Transhumanism Humanity+

What is transhumanism?

(1) The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

(2) The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies.

The Philosophy of Transhumanism

Transhumanist FAQ

Developed in the mid-1990s and published in 1998, the Transhumanist FAQ became a formal document through the inspirational work of transhumanists, including Alexander Chislenko, Max More, Anders Sandberg, Natasha Vita-More, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Arjen Kamphius, and many others. Over the years, this FAQ has been updated to provide a substantial account of transhumanism. Humanity+, also known as WTA, adopted the FAQ in 2001 and Nick Bostrom added substantial information about future scenarios. The Transhumanist FAQ 3.0, as revised by the continued efforts of many transhumanists.

The Transhumanist Manifesto

Written by Natasha Vita-More 1993 and revised in 1998 (v.2), 2008 (v.3), and 2020 (v.4), and based on the earliest manifesto Transhuman Statement, which was published in 1983.

The Transhumanist Declaration

Originally crafted in 1998 by an international group of authors: Doug Baily, Anders Sandberg, Gustavo Alves, Max More, Holger Wagner, Natasha Vita-More, Eugene Leitl, Bernie Staring, David Pearce, Bill Fantegrossi, den Otter, Ralf Fletcher, Tom Morrow, Alexander Chislenko, Lee Daniel Crocker, Darren Reynolds, Keith Elis, Thom Quinn, Mikhail Sverdlov, Arjen Kamphuis, Shane Spaulding, and Nick Bostrom. This Transhumanist Declaration has been modified over the years by several authors and organizations. It was adopted by the Humanity+ Board in March, 2009.

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Transhumanism Humanity+

Values of the U.S. Transhumanist Party U.S …

The U.S. Transhumanist Party is focused onpolicyrather thanpoliticsas conventionally defined. We value initiatives and reforms that will improve the human condition for as many people as possible, with as much beneficial impact as possible and without regard for scoring political points or defeating the other side. We seek to achieve the next, greatest era of our civilization, which will require constructive solutions to the problems of our current era. All of these problems can be solved if we look away from the political trench warfare of today and up toward a far brighter future.

Ideal 1.The Transhumanist Party supports significant life extension achieved through the progress of science and technology.

Ideal 2.The Transhumanist Party supports a cultural, societal, and political atmosphere informed and animated by reason, science, and secular values.

Ideal 3.The Transhumanist Party supports efforts to use science, technology, and rational discourse to reduce and eliminate various existential risks to the human species.

Find the U.S. Transhumanist Party Platform as Article VI of our Constitution or in this standalone presentation. Below is just a selection of some of our key values and goals, as determined by votes of our members, but we have many other ideas as well, and we also frame the ideas below with a great deal of thought and detail.

Individual privacy and liberty over how to apply technology to ones personal life. [Article VI, Section I]

Tolerance and inclusivity of all individuals of all races, genders, classes, religions, creeds, national origins, and other characteristics.[Article VI, Section II]

Support of most technologies but opposition to certain detrimental technologies (e.g., weapons of mass destruction, privacy-infringing technologies, engineering of new pathogens).[Article VI, Section III]

Opposition to nuclear weapons, support of complete nuclear disarmament, even if unilateral.[Article VI, Section IV]

Support of research on eradicating disease.[Article VI, Section V]

Morphological freedom.[Article VI, Section VI]

Support of all values and efforts toward cultivation of science, technology, reason.[Article VI, Section VII]

Support of all emerging technologies that improve the human condition, including:

Autonomous vehicles

Electric vehicles

Economical solar power

Safe nuclear power

Hydroelectricity

Geothermal power

Applications for the sharing of durable goods

Artificial intelligence

Biotechnology

Nanotechnology

Robotics

Rapid transit

3D printing

Vertical farming

Electronic devices to detect and respond to trauma

Beneficial genetic modification of plants, animals, and human beings[Article VI, Section IX]

Ending the drug war.[Article VI, Section XIV]

Reforming the prison system to reduce the incarcerated population.[Article VI, Section XV]

Universal Basic Income (UBI) not conditional on life circumstances, occupations, other income, or wealth.[Article VI, Section XVI]

Reasonable measures to fund space travel.[Article VI, Section XVII]

Using science and technology to eliminate disabilities.[Article VI, Section XVIII]

Ending the two-party duopoly.[Article VI, Section XIX]

Life extension / anti-aging.[Article VI, Sections V, VIII, IX]

Removal of barriers to medical research and deployment of treatments.[Article VI, Sections LXXIX, LXXX, LXXXI, LXXXII]

Reducing the national debt.[Article VI, Section XXXV]

Alternative sources of energy and their technological implementations. [Article VI, Section XXXVIII]

Increasing the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[Article VI, SectionLXXVII]

Support for political, economic, and cultural experimentation e.g., seasteads and micronations.[Article VI, SectionXXII]

Childrens rights proportional to their rational faculties. [Article VI, Sections XXIII, LXII]

Animal welfare (but not animal liberation). [Article VI, Section XXIV]

Opposition to intolerant, rights-violating, anti-technological, and compulsion-imposing doctrines, be they religious or secular.[Article VI, Sections XXV, XL, LXIII]

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Values of the U.S. Transhumanist Party U.S ...

Another Year Without A Family Christmas? – newsconcerns

While lockdowns were supposed to be temporary initially just a couple of weeks to flatten the curve nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, theres no end in sight. Thanksgiving was once again canceled in many parts of the U.S., and many government leaders again urged residents to cancel their Christmas celebrations too. The latest Omicron mutation has given bureaucrats additional reasons to unleash their power and raise panic.

What many still dont realize is that the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has little to do with the spread of an actual virus, and everything to do with the planned global takeover and implementation of a technocratic agenda known as The Great Reset.

Universal mask mandates, social distancing, business shutdowns, online working and learning, and quarantining of asymptomatic individuals are all forms of soft indoctrination to get us used to an entirely new, and unfathomably inhumane, way of life devoid of our usual rights and freedoms.

Klaus Schwab is the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. Schwab announced the World Economic Forums Great Reset Agenda in June 2020,1 which includes stripping people of their privately owned assets.

In addition to being a poster boy for technocracy, Schwab also has a strong transhumanist bend, and wrote the book on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a hallmark of which is the merger of man and machine, biology and digital technology.2

According to Winter Oak a British nonprofit social justice organization Schwab and his globalist accomplices are using the COVID-19 pandemic to bypass democratic accountability, to override opposition, to accelerate their agenda and to impose it on the rest of humankind against our will.

While the Great Reset plan is being sold as a way to make life fair and equitable for all, the required sacrifices do not apply to the technocrats running the system.

On the contrary, as noted by Patrick Wood in an interview with James Delingpole, the wealth distribution and circular economies promoted by the technocratic elite will never benefit the people, because what theyre really referring to is the redistribution of wealth from the people, to themselves.

Evidence of this can be seen in the decision to allow big box stores to remain open during the pandemic while forcing small businesses to close, no matter how small the infection risk.

Theres really no rhyme or reason for such a decision, other than to shift wealth away from small, private business owners to multinational corporations. More than half of all small business owners fear their businesses wont survive.3

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the collective wealth of 651 billionaires in the U.S. rose by more than $1 trillion (36%).4 To put their current wealth in perspective, not only did the number of billionaires in America swell to 745 during the pandemic, but their assets grew by $2.1 trillion.5

According to the online newsletter Inequality, The $5 trillion in wealth now held by 745 billionaires is two-thirds more than the $3 trillion in wealth held by the bottom 50 percent of U.S. households estimated by the Federal Reserve Board.

As noted by Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, Never before has America seen such an accumulation of wealth in so few hands.6

Thats technocratic wealth redistribution for you. Ultimately, The Great Reset will result in two tiers or people: the technocratic elite, who have all the power and rule over all assets, and the rest of humanity, who have no power, no assets and no voice.

That the COVID-19 pandemic is a form of class war is also evident in the way rules are enforced. While citizens are threatened with fines and arrest if they dont do as theyre told, those who lay down the rules repeatedly break them without repercussions.

If you need more evidence that were in the middle of a technocratic takeover, look no further than the mass vaccination agenda and the promotion of fake, lab-grown meat. Bill Gates, another frontline technocrat, has repeatedly stated that we have no choice but to vaccinate everyone against COVID-19.

Naturally, hes heavily invested in said vaccine and stands to gain handsomely from a global mass vaccination campaign. Technocrats are nothing if not self-serving, all while pretending to be do-gooders much like COVID Claus in our little video.

Eventually, your personal identification, medical records, finances and who knows what else will all be tied together and embedded somewhere on or in your body. Every possible aspect of your biology and life activities will be trackable 24/7. You will also be digitally tied into the internet of things, which eventually will include smart cities.

All the different parts of this giant population control grid fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The global vaccination agenda ties into the biometric identity agenda, which ties into the cashless society agenda, which ties into the social credit system agenda, which ties into the social engineering agenda and so on.

When you follow this experiment to its ultimate conclusion, you find all of humanity enslaved within a digitized prison with no way out. Those who rebel will simply have their digital-everything restricted or shut down.

The rise of fake, lab-grown meat is a puzzle piece of The Great Reset agenda too. According to the World Economic Forum, lab-grown, cultured meat is a more sustainable alternative to conventional livestock, and in the future, well all be eating a lot less meat. As noted on its website:7

As the world looks to reset its economy, along with food systems, in a cleaner way post-pandemic, one more sustainable solution coming to fruition is cultured meat Cultured meat takes much less time to grow, uses fewer of the planets resources, and no animals are slaughtered.

But dont think for a second that this has anything to do with environmental protection. No, its about controlling the food supply and preventing food independence.

Already, multinational corporations have taken over a majority of the global food supply with their patented genetically engineered seeds. Patented cultured meats and seafood will allow private companies to control the food supply in its entirety, and by controlling the food supply, they will control countries and entire populations.

Public health will undoubtedly suffer from this dietary switch, as canola and safflower oil8 are primary sources of fat in these fake meat concoctions. Vegetable oils are loaded with linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fat that, in excess, acts as a metabolic poison, causing severe mitochondrial dysfunction, insulin resistance, decreased NAD+ levels, obesity and a radical decrease in your ability to generate cellular energy.

Our LA consumption 150 years ago was between 2 and 3 grams per day. Today it is 10 to 20 times higher. If fake meat becomes a staple, the average LA intake is bound to increase even further.

The Great Reset is well underway, but its not yet too late to stop it. Enough people have to see it and understand it, though. And then they must act. If we want to prevent The Great Reset from destroying life as we know it, we must view civil disobedience as a duty. We must resist it from every angle.

We must reclaim our sovereignty, our right to live free, to open our businesses and move about freely. We must communicate with our elected leaders and demand they not infringe on our constitutional rights. We have to engage in political processes and help educate our local sheriffs of their role as defenders of the constitution. We may also need to support legal challenges.

A small step in the right direction that you can take right now would be to celebrate Christmas like you normally would this week, and not allow the Klaus Schwabs and Bill Gateses of the world rob you of valuable time with family and friends.

There are no guarantees in this life, and for many, this will be their last Christmas. So, spend it well. Cherish life by actually living it and spending it with those you love. Refusing to give up our humanity is how we resist The Great Reset.

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Another Year Without A Family Christmas? - newsconcerns

What will England be like 900 years in the future? Paul Kingsnorth offers an answer – Telegraph.co.uk

When the apocalypse comes, popular literary imagination has it that what will remain of mankind will be a linguistically challenged tribe of outlaws eking out what existence they can amid the wreckage of ecological collapse. Such is the Riddley Walker-style scenario that begins Paul Kingsnorths new novel, the third in his loose trilogy set in East Anglia that imagines how man might respond to violent or alienating social upheaval at discrete points in English history.

The 2014 Booker-longlisted The Wake was set during the Norman Conquests, while 2016s novella Beast inhabited, Pincher Martin-style, the disintegrating consciousness of a 21st-century man living in haunted self-exile from the aggressions of modernity. Alexandria, meanwhile, takes place nine hunnerd years in the future where, its no surprise to be told, the breakin, buildin, burnin of man has left civilisation and the natural world in a bad way. The only people left alive are seven members of the Nitrian Order, who have rejected the old destructive materialism in favour of a back-to-nature way of life in the Fens in accordance with the paganish creeds of their deity, Lady.

Their fragile existence, though, is under threat. In the woods lurks the Stalker, a hooded, engineered metahuman emissary of Wayland, which, we are invited to assume, is an all-powerful AI invented long ago by man, and who controls a transhumanist utopia called Alexandria. Every other member of the human race has uploaded themselves to Alexandria, where they can keep growing, keep exploring in blissful, incorporeal perpetuity. Known as K, the Stalker is determined to persuade the last remaining Nitrians, as they pick plastic out of the clay and talk to the birds, that their faith in the truth of the body and the land, a faith that feels as old as England itself, is false and that salvation is only to be found in an eternal digital enlightenment. Yet the Nitrians, who consider Wayland the enemy machine, have received a sign. Their oldest member, yrvidian, has dreamt of swans. And when the swans return, Alexandria will fall.

