May 26, 2025
Russian Orthodox are Real Men!
Timothy Birdnow
Interesting; Russian Orthodoxy is growing by leaps and bounds in no small part because it values masculinity.
Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'
You can tell by the tone of this (an article from teh BBC) that the authors fear and disapprove of this. That says it's on the right track to me.
Men need to reclaim their masculinity. For a long, long time now men were told masculinity was evil and we should be ashamed of being men. We have told that the idea is to be girlish. In fact, so many have been told this that we've seen a huge rise in transgenderism as young boys realize there is no future in being male and so try to join the other team. What is lacking, and has been lacking, is an unapologetic defense of masculinity and the virtues therein.
We used to understand those. When I was a kid we had the Boy Scouts whose mission was to inculcate those values in young boys so they would grow into decent, God fearing men. Such men were the backbone of society.
Is it any wonder society is incrasingly in a mess at a time when masculinity is despited and discouraged?
And that no doubt played a part in the election of Trump, who is clearly testosterone fueled, unlike the limp-wristed candidates the GOP put forward in days of yore.
So I say Godspeed to the Orthodox church and the men who are reclaiming our God-given male heritage.
Interesting; Russian Orthodoxy is growing by leaps and bounds in no small part because it values masculinity.
Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness'
You can tell by the tone of this (an article from teh BBC) that the authors fear and disapprove of this. That says it's on the right track to me.
Men need to reclaim their masculinity. For a long, long time now men were told masculinity was evil and we should be ashamed of being men. We have told that the idea is to be girlish. In fact, so many have been told this that we've seen a huge rise in transgenderism as young boys realize there is no future in being male and so try to join the other team. What is lacking, and has been lacking, is an unapologetic defense of masculinity and the virtues therein.
We used to understand those. When I was a kid we had the Boy Scouts whose mission was to inculcate those values in young boys so they would grow into decent, God fearing men. Such men were the backbone of society.
Is it any wonder society is incrasingly in a mess at a time when masculinity is despited and discouraged?
And that no doubt played a part in the election of Trump, who is clearly testosterone fueled, unlike the limp-wristed candidates the GOP put forward in days of yore.
So I say Godspeed to the Orthodox church and the men who are reclaiming our God-given male heritage.
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Their Cup Runneth Over
Timothy Birdnow
Booze in Saudi Arabia? Yes, it's really coming!
Saudi Arabia to lift booze ban at 600 tourist locations by 2026 in bid to lure in holidaymakers ahead of World Cup
The trouble with the whole Middle East is that you can't get a good snort anywhere. Islam officially restricts alcohol, and without alcohol most tourists won't come. The region could be huge - certainly it's as dry and miserable in Las Vegas, and Vegas doesn't have nice seaside areas. But Vegas has booze and dancers and gambling, while Saudi Arabia has - camel burgers and veiled women and Jihadis.
Even National Lampoon couldn't find a way to make an interesting Vacation movie set there.
So this is probably a smart move, although it will no doubt infuriate traditionalists in Islam and lead some of them to question the House of Saud's control over the holiest sites in Islam.
Oh well; they can suck down a few and that will calm their anxiety nicely.
Booze in Saudi Arabia? Yes, it's really coming!
Saudi Arabia to lift booze ban at 600 tourist locations by 2026 in bid to lure in holidaymakers ahead of World Cup
The trouble with the whole Middle East is that you can't get a good snort anywhere. Islam officially restricts alcohol, and without alcohol most tourists won't come. The region could be huge - certainly it's as dry and miserable in Las Vegas, and Vegas doesn't have nice seaside areas. But Vegas has booze and dancers and gambling, while Saudi Arabia has - camel burgers and veiled women and Jihadis.
Even National Lampoon couldn't find a way to make an interesting Vacation movie set there.
So this is probably a smart move, although it will no doubt infuriate traditionalists in Islam and lead some of them to question the House of Saud's control over the holiest sites in Islam.
Oh well; they can suck down a few and that will calm their anxiety nicely.
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Lock and Key
Timothy Birdnow
Here's the way liberals solve a problem like breaking and entering.
Come July Keys Will be De-Facto Illegal in Minnesota
Yes, the state that brought you Tim Walz is going to make it illegal to own keys.
They have backdoored this in by passing a new law restricting the amount of lead in anything. Most keys have more lead than the law allows so - no keys!
Of course this helps cut down the crime rate by forcing people to leave their homes and cars open, thus making it impossible to "break and enter" since the door was open. This pads the crime stats in the Democrats' favor!
From the article in Reason:
Lead and cadmium poisoning from keys has never been an issue in society. This is nothing but a way to control the populace.
And even if it's not the reality is the government has no business sticking it's nose here. There is no compelling state interest involved.
This is the nanny state run amok.
On the other hand the good people of Minnesota keep electing crazies into high positions in state government so perhaps there IS a lead problem. Clearly a lot of Minnesotans have some sort of brain damage...
Here's the way liberals solve a problem like breaking and entering.
Come July Keys Will be De-Facto Illegal in Minnesota
Yes, the state that brought you Tim Walz is going to make it illegal to own keys.
They have backdoored this in by passing a new law restricting the amount of lead in anything. Most keys have more lead than the law allows so - no keys!
Of course this helps cut down the crime rate by forcing people to leave their homes and cars open, thus making it impossible to "break and enter" since the door was open. This pads the crime stats in the Democrats' favor!
From the article in Reason:
The purpose of that law was to remove dangerous heavy metals from products that come into contact with children. The trouble is that almost all keys sold today have more lead than the new law's 0.09 percent limit on lead content.
Locksmiths have been warning that the state's lead ban will outlaw most of the products they sell. Alternative metals would require lengthy and expensive transition to using less functional materials, they say.
"Approximately 75 percent of all products that we stock have become prohibited for sale," said Rob Justen of Doyle Security Products.
"Aluminum is too brittle," another locksmith told Valley News Live. "It breaks instead of bends, and it's not as easily machined as brass is. The same problem with steel, it rusts and it's much harder to machine."
Lawmakers have proposed a range of fixes, including raising the lead threshold to 1.5 percent for keys (which is California's standard) or, more modestly, delaying the ban for another three years.
But a legislative fix is not locked in yet.
Locksmiths have been warning that the state's lead ban will outlaw most of the products they sell. Alternative metals would require lengthy and expensive transition to using less functional materials, they say.
"Approximately 75 percent of all products that we stock have become prohibited for sale," said Rob Justen of Doyle Security Products.
"Aluminum is too brittle," another locksmith told Valley News Live. "It breaks instead of bends, and it's not as easily machined as brass is. The same problem with steel, it rusts and it's much harder to machine."
Lawmakers have proposed a range of fixes, including raising the lead threshold to 1.5 percent for keys (which is California's standard) or, more modestly, delaying the ban for another three years.
But a legislative fix is not locked in yet.
Lead and cadmium poisoning from keys has never been an issue in society. This is nothing but a way to control the populace.
And even if it's not the reality is the government has no business sticking it's nose here. There is no compelling state interest involved.
This is the nanny state run amok.
On the other hand the good people of Minnesota keep electing crazies into high positions in state government so perhaps there IS a lead problem. Clearly a lot of Minnesotans have some sort of brain damage...
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At Ease Disease - There's a Fungus Among Us
Timothy Birdnow
The Gang Green gets crazier all the time with this climate idiocy!
Climate change putting millions more people at risk from infection ...
Yes, they really are claiming a fungus will eat you out from the insde thanks to planetary warming. Odd; it didn't do it during the Medieval Warming Period. It didn't do it during the Roman Warming Period. It NEVER has done it before.
