Country: All

(Photo: me in Montreal, May 2026)

Yeah, I know... In my last post I did say that I was going to post that Part 2 on SocDems and Part 3 on India ASAP, but, as they say: Shit happens!

That said, I’m now in a crappy situation of sorts, and can’t access those documents or hope to eventually access them ever again.

I never write my posts directly into my site’s HTML text editor; it’s an absolute pain to do so. I’ve been using MS Word and Office since 1988, and kept doing so out of convenience and habit even after they’d switched to a subscription model. However, this year, they upped the (Canadian) annual price by 47%; as long as it stayed below $100, well, fine, OK, but now... I’ve come to hate too much about MS and their system (viva Linux!) and productivity environments to let convenience and laziness dictate my choice any further, and I hate the fact that money alone was, finally, the motivating factor behind making that logical change. 
But there you have it.

Sadly, laziness made me switch to Google Docs and Sheets, as having everything on ‘the cloud’ is a huge plus given certain risks.

In between Montreal and Nicaragua—the latter included—two phones were destroyed and two were stolen (actually three, but the San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta Guatemalan police kindly and efficiently managed to recover my phone within half-a-day, which they then exploited as a PR opp, earning me some fame as “El gringo al que le robaron el teléfono” across the region).

Stealing those phones was pointless, as they were US phones that only accepted US sim cards. After my $1400 Samsung blew up in Indiana due to a battery issue, for which there’d been a recall I couldn’t do anything about, I’d bought a real nice Motorola in a Dollar General store in Illinois for the ridiculous price of USD28—Canadians are seriously getting ripped off on phones and services, but we all know that already. At that price, regretting not getting two, just in case, to have a back up so I don't find myself without a phone for a few weeks again, finally, two main factors converged—I had the money again, and I found a Texas DG store that had one in stock, for USD32.
That second phone only lasted one day; I was almost killed near Livingston, TX, on Christmas eve—crazy story—but the phone is the only thing that ended up being run over. So, after having acquired and smoked a much needed cigarette to calm my nerves, I was extremely lucky to find a third one in Livingston, as phone prices were set to double across all DG and similar stores on 1-Jan-2025. I was pissed to have to spend that much money again on anything other than bike parts—I relied entirely on direct donations from people I met, and $32 provided much peanut butter and bread—but the next day, after learning that the park pavilion I'd slept in was right next to a gator pond (only saw the warning signs in the morning), a family I met in Livingston ended up giving me a $34 donation, which perked my spirits right back up. My whole journey has been like that, making me believe that I truly am blessed, to some degree, as the kind of coincidences I've experienced can't possibly be coincidences. 

So, one phone was stolen in Mexico, then another in Guatemala—which I recovered—but then I was robbed in Nicaragua while sleeping on church grounds (lost much, including my cash and ID cards, which is why I had to return to Canada, as, without proper ID, I could no longer pick up my new passport in Costa Rica, as planned, and my old one, which I still had, was due to expire in May 2026). The guy also got my tire pump and I had two flats I was going to fix in the morning (rear bike wheel and one trailer wheel), but I then met a lady who gave me some money, which turned out to be the exact amount for a new pump I found in a store I stumbled upon just a few blocks down the road. Like I said...

Thanks to help from good friends back in Canada, after I was found again, having gone missing for several days and the Canadian Embassy had issued a search notice, I was able to get a new Chinese Redmi for USD88 in Nagarote, Nicaragua... So many details and adventures to fill in. I’ll offer a post to cover some of that, as well as important lessons I’ve learned throughout my journey, as these are directly linked to political aspects I normally post about here.

One thing I’m still heartbroken over: Because of the US sim issue, I was entirely reliant on free wi-fi, which was rare in some parts of Central America, and, combined with other issues, I hadn't been able to upload over 300 pics to one of my drives or USB keys before being robbed near Managua, so a big portion of my journey across Honduras and Nicaragua is forever lost, including many contacts I made while there.

