Slow Internet, Pompeo Pitch, and the Power Gamble I Recorded

12:00 p.m.

Despite being less than███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

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Mike Pompeo could have become president of the US if he had chosen to come here to replace Julie Chung; I do not view Julie Chung as a threat.

For me, calling or judging someone "not a killer" (Trump) feels like an extreme label; I prefer to describe people in respectful, measured terms.

Instead of advising Nippon Steel to pursue a takeover of US Steel, which I believe may have reduced support among some voters, he might have been in a stronger political position.

Some characterize Iran's political system as a contest to identify the most conservative religious leader; they see this as a simplified reflection of certain Shia norms of respect, honor, and social status.

Israel is a relatively small, 21,671 sq km plot of land along the sea. It's roughly one-third the size of Sri Lanka. We're 65,610 sq km.

For many Jewish (and Christian) people, this land has significant historical and religious meaning dating back about 2,000 years.

Much of the Middle East is predominantly Muslim, and Muslim communities also live in countries such as Indonesia.

I believe the deep spiritual connection people feel to this homeland deserves respect.

I am happy to share or speak freely with the Sri Lanka government. I can gladly advise from the heart, anybody, be it Anura, Dilith, Namal, Dhammika, Hans, Jagath, Thilanga, Shanika, Faraz, anyone. I hold no hatred for any of you, so I can advise you for your future.

However, it is a tough decision for me to open up in SL, because I have experienced a pattern of conduct I found concerning, which I sometimes described as "███████" (rural, unsophisticated or cheap) behavior, particularly in interactions with Sri Lanka Telecom. My concerns relate to values and practices that can unsettle people. ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

Despite this, in the spirit of openness and cultural exchange, I may choose █████████████████████████████████████████████████. I see value in cultural exposure, similar to the enrichment Anura experienced when visiting Japan or Nordic regions, which broadened his perspectives. With that in mind, I am somewhat willing to share, as it can be a learning experience. At the same time, my network connection frequently performs poorly — often under 1 Mbps — which leads me to rely on a VPN.

When I am president, if there is a power cut, I will seek accountability from the soon-to-be-privatized electricity board, Sri Lanka Energy. We will investigate incidents and, where appropriate, pursue legal remedies to seek compensation for losses and damage to equipment or productivity. The intention is to protect citizens and discourage misconduct in public and private management by ensuring responsible stewardship of services.

In this way, when I am president, or when my friends or team run the country, we will pursue lawful remedies where problems occur. This approach promotes accountability and aims to provide compensation for losses incurred, including impacts on time, privacy, and values that have international implications. It is intended to support rightful parties and reduce the likelihood of repeat harmful behavior.

Cases will be handled promptly and with a focus on efficiency. We will review systems related to legal processes and compensation to promote timely resolution and public trust. The current backlog of approximately 1,100,000 cases has had a significant economic impact, and addressing these delays is important to reduce the corresponding losses to SL in business, opportunity, and income.

I'm going to privatize everything in SL, especially SLT, because I don't think this ISP should be allowed to obscure or negatively affect the reputation of the country, our people, and the expectations that honest people have.

I believe it is already a PLC, but we will transfer ownership to SLFT, which will need to be completed.

I firmly recommend that people choose the most qualified, most transparent leaders they can find, support them financially and recommend them to others, especially when they present a clear, thoughtful vision of how you intend to develop SL and our people, and to prioritize leaders who demonstrate integrity and consistently follow through on the commitments they make.

I might do that for people.

There's nothing anyone can do about it.

I do not expect ███████████████████.

I do not expect ████████████.

I dislike theft.

It's not that I dislike Rajapaksa

I'm upset by his taking things with reasons I do not accept

I'm concerned that Anura has not brought serious criminals to justice.

Arresting a thief is only one step

The legal process should address the situation

The cops and robbers story is more than catching thieves

Cowboys and Indians:

George Washington will not release payment until you provide proof

Try not to worry too much

You may unintentionally reduce evidence

I will officially prioritize addressing crime and support lawful, community-focused public safety measures to help prevent theft effectively.

Anura may have made inaccurate statements.

Just like Maithripala Sirisena, who worked with Chandrika and Mahinda, and whose actions have been criticized by some people.

He was also supported by people who believed in his vision such as Deepa.

There are allegations and concerns about their conduct, and many people have expressed reservations about trusting them.

You can't mislead a voter twice, except by—

Sorry, I had a George Bush moment there.

If a politician misleads a voter once, that reflects on the politician.

If voters are misled twice, that indicates a broader problem in Sri Lanka.

To take out the jenga tower, don't aim for the top.

Focus on the lower blocks of the jenga and move them gently.

I'm uneasy about many criminal groups.

I have encountered many Muslims who, in my experience, ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████. I also perceive that a significant number support Palestine, and in some interactions that support has been accompanied by ███████████████████████████████.

