D Day is Here

Three Top Items (7 min)

#1 - AI Update

#2 - Gun Violence: Mis-Diagnosed

#3 - Tomorrow's Decision

#1 - AI Update: Heard of "The Hackening"?

This new term refers to AI's growing capability to identify and exploit weaknesses in existing software systems. Of all kinds. Apparently new and coming versions of AI can search and expose vulnerabilities at unimaginable speed, thereby making timely fixes impossible.

There have been a dozen cyberattacks in just the first two days of October so serious that only one of this severity per year was a lot in the past.

The NSA and FBI have told companies, when they find bugs they can't fix, just pull the plug. Canada, France, Belgium and Netherlands are doing just that on government-run sites.

Imagine what that could mean? Grocery stores, pharmacies, traffic signals, banks, ATMs, 911, the internet...wow. Even Uber for crying out loud!

This has gotten so severe some AI companies, including OpenAI, are no longer going to give their AI models open access to the internet to train.

Some experts say the "Hackening" may be right around the corner.

PS: Just talked to my IT guy because I got hacked and my banker wired $7K to a fake account. Gheesh. Changed my email etc. My guy says he's working 12-hour days and falling behind on AI fixes. Strongly suggests keeping at least a week's water and canned beans on hand because the question is not IF the mega-outage is coming but WHEN.

#2 - Gun Violence: Treating the Problem

The U.S. has 3 to 5 times the rate of lethal violence of its peers around the world. The Left's recommendations? Defund the police, open the prisons and ban assault rifles. This is like trying to cure heart disease by treating cancer. A Lousy Diagnosis = Lousy Outcomes.

Malcom Gladwell, author of Outliers, Tipping Point and others, just released his book on the subject. The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic. Here are some points he put forth.

• The Left claims we are "over-policed". This is simply not true. By all standards we are the most under-policed nation on earth. For example, LA and Berlin are the same population and both are well-to-do. LA has 8,500 police officers. Berlin has 18,000.

• Fewer police does not lead to less police violence or aggressive treatment. It leads to more. Undermanned, overstressed police resort to aggressive tactics more often to keep things in check and prevent putting their own lives in danger.

• Understaffed police departments leave no time to build relationships with community leaders and the schools, which is shown to prevent revenge shootings.

• Assault rifles account for an infinitesimal portion of gun deaths. Hand guns lead the parade.

• Of the 40,000 who die in the U.S. every year, 12,000 are by homicide. While 28,000 are by suicide.

• The conversation needs to shift from banning police and guns to...

• Recognizing existing and onset mental illness and getting these people off the streets and away from weapons they can use on themselves and, worse yet, others. But the Left blocks this at every turn. Claim it infringes on personal rights! Too bad. So does murdering kids at a school.

• Second, providing the resources and will to greatly strengthen the nexus between law enforcement and the community, especially the schools. Police, community leaders, educators and parents must become allies. Shootings must be analyzed, potential shooters must be flagged, counseling must flow quickly. A high proportion of shootings are revenge-motivated. These can be nipped if addressed directly and quickly.

• But this cannot happen when police forces are depleted and stretched to the breaking point by Leftwing politicians, activists and media.

• Progress can be made if those in charge get the diagnosis right and resource properly. Take Baltimore. Homicides are down 60% since 2021 and not a single gun law was changed.

• Instead, city leaders, especially law enforcement, the courts and the schools focused on targeting communities with high homicide rates. Counseling, cooperation and, yes, tougher sentences are credited with the dramatic plunge.

Makes absolutely no sense to try and cure heart disease by treating it as cancer.

#3 - Decision Day

Be Careful What You Ask For.

Tomorrow Americans will decide who holds the reins of government for the next two years. These decisions will determine America's fate, not only for the next two years but, quite possibly, far longer.

The choices could not be clearer. The current Administration with its lengthy list of noteworthy accomplishments and a deeply divisive leader...or... a party blinded by hatred in the throws of takeover led by Socialist/Communist, decidedly anti-American revolutionaries.

It really is quite shocking that whacko, ideologically dangerous candidates could be in the lead or close to in...Texas, Michigan and Maine. That a candidate who was deputy to Tim Walz and helped him condone the biggest Medicare fraud in the country may get elected Senator. That the Democrats are so devious they are running a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent in hopes Alaskans will pull the wrong lever. All of this dangerous absurdity...proves how deeply, irrationally the Left loathes Donald Trump.

The thing about this is we know EXACTLY what both sides will do.

There is no mystery at all. This is not about trying something different, let alone new.

The Trump Administration has a track record and, for the most part, a history of "promises made, promises kept". Although certainly not with the touch and tone preferred.

