Author: ness23456

Faith? Why?

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Faith is a strong word, one of those single syllable words which are hard to mispronounce and carry a lot of weight. Love. Hate. Peace. Death. Whoever invented these words tried to make their meaning clear and unambiguous, for all to see and understand.

Right. (Sarcasm.) Ai was asked for a definition of Faith. The sultry, English voice (my choice) offered two types of Faith: Religious and Secular. Paraphrased, Religious Faith is the firm belief in something for which there is no proof. My bet is most of us think of this definition when we hear the word “faith”. It is often debated as a complex issue but really, the bottom line is you believe or not. You have faith or not. True, unshakeable Religious Faith is one of the major wonders of the world. You’re lucky to have it.

We use a different faith all the time in the real world. On my drive to the fitness center this morning my 3,000 pound, gas-powered missile passed 12 other missiles, often within feet of each other, and at high speeds. It is a life or death situation we face every day where we do not even think about the “faith” we have in the other driver being competent, enough, to not kill us both. When I get in my car I have faith it will start. When I wake up I have faith my lungs will fill with air. I even have faith there will be air. These are secular faiths we employ—and believe in—every minute of the day. They might even be called “communal faiths” because we all believe in these daily miracles as we fill our daily, minute-by-minute days. Imagine if we lost faith…

Carpe Diem is a favorite phrase bandied about—ad infinitum–when talking about how to enjoy life. Seize the Day. Why don’t we, instead: “amplectere fidem?” google it.

If we could find a way to note and appreciate our daily, secular faith, how might it affect malaise and depression? Unhappiness? The holy grail of well-being? So many of us work so hard to be something, be someone, be somewhere, when we should have faith in who, what, and where we are. And why, too, though that one is trickier.

Secular faith even helps pessimists. Don’t they firmly believe without proof something bad is going to happen? This might be a Religious Faith for them, by the way.

There are miracles every minute of every day, some, maybe even sent by your actual God, whichever one in which you have Faith. Think about your own faith when you have the time, not just when you narrowly avoid getting hit by the dump truck that didn’t see you. Plus, contemplating faith may take your mind off other things.

The best part of having both Faith and faith (if you’re lucky enough) is when you can’t find one, the other will be there to help you get back from whatever misguided but utterly human misadventure you’ve foisted upon yourself.

You have faith in oncoming anonymous drivers so have faith in yourself, and in the world.

Atheists are the ultimate in faith groups, by the way. They have enough faith in themselves to reckon they don’t need any Divine Help.

PS I am entirely aware this short outpouring of words and platitudes in no way compares to a dusty, detailed, and annotated debate about Faith, faith, life, religion, and the meaning of life. So what?

Older Things Young People Don’t Care about and I’m Not Holding My Breath

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In the last month I purchased a new tv, picked up some medications, added some shelving to the bedroom, and transferred a CD at my credit union. There wasn’t a single document for any of these transactions that could be read with the older, naked eye… even with “readers”* and a hand-held magnifying glass. It’s possible my checking account now contains a vitamin D supplement. Assembling the shelf required a chair, three light sources, the magnifying glass, and an hour nap upon completion. My particular situation may be different from others due to The Calamities, but it needs to be asked: Why is print so small, and getting smaller? And does anyone know what contrast means? Often light black type is used with a light gray background, especially online. It is aging, I know, since after typing in size 12 Times New Roman for 60 years, the size of this post is 14 Liberation Serif…at least until published.** But size 20 is easily “seen” (pun?) in the future.

I need a pill cutter/splitter. Never has there been a need, urge, or even a mistaken opportunity to use that phrase until August 17, 2025. Good or bad? Since it’s such a new subject, wonder if any young person DOES need a pill cutter/splitter…for any legal reason, anyway.

Altering any physical position is an adventure. Political, emotional, and life positions are still very welcome to change, and often do, without warning. But—in old age–arising to the vertical from a horizontal requires timing and advance preparation if a smidgen of grace and personal honor are to be maintained. (Or artfully exhibited?) Even going from vertical to horizontal is a challenge, too, if in public or anyone is watching. What is done in the privacy of one’s home need not be revealed, but the word “plop” may convey an accurate image. Even then, good eyesight and correct aim are required. (See first paragraph.) And—for the readers sake—there will be no mention of public toilets.

