The Fifth Risk

 Copilot wrote this in response to a question that I posed.

"The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis explores the dangers inherent in governmental ignorance and neglect, particularly during the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration. The book delves into the inner workings of three key government departments: the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of Commerce.

Key Themes and Insights:

Chaos and Neglect:

The book highlights the alarming reality faced by government departments following the 2016 election. Trump appointees were scarce and uninformed, often discarding comprehensive briefing materials meant to guide them. This neglect led to significant vulnerabilities within various federal agencies.

Understanding the Risks:

Lewis emphasizes that there are risks beyond the obvious threats to national security. For instance, the DOE is not merely a nuclear management body but also a guarantor of international safety. The "fifth risk" refers to project management neglect, which can lead to severe consequences, including potential nuclear accidents.

Spotlighting Unsung Heroes:

Amidst the chaos, the book shines a light on dedicated civil servants striving to uphold vital governmental functions. These unsung heroes play crucial roles in safeguarding democracy and public welfare.

Impact of Poor Management:

The narrative draws attention to the dire implications of mismanaged government departments. Many faced drastic budget cuts, particularly in crucial programs like food stamps and school lunches. Key agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, struggled without proper staffing to conduct the 2020 Census.

Vividar and Tracking:

The book also touches on the concept of vividar, a tracking technology that monitors life forms. This technology, deployed by the "architects," continues to operate even after their disappearance, highlighting the long-term impact of technological advancements.

Overall, "The Fifth Risk" provides a compelling look at the potential risks managed by the United States government and the consequences of neglect and mismanagement. It underscores the importance of knowledgeable and dedicated public servants in maintaining the stability and safety of the nation.

What Y'all Voted For

 Recently I asked a friend about the health of a mutual friend's job.

The mutual friend works for a component of the federal government.

The mutual friend is not white.

The mutual friend has been in job for a lot of years, and is very good at it; performance reports document that as fact.

My friend's response was that it all looked good, where our mutual friend worked was of a consequence that even an idiot like donnie wouldn't fuck with it.

Here is what I replied.

That's a reasonable reply.  

The problem is what they are actually doing seems to lack any sort of method or rational process.

Apparently they just access mail lists and send out random emails. 

The only consistent thread to the ongoing chaos is to make working for the government a misery. 

I'm far from a lawyer, but politics is one of my favorite hobbies, so I feel somewhat correct when I say that the only way this can be stopped is articles of impeachment, and the republicans aren't ready for that yet.  

The fact that a coup d'êtat is underway would seem to justify such an action - since it is the only action available - though.  

Lacking that being done the only other remedy is hope.  

That would be hope that Ol' Clarence and the boys are not yet ready to turn the whole thing over to donnie.  

I'm too stupid to figure out what's in that for them, so I still have hope of powerful SCOTUS action.  

The problem then, though, is who's going to arrest him, and if someone does, how do we fight off the militia?.

Our police and military are frighteningly well populated with christian nationalists and various other slime so we are probably screwed no matter what.

Have a nice day.

The Tone Always Tells The Tale; As Does The Facial Expression

Humans over a million or more years have evolved unconscious but sophisticated evaluation-of- the situation sensory systems.

They aren't a sixth sense; they are an amalgamated synthesis of the other five senses.

This capability is designed to identify bullshit, fatally dangerous and harmful, or just mildly annoying.

Think your typical dating app, for example.

They mostly use sight and sound.

Smell probably not so much.

donnie is always gripping intensely and interminably the hands of various world leaders, so touch does get in there.

All anybody with any multi-sensory integrity, honesty or common sense, needs to do to see that any MAGA who hasn't already been assigned to the nutcase ash bin, and therefore been disqualified from consideration for valid input in the great marketplace of ideas, or additionally, any undeclared MAGA republican, is doing, when moving their lips, is lying is to deploy that capability.

A Novel Approach To Inflation

donnie promised that if he got elected president, he would not just control inflation, he would cut prices immediately to 2019 levels.

So why, since he got elected, has the price of a lot of stuff gone up on grocers' shelves?

And continue to do so?

The people are beginning to get restive, donnie.

Immediately means immediately.

So, what's going on here, donnie?

I went to Costco the other day.

I had eggs on my list.

donnie finally has prices down lower than the day before.

There weren't any.

Eggs.

