Underdog Lakers Advance to Conference Finals

They started the season with a 2-10 record and then something happened. 

The Lakers hit paydirt after the trade deadline when they got six new players who have been instrumental in their stunning success. 

Underdogs from the moment they entered into the play-in tournament the Lakers defied the odds and made the playoffs and what they've done there so far is a fan's dream come true.

Here's a link to the Game 6 blow out.

It's only the second time in NBA history a 2-10 team went to the conference finals. Now they face the #1 seed Denver next Tuesday, at Denver.

Like the rest of the teams the Lakers played they do not have home court advantage. They had to earn home court advantage when they played the #2 Grizzlies, and the #6 Golden State Warriors (last year's Champions).

Here's a link to a video, Lakers Are Dangerous.

The same will go for the Nuggets. The Lakers will need to strike fast and first by defeating the Nuggets in at least one of the first two games in Denver.

As it stands, I've been a Laker fan since they came to LA and this year's team is looking like one for the ages.

Another Day Another Act in America's Theatre of the Absurd

Welcome tourists to another day of drama in American society.

Please stay together and don't wander off or you might get shot. 

In our gun-worshipping culture AR-15s have replaced bibles and GOP lawmakers walk around wearing little AR-15 badges to show their loyalty to the gun lobby that supports them.

You've been warned.

Today's act is taking place along the Mexican American border. A law expired that prevented immigrants from applying for asylum. Naturally they're flooding the borders.

It's absolutely absurd that Congress can't address a problem that's been around for over 60 years. Democrats and Republicans have punted the situation from one administration to the next.

The politics are enough to make one vomit as each side puts on passion plays for or against immigrants.

This is not the only example of absurdity I have for you today. Here's another item that will make you shake your heads before you go home.

* McDonalds got sued for a hot chicken nugget that fell on an autistic toddler's lap and gave her a second-degree burn. A jury is now pondering the payout. 

In the first place Mom should not have handed the girl a Happy Meal while she's strapped into a car seat, and she couldn't see what her daughter was doing. 

If she wanted to give her a chicken nugget, she could have pulled one out of the box (testing it for heat) and waited until going home before eating at a table (or any safe place she could monitor).

It was absurd decades ago when a woman sued McDonald's because of how hot their coffee was when she stupidly spilled it all over her lap. She won, by the way. The case was infamous and now we're seeing another one over a chicken nugget.

As it stands, "Life is a theatre set in which there are but few practicable entrances." -Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Americans Are Drowning in an Endless Sea of Conspiracies

It's an octopus's garden in Congress where sharks swim freely attacking democracy.

Republicans have taken a deep dive on reality and now they've penetrated mainstream medias like CNN.

At last night's terrible town hall meeting Trump was given the big platform he's been so desperately seeking since he announced his bid for re-election.

He was allowed to lie without any rebuttals and was performing before a crowd of New Hampshire Republicans prepared to back him in the presidential primaries.

When asked if he should apologize to Pence for nearly killing him on Jan. 6 Trump said no, he would not, and that Pence did the wrong thing in not cooperating with his coup attempt.

The audience applauded his answer. It was eerie watching people clap like trained seals and gleefully ignoring reality. This is where we are now... people are drowning in a sea of endless conspiracies.

The applause continued when Trump said that when he's the president again he'll pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

The worst traitor in American history has spawned a cult that is dragging people into the depths of the Mariana Trench of conspiracies that he's nurtured for years starting with lies about President Obama's birth certificate.

We need a coordinated national pushback against the lies and conspiracies that threaten to drown democracy. 

What mainstream media left that still reports facts needs to throw out lifesavers in the form of truth and rebuttal to the massive misinformation attacks by a school of MAGA sea creatures.

As it stands, Trump and minions will continue to plumb new lows in our society until the majority of American voters kick them out of offices they've infected from the federal level to the state level.

This is the GOP Today: A Convicted Sexual Abuser Leads Primary Polls and House Member Charged with 13 Felony Counts

Twice impeached former president Trump once famously said that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in New York, and no one do anything about it.

It's starting to look like he's right.

Despite being convicted yesterday for sexual abuse and defamation Trump is going on mainstream TV (CNN) tonight with an opportunity to spread more lies to millions of Americans tonight.

How is that even possible? The world has turned upside down. When a mainstream outlet like CNN gives Trump coverage, they are promoting a cult leader for the sake of making money. 

Any moral ground CNN may have had is gone, replaced with the same motivations that Fox News used in promoting lies and disinformation for profit.

This is the GOP today.

Republican House member George Santos was arrested yesterday and charged today with 13 counts including wire fraud and money laundering. He's currently in federal custody.

Meanwhile House Speaker McCarthy is not talking about expelling Santos. The last thing he wants is to lose another sure vote to back him in his legislative agenda.

As a matter of fact, McCarthy doubled down on protecting the serial liar and cheat and told reporters he's not going to ask Santos to resign!

