Thoughts

I use AI and I think it’s great. It was strange to me—one day it wasn’t there and the next it was, and everyone was talking about it. Now it’s like like Google or any other search engine; it’s always been here and it’s here to stay. I call it a glorified search engine. It’s more than that for sure, as maybe some of you techies would say, but for me—and since I’m not tech-savvy—that’s what I call it. But it’s great! I hardly use Google anymore. If I want to find something I just ask and there it is.

Here’s the thing. I am determined not to let it write for me. What you see is what you get. My voice and my words. I do use it to correct grammar because quite frankly, I suck at grammar. And there are times when I will ask it to give suggestions or maybe refine what I write but that’s not the same as saying, “Hey, write a 2000-word essay on Php 1.6.”

And lately, when I ask it to refine my essays or devotionals there’s not a lot of refinement—except maybe replacing a few words, making it more concise, or restructuring a sentence. No, my ideas have to be my own, for better or for worse.

The Real Villains of Climate Change

For a while there I thought my addiction to that wonderful brew, coffee, was the real felon in global warming. After all, my coffee maker uses about 10 amps of electricity, and the more power I use the greater my carbon footprint. (And if you like those weird, cream puff millennial drinks, like the mushy green stuff in a plastic cup with a plastic straw, you may end up killing a colony of ants or something. Ants are people too.)

Thanks to the New York Times I now understand who the real enemies are. Thank God it is not me. Or at least it won’t be for another 7 years. And you younger folk, well, you’re off the hook too.

In an article by Paula Span, NYT, the title reads -- Older People Are Contributing to Climate Change, and Suffering From It.  The point is Older People use more energy thereby causing tornadoes, hurricanes, and early Spring. Why? Because some old cranks have to take certain medications which in turn reduces the body’s ability to regulate its temperature? The consequences? They turn up the heat or air conditioner and so warping the universe of its natural, self-regulating state. It’s a vicious circle. So what to do? 

One suggestion in the article is to get those cantankerous, old farts in line. Have them join clubs like “Rise”, Retirees in Service to the Environment. That way we can kill them off faster by convincing them to turn off their air conditioners and so die from heat stroke. And not only that, we can make them feel good about contributing to a safe, clean planet for future generations of Younger People.

So remember -- check your Palm Life Clock, and Watch out for the Sandman!

The Socialist Pope

Francis said the poor were weeping “while the wealthy few feast on what, in justice, belongs to all. Injustice is the perverse root of poverty.”. The Socialist Pope 

I can imagine Pope Francis is a huge disappointment to conservative Catholics. The above statement by Francis is absurd. While the Bible does exhort the rich in this world to be charitable with a greater responsibility with their wealth, it also says in so many words, what God gives to an individual is his, it's a gift. It belongs to him and no one else. If, as the Pope says, "what in justice belongs to all" why the commandment, "You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor"?

The Naricissitic Vanity of Our Time

Video Show the Terrifying Drive to Escape Massive Fire in Paradise, California

Geese Honey! Let's film our family's death defying escape from this inferno and post it to fb! That'll be sure to get us some "likes"!

Damned fools. Idiots.   

Happiness is Overrated

I'm sure you've heard the old nauseating cliche, life is too short so be happy, along with other variations on this theme. Unfortunately, the thoughtless people quoting this most likely can not explain what happiness is or even how to achieve it. 

Philosophers from the ancient Greeks to the moderns have all chimed in on what constitutes the happy life. It's the age old question. 

Aristotle believed you must have a plan in place, along with living a life of virtue and moderation in all things. Plato emphasized not only virtue but the acquisition of knowledge as the highest good. And the Declaration of Independence says, 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

So when I read the headline, "Why the Finns Don't Want To Be Happy", it caught my attention. It would appear they don't put much stock in the idea of happiness. Rather, they see contentment as something far better. With them it is not "are you happy", but how's your quality of life?

I'm not sure if they have quite figured it out. I know they like their alcohol and maybe this has something to do with it. Here's the link if you want to see what the Finns have to say about happiness: Why the Finns don't want to be happy

"America, the radicalized" -- by Jim Vandehei

I'm so glad I deactivated my fb account. It's been maybe 6 months since I last logged on, possibly longer. I can only imagine the arguments going on between some of  people I had listed as friends, especially since the latest spectacle with Brett Kavanaugh hearing. I don't miss it -- at all!

The political wrangling is the worst. It is mentally and physically draining. If there is one thing I learned, it is that most people are not interested in honest and reasonable debate. In his brief article, Jim Vandehei lists some of the reasons why Americans are radicalized.

As always, I blame social media without apology. It is truly the "cancer of our time". Click on the link to read "America, the radicalized". America, the radicalized 

Social Media -- The Cancer of our Time

I suppose a former doctor would know better than most how to identify symptoms of a disease.  Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, sees social media as "the cancer of our time."

Social Media -- Cancer of our Time