May 4, 5

Looks like a clear day--so far.

Well, it has been a nice and sunny day. Not surprising since I had a dental appointment. It is always nice on days I have to do something I really would rather not. I intensely dislike medical or dental exams. However, my desire to keep my teeth is stronger than my dislike and discomfort.

I found this article by way of Naked Capitalism. A frequent discussion here has been the consequences of moving industrial production overseas especially when that production involves military systems and equipment. We hadn't considered the effect of industrial consolidation in this country. 

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Looks like another clear day. I might get out and do some sweeping on the patio. We like feeding the birds but they are very messy eaters. I don't sweep up as much as some might because many of the birds will pick through what has been thrown down eating what they find.

An interesting thing about yesterday's dental appointment: they were struggling with a prolonged problem with their computer system. They said it was down last week and only barely working this week. They couldn't access or print out the patient records, schedule future appointments or bill the customers. I am sure they are going to have a lot of data entry to catch up. Sometime soon I should hear from them to schedule my next appointment and bill me for the last one. What is interesting is how often these problems are coming up. We have experienced several interruptions of our internet service. It used to be extremely annoying; now, we simply swear a bit and go on. We do wonder, though, because these interruptions and system crashes seem to be happening more frequently.

Considering computers and computer systems, this piece on Robert Reich's substack site is interesting. It makes you wonder where this technology is going. El Gato Malo is also wondering especially when one thinks about what AI means for the future of truth.  That raised some memories for me. About 35 years ago when the internet was in its infancy a computer literacy course I took introduced students to how sites manipulate information. The manipulation has become more pervasive. And the real source of the information is as difficult to pin down as the truth of the info. And that doesn't even begin to address the problem of political allegiances. Woke? Not Woke? What the hell does Woke mean anyway?