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Against Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers, As They Are Now Every decision we make has to be a “net good”. How do we travel to/from work, errands? What do we eat? What do we wear? We make all of those choices, consciously or not, after weighing a variety of factors. Our choices are our conclusions that those options were better than other options. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) must meet that same goal, that it’s a “net good”. It’s not. AI claims to Do tasks better.  But AI has made mistakes, sometimes serious ones. “An AI chatbot set up to help small firms quickly obtain advice on the legal obligations and regulations businesses have to adhere to in New York starts telling business owners to break the law.” “Approximately  90% of AI startups fail  within their first year of operation.” Too few ambitious entrepreneurs recognize that AI is simply a tool, no different from Microsoft Office, and any proposed business or project using it is subject ...
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To Those Who - Thoughts About US Gun Violence

The American desire and propensity to own and use guns won’t change. This is a message to those who want to fight that characteristic in the desperate hope to prevent another mass shooting. To those who want to ban guns and gun parts and even bullets - the black market will overcome that obstacle; it will simply render existing weapons untraceable. The “ghost gun” manufacturing capability and market already exists. To those who want all weaponry registered - a black market will remain or become dominant; do-it-yourself gun manufacturing will grow.  To those who want background checks on all wishing to purchase guns - that does nothing with those who already own. And if the goal is to identify “undesirables” to prevent them from owning guns: The “undesirables”, often including the mentally ill, will refuse any activity that might earn them that designation, even if that activity - seeking diagnosis and treatment including therapy and medication - would help them manage the...

Simplify USA Immigration Policies

The goals of any immigration policy should define what will help the USA and what can be enforced.  But, today’s USA policy is so complex that it encourages illegal immigration. Currently, there are more than 20 nonimmigrant visa types for people traveling to the United States temporarily. There are many more types of immigrant visas for those coming to live permanently in the United States. The complete refugee admission and resettlement process takes two years, and much of the resettlement process is outsourced to a number of charity organizations. The Federal government website for prospective immigrants has an entire page of tools, and links to multiple guides, for those interested:  https://www.uscis.gov/tools   Imagine yourself as a nice 19 year old, recently finished with formal schooling, who decides that the USA is the best place to spend your adult life. Faced with the information above, wouldn’t you be tempted to just enter the USA however you could, stay ...

I Don't Care About Climate Change....

I don’t care about climate change because its presence or absence, its potential causes and potential effects, don’t change my response. We all share this planet, and we all need to respect it. We all need to recognize that its tangible resources are limited. Every living species has to adapt to the climate or move or disappear. NOAA reports that September 2017 was the hottest month worldwide since its records began in 1880. But we’re also overdue for an ice age, according to some geologists. The super volcano under Yellowstone National Park may erupt, leading to universal winter, and none of this matters because a previously unknown planet, Nibiru, or an asteroid, will destroy Earth anyway.   Let the scientists gather and debate the data. Mindfulness practitioners suggest we live in the present, so what can we, the ordinary peons, do now?  Just about every allegedly earth-friendly practice has trade-offs. Computerized technology requires mining of materials wit...

The Elephant in the Room: the Aging Population Worldwide

I believe that no government is handling the glut of Baby Boomers and older people well, and there's no time in recorded history to use as a reference or teacher. This Pew graph has a clear representation: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/global-population/ The economic stagnation in Japan was the first warning shot across the bow for the world; other countries, including the USA, struggle to identify and implement solutions. China ended its one-child policy; Germany enacted a very liberal immigration philosophy; Russia and France offer financial incentives for couples to have children. In 2015, the World Bank reported 75 countries with fertility rates below 2.0, below amounts needed to replace the current population. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?year_high_desc=false   These statistics have a clear implication for economic growth. GDP generally grows as long as the working population grows. If the population stagnates or ages to the point that cons...