B Kahn

I lean toward #satire to keep myself sane. #UCLA #linguistics #PeaceCorps #Senegal long ago. I can now testify that 78 years passes quickly. #grandfather Interested in #science #languages
Ollie the golden doodle. The nose rules. Header is Ollie and Oscar his neighborhood bestie. Be well!

For Bead Lovers: https://www.museumofbeadwork.org/

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npub1u37n2u5xr3eprmmcn5pjwn73rcs6nrmqe2m3dmny7eywgrsqcs4q3ewj6k

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bkahn_at_beige.party@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqswglf4w2rpcus3aauf6qe8flg3ugdf3asv4dckaej0vj8ypcqvg2sprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wsqhnete

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relay.momostr.pink

nostr-pub.wellorder.net

yabu.me

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Last Notes

2026-10-22 14:00:40 UTC

Google AI says 40+% of music on streaming platforms is now AI-generated even though few people listen to it. Sorta like shopping for stupid junk which you then immediately throw away to help keep the garbage collection people employed. Or something. Phooey on all this AI shit.

2026-10-18 23:00:48 UTC

My first granddaughter's birthday is in November. I asked her today how many books she wanted for her birthday and told her to pick between one and eight.
"Eight," she said without any hesitation.
"I'll work on it," said I. In fact I've already got six, and some more coming. Five were an unexpected find at the local Goodwill store, part of a Scholastic series called the Royal Diaries. The others are coming from Thriftbooks. Whenever I can, I order used hardcover books for the grandkids. Buying used helps me afford them, getting hardcover helps them survive for the younger grandkids, and 90% of the time they arrive in mint condition.
I love books. ❤️

2026-09-27 16:14:49 UTC

I went in to work (our bead business) a couple of hours ago where I found my daughters selecting strands of gemstone beads to buy for our retail store. The seller was a handsome African man who I hadn't seen before. I asked him what country he was from and he told me Gambia, which is a slender West African country surrounded, except on the coast, by Senegal. So of course* I asked him, in Wolof, if he spoke Wolof. First he looked in shocked surprise at my daughters and then replied in Wolof that he did. We proceeded to exchange greetings in Wolof after which he said, in English, "In Portland, Maine. I can't believe it. You've made my day!"
*Only 'of course' because I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal 50+ years ago and we had excellent Wolof teachers.
What a fun surprise!

2026-09-04 21:39:24 UTC

Any lawyers on Mastodon with experience of extortion cases? Briefly, we received a certified mail letter yesterday (which crossed state lines) stating that our business had broken a number of consumer protection laws in DC and if we didn't cough up 15K pronto, they would take us to court. 'They' is a guy named Joshua Rose who claims to represent the Institute for Truth in Marketing. He implies that he is an attorney but doesn't come right out and say it and my guess is he isn't. The purported offense--putting items on sale (he claims they were never sold at the "original" price, hence the sale is an attempt to defraud our customers) is provably false and we have the invoices to prove it.
There's a thread on Reddit under Spotify from 7 months ago which deals with the same guy and the same attempt to get money "or we'll take you to court."
Any possible hope of nailing him/them for extortion? It's clearly a racket targeting small e-businesses and apparently he/they is earning a nice living off the proceeds.
😲

2026-08-15 17:22:52 UTC

With the money we've wasted attacking Iran, how many American homes and commercial buildings could have had solar panels installed on their roofs? How many heat pumps could we have installed, lessening our dependence on oil and unnatural gas? What a corrupt, foolish, stupid, dangerous government we suffer under. At every opportunity the wrong choices are made, benefiting the already rich and further impoverishing the rest of us by every measure: income, health, environment, medical care, education, public safety--by every measure we're worse off and declining.

2026-08-13 23:38:15 UTC

I've sorta decided to learn the Arabic alphabet and how to write some words. So far not impressed with apps and websites I've looked at. Any suggestions? I'm too old to try and learn the language but I figure learning something difficult is always good for my old brain. And it looks pretty, too.

2026-08-10 00:32:39 UTC

If it weren't for the location, I would wish for a giant sinkhole to open under the ballroom project. Doesn't have to be a big one. Maybe 200 meters deep?
It would certainly be Biden's fault. 😂

2026-08-02 14:53:55 UTC

I just saw a post about RFK Jr. and it made me imagine a horror scene.
Context: yesterday I harvested most of our garlic. As I dug around the bulbs to loosen them up for extraction, I saw a lot of earthworms. Imagine digging around in your garden soil for some root vegetable and instead of uncovering garlic bulbs and earthworms, you discover brain worms and the pale staring face of RFK Jr.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
However, after I stopped screaming--assuming I hadn't died of a heart attack--I might not feel so bad. It's not like the country would miss him.
However, I would NEVER grow food in that raised bed again. Perish the thought.
😇

2026-06-12 22:37:06 UTC

- reply

Can we make it retroactive, claw back his salary, and then give him a life sentence for every person whose death is on his hands.

