Saturday, March 31, 2018
BIG finding
This is a BIG finding!
If we think about polling or scanning, the waves would be similar to sonar or radar, multiplexing different types of association into a time series. With normal sonar (bat or electronic) the sender calculates location of an object by the time between sent pulse and received pulse. In this type of scan the sender would be activating the various circumferential associations in sequence, and picking up the sequential results in the radial fibers. Maybe a better analogy would be the old acoustic delay line computer memories.
= = = = =
I went ahead and bought the full paper. For once the paid part contains more info than the abstract. Usually you don't get extra by paying. The first thing that stands out: In the mouse, each complete scan is about 10 seconds, though the wave as observed by experimental methods is not strongly periodic. This is much slower than breathing or heartbeat or motor response time. It's suggestively close to minimal attention span, which is 7 seconds in humans. We can be trained to hold attention longer, but TV producers know how to lock in phase with the 7 second basic span. 
First author Anish Mitra, PhD, and Andrew Kraft, PhD – both MD/PhD students at Washington University – and colleagues decided to approach the mystery of the ultra-slow waves using two techniques that directly measure electrical activity in mice brains. In one, they measured such activity on the cellular level. In the other, they measured electrical activity layer by layer along the outer surface of the brain. They found that the waves were no artifact: Ultra-slow waves were seen regardless of the technique, and they were not the sum of all the faster electrical activity in the brain. Instead, the researchers found that the ultra-slow waves spontaneously started in a deep layer of mice’s brains and spread in a predictable trajectory. As the waves passed through each area of the brain, they enhanced the electrical activity there. Neurons fired more enthusiastically when a wave was in the vicinity. Moreover, the ultra-slow waves persisted when the mice were put under general anesthesia, but with the direction of the waves reversed.Nothing new about the existence of slow waves in the brain. Known as long as EEG has been around. The BIG part is the triggering or polling effect (enhancing electrical activity), and the BIGGEST part is the reversal when unconscious. How do senses come in to awareness and memory? Vision and hearing are processed first in a complex series of filtering centers in the brainstem. The resulting CODED signals describing movements of colors and shapes, and movements of frequencies and intensities, are then sent out to the cortex for high level comparison to memory templates. Match the formants with intonation, phonemes, morphemes, and grammar. The results of the match are then stored in memory for use in the next comparison. The outward polling would enhance or speed the movement of coded data from brainstem out to cortex. What happens when the polling shifts into reverse? Memories and patterns from the cortex flow better toward the centers of awareness in the brainstem, where they are treated as sensory data. DREAMS. = = = = = Later thought: The radial fibers (corona radiata) of the white matter wouldh't care much about this outward-moving stimulation. They are essentially wires from the cortex to the brainstem. The passage of charge waves might help to encourage flow of ions, especially on the part of the axon inside the myelin, which is a candidate for subconscious or dreamy action. The charge waves would have their best effect on the association fibers that tie various parts of the radial fibers together permanently or temporarily, creating patterns and templates. You can imagine them being activated in sequence:
If we think about polling or scanning, the waves would be similar to sonar or radar, multiplexing different types of association into a time series. With normal sonar (bat or electronic) the sender calculates location of an object by the time between sent pulse and received pulse. In this type of scan the sender would be activating the various circumferential associations in sequence, and picking up the sequential results in the radial fibers. Maybe a better analogy would be the old acoustic delay line computer memories.
= = = = =
I went ahead and bought the full paper. For once the paid part contains more info than the abstract. Usually you don't get extra by paying. The first thing that stands out: In the mouse, each complete scan is about 10 seconds, though the wave as observed by experimental methods is not strongly periodic. This is much slower than breathing or heartbeat or motor response time. It's suggestively close to minimal attention span, which is 7 seconds in humans. We can be trained to hold attention longer, but TV producers know how to lock in phase with the 7 second basic span. Labels: Answered better than asked
¶ 4:13 PM
Interesting direction
Russia has formally presented a list of 14 questions about the Skripal incident to the SorosUK dysgovernment. 9 of the 14 questions push in a direction that hasn't been a public focus until now: the deep involvement of France in the investigation. The vector sum of these questions isn't clear to an outsider, but presumably it's crystal clear to the SorosUK dysgovernment. Only one of the non-France questions is new and sharp:
2. What specific antidotes and in what form were the victims injected with? How did such antidotes come into the possession of British doctors at the scene of the incident?
Good question. If the police medics were READY for this specific poison, how did they know?
¶ 11:04 AM
Friday, March 30, 2018
Accidental wisdom
Atlanta's mayor is the perfect Sorosian. Humanoid entity of indeterminate gender and indeterminate race, wearing trapezoidal glasses and trapezoidal mouth. During the "crisis" of the bitcoin ransom, she or he or ve emitted the standard fashionable boilerplate.... with ONE highly unfashionable exception.
I noticed the exception several days ago, but didn't really appreciate its salience until today. When I tried to relocate the quote so I could write this little Bravo, I couldn't find it again. I'm fairly sure I saw it in a Techcrunch article, but now Techcrunch seems to have nothing on Atlanta at all.
At any rate, she or he or ve said roughly: We've been handling city business on paper for many years. The system always worked well. It can still work.
Bravo to the mayor. Even if her UNfashionable quotation has been Rectified, she definitely said it.
Non-digital methods are CRIMETHINK. You're not supposed to mention the FACT that analog or paper methods ACTUALLY WORKED BETTER THAN DIGITAL METHODS.
A separate piece of doublethink: As I was tracing through various aggregators to relocate the quote, I kept seeing the more fashionable parts of the articles through a gray screen. The fashionable messages were saying "All of us need to be more vigilant and increase our cybersecurity." The advice to increase our cybersecurity was obscured by a gray screen saying "Whoops! We notice you're using an adblocker. Please turn it off so you can see the content."
We must increase our security and we must remove our security. We must increase and remove our security. We must incremove our security.
Comrade O'Brien is happy.
Labels: defensible spaces, defensible times
¶ 9:12 AM
Not universal, unique
About five years ago I bought a bowl at Safeway. It wasn't a normal part of their stock, just one of those special things they offer at various times. At the time I was starting to make omelets, and my existing soup bowls weren't large enough to do quality control and mixing for three eggs. The new bowl served the purpose beautifully, and immediately became my only bowl. It held ramen in the morning, egg quality control at lunch, and chili at supper, along with helping to sort and thaw vegetables for the chili. It was perfect.
Two weeks ago I got careless and broke it. Fortunately it was empty at the time.
Well, no problem. If Safeway carries something, it can't be a rare custom-made item. Must be super-common and easy to replace.
Wrong. The dimensions are apparently NOT standard, and I'm having a hard time finding something that matches.
Fortunately I took a picture of it when I was pointlessly writing about the chili recipe.
Measuring against the spoon, the bowl has to be at least 8 inches in diameter, probably 8.5 inches. I've returned to the small bowls which are 7 inches, and I know for sure they're smaller than the good bowl, because that's why I bought and kept the good bowl in the first place. The eggs are crowded and hard to mix, and the soup is too close to the top.
There are standard "salad bowls" with the right diameter, but they're all too shallow (2 inches deep). I ordered a couple of "salad bowls" and tried the Archimedes trick. Filled the small bowl with water up to the usual quantity of ramen, which is too close to the top in the small bowl, but was safely under the edge in the good bowl. Poured the water into the alleged "salad bowls". It's WAY too close to the top, almost sloshing out.
So the correct bowl needs to be 8 or 8.5 in diameter, and 3 inches deep. This is NOT common.
I'm tempted to commission one of the potters on Etsy to make several of them so I'll have a backup the next time I get stupid and break one.
A bit later: As usual, writing about a problem helps to loosen the assumptions. SE-LU. It turns out that bowls of the correct dimensions do exist, but they're known as "serving bowls" instead of "salad bowls" or "soup bowls." Perhaps because they "serve" a purpose, while the others don't. Found one on Ebay, after making sure the picture showed the actual height of 3" on an actual measuring tape. Ordered it. We'll see if it SERVES my purpose.
Later: Got it. Nice bowl but too large. Well, now we've got brackets around the correct size. Time to apply the method of adjustment.
Next day: Decided to try the "salad bowl" again with real food. The depth doesn't match the original, but it does work. It holds my usual portion. Diameter is the crucial dimension, not just for egg-mixing. 7 inches doesn't leave any room for error when pouring from pan to bowl. There's always a little spillage where the liquid 'backtracks' along the side of the pan. 8.5 inches is enough to keep all the liquid inside the bowl. So I'll use this one while looking (with less urgency) for the Mama Bear Just Right item.
Measuring against the spoon, the bowl has to be at least 8 inches in diameter, probably 8.5 inches. I've returned to the small bowls which are 7 inches, and I know for sure they're smaller than the good bowl, because that's why I bought and kept the good bowl in the first place. The eggs are crowded and hard to mix, and the soup is too close to the top.
There are standard "salad bowls" with the right diameter, but they're all too shallow (2 inches deep). I ordered a couple of "salad bowls" and tried the Archimedes trick. Filled the small bowl with water up to the usual quantity of ramen, which is too close to the top in the small bowl, but was safely under the edge in the good bowl. Poured the water into the alleged "salad bowls". It's WAY too close to the top, almost sloshing out.
So the correct bowl needs to be 8 or 8.5 in diameter, and 3 inches deep. This is NOT common.
I'm tempted to commission one of the potters on Etsy to make several of them so I'll have a backup the next time I get stupid and break one.
