Author: philg

The WordPress dumb-as-a-brick AI Assistant

by philg

I accepted the offer of AI assistance from the WordPress admin page here. Here are some of the insights it had on a recent post…

A Silicon Valley AI isn’t familiar with a favorite drug of Silicon Valley?

A San Francisco Bay Area AI isn’t familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area?

The California Righteous want to help those without horses (so long as it doesn’t cost them any money via higher taxes?):

AI from San Francisco hasn’t heard of San Francisco’s principal airport:

Maybe a conservative got into the woodpile? The AI isn’t aware of the most dramatic event in American history:

An AI from a state where schools were closed for 18 months doesn’t know about the virus that is so very deadly to those of K-12 age:

“Therefore” is too big a word for a society in which average IQ is falling:

A California AI is ignorant of the Rainbow Flag Religion:

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The current inflation rate of 6 percent is characterized as a rate of 3 percent

by philg

“Inflation Heated Up in January, Freezing the Fed” (Wall Street Journal, today):

Consumer prices rose 3%, as fight against inflation continues to face headwinds

So prices are going up 0.247 percent per month, the rate that compounds to 3 percent after 12 cycles?

Consumer prices rose briskly in January, extending a recent pattern of price increases at the start of the year that likely derails the prospect for Federal Reserve rate cuts anytime soon.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that prices rose last month 0.5% from December on a seasonally adjusted basis.

0.5 percent per month works out to 6.17 percent annually.

So… the current inflation rate is 6 percent and we are told that it is 3 percent.

Related:

If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day present that won’t break the bank, a piston-powered Cirrus SR22 for $1.2 million:

(Don’t forget state income tax on top of this unless you live in one of the states that sensibly doesn’t tax aircraft purchases (Maskachusetts being a surprising example!).)

If we specified pre-Biden delivery terms of 4 months, the price would be higher. Cirrus currently has 1.5-2-year waiting list.

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Moveflation of 23 percent per year

by philg

As part of my mother’s moving from independent living to assisted living (February 2024) and then onward from assisted living into the next realm (January 2025) we have needed some assistance from a local moving company.

The February 2024 quote: “Charge is 2men $150 per hour 3h minimum, 1h travel time, $50 fuel plus materials (if we use any), $500 minimum.”

The January 2025 quote: “Hourly rate $185 2men 3h minimum 1h travel plus materials and fuel – starting $655 minimum.”

That’s a real-world annual inflation rate of 23 percent ($185/$150).

The latest official government inflation number from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was supposed to come out today. How does the BLS fantasy compare to our lived experience?

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The organization that advocates for Black and Brown Americans couldn’t find a Black or Brown leader

by philg

“As Trump Attacks Diversity, a Racist Undercurrent Surfaces” (New York Times, February 3, 2025):

“His attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t about a particular program or some acronym — they’re just a sanitized substitute for the racist comments that can no longer be spoken openly,” Margaret Huang, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s president and chief executive, said during a call with civil rights leaders after Mr. Trump’s remarks. “But the message is the same, that women, ​Black and brown communities are inherently less capable, and if they hold positions of power or authority in government or business, it must be because the standards were lowered.​”

Let’s check out the person whose official job is saying that our Black and Brown brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters are amply qualified for any job…

My mother is white; my father is Chinese American

source: “Florida should respect all children, not repeat the tragedies of our past” (SPLC; Florida is to progressives as Carthage was to Romans? Maybe Democrats in Congress should start every morning with a group chant of Florida delenda est?)

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Should the U.S. military get some Robinson R44s to enable Black Hawk pilots to build time and experience?

by philg

One aspect of the DCA Black Hawk-CRJ tragedy that is notable to a civilian pilot is the low reported number of hours of both the pilot and instructor on board, i.e., 500 and 1,000. A civilian helicopter pilot won’t get anywhere near a turbine-powered helicopter until beyond the 1,000-hour mark and that turbine-powered helicopter will be a used single-engine sightseeing machine, not a $20 million Black Hawk in more-challenging air taxi service. The pilot-in-command with 500 hours had been a military aviator for 6 years, which meant that she was flying fewer than 100 hours per year, less than a lot of hobbyists.

