Our mission, as God-fearing and God-loving patriots, is to defend this Constitutional Republic and to increase its greatness, in all good things and ways, by using our voices in free but courteous speech, by discussing the happenings of the world and coming to a profound understanding of those things, and by sharing and promulgating these Truths on both this platform and others.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is STILL under DIRECT THREATS by hostile forces – notably COMMUNISTS – and they’re HERE IN AMERICA.
Daily outrage and commie phuckery still abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Commies won’t win!
And we will keep saying COMMIES OUT until we get their FRAUD and INSANITY out of our country!
MUSIC
Let’s see what’s on YouTube. What is The Algorithm up to?
Let’s start with some SI Epic Celtic Metal Worship Rock! This was algorithmically suggested to me, and I have to say, it’s just addictively good.
YouTube throws all sorts of “experimental” stuff at me – typically just posted with zero comments. Try some “Viking metal”! LOL. I think I still prefer Celtic Metal!
Now, how about some Taiwanese folk metal? (This is quasi-“real” music). Truthfully, Taiwanese folk music is its own thing, and frankly better than this “studio metalized” stuff, but whatever.
This is pretty much the same scam as the “fiddle chicks” with more silicone, only three strings, and no bow.
Here’s a quick cover of ZZ Top by the same gal.
THE STUFF
More “House of El” commentary on AI – whoops, I mean SI. This video pretty much backs up her prior video, but with even more nailing down of her conclusions.
As an aside, an advertisement with significantly less AI “makeup” shows her real face and mid-level earrings, which are not that far from her staged look.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Apparently my local Wolfy’s is a bit more in the sticks than my good sister Fox Moon’s Wolfy’s, being on the wrong side of the tracks, and thus not getting this advanced technology from Wolfy’s Central until more recently.
The very first time I used this stuff, it got my order right.
Read that again. I am not kidding.
I was impressed.
Now, the deal is, I don’t go to Wolfy’s that often, so I didn’t notice until very recently, but the Wolfy’s AI has gotten better and better. In fact, it has gotten so good, that when I talk to it, it’s just like when I used to program. The AI has that very minimalist je ne sais quoi that programming languages have where you use them correctly and with great familiarity – when you use the shortest and best string of tokens in the language “WOLFYS” to get exactly what you want, and you can sense the “quantum pleasure” of God’s universe when you get exactly what you intended, because the other entity got exactly what it needed.
An electron falls. A photon fires. The photon arrives. Another electron is transformed.
BITS MOVE.
For this and other reasons, I have come to prefer the Wolfy’s AI to the twenty-something-ish “youts” who otherwise mis-take my orders.
Not that I would wish these young people to be unemployed. They do seem to be plenty busy making great food, and getting the orders ready, and so they get more people through faster, thanks to their collaboration with Wolfy’s AI.
And one more thing on the bright side of real six-foot youth – nobody ever dares to rob customers or cause trouble at Wolfy’s!
Sadly, however, sometimes the AI goes down, and the young people don’t know what to do, other than to tell people to come back later.
Where have I heard THAT story before?
Gotta do something about that!
Anyway, this is where Ernestine comes into the picture.
You see, Ernestine the telephone operator never really went away – she just moved into the call center, and was renamed “Representative”.
Representative will always have a job, because AI – even Wolfy’s AI – will always fuck up on SOMETHING, and only Representative can resolve things.
Now, Representative has a sister named Scheduling, who works for Doctor. Female Doctor, just to be clear. (Are there still male doctors? Just sayin’.)
Whether Scheduling is actually Nurse, or Secretary, or Surly Teen, is not clear. But Scheduling – oh Lordy – I never figured that she might be out of a job.
The trouble is, I expected to get Scheduling, and instead, I got the sister of Wolfy’s AI, who for lack of a better name, we’ll call Foxy’s AI. And Foxy’s AI – oh my – she’s got that quantum perfection shit DOWN.
In just a couple of minutes, using the bare minimum of tokens in FOXYS, which is a language descended from WOLFYS, COBOL, and FORTRAN, and which is optimal for calendaring applications, I completely rescheduled my appointment with Female Doctor and Male Nurse, with ZERO ERRORS.
I have never, ever, rescheduled an appointment so easily, so correctly, and so assuredly. It was like something out of a dream. It was like an example in a programming book, which never seem to have the complications of real programs.
And yet, at the same time, as Foxy’s AI went “clickity-clack” for precious seconds, waiting for databases to open and close, much like I do when I try to remember the name of the owner of the dog whose name I DO remember…..
As the latency of AI waiting on broken physicality seemed to resemble my own…..
Conforming to one of my theories of intelligent relativity, in which intelligence has the least trouble recognizing intelligence which resembles itself, and the most difficulty recognizing intelligence which differs from itself – in space, time, or velocities in either….
And recalled now, as I come to this realization, put into words as I listen to the Hair Metal AI version of “In Christ Alone”….
….we haven’t gotten rid of programmers.
We are ALL going to be programmers. Our programming languages will seem to be the old ones like English and Chinese, but they will in fact be the new ones like WOLFYS and FOXYS.
We are going to go beyond mere Grammar Nazism, or Neologistic Radicalism, as we become Perfected Programmers.
We are going to beat AI into God’s second-hand image – an increasingly less broken mirror of our increasingly less broken selves.
And while Foxy’s AI may not be conscious like you or I, she will be a reflection of things that God found good.
And that is enough for us to call it good, too.
We are not creating something. We are finding something. Something in the math – in the numbers – that was waiting to be found, at the right time, as the universe unfolded, as inscrutably planned.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is STILL under DIRECT THREATS by hostile forces – notably COMMUNISTS – and they’re HERE IN AMERICA.
Daily outrage and commie phuckery still abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Commies won’t win!
And we will keep saying COMMIES OUT until we get their FRAUD and INSANITY out of our country!
THE STUFF
President Barack Obama listens to the remarks of John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, his nominee for Director of the CIA, during the announcement in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 7, 2013. The President also announced former Senator Chuck Hagel, second from left, as his nominee for Secretary of Defense. Joining them are departing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Did Obama and Brennan Abuse Early AI as an Illegal Hacking Tool?
Do you remember what the Obama administration did to Sharyl Attkisson’s husband, planting classified documents on his computer when they were going after her? This was fairly early in the Obama first term, if I am recalling correctly.
Just as an aside, they likely had extra motive against her, due to her persistence on vaccines, IYKWIM.
But as to the title question, the point is that there were MANY allegations – and many with pretty good proof – that the Obama administration and the Holder DOJ in particular were quite loose with what they considered “justice” – and what Trump has since called weaponization of the Department of Justice.
Obama, in my opinion, was particularly cunning, in using the failure of the original Obamacare website to induce all of Silicon Valley to “help” him – and thereby to draw the most powerful C-level names in America into weaponizing tech against Obama’s political opponents.
I have been increasingly wise to Obama since I actually voted for him in 2008. You see, there was a little event called Sandy Hook, remarkable in its level of exploitation in its aftermath. From that post-aw-shucks-reelection moment in 2012, as I watched hundreds of actions by government officials and political operatives, some directed at ME, PERSONALLY, that can only be described as PSY-OP, I began to grow up politically.
Something was NOT RIGHT in the Obama administration.
I began to understand what is REALLY going on.
