Tag Archives: Freedom

Bringing Starlink to Iran

September 20, 2022 tremendousblog Leave a comment

Iran’s government has shut down the internet in many parts of the country amid mass protests. But Elon Musk is offering Iranians a lifeline.

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Starlink will ask for an exemption to Iranian sanctions in this regard
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2022

Musk hopes to provide internet to Iranians cut off from the web. He is seeking an exemption from Iran sanctions to do so.

Protests spread across Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody last week. Masha Amini, a healthy 22 year old, died of a supposed heart attack shortly after being arrested.

Her crime: not wearing the hijab, or traditional veil. Her family denies she had any history of heart problems, per NPR.

Protesters have flooded the streets of the capital, Tehran, chanting “Death to the Dictator.” At least five protesters have been killed by security forces.

The protests are occurring against a backdrop of economic misery. Inflation is over 50% a year and the price of basmati rice alone is up 200% from 2021.

In the face of unrest, the Iranian government has shut down cell service in central Tehran. It has also cut the entire Kurdish region in the northwest off from the internet.

Starlink may be able to reconnect protesters with the world. But it won’t be easy.

Starlink requires a special receiver. The company would have to smuggle large numbers of them into Iran to get people online.

Getting the units into Iran will be difficult. But the receiver is small enough to hide and can support many users at once.

Restored internet will help Iranians coordinate protests. It will also let them shine a light on their government’s thuggery.

I applaud Musk’s work to get Iranians back online. Best of luck!

What do you think of Musk’s attempt to get Starlink to Iran? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

Mass Protests in China as Bank Runs Continue

July 12, 2022 tremendousblog 2 Comments

Major news out of China as over 1,000 protestors in Zhengzhou demanded their savings back:

This is huge. Don't know how this will end. Henan bank is NOT the only one that is having problems with liquidity. All four Chinese banks are having the same issue. Some depositors found they can save and can NOT withdraw money with their bank cards. #bankrun #China #CCP pic.twitter.com/5WYYgpmIWP
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) July 10, 2022

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There are runs on several Chinese banks. The depositors, desperate not to lose their life’s savings, are taking great risk to speak out.

From the Indian Express:

In a rare large protest in China, over one thousand angry bank depositors, who have been protesting for access to their frozen funds, faced off with the police in Henan province leading to a violent clampdown Sunday.
Depositors of four rural banks in this central province have not been able to withdraw their funds since April. Sporadic protests have been going on since May.

Many smaller Chinese banks promised high interest rates to attract deposits. They advertised those rates on platforms run by Chinese tech giants like Baidu and JD.

Now, these small banks are finding themselves unable to pay those high rates. Worse yet, some banks have been infiltrated by criminals who are siphoning money out:

In the present case it is being alleged that these banks attracted deposits by offering attractive terms and high interest rates. A report in the South China Morning Post in May said that while Bank of China offers 2.75% a year interest on five-year deposits, the found banks in question were giving around 4.5% a year on their deposit products through third-party platforms.
Also, a statement by the Henan police on July 10 said that a criminal group had gradually taken control of several rural banks and was moving out funds.

Behind the peril facing Chinese banks is a weak economy. Intense COVID lockdowns this year have hammered economic activity.

An overheated property market is also crumbling. This has triggered defaults at major property developers, including Evergrande.

Something interesting happens when people see depositors struggling to get their money out. They start wondering about their own bank.

This is how a contagion could spread through the Chinese banking system. Cue It’s a Wonderful Life, without the happy ending.

The Chinese government’s violent repression of small savers in Zhengzhou may be just the beginning.

China is in a sensitive period. The 20th Party Congress, enormously important to the Communist elite, happens in November.

At that meeting, Xi hopes to secure a third term in office and effectively become leader for life. He and his underlings are likely to repress any “disturbance” during this time.

Already, China’s massive surveillance apparatus is being turned on these small savers.

Zhengzhou protesters have had their “health codes” turned off. Without the green QR code on their phones, they can go nowhere and do nothing.

The health code system was created to stem COVID. Predictably, it’s now being turned against dissidents.

I’m not a particularly religious man, but this Orwellian act reminded me of a passage from the Bible:

It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,
so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.
Revelation 13:16-17

I hope these decent, hardworking people will get their life’s savings back. I also hope we always resist this type of tyranny here at home.

What do you think is next in China? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know.

