The Beginnings of Brain Implants & Artificial Intelligence. . .

BBC NEWS | Technology | Mouse brain simulated on computer

This is the first necessary, but not sufficient step towards the creation both of artificial intelligence, but also brain tissue-computer chip interfacing. This last presents the possibility of being able to "download" entire sections of world history, quantum mechanics, or learn a new language relatively effortlessly.

Of course Terminator predicted that AI would spontaneously generate and become a threat to humanity on August 29, 1997. We've made it 10 years past that deadline, and I'm not sure how to feel about the advent of AIs with complex reasoning skills. Its possible that their emergence will cement the current social strata and hinder vertical income movement.

From the BBC article:

US researchers have simulated half a virtual mouse brain on a supercomputer.
The scientists ran a "cortical simulator" that was as big and as complex as half of a mouse brain on the BlueGene L supercomputer.
In other smaller simulations the researchers say they have seen characteristics of thought patterns observed in real mouse brains.
Now the team is tuning the simulation to make it run faster and to make it more like a real mouse brain.

Potentially scary stuff. How do our politics catch up with such potential social change? How will the current faux left-right structure be replace by a dominant, shared national ideology that could be effortlessly transmitted to anyone by virtue of a brain-computer automatic "update." How do such advances interact with advances in biotechnology and is there some type of possible synergy.

Looks like 20th Century Science Fiction may eventually become 21st Century science and consumer goods.

Support the Innocence Project

The 200th person innocently sent to death prison was freed this week due to the work of the Innocence Project.

Jerry Miller was cleared because DNA testing proved he couldn’t have committed the crime for which he was accused. An Illinois judge this week exonerated 48, of all charges relating to a brutal 1981 rape after Chicago police tested Miller's DNA against DNA found at the crime scene. The test cleared Miller, who was paroled in 2006 after serving 25 years. As a result of this week’s order, Miller will no longer be required to register as a sex offender.

The work the Innocence Project does is essential in preserving public support for the Death Penalty. The more people freed BEFORE DNA exonerration, the fewer "martyr cases" to rally around by the left.

I am a staunch supporter of the Death Penatly, but it must be applied fairly and appropriately in each case. And I believe that positive DNA evidence should be mandatory in all Death Penalty convictions.

I also believe the Death Penatly should apply to all pre-meditated murders, all violent rapes, and all sexual crimes against children.

Why Republicans Should Like Obama (but not necessarily vote for him)

Barack Obama did well in the debates tonight. That's not why GOPers should like him. Republicans should like him because as a person he represents the type of world in which Republicans want to live (minus the patriarchal oppression of women). He is a true product of the meritocracy. He used his natural abilities to become part of what Thomas Jefferson referred to as the "Natural Aristocracy." He was elected the first African-American head of the Law Review through a competitive process and has been excelling ever since.

He also has spent a significant portion of his life working to improve local communities. While he may persue policy goals Republicans find anathema, he does so honorably and to achieve goals that republicans often share.

In short, he may not be a member of the GOP or support its platform, but his life story is exactly the story Republicans want for everyone. Onward and upward for everyone through competition and commitment to community.

Happy Hour Boycott is on

DHS is officially the new FEMA . . .

. . . in the conspiracy community. Of course this may seem obvious 5 years after 9/11 and the resulting creation of DHS which, of course then became the new FEMA. It only took mainstream media culture (MMC) 5 years to officially catch up. (FEMA had played prominently in conspiracy culture for about 15 years prior to this).

I am of course referring to Jericho's revelation that the Department of Homeland Security is the party culpable for setting off the nukes and creating a new "emergency government."

I guess Rayelan and Theresa (and their associated communities) get it right sometimes.

Alien Abduction is All in Your Head

Belief in reincarnation tied to memory errors - LiveScience - MSNBC.com:

Here's the money quote:

"Past life memories are not the only type of implausible memories that have been studied in this manner. Richard McNally, a clinical psychologist at Harvard University, has found that self-proclaimed alien abductees are also twice as likely to commit source monitoring errors. "

Of course, couldn't the memory loss be caused by the repeated abductions. In statistics that would be called the alternative hypothesis and I doubt anyone tested it here.

CVS Responds to A Mo(u)rning Portrait

As mentioned in a follow-up item to the guy who criticized me for not helping the old man at CVS (which I actually did do), I mentioned that Ms. Uneven called CVS to share her thoughts on the matter.

CVS responded very positively in writing and promised to send someone to the store to make sure that the store was following all CVS customer service guidelines. Someone from their corporate office is going to take this up with all 3 pharmacy techs and the manager.

Even though the individual employees did not display the level of customer service one would hope for, the corporate response is excellent and CVS gets mad kudos from US.