A bit later: As usual, writing about a problem helps to loosen the assumptions. SE-LU. It turns out that bowls of the correct dimensions do exist, but they're known as "serving bowls" instead of "salad bowls" or "soup bowls." Perhaps because they "serve" a purpose, while the others don't. Found one on Ebay, after making sure the picture showed the actual height of 3" on an actual measuring tape. Ordered it. We'll see if it SERVES my purpose.
Later: Got it. Nice bowl but too large. Well, now we've got brackets around the correct size. Time to apply the method of adjustment.
Next day: Decided to try the "salad bowl" again with real food. The depth doesn't match the original, but it does work. It holds my usual portion. Diameter is the crucial dimension, not just for egg-mixing. 7 inches doesn't leave any room for error when pouring from pan to bowl. There's always a little spillage where the liquid 'backtracks' along the side of the pan. 8.5 inches is enough to keep all the liquid inside the bowl. So I'll use this one while looking (with less urgency) for the Mama Bear Just Right item.Labels: Metrology, Nonzero problems
¶ 2:58 AM
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Saluting Ecuador
Polistra and friends offer a SPECIAL salute to Ecuador.
For accompaniment, we'll add Ecuador's Himno Nacional.
See below for the reason.
For accompaniment, we'll add Ecuador's Himno Nacional.
See below for the reason.
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter
¶ 10:26 AM
Not unique, universal
Reading some of Kim Schmidt alias Kim Dotcom's writing. Always entertaining even if I'm not quite sure which side he's on. Started "thinking" about his alias. Seems odd to pick part of a URL as your official name. Wonder if anyone tried the equivalent in earlier times, using their business or address.......
JESUS CHRIST! DUMBEST QUESTION EVER!
ALL SURNAMES developed from jobs and addresses!!!
So in fact Kim Dotcom has resurrected the OLDEST and MOST COMMON way of developing a name, but he's just about the only person since 1750 who has used the technique to build a NEW name.
The technique was unused for a couple centuries because street addresses and phone numbers are mostly numerical, and modern job titles are clumsy. "James 555-2368" or "Roberta 6517 SW 154th Place Apartment 41" or "Herman Assistant Supervisor Of Custodial Services" are impractical. When the web switched back to short alphabetic addressing, the technique became usable again, but nobody used it until Schmidt.
= = = = =
Random sidenote, since I'm in dumb wondering mode: I wondered if 666 is a rare address, along the lines of the 13th floor. Tried googlemaps. Entered 666 in the blank, and googlemaps obligingly found local items first. The first Spokane address listed is an apartment building at 666 South Helena Street. Helena is pronounced the Montana way, so the address is a nice three-piece pun. Accidental or intentional? Dunno.
Overall 666 is not especially rare, which is not especially surprising. The religious significance of 666 was obscure and scholarly until televangelists made it famous around 1970. Most three-digit addresses were formed much earlier, when 666 was just an interesting number like 999.
¶ 2:41 AM
Why a disaster?
Why do we always describe oil leaks as "environmental disasters"?
Caveat: I'm weary of the Things are better now line in general. Most of the alleged betters are actually worses, and some are a matter of taste.
One unquestionable better is our mastery of high-value energy sources from coal to petroleum to nuclear fission.
One aspect of this better that isn't properly appreciated: We have SLOWED DOWN oil leaks dramatically.
Look at any long-term history of petroleum and you'll see that oil was leaking and spewing all over the place UNTIL we tapped and controlled the wells. People had been using petroleum for thousands of years in North America and the Middle East, because it was bubbling to the surface where they didn't need technology to find it. Oil still spews and flows through the ocean floor constantly.
Oil doesn't flow openly on land now because we've drawn down the overflowing reservoirs. The occasional rare leak from wells or pipelines can't remotely approach the scale of the constant seepage through the seabed.
Secondarily, we know from the controlled experiment of the Exxon Valdez crash that NATURE cleans the area better than our desperate efforts to scrub away the oil with detergents. Several years after the "disaster", the areas we hadn't touched were more alive than the areas we'd sterilized. THIS SHOULDN'T BE A FUCKING SURPRISE because petroleum is an ORGANIC CHEMICAL that breaks down and provides NOURISHMENT for bacteria. The unscrubbed areas had MORE FOOD than the "cleaned" areas.
¶ 2:23 AM
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
We really don't need Assange any more.
Assange hasn't published anything new since November, but this is OK. It looks like his duty is done. He has broken enough seals in enough places that the leaks are becoming automatic and unstoppable, like a dike breached by one hole. Thanks, Julian! Beautiful work, now you can rest.
Two parallel developments today:
1. A Federal District NON-DEMON rejected a Saudi motion to dismiss, allowing the giant class-action suit on 9/11 to move forward a few more steps. The discovery process on this suit is going to blow out lots of rocks.
2. The Saudi leader openly admitted in a BezosPost interview that the Wahhabi movement is a CIA-sponsored agent provocateur to make Islam look horrible. We started paying Saudi to run the AP in the '80s when we were trying to break Russia. During the brief period when we were NOT trying to break Russia because we thought we had already broken it, our Current Enemy turned to Islam. CIA-sponsored Wahhabi mosques spread the most extreme mutant of Islam in one part of the world, while our CIA-sponsored Taliban spread the most extreme mutant of Islam in another part of the world.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED by our Final Solution to the "problem" of Islam, which WASN'T A FUCKING PROBLEM until we created it.
Both of today's revelations are old news to some extent.
Everyone understands that 9/11 was a Saudi operation, even though we tried to hide it from ourselves. I was among the worst offenders in that department from 2001 to 2006, when I finally started to open my eyes.
The Wahhabi AP wasn't nearly as obvious, so the Deepstate line remained broadly unquestioned. Now it can't be hidden.
Add to this the GIANT ALL-INCLUSIVE ALL-EXPLAINING REVELATION that
and this has been quite a week for leaks. Maybe we should stop using the word leaks and use tsunami?
= = = = =
Later: Apparently the communication blockage is caused by Assange's support for Catalunyan president Puigdemont. In that case FUCK YOU, JULIAN. You're a fucking idiot. You can't even tell the difference between good and evil. You're supporting the SOROS side, and brave little Ecuador is the only ANTI-SOROS country on this side of the world. I'm strictly and purely with Ecuador on this.
and this has been quite a week for leaks. Maybe we should stop using the word leaks and use tsunami?
= = = = =
Later: Apparently the communication blockage is caused by Assange's support for Catalunyan president Puigdemont. In that case FUCK YOU, JULIAN. You're a fucking idiot. You can't even tell the difference between good and evil. You're supporting the SOROS side, and brave little Ecuador is the only ANTI-SOROS country on this side of the world. I'm strictly and purely with Ecuador on this.Labels: From rights to duties
¶ 4:58 PM
"Rights" to duties, Assange edition
The independent side of the Web is all weeweed up about Ecuador's sudden decision to halt Assange's communication links. The indies are claiming that Julian's "right" to communicate is violated.
Ratshit. "Rights" don't exist. Duties exist. Ecuador's government has a DUTY to defend and advance the interests of its OWN people. In assisting Assange, Ecuador went WAY beyond the call of duty in both the original sense and my peculiar sense of the word. Ecuador does NOT have a duty to maintain Assange's links.
It's an EXTREMELY SAFE BET that USA STRONG has put Ecuador in an untenable position by pulling some blackmail files or threatening to cut off trade.
In that case public pressure on Ecuador won't help. Ecuador can't afford to disobey the USA STRONG monster, so you'll only make things harder for Assange.
If you're really indie journalists, you need to do your journalism and find out where the pressure is coming from. Expose the pressure. Then Ecuador might have more breathing room.
It's also possible that Assange has soiled his own nest. He deals in high-level pure abstractions like "rights" instead of concrete realities like a government's need for survival. If that's the case, the journalists should tell us what's going on.
= = = = =
Later: Apparently the blockage is caused by Assange's support for the Catalunyan president Puigdemont. In that case FUCK YOU, JULIAN. You're supporting the SOROS side, and brave little Ecuador is the only ANTI-SOROS country on this side of the world. I'm strictly and purely with Ecuador on this.
Labels: From rights to duties
¶ 10:11 AM
How crazy?
Just how crazy are we?
From the front page of DW. I didn't juxtapose these items, DW did:
The current Kraut dysgovernment approves the Russian pipeline to bring gas and oil to Krautland.
The current Kraut dysgovernment brings charges against former leader Schroeder for "serving Russian interests".
= = = = =
Today, USA STRONG dysgovernment speaker Heather Nauert says:
"Russia has many arms and many tentacles. It's a beast from the deep sea."
Meanwhile in Boston, the beast from the deep sea arrives carrying natural gas to keep the East Coast from freezing to death. Presumably the beast has approval from the USA STRONG dysgovernment to connect its arms and tentacles to Boston's port pipelines.
¶ 8:17 AM
The current Kraut dysgovernment approves the Russian pipeline to bring gas and oil to Krautland.
The current Kraut dysgovernment brings charges against former leader Schroeder for "serving Russian interests".
= = = = =
Today, USA STRONG dysgovernment speaker Heather Nauert says:
"Russia has many arms and many tentacles. It's a beast from the deep sea."
Meanwhile in Boston, the beast from the deep sea arrives carrying natural gas to keep the East Coast from freezing to death. Presumably the beast has approval from the USA STRONG dysgovernment to connect its arms and tentacles to Boston's port pipelines.
¶ 8:17 AM
Restoring the monarchy
Returning to the mysterious period of non-intervention from 1920 to 1946. Hard to imagine now. The US GOVERNMENT refused to make wars for 25 years, and the culture and media (with government approval!) helped to maintain the attitude. Government really didn't need to help, because we had ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING from the period of imperial aggression that started with McKinley and spun out of control with Wilson. We UNDERSTOOD that aggression was bad for the aggressor, and we ACTED ON THE UNDERSTANDING.
