<div dir="ltr">I enjoyed the article about Palantir’s shiny new super-database (<a href="https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true">https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true</a>). It raises serious concerns — privacy, surveillance, governments peeking where they maybe shouldn’t. All very important stuff.<br><br>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.<br><br>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?<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 23 Jun 2025 at 22:47, steve smith <<a href="mailto:sasmyth@swcp.com">sasmyth@swcp.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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... </p>
<p>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?<br>
</p>
<p>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. <br>
</p>
<p>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?)</p>
<p>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... <br>
</p>
<p>Bah Humbuggery!<br>
</p>
<div>On 6/23/25 1:30 PM, Tom Johnson wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"><img alt="" style="display: flex; border: 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://www.cloudhq-mkt29.us/mail_track/mail/13c630f943ffa43095_1750707005473?uid=226430" width="0" height="0">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.
<div>Tom</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at
1:09 PM Frank Wimberly <<a href="mailto:wimberly3@gmail.com" target="_blank">wimberly3@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">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.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Frank</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at
10:07 AM Merle Lefkoff <<a href="mailto:merlelefkoff@gmail.com" target="_blank">merlelefkoff@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><a href="https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true" target="_blank">https://beyondthefirewall.substack.com/p/palantirs-new-master-database-what?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true</a><br clear="all">
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.<br>
Center for Emergent Diplomacy<br>
<a href="http://emergentdiplomacy.org" target="_blank">emergentdiplomacy.org</a></div>
<div>Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA</div>
<div><br>
mobile: (303) 859-5609<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .--
.-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-.
..- .-..<br>
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br>
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays
9a-12p Zoom <a href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br>
to (un)subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br>
FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br>
archives: 5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a><br>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div><br clear="all">
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">Frank Wimberly<br>
140 Calle Ojo Feliz<br>
Santa Fe, NM 87505<br>
505 670-9918
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Research: <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2</a></div>
</div>
</div>
.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-.
--- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..<br>
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br>
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p
Zoom <a href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br>
to (un)subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br>
FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br>
archives: 5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a><br>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div><br clear="all">
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br>
Tom Johnson - <a href="mailto:tom@jtjohnson.com" target="_blank">tom@jtjohnson.com</a><br>
+1 505 577 6482<br>
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA<br>
<b><a href="https://nmwriters.org/" target="_blank">New Mexico Writers</a><br>
</b>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
<pre>.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom <a href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a>
to (un)subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com" target="_blank">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a>
FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a>
archives: 5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/" target="_blank">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/" target="_blank">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
</div>
.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..<br>
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br>
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom <a href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a><br>
to (un)subscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br>
FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a><br>
archives: 5/2017 thru present <a href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a><br>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a><br>
</blockquote></div>