By, the way, we are now into October.  Something is going right. Sort of.  From Time magazine: 23 YEARS   The U.S. withdrew its last military forces from Iraq on Wednesday, 23 years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The final troops left Erbil Air Base in the Kurdistan region, the Pentagon said . Was this good news?   Yes, but..... The age of Artificial Intelligence, AI, is upon us.  There is that matter of existential threat, but here are nine benefits .     AI is the branch of computer science dedicated to creating machines that are able to think like humans. There are negatives aside from that existential threat matter.  Here is just one:  I read, Push Back:  Deepfake online heath scams .  Article begins with: SOCIAL MEDIA CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH . Ever stumble across statements like:  Elon Musk Reveals The 15-Second Vicks Trick For Memory Loss and Dementia! and We invited Dr. Sanj...

Those TV shows like America's Got Talent and American Idol keep deprecating a mediocre contestant as only good enough for karaoke.  If you want to watch an embarrassingly bad singer, attend any karaoke session.  As terrible as you might be, there almost surely will be someone worse.  But that's okay, for in most cases, these are the ones who get the most applause. What is karaoke? First of all, it is not something like  Sing Along with Mitch  ( Miller ) and his band from 1961-66.  Sure, the lyrics played across the bottom of the TV screen, but there is no personal pressure, for everyone in the room is singing. Most authorities cite Kobe, Japan musician Daisuke Inoue, in 1971, for inventing the karaoke machine.  Thus, the Japanese name, Kara ( meaning empty ) oke ( for okesutora, the phonetic Japanese word for orchestra ).  Japan enhanced the experience by creating karaoke booths, smaller boxes or rooms, where you could sing with your friends or fa...