Non-intervention wasn't just an American imperative; other nations were equally tired. Only the Japs and Krauts continued aggressing during those years, and finally had to be stopped.
The pattern of RE-ESTABLISHING NORMALCY was also happening in Afghanistan. Nadir Shah RESTORED a sane government after a revolution.
An article on Afghanistan in a 1936 BBC magazine found at the incomparable American Radio History website. This is important, so I've transcribed instead of screencapping.
But a very few years ago these men, now once again a unit, were split into factions by the misrule of one who promised to be a great king, and the men who have accomplished this gigantic task of unification have been his late lamented Majesty King Mohamed Nadir Shah and his brothers. And how did Nadir Shah manage to re-establish the order of the kingdom after the revolution? The deeds of his gallantry and the sacrifices that his family made may now pass into a legend. Here we are more concerned as to the actual progress which his plan produced in Afghanistan, to the extent that within a surprising space of five or six years, that mountain country is now well-nigh her old self again.What did he accomplish?
Since 1931, practically every village of any size has had a school, and primary education is compulsory; food and books are also given to the scholars. The National University of Kabul trains students even in medical science, and more than two hundred students are having advanced instruction in European and American universities.Hmm. When we invaded Afghanistan in 2001, we were AUTHORITATIVELY INSTRUCTED that Afghanistan was permanently stuck in the Stone Age. The primitive savages had never learned how to tell time. Were we hearing LIES? Nah, impossible. Our wonderful government always tells the truth. I love Big Brother.
Within the last two years nearly two thousand miles of [paved] roads have been constructed, and it is only now that, through them, the capital has been linked with the Russian frontiers on the Oxus by means of motor roads. Internal security and the proper organisation of trade connexions have enormously increased Afghan trade activities so that - again for the first time - an Afghan National Bank has been installed at Kabul, with its branches in India, Persia, Russia, and England. The flow of Afghan trade in its turn has enriched the Government exchequer, and the salaries of practically all Government employees have been increased. Since no National Debt, as such, exists, and trade improves every year, life has become peaceful and happy in the country; nor does unemployment haunt Afghan homes.Was this overoptimistic propaganda? Nope. Many other sources verify the progress made by the RESTORED MONARCHY from 1920 to 1973. NOTE that the author cheers the lack of debt. You won't catch a Sorosian author doing that nowadays. Debt is holy because debt exterminates Deplorables and enriches the Tribe. NOTE ALSO that Britain and Russia were WORKING TOGETHER to help restore Afghan trade and infrastructure, because both stood to benefit by opening up Afghan resources. Typically, the progress broke in 1973, the universal point of inflection. Atypically, it was Russia that broke Afghanistan at that time. Russia had been chiefly defensive, operating by proxy, since WW2. Afghanistan was their first American-style aggression. Russia learned the lesson and stopped aggressing. We still haven't learned anything and won't until we're cured by excising us from the universe. Faster, please.
Labels: Alternate universe
¶ 3:37 AM
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Se-lu 23, sanctuary edition
Reviewing the SE-LU derivation:
Latin soluere comes from Indo-European se-lu, where se is the universal reflexive pronoun and lu is pull apart or untie. From soluere we have solution, solve, solvent.
The most common meaning is untying the knot of a problem. To solve a problem, you must LOOSEN YOURSELF first. Untie the hidden assumptions and habitual connections.
= = = = =
For many years I've been repeating the standard theme song of populism: A nation is a bounded region, just as an organism is a bounded region. Nations and organisms try to maintain their own form of order inside the boundaries, leaving chaos outside. Therefore, the ONLY job of a national government is to control the flow across borders. Halt invaders, control trade to increase INTERNAL order, control immigration to increase INTERNAL order.
The USA STRONG dysgovernment has abandoned all of these tasks. Instead of halting invaders we 'invade and invite'. We bomb every other country and then bring in the displaced populations of the countries we destroyed, forcibly implanting the migrants where they will exterminate the local Deplorables. We do the same with trade. Instead of restricting input to improve our own production, we forcibly invade ourselves with foreign-made shit to exterminate the local Deplorables.
Until now I've also been singing the chorus of the populist song: We should restore the original and natural functions.
= = = = =
SE-LU: Why bother?
Switzerland shows the way with its CITY-BASED referenda on admitting migrants. If Bern wants to be a sanctuary for Libyan leftovers and Luzern doesn't, let them make their own decisions.
We're already there in practice.
The problem is not the sanctuary cities; the problem is the infinitely evil setup of the Black-Robed Demons which FORCES the WORST decisions to go national. This is not in the old Constitution, and it's not even in the laws authorizing District Demons. It's a PURELY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY which nobody has the guts to stop. Without the black-robed demons, we'd already have the Swiss arrangement.
= = = = =
The same SE-LU applies to currency and banking, which is another of those supposedly national functions. There's NO REASON to have a national currency and there's WAY BEYOND NO REASON to have a central bank.
Since the development of the clearing-house process 800 years ago, banking has not required one currency for each nation. You do need some reliable and constant currency units, and it's more convenient when one currency covers a region that habitually trades together. The only serious requirement is that all the units must have a ground reference, which is traditionally gold. The non-Sorosian part of the world is VERY QUICKLY re-establishing this traditional arrangement. China and Persia and Russia are accumulating gold to use as a heavy ground plane for their national currencies.
This flexibility isn't new with blockchain or digital or even telegraphs. Old-fashioned banks keep enough physical cash for their own needs, in a form satisfactory to their own customers, but most transactions run WITHOUT ANY MOVEMENT OF REAL CURRENCY. This setup doesn't require instant communication. It does require some form of reliable and secure messenger service so the banks can reconcile their net debits and credits against counterparty banks, then transfer real currency to null each difference at the end of the month or quarter or year.
When all the corresponding banks agree to price their particular currencies against gold, the local currencies are open to all sorts of numerical proportions. Inflation in one city doesn't force inflation elsewhere, and doesn't need national adjustment. With less inertia and less clamping, values and interest rates tend to adjust automatically to local situations. This was the arrangement in USA until 1850 or so, and it worked reasonably well. It would work much better now with computers handling the arithmetic painlessly.
We EMPHATICALLY DON'T NEED national central banks. Central banks are hypercriminal exterminators of REAL VALUE.
= = = = =
The same SE-LU applies to tariffs and trade. In practice we're already there. Media demons mocked Sarah Palin for her familiarity with Russia, but she was simply describing the REAL SITUATION in border states. Alaska has been making its own treaties with Russia for a long time because Alaska and Russia share a border. Wash and Montana and ND and Minnesota and Michigan have been making treaties with Canada for a long time. The old Constitution explicitly forbids these treaties, but they happen because they WORK. Trade treaties work best when they're modular and minimal and bilateral.
= = = = =
In fact we've always been far more confederated and less national than the 1787 Constitution wanted us to be. The words of the 1787 Constitution make it possible for Deepstate to run division games against governors or counties that are on the UNFASHIONABLE side of these legalities, while ignoring states and counties that are on the FASHIONABLE side.
SE-LU. Untie the ropes. Let the confederation run loose. Eliminate the national government entirely. It is ABSOLUTELY FAILING at all of its assigned tasks, and simultaneously costing us trillions of dollars for the service of exterminating us.
It's not even an honest protection racket. It's a FRAUDULENT protection racket. A metaracket. The USA STRONG mob forces us to pay for protection against the violence of the USA STRONG mob, and then SLAUGHTERS us anyway. Hypercriminal.
Labels: se-lu
¶ 8:48 AM
Monday, March 26, 2018
Plus ça charge.....
A few rechargeable batteries now have a BRAND NEW feature: a built-in charge indicator.
Brand-new? Nope.
From a 1935 radio journal:
NEAT GADGET!
The picture is clear but the description isn't. The crescent thing is pivoted at left, and it has a glass-enclosed air bubble at the lower end. When the specific gravity of the electrolyte is higher, the air bubble is more buoyant, so the crescent thing pivots upward and the air bubble covers HALF, then FULL. Similar to the syringe-like tester used with car batteries.
Later: I wasn't convinced that the device actually went into production, because I couldn't find it in later advertisements for Oldham batteries. But Exide had a more stylish variant which was definitely advertised and sold:
¶ 2:49 PM
NEAT GADGET!
The picture is clear but the description isn't. The crescent thing is pivoted at left, and it has a glass-enclosed air bubble at the lower end. When the specific gravity of the electrolyte is higher, the air bubble is more buoyant, so the crescent thing pivots upward and the air bubble covers HALF, then FULL. Similar to the syringe-like tester used with car batteries.
Later: I wasn't convinced that the device actually went into production, because I couldn't find it in later advertisements for Oldham batteries. But Exide had a more stylish variant which was definitely advertised and sold:
¶ 2:49 PM
A quoric question
On this morning's walk I peripherally noticed a leftover Xmas light string tacked to a wall. At first it looked like graffiti of the anarchist alpha-omega symbol.
Which leads to a quora-like question.
Why don't anarchists and atheists have their own alt.Xmas light displays?
Instead of wreaths, alpha-omega and "peace" symbols.
Instead of fake icicles and teddy bears, melting glaciers and dead polar bears.
Instead of Santa in a sleigh pulled by 8 reindeer, Satan in a Tesla pulled by 8 lowbrow toothless honkies all named Bubba. (On Bubba! On Bubba! On Bubba and Bubba!)
Instead of presents wrapped with bows, boxes with instantaneous stock quotes for AMZN, TSLA, GOOG, AAPL, etc.
Instead of stockings stuffed with candy, Birkenstocks stuffed with Bitcoin.
