The 2023 Hurricane Season

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) [via Colorado Statue University (CSU) meterologist Philip Klotzbach] predicted that El Nino will peak to the middle of summer/hurricane season. Apparently this will negatively impact this year’s hurricane season. In their annual tweet CSU predicted a slightly below-normal hurricane season with 13 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.

From the National Hurricane Center, the 2023 Atlantic tropical cyclone names are: Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, Jose, Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, Whitney.

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Memorial Day Ribs 2023

Hey kids! What time is it? (No, it’s not Howdy Doody time.) It’s time to make our one-of-kind, world famous, finger-licking-good, Memorial Day Memphis Style Ribs! This year I got started late. I didn’t think about ribs until the weekend before Memorial day. Anyway, this month the US officially ended our corona virus emergency, and I’m hoping to finish the ribs on the grill; weather permitting. I haven’t lit the grill since the summer of 2020.

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I used AI to generate a poem, this is what I got

I’m not the first to test multiple AI search (text) engines.

Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, soon followed with Bing Chat, which uses ChatGPT technology. And then, last week, Google began letting a limited number of people access Google Bard, which is based on Google’s own technology, LaMDA, short for Language Model for Dialogue Applications.

Source: WIRED

My premise was “write a poem about an elemental elephant with a titanium trunk guarding a blessing of unicorns.”

ChatGPT came back with…

In lands where magic whispers, a tale unfolds,
Of an elemental elephant, mighty and bold.
With a titanium trunk, gleaming and grand,
Guarding a blessing, a mythical band.
A guardian of wonders, both gentle and strong,
This majestic creature, where legends belong.
Born of ancient forces, earth, fire, and air,
An embodiment of nature, beyond compare.
With steps like thunder, it roams the terrain,
A gentle giant, with a heart untamed.
In its presence, harmony finds its home,
A sanctuary where unicorns freely roam.
Its trunk, crafted of titanium's might,
An enchanted conduit, a beacon of light.
It weaves through the realms, a bridge to unite,
Elements and creatures, both day and night.
With eyes like diamonds, reflecting pure grace,
It gazes upon the unicorns in this sacred place.
Their silvery manes shimmer with ethereal glow,
A blessing of enchantment, for all to know.
As the sun sets, painting skies with gold,
The elephant stands tall, resolute and bold.
Guiding the unicorns through shadows and strife,
Protecting their essence, the essence of life.
Through forests and meadows, they journey afar,
Under the watchful eye of the elephant star.
Together, they dance, a celestial display,
A symphony of magic, as night turns to day.
In the heart of this realm, where dreams come alive,
The elemental elephant and unicorns thrive.
A testament to wonder, a tale to be told,
Of a guardian so noble, with a heart of pure gold.

Bing Chat came back with…

An elemental elephant with titanium trunk,
Guarding a blessing of unicorns,
The elephant's eyes are bright and clear,
And its skin is tough as iron.
The unicorns are pure and white,
With manes that shimmer in the light,
They dance and play around the beast,
And never stray too far from its feet.
The elephant stands tall and proud,
Its trunk a weapon, strong and loud,
It guards the unicorns with all its might,
And keeps them safe both day and night.
So if you ever see this sight,
An elemental elephant with titanium trunk,
Guarding a blessing of unicorns,
You'll know that everything is right.

Google Bard came back with…

Sure, here is a poem about an elemental elephant with a titanium trunk guarding a blessing of unicorns:

The Elemental Elephant

With a trunk of titanium and eyes of fire, The elemental elephant stands guard. He protects the blessing of unicorns, Whose magic is pure and their hearts are kind.
The unicorns are gentle and wise, And their horns can grant any wish. But they are also very vulnerable, And the elemental elephant knows this.
That is why he guards them so fiercely, With his strength and his courage and his might. He will never let anything harm them, Not while he still has breath to fight.
The elemental elephant is a symbol of hope, And a reminder that good always triumphs over evil. He is a guardian of the innocent, And a defender of the weak.
He is the elemental elephant, And he will never give up.

So, they are what they are. People claim AI chat bots can make them money, write code for them, write news stories for them, etc… But, I think they look and behave like an amalgamation of complete sentence results of just another search engine.

