I am also very concerned about deep fakes and ChatGPT for all of the reasons already discussed. But it also occurred to me that AI tools like these significantly lower the costs and increase the quality of disinformation and propaganda produced by hostile governments, as well as scammers. Russia or China, for example, would no longer need as many people or skills to produce large volumes of content that could be disseminated through many channels. I can also imagine them being used to coopt influencers and average people by leveraging their regular postings.
I, too, was interested in the Post's best supermarket marinara sauces. I had heard of Rao's previously, but had never tried it. I scoped it out at Jewel the next time I shopped, and was put off by the price - over $10 for what I considered a medium-sized jar. I will try it, though, to see if the taste makes the price differential worth it.
On the Sun-Times article on Tipping: I've seen similar articles all over the media (WaPo, NYT, Yahoo, various advice columnists, etc.). While the Covid pandemic rightly highlighted the poor wages received by less-than-minimum wage service workers, the expansion of the base of jobs where tips are now solicited has -in my opinion - gotten out of hand. The common response to those objecting to tipping such previously-untipped jobs is inevitably "If you can afford to [ ] you can afford to tip the worker." This isn't always true - the purchase could be a once-in-a-blue-moon "splurge" for the buyer. The objection, I think, stems from the fact that the add-on expense (1) is raised AFTER the purchase-decision point, and (2) is so wildly inconsistent (some stores do impose an "in-your-face-with-the-server-2 feet-from-you tipping regime, and some don't; stores have huge disparities in the range of "Suggested Tips".) For those whose jobs are sub-minimum wage (a horrible concept - and the minimum wage needs to be raised - yesterday), generous tipping has been my default. But it has gotten truly out of hand. Employers: pay your employees what they're worth, and adjust prices accordingly.
I think that you may be right about the charges against Crimo Jr. But the facts raise the specific problems with the current way that the red flag laws and FOID card are administered. Crimo III could not have gotten his FOID without his father sponsoring him, which includes vouching for his mental health. Once Crimo III had his FOID card, which is good for ten years, it was much more difficult and less likely that it would be revoked, without specific court action. Had he applied on his own when he was 21, his application should have been rejected due to his mental issues. The rejection would have been more certain if the State Police kept the proper records, that had been sent to them, and also if Crimo's parents had gotten Crimo III the necessary mental health care.
I really think it is silly to waste time in a debate asking the candidates to say something nice about an opponent. But it reminded me of a boss I had early in my career. He would say so-and-so is "a nice person, the kind you would like to have for a neighbor". He meant the person was useless or couldn't be relied upon to deliver results. The classic damning with faint praise.
I find some irony in a column labeled "If you can't say anything nice..." that included Tony Goldmark's [fabulous] takedown of the odious Daily Wire "reporter". I am grateful for the link because I never would have found it on my own...
Well, there’s certainly irony galore, but I don’t know about fabulous. As I see it, a reporter politely and solicitously asked Goldmark his opinion about a frivolous and trivial little bit of corporate cultural self purification, and his response was to go berserk in an emotionally hemophilial meltdown. Sigh.
For a less heated (and far more entertaining) take on the matter of Disney tweaking the theming of one of it’s rides, I recommend “Argh! Disney Walks the Plank for Political Correctness”, one of Mike Royko’s last columns, to be found in his posthumous collection “One More Time”, for anyone that might have trouble finding it online.
I haven't done the Reader’ Best of Chicago poll in years but, due to your plug/request, I went through and voted for those people/establishments I'm familiar with and feel deserve it. With the huge number of categories, you'd think they'd covered anything. But, once again, another media outlet completely ignores Chicago's extraordinary science sector. Their poll puts The Field and MSI in the same category as art museums, so I guess is nice they're considered "cultural institutions." But if they are cultural institutions, then why doesn't the City's Dept of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) spend one dime on promoting science while it spends $35 million annually to promote Arts?
