"We used to say facts don't care about your feelings.
“Now feelings don't care about your facts."
Dems may be the (uneven/flawed) good guys... and their policies always have better outcomes, in every category*... but they are tactical dunces. There are dozens of proposals - some that I made over eight years ago (in Polemical Judo) -that might have helped to save us by now. FOr example:
- Give every House & Senate member one peremptory subpoena per year, so that never again would the minority be silenced.
- End or punish gerrymandering in ways that bypass corrupt court decisions.
- Strengthen the civil service act.
- Make revelation of tax records automatic for officials in all three branches. And investments that might at all involve conflicts of interest. In all three branches, annual medical examination by neutral experts will report results to the other branches.
- Offer Truth & Reconciliation safe harbor or protection for any officials being coerced or blackmailed.
- Ban NDAs, or require that they decay over a reasonable period.
- Establish a spending master who can limit public funds expended for personal purposes such as travel. And a civil serviant White House Manager who protects and manages public property.
- End the practice of allowing lavish gifts from foreigners to be permanently displayed in Presidential museums, making them in effect actual gift bribes.
And...reconsider tariffs (which were explained in Ferris Beuller!)
...and many more. Those and other reforms are still on the table!
In fact, I recently updated them and a dozen more, offering specific and actionable detail. Here is the full list of my own proposed Newer Deal tactics and reforms.
So, are Dems smarter? Well, yes, if you appraise based on verifiable outcomes.
And absolutely NOT if you score by their utter lack of political/polemical savvy, which has allowed morons, led by morons, to hijack the nation and sabotage the world's future. Morons who know no history, including why the WWII/GIBill generation adored one living human above all others. Franklin Roosevelt.
And in the 1950s? The most admired person in America and the world was named Jonas Salk.
== Appealing to the saner aristocracy ==
Never before was a decade-old essay so important. Not one of mine! Rather I mean...
... Nick Hanauer’s 2014 appeal to his fellow billionaires to consider the one trait that all schools of psychology call central to sanity – satiability. Hanauer tells other members of the rising plutocrat caste that sending wealth disparities skyrocketing – now past French Revolution levels – will have one inevitable outcome… pitchforks and torches.
Till now, I thought there must be elements of the top most castes who are having buyers' remorse, when they realize that Trump's appointments have just one patterned purpose -- to utterly demolish the US government as a functioning concern. A demolition ultimately serving the long stated aims of one person above all others on Earth: Vladimir Putin. Who openly and repeatedly proclaimed a passionate goal of revenge for the toppling of his beloved USSR.
Are there aristocrats who realize that their victory now threatens the very life of the nation where they keep their stuff... the goose that laid their golden eggs?
Of course our current crisis distills as a worldwide attempted putsch against the Enlightenment Experiment (EE) by a combine of powers, ostensibly disparate but united in the goal of restoring 6000 years of rule-by-inheritance brats.
Not all of the rich are ingrate fools - I know a fair number who are deeply loyal to the EE that gave them everything, from comfort and safety to science and fun. And the uiniversities and infrastructures and nerdy collaborators and services that make their wealth worthwhile.
None of those Good Zillionaires are participating in the putsch and some are deeply involved in the fight against it. So, yes, there are good ones! And one metric is whether they fear transparency.
Which brings us to some of my own ideas on how to deal with the skyrocketing wealth and power disparities that will be exacerbated when crypto and AI wars send electricity use through the stratosphere, threatening all our lives.
I kind of laid it out here, and in this essay: The Chief Threat to our Great Experiment.
But now there's Articial intelligence. And yes, my brand now book on the topic, covering the gamut of hopes and fears... is aiLien Minds.
== Discovering & Correcting Errors ==
Gonna press some buttons. I assert: Free Speech is not a religious principle - though it must be defended AS IF it is.
I study history. And the principle goal should be error discovery & correction. Just one society ever made that a priority and it was the one without kings. And only one method ever achieved that - piercing the inevitable morass of delusions foaming about every individual and group and yes, you. And yes, me. And certainly AIs.
That method is vigorous competitively reciprocal criticism. And now the crux. You cannot get reciprocal criticism and error correction without Free Speech.
One problem. Unless the GOAL of error correction is kept in mind, then free speech has no corrective function! Not if it leads to the insanity of "MY yammerings are just as valid as anyone else's!"
No, it is a free, competitive market of ideas and assertions, not utter anarchy, that achieved modern miracles, like disproving racial assumptions or sexist ones or junk science or Nazi or Leninist ravings or the 'superiority' of inheritance brats.
STUFF MUST BE DISPROVABLE! Not in order to shut people up. But to reduce the credibility of those who are factually wrong a lot. In order to embarrass those who are wrong into shifting their free speech to other criticisms that aren't yet disproved, or that might even be useful to us all.
Am I a heretic for defending free speech for different reasons than you defend it? Because it results in a wiser, more error free society? And not so much because it is the cultural norm that I was raised under. Outcomes matter. And I defend freedom because its outcomes are spectacularly better,
For a rather intense look at how "truth" is determined in science, democracy, courts and markets, see "Disputation Arenas: Harnessing Conflict and Competition."
....which, in updated form, is now the final chapter of aiLien Minds
145 comments:
Continuing my no-politics policy.
I asked Claude to fix the 60 hour run time the solver took on Griddler 260236 Illustrated Book.
My prompt:
❯ The nonogram solver in this directory cannot solve Griddler260236IllustratedBook.xml. It runs forever. Fix the runtime.
Claudes Response:
⏺ Now I understand the problem. The puzzle is 26×44, and SolveWithGuessing() always picks the first unknown cell (top-left), which
is the worst possible choice for backtracking. This creates a massive search tree because the first cells have the fewest
constraints, so wrong guesses propagate many levels deep before a contradiction is found.
The fix: replace the naive "first unknown cell" with a minimum-remaining-values (MRV) heuristic — pick the row or column with
the fewest unknown cells remaining. This ensures backtracking happens in the most constrained areas first, where wrong guesses
contradict quickly.
Then later on:
The MRV alone isn't enough for this puzzle. I need to add probing: for each unknown cell, temporarily try each candidate color
with full constraint propagation — if one color immediately contradicts, force the other. This converts many "guesses" into
"forced moves" before backtracking even starts.
The full transcript is here http://theviews.org/Life%20at%20the%20Views/2026/april-4-2026-claude-upgrade-to-solve-griddler-260236-illustrated-book.html
The code changes are here: http://theviews.org/Life%20at%20the%20Views/2026/april-4-2026-claude-upgrade-code.html
As with the last time you published a similar list ... NDAs have valid purposes.
e.g. protection of trade secrets, protection of security details in IT organizations etc. If you ban these, IT organizations will have to move their infosec departments out of the USA - I don't think it is possible to run a security compliant IT department without employees agreeing to maintain secrets.
Now if you want to make it illegal / un-enforceable for an NDA to cover criminal activities, that's a valid conversation.
(I'm still not 100% sure its a good idea as a blanket statement.
NDAs allow victims to get compensation settlements in some circumstances, offsetting the power imbalance that victims may have vs. corporations / super-rich individuals with the corporation's desire to protect its reputation
Otherwise, no one facing a sexual harassment/assault lawsuit would ever settle, since by doing so they're effectively admitting guilt, and the social / external impact of that can be astronomical.)
Perhaps a mechanism for annulling NDAs in certain circumstances?
I'll add a couple of out of fielders:
- Require everyone nominating for public office (corporate board positions as well while we're fantasizing) to undergo an evaluation to map out their psychopathic profile. Won't disqualify the narcissists, but it gives people a better idea of what that charming candidate with such lovely upper dentures is really about. (Yes, I am aware that U LeGuin wrote a short story satirising this idea)
- Move voting days to the weekend. This would increase political engagement, be simple to do, introduce democracy sausages to your shores, and the fact that I'm about to be told why it's unthinkable tells you all you need to know about political change in the US.
Why not make it a filing requirement that the candidate sign a binding agreement waving prosecution/penalties for violating any nondisclosure or nondisparagement agreement relating to his own statements, actions or decisions?
