Engels and Housing

 For those of the Marxist bent the housing problem was "solved" by Engels, the capitalist protege of Marx. In his work, The Housing Question, he indicated that housing could only be solved by a total elimination of the capitalists, and society controlled by the proletariat. This is truly worth a read, especially if you ever have an interest in the decline and fall of New York City.

EU Nonsense!

 Science published a paper by EU "Experts" regarding the oversight and control of AI. The authors note:

 A global challenge in artificial intelligence (AI) regulation lies in achieving effective risk management without compromising innovation and technical progress. The European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act represents the first regulatory attempt worldwide to navigate this tension in the form of a binding, risk-based framework. In August 2025, obligations for providers of general-purpose AI (GPAI) models under the EU AI Act entered into application. They require providers of the most advanced GPAI models to evaluate possible systemic risks stemming from their models. This raises the regulatory challenge of ensuring that the evaluations provide meaningful risk information without imposing excessive burden on providers. The principle of proportionality, a binding requirement under EU law, requires the regulator to calibrate its actions to their intended objectives. The application of proportionality to model evaluations for AI risk opens opportunities to develop scientific methods that operationalize such calibration within concrete evaluation practices.

 Nowhere is AI defined! Furthermore the terms they use lack specific definitions. The document is nearly incomprehensible. This is now classic EU blather. Luddites more more advanced!

 

 

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

 I have lived for a short or long period in over twenty countries. Some advanced and some not so much. I had become an expert on the Moscow subways as well as London, Paris, Rome (well kind of, it s bad but not as much as NYC). I have taken the TGV from Paris to multiple places in France and a train from Warsaw to Prague, kind of rickety.

But the NJ Transit is clearly the worst anywhere in this galaxy, if not in the entire Universe! Management, a real misnomer, has relentlessly managed to mess up everything.

The NY Times reports on the latest fiasco! The Bridge. It is like a Dante Journey to the Inferno. Cerberus awaits. You cannot get there from here. Now they did not get to tell you this until 48 hours before the collapse. You have to go to Hoboken, then a ferry of Path, then the subway, then walk. Hours later if you are lucky you may arrive at work. NJ Transit's management suggests you stay at home. The new Governor seems grossly unaware and lacking in any sympathy.

Management of the project is totally unaware that people must work to get money to pay them for the job. This clearly needs a reboot!  This is a classic example of no one in charge and no one responsible. It is New Jersey at its best!

As a side note, in the NYT there is video of a NJT worker on a bull horn yelling at the passengers. First. no one can understand her. Second, it just raise the level of angst. Third, it is just a nasty addition depicting the gross incompetence of management. It appears as a last minute addition. Just stop it! 

Race to the Bottom!

 For years Amazon was a reliable deliverer. Not so much anymore. The last 8-10 packages were delayed, lost, or otherwise sent elsewhere. One wonders if Amazon is trying to out do the USPS. It appears as if they are succeeding superbly. If this were a truly competitive vendor the head of distribution would be applying to McDonald's at this point. 

The Earth is Flat

 The fatal flaw of AI is that it relies solely upon masses of prior information. It takes everything as truth with no balance or fact checking. Thus if one does a simple thought experiment the fault would become clear. Consider if AI existed in 1300 AD. Fear not, just AI nothing else new. I then ask the AI engine if the earth is flat. The answer clearly is yes because all of the documents it relied upon says so. 

Thus the fatal flaw of any AI system is the "fact base" it relies upon. As someone once relayed to me, "There was a young boy whose father placed him on a high table. He opened his arms and said jump. The boy jumped, the father withdrew his arms and splat! The father then said to the boy: Trust no one not even your father" 

Cancer Cell Plasticity

 

This Note examines cancer cell plasticity. Namely the ability of cancer cells to change phenotypes as an aid to metastatic behavior. Benign structure adhere to the mantra; “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” Plasticity in cells may result in a violation of this mantra, thus allowing clutter, and ultimately cellular hoarding, or metastasis.

Namely the ability of cancer cells tochange phenotypes as an aid to metastaticbehavior. Benign structure adhere to themantra; “A place for everything, andeverything in its place.” Plasticity in cellsmay result in a violation of this mantra,thus allowing clutter, and ultimatelycellular hoarding, or metastasis.Terrence McGartyTGL 219

Sixth Avenue

 As an old New Yorker I still call the Avenue of the Americas, Sixth Avenue. The bridge across the Hudson the Tappan Zee Bridge. Penn Station is Penn Station. Grand Central is Grand Central. The Hudson River is the Hudson River. He sailed up it in 1609 so I guess that is just fine. Newark Airport is just OK. I cannot get used to Newark Liberty. 

