The Dangers of Plastic, Microplastics, and Forever Chemicals

 Hello,

I am going through a personal experiment with plastics, and microplastics (and nanoplastics) as I write this. Three weeks ago, after reading a medical study showing strong correlation between levels of microplastics in those suffering from inflamamtory bowel syndrome, I eliminated the heavy hitters of plastic from my personal use and have seen a dramatic improvement in my symptoms.

What are microplastics?

Why are they a concern?

You have probably heard of 'forever chemicals' and these are in that category. Plastics do not break down into other chemicals. Rather, they shear off to smaller and smaller pieces of the chemical bond until they are nano in side, and that is small enough to get into every part of the human body. The human immune system (and every animal on earth) attacks these but cannot break them down so inflammation results, the immune cell dies, then another tries it again.

We have been running a massive experiment, on the scale of billions of people, for decades by exposing our bodies to these chemicals--shown to cause cancers in lab animals--and now we are seeing the result.

And they knew.

The executives at 3M chemicals knew in the 1960's. 

Here is the ProPublica article on that:

https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Decades ago, [3M scientist] Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.

...

[when found in horses she asked why]

She found an answer in data from lab rats, which also appeared to have fluorochemicals in their blood. Rats that had more fish meal in their diets, she discovered, tended to have higher levels of PFOS, suggesting that the chemical had spread through the food chain and perhaps through water. In male lab rats, PFOS levels rose with age, indicating that the chemical accumulated in the body. But, curiously, in female rats the levels sometimes fell. Hansen was unsettled when toxicology reports indicated why: Mother rats seemed to be offloading the chemical to their pups. Exposure to PFOS could begin before birth.

Here is the study on inflamattory bowel syndrome:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c03924

Here is a snippet from that piece:

...we conclude that the plastic packaging of drinking water and food and dust exposure are important sources of human exposure to MPs. Furthermore, the positive correlation between fecal MPs and IBD status suggests that MP exposure may be related to the disease process or that IBD exacerbates the retention of MPs. The relative mechanisms deserve further studies.

Be sure to understand correlation does not show causation. We do not yet know the cause of increased microplastics in people who suffer from IBS, however, I have seen an extreme reduction in my symptoms since reducing my intake of MPs.

The Washington Post did a great article about plastics in the air.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/microplastics-air-human-body-organs-spread/

It is a firewall article but worth the read.

Basically, we are breathing in micro and nano plastics constantly.

Here is an article telling you how to reduce (we cannot escape them completely) forever chemicals:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/06/avoid-forever-chemicals-food-water/

Get rid of plastic containers to store food in your refrigerator. Get rid of multi-use plastic bottles, swap to the metal canteen style. Get rid of microwave popcorn, and don't buy non-stick cookware.

I think this issue is going to be an increasing one and massive lawsuits will ensue. 3M is facing an existential crisis of its own making. I for one will line up to sue them given what I've seen from my personal experiment.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS What does this say about capitalism? The free market folks say the market will correct for this. But, the CEOs of 3M who have already taken their millions, while they knew of this and hid the results, are likely never going to hurt in any way from this (some are already dead, their money passed to their estates). How does the free market prevent executives from making decision like this, harmful to the public and the world, when they get away with their money? The answer is, it doesn't. And that points to the limits of capitalism and the need for something else.

Billionaires to Say Thank You To.

 I love the premise of this article.

In short, it is hard to applaud billionaires but these deserve recognition.

Wow.

Yeah, true. When we see Elon Musk shooting his mouth off and throwing away $44B on Twitter, (I won't have anything to do with 'X') it is easy to think less of these poor humans.

Here is the article:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/opinions/melinda-gates-mackenzie-scott-philanthropy-filipovic/index.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

There is something irrefutably broken about a global system in which a small number of people are able to amass staggering amounts of wealth, a huge number struggle to simply survive (and many don’t) and then we applaud those among the uber-wealthy who bestow some of their largess on the suffering masses.

But this is the global system we do have and, within it, some billionaires are behaving much more generously and ethically than others. 

The opinion article goes on to talk about the wives of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos as exemplars, as well as Warren Buffett. It should be thought-provoking.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

AI Coming for Professional Jobs

 Coming?