Regular readers of Kingsnorth will know that the principal challenge and pleasure of his fiction is his use of invented first person narrative voices that point up the intimate relationship between language and selfhood, although his dialect is becoming more simple (and less invigorating) with each passing novel. His human characters here, who narrate alternate chapters and who consist of a married couple and their young daughter el, a lusty young chap called Lorenso, plus Mother, father and old yrvidian, speak in a minimalist, stumpy present tense that dispenses with articles and conventional capitalisation (we come to Land at dusk) and has an erratic dislike of the letter G. Their elemental language is a sort of rag-tag dream poetry littered with classical allusions, bits of Arthurian legend and echoes of early Christianity that hark back to a romanticised, fabled, ancient rural England, and some of it is mysteriously beautiful. outside Sun comin down, says mother. day is green like birth.

Some of it, though, is wincingly po-faced. Theres a lot of portentous talk of the i am woman. i am blood variety. More fundamental a problem is that Kingsnorths didactic message is in competition with his formidable imagination. Its hard not to see K who at times is oddly the most human character here, with an unexpected sense of humour as both an avatar of the encroaching hi-tech omnipotence Kingsnorth is writing against and a mouthpiece for his own beliefs, which he has detailed extensively as a member of the radical writerss eco collective Dark Mountain.

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What will England be like 900 years in the future? Paul Kingsnorth offers an answer - Telegraph.co.uk

U.S. Transhumanist Party Official Website U.S …

About Charlie KamAbout Liz ParrishMedia Appearances by Charlie Kam and Liz ParrishMedia Appearances by Charlie KamMedia Appearances by Liz ParrishWhere and How to Write In Charlie KamWhy Vote Transhumanist in 2020?

On June 11, 2020, the United States Transhumanist Party (USTP) has endorsed Charlie Kam to run for the office of President of the United States in the 2020 General Election. Mr. Kam was the USTPs endorsed Vice-Presidential candidate from October 5, 2019, through June 11, 2020. By the rules of succession, and as confirmed by the USTP Officers, Mr. Kam has been endorsed to carry the USTP Presidential ticket forward for the remainder of the 2020 election season.

Charlie Kamis CEO of a software company that creates interactive, life-like, digital, avatars of humans.

He was the sponsor, organizer, and Master of Ceremonies of the highly successful 3-day TransVision 2007 conference, bringing together over 30 scientists and celebrities from around the world to the Natural History Museum of Chicago to present and discuss technologies that interact with humans for a better future. The event included celebrity icon William Shatner; Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil; Emmy-nominated and award-winning actor Ed Begley Jr; Founder of Sirius Satellite Radio and United Pharmaceuticals, Martine Rothblatt; Founder of the X PRIZE Foundation, and Zero-Gravity Corporation, Peter Diamandis; Robotics designer, David Hanson; Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, Aubrey de Grey; CEO of the Alcor Foundation, Max More; Chairperson of Humanity+, Natasha Vita-More; Award-winning author and MIT Cognitive Scientist, Marvin Minsky; Founder of the Future of Humanity Institute, Nick Bostrom; and many others. It was at this conference where the idea for the Singularity University was first conceived by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. It was also where Martine Rothblatt met with David Hanson and went on to create the worlds first interactive sentient robot, BINA48.

Charlie was one of the executive producers of the film about Ray Kurzweil,Transcendent Man.

He has also composed and sang many futuristic songs, some of which have been featured in films, including the aforementionedTranscendent Manand the docu-dramaThe Singularity Is Near, starring Pauley Perrette.

He has created many music videos for his songs about life-extension, including his most famous one, I Am the Very Model of A Singularitarian, which is based on Ray Kurzweils book,The Singularity Is Near.

Recently, he has been working with Ray Kurzweil promoting Rays latest bookDanielleand will be helping to promote Rays upcoming book,The Singularity Is Nearer, in 2020.

On August 21, 2020, Charlie Kam announced his selection of Elizabeth (Liz) Parrish as his Vice-Presidential running mate.

Remarking on his selection, Charlie Kam stated, Elizabeth (Liz) is the embodiment of what it means to be a Transhumanist. She is the Founder and CEO of BioViva, a company committed to extending healthy lifespans using cell technologies. Liz is a humanitarian, entrepreneur, innovator, podcaster, and a leading voice for genetic cures. As a strong proponent of progress and education for the advancement of regenerative medicine modalities, she serves as a motivational speaker to the public at large for the life sciences. She is actively involved in international educational media outreach. Along with all of that, Liz is a good friend whom Ive known for years, and I look forward to campaigning together to promote the ideas and values of the USTP!

USTP Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II remarked that The U.S. Transhumanist Party is honored to be represented by such an articulate, passionate, and intrepid advocate of longevity and medical science as Liz Parrish. Liz Parrish is one of the worlds leading proponents for the development of gene therapies to treat a variety of diseases, including biological aging. Anyone who follows the field of rejuvenation biotechnology knows that, in 2015, Liz Parrish became the first human to receive a combination gene therapy as patient zero in her own experiment. This was an immensely courageous decision which showed leadership by example, led to greatly enhanced public awareness, and inspired many to advocate for this burgeoning field of research and human benefit. Liz Parrish speaks powerfully about the imperative to cure diseases and minimize the horrific suffering that many from children to the elderly undergo today because of various common and rare ailments. Her voice and energy will be tremendous assets to the Charlie Kam campaign and to the USTP as we spread the essential message of the feasibility and desirability of significant life extension during our lifetimes and cultivate public awareness and support for the policies and projects that could get us there.

Liz Parrish is involved in numerous organizations and projects in addition to her role at BioViva. She is the Advocacy Advisor to the USTP and a founding member of the International Longevity Alliance (ILA). She is an affiliated member of the Complex Biological Systems Alliance (CBSA), which is a unique platform for Mensa-based, highly gifted persons who advance scientific discourse and discovery. The mission of the CBSA is to further scientific understanding of biological complexity and the nature and origins of human disease. Liz Parrish is the founder of BioTrove Investments LLC and the BioTrove Podcasts, which is committed to offering a meaningful way for people to learn about and fund research in regenerative medicine.

Commenting on her new role as the Vice-Presidential candidate endorsed by the USTP, Liz Parrish stated, I believe now is the right time in human history to further the transhumanist mission. Our planet, our species, and the survival of all other species are in our hands now. People are tired of division and divisiveness. Humans must convene, start a new conversation, and work toward bettering our condition and that of our planet through the transhumanist mission.

The USTP looks forward to numerous opportunities to inform, educate, and galvanize the public in the United States and the world through the Kam-Parrish 2020 U.S. Presidential ticket. Any individual in the world who is capable of forming a political opinion and who agrees with the threeCore Idealsof the USTP is welcome tojoin the USTP as a memberfor free.

During the next ten weeks, Charlie Kam and Liz Parrish will show the world that a better future, and a better approach to political discourse, are possible and are on the horizon. They will also bring attention to the technologies and policies that will enable as many people as possible to live to see that future, remarked Chairman Stolyarov. Supporting the Kam-Parrish 2020 ticket is the prudent, foresighted choice for those who wish for the transhumanist vision and values to become an everyday reality for all.

Watch the first joint interview of Charlie Kam and Liz Parrish after the announcement of the Kam-Parrish 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign ticket with the U.S. Transhumanist Party. Dr. Sharif Uddin Ahmed Rana of the World Talent Economy Forum focused the discussion on the influence of transhumanist politics in the United States and the broader implications for forging ties with the international community. This interview took place on September 3, 2020, and is available to watch on the World Talent Economy Forum YouTube channel.

The Kam-Parrish 2020 ticket represents a new, longer-range approach toward politics focused on life-extension advocacy, scientific reasoning, education, and uplifting the quality of life of as many people as possible by helping them to realize the tremendous meaning and potential that science, technology, and material progress have made available all around them. Watch and be empowered to live your best life and elevate others!

Charlie Kams Remarks at London Futurists Panel June 20, 2020

Charlie Kam, the 2020 U.S. Presidential nominee endorsed by the U.S. Transhumanist Party, provided these remarks to the London Futurists on June 20, 2020, at a panel discussion entitled Politics for Greater Liberty: Transhumanist Perspectives, moderated by David Wood. The full recording of that panel is available here. This is a compilation of highlights from Mr. Kams comments, including his discussion of his background and interest in transhumanism, as well as the areas of emphasis of his campaign, including a focus on education, life extension, and innovative policy solutions such as universal basic income.

Daily Express Article: Trump challenged by radical presidential candidate hoping to REVERSE ageing by James Bickerton, published on July 6, 2020

Excerpt: Donald Trumpis facing a presidential challenge in November from a radical candidate who wants humans to use technology to end and even reverse the ageing process, resulting in greatly extended lifespans.

Running for U.S. President as a Transhumanist Interview with Charlie Kam by James Bickerton of FutureSnaps

Description by James Bickerton of FutureSnaps: I interview Charlie Kam, the U.S. Transhumanist Presidential candidate for 2020. We discuss the strategy of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, how transhumanists should engage with politics, why radical life extension in particular excites him, and what a pro-transhumanist Government might look like. Watch the interview on the FutureSnaps channel here.

Interview with Charlie Kam by Steele Archer of the Archer Report

On July 27, 2020, Steele Archer, host of the Archer Report, interviewed Charlie Kam regarding his 2020 campaign for President of the United States under the banner of the U.S. Transhumanist Party. Watch the interview on the Archer Report here.

Charlie Kam: Transhumanism, Universal Basic Income, and Singularity Interview by Greg Mustreader

Watch this interview on Greg Mustreaders YouTube channel here.

Transhumanist Politics in the United States Interview with Charlie Kam, Gennady Stolyarov II, and Daniel Yeluashvili by Dr. Sharif Uddin Ahmed Rana of the World Talent Economy Forum

Watch this interview on the World Talent Economy YouTube channel here.

Interview with Charlie Kam by Eddie Avil of the CHANGE I M POSSIBLE Podcast

Watch this interview on the CHANGE I M POSSIBLE YouTube channel here.

Liz Parrish on Fighting Aging as a Major Policy Priority September 6, 2020

Elizabeth Parrish (Liz Parrish), the U.S. Transhumanist Partys endorsed 2020 U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate, answers a question about how fighting biological aging can be made into a major policy priority in the United States. Watch the video of her answer here.

This discussion transpired at the U.S. Transhumanist Party Virtual Enlightenment Salon of September 6, 2020, featuring Liz Parrish alongside Presidential Candidate Charlie Kam and the U.S. Transhumanist Party Officers. Watch the complete Virtual Enlightenment Salon here.

Support the U.S. Transhumanist Partys Endorsed Kam-Parrish 2020 Campaign! Write Them In!

The United States Transhumanist Party (USTP) offers this guidance to its members and to other interested persons among the general public who wish to support the USTP-endorsed ticket of Charlie Kam for President of the United States and Elizabeth (Liz) Parrish for Vice-President of the United States.

Because the Republican-Democratic duopoly set up formidable petition-signature barriers to ballot access, and then effectively prohibited the gathering of petition signatures during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the USTP considers the ballot-access process to be rigged and fundamentally unjust. Besides, the USTP could not, in good conscience, risk the safety and health of its valued volunteers in order to gather in-person petition signatures during a deadly pandemic. We are, after all, a party that prioritizes healthy life extension. Instead the USTP encourages as many U.S. registered voters as possible to write in Charlie Kam and Liz Parrish in every state where write-in options exist pursuant to law.

Find your state among the five categories listed on the map below. If you support the Kam-Parrish 2020 ticket, you are then encouraged to follow the guidance pertaining to that category of states.

During the 2021-2024 time period, the USTP hopes to collaborate with other alternative political parties and advocacy organizations to lower as many barriers to ballot access as possible, in as many jurisdictions as possible.

States That Allow Automatic Write-In Access and Do Not Limit Ballot Pictures

States That Allow Automatic Write-In Access But Prohibit Ballot Pictures

States That Allow Write-In Candidates and Do Not Limit Ballot Pictures But We Need to Count the Votes

States That Allow Write-In Candidates But Prohibit Ballot Pictures But We Still Need to Count the Votes

States That Disallow Write-In Candidates

Why Vote Transhumanist in 2020?

Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wyoming

Actions Recommended:Write in Charlie Kam as your Presidential candidate of choice. If there is space for a Vice-Presidential candidate, write in Elizabeth Parrish.

E-mail us a picture of your marked ballot or simply let us know that you voted for Charlie Kam. Send your e-mail toustranshumanistparty@protonmail.com.

These states will probably count your vote, but we want to count your vote as well and do it sooner! Also, we have no guarantee that these states will publish known vote totals for write-in candidates, but we certainly will.

Alabama, New Jersey

Actions Recommended:Write in Charlie Kam as your Presidential candidate of choice. If there is space for a Vice-Presidential candidate, write in Elizabeth Parrish.

E-mail us to let us know that you voted for Charlie Kam. Send your e-mail toustranshumanistparty@protonmail.com.

However, please donotsend pictures of marked ballots.

These states will probably count your vote, but we want to count your vote as well and do it sooner! Also, we have no guarantee that these states will publish known vote totals for write-in candidates, but we certainly will.

These states unfortunately prohibit ballot selfies or pictures of marked ballots, so please onlytellus that you voted for Charlie Kam but do not send us actual pictures. We will believe you and count your vote.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia

Actions Recommended:Write in Charlie Kam as your Presidential candidate of choice. If there is space for a Vice-Presidential candidate, write in Elizabeth Parrish.

E-mail us a picture of your marked ballot or simply let us know that you voted for Charlie Kam. This will be important to ensure that your vote is counted, because the state will likely not publish the official totals.

Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin

Actions Recommended:Write in Charlie Kam as your Presidential candidate of choice. If there is space for a Vice-Presidential candidate, write in Elizabeth Parrish.

E-mail us to let us know that you voted for Charlie Kam. However, please donotsend pictures of marked ballots.

E-mailing us to simply let us know you voted is highly encouraged, since this will be important to ensure that your vote is counted, because the state will likely not publish the official totals.

Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota

Actions Recommended:Vote your conscience for the candidate / ticket appearing on the ballot whom you most prefer.

The above nine states above unfortunately disallow write-in candidates altogether, and therefore you would not have the option to write in Charlie Kam for President. The U.S. Transhumanist Party encourages you to vote your conscience based on which of the other candidates on the ballot would most closely reflect your personal views and policy preferences.

Note that the Libertarian Party ticket ofJo Jorgensen and Spike Cohenis on the ballot in all 50 states. Spike Cohen has been gracious in engaging with the U.S. Transhumanist Party and articulating many shared goals in the USTPVirtual Enlightenment Salonof September 13, 2020. Jo Jorgensen participated in theFree and Equal Elections Foundation Open Presidential Debate, co-sponsored by USTP Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II, in Chicago on March 4, 2020.

The Green Party ticket ofHowie Hawkinsand Angela Walker is on the ballot in Arkansas, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Carolina. Howie Hawkins participated in theFree and Equal Elections Foundation Open Presidential Debate, co-sponsored by USTP Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II, in Chicago on March 4, 2020.

The American Solidarity Party ticket ofBrian Carroll and Amar Patelis on the ballot in Mississippi. Brian Carroll participated in theFree and Equal Elections Foundation Open Presidential Debate, co-sponsored by USTP Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II, in Chicago on March 4, 2020.

In case you need additional persuasion to write in Charlie Kam and support the Kam-Parrish ticket, here are some basic reasons.

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U.S. Transhumanist Party Official Website U.S ...

A New Generation of Transhumanists Is Emerging | HuffPost

A new generation of transhumanists is emerging. You can feel it in handshakes at transhumanist meet-ups. You can see it when checking in to transhumanist groups in social media. You can read it in the hundreds of transhumanist-themed blogs. This is not the same bunch of older, mostly male academics that have slowly moved the movement forward during the last few decades. This is a dynamic group of younger people from varying backgrounds: Asians, Blacks, Middle Easterners, Caucasians, and Latinos. Many are females, some are LGBT, and others have disabilities. Many are atheist, while others are spiritual or even formally religious. Their politics run the gamut, from liberals to conservatives to anarchists. Their professions vary widely, from artists to physical laborers to programmers. Whatever their background, preferences, or professions, they have recently tripled the population of transhumanists in just the last 12 months.

"Three years ago, we had only around 400 members, but today we have over 10,000 members," says Amanda Stoel, co-founder and chief administrator of Facebook group Singularity Network, one of the largest of hundreds of transhumanist-themed groups on the web.

Transhumanism is becoming so popular that even the comic strip Dilbert, which appears online and in 2000 newspapers, recently made jokes about it.

Despite its growing popularity, many people around the world still don't know what "transhuman" means. Transhuman literally means beyond human. Transhumanists consist of life extensionists, techno-optimists, Singularitarians, biohackers, roboticists, AI proponents, and futurists who embrace radical science and technology to improve the human condition. The most important aim for many transhumanists is to overcome human mortality, a goal some believe is achievable by 2045.

Transhumanism has been around for nearly 30 years and was first heavily influenced by science fiction. Today, transhumanism is increasingly being influenced by actual science and technological innovation, much of it being created by people under the age of 40. It's also become a very international movement, with many formal groups in dozens of countries.

Despite the movement's growth, its potential is being challenged by some older transhumanists who snub the younger generation and their ideas. These old-school futurists dismiss activist philosophies and radicalism, and even prefer some younger writers and speakers not have their voices heard. Additionally, transhumanism's Wikipedia page -- the most viewed online document of the movement -- is protected by a vigilant posse, deleting additions or changes that don't support a bland academic view of transhumanism.

Inevitably, this Wikipedia page misses the vibrancy and happenings of the burgeoning movement. The real status and information of transhumanism and its philosophies can be found in public transhumanist gatherings and festivities, in popular student groups like the Stanford University Transhumanist Association, and in social media where tens of thousands of scientists and technologists hang out and discuss the transhuman future.

Jet-setting personality Maria Konovalenko, a 29-year-old Russian molecular biophysicist whose public demonstrations supporting radical life extension have made international news, is a prime example.

"We must do more for transhumanism and life extension," says Konovalenko, who serves as vice president of Moscow-based Science for Life Extension Foundation. "This is our lives and our futures we're talking about. To sit back and and just watch the 21st Century roll by will not accomplish our goals. We must take our message to the people in the streets and strive to make real change."

Transhumanist celebrities like Konovalenko are changing the way the movement gets its message across to the public. Gauging by the rapidly increasing number of transhumanists, it's working.

A primary goal of many transhumanists is to convince the public that embracing radical technology and science is in the species' best interest. In a mostly religious world where much of society still believes in heavenly afterlives, some people are skeptical about whether significantly extending human lifespans is philosophically and morally correct. Transhumanists believe the more people that support transhumanism, the more private and government resources will end up in the hands of organizations and companies that aim to improve human lives and bring mortality to an end.

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Transhumanist Party – Wikipedia

This article is about the political party in the United States. For political parties with the same name in other countries, see Transhumanist politics.

The Transhumanist Party is a political party in the United States. The party's platform is based on the ideas and principles of transhumanist politics, i.e., human enhancement, human rights, science, life extension, and technological progress.[3][4][5]

The Transhumanist Party was founded in 2014 by Zoltan Istvan. Istvan became the first political candidate to run for office under the banner of the Transhumanist Party when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the United States presidential election of 2016.[4] The Transhumanist Party has been featured or mentioned in many major media sites, including the National Review,[6] Business Insider,[7] Extreme Tech, Vice,[8] Wired,[9] The Telegraph, The Huffington Post,[4] The Joe Rogan Experience,[10] Heise Online,[11] Gizmodo,[12] and Reason.[13] Political scientist Roland Benedikter said the formation of the Transhumanist Party in the USA was one of three reasons transhumanism entered into the mainstream in 2014, creating "a new level of public visibility and potential impact."[14]

Following the end of the 2016 presidential election, after Zoltan's 2016 presidential campaign was completed, Gennady Stolyarov II became the Chairman of the party and the organisation was restructured. Under Chairman Stolyarov, the party adopted a new Constitution,[15] which included three immutable Core Ideals in Article I, Section I:[16]

New positions were founded, including Pavel Ilin became Secretary, Dinorah Delfin Director of Admissions and Public Relations, Arin Vahanian as Director of Marketing, Sean Singh as Director of Applied Innovation, Brent Reitze as Director of Publication, Franco Cortese as Director of Scholarship, and B.J. Murphy as Director of Social Media.[17] Restructured advisor positions included Zoltan Istvan as Political and Media Advisor, Bill Andrews as Biotechnology Advisor, Jose Cordeiro as Technology Advisor, Newton Lee as Education and Media Advisor, Keith Comito as Crowdfunding Advisor, Aubrey de Grey as Anti-Aging Advisor, Rich Lee as Biohacking Advisor, Katie King as Media Advisor, Ira Pastor as Regeneration Advisor, Giovanni Santostasi as Regeneration Advisor, Elizabeth Parrish as Advocacy Advisor, and Paul Spiegel as Legal Advisor.

The U.S. Transhumanist Party held six Platform votes during January, February, March, May, June, and November 2017, on the basis of which 82 Platform planks were adopted.[18] The U.S. Transhumanist Party holds votes of its members electronically and is the first political party in the United States to use ranked-preference voting method with instant runoffs in its internal ballots.[19]

In May 2018 the New York Times reported the U.S. Transhumanist Party as having 880 members.[20] On July 7, 2018, the U.S. Transhumanist Party reached 1,000 members and released a demographic analysis of its membership.[1] This analysis showed that 704 members, or 70.4%, were eligible to vote in the United States, whereas 296 or 29.6% were allied members.

During this time, the Transhumanist Party hosted several expert discussion panels, on subjects including artificial intelligence,[21] life extension,[22] art and transhumanism,[23] and cryptocurrencies.[24] Chairman Stolyarov has also hosted in-person Enlightenment Salons, which were aimed at cross-disciplinary discussion of transhumanist and life-extensionist ideas under the auspices of the U.S. Transhumanist Party.[25][26][27]

On August 11, 2017, at the RAAD Fest 2017 conference in San Diego, California, Chairman Stolyarov gave an address entitled "The U.S. Transhumanist Party: Pursuing a Peaceful Political Revolution for Longevity", which provided an overview of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's key principles and objectives.[28] In October 2017 Hank Pellissier founded the "Transhuman Party" following a trademark dispute with Zoltan Istvan's continued ownership of the 'Transhumanist Party' trademark. In response to Pellissier, the U.S. Transhumanist Party published its FAQ, where a significant portion was devoted to explaining the history of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, its current interactions with Zoltan Istvan and the scope of his involvement, and the reasons for his continued ownership of the 'Transhumanist Party' trademark.[29] The Transhuman Party became defunct in late 2017 due to lack of activity and its domain name and Facebook page were acquired by the US Transhumanist Party.[2]

By September 2017 the Party had appointed a number of international ambassadors, from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, and Scotland.[30] On November 9, 2017, in a virtual presentation at the TransVision 2017 conference in Brussels, Belgium, Chairman Stolyarov gave an overview of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's achievements in 2017 and future aspirations.[31] On March 31, 2018 Chairman Stolyarov was interviewed by Nikola Danaylov, a.k.a. Socrates, of Singularity.FM during a three-hour session, the longest of all of Danaylov's interviews.[32]

The Transhumanist Party presidential primary attracted media attention from BioEdge[33] and the Milwaukee Record.[34] While some media outlets reported Zoltan Istvan was considering running again,[35] ultimately he did not join the party's primary. After a protracted primary process with nine candidates, featuring numerous debates,[36] Johannon Ben Zion was elected as the party's nominee. After winning the primary, Ben Zion gave his acceptance speech at RAAD Fest 2019 in Las Vegas.[37] and filed with the FEC.[38] Shortly thereafter, film producer, entrepreneur, and longevity organizer Charlie Kam became Ben Zion's running mate. On October 19, 2019, Ben Zion spoke to the DC Transhumanists meetup in Arlington, VA.[39] On November 3, 2019 he spoke at the Foresight Institute's Vision Weekend Event in San Francisco. On November 24, 2019 he spoke to undergraduates at Princeton University as part of the Princeton Envision conference.[40] On March 4, 2020, Ben Zion participated in the Free & Equal Elections Foundation's Open Presidential debate in Chicago, Illinois.[41] Zoltan Istvan also participated in the debate, running as a Republican.[42]

On June 12, 2020, it was announced that Ben Zion had left the Transhumanist Party, with him declaring that his belief in Techno-progressivism was incompatible with the party, and that he would instead be pursuing a run for the Reform Party nomination. Kam was declared the replacement presidential nominee.[43][44] In June 2020 Charlie Kam participated in a panel with London Futurists and in July 2020 his campaign received press coverage in the Daily Express.[45] On August 21, 2020, Kam announced his selection of Elizabeth (Liz) Parrish as his Vice-Presidential running mate.[46]

A core tenet of the USTP platform is that more funding is needed for research into human life extension research and research to reduce existential risk. More generally, the goal is to raise awareness among the general public about how technologies can enhance the human species.[18][48] Democratic transhumanists and libertarian transhumanists tend to be in disagreement over the role of government in society, but both agree that laws should not encumber technological human progress.[49]

The Transhumanist Party platform promotes national and global prosperity by sharing technologies and creating enterprises to lift people and nations out of poverty, war, and injustice.[50][51] The Transhumanist Party also supports LGBT rights, drug legalization, and sex work legalization. The party seeks to fully subsidize university-level education while also working to "create a cultural mindset in America that embracing and producing radical technology and science is in the best interest of our nation and species."[4][52]

In terms of foreign policy and national defense, the party wants to reduce the amount of money spent on foreign wars and use the money domestically.[3] The party also advocates managing and preparing for existential risks, completely eliminating dangerous diseases, and proactively guarding against abuses of technology, such as nanotechnology, synthetic viruses, and artificial intelligence.[3][4]

The various policy points of the US Transhumanist Party's platform have attracted both praise and criticism from sociologist Steve Fuller. For example, Fuller has praised the centrality of morphological freedom in the US Transhumanist Party's bill of rights,[53] but on the other hand he has also written that the party is too critical of the US Department of Defense, which he argues could be an ally for some transhumanist initiatives such as human enhancement and existential risk reduction.[54] In 2018 the party as a whole was reviewed favorably as an example of a successful "niche" party by Krisztian Szabados, a director at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.[55]

The Transhumanist Party in Europe is the umbrella organization that supports the national level transhumanist parties in Europe by developing unified policies and goals for the continent.[56][57] Among them is the UK Transhumanist Party, which was founded in January 2015.[58][59][60] In October 2015, Amon Twyman, the party's leader at the time, published a blog post distancing the UK party from Zoltan Istvan's campaign.[61]

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Transhumanist Party - Wikipedia

Jamia Hamdard organised an International Webinar on STATUS OF SMART CITIES IN THE GLOBAL SCENARIO amidst the Coronavirus outbreak – India Education…

New Delhi: Jamia Hamdard organised an International Webinar on STATUS OF SMART CITIES IN THE GLOBAL SCENARIO amidst the Coronavirus outbreak following the norms of social-distancing. The webinar provide a platform for interactions among the extremely renowned & esteemed Doctors, Directors, Professors, AI experts from the worlds reputed Universities & research institutions towards the break through scientific discoveries & solutions for the need of the hour.The event was held under the patronage of Honble Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Seyed Ehtesham Hasnain, Honble Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr. Ahmed Kamal. Our eminent Chairman of the event was none other than Honble Dean, Professor M. Afshar Alam.

