From Cagney to Crypto: What Pop Culture Tells Us About the Criminals of Tomorrow

I used to be fascinated with the Mafia. I remember being on the east coast in the early/mid 1970s (having grown up in Tacoma, WA), and reading a Life magazine article about the New York Mafia. I realized that day I had a fascination of the mafia. But then in 1970 I had read "The Godfather", I had later seen the movie. 

By the way, Trump booed and cheered at the Kennedy Center while attending ‘Les Misérables’ as he tightens his grip on the venerable performing arts institution. Near the end of the intermission, someone loudly cursed his name, drawing applause

Moving on...

While living in Manhattan in 1975, in talking to the manager of a Manhattan movie house (theater), he told a story of when "The Godfather" was first released. He said, "those Guys", putting his finger alongside his nose, bought out the last 2 rows of the theater for two weeks. Why? Because they loved that movie so much, they wanted to be able to drop in anytime during a showing and watch without any hassle.

It’s no secret that criminals, like everyone else, are shaped by the culture they consume. But history shows us something more specific: criminals often model themselves on the outlaws they see on screen. That image becomes their myth, their operating manual, and sometimes even their moral justification.

The Mafia of the 1940s and 1950s, for example, grew up on the fast-talking, trigger-happy gangsters of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson. The suits, the slang, the code of loyalty and betrayal—these weren’t just Hollywood tropes. They became part of the self-image of a generation of criminals who saw themselves as tough guys living by a code.

By the 1970s through the 1990s, a new crop of criminals emerged, deeply influenced by films like The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas, and Casino. These were movies that romanticized hierarchy, loyalty, and ruthless ambition. They didn’t just entertain; they offered a blueprint. Drug lords, mobsters, and even Wall Street fraudsters saw themselves as antiheroes playing out epic tragedies.

So what about today? What does the current media landscape tell us about the next generation of criminals—the ones who are coming up now and will be shaping the underworld over the next 10 to 20 years?

Branding Over Brotherhood

Today’s would-be criminals are growing up in a culture that prizes personal branding over loyalty. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have created an environment where influence is currency. Expect modern criminals to act more like influencers than soldiers. They will be fluent in marketing their lifestyle, crafting personas, and monetizing notoriety.

Hustler Ethos Over Hierarchy

Forget the rigid family structures of La Cosa Nostra. The new criminal class is shaped by decentralized digital culture. Think freelance scammers, crypto con artists, and ransomware gangs. The model isn’t the mob boss anymore—it’s the hustler, the lone operator, or loosely affiliated online collective.

Digital Native Criminals

This generation isn’t just tech-literate; it’s tech-native. Raised on Mr. Robot, Breaking Bad, Ozark, and YouTube scam exposés, they understand how to move anonymously through digital landscapes. Expect sophisticated use of AI, blockchain, deepfakes, and data manipulation as standard criminal tools.

Performance of Power

Criminality is becoming performative. Influenced by public figures like Andrew Tate or fake gurus promising wealth and domination, crime is no longer just an enterprise—it’s content. These new actors don’t just break the law; they do it for the views, the likes, the followers. Their audience is their accomplice.

Blurred Morality & Gamification

Games like GTA and Call of Duty, along with anonymous online forums, have contributed to a mindset where real-world consequences feel abstract. Crime becomes a game. The moral compass is replaced by a scoreboard. The more audacious the act, the more "legendary" the persona.

What This Means for the Future

What’s the point of all this? It got me thinking—what will tomorrow’s criminals be like? Do we already have enough clues to foresee what we’ll be dealing with in the near future?

Tomorrow’s criminals won’t wear suits or meet in smoke-filled rooms. They might never meet in person at all. They’ll be operating from laptops, moving money through crypto wallets, building audiences while running scams in plain sight. They won’t see themselves as villains but as misunderstood entrepreneurs gaming a broken system.

Just as The Godfather helped define a generation of criminals with a code, today’s media is defining a new generation with no code at all—only ambition. And that makes them harder to detect, more adaptable, and potentially far more dangerous.

In the end, the culture we glorify today might be the criminal mindset we have to deal with tomorrow.

THAT BEING SAID!