Anyhow: Ironically, despite being constantly on the move as I biked southward, while in Mazatenango (on/off since June 2026), IP changes due to service-related and other issues have prompted Google, for “security reasons,” to force me out of my account on a few occasions over the course of 9 months, barring me access to everything from Gmail, YouTube, GoogleDocs, etc. 
Is Mazatenago Guatemala on Google’s shit list?!

My password alone wasn’t enough to log back in despite having turned off two-step authentication, but I was usually able to re-access my account; the whole recovery process is set at 15 days, but, after that first time, I usually got my account back after 8-10 days.

However, since flying into Montreal by way of Panama and coming back to Guatemala, the major IP changes, per the notifications I received, convinced Google that I must be up to nefarious activities; on my third day back in Mazatenango, Chrome suddenly forced me out of all my accounts, whether linked to Google or not. As I rely on the browser’s password manager so I can save brainspace to remember better things than a slew of passwords—despite using a fixed strategy when choosing my passwords—and since I’d linked the vast majority of my accounts to my gmail address, making that “Forgot my password” link useless...

It took a few hours to a few days to regain access to all my other, regular accounts, but not my main Google one, even with my dmsauy email address that’s set as my recovery address for that one. They’d send me a code to that address, and, combined with my password, rather than taking that as confirmation that I am the owner of that account, they’d then send me an auto notif telling me that they’d review my request and send me a recovery link in 30 days if all checks out. Yep, 30 days! Not the 15 that was previously imposed. Worse, this time, unlike the previous ones, I’d invariably receive an email telling me that they had cancelled the process as I was already logged into my account on one of my devices. The first came in after 20 days; 14 days for the second, and 8 days for the third and fourth. That route to recovery is no longer even offered to me anymore.

Whichever device they’re referring to, I no longer have. And, no, I’m not afraid that someone else is using my account.

And, yes, I had the Authenticator app installed, but on devices I no longer have. And why are they insisting on reverting back to my Montreal phone number to send a verification text??? I'd since changed it in their settings!
Arrrgh!!!

I tried it all, and good luck speaking to an actual person at Google. The only solutions I was offered:

- Make sure that, in the future, you don’t lose the devices linked to your account.
- Create a new Google account.

I had already done the last in the summer of 2025, after having that phone stolen in Mexico and having problems signing in my YouTube account, not being able to use my notebook to retrieve my password as the battery was dead.

I agree, there are options available which would have allowed me to bypass such crap, but they offer their own sets of problems, and since I was always able to eventually log back into my account, I only took minor and lazy steps to avoid further issues, never expecting to face the one I now have to deal with, especially since I’d registered my current notebook as a trusted device, which has been perpetually logged into my account since May 2024.

The whole is a hugely frustrating situation that makes me want to slap and punch Google execs (unlike most progressives, I still don't blame Israel or AIPAC for everything). 
The result: I have to accept that I can no longer access the Google account that I’ve been using since 2009, including my usual YouTube account and all the docs and files that were stored through G Drive and other services.

Despite having another Google account: Fuck Google Office! No way I’m ever relying on those services again. On the plus side, this has finally motivated me to make the switch to LibreOffice, which I should have done years ago, as well as to take other steps to avoid such a situation in the future, though some other account/file fuckupary is bound to happen, as is the nature of such things.

That said, I’m simply not in the mood to rewrite those two pieces, which were pretty much finished. Plus, all my research and links were in those docs.

This affair has put a huge damper on my DMSaUY writing mood, both due to the wasted efforts and because I've weirdly convinced myself that forgetting about those two posts and writing other posts wasn’t a possible path, as, after all, I did say that I was going to post them.

Keep in mind that I’ve lost close to 400 of my previous posts (from 2020 to Jan 2024) due to a screw up on behalf of my previous hosting service provider, and that, combined with a slew of other, deep frustrations, many of which prompted me to go on this journey, including—after getting nowhere with my attempts to find a support role in the new media world, running out of money, and deciding to return to the corporate world—being abruptly fired from my high-paying AI-dev job for, as I eventually learned, the anti-Zionist pieces I’d posted here, well, honestly, I often wonder why I still bother with this site (which now needs to be updated) or to post at all.

