Could you sand/plane a portion so we can see a clean cut of the long grain?

I understand what he's getting at. The submarine was an escape story. The migrant boat is just a reminder of how fucked things are. It should've gotten more attention but the average person just wants to not be bombarded by tragic stories. The submarine was not a tragic story.

Haha. He's openly developing CTE for the benefit of millionaires/billionaires.

Good first attempt. Like the other commenter stated you should definitely move up to a hardwood. They cut much nicer than plywood will. Just go to the store and find the cheapest you can practice on.