Why are young people dumping religion?

Pope Francis with lamb

Some of this can be attributed to Donald Trump's claims of being so Christian, when in fact he does nothing but un-Christian things. Like ceaseless lying and adultery. But E.J. Dionne thinks faith has taken its worse hit from the "Republican Party's alliance with the religious right." You're talking about 26% of the voting population, who recently witnessed Speaker Paul Ryan try to oust the House chaplain, a move that was typically Republican. I have an opinion that many folks out there now look up to Pope Francis as the kind of religious leader worth listening to, like Billy Graham was. However, most aren't willing to make the switch to Catholicism so they admire him like I do. There aren't too many like that left.

Monkey see Trump do, Monkey do like Trump

Kelly Sadler_Mouth open once too often

Special assistant Kelly Sadler, a Trump aide, showed she can demonstrate complete lack of class as much as her boss, Donald T-rump. When John McCain voiced opposition to Gina Haspel, as new CIA Director, Sadler commented, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer with an unknown future. It's hard to get any lower.

Internet will never be the same

The FTC has overturned 2015 rules governing net neutrality. Democrats think they have the votes to reverse the Republican move. Stay tuned to Nasty Jack for how new measure affects your Internet experience, starting June 11.

AI is scary but fun

HAL of Space Odyssey

I worked with AI, Artificial Intelligence, for several years in the junk mail business when I was creating computer models that would determine just where to find a catalog company's best and most profitable customers. Yes, it's been around for several years but wasn't really known outside that limited community of analysts and statisticians until recently. It worked. I purchased a computer program, all-told cost me $25,000, that literally did all my thinking in relation to telling my clients where to mail their catalogs. Output was very expensive, which limited those able to pay the price.

I tell you this to illustrate the fact that you can program a machine (most computers) to think like a human, draw conclusions and make valid predictions. In the same vein, it is possible for these same machines to perform normal household tasks, including what is in the Google AI article, making a call that sounds like a human being. Robots replaced human beings long ago on auto assembly lines, as well as other automated businesses. Remember HAL from Space Odyssey? Started out a team player but turns on his makers and controllers. This was 2001. We're way beyond this today.

Can't imagine an Internet without neutrality

Net neutrality, according to Google, is "the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites." A Republican Congress wants to repeal...

"The rules, put in place in 2015 when the FCC was controlled by Democrats, prohibited internet-service providers from selling faster delivery of certain data, slowing speeds for specific content and blocking or otherwise discriminating against any legal online material."   from the LA Times.

Amazon, Facebook, Google and Netflix are all in favor of net neutrality, which would normally raise a red flag for consumers, but Consumers Union Calls FCC’s Net Neutrality Effort “Chilling.”   Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union says, “Protecting net neutrality means preserving the internet as it was designed — a free, open platform for all that has spurred tremendous competition and innovation." But some Republicans say the Democrats are just politicizing the issue, because they can never win against the House and Trump's signature.

Donald Trump and his GOP minions have been knocking off all programs that favor consumers to put the business community in complete control of our lives. One Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, thinks it's wrong and is part of the group fighting the loss of net neutrality. Here's a list of the numerous rights the voting public has lost under T-rump.

Iran decision just another in line of ending Obama programs

Trump and John Bolton

The man sitting in the Oval Office today is still as incompetent and dull-witted as the day he took office. No matter what success he has had in real estate--most of which is questionable--he is still a loser. He remains in office simply due to the poor, uninformed souls that support him and a Congress riddled with idiots and morons who are equally as incompetent as Donald Trump. It is all a travesty for this country, one that has set us back ages in the eyes of the rest of the world. And just yesterday he revoked another of Barack Obama's accomplishments, just because Obama's name was on it.

He tried this on Obamacare but some thoughtful congressional leaders wouldn't permit it. However, the Iran deal didn't require a vote of Congress so Donald dufus went on his merry way of destruction and repealed an action that many believe was keeping the Middle-East semi reticent. Was this the result of the recent addition of John Bolton to Trump's staff? This warmonger still believes the Iraq war was right and that "pre-emptive war with Iran and North Korea is the right call." I'll leave you with a list of now undone programs from past administrations. Basically, his only accomplishments.

Pro gun control folks must vote Democrat in November

Wayne LaPierre, NRA head executioner

National Public Radio has gone to a lot of trouble to compile a report on how state Senators and representatives have voted on gun control in the past, which is a fair indication of how you can expect them to vote in the future. With one exception. Since the Parkland, Florida gun massacre where 17 students and teachers were killed, the mood has changed slightly in Congress. Atlantic Magazine says Republicans are afraid of primary challengers to the gun lobby this election and "appear ready to abandon these concerns [fear of the NRA] in favor of a more proactive response to gun violence."

As an example, when you look at the NPR study, it is completely one-sided in votes on gun control, divided as you would expect with the left for and the right against. There was one particularly troubling item, mental health and gun control, where all but two Republican House members had voted against along with six Democrats. There was the same proportionate vote in the Senate. The point is, if you were convinced that Parkland was something that will definitely continue, and you want to stop it and all gun violence, pick your candidates carefully in November.