SeniorJunior

TESTIFYIN' This is a “testimonial” to an over-the-counter health product. I am not claiming it cures or prevents anything, just that it seems to have helped me and several folks I know well contract lighter cases of - or miss altogether - viral ailments we were exposed to. It’s called “Sambucol,” and it’s from Israel. There are new clones, one called “Sambucus,” and there are other sources of the natural source, black elderberries. I only speak from experience actually using Sambu col. Here’s my theory and it’s JUST A THEORY:  Might wife Dorothy and I actually have caught Covid-19 on our Costa Rica* trip? We survived, and we ain't young. All the symptoms were as advertised. We had low fever, aches, dry coughs going into wet coughs that lasted for three-plus weeks - mine is just improving. Of course we can’t know it was Covid-19 for sure since  neither of us could get a test . Thanks, Trump. Our respective docs told us it was some other lung infection, NOT CV.

A Bit from the Sci-Fi novel I'm grinding on It's about another kind of Pandemic, caused by another kind of vermin, but it sounds so very prophetic. I love it when I sound prophetic. Economic indicators started wobbling radically. Market crash outpaced market crash across economies and time zones. Personal fortunes disappeared, retirement trusts vanished, deals collapsed by the tens of thousands. Communication was a shambles, contributing to the panic that spread on rumor and unverifiable “news” gushing through social media. The next paragraph hasn't shown up so much in real life yet, but I fear it's prophetic too . Financial vultures, capital carnivores and other currency carrion eaters swooped in to buy irrationally depressed stocks and real estate. The tentative title of the new book is Lucas 2.0 , What Would Superintelligence really do? I'm hoping it will be out before September. (If civilization is still functioning, of course.) *

Hard Core Bernie Sanders Fans   Hold Our Nation's Fate in Their Hands. Some #BernieorBust or #NeverBiden folks say they will not vote for Biden if he wins the nomination. While it’s nearly impossible to know how large the group is, hundreds of people have shared this sentiment, including progressive political candidates. It may be impossible to quantify their number, but not their influence. Those Democrats who will not yield to a moderate and vote for Biden if he wins the nomination are the same group who are sometimes blamed for Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 when disappointed Sanders fans sat out the general election.* ...OR.. . ??? "BERNIE BROS" are not famous for their good taste and polite temperaments. (thus the lowbrow graphic), but since I agree with them that Bernie has the truly progressive position on issues, I assume they are actually pretty smart. So COME ON, smart guys, get your heads around pushing Bernie's ideas, NO

It's Not Easy...  Coming up with a word that doesn't already exist, but sounds like a real word. PSYBERTOLOGY and, of course PSYBERTOLOGIST The very word makes me cringe!!! Well, I did it!  It's in the book I'm just finishing. Tentative Title: What Would SUPERINTELLIGENCE Actually Do? or perhaps What SUPERINTELLIGENCE Would Actually Do Here is its first use:           “It just winked at me,” said Shandry.   “You sure?” asked Dr. Lulu McNair, psybertologist. Then it is defined here: Lulu McNair : Degree from the University of Texas in Comparative Languages. PhD in psychology, PhD in AI, simultaneously at University College of London. Wrote  influential book Psybertology , on the scary pitfalls and hidden advantages in anthropomorphizing AGI* . Coined the term psybertology. Awarded MacArthur Prize. Became professor at MIT and consultant to CIA. Single, never married, bisexual, low key triathlete. Met Shandry at an AI conference in L

Lied to, we are.                                                                                                              Yoda, Senator from Dagobah             When you hear SCARY STUFF about Medicare for All, you are hearing propaganda from the for-profit health insurance companies and their plutocratic pals in the Republican Party.  Look for more reliable sources! I'm serious! A new study in The Lancet by a team of Yale epidemiologists finds that Medicare for All would save more than 68,000 lives and $450 billion in cost EVERY YEAR. Volume 395, Issue 10223 , 15–21 February 2020, Pages 524-533 Truth is Breaking Out All Over There is more and more of this truth telling about single payer. The for-profit health insurance companies have spent and are spending huge sums to keep us repeating their memes, "how are you going to pay for it?" and "socialized medicine!!" Nuts to them.   The on

