Worried though we are by much of it, I can't think of a single thing which compares in any way with what is happening in the States.
From here, democracy in the UK isn't looking so great either. Here, as far as I know, hundreds of ordinary people are not being arrested, and some are spending time in prison for participating in peaceful protests or for things they posted on X or other social media platforms. Charles, your LLMs are (not for the first time) letting you down badly.
The LLMs often seem to lean left. Or perhaps you have been paying too much attention to e.g Vance and co.
My sentiment is more of "Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right of me..." I intensely dislike the public faces of both the left and the right in the US. I see that in at least 65 US school districts, among the banned books is The Handmaid's Tale.
Removing books from school libraries isn't the same as banning them. They're still available for anyone who wants them. They may even benefit from the Streisand effect. Your "facetiousness" does nothing but parrot the idiotic, ignorant and dangerous talking points of the people who are driving your country's democracy to its destruction.
My "facetiousness" is based on what I'm hearing from UK citizens.
The LLM AI stuff is a great tool. I have friends who have used it for stuff like designing the governing board structure for a small-ish non-profit, and for planning a somewhat complex trip to Scandinavia (two single women, less than unlimited budget, various health and mobility issues).
So, a really good hammer for some kinds of nails.
It's also perhaps the pre-eminent example of GIGO.
For sifting through the universe of basic factual information, it's tres handy. Need to find a useful factual result in the context of lots of different constraints? It's outstanding.
For anything involving matters of moral or ethical value - anything that involves answering the question "is this good?" - I'll stick with good old human reasoning and intuition.
Horses for courses, as they say.
Charles, your LLMs are (not for the first time) letting you down badly. Or perhaps you have been paying too much attention to e.g Vance and co.
I see that in at least 65 US school districts, among the banned books is The Handmaid's Tale. Your Health Secretary is an anti-vaxxer and general science denier. People who criticise the POTUS are the targets of vindictive legal intimidation. Attempts are being made (so far successfully) to skew the electoral system to keep the current party in power, and armed forces are being deployed in US cities to intimidate the population. How would you describe what is happening in your country - are you indeed (as russell reminds you suggested before the inauguration) pretty much muddling through?
I have never denied that in the UK we have many problems (post-Brexit, the economy, Reform). Worried though we are by much of it, I can't think of a single thing which compares in any way with what is happening in the States. Your "facetiousness" does nothing but parrot the idiotic, ignorant and dangerous talking points of the people who are driving your country's democracy to its destruction.
It was a youtube video, so I can't find it, but it discussed how a growing number of people are choosing to locate themselves in Dubai and how it is a different way of thinking about citizenship, nationality and identity.
The nice part of my job was that it was in the position to tell the owners of the batch jobs, i.e. the application programmers, to actually fix the damn things, so the ops folks didn't have to keep dealing with problems. Ah, the power!
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
Note, however, that Dubai (like all of the parts of the U.A.E.) is an absolute monarchy. Whereas Turkiye is merely a wannabe autocracy.
I don't think I want to live in an Islamic country...
Indonesia? Malaysia? I would consider Krygyzstan but I'd give a pass on Kazakhstan.
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
I feel like you are thinking of countries in the neighborhood of Israel...
One of my first contract jobs was third shift application support in the data center at ATT. Some COBOL batch jobs blew up each night, mostly data errors or JCL typos.
The operations folks loved that I would tell them what the problem/fix was, so they had a better idea of what to tell the next support person. When it was quiet I would sit in the op center and help, with them telling me what to do I loved that job
I'm assuming this is a joke, Charles. If not, do expound.
I was being a bit facetious. However, the US isn't the only Western country with numerous political and social problems. Other countries, including the UK, have their own sets of often overlapping problems.
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
You'd be amazed to hear how often I've thought just that! I don't think I want to live in an Islamic country...
I'm assuming this is a joke, Charles. If not, do expound.
What russell said.
Plus, some people are sufficiently insecure that they are afraid not to flaunt their nominal superiority (or at least superior position) by being obnoxious to everybody else. Remind you of any current Presidents?
