How many times have you heard me say that artificial intelligence scares the sh*t out of me?

Dozens of times, at least.

And while I tried to convince myself that my aversion to AI was simply a byproduct of having been born a generation ahead of the technology explosion of the late 20th century, somewhere in the hidden recesses of my mind a little voice kept telling me that I was correct: that AI was — or had the potential of becoming — inherently evil.

Now it seems that my gut was right. Mrinank Sharma, the former head of Anthropic’s Safeguards Research team, recently departed the company, posting as he left: “The world is in peril.” [Allison Morrow, CNN, February 11, 2026.]

And a researcher for OpenAI — also on his way to the exit — stated that AI technology has “a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.” [Id.]

At Elon Musk’s xAI, two co-founders quit in a 24-hour period this week. xAI has just completed a merger with Musk’s SpaceX, which will make it the world’s most valuable private company. Over the past week, five other xAI staff members have announced their departures.

Researchers have expressed concerns about safety issues, and about top executives focused solely on generating revenue. Others oppose the inclusion of pornographic content.

In late 2022, soon after ChatGPT came on the market, Geoffrey Hinton — known as the “Godfather of AI” — left Google and began preaching about his view of the existential risks posed by AI, including “massive economic upheaval in a world where many will ‘not be able to know what is true anymore.’” [Id.]

That was what immediately struck me when I first heard the term “Artificial Intelligence” years ago: the fearful prospect of not being able to differentiate between fact and fiction . . . between truth and lies . . . between reality and what some unknown person wants you to believe.

And with the controls in the hands of someone like Elon Musk, that fear becomes abject terror.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/13/26

Umberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political/social commentator, perhaps best known for two of his novels, “The Name of the Rose” and “Foucault’s Pendulum.”

In 2015, he warned of the dangers inherent in the rapid evolution and the potential misuse of the internet.

And in one sentence, he managed both to predict and explain the enigma of a man who one day would be pacing in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House in the wee hours of the morning, spewing his verbal venom across that very same internet for the entire world to see:

“Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another’s fear.”

Nailed it!

Just sayin’ . . .

Bendochka
2/13/26

Vladimir Putin would have you believe that the Russian military and economy are as strong as ever after four years of a “special military operation” in Ukraine that he originally predicted would be over in no more than a couple of weeks.

But, as his war machine now enters its fifth year of devastating human loss, excruciating economic sanctions, and minimal military success, the obvious truth is that Russia’s economy is struggling.

And so are its citizens.

Four years of government spending on weaponry, ammunition, supplies, and overly generous bonuses paid to entice young men and women to risk their lives in battle, have led to huge increases in taxes and interest rates to cover the costs . . . and inevitably to rampant inflation.

Vera, a 63-year-old retiree in the central Russian city of Ufa, complains that a staple of the Russian diet — cucumbers — now cost the equivalent of $5 per kilo (2.2 pounds). On a monthly pension of $323, she has had to find part-time work in order to survive. [Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, February 12, 2026.]

She doesn’t exaggerate. Official data show that cucumber prices have increased by 43% since the first of the year, with tomato prices up 21% and climbing.

And it’s not only food that is becoming unaffordable. Aleksei, an employed 55-year-old homeowner in a suburb of Ufa, said:

“Money is becoming increasingly scarce. Utility bills are skyrocketing. They’re constantly being recalculated, and not in the consumer’s favor. Food has also become very expensive, and we have to look for substitutes.” [Id.]

According to the semi-independent newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, “Rising prices and impoverishment of the population is the main problem” among educated Russians. [Id.]

And Estonian military intelligence concluded in its annual threat assessment report that “Russia is facing increasingly severe economic challenges and is neglecting almost all nonmilitary sectors as the war in Ukraine drags on. As a result, the risk of economic and social instability is set to rise in 2026.” [Id.]

All of which lands Putin between a very large rock and a hard place. He needs to win this war in order to maintain his authority as the all-powerful leader of a still-powerful country. But he also needs to retain the trust and loyalty of the Russian populace if he hopes to avoid a popular revolt.

*. *. *

What is so striking about the situation facing the average Russian consumer is that it mirrors what the vast middle- and lower-income classes of Americans are also experiencing.

