the slices are on the house
Posted by Michelle Moquin on February 21st, 2011
Good morning!
I was curious yesterday how my blog has changed from a few years ago to today. Strictly speaking I was only curious about my writing. Not my writing style but the actual length and content of my writing. My big question was this: “Was I personally writing more back then?” I was nervous that I wasn’t giving enough of myself to this blog as I used to.
I thought that I was writing a lot more years ago, but when I went back and looked, what I found I didn’t expect. Yes, I did personally write more but most of my writing was blog comments to my readers, with very little writing in the form of “topic content”. (And I rarely re-posted articles) Only a few paragraphs there. That surprised me. I had envisioned that I was writing long, flowing, content full writes. Nope, I wasn’t.
No wonder I have felt that writing my blog takes me so much more time than it used to. It actually does. I am actually spending more time reading and doing research than I used to, and I am writing a lot more.
But wait a minute, let me correct myself. What I should really say is that the daily write is longer because I am not only doing my monologue (most of the time. {Or is it sometimes now?} ), but there is more content to copy and paste, and more readers to respond to, than let’s say 3 years ago, or even 2.
My writing also changed when I turned into a political animal during the 2008 elections. I became involved in the election, and turned into a major news junkie who just couldn’t get enough. And because I began to include more writes from other authors, I of course had to link back and give credit.
And I began to write more about the happenings in the world and less about the happenings in my life. And that itself is more difficult, in more ways than I need to say. Let’s just say that it takes more focus and brain power.
And even now, logistically I do more. It takes quite some time to link all of my comments in response, back to your original comments. I like doing this though because it helps my readers be able to stay easily connected with whatever is said between me and my readers. The reality is I am giving more…a different kind of more, than I used to.
It may look like it is easy to pull it all together and post every morning but I can tell you it isn’t. Some days are easier than others and some days the format just wants to do it’s own thing, and I’m constantly adjusting. It can be a bitch, especially when I am on a time constraint. But I deal as best as I can. But hey, the bottom line is, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it.
So why am I telling you all of this? I really have no idea. I guess I just found it interesting to go back, way back, and read. And I wanted to share with you what I discovered. And then well…my fingers just kept tapping every other thought that came after, so I HOPE you don’t mind.
So now you have it; the backside of a blog view in a nutshell :) I’m done.
so what about today’s topic?
I’m going to be brief and just blog a few sentences on “kindness”.
I am still so impressed with the Wisconsin protestors for sticking with their beliefs by fighting for their rights. And evidently so is the pizza man. Ian’s Pizza in Madison, got bombarded the other day with over 40 phone calls from supporters who wanted to buy pizza for the protestors who were demonstrating a block away at Wisconsin Capital.
I am guessing the Owner Ian Gurfield, was inspired by the local and country wide hospitality that he decided to join in on the fun and support the protestors himself, by giving out free pizza to those walking into his pizza parlor. Gurfield gave out the next 600 slices free to the protestors who packed his parlor.
Kudos to the supporters and Gurfield for their kindness and generosity!
…….
Josie: Thanks for posting the article. The other day Shawn posted about the poisonous vaccines that have been given to humans. So of course our four-legged furry friends would not be treated any better. The Rabies vaccine is the only one that we give Lucy every three years. And I’m hesitant to do that but like for cats it is the law. Do you have anything that you can post about vaccines for dogs? I would appreciate it! Thanks.
Emily: This one was cute. How are you? You have been posting these little funnies for me and my readers for quite some time now but I have no idea who you are as a person.
Tiffany: I think your “feeling” is correct. My gut was more like me in my haste yesterday morning. What can I say..this girl is not always right on. :)
Readers: What’s on your mind today? Care to share? Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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February 21st, 2011 at 10:01 am
How to Spot a Ponzi Scheme
Dan Brecher, Esq.
In December 2008, Bernard Madoff, a widely respected money manager and former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested for securities fraud.
Operating a classic Ponzi scheme,* Madoff fleeced $50 billion from banks, charities, 401(k) plans, a US senator and many individual investors by using funds from new clients to pay off older ones.
Faced with mounting losses, he confessed to perhaps the biggest scam in Wall Street history, prompting investors everywhere to wonder just who they can trust.
Red flags that Madoff’s clients should have been alert to — and that no investor should ignore…
Profits that sound too good to be true. Even Warren Buffett loses money sometimes. Madoff’s fund returned about 1% to 2% every month.
Such a steady performance should have raised eyebrows — but it opened wallets instead.
Fuzzy investment strategy. Madoff reportedly would say, “It’s a proprietary strategy.
