-cannot-die-future-democracy-is-stake/

When I think about democracy I wonder about how long it will take to truly become democratic.

This transformation requires the agility to accept change as society moves forward and expands on all sides, Be our differences density, education, technology, automation, learning, health, family, place, or position.

Memorial Day 2021

Here we stand a great nation struggling with the stalemate of division.  A nation bound in a history of firsts capable of so much more.

The struggle over tribal beliefs often times built on fear and reservation defies logic.  Religions and teaching are the source of nurture essential to achieving happiness.  If success in assuring peace requires that in early life each of us learns the Golden Rule,  then we must learn the way to make sure each of us understands the value of nurture in assuring happiness.

Thinking Voting

Today we seek to ensure each citizen eligible to vote can vote. Issues like location, geography, education are all elements of the values we must embrace as we work to assure the citizens ability to vote.

The first question of voter and eligibility takes us into the realm of who or how elections are managed. Candidates, contests, question are all elements of what is presented to the voter as a ballot. According to practices and rules, contests involve selecting candidates. While questions focus on yes/no answers or a score.

Anonymity creates a need to construct a mechanism to assure one vote per voter while preserving the privacy of the voters identity. This one requirement solved reduces the risk landscape significanttly and complicates the angle of attack.

Adhering to a security first continous improvement principles and integrating prevention and detection into the design of the source code.

I believe Voatz has solved the most challenging task and embraced best of breed components and partners to build a secure immutable record of each unique anonymously signed ballot.

The rest, as long as vendor certification mechanisms and coherent standards exist, has been done over and over again in: financial services, government services, defense, health, and retail. With sound software design and release procedures, built on quality principles inherent in the companies ethos

All we need is the right to improve democracy.

No one is chosen

How can any tribe claim to be chosen?  When so many other cultures and tribes emerged in other parts of the globe.  Each grew up with an understanding of the unimaginable Creator. God, by whatever name.

This elemental craving to be better than another goes back to the emergence of language. When we learned to communicate with together we began to wonder: how or why?

These two questions get more complicated when we wonder how those lights appear in the night sky or why the rain does not soak the earth.

Yet up against the Mediterranean this band of escaped Egyptian slaves claim lands from the inhabitants.

A long time ago out of Northeastern Africa Homosapien emerged.

Homo sapien an interesting evolution of the primate. They settled in tribal communities. Evolved and seeking shelter, food source, drinking water, and sanitation together.

A new world order seems to be the next step in man and woman’s evolution. Division twin tribes, cultures, people and religion create animosity. It is this animosity built on fear often times we we must address as we evolve.

Where would I live if both ice caps melted and all glaciers disappeared. How much water did you put on the Earth? Somewhere on what will become Eastern seaboard is where Philip wants to build, I’m home.

The next question, when does it matter. If I think of myself 2050 I would be 96. If I think beyond, 21 sounds like a good number.

The Israel mistake – Sheikh Jarrah – is part of Palestine

In August 2009, the court evicted the al-Hanoun and al-Ghawi families from two homes in Sheikh Jarrah and Jewish families moved in based on a Supreme Court ruling that the property was owned by Jews. The United Nations  coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry condemned the decision: “These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace.”[34] The US State Department called it a violation of Israel’s obligations under the Road map for peace.[35] Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said “Tonight, while these new settlers from abroad will be accommodating themselves and their belongings in these Palestinian houses, 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep.”[34] Yakir Segev of the Jerusalem municipal council responded: “This is a matter of the court. It is a civil dispute between Palestinian families and those of Israeli settlers, regarding who is the rightful owner of this property… Israeli law is the only law we are obliged to obey.”[36]

Sheikh Jarrah –  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheikh+Jarrah/@31.7743298,35.2207493,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x150329c27b01f693:0xce2261ccf7265d95!8m2!3d31.790504!4d35.228707

In 2021, clashes occurred between Palestinians and Israeli police over planned evictions in the neighborhood.[37][38]

Israeli Palestine May 12th, 2021

12 May 2021

 

What is a DAO and how do we govern tomorrow

Distributed autonomous organizations, a DAO.

When we think of governance and how we control society, we immediately must consider the realities of people in the tribes they belong to.

Recently the emergence of bitcoin, the understanding of the power of a distributed ledger, the use of a hash chain, the power of cryptographic processes, and the security of the devices we carry establishes a foundation for a brave new world.

What is governance? It is the method processes and mechanisms a society puts in place to establish order and ensure harmony?

The ancient Turks, Greeks, slave spoke of democracy, the idea that each member of the tribe, the town, the city, or the state could assemble and determine new laws, regulations, and best practices. We then evolved into Republican governments the concept of a group of people representing a larger number of citizens.

