But Ler

IMO this is a severely underappreciated topic. I made a public recommendation of your topic here, a couple of weeks ago, but got no bites.

I was just going to “bump” this topic, but I might as well plug my own takes on it at the same time, by also pointing readers/contributors to a group I started long ago, short name “news about the news“. More…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
There is very little hope for humanity unless and until A I is a pleasant surprise.

I feel alone in all circles (so far) when pushing the idea that, as long as AI is designed and owned by humans, while being owned by humans, it will excel in accordance with those owners’ behests, for better and for worse. (Disclaimer, I don’t…[Read more]

Putin in the Bunker
The Russian president against the world

From The Atlantic, by Tom Nichols. Excerpts:

[…] During a meandering rant, Putin defended raw Russian imperialism while he spooled off about a number of topics, including the fall of the U.S.S.R., the power of Western hegemony, and the American use of nuclear weapons on Japan. But his…

[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Explain how taking a major bargaining chip off the table would benefit him.

I already said, he could be false-flagging the sabotage. What benefits him, personally, is any perceived “win” that could keep him in power.

Unseen wrote:
He is desperate and has diminishing options at his disposal, but I don’t see him as acting out of a…

[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Enco, retaking what was once part of the territory of a sovereign nation and super power? I think so. And Kiev was the actual center of Russia before Lord Novgorod the Great and until the rise of Moscow. Putin has a fondness/nostalgia for the lore of Russian history so i am dubious about your assertion. Maybe it is or was all of…

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Unseen wrote:
The expert opinions I’ve heard think that underwater drones were likely the method used. They can sink a warship. Anyway, it’s unlikely Ukraine had the wherewithal to do it.

I’m seeing no argument against the possibilities I presented. Underwater drones would make it easier, but they’re not necessary, and it’s likely that Ukr…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Problem of Iran-made drones already being solved

Interesting. It took Ukrainian ingenuity to get those old SU-25s up and running, and they’re making a difference.

Hey readers, I have an itch recently to post a lot of recent news and opinion here (on Putin’s aggressive and inhumane moves, even against his own people), but before you continue here, could you please take a look at Unseen’s post that imo isn’t getting the attention it deserves?

Unseen wrote:
I ask who comes up if you follow the money? Now, the United States can come to the rescue by shipping LNG to Europe. For a fee, of course.We’ll probably even set up a handy dandy repayment plan. Once you ask who benefits, it doesn’t look like Russia.

That’s not unreasonable. I see other possibilities, but I’m not as ready to pus…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Jake, Autumn. and Davis all need to recalibrate their Turing Tests. If they are looking for a Bot, Michael17 is definitely it!

I have a personal nit to pick with popular word usage, which is relatively new for me in this particular case, perhaps due to my age, I dunno. Only recently, strangely, when I hear “John needs to…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:

I just fear that since it’s longer than a sound byte, few people will stick it out.

To be honest, I avoided this until now because I expected it was going to be just “another long video”. In fact I already knew most of what it’s pointing out. Except for the recruitment of BigLie-believing poll venue workers being trained to throw m…[Read more]

Are you guys actually getting anywhere? I’m thinking of moving your posts to your own topic, but it’s sooo much work! Back to my topic, a short video on recent events:

jakelafort wrote:
Michael, not much of an answer to Beanie’s thoughtful questions.

Thank you Jake. While Michael responded partly with “I have historical proved the Revelation to my satisfaction. However it is still a leap of faith since we cannot scientifically prove that there is a God.”

Even if a leap of faith is not how I arrive at c…[Read more]

Hi Michael,

Only if you have a moment for a digression from your specific topic: I’ve been assuming (perhaps incorrectly?) that your main hypothesis regarding “authenticity” of scripture is based on how its revelations pan out over time, proving they’re from a divine origin.

Putting that aside, or even presuming that many revelations are…[Read more]

Anecdotal evidence in support of “It’s not Russia, it’s Putin”:

… especially if Putin, the guy running this war, strikes with WMDs.

(While some postulate that Putin’s isolation during covid has greatly reduced his interactions with people other than his hand picked yes men.)

Strega thank you for that news.

And now, for something completely different. The following is my super-geeky, some may say even “unnatural”, explanation of the necessarily imperfect nature of “musical harmony”. My explanation is the result of a youtube video explaining why pianos are always, necessarily, “out of tune”. I go further, pointing out that there is no such thing as…[Read more]

And then there’s this reaction to current events.

Anti-immigrant party helps defeat Sweden’s government

Exerpts (from the WaPo article):

“It is time to make Sweden good again,” Akesson wrote on Facebook.

The closely watched election has already reshaped Sweden’s political discourse, pushing anti-immigrant and tough-on-crime rhetoric into th…

[Read more]