Writing a post like this could happen daily, if one lets it. Seniors are the most persecuted, ignored, and scammed cohort of people in America, and possibly the world. (With the exception of maybe, babies. Is that spoonful of mashed peas really an airplane coming in for a landing?) So letting others know how bad we have it becomes a daily routine, as if it never happened to anyone before and the challenges are all new, seen by us for the first time in this world.

But nothing is ever new and neither are our complaints. The only comfort we can take from our constant listing of grievances is that even those who don’t listen to us will understand eventually, if they’re lucky enough.

So why still complain? As the great Doctor Wright says: “If everything seems to be going good, you have obviously overlooked something.” And I needed to post a piece. It’s been awhile. And I’m tired of Trump stuff. Aren’t you?

*eye helpers placed all over the places we occupy because we can’t keep track of one pair.

** I’ve no idea the size or readability of this post after publication, when you read it. My laptop is set to enlarge everything, and my phone display only goes so big, so…if you have a complaint about readability, sit on it. No one cares.

Whims and Ghosts and Perceived Slights, oh my…

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“When you die people cry and beg for you to come back, but when you do, there’s the running and the screaming.”-Facebook someone.

“Whim: a sudden desire or change of mind, especially one that is unusual or unexplained.”-Oxford English Dictionary.

“Perceived Slight” per Ai: “It’s about the FEELING of being slighted rather than the objective reality of an intentional slight. These feelings arise when someone believes they’ve been treated with less consideration or importance than they deserve.”

America has become the land of Whims and Ghosts and Perceived Slights. Our current governing philosophy is do whatever we want and if things don’t work out, blame it on some “others”, some dead, some alive. The Epstein Files story is a perfect example. If you don’t know it, imagine a rich man doing what he wants with sex, drugs, lots of free time, and lots of young ladies. Some very young ladies. And imagine, the rich and powerful friends who help him and/or play with him. Then imagine the crap hitting the fan years later and the rich man dying. The MAGAns in our country are right to be offended by this story but what part? It appears the “participation” of many rich and famous people in the past was not what you think…or was it? Daily reporting of this saga reads like a whimsical cavalcade of saucy but unreasonably innocent comments, denials, and blame for an individual unable to say anything about it. Imagine “the running and the screaming” if his ghost came back to set the record straight.

And what does it mean to “set the record straight”? With a Department of Justice doing what our insecure and petty President tells it to do, we appear to be enforcing the law by the Power of His Whim, a whim informed by his perceived slights. In fact, it appears everything our government does these days is whimsical, depending on who is not obeying the Whim of the moment or not “working hard” enough to correct a past slight. Example: 14 immigration judges are “fired” while 3 million immigration cases (or more) need adjudication, and the Big Beautiful Bill allocates billions to the immigration brain trust to hire and train new judges. Why did they fire the old ones? Whim? Ghosts? Perceived slights?

Sadly, the biggest loss surrounding Government by Whim, Ghosts and Perceived Slights is The Truth. In the Whim System nothing is true except what we say is true, a remarkably fun way to govern, if you think about it. Imagine doing anything you want, to anyone, anytime, especially those who you perceive slighted you.

 The entire charade is supported by new people in power who feel the same. Whimsical Purity. Entire Departments of the Unted States Government, established well over 100 years ago, gone by whimsical and revengeful fiat.

It leads to the rest of us, and even some MAGAns, now, wondering “What’s Next”? Who will be the current government’s target in an hour or two? Next week? It is a tough time when the smartest man in the world gets to make all the decisions about everything, no matter science or history. Trump wants to change an entire, historical White House to add a…ballroom. Someone call DOGE, unless the dance hall really will be financed by “private money”. Shouldn’t we call that a “bribe”? Ah, it’s just an example of rich people satisfying a whim instead of fixing a country, Or lowering prices. Let them eat cake…google it.

