Category: Nonfiction

Behind the Charged Talk – BONUS POST

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

Speaking of the current greedy, selfish leadership in the United States, here’s a song about it.

BEHIND THE CHARGED TALK

sung to the tune of “Under the Boardwalk” with apologies to The Drifters, their estates, and to whomever else the rights may concern.

Oh, when the prez doubles down

and raises a stir just for a GOOF,

and opinion shows get so hot and tiresome,

you give up on hearing the TRUTH.

Behind the charged talk,

away from D.C., yeah,

on a junket with his golf clubs,

is where Trump’ll be.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s brain is done.

Behind the charged talk,

real issues, he’ll shun.

Behind the charged talk,

wild lies are spun.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s cronies have won.

Behind the charged talk, charged talk.

From talking-heads you hear

the oppressive clout of the president.

You can keenly feel the stark wrongs

the rich guys, commit.

Behind the charged talk,

away from D.C., yeah,

on a junket with his golf clubs,

is where Trump’ll be.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s brain is done.

Behind the charged talk,

real issues, he’ll shun.

Behind the charged talk,

wild lies are spun.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s cronies have won.

Behind the charged talk, charged talk.

Behind the charged talk,

away from D.C., yeah,

on a junket with his golf clubs,

is where Trump’ll be.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s brain is done.

Behind the charged talk,

real issues, he’ll shun.

Behind the charged talk,

wild lies are spun.

Behind the charged talk,

Trump’s cronies have won.

Behind the charged talk, charged talk.

A Whole New Mind

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

This blogger skimmed “A Whole New Mind, Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age” by Daniel H. Pink, published in 2005. As this volume was published twenty years ago, there is now 20/20 hindsight as to the author’s futuristic, and in spots, propagandistic pronouncements.

Throughout the text, Pink sprinkled names of people, places and things, and recommended various websites, but he did not make clear which, if any, he was getting paid to mention. Also, he used the word “computers” when “software” is the more specific entity that is actually accomplishing the tasks he described.

Anyway, the author contended that the human brain is evolving so that there will be more right-brain usage than there used to be, although humans use both halves of their brains in everything they do. The right-brain does the face-recognizing, emotional, specialized, big-picture thinking. The left-brain uses a broad range of knowledge to perform language-oriented, serial reasoning.

Currently, humans are living in the Conceptual Age; they have been forced to become more and more creative for the purpose of survival. They have collectively acquired centuries of life-experience, so everything has become a cliche. Cutting-edge technology in communications and transportation has helped humans become hyper-aware of, and wise to difficult and dangerous situations. Thus, little by little, they’re starting to prevent or minimize damage from those situations.

The Conceptual Age was prompted by three major, worldwide conditions (that have developed over decades from numerous, complex causes):

  • Abundance (mostly the result of a capitalistic, competitive, profit-seeking– rather than a cooperative– environment),
  • Asia (at the time of the book’s writing, outsourcing was all the rage– the people of this continent’s countries were willing to work for lower pay than those in more hegemonic countries, but Pink failed to mention cultural clashes and linguistic misunderstandings; plus, they have a cooperative rather than competitive mentality in the workplace),
  • Automation (software is doing tasks that humans previously did).

Since the book’s writing, all three of the above have forced people to use more of their right-brain in creating and maintaining a higher number of incestuous trading and investing relationships among and between all different countries, especially Asia’s. But, a whole host of jobs still must be done by local employees, as they require a physical presence; those involving personal services and retail locations.

Pink wrote that in the future, two kinds of people will be valued: creators and empathizers. The innovative, revolutionary nature of the Internet has generated demand for creators, inspired humans to get imaginative and produce content.

But a major campaign in America was already underway to encourage young people to develop their right-brain, and of course, to try to maintain America’s economic dominance in the world. It is called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

With regard to empathy (feeling what another person feels– leading to compassion, care and uplift), the United States has an aging population and an incredible ability to monetize such behavioral trends. So, no worries, despite its current greedy, selfish leadership.