But I still do it simply because it’s something that brings me less pain to do so than if I weren’t doing it, I suppose. It’s just something I gotta do.

And, so far, since I started posting again on 22-Dec-2025, as of today, I’m at 3.3M page views for 2026 (compared to 142K for all of 2025, with zero new posts added since the summer of 2024, prior to that aforementioned date). So, there's external motivation, too, I guess, even if I'm always made to feel as if I'm operating in a void...

The take away: Despite advocating for change, in some areas, I, too, can be lazy and stubbornly set in my ways. And no good ever really comes from that.

OK, I may be a little anal, but just when it comes to facts, though, yes, I, too, make the occasional mistake. But the type of mistake I may make is of an entirely different nature that doesn't involve verifiable facts…

Here’s a perfect, clear-cut example of wrong info getting carried over from one influencer/outlet to the next, becoming the ‘established’ fact amongst a huge swath of the media ecosphere, despite being wrong.

In this case, the error is benign, but I constantly see this type of ‘bad reporting’ carry over across outlets—usually, through ideologically-related parts of the mediasphere—when it also involves clear misinformation, rumours, or skewed interpretations that are tribally beneficial, and far from benign. 

The Example

The article—I can’t recall which outlet it was—that I had read in 2024 had mentioned 500 tons of cocaine in relation to the charges brought up against the former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who, on 26-Jun-2024, had been sentenced to 45 years of prison.

That’s the number that had always stuck in my mind: 500 tons, or 500,000 kilograms. I had also read a portion of the indictment some time later, which burned that number in my brain.

However, as his case became relevant again following Trump’s pardon, which happened while the Trump administration was actively telling the world that Nicolás Maduro is an evil narco-terrorist that needed to be ousted and imprisoned, the number that repeatedly shows up in everyone’s mention of Hernandez is now 400 tons. I'm sure that that's the number that you, too, have heard from whichever outlet or Youtuber/social-media personality you may follow. You want examples? Just look up any recent mention of Hernandez.

I’d silently mouth, “No, it’s 500,” each time. Then looked it up, just to be sure. And continue mouthing the correct amount with each mention made by all outlets, big or small.     

The charge in the indictment clearly specifies 500 tons. 

“Since at least in or about 2004, members of the conspiracy transported through Honduras more than approximately 500,000 kilograms of United States- bound cocaine.” 

And, no, I’m not confusing Metric tons (or tonnes) with U.S. tons, as the latter would bring the amount way below both the reported and official amounts, for:

400 Metric tons = 400,000 kilograms
400 US tons = 362,874 kilograms

That means that one major outlet or influencer got it wrong, and everyone else is working off of secondary sources rather than the primary source. And that those who hire fact-checkers are wasting their money? (By the way: If someone would like to hire me for fact-checking work, don’t hesitate…)

This is bad, compounding some problems, and, in many cases, merely feeding idiotic, hate-filled tribalism.
There's a reason why the media, no matter which side of the spectrum, makes me swear so much. Being anal... it's not easy.

Indictment: https://dn710202.ca.archive.org/0/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.578666/gov.uscourts.nysd.578666.423.0.pdf

Currently working on a Llama LLM, also doing ML with Python scikit… however, I'm not doing it for DMS&UY and good, humanitarian reasons, playing a role in helping to bring about a legitimate change—as I’d hoped—since, combined with the journalism-geared, topic-relevant etymology and taxonomy I’ve developed, along with the DBs I’ve spent hundreds of hours compiling, those efforts could have provided the framework, tools, and insights that indie news outlets can only dream of, certainly not being able to afford those kinds of devs by anyone focused on the usual, dare I say "normal", life stuff.

As I couldn’t afford it or accomplish it on my own, not without field-appropriate “allies” and less than $20,000, which includes the “salary” I was willing to take, such an amount being peanuts for some or easy to raise if those with thousands of fans combined fundraising efforts, instead, I’m doing it for a super-rich corporation just so they can get richer and leverage more power over all of us.