Trump arraignment on April 4, 2023

Former President Trump Indicted

Former President, Donald Trump, has been indicted by a grand jury in New York on more than 30 counts of business fraud.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been investigating the former president in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.

Source: CNN

He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, but late in 2022 he announced that he would run again in 2024.

One thing to note: he can still run, and win, even if he is convicted. There is no law to prevent a felon from winning the office of President. But, it is very unlikely they can convict him in 18 months. Another thing to note: the Office of Legal Counsel has said you can’t prosecute a sitting president, but they haven’t said what happens if a convict wins the election.

Some think he can (and will) use his mugshot as a campaign poster. Trump said it might help his numbers. He’ll spin this so that he is seen as a martyr; he has already done this at campaign rallies.

UPDATE 4/4/2023

He was arrested, booked and arraigned on April 4, on 34 felony counts of business fraud.

UPDATE 5/23/2023

The trial date has been set for the Stormy Daniels trial.

Donald Trump’s trial on criminal charges over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels will begin on 25 March 2024, amid the Republican presidential primary and less than than eight months before the general election the former president hopes to contest.

Source: Guardian

The 2022 Midterm Elections in Texas

The General (Midterm) Election Day this year is November 8 (early voting starts October 24), and the Texas Tribune has published ballot information.

Local

Mayor

  • Bobby Gutierrez
  • Brent Hairston
  • Mike Southerland

Single Member District No. 1

  • Raul Santana
  • Paul Torres

Single Member District No. 2

  • Ray Arrington
  • Rafael Peña III

Single Member District No. 3

  • Doris Machinski
  • Jared Salvato

Single Member District No. 5

  • Marca Ewers-Shurtleff
  • Anjuli “A.J.” Renold
  • Kyle R. Schumann

At Large, Place 6

  • Kevin C. Boriskie
  • Patrick Giammalva

U.S. House District 10

  • Michael T. McCaul (R) [Incumbent]
  • Linda Nuno (D)
  • Bill Kelsey (L)

Texas Senate District 5

  • Charles Schwertner (R) [Incumbent]
  • Tommy Estes (L)

Texas House District 14

  • John Raney (R) [Incumbent]
  • Jeff Miller (L)

State Board Of Education District 10

  • Tom Maynard (R) [Incumbent]

Statewide

Governor

  • Greg Abbott (R) [Incumbent]
  • Beto O’Rourke (D)
  • Mark Tippetts (L)
  • Delilah Barrios (G)

Lieutenant Governor

  • Dan Patrick (R) [Incumbent]
  • Mike Collier (D)
  • Shanna Steele (L)

Attorney General

  • Ken Paxton (R) [Incumbent]
  • Rochelle Garza (D)
  • Mark Ash (L)

Land Commissioner

  • Dawn Buckingham (R)
  • Jay Kleberg (D)
  • Alfred Molison (G)

Agriculture Commissioner

  • Sid Miller (R) [Incumbent]
  • Susan Hays (D)

Comptroller

  • Glenn Hegar (R) [Incumbent]
  • Janet T. Dudding (D)
  • V. Alonzo Echevarria-Garza (L)

Railroad Commissioner

  • Wayne Christian (R) [Incumbent]
  • Luke Warford (D)
  • Jaime Andrés Díez (L)
  • Hunter Crow (G)

Queen Elizabeth II has died

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest serving monarch at 70 years, has died at the age of 96. Her eldest son, Charles, is now King Charles III.

Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor is also survived by her other children, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Prince William, next in line to the throne, and Prince Harry are among her eight grandchildren. She has a dozen great-grandchildren.

Source: NBC News taken September 8, 2022

King Charles III is 73 years old. The King’s oldest son, heir apparent, William, is 40 years old, and his grandson, William’s oldest child, second in line, George, is 9 years old.

King Charles III

What’s New With Monkeypox

We can now add monkeypox to the list of highly contagious, virial diseases that are trying to kill us all.

WHO declares monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern
Currently, the US is reporting over 2,800 probable or confirmed monkeypox cases in 44 states, DC and Puerto Rico, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, there are over 16,500 cases reported in 74 countries.

Source: CNN.com taken July 22, 2022