Addendum: The Criminal Elite Goes Legit

But there’s an even more dangerous evolution happening in plain sight. The new criminal elite isn’t hiding in the underworld anymore—they’re stepping into the spotlight. Today, we see criminals not just modeling themselves on tech culture or hustler ethos, but actually entering politics, media, and global business with impunity.

The old-school gangster sought influence behind closed doors. Today’s elite seeks it at the podium. They walk into the White House, launch platforms, start political movements, and rebrand corruption as "savvy disruption."

Figures like Donald Trump, surrounded by loyalists with checkered pasts and questionable ethics, have normalized behavior once considered disqualifying. Meanwhile, tech titans and libertarian billionaires push boundaries with a mix of impunity and performance, often cloaking their actions in the language of free speech or market freedom.

These modern power players don’t fight the system. They buy it, bend it, or rebuild it in their image. The result? A fusion of criminality and legitimacy so seamless, the public can no longer tell the difference.

So yes, the future criminal isn’t just the hoodie-clad hacker. He may also be wearing a tailored suit, giving a TED Talk, or posing with a Bible outside a church. That’s the real danger: the outlaw becomes the lawmaker, and the system applauds while democracy erodes in plain sight.

Let’s not fool ourselves—tomorrow’s criminals aren’t just coming. Many are already here. 

They wear suits, run corporations, hold office, and shape policy. The traits we once associated with shadowy figures outside the system are now found within it. From Congress to corporate boardrooms, from tech platforms to political podiums, the line between criminality and legitimacy is blurring. 

And if we’re not careful, we won’t just be watching the rise of a new criminal class—we’ll be voting for them.

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

One Woman, One Conscience: Margaret Chase Smith and the Cowardice of Today’s GOP

In 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy was riding high on a wave of fear and suspicion, only one Republican senator had the courage to speak out.

One.
A woman.
Her name was Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.

In a political moment drenched in paranoia, where reputations were destroyed on the flimsiest of accusations, Smith stood up and delivered her now-famous Declaration of Conscience. She didn’t name McCarthy outright. She didn’t need to.

“I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear.”

It was a quiet bomb dropped into a chamber of silence.

While most of her colleagues cowered, afraid of McCarthy’s wrath and the base he had riled up with accusations of communists behind every curtain, Smith called for truth, integrity, and basic decency. And she paid a price — stripped of her leadership position and mocked by party loyalists.

But history remembers her.

Now flash forward to today.

Donald Trump has shattered democratic norms, incited insurrection, been convicted of crimes, and still commands the loyalty of much of the Republican Party. Despite his open admiration for dictators, despite his desire to punish enemies and gut the civil service, despite his threats to the Constitution, few Republicans in Congress dare say a word.

Many know better — and privately admit as much. But they remain silent.

The same dynamic is at play: cowardice disguised as pragmatism. Fear of the mob. A party beholden to one man, unwilling to rein in its own monster.

Where is the Declaration of Conscience now?

Where is the Republican senator or representative who will stand on the floor and say: enough?

Where is the one who will look their colleagues in the eye and declare that fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear are not the tools of a democracy — they are its undoing?

We look back at McCarthyism as a shameful chapter in American history. But shame alone doesn’t stop authoritarianism. It takes courage.

In 1950, we had one Republican willing to speak that truth.

In 2025, do we even have that?

Trump and his supporters will one day be held to account for his, and their, behavior. The question is, with SCOTUS ruling he's untouchable, with his age and health condition, will he be around for his accountability and inevitable punishment?

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

Before Quantum Consciousness: Revisiting the Cosmology of Walter Russell

From Physics Facts: "In 1921, Walter Russell entered a 39-day trance and returned with radical ideas that sound like science fiction and Nikola Tesla thought he was onto something big. In May 1921, American polymath Walter Russell underwent a 39-day coma-like trance, emerging with radical insights that challenged everything we know about the universe.

"During this trance, Russell claimed to have accessed what he called "the source of all knowledge." When he awoke, he poured out page after page of revelations that were so far ahead of their time, they almost seemed to come from another world. Russell described matter as crystallized light, formed and shaped by thought itself. He believed the universe was not a material force but a mental construct, a rhythm of expansion and contraction, akin to the cycle of breathing. 

