Larkfarm Returns

The End of Rule of Law in America

Judge Luttig sums up the mess we’re in. Long and depressing but still worth reading.

After these first three tyrannical, lawless months of this presidency, surely Americans can understand now that Donald Trump is going to continue to decimate America for the next three-plus years. He will continue his assault on America, its democracy, and rule of law until the American people finally rise up and say, “No more.”

First judge approves Trump invoking Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans

Had to happen sooner or later, I guess. This stuff is clearly not going to be resolved before the Supreme Court weighs in on the merits.

Judge slams lawyers for ‘bogus AI-generated research’

How stupid do you have to be to add more AI slop to a legal brief after the judge questions your initial round of AI slop? $31,000 worth of stupid in this case.

“The Gathering Storm”

Olympus TG-6 @ 5.4mm, f/9, 1/250s, ISO 100. Near the top of Mt. Pisgah.

“Ready to Pop”

Olympus TG-6 @ 11.1mm, f/3.6, 1/200s, ISO 800. Fringecup buds along a trail at Mt. Pisgah.

AI therapy is a surveillance machine in a police state

The obvious takeaway from this is “don’t get therapy from a chatbot, especially not from a high-profile platform, especially if you’re in the US, especially not right now.”

“Cat Ears”

Olympus TG-6 @ 5.4mm, f/3.2, 1/160s, ISO 100. Elegant Mariposa Lily trailside at Mt. Pisgah.

“Sweeping View”

Olympus TG-6 @ 5.4mm, f/3.2, 1/250s, ISO 100. Trail at Mt. Pisgah leading into a meadow dotted with Scotch Broom.

“Ookow Rising”

Olympus TG-6 @ 5.4mm, f/3.2, 1/320s, ISO 100. Yes, this flower really is named the ookow. Taken on the trails at Mt. Pisgah.

Finished: The Last Season, by Eric Blehm 📚. A look at the life and disappearance (and later remains recovery) of Randy Morgenson, a longtime backcountry ranger in the California Sierra. It’s both an appreciation of nature untrammeled and a SAR mystery story, well-written and designed to provoke reflection.

Universe expected to decay in 10⁷⁸ years, much sooner than previously thought

Another reason to avoid auto-renewing subscriptions.

Looks like China & the US have agreed to a temporary reduction in tariff rates (to 30% in this direction, 10% in that direction).

1. The so-called master dealmaker appears to have rolled over and played dead again. Less than a week from saying there would be no tariff concessions to a huge drop.
2. This is only a 90-day pause, so there’s still plenty of room for things to fall apart.
3. A 30% tax is still a 30% tax. I’ll certainly be buying less. So, I would think, will many other people. Recession remains a very real possibility.
4. It’s still going to be hard to ramp things back up in time to have a traditional consumerist American Christmas, especially given that this continues the policy of making things uncertain for business.

Stock market will no doubt be hugely up this morning, but I don’t expect those gains to last as reality sinks back in.

Finished: Preface to the Past, by James Branch Cabell 📚. The title is quite literal; this book collects the prefaces to all of the books in the Storisende edition of the Biography. As such, you need to be pretty deep in the Cabellian rabbit-hole to appreciate it. If you are (as I am), it offers quite a bit of insight into the writing of the Biography, and indeed, to Cabell’s writing technique in general.

Chatted with my college freshman child about AI, after reading Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College. They don’t use AI for writing outlines or papers or finishing assignments. But they say ChatGPT is useful for “here are a bunch of things I need to learn, please put together a set of practice test questions and scenarios for me.” Interesting. Also nice to know I at least contributed to creating an honest & creative person in the world.

“Diamond in the Sky”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42 kit lens @ 42mm, f/9.5, 1/350s, ISO 200. View of Diamond Peak from the Hardesty Way Trail.

Trump administration poised to accept ‘palace in the sky’ as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources

Remember when bribery used to be illegal? Yeah, neither do Donald Trump or Pam Bondi. I hope they end up in adjoining cells.

Finished: The Pale Horseman, by Bernard Cornwell 📚. Second book in Cornwell’s series about the making of England in the ninth century. In this one, the young nobleman-raised-by-Danes Uhtred takes part in a rather improbable number of important incidents, revolving roughly around the exploits of King Alfred. Much better than the first book, I think, if only because it moves faster through more action.

“Growth”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42 kit lens @ 31mm, f/9, 1/30s, ISO 640. Along the Lawler Trail.

There are a few reasons why I post so many photos here:

1. My aphantasia means that if I don’t take and save pictures, I have very little memory of where I’ve been. By turning photos of my hikes into wallpaper and having it on rotate on a spare monitor, I’m more anchored to my past, and this feels like a good thing. Typically I take a few hundred photos on a day’s hike, and turn a dozen or two into wallpaper.

2. I flatter myself into thinking some of these wallpaper photos turn out pretty well, so I share them. There’s probably no one downloading any, but that’s OK.

3. I figure the nature photos provide a nice break from the political ranting.

“Misty Woods”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42 kit lens @ 14mm, f/4.0, 1/125s, ISO 200. Along the Lawler Trail.