But, at least, I’m making money, right?

Am I genuinely happy? Not really; I could be far happier. But now, at least, I can eat and pay my bills.

Anyone who thinks that the money is what really matters to me doesn’t “get” anything about me, period.

The irony is that I’ll now be doubly shunned, accused of being nothing more than a part of the PMC—Professional Managerial Class—after I’ve tried damn hard to bring my PMC-ness and skills to those who whine incessantly about PMCs... yet rely on them in one form or another.  

•      •      •

I received news two days ago that changes everything; had I been aware of this two week ago, I don’t think I would have accepted the job.

In truth, what this change made me realise is that the only real reason why I took it is because I strongly felt that I needed to do the expected and responsible thing in order to pay off certain debts, the main one, which is the largest and the one I felt most guilty about, is being wiped clean, though not without a long-term cost in the form of a major rent increase, albeit, now being the only original tenant from when I moved in, it’s one that still keeps my monthly rent $200+ below the 7 other similar units in the two apartment blocks owned by my landlord—prices have skyrocketed in Montreal (and Canada as a whole). He’s putting both up for sale in July and this increases represents a big advantage for him and, in a way, helps protect me as well, as a new landlord would surely use the declared loss by my landlord and my far lower rent to boot me out and raise the monthly rent by $400-500.

Anyone not familiar with Quebec rental/leasing laws may think our laws strange and excessive, favouring either renters or landlords, depending on the issue and which side one finds themselves on, but, having been both renter and owner, and having experience in these matters across three provinces and some familiarity with the laws across Canada, I do think that Quebec is the best system in Canada and one of the best in the world.

The laws here are firm, easily accessible, and real clear, and aim to protect renters and landlords equally, providing clear, efficient, and binding recourse for any abuses suffered, be it on either side of the renting tango.

However, one particularity certainly makes Quebec a “special case” worldwide: July 1st; that’s our official moving day across the province. All leases officially start and end on July 1st of every year, making one’s first lease either shorter or longer than 12 months to adjust for that date if one happened to move in before or after July 1st.

February 1st is the deadline for landlords to notify you of any changes, such as rent increases—which are capped yearly—and March 1st is the deadline for renters to notify landlords whether they accept the increase or wish to cancel their lease. Three months notice is the minimum time required by law to cancel a lease, and (crappy) landlords can hold renters responsible for the monthly rent until July 1st. If a landlord wants you to move out prior to that day, they have to have a good reason among those accepted by the Régis, and pay you a minimum of three months of rent plus one month for every year over two years for which one has been a renter.

These days, landlords are real happy to see any long-time tenants leave so they can adjust the rent way up, per current rates. Many of them lie, telling renters that they wish to rent out their unit to a family member, immediate or not—which is one of the valid reasons—but if you can prove that it’s not a family member who moved into your place, then they’re in trouble, facing big penalties paid out to you.

Our system that protects employees and employers is equally well-defined and good, with stern repercussions against those who abuse the laws, so that simply threatening to file a case with that Régis against any employer who knows they’re in the wrong is usually enough to get them to do what’s right.

•      •      •

All and all, having developed the habit to not spend more than I had over a decade ago, my whole debt load is now below $5000, most of that having been incurred since COVID, and roughly 1/5th of that is federal income tax from 2022—due to governmental COVID aid—that I haven’t yet paid off.

My situation could be far worse.

To think, when I was 24, mortgage, vehicle, credit cards and all, I was close to $140,00 in debt.

•      •      •

Since I work remotely, this aspect keeps me relatively isolated and continues to feed my loneliness somewhat, which I’ve put some degree of effort toward rectifying by re-establishing contact with some long-time friends, this change having been helped by my mention that I was leaving Quebec, probably for good; all of the above confirms my notion that life is little more than an ironic twist with a big dollop of absurdism.