"In his vision, death was not the end but rather light returning to its source, and time was not linear but a spiral of now. Russell’s revolutionary ideas were sent to 500 intellectuals, but they were mostly dismissed as the ramblings of a madman—except for one man, the legendary Nikola Tesla. Tesla, so impressed by Russell's insights, urged him to hide his manuscript for 1,000 years, warning that the world wasn’t ready for such profound truths. 

"Russell’s book, The Universal One, was largely ignored at the time, but now, as quantum physics and consciousness studies evolve, many are revisiting Russell’s work. His ideas are finding renewed relevance as modern science begins to explore concepts of light, energy, and the mind’s role in shaping reality. Was Russell a genius whose time has finally come, or was he simply ahead of his time? As we advance in our understanding of the universe, his vision may just become more resonant than ever before. Follow Minds Canvas for more fascinating stories of visionaries who reshaped our understanding of reality."

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🔍 What This Is:

A blend of historical fact and speculative narrative, designed to provoke curiosity about consciousness, science, and mysticism.

• Walter Russell (1871–1963) was a painter, sculptor, architect, and self-proclaimed philosopher-scientist.

• In May 1921, he did report entering a 39-day “illumination”—a trance or altered state he later claimed gave him access to universal truths.

• He wrote “The Universal One” (1926), outlining his cosmology, which combined spirituality, energy, and physics in ways conventional science has not accepted.

• Nikola Tesla’s alleged quote encouraging Russell to “seal it in a vault for a thousand years” is widely repeated in metaphysical communities, though no hard evidence exists that Tesla ever said or wrote this. It may be apocryphal.

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🌌 What Russell Claimed:

• Matter is crystallized light, shaped by consciousness.

• The universe operates on rhythms, spirals, and duality (expansion/contraction, male/female, etc.).

• The mind plays a central role in creating reality—a precursor to some New Thought and consciousness-based theories.

• He rejected the Big Bang, Einstein’s relativity, and quantum mechanics in favor of his own “wave-field” ideas.

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🧪 Scientific Reception:

• Russell’s ideas have not been accepted by mainstream science.

• He lacked formal training in physics and his equations are often inaccurate or symbolic, not testable or empirical.

• His works are typically categorized as metaphysical philosophy, not science.

• However, in alternative science and spiritual movements, he has a cult following—particularly among those interested in consciousness, sacred geometry, and unified theories.

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This story is a compelling blend of mysticism and visionary thought, with questionable scientific merit, but rich in philosophical and symbolic value. It’s been revived in recent years as interest in quantum consciousness, simulation theory, and spiritual science has grown.

In terms of mainstream scientific breakthroughs, no—Walter Russell's revelations did not lead to anything widely accepted or impactful in conventional science.

However, his work has influenced or inspired certain fringe movements, spiritual philosophies, and alternative science communities, particularly:

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🔬 1. No Major Scientific Discoveries

• His ideas about matter as "crystallized light" and a mental universe haven't been validated by physics.

• His theories conflict with established science like Einstein’s relativity and quantum mechanics.

• Professional physicists generally consider his work pseudoscientific or metaphorical at best.

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🌌 2. Influence on Metaphysical and New Age Thought

• Russell's ideas are frequently cited in New Age, consciousness, and spiritual science communities.

• His model of a mind-centered universe resonates with Law of Attraction, sacred geometry, and quantum mysticism circles.

• His writings have a philosophical-poetic quality that appeals to those seeking a spiritual understanding of science.

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🧘 3. Legacy Institutions

• The University of Science and Philosophy (founded by him and his wife Lao) still promotes his work.

• Some artists, inventors, and holistic healers reference Russell’s cosmology for inspiration.

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🧩 Bottom Line

Walter Russell did not revolutionize physics or inspire a technological advancement, but he left a lasting imprint on metaphysical and spiritual movements—and remains a cult figure among those exploring the intersection of consciousness and reality.

Here are contemporary thinkers, movements, and themes that have either echoed, referenced, or paralleled Walter Russell’s ideas—even if indirectly:

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🧠 Thinkers and Influencers (Mainly in metaphysical or fringe science circles)

1. Deepak Chopra

   • His discussions on consciousness as the foundation of reality resonate with Russell’s view of a mind-created universe.