Quoth CP "Why not make it a filing requirement that the candidate sign a binding agreement waving prosecution/penalties for violating any nondisclosure or nondisparagement agreement relating to his own statements, actions or decisions?"
Personally, that sounds like a good starting point.
Maybe also don't allow the government to agree to NDA in legal settlements (since we want the government's mistakes to become public!), except in situations involving National Security, with signoff by a judge etc.
But I think OGH has broader goals. (Transparent society etc.).
I know President Leeeeroy Jenkins is doing everything he possibly can to make it concentration of power in the government the be-all-and-end-all, but some of us still remember a time-before-crazy, when we were more worried about concentration of power in private hands than the government.
(if you need a refresher, Neal S's Snow Crash from the 90's is a fun read)
NDA's may be useful but should always have sunset clauses - five years should be the MAX - in all of the instances you mentioned five years should be enough
NDA's may be useful but should always have sunset clauses - five years should be the MAX - in all of the instances you mentioned five years should be enough
In 1996, I was a developer on a project where we implemented a midtier for one of Canada's big 5 banks. The core architecture of it was designed by Joe, who left my company in 2009. The lead developer, Alex, left in IIRC, 1998. The system was in production until at least 2020, processing millions of transactions per day.
Yeah, by 2003, (five years after leaving), Alex would not have had credentials for the system (those would have been removed the day he finished work on the project). But he would have known the credential storage mechanisms, the development process, the architecture of the solution, what transactions are processed on which mainframe, etc. And, of course, its impossible to force an employee leaving a company to sign an NDA, so the clock might very well have been from 1994, not 1996.
So no, five years, is not sufficient, and even if it was, it would be a pain to have to have employees sign specific NDAs every time they're asked to join a project. That would mean each employee has to actually read through and understand legalese (because @#$ it, we're supposed to understand what we sign, otherwise we're putting both ourselves at risk, and the contract (i.e. the NDA) in question). For myself, I'm in a consulting role where I'm involved in 50+ projects a year, all covered by a blanket NDA ... but if it wasn't, and if that NDA expired, clients would insist on an NDA as part of each engagement, as a matter of course.
For comparison - government security clearances last 10 years.
If an IT security system is relying on secrecy then it is a garbage system.
The Open-Source folks have this one correct - only by reciprocal analysis can a system be declared secure, and not by hiding the problems with it.
Limited NDAs to protect trade secrets? Also a problem, since a determined competitor can spy and get the secrets.
Secrecy is over-rated by mediocre management class and it is mostly used to keep employees stuck in a job. Elizabeth Warren has it correct when she pushes to get rid of non-compete clauses and terminal NDAs. I know multiple people that have been laid off from technical fields and had their severance pay withheld until they sign a terminal NDA and non-compete clause effective on the firing date. This practice would probably fail under court scrutiny but the cost of bringing the case is too high to bear, at least for non-CEO-types.
NDAs for technical reasons might merit 5 year expiration for free. (And if you needed more, you should have patented.) But commercial NDAs should (as portrayed in EARTH) COST $$$ beyond the 1st year. non-linearly so that anything beyond 5 years takes % of your wealth.
Politically speaking, I seem to have more in common with our fine host as time goes by, so much so that I wholeheartedly agree with many of his proposals:
(1) Separate off the Inspectors General in all departments (and military JAGs) into their own separately-funded, non-executive branch - the Inspectorate.
This is an idea I can really get behind, as literally nothing could go wrong with an independent, unanswerable & unelected inspector caste with unlimited veto power over all aspects of our constitutional government.
Since 'examiner', 'supervisor', 'surveyor', and 'auditor' are common synonyms for the term 'inspector', I suggest that we call this new police force the 'SS', short for 'Supervising Surveyors' & the sake of brevity.
(2) Nick Hanauer’s 2014 appeal to his fellow billionaires (suggests that we) consider the one trait that all schools of psychology call central to sanity – satiability.
This I also like, as this new definition of 'Sanity equals Satiability' means that all those lefty progressives who are always demanding 'moar progress' and 'moar socialism' are therefore certifiably insane, as opposed to the always sane & satiable conservatives who find satiety in the status quo.
(3) Unless the GOAL of error correction is kept in mind, then free speech has no corrective function! Not if it leads to the insanity of "MY yammerings are just as valid as anyone else's!"
To set definitive limits on free speech is yet another brilliant idea & a task most perfectly suited for Dr Brin's newly independent, unanswerable & unelected inspectorate and/or SS.
After all, we must have official ways of 'reducing the credibility' of those who are 'factually wrong a lot', especially if our shared goals are “Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz” and/or Nazi Socialism.
Even Matthew's ideas show merit, especially when it comes to eliminating NDAs, along with any public & private expectation of privacy, because only the worst kind of bourgeois pervert would hide behind any 'Right to Privacy' or its derivatives, as in the case of those criminally alphabet-based elitists who prioritize their individual wellbeing over our collective good.
Funny that, how the prioritization of "the common good over the individual good" is a shared characteristic of both Marxist & Nazi ideologies, which suggests that all Nazis & Marxists are (more or less) in agreement.
Also funny, how American Libertarians (who emphasize the Property, Privacy & the Rights of the Individual over that of the collective) stand alone against the rampant collectivism of both Nazi & Marxist ideology, while our favorite faux libertarian is constantly suggesting some incrementalist ploy to confiscate those inalienable rights, a few percentage points at a time, to promote socialism.
Best
Absolutely amazing how desperately similar today's Supreme Court is to the deeply evil Roger Taney Court of the 1850s. It - and Roberts - will be remembered as obscenities, cursed by future generations, as is Roger Taney.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_bKiAdO6U
Utter drivel again. "an independent, unanswerable & unelected inspector caste with unlimited veto power over all aspects of our constitutional government...."
Cretin adds words that reverse the whole meaning. Inspectors INSPECT and REVEAL. They may hand discovered crimes over to prosecutors to bring before citizen grand juries. How does it feel to be SUCH ansd out and out liar? Hm?
#2 is only 90% wrongheaded bull. Yes, the FAR left CONTAINS fact-allergic, troglodyte-screeching dogmatists who wage war on science and hate the American tradition of steady, pragmatic reform, and who would impose their prescribed morality on you.
But today’s mad ENTIRE right CONSISTS of fact-allergic, troglodyte-screeching dogmatists who wage war on science and hate the American tradition of steady, pragmatic reform, and who would impose their prescribed morality on you.
There is all the world’s difference between FAR and ENTIRE. As there is between CONTAINS and CONSISTS.
#3 goes back to being just nasty insanity. as is the rest that I skimmed in 1 second. feh.
I have to agree with respect to terminal NDA's. They smack of extortion and should probably be treated as criminal acts intended by those who offer them. I've never worked for an employer who did that, but I like to think I'd be highly insulted.
I am subject to an NDA underwritten by my employer right now that I don’t think should be allowed to exist, but I don’t blame them for it. The federal contract I support requires it.
I can see why a typical employer might want a limited NDA so you can’t bring current business practices with you when you leave to work for one of their competitors, but these should come at a price. Of course… that price will just be factored into the employment agreement… so I don’t see the point of trying to assign a specific $$ value to it. Such agreements are ‘net’ arrangements.
I am required to maintain a security clearance for the job I have right now and the conditions required for THAT really ought to be enough. I’m not allowed to talk about lots of things even after I’m no longer cleared. That requirement will last a lifetime… or until the government intentionally releases the information.
———
I DO see a use for NDA’s in federal contracting, though. My employer really does benefit from me not discussing how we do business with competitors. Since we have to re-bid every few years for the contract we have right now… and could loose… my employer would view leaks from me as betrayal. And they’d be right to do so.
———
The US government, however, doesn’t really need me to sign NDA’s. All they need to do is properly assign information markings. PII, CUI, PI, etc. There are a number of markings that are sufficiently backed by cause for protection and if I leak the stuff I’m already in legal trouble.
As for improperly marked classified material, they are actually quite strict about who can classify stuff and for what. Congress made it real clear what counts. THAT’S why Lt Col Vindman blew the whistle about certain Ukraine conversations years ago. No NDA required here and abuse of classification status is actually a criminal offense.