We are not officially at war. But the waste, inefficiency, and blatant corruption that have become endemic in the current administration are causing the same sort of financial problems for the average American as those facing Vera and Aleksei in Ufa.

The government decided that last year’s cost of living had increased by a meager 2.8%. And on that basis, those of us relying on the Social Security savings we have paid into for our entire working lives received exactly that much of an increase for 2026. But from that, the government took back a portion to cover an increase in Medicare premiums, so we were already behind before we even got started. And in truth, prices of everything from food to fuel rose far more than the administration is willing to admit.

Last month, for example — when Donald Trump has been promising for a year that prescription prices would be decreasing by an impossible 500% or more — the premiums for my prescription insurance coverage doubled, from $52 to $100 per month. I can’t wait to see what will happen to my Medicare supplemental insurance on its anniversary date.

And don’t even get me started on the prices of necessities like toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc., etc., etc. While I am still able to afford cucumbers, I can foresee a time when we will all have to choose between giving up that salad with dinner, or gathering leaves from the trees in the front yard to use in the bathroom.

So yes, I feel the pain of the good Russian people who didn’t ask for this war, who bear no grudge against their Ukrainian neighbors, and who want nothing more than to live in peace and relative comfort. Like them, we have become victims of vicious, corrupt authoritarians and oligarchs who care nothing for the people whose labor actually makes their luxurious lifestyle possible.

But those corrupt leaders and their minions might do well to remember that, while they have the money, we have the numbers . . . and the vote.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/13/26

As though employees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) weren’t already sufficiently stressed by staffing shortages and last year’s DOGE layoffs, “Pistol Pete” Hegseth’s Pentagon has now invaded the skies over the southwestern U.S. border city of El Paso, Texas.

Apparently, there have been recent incursions into U.S. airspace by alleged Mexican cartel drones — a situation on which the FAA and the Defense Department have been working together toward a solution, as they should.

But on Wednesday, the FAA was forced to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso when the Pentagon decided to authorize U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to activate an anti-drone laser, deployed at nearby Fort Bliss, without first coordinating with the FAA to ensure the safety of commercial air traffic.

Initially, the FAA announced a ten-day shutdown; but once it had been determined that there was no ongoing danger to aircraft in the area, the closure was lifted after just a few hours. But the damage had already been done. Travelers into and out of El Paso were stranded for hours, and some medical evacuation flights had to be rerouted.

People familiar with the matter said the technology had been used despite a meeting scheduled for later in February at which the FAA and the Pentagon were to discuss the issue. [Seung Min Kim, et al., Associated Press, February 11, 2026.]

As luck would have it, the problem was quickly solved . . . this time. But think of the possible ramifications of this sort of unilateral action being taken by an autocratic department head who believes he is not required to follow mandated procedures . . . or is simply not bright enough to know what the hell he’s doing.

And another question comes to mind. CBP is under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which, as we are all too well aware, is in the hands of “Quick-Draw Kristi” Noem. But in matters involving border security, CBP works closely with the Department of Defense (DoD).

So, was Noem aware of what her department had been ordered to do? Or did Hegseth bypass her as well? In either case, the FAA was not consulted as it should have been; but the answer to the question would help to determine culpability.

*. *. *

The bottom line here is that we are seeing yet another example of the arrogance and the total incompetence — a treacherous combination — of the inmates who are running the asylum in Washington. And I don’t see how we can be expected to survive another three years of this kind of madness.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/12/26

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about karma. I suppose that happens to a great many people as they grow older and begin to face their own mortality.

But it’s not my own karma that has me concerned. Oh, it’s not that I’ve lived a perfect life . . . far from it. But I figure that, on a sliding scale, I’ve done far less harm than any of those politicians, pedophiles, and other criminals and reprobates who make the daily headlines; so whatever punishment I have coming to me in the afterlife, I’ll handle it.

No, I’m thinking about those folks in the White House — in fact, the entire administration — as well as a lot of people in other seats of power throughout the world, and all of their sycophants who have “simply followed orders.”

Apparently, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also had such low-lifes in mind when he put these words into the mouth of his most famous protagonist, Sherlock Holmes:

“Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”

– Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

Now, that’s a mental image that gives me hope for eventual justice.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/12/26

A huge shout-out today to the members of the grand jury that refused to indict the six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging service members and intelligence officials not to obey illegal orders from the Trump administration.

