Author: North Coast BBQ

[Stuart Russell is one of the “godfathers of AI”]

“There’s the science budget of the world, and there’s the money we’re spending on AI,” says Russell. “We could have done something useful, and instead we’re pouring resources into this race to go off the edge of a cliff.” He didn’t specify what alternatives, but just two months into the year, roughly $1tn in AI investments have been announced, all while the world is still falling far short of what is needed to stay even within 2C of heating, much less 1.5C.

It seems as if we have a shrinking opportunity to lay down the incentives for companies to create the kind of AI that actually benefits our individual and collective lives: sustainable, inclusive, democracy-compatible, controlled. And beyond regulation, “to make sure there is a culture of participation embedded in AI development in general”, as Eloïse Gabadou, a consultant to the OECD on technology and democracy, put it.

At the close of the conference, I said to Russell that we seemed to be using an incredible amount of energy and other natural resources to race headlong into something we probably shouldn’t be creating in the first place, and which the relatively benign versions of are already, in many ways, misaligned with the kinds of societies that we actually want to live in.

“Yup,” he replied.

Frankly I’m beginning to not care because the world will be better off without the human race. That’s an awful way to feel. -Dave

Let me see if I have the facts straight. Laura had a good friend who was briefly the mayor of Manzanita. There was a city staff complaint during her friend’s tenure. The friend resigned as mayor, at least partially because she no longer lived in Manzanita. Laura was unhappy. Laura went to court to gain access to the city staff complaint in 2023. The court heard from her and her attorneys and then turned her down and dismissed the case. Laura appealed. Again, the court and a different judge said no.

Laura’s post was accusatory and hinted of conspiracy. The facts and the courts’ decisions are simple and clear. I have to wonder which view is frivolous.

Please see the City of Manzanita website for the court judgment on Page 13 of FAQs: ci.manzanita.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-01-17-Often-Asked-Questions.pdf

For me, (finally!) cutting the CIA-front USAID and (finally!) closing the border to the cartel human traffickers (children and adults) and the cartel drug traffickers (fentanyl/liquid heroin/cocaine), the appointment of Tulsi as DNI, RFK’s appointment and MAHA, ending the war in Ukraine, and signaling that the new admin WILL NOT be starting a war with Iran, are all great things.

In my view, the Biden admin (obviously, Joe was NOT running the executive branch, it was Barak and Blinken sending Israel the child-killing Gaza bombs, anointing Kamala, etc.) was even worse than the war war war Bush/Cheney Crime Family admins of the early 2000s.

And I am so happy that corrupt crew of war-loving top-level dems are out of power.

But will I be happy for long?

Here are the two BIG GORILLAS that I see, both are addressed in detail by the excellent journalists linked below.

The first gorilla: The siliCON valley totalitarian technocrats, have jumped the Democrat ship, after a most fruitful ride, and are now on the MAGA ship. After spending four years terrorizing the American people using Democrat power, Bezos/Zuckerberg/Thiel/Musk were all onstage with Trump at the inauguration! Could these technofascist billionaires be anymore shameless and transparent?

The second gorilla: The Zionists, who had a field day killing Palestinian children while Zionist Blinken was running State, also have a friend in Trump.

Below are some smart folks detailing the serious dangers within the Trump admin, dangers you won’t hear about on the likes of CNN/MSNBC/NYT/NPR/OPB.

Kim’s interview at 22:00 starts an interesting minute…but it’s all great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7787k0UWkC4

and

rumble.com/v6k3okd-whitney-webbs-take-on-doge-elon-musk-deepseek-ai-and-the-elites.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

minutes 3:30 and 6:00 and 9:00 are all very interesting, as is Whitney’s entire interview.

Andy, Wheeler
🙂

Reprinted by permission of author Laura Swanson

Now, given my profession and how long I’ve been doing this, don’t do the math (over 40 years – most in this community) I’m usually unconcerned about the gossip and rumor mill. In fact, I don’t listen to that mis-information much at all. But when it does get back to me that a few individuals in a north county city consider me to be “persona non-grata” based upon legal action that’s been taken, and that perhaps it’s impacting my reputation and business, then, I think it’s time to come clean and divulge the real reason behind the pursuit of legal action, because I believe in transparency, honesty and the truth. I’ve had many people ask me about the Manzanita lawsuit because of rumors and misinformation. I usually start out by explaining that the former mayor Deb Simmons and I are personal friends and I didn’t like how she was bullied out of town, investigated (she didn’t even know what exactly for) and then, she wasn’t even given a copy of the investigation. What!? That’s why I was a party to the lawsuit asking the courts to release the investigation. How can the person who was investigated not be told what she was being investigated for – she later learned it was for creating a hostile work environment – “improper conduct” (more on that later.) The report according to the courts and the lawyers is “protected” by client attorney privilege. What is in the report that the city doesn’t want revealed? It’s been suggested that the former mayor would be “embarrassed” by what the report contains – Simmons has asked for the report to be released. Because she resigned before the report was released, the city’s lawyer decided that since she was no longer on council she didn’t get a copy. So the person who was investigated and hasn’t seen the report would like to have it released. There have been indications that releasing the report could lead to more lawsuits against the city, but the city would have saved all these attorney fees by simply releasing the report when requested …. Hmmm. The spin doctors would have you believe that the plaintiffs that brought the “frivolous” lawsuit were “responsible for costing the city thousands of dollars.” Oh wait – if the city had just released the report ….
But the city had already invested thousands of dollars in lawyers “investigating” the anonymous city employee’s complaint against the former mayor. Another factor besides the unfairness of how Deb Simmons was treated – bullied – in this situation because she was asking questions. We all should be asking LOTS of questions, let’s start with the “investigation.” Simmons gave the investigator 20 names, but only ONE of those people were interviewed. There were people mentioned dozens of time in the investigation, yet those individuals were not interviewed. What kind of investigation is this? My reporter senses were tingling big time. There is nothing to prohibit the City from releasing the report produced by the investigator. Vague claims by the City that release of the report may trigger a lawsuit by someone involved with the investigation should details be released. The former mayor has always stated that she fully supports the release of the report and that all of the findings be released for public review. Are we to believe that Simmons wishes to be exposed for misconduct and then would attempt to sue the City for her misconduct? Are we to believe that individuals who were interviewed by the investigator and told what they saw and heard the Mayor do would sue the City if their identities were revealed for making truthful statements? How much did the city spend on the “investigation”? The City doesn’t want that report to ever see the light of day, but that just leads to more questions, what else could they be hiding? Another main purpose of pursuing the report was to bring the attention of the citizenry to what’s going on in their town. Don’t believe what you read on social media from this side or that side, and believe me there are more than just “two sides” to every story. The lesson here is to pay attention to how your tax dollars are being spent, who is making the decisions, and that goes for every community, county, state and our nation right now. Pay attention, city government and elected officials, please serve your constituents in a transparent manner. I’d like to think that the “good ol’ boy” network ended decades ago, but we are seeing it play out before our eyes with the destruction of our democracy by billionaires, and our national government as we’ve known it disintegrating. Focus locally. Be sure that you hold our elected officials accountable. Be sure of your sources and your facts. And if you ever want to know “Why did the Pioneer do that?” You can just ask me – editor@tillamookcountypioneer.net. We abide by our tenets – the truth, fairness, and benefit to the community; we are also mindful and thoughtful about the stories we do. In the case of the “frivolous” Manzanita lawsuit, the burden of proof and transparency remains with the city and they continue to pay the price to cover up the costly choices that have been made – just raising more questions – Who or what are they protecting? And at what cost?