Esteemed personalities mainly Dr. Parvez Hayat, IPS, Ex-DGP, Jharkhand Police, Mr. Tarun Singhal, VP-Engineering, Hughes Systique , Mr. Saba Akhtar, Senior Technical Director, NIC , , Prof. (Dr.) Gulsun Kurubacak, Anadolu University, Turkey, Dr. Supavadee Aramwith, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Dr. Charru Malhotra, E-government & ICT, IIPA, New Delhi, India participated as invited speakers and gave an insightful lecture on the current prevailing situation.

The coordinators of the event were Dr. Parul Agarwal, Dr. Tabrez Nafees, Mr. Tabish Mufti, Ms. Richa Gupta and Ms. Pooja Gupta.

There were around 400 participants from all over India & abroad which includes participants from Morocco, Kuwait, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, and Philippines. A few alumnus and participations from IIM, IIT, BHU, AMU, JNU, were also witnessed.The webinar was commenced by Dr. Parul Agarwal (event coordinator) by providing an extended warm welcome where she gave an introduction of Smart Cities and how it can be of great help in the current scenario.Dean, SEST, Jamia Hamdard Professor, M. Afshar Alam discussed about Smart city by highlighting urban area which uses different means of electronic Internet of things sensors to collect data and then use insights gained from that data to manage assets, resources and services efficiently, in return using data to better improve the operations across the city.(Dr.) Parvez Hayat, (IPS, Ex-DGP, Jharkhand Police)Dr. Parvez Hayat talked about the design and infrastructural requirements of smart cities. He referred to the first model smart city, the Barcelona model from 90s and also stressed on the use of Machine learning and Artificial intelligence which is being used in modern smart cities to solve problems like water leakage, food management and e-waste management. The uses of ICT, IoT, 5G network etc., are some common features of smart cities. Disaster detection, monitoring and threat detectors are integrated inbuilt technologies of the citizen centric approach of smart city cultures.

Mr. Tarun Singhal, VP-Engineering, Hughes SystiqueMr. Tarun Singhal, discussed the exponential growth in IoT devices within the last 20 years to a whopping 30 million due to the smart cities development. IoT is used in solutions catering to waste management, water management, energy management and mobility tracking systems. He talked about some major components of smart cities as the use of digital platforms like multi-cloud system, Traffic congestion management and smart lighting solutions and smart parking solutions. He highlighted the fact that application of IoT in traffic management can reduce approx. 26% of travel time. Mr. Singhal also discussed times series modelling based on ARIMA model, a model which helps in finding the shortest path.Mr. Saba Akhtar, Senior Technical Director, NIC.Mr.Saba Akhtars address dealt with smart education environments and eco-systems which constitutes online trainings and learning. These smart educational eco-systems function around central portal management and personalization, smart business process management and research and innovation. He also threw some light on smart educational solutions which features enhanced and interactive learning experience, access to online resources etc. These smart solutions have resulted in a generation of smart learners who have comprehensive abilities and seek the available technological support from personalized expertise and knowledge.

(Dr.) Prof. (Dr.) Gulsun Kurubacak, Anadolu University, TurkeyProf. Dr. Gulsun Kurubacak, is an Associate Professor at Anadolu University, Turkey. She deals with communication problems with critical pedagogy and helps in improving learner critical thinking skills through project based online learning. In todays webinar she presented her ideas on becoming smart citizens before having smart cities. She emphasized on importance on online education and certification, collaborating on research network and partnerships in this era of COVID-19. To have a concrete foundation for smart cities, it is important to have a change in technological infrastructure, have dynamic and interactive government structure and a lifelong learning attitude. To have smart cities, it is important to implement sustainable goals as suggested by her.

(Dr.) Prof. (Dr.) Supavadee Aramwith, Chulalongkorn University, ThailandShe talked about Sustainable Development Scenario for Smart Cities in the Transhumanist Era. Goals and Various stages of smart city development and numerous examples were cited of smart cities where she gave a well-illustrated presentation.

(Dr.) Charru Malhotra, E-government & ICT, IIPA, New Delhi ,IndiaDr. Charru Malhotra, Associate Professor, E-gov & ICT, at Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, India talked about Governments smart city program, Using ICTs for delivery of smart services like smart governance, smart security system etc, and also shared views on why it is vital to adopt a citizen-centric approach. Talked about the ways and methodology to be adopted for smart city development talked about the affordable aspect of smart city.

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Jamia Hamdard organised an International Webinar on STATUS OF SMART CITIES IN THE GLOBAL SCENARIO amidst the Coronavirus outbreak - India Education...

How do you beat a pro on Zwift? An investigation – Cycling Weekly

What fresh hell is this? Im standing up, wrenching every last microjoule onto the Wattbike pedals, eyes glued to the iPad: 360 watts, 375, 400, briefly touching 415 as Im forced to accept that, whatever I have left, its not enough. Watching fast-pedalling avatars line out ahead single-file like over-stretched elastic, Im anchored at the sore end for the imminent snap. Were merely six minutes into Ronde van Zwift a virtual substitute (of sorts) for the Tour of Flanders but my day is done.

In honour of the real Ronde, cancelled because of Covid-19, Zwift had invited the Alpecin-Fenix team, along with a selection of the worlds best Zwifting specialists, to do battle over 27.6km, three laps of its hilly Richmond course. Standout favourite for the win was naturally Mathieu van der Poel, he of apparently limitless talents. And what am I doing here? I was invited to join a euphemistically tagged all-stars team of journalists and guests; AKA cannon fodder.

The rest of the race is for me a lonely TT to the finish. On a separate screen I watch the video feeds of the leading riders on their turbos in their respective homes, faces grim with determination, in and out of the saddle, sweat pouring. With eight kilometres to go, Alpecin-Fenixs Louis Vervaeke launches an attack, but its swiftly countered by Canadian triathlete Lionel Sanders, riding as a guest on the Canyon ZCC team.

The whittled-down group of four remain together until just before the final ascent of Libby Hill, with 4km to go, when Sanders activates an aero power-up and explodes off the front. Its a jaw-dropping moment; he holds nigh-on 8w/kg thats 580 watts right to the top of the climb. Fully committed now, he grits it out, veins bulging as he holds 6.5w/kg for the next 3km, before somehow turning the screw even further, up to 600 watts, to fend off a stupendously powerful sprint by Swedish cross-country MTB racer Samuel Brnnlund (post-race stats reveal that Brnnlund held 13.4w/kg for a full 15 seconds).

Whats even more astonishing are the results: never mind van der Poels absence from the final skirmish, no one from Alpecin-Fenix makes it into the top 10. In fact, theres not a single current pro road racer among them. Sanders is a triathlete, Brnnlund an off-roader, and the rest are a mix of former pros and MTBers-turned-Zwift specialists, all representing elite Zwifting teams. Does this really mean what it seems to imply that Zwifting is its own discipline, requiring a different, special set of skills that not even the best pro road racers possess? And if so, how can I become a Zwift specialist too?

Lionel Sanders in the virtual Tour of Flanders (Zwift)

Its almost too painful to accept: a triathlete has wiped the floor with one of the best cyclists in the world. OK, Sanders is no average triathlete; he held the Ironman world record (7hr 44min) until it was broken by Britains Tim Don in 2017. The 32-year-old Canadian, with his trademark headband, tattoos and ripped upper body, looks more like an MMA fighter than a cyclist. Does Zwifting suit a brawnier, tougher, frankly more badass sort of athlete? I decide to be brave and ask him.

Sanders is an intriguing character; he has been publicly open about the fact he struggled with depression and substance abuse in his late-teens, dropped out of university and didnt return to sport until several years later, in 2009. These days, hes a triathlon superstar with a substantial following on social media. When my email finally finds its way through to him, he replies to my questions candidly and in generous detail.

To be a good rider on Zwift, he gets straight to the point, you have to have an excellent power-to-weight ratio. If you dont have that, nothing else really matters.

But power is nothing without control; again and again through his email, Sanders refers to Zwift IQ e-racing intelligence. You need to be constantly watching the sidebar to see if someone is attacking, he begins a list of tips. You dont want to spend too much time near the back of the pack in case a gap opens. You need to have the right power-up and use it at the right time, and then, of course, you also need a little bit of good luck.

Sadly, there is no short cut to a high Zwifting IQ. Sanders stresses the importance of accruing hour upon hour of experience on the platform, almost like flying hours for a pilot trying to earn their licence. I have spent 45 days of my life on Zwift, and I am still learning, he writes. Sanders has stated elsewhere that he does almost all of his bike training indoors. He is a Zwifting specialist in the truest sense, a fact he fully acknowledges when I ask how it felt to beat Van der Poel.

It was a lot of fun, but I have been racing on Zwift long enough to know to take these results with a grain of salt, he modestly reflects. Mathieu has very little Zwift experience. I have probably 20 or 30 times more race and training experience on the platform. In real lifehe would whoop my ass on this course, I know that.

Sanders closest Canyon ZCC team-mate in the race, in third place, is another Lionel, Belgiums national Zwifting champion Lionel Vujasin. He started out racing MTB and cyclo-cross, so I want to know how he has transitioned to Zwifting so successfully. Im not gonna lie, I was pretty average [off-road], says Vujasin. I had the endurance, but not so much the technical skills.

Im slightly taken aback. Vujasin is currently ranked sixth overall on ZwiftPower (the site that collates results, stats and rankings while filtering out dubious performances) he is one of the best Zwifters in the world. How did he get there from being just a mid-pack MTBer?

Well, my physical abilities were well-conditioned from mountain biking, says the 30-year-old, and the rest is all about experience with Zwift. I went to live events early on, met a lot of the big names, and started to learn its all about the skills specific to the game anticipation getting a feel for how your avatar moves.

Without getting too transhumanist about it, this is beginning to sound like the merging of man and machine the champion Zwifter being he who becomes most intimately attuned to the intricacies of the software. Vujasin talks about being able to predict the virtual road positioning of his avatar just by being able to read the game, allowing him to stay sheltered and make the most of Zwifts simulated drafting.

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Interestingly, he shares not only a first name with Sanders, but is the same body weight, 73kg, and has a similarly mighty FTP (approximately 420 watts). Does he think Zwift favours a certain physical type, wiry and lean, aerobically strong but with a killer sprint too likea Classics specialist?

If you asked me to select the one rider in the world who had the most potential to be the ultimate Zwift racer, says Vujasin, it would be someone like Filippo Ganna.

Its hard to disagree: having four-minute power enough to break the individual pursuit world record combined with world-class time trialling ability certainly does seem a handy skillset for Zwift racing. Bit of a tall order for us mere mortals, mind.

Guys from cyclo-cross can also do really well, Vujasin reassures, because theyre used to continual on/off bursts of hard effort. Thats my own strength: I like to make the race more difficult for the other guys. A mix of cyclo-cross and track abilities would be the ideal.

According to Vujasin, maximising performance on a static bike calls for a kind of forgetting of the real-world rules. Sprinting is a good example firstly the strategy: Usually in Zwift races its a double effort you jump on the wheel of someone whos passing you, then you try to kick again for the line.

And secondly, technique: Its all about your position on the trainer only a specialist on Zwift can produce as much [peak] power inside as outdoors. Its funny when I posted an image of myself sprinting on Instagram, so many people commented that it looked horrible. To sprint effectively on Zwift, youre very front-heavy, standing taller to open the hip flexors, on the hoods, not the drops you dont need to be aerodynamic at all.

Freddy Ovett has been racing up to three times a day on Zwift (Freddy Ovett)

Though many pro riders seem to be underperforming on Zwift, there are some notable exceptions. One of the highest-ranked pros on ZwiftPower is 26-year-old Freddy Ovett, the Israel Cycling Academy rider, with a long list of wins to his name. Prior to lockdown, Ovett had barely ridden on Zwift, except for a few obligatory rides for a previous team.

I hated it, to be honest, he tells me over Skype. Like a typical pro, I found it got in the way of my normal training; it was just a hassle and I didnt understand it.

So why the change of heart? I started lockdown without Zwift, and I dont know what drew me into it. Maybe just the fact some of my mates were on there. I jumped on and did a few races, and just really enjoyed it.

Scrolling through Ovetts recent Zwift results, two things jump out: first, that he recently set a scorching 20-minute best power of 6.1w/kg; and second, that he has been racing up to three times a day on the platform Im surprised to see a pro rider getting so immersed in the virtual realm rather than following a structured, controlled training programme.

Yeah, my coach definitely wasnt like, Sure, go ride three Zwift races, admits Ovett, but I would look at the programme he had set, and hes comfortable with us combining parts of each others ideas, so I would use the Zwift racing to get what I needed out of the day, not to get results.

What makes Zwift racing an effective form of training? Its just bang-for-your-buck training, says Ovett. Because you dont really have control over the situation or the races, aside from profile and distance.

