Month: January 2024

Crap In–Crap Out

Back in 2006 I started my blog on another platform it was entitled, Studies And Observations, basically it was started for me not thinking about others being interested in what I had to say about international stuff.

In all that time I have not worried about my ranking on Google or any other format…..it just was not that important for it would change nothing in the way my blog is written.

I will finally get to the point in my round-about way……

Many bloggers spend lots of time trying to find that perfect formula that will help them and their search for the perfect SEO.

SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a fundamental aspect of online success. Why? Because it drives organic traffic and enhances online visibility. In today’s digital landscape, competition is fierce. That’s why having a strong SEO strategy is crucial for small business owners, eCommerce store owners, website owners, bloggers, and webmasters alike.

Well all the hard worker those interested in improving their SEO may be a fart in the wind.

Google Search has been caught up in a massive tidal wave of generative AI garbage.

It’s starting to look like an unrecognizable heap of spam, meaningless search engine optimization (SEO) filler, and dubiously sourced news.

“It’s the worst quality results on Google I’ve seen in my 14-year career,” eminent SEO expert Lily Ray told Fortune.

Instead of filtering out scams, Google is seemingly bowing to the pressure and is instead promoting them.

“Right now, it feels like the scammers are winning,” Ray added.

Researchers recently confirmed these suspicions, finding that Google is consistently ranking ad-filled spam. In a year-long study, first reported on by 404 Media, a team of German researchers studied search results for thousands of product-review terms and found some shocking results.

The team found an “inverse relationship between affiliate marketing use and content complexity, and that all search engines fall victim to large-scale affiliate link spam campaigns.”

In other words, the “search engines seem to lose the cat-and-mouse game that is SEO spam,” the team concluded in their paper.

And, as you might expect at this point, generative AI is likely playing a central role in the dissemination of this low-quality content.

https://futurism.com/ai-garbage-destroying-google-results

Sorry if I peed on someone’s parade….I just want a little FYI to help save people’s mind from ODing on stats and stuff.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Sue Update

As I wrote yesterday the chemo has been kicking Sue’s butt….she has been feeling poorly for a couple of days…..not eating, crappy feeling all around so yesterday I had her call her doctor and he said she needed to get to the ER immediately.

After 6 hours of sitting around waiting for test ‘results’ to come back….of course Sue is bitching she wants to go home but that did not happen…..she was checked into the hospital, for at least last night…..and we wait.

This morning Sue is in isolation because her white cell count is really low….that is the best I can get out of doctors.

This is not good…..I shall limit my posts to one a day for now….at least until I have all the info on Sue’s case.

Thanx everyone for your kind words and best wishes Sue and I appreciate the time it takes to make those statements and well wishes.

For I am out for awhile and will keep you guys posted.

Thanx again.

chuq

War Is Coming?

The US is involved in 2 wars in the Middle East as I type…..plus several around the region actions (when needed)…..do we really need another conflict?

I am talking about the actions taken to protect the Red Sea from Houthi tyranny……apparently plans are being made…..

US officials told The Washington Post on Saturday that the Biden administration is planning for a “sustained military campaign” against the Houthis in Yemen even as over a week of near-daily bombing has done nothing to deter the group and has only dramatically escalated the situation.

The officials could not put any timeline on how long the conflict will last, only saying they don’t expect it to drag on for “years,” like the US wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The report said the officials acknowledged they can not identify an “end date or provide an estimate for when the Yemenis’ military capability will be adequately diminished.”

Some US officials are worried the plans for an open-ended conflict against the Houthis will shatter the fragile truce between warring factions in Yemen, which includes a US-backed Saudi/UAE-led coalition. So far, Riyadh has urged restraint and distanced itself from the US’s anti-Houthi operations.

Before the US began bombing the Houthis, Ansar Allah officials made clear they would only stop attacking Israeli-linked commercial shipping if the onslaught on Gaza ended. Instead of pressuring Israel to end the slaughter in Gaza, President Biden chose escalation, and now the Houthis are targeting US commercial shipping, and several US merchant vessels have been hit with missiles.

