OFF MY FEED

Published September 30, 2024 by Nan Mykel

OH, DO CAST A VOTE FOR TRUMP?

He’ so cute…and masterful. Gets things done one way or another. And he’s a stickler for women’a looks. True, his wives couldn’t trust him, but ….what? Maybe the country can try again?

P.S. Google tells us that LIBERTY means the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.

And that the hard-fought battle for “Emancipation of Women” refers to the process of liberating women from traditional constraints and empowering them with rights, freedoms, and opportunities for social, political, and economic progress.

Sometimes it helps to get our thoughts straight.

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WHY, WHY, WHY?

I don’t know the answer; do you?

But I feel for all the critters

in the world’s dust pan.

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A repeat of a positive image of unified cooperation, acceptance and inclusivity:

40 fruits on one tree,

Think about it.

Image from Dawn-Marie Cornett in Christian Monitor

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MEA CULPA

I promise very hard not to mention the T word again. I know it’s a litle nauseating and I will try to do better.

IMAGINE THIS…

Published September 29, 2024 by Nan Mykel

Image from Dawn-Marie Cornett in Christian Monitor

Remember the old saying, “If wishes were horses beggars could [or would?] ride…”

I thought of that when I saw this image of a tree bearing the fruit of 40 different lines, after a massive effort to connect them. Off hand I’d say the effort was worth it.

Hmmmnn…

THIS MUST BE A JOKE, ISN’T IT?

Published September 28, 2024 by Nan Mykel

SORRY, COULDN’T RESIST (and an unrelated poemette)

Published September 6, 2024 by Nan Mykel

DADDY DEAREST

HOPE IT’S COVID…

And not old age!

My stage is under closed eyes

and the shadows move

at their own pace.

A Rorschach blot, but which one?

The natives have cooked someone,

but who? I have a fever but

I’m not that hot! A yellow monarch

presages technicolor.

Sometimes the stage snippets lead

to poems, sometimes not.

Like now.

Note From Keith

Published September 4, 2024 by Nan Mykel

Keith Wilson

Sep 3, 2024, 5:07 PM (6 hours ago)

[I’m a sloppy copier but 88 and a Democrat…]

KEITH SAYS:

I read a surprising group that favors Trump is young men by 53% to 40%, while women support Harris 67% to 29%.

Two comments – the young men are attracted to Trump’s toughness, which I find funny. His false bravado should not be viewed as toughness plus we are more divided because he is NOT man enough to admit he lost in 2020. He has been given ample opportunity to prove election fraud, but has FAILED miserably. He would be hard pressed to lose any more than he has losing every recount, audit and review and all but one court case out of 65-ish.

The other is I am surprised ONLY 67% of young women support Harris given the Republican attacks on women’s rights and Trump’s admitted serial sexual assault on women because “they let him.” BEFORE his admission became public in October, 2016, he was accused by groping women’s private parts by around 15 women using the same description he did.

For you young guys who think he is tough, he dismissed his groping admission as “locker room talk.” If he admitted a sexual crime in any locker room I’ve been in, someone would have kicked his hind end or would have berated him. So, locker room talk is a poor defense. If you have a chance to discuss this with a young male Trump supporter, please say “help me understand…” then use the above.

Keith

SO THAT’S WHAT IT’S LIKE…

Published September 2, 2024 by Nan Mykel

….not to have a blog: Grim.

I haven’t died–tho my obituary has already been written…it’s humorous of course. I won’t go into the grim details, but my daughter and I have been run out of my ccondo by black mold, followed by flooding from above. Yesterday when I learned my landlady upstairs in temporary housing has come down with covid, I burst out laughing. Things couldn’t be more …what shall I say…shaken up and shaken well like…mixing a drink or something? My e-mails are so far behind the Cloud has kicked me out…. Just wanted to say Hi and hope I’ll see you later [on this side of the curtain.]

Re image above: I can still say BARF!

KILLER AI DEFINED

Published August 10, 2024 by Nan Mykel

The authors define a Killer AI as a system employing artificial intelligence techniques that, either by design or by circumstance, directly lead to physical harm or death.