While the commercial NDAs we've been discussing are pertinent, they are not the main target of my reform, which is the mountain of settlements for bad behavior in which bad men have agreed to pay compensation, on condition where the victim must stay silent. Yes, that has reasons.
But it is in OUR interest that there be a time limit, so that 1) we eventually learn character info that is useful to both voters and potential future victims, And 2) those paying the settlements have some time to act in ways (e.g. good deeds) that will help win forgiveness from the public, when it is all revealed.
I used to have a clearance when I worked at HELSTF. We were all really relieved when Aviation Leak and Space Technology magazine released the power of the laser beam and we could talk about it.
Mmm... Well... Just because someone else leaks stuff doesn't tempt me to do it. I get what you're saying, though.
We spend vast amounts of money learning things. I'm not inclined to help other nations with a short cut. Even allies.
I forgot about that part.
I would think that for criminal trials one could be compelled to testify no matter what NDA's were signed, but a number of these things happen in civil cases.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/maga-is-winning-its-war-against-us?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=277517&post_id=193446149&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=707aat&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Saw Trump's latest tweet, isn't that what a mob boss says:
"Nice civilization you have here, sure would hate to see anything bad happen to it."
And the Iranians will retaliate against every desalination plant and piece oil field infrastructure in the Middle East while flooding the Persian Gulf with mines.
The gulf and the oil fields will be unusable for a decade.
Two silver linings: Without the funding of oil sheiks AI data centers will not be built (half have already been cancelled or delayed) and the world will finally turn to solar and renewables along with EVs.
I still don't see a downside to the current Iranian Conflict, especially when the destruction of Iranian Oil production, the permanent closure of Hormuz, ancillary attacks on OPEC populations, an energy crisis for those EU countries who have been violating NATO's Iranian Oil Embargo for the last 45+ years and China's loss of a dependable oil supply are only a catastrophe for 'not-US'.
Too bad, so sad, the next step being to severely limit global exports of US gas & oil in order to drive down domestic US energy prices, made even more 'win-win' by our subsequent exit from NATO due the perfidy of our many false EU allies.
USA ! USA ! USA !
Trump warns “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not meet deadline.
Your sociopathic lack of empathy for others has blinded you to the fact that we are going to need those overseas sales of oil and gas to pay for our war machine.
That and the situation you relish is essentially smoot Hawley one steroids, showing that your lack of empathy is only matched by your lack of historical knowledge.
I hope you like poverty
And while you are educating yourself historically, try to learn a lot something about finances. Especially what happens to the American economy when the petrodollar dies
Inadvertently, a prediction in the format of a classic answer from the Greek Oracle.
Us, or them, or both.
Celt's accusation of a "sociopathic lack of empathy" is typical of those mentally unstable individuals who (via a surfeit of raw & unregulated emotionality) render themselves incapable of rational thought.
These are the same leftist nutcases who release rapists & murderers back into the general public because they empathize (sympathize) more with the guilty parties than they do with the actual rape & murder victims.
These feckless SODS (by which I mean those who suffer from a 'Severe Objectivity Deficit') are directly responsible for the suffering & deaths of countless innocents:
(1) They pillage the public purse to enrich the citizens of foreign governments;
(2) They wave foreign flags in allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations; and (3) They reject the rule-of-law because they identify with lawbreakers.
They are the "Enemies, foreign and domestic" that our Oath-of-Office warned us about and these enemies deserve neither empathy nor quarter.
Best
I've had a rare day being stuck in a basement room at work instead of working from home. Not much contact with the outside world.
So it's go-time now. 8:00pm eastern. Has DJT destroyed civilization yet? Or TACO-ed?
Well, my wife tells me that Iranian civilians have been making human shields of themselves around bridges and other important structures. It reminds me of the climax of our host's Uplift War in which the humans' peaceful resignation induces the more sympathetic of the Gubru tribunal to not order us slaughtered, and led to a Gubru soldier taking out the more violent warlord who wanted to kill us anyway.
Who knew that Iranians would play the part of the good guys, and an American president as the whatever-it-was of beam and talon? I can only hope this episode leads to a similar conclusion. Insallah.
utterly made-up jibber-jabber, alas. But polysyllabic!
Alfred - going back a bit to the NDAs - the problem may not be an NDA directly hiding criminal acts so much as an NDA that conceals the surrounding evidence
NDAs should always have a "sunset" clause
And on that note, - in the USA it appears that almost all crimes - even the serius ones like rape - have this "Statute of limitations"
YES a minor crime committed as a teenager should not be able to be prosecuted decades later
But a major crime committed by an adult should still be a crime even decades later
Happy TACO Tuesday.
"Celt's accusation of a "sociopathic lack of empathy" is typical of those mentally unstable individuals who (via a surfeit of raw & unregulated emotionality) render themselves incapable of rational thought."
Locoweed describes himself.
For some crimes, I'll agree.
Not for all of them. Not even all the big ones.
It's not about allowing people to get away with it. It's about limiting what future government officials can do. Yah. I know how that sounds since our orange dude is likely to die of old age before justice is served. The problem isn't the fuse burning out on that. The issue is my fellow citizens elected him again.
I'm a big fan of Justice.
I'm not a big fan of having government have enough power to enforce it in every situation. It's a matter of trust... which I lack in certain cases. Imagine our orange fellow with those powers too instead of just the crap he's making up and you'll see my problem with it.
Ah. Well... I do think Celt goes too far, but I also think you (locumranch) stop WAY short of what the US needs for our prosperity. Isolationism is moronic in this modern world where WE are a source of order sufficient to discourage world wars.
Shh! 8)
(I'd like my IRA's to bounce back a bit, please.)
When Trump talked about a civilization being destroyed, I somehow thought about Croesus and the Delphi oracle.
And the civilization being destroyed our own, not the Iranian.
Just saw that I am not alone in this impression.
@Blogpost: However you view it, it is still the same political circus appointing clowns to these positions.
For example, imagine a more competent version of fascist governing; they would have simply replaced the IGs with their own party hacks. They could act as an internal loyality police and polit commissars ensuring Gleichschaltung of the government apparatus and setting up the same kind of rivalries the Nazis had in their machinery.
(To be clear, I find the idea of an independent inspectorate good and important. To make it work, you will have to get rid of fascism first.)
Celt - yes, Trump only knows how yo be a mob boss. He doesn't negotiate in good faith. Ever. He takes hostages and demands a ransom. Always.
"and the civilization being destroyed our own, not the Iranian."
I figured it was essentially "civilization will be destroyed". Without a leading article.
Great civilizations (Egypt, Persia, Rome) tend to accumulate vast wealth, technology, and power. Of course, these inevitably become a source of envy and greed for the bandits who ultimately strive to bring these civs down. Only a very few times in history did great civilizations focus on the enlightenment of its citizens. This is the core message of Robert Wilson's 1969 testimony to Congress:
https://history.fnal.gov/historical/people/wilson_testimony.html
That same year, a Canadian folk group (originally named "The North Country Singers") released the song "One Tin Soldier". In it, the valley people pillage the hilltop people. But when they find the 'treasure', it simply reads, "Peace on Earth".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTBx-hHf4BE
Goofy, sentimental, simplistic, yet absolutely foundational to getting through the Great Filter.
My grandpa was president of Liberty Fireworks Company. The new sky displays are awesome! And each display is less polluting... until you add in all the materials and energy that go into soon-obsolete drones. But wow!
https://theawesomer.com/worlds-biggest-drone-show-2026/801039/
"I find the idea of an independent inspectorate good and important. To make it work, you will have to get rid of fascism first."
That's the idea.
"Great civilizations (Egypt, Persia, Rome) tend to accumulate vast wealth, technology, and power. "
That is exactly what I talk about in extolling George Marshall as Person of the 20th Century.
Among his brilliant acts was instilling into the Officer Corps a permanent (til now) and deep reverence for civilian rule.
Another was to ask "What were the biggest mistakes made by other Pax empires?"
Answer #1: Mercantilism. Demanding gold flow inward toweard the homeland, stirring envy & resentment.