...And It Seems Like Everything You Read Agrees??? WE ARE ALL BEING MANIPULATED! AND  IS  BEING RIPPED IN TWO HATEFUL HALVES. Yet we all agree, HATE SUCKS.  It keeps us from making up. It destroys the chance to make necessary compromises. (Hell, it makes "compromise" a dirty word.) It might  DESTROY AMERICA. “Although people today hate ‘the other side,’ I remain convinced that once they catch on to the game, they’ll hate being pawns even more.” DANNAGAL G.  YOUNG ... Does the idea of "being a pawn" rankle your bones as much as it does mine? Ms. Young wrote a powerful article that describes what we can do about it.  And maybe save America! Let’s disrupt the logic that’s driving Americans apart Check it out HERE.

There Must Be a Newfangled Reason, All Geopolitical, Religio-Cultural, Climatological Catastrophe Reason to Have Another Middle Eastern War! Noooo... Same old reason as always. * This 80 year old cartoon was posted on Twitter by Lee Carter. 1940 was the artist's date. True then, true now. The Military Industrial Complex just keeps on eating our lunch.  War with Iran might serve several other purposes, many of them for President Trump - big time distraction from Impeachment, etc.  But bottom line: War is big business. The biggest. * Cartoon found on Reddit     posted by Lee Carter, artist unknown 

"... How Can I Listen to Your (Alleged) Audiobook?" Well, SOME people.  There is an "Audiobook" sub-Reddit, and one current discussion is about the poor rich souls who record them, and how some use characterization (different voices, accents, etc.), and some don't, and which do you like, etc. Can I borrow your toothbrush? Folks have been sampling my honest efforts and rendering judgements of all sorts. Humbling. Anyhoo... Should you have an inexplicable urge to sample some, give it a shot HERE . Title: MIZ, Time Tripping with Amazing Females.   The audiobook is a "playlist" on YouTube. You can "Play All" and start at the first, or pick a chapter and it starts there. Please feel free to wax judgmental. Scooter *President Trump's favorite attribution of immutable fact.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect . -- St Matthew v.43-48. ... And the rascally Dems made peace with the obdurate Repubs. Then the nation came together to heal a needy and troubled world. Amen

Propaganda's Secret Weapon REPEAT, Repeat , Repeat, repeat, repeat .... You know it's a lie, then you keep hearing it over and over, and the repetition will twist your mind. “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”  A law of propaganda: Nazi Joseph Goebbels.   Research experiments conducted by social scientists help illustrate why it’s so insidious for President Trump and his congressional defenders to keep  parroting  the debunked conspiracy  theory , which originated with Russian intelligence agencies, that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. People who are repeatedly exposed to the same false information, even if they’re initially told that it is false, feel fewer qualms sharing it on social media after each additional time they see it. In five experiments involving more than 2,500 Americans, Daniel Effron, who teaches organizational behavior at the London Business School, and Medha Raj, a PhD student at the University of Southern Ca

Think the Mighty Russian Internet Army Doesn't Watch You? I was amazed when some Republican pals bought into the "Not Russia, But Ukraine" bald faced lie, so I did a mild mannered blog post pointing out the obvious.  It got a lot of attention IN RUSSIA!  Here's the count of where this blog's readers were over the last few days: Hmmm. Usually I get maybe one or two views from Russia.   Make of it what you will.

Eleven Months Ago Settled : The Russian Troll Factory Significantly Interfered With the 2016 Election Ve Luff Breitbartski and Fox News!      Subject crushed .            Russians indicted.                  Research done proving Trump was helped.                    Yes, Russian Trolls Helped Elect Trump Social media lies have real-world consequences. By  Michelle Goldberg    Dec. 17, 2018 [Article here] Excerpt:  Respondents were asked to rate the accuracy of statements claiming that Hillary Clinton was suffering from a serious illness, that she’d approved weapons sales to the Islamic State as secretary of state, and that Donald Trump had been endorsed by Pope Francis. “Belief in these fake news stories (fake news items  proven  to be  planted by Russian Trolls) is very strongly linked to defection from the Democratic ticket by 2012 Obama voters,” wrote the researchers, Richard Gunther, Paul A. Beck and Erik C. Nisbet. Even