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I just looked it up: an Ant's brain is about the size of a poppy seed. If they can work together to do THIS, then why can't WE? Think about this people. These tiny creatures were able to commit to a goal for the common good, and figured out a plan to make it happen. They don't even have a concept of 'ethics' or 'the common good'. What is WRONG with us? (I'm sure a sugar ant's brain is much SMALLER than a poppy seed!)

Happy Labor Day! A bit of Labor Day history for you: This, my friends, is the lady that was labeled the most dangerous woman in America. THIS lady? How could this be? I have to confess that it was only a few years ago, while listening to a podcast on the history of the labor movement, that I learned about 'Mother Jones’. At that time, the only Mother Jones I knew was a magazine. She was a real person? Yes. And here she is. She doesn't look very threatening, does she? But she was a force to be had. Upton Sinclair said of Mary, "She was the walking wrath of God." Mary Harris Jones was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1837, into a family of common laborers. In 1847, her family emigrated to Canada to escape the Irish potato famine. She later married an iron worker, but she and her husband lost all four of their children to yellow fever. She dressed in black for the rest of her life. She moved to Chicago and set up a dressmaking shop, but in 1871 she watched the entire city, along with her business and home, burn to the ground in the great Chicago fire. Mary noticed how The Industrial Age had magnified the gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy were largely immune to the effects of famines, epidemics, and fires. In the early days of the industrial age, employers had little concern for their workers. Mines, for example, lacked roof support systems, ventilation systems, and methods for testing for methane gas. Collapsing tunnels and explosions were common, and workers died each year by the hundreds. Children as young as 10, called Breaker Boys, often worked inside these mines. Mining oligarchs owned the entire town and became the landlord. Miners were frequently cheated out of their pay, and they were paid in tokens, which could only be used to buy exorbitantly priced goods at the company store. There was no way to get ahead. Mine owners hired private militias to protect their investments. If you dared to strike, you not only lost your job, but your housing and supply for your family. The workers produced the wealth, and the wealthy took the wealth. The oligarchs had chandeliers in their homes that were worth more than a year's wages. Mary began to march for workers' rights. She was present at the Haymarket Riot, to rally to fight for the 8-hour day. Many died that day, and the unarmed protesters were blamed for the violence by armed militias. It was her bravery, her uncanny ability to organize, and most of all her ability to communicate that roused a sleeping giant. Mary often spoke to crowds of immigrants who came from many countries and spoke many different languages. She used unmistakable gestures called 'French classics'. The audience may not have understood the words she was saying, but her meaning was crystal clear. It was the West Virginia district attorney who called Mary the most dangerous woman in America: "She comes into a state where peace and prosperity reign ... crooks her finger and twenty thousand contented men lay down their tools and walk out". On many occasions, the labor movement was an all-out physical war. Armed Workers would face off with the National Guard, resulting in many deaths. Mary was often right in the middle. She once organized and led thousands of women in a dishpan army, banging on wash tubs with broomsticks. They beat up the men who crossed the picket line. She effectively faced down the militia, armed with guns, challenging them to shoot her. She spent time in jail. If none of the above worked, she would embarrass the men into action: "I have been in jail more than once, and I expect to go again. If you are too cowardly to fight, I will fight. Strike until you win. Rise up and strike. If you are too cowardly to rise up and strike for your own rights, there are enough women in this country that will come out and beat the hell out of ya." The newspapers, owned by the oligarchs, would tell the story as it benefited themselves, making the workers out to be the criminals. Mary also fought against child labor. "I asked the newspaper men why they didn't publish the facts about child labor in PA. They said they couldn't because the mill owners had stock in the newspaper. Well, I've got stock in these little children, and I'll arrange a little publicity." On July 7, 1903, Mother Jones led the March of the Mill Children from Philadelphia to President Teddy Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, New York, to publicize the harsh conditions of child labor. She demanded that they work only a 55-hour week. Yes, 55 hours was a reduction. Roosevelt refused to see them, and child labor laws did not change till after Mary’s death. But Mary made the problem VISIBLE. "For her services, the world family called her Mother." The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 1919 that the workers she affectionately called 'her boys'. And so the Magazine was named after her. It was not the first time that wealthy individuals have controlled the market or owned newspapers, enabling them to control the narrative. (I think we sometimes forget what happened AFTER the Gilded Age. History does not always repeat itself exactly, but it surely rhymes.) What did I learn from Mary? You are never too old to make a difference. I could use my age as an excuse. But Mary began her new career at 62 and continued working until her death at 93. Ageism has its advantages. You can say anything you want. Mary didn't let her Job-like experiences stop her. She had nothing left to lose, and she knew we can all endure far more than we think we can. She also didn't let gender stop her. One reporter called her the 'labor movement's impious Joan of Arc." And now you know the REST of the story. Never forget the price that was paid for your 8-hour day.

Never discount small moments. You never know what could happen next.

I missed the birthday yesterday of Buckminster Fuller July 12, 1895 - July 1, 1983 Architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, & futurist. "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty, but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. " ~Buckminster Fuller bfi.org

Happy Birthday Gustav Mahler July 7, 1860 – May 18, 1911 About Mahler's Day Off, or how Mahler proves the need to give your brain a break: Mahler is the Composer of Universes Regarding his 8th Symphony, he said: "Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving." From Wikipedia: The composer's wife Alma Mahler, in her memoirs, says that for a fortnight Mahler was "haunted by the spectre of failing inspiration"; Mahler's recollection, however, is that on the first day of the vacation he was seized by the creative spirit, and plunged immediately into composition of the work that would become his Eighth Symphony. “Mahler had long nurtured an ambition to set the end of the Faust epic to music, "and to set it quite differently from other composers who have made it saccharine and feeble."In comments recorded by his biographer Richard Specht, Mahler makes no mention of the original four-movement plans. He told Specht that having chanced on the Veni creator hymn, he had a sudden vision of the complete work: "I saw the whole piece immediately before my eyes, and only needed to write it down as though it were being dictated to me." First page of his 8th Symphony:

#TGIF Happy Juneteenth! "Unfortunately, the currently adopted Texas school books say that slave owners voluntarily emancipated their slaves once they learned about the Proclamation. Well, no. First of all they already knew about it, and they voluntarily did it because there were guns pointed at them." "The soldiers didn't come here to inform. They came to enforce." "You know, when you think about the population of Galveston was supposedly around 10,000 people, and you've got 6,000 soldiers there, you know, it's like almost everybody had their own soldier to tell them, "Okay, let them go."" "And then 4000 of those soldiers would have been black. And many of the African American polulation in Galveston may have never seen a black soldier. Now you see THOUSANDS of them." @rasoolberry #JUNETEENTH2026 #JUNETEENTH: Faith & Freedom | A Documentary youtube.com/watch?v=YmjuDxKT…

AI Poisoning. There are many ways an LLM can be poisoned, depending on the capabilities of the LLM that the poisoner wants to disrupt. inc.com/fast-company-2/ai-ta…