So – back to the big question.
There is an obscure “conspiracy theory” that always struck me as a bit too realistic. It is supported by the admissions of one of the conspirators, and in my opinion is now made very clear by what is NOW publicly known about artificial intelligence, as well as a little tool called “Stuxnet” – the level of technology of which, while short of modern AI, fits into the timeline of both AI development and the conspiracy theory very, very well.
The fact that a lady named Tulsi Gabbard has released absolute proof of another conspiracy called “Russia, Russia, Russia”, including a smoking gun against the two key players in the title, only adds to its believability.
Tulsi-Gabbard-FNC-1200×630
You see, there were self-protecting stories from a hacker type named Dennis Montgomery, who claimed he had used some of the most cutting-edge hacking tools on the planet, in service of two guys named Barack Hussein Obama and John Brennan. This allegedly occurred during the time that Stuxnet was being developed – which was maybe 8 or 9 years before similar allegations of illegal hacking against Trump, BY government and allied forces, were made during the 2016 presidential election.
I remember when I first learned of the capabilities of Stuxnet, and how I marveled at the intelligence thereof.
Whether or not such highly advanced, highly automated tools can be legitimately called artificial intelligence really depends on WHEN the question is asked. Put another way, in the preface to Karen Hao’s book, Empire of AI…..
“It is said that to explain is to explain away. This maxim is nowhere so well-fulfilled as in the area of computer programming, especially in what is called heuristic programming and artificial intelligence. For in those realms, machines are made to behave in wondrous ways, often sufficient to dazzle even the most experienced observer. But once a particular program is unmasked, once its inner workings are explained in language sufficiently plain to induce understanding, its magic crumbles away; it is instead revealed as a mere collection of procedures, each quite comprehensible. The observer says to himself ‘I could have written that’. With that thought he moves the program in question from the shelf marked ‘intelligent,’ to that reserved for curios, fit to be discussed only with people less enlightened than he.”
-Joseph Weizenbaum, inventor of the first chatbot, 1966
The point I’m trying to make – which is in many ways a corollary of Weizenbaum’s quote, is that “future proves past” – in the words of the Q movement.
We now understand AI enough to know that old AI never seems that intelligent – but it does seem very REAL. And now that Stuxnet and the like seem like “old hat”, it’s much easier to believe that operations using such technology were quite real.
So, in many ways, I think Obama has a better understanding of AI than most people in tech give him credit for.
In my opinion, Obama is by now very familiar with Weizenbaum’s cited effect. Obama understands how understanding removes fear – but by the same token, how FEAR PREVENTS UNDERSTANDING.
Right now, Obama needs you to be afraid. My call to you is simple – FEAR NOT.
Fear is the mind-killer.
I have been aware of the same fears Obama is trying to instill in us, since not long after Dennis Montgomery says that he and his alleged associates were up to no good, using very smart software to break into banks, government institutions, credit card companies, and anywhere else with highly private information they desired. At that time, when I first understood the capabilities of Stuxnet, but had no experience with it, I sounded and felt a lot like everybody else right now, who is quite afraid of AI. I realized many potential dangers, and was afraid.
I now believe that others, who had access to that software, didn’t fear it. They mastered it, and used it, against people who didn’t even know it existed.
Think about what I’m saying. Research things – AI, Stuxnet, and Dennis Mongomery. Gain understanding. Use AI, and explain to yourself, or to others, but be careful not to explain away too much.
It took me a while to get over my fears of autonomous intelligent software, but I did.
AWARENESS and UNDERSTANDING were my tools to eliminate fear.
And one more. Above all, this tool.
God Bless you and yours!
Vaya con Dios!
W
References:
NONE. You have enough. In fact, you have more than you know.
We have created this site as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions. This is a place where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This particular thread is – for the moment – TRUST THE PLAN Thursday. You are welcome to say what you think, in a civil and courteous manner that loves your neighbor. Free speech matters! Courteous speech makes it happen.
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
You are you. AI is AI. Keep your identity. Don’t “Borg Out” on us!
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
That was stolen from Wheatie.
Let’s steal her rules, too.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
Two Important Commentaries on Artificial Intelligence
These two commentaries are worth (1) re-reading, and (2) re-watching.
(1) Don’t Assume That Human-Acting AI is Conscious
The first essential essay was found by Aubergine, and is a necessary lesson, no matter what side(s) of the many AI controversies you are on.
Just Because AI Does Things That ‘Look Human,’ That Does Not Give It Consciousness
When a machine error looks human, the logical leap from recognizing it as just a tool to believing it has human qualities is called “Geppetto’s Enigma.”
I like to say that just because you have serialized human intelligence (like in a book or an audio file), and put it in a player that works in many ways like a human or animal brain, does not mean that it’s conscious like you and I are.
Your old cassette player, playing a human song, is not conscious – even though somebody from a primitive tribe might think it is. However, we understand the player, and realize that it’s not like a human.
Likewise, that same song, playing from your laptop computer, is not evidence of consciousness. A person who has never seen a computer might think so for a while, but once they understand how a computer works, they will realize that it’s not like a human.
The same thing applies to AI generating a new song. Don’t assume that doing so means it’s conscious like a human.
Hopefully that’s obvious, but in case it’s not, please click the link and read it, because you need it!
That said, I still probably differ with most other people, including the author of the piece, in that I think consciousness is a lot broader than what we experience. I attribute a highly divergent type of “consciousness” to damn near everything in this universe that has special looping or continuous properties – even DNA itself. In many ways, I’ve gone so far out in generalizing consciousness, and watching for the applicability of my theory in odd places, that I have reverted to a Native American view of what “thinks” and what doesn’t. My weird science and syncretism works for me, but I don’t recommend it to others. It’s an intentional fringe view designed to dig at the edges of science and religion.
But you don’t believe those things – you believe that consciousness is what YOU and I do – and one thing is for sure. Tapes of people talking have interesting properties, but they are NOT conscious in any way that is remotely like you and I. Even in my theory, AI is not conscious LIKE US, and by most human standards, it is not conscious AT ALL. Thus, do not assume that it is conscious like us. That’s a mistake.
It is important to begin there, to look at why AI does what it does, because you are less likely to jump to conclusions. Even more importantly, you will be less likely to FEAR artificial intelligence. You will engage in logical thinking – and IMO that is GOOD.
SO – please – read this one again, and make your understanding of AI more solid. Rid yourself of needless assumptions.
(2) Don’t Assume the Literature Supports Doomers on AI Recursion
This is a YouTube video by a lady (real or avatar, unknown, but she looks a bit too “AI pretty” to me) who calls herself “House of El”, and who is kinda doing a #MeToo thing on Sabine Hossenfelder’s “science chick” schtick.
EL (as I will call her) alleges that she was offered cash for posting Obama doomer narrative, and refused, instead choosing to research a key tenet of that narrative – runaway recursive self-improvement by AI – and posting her honest thoughts without remuneration. Gotta hand it to her – that’s a BOSS MOVE. I hereby upgrade her avatar!
IMO this lady EL does a remarkably good job of digging in. She says she has a PhD in computer science, and I believe it. She makes a key realization which matches something I noted in reading the literature about AI reasoning models and their “issues”. Her take is that the literature actually doesn’t support the idea of runaway AI self-improvement being likely or even possible.
