by wj
You may have seen, as I have, arguments back and forth concerning police vs mental health approaches to combatting violent crime in our cities. Just for sheer novelty, here is a little something that may be of interest. The results of a city (Richmond, CA) which actually tried it.
Richmond, 2006: A man is shot in the face at the funeral of a teenager who was gunned down. The City Council is on the verge of declaring a state of emergency. Comparisons to Iraq are drawn by a state senator. The year sees 42 homicides and will go on to see 47 more in 2007.
Richmond, 2023: Eight homicides, the city’s lowest number since they started keeping record.
The city was home to one of the nation’s worst homicide rates. What happened?
Richmond implemented Advance Peace in 2007, a program that treats urban gun violence as a public health crisis. Its model consists of an intensive strategy called the Peacemaker Fellowship, an 18-month mentoring intervention for young people involved in gun violence.
Oakland’s Ceasefire program also focuses on high-risk individuals, but Advance Peace goes one step further to create pathways to healing from trauma.
The backbone of the Richmond program are the community-based violence intervention workers, people from the community with the same lived experience as the youth they work with. They mediate conflict in the neighborhood in real-time and — here is where the public health approach comes in — are trained in trauma-informed care. They don’t just stop youth from committing violent acts but actually help adolescents at the margins of society to understand their trauma — and to heal.
Just 10 years after implementation, Richmond saw its lowest number of cyclical and retaliatory firearm assaults and homicides in more than four decades. Some could argue that this is due to other anti-crime initiatives. However, no other city experienced a similar drop despite the existence of those same programs. One major difference is Advance Peace.
Sacramento, Fresno and Stockton have experimented with Advance Peace, but none has committed to this proven route to violence reduction. Sacramento’s gun violence was reduced by 22% after its first 18 months in 2019 and by 39% in Del Paso Heights, an area known for prevalent gun violence. Sacramento also went two full years without suffering a single youth homicide.
Despite these outcomes, the city of Sacramento ceased funding Advance Peace in December 2021, thus experiencing a significant uptick in gun violence in 2022 and 2023.
Stockton gun violence was reduced by 21% over its first two years of implementing the Peacemaker Fellowship and by 47% in Council District 1. Stockton and Fresno still have Advance Peace operations, but their local governments do not give the program full funding support.
Let’s call on these cities to follow these strategies that work and institutionalize funding to Advance Peace. The funding is now independent in these cities, mostly from the state and one-time grants. One-time funding will not give the same results as ongoing consistent funding.
Richmond’s standout success lies in institutionalizing Advance Peace into the city budget like any other public safety program. Advance Peace is actually housed in a government agency called the Office of Neighborhood Safety — the nation’s first city office dedicated exclusively to gun violence prevention. Richmond is the model of what other cities could accomplish by putting sustainable funding into policy.
This does not mean replacing police but a complimentary expansion that also offsets costs. Police investigations, emergency services, court time and other government services lead each shooting to cost Stockton taxpayers $962,000 and each gun homicide $2.5 million. Investing in Advance Peace can disrupt these costs. For every dollar spent on the program, the public received $47-$123 in return in Stockton and $18-$41 in Sacramento.
Imagine the change if these cities gave real support. This would be a huge step in building the sustainable and community-based public safety infrastructure that we know works and that California cities need.
I realize it can be considered poor form to work from data, rather than from claimed first principles. But it does seem interesting.
Open Thread as well, of course, since we are overdue.
Apologies for failing to include the source. It was the East Bay Times:
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/03/13/opinion-richmonds-standout-strategy-in-fight-to-reduce-gun-violence/
Apologies for failing to include the source. It was the East Bay Times:
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/03/13/opinion-richmonds-standout-strategy-in-fight-to-reduce-gun-violence/
This does not mean replacing police but a complimentary expansion that also offsets costs. Police investigations, emergency services, court time and other government services lead each shooting to cost Stockton taxpayers $962,000 and each gun homicide $2.5 million. Investing in Advance Peace can disrupt these costs.
I wonder how much the gun lobby is investing in sabotaging these programs……
This does not mean replacing police but a complimentary expansion that also offsets costs. Police investigations, emergency services, court time and other government services lead each shooting to cost Stockton taxpayers $962,000 and each gun homicide $2.5 million. Investing in Advance Peace can disrupt these costs.
I wonder how much the gun lobby is investing in sabotaging these programs……
I wonder how much the gun lobby is investing in sabotaging these programs……
My thoughts too. But then I had to cynically conclude that the total amount of money that needs investing there is by now rather low after the decades long installation of series of amplifiers that fire up at hair trigger sensitivity. So the money can be diverted to the creature comforts of the lobbyists without diminishing their effect.
I wonder how much the gun lobby is investing in sabotaging these programs……
My thoughts too. But then I had to cynically conclude that the total amount of money that needs investing there is by now rather low after the decades long installation of series of amplifiers that fire up at hair trigger sensitivity. So the money can be diverted to the creature comforts of the lobbyists without diminishing their effect.
Since this is an open thread: I somehow got this idea yesterday and would be interested, if any math freak around here could answer it:
Since this is an open thread: I somehow got this idea yesterday and would be interested, if any math freak around here could answer it:
I somehow got this idea yesterday and would be interested, if any math freak around here could answer it
Since no math freaks have proffered an answer.
“Your intuition is correct. For a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients, it is impossible for all the roots (zeros) to be integers.
This is a consequence of the Rational Root Theorem, which states that if a polynomial equation with integer coefficients has a rational root p/q (where p and q are coprime integers), then p must be a factor of the constant term, and q must be a factor of the leading coefficient.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros
I somehow got this idea yesterday and would be interested, if any math freak around here could answer it
Since no math freaks have proffered an answer.
“Your intuition is correct. For a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients, it is impossible for all the roots (zeros) to be integers.
This is a consequence of the Rational Root Theorem, which states that if a polynomial equation with integer coefficients has a rational root p/q (where p and q are coprime integers), then p must be a factor of the constant term, and q must be a factor of the leading coefficient.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros
Is that sufficient?
There could in theory be multiple identical roots. Since one coefficient has to be 0 (the polynomial has one more coefficient than its degree, so the count runs from 0 to 666) there has to be at least one pair of conjugated roots.
I still guess that there is no solution with integers only but I am not sure that the theorem alone is enough to proof it.
And even if this is the case, is a rational-roots-only solution also impossible?
I think that real-roots-only solutions exist in high numbers as well as complex-only solutions (since it is an even degree polynomial. In odd degree polynomials there must be at least one non-complex root since complex ones always occur in conjugated pairs, if all coefficents are real).
Is that sufficient?
There could in theory be multiple identical roots. Since one coefficient has to be 0 (the polynomial has one more coefficient than its degree, so the count runs from 0 to 666) there has to be at least one pair of conjugated roots.
I still guess that there is no solution with integers only but I am not sure that the theorem alone is enough to proof it.
And even if this is the case, is a rational-roots-only solution also impossible?
I think that real-roots-only solutions exist in high numbers as well as complex-only solutions (since it is an even degree polynomial. In odd degree polynomials there must be at least one non-complex root since complex ones always occur in conjugated pairs, if all coefficents are real).
“You make an excellent point. The Rational Root Theorem alone is not sufficient to definitively prove or disprove the existence of integer or rational root solutions for a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients.
You are correct that the possibility of multiple identical roots (roots with multiplicity greater than 1) needs to be considered. The Rational Root Theorem only gives information about the possible values of distinct rational roots but does not preclude the existence of repeated roots.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 2
“You make an excellent point. The Rational Root Theorem alone is not sufficient to definitively prove or disprove the existence of integer or rational root solutions for a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients.
You are correct that the possibility of multiple identical roots (roots with multiplicity greater than 1) needs to be considered. The Rational Root Theorem only gives information about the possible values of distinct rational roots but does not preclude the existence of repeated roots.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 2
wj,
Thank you. There actually is such a thing as good public policy. Imagine that.
wj,
Thank you. There actually is such a thing as good public policy. Imagine that.
bobbyp,
More to the point, there’s such a thing as good public policy actually being implemented. Which is even more uncommon. 🙂
bobbyp,
More to the point, there’s such a thing as good public policy actually being implemented. Which is even more uncommon. 🙂
Btw,
666!=2^621*3^330*5^165*7^109*11^65*13^54*17^41*19^36*23^30*29^22*31^21*37^18*41^16*43^15*
47^14*53^12*59^11*61^10*67^9*71^9*73^9*79^8*83^8*89^7*97^6*101^6*103^6*107^6*109^6*113^5*
127^5*131^5*137^4*139^4*149^4*151^4*157^4*163^4*167^3*173^3*179^3*181^3*191^3*193^3*197^3*
199^3*211^3*223^2*227^2*229^2*233^2*239^2*241^2*251^2*257^2*263^2*269^2*271^2*277^2*281^2*
283^2*293^2*307^2*311^2*313^2*317^2*331^2*337*347*349*353*359*367*373*379*383*389*397*401*
409*419*421*431*433*439*443*449*457*461*463*467*479*487*491*499*503*509*521*523*541*547*
557*563*569*571*577*587*593*599*601*607*613*617*619*631*641*643*647*653*659*661
The total number of satanic polynomials is 666*666! since there are 667 coefficients but one is 0 and cannot stand in front of x^666 without reducing the degree of the polynomial.
Still waiting for a proof that none of them has only integer roots or whether at least one has only rational roots.
Btw,
666!=2^621*3^330*5^165*7^109*11^65*13^54*17^41*19^36*23^30*29^22*31^21*37^18*41^16*43^15*
47^14*53^12*59^11*61^10*67^9*71^9*73^9*79^8*83^8*89^7*97^6*101^6*103^6*107^6*109^6*113^5*
127^5*131^5*137^4*139^4*149^4*151^4*157^4*163^4*167^3*173^3*179^3*181^3*191^3*193^3*197^3*
199^3*211^3*223^2*227^2*229^2*233^2*239^2*241^2*251^2*257^2*263^2*269^2*271^2*277^2*281^2*
283^2*293^2*307^2*311^2*313^2*317^2*331^2*337*347*349*353*359*367*373*379*383*389*397*401*
409*419*421*431*433*439*443*449*457*461*463*467*479*487*491*499*503*509*521*523*541*547*
557*563*569*571*577*587*593*599*601*607*613*617*619*631*641*643*647*653*659*661
The total number of satanic polynomials is 666*666! since there are 667 coefficients but one is 0 and cannot stand in front of x^666 without reducing the degree of the polynomial.
Still waiting for a proof that none of them has only integer roots or whether at least one has only rational roots.
Slight correction: The above are the pure positive satanic polynomials. If every coeffecient can be either + or – one has to multiply it with 2^666:
So, 666*666!*2^666 satanic polynomials in total.
Nice warming up problem for the eternally condemnend mathematician to solve them all.
Slight correction: The above are the pure positive satanic polynomials. If every coeffecient can be either + or – one has to multiply it with 2^666:
So, 666*666!*2^666 satanic polynomials in total.
Nice warming up problem for the eternally condemnend mathematician to solve them all.
“You’ve provided an excellent analysis of the problem and the sheer magnitude of the number of cases to consider. Let me try to provide a more comprehensive proof regarding the existence (or non-existence) of integer or rational root solutions for polynomials of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
Proof that no polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666 can have all roots as integers:
Let P(x) be a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
If P(x) has all roots as integers, then by the Rational Root Theorem, all roots must be factors of the constant term (the coefficient of x^0).
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 3
“You’ve provided an excellent analysis of the problem and the sheer magnitude of the number of cases to consider. Let me try to provide a more comprehensive proof regarding the existence (or non-existence) of integer or rational root solutions for polynomials of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
Proof that no polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666 can have all roots as integers:
Let P(x) be a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
If P(x) has all roots as integers, then by the Rational Root Theorem, all roots must be factors of the constant term (the coefficient of x^0).
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 3
If there’s a permutation where all the roots are integers, almost all of the roots must be 1 or -1, since the product of the roots must be 666 or less.
I haven’t worked out how to read the AI ‘proof’. I expect it’s nonsense.
If there’s a permutation where all the roots are integers, almost all of the roots must be 1 or -1, since the product of the roots must be 666 or less.
I haven’t worked out how to read the AI ‘proof’. I expect it’s nonsense.
666=2*3*3*37. That’s rather few possible divisors indeed: +/-(1,2,3,6,9,18,37,74,111,222,333,666).
That’s 24. If the x^0 term has the coefficient 0, then 0 is the 25th possible one. But that would only shift the same problem one step further up the line.
So it would probably be rational to look for rational solutions instead. 😉
666=2*3*3*37. That’s rather few possible divisors indeed: +/-(1,2,3,6,9,18,37,74,111,222,333,666).
That’s 24. If the x^0 term has the coefficient 0, then 0 is the 25th possible one. But that would only shift the same problem one step further up the line.
So it would probably be rational to look for rational solutions instead. 😉
You make an excellent observation. If there exists a permutation of a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666 that has all its roots as integers, then almost all of those roots must be either 1 or -1. Here’s why:
Let P(x) be a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666, and let its roots be r1, r2, r3, …, r666.
By the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, we know that:
P(x) = a(x – r1)(x – r2)(x – r3)…(x – r666)
Where a is the leading coefficient of P(x).
Since the coefficients of P(x) are integers between 0 and 666, the leading coefficient a must be either 1 or -1.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 4
You make an excellent observation. If there exists a permutation of a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666 that has all its roots as integers, then almost all of those roots must be either 1 or -1. Here’s why:
Let P(x) be a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666, and let its roots be r1, r2, r3, …, r666.
By the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, we know that:
P(x) = a(x – r1)(x – r2)(x – r3)…(x – r666)
Where a is the leading coefficient of P(x).
Since the coefficients of P(x) are integers between 0 and 666, the leading coefficient a must be either 1 or -1.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 4
“You’re absolutely right! Your analysis of the divisors of 666 provides a strong argument against the possibility of having all 666 roots as integers for a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
Since 666 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 37, the only possible divisors of 666 are:
±1, ±2, ±3, ±6, ±9, ±18, ±37, ±74, ±111, ±222, ±333, ±666
This gives us a total of 24 possible integer divisors, and if we include 0 as a possible constant term, that’s 25 possible values.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 5
“You’re absolutely right! Your analysis of the divisors of 666 provides a strong argument against the possibility of having all 666 roots as integers for a polynomial of degree 666 with integer coefficients between 0 and 666.
Since 666 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 37, the only possible divisors of 666 are:
±1, ±2, ±3, ±6, ±9, ±18, ±37, ±74, ±111, ±222, ±333, ±666
This gives us a total of 24 possible integer divisors, and if we include 0 as a possible constant term, that’s 25 possible values.
[…]”
No Integer Zeros – 5
What’s the point of this AI chaff?
What’s the point of this AI chaff?
Hartmut incautiously raised a math question. And Charles ran amok.
Hartmut incautiously raised a math question. And Charles ran amok.
I don’t know if you can read this without a Twitter account, but here is an Israeli academic’s argument that Israel is committing genocide. ( I am comfortable with the word now— I think the intent to destroy in part is pretty clearly met by the obstruction of food supplies.)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1768844679439651111.html?utm_campaign=topunroll
And Biden is complicit. He has been arming them all along and so far refuses to stop.
I don’t know if you can read this without a Twitter account, but here is an Israeli academic’s argument that Israel is committing genocide. ( I am comfortable with the word now— I think the intent to destroy in part is pretty clearly met by the obstruction of food supplies.)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1768844679439651111.html?utm_campaign=topunroll
And Biden is complicit. He has been arming them all along and so far refuses to stop.
I am comfortable with the word now— I think the intent to destroy in part is pretty clearly met by the obstruction of food supplies.
Donald, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly comfortable with it yet, but I’m definitely moving that way, and for the same reason.
I am comfortable with the word now— I think the intent to destroy in part is pretty clearly met by the obstruction of food supplies.
Donald, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly comfortable with it yet, but I’m definitely moving that way, and for the same reason.
Yes, I think the intent is genocide. Netanyahu might not believe that he can literally kill all of the people of Gaza, but he seems, at least in my mind, to be killing as many as he can before world opinion finally stops him.
Yes, I think the intent is genocide. Netanyahu might not believe that he can literally kill all of the people of Gaza, but he seems, at least in my mind, to be killing as many as he can before world opinion finally stops him.
wonkie, you’ve thought it was genocide from the beginning.
As for Netanyahu, I think he is a lot like Trump; I doubt he has any particularly murderous feelings towards the Palestinians, or Gazans, (this is not to excuse him, by the way – if I am right then his obliviousness to their humanity makes him some kind of psychopath), I think he is desperate to stay in power and perfectly happy to do whatever he has to to do so, and at the moment that means placating his abominable racist rightwing allies, who in my opinion DO have murderous feelings towards Palestinians and Gazans, Arabs in general, and no doubt many other groups who do not share their ideology.
wonkie, you’ve thought it was genocide from the beginning.
As for Netanyahu, I think he is a lot like Trump; I doubt he has any particularly murderous feelings towards the Palestinians, or Gazans, (this is not to excuse him, by the way – if I am right then his obliviousness to their humanity makes him some kind of psychopath), I think he is desperate to stay in power and perfectly happy to do whatever he has to to do so, and at the moment that means placating his abominable racist rightwing allies, who in my opinion DO have murderous feelings towards Palestinians and Gazans, Arabs in general, and no doubt many other groups who do not share their ideology.
GftNC, I’m mostly on the same page. Except that I doubt Bibi has any particular reluctance about genocide. Perhaps not enough enthusiasm to push it on his own. But no interest, even absent his need to stay in power, in restraining it.
GftNC, I’m mostly on the same page. Except that I doubt Bibi has any particular reluctance about genocide. Perhaps not enough enthusiasm to push it on his own. But no interest, even absent his need to stay in power, in restraining it.
I think there was genocidal intent among some Israelis and Palestinians from the beginning ( and I mean in the leadership of Hamas and Israel) but intent by itself wouldn’t be enough for me to call it genocide. Presumably a lot of wars involve people on one or both sides with genocidal feelings. They don’t necessarily get to act on them for various reasons. But for me the famine crosses the line into the actual crime. I am somewhat hopeful that the Western governments will find this sufficiently disastrous on the PR front that they will force Israel to let more food in, so the famine is stopped. Maybe. Cynical as I am about Western foreign policy, it is hard to imagine they would just let this go on.
I think there was genocidal intent among some Israelis and Palestinians from the beginning ( and I mean in the leadership of Hamas and Israel) but intent by itself wouldn’t be enough for me to call it genocide. Presumably a lot of wars involve people on one or both sides with genocidal feelings. They don’t necessarily get to act on them for various reasons. But for me the famine crosses the line into the actual crime. I am somewhat hopeful that the Western governments will find this sufficiently disastrous on the PR front that they will force Israel to let more food in, so the famine is stopped. Maybe. Cynical as I am about Western foreign policy, it is hard to imagine they would just let this go on.
This is the best obituary I’ve ever read.
Kenneth Pluhar Obituary
This is the best obituary I’ve ever read.
Kenneth Pluhar Obituary
Well, there’s ONE obituary that many of us will be glad to see.
Maybe even show up at the funeral to make sure TFG is most sincerely dead.
I suspect they won’t let in people carrying cattle-prods “to make sure”, though.
Well, there’s ONE obituary that many of us will be glad to see.
Maybe even show up at the funeral to make sure TFG is most sincerely dead.
I suspect they won’t let in people carrying cattle-prods “to make sure”, though.
