• AI IS NOW SHAPING NOT ONLY HOW INFORMATION IS PRODUCED, BUT ALSO HOW IT IS FILTERED AND DELIVERED. Beyond AI tools now capable of creating fake images, generating realistic videos and cloning voices, the positioning of info in a ‘Top Stories’ box or first page of search results can give the impression of a complete picture when, in reality, it’s just a selection by the media and often missing entire perspectives just because they were never shown. A growing sense of uncertainty is causing readers to increasingly doubt not just what they read, but also what they see and hear, to the point where skepticism is easier to exploit and ‘Truth’ becoming harder to recognize. People tend to trust writing that sounds authoritative, confident and well-structured, ignoring whether basic facts are accurate or complete. AI’s danger isn’t just fake news, but the story we didn’t read because ‘Mirage Machine’ media didn’t cover it.” [PATRIOT POST]
• KNEE SURGERY TO REPAIR MENISCUS CARTLAGE TEAR in sports-related injuries has become routine procedure. But, according to a 10-year study of patients recruited from five hospitals, such surgery “does not benefit patients and may lead to worse outcomes.” From 146 patients experiencing symptoms diagnosed with meniscus tear and randomly assigned, those who received surgical ‘repair’ actually had “poorer knee function, greater progression of osteoarthritis, and higher likelihood of subsequent knee surgery” than the placebo test group who received incisions but no actual repair procedure. Published in New England Journal of Medicine, non-orthopaedical organizations are now recommending that the procedure be discontinued, until at least waiting 3 – 6 months to see whether symptoms resolve themselves. Unsurprisingly, orthopedic surgeons associations continue to endorse surgery – “effectively illustrating how difficult it is to give up inefficient therapies.” [THE GUARDIAN]
• THE CURRENT AI PARADOX IS ABOUT CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC VALUE. While productivity can increase by automating tasks and streamlining workflows for improved speed, accuracy and quality while lowering costs, using AI to just boost productivity is unlikely to create a sustainable advantage. Its real value will evolve from reshaping offerings, business models and market structures in ways that expand or reallocate profit pools. What matters most is not how AI will expand a Company’s industry, but how it will change the economics of competition. [MCKINSEY] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/where-ai-will-create-value-and-where-it-wont
• TROUBLE FALLING ASLEEP IS GENERALLY DUE TO STRESS, as the brain is reliving or processing the day’s happenings after having been dominated all day by focused, attentive thinking in problem solving mode. “Cognitive shuffling” is a technique for transition to a random-flowing state which overcomes that stress, a mental exercise that within 15 minutes can allow drift toward sleep by changing the brain focus to something boring instead of stimulating. The process involves: (1) Picturing an emotionally neutral word 5 to 12 letters long (like Bedtime); (2) Hold the image for few seconds then move on to next letter; (3) Work through letter by letter to generate as many unrelated words as possible (e.g. Envelope, Emerald, etc., then Desert, Dinnerware, etc., then Tabletop, Tablet, etc.). This process gives the brain just enough to occupy itself – coming up with a word, generating items and picturing each one – that intrusive thoughts are distracted and your brain has something low-key to do while it settles down, instead of something to stress about. [TIME.COM]
• THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: Why isn’t Iran taking the war settlement deal? The pathetic reality: https://youtube.com/shorts/qHsuKlHp3us?si=m318TLZpYDJUfL7m
• It’s hard to believe we let this happen. We must be idiots. Just makes you want to shake your head in disbelief…. This is Canada’s Top Ten List of America’s Stupidity. ONLY IN AMERICA: #10 – could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,K per plate campaign fund-raising event; #9 – could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black, while only 14% of the population is black, 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!; #8 could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, heads of the Treasury Dep’t and Ways & Means Committee, BOTH turning out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes; #7 – can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah with the media primarily reaction be fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash; #6 – would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just ‘magically’ become American citizens; #5 – could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as ‘extremists’; #4 – could you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote; #3 – could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up, when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike); #2 – could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year for total spending of $7-Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money; and #1 – could the rich people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused of not paying their ‘fair share’ by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all. [INTERNET ANON]
• Over 80% of traded public company Boards now define ‘long-term strategy planning’ as five years or less, with only a small minority saying their long-term plans remain fully on track, and 60% now identify ‘Economic Uncertainty’ as their primary short-term pressure. Reality-based DCG Strategic Planning support has never been more critical. [CORPORATE BOARD MEMBER]
• The newest AI Tool which majorly impacts Real Estate market analysis: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vc9I6q-yOiw&si=XpPJZBa86I0Hzqo2
• “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” – GEORGE BERNARD SHAW “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – PJ O’ROURKE