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WP jumped the gun with this week’s essay. That will be along on Friday. Pardon the false notice. P
19 Tuesday Nov 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Apology
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WP jumped the gun with this week’s essay. That will be along on Friday. Pardon the false notice. P
12 Tuesday Nov 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Tuesday Music Minute
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When she’s not serving as a media expert and wing woman on Dr. Marwa Osman’s Expose program, Lebanon’s Sima Itayim is a very talented musician and singer. Two of her excellent songs:
05 Tuesday Nov 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Unable to Write is “Bad”
Yes. Vox and (the other) Paul Graham make some interesting observations about Artificial Idiocy and the real thing.
“I’m usually reluctant to make predictions about technology, but I feel fairly confident about this one: in a couple decades there won’t be many people who can write,” Graham said.
It’s common for skills to disappear as technologies replace them; after all, “there aren’t many blacksmiths left, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem,” he admitted. But people being unable to write is “bad,” he insisted.
“A world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots,” Graham believes.
We already live in a world that is mostly inhabited by think-nots. Hence MPAI. And there is no reason to fear AI writing, since very few writers produce anything worth reading anyhow. Between Twitter and Facebook, we know that all the erudite theories about “unlocking human potential” were groundless fantasies, since we have conclusive evidence that most people have absolutely nothing to say.
I did a trial test of one AI program and found it so unremarkable that I haven’t mentioned it or thought about it since. So in a way, it is like the ordinary moron, I suppose.
Speaking of writing, things have been a tad light here and with columns for a few reasons. High among them is an onslaught of new fiction! More, later.
PS: Happy Guy Fawkes day!
29 Tuesday Oct 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Christians Should Not Celebrate This Holiday
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Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church fully understand what lies behind Halloween, the holiday that far too many ‘Murikans take for granted innocent fun. [Translated]:
If you are going to celebrate Halloween at work, you can declare your protest or simply ignore this event, said the Priest, rector of the temple in honor of the Seven-shot Icon of the Virgin Elijah Savastyanov, in an interview with LIFE.ru. According to him, it depends on the relationship in the team.
In fact, you can react to Halloween celebrations, costume parties in two ways: either decisively declare your protest, or calmly ignore it. It is necessary to choose depending on the relationship in the team, as well as the degree of imposition, — explained the Priest.
The Priest noted that Christians should not celebrate this holiday. Believers must explain to the rest the essence of Halloween. Instead, you can gather for a quiz, quest, or just arrange gatherings. If you want to have a costume party, you can choose a different topic, Savastyanov added.
Earlier, Elena Drapeko, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, said that no need import substitution of Halloween or rename it, because you just need to ban this holiday. She noted. that this holiday is a propaganda of dark forces. The deputy added that there are no options for how this holiday could be converted into a domestic format.
In too many ways, Halloween is or has become the most ‘Murikan holiday of them all. It won’t be banned, or even shunned by many ‘Muricans, until the US has completely dissolved. God Bless Russia for leading the way against demonic forces, whether of military and economic import, or of frivolous revelry. Protest or ignore, but do not celebrate.
18 Friday Oct 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Girlschool
It’s not just a Britny Fox song.
Feminism and related forces have just about deep-sixed Western universities. Learn more. (At the schools, one will, of course, learn less.)
10 Thursday Oct 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on My Students Don’t Read
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Vox found yet another ‘Murikan college professor who has noticed a decline in the quality of his students.
I work as a professor for a uni on the east coast of the USA. What strikes me the most is the decline in student writing and comprehension skills that is among the worst I’ve ever encountered. These are SHARP declines; I recently assigned a reading exam and I had numerous students inquire if it’s open book (?!), and I had to tell them that no, it isn’t…
My students don’t read. They expect to be able to submit assignments more than once. They were shocked at essay grades and asked if they could resubmit for higher grades. I told them, also, no. They were very surprised.
To all K-12 teachers who have gone through unfair admin demanding for higher grades, who have suffered parents screaming and yelling at them because their student didn’t perform well on an exam: I’m sorry. I work on the university level so that I wouldn’t have to deal with parents and I don’t. If students fail– and they do– I simply don’t care. At all. I don’t feel a pang of disappointment when they perform at a lower level and I keep the standard high because I expect them to rise to the occasion. What’s mind-boggling is that students DON’T EVEN TRY. At this, I also don’t care– I don’t get paid that great– but it still saddens me. Students used to be determined and the standard of learning used to be much higher. I’m sorry if you were punished for keeping your standards high. None of this is fair and the students are suffering tremendously for it.
Read Vox’s commentary too. The “old college try” must be retooled even if it means dispensing with the college part. The lower the grades, the later the hour.
05 Saturday Oct 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Our Greatest Loss Looms
Two of the most mistreated and unappreciated guests any nation could ever have the great fortune of knowing make clear their disappointment in you, unchosen American.
