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Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
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CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
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Catholics must respond to AI threat to authentic, human communication, Vatican says
- One Bread, One Body - Catholic
- 1 Replies
Pope Leo XIV has put a spotlight on the risks of artificial intelligence in his choice of theme for next year’s World Day of Social Communications, as the Vatican emphasizes the important role of Catholics in media and AI literacy.
The pope’s choice of theme for the 60th World Day of Social Communications 2026, published Monday, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.” The day is celebrated every year on Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers.
The Vatican’s explanatory note emphasizes the risks of AI, including that it “can generate engaging but misleading, manipulative, and harmful information, replicate biases and stereotypes from its training data, and amplify disinformation through simulation of human voices and faces.”
The theme of the World Day of Social Communications was released as the Vatican’s communication department is struggling to stem the tide of “deepfakes,” false images and videos of Pope Leo XIV saying and doing things he did not say or do.
Continued below.
Vatican: Catholics must respond to AI threat to authentic, human communication
The pope’s choice of theme for the 60th World Day of Social Communications 2026, published Monday, is “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”www.catholicnewsagency.com
These are legitimate concerns about abusive misuse of AI. Part of what I’m trying to do with my research is create an ethical approach to AI which is radically different from how most people presently use it, in response to the concerns raised by Pope Leo XIV. AI is only good if it is anti-humanizing, something which promotes rather than detracts from the sacredness of the imageo dei.
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The Schumer Shutdown
- By eclipsenow
- American Politics
- 340 Replies
Is there something in the US Constitution that prevents joint partnerships between the Feds and States? Australia runs our government owned and operated health system in the following way - designed to maximise efficiency and NOT take advantage of a government 'blank cheque' that the more right-wing friends here might worry about.
While states are responsible for running hospitals, the federal government shares responsibility for paying for them. The federal government also has the primary responsibility for keeping people out of hospital – through the primary care system, which includes general practice...
... (some irrelevant history)...
...Hospitals are paid for each procedure
Since 2011, the federal contribution to public hospitals has been based on the number and type of patients treated. This is known as activity-based funding.
All states and territories measure hospital activity by case “type”, weighted to reflect the complexity of a hospital’s activity. A lung transplant, for example, has a higher value than resolving an ingrown toenail.
The idea of measuring hospital activity and even using this as a basis for funding is not new. What was new in 2011 was using activity-based funding to determine the federal contribution.
Since 2011, the federal government pays 45% of the growth in the cost of delivering hospital services each year. This means the federal government’s annual increase in contribution can reflect both additional costs and activity.
State and territory governments are responsible for the remaining costs.
Since 2017-18, the growth in federal government expenditure has been limited to 6.5% each year. So even if a hospital performs many more procedures than the previous year, the federal government caps its annual expenditure growth at 6.5% more than the previous year.
Funding also encourages efficiency
Activity is one component of hospital funding, the other is the price paid for each unit of activity. The basis for this is the “nationally efficient price”.
The Independent Hospital Pricing Authority determines this price, based on its analysis of actual costs and assessment of unavoidable and legitimate variations in costs. For example, the 2022-23 efficient price for a hip replacement was deemed to be A$19,798.
This means the price is the same across Australia. Adjustments are made for patients from rural and remote areas, and for Indigenous patients. Sicker patients or those with multiple underlying conditions will fall into a different case type, with a higher price.
This provides a benchmark for comparing hospital efficiency as well as the level of funding the hospital will receive.
The goal is to treat more patients but keep costs constrained
The hospital funding system is designed to address efficiency by providing incentives to increase output, while constraining the growth in costs.
Since 2011, we’ve seen a substantial reduction in the rate of increase in costs, with an overall growth rate of 2.1%.
Annual growth in costs (per national weighted activity unit):
Remind me, how are hospitals funded in Australia?
While states are responsible for running hospitals, the federal government shares responsibility for paying for them. But it’s an uneasy relationship.
theconversation.com
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Not coping, I need a response.
- By Delvianna
- One Bread, One Body - Catholic
- 6 Replies
Hopefully the person you find helps! May God lead you to the right person
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Sept 23rd Rapture
- By Delvianna
- Current News & Events (Articles Required)
- 178 Replies
Joshua speaks again and now, is trying to come up with the excuse that maybe it's a different calendar!! While still saying, "Days from now He will rapture His church".... uh, its been WEEKS lol but okay... you also claimed that it was the Julian calendar!! and said God told you that too!! Cognitive Dissonance is real people...
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