Instead of fruitcake ... Oops, bad word. I mean Cake Of Variable Gender! ... Well then, no substitute needed, except of course that the Cake Of Variable Gender must be GMO-free, Vegan, Gluten-free, Cruelty-free, and in general Food-free.
= = = = =
**Come to think of it, I already made the Satan in a Tesla scene!
¶ 9:53 AM
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Oops, missed it....
Oops, I missed the Urp Hour thing last night. I'd made a habit of running a picture of Polistra lighting up the hour. I'm not in a picture-making mood, so here's last year:
More to the point, I mentioned the founder of Urp Day recently. So I'll just reprint the entire item, since it's the only halfway decent thing I've written this year. Real historical facts, valid reasoning.
= = = = = START REPRINT:
Returning to Gouvernour Morris vs Tom Paine, trying to sort out the apparent inconsistency in the Hix radio show. I managed to wade through more of the 1838 biography of Morris, and now I have a fairly good sense of what happened.
The real story is a perfect fable of "rights" vs duties, at the EXACT START of the conflict, featuring a perfect avatar for each side.
First the broad background:
Morris was born into a wealthy and influential family, one of the founding families of the English colonies. He had a unique talent for math and engineering, and his family trained him for diplomatic work.
He HATED revolutions because he knew the historical record. Revolutions ALWAYS bring tyranny and ruin.
He used his influence to slow down the American revolution. When slowing failed, he got into a position of power where he could attempt to moderate the excesses. When he saw the French revolution coming, he was working as a trade representative for the new USA STRONG dysgovernment, using his math talents to deal with currencies and debts. At the moment when Paris fell to Robespierre, Morris was in France trying to negotiate repayment of our debt to the old French royal government, which had helped finance our revolution to weaken England. [Remember: England and France were at war almost constantly since the time of Jesus.]
= = = = =
What was Paine doing several years BEFORE the French revolution?
He was betraying his own revolution to weaken the French king and start a revolution there.
And what happened to Paine DURING the French revolution?
He was imprisoned for being part of a losing branch of the revolution.
What part did Morris play?
He tried to get Paine released, but without much sympathy because Paine had already betrayed America, joined Robespierre, and switched citizenship. Why should Morris defend Paine from the country he had chosen?
Later, James Monroe was sent to Paris on a different mission. At that time the French were happy to get rid of Paine, who was an all-around troublemaker.
= = = = =
Paine was the classic Chaotizer. His sole purpose in life was to create chaos and death, and he developed the murderous delusional concept of "rights" to assist in his genocide. Helped to start one revolution, got position in the revolution, got dissatisfied, used his position to help start another revolution. When he was caught, he went to France, got position in the new revolution. This time the rebels realized that he wasn't worth defending.
Morris was the classic Order-maker. He had a strong sense of DUTY balancing his aristocratic privileges. His DUTY was to preserve and create order. He tried to halt one revolution. When it happened anyway, he got position in the revolution, tried to bring order to the new setup.
= = = = =
Are there any modern equivalents?
Paine is easy. Ira Einhorn. Precise match. Used his influence to create disorder in NYC, moved to Paris, continued to ruin everything. Finally even the French got tired of him and threw him back. Remembered fondly by fuckheads as a defender of "environmental rights".
Morris was harder, because I had to fight my own biases to reach a surprising conclusion. Closest equivalent is Bill Gates. Born with wealth and math talent, used his influence and talent to gain more wealth, now uses his wealth to bring order to parts of the world that are prone to chaos and revolution. Gates is the best warrior against Soros. Clean water and vaccines help ordinary people to make more life and more order and more value. (The biography emphasizes Morris's ability to recognize his own biases without losing his own biases. So I'm trying feebly to emulate him.)
= = = = =
Finally, back to the original question. Was Hix right or wrong? Sort of technically correct but essentially wrong. His source got the basic facts of Paine's imprisonment but ignored the background and the previous events, thus missing the REASON for Paine's imprisonment and the REASON for Morris's lack of enthusiasm. Without the background, Morris appears to be the betrayer.
Hix's other Morris story was about Robert lending his fortune to the USA STRONG dysgovernment which never repaid him. In that case the radio story accurately portrayed the Morris family's unique virtue.
= = = = = END REPRINT
More to the point, I mentioned the founder of Urp Day recently. So I'll just reprint the entire item, since it's the only halfway decent thing I've written this year. Real historical facts, valid reasoning.
= = = = = START REPRINT:
Returning to Gouvernour Morris vs Tom Paine, trying to sort out the apparent inconsistency in the Hix radio show. I managed to wade through more of the 1838 biography of Morris, and now I have a fairly good sense of what happened.
The real story is a perfect fable of "rights" vs duties, at the EXACT START of the conflict, featuring a perfect avatar for each side.
First the broad background:
Morris was born into a wealthy and influential family, one of the founding families of the English colonies. He had a unique talent for math and engineering, and his family trained him for diplomatic work.
He HATED revolutions because he knew the historical record. Revolutions ALWAYS bring tyranny and ruin.
He used his influence to slow down the American revolution. When slowing failed, he got into a position of power where he could attempt to moderate the excesses. When he saw the French revolution coming, he was working as a trade representative for the new USA STRONG dysgovernment, using his math talents to deal with currencies and debts. At the moment when Paris fell to Robespierre, Morris was in France trying to negotiate repayment of our debt to the old French royal government, which had helped finance our revolution to weaken England. [Remember: England and France were at war almost constantly since the time of Jesus.]
= = = = =
What was Paine doing several years BEFORE the French revolution?
He was betraying his own revolution to weaken the French king and start a revolution there.
And what happened to Paine DURING the French revolution?
He was imprisoned for being part of a losing branch of the revolution.
What part did Morris play?
He tried to get Paine released, but without much sympathy because Paine had already betrayed America, joined Robespierre, and switched citizenship. Why should Morris defend Paine from the country he had chosen?
Later, James Monroe was sent to Paris on a different mission. At that time the French were happy to get rid of Paine, who was an all-around troublemaker.
= = = = =
Paine was the classic Chaotizer. His sole purpose in life was to create chaos and death, and he developed the murderous delusional concept of "rights" to assist in his genocide. Helped to start one revolution, got position in the revolution, got dissatisfied, used his position to help start another revolution. When he was caught, he went to France, got position in the new revolution. This time the rebels realized that he wasn't worth defending.
Morris was the classic Order-maker. He had a strong sense of DUTY balancing his aristocratic privileges. His DUTY was to preserve and create order. He tried to halt one revolution. When it happened anyway, he got position in the revolution, tried to bring order to the new setup.
= = = = =
Are there any modern equivalents?
Paine is easy. Ira Einhorn. Precise match. Used his influence to create disorder in NYC, moved to Paris, continued to ruin everything. Finally even the French got tired of him and threw him back. Remembered fondly by fuckheads as a defender of "environmental rights".
Morris was harder, because I had to fight my own biases to reach a surprising conclusion. Closest equivalent is Bill Gates. Born with wealth and math talent, used his influence and talent to gain more wealth, now uses his wealth to bring order to parts of the world that are prone to chaos and revolution. Gates is the best warrior against Soros. Clean water and vaccines help ordinary people to make more life and more order and more value. (The biography emphasizes Morris's ability to recognize his own biases without losing his own biases. So I'm trying feebly to emulate him.)
= = = = =
Finally, back to the original question. Was Hix right or wrong? Sort of technically correct but essentially wrong. His source got the basic facts of Paine's imprisonment but ignored the background and the previous events, thus missing the REASON for Paine's imprisonment and the REASON for Morris's lack of enthusiasm. Without the background, Morris appears to be the betrayer.
Hix's other Morris story was about Robert lending his fortune to the USA STRONG dysgovernment which never repaid him. In that case the radio story accurately portrayed the Morris family's unique virtue.
= = = = = END REPRINT
Labels: From rights to duties
¶ 3:12 PM
Smart and dumb ads
From a 1930 British radio trade journal at American Radio History...
Contrasting examples of smart and dumb advertising.
Smart:
Lots of companies sell primarily by mail, but I don't recall any of them using this clever metaphor. Every mailbox is a branch of our store!
Dumb:
When your brand is Phonycord, you're not in a position to play the Accept No Phony Knockoffs game. Should have thought about that before you chose the name.
¶ 9:03 AM
Lots of companies sell primarily by mail, but I don't recall any of them using this clever metaphor. Every mailbox is a branch of our store!
Dumb:
When your brand is Phonycord, you're not in a position to play the Accept No Phony Knockoffs game. Should have thought about that before you chose the name.
¶ 9:03 AM
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Damn! Damn! Damn! Why didn't you say this earlier?
