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"We are looking at the AI Singularity."

Not even remotely true. I work with so-called "AI" professionally and even develop tooling for it. But it is not actual AI. What is being called "AI" is actually just Larger Language Models, and there is no reasoning, no thinking.

The LLMs are "trained" on human text (mostly) and input, and as such are basically a mirror of what they are trained on. They aren't remotely as good as the doomsayers in media claim, and not even advancing in that direction.

Consider this: who are the loudest voices claiming the impending all mighty AI? Those who are financially invested in people buying their product. Those companies are losing money hand over fist. They need investors, and that means scaring people by proclaiming how dangerous they are because that is basically fear driven hype.

Yet looking below the surface you can see the cracks and failures immediately.

Lets start with "Job replacement" claims. One of the areas they can work decently - if they are managed by an expert engineer - is writing code. Code has never been the goal of software engineering, it has always been in fact the lowest value component (we used to call it SMOC - Simple Matter of Coding). Yet, these companies who have CEOs or investors out decrying how there is going to be massive job loss because of their product are not shedding coders - they are hiring more and more. Why?

Because engineering requires intelligence, reasoning, and even creativity. And LLMs have, and provide, none of that. Look at YouTube and what are the bulk of the "AI" videos about? Hyping basic automation of low-value, low-skill content creation, and selling their courses on how to do it. The software ones in particular are all basically how to make marketing websites.

But if you learn to fear this all powerful "AI" is going to eat your lunch as a business, you just might buy into it with your limited cash flow. That is why the fear-hype game is in full play; the "AI software" companies are hemorrhaging cash with no real plan to even break even. They are drunk on their own propoganda.

The hardware side, however, has seen the underlying ugliness and found an alternate path: electrical power. If you pay attention you see that these companies are quietly becoming electricity producers to power these massive dedicated datacenters. It is an easy to see play: build the ability to power your DC, then when the bubble pops, you can sell that electricity to the grid. Because that is where their real value lies.

Those who should be concerned are those producing crap easy to mimic fluff content, specifically low-information, low-attention videos and articles - which is one of the major "learn this one trick with AI" content - conveniently made via LLMs - genres. And yet these LLMs can't even accurately do that without significant guidance and management by humans. This is where the term "AI Slop" comes from. You know them, you've seen them. And with no small dose of irony, LLMs can even recognize them.

This is exposing the sheer bulk of that type of content being written by humans. Those are lazy people who will not learn how to use LLMs as a tool to actually get better, but instead will fall for the allure of more output with less effort, thus degrading their already low-value content further. Ultimately it won't be "AI" that puts them out of a job, they'll do that to themselves due to their lack of real interest, work ethic and, for many, lack of ability to actually think, analyze, and face the reality that what they do is simple and simpleminded; they'll not lose it because these mythical AIs are so powerful.

I suspect it will be pretty close to being back to normal operations by maybe mid-late September. The conflict in the Strait is really one of logistics and regardless of political opinion on it, Iran is and will continue to lose that at an accelerating pace.

From a military perspective they are small-squad fighters trying to play set piece battles than anything else. They've chosen a battleground they cannot maintain control over, and to play against a force that has one of the best logistics systems in the world. Meanwhile their logistics is not built to handle the type of battle they chose, and attacking others in their region isn't going to do them any favors. China won't do anything because they can't; for all their bluster they are landlocked and lack the capacity or will. Same with Russia, slightly less landlocked but also lack the capacity or will.

It is possible Iran may try to reach out to European states with their attacks, and if they do it will end even sooner. I don't expect WTI to be at a premium by October, November at the latest. If it is is won't be by much.

Aye, refineries are complex operations that can yet appear almost primitive in many ways.

To us folks who do not have such knowledge, your article is a light going on in a dark room. Thank you for opening a well of understanding.

Thinking good thoughts your way, Dino. Feel better soon! As for this batch of historic madness, loved every one of them, and really lost it with Groucho, T-Rex, Benedict A. I really needed that good laugh!. Thank you ouc, for doing your irrepressible work!

From the article: "The “administrative state,” of course, is anything but democratic; it is autocratic to the core." Hit that nail on the head! Excellent article, thanks for posting.

Very well written, WDonway, and much appreciated. The contrast of the American revolution gone right and the French revolution gone wrong so quickly is stark. I'm wondering if in these times the American revolution is going wrong in slow motion.

Thanks for clearing something up for me, personally. For some reason I always thought the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute" was a Jefferson quote regarding the Barbary pirates. I looked it up and now I know the quote predates that time and was said by Robert Goodloe Harper regarding the French ambassador's demands for bribes.

I started looking for a militia here in northern NV. Found articles about how scared people are about militant groups...haha...

Thanks for the Dino update,

Lot's of butter and lot's of chocolate covered raisins!

Maybe he has the new model with the FAFO mode adjustment.

Agreed on the refinery complexity stance. I had the opportunity to work at the Chevron refinery north of Oakland, Ca. and it was quite an experience. Marvelous and complex engineering, for sure. As an outside contractor, I worked on some of the software for a filtration system that separated crude and various other liquids, gases, and solids out of seawater contaminated by an oil spill. Awesome to say the least. Security was tight and my badge would only let me into areas concerning my work. I would have liked a tour, though.