Both McCarthy and Majority leader Steve Scalise have been avoiding questions about Santos, only offering up the well-worn trope "In America today, your innocent until proven guilty."

As it stands, the Republican party has been reduced to a cult that promotes lies and violence in its quest to turn our democracy into an autocracy. 

Warning! Artificial Intelligence Could Eventually Lead to Humans Being Controlled - or Even Wiped Out

When Alex Hern tells you to be concerned about the affect's artificial intelligence could have on humanity, it's a good time to listen to his warnings.

The 75-year-old researcher is known as the Godfather of AI and is responsible for being the first to build neural networking and building computer systems that can learn from data and experience.

Sounds like something straight out of a science fiction story. But it's not. AI may pose the biggest challenge to humans in the 21st century.

Hern's warnings are blunt and to the point.

In an interview with the Guardian's UK technology editor, he laid out why he fears that digital intelligence has some distinct advantages over the human brain.

* We could become controlled by AI.

* We could be wiped out by AI.

Simple and straight to the point. Science fiction writers have talked about the threat's robots and machines with mind control could pose a risk for humanity since the turn of the 19th century.

The Godfather of AI has regrets about what he helped unleash on the world. So, he's issuing warnings like the mythical Dr. Frankenstein did about the monster he created.

He's also talking about things we need to do to advert calamity. Here's an article by Bernard Marr, a world-renowned futurist. He also warns of risks that we should be aware of.

Here's a more detailed history of artifial intelligence and the company who started it all - OpenAI. Elon Musk served as an initial board member for the company.

As it stands, what was once the subject of science fiction has become a very real problem in our world today.

GOP: All You Can Do is Pray There's Not Another Massacre Every Day as Guns Get Deadlier

Republicans think that weapons of war in the streets of our nation are going to continue, and we might as well get used to it.

They're tongue in cheek appeal to pray when innocent civilians are being slaughtered daily is the highest form of hypocrisy. They know God wouldn't approve of the mass shootings and that their insincere prayers are deceitful and disgusting.

But Republicans think they can control the masses of gun owners by allowing them unfettered access to weapons that are getting more deadly every day.

Gun manufacturer SIG Sauer recently announced two new assault weapons for close-up combat. 

The XM250 automatic rifle and the XM5 rifle.

Perhaps the most chilling upgrade to these automatic rifles are the ammunition they use. The new caliber bullets will make the old bullets look like BB guns. The new 6.8mm cartridge is designed to penetrate Kevlar and other protective materials. Just what every civilian in America needs.

Our police are already outgunned throughout the country with the availability of AR-15s. Now the gear they wear won't protect them from the new menace in society, the XM250 rifle.

Republicans meanwhile are ignoring the carnage that their loyalty to the Gun Lobby requires telling their supporters to pray and suck it up. 

Democrats are doing their best to enact gun safety laws in a divided Congress and in the states. We have to keep in mind that the gun cult in America is never going to wither away.

It's our reality for the 21st century, a time when we should be progressing in society, and are instead regressing on issues like gun safety.

As it stands, "We have met the enemy and He is Us." POGO

Another Mass Shooting: Slaughtered in the Name of Freedom

Innocent people are being murdered at record rates because Republicans reject gun safety laws.

Taking an extremist view of freedom where AR-15s are a symbol of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has doomed thousands of Americans to untimely deaths.

The latest example is in Allen, Texas, a state where the governor promotes gun sales and there's been several mass shootings this year.

Eight people died and at least seven others were wounded before a cop killed the shooter in an outlet Mall.

After every one of these senseless murders Republicans call for prayers and act all sanctimonious about the loss of human lives. But they refuse to do anything about it other than to blame the deaths on other factors.

The fact of the matter is Texas has loosened restrictions on gun ownership in recent years during Gov. Abbotts regime. You don't even need a permit to carry a concealed weapon in this Republican bastion. 

The total hypocrisy of Abbott going to the community of Allen today to begin the process of providing hope and healing is as thick as a brick.

Facts:

There have been at least 199 mass shootings (at least 4 or more killed) in the US this year.

There were 3 just on Saturday.

* Five people were murdered at a shooting in Chico, California.

* There was a shooting in Columbus, Ohio leaving three seriously wounded and one dead.

* The shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas where 8 people were murdered and seven wounded.

It was just another day in America where Republicans call for prayers while clinging to their AR-15s (the new symbol for the NRA). 

As it stands, freedom shouldn't mean death but until safety gun laws with teeth are passed no one is safe.

Universal Analytics Sucks!

When Google Universal Analytics first announced they were replacing the current platform and updating to Google Analytics 4, I wasn't too concerned.

It was just an update, right? Google's announcement of their next-generation measurement solution claimed it would automatically update PCs using it and users didn't have to be concerned about the change.

If I was a web developer, there would be no concern. I'm not a computer geek, however. And the instructions to manually update are more confusing than Egyptian hieroglyphics. Despite their claim it's possible I absolutely reject it unless you're a computer wizard.