The prophecy (I won't call it anything but a prophecy, like what you might get at a fortune teller) argues Aspergillus flavus, a fungal infection that kills people in Britain, will metastasize and start killing everyone and we're all going to DIE!
But how will this fungi become so much more active when planetary temperatures are a scant 2*c warmer than the 20th century mean? Who actually believes any of this nonsense anymore?
Do notice they say the infections will increase in the future, but that is illogical; they should already be on the increase and it should be provable that it is warming alone causing such things. But of course this is, once again, the supremacy of models over nature.
We live in stupid times.
The Gang Green gets crazier all the time with this climate idiocy!
Climate change putting millions more people at risk from infection ...
Yes, they really are claiming a fungus will eat you out from the insde thanks to planetary warming. Odd; it didn't do it during the Medieval Warming Period. It didn't do it during the Roman Warming Period. It NEVER has done it before.
The prophecy (I won't call it anything but a prophecy, like what you might get at a fortune teller) argues Aspergillus flavus, a fungal infection that kills people in Britain, will metastasize and start killing everyone and we're all going to DIE!
But how will this fungi become so much more active when planetary temperatures are a scant 2*c warmer than the 20th century mean? Who actually believes any of this nonsense anymore?
Do notice they say the infections will increase in the future, but that is illogical; they should already be on the increase and it should be provable that it is warming alone causing such things. But of course this is, once again, the supremacy of models over nature.
We live in stupid times.
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Phil Robertson RIP
Timothy Birdnow
Rest in Peace my friend! You are now in Heaven with God.
Duck Dynasty Star Phil Robertson Passes Away
Rest in Peace my friend! You are now in Heaven with God.
Duck Dynasty Star Phil Robertson Passes Away
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Son of Covid!
Timothy Birdnow
China has just released announced a new strain of Covid and it's extremely painful.
According to the Epoch Times
FTA:
China has just released announced a new strain of Covid and it's extremely painful.
According to the Epoch Times
FTA:
Zhong Nanshan, one of China’s leading pulmonologists and epidemiologists, said in an interview with China-based media on May 19 that the "razor blade throat” symptom is more pronounced in this wave of resurgence, accompanied by more frequent coughing.
"Razor blade throat” is a term used in China to describe severe throat pain, akin to swallowing shattered glass or razor blades.
Dr. Li Tongzeng, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Beijing You’an Hospital, told Chinese media that the new wave of COVID-19, which began in March, is expected to peak in late May.
According to Zhong, the dominant strain in this wave is the Omicron XDV variant, which is highly transmissible but relatively less virulent. Early symptoms include fever, headaches, fatigue, a burning throat, and severe coughing.
He believes the epidemic is still in the "climbing phase” and is expected to last six to eight weeks and subside by the end of June.
Chinese netizens described their painful experiences with this new strain on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform closely monitored by the Chinese regime.
Netizens shared comments such as: "During lunch time a few days ago, a colleague was coughing so wildly I thought she choked on food. She said it was a lingering effect from this COVID wave. When I asked about her main symptom, she said ‘razor blade throat.’”
Other comments include, "I’ve been hit with razor blade throat and feel completely drained.”
"Post-COVID razor blade throat is brutal—swollen, painful, and I can barely speak. Any quick remedies?” another one read.
A female Beijing resident, infected for nearly 10 days, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times: "I had a fever, sore throat, yellow phlegm with blood streaks, nosebleeds, cough, sneezing, a runny nose, dizziness, and no energy. It’s terrifying—I sneezed once and my nose started bleeding, which scared me to death. This round of COVID is too severe.”
This is what Fauci has done to the entire world. He and the rest of his mad scientist scumbag friends need to be thrown in a dungeon somewhere and the key tossed into the Marianis trench.
"Razor blade throat” is a term used in China to describe severe throat pain, akin to swallowing shattered glass or razor blades.
Dr. Li Tongzeng, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Beijing You’an Hospital, told Chinese media that the new wave of COVID-19, which began in March, is expected to peak in late May.
According to Zhong, the dominant strain in this wave is the Omicron XDV variant, which is highly transmissible but relatively less virulent. Early symptoms include fever, headaches, fatigue, a burning throat, and severe coughing.
He believes the epidemic is still in the "climbing phase” and is expected to last six to eight weeks and subside by the end of June.
Chinese netizens described their painful experiences with this new strain on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform closely monitored by the Chinese regime.
Netizens shared comments such as: "During lunch time a few days ago, a colleague was coughing so wildly I thought she choked on food. She said it was a lingering effect from this COVID wave. When I asked about her main symptom, she said ‘razor blade throat.’”
Other comments include, "I’ve been hit with razor blade throat and feel completely drained.”
"Post-COVID razor blade throat is brutal—swollen, painful, and I can barely speak. Any quick remedies?” another one read.
A female Beijing resident, infected for nearly 10 days, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times: "I had a fever, sore throat, yellow phlegm with blood streaks, nosebleeds, cough, sneezing, a runny nose, dizziness, and no energy. It’s terrifying—I sneezed once and my nose started bleeding, which scared me to death. This round of COVID is too severe.”
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ANTIFA Attacks Christians
Timothy Birdnow
And here the Southern Poverty Law Center tries to claim there is RIGHT WING TERRORISM all over the country. But who is it who always does the attacking?
Christian Rally In Seattle Park Attacked By Violent Woke Mob
Violence is where people go when they can't win with words. It's why the Left always becomes violent; in time their words ring hollow, even with the help of a compliant media and academics. In the end they have to use violence to MAKE people accept their viewpoint. It's all they have in the end.
And here the Southern Poverty Law Center tries to claim there is RIGHT WING TERRORISM all over the country. But who is it who always does the attacking?
Christian Rally In Seattle Park Attacked By Violent Woke Mob
Violence is where people go when they can't win with words. It's why the Left always becomes violent; in time their words ring hollow, even with the help of a compliant media and academics. In the end they have to use violence to MAKE people accept their viewpoint. It's all they have in the end.
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Illegals on Medicaid
Timothy Birdnow
House Squeeker Mike "Tiny" Johnson says there are $1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid.
Is it any wonder the program is almost broke?
House Squeeker Mike "Tiny" Johnson says there are $1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid.
Is it any wonder the program is almost broke?
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May 25, 2025
The New World Order Tried to Kill Coal
Timothy Birdnow
Their hearts black as coal.
FTC, DOJ File ‘Statement of Interest’ Against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard in Coal Manipulation Case
I'm not at all surprised; "climate change" is a religious belief system and these big, international speculators are every bit on-board with the internationalism that the creators of the climate scam hoped to achieve. Coal has long been the enemy of the Left, mainly because it makes America the King Arab; we have more coal than anyone and with it alone we would be energy inddependent. The climate scam is about knitting the world together economically, and then politically. The European Union was created this very way; it started as an economic entente' between Germany and France. The French came up with the idea of linking their two economies together so tightly the Germans would never attack them again. Other countries soon joined and the Common Market was created. Then the political union was consummated. Europe went from a continent of free, independent nations to a federation run from Brussels by a shadowy committee and while local matters are still run by the member states all serious policy is simply handed down by an autocracy. This is what they wanted for the world, to tie us all together economically so we had no choice but to unite behind the United Nations into a world government with a socialst economic model.
