“… writing that masked and unidentified ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents were stopping people in L.A. communities without any legitimate cause, and that such stops have “shattered [the] rhythms of everyday life” and diminished public safety.”
Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine's policy.
(I’ve marked the ones that are already obvious)
The 14 characteristics are:
***********Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
***********Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
**********Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
**********Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
**********Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
**********Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
**********Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
************Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
************Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
************Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
I love time capsules! I buried some as a kid --- did anyone find them??? All of my sons, at various times in school, buried some. I'll ask them if they've been notified of any "openings", & if they remember some of what was contained at the time of "burial".
And wish the US would follow many of the other countries in banning food dyes. The public fighting against it because they like their sweet things colorful, yep, they must also like the FACT childhood obesity has increased dramatically along w/ the corresponding diabetes. SAD SAD fact.
Researchers have found that AI is particularly good at running algorithms that mirror and reflect the humans that AI is interacting with. I wonder if the reason the AIs had such a high EQ response was because those specific models had been used in previous work with Mortillaro’s team, even if the AI models had not been clued about the assessment scenarios.
For example, dieticians are using AI to chart nutritional values of foods. Later, they use that same AI, along with humans to see how well they do on a standardized evaluation of healthy habits of seniors. That AI would already have the nutritional data which could increase its correct responses
Also AIs can rapidly pull information from a number of sources, and collate it for a cohesive response. It doesn’t mean they “understand” and could independently apply the information. Another example was that I asked AI whether free will donations were better than set ticket prices for a non profit organization charity event. Statistically, donations raised more $ as long as invitees were aligned with the organization’s mission and had the resources. But an AI may not easily identify specific people to invite from a list of non previously affiliated folks unless there was publicly available information that might indicate an interest.
• RFK Jr's Battle Against Food Dyes Hits a Roadblock: M&M’s. The health secretary has used peer pressure to persuade food makers to nix synthetic dyes. The candy industry is holding out, arguing American consumers like bright sweets.
This is not ok. I was in Costa Rica last year and we bought a bunch of boxes of m&ms in the airport to hold us over on the trip to our hotel. Not one person (out of 26) noticed the slight difference in color until I pointed it out to them. This is a cop-out.
Interesting that you wrote about the emotional intelligence of AI yet one of your 7 other things was about GROK and how obnoxious it’s being trained to be. As with most things these days, shit in, shit out.
“… writing that masked and unidentified ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents were stopping people in L.A. communities without any legitimate cause, and that such stops have “shattered [the] rhythms of everyday life” and diminished public safety.”
Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine's policy.
(I’ve marked the ones that are already obvious)
The 14 characteristics are:
***********Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
***********Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
**********Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
**********Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
**********Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
**********Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
**********Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
************Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
************Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
************Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
I love time capsules! I buried some as a kid --- did anyone find them??? All of my sons, at various times in school, buried some. I'll ask them if they've been notified of any "openings", & if they remember some of what was contained at the time of "burial".
And wish the US would follow many of the other countries in banning food dyes. The public fighting against it because they like their sweet things colorful, yep, they must also like the FACT childhood obesity has increased dramatically along w/ the corresponding diabetes. SAD SAD fact.
Researchers have found that AI is particularly good at running algorithms that mirror and reflect the humans that AI is interacting with. I wonder if the reason the AIs had such a high EQ response was because those specific models had been used in previous work with Mortillaro’s team, even if the AI models had not been clued about the assessment scenarios.
For example, dieticians are using AI to chart nutritional values of foods. Later, they use that same AI, along with humans to see how well they do on a standardized evaluation of healthy habits of seniors. That AI would already have the nutritional data which could increase its correct responses
Also AIs can rapidly pull information from a number of sources, and collate it for a cohesive response. It doesn’t mean they “understand” and could independently apply the information. Another example was that I asked AI whether free will donations were better than set ticket prices for a non profit organization charity event. Statistically, donations raised more $ as long as invitees were aligned with the organization’s mission and had the resources. But an AI may not easily identify specific people to invite from a list of non previously affiliated folks unless there was publicly available information that might indicate an interest.
• RFK Jr's Battle Against Food Dyes Hits a Roadblock: M&M’s. The health secretary has used peer pressure to persuade food makers to nix synthetic dyes. The candy industry is holding out, arguing American consumers like bright sweets.
This is not ok. I was in Costa Rica last year and we bought a bunch of boxes of m&ms in the airport to hold us over on the trip to our hotel. Not one person (out of 26) noticed the slight difference in color until I pointed it out to them. This is a cop-out.
Also this:
You and I agree on food dyes! Europe has it right on food regulations. Sad we are focused on the color of M&Ms when the same guy is behind this:
“Measles Cases Hit Record High, 25 Years After U.S. Eliminated the Disease
Experts worry that if vaccination rates do not improve, deadly outbreaks will become the new normal.
— NYT
Chevy Vega...Mercy, when have I heard that term??😊
Interesting that you wrote about the emotional intelligence of AI yet one of your 7 other things was about GROK and how obnoxious it’s being trained to be. As with most things these days, shit in, shit out.