The Cost of Kleptocracy 0
Mona Charen asks, then answers, a question. Here’s the question; follow the link for her answer.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
The NAACP has suggested that black student athletes to unite against the New Secesh, refusing to attend sports powerhouses (such as UGa., Alabama, FSU, etc.) in states that are attempting to gerrymander minority voters out of existence. Rick Stron discusses this.
(In the first two minutes, you can watch the New Secesh come out from under their hoods and show themselves. It’s pretty scary.)
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A panderer to prurience? Why, it panders to prurience with picture-perfect perfection.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Via the Las Vegas Sun, Lydia Polgreen hears a rhyme from ancient Greece, when Athens embarked on a reckless war of choice, certain of victory. Here’s tiny bit of her article; follow the link for the rest.
But strength was not enough.
Republican Thought Police 0
The Constitution may protect freedom of speech, but, in Texas, freedom of speech is apparently not street-legal.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
I’m certain that, as regards the three-year-old, it was accidental. But, as regards the “responsible gun owner,” it was negligent.
One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
American Stasi 0
Yet another persons held in an ICE detention center concentration camp tells his story.
Just read it, and, as you do, remind yourself that this is being done in the name of liberty and justice for all..
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A shill for merch? El Reg explores how Google plans to infuse its AI with ads.
(Another reason to loathe AI.)
Aside:
My new Anddroid cell phone keeps nagging me to use Google’s Gemini AI.
I keep telling Gemini to go away. (I don’t need nor want what amounts to a talking search engine that chooses search results for me, which is basically all that AI is.)
A couple of times, before I’ve gotten a chance to tell it to go away, it’s eavesdropped on my conversation and started talking on its own, saying stuff that is irrelevant to whatever the conversation was about.
As far as I’m concerned, AI does not stand for “artificial intelligence.” It stands for “annoying interrupter.”
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
At Above the Law, Liz Dye explores Donald Trump’s claims that he and his staff have the right to destroy official documents in defiance of long-established law. Almost as an aside, she notes the irony:
Follow the link for context.
Enablers of Epidemics 0
Via The Japan Times, Lisa Jarvis considers the legacy of the Trump maladministration’s and of Elon Musk’s DOGE in the light of a spreading ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here’s a bit from her article (emphasis added):
While it’s too early to directly blame those cuts for the late detection of the current outbreak, one thing is certain: The decimation of USAID and the U.S.’ exit from the WHO will make containing the spread much more difficult.
Afterthought:
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Trump maladministration and today’s Republican Party do not comprehend the concept of–nor give a tuppence for–the common good.