This definition distinguishes between physical AI systems and virtual AI systems, with the intent of specifying how the latter can also be directly responsible for harm and death.
AI systems that were previously incapable of being considered directly responsible for harm can now therefore be assessed more rigorously.
To that end, the authors propose a framework that weighs the wellbeing of many people over the wellbeing of one or few people and on the basis that injuries not resulting in death can be recovered from more easily than those that do and are thus less severe.

Ensuring the Safety of this Emergent Technology

There has been no previous attempt to define the Killer AI phenomenon, even as the technology underlying it continue to become increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. The definition should help encourage further examination of AI and its risks—more comprehensive legislation, more appropriate regulation, more nuanced ethical discussion, and more research on the potential ubiquity of AI systems and how to minimize any harm they cause to the greatest extent possible.

For the full article, see https://www.mercatus.org/research/defining-killer-ai

QUICKIE

Published August 10, 2024 by Nan Mykel

Ukrainian forces continued to use cluster munitions, resulting in an unknown number of civilian casualties. Ukraine has used cluster munitions from its existing stockpiles and received cluster munitions from the United States in July and September. Neither Russia nor Ukraine is a party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

At least 21 government leaders and officials, including from countries supporting Ukraine’s war effort, expressed concern over the US government’s decision to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine. The UN special rapporteur on torture urged the US government to reconsider the transfer, warning of the risk of “serious, indiscriminate harm to civilians both immediately and in the long term.” In July, the then-Ukrainian defense minister committed to Ukrainian forces using cluster munitions only “in the fields where there is a concentration of Russian military” and to keeping a strict record of their use.

BOMBLETS

U.S. sends cluster munitions to Ukraine despite … NPR https://www.npr.org › 2023/07/07 › cluster-bombs-mu…

Jul 7, 2023 — More than 100 countries ban such weapons because unexploded bomblets can be picked up by civilians, causing injury or death. NPR first learned ..

Reuters July, 2023 Ukraine says it won’t use cluster bombs in Russia !? https://www.reuters.com › world › europe › ukraine-vo…

Jul 8, 2023 — Such munitions typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, while those that fail to …

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The Terrifying A.I. Scam That Uses Your Loved One’s Voice

https://www.newyorker.com › … › Artificial Intelligence

Mar 7, 2024 — First, the man dem….

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A L.A. woman has been arrested in Russia and charged with treason for donating roughly $50 to Ukraine.

WILL THE TRUTH SET US FREE?

Published August 7, 2024 by Nan Mykel

Not likely, since everything is suspect and out of kilter. Don’t snicker, but I just finished a copy of the Marilyn Monroe Murder Case Closed by Jay Margolis and Richard Buskin, which also includes the Sirhan/Robert Kennedy fiasco, and am feeling troubled again. I’ve suspicioned that Castro did in JFK, that 9-11 and Israel’s lack of preparation for Gaza’s initial attack were a planned and scheduled excuse for a desired war, that the timing of the recent death sentence for a 9-11 bomber was curious, I read that Sirhan is still in prison, and Wikipedia reports the following: In a 2018 interview with The Washington Post, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the murdered Kennedy, said that he had traveled to California to meet with Sirhan in prison and that, after a relatively long conversation (the details of which he would not disclose), believed that Sirhan did not kill his father and that a second gunman was involved.^[26

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The new law in Utah is one of several regarding book access to take effect in schools this summer. Proponents of these restrictions say they are necessary to protect children from encountering sensitive topics while alone in the library or in the classroom without the guidance of their parents. So there goes sex education and “stranger danger.” I wonder if the new restrictions also apply to charter schools. …And suddenly, does it mean that our adult Americans–who may have been forced to produce these children–are sterling caring ethical individuals free of the drug and alcohol culture? Would being protected from an author like Margaret Atwood or Judy Blume through high school really keep them from the rampant sexism bragged about by an earlier president? Will the Truth Make Us Free? Surely we’re not moving toward raising snowflaked children to increase our national birth rate!? What other motivation can suddenly be behind these fervent keep-the-children ignorant about life actions! It isn’t like it is springing from our citizens being overtaken by ethical values! Oh, I forgot: Maybe parents will be impressed and vote conservative…

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