I feel I’m back in control of my life and I'm no longer in a depressive state. Yet, albeit I no longer find myself having to leave, there’s a deep yearning in me for a drastic change that’s still present, and, for reasons that are too hard to explain, I feel a sense of regret for not having finally followed through on a long-time dream to sell everything and travel the world freely, writing about my adventures. Plus, the work I now do is "remote", which means I can do it from anywhere.

•      •      •

I’ve looked into Airbnb, which isn’t allowed for the postal code I live in—a regulation passed a few years ago to limit all the conversions to Airbnb-focused units that made renting just a regular apartment increasingly harder—and I discussed a sublet with my landlord, as this would allow me to keep much of my stuff as well as a pied-à-terre in Montreal, and at a relatively decent price, while having the rent paid off and making a bit of extra cash each month, all whilst living out an adventure… but he's entirely against the idea of me subletting the apartment. I've to comply, especially after all he's done for me.

So, what to do???

Like much of the world, but all the more so on a personal level, I’m in need of a drastic change, and staying here, working for a corporation, sure as hell isn’t it!

I'd been contacted by a firm in Bahrain on 4-Apr, and finally decided to contact them back on Friday, 12-Apr. I won't offer more pertinent details at this point, for whether there's something worth telling at all now depends on them.

But I will offer some bits about the reflection that analysing, deciding, and acting on have led me to have.  

One aspect that surprised me: I seem to be willing to accord better intentions to individuals if said individuals are foreigners from certain countries and from certain types of institutions then equal "ranking" non-foreigners from similar, North-American-based or Western institutions. I see one as them offering me potential and opportunity and the other as seeing only a potential opportunity for them in me.  

The last is mostly true if a US firm within any financial/banking sphere. Anything "Wall Street" makes me cringe and recoil. Maybe lash out, too.

But there's no hard-and-fast rule that I'm aware of; instincts and non-tangibles based on personal experience appear to largely account for any variance, which may offer the reverse given a different reason altogether to consider 'which would be the best option'.  

Then there are those I'd never trust or wish to be associated with in any form whatsoever... The Nigerian Princes are among them, but only because they always seem so desperate to leave Nigeria, so, leaning on any "Nigerian" part like they do makes me think they're not serious as Princes; I like my royalty to be dedicated to their kingdom, thank you.

I was also contacted by UAE tech firm about entirely different matters, which I definitely should reply to; I hadn't as I'm always expecting the DMS&UY site to be forced down due to a lack of funds, yet, months later, I'm still here whilst having established that contact and adding my name to their "vendors list" may have helped in rectifying that.

I truly am an odd one. Perhaps far too caught up on correct principles and on good morals, always acting in concordance with my strict personal ethics and within my own moral framework?

If only I'd given more thought to my ethics and morals before becoming so attached to my framework, I'd surely have a more world-friendly and economically-functional take on "killing babies" and about what to do with those dreaded "others"?

As long as it's 'other' people's babies and kids, where's the problem, right?

And if I really were serious about earning my rightful place in the world, I'd scrap fluff-words like "people" and learn how to use "animals" properly instead whenever I'm dealing with such within a pertinent context.

Damn my parents! I blame them for those word choices I invariably seem to make.

Any hoot, related matters provided another instance that reminded me just how impossible it is for me to ever do things the "proper" and "expected" way, for which a "How To" or set template is almost always available. So many times, a voice in my head tells me I shouldn't... just follow the by-the-numbers cookie-cutter approach... But if I did that, then, I'm not being genuine, making "honesty" a secondary feature less desired than "expectations"? That definitely ain't right, leading to false presentation and unwanted representation on my side, and, possibly—and more than likely—on theirs as well.

Here's a post scriptum to my email, a formal business one sent to a person located in Bahrain; I added it because I felt a need to address one aspect, but felt that doing so brought me to a place that just isn't me, which gave me license for absurdity rather than simply avoiding any mention unless/until absolutely necessary: 

P.S. Times being what they are and cause for condemnation quickly found when so desired, I specify the following to avoid potential headaches only, doing so given your location: I’m willing to focus my efforts, but I’m not interested in betraying the West in any manner whatsoever for money; I’m just as equally uninterested in betraying any nation, or any religious, political, or cultural group for money. Except, maybe, that country with weird toenails and pubic-like curls to their hair… what‘s the name of that place?