The Reader has been a go-to source covering Chicago's entertainment sector, but despite explosive growth of science outreach as a form of entertainment in the last decade, they still don't cover it. Not that the Tribune or Sun-Times are any better. Our area is home to 6 science museums (4 of which are involved with extensive research projects), 5 major medical centers, 2 internationally known zoos active in animal conservation efforts, 2 national science laboratories, and 4 botanic gardens/plant conservatories, and scores of additional organizations engaged in public science outreach. All of them struggle for attention, yet no local media has had a reporter on a science beat in years and when trying to get science included as entertainment they still can't get any traction.
Obviously, I have a bee in my bonnet about this issue, but this is yet another example for why we have low science literacy in this country. Even when it's right under their noses and easily accessible, the media ignores science.
You raise an important point, but the problem is much more far reaching than the mere indifference of the local media to area institutions. In Carl Sagan’s “The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, a book that was written 28 years ago, he lays out convincing evidence that the media have long been engaged in a systemic effort to promote all manner of junk science and hokum (UFOs, psychic powers, Loch Ness monsters, and assorted claptrap) at the expense of creating any sort of awareness of actual science. This is presumably done because it is thought that the public writ large is unable or unwilling to engage with actual science, but I think it could just as well point to a stultifying lack of intellectual curiosity in the media.
Our culture has been on a long downward intellectual trajectory for some time, likely precipitated by the advent of television, and fast tracked by the internet, smartphone, and other weapons of mass distraction. Besides science, our national test scores in mathematics, history, geography, and just about every other marker of academic standing have grown increasingly abysmal. The majority of our nation is subliterate, and a substantial percentage can easily be categorized as functionally illiterate. I read two different newspapers and visit several other newspaper websites daily, and there is nary a day that goes by that I do not encounter myriad errors in spelling, punctuation, word usage and grammar that I would not have made in 2nd grade. And this from professional journalists with advanced achievements in higher education. When Jonathan Franzen stated a few years ago that he did not own a television, rather than being commended, he was excoriated by much of the press for being too sophisticated and out of touch.
Unfortunately I see no reason to be hopeful for our future. Unless our civilization is able to awaken from it’s coma and have it’s Moment of Anti-Intellectual Reckoning, I fear that we are doomed to an evolutionary cul-de-sac of ignorance and mediocrity.
I hear you about the decline, Steven, but I am not quite as pessimistic as you seem. I still have hope because I see many fairly easy ways in which the media, and City of Chicago, could do things to turn that around.
I read in DesMoine newspaper that Kyle Rittenhouse is back in the news. A US judge in Madison WI blocked one of his appeals and he was served in Florida apparently after traveling in 7 states to evade being so served--just a good news FYI here.
And a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the father of one of the men killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during the 2020 Kenosha civil unrest, will be allowed to proceed.
Re: Mincing rascals discussion on policing, race, watching videos, etc:
Steinberg is right, it's generally not about race. Even if it is, it shouldn't be. It's stunning that 8 years after Ferguson, with all the analysis & data (ie studies by Roland Fryer), people are repeating the same non-sense. We know each year about 1000 people are killed by police, majority white. Most of these are ruled justified, a small percentage unarmed and/or unjustified. The movement's focus has been on racial disproportions, which line up with disproportions in violent crime. Regardless, that leaves hundreds of combinations of racially mixed confrontations mostly ignored by the media, and a few highlighted each year. One of the more notables of those ignored was Tony Timpa, a white man that died nearly identically as George Floyd. How many have watched the video?
Today's crop of Tweets are a bit wanting, IMHO.
Yep
I am also very concerned about deep fakes and ChatGPT for all of the reasons already discussed. But it also occurred to me that AI tools like these significantly lower the costs and increase the quality of disinformation and propaganda produced by hostile governments, as well as scammers. Russia or China, for example, would no longer need as many people or skills to produce large volumes of content that could be disseminated through many channels. I can also imagine them being used to coopt influencers and average people by leveraging their regular postings.
