From Pine View Farm

Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

Psychopaths? Not according to Justin Gregg, who argues that AI is amoral (which could be worse). A snippet:

There is something important about the human mind that complicates this analogy. Unlike AIs, psychopaths are sentient. . . .

AIs, on the other hand, lack all of these capacities. The concept of “harm” means nothing to them. As Nerantz points out, “to understand what it means to harm someone, one must have experiential knowledge of pain. AIs, thus…are a priori excluded from the possession of moral emotions, whereas psychopaths, as sentient humans, can, in principle, experience moral emotions, but they, pathologically, do not.” Psychopaths can intellectually and consciously understand the nature of their deficit, can make new analogies involving the capacities that they do possess, and can thus alter their behavior in deference to that awareness.

AIs cannot.

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The ICEmen Cometh 0

At ProPublica, J. David McSwane and Hannah Allam make a case that the Trump maladministration is attempting to turn ICE into their own secret police. Here’s a tiny bit from their article:

Current and former national security officials share the mayor’s (of Santa Ana, CA–ed.) concerns. They describe the legions of masked immigration officers operating in near-total anonymity on the orders of the president as the crossing of a line that had long set the United States apart from the world’s most repressive regimes. ICE, in their view, has become an unfettered and unaccountable national police force.

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QOTD 0

Isaac Asimov:

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

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And Now for a Musical Interlude 0

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Dred Scott Redux 0

Bird labeled

Click for the original image.

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A Pillow of the Community 0

David posits that Mike Lindel, aka Mike Pillow, personifies the MAGA business model.

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The Rule of Lawless 0

SFgate’s Drew Magary is somewhat distressed at the realization that we are now living in a (my words, not his) klepto-idiocracy.

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Facebook Frolics 0

Bigoted AI-slop Super Bowl half-time show frolics.

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Going Rogue State, Reprise 0

At the Idaho State Journal, Jim Jones, who served as Idaho Attorney-General and then on the state Supreme Court, looks at the Trump maladministration’s practice of blowing up boats because (to cut through the crapola) their crews are brown. Here’s a tiny bit from his article:

The boat attacks also violate rules of international law that top U.S. military lawyers have urged the services to observe. With its scofflaw attitude, the Trump regime has tarnished the reputation of the United States as a beacon for the rule of law. We became the most powerful nation on Earth because of our dedication to lawful conduct. When we repeatedly demonstrate that the U.S. will not follow U.S. and international law, our reputation, trading relations and economy will suffer.

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Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

True to their word? Psychotherapist Paula Fontenelle expresses skepticism, as she reports that

(some–ed.) AI companies say their apps are 18+ but there is no verification. I said I was 16 and nothing happened.

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QOTD 0

Hunter S. Thompson:

In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.

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A Tune for the Times 0

From the Youtube page:

US President Donald Trump wants to build a triumphal arch across from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, the latest in his efforts to make over the capital city in his style. The so-called Arc de Trump would commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary next year and is reportedly being privately funded by Trump’s supporters. His other second-term developments include a gilded makeover for the White House, paving over the Rose Garden and constructing a $250m ballroom, as well as the clearing of homeless encampments throughout the capital.

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Fitting Memorials 0

Frame One:  Washington, memorialized by the Washington Monument.  Frame Two:  Jefferson, memorialized by the Jefferson Memorial.  Frame Three:  Lincolon, memorialized by the Lincoln Memorial.  Frame Four:  Trump, memorialized by the East Wing of the White House in ruins.

Click for the original image.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Via The Sacramento Bee, Jackie Calmes hears a rhyme:

But what’s more striking is the sheer sense of impunity that Trump telegraphs, constantly, with the “je suis l’etat**” flare fo a Louis XIV . . . .

Follow the link for a parsing of the poesy.

___________________

*Mark Twain.

**Whoopsies! But I arill think Calmes makes valid points.

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Mary Trump discusses how Donald Trump’s behavior has given permission to racists, bigots, and haters to act out in public.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Another “responsible gun owner” exposes a portable phallus to a child.

Officers found a 3-year-old boy shot in the hip at the scene, and he was conscious and breathing.

Police said an adult was cleaning out a closet and left a gun unattended, and the boy got hold of it. Police said they believe that this is an accidental shooting at this time.

One more time, “accidental” and “negligent” do not mean the same thing.

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Real Big Men, Dis Coarse Discourse Dept. 0

Donald Trump and J. D. Vance as little kids holding cell phones.  Trump says,

Click to view the original image.

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Waiving the (Pride) Flag 0

Florida Man.

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QOTD 0

Benjamin Franklin:

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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