If it’s on the tip of anyone’s tongue, that may not be a good sign. At all.

Honesty. True impartiality. A genuine attempt to understand. Hatred-free. Better steps leading to a true, lasting peace. These are things I will never betray, unless the amount to do so is so big I can then buy the world and set things right. Maybe get rid of those people who don’t like my music or cooking, while at it. Cursed be those people!

That was the email; the "formal" doc I'd attached offered similar moments...

All these formalities, they're always a firm slap in my face, for they act as a reminder that I seem to operate on a different plane of reality, one that's detached from the set formulisms put in place to gauge one's worth within said formulisms that operate per a set hierarchy, itself defined and dependent on set formulisms. If without them, then how is anyone to judge what's good or bad, right or wrong?

Thinking on that brought me back to my nine-year-old self and a second-grade art project I'd been chosen to create first, so the class would then have a model to go off of; I was almost always selected for such roles when artistic goals and imagination were the focus. One day, I wasn't... I had a mini identity crisis, age 10. 

We'd moved to Toronto from Montreal and, at that point in my story, I couldn't say with any degree of confidence that I spoke English, but neither could I longer claim total ignorance; I "got" the gist, not the details, but this facet doesn't explain my boneheadness, which is the appropriate label, in this case, I feel.

The project: Use your initials to create a colourful patterned overlay on a holder-box for notes that we first had to create.

Here's the thing: I somehow never caught the "your initials" part; I selected my letters based purely on a letter's aesthetics, per the font used to create the stencils from which we were to create our masters. O, Q, and R. The letters had zero meaning to me.

My initials being PL, or PDL for those who know me well, and PDGAJL for those who know me too well... I didn't even manage to hit one! When the teacher, Mr Cody, then used my model to show the rest of the class what to do, none of the kids understood why, then, did I use those letters. It took a few minutes for what people were saying to sink in and what had been meant by "initials", which sounds a lot like the French "initiales", though not so much like "yorreenētials" to a young Québécois with no English.

When it finally sunk in, I felt kinda foolish... pretended those letters had a meaning. Maybe I was making a gift for my mum; how do they know I'm not... so there. Also, in my defense, the teacher had placed much emphasis on "example", and I recall that having an impact on my choice.

For the rest of the year, students had a personalized holder-box that identified them. The one that identified no one was mine...

That reminds me of a speech I did for the annual competition we had, winners going on to the regional and then national competition. I'd discussed video games, mentioning a "pool" game in the speech, but referring to it as "billiards". Except, I didn't know how to pronounce that in English, and used the French pronunciation—it being a French word, after all—which sounds like "B Arr" in French, and nothing like the English "bill yards".

When I was done, a student raised his hand and asked me what "B-R" was. 

"Bee-har", I asked back, "where?" I hadn't a clue what he was referring to, getting caught on B and R without being able to link it to the French "billiard" that sounds like "B Arr".

"Yes, I wondered that, too," said another student. "You mention B-R a lot, and I hadn't a clue what you were saying."

The whole class wondered about that, too...

I finally clued in weeks later, upon hearing someone pronounce "billiards" the proper English way and reacting with "Oh, I thought it was pronounced Bee-harr."   

Kyrsten Sinema AND Victoria Nuland announcing their retirement on the same day?!

Well, I'll be. Maybe there is a god?

What's that? Nope. Sorry. Without clearer proof, "maybe" is the best you'll get from me on that topic, but only because I refuse to adhere to any one group's version of a god.

My own God, however, totally hates me. That, I believe. Time for a reformation, maybe?  