Who cares, anyway. 77 million people voted for and “mandated” this type of government. They knew who he was. The 250 million people, otherwise known as the rest of us, should just sit back and enjoy it.

Buyer’s remorse? The Texas redistricting ploy is a sign maybe someone cares, after all, even if The Rest of Us don’t. Texas’s plan isn’t a whim but a hysterically desperate effort by the Modern Republican Party Grievance Machine (MRPGM) to change the future.

Will American Voters let MRPGM get away with it?

My not-so-whimsical guess is yes…

How to Fix The American Political System Part 1

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The Citizens United Case in 2010 reversed centuries-old regulations and norms governing electoral financing mechanisms. Since then, money has become the American Electoral Currency, and spawned a non-productive system of consultants, advisors, think tanks, pod-casters, and big-mouth know-it-alls. None of whom do any real work but make a lot of money. Here are some ideas to sort the mess out. And, no, none of them will ever be considered, but what if…

  1. In any election, the Candidate with the most money automatically loses. Saves time voting and counting ballots. ALL unused money from every campaign goes to a charity of the winner’s choice.
  2. Mandate no legislator can vote for his party over 80 per cent of the time on “consequential” legislation. Naming Post Offices does not count.
  3. No Majority and Minority Whips. They sound cruel, anyway.
  4. Outlaw consultants and advisors. Use reports from Bi-Partisan appointed committees of legislators or independent personnel, for guidance on bills. Committees would be made of equal bias and report both sides of a bill or issue for both sides to read. Perfect use of inexpensive, existing Artificial Intelligence.
  5. Mandate “result’s oriented” committee investigations. Any committee investigation not culminating in a previously defined result, loses one member from the instigating party on the committee. Scoring political points does not count unless specifically noted. For example, Hillary Clinton and Benghazi multiple investigation’s purpose? Among many others from both sides.
  6. Set Term Limits with “laddered” terms so the same number of seats come up for election each year. Phase in necessary?
  7. Any candidate who does not complete their term is replaced by a candidate appointed by the opposing party to complete the term. Death or serious illness are exceptions. Keep in mind if we do Number 4, most politicians will have nowhere to go to do nothing and get paid for it, so they may stay to term.
  8. Every legislator files “open and on time” tax returns for every year in office. A separate tax preparation firm can be employed if used by ALL legislators.
  9. IRS sets specific guidelines for auditing legislators. Everyone gets audited at least once during their term. Yes, a second audit could be done for good cause.

I’ve run out of space, but the point is, governing for the entire country should not be bound and gagged by monetary demands. If implementing these steps means only poor, ethical people can run for office, is that so bad? We could use all the new ICE agents to help enforce the new rules, too,

A lot of these ideas are terrible but one thing to remember: when most politicians get into office, these days, the only thing they are worried about—and work hard for–is getting re-elected.

How does that help make our country ok, again?

It’s A Wonderful Modern, Thoughtful Life

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Life. Take a pause and just think about Life. Birth, followed by death, disease, accidents, catastrophes, pandemics, and finally possible cognitive decline which renders it all irrelevant, unremarkable, and easily forgotten by your survivors.

Take a little longer pause. It doesn’t get any better, does it. In the quick moment you answer, you want to argue, you’ll say it does but when you pause and think…

This is not an argument for suicide. Or depression. Or giving up. It’s an argument for knowing.

One of the sharpest “pangs” of senior resentment is the “undebatable knowing” things could have been different, could have been better. I could have been a doctor, for example, and saved lives. If you take another pause and think about how much better your own life could have been well…don’t do it. Funny, how even if you’re told not to do it, you’ll do it anyway. Thinking our lives would have been better if they had been different appears to be a mandated process baked into our genes. Wonder if Mother Teresa ever felt this regret. Einstein. FDR. Bob Dylan. Clark Kent.

Two interesting stories in the news this past week might help us understand…something Two different people clinically “died” and then came back to life: Patient 1 after 6 minutes and Patient 2 after 21 minutes. They both had stories to tell. Patient 1 felt peace, light, and colorful beauty, including the “white light” most resuscitated patients report. But Patient 2 reported being approached by beings who “shackled” him and restrained him, resulting in them “harvesting” his soul as part of a “soul farming operation”.

