A Tune for the Times 0
(Syntax error fixed.)
Patriot Gamers 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, psychology professor Noam Shpancer argues that feeling too much patriotism can be harmful. Methinks we evidence that he is onto something every day, as illustrated by the two posts in today’s bloggery. Here’s a tiny bit (emphasis added):
Yet at the extremes, group loyalty may become harmful. We are capable of overdosing on our group identity, a process by which our loyalty becomes blind, our devotion rigid, and our relations with outsiders hostile. This is true in the local sense, regarding our proximal groups, such as, say, the local college football team. It is also true in the broader sense.
Methinks this a quite timely read.
The Crypto Con 0
David Shuster discusses how the Trump maladministration is going all in on the ultimate fiat currency, which is based on nothing and guaranteed by no one.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
The editorial board of the Miami Herald finds itself–er–somewhat taken aback at the delight that members of today’s Republican Party seem to be taking in Ron DeSantis’s “Alligator Alcatraz” and in the sheer mean for the sake of mean. Here’s a tiny bit from their piece:
Amid all of this hilarity, there’s rarely a mention of the detainees as human beings who have been plucked from their lives, sometimes without cause. There’s not even a whiff of compassion or nuance about how all cases are not the same.
Afterthought:
Uncouth injustice, the new American way.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Courting disaster? Why, on bended knee.
Above the Law reports on a “hallucinated” A. I. precedent that, had it not been caught by an appeals court, would have led to a wrong outcome. Here’s a bit:
And, in more news of our wandering blithely and stupidly into a singularity of our own making . . . .
Where is Neo now that we need him?
False Pretenses 0
“A. I.” does not stand for “artificial intelligence.” That misrepresents what it does. It does not think. It assembles.
“A. I.” stands for “automated infringement” of intellectual property.
The Vice of the Turtle 0
At The Colorado Sun, Mike Littwin argues forcefully that Mitch McConnell’s legacy is, well, how shall I put this? somewhat contrary to the ideals of the Founders, who rebelled against a king, fought a war for independence, and attempted to establish a democracy, however imperfect it may have been at the time of its inception, as today’s Supreme Supremacist Court, created through McConnell’s duplicitous machinations, seems willing to crown a king.
This New Gilded Age 0
John Oliver rips Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and how it will make the rich richer and the poor even poorer. (Warning: Mild language.)
Via C&L, which has commentary.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A successor to Shakespeare? To be or not to cumquat, that is the merchant of the tempest.