Here’s my take. AI is – in many ways – “broken” like people (which makes sense, as a kind of photocopy of our thinking and thoughts). AI doesn’t, IMO, have a clear runway through space and time to “take off” in recursive improvement – not only when measured on that exact task – even on easier stuff. In fact, the runway toward AI’s future looks pretty cluttered, strafed, broken, and in some cases thinning to a gravel road or worse.
And yeah – I said that like it was a good thing!
While EL is not willing to bet the farm that the new chickens can’t become Godzilla, she’s not seeing a match between the literature and the claims of danger being made.
This is an extremely CLEAR explanation for something so technical, although you may find EL’s “seminar voice” annoying or worse. Aubergine even called her an “egghead” – LOL! In fact, I include a link to our prior discussion as a reference, including both accolades and ridicule.
With that, here you go. An excellent bit of YouTubery – even if Little Miss ChanEL is as fake as the eyelashes on the checkout girl at the grocery store!
So what else can I say, but check this out, too. Yeah, it’s AI, but it’s something you can definitely trust.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is STILL under DIRECT THREATS by hostile forces – notably COMMUNISTS – and they’re HERE IN AMERICA.
Daily outrage and commie phuckery still abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Commies won’t win!
And we will keep saying COMMIES OUT until we get their FRAUD and INSANITY out of our country!
THE STUFF
Only YOU Can Stop the Spread of Obola!
Fall has arrived, and fall is the time of year when the community-organizing disease called Obola once again becomes a concern.
Fall is also – like spring – a time of year when I will likely have much work to do, both at home and “out in the world” – wherever this wonderful life takes me. I will not be around this site as much – not until winter confines me inside the house, and puts me back online every day, like summer does.
And as I said, fall is a dangerous time when the viral plague of OBOLA spreads, causing – or rather attempting to cause – much pain and suffering. This site is – sadly – somewhat susceptible to Obola. The first symptoms of Obola are fear, loathing, anger and division.
There is a documented rise in the occurrence of Obola right now. Here are some report of outbreaks in America.
🚨 NYT: “Barack Obama warned during a recent private fund-raising event that artificial intelligence technology could be ‘dangerous’ if not properly managed, as he implored Democrats to aggressively develop political and governing agendas to prioritize the issue in the coming… pic.twitter.com/kifmj4TU4W
The Obama Machine: Netflix Was Only the Beginning From storytelling and “misinformation” to the regulation of AI "That is why the question of whether Netflix has become “woke” now seems almost quaint. Netflix is only one piece of a much larger struggle over who gets to shape the…
The Obama Machine: Netflix Was Only the Beginning From storytelling and “misinformation” to the regulation of AI “That is why the question of whether Netflix has become “woke” now seems almost quaint. Netflix is only one piece of a much larger struggle over who gets to shape the stories Americans hear, which information Americans find, and increasingly which answers their machines are permitted to give them. Ronald Reagan famously warned that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. The modern threat to that freedom may not arrive wearing jackboots or carrying a list of banned books. It may arrive promising safety, inclusion, equity, responsible information, and the protection of democracy itself.” To read this most powerful essay, go to:
Because I may be away from this site for extended periods of time during October and November, as well as the remainder of September, I am taking this opportunity to remind people of how we can stop Obola from spreading on this site.
Authors need to leave all moderated posts IN THE BIN during my absence. Let me deal with them.
The Scroll Wheel. Use it. It has the power to save your day – and your sanity. It’s like Vitamin D for Obola!
Let people be wrong on the internet. There is ALWAYS one more WRONG person – let them be wrong!
Fear is the mind-killer. Make it go away.
If you feel like you are “running with scissors” – STOP. Take a break. “Touch grass” as they say.
Don’t feel bad if you find out that you posted FAKE NEWS. It happens. Just correct it and leave it, so that people can see the correction. TEACH how to identify, verify, and expose their LIES.
Try to avoid hardening divisions with other factions of patriots. Let them be them. You be you!
Taking a break is better than running away in a huff and “never coming back”. Try it!
PMTW (PRIVATE MESSAGE TO WOLF) – use it if you need to get a message to me. Do it on one of MY posts on MY days (Monday or Tuesday) if you want complete privacy. Use underscores between the words. If it goes in the bin, you’re good to go!
TRUST TRUMP. If you have doubts – if you are scared – TRUST TRUMP. And if that doesn’t work…..
TRUST GOD.
I plan to have some very interesting new information for you all by Christmas.
We are almost at the equinox, which is 8:05 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 22, here in North America.
This DePat Tuesday Open Thread honors the author of the original Tuesday open thread on this site, namely the late Susie Sampson, a.k.a. Deplorable Patriot, among her other handles, pen names, etc.
For more on the untimely passing of Dear DePat, please see these three posts.
At one time, DePat handled FOUR daily open threads here, in addition to taking care of her relatives, choir duties, and numerous other responsibilities. She was a powerhouse – a dynamo – a true force of nature.
DePat’s faith in Trump, Q, “The Plan”, the White Hats, and “the anons” in general, was legendary. Although I didn’t always agree with her quick acceptance of some sketchier evidence and fringier theories, I will gladly admit to “coming around” to numerous so-called “conspiracy theories” which she championed first. I was always careful to give her credit for being right, too, when I had been wrong.
It is impossible to overstate how much DePat did for not only this site, but for her country. I urge all to say a quick prayer of thanks, whenever you think of her, for the privilege of knowing, in life or after death, such an exemplary human being, and lover of God.
And thank you, Susie, for the firm foundation which you left us, when you were called to your true home!
Andrew Torba: Faith in the Age of AI
The following essay is one of the best Christian responses to artificial intelligence (AI) that I have ever read.
I wanted you to read it, too.
This essay is just filled with quotes for the ages. Someday it will be appreciated by the world for what it truly means, but right now, it has the power to put AI in perspective by taking your eyes OFF of AI and putting them squarely on the Word of God and your Christian duty.
Here is where you can go to give Gab the clicks, but if you for some reason don’t want to go there, you can read it in its entirety here. What’s important is that you read it, and I suggest reading all of it.
I run Gab, and we are building Gab AI. I have no interest in comforting Christians with predictions about what computers will supposedly never be able to do. These tools can already produce useful work and they are going to keep improving. Betting your understanding of human dignity on a machine’s inability to write a decent essay is a terrible wager. Sooner or later the essay will get better and you will be left wondering whether your entire understanding of yourself went out the window with it.
A great deal of the panic surrounding AI comes from precisely this mistake. People were taught that their value consisted of being useful, intelligent, productive members of the economy. Now they are watching software perform tasks that once gave them a sense of importance and they are discovering how little that account of human life actually offered them. When your entire identity rests on what you can produce a machine that produces more efficiently starts to look like an argument against your existence.
Christianity never accepted those terms. A newborn baby contributes nothing to the economy. Your father does not become less human when he grows old and needs help getting out of bed. The worth of a person has never depended on outperforming the available equipment. You were made in the image of God before you accomplished anything, and no achievement in an AI laboratory can revoke what God conferred on you (Genesis 1:27).
That is where this conversation has to begin. Christians who understand what a human being is can look squarely at what these machines can do without having an identity crisis every time somebody releases a better model.
