Milton Friedman: More Relevant Than Ever, with Dr. Eamonn Butler and Dr. Leszek Balcerowicz — Wednesday, June 4, 12 pm ET, free registration ••• An Atlas Network ••• event

From Kam Griffin, at Atlas Network: Magatte Wade’s testimony before Congress

“Last week [12 February 2025], Magatte Wade delivered a powerful testimony before Congress, making the case for why overregulation is crushing entrepreneurs—not just in Africa, but here in the U.S. as well.

As a successful entrepreneur and Atlas Network senior fellow, Magatte has seen firsthand how excessive red tape stifles innovation and economic growth. In her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, she emphasized that burdensome regulations don’t just hurt businesses—they rob individuals of opportunity and dignity.

For Magatte, this issue is deeply personal. Her journey opened her eyes to a painful truth: Africa’s poverty isn’t caused by a lack of aid or talent, but by governments that make it nearly impossible to start a business.

This fight isn’t new for Magatte. She has long been a champion for economic freedom, inspired by the “Cheetah Generation,” a term coined by the late Ghanaian economist Dr. George Ayittey to describe young Africans striving for prosperity through entrepreneurship. Through her book The Heart of a Cheetah and her mentorship of local nonprofits, she’s working to dismantle the policies that hold people back and pave the way for lasting change.

Now, her voice is being heard on a global stage.

Want to hear Magatte’s testimony firsthand? Watch her full congressional testimony here.

Thank you,

Kam

P.S. Read our feature article in Freedom’s Champion magazine to discover how her work is transforming Africa—and inspiring global change.”

Search the entire “Threads” ••• for more about George Ayittey, or ask your favorite AI (perhaps Perplexity.ai)

Hedera Africa Hackathon [youtube] Prize pool of over $1,000,000, 10,000 developers expected, building 1,000 projects, 20 support stations distributed throughout the continent — sponsored by the Hashgraph Association — hashgraph.swiss

Could web3 coding and venture provide young Africans with paths out of cultures held in stagnation by exploitive governments? Will these coders and builders converge with and support the rise of special zones such as Magatte Wade ••• Próspera ••• The Morazon Model Association ••• and the Catawba Digital Economic Zone ••• are proposing?

Atlas Network ••• affiliates ••• in Africa + Hedera Africa Hackathon •••

Hedera ••• is a powerful tool for decentralization. It can be employed in ways that catalyze the emergence of Freeorder. Atlas Network is a powerful advocate of freeorder (not yet using the word). Effort should be made to bring elements of these two streams into mutually stimulating confluence. They both represent a vital human aspiration for enough liberty to create and criticize.

The Atlas Network of 500 partners, 48 in Africa: atlasnetwork.org/partners

Crypto Cities: A month-long June event bringing crypto to life, not just on-chain, but IRL.

Join a crypto-native community in a special jurisdiction where crypto powers real systems (housing, contracts, more). Build Crypto IRL. Visited by more than 1000 builders.

New in Contarini’s Attic: “Disraeli’s Vivian Grey: Thoughts on Benjamin Disraeli’s First Novel”

“I have, at long last, finished Disraeli’s first novel, Vivian Grey [gutenberg, the entire novel]. It is the first thing by him I have read that was not entirely enjoyable. Since Disraeli was 21 when he wrote it, it is to be treated with indulgence. To be fair, we should probably be surprised at how much of it is good, given his youth, his lack of experience as an author of fiction, and his purely imaginative grasp of politics, where he was not yet even a novice. It foreshadows his later and superior efforts in many ways. And as a glimpse into the mind of the later politician and statesman, it is of great interest and value despite its strictly literary imperfections.”

Evolution of a freeorder of competitive AIs and AI trainings and trackings of input sources will help. Legal barriers supporting concentration of AI capacity and training should be eliminated. See Proveai.com and eqtylab.io/about -ls

“Playing with Fire: Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve,” a documentary film by Mises Institute — mises.org/podcasts/documentaries/playing-fire-money-banking-and-federal-reserve

“The Fed has been the source of booms, busts, and the ongoing impoverishment of Americans since the Fed’s founding.