"Was he out of locusts?" I'm still laughing...thanks, OUC. Took what was a not-quite-so-good day and made it much better.

Excellent points CaptainKirk. Thanks

That's common. It's likely you're using the wrong FA mode adjustment. The quad mode frequency adjustment array optimizes the feedback loop for variable doopler shifting. Hope that helps!

Excellent! Richards and Nelson helping with the Pyramids!

Great Stuff.
The telephone thing is crazy.
I am 50/50 on the moon landing. It was probably much easier to fake. And I simply cannot trust my government.

And to anyone who says "you can look at the moon and find the stuff". yes, but you cannot date it. We have no idea when that stuff hit, and I don't argue we NEVER made it there.

I argue the first one has SO MANY "strange" situations as to beg credulity... Like the stuff referenced in "A Funny thing happened on the way to the moon". I mean, they have video of them REHEARSING and using a piece of cardboard to make the earth look further away.
Why? Why would you even JOKE about that?

But I don't know. I can only put a probability on it.
Like any "fact" in todays world. (instead of EVIDENCE proving HIV causes AIDS... They changed the definition of AIDS to require HIV. So, the portion of Gallo's own patients that all died of AIDS... They discovered did not have HIV and were not HIV+... Well, no need to explain that. Because NOW they didn't die of AIDS! QED. Only the ones who had HIV officially died of AIDS. The others were just unlucky. Female? Died of Ovarian Cancer? AIDS? (Yes, but only if HIV+) Literally the DRY RUN for Covid. And run by Fauci!!!)

Oh, any media people who questioned the narrative. They were blacklisted from getting NIH information or being invited to the pressers. So, their careers were threatened. It was effective. Very few courageous people covered what was happening. (ACT-UP was funded by Glaxo-Welcome, which literally begged for the drug to be given away, and the liability shields be created). In Covid. They started with the liability shields, and just used GUILT Marketing. (You're killing grandma, and If you don't get yours, I AM NOT Safe ).

When I would mention any of this to "normies" they were aghast I could even "THINK" that this was true. Post COVID, people were far more open to it. trust is gone.
We want actual proof. (The actual proof is... Where were the EXCESS Deaths in Africa during the AIDS epidemic. Why didn't it spread like it should have? How did it know
to attack IV drug users differently from Gay Men, with different symptoms... Why were there over 40 diseases, and exactly how many HIV deaths in Africa were there, because
they did NOT test the blood. The took the doctors word for it. And Wasting Disease (is malnutrition), and so, check the box that says AIDS, and the family survivors gets more food from the WHO program. Kinda like giving $$$$ to hospitals to check the box!)

To this day. Dr. Duesberg was right (Read: ITAV: Inventing The AIDS Virus). Even Fauci called him the Foremost Retrovirologist in the country... UNTIL he get in Fauci's way.

The medical system will NEVER ADMIT they were wrong. They will "notice a new/novel idea" and change positions. Slowly.
Salt Restriction. Cholesterol Restriction. These are now basically removed. They didn't work. No big announcement.
BTW, during heat waves, look it up. Salt Restricted people are the ones that die! They cannot maintain their body temps as they cannot afford to sweat.

We have a front row seat... And the popcorn is hot!

I love those old iPads. I also love pencils and paper.

The dinosaur taking out the ufo made me laugh out loud.
It also made me think of our own Dino who is not feeling well. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Still trying to get my home's refractor ray defense screens just right.

Wonderful. Sent the disco tent on to friends.

Is there a reason "militia" has a negative connotation?

Most phrases in our constitutions (start or federal) have a positive ring. Bill of Rights. Freedom from... Bearing Arms...

But Militia has been weaponized... By TPTB.
By the deep state. By Media...

And that's how you KNOW supporting it is the right thing to do!

Join your local Ham Radio groups that meet monthly/quarterly to practice. Get to know each other. Learn to communicate with the internet or phone systems.

You should know everyone who is like minded that lives within 120 miles of you (if rural), and scaled in, until you have about 100 like minded families. So each of you is 1%

Because then you can absorb a 5% burden in order to help others.

Thankyou for this. I am among the few who understand 2% of the oil types and compatibility with the refineries (Complexity is an understatement, 5 yrs to build one based on an existing model, taking the same crude input is aggressive. AND then taking 1 yr to safely bring it online. Every pipe, every pressure control system. Temperature sensitivities. Various Distillates depending on the crude type).

The average person simply doesn't understand. Shoving sour crude into a Light Crude refinery works a lot like pouring diesel into a gasoline engine.

Also, take a moment to realize that Trump played this to perfection. Securing Venezuelan oil first. Squeezing Cuba into insignificance. We will take Greenland, and we MUST.

How can ONE president do so many things right?

Unfortunately, it is because reality is upon us. We are facing a breakup of the New World Order. We are facing bankruptcy. We are looking at the AI Singularity. And the NHE (Non-Human Entities) who are likely prior civilization leaders (hiding on earth, out of site) are likely ready to finally reveal themselves, or they know the Pole Flip or some other catastrophe is coming... And we need to hunker down, and take care of ourselves to survive.

Maybe this is the first time the President is ALLOWED to do the right things...
Because we have a needle to thread.

And the lizzid people who are used to controlling things are realizing this time might be different? (lol)

Spoken like someone who understands the enemy.