So this happened a few days ago — many thankyous to Zimbabwe, Hwange National Park, Vusa Ncube (our head guide), Mthandazo Ncube (another great guide), Imvelo Safari Lodges and all the other people we enjoyed hanging out with, along with Chris Moraway/Moraway Adventures, who put it together).
In my view, A.I. has two very different purposes — data processing (good idea) and making judgments about what to do (bad idea).
“And it’s one, two, three …
What are we fighting for? …
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn …
Next stop is Iran …”
(Slightly updated refrain, from the 1965 song, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag,” by Country Joe and the Fish — Country Joe McDonald died recently but I think he’d be OK with this update crossing out Vietnam and adding Iran.)
Barack Obama wowed a crowd in Tucson a few days ago. He’s a natural. Here’s how he works any crowd — my observations and photo in a Montana rally a while ago:
Putting aside the dialog — because political dialog is never all that truthful — I watch Obama work the room. He’s a fundamentally charismatic person, handsome and slim and graceful, with a repertoire of measured gestures. He’s always in motion as he talks — shifting the microphone from one hand to the other, back and forth, and using the other hand like a dancer would, to connect himself to everyone and to draw everyone to him.
The Obama arm extends, with the hand in a relaxed fling, then the hand abruptly points — as if he’s pointing to a fact he knows. Thumb up, he’s counting a first point in a series. Then forefinger extended, he counts the second point. Then sweeping his arm around he includes all the facts. When a guy in the audience poses a skeptical question, Obama extends the arm toward the guy open-handed like a welcome. Then he retracts the arm and uses it to touch his own gut as he refers to himself, a physical demonstration of gut-level honesty. Then the arm extends upward with the palm patting a point in the air. All very smooth. He’s a natural, no doubt enhanced by training from professionals and plenty of rehearsals over the years.
The Statue of Freedom! … I’ve gazed at the U.S. Capitol many times without wondering, what is that statue balanced atop the dome? On a recent trip to D.C., I shot a photo of a replica that’s displayed inside the Capitol so tourists can see the goofy details (left). The photo on the right shows the fullsize statue atop the massive building. … I came away thinking, our Capitol is topped by a Statue of Freedom looking like it was designed as a joke — fitting for our current moment of history.
Here’s some of Wikipedia about the fullsize version atop the Capitol: The Statue of Freedom is a colossal bronze figure standing 19+1⁄2 ft tall and weighing approximately 15,000 pounds. … She is an allegorical figure whose right hand holds the hilt of a sheathed sword, while a laurel wreath of victory and the Shield of the United States are clasped in her left hand. Her chiton is secured by a brooch inscribed “U.S.” and is partially covered by a heavy, Native American–style fringed blanket thrown over her left shoulder. … She wears a military helmet adorned with stars and an eagle’s head which is itself crowned by an umbrella-like crest of feathers. … Ten spikes are attached to her headdress, shoulders and shield to deter birds from roosting.
All righty, on April 15, Publishers Weekly gave my new novel a good review, excerpt:
“White-knuckle whodunit … ratchets up the suspense while developing a surprisingly potent emotional dynamic between well-drawn leads. John Sandford fans should take a look.”
New problems in analyzing crime-related DNA in Colorado resemble the wrongful conviction of a main character in my Montana Blues novel, as the Denver Post reports:
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is moving to retest DNA samples in thousands of criminal cases and expects to spend at least $7.5 million to remedy problems discovered in one longtime employee’s lab work, according to a state budget request.
Officials discovered “anomalies” in the DNA testing work of Yvonne “Missy” Woods last year and started both internal and criminal investigations into Woods. She worked for the CBI for 29 years and left before the agency publicly announced the anomalies in November.
About 3,000 DNA samples need to be retested by a third-party laboratory, CBI officials estimated in a January budget request. That will cost roughly $3 million. Additionally, the agency asked for $4.4 million to pay out to district attorney’s offices across Colorado to address claims by people who say they were wrongly convicted of crimes because of Woods’ work.
Here’s an update on White supremacism in Montana, reported by the Montana Free Press and the Montana Daily, along the lines of my new novel:
Big Sky Active Club, the group linked to the racist stickers applied to various sites at Montana State University in Bozeman, “has repeatedly appeared in news stories about white nationalist activity in Montana over the past year. Big Sky Active Club reportedly took credit last March for etching Nazi symbols at the Four Dances Special Recreation Management Area near Billings, which is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and named for a prominent Crow leader. Months later, residents of more than a dozen homes in Miles City reported receiving CDs in the mail containing audio and music files supporting the neo-Nazi movement.”
The Montana Free Press story continues: “In October, a peaceful rally outside the Missoula County Courthouse in support of Palestine was disrupted by a group of masked protesters carrying signs with neo-Nazi slogans, one of whom was arrested and cited for disorderly conduct. White supremacist activity was reported that same day outside Missoula’s Har Shalom synagogue …
“A ‘demonstration report’ posted online by White Lives Matter Montana last October listed five regional groups, including Big Sky Active Group, as participating in the demonstrations outside the Missoula courthouse and Har Shalom.
“Last month, the Great Falls Public Library learned that neo-Nazi propaganda stickers had been inserted into numerous books in its collection.”
Tones of violent racism in Montana run through my new novel, and recent news from the Daily Montanan shows the threat is real:
Marquayvion Hughes, a Black student at Montana State University in Bozeman (where Montana Blues is set), quit the university “in part because he no longer wanted to face white supremacism, he said. He was called the ‘n’ word at MSU, saw Nazi propaganda in trash cans on campus, and heard Bobcats at a football game ‘screaming racial slurs to members of the other team.’ …
“One student said she reported a poster with Nazi imagery and eugenics propaganda placed on her car. She saw similar posters plastered to poles around the parking lot.” …
Alexandra Lin, an MSU student “who is part Taiwanese … said she has received numerous death threats, graphic images of Asian porn, and racist messages, such as an email telling her to ‘Kill yourself, ch–k.'”