Influence and power define what shall evolve. In my lifetime, the idea of being able to plug the handset of your telephone into the back of a terminal and establish a connection to a computer somewhere out there was a novelty. For my father it is Time in Geneva when Aryanism stood out as a challenge, opportunity or threat. Telephones were just emerging and radios were available. TV was still not present. Paper books and libraries surrounded the environment we will call Geneva.

City on the Lake, what is this thing place in his history his is as relevant as your or mine.

One question why anonymity at the profound process of engagement. When you are something called anonymous I am not sure I want to play. If your anonymous is mandatory; I don’t want to play.

The innovative spiritual and the. Nurturing essence of life.. How this evolves involves countless engagements.

Each sublime note to the fabric of the virtual environment we present to the public is.

And, all of us form the fabric of the public.

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said,* ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’* then that person need not honor the father.* 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word* of God. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

9 in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines

“Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”

What shall we do? Simple honor the one Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31

You commit to what you believe in with a robust desire to adhere to the moral imperatives. The one God is the same God written about in so many different ancient lore.

The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32

32

Who is your neighbor?

Anyone you engage in an event. An event is is anything we all seek to record. By the way any unit of one can record as long as all parties are aware. It is our contracts and promises. Those such as payment, voting, identity and influence.

See you next time.

Spirituality and Religion

Long ago, the idea of religion led me to understand we could control the masses through their indoctrination by a few. When speaking to someone of their religious beliefs, they remind us that if we put our faith in Jesus or the Almighty, they call God, all will be right with the world. They point to the ever after and the chance to live in heaven. They argue we live in a sinful world, and it is man’s sin that brings upon us the challenges many of us have faced. Some talk of reincarnation this thing called soul, nirvana has some future we cannot know.

On the other side of the discussion, there is spirituality, that inner sense of understanding. Some would argue our spirituality comes from our religious beliefs. Others would suggest it is better to have a spiritual foundation not based on religion but your inner sense of self. This inner sense of self begs the question,

“Who Am I.”

History repeats itself. Throughout time charismatic leaders have been able to grab hold of the hearts and minds of the masses. These charismatic individuals have led their followers in either positive or negative ways.

The question really should be who is in control. Is it the charismatic leader, or are there others who sit in the darkness operating as puppet masters responsible for the strife and misery inflicted upon many as these few enrich themselves?

Governance a Question for Society

Distributed autonomous organizations, a DAO

When we think of governance and how we control society, we immediately must consider the realities of the people and the tribes to which they belong. Without understanding their history and the context of the culture, we gamble with knowing the truth as we try to understand their focus, purpose, and future.

What is governance? It is the methods, processes, and mechanisms a society puts in place to establish order and ensure harmony? The ancient Greeks spoke of democracy, the idea that each member of the tribe, the town, the city, or the state could assemble and determine new laws, regulations, and best practices. We then evolved into representative structures where appointed, elected, or heredity groups of people came together to represent many citizens.

Long ago, yet, in my lifetime, the idea of plugging the handset of your telephone into the back of a terminal and dial into a computer somewhere out there was a novelty.

Last decade, in response to the financial crisis brought on by those who sought to profit from the creation of financial instruments derived from the derivate of another financial derived instruction, we read Bitcoin: A Peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System.  This seminal piece of work drove us to understand the immutable and trustless power of a distributed ledger.

When bitcoin emerged, Satoshi’s whitepaper described a new world order. A world built on mathematics, founded in a meritocracy, and governed by software. It makes one wonder about the written into science fiction novels. They expressed concern and worry about computers and pure logic taking over the world.  Sometimes humanity became technology’s servant.

While learning, I remembered a series of conversations with David Chaum as he explained the concept of a hash chain, the power of cryptography, digital signatures, and certificates as I explored the security of the devices we carry.  This journey drove me to explore relationships, artifacts, cards, and credentials.

After 45 years serving the financial community with a technical orientation, I came to understand the power of identity, the fallacy of software, and the integrity of people. At the same time, history was rewritten, curriculums were changed over and over again. Disinformation, trust, fake news, and propaganda meld into this cacophony. A collage of perspectives linked to our identity and flavor soured by the relationships and encounters we have had during our limited existence. Today I wonder about elections, opinion polls, proxy votes, and the selection of representative government.

Today it is time to embrace a citizen-centric view of technology.  If we do not stop and think, the brave to a new world we may construct could look like 1984 or a world under the watchful eye of Skynet.  If we reflect on what we, the citizen, want and direct what we do to achieve that collective vision.  We can work as one together and establish the foundation of that brave new world we all seek.

A distributed autonomous organization seeks to address a myriad of challenges. As peers in a decentralized structure, the participants deliberate, vote, and reach

 

consensus.

Like in any organization, people are attracted to thoughts and ideas that meld well with their own. But what makes this so new? Long ago, when representative governments or councils were created, the community decided to allow a few to manage the needs of the many.

