Author: polistra
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When a baron begs for regs
Sam Altman and other tech robber barons have been begging for more regulation of their AI product. When a robber baron begs for regulation, he’s instructing the government to LEGITIMIZE AND PREFER his company over others. If he begs expensively enough, his desires will be fulfilled. This was already obvious with Bitcoin Sammy, now it’s…
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Sane politicians!
This is a recent interview with some Enid politicians. I was listening to it for background noise while doing graphics. My ears perked up when I heard one of the ladies joking about a previous politician who wanted to SEEment all the medians for global warming. I perked even more when Frank Baker discussed how…
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That’s why
I wrote my usual comment about the nonsense of “rights”. For some reason the usual comment caused a new thought today. The usual comment: “Rights” are nonsense, not found in the Bible. “Rights” were created by aristocrats to grant themselves more privileges than they already have. New thought: I’ve always wondered why this particular bit…
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Porchets
An architecture trade journal from the ’20s has some dubious innovations for a brief fashion. Sleeping porches were a big deal in the ’20s, especially in California. Fresh air is unquestionably good for you, but sleeping outside of the building is an invitation to bugs and birds and burglars. The better sleeping porches or sunporches…
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What you mean WE, theory man?
McDiarmid praises two professional arguers for arguing without nastiness. The result is the type of interaction we’re secretly craving more of these days — energetic conversation between people with differing views but who demonstrate respect for one another, for themselves, and for those who may be watching. I’m not craving pointless argument whether civilized or…
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Why the inversion?
Sailer catches the same inversion that I was noticing earlier. Back in the ’50s and ’60s we had lots of serious reports of UFOs, including several from astronauts. Weather radar and ship radar often tracked the vehicles, so they weren’t insects or lens flares. Also back in the ’50s and ’60s, the same government that…
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It’s all about caste
Recurring to the theme of primary sources. One of Taibbi’s commenters approvingly cites Mencken’s nasty description of Harding’s writing. Primary sources tell the correct story. Mencken was an arrogant conformist elitist bully of the worst sort. Pure Nietzsche. I am GOD. You are SHIT. He constantly berated peasants and Southerners and yokels. He hated anyone…
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Bud Licht
Licht’s statements are remarkably candid and POWERFULLY TRUE. = = = = = START QUOTE: In the 15,000-word piece, he spoke disparagingly of the network’s staff and how they’d covered topics before he came on board. Mimicking their approach, he said: ‘COVID, COVID, COVID! Look at the case numbers! Look at this! Look at this!…
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Endless modifiable horizons
From Apple’s announcement of its expensive Metaverse: With Vision Pro, you have an infinite canvas that transforms how you use the apps you love. Arrange apps anywhere and scale them to the perfect size, making the workspace of your dreams a reality — all while staying present in the world around you. Browse the web…
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Wouldn’t bet
Now we have three debuts sponsored by Elon in a short time. DeSantis was ruined by Elon. RFK was not exactly ruined but sort of muted because Elon was in the interview. Tucker Carlson’s debut was all on his own, with no Elon presence. In less than a day he has 70 million views. That’s…
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Enviros hate all life.
We already know that enviros hate humans. They openly state their burning need to commit total genocide. They also hate plants. Plants eat CO2, and plants ENJOY warmth. Enviros want to eliminate all CO2 and turn the earth into the moon. Here’s a more specific example. If you want to regreen a barren field, you…
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EBF + EBM = ALAM
The Selden organization was essentially a patent troll, holding a few patents and using lawsuits to enforce payment of royalties. Selden called itself the Association of Licensed Auto Manufacturers ALAM, and later renamed itself National Auto Chamber of Commerce NACC. Ford refused to pay, so ALAM took on a larger role as union and lobbyist…
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Grudges count 2
A few days ago I hoped that Pence would channel his personal grudge against Trump to move the party in a different direction. His actual announcement video is ‘highly produced’, full of standard quotes and standard images, which is normal. Until this month I would have dismissed this as meaningless, but this month gives us…
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One advance
This 1950 episode of Hollywood Byline is in my bedtime OTR playlist. It happened to be playing when I woke up after a much-needed heavy sleep. The guest in this episode was Celeste Holm, and the discussion at the moment of waking was postwar economics in Hollywood. In the sleep/wake transition state, I thought it…
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Always missing the editor
Typical AI point-missing, neglecting the role of editors as usual. = = = = = START QUOTE: In the wake of artificial assistants, searching the “traditional” way will get thrown out as the internet totally transforms; nonetheless, it might take a while for AI to fully replace search engines like Google or Microsoft’s Bing. Until…
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