I can’t go into it in great detail.” Investors who cannot decipher a fund’s methodology on their own should ask a fee-based adviser whether it makes sense.
If the adviser can’t make sense of it, stay away. While the independent review may cost $500 or more, it can save you a fortune.
Obscure accountants. The accounting firm that Madoff used was a little-known company that reportedly operated from a tiny office staffed with only three employees.
Trap: A big-name accounting firm is no guarantee either. In fact, it can lull investors into a false sense of security.
Feeder funds, which market investments from other companies, may retain a major accounting firm to audit their own books — but not necessarily the books of the investment managers they “feed” into.
Investors should find out who is auditing the company where the money ends up.
Promise of exclusivity. Madoff’s clients were invited to join an exclusive circle. Not just anyone could invest.
The marketing approach was, “It is a privilege to invest with us.” It is not unusual for exclusivity to be based upon a minimum required investment of a substantial amount, but in Madoff’s case, you typically had to know someone to get in.
Unwillingness to answer questions. Investors who asked too many questions were actually kicked out of Madoff’s fund.
At the least, you should be given sufficient detail to allow you or your adviser to understand the investment strategy being used and how results are calculated, reported and audited.
Other self-defense strategies…
Allocate wisely. Don’t put all your money in just one or two investments. Anything can go bust.
But also beware of too diversified a portfolio. Tracking more than 15 or 20 investments is difficult.
Don’t invest solely on the say-so of a friend or colleague.
The recommendation may be well-intentioned but naïve. It’s your money. Do your own due diligence.
Review monthly or quarterly statements.
In some cases, the statements from Madoff’s firm did not even contain the names of any securities — which should have raised eyebrows, at least.
*Ponzi schemes are named for Charles Ponzi, who swindled thousands of New Englanders in a 1920s postage stamp speculation scheme.
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Dan Brecher, Esg., a securities attorney in New York City who specializes in claims against brokerage firms.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:06 am
Michelle, you are too cute sometimes. I can say that your readers like me have grown with you.
We like what we see.
Sharon
February 21st, 2011 at 10:12 am
You are not the only one who has grown with your blog. You have made an environment that allows others to grow too. That is a great gift.
I like the maturity of Howie he has changed from an angry defensive inputer of facts to a caring introspective informer.
Zen Lill is well, Zen Lill.
Al has changed, he doesn’t feel the need to defend Howie and he has become his own personality. I have always felt that Al was a wit waiting to be let out.
Thanks for being patient with him and allowing him to contribute in his own special style.
Clark
February 21st, 2011 at 10:14 am
Michelle:
Great write today. I like your cool. You take the criticisms and you keep publishing.
You are my role model.
Lisa
February 21st, 2011 at 10:27 am
Write on! Michelle.
I have been here since the beginning. You have definitely grown. No topic is off limits, and you have the most open blog on the net.
My girl friends can’t believe what is said on this blog. The more people I tell about it the more friends I make. Everyone loves your attitude and OMG your back-up regulars are to die for.
What blog wouldn’t give the souls for them. Howie, Zen Lill, Al, the TAO and you even have a very cute hulk in that silvery tongue husband of yours.
Heavens knows I’d sleep with either of you or the both of you at the same time.
My day really doesn’t begin until I’ve read your blog.
Debra
February 21st, 2011 at 10:28 am
i like your LET’EM VENT philosophy.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:37 am
The Mississippi Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans wants to sponsor a state-issued license plate to honor Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan. The Sons are sponsoring a series of Mississippi license plates to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and would include the Forrest vehicle tag that would be issued in 2014. Several organizations, including the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP have asked Gov. Haley Barbour to condemn any attempt to honor Forrest with a license plate.
Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was a traitor, a racist, and some say, a murderer–basically the trifecta of despicability.
Yet, despite this man’s heinous history and outrageous character flaws, Mississippi is seriously considering issuing an official state license plate in his honor. Hell, while they’re at it, Mississippi officials might as well crank out state license tags honoring Osama bin Laden or Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The plates, including the one for Forrest, could be marketed as the state’s homage to terrorists.
For those who have never heard of Gen. Forrest. Well, let me school you.
Forrest, a native of Tennessee, was an infamous Confederate general who is notorious for leading his rebels in a massacre of black Union soldiers. Upwards of 270 black federal troops were killed at Fort Pillow in the spring of 1864, most of them bayoneted, put to the sword, or shot after surrendering. Following the South’s defeat in the Civil War, Forrest continued to add to his ugly legacy by serving as a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. As a matter of fact he is credited as being a founder of that terrorist organization.