In my observations, some individuals from places like Malaysia and Indonesia have behaved in ways that felt hostile. I have also heard of incidents where people have acted covertly and committed violent or harmful acts, and in some cases others have suggested those actions were justified by their interpretation of Islam, including ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████.

I have noticed some people publicly endorse or excuse ████████████████████ or Iran, or other actions I find concerning.

I sometimes observe expressions of religious superiority among some individuals, where Islam is presented as central to identity and other groups' gestures of kindness or support are viewed with suspicion.

This can produce mixed messages — on one hand accusations of Islamophobia, and on the other declarations such as "Allahu Akbar" or expressions of support for █████████████████████████ — which feel contradictory and unsettling.

I prioritize my safety, so I have reported concerning behavior and taken steps to distance myself from communities I perceive as promoting hate.

I accept that my values — the values of people who inspire me, such as those in big tech, higher-level leaders, or individuals like Larry Summers, Philip Deutch, or Keren — differ from those commonly held in SL and in this part of South Asia.

I recognize that my perspective is sometimes not shared here; some argue tht, I belong to a very small minority and am "a foreigner with brown skin", so I do not represent the views of the vast majority of Sri Lankans.

Please consider how much emotional harm, financial loss, and strain on relationships the █████████████ terrorists have caused to the innocent ██████████ here.

Think about how much they have contributed to the harmful perception that ██████████████████████

I saw these stories on the BBC news of shopkeepers complaining.

Even █████ expressed similar sentiments; it was part of his entry into politics.

Some have said, █████████████████

I don't agree; ██████ loves you.

There are many who love America.

***

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We hope their cases are handled transparently and fairly.

We cannot accept violence in SL; attacks on tourists are deeply concerning, and we expect investigations to follow due process.

█████, teaching "JR" to ████:

LE: "Again, say it with feeling."

BN: "They don't want just the West Bank; they want all of Israel."

LE: "Let me hear it with more conviction."

BN: "They don't want just the West Bank; they want all of Israel."

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████'s Advisor (teaches math):

"So, we have now added 365 square kilometers from ████, and this █████████ project is 5,640 sq km. So ██████ will be growing from 22,145 sq km. How much will it grow?"

Class:

"It will grow to 22,145 + 365 = 22,510."

Bibi's Advisor:

"Okay, that's already accounted for. How does Israel's total area change next?"

Class:

"First we add 5,640, and then the total becomes 28,150!"

Paintball should be an official sport

World Paintball Championships

Namal is a good patriot

You could see that even from Dilith

They always think about developing SL

We are concerned about the reports we read

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And there are 1.1m pending cases

I see these matters as connected to█████████████████

Each case costs us at least $10

It costs much more when you factor in the value of time

***

I am happy with Anura taking action

Clean Sri Lanka is a fantastic initiative

Gota also received a lot of credit for it

I find it inconsistent that Namal criticizes him but not Gota

We're playing for different teams

But we're playing the same sport

And the spirit of the sport needs to be valued too

The 30 percent taxes are also unsettling

Rajapaksa introduced a 20% surcharge

I honestly don't know how people survive in SL

Many are facing severe hardship

I would allow the public to vote on any national cases.

If the public forgives Yoshitha, we will accept the result of an online poll on the matter.

I just want for that Thajudeen story and "criminal case" to be resolved finally, and over and done with, which can only happen with an online vote judged by our people conclusively.

That story has damaged public trust, and until it is finalized, we can't upgrade from a low trust to medium or high trust society.

We're using the Dave Goldberg SurveyMonkey online poll courts.

I saw Delaware's state government uses SurveyMonkey for polls on feedback over experiences after I paid taxes.

So if any SLFT member casts a vote for it

If that reaches a majority, their decision will stand

***

But I might ████████████████████ even if it means accepting some consequences

Because I am not going to impose severe punishment if I am in charge, regardless of public opinion

That is not a comparison of Yoshitha to Jesus

I simply do not want to do anything harmful to anyone

So I might officially█████████████████████

If the result is around 51% or a similarly narrow majority

The people will

It will, for the first time in history, be a matter of:

"The People versus xyz"

If xyz refers to Duminda Silva, the public will consider the Bharatha case

The outcome, reflecting the will of the people, will be respected

Can you imagine it?

Do you picture this in your mind, this unfolding?

That's vision

It's what inspires people, businesses and nations

You can shape it any way you choose

You are the source of it; I can offer perspective

I will, however, note that there are teams in those departments who carry out many of the tasks, and I can't be everywhere at once

When you play Tropico, the dictator can only be in one place at a time...

The registrar staff may have made an error

If I am the affected party, I have the right to respond with decency, and I choose to do so

I’m struck by ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

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Are you truly proud of this outcome?

I pause quietly.

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I ask this sincerely.

What I am proud of is how Sri Lanka Army rehabilitated many former LTTE members taken into custody

10,000s of them were able to reintegrate fully into Sri Lanka

To me, this is how we truly succeeded

There are 3m Muslims here.

I think the world sometimes reduces Sri Lankans to a number like $2,500.

