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Does reality pass the Turing test?

That said I’m not a huge fan of Grok 3 compared to its competitors from chatGPT - it was faster but had a number of limitations. However in all fairness I have not had a chance to evaluate Grok 4.
Fair enough, but you do know I was speaking of politics rather than technical proficiency, right? :)
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Who thinks THIS is a good idea.

I asked Grok AI about the reasons for the firing of CDC employees. Here is its response:

The CDC is seen as overgrown and inefficient, with duplicative roles, excessive administrative overhead, and roles that overlap with state or private sector functions. Firing staff is positioned as a way to "streamline" operations, cut waste, and make the agency more agile.

Many employees are blamed for the CDC's mishandling of the pandemic, including delayed testing, over-reliance on ineffective measures (e.g., masks, lockdowns, ventilators), and promoting policies that eroded public trust. Firings are justified as removing those responsible to prevent future errors.

Staff resistant to new directions—such as revising vaccine recommendations or de-emphasizing certain programs—are obstacles to "making America healthy again." Firings clear the way for leaders who prioritize chronic disease over infectious outbreaks.

End of Grok AI

People generally expect you to do your job. However, often one is judged by how you handles crises. If you screw up a crisis, then nobody remembers your regular work. As a military air traffic controller, it was like that. I imagine it's like that for CDC employees too.
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The Desperate Mullahs of Iran

I have been asked why I said that Hamas was forced to ceasefire by their Islamic neighbors. It was Egypt and Qatar mainly; who brokered the agreement.
But Hamas lives and dies by the Islamic code of Victory or Death. They cannot concede defeat to the Infidel USA or Israel. So this ceasefire is just another temporary halt to their aim of taking over the entire land of Israel.
They simply make this latest deal to be a victory and the returning Palestinians wave the V sign, as they travel back to Gaza City.
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Emergency abortion denials by Catholic hospitals put woman in danger, after her water broke at 17 weeks, lawsuit claims

Can cause! A rupture of the amniotic membrane does not always proceed to an infection and may heal allowing the pregnancy to continue. If infected, and even before signs of infection, antibiotics can be administered to prevent infection.

If the infection of the amniotic membrane does in fact occur and fulminates, Catholic hospitals bioethics do allow the administration of drugs to induce contractions of the mother's uterus in order to expel the infected membranes. Therapeutic interventions on the mother's body to save the mother's life are good. The death of the premature child is bad but tolerated under the principles of the Double Effect.

This is an interesting point. Apparently, there are cases where the mother can try to continue the pregnancy until it becomes viable, and then do an early (very early) delivery. However, in addition to the risks to the mother which were already stated (infection and death), it sounds like the fetus/child is also at risk for long term lung issues and facial deformities, among other things I imagine. I did a Google search and there is actually a story on Reddit of a mother that this happened to. She managed to carry the baby to the point of viability, the baby spent a very long time in the NICU, and was now 5 years old with (if memory serves me correctly) some minor breathing issues.

The problem with this, however, is that when faced with those circumstances, I hope that we would all agree that it should be the mother's choice. (Made in consensus with the father, one would hope). In the absence of laws which say the emergency medical facility must provide that care, the mother is left to travel from hospital to hospital to see who will provide the care. This delay in care puts the mother at greater risk - not only for infection/hemorrhaging and other health consequences, but her future ability to bear children as well. And, all on the likely very slim chance that the child would survive.

I wouldn't ever want to have to make that choice, and I imagine none of us would. But I still think that is a decision which should be in the hands of the mother. I doubt that anyone really wants to force the hand of a doctor in such circumstances (I know that I don't), but unfortunately I think that is something that you need to take into account before you enter certain fields (gynecology, EMT) within the profession. Either that, or allow there to be specific medical facilities where it is well known that emergency care is not provided in such circumstances. AND I would propose that those facilities should then be required to be completely independent from government funding. Those are my initial thoughts, at least.
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Who was the president??


