It's not what he says that matters, it's what his handlers order him to do that matters. US Presidents have as little actual decision-making power as the Czar of Russia, pomp and gold plating notwithstanding. The illusion works well enough for the majority, and since the US is a "democracy," that is all that is required.
Correction: Andrew Jackson, despite his hatred of the native peoples, was also a bit of a populist. For one thing, he loathed the big banks and vowed to eliminate them. Not surprisingly, the banks outlasted President Jackson.
The current Republican Party is anything but populist, and as for their attitude toward banks and every other sort of corrupt corporation...well, for all practical purposes, the entities of Party and corporation are indistinguishable. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are just the corporations public sector representatives, with completely interchangeable personnel. It's just kleptocracy, that is, "government by high-functioning sociopaths." What I find just absolutely amazing is how successfully conditioned ordinary people have been to grovel before a bunch of crooks in fancy suits. As long as whatever lunacy the elite presently schemes toward is presented by dignified men in fancy suits who speak in stern, paternal tones, then the regular person nods in agreement. There's no discernment whatsoever; it's just, "Oh, well Senator So-and-so says it, and he's a Republican like me, so it must be true. Hey, are there any more Doritos in the cupboard?" *munch munch*
If the public is that fucking dumb, can you blame rich sociopaths for regarding them as human cattle? Think about how con-artists work. They snare their marks by appealing to greed, pride, lust--all the worst sentiments of humanity. Politicians are con-artists whose medium is masses of people.
No, China's one-party system magnifies corruption by concentrating it in the hands of the Party elite, who foster the appearance of due process by periodically executing corrupt low-ranking officials. As for the matter of mundane graft and bribery in China among ordinary people, do a little research and you'll find that it is as common as tea over there. That place is dog-eat-dog competitive, having gone from Marxian dialectical materialism to capitalist dialectical materialism in the span of less than a generation.
Re:s/Stranger /Moon Is a Harsh Mistress/
on
Top 20 Geek Novels
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· Score: 1
Don't forget Glory Road. It is less ambitious than either of those, but it's still better than 99.9% of the novels ever written. Damn, I love that book.
Not quite on-topic for this thread, but has anybody read about the rumors regarding the B-2 stealth bomber? I have heard cryptic statements from Air Force personnel to the effect of, "It is a far stranger bird than you can imagine," accompanied by assertions from outsiders who insist that the aircraft employs a technology called "electro-gravitics." I also find it interesting that such a big plane can have a turning radius similar to an F-4 Phantom--it suggests something more exotic than a conventional jet airplane. Just wondering if there are any aeronautical engineers or knowledgeable laypersons around to offer their expert commentary.
What is remarkable about Bittorrent is the protocol, not the rather limited Bittorrent app. The polished and feature-rich Azureus rules the Bittorrent sphere.
Hear that, Mr. Cohen? There's a better than even chance you're reading this, so here's my advice: ditch your app, rebadge a version of Azureus, and make that the "official" Bittorrent application.
Cute. Actually, plants contribute tremendously to mitigating urban pollution and elevating O2 levels; the closer to the source (cars,) the better. Planting sturdy varieties along urban boulevards makes the air more breatheable and enhances the whole "feng shui" thing. If you're indoors, the ubiquitous spider plant is the best air cleaner. Ferns are prolific emitters of negative ions, which improve our oxygen uptake and elevate our moods. What a pity it is that we treat these organisms upon which our lives depend as inert commodities. And let us not forget that we can make recreational drugs from them.
It's been happening on the web for years already. Carl Cameron's 2001 story about the Israeli "Art Students" espionage scandal can no longer be found on Fox News' servers, which is but one particularly notorious example. Controversial stories get pulled every day. The sad fact is that the Memory Hole is now a hallowed Establishment institution.