The plan was to make certain regions specialized and force everyone to trade. The Arabs and the Russians would be the energy sector, the Asians would be the manufacturing region, the U.S. the high tech zone. So America divested itself of manufacturing, outsourcing to countries designated as the manufacturers (in ASia and Latin America). Blue collar jobs disappeared, leaving the Democrats' power base unemployed and angry (thus electing Trump). We also hamstrung our energy production, locking up large swaths of land where oil and gas could be found, and by waging war via environmental regulations on coal. To trick America into doing this they promoted "climate change" and "green energy" which was intended to fail all along. Part of what the internationalists wanted was to reduce the standard of living in the U.S. and in Europe and Australia while the standard was rising in the Third World thanks to their being given our industries. Eventually we would have "equity" meaning we all would have identical income and standards of living. In the proces America would suffer and learn humility, that we have no right to hord our wealth and success and learn to share and share alike in the new socialist utopia. Punishing Americans was always part of the deal.
These big multinational corporations were always at the forefront (aka Vanguard) of this movement. They saw profits in it - many profits. And they wanted this world government so they were free to pursue their interests aborad without trouble from foreign governments or tariffs or whatnot.
So I am not at all surprised these outfits moved to restrain trade and to murder America's energy sector.
Godspeed DOJ! It's time to make these outfits pay for this crime.
Their hearts black as coal.
FTC, DOJ File ‘Statement of Interest’ Against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard in Coal Manipulation Case
I'm not at all surprised; "climate change" is a religious belief system and these big, international speculators are every bit on-board with the internationalism that the creators of the climate scam hoped to achieve. Coal has long been the enemy of the Left, mainly because it makes America the King Arab; we have more coal than anyone and with it alone we would be energy inddependent. The climate scam is about knitting the world together economically, and then politically. The European Union was created this very way; it started as an economic entente' between Germany and France. The French came up with the idea of linking their two economies together so tightly the Germans would never attack them again. Other countries soon joined and the Common Market was created. Then the political union was consummated. Europe went from a continent of free, independent nations to a federation run from Brussels by a shadowy committee and while local matters are still run by the member states all serious policy is simply handed down by an autocracy. This is what they wanted for the world, to tie us all together economically so we had no choice but to unite behind the United Nations into a world government with a socialst economic model.
The plan was to make certain regions specialized and force everyone to trade. The Arabs and the Russians would be the energy sector, the Asians would be the manufacturing region, the U.S. the high tech zone. So America divested itself of manufacturing, outsourcing to countries designated as the manufacturers (in ASia and Latin America). Blue collar jobs disappeared, leaving the Democrats' power base unemployed and angry (thus electing Trump). We also hamstrung our energy production, locking up large swaths of land where oil and gas could be found, and by waging war via environmental regulations on coal. To trick America into doing this they promoted "climate change" and "green energy" which was intended to fail all along. Part of what the internationalists wanted was to reduce the standard of living in the U.S. and in Europe and Australia while the standard was rising in the Third World thanks to their being given our industries. Eventually we would have "equity" meaning we all would have identical income and standards of living. In the proces America would suffer and learn humility, that we have no right to hord our wealth and success and learn to share and share alike in the new socialist utopia. Punishing Americans was always part of the deal.
These big multinational corporations were always at the forefront (aka Vanguard) of this movement. They saw profits in it - many profits. And they wanted this world government so they were free to pursue their interests aborad without trouble from foreign governments or tariffs or whatnot.
So I am not at all surprised these outfits moved to restrain trade and to murder America's energy sector.
Godspeed DOJ! It's time to make these outfits pay for this crime.
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Leo Wants to Give Aid, Comfort to Enemy
Timothy Birdnow
The newly minted Pope Leo XIV is right in his compassion for the victims here, the People of Gaza, but he doesn't understand that all this does is drag the war on and cost more lives and suffering.
Pope Leo XIV Calls for Humanitarian Aid in War-Torn Gaza
He's just looking at this in a linear fashion, thinking "there are people suffering - we must help them" rather than "what is the best we can do for them?"
Remember, it's the people of Gaza and the West Bank who put Hamas in power, and even now support waging war on Israel. They are not beaten. Until they feel beaten, know the cause is lost and are prepared to make ERAL peace this will just continue year after bloody year. Sending in aid to make them more comfortable only makes them feel they still can win.
Sherman said it best "war is Hell". Lee echoed this when he said "it is good war is so terrible lest we grow too fond of it". Lee was not as ruthless as Mr. Sherman, who razed Georgia to the ground in his infamous "march to the sea". Sherman rightly understood that the war could never be won until the people themselves suffered such loss that they lost the will to resist. It was not kind, nor was it even remotely praiseworthy, but it was sound strategy. Sherman won, Lee lost. In the end there were probably more lives saved by winning quickly than fighting for every inch of ground against an unrepentent enemy.
The new Pope should know his American history but he was raised in Chicago so probably doesn't.
He called for humanitarian aid, but did not offer to do it himself. The Vatican is filthy rich and could easily finance this endeavor and in fact implement it with Vatican resources. But I notice Leo isn't suggesting he spend his own money - he wants the "international community" to take taxpayer dollars to finance the continuation of the war.
The Vatican's wealth is estimated at between $10 and $73 billion dollars, depending on who you ask. I suspect if you include their overall assets, such as real estate, that number is lilliputian. They can spare half a billion or so if this Pope really, truly believes this is the right course of action.
But that's not how liberals think; it's always government's job to fix every problem and throw good money after bad.
Been there, done that. We wasted a huge amount of money building infrastructure to get aid to the Gazans and in the end accomplished nothing. All we are doing is feeding Hamas.
I get it; Jesus told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the sorrowful, etc. The Catholic Church is bound by the Corporal Works of Mercy. And we are suppoed to do good to our enemies.
But war is acceptable under some circumstances, and we are not required to give aid and comfort to the enemy. Gaza made their beds but do not want to lay in them now. I believe our Christian duty is to end this war as quickly as possible and that will only happen when Israel wipes Hamas out. Sending in "humanitarian aid" only strengthens their hand.
The newly minted Pope Leo XIV is right in his compassion for the victims here, the People of Gaza, but he doesn't understand that all this does is drag the war on and cost more lives and suffering.
Pope Leo XIV Calls for Humanitarian Aid in War-Torn Gaza
He's just looking at this in a linear fashion, thinking "there are people suffering - we must help them" rather than "what is the best we can do for them?"
Remember, it's the people of Gaza and the West Bank who put Hamas in power, and even now support waging war on Israel. They are not beaten. Until they feel beaten, know the cause is lost and are prepared to make ERAL peace this will just continue year after bloody year. Sending in aid to make them more comfortable only makes them feel they still can win.
Sherman said it best "war is Hell". Lee echoed this when he said "it is good war is so terrible lest we grow too fond of it". Lee was not as ruthless as Mr. Sherman, who razed Georgia to the ground in his infamous "march to the sea". Sherman rightly understood that the war could never be won until the people themselves suffered such loss that they lost the will to resist. It was not kind, nor was it even remotely praiseworthy, but it was sound strategy. Sherman won, Lee lost. In the end there were probably more lives saved by winning quickly than fighting for every inch of ground against an unrepentent enemy.
The new Pope should know his American history but he was raised in Chicago so probably doesn't.
He called for humanitarian aid, but did not offer to do it himself. The Vatican is filthy rich and could easily finance this endeavor and in fact implement it with Vatican resources. But I notice Leo isn't suggesting he spend his own money - he wants the "international community" to take taxpayer dollars to finance the continuation of the war.
The Vatican's wealth is estimated at between $10 and $73 billion dollars, depending on who you ask. I suspect if you include their overall assets, such as real estate, that number is lilliputian. They can spare half a billion or so if this Pope really, truly believes this is the right course of action.