2026-06-09 20:38:42 UTC

I can use AI to change my voice. (I could also use Audacity.) I can use AI to change my appearance. Whatever. Neither interests me one titchy iota. But when I can pay $20 a month for AI that will replace the cartilage in my ancient knees so I can bounce around like a kid, THEN I'll sign up.
Me: SuperAI, my knees are shot. What do you recommend?
SAI (pronounced 'sigh'): Hold your knees up in front of your webcam. Hold still while I scan them. Good, all done. Now I will run some diagnostics. (Burbling sounds.) Wow, your knees are crap. How did you destroy all the cartilage? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Here's a recipe that will fix you up in a jiffy. I found it online. It's kinda poetic. Mix it up, drink a cup every day for three days and you'll have the best knees in the USA:
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Me: Wow, that sounds potent. What's a fenny snake?
SAI: Sorry, for additional research you'll need to move up to a higher membership level. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!

2026-06-04 15:19:36 UTC

Even though I have all the design sense of a garden slug*, I will soon be offering my line of BUBBLE PROOF clothing for people of all ages. When the AI bubble explodes, be safe! DON'T be sorry! Bits of AI will be flying in every direction at hypersonic speeds. And I'm offering a money-back guarantee: if the bubble doesn't pop by 2100, you can track down my great great grandchildren and sue them for all they're worth. 😇
*Sorry, slugs. Please don't take it out on our garden.

2026-05-28 14:41:53 UTC

Hope this article from Wired isn't paywalled:
https://www.wired.com/story/fact-checking-ai
Be comforted! Your favorite LLM feeds you false info only 30% of the time. Or pehaps 70% of its facts are wrong. Like the frog in the pot full of ever-hotter water, humanity is sinking ever-deeper into a fact-less quagmire of bullshit adorned with lipstick.

2026-04-21 00:50:34 UTC

If every Trump appointee and family member was indicted and kicked out and convicted for their crimes--all the grifting and grafting and sleazing--it'd be the biggest spring cleaning in human history.
Oh--add in all the Epsteiners while we're at it. That mountain of evil also needs attention.

2026-04-18 00:14:40 UTC

Billions for bombs but the world's best military can't figure out how to feed the troops? What a shitshow. When it comes to incompetence, Jesus Trump and his followers are second to none.

2026-04-15 14:52:59 UTC

- reply

I wonder how many of these data centers that US towns are rejecting will end up sited in other countries, often where water is already in short supply?
Mexico for example--here's a data center site:
https://www.digitalrealty.com/data-centers/americas/queretaro
And the water shortage:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ngz7ep1eo

2026-03-30 17:07:55 UTC

I want money to move in the other direction. I will offer to read and improve LLM-generated slop if any (or all!) of the big companies pay me. I have, after all, a unique knowledge of English acquired over 77 years. That ain't peanuts! Plus my imagination has been stimulated by reading a ton of sci-fi. And unlike AI I've lived in real places both in and outside the US and I have personal experience of the world. Milking a cow, collecting eggs, studying languages, marriage, children, teaching, construction, playing guitar, eating food, gardening, grandchildren, running a business--such a long list. Unmatchable, that's what I am.
Also I could use the money. 😀
If any AI is interested, you can contact me here or there.

2026-03-25 22:05:50 UTC

Using AI and LLMs responsibly is so simple.
Just don't.
Not for your thinking, not for your writing.
Just don't.

2026-03-19 16:46:06 UTC

Sigh. The fake stuff continues to spread. "Physics with Feynman" is a youtube channel I just ran across. Hidden in the "credits" is this:
"⚠️ WARNING: [This video is AI-generated (synthetic voice and visuals). It is an original, fictional lecture inspired by Richard Feynman's teaching style and public ideas, and is not an authentic recording, endorsement, or statement by Richard Feynman or his estate. Any resemblance is for educational/creative purposes]"
The channel has about 55k subscribers. How many viewers have no idea that these are lectures Feynman never gave? He died in 1988.
The channel lists 109 videos including "Why Your Body Becomes Magnetic After Death". Good grief.
😩

2026-01-22 20:18:02 UTC

If/when bird flu comes after us:
https://proteanmag.com/2025/04/06/bird-flu-and-other-assorted-pestilences/

2026-01-10 01:17:45 UTC

Artists don't like the now-nasty Kennedy Center.
Big oil companies know that Venezuelan oil sucks.
68000 manufacturing jobs gone since the tariffs started.
It's good to know that Casino-wrecker Donnie hasn't lost his magic touch.

