7/28/2025

 Monday, July 28, 2025

D+262/190/1271

1915 Woodrow Wilson sent US Marines to Haiti, leading to occupation until 1934

1965 LBJ sent 50,000 more soldiers to Vietnam (total of 125,000)

In bed at 9, awake around 12:50 from a nasty dream about the upcoming surgery, and up at 1:15, unable to sleep.  I fell asleep on the recliner from around 2:30 to 3:30, then back to bed. for disjointed sleep.  Finally got up at 7:20 with aching privates.  70°, high of 86°, cloudy, heat advisory.  When I opened the Venetian blinds, I saw 4 wild turkeys strutting and pecking across our neighbors' lawn across the street, providing me a welcome boost this morning.

Meds, etc.   Morning meds at 10:30 a.m.    

Grok is Elon Musk's artificial intelligence program.  It is available online at no cost for a while.  I have used it a few times and am duly astounded by it.  Yesterday, out of curiosity, I asked it "Why did Todd Blanche really want to talk with Ghislaine Maxwell?"  The program almost immediately provided a long answer that started out with this:

The reasons behind Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s meetings with Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2025 are not fully clear due to limited public disclosure from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Maxwell’s legal team. However, based on available information, several motivations can be inferred, though they remain speculative due to the opaque nature of the meetings and the controversial context. Here’s a breakdown of the likely reasons and the surrounding dynamics, grounded in the provided sources and critical analysis:

It then provided analyses under the following headings: Stated purpose and context, with subheadings official rationale, timing and political;  pressure; Potential Underlying Motivations, with subheadings Political Damage Control, Maxwell’s Incentive for Cooperation, Unorthodox Nature of the Meetings, Potential for Selective Disclosure; and Critical Considerations, with subheadings Maxwell’s Credibility, Trump’s Comments on Pardons, and Lack of Transparency; followed by its Conclusion:

Todd Blanche likely met with Ghislaine Maxwell to address political pressure surrounding the Epstein case, ostensibly to gather information about other potential wrongdoers. However, the unusual nature of the meetings, Blanche’s ties to Trump and Markus, Maxwell’s immunity deal, and the lack of transparency suggest additional motives, such as managing the narrative around Trump’s Epstein connections or exploring Maxwell’s willingness to cooperate in exchange for leniency. While Maxwell’s attorney claims she answered all questions truthfully, the absence of corroborating evidence and the political context cast doubt on the meetings’ true purpose. Speculation about a deal or efforts to ensive protect certain individuals remains unproven but widely discussed.

and

If you’d like me to dive deeper into specific aspects, such as analyzing Maxwell’s potential testimony, the DOJ’s broader Epstein strategy, or public sentiment on X, let me know! I can also check for more recent developments if needed.

I asked the same question this morning and the response was much shorter and less detailed, though not substantially different from yesterday's response.

We have been living with much simpler variants of AI for years, including in the customer service area (Grr!)  Having at least a rudimentary sense of what variants are being developed now, I fear AI, or those who control AI, will take over the world.  Is it not frightening that Grok immediately 'understands' my question coming from nowhere, and almost immediately provides a comprehensive responsive answer based on countless news reports which it accesses and digests, or 'understands.'  Last week, this program was spitting out Nazi-flavored answers to certain questions showing it is programmable.  Is is also self-programmable?  Aren't we looking at HAL from Kubrick's 2001: "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."  "Oh wonder!  How many goodly creatures are there here!  How beauteous mankind is! Oh brave new world,  That has such people machines in’t."

Further to my thoughts on Israel yesterday: In a First, Leading Israeli Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Gaza Genocide,  today's NY Times, by Aaron Boxerman.

Two of the best-known Israeli human rights groups said Monday that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, adding fuel to a passionately fought international debate over whether the death and destruction there have crossed a moral red line.

The two groups were B’Tselem, a rights monitor that documents the effects of Israeli policies on Palestinians, and Physicians for Human Rights — Israel. Their announcement was the first time major Israeli rights groups have publicly concluded that the Gaza war is a genocide, an assessment previously reached by some organizations like Amnesty International.

In a report titled “Our Genocide,” B’Tselem cited the devastating effects of Israel’s war on ordinary Palestinians to support their claim: the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza; the razing of huge areas of Palestinian cities; the forced displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s two million people; the restriction of food and other vital supplies.

All together, the Israeli campaign has amounted to “coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the organization wrote. “In other words: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Amen.