theFu comments

I've been replacing departments of people with little Unix scripts for decades. This isn't anything new. I try to automate tedious aspects of my job away too. If it take more than 5 minutes a month, I want to automate it.

Computers writing code isn't anything new. We've called that "meta-programming" for decades. Some of my very first code, created code to make life easier. Earlier today, I created a 5 line script to create a list of files to be sent to another program for processing. Those inputs would have taken me hours to find manually. The script took about 3 minutes. At some point, I'll have a local AI coder who could create the core of the script in less than 1 second, but I'd still need to validate that the script generated the outputs with every edge condition handled. When AI fails, it can fail massively or slightly. For example, some AI created images seem to think a human with 3 hands is ok. At first glance, I didn't notice the issue, but once I saw the 3rd hand, my trust was gone. There's a famous group of photos - is it a muffin or a dog? https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/chihuahua-or-muffin-my-search-for-the-best-computer-vision-api-cbda4d6b425d/ Some of the best AI image recognition engines aren't 100% accurate. Would you like a dog delivered when you expected a stuffed animal or muffin?

The fix isn't THAT hard. Use reputable sources full of facts, not rumors or imaginary stories. Before any AI output is provided, run each statement through a fact-checking validation. Computers are good at that. Then pass on the correlation factor for each statement so a user can decide. Statements that have a 90% correlation with a respected, validated, source are likely correct. Then there is every thing else.

Musk is becoming more and more like Trump. True reports about any company are valid. It is possible to sue over untrue statements which harm the brand, but clearly proving that harm is difficult, just like proving libel is difficult against a public figure. If the reports are published on a platform that Musk doesn't control, they can say nearly anything. Heck, I use nearlyfreespeech.net for that sort of stuff. Unless they get a court order, the site stays up. Period. Plus, they are cheap - less than $10/yr most of the time. They mostly charge for bandwidth used and most small sites would use less than $0.50/month.

The country generates more solar energy than all other countries combined, but burns half the planet’s coal. China. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/06/china-clean-energy-revolution-coal-power

China is deflecting with raw numbers when percentages are what matter. China burns so much coal that it makes their "green energy" efforts nearly worthless.

China generates about 2x the power than the USA, so anything they do good or bad impacts the world. If they don't want to discuss solutions, that also impacts the world.

Let's just say, China isn't Iceland, though these stories want people to think they are. The USA definitely isn't leading in this area, thanks to Trump. Biden has been pushing renewal power generation since he got into office. wind, solar, off-shore wind, wave are each being pushed.

How long before the lack of reporting someone else isn't folded into the CCP Social Credit system?

Don't most countries have a way to report crimes already? "If you see something, say something" comes to mind.

Of course, in China, anyone with a camera taking photos could be reported for espionage.

Don't forget what happened in the USSR when neighbors were forced to report on neighbors. It cause a fear of everyone. That's good for dictators, bad for regular people.

... opposition prisoners.

I'm extremely disappointed, if this story is true. The normal countries we come to expect this behavior in, some with over 1M detainees, need to be called out, but so does Turkey which disappeared about 13,000 political

About as much sense as anti-Covid vaccine nuts.

The COVID vaccines weren't tested for 10 yr before they were "approved" for use. COVID vaccines were sped through all approval processes in less than 1 yr.

Polio vaccines have been optimizing for about 50 yrs. The Nobel Peace Prize was giving in 1954 to the researchers who made it work. Salk's vaccine was tested on 1.5M children in 1953 across the USA, Canada, and Finland. The USSR tested an oral version of the vaccine on 30M children and shared their results with the WHO. Experts found their tests compelling and factual. A few states in the USSR were the first in the world to be without polio in the world due to the ease that the oral vaccine provided.

As at July 2021, only 2 cases of wild poliovirus have been recorded globally this year to date: one each in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perhaps the 2 most backwards places on Earth. https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-polio-vaccination

https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls - bear-cam for the upper falls.

My home is surrounded by native wildlife. I regularly see deer, raccoons, hares, squirrels and plenty of birds including hawks and owls too. Also turtles, snakes, any the occasional fox and coyote. I've seen a hawk take a chipmunk while eating breakfast with the windows open. The hawk made lots of noise. While I haven't seen any black bears (smaller, not like Alaska) or wild hogs, they have been seen just a few miles away, so they are likely around. I live outside any city, but you'd not know this based on human population density. There are nearly 1M people in the county and population density for the cities and non-cities is about the same. We just haven't been scooped up in a tax grab yet. Cities have tried. Tried an failed.