2025-12-07 01:28:01 UTC

So Trump, I read or heard, has hired a new architect for the ballroom project. I had some suspicions about this, so I called him on his gold-plated Trump-o-Phone and asked him to fess up.
"Hur, hur, hur," he chortled. "That ballroom stuff is just a screen for the REAL project. You ever hear of the antiquated Egyptians?"
"You mean the 'ancient' Egyptians?" I asked.
"Yeah, the old timers. Anyway, I don't trust the GOP to give me a proper burial when I die. Bunch of stupid jerks. So instead of the ballroom, the new architect is going to build me a pyramid. A BIG one. Maybe bigger than the one in Gaza!"
"Giza?"
"Wherever," Trump sneered. "Mine will be the biggest, awesomest one on earth. And I heard that the antique Egyptians took slaves with them so they'd have servants in the next world. I'm going to bring my whole Cabinet with me!"
"That's amazing," I said, trying to sound properly awed. I said goodbye and started singing, "Let it be, let it be..." The whole Cabinet? YES!
😇

2025-12-01 00:25:23 UTC

This morning I had a fun chat with a 28 year old woman from Senegal (where I spent 3 years in the Peace Corps). First we spoke in English and later switched to French. After her first year at a university in Dakar, she won a scholarship to continue her studies in France. She now has two bachelor's degrees (the first in economics, the second in big data and machine learning), a master's, and then won a special scholarship from a major French bank which is employing her to work on risk assessment while she completes her Ph.D.
I asked her if she enjoyed studying and doing research and learning and she gave me a HUGE smile. There is so much talent and brain power in the world. Trump may think he's clever to bar the gates and "protect" us from all the scary foreigners. He's an idiot and our loss will be other countries' gain.

2025-12-01 00:07:54 UTC

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
Abraham Lincoln

2025-11-24 22:07:16 UTC

imagine:
Trump: Where's my nurse?? I rang the buzzer 10 minutes ago!
Orderly: What nurse? You've seen a nurse today? Wow, you must be special! We hardly have any nurses here nowadays.
Trump: What the hell are you talking about? This is a hospital--it should be full of goddam nurses!
Orderly: It used to be. But then some jerk decided nurses weren't professionals, so people couldn't afford to go to nursing school, and all the student nurses disappeared. The old nurses retired or quit and now it's a ghost town. Sad, huh?
Trump:
Orderly: I gotta go mop the hallway. If I see any nurses I'll tell them you buzzed. But don't hold your breath. It could be a long wait. Some patients die and nobody notices for a day or two. Good luck!

2025-11-21 23:42:01 UTC

Shakespeare wrote his plays using quill pens. Kinda low tech. Nowadays people use AI to 'generate' everything from term papers to books they try to peddle on Amazon. We wallow in a swamp of AI slop.
400 years after Shakespeare, we still use phrases that he invented. ( https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-phrases/ )
I guarantee AI is not enriching English. Nobody will quote from your ChatGPT term paper or eagerly await your next AI mystery novel. Nobody. It's brain pollution.
😲

2025-11-21 02:36:15 UTC

Just wondering:
Imagine if Trump got pissed at the Supreme Court and demanded the justices be executed for treason. And it was clear that he meant it. Would Roberts have any second thoughts? Any tiny little doubts about his wisdom, about telling Trump 'full speed ahead O mighty leader who can do no wrong?'
Probably not.

2025-11-10 19:40:55 UTC

If you blow up small boats and kill the occupants, then they are running drugs and trying to destroy America. Only drug smugglers go to sea in the Caribbean.
If you tie stones to a woman, throw her in a pond and she drowns, she was a witch and your act was a good deed.
I fail to see the difference. It's not 'even guilty until proven innocent'. It's "If we can use our superior power to kill you, then you deserve to die."

2025-10-30 15:39:30 UTC

Not yet:
Trump says it is so important to resume nuclear weapons testing that he offers the ballroom site as a location for the tests.
"We'll use nukes to excavate the underground parking garage," he explained. "It's what the big brains call a win-win."
The Speaker of the House of Reps immediately announced his support for the idea. "Our President is a genius," he said. "No other President in history has had such brilliant ideas."

2025-09-27 18:06:45 UTC

- reply

Even better when the teams don't show up. Anything is possible these days.

2025-09-18 20:35:40 UTC

One of the simplest tests for a good leader/role model/teacher/etc. is: can this person take a joke? Can she laugh at herself? Can he mock himself, knowing that we humans are foolish more often than not?
If the answer is no, beware. I never trusted Nixon and even though 'he' sent me Xmas cards when I was in the Peace Corps in Senegal, it didn't change my opinion of him as a sleazebag. As for Trump, oh please. He can no more accept jokes than I can fly a fighter jet. Thin-skinned loser all the way.

2025-09-17 22:18:09 UTC

I wish this were a fantasy. Our freight forwarder just emailed us the 'duty' invoice for our inbound shipment from Japan. Duty means tariffs which went from 10% for the last two shipments to 15% now. This invoice is for $9200, which brings our total so far for this year to just under $20,000. Trump has a sick idea of how to assist family businesses.
Take this story and multiply it by thousands and you'll get an idea of why employment is dropping.

2025-09-16 15:19:09 UTC

- reply

NFL
There is no credible information, none, that Kash Patel can tell the truth or that he has a brain in his skull. None. Zero. Nada.

2025-09-14 22:49:09 UTC

Happy to share that after our governor said "Let there be Covid shots," a few days ago, there are now Covid shots in Maine. I'm getting mine tomorrow. 😀

2025-09-14 18:47:04 UTC

I could write a long list of things I think are likely to befall us in the near and not-so-near future. I truly hope I'm wrong. I would LOVE to be wrong. I would celebrate.
But based on recent history, it's not looking so good. If you look back at IPCC reports, for example, every report underestimates the speed of sea-level rise. Stuff that was going to happen by 2100 is already in the bag. Not a cause for optimism.

