Near Real-Time Tracking

You can find out what I'm up to in near real-time via: Twitter (@sholden) Instagram (@sholden), or Facebook (sholden). I also recommend checking out my AztecMedia.net produced sites: Chvrches Fan Podcast (@chvrchespodcast), ThePodCraft Beer Show (@thepodcraft, @techguysteve, Untapped, @techguysteven); Tech News Radio (@technewsradio), Air Gapped Networks (@airgapnet), Jersey Boys Podcast, and Veteran Stories. [Updated: May 9, 2021]


The Sharon Statement v2.0 (SDH 2024 v1 Revision)

For some odd reason,  I was recently self-motivated to consider rewriting the 1964 Sharon Statement, which has been central to my political and economic thinking since I first read it in 1986.

I used a few Grammarly and Google Docs linguistic and grammar suggestions, plus some of my values and ideas on how I currently see the world in 2024.

Comments, thoughts, etc., welcome.

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The Sharon Statement v2.0 (SDH 2024 v1 Revision)

The original version was approved by Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) in 1964 (pdf).

Americans are responsible for affirming certain eternal truths in this time of moral and political crises. 

We, as Americans, believe: 

  1. That foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives our right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force; 
  2. That liberty is indivisible and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom; 
  3. That the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of laws, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice; 
  4. That when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish freedom and liberty; 
  5. That the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering the government to fulfill its proper role while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power; 
  6. The genius of the Constitution — the division of powers — is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the states or to the people in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government; 
  7. That the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs; 
  8. That when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the United States; that when it takes from one person to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both; 
  9. That we will be free only so long as the freedoms of Americans are secure and that history shows periods of freedom are rare and can exist only when free Americans concertedly defend their rights against all enemies; 
  10. That the forces of international Communism Authoritarianism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties; 
  11. Americans should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with, this menace. 

This criterion must judge any decision: Does it serve the just interests of Americans?

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I am lumping the following into Authoritarianism (in no particular order): communism, Nazism, fascism, socialism, monarchies, dictatorships, military juntas, dynasties, regimes, totalitarianism, terrorism, and single-party states (where only one political party is allowed).

 


Links From My M-Conference DEFCON Presentation

21AE5307-97BD-4099-846E-59D38EEC8B05-COLLAGEI recently presented the following presentation at Manager-Tools.com's M-Conference 2024.:

"From The Dark Web To the Boardroom: Cybersecurity Strategies from 15 years of attending DEFCON" (PDF presentation download)

These are all the links I referenced in my presentation:

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc.

I am open to presenting this in other venues if you are interested. Just let me know!


Recommendations For Distracted Free Writing

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Wired recently published their recommendations in an article entitled "The Best Apps for Distraction-Free Writing: Focus on your words and not on your toolbars with these eight minimal writing apps for your computer, your tablet, and even your phone.".

I use two of those recommendations:

  1. Obsidian (only application open, one tab open using the plugin
  2. Google Docs (full-screen mode, only one document open)

Other best practices: turn off all notifications and close all the other applications on your computer or tablet.

These suggestions work well for Chromebooks, PCs, and Apple iPads.


Cal Newport's Five Books Read This Month List

Cals-books

I am a big fan of Cal Newport's Deep Life podcast.

One of his monthly goals is to read at least five books, which he then covers in his podcast.

Fellow podcast fan Bram Adams ([email protected]) has created a database of all Cal has read here: Cal’s Five Books of the Month.

Bram's site also makes fantastic use of Notion.

Thanks, Bram!!


Podcast Series Recommendation >> Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen

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I recently enjoyed the podcast series Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen.

It was well-produced, researched, and sourced.

Although I thought I knew a great deal about Robert Hanssen (Wikipedia), this podcast provided a bunch of new information I was unaware of.

You can listen via:

I also recommend these podcasts from the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC:


My 2024 Daily Morning Personal Devotion Plan

Pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-5710598Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Here is an update to my 2023 plan.

This year, I am reading and journaling about the following two books as part of my daily morning routine:

I was wondering if I was going to do The Daily Stoic book again, as I've re-read it for the last four years. However, after the first week, it is just so good that I'm happy I am re-reading it again.

As far as last year's two other books:

I enjoyed both of them very much, and I recommend them if you are looking for something to do as part of your daily routine.

I am reading these books on my Kindle Paperwhite (which I also recommend if you want a dedicated ebook reader).


2024 Continuous Year Calendar PDFs For Free Download

Just like last year, I have created some downloadable PDF files of "continuous" calendars for 2024:

I hopefully did the conversion from 2023 to 2024 correctly. It was especially tricky since 2024 is a Leap Year. If you find an error, then please let me know.

These were inspired by Kairos Cognition very elegant calendar:

Karos

This is what the Horizontal PDF looks like (3 copies if you print one):

Continuous 2024 Calendar (Horizontal)And this is what the Vertical PDF looks like:

Kairos Congnition 2024 Continuous Wall Calendar


Downtown La Mesa Walking Tour

This walking tour of downtown La Mesa “The Jewel of the Hills” was filmed on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 with my daughter Carson. The walk was on La Mesa Blvd. It roughly started and ended here: https://w3w.co/rock.ends.feared

And we turned around and then walked back around here: https://w3w.co/woke.wallet.peanut

You can learn more about La Mesa, CA, here: https://www.cityoflamesa.us/1259/History

This work is licensed under Creative Common's Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International.

#walkingtour #lamesa #downtown #sandiegocounty #california


Walking Tour Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery - Part 1 of 4

This walking tour of Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery was filmed on Monday, December 18, 2023.

The cemetery is in the Point Loma area of San Diego, California, near the Cabrillo National Monument.

The area walked was in the Northern-Eastern section (Part 1).

There are three more sections that I plan to walk in 2024.

 This work is licensed under Creative Common's Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International.

Equipment Used >> DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo

The video was edited on my Apple iPad Pro (11-inch, 2nd generation) using DJI's recommended tool called "LightCut".

 


San Diego Zoo - Jungle Bells - Walking Tour

This walking tour of the San Diego Zoo was filmed on Sunday, December 17, 2023, during the Zoo's annual Holiday celebration known as "Jungle Bells."

This work is licensed under Creative Common's Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International.

Tags: #walkingtour #sandiego #sandiegozoo #holidays

Equipment Used: DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo

Limited editing was done on Windows 11 with the HEIC plugin and Photos Legacy.