Ininewcrow

Reminds me of how proud I am to remember one of my uncles.

Some of my dad's family went to St Anne's Residential School in Fort Albany in northern Ontario in the 1950s ... it's famous as a very brutal institution that did terrible things. Dad had one older brother who was famous for being thrown out of the school and told to not return. He was very rebellious and constantly fought with everyone the entire time he was there. He was regularly beaten and punished when he was smaller and younger but he never stopped fighting back. He was a naturally strong and built young boy. When he turned 12, he was built like a full grown man and was known to punch out and beat any of the priests and brothers. They couldn't handle him at one point, sent him home and just told him not to return.

My cousins in that family are some of the toughest, strongest most brutal people I know. I'm glad I'm related to them because anyone who ever crossed them on the street didn't do so good.

Paula Abdul for me ... and I had to absolutely hide that fact from everyone I knew

This reminds me of one of my favourite memories this time of year - walking the streets of Lisbon, Portugal with my wife. We didn't have much money (we never did) but it was always fun to travel to new places in the world and to explore it as much as we could. It was December, cold, wet, miserable which is why we were there ... it's the cheapest time of year to travel because no one wants to go somewhere where the weather is not so great. But on those cold walks at night, they have street vendors selling roasted chestnuts ... we couldn't believe it. We had only read about stuff like that and it was the most cozy feeling to huddle in the drafty cold while eating a warm handful of freshly roasted chestnuts next to the hot fire of the cart.

I had someone in the comments the other day give me a new response to this kind of question ... I used to just answer 'No, I'm not OK'

Now I respond with .... 'I will be'

Just don't wish upon any stars

They applied that same logic to Indian Residential Schools in Canada ... but they weren't trying to grow men ... they just wanted to get rid of the Indian inside the Indian.

Those with the money and power don't want that tho ... they don't want a democracy (a system run by the people) they want a plutocracy (a system run by the wealthy)

I think the first step towards changing the system of voting is to first admit that we don't exist in a democratic system.

You make the rocking world go around

I keep having this argument with my family and friends. AI, ChatGPT and any other of the AI things online are only good for entertainment or for having a bit of fun. As soon as you cross that idea that these systems are helping you learn, 'research' or gather information or to assist you with a problem ... they are designed to make you feel good and to always reassure you that you are right all the time ... designed to make you feel that you are not wrong, that you are smart and that everything you say or think is correct and can be verified. It may give you the sense that it disagrees with you or wants to give you new information but it is all designed to slowly just make you feel like there is nothing wrong with the way you think or see the world.

As soon as you start living in a fantasy world where you can never be wrong ... you are on a dangerous path of delusion.

My work here is done :)

My favourite description of the human brain is that since it is mostly made of fat ... it is the consistancy of soggy raw bacon

I love this timeline ... let's build a neurochip to interface with the human brain ... so that we can make more money

What could go wrong?