Blog Comments

The only value that wars have is to eliminated some of the excess population.

People like war. Except me and a few others. Unfortunately we are stuck with the human race, if there was a calmer better race -well, I would happily join them.

Some would agree with you about the uselessness of this endless war until recently.

5 here and I'm having on now. Cheers!

eh, I'm gonna have a martini at 5pm.

The link to the Archives is dubious. I just tried this one, and it worked.
https://www.federalregister.gov/pres...ecutive-orders

I'm not sure Peter, if some of this dissertation is tongue in cheek?

What constitutes obsessive behaviour during a pandemic is an interesting point. Mind you hand washing, mask wearing, social distancing to me is basic self survival.

Absorption of alcohol through the skin? I've just had a large Negroni cocktail after sanitizing my hands. No wonder I feel so great!!!!

Yawn...

I abhor the subtle intolerance within the artistic and literary community.

Originally Posted by tonywalt

I think we fully understand each other. Multiple sources? Is this 1974? Do you really buy my naivete? Don't buy it..

I don't think that you understand.

I am just amazed at anyone's ability to overcome early dementia and general forgetfulness, not just Joe Biden. Law and order is one of the pillars of any society. We all value it as important.

I'm sorry to learn that you have that problem.

I fear there may be some fake news around, Tony. A fact is that today presidential debates in general aren´t limited to public matters.

I think we fully understand each other. Multiple sources? Is this 1974? Do you really buy my naivete? Don't buy it.

I am just amazed at anyone's ability to overcome early dementia and general forgetfulness, not just Joe Biden. Law and order is one of the pillars of any society. We all value it as important.

Originally Posted by PeterL

I don't know where you get your news, but you should take it with grain os salt.

Lack of law and order is not a significant issue, even though Trump tries to make it into something. While there may be protests at night in a few cities, during the day time those places are carrying on as usual without any problems. The state and local leaders are quite competent, unlike the guy in the Oval Office, and they do not need outside help; although they might like to have fewer outsiders going in and trying to start race riots.

Joe Biden is sharp as a tack. He shows no signs of mental deterioration, unlike Trump who acts like a child having a tantrum. Trump has little understanding of current domestic and foreign developments. He ran for president for the publicity, so he might make money from it, but he has no idea how government operates. He seems to think that he can run the U.S.A. as he has run his enterprises, which he ran into bankruptcy six times, and in a few more years, he might run the U.S.A. into bankruptcy.

You might want to find better sources of news. Multiple soources are best, because none can be trusted all of the time.

I think we fully understand each other. Multiple sources? Is this 1974? Do you really buy my naivete? Don't buy it.

I don't know where you get your news, but you should take it with grain os salt.

Lack of law and order is not a significant issue, even though Trump tries to make it into something. While there may be protests at night in a few cities, during the day time those places are carrying on as usual without any problems. The state and local leaders are quite competent, unlike the guy in the Oval Office, and they do not need outside help; although they might like to have fewer outsiders going in and trying to start race riots.

Joe Biden is sharp as a tack. He shows no signs of mental deterioration, unlike Trump who acts like a child having a tantrum. Trump has little understanding of current domestic and foreign developments. He ran for president for the publicity, so he might make money from it, but he has no idea how government operates. He seems to think that he can run the U.S.A. as he has run his enterprises, which he ran into bankruptcy six times, and in a few more years, he might run the U.S.A. into bankruptcy.

You might want to find better sources of news. Multiple soources are best, because none can be trusted all of the time.

Interesting post.

I am not familiar with America. I just hope that law and order is imposed in a forceful way onto the states where there is trouble. The constitution permits wide powers to individual states and quite a few run by inept leaders have diminished the Rule of Law. We can all only hope for law and order. #lawandorder

Also, I pray, as Biden struggles with memory loss - that he can recover somehow. This memory loss and loss of mental faculty may be perceived as a weakness, and he would be taken advantage of by the "radical fringes" you mention in your last paragraph.

It is now time to walk my dog. I just need to get the dog whistle and his treats, and I am off.

Originally Posted by Buh4Bee

Maybe the weather channel is accurate.

More so than most.

Maybe the weather channel is accurate.

Don't worry, while your decisions are constrained by cause and effect, you are not a simulation of a human, regardless of your what you might wish. I think that Port and Madeira are better than martinis, so have a glass of wine. And remember William of Occam.

Ok, so right now I'm —as the kids used to say — "weirded out." Less than 24 hours ago I read a New Yorker article with references to this very topic. "All the President's Men" by Jill Lepore describes the first time computer technology was employed in a Presidential election, namely the 1960 race between Kennedy and Nixon. The article ended with chilling parallels to simulation and such exploits by Facebook, Cambridge Analytical, and so forth.

"And" — as the infomercials are wont to shout — "that's not all!" About a week ago, yours fooly finished viewing the final season of "Westworld" in which a futuristic tech corporation not only gathers info about every individual in the world's population but actually uses the data to design every minute of each person's life. It goes the social engineering one step farther.

In addition to "The Matrix" (which after seeing all three components I'm not sure I completely comprehend) I'm beginning to recall other cultural allusions to this concept, such as the Series Finale to "St Elsewhere" from way back in 1988. The highly-imaginative gimmick was less like the "It was all a dream" cliché than an early glimmer of the phenomenon of which you speak.

It all makes me a little angsty. If I were a drinking woman, I'd make myself a martini right about now and do what the great realist James Thurber advised: "Leave your mind alone."

It's time for me to update this.