THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK

What is it? Where is it? What time is it according to the Doomsday clock?

Guys, it's 2 minutes to midnight. Midnight is the symbolic hour of the apocalypse.

Whoa, golly, there's so many seriously terrifying things happening that are harmful to the earth and mankind -- why do we need to know about this?

Maybe we don't.  Probably we do.

Back in 1947, the likelihood of a man-made global catas-trophe was investigated and publicized by a select group of globally recognized leaders, called the Science and Security Bulletin, (SASB). They put out a bulletin telling us it was 7 minutes to midnight.

The SASB guys -- each an impressively qualified, renown top expert with specific focus on nuclear risk, climate change, and the various emerging technologies -- provide the Bulletin with objective perspective on issues. They set the hands of the clock. While meeting regularly with their sub-committees, they author statements, and give advice at public events in broadcasting, and in media outlets.

Over the years, SASB has set the clock backward and forward 22 times. The smallest-ever number was 2 minutes to midnight in 1953 and now in 2018. The largest, safest time was 1991, when it was 17 minutes to midnight.

The members include Nobel Prize Winners, foremost authorities in cyber-security, nuclear policy and environmental science. Right now, alarmed by nuclear tensions in Korea, Iran, Syria using poison gas, and the unpredictability of our president, they are very worried.

The Boston Globe said, "They are overreacting," and reminds readers, "We are not closer than we were during the cold war when America and Soviets had tens of thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert. The clock is a public relations device, not a calculation of real world probabilities. It does no one service by exaggerating and over-simplifying the risks we are taking."

Verge.com., a technology news organization, publishes announcements, feature stories, product reviews, and podcasts that examine how technology changes the way we live. Praising the 2 minutes to midnight announcement, Verge said, "It's a gimmick we need -- it gets people talking about urgent issues facing humanity, whether it is rising oceans, killer robots, or nuclear destruction."

Atlantic.com says, "Good luck with that. It underscores just how numb Americans have gotten to the daily deluge of disturbing headlines from melting ice caps to Russians election hacking to ongoing military building in Korea. So when a board of experts tells them that catastrophe is at hand, they read the news and think, "Yep," then, they wonder, "What's for lunch?"

Guys, writing this, thinking about the clock is helping me adjust my heavy-duty, daily-nightly worrying because "2 minutes" gets people all the world worrying, including millions of American voters as well as the Dems and Repubs in Congress, and galvanizes big actions, as well as little actions like my posting these pictures.

(VIDEO) CRANKY LIKE OUR PARENTS

Em tells John Cullum he's getting to be a fussy-critical like his Dad, and everyday she's finds herself behaving like her Mom.

Wondering if  "Virge" (Eldridge Virginius Cullum, his dad) and Bertha Mermel Frankel (her mom), would like each other, joking around, they transform themselves into Virge and Bertha and act like their parents in a little scene.

THE HAPPINESS REPORT

The U N, in it's annual "Happiness Report," said Finns are the happiest people in the world.  Norway is second, followed by Denmark. One-hundred and fifty-six countries are ranked, based on income, life expectancy, freedom, social support, trust, and generosity.

FINNS

The U.S., 16th last year, is now 18th. Why is it sinking? Anthropologists  and social psychologists tell us humans are social creatures -- much of our happiness flows from our connections to other people, our sense of community, and joint purpose. Right now, our trust government, the media, and various institutions  has plunged. These researchers say that our night and day hunt for money, security, and consumer goods dominates our lives, along with addictions to painkillers, unhealthy food and technology.

Finland, Norway, and Denmark have problems too, but according to researchers, what sets happier nations apart is the premium their culture places on time spent in nature and in harmonious intimate contact with friends.

It sounds plausible, but...well, sort of  Facebookish. I re-read recent articles in Time  and The Week Magazine on how to be happier  -- both boiled down to taking on more challenges, and making more money.

...Words, words ... like birds perch in my mind, till the wind blows, or a loud noise scares 'em away. Sure, you'll lose weight if you eat less -- no doubt about it, you can be happier if you do things that you haven't been doing, for good reasons...

What about you, and where you  live?

If you don't see your country here, click -- Wikipedia has the WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT.

Secretly privately, since what's happened in my country since the election, lays on on my world like large black cloud foretelling bad weather, I grab onto any bit of news that's fun or positive and borrowing the word  that one of the  happier countries uses  for cozy, high quality social social interactions.

H Y G G E

Maybe when summer finally arrives my husband and I will head for  Denmark and enjoy what's in the air there -- just pronouncing this word perks me up.

POP SONGS MADE WITH AI

Yay technology! Elton John, partnering with AI, Artificial Intelligence, has been creating a robot Elton John that can go on tour after Elton himself is gone, performing his songs, as well as new hit songs which the Elton "bot" can write based on today news.

It's amazing, a bit scary. I wonder if Billy Joel, or Paul Simon, or Neil Diamond have thought about doing the same thing.

Digging into this, I learned that Spotify hired Artificial Intelligence scientist, Francoise Pachet, to run its new Creator Technology Research Lab, and with a group of other specialists, Pachet got software to write a song with instrumentation that mimics the Beatles. Using humans to create lyrics, they refined the AI arrangement and published, "Daddy's Car"



That no fees or royalties have to be paid has inspired Spotify and other major companies, as well as startups, to work on making hit songs with artificial intelligence. Even though software can't guarantee a hit, by partnering with AI many, many songs can be made. Hey, the Beatles recorded 237 original songs; Michael Jackson 137; in the amount of time it takes for Paul McCartney to press a few keys, AI can come up with a million songs and one of them can catch on, thrill us, knock us out.

IBM'S artificial intelligence "Genius" business machine, Watson, is now creating music. Using various other AI technologies, it's been collaborating with Alex da Kid, a well-known successful composer, performer, producer. They sucked up lyrics of more than 26,000 "Billboard Hot 100 Songs," analyzed the music to find patterns, keys, chord progressions, and come up with what IBM calls "emotional fingerprints," based on hot newspaper headlines, blockbuster film plots, blogs, tweets, even viral videos. Watson and Da Kid have created and published a hit, 'NOT EASY."

Having seen and heard this video, learning that already more than three million music lovers love it and say it brings tears to their eyes -- golly, I can't help thinking what the AI trend will mean to musicians playing Beethoven, Bach, Bartok, Vivaldi -- music I've worked with as dancer that's made me who and what I am today.

What do you think -- do you applaud the trend? Or do you, like me, feel a touch of sadness about what moves pop music audiences today -- things that somehow are mostly isolating you from today's kids as they're waving their arms, mouthing the words.

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