DOTS DAY TO DAY

I have always thought US support for Israel is mostly a good thing, and that Israelis were mostly acting rightly to defend themselves. Since October, 2023, there has been so much killing and destruction. The more I learn about it, the more I feel a whole people are being destroyed by the IDF, and from where I sit in my safe neighborhood, thousands of miles away from the war, I wonder if this is all really necessary? Israel has always had to worry about attacks, since its creation, and so it was with the    attack and hostage taking, last year. Initially, I felt the response was somewhat necessary, but now, I question the need for continued aggression against the Palestinian people. Israel is superior militarily. How much beating a people into the ground is required when nearly an entire generation is being systematically destroyed? Where is the humanitarian concern here? To a large extent, I feel it seems to be missing. Killing terrorists is one thing, but thousands and thousands of ci

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are consuming massive amounts of water, primarily through the data centers that power them. Training large AI models like GPT-3 can directly use around 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of water. Even routine use of AI chatbots requires significant water - ChatGPT is estimated to use about 500 ml of water for a simple conversation of 20-50 questions and answers. Why isn't this more of a concern since water is necessary for all life? Is AI worth the depletion of a life-giving natural resource? And why do we, as Americans, think we have the right to do this when we share water resources on this planet? Also, I've read the water used is unusable afterword. What about that? Seems to me this may be as bad as all the forever chemicals we've allowed chemical companies to indiscriminately dump into our water and landfills. When are we, as a society, going to get serious and protect the environment, in deed, and not just put forth a little bit of

it is so uplifting to see the glimmer of hope and possible blue skies ahead for democracy. Nothing is definite, and a lot can go wrong between now and November 5, 2024, but a lot can go right too. I am very sorry for President Biden, and my heart breaks for him. He's given over five decades of service to his state and his country, and my guess is, he feels betrayed and forced out. That makes me sad. But the silver lining is, Kamala Harris seems to be waking America up to the real and pervasive threat posed by the GOP, Donald Trump and autocracy. For that I am grateful. For the first time in months, I am hopeful that voters may vote blue in numbers sufficient to save democracy in this country, and scuttle the GOP's Project 2025 agenda, and sink it for ever into the depths of bad policy choices. People seem to be waking up and realizing that voter apathy and complacency is a short road to autocracy and dictatorship, and with the major increases we're seeing in voter registrat

I have never understood the obsession GOP conservatives seem to have with the idea of making "America great again." I use quotation marks here because the very idea seems flawed and ludicrous, both in wording and intent. The phrase implies America has lost its "greatness." I do agree that America's    greatness has been extinguished, somewhat, but for entirely different reasons than those set forth by GOP conservatives. GOP conservatives and Christian fundamentalists seem to think that America has lost its greatness because they no longer have tight control over what used to be considered cultural norms, and they seem to have an extreme need to return to the structured morality they used to maintain by trying to legislate so-called Christian values. But in doing so, they conveniently ignore the Constitution, especially the 1st Amendment's guaranteed freedoms, and the public will. Both seem to count for nothing in their struggle for power and control. We saw

Voting 6-3, the US Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump has some immunity from criminal charges for trying to reverse the 2020 election results, all but ensuring that a trial won’t happen before the November election. Basically, The SCOTUS ruled former presidents retain significant immunity from prosecution for acts taken while in office. Of course, this ruling complicates efforts to prosecute Donald Trump. Realistically, I'm pretty certain he will not go to trial on the pending criminal charges he is facing before the 2024 election, and perhaps not at all. His SCOTUS appointees are definitely rewarding him for criminal behavior, in my view. If elected President for a second term, I'm certain he will feel free to continue to evade the rule of law, as he managed to do in his first term. So the best hope the American people have is to use the power of the vote to make sure he is not elected President a second time. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to understand, firsthand, how t