Thank you baker.
Appreciate the work you are doing to keep this place alive & running.
Thanks anon. General Kwast is a very engaging speaker. Some random takes while it's still fresh -
Talk was really centered on the clash of civilizations with the Chinese Communist Party and what could happen if they could achieve a technological advantage over the rest of the planet through dominance in space. Chilling to consider.
The Middle Kingdom story about the 2 party infighting and how that led to a centuries-long degradation in China made me wonder of how much of what's going on in America today is being egged on by the CCP. So much of our collective focus & energy is concentrated on these internal squabbles while the grander issues are being totally ignored. Playing right into the CCP's hands.
His anecdote about westerners taking Chinese money as a deal with the devil sounded awfully like Hunter Biden & friends.
The wireless energy transmission concept was cool, but I wonder how much this can be achieved terrestrially with Wardenclyffe-style tech, etc. at a cheaper cost. He was really vague on the generation aspect of it (solar, but how?) and I'm skeptical that it might be a hook to justify the enormous investment at the sacrifice of the disclosure of other options.
Understand where he was coming from with the emphasis on entrepreneurialism, but couldn't disagree more with his veneration of Musk, Bezos & Branson and his belief that we should allow them to take the lead on this project. I only trust them slightly more than the CCP and we know why that is. There must be another option available, otherwise it's just another devil's bargain.
Finally, found it rather curious how many times he mentioned the number 33. Also curious about what he knows but isn't saying in public.
Look forward to reading other perspectives - definitely a worthy topic to discuss amongst frens.