You know what. I resent being the bad guy of the situation even though I was a victim. I am leaving. Good bye.
- SuperJail Warden
- Gone Forever
- +657|4106
Taking interest in internet rivalries may be a sign that a user is spending time on that rather than curating the polished skulls of neighbor dogs. A net improvement, and one I heartily approve of. Imagine if Predator stopped his intergalactic serial killing and became a history teacher! I wish someone would sell that script.
- SuperJail Warden
- Gone Forever
- +657|4106
You guys could never just let go stuff I said when I was 20. I moved on from those views. You are bullying me again. The only thing I am curating is custom Etsy Magic the Gathering Boxes. I am waiting for the others to come in the mail so those small plastic cases are place holders.
Also, Jay and I apologized to each other. He can come back if he wishes and I will be no threat to him. As a peace offering, I will send him a custom Etsy wood burning thing with his family's name on it if he chooses to accept it.
Also, Jay and I apologized to each other. He can come back if he wishes and I will be no threat to him. As a peace offering, I will send him a custom Etsy wood burning thing with his family's name on it if he chooses to accept it.
Your shelves look like they could be a little wobbly. Jay could reciprocate your etsy offering by applying some of his deck building skills to your furnishings.
macbeth is a comic genius sometimes.
the right-wing/establishment media here are a culpable bunch of fools. happily pushing out the (confused, mixed, hapless) messaging of downing street, with nary a criticism or regard to the science.
life, it comes at you fast, etc etc.
late july
mid august
late august
mid september
whewwwwww.
life, it comes at you fast, etc etc.
late july
mid august
late august
mid september
whewwwwww.
Last edited by uziq (2020-09-17 02:28:22)
I'm not confusing anything. I'm simply postulating why Jay has not posted recently.Elizabeth wrote:
After he did so to Macbeth repeatedly. Let's not confuse the chain of eventsKEN-JENNINGS wrote:
Macbeth made a credible threat to dox him.
That research by Mac was a baller move, let's add.
The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families
No-one likes having tables turned on them.
Fuck Israel
incredibly low stakes, here. it's not like jay is running for the senate.
Last edited by uziq (2020-09-17 17:05:01)
Oh wow, who could have guessed.
Fuck Israel
- SuperJail Warden
- Gone Forever
- +657|4106
Then you agree I am the real victim?KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
I'm not confusing anything. I'm simply postulating why Jay has not posted recently.Elizabeth wrote:
After he did so to Macbeth repeatedly. Let's not confuse the chain of eventsKEN-JENNINGS wrote:
Macbeth made a credible threat to dox him.
Funny how so many of the administration's best people either end up being ones loudly denouncing it, or ones that go to prison.uziq wrote:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/it-was-all-about-the-election-the-ex-white-house-aide-olivia-troye-on-trumps-narcissistic-mishandling-of-covid-19
Trump supporters like to poo-poo the whistleblowers, "lightweight Mattis," on one hand, then on the other whine about how unfair/unjust/over-the-top jailing others are. Deep state Democratic FBI, etc. "Did you know the other guys are being investigated now" for the umpteenth smug time.
If parallel-reality Olivia Troye had been sent to prison for some ghastly thing she did for the administration, they'd be ripping the collars of their t-shirts in her defense.
Trump has managed to create around him a cult of personality. To his supporters he is a straight talker, whatever that may mean, but he's most of all incredibly adept at uniting the fringes against the status quo and somehow also keeping himself apart from the 'real power structures' despite now being the president.
His greatest allure to others is that he's not beholden to any interest but his own. Going into the presidency he paid his campaign himself, there were no fundraisers behind closed doors, no special interest groups financing his campaign. He made it a point to keep emphasising this while attacking his opponents on the same issue. Also remember that he often spoke of how he used his money and business to make shady backroom deals with politicians. In a way many felt it made him transparent and more honest, despite his mountain of lies. Predictable even perhaps, because you always know Trump will do what is best for Trump.
His election and presidency reflect an incredibly deep cynicism in american society that remains and is only getting worse. The notion that their democracy is fundamentally broken, that the rich and big business live by different rules and that politics is in their hands most of all. He also aligned with the views many particularly of the older generation seem to hold; that US standing in the world has slipped, that they're 'losing' and of course that outsiders/others are dragging down the country and that they need to get back to 'winning' again.
This internal and external cynicism are of course connected. The result being that Trump was elected precisely because he is lashing out at all angles, and his supporters love him for it. The controversy, the combativeness, to them it's exactly what is needed to get back on track. Like someone who 'wants to win'.
The real problem is that the democrats have totally ignored this and elected Biden to be their candidate, who is pretty much everything the people who voted for Trump seem to hate. I don't think he will lose, but the structural issue plagueing their society that led to the election of Trump will not disappear with his presidency. Chances are the following election another left-field equally controversial fringe character may be elected to the white house. Or jesus forbid Trump does somehow win for another 4 years.
It's becoming clearer to me that the system of governance is headed towards an implosion, sooner or later, and some parallels can be found all throughout western democracies. There's many various aspects to the increasing cynicism and combativeness in these societies. Just to name a few: the real widening wealth gap & outside the law movements of big business, the fast pace of societal change due to demographic shifts causing friction and sense of loss, the influence of social media in the proliferation of conspiracies and tsunami of contradicting information - also that it enables people to live in isolated information bubbles.
It's all looking rather fragile. I'm convinced/hopeful that European systems are more durable, but it's undeniable that here too these structural issues are being exposed that seem almost impossible to deal with.
His greatest allure to others is that he's not beholden to any interest but his own. Going into the presidency he paid his campaign himself, there were no fundraisers behind closed doors, no special interest groups financing his campaign. He made it a point to keep emphasising this while attacking his opponents on the same issue. Also remember that he often spoke of how he used his money and business to make shady backroom deals with politicians. In a way many felt it made him transparent and more honest, despite his mountain of lies. Predictable even perhaps, because you always know Trump will do what is best for Trump.
His election and presidency reflect an incredibly deep cynicism in american society that remains and is only getting worse. The notion that their democracy is fundamentally broken, that the rich and big business live by different rules and that politics is in their hands most of all. He also aligned with the views many particularly of the older generation seem to hold; that US standing in the world has slipped, that they're 'losing' and of course that outsiders/others are dragging down the country and that they need to get back to 'winning' again.
This internal and external cynicism are of course connected. The result being that Trump was elected precisely because he is lashing out at all angles, and his supporters love him for it. The controversy, the combativeness, to them it's exactly what is needed to get back on track. Like someone who 'wants to win'.
The real problem is that the democrats have totally ignored this and elected Biden to be their candidate, who is pretty much everything the people who voted for Trump seem to hate. I don't think he will lose, but the structural issue plagueing their society that led to the election of Trump will not disappear with his presidency. Chances are the following election another left-field equally controversial fringe character may be elected to the white house. Or jesus forbid Trump does somehow win for another 4 years.
It's becoming clearer to me that the system of governance is headed towards an implosion, sooner or later, and some parallels can be found all throughout western democracies. There's many various aspects to the increasing cynicism and combativeness in these societies. Just to name a few: the real widening wealth gap & outside the law movements of big business, the fast pace of societal change due to demographic shifts causing friction and sense of loss, the influence of social media in the proliferation of conspiracies and tsunami of contradicting information - also that it enables people to live in isolated information bubbles.
It's all looking rather fragile. I'm convinced/hopeful that European systems are more durable, but it's undeniable that here too these structural issues are being exposed that seem almost impossible to deal with.
Last edited by Larssen (2020-09-19 13:46:03)
i can't think of a historical precedent whereby an incumbent president had quite so many senior officials from his own administration testifying or being critical. so many people from the inner circles who say 'vote for the other guy'. i thought he was meant to be america's best businessman? the big boss? you're hired, baby! even on the level of 'ex-employees', why is the outgoing dissatisfaction so high? if the white house was on glass doors, it would be raising eyebrows.
you have life-long republicans, people with long careers of public or military service, senior political analysts/advisors ... the same thing over and over.
has there been a precedent like this before?
you have life-long republicans, people with long careers of public or military service, senior political analysts/advisors ... the same thing over and over.
has there been a precedent like this before?