But that's not how liberals think; it's always government's job to fix every problem and throw good money after bad.
Been there, done that. We wasted a huge amount of money building infrastructure to get aid to the Gazans and in the end accomplished nothing. All we are doing is feeding Hamas.
I get it; Jesus told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the sorrowful, etc. The Catholic Church is bound by the Corporal Works of Mercy. And we are suppoed to do good to our enemies.
But war is acceptable under some circumstances, and we are not required to give aid and comfort to the enemy. Gaza made their beds but do not want to lay in them now. I believe our Christian duty is to end this war as quickly as possible and that will only happen when Israel wipes Hamas out. Sending in "humanitarian aid" only strengthens their hand.
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DEI NO!
Timothy Birdnow
DEI No!
Corporate America Retreats from Gay Pride Events Across America amid Trump Dei Crackdown
Go woke go broke! I think corporate America is finally starting to figure that out.
These corporations were trying to please not their customers but the government and the activists who were always blackmailing them into sponsoring their deviancy. oNow they can't do it. since it's no longer offical policy by the government to support the extortion.
Bud lite spoke volumes.
DEI No!
Corporate America Retreats from Gay Pride Events Across America amid Trump Dei Crackdown
Go woke go broke! I think corporate America is finally starting to figure that out.
These corporations were trying to please not their customers but the government and the activists who were always blackmailing them into sponsoring their deviancy. oNow they can't do it. since it's no longer offical policy by the government to support the extortion.
Bud lite spoke volumes.
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Old Home Week
Timothy Birdnow
The apple doesn't fall from the tree.
Father of Accused Terrorist was a Guest of Radical Congressman at Trump Joint session Speech
THIS is your modern Democratic Party. Jewish voters please take note.
The apple doesn't fall from the tree.
Father of Accused Terrorist was a Guest of Radical Congressman at Trump Joint session Speech
THIS is your modern Democratic Party. Jewish voters please take note.
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Dems Now Love the Electoral College
Timothy Birdnow
The Democrats are starting to realize their only chance at future power is to circumvent the votes of the People and support the Electoral College.Strange; they hated it until now. Suddenly the National Popular Vote Compact is crumbling.
Is this the Beginning of the Enf of the National Popular Vote Compact?
Maine is withdrawing from the compact, which compelled the member states to cast their electoral votes for whoever won the popular vote nationwide.
It seemed like a good idea to Democrats who lost a tight race in 2000 and again in 2016 despite winning the popular vote (allegedly; I suspect they stole it in both cases.) They had been building a huge vote fraud machine for decades. In fact, Joe Biden admitted as much, once saying "We've built the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud machine in history". Naturally the media called it "out of context" and "a gaffe" at worst, a slip of the tongue. It was a slip; Biden, whose mind was turning to mush, was admitting the truth. He no doubt forgot who he was speaking to and thought it was a closed-door meeting where he could be candid.
At any rate eliminating the Electoral College seemed a solid idea. But Trump winning both votes has thrown a monkey wrench into everything. It also is showing that America is moving away from the Democratic Party and that means they will need the EC to win in the future as the popular vote deserts them. Oh, and given the reforms Trump is putting in place stealing vottes won't be so easy as it once was.
Eventually you will hear the Democtrat praising the Electoral College and speaking about the brilliance of the Founding Fathers in putting it in place. And they would be right but their motives are bad.
The Electoral College was put in place as part of Federalism; it gave all states fairer representation. At the time of the founding of the country Virginia would simply dominate national politics without the EC. But since this empowers smaller states (as does the rule of two Senators per state) there is more diversity in Washington (something the Democrats pretend they love but actually hate.) It also offers an opportunity to correct a mistake by the public; the public only votes for the slate of electors, and even then it's not REQUIRED there be a vote in the Constitution. As late as 1860 South Carolina held no popular vote, but the candidate who won was elected by a vote of the state legislature. Electors are supposed to be substanial personages, well respected and sober, and they were entrusted with veto power over the public if the need should arise. But of course that power has never been exercised and in fact it's now illegal in many staes to be a "faithless elector". But it wasn't intended to be that way.
So maybe we should call their bluff and begin calling for an end to the Electoral College, just to watch the Democrats do a 180 and fight to keep it alive!
The Democrats are starting to realize their only chance at future power is to circumvent the votes of the People and support the Electoral College.Strange; they hated it until now. Suddenly the National Popular Vote Compact is crumbling.
Is this the Beginning of the Enf of the National Popular Vote Compact?
Maine is withdrawing from the compact, which compelled the member states to cast their electoral votes for whoever won the popular vote nationwide.
It seemed like a good idea to Democrats who lost a tight race in 2000 and again in 2016 despite winning the popular vote (allegedly; I suspect they stole it in both cases.) They had been building a huge vote fraud machine for decades. In fact, Joe Biden admitted as much, once saying "We've built the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud machine in history". Naturally the media called it "out of context" and "a gaffe" at worst, a slip of the tongue. It was a slip; Biden, whose mind was turning to mush, was admitting the truth. He no doubt forgot who he was speaking to and thought it was a closed-door meeting where he could be candid.
At any rate eliminating the Electoral College seemed a solid idea. But Trump winning both votes has thrown a monkey wrench into everything. It also is showing that America is moving away from the Democratic Party and that means they will need the EC to win in the future as the popular vote deserts them. Oh, and given the reforms Trump is putting in place stealing vottes won't be so easy as it once was.
Eventually you will hear the Democtrat praising the Electoral College and speaking about the brilliance of the Founding Fathers in putting it in place. And they would be right but their motives are bad.
The Electoral College was put in place as part of Federalism; it gave all states fairer representation. At the time of the founding of the country Virginia would simply dominate national politics without the EC. But since this empowers smaller states (as does the rule of two Senators per state) there is more diversity in Washington (something the Democrats pretend they love but actually hate.) It also offers an opportunity to correct a mistake by the public; the public only votes for the slate of electors, and even then it's not REQUIRED there be a vote in the Constitution. As late as 1860 South Carolina held no popular vote, but the candidate who won was elected by a vote of the state legislature. Electors are supposed to be substanial personages, well respected and sober, and they were entrusted with veto power over the public if the need should arise. But of course that power has never been exercised and in fact it's now illegal in many staes to be a "faithless elector". But it wasn't intended to be that way.
So maybe we should call their bluff and begin calling for an end to the Electoral College, just to watch the Democrats do a 180 and fight to keep it alive!
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The Biggest Indicator of a Coming Boom Yet
Timothy Birdnow
Doesn't this dope ever get tired of being wrong?
Relax: Paul Krugman Is Predicting a Disastrous Recession
Krugman has been wrong every time he's made a prediction over the years. You can use him as an investment guide; if he says one thing do the other and you will prosper.
Krugman is a Keynsian (a thoroughly discredited economic model of demand-side economics) who only won the Nobel because of theoretical work he did. Frankly, the only reason he won the prize was because he was a New York Times columnist; the Nobel committee wanted to suck up to the Gray Old Lady.
Krugman won the prize in 2008 for a thesis he wrote in 1979 where he claimed that economies of scale mean that world trade is dominated by similar countries producing similar products. Well duh!
Those countries are producing lucrative items that other countries can't or won't. There is a reason why the countries making similar products are similar; they followed a free-market path that empowered enterpreneurs to actually make stuff, and this is the stuff people all over the world want. It's not exactly a revelation.
If Krugman's theory was so revolutionary why did it take almost forty years for the Nobel Committee to recognize his genius?
What was happening in '08 when he received the prize? Obama had just been elected. Remember, they also gave Barack Insane Obama (peace be upon him) the Nobel for doing - nothing. Just being elected.
