May 27, 2017

Greg Allman: You're No Angel, But I Loved You

I hated the South for so many things. But I loved the Allman Brothers.

Greg Allman wasn't just a Southern rocker. He invented jazz rock.

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Greg's and Duane's band, along with the Dead, broke open the 2.5 minute song like Walt Whitman broke open the poem structure of his day, and Greg Allman, on piano and organ, free flowed their music with improvisation.

Every time I saw them, they opened with "Jessica" -- note Greg's piano licks -- which got us into the Southern boogie mood.

In the 70's there was nothing in American rock to musically compare to the jazz long plays of the Allman Brothers.

May 21, 2017

"Impeach Now," says my lawyer friend from Chicago.

A.H. Neff is both a lawyer and teacher of writing at a local university.

This article is an interesting look at the outcomes of impeachment or doing nothing.

http://crooksandliars.com/2017/05/impeachmentnow

May 18, 2017

Robert Mueller Remarks At Georgetown

Robert Mueller, alleged witch hunter, takes off at the 7:00 on reporting to Bush after 9/11; at
10:00 on the FBI and intellingence; at 13:30 on government relationships and FBI culture.

May 13, 2017

Bill Maher New Rule -- Social Media is the New Nicotine

The moral rot of this country began when corporate america decided it wasn't enough to just successfully sell your product.

People need to be addicted to it.

May 8, 2017

PRESIDENT OBAMA RECEIVES THE JFK PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD

From The President:

"...Sometimes we forget how fundamentally the story they told us about ourselves changed the trajectory of America.

That's often where courage begins. When we tell ourselves the story about who we are, what's important, and about our own capacity to make a difference...."

May 8, 2017

AI Is Here, Part 2: President Barack Obama on What AI Means for National Security

Imagine what 45 thinks about these issues.

May 8, 2017

AI Is Here -- 7 Days of Artificial Intelligence, and Sam Harris On AI Control -- What? Me Worry?

Some of this is covered in Homo Deus by Yuval Harari (2015). I highly recommend this be read soon, and by as many people as possible.

Intelligence has been decoupled from consciousness. Organic, living things are algorithms.

The AI train has left the station, and there will be a point -- since AI's speed, exponentially building data and 20,000 years of mental work can far outstrip even collective human capacities -- a point at which our intelligence and consciousness just won't matter.

We are not realizing the Brave New World that ends drudgery, begins infinite Burning Man, tempts human wars by algorithm owners.

May 4, 2017

FRONTLINE + NPR On America's Housing Crisis -- "Poverty, Politics and Profit"

We need to keep focused on how budget priorities are not just national but local.

Good old philanthropy reveals that public money for housing gets siphoned off.

I hope this series does more than "explore."

In a nine-month investigation that takes them from Dallas to Miami, to an upscale resort in Costa Rica, FRONTLINE’s Rick Young and NPR’s Laura Sullivan explore why jus"t one in four households eligible for Section 8 assistance is getting it, and why the nation’s signature low-income housing construction program is costing more and producing less.

“Poverty, Politics and Profit” premieres Tues. May 9th at 10 p.m. EST / 9 p.m. CST on PBS and online: http://to.pbs.org/2mLjskO

May 1, 2017

HAPPY MAY DAY! BILLY BRAGG -- THERE IS POWER IN A UNION