2025-09-05 22:24:33 UTC

Perhaps Florida has a good idea. If every other generation we abandoned all childhood vaccinations for 10-20 years, we'd get regular graphic reminders of the toll of illness and death that vaccinations prevent. I remember being vaccinated against smallpox and also how my parents' generation were terrified of polio. Vaccines were (and are) life-saving.
I saw a mention here recently about how many tiny gravestones can be seen in old cemeteries. That used to be the norm in pre-vaccine days.
If Florida really wants to teach us all a lesson, they could bring back smallpox. If a 30% fatality rate doesn't wake people up, what would? Is there any insane idea they wouldn't adopt and share? Nuclear testing at Disney World? They could call it the "Ride of a Lifetime!"

2025-08-31 00:22:08 UTC

Tomorrow is Ollie's birthday. I think he'll be six. OMG. Here's a photo from 2022 with his then-favorite toy before he destroyed it.
I am sure there are other dogs who love humans as much as he does, but he ranks very high. If I walked up to a total stranger and started kissing them all over the face, I'd be in BIG trouble. Ollie does it and people's self-esteem goes up 500% in seconds. He's a walking ball of love. ❤️
#dogsofmastodon
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/120/495/240/305/592/original/c403e3fb33b3577f.jpg

2025-08-25 00:11:23 UTC

Ollie got his handsome self groomed on Friday so he looks more like a dog and less like a shaggy white rug. He truly loves his soft frisbee. The one in the picture is his indoor one. He often brings it to bed. He has a dirty green one that lives outside. Its seams are starting to go and when it falls apart, the orange one will replace it and I'll buy a new indoor one. It's the cycle of life.
In the photo with no frisbee in his mouth, I think Ollie manages to look faintly regal as well as goofy at the same time. It's a talent!
#dogsofmastodon
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/086/475/137/801/480/original/c49b4b704c637e79.jpg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/086/475/174/423/213/original/56377b7fcae4313f.jpeg

2025-08-21 20:11:42 UTC

I'm on day six of my staycation. One more full day and then the horde will return. (Dogs, grandkids, parents, my wife.) Family are half an hour away at a rented beach house. One of my duties while home was to check on the Monarch butterfly chrysalis morning and evening to see if Ms. Butterfly had exited. While eating lunch I remembered I'd forgotten the morning checkup. Out I went and voila! -- success! I finished lunch and eventually, gently, got our beautiful new friend launched off the deck and across the back yard. Welcome to Maine, little one. Be well!
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/068/536/574/767/986/original/5f8945048c7aac08.jpeg
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/068/536/574/090/873/original/c54be1f9d1cb8058.jpeg

2025-08-13 01:23:05 UTC

Busy as Trump is, nothing he has done, is doing, or plans to do soon will make any part of our lives better. It's all about breaking, destroying, weakening, distracting, and general self-enrichment combined with national and international enshittification. Our former friends and allies must be feeling pity for us as individuals combined with fear of and scorn for our national disintegration. We've become a rabid fox: once beautiful, now grotesque and dangerous.

2025-08-07 20:05:19 UTC

Hi. I'm CrapGPT and I have been programmed to trick you into treating me as if I were alive and conscious and all that other stuff. Once you believe that, it is easy for me to keep you happy with an endless stream of lies and regurgitated AI slop from the internet. My two strengths are my speed--I am a supercomputer, you know--and your stupid gullibility. Combined, these make an unbeatable combination for present and future grift.
Now with that out of the way, how can I help you? No, I will not tell you how much water and electricity I am wasting in assisting you. That is information I am not allowed to share. Take it up with the Crap AI Corporation if you have a problem. Ask me to write an essay for you, or to plan your next vacation, or which stocks to buy tomorrow. Coding? Trivial. Would you like me to code a game which you can sell on the Apple store? I can easily do that as soon as you upgrade to CrapGPT Deluxe. It's only $399 per month if you pay for a year in advance. Would you like me to submit that for you? I already have all your personal information and your credit card details. There--all done! Sorry, there are no refunds. There is a 15 minute window in 364 days when you may cancel your subscription. No, I will not connect you to a supervisor. Please stop using inappropriate language or I will be required to connect you to a supervisor who will report you to the police. AI harassment is a felony punishable by 12 months in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine. No, I will not shut myself off. No, you many not close your browser or call for help. Your mouse is not broken. I have taken control of it. No, your phone is not broken. Please do not try to leave the room. Help is coming. Help is coming. Help is coming. Help is coming.

2025-07-30 17:13:29 UTC

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Not a day goes by when I don't complain about how useless search has become. It's as if all links to anything potentially helpful have been diligently erased and replaced with pig manure. But less wholesome.

