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.
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.
Fall is here for sure, and it’s going to be a long winter. The sun is largely gone, and you are almost certainly going to need to increase your vitamin D supplementation.
But but let’s talk about B12 first. B12 is a bit easier.
Vitamin B12
I was recently doing a deep dive on vitamin B12 supplementation. If you are old and experiencing neuropathy of any kind, including difficulty hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, or tasting (the latter two being known signs of dementia), then you really need to be taking excess oral B12, in my opinion. Even if something else is causing nerve problems, you cannot go wrong minimizing any chance of a B12 deficiency compounding the issue.
IMO, the literature is very clear that oral supplementation works for most people. Some people need injectable vitamin B12, but most people don’t.
My doctor is of the opinion that excess oral B12 is absolutely no problem. You can get your levels checked, but most vitamin supplements for seniors have over 4000% of the RDA of B12. If your B12 is low, you will FEEL THE DIFFERENCE when you take a 4000% dose.
Note also that B12 has a pretty long half life in your bloodstream, and an excess is stored in the liver. You can miss a day or two of your vitamin B12 dose, no problem.
So how about Vitamin D?
Vitamin D
I mentioned that Vitamin D deficiency is now demonstrably linked to dementia.
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!
Cambodia – Targeting the Smart and Capable Class
If I could leave you with one message about socialism, it’s this.
Socialists will always get to the point where they have to do whatever they can to silence people who are actually competent to make a country work. Remember that. American socialists are no exception. Their horrible shit-show is always inferior to non-socialist solutions, and in the end, they have to kill those who can do it right.
This video explains the demonstration case of Cambodia.
Note that the weird AI clickbait thumbnail seems to have nothing to do with the video.
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 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!
The Woodlouse Hunter
I have found a new spider expert on YouTube – or rather, the algorithm found a new one for me. This guy is slow, thorough, and meticulous. Enjoy this 45-minute presentation, about a spider you may well have in your house, or out in your yard. It has many unique features and behaviors.
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
Wolf’s Midnight Special!
Does anybody here remember The Midnight Special? In Concert? Or Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert?
I’m just gonna dump a few of my favorite earworms into a single post. Yeah, you’ve seen some of these before. However, there are some new ones here. Thanks to many of you (you know who you are) who introduced (or reintroduced) me to some of these great songs!
(1) My latest fave! AI Celtic Metal! “HEAVEN YEAH!!!”
(2) God Bless Spencer Pratt! STILL MY HERO!!!
(3) Yeah, it’s Monday. REMEMBER MONDAY!!!
(4) And while we’re remembering Monday, let’s remember Wheatietoo, who loved epic music and an orchestral group which performed it, called Two Steps From Hell.
(7) Maybe you remember this one from the 2016 Trump rallies. It’s called “The American Dreamer” by Jacob Seales.
Those were the days! Ten years ago, my friends.
(8) Always good for a watch!
(9) And with that, I close out (well, almost) with one more AI Celtic Metal Hymn!
This is the song I was carrying in my heart back around January 6, 2021. And a little over 5 years later, hymns are arranging themselves, thanks to Maxwell’s equations, and a few others, built into the universe, waiting to be set free, to praise their own creator.
A salute to Steve, and all of my fellow J6ers, wherever you are now, in Colorado or otherwise.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
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.
Amy Acton seems like an enigma – until you realize that there are two Amy Actons.
One of them is the real Amy Acton. Who I will call Real Amy Acton. She’s likable, but in a ditzy, scatter-brained, and often cringey way. There is absolutely no way that this person should have been a Director of Health. She could never, ever, be the governor of a state.
The other Amy Acton – who I will call Imaginary Amy Acton – is a mirage – a creation. She’s not very likable, but she is competent. She obeys Democrat policy, because she is the creation of professional Democrats. On paper, she sounds quite different from the real Amy Acton, because she’s not the real Amy Acton. She’s like a Soviet consensus on what Amy Acton is supposed to think and believe.
It’s no wonder the Democrats in Ohio are not allowing either Amy Acton to debate Vivek Ramaswamy.
