Thoughts and prayers

I am not given to sentimental chit chat perhaps or maybe there is something more sinister afoot but I don't get this cliche in modern journalism. What the heck does the phrase or the three words really mean? Our planet is struck by variety of natural and man made disasters with fair regularity that would make Metamucil proud. Once an event like that occurs there is some serious reduction in force - literally where mortals lose their lives. Now how the sudden outpouring of thoughts and prayers begins is beyond me. Could it be one of the reasons why we are getting dumber by the day? Our thoughts and prayers are focused on too many distractions. So I say mind your own and go forth and things will actually work out alright. Thoughts and prayers don't actually mean anything and just sort of sound cute in the news I suppose. That is why radio and TV including the NPR recently resorted to one of their own sending his thoughts over the radio waves (without asking me esp as I am funding the station in small part - and am not just thinking that but putting my money where my thoughts are) to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Another thing - when people think these thoughts - what are they? Are all thoughts created equal? Are some of them naughty? How do we know? And what is this mumbo jumbo about prayers? Since when did we start that? FedEx sure isn't getting a cut of all these sendings? Are they praying too? What are their thoughts? Speaking of NPR another thing that has made me want to reconsider my donation is this whole BS about putting someone with a perspective on air and then quickly disavowing themselves off it. The thoughts and commentaries expressed in the perspective are those of the jack in the boxers and not of NPR. What? So then what the hell did you give him airtime for? What exactly are your thoughts? You scared? It's okay to have thoughts about victims which they did not even ask to be expressed and now this passenger that actually did gets dumped? Maybe I should look into praying so that this insanity stops? Just my thought!

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Back in DC

This time for a tech conference in the realm of what else? AI. But applied to an oft neglected space called Knowledge Management. The latter is a community of practice that focuses on analyzing, organizing and making available reams of data that have been gathered over time by various functions within an organization for anyone in the company to utilize. This function or process is ripe for applying AI agents (or agentic AI framework) and optimize for better outcomes. It was informative. More rewarding was getting acquainted with folks who practice this craft as well as learning of what they see in the corporate or public sectors. Since the venue was Washington DC it also afforded me the chance to take evening strolls albeit the weather was trying. With wind chill in the single digit it still is a glamorous place to perambulate through history absorbing what this country has been through since its founding days. I was able to visit the place Lincoln was killed along with his monument t...

Costa Rica

Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry. Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while. Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...

A few good books

On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...

Brown Motion

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