President Biden acknowledged his strikes on the Houthis were ineffective but vowed they would continue anyway. When asked by a reporter if the attacks were working, Biden said, “Well, when you say ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.”

Since the strikes started on January 12, the US has bombed Yemen seven times. Bloomberg reported on Friday that the US and the UK were exploring ways to step up the campaign against the Houthis, signaling the strikes will intensify.

(antiwar.com)

The rhetoric scares me…..we really do not need to fund yet another war….I ask again….why cannot the KSA and UAE do the heavy lift on this after all they have been bombing Yemen into the stone age for years and besides it is their livelihood that the Houthis are threatening.

If you do not like this turn….how about this one…..

President Biden and his top advisors worry that it’s just a matter of time before an American soldier is killed in Iraq or Syria amid a flurry of rocket attacks launched by Shia militias on US bases that started in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

US officials suggested that if an American is killed, President Biden would attack Iran directly, which could provoke a major war. Iran is allied with the Shia militias that have been taking credit for attacks on US troops, but Tehran has denied it’s involved in the operations.

In October, the Pentagon said it had no direct evidence Iran was ordering attacks on US troops, and a US official told CNN that how willing the Shia militias were to act independently was always a “persistent intelligence gap.” Regardless, the US is still blaming Iran for the attacks.

and don’t want to “go so far that the conflict would escalate into a full-fledged war, particularly by striking Iran directly.”

However, if an American is killed, the US officials say they may have no choice but to attack Iran. “That is a red line that has not been crossed, but if the Iranian-backed militias ever have a day of better aim or better luck, it easily could be,” the report reads.

It’s unclear from the report if the US would bomb Iranian territory directly or target the Iranian military in Iraq or Syria. Israel recently killed five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by targeting them with airstrikes in Damascus, risking a response from Tehran.

(antiwar.com)

Look below the shallow crap on the boob tube and look for the real reason the US is willing to start another war.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

An Apology To My Readers

It may seem like I am stepping back from blogging recently….I have been a bit remiss but it is more a health issue than I am tired of blogging.

My Better Half, Sue is going through her third round of chemo and this time it is hitting her hard…..so I have been picking up more chores that Sue use to do daily to give her some time to relax and try to recover.

Know that I am reading but I just may not have enough time to timely reply or comment. Please know that I appreciate all my readers and commenters and I will do my best to keep current but know that some days may not be as free to respond as usual.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.

chuq

Another Goes Down–Then There Was Two

The 2024 GOP candidate pool just got smaller by one….DeSantis has called it quits and endorses you know who…..

Two days before the nation’s first primary, Ron DeSantis abandoned his struggling Republican presidential campaign and endorsed the front-runner. “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the Florida governor said in a video posted Sunday on X announcing the suspension. “If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it,” DeSantis said, per NBC News. “But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources. We don’t have a clear path to victory.”

DeSantis began his campaign as a candidate many Republicans saw as a viable challenger to Trump after winning a landslide reelection as governor while Trump’s endorsements fared poorly in the 2022 midterms. But polls showed DeSantis fading, per the Washington Post, even before he officially entered the race in a problematic live chat on X. He had been scheduled to attend an event Sunday afternoon in New Hampshire, which votes Tuesday, but instead flew home to Florida late Saturday after appearing in South Carolina, per the New York Times. “While this campaign has ended, the mission continues,” DeSantis said in his video announcement.

Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying “we are honored” by the endorsement from DeSantis, per NBC News, and attacking his remaining competitor for the GOP nomination. “Nikki Haley is the candidate of the globalists and Democrats who will do everything to stop the America First movement,” it added. Haley told supporters in New Hampshire that Desantis “ran a great race,” per the Times. “He’s been a good governor. And we wish him well. Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady left,” she said.