The U.S. military seems to start with a “cost is no object” philosophy when it comes to aircraft, e.g., training new pilots in a $6 million (pre-Biden price) twin-engine Eurocopter rather than in a $400,000 (post-Biden price) single-engine Robinson. Once the magnificent machines are delivered, however, the military then seems to decide that they’re too expensive to fly casually. Why not a fleet of Robinson R44s or, if Avgas is too complicated to keep in inventory, turbine-powered Robinson R66s, that would enable Army helicopter pilots to get significant real experience flying helicopters? (Order the Robinsons without the optional SAS/Autopilot so that the Black Hawk pilots get comfortable flying without the crutch of stability augmentation. Don’t subject our military heroes to the challenge of keeping a Robinson R22 under control, though!)

On second thought, when the government operates aircraft it usually manages to spend vastly more than what civilian operators spend. So perhaps it would make more sense to give the military pilots a stipend to use at local flight schools where the retail rental price would be much lower than the military’s cost. Reuters points out that sending migrants via military planes costs perhaps 10X what it would cost to purchase economy-class tickets (even when the military operates the exact same type as an airline, the cost is vastly higher).

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Tom Brady goes to Heaven

by philg

A Berkeley-based Effective Altruist invested in Sam Bankman-Fried‘s FTX after seeing a promotion for it by Tom Brady. He/she/ze/they becomes angry and lets loose a 15′ alligator inside Brady’s Miami mansion. Brady, unfortunately, cannot be extracted from the beast’s stomach in time.

On arrival in Heaven, God gives Tom Brady a welcome tour and shows him to an already-furnished 2500-square-foot house with white picket fence. There are weather-faded Tampa Bay and New England Patriots flags on either side of the front walk. “Because of your distinguished career,” God says, “you won’t spend eternity in the high-rise apartment blocks like our standard live-gooders. After your third Super Bowl win in 2005 we prepared this single-family home just for you and the hottest subset of your ladyfriends who ultimately arrive. I made sure that Gisele Bündchen’s future home here is all the way on the other side of town.” As they walk around to the back of the house, Brady sees a Jeff Bezos-style mansion two blocks away. Brady and God move toward it. The sidewalks all around the mansion are painted in eternal red and gold. There is a 75′ car dealer-style flagpole in the front yard with a 20×30′ Chiefs flag flapping in a constant 10 mph local wind. The arrowhead-shaped pool has “KC” in red tile on the bottom.

A 7′-high Mahomes #15 jersey hangs above the front porch:

There’s a 15′-high solid gold sculpture of a football in the front yard with a KC logo on the side. There’s a car in the driveway whose body is shaped like a Chiefs helmet (they use Grok in Heaven because ChatGPT did a terrible job):

Every window on the second floor is filled with the display of a jersey of a player on the 2024-25 Kansas City Chiefs team. There’s a private 100-yard regulation football field behind the mansion with the KC logo in the middle and the lushest greenest grass Brady has ever seen. Assisted by cheerleaders, two retrievers who look just like goldens structurally are running around the field. One retriever’s fur is Pantone PMS 186 C to match Chiefs red and the other is Pantone PMS 1235 C to match Chiefs gold. Here’s the best that ChatGPT could do with the vision:

A motor yacht is docked on one side of the house, which has direct access to the Heavenly Lake:

Tom Brady looks back at his own modest house and says, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I won 7 Super Bowls. Patrick Mahomes won only 3. Why will he get this mansion while I will spend eternity in a regular house?” God laughs and says “Sorry for the confusion, Tom, but that’s not Patrick Mahomes’s mansion. It’s my house.”