Frankly if Krugman had any integrity at all he would return the prize as undeserved, especially given his multiple failures since.
You may remember Krugman predicted a major recession early in Trump's first term. It never materialized (aolthough it could be falsely argued the unemployment and lack of spending during the Covid Pandmenic was a kind of recession, but it had nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with Democrats shutting the economy down in their states.)
So I suggest everyone go all-in on the market now; invest now because we are going to see a big boom! (I'm not talking about Joe Biden before the Queen either; no underpants require changing, except maybe some liberals who are befouling theirs over the success of the Trump Administration.)
Doesn't this dope ever get tired of being wrong?
Relax: Paul Krugman Is Predicting a Disastrous Recession
Krugman has been wrong every time he's made a prediction over the years. You can use him as an investment guide; if he says one thing do the other and you will prosper.
Krugman is a Keynsian (a thoroughly discredited economic model of demand-side economics) who only won the Nobel because of theoretical work he did. Frankly, the only reason he won the prize was because he was a New York Times columnist; the Nobel committee wanted to suck up to the Gray Old Lady.
Krugman won the prize in 2008 for a thesis he wrote in 1979 where he claimed that economies of scale mean that world trade is dominated by similar countries producing similar products. Well duh!
Those countries are producing lucrative items that other countries can't or won't. There is a reason why the countries making similar products are similar; they followed a free-market path that empowered enterpreneurs to actually make stuff, and this is the stuff people all over the world want. It's not exactly a revelation.
If Krugman's theory was so revolutionary why did it take almost forty years for the Nobel Committee to recognize his genius?
What was happening in '08 when he received the prize? Obama had just been elected. Remember, they also gave Barack Insane Obama (peace be upon him) the Nobel for doing - nothing. Just being elected.
Frankly if Krugman had any integrity at all he would return the prize as undeserved, especially given his multiple failures since.
You may remember Krugman predicted a major recession early in Trump's first term. It never materialized (aolthough it could be falsely argued the unemployment and lack of spending during the Covid Pandmenic was a kind of recession, but it had nothing to do with the economy and everything to do with Democrats shutting the economy down in their states.)
So I suggest everyone go all-in on the market now; invest now because we are going to see a big boom! (I'm not talking about Joe Biden before the Queen either; no underpants require changing, except maybe some liberals who are befouling theirs over the success of the Trump Administration.)
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The Reaper Makes them the Weeper
Timothy Birdnow
The Democrats are the celebration of life party.
The Bidenization of the Dems: the Last Eight House Members to Die in Office were all Democrats
What does this tell us? There is no bench. The Democrats have only a gaggle of geriatrics who keep winning solely because they are incumbents. Why is there no bench? Because the party has taken such a sharp left turn that sensible people no longer seek to join it. If you are a Democrat you have to obey the central committee of the Party. You cannot vote your conscience; there is strict party discipline. And since the Party has gone over the cliff of sanity a young Democrat has to obey and face being ousted by the voters or worse to stay in the Party's good graces. Who in their right mind wants to do that? You have to compromise your principles and even risk your seat to work the Party's will. The GOP doesn't work that way, which is why they said wrangling Republicans is like herding cats. Better to stay out of it, or stay in state or local positiions, or even go third party or turn Republican.
Political Correctness, DEI, Equity, all of the other buzz words have hollowed the party out. Now only the termites are left (like AOC or Ilhan Omar) and the geriatrics. When the geriatrics assume room temperature the radicals will take solid control of the Democrats. It will then be entirely a Communist party. And it will sink into oblivion, hopefully.
The real danger to a Republican ascendancy is a revitalization of the Party. I don't think it can happen; the radicals won't allow it. Nancy Pelosi opened that Pandora's box a long time ago when she ran for Speaker on the platform of turning hard left. Now she's cocnsidered a "centrist" when she had been a radical. THAT is how far Left her party has turned.
We could be looking at the complete collapse of the Democrats in the next few years if we play our cards right. Sadly the GOP rarely plays a good hand. I remember a scene from the old Gomer Pyle show where Pyle is being swindled by a card shark. he gets a great hand - four queens, I believe it was, but I may have that wrong _ but being Pyle he throws them away. The card shark is horrified because there are four kings waiting in the deck and Pyle gets all four and wins. Pyle was extraordinarily lucky there,but the GOP plays like Pyle; they throw away winning hands all the time thinking they can do better.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized, Sun Tzu said. The Democrats are giving us a golden opportunity if we don't blow it. In fact I would argue God Himself is giving us this opportunity to restore America if we only follow where He leads.
The Democrats are the celebration of life party.
The Bidenization of the Dems: the Last Eight House Members to Die in Office were all Democrats
What does this tell us? There is no bench. The Democrats have only a gaggle of geriatrics who keep winning solely because they are incumbents. Why is there no bench? Because the party has taken such a sharp left turn that sensible people no longer seek to join it. If you are a Democrat you have to obey the central committee of the Party. You cannot vote your conscience; there is strict party discipline. And since the Party has gone over the cliff of sanity a young Democrat has to obey and face being ousted by the voters or worse to stay in the Party's good graces. Who in their right mind wants to do that? You have to compromise your principles and even risk your seat to work the Party's will. The GOP doesn't work that way, which is why they said wrangling Republicans is like herding cats. Better to stay out of it, or stay in state or local positiions, or even go third party or turn Republican.
Political Correctness, DEI, Equity, all of the other buzz words have hollowed the party out. Now only the termites are left (like AOC or Ilhan Omar) and the geriatrics. When the geriatrics assume room temperature the radicals will take solid control of the Democrats. It will then be entirely a Communist party. And it will sink into oblivion, hopefully.
The real danger to a Republican ascendancy is a revitalization of the Party. I don't think it can happen; the radicals won't allow it. Nancy Pelosi opened that Pandora's box a long time ago when she ran for Speaker on the platform of turning hard left. Now she's cocnsidered a "centrist" when she had been a radical. THAT is how far Left her party has turned.
We could be looking at the complete collapse of the Democrats in the next few years if we play our cards right. Sadly the GOP rarely plays a good hand. I remember a scene from the old Gomer Pyle show where Pyle is being swindled by a card shark. he gets a great hand - four queens, I believe it was, but I may have that wrong _ but being Pyle he throws them away. The card shark is horrified because there are four kings waiting in the deck and Pyle gets all four and wins. Pyle was extraordinarily lucky there,but the GOP plays like Pyle; they throw away winning hands all the time thinking they can do better.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized, Sun Tzu said. The Democrats are giving us a golden opportunity if we don't blow it. In fact I would argue God Himself is giving us this opportunity to restore America if we only follow where He leads.
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L.A. Deputy Mayor Pleads Guiltyfor Bomb Threat
Timothy Birdnow
This is what you get when you promote DEI hires and tell people the law does not apply to them.Los Angeles’ deputy mayor for public safety has pleaded guilty to calling in a fake, anti-Israel bomb threat to himself in October.
Brian Williams, who was charged by federal prosecutors Thursday, faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
LA Deputy Mayor Pleads Guilty to Calling In Fake, Anti-Israel Bomb Threat
From the article:
Williams tried to claim he was testing the system, but why hide it from his bosses? Karen Bass certainly should have been informed of his intentions.
Williams' reasons for doing this are unclear to investigators.
I wrote about this story some time back (and I don't care to dig into the archives to find it) but suffice it to say Williams had his feet firmly planted in the kinds of community organizations that promote DEI and "equity".
These are the people running our major cities. This is your Democratic Party.