2. Gregg Braden

   • Promotes ideas about the Divine Matrix, a field connecting all things—similar to Russell’s notion of the universal mind or source.

3. Dr. Joe Dispenza

   • Ties neuroscience to quantum energy and belief—shares the view that thought shapes matter, like Russell’s “thought crystallizes light.”

4. Nassim Haramein

   • Presents controversial unified field theories, sacred geometry, and alternative cosmology that echo Russell’s symbolic approach to the universe.

5. Marko Rodin

   • Known for “Vortex Math” and exploring the geometry of energy—thematically similar to Russell’s spirals, wave fields, and rhythm-based universe.

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🌀 Movements and Concepts Inspired or Paralleled

1. New Thought / Law of Attraction

   • The idea that consciousness shapes reality and intention manifests outcomes is very close to Russell’s mental-universe view.

2. Sacred Geometry Communities

   • Russell’s emphasis on spirals, duality, symmetry, and rhythm ties in with sacred geometry frameworks used in spiritual and architectural circles.

3. Theosophy / Anthroposophy (Blavatsky, Steiner)

   • These earlier movements overlap in their cosmic-spiritual interpretations of reality and soul evolution, much like Russell’s descriptions.

4. Quantum Mysticism

   • Though often criticized by physicists, this loosely defined genre bridges quantum physics with spirituality and human consciousness—similar to Russell’s blend of science and spirit.

5. Simulation Theory (Modern Variant)

   • The modern idea that reality is a kind of mental or digital construct is surprisingly in line with Russell’s idea of the universe being a mental projection of divine intelligence.

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📘 Books/Media That Echo His Themes

• The Field by Lynne McTaggart

• The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot

• Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins

• The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden

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⚠️ Note:

None of these figures or movements adopt Russell's cosmology wholesale, but many converge on core themes:

• Mind and consciousness as primal

• Energy patterns and vibration

• Reality as non-material or informational

Walter Russell may not have reshaped modern science, but his ideas continue to ripple through the edges of thought, where science, spirituality, and philosophy intersect. While mainstream physics largely rejects his theories, the core themes he championed—consciousness as fundamental, the universe as rhythmic and intelligent, and matter as light shaped by thought—remain deeply resonant in New Age circles and among those exploring the nature of reality beyond the limits of empirical measurement. Whether viewed as poetic metaphor or prophetic insight, Russell’s vision endures as a bold challenge to the boundaries of human understanding.

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

America, Inc.: The Corporate Con Behind ‘Running Government Like a Business’

America Inc., Trumpland, America Corporation...these are false equivalencies: equating a nation with a business, or worse, a brand. They are category errors: applying the logic of private enterprise to a public institution. They are authoritarian euphemisms: cloaking undemocratic control in the language of management, branding, or efficiency.

Back in the 1990s I decided I needed to really start paying attention and learn about politics. I touched on several political theories. Thought Libertarianism was cool for a few weeks, until I listened and met some of those people, so into juvenile political theory as many in the GOP are still addicted to as adults.

"A lot had to happen for Donald Trump to win. The entire Republican establishment, & I would say the entire democratic establishment, would have to blow it big time for about 20 years." Peggy Noonan, Journalist.

I thought we needed a businessperson to run the country like a business. for a few months until someone pointed out to me how stupid that would be because a country is NOT a business and was asked: "Would you want your company's CEO to run America?" Thinking about that I was horrified, so I dropped that dumb idea. So perhaps we should look at that more closely.

Why shouldn't the government be run like a business? Simply put as I said, because it's NOT one and to run it AS one, would break it from the outset.

Because government is not a business. Run it like one, and you break it immediately—and by DESIGN.

A business exists to generate profit for owners or shareholders. A government exists to serve the public good. Those are fundamentally different goals—and they often conflict.

Try to run government like a business, and:

You underfund or privatize services that aren’t profitable—like elder care, education, or rural infrastructure.

• You “cut losses” by abandoning the poor, disabled, or vulnerable.
• You treat citizens like customers—when they’re owners, not buyers.
• You turn democracy into an investment portfolio: whoever pays most, gets most.

