Judi S.

Thanks Jake.

Enco  –

The key line in the WHO article is “There is no form of alcohol consumption that is risk-free” and that even low levels carry some risk and can cause harm. I would contend that there is no safe amount of alcohol. There are only lower-risk amounts. For health, the optimal amount is none. That does not mean one drink will ruin…[Read more]

Reg:

World of Woo: WHO and the Death of Evidence-Based Medicine.

Evidently, the World Health Organization has a no-threshold view of Alcohol, which ignores the entire history of U.S. Prohibition, with battery-poisoned rot-gut bathtub gin and gang wars in the streets over “sales turf.”

This no-threshold view of alcohol would also give support…[Read more]

PopeBeanie:

What I want to emphasize is that AI evolution is still in the hands of humans, and if it’s ever possible to vaccinate AI against ideologicial motivation, it won’t stop some humans from steering their AI in ideological directions.

At the top of my mind would be ideologues like theocrats, especially those we’ve seen trying to chang…

[Read more]

looks like a great many interesting articles in School….gonna read some when i get a shot.

Nick Fish, President of American Atheists; So, today, in celebration of the Fourth and in honor of the “confirmed infidel” and “howling atheist” who penned our Declaration, let’s consider Thomas Jefferson’s actual words:

“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

<…[Read more]

Yes, Pope, you are correct. Your memory has not betrayed you YET. Given time our bodies break down and betray us all! Or at least the ones lucky enough to have the honor of a failing body.

AI as you point out is and will continue to be utilized in a way that serves nefarious ends and is imbued with all of the ‘bad stuff’ of human endeavor and…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
How about waiting for AI to be sophisticated enough that it can be divorced from ideological capture?

TheEncogitationer wrote:
So an AI free of illogic or ideological capture is fantasy […]

I think what AI “will become” will be more of an issue someday, but not before “what AI will be used for” is more apparent. AI evolution…[Read more]

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…[Read more]

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.

What is it of which you speak, Willis?

What is Peter Theil Trying To Tell Us

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…[Read more]

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

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…[Read more]

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 fi…[Read more]

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.

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…[Read more]

Reg:

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

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.

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 u…[Read more]

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