Read the book to learn more about the aforementioned subjects and others relating to the right-brain; including a list of further readings and websites containing online quizzes.

The Acid Queen

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

The Book of the Week is “The Acid Queen, The Psychedelic Life And Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary” by Susannah Cahalan, published in 2025.

Rosemary was born in April 1935 in Saint Louis. Her family changed residences frequently through her childhood. At the dawn of her thirties, she made a friend and lover in a high place, in the form of Timothy Leary. Born in 1920, he was famous by then for his advocacy of LSD. He was still married, but separated from his second wife.

In the second half of the 1960’s, wealthy heiress Peggy Hitchcock owned the humungous estate up in Millbrook, New York State, on which Leary led a socialist cult. His purported goal was to educate his disciples in improving their lives by using controlled substances. Those drop-outs from society consisted of tens of upper-middle-class whites who were rebelling against their bourgeois lifestyles.

Leary’s lawyer helped him and Rosemary weasel out of legal trouble with drug possession and tax evasion, in arguing that the drugs were a tool of their religion. In September 1966, they legitimized their religion as a church by completing the legal paperwork, naming it League for Spiritual Discovery. It was monotheistic, urging its parishioners to alter their consciousness with LSD on a weekly basis, and smoke marijuana on a daily basis.

That same month, Leary and Rosemary raised funds by putting on a psychedelic and spiritually uplifting show that involved performance art, special-effects and preaching (of a hybrid Christianity and Buddhism), at a theater in Manhattan for a sold-out audience of more than twenty-eight hundred. Although he was already way older than thirty, Leary appealed to disaffected, countercultural American youths, doing the talk-show circuit on the idiot box, and doing the lecture circuit on college campuses.

In January 1970, the Nixon administration passed an anti-drug law to harshly punish all the kinds of people (those protesting the Vietnam War; employees of communications outlets who were propagandizing about drugs– raising awareness of them, and their uses; and those who believed in a libertarian lifestyle) on the president’s enemies list.

Read the book to learn much more about Rosemary’s life, times and social circle.

Speaking of a president with an enemies list who is harshly punishing all kinds of people: The current one is doing so, but he himself has yet to be punished in a way that fits his decades’ worth of numerous crimes! Here’s a little song that depicts the tip of the iceberg.

THE CRIME GAME

sung to the tune of “The Name Game” with apologies to the Estate of Shirley Ellis and to whomever else the rights may concern.

The crime game.

Tax-cheating! Tax-cheating. Tax-cheating. System-beating. Funny-money. Secret meetings. Oh my. Fines-defeating. Tax-cheating.

Treason! Treason. Treason. Base appeasin’. Spying, lying. All season. Oh my. Justice-teasin’. Treason.

Come on everybody. This is the time. I bet you we can make a list, of a fraction of Trump’s crimes. Committing of the crimes, he vehemently denies. But courts and courts, and courts contain his lies. And then we say the crime, then repeat, then we say a rhyme, then a phrase, rhyme, and oh my. Then we say a rhyme again, and the crime a third time. Then the verse is done. We could do this all day and for all time. And there’s hardly a crime that we can’t rhyme.

Failed coup! Failed coup. Failed coup. Chaos grew. Uncivil drivel. Trump’s nasty crew. Oh my. Hatred ensued. Failed coup.

But all of Trump’s crimes helped him amass power. So he got rich and he makes people cower. Like. No prez. Before. He controls the vast network Fox. Like, everyone should be wary, wary. Together, they’re scary, scary. To truth and justice, he is contrary. Okay?

Now say libel. [libel] Now libel repeated. Now say a rhyme, [rhyme] and a phrase. Now say a rhyme another time, then oh my, and the rhyme another time. Then the crime. And there’s hardly a crime that we can’t rhyme.

Everybody do fraud!

Fraud. Fraud. Court see-sawed. Appeals-deals. Rulings flawed. Oh my. Trump’s base is awed. Fraud. Pretty good.

Let’s do conspiring!

