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Trump Is Not Hiding His Fascism

We know [the immigrants] come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country.

Have You Listened Lately to What Trump Is Saying?, The Atlantic
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Buddha A.I.

Forall describes the project of creating an enlightened AI as perhaps “the most important act of all time.” Humans need to “build an AI that walks a spiritual path,” one that will persuade the other AI systems not to harm us.

The Monk Who Thinks the World is Ending, The Atlantic
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When You Let The Climate Crisis In

From ProPublica’s The Climate Crisis Is Worse Than You Can Imagine. Here’s What Happens If You Try:

Peter and Sharon’s friends came over to meet and bless their baby, Braird, shortly after he was born in June 2006. All the guests went around the room offering wishes for the child. When Peter’s turn came, he said he hoped that his son didn’t get shot at in climate-induced barbarity and that he did not starve.

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Apple’s Profit

From Daring Fireball’s Disney & Apple, Sitting In a Tree:

Apple was thriving [in 2006] — the Mac had completed its software transition from classic Mac OS to Mac OS X, and was beginning its hardware transition from PowerPC to Intel; the iPod was a cultural sensation and smash hit; and the company’s foray into its own retail stores was proving to be a, err, genius decision. …In October 2005 Apple announced its then-best-ever financial year: $14 billion in revenue, $1.3 billion in profit.

“Apple today generates more profit every 5 days than it did in the entire year of 2006.

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Another week, another indictment

From the New Yorker’s In Georgia, Trump and His Gang Get the Mob Treatment:

There is a temptation to not even bother with the details, no matter how remarkable they may be. That which was unthinkable has now become something of a political routine: another week, another indictment…

“But, of course, there is nothing in the least bit routine about an ex-President being charged with the gravest offenses against the nation that one can imagine. And, even in this summer of Trump indictments, this new Georgia case stands out…

“Trump may believe the executive office comes with a magic get-out-of-jail-free card, but, even if the courts were to agree that it does, the card would only apply at the federal level. Georgia is outside the President’s jurisdiction. These are charges that Trump can’t kill.

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Intellectual Understanding is Not Enough

From the Atlantic’s Hawaii is a Warning:

We live in an age of too much emotion, too much performative reaction, too much certainty, and entirely too much pessimism. All this shouting at one another has the effect of drowning out what actually deserves attention and concern, to say nothing of how it hurts our ability to come together and solve existential problems. But also—and this is a by-product of human resilience and adaptability, qualities that otherwise serve us well—sometimes understanding a phenomenon intellectually is not enough; it’s just not the same as the perspective you get when the flames are licking at your own door.”

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A Worm’s Mind In A Lego Body

From A Worm’s Mind In A Lego Body:

Take the connectome of a worm and transplant it as software in a Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot – what happens next?