iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 58m

Trump: The gap is between what is true and what I don't like. And I have no reason to ever step over that gap. Only very stupid people step over that gap, and they all go over to the other side, and they never come back to what is true.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 1h

Honestly, I hope he is right. If the 25% who like Trump are now 99% of the Republican party, WE are going to have a very good November.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 1h

'Forcing' the same tough question that teaching apes sign language forced: "What makes us special?" If you want to grapple with that question, you can already. Some do. Most shrug and say, "We just are."

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 1h

Trump gets all his information from the voices in his head.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 2h

The reverse of granting personhood to some who do not already have it.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 3h

I'm more worried about them doing the reverse.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 3h

But when you were 15, it was purely theoretical. It was, "Would Hal be conscious? Would Data be?" Now it's, "Is Hal conscious? Is Data? Is the guy in Upload?"

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 3h

And we only give personhood to humans, even though animals are conscious.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 3h

Consciousness is an activity. It's a tautology to say that everything that is conscious has a brain. I would define a brain as anything that can sustain the activities of consciousness.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

A brain of some sort does seem necessary for consciousness, but is not an attribute *of* consciousness.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

As will everyone who actually thinks about it.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

The last big housing bubble 20 years ago, almost no one was getting fixed-rate mortgages. ARMs do not lower housing costs.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

Those are two of the attributes that go into defining the word conscious. To be conscious, one must have at least some of the attributes that define consciousness. And, honestly, I don't think anything we call conscious completely lacks either of those two.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

No one who currently has a 3.x% mortgage thinks that's a good idea. And they are right. That's a horrible idea that would impoverish millions and make 2007 look like boom times. Letting people downsize: good. Forcing people to downsize: bad.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

But that is also a flood of homes coming onto the market. A transferable mortgage is only good if you sell. So 100% of those homes get sold. While some of the houses they buy (or build) would go unsold or unbuilt otherwise. The net is more right-sized homes available.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 4h

No. It would probably push purchase prices down. People being 'trapped' in a home that is bigger than they need, keeping them from selling, is pushing prices up. The normal turnover is not happening. Houses that would be available aren't.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 5h

Overall, people's ability to borrow money is LOWER today than a few years ago, due to higher interest rates. I suppose, if you have no savings or other assets, you can borrow now, where you couldn't before. If that is your situation, I don't recommend it.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 5h

I keep pushing for mortgage portability. With it, people could downsize and realize some of that value. As is, you could downsize and still have a higher mortgage payment.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 5h

It only counts if you can reasonably sell it. If there was a market for human organs, would any of us go, "Yippee! Look at how much my heart is worth!"? This is why Harris/Biden got no credit for how much inflation gave everyone with a mortgage more equity, even adjusted for inflation.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 6h

I don't know how. Maybe parliamentary system? The problem is that almost half the country says this is fine. We have stacked the courts with people who say this is fine. And a MAJORITY in both houses of Congress says this is fine. No system you could devise could guard against that.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 11h

Who was the idiot reporter, and what news org employs such an idiot?

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 12h

Your book was good, but you were unwilling to speculate to reach a very obvious conclusion - that Putin had Trump in his pocket from day one. I understand your reluctance to go there, since it still can't be *proven*, but the evidence is beyond overwhelming. Everything he does benefits Russia.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 12h

I don't think this genie is going back in the bottle.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 14h

An excuse to help Russia get out from under sanctions and propping up oil prices for them was the main purpose for the Iran war in the first place.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Trump can't maintain a permanent presence at a cabinet meeting.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

They work for Putin. That's been obvious for 10 years.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I want to know where they got the texts.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It's a classic he said, she said - but I believe her. It is horrible that she is being dragged back through this again, but I relish seeing the discovery - again.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I want to know how they got Smith's texts that they misinterpreted. Looks like a serious invasion of privacy. Did they have a warrant? Smith did - even just to look at their logs, not the texts, and they are still whining about that.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Navratilova should be fired and shunned.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It's (mostly) a supernatural slice of life. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

1965. A very serious show, which then turned *very* camp.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Nah. Aliens could cut roads. And Mars has features that look like cut roads. Even in Star Trek, many of the scenes were actually filmed on Earth to save money.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Two votes. First is non-binding, sense of the Senate, and will be shredded. If it fails, the second is mere formality. If the binding vote succeeds, the votes don't need to be sealed and shouldn't be. If it fails, they need to be sealed for probably 10 years. digbysblog.net/2026/10/05/a...

digbysblog.net

A Big Idea Worth Considering - Digby's Hullabaloo

This is from a newsletter called The UnPopulist. In 2019, Jeff Flake estimated that at least 35 of his former Republican colleagues in the Senate would vote to remove Trump if the ballot were secret. ...

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Lost in Space jumped the shark mid season one. Many liked it better that way, especially kids who became its target audience. But I was only 5, and I liked its more serious side.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

We are going to see this reflected in the price of... everything.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm 66 and strongly considering running next year. I don't think I was ready a few years ago.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The will have little ability to rectify wrongs. Trump will still control the DOJ, and impeachments require 67 Senators to convict. We *might* be able to get some Rs to vote to convict Hegseth and RFKj, but I doubt we can reach 67 even there.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Depends on how the Smith report case goes. If the court says that it cannot be released because there is no prosecution, then Congress must take up the prosecution. Interestingly, there is an appeals court hearing in that case on Nov 2.

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Kyle √ McCullough @kylebmccullough.bsky.social · 04/10/2026