Don't start changing names. Idlewild is now JFK. Easier to say I guess. LaGuardia,  well I guess it is OK, after all he allegedly signed my birth certificate. Build a victory arch, name it for the Emperor? The above is in Aosta, but beware Constantine went through it on his way to conquering all of the Empire. 

Rights and the Individual

 Turley’s latest book, Rage and the Republic, is a highly readable and compelling presentation of the fundamental issues that created the American Republic as we may know it.

 I begin by noting that on the west side of Morristown, NJ, on the way to the wintering grounds of Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War, is a small park, a pond and a wonderful statue. Fortunately it was not torn down during the rage on past people, it remains but a lonesome edifice to the past. It is a statue of Thomas Paine, with his writings held in his hands. I suspect that few visitors have any clue who this person was. I have sat in the shade many times in warm weather looking up at old Tom and wondering is he remains a well known character anymore. Then along comes Turley and enlivens Tom as a key player and essential writer to the Revolution’s cause. Paine flows in and out of Turley’s work and one must understand him to get to understand the theme of Turley’s book. Turley provides such an understanding in a brilliant and readable manner.

 Turley presents many of the issues in readily understandable terms. For the many who have little if any knowledge of the “ideas” that led to the American Revolution and in turn to the French Revolution, Turley’s presents them in understandable terms.

 One his earlier discussions if the use of natural law and natural rights. In my opinion, natural rights precede natural law. Natural rights is a concept that has a long standing existence. In simple terms natural rights are those things that people believe that have or should have. Such as the right to speak freely, the right town and control property, the right to a fail trial, the right to believe in one’s own religion. By the time of Paine and Rousseau, the American view and the French, these rights were somewhat commonly held. Natural law then is the law that provides the legal basis for ensuring these rights. Turley depicts the Founders as true believers in these rights and the basis in law for their protection.

 Turley points out as US Senator who questions natural rights and in turn natural law. I have seen this Senator in action and clearly in my opinion his comments are baseless at the very least and reflect perhaps a gross ignorance of both history and facts. But alas it is politics, where ignorance is oftentimes a virtue, it allows one to purport statements that satisfy a political position independent of the facts.

 In addition to the first two above, Turley depicts the Founders and their actions as supporters of the individual, and in turn individualism. The Bill of Rights, based upon Natural Rights, are rights for the individual, not the collective. Freedom of speech is freedom for the individual, as is freedom of religion, and of the press. The rights are furthermore equal for all individuals. In the American Revolution, people became citizens nor subjects. One should not in England to this day people are subjects, subjects of the Crown. Whereas in America, citizens hold equal and inalienable rights. Turley does an excellent job in presenting these concepts.

 Let me consider several points that Turley makes throughout the book.

 On p 34 he speaks of Mayhew and Paul’s epistle to the Romans. Paul stated: Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.

 Now one must question this on its face. After all one could hardly say that following Herod or Nero were established by God! Indeed Mayhew and Paine broke from this well established idea of divine selection. However it should be noted that Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham in the 14^th century predated Mayhew and Paine in denying this divine assignment of rulers. In fact they espoused the rights of individuals, rights that superseded the divine or royal. Unfortunately the plague of 1348 quieted this movement for some 400 years.

 On p 62 is the discussion of Paine and unicameralism. Namely only one house for legislation. I felt that the failure to cover Montesquieu in this place was a fault. For it was Montesquieu who had developed a government with a balance of powers, a form inherent in the Constitution. How much of this Paine accepted in uncertain.

 On p 167 the author begins with de Tocqueville and his understanding of the Americans. Now I believe it is useful to see Tocqueville in the context of three of his works; that on America, the French Revolution and Ireland. Most of the attention is on America. But Tocqueville saw the French Revolution as a revolt against the centralization of all governmental power in Paris and lack outside. It is a somewhat different view but worth consideration. In his work on Ireland he commented upon the near slave like existence of the Irish under English rule. Brutality, death, starvation and the total depletion of any claim to a right.