These’s an element of the Jewish psyche which says “we will never again be helpless victims”. Israel’s response to the 7th October attacks should be understood in this light: there’s no genocidal intent as such towards Palestinians, just a determination to extirpate Hamas with nothing else mattering.
I don’t say this justifies what Israel is doing, but perhaps it goes some way to explaining it.
These’s an element of the Jewish psyche which says “we will never again be helpless victims”. Israel’s response to the 7th October attacks should be understood in this light: there’s no genocidal intent as such towards Palestinians, just a determination to extirpate Hamas with nothing else mattering.
I don’t say this justifies what Israel is doing, but perhaps it goes some way to explaining it.
there’s no genocidal intent as such towards Palestinians, just a determination to extirpate Hamas with nothing else mattering.
I will accept the possibility that, for many (even most) Israelis, there is no genocidal intent. But I don’t think you can say that for the settlers, or for their members in the government. They might be willing to settle for every single Palestinian leaving the area, never to return. But I’m guessing not. Extermination is exactly what they desire.
there’s no genocidal intent as such towards Palestinians, just a determination to extirpate Hamas with nothing else mattering.
I will accept the possibility that, for many (even most) Israelis, there is no genocidal intent. But I don’t think you can say that for the settlers, or for their members in the government. They might be willing to settle for every single Palestinian leaving the area, never to return. But I’m guessing not. Extermination is exactly what they desire.
There’s a clear pattern of what trauma counselors would call moral injury that is complicating the response to 7th October on the Israeli side. It’s not unusual to see survivors of moral injury commit atrocities in the wake of the injury.
Not at all an excuse or a justification, just an assessment of the situation.
Moral injury is, in many ways, a narrative injury. It’s the world violating the script that the injured party believed governed that world and gave it a sense of order and rationale. They are mobilizing some of their more bloodthirsty religio-nationalist myths to try to repair that damage to their sense of the world.
There’s a clear pattern of what trauma counselors would call moral injury that is complicating the response to 7th October on the Israeli side. It’s not unusual to see survivors of moral injury commit atrocities in the wake of the injury.
Not at all an excuse or a justification, just an assessment of the situation.
Moral injury is, in many ways, a narrative injury. It’s the world violating the script that the injured party believed governed that world and gave it a sense of order and rationale. They are mobilizing some of their more bloodthirsty religio-nationalist myths to try to repair that damage to their sense of the world.
Note that the satanic polynomial p(x) (with all nonnegative coefficients and c_0 != 0 for the sake of simplicity) can’t have any nonnegative roots. If all roots were integers, we’d have a factorization p(x) = a(x+r_1)…(x+r_666) with a and all r_i positive integers. The x^2 term in that expansion would be the sum of C(666, 2) terms, each of the form bx^2, where b >= 1. Thus c_2 >= C(666, 2), which is a tad out of bounds. Hence no such factorization exists.
If c_0 = 0, apply a similar argument to the x^3 term.
Note that the satanic polynomial p(x) (with all nonnegative coefficients and c_0 != 0 for the sake of simplicity) can’t have any nonnegative roots. If all roots were integers, we’d have a factorization p(x) = a(x+r_1)…(x+r_666) with a and all r_i positive integers. The x^2 term in that expansion would be the sum of C(666, 2) terms, each of the form bx^2, where b >= 1. Thus c_2 >= C(666, 2), which is a tad out of bounds. Hence no such factorization exists.
If c_0 = 0, apply a similar argument to the x^3 term.
No Integer Zeros – 6
No Integer Zeros – 6
@nous: or, as someone put it in a workshop I went to long ago, “hurt people hurt people.” There was a time when I was naive enough to think “we” (humans) could learn to break that cycle, but I have lost that optimism, at least in relation to any scale that would matter in a situation like Palestine/Israel. So I go back to a suggestion made by nous and other people: do what you can….
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction Article II(c)
*****
From the Wikipedia page on genocide:
@nous: or, as someone put it in a workshop I went to long ago, “hurt people hurt people.” There was a time when I was naive enough to think “we” (humans) could learn to break that cycle, but I have lost that optimism, at least in relation to any scale that would matter in a situation like Palestine/Israel. So I go back to a suggestion made by nous and other people: do what you can….
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction Article II(c)
*****
From the Wikipedia page on genocide:
I know that word “genocide” has a formal legal definition, but I don’t know what that definition is. My opinion from the beginning has been that Netanyahu is intent on killing as many people as he can directly through military action or by indirect means through lack of access to the necessities of life. I also believe that, regardless of any changes in rhetoric, he will continue in that effort unless stopped by an outside force such as a refusal by the US to give him weapons. I think that the goal is to settle as much of Gaza as possible with settlers who are not Palestinian.
If not genocide, it is ethnic cleansing.
I know that word “genocide” has a formal legal definition, but I don’t know what that definition is. My opinion from the beginning has been that Netanyahu is intent on killing as many people as he can directly through military action or by indirect means through lack of access to the necessities of life. I also believe that, regardless of any changes in rhetoric, he will continue in that effort unless stopped by an outside force such as a refusal by the US to give him weapons. I think that the goal is to settle as much of Gaza as possible with settlers who are not Palestinian.
If not genocide, it is ethnic cleansing.
Trump’s lawyers have told the New York State court that he can’t get the $454M bond, and lacks that much cash of his own. Reportedly, none of the 30 insurers that they approached would accept any of his real estate as collateral.
Trump’s lawyers have told the New York State court that he can’t get the $454M bond, and lacks that much cash of his own. Reportedly, none of the 30 insurers that they approached would accept any of his real estate as collateral.
I saw that the Trump legal team are arguing that the bond amount was “unconstitutionally high” (based on testimony from one of their own expert witnesses who the trial judge had noted was a close personal friend of the Trump family, and who had a financial interest in the outcome of the trial).
If I were the judge, and in the mood to throw some shade, I’d comment to the effect that the bond amount was based upon the Trump family’s own valuations of their properties, and that the Trump team had argued that the financial institutions were all well satisfied with those valuations, so what is the problem with securing a bond for fair market value?
I saw that the Trump legal team are arguing that the bond amount was “unconstitutionally high” (based on testimony from one of their own expert witnesses who the trial judge had noted was a close personal friend of the Trump family, and who had a financial interest in the outcome of the trial).
If I were the judge, and in the mood to throw some shade, I’d comment to the effect that the bond amount was based upon the Trump family’s own valuations of their properties, and that the Trump team had argued that the financial institutions were all well satisfied with those valuations, so what is the problem with securing a bond for fair market value?
While the US does provide Israel with “heavy weapons”, it is historically perfectly possible to conduct a genocide/ethnic cleansing with small arms and machetes.
So it’s not clear how much actual influence a cut-off of military supplies would be.
While the US does provide Israel with “heavy weapons”, it is historically perfectly possible to conduct a genocide/ethnic cleansing with small arms and machetes.
So it’s not clear how much actual influence a cut-off of military supplies would be.
I have read that the insurers that do the big bonds all (a) have a $100M cap on what they will put up and (b) have absolute rules against non-liquid assets like real estate. Add to that Trump’s history of stretching lawsuits out for years and their capital’s tied up for a long time. Add to that Trump’s history of stiffing people, because the insurers don’t want to have to go through court to get their money.
A bank may be happy to trust Trump with a $500M three-year loan based on a building that’s not really worth that much. He’s apparently very good about making interest payments. At the end of three years, the bank negotiates a new interest rate and rolls the loan over. When I worked in the cable TV business, the big guys all worked that way: there was no intent to pay off the debt, debt was something that you managed in order to keep the interest payments reasonable. The State of New York’s not interested in interest and rolling over the judgement.
I have read that the insurers that do the big bonds all (a) have a $100M cap on what they will put up and (b) have absolute rules against non-liquid assets like real estate. Add to that Trump’s history of stretching lawsuits out for years and their capital’s tied up for a long time. Add to that Trump’s history of stiffing people, because the insurers don’t want to have to go through court to get their money.
A bank may be happy to trust Trump with a $500M three-year loan based on a building that’s not really worth that much. He’s apparently very good about making interest payments. At the end of three years, the bank negotiates a new interest rate and rolls the loan over. When I worked in the cable TV business, the big guys all worked that way: there was no intent to pay off the debt, debt was something that you managed in order to keep the interest payments reasonable. The State of New York’s not interested in interest and rolling over the judgement.
“Donald Trump Tried to Get Bond From Company He Misled About Finances”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tried-bond-company-misled-finances-1880583
Do I need to quote “Casablanca”?
“Donald Trump Tried to Get Bond From Company He Misled About Finances”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tried-bond-company-misled-finances-1880583
Do I need to quote “Casablanca”?
Casablanca?
More like “We won’t get fooled again”.
Casablanca?
More like “We won’t get fooled again”.
I’m really extra super surprised that Rump did that. It was like being exposed to electricity.
I’m really extra super surprised that Rump did that. It was like being exposed to electricity.
Trump’s lawyers have told the New York State court that he can’t get the $454M bond, and lacks that much cash of his own.
IANAL, but my understanding is that, if he can’t, then
If nothing else, the process should reveal just how much of a totally mortgaged house of cards he is.
Trump’s lawyers have told the New York State court that he can’t get the $454M bond, and lacks that much cash of his own.
IANAL, but my understanding is that, if he can’t, then
If nothing else, the process should reveal just how much of a totally mortgaged house of cards he is.
This is pretty cool:
Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton
https://www.quantamagazine.org/swirling-forces-crushing-pressures-measured-in-the-proton-20240314/
Opening:
This is pretty cool:
Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton
https://www.quantamagazine.org/swirling-forces-crushing-pressures-measured-in-the-proton-20240314/
Opening:
Whoah… as if there wasn’t enough to worry about with the SCOTUS six etc:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/19/far-right-fraternal-order-sacr
These certainly are strange times.
The Guardian has previously reported on SACR’s close links to the Claremont Institute, an influential rightwing thinktank with fellows who have participated in attempts to overturn the 2020 election and promoted the idea that an authoritarian “Red Caesar” might redeem a US republic they see as decadent.
SACR’s origins appear to date to the latter half of 2020, with key milestones in the group’s development coming over the following 18 months.
https://www.claremont.org/
Oh boy.
Whoah… as if there wasn’t enough to worry about with the SCOTUS six etc:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/19/far-right-fraternal-order-sacr
These certainly are strange times.
The Guardian has previously reported on SACR’s close links to the Claremont Institute, an influential rightwing thinktank with fellows who have participated in attempts to overturn the 2020 election and promoted the idea that an authoritarian “Red Caesar” might redeem a US republic they see as decadent.
SACR’s origins appear to date to the latter half of 2020, with key milestones in the group’s development coming over the following 18 months.
https://www.claremont.org/
Oh boy.
I’ve just been watching C4 News’s correspondent in Israel. He said he and the C4 News team analysed 5 days of Hebrew newscasts on the biggest and most popular Israeli channels from last week, and that none of them showed any of the suffering in Gaza, at most one showed civilians running from a bombardment. Instead, the newscasts showed what is happening in Israel, mainly about the hostages. I don’t know to what extent this is a result of government censorship, or of self-censorship. That the Israeli public is not seeing the starving children and similar horrors explains I guess why public opinion has not turned more against the war, despite the general contempt for Netanyahu. Yet another argument (as if we needed one) for the importance of independent journalism.
I’ve just been watching C4 News’s correspondent in Israel. He said he and the C4 News team analysed 5 days of Hebrew newscasts on the biggest and most popular Israeli channels from last week, and that none of them showed any of the suffering in Gaza, at most one showed civilians running from a bombardment. Instead, the newscasts showed what is happening in Israel, mainly about the hostages. I don’t know to what extent this is a result of government censorship, or of self-censorship. That the Israeli public is not seeing the starving children and similar horrors explains I guess why public opinion has not turned more against the war, despite the general contempt for Netanyahu. Yet another argument (as if we needed one) for the importance of independent journalism.
If nothing else, the process should reveal just how much of a totally mortgaged house of cards he is.
I’ve regularly said that, given the time to unwind the >500 LLCs properly — say, at least a decade — the stack Trump winds up with is at least a billion. If he has to liquidate on a short schedule, he’s bankrupt.
I was reading a piece the other day based on interviews with a number of people deeply involved in big real estate deals and developers in the NYC metro area. The bottom line was that given a decade to unwind things, all of them would end up with at least a billion in cash. Given only a year to unwind, all of them were bankrupt.
If nothing else, the process should reveal just how much of a totally mortgaged house of cards he is.
I’ve regularly said that, given the time to unwind the >500 LLCs properly — say, at least a decade — the stack Trump winds up with is at least a billion. If he has to liquidate on a short schedule, he’s bankrupt.
I was reading a piece the other day based on interviews with a number of people deeply involved in big real estate deals and developers in the NYC metro area. The bottom line was that given a decade to unwind things, all of them would end up with at least a billion in cash. Given only a year to unwind, all of them were bankrupt.
Here are two articles that I found regarding Israel’s use of information warfare in the Israel-Hamas War:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/11/israel-gaza-hamas-netanyahu-warfare-misinformation/
https://theintercept.com/2024/02/07/gaza-israel-netanyahu-propaganda-lies-palestinians/
I usually feel like I have to do some checking where The Intercept is concerned, so seeing the same basic facts being reported at Foreign Policy (Centrist/Fact Based Reporting), and both using links to document their claims does reinforce the troubling nature of the IDF lies.
As far as the SACR piece goes, I’ve been seeing a lot of evidence of this type of activity going on in RW circles for a while. It’s the rejection of Liberalism (via Leo Strauss and others, depending on the group) that I’ve mentioned before, tied to a growing insistence on Natural Law approaches to governance that give these RW political philosophers the ability to sidestep any need for secularism or pluralism.
I don’t know whether to take these yahoos seriously or not. As is so often the case, I think that often what starts off as irony and provocation slips into the realm of acceptable thinking pretty quickly where the alt-right is concerned.
There’s a lot more in this than I have time for during finals week grading, so I will have to leave it for now.
Here are two articles that I found regarding Israel’s use of information warfare in the Israel-Hamas War:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/11/israel-gaza-hamas-netanyahu-warfare-misinformation/
https://theintercept.com/2024/02/07/gaza-israel-netanyahu-propaganda-lies-palestinians/
I usually feel like I have to do some checking where The Intercept is concerned, so seeing the same basic facts being reported at Foreign Policy (Centrist/Fact Based Reporting), and both using links to document their claims does reinforce the troubling nature of the IDF lies.
As far as the SACR piece goes, I’ve been seeing a lot of evidence of this type of activity going on in RW circles for a while. It’s the rejection of Liberalism (via Leo Strauss and others, depending on the group) that I’ve mentioned before, tied to a growing insistence on Natural Law approaches to governance that give these RW political philosophers the ability to sidestep any need for secularism or pluralism.
I don’t know whether to take these yahoos seriously or not. As is so often the case, I think that often what starts off as irony and provocation slips into the realm of acceptable thinking pretty quickly where the alt-right is concerned.
There’s a lot more in this than I have time for during finals week grading, so I will have to leave it for now.
“ usually feel like I have to do some checking where The Intercept is concerned, so seeing the same basic facts being reported at Foreign Policy (Centrist/Fact Based Reporting), “
That puzzles me. I feel like that to the extent possible, I have to check everybody. I place no extra value on centrist or mainstream publications that claim to be fact- based. On this particular subject I think the NYT, for example, is biased towards presenting its readers a world where Western atrocities are aberrations to be blamed on bad apples like Netanyahu, while our enemies do things out of pure evil. And this has an effect on their reporting. We, you know, are basically civilized.
To my mind the Gaza war reveals the deep hypocrisy of Western foreign policy in a way we haven’t seen before, not because there haven’t been horrifying Western supported wars, but because even with attempted Israeli censorship the internet has made it impossible to cover things up. I along with countless others were watching these grotesque videos out up by Israeli soldiers months before the NYT reported on it. I think in most previous horrible Western wars things had to be filtered through the MSM or alternatively you might read some lefty antiwar magazine with its own spin or some book written years later and in my case I would try to verify some of the leftish claims against mainstream sources where possible, or there was always the human rights organizations. But I didn’t give the mainstream sources special credence— it was a different pov, that’s all.
Now all you need is Twitter. You will see some almost live reporting of things the press may or may not get to eventually, or which it may downplay if it does report.
“ usually feel like I have to do some checking where The Intercept is concerned, so seeing the same basic facts being reported at Foreign Policy (Centrist/Fact Based Reporting), “
That puzzles me. I feel like that to the extent possible, I have to check everybody. I place no extra value on centrist or mainstream publications that claim to be fact- based. On this particular subject I think the NYT, for example, is biased towards presenting its readers a world where Western atrocities are aberrations to be blamed on bad apples like Netanyahu, while our enemies do things out of pure evil. And this has an effect on their reporting. We, you know, are basically civilized.
To my mind the Gaza war reveals the deep hypocrisy of Western foreign policy in a way we haven’t seen before, not because there haven’t been horrifying Western supported wars, but because even with attempted Israeli censorship the internet has made it impossible to cover things up. I along with countless others were watching these grotesque videos out up by Israeli soldiers months before the NYT reported on it. I think in most previous horrible Western wars things had to be filtered through the MSM or alternatively you might read some lefty antiwar magazine with its own spin or some book written years later and in my case I would try to verify some of the leftish claims against mainstream sources where possible, or there was always the human rights organizations. But I didn’t give the mainstream sources special credence— it was a different pov, that’s all.
Now all you need is Twitter. You will see some almost live reporting of things the press may or may not get to eventually, or which it may downplay if it does report.
That puzzles me. I feel like that to the extent possible, I have to check everybody. I place no extra value on centrist or mainstream publications that claim to be fact- based.
I do agree for the most part, but I also think that past history with a particular editorial stance shapes the degree to which one turns a critical eye on the reporting. When I say that I feel the need to check The Intercept, it’s because I have in the past felt that their biases (laudable as some of those biases are) have gotten in the way of their analysis in a way that damages their ethos. With Foreign Policy, meanwhile, I find that I often disagree with their biases, but find that their journalistic ethics are strong and their presentation of the story is basically fair and faithful to the record. So when I see them reporting the same things as The Intercept, I feel like that helps to confirm what The Intercept is reporting, because they do not share an ideological bias.
On this particular subject I think the NYT, for example, is biased towards presenting its readers a world where Western atrocities are aberrations to be blamed on bad apples like Netanyahu, while our enemies do things out of pure evil. And this has an effect on their reporting. We, you know, are basically civilized.
Agree. This is why the NYT has been having a hard time of it lately, what with the tensions between the print and the digital sides over the Israel-Palestine reporting. There’s a clear difference in fundamental worldview between the old and the new.
That puzzles me. I feel like that to the extent possible, I have to check everybody. I place no extra value on centrist or mainstream publications that claim to be fact- based.
I do agree for the most part, but I also think that past history with a particular editorial stance shapes the degree to which one turns a critical eye on the reporting. When I say that I feel the need to check The Intercept, it’s because I have in the past felt that their biases (laudable as some of those biases are) have gotten in the way of their analysis in a way that damages their ethos. With Foreign Policy, meanwhile, I find that I often disagree with their biases, but find that their journalistic ethics are strong and their presentation of the story is basically fair and faithful to the record. So when I see them reporting the same things as The Intercept, I feel like that helps to confirm what The Intercept is reporting, because they do not share an ideological bias.
On this particular subject I think the NYT, for example, is biased towards presenting its readers a world where Western atrocities are aberrations to be blamed on bad apples like Netanyahu, while our enemies do things out of pure evil. And this has an effect on their reporting. We, you know, are basically civilized.