Despite Forrest’s sordid past, the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans nonetheless feel the general deserved special recognition. It was the Sons who approached the state with the idea of sponsoring a series of state-issued plates to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The license plate being issued this year by Mississippi features the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis. The vehicle tag featuring Forrest would be issued in 2014. That is of course, if someone doesn’t step in to stop such an outrage from occurring.
The Mississippi NAACP and a Facebook group opposed to the Forrest tag are doing exactly that and have asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to condemn attempts to honor Forrest with a license plate. Thus far, they have been unable to prevail on Barbour to denounce the idea.
If this upsets you like it does me, please take a moment to click the link and sign the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/mississippi-governor-denounce-attempts-to-honor-kkk-founder
February 21st, 2011 at 10:44 am
Michelle, I am relatively new(about 19 months) to your blog compared to some others. But I can see why you have a following.
Your blog is continually providing something for everyone to sink their teeth in. Plus you have Zen Lill who is just too unique to be real sometimes.
She makes me angry, envious, and I love her exercises. So does my mother. She says Zen Lill needed a stronger mother figure. But that’s my mother.
I think she is fine just the way she is. What a character!
You don’t want to get me started on Howie and Al, or Doug for that matter.
I will say Hafa Adai to Anna, I have made Guam my next vacation stop. You will be hearing for me on this blog Anna of Guam. Stay alert. I want that big Michelle Blog welcome!
Lots of Love to everybody
Tiffany
February 21st, 2011 at 10:46 am
Michelle, this is my first time writing in. I read your blog whenever I get the chance. You are beautiful!
I have a new respect for America because of you.
Aini
February 21st, 2011 at 11:02 am
Michelle:
I am a 48 year old anglo-saxon, married woman with two adult children and one teenage child. The latter being a boy.
I have been a teacher for 23 years. I live and work in the New York public school system.
I also love everything you stand for. You are the daughter every mother would be proud of: every woman would love to have as a sister.
Sometimes I think your blog is too much, and is certainly not for the timid of mind or minors. But it is a work solely needed.
Emily
February 21st, 2011 at 11:04 am
HI Mischa, I love this blog – I know, I say that all the time but it’s true…I go back out in archives for nostalgic reading myself ocassionally, you’ve grown, we’ve all grown although as Clark says, Zen Lill is, well, Zen Lill, whatever that means…I’m going to take it as a compliment, so, Thank you Clark for being so, well, Clark-ish : )
Larry, sweet of you to ask after me, I am here – sometimes I like to just not comment so I can catch up on reading what others have to say. Lately I’ve been thinking I’ve learned enough to know that I reallly know nothing for certain bc things are rarely as they seem.
Al, thank you for that GOP rundown re: women, I have a few male friends who are refreshingly into women ala Doug MD style and a few that think that I’m a little fervent (and part of me wants to tell them they can FRO, that’s fuck right off, but I actually am a much more caring individual who’d rather not throw out the baby with the bath water but rather educate said baby bc on many other levels these males are intelligent just ignorant about what should be referred to as ‘human rights’ not ‘women’s rights’) – you’re awesome and I”ll say it again, I’m so glad you’re back, it’s Al’a'mode which is ridiculously close to pie’ala’mode ; )
Clergy peeps everywhere, thank you, your comments to Al only clinched the deal on my ever held belief that the ‘church’ is – ah never mind, think I’ll just go watch ‘The Wizard of Oz’ : ) pretty much sums it all up, a lot of people are still sleeping out in the poppy fields deliciously unevolded, a part of me envies the blissfulness of that ignorance.
Misch, thansk for the Marianna Trench pic, saved me some time, I was unsure of the depth of the waters there but found myself at a party last night loosely piecing together underwater life, and um, aliens…I had the floor there was no doubt about that, tee hee…! I love my peeps, they were very open and they’re also very talented musicians and they’re the parents of my baby boy, who is crawling but resisted the urge to do that last night and sat with me for hours : ) pure heaven
Doug, main man, love your song clip, great voice and I’m glad it is your day job, that’s envious, someone doing what they love and making money while doing it. Maybe you can sing at Evelyn and Harris’s wedding, that’d be so cool.
