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Is Population Collapse the Greatest Threat to Civilization as Elon Musk states?

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  Is Population Collapse the Greatest Threat to Civilization as Elon Musk states? Money, Power, and Population Our culture has decided that money is the master metric, so even by its own standard, the system is failing. The bottom half of society does not receive enough income to live with dignity, much less to feel confident raising children. When a public figure calls for higher birth rates but offers no serious plan to reduce inequality, strengthen social safety nets, or make housing and healthcare affordable, the message is clear: the system wants more workers and consumers, not more flourishing lives. Raising children is one of the most demanding and expensive commitments a person can make. For families who are already stretched to cover food, rent, transport, and medical costs, bringing children into a precarious reality is not an act of hope; it can feel like an act of desperation and wishful thinking. When Do People Choose Children? If those in power truly want birth rates ...
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America Going Down Under Trump

 America Going Down Under Trump I am not a Trump fan.   My life ambitions are to be kind to others and peaceful at my core.  Yeah, I have lots of other aspirations, but I keep those two at the top of the queue. That is not compatible with Trump's values.   But that is not what this post is about. America has been in trouble with debt for a long time under both Republican and Democratic leadership.  We have also been under the illusion that we build an empire on bits, finance, and a world of abstractions, but in real life, we need real things like steel, wood, copper, corn, materials, etc., to shape the world around us.  If you don't know what I am talking about, look at where America is with rare earths and our dependence on China, the manufacturing plant of the world.  Take AI to drive this point home.   We need lots of energy to make AI possible.  Who has power?  China, not us.   Data is required for training; ...
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Ancient Texan Posts on X in 2025

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Trump is destroying Trust in America.   And you can tell your grandchildren you were there and did nothing. Ancient Texan Comments on the State of America, July 24, 2025 My wife and I  had supper at a local pub with her sister and husband.  They are Trump supporters ... we kept it civil, but it is challenging and draining.  The information Fox feeds them is so full of nonsense.  Yes, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, etc., are biased as well. I obtain most of my information from dozens of podcasters on YouTube, who are vetted by AI (Grok and Perplexity are the primary sources).   A massive mix of information, which takes a lot of time, but gets me away from the heavy bias.  In short, I consider myself a widely read and more objective person/engineer than most.  As a centrist, I think both parties are so far away from reality and what we need in America that it makes me ill just to think about it.   The Republicans' central message is how bad Others (immi...
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You can tell your grandkid you were there to see America die and you did nothing.

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  Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant, lived in Maryland with his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and their three children with special needs for nearly 15 years. Having fled gang violence in El Salvador around 2011, he entered the U.S. without legal status. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him "withholding of removal," prohibiting deportation to El Salvador due to credible threats from a gang targeting him over his family’s pupusa business. Despite allegations from a police informant that he was an MS-13 gang member—claims his attorneys called fabricated—Kilmar had no criminal record and checked in annually with immigration officials, living quietly as a husband and father. On March 15, 2025, Kilmar’s life unraveled. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him without a warrant, held him in multiple detention centers, and deported him to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison known for human rights abuse...
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Ucayali Party

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We went to the Ucalali party at UUFN. "Because You're Mine, I'll Walk the Line" is the latest song we sang along to the band The Ukesters. Some others included "Leaving on a Jet Plane," Country Road, and two songs by Johnny Cash.  Country road, WV mountain momma..I hear her voice in the morning.   I am hoarse now, singing too loudly and an octave higher than my voice tolerated. On YouTube, most of the talk is about Trump and his tariffs. Videos from China were the most depressing. They overproduce everything and do not allow destructive creation. Full employment, not profitability, drives their business.  But the people there are losing jobs and hurting.   Prominent leaders plan and play power games with people's lives and futures.  They do what makes them feel good, not what this country needs.  Our debt is sinking our boat, and yet our leaders promise tax cuts while they increase spending.  Now one wants to face the truth and do what we nee...
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Obscurity in the Open Internet

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 Obscurity in the Open It is incredible how hard it is to keep some things private. At the same time, one can publish a blog and hang out the shingle, and no one sees it. Irony. I will post my innermost thoughts here and see how long they are invisible.  What are the essential things going on now? Trump is destroying TRUST on more fronts than I care to mention now. I am on X.com and frequently act like an old fool, as my wife has graciously pointed out recently after one of my worst moments. On a personal front, I am going to a UUFN party tonight. Let's stop and get some beer on the way. I would like to better get to know several women, including Elizabeth Kay. My lady is cool with it. We are, in theory, polyamorous, but there is not much demand for old dudes like me and little energy to get in much actual trouble. Grok just made this photo of me.  A lot better than the real me.  
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Boycott Tesla, Stop DOGE

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