I enjoyed the article about Palantir’s shiny new super-database ( https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true). It raises serious concerns — privacy, surveillance, governments peeking where they maybe shouldn’t. All very important stuff.
That said, a lot of the arguments feel like dot-connecting exercises where not all the dots are actually dots. We should watch out for our own blind spots — it’s easy to scream “Big Brother!” when sometimes it’s just a confused uncle with a clipboard. Yes, if misused, a system like this could go very wrong. It could profile people unfairly, spy without oversight, or just drown in its own complexity. But — and here’s my cautiously optimistic side talking — it could also make government less clunky and a bit smarter. Which would be a plot twist, right? So, I’m not ready to say Palantir = evil. I get the fears, but I also see potential. Of course, I say this with low confidence, because the facts are messy and my inner optimist probably thinks Skynet just needs a good therapist. Bottom line: we shouldn't run from tech, but we do need strong rules, watchdogs, and actual humans in charge — the kind that can tell the difference between helping citizens and quietly tagging them for future reference. On Mon, 23 Jun 2025 at 22:47, steve smith <[email protected]> wrote: > I watched Palantir come up from "nothing"... they were (from my limited > perspective) just another "Beltway Bandit" like the ones I had to sit > opposite in meetings in DC where they would A) Work 120 hour weeks to build > their business; B) Spend half that week lobbying the decision makers > overtly and covertly; C) lie through their teeth about their capabilities, > their competitor's (including LANL, etc), and what was even conceptually > (much less practically) possible. > > When I left LANL (2008), I was doing work with UNM (nod to Ed if he's > watching for nods) for various DoD types (DTRA most notably) in the general > field of intelligence fusion. Palantir wasn't a *big* name yet but was "in > the buzz" and represented (IMO) the worst of what I described above... I > didn't know much about the PayPal Mafia or Peter Thiel then... > > The Netflix? series "Person of Interest" and Peter Finch offer a vague > parallel but with Finch having a value set we might applaud, not just envy > (greedy-bastard-billionare)? The whole storyline reads (watches) very > differently today than it did back when it was produced... yet another bit > of fictional prophecy come to fruition? > > I think glen has made reference to his "investment strategies" or maybe > more to the point "aesthetic" in the past which I remember approving uf, > even if I can't remember the details. I suppose *all* investments are > "rent seeking". Noam Chomsky around 2002 visited UNM to give a public > lecture and during the Q&A, NAFTA came up as well as the question of "what > are some socially responsible investments?" and his answer was "socially > responsible investing is an oxymoron". The crowd, roughly half-students > and half tenured academics and other professional-class gave out an equally > loud sigh of relief/approval and of chagrin/disappointment. > > I didn't get off of Elno's coat-tails until he crawled into DJT's ugly > circle last year... I rode him "up" and "back down", feeling uncomfortable > the whole time... I *knew* that if/when DJT took the White House with > Elno's backing, TSLA would soar... and I predicted it would also eventually > fall... but either way, I didn't want to make money off his assholery but > even more I didn't want to lose money over it either. I also divested > from Bezos and GoogleBois while taking them off my list for places to spend > money. I'd already avoided ZuckerSchmuck pretty well, so had less to do > there (I do have an instagram and a Oculus account, but don't spend any > money in their world, just let them mis-use my eyeballs regularly?) > > With the DumpsterFire administration we have now, I don't even want to do > my "rent seeking" with Government instruments... and the CryptoNonsense is > as bad/worse (esp with Trump's dirty fingers in the pie). I think Gold is > a bad thing to hoard, but then *anything* is a bad thing to hoard! > Besides US currency isn't that good of mattress filler anyway... > > Bah Humbuggery! > On 6/23/25 1:30 PM, Tom Johnson wrote: > > Same thing for me, Frank. I had Palintir for a long time, but unloaded it > a couple of weeks ago for, I hope, the correct ethical reasons. > Tom > > On Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at 1:09 PM Frank Wimberly <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I read a little about Palantir last week and then I checked their stock >> price. I put in an order to buy 10 shares at 138. Compared to other >> holdings, that's trivial. I told my wife about the order and she seemed >> worried. She usually doesn't care what I do regarding stocks but she >> wanted to research PLTR. She decided that I shouldn't buy it for moral and >> ethical reasons. I didn't quite understand but I canceled the order. >> That's the first time she has ever gotten involved. To be fair, most of >> our investments that I manage are shares of the magnificent 7: Amazon, >> Apple, etc. >> >> Frank >> >> On Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at 10:07 AM Merle Lefkoff <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> >>> https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true >>> >>> -- >>> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. >>> Center for Emergent Diplomacy >>> emergentdiplomacy.org >>> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA >>> >>> mobile: (303) 859-5609 >>> >>> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. >>> / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. >>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >>> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >>> archives: 5/2017 thru present >>> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >>> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >>> >> >> >> -- >> Frank Wimberly >> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz >> Santa Fe, NM 87505 >> 505 670-9918 >> >> Research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2 >> .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / >> ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> archives: 5/2017 thru present >> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >> > > > -- > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Tom Johnson - [email protected] > +1 505 577 6482 > Santa Fe, New Mexico USA > > *New Mexico Writers <https://nmwriters.org/> *++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... > --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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