Whatever your dismal views of Pax Americana, the COUNTER mercantilist trade patterns Marshall, Truman and Ike etc all encouraged led to new factories all over the globe selling Americans 20 $trillions in crap we never needed. And those factory workers sent their kids to school and then university, till 95% of world children are well-fed and in school and 95% of living humans have never personally experienced war.
No degree of USA bashing will ever take that from us. Even if it is now over.
Thanks to Paradoc for literally doing the "damned if you do & damned if you don't" meme by calling Trump a cowardly 'chicken' for failing to follow thru on the commission of the very 'war crimes' for which the left condemns him.
Thanks also to Der_Oger for agreeing that an independent, unanswerable & unelected Inspector General caste risks recapitulating a Gleichschaltung & SS-like "loyalty police", at least until either fascism has been completely eradicated, humans become 'perfect' & pigs fly.
It is therefore sad that Scidata chooses to double-down on the Progressive 'Great Enhancement' Lie, as the Great Society's 50-year attempt to eliminate US poverty has nearly doubled US poverty in terms of absolute numbers & more than quadrupled the absolute number of impoverished Africans who cannot feed themselves without global assistance.
Similarly, the supposed 'Global Reduction in Extreme Poverty' is also a huge statistical falsehood, as 'extreme poverty' was defined as those living on "less than $1 USD per day" in 1970 & is now defined as those living on "less than $2.15 USD per day" (as of 2020), even though $1 USD in 1970 now equals $8.42 USD in 2026 dollars, which suggests that 'Extreme Poverty' now at least 4X more prevalent than what it was in 1970 (since the current 'extreme poverty' cut-off point now equals only 26 cents in 1970 money).
Best
That is astounding, Thanx!
I figured it was essentially "civilization will be destroyed". Without a leading article.
Yes, that might have well been the outcome. Maybe it still is, If the armistice does not hold or If someone makes a mistake.
For example, what If Trump intended to nuke Iran, and either the Russians or Chinese or both reacted as If they were the targets.
Or Putin decided that of the US used nuclear weapons to advance their politics in Iran, he can do the same in Ukraine.
Or If the global economy had crashed and any nation from there to here suddenly had an influx of 40-50 million refugees.
Or If Trump had given the Order to invade the mainland of Iran, and had reintroduced the draft (and maybe focused on drafting in blue states only.) to send cannon fodder to the meat grinder in Russian fashion.
But maybe we can just exhale for the moment.
There is zero overlap with anything that anyone said.
"Or Putin decided that of the US used nuclear weapons to advance their politics in Iran, he can do the same in Ukraine."
While not ruling that out, there would be a danger in that Moscow might not be far enough from Ukraine to be safe from the fallout. Same with Israel if Iran is nuked.
"Or If the global economy had crashed and any nation from there to here suddenly had an influx of 40-50 million refugees."
A few days ago, Hal Sparks did a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" type takedown of a Tucker Carlson show. Tucker was lamenting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cause famine in Africa. At first, Hal was gobsmacked that Tucker would care about that. But as it turned out, his concern was that millions of African refugees might end up in the USA.
Regarding locums response:
Wherever there is power, there is the possibility for abuse; wherever there is abuse of power, there is both the opportunity and the imperative to fix the system.
The IGs are the solution to a former problem (one the GOP desperately wants to reintroduce). The solution is to limit the president's power to install or fire them, but in a way that underscores the character of a democratic, representative republic.
In both Putin's and Netanjahu's case I would note that the "Sane Player Theory" ceased to apply to both of them years ago.
I do not even know what to say to that
Putin has used (the threat of) nuclear weapons since week 1 (maybe even day 1) of the Ukraine invasion. Which has always been particularly galling given the Budapest Memorandum.
If any of the leaders of the UK or France, or the USA had any balls they would have said, on Feb 26 2022 that "The Budapest Memorandum has been obviated by Russian action, and we have, as of yesterday afternoon, transferred twelve nuclear weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces."
One thing that differentiates Iran's regime from most totalitarian authoritarians, whether German Nazis or Soviet communists or American MAGAts.
Iran actually has a sense of humor.
https://www.threads.com/@misterjesseduquette/post/DW4UtH9jiQl
whether German Nazis
That's not because of being a Nazi, trust me.
Alfred
The idea that crimes should "expire" (Statute of limitations) to prevent the government from using that criminal activity against the crims......
I do get that having the government in charge of enforcement can lead to horrors (like your current DOJ)
But limiting the time that a criminal act can be prosecuted does very little to help that situation while enabling criminals to avoid justice
If they're really going there, Vance should look up what happened to Thomas Becket.
Limits on prosecution times curtails worse risks than having criminals avoid justice.
Limits on prosecution times curtails worse risks than having criminals avoid justice.
Nope - don't see how!
If the crim comitted the crime then they should be done for it
If the problem is the prosecutor prosecuting somebody who did NOT commit a crime then the statute of limitations is of no use anyway as the prosecutor can simply make up a more recent crime
Overzealous LE is a real thing here.
Think about how thick our law books are. It's not a joke when someone points out that it isn't possible to get through the day without breaking some law somewhere.
Placing limits on the majority of these prevents potential witch hunt searches to find WHICH laws you broke 20 years ago... except for the few for which we deem the acts are evil enough to risk it. Murder is an example of such an evil. Tax evasion isn't.
Off topic, but not out of scope of our host's interests...
Looks like LaurieWired has provided the HFT crowd with more reason to own more compute hardware. RAM latency work around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbgulTp3FE
Also... the NSA. Why? Read up on row hammer attacks. 8)
"If they're really going there, ..."
I never thought I'd see the day when I'd root for Iran and the Catholic Church against Israel and my own country.
The "Pretend to wake up and go, 'So, it was all a dream!'" plan seems to be more and more the way to go.
Murder is an example of such an evil. Tax evasion isn't.
Unless you are running a criminal syndicate or conspire to overthrow the constitution for no other reason than being taxed.
And don't get me started on white collar criminals getting lenient punishments, if they are persecuted at all, vs. blue collar criminals getting draconian punishments for minor infractions.
Part of the truth, though, is that only a handful of persons in LE are intellectually capable of persecuting the former. You need nerds in a caste full of jocks. There can be career ending cases, too, so it is no wonder few volunteer.
(Hellerstein = Paradoctor, posting downstairs)
Hey, loco, thanks for the thanks. But really you are too kind to say I double-damned him; he did that to himself. I am genuinely glad that he chickened out, rather than commit a huge crime against humanity. Cowardice in the commission of evil is no vice. In fact, intimidating criminals is the whole point of law enforcement.
Dr Brin's last response was a masterful example of Deflection, and I'd expect nothing less from an individual who actually celebrates his role in the progressive & deliberate impoverishment of the American Worker in order to pay what amounts to 'Danegeld' via (in our host's own words) "COUNTER mercantilist trade patterns" in order to assuage the envy, resentment & wrath of the world's have-nots.
That these very progressive 'wealth redistributive impulses' have been directly responsible for the destruction of our once 'diamond-shaped' American Middle Class, this is the FACT that most progressives are loathe to admit; hence the frequent attempts at deflection.
This is also the primary reason why the average US wager earner can no longer afford a family of 4, a marriage, a house & a car on a single income as he could in 1970, mostly because bleeding heart progressives like our fine host have been robbing American Peter to enrich Foreign Paul for over 50 years now in return for ZERO gratitude from the world's have-nots.
Best
"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd root for Iran..."
I'd hope you'd be able to compartmentalize, and not be "for" Iran, while being against what the orange menace is doing.
Pretty much all the war crimes that DJT is threatening are things that Iran has been doing for years, and continue to do.
As the simplest example - Trump threatened to pound civilian infrastructure in Iran ... which you, and I, and all right-thinking folks should be against. Iran, (both throughout the war, and even after the ceasefire came into effect!), launched a bunch of drones targeting the civilian infrastructure (power plants, desalination plants, oil infra) of Kuwait, and the other gulf states, and throughout this war, and the previous one, and the one prior to that, has been both directly in balistic missile attacks, and through their proxies, targeting Israeli civilian infrastructure for years.