Agree. This is why the NYT has been having a hard time of it lately, what with the tensions between the print and the digital sides over the Israel-Palestine reporting. There’s a clear difference in fundamental worldview between the old and the new.
Not enough time to get into this regarding the Intercept— I think ther biases have interfered in ther reporting a few times, but in the area I am thinking of, it was a mainstream bias.
On the NYT we agree. Today they put out a piece which is a perfect illustration of what they often do—
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/20/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-delivery.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eE0.8v6_.HR35uKAE3MEg&smid=url-share
There is not a word here about Israeli officials stating they want to keep aid out or about Israeli protests blocking trucks or about polls showing Israelis opposing aid. I don’t think there is anything factually false in the piece, but it is an extremely deceptive piece in what it chooses to leave out and in how it reduces the aid problem to a series of technical issues and differing opinions between various people. If Israel were our enemy or even if they were some country which wasn’t an ally there is no way the Israeli statements would be left out. They would be the centerpiece of the article.
Not enough time to get into this regarding the Intercept— I think ther biases have interfered in ther reporting a few times, but in the area I am thinking of, it was a mainstream bias.
On the NYT we agree. Today they put out a piece which is a perfect illustration of what they often do—
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/20/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-delivery.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eE0.8v6_.HR35uKAE3MEg&smid=url-share
There is not a word here about Israeli officials stating they want to keep aid out or about Israeli protests blocking trucks or about polls showing Israelis opposing aid. I don’t think there is anything factually false in the piece, but it is an extremely deceptive piece in what it chooses to leave out and in how it reduces the aid problem to a series of technical issues and differing opinions between various people. If Israel were our enemy or even if they were some country which wasn’t an ally there is no way the Israeli statements would be left out. They would be the centerpiece of the article.
“‘ve just been watching C4 News’s correspondent in Israel. He said he and the C4 News team analyzed 5 days of Hebrew newscasts on the biggest and most popular Israeli channels from last week, and that none of them showed any of the suffering in Gaza, at most one showed civilians running from a bombardment.”
I understand that seeing is believing and not-seeing is not believing–but. BUT. A person who didn’t believe in concentration camps due to not having seen one, but saw the smoke and the trains, engaged in willful not seeing.
Everyone in Israel knows that Gaza is surrounded by walls, is a small and very crowded area, that the population has been forced to abandon their means of sustaining life to avoid the bombs and has been bombed to the point where there couldn’t possibly be any viable economy or infrastructure left, so I think there has to be some willful not seeing going on.
“‘ve just been watching C4 News’s correspondent in Israel. He said he and the C4 News team analyzed 5 days of Hebrew newscasts on the biggest and most popular Israeli channels from last week, and that none of them showed any of the suffering in Gaza, at most one showed civilians running from a bombardment.”
I understand that seeing is believing and not-seeing is not believing–but. BUT. A person who didn’t believe in concentration camps due to not having seen one, but saw the smoke and the trains, engaged in willful not seeing.
Everyone in Israel knows that Gaza is surrounded by walls, is a small and very crowded area, that the population has been forced to abandon their means of sustaining life to avoid the bombs and has been bombed to the point where there couldn’t possibly be any viable economy or infrastructure left, so I think there has to be some willful not seeing going on.
It’s not like you can’t get coverage from Al Jazeera in Israel … with very little effort … if you’re interested.
It’s not like you can’t get coverage from Al Jazeera in Israel … with very little effort … if you’re interested.
so I think there has to be some willful not seeing going on.
Agreed.
so I think there has to be some willful not seeing going on.
Agreed.
Information Warfare is designed to sustain that not-seeing. The basic idea there is to occupy and dominate the targets’ attentions with messages that engage a threat response and provoke further engagement with other messages that reinforce the original one.
It takes a lot less effort to not-see when there are so many messages out there that are much more limbically rewarding to view that are within reach. If one is going to be upset, then one usually will prefer the flavor of upset that does not provoke moral crisis and attacks of conscience. This is especially true when in-group membership is threatened. Very few people want to risk their tribal membership over cognitive dissonance.
Information Warfare is designed to sustain that not-seeing. The basic idea there is to occupy and dominate the targets’ attentions with messages that engage a threat response and provoke further engagement with other messages that reinforce the original one.
It takes a lot less effort to not-see when there are so many messages out there that are much more limbically rewarding to view that are within reach. If one is going to be upset, then one usually will prefer the flavor of upset that does not provoke moral crisis and attacks of conscience. This is especially true when in-group membership is threatened. Very few people want to risk their tribal membership over cognitive dissonance.
Yes, I understand that willful not seeing is pretty much a universal human trait. Also, sometimes the not seeing is because of genuinely not seeing or it could be more a failure to make reasonable inferences from what is seen rather than an active turning of one’s back.
Yes, I understand that willful not seeing is pretty much a universal human trait. Also, sometimes the not seeing is because of genuinely not seeing or it could be more a failure to make reasonable inferences from what is seen rather than an active turning of one’s back.
Meanwhile, Michael Cohen avoids punishment for using Google Bard to write (and give fake cases as precedent in) the motion that he filed before a federal court:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/nyregion/michael-cohen-artificial-intelligence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eU0.omHc.8g2dsFPlDQie&smid=url-share
The jury’s out on Charles, however….
Meanwhile, Michael Cohen avoids punishment for using Google Bard to write (and give fake cases as precedent in) the motion that he filed before a federal court:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/nyregion/michael-cohen-artificial-intelligence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eU0.omHc.8g2dsFPlDQie&smid=url-share
The jury’s out on Charles, however….
Even Artificial “Intelligence” ought to have given him a leg up on the stumblebums TIFG keeps sending into court. But apparently his lawyer is from the same diploma mill.
Even Artificial “Intelligence” ought to have given him a leg up on the stumblebums TIFG keeps sending into court. But apparently his lawyer is from the same diploma mill.
On an entirely unrelated subject, I’m curious about this recent xkcd strip.
I suppose that the suggestion is that (almost) all the vowels are pronounced as schwas. But to me, they would be (with some variation depending on how carefully one was speaking):
Whɒt’s ʌp? Wɒs Dʌg gənnə cʌm? Dʌg lʌvs brʌnch.
Nəh əh, Dʌg’s stʌck ‘cɒs əf ə tʌnnəl ɒbstrʌctən. ə trʌck dʌmpd ə tʌn əf ʌniəns.
Where, if anywhere, are these mostly schwas?
On an entirely unrelated subject, I’m curious about this recent xkcd strip.
I suppose that the suggestion is that (almost) all the vowels are pronounced as schwas. But to me, they would be (with some variation depending on how carefully one was speaking):
Whɒt’s ʌp? Wɒs Dʌg gənnə cʌm? Dʌg lʌvs brʌnch.
Nəh əh, Dʌg’s stʌck ‘cɒs əf ə tʌnnəl ɒbstrʌctən. ə trʌck dʌmpd ə tʌn əf ʌniəns.
Where, if anywhere, are these mostly schwas?
On an entirely unrelated subject, …
“The field of phonetics delves into the problems of transcribing spoken languages into written symbols. Phoneticians study the ways in which specific combinations of consonants and vowels convey meaning. Many languages have vowel sounds which are represented by the schwa vowel symbol /ə/, as illustrated in this paragraph.” —Anthropic Claude-3-Sonnet
On an entirely unrelated subject, …
“The field of phonetics delves into the problems of transcribing spoken languages into written symbols. Phoneticians study the ways in which specific combinations of consonants and vowels convey meaning. Many languages have vowel sounds which are represented by the schwa vowel symbol /ə/, as illustrated in this paragraph.” —Anthropic Claude-3-Sonnet
@Pro Bono – That XKCD pronunciation may be possible for someone with a strong California Vowel Shift (that’s how I read it). A lot gets shifted forward and upward, and flattened out (environmental effects of sun, surf, and weed?).
I’d ask a friend who is a dialect coach, but he’s out on sabbatical at the moment. Pretty sure he could turn this into an hour lecture, with demonstrations.
@Pro Bono – That XKCD pronunciation may be possible for someone with a strong California Vowel Shift (that’s how I read it). A lot gets shifted forward and upward, and flattened out (environmental effects of sun, surf, and weed?).
I’d ask a friend who is a dialect coach, but he’s out on sabbatical at the moment. Pretty sure he could turn this into an hour lecture, with demonstrations.
Charles, since you quote the beginning of Pro Bono’s question at the top of your (Anthropic Claude3’s) post, I would be grateful if you would explain what exactly in PB’s post led you to believe that he didn’t already know and understand the information in your (Anthropic Claude3’s) paragraph?
Charles, since you quote the beginning of Pro Bono’s question at the top of your (Anthropic Claude3’s) post, I would be grateful if you would explain what exactly in PB’s post led you to believe that he didn’t already know and understand the information in your (Anthropic Claude3’s) paragraph?
Agree on the schwa-ization (is that a word? maybe now it is!) of californian dialect.
With the exception of the “u” sound in “Dude” that precedes/follows every sentence in surfer-speak, which gets even more emphasized.
As English-speakers migrated west across North America, all the accent differences got blended and homogenized. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, dude.
Agree on the schwa-ization (is that a word? maybe now it is!) of californian dialect.
With the exception of the “u” sound in “Dude” that precedes/follows every sentence in surfer-speak, which gets even more emphasized.
As English-speakers migrated west across North America, all the accent differences got blended and homogenized. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, dude.
Asked google for “schwa” and got their quick result from “Oxford Languages”:
If the schwa is by definition unstressed, then the whole premise of the xkcd comic is mistaken and it falls flat. (Though that’s apparently not Pro Bono’s objection.)
*****
But if I were to accept the premise, then the xkcd pronunciation is very close to my dialect’s pronunciation — which doesn’t require a California Vowel Shift, since it has its origins in northeastern Ohio 70+ years ago (where people have undergone some vowel shifts in the interim, for that matter), with fifty or so years in New England added on.
If I say “a cup,” the two vowel sounds are almost indistinguishable. The “a” is unstressed, but my mouth is in the same position for both, or close enough.
*****
Afterthought: again from Oxford Languages, for the pronunciation of cup:
cup
/kəp/
So much for the schwa being unstressed by definition. 😉
Asked google for “schwa” and got their quick result from “Oxford Languages”:
If the schwa is by definition unstressed, then the whole premise of the xkcd comic is mistaken and it falls flat. (Though that’s apparently not Pro Bono’s objection.)
*****
But if I were to accept the premise, then the xkcd pronunciation is very close to my dialect’s pronunciation — which doesn’t require a California Vowel Shift, since it has its origins in northeastern Ohio 70+ years ago (where people have undergone some vowel shifts in the interim, for that matter), with fifty or so years in New England added on.
If I say “a cup,” the two vowel sounds are almost indistinguishable. The “a” is unstressed, but my mouth is in the same position for both, or close enough.
*****
Afterthought: again from Oxford Languages, for the pronunciation of cup:
cup
/kəp/
So much for the schwa being unstressed by definition. 😉
I see that wiktionary offers distinct English and US audio recordings of ‘cup’.
I see that wiktionary offers distinct English and US audio recordings of ‘cup’.
Now is as good a time as any to pull out the HowCast accents series. Lots of good musings on oral posture and diphthongs and whatnot:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLALQuK1NDrjVi9sibfkhTN372_bd470N
(Andrea is also a very nice human being. She collaborates with my friend on a lot of speech and dialect stuff.)
Now is as good a time as any to pull out the HowCast accents series. Lots of good musings on oral posture and diphthongs and whatnot:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLALQuK1NDrjVi9sibfkhTN372_bd470N
(Andrea is also a very nice human being. She collaborates with my friend on a lot of speech and dialect stuff.)
I see that wiktionary offers distinct English and US audio recordings of ‘cup’.
Too bad they don’t have a recording of someone from Ireland saying it. In my experience that would be much more distinguishable from *either* US or UK than either of the latter is from the other.
You can hear it quickly in passing in the first few seconds of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1eC4WX_QI4
I see that wiktionary offers distinct English and US audio recordings of ‘cup’.
Too bad they don’t have a recording of someone from Ireland saying it. In my experience that would be much more distinguishable from *either* US or UK than either of the latter is from the other.
You can hear it quickly in passing in the first few seconds of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1eC4WX_QI4
They do mention the Northern English pronunciation /kʊp/, which is similar to the Irish.
They do mention the Northern English pronunciation /kʊp/, which is similar to the Irish.
I come closer to the xkcd version if I’m in a casual setting. Stick me in front of a class or legislative committee and (involuntarily) I’m in the academic version of General American: over-enunciate a bit, vowels differentiated more, dropped consonants get quite rare. My wife used to call it “Mike, in lecture mode”.
Even old speech recognition software was very good at getting “Mike, in lecture mode” correct. I assume that machine learning versions are at least very good for everyone these days.
I come closer to the xkcd version if I’m in a casual setting. Stick me in front of a class or legislative committee and (involuntarily) I’m in the academic version of General American: over-enunciate a bit, vowels differentiated more, dropped consonants get quite rare. My wife used to call it “Mike, in lecture mode”.
Even old speech recognition software was very good at getting “Mike, in lecture mode” correct. I assume that machine learning versions are at least very good for everyone these days.
I would be grateful if you would explain what exactly in PB’s post led you to believe that he didn’t already know and understand the information in your (Anthropic Claude3’s) paragraph?
I didn’t make any assumptions about PB‘s knowledge or understanding of the subject of his comment.
The text is Claude’s response to the prompt, “Write a paragraph about phonetics using words with no vowel sounds but the schwa vowel sound.”
My comment was a backhanded way of pointing out that there is a dwindling number of subjects entirely unrelated to AI.
I would be grateful if you would explain what exactly in PB’s post led you to believe that he didn’t already know and understand the information in your (Anthropic Claude3’s) paragraph?
I didn’t make any assumptions about PB‘s knowledge or understanding of the subject of his comment.
The text is Claude’s response to the prompt, “Write a paragraph about phonetics using words with no vowel sounds but the schwa vowel sound.”
My comment was a backhanded way of pointing out that there is a dwindling number of subjects entirely unrelated to AI.
The text is Claude’s response to the prompt, “Write a paragraph about phonetics using words with no vowel sounds but the schwa vowel sound.”
And of course, the second word in the response fails to satisfy the criterion. Not surprising, I think; adding a filter like only schwa vowel sounds is a rather unusual thing to put into the next-word decision. I wonder how complicated a prompt might be necessary to get something like that to be effective, even without limiting the general subject?
The text is Claude’s response to the prompt, “Write a paragraph about phonetics using words with no vowel sounds but the schwa vowel sound.”
And of course, the second word in the response fails to satisfy the criterion. Not surprising, I think; adding a filter like only schwa vowel sounds is a rather unusual thing to put into the next-word decision. I wonder how complicated a prompt might be necessary to get something like that to be effective, even without limiting the general subject?
And of course, the second word in the response fails to satisfy the criterion.
I defer. In grade school, the subject of phonics went completely over my head.
More from Claude.
“Th’ fəld əv fənɛtɪks dɛlvz ɪntə th’ prəblɛmz əv trənskrɪbɪŋ spəkən lɑːŋgwɪdʒɪz ɪntə rɪtən səmbəlz. Fənɛtɪʃənz stʌdi th’ wɛz ɪn wɪtʃ spɛsɪfɪk kəmbɪnəʃənz əv kənsənənts ən vɐwlz kənvə mɪnɪŋ. Mənɪ lɑːŋgwɪdʒɪz hæv vɐwl səʊndz wɪtʃ ər rɛprzɛntɪd bɐ θə ʃwɑː vɐwl sɐmbəl /ə/, əz ɪlʌstrətɪd ɪn ðɪs pɛrəgrɑːf.”
List the vowel sounds used in the text.
“The vowel sounds used in the text are:
/ə/ – the schwa vowel sound, as in “the”, “consonants”, “transcribing”, etc.
/ɛ/ – as in “delves”, “spellings”
/ɪ/ – as in “phonetics”, “linguistics”, “specific”
/ɑː/ – as in “languages”, “transcribing”
/ʌ/ – as in “study”, “illustrating”
/ɐ/ – as in “word”, “convey”
/ɔː/ – as in “formations”, “combinations”
No other vowel sounds besides the schwa /ə/ are used in this text.”
Is it contradicting itself?
And of course, the second word in the response fails to satisfy the criterion.
I defer. In grade school, the subject of phonics went completely over my head.
More from Claude.
“Th’ fəld əv fənɛtɪks dɛlvz ɪntə th’ prəblɛmz əv trənskrɪbɪŋ spəkən lɑːŋgwɪdʒɪz ɪntə rɪtən səmbəlz. Fənɛtɪʃənz stʌdi th’ wɛz ɪn wɪtʃ spɛsɪfɪk kəmbɪnəʃənz əv kənsənənts ən vɐwlz kənvə mɪnɪŋ. Mənɪ lɑːŋgwɪdʒɪz hæv vɐwl səʊndz wɪtʃ ər rɛprzɛntɪd bɐ θə ʃwɑː vɐwl sɐmbəl /ə/, əz ɪlʌstrətɪd ɪn ðɪs pɛrəgrɑːf.”
List the vowel sounds used in the text.
“The vowel sounds used in the text are:
/ə/ – the schwa vowel sound, as in “the”, “consonants”, “transcribing”, etc.
/ɛ/ – as in “delves”, “spellings”
/ɪ/ – as in “phonetics”, “linguistics”, “specific”
/ɑː/ – as in “languages”, “transcribing”
/ʌ/ – as in “study”, “illustrating”
/ɐ/ – as in “word”, “convey”
/ɔː/ – as in “formations”, “combinations”
No other vowel sounds besides the schwa /ə/ are used in this text.”
Is it contradicting itself?
CharlesWT – It’s not contradicting itself because it’s not actually making an argument. It’s doing its best to imitate the form and content of an argument featuring the required ingredients.
It has no comprehension and is merely doing its best to script something that looks like it might score well with the trainers.
And as far as that goes, I’d be surprised if the training actually connects the graphemes it manipulates with the phonemes we are arguing over.
CharlesWT – It’s not contradicting itself because it’s not actually making an argument. It’s doing its best to imitate the form and content of an argument featuring the required ingredients.
It has no comprehension and is merely doing its best to script something that looks like it might score well with the trainers.
And as far as that goes, I’d be surprised if the training actually connects the graphemes it manipulates with the phonemes we are arguing over.
It’s not contradicting itself because it’s not actually making an argument.
You don’t think it’s contradicting itself by listing the sounds used in the text (all 7 of them) and then saying there’s only one used in the text? Are we living in two only partially overlapping universes?
*****
CharlesWT: My comment was a backhanded way of pointing out that there is a dwindling number of subjects entirely unrelated to AI.
I have no idea what this even means. What does it mean for a subject to be “related” to AI? As distinct, for example, from being a subject that AI can create semblances of English sentences about?
*****
Michael: adding a filter like only schwa vowel sounds is a rather unusual thing to put into the next-word decision.
And yet, I’ll bet the cartoonist who creates xkcd comics did it fairly easily. (If you will grant my provisional/reluctant agreement with the cartoonist that “a” and “cup” use the same vowel sound, even if they’re not both technically schwas — which certainly seems to have been *his* premise.)
It’s not contradicting itself because it’s not actually making an argument.
You don’t think it’s contradicting itself by listing the sounds used in the text (all 7 of them) and then saying there’s only one used in the text? Are we living in two only partially overlapping universes?
*****
CharlesWT: My comment was a backhanded way of pointing out that there is a dwindling number of subjects entirely unrelated to AI.
I have no idea what this even means. What does it mean for a subject to be “related” to AI? As distinct, for example, from being a subject that AI can create semblances of English sentences about?