One less mini-dictator in the mix….that leaves Haley to carry the banner of stupid against the banner of absurd.

New Hampshire looms and DeSantis wasa nobody, which hurt his feelings, and he decided to step out before he was known as a major loser.

How will the4 elections play out?

Will Haley stick with it until she makes it to her home state of South Carolina?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh The Atrocities!

Sunday and time for a little history (heavy sighs and eye rolls will not help)….

We have two wars raging that is being financed by the US and within these two conflicts there have been what the White House and media has called atrocities…..and of course there have been others across time but funny how none have mentioned any the the US may have committed….why is that?

But unfortunately the US has also committe3d some terrible things in the past….both distant and not so distant….

As most are well aware of I like to find teachable moments to help expand my readers knowledge and horizons (but some of the replies are way off subject which leads me to think knowledge is not necessarily important to some)….

Here are 10 atrocities that the US had a hand in committing both stateside and internationally….

You might know about the Tulsa Race massacre, which has thankfully gotten lots of long overdue attention in recent years, or the My Lai Massacre, where US troops abused and gunned down a whole village of Vietnamese civilians during the war there. But lots of atrocities deliberately perpetrated by American authorities against innocent victims at home and abroad have been, perhaps unsurprisingly, swept under the rug. That ain’t okay, folks. Let’s shed some light on some of these shameful episodes here…

10. Philippine-American War and Concentration Camps

The Philippine-American War (1899–1902) is one of the lesser-studied events in American classrooms. That could be because between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the World Wars, Vietnam and the Cold War, as well as other subjects, there are just bigger stories to cover that had a greater impact on US life back home. But maybe it’s because of the US Army’s use of ‘reconcentration’ orders to suppress support for guerrilla resistance against American colonial rule. Termed ‘zones of protection,’ these confined villages were subject to strict demarcation and controlled movement. And yes, by ‘reconcentration’ we definitely do mean regular ol’ concentration camps. Run by the United States. In a nation we colonized. 

Worse still, American reconcentration policy in the Philippines had an impact that extended beyond the formal wartime period. Rather than a fleeting measure applied to enforce martial law, reconcentration became a feature of the post-war governance structure, with the Philippines Commission authorizing provincial governors in 1903 to continue reorganizing specific populations.

There is more….read on….

10 American Atrocities You’ve Probably Never Heard About

My point is why condemn others when you are just as guilty as they?

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–20Jan24

As the weekend begins IST stands ready to give you all the news you cannot possibly use…..

There have been a wealth of articles as well as shows that have said that it has solved the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle…..well there is at least one more….

The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, or as some call it, the “Devil’s Triangle”, started with none other than Christopher Columbus.

Columbus was sailing through the area on his first voyage to the New World when he reported a strange occurrence one night. According to his account, a “great flame of fire” crashed into the sea. Experts believe that this was likely a meteor. A few weeks later, a strange light appeared in the distance.

The explorer also reported erratic compass readings in the region. Some researchers believe that this may have been because of where the Bermuda Triangle was. It was possible that at that time, a sliver of the triangle was one of the places on earth where “true north” and “magnetic north” line up.

The mysterious ocean region, however, did not gain infamy until the twentieth century. At this time, reports of unexplained disappearances of ships and boats began to circulate widely.

One such tragedy occurred in 1918. A massive Navy cargo ship, the USS Cyclops, was carrying over three hundred men and ten thousand tons of manganese ore when it sank somewhere between Barbados and the Chesapeake Bay. It never sent out a distress signal before it went down, and no one ever found the wreckage despite extensive searching.

The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle may finally be solved

This is what you get with Red state politics….and this is from my state of Mississippi….

Mississippi is withdrawing from a federal program to feed children during their summer break from school, the governor there announced, characterizing the decision as a way to reject “attempts to expand the welfare state”.

Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, declined to participate in the federal program that would give electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to low-income families to supplement food costs when academic classes are out of session, Mississippi Today reported.

