Non-theist Christian and elder in Community of Christ. I have Mormon roots and aspirations to do better with justice and peacemaking—especially in the digital sphere but also in Lexington, Kentucky, the U.S., and the world more broadly.
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recent sermon text on finding the Ultimate in the ordinary
Just over a week ago, I preached for the Beyond the Walls online ministry up in Toronto. I wanted to post the text of my sermon (I’ll also link to the video recording just before that text begins). I was excited about this particular topic, since it fit nicely with some thinking I’ve been doing in recent years, includingwhile reading Cédric Lagandré’s book Dieu n’existe pas encore and writing up some subsequent thoughts.
🔗 linkblog: Rural hospitals in Kentucky brace for financial hits or even closures under GOP's $1 trillion Medicaid cut
Shame on me for not realizing just how badly this would affect my home state. Shame on all the Kentucky reps in Congress who voted for it anyway.
📚 bookblog: Country of Ghosts (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)
This book isn’t the best of the anarchist fiction I’ve read—it feels a bit stilted or maybe even too didactic at points—but it grew on me, and I enjoyed the story a lot. (It’s also not the worst anarchist fiction I’ve read—looking at you, V for Vendetta). Cory Doctorow mentioned Killjoy’s most recent book on his blog, so I’m giving some of her older stuff a try, and so far, I think it’s pretty good.
🔗 linkblog: Laid-off workers should use AI to manage their emotions, says Xbox exec
I can’t find the right words for how this story makes me feel.
🔗 linkblog: Le système de bonus social à la chinoise menacerait-il des démocraties comme la Suisse?
C’est bien inquiétant, cette idée de social scoring. Jacques Ellul trouverait beaucoup à critiquer. Et ce n’est pas le seul—j’ai beaucoup aimé ce resumé des critiques d’Adam Knight, à l’Université de Leyden:
En réduisant les personnes à des profils algorithmiques, cela menacerait la vie privée, l’égalité et les procédures régulières. Ce n’est pas juste la surveillance qui est à craindre, mais également une “discrimination automatisée”, estime le chercheur.
🔗 linkblog: Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren’t keeping up – The Markup
This problem makes me so angry, and while I appreciate this article’s exploration of different policy solutions, they also feel overwhelming to me because so many of them come with problems of their own.
🔗 linkblog: Radio Télévision Suisse La bataille perdue par Genève contre les locations Airbnb illégales
J’avoue que je fais partie du problème, vu que j’ai souvent loué des Airbnb, y compris lors de mon dernier déplacement en Europe.
Pourtant, vu les bêtises qui se déroulent actuellement aux É.-U., il m’est arrivé récemment de regarder les loyers à Genève, et j’ai pu voir combien la pénurie des logements pose un problème pour les locataires. Je dois revoir ma relation avec les Airbnb…
📚 bookblog: Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI (❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️)
This is a good book, with a powerful thesis and a great epilogue that ties things together. It isn’t perfect, but I think most of my quibbles are related to the subject matter and the genre. It’s hard to write a book about a contemporary subject of such importance, and I think it’s tricky to write a book that combines history with more of a critical take on the AI ecosystem.
📚 bookblog: 1776 (❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤)
Maybe I’m dumb—or not reading closely enough—but I just cannot follow the twists and turns of this series. I love the back of the envelope idea of Indigenous time travelers trying to set things right, but I am very confused by the execution.