Does the twenty-year-old pictured above deserve to go to prison? . (Read the story here) Maybe he does. But then, if he goes to jail for stealing identities and money, why do the folks at Anthropic, who are behind this act of thievery and identity theft get to settle out of court? Could it be because Antghropic is backed by some of the richest men in the world? What do you think? … [Read more...]
Harvest Moon
"The Harvest Supermoon rises in all its golden glory, marking the closest and brightest full moon of the season. The term “Harvest Moon” comes from ancient farming traditions — it’s the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, when its extended evening light helped farmers gather their last crops before winter. This year’s Harvest Moon is also a Supermoon, appearing about fifteen percent larger and thirty percent brighter than usual as it comes closer to Earth in its orbit. Look east shortly after sunset, and you’ll see the golden disk lifting above the horizon — a breathtaking symbol of change, reflection, and gratitude for nature’s cycles." … [Read more...]
Niko and Patricia’s Excellent Adventure
Between the ages of four and eight, my son was enthralled by the adventures of Bill and Ted, one excellent, one, as in 1980s American lingo, 'bogus', like so: These comedy/adventure/sci-fi films were the YA cult favorites of their time, and Niko was so onboard with them too. Can't remember how many times we watched those films together, nor how many times he repeated the dialogue, mimicked the air guitar playing of the two lead characters, and declared pretty much everything in his life, from his grandmother's pastitsio to his but-I'm-not-sleepy bedtime, as either, "excellent!" or "bogus," just as those characters would. "Bill" S. Preston Esq., and Ted "Theodore" Logan … [Read more...]
Sooper Sekret
TELEGRAM It's time to change strategies. STOP. An inquiring mind, an open heart, a spiritual soul, a sure and steadfast will. STOP. Off on a very important mission. STOP. See you soon. … [Read more...]
Nepal
Nepal is in the midst of what appears to be a genuine revolution against a corrupt government. Gen-Z Nepalese have chosen their new leader via a poll on a Discord server. Their new leader is expected to meet the Army Chief to form a new interim government to hold new elections. Whether this will work or become a tragedy remains to be seen, but the crucial thinh here is that the young people there put aside their differences and banded together. Something to think about. … [Read more...]
Today, It All Got to Me.
My resolution is to write here once a week, every Wednesday. I'm doing this in response to the class action suits against AI, in which many authors, including myself, are involved. (If you have an interest in what those entail, you can read the details on the Authors Guild website here.) And, since one of the suits includes Meta, apart from wishing people "happy birthday," or sharing fact-checked posts and videos about the inexoriable march to a dictatorship the United States is on, a march which too many people don't seem to realize is taking place even though they're being pushed right along, I'm here instead of on Fartfacebook, here, on my good old-fashioned Wordpress blog, set … [Read more...]
Liked
Recently, I saw an episode of a Chuck Lorre creation, "Mom," a comedy/drama centered around several women who are in recovery. It aired for eight seasons until 2021, but I hadn't seen it, and now I'm hooked, partly because the writing and the performances are so adept, but primarily because women banding together to support one another will always be my thing. Another reason I find the series so compelling is due to the fact that one of my closest friends struggles with sobriety, and the writers do an excellent job of not only portraying that struggle, but demonstrating through plot and action how a loved one can help in that struggle. In one episode, Nora, played by Yvette Nicole Brown, … [Read more...]
Purple or Green?
Here's a photo of a purple sofa. (Not mine, just a photo off the web) We can see it's purple, but depending on what monitor we have at home, depending on what device we might be using to view it, the quality of our individual graphics card, the shade of purple will vary, sometimes quite a lot. So, if we were to discuss what shade of purple, there'd be some debate, some conjecture, but when we hold it up to the light, when we examine it carefully, we are in agreement that it's purple. The human brain is tricky, though. It can be persuaded to believe, or it can, under certain circumstances, persuade itself to believe that this is not a purple sofa. Our environment, our upbringing, our … [Read more...]