Sunday, June 22

We Are Past the Event Horizon”: Controversial AI Visionary Says the Singularity is Here, and It’s Not What We Expected


Artificial intelligence may have crossed a technological threshold popularly known as “Singularity,” according to one expert who says we have surpassed the point where machines merely assist us, with intelligent machines now exceeding human capabilities.

The claims were made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who in a recent blog post wrote that AI is already demonstrating intelligence that goes beyond what humans can do naturally, but that for now, things aren’t looking as strange as some might have expected once we reached this point.


In The Evening. Page and Plant at Glastonbury 95

Saturday, June 21

Green Energy Amusements

 

Over the last several years, there has been a push in this country, primarily from the Democrats, to END PETROLEUM CRUDE OIL and NATURAL GAS in favor of green energy:

  • Electric Vehicles
  • Solar Panels
  • Windmills
  • Hydro


While at the same time, there has been a movement to push for ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and HUMANOID ROBOTS...


For a while, all the experts said AI Humanoid Robots would not take JOBS but it they did, it would not happen before 2040.


NOW...  those same experts are saying that AI Humanoid Robots will take millions of jobs in the next few years...

QUITE A BIG CHANGE...


Similarly, green energy experts that were convinced going green would SAVE THE PLANET...  are now backed into the corner because of AI and Humanoid robots.


MEANING WHAT EXACTLY???


The energy requirement needed to SUSTAIN AI ALONE, can never be met by GREEN ENERGY...


Our current electric grid does not have the power to sustain 80-100% electric vehicle usage much less AI...


Did the Green Energy Folks not do their homework or their due diligence?


It makes one wonder that they DID NOT!!!


Surely these experts were smart enough to calculate ELECTRICAL USAGE of EVs and AI robots or just AI alone...

I mean, isn't that why we call them EXPERTS?


So, here is our DILEMMA...

Do we want to save the planet by using green energy?


<OR>


Do we want to save our minds by using AI?


Maybe we should pay attention to people with COMMON SENSE rather than EXPERTS...


Just a thought....

Dark Coastline

 

Ponderings

 

Who is the leader of the Democratic Party?

Tradition shares that the leader of either party is either the current or recently removed president.  Following that logic, then Joe Biden is the current leader of the party.  However, Joe Biden is currently mentally incapacitated...  to say the least.

So, does this distinction fall on the shoulders of the Chair of the DNC...  or the House Minority Leader...  or the Senate Minority Leader???
Perhaps, the most outspoken member of the party like AOC???
Maybe the DNC's largest financial contributor?

In the 6 months after the election of 2024, it is clear that the Democratic Party had NO LEADER(s) nor do they have a PLAN OF ACTION to move forward except the following:
Fight Trump in the courts and in the media as much as possible and delay the:
  • deportation of illegal immigrants
  • reduction of government waste
  • passing of tax cuts
  • improvement of the economy

This is the same strategy that lost them the 2024 election and subsequently has caused several people as well as financial supporters to leave the party or substantially reduce their support and financial gifts.

The Democratic Party has turned into the party of the ELITE, the wealthy and privileged, and progressives that clearly want to move closer and closer to SOCIALISM.

If they really want to be the party of the American People then their FIRST PRIORITY is to push for a law that limits the number of terms a person of Congress can serve whether that person be in the House or Senate.

Term Limits will help this country IMPROVE more than taxing the wealthy, which should also be done by eliminating TAX SHELTERS...

Coastline

 

VINCE

 

Each Day

 


Lara Trump

 

Eyes

 


Bongino Report

 

Want to be Here?

 


Diamond & Silk

 

Black Dress

 


TimcastIRL

 

Rosette Deep Field

 


Dinesh D'Souza

 

Openness

 


Thrivetime

 

Keep it Simple

 


The Big THINK


Can quantum physics explain consciousness?

Brookings Brief


What to expect at the NATO summit in The Hague

Morning Shine

 


Headlines



Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images


Fed official says rate cuts could come as soon as July. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said in a CNBC interview yesterday that he and his colleagues should consider slashing interest rates “as early as July” because he doesn’t believe tariffs will significantly drive up inflation. These remarks came after he and other Fed governors voted to keep rates unchanged this week. President Trump has criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower them, but with Waller’s comments, the call is now coming from inside the house. Waller noted that he wasn’t speaking for the whole committee that decides, but said it was time to start thinking about a cut to avoid harming the labor market. That presents a stark contrast to the cautious tone Powell struck in a press conference earlier this week, reiterating the Fed’s wait-and-see stance and expressing concerns that tariffs could still drive up prices.

No breakthroughs in Europe’s talks with Iran. European and Iranian negotiators met in Geneva yesterday in hopes of hashing out an agreement to deescalate Iran’s conflict with Israel over Iran’s nuclear program—which President Trump said Thursday he’d decide whether to join within two weeks to give diplomacy a chance first. But they failed to come to an agreement as Iran reportedly insisted it be allowed to continue enriching uranium. Despite ending at an impasse, the negotiations left open the possibility of more talks going forward. Meanwhile, Israel’s military chief warned the public to prepare for a “prolonged” campaign in Iran.

16 billion passwords have been exposed. And yours are probably among them, not only because that represents more login credentials than there are people on Earth, but also because they include passwords from Google, Facebook, and Apple, according to a report from Cybernews, which called it the largest data breach ever. The data is scattered across 30 different databases, so some of the information likely overlaps. The leaked information does not come directly from attacks on the companies or a single source, meaing they were probably obtained from multiple events over time, but the cybersecurity site noted that bad actors compiling the information can be as damaging as them actively trying to steal it.—AR



READ MORE...