Eligible families would have received $40 a month, or a total of $120 to account for the break between school terms.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/13/mississippi-child-school-food-program-welfare-state

From time to time I get grad work from students and post doc and I have written extensively on the subject of ‘settling’ in outer space and this paper is a good look at the subject.

As I detail in my article in the American Political Science Review (Utrata 2023), there are many reasons why one might object to colonies on the Moon. These include the enormous emissions in the midst of the climate catastrophe (Rubenstein 2022; Utrata 2021); the continued dispossession of indigenous lands and displacement of vulnerable communities for rocket launch sites (Sammler and Lynch 2021) and entrenchment of coloniality and colonial relationships (Trevino 2020; Bawaka Country et al. 2020); or the risk of geopolitical conflict and militarization of space (Deudney 2020). However ill-advised colonizing outer space might be, it is often assumed to be fundamentally different from earthly colonialism for one key reason: outer space is actually empty. As Mary-Jane Rubenstein (2022, 158) puts it:

What’s Wrong with Outer Space Colonialism?

Ukraine’s civil rights worries…..there has been nothing but chest thumping for Ukraine in its battle with Russia any conflicting reports were deemed as pro-Russian reports….well that was crap and now word is starting to come out.

During the latter half of 2022, when Ukrainian victory over Russia seemed a distinct possibility, voices questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s domestic policies were sparse. Today, however, while outright criticism of Kyiv’s military strategy remains taboo, we are beginning to see frank debate on Ukrainian social media about the country’s postwar future and who will be left to build it.

Ukrainians across the political spectrum—former officials, political allies to the current administration, longtime critics, and western Ukrainian intellectuals among them—are questioning the long-term social merits of wartime policies that effectively relegate Russian speakers to permanent second-class status. It should be noted that almost all of these critics reside in Ukraine and are fiercely supportive of Ukrainian independence. But they worry that the government is squandering its chance to forge a durable post-invasion social consensus by adopting policies that will alienate, criminalize, or deport a significant portion of the country’s population.

https://archive.is/Az2Yz#selection-2973.0-2993.503

Sorry folks but last week was a busy week for us and I did not have the time to find as much as I would have liked for the ‘news dump’.

May you all have a good weekend and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

The AI Fraud Act

AI is a big deal now….it is being used for everything from minor blog posts to customer service on-line…..it is writing news stories and cartoons and on and on…..

What will AI do for plagiarism protection?

A couple of minor players in the Congress have worked together to try and solve any problems

Mixing new technology and new laws is always a fraught business, especially if the tech in question relates to communication. Lawmakers routinely propose bills that would sweep up all sorts of First Amendment-protected speech. We’ve seen a lot of this with social media, and we’re starting to see it with artificial intelligence. Case in point: the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas And Unauthorized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act. Under the auspices of protecting “Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice,” the bill would restrict a range of content wide enough to ensnare parody videos, comedic impressions, political cartoons, and much more.

The bill’s sponsors, Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), say they’re concerned about “AI-generated fakes and forgeries,” per a press release. They aim to protect people from unauthorized use of their own images and voices by defining these things as the intellectual property of each individual.

The No AI Fraud Act cites several instances of AI being used to make it appear that celebrities created ads or art that they did not actually create. For instance, “AI technology was used to create the song titled ‘Heart on My Sleeve,’ emulating the voices of recording artists Drake and The Weeknd,” states the bill’s text. AI technology was also used “to create a false endorsement featuring Tom Hanks’ face in an advertisement for a dental plan.”

But while the examples in the bill are directly related to AI, the bill’s actual reach is much more expansive, targeting a wide swath of “digital depictions” or “digital voice replicas.”

Salazar and Dean say the bill balances people’s “right to control the use of their identifying characteristics” with “First Amendment protections to safeguard speech and innovation.” But while the measure does nod to free speech rights, it also expands the types of speech deemed legally acceptable to restrict. It could mean way more legal hassles for creators and platforms interested in exercising their First Amendment rights, and result in a chilling effect on certain sorts of comedy, commentary, and artistic expression.