Conspiring. Conspiring. Illegal-firing. Steam-rolling, controlling. RICO hiring. Oh my. Gets tiring. Conspiring. Very good.

Let’s do racketeering!

Racketeering. Racketeering. Lots of smearing. Plugs for thugs. Lots of hearings. Oh my. Trump’s base is cheering. Racketeering.

Saming with defaming.

Defaming. Defaming. Situation gaming. Jeering and sneering. Cruel nicknaming. Oh my. False blaming. Defaming.

The crime game.

The Forgotten Founding Father

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

The Book of the Week is “The Forgotten Founding Father, Noah Webster’s Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture” by Joshua Kendall, published in 2010.

Webster was born in October 1758 in western Hartford, CT. His 1778 Yale class consisted of forty graduates. In the 1780’s, he created a spelling and grammar primer for early childhood education that improved upon the then-standard text. It used phonics to teach pronunciation. He believed that Americans– who had recently declared their independence from Britain– should develop their own style of English, to differentiate themselves.

In 1782, beginning with Maine and Vermont, northeastern colonies passed laws on the copyrighting of original literary works. Even though the U.S. Constitution was ratified in June 1788, federal law superseded state law only after Congress passed a law granting a fourteen-year copyright term in 1790.

Throughout his life, Webster propagandized via publishing inflammatory, libelous, anonymous writings in the major newspapers in the states in which he lived– Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.

Webster also was one of the first people to collect data on Americans. In 1785 and 1786, he traveled around the thirteen colonies and counted the number of homes (from a few hundred to a few thousand) in major cities. To financially support himself, he went on the lecture circuit. He was a capitalist at heart.

“Webster thus was counting on the Philological Society to help him cash in on the passage of the Constitution which suddenly improved the commercial prospects for his books.” He could sell his federally copyrighted book more efficiently with less competition, by arguing that standardized school curricula in all the states, would help unify the country.

However, around 1812, when Webster was elected as Representative in the Massachusetts statehouse, he reversed himself on Federalism, and instead advocated states’ rights. He jumped on the bandwagon in attempting to oust president James Madison. His political views were liable to change with his strategic interests– as do those of any opportunistic, power and money-hungry alpha male.

In late 1828, Webster’s American Dictionary, containing about seventy thousand words, was introduced to America. At the dawn of the 1830’s, “Having personally lobbied the executive and legislative branches of government, Webster did not neglect the judiciary. He was hoping to get the Supreme Court to unite behind a certificate in support of his dictionary.”

Read the book to learn about Webster’s other lifetime achievements, and his times.

As can be seen, there’s nothing new under the sun since Noah Webster’s generation. Here’s a song about that.

POLITICAL HEROES

sung to the tune of “Celluloid Heroes” (the long version) with apologies to The Kinks, and to whomever else the rights may concern.

Every candidate’s a schemer, and every candidate is bought, and every candidate hires bullies. Most lie without a second thought. There are fixers at every level, from the White House to the streets. And you can read about their districts and political-wards. Their myths are written with every tweet.

Don’t be unfair to The Donald, as you review his sordid past. He was persistently hostile and agile. He amassed enough power to last. He attempted a coup with his cronies, and sat himself on a throne, but he ended up golfing and babbling, because his dictatorship got old.

You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.

President Donald Trump looks very vacant indeed. AI software does his public-addresses. HE can no longer lead.

Avoid disparaging Donald Trump or you’re in for a legal fight, and worship Donald Trump because his was such a glorious life.

If you said “Voting for him, you’re garbage,” Donald Trump would smear you good, and when you voted against Donald Trump, he cried “fraud!” and sent in his hoods.

Please don’t TREAD now on dearest Donald, ’cause he’s actually TACO, not tough. He should have begun younger in campaigning. Too bad he’s only made OF flesh and blood.

You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.

Every candidate’s a schemer, and every candidate is bought, and every candidate’s in show biz. Most lie without a second thought. And those who are successful are always on their guard. They’ve got lawyers, judges and thugs, in their districts and political-wards.