Recent reports show it is already happening but we can't measure the impact yet. Those benefitting, meaning the money interest behind it, will minimize the numbers to ensure complacency. Those worried about it might inflate the numbers through ignorance.

What happens next?

Here is a little story that wonders about that, with an informed view based on past experience. It has a paywall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/29/ai-professional-class-low-skill-jobs/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

As a Bloomberg News headline put it in February, “AI Is Driving More Layoffs Than Companies Want to Admit.” And though the numbers aren’t enormous — Bloomberg cites one source that found 4,600 AI-related layoffs during the previous nine months — that’s a pretty big number considering that ChatGPT was released to the public only in November 2022. It’s going to get bigger still.

...

But if so, we are also likely to see a revolt of the educated people who are losing ground, similar to the revolt that led the working class to embrace protectionism — and Donald Trump. Or at least that’s how it seems to me when I try to imagine the upper middle class offering their own kids the advice they’ve so liberally dispensed to working-class men: “I’m sorry, but the jobs your parents had aren’t going to be around, and it’s time to face reality and look for steady work in food service or a warehouse.”

“I’d be fine with that!” some educated parent will inevitably write me, “as long as they have good health insurance and a strong social safety net.” I applaud those public-minded people, but, realistically, I doubt they’re the majority. For most upper-middle-class families, I expect there will be a lot of outrage and fear, and demands that the government do something to help them maintain their position and pass what they have onto their children.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS The world's richest man recently declared all work will be eliminated for AI.

Empathy is Contagious

 I found this to be very interesting, hopeful, and concerning.

Empathy is the ability a person might possess to put themselves in the shoes of another person (or animal or other) to feel what they feel and experience what they experience.

New science says it is contagious. Being around or witnessing empathy tends to increase empathy in the witness.

Here is the full story:

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/48962/20240228/empathy-contagious-change-depending-reaction-others-study.htm

Here is a snippet from the piece:

"Depending on whether empathic or non-empathic reactions were observed, empathy ratings increased or decreased," per neuroscientist Grit Hein from the University of Würzburg in Germany.

A troubling part of it is the assessment that empathy is on the decline overall. Also, lack of empathy is also contagious. That tells me this could be used as a tool for desensitization--a necessary component of conquest and dominance.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Tech Sector Job Bloodbath Continues

 The head economist at Moody's was recently quoted in a Washington Post article as saying, roughly, "The American form of capitalism is ruthless in how it reallocates resources."

That means layoffs. Means lives destroyed so shareholder value can be maximized.

Since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to battle inflation the business calculation to invest in tech and speculate has shifted and now the companies who employed those workers have to adjust to meet the numbers Wall Street expects of them. Executives, heavily incentivized to meet Wall Street demands, are culling the work force at these companies to cut costs--the only avenue remaining when growth options are limited. The U.S. lags behind other western democracies in protecting workers--read, people who don't hold enormous loads of capital, money--so these kinds of wave layoffs are only possible in this country.

The bloodbath started early in 2023 and continue.

Here is an article detailing how ex-Googlers are handling it:

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/tech-workers-layoffs-job-cuts-careers-rcna141735

Here is a snippet from that piece:

“There was a time when working in tech seemed like the most stable career you could have,” said Ayomi Samaraweera, who was laid off as chief of staff at the content creator platform Jellysmack in December 2022. After about 10 years in the industry, she said, “tech does not seem safe and secure.”

Here is an article announcing yet another round of layoffs at Google:

https://siliconangle.com/2024/04/17/google-announces-second-major-round-layoffs-year/ 

Here is an article tracking the major layoffs in tech:

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/07/tech-layoffs-2023-list/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether.

If you are fortunate enough to have a chair during this gigantic game of musical chairs, where more than a half a million are outside looking in trying to survive, please consider others.

The society we live in is a choice. We can choose to stay on the current path, or deviate. The evidence strongly suggests the current path only benefits a very small portion of society and is creating waves of destruction for the majority of society. We should consider the alternatives.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

The End of Neoliberalism May Be Dawning

The market should be trusted and knows all.

That has been sold to the people of the U.S. for decades, half a century or more now, since at least the Reagan revolution.

How has that worked out?