Help Ukraine Fight for Freedom

March 1, 2022 tremendousblog Leave a comment

I had a whole post written for you today, all about startups, founders, fundraising, yada yada yada.

But the war in Ukraine made that seem pretty insignificant. So today, I’d like to talk briefly about how we can help.

People in Ukraine are fighting for freedom, and for their lives. A tyrant is trying to enslave them and kill anyone who resists.

Ukrainians need our help.

Please join me in donating to the cause. Here are some great options to easily send a donation:

National Bank of Ukraine account to support the armed forces (note: does not accept American Express, but other cards are okay)
Revived Soldiers Ukraine, a nonprofit that helps with soldiers’ medical rehabilitation
Extensive list of other vetted charities helping Ukraine

I pray the brave Ukrainians can fight off Russia and restore peace and democracy. Glory to Ukraine!

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Business, Politics, Technology

China’s Tech Elite Is Running Scared

August 3, 2021 tremendousblog Leave a comment

China’s government has launched a severe crackdown on its leading tech companies. Didi Chuxing, the equivalent of Uber, has been removed from app stores and ed tech companies are now required to be nonprofit, likely wiping out their investors.

A major index of Chinese tech stocks is down over 40% since February, even as US tech stocks climb:

China’s tech elite is responding by placating the government however it can, including a rapid increase in philanthropy in response to government messages that it expects bigger donations from the rich.

But it doesn’t stop there. Alibaba has been under intense pressure from the Chinese government since founder Jack Ma criticized some aspects of its performance, which led to his disappearance for several months. Alibaba has since created a special app to promote “Xi Jinping thought”.

China’s top entrepreneurs are also looking for an escape hatch in case their appeasement of the government doesn’t work. Interest from wealthy Chinese in moving abroad is increasing amid the government crackdown.

Sudden donations, new Communist dogma apps, and quiet plans to leave…these are acts of desperation.

I see a couple results from China’s crackdown:

1) Major businessmen in tech and other sectors are distracted. They’re worried about appeasing the government and/or emigrating, not building their core business. This will harm the prospects of their companies.

2) Would-be entrepreneurs are discouraged. Why start a company when it can be so easily appropriated?

3) Investors are discouraged for the same reason as # 2.

China is rapidly strangling its economic golden goose. The only question is, who will pick up the pieces?

How to Get Internet to Cuba

July 20, 2021 tremendousblog 1 Comment

Amid deepening poverty, escalating COVID cases and a lack of vaccines, Cubans are doing something very brave: protesting against the Communist dictatorship in the largest demonstrations in six decades.

I can’t even imagine how afraid they must be, but they’re out there. And activists need to be able to coordinate with each other. The Cuban government knows this, so they’ve taken a cue from dictatorships in Iran, Myanmar and elsewhere: restricting the internet.

Cuba’s government has disrupted access to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and YouTube, per London-based watchdog NetBlocks. These disruptions have gone on for over a week so far and show no signs of ending.

As an American with a love of freedom and a background in tech, I thought I’d research some options for our Cuban friends:

Alternative social platforms: Twitter is not yet blocked, although it could be at any time. Less used video platforms like Vimeo or Dailymotion are also available.
Privacy tools: VPN’s continue to work, as does Signal, the encrypted messaging app used by Edward Snowden. This could be a superb WhatsApp alternative. Tor is a great option for browsing. It’s available for desktop or mobile in a convenient browser form. It routes data through many servers, making your traffic untraceable. Unlike most VPN’s, Signal and Tor are free. I use them myself.
Satellites: Not viable. These need ground infrastructure that Cuba doesn’t have and their government won’t allow.
Balloons: Much discussed and a great potential solution, but I fear the implementation will take too long to be of use to Cubans. These balloons exist today, cost in the tens of thousands (chump change to the US government), and float in international airspace. They could be positioned over international waters as well.

Cuba would be taking an extreme step to shoot them down, if they could even accomplish it. And in any case, we could always launch many, many more.

If anyone knows of any good charities working on these issues, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page. I’d be happy to contribute to any good effort in this area.

Patria y vida, amigos!

