I heartily suggest you either read the new book "the Sleeper Agent" or follow the reading of same and interviews with author on the "McDuffLives" rumble channel. It's even worse than you think.

My current refrigerator is clearly 1980's vintage. My last one was 1950's - the kind that you have to periodically defrost and the melting ice water overflows the tray, so defrosting also meant mopping the kitchen floor. But it still worked.

The landlord finally replaced it (different apartment from this one), and when we were toting the old one to the sidewalk, a driver-by stopped and asked if it worked. He then came back with a pickup truck and took it. I bet that it's still running. I iwsh I knew the brand name, but it was not on the machine. Maybe a Kenmore?

The same could be said about calculators. Do (did) they both compete with and enhance human performance? Sure! Did the mechanical cash register people, slide rule manufacturers, et al, get buried by them? Yup.

My antipathy toward the use of the teerm"intelligent" has nothing to do with its worth. A drainpipe solves a problem, but we don't call them "intelligent". The use of "intelligence" is used, I feel intentionally so, to convey some sort of superiority over human intelligence, and I feel that those promoting it are planning to (if they haven't already) create some kind of "awe" around a computer program that will encourage the iditos amongst us to kneel in deference to it.

It's a tool. Created by humans. Can be used for good or evil. That's all it is.

Agreed. But that's the idea. These "word processors" are great for speeding up tasks. Just as calculators are for performing mathematical functions. But that's all they are. They don't "think". They are not "intelligent". They follow the rules given to them, use those rules to provide an output at very fast speed. That's it. They are no more "intelligent" than a calculator or a drainpipe.

Indeed. Hence why I detest the term "artificial intelligence", at least as it applies to what is being promulgated as such today. These "AI" bots are nothing more than a megaphone for those who program it - the bot doesn't "think", instead it simply arranges the information given to it in a readable fashion, much like an electronic calculator performs mathematical calculations. Both "AI" and the calculator provide output only under very strict rules. The difference of course is that calculators use widely accepted mathematical rules to provide the output, while "AI" uses whatever whimsical notions are provided to it as "rules" by its programmers. The "Gemini" embarrassment underscroes this truth.

"AI" can be useful, as a calculator is. It performs its duties far faster than any human can, but it does not perform any duty that could not be performed by a human, given infinite amounts of time and energy.

My own belief is that "AI" has been given its moniker intentionally to provide it some sort of respect from those foolish enough to believe the Wizard from Oz. It will be used to disseminate unpopular edicts ("well, that's what the "AI" says we have to do") and to take blame for unpopular events ("we only did what the "AI" told us to do). Now that those in power have, interntionally or not, given up media control to brqainwash the masses (well, some of the masses), "AI" will be presented as the next "unbiased deliverer of the truth", which is the exact opposite of what it is.

Declaration of Independence: "all men are created equal"

Constitution: "now let's set up a system whereby a few men will rule over all the others"

Let's not forget his fervent support of biometric surveillance. Only to stem illegal immigration of course. It would never be used for anything else.

Wise words for millennials/gen z:

Google: Kent State. You're gonna need to know about this soon.

#grownostr #warnostr #killyoursons

The Quash is one of my favourite podcasts.

HRC isn't going anywhere until she gets her sceptre. And that should scare the piss out of everybody.

Hey guys! I can officially say that I paid zero taxes to the USA federal government in 2023! I did pay state sales taxes but no other tax.

How did I do it?

Easy. Earn $13k in a year. My income was lower than the standard deduction. My tax bracket is literally zero.

#grownostr #shrinkincome

I'll go a step further and believe that '63 was "the coup". LBJ was a made man and Nixon/Ford were already under control when they took the office. Carter, ironically, may have been the "maverick" that the Trump people seem to believe exists, as his cornpone friends like Bert Lance et al were so corrupt and stupid that they were interfering with the plan. Hence, they brought in the first robot, Reagan, an actor who was most famous for starring alongside a talking mule, to fully takeover the White House, and followed him up with a literal CIA agent, then men who were literally groomed for the position and fully compromised before taking the office. Obama ("there will never be a black president"), Trump (Wrestling Hall of Fame member) and Biden the dementia patient are now a form of "spiking the ball" in our faces. It's true, the president could literally be an "inaminate carbon rod" and absolutely nothing would change.

Then you are in luck. Tulane has an excellent reputation as an accredited university. Good luck with the online program!

Define "reputable"? Tulane is reagrded as one of the best educational institutions in the South. It's not an "Ivy League" school or a close equivalent to same, but it's a strong school and the medical school has become dominant in the area.

That being said, Tulane, like most other educational facilities in the USA, breeds a lot of marxist/nihilist or "woke" thinking, although far less than the Ivy League schools. So, to which reputation do you refer?

That bitcoin is a bottomless chasm from which one never returns? :)

...just kidding..had to say it

Don't ask a judge or lawyer about jury nullification.

One thing I noted about "generation gaps" is that we grew up with reruns. Little Rascals, Three Stooges, The Honeymooners, Ozzie and Harriet, Topper, Father Knows Best, Donna Reed, Leave it to Beaver, all the black and white movies - as kids most of us didn't live through the era of crank up telephones and Sarah the switchboard operator, but we knew what they were. We had a view into the past, into our parent's early lives. I remember asking about things (for instance, the Little Rascals made a cake with Alum instead of flour) and my parents explaining to me what the joke was.

Sadly, the rerun age, although initially supported by cable TV, is almost completely gone now. Kids now wear t-shirts of rock and roll bands from forty years before they were born, but they have never seen a wringer from a washtub, or having to hand pump water into the house. Most of them have never seen a conventional telephone. We didn't wear Scott Joplin t-shirts, but we had a decent idea of how our parents grew up.

When a government tells you that the chattel are free, it isn't lying. You were born on soil that the government claims to own, so you are a "citizen" and are thus owned by the government. The government paid absolutely nothing to own you. You are free.

Oh, you're not "owned"? Try to leave. "Oh you need a passport to do that" A passport provided by....the government. For a fee. You know, the government that doesn't own you.

But now you have your passport. You are "free" to leave. Kinda. Actually you're free to be leased out to another government, who pays nothing for this privilege. Because you are free.

You will have to return to your original government's direct possession at some point, because your "visa" (the lease) runs out. You know, the visa that the destination government issues. Sometimes for a fee. Not a fee to your government of course. You are free. But you personally may have to pay for a visa, just as you paid your original government for your passport.

You may leave your government's possession entirely, provided that you pay a fee. Then you may choose another government to possess you. That government doesn't have to pay for you, because you are free. In fact, you will likely have to pay your new owning government for the privilege of their ownership, and of course pay a new fee if you want a passport from that government.

So, let's celebrate our freedom!

#grownostr #government #freedom #nosale

People laughed at me for saving all kinds of media on outboard hard drives (over 10TB now) over the years. I don't own a TV nor have I seen a cinema movie in this century. I always told them "someday I'll be happy to have all of this"...gotta look into this start9 thingy..:)

"Don't be tempted by the shiny apple

Don't you eat of a bitter fruit

Hunger only for a taste of justice

Hunger only for a word of truth

'Cause all that you have is your soul"

kinda ambivalent about the "justice" part, but I wholeheartedly agree with Tracy Chapman about the rest.