Political life is a nonstop soap-opera media show. An angry, nasty world of real-life villains and heroes.

Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.

You can see armored cars as you drive around their districts and political-wards, bigwigs who have LEGacies. Most you’ve never even heard of. They have their entourages and consultants and volunteers in their campaigns. The ones who succeed have the best public-relations brains.

Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.

Political life is a nonstop soap-opera media show. An angry, nasty world of real-life villains and heroes.

Political heroes always personally gain. And political heroes seize-the-day in their TIME.

His Majesty’s Airship

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

“The New York Post wrote, ‘No more funds of American taxpayers [should] be squandered on these useless gasbags.’ “

The above is NOT a comment about the 2025 New York City mayoral candidates, but is a 1935 comment in reaction to the series of American airship crashes that killed hundreds of people.

The Book of the Week is “His Majesty’s Airship, The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine” by S.C. Gwynne, published in 2023. In this sloppily edited, chronologically disordered, wordy, redundant (but suspenseful) volume, the author recounts the history of airships through the late 1930’s.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Germans racked up significant construction- and flying-expertise with regard to airships with rigid frames. However, they had an abysmal safety record. They papered that over with jingoistic propaganda. The 1910’s saw a few conditions established to make airship flights less risky: flying only in summer and in clear weather with only light winds.

There was a high risk of fire because the hydrogen that filled the airships is easily combustible with just one spark. Helium is less so, but was expensive and difficult to obtain or make, and the Americans controlled the small quantity that was easily accessible.

The German government got the idea that in the event of a war, it could destroy cities at night via airships much more efficiently than it could with ground troops. In WWI, its submarines were actually more effective, because Britain wised up quickly– training searchlights on the airships, and shooting them into fireballs. By 1917, warplanes had become superior to airships, even with their mechanical problems.

Anyway, the author went off on a tangent, detailing the life-histories of a few different royal family members– main characters in the airships story. One such character was Lord Christopher Birdwood Thomson. Beginning in spring 1924, he persuaded the British government to execute his big idea of contracting with a company to make airships a fun, efficient form of global, public transportation.

The author tossed around the term “socialism” but did not elaborate. He described two competing British airship projects; one as capitalist, and the other as socialist. Here is a clarification (more details of which can be found in this blog’s post, “The Last Idealist” about Norman Thomas, in the “Politics – Systems” category):

With SOCIALISM, the people collectively own entities, and share and share alike. These can be profit-seeking businesses; or the government can own entities that provide essential services– health, education, welfare and large public transportation entities– that should not be profit-seeking (but some of their subcontractors are, anyway).

With COMMUNISM, the government owns profit-seeking entities (businesses) in whole or in part (as in the former Soviet Union and China). So yes, these include public-private partnerships in which there are clearly outrageous conflicts of interest that result in patronage and profiteering. So, arguably, the former Soviet Union and China have both Socialism and Communism to a large degree. The U.S. is not far behind anymore.

Furthermore, in America, the super-rich who pay no income tax, salve their consciences through philanthropy, which allows them to propagandize that they’re helping the poor. BUT income tax revenues are pooled so that they could end up getting spent on anything in the political budget. The super-rich specifically choose where to donate their money– whom to help, and it is a tiny percentage of poor people who are helped, compared with the number who are helped if money is provided through income tax!

Anyway, read the book to learn the outcome of the flight of R101 (hint: a large, expensive project run by alpha males with hubris syndrome– in which Darwin award candidates partake– rarely ends well) plus lots more historical background that explains why rigid airships are a thing of the past.

As is well known, the American government has been a large, expensive project run mostly by alpha males with hubris syndrome. Given the current overwhelming influences of money and sophisticated messaging via global, sophisticated communications technology, individuals need not even be physically present anymore to run the government. Like Elon Musk, they can be a mastermind of national policies in absentia. Here’s what Musk is singing now.

AMERICA

sung to the tune of “Africa” with apologies to Toto and to whomever else the rights may concern.