You're exaggerating. It can kill millions and throw much of the world into a panic, just as it did in 1918, but it can't wipe everyone out like in "The Stand." Here, let me give you a little flu remedy: mix 24oz of water, add 2 tbsp ground fresh ginger, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, 6 oz lemon juice. Mind you, these are approximations. Heat the mixture to just about boiling, let it cool just enough to take internally. Drink it--all of it. The shit tastes terrible, but it works.
but it is morally wrong to give loyalty that is not reciprocated.
Yeah, but try telling that to a dog, both the quadrapedal and bipedal versions. In other words, try telling that to an "institutional personality," a person who relys upon external structures to make all of the decisions that are best relegated to the individual. Being hollow inside, they don't even entertain the thought for a second.
Actually, I'm being unfair to the dogs to lump them together with the institutionals...
Wait a sec. Fox News has an editorial department? Fox News is an editorial department. That's just the way it is; they're corporate social engineers disguised as a news outlet. Not that they are all that much worse than the other networks, it's just that the disguise is less opaque.
Hmm...by that logic, one could argue that Fox News is more honest than their rivals, at least to the minority that is astute enough to recognize an infomercial when they see one.
Of course it's a conflict of interest. The United States is ruled by the biggest kleptocracy in the history of the world. You think they're going to leave the outcome of elections up to their marks?
Remember the quote from Stalin about elections? He said, and please forgive my inexactness, "The candidates on the ballot don't matter, what matters is who counts the votes." Even Stalin had elections.
Here's a relevant link. May it prove illuminating.
The plague is substantially less dangerous to modern humans because of our less-compromised immune systems, relative to the people of antiquity. It seems to be a little-known secret: your immune system, if kept up with adequate rest, proper nutrition, and exercise, is very effective at fighting off even "deadly" virii and bacteria.
Want to do a little experiment to illustrate this principle? Stay up late, really late, for a couple of nights. That's right, cut your hours of sleep by half. Skip the brocolli and apples during the same time. After two days of this abuse, you should have some extra cold sores in your mouth from the herpes virus, which almost every adult has, that your "normal" immune system keeps in check. For the average medieval person, this compromised immune system was the normal state of affairs, and consequently, they died in droves from the plague. It was also commonplace in those days to eat off of pewter dishes. Pewter is a heavy metal and behaves much like lead in the body--very bad for you. Interestingly enough, the rural peasants tended to fare the best during outbreaks of plague because they had the best diet--nothing like fresh vegetables for good immunity.
This all boils down to one thing: lack of personal responsibility.
Personal responsibility is the preeminent value of a free society comprised of individuals who don't turn reflexively to bureaucrats for "help" and "protection." If those bureaucrats happen to be part of the state security apparatus (i.e., MI5,) then they are controlled by, and operate for the benefit of the elite.
Unfortunately, the elite is dominated by sociopaths. Sociopaths, by definition, never take responsibility for anything. So, in any society, paricularly rich decadent ones like the Western "democracies," there is this tension between the values and aspirations of those who have a conscience and those who do not.
Alas, over the years, the social engineers of the elite have done a fantastic job of inculating this one key tenet of thier "ethics," lack of responsibility, into their human herds. The left-wing half ("mommy") of the program is socialism, which degrades individual responsibility in economic matters by making us, in varying degrees, reliant upon the state for our livelihood and sustenance. The right-wing half ("daddy") takes away our self-reliance in matters of physical security through authoritarian measures like the "War on Drugs" or some similar nonsense. The obvious problem with seeking help from the state is that the state does not really give a shit about people's well-being.
So, skipping several elucidory steps...follow the Hegelian progression of this program and you wind up with a landscape that mirrors the inner life of the power elite. It consists of mansions and prisons. Guess who gets to live in the mansion.
So what we peasants have to do is learn how to social engineer from the lower, and presumably disadvantageous position. I think we do this by resisting our programming and remembering to give a shit about other people. The recent hurricane is proof that this tendency has not been eradicated. Like a sudden boon from the Almighty, it also effectively unmasked the paranoid, heartless nature of the state more effectively than anything in recent memory.
