Europe is stopping AI

 Europe does not like progress and new things. It has forced Meta (the Facebook company) to put plans for its AI assistant on hold in Europe after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) asked the company to delay training its large language models on content posted on the internet. Europeans are basically primitive folk with weird traditions and beliefs. Pic.: The Mamoiada parade in Sardinia.

Le maschere tipiche della sfilata di carnevale di Mammoiada sono quelle del Mamuthone e quella dell’Issohadore ( o Issocadore) . Il nome Issocadore deriva dalla “so’a (o soca)”, ovvero la corda usata per catturare gli animali. L’Issohadore è l’immagine del vincitore, mentre il Mamuthone rappresenta la bestia soggiogata. I tratti marcati della sua maschera rappresentano l’angoscia per la sottomissione, questi tratti così netti ricordano moltissimo le sculture africane. I campanacci sulle spalle dei Mamuthones vogliono accentuare ancor di più l’umiliazione a cui è sottoposto. 

The typical masks of the Mammoiada carnival parade are those of the Mamuthone and that of the Issohadore (or Issocador). The name Issocador derives from the "so'a (or soca)", or the rope used to capture animals. The Issohadore is the image of the winner, while the Mamuthone represents the subjugated beast. The marked features of his mask represent the anguish of submission, these clear features are very reminiscent of African sculptures. The cowbells on the Mamuthones' shoulders want to further accentuate the humiliation to which he is subjected.

El camino es culebrero

Last years of the Fuel Age

The Stone Age ended not because we ran out of rocks. Neither will the fossil fuel age. Other sources of energy are taking over. Some foresee an excess oil production in a few years and the collapse of oil prices and oil-based economies. But...

Se acaba la papa, se acaba el maíz

se acaba los mangos, se acaban los tomates

se acaban las ciruelas, se acaban melones

se acaba la sandía y se acaba el aguacate

Y la cosecha de mujeres, (nunca se acaba)

La cosecha de mujeres, (nunca se acaba)

La cosecha de mujeres, (nunca se acaba)

La cosecha de mujeres, (nunca se acaba)

LOS WAWANCO

Parade of the Year's Newborn

Yesterday we celebrated the Hag Ha-Shvu'ot (the traditional first harvest festivity) in the kibbutz. Ivry was among the year's celebrities, among the 18 newborns of the kibbutz (26 including the descendants of the kibbutzniks that had left it). This kibbutz was established in 1939 by 25 Romanian and 25 German Jews and is one of the wealthiest thanks to its industries. As of 2022, it had a population of 870. Therefore, the kibbutz has a birth rate of 2% and a natural growth of about 1%. I had to take a seat in the first row with the old farts and their Phillippine caregivers. 

The phantoms of my past

The phantoms of my past are coming back to me from the Netherworld. This man looks like my childhood friend in Buenos Aires, Tommy Marjos, long dead.  

Israeli commandos

 
The picture was taken when the police commando YAMAM appeared exiting the helicopter with a hostage. The first impression is that the former hostage (in red underwear) has no shoes and appears just rising from the bed. The tall commando boy with a blue penguin badge is on his way to become our Prime Minister (Bibi and Ehud Barak and other leaders were commando). Behind him comes a second hostage, in a black T-shirt. The soldier to the right has a mysterious sticker on his hat:  RG. What does it mean? RG typically stands for "Regimental Goat". It is a slang term that refers to the regimental mascot goat. In the dark background, to the right, I seem to identify an Iranian ayatollah. What is he doing in the copter arriving from Gaza? He must be a paying passenger. But, he is not. He is the third hostage. The poor doctor (back, left) seems to be carrying a whole hospital on his legs and body. 

Beauty Pageant

 

Miss Milliken (right) will represent Alabama at the national contest. Some expressed gratitude for the fact that at least Milliken is a biological female, unlike the winner of Miss Maryland USA, who is a man. The winner of this year’s Miss Germany wasn’t even German.