Sunday School

[TheEncogitationer]

Reg:

Here is the link again. My sub (for the NYT) allows me to share so hopefully this attempt with punch a hole in that wall.

No hole yet.

Sorry, the record of “The Newspaper of Record” is “All the News That’s Made to Fit.”. So, it makes it hard to for me to want to break the wall myself.

[TheEncogitationer]

Reg:

I’m sure the Ukraine story is touching, but what a source!

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

I like the NYT because it has articles that I like and agree with and some I totally disagree with. And Wordle too 🙂

[TheEncogitationer]

Fellow Unbelievers:

Where I’m at, it’s 97°F and feels like 102°F. With temperatures like this, some cooling thoughts are welcome.

The Genius Design of the Ancient Persian Yakhchal | 2500 Year Old Freezers in the Deserts of Iran

The Yakhchal! A giant ice machine that ran without electricity or pumps fed by underground canals that were entirely powered by gravity! A storehouse for food and medicine preservation, a source of the first cold treats like sorbet, ice cream, cold fruit drinks, probably the first froyo!

It’s such a great thing that the Mullahs never destroyed the Yakhchals as dens of sorcery! ☪️🧙🏿‍♀️🪄 Let’s also hope Trump doesn’t destroy them for not having his name and his scowling visage on them!🛬💣🤡

[jakelafort]

i aint played wordle. Am aware it is popular. My game is called Word Blitz. Ya gotta think a little quicka first a lambent then a flicker. I have gotten to the highest level but am far from the best player. If ya ain’t ya ought’r. First few times you’r fodder. Soon enough you’ll slaughter.

[TheEncogitationer]

Reg:

Agreement isn’t my issue with the NYT. My issue is that when it goes wrong on facts, it goes wrong big.

[PopeBeanie]

jakelafort wrote:

Never mind Pope. After reading your line again i think you are indicating that the meaning has been watered down so that ambiguity is read into it rather than questioning its plain meaning and efficacy.

I wasn’t implying that, although that may not be inaccurate. SCOTUS itself has been watering down and resetting precedents on other interpretations, as well. I think I had that overall picture in my head as a sad fact, and or unfortunate fate.

Discussions about expanding the size of the court also worry me. I’m for it as a rightful means of compensating for more than one kind of GOP power grabbing, but why give GOP/King Donald (shutup Donnie!) any incentive to do some pre-emptive expansion? Come on, y’all. Have to play sneakier, like Project 2025 (et al) has and never stops… with God on their righteous side.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Overall I find the NYT news reporting to be reliable. Sometimes though, the accuracy in op-eds can be questionable. It also has some journalists that can get annoyingly silly with their religious views.

[TheEncogitationer]

Reg:

I got through the wall and got to behold the sadly slain “dragonfly”, Masha and her trouper of a partner, Yehor.

Despite the NYT’s spotty journalism record, Siobhán O’Grady and Liubov Sholudko wrote a powerful, engaging story and deserve all the respect for highlighting the senseless tragedy of Putin’s war against Ukraine. Russia’s fighters need to about face and rise up against this monster who is forcing them to kidnap and slaughter the young.

[jakelafort]

Pope,

Problem with democracy and SCOTUS is obviously a critical element is people. We fuck up everything. Increasing numbers is not a solution.

How about waiting for AI to be sophisticated enough that it can be divorced from ideological capture? We have a referendum on the objectives when interpreting the constitution including precedent. Then we abjure humans as arbiters of the Supreme Court and the very important role of constitutional law.

We utilize other AI as a check and balance against failures of logic or ideological capture. Its a way of ultimately dispatching humans in politics. Great idea, right?

[jakelafort]

Squirtle squirt. Wordle wort. Eye of newt. Molecule of zinc. When you play wordle you ought to think thusly…

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020508.htm

[TheEncogitationer]

Jake:

The makers of AI, in particular, Palantir and Meta, don’t have their shit together either mentally or on the ends to which they would apply AI.

So an AI free of illogic or ideological capture is fantasy and making AI the final word on Constitutional Law would be the end of the American Experiment and indeed the Enlightenment Experiment worldwide.

Behold the men behind the machine. First, there is Alex Karp’s on-air incoherent nervous breakdown. Then in the video below, Peter Thiel showcases his defiance of The Law of Non-Contradiction and his use of The Bible and Tolkien fiction as touchstones:

CNBC’s interview with Palantir CEO Alex Karp July 1st 2026

[TheEncogitationer]

What is it of which you speak, Willis?

What is Peter Theil Trying To Tell Us

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Interesting “Wordle Entropy” strategy. I would work more will the Viterbi model where – “Given the observations I already have, what is the single most likely hidden sequence?” It is a more abductive approach. Beam Search is another you look for the most promising candidates (tokens) to continue exploring. I guess they are cousins of Bayesian approaches.

[jakelafort]

Yeah Enco i don’t say AI is ready for the task. How it will progress i have no way of knowing. I have not seen anything that leads me to believe it is prepared to replace us in important political roles. What i do know is humans are almost universally incapable and venal.

Individual basis we see the time honored Lord Acton playing out. And beyond the concentration of power concern it is rare to find a person with integrity and intelligence who is not self-serving. In my estimation if you are not an atheist, if you are a lefty or far right you are disqualified. And even if you are no dope you may lack the character required to be a good public servant.

Collectively as a species we are so insanely pathetic it is one part comical and 999 parts tragic. Lefties learned nothing from the Germans. Ok i am gonna resist a rant.

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