AI Fraud Act Could Outlaw Parodies, Political Cartoons, and More 

This whole AI thing is becoming more and more complex….but is this the answer?

I cannot answer that simply because I do not use AI for anything so if there is some expert out there that would like to tackle this subject then you have an open mic.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“It’s Not Working”

Just last week the US has taken upon itself to start yet another conflict….this time it is Yemen.

These airstrikes were to make the Houthi rebels cease their rocket attacks on commercial shipping….

President Biden acknowledged on Thursday that his strikes against the Houthis were not working to stop the Yemeni group but vowed they would continue anyway as the US military bombed Yemen for the fifth time within a week.

The president made the comments when asked by a reporter if his strikes against the Houthis were working. “Well, when you say ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes,” he said.

The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have vowed they won’t back down in the face of the US military. Ansar Allah’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said Thursday that it was a “blessing” for the Houthis to be in a direct fight with the US. “We praise god for this great blessing and great honor — for us to be in a direct confrontation with Israel and America,” he said.

Since Biden ordered the first strikes against them last week, the situation in the region escalated dramatically. The Houthis are now targeting American commercial shipping, hitting two US-owned cargo ships with missiles earlier this week, and more shipping companies have suspended transits through the Red Sea. Before the US escalation, the Houthis made clear they would stop attacks on Israel-linked commercial shipping only if Israel’s onslaught in Gaza ended, but President Biden is determined to continue supporting the slaughter of Palestinians.

The US backed a Saudi/UAE-led coalition against the Houthis in a brutal war that killed 377,000 people between 2015 and 2022. During that time the Houthis only became a more formidable fighting force and developed missile and drone technology that gave them the ability to hit Saudi oil infrastructure. A ceasefire between the Saudis and Houthis has held relatively well since April 2022, and Riyadh is now calling for the US to exercise restraint in Yemen.

(antiwar.com)

The shipping ;lanes of the Red Sea…..should that have not been the area where locals should have handled any problems…..why was the US involved?

If this fiasco does not stop the attacks will the US be prepared for yet another Middle East invasion and war?

What a waste!

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–18Jan24

This is a horrifying report out of the state of Alabama…..

The bodies of two men who died while incarcerated in Alabama’s prison system were missing their hearts or other organs when returned to their families, a federal lawsuit alleges. The family of Brandon Clay Dotson, who died in a state prison in November, filed a federal lawsuit last month against the Alabama Department of Corrections and others, saying his body was decomposing and his heart was missing when his remains were returned to his family, the AP reports. In a court filing in the case last week, the daughter of Charles Edward Singleton, another deceased inmate, said her father’s body was missing all of his internal organs when it was returned in 2021.

Lauren Faraino, an attorney representing Dotson’s family, said Wednesday that the experience of multiple families shows this is “absolutely part of a pattern.” Dotson, 43, was found dead on Nov. 16 at Ventress Correctional Facility. His family, suspecting foul play was involved in his death, hired a pathologist to do a second autopsy and discovered his heart was missing, according to the lawsuit. His family filed a lawsuit seeking to find out why his heart was removed and to have it returned to them.

“Defendants’ outrageous and inexcusable mishandling of the deceased’s body amounts to a reprehensible violation of human dignity and common decency,” the lawsuit states, adding that “their appalling misconduct is nothing short of grave robbery and mutilation.” Dotson’s family, while seeking information about what happened to his heart, discovered that other families had similar experiences, Faraino said. The situation involving Singleton’s body is mentioned in court documents filed by Dotson’s family last week. In the documents, the inmate’s daughter Charlene Drake writes that a funeral home told her that her father’s body was brought to it “with no internal organs” after his death while incarcerated in 2021.

Is the state harvesting human organs for profit?  Or is it that some ghoul in the prison system is getting rich desecrating bodies for profit?

This is just sick and more attention should be paid by everyone.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”