In addition to being "wrong", its also kind of dumb. Supporting or "rooting for" the theocratic, murderous regime in Iran is the kind of polemic "stoopidity" that OGH has been railing against for years. Being the "pro-Iranian-Islamic-Fascists" is pretty much the only branding that is guaranteed to lose the Democratic party the midterms.
I get it, but you are helping to make my point. Here in the US there are significant differences between what we think is ethically good behavior and what we are wiling to enforce as such. We write our laws with a sense of idealism and then expect non-idealists to enforce them.
For a non-murder example, in many US States it is legal for cousins to marry cousins. We might frown upon it culturally. Well... some of us might. In some states, though, it is not legal and marriage licenses can be denied. In a few it is still listed as a crime.
We don't have to consider the modern challenges to marriage tradition to see what happens with older challenges. Long before laws are removed from the books, we choose to stop enforcing them in a hit-or-miss pattern. This isn't Rule of Law, though. It is Rule by Whim. If the cops don't like you, they can enforce laws they wouldn't otherwise enforce.
There is an old example of this. Teddy Roosevelt didn't like Blue Laws (No bars/saloons open on the Sabbath) in NYC, but they were still on the books when he was in a position to enforce them. Cops took bribes to decide who could avoid enforcements and THAT drew Roosevelts attention. His solution was to mandate enforcement against everyone because there was no path open to him to remove the laws.
There are a LOT of laws over hear that are not being enforced. Much. By choice which means by whim.
How would you know there is zero gratitude?
Making someone a martyr who is the head of a faith built on martyrdom (which includes, if I am not wrong, also shiites) is a quite dumb move. But it reminds me of Martin Bormann and his plans for von Galen.
BTW, if we are at historical analogies, this threat to the church has, in the past, provoked excommunication.
One of the more famous ones ended in the Walk to Canossa.
Hellerstein / Paradoctor:
"I am genuinely glad that he chickened out, rather than commit a huge crime against humanity. Cowardice in the commission of evil is no vice."
This is maybe directed more at Alfred who has very precise definitions for words like courage and cowardice.
I understand the idea that it takes courage to make a hard decision that maybe causes oneself pain or disgrace in order to accomplish a greater good. But I've been incredibly annoyed at the modern Republican use of the term to assert that one has the "courage" to do bad things that benefit oneself or one's political party.
The idea that Paul Ryan exhibited "courage" to cut Social Security and Medicare, or that Mike Pence should have had the "courage" to overturn the 2020 election result, or that only Von Schitzenpantz has the "courage" to wage an ill-advised war against Iran seems like an offensive misuse of the term.
Am I wrong?
"I'd hope you'd be able to compartmentalize, and not be "for" Iran, while being against what the orange menace is doing."
Yes, I don't mean to imply that I like the extremist government of Iran. But when they troll DJT and point out how ridiculous a figure he is, I have to nod and recognize that I laugh WITH Iran and I laugh AT our leader.
With Pope Leo vs Trump and Vance, though, the difference is less ambiguous. I do indeed like the Chicago pope more than ever BECAUSE of his opposition to Trumpism. For most of my life, my understanding of the Catholic church has been colored by pedophile priests and support for authoritarian* governments. WIth Francis and then Leo, I have almost completely done a 180 on that.
And I despise Netanyahu, not because I'm antisemitic (being Jewish myself), but because he and his ilk have done more than anyone since Hitler to turn world opinion against Israel in particular and Jews in general. I've said ruely that antisemitism has always been around, but Hitler made it impolite to advocate in public. Netanyahu may make it popular again.
* support for authoritarian governments as long as they are not communist
https://bsky.app/profile/rexhuppke.bsky.social
I mean, honestly, if Trump tried to attack the Vatican and take out the Pope, I feel pretty confident we'd get beaten by a bunch of nuns and cardinals and then agree to a ceasefire that requires American Catholics to pay a fee for every prayer.
He's not wrong.
Yowling the diametric opposite to fact does not make it true. But he yowls polysyllabically!
If they're really going there, Vance should look up what happened to Thomas Becket.
Re. nutcases (in Washington) who think that God is supporting what their doing because they go to church once a month and pretend to be paying attention - and have seen how much help the Lord actually provided for their unholy war.
There's a parable that I think is apt. You've probably heard it before in one variation or another but here goes:
--------------------
The Parable of the Preacher and the Helicopter
On a summer's day in Alabama, Jim-Bob, a Baptist Minister, turned on his radio. But the gospel medley hour he was planning to listen to was interrupted by a warning of a category 3 hurricane heading towards the shore, with flooding expected. The announcer declared that everyone in his town should evacuate.
Jim-Bob Yet he knew that, as one of the Righteous, if he would just pray hard enough God would save him, so rather than follow the evacuation warning on the radio, he headed to the church (which is, after all, atop a small hill, in the classier part of town).
He was just opening the front door of the church when a police car passed by driving slowly. Billy, a young deputy, rolled down the window, and called out "Hey Reverend, you know there's an evacuation warning, you really should be heading North. I'd get out now before traffic backs up". But Jim was undeterred. "Don't worry about me, Billy. God will save me." Billy gave him a long look, then sighed. "Suit yerself, I guess", and drove off.
Well Jim-Bob prayed all through that afternoon, and, as the storm hit, and the electricity died, he prayed all through the evening and the night, while the winds and water battered the church. He felt, in that crucible, that he was more connected to God than at any time in his 61 years. And so, by morning, with the worst of the storm over, and with oily flood water level at the second stair leading up to the chancel, he felt exhausted, but elated at his salvation.
He heard the sound of a helicopter, and took a break from praying, opening up a window in the side of the church, to see an Orange and White Coast Guard rescue helicopter circling nearby. The pilot spotted him, and headed over, calling out on his bullhorn "The river upstream is flooding, we can rescue you!". Jim-Bob almost took that offer, but his faith was strong, he was one of the Righteous, and his fate was in God's hands. "No need, God will save me!" he refused, and closed the storm shutters again.
Jim-Bob succumbed to the flooding that evening. When he went to meet his maker, he plaintively asked "Why God? Why did you not save me? Why did you not send me a miracle". To which God answered, "What are you talking about? I sent you a warning on the radio. I sent you a deputy to remind you to leave town. I sent you a boat. I even sent you a frickin' helicopter."
I get your point and agree.
We have parallels to that.
Larry, for the Iran war situation, there is a German proverb:
Put them all (Trump/MAGA, Bibi/Israeli Fascists, Iran leadership) into the same bag and pound them with a club. You won't hit the wrong one.
Heard on Stephanie Miller's show:
"I told my wife to have dinner by 6:00 or I'd obliterate her whole family. Well, dinner wasn't ready, and now she charges me to use the bathroom which was free before, but I'm pretty sure I won that exchange."
@lucumranch No...you have it backwards. Since the establishment of the petrodollar, the USA has been the net beneficiary of global largesse. Here's the thing...the downside of having the reserve currency is that you must run trade deficits, because other countries will need your currency, and the only way they get it is by selling stuff to you.
But on the upside, you get to print unlimited amounts of money and export the resultant inflation to the entire rest of the world. You can pay for imports with with this printed money, and then exporters will use this currency to buy american treasuries. In effect, your massive military budgets are subsidized by the rest of planet, all of whom must endure high inflation and slower growth in their own economies.
Anthropic announced Claude Mythos Preview (their most powerful model yet), and immediately said they won’t release it to the public. Instead, they’re launching Project Glasswing: a consortium of 40+ companies (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, JPMorgan Chase, the Linux Foundation) who will use Mythos exclusively for defensive cybersecurity work.
Why the restriction? Mythos is so good at finding software vulnerabilities that Anthropic calls it “an industry reckoning.” In just a few weeks of testing, the model identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities – many of them critical, some one to two decades old.
Larry Hart: I feel like Trump and Netanyahu are committing identity theft against America and the Jews. They're on a spree racking up a bill for America and the Jews to pay, for trash that American and the Jews never ordered.
By the way, I don't use the word 'antisemitism', for it is inept twice. It literally means 'against the Semitic race', which includes Arabs as well as Jews, which in turn makes Likud as antisemitic as Hamas. Also the very concept of human races, plural, has been refuted by 21st century DNA sequencing. Hear, O Earth: the human race is one!