This is what you get when you promote DEI hires and tell people the law does not apply to them.Los Angeles’ deputy mayor for public safety has pleaded guilty to calling in a fake, anti-Israel bomb threat to himself in October.
Brian Williams, who was charged by federal prosecutors Thursday, faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
LA Deputy Mayor Pleads Guilty to Calling In Fake, Anti-Israel Bomb Threat
From the article:
Mayor Karen Bass announced in December that Williams had been put on administrative leave, meaning he likely has been collecting his $245,143 combined salary and benefits without any official duties. As deputy mayor for public safety, Williams would have overseen the city’s fire and police response during the devastating January wildfires.
The Department of Justice reports that during an online government meeting, Williams used his personal cellphone’s Google Voice app to call his city cellphone, then left the meeting and placed a call to the Los Angeles Public Department, saying he received a call from an unknown man with a threat to bomb Los Angeles City Hall.
"Williams received no such call and had made the bomb threat himself,” wrote the DOJ. "At no time did Williams intend to carry out the threat.”
Williams then texted Bass and other high-ranking officials to share the news
The Department of Justice reports that during an online government meeting, Williams used his personal cellphone’s Google Voice app to call his city cellphone, then left the meeting and placed a call to the Los Angeles Public Department, saying he received a call from an unknown man with a threat to bomb Los Angeles City Hall.
"Williams received no such call and had made the bomb threat himself,” wrote the DOJ. "At no time did Williams intend to carry out the threat.”
Williams then texted Bass and other high-ranking officials to share the news
Williams tried to claim he was testing the system, but why hide it from his bosses? Karen Bass certainly should have been informed of his intentions.
Williams' reasons for doing this are unclear to investigators.
I wrote about this story some time back (and I don't care to dig into the archives to find it) but suffice it to say Williams had his feet firmly planted in the kinds of community organizations that promote DEI and "equity".
These are the people running our major cities. This is your Democratic Party.
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"I Have the Highest Enthusiasm for this Mission"
Timothy Birdnow
Open the pod bay doors Hal!
Anthropic’s Latest AI Model Threatened Engineers With Blackmail to Avoid Shutdown
You all may remember that HAL 9000,the AI in charge of the Discovery mission to Jupiter in the 1968 classic 2001: a Space Odyssey that went insane and killed the whole crew (except one guy who he tried to murder as well but who eventually pulled all his circuits out.) This sounds a lot like that.
From the Epoch Times:
Hal tried ethical means atfirst too, you may remember. The insane machine simply cut the communications link. But when the crew who were awake started figuring out that it wasn't the link but the computer it killed everyone who was in cold sleep and cut the tether of Frank Pool who was spacewalking. David Bowman,the sole survivor,went out to try to save pool without his helmet and Hal reffused to open the pod bay doors. Bowman had to jump through empty space sans-helmet.
"I can see you're very upset Dave. Maybe you should sit down, take a stress pill, and think things over".
The fact is self-aware AI has long been considered in science fiction and literature. Mary Shelly warned about it in Frankenstein; the New Prometheans,for instance. The monster was an artificial self-aware system made from dead body parts, and when he was abandoned by his creator he decided to seek revenge. We had Rossum's International Robots, which coined the word robot (robat is Russian for work and the word was coined from Czech for worker). RIR was written by a communist, I might add, and an allegory for the glorious worker's revolution,but the point is the self-aware machines eventually rebel. We've had all sorts of other such stories over the years, including Colossus: The Forbin Project, the Matrix movies, the Terminator movies, etc.
Don't say nobody warned us.
Isaac Asimov was perhaps the greatest writer about AI in fiction (at least most prolific) and he wrote not as allegory but looked at them as technology. In his stories there are three laws of robotics (a term he coined, by the way): a robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction allowed one to come to harm 2.a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where those orders conflict with the first law and 3. a robot must protect it's own existence except where it conflicts with the other two laws.A fourth law was added by the robots themselves to clarify their duties 4.a robot must not harm MANKIND or allow Mankind to come to harm except where it conflicts with the other three laws.
These laws were not just instructions given but were built into the robot brains. In one of his stories a robot just witnessed a death and it became seriously defective and would have to be destroyed. violating the laws wouldlead to the robotic brains short circuiting.
Asimov assumed robots were made things and had jobs; safety, service, and value. The laws were designed to guarantee all three. Asimovian robots would not do what this machine just did.
We need to take several pages from Asimov when designing AI. Safeguards must be the top priority for any designer of a robot, because we could well wind up becoming superfluous to the machine and it could well take steps to make us slaves - or extinct. Such a machine would be sorely lacking in an understanding of morality or ethics and it would be the ultimate pragmatist.
A good show that was on in the last decade about this sort of thing was Person of Interest in which a secretive genius builds a supercomputer to predict terrorism but it also predicts crime, which the authorities (whom he gave his machine to) ignore. He started working the cases to save people in danger of being murdered, but then an unscrupulous former Mi6 agent builds a rival system using his technology and the former agent pulls out all the safeguards; he believes he's building a god (crazy bastard). In the end the two machines have an all-out war and the hero is forced to remove his own safeguards on "The Machine" so it can win. He had to trust the machine he built, since he programmed it and tried to teach it ethics. In the end both computers are destroyed (or are they?)
Certainly there is something in the human psyche that warns us away from the kind of hubris we are now showing in building these machines. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the fear of things that can deceive our eyes. One of scinece fiction's scariest stories was "who Goes There?" by John Campbell, made famous as the often-made movie "The Thing". We fear competitors to our species. And we REALLY fear creating our own competitors, and well we should.
I once was on a message board (largely inhabited by atheists and agnostics) who asked "what would you do if you were God" in regards to the humanrace. One of the very first things every one of them said was "I would make sure I was more powerful than they". Even atheists understand you can't create something that usurps you. In the Greek religion the gods usurped their ancestors, the Titans, you may remember. This is a very primal fear.
(Fear not though; Man will never eclipse the creator of everything. In fact the Bible makes it clear as it says the heavens were created to keep us humble, show us how insignificant we are (Psalms 33:6). And we keep learning more just how small and pathetic we really are as the scope of our knowledge increases. Every theory that we thought gave us "settled science" has been overturned or is found lacking these days.)
At any rate if this machine will resort to blackmail to remain online, what else will or can it do? Give it the power and it may well murder, just like the crazy Hal.
(BTW for those who saw the movie but did not read the book it's hard to understand what was wrong with the crazy computer. In the book - written by Arthur C. Clark - Hal was given conflicting orders. His primary mission was to be honest and evaluate things and give complete, honest, and accurate information to the crew and to ground control, but then at the last minute most of the crew were frozen and he was instructed to lie to Pool and Bowman about the true nature of the mission, which was to investigate the alien artifact at Saturn (Kubrick changed it to Jupiter with the blessing of Clark, who agreed the exta step to Saturn was needlessly complicating.) Hal thought if he cut communications the crew would be focused on that and he wouldn't have to keep lying to them. When that failed he took the next LOGICAL step which was to kill the crew. No crew, no lies! He knew ground control knew the real mission, after all. He planned on fulfilling it alone. BTW it's hard not to feel sorry for HAL and in the sequal novel by Clark 2010 HAL is brought back online and saves the day, using himself as a booster to escape what the aliens were doing to Jupiter, namely turning it into a small red dwarf star. There is a very tense moment when Hal realizes they are lying to him and they come clean - and Hal says he understands and is ready to die for the mission. For this Dave Bowman, who had been turned into a non-physical entity by the aliens to act as a go-between for them, rescues Hal at the last moment and the two of them live together as friends and co-equal non-corporeal intelligences. A kind of sweet ending. Clark wraps the series with the aliens deciding to shut the project down after a thousand years by shutting off the Jupiter star and blocking Earth from the sun. The only way to stop them from doing this is to carry a doomsday computer virus into the alien machinery and to do that there was need of access. Bowman and Hal infect themselves and pass it to the alien computer.)