For larger animals, we travel to remote areas and hike. After seeing a grisly bear 4m away without any fence between you and the bear(s), an appreciating you cannot get looking on TV or in a zoo happens. Depending on which wildlife you'd like to see, that will determine where you should travel. Alaska, Colorado, Patagonia, South Africa each have amazing wildlife. Humans have been coexisting for hundreds of years with these animals, so they know how to get along. With a local or a guide, you can learn enough to have a safe experience. Take only photos. Some of them will certainly be worth displaying around your home.

@Wallace, I've been to that famous bear cam at Brooks Falls. It is peak season there right now and will be for a few more weeks. They have a "biggest bear" contest running yearly. What you don't see on the webcams at Brooks Falls is that people are in a protected observation area, but getting from Brooks Camp to that observation area is about 1-2 mile walk without any protection. There are hundreds of bears in the area and they are used to humans, but completely fixated on salmon to fatten up for winter, unless the human gets in their way. I had a number of overly close encounters with bears, including a month with 3 cubs, at Brooks Camp. Katmai National Park has more things to see and do than just bears. There's the volcanic wasteland of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes that was covered by so much ash that nothing grows there 100+ yrs later. It is a day trip from Brooks Camp on a NPS bus. There's no other way to get there to my knowledge.

In Africa, we got far to close to baboons for comfort.

I'm not a fan of zoos for healthy animals. I'd prefer to see all zoos converted to animal hospitals and rehabilitation centers with the goal of release. As a child, I didn't understand how sad their existence was. After seeing the animals in the wild, there's no comparison.

Wildlife refuges with thousands and thousands of acres contained might be the best compromise. IDK. For species that migrate, that just isn't enough land. Migration is a key behavior that needs to be allowed. Bison, wolves, and other large animals migrate 1000+ miles.

Dictators gonna dictate. They want to be left to rule as they like, without any limits. Too bad that part of the world can't get elected people who truly look out for the entire population into stable leadership roles.

Elected govts should never be overthrown, provided the elections are fair and free from outside influence. The people living there need to decide for themselves and should support the person they put in office, even if he's less than perfect.

People who take office by force, well, they need a different fate.

If you pay someone to hold a flag for a few hours, they will. That's all this shows.

We've seen China and Russia "sponsoring" discontent outside their countries. They've done this in the US too - where they asked for actors to show up for a$200/day job, gave those "actors" anti-US signs and things to say to anyone who asked. About 50% of the actors went along with it. The other 50% were very unhappy about being lied to for the reason they were there. So, if you really need money and don't care who sees you or what you are asked to say to get that money, there's a country that will pay you to protest. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/paid-protesters-meng-wanzhou-1.5434613

China and Russia have their playbook. They follow it to get sound-bites and a few photos to show back home. Everyone outside those countries know these "protests" are staged.

Turkey is free to have their laws. Sweden has that same freedom.

Last time I visited Turkey, it was a relatively nice and tolerant place, except with the screaming 5x a day over loudspeakers at every corner mosque. For the first few days, it was charming, then it became annoying. After a week, it was painful.

I have no words. Wonder if there were any books in that pile to aid their symbolism.

There is NO justification for punishment of free speech, regardless of the nature of the free speech!

Yes, there is, but only under very special situations or in private spaces. Nobody has any "right" to say whatever they like on my land, for example. On public land, if there isn't any immediate danger caused, then the right to "say" nearly anything using words, actions, or "art" needs to be protected. If people don't approve, don't watch.

The trial will find Trump guilty. There are both fines and jail time for these offenses. The laws were created to prevent very small scale tampering. On the scale that Trump attempted, the fines and jail time need to be "per incident" of attempted tampering ... so 11000 fines and 11000 2 yr sentences in jail .... or life, which ever is shorter.

I suggest all you China hawks study Chinese. Even better, learn Chinese and visit the Mainland and Taiwan.

I've been to the mainland. Most of the normal people are nice enough. There are some bad people, lots of greedy people and some good people, just like everywhere else in the world. It is just the ruthless CCP govt that tops my dislike of China. OTOH, Taiwan is a very nice place when the break-away western province controlled by the CCP isn't behaving badly. Taiwan constantly ranks near the top of the Freedom Index and Western Taiwan ranks near the bottom. This proves to me that Taiwan is the true current culture of all Chinese in the world that the people on the mainland should strive to achieve.

When was the last time Taiwan was accused of bullying or using political pressure to prevent other countries access to markets?

The first 1993 Iraq war was completely justified.

The 2002+ Iraq war was not. Bad intelligence and Iraq needing to need to appear to have WMDs for local rivals, but not have WMDs to keep the USA/Coalition out was the problem. That doesn't remove US fault for re-invading Iraq. It was wrong.

And the irony is that they frequently describe those who don't share their hypocritical, unreasoning opinions as sharing that mindset.

