I agree. The sudden influence of the separatist movement does match what that book (Foundations of Geopolitics) says: "Russia should use its special services within the borders of the United States and Canada to fuel instability and separatism" (quote from Wikipedia). I don't want to be a conspiracy nut, but I have to wonder how many separatist and protest movements are unknowingly getting external support to produce geopolitical disorder.
Agree on the Donor Advised Fund (I use Fidelity). If you have highly-appreciated stock, you definitely should look into a DAF. Another benefit is that it is extremely easy to donate to a charity; click and submit and you don't have to worry about paperwork and putting each donation down on your taxes.
Important: If you've received a text from a wrong number, this article describes exactly the Pig Butchering scam that you're being set up for. Have you received a random text like "Shall we grab a coffee soon?", "How have you been lately?", or "Let's go to the new restaurant." You'll find that an attractive, professional woman texted you by mistake, but she thinks you're a friendly person and wants to keep talking. After a few weeks, she'll tell you about all the money she made through investments and offer to help you invest. As you put in more and more money, you'll see huge returns on the (fake) website. When you eventually try to withdraw your fortune, there will be a small fee, followed by a tax payment, followed by more fees. Worst case, you end up like the banker in the article, frantically trying to borrow $18 million so you can recover the mythical $47 million.
This is an extremely common scam; the group https://reddit.com/r/scams is very interesting, with many stories of this scam and others. Key takeaways: it's easier to get scammed than you'd think. Never spend money to withdraw money. Don't respond to wrong-number texts. Anyone who wants cryptocurrency (or gift cards) is scamming you.
The low rate of black swimmers isn't just an interesting quirk, but the consequence of historical actions to keep blacks out. For instance, public pools in New York City used to be kept deliberately cold on the theory that this discouraged black participants (source: The Power Broker).