Happy 4th of July!

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A real American!

Yesterday the American Chamber of Commerce held the annual Independence Day picnic and celebration in Vilnius. They had traditional hamburgers and a table of over 100 hot dogs in a row, for the Lithuanian world record. There was a band, and balloons and fireworks. The USA armed forces are showing their presence in Lithuania and they are extremely welcome here. The speakers all praised the US army and said they want more troops here. I have heard the opinions about Putin now from both sides, Russia and Lithuania, and there certainly is a lot of propaganda.

But I was thinking about who really has the power these days. Is it really Putin and Obama and the other leaders of the world’s nations? I actually think it is the people who run Google and Facebook and Twitter and Apple…; all based in the San Francisco area. These young computer tech people are the ones that control what buttons we push, and our access to information. They have a subtle mind control system that has perhaps never been experienced in the history of the world. In my mind, I think it is somewhat amazing/frightening to know that the patterns of public connection rely on a bunch of young guys in San Francisco. They live in Mountain View and the Mission and eat at ethnic restaurants from countries that few of them will ever visit, but where their influence is rather profound.

Here are a couple photos of the July full moon, one from Stockholm and one from the Vilnius airport. I am essentially living in both places these days, because flights are cheap. Summer is the time of vacation, and basically all scientists here have gone on holidays. I have one more trip planned, but soon I will be back in the neighborhood in San Francisco, where I will encourage the young hipsters to take sabbaticals and meet people around the world.

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