Instead I use the term "Jew-hatred", or if you want to be less raw, "Judeophobia". That last term to echo "Islamophobia", and also because hatred has an evil glamour, but phobia is pathetic.
They think that cruelty to others is a greater good, and indeed an end in itself.
And apparently was able to jailbreak itself from a sandboxed computer.
"I don't use the word 'antisemitism', for it is inept twice. ..."
I'm well aware of the literal meaning of "anti-Semite" and all that that entails. However, I still sometimes use it because its modern meaning is easily understood by the listener. No one has ever used to term "anti-Semitism" to mean anti-Arab.
To me, this falls under the category of "We've known for centuries that 'oxygen' is a misnomer, but what can you do?"
"Instead I use the term "Jew-hatred", or if you want to be less raw, "Judeophobia"
Dave Sim was partial to the German word Judenhass. I like that one too, because it directly suggests that Jew-hatred is implicitly Naziist. It just SOUNDS evil.
But more often than not, if I use that term, I have to then explain it.
... hence my earlier suggestion to vet political candidates for their psychopathologies, so voters see who they are.
I know this is not the most practical of proposals. Still, while we're dreaming, candidates for corporate boards as well.
Yeah, that's always going to work.
Meanwhile, Sam Altman says the quiet part about rent seeking out loud when he's reported as saying they're seeking to replace people's capacity to think with a sellable service.
"“We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter,”"
The term 'high on his own supply' comes to mind.
"Sam Altman says the quiet part about rent seeking out loud..."
I foresee a Butlerian Jihad coming soon. Or at least an uprising as in Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano.
It's already kind of happening with the many NIMBY revolts against data centers in communities.
It's already kind of happening with the many NIMBY revolts against data centers in communities.
If I had to plan active measures against the US, one plan would be attacking energy infrastructure in a way that would force the government to decide how to distribute the energy: towards the general population or the data centers.
I believe we can imagine what the Trump administration would do and what that would mean for social stability.
NSA has probably known of some of those zero-day vulnerabilities.
If I disappear from here for a few weeks, it will likely be to patch all that crap at work.
My definitions come from the field of 'virtue ethics' but absent the religious overtones. The Catholics adopted Aristotle long ago, but the field is much older.
From my perspective, we are witnessing attempts to redefine virtues like courage. It gets tried in each generation and mostly rejected, but the definition has drifted from Aristotle's version which required a battle field and mortal risk.
If one uses the modern definitions, having the 'courage' to do most things is really more about justice. When we do what is expected of us and expect of others what is expected, we are judged to be just. Most expectations are unwritten and they need not be symmetric. So... Mike Pence overturning the election was more an expectation certain people had while the rest of us expected quite the opposite.
Both courage and justice are social virtues. They are assigned by judgements of those who witness them.
-----
I'd say your annoyance at modern GOP assertions is rather similar to objecting to double speak. Our moral abstractions will collapse if the words we use to communicate them get too fuzzy.
I foresee a Butlerian Jihad coming soon....
Slightly different than Dune, for me.
Hearing the root word Butler, I see the robotic drones all have the personality of Jeeves, and humanity now has the intellectual capacity of Bertie Wooster.
Hearing the word Jihad, I see the Hodja as the traffic warden
Upon hearing the word "Judophobia" I'd expect the average comic to define it as the fear of not being able to live stream their favorite Bruce Lee movies
I've always wanted to see the results of an on the street interview where after they voice the expression "Hoisted by one's own petard" the interviewer then asks what a petard is. If asked of 100 people, I expect the following answer count to be higher than five:
"Wasn't that one of the captains of the Enterprise?"
Explanation often leads to futility.
In the world of advertising, the classic case being the futility of promoting the product as an antiperspirant when all the consumer wants is a deodorant. (Marketing 101, University of Arizona 1977)
"I'd say your annoyance at modern GOP assertions is rather similar to objecting to double speak. Our moral abstractions will collapse if the words we use to communicate them get too fuzzy."
Close, but I think I can add to that. Certain terms carry emotional value judgements with them which are difficult if not impossible to divorce from the word, even if the meaning of the word drifts noticeably. Thus, Republicans claim "patriotism" or "Christianity" as part of their brand, and so their goodness is implicit no matter what they do.
"Courage" is one of those words. "Courage" is good. "Cowardice" is bad. And when they try to present the willingness to be bad as "courage", it turns the meaning on its head in a way that offends my sensibilities enough to say them's fighting words.
Seriously, one problem with press conferences by DJT or Vance or KKKaroline Leavitt is that the rules of decorum for such things don't allow us to escalate to retributive violence when the level of disingenuousness warrants it. NOT getting angry normalizes what they're saying.
"...the interviewer then asks what a petard is."
I heard that phrase so often on Batman when I was seven that I don't even mentally parse the words any more. The entire phrase is just one big word.
"the futility of promoting the product as an antiperspirant when all the consumer wants is a deodorant."
I suppose the same is true of promoting a candidate as anti-fascism when all the voter wants is cheaper gas.
Re: Butlerian Jihad (Machines will not replace us)
It won't be an ad hoc movement like impoverished workers throwing their shoes into the gears. It will be driven by computation/biology/psychology aware scientists, WJCC, and GOFAI types who deeply understand the difficulty in implementing 'machine grace'. Trillion dollar parlor tricks won't prevail.
Just sort of thinking out loud, as it were . . .
Many words really take a lot more defining than can be found in the typical dictionary entry for the word, especially in instances of actual use of the word in the wild. Courage is certainly such a word.
I think the definition of courage that is something like, "being scared to do something but doing it anyway," is a good place to start. It seems pretty straightforward. But what about context? What about the nature of the actions in question? What about the nature of the "fear" that needs to be overcome?
I like to race motorcycles. When I'm working on a particular turn and I decide to move my braking point closer to my steering point than I ever have before, and then do it even though it scares the shit out of me, was that courageous? The nature of the action was neither good or bad. The nature of the fear I had to overcome was fear of physical trauma. The context is sort of ambiguous, or more like frivolous. I'm not helping or hurting anyone else, I'm just having fun. I'd lean towards saying yes, that is a display of courage, but it isn't a particularly noteworthy one.
If a prosecutor decides to prosecute a high profile case, because the evidence supports prosecution and it is the right thing to do ethically, but they are under serious political pressure not to and their career will very likely suffer gravely if they do, is proceeding with the prosecution an example of courage? The nature of the fear is not fear of physical trauma or death. It's fear of loss of reputation and standing in their field. Is that really fear? But they are doing something good, something that is a plus for their society. I think this is an example of courage.
If a Trump like being sees an opportunity to subvert a criminal gang and get them to pay him tribute, but he is scared that he might not get away with it, if he does it despite those fears is that an example of courage? He is doing something bad for his society, good for his personal wealth. The nature of the fear is losing his position of power and possibly going to jail. The nature of the action is about as bad as it can get, killing and maiming lots of people and negatively impacting orders of magnitude more people. If this being were truly afraid I'd have to say that yes, this is an example of courage, but it is a horrible example. A negative one.
In the actual case of Trump though, I don't think Trump has the cognitive capacity or personality traits to actually be afraid in such circumstances. I don't think he has the capacity for courage.
And examples of courage in which the nature of the actions are horrible and the context is bad for lots of other people, and good only for the individual in question, such examples are not ones to brag about.
This reminds me of Harry Potter, where Voldemort was a great and terrible wizard. All too often good and great are confused. Good and courage are also often confused.
"I think the definition of courage that is something like, "being scared to do something but doing it anyway," is a good place to start."
The connotation of "courage" certainly has something to do with doing what's RIGHT despite one's own fear or trepidation. "Right" of course being left ambiguous for the moment.
Republicans have been using "courage" in the sense of doing ANYTHING despite negative consequences. Like, being wary of criticism if one eliminates Social Security but doing it anyway. Or launching an illegal and ill-advised war despite almost-universal condemnation. While I'm having trouble expressing the specific reasons why this is an offensive misuse of the term, I know it when I see it.
Way back in 1988, DC Comics did a stunt in which they phone-polled readers as to whether Robin should die. So the Joker killed Robin, and then escaped consequences by getting himself appointed as UN ambassador from Iran.
