Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

Can Anyone Be Trusted With AI?

To the editor; Commentary describing the benefits or the dangers of AI has become commonplace. Predictions for AI run the gamut from Utopian visions of a world where humans will have all needs taken care of by armies of robots directed by a benevolent AI to a cataclysmic future in which humans will be terminated by an all-powerful AI. On a less grand scale, pundits cannot decide whether AI will usher in a golden age of productivity for human labor or simply eliminate most human jobs causing catastrophic unemployment and extreme wealth inequality. If experts cannot reach a consensus about how AI is likely to …

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Ewing’s Still Spewing

To the Editor: The Democrat Party has a long anti-democratic history; now it’s fielding Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) candidates who want to replace the American Constitution that protects our rights, and implement policies that will make American life more dangerous, less free, and much poorer. Democrats use government to violate our rights or allow them to be violated. E.g., FDR refused to criminalize lynchings (Trump did in 2018), Democrats established poll taxes and tests to prevent blacks from voting, the KKK went unchecked, Democrat gun laws prevented blacks from being able to defend themselves, and Biden opened our border letting about 15 million illegal …

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Has the Bill Finally Come Due?

To the editor; Unless you are an economist or an avid investor, you probably do not pay much attention to the bond market, yet its transactions directly affect your financial welfare because it is the place where the $32 trillion of long-term U.S. Treasury Bills are bought and sold. Many believe that Federal Reserve policy is the primary determinant of interest rates in the economy, but the fed sets short-term bank rates that have only an indirect effect on most interest rates. It is the market-determined yield (interest rate) on the ten-year Treasury Bill that is used to directly determine rates for most consumer debt …

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Lake Trump

Dear Sir, Effective immediately and in perpetuity, I hereby officially rename the water in my toilet bowl Lake Trump. William D. Ehrhart Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania William: Well, that’s settled. Neatly done. We notice that you make no claim to exclusivity. Given the near-ubiquity of such facilities in separate and distinct real estate parcels all over the nation—and the world—we see no reason why others who may be so inclined should not emulate your exquisitely appropriate designation. The Editor –=≈=– Shaheen is a Pragmatic Democrat To the Editor: Having run in and been elected to local and state offices we know the effort that is needed not just to …

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Greetings From the Forest

[No salutation necessary.] I’m sending you some stamps in hopes that it will help with the costs of mailing out copies of the Gazette. I don’t have to tell you the cost of one stamp!!! I thought I was going to pass out in the Post Office lobby when they told me! It’s like Old Willie said: “The World’s all going to ‘Pot;’ Whether we like it or not. The Best I can tell the World’s going to hell and we’re sure going to miss it a lot. All the Whisky in Lynchburg, Tenn. ain’t going to hit the spot. I’ve got a hundred dollar …

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Much Worse Than the Vandals

To the Editor: Trump’s right about vandals damaging the reflecting pool; however, the truth is Trump is the vandal. His hire-the-incompetent approach to government is ruining more than the reflecting pond. He vandalized the Kennedy Center when he defaced it with his name. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars brought back the Kennedy (only) Center. He vandalized the White House by demolishing the East Wing. Like the ignorant Vandals, history means nothing to Trump. He vandalized the Rose Garden by paving it over. Like ancient Vandals he destroys places of beauty. He vandalized signage throughout our national parks. Like illiterate Vandals, Trump doesn’t read. He’ll vandalize the …

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