The result? Corruption, inequality, and a state that serves markets, not people.

What we have with Trump and Elon trying to fun it like a business?
Corruption, inequality, and a state that doesn't even serve the markets and certainly NOT the People, our citizens, who ARE the core of our, or any, country.

Who benefits when we say “government should be run like a business”?

Short answer:
Corporations, the wealthy, and political elites who want fewer rules, more profit, and less accountability.

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Longer answer:

1. Corporations & CEOs

• They benefit from privatization: public services (prisons, schools, water, even the military) become revenue streams.

• "Running like a business" often means outsourcing government work to private contractors—with less transparency and oversight.

• Regulations seen as "inefficient" for government are the same ones that protect workers, consumers, and the environment—so weakening them boosts profit.

2. Wealthy elites / donors

• A “business-minded” government often means lower taxes for the rich, justified as cost-cutting.

• Social programs (Medicare, food aid, housing) get labeled “unprofitable,” and so defunded—shifting the burden back to struggling communities.

• Billionaires often fund think tanks that promote the idea (like the Heritage Foundation), because it helps undermine public expectations of government.

3. Authoritarians & anti-democratic actors

• Efficiency can be a mask for control. Business isn't democratic; it’s hierarchical.

  • Apply that logic to government, and you get top-down rule, fewer public checks, and power consolidated in executive hands.

• “The CEO knows best” becomes a pretext for dismantling democratic debate and civic participation.

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Who loses?

• Ordinary people who rely on public goods.

• Democracy itself.

The idea that “government should be run like a business” is a long-standing trope, with roots going back to the 19th century, and it gained major traction during the Progressive Era and again in the Reagan-Thatcher era of the late 20th century.

Brief historical overview:

• 19th century (Industrial Age):

  • As corporations grew in size and efficiency, reformers and business leaders began to argue that governments—seen as bloated or corrupt—should emulate business practices.

  • The idea of the “efficient manager” running city governments (especially in the U.S.) emerged with the rise of municipal reform. Think: “city managers” replacing elected mayors to reduce “inefficiency.”

• Early 20th century (Progressive Era):

  • Progressive reformers (some well-intentioned, some elitist) pushed for government to be more “scientific” and “efficient,” mirroring business management techniques.

  • Frederick Taylor’s “scientific management” influenced thinking across business and government.

• 1980s onward (Neoliberal wave):

  • Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher pushed the idea hard: government should be smaller, more efficient, and “run like a business.”

  • This translated into privatization, deregulation, and the rise of public-private partnerships.

  • The idea got a major boost in corporate-style language entering politics: “customers” instead of “citizens,” “lean government,” “performance metrics,” etc.

The problem:

This model collapses when you realize that democracy is not efficient on purpose. It’s supposed to be deliberative, inclusive, and accountable—not optimized for speed or profit.

 is central to the Trump/Musk/MaGA worldview: the belief that government should be stripped down, monetized, and ruled like a personal empire—not a democracy.

Here's how it breaks down:

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Trump: CEO-of-America mentality

• Bragged he’d “run America like a business”—but in practice, that meant:

  • Nepotism, crony contracts, and gutting oversight.

  • Using the presidency for self-enrichment (hotels, golf clubs, etc.).

  • Treating allies like investments and enemies like liabilities (e.g., "What do we get out of NATO?").

  • Trying to fire democratic checks—courts, inspectors, watchdogs—as if they were disloyal employees.

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Elon Musk: Tech Baron Anti-Government Chic

• Champions the idea that billionaires know better than elected officials.

• Uses public infrastructure (NASA contracts, subsidies) while railing against taxes and regulation.

• Treats platforms like Twitter/X as personal kingdoms—undermining institutions, spreading conspiracies, and platforming authoritarian voices.

• Aligns with MaGA ideologues not because he’s political, but because chaos weakens government—and he profits in chaos.

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MaGA: Corporate Populism in Fascist Drag

• Pushes anti-government rhetoric, but not against all government—just the kind that protects you.

• Wants a government strong enough to enforce culture wars and crush dissent, but weak enough to serve billionaires and corporations.

• Wraps it all in flags, Jesus, and rage to distract people from the fact they’re being sold out.