I have to agree with you on this. We seldom agree on most topics. I suspect we are equally hypocritical towards things that we prefer where we believe our govts are "doing what is right and correct." Of course, I like to think that I'm less hypocritical than most people. We each have bias to overcome. Sometimes that bias is based on personal experience and sometimes it is based on the news we are fed.

When some of what he published left spies compromised and in danger, no, he shouldn't have published.

Protecting foreign spies isn't Assange's job. Should he worry about Russian, Chinese, NK, Iranian, Cuban spies too?

States that have spies need to protect them. In this situation, the US failed. That failure wasn't Assange's fault. He isn't responsible. Foreign laws don't apply.

Manning clearly violated US law AND knew it. Same for Snowden. That's completely different than Assange.

Assange didn't break into any US Govt facilities. He wasn't in the US when it happened.

There's no proof that he commissioned anyone else to violate US law either, nor did he pay for the content.

Should he NOT publish materials provided when he didn't break any laws? It isn't like someone should be expected to follow every law in every country around the planet. That would be unreasonable.

Sadam was ruthless. People forget all the evil he did. Some reminders: https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,454453,00.html https://www.grunge.com/622452/how-saddam-hussein-was-even-more-evil-than-you-think/

The current Iraqi leaders are far from perfect. They were elected, however. In 2021, record numbers of citizens voted. It will take a few generations for democracy to take hold after decades of a ruthless dictatorship.

This is a useful dialog, but places with freedom of speech in their constitution are powerless to prevent it. Leaders in both countries need to agree this is bad for relations, but laws are different, so expectations as to what can and cannot be done need to be conveyed.

Iraq knows this. They are condemning it not expecting anything to be done. It is purely political representing most Iraqi citizen. Makes perfect sense.

Similarly, Danes know this isn't good for relations with any Islamic worshipers anywhere in the world and would rather that nobody did any harm to any "holy" books.

Let's be clear. Certain exports require Govt approval. Weapons are commonly under that requirement for approval, but in no way is the US govt manufacturing or giving weapons. There are US companies actually building the weapons that are under these export controls. The USGovt doesn't make any money. The companies do.

The USGovt isn't spending any money on this. It has ZERO impact on budgets.

It is a nice story.

A 5 yr old didn't commit any crimes against the US. It is a family keepsake and is also a way to show that Japan and the US have put past differences aside and are really partners in the world today.

Whether the father wanted or didn't want to fight against the US doesn't matter, not really, and not to me.

We live in different times and the past is to be remembered, not relived. Perhaps the family will share this flag with museums in Japan and in 20-50 yrs, it will return to the US for a few years to be shown in a USS Lexington exhibit again. It is part of our shared cultures and can be used to bring people together.

Things that feel good, in moderation, are probably not terrible. If the studies don't show real results, then it shouldn't do any harm, provided any "treatment" doesn't prevent seeking real, scientific, treatment, from qualified, medical, professionals.

About 20 yrs ago, I dated a woman who was very into homeopathy for health. I never told her what I really believed for some obvious reasons, if you looked at her. I put aroma therapy into that same group. I like scented candles and burning incense that is pleasing to smell, but I don't expect any magical health outcomes beyond what smelling something nice does. I wouldn't treat "essential oils" any different than cologne or perfume and certainly wouldn't be dousing myself with it daily.

Moderation, or less, is best. This applies to almost everything in life.

I keep away from those potpourri/candle stores that overwhelm my nose in the mall too.

I think people in their 30s haven't lived enough to run for nationwide office, but people over 65 have to make room for younger people. It is the way of the world.

Before age 40, stick to provincial/state politics and learn where mistakes don't destroy an entire country.

40-65 are prime-time years for leadership.

Being an "elder statesman" from 60-80 would be the next step, if retirement isn't desired. Advisory boards and perhaps an ambassador to smaller countries would be good jobs.

If the next generation doesn't gain experience, they won't be ready when there isn't any choice but them for high office.

Mandatory retirement for high-level govt appointees and elected officials. Make them follow the military standards.

Term limits for all Federal political offices are needed too. Term limits remove the need for politicians to be beholding to special interests in their last term of office. More of those is a good thing.

Also, remove lifetime retirement subsidies for anyone in political office less than 20 yrs. Let US military pay scales decide what they get for similar length of service.

Mental competency testing beginning at at 65, assuming we can't force them all to retire before age 70.

If someone wants to be a career politician, then they need to win a new election at least every 2-3 terms for a completely new office.

And anyone who blatantly lies, like Rudy admitted yesterday in court, needs to be banned from all federal AND state offices for life.

Much of this could have been avoided by the Arab states not trying to invade Israel in the 1960s. Religion doesn't help peace.