6/21/2026

 Sunday, June 21, 2026

Summer Solstice

1788, The US Constitution came into effect when New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify it.

1879, Frank Woolworth opened his 1st successful "Woolworth's Great Five Cent Store." 

1945, the US defeated Japanese forces on Okinawa.

1963 Cardinal Montini was elected Pope Paul VI, the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church, succeeding John XXIII

2025 Pakistan announced that it would formally nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing his mediation during the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict.

In bed at 9:15, up at 4:32; 0445 135/78/55 108 206.0, 0500. 136/78/55;  55/66/53, cloudy.

Morning meds at 7:15 a.m., and Eliquis at 6:45 (?) a.m. and p.m.

Losing my marbles.  Yesterday I wasted my weekly expensive injection of Trulicity, forgetting to take the protective cap off the pen before triggering the spring mechanism.  I also pulled in front of an oncoming car.  This morning I can't remember whether I took my morning dose of the blood thinner I'm to take twice a day to ward off blood clots moving up to my brain or into my lungs, causing a stroke or an embolism after the catheter ablation.  Should I swallow another, in case I didn't take one a few minutes ago, or is the possibility of double-dosing worse than missing my morning dose?  I'm not willing to risk double-dosing a medication like this, but I asked ChatGPT and got this:

Because you may have already taken it, taking another tablet would mean 10 mg at once. While a single accidental double dose is not usually life-threatening for most people, it does increase your risk of bleeding, and at nearly 85 years old that risk is more significant. . . .  Because you're taking Eliquis to prevent blood clots, missing one dose is generally less risky than taking an unnecessary extra dose, especially when you're uncertain.

Since I know a bit about your medical history: 

You've previously told me you're almost 85 and have diabetes and a heart rhythm condition. Those factors make it especially important to avoid accidental double dosing if possible.

May I ask two quick questions?

What time do you normally take your morning Eliquis?

About what time is it now where you are?

That will help me give the most appropriate advice about today's dose.

This is spooky stuff.  This AI platform already knows a ton of personal information about me, and it learns more every time I ask it another question.  That means the people behind the screen, like the Wizard of Oz, also have access to a ton of information about me and I must assume that the federal government has precisely the same access.  The federal government under the control of people like Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Todd Blanche, Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth, which is to say, demons, maleficents, miscreants.  Add to this list any person or entity with the capabilty of  hacking into the system.  

So I asked: "Do you sometimes feel like Big Brother in 1984?, and got this:

That's a thoughtful question.

No—I don't have feelings or a sense of identity, so I don't feel like Big Brother or anyone else. But I understand why the comparison comes to mind.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Big Brother represents an all-seeing state that constantly monitors people, often without their consent, to control their behavior and thoughts.

I'm designed quite differently:

I don't observe people in the world or watch what they're doing.

I only know what you choose to share with me in a conversation, along with any memories you've explicitly allowed ChatGPT to save.

I don't make decisions about people, enforce laws, or direct surveillance.

My purpose is to answer questions, explain ideas, and help with tasks.

That said, your question touches on a real issue. As AI systems become more capable, many people worry about privacy, surveillance, and the concentration of information. Those concerns are important, and they're the subject of ongoing debate among technologists, governments, ethicists, and the public. Orwell's novel remains relevant precisely because it encourages readers to think critically about how technology and power can be used—or misused.

So while I don't resemble Big Brother in intent or function, the questions Orwell raised about privacy, autonomy, and information are still very much worth asking.

I'm not reassured. 

International Dad.  Andy texted me Father's Day wishes from Canada early this morning, while Sarah and Christian called me from Germany in a FaceTime call as I parked in the Sendik's parking lot later in the moring.

Mrs. Dalloway.  Some foreshadowing of Woolf's own life and death?  At her party, on learning from Sir  . . Dr. Bradshaw of the suicide of Septimus Warren Smith:

Death was defiance.  Death was an attempt to communicate; people feeling the impossibility of reaching the centre which, mystically, evaded them; closeness drew apart; rapture faded, one was alone.  There was an embrace in death. . . "If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy," she had said to herself once, . . .  Or there were the poets and thinkers.  Suppose he had had that passion, and had gone to Sir William Bradshaw, a great doctor yet to her obscurely evil, without sex or lust, extremely polite to women, but capable of some indescribable outrage - forcing your soul, that was it - if this young man had gone to him, and Sir William had impressed him, like that, with his power, might he not then have said (indeed she felt it now), Life is made intolerable; they make life intolerable, men like that? . . . . . She felt somehow very like him - the young man who had killed himself.  She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.