Alex Lifeson of Rush dives into new sonic realms with Envy of None's album 'Stygian Waves' (foxsanantonio.com)
Kentucky Derby predictions: AI picks winner, results for 2025 race at Churchill Downs (courier-journal.com)
¶The USA TODAY Network asked Microsoft Copilot AI to simulate the order of finish for the 2025 Kentucky Derby field based on the latest, odds, predictions and race factors on Thursday, May 1. Journalism came out on top in its projection.
¶The irony of AI picking Journalism to win the Kentucky Derby is bested only by the sad reality of the actual results – Sovereignty beating Journalism for the win.
Tamron Q1 financial results: "Slump in sales" because of "risks and uncertainty over the policies of the new US administration" - Photo Rumors (photorumors.com)
¶Vietnam seems to be a big winner of the US-China trade war. This report from Tamron (lens manufacturer) shows it plans to decrease the China portion of its “production ratio” from 65% to 45% between now and 2028, while increasing the Vietnam portion from 25% to 45%.
No, Trump is not a fascist. He is a hypercapitalist and just as dangerous (aljazeera.com)
¶Trump and his cheerleaders want to go beyond neoliberalism, which maintains that a minimal state is ideal for economic prosperity, and establish hypercapitalism by dissolving any controls the state has over the accumulation of wealth by the extremely rich.
¶They understand that we are living in times when extracting profit from society is not as easy, so they want to free capitalism from the hindrances of democracy and the demands of the people that their rights – political, social and human – be protected by the law and by the state.
¶The tech bros that Trump has surrounded himself with have wrapped this hypercapitalism in a technological cover, claiming that technology can solve all woes and unlimited growth – read unlimited profits for the rich – is the only way to progress.
¶I’m not sayin’ hypercapitalism is a movement by the billionaire class to accumulate enough wealth to leave the planet, I’m just sayin’.
A.I., Art, and Copyright: The Human Element That Makes All the Difference | Copyright (loc.gov)
¶Specifically, their comments centered first on human authorship and AI’s impact on human creativity. Second, labor effects—they fear that rapidly generated AI content could overwhelm human-authored works in the marketplace. Third, they want control and compensation for the use of both their personas and copyright-protected works. Fourth, they recognize innovation aspects—that AI can assist the creative process and even enable performances by deceased artists. Finally, regarding licensing, they consider what type should be preferred: voluntary, collective, or compulsory. In short, should they have to opt in or opt out?
¶The Library of Congress received and considered more than 10,000 comments from the public for its report on AI and copyright for Congress. The comments largely fell into the categories listed in the quote. Hopefully Congress approaches the issue with the same level of attention as the LoC.
Trump says he is not considering running for third term (bbc.com)
¶US President Donald Trump has denied that he is considering running for a third presidential term, a move which experts agree is banned under the US Constitution.
¶I hate that I feel relieved by this. I suppose we couldn’t stop him from running, but the 22nd Amendment prevents him from being elected more than twice. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leverage the gap between running and being elected to raise money from his base. To wit, “....The Trump Organization, has been selling ‘Trump 2028’ hats.…”
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music, rock, rush, ai, kentuckyderby, tariffs, photography, politics, hypercapitalism, law, copyright, constitution