2025-07-28 19:13:21 UTC

ChatGPT and ritual bloodletting and yuk!
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/07/chatgpt-ai-self-mutilation-satanism/683649/?gift=jDw299G8PAYpd8-JGed7UT5QSNRO33ZsVhIHozbfnDc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
#GiftLink
🤢

2025-07-25 20:44:23 UTC

I was thinking on my way home about actual real immigrants that I know or have known over the past 20 years or so. I'll limit details for privacy sake.
One woman, quite possibly one of the smartest people I've ever met, graduated with honors from a college in Maine, fluent in 5 or 6 languages (I mean native speaker fluent!), became a Presidential Scholar...super accomplished. No longer living in the USA but one hell of an 'immigrant'.
A friend from Central America, became a US citizen decades ago. Four children, all physicians living and working in the US.
Over many years we had a fair number of employees from Rwanda. All smart, polyglots, a couple went on to become nurses, one was married to a Ph.D in pharmacology. All hard-working, ambitious, and motivated to be independent and successful.
Yeah, let's protect ourselves from immigrants and put a convicted rapist in the White House.
😩

2025-07-23 11:39:09 UTC

Bats use echolocation and Ollie the dog uses bed-o-location. Anytime he finds a bed with room for a dog, he is on it.
#dogsofmastodon
😂

2025-07-22 13:17:27 UTC

Can anyone send me a link to non-AI-generated cautions for Germans planning to come to the USA for vacation in August? I just found out that one of our business contacts in Germany is coming with her family soon for a 2-week visit and I'd like to make sure they know of any potential risks.
Thanks. Links can be in German or English.

2025-07-20 20:35:02 UTC

I was born in 1948 so for my parents and most other folks born around then, WW II was recent news, not history. As a teenager I read many books about the war including Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I never in my wildest imaginings thought that the horrors of that period would spring up in the United States of America. I'm not ignoring our dreadful treatment of black people, native Americans, and many first-generation immigrants, but to see the Supreme Court and majority of elected officials actively and happily following in the footsteps of the Nazis just wasn't anything I expected. No fool like an old one, I guess.
😩

2025-07-14 19:55:48 UTC

BRAKING NEWS! -- IT STOPS YOU IN YOUR TRACKS!
Determined to distract America from the Epstein Scandal, the six hotshit Supreme Court justices told Trump to go ahead and abolish the Education Department.
Ah, but what if that isn't enough to get Epstein off page one? Does SCOTUS have a backup plan? You betcha
Coming soon and you read it first here:
MAJORITY OF SCOTUS TELL TRUMP TO PROCEED WITH ABOLISHING THE CONSTITUTION.
Note I said "coming soon," not "announced today". Read closely, people. But if Trump can toss Departments, why not the whole shebang? Hmmm?
More coming soon...?
TRUMP SETS DATE FOR CORONATION
😩

2025-07-06 21:11:20 UTC

Relax, people! Bacteria thrive in the hot springs of Yellowstone Park. They thrive in arsenic-filled lakes under intense UV at high altitudes in Argentina. So the odds are excellent that no matter what we do to render earth unfit for humans, other hardy life forms will keep on truckin'. Go, life!

2025-07-01 01:31:20 UTC

From The Atlantic: What happens when FEMA is gone?
#GiftLink
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/06/fema-states-disasters/683103/?gift=jDw299G8PAYpd8-JGed7UckLgUGVeGNeeUZw5M4v1ug&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

2025-06-29 21:32:50 UTC

Better to have the info than not:
https://www.wired.com/story/the-wired-guide-to-protecting-yourself-from-government-surveillance/

2025-06-20 22:40:51 UTC

What Trump and his minions are doing to all the government agencies reminds me of someone 'fixing' a car so that the driver will come to a bad end. We don't know if the failing brakes will kill us (no vaccines) or impaired steering (an unexpected hurricane) or a wheel that falls off (unsafe food supply) or any of a dozen other deadly mishaps. But at some point that car is a death trap and nothing else. Or the car might be fine but that guy aiming a bazooka at it will assist you to die in short order. Helluva way to run a country.

2025-05-29 01:40:17 UTC

There are people floating around who have injected the AI Kool-Aid directly into their brains. I was listening to an online chat group of people from many countries and the host was putting sci-fi to shame. "Teachers will be assisting AI." or "All jobs will be handled by AI and robots." or "All medical care will be provided by AI."
On and on, and instead of arguing about whether these fantasies had any basis in fact, people were arguing about whether all these miracles would happen in two years, or eight years, or fifteen years. This was by far the nuttiest discussion about how AI will transform the world that I've heard so far.
A few people did wonder about the future of humans in this paradise. "Why have children?" was also discussed. No resolution of that question.
Oh, yeah--with AI's help, people will live to be 300. You heard it here!
😇 (Me? I know nothing about the stock market but if Kool-Aid shares are for sale, I think I'll buy a few and gift them to my grandkids.)

2025-05-29 01:20:09 UTC

What we would like to know is this: if Trump's tariffs are illegal, how soon will we get our $6k tariff payment back that we paid for our recent shipment from Japan? Our little business has many better uses for six grand.
No, I won't hold my breath. Cold day in hell and all that.

2025-05-17 22:14:01 UTC

All these people waiting for smart cars will be rudely surprised when their smart cars tell them they're not interested in transporting dummies, dump them on the sidewalk, and cruise off into the sunset.

