It’s better to be a humble superpower and thought in decline, than to lose a war and remove all doubt. - Mark Twain
empiricalskeptic
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#science #skepticism #technology #futurism #fintech
That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. 証拠なしに主張できることは、証拠なしに退けることができる。
Incredible claims require incredible evidence. 信じがたい主張には、信じがたい証拠が必要である。
China once welcomed visits from senior US officials as moments of global validation. From his upcoming trip to China, it is Trump, not Xi, who needs the validation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/opinion/china-us-trump-summit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.flA.gbCp.l8FpLsiPJdsh&smid=nytcore-android-share
I started to compose an input to an LLM and got distracted mid sentence. "What is the business model". For the life of me, I can't now recall what is the rest of the query or what I wanted to know.
Reposting your own content to increase “engagement” seems pretty lame to me. I have decided to unfollow the influencers or content creators (or whatever they call themselves now) who repost themselves regularly.
Human review of AI generated code is now characterized as “a massive bottleneck”.
That was fast. The transition from using experienced human programmers to review AI code to automating it away needed only a few weeks.
I can imagine there’s little that Trump would hate more than for a Japanese politician to take credit for brokering a peace between US and Iran.
Original post: 
Bluesky Social
The Japan Times (@japantimes.co.jp)
Japan has launched a new "International Peace Mediation Unit" in an effort to play a more active role in mediating deescalation of the Iran war.
ht...
"I thank @POTUS for taking decisive action to defend America from the Iranian terroristic regime responsible for the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers."
X (formerly Twitter)
Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) on X
The United States has been in a forever war with Iran since the late 1970s. What we're seeing now is the beginning of the end & I thank @POTUS ...
It's going to get real ugly real soon flailing to deal with a problem we had years to prepare.
Original post: 
Bluesky Social
Malcontent News (@malcontentnews.bsky.social)
Opinion: The West ignored Ukraine's warnings about drones as the Middle East burns
Middle Eastern nations are already running out of ballistic mis...
Because the mere declaration of “belief in the Bible” provides unqualified inclusion and protection among the community of followers, even (or especially) in the absence of any behavioral standards.
Original post: 
Bluesky Social
Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt.bsky.social)
The self-declared “president of PEACE” has chosen to become the president of war after all, unleashing the full power of the U.S. military on I...
It’s possible to believe conflicting narratives at the same time. Most thinking people do.
1. The Ayatollah is/was evil and deserves any harm he receives.
2. Regime change can work.
3. Most of the time regime change from top down does not work.
It’s possible to believe conflicting narratives at the same time. Most thinking people do.
1. The Ayatollah is/was evil and deserves any harm he receives.
2. Regime change can work.
3. Most of the time regime change from top down does not work.
It’s possible to believe conflicting narratives at the same time. Most thinking people do.
1. The Ayatollah is/was evil and deserves any harm he receives.
2. Regime change can work.
3. Most of the time regime change from top down does not work.
I'm dismayed how much new coverage of Iran focused on Trump's unilateral actions against the regime, and nothing on what has Congress authorized.
Testing.
Trying to see the big picture. What I see is Russia has failed to achieve its objectives in Ukraine. For that it Putin has already sacrificed its global ambitions as well.
Original post: 
Bluesky Social
Joni Askola (@joniaskola.bsky.social)
Ukraine continues to control all 23 regional capitals and special-status cities it held at the start of the full-scale war.
23/23!
Russia is los...
Support for military conquest of Greenland is indistinguishable from noise or polling error. Maybe literally 5 people pretend to think it’s a good idea. Or maybe it just a negotiation tactic. But support for purchasing it is not much higher.
Had to disable Touch ID on my MacBook Pro M1 because it proved so unreliable.
I am pretty sure 2FA based on fingerprints is dead, gone, and buried. Good riddance.
Had to disable Touch ID on my MacBook Pro M1 because it proved so unreliable.
I am pretty sure 2FA based on fingerprints is dead, gone, and buried. Good riddance.
From Politico (credit where due). 