Last night, I saw Donald Trump (and his hair) on a taped Piers interview show, he tossed out the idea of running for pres on the GOP ticket. Holy shit, anyway, he said he’s decide in June…let the games begin bc CNN ran the other list of ‘hopefuls’ – pretty lack luster bunch, if Pres Obama can manage to makle any progress with jobs/cash in peeps pockets over the next year or so, he’ll get another term, that’s just my long term guestimation, although it’d be fun to watch the Donald participate. 2 ideas that stuck with me, 1. start charging China a tax on all goods entering the US (get em’ to the negotiating table) where #2. he willk take the shark-ish Wall St bankers and let them negotiate what’s a fair charge/tax (rather than diplomats, who are, well, too diplomatic to get anywhere…) I thought both ideas were noteworthy on several levels…
Ok, gotta roll, will catch up on Sat read/comments later, thanks again for all you do, Misch, you really are living the ‘be the change you want to see’ and it is inspiring me today to get on it and go do the same (and go make more money already also, basics and great food are covered, but I am jonesing to ski and travel so bad I’m almost willing to become a sex worker : ) hahaha…!
Luv, Zen Lill
February 21st, 2011 at 11:14 am
Tiffany, angry and envious? Can you elaborate, not sure I understand, a few examples would be helpful. And…I hate to admit it but your mother has some insight, not sure my mother was up to the task of handling someone like me : ) I can’t really fault her, she raised her 5 younger bros/sistahs almost on her own, her mother was absent most of the time working and then she had 3 babies herself, I’m the youngest…I think she was just dog tired and then I come along? Oh please…I’m surprised I wasn’t put up for adoption : ) I look wayyy to much like my father for that though so she got a reprieve, he took the lead with me. I would love to know how your mother would recommend I ‘fix’ that now? Is it too late? : ) I do have a friend who is a therapist, she knows me a very long time, I call her ma or moms and sometimes she feels like what I missed. She’s baffled by me sometimes, too, though…maybe I’m just a conundrum of a personality/character? I’m laughing at that but maybe it’s true….
Thanks for the input though and I’m glad you like the exercises, reminds me about something I will write about weight/acceptance that’s very important, be back later….
Luv, Zen Lill
February 21st, 2011 at 11:22 am
Michelle:
We are going to change the leadership here in Lybia. Colonel Gaddafi will have to go.
We women belong to tribes and clans. We have no hope of ever getting equality because we are bartered as easily as one barters a camel, sheep or goat.
This will end with lots of deaths.
Habibah
February 21st, 2011 at 11:23 am
Wisconsin is an example of the absolute stupidity of white people. They voted in republicans who have stated that they will bust the unions. The unions are the only thing standing between the ordinary people and the power of the owners.
The governor and the republican party has exempted the police, firemen, and the state trooper’s unions from the law that would end collective bargaining for the rest of the unions in the state of the Wisconsin.
It is interesting that these are the three unions that supported his election to governor and the republican party.
There is no explaining the ignorance or pure stupidity of white people. Is it any wonder America has lost its lead in every major industry in the world except computers and finance.
The computer industry is supported by OTWS and the financial industry is protected because we are the Petro-Dollar.
What will it take for the white race to get a clue? Racial superiority and the hope to be in that super rich class seems to be their only desires.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:48 am
There is scuttle butt that Anonz or radical islamic factions are behind the people in arab countries rising up to bring down repressive governments and dictatorships.
Most of the demonstrations are well coordinated. They are not as spontaneous as they reported to be. Your blog for example has been used as a means of galvanizing the female participation.
The name “Madaline” is often heard during the spontaneous shouting by females as they gather to support the men.
It seems that stirring up the people may be being used to destabilize the Middle East.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:49 am
I agree with Leon. I maybe white but I still know a political payback when I see one. The fact that the governor exempted from the lost of collective bargaining rights the three unions that supported him in his election should say it all.
But it appears that the bulk of my race refuses to acknowledge the truth. The top one tenth of 1% of the population in the US hold 98% of the wealth of the country. Why we whites insist upon believing that we should continue to protect that sector in the hope that we will one day join their ranks is a mystery to me.
The republican party is pitting the main parts of the middle class against each other. While it was the crooked financial sector that caused the financial disaster we are faced with, the republicans are putting the unions agains the non union workers and encouraging them to fight for the scraps.
Ohio, and Indiana are also republican run states that will attempt to destroy the ability of unions to bargain. The discussions that lower the benefits is and should be negotiable.
The taxpayer only contributes 14% of the union’s pension upon retirement. But the taxpayer contributes 100% to the financiers when they retire.
Trent
February 21st, 2011 at 11:56 am
Indeed the sand will run red with blood in Lybia before the colonel will give up his hold on the billions in his control.
Sar-e Pol
February 21st, 2011 at 12:04 pm
We are faced with huge government arsenals. But we have taken Benghazi.
February 21st, 2011 at 12:10 pm
I will drive Gadaffi out of Lydia before the day is over, if he does not release 13 women he has imprisoned to be stoned to death for infidelity.