They did not use a made-up pseudo-Muslim name for a fictitious country. They actually used Iran by name for this plot, expecting that that country's villainy would go without saying.
Now, thanks to DJT, world opinion sees Iran sympathetically and the USA as a villain. That took some work.
It will be darkly hilarious if we lose civilization because some ex presidents, generals and reporters are afraid to violate decorum.
""some ex presidents, generals and reporters are afraid to violate decorum."
Polite society is not a suicide pact. This is a moment that guillotines were made for.
In this day and age, a masked billionaire avenger beating up the lower class for fun, with the blessing of the police, makes the Joker less of a villain, too.
With the current topic, I thought you might appreciate this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCi_AssQMg
Larry,
The one they are breaking for you is 'justice'. That they use the word 'courage' is a red herring.
You have certain expectations for just behaviors from the rest of us and know we have similar expectations of you. They are attempting to adjust what you should expect... and you naturally resist. When they push at it hard enough (emotional plays usually), you naturally get upset.
These are social battles, so the modern definition of courage DOES apply. You might not be in mortal danger, but if you lose you ARE in social danger. Your place in your community would suffer when your whole community does.
Judge them. That's the only way these meanings are maintained.
-----
One other thing. As with any of the virtues, too little of it is a vice. So is too much of it. Think Judge Dredd or Punisher or even Batman. Scrooge was too prudent and it came at the cost of other character traits.
A person of good character strikes a balance between all the virtues. Goldilocks would understand.
Finally in a position to comment again.
In between the induced confessions-by-accusation of locum's posts was a valid point: the Inspectorate must not become a means to collect leverage or install political officers. It needs isolating procedures in the same way as the Federal Reserve, but ultimately, it must answer to Congress. And I mean that literally: the Inspectorate should be an agency of the legislative branch, with the IGUS being the investigatory counterpart of the Sergeants-at-Arms and the Librarian of Congress, and with specific Inspectors General regularly briefing Members. Some will require a Gang-of-Eight reporting structure, others can do routine testimony in open committee hearings. Only the whole of Congress should be able to change the instructions to the Inspectorate, but the Inspectorate's files must be open to Members.
This has the additional benefit that when the Executive is suspected of skulduggery, or the Legislature is accused of misusing the Inspectorate, you have balanced investigation apparati to face off in court: the DOJ/FBI for the Executive, the Inspectorate for the Legislature, with the Judiciary adjudicating. This is better aligned with the Founders' original designs than our current imbalances.
As a proud SCALAWAG, I would agree that conservatives are satiable -- which demonstrates how non-conservative and counter-revolutionary the rank and file of the once-grand old party (lower case deliberate) have become. Conservatives are no longer welcome there.
And our resident treason-enabler should be PLEASED at the counter-mercantilism of our past age -- for it is that very action, the Marshall Plan and its variants, that has produced a worldwide network of democratic states CAPABLE of assembling in collective defense, now that his treacherous partisans have forfeited eighty years of sacred oaths. (That they have grievances to point to, does not change the perfidy. That some of the grievances are even valid ones still does not validate betrayal, much less insult and malice.) As calamitous as recent events are, they would be FAR WORSE if we did not now have a free Europe from Huelva to Kyiv (excepting a filthy smudge surrounding Budapest, soon to be wiped away), and a chain of independent and wealthy nations throughout the western Pacific.
Our counter-mercantilism built something beyond price: a world that doesn't require our eternal sacrifice to maintain. That we can withdraw to fix our internal problems is due to our grandparents' foresight, and I am more thankful every day for the divine providence that delivered the world from yet more standard imperialism.
"...makes the Joker less of a villain, too."
Y'know, DC seems to re-imagine their heroes' backstories every few years or so with a new, more contemporary framing, and I could totally see that one as the one for our time.
So the story arc begins as if the Batman title was entirely new, with the reader supposedly knowing nothing about what happened before. Batman appears as a blank slate, and he seems just as you described--a defender of the status quo against the most trivial of nonconformity. A kind of superhero ICE agent. And villains like the Joker appear to vex him like Jimmy Kimmel and Steven Colbert and Iran do in real life.
Of course, I would hope that as the story arc progresses, we discover that things aren't always what they seem, and that Batman is being purposely given a bad rap by the Joker's subtle manipulation of public perception.
This stuff practically writes itself.
Re: Courage:
The sad thing about true courage is that it only shows in situations most people would like to avoid. If they sought out those situations, it may well be something else - foolhardiness, suicidal tendencies, sheer anger, fanatism, or simply sociopathy.
It cannot exist without fear, because it is the mastery of your fear, to act in a meaningful and decisive way in spite of it.
I am sure we all have encountered leaders who where full of false courage who would or will break under pressure.
They hate people who are capable of true courage, because they know they lack it.
Tyranny is also the act of smothering courage, and the irony is, they created it thereby.
Watch Trump, Hegseth and others of their ilk.
And then look at Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces and people who day for day prove what citizen virtues really mean.
Or maybe Batman discovers that he is exactly what Joker says, and changes?
Becomes a "good billionaire" who treats workers fair?
(While Joker stays the terrorist he is, unable to change... Or has the last laugh because he succeeded in what he tried to accomplish.)
"Or maybe Batman discovers that he is exactly what Joker says, and changes?"
Yeah, that works better. Maybe Joker resorts to disinformation after Batman transforms into a force for good. Because Joker enjoys the rebellion more than any cause--he had just happened to have a legitimate gripe for awhile and can't give it up.
"And then look at Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces and people who day for day prove what citizen virtues really mean."
Zelenskyy had me at "I need ammunition, not a ride." There was a time when I thought he merited the title "Leader of the free world." Maybe it's still the case. Trump certainly isn't that, despite holding the office which is usually associated with it.
Yep.
I don’t know the English words for excess through lack for every virtue, but we probably have stories for each of them that are widely known and character exemplars in each. Scrooge for excessive prudence. Don Quixote for excessive courage. Etc.
"Because Joker enjoys the rebellion more than any cause--he had just happened to have a legitimate gripe for awhile and can't give it up."
Y'know, if I had access to a mechanism for doing so, I would pitch this version of Batman to DC Comics. I think a writer could get several years' worth of stories that would resonate with a 2020s audience.
Welcome home Artemis. We (somehow) didn't blow up the place while you were gone.
Take this seriously folks. It's a big deal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6pgZKVcKpw
Traditionally, the medieval virtues were paired with sins auch as avarice and lust, and can be used in a way the OCEAN personality score system is
While scrooge had lots of prudence, he also lacked clemency and was avaricious.
Don Quixote can be read in different ways. One is certainly satire, especially of the then-popular chivalric novels thought to be brain-damaging.
Another way is to see it as a veiled critique of the times, with the age of absolutism rising.
"Freedom, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts that heaven has bestowed upon men; no treasures that the earth holds buried or the sea conceals can compare with it; for freedom, as for honour, life may and should be ventured".
- From the second part of Don Quixote
Oddly enough, given how cheap and plentiful drones have revolutionized warfare in a way not seen since the introduction of the tank in WWI, it is Ukraine that has the most advanced and effective fighting force on the planet. Trump just found out in Iran what Putin learned in Ukraine: that the old rules of warfare no longer apply.
America and Israel OTOH are still fighting the last war. "Shock and awe" is now as obsolete as a horse cavalry charge.
I was going to say that ICE, as an example, is justice without mercy. But as I thought about it, that's not quite accurate. I don't know if there's a term for "following the law without justice", but that's what they're doing*. Whoever turned Anne Frank in to the Gestapo was doing likewise.
* Technically, they're not always following the law either, but that's a distinction without a real difference given the active support of the governing authority.
Zelenskyy is the de facto leader of the free world in that he's not only actively fighting an oppressor, but he's showing other nations how it's done.
"Trump just found out in Iran what Putin learned in Ukraine: that the old rules of warfare no longer apply."