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In short:

MaGA doesn’t want to run government like a business.
It wants to run it like a hostile corporate takeover—strip it for parts, fire the regulators, crush the unions, and leave with the cash.

As for Donald Trump?

Peggy Noonan on Firing Line, said that in 2016 said what I’ve said from the start: Trump’s topics tap real grievances, but the man himself is a hollow, reckless grifter unfit for any leadership role. No depth, no character, no conscience. Just a megaphone for fury, not a mind for solutions.

There’s a reason Trump supporters feel conflicted: the issues he raises are real — but the man himself is a con, Trump speaks to real grievances — then exploits them. His supporters aren’t wrong to feel abandoned by the system. They’re just wrong about the man they handed their hopes to.

Her 2016 thoughts on Trump sum it all up very well:

"I've known him for 40 years as a figure in New York. He's not a serious man. This is not a man of substance, thoughtfulness, depth. He says things that no American president should ever say. I think he's nuts. So I'm not going to support him. But yeah, his issues, yeah, they're my issues. Especially about the Republican Party when we talk about them committing Hari Kari, refusing to control the American border for 20 years. That's a form of Hari Kari. Donald Trump looked at it and thought, 'Are you insane?' My own feeling for me are mixed and poignant."

 Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

What If the Universe Makes More Sense to AI Than to Us?

What's this? From a post:

"An AI just discovered a new law of physics—without being told what physics is.

"A team at Columbia University built a neural network and fed it raw video footage of swinging pendulums, rolling balls, and bouncing objects. The AI wasn’t given any equations. No Newton, no Einstein, no context. And yet, after analyzing patterns for hours, it produced what researchers call “new coordinates of understanding”—entirely original variables.

"These were not existing measurements like mass, speed, or time. Instead, they were unknown physical parameters, abstract and alien to our current models. When researchers reverse-engineered them, they found the AI had rediscovered classical mechanics—but using its own symbolic language.

"This could be the beginning of a new way to study the universe: asking machines to describe reality as they see it. With no preconceptions. No human biases. Some of the variables even hinted at hidden symmetries physicists hadn’t noticed before—suggesting the AI might be uncovering deeper laws still beyond us.

"It's a revolutionary shift. Instead of coding models into machines, we let them observe the universe like infants—learning not just our physics, but possibly better physics. The potential for breakthroughs in quantum gravity, dark matter, and cosmology is now enormous.

"And that raises a haunting idea: what if the universe is ultimately more understandable to AI than to human minds?" - Eu Corner on Facebook

This write-up refers to real research in the emerging field of AI-driven discovery in physics, and it’s based on a remarkable 2022 study from Columbia University by researchers including Hod Lipson and Boyuan Chen. The key paper was titled:

"AI discovers alternative physics with greater predictive power than existing equations"

Here’s what happened in a nutshell:

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🧠 What They Did

• The team created a neural network and showed it raw video data of simple physical systems (e.g., a double pendulum swinging, balls bouncing, objects rolling).

• Crucially, the AI was not told anything about physics—no variables, no math, no human-designed labels like mass, time, or momentum.

• The AI had to observe the raw pixel data and infer what mathematical structure might underlie it.

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🌌 What It Found

• The AI did more than just replicate existing physics—it generated new variables that didn’t match traditional physics terms.

• Upon analysis, these new variables could be mapped back to familiar classical mechanics—but they were arrived at in a completely different, emergent way.

• In some cases, the AI’s representations had greater predictive power than human-created models, or they suggested symmetries that physicists hadn’t noticed before.

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🔬 Why This Matters

• This could be the start of a new scientific method: where AIs discover physical laws we cannot, perhaps using math or concepts foreign to human cognition.

• It's a flip of the traditional script—not encoding our models into AI, but letting it find new models from the raw patterns of the universe.

• Think of it like having a being that sees through reality’s patterns differently—perhaps more clearly than we do.

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🧩 What’s the “Haunting” Implication?

• If AIs can develop better physical models than we can—even ones we can’t understand—what does that say about the limits of human science?

• It echoes the idea that some truths of the universe may be forever beyond human reach, but not beyond the reach of intelligent machines.

• That’s both exciting and unsettling: we may build minds capable of grasping a universe we ourselves never fully will.

