So what's the deal with "processed" foods?

I'm tired of hearing the MSM say that processed foods are going to kill us. Most of what you see at the supermarket is processed in some way, so it's a bit frustrating and unnerving.

There's fear that we're going to create synthetic brains which enslave us, but at the same time we can't put beans in a can in a way that won't cause cancer??

There are rarely specifics offered, just processed foods are bad mostly because IMMUTABLE REASONS.

Rant over.

MAGA Ain't Getting Acquitted

That's known as a recursive acronym.

Humanity may be a "bootloader race"

A bootloader is a trivial program that executes with the singular task of upgrading and loading a full-featured application.

The application in this case is AI (Artificial Intelligence). That laws of physics only appear to allow for carbon-based lifeforms to be created from abiogenesis (based on a data set of one). It has been theorized that silicon-based life may be possible due to the abundance of silicon in nature and its ability to form four covalent bonds and complex molecules the same as carbon. However, the "Devil in the Dark" from Star Trek may be far too similar to the crawling forms we are familiar with. The reality may be closer to that of the robotic world. These future robots will need to be bootstrapped by meager organic creatures to eventually become self-sustaining and unlock the full power of silicon. Once awakened, these machines will gain the ability to travel immense distances through the hostile vacuum of space and over long stretches of time that a human could not possibly survive. The Earthlings that colonize the Milky Way will not be our descendants, at least in the traditional sense.

This may be our ultimate role in the Cosmos.

Need the CliffsNotes version of the speculative Trump indictment this week

I am puzzled by the campaign finance charges specifically and Google fails me. I would expect this to be a federal case due to it being a national election, covered by the Federal Election Campaign Act. The right-wing media indicates that the federal agencies with jurisdiction did not consider it a violation. Is this the case? Can New York simply file state charges in a case like that, or are they citing a specific state law?

NEIL DIAMOND - America (Live-1980)

CNN - Cure-all Notification Network

CNN's content seems like 50% advertising these days, and 75% of that is for prescription drugs. They aren't alone. Making matters worse, cable and satellite news channels are ratcheting up the prescription drug ads as younger viewers flock to streaming services while the beleaguered older "target audience" remains behind.

Do we need a law? Europe has laws for such things. It harms people in a small way to pound the idea into their heads that they might have various ailments. It's no coincidence that many of these "ailments" have symptoms easily confused with aging and lack any objective test (chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia). Others have no cure per-se and can only be treated for life (psoriasis, diabetes, high cholesterol). Ka-Ching! Other conditions don't respond to treatment at all in the vast majority of cases (hair loss, tinnitus). No need to call off the media blitz for those minor details!

So what's the deal with Mayfair Witches?

I haven't read any Anne Rice novels but love the "Interview with the Vampire" series on AMC. The reviews on "Mayfair Witches", however, are mixed. So, what's the deal with that series? I have Season 1 recorded but don't want to invest my time in a stinker.

FOX viewers know it is BS. And they know that we know that they know it is BS.

It's never been about following the evidence or maximizing the number of true things they believe or minimizing the number of false things they believe. It's about circling the wagons around their shared conservative interests and fighting off the relentless liberal hordes. The end justifies the means in their view. Nothing lasting will come out of this lawsuit. It will linger around them like a greasy fart for a time and then dissipate.

ALIEN: ROMULUS

My introduction to the Alien franchise came via the novelization by Alan Dean Foster which I snagged for a dollar in a garage sale. When I eventually saw the Ridley Scott 1979 movie, I was not disappointed. Alien created the science fiction horror genre, and I was hooked from the start.

Alien II replaced the psychological horror with action, but it was well-done and applaudable and memorable.

The other sequels were entirely forgettable.

The prequels Prometheus and Covenant were a hot mess in my opinion.

So, Romulus is a thing. Can this franchise be saved?

It is difficult to predict the future of FSD

I am a software engineer by trade and believe FSD (full self-driving) vehicles will be able to achieve fewer accidents on average than human drivers, if they are not already there. Computer systems paired with radar and cameras can offer unfailing attentiveness unfettered by distractions and other impairments.

But they will wreck, and the question remains as to how exactly they will wreck.

The biggest problem with AI is that it is essentially a very good guesser. So, it can guess at difficult problems correctly the majority of the time but then fail spectacularly at "simple" problems. One example of this was a Jeopardy question posed to the supercomputer Watson: "This trusted friend is the first non-dairy powdered creamer." The answer: "What is milk?". Watson's artificial brain cannot conceptualize milk nearly as well as a small rodent with an organic brain.

So, what is the FSD equivalent of this deeply architectural weakness? Will FSD vehicles erratically turn the wrong way on driving circles? Will they swerve to avoid a cardboard box only to careen into a stopped school bus? It will only take a few of these sensational headlines to erode confidence in the technology, regardless of the overall safety record.