....In a Truth Social post Saturday evening, he claimed in all-caps that “the Biden FBI” supposedly “placed 274 agents into the crowd on January 6”.​
“What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT”, the post concluded.​
Obviously, the “Biden FBI” did not exist on January 6, nor did it exist in any of the weeks or months leading up to the attack on the Capitol, when dozens of police officers were injured responding to a violent mob numbering in the thousands as rioters stormed barricades, shattered windows, defaced the hallways of the Capitol complex and battled with law enforcement around the grounds.​
Some Republican senators and congressmen have also been confused as to who was president when:

The president’s allies in Congress have often been dinged by the press for erroneously attacking the Biden administration for events that transpired in 2020 and the start of 2021, such as Sen. Jim Banks — who just last week wrongly insisted that the 2020 U.S. Census was “prepared by the Biden administration”. Other Republicans, in their zeal to attack Democrats and support calls for a new census, have similarly forgotten who was president that year.​
The fact that Trump posted this conspiracy stuff in the wee hours of the morning, and he is so fuzzy on who was president, reminds me of my mother's behaviors as she succumbed to dementia. What does Trump expect others to do?

Behavior like that plus his imaginary 'facts' that he spews convinces me he has dementia. This week he said that he had brought in $17 trillion in planned investments. No.


President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he has secured “$17 trillion” in investment this year – or even more than that.​
“We have over $17 trillion being invested now in the United States,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. He added moments later, “We have more than $17 trillion in eight months.” On Friday, he said he thought the figure had “just cracked $18 trillion.”.....​
......The White House list doesn’t show that $8.8 trillion is “being invested now in the United States” or even that there have been $8.8 trillion in credible Trump-era commitments to make eventual investments in the US. Rather, the White House list includes:​
  • $600 billion from “EU firms” even though the European Union has made clear that this is merely an estimate of potential private investment, not an actual commitment
  • $600 billion from Saudi Arabia even though the Saudis’ vague $600 billion pledge encompasses both “investments and trade,” not simply Saudi investment in the US
  • $500 billion from India even though the two countries have said the $500 billion is a goal for “bilateral trade,” not Indian investment in the US.......

He just makes stuff up. My mom would do that when dementia set it. It is either he just makes stuff up or he is lying again.

Mississippi School Homecoming Celebrations Turn Deadly as 8 People are Killed 20 Injured in Separate Shootings

-
What should people expect from people who are producing children to either get a check, they are 14, 15, 16, etc.. years old, they are on drugs and trading sex for drugs or all of the above

Do you really think these people are worried or care how these children are going to grow up.
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Speaker Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

""The head of a national crowd-for-hire firm is warning that America’s protest culture has become a target for exploitation — by paid agitators, profit-driven interest groups and even foreign actors seeking to fuel division.""

‘No Kings’ protest could attract paid agitators and foreign influence, crowd-for-hire CEO warns​

I would stay away from anything FOXnews and their links of claims that go nowhere.
Again.
Nothing substantial.
Don't read fox.

That is equivalent to me saying, don't read the nyt or wapo etc.

As Prov 18:17 states;
In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines.

I'll continue reading both sides.
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Speaker Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

why blatantly straw man?
Nice try at dismissal. We are free to march and protest something all we want. If we had a facist king or whatever silliness we are protesting no one would be allowed to do so. Its common sense. So, go ahead and march. The fact one can is solid evidence the protest os protesting something that doesn't exist.

One might as well protest the green eyed spaghetti monster for eating all the corn in America.
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Another look at the moon landing.

I never said this.
I know you didn't - I asked a question.
If there is loads of water contained above the sky, presumably that is where the rain come from? Otherwise, how do you account for it?
Genesis 1 doesn't mention God creating rain.
Don't be silly.
I was asking questions for you to explain your belief.

If there is loads of water suspended somewhere above the firmament, is this where the rain comes from?
How does it get through the firmament?
Why doesn't Genesis 1 tell us?

Because the dome is super strong,
Scripture?

It is your understanding - and assumption - that the firmament is a dome which is super solid.
If "they" can't nuke through it, how does rain get through?
And if rain doesn't come from above the firmament, where does it come from? Genesis 1 doesn't tell us and you've rejected the explanation of clouds.

I've no reason not to take Genesis literally. nobody has.
We've got every reason not to take it literally - it doesn't explain everything.
Whether does weather come from?
How about clouds, rainbows or dew on the grass?
Were the trees made fully grown or where they acorns which took hundreds of years to grow - even though those hundreds of years were still 1 day to God?
How did God decide which animals should have feathers? Fins? Fur? Wings? Legs?
How did he make their nervous and reproductive systems?
Etc Etc
So according to you the Adam & Eve story is fictional too ?
Where did I say that not literal = fictional?