I have already demonstrated my power to his air force. They know what will happen if they fire one round.
Madaline
February 21st, 2011 at 12:13 pm
We support Gadaffi. We will die for him.
February 21st, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Madaline is so great! She is supreme because she does what she says she will.
Thousands are dying but we will follow her lead. She has Gadaffi and his son on the run.
The son is killing every one in his path. They have so much money stored in various countries.
I fear that the replacement will be religious manics. But we support Madaline.
Falak
February 21st, 2011 at 12:22 pm
This is crazy! are we being attacked by aliens or angles of Allah?
The sands and skies are in a terrible flux. Death is coming from the skies and the sands. Who is shooting who?
Our women are shrilling and racing about as if they are men.
February 21st, 2011 at 12:56 pm
An observation,
A mess on planet Earth: the people are unhappy and in-fighting
A mess in the heavens: the beings are unhappy searching for something they cannot find and appear to be in-fighting.
A mess in between: the hologram is definitely not functioning correctly. I note a request for help did go out but was ignored.
Access is very limited, and it appears intentional.
It makes no difference to me but for all of you, remember, you reap what you sow, and then where will you go when the Big Blue does blow?
February 21st, 2011 at 1:23 pm
6) POLICE # 2
?It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station.
As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me.
“Is that a dog you got back there?” he asked.?”It sure is,” I replied.
?Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van.
Finally he said, ‘What’d he do?’
?
February 21st, 2011 at 1:39 pm
In honor of your Black History week. Alexy asked me to take him back to Illinois in the time of Lincoln so he could observe him.
It was surprising that during that time, even though Illinois was not a slave state, the state of Illinois did not permit blacks to enter the state.
We came upon Lincoln as he was preparing to run against Douglas for the Presidency. Some of the interesting conversation arose when he was advised not to say that he supported equal rights for whites and blacks.
Lincoln said that that would make him as much a hypocrite as the men who drafted the document that said all men were created equal.
He was warned that if he wanted to get elected and eventually free those slaves, he had better not tell the voting white men that he was about to dilute their power by adding the votes of ex slaves to the count.
So we sat around and listened to Lincoln being instructed on how to counter Douglas’s claim that Lincoln was for giving the slaves equal rights to whites.
They eventually arrived at Lincoln saying that what he meant when he said all men were created equal as the Constitution states he meant that all men are equally entitled to better themselves.
Lincoln spat then looked at his advisors and said, “we all know that a man can not better himself if he has no access to the courts that make the rules about that equality.
Then he went on to say that he would hold his tongue until after he was elected, but he would free the slaves and see to it that they had the same rights as any white man at the polls and in the courts.
Alexy said that Obama should have been present for this discovery because he would feel better about the comprises he has to make so as not to offend his potential white voter support.
Adam
February 21st, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Anonymous #15, Anonz might be behind the uprising in the middle east you say? Hmm, I’d happily bet my life that you’re right…now there’s a man of action. No wonder males here are always envious of him and women here are all in love with him, he probably doesn’t care but he sure deserves the attention : )
Social Butterfly, thank you for the schooling, it is amazing what people can get away with…and then to ask to be honored for it, that just is absurd.
Ruth, where’ve you been? And if you know, how is Anonz?
-ZL
February 21st, 2011 at 4:09 pm
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
By Lev Grossman
On Feb. 15, 1965, a diffident but self-possessed high school student named Raymond Kurzweil appeared as a guest on a game show called I’ve Got a Secret. He was introduced by the host, Steve Allen, then he played a short musical composition on a piano. The idea was that Kurzweil was hiding an unusual fact and the panelists — they included a comedian and a former Miss America — had to guess what it was.
On the show the beauty queen did a good job of grilling Kurzweil, but the comedian got the win: the music was composed by a computer. Kurzweil got $200.
Kurzweil then demonstrated the computer, which he built himself — a desk-size affair with loudly clacking relays, hooked up to a typewriter. The panelists were pretty blasé about it; they were more impressed by Kurzweil’s age than by anything he’d actually done. They were ready to move on to Mrs. Chester Loney of Rough and Ready, Calif., whose secret was that she’d been President Lyndon Johnson’s first-grade teacher.
But Kurzweil would spend much of the rest of his career working out what his demonstration meant. Creating a work of art is one of those activities we reserve for humans and humans only. It’s an act of self-expression; you’re not supposed to be able to do it if you don’t have a self. To see creativity, the exclusive domain of humans, usurped by a computer built by a 17-year-old is to watch a line blur that cannot be unblurred, the line between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence.