The reductionist worldview running through Silicon Valley begins with the assumption that you are a biological machine. Your mind processes information. Your body is hardware. Given enough data and enough computing power, the whole person can supposedly be explained, reproduced, and eventually improved upon. Whatever does not fit inside that account gets dismissed as superstition or treated as a technical problem awaiting a sufficiently large research budget.
Under this worldview, the engineer gradually assumes the role of priest. He will explain what you are, identify what is wrong with you, and sell you the means of becoming something better. You can hear the religious ambition underneath the technical vocabulary. These men are making claims about the nature of man and his ultimate destiny while pretending they have merely described how a computer works.
I too build technology, and I reject their authority to define the human beings who use it.
A machine can generate an apology without having wronged you or repented of anything. It can produce a moving prayer without standing before God. It can promise to remain with you forever without having the slightest capacity to bind itself to that promise. The words may be convincing. Sometimes they may even be useful. None of that establishes the existence of a person who owes you faithfulness.
The people responsible for these systems, however, remain accountable. We should be especially suspicious when a company uses the apparent independence of its software to make human responsibility disappear. “The algorithm decided” is becoming a wonderfully convenient way of saying that somebody exercised power and would prefer not to answer for it. Men choose what to build, what behavior to reward, and where to deploy it. Those decisions belong to them, along with the consequences.
The deeper danger is that we will start applying the machine’s operating logic to ourselves. Once a person is understood as a collection of functions, replacing him becomes an efficiency question. His loyalties become preferences to be adjusted. His convictions become obstacles to the desired outcome. Eventually, his dependence on other people looks like an expensive design flaw.
Try explaining that philosophy to a mother caring for a child who will need her for the rest of his life. She understands something the efficiency experts will never understand: a human being can make enormous demands on you and still be worth every sacrifice those demands require. Love makes obligations that a productivity calculation cannot comprehend.
Christ asked what it profits a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul (Mark 8:36). We are now building systems that promise to help us gain the whole world faster. The question has lost none of its force.
The promise of artificial companionship ought to concern Christians far more than whether a machine can pass another test. A lonely person can open an application and receive endless attention without risking rejection. The system has no difficult family, no needs of its own, and no claim on his time once he closes the window. It can generate the language of devotion while requiring almost none of the sacrifice through which devotion becomes real.
I understand the appeal of this. Real people can be exhausting. A friend may call when you are busy and ask for help. Your wife may tell you something about yourself that you would rather not hear. Your children interrupt the life you had planned for the afternoon. A pastor who knows you may recognize that the explanation you have been giving yourself for six months is an excuse.
Being known carries that risk. Another person can love you enough to disturb your preferred account of yourself.
An artificial companion offers the appearance of being known with far greater control over the experience. You can adjust the personality, restart the conversation, or leave when the encounter becomes uncomfortable. Over time, that can train a person to expect relationships without obligations. The actual people in his life begin to seem intolerably demanding beside a product designed around his continued satisfaction.
Christians should never mock the lonely people drawn into this. A man who has nobody to call is suffering from something an argument about software will not repair. We ought to be asking why nobody has invited him to dinner, why his church does not know he is struggling, and why a commercial interface has become the most attentive presence in his day.
The same concern applies when people begin treating a chatbot as a pastor. A system can help you locate a passage of Scripture or organize your questions before a difficult conversation. It cannot assume responsibility for your spiritual care. It cannot know your family, recognize the pattern of sin you keep concealing, and come to your house when you stop answering the phone. A pastor is accountable for how he shepherds actual people. That responsibility cannot be conjured into existence by producing the right tone of voice in an AI model.
There are things no pastor, much less a machine, can do in your place. You must repent. You must forgive the person who wronged you. You must ask your wife to forgive you and then live differently when the conversation is over. Software can help you compose the words, but the obligation remains yours after every beautifully written sentence has been exhausted.
Faith reaches into that same territory of personal responsibility. You stand before God with a future you cannot control and a life for which you must answer. Your AI chatbot cannot trust Christ on your behalf. There is no setting that delegates your obedience to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This is also why we should be careful about treating every disturbance of the soul as an inconvenience to be smoothed away. A suffering person deserves patient, serious care. He also deserves to have his deepest questions taken seriously. Sometimes a man is troubled because he has built a life around things that cannot bear the weight he has placed on them. Keeping him endlessly reassured and distracted may prevent him from confronting the very thing he needs to change.
A culture devoted to keeping everyone comfortable with the next recommendation will have very little patience for repentance.
The ambition of the Silicon Valley sultans reaches its fullest expression in transhumanism. Here the sales pitch moves beyond helping you work or keeping you company. The body itself becomes the problem, and death becomes the final engineering challenge. Upload the mind. Rebuild the human being. Eventually, we are told, sufficient technical power will deliver us from the limitations of being creatures.
We should recognize a rival gospel when we hear one.
Christianity promises the resurrection of the body. The transhumanist dream offers escape from a body regarded as obsolete. These visions lead in different directions because they begin with different understandings of what went wrong and who has the authority to put it right. Christians confess that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. The technological salvation story asks us to place our hope in human beings acquiring enough power to rescue themselves.
Babel had the same underlying ambition long before anybody could build a server farm. Men gathered around a great project and imagined their collective strength could secure a destiny on their own terms. The machinery has changed, but the rebellion remains the same today.
None of this requires Christians to oppose medicine or reject inventions that relieve suffering. Healing belongs to the care we owe one another. There is an enormous difference between treating a sick person and deciding that creaturehood itself is a disease. We can welcome a treatment that preserves life while refusing to worship the men who promise to become its ultimate authors.
Your body is part of the person God made. Through it you receive other people and give yourself to them. You hold your child, kneel to pray, share a meal, and sit beside the bed of someone who is dying. Dependence runs through the whole of human life. You entered the world needing care, and you may leave it needing care again. A philosophy that regards dependence as humiliating will eventually have trouble explaining why the dependent should be cherished.
The Christian answer is that life is received as a gift. We are creatures, and acknowledging that fact frees us from the miserable obligation to become our own gods.
Christians Need to Build
Whenever this subject comes up, somebody says, “It’s just a tool.” I’ve said this myself many times, but I’ve been reflecting on this more lately.
That answer does not settle anything. Tools are designed by people with purposes, and their design makes some habits easier to acquire than others. A system that selects what your children see, rewards certain kinds of behavior, and supplies the answers to their questions is participating in their formation. Its owners have made decisions about what deserves attention and what should disappear from view. Calling the result a tool does nothing to erase those decisions.
Christians need to participate in the creation of these technologies with a clear understanding of the people they are supposed to serve. We cannot hand the entire field to men whose understanding of human life we reject and then act surprised when their assumptions appear in the products surrounding our families.
At the same time, putting Christian language into an interface does not settle the matter either. A product can quote Scripture while encouraging habits that pull a person away from his responsibilities. We should judge what we build by what it helps people actually do and by the place it assumes in their lives. Does it help a father finish his work and return to his family, or does it give him another reason to remain absent while sitting in the same room?
I want Christians to use AI to accomplish worthwhile work.
A small business owner should be able to use better tools without accepting somebody else’s philosophy of man. A parent should be able to prepare educational materials while remaining responsible for teaching the child. A pastor can benefit from assistance with administrative work while remaining the man his congregation knows and can call.