Anyway, I'm ranting. Our situation must indeed be dire if you are looking for Sartre to be your champion. Hearing your pleas, he would open a bottle of wine and decide, after much deliberation, that suicide is, oh...probably not necessary.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not what he says that matters, it's what his handlers order him to do that matters. US Presidents have as little actual decision-making power as the Czar of Russia, pomp and gold plating notwithstanding. The illusion works well enough for the majority, and since the US is a "democracy," that is all that is required.
Make that three times. He's ex-military, remember?"
The current Republican Party is anything but populist, and as for their attitude toward banks and every other sort of corrupt corporation...well, for all practical purposes, the entities of Party and corporation are indistinguishable. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are just the corporations public sector representatives, with completely interchangeable personnel. It's just kleptocracy, that is, "government by high-functioning sociopaths." What I find just absolutely amazing is how successfully conditioned ordinary people have been to grovel before a bunch of crooks in fancy suits. As long as whatever lunacy the elite presently schemes toward is presented by dignified men in fancy suits who speak in stern, paternal tones, then the regular person nods in agreement. There's no discernment whatsoever; it's just, "Oh, well Senator So-and-so says it, and he's a Republican like me, so it must be true. Hey, are there any more Doritos in the cupboard?" *munch munch*
If the public is that fucking dumb, can you blame rich sociopaths for regarding them as human cattle? Think about how con-artists work. They snare their marks by appealing to greed, pride, lust--all the worst sentiments of humanity. Politicians are con-artists whose medium is masses of people.
Oh shit. I am so glad I am not the only person to notice the physical (and ideological) similarity.
And props go to the Slashdot guy who recommended it to me a while back. I had no idea just how slow Azureus is until I started using uTorrent.
Look again. China's CPI index is 3.2, meaning that survey respondants considered China more corrupt than most of the countries on the list.
No, China's one-party system magnifies corruption by concentrating it in the hands of the Party elite, who foster the appearance of due process by periodically executing corrupt low-ranking officials. As for the matter of mundane graft and bribery in China among ordinary people, do a little research and you'll find that it is as common as tea over there. That place is dog-eat-dog competitive, having gone from Marxian dialectical materialism to capitalist dialectical materialism in the span of less than a generation.
Thank you for your comments, Mandark.
Don't forget Glory Road. It is less ambitious than either of those, but it's still better than 99.9% of the novels ever written. Damn, I love that book.
Not quite on-topic for this thread, but has anybody read about the rumors regarding the B-2 stealth bomber? I have heard cryptic statements from Air Force personnel to the effect of, "It is a far stranger bird than you can imagine," accompanied by assertions from outsiders who insist that the aircraft employs a technology called "electro-gravitics." I also find it interesting that such a big plane can have a turning radius similar to an F-4 Phantom--it suggests something more exotic than a conventional jet airplane. Just wondering if there are any aeronautical engineers or knowledgeable laypersons around to offer their expert commentary.
Hey man, when you decry hollow, vicarious environmentalism I'm with you, but dissing arugula is out of line.
We'll know for certain if Pauly Shore moves in.
There's still the bins and shelves at Goodwill. I have friends who assemble complete computers and hi-fi systems with the parts they find at Goodwill.
Hear that, Mr. Cohen? There's a better than even chance you're reading this, so here's my advice: ditch your app, rebadge a version of Azureus, and make that the "official" Bittorrent application.
Cute. Actually, plants contribute tremendously to mitigating urban pollution and elevating O2 levels; the closer to the source (cars,) the better. Planting sturdy varieties along urban boulevards makes the air more breatheable and enhances the whole "feng shui" thing. If you're indoors, the ubiquitous spider plant is the best air cleaner. Ferns are prolific emitters of negative ions, which improve our oxygen uptake and elevate our moods. What a pity it is that we treat these organisms upon which our lives depend as inert commodities. And let us not forget that we can make recreational drugs from them.