*****
Michael: adding a filter like only schwa vowel sounds is a rather unusual thing to put into the next-word decision.
And yet, I’ll bet the cartoonist who creates xkcd comics did it fairly easily. (If you will grant my provisional/reluctant agreement with the cartoonist that “a” and “cup” use the same vowel sound, even if they’re not both technically schwas — which certainly seems to have been *his* premise.)
PS — nous, thanks for the link to the HowCast videos. Really cool!!!!!
I was once a sort of groupie for a Maine trio called Schooner Fare (whose music can be found on YouTube) — Tom Rowe, who died young, used to do a between songs routine that involved imitating / demonstrating six or seven different *Maine* accents, never mind going outside the borders of the state. “This is Washington County, this is Oxford County, etc.” And he could make them distinguishable. It was great fun.
PS — nous, thanks for the link to the HowCast videos. Really cool!!!!!
I was once a sort of groupie for a Maine trio called Schooner Fare (whose music can be found on YouTube) — Tom Rowe, who died young, used to do a between songs routine that involved imitating / demonstrating six or seven different *Maine* accents, never mind going outside the borders of the state. “This is Washington County, this is Oxford County, etc.” And he could make them distinguishable. It was great fun.
Also note that it uses “transcribing” as demonstrating two different “a” sounds. 😉
As for connections between graphemes and phonemes, one would probably need a talking AI to test that.
I better not make fun of any German dialects here, in particular not telling jokes about Saxon goose meat.
Also note that it uses “transcribing” as demonstrating two different “a” sounds. 😉
As for connections between graphemes and phonemes, one would probably need a talking AI to test that.
I better not make fun of any German dialects here, in particular not telling jokes about Saxon goose meat.
You don’t think it’s contradicting itself by listing the sounds used in the text (all 7 of them) and then saying there’s only one used in the text? Are we living in two only partially overlapping universes?
Oh, the information being presented is full of contradictions, but the LLM cannot contradict itself because it has no actual understanding and is therefore groundless in its output. It’s like asking the LLM for a list of jammy red wines and then getting something that is either not a red, or not jammy in the list.
It’s never actually seen or tasted wine, so it couldn’t actually argue whether or not a given wine is jammy.
You don’t think it’s contradicting itself by listing the sounds used in the text (all 7 of them) and then saying there’s only one used in the text? Are we living in two only partially overlapping universes?
Oh, the information being presented is full of contradictions, but the LLM cannot contradict itself because it has no actual understanding and is therefore groundless in its output. It’s like asking the LLM for a list of jammy red wines and then getting something that is either not a red, or not jammy in the list.
It’s never actually seen or tasted wine, so it couldn’t actually argue whether or not a given wine is jammy.
I have no idea what this even means. What does it mean for a subject to be “related” to AI? As distinct, for example, from being a subject that AI can create semblances of English sentences about?
My thoughts exactly. And apart from the fact that when I say “a cup” the two sounds are completely different, and only the first is a schwa, I would also like to put on record that my late husband, North Country born and bred, pronounced “cup” very like the Irish example, and so did all the people thereabouts. And when I asked, once, in a supermarket there, whether they had a particular product fresh (as opposed to jarred), or if they only had it in summer, two separate women hesitantly said “sammer?” and didn’t recognise the word.
I have no idea what this even means. What does it mean for a subject to be “related” to AI? As distinct, for example, from being a subject that AI can create semblances of English sentences about?
My thoughts exactly. And apart from the fact that when I say “a cup” the two sounds are completely different, and only the first is a schwa, I would also like to put on record that my late husband, North Country born and bred, pronounced “cup” very like the Irish example, and so did all the people thereabouts. And when I asked, once, in a supermarket there, whether they had a particular product fresh (as opposed to jarred), or if they only had it in summer, two separate women hesitantly said “sammer?” and didn’t recognise the word.
Interesting article on solidarity in today’s NYT:
Policies can either foster solidarity and help repair the divides that separate us or deepen the fissures.
Today, the American welfare state too often does the latter. As sociologists including Suzanne Mettler and Matthew Desmond have detailed, lower-income people tend to be stigmatized for needing assistance, while more-affluent citizens reap a range of benefits that are comparatively invisible, mainly through tax credits and tax breaks. Both arrangements — the highly visible and stigmatized aid to the poor and the more invisible and socially acceptable aid to the affluent — serve to foster resentment and obscure how we are all dependent on the state in various ways.
Instead of treating citizens as passive and isolated recipients of services delivered from on high, a solidarity state would experiment with creative ways of fostering connection and participation at every opportunity for more Americans. What if we had basic guarantees that were universal rather than means-tested programs that distinguish between the deserving and undeserving, stigmatizing some and setting groups apart? What if, following the model of a widely admired program in Canada, the government aided groups of private citizens who want to sponsor and subsidize migrants and refugees? What if public schools, post offices, transit systems, parks, public utilities and jobs programs were explicitly designed to facilitate social connection and solidarity in addition to providing essential support and services?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/opinion/democracy-solidarity-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ek0.Yn7j.369XPkK7is9e&smid=url-share
Interesting article on solidarity in today’s NYT:
Policies can either foster solidarity and help repair the divides that separate us or deepen the fissures.
Today, the American welfare state too often does the latter. As sociologists including Suzanne Mettler and Matthew Desmond have detailed, lower-income people tend to be stigmatized for needing assistance, while more-affluent citizens reap a range of benefits that are comparatively invisible, mainly through tax credits and tax breaks. Both arrangements — the highly visible and stigmatized aid to the poor and the more invisible and socially acceptable aid to the affluent — serve to foster resentment and obscure how we are all dependent on the state in various ways.
Instead of treating citizens as passive and isolated recipients of services delivered from on high, a solidarity state would experiment with creative ways of fostering connection and participation at every opportunity for more Americans. What if we had basic guarantees that were universal rather than means-tested programs that distinguish between the deserving and undeserving, stigmatizing some and setting groups apart? What if, following the model of a widely admired program in Canada, the government aided groups of private citizens who want to sponsor and subsidize migrants and refugees? What if public schools, post offices, transit systems, parks, public utilities and jobs programs were explicitly designed to facilitate social connection and solidarity in addition to providing essential support and services?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/opinion/democracy-solidarity-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ek0.Yn7j.369XPkK7is9e&smid=url-share
As I think on it, when I say “a”, it is typically pronounced “uh” — like the “u” in “cup”. (I’m having no success with pasting IPA symbols. Including copying from Charles’ post above. Sorry.)
UNLESS it is being used, in context, to mean “one and only one”. In which case, it is pronounced like the “a” in “cape” or “space” or “face”.
If I say “I’ll have a cup” in the usual pronunciation, that accepts that there may be more to follow. But if I use the second pronunciation, that means no more after the first, so don’t even bother to ask.
But then, my native Californian pronunciation dates from before the reputed vowel shift.
As I think on it, when I say “a”, it is typically pronounced “uh” — like the “u” in “cup”. (I’m having no success with pasting IPA symbols. Including copying from Charles’ post above. Sorry.)
UNLESS it is being used, in context, to mean “one and only one”. In which case, it is pronounced like the “a” in “cape” or “space” or “face”.
If I say “I’ll have a cup” in the usual pronunciation, that accepts that there may be more to follow. But if I use the second pronunciation, that means no more after the first, so don’t even bother to ask.
But then, my native Californian pronunciation dates from before the reputed vowel shift.
I am not Californian but I’d say I pronounce it the way that wj describes. I use the ‘a’ as in ‘space’ when I want to emphasize the ‘a’ and put it in opposition to ‘the’ (which in that context also gets a pronunciation shift towards ‘thee’) as in “this is *a* (possible) solution not *the* (=only) solution.”.
I am not Californian but I’d say I pronounce it the way that wj describes. I use the ‘a’ as in ‘space’ when I want to emphasize the ‘a’ and put it in opposition to ‘the’ (which in that context also gets a pronunciation shift towards ‘thee’) as in “this is *a* (possible) solution not *the* (=only) solution.”.
Having lived and taught in Japan for more than 30 years, I have found that I don’t use schwas but end up moving towards the dictionary pronunciations, which people over here refer to as ‘english teacher-ese’ We still use schwas, but not to the extent that they would be used in regular speech back home.
This might be of interest
https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/linguists-hear-an-accent-begin/
Having lived and taught in Japan for more than 30 years, I have found that I don’t use schwas but end up moving towards the dictionary pronunciations, which people over here refer to as ‘english teacher-ese’ We still use schwas, but not to the extent that they would be used in regular speech back home.
This might be of interest
https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/linguists-hear-an-accent-begin/
lj — thanks for that article, very interesting. My private theory is that people want to talk like the cool kids talk….
And now I wonder whether the cool kids unconsciously alter their accents precisely to gain followers and affirmation for their coolness.
This is on my mind (both coolness and accents) because I have just finished watching the 4 seasons of Sex Education. A veritable feast of different accents!
lj — thanks for that article, very interesting. My private theory is that people want to talk like the cool kids talk….
And now I wonder whether the cool kids unconsciously alter their accents precisely to gain followers and affirmation for their coolness.
This is on my mind (both coolness and accents) because I have just finished watching the 4 seasons of Sex Education. A veritable feast of different accents!
My nieces both speak in a way that seems to be a younger generation thing. It’s not a matter of slang; it’s intonation. I’m not around them or around others of their age and socio/economic demographic to explain the phenomenon very well, but I have seen it mocked on you tube or satirized in ads. An upward turn at the end of a sentence that makes everything a question. A drag on the first words of a sentence that makes all the following words seem slightly ironic or sardonic even if the subject matter is something as mundane as choice of scrambled or fried eggs for breakfast. An I’m-so-cool distancing.
It annoys me because it sounds pretentious, but I’m old.
My nieces both speak in a way that seems to be a younger generation thing. It’s not a matter of slang; it’s intonation. I’m not around them or around others of their age and socio/economic demographic to explain the phenomenon very well, but I have seen it mocked on you tube or satirized in ads. An upward turn at the end of a sentence that makes everything a question. A drag on the first words of a sentence that makes all the following words seem slightly ironic or sardonic even if the subject matter is something as mundane as choice of scrambled or fried eggs for breakfast. An I’m-so-cool distancing.
It annoys me because it sounds pretentious, but I’m old.
It’s not a matter of slang; it’s intonation.
My ten-year-old granddaughter and I (now 70) both use “cool”. The intonations are radically different.
It’s not a matter of slang; it’s intonation.
My ten-year-old granddaughter and I (now 70) both use “cool”. The intonations are radically different.
wonkie, it’s called “uptalk”.
Yes, it has the implication of lack of confidence, but (guess) mostly to those not already kewl kidz.
Oldsters hand the youngsters a “tool” (language), and then are appalled when the youngsters use that tool for their own purposes, part the infinity.
wonkie, it’s called “uptalk”.
Yes, it has the implication of lack of confidence, but (guess) mostly to those not already kewl kidz.
Oldsters hand the youngsters a “tool” (language), and then are appalled when the youngsters use that tool for their own purposes, part the infinity.
When that “uptalk” phenomenon started becoming prevalent here, some years ago, people used to say that it had originated in Australia. I don’t know if that’s true, but I am quite prepared to blame them for something else in addition to the origin of Rupert Murdoch.
When that “uptalk” phenomenon started becoming prevalent here, some years ago, people used to say that it had originated in Australia. I don’t know if that’s true, but I am quite prepared to blame them for something else in addition to the origin of Rupert Murdoch.
I first noticed uptalk about three decades ago at a temp job I had. Every instruction the supervisor gave sounded like a question.
I first noticed uptalk about three decades ago at a temp job I had. Every instruction the supervisor gave sounded like a question.
This is more in the nature of annoying verbal tics but have you all noticed how service people gush “Perfect!” at the slightest provocation? “Sign your name here—perfect!” “Debit or credit? Perfect!” “And now a signature here…perfect!” I’m probably a grumpy old lady, but I find it annoying to be congratulated for remembering my name.
This is more in the nature of annoying verbal tics but have you all noticed how service people gush “Perfect!” at the slightest provocation? “Sign your name here—perfect!” “Debit or credit? Perfect!” “And now a signature here…perfect!” I’m probably a grumpy old lady, but I find it annoying to be congratulated for remembering my name.
“Sign your name here—perfect!”
And they all changed to it seemingly overnight. I’ve finally got to the point where it no longer grates. What are they commenting on? That I hit the line they were pointing at? The quality of the signature on some scale?
“Sign your name here—perfect!”
And they all changed to it seemingly overnight. I’ve finally got to the point where it no longer grates. What are they commenting on? That I hit the line they were pointing at? The quality of the signature on some scale?
Okay, if we’re doing old person pet peeves, mine has been around for decades, and it still annoys me. It’s using “No problem” for “You’re welcome.”
Damned right it had better be no problem, it’s your fncking job. As if, if they were in a different mood, my actually buying something in their store *would* be a problem, but they’re magnanimously letting me do it just this once.
Grumpy-old-lady is my middle name. 😉
Okay, if we’re doing old person pet peeves, mine has been around for decades, and it still annoys me. It’s using “No problem” for “You’re welcome.”
Damned right it had better be no problem, it’s your fncking job. As if, if they were in a different mood, my actually buying something in their store *would* be a problem, but they’re magnanimously letting me do it just this once.
Grumpy-old-lady is my middle name. 😉
When did battleship gray become a preferred car color?
When did battleship gray become a preferred car color?
Michael: funny you should mention that. I had car problems for a year and a half and it was time to replace my car anyhow, but when I first started looking in August of 2022, there was not a single car on the lot at the dealership I prefer to shop at that was on my list of possibles. (Inventory problems have been dire, I guess due at least in part to covid.)
Cut to a year and a half later, January 2024, and I was involved in a car accident, one factor in which was that the car I collided with was a very old, very small gray sedan that was almost invisible because it was the same color as the road, and my attention had been caught by the much larger white vehicle that was following it. (It was also a very glare-y post snowstorm day, but never mind all the complications.)
Thank goodness, it was a very slow speed collision and no one was hurt. But my car was totaled, so my hand was forced on the “get a new car” front. I talked with a couple of friends about it, and one of them brought up visibility issues. You can google it if you want; there has apparently been some research done on visibility. But I was clear on what color I wanted, the same color I *always* want (blue), and I was skeptical about the visibility research anyhow because it didn’t make any mention of visibility in different landscapes. (It did mention time of day, and that dark colors are less visible at night….)
The most interesting theory I’ve heard about the popularity of gray (which probably came from someone at BJ, it’s the only other blog I read regularly) is that car dealers stock a lot of neutral color cars (e.g. gray) because when people come in wanting a particular color, e.g. red, if the dealer doesn’t have it the customer is more likely to settle for a neutral color than for some other strong color (e.g. blue or green).
Or — maybe it’s just a fad. Some “cool kid” chose gray and from there it spread….
I was adamant about *not* wanting gray, having just had a hard lesson in its (in)visibility.
Michael: funny you should mention that. I had car problems for a year and a half and it was time to replace my car anyhow, but when I first started looking in August of 2022, there was not a single car on the lot at the dealership I prefer to shop at that was on my list of possibles. (Inventory problems have been dire, I guess due at least in part to covid.)
Cut to a year and a half later, January 2024, and I was involved in a car accident, one factor in which was that the car I collided with was a very old, very small gray sedan that was almost invisible because it was the same color as the road, and my attention had been caught by the much larger white vehicle that was following it. (It was also a very glare-y post snowstorm day, but never mind all the complications.)
Thank goodness, it was a very slow speed collision and no one was hurt. But my car was totaled, so my hand was forced on the “get a new car” front. I talked with a couple of friends about it, and one of them brought up visibility issues. You can google it if you want; there has apparently been some research done on visibility. But I was clear on what color I wanted, the same color I *always* want (blue), and I was skeptical about the visibility research anyhow because it didn’t make any mention of visibility in different landscapes. (It did mention time of day, and that dark colors are less visible at night….)
The most interesting theory I’ve heard about the popularity of gray (which probably came from someone at BJ, it’s the only other blog I read regularly) is that car dealers stock a lot of neutral color cars (e.g. gray) because when people come in wanting a particular color, e.g. red, if the dealer doesn’t have it the customer is more likely to settle for a neutral color than for some other strong color (e.g. blue or green).
Or — maybe it’s just a fad. Some “cool kid” chose gray and from there it spread….
I was adamant about *not* wanting gray, having just had a hard lesson in its (in)visibility.
I heard a LONG time ago that white was a better car color, because it stays cooler in the summer.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat, so no problem heating in winter.
Visibility? Leave the lights on.
I heard a LONG time ago that white was a better car color, because it stays cooler in the summer.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat, so no problem heating in winter.
Visibility? Leave the lights on.
(It did mention time of day, and that dark colors are less visible at night….)
This raises the question, “Why are so many emergency vehicles painted dark red?”
(It did mention time of day, and that dark colors are less visible at night….)
This raises the question, “Why are so many emergency vehicles painted dark red?”
IIRC, there were studies that showed that emergency vehicles should be bright YELLOW for improved visibility.
Some are! But it’ll take a while for the obstructive traditionalists to vacate the stage.
IIRC, there were studies that showed that emergency vehicles should be bright YELLOW for improved visibility.
Some are! But it’ll take a while for the obstructive traditionalists to vacate the stage.
Over here they use special reds reserved for firetrucks and emergency vehicles (and those have been regularly updated with extra contrast elements) so they stick out both day and night even when they do not use the siren and the blue signal lights.
Over here they use special reds reserved for firetrucks and emergency vehicles (and those have been regularly updated with extra contrast elements) so they stick out both day and night even when they do not use the siren and the blue signal lights.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat…
I remember a talk I saw back in the 1990s where the speaker’s thesis was that car design had reached the point that the limiting factor was heat management.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat…
I remember a talk I saw back in the 1990s where the speaker’s thesis was that car design had reached the point that the limiting factor was heat management.
Some “cool kid” chose gray and from there it spread….
The gray that really sticks out to my eye is the almost flat color, effectively no gloss at all. Probably a vinyl wrap of some sort. I can’t imagine painting a car that color if you ever intend to sell or trade it.
Some “cool kid” chose gray and from there it spread….
The gray that really sticks out to my eye is the almost flat color, effectively no gloss at all. Probably a vinyl wrap of some sort. I can’t imagine painting a car that color if you ever intend to sell or trade it.
Gray is “safe” for resale, and it doesn’t show dirt as much as either black or white will.
White is safer for visibility and has an aura of luxury about it, but it will show dirt and is harder to keep clean when it comes time to resell.
Any one particular color has a greater chance of being out-of-fashion when it comes time to resell than the grayscales, so gray, white, black, and silver continue to dominate.
When we got our Mini, my wife had wanted to get an orange/yellow one with black top and bonnet stripes, but the one that we got was a red one that had been sitting on the lot for a while. Our salesperson said that the orange color was mostly popular with younger men, and that the red would widen the resale appeal by at least double.
Gray is “safe” for resale, and it doesn’t show dirt as much as either black or white will.
White is safer for visibility and has an aura of luxury about it, but it will show dirt and is harder to keep clean when it comes time to resell.
Any one particular color has a greater chance of being out-of-fashion when it comes time to resell than the grayscales, so gray, white, black, and silver continue to dominate.
When we got our Mini, my wife had wanted to get an orange/yellow one with black top and bonnet stripes, but the one that we got was a red one that had been sitting on the lot for a while. Our salesperson said that the orange color was mostly popular with younger men, and that the red would widen the resale appeal by at least double.