The middle class has been squeezed almost out of existence, the wealth gap has grown incredibly high, CEOs now make more in a day than the average employee makes in a lifetime, etc. The list goes on.

One economist writing for the Washington Post says our democracy requires a change to our economics.

captialism-economics-democracy-book/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

We’ve now had four decades of the neoliberal “experiment,” beginning with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The results are clear. Neoliberalism expanded the freedom of corporations and billionaires to do as they will and amass huge fortunes, but it also exacted a steep price: the well-being and freedom of the rest of society.

Interesting read. His opinion is growing massively in this country.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD Entry 0268 - The Looming Social Upheaval from AI

Best Reading of the Day

The article frames the discussion as a lack of preparedness by politicians for the coming AI revolution, that some refer to as the third industrial revolution.

The U.S. is a democracy with a system of laws for governing. Free market people will say it is as it should be. Keep politicos and their regulations out.

What will come of it?

Here is the complete article:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/13/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

Here are a few snippets from the piece, that is a lengthy interview with economist Glenn Hubbard.

Glenn Hubbard is worried the United States isn’t ready to accept the disruptions that come along with [the coming AI revolution] 

...

Over the past three or four decades, technological change and some globalization has caused a slow-mo disruption of the job market and communities around the country. Now look at AI, we’re going to have that same disruption except it’s going to be much faster. We’re talking about five years, not 30.

...

Social support for our system is unraveling and it’s been unraveling for a while. There are many communities and many groups of individuals who don’t really feel like contemporary capitalism is serving them well. And the longer we let that go, we’re really running the risk of killing the golden goose.

That last part really struck me.

We have literally seen the populace of the U.S. rise up with pitchforks and torches to overthrow our current system (January 6 Capital Riots). Income inequality and wealth disparity, inherent in capitalism, have been growing rapidly for decades and is well-known to be a source to destabilize a society. 

When will the people of the U.S. wake up? The younger generation is already moving rapidly anti-capitalist and pro-socialism because of where we are. A sea-change is coming. I see tumultuous times ahead.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD Entry 0267 - Major League Baseball and AI

Best Reading of the Day

 Data is the currency of sports in the modern era. 

We have seen the major leagues transformed over the last two decades--moneyball in baseball--and the effort is ongoing and continuous.

The latest is AI-driven analysis of extreme video footage of baseball players: both pitchers and hitters.

This story is eye-opening:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/10/op-moneyballai/

Here is a snippet from the piece.

Boddy [the owner of the data company] and his engineering team now rely on AI to blend dozens of data streams to create customized coaching regimens. I cannot emphasize enough how little this is like your weekly personal training session. Video analysis breaks down individual muscles and movements by the inch. Hardware (bats and balls) is equipped with software (sensors) that tracks every baseball action and renders them into equations that measure force and torque. Like all data-gobbling AI software, the process gets smarter as it goes; Driveline has collected enough historical performance data that it can correlate five non-baseball related physical tests into dead solid predictions of fastball velocity and bat speed.

Even in its infancy, Driveline helped Bauer become one of baseball’s best pitchers. 

The most shocking part of the story? This is coming for all of our jobs yet almost none of us will be able to afford to protect our data from our employers. The conclusion of this piece is telling:

“I have friends who are lawyers and prop traders, and it’s shocking to me how far ahead sports is when it comes to these technologies,” says Boddy. “A lot of them don’t see what’s coming.” 

Got your attention yet?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD Entry 0266 - AI Deepfake Scam for Twenty Five Million Dollars

 Best Reading of the Day

Oh boy.

A sophisticated phishing scam hit a Hong Kong company - as yet undisclosed - and convinced an employee to move HK$200 Million, or about $25 USD Million, to a variety of banks.

Deep fake technology, including accurate voices, on a video conference call simulated the Chief Financial Officer and a number of other employees and convinced the real life employee to make the transfer.

Phew!

The days of shootouts in banks are way behind us.

Here's the story:

arstechnica.com -first-of-its-kind-ai-heist/

And here is a snippet from that piece:

The scam was initially uncovered following a phishing attempt, when an employee in the finance department of the company's Hong Kong branch received what seemed to be a phishing message, purportedly from the company’s UK-based chief financial officer, instructing them to execute a secret transaction. 

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant