tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3056199296770931363..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: A Big-Bold Book of Best-of-Brin Blogs... about Political Judo! 100+ tactics we should be using.David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50244873601419988942020-02-12T11:08:16.269-08:002020-02-12T11:08:16.269-08:00Mr. B, any updates to progress on your POLEMICAL J...Mr. B, any updates to progress on your POLEMICAL JUDO? Now less than ten months 'til an election, it is!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63660864015283663122019-10-11T21:20:27.466-07:002019-10-11T21:20:27.466-07:00scidata we are watching The Handmaid's Tale. A...scidata we are watching The Handmaid's Tale. A story of hyper unlikely scenarios... but Gof Bless Canada.<br /><br />Re Civil War, this disturbing assumption that the military would stand by the GOP. We have to hope this guy is wrong. My own reading of the officer corps is more optimistic<br /><br />“If Trump’s Rage Brings ‘Civil War,’ Where Will the Military Stand?” https://www.thedailybeast.com/if-trumps-rage-brings-civil-war-where-will-the-military-stand?fbclid=IwAR0DqqFUjY1XDw3HPLgrd7cbPpPxPq_ZZEdKBH4RTqwKwsC3SeiuexwhwM4<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70071836112803965792019-10-11T19:24:40.104-07:002019-10-11T19:24:40.104-07:00@A.F. Rey
If we get through this intact, relief is...@A.F. Rey<br />If we get through this intact, relief is definitely in order. Buddy of mine today suggested that the administration and most of the party apparatus should be brought up on RICO charges.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54545312757695084212019-10-11T13:44:36.626-07:002019-10-11T13:44:36.626-07:00If something, well, extralegal happened to Trump, ...<i>If something, well, extralegal happened to Trump, only an utter fool would celebrate.</i><br /><br />Unfortunately, there will also be utter fools, on all sides of the aisles. Which means there will be those who will celebrate, and we will all be branded because of them. :(<br /><br />Will they even believe our anger? (Especially when, deep down, we will be taking at least one small sigh of relief.)A.F. Reyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08102355714883828348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32523445612303666262019-10-11T12:49:22.312-07:002019-10-11T12:49:22.312-07:00In the confusing first day after 911, the relief a...In the confusing first day after 911, the relief and support effort nearest to me (Toronto suburbs) was a local fire hall collecting donations of anything. People gathered to solemnly salute the Stars and Stripes. I expect that to be a common scene if anything bad happens again, not 'strutting'.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30574216764028824202019-10-11T11:04:48.925-07:002019-10-11T11:04:48.925-07:00Reminded of another quote, from the highly-quotabl...Reminded of another quote, from the highly-quotable Iroh: " Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but it’s source. True humility is the only antidote to shame. "Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22505063397480103012019-10-11T11:00:19.673-07:002019-10-11T11:00:19.673-07:00Zepp Jamieson:
Bartlett's answer has always s...Zepp Jamieson:<br /><i><br />Bartlett's answer has always stuck with me: "Because we don't strut."<br /></i><br /><br />That's one thing that's so incongruous about Trump. I've never seen a US president who so shamelessly self-promotes and metaphorically laughs at all his own jokes. Even before this latest "great and unmatched wisdom" thing, he always has to remind everyone that "Your favorite president" is himself. To me, that projects <b>in</b>security more than the opposite.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68052549693044886702019-10-11T10:40:37.525-07:002019-10-11T10:40:37.525-07:00Dr sez: "#2 means you lefties and liberals an...Dr sez: "#2 means you lefties and liberals and moderates must spread word NOT TO CELEBRATE if something happens to Trump! We must express ANGER at Putin etc for inciting, using up and disposing of a crazy old man, like Howard Beale is used up and disposed of, in NETWORK!"<br /><br />Easier said than done. If something, well, extralegal happened to Trump, only an utter fool would celebrate. If he gets impeached and then convicted then that would mean most of his support was already gone, in which case a few cheers might be in order. <br /><br />I'm reminded of an episode of West Wing. The Dems had just won a big victory in the House, and Josh Lyman wanted to get in front of the cameras and brag a bit. Bartlett stops him and tells hem "we don't do that." "Why not? Sir" Lyman asks. <br /><br />Bartlett's answer has always stuck with me: "Because we don't strut."<br />Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024670772812706971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75626516262120428882019-10-11T10:16:53.747-07:002019-10-11T10:16:53.747-07:00Again, there are narrow paths out of this for the ...Again, there are narrow paths out of this for the putin-puppets. #1 is a US vs. Iran war. It is my private theory they have been trying to provoke this for 2 years, stymied by the skill and professionalism of true patriots. But now DT has ordered 2000 US troops to Saudi Arabia. #2 is simpler. Martyrdom, riling the red base to avenge their dear leader against the liberals celebrating his demise.<br />You must spread word we are alert to these tricks<br /><br />#1 means spreading awareness of phrases like Tonkin Gulf Incident. Gleiwitz, Reichstag. Remember the Maine. Fort Sumter.<br />#2 means you lefties and liberals and moderates must spread word NOT TO CELEBRATE if something happens to Trump! We must express ANGER at Putin etc for inciting, using up and disposing of a crazy old man, like Howard Beale is used up and disposed of, in NETWORK!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2704920057006304682019-10-11T09:27:30.959-07:002019-10-11T09:27:30.959-07:00@Larry: I noticed that, the last few days. Then ag...@Larry: I noticed that, the last few days. Then again, we are at the point where we don't have the leisure to do anything but hard truth-telling.<br /><br />@scidata: I believe in the Upliftverse, that would be the Machine Order, one of the eight Orders of Life. (We are in the Oxygen Order.)<br /><br />As for a wealth tax or a millionaire-bracket income tax -- it could happen, eventually, but not off the bat. First and most readily accessible thing to do is massively expand investigation of tax cheating and fraud. Since the IRS is so demonized, and since it's gone beyond a revenue issue to a national security issue, either create a new FBI office or a different office altogether -- staff it with FBI counterintel, FBI RICO experts, IRS accountants, Treasury regulators, and some spooks; turn them loose and enforce the law. <br /><br />The returns both political and financial will be massive, and you'll get tremendous popular support. Heck, you might get some ostriches to raise their heads, even out in Deep Redistan -- those that recognize that elite businessmen are more elite than businessmen. And most important of all, you'll roust out the means by which this entire assault on our core civilization components has been carried out. <br /><br />Little tidbit from history: despite the massive shifts in 1932 -- net, 97 House and 12 Senate seats shifted blue that year -- the peak of New Deal Democratic power didn't come until later. Both the House and Senate were nearly evenly split in 1930; the tidal wave made it 70/30 in the House and 60/40 in the Senate. But Democrats picked up nine more Senate seats in 1934 and a further six in 1936 -- the 1937 Congress had an astounding <b>five sixths</b> of the Senate dominated by the New Deal progressives: 74 Democrats, two Farmer-Labor, one Progressive, and one independent defecting from the Republicans -- totaling <b>79</b> of the then 96 seats. By then, the House had reached 334-88, a 75/25 split. <br /><br />It was the most power any party held in Congress for all the twentieth century, and in the top most dominated Congresses ever... though exceeded by <i>1866</i>, when the Confederates so elected simply were arrested on the way to the Capitol. (Tennessee waited to hold its elections until the 13th and 14th amendments were ratified, and was therefore allowed to seat its Congressmen later in the session.) <br /><br />Now this is a polarized environment -- but more so than the Civil War? Or the New Deal? I doubt it. And tremendously lopsided Congresses happened then.<br /><br />So I can't endorse categorical declarations that it "can't happen". Catfish 'n Codhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07727883524069548484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62738308578375744342019-10-11T05:35:46.485-07:002019-10-11T05:35:46.485-07:00Paul Krugman pulls no punches now...
https://www....Paul Krugman pulls no punches now...<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/opinion/donald-trump.html<br /><i><br />...<br /><br />I don’t mean that Trump is stupid; a stupid man couldn’t have managed to defraud so many people over so many years. Nor do I mean that he’s crazy, although his speeches and tweets (“my great and unmatched wisdom”; the Kurds weren’t there on D-Day) keep sounding loonier.<br /><br />He is, however, lazy, utterly incurious and too insecure to listen to advice or ever admit to a mistake. And given that he is in fact what he accuses others of being — an enemy of the people — we should be thankful for his flaws.<br /><br />...<br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61479008840835561242019-10-11T05:29:19.730-07:002019-10-11T05:29:19.730-07:00There are myriad ways in which transistors have ch...There are myriad ways in which transistors have changed the world, going right back to McLuhan's global village. But it's gone way beyond that. There's actually a third entity on the field now. Not Terminator-esque AI, but a sort of 'silicon-film' that covers the planet from the deepest valley to orbital space. It was born through human agency, but it's all growed up now (or at least teenaged). It reminds one of Asimov's phrase "at the other end of the galaxy". SETI may wind up replacing the Extra-Terrestrial with New-Terrestrial. SNTI?<br /><br />I haven't yet read the Uplift books. I'm sure our host has already marked some of the trail like a modern Arne Saknussemm.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44211213095336381852019-10-10T21:16:26.250-07:002019-10-10T21:16:26.250-07:00Computation is already in heavy use for the battle...Computation is already in heavy use for the battlefield.<br />ON the battlefield requires impressive levels of robustness... which we could figure out... if fully motivated.<br /><br />What would shock combatants (the way high fire rate machine guns did) is modern sensors tied in with automated weapons. I don't mean automatic reloading weapons. I mean no-human-at-the-trigger weapons.<br /><br />That kind of war is coming, but I'd rather it not be us against ourselves.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75323841702221240602019-10-10T18:20:28.704-07:002019-10-10T18:20:28.704-07:00The thing that's present today that wasn't...The thing that's present today that wasn't throughout history:<br />Transistors. Great heaps of them.<br />I don't know how they'll sway things -- I don't think anyone does. We haven't been here before.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16528251936817692802019-10-10T17:49:00.729-07:002019-10-10T17:49:00.729-07:00matthew,
Yah. I already have my blue kepi, but yo...matthew,<br /><br />Yah. I already have my blue kepi, but you and your friends better work damn hard to avoid that kind of split or me and my friends will be very upset. Putin would be laughing his ass off if the future you describe unfolds.<br /><br />Sobering thoughts I always keep in mind when I ponder my kepi.<br /><br />1. Both sides vastly underestimated what it would take to win.<br />2. Both sides vastly underestimated what traumas they'd have to inflict on the other TO win.<br />3. Both sides vastly underestimated the secondary traumas to non-combatants.<br />4. Both sides were motivated to develop modern weaponry vastly improving their kill rates.<br /><br />What could happen today?<br /><br />1. A hot civil war in the US could kill everyone on the planet. Modern weaponry WOULD get used in a nation of angry barbarians... which is what we are. How? V. Vinge wrote about a few ways, but so have many others. TASAT.<br /><br />2. If it doesn't kill us all, it could end the Enlightenment. Population would crash likely under 100M. That won't happen without us taking down other stuff with us. Again, TASAT.<br /><br />About the only way out of this that involves a lot of internal violence in the US is a good old fashioned 1968-style city burning riot. Maybe a few of them. It has to stop with a few executions, though. <br /><br />Satiation = survival.<br />Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73654903848790772572019-10-10T17:33:27.399-07:002019-10-10T17:33:27.399-07:00Mmm... tumbrels and all they imply. I get that, bu...Mmm... tumbrels and all they imply. I get that, but I don't want that. A modern version of the Reign of Terror will be MUCH more horrific. Modern weapons and all they imply.<br /><br />If it comes to that kind of war, I'll be on Matthew's side of the field providing cover fire while he tries to kill the modern plantation owners.<br /><br />If he actually tries to make that war happen, I'll be on the other side of the field with a spotting scope to get people too high on their own indignation.<br /><br />Screw the rich?! Nah. Give me names, the crimes committed, and lets see how far we can chase the evidence for an old fashioned, rule of law indictment. Do it that way, and I'll be back on the right side of the field helping to bring down cheaters.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42788864493646039342019-10-10T17:08:43.167-07:002019-10-10T17:08:43.167-07:00I don't expect there to be 100 senators soon. ...I don't expect there to be 100 senators soon. <br />I don't expect there to be a filibuster soon. <br />I don't expect there will in a GOP in America soon. <br />But I do expect there will be a GOP in the Confederacy eventually. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18952455227079054752019-10-10T14:59:00.029-07:002019-10-10T14:59:00.029-07:00Alfred it depends on how explicit the war becomes....Alfred it depends on how explicit the war becomes.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84735659837841161662019-10-10T14:30:35.134-07:002019-10-10T14:30:35.134-07:00matthew,
I plan on hitting them with a 70% wealt...matthew,<br /><br /><i> I plan on hitting them with a 70% wealth tax and taking their ill- gotten and unearned gains away. </i><br /><br />You think you'll have a governing majority to pull this off? I don't. <br />A few candidates... yes. <br />A plurality in Congress... yes.<br />A majority in Congress and a President to sign the bills... no.<br />A filibuster-proof Senate? Hah.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20950500319342772902019-10-10T14:27:39.863-07:002019-10-10T14:27:39.863-07:00maximized if regualted as incentivized policy
Ma...<i> maximized if regualted as incentivized policy </i><br /><br />Maybe.<br />Sometimes.<br /><br />Depends on whether or not the regulators are trying to pick winners. When they do that, they are ripe for capture by people who want to be those winners. Job offers are a touch more subtle than outright bribes.<br /><br />If the picking is done more broadly (say... for an industry) then that industry is likely to form a trade group with a purpose to capture the regulators. Revolving door employment opportunities are a common approach that can start with the best of intentions. [Seen it first hand.]<br /><br />I'm not suggesting no regulation is possible.<br />I'm suggesting that 'picking winners' should be a scary horror movie phrase.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44036304175350835632019-10-10T14:07:57.234-07:002019-10-10T14:07:57.234-07:00There may not be much time for new treason in the ...There may not be much time for new treason in the coming months. His 9-5 job will be signing and issuing pardons. Just wow.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32535445671744440532019-10-10T13:54:29.584-07:002019-10-10T13:54:29.584-07:00Well, economies of scale mean early adoption by th...Well, economies of scale mean early adoption by the rich does often lead to more availability of tech to the middle. But those benefits are maximized if regualted as incentivized policy.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17564061199003000162019-10-10T12:01:38.248-07:002019-10-10T12:01:38.248-07:00I am all for vastly increasing the taxes on the we...I am all for vastly increasing the taxes on the wealthy, but they seem to be pretty opposed to it. And in our political system the wealthy have vastly more power so I am not too optimistic that we will be able to raise taxes on them to the extent needed.<br /><br />It is more likely that we will end up subsidizing the independent eco communities for the wealthy, the techno benefits will trickle down to the rest of us. (yeah that’s it, that is the ticket, techno trickle down)<br /><br />It a greenish new deal our corporate masters could really support:<br />subsidies for the wealthy to transition to less unsustainable communities, <br />and the steady decay of public infrastructure for the rest us. A real positive sum outcome for the wealthy.<br />jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29265804203095949092019-10-10T11:27:36.326-07:002019-10-10T11:27:36.326-07:00@David Brin
We must not let the rich go their own...@David Brin<br /><br /><i>We must not let the rich go their own way, as they did in air travel. We must take torches to the private jetports and chase them back into First Class where they belong and will share our pain. The pain will go down!</i><br /><br />That may come to be as qualified pilots retire and newer ones are not training in the numbers they used to. Same goes for mechanics and avionics techs that keep them flying. Just like with auto mechanics, the amount of software needed to troubleshoot aircraft systems has required much more education to train up an aircraft mechanic than it used to. Just having a Pilot's or an Airframe and Powerplant mechanics license still may not keep a private Gulfstream or Learjet in the air on a cost effective basis. <br />Also, a lot of pilots and mechanics I know have left to go work for the airlines because they've gotten tired of working for private charters due to long hours, changing schedules on the owner's whim, being on call etc. The airlines offer regular schedules and for the most part when you punch the clock you're back on your time. Yes, the airlines will have the new pilots fly lousy routes or new mechanics work graveyard shifts but eventually they move in to better job situations with an airline.<br /><br />Helicopter pilot training is even more expensive so the shortage of pilots for business rotorcraft is even more acute.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-7544475/Private-jet-pilot-shortage-hit-super-rich.htmljohn fremonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06505620790054721035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64806175654173222142019-10-10T11:21:35.371-07:002019-10-10T11:21:35.371-07:00While we differ over polemic and degree, I have be...While we differ over polemic and degree, I have been foremost in declaring that the smart rich want merely to be rich is an ever-richer middle class civilization. But the will-to-oligarchy boils that wrote the horrors of human history leads the dumber oligarchs to surround themselves with sycophants and flatterers who tell them how inherently superior they are... exactly the route to stupidity that snared kings & lords and theocrats.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com