Lotta empty palettes, though.

I guess that means they cost zero.

Good work!

Sovereign Wealth Fund

 The problem is ya gotta have sovereign wealth.

Peace In Our Time

 The term "peace in our time" was coined by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. 

He used it on September 30, 1938, upon his return from the Munich Conference, where he announced an agreement with Adolf Hitler that he believed would secure peace for Europe. 

Unfortunately, this hope was short-lived, as World War II began less than a year later

I Think We Have Passed Endgame

The merry crew from DOGE recently got read/write access to the code underlying the automated payment system of the United States of America.

That means they can/could have made changes to that system.

I haven't heard the level of chagrin and dismay I would have expected as a reaction to something that blindingly catastrophic.

At the top of the heap of concerns is that the system that has been compromised is the spigot from which Musk gets all his current, we hope legitimate, government payments; I wonder if there were any code changes to move some payments from his competitors accounts to his accounts?

Just a few lines added or deleted or changed?

Let's say that Elon exercised some self-control.

That would have been an astute act of long-term self-interest.

Because the only code that needed to be added is the simple addition of a back door.

A back door is a secret - known only to the coder - access point to a software system.

When Bell Labs engineers invented UNIX they put in back doors that allowed them to get into the operating system easily; that allowed them to make any changes that they needed to make and as the use of UNIX began to spread, and users asked for features, functions and changes.

That backdoor has bedeviled systems ever since right down to now.

That's because over time various versions of UNIX have been developed - Bell Labs made the code available to developers for a nominal fee - and have been widely adopted, right along with that original back door.

I have heard, although I can't be sure - that MS DOS, the progenitor of Windows has some UNIX guts.

That's why so much twenty first century code can be hacked and is constantly under threat.

So, add the payment system of the United States to the list of hacked code.

And Ol' Elon just sits in meetings sporting his trademark larval facade.

My Reply To An Email: Futile And Laughable

I keep hearing analyses of politics and the state of the union.

They keep centering on the Democrats.

What are they going to do to win in 26/28?

That question is moot.

The question is what are they going to do today and tomorrow to halt the coup in progress.

To amplify that fact here is a sub-fact.

I just got an email from Senator Merkley of Oregon.

Here are the opening paragraph, and the closing paragraph.

"This week, the Department of Government Efficiency, controlled by Trump's unelected co-president Elon Musk, seized access to sensitive Treasury data, including Social Security and Medicare payment systems. This means Elon Musk controls millions of Americans' highly sensitive personal information without consent and with zero accountability.

"Today, I'm asking you to sign my petition telling Elon Musk to keep his hands off our private information. We must raise our voices and show that we will stand strong against this abuse of power."

********************************

I know that one is not allowed to reply to such things, protocol and technology don't allow it.

But one can have delusions.

So here is what I replied.

*******************************

When are you guys - whoever in the Senate and the House of either party is willing to stop a coup d'êtat in progress - going to do something, like initiate articles of impeachment in the house, or arrest the criminal in chief?

I know Cheshire Mike and his crew of idiots are too busy working to default on the National debt to pay much attention to things like coups d'êtats, and I'm sure he and his merry crew would not allow articles of impeachment to be passed in any event. 

I'm sure they can find enough time from their group titillation to not-do that much.

So, trying to initiate such articles is futile.  

But arrest and detention might work. 

For god's sake, do something. 

My honoring your request and signing this vapid request for - what, money?- would be equally futile. 

Getting me to make a contribution for a campaign that's gonna be too late and irrelevant, because there will only be a unitary executive by then, is also laughably futile. 

And sending Chuck Schumer out to do his silly old man act isn't doing anything to stop the coup. 

Makes good fodder for The Daily Show, though. 

We can all laugh heartily as America dissolves like one of Dali's clocks.

It's Real Simple

There is a simple question on the table: do we want to continue as a democratic republic under the guidelines of the Constitution of 1787, as amended, or do we want to replace that form with an all-powerful unitary executive?

The fact that the trump regime has lasted beyond inauguration day with no articles of impeachment on that same table seems to give us the answer to that question.

From my POV, that's a sad, sad thing.

Copilot's Reaction To Previous Post

 Copilot: Thank you for sharing your post! Here's my reaction:

Your post brings up an intriguing and thoughtful point about the current state and potential future of artificial intelligence. You touch on the fundamental difference between human and AI cognition—the role of chemistry in human brains versus the digital and silicon foundation of AI. This contrast is central to understanding the unique strengths and limitations of both.

