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Welcome to July Forum
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11 responses to “Welcome to July Forum”
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A few weeks ago I scheduled a tree doctor to take out a couple of “widow maker” branches hanging over my sidewalk and my children’s swing set, and long boring story short we ended up having to take down a large silver maple that’s at the corner of our driveway; that work will be done today. It is the type of tree with 3-4 large trunks splitting immediately from the base instead of 1 trunk.
What I’ve also done and which my wife is JUST NOW finding out is that accompanying the arborist is a chain saw sculptor–you know, the large log bears or Native Americans sold in the, um, more cultured parts of the south, west, and Midwest? He does those.
He is going to assess this 3 trunked gem to see if he could turn it into Cerberus. Specifically–and this is important–a Cerberus with golden retriever heads. Big, floppy tongued, happy golden retriever heads. Three of them. Guarding my driveway.
My wife’s response was a high five and to start photoshopping some examples. This is why I married her.
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The big news of the day is the crush of articles on Trump’s corruption:
Trump Pulled in at Least $2 Billion After Returning to the White House
Trump filing shows he took in about $1.2 billion from crypto businesses last year
Trump’s financial disclosure lists $1.4 billion in crypto earnings, powered largely by meme coins
And a whole lot more:
The question is whether this is a one day story met with shrugs or will the corruption start to seep into the American consciousness.
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The DHS secretary was on the teevee this morning, agreeing with a Fox News host who suggested pregnant foreign women should not be allowed to travel to the US.
I am wondering how they are going to fit that wee detail on tourism posters.
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Over the weekend I read Cory Doctorow’s latest book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI. Much of the latter part of the short book deals with the means companies use to be perceived as growth companies, which pumps up their share price. The theory is investors will put more money into a growing company because they expect massive profits, which means a higher share price, in the future; while they’ll invest less in mature companies even if they are reliably profitable.
One means, which is closely tied to AI, is to make expansive claims on what their product or service will do. These claims are often outrageous and almost totally divorced from reality. Doctorow further claims it doesn’t even matter if the product or service does what the companies claim, or even if it ever gets developed at all.
I was rather dismissive of this notion, but then he started listing a few of these: self driving cars will eliminate traffic, vehicular accidents, and even the need to own a car! The Metaverse will change how we live and work! Self driving trucks will replace truck drivers! Generative AI will replace all jobs in movies and TV! Generative AI will replace all illustrators!
And then I found some I’ve seen over the years: Apple Vision will change the world! Theranos can carry out a dozen analyses from one drop of blood! Boeing’s
But this method is also used in other areas. The USSR pretty much subsisted on claims of what Socialism would be in the future. Or consider the claims El Taco made about what tariffs would accomplish: replace all taxes, create millions of manufacturing jobs, etc. If anything, El Taco fails because he expect immediate results, accepting delay only when he has to.
I’m rather annoyed at myself, too, because I’ve accepted some of these claims and considered them rather seriously…
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@Jen: I’m wondering if TSA (under the auspices of DHS) will be administering pregnancy tests to passengers? That may “hold up” the TSA lines!
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@Neil Hudelson: Good choice for your sculpture. One thing I learned after a number of road trip vacations is never eat at a restaurant which has a chain saw carved bear at its front entrance.
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Dear Leader set the price of gasoline at $2.50 a gallon today. He accuses the retailers of price “gauging” and threatens “big problems” should they fail to comply.
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That’s a good chunk lower than the price before the Taco’s Terrible Tantrum war drove prices through the roof.
It takes someone utterly ignorant about the most basic economics… Oh, never mind.
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@Kathy: The rank idiocy would’ve been big news coming from any previous POTUS, but it seems we have adjusted to one whose belfry’s bats all pack a hot mic.