The Democrats? They will push to expand the Supreme Court, end the filibuster, add Puerto Rico and Washington DC as states to guarantee control in all future elections, nationalize healthcare, relax border security, end deportations, reinstall Woke/DEI and ramp up regulations that threaten energy and critical minerals security. As importantly, they will do everything in their power to STARVE the Military and thwart our drive for responsible AI domination. Of course, Trump will veto what he can but the stage will be set for 2028.

Above all, let's not forget how the policies they promise are working even as we speak:

National Healthcare - Britain, Canada. A province in Canada has declared a state of emergency over protracted waits to see a doctor. ER times are at an all time high. In the UK it can take 4 years for a hip replacement. And this is with taxes up the wazoo. Be clear - you most certainly WILL NOT GET to KEEP your doctor. Privatized healthcare will NOT BE an OPTION. The incentives needed to attract and retain the best doctors, specialists, surgeons, nurses, institutions and research capabilities will be disappear. And our taxes? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Unsecure Borders - Europe is on fire. Cities in France, Italy, Belgium and Spain are being burned to the ground. Businesses destroyed, stores looted, homes invaded, citizens mobbed, injured, even killed. Who's responsible? Bands of immigrants aided and abetted by activists and students. Who's behind the scenes? Anti-west communist organizations who funnel money and fuel the fury.

Communism - Per Capita GDP is China, Russia, Cuba, NK, Iran is among the lowest in the world. Free speech is non existent. Protestors are jailed if not murdered. Citizens suffer regularly from food, electricity and water shortages.

If the Socialist Democrats win, it will signal the end of a low tax, business-friendly society as we know it.

All we can hope is because 90% of Republicans refuse to participate means the polls are dead wrong.

***

Shakespeare, Homer, Tolstoy, Melville...

are some of the greatest authors in all of history. Can AI write just as well? Better even?

Consider these two passages.

"Mark how the landsman, pent up all the week in lath and plaster, will of a Sabbath steal down to the wharves, and there stand, hands in his pockets, gazing seaward as though the ocean owed him money."

"Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region."

Which is better? The first is from Melville's Moby Dick. The second is from Claude.

But alas, help is on the way. There is a new tool from Pangram Labs that claims to predict with 99% accuracy if a text

was written by AI. Two thoughts. First, do we really care if it's a good read? Second, all teachers best call Pangram and get this tool.

Just Another Reason Higher Ed Needs an Overhaul

Not only do post secondary institutions discriminate on the basis of DEI, condone anti-American curriculum and antisemitic protests but they keep raising prices. Here's one reason why.

MIT is one of the nation's most prestigious universities, especially when it comes to STEM. Admissions have increased 8% and faculty by 9% since the mid 80's. Administrative positions have risen by a whopping 189%. Can you say OVERHEAD three times?

The Iron Laws of Our World.

The reality is we are no longer governed by international niceties and restraint. Even during the Soviet/Cold War era there was mutually assured destruction to keep things in check. If we both have nukes, it's a standoff.

Back then, sure, there were threats and bluster, but, in the end, common sense prevailed and things went off the boil. Anybody remember when Khrushchev turned the missiles around from Cuba? Truces were made and agreements meant something.

These days we live in a world governed by strength, force...and terror. These are the "iron laws" of our world. A world always on edge because Islamic terrorists think suicide vests lead to heaven and, to the Russians and Chinese, millions of soldiers dying means little. The Mullahs have already proven what they think of fellow Iranians who dare to protest. Don't forget there ain't no TV or social media to illuminate, resist or even complain in these places.

Which brings us to a kinda important point. CRINK (China, Russia, Iran, & North Korea) have each other's backs. When the sheet hits the fan, who will have ours? Besides tiny Israel? France, Spain, the feckless Brits? We better damn be ready to "hoof it alone" when the time comes.

Crypto Cracked

I mean Hacked.

Cryptocurrency giant Binance said Thursday that a major security incident had an estimated total impact of approximately $6.3 billion, with $3 billion already frozen, as the exchange temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals and pledged to cover customer losses.

Binance founder and majority shareholder Changpeng Zhao suggested the incident is a cyberattack, although the company has not officially characterized it as a hack.

Latest suspicion is North Korea is to blame.

I'm Convinced...Most Don't Get It

Far too many , especially the misled youth, think socialism /communism means a benevolent government that, not only provides a safety net for all, but hands out lots of free stuff. They ignore the fact that for government to give stuff away it must first take stuff (via onerous taxes and control over property).

No weight is given to the irrefutable fact that the incentive to work harder, produce more, get better is sapped when the government grabs a huge share of what one earns and distributes it to others unwilling or unable to produce.

Please vote...more than once if you can!