Not that I know of. He's more akin to some roman emperors than any recent figure. But I think in a way we have to be thankful that he's just so incompetent. When someone comes along whose smarts go beyond just branding and salesmanship and who more effectively manipulates all this anger, we're in for an exciting time...
i doubt it, the debunking of 'expertise' goes way deeper than that. many people genuinely don't want 'best candidates' anymore.
I'm not sure people reject intelligence so much as they reject what is considered establishment. Problematically the intelligentsia and experts are generally part of that establishment in many ways. Coupled with a desire for a combative individual that prioritises nationalism and national/selfish interest I'm seeing an open field for more shrewd and cunning strongman figures like Orban, Netanyahu or even Putinesque leaders.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 … s-local-mp
the denialism and conspiracy-lite thinking is taking off in the UK, too. this is all the more grievous considering these same numpties will be packing into hospitals when they fall sick and placing considerable strain on taxpayer-funded resources. not a single member of staff at any NHS facility will even so much think twice about it.
this stupidity is seriously malign. the government must take some responsibility in this, to be sure – the months of mixed messaging, poor communications, lack of joined-up policy, official hypocrisy and media scandals etc have done their bit to cloud the water – but, to be frank, the ‘alternative’ information ecology is far more to blame.
we are quite seriously nurturing a generation of people now who cannot tell fact from fiction, truth from lie, reality from paranoid conspiracy. frequent protests and gatherings in london against ‘tyranny’ over wearing a disposable face covering. burning of 5G (and plenty of regular 4G) masts because they’re spreading viruses via radio waves. QAnon protests in many main cities – the notorious empty plinth for the slave trader in my city, bristol, now has a small mannequin temporarily placed on it scrawled with messages about child abduction rings: it was put there by QAnon protestors. the world is losing its fucking mind and sliding into unreason, something beyond mere irrationality and emotionalism. reason itself is being bent out of shape.
i would seriously support a system whereby anyone refusing to wear face masks, get clinically approved vaccinations etc. is also locked out of the public health system. these idiots are going to end up in hospital wards or, worse, care homes (like the first wave), seeding their spores of stupidity and killing many.
i don’t know how to reverse this trend. we have a new algorithm-age epistemology where truth-making (and its power) resides with major tech companies and social media networks. worse, these same companies have been weapons in a soft offensive and projection of american power: facebook is simply projecting too much power and influence in places like india and other foreign nations for her govt to ever seriously curb it. zuckerberg et al need the fanatical trumpers and their ad revenue; they are symbiotically entangled. it’s a total mess.
the denialism and conspiracy-lite thinking is taking off in the UK, too. this is all the more grievous considering these same numpties will be packing into hospitals when they fall sick and placing considerable strain on taxpayer-funded resources. not a single member of staff at any NHS facility will even so much think twice about it.
this stupidity is seriously malign. the government must take some responsibility in this, to be sure – the months of mixed messaging, poor communications, lack of joined-up policy, official hypocrisy and media scandals etc have done their bit to cloud the water – but, to be frank, the ‘alternative’ information ecology is far more to blame.
we are quite seriously nurturing a generation of people now who cannot tell fact from fiction, truth from lie, reality from paranoid conspiracy. frequent protests and gatherings in london against ‘tyranny’ over wearing a disposable face covering. burning of 5G (and plenty of regular 4G) masts because they’re spreading viruses via radio waves. QAnon protests in many main cities – the notorious empty plinth for the slave trader in my city, bristol, now has a small mannequin temporarily placed on it scrawled with messages about child abduction rings: it was put there by QAnon protestors. the world is losing its fucking mind and sliding into unreason, something beyond mere irrationality and emotionalism. reason itself is being bent out of shape.