What is so different? Our interfaces have changed. The way we engage has expanded and no longer restructured to verbal or hand-delivered written communication. In written communication, there is a thought.  I stare at my computer screens; my pen is poised over a tablet as I use script to write notes or the keyboard to chat across multiple instant messaging applications.  While staring at a word processor, PowerPoint presentation, or spreadsheet, I can engage and share with people spread across the planet using my cameras, speakers, and microphones.

A distributed Autonomous Organization is simply the grouping of people using technology to widen the breadth of participation.  No longer restricted to location, we can continue to expand networks and engage with our peers.

Voter suppression cannot be what the political parties seek

I am confused. I thought the goal of a democratic society was to ensure each citizen of age had the ability and the right to vote. In 2020 there was and still is a pandemic often in history there have been natural disasters these challenges create issues voters have to consider when attempting to voice their intent on who shall represent them at a city, municipal, county, state, or federal level.

Many legislatures, Secretaries of State, or Lieut. Governors decided to expand the ability for voters to vote by mail. Our previous president argued mail-in voting was subject to fraud and built a case or better-said conspiracy theory that would allow him to contest the election of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. Now the GOP is busy attempting to rewrite the law that will remove the ability of those unable to attend the voting place to use mail-in ballots. Why one should ask! To restrict the number and class of people who can vote in a democracy is unacceptable. Our political class should wish and work and make sure our democratic process of voting enables each of us the ability and the right to vote. Any attempt to limit someone’s ability to vote should be classed as a criminal act. By making this statement one could easily argue the GOP are criminals.

Often in history, those who seek power seek to suppress those who wish to also participate. We can only hope the good people of this country will decide that we are a free nation built upon laws that engender respect and seek to include everyone.

Social Media and the Threat of Mis or is it Dis Information

A long time ago, while installing Voice, Video, and Digital services on Trading Rooms in London and on Wall Street, stories of dis-information and the ability to manipulate the market were often told around the Bar at Harry’s on Hanover Square. Today we see manipulation in the political and economic spheres capable of alternating world order and drives nations into Civil war.

We must find a way of removing the risk of misinformation and restore truth and fair play into everything we hear and do.

Gamestop_mess

What is happening to this country

It is Monday, January 11, 2021. Last week we watched the riots. We saw people breaking into the US Capital and gleefully waving their Trump and Confederate flags as they stormed this house of the people.

This nation is divided. Be they conservatives, or liberals. People who believe in social justice or white supremacy. Or, individuals who align themselves to the left or the right. We are a nation divided!

One can pontificate as the media does.  They fill countless hours as they work to brainwash their followers into believing one story or another. Where is the truth? It lies someplace dormant in the minds of all. To find it we must explore the reaches of the left and the depths of the right. We must understand and contemplate how white supremacy and religious intolerance drives people to hatred.

Christians speak of their Savior Jesus Christ and we read the red words in the Bible. Jesus was the ultimate socialist he believed in a world that cared for each other. He spoke of how we must tolerate, accept, and embrace our enemies. He reminded us of the golden rule – love thy neighbor as you wish to be loved.

Instead, men and women seek to be superior to others. Tribalism and intolerance greed contempt and animosity.

https://andreae.com/Bible/CENTER_OF_THE_BIBLE.pps

Where is our salvation? How do we restore sanity?

Reflecting on the year 2020

This morning I am drawn by the press to reflect on who and what we are.

I was glad to read this editorial from one of the various pro-Trump papers. https://nypost.com/2020/12/27/give-it-up-mr-president-for-your-sake-and-the-nations/

It causes me to believe that this nation would be great if “we the people” found common ground and work together to build upon our ancestors’ creation.

We have issues with race and wealth https://www.minneapolisfed.org/events/2021/racism-and-the-economy-focus-on-education.

This discussion of race then leads us to reflect on our history and how the south effectively established segregation as a means of voter suppression. https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2020/12/19/reconstruction-reshaped-america-along-lines-contested-today

We distort the truth to satisfy the minds of those in power. Greed and pride are two sins we each must own and work to remove from our evil character.

We must remember, we construct history to serve those who seek to control and influence our young and impressionable children https://twitter.com/pandreae/status/1343923775998455810.

The courts, multiple states Attorney Generals, and those who ran the elections in over 9,000 jurisdictions all agree we worked tirelessly in the face of a pandemic to enable the American citizens’ right to vote. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-lessons-2020

We must respect the people’s decision and stop attempting to claim fraud when no one can convince a court of law and the republican judges appointed by Donald Trump that there was massive voter fraud.

We then must also recognize there was an active attempt to intimate people. https://www.propublica.org/article/pistols-a-hearse-and-trucks-playing-chicken-why-some-voters-felt-harassed-and-intimidated-at-the-polls White men banishing guns carrying Trump flags is the typical image we saw throughout this nation.

And, Today, our President shares his anger with the general public https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump.

It is time we restore order, accept the will of the people, and work together for the future we all crave.