Robert Reich


Trump’s Biggest Economic Burden on the Working Middle Class
And the three policies he’s pursuing will only worsen it




Friends,

What’s the biggest single economic challenge facing working and middle-class Americans? Housing. Its supply isn’t nearly keeping up with demand. This means higher home prices and higher rents.

Data released by the Census Bureau yesterday shows fewer housing starts in May than in any month since the 2020 pandemic.

So what’s Trump doing about the slump in new housing? Three things. All will worsen it.

1. He’s put a tariff on Canadian lumber, which is driving up the cost of a key component of new homes. Trump is considering even higher tariffs on wood materials including lumber.


At A Glance


Bookkeeping

> Less than 4 minutes: Fastest recorded time to eat a half-gallon of ice cream at the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail.
> $250K: Starting auction price for Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home.

Browse
> The world's 50 best restaurants.
> ... and a ranking of all 29 Pixar movies.
> Real-life case of “The Ugly Duckling” fairy tale.
> The ancient Roman Empire had a graffiti problem.
> A $2K AI-generated ad aired during the NBA Finals.
> The battle has begun for crowning the song of the summer.

Listen
> We may have been thinking about ADHD all wrong.
> Life, explained by a doctor bringing people to the edge of death.

Watch
> A freezing, 14-course culinary journey at the end of the world.
> What happens if you funnel Niagara Falls through a straw?
> See the first clear images of the sun's south pole.
> How South Florida is becoming the new Wall Street.

Long Read
> Billionaires' megamansion amenities, from granite gorillas to shark ponds.
> The modern world may have an invisibility crisis.
> An anthropologist examines a society that shifts with the seasons.

Most Clicked This Week: The unwritten rules of visiting a British pub.

My Formula for 20-Minute Meals

Quick Clips

 












In The NEWS


Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Indiana Pacers top Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 to even NBA Finals series at 3-3 with decisive Game 7 set for Sunday (8 pm ET, ABC) (More) | Men's College World Series finals set; LSU to take on Coastal Carolina in best-of-three series for NCAA baseball title (More)

> Los Angeles Dodgers deny ICE agents entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot ahead of tonight's game; Department of Homeland Security denies ICE presence, says federal agents were parked at the stadium for reasons unrelated to operations (More)

> Justin Baldoni's legal team granted access to private text messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift amid legal battle over Lively's allegations Baldoni sexually harassed her on "It Ends With Us" set (More)


Science & Technology
> SpaceX Starship explodes on launch pad ahead of 10th test flight; official cause of blast under investigation, company cites "major anomaly" (More) | See video here (More)

> Engineers develop method to double the tensile strength of carbon fiber-reinforced composites; materials are lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel, have applications in aerospace and vehicles (More)

> Study suggests life persisted during "Snowball Earth"—a period around 700 million years ago when the planet was covered in ice—by living in shallow pools of near-freezing water (More) | "Snowball Earth" 101 (More)


Business & Markets
> Oil prices rise nearly 3% as Israel vows to intensify attacks on Iran while the US response to the conflict remains uncertain (More)

> America’s millionaire population grew by 379,000 last year to a total of 23.8 million, the most of any country, per new UBS report (More)

> Switzerland's central bank slashes key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0% amid deflationary pressures (More) | What is deflation? (More) | See interest rates around the world (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Federal appeals court allows President Donald Trump to retain control of National Guard in Los Angeles while Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) lawsuit proceeds (More) | Trump extends cutoff for ByteDance to sell TikTok by 90 days; third extension brings new deadline to Sept. 17 (More)

> Hurricane Erick makes landfall in Oaxaca, Mexico, as a Category 3 storm, with winds of up to 125 miles per hour—the first major hurricane of the 2025 Eastern Pacific season (More) | Heat wave estimated to affect 255 million people across the US (More)

> South Africa opens investigation into the 1985 kidnapping and killing of anti-apartheid activists known as the Cradock Four (More)


SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Rain as a Symbol

 

All week-long rain has been in the weather forecast for the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, making it rather difficult to find an appropriate to where one's grass is dry enough to mow.


What is interesting here to me is that RAIN as a symbol in literature can be both positive and negative depending upon with the author is trying to convey to their readers.


Rain represents:

  • purification
  • renewal
  • cleansing
  • a fresh start
  • growth


Rain also represents:

  • sadness
  • despair
  • destruction
  • death
  • emotional turmoil


What to look for when reading literature is how the author uses the rain symbol.  For instance, the novel can begin with a flood that creates mass death and destruction, setting the reader up for a rebuilding scenario among other ideas.


Another characteristic is when the author has it raining constantly throughout the story where there are very few passages where there is no rain at all.  The reader is subconsciously influenced towards despair and depression intentionally.


Most of the people who are reading on a regular basis don't spend time dwelling on symbols and what they mean...  they are just interested in reading a story that is entertaining and keeps their attention.


With all that rain in my life this week, one would think I would be in despair or depression as I look for a break from raining.  The reality is that the rain has not bothered me at all, other than paying attention to the weather outside so I can find a time to mow.


HOWEVER, if I was at the coastline during the summer months and the week I was there, it rained almost every day, I would have instantly become an unhappy camper.  When I go the coast, I want to be outside under an umbrella watching the waves and listening to books on tape.