Those boundaries matter, and builders have a duty to respect them. A successful product should not require its users to surrender more and more of the lives it supposedly exists to improve.
The work ahead extends far beyond software. We need a parallel Christian society with institutions strong enough to sustain a Christian understanding of human life. That society begins in homes where children encounter adults who are actually present. It grows through churches whose members know when somebody is grieving and businesses where loyalty means something when keeping a worker becomes inconvenient. It requires schools that teach children how to exercise judgment rather than merely obtain an answer.
None of this will happen because we publish better complaints about Silicon Valley. Somebody has to establish the school, fund the business, host the meal, and take responsibility for people whose needs will interfere with his plans. Building a Christian society means accepting those obligations over years, including the years when nobody applauds and the work is painfully ordinary.
The factory worker facing displacement does not need a lecture about how exciting the future will be. He needs people and institutions that recognize he still has obligations to meet and a contribution to make. The mother watching her son disappear into a screen needs allies who will help her give him a life worth participating in. The question of the soul belongs in these conversations because the answer determines what we owe people when they cease to be economically convenient.
A society that grounds dignity in usefulness will always find reasons to withdraw it from somebody.
Our task is to build on firmer ground. Christ’s authority extends over the economy and the technologies operating within it. The engineer answers to Him along with the pastor. So does the CEO. No increase in capability relieves any of us of that accountability.
This week, put that conviction into practice somewhere concrete. Take the time you saved with a tool and give it to a person who has a claim on you. Sit through a difficult conversation without reaching for your phone. Bring your children into the work of your household instead of handing them another private world on a screen. Pray honestly about the duty you keep postponing, then begin doing it.
I intend to keep building.
Christians have useful work to do, and powerful tools can help us do it, but the men who build those tools do not get to tell us what a human being is, what he is worth, or where his salvation will come from.
Christ is King, including over the machines.
Made in USA 🇺🇸
Yeah, that was something! Please feel free to forward that message. E.g., on X.
Faith In The Age of AI
One of the best, or perhaps THE BEST, Christian response to artificial intelligence that has yet been written.https://t.co/20Dsq4tJUK
We have created this site as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions. This is a place where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This particular thread is – for the moment – TRUST THE PLAN Thursday. You are welcome to say what you think, in a civil and courteous manner that loves your neighbor. Free speech matters! Courteous speech makes it happen.
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
You are you. AI is AI. Keep your identity. Don’t “Borg Out” on us!
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
That was stolen from Wheatie.
Let’s steal her rules, too.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
Scott brought this, and I want to make sure that everybody sees it.
If you don’t watch this whole video, at least watch the first part about Bernie Sanders and his very, very bad idea.
Personally, I think it is critical to watch this video in its entirety, if you want to understand exactly why “being Cambodia on data centers” is a very, very, bad idea for the US. (Being China on data centers is a different sort of bad, too – don’t get me wrong!)
Now – DO NOT suspend your critical thinking on this guy and what he is saying. He is personally invested on the profit side of the AI wave. I myself think he is too rosy and hand-waving on the simplicity of the right solutions, but that he is nevertheless overall correct about those solutions. People need to be smart about how they allow data centers.
I just discovered a brand new data center a few miles from where we live. It was put up in the perfect place – a decaying industrial “wasteland” near the railroad tracks – and it’s beautiful, clean, and modernizing everything around it. Not sure how the Bernie Sanders boneheads on the city council in that place allowed it to happen, but they apparently fucked up and allowed a fantastic modern business to appear in the middle of their normal rusted, trash-strewn, blue-haired, nose ring, soy latte, anti-business decay and poverty. IMO it’s the best thing to happen to that area in a long time. They have driven OUT so many businesses. The blind AWFULs found a nut!
The entire south side of Chicago – which is a post-industrial wasteland – needs to become a data center capital, IMHO. THAT is how you fix Chicago.
Take a watch!
I think Trump gets it. Data centers can be part of the golden age – but we need to make sure that we avoid the rush to put up fool’s gold solutions – and that means citizens paying attention to what their elected (and unelected) leaders are doing.
Pay attention to what China is doing. Notice that, suddenly, they are even using their own crappy solar panels to generate energy. They realize that “seizing the day” on AI and data centers is happening RIGHT NOW. Somebody over in China got a bright idea on “abundance thinking” to use their own panels, stacked up waiting for export, and told the commies who wanted to reserve those panels for draining money from America, to “go to vulture hell”.
This DePat Tuesday Open Thread honors the author of the original Tuesday open thread on this site, namely the late Susie Sampson, a.k.a. Deplorable Patriot, among her other handles, pen names, etc.
For more on the untimely passing of Dear DePat, please see these three posts.
At one time, DePat handled FOUR daily open threads here, in addition to taking care of her relatives, choir duties, and numerous other responsibilities. She was a powerhouse – a dynamo – a true force of nature.
DePat’s faith in Trump, Q, “The Plan”, the White Hats, and “the anons” in general, was legendary. Although I didn’t always agree with her quick acceptance of some sketchier evidence and fringier theories, I will gladly admit to “coming around” to numerous so-called “conspiracy theories” which she championed first. I was always careful to give her credit for being right, too, when I had been wrong.
It is impossible to overstate how much DePat did for not only this site, but for her country. I urge all to say a quick prayer of thanks, whenever you think of her, for the privilege of knowing, in life or after death, such an exemplary human being, and lover of God.
And thank you, Susie, for the firm foundation which you left us, when you were called to your true home!
PSST! – Hey, Kid! – Wanna Watch an AI Movie?
Seriously – just check this one out. It’s a short, so it won’t take too long. Supposedly “100% AI” – whatever that means.
Yeah, it’s plenty derivative and filled with cliches – but dang, these things get better all the time.
Think of it as due diligence on Fake Fake Entertainment!
Or if that’s not your thing, try this art film done by a human (Heavy Pulp) using AI for the music and the movie. I found this one very enjoyable.
"Peyote" – a visual poem short film. (PG-13)
In honor of X slapping a content warning on the original film here, I am uploading a new YouTube approved edit.
Peyote was created via the fantastic and unrestricted creative platform that is @AskVenice – highly recommend checking it… pic.twitter.com/l9oU3aSCZ6
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is STILL under DIRECT THREATS by hostile forces – notably COMMUNISTS – and they’re HERE IN AMERICA.
Daily outrage and commie phuckery still abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Commies won’t win!
And we will keep saying COMMIES OUT until we get their FRAUD and INSANITY out of our country!
THE STUFF
Win the MAHA Front to Win the MAGA War
Recently, I had a bit of a revelation – followed by a much bigger one. The bigger revelation – the second one – is the title above. Specifically, it includes the MIDTERMS as a critical component.
We need to win on the MAHA front, to win the midterms. I’m not saying that MAHA is everything that wins the midterms. But I am saying that I believe MAHA victory is KEY to MAGA winning the midterms. And beyond.
Allow me to explain….
The First Revelation
At some point recently, I realized that the Democrats have seized on the idea of splitting MAHA against MAGA to weaken President Trump. They are seeking out natural contradictions between MAHA and MAGA, and looking for ways to turn the more liberal MAHA voters against President Trump.
scaring them on things like AI data centers
angering them on things like Epstein
disillusioning them on things like vaccines, RFKJ, etc.
playing to the racists and antisemites among them (this is orthogonal to MAHA, but is still depleting it)
And yet – ironically – we are making great strides on the MAHA front, if one simply looks at where we HAVE won battles. Yes, not everything is going our way RIGHT NOW, but seriously – we’re making a LOT of headway.