If you care to offer it, CharlesWT, I am agog to hear your opinion of the MAGAt-controlled state of Texas. As regards redistricting, mostly. But bible-thumping, too.
--TP
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
LOL.
Emigrating would mean moving, which would mean packing up all of our stuff. I'm just lazy enough to make that a non-starter. Plus, when I retired I finally got my home studio set up just the way I like it.
Whether due to inertia, some remaining morsel of loyalty to the country of my birth, or just plain old contrariness and stupidity, it looks like I'm riding this crazy roller coaster to the end.
But thank you for your very kind offer!
Thankfully, making the USA into a functioning democracy is not my problem.
The rest of the world is looking for ways to work round the descent of the US into fascism. I hope we'll manage.
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
I don't understand why one wouldn't be helpful to anyone one works with, or anyone at all. Just, why not?
Early in my banking career I was in a position where I had a fair understanding of a new convertible bond system being rolled out, and of convertible bonds themselves (it doesn't matter it you don't know what they are). A colleague in the USA (I was in London) was responsible for getting things set up in the new system: I helped her a lot. Later it transpired that her husband became a megabucks trader. I got skiing holidays in Aspen as a result.
But if I hadn't, I would still have wanted to be helpful.
I just find it harder and harder to have anything to say about any of these people.
They're like a bunch of monkeys in a barrel. "Oh look, those monkeys are out of control, just flinging poo around, bearing their teeth and shrieking!".
Yes, because they're monkeys. In a barrel.
I look for ways to minimize the blast radius of this crazy juvenile bullshit, but it's mostly - almost completely - beyond whatever meager resources I can bring to bear.
I mean, I can call my rep and senators, but they're basically already doing what they can. I can show up for the demonstrations etc. but the folks driving the bus at the moment obviously do not give one single solitary flying f*** about any of that.
I appreciate the efforts of those folks who have some influence over it all, but a lot of the time either their hands are tied too, or the process of containing these knuckleheads through legal or procedural means just takes too long to prevent damage from being done.
I'm just waiting for this crap to be over. We'll see what's left at that point.
If we really, really, really want to keep people like these the hell away from any kind of social or political power going forward, there are going to have to be some serious come to Jesus moments at some point.
And I just don't think we - Americans, collectively - have the stomach for it.
"It'd be too divisive"
"Let's come together now"
"Look forward, not back"
All of that is no small part of how we got here.
Trump et al are gonna come after anyone and anything they don't like, and they're gonna use as much of the full power of the state as they can muster to do it. Because Trump himself is a nasty vindictive piece of work, and the folks he has surrounded himself with are a bunch of loser weirdos who find hurting other people - ruining the lives of other people in no small number of cases - to be a lot of fun.
The rest of the world is basically just working around us at this point. And are looking for ways to make us as irrelevant - as unnecessary for their own security and prosperity - as they can.
Or else figuring out ways to play our leadership for their own advantage.
It's a nightmare. If there wasn't so much damage being done, it'd be comical. And, at moments, it kinda is.
But mostly it's a nightmare.
Good luck to Bolton, he said mean things about Trump and now Trump has an army. And a long memory.
I haven't logged on to a computer since I retired
When I retired one of my goals was to spend as much time as possible around living things.
So far, so good.
russell, GftNC, thanks? Turns out I'm pretty good at it. Other than one day to do my taxes I haven't logged on to a computer since I retired. Phone handles it all
At the moment, Bolton is merely a private citizen, who will have to impoverish himself to defend against charges that will eventually be dropped. Powell is still Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. I know Trump has some serious nut cases at DOJ, but even those have to be somewhat reluctant to piss off most of the rich people in the country by attacking Powell on fictitious grounds.
For Bolton, the Fibbies were searching for "classified documents".
If they find a grocery list, they'll just hand it to Trump and he'll "classify it with his mind", and PRESTO: criminal case.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
Worried though we are by much of it, I can't think of a single thing which compares in any way with what is happening in the States.
From here, democracy in the UK isn't looking so great either. Here, as far as I know, hundreds of ordinary people are not being arrested, and some are spending time in prison for participating in peaceful protests or for things they posted on X or other social media platforms.