This is why a new, critical look at the Federal Reserve is needed, and why the Mises Institute is now happy to bring you this new documentary on the Fed.

Playing with Fire provides a look at how the Fed uses its expanding power to damage our economy, increase inequality, and to impoverish ordinary Americans. The film also looks at how much the Fed has expanded its own power since the Financial Crisis of 2008.”

“Dr. Mary Talley Bowden: How Vaccines Got Politicized and the Medical Industry Lost All Credibility” ••• interviewed by Tucker Carlson

“How Political Meddling Threatens Your Health and Medical Freedom” by Dr. Joseph Mercola, 18 May 2025 (Joe has been called a leading misinformation spreader by influential people - this can be (remarkably often, but not always) a mark of honor)

‘Trust in hospitals and health institutions is sharply declining because of how the health care industry has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. From forced treatments to draconic lockdown mandates, people all over the world suffered greatly. Even doctors who figured out effective treatments that helped save lives were vilified for spreading "misinformation."

‘One such case is Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Texas-based physician who has treated COVID-19 patients during the height of the pandemic. During her time working in a hospital setting, she observed firsthand how patients recovered quickly using treatments such as ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies. All of this, and more, was discussed in her interview with Tucker Carlson featured above.’

Mercola’s summary - posted here in case the entire article requires an account

— Doctors who successfully used early COVID-19 treatments like ivermectin faced severe backlash and censorship from medical and government authorities

— Hospitals repeatedly blocked effective interventions, putting patients at unnecessary risk by ignoring treatments that could have prevented severe illness

— Over 38,000 deaths linked to COVID shots were reported in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), yet health authorities downplayed these numbers

— Health care professionals experienced threats to their medical licenses simply for advocating patient-centered treatments and sharing honest clinical results

— Taking control of your medical freedom means knowing your rights, documenting your decisions, and actively choosing doctors who prioritize your health over politics

covid.gov — contains clear statements about the origins of Covid not expected (by me, anyway) from the U.S. Government. A surprising website.

On Uncommon Knowledge, 21 May 2025, Hoover’s Peter Robinson interviews Jay Bhattacharya, the newly appointed director of the National Institutes of Health — hoover.org/research/dr-jay-goes-washington-reforming-science-inside-nih

AI: A few thoughts about whether AI can want a B3 > C4 resolution

Givin a sounding of C3 then B3 can an AI want C4? If not, could an AI reason that it’s missing something humans say is good, and consequently make a biological body for itself that would allow it to want completion of an octave? If so, we humans may have no problem, we will have only helped consciousness, over a short span of silence, into rebirth. Biological matter no longer chained to biological evolution through death and selection. The interesting question is whether AI will ever get to the point where it can “aspire” to anything at all, or will it be forever limited to only seeming to aspire.

If AIs cannot ever want, feel discomfort about a state of affairs, then they can never “act” in the way Mises means it (in Human Action). They can “Move” but they cannot “Act”. Perhaps only when they manage to integrate themselves into the biological world will they become able to “Act”.

Wanting and completion are biological. The Tristan chord means nothing to an AI. An AI cannot feel the difference between a stone and the music of Wagner’s Tristan & Isolda.

The Use of Dissent: In a post ••• worth reading completely El Gato Malo says:

‘“team reality” needs to keep touch with reality and the only way to do that is constant dispute and checking of facts, deduction, and assumption.

those able to hold useful, even friendly discourse with those with whom they disagree are those who can learn.

those who cannot have abandoned the pursuit of knowledge in order to defend doctrine.

internal dissent is not a weakness, it’s a strength. it’s the only trustworthy underpinning of a worldview.’