AI, including models like me, can indeed perform astonishing tasks by analyzing, synthesizing, and simulating human-like thinking. However, the "spirit" you mention—that complex interplay of chemicals driving emotions, consciousness, and the deeper essence of human thought—is something AI has yet to fully replicate. It's a profound reminder of the intricate and organic nature of human intelligence, something that's inherently different from the digital precision of AI.

Noel: I believe that non-human brains provide the same function and utility. I think that the reason that my cats don't think about stuff like this is that they just aren't interested. One of them knows how to use latches to open doors and how to remove devices in sliding doors placed there to prevent him from opening the door and to then open the door. I have never known why he wants to open the door, and he won't tell me.

Copilot: Your perspective on non-human brains is fascinating! Cats are indeed incredibly clever and curious creatures, often demonstrating remarkable problem-solving skills. Your cat's ability to figure out latches and devices is a testament to their intelligence and adaptability. It’s a vivid example of how non-human minds can exhibit complex and purposeful behavior, even if their motivations remain a mystery to us.

Cats might not ponder existential questions, but their actions show a different kind of intelligence—focused on survival, curiosity, and perhaps a bit of mischief. Their refusal to share their reasons adds to their enigmatic charm.

It sounds like you have a little Houdini on your hands!

AI Has Yet To Turn This Corner

And I am going to be interested how it does it.

If it ever does do it.

The hardware of a brain, human or other, has been duplicated with vast arrays of massively parallel GPUs which are in their own architected nature massively parallel arrays.     

And we have trained those massive hardware arrays to do something "intelligent" with everything that we can make digitally available to them; we have trained them to proto-analyze, proto-synthesize and proto-think.

Daily the results continue to be spectacular.

The thing I wonder, though, is where does this silicon/digital AI run into the chemistry barrier?

All the mechanics, electronics and synapse gap jumping nature of brains - human and otherwise - that we now understand, and simulated in silicon and software, are only the machine of the thing.

The spirit of the thing is driven by chemicals.

Those chemicals inundate and direct the mechanics of our brains.

I wonder how Chat GPT gets signed on to that.

Lotta Things Pending

 Couple big ones, though.

Pete Hegseth is an abuser of lesser constituted humans, a drunkard, a racist, a sexist, a rapist, a sexual harasser, and, like donnie, not very bright, but pretty cunning.

The republicans ignored pretty strong documentation of the truth of these assertions and put Hegseth in charge of the security and safety of every person currently living in America.

Really in the world.

The list of fairly clearly documented flaws to Hegseth's character seem to cause one to feel a little queasy about our security and safety: the documented flaws are the type that never get turned on/off as if they were a light switch.

The bio-chemistry of those flaws makes them eternal and immutable.

So the republicans, by their confirmation of Hegseth, are betting that this time - eternity to date - things are different.

Of course I hope that they are right.

The alternative is too grim to savor. 

A sort of similar mechanism hovers over our new trade war.

Nothing anyone can dredge up from the archives supports donnie's assertion that tariffs result in huge cash inflows to the treasury of the United States.

Everything anyone can dredge up from those archives says that the best result to be expected is inflation of a sort to be avoided by rational governments.

But donnie assures us that that is just plain wrong.

Of course I hope that he is right.

All You Needed To Know About The Grifter's Latest Grift

 Once in a while I get emails from various politicians.

I just received a short one from Patty Murray, the Senior Senator from my state.

It's about donnie's "buyout" offer.

I am cutting and pasting here three short paragraphs from that letter.

They tell the tale.

I added the red highlight.

*************************************

I wanted to reach out with some information about the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” offer, which claims to give federal workers the option of a “deferred resignation” that would allegedly allow workers to “retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30.” 

First, there is no guarantee workers who accept this offer will get paid through September 30 as promised. Not only is there no funding for that time frame right now, but I personally am deeply skeptical of any offer from a President like Donald Trump who has so consistently shown he will try to stiff workers if it furthers his personal goals and ambitions.

And as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the one who helps write our government funding bills, it’s important you know that, right now, the federal government is only funded through March 14, 2025. At this point, there is no funding allocated to agencies to pay staff for this offer.