This is hard to write. It’s hard to say or even think.
So many of you, our neighbors, have let us down. We are sad, hurt, and even surprised. As religious leaders, we haven’t spoken to you about this in an open and honest way, but we cannot hold our tongues any longer.
Even as Jews gather in significant numbers to our synagogues for the holiest of days on the Jewish calendar, we find ourselves feeling isolated.
We know each other well—or at least, we thought we did. We have stood together so many times before. We have marched together, advocated for one another, supported each other, held each other.
When there was an opportunity to raise our voices for civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion, we were there.
… (Read it all, if you can stand it.)
Yes, yes, believe it or not, but we know all the ways you’ve tried to “help” us. One supposes we are simply not good enough or deserving of such gifted, benign charity. Tisk. Maybe it’s time – and I hate to mention such a horrible potential loss for America – but we have earned it – time to move on. Since Palestine, Ukraine, Russia, China, and pretty much all other countries are no longer options, I humbly suggest a completely fresh start. The new home base of the empire that never ends should be Marie Byrd Land. {Look it up and tell me it’s not the perfect fit!]
03 Thursday Oct 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Another Scamdemic?
Whatever is happening on the Hamburg trains, let’s not jump any conclusions, give any benefit of the doubt, or believe any official pronouncements just yet.
Two passengers suspected of carrying the lethal and highly contagious Marburg virus set off alarm at Hamburg’s main train station on Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency crews in full protective gear boarded a train from Frankfurt after a 26-year-old medical student and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms on the train. Passengers were evacuated and police closed two tracks at the station for several hours before reopening them.
According to the Hamburg Fire Department, one of the two suspected Marburg victims also suffered from mild vomiting. “He then called the fire department because he suspected something was wrong,” a spokesperson told the Die Welt newspaper.
The Bild tabloid reported that the student had arrived by plane directly from Rwanda, where he’d been in contact with a patient who was later diagnosed as infected with Marburg.
If this thing came from Rwanda and it has an 88% mortality rate, then we should quickly see a large die-off in that African country. And then possibly something similar in Europe. Or not. Eyes open, read, and think. No C19 2.0, friends.
30 Monday Sep 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Man-Made Natural Disaster?
Your humble possum survived the storm of the century, a certain testament to “climate change” and so forth. Being that I exist (for now) in a rapidly-declining, third world, Republican’t stronghold, it’s a little hard to tell though the damage appears somewhat extensive.
Dr. Roberts (and others) have a theory about this late weather development:
For many years the US Government has financed the HAARP investigations funded by the US Air Force, Navy, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects).
HAARP’s purpose is to investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology that could be used to excite weather conditions in an area of the ionosphere. In other words, it is possibly a program to weaponize weather disguised as experiments to enhancement radio communications and surveillance, just as law and news “reporting” have been weaponized. Or the program could be what it is said to be.
As we have neither an honest media nor an honest government, we cannot know.
Suspicious people ask how official spokespersons knew in advance that Helene was heading for Tallahassee. No one knows where a hurricane is going or with what strength until 15 minutes before it hits. Helene is an example. In the last few minutes it hit far to the east.
Helene had trouble forming, and it had trouble holding together. Washington would have an interest in sending a storm DeSantis’ way. The Florida governor has gotten in Washington’s way before, and he is in the way again with a state investigation of the second attempt on Trump. Florida in chaos dependent on federal aid would be more compliant.
Meteorologists avoid these questions. Government scientists say we cannot influence local weather, but the same scientists say we are causing global warming, from which Bill Gates wants to save us by spraying particles into the atmosphere. Meanwhile “conspiracy theorists” continue to claim that the US government is filling the atmosphere with aluminum particles. People have been mucking around with weather for decades. I remember watching rockets being fired to seed the clouds to make it rain. The best way to dispose of conspiracy theories is to objectively examine them, not shout them down. Shouting them down implies that the evidence is on their side and must be suppressed.
I, of course, cannot say. The DeSantis angle does nothing for me. Yet if this turns out to be the truth, I would not be surprised at all. There’s also the possibility that God turned a little of His wrath directly on the GAE. That, or a storm might just be a storm.
23 Monday Sep 2024
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on Hello and Welcome
I see there’s been a substantial uptick in visits here and a few new subscribers, likely owing to Clarity Press and the esteemed Andrei Martyanov. Welcome to the mad ramblings, my new friends. Make yourselves comfortable, look around, and maybe kick your feet up. I think we have a few beers left in the fridge. The goats have already been sold, sorry. Most postings are merely my quick takes on matters. Columns, essays, book reviews, and short stories come along towards the end of the week – some of it even making sense from time to time. As always, quality will improve tomorrow.
Perrin