Via CNN demon:
When John Dowd quit this week as lead counsel on Trump's legal team and the President made an effort to recruit "deep state" conspiracy theorist and conservative legal commentator Joseph diGenova to the team, the conclusion could only be that Trump wants to go to war against Mueller, using the tactics favored by his onetime mentor Roy Cohn. In effect, the President wants to wage an aggressive, and probably dirty war, on the special counsel. Cohn, having died in 1986, isn't available. But there may be other lawyers who can fill that role. In the early years of his Manhattan real estate career, Trump was a protégé of Cohn's ....If CNN or anyone had really wanted to derail Trump, they would have published this fact during the 2016 campaign. Roy Cohn was the deepest of deepest of deepest of Deepstate monsters. Cohn is now CEO of Hades LLC after LBO'ing poor inadequate finitely evil Satan and driving poor Satan to suicide. Everyone who understands Deepstate knows that Cohn was the ultimate virus, the ultimate parasite, the ultimate agent provocateur. He destroyed all opponents of Deepstate by penetrating and parasitizing them, turning them into intentionally crazy wacked-out mockeries of anti-tyrannical behavior. DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? = = = = = Trump was Cohn's protege. Tells you EVERYTHING in a few words. The ultimate final world-ending Self-Explanatory Sentence. Trump has taken over Cohn's AP job. His purpose is to penetrate and parasitize opponents of Deepstate, turning them into intentionally crazy wacked-out mockeries of anti-tyrannical behavior. The fact that CNN (and other demon media on "both" "sides") DIDN'T announce this earlier tells us with equal certainty that the media demons WANT Trump as their official foil and official fool, and also tells us that Trump is a fully cooperating part of the infinitely evil game. Later, after the initial shock wore off: Asking the converse question. Since Deepstate successfully avoided telling us earlier, why bother to tell us NOW? The answer to this one isn't definite or obvious. Maybe because the fix is in, the transformation is complete? All of the fake populists among Trump's advisers have been cleared out by blackmail and RUSSIANHACKING pressure and Mueller's witch hunt. Bolton has shut and bolted the door on all conceivable efforts to commit peace. Total extermination of all Deplorables is firmly on course now, so you might as well let it all hang out. Unsatisfying answer. Maybe a better answer will appear later.
Labels: Askedanswered, infinite evil, SES
¶ 5:16 PM
To date, or EVER?
The latest Collectible Auto magazine has a feature on car designs that were halted by WW2. Most automakers had new body and engine designs in the pipeline for '43 and '44 when Pearl Harbor stopped ALL civilian activity. After the war, automakers didn't need new designs for several years; their '42 tooling was still usable, so they used it to satisfy the infinite demand with minimum delay. By '49 when the demand slowed, those prospective '43s looked dated, so the manufacturers started over.
The first paragraph:
WW2 was the biggest and deadliest conflict in human history. It was also the most mechanized to the time.
Most mechanized to the time, yes. But couldn't you take it one step further and say that WW2 was the most mechanized war EVER?
We tend to think of history as a linear increase, but when you stop and look at the wars since 1945, they're LESS mechanized in proportion. Korea was mainly infantry action without a lot of bombs and missiles. More or less a reversion to WW1. Vietnam was a reversion to 1800. Hand to hand jungle fighting with limited support from aircraft. Since then, Iraq was WW1 again, and Afghanistan was 1800 again. Syria might be approaching the WW2 level of missiles and bombs, but most of the action is ground-level artillery.
There hasn't been a war since 1945 involving massive constant action by bombers and submarines and aircraft carriers.
¶ 3:32 PM
The most China thing
What is the most China thing?
This.
Peak China. Maximum China. China-est. You can't possibly get China-er than this.
¶ 2:56 PM
Like everything else
I noticed 'okeh' in one of those 1920s periodicals. I'd always had the impression that 'okeh' was the dominant spelling until WW2, when 'okay' took over decisively. Tried the google ngram thingie and got a more interesting result.
The timeline was about right, but I was surprised by the relative frequencies.
I had to use separate graphs because the scale was dramatically different. 'Okay' at its peak is 1000 times more common in books than 'okeh' at its peak. The difference might not have been quite so dramatic in handwritten notes or quality control markings, but those aren't archived.
The big point is that the word itself, regardless of spelling, was NOT considered okay/okeh for publication until recently. Like everything else in the world, 'okay' went exponential in 1974.
¶ 8:43 AM
The timeline was about right, but I was surprised by the relative frequencies.
I had to use separate graphs because the scale was dramatically different. 'Okay' at its peak is 1000 times more common in books than 'okeh' at its peak. The difference might not have been quite so dramatic in handwritten notes or quality control markings, but those aren't archived.
The big point is that the word itself, regardless of spelling, was NOT considered okay/okeh for publication until recently. Like everything else in the world, 'okay' went exponential in 1974.
¶ 8:43 AM
Hmph
Hmph. A month ago I thought we were done with global warming. We had 46 inches of global warming this winter, which is about average.
Nope. Two inches of global warming this morning, and the warmth is still falling. Maybe Nature isn't done with snow, but I'm done with it.
Despite the averageness, this winter has been just as hard as last winter for walking. Mostly because the monstrous alien omnicidal Gaia-sucking vile foul wicked satanic demonic "city" dysdysdysgovernment has given up on plowing and sanding. Last winter they ever so generously dispensed 3 grains of
per block, so I could occasionally locate the grains. This winter no sand at all, so there was never any traction available.
Nope. Two inches of global warming this morning, and the warmth is still falling. Maybe Nature isn't done with snow, but I'm done with it.
Despite the averageness, this winter has been just as hard as last winter for walking. Mostly because the monstrous alien omnicidal Gaia-sucking vile foul wicked satanic demonic "city" dysdysdysgovernment has given up on plowing and sanding. Last winter they ever so generously dispensed 3 grains of
per block, so I could occasionally locate the grains. This winter no sand at all, so there was never any traction available.Labels: Heimatkunde, Nonzero problems
¶ 7:32 AM
Miss Sabin's manual
One of the pages I capped from the Classical Journal refers to Miss Sabin's manual as "the most valuable contribution to Latin teaching". As I wandered through similar publications, I saw many similar references. Who was Miss Sabin and what was this wonderful book?
In fact it isn't called a Manual. It's The relation of Latin to practical life, and Miss Sabin is Frances Ellis Sabin. She ran a sort of bureau at Univ of Wisconsin, issuing bulletins and books for Latin teachers. Who was she? This biography page answers the question.
Miss Sabin wasn't delicate in those notes and helps:
As I skimmed through the Manual, I was puzzled by many pages like this:
Looks like a webpage where the image links are broken. The puzzle was solved when I went back to the first page and RTFM:
It's not broken at all. It came with a set of large cards that could be filled in with your own pictures to fit local circumstances, and you were supposed to get your students involved in building the manual! In other words, it was a practical lab experience that specified practical lab experiences.
I love it!
Much of the manual is devoted to showing the perpetual nature of civic problems. Miss Sabin wasn't delicate about such matters either:
Oddly this list doesn't include juries. but it does include police:
Looks familiar. [Here's the Lorimer case article.]
But there are some exceptions to the rule that Miss Sabin didn't catch.
I transcribed this example instead of capping, to make sure it's properly readable:
Speech Delivered in 43 b.c. by Hortensia, a Prominent Suffragist, when an edict was passed requiring fourteen hundred of the richest women to make a valuation of their property and to contribute for the needs of a civil war such portion of it as would be required.
"Let war with the Gauls or Parthians come and we shall not be inferior to our mothers in zeal for the common safety; but for civil wars may we never contribute, nor even assist you against one another. Why should we pay taxes, when we have no part in the honors, the commands, the state-craft, for which you contend against one another with such harmful results?"
One thing definitely hasn't changed: Feminists of 43 BC and 1913 and 2018 are aristocrats who are accustomed to obedience from the lower castes. When the lower classes gain some power in legislatures and attempt to harmonize national laws with Natural Law, aristocrats of both genders rise up in protest.
But the specific antiwar attitude has definitely changed since 43 BC. Feminists of modern times, from 1840 to present, are strongly in favor of internal wars. In fact that's the whole fucking point of the movement. Exterminate the lower classes.
The Grahamite abolitionists who prepared the country for Madman Lincoln's War Of Deplorable Extermination were vegan feminists, identical to modern Sorosians in beliefs, practices, Wall Street funding, and genocidal consequences.
As I skimmed through the Manual, I was puzzled by many pages like this:
Looks like a webpage where the image links are broken. The puzzle was solved when I went back to the first page and RTFM:
It's not broken at all. It came with a set of large cards that could be filled in with your own pictures to fit local circumstances, and you were supposed to get your students involved in building the manual! In other words, it was a practical lab experience that specified practical lab experiences.
I love it!
Much of the manual is devoted to showing the perpetual nature of civic problems. Miss Sabin wasn't delicate about such matters either:
Oddly this list doesn't include juries. but it does include police:
Looks familiar. [Here's the Lorimer case article.]
But there are some exceptions to the rule that Miss Sabin didn't catch.
I transcribed this example instead of capping, to make sure it's properly readable:
Speech Delivered in 43 b.c. by Hortensia, a Prominent Suffragist, when an edict was passed requiring fourteen hundred of the richest women to make a valuation of their property and to contribute for the needs of a civil war such portion of it as would be required.
"Let war with the Gauls or Parthians come and we shall not be inferior to our mothers in zeal for the common safety; but for civil wars may we never contribute, nor even assist you against one another. Why should we pay taxes, when we have no part in the honors, the commands, the state-craft, for which you contend against one another with such harmful results?"
One thing definitely hasn't changed: Feminists of 43 BC and 1913 and 2018 are aristocrats who are accustomed to obedience from the lower castes. When the lower classes gain some power in legislatures and attempt to harmonize national laws with Natural Law, aristocrats of both genders rise up in protest.
But the specific antiwar attitude has definitely changed since 43 BC. Feminists of modern times, from 1840 to present, are strongly in favor of internal wars. In fact that's the whole fucking point of the movement. Exterminate the lower classes.
The Grahamite abolitionists who prepared the country for Madman Lincoln's War Of Deplorable Extermination were vegan feminists, identical to modern Sorosians in beliefs, practices, Wall Street funding, and genocidal consequences.
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter, Experiential education, meta-experiential education
¶ 2:42 AM
Friday, March 23, 2018
More classics
After pulling some interesting goodies from the 1922 Classical Journal, decided to look at the 1918 volume, a more inflective year.
When Wilson's Deepstate switched on the anti-German frenzy, teachers of Latin and history faced two problems.
