“Those who have their foot out the door already have a good part of the journey behind them.” ~ Dutch Proverb
Happy New Year, Everyone!
January 1, 2026
Hello! Welcome to my website!
Here you’ll find some of my editorial cartoons, political commentary, travelogues of my travels, and photos of our beautiful region. I have started, in earnest, to drop my comments, cartoons and photographs here in the New Year on a weekly basis. I promise!
Click on the headers to jump in. If you want to view various photos, just refresh (F5) while right here on the home page.
If you have comment, feedback or questions, send them to dennis @ dennistownsend.org
Enjoy!
Jan. 1, 2026 – AI Wakes Me Up
I normally fall asleep in the Laz-Z-Boy with the headphones on; usually with a You Tube “mix” of my favorite tunes (psst: “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd guarantees my nodding off). But one (link below) woke me up from my slumber, arbitrarily inserted into my “mix” feed by You Tube. It’s a toe-tapping blues tune and the animation is entertaining, but there’s a moral quandary – as it’s all AI-generated and credited to a guy in Norman, Oklahoma. The “band” coyly doesn’t reveal who “they” are – because they don’t exist. Ironically, asking for an AI-generated answer online will give you the answer you want (Are they real? Yes! are they AI? Yes!) So while you listen (and observe the obvious flaws in musician-animation timing and finger placement), think a bit of all of the electricity being sucked away by big data centers in their exponential quest for our personas, raising our rates, all while using the data and human-generated ideas and sentiments we give them for free – on social media and elsewhere – so as to manipulate our opinions, facts and understanding of each other – and summarily plagiarize us. (Psst: Read “Nexus” by Yuval Noah Harari about the history of information “gods” and how they have manipulated humankind – we’ve come a long way from books, but the end game is the same.) Have a listen if you choose, but I think tickets to Charlie Musselwhite or a great blues venue are a better experience – and uses a lot less electricity – and represents real humans behind the talent.
Link to You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q20NK2jOJcM&list=RDq20NK2jOJcM&start_radio=1
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