Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1488
Birthday chores, anti-AI religion update, RIGGS, Alaska boxes and breakage
Hi hi hi. Oh man I did not want to wake up this morning, and I went to bed 30 mins early. The history of Appendix D of Return of the King, the appendix about calendars, and the four revisions to the draft document about the Calendars Appendix? Apparently not interesting enough to keep me awake! Who’da thunk it.
Hey exciting news, that bastard finally conceded and Riggs is now headed to the NC supreme court. Last outstanding 2024 election in the United States. Finally. Jesus.
Not unrelated, however, the Republicans, after a decade of trying, have consolidated their majority on the NC Elections division. So, you know. Next time it might not go so well. Those fuckers have accomplished horrific shit in NC without controlling the board. Gonna get worse before it gets better.
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Thank you all for your birthday wishes. It was a lovely birthday even if it was not a special day particularly. In a stunning upset, it turned out that the spreadsheet I was planning on working on all day? Only took an hour. That was a real bummer because I was really planning on getting into the weeds, you know? Just going to town on that spreadsheet. But nah. Wrapped it up by, like, 10 AM. Real shame.
I did get some fun stuff done, though. I repaired a downed shelf on the Band-Aid organization shelf, I know you guys are all very into the Band-Aid organization shelf it really is one of my greatest inventions shall we have a photo of it to really nerd out? Let’s.
Mm yeah, that is some good shit.
Emma and I went to Cookout for lunch, the famed, terrible-for-you North Carolina gem of a fast food chain, finally came to Chapel Hill a couple years ago, took over an old, 70’s-style Burger King so it is a real architectural gem.
I re-hung the Franklin Mint Star Wars Badges display cases that I inherited from my father. Emma had taken them down because one case needed a repair, which I did a few weeks ago, and also she wanted them moved to another wall in the theater room. So, hey, yay me. That is done. Complex shit, you know, gotta keep ‘em aligned and level and also they have these really anti-human hanging mechanisms that slide sideways do not like one bit. Oh hey let’s go take a photo of those for you.
Those things are so gloriously nerdy I bet you’re jealous your dad was not both a Franklin Mint victim and a Star Trek nerd. Should show you our china cabinet full of pewter ship replicas someday. Blow your mind.
Eight more boxes shipped from Alaska from my mom’s apartment cleanout arrived. I am sad to say I cannot claim a 100% non-breakage rate. But I did pretty good. Small chip off of the nativity camel, three broken plates from my grandma Mille’s china, and a broken teapot lid. Luckily both the plates and the teapot are available on eBay. Not cheap exactly, but affordable. I will replace them no one will ever know (sis don’t read this). Camel is repairable. And that is it.
The baleen has still not shown up, and I am getting worried it was confiscated by NOAA, because, you know, now that we don’t have FEMA we need to start making conspiracy theories about NOAA. Have DOGE and the Orange Turd come for NOAA yet? But I digress. Baleen is restricted by law and by treaty, but this baleen is grandfathered in, much, much older than the treaties. Everything I am doing is 100% legal, and I have the proof. BUT it would be a total pain to gather that proof right at this moment, what with the dead parents and all. So I am really hoping I don’t have to. I did have a plan that once the baleen was here, I would gather all that proof, print it out, and somehow keep it with the baleen, but obviously I have not gotten to that yet.
Been thinking about the no-AI religion and shit is moving fast, huh? Need to get that off the ground. Running out of time. The world desperately needs two things that can really only come from an anti-AI religion:
We need a certification process akin to Kosher certification, where inspectors confirm for the adherents of the religion that a certain product is 100% AI-free, so we can make informed decisions to avoid products that use AI. It could have classifications, but I am still sort-of torn on that. This religion could use a few more followers to, you know, debate such things.
We desperately, desperately need the anti-AI religion to be established as a bona fide religion in the United States so it can achieve protected class, so that adherents can be accommodated in their jobs for their beliefs. This will be a very long, protracted legal battle, probably for years, but it is the way, as the Mandalorian says. Now, yes, there are limits to this in the US, right? I admit I am a little fuzzy. Gonna need to find a book on it. Can an Amish lady get a job as a computer programmer than demand accomodation? Does Hooters have to accommodate burquas? I do not know. BUT I know those of us who find AI repugnant and want to avoid it in their lives need more protection than they’re getting now, and that we need to obstruct at every step of the way to our own oblivion.
I am sort of stuck on a name. It needs to be something that is:
Inclusive
Does not imply atheism like “Secular Humanism.” Really whatever else you believe is cool, so long as you’re anti-AI. Kinda like Chritianity does not care what sports team you root for.
Does not imply human dominion, but rather biological. Why needlessly alienate giaists, etc.
It needs a snappy nickname and/or acronym.
Needs to have the word “Church” or something else undeniably religious to further our quest for religious recognition.
Best I have come up with so far is Church Advancing Natural Dominion, CAND, the Candies. Not bad! Don’t love the word “dominion” but it can work. I don’t love “natural” but “biological” doesn’t work as well in acronyms. CABS: Church advancing Biologial Supremacy, but “supremacy” has bad overtones. But CABBIES is pretty great. Church of Organic Dominaion, the COODs.
Anyway, once that gets finalized, I think we’ll need a “bible.” What I envision here is a call for entries and a series of essays about assorted topics relating to AI, and explaining the objections: climate-related, pro-humanist sort of explaining that the only path to transcending the Fermi Paradox is making it through this AI nightmare. We need an essay explaining the difference between “benign” “machine learning” and AI. We need explainers. We need pro-labor screeds in support of artists. In a perfect world these essays would come from all walks of life.
And, of course, we gotta make sure no one uses AI to write essays for the CANDIE bible, so, you know, that’ll be a challenge, since that shit is permeating society like GMO corn is permeating Mexico against their will.
I am not 100% yet clear on how to get a call for entries out far and wide, but I think there would be a committee of judges that assembled the bible. This is, to be clear, not a Rick-focused affair here. Ideally it would just exist, like those people from whom you order your wedding-officiant license when you wanna officiate your friend’s marriage. I just want this to exist I don’t really want to do it all.
I would like to state that my daughter was absolutely perfect for my birthday, just absurdly cuddly, made me a super cute card, kept wishing me a happy birthday, it was great. She had gymnastics yesterday. Emma and I seem to be the only two parents who both go regularly. We do it for the same reason we love taking her to the playground together: Jane is out of our hair and we can talk. So many couples don’t talk, man. But for us every moment we can talk without Jane interrupting us is precious. But yeah, Jane was great. We watched some Real Civil Engineer, we did some swinging from the feet. She did her teeth and jammies quickly. A+ no complaints.
Lookie here we got a W Hotel Lobby in a Better, Alternate Universe playlist for you, volume 81. New Pami thank you Nick for alerting me to her. I really love the new Youth Lagoon never paid much attention to them but this new album is great. Cautiously optimistic for the Cure remix album. Enjoying the new Miki Berenyi Trio album. Love this Great Grandpa band but I don’t know anything about them been meaning to investigate. Love this new Blancmange but its name is Nil By Mouth vol 6 which a) creeps me out because of that Gary Oldman film, and b) makes me wonder: are there five more of these? Am I missing out? Must investigate.
Hey y’all have a great day, y’hear.
(Ten years in the south, and I still don’t say “y’all,” even though I love it. Still feels affected. Maybe another decade.)
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Thanks for reading.
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Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.