 From p 173 forward the author considers contemporary responses and indeed contemporary rage. Most of what he writes here is a reiteration of current acts by people and politicians. For example on p 176 he discusses the assassinations of Kirk and Thompson. He contends that these acts were done by American Jacobins. In the context of the French Revolution the Jacobins were the “Jacques”, the common man. Similar acts were common with earlier “Jacques” call Jacquerie, a 14^th century band of “common men” who roamed France slaughtering those whom the believed were infringing on their “rights”. The question that needs answering is what drives these people? What makes an otherwise normal human being become an assassin? This is not a new set of events, it is common, albeit it ebbs and flows with the time and place.

 On pp 184-185 the author discusses the fumbling and bumbling U.S. Senator and his denial of the existence of natural rights. Now there are centuries of writings on natural rights and at the time the Founders wrote the Constitution there were well of many centuries of thought of these issues. But to have a Senator from Virginia of all places to espouse such grossly inaccurate remarks makes one wonder. The author uses this well placed discussion to make a point.

 On pp 187-196 the author discusses Professors. I was at MIT in the 60s, as a junior faculty member so I managed to see both worlds, student and faculty. The “age” then was against the Vietnam War. The SDS was a well organized Marxist group whose action were often poorly targeted but damaging. My office were threated by fire bombs, my exam rooms got bomb threats, and smoke from Harvard square worked its way down Mass Ave. But the protests were focused on the war. I was even an adherent to Chomsky’s views, albeit a bit of a fringe personality. But now the Chomskyites are pervasive, often Marxists through and through. But what I found later was that Chomsky was a sophist par excellance. He wrote brilliantly but managed to twist facts to his desired conclusions.

 On p 233 the author discusses property rights, on of the natural rights. If one labors and the fruits of that labor are the creation of legal acquisition of property one has an inalienable right to that property.

 On 260 to 264 the author discusses AI. Here as with many other authors I ask how does one define AI. One looks about and everything is now AI supported, even one mobile phone. In reality there are multiple niches wherein the use of computers, the collection of massive amounts of information, the tools to enter queries and obtain responses via complex processing of the query and the databases is called AI. But in reality AI is in the eye of the beholder, it as the Supreme Court noted in pornography, you know it when you see it. Thus it use and ultimately its regulation is clouded in uncertainty.

 Overall this is a superb book. It lacks the excitement and fire of Paine but it balances facts, history, and politics in a superb manner. It is a book written by an academic, providing facts and interpretation but accessible to every reader. I would highly recommend a read of this book, not just once, but several times.

Is Verizon Getting that Bad?

 I just ordered a new phone. Paid for it and it was to be sent. Verizon used:

DHL FWD DFILL GROUND  

Now this is some screwed up amalgam of DHL and UPS which got lost somewhere in northern NJ. Impossible to track and guess I will have to deal with the incompetents at Verizon. 

That company is close to total implosion. Fortunately my pension is with Prudential now and not these incompetents! 

A New Zealand View

 Now New Zealand is an English speaking country but in many ways an outlier. In a Nature article the authors discuss Toxic Masculinity. They state:

The term toxic masculinity was coined in the 1980s, and expresses the idea that some of the traits that many societies consider stereotypically ‘masculine’, such as dominance and aggression, can have damaging social impacts. Today, the phrase is often used to describe all manner of behaviours, from sexual violence to a disinclination to help with chores around the home. The concept has proved helpful in many ways — highlighting how gender-based expectations can contribute to depression in men, for example, and encouraging men to see value in being open about their emotions. But it can also be problematic, researchers say. Casual use of the term might falsely imply, for example, that all societies think of manliness in the same way, that all masculine traits are negative or that all men are toxic. Researchers have delved into similar concepts, including hegemonic or patriarchal masculinity, which examines how a dominant, culturally idealized view of manhood upholds the patriarchy. But the term toxic masculinity hasn’t had as much academic attention. “Nobody measures it,” says psychology researcher Steven Sanders at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Some psychologists are now trying to pick apart and quantify its aspects.

 Now clearly the authors have not been examining the trends of American XX in the recent decade of protests. Dominance and aggression is an understatement. Ruthless, assertive, and provocation are more the likely assessments of XX. 

 The XY groups try to keep their own but clearly the behavior is dominated by the aggressive XX groups. But alas this is New Zealand.

 

Cloudflare Messes Up Everything

 More and more web sites demand use of Cloudflare. Time and time again it messes everything up. It asserts that my IP address is a risk. I have used it for three decades! No risks. It fails to learn. It then inhibits log in to common sites. You spend time working around it.