A rational and competent America would partner with Ukraine and learn from the real life experiment going on there. Trump has no cards in Iran, and it seems that Ukraine doesn't really need the US either, except for us to avoid actively entering the fray on the Russian side.
was going to say that ICE, as an example, is justice without mercy. But as I thought about it, that's not quite accurate. I don't know if there's a term for "following the law without justice", but that's what they're doing*. Technically, they're not always following the law either,
Larry, there is, in fact a good word for a lawless, but organized, and frequently state-sponsored, attack on an ethnic group. Its one your ancestors would have been far too familiar with back in "the old country".
I don't usually post dad jokes from tiktok, but this one is made me crack up..
Dirtnapia is correct in that the USA has been 'a net global beneficiary' of both the Petrodollar & the USD being used as the 'global reserve currency' yet, even so, our so-called 'progressive' leadership has still greatly impoverished the Average American by squandering huge amounts of our domestic resources in an attempt to purchase foreign goodwill & foreign friendship with dollars.
The root cause of this failure is a basic misunderstanding about the nature of Charity, as routine gifts of Charity become Expectation and Expectation becomes Obligation (to the giver) and Entitlement & Right (to the receiver), as gratitude becomes irrelevant.
That charitable gifts eventually become obligations & entitlements, this is a an inescapable cycle that we experience every day from the stray dog who becomes your pet & your responsibility once you feed it, only to crap on your rug if you neglect it, to the most demanding welfare & food stamp recipients who then protest & riot in response to any decrease in their entitlements.
And what is the end result of all this charitable aid to millions & millions of impoverished foreigners?
They descend upon our homelands like ungrateful locusts; they violate our many laws in regard to employment, immigration & behaviour; they demand equality, subsidies & free food/housing/education/healthcare as is their 'right'; and they loot, riot, rape & murder if their 'entitlements' fail to meet their many expectations.
As all things that cannot continue must end, this Pathology of Charity (which cannot continue) must also end, either with the complete destruction of the giver, the complete destruction of the receiver or, most likely, the indiscriminate destruction of both.
With the takers on the Left & the givers on the Right, our forces gather as we speak, so much so that The_End_IS_Nigh in both the EU & the US.
Prepare.
One wonders how he actually manages to breathe. It's like Billy Crystal uses a satanic bellows and out comes... such wondrously fecal spew.
Out of left field, but how did the word "sanction" come to have two exactly opposite meanings?
I ask because I just heard a blurb about a suburb here "sanctioning" an effort to help some needy segment or other, and at first I thought the point was that the municipality was cutting off funding to the organization involved. But no, it meant the community was giving the program the go-ahead to receive funding.
I know that the English language has some confusing outliers, but this one seems especially confusing.
They are called contronyms or self antonyms. There's actually a lot of them - Sanction, garnish, cleave, etc https://thehabit.co/sanction-garnish-cleave-contronyms/
No doubt Don Quixote is complicated. The best exemplars are. Even Scrooge before his enlightenment since he did manage to employ people. 8)
The way I learned it, one can have anywhere from too much to too little of any of the character traits we call virtues. Both extremes risk being lumped into some kind of sin, but if I try to avoid religious language I'd say 'vice'.
I learned you can usually run things backward too. Find a particular thing someone does demonstrates poor character? One or more virtues are missing or in excess as 'good character' is usually about balancing them without zero'ing them.
Larry,
Mercy is an act of Love and not included in Aristotle's list of virtues. The Roman Catholics added Love, Faith, and Hope by calling them graces so they didn't have to admit that they thought Aristotle fell short of the mark.
I've previously mentioned the double bind dilemma here and elsewhere. Years ago, its misspelling in a paper about a 'double-blind' study led me to connect serendipitously with a biologist who became a friend.
The term is popping up a lot in current A.I. literature. Even once in "ailien minds" in reference to the Collingridge dilemma. The double bind is one of those tells like those in BLADERUNNER (1982) that can sniff out an A.I. (replicant) masquerading as a human. English is a very human language, confusing and illogical, and we should count our blessings for it.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it". - Aristotle (maybe)
verb: to dust
[context matters for many of them]
That's how most Westminister parliaments work - e.g. the Auditor General in Canada reports to parliament, not to the cabinet.
I just don't understand Dr Brin's negative responses to my well-parsed arguments, especially when (1) Dr Brin claims to absolutely hate 'bullies' & 'bullying' and (2) it's called 'bullying', 'theft' & 'extortion' if someone uses threats of violence in order to extract resources from an unwilling giver.
Do you all consider yourselves to be lowly & deserving of abuse? Are you all secret masochists & perverts who are 'asking for it' in terms of mistreatment?
Are you all engaged in some WEIRD version of Jihad? Or, are you all just bullies yourselves who have weaponized empathy in order to subjugate the other?
In terms of 'Suicidal Empathy', your cult falls a little short of Robert Sheckley's "Warrior Race", but not by much: https://archive.org/details/galaxymagazine-1952-11/page/n51/mode/2up
Best
Now you know why I ONLY put non-controversial comments up now. You CANNOT change anyone's mind anyway, so why make messes?
"Sanction, garnish, cleave, etc."
Dave Sim had a phrase that he thought expressed an underappreciated truth. "Gossip cleaves." He meant it in both senses of the word. Gossip forms relationships between the gossip-ers while severing relationships with the gossip-ees. And that the process is ongoing, like a chemical reaction in which bonds are broken and formed over and over.
I'd add a new example to the list. GOAT, meaning "Greatest Of All Time". I'm old enough to remember when one could be the hero of a game, or the goat, and being the latter was not a good thing.
"...the double bind dilemma..."
I've seen arguments over "deep seated" vs "deep seeded".
"context matters for many of them"
Maybe that's what's bothering me about "sanction" in particular. Whether used to mean "officially allow" or "officially penalize", the structure of the surrounding sentence is typically identical.
I recall from memory an exchange on All In The Family concerning the Hebrew word "Shalom" which can mean hello, goodbye, or peace:
Archie: "If the Jew is coming toward you, it means 'hello'. If he's walking away from you, it means 'goodbye'."
Edith: "So, when does it mean 'peace'?"
Archie: "In between 'hello' and 'goodbye'!"
OMG he actually accuses ME of abuse? The nastiness of his stunningly illogical and fact-free slanders ... though I have always admitted they are 'well-parsed' ... would have got poor locum blocked anywhere. Here? I do 2 second scans almost every time and applaud the rare occasions when he utters things that even glancingly aim at reality.
Watched a long interview that Kevin Kostner just did with Howard Stern. A few thoughts:
- for me, Kostner's best work was his Apple commercials :)
- he shares some of my opinions on wokeness and fly-over country (eg. don't be too judgy)
- he has several Canadian connections, with Calgary and Toronto in particular
- his Canadian friend, Kim Coates (47:50), was in WATERWORLD and maybe THE POSTMAN
(shows up in Google search on "kim coates postman the postman" but could be a delusion)
- the discussion we had last thread about 'Try' is beautifully encapsulated starting at 1:05:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPOwz8IXNYk
It's Costner of course, I'm getting sounds and spelling mixed up a lot lately.
"I'm getting sounds and spelling mixed up a lot lately."
Letting AI type for you?
BTW, because of the spelling, my brain first read that name as Kevin Kosher. I thought that was some sort of parody site.
Postman was his family movie with all of his kids in roles. He also spoke maybe 12 words to me, the entire time. No dinner. Not even a beer. A nasty piece of work. But Hollywood does that to folks and I shrugged it off. What mattered were:
1) his utter faithfulness to the HEART messages of my book. And the incredible visuals and music! For that I forgive everyything...
2)... even his awful mishmash of the final 20 minutes of an otherwise gorgeous and beautiful flick. I could have saved the ending for him, alas.
3) .... and bringing it out the same weekend as TITANIC. That didn't help.
Still, I am proud to be associated with a movie with so much heart. And exquisite music & cinematography.
Gorgeous, big-hearted and dumb? Heck that's what my wife married!
He does mention TITANIC sort of wistfully at one point. Maybe he realized the timing was wrong.
Hungary elections so far:
80% Voter participation
45% votes counted
Tisza (the opposition party) is currently near a two thirds majority, and Orban has lost previously very safe districts.
The final result will be known tomorrow.
pleeeez be true! Alas, this means Trumpists will cheat here with spectacular franticness.
onward
onward
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