We don’t know the names of the members of the grand jury. But the six members of Congress who courageously and honorably spoke out for the Constitution are (L-R above): Rep. Chris Deluzio (PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH), Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ), Sen. Elissa Slotkin (MI), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA), and Rep. Jason Crow (CO).

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) obligates military personnel to obey all legal orders. It also requires them to disobey any and all illegal orders — orders that violate the Constitution, federal law, or international law such as the Geneva Conventions — and in fact subjects them to possible court-martial for carrying out illegal orders.

Posting the video was completely legal; the content of the video was 100% accurate; and that is precisely what infuriated Donald Trump. Because he was being called out for his illegal, unconstitutional orders resulting in the inhumane treatment, and even deaths, of both foreign and American individuals.

Typically, he went into attack mode and launched a social media offensive, accusing the six lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH.” Senator Mark Kelly — a retired Navy Captain — became the immediate target of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who threatened to cut his rank and retirement pay. And within weeks, each of the six was individually contacted by federal prosecutors as part of an investigation.

But they have not been silenced by the administration’s threats.

Kelly called the attempted indictment an “outrageous abuse of power,” adding:

“It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like. That’s not the way things work in America.” [Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand, CNN, February 10, 2026.]

Senator Slotkin, the organizer of the 90-second video, said of the grand jury’s decision: “. . . score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law.” She posted on X that the Trump administration had tried to “weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies,” and that the case had been brought “at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition.” [Id.]

And Congressman Crow warned that Americans “should be appalled by the fact that Donald Trump and his goons at Department of Justice and everywhere else are weaponizing their justice system just to try to silence dissent and to crush political opponents. Not only should Americans be angry at that — they have chosen the wrong people. If these fuckers think that they’re going to intimidate us and threaten and bully me into silence, and they’re going to go after political opponents and get us to back down, they have another think coming.” He added that the “tide is turning [as Americans] are rising up against the corruption and the rank abuse of this administration.” [Id.]

From Congressman Deluzio, we heard that he likewise wouldn’t be intimidated “for a single second by the Trump Administration or Justice Department lawyers who tried and failed to indict me today.” [Id.]

Similarly, Representative Goodlander said: “Today an American grand jury honored our Constitution by standing up to an outrageous abuse of presidential power and taxpayer dollars. No matter the threats, I will keep doing my job and upholding my oath to our Constitution.” [Id.]

And from Representative Houlahan: “This is good news for the Constitution and the free speech protections it guarantees. The grand jury upheld the rule of law — this is a win for all Americans.” [Id.]

*. *. *

There is little chance that Trump will simply allow the matter to end here. But each victory for the Constitution and the rule of law — each ruling against him by a court, a grand jury, or a Congressional vote — represents a crack in the foundation of Trump’s authoritarian regime. And as those cracks widen, his authority comes closer and closer to total collapse.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/12/26

On Monday, Russian officials said that the suspect they had arrested for shooting Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev — a 65-year-old man named Lyubomir Korba — had been located in Dubai and flown back to Moscow. How he got to Dubai was not explained.

Korba allegedly told them he had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence. Then they released surveillance video footage from the apartment building where Alekseyev was attacked — videos purportedly confirming the official story.

How convenient!

Immediately following the attempted assassination, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had already accused Ukraine of engineering the assault, without offering any evidence. And within a single day, Russia’s FSB intelligence agency had identified, located and detained two suspects, stating that a third had escaped to Ukraine.

One video — not independently verified — showed Korba saying that he had been recruited by Ukraine’s SBU agency in August of 2025 in Ternopil, Ukraine; sent to Kyiv for training; and promised $30,000 in cryptocurrency to kill Alekseyev.

And, to complete their story, the Russian FSB also accused Polish intelligence of having been involved in recruiting Korba. [Mike Eckel, RFE/RL, February 9, 2026.]

A second man, Viktor Vasin, was identified as the other suspect and arrested in Moscow, and was further accused of being connected to the late anti-corruption dissident Aleksei Navalny — a perpetual thorn in Putin’s side even now, two years after his mysterious death in a Russian penal colony. [Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Stolyarov, Reuters, February 8, 2026.]

