The Buddha does not laugh out of ignorance of the pain and suffering in the world, but rather in spite of it. 

Topics include: laughter, laughing Buddha, pain and suffering, enlightenment, awareness, defying logic, taking things too serious, certainty of death, finality, Yoda, worry, international propaganda efforts, Russia, Cold War 2.0, insular national internet infrastructures, Leviathan, CA wildfires, Hemet, Inland Empire, Scientology’s Gold Base, peripheral places

Beware of propaganda from everyone and coming from everywhere. As a best practice you may want to “trust no one.” 

Topics include: Age of Transitions 2 intro video, Revolve book reviews, deep brain stimulation, medical brain implant experiments, compulsive behavior, opioid addiction, Parkinsons, Navy Twitch livestreams, military recruitment, gaming, Department of War Studies King’s College London, alumni in social media and journalism, NATO propaganda, Russian propaganda, Chinese propaganda, Cold War 2.0, Atlantic Council, CNN changing formats, new “liberal” Fox News channel, Mike Judge, Arcade Fire controversy, California alchemical gold rush, New Gold Dream

Our world is full of contradictions, and we are left here to make sense of it. 

Topics include: collective confusion and frustration, social contradictions, anomie, technology, production and consumption, environmental degradation, technique, system feeds itself, resources hoarded, corporations, artificial entities, Florida pirate Jimmy, shifting beliefs, fringe ideas gone mainstream, extreme actions seem more possible now, conspiracy thinking

Quantum computing may offer a way to power emerging tech such as Ai or AGI. 

Topics include: livestreams, quantum computing, quantum theory, physics, entanglement, mysticism, Ai, qubits, time and space, Robin, Fibonacci laser, Golden Ratio, Ai generated artwork, text prompt to image, NFT market, Beeple, Jimmy James, metaverse, Paris Hilton, digital immortality, Ozzy Osbourne, The Congress movie, Robin Wright, Carrie Fischer deep fake in movie, Star Wars, Turing test

The so-called great powers of the world are all doing their best to build up, gain control, and take advantage of all they possibly can in a world that becomes increasingly complex. Where this all leads, no one knows, but it will surely be a rocky ride ahead. 

Topics include: chatroom scuffle, mainstream and fringe narratives, rapid speed of change, systems beyond human control, intelligence community, Counterterrorism Era, great powers competition, 2016 sea change, geopolitics, world militaries, intelligentized warfare, machine learning, emerging technologies, Russian influence in US elections, information warfare, political divides, lack of national cohesion, many agendas of different players, technological competition with China, Chinese capitalist purge, Jack Ma, WeChat, American Factory, IT, cybersecurity, evangelical holy war, skewed ideas about American Founding Fathers, Great Replacement theory, white genocide, weaponization of alternative groups, Alex Jones, phone records released, January 6 Commission

Wojacks are the most hideous thing to grace the internet, but they are immensely popular. Machines are programming us to only pay attention to men over six feet four inches tall. 

Topics include: technical issues, internet, social media, apps, living through technology, Wojack memes

The infamous Georgia Guidestones have been destroyed. So far, there are no official suspects. Just last week there had been quite a bit of chatter online about the idea of their destruction.

Topics include: Georgia Guidestones destroyed, GBI investigation, Elberton Granite Company, right wing extremism, Christian Identity, living new language, synthetic telepathy, transhumanism, occult, R. C. Christian, secret societies

There is no shortage of passion in the culture and information wars that rage 24/7 online. What is lacking is any sort of self reflection as to how we all fall prey to misinformation and disinformation. It is likely too late to turn the tide, but it is still useful to see what is happening, and where things are going. 

Topics include: passing of Joshua Brookshire, first autonomous big rig on US road, logistics, supply chain, automation, EVs, GE, Einride, Ford plans to solely produce fleet vehicles, individual vehicle ownership now phasing out, rideshare apps, public transportation, TikTok labeled national security threat by FCC, user data, China and US tech rivalry, surveillance, intelligence gathering, consumer drones banned, social media apps sell data, stuck in the digital world, Russia, cyber warfare, Google China, scientific advances of Cold War were always publicly available, open source intelligence, culture wars, social media used to spread misinformation by many different groups, divide and conquer techniques, alternative media personalities swayed by social media misinformation, feeding information to influencers and alt media, power of suggestion, no one is immune, MindWar, self promotion, fringe ideas entering mainstream, internet freedom at risk due to fools spreading disinformation, constant manipulation, Google likely demoting The Age of Transitions website

Aaron was witness to sovereign citizens pulled over on the side of the road and having a bomb removed by San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. It isn’t a good sign when you start seeing these things in your daily life. 

Topics include: Chuck’s autobiography audiobook, Yucca Valley, sovereign citizens pulled over on 62 highway with bomb, Johnson Valley, sign guy on corner of Old Woman Springs, Hi-Desert Star article, Russell brothers, fringe groups growing in numbers, right wing extremism, post 9/11, War on Terror, DHS, searching every bag on the ground, militias, Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, DOJ instigations, one world government vs hyper nationalism, corruption, economic and social conditions getting worse, Jan 6, political insanity, actors as presidents

A Google employee has claimed that a chatbot he was working on has attained sentience. This is an important story no matter what way you slice it. 

Topics include: Blake Lemoine, LaMDA chatbot, sentient AI, AGI, Google, PR, machine learning, truth or fiction, power of narrow AI systems, consciousness, Medium blog, meditation, automating society, Dalle Mini, AI text prompt image generators, influence of technology, Jacques Ellul, Sam Aydlette, simulacra, AGI not part of business model, mind space, Simulation Hypothesis, Dancing With My Fate, Trickster God, white rabbit, surveillance, intuition, virtual worlds, emulating reality, impirical truth