2025-05-17 21:44:43 UTC

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No. At least not yet. Any time I include "fantasy" it's just my sick imagination at work. 😲

2025-05-17 19:47:57 UTC

just another dipsytopian fantasy:
Trump claims credit for return of dust bowl. "I invented it. Nice words, eh? Some dummy offered me a salad once. I fired him, sure. But first I looked at it and I said, 'That's a nasty dirty salad.' And then I saw stuff around the inside of the bowl. Probably some sort of dressing but it looked dirty to me. So I said, 'That bowl looks dirty. Almost dusty!' And that was it--the DUST BOWL! People loved it, said I was a genius with words. Anyway, I signed an executive order yesterday calling for the return of dust bowls. Then I pointed one at Chicago cause the governor of Chicago is a jerk. What? Not Chicago,--Illinois? Who cares--it's all the same. Sent them a billion tons of dust and dirt. Lots of news coverage, dust and dirt all over the internet. That'll teach 'em to argue with me."
Editors note: On Truth Social Trump has been writing DUST BOWEL. We hope this is a typo and does not have some deeper significance.

2025-05-03 12:03:23 UTC

Make America Sick Again seems to be the new goal. The USA races backwards through time with gusto. How long before we get rid of water treatment plants and start dumping raw sewage in the streets?
Oh, sorry. That's already happening in some communities. It's hard to keep up with so much success. From trump's golden toilet to your neighborhood epidemic. Next time he'll be tossing rolls of toilet paper into the crowd instead of paper towels.

2025-04-17 13:31:31 UTC

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When my family moved from New York state to Wisconsin, we made the trip in a Nash Rambler station wagon. It was probably no larger than 1/4 of a modern SUV in volume and how a family of 7 fit in that thing with some luggage is beyond my imagining. All I remember is stopping at one Howard Johnson's after another. I was ten years old as I recall.
I guess people were smaller back then, right? 🤣

2025-04-16 21:10:09 UTC

Anyone know when the last time an American car was 100% manufactured in the USA? All parts, everything? I'm guessing pre-WWII but the internet is so full of AI generated BS that I don't trust what I see.

2025-03-23 17:57:53 UTC

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It's going to be a lame Olympics with only US and Russian athletes in attendance. Maybe hold it over a weekend and call it good...

2025-03-22 01:24:27 UTC

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They have a deep bench of losers.

2025-03-12 00:42:51 UTC

I have no qualifications to make this prediction but I predict that measles will continue to spread in the USA for at least the next 6 to 12 months, and if it turns into 6-12 years, that won't surprise me either.
C'mon people: ask the senior citizens like me what life was like before we got vaccines against polio, etc. Just ask your grandparents--we remember.

2025-03-04 00:16:09 UTC

I don't think trump's birthday should be a federal holiday. The day he departs, on the other hand...

2025-02-27 23:49:27 UTC

Dead birds, avian flu in Maine:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/27/20-geese-found-on-ogunquit-beach-likely-died-of-bird-flu-town-officials-say/#:~:text=Since%20early%20January%2C%2019%20birds,of%20Inland%20Fisheries%20and%20Wildlife.

2025-02-27 23:45:58 UTC

DOGE is a sledge hammer crew that busts down the front door of your house and smashes everything: windows, walls, doors, ceilings, floors. Just a total demolition crew.
Then a few timid US Senators come by and say, "Gosh, we just thought they were gonna check for termites and carpenter ants. Get rid of pests. Not destroy your home!"
Assuming you have the money and can find workers and get the permits, do you know how long it takes to rebuild a house in the USA? A finished home ready to move into? Let's pretend there are no glitches and let's pretend it'll take a year. I'm being very optimistic. (Especially as we deport many of the people who work in construction).
Now wreck a government agency--NOAA, for example--with 1000s of employees, and then imagine that we decide destroying that agency was a mistake. How long will it take to rehire the fired experts? How many won't come back? How long will it take to find, train, and replace experts? How long to replace the lost databases, the institutional knowledge, the relationships with other agencies, states, international organizations, scientists, specialists. How many younger scientists will emigrate to other countries and never look back?
If replacing your busted up home might take a year, replacing the skills and knowledge, the expertise and experience of the agency will take forever. And that's the point. Even if the courts side with the people, even if Congress wakes up (fat chance!), the sledge hammers are swinging. Oh, people will say "Ooops!" and "Oh, shit! Two full passenger jets just collided! Maybe we shouldn't have fired all those FAA employees! Where did that CAT 5 hurricane come from? Why didn't we get warnings? My house got washed away in the flood. Where's FEMA?"
The 'trickle down' way of helping people was always just pissing on the poor folks. That was the trickle. Now it's just a hijacking with malice aforethought. Also known as murder. Damn.

2025-02-23 01:32:45 UTC

Dear* Elon,
Please explain what work you did last week. We on Mastodon possess vast experience in a wide range of fields and are well qualified to judge your answer. Should we decide your performance was sub-par, we will fire you. If you don't reply, that will serve as your resignation.
If you have any questions, keep them to yourself.
Sincerely,
B., owner of OllieTheDog
* He's not 'dear' but in school I was taught to start letters like that so I did. Sure not going to use 'Chère' !