The uncontrollables include competitors and Ovett treats it as part of the unpredictable challenge when he finds himself chasing down avatars putting out improbable watts per kilo.You get these guys entering all sorts of weights, he says, but I just treat them as pacemakers they actually help me push myself. I know a lot of people get upset about these sorts of guys, but I actually like how they drag me on.

For the benefit of younger readers, its worth pointing out that Ovett is the son of celebrated British middle-distance runner Steve, Olympic champion and track nemesis of Seb Coe. Freddy started out as a runner like his dad, but switched to cycling after picking up injuries could it be that Zwift favours certain athletic traits inherited from other disciplines?

I think theres a big separation between racing for one hour or less and the three-, four-, five-hour type of duration we pros race, says Ovett. A lot of guys, especially runners and triathletes, can do really good power for an hour because they havent necessarily built up massive mileage on the bike Of course, that doesnt necessarily correlate to being a good [real-world] bike racer, which is something Im working on as well.

Road-racing purists might not enjoy getting a kicking from MTBers and triathletes in the virtual world, but we need to focus on the bigger picture: arguably the best thing about Zwift is its accessibility. Sure, you need a smart-trainer, but there are no other logistic hurdles; you dont need a race licence, theres no travel involved, and its literally impossible to crash. For those of us unable to race outdoors I have faulty peripheral vision thanks to an inherited eye condition Zwifting has opened up a whole new competitive world, liberating us to get fully involved on equal terms.

In a similar boat to me is former closed-circuit TT champion Rachael Elliott, who in February 2018, aged 39, suffered a stroke during training, leaving her with Parinauds syndrome, meaning she can no longer move her eyes, which are fixed looking downward. Despite this disability or perhaps because of it Elliott has become a force to be reckoned with on Zwift; at the time of writing, she is the top-ranked female on ZwiftPower.

I raced myself fit, Elliott laughs. My FTP is almost back to where it was pre-stroke, and rather than getting stressed about intervals, Im solely racing, with the efforts dictated by what other people are doing often forcing me to go as hard as I can to keep up.

Earlier this year, Elliott averaged 300 watts on her way to winning a Newbury Velo Club 10 on Zwift, equating to 5.3w/kg despite still having some residual weakness from the stroke. Her sight issue means that the display screen has to be positioned on the floor, with a specially adapted user interface showing her power directly above her avatar. Its a comeback story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.

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Elliott had hoped to get involved in paracycling, but British Cycling rejected her application on the grounds she does not fit the classification criteria an unfathomable situation, given that the raison detre of para-sport is meant to be inclusivity. In stark contrast, Zwift is providing not only a replacement competitive outlet for the 42-year-old, but a whole new arena of world-class racing with prize money to match.

Most of the pro-am races have prizes attached, says Elliott, referring to Zwifts invitational series, which she competes in with her team Kiss Racing. In the womens pro peloton, some riders have been very outspoken about how they can earn more money e-racing than they can from racing the Giro.

In these top-level races, its not unusual to pick up 1,000 for an individual win, and a few thousand to split among team members for a major team result.

There are no full-time pros on our team, says Elliott, so the most theyd win in a normal race is 30 quid to buy a round of drinks at the pub. Now theyre winning the sort of money they just wouldnt see in normal races.

Of course, the downside of prize money is that, for the morally fallible, its an added temptation to cheat.

A woman who runs a very prominent womens team contacted me last week really angry about a pro race [on Zwift] that had been done without any verification, recounts Elliott. She told me how certain riders were putting out 400 watts and riding off the front alevel of performance theyre not capable of in real life.

The counter measure newly introduced for pro-am races is that eligible riders have to video themselves undertaking a gamut of performance tests, doubly measured using twin power meters, which then provides a form of data passport against which future performances are benchmarked.

Im going to do my verification test this afternoon after speaking to you, says Elliott. Itll take two hours you have to film yourself calibrating both power sources, then do all the tests Its awfully stressful!

Although she competes on the world stage of Zwifting, Elliott objects to virtual racing being spoken of in the same breath as bona fide racing in the great outdoors.

It angers me when people try to compare Zwift racing to, say, the Tour de France. Its not and never can be its an entirely different form of racing, needing entirely different skills.In other words, being a professional bike racer requires masterful bike-handling, tactical nous and long-range resilience against repeated changes of pace over long days in the saddle, a skill set that takes years to accrue.

A Zwift race contains only the shortest, sharpest ingredients from outdoor racing, as Elliott explains: Its like a cyclo-cross start followed by a ferocious crit race, then a punishing sprint.

Id intended to mine Elliott for her training tips on becoming a Zwift specialist, but she insists its mostly just about competing frequently and surrendering to the addictive, arguably masochistic, thrill of the racing. She does, however, underscore the importance of knowing your way around the virtual garage.

Youve got to know the equipment, she says. I use the website Zwift Insider all the time, to find out which bike and wheel combination will be fastest over a particular course.There are Zwifting wonks constantly testing the relationships between virtual parts and their performance.

It can be quite geeky, Elliott admits. As well as equipment research, she sleuths her rivals strengths and weaknesses before each race. It takes an awful lot of time Ill spend three or four times longer on reading to prepare for a race than on actually racing it.

David Bradford (Daniel Gould)

Its now three months since my rude awakening at Ronde van Zwift, and the shock and awe havent put me off. While writing this feature, Ive been racing on Zwift twice a week, and my results have been steadily improving but without a podium finish to my name. My big chance comes at Stage 5 of the Tour for All Keith Hill Afterparty, mostly flat but with a hilltop finish when I find myself on the start line amid the smallest field Ive ever seen on Zwift. Theres just one hitch: lurking next to me is an avatar conspicuously clad in Trek-Segafredo kit.

The banner falls and our small lead group soon settles to a manageable pace; the name hovering above the Trek figure is E Liepins. My brother Matt flitting in and offering unwelcome punditry googles Liepins on his phone, then looks up with a smirk. Dont worry, hes a sprinter youll just have to go long. With about 20km to go, the pace of the group softens further, and I take the deranged decision to act on Matts advice. Hitting an aero power-up, I launch a long-range solo attack, surging away, then holding as close as I dare to my (theoretical) FTP of 350 watts.

Miraculously, it seems to work: I get away and the gap steadily widens kilometre after kilometre.

With little more than 5km to go, Ive eked out a buffer of nearly a minute, and Im daring to dream: its mine for the taking. But then we hit Keith Hill, and were barely over the initial small ramp before I notice the gap has halved and Liepi power is lit up in orange, signalling incendiary-level wattage. What the? It all happens so fast; Im not even halfway up the steep middle section when he scorches past and leaves me for dust. Two chasing riders also get past, killing off any last vestige of podium hope; Im spent, there is literally nothing I can do except cling on for fourth.

It turns out that Emls Liepi is not merely a sprinter but a highly accomplished all-rounder whose palmares include podiums in one-day and stage races alike. Once Ive dressed the wounds to my pride, I catch up with the 27-year-old Latvian on Skype, hoping he can expand on the harsh lesson he has just taught me.

That guys crazy! Liepi recalls his initial reaction to my solo break. But when the gap got to one minute, I was thinking, For sure, he will win.

It feels absurd to ask a WorldTour pro how he beat an impudent amateur like me, but here goes: how did he obliterate that gap? I started the climb at 700 watts, then 600 600 a bit longer, and finally dropped the other guys. It was really hard, actually, that climb.

Well, that makes me feel better: at least he had to break a sweat. Its short-lived consolation, however, as Liepi recounts his warm-up for the race.

It was raining, so I agreed with my coach to do the session indoors, 90 minutes at 300 watts, then the race, he says, deadpan. What? Yeah, 10 times nine minutes at 300 watts, which is not really easy. I jumped straight into the race afterwards; it was the next one available.

This feature originally appeared in the print edition of Cycling Weekly, on sale in newsagents and supermarkets, priced 3.25.

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How do you beat a pro on Zwift? An investigation - Cycling Weekly

Frontrunner for the VA GOP’s 2021 Gubernatorial Nomination Rallies in Honor of Far-Right Paramilitary Group Member; As Del. Jay Jones Points Out, the…

How did you spend *your* fourth of July holiday? Probably not like the frontrunner for the Virginia GOPs 2021 gubernatorial nomination, Amanda Chase, who was hanging out in Richmond yesterday with her buddies including right-wing extremist groups, a gun club and white supremacists. Chase was also busy opining that Confederate monuments despite all historical evidence to the contrary are NOT symbols of hate. By the way, since the media didnt report this key information, for whatever reason(s), Chases rally yesterday was as she herself posted on Facebook in honor of Duncan Lemp. Who was Duncan Lemp, you ask? Heres the Wikipedia entry on his fatal shooting by police:

On March 12, 2020, Duncan Socrates Lempwas fatally shot at his home inPotomac, Maryland, during ano-knockpolice raidby the Montgomery County Police DepartmentsSWATteam.Lemp was astudentand asoftware developerwho associated himself with the3 Percenters, a far-right paramilitary militia group

Lemp associated himself with the3 Percenters, a far-right paramilitary militia group, and set up websites for other such organizations.He also frequented the4chanandRedditmessage boards, sites popular withinternet trolls.He was a member of theUnited States Transhumanist Party, having joined on September 6, 2019.A week before the raid, Lemp posted a picture of two people armed with rifles onInstagram, with text referring to boogaloo, a term used by theboogaloo movementas coded language for an anticipated war against the government or liberals.

Thats a pretty important piece of information youd think the media would have reported, by the way, butnope, that might take a minute or two of using Google or whatever. And god forbid they actually give their readers the full context of whats going on. Ugh.

Anyway, so what was the reaction from the Virginia GOP to State Senator Chases rally with white supremacists in honor of a former member of a far-right paramilitary militia group? So far, as Del. Jay Jones (D) pointed out a few minutes ago the silence is deafening here. And its not like Virginia Republicans werent tweeting yesterday; see the Virginia GOP Twitter feed, which has tweets on their U.S. Senate candidate, handing out Trump yard signs, etc. But anything on Chase and her white supremacists rally in Richmond yesterday. Nope, nada. Theres also nothing from the VA Senate GOP Twitter feed either on Chases Fourth of July festivities. Cat got the Virginia GOPs tongue? Do these folks actually *approve* of Chases behavior, are they just terrified of her, or both? Or, ultimately, do they realize that if they condemn Chase, theyd have to also condemn Trump and others in their own party, and thats something they cant bring themselves to do?

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Frontrunner for the VA GOP's 2021 Gubernatorial Nomination Rallies in Honor of Far-Right Paramilitary Group Member; As Del. Jay Jones Points Out, the...

Inside the Beltway: A transhumanist Republican has a say – Washington Times

He has been billed as the cyborg who is running against President Trump. That would be Republican presidential hopeful Zoltan Istvan a self-described transhumanist based in California who hopes his futuristic message of fusing radical technology with daily life resonates in a complicated political marketplace.

His campaign motto is Upgrade America, and he supports everything from artificial wombs to the use of drones to prevent mass shootings. He ran as an independent for president in 2016, and is repeating his efforts in 2020 as a Republican.

My presidential campaign has been based on being a new type of Republican one thats more open-minded about the future, about the vast social differences across the nation, and about how the world is being changed by new science and technologies like artificial intelligence and genetic editing, Mr. Istvan tells Inside the Beltway.

He has campaigned in such traditional venues as the Iowa caucuses. He has also spent much time aboard the Immortality Bus, which is meant to be a pro-science symbol of resistance against aging and death, says Mr. Istvan, 47, and a married father of two.

The Immortality Bus aims to usher in the next great civil rights debate. Should we use science and technology to overcome death and become a stronger species? asks the candidate.

He has a website at ZoltanIstvan.com, of course. But wait. Now theres also Immortality or Bust. Yes, its Immortality Bus, the movie.

This is a feature-length documentary on transhumanism, my life and my Immortality Bus road trip, and it debuts on Tuesday, says Mr. Istvan, noting that there are plenty of Libertarians who appear in the film.

It follows my two-year presidential campaign as a transhumanist. Simply put, that means someone who wants to use science and technology to upgrade humans. This is not your typical politicians film, or public relations project. The content includes such issues as artificial intelligence, cryopreservation, biohacking, and protests against such existential risks like a life-threatening plague. My own efforts to deliver a Transhumanist Bill of Rights to the U.S. Capitol are all part of the journey, the candidate tells the Beltway.

Curious?

This documentary follows Zoltan on his improbable journey to its final, and revealing conclusion, notes iTunes.com, which is among multiple online spots that are featuring Mr. Istvans 80-minute outreach.

BIDE-N-SEEK

There are multiple reasons why 2020 does not seem to be a presidential election year. The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest one, along with a news media which has remained fixated on trashing President Trump rather than reporting on policy issues or voter concerns.

Some analysts also believe the press is shielding Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden from too much public exposure as he hones his campaign.

But the clock is ticking.

Joe Biden cant hide in the basement forever. The fact that he hasnt done a press conference in 81 days is indefensible, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tells Fox News.

President Trump goes in front of the media every single day. Hes the most accessible president we have ever seen in the media. Joe Biden is trying to run this Bide-n-seek campaign, and its not going to work forever, declares Mrs. McDaniel.

AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT

About the only thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on is that the nation is politically polarized, The two sides cant even agree to disagree. Meanwhile, one analyst has deep thoughts about President Trump and his quest for the White House.