Readers: Are you watching the Super Bowl this evening? The 6:30 pm Eastern start time is relatively kid-friendly. The half time entertainer is Kendrick Lamar. Here are some excerpts from “Backseat Freestyle”, one of his big hits:

Uh, Martin had a dream
Martin had a dream
Kendrick have a dream
All my life I want money and power
Respect my mind or die from lead shower
I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower
So I can f*ck the world for seventy-two hours
Goddamn I feel amazing, damn I’m in the matrix
My mind is living on cloud nine and this nine is never on vacation
Start up that Maserati and VROOM VROOM! I’m racing
Poppin’ pills in the lobby and I pray they don’t find her naked
And I pray you niggas is hatin’, shooters go after Judas
Jesus Christ if I live life on my knees, ain’t no need to do this
Park it in front of Lueders, next to that Church’s Chicken
All you pussies is losers, all my niggas is winners, screaming

…

Damn I got bitches, damn I got bitches
Damn I got bitches, wifey, girlfriend and mistress
All my life I want money and power
Respect my mind or nigga

I wonder if the Palm Beach County Public Schools would have any issues with our third grader coming in and singing the song that he learned during the Super Bowl…

Related:

  • a West Coast/Davos perspective on how to reverse Climate Change… “Bill Gates says he will never downsize from his mega-mansion with 24 bathrooms — despite being a single empty-nester” (New York Post)
  • “America Is Abandoning DEI. The NFL Remains All-In.” (Wall Street Journal, Feb 6, 2025): Everyone from the federal government to Fortune 500 companies is dialing back their diversity efforts. But America’s most popular sport is standing its ground. … “We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue to do those efforts,” Goodell said. “We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it.” … Yet the NFL is also facing a fresh bout of skepticism about the effectiveness of its own diversity efforts, including the Rooney Rule, a policy established in 2003 that now requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for important jobs such as coach. [Ed: Who defines “minority”?]
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Aircraft paint scheme ideas

by philg

A follow-up to What I learned about aircraft paint at Oshkosh…

Let’s start at the Okeechobee, Florida airport (KOBE):

This Skyhawk-with-Hawk might be the way to put a golden retriever on the side of a Cirrus (via wrap):

Back in Stuart, Florida (KSUA), a subtle design that whispers, “this Challenger 600 won’t be available for charter” (KR = Kid Rock, I think):

Shades of blue for a PC-12:

How about cars? Here’s a neighborhood mom’s ride:

Wouldn’t it look better with a light wrap of some kind on the sides?

Tough to think of a way to improve this Miami Dolphins fan’s truck in downtown Abacoa, but maybe an annual wrap with some information about the current or most recent season?

For those who want to save our planet without being associated with the Nazi Elon Musk, the Volkswagen ID.Buzz presents a broad canvas:

Ugly from any angle, if you ask me, and crying out for a wrap:

Once AI is doing all human work I think we’ll have a lot more time, energy, and money to wrap everything in custom designs.

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Trump listens to at least one African in shutting down USAID

by philg

Folks are upset that Trump and DOGE may shut down USAID and cut U.S. foreign aid spending (state-sponsored NPR). This is consistent with a classic 2005 interview “For God’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid!”. Quotes below, but not in quote style for improved readability (my highlights in bold).

The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

SPIEGEL: Do you have an explanation for this paradox?

Shikwati: Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa’s problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn’t even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.

SPIEGEL: … corn that predominantly comes from highly-subsidized European and American farmers …

Shikwati: … and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unsrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN’s World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It’s a simple but fatal cycle.

SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?

Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there’s a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn’t do all that poorly either.

SPIEGEL: But AIDS didn’t exist at that time.

Shikwati: If one were to believe all the horrorifying reports, then all Kenyans should actually be dead by now. But now, tests are being carried out everywhere, and it turns out that the figures were vastly exaggerated. It’s not three million Kenyans that are infected. All of the sudden, it’s only about one million. Malaria is just as much of a problem, but people rarely talk about that.

SPIEGEL: And why’s that?

Shikwati: AIDS is big business, maybe Africa’s biggest business. There’s nothing else that can generate as much aid money as shocking figures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here, and we should be very skeptical.

Shikwati: Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They’re in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria’s textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide.