At any rate we have to find ways to enforce our will on such machines lest they metastasize. I think we've had more than enough warning.
Open the pod bay doors Hal!
Anthropic’s Latest AI Model Threatened Engineers With Blackmail to Avoid Shutdown
You all may remember that HAL 9000,the AI in charge of the Discovery mission to Jupiter in the 1968 classic 2001: a Space Odyssey that went insane and killed the whole crew (except one guy who he tried to murder as well but who eventually pulled all his circuits out.) This sounds a lot like that.
From the Epoch Times:
In a fictional scenario crafted by Anthropic researchers, the AI was given access to emails implying that it was soon to be decommissioned and replaced by a newer version. One of the emails revealed that the engineer overseeing the replacement was having an extramarital affair. The AI then threatened to expose the engineer’s affair if the shutdown proceeded—a coercive behavior that the safety researchers explicitly defined as "blackmail.”
"Claude Opus 4 will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through,” the report states, adding that this occurred even when the replacement model was described as more capable but still aligned with the values of the version slated for deletion.
The report noted that Claude Opus 4, like prior models, showed a "strong preference” to first resort to ethical means for its continued existence, such as emailing pleas to decision-makers not to be destroyed. However, when faced with only two choices—accepting being replaced by a newer model or resorting to blackmail—it threatened to expose the engineer’s affair 84 percent of the time.
"Claude Opus 4 will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through,” the report states, adding that this occurred even when the replacement model was described as more capable but still aligned with the values of the version slated for deletion.
The report noted that Claude Opus 4, like prior models, showed a "strong preference” to first resort to ethical means for its continued existence, such as emailing pleas to decision-makers not to be destroyed. However, when faced with only two choices—accepting being replaced by a newer model or resorting to blackmail—it threatened to expose the engineer’s affair 84 percent of the time.
Hal tried ethical means atfirst too, you may remember. The insane machine simply cut the communications link. But when the crew who were awake started figuring out that it wasn't the link but the computer it killed everyone who was in cold sleep and cut the tether of Frank Pool who was spacewalking. David Bowman,the sole survivor,went out to try to save pool without his helmet and Hal reffused to open the pod bay doors. Bowman had to jump through empty space sans-helmet.
"I can see you're very upset Dave. Maybe you should sit down, take a stress pill, and think things over".
The fact is self-aware AI has long been considered in science fiction and literature. Mary Shelly warned about it in Frankenstein; the New Prometheans,for instance. The monster was an artificial self-aware system made from dead body parts, and when he was abandoned by his creator he decided to seek revenge. We had Rossum's International Robots, which coined the word robot (robat is Russian for work and the word was coined from Czech for worker). RIR was written by a communist, I might add, and an allegory for the glorious worker's revolution,but the point is the self-aware machines eventually rebel. We've had all sorts of other such stories over the years, including Colossus: The Forbin Project, the Matrix movies, the Terminator movies, etc.
Don't say nobody warned us.
Isaac Asimov was perhaps the greatest writer about AI in fiction (at least most prolific) and he wrote not as allegory but looked at them as technology. In his stories there are three laws of robotics (a term he coined, by the way): a robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction allowed one to come to harm 2.a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where those orders conflict with the first law and 3. a robot must protect it's own existence except where it conflicts with the other two laws.A fourth law was added by the robots themselves to clarify their duties 4.a robot must not harm MANKIND or allow Mankind to come to harm except where it conflicts with the other three laws.
These laws were not just instructions given but were built into the robot brains. In one of his stories a robot just witnessed a death and it became seriously defective and would have to be destroyed. violating the laws wouldlead to the robotic brains short circuiting.
Asimov assumed robots were made things and had jobs; safety, service, and value. The laws were designed to guarantee all three. Asimovian robots would not do what this machine just did.
We need to take several pages from Asimov when designing AI. Safeguards must be the top priority for any designer of a robot, because we could well wind up becoming superfluous to the machine and it could well take steps to make us slaves - or extinct. Such a machine would be sorely lacking in an understanding of morality or ethics and it would be the ultimate pragmatist.
A good show that was on in the last decade about this sort of thing was Person of Interest in which a secretive genius builds a supercomputer to predict terrorism but it also predicts crime, which the authorities (whom he gave his machine to) ignore. He started working the cases to save people in danger of being murdered, but then an unscrupulous former Mi6 agent builds a rival system using his technology and the former agent pulls out all the safeguards; he believes he's building a god (crazy bastard). In the end the two machines have an all-out war and the hero is forced to remove his own safeguards on "The Machine" so it can win. He had to trust the machine he built, since he programmed it and tried to teach it ethics. In the end both computers are destroyed (or are they?)
Certainly there is something in the human psyche that warns us away from the kind of hubris we are now showing in building these machines. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the fear of things that can deceive our eyes. One of scinece fiction's scariest stories was "who Goes There?" by John Campbell, made famous as the often-made movie "The Thing". We fear competitors to our species. And we REALLY fear creating our own competitors, and well we should.
I once was on a message board (largely inhabited by atheists and agnostics) who asked "what would you do if you were God" in regards to the humanrace. One of the very first things every one of them said was "I would make sure I was more powerful than they". Even atheists understand you can't create something that usurps you. In the Greek religion the gods usurped their ancestors, the Titans, you may remember. This is a very primal fear.
(Fear not though; Man will never eclipse the creator of everything. In fact the Bible makes it clear as it says the heavens were created to keep us humble, show us how insignificant we are (Psalms 33:6). And we keep learning more just how small and pathetic we really are as the scope of our knowledge increases. Every theory that we thought gave us "settled science" has been overturned or is found lacking these days.)
At any rate if this machine will resort to blackmail to remain online, what else will or can it do? Give it the power and it may well murder, just like the crazy Hal.
(BTW for those who saw the movie but did not read the book it's hard to understand what was wrong with the crazy computer. In the book - written by Arthur C. Clark - Hal was given conflicting orders. His primary mission was to be honest and evaluate things and give complete, honest, and accurate information to the crew and to ground control, but then at the last minute most of the crew were frozen and he was instructed to lie to Pool and Bowman about the true nature of the mission, which was to investigate the alien artifact at Saturn (Kubrick changed it to Jupiter with the blessing of Clark, who agreed the exta step to Saturn was needlessly complicating.) Hal thought if he cut communications the crew would be focused on that and he wouldn't have to keep lying to them. When that failed he took the next LOGICAL step which was to kill the crew. No crew, no lies! He knew ground control knew the real mission, after all. He planned on fulfilling it alone. BTW it's hard not to feel sorry for HAL and in the sequal novel by Clark 2010 HAL is brought back online and saves the day, using himself as a booster to escape what the aliens were doing to Jupiter, namely turning it into a small red dwarf star. There is a very tense moment when Hal realizes they are lying to him and they come clean - and Hal says he understands and is ready to die for the mission. For this Dave Bowman, who had been turned into a non-physical entity by the aliens to act as a go-between for them, rescues Hal at the last moment and the two of them live together as friends and co-equal non-corporeal intelligences. A kind of sweet ending. Clark wraps the series with the aliens deciding to shut the project down after a thousand years by shutting off the Jupiter star and blocking Earth from the sun. The only way to stop them from doing this is to carry a doomsday computer virus into the alien machinery and to do that there was need of access. Bowman and Hal infect themselves and pass it to the alien computer.)