The Left regards Trump as an existential threat. The attack they mount against him will be unprecedented in ferocity and underhandedness. There is no malign expedient they will not avail themselves of, no dirty trick to which they will not stoop, writes Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books.

Which is why the silent majority that the president invoked in his Tulsa rally can no longer remain silent. Just as Trump is an existential threat to the deep state and its culture of corruption, so too that establishment is an existential threat to America as conceived by the founders, Lincoln, Reagan, and Trump, Mr. Kimball says in his essay, published by the Epoch Times.

He continues to mull Mr. Trumps recent campaign rally, and what he told the crowd.

The choice in 2020, as the president said, is very simple. Do you want to bow before the left wing mob? Or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?

MEANWHILE IN GREENLAND

A statue of a Danish-Norwegian colonizer in Greenlands capital Nuuk was marked with red paint and the word decolonize on Sunday, reports Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, a Danish correspondent for Reuters.

The incident comes as statues and monuments around the world are being reconsidered in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, and is a reminder of the tensions between Greenlands mostly Indigenous Inuit residents and former colonial power Denmark. It also comes less than a year after President Trump offered to buy the vast island, he writes.

The statue of Hans Egede, a missionary whose arrival in Greenland in 1721 marked the beginning of the islands colonial era, was marked in the early morning hours, police said. Images of the statue posted on social media drew hundreds of mostly approving comments.

Inuit are constantly silenced and never given the opportunity to process the traumas that have been passed down for generations, said Paninnguaq Lind Jensen, who runs a tattoo shop in Nuuk.

Greenland is home to 56,025 people and was a Danish colony until 1953 when it became a formal part of the Nordic nation. In 2009, Greenland achieved self-governing autonomy, including the right to declare independence from Denmark.

POLL DU JOUR

73% of U.S. adults think the federal government should not pay money to black Americans whose ancestors were slaves as compensation for that slavery.

56% oppose changing the names of U.S. military bases that are named after Confederate leaders.

51% oppose removing Confederate statues from public spaces around the country.

35% oppose banning the use of chokeholds by police officers.

Source: An ABC News/IPSOS poll of 727 U.S. adults conducted June 17-18.

Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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Inside the Beltway: A transhumanist Republican has a say - Washington Times

Reform Party Nominates Roque Rocky DE La Fuente for President, He Was Their Nominee in 2016, and Is Also the Alliance Party Nominee. – Yahoo Finance

TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / June 20, 2020 / The Reform Party today nominated lifelong American businessman and serial entrepreneur Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente for president in an online presidential nominating convention in which more than 70% of the delegates voted for him.

De La Fuente was also the Reform Party's nominee in 2016, and last month was selected as the presidential nominee for the Alliance Party. His running mate in both parties is Darcy G. Richardson.

In an online convention of assembled Reform Party delegates, De La Fuente received 17 votes. Candidate Max Abramson, who is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, received four. J. Ben Zion, Founder, and Chair of the Arizona Transhumanist Party, who is also an Independent Party Presidential candidate in the 2020 election, received one. Candidate Soraya Faas had withdrawn before the vote and endorsed De La Fuente.

The Reform Party is only on the ballot in Florida.

DE LA FUENTE'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

"Now, the real work begins," said De La Fuente. "Our priorities are clear: To make significant strides in achieving our mission to fundamentally change the governing structure in this nation. The American people know the current process of our national government is broken. We must convince the American people we are the solution. We must remind them of the almost forgotten principles on which this nation was founded. First among those is a near-sacred dedication to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, which has been ruthlessly abused, illegally manipulated, plainly ignored and regularly misused to gain partisan political advantage.

"I have a vision of an America that ranks as the very best example in the world in the outcomes that determine the quality of life of our citizens. I have a vision for an America that combats the human challenges we all hold in common: immigration, climate change, poverty, ignorance, sickness, income inequality, and injustice."

About Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente

Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente is living proof that the American Dream can be achieved by those who are inspired to pursue it. He has an amazing record of success. From earning an FAA license to fly single engine planes at the age of 20 to owning 29 automobile dealerships and becoming Chairman of the National Dealers Council for the third largest automobile manufacturer in the world by the age of 28, he's in a league by himself. He created a banking network in 1982 to help address Mexico's economic crisis and established impressive real estate holdings throughout the United States while creating thousands of new jobs along the way. In 1992, Rocky became the first Hispanic American to serve as a Delegate-At-Large for the State of California at a National Convention. He holds a bachelor's degree in Physics and Mathematics (Magna Cum Laude) and an honorary doctorate from UNESCO. Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente has been a great success in his political career, achieving great acceptance among the Latino community.

Media Contact:Michelle M. Griffith, APRmichelle@clearviewcom.com813-597-8189

SOURCE: Rocky 2020

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Reform Party Nominates Roque Rocky DE La Fuente for President, He Was Their Nominee in 2016, and Is Also the Alliance Party Nominee. - Yahoo Finance

Staying away from public events during COVID-19 caution? Stream these shows at home – Johnson City Press (subscription)

So instead of a list of local events, the newsroom staff at Johnson City Press helped pull together a list of shows to watch on streaming services this coming week.

Shrill on Hulu: Shrill is a new Hulu comedy series starring Aidy Bryant from Saturday Night Live as Annie, a fat young woman who wants to change her life but not her body. Annie tries to advance her journalism career while dealing with bad boyfriends, a sick parent and an often dismissive boss. This show explores sexism, body image issues and much more.

Rebellion on Netflix:Rebellion is a five-part series that is told from the perspectives of a group of fictional characters who live through the political events of the 1916 Easter Rising. The show focuses on the revolutionaries fighting for a free Ireland, as well as those involved in the British occupation. A great show for history buffs.

Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu: Fans of this cult comedy classic were displeased to see the show leave Netflix in 2017, but you can still catch the gang in action on Hulu, which recently added season 14 to its streaming service. The show, starring Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds, Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly, Rob McElhenney as Mac, Kaitlin Olson as Dee Reynolds and Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds, follows the exploits of a group of arrogant narcissists who seem to get worse as the show continues.

Adult Swim App: For fans of alternative comedy, the free Adult Swim app can be found on your Roku device or other smart TVs. The app includes everything the channel has ever featured over the years, includingRick and Morty,The Eric Andre Show,Loiter Squad, all the hijinks ofTim and Eric, and much more. With hours of free TV shows, this app alone could kill a lot of time.

Counterpart on Amazon Prime: Counterpart, a sci-fi thriller drama starring JK Simmons, Olivia Williams and Harry Lloyd, tells the tale of a United Nations employee, played by Simmons, who discovers that the agency he works for is hiding a parallel dimension thats at war with our own. Within that parallel dimension is a top spy whos his other self.

The Expanse, an Amazon Prime original: The Expanse, starring Steven Strait, Cas Anvar and Dominique Tipper, follows a police detective in the asteroid belt, the first officer of an interplanetary ice freighter and an earth-bound United Nations executive as they discover a vast conspiracy that threatens Earth's rebellious colony on the asteroid belt.

Ozark on Amazon Prime:Ozark, starring Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner, follows afinancial adviser who takes his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks to work for a drug boss who he must appease through money laundering and more. Season three will come out on March 27.

Altered Carbon on Netflix: Altered Carbon, starring Anthony Mackie, Lela Loren and Simone Missick, is set in a futuristic transhumanist world in which peoples consciousnesses can be transferred into other bodies, orsleeves. This show follows a prisoner who returns to life in a new body with a chance to win his freedom by solving a murder. The show is based on Richard K. Morgan's cyberpunk noir novel of the same name.

The Witcher on Netflix: Though the show has received mixed reviews from some, most have seemed to enjoyThe Witcher, an action fantasy series starringHenry Cavill, Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan. The show, which is set for another season, follows a mutated monster-hunter for hire in a turbulent world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.

Frozen 2 on Disney Plus: The musical fantasy film Frozen 2 was released early on Disney Plus on Sunday for viewers getting throughthis challenging time. This critically acclaimed animated film follows characters Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven as they leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient enchanted land to find the origin of Elsa's powers and save their kingdom in peril.

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Staying away from public events during COVID-19 caution? Stream these shows at home - Johnson City Press (subscription)

cyborgs, robots, and biohackers: the first-ever survey of transhumanism – Designboom

london-based photographers david vintiner and gem fletcher document individuals who form part of the transhumanism culture throughout europe, russia and the united states in their latest collaborative photo series, I want to believe an exploration of transhumanism. the five-year-long project explores the core idea behind transhumanism the belief that human beings are destined to transcend their mortal flesh through technology.

neil harbisson hears color neil harbisson was born with achromatism, a rare disease that renders him colourblind. rather than overcome achromatism, harbisson created a new sense to go beyond the human visual spectrumin 2004 he had an antenna implanted into his skull. the antenna allows him to perceive visible and invisible colours as audible vibrations, including infrareds and ultraviolets.

the photo series by vintinerand fletcher illustrates three gradual stages of transhumanism from testing ground, patient zero to humanity 2.0. at the lowest tier, testing ground looks into individuals who have created wearable technology to expand their human abilities, improving everything from concentration to mental health.patient zero studies those who have taken permanent action to become half human and half robot. in the final chapter, humanity 2.0, the transhumanist subjects focus on life extension and immortality.

the work of the individuals in this book demonstrates how optimizing our brains and bodies could revolutionize and redefine humanity. as human architects, we are only limited by our imagination, explains vintiner and fletcher.

kevin warrick widely considered as one of the first cyborgs.kevin warrick is a pioneering professor in cybernetics and considered by many as the worlds first cyborg. kevin instigated a series of experiments involving the neuro-surgical implantation of a device into the nerves of his left arm in order to link his nervous system directly to a computer. this enabled him to have a symbiotic connection with a robotic hand. he could control the hand using his own brain signals from anywhere in the world, as well as sense what the robot hand was feeling.

humans are now gods. we are now able to create and design humans, but do humans have the foresight to do it in the right way? questions the photographers.

cyborg arm

for many transhumanists, life extension and immortality is the goal. transhumanism started as early as 1923 and has developed over recent years through the rise of sci-fi themed books, movies and the democratization of technology. as studies on experimental genetic engineering, tissue regeneration and stem cell treatments are also becoming more apparent in todays world, transhumanists hope to extend the life of the human body anywhere from twenty to 500 years longer than the average lifespan.

vintiner and fletcher are working together on releasing the photo series as a book, which can be funded on crowd-funding platform kickstarter, here.

moon ribas sensing earthquakesmoon ribas is connected to online seismographs allowing her to perceive the seismic activity of the planet through vibrations in her body. the vibration she feels depends on the intensity of the earthquake. if she is standing in newcastle, she can sense earthquakes happening everywhere from japan to greece. she describes the sensation as having two heartbeats, her biological heartbeat and the earthbeat, which has its own rhythm inside her body.

dr natasha vita-more a leading expert on human enhancement and emerging technologies

dr. aubrey de grey biomedical gerontologist and the chief science 0fficer of SENS research foundation

liz parrish founder of bioviva

dr max more president and CEO of the alcor life extension foundation

patient zero - james young after an accident that left him a double amputee, james young turned to bionics to redesign his body. obsessed with the metal gear solid, he worked with gaming giant konami and prosthetic sculptor sophie de oliveira barata to develop an advanced bionic arm inspired by the computer game.

carbon fibre bionic limb

patient zero - rob spence known as the eyeborg, rob spence lost an eye as a child while playing with his grandfather's shotgun. inspired by a love of the bionic man and his interest in documentary filmmaking, spence created an eye with a wireless video camera inside. the camera is not connected to his optic nerve but sends footage to a remote receiver. over the years, he has created several different aesthetics for the eye, from a realistic 'hidden camera' version to a terminator inspired glowing red version.

patient zero - neil harbisson neil harbisson was born with achromatism, a rare disease that renders him colourblind. rather than overcome achromatism, harbisson created a new sense to go beyond the human visual spectrumin 2004 he had an antenna implanted into his skull. the antenna allows him to perceive visible and invisible colours as audible vibrations, including infrareds and ultraviolets.

image out of rob spence's eyes

new ways of seeing - EYEsect the experimental device aims to recreate the experience of seeing the world like a chameleon, with two single steerable eyes. in changing the way we perceive the world around us, eyesect alters our version of reality enabling new ways to sense and experience our environment.

new ways of seeing - north sense created by liviu babitz and scott cohen, north sense is a small matchbox-sized artificial sense organ that delivers a short vibration every time the user faces north, similar to the biological abilities of migratory birds, extending the human perception of orientation.

new ways of seeing - aisen caro chacin / echolocation the echolocation headphones are a pair of goggles that aid human echolocation. it is designed to substitute the users vision augmenting our spatial awareness with sound, similar to the abilities of bats and whales. the device has both the potential to aid the visually impaired and provide sighted individuals with a new sense.

project info:

title:I want to believe an exploration of transhumanism

artistic director: gem fletcher

photographer: david vintiner

kick starter page: I want to believe

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cyborgs, robots, and biohackers: the first-ever survey of transhumanism - Designboom

I turned a psychopath into a noble and rescued drunk royalty in the new RimWorld expansion – PC Gamer

I've been playing RimWorld for the better part of a decade now, since 2013, when it was an alpha you could only get from the developer's website. Much of RimWorld's successas of 2018 it had sold a million copiescomes from its power as a story generator. It builds a procedural arc using an AI director that forces interesting outcomes and interwoven relationships. That arc is stapled to a greater backbone with a single goal: escape the RimWorld. There are a couple ways to do that, like trekking overland or building a new spaceship to escape. The new expansion, Royalty, adds a third escape path to RimWorldwith attendant increase in characters, technologies, and a slew of new quests based on them. The AI storyteller interweaves this new material seamlessly with the old.