Charles, your LLMs are (not for the first time) letting you down badly.
The LLMs often seem to lean left.
Or perhaps you have been paying too much attention to e.g Vance and co.
My sentiment is more of "Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right of me..." I intensely dislike the public faces of both the left and the right in the US.
I see that in at least 65 US school districts, among the banned books is The Handmaid's Tale.
Removing books from school libraries isn't the same as banning them. They're still available for anyone who wants them. They may even benefit from the Streisand effect.
Your "facetiousness" does nothing but parrot the idiotic, ignorant and dangerous talking points of the people who are driving your country's democracy to its destruction.
My "facetiousness" is based on what I'm hearing from UK citizens.
"
The LLM AI stuff is a great tool. I have friends who have used it for stuff like designing the governing board structure for a small-ish non-profit, and for planning a somewhat complex trip to Scandinavia (two single women, less than unlimited budget, various health and mobility issues).
So, a really good hammer for some kinds of nails.
It's also perhaps the pre-eminent example of GIGO.
For sifting through the universe of basic factual information, it's tres handy. Need to find a useful factual result in the context of lots of different constraints? It's outstanding.
For anything involving matters of moral or ethical value - anything that involves answering the question "is this good?" - I'll stick with good old human reasoning and intuition.
Horses for courses, as they say.
"
Charles, your LLMs are (not for the first time) letting you down badly. Or perhaps you have been paying too much attention to e.g Vance and co.
I see that in at least 65 US school districts, among the banned books is The Handmaid's Tale. Your Health Secretary is an anti-vaxxer and general science denier. People who criticise the POTUS are the targets of vindictive legal intimidation. Attempts are being made (so far successfully) to skew the electoral system to keep the current party in power, and armed forces are being deployed in US cities to intimidate the population. How would you describe what is happening in your country - are you indeed (as russell reminds you suggested before the inauguration) pretty much muddling through?
I have never denied that in the UK we have many problems (post-Brexit, the economy, Reform). Worried though we are by much of it, I can't think of a single thing which compares in any way with what is happening in the States. Your "facetiousness" does nothing but parrot the idiotic, ignorant and dangerous talking points of the people who are driving your country's democracy to its destruction.
"
It was a youtube video, so I can't find it, but it discussed how a growing number of people are choosing to locate themselves in Dubai and how it is a different way of thinking about citizenship, nationality and identity.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
The nice part of my job was that it was in the position to tell the owners of the batch jobs, i.e. the application programmers, to actually fix the damn things, so the ops folks didn't have to keep dealing with problems. Ah, the power!
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
Note, however, that Dubai (like all of the parts of the U.A.E.) is an absolute monarchy. Whereas Turkiye is merely a wannabe autocracy.
"
I feel like you are thinking of countries in the neighborhood of Israel...
I was being facetious about the UK's growing Islamic immigrant population.
"
I don't think I want to live in an Islamic country...
Indonesia? Malaysia? I would consider Krygyzstan but I'd give a pass on Kazakhstan.
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
I feel like you are thinking of countries in the neighborhood of Israel...
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
One of my first contract jobs was third shift application support in the data center at ATT. Some COBOL batch jobs blew up each night, mostly data errors or JCL typos.
The operations folks loved that I would tell them what the problem/fix was, so they had a better idea of what to tell the next support person. When it was quiet I would sit in the op center and help, with them telling me what to do I loved that job
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
"we'll muddle through"
"
I'm assuming this is a joke, Charles. If not, do expound.
I was being a bit facetious. However, the US isn't the only Western country with numerous political and social problems. Other countries, including the UK, have their own sets of often overlapping problems.
"
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
You'd be amazed to hear how often I've thought just that!
I don't think I want to live in an Islamic country...
I'm assuming this is a joke, Charles. If not, do expound.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
What russell said.
Plus, some people are sufficiently insecure that they are afraid not to flaunt their nominal superiority (or at least superior position) by being obnoxious to everybody else. Remind you of any current Presidents?