See my influence echoing on the Right.

These are the results of our secret conversations.

I and Trump pretended to have a fight.

Withdrawal from D.C. has let me discreetly plot to save my nation.

I learned from my old man along the way,

looking to amass resources to impose my brand of supremacy.

I turn to forceful people for-pay.

Scan the whole world, is I all have to DO.

It won’t take a lot to make my dreams come true.

My money has such power, I can lord it over you.

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

Trump’s taking this time to do the things we always pla-a-a-anned. ooh ooh

We reach out to our friends on the Right,

and we’ve grown prosperous, assisted by our hegemonic companies.

I know I’m doing what is right, sure as I am aiming to gradually rid the White House of democracy.

I need world conquest, deep inside.

Priming the pump for the great times to come.

It won’t take a lot to make my dreams come true.

My money has such power, I can lord it over you.

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

Trump’s taking this time to do the things we always pla-a-a-anned. ooh ooh

Scan the world is all I have to DO.

It won’t take a lot to make my dreams come true.

My money has such power, I can lord it over you.

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

(I act behind-the-scenes)

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

(I act behind-the-scenes)

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

I act behind-the-scenes in America.

(Trump’s taking this time)

Trump’s taking this time to do the things we always pla-a-a-anned. ooh ooh

Nervous About A Woman – BONUS POST

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

While a woman has served as the top leader in numerous nations of the world (including Third World countries!), citizens of America would still rather have a male dictator than a female president. Here’s a little song about that.

NERVOUS ABOUT A WOMAN

sung to the tune of “Natural Woman” with apologies to the Estate of Aretha Franklin, and to whomever else the rights may concern.

Looking back at 2016,

a dictator over female-prez, was hired.

After 2024, women still have to wait until someday.

Now– of that dictator, we’re tired.

The gender-biased AI vets you. Trump is so unkind.

Decades of messaging on your mind.

‘Cause Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

nervous about a woman. (woman)

When a Wall was discussed,

and threats worked better to obviate it.

We didn’t know just how evil Trump would be,

until his ICE men became sadists.

Lots of Americans are regretful,

of what they voted for: greed and hypocrisy.

Trump is rotten to the core.

‘Cause Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

nervous about a woman. (woman)

Now Trump’s courts are topsy-turvy, (topsy-turvy)

admin’s his personal PIGgy bank, (piggy bank)

aided by his wannabes, (wannabes) hoaxing you.

Who knows whether his brain is still alive?

‘Cause Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

nervous about a woman. (woman)

‘Cause Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

Americans still feel,

nervous about a woman. (woman)

‘Cause Americans still feel…

Battle of Distractions – BONUS POST

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

Here’s a little song about the nature of American politics and media of the past week.

BATTLE OF DISTRACTIONS

sung to the tune of “Battle of New Orleans” with apologies to Estate of Johnny Horton and to whomever else the rights may concern.

On Au-gust 14, Fox had a little fun, along with TACO Trump on the mighty Air Force One.

They debriefed with AI software, and gave Biden all the blame.

And TACO talked to Putin ’bout bloody Russians in Ukraine.

Al-lies expressed their hopes, and sound-bites kept-a-comin’.

U.S. problems are as many as they were a while ago.

Media hushed up once more that Trump’s brain is struggling.

Never mind Jeffrey Epstein. Senile Trump’s a TACO.

Fox looked in D.C. and they see’d protesters come,

but they highlighted the troublemakers who are paid to beat the drums.

Fox’s ratings so high, their overpaid-noisemakers sing.

Their words are from AI, they don’t have to write a thing.

Al-lies expressed their hopes, and sound-bites kept-a-comin’.

U.S. problems are as many as they were a while ago.

Media hush up once more that Trump’s brain is struggling.

Never mind Jeffrey Epstein. Senile Trump’s a TACO.

All Trump is doing, should come as no surprise.

If he didn’t fire scapegoats, it’s ’cause it’s where his power lies.

Mainstream media cower. They want to keep their jobs as well.