That was Kurzweil’s real secret, and back in 1965 nobody guessed it. Maybe not even him, not yet. But now, 46 years later, Kurzweil believes that we’re approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity — our bodies, our minds, our civilization — will be completely and irreversibly transformed. He believes that this moment is not only inevitable but imminent. According to his calculations, the end of human civilization as we know it is about 35 years away.
Computers are getting faster. Everybody knows that. Also, computers are getting faster faster — that is, the rate at which they’re getting faster is increasing.
True? True.
So if computers are getting so much faster, so incredibly fast, there might conceivably come a moment when they are capable of something comparable to human intelligence. Artificial intelligence. All that horsepower could be put in the service of emulating whatever it is our brains are doing when they create consciousness — not just doing arithmetic very quickly or composing piano music but also driving cars, writing books, making ethical decisions, appreciating fancy paintings, making witty observations at cocktail parties.
If you can swallow that idea, and Kurzweil and a lot of other very smart people can, then all bets are off. From that point on, there’s no reason to think computers would stop getting more powerful. They would keep on developing until they were far more intelligent than we are. Their rate of development would also continue to increase, because they would take over their own development from their slower-thinking human creators. Imagine a computer scientist that was itself a super-intelligent computer. It would work incredibly quickly. It could draw on huge amounts of data effortlessly. It wouldn’t even take breaks to play Farmville.
Probably. It’s impossible to predict the behavior of these smarter-than-human intelligences with which (with whom?) we might one day share the planet, because if you could, you’d be as smart as they would be. But there are a lot of theories about it. Maybe we’ll merge with them to become super-intelligent cyborgs, using computers to extend our intellectual abilities the same way that cars and planes extend our physical abilities. Maybe the artificial intelligences will help us treat the effects of old age and prolong our life spans indefinitely. Maybe we’ll scan our consciousnesses into computers and live inside them as software, forever, virtually. Maybe the computers will turn on humanity and annihilate us. The one thing all these theories have in common is the transformation of our species into something that is no longer recognizable as such to humanity circa 2011. This transformation has a name: the Singularity.
The difficult thing to keep sight of when you’re talking about the Singularity is that even though it sounds like science fiction, it isn’t, no more than a weather forecast is science fiction. It’s not a fringe idea; it’s a serious hypothesis about the future of life on Earth. There’s an intellectual gag reflex that kicks in anytime you try to swallow an idea that involves super-intelligent immortal cyborgs, but suppress it if you can, because while the Singularity appears to be, on the face of it, preposterous, it’s an idea that rewards sober, careful evaluation.
You can read the full article here:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
February 21st, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Here is Raymond Kurzweil, explaining the coming of Singularity, in his own words:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uIzS1uCOcE&NR=1
I am interested in what the aliens have to say about this.
February 21st, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Dear Blog Readers:
This is an e-mail I received from hcan@healthcareforamericanow.org
Help is needed all over the united States. The Middle Class of the USA is being attacked by the Rich Corporations who own our Republican Government. Please read this and help if you can. At least sign the petition — It takes 1 minute.
Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has declared all-out war on workers. He’s slashing taxes for the richest residents of his state, and wants to eliminate the rights of teachers, health care workers and thousands of others to organize a union, bargain for fair wages or advocate for decent pay and benefits.1
The attacks on the middle class won’t stop with Wisconsin. In the U.S. Congress and across the country, we’re seeing similar attacks on working families and the middle-class. That’s why we must continue to stand together in every state until we’ve secured the rights of people, not corporations, to control our government.
Fight back! Thousands of people are gathering in state capitols across the country. Join a solidarity rally in your state today.
Governor Walker’s election was partially financed by the infamous billionaire Koch brothers2 who donated millions last year to elect politicians who represent Wall Street CEOs and the wealthy over middle class working people. These politicians are not on our side.
That’s why Wisconsin’s fight is OUR fight. We will not allow these corporate funded politicians to play political games with our jobs, our rights and our communities. Now is the time to stand up and show these Governors and Members of Congress that we will not back down.
In fact, they are all part of a larger strategy funded by corporations to take over our government and to roll back protections for middle class consumers by repealing the Affordable Care Act, privatizing our Medicare and Social Security, and allowing oil companies and drillers to destroy our environment so they can make more profits.
It’s time to take action today to send a message to those on front lines and to stop these enemies of working people. Find a solidarity rally in your local community.
In Solidarity,
Melinda Gibson
P.S. Can’t make it to an event near you? Sign this petition now to show your support for teachers, firefighters, nurses, administrative assistants and other public service workers on the front lines in Madison, Wisconsin, and to show the greedy CEOs and the politicians who elected them that we are united.