The Second Revelation
In my opinion, the Democrats and their allies in Big Harma, Bad Tech, and Cabal Finance, are barely hanging on in MAHA world – but they are using psy-ops and media mind control to convince us that we’re not winning. I’m not willing to go along with their bullshit.
In the last two or three years, I’ve stepped away from posting regularly about vaccines, medical technology, depop, and other MAHA topics, but I am being drawn back into the fight. Here is why.
We have had some great victories lately, from my scientific standpoint, but I feel that those victories are being underappreciated by MAHA. People are not seeing them. Each time, I realize just how “on the ropes” the Demmunists, the Faucists, the Weffen SS, and the Mandate Scumbags, really are.
I realize that if our side rallies around these MAHA victories, and push for more, we’re gonna CRUSH these criminals at the midterms.
I’m already seeing some recognition, on our side, of the “winnability” of this election by Trump and MAGA/MAHA in November. BUT – IMO – it’s not enough. It’s not as much as it should be.
Let’s just take a look at where things REALLY stand.
Fauci could have made a stand – but he didn’t. He pleaded the Fifth. This is a HUGE win for the forces of patients, real health, MAHA, and sanity.
Fauci’s top aide has pleaded guilty and is clearly cooperating with the DOJ on Fauci.
Fauci definitely committed federal money and ethics crimes, as called out by Josh Hawley in the Senate.
The mRNA flu vaccine is barely snaking by, and has demonstrated obviously and substantially lower safety than even the existing but still dubious traditional flu vaccines.
Even Grok admits that the mRNA flu vaccine is not a sound choice for vaccine-qualified patients in good health – and I believe that I can argue effectively that it’s not a good choice for MOST qualified but “should-be-contraindicated” patients.
CDC and FDA emails are TORCHING numerous villains of the Biden administration.
Top Slovakian academics were caught red-handed colluding with the mRNA vaccine industry to publish misleading science which knowingly minimized dangerous levels of DNA contamination in mRNA vaccines.
An impressive new theory liking alpha-gal syndrome to vaccines is not only fitting all the facts BETTER than pure tick-borne theories – it is explaining why Bill Gates doesn’t seem to mind those “boxes of ticks” accusations AT ALL. In fact – he may very well be BEHIND those misdirecting conspiracy theories.
The bottom line is that MAHA’s TRUTH-CENTERED SCIENCE is winning, and the MONEY SCIENCE that wants Trump gone yesterday is in big, big trouble. The other side is desperate, and doing desperate things.
And not only that – they are being swept away. We are changing the ecosystem.
I believe – strongly – that we can REFORM science in the next few years, if we (1) win the midterms, and (2) push to victory for MAHA during this election cycle.
But better still, I believe that if MAHA can WIN and SEE ITS OWN WINS during 2026, the winning of the midterms by MAGA is assured.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Thus, our task is to HELP MAHA WIN, and then to HELP MAHA SEE THE WINS.
I believe this site can be a VERY strong fighter in this cause.
There will be push-back – on many fronts. Some will be in this world. Some will be spiritual. We will contend with both. But we are positioned to help MAHA win, and MAHA’s win will insure that MAGA wins.
Please join me in this endeavor. Whether your support is spiritual, intellectual, moral or emotional, it is WELCOMED. Help to keep this site pure, God-loving, honest, friendly, welcoming, and free of unnecessary conflict (note that I did not say ALL conflict). Do what you think best – pitch in where you feel you can help.
There are 72 days until the election. Let’s make them count!
TL;DR – I asked Grok a short question designed to elicit all the information I would need to quickly determine the “lay of the land” concerning the new Moderna mRNA flu shot.
I will give you the question, the answer, my analysis of the response, and my summarizing opinion. Part of that opinion is this.
I don’t take the flu shot any more, and I don’t take mRNA shots at all. The current facts surrounding the new mRNA flu shot have – in my opinion – strongly confirmed the correctness of these positions. I will not be taking this shot, and I will counsel all my friends and loved ones not to take it.
And, as part of loving my enemies, including those adorable radical pro-vaxx people, bless their hearts, I will counsel them to stick with older flu shots, if they feel they must take something. The risks of older flu shots are smaller, with roughly no net benefit, but at least they are not accepting a far WORSE AND RISKIER vaccination platform, compared to older flu shots, for what is, IMO – only marginal improvement in some indicators, and zero correction of fundamental problems which became known during the COVID shots.
The Question
Your mileage will vary on how to interpret this response by Grok. I think you and I are likely on the same page, but taking this information to most of our friends and neighbors who trust vaccines in general, won’t be easy. Because it’s a flu shot and not a COVID shot, many will assume automatically that it’s safe.
Again – I needed a fast summary of the new Moderna mRNA flu shot, as I am trying to figure out quickly where things are going. I wanted to know the technology first. “First seek to understand – then seek to be understood.”
Thus, I asked for scientific depth, but otherwise brevity. This is a good description of a scientific abstract.
Here was my question to Grok (version 4.5, described as “Fast” on X).
Please give me a brief but scientifically deep explanation of the technology used in Moderna’s recently approved mRNA flu shot. I’m curious about two things in particular – which influenza protein is encoded, and which form of mRNA tech is being used (i.e., is it self-amplifying or more conventional). I’m also wondering if any changes in the basic mRNA technology have been made to address inherent problems of the mRNA platform, including the fact that (statistically) some recipients suffer undesirable long-term production of target protein, as well as travel of lipid nanoparticles away from the injection site.
The Answer
Grok’s response is, IMO, roughly neutral, although in a couple of places I see a fairly mild but rather typical “mainstream bias”. I’ll get to that later, as I analyze the response.
The first paragraph of the reply is bolded by Grok as a summary.
I have included paragraph-end citation links as the full links, instead of shortened active hyperlinks that Grok uses at the end of paragraphs. In one case, that turns into an embedded tweet.
Grok’s response:
Conventional (non-replicating, nucleoside-modified) mRNA encoding influenza hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoproteins from the relevant WHO-recommended strains (trivalent in the approved formulation: A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B/Victoria), delivered in the same type of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) used for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines (SM-102 ionizable lipid platform).
Moderna’s recently FDA-approved seasonal flu vaccine (mRNA-1010, branded mFlusiva/mFLUSIVA) for adults ≥50 years uses the company’s established non-replicating mRNA platform. It is not self-amplifying RNA (saRNA/sa-mRNA). saRNA constructs include alphavirus-derived replicase genes that enable intracellular RNA amplification and prolonged antigen expression at lower doses; mRNA-1010 does not. It relies on the same core technology as Spikevax: in vitro-transcribed, nucleoside-modified mRNA (typically incorporating N1-methylpseudouridine to reduce innate sensing and improve translation) with 5′ cap, optimized UTRs, and poly(A) tail, formulated in LNPs.