It's been happening on the web for years already. Carl Cameron's 2001 story about the Israeli "Art Students" espionage scandal can no longer be found on Fox News' servers, which is but one particularly notorious example. Controversial stories get pulled every day. The sad fact is that the Memory Hole is now a hallowed Establishment institution.
You're exaggerating. It can kill millions and throw much of the world into a panic, just as it did in 1918, but it can't wipe everyone out like in "The Stand." Here, let me give you a little flu remedy: mix 24oz of water, add 2 tbsp ground fresh ginger, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, 6 oz lemon juice. Mind you, these are approximations. Heat the mixture to just about boiling, let it cool just enough to take internally. Drink it--all of it. The shit tastes terrible, but it works.
Yeah, but try telling that to a dog, both the quadrapedal and bipedal versions. In other words, try telling that to an "institutional personality," a person who relys upon external structures to make all of the decisions that are best relegated to the individual. Being hollow inside, they don't even entertain the thought for a second.
Actually, I'm being unfair to the dogs to lump them together with the institutionals...
Hmm...by that logic, one could argue that Fox News is more honest than their rivals, at least to the minority that is astute enough to recognize an infomercial when they see one.
Hey, Moussolini didn't have a mustache.
Remember the quote from Stalin about elections? He said, and please forgive my inexactness, "The candidates on the ballot don't matter, what matters is who counts the votes." Even Stalin had elections.
Here's a relevant link. May it prove illuminating.
Want to do a little experiment to illustrate this principle? Stay up late, really late, for a couple of nights. That's right, cut your hours of sleep by half. Skip the brocolli and apples during the same time. After two days of this abuse, you should have some extra cold sores in your mouth from the herpes virus, which almost every adult has, that your "normal" immune system keeps in check. For the average medieval person, this compromised immune system was the normal state of affairs, and consequently, they died in droves from the plague. It was also commonplace in those days to eat off of pewter dishes. Pewter is a heavy metal and behaves much like lead in the body--very bad for you. Interestingly enough, the rural peasants tended to fare the best during outbreaks of plague because they had the best diet--nothing like fresh vegetables for good immunity.
Oh man. You condemn hedonism as immoral and then condone another sort of bad behavior, all in the same breath. Way to go, Socrates.
Megatron, REJUVENATE!
Personal responsibility is the preeminent value of a free society comprised of individuals who don't turn reflexively to bureaucrats for "help" and "protection." If those bureaucrats happen to be part of the state security apparatus (i.e., MI5,) then they are controlled by, and operate for the benefit of the elite.
Unfortunately, the elite is dominated by sociopaths. Sociopaths, by definition, never take responsibility for anything. So, in any society, paricularly rich decadent ones like the Western "democracies," there is this tension between the values and aspirations of those who have a conscience and those who do not.
Alas, over the years, the social engineers of the elite have done a fantastic job of inculating this one key tenet of thier "ethics," lack of responsibility, into their human herds. The left-wing half ("mommy") of the program is socialism, which degrades individual responsibility in economic matters by making us, in varying degrees, reliant upon the state for our livelihood and sustenance. The right-wing half ("daddy") takes away our self-reliance in matters of physical security through authoritarian measures like the "War on Drugs" or some similar nonsense. The obvious problem with seeking help from the state is that the state does not really give a shit about people's well-being.
So, skipping several elucidory steps...follow the Hegelian progression of this program and you wind up with a landscape that mirrors the inner life of the power elite. It consists of mansions and prisons. Guess who gets to live in the mansion.
So what we peasants have to do is learn how to social engineer from the lower, and presumably disadvantageous position. I think we do this by resisting our programming and remembering to give a shit about other people. The recent hurricane is proof that this tendency has not been eradicated. Like a sudden boon from the Almighty, it also effectively unmasked the paranoid, heartless nature of the state more effectively than anything in recent memory.
Anyway, I'm ranting. Our situation must indeed be dire if you are looking for Sartre to be your champion. Hearing your pleas, he would open a bottle of wine and decide, after much deliberation, that suicide is, oh...probably not necessary.