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-rome/wisconsins-workers-are-fi_b_825679.html
2. http://www.truth-out.org/scott-walker-runs-kochmoney67916
Thank you,
HOWIE
February 21st, 2011 at 6:02 pm
Here is one for workers rights;
http://www.wearewisconsin.org/
This is a petition that applies to all of America’s workers. Please do your part and help out.
Al
February 21st, 2011 at 7:46 pm
No, ZL you are not paranoid…
February 21st, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Social Butterfly as has often been said about most the white race (not all) they are conscious-less. It is not the ones that propose that sick s**t. It is the atmosphere that allows them to feel that there will be no repercussion form the rest of the white race for doing so.
It is the “I’m not a racist” white boy. Who looks the other way when his fellow bigot buddy is ranting and spewing racial hatreds.
It is the “I wouldn’t do that” white boy who looks the other way when his fellow whites shove that confederacy nazism into our faces that is the root of their evil.
As the Comanches said when they were exposed to them “who sent these creatures among the people?”
Whites are the anti-christ spoken of in the bible. They walk among the people screaming God’s name, proclaiming themselves to be pious, human beings, but they are the spawn of the devil.
They make up less than 6% of the world’s population bur are responsible for 96% of its violence. They have literally taught the world to hate each other.
I.e. the white race see nothing about remembering the confederacy. It means nothing to them that the confederacy represented fighting to continue to enslave a race of beings. Yet we the OTWS of America are supposed to be ready to defend any insult or aggressive action imposed on white america by anyone.
There is no difference between the nazis and the confederacy. Except the whites in america condone those that want to continue reminding us that they fought to keep OTWS slaves.
So why not fly the confederacy flag over the state capital where OTWS have to pass to go to work. F**k our feelings. Only white angst counts.
I say f**k what happened to their skyscrapers or to them. If the Middle East doesn’t attempt to harm us American OTWS, then let them do what they will to the whites.
If we stick to that philosophy, the whites will make a deal with the Middle East like they did in Vietnam when the OTWS stopped shooting at the Vietcong because they only shot the white boys.
Did you see how fast the gutless wonders left Vietnam. If we OTWS refuse to help these bigoted bastards wage their hatred and bigotry. The world will be a better place.
I am an American, but I refuse to help white america export their racism to the rest of the world.
Robert
February 21st, 2011 at 8:45 pm
The search must go on. There is no infighting. And the function of the hologram is NOT for the ears of humans.
February 21st, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Not only are you not paranoid, but you may be one of the first to realize that those that advocate One World Order, were only waiting for the US Supreme Court to get in line.
The signal was them giving corporations equal status to human beings and by a subtle twist making them the individually the richest among any single human.
A few dollars sprinkled among the five did the trick admirably. Being racist may not be our worst fault Robert.
It may be that among my race everything is for sale. Of course whether or not that is our worst fault may depend on the whose ox is being gored.
Hank
February 21st, 2011 at 9:10 pm
What I find the most interesting and disturbing about American white women is that while the rest of the women in the world are fighting for equality among the males of their race, the American white woman is busy trying desperately to give what she has gotten backhandedly via the OTW civil rights struggle, back to the males of her race.
The American white woman marches to the polls to elect white men or white women who will give deference to white men.
She is fighting to give back the right to control her own body. She is fighting to give back the equality she has found herself with after OTWS forced the white men to give them equal protection under the law.
Someone said the stupidest group on the planet without a doubt is the American white woman. I guess that this past election removed any doubt about that.
We struggle every day to just be able to uncover our faces while they return to their men political dominance over them.
They control 54% of the vote yet, men more than triple them in elective office. And out number them more than a thousand to one in corporate leadership.
The Supreme Court has only three women in a population in which women make up 56%. American white women are always in our faces with their opinions.
If they only knew they are the butt of the world when it comes to jokes. I wept for the white woman who was raped by our disgusting Arab men.
But it was an American man who put down the raped American white woman for the world to emulate. It is the American white woman who encourages American males not to take her seriously.
I would suggest that American white women stay home and put their own house in order before they venture out to report on the plight of others.
Ahd
February 21st, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Robert hi I’m kind of new here. I think I understood most of what you were saying but I dont know about OTWS Are you saying Other Than White Skins? I tried to google it. But I want to really know did you sign the link?
Hank that is scary.