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
If you care to offer it, CharlesWT, I am agog to hear your opinion of the MAGAt-controlled state of Texas. As regards redistricting, mostly. But bible-thumping, too.
--TP
"
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
I don't think I want to live in an Islamic country...
"
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
LOL.
Emigrating would mean moving, which would mean packing up all of our stuff. I'm just lazy enough to make that a non-starter. Plus, when I retired I finally got my home studio set up just the way I like it.
Whether due to inertia, some remaining morsel of loyalty to the country of my birth, or just plain old contrariness and stupidity, it looks like I'm riding this crazy roller coaster to the end.
But thank you for your very kind offer!
"
Thankfully, making the USA into a functioning democracy is not my problem.
The rest of the world is looking for ways to work round the descent of the US into fascism. I hope we'll manage.
If any readers here need some help when you emigrate to England, let me know.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
Just, why not?
because some people are jerks and enjoy throwing their weight around.
for whatever reason.
"
I don't understand why one wouldn't be helpful to anyone one works with, or anyone at all. Just, why not?
Early in my banking career I was in a position where I had a fair understanding of a new convertible bond system being rolled out, and of convertible bonds themselves (it doesn't matter it you don't know what they are). A colleague in the USA (I was in London) was responsible for getting things set up in the new system: I helped her a lot. Later it transpired that her husband became a megabucks trader. I got skiing holidays in Aspen as a result.
But if I hadn't, I would still have wanted to be helpful.
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
I just find it harder and harder to have anything to say about any of these people.
They're like a bunch of monkeys in a barrel. "Oh look, those monkeys are out of control, just flinging poo around, bearing their teeth and shrieking!".
Yes, because they're monkeys. In a barrel.
I look for ways to minimize the blast radius of this crazy juvenile bullshit, but it's mostly - almost completely - beyond whatever meager resources I can bring to bear.
I mean, I can call my rep and senators, but they're basically already doing what they can. I can show up for the demonstrations etc. but the folks driving the bus at the moment obviously do not give one single solitary flying f*** about any of that.
I appreciate the efforts of those folks who have some influence over it all, but a lot of the time either their hands are tied too, or the process of containing these knuckleheads through legal or procedural means just takes too long to prevent damage from being done.
I'm just waiting for this crap to be over. We'll see what's left at that point.
If we really, really, really want to keep people like these the hell away from any kind of social or political power going forward, there are going to have to be some serious come to Jesus moments at some point.
And I just don't think we - Americans, collectively - have the stomach for it.
"It'd be too divisive"
"Let's come together now"
"Look forward, not back"
All of that is no small part of how we got here.
Trump et al are gonna come after anyone and anything they don't like, and they're gonna use as much of the full power of the state as they can muster to do it. Because Trump himself is a nasty vindictive piece of work, and the folks he has surrounded himself with are a bunch of loser weirdos who find hurting other people - ruining the lives of other people in no small number of cases - to be a lot of fun.
The rest of the world is basically just working around us at this point. And are looking for ways to make us as irrelevant - as unnecessary for their own security and prosperity - as they can.
Or else figuring out ways to play our leadership for their own advantage.
It's a nightmare. If there wasn't so much damage being done, it'd be comical. And, at moments, it kinda is.
But mostly it's a nightmare.
Good luck to Bolton, he said mean things about Trump and now Trump has an army. And a long memory.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
I haven't logged on to a computer since I retired
When I retired one of my goals was to spend as much time as possible around living things.
So far, so good.
"
Thanks ! Not?
"
russell, GftNC, thanks? Turns out I'm pretty good at it. Other than one day to do my taxes I haven't logged on to a computer since I retired. Phone handles it all
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
At the moment, Bolton is merely a private citizen, who will have to impoverish himself to defend against charges that will eventually be dropped. Powell is still Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. I know Trump has some serious nut cases at DOJ, but even those have to be somewhat reluctant to piss off most of the rich people in the country by attacking Powell on fictitious grounds.
"
For Bolton, the Fibbies were searching for "classified documents".
If they find a grocery list, they'll just hand it to Trump and he'll "classify it with his mind", and PRESTO: criminal case.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.