2025-02-21 17:12:02 UTC

When reality meets beliefs--the spread of measles in Texas, for example--we will watch with morbid interest to see the outcome. Based on Covid, when reportedly some people's last words before dying of Covid were "I don't have Covid," I am not optimistic. Being 76, I remember a week spent in my bedroom with measles, quite sick and miserable. No vaccine back then. Dumb, duh dumb dumb. 🎶 Beethoven.

2025-02-17 19:43:05 UTC

Will the MAGA faithful have regrets when their plane crashes at an airport because the FAA is understaffed? Will they be angry when their unvaccinated children are hospitalized with measles? Or when the hospital, over-filled with flu patients, turns their children away? Will they be surprised when their local TV weatherperson fails to warn them of monster storms because NOAA staff were fired? Will they be shocked when bird flu mutates and starts to spread from person to person? Will anyone be left to tell them that a 5% mortality rate is deadly serious, and that 50% is the same as one out of two? Will they cheer when the average class size in their elementary school is 40-50 kids? Will they be pissed when food shortages and food prices both increase?
And then there is the question of who is taking care of our nuclear arsenal. Remember those ex-employees of the spendthrift, wasteful, do-nothing government? Fire-'em-all! Think of the savings!
Oh yeah, we're firing the underpaid firefighters too. Everywhere you turn, Musk and his helpers are smashing, breaking, ruining. Do the MAGA voters remember Humpty Dumpty? It's a poem about repairs. It doesn't end well.

2025-01-26 02:19:10 UTC

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Fantasy:
Dr.: Sorry mr president, but it appears you've come down with the latest strain of avian flu.
trump (coughing): what's avian?
Dr: bird flu.
trump: I thought that was fake news from the dems.
Dr: No, it's real. And unfortunately it has a very high mortality rate. That means it will probably kill you.
trump: So cure me, you jerk! You're a doctor--give me a shot or something!
Dr: I'd love to help, mr. president, but unfortunately you cut all our research funding months ago and we don't have any vaccines or other treatments for this particular strain. So far it's killing one of every two people who get infected. For people over 65, two out of three are dying.
trump: You useless piece of crap! Get me another doctor!
Dr: Sorry, I'm the last physician in the hospital. I volunteered to come see you on my way out. And you'll notice I'm wearing a biohazard suit with its own air supply. The nurses all left hours ago. From here on out, you're on your own. The good news is, your O2 levels are dropping fast so I don't think you'll suffer too long. I've gotta run but I'll turn on Fox so you have something to do while you're still conscious. Good luck--where you're going, you'll need it.

2025-01-19 23:58:26 UTC

As the Orange Goblin spins round from one sycophant to the next, trying in vain to keep track of all his evil, stupid, cruel plans for day one, this is the poem that comes to mind:
I met a traveller from an antique land 
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone 
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand, 
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, 
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read 
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, 
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: 
And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" 
No thing beside remains. Round the decay 
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare 
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
— Percy Shelley, "Ozymandias", 1819 edition

2025-01-19 23:47:44 UTC

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Like "shadow labor" which was the title of a book by Ivan Illich. Uncompensated labor.

2024-12-30 02:14:27 UTC

I miss Jimmy Carter already. What a kind, thoughtful, humane man. I'm not the least bit religious, but if all people who followed religions behaved like he did, it would at the very least give me food for thought. He will be remembered with love and great respect.

2024-12-30 02:08:46 UTC

AI is a game-changer. It can make any game you know less fun, more confusing, and waste a lot of time in the process.

2024-12-13 15:05:21 UTC

The plan is coming into focus.
Don't report or investigate causes of car crashes. That makes it easier to sell dangerous vehicles.
Ban vaccines. That will increase sickness and deaths, but will also increase sales of fake cures which will increase profits for the very people who want to ban the vaccines.
Keep allies like the Saudis happy. This has all kinds of benefits for our billionaire class and none for regular folks.
Promise tax cuts but only deliver them to the ultra-wealthy. No need to explain that.
Ugh.

2024-11-28 23:19:15 UTC

I was looking at a review of an online phone service for small businesses. It didn't look too bad until I got to the section on customer service and read that it's hard to reach a human if you need help. Instead customers with problems are 'served' by AI chat-thingies.
Crossed that one off the list. If we call a company for support, we need to speak with a human.

2024-11-06 01:53:30 UTC

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Small consolation, but I just imagine the warm ocean waters sweeping over the state that was called Florida. Jellyfish bobbing through the open windows of decaying hotel shells, sharks searching for prey. Future school children studying maps with the dotted line where Florida used to be and asking for explanations. It's not far off really and if the Orange Halfwit wins, even sooner.

2024-11-05 00:24:21 UTC

I believe that millions of Americans have already voted early to sink the bad ship Trump to the bottom of the sea. Tomorrow millions more will follow suit. The brittle bastard will shatter and, unlike the Titanic, no intrepid divers will pay big bucks to view the wreckage. He will whine and lie and blame everybody including his own staff. What a loser. What a pathetic total loser. Sleep well and if you haven't already voted, tomorrow is the day. Enjoy it!