Here's the tale of how three crash survivors were marooned on an alien world, made their psychopath leader into space-empire nobility, and got hoodwinked into rescuing a terrible drunk who was far, far more useful than they realised.

In the Royalty expansion, the remnants of an ancient stellar empire have fled to the RimWorld. Where previously the only other inhabitants were regressed tribals, other scattered survivor factions and vicious pirates, there's now a certain civilized air upon the backwater planet. While it was once immeasurably powerful, the shattered empire has lost its home worlds, but the remnants of its military fleet in orbit and its advanced technology make its members the top dogs on the rim. If you can make friends with them and rise through their ranks they might just help you get off this rock and give you sweet psychic powers to boot. This is the kind of stuff that has been implicit in RimWorld's lore for years, but is just now appearing in the game proper.

After a space accident, colonists Onesan, Faina, Xiaohan, and their cat Mr. Boots crash-land on an unknown rimworld. They're in the far south of the Sendor Forest at the crux of a dirt trading road and a river, just west of uninhabited White Sparrow Plateau and east of the sprawling desert of the Stingray Mountains. Mr. Boots is eaten by a bear a few days after landing.

Faina is a beautiful drifter who grew up in a cult. Xiaohan is just 21, but he's brillianttoo brilliant for his own good, and annoying because of it. And then there's Onesan. She's good at manipulating thingsand peoplebecause she grew up on the street and then became a successful merchant. She wants to be eternally better, stronger, faster, and is a transhumanist because of it. She's fascinated with body augmentations.

She's also a psychopath.

A few days into their trials, as they establish a few small stone buildings beside the river, they receive a message: the Empire of Eternity wants to talk. They've offered a position in their society for one of the new colonists if they can shelter a nearby hapless nobleman who's being pursued by an angry, vicious snow hare. (Did I mention the nobleman is hapless?)

Naturally, I choose vicious, amoral Onesan as the colony's new de jure noble leader. I welcome in the Baron and Onesan point-blank executes the rabbit with a revolver.

There are some advantages to having a psychopath as a leader. No matter what happens to the others, Onesan won't lose her cool. She won't get mood penalties when others die along the way which is good because the expectations of an imperial noble are hard to meet on the rim, and that causes mood penalties. Stacking these penalties can lead to colonists going a bit over the edge: throwing tantrums, binge drinking, murdering their rivals. These are not desirable behaviors in a leader. The new path to escape via nobility is hard because I need the wealth to satisfy our noble's desires. But if a character progresses too quickly up the ranks, they will, to put it plainly, lose their shit at the disconnect between expectation and reality. So I put the most predictable person in charge.

In the immortal words of reality TV show contestants the world over: I am not here to make friends, I am here to win.

There are some advantages to having a psychopath as a leader.

Things go well for a while. The nobility wants us to let their pets get a break from the space station life, so they send down a pair of foxes for us to care for. In exchange, Onesan gets promoted high enough in the imperial nobility that they send down a psychic enhancement device for her to plug in. She carves herself a throne out of solid jade and I spend a week building a grand marble hall for it to sit in. Over the next year, she never once sits on the throneshe doesn't even enter the throne room. She is very pleased by its grandeur nonetheless. I guess she just likes to know it's available? The mind of the blessed nobility must operate on a much higher level than my own.

Finally, the imperials turn over the quest for the endgame: if Onesan can reach the rank of Countess, imperial Stellarch Adeodata will come visit us. If I keep her happy she'll fly my colonists off-world.

Royalty presents a new twist on RimWorld for me. Previously the game really focused on building up a base of supplies for an overland trek to an established ship, or on a defensible technological base so you could build a new ship of your own. Royalty wants you to thrive rather than simply survive. The colony must become a lucious, luxurious palace. You must accumulate wealth, and the power to defend it, in a sustainable way.

I'm given several more pets to babysit. I apparently now run a doggie daycare for the miscellaneous animals of the eccentric, bored space nobility. A labrador. An arctic wolf. A pig named Carlos. All of the animals arrive injured in some way. I begin to wonder if the good Baron, fleeing from a snow hare, was not simply fleeing retribution for animal abuse of his own. Another noble asks us to build a monument to the power of his muscles. Onesan rises high enough in the ranks that, when attacked by an overwhelming force of the local tribals, she's able to call down a contingent of imperial shock troops to see them off.

I get a message from the leader of a nearby industrialized settlement, begging us to go out and help a wounded friend. It's a two-day trek, requiring all our supply of travel foods. I saddle up a donkey and go, but am dismayed when the colonists arrive two days later. The man I've been sent to rescue is little more than a wounded drunk lost in the desert. He's heavily alcohol-dependent, with cirrhosis and a cancerous tumor on his liver. His only real skill is cooking, and that offers little to our colony. He'd be more of a drain on resources than he's worth. I consider leaving him for dead or having Onesan put him out of his misery rather than trying to stabilize him and carry him home.

Before I do, I absentmindedly click over to his social tab, curious if the game has given him a relationship with the settlement leader I want to please. It hasn't, but the storyteller has kicked up a relationship for him: he's the father of someone called Adeodata Kosmatos. It says she's a faction leader, but not which one it is. Is he the father of the person who sent me here? Why does that name sound familiar?

I burst out laughing as it strikes me: that's the Empire of Eternity's Stellarch. This wandering drunk fathered the empress herself. Suddenly, making it to orbit doesn't seem quite so hardI just have to reunite a drunken old man with his long-lost daughter.

Royalty is one of those expansions that on the face of it might seem very simple. It adds a bunch of procedural quests, some cool new technological toys, and an interesting new NPC faction. But it's due to RimWorld's nature that I enjoyed it so much. Like a fractal design, these slight increases in complexity lead to entirely novel stories and bizarre new characters. It's a whole new style of game to play with, and I want to play a hundred more hours of it.

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I turned a psychopath into a noble and rescued drunk royalty in the new RimWorld expansion - PC Gamer

Information on all 50 NH Primary candidates (including the Hartford Whalers guy) – Manchester Ink Link

The front and back of Mark Stewart-Greensteins signs. Photo/Andrew Sylvia

The First in the Nation Primary has finally come and New Hampshire voters will head to the polls with ballots that include 50 total candidates between the two parties (including that guy with the Hartford Whaler signs everywhere)

Heres Manchester Ink Links guide to all 50 of those candidates, 37 Democrats and 13 Republicans, divided between candidates campaigns weve reported on/received letters to the editor on directly and other candidates, with each category sorted in alphabetical order by last name. The names of candidates no longer in the race but on the ballot are italicized.

Links to webpages or Facebook pages can be found on the candidates names where applicable, as well as a brief bit of information about each of the lesser-known candidates we could gather.

Michael Bennet

Joe Biden

Cory Booker

Steve Bullock

Pete Buttigieg

Tulsi Gabbard

Kamala Harris

Amy Klobuchar

Bernie Sanders

Tom Steyer

Elizabeth Warren

Marianne Williamson

Andrew Yang

Mosie Boyd

An attorney hailing from Arkansas, Boyd seeks to rebuild patriotism by uniting Americans around our shared values.

Boyd received 96,000 votes in the 2002 California Democratic Primary for Governor and also runs a PAC that supports female candidates.

She believes that there will be no clear candidate heading into the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee and can emerge as a dark horse alternative.

Steve Burke

Burke is a cattle rancher and local Democratic party official in New York State. He sees the recent impeachment of Donald Trump as a distraction from issues impacting most Americans such as climate change, unemployment and homelessness.

Julian Castro

Julian Castro was the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017 and mayor of San Antonio, Texas from 2009 to 2014.

His campaign was suspended on Jan. 2, 2020 after the deadline for removing his name from the ballot.

John Delaney

John Delaney was the Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Marylands sixth district from 2013 to 2019.

His campaign was suspended on Jan. 31, 2020 after the deadline for removing his name from the ballot.

Jason Evritte Dunlap

Jason Evritte Dunlap of Arizona is a former military intelligence officer fluent in several languages.

Dunlap does not actually want to run for president, but felt compelled to do so after he said repeated attacks by the Trump administration have put himself and fellow intellligence officers in harms way.

Like Boyd, he believes that there will be no clear candidate heading into the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee and can emerge as a dark horse alternative.

Roque De La Fuente III

Roque De La Fuente III is the son of serial candidate (and 2020 Republican Primary candidate) and is focusing his campaign on global debt relief.

Hes on the ballot in California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Texas and Utah in addition to New Hampshire.

Michael Ellinger

Ellinger is a Ohio resident running on a platform that he calls the Moral Deal. Hes on the ballot in California, Arizona and New Hampshire.

Ben Glieb

Glieb is a comedian that has appeared on CNN, ABC, NPR and other outlets. He dropped out of the race on Dec. 30, 2019.

Henry Hewes

Henry Hewes is from New York and he really, really, really dislikes abortion.

Tom Koos

Koos is the Associate Director for Health and Safety at Stanfords School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences in California.

This is the third time hes put his name in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary, running just days after he turned 35 in 2000 and then again in 2008. Hes unable to put up as much effort this time, but feels that its is civic duty to run again.

He is a son of Eastern European immigrants, he feels a strong need to update the countrys immigration laws and he also feels that climate change is a key issue.

Lorenz Kraus

Kraus is an anti-semite from New York who believes the United States should be broken up into four countries.

Rita Krichevsky

Rita Krichevsky is on the ballot in New Hampshire and Colorado. Repeated calls to Krichevsky went unanswered. According to the Lawrenceville, NJ Town Clerks office, her license to practice medicine was suspended in 2018. No further information was available.

Thomas James Torgesen

Torgesen lives in Saratoga, NY. He has been a Democrat since the 1960s and believes the party has gone too far to the left, but he shouldnt have to leave it. Hes running due to the fact that several current candidates protested the Vietnam War while he served in the Navy.

His primary issues are getting prayer in schools, making sure the Navy has a thousand ships and trade surpluses.

Raymond Moroz

Raymond Moroz hails from New York, his primary focus is strengthening labor unions. He received eight votes in the 2016 New Hampshire Democratic Primary.

Joe Sestak

Sestak is a former Pennsylvania congressman and three-star Navy admiral. He dropped out of the race on Dec. 1, 2019 and endorsed Amy Klobuchar on Feb. 7, 2020.

Sam Sloan

A New York resident, Sloan ran for the Libertarian Presidential Nomination in 2012 as well as running for Governor of New York in 2010 and for New Yorks 15th Congressional District seat in 2014.

In 2016, he ran in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary and he received 15 votes.

Mark Stewart-Greenstein

Anyone driving around the greater Manchester area over the past few months has probably seen his signs (see above), a throwback to his grassroots efforts to return the Hartford Whalers to Connecticut several years ago. In the past, Stewart-Greenstein has run for several offices in Connecticut and received 29 votes in the 2016 New Hampshire Democratic Primary.

He describes himself as a conservatarian, blending philosophies from libertarianism and conservatism, but he also says his views are in line with where the Democratic Party once was before it began to move to the left in the 1960s.

Stewart-Greensteins main goal is not earning the Democratic nomination, but building support for his EPIC (Every Politically Minded Citizen) Party.

David John Thistle

Thistle currently lives in Texas, but originally hails from the Manchester area.

Thistle served in the military and is running for president primarily to reform the Veterans Adminstration, which he says harmed him and has harmed many other veterans.

Thistle received 226 votes in the 2016 New Hampshire Democratic Primary. and

Robby Wells

Wells is the first white football head coach coach of a Historically Black College or University. He also served in the Army National Guard and has a twelve-point plan he calls Eaglenomics that incorporates left-wing and right-wing policies.

He ran for president in 2012 as a member of the Constitution Party and an independent candidate in 2016.

Donald Trump

Bill Weld

Robert Ardini

A moderate Republican from New York, Ardini ran for Congress in 2016 and lost, writing a book entitled Running for Congress in Trumps Backyard about the experience.

His main goal in running is to bring greater awareness to the national debt. However, he also has other unique proposals, such as pushing the age for drivers licenses and other coming of age landmarks to 25 and requiring all Presidents to select at least 20 percent of their cabinet from a party other than their own.

President R. Boddie

Mr. Boddie, a resident of Georgia, legally changed his first name to President after receiving a vision from God in 2018 that he was destined to become President.

Boddies main goal is to merge the United States with Israel and move to capital of the United States to Jerusalem.

Stephen Comley Sr.

Comley, who hails from Massachusetts, is primarily concerned with corruption within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Roque Rocky De La Fuente

Rocky De La Fuente, (not to be confused with his son, who is also running as a Democrat), is not only running for President, but also running for Congress in the 21st District of California.

De La Fuente recieved 96 votes in the 2016 New Hampshire Democratic Primary, and has also tried to run for the nomination of the Reform Party as well as a party he created called the American Delta Party

He ran for the U.S. Senate in Florida in 2016, ran to become the Mayor of New York in 2017 and ran for the U.S. Senate in nine states simultaneously in 2018.