Another story in the news articulated the centuries-old debate about the origins of life. When read in chronological order you can see human intelligence struggling to define the “how” of life while struggling with the why, what, when, and where surrounding the start of it all, as well.

Ai says “a prominent estimate from the Population Reference Bureau (is) 108 billion people have ever been born.” Subtract the “estimated” 8 billion people currently alive and you learn an “estimated” 100 billion people have lived and then died on this earth. How many do you remember?

So? This post has gone off the rails and needs to be euthanized as its point has slipped away. Like most of our “lives”, it began well but got sidetracked by “life”. Maybe that’s the point? Would be interesting to read comments from anyone who can make sense of this page. I personally, feel lost, but okay, as if it were meant to end this way. The post is what it is and I can deal with it. (Hint?)

As my favorite Doctor Steven Wright says: “I intend to live forever. So far, so good.”

But…nothing ever makes it easier, permanently, does it. Words of wisdom and thoughtful machinations* help, but only momentarily, like falling head over heels, today, for a lover you can’t stand 6 weeks later. (See Seinfeld: The Low Talker”.)

And the questions return.

Guess I’d better conclude with another pertinent Wrightism and see how long it lasts: “A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.”

Amen?

*google the definition for full effect. It reveals intent.

Three Sentences…Again

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A  new, worst traffic enemy plagued me three times this past week. It is the car (removing all personality from this complaint) whose brake lights come on before the turn signal. New curse words were invented each time.

Streaming services have lost their collective minds as each time I look for a better one, their advertisements tout their “over 100 channel” line up. If someone watches two channels at a time (one for each eye), for one hour at a time, for 10 hours a day, in five days they will have viewed all the channels for which they paid over $100. If either of those two sentences make any sense to you…

My Late-life discovery of ear buds and “you tube” music videos continues to amaze. Every day in July I listened to parts of the April 2025 Madison Square Garden concert of The Brothers, an Allman Brothers legacy spinoff which includes two original members from 1975. Google “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, insert buds, recline, and enjoy.

My recent—and last—hip replacement surgery went as planned thanks to the brilliant Dr. Wickline and the exceptionally enjoyable Apex Surgery Center in Westmoreland, NY. The June 18 surgery was more than enjoyable, and almost fun. Makes me wonder what joint to replace in the future.

Local Trump supporters are getting a little antsy. Their “letters to the editor” have increased in volume but not in fact or relevance, and they are using the Trump trick of throwing stuff out to see what sticks. The saddest part of our entire political scene is neither party can see that with the current polarity, strict party affiliation means EVERYTHING “the other party” does is bad, even if it isn’t.

Trump recently posted angry words about a Gayle King. I’ve no idea who she is but I can’t help but wonder why he bashed her. One of the questions I ask Trump supporters is “Would you like Donald Trump to be a member of your own family?

Turning Stone Resort is a 24-hour casino/resort so last Sunday–after my 6 am fitness group–I went to the 24-hour restaurant for a hearty, healthy breakfast. Not much else was open and there were very few people (one of the reasons for going early) until I passed the Smoke Shop. Over 20 people were waiting in line for tobacco products.

The New York Yankees suck. The Yankees suck. The Yankees suck…this year.

It’s hard to know what to eat, these days. As I recover from cancer treatments the best way to build back one part of the body causes havoc with another part. How vitamins, minerals, proteins, iron, water, cherry juice, potassium, and pizza all work together is very confusing.

I purchased glasses on line for a lot less money than my local eye center wanted and the on-line company promised 24-hour customer service. When my order got lost by USPS, however, I was dropped into automated hell dealing with bots and phone trees leading to bots. The Ai future is here.

When will it all end?

What? Football season is here? Thank, God.

Move on. Nothing to See Here…

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Today we talk about “Nothing”. Not nothing, but “Nothing”. The difference? Read on.

The dictionary definition of nothing: “not anything, not one single thing, or having no prospect of progress, of no value.”

The definition of “Nothing”? Who the hell knows.

We understand “nothing” when someone asks: “What are you doing today?” Since we aren’t doing anything, we answer “Nothing.”