What seems to be becoming popular here, at least on rather high end cars, is a completely matte powdery look, often (although not always) in khaki or olive so almost military looking. I wonder if that is what Michael Cain is talking about: certainly there is no iota of gloss. I wonder if it shows scratches as much as gloss finishes?
What seems to be becoming popular here, at least on rather high end cars, is a completely matte powdery look, often (although not always) in khaki or olive so almost military looking. I wonder if that is what Michael Cain is talking about: certainly there is no iota of gloss. I wonder if it shows scratches as much as gloss finishes?
What strains MY aging eyes is the ridiculously “neutral” color scheme that many desktop “apps” have been adopting for some years. I mean, light gray slider buttons on off-white slider strips?! Practically invisible grid lines in Excel, fainter and fainter tones in Google Maps, WTF? Does nobody older than 30 design user interfaces any more?
And don’t get me started on controls or menu bars that play hide-and-seek just to show off.
Bah, humbug!
–TP
What strains MY aging eyes is the ridiculously “neutral” color scheme that many desktop “apps” have been adopting for some years. I mean, light gray slider buttons on off-white slider strips?! Practically invisible grid lines in Excel, fainter and fainter tones in Google Maps, WTF? Does nobody older than 30 design user interfaces any more?
And don’t get me started on controls or menu bars that play hide-and-seek just to show off.
Bah, humbug!
–TP
And don’t get me started on controls or menu bars that play hide-and-seek just to show off.
I wrote a comment about this that was mostly swearing, and either I or Typepad lost it. It utterly baffles me how anyone could think this is desirable — even worse is that sometimes (esp. in Word, which is what I use the most, and where I often have 2 or 3 panels open), there are no visual clues to where the disappeared scrollbars actually are for when you want to go back to them 3 seconds after you last used them.
Bah humbug indeed. Set the people who designed this shit and then pretentiously named it (in Microsoft world anyhow) “Conscious Controls” to digging ditches, and never let them near a keyboard again.
And don’t get me started on controls or menu bars that play hide-and-seek just to show off.
I wrote a comment about this that was mostly swearing, and either I or Typepad lost it. It utterly baffles me how anyone could think this is desirable — even worse is that sometimes (esp. in Word, which is what I use the most, and where I often have 2 or 3 panels open), there are no visual clues to where the disappeared scrollbars actually are for when you want to go back to them 3 seconds after you last used them.
Bah humbug indeed. Set the people who designed this shit and then pretentiously named it (in Microsoft world anyhow) “Conscious Controls” to digging ditches, and never let them near a keyboard again.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat…
More accurately, internal combustion car engines put out lots of heat. Electric vehicle motors — not so much.
Car engines put out lots of waste heat…
More accurately, internal combustion car engines put out lots of heat. Electric vehicle motors — not so much.
Over here (London) there are some of these new grey cars, but the vast majority are black. It’s black everywhere – ideally a Range Rover, but a Discovery or Volvo XC90 will do as well. They look quite threatening and most drivers seem to be unable to judge their width properly (same goes for Teslas).
I have a black Golf, which makes me feel humble and reasonable in comparison, lol.
Curiously some developers seem to have to decided that grey is the color for front doors and window sills and frames, which looks just silly.
Over here (London) there are some of these new grey cars, but the vast majority are black. It’s black everywhere – ideally a Range Rover, but a Discovery or Volvo XC90 will do as well. They look quite threatening and most drivers seem to be unable to judge their width properly (same goes for Teslas).
I have a black Golf, which makes me feel humble and reasonable in comparison, lol.
Curiously some developers seem to have to decided that grey is the color for front doors and window sills and frames, which looks just silly.
What strains MY aging eyes…
I guess I don’t get to claim this any more. I had an appointment with the ophthalmologist this past week and both my distance and near vision are measurably improved from a year earlier. I have an eye that wanders when I’m tired — even that improved to the point where it can be measured (previously off the scale).
What strains MY aging eyes…
I guess I don’t get to claim this any more. I had an appointment with the ophthalmologist this past week and both my distance and near vision are measurably improved from a year earlier. I have an eye that wanders when I’m tired — even that improved to the point where it can be measured (previously off the scale).
1. “flat gray” color cars, to me, indicate some amateur trying to repaint their car, and never getting past the ‘primer’ stage.
2. I’m with you on the low-contrast software; or I would be if I could find the damn cursor on the edge of the window. There’s usually a “high contrast” mode, but that’s usually “black on white”. Not what I want.
What’s even MORE annoying? Web pages with scroll bars of their own, inside of the browser scroll bars. With TONS of whitespace so you have to scroll. There are web-designers that need to be consigned to Hel, along with the designer of the thickwire ethernet slide-lock and the USB-C connector.
BRB, spotted some clouds that need shouting at.
1. “flat gray” color cars, to me, indicate some amateur trying to repaint their car, and never getting past the ‘primer’ stage.
2. I’m with you on the low-contrast software; or I would be if I could find the damn cursor on the edge of the window. There’s usually a “high contrast” mode, but that’s usually “black on white”. Not what I want.
What’s even MORE annoying? Web pages with scroll bars of their own, inside of the browser scroll bars. With TONS of whitespace so you have to scroll. There are web-designers that need to be consigned to Hel, along with the designer of the thickwire ethernet slide-lock and the USB-C connector.
BRB, spotted some clouds that need shouting at.
What’s even MORE annoying? Web pages with scroll bars of their own, inside of the browser scroll bars. With TONS of whitespace so you have to scroll.
And beyond that, internal scroll bars which don’t show AT ALL until you happen to roll a mouse over them. Aaaaarrrrgh!
What’s even MORE annoying? Web pages with scroll bars of their own, inside of the browser scroll bars. With TONS of whitespace so you have to scroll.
And beyond that, internal scroll bars which don’t show AT ALL until you happen to roll a mouse over them. Aaaaarrrrgh!
“flat gray” color cars, to me, indicate some amateur trying to repaint their car, and never getting past the ‘primer’ stage.
I had a friend with an old muscle car he was enamored with but wasn’t willing to spend the money to actually restore. He made the conscious decision to change the color to primer red. Every spring he did body “work” on it. Wire brush off rust, patch here and there, occasionally haunt the local junk yards to find a section of sheet metal in better shape than what was on the car. Then spray all of those with a couple of coats of red primer. From a hundred feet or more it looked reasonable.
“flat gray” color cars, to me, indicate some amateur trying to repaint their car, and never getting past the ‘primer’ stage.
I had a friend with an old muscle car he was enamored with but wasn’t willing to spend the money to actually restore. He made the conscious decision to change the color to primer red. Every spring he did body “work” on it. Wire brush off rust, patch here and there, occasionally haunt the local junk yards to find a section of sheet metal in better shape than what was on the car. Then spray all of those with a couple of coats of red primer. From a hundred feet or more it looked reasonable.
There are web-designers that need to be consigned to Hel…
Yes, the ones that you want to find and shake and ask, “Did you study ugly and unreadable in school, or are you just naturally gifted?”
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but years ago I had a day when I encountered enough of those that I took on a project to return my browser to the spirit of “formatting is a local decision” that the web started with. It’s grown to just over 900 lines of JavaScript code (including comments and vertical white space) and does its best to force every page I download into my fonts, a limited number of sizes, and for text at least adequate contrast. Between that piece of software and an ad-blocker, my view of the web is quite different from most people’s.
There are web-designers that need to be consigned to Hel…
Yes, the ones that you want to find and shake and ask, “Did you study ugly and unreadable in school, or are you just naturally gifted?”
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but years ago I had a day when I encountered enough of those that I took on a project to return my browser to the spirit of “formatting is a local decision” that the web started with. It’s grown to just over 900 lines of JavaScript code (including comments and vertical white space) and does its best to force every page I download into my fonts, a limited number of sizes, and for text at least adequate contrast. Between that piece of software and an ad-blocker, my view of the web is quite different from most people’s.
Michael,
*please* put your formatting code on Github.
Well, there might already be stuff like that there, I haven’t checked.
Michael,
*please* put your formatting code on Github.
Well, there might already be stuff like that there, I haven’t checked.
*please* put your formatting code on Github.
Well, not Github, but I can put it where you can get it. It’s just a single file. You sure you really want to? The state of the software is “proof of concept”, as I used to tell my bosses. I’ve never tried it on anything but GreaseMonkey on Firefox. Lots of things are hard-coded inline. The site specific parts are probably out of date (eg, I no longer read the NYTimes and they’ve almost certainly changed their layout tags).
*please* put your formatting code on Github.
Well, not Github, but I can put it where you can get it. It’s just a single file. You sure you really want to? The state of the software is “proof of concept”, as I used to tell my bosses. I’ve never tried it on anything but GreaseMonkey on Firefox. Lots of things are hard-coded inline. The site specific parts are probably out of date (eg, I no longer read the NYTimes and they’ve almost certainly changed their layout tags).
Firefox has a “reader view” toggle(on the URL or F9) that works well for stripping out the busy stuff from news articles and similar web pages.
Firefox has a “reader view” toggle(on the URL or F9) that works well for stripping out the busy stuff from news articles and similar web pages.
Settings/Fonts/Advanced on Firefox has a button “Allow pages to choose their own fonts” that I always leave unchecked. That’s actually a necessary choice. From JavaScript, you can’t override CSS styling that includes “!important”. Leaving the Firefox button unchecked does override that.
Settings/Fonts/Advanced on Firefox has a button “Allow pages to choose their own fonts” that I always leave unchecked. That’s actually a necessary choice. From JavaScript, you can’t override CSS styling that includes “!important”. Leaving the Firefox button unchecked does override that.
It’s mostly a matter of not having to start from zero, the next time I’m sufficiently annoyed with the web to motivate “doing something about it”
It’s mostly a matter of not having to start from zero, the next time I’m sufficiently annoyed with the web to motivate “doing something about it”
Try downloading this:
http://mcain6925.com/obsidian/rewrite/rewrite.js
I removed my name and email from the places they were used to auto-fill comment submission fields. (Once you have a piece of code that runs on every page, there are many things besides reformatting that you can think of for it to do.)
Try downloading this:
http://mcain6925.com/obsidian/rewrite/rewrite.js
I removed my name and email from the places they were used to auto-fill comment submission fields. (Once you have a piece of code that runs on every page, there are many things besides reformatting that you can think of for it to do.)
Thanks!
Thanks!
Everybody I know who saw the Tory ad assumed it was a parody. Alas, no.
https://twitter.com/Conservatives/status/1772321715713982730
And so, as you might expect, here comes Marina Hyde (and for anybody who has forgotten what “salad vanquished” refers to, there was an ongoing joke about which would last longer, Liz Truss’s premiership or an iceberg lettuce. The lettuce won):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/26/tories-london-new-york-uk-crime-susan-hall
So sad to see the Conservative party talking down Britain in its new attack ad for the London mayoral elections, which – among other deliberate and unethical lies – included footage of commuters fleeing false reports of gunfire in New York’s Penn station in 2017. That bit has now been edited out, but what remains of the ad purports to be a 90-second portrait of life in the capital since London mayor Sadiq Khan “seized power”. Given that Khan has twice won the London mayoralty in free and fair votes, this feels somewhat punchy talk from a party led by an unelected man who himself “seized power” from the salad-vanquished political corpse of an unelected woman.
But look, what’s the worst that can happen if political parties tell blatant untruths to people, debase campaigning standards and conduct knowing assaults on trust? If only there were places in the world to which we could point in order to answer that question.
Everybody I know who saw the Tory ad assumed it was a parody. Alas, no.
https://twitter.com/Conservatives/status/1772321715713982730
And so, as you might expect, here comes Marina Hyde (and for anybody who has forgotten what “salad vanquished” refers to, there was an ongoing joke about which would last longer, Liz Truss’s premiership or an iceberg lettuce. The lettuce won):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/26/tories-london-new-york-uk-crime-susan-hall
So sad to see the Conservative party talking down Britain in its new attack ad for the London mayoral elections, which – among other deliberate and unethical lies – included footage of commuters fleeing false reports of gunfire in New York’s Penn station in 2017. That bit has now been edited out, but what remains of the ad purports to be a 90-second portrait of life in the capital since London mayor Sadiq Khan “seized power”. Given that Khan has twice won the London mayoralty in free and fair votes, this feels somewhat punchy talk from a party led by an unelected man who himself “seized power” from the salad-vanquished political corpse of an unelected woman.
But look, what’s the worst that can happen if political parties tell blatant untruths to people, debase campaigning standards and conduct knowing assaults on trust? If only there were places in the world to which we could point in order to answer that question.
Thanks!
So, you got me curious. The script will run under Tampermonkey in Chrome on Linux. It’s not as effective because Chrome doesn’t have an “always use my fonts” choice. I dislike web designers who use “!important” on something as minor as font family. If the choice of font is so critical to your content, well, that’s what PDF is for.
Thanks!
So, you got me curious. The script will run under Tampermonkey in Chrome on Linux. It’s not as effective because Chrome doesn’t have an “always use my fonts” choice. I dislike web designers who use “!important” on something as minor as font family. If the choice of font is so critical to your content, well, that’s what PDF is for.
I normally browse with Opera, but in recent years they have gotten semi?-merged with Chrome.
The reason? Standards compliance. And, at this point, not wanting to change.
Fonts are mostly okay, but if there is a way to reduce all that excessive white-space areas and improve scroll bars (contrast, and stopping the “super-fast scrolling with the tiniest touch”) that would be good. And damn pop-ups that show up right over that little spot that you need to click, dammit.
I want a button that does “drone-strike the web designer of THIS page”, but alas.
I normally browse with Opera, but in recent years they have gotten semi?-merged with Chrome.
The reason? Standards compliance. And, at this point, not wanting to change.
Fonts are mostly okay, but if there is a way to reduce all that excessive white-space areas and improve scroll bars (contrast, and stopping the “super-fast scrolling with the tiniest touch”) that would be good. And damn pop-ups that show up right over that little spot that you need to click, dammit.
I want a button that does “drone-strike the web designer of THIS page”, but alas.
I want a button that does “drone-strike the web designer of THIS page”, but alas.
Pretty sure there’s a substantial unserved market for this. Whoever comes up with the technology will become fabulously wealthy. In addition to earning a reputation as a benefactor of mankind.
I want a button that does “drone-strike the web designer of THIS page”, but alas.
Pretty sure there’s a substantial unserved market for this. Whoever comes up with the technology will become fabulously wealthy. In addition to earning a reputation as a benefactor of mankind.
Michael, if you’re interested in doing so, would you check this code to see if it works. I don’t know how to test it myself.
It has the same general purpose as your code without the site-specific functions and some other features. I don’t know whether it works or will even run.
JavaScript Auto-Styling
Michael, if you’re interested in doing so, would you check this code to see if it works. I don’t know how to test it myself.
It has the same general purpose as your code without the site-specific functions and some other features. I don’t know whether it works or will even run.
JavaScript Auto-Styling
Everybody I know who saw the Tory ad assumed it was a parody. Alas, no.
I’ve worked on my fair share of corporate nonsense, but this is the worst campaign video I have ever seen.
Btw, if you really want to get depressed, here’s a grate New Yorker article recapping the past 14 years of Tory rule (the trouble is, it’s not going to get much better under Labour anytime soon, but hopefully they’ll at least be a bit more honest).
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain
Everybody I know who saw the Tory ad assumed it was a parody. Alas, no.
I’ve worked on my fair share of corporate nonsense, but this is the worst campaign video I have ever seen.
Btw, if you really want to get depressed, here’s a grate New Yorker article recapping the past 14 years of Tory rule (the trouble is, it’s not going to get much better under Labour anytime soon, but hopefully they’ll at least be a bit more honest).
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain
Here’s a funny parody of the video by a cineaste:
https://twitter.com/christhebarker/status/1772721841469018571
Here’s a funny parody of the video by a cineaste:
https://twitter.com/christhebarker/status/1772721841469018571
It has the same general purpose as your code without the site-specific functions and some other features. I don’t know whether it works or will even run.
I haven’t tried to see if it will actually run, but it’s at least plausible. For a couple of reasons, I suspect the results may be somewhat erratic, but this is not a forum that discusses detailed JavaScript behavior. It’s definitely not efficient. There are three gross inefficiencies in the script. I know because I spent time fixing all three of them in my script.
It has the same general purpose as your code without the site-specific functions and some other features. I don’t know whether it works or will even run.
I haven’t tried to see if it will actually run, but it’s at least plausible. For a couple of reasons, I suspect the results may be somewhat erratic, but this is not a forum that discusses detailed JavaScript behavior. It’s definitely not efficient. There are three gross inefficiencies in the script. I know because I spent time fixing all three of them in my script.
Was CharlesWT’s script generated by AI?
Yes, this year we have to ask such things.
Was CharlesWT’s script generated by AI?
Yes, this year we have to ask such things.
Was CharlesWT’s script generated by AI?
Maybe I missed that it was a rhetorical — or snarky (a.k.a. Snarki) — question. If not:
1. Why not ask Charles?
2. Why not click the link? 😉
At the link you would find:
It would seem that the answer is “Yes.”
Was CharlesWT’s script generated by AI?
Maybe I missed that it was a rhetorical — or snarky (a.k.a. Snarki) — question. If not:
1. Why not ask Charles?
2. Why not click the link? 😉
At the link you would find:
It would seem that the answer is “Yes.”
The JavaScipt code at Charles’s link installs and runs on Greasemonkey/Firefox/Linux. No sign of the erratic results I was concerned about, which suggests that I could simplify my script somewhat. The major inefficiency doesn’t seem to be an issue. I wrote my script several years ago and haven’t revisited the basic structure. Browser rendering engines improve all the time and Firefox may have fixed the problem for me. I prefer my sizes, spacing, and weights, but I put considerably more effort into choosing them than Charles’s script.
I may do a modified version of my script borrowing a couple of simplifications from Charles’s.
The JavaScipt code at Charles’s link installs and runs on Greasemonkey/Firefox/Linux. No sign of the erratic results I was concerned about, which suggests that I could simplify my script somewhat. The major inefficiency doesn’t seem to be an issue. I wrote my script several years ago and haven’t revisited the basic structure. Browser rendering engines improve all the time and Firefox may have fixed the problem for me. I prefer my sizes, spacing, and weights, but I put considerably more effort into choosing them than Charles’s script.
I may do a modified version of my script borrowing a couple of simplifications from Charles’s.
would you check this code to see if it works. I don’t know how to test it myself.
Why not ask your AI gizmo how to test it?
would you check this code to see if it works. I don’t know how to test it myself.
Why not ask your AI gizmo how to test it?
This opener from a Guardian article seems to harmonize nicely with our AI topic:
A robotic dog is being thanked by state police in Massachusetts for helping avert a tragedy involving a person barricaded in a home.
Thanked? Maybe thank the designers and researchers, but the robot?
This opener from a Guardian article seems to harmonize nicely with our AI topic:
A robotic dog is being thanked by state police in Massachusetts for helping avert a tragedy involving a person barricaded in a home.
Thanked? Maybe thank the designers and researchers, but the robot?
Robot dog, so should be given a robot dog-treat.
Probably an IC chip. I hear that “dogs can’t tell it’s not NMOS”.
Robot dog, so should be given a robot dog-treat.
Probably an IC chip. I hear that “dogs can’t tell it’s not NMOS”.
Well, this from the NYT an hour ago is good news:
For John Eastman, the Sweet Smell of Accountability
John Eastman, the lawyer who played a central role in helping Donald Trump try to use the courts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, will be disbarred in California after a state bar court judge found him liable for 10 of 11 charges, including lying to the court, failing to uphold the Constitution, and moral turpitude.