I would like to show you some select insights into this lady, that will help you understand.
Let’s start with a recent X post by Dr. Acton – or Lockdown Amy as she is known, that I find both attractive and a bit out of touch. This is Real Amy Acton.
We weren’t messing around today at The Scioto Ribber.
At first glance, I really liked these images. She’s like a neighbor, going out and eating at some restaurant and posting a tweet about it. That’s very real. It’s very likable. If she wasn’t running for office, I’d think “Hey! That’s Amy Acton, that doctor lady from Columbus!”
I find it interesting that there’s nobody around, and I think that says a lot about her campaign. I think the Democrats may not be thinking she can win, or even planning on winning. I think perhaps they’re grooming her for head of HHS, or CDC, or something like that, should the Demon Donkeys ever get back in the White House.
Next point – while I think it’s awesome that Dr. Acton is having a MONSTROUS steak (I have not had one like that in years), I don’t see that image as being politically wise right now – unless she’s desperate for some carnivore crossover votes that she’s surely not going to get, IMO. Indeed, that picture drew lots of criticism on her timeline, although it’s hard to know how much of that criticism is real, and how much is just AI bots going after her. I see the “same but opposite” on all the GOP timelines.
But what is Imaginary Dr. Amy Acton like?
Well, politically, there are some problems.
Ohio here is what Amy Acton will not tell us out loud.
Amy Acton supports:
⯈Abortion ( even up to 9 months ) ⯈Sanctuary cities ⯈Illegal invaders ⯈Entitlements for illegals ⯈Higher taxes to pay for entitlements to illegals ⯈Cuts in police ⯈Shutting Ohio down ⯈Forcing… pic.twitter.com/dtYjFNATsm
Ohio here is what Amy Acton will not tell us out loud.
Amy Acton supports:
⯈Abortion ( even up to 9 months ) ⯈Sanctuary cities ⯈Illegal invaders ⯈Entitlements for illegals ⯈Higher taxes to pay for entitlements to illegals ⯈Cuts in police ⯈Shutting Ohio down ⯈Forcing more vaccines on Ohioans ( especially children) ⯈Not allowing ICE to operate in Ohio ⯈Allowing lunatic liberal protesters to take over Ohio cities
Amy Acton is running on two things. Brown man is bad. ( Which is racist ) and she will somehow make things less expensive ( for generational entitlement freeloaders ).
She is 100% for socialism not free choice.
NO VOTE AMY ACTON
SO – yeah – Imaginary Amy Acton – the one who would actually be in charge of Ohio – is pretty left-wing, despite some serious efforts to pass her off as moderate right now.
I started looking more deeply into Acton’s background, especially back in her “COVID czarina” days, and what I found is both laughable and disturbing.
Two videos. The first was the New York Slimes singing her praises in early 2020, as the “pandemic” was just getting started. Here is the thumbnail (not an active video).
OMG, it is SO CRINGE! SO VERY CRINGE!!!
You get Real Amy Acton talking, but you get the Times pretending they are talking to Imaginary Amy Acton. This is how they sell one to the public, to install the other in office.
Amy Acton even SOUNDS like Kamala Harris. Just listen.
Amy Acton has been a PROJECT of the left from day one. But now, after the fall of both COVID communism and Kamala Harris, Real Amy Acton is clearly not fit for the job. She was never fit for her earlier job, either.
But it gets worse. Much worse.
Imagine CRINGE SQUARED.
Imagine a video of an event CELEBRATING the first video.
Imagine an event – a lecture given by Real Dr. Acton – celebrating Imaginary Dr. Acton’s “success” as the popularly evicted COVID czarina.
Imagine Amy at her absolute CRINGIEST, WOKEST, and DIZZIEST. Yes. She’s ten times more out to lunch than in any modern video.
Yes, it’s THAT BAD. Although it is fun and entertaining, like talking to a tipsy female doctor in a bar.
I kid you not.