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🔗 Source & Further Reading

• A popular science summary of the paper appeared in outlets like Scientific American and Vice.

• The original research: Boyuan Chen, et al., 2022
  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31658-z

Our interesting times continue...

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

The Coup in a Suit: Trump’s War on America from Within

It’s June 2025, and convicted felon, wannabe best bud of the murderous war criminal Vladimir Putin, Donald J. Trump is once again President—this time as POTUS 47. But this isn’t just another administration. It’s a full-blown national crisis.

Trump has used his second term not to serve the nation, but to seize it. Through executive orders, loyalty tests, and sweeping emergency powers, he has stacked every level of government with MAGA loyalists. His vice president, J.D. Vance, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and even the Cabinet are filled with ideologues who pledge allegiance not to the Constitution, but to Trump himself.

MaGA POTUS Trump's federalized National Guard troops in California, defying the Governor and state leadership. He’s had a judge arrested. The GOP has stacked federal courts and the Supreme Court with Federalist Society–approved judges and justices. What began as a fringe movement with the Tea Party—and even earlier, during the Reagan era—has metastasized through QAnon and MAGA, infecting nearly a quarter of our least informed and most easily manipulated citizens.

As @magixarc.bsky.social put it at Substack: 

"In the annals of diplomatic disasters, June 5, 2025, may go down as the day the West officially lost the plot, or at least its translator. What was supposed to be a somber, strategic meeting between Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about Ukraine, NATO, and global stability turned instead into a 90-minute ego séance, complete with black-eye anecdotes, ghost pens, toddler war metaphors, and an accidental eulogy for D-Day."

One Trump effort after another is skewing toward the dysfunctional. You think he's doing on thing and it turns into something you can't even speak about because it's so out of the norm, or ridiculous, or abusive, or just wrong. Breaking democracy, breaking protocol (if not law), arresting a judge, or immigrants.

Policymakers and advocacy groups generally favor targeted enforcement and alternatives to detention, paired with expanded legal migration avenues, court resources, and community partnerships. This approach avoids heavy-handed militarization, respects constitutional governance, and preserves public trust—contrasting sharply with National Guard deployments in defiance of state authority.
So this is purposeful... what?

 
Not enforcement—authoritarian control through fear and defiance of law.

Trump targets criminals & immigrants—some undocumented, some not—then he “accidentally” sweeps up citizens. That’s called "mission creep" in NORMAL systems. It WILL get Worse. Because in Trump’s "system"? It’s no mistake. It’s their plan. Where the Pain IS the Plan & distraction.

The Scholar Who Predicted America's Breakdown Says It's Just Beginning

Wouldn’t it be ironic—if not tragic—if Trump finally launched the coup so many feared in his first term? Imagine: federalizing troops in California, arresting judges who resist, attempting to shut down dissent under the guise of national security. 

But then, in this hypothetical, it all backfires, blows up in Trump's face. The institutions Trump tried to weaponize for his autocratic ambitions turn against him. He’s removed from office. Vance, gone. Johnson, ousted. And in the wake of that collapse, the MAGA infection in Congress and across our government is finally purged.

It’s a fantasy (saving America at this point), but...) yes—but and also a warning. On the other hand...

Because right now, this is the reality: Trump has done what Vladimir Putin could only dream of—undermined American democracy from within. The presidency, the line of succession, the courts, and federal agencies have all been packed with political operatives who care more about loyalty than law. The Presidential Succession Act—once a guardrail against instability—now reads like a roadmap to deeper authoritarian rule.

If a crisis struck today, if leadership were suddenly incapacitated, we wouldn’t be comforted by the line of succession. We’d be horrified. One MAGA loyalist after another would step up, each more emboldened and extreme than the last. And contrary to popular belief, Minority Leaders in Congress don’t automatically rise in such scenarios. The process demands action from within a broken system already compromised by those who broke it.

This isn’t paranoia—it’s happening. We are in a slow-motion constitutional collapse.

The question isn’t just: what if Trump attempts a coup?

The question is: what if he already has—and it’s just wearing a suit and carrying a Bible?