It’s about time that one of the many lawyers who worked to undermine the Constitution loses a law license for doing so.
Eastman “made multiple patently false and misleading statements in court filings, in public remarks heard by countless Americans,” Judge Yvette Roland wrote in her 128-page ruling. These statements were “improperly aimed at casting doubt on the legitimate election results and support for the baseless claim that the presidency was stolen from his client — all while relying on his credentials as an attorney and constitutional scholar to lend credibility to his unfounded claims.”
Well, this from the NYT an hour ago is good news:
For John Eastman, the Sweet Smell of Accountability
John Eastman, the lawyer who played a central role in helping Donald Trump try to use the courts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, will be disbarred in California after a state bar court judge found him liable for 10 of 11 charges, including lying to the court, failing to uphold the Constitution, and moral turpitude.
It’s about time that one of the many lawyers who worked to undermine the Constitution loses a law license for doing so.
Eastman “made multiple patently false and misleading statements in court filings, in public remarks heard by countless Americans,” Judge Yvette Roland wrote in her 128-page ruling. These statements were “improperly aimed at casting doubt on the legitimate election results and support for the baseless claim that the presidency was stolen from his client — all while relying on his credentials as an attorney and constitutional scholar to lend credibility to his unfounded claims.”
Hmm, that may have been a bit premature. Guest link from WaPo:
https://wapo.st/3xbsfVM
State Bar Court of California Judge Yvette Roland issued the recommendation in a 128-page ruling on Wednesday, ordering that Eastman’s law license be put on “involuntary inactive” status effective three days after her ruling. The California Supreme Court will issue a final ruling on the matter, which Eastman can appeal. Along with the recommendation for disbarment, Roland recommended that Eastman be ordered to pay $10,000 in monetary sanctions to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund.
Hmm, that may have been a bit premature. Guest link from WaPo:
https://wapo.st/3xbsfVM
State Bar Court of California Judge Yvette Roland issued the recommendation in a 128-page ruling on Wednesday, ordering that Eastman’s law license be put on “involuntary inactive” status effective three days after her ruling. The California Supreme Court will issue a final ruling on the matter, which Eastman can appeal. Along with the recommendation for disbarment, Roland recommended that Eastman be ordered to pay $10,000 in monetary sanctions to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund.
Why not ask your AI gizmo how to test it?
Well…I wanted to know what Michael thought of the code since he indirectly wrote the specs for it.
Why not ask your AI gizmo how to test it?
Well…I wanted to know what Michael thought of the code since he indirectly wrote the specs for it.
Eric Hoel (a neuroscientist and novelist apparently) writes an opinion essay in today’s NYT under the headline:
A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/opinion/ai-internet-x-youtube.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gU0.IrAx.i548fY0VznMD&smid=url-share
Eric Hoel (a neuroscientist and novelist apparently) writes an opinion essay in today’s NYT under the headline:
A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/opinion/ai-internet-x-youtube.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gU0.IrAx.i548fY0VznMD&smid=url-share
Well…I wanted to know what Michael thought of the code since he indirectly wrote the specs for it.
Bottom line… I believe it was about a year ago that Charles did this from a short description I wrote. The result then was effectively gibberish: syntax errors, code structure that (appeared to me to) have no relationship to the problem, etc. As I noted above, the code this time could be pasted into Greasemonkey and ran. It performed a simple version of the chore the description asked for.
A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture
I cheerfully admit that I’m a hack. This recent drawing and the granddaughters’ odd little fairy tale polluting the culture confirm that. When I’ve fooled around with a couple of the online generative art tools, I can’t get anything like my drawing style. Rough description that goes with this is:
The deposed little monster princess realizes that a counter-revolution is an expense undertaking. She goes to visit the local wyrm, who has vast wealth accumulated over centuries. They negotiate a loan over tea in the wyrm’s cave.
Well…I wanted to know what Michael thought of the code since he indirectly wrote the specs for it.
Bottom line… I believe it was about a year ago that Charles did this from a short description I wrote. The result then was effectively gibberish: syntax errors, code structure that (appeared to me to) have no relationship to the problem, etc. As I noted above, the code this time could be pasted into Greasemonkey and ran. It performed a simple version of the chore the description asked for.
A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture
I cheerfully admit that I’m a hack. This recent drawing and the granddaughters’ odd little fairy tale polluting the culture confirm that. When I’ve fooled around with a couple of the online generative art tools, I can’t get anything like my drawing style. Rough description that goes with this is:
The deposed little monster princess realizes that a counter-revolution is an expense undertaking. She goes to visit the local wyrm, who has vast wealth accumulated over centuries. They negotiate a loan over tea in the wyrm’s cave.
It performed a simple version of the chore the description asked for.
The code is something of a reverse engineering of your code. I gave Claude your code. Then I gave it the prompt “What prompt should I give you for you to write code that is functionally the same as this code?”. I copied and pasted the prompt it wrote into a new chat thread so it wouldn’t be aware of the code the prompt was generated from.
I keep hearing that Midjourney has the means of maintaining style and character appearance over multiple images.
It performed a simple version of the chore the description asked for.
The code is something of a reverse engineering of your code. I gave Claude your code. Then I gave it the prompt “What prompt should I give you for you to write code that is functionally the same as this code?”. I copied and pasted the prompt it wrote into a new chat thread so it wouldn’t be aware of the code the prompt was generated from.
I keep hearing that Midjourney has the means of maintaining style and character appearance over multiple images.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/29/us-weapons-israel-gaza-war/
Biden is shipping more 2000 lb bombs to Israel. A lot more. That little spat with Bibi seems to be a bit less serious than some parts of the press ( or the Republicans) like to claim.
The Democratic convention in Chicago will be a lot of fun if this is still going on.
RFK is horrible on Gaza so that should stop too many on the far left from going his way. He is anti- vax, I gather. ( I haven’t been very interested in looking into his positions.) I saw a poll which said he was much more popular with Republicans than Democrats, so November is looking really unpredictable.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/29/us-weapons-israel-gaza-war/
Biden is shipping more 2000 lb bombs to Israel. A lot more. That little spat with Bibi seems to be a bit less serious than some parts of the press ( or the Republicans) like to claim.
The Democratic convention in Chicago will be a lot of fun if this is still going on.
RFK is horrible on Gaza so that should stop too many on the far left from going his way. He is anti- vax, I gather. ( I haven’t been very interested in looking into his positions.) I saw a poll which said he was much more popular with Republicans than Democrats, so November is looking really unpredictable.
The Democratic convention in Chicago will be a lot of fun if this is still going on.
It could be a replay of 1968.
The Democratic convention in Chicago will be a lot of fun if this is still going on.
It could be a replay of 1968.
That little spat with Bibi seems to be a bit less serious than some parts of the press ( or the Republicans) like to claim.
What would you think was sufficiently serious? Threatening to nuke Tel Aviv? Pretty sure Bibi is in frantic mode over what’s actually happening.**
Yeah, RFK, Jr is anti-vaxx. It’s actually his main selling point to the right. (His name being his main selling point to the left. At least the older left.) But neither side, from what he’s shown so far, has much to worry about.
** Admittedly, what the Israeli Supreme Court has done with the ultra orthodox probably looms larger. But only because it could break his government, and his political situation, immediately.
That little spat with Bibi seems to be a bit less serious than some parts of the press ( or the Republicans) like to claim.
What would you think was sufficiently serious? Threatening to nuke Tel Aviv? Pretty sure Bibi is in frantic mode over what’s actually happening.**
Yeah, RFK, Jr is anti-vaxx. It’s actually his main selling point to the right. (His name being his main selling point to the left. At least the older left.) But neither side, from what he’s shown so far, has much to worry about.
** Admittedly, what the Israeli Supreme Court has done with the ultra orthodox probably looms larger. But only because it could break his government, and his political situation, immediately.
It could be a replay of 1968.
Do you remember 1968? No where near wide-spread enough unhappiness this time to generate that kind of turnout.
It could be a replay of 1968.
Do you remember 1968? No where near wide-spread enough unhappiness this time to generate that kind of turnout.
I hope it turns out to be boring. The Republican convention too.
I hope it turns out to be boring. The Republican convention too.
It could be a replay of 1968.
More likely to take place at the GOP convention this year than at the Dem convention.
It could be a replay of 1968.
More likely to take place at the GOP convention this year than at the Dem convention.
but all the ruckus will be on the inside, not out on the streets….
but all the ruckus will be on the inside, not out on the streets….
It could be a replay of 1968.
The Democratic Convention in Denver in 2008 was supposed to be a replay of 1968. Lots of groups and organizations were claiming they would have thousands of people there to protest, with threats up to and including storming the Capitol building.
I was working for the state legislature at the time and lost the various selection mechanisms so was the stuckee keeping the budget office open that week. Despite all the threats it was a quiet week. I got a lot of work done.
It could be a replay of 1968.
The Democratic Convention in Denver in 2008 was supposed to be a replay of 1968. Lots of groups and organizations were claiming they would have thousands of people there to protest, with threats up to and including storming the Capitol building.
I was working for the state legislature at the time and lost the various selection mechanisms so was the stuckee keeping the budget office open that week. Despite all the threats it was a quiet week. I got a lot of work done.
Um, serious would be if Biden decided he wasn’t going to give Israel 1800 more 2000 lb bombs. What he is doing is farcical. The US abstains from the UN ceasefire vote and then his spokespeople say this represents no change in US policy. And that’s correct. A change would be refusing to send more bombs until Israel floods Gaza with food. He won’t do that. What he is doing is for domestic consumption— trying to put space between himself and Bibi while continuing to give Israel all the bombs it wants.
Um, serious would be if Biden decided he wasn’t going to give Israel 1800 more 2000 lb bombs. What he is doing is farcical. The US abstains from the UN ceasefire vote and then his spokespeople say this represents no change in US policy. And that’s correct. A change would be refusing to send more bombs until Israel floods Gaza with food. He won’t do that. What he is doing is for domestic consumption— trying to put space between himself and Bibi while continuing to give Israel all the bombs it wants.
Here is a link to a post about John Kirby’s statement —
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4554624-white-house-netanyahu-delegation-dc/
He says the WH is “ kinda perplexed” about Bibi cancelling his visit. The UN abstention represented no change in US policy, the resolution is nonbinding ( people disagree on that, but it doesn’t matter so long as we arm Israel no matter what) and Kirby goes on to say that Netanyahu is creating the appearance of daylight between Biden and him and there is no reason to do that.
And yeah, the US is shipping 1800 2000 lb bombs and several hundred 500 lb bombs. So Kirby is rght.
I despise Kirby and Matt Miller and Vedant Patel about as much as any DC minion I have ever seen, but watching Kirby’s grotesque posturing holds a sick fascination for me. Miller is more like a college frat boy — at times he smirks like it is all a big joke. Patel is a robot. I used to watch Kirby do apologetics for the Saudis in Yemen and he hasn’t changed a bit.
Here is a link to a post about John Kirby’s statement —
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4554624-white-house-netanyahu-delegation-dc/
He says the WH is “ kinda perplexed” about Bibi cancelling his visit. The UN abstention represented no change in US policy, the resolution is nonbinding ( people disagree on that, but it doesn’t matter so long as we arm Israel no matter what) and Kirby goes on to say that Netanyahu is creating the appearance of daylight between Biden and him and there is no reason to do that.
And yeah, the US is shipping 1800 2000 lb bombs and several hundred 500 lb bombs. So Kirby is rght.
I despise Kirby and Matt Miller and Vedant Patel about as much as any DC minion I have ever seen, but watching Kirby’s grotesque posturing holds a sick fascination for me. Miller is more like a college frat boy — at times he smirks like it is all a big joke. Patel is a robot. I used to watch Kirby do apologetics for the Saudis in Yemen and he hasn’t changed a bit.
serious would be if Biden decided he wasn’t going to give Israel 1800 more 2000 lb bombs. What he is doing is farcical.
I think you will agree that, in order to get what you wish to happen to occur, one precondition is to get rid of the current Israeli government. At least, I cannot see any way to a good outcome which doesn’t have that happen early on.
That being the case, if what Biden is doing results in Bibi’s government falling (no matter how strongly we deny being the cause), that is, IMHO, NOT farcical. Granted, it’s not showy. But it is not farcical.
serious would be if Biden decided he wasn’t going to give Israel 1800 more 2000 lb bombs. What he is doing is farcical.
I think you will agree that, in order to get what you wish to happen to occur, one precondition is to get rid of the current Israeli government. At least, I cannot see any way to a good outcome which doesn’t have that happen early on.
That being the case, if what Biden is doing results in Bibi’s government falling (no matter how strongly we deny being the cause), that is, IMHO, NOT farcical. Granted, it’s not showy. But it is not farcical.
WJ, I think you are so fixated on this notion that Biden is some clever 11 dimensional chess player that you don’t see something that is right in front of you. That thing in front of you is Biden helping the Israelis blow Palestinian civilians into small bits.
The reason people are upset with Israel is because they keep blowing up civilians and also starving them. Netanyahu is not some outlier in Israeli politics on that issue. He is entirely mainstream. They have used 2000 lb bombs and these destroy entire city blocks according to the newspapers. They need our munitions.
What does it say when the Biden people claim to want fewer casualties but continue to supply bombs which are utterly indiscriminate when used in a place like Gaza? It says that Biden is not serious. They support Israel all the way. They want Hamas crushed. They also know they might lose the election if they continued to be openly disdainful of Palestinian lives as they were, especially Biden himself, so they make these meaningless noises of concern, but deny that Israel is violating the laws of war,so it is perfectly fine for us to keep giving them bombs which should never be used in urban areas.
Netanyahu might well lose power and go to prison at some point, but that won’t be Biden’s doing. It will be because he is corrupt and also presented himself as Mr. Security and Oct 7 happened. Biden and company have this notion that sometime in the future maybe they can beg and plead and cajole the Israelis to let Palestinians have a 2ss of some sort, assuming we can bribe someone younger than Abbas to be our puppet.
I have difficulty seeing how this happens when Biden has made it very clear that Israel can in the meantime kill as many people as it chooses with the bombs we keep supplying. This isn’t some clever little maneuver he is pulling. Every Palestinian know that good old Genocde Joe is backing Israel and his words of concern mean a lot less than the bombs he supplies. It is no comfort to be told that someday Bibi will be in jail and some other Israeli will be PM. How many tens of thousands more de between now and that quite possibly meaningless day?
Israel needs to be pressured. There is a wide range of options between supplying an endless stream of weapons to Israel and nuking Tel Aviv. They need to be told the weapons stop. Now. Preferably 30,000 deaths ago, but no, they don’t get 2 kilotons more. But they know that Biden is all hot air. More than that, he agrees with what they are doing.. His actions show it. He has to act concerned because he could lose Michigan
WJ, I think you are so fixated on this notion that Biden is some clever 11 dimensional chess player that you don’t see something that is right in front of you. That thing in front of you is Biden helping the Israelis blow Palestinian civilians into small bits.
The reason people are upset with Israel is because they keep blowing up civilians and also starving them. Netanyahu is not some outlier in Israeli politics on that issue. He is entirely mainstream. They have used 2000 lb bombs and these destroy entire city blocks according to the newspapers. They need our munitions.
What does it say when the Biden people claim to want fewer casualties but continue to supply bombs which are utterly indiscriminate when used in a place like Gaza? It says that Biden is not serious. They support Israel all the way. They want Hamas crushed. They also know they might lose the election if they continued to be openly disdainful of Palestinian lives as they were, especially Biden himself, so they make these meaningless noises of concern, but deny that Israel is violating the laws of war,so it is perfectly fine for us to keep giving them bombs which should never be used in urban areas.
Netanyahu might well lose power and go to prison at some point, but that won’t be Biden’s doing. It will be because he is corrupt and also presented himself as Mr. Security and Oct 7 happened. Biden and company have this notion that sometime in the future maybe they can beg and plead and cajole the Israelis to let Palestinians have a 2ss of some sort, assuming we can bribe someone younger than Abbas to be our puppet.
I have difficulty seeing how this happens when Biden has made it very clear that Israel can in the meantime kill as many people as it chooses with the bombs we keep supplying. This isn’t some clever little maneuver he is pulling. Every Palestinian know that good old Genocde Joe is backing Israel and his words of concern mean a lot less than the bombs he supplies. It is no comfort to be told that someday Bibi will be in jail and some other Israeli will be PM. How many tens of thousands more de between now and that quite possibly meaningless day?
Israel needs to be pressured. There is a wide range of options between supplying an endless stream of weapons to Israel and nuking Tel Aviv. They need to be told the weapons stop. Now. Preferably 30,000 deaths ago, but no, they don’t get 2 kilotons more. But they know that Biden is all hot air. More than that, he agrees with what they are doing.. His actions show it. He has to act concerned because he could lose Michigan
Israel needs to be pressured. There is a wide range of options between supplying an endless stream of weapons to Israel and nuking Tel Aviv. They need to be told the weapons stop. Now. Preferably 30,000 deaths ago, but no, they don’t get 2 kilotons more.
Agreed.
More than that, he agrees with what they are doing. His actions show it.
Not fully agreed. You don’t have to think he is “some clever 11 dimensional chess player” to think he a) is horrified about what Israel is doing in Gaza, b) is sufficiently desensitised to faraway deaths (as politicians probably have to be to some extent, or they could never act) that he can still try to thread the needle of not alienating Israel (by which I mean the whole country, not Bibi’s monstrous bunch) lest they think the US is abandoning them to more depredations by Hamas types in the future, while encouraging Israeli public opinion to realise that actually Bibi is an existential threat to them (which the abstention in the UN apparently did), c) is determined to avoid alienating the American Jewish vote in the interests of trying to ensure that Trump does not again become POTUS, an outcome which would be disastrous for the middle east as well as the rest of the world.
You may think that attributing this kind of thinking to Biden is unrealistic Pollyanna-ish wishful thinking, but I think it’s totally possible that’s what’s going on, whether it works or not.
Israel needs to be pressured. There is a wide range of options between supplying an endless stream of weapons to Israel and nuking Tel Aviv. They need to be told the weapons stop. Now. Preferably 30,000 deaths ago, but no, they don’t get 2 kilotons more.
Agreed.
More than that, he agrees with what they are doing. His actions show it.
Not fully agreed. You don’t have to think he is “some clever 11 dimensional chess player” to think he a) is horrified about what Israel is doing in Gaza, b) is sufficiently desensitised to faraway deaths (as politicians probably have to be to some extent, or they could never act) that he can still try to thread the needle of not alienating Israel (by which I mean the whole country, not Bibi’s monstrous bunch) lest they think the US is abandoning them to more depredations by Hamas types in the future, while encouraging Israeli public opinion to realise that actually Bibi is an existential threat to them (which the abstention in the UN apparently did), c) is determined to avoid alienating the American Jewish vote in the interests of trying to ensure that Trump does not again become POTUS, an outcome which would be disastrous for the middle east as well as the rest of the world.
You may think that attributing this kind of thinking to Biden is unrealistic Pollyanna-ish wishful thinking, but I think it’s totally possible that’s what’s going on, whether it works or not.
“The Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT.”
2024 Total Eclipse: Where & When
“The Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT.”
2024 Total Eclipse: Where & When
Donald, I don’t think Biden is playing 11 dimensinal chess. I do think he is an extremely adept politician.
On the international level, he has shown impressive ability to pull together coalitions to back American policies. He also seems to have a good feel for what American policy preferences he can’t sell. At least, I haven’t seen a whole lot of visible pushing for things that don’t go anywhere.
On the domestic front, he is constrained currently by the Congress he has to (try to) work with. But in his first term, his accomplishments were pretty impressive.