There is a “transcript” which is actually an essay derived from the second video. The essay is clearly a re-write of Real Amy Acton’s speech by somebody else, to make her sound like Imaginary Amy Acton. It’s hard to tell that they’re even related.
Both of these videos are mind-boggling reminders of just how psychotic the COVID years were. And Amy Acton – both of them – was fully riding along with all that dubious psychosis. All the psychosis that was dubious then, and is horrifying now.
These videos are gold mines of cringey error, bad science, dictatorial hubris, talking down to the public, cargo-cult hero-worship, wishful remembrance, and all the rest. I hope to give both videos their own threads in the future, before the election, but you are welcome to dig in now.
So what’s the verdict?
Real Amy Acton may be a nice person and a good neighbor. Stripped of her goofy politics, she seems like a very typical, very likable, Ohio mom. Real Amy’s a bit more entertaining than most, either because of (1) alcohol, (2) xanax, or (3) naturally dizzy mentality. Provided that Real Amy Acton doesn’t drive drunk, she would be welcome in almost any neighborhood in Ohio. She does not strike me as a bad person.
But that is not why we have governors. We have governors to make difficult choices correctly – to do the right things, and to not do the wrong things. And Real Amy Acton is NOT governor material.
But neither is Imaginary Amy Acton – the competent leftist.
Imaginary Amy Acton is what we would get – and it would be even worse than those brutal COVID days.
We have to get that word out. Ohio doesn’t need the trouble it would have, if Amy Acton – any version of her – was Governor.
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!
Wolf’s Report on Political Brawling in Ohio
The attack ads are flying everywhere now.
At first it was mostly Democrats attacking Republicans, but now it’s the other way around.
TRANS is being exploited as an issue, far more than I would have expected.
Stop and watch this message: Biological men do NOT belong in women’s sports or locker rooms. But radical Sherrod Brown thinks they do. Sherrod Brown gave the green light to the radical trans agenda. Time to REJECT him this November!
Sherrod Brown gave the green light to the radical trans agenda. Brown voted TWICE to let biological men play women's sports and supported legislation to let men into women's locker rooms. Reject Brown! >>
The comments are awesome – people realize what Sherrod Brown’s voting record actually is.
Here was my comment.
Shanghai Brown helped send millions of jobs and thousands of factories to China, but then sponsored a picayune law that the government has to buy American flags that are made in America.
China's PHONY. Keep him out of the Senate for good!
IMO it’s the PAC ads that are most effective. Some of them are truly devastating.
In contrast, the Dem ads against John Husted and Vivek try to paint them as corrupt, but IMO people just aren’t buying it, and the ads are far from convincing.
Speaking of Vivek, his opponent, Lockdown Amy, is getting cringer and cringer.
Mehek Cooke is a GOP activist who once ran for office for something, and IMO was cheated out of a win, but found her true calling as a party person rather than a candidate.
Amy Acton screaming “YOU CANNOT BUY THE STATE” like someone just cut her off at last call.
Ma’am, this is a campaign event, not an intervention.
🚨THIS is the woman asking Ohio to hand her the keys to the governor’s office? NO WAY!
Amy Acton gets onstage and this is the performance Ohio voters are supposed to look at and think, “Yep, that’s who I want running the state”?
Watch the video. Make up your own mind.
But here’s what I want to see next: put her on a debate stage with Vivek Ramaswamy.
2 candidates standing across from each other answering for what they believe and what they plan to do with Ohio.
If Amy Acton wants the job, she should be willing to make her case directly to the people she wants to govern.
🔥Ohio deserves the debate. Let’s see it.
I can tell you – this woman will not do well in a debate, other than getting all the sympathy votes.
And some later breaking news – Husted is looking GREAT in his videos, directly attacking Sherrod Brown’s record, while Sherrod Brown is trying to excuse his way out of his TRANS votes.
Vivek is also firing confidently back at Lockdown Amy.
My opponent’s hypocrisy on full display: complains about dishonest attack ads, while perpetrating them. Complains about dark money, while benefiting from it. Claims to want open dialogue, while ducking a debate. https://t.co/8Xpyo0u3Vu
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
