Phone Addiction Like most of you, I have a love/hate relationship with my phone, along with social media, doom scrolling, what have you. This evening I came across a lecture by Arthur Brooks. You may have heard of him. I've watched a couple of his talks. I find him
The Little Sun Valley Skating Club In the town I grew up in (West Springfield MA,) during the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a figure skating club a short walk from our house. It was called, “The Little Sun Valley.” There is almost no online evidence that it ever existed. I can’t locate
Venice - The Last Word Once it became clear that the military-industrial complex was not going to draft past lottery #195, I felt a deep sense of relief. (I was #198, if you recall.) I no longer had to worry about what to do if I got an induction notice, didn’t have to
Venice Part 4 - Surf’s Up Yes, Southern California is the land of constant sunshine, and people are on the beach in Venice almost every day of the year. So it was when I was there in 1970. After watching surfers catching waves and being still somewhat intoxicated by the myth of the West Coast surf
Venice Part 3 - The Sideshow It’s often said that no one in California is from California, and while that may be said about all of the US, it is particularly true of the “Golden State.” It has an allure all its own with the promise of eternal sunshine, and easy living. Its draw bordered
Back At It I've taken bit of a hiatus, haven't been writing or posting of late. I had surgery on July 9th. Nothing life threatening or debilitating, but it has been the cause of some discomfort and it has take some time to adjust. I'm pretty much
Venice Part 2 - Maurice and Daisy As I stepped out the door of the Venice PD, I heard one of my friends shout out, “Hey, we’re over here!” Sure enough the driver had followed the cruiser and was waiting at the curb. It was a relief to see them, since at that point I didn’
The End of Reading Great piece in the Atlantic. Hope you can read it. It's a longer piece and if you haven't been spending much time reading, you may find it challenging, not the vocabulary, or the syntax, just the length. Dig in! I can attest to much of what
Venice Part 1 - Life Is a Beach Having arrived in Venice Beach, California, only to discover that we were not welcome at Frank and Barbara’s place despite his enthusiastic invitation, we were forced to find lodging within 3-4 days. Penniless, and desperate, I called my grandmother and asked for help. She lectured me for a
California Here I Come - Part 4 It was still early morning but the sun was up and the day was beginning to brighten when a gray Volkswagen Bug pulled over and stopped on the shoulder. I approached the vehicle cautiously, and seeing that the back seat was packed with the driver’s belongings, I shook my
California Here I Come - Part 3 We only stayed in Milwaukee for a couple of weeks. The accommodations were less than five star, and finding a way to make ends meet was beginning to be a problem. Turns out you can’t sell your blood that often. I did find temporary day work through an agency,
California, Here I Come - Part 2 There is a bit of a back story before going into what happened after Mary showed up at my door that day in 1970. It has to do with the Vietnam War, the draft, being designated 1-A, and the first year of “the lottery.” (Not the one that makes
The Human Movement We are at a crossroads in the development of AI. Countless individuals are warning us about the new arms' race, the race to develop AI. The 8 individuals who are behind this race, the ones who will most benefit financially, are all building bunkers even as they openly admit
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Trump’s Rolling Coup This is an incredibly important and comprehensive view of the steps that the Trump administration and its allies have taken to not only suppress dissent, but to identify those who speak out against them as traitors deserving of imprisonment without due process. They have quietly and incrementally put everything in
Our Survival, If We Choose It Thomas Piketty is the author of "Capital in the 21st Century," and a staunch advocate for global equality. I read "Capital" when it came out in 2014. It was considered one of the most important books of the year, and remains an excellent study of the
How to Switch to a Flip Phone As part of my effort to unplug from the myriad digital distractions that my iPhone offers, and my iPad, for the matter, I am considering switching to a flip phone. "Whoah," you might be thinking, "That's a bit drastic!" Fair point. Still, it wasn&
The Deed Is Done "In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar." Richard Brautigan 1968 While I hardly remember reading Brautigan's "postmodern post-apocalyptic novel," as it is now referred to, I loved the that one sentence, and
Our Tech Overlords Dangerous Fantasies In many ways, those working on developing artificial general intelligence believe that they can make themselves immortal, and are indifferent to what their attempts will mean to the rest of us. It turns out that the Pope’s analogy of the tower of Babel is uncannily accurate. Long read, very
The AI Safety Expert I find the guests that The Diary of a CEO interviews on his podcasts stimulating, and mentally challenging. They aren't the short 18 minute bites you get in a TedTalk. They are long, in depth, and provocative. This episode is a conversation with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, https://www.
You're a Contributor By default, Ghost, which is the platform that this blog is using only allows members to comment in response to my posts. I am about to make changes so that all members can post. They won't appear immediately since the platform makes me "approve" them. I
News Professor Jiang's Predictions This guy has an interesting take on the geopolitical forces at work in the world. He previously predicted that Trump would win the 2024 election and that we would go to war in Iran. He uses Game Theory as his vehicle. "Professor Jiang is a geopolitical analyst, writer, and
Episode 8 Where I Predict the Future Okay, this isn't really "episode eight," but as I was imagining what will happen to us here in the US post Trump, I remembered a toy from my childhood: The Magic 8 Ball. You would ask it a question, turn it upside down and get an
