ellauri100.html on line 254: First and lasting employment: Encouraged by former professor to join a government-funded, defense think-tank in the D.C. area. Worked there for 30 of my 34 years of post-collegiate, full-time employment.
ellauri100.html on line 256: Marriage (and family): Met my first love at the think-tank and married her 56 years later. Our happy union was blessed by two grown children — whose sad lives invalidate the (sometimes tough) support we gave them — and twelve fighting, shoving, and enraging grandchildren. 17-vuotiaat rakastuivat ensi silmäyxellä. Nyt Aune ei enää muista kuka Paavo on.
ellauri100.html on line 258: Early and mid-career: After four years as an analyst at the think-tank, went to the Pentagon as a “whiz kid” for two years, at the height of the Vietnam War. Another regrettable choice. Returned to the think-tank and stayed seven more years, advancing from analyst to project director and program director (i.e., manager of several projects).
ellauri100.html on line 260: Escape from D.C.: The futility of analytical work (see “Beliefs,” below) led to the purchase of a small publishing company (weekly paper and free shopping guide) in western New York State. Worked like a dog for three years, and brought the habit back to the think-tank.
ellauri100.html on line 264: Home stretch: Stayed at the think-tank another 18 years. After three years of reviewing reports, seized an opportunity to establish and run the think-tank’s publications department. Promoted a year later to chief financial and administrative officer, with a portfolio consisting of accounting, computer operations, contracting, facility planning and operations, financial management, human resources (a.k.a. personnel), library and technical information services, physical and information security, programming services, and publications. Basically, I ended up doing everything because there were not many people left in that doomed outfit. Became deeply involved in legal matters, including spin-off of the think-tank from parent company, resolution of affirmative-action claims, and complex contract and lease negotiations. Contrived retirement at age 56. Read: that's when they at long last got rid of me because I had sunk the spin-off.
ellauri100.html on line 266: Post-retirement: Spent 18 months as the managing editor of an economics journal published by a privately funded, libertarian think-tank in D.C. — more for the meager wage than for the stimulation of working with semi-intelligent, intellectually doubtfully honest contributors and colleagues. Quit when this part-time job became too hot.
ellauri279.html on line 208: Dmitri Mikhailovich Alperovitch (born 1980) is a Russian American think-tank founder, investor, philanthropist, podcast host and former computer security industry executive. He is the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics think-tank in Washington, D.C. and a co-founder and former chief technology officer of CrowdStrike. Alperovitch is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia who came to the United States in 1994 with his family. Following Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alperovitch became the host of Geopolitics Decanted podcast, where he discusses current geopolitical events with militarily experts, historians, economists and political scientists. He is one of the 100 leading global thinkers in foreign policy 2013. Alperovitch even got a nod from President Trump when the leader (erroneously) called out CrowdStrike as “owned by a very rich Ukrainian.” (It’s assumed he was talking about Alperovitch, who is a cofounder and was born in Moscow to Russian parents.)
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