I believe God created the heavens and the earth - full stop.
It's no good you saying, "you can't do"; I do. Just as I accept that the earth is a globe.

How you reconcile those statements - i.e that I believe the earth is a globe and I believe God created all things, is up to you. I don't have a problem with it.
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Another look at the moon landing.

I’ll try to keep this simple for you.

“Formation of Rain​

The continuous water cycle on the earth involves rain. At the beginning of the cycle, sunlight warms the water on earth's surface. The heat causes the water to evaporate or change into water vapour. Water vapour is pervasive in the air. When it cools, the water vapour returns to droplets of water.


These droplets combine to form clouds in large numbers. Smaller water droplets in a cloud mix to form larger drops of liquid. The drips eventually weigh too much to remain in the cloud. They descend to earth as rain and the water cycle starts over.
In the clouds, water droplets occasionally turn into ice crystals. Sometimes, as the ice crystals fall toward the earth, they melt. This is yet another way of formation of rain.”


This process was created by God.

Don't insult my intelligence I know how rain is formed, I'm on about the water above the firmament.
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Jordan says ICE agents ‘doing the Lord’s work’

“I think the ICE agents are doing the Lord’s work. They’re doing what the president promised the American people he was going to do when he ran for the job and was elected in a big way,”
That would be true; provided Trump and his administration is "Lord."
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Pepper Sprayed While Evangelizing

Without seeing the whole video, its rather impossible to see what was going on before, and how the whole situation developed, I wasn't even sure at first who was saying what. But what happened is the sort of outcome seem to indicate one is not doing it right.
So, when Jesus said things that people did not like, and they reacted in a bad way, was Jesus not doing it right? -Of course, He was.
The Gospel is offensive to the lost. Especially when we do as Jesus did and show people their evil deeds so that they will turn from them.
Sadly, too many Christians will criticise those who do go out and confront the lost while they themselves stay quiet.

Apologetics is about helping people with their misunderstandings about Christianity. Eristics is just arguing for the sake of arguing, seeking to win an argument. And devoid of christian love, it won't matter how good one's arguments are.
Sometimes we can make the very best argument for the existence of God and the Cross, but no matter how good the argument, a person’s heart may still remain hard. Yet you never know, they might go away and think about it.
I’ve had several debates with hard-core atheists, and at the end I often shake their hand and say, ‘Thanks for the discussion. You really pushed me, but I think you’ll agree I gave some solid answers.’ Most of the time, they smile, agree, and leave on good terms. When they acknowledge that I gave good answers, I believe a small pinprick has been made in their misunderstanding.
Charles Spurgeon understood that we are to do all we can to save the lost, and sometimes that may mean debating them when it seems like a lost cause. He said,
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies.
And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees,
imploring them to stay.
If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

We need to do our best to reach these people. But remember, it’s not apologetics that changes a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. It’s the Gospel. Apologetics is useful, but only the Gospel transforms the heart.
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Speaker Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

Propaganda is anti-American where as peaceful protesting is pro-American. I've been to several rallies and plan to attend "No Kings". The concept of not having a King as the ruler of this country is the bedrock of this country.
Thats true. And since we dont have one and the Constitution prohibits it, it seems like a silly thing to rally about.
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Another look at the moon landing.

No it is not.
I’ll try to keep this simple for you.

“Formation of Rain​

The continuous water cycle on the earth involves rain. At the beginning of the cycle, sunlight warms the water on earth's surface. The heat causes the water to evaporate or change into water vapour. Water vapour is pervasive in the air. When it cools, the water vapour returns to droplets of water.


These droplets combine to form clouds in large numbers. Smaller water droplets in a cloud mix to form larger drops of liquid. The drips eventually weigh too much to remain in the cloud. They descend to earth as rain and the water cycle starts over.
In the clouds, water droplets occasionally turn into ice crystals. Sometimes, as the ice crystals fall toward the earth, they melt. This is yet another way of formation of rain.”


This process was created by God.
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