i would seriously support a system whereby anyone refusing to wear face masks, get clinically approved vaccinations etc. is also locked out of the public health system. these idiots are going to end up in hospital wards or, worse, care homes (like the first wave), seeding their spores of stupidity and killing many.
i don’t know how to reverse this trend. we have a new algorithm-age epistemology where truth-making (and its power) resides with major tech companies and social media networks. worse, these same companies have been weapons in a soft offensive and projection of american power: facebook is simply projecting too much power and influence in places like india and other foreign nations for her govt to ever seriously curb it. zuckerberg et al need the fanatical trumpers and their ad revenue; they are symbiotically entangled. it’s a total mess.
Last edited by uziq (2020-09-20 05:15:37)
We're going to have to look at internet & closer (social) media regulation in the near term. Right now the onus for fact checking and sifting trustworthy sources from untrustworthy ones is on the consumer. Beyond that issue the optimisation algorithms also pre-select sources and text suggestions the consumer is likely to engage with based on past behaviour. It makes society at large very susceptible to falsehoods, conspiracies, 'alternative facts' and presents an untenable situation. A situation that is also actively exploited by malign actors.
The role of government should not be discounted, in plenty countries officials have managed to reach almost near consensus on the dangers of covid 19 and the necessity for quarantine measures. So in that sense the UK gov is definitely culpable for part the issue. But really the greater threat under the surface is in our internet usage and how almost every website including esp. search engines and social media platforms are deploying software designed to manipulate the user. Even intelligent people who may be aware of this will still be affected.
The role of government should not be discounted, in plenty countries officials have managed to reach almost near consensus on the dangers of covid 19 and the necessity for quarantine measures. So in that sense the UK gov is definitely culpable for part the issue. But really the greater threat under the surface is in our internet usage and how almost every website including esp. search engines and social media platforms are deploying software designed to manipulate the user. Even intelligent people who may be aware of this will still be affected.
Last edited by Larssen (2020-09-20 05:19:59)
weren’t you saying yourself previously on this forum that attempting to break-up or regulate the tech giants was a serious mistake? i thought this went against one of your technocrat doxas. am i misremembering something?
no disagreement from me about that point, fyi. the previous model of a liberal public sphere with a free press, whilst having many flaws and forms of institutional gatekeeping/elites, did have these things called editors. something conspicuously absent in algorithms and machine learning, which carry over the same institutional elitisms and biases (not to say outright racism and discrimination), but at a more insidious and hidden level, hard-baked into the very code.
no disagreement from me about that point, fyi. the previous model of a liberal public sphere with a free press, whilst having many flaws and forms of institutional gatekeeping/elites, did have these things called editors. something conspicuously absent in algorithms and machine learning, which carry over the same institutional elitisms and biases (not to say outright racism and discrimination), but at a more insidious and hidden level, hard-baked into the very code.
Last edited by uziq (2020-09-20 05:28:49)
I don't remember if we had that discussion and if so what context we had that discussion in. To be clear my above point isn't related to the idea of breaking up the tech giants. Two different topics.
yes, you’re right, i just can’t remember before if you were advocating a totally hands-off approach and talking about the impossibility of imposing government control on their practices. or saying something about how regulation and legislation are very unwieldy and will only seriously harm the entire tech sector, or something. i’m pretty sure it was you saying this and not a Jay type.
i’ve always been fine with the idea of the state being the power and not supra-national entities beholden to nobody except their own legal personhood and shareholders.
i’ve always been fine with the idea of the state being the power and not supra-national entities beholden to nobody except their own legal personhood and shareholders.
Last edited by uziq (2020-09-20 05:41:55)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ … 1600587994
special editorial on qanon in this sunday’s observer.
it’s probably worth adding the usual element about how many of the actors seeding this insanity are likely russian or similar. it’s all an extension of pre-existing disinformation and black propaganda techniques.
special editorial on qanon in this sunday’s observer.
it’s probably worth adding the usual element about how many of the actors seeding this insanity are likely russian or similar. it’s all an extension of pre-existing disinformation and black propaganda techniques.