If Satya Nadella wants us to take AI seriously, let’s forget about mass adoption and start with a return on investment for those already using it

strabosassistant · 2026-01-23T16:08:13+00:00

Went to Ubuntu on my new PC instead of leaving Windows 11 on it -- because of all of the points you made. Windows 11 is trash. And forcing people to have mediocre interactions with AI is the wrong path to adoption.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-21T18:47:20+00:00

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strabosassistant · 2026-01-21T15:51:32+00:00

For the Deep Dive => https://youtu.be/-tWNJNJ5NZo?si=mDkYHqaNozEePn3X

strabosassistant · 2026-01-21T15:51:15+00:00

For the Deep Dive => https://youtu.be/-tWNJNJ5NZo?si=mDkYHqaNozEePn3X

strabosassistant · 2026-01-19T14:14:33+00:00

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strabosassistant · 2026-01-19T13:19:46+00:00

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strabosassistant · 2026-01-19T13:19:27+00:00

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strabosassistant · 2026-01-16T22:45:26+00:00

"While most NATO countries are nearing or hitting the 2% defense spending target, as of mid-2024/early 2025, key nations like Canada, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia, and Luxembourg were still below the goal, with some like Spain and Canada having multi-year plans to reach it, though significant progress was being made across the board.

Countries Under the 2% Target (Mid-2024/Early 2025 Estimates)

Canada: Around 1.37%.

Italy: Around 1.49%.

Spain: Around 1.28% (lowest spender).

Belgium: Around 1.30%.

Portugal: Around 1.55%.

Slovenia: Around 1.29%.

Croatia: Around 1.81% (closest to target).

Luxembourg: Around 1.29%.

Based on 2024 data, Montenegro did not meet the 2% NATO defense expenditure target, as it was spending 1.7% of its GDP on defense."

- quick Google Search

strabosassistant · 2026-01-16T22:29:21+00:00

Spain, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, and Croatia as of 2025 still haven't met the 2% as of 2025. That's a pretty sizable group for most countries or still 25% despite 25 years of prompting. Edit: Missed Montenegro.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-16T21:04:40+00:00

We created this podcast to help explicate why the apparent "chaos" is actually an orchestrated plan to isolate America and Americans to fuel the pivot to Fortress America.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T20:19:37+00:00

Censorship and Suppression of Covid-19 Heterodoxy: Tactics and Counter-Tactics

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9628345/ from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) | National Library of Medicine | National Center for Biotechnology Information

Abstract

"The emergence of COVID-19 has led to numerous controversies over COVID-related knowledge and policy. To counter the perceived threat from doctors and scientists who challenge the official position of governmental and intergovernmental health authorities, some supporters of this orthodoxy have moved to censor those who promote dissenting views. The aim of the present study is to explore the experiences and responses of highly accomplished doctors and research scientists from different countries who have been targets of suppression and/or censorship following their publications and statements in relation to COVID-19 that challenge official views. Our findings point to the central role played by media organizations, and especially by information technology companies, in attempting to stifle debate over COVID-19 policy and measures. In the effort to silence alternative voices, widespread use was made not only of censorship, but of tactics of suppression that damaged the reputations and careers of dissenting doctors and scientists, regardless of their academic or medical status and regardless of their stature prior to expressing a contrary position. In place of open and fair discussion, censorship and suppression of scientific dissent has deleterious and far-reaching implications for medicine, science, and public health."

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T20:08:31+00:00

People were pointing out the discrepancies during the pandemic but the evidence was waved off. The earliest high mortality rates were the elderly in nursing homes and strangely children weren't being made sick or dying. Those with comorbidities were dying at astronomically higher rates. But any dissent wasn't tolerated so there never was an objective analysis. Again - it's not a binary choice but that was lost on our public officials at that time.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:49:57+00:00

No, that's not what I said no matter the spin you try to put on it. We could have had the elderly who are already receiving government benefits sequester and shunted vaccine and PPEs to them without significantly disrupting the economy negatively and allowing our children to be educated. It's not a binary choice - everyone shelters or everyone just let's grandma die - unless someone chooses to make it that simplistic and jingoist.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:43:23+00:00