I didn't follow up on Sinema's case but I'm assuming that the local venom got to her, but the corporate dollars were there to console her? Despite some having pinned her as a moderate-centrist tethered to a non-crazy reality, that's not quite what I or many see. Rather, she essentially betrayed her party and blocked what the Dems had clearly made their campaign promises, deceiving and disappointing many, though she got richer because of it. Her position between the two poles hardly matters past that.    

Nuland, however, that's a surprise. Not sure what to think about her decision yet other than "get out before the crap really hits the fan."

•       •       •

Trump.

But, Nikki. Still.

Something odd there. Hope she's not slated to be the next Sec. of State or Defense Queen, or anything like that.

•       •       •

Unfortunately, being the beings we are entails a course along the lines of the one that I feared, and quicker than we all expected, it would appear. I'm speaking of AGI.

There seems to be some confusion—which I share—in regard to which milestones have been crossed, hence, Elon Musk suing Sam Altman is something I applaud, I think... from what I can gather.

The problem: It really is unclear whether or not AGI has been achieved or if it's to be achieved within three months, or two to three years. Frankly, even the latter would be way ahead of the time frame in which most expected to see the technological singularity materialise.

Personally, I expected a loud pop or large flash along with the event, maybe a fetus appearing in the night sky, next to a monolithed moon, who knows?  

I'm now limited in regard to internet access and can't really check everything out, but I did see a headline that was meant to be taken as Altman announcing that ChatGPT 5.0 is full AGI. Given how these things go and that one is taking a gamble by assuming that a headline's intended interpretation matches the article's content, that may not be the case, but it's clear that full transparency isn't what's been offered, until after the fact.

Any which way, and although I'm not certain that Sam Altman deserves all of the blame, Musk's suit should be stamped Humanity vs. OpenAI, Microsoft, US Gov. et al.

The next step in our evolution that this singularity entails isn't one that should be rushed into in isolation, and certainly not within a global atmosphere that's teetering on the brink of a full-scale war.

You can bet that war efforts are what's feeding the true motivation to fund such hubris, by-passing all that shouldn't despite Altman's claims that safeguards are being carefully implemented. If for war, machines will learn how to best kill. Can we really contain that past that point?  

Previously discussed but here it is again: the 2023 756-page "Final Report" by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which is chaired by Eric Schmidt, of Google fame.

•       •       •

There's a data problem. What's needed to train the system "doesn't exist". Synthetic data is what all are finding themselves having to rely on.

I'm still unsure what could be, realistically, the potential ramifications of that.

•       •       •

Gemini 1.5 Pro not only solved the needle-in-a-haystack test, it achieved 99.7% recall pushed to 10 million tokens within a context window of up to 1 million.

Beats the pants off of humans. Socks and undies, too.

I'm not sure how OpenAI's Q fares in comparison, but the Q system architecture is, apparently, the key that accelerated matters.

In medical spheres is where humans are quickly becoming embarrassments to the field.

•       •       •

A 4-Feb-2024 Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Andy Kessler called "Power Corrupts, Absolutely" clearly established just how ridiculously-obsessive and deluded by a belief in free-market magic that a segment of right-wing libertarians manage to be.

Kessler begins with:

...OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested that a “global regulatory body” was needed to monitor artificial intelligence. This is a colossally dumb idea. But Mr. Gates doubled down: “If the key is to stop the entire world from doing something dangerous, you’d almost want global government.” Wait, global what? ... In fact, of his 2023 world tour meeting heads of state, Mr. Altman noted, “there was almost universal support for it.” Well of course there was. Demand for power is insatiable. (Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI.)

The article sees Kessler make the same, tired argument regarding "government bad" without really establishing the fact or considering the difference between "a bad government", "government bad", and "efficient government" beyond some vague notion relating to "size".

He affirms that "[g]overnments don’t like to govern, but they like to control. Human freedom always takes a back seat" while being "reminded of something P.J. O’Rourke told [him] in 2009" about government always wanting to tell others what to do, O'Rourke's conclusion for this behaviour being: "Government is just a form of bullying for weaklings. Politics is the art of achieving power and prestige without merit.”