The roll out started earlier this year. That's about the time my blog stats started to take a dive. I went from 16,000 daily views to less than a hundred by May.

Quote:

"If you haven't already created a GA4 (Don't even ask. That's part of the chaos), we'll create one for you. The new property will be based on the settings in your Universal Analytics property."

In other words, "Don't worry about it."

But then this paragraph threw everything in the wind:

"Until July 1, 2023, you can continue to use (assuming you got a developer to do it) this new version. In the coming months, we'll provide a future date when Universal Analytics properties will no longer be available."

Say what?

After all the crap the damn Google Analytics required to update the data gatherer it's not even going to be functionable later this year!

Then what?

As it stands, I have no idea what I'll do now. My data is already sporadic and unreliable. All I can do is search for another data gathering source and that's not going to easy. Any helpful suggestions would be welcomed.

GOP House Members Hold Auditions for Conspiracy Nuts

This is how the process for investigations goes in Congress these days.

Conspiracy loons line up outside GOP members offices waiting to unveil their latest wacky claims. 

The chances of being interviewed improve if the candidate is enough of a fanatic and his conspiracy theory somehow involves the Biden family.

In the latest example of abusing their power, House Oversight Chair James Comer issued a subpoena to the FBI based upon a secret whistleblower's (no one knows who it is or if there's really one) vague accusations without a shred of evidence.

In reality it's another thinly failed attempt to discredit President Biden and his family.

Ancient MAGA member Chuck Grassley alleged there was a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.

His accusation was obviously a ploy to distract the public from the fact Republicans are getting ready to financially destroy America at home and abroad.

It's like one of those "Oh Look!" It's a squirrel moments.

The first clue is the GOP has not provided any information on the whistleblower's background, or how the person would have knowledge of an alleged conversation with an FBI source. 

The subpoena is just a sham to go fishing for President Biden's conversations with officials by requesting any FD-1023 forms from June 2020 that contain the word "Biden."

Comer is demanding the FBI respond by May 10th. Comer and Grassley's excuse for the expedition was they weren't sure if the FBI had already investigated the matter internally. 

Anyone who follows politics knows the GOP's ultimate goal is to find a smoking gun that might link the president to the business deals of his son Hunter Biden, who is also under a federal investigation.

I would note that the forms themselves, regardless of content, do not independently amount to evidence of wrongdoing. But that's not really the point.

Comer and Grassley were simply carrying on with another rightwing conspiracy theory to district attention from their own follies and to smear President Biden because they fear him.

As it stands, conspiracy auditions are always welcome in MAGA world.

It's All About Fantasy and Space: 'May the 4th Be with You'

Today is a great day to cosplay.

It's Star Wars Day, a celebration of the famous movie franchise and its many TV spinoffs.

Big news for Star Wars fans today.

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is being honored posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ways to celebrate this celestial collection of movies:

* Try listening to the memorable Star War sound film scores from John Williams on Spotify and Apple Music.

* Watch the films and shows. The franchise consists of a dozen movies (if you include "The Clone Wars'.)

*Take a Quiz: Which Star Wars movie should you watch on Star Wars Day?

* Follow the official "Star Wars" Twitter Account.

* Read this: The Star Wars timeline is confusing. Here's when The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and more take place.

As it stands, May the 4th be with You today.

It's Scary: Watching the News Brings the Blues

Every morning I watch the news while sipping coffee. 

A ritual that goes back to my newspaper days as an editor.

In recent years I've noticed a considerable increase in violence around the country. Since Trump slithered in office and then was defeated running for re-election, the country has split into a deep divide like no other time in our history, with the exception of the Civil War.

Every morning now starts off with gun violence somewhere in the nation. Mass shootings are off the charts. There're more guns than people in America.

This morning...

* Atlanta police are investigating an active shooter at a building in midtown.

* Texas massacre suspect, Francisco Oropesa, is captured.

* Family of bride killed on her wedding day in a car wreck involving a drunken driver.

* What we know about the 7 people found dead at an Oklahoma property.

These kinds of headlines happen daily. Sensational headlines have always been the goal of news outlets, but the balance of violent stories and other stories is out of wack.

The public's growing thirst for violence coupled with the revenue it brings in assures that it will continue. 

Frankly it's depressing seeing these violent stories dominate the national news without a balance of non-violent news. 

There's only one answer to cope with the avalanche of bad news... stop watching, or reading, the news. Sometimes ignorance is a blessing.

The way I see it people aren't being fairly informed anyway. They're being indoctrinated by lies and violence that's so prevalent these days. 

The only news I respect anymore comes from small community newspapers that give the locals stories about where they live. Yes, there's violence at times (bad things do happen), but it's not a daily subject grabbing headlines.

As it stands, if you want to reduce your stress levels consider cutting back on your exposure to bad news. Sounds simple right? It isn't easy to do because habits (good, bad, and the ugly) are hard to break.