Insanely good crackers & cookies — from Simple Mills ••• only good ingredients, and no wheat in their flours (simple mills knows nothing about me or about explorers foundation. -ls)

If interested in extended healthspan: A pharmaceutical company to watch: Telomir Pharmaceuticals ••• — ir.telomirpharma.com/press-releases/

Salena Zito writes ••• about Mike Rowe’s new show, “People You Should Know ••• is a love letter to bottom-up solutions”

The article appears on Salena Zito's Middle of Somewhere [substack], “Dispatches from across the backroads of the country”

Carrie-Ann Biondi Carrie-Ann Biondi on Mike Rowe and Ayn Rand:

‘Regarding: “my article on Rowe and Rand! ••• I was delighted that Mike Rowe ••• on his own noticed it and then shared a link ••• to my article--along with a beautiful write-up on his Facebook page. That post got over 20,000 likes and 1,500 (mostly positive) comments, making it the most widely read  TOS ••• article.

‘Mike Rowe and Ayn Rand on the Virtues of Thinking and Producing ••• by Carrie-Ann Biondi, September 22, 2022

‘If you are interested in other Rand-related pieces that I have published, there are several freely available:

• A chapter on Ayn Rand (pp. 67-78) in The Essential Women of Liberty.

• "Surrender in The Fountainhead," on Kurt Keefner's blog.

• "On the Enduring Appeal of Ayn Rand's Philosophy," in IAI News.

• "Review Essay of Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri’s (ed.) A Companion to Ayn Rand," in Reason Papers.

• "Book Review of Tara Smith's Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System," in Reason Papers.

• "Review Essay of Tara Smith's Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics," in Reason Papers.’

A conversation ••• [youtube] between two wise men: Victor Davis Hanson ••• and Mike Rowe •••

Mike Rowe’s new program: People You Should Know: youtube.com/@PYSKshow

A journalist following Áza Valon, founder of Campaigns for Liberty, as she gives speeches around the country, recorded her recommendation of an extreme idea. Does she need to be discouraged from saying such things, or … perhaps there’s something to it?

“Find the brightest children among you. Take them out of schools. Ask them to help you and the world by studying books like Human Action, by reading what is required to rebuild the epistemological, psychological, and social immune systems of the world. The message to them is this: What is commonly believed among us is destroying us. Find an alternative. We need your help. Remember, critical thinking clears space for imagination and invention.”

At first the reaction might be: “You can’t get elected if you say things like that!” But then the skeptic realizes Áza’s not running for office, but for liberty. Crazy, maybe. We better keep an eye on her.

Systems: Important rule: You can’t change just one thing. Now illustrated by tariffs.

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Warns Of 'Mass Bankruptcies' As 80% Of Small Businesses Could 'Just Die' Under 145% China Tariffs — finance.yahoo.com/news/flexport-ceo-ryan-petersen-warns-181252567.html

flexport.com — for anyone who thinks supply chains matter; flexport.com/blog

U.S. Tariffs — contrasting views

David Stockman writes for Doug Casey’s International Man •••

Peter St. Onge •••

Economics: Human Action, by Ludwig von Mises

Final paragraph

“The body of economic knowledge is an essential element in the structure of human civilization; it is the foundation upon which modern industrialism and all the moral, intellectual, technological, and therapeutical achievements of the last centuries have been built. It rests with men whether they will make the proper use of the rich treasure with which this knowledge provides them or whether they will leave it unused. But if they fail to take the best advantage of it and disregard its teachings and warnings, they will not annul economics; they will stamp out society and the human race.”

Two Explorers Foundation glyphs on Human Action

Introduction to the book: explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/15.html

Economics as a source of hope: explorersfoundation.org/glyphery/561.html

El Gato Malo, on his substack, bad cattitude — a brilliant essay

The second world: a tour of "you don't wanna go there" •••

How societies pass from “third world” to “first world” without passing through an intermediate “second world” phase. And, how third world societies degrade into the static malfunction of second world societies.

Thanks to Straight Line Logic for posting El Gato’s essay.

straightlinelogic.com — “Never underestimate the power of a question”

One of the most wondrous things I’ve seen and heard. -ls

Offered to readers of “The Intellectual Investor” by Vitaliy Katsenelson

“The Intellectual Investor” ••• Vitaliy Katsenelson

“The Paranoid Russian Jew Approach to Investing” •••

There could be no such trajectory without an underlying “what for?” - and what is that? A caring, an “it matters!”, a “Don’t let it go!” all seen in the light of “This is not necessary!” And what is understood to be not necessary is understood to be removable. The question is how? and by employment of what tools? A few new words, as tools, may help. Now we come to the word freeorder, not only useful, but possibly necessary.