I, too, was interested in the Post's best supermarket marinara sauces. I had heard of Rao's previously, but had never tried it. I scoped it out at Jewel the next time I shopped, and was put off by the price - over $10 for what I considered a medium-sized jar. I will try it, though, to see if the taste makes the price differential worth it.
On the Sun-Times article on Tipping: I've seen similar articles all over the media (WaPo, NYT, Yahoo, various advice columnists, etc.). While the Covid pandemic rightly highlighted the poor wages received by less-than-minimum wage service workers, the expansion of the base of jobs where tips are now solicited has -in my opinion - gotten out of hand. The common response to those objecting to tipping such previously-untipped jobs is inevitably "If you can afford to [ ] you can afford to tip the worker." This isn't always true - the purchase could be a once-in-a-blue-moon "splurge" for the buyer. The objection, I think, stems from the fact that the add-on expense (1) is raised AFTER the purchase-decision point, and (2) is so wildly inconsistent (some stores do impose an "in-your-face-with-the-server-2 feet-from-you tipping regime, and some don't; stores have huge disparities in the range of "Suggested Tips".) For those whose jobs are sub-minimum wage (a horrible concept - and the minimum wage needs to be raised - yesterday), generous tipping has been my default. But it has gotten truly out of hand. Employers: pay your employees what they're worth, and adjust prices accordingly.
Rao's is absolutely worth it. The Tribune rated jar sauces several years ago and Rao came up at the top and we've bought it ever since.
I think that you may be right about the charges against Crimo Jr. But the facts raise the specific problems with the current way that the red flag laws and FOID card are administered. Crimo III could not have gotten his FOID without his father sponsoring him, which includes vouching for his mental health. Once Crimo III had his FOID card, which is good for ten years, it was much more difficult and less likely that it would be revoked, without specific court action. Had he applied on his own when he was 21, his application should have been rejected due to his mental issues. The rejection would have been more certain if the State Police kept the proper records, that had been sent to them, and also if Crimo's parents had gotten Crimo III the necessary mental health care.
https://www.isp.illinois.gov/FirearmsSafety#:~:text=Section%208%20of%20the%20FOID%20Act%20provides%20that,any%20other%20jurisdiction%3B%20Is%20addicted%20to%20narcotics%3B%20
I really think it is silly to waste time in a debate asking the candidates to say something nice about an opponent. But it reminded me of a boss I had early in my career. He would say so-and-so is "a nice person, the kind you would like to have for a neighbor". He meant the person was useless or couldn't be relied upon to deliver results. The classic damning with faint praise.
I find some irony in a column labeled "If you can't say anything nice..." that included Tony Goldmark's [fabulous] takedown of the odious Daily Wire "reporter". I am grateful for the link because I never would have found it on my own...
Well, there’s certainly irony galore, but I don’t know about fabulous. As I see it, a reporter politely and solicitously asked Goldmark his opinion about a frivolous and trivial little bit of corporate cultural self purification, and his response was to go berserk in an emotionally hemophilial meltdown. Sigh.
For a less heated (and far more entertaining) take on the matter of Disney tweaking the theming of one of it’s rides, I recommend “Argh! Disney Walks the Plank for Political Correctness”, one of Mike Royko’s last columns, to be found in his posthumous collection “One More Time”, for anyone that might have trouble finding it online.
I haven't done the Reader’ Best of Chicago poll in years but, due to your plug/request, I went through and voted for those people/establishments I'm familiar with and feel deserve it. With the huge number of categories, you'd think they'd covered anything. But, once again, another media outlet completely ignores Chicago's extraordinary science sector. Their poll puts The Field and MSI in the same category as art museums, so I guess is nice they're considered "cultural institutions." But if they are cultural institutions, then why doesn't the City's Dept of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) spend one dime on promoting science while it spends $35 million annually to promote Arts?