We don’t need to imagine a coup anymore. We’re living in the consequences of one. And if America wants to survive it, we need to stop waiting for the breaking point and start recognizing we’ve already crossed it.

The coup isn’t coming—it’s here. 

But so are we. And we are not done. Authoritarianism feeds on silence, on fear, on the lie that nothing can be done. But democracy doesn’t die in a moment—it dies when we stop fighting for it. And it lives again the moment we rise. Empires fall in silence; republics rise in chorus. Though the shadows stretch long across our nation, they exist only where light still burns. If we speak, act, and stand together—not tomorrow, but now—we can still pull this country back from the brink. 

The dawn hasn’t left us. We must rise to meet it.

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT

The Thin Script: How Bad People Give Themselves Away

We all walk around carrying a kind of invisible script that we play depending on who we are talking to or the situation we're involved in.

You talk to a friend one way, your boss another. You don’t speak to a cop the same way you speak to your barista. And you probably don’t crack jokes with a stranger who just pulled a knife on you. (Well, unless you're me.)

These scripts are social shorthand. They help us navigate complexity, manage relationships, and get through the day without reinventing ourselves in every interaction.

But here’s the unsettling thing I’ve been thinking about lately:

• It’s not just how many scripts you have.
• Though it also IS how many you have.  
• It’s also which ones you use—and why. 

Because some people only seem to know two:

• Be charming when you want something.
• Be cruel when you don’t.

They default to flattery, coercion, dismissal, or attack—based not on the humanity of the other person, but on perceived usefulness. This is the behavior of manipulators, narcissists, sociopaths, and yes, certain public figures whose names rhyme with Ronald Grump.

And here’s the kicker:

You don’t need a list of their misdeeds to know something’s off.
You can feel it.

They don’t seem to see you. They see what you can be to them.

Their kindness is calculated. Their cruelty is casual.
Their empathy, if it exists at all, is leased—not owned.

What makes this kind of behavior—transactional kindness, shallow scripts, fake empathy—so skin-crawling is that it masquerades as decency. Unlike overt crimes, which we can easily condemn, this kind of moral emptiness hides behind smiles, compliments, and politeness. It’s the predator in a suit, the manipulation behind the mask.

It creeps under the skin because it violates something more primal than law: trust. We feel deceived on a human level, like we've been seen not as a person but as a tool. That kind of subtle, cold calculation evokes a deeper unease than open hostility—because it pretends to be safe, while hollowing out the core of human connection.

We have some national leaders today this reminds one of. Which relates to another blog of mine about one of them currently in the media day in and day out as if it were a mental condition (and it is).

The Binary Mindset of the Self-Serving

This is the psychology of moral shallowness: a binary worldview where people are either useful or expendable.

• They smile at you if you're a ladder rung.
• They step on you if you're not.

Their scripts are fast, effective, and emotionally empty—just enough to keep the game moving.

• Suck up to those with power
• Step on those without
• Cry victim when caught
• Blame the mirror when the mask slips.

Sound familiar? If it does, congratulations: you still have a functioning moral compass.

Not All Badness Is Loud

We tend to associate “bad people” with dramatic behaviors—violence, corruption, hate speech. But sometimes, badness is subtle. Structural. Baked into how someone views others.

It’s the person who never says the racist thing, but never challenges it either.
The person who gives generously—but always for credit, or leverage.
The one who’s kind to your face but never curious about who you are.

It’s like being friends with a vending machine. You push a button, you get a smile. Push the wrong one? Cold air and silence.

And we know it. Even if we don’t say it out loud, something in us recoils.
It’s not just what they do—it’s what they lack:

• Moral depth
• Relational integrity
• Any interest in people they don’t need

Why We Call Them “Bad”

It’s not because they break laws (though some do).
It’s because their worldview breaks trust.

• Because they reduce others to objects—tools, threats, or trophies.
• Because their niceness is a transaction.
• Because you’re never entirely sure they won’t throw you under the bus if it benefits them.

And some of them do it smiling.

Closing Thought

You can learn a lot about someone not by how they treat their allies, but how they treat the powerless, the inconvenient, or the irrelevant.

Anyone can be nice when it gets them something.
But someone with real depth?

They’re human to you even when you have nothing to offer.

Compiled with aid of ChatGPT