If they really tell the truth, Trump will surely give ’em hell.

Al-lies expressed their hopes, and sound-bites kept-a-comin’.

U.S. problems are as many as they were a while ago.

Media hush up once more that Trump’s brain is struggling.

Never mind Jeffrey Epstein. Senile Trump’s a TACO.

Yeah, media run through their reruns and they run through their rambling, and they run through their grudges on their opinion-shows.

They hold so fast to the biases of their owners.

Down through history, so much America doesn’t know.

Well, media spouted nothing-words till talks melted down.

Then they grabbed social-media quotes to put-out another round.

They filled Trump’s mouth with AI-words, and kissed his behind,

and covered up the fact that Trump’s lost his mind.

Al-lies expressed their hopes, and sound-bites kept-a-comin’.

U.S. problems are as many as they were a while ago.

Media hush up once more that Trump’s brain is struggling.

Never mind Jeffrey Epstein. Senile Trump’s a TACO.

Yeah, media run through their reruns and they run through their rambling, and they run through their grudges on their opinion-shows.

They hold so fast to the biases of their owners.

Down through history, so much America doesn’t know.

Trump, 2, 3 , 4

Back off, 3, 4

Trump, 2, 3 , 4

Back off, 3, 4

Trump, 2, 3 , 4

The Optimist

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

The Book of the Week is “The Optimist, Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future” by Keach Hagey, published in 2025.

The Baby Boomers generation of the 1960’s had its Timothy Leary, who was a big advocate of dropping out of school, work and society in general. The goal was to experiment with LSD and other drugs with the hope of becoming more creative.

From the 1990’s into the single-digit 2000’s, computer programmers and Web developers chose to engage in tech startups as their drug. In 2011, Peter Thiel, born in 1967– just around the time Leary’s popularity was waning– also encouraged students to drop out, but awarded them grant money with the hope they would manage successful businesses.

Sam Altman, one such student, was typical for his time and place. Born in 1985, Altman grew up in the Chicago and Saint Louis areas. His philosophy was “Go big or go home.” He never heard the word “impossible.” Beginning in summer 2005, a Boston-area technology consultant called Y Combinator helped startups get started with funding and mentoring. Altman was accepted to this program.

Altman’s first venture was a social-media application eventually called Loopt. The major drawback of its business model was inefficiency. Another was privacy concerns. Years later, the concept was joked about by comedian Aziz Ansari — meeting up with his friends (if they happened to be nearby) by seeing their locations on their electronic devices.

Back in 2006, Loopt had to negotiate separate contracts with multiple, competing cell phone companies across the country. Big Tech had yet to introduce the smart phone, on which the internet would be visible worldwide on one website that Loopt could have had, regardless of which phone service its tech-savvy, young customers subscribed to.

Altman’s peripheral hobby consisted of working to achieve nuclear fusion (not to be confused with the radioactive– carcinogenic!– fission) as a “clean” energy source. Propagandists repeatedly use certain words, such as “clean” in an attempt to reassure people that certain products will do them no harm. The following is just a small sample of other overused, euphemistic words:

  • free (nothing is ever free; someone is always paying for, say, government programs; usually taxpayers);
  • safe (nothing is ever 100% safe; instead, say “low-risk” or “high risk” but never safe);
  • cheaper (everything is expensive; instead, say “less expensive”).

Anyway, fusion is one of those problems that will be solved when enough resources are thrown at it. But even when it gets solved, it is possible such an endeavor isn’t worth doing in the long run, like when chemist Glenn Seaborg proved that alchemy could create gold from bismuth.

At any rate, the author went on a tangent naming the Silicon Valley men who joined the Extropian community, thinking deep thoughts on the mysteries of the universe.

Simply put, AI software applications can replace any kinds of human activities that have mathematics behind them: all games of 100% skill such as chess, some vehicle-operating skills, robotics, medicine, marketing of consumer products, etc. But, AI will never replace, in a completely unbiased way, activities with linguistic-oriented aspects to them: music and art.

