Category: Politics, Religion & Money

A Public Execution

During my month working in Saudi Arabia, back in 1989, I was invited to witness some public punishments (hand amputations) and executions (beheadings).*

The offer came from the chief pathologist at a hospital. He explained that the accused wouldn’t feel anything, because they’d be doped up on morphine ahead of time.

I declined to be a part of such barbarism. As I will do again, now that the Federal Government of the United States has lowered itself to indulging the spectacle of public blood sport.

Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/latest-news-organizations-banned-white-122209493.html

* I have just read that Saudi Arabia’s public executions were done by hanging. Which isn’t my recollection of what I was told during my time in the Kingdom.

Thanks, But No Thanks

I half expected that Trump would make Scott Bessent find a way to deny his stupid $90 rebate to those of us who are Medicare recipients in true-blue states like Massachusetts. But here it is.

A direct deposit was credited to your account
Amount $90.00
Account PERSONAL CHECKING/SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Date October 08, 2026
From SSA TREAS 310 XXSOC SEC

Medicare Part B went up by about $17/month in 2026, so this sorry attempt at buying votes is doing nothing more than returning five months worth of premiums.

EMR AIeee!

Epic Systems is doing something Microsoft has done in the past, by putting product development on hold for a security review.

“Ultimately they need to get ready to patch, patch, patch,” he said. “As soon as they think they are patching fast enough, they need to patch faster.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/business/ai-epic-health-records-privacy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F1E.cvua.p5Dc8t7-w2a4&smid=url-share

I’m laughing, because rushed patches inevitably result in needing to patch the patches. This is a drill that’s been played out so very many times before. New features always open the potential for new security vulnerabilities.

What confounds me, after these many decades, is the endless cat-and-mouse game between corporations and hackers. Code that wasn’t rushed out the door seems no more secure than the rush jobs. Despite going through multiple staff meetings, peer reviews and security checks, vulnerabilities in software are discovered by outsiders and exploited.

Artificial Intelligence isn’t merely a new, possibly risky, feature being added to an existing, widely-used system. AI is a fundamental change in the way software is generated, content is presented, and how people interact online.