The third suspect has been identified as a woman by the name of Zinaida Serebritskaya. [Id.]

Putin has been said to have thanked Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the leader of the United Arab Emirates, for his help in locating and detaining Korba. No details of the arrest have been revealed by UAE officials. [Id.]

*. *. *

Based on the sketchy information available, the Kremlin’s story seems to me to be full of holes.

To begin with, when Ukraine has carried out surprise attacks on Russian territory, they have claimed responsibility, taking pride in their ability to strike back against the aggressors. But Kyiv is denying any involvement in this incident.

The shooting also doesn’t seem to fit the picture of a typical Ukrainian intelligence operation. Their attacks have been primarily aimed at strategic military installations, supply lines, bridges, and the like. Furthermore, it was a sloppy job, allegedly carried out by Russian citizens recruited at substantial expense — hardly necessary (or smart), in light of the proven effectiveness of Ukraine’s own intelligence operatives.

More information is needed, and we may never learn the whole story. But it would be interesting to know whether General Alekseyev had any personal enemies, or had perhaps incurred the wrath of the Kremlin, which has always been known for its ability to dispose of people who have become redundant.

He is fortunate to have survived this attempt on his life. But, whoever was responsible, Alekseyev will now have to live with the knowledge that someone — for whatever reason — wants him dead.

As for the two men who have been arrested and accused of the attempted assassination, whether Ukrainian agents or not, they are as good as convicted.

That is simply how it’s done in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

Anne Frank — the young Jewish German girl who spent two years in hiding from the Nazis until she and her family were arrested and sent to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp — is universally known for the diaries she kept during the period of their isolation.

Between the ages of 13 and 15, her writing naturally focused largely on the war, as well as her continuing hope for the future and her faith in what she believed was the innate goodness of mankind. But a recent reading of some segments of her diaries revealed a surprisingly mature understanding of women’s accustomed lot in life in the 1940s, and a view of what would later become known as women’s rights that places her decades ahead of her time.

This is what I found:

“Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers? . . . Women who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!”

– Anne Frank, “The Diary of a Young Girl”

Had Anne not perished in the camps just two or three months before the end of the war in 1945, she may well have become the German compatriot of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the others of her generation who fought so valiantly for fair and equal treatment in a “man’s world.”

What a loss! But — thanks to her father, who was the only member of their family to survive the war — her words live on, as she would have hoped.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

Museums are among my favorite places to lose myself for a few hours. And yesterday I had the opportunity to do just that, with two good friends here in Savannah, who introduced me to the Museum of the Mighty Eighth — dedicated to the history of the U.S. Eighth Air Force from World War II.

I was previously unaware of the history of the Eighth Air Force, which was created in Savannah, Georgia, with seven recruits from the U.S. Army Air Force and not a single aircraft. In January of 1942 — just a month after the United States entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — the men, just teenagers and young adults, were sent to England to join our allies in the defense of Europe against Hitler’s Third Reich.

Over the course of the war, the Eighth became the largest air force in the world, consisting of 350,000 Americans on air bases across East Anglia, England.

By the end of the war in Europe in May of 1945, they had flown more than 600,000 missions and dropped over 670,000 tons of bombs.

But the cost was high. The Eighth lost 26,000 airmen in action, with another 28,000 taken as prisoners of war. Among the members, they received 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and more than 420,000 Air Medals. [Source: Mightyeighth.org]

The Museum — privately owned and maintained — is a beautiful tribute to those men. And it is a reminder, as that generation nears extinction, of the horrors of war and of the sacrifices that have been made in the defense of freedom and democracy . . . something we must never allow future generations to forget, lest it happen again.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/11/26

In the belief — or at least, the hope — that the world will survive without my undivided attention for a few hours, my rollator and I are heading out with friends today to take in the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.

Good friends, a nice lunch, and a stroll through history . . . it doesn’t get any better than that.

Sorry about the swastika … it’s part of history.

I’ll try to avoid another scene like the one I created in the Moscow Military Museum in 1993 (see my January 31st post: “This Day in History: The Golden Arches Rise in Russia”). But knowing my penchant for mischief, I make no promises.

Stay tuned.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/10/26