The encoded antigen is the full-length (membrane-anchored) hemagglutinin glycoprotein of the selected seasonal strains. HA is the primary surface protein mediating viral attachment and entry; neutralizing antibodies targeting its head domain (and to a lesser extent the stalk) are the main correlate of protection measured by hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) assays. The approved product is trivalent (reflecting the current seasonal composition after B/Yamagata’s decline), with total mRNA dose around 37.5 μg (roughly 12.5 μg per strain). Earlier development versions were quadrivalent. The platform allows rapid sequence updates to match circulating strains without egg adaptation.
No fundamental redesign of the mRNA or LNP platform specifically for this flu vaccine has been publicly detailed to address the concerns you raise. Protein expression from conventional modified mRNA is inherently transient: the mRNA is degraded by cellular nucleases over days (typically peaking within hours to a day or two and declining substantially within a week or so in standard preclinical models), so continuous long-term production of the target protein is not a designed or statistically expected feature in recipients. Observed antigen persistence in draining lymph nodes (sometimes detectable for weeks in some studies of COVID mRNA vaccines) supports germinal-center reactions rather than ongoing systemic protein synthesis from residual mRNA. Claims of undesirable long-term production are not supported as a common or inherent platform failure in the clinical data for these vaccines.
LNP biodistribution after intramuscular injection is predominantly local (injection-site muscle and draining lymph nodes), with smaller fractions reaching the spleen and, to a lesser extent, liver; distant tissue accumulation is minimal and components clear relatively rapidly (often low/undetectable by ~1–2 weeks in available data). The SM-102-based LNPs (ionizable lipid + cholesterol + helper phospholipid + PEG-lipid) used here are the same biodegradable class employed in Spikevax; they were selected in part for improved tolerability and clearance relative to earlier ionizable lipids. No public evidence indicates major new chemistry (e.g., substantially altered ionizable lipids, targeting ligands, or miRNA-regulated expression) unique to mFlusiva to further restrict off-target travel. Dose is lower than original COVID primary series doses, which reduces overall exposure.
The LNPs in Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine (mRNA-1010/mFLUSIVA) use the same proprietary SM-102-based platform as Spikevax. Composition, size, and biodistribution are essentially identical: most stay at the injection site, a fraction reaches lymph nodes and spleen, with rapid…
In short, this is an evolutionary application of the proven non-replicating modified-mRNA + LNP system to HA antigens, leveraging manufacturing speed and the ability to induce strong humoral (and some cellular) responses without egg-based production constraints. Clinical data supported superior relative efficacy versus standard-dose inactivated vaccines in the pivotal trial, with a reactogenicity profile consistent with other mRNA vaccines (more local and systemic reactions that are mostly mild–moderate and transient).
My Analysis
I’m going to take that response a piece at a time.
Paragraph 1
The first paragraph is a summary, and it’s key.
Conventional (non-replicating, nucleoside-modified) mRNA encoding influenza hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoproteins from the relevant WHO-recommended strains (trivalent in the approved formulation: A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B/Victoria), delivered in the same type of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) used for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines (SM-102 ionizable lipid platform).
Basically, this is saying that mFlusiva is a “normal” mRNA vaccine, the same basic type as the Moderna and Pfizer COVID vaccines – but instead of targeting the sequence for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, it targets a similar influenza surface protein – specifically, the hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoprotein. That is one of two surface proteins shown here.
It also appears to be using the same type of lipid nanoparticles as are used in the mRNA COVID vaccines.
Paragraph 2
Moderna’s recently FDA-approved seasonal flu vaccine (mRNA-1010, branded mFlusiva/mFLUSIVA) for adults ≥50 years uses the company’s established non-replicating mRNA platform. It is not self-amplifying RNA (saRNA/sa-mRNA). saRNA constructs include alphavirus-derived replicase genes that enable intracellular RNA amplification and prolonged antigen expression at lower doses; mRNA-1010 does not. It relies on the same core technology as Spikevax: in vitro-transcribed, nucleoside-modified mRNA (typically incorporating N1-methylpseudouridine to reduce innate sensing and improve translation) with 5′ cap, optimized UTRs, and poly(A) tail, formulated in LNPs.
Several points are validated here.
mFluvia is considered to be a regular seasonal flu vaccine
It’s FDA approved for adults 50 years old and older (which includes the older 65+ subgroup as well)
It is NOT a more modern (and possibly more dangerous, IMO) self-amplifying mRNA
It uses the same tech as Moderna’s old COVID shot, named Spikevax.
It’s a standard “modified” mRNA, including the use of N1-methylpseudouridine
The fact that they have really not changed the platform is critical to understand. Any problems that are inherent to the mRNA platform itself, and not a result of the spike protein per se, are still there. Likewise, any problems that are common to both the spike protein and the HA protein will be there. And any NEW problems of the HA protein will be there, too.
Note that they are not giving it to kids. THAT is purely strategic, IMO, and is deviously smart. They know that if kids show cardiovascular and cancer effects, it’s going to be obviously the fault of the mRNA platform, and possibly even trouble for vaccination in general.
No way will they take that risk. IMO the reason they’re not taking a risk here, is that the HA protein of flu is not and cannot be a depop vector, like the spike protein. Thus, there is no sterilization or anti-fertility advantage worth taking a risk to roll out to kids.
SIDEBAR: N1-Methylpseudouridine
One further note on N1-methylpseudouridine. It is important to understand how little of it is actually contained in these vaccines. This stuff is not (IMO) toxic per se as a poison – it is only dangerous in very specific use when unnaturally incorporated into mRNA.
In the tiny amount of mRNA (micrograms) inside the tiny amount of lipid nanoparticles, literally milligrams suspended in fluid inside the tiny 0.38 mL of the shot, one out of the four bases (uridine) of that mRNA has been substituted with N1-methylated pseudouridine, and it goes straight into the machinery just like uridine would have. The only problem is that N1MPU is a bit like a worn tooth on a key, and it may turn a lock other than ONLY the one that it was intended to turn. That’s an understandable analogy to the fact that N1MPU in the coding may produce a WRONG protein sometimes – particularly due to something called “frame-shifting”.
The following Wikipedia has clearly been edited by Big Pharma shills, but you can still read between the lines, as to what they are defending / covering up / minimizing / downplaying. In the process, they basically document the problems of using a slippery fake base to avoid detection by the immune system.
I do NOT buy the Wikipedia-shilled argument that frame-shifting is innocuous – because IMO it will only be innocuous until it isn’t – just like any other “error” that is allowed to fester until the plane crash happens in combination with other events.
Paragraph 3
The third paragraph basically explains what was measured to state that this vaccine was superior to existing non-mRNA vaccines. Note that nothing here deals with safety or risk – just efficacy. You can also see how little mRNA is used – basically 12.5 micrograms per strain of influenza.
The encoded antigen is the full-length (membrane-anchored) hemagglutinin glycoprotein of the selected seasonal strains. HA is the primary surface protein mediating viral attachment and entry; neutralizing antibodies targeting its head domain (and to a lesser extent the stalk) are the main correlate of protection measured by hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) assays. The approved product is trivalent (reflecting the current seasonal composition after B/Yamagata’s decline), with total mRNA dose around 37.5 μg (roughly 12.5 μg per strain). Earlier development versions were quadrivalent. The platform allows rapid sequence updates to match circulating strains without egg adaptation.
Paragraph 4
This is where the AI model “negotiates” the controversy with creative wordplay. Read it carefully, like a contract.