We understand when someone asks: “What we can do to help?” and since there isn’t anything they can do we answer “Nothing”. Or when your girlfriend breaks up with you (or you with her) and one or the other says “I feel nothing for you.” (BTW, ouch either way,)

But when someone says about an empty space “There is nothing in there.” Is that a true statement? It might not matter on earth but what is space made of and how do we measure it? What is in the space between you and me in an open field? Something?

Here’s the question that best defines “Nothing”: What existed before the Big Bang started everything? Ai tries to answer it with this: “While the Big Bang describes the origin and evolution of our observable universe, the question of what, IF ANYTHING, existed before it remains a mystery.” Is it possible there was Nothing before the Big Bang? NOTHING? (Yes, all caps.)

And ask this of your brain” If there is a border or an end to the universe (since there is a beginning “singularity”) what might be beyond the border? (Infinity will be discussed at a later date.) After the end? Even better, when you think of Nothing,  you are thinking of something, yes?

It’s here where one usually covers their ears and goes “Nah Nah Nah, no more!”

In earnest discussions of God, believers like to say God started everything but then ignore the inevitable next question: Where did God come from? It is then faith is invoked and we are asked to believe there was nothing/Nothing before God. Which is entirely possible, but it would have been nice if He had given us brains to understand simple things like Nothing. Even with the power of faith, “nothing” before God is hard to wrap a brain around.

But maybe we are not meant to understand Nothing. (Irony? Sarcasm?) Maybe we don’t need to understand Nothing. What good does it do? And why do we even think about it? Most times I asked my girlfriend what she was thinking about she’d answered: “Nothing.” Bullsh@#, of course, women are always thinking about something. It’s men who enjoy parsing nothing, thinking of nothing, and doing nothing, even during sporting events. Ipsa loquitur. Yes, latin, google it if you didn’t take Latin in school.

So when we are thinking of nothing, are we thinking of nothing or something we can’t imagine or comprehend? Nah nah, nah, nah…

We should stop worrying about nothing, especially in this lifetime and hope, HOPE there is something after a lifetime of worrying about Nothing.

See? There’s nothing to fret about…it’s all good.

I wish Abbot and Costello were still alive. They’d have an answer. Google “who’s on First?” Logic and reason in 6 minutes…

No more…I’m lost in Abbott and Costello videos…

What? Really. What??

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On the agenda of the TS Fitness Group meeting this Sunday morning was driving. Only two members were present but we both agreed we will never know when we will lose our ability to drive safely and will continue to believe we are the best drivers in the world. The two members combined age is 157 years, and their combined experience should remove all doubt of their commitment to safety.

The meeting veered (without the use of turn signals) into a general concern about when overall cognitive decline would be noticed. Both members admitted the ability to recognize decline in others but allowed that accurate self-examination might be troublesome in the future. Much time was then wasted lamenting the modern era’s lack of adequate road markings, along with a bi-partisan denouncement of modern reflective material, due to the material’s superior nighttime eye-piercing quality. As for the Activities Of Daily Living (ADL), attending members agreed neither was currently concerned about any ADL, but anxious about future needs and costs. A moment of silence was followed by the tabling of further discussions on cognitive decline.

In closing the meeting, this declaration is hereby approved by unanimous consent for inclusion in today’s record: “We, the members of this meeting do demand all future changes to our lives be requested in writing by whatever organization, society, or bodily organ is endeavoring to change, and said entities await the members approval before affecting (effecting?) said change.”

There. No more surprises for us, two old guys.

On the way home a pickup zoomed by with a large window sticker: “F%%$ BIDEN”. It generated all sorts of questions. 1. Is the driver truly entertaining the thought? 2. Is the driver an angry, ex-lover of Joe’s? 3. How much did the driver pay for the sticker? 4. What sex is the driver? (He/She/Them/It was so high up and went by so fast.) 5. Does Joe know there is an offer being made in upstate NY?