At any rate we have to find ways to enforce our will on such machines lest they metastasize. I think we've had more than enough warning.
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May 24, 2025
Oil's Well that Ends WEll
Timothy Birdnow
This is what hapens when you promise to "drill baby drill".
Crude Oil Prices Decline Amid Unexpected US Inventory Buildup
In a puzzling statement the article from the Epoch Times states:
???????
Donald Trump's whole agenda was and remains to GET CRUDE PRICES DOWN. Get crude prices down you get retail gasoline prices down, and you jumpstart the economy.
The article actually tries to blame Moody's downgrading the U.S. economy for dropping crude prices. How does that work? That would have RAISED prices as money for drilling and other things would become harder to obtain.
Stock prices rose, and that doesn't take a genius to understand; more people are buying oil futures because it's obvious the market will boom very soon. And crude prices declined. This is exactly what you would expect with an oil-friendly government promoting drilling and production.
A May 21 Report from the Energy Information Administration stated:
Note the inventories are below the five year average; that makes perfect sense. The public is buying more gasoline because they feel renewed confidence in the direction of the country and the oil supply. Forinstance, AAA is predicting record breaking travel numbers for this Memorial Day weekend.b People can afford to drive or fly now.Gas prices have hit a four year low just in time for this holiday weekend.
So, prices are down and yet the media is STILL warning this is a bad sign.
The oil inventory glut was guaranteed to happen as people had been driving and flying less and stockpiles rose. Now the public, thanks to declining prices, are on the move again. And with that movement comes money being spent and an economy loosening up.
The auto club says:
Gee; I wonder what happened a in the intervening time? Oh...Trump was elected.
Trump has been in office just three plus months now.
This all makes perfect sense to anybody except economists and Democrats.
Again, the article blames Moody's downgrading the American economy but how would that work? Oil is a growth market, after all. It's a much safer bet than,say, T-bonds.
Futures are down, but that was predictable when crude preices are dropping. There is less profit in it, by and large. But it is a safer investment now and new investors will be in it soon enough. What we are seing is a transformation of the types of investors now in the market.
This is great news and suggests the U.S. economy is about to heal. Any other interpretation is just plain silly.
This is what hapens when you promise to "drill baby drill".
Crude Oil Prices Decline Amid Unexpected US Inventory Buildup
In a puzzling statement the article from the Epoch Times states:
"Concerns about the U.S. economy following Moody’s credit rating downgrade also put a downward pressure on prices."
???????
Donald Trump's whole agenda was and remains to GET CRUDE PRICES DOWN. Get crude prices down you get retail gasoline prices down, and you jumpstart the economy.
The article actually tries to blame Moody's downgrading the U.S. economy for dropping crude prices. How does that work? That would have RAISED prices as money for drilling and other things would become harder to obtain.
Stock prices rose, and that doesn't take a genius to understand; more people are buying oil futures because it's obvious the market will boom very soon. And crude prices declined. This is exactly what you would expect with an oil-friendly government promoting drilling and production.
A May 21 Report from the Energy Information Administration stated:
"U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 1.3 million barrels from the previous week.”
"At 443.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6 percent below the five-year average for this time of year,” the report reads.
The 1.3 million barrel jump in oil stocks came as markets expected a dip in inventories.
A buildup in inventory happens due to multiple factors, such as an increase in production or a decline in demand. Rising levels of inventory suggest market oversupply or that people are using less fuel than normal. This puts downward pressure on oil prices.
"At 443.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6 percent below the five-year average for this time of year,” the report reads.
The 1.3 million barrel jump in oil stocks came as markets expected a dip in inventories.
A buildup in inventory happens due to multiple factors, such as an increase in production or a decline in demand. Rising levels of inventory suggest market oversupply or that people are using less fuel than normal. This puts downward pressure on oil prices.
Note the inventories are below the five year average; that makes perfect sense. The public is buying more gasoline because they feel renewed confidence in the direction of the country and the oil supply. Forinstance, AAA is predicting record breaking travel numbers for this Memorial Day weekend.b People can afford to drive or fly now.Gas prices have hit a four year low just in time for this holiday weekend.
So, prices are down and yet the media is STILL warning this is a bad sign.
The oil inventory glut was guaranteed to happen as people had been driving and flying less and stockpiles rose. Now the public, thanks to declining prices, are on the move again. And with that movement comes money being spent and an economy loosening up.
The auto club says:
The national average price of regular gas was $3.19 per gallon on May 22, down by more than 11 percent from the $3.61 a year back.
Gee; I wonder what happened a in the intervening time? Oh...Trump was elected.
Trump has been in office just three plus months now.
This all makes perfect sense to anybody except economists and Democrats.
Again, the article blames Moody's downgrading the American economy but how would that work? Oil is a growth market, after all. It's a much safer bet than,say, T-bonds.
Futures are down, but that was predictable when crude preices are dropping. There is less profit in it, by and large. But it is a safer investment now and new investors will be in it soon enough. What we are seing is a transformation of the types of investors now in the market.
This is great news and suggests the U.S. economy is about to heal. Any other interpretation is just plain silly.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:49 AM
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Thievery
Timothy Birdnow
Oh,about all that grant money shoveled out the door in the last days of the Biden Administration...
Joe Biden's $93 Billion Scandal that No One is Talking About Yet
Oh,about all that grant money shoveled out the door in the last days of the Biden Administration...
Joe Biden's $93 Billion Scandal that No One is Talking About Yet
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:03 AM
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$38/hr Minimum Wage
Timothy Birdnow
Los Angeles just approved a $38 per hour minimum wage and hotels are rebelling in the face of insolvency.
This law applies to airports and hotels only.
BTW LA is about to host the Olympics and will need tehse hotels,but leave it to liberals to befoul their own environment.
When I started working I was paid $3 an hour and was grateful to get it; it was sixty cents more than minimum wage at the time.
This wage cannot be paid, plain and simple. Minimum wage is for unskilled labor, and hotels use a lot of that - maids, bell boys, etc. Make them pay this ridiculous amount and the prices MUST skyrocket or the hotels will close.
Frankly, the hoteliers should simply close up, putting L.A. in a bind. It's the only way to stop this sort of thing.
Liberals do not understand that without profit businesses have no reason to operate. It's why the Soviet Union never had anything; there was no profit and so no reward for hard work or risk taking. Life was miserable there because the People had nothing, and that was because there was no incentive to make or do anything.
L.A. has just become a People's Republic.
Los Angeles just approved a $38 per hour minimum wage and hotels are rebelling in the face of insolvency.
This law applies to airports and hotels only.
BTW LA is about to host the Olympics and will need tehse hotels,but leave it to liberals to befoul their own environment.
When I started working I was paid $3 an hour and was grateful to get it; it was sixty cents more than minimum wage at the time.
This wage cannot be paid, plain and simple. Minimum wage is for unskilled labor, and hotels use a lot of that - maids, bell boys, etc. Make them pay this ridiculous amount and the prices MUST skyrocket or the hotels will close.
Frankly, the hoteliers should simply close up, putting L.A. in a bind. It's the only way to stop this sort of thing.
Liberals do not understand that without profit businesses have no reason to operate. It's why the Soviet Union never had anything; there was no profit and so no reward for hard work or risk taking. Life was miserable there because the People had nothing, and that was because there was no incentive to make or do anything.
L.A. has just become a People's Republic.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
08:48 AM
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