In closing, Kessler offers:

I prefer limited government. Spend enough on defense to keep us safe and secure, help the truly downtrodden, do some basic research and then, as Grover Norquist so eloquently suggested, get government “down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” For the economy, the government should set the rules of the sandbox, then get out of the way and let markets and competition do their magic.

In Kessler's own words: colossally dumb.

The self-adjusting free-market lunacy is just that, perhaps due to short-term-memory issues or little knowledge of recent history, but deregulation led to deeply corrupt, lobbyist-run  government that's responsible for globally-affecting market crashes and the geopolitical and economic now that people like Kessler do nothing but whine about.

There are some areas that shouldn't be left to magic or idiocy.

And there are areas that demand total, global cooperation. For all.

To be frank, I know I'm wasting my time, but thought I'd give it a try, as any help would provide a huge relief to me as I set off into the world with no safety anchor.

Please take the time to consider what I'm undertaking. It's one hell of a scary situation I've willingly opted to take, by, simply, allowing events to force me on this path.

Also another new for me, as a whole, but, as far as DMSaUY goes: I've never attempted to fundraise previously as asking for any charity does not make me comfortable but, more importantly, I hadn't felt that I could justify such an act. Now I can, and must; failing to offer a 'product' means I wither and die. I didn't become homeless and give up all my comforts and material goods to just drift around and find some meaningless job elsewhere.

Here's the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/paving-the-street-to-deliver-up-yours (if unavailable: still temporarily "paused" by GoFundMe)

Here's the text:

Howdy!
Whether I was aware of it or not, and whether I acted willingly or not to make it happen, all that is moot as the reality I experience is the same either way: I'm now set to live out my dream, having passed any point of no return. And I'd be lying if I were to say that I'm not totally scared right now.

So, what is the plan?
Taking a leap; attempting to grab some of that happiness I've long sought.
Taking the jump; I've given up any footing and safe space I can call "my place", or "home", having committed to moving out by 15-March-2024, and, now, I'm in the process of getting rid of all I have save what I need to set off on my journey.
Though I'm sure I'll eventually lay my hat somewhere I can call "home", again, I'm breaking free of any holdbacks that may influence one's mobility and perspectives, hence, simply allowing myself to go where a story lies and it may take me, merging with local folks as best as I can in order to tap into regional political sentiments that impact their views on global affairs, especially any conflicts, the last being my primary focus.
I do have India as a target, Cambodia, too. For what and for how long... time will tell, if I do make it out there.

Developments on site functionalities that exploit relevant data and the graph protocol are to be continued, since, after all, besides covering the minimal monthly fees due for the hosting and data storage space I'm utilizing, an internet connection is all I need to pursue ongoing devs.
The graph approach I'm implementing lets one perform all sorts of analysis and to unearth links and correlations, narrative mapping being a small part of what this allows, this method also facilitating efforts to identify relationships between any two entities. Given Down My Street & Up Yours' (DMSaUY) focus, you can trust that, corporations, NGOs, think tanks, as well as, governmental players and their organisations, are what I focus on, along with the role of each in any narrative that's playing out, or sold as reality. Media outlets of all types are increasingly being added to that, for, without media allies, it's then to my benefit to treat all of these the same way, no matter their stance.
 
Keep in mind that this is being done, in part, to counter the "narrative" approach applied by Western governments in order to censor individuals or clusters delving into narratives the official bodies prefer left alone, for whatever reason. The narratives that are targeted by the government and corporations aren't those that DMSaUY concerns itself over, except to establish relevant contexts.

Any help is awesome and qualifies as "tremendous help", as any support is a clear sign of encouragement, this providing important and powerful 'fuel' for such a project.

Your generosity will help me cover what's needed and offer a small buffer, if I'm to leave with some peace of mind and not find myself struggling for food before I'm able to complete even one story...

In addition to the perks offered with each donation tier, all those who donate will be granted access to exclusive content and site features, as well as being provided the ability to voice aspects or questions you'd like me to tackle or ask.

A big, hearty thank you.