One was a generic problem faced by all academics.
As I've pointed out before, American schools and colleges had been slavishly following Kraut fashion in both structure and course content. We organized our schools by the Kraut model, deifying rote memory and delusional theories. Practical hands-on learning (ie learning) was reserved for the cretinous unwashed who clearly couldn't handle the precious luminous intellectual fog of theories.
When we drew inspiration from foreign scholars, we cited Germans. Krauts get credit, all others pay cash.
Typical example:
The other problem was peculiar to the subject matter. How do you cover the history of the Roman Empire without mentioning Germany? How do you cover the endless wars of Roman aggression without treating the German territory and Germanic tribes objectively?
How do you deal with Luther objectively?
These were vexing problems for the classicists of 1918. They were wrestling with the questions honestly, trying to maintain integrity without losing their lives or funding. Some saw an opportunity to gain new ground:
A few were hoping that we would TURN TOWARD THE LIGHT after the war:
= = = = =
Modern "scholars" of the "humanities" are no longer vexed by these conundrums, because modern "scholars" departed from objectivity a LONG time ago... in fact shortly after 1918. After we defeated the Krauts we became the Krauts. We turned away from the light.
You can see the tidal shift around 1920 in all areas except engineering. Training students to understand the universe and to WORK USEFULLY with reality is now completely unimaginable and GANZ VERBOTEN. The sole purpose of the "humanities" is witch-hunting. Spread lunacy through the universe at tachyon speed. Enforce the latest Deepstate orthodoxy by infinite violence and exquisite blackmail. Dissolve heretics into dark matter.
= = = = =
Our current RUSSIAN_MEDDLING frenzy is not going to vex anyone because we've NEVER followed Russian fashion in anything, even when we COULD have gained by doing it.
In 1957 when Russian education beat us with Sputnik, we COULD have learned from the comparison. We COULD have noticed that Russian science and math teaching was HANDS-ON and EXPERIMENTAL, centered on open discussion and teamwork. Instead we decided to catch up with Russia by turning EVEN MORE GERMANIC, by departing EVEN FARTHER from reality and learning. Rote memory of mostly accurate factoids wasn't good enough. We had to memorize lunatic delusions instead.
In 2000 when Putin pulled Russia out of the collapse we triggered, we COULD have learned something useful, COULD have figured out how to halt our own collapse. We COULD have noticed that Putin was getting OUT of debt and expanding his country's PRODUCTIVE capacity in agriculture and manufacturing. Instead we decided to go even DEEPER into hyperexponential debt, decided to SMASH our own factories even faster.
As always we "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems bycreating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justif
The other problem was peculiar to the subject matter. How do you cover the history of the Roman Empire without mentioning Germany? How do you cover the endless wars of Roman aggression without treating the German territory and Germanic tribes objectively?
How do you deal with Luther objectively?
These were vexing problems for the classicists of 1918. They were wrestling with the questions honestly, trying to maintain integrity without losing their lives or funding. Some saw an opportunity to gain new ground:
A few were hoping that we would TURN TOWARD THE LIGHT after the war:
= = = = =
Modern "scholars" of the "humanities" are no longer vexed by these conundrums, because modern "scholars" departed from objectivity a LONG time ago... in fact shortly after 1918. After we defeated the Krauts we became the Krauts. We turned away from the light.
You can see the tidal shift around 1920 in all areas except engineering. Training students to understand the universe and to WORK USEFULLY with reality is now completely unimaginable and GANZ VERBOTEN. The sole purpose of the "humanities" is witch-hunting. Spread lunacy through the universe at tachyon speed. Enforce the latest Deepstate orthodoxy by infinite violence and exquisite blackmail. Dissolve heretics into dark matter.
= = = = =
Our current RUSSIAN_MEDDLING frenzy is not going to vex anyone because we've NEVER followed Russian fashion in anything, even when we COULD have gained by doing it.
In 1957 when Russian education beat us with Sputnik, we COULD have learned from the comparison. We COULD have noticed that Russian science and math teaching was HANDS-ON and EXPERIMENTAL, centered on open discussion and teamwork. Instead we decided to catch up with Russia by turning EVEN MORE GERMANIC, by departing EVEN FARTHER from reality and learning. Rote memory of mostly accurate factoids wasn't good enough. We had to memorize lunatic delusions instead.
In 2000 when Putin pulled Russia out of the collapse we triggered, we COULD have learned something useful, COULD have figured out how to halt our own collapse. We COULD have noticed that Putin was getting OUT of debt and expanding his country's PRODUCTIVE capacity in agriculture and manufacturing. Instead we decided to go even DEEPER into hyperexponential debt, decided to SMASH our own factories even faster.
As always we "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems bycreating more problems, which justifies more budget and power for the agencies that "solve" problems by creating more problems, which justifLabels: Experiential education
¶ 10:31 AM
The rest of the picture
RT was showing a live video of British diplomats leaving their embassy after being expelled in response to Britain's warmongering.
Not very interesting... just some limousines driving out of the compound with police watching, then the gates closing.
I was confused at first. Is this the British embassy in Moscow, or the Russian embassy in London?
The rest of the picture cleared up the confusion. Blizzard. Horizontal snow. People shopping. Woman walking dog, petting dog.
This is Moscow, not London.
The rest of the picture cleared up the confusion. Blizzard. Horizontal snow. People shopping. Woman walking dog, petting dog.
This is Moscow, not London.Labels: Leth, Zero Problems, Гром победы
¶ 2:10 AM
Experts who get it right? Is the world about to end?
Deutsche Welle is reliably Sorosian, so their headline on Trump's weak answer to China's long trade war is Sorosian:
Did Donald Trump really just launch a trade war with China?
Amazingly the article answers NO!
DW quotes two EXPERTS. Both of them have the FACTS exactly right, both of them draw rational CONCLUSIONS from the facts.
Despite the two CORRECT experts, the article's author still manages to describe the CORRECTNESS wrongly:
While both scholars are on the same page that the US president just launched a trade war, they disagree over whether such a move is necessary and useful to counter what are widely seen as unfair trade practices in areas such as intellectual property rights and market access.Well, do both agree that Trump launched a trade war? One expert:
Lewis said punishing Beijing for its continuous trade transgressions by imposing massive tariffs is "something that has been overdue" for years. Chinese economic espionage, he said, has cost the US tens of billions of dollars every year for the last 20 years. But because China was a smaller economy, people just considered this loss as the price of doing business with Beijing.The other expert:
China scholar Wedeman agreed that Beijing's transgressions on intellectual property issues have been a vexing and an unresolved issue for the US for decades. But he doubted that Trump's tariff move is the best way to remedy Washington's legitimate grievances. "Trying to use tariffs as way of dealing with that problem is like using a sledgehammer when a scalpel is more appropriate," he said.In fact both experts agree that China has been waging a "trade war" for decades, and both are unsure whether Trump's specific response is the best. Exactly right on the facts, justified in doubting Trump's intelligence and sincerity. ¶ 1:52 AM
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Passive form passed
For several weeks quora has been CLOGGED with nonsensical questions about passive forms of sentences. First three that appeared in a search are illustrative:
80% of the sentences are intrinsically unflippable like these examples. Many are sheer gibberish.
Since most quorans are using the forum to cheat on ESL homework, these questions look plausible at first sight.... but no ESL teacher would ask you to flip the unflippable, or deal with gibberish.
Two days ago a SMART questioner wondered if these impossible requests were actually a code.
Now we're talking sense! Instructions given to operatives who share a dictionary of keywords, or who know how to pick out the sequence of meaningful letters.
After the COGENT question, the passive items disappeared completely. Haven't seen a new one since. I don't know if the moderators started to delete them, or the posters stopped using the method.
¶ 7:53 AM
80% of the sentences are intrinsically unflippable like these examples. Many are sheer gibberish.
Since most quorans are using the forum to cheat on ESL homework, these questions look plausible at first sight.... but no ESL teacher would ask you to flip the unflippable, or deal with gibberish.
Two days ago a SMART questioner wondered if these impossible requests were actually a code.
Now we're talking sense! Instructions given to operatives who share a dictionary of keywords, or who know how to pick out the sequence of meaningful letters.
After the COGENT question, the passive items disappeared completely. Haven't seen a new one since. I don't know if the moderators started to delete them, or the posters stopped using the method.
¶ 7:53 AM
Car-icature
The art of capturing a personality in a quick sketch was perfected in the '30s by many magazine artists. It's lost now.
I was struck by the universality of the technique in two pictures from an otherwise uninteresting 'advertising yearbook' published in '39. Each city paid to include a few pages of publicity for its advantages.
Here's an example of the caricature applied to humans:
These men are about the same age and same race, and most have the same equipment. Same hairstyle, same bowtie, same rimless glasses, same cigar. Despite the standardization, the artist managed to capture a unique quality in each man.
A less obvious example:
These cars are about the same age and the same type, and have the same equipment. Separate headlights, vertical radiator, open fenders, sedan body. Despite the standardization, the car in the foreground INSTANTLY shouts HUDSON! The artist captured the essence of Hudsonness with a few minimal lines.
Car-icature.
¶ 2:55 AM
These men are about the same age and same race, and most have the same equipment. Same hairstyle, same bowtie, same rimless glasses, same cigar. Despite the standardization, the artist managed to capture a unique quality in each man.
A less obvious example:
These cars are about the same age and the same type, and have the same equipment. Separate headlights, vertical radiator, open fenders, sedan body. Despite the standardization, the car in the foreground INSTANTLY shouts HUDSON! The artist captured the essence of Hudsonness with a few minimal lines.
Car-icature.