I agree we should be careful. But it appears Cloudflare despises users! Security should be better at what they charge. If all else fails listen to the customer. They clearly do not.

March of the Turkeys

 It is sub zero but these guys seem to be bouncing around. They are on their way to Davos to meet the rest of the clan!

Greenland

 In the years that I was flying back and forth to Europe, the return trip often took me across Greenland. I often thought I would like to go there. I hired an advisor who had been the US Ambassador to Greenland and he told me that the only way to get there was on a flight from Copenhagen, which went but 2 days a week. 

Then as I kept looking at Greenland fly by me at 35,000 feet, there really was not much there. Perhaps a few rotting US radar facilities and some lost B-17s. Yes, a Soviet sub would go between Greenland and Iceland to the North Atlantic, AKA Red October and the SOSUS arrays would try to track it, but weapons have changed in fifty years.

So I ask what war are we fighting. The old adage is when the war begins the plans get thrown out the window. Then the Generals and Admirals we started with ket booted, think McClellan. So why is it strategic? 

Perhaps a White House telling us all the reasons would help. I really don't sense it filled up with Russian spies. What are the strategic needs? The sop of rare earths is true nonsense, California and western states have more than we ever will need. And we don't have to annex them, kinda!

A Sense of Smell

 The new NY Mayor's Housing head allegedly is in favor of massive public housing, seeing individual home ownership as some capitalist evil. I guess I have a strong sense of small. As a young man, grammar school, I had an uncle by marriage who was the head of maintenance for one of the massive NYC housing projects. As I walked through them, because he lived there, the smalls were overpowering. Food, excrement, urine, and the overpowering odors of humanity on the edge.

Segue to the 1970s and Soviet Moscow. January, 20 below zero, yet as one walked along the streets one could smell the kerosene and borsch, from small stoves, and inside were people brushing their teeth with vodka because the drinking water was infested with giardia. It reminded me of NYC housing, just older!

Communism is forced communal degradation, and perhaps that is what this Housing person wants, One just wonders why? 

Visas to the UK

 Back in the old days I could travel in and out of the UK with no problem, even though I am Irish, and there is no loss there. Add to that I am Catholic so that would have put me on Queen E I  list for a burning, but alas not when I was traveling.

But now the UK demands I have an ETA,  and electronic travel authorization. It is easier to get a visa to Russia. The UK has become a rather unfriendly place, actually that an understatement. One wonders what these folks are thinking. 

Not that I have the least interest in anyplace in England, and especially the northern occupied territories, but why they have such a limitation? 

 Oh well, I love France and perhaps it is my Norman genes.  

Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest

 Well here goes. Some 35 years ago I was SVP and COO of NYNEX Mobile soon to become Verizon Wireless. The interesting thing I found out was in those days the least favored employees were sent there, the better ones assume wireless was just a fad. After all the old company had guaranteed earnings whereas wireless was competitive.

I recall once I asked the head of a region what her market share was. She said fifty fifty with the other player. I knew the answer, she had less than 20% and was clueless. She was from NY Tel. Churn was 20% per month, there being no reason for resellers to not do it since they had no retention policy. The list goes on.

Today Verizon has had a massive collapse. Now consider this:

They tell you to log onto their site. But the site demands that you enter a code sent to your cell phone. But if the service is down you will never get the code. Dumb, dumber, dumbest! 

Never ask telephone types to design or implement anything. And worse with a company with over $160 billion in debt beware of their cost cuttings. The place needs a clean sweep! 

OK So What Is AI

 The NY Times states:

Ms. Hochul specifically wants to prohibit campaigns from spreading A.I.-generated images of people, including opposing candidates, without their consent in the 90 days before an election.

 Since the bill cannot define AI, nor can anyone else, this is another Government fiasco!

 

Individualism

 I wrote a short book on Individualism vs Progressivism. First I defined individualism and laid out porgressivism. Then I discussed the elements of both and contrasted them. I am a strong supporter of individualism. It has been the strength of this country, individuals taking risks to created new businesses, new technologies.

Along comes a fellow in New York who states: 

 "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."  

Now this is the death knell of any society. I have seen collectivism. It is a form of slavery controlled by a limited class of overseers.  If anyone wants to see the clear fallacy of this statement, just read through my short book, written some fifteen years ago.