Dear Friends and Supporters,

I hope this message finds you well. Today, I reach out to you with a heartfelt appeal for a fellow grassroots cannabis advocate, Aaron Zeeman, who is currently facing an uphill battle against overwhelming odds. I believe that together, we can make a difference in his life and help him rebuild after a series of devastating setbacks.

While many of us enjoy the freedom to advocate for cannabis legalization, not everyone has faced the same journey. Aaron is a dedicated warrior in this movement. His commitment to the cause is evident in the way he refused to testify against Roger Christie, one of the greatest champions of cannabis rights, during a challenging time that resulted in his own incarceration. For standing by his convictions, Aaron has paid a heavy price, enduring not only legal consequences but also personal losses, including estrangement from his beloved daughter.

Aaron has recently encountered an extraordinary sequence of difficult events that have compounded his struggles. In just a few short months, he has experienced the theft of his car, the suspension of his business domain by GoDaddy, and devastating environmental impacts on his home that left him without a roof and without consistent power. Despite these challenges, Aaron remains resilient, fiercely passionate about his cannabis genetics business, and committed to advocating for the rights of others from the grassroots level.

He lives off-grid in Hawaii and is working tirelessly to get his business back on its feet. However, he urgently needs our help. Currently, Aaron is in dire need of a new generator to keep his greenhouse operational and a reliable car to meet his basic needs. A generous friend has offered him a 20-year-old car for $3,000, but he still requires additional support to secure a dependable power source for his home and work.

We are seeking to raise $7,000 to assist Aaron during this crisis. Your contribution will go directly to securing the generator and car that he desperately needs to regain stability and continue his work in the cannabis community. Every dollar counts, and no contribution is too small.

If you feel moved to help, please consider making a donation. Your support will not only provide Aaron with essential resources but also empower him to continue his vital grassroots work in the cannabis movement, advocating for the rights of all those who believe in this cause.

You can read more about Aaron and his journey at his new website: [Big Island Genetics](https://www.bigislandgenetics.net/about/).

Thank you for considering this appeal. Together, we can make a significant impact in someone’s life who has given so much to our community and deserves our support in his time of need.

With gratitude and hope,

Jonathan Baird

[email protected]

P.S. Please note that the credit card processing will be associated with my name and not Aaron's. His banking situation is complicated. I assure you, all money will be going to Aaron.

UPDATE — APRIL 2026 — FROM AARON

I'm writing this part myself.

A lot has happened since Jonathan wrote that.

Another storm came through and hit the roof again. I still have no front door, no back door, no finished walls — just Tyvek wrap and exposed framing in places. No drywall. No interior walls. Inadequate refrigeration. I manage chronic daily pain from rat lungworm disease — a rare neurological condition I contracted in Hawaii — with no income, no disability support, and no safety net. Two more of my dogs have died since this page went up. My remaining dogs recently killed 50 of my neighbor's chickens because I don't have a proper fence to keep them on the property.

What has not stopped is the work.

From the unfinished house you see in these photos, I have built two patent-pending technologies.

The first is the Pono Engine — a governed AI truth architecture designed to eliminate hallucination, drift, and disinformation in AI systems. It runs on a 103-rule governance framework I developed over hundreds of hours of research and testing. Patent pending with the USPTO.

The second is the Zeeman Democratic Engine — a civic technology framework combining AI, blockchain, and direct community participation to give citizens a verified, transparent, permanent voice in their local government. Also patent pending.

The platform built on these technologies is called Civic Mirror. It is live right now at shadowdemocracy.org. It tracks county government issues, delivers AI-governed plain-language briefings to citizens, and publishes a permanent public record of what citizens wanted versus what their representatives did. We call the movement Shadow Democracy.

This is grassroots civic work being built from the ground up, without institutional backing, without a grant department, and without a safety net.

I also filed a pro se lawsuit against the Hawaii County Council — using AI and the Pono Engine in practical application — that may have stopped a 20-year land use plan affecting the largest county in the United States.

I finished my first book — The Hemp Ritual Handbook — available now on Amazon. I am writing three more. I have been published in Skunk Magazine and contribute regularly to bigislandgenetics.net. I wrote the definitive guide to Hawaiian cannabis currently featured in the next print issue of Skunk Magazine.

I did all of this with no income. No job. No support system. From the house in these photos.

I am on the edge of something real. I am not asking for a handout. I am asking for a bridge.

This is what grassroots support is supposed to do: keep real work alive at the exact moment when it is too important to let collapse.

Here is exactly where your donation goes:

• ZDE patent filing: $65

• Civic Mirror platform hosting to launch publicly: $300

• Property fence to keep my dogs safe: $2,000

• Basic house completion — doors, walls, essentials: $6,000

• Operating cushion while major funding is secured: $5,835

Total goal: $14,200

Every dollar is accounted for. Every dollar goes directly to keeping this work alive.

If you want to see what I've built:

• shadowdemocracy.org

• The Hemp Ritual Handbook on Amazon

• bigislandgenetics.net

• Skunk Magazine — Hawaiian Cannabis feature

With honesty and gratitude,

Aaron Zeeman

Inventor, Zeeman Democratic Engine | Pono Engine

Mountain View, Upper Puna, Hawaii

April 2026