¶ 2:55 AM
Slightly frustrating
Though I'm wildly happy to see Emperor Zuckerberg taking heat for his monstrous sins, I'm frustrated by the source of the heat.
Facebook is being hated and sued for stealing and selling user info.
Why? Stolen user info is Facebook's PRODUCT. Stolen info is what Facebook SELLS.
If you don't understand that, you shouldn't be using it.
What next? Sue GM for selling cars? Sue Pizza Hut for selling pizza? Sue Staples for selling office supplies?
¶ 1:52 AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Bridging the gap LITERALLY and LITERATELY
Earlier today I cited a beautiful example of permanent caste division, the eternal unbridgeable gap between Insatiables and Deplorables, from a 1922 journal for Classical Educators.
I've often bashed modern "conservatives" for favoring Classical Education instead of hands-on tech training. They've got it backwards. If you want to bring out Natural Law morality in your students AND give them REAL TRUTH, you have to let them WORK WITH REALITY.
Delving into the 1922 journal again, found an even more INDESCRIBABLY BEAUTIFUL example of a teacher who got BOTH jobs done. Gave students PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE in Latin and classics as a SIDE-EFFECT of hands-on training in classical BUILDING METHODS. EXACTLY RIGHT.
The Latin class at Garnett HS built REAL BRIDGES that people actually USED, following a plan developed by Caesar's army! Note especially that the girls enjoyed chopping down trees. What???? Impossible! Everyone knows etc etc etc. Barefoot pregnant kitchen etc etc etc.
Of course the whole thing would be impossible now. We're WAY too progressive and enlightened to let anyone except PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS build bridges, and the PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS must take 20 years to generate tons of environmental impact statements and diversity impact statements and must finance archeological digs to preserve Indigenouses Firstses Nationses Peopleses Artifactseses, and... the only thing PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS can't do is build a bridge. Modern bridges immediately collapse and kill a dozen people.
Sidenote: Garnett was an interesting place. Many cities in the plains were founded as experimental utopian communities. Most faded and disappeared quickly, but Garnett turned into a proper city while retaining some of its original socialist flavor.
The Latin class at Garnett HS built REAL BRIDGES that people actually USED, following a plan developed by Caesar's army! Note especially that the girls enjoyed chopping down trees. What???? Impossible! Everyone knows etc etc etc. Barefoot pregnant kitchen etc etc etc.
Of course the whole thing would be impossible now. We're WAY too progressive and enlightened to let anyone except PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS build bridges, and the PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS must take 20 years to generate tons of environmental impact statements and diversity impact statements and must finance archeological digs to preserve Indigenouses Firstses Nationses Peopleses Artifactseses, and... the only thing PROFESSIONAL BRIDGE BUILDERS can't do is build a bridge. Modern bridges immediately collapse and kill a dozen people.
Sidenote: Garnett was an interesting place. Many cities in the plains were founded as experimental utopian communities. Most faded and disappeared quickly, but Garnett turned into a proper city while retaining some of its original socialist flavor. Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter, Experiential education, skill-estate
¶ 3:48 PM
Insatiableth
Still pointlessly pondering the innate and total division of Insatiables and Deplorables.
Even if I had been aware of the permanent partition when I was young enough to choose a life path, it still would have been hard to test my own position. When I tried to sound contemptuous, and Insatiables chuckled indulgently at my weak attempts, I might have figured out that I didn't belong there. Instead I just tried harder. I finally hit the wall at age 35, finally realized that I'd been wasting effort and time on an impossible task.
There were plenty of markers and shibboleths for D vs I available in the '50s and '60s, but most were in the world of investments and big business. I wasn't living in those worlds and had no contact with them.
There was ONE firm and objective Insatiableth available within my cohort in the '50s and '60s.
Spaceflight. Going to the moon. It's the PERFECT expression of exponential thinking, the perfect marker for Insatiability. Spaceflight has ABSOLUTELY NO PURPOSE except to say I WANT MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE. I WANT IT ALL AND I WANT INFINITY AND I WANT INFINITY TIMES INFINITY AND I WANT INFINITY TO THE INFINITY'TH POWER. And after I get MORE MORE MORE, it will only count as one tiny baby step .... one small step for man ....
It was all perfectly visible within the scientific and academic world I inhabited.
I never understood the point of spaceflight. It's like football or gambling. Why would you EVER want to do or think about such things?
If the concept of permanent caste distinction had been available and accessible in those years, my total lack of interest in space would have been an objective 'aptitude test' for Insatiability.
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter, Leth
¶ 7:14 AM
Unbridgeable
I was thinking about the unbridgeable gap between Insatiables and Deplorables last night. Is it innate?
Looking back at childhood acquaintances and experiences, I think it is. The two types are visible at least in elementary school, thus probably from birth.
I was supposed to be an Insatiable, and was raised as an Insatiable but couldn't master the withering contempt for the lower classes. I've never been a competent Deplorable either, so I've always been stuck in between.
If I had understood these permanent distinctions, I would have leveraged my prison experience to learn the fine points of criminality. Unfortunately the American myth of "meritocracy" was still undisputed at that time, so there was little opportunity to hear realistic views of caste and "honesty".
= = = = =
On waking the first news item I noticed was yet another vile foul betrayal of the Deplorables by Trump. Sucking Saudi cock for pennies. Making a new war every week to serve our Masters in both Saudi and Israel. The only difference is that Israel never pays. Israel merely EXPECTS obedience and gets it.
Looking for appropriate curses to write a sort of imprecatory psalm, I found an old journal for high-school 'classics' teachers.. Paging through the PDF, the first thing I saw was even better than curses. A century-old picture of the eternal war between Insatiables vs Deplorables.
Plato sounds just like Romney or Rush or Rand.
Pulling out the relevant piece:
It will be observed that these criticisms of the Athenian and American juries start from different points of view. Athenian writers regret the fact that pay for service was introduced because it made it possible for the poor and idle and unambitious to sit as jurors. American critics feel that not enough pay is given to make it possible to get the ablest type of man on the jury. In both cases, however, the attitude toward the resultant nature of the juries is the same.
And the author's attitude is also the same. He laments that robber barons are unable to get a fair shake from "idle and unambitious" jurors, who are resentful of the "better element".
= = = = =
In modern times young Deplorables who can't bridge the gap end up jumping from bridges. Like this 1922 author, modern Insatiables pretend to worry about the jumpers.
Continued in next item.
Plato sounds just like Romney or Rush or Rand.
Pulling out the relevant piece:
It will be observed that these criticisms of the Athenian and American juries start from different points of view. Athenian writers regret the fact that pay for service was introduced because it made it possible for the poor and idle and unambitious to sit as jurors. American critics feel that not enough pay is given to make it possible to get the ablest type of man on the jury. In both cases, however, the attitude toward the resultant nature of the juries is the same.
And the author's attitude is also the same. He laments that robber barons are unable to get a fair shake from "idle and unambitious" jurors, who are resentful of the "better element".
= = = = =
In modern times young Deplorables who can't bridge the gap end up jumping from bridges. Like this 1922 author, modern Insatiables pretend to worry about the jumpers.
Continued in next item.Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter
¶ 12:24 AM
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Experts are smart. We should trust experts.
Some expert quoted by Bloomberg, via ZH:
Those diverse stories will all converge to a similar, very negative outcome for the tech space: tighter regulation and oversight, plus an increase in compliance and legal costs and a significant blow to sentiment. The dangers are amplified because much of the rally of the last few years for global equities has hinged on the technology sector. Damage this pillar and then earnings, valuations, supply chains, trade and innovation all suffer. This feeds back into a deteriorating macro picture. The resulting negative feedback loop is being triggered at an inopportune time, with elevated trade tensions and global political uncertainty adding to the risks that the spiral of doom accelerates. Never mind the monetary policy uncertainty accentuated by the first rate-setting meeting for the Fed’s new chair.Idiot. That's a positive feedback loop, not a negative feedback loop. Anyone who trusts your advice is trusting an idiot. On a higher level, civilization desperately requires more regulation of what the expert calls the "tech space", which is actually the genocide space. More regulation is NOT a danger to humans, though I suppose it is a "danger" to mass-murdering hypermonsters and their evil expert shills. ¶ 6:17 AM
Switching fields?
Something odd is happening today. The BBC's front page is COMPLETELY FREE of Russian Meddling. No Skripal, no Satan Putin, no Russia at all. Instead. BBC is focusing on Facebook's supposed "data breach" that allowed a supposedly Trump-favoring organization to buy info through normal channels. Horrible!
Simultaneously the NY TIMES is focusing on another Facebook "data breach" that favored Obama.
Both of these focuses are SUDDEN and UNPRECEDENTED.
When fake news demons suddenly remove the SOLE FOCUS, you know the SOLE FOCUS has gone wrong in some way.
And when fake news demons SWITCH to a story that favors the WRONG PARTY, you know something MASSIVE has gone wrong.
As a wise man said, "Journalists never start being right. At best they sometimes stop being wrong."
In fact neither of those "data breaches" is a problem. If Facebook wants to open its data banks to Obama for free, that's fine. If Facebook wants to allow a Trump organization to buy its data, that's fine.
What's NOT fine is doing it secretly and lying about it.
As I said yesterday, monitoring and data flow are NOT the problem. More data flow is always good, and that INCLUDES data flow in the opposite direction.
If everyone knows everything, blackmail is impossible.
A bit later: checking the other major EU Sorosians. DW is still hammering on Skripal, but France24 has dropped it and switched to a more understandable local news item: Sarkozy arrested for allowing Qaddafi to MEDDLE in the 2012 French election. Is that the reason why BBC has quietly eliminated the Russian Meddling focus?
Two days later: STILL nothing about Russia on BBC's front page!