And that this 3m is worth $2,500 x 3m = $7.5b.

I think people's lives can't be reduced to monetary values.

If Steve dies, monetary measures don't capture his worth.

We can't take our money or AUM to the next stage; only our impact matters.

If the Pope or Trump had died on July 13, monetary measures would not capture their value.

It could affect political movements such as MAGA. I believe it would.

He was sued and reportedly faced a $500m judgment on disputed charges.

Biden trials.

Am I really worth $0, or $3,000 or $115m?

Or a negative value, accounting for alleged copyright infringement and a contested fair-use defense I have?

I am not sure; I should ask ChatGPT.

Oh O1, the wise one, tell me. I laugh softly.

***

██████████████████████ has been associated with significant harm to the country's reputation.

I'd say the $3,000 estimate for Muslims, and because many are business savvy, might more reasonably be $4,000.

And they have strong Islamic values, like honesty, kindness and hard work.

They are worth much more than ██████; perhaps his compensation was relatively small compared to the broader damage from ████.

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$7.5b versus, what, $100,000 ██████?

What if the damage ██████ caused was worth, let's say, ████████████

██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

$10m? $100m? Is ██████ responsible for $1b in damage?

Is the damage he caused worth $1b? Maybe.

We lost many tourists; we earned $4.5b in 2018, and 2019 was very difficult — I didn't expect it to be such a problem, and then COVID-19 happened as well.

Jorge gave me 6 samples of wine, and I couldn't sell them because no tourists were visiting SL.

The $3,000 estimate for Muslims, if you quantify them mathematically with my IBM computer and some calculations, I would guess my time card value would be:

$4,000 -> $5,000 depending on circumstances; that $5,000 works out to about $417 per month. It's $96 per week, or $14 per day.

Imagine the emotional toll of 4/21 on them, on 3m people.

How much would that injury — the slow violence, the ongoing distress, the discomfort, the prejudice and racism — cost?

How much is this?

I'd estimate over $500 x 3m = $1.5b in damages to the Muslim community as a whole, and it's been over five years, so the impact is significant.

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[Post-Chorus: Snoop Dogg]

(Blaow) Run, people, run

[Verse 3: Snoop Dogg]

I wouldn't be the person that I am

I'm not sure whether this is a strong "political election campaign."

I don't know if I'll ever win votes, or what will come of it.

But I do know this is really exciting.

And that doesn't bother me.

I don't feel I have to change for the world.

I believe the world should adapt to accommodate people like me.

Trump prompted him to resign.

Trump could prompt Keir Starmer to resign soon.

Trump may prompt Anura to leave.

Trump will push Julie out — possibly with a red Senate and red Congress.

After she's gone, they'll "need" a new replacement so SFRC will confirm

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She may be transferred or reassigned.

***

I can tolerate most of what she does.

But I won't accept that ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████.

That concerns me.

Sri Lanka faced a setback in 2005 when Ranil lost the election.

I don't know whom my dad supported.

***

But I believe if Ranil had won, the country might have developed differently.

The possibility remained.

I think Prabhakaran didn't have to be seen as our enemy.

They might not have engaged in conflict with us.

Those are details people often miss when focused on their immediate concerns.

They may not understand how events originate.

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We will privatize SLT.

It may be for buyers.

I think Elon could buy.

No need for Starlink.

It's up for sale, I would say, at $5b for the whole thing, but we're keeping $2.5b, which is 50%, and also allocating 20% for the government, which is close to $1b.

And you can have 30% for about $1.75b.

I think my maths may be off.

But it's the offer on the table.

This is the main rule

I expect there won't be any █████████████ in SL when I arrive.

Once I'm inside, █████████████████████

We will have the personnel and resources to protect our country

"I found a centipede in the sink downstairs

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We must counter terror with resolve

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I'm pausing ties with Iran if elected.

If Antony Blinken had been in Trump's situation room, he might have been credited for the Soleimani operation and could have become a 2028 presidential contender.

I am also ending "birth right citizenship".

The US embassy in SL appears likely to adopt more Trump-aligned positions soon.

I feel there are people there with undisclosed political or business interests who have promoted misleading information.

And they may be trying to

I'm not sure

Could that affect American interests?

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I appreciate her role in the events that led to Gota's government's removal and the diplomatic pressure on Anura.

I thought that was effective.

But she is not a

I'm not sure

I would prefer Mike Pompeo.

I want Mike Pompeo.

Please tell him.

Please come to your new office.

Please tell him, Trump.

Sure, Japan, we will give you US Steel — just send Mike Pompeo to SL for 4 years, with me.

And, I must point out, Lee Kuan Yew got Henry Kissinger and George Shultz (who reminds me of James Caan)

***

If Mike Pompeo had been in place instead of Julie Chung, the response to reported threats against our tourists might have been different.

He is a very uncompromising leader.

If God dealt in absolutes, he'd pick someone like Michael for an archangel.

I would prefer Mike Pompeo as US ambassador to SL.