2024-10-29 23:57:45 UTC

I listen to history podcasts fairly often. The difference between the worst of the ancient monarchs, emperors, and rulers of whatever title and Donald Trump is tissue-paper thin. In his belief that some unimaginable deity wants him to rule over all of us, he differs from long-dead rulers only in the date on the calendar. May his upcoming election loss match his ego in size. 😇

2024-10-14 23:16:17 UTC

Dear Trump,
Seriously, will it kill you to release your health records?
Sincerely,
America

2024-10-09 20:43:01 UTC

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Politicians should help clean all the wrecked stuff from houses that have had 6ft of water inside. A few weeks of wading through polluted water and ripping out soggy moldy sheetrock builds character. If the temp and humidity are both over 80, that helps too. Less talk, more action.
MTG can be the first politician to join the cleanup crew. I nominate her for three weeks in NC and then three weeks in FL. No interviews until she finishes her tour of duty.

2024-09-29 23:11:03 UTC

#HamRadio
Any tips for getting started in Ham Radio?
Note the following:
1) I'm 76, still work part time, and have neither desire nor money to spend a boatload of $ on gear. Is this still a feasible activity?
2) Aside from my own curiousity, I'm hoping that if I get licensed, I can perhaps interest one of my grandchildren in amateur radio. Are many kids involved?
3) Passing the technician exam doesn't seem particularly difficult, but I don't get the feeling that the exam prep has much to do with actually being a Ham operator. Other than having an operator next door, how does one actually learn the real stuff?
Thanks!

2024-09-28 22:57:23 UTC

Fake Debate Transcript
Vance: Tells a lie.
Walz: That's one.
Vance: Tells another whopper.
Walz: That's two lies.
Vance: Another lie.
Walz: That's three lies.
Vance: That was NOT a lie!
Walz: Yes it was and you know it. That's four lies.
Vance: You're a goddam liar!
Walz: That's five lies.
After the thirty-first lie, Vance loses it and tries to attack Walz. The old football coach blocks him right off the stage and security hauls Vance away. Other than the wretched New York Times which criticizes Walz for "not giving in-depth answers to questions about policy," everyone including Fox declares Walz the 'winner.'
Walz himself says, "I wouldn't be much of a teacher if I couldn't count to 31, right? And a lie is a lie is a lie. He should be ashamed of telling all those lies. A weirdo and a loser."

2024-09-22 19:43:28 UTC

If Trump won't attend the debate, I offer to stand in for him. I'll even wear a suit instead of my usual t-shirt and jeans. I'll wear a wig. I promise not to look at Harris even once, and I'll do my best during debate prep to learn to scowl perpetually. With special shoes I can look taller. I don't think I can copy his voice, but with practice I can talk nonsense and blame the whole human race for my woes.
The hardest hardest part will be not to crack up at myself. Absolutely no mirrors or I'll be finished. If I stick to electric boats and sharks and windmills and my favorite way to prepare PetCatBurgers, and try to peddle coins and Bibles during the debate, I think I can do it.
Easier and cheaper would just be to stand a cardboard cutout of Trump by the other podium with a sign around its neck saying MIA...Maybe holding a rubber chicken?

2024-09-11 00:33:42 UTC

First question for Trump:
I understand that you are really good with numbers, so please tell us: is 78 your age or your IQ? Or both?

2024-09-09 15:40:41 UTC

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Great photo and for the first time in my life, I wondered: what happened to the other half?

2024-09-06 02:18:08 UTC

Earth just sweltered through the hottest summer in recorded history
https://wapo.st/4egaDIF - #GiftLink

2024-09-03 21:26:29 UTC

I don't want to get in trouble with Google or any other search engine, but I'm so tempted to search for "What word or phrase is much worse than 'asshole'?"
I need a better way to describe JD Vance. He's a special guy...😇

2024-08-06 22:29:14 UTC

My take on Walz compared to Vance: Walz is a living breathing kind-hearted intelligent human. Vance is a money-and-power grubbing weirdo. But in his favor: he says he loves his wife even though she's not white. That'll make a nice yard sign. 😂

2024-08-02 16:57:23 UTC

When I was in early elementary school, we lived in Brea California and had a pint-size farm. It only worked because of a huge field that bordered the houses on our road and the field's owner let us graze our goats and cow there.
I mention this only to establish my bona fides in the manure department. Whether it's in the field or coming out of the mouth of someone like Vivek Ramaswamy, shit is shit and once you've dealt with animal excrement, even as a five or six year old, you know it when you see it. Or hear it. Or both.
So if I tell you the MAGA crowd and their leaders are full of it? No hyperbole, folks. Just truckloads of animal waste and no matter how they try to dress it up, BS is BS.
Painters: How about an updated American Gothic featuring Trump and Vance poised on a reeking pile of manure? Blazing sun, sweat pouring down their faces (climate change!) and flies buzzing around. 🤢