Also on the domestic front, I think he believes that his overriding #1 priority has got to be keeping Trump out of the White House. If a different Republican were his opponent, he would still see winning as important. But the election wouldn’t be the existential risk the election we have represents.
That last is why he looks very cautious in some circumstances. Any action, including especially any foreign policy action, has to be weighed against its potential to impact the election. The risk to the nation (and, frankly, to the rest of the world) is simply too great. And the human cost of getting it wrong will be far greater than anything happening around the world today. I commend to your attention a short story from the middle of the last century: The Cold Equations. That’s where Biden, and the rest of us, are right now,
Feel free to hate it. I’m reasonably sure Biden hates it. But it’s the situation we’ve got.
Donald, I don’t think Biden is playing 11 dimensinal chess. I do think he is an extremely adept politician.
On the international level, he has shown impressive ability to pull together coalitions to back American policies. He also seems to have a good feel for what American policy preferences he can’t sell. At least, I haven’t seen a whole lot of visible pushing for things that don’t go anywhere.
On the domestic front, he is constrained currently by the Congress he has to (try to) work with. But in his first term, his accomplishments were pretty impressive.
Also on the domestic front, I think he believes that his overriding #1 priority has got to be keeping Trump out of the White House. If a different Republican were his opponent, he would still see winning as important. But the election wouldn’t be the existential risk the election we have represents.
That last is why he looks very cautious in some circumstances. Any action, including especially any foreign policy action, has to be weighed against its potential to impact the election. The risk to the nation (and, frankly, to the rest of the world) is simply too great. And the human cost of getting it wrong will be far greater than anything happening around the world today. I commend to your attention a short story from the middle of the last century: The Cold Equations. That’s where Biden, and the rest of us, are right now,
Feel free to hate it. I’m reasonably sure Biden hates it. But it’s the situation we’ve got.
Just to be clear, I think there is no such
reasonexcuse for our behavior with respect to the situation in Yemen. But neither do I see our errors there as evidence that Gaza constitutes merely more of the same, without difference.YMMV
Just to be clear, I think there is no such
reasonexcuse for our behavior with respect to the situation in Yemen. But neither do I see our errors there as evidence that Gaza constitutes merely more of the same, without difference.YMMV
He walked over and asked the mahout that was in the area. “Why does the elephant just stand there? Don’t you plan to run away?”
The mahout then replied: “When they were still young. It was tied with the same size rope. And at his age it was considered tight enough. Even as they grew older, this thin rope still bound their legs. causing them to still not think of running away Because their hearts already believed That this thin rope makes it impossible to escape anywhere.”
The only reason why the elephant didn’t run away That is, the heart believes that there is no way it can be. that it can escape
Thought: It doesn’t matter how many problems in this world hold you back. Move forward with confidence that what you want to do is possible. Belief will make you successful. And belief is the most important part in achieving goals.
He walked over and asked the mahout that was in the area. “Why does the elephant just stand there? Don’t you plan to run away?”
The mahout then replied: “When they were still young. It was tied with the same size rope. And at his age it was considered tight enough. Even as they grew older, this thin rope still bound their legs. causing them to still not think of running away Because their hearts already believed That this thin rope makes it impossible to escape anywhere.”
The only reason why the elephant didn’t run away That is, the heart believes that there is no way it can be. that it can escape
Thought: It doesn’t matter how many problems in this world hold you back. Move forward with confidence that what you want to do is possible. Belief will make you successful. And belief is the most important part in achieving goals.
GFTNC—
I think Western leaders in general are unable to see themselves as possible war criminals. At best they can admit to policy mistakes. To the extent that Biden’s age is relevant, I think it is because he is part of the generation where there was a mostly bipartisan consensus that we are inherently the good guys and every war or conflict we have is one of good vs evil and the only question is the particular policy we should adopt to handle it. I suppose in the past there were some leftwing radical types here and there, but the Squad gets more attention and the majority of voters now opposes Israel’s actions. Biden has been forced to respond, but largely with words, not a change in his actual material support.
So Biden sees Hamas as pure evil and the U.S. is the good guys with the moral right to dictate what sort of solution Palestinians should accept and who their leaders should be. He may object to the way Israel is fighting, but he and his spokespeople absolutely refuse to say that any of their actions are war crimes. The Leahy law shoukd stand in the way of supplying more munitions, especially 2000 lb bombs, but he refuses to obey the law.
I think the world has changed and Biden refuses to adjust. I don’t think even a few years ago that you could go online and see war crimes being committed. The MSM isn’t the filter it used to be, or not for everyone. I don’t think everyone realizes that Biden’s actions in supplying these bombs flatly contradicts all that the Administration says about the need to be more careful. In fact, a few months ago they were even saying that Israel should be using smaller bombs.
Also, I think the problem on Israel’s side is deeper than Bibi. Most Israelis support what they are doing even if they correctly distrust Bibi. The one bright spot is that some think there should be a deal to get the surviving hostages out and see Bibi as more interested in his own survival.
Things are not exactly wonderful on the Palestinian side either, politically speaking. I don’t have much in the way of hope, but we can at least stop pouring gasoline on the fire with these arms shipments.
Wj— The civilian death toll from bombing in Yemen was far less than Gaza. The famine death toll was far greater, so far. And more spread out. It didn’t receive daily coverage, so was easier for politicians to escape accountability. Recently some Israel supporters were claiming the lesser level of outrage about Yemen shows antisemitism, but basically those people who were aware of Yemen denounced what we were doing the same way we denounce the Gaza War. Israel in general gets more attention, both good and bad, than other countries. Rightwing Israel supporters supported the Saudis in part because of the hope that the U.S. could create a Saudi- Israel alliance against Iran.
GFTNC—
I think Western leaders in general are unable to see themselves as possible war criminals. At best they can admit to policy mistakes. To the extent that Biden’s age is relevant, I think it is because he is part of the generation where there was a mostly bipartisan consensus that we are inherently the good guys and every war or conflict we have is one of good vs evil and the only question is the particular policy we should adopt to handle it. I suppose in the past there were some leftwing radical types here and there, but the Squad gets more attention and the majority of voters now opposes Israel’s actions. Biden has been forced to respond, but largely with words, not a change in his actual material support.
So Biden sees Hamas as pure evil and the U.S. is the good guys with the moral right to dictate what sort of solution Palestinians should accept and who their leaders should be. He may object to the way Israel is fighting, but he and his spokespeople absolutely refuse to say that any of their actions are war crimes. The Leahy law shoukd stand in the way of supplying more munitions, especially 2000 lb bombs, but he refuses to obey the law.
I think the world has changed and Biden refuses to adjust. I don’t think even a few years ago that you could go online and see war crimes being committed. The MSM isn’t the filter it used to be, or not for everyone. I don’t think everyone realizes that Biden’s actions in supplying these bombs flatly contradicts all that the Administration says about the need to be more careful. In fact, a few months ago they were even saying that Israel should be using smaller bombs.
Also, I think the problem on Israel’s side is deeper than Bibi. Most Israelis support what they are doing even if they correctly distrust Bibi. The one bright spot is that some think there should be a deal to get the surviving hostages out and see Bibi as more interested in his own survival.
Things are not exactly wonderful on the Palestinian side either, politically speaking. I don’t have much in the way of hope, but we can at least stop pouring gasoline on the fire with these arms shipments.
Wj— The civilian death toll from bombing in Yemen was far less than Gaza. The famine death toll was far greater, so far. And more spread out. It didn’t receive daily coverage, so was easier for politicians to escape accountability. Recently some Israel supporters were claiming the lesser level of outrage about Yemen shows antisemitism, but basically those people who were aware of Yemen denounced what we were doing the same way we denounce the Gaza War. Israel in general gets more attention, both good and bad, than other countries. Rightwing Israel supporters supported the Saudis in part because of the hope that the U.S. could create a Saudi- Israel alliance against Iran.
First impressions are often hard to shake. When Biden started serving in the Senate (Jan 1973, 51 years ago), Israel had been a country for less than 30 years and had been fighting one existential war or another for most of that time. Then the Arab oil embargoes hit the US economy hard. The good guy and bad guy roles got well established. It takes a lot to get past that.
First impressions are often hard to shake. When Biden started serving in the Senate (Jan 1973, 51 years ago), Israel had been a country for less than 30 years and had been fighting one existential war or another for most of that time. Then the Arab oil embargoes hit the US economy hard. The good guy and bad guy roles got well established. It takes a lot to get past that.
At least the GOP can be relied on to not be an alternative there:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gop-rep-gaza-handled-nagasaki-hiroshima-rcna145816
Yes, I am aware that the problem is not people switching to Jabbabonk the Orange but simply staying at home in disgust or voting 3rd party.
At least the GOP can be relied on to not be an alternative there:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gop-rep-gaza-handled-nagasaki-hiroshima-rcna145816
Yes, I am aware that the problem is not people switching to Jabbabonk the Orange but simply staying at home in disgust or voting 3rd party.
Only one of the many articles about the late, great Daniel Kahneman, this is about his liking for “adversarial collaboration”.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/opinion/nobel-daniel-kahneman-collaboration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE0.LpZc.JrGpM3rCRfFg&smid=url-share
Only one of the many articles about the late, great Daniel Kahneman, this is about his liking for “adversarial collaboration”.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/opinion/nobel-daniel-kahneman-collaboration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE0.LpZc.JrGpM3rCRfFg&smid=url-share
I don’t think you can see this without a Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/YWNReporter/status/1775229241027657743
The state department puts up YouTube videos and transcripts but I am too lazy to look for it. This happened a day or so ago, after the killing of the mostly non Palestinian aid workers.
Anyway, on Twitter I see almost daily clips where John Kirby ior Matthew Miller or Patel give the party line and reporters ask tough questions and they give grotesque answers. I never see this material cited in the NYT — I don’t think it appears on Tv News or anywhere.
So the above clip is typical. Kirby says the State Department takes the issue of war crimes very seriously and analyzes incidents constantly and they have never seen an incident where Israel violated international humanitarian law in this war.
Along with their determination to keep sending bombs, this makes Biden partly responsible for the war crimes.
I don’t think you can see this without a Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/YWNReporter/status/1775229241027657743
The state department puts up YouTube videos and transcripts but I am too lazy to look for it. This happened a day or so ago, after the killing of the mostly non Palestinian aid workers.
Anyway, on Twitter I see almost daily clips where John Kirby ior Matthew Miller or Patel give the party line and reporters ask tough questions and they give grotesque answers. I never see this material cited in the NYT — I don’t think it appears on Tv News or anywhere.
So the above clip is typical. Kirby says the State Department takes the issue of war crimes very seriously and analyzes incidents constantly and they have never seen an incident where Israel violated international humanitarian law in this war.
Along with their determination to keep sending bombs, this makes Biden partly responsible for the war crimes.
Found it on Cspan. It was a WH briefing, The comment I am talking about is around minute 23 and after.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?534613-1/white-house-daily-briefing
Found it on Cspan. It was a WH briefing, The comment I am talking about is around minute 23 and after.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?534613-1/white-house-daily-briefing
The whole thing is full of standard Kirbyisms. Constant claims that we make our concerns to the Israelis very clear, with defense against any bad intentions on their part plus reiteration of determination to keep arming them because they have the right to defend themselves.
Pretty much the same every time no matter what. He did this with Yemen. I think there is something wrong with people who do this for a living.
The whole thing is full of standard Kirbyisms. Constant claims that we make our concerns to the Israelis very clear, with defense against any bad intentions on their part plus reiteration of determination to keep arming them because they have the right to defend themselves.
Pretty much the same every time no matter what. He did this with Yemen. I think there is something wrong with people who do this for a living.
And this just out from the Israeli magazine 972, about Israeli target selection.
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
Yeah, nothing scummy about that. I assume John Kirby goes home from one of his festival of lies and sleeps like a baby.
And this just out from the Israeli magazine 972, about Israeli target selection.
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
Yeah, nothing scummy about that. I assume John Kirby goes home from one of his festival of lies and sleeps like a baby.
With the news about Lavender from +972 (also reported by the Guardian) I guess we can supplement wj’s reference to Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” with another one for Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.”
I’ve taught both in SF classes. Neither brings me much in the way of comfort, not the least because they remain (with careful curation) so very relevant.
With the news about Lavender from +972 (also reported by the Guardian) I guess we can supplement wj’s reference to Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” with another one for Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.”
I’ve taught both in SF classes. Neither brings me much in the way of comfort, not the least because they remain (with careful curation) so very relevant.
Just saw an interview on C4 News with one of the Israeli journalists who broke this story, Yuval Abram (I think). He’s still in touch with many of his sources in the Israeli Intelligence services, who have confirmed to him that much of what the IDF is saying is out and out lies. He says the teams targeting the 50-60 houses they hit every day are spending an average of 20 seconds considering whether the target is “legit” (always legit according to the AI, except if the voices they hear are female) before hitting the target and moving on to the next.
Also an interview with Jan Egeland (now the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council) who says he is sensing a change among the US and the UK in response to all this, whereby (as Blinken just said) “if Israel’s policy does not change, then US policy is going to change”. Let’s fucking hope he’s right.
Just saw an interview on C4 News with one of the Israeli journalists who broke this story, Yuval Abram (I think). He’s still in touch with many of his sources in the Israeli Intelligence services, who have confirmed to him that much of what the IDF is saying is out and out lies. He says the teams targeting the 50-60 houses they hit every day are spending an average of 20 seconds considering whether the target is “legit” (always legit according to the AI, except if the voices they hear are female) before hitting the target and moving on to the next.
Also an interview with Jan Egeland (now the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council) who says he is sensing a change among the US and the UK in response to all this, whereby (as Blinken just said) “if Israel’s policy does not change, then US policy is going to change”. Let’s fucking hope he’s right.
sources in the Israeli Intelligence services, who have confirmed to him that much of what the IDF is saying is out and out lies.
It had become obvious that either:
The only question was what exactly are the orders, and rules of engagement, that are in place. That is becoming clear. And, as we have already discussed here, putting decisions in the hands of an AI does little more than try to obscure what directions and (mis)information the AI was given.
sources in the Israeli Intelligence services, who have confirmed to him that much of what the IDF is saying is out and out lies.
It had become obvious that either:
The only question was what exactly are the orders, and rules of engagement, that are in place. That is becoming clear. And, as we have already discussed here, putting decisions in the hands of an AI does little more than try to obscure what directions and (mis)information the AI was given.
Israel has come out with its excuses. By some bizarre twist of fate one expects in an unfair universe, there was a long chain of bumbling incompetence that, dagnabbit, only happens when they kill people who are Western and whose deaths can’t simply be blown off as tragic.
Even here they find a way to slip in Hamas— it all looked like something they would do, you see.
But it does provide material for John Kirby to recite.
Israel has come out with its excuses. By some bizarre twist of fate one expects in an unfair universe, there was a long chain of bumbling incompetence that, dagnabbit, only happens when they kill people who are Western and whose deaths can’t simply be blown off as tragic.
Even here they find a way to slip in Hamas— it all looked like something they would do, you see.
But it does provide material for John Kirby to recite.
Someone called Bill Arnold on Balloon Juice today in the comments to the first post (which incidentally revealed to me the excellent info that the NJ earthquake epicentre included Trump’s golf club) links to Yuval Abraham’s further comments on his +972 piece, similar to those I mentioned on C4 News, but with more verbatim detail for those interested.
Someone called Bill Arnold on Balloon Juice today in the comments to the first post (which incidentally revealed to me the excellent info that the NJ earthquake epicentre included Trump’s golf club) links to Yuval Abraham’s further comments on his +972 piece, similar to those I mentioned on C4 News, but with more verbatim detail for those interested.
From the Democracy Now bit (https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/5/israel_ai) that was quoted in BJ:
AMY GOODMAN: They say, quote, “The process of identifying military targets in the IDF consists of various types of tools and methods, including information management tools, which are used in order to help the intelligence analysts to gather and optimally analyze the intelligence, obtained from a variety of sources. Contrary to claims, the IDF did not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process.” Again, that’s the IDF response, Yuval Abraham, to your report. Your response?
YUVAL ABRAHAM: I read this response to some of the sources, and they said that they’re lying, that it’s not true. And I was surprised that they were — you know, usually they’re not so, you know, blatant in saying something that is false.
I think this can very easily be disproven, because, you know, a senior-ranking Israeli military official, the head of the 8200 unit’s AI center, gave a public lecture in last year, in 2023, in Tel Aviv University — you can google it, anybody who’s listening to us — where he spoke about, quote — I’m quoting him in that lecture — “an AI system that the Israeli military used in 2021 to find terrorists.” That’s what he said. So, to have that on record, to have — I have the presentation slides showing how the system is rating the people — and then to get a comment from the IDF spokesperson saying, “We do not have a system that uses AI to…” I really don’t know. Like, I almost thought, “Do I put this in the piece or not?” Because, you know, like, I know — in the end, you know, I gave them the space in the piece to make those claims, like I think I tried to be as dry as possible in the way that I was reporting. But, really, like, I am very, very confident in those findings. They are verified from from numerous sources that I’ve spoken with.
And I think that people who read the full investigation, read the depth of it — the commander of the 8200 unit wrote a book in 2021, titled Human-Machine Teams: How Synergy Between AI and Human Beings Can Revolutionize the World. And in the book, he’s talking about how militaries should rely on artificial intelligence to, quote, “solve the problem of the human bottleneck” in creating new targets and in the decision-making to approve new targets. And he wrote in that book, he said — and this is another quote from him — he says that “no matter how many intelligence officers you have tasked with producing targets during the war, they still will not be able to produce enough targets per day.” And he gives a guide in that book as to how to build these AI systems. Now, I want to emphasize, you know, he writes in the book very, very clearly that these systems are not supposed to replace human judgment. He calls it, you know, a mutual learning between humans and artificial intelligence. And he says — and the IDF still maintains this — they say it is intelligence officers who look at the results and make a decision.
From what I heard from numerous sources, after October 7th, that stopped being the cases, at least in some parts of the IDF, where, again, Amy, as I said before, sources were told that if they check that the target is a man, they can accept Lavender’s recommendations without thoroughly looking at them, without checking why the machine made the decision that it made.
When I read the IDF statement, the thing that stuck out to me about how it was worded was that nothing in the statement contradicted any of the assertions that were made in the +972 piece.
So long as the IDF requires a human to click to approve every single match that is made by the system before it can move on to become an actionable target, the IDF can continue to insist that they are not using AI to select targets and are merely keeping a database of intelligence information that they use in their decision making process. After all, there was a human there clicking the approval button. Lavender could not bypass the human, so Lavender had no agency to act. And without that agency, the individuals selected by Lavender’s algorithms are not targets.
And if the higher ups delegate the decision making process and say that the agents are authorized to make the yes/no decisions, and the higher ups assure the agents that they have made the proper legal considerations about proportionality of response, then it gives both sides some wiggle room when it comes to the Nuremberg Defense. The brass did not issue the order and the agent did not set the directives. There was a communication failure between them that resulted in an unfortunate set of decisions that resulted in unacceptable levels of collateral damage based on faults in the process.
Seriously, that statement was impressively vague and guarded in its denials.
From the Democracy Now bit (https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/5/israel_ai) that was quoted in BJ:
AMY GOODMAN: They say, quote, “The process of identifying military targets in the IDF consists of various types of tools and methods, including information management tools, which are used in order to help the intelligence analysts to gather and optimally analyze the intelligence, obtained from a variety of sources. Contrary to claims, the IDF did not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process.” Again, that’s the IDF response, Yuval Abraham, to your report. Your response?