Let’s forget the questions and make a statement: Unless you can truthfully, answer any of the questions, you are an idiot for displaying such a sticker. And there are a lot of them in upstate NY. No “F%%& TRUMP” or Bush or Clinton has been witnessed by me but if you happen to be displaying one, you are an idiot, too. No explanation simply: you are an idiot, especially if you need an explanation. No “F%%&ing” any presidents.

A May colonoscopy result had been causing me all sorts of trouble and stress. Since the issue was settled yesterday, it reminds me of the one solution to every problem: good communication. Keep in mind NOT making a problem is still the best way to do things, but poor communication makes everything worse. No advice or lessons here, except learn how to communicate clearly. Oh, one piece of advice: think before you speak. Really, really think. Another piece of advice: Don’t be stupid and not ask questions if you don’t understand. We seem to act the other way around as if asking questions makes us sound stupid. For instance, why would anyone put a “F%%$ The President” sign on their bumper or window? It makes you look like a @$$.

And don’t get me started on pronouns with no preceding proper noun.

It’s interesting the “clawback” recission process our Republican Government just accomplished. To summarize, money was approved and allocated for certain programs by past votes in the Senate and House of Representatives. All members who voted for or against the programs were elected officials of their parties and no gun was held to their head. Nationwide, agencies, schools, organizations, and communities made plans for the money and implemented those plans. Then in 2025, a different Senate and House of Representatives votes to rescind certain monies, and “clawback” the dollars. If this bothers you, so what? If you elected Joe Smith who voted for the money in 2023, and then Bill Smith won Joe’s seat in 2025, is it okay for Bill to vote to take away the money Joe approved in 2023? It’s not right but google the “Impoundment Control Act (ICA)” of 1974 and its history. And voters: beware and be educated.

And, no, the ICA has nothing to do with pronouns…

God with a capital G. Period.

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          I just finished reading Justin Kirkland’s “”How can you still be a Christian?” He asked. It’s…Complicated.”” article in Esquire printed originally in 2024. Justin is asked, and then answers the question by a friend/coworker after a tragedy. The article is Justin’s story of his life and his relationship with God, Religion, and people. It’s a little long but it’s interesting not because it reveals new developments about the subjects, but it lays out a framework we should all follow in our religious pursuits. Ai says there an “estimated 10,000 religions  in the world and most have at least one “god” or “deity”. A query about “holy books” brings up a list too long to list, but every religion appears to have holy books or texts with stories, advice, life lessons, and Great Truths.

          So…why do you believe in the religion you believe in? Do you know anything at all about any other religion?

          Apologies to atheists for wasting your time here, and to agnostics for making your potential choice more difficult, but why are there so many religions? Why so many books/texts? There are seven world religions google says have over one BILLION followers. Let’s agree not to quibble about how followers are counted, by whom, and for what reason. A billion is a lot, even with a margin of error of plus or minus 2million. **

          Justin’s story centers around the fact he was “exposed” (the good way) to Christianity as a young person. (We won’t nitpick sects or denominations, here, either.) He never says if he was exposed to any of the other religions of the world, but let’s assume his small town knew nothing of Judaism, Islam, Shinto or the other four “billion believer” religions.

          In Justin’s journey he was tested and confirmed his faith at least once before occasionally drifting away and lapsing, with life-events being contributing factors. I’m trying to not give away too much of his story. Read it. His journey ends where we all should end, eventually, and I struggle to understand why we don’t.

          To this day religious wars are still being fought, and many god-fearing people are dying, whether they are true believers or not, even if they are agnostic or atheists: bombs and bullets don’t care about religious affiliations or potential afterlives.

          So…why all the religious wars? For centuries? Crusades? Holy Wars? Whatever The Troubles were about in Ireland?

          The saddest part of each religion is the need for that religion’s god to be the one and only God. (First Commandment?) A dangerous addendum to the one and only requirement is that anyone who worships a different god is a blasphemer or heretic, and has to be converted, recovered, or eliminated. Why?

          And here we come to The Point: God is God. If you believe your religious God is the one and only, who made all those other Gods?