The Reader has been a go-to source covering Chicago's entertainment sector, but despite explosive growth of science outreach as a form of entertainment in the last decade, they still don't cover it. Not that the Tribune or Sun-Times are any better. Our area is home to 6 science museums (4 of which are involved with extensive research projects), 5 major medical centers, 2 internationally known zoos active in animal conservation efforts, 2 national science laboratories, and 4 botanic gardens/plant conservatories, and scores of additional organizations engaged in public science outreach. All of them struggle for attention, yet no local media has had a reporter on a science beat in years and when trying to get science included as entertainment they still can't get any traction.
Obviously, I have a bee in my bonnet about this issue, but this is yet another example for why we have low science literacy in this country. Even when it's right under their noses and easily accessible, the media ignores science.
You raise an important point, but the problem is much more far reaching than the mere indifference of the local media to area institutions. In Carl Sagan’s “The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, a book that was written 28 years ago, he lays out convincing evidence that the media have long been engaged in a systemic effort to promote all manner of junk science and hokum (UFOs, psychic powers, Loch Ness monsters, and assorted claptrap) at the expense of creating any sort of awareness of actual science. This is presumably done because it is thought that the public writ large is unable or unwilling to engage with actual science, but I think it could just as well point to a stultifying lack of intellectual curiosity in the media.
Our culture has been on a long downward intellectual trajectory for some time, likely precipitated by the advent of television, and fast tracked by the internet, smartphone, and other weapons of mass distraction. Besides science, our national test scores in mathematics, history, geography, and just about every other marker of academic standing have grown increasingly abysmal. The majority of our nation is subliterate, and a substantial percentage can easily be categorized as functionally illiterate. I read two different newspapers and visit several other newspaper websites daily, and there is nary a day that goes by that I do not encounter myriad errors in spelling, punctuation, word usage and grammar that I would not have made in 2nd grade. And this from professional journalists with advanced achievements in higher education. When Jonathan Franzen stated a few years ago that he did not own a television, rather than being commended, he was excoriated by much of the press for being too sophisticated and out of touch.
Unfortunately I see no reason to be hopeful for our future. Unless our civilization is able to awaken from it’s coma and have it’s Moment of Anti-Intellectual Reckoning, I fear that we are doomed to an evolutionary cul-de-sac of ignorance and mediocrity.
I hear you about the decline, Steven, but I am not quite as pessimistic as you seem. I still have hope because I see many fairly easy ways in which the media, and City of Chicago, could do things to turn that around.
I read in DesMoine newspaper that Kyle Rittenhouse is back in the news. A US judge in Madison WI blocked one of his appeals and he was served in Florida apparently after traveling in 7 states to evade being so served--just a good news FYI here.
And a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the father of one of the men killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during the 2020 Kenosha civil unrest, will be allowed to proceed.
Re: Mincing rascals discussion on policing, race, watching videos, etc:
Steinberg is right, it's generally not about race. Even if it is, it shouldn't be. It's stunning that 8 years after Ferguson, with all the analysis & data (ie studies by Roland Fryer), people are repeating the same non-sense. We know each year about 1000 people are killed by police, majority white. Most of these are ruled justified, a small percentage unarmed and/or unjustified. The movement's focus has been on racial disproportions, which line up with disproportions in violent crime. Regardless, that leaves hundreds of combinations of racially mixed confrontations mostly ignored by the media, and a few highlighted each year. One of the more notables of those ignored was Tony Timpa, a white man that died nearly identically as George Floyd. How many have watched the video?
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2019/07/31/you-re-gonna-kill-me-dallas-police-body-cam-footage-reveals-the-final-minutes-of-tony-timpa-s-life/
A movement about police brutality will never gain full traction until:
A) There's outrage regardless of race
B) The outrage focuses on egregious cases over more complex & justifiable cases (Michael Brown, Jacob Blake, etc.)
Consumer Reports just reported on pasta sauces in the most recent issue