China Is Killing its Tech Industry

July 5, 2021 tremendousblog 1 Comment

Major news over the holiday weekend as the Chinese government required all app stores in China to remove the Didi Chuxing app. Didi is the Chinese equivalent to Uber, and dominates shared rides in the country, along with a major presence abroad:

China has ordered app-store operators to remove the app of Didi from their stores, the latest as tension escalates between the nation’s largest ride-hailing giant and local regulators. The app has disappeared from several stores including Apple’s App Store in China, TechCrunch can confirm.
The nation’s cyberspace administration, which unveiled the order on Sunday, said Didi was illegally collecting users’ personal data.

Existing users can continue the use the app for now, but new signups are blocked. This comes just days after Didi raised billions in an IPO in New York, perhaps angering the Chinese government.

The claim of data violations seems specious. Didi’s CEO, Li Min, denies that any data is handled improperly or passed to the US.

This is part of a broader crackdown on China’s technology industry:

Alibaba Group fined $2.8 billion shortly after CEO Jack Ma criticizes the Communist Party
Fintech giant Ant Group, also founded by Jack Ma, has IPO cancelled
Bitcoin miners forced to shut down and are racing to move their servers elsewhere, including the US, as the Chinese government prepares to launch its own competing digital currency
A Chinese billionaire, many of whom are in the technology industry, dies every 40 days on average, often in suspicious “accidents” and “suicides.” Some are simply executed.

What is this doing to China’s technology industry? The damage is reflected in a massive decline in the number of “unicorns,” or startups reaching $1 billion valuation, in China. Meanwhile, the number of unicorns in the US is skyrocketing and the tech industry as a whole is hotter than ever.

China’s overall economy has also trended sharply downwards in recent years:

The Communist Party doesn’t want any competing power centers, and the Chinese tech industry, with its wealth and control of information, is perhaps the biggest alternative power center left.

But the industry needs freedom to experiment and exchange ideas, and a stable climate without the constant threat of fines, shutdowns and imprisonment. Entrepreneurs can find that here in the US, along with abundant funding. And I think you’ll see more and more of them making that jump.

From Anticommunist to Navy SEAL: “I Owe Everything to America”

April 16, 2021 tremendousblog 1 Comment

“I owe everything to America.”

That’s Thomas ‘Drago’ Dzieran, who left Communist Poland in the 1980’s for freedom in America and became a Navy SEAL. His path to the teams is singular.

Drago began to oppose Communism at an early age. He refused to learn Russian in school and was promptly hauled to the principal’s office. The principal explained to him that if he refused again, he could be taken from his family and sent to a foster home.

This did not stop Drago from questioning the Communist system. He listened secretly listened to the BBC on the radio, a highly illegal act. There he learned that the Communist government was killing people in Poland. He covered himself in blankets to dampen the sound as he listened, but his mother scolded him to use even more blankets and pillows lest a neighbor hear. If anyone heard, she could go to prison.

But Drago didn’t need a radio broadcast to tell him things in Poland weren’t right:

“I was always cold in Poland because we didn’t have good clothes.”

Privation was the norm, and he often went to school hungry. He took to assaulting the children of high party members, who were well fed. If you want to eat tomorrow, bring two sandwiches, he told them.

As a young man, Drago found himself in a Polish prison for printing anti-Communist leaflets. When released, he emigrated to the United States, and found himself resettled in Memphis, Tennessee by a refugee program.

The luxury of America amazed him. He had never seen air conditioning before, and found himself particularly mesmerized by American grocery stores. The cereal aisle had so many choices, and the packages were so attractive, he decided to try one. And another, and another. Soon, his cart was full of 50 boxes of cereal! But he couldn’t stop his curiosity:

“I didn’t even know what a cereal was.”

After a stint as an auto mechanic, Drago was looking for a way to serve his adopted home. He settled on being a Navy SEAL, but at 32, he was at least 4-5 years beyond the typical age limit. No matter. He powered through the qualification tests and insisted on being allowed into BUD/S. Drago later distinguished himself as a SEAL during the Iraq war.

Drago’s commitment to freedom continues today, as the founder of a censorship-free social network called Connectzing.

What really struck me in this interview was Drago’s perseverance, along with the stark differences between the United States and where he comes from. On living conditions in Poland under Communism:

“I would trade my life in Poland for prison here.”

After all, they get food and medical attention! That’s better than he got much of his life.

Drago says he owes everything to America, and that’s equally true for those of us who are native born. Let’s seize the opportunity, remembering these words:

“This is America. You can be whatever you’re able to be.”

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Photo: “Navy SEAL Graduation” by uscgpress is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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