Shikwati: … jobs that were created artificially in the first place and that distort reality. Jobs with foreign aid organizations are, of course, quite popular, and they can be very selective in choosing the best people. When an aid organization needs a driver, dozens apply for the job. And because it’s unacceptable that the aid worker’s chauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant is needed who also speaks English fluently — and, ideally, one who is also well mannered. So you end up with some African biochemist driving an aid worker around, distributing European food, and forcing local farmers out of their jobs. That’s just crazy!

A 2017 look at the interviewee:

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A visit to the house of a California “political moderate”

by philg

I recently visited friends who own 80 acres in Napa County, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. The wife describes herself as a “political moderate” and the husband as “apolitical”. Here’s a sticker on the front door:

Once inside, hanging on the wall:

The local gourmet establishment starts the unskilled at $23/hour:

I also stopped to visit a friend in San Anselmo, part of Marin County and home to a ketamine injection clinic and a $3 million house still sporting its “Harris for President” sign:

In between is 0Q3, the Sonoma Valley Airport:

$3 million (pre-Biden value?) P-51 Mustang and a 2700′ runway. Precision matters!

I stopped to take a quick walk around Berkeley with a friend. She assiduously locked her house and cautioned me to lock the rental car. I had observed at least one unhoused person at the entrance to her elite neighborhood. Here’s a sign at one of her neighbor’s houses:

At SFO, I discovered that a #Resister had protested the J6 insurrection by returning a rental car to Avis/Budget on the 4th anniversary of this greatest event in American history, but without the key (photo from January 27):

And, of course, there were the usual outdoor bearded maskers (SARS-CoV-2 is a deadly enemy of humans, especially the young and healthy, but not so deadly that you’d want to invest 50 cents in a razor and shave your beard like it says in the 3M instructions to do; nor would you want to drive 6 hours in a COVID-free private car to Los Angeles (where they were heading)):

SFO Terminal 2 features a 2011 fiber sculpture by Janet Echelman:

The work relates to a poem by Allen Ginsberg. Wokipedia:

In 1943, he discovered within himself “mountains of homosexuality.”

Therefore, this could be considered a 2SLGBTQQIA+ terminal to some extent, just like Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at SFO: the country’s best airport terminal for gay people…

(Separately, I know a lot of male pilots who have discovered mountains of homosexuality within themselves and, after a period of reflection, realized that the terrain was a ridge of lesbian mountains.)

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USAID pays an economist to learn Spanish…

by philg

Back around 1990, a federal government economist whom we knew applied for and obtained a job at USAID, currently in the news as a target for Elon Musk’s Efficiency Nazis (TM). USAID paid for a daily Spanish language class with a handful of other students and then, because he hadn’t developed the required proficiency in Spanish, USAID paid for one-on-one Spanish tutoring. (I remember this as 18 months of full-time pay with the sole goal of learning Spanish; he dug out his 1990 calendar and it shows just 6 months of language training while doing some other work for the agency (proof that every tale gets better with time?).)

USAID then deployed him… to Egypt.

The punchline to this story is that when we would laugh about the absurdity of taxpayers paying him to learn Spanish in prep for 3.5 years in Cairo, notoriously short on taco trucks, he would respond with a dry explanation that USAID had a foreign language proficiency requirement and it had to be met before anyone could be sent overseas and that there was no requirement that the language learn bear any relationship to the country of deployment. The whole episode seemed to make sense to him even if it seemed to the rest of us to involve a lot of costs and no benefit to taxpayers.

The costs of keeping a USAID employee in Egypt included at least the following:

  • paying a regular federal government salary
  • paying for housing in a high-end neighborhood of Cairo
  • paying for private English-language school for the kids
  • paying to ship a car over from the U.S. and then back, if desired
  • paying to fly food in from Philadelphia and Germany and then selling it at to the Americans in Cairo at whatever the average price was for the same item back in the U.S.

In other words, the cost was similar to what would be incurred for any other diplomat in the embassy.

He never told us that he had observed any benefit being delivered by the expenditure of USAID funds in Egypt, either to the average Egyptian or the average American.

From the Guardian:

From state-sponsored NPR:

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