Creative works need to be translated into words for AI software to work on them, and the translators (with all their ethnic, religious, cultural, social and political biases) control their interpretation. Besides, in order to take the actions that allegedly improve humans’ lives, AI software must become spyware on everything users do.

The propaganda of American science fiction in popular culture, is no longer:

“Commies are going to infiltrate the world so we must kill them!”

It has become:

“AI is going to infiltrate the world so we must learn to control it via a few thousand alpha males’ brain power, financial power and political power!”

The arrogance is matched only by the title sequence of the TV show, The Outer Limits: “There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control…”

For decades, the world has seen the ways the United Nations has monitored, and tried to stem conflicts, among diverse peoples. AI presents a similar challenge, as it can globally manipulate human thought and systems.

It is unclear whether the world is ready to sit down at the bargaining table to discuss international cooperation on the future of AI. In the United States, in recent years, waves of propaganda have screamed about:

  • privacy concerns;
  • of various kinds of online crime; and
  • of how psychologically damaging all-day, every-day, staring at, working, playing and communicating through, an electronic toy really is.

The prolonged, forced confinement prompted by the COVID lockdown got anti-social (solitary) behavior out of the country’s system. Influenced by more of the above propaganda, in the future, Americans might be ready to spend less time on their toys, and more time on face-to-face activities, outside.

Read the book to learn about Altman’s career, and the common problems that plague tech startups in the context of the brave new world of AI: bureaucratic shenanigans, hypocrisy, secrecy, conflicts, competition, and regulation (or lack thereof). Hint: It is yet one more worldwide technology project consisting of redistribution of wealth among the wealthy, run by alpha males.

ENDNOTE: Grammar sticklers would take issue with the less than perfect writing in this book. The author made errors commonly seen in books published in recent years in America. She didn’t know what “a.m.” and “p.m.” stood for, and awkwardly put “being” in the middle of sentences, among other minor errors.

Teasing – BONUS POST

[Please note: The word “Featured” on the left side above was NOT inserted by this blogger, but apparently was inserted by WordPress, and it cannot be removed. NO post in this blog is sponsored.]

Here’s a song that explains the secrecy of the Trump administrations.

TEASING

sung to the tune of “Grease” with apologies to Frankie Valli, and to whomever else the rights may concern.

Can’t solve the problems of media on-the-Right. They got a, profitable thing. Trump makes it quite a sight.

The co-dependent powers have made it so far. It’s a slow-reveal now, but we know who they are. Teasing the herd.

We know our government is just a growing pain. The media, understand, it’s just a historical game.

Trump goes from secret-deal to secret-deal. We’re biding our time right now. Eventually, the records will-be unsealed. Teasing the herd.

Teasing the herd, with every word, with every word.

Trump’s INFLUence tells us mean is in.

Teasing the viewers, and the listeners, and the readers, now teasing is the way to get ratings.

Trump puts on pressure and they throw away, all morality. Truth’s so yesterday.

The co-dependent powers have made it so far. It’s a slow-reveal now, but we know who they are. Teasing the herd.

Teasing the herd, with every word, with every word.

Trump’s INFLUence tells us mean is in.

Teasing the viewers, and the listeners, and the readers, now teasing is the way to get ratings.

It’s all one big illusion, total control. Makes you confused. That’s what they’re doing here.

Trump puts on pressure and they throw away, all morality. Truth’s so yesterday.

The co-dependent powers have made it so far. It’s a slow-reveal now, but we know who they are. Teasing the herd.

Teasing the herd, with every word, with every word.

Trump’s INFLUence tells us mean is in.

Teasing the viewers, and the listeners, and the readers, now teasing is the way to get ratings.

Teasing the herd, with every word, with every word.

Trump’s INFLUence tells us mean is in.

Teasing the viewers, and the listeners, and the readers, now teasing is the way to get ratings.

Teasing the herd, with every word,

with every word, with every word, with every word, with every word, with every word, with every word, with every word.