YUVAL ABRAHAM: I read this response to some of the sources, and they said that they’re lying, that it’s not true. And I was surprised that they were — you know, usually they’re not so, you know, blatant in saying something that is false.
I think this can very easily be disproven, because, you know, a senior-ranking Israeli military official, the head of the 8200 unit’s AI center, gave a public lecture in last year, in 2023, in Tel Aviv University — you can google it, anybody who’s listening to us — where he spoke about, quote — I’m quoting him in that lecture — “an AI system that the Israeli military used in 2021 to find terrorists.” That’s what he said. So, to have that on record, to have — I have the presentation slides showing how the system is rating the people — and then to get a comment from the IDF spokesperson saying, “We do not have a system that uses AI to…” I really don’t know. Like, I almost thought, “Do I put this in the piece or not?” Because, you know, like, I know — in the end, you know, I gave them the space in the piece to make those claims, like I think I tried to be as dry as possible in the way that I was reporting. But, really, like, I am very, very confident in those findings. They are verified from from numerous sources that I’ve spoken with.
And I think that people who read the full investigation, read the depth of it — the commander of the 8200 unit wrote a book in 2021, titled Human-Machine Teams: How Synergy Between AI and Human Beings Can Revolutionize the World. And in the book, he’s talking about how militaries should rely on artificial intelligence to, quote, “solve the problem of the human bottleneck” in creating new targets and in the decision-making to approve new targets. And he wrote in that book, he said — and this is another quote from him — he says that “no matter how many intelligence officers you have tasked with producing targets during the war, they still will not be able to produce enough targets per day.” And he gives a guide in that book as to how to build these AI systems. Now, I want to emphasize, you know, he writes in the book very, very clearly that these systems are not supposed to replace human judgment. He calls it, you know, a mutual learning between humans and artificial intelligence. And he says — and the IDF still maintains this — they say it is intelligence officers who look at the results and make a decision.
From what I heard from numerous sources, after October 7th, that stopped being the cases, at least in some parts of the IDF, where, again, Amy, as I said before, sources were told that if they check that the target is a man, they can accept Lavender’s recommendations without thoroughly looking at them, without checking why the machine made the decision that it made.
When I read the IDF statement, the thing that stuck out to me about how it was worded was that nothing in the statement contradicted any of the assertions that were made in the +972 piece.
So long as the IDF requires a human to click to approve every single match that is made by the system before it can move on to become an actionable target, the IDF can continue to insist that they are not using AI to select targets and are merely keeping a database of intelligence information that they use in their decision making process. After all, there was a human there clicking the approval button. Lavender could not bypass the human, so Lavender had no agency to act. And without that agency, the individuals selected by Lavender’s algorithms are not targets.
And if the higher ups delegate the decision making process and say that the agents are authorized to make the yes/no decisions, and the higher ups assure the agents that they have made the proper legal considerations about proportionality of response, then it gives both sides some wiggle room when it comes to the Nuremberg Defense. The brass did not issue the order and the agent did not set the directives. There was a communication failure between them that resulted in an unfortunate set of decisions that resulted in unacceptable levels of collateral damage based on faults in the process.
Seriously, that statement was impressively vague and guarded in its denials.
You know, when you’re in a black mood and all you can see is man’s inhumanity to man [adjust wording to modern sensibilities], it is uplifting when something like this breaks through:
Half a million died in 100 days: neighbours attacked neighbours, children saw their families slaughtered. But 30 years on, many of the victims and perpetrators have forged reconciliations – even become friends. How did it happen?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/06/he-killed-my-sister-now-i-see-his-remorse-survivors-of-rwandan-genocide
You know, when you’re in a black mood and all you can see is man’s inhumanity to man [adjust wording to modern sensibilities], it is uplifting when something like this breaks through:
Half a million died in 100 days: neighbours attacked neighbours, children saw their families slaughtered. But 30 years on, many of the victims and perpetrators have forged reconciliations – even become friends. How did it happen?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/06/he-killed-my-sister-now-i-see-his-remorse-survivors-of-rwandan-genocide
I could see people using AI to select targets. It’s a tool. The point is they were blowing up buildings full of civilians to get one low level Hamas guy, sometimes when he wasn’t there. The 972 articke is superb and I have no criticism of it, but I think this goes beyond setting one’s acceptance of collateral damage at 20 or 100 civilians. I don’t think anyone would admit it, but if you do that sort of thing you either see the civilians as having no value, or you secretly see the extra deaths as a bonus. I think with at least some Israeli officials it is number 2.
I think it was clear they were targeting homes before the 972 article. This just adds detail
I could see people using AI to select targets. It’s a tool. The point is they were blowing up buildings full of civilians to get one low level Hamas guy, sometimes when he wasn’t there. The 972 articke is superb and I have no criticism of it, but I think this goes beyond setting one’s acceptance of collateral damage at 20 or 100 civilians. I don’t think anyone would admit it, but if you do that sort of thing you either see the civilians as having no value, or you secretly see the extra deaths as a bonus. I think with at least some Israeli officials it is number 2.
I think it was clear they were targeting homes before the 972 article. This just adds detail
Ohio and Alabama consider striking Biden from the presidential ballot this year because the Dem national convention happens after the deadlines expire in those two states.
Cynical me assumes that SCOTUS would be OK with that, should the question reach it.
Ohio and Alabama consider striking Biden from the presidential ballot this year because the Dem national convention happens after the deadlines expire in those two states.
Cynical me assumes that SCOTUS would be OK with that, should the question reach it.
@hartmut… I’ll take that bet. At least in this cycle, the SCOTUS is taking the tack that states can’t ban candidates for federal office for their own reasons. (At least candidates from major parties.) Alabama and Ohio will lose because their dates are arbitrary. We know they’re arbitrary because exceptions have been made in the past.
@hartmut… I’ll take that bet. At least in this cycle, the SCOTUS is taking the tack that states can’t ban candidates for federal office for their own reasons. (At least candidates from major parties.) Alabama and Ohio will lose because their dates are arbitrary. We know they’re arbitrary because exceptions have been made in the past.
Speaking of injecting facts into a debate…
I’m feeling sorry for myself because I just had to send an email to a student in my climate migration research writing class trying to preempt her going too far down the path of arguing that climate change is a lost cause and we need to think about a future off-planet (maybe Mars?).
The part of me that teaches the science fiction class is cheering her spirit on, but the part of me that has to temper that spirit with some scientific rigor and feasibility knows that there is no there there.
So I have to try to caution and discourage and steer her in another direction, but doing so feels like an appeal to authority rather than a teaching moment, and that always makes me sad.
Speaking of injecting facts into a debate…
I’m feeling sorry for myself because I just had to send an email to a student in my climate migration research writing class trying to preempt her going too far down the path of arguing that climate change is a lost cause and we need to think about a future off-planet (maybe Mars?).
The part of me that teaches the science fiction class is cheering her spirit on, but the part of me that has to temper that spirit with some scientific rigor and feasibility knows that there is no there there.
So I have to try to caution and discourage and steer her in another direction, but doing so feels like an appeal to authority rather than a teaching moment, and that always makes me sad.
I dunno, nous, of all the people I’ve ever “met,” you’re the one who I most believe could walk the line you’re walking with grace and helpfulness.
I dunno, nous, of all the people I’ve ever “met,” you’re the one who I most believe could walk the line you’re walking with grace and helpfulness.
…but the part of me that has to temper that spirit with some scientific rigor and feasibility knows that there is no there there.
None of the “space colonist” types like the answers when they have to work through the series of questions like: (1) How big a population is required to support today’s level of technology? (2) How much more infrastructure is required when you have to do it in space? (3) How long will it realistically take to transport/build/grow that population and infrastructure? (4) When did you say the Earth was going to become incapable of supporting that effort?
I also like what-if biology questions. “What if it turns out that for a human female to bring a fetus to term successfully requires nine months in 0.5g gravity?”
…but the part of me that has to temper that spirit with some scientific rigor and feasibility knows that there is no there there.
None of the “space colonist” types like the answers when they have to work through the series of questions like: (1) How big a population is required to support today’s level of technology? (2) How much more infrastructure is required when you have to do it in space? (3) How long will it realistically take to transport/build/grow that population and infrastructure? (4) When did you say the Earth was going to become incapable of supporting that effort?
I also like what-if biology questions. “What if it turns out that for a human female to bring a fetus to term successfully requires nine months in 0.5g gravity?”
“What if it turns out that for a human female to bring a fetus to term successfully requires nine months in 0.5g gravity?”
It may now have happened yet. But at some point a female astronaut is going to discover that she was pregnant at liftoff. And then we will have an unplanned, but very interesting, experimental data point.
“What if it turns out that for a human female to bring a fetus to term successfully requires nine months in 0.5g gravity?”
It may now have happened yet. But at some point a female astronaut is going to discover that she was pregnant at liftoff. And then we will have an unplanned, but very interesting, experimental data point.
It’s a topic that has been discussed in SciFi for a very long time*. Often in connection with “Is there a point of no return to Earth for a human living in low or zero gravity for too long?”
Btw, when was the first time it became apparent that astronauts have trouble to get re-adjusted to gravity beyond the first few hours after return from space?
As for the pregnant astronaut, cosmic radiation would be a major problem too, I presume. Iirc it’s already recommended for female flight personnel at airlines to get grounded for at least parts of the pregnancy because of that.
*I believe I first read about that in a story by Arthur C. Clarke but I have encountered it numerous other times in different media.
It’s a topic that has been discussed in SciFi for a very long time*. Often in connection with “Is there a point of no return to Earth for a human living in low or zero gravity for too long?”
Btw, when was the first time it became apparent that astronauts have trouble to get re-adjusted to gravity beyond the first few hours after return from space?
As for the pregnant astronaut, cosmic radiation would be a major problem too, I presume. Iirc it’s already recommended for female flight personnel at airlines to get grounded for at least parts of the pregnancy because of that.
*I believe I first read about that in a story by Arthur C. Clarke but I have encountered it numerous other times in different media.
Another (this time simpler) math question:
Is it correct that in a 3 hand 12 hour clock the three hands only coincide at 12 but at no other time?
I assume that hour and minute hand coincide every 12/11 hours, the minute and second hand every 60/59 minutes and the hour and second hand every 720/719 minutes.
In connection with this: Why exactly is the sum of all 1/12^n with n from 1 to infinity* equal to 1/11?
*(=1/12 + 1/144 + 1/1728…)
—
That came up in the context of a math problem of what the area of the triangle demarcated by the tips of the three hands of the clock is depending on the time of day (and the relative lengths of the hands of course) and at what point it is largest. It is of course 0, when at least 2 hands coincide.
Easy to simulate but I guess the solution is as simple as: When the hands are at 120° to each other.
Another (this time simpler) math question:
Is it correct that in a 3 hand 12 hour clock the three hands only coincide at 12 but at no other time?
I assume that hour and minute hand coincide every 12/11 hours, the minute and second hand every 60/59 minutes and the hour and second hand every 720/719 minutes.
In connection with this: Why exactly is the sum of all 1/12^n with n from 1 to infinity* equal to 1/11?
*(=1/12 + 1/144 + 1/1728…)
—
That came up in the context of a math problem of what the area of the triangle demarcated by the tips of the three hands of the clock is depending on the time of day (and the relative lengths of the hands of course) and at what point it is largest. It is of course 0, when at least 2 hands coincide.
Easy to simulate but I guess the solution is as simple as: When the hands are at 120° to each other.
Regarding the sum, call it S
S = 1/12 + 1/12^2 + 1/12^3 + …
S/12 = 1/12^2 + 1/12^3 + …
Subtracting,
11.S/12 = 1/12
S = 1/11
Alternatively consider, in base-10,
x = 0.111111111…
9x = 0.999999999… = 1
so x = 1/9
Similarly, in base-12, 0.111111111… = 1/11
Regarding the sum, call it S
S = 1/12 + 1/12^2 + 1/12^3 + …
S/12 = 1/12^2 + 1/12^3 + …
Subtracting,
11.S/12 = 1/12
S = 1/11
Alternatively consider, in base-10,
x = 0.111111111…
9x = 0.999999999… = 1
so x = 1/9
Similarly, in base-12, 0.111111111… = 1/11
Regarding the alignment of clock hands:
Let the time be h:m:s with h an integer in the range 0 to 11, m an integer in the range 0 to 59,
and s rational in the range 0 to 60, excluding exactly 60.
The angle of the second hand, measured in fractions of a circle, is s/60
The angle of the minute hand, similarly measured, is m/60 + s/3600
The angle of the hour hand, similarly measured, is h/12 + m/720 + s/43200
So the minute and second hands coincide when
s/60 = m/60 + s/3600
60s = 60m + s
60m = 59s
s = 60m/59
The two hands therefore coincide once for each value of m = 0,1,2,3…58. (m = 59 would need s = 60, which is excluded from the allowed range)
The hour hand coincides with the minute hand when
h/12 + m/720 + s/43200 = m/60 + s/3600
3600h + 60m + s = 720m + 12s
3600h = 660m + 11s
substituting in s = 60m/59 to make the second hand align also:
3600h = 660m + 660m/59
60h = 11m + 11m/59
59.60h = (59.11 + 11)m
59.60h = 60.11m
59h = 11m
59 and 11 are both prime, so the smallest values for h and m where the equality holds, are (0,0) then (11, 59)
However, from above, there is no valid solution for m=59. So the hands align only at 0:0:0
If you’re not comfortable with excluding s = 60, then allow it, and we get a solution of 11:59:60.
But that’s the same as 0:0:0
Regarding the alignment of clock hands:
Let the time be h:m:s with h an integer in the range 0 to 11, m an integer in the range 0 to 59,
and s rational in the range 0 to 60, excluding exactly 60.
The angle of the second hand, measured in fractions of a circle, is s/60
The angle of the minute hand, similarly measured, is m/60 + s/3600
The angle of the hour hand, similarly measured, is h/12 + m/720 + s/43200
So the minute and second hands coincide when
s/60 = m/60 + s/3600
60s = 60m + s
60m = 59s
s = 60m/59
The two hands therefore coincide once for each value of m = 0,1,2,3…58. (m = 59 would need s = 60, which is excluded from the allowed range)
The hour hand coincides with the minute hand when
h/12 + m/720 + s/43200 = m/60 + s/3600
3600h + 60m + s = 720m + 12s
3600h = 660m + 11s
substituting in s = 60m/59 to make the second hand align also:
3600h = 660m + 660m/59
60h = 11m + 11m/59
59.60h = (59.11 + 11)m
59.60h = 60.11m
59h = 11m
59 and 11 are both prime, so the smallest values for h and m where the equality holds, are (0,0) then (11, 59)
However, from above, there is no valid solution for m=59. So the hands align only at 0:0:0
If you’re not comfortable with excluding s = 60, then allow it, and we get a solution of 11:59:60.
But that’s the same as 0:0:0
‘and we get a solution of 11:59:60.
But that’s the same as 0:0:0’
Except on days with a leap-second.
“tell me you are a pedant without saying that you are a pedant” also, too.
‘and we get a solution of 11:59:60.
But that’s the same as 0:0:0’
Except on days with a leap-second.
“tell me you are a pedant without saying that you are a pedant” also, too.
A more interesting question might be, when do all three hands appear to coincide? For which the answer depends on how well the human eye can discern small angular differences, and the size and distance of the clock face and hands.
What we see then is more like a step function. If you can distinguish the tips of the hands at angles as small as 1/2 degree (the distance the mminute hand moves in 5 seconds), then you only see the 3 hands coincide once. But if you can’t distinguish less than about 1 degree, now you also perceive that they coincide at about 1:05:05 and 10:54:55. Etc.
Note that, if the second hand moves smoothly, rather than jumping once a second, you will get a (brief) span of time, rather than an instant, when they appear to coincide.
A more interesting question might be, when do all three hands appear to coincide? For which the answer depends on how well the human eye can discern small angular differences, and the size and distance of the clock face and hands.
What we see then is more like a step function. If you can distinguish the tips of the hands at angles as small as 1/2 degree (the distance the mminute hand moves in 5 seconds), then you only see the 3 hands coincide once. But if you can’t distinguish less than about 1 degree, now you also perceive that they coincide at about 1:05:05 and 10:54:55. Etc.
Note that, if the second hand moves smoothly, rather than jumping once a second, you will get a (brief) span of time, rather than an instant, when they appear to coincide.
Except on days with a leap-second.
But this will soon cease to be a problem:
After many years of discussions by different standards bodies, in November 2022, at the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures, it was decided to abandon the leap second by or before 2035.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5
Who can be more pedantic?
Except on days with a leap-second.
But this will soon cease to be a problem:
After many years of discussions by different standards bodies, in November 2022, at the 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures, it was decided to abandon the leap second by or before 2035.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03783-5
Who can be more pedantic?
The POSIX standard requires that there be 86,400 seconds in a day. There have been a number of approaches for “smearing” the leap-second change across a much longer time period in order to not break software that depends on the 86,400. Of course, smearing creates its own set of problems.
The POSIX standard requires that there be 86,400 seconds in a day. There have been a number of approaches for “smearing” the leap-second change across a much longer time period in order to not break software that depends on the 86,400. Of course, smearing creates its own set of problems.
I was thinking about frequencies and beats. I invented a unit of frequency called a Freep (abbreviated Fp), which is a cycle per 12 hours.
So the hour hand has a frequency of 1 Fp, the minute hand a frequency of 12 Fp, and the second hand a frequency of 720 Fp.
The beat frequency between the second hand and minute hand is 708 Fp. The beat frequency between the second hand and hour hand is 719 Fp.
That means the second and minute hands line up 708 times every 12 hours and the second and hour hands 719 times. Since 719 is prime, there are no common factors except 1.
So all three only line up once every 12 hours.
I was thinking about frequencies and beats. I invented a unit of frequency called a Freep (abbreviated Fp), which is a cycle per 12 hours.
So the hour hand has a frequency of 1 Fp, the minute hand a frequency of 12 Fp, and the second hand a frequency of 720 Fp.
The beat frequency between the second hand and minute hand is 708 Fp. The beat frequency between the second hand and hour hand is 719 Fp.
That means the second and minute hands line up 708 times every 12 hours and the second and hour hands 719 times. Since 719 is prime, there are no common factors except 1.
So all three only line up once every 12 hours.
Due to the difference in gravity, time literally passes faster on the Moon than it does on Earth. The time difference is about 56 microseconds per day. This is enough to screw up GPS-like systems if the master clock is based on an Earth-based clock. A lunar GPS will have to have its own master clock that runs at moon speed.
Due to the difference in gravity, time literally passes faster on the Moon than it does on Earth. The time difference is about 56 microseconds per day. This is enough to screw up GPS-like systems if the master clock is based on an Earth-based clock. A lunar GPS will have to have its own master clock that runs at moon speed.
GPS took the precaution to be able to switch between Newtonian and Einsteinian settings because some people still did not trust in the newfangled stuff of that eccentric Jew (and him being a Jew played and still plays a non-negligible role in the acceptance, unfortunately).
—
Going through a math book I found this riddle:
w,h,d,n,?,?
Other riddles of this type work with replacing the letters with their position in the alphabet. But I can’t see a pattern in 23,8,4,14 either.
GPS took the precaution to be able to switch between Newtonian and Einsteinian settings because some people still did not trust in the newfangled stuff of that eccentric Jew (and him being a Jew played and still plays a non-negligible role in the acceptance, unfortunately).
—
Going through a math book I found this riddle:
w,h,d,n,?,?
Other riddles of this type work with replacing the letters with their position in the alphabet. But I can’t see a pattern in 23,8,4,14 either.