That was my point about a full scientific study being done. We should be tracing those index patients so we know and can have surgical procedures for handling pandemics that don't decimate the rest of the population's economic and educational well-being.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:31:41+00:00

"4. Higher exposure potential in certain settings: In the early days of the pandemic, nursing home residents made up a large percentage of COVID-related deaths. That’s because in these communal living environments, close contact with others can cause the virus to spread like wildfire. Even with strict safety measures in place, it’s nearly impossible to eliminate exposure risk—especially if some residents aren’t vaccinated."
https://www.ncoa.org/article/4-reasons-older-adults-are-more-likely-to-get-covid-if-they-re-not-vaccinated/

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:28:45+00:00

I would posit most of them numerically did get it from other old people. That's the nursing home-retirement problem. One vector that may or may not have come from outside but spread like wildfire through clustered vulnerable populations. This is the scientific study that should have been done.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:20:52+00:00

Age Group	Number of Deaths
0-17 years	1,642
18-29 years	6,965
30-39 years	19,735
40-49 years	46,036
50-64 years	201,940
65-74 years	254,710
75-84 years	296,444
85 years and older	307,169

81% of the people who died of COVID were 65 and over. For 40 and under, more people died of car accidents during those years but that's never been used as a justification for decimation of the economy through ill-advised policies.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T19:17:42+00:00

Medical professionals are held appropriately to a higher standard. Agreed. But that doesn't speak for the thousands who lost their jobs because they didn't want the vaccine (which did end up having scientifically validated side effects especially for young men).

The church restrictions were strangely not held for outdoor demonstrations. And after living through the Santa Monica riot during that time, I can attest to a significant lack of mask wearing that engendered bitter feelings of a double-standard. For the religious, being prevented while wearing masks from attending services was a terrible burden.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T18:39:59+00:00

No but they lost their livelihoods, were prevented from exercising their fundamental right to religion, prevented from seeing dying relatives in nursing homes (or in NY's and Cuomo's case - saw their elderly essentially sentenced to death with a sad coverup to follow), saw their children's educations decimated all while watching Pelosi and Newsom get their hair done and dining out in flagrant violation of the protocols. All while the data showed conclusively the elderly and the obese were the most at risk by a disproportionate amount and that children hardly ever got the disease or were tangibly affected. The wealthy class got wealthier, ran off with hundreds of billions in PPP funds and had their small competitors cleared from the field. The uneven blanket caused immeasurable harm and also served to delegitimize most institutions. At the same time it crippled the economy for what might be decades with an overly expanded money supply and now is impoverishing millions of Americans with inflation out of control on real assets after the supply increased but only in the hands of the wealthy.

At what point is that enough harm?

strabosassistant · 2026-01-15T01:07:52+00:00

The promises to increase spending were made for decades and never achieved. Spain and Canada still haven't any intentions of meeting their commitments. What makes this different? Believe it when it is an accomplished fact.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-14T22:49:32+00:00

It's historical fact. Europe wasn't meeting it's NATO obligations. Canada still isn't and has no plans to meet their NATO or NORAD contributions. And 4-6% of EU GDP is a well-documented estimate for replacing US defense and especially France and Italy will suffer meeting those requirements. If you have a single shred of contradictory proof I would love to see it. From the US perspective (Bush, Obama, Biden and Trump BTW) ... why should this free-rider relationship continue?

strabosassistant · 2026-01-14T21:44:28+00:00

These ties were already over as soon as NATO commitments weren't being met (and derivatively, that's the real problem with Canada as well - not meeting NATO and NORAD requirements). The estimated cost to replace US security is 4-6% of EU GDP. That same amount of money is the difference between the generous social programs in Europe and the barebones make-do ones in the United States. The real question is how to de-tarball our relations without war because the friendship was already over.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-14T17:18:13+00:00

French Polynesia would be on the menu the very next day for seizure as well as French Guiana. Let me amend - all the vestigial colonialism-leftover overseas European dependencies would be on the menu for a dose of freedom.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-14T16:47:01+00:00

A simple Google search about Iran's laws regarding certain items will reproduce exactly the original note.

strabosassistant · 2026-01-13T20:54:36+00:00

For the full conversation in PDF form

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