Bob Ely

Bob Ely of Illinois describes himself as having the charisma of a door knob and in previous attempts running in the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary he described himself as a jerk.

Imagine a more boring Vermin Supreme (who is running as a Libertarian this year, so hes not on either ballot in New Hampshire.)

Zoltan Istvan Gyurko

A self-described transhumanist, Gyurko doesnt expect to become president. Instead, he hopes to advance the cause of innovation on the right, which he says has been dominated by the left, not just for the sake of conservatism, but to help America keep track with the innovation of other countries.

Gyurko ran for President in 2016 under the ticket of the Transhumanist Party and ran for Governor of California in 2018 as a Libertarian.

Rick Kraft

Mr. Kraft is a lawyer from New Mexico seeking to unify the country under the principles of Christianity.

Star Locke

Mr. Locke is opposed to abortion, immigration and Islam. Locke received 33 votes as a Democrat in New Hampshire in 2016 and has run for various offices in Texas over the past three decades.

Mary Maxwell

Maxwell, a Concord resident, actually wanted to run for vice president in the Primary, but could not do so. She ran for Congress against Charlie Bass here in New Hampshire in 2006 and ran for the U.S. Senate in Alabama in 2017.

Eric Merrill

Merrill lives in New Boston and ultimately is just running because it was on his bucket list.

He says he has voted Republican in every election since his first vote, which was for Richard Nixon. He generally agrees with mainstream principles of the Republican Party outside of climate change, which he says is a problem, but cannot be addressed with any effectiveness unless China is forced to also reduce its emissions.

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Information on all 50 NH Primary candidates (including the Hartford Whalers guy) - Manchester Ink Link

Experimental health technology is going too far – The Volante

When it comes to technological advancements, people tend to fall into two categories: those who are excited about the next big thing and those who are extremely concerned about the dangers of these new technologies.

Technological advances have provided immense convenience to our lives. Along with that, though, technological advances have been the cause many issues most of us face in the modern world. For example, total loss of privacy, the dwindling of simple human interaction and the over-reliance on technology. Even though most of us recognize these things as issues, our relationship with technology stays the same.

But technology continues to advance, and as it does, it pushes boundaries further and further. On the west coast, technology is being developed to help people live longer, healthier, higher-performing and more closely monitored lives than ever before. This new technology, which includes implants and microchips, is intended to help improve cognitive ability and health.

Self-described transhumanist Zoltan Istvan is interested in technology that can be transplanted and believes that science can conquer death.

As a transhumanist, Im someone who wants to merge my body with machine parts, Istvan said. I want to becomea more complete, stronger and perfect living entity.

Istvan has a chip implanted in his hand already, which he uses to open his front door, send out text messages and carry other information. Ultimately, he plans to receive an implant in his brain that will connect his brain to the internet.

While a healthier lifestyle sounds promising, we should be focusing on ways to be better versions of ourselves without technological implants. Personally, using technology to make ourselves physically better seems like a cop-out excuse to avoid doing the work required for self-improvement.

Not only that, but technology like this seems extremely dangerous. There are so many things that could go wrong with something like this and I dont think the benefits of this technology can outweigh the risks. Subjecting yourself to operations that have barely been tested is a disaster waiting to happen.

There has been little research so far on the effects of microchips. With that said, its important were careful with the things we put into our bodies. While the intention of these things are to make us better overall, because theres no research to back it up, we dont know what the consequences of this technology will be.

If we really want to start living a stronger, healthier lifestyle, then we need to start making better, healthier choices. There are so many ways you can improve your cognitive ability without having to chip yourself. According to Psychology Today, some of these things include physical activity, openness to experience, social connections and getting an adequate amount of sleep.

Leading a healthy lifestyle is not as hard as we all make it out to be; weve done it without brain implants and microchips before and well be fine without them going forward.

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Experimental health technology is going too far - The Volante

Catholic priest at Davos on AI and the soul – The Tablet

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. Photo: Guo Chen/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

New technologies in society raise important questions about the soul, according to a Catholic delegate attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Fr Philip Larrey, Chair of Logic and Epistemology at the Pontifical Lateran University, who has been in discussions with tech companies about the ethical questions around Artificial Intelligence and robots,took part in a discussion Faith in the Fourth Industrial Revolution", sponsored by the United Arab Emirates.

Fr Larrey told The Tablet that how emerging technologies raise questions about immortality and the soul. Among Silicon Valley billionaires, he explained, heavy investment was going into technologies about how to vastly extend life expectancy and the transhumanist movement looking at ways to transfer human consciousness into a digital format.

The smartest ones [tech companies] want to dialogue with the Catholic Church because we have a 2,000 year tradition about what it means to be human, he said.The richness of the Catholic tradition gives us the framework to speak out the technologies we have. How we were created and what is our purpose.

Fr Larrey, from Mountain View, California, where Google has its HQ, and who helped arrange the 2016 meeting between the Pope and Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google holding company Alphabet,pointed out that the question of whether we can we really become immortal goes back to the Book of Genesis.

He said some of the tech gurus have made it clear they are not interested in having a dialogue with the Vatican.

They want to do their own thing, and are pushing ahead with a lot of money with projects to try and keep them immortal, or solve health issues, said Fr Larrey, who has written two books,Connected World and Artificial Humanity.

Last September, Silicon Valley big hitters went to the Vatican to discuss ethics amid talk of a potential papal document on artificial intelligence. Archbishop Vincenzio Paglia, the Popes point man on family and pro-life issues, has met Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft. The next assemblyof his Pontifical Academy of Life department will focus on AI.

Fr Larrey stressed that whatever the technological developments, it was important to put people before platforms

The Church is not against the use of machines, but what the Pope is saying is put the human being at the centre of technology, he explained .

The priest-philosopher pointed out that parishes, while using digital technology, are places of human contact. He said claims about robots taking over the world are overblown, and that governments will not allow machines to take over peoples jobs right away. The same is true for pastoral ministry.

I dont see robot priests in the future, he added.

Pope Francis in his messagereminded those at the gathering for the World Economic Forum that their overriding concern must be for the one human family, and warned against the isolationism, individualism and ideological colonisation of contemporary debate.

Digital and technological changes, he said, had benefited humanity, but also left people behind. The Popes message was delivered by Cardinal Peter Turkson, of the integral human development dicastery, who was in Davos, and who was joined by Fr Augusto Zampini-Davies, an official at the dicastery.

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Catholic priest at Davos on AI and the soul - The Tablet

‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Delayed as CD Projekt Red Polishes ‘Crowning Achievement’ Over ‘Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ – Newsweek

Cyberpunk 2077, originally planned for an April 16 release date, but has now been delayed until September 17, developer CD Projekt Red announced on Thursday.

In a statement posted to social media, the Cyberpunk developer did more than announce the delay, further describing just how far along the game is in its development. According to CD Projekt Red, the game is currently "complete and playable," throughout its open world setting of Night City. Instead of core story, content or environmental changes, the delay is primarily motivated by the need for additional "playtesting, fixing and polishing."

Indicating their confidence in the game they've created, CD Projekt Red also set a bold goal for Cyberpunk 2077: topping their own critically acclaimed Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to become their "crowning achievement" in the current console generation. Witcher 3 is often named among the best open world games and best RPGs ever createdit's not even uncommon to hear Witcher 3 named as the best game ever made. So while Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot to live up to, its delay announcement suggests CD Projekt Red feels as if they're near to realizing their complete vision.

CD Projekt Red also promised more frequent updates on the game's progress, particularly as the revised release date approaches.

In Cyberpunk 2077, players start off in Night City as V, a customizable mercenary who acquires transhumanist enhancements throughout the game. Night City is a gigantic corporate-controlled metropolis in the Free State of California, with six different regions for players to explore, each with their own rival factions and gangs. Along the way, players are guided by Johnny Silverhands, a digital ghost played by Keanu Reeves, who haunts the player and nudges him or her towards his own objectives.

Signed by CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiski and the head of studio, Adam Badowski, the full statement reads:

"We have important news regarding Cyberpunk 2077's release date we'd like to share with you today. Cyberpunk 2077 won't make the April release window and we're moving the launch date to September 17, 2020.

We are currently at a stage where the game is complete and playable, but there's still work to be done. Night City is massivefull of stories, content and places to visit, but due to the sheer scale and complexity of it all, we need more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing. We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation, and postponing launch will give us the precious months we need to make the game perfect.

Expect more regular updates on progress as we get closer to the new release date. We're really looking forward to seeing you in Night City, thank you for your ongoing support."

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'Cyberpunk 2077' Delayed as CD Projekt Red Polishes 'Crowning Achievement' Over 'Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' - Newsweek

The future is sci-fi: How Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex Human Revolution foreshadowed humanity 2.0 – Firstpost

As we embark on a new decade, how do visions of the 2020s imagined in books likeDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, films likeSoylent Green, or even manga likeGhost in the Shellmatch up against our reality? In this series, we look at seven pop culture artefacts from the past that foretold the future, providing a prophetic glimpse of the decade were now entering.

Words by Prahlad Srihari | Art by Trisha Bose and Sharath Ravishankar | Concept by Rohini Nair and Harsh Pareek

***

We already live in a world where bionic eye implants have made it possible to restore partial sight for visually impaired people. In fact, augmentations to Second Sight's Argus II may enable future users to even see in infra-red, like the Predator. Ossur's implanted myoelectric sensors allow amputees to control their bionic limbs with their minds. Meanwhile, scientists in North Carolina are hard at work trying to build a future where 3D printers can churn out customised kidneys, livers and other vital organs for those in need.

Even if science fiction has had a headstart over science, the latter is catching up. We're not far away from the transhumanist futures of Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Robocop. Taking cues from these imaginative works, science hopes to aid and accelerate our evolution from human to post-human through genetic modifications, ironing out our limitations and pushing our limits. But as always, sci-fi has repeatedly warned us against the often unnatural nature of science the importance of knowing when to tinker with technology to aid human progress and when to let nature take its course.

Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell offers some vital lessons on transhumanism. Our story begins in 2029 at a time when it is all too common for humans to enhance themselves by replacing their organs with cybernetic parts. Our protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is a cybernetically enhanced officer of an elite cyber-crime-fighting unit called Section 9. Our plot follows the hunt for an elusive cyber-criminal, called the Puppet Master, a formidable AI who can take up residence in any cyborg body, take over their minds and essentially reprogramme them to do his bidding.

Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell offers some vital lessons on transhumanism. Illustration by Sharath Ravishankar for Firstpost

So, Motoko has a crisis of identity when she begins to question the authenticity of her thoughts, her memories and the very nature of her being. If she is a human-machine hybrid, is her identity defined by her human thoughts or are they just exabytes of stored data? If she has no memories of her past human existence and her mind can be manipulated, then what makes her human? If Philip K Dick suggested empathy to be the defining factor of humanity, Shirow suggests it is the human soul (what he calls the ghost) that separates man from machine. But a hybrid made of human cells and a cybernetic body (the shell) brings with it its own unbridgeable dualism, as surmised by Motoko. "I suspect I am not who I think I am. Maybe I died a long time ago and somebody took my brain and stuck it in this body. Maybe there never was a real me in the first place, and I'm completely synthetic," she wonders, before questioning, "What if a cyber brain could possibly generate its own ghost, create a soul all by itself? And if it did, just what would be the importance of being human then?"

(Note: Those averse to reading manga should watch the animated film, not the 2017 live-action film featuring Scarlett Johansson, which revels in cyberpunk spectacle rather than the murky waters of obscurity in Shirow's poetic reflections.)

The blurring of these lines between man and machine reaches its climax when Motoko's ghost merges with the Puppet Master to evolve into a new entity, favouring an immaterial existence free of physical boundaries (like Samantha and her fellow AIs in Her). Instead of trying to put Motoko in distinct human or AI camps, Shirow studies the implications of transhumanism in the intermediary phase between the two. He thus foreshadows the emergence of the posthuman or humanity 2.0.

The video game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, ventures further into a transhuman future, with one foot in a utopia, and the other in a dystopia. Its cyberpunk future of 2027 is a world where "augmentations" are what separates the upper classes from the lower. Like in Yukito Kishiro's Alita: Battle Angel, they have become so common they're like tattoos or piercings. After a terrorist attack leaves security guard Adam Jensen critically injured, his life is saved thanks to these "augmentations" that turn him into a Robocop. Stronger, faster, and smarter than before, he begins a pursuit of the terrorists, only to uncover a larger conspiracy involving radical supporters and opponents of transhumanism.

It is easy to see why transhumanism has its fair share of supporters and opponents. On the one hand, it represents the next stage in our evolution as cybernetic implants could extend our lifespan, enhance our physical and mental capacities, and help us shape ourselves according to our needs, our desires, or our environment. On the other, any extension, enhancement or reshaping beyond the natural barriers will make life less miraculous or spontaneous. So, rather than curing death, technology should be used to make life worth living.

However, in this quest to improve the human condition through technology, we should not forget what makes us human. Dick's right: It's our empathy. But it is also our ability to introspect, wonder and speculate. As long as these abilities are inherently linked to the human soul, it does not matter what shell it is, the ghost of humanity will forever be preserved in it.

Also read Class structures and dehumanisation of the workforce, as foretold by Metropolis (1927)

Read our 'Decade in Review' series here.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

Updated Date: Jan 05, 2020 01:05:35 IST

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The future is sci-fi: How Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex Human Revolution foreshadowed humanity 2.0 - Firstpost