/SB
February 21st, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Hank and social butterfly, I have been in a rabbit hole of research since mid-afternoon. I have a notebook full of notes over here and will post some of it soon as I have time to assimilate the info. I have to credit Anonz with this one, I was looking through archives here just for the heck of it, bc Mischa wrote about her growth in writing…in his comment to me, he hinted at what I could research and I started at the time and dropped it bc my life was just too hectic and I couldn’t concentrate, now is perfect timing, but we’ve got not only that supreme court issue but a myriad of other New World Order issues coming down the street at high speed, it is scary…
Ahd, I could be offended by your comment but most of it is true. It’s times like this I am not proud to be American or a white woman here either. It is pretty pathetic and all I can tell you is there has been a good bit of mind control used upon women here, men haven’t escaped totally either…
- ZL
February 21st, 2011 at 9:57 pm
American white women reflexively do and say things to get behind the political success of white men. Even on this blog they say all the right things to give the impression that they support women.
But they are unable to truly support women. They always find a way to tout the merits of white men. They feel above other women if a man praises them. They apologize for the “over the top” behavior of women whenever they can see an opening to show their “fairness.”
As if men need their support in that area. But they do it to get a man’s approval. That is what is really wrong with white women, they need the approval of a white male to feel like they are somebody.
It is a psychological disease with them. Most don’t even see it. They take great pride in being “daddy’s girl.” As if being raised by a person that is anti-woman is a good thing.
Nothing I say here will change the fucked up psychological imbalance of white women. They can not function without being a reflection of a man’s opinion.
Listen to a white woman, somewhere in her conversation is always the opinion of a man. She thinks she is better because she thinks like a man, or whatever like a man.
The implication is that a man thinks better than a woman. If you point out to her that that is what she is implying by taking pride in being able to think like a man, it will do no good because psychologically she can not understand the significance of her psychological imbalance.
That is why the American white womancould never get ERA passed. What she got she got because of the inertia of the female OTWS.
How did she reward their hard fought efforts. She marched her psychologically sick ass down to the polls and reelected the most chauvinistic males on the slates.
Then she whined to them to respect her. What she is really saying is acknowledge me or I am no body. She is incapable of helping herself. She will always be a pawn of the white male.
He knows it and treats her with disdain. On occasion he singles one of her more devoted kind and rewards her with blessings of “you I can talk to;” “You think like a man;” “you can see both sides of the male/female issue;”
“you are not one of those shrill female feminist.”
She takes it to heart and marches out among her female companions flush with the praise of a male and feels vindicated that she is better than the rest of her female companions because a male has acknowledged her.
Look around you and you will see and hear her. Sometimes she is subtle with her hints to you that a male paid this complement to her about how more like a male she is in this or that way.
It will never occur to her that to say that you are in any way like the oppressor is to say you are okay with the oppression.
Males are always whining about the shrill female. That is like a man walking into a room of first graders and running out angry because he felt threatened by the class because they booed him too loud.
Men have nothing to fear from women. We don’t rape them. We don’t beat them. We don’t force them to accept sexual harassment. We don’t force them to accept less pay for the same labor. We don’t appoint women over men simply because of their gender. We don’t threaten them with violence if we don’t get our way.
We are not most of the judges. We are not most of the political heads. we are not 90% of the police force. We have never had a term as President of the United States of America, We are not the serial killers.
Yet men are the ones who go to the white woman and complain about the treatment women force them to endure.
What is that treatment they are complaining about? WORDS! These men with all the power I just mentioned are complaining about women using words. How many times have you heard men write in and complain about the words we use to vent against them? Women would thank God every day if that was the only thing men used against them.
Men employ violence of the worst kind every day towards women and men( especially those whining men on this blog) complain when a woman does the only thing she can do in the face of all the shit she has to take form men on a daily basis that is to vent via words.
WORDS! Not violence, not rape, not murder, not the threat of violence with the means to carry it out. Just WORDS.
So what does the white woman do? She rushes to rescue those hurt men from being hurt by those words. Why does she do it? She does it to get acknowledgment from a male. She needs the validation or she is nothing but another woman. The worst thing a psychologically mentally impaired being like her would want to be, just a woman.
Me I am delighted to be JUST A WOMAN.
Alycedale
February 21st, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Oh and Social Butterfly, love the title, OTW stands for Other Than White.
OTWS stands for Other Than Whites
My bad, perhaps I should have used OTWs. Hope this helps.
Alycedale
February 21st, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Since we seem to be on a Kurzweil kick…one of my other favorite blogs
http://www.kurzweilai.net/
February 21st, 2011 at 10:27 pm
oh, and for TAO, et al, this is my other….
http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/
February 25th, 2011 at 11:05 am
[...] Robert, when it comes to [...]
May 21st, 2014 at 8:18 am
Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.”
She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a
hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back!
LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!