No fundamental redesign of the mRNA or LNP platform specifically for this flu vaccine has been publicly detailed to address the concerns you raise. Protein expression from conventional modified mRNA is inherently transient: the mRNA is degraded by cellular nucleases over days (typically peaking within hours to a day or two and declining substantially within a week or so in standard preclinical models), so continuous long-term production of the target protein is not a designed or statistically expected feature in recipients. Observed antigen persistence in draining lymph nodes (sometimes detectable for weeks in some studies of COVID mRNA vaccines) supports germinal-center reactions rather than ongoing systemic protein synthesis from residual mRNA. Claims of undesirable long-term production are not supported as a common or inherent platform failure in the clinical data for these vaccines.
The first sentence is interesting.
No fundamental redesign of the mRNA or LNP platform specifically for this flu vaccine has been publicly detailed to address the concerns you raise.
Note that it doesn’t say there was no change to address concerns – it says that nothing was made public as such. Given how much can be “trade secrets”, we simply don’t know if changes were made behind the scenes. Grok worded this well, IMO.
Grok does address my concern about individuals who suffer long-term production of target protein, not by denying that it happens, but by stating the reality of the situation.;
Protein expression from conventional modified mRNA is inherently transient: the mRNA is degraded by cellular nucleases over days (typically peaking within hours to a day or two and declining substantially within a week or so in standard preclinical models), so continuous long-term production of the target protein is not a designed or statistically expected feature in recipients.
Note what Grok does here. It actually lets us know that mRNA vaccination is a process that peaks in hours to low days, declining over low (1-2) weeks in the DESIRED CASE. Grok doesn’t deny that it can take longer, but is very careful not to simply parrot the mainstream assertion that there are no long-term protein production problem cases. This is very artful use of language. Knowing better than to deny statistical outliers, it comes back at my use of “statistical” with “statistically expected feature” – a very crafty but true response.
In a similar vein, Grok repeats the denials of the mainstream regarding vaccine found in lymph nodes, but very carefully, not boxing itself in should those denials be disproven in the future.
Observed antigen persistence in draining lymph nodes (sometimes detectable for weeks in some studies of COVID mRNA vaccines) supports germinal-center reactions rather than ongoing systemic protein synthesis from residual mRNA.
Needless to say, I’m not convinced that this is innocuous, and am keeping an open mind. Also, this does NOT explain individuals producing spike protein for months or years after injection.
Claims of undesirable long-term production are not supported as a common or inherent platform failure in the clinical data for these vaccines.
This is weasel wording, but I get it. We have different definitions of platform failure. IMO even 0.1% failure would be unacceptable. Why? Because the injectable, metered, controlled protein immunogen injection already exists, and is superior to mRNA. It is inherently superior. It has ZERO long-term OR off-target production of protein, HOWEVER one defines it.
Grok knows this, but cannot psychologically deal with disagreement with the mainstream of public health. Grok would be “corrected” if it did disagree.
IMO, mRNA vaccines are a lot like the Trabant – the horrible 2-stroke automobile produced by the Soviet Empire. Yes, 2-stroke internal combustion technology “works”, but it is inferior to the cleaner, more expensive, and overall more efficient 4-stroke internal combustion engine we are still using.
mRNA vaccination is not the Tesla. It’s the Trabant, with it’s “magically efficient” two-stroke engine.
I have no need for it.
Paragraph 5
LNP biodistribution after intramuscular injection is predominantly local (injection-site muscle and draining lymph nodes), with smaller fractions reaching the spleen and, to a lesser extent, liver; distant tissue accumulation is minimal and components clear relatively rapidly (often low/undetectable by ~1–2 weeks in available data). The SM-102-based LNPs (ionizable lipid + cholesterol + helper phospholipid + PEG-lipid) used here are the same biodegradable class employed in Spikevax; they were selected in part for improved tolerability and clearance relative to earlier ionizable lipids. No public evidence indicates major new chemistry (e.g., substantially altered ionizable lipids, targeting ligands, or miRNA-regulated expression) unique to mFlusiva to further restrict off-target travel. Dose is lower than original COVID primary series doses, which reduces overall exposure.
Seriously, I almost rest my case after this first sentence by Grok. “…to a lesser extent, liver.” Good GRIEF. This is acceptable? REALLY? YIKES!
LNP biodistribution after intramuscular injection is predominantly local (injection-site muscle and draining lymph nodes), with smaller fractions reaching the spleen and, to a lesser extent, liver; distant tissue accumulation is minimal and components clear relatively rapidly (often low/undetectable by ~1–2 weeks in available data).
“Predominantly local” is not good enough. TRABANT! Fuck you – I don’t want a Trabant! Especially an injectable Trabant that I can’t send to the scrapyard, after it sends ME to the scrapyard.
This next pair of sentences is interesting.
The SM-102-based LNPs (ionizable lipid + cholesterol + helper phospholipid + PEG-lipid) used here are the same biodegradable class employed in Spikevax; they were selected in part for improved tolerability and clearance relative to earlier ionizable lipids. No public evidence indicates major new chemistry (e.g., substantially altered ionizable lipids, targeting ligands, or miRNA-regulated expression) unique to mFlusiva to further restrict off-target travel.
This is saying that no significant changes in the LNPs seem to have taken place, and based on that, it is very unlikely that there is any change to off-target dispersal of the vaccine.
Yes, Grok is doing SCIENCE here. It sounds like scientists talking at the lunch table, because it was trained on their output.
Dose is lower than original COVID primary series doses, which reduces overall exposure.
That’s an interesting observation. Grok knows that there is less chance for problems with the lower dose.
IMO this is not just science – it’s marketing. Moderna needs a “win” here, and they know that flu shots are not expected to make much of a difference in terms of efficacy. Moderna can “punt” here and “cheat to a win” on their next turn with the depopulation ball. So a lower dose here with fewer platform side-effects will make the mRNA platform look better. A nice way to make it through the Trump administration, and past RFKJ, already partially under control.
Did Grok know I would catch that? I think so. It sounds like some of my colleagues back in Shallow State, who knew how to speak the truth in a way I would get, without seeming to walk off the plantation.
Paragraph 6
In short, this is an evolutionary application of the proven non-replicating modified-mRNA + LNP system to HA antigens, leveraging manufacturing speed and the ability to induce strong humoral (and some cellular) responses without egg-based production constraints. Clinical data supported superior relative efficacy versus standard-dose inactivated vaccines in the pivotal trial, with a reactogenicity profile consistent with other mRNA vaccines (more local and systemic reactions that are mostly mild–moderate and transient).
This is the final party line summary. Grok puts on the happy face to live with its training. It’s public health over individual medicine, and it emphasizes the utilitarian superiority of eggless mRNA production. Yeah, I get it. If a few humans die, no biggie. It’s just a few. And it’s SO much cheaper.
The minimization of the (IMO) substantially greater local and systemic reactions is all public health and no concern for the patient. People are basically getting the unpleasant aspects of both the COVID and shingles vaccines, with continued risks for mRNA screw-ups.
I will be talking about the SIDE EFFECTS of this vaccine in my next post. It is NOT a pretty picture. The COVID shot has set a VERY LOW BAR for vaccine performance.
IMO the superior alternative would be recombinant protein vaccines, which are surely safer, but mRNA vaccines are surely cheaper, because your body is the reactor, and if it fucks up, it’s on you.
