The Republicans are not a political party

The Republican Party of the United States is not a political party. It is, and has been for some time, a cult of personality. Just look at their official statement of beliefs. At their 2016 Convention, the Party adopted a platform that was put together, more or less, by the traditional means of a committee … Read more

Pretending to be Christian

Some people believe that Donald Trump is a Christian because he prays. They know he prays because they have seen him “praying” on TV. However, if you pay close attention, Donald never actually says the prayer, he gets publically “prayed over” by various evangelical preachers. Also, the fact that he is usually filmed during these … Read more

AI may never be as intelligent as humans

“Humanity will have the choice to see themselves inferior to machines or superior to machines.” -Pinar Seyhan Demirdag, 60 Minutes Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is generally defined as the point at which an AI system becomes as “intelligent” as a human being. Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) would be a system that far exceeds the intellectual abilities … Read more

AI: Here be dragons

Great literature allows the reader to vicariously live and learn about other times and places. It challenges us to think critically and engage with new ideas. The genre of science fiction, specifically, can ask us to think about technology and its uses (and abuses). Often, a science fiction story is a cautionary tale about a … Read more

5th Sunday lesson on the Constitution

Many of us on the LDS Left were apprehensive about the Fifth Sunday in May, 2026. Our regular Sunday School time was going to be spent with the adults and youth together in a lesson entitled “Celebrating the Founding of the United States and the US Constitution.” Contrary to what many on the Right have … Read more

Resisting the AI snake

Previously in this blog I pointed out that AI is a tempting, seductive, snake that will make us stupid and steal our agency for the benefit of selfish billionaires. You can read that post here. I am not a Luddite. I use computers constantly and even have a Master’s degree in Educational Technology. However, this … Read more

The Illusion of Truth

“The Big Lie” is a propaganda technique in which an outrageous falsehood is repeated constantly until the public accepts it as truth. The premise is that since no one would presume to invent such a massive lie, it must be true. Of course, people like Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, and other more recent politicians, … Read more