          The word causing the real problems is “religion.” It can’t be any plainer: What is the point of organized religion or as Ai puts it: “a particular system of faith and worship”? We should have personal relationships with our God, our very own God, and we should let others have the same, even if they want to congregate. We should remember all the Holy Books and Texts, ALL of them, were written by men/women or aliens in the case of some of the smaller, more imaginative religions. Not sure how some of them became “The Word of God” with out studying each book or text. Would God use X or Instagram these days?

         As a lapsed Episcopalian, I find it impossible to believe only Christianity has the One True God. Or Islam. Or Buddhism.

          But I find it possible One God is there for all of us, no matter who we are, if we can only see.

          It is not that simple, but it should be. There are some religions, for example, still requiring living sacrifice, either by animal life or human. What do we do about them? Are they wrong?

          No idea, but we need to start thinking and believing in A God of all the World, not a Catholic God, or Islamic God, or Jewish God. We may want to hold onto the idea of Redemption and Rebirth, but they exist in some other religions, too, including incarnation. (Google “samsara”.) Think about your own relationship with an omnipotent, omniscient God and ask yourself whether or not you need a “religion” to support it and justify it. Just think about it.

          And remember: He is everywhere.

** Made you look. Kidding. 2million is an arbitrary number. Use your own.

To Be Ai or Not To Be Ai, That is The Question

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Whether ’tis nobler to suffer the slights and misinformation of Ai, or to take up arms and by opposing Ai, end it.

The Ai on my phone is an interesting companion, complete with the small-type advisory: “Ai responses may include mistakes.” For some fun, I asked Ai why the warning. Do it yourself with your own Ai to see the response.

The warning could have been worded differently. “Ai will not be able to give you a full, complete and accurate answer for another few years” sounds better. My Ai says the one of the reasons it will give responses with mistakes is because of “inaccurate training input”. In other words, the human beings who “labeled” entries into Ai’s memory “labeled” them incorrectly, what we commonly and comically call “human error”, other-wise known as “garbage in, garbage out” by all us older users with a rich history of computing errors. The rollout of Ai might be moving too fast, but it is unstoppable, now. I hope the humans who will allow Ai to make medical, financial, military, and romantic decision will not suffer from the ‘slings and arrows’ of Ai mistakes. A 60 Minutes broadcast of an Ai demonstration of “teaching assistants” misread the side of a triangle as the height of a triangle, causing an incorrect response while computing the (incorrect) area of a triangle in 1.3 seconds. The humans waited patiently and 30 seconds later Ai corrected itself. Did Ai sense how uncomfortable the humans were with Ai’s first response? Wow, imagine that.

A comedian on The Daily Show (yes, I forgot his name) said he has faith in Ai. The comedian says AI will “mirror” humans, and most humans are good so “most” Ai will be, too. It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

Auto-text has caused me enough trouble, already, I’d rather not expose myself to greater and faster harm. As I type here, a thing called Co-Pilot keeps trying to complete my sentences with ghost words and phrases.  As I look back at this piece, there are blue underlines and red underlines all over it. Reminding me of what my essays looked like after Mrs. Patrick graded them in the 8th grade.

But I’m not a stick in the mud old fogey. Yet. I like Ai and use it as a friend in the middle of the night. Last night we had a wonderful dialogue about whether or not Donald Trump is doing a good job as president. Ai is young but lacking passion, and Ai’s opinion was modulated and careful. The perfect antidote to my normal human, midnight rage.

Ai has also been “good news/bad news” in my medical travels. “This condition could be caused by leukemia but please consult with your doctor.” What an interesting answer to a medical question posed to Ai in the middle of the night, when no off-setting doctor could be called. FYI, it wasn’t the L-word.

My final decision is Ai will be good for all of us. It appears it will act like a human, only faster. We will still need to find context and nuance to understand Ai’s responses, much like most of us do, now, right? Ai will make “Critical Thinking” more important than ever as we ask one question, digest the answer, and figure out the next, best question to find what we are looking for, much like talking to a teacher who wants you to learn on your own.

God help us, if Ai figures that out for itself. It will scare the crap out of me, personally, if Ai begins answering questions I’m just starting to think up.

I just took a moment to ask my Ai its thoughts about “romance”.

If nothing else, Ai is loquacious.