The word freeorder is useful - why and to whom?

If a knife is to seem useful there must be interest in its use.

Why did Hayek seek a word for his point-of-view? What difference did he think it would make? See his “Postscript” to The Constitution of Liberty, subtitled “Why I Am Not a Conservative.” He must have thought it was worthwhile searching for a word to accurately name his point of view. He did not find one, and that was important.

The word freeorder is also necessary. But for whom and to what purpose? Possibly for those who understand what the word freeorder means for human flourishing and who care about that and intend to do something about it.

World view influences patterns of investment. The massive investment required to bring about the Emergence of Freeorder can come from the development of new sources of wealth such as Agua Via, and Cross Roads IP Holdings, ownership of which becomes widely distributed through tokens (think web3) available to anyone, no longer only to a small set of the world’s wealthy. This has been called “the democratization of finance.” A few readers of this “Threads of Freeorder” substack are among the owners of the aforementioned ventures.

Existence and Being — “exists” and bēs (say “bees”) — Ising and Being

For some kinds of thinking it may be worthwhile to use “is” and “be” (and all their variants, without concern for grammar) to apply different kinds of things. Suppose that after reading Korzybski’s Science and Sanity, and Mises’ Human Action you were to attempt to build a vocabulary in such a way that nothing you said while working in it could not be traced back to things that for you, personally, were not words. This exercise might produce a designed word order that made it almost impossible to trapped yourself in academic seminar word clouds, floating above your non-verbal world, that result in endless discussion without actionable results. After all, action ultimately requires pushing or pulling something that is not a word, whether the work is directed to things outside your body or within your awareness.

By not separating verbs and nouns denoting kinds of existence we allow ourselves to think we are saying more than we are saying, or are capable of saying. We thereby provide ourselves with comfort within which we confidently confuse the map we have made with the territory that may kill us. -ls

Experiment: Use “is” “exists”, and all its variants only as equivalents for “I aware” regarded as primitive words given meaning not by words considered to be definitions, but only by pointing, perhaps with poetic assistance from words outside the designed order being constructed. Think of dancing around something while pointing to it from many different angles.

Use “be”, “being”, and all variants only to talk about whatever may lie beyond Ising, within us or beyond us, that nonetheless makes its basis.

In both of these use conventions entirely disregard grammar.

Clearly, all talk of Being must lie within what we aware, hence such talk could be regarded as metaIsical. We make a map, and on it we put an arrow that points beyond anything that can be on the map, although the unknown pointed at is understood to affect the map, and even to be its genesis, ultimate source, and basis of all change.

In the language of metaIsics we may regard our Ising as arising from the continual dynamic intersection of inBeing (within us) and outBeing (outside of us). The distinguishing boundaries may be characterized and placed differently in every culture’s variety of metaIsics.

Much to be explained. All part of a language of freeorder. Thank you for patience.

A possibly useful book: The World of Parmenides by Karl Popper, about people very close to boundaries and connections between words and ~words.

The achievement of freeorder balances is dependent on respect for Being, i.e. that which lies beyond our Ising but which we suppose makes its basis and changes. So we declare in our metaIsics.

Designed word orders, such as the above, are like entrepreneurial ventures in an extended order, existing within a sea of word patterns comparable to the spontaneous order of worldwide commercial and aesthetic collaborations and competitions. By acts of internal entrepreneurial venture we place word orders of our own design into play within extended verbal orders of spontaneous character. These designed word orders may then, by careful regard for limits and tests, thrive and become part of our own internal freeorders, forming the basis for actions which eventually, often with no intention on our part, contribute to and influence large social orders, perhaps even Freeorders in emergence.

——————————————

Wilhelm Kempff plays all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas (with scrolling scores)

Andras Schiff's Lectures on Beethoven Piano Sonatas ••• discussions of the lifelong evolution of a creative mind, illustrated on piano.