3/26: Still nothing about Russia on BBC's page, except for the mall fire, which is REAL news.
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter
¶ 1:24 AM
Monday, March 19, 2018
Monitoring isn't the problem.
Survey linked by ZH finds that a strong majority of Americans UNDERSTAND what Deepstate is doing, though most don't use the term Deepstate.
Few Americans (13%) are very familiar with the term “Deep State;” another 24% are somewhat familiar, while 63% say they are not familiar with this term. However, when the term is described as a group of unelected government and military officials who secretly manipulate or direct national policy, nearly 3-in-4 (74%) say they believe this type of apparatus exists in Washington. This includes 27% who say it definitely exists and 47% who say it probably exists. Only 1-in-5 say it does not exist (16% probably not and 5% definitely not). Belief in the probable existence of a Deep State comes from more than 7-in-10 Americans in each partisan group, although Republicans (31%) and independents (33%) are somewhat more likely than Democrats (19%) to say that the Deep State definitely exists. Fully 8-in-10 believe that the U.S. government currently monitors or spies on the activities of American citizens, including a majority (53%) who say this activity is widespread and another 29% who say such monitoring happens but is not widespread. Just 14% say this monitoring does not happen at all. There are no substantial partisan differences in these results.Missing the big point as usual. Monitoring AS SUCH is a good thing. In fact an ideally responsive government would be monitoring everybody all the time. The relevant variable is what government DOES with the info. The ideal representative government would pick up areas of discontent and ADJUST ITS OWN BEHAVIOR to minimize the discontent. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. We had an ideal representative government just once, from 3/4/33 until 4/12/45. Twelve good years. FDR monitored public discontent and ADJUSTED THE GOVERNMENT to minimize discontent. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. All administrations before and since have practiced either positive feedback or no feedback at all. Most of the regimes before Wilson had no feedback at all. The Federal government simply didn't do much, so it didn't need to know much. Wilson brought in POSITIVE FEEDBACK, intense lethal monitoring and cultivating of "subversives" so the government would have an exponentially increasing supply of "problems" that must be "solved" by cultivating more "subversives". Harding abandoned the positive feedback for unknown reasons (which would still be worth understanding!) Coolidge and Hoover continued in pre-Wilson mode while real problems multiplied. FDR solved the problems. After FDR, the Wilson mode SMASHED back into control. Since 1946 it's all about cultivating "problems" which are "solved" by cultivating more "problems."
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter, Asked and badly answered
¶ 9:45 AM
DVF
When typing a URL in the addressbox of a browser, I often get confused because the letter appears after the keystroke. The interval is variable, sometimes several seconds late when the browser is trying to autocorrect or check previous URLs. A similar effect happens in most web editboxes for the same reason.
The confusion is directly parallel to DAF, so I'll call it DVF.
Before Microsoft Malware (Win 10) this sort of DVF confusion didn't happen in ordinary editing programs like Notepad and Kedit. Letters appeared instantly, so you could watch them while typing without getting derailed. Microsoft Malware has brought the "benefits" of DVF to ordinary non-web typing. Isn't that wonderful?
But wait!
Why do I even WANT to watch the typed letters?
I used physical typewriters for 30 years without ever looking at the currently typed character, because you CAN'T read the current letter. Depending on the layout of the typewriter you could generally see the word you typed before, but the currently active letter was covered by the hammer or ball or ribbon. The only thing you really needed to see was the position of the cursor on the page, so you could judge whether to put the next word on this line or return the carriage before the next word. Fancier typewriters placed the cursor up front on a scale with the actual margins, so you could judge the distance at a glance without peeking into the complicated platen area.
For 30 years I got along quite nicely without seeing the immediately typed letter. Why do I need to see it now? Maybe I should try looking elsewhere to avoid DVF.
¶ 8:02 AM
For 30 years I got along quite nicely without seeing the immediately typed letter. Why do I need to see it now? Maybe I should try looking elsewhere to avoid DVF.
¶ 8:02 AM
Non-barking quora
Many of the questioners on quora.com are perfectly predictable orthodox Sorosians. Their questions take the Soros side on immigration, economics, Trump, birth control, prisons, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, gun control, and just about everything else....
Except RUSSIAN MEDDLING RUSSIAN HACKING RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE.
I scanned through the last thousand or so questions, running back about 24 hours, and I don't see even ONE question about Russia. Nothing about the election, nothing about the British "attack", nothing about Corrupt Oligarchs.
Is quora filtering these out? Seems unlikely but not impossible. Are the Sorosians uninterested? Seems unlikely. RUSSIAN MEDDLING is clearly Topic Number One for the Sorosian dysgovernments and the Sorosian fake media.
¶ 6:57 AM
Cui bono MMT?
MMT and Bitcoin are similar and parallel rackets. Both are pluponents, pretending to oppose the current monetary system by making the system EVEN WORSE IN THE SAME DIRECTION. More debt, more abstraction, more disconnection from real value, more disconnection from negative feedback.
The payoff for Bitcoin is obvious. NSA gets complete information about all transactions made in the pretend "dark world" by idiots who think they're "private", and NSA also gets free computation service by the "miners", who are solving hard cryptographic problems for NSA. The pushers and charter racketeers like Max Keiser are making money in the old-fashioned Ponzi way. 1. Buy a bunch of tulips. 2. Create a Theology Of Tulips with rabid followers who defend Sacred Infinitely Valuable Tulips from all doubters. 3. Profit. No missing steps, no mystery.
The payoff for MMT is completely opaque and possibly nonexistent. The founders of the racket are academic economists at UMKC. They don't seem to be getting rich, though they are certainly gaining academic prestige. The secondary pushers are "leftist" "progressives" who are also gaining coolness and respect but no obvious money.
Every racket involves a whole bunch of money sloshing around. Suckers are invited to grab some of the money after paying the swindler for the privilege of sticking your hand in the pool.
MMT doesn't have any money sloshing around YET. Part of its advertised advantage is UBI, a guarantee of "free" money for everyone, but the proposed amounts aren't enough to be worth all the effort.
Possible indirect explanation: UBI is the worst part of MMT because UBI supposedly eliminates the need for work. Deplorables who have been permanently disemployed by Goldman's debtism will supposedly feel better when they have money coming in. No they won't. What they need is USEFUL WORK verified by ACTUAL PAYCHECKS that are DIRECTLY COMPENSATING THEM for the USEFUL WORK BECAUSE THE WORK IS USEFUL.
From this angle, the payoff of UBI is to "justify" the total takeover of our economy by the debtists.
But again, how do the UMKC folks gain from this? Prestige, maybe consultant or advisor jobs? Nah. As economists they already get consultant and advisor gigs.
= = = = =
Later, after letting the above simmer for a while, a better analogy for MMT but still no answer to cui bono.
Better analogy = Prosperity gospel. PG was created by Rome 1000 years ago to "justify" Rome's fabulous wealth and exquisite depravity. Rome reinterpreted the New Testament to turn Jesus into a superwealthy supermonster just like popes and priests. Because the bible wasn't accessible to ordinary folks, the trick was easy.
We deserve to be rich because we're like Jesus. Your job is to give us all your money so we can be EVEN MORE like Jesus. After you give us all your money, you will get an early parole from Purgatory.
Since Purgatory is a myth invented by the same Roman monsters, PG is the perfect protection racket. All money goes to the swindlers, NO money goes out. The suckers aren't even expecting real money, so they can't get pissed and try for revenge. The mobsters don't need to spend money on thugs and arsonists because the suckers are buying protection against future thugs who don't exist.
The Inquisition began as an attempt to silence a few academics who had read the real gospels and tried to correct the record. After Gutenberg leaked the truth more widely, the suckers were less willing to give, so the Inquisition had to become more like a secular Sicilian protection racket, with real arsonists providing a real-world threat.
MMT is identical to modern versions of PG. Give all of the economy to the NYC priesthood, and in return you will get "riches" in the form of UBI.
But again, how do the MMT pushers gain from this? They aren't Popes. They aren't Jim and Tammy Faye. At best they're ushers in the Goldman megachurch.
= = = = =
Much later thought: Basically MMT is just a Democrat rebranding of the Repooflican ZERO TAX mantra. Both have exactly the same goal: Removing all input and feedback from the debtist Goldman-government. A government that relies on taxes is like a business that relies on profit. To gain more income tax or sales tax, the government has to shape its activities toward improving REAL VALUE production. A government that is free from taxes is like a business relying on share value. It doesn't need customers or employees or products; it can increase its budget by pure mathematical manipulation.
R and D are working toward the same demonic goal of total feedbackless tyranny.
Labels: MMT, Pluponents
¶ 3:05 AM
Purpose, not credit
I noted earlier that Austria and Czechia and France are cautiously turning toward nationalism after "shocking" increases in Parliament seats by sane parties.... EVEN THOUGH the presidents are NOT from the sane parties. This is a sign of a FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT with NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. When you have real parties and real representation and NEGATIVE FEEDBACK, the ruling party CHANGES COURSE to regain the voters lost to the insurgents.
Via DW, now even Krautland is following the same pattern.
¶ 1:39 AM
Germany should consider stepping up its border controls, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday. "Not that many border points in Germany are permanently occupied," Seehofer told German weekly newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, adding: "We will now discuss whether that needs to change." Seehofer also appealed for the suspension of the Schengen Agreement, which allows free movement within the EU bloc. "Internal border checks [between EU member states] must be in place so long as the EU fails to effectively control the external border," he said, adding: "I don't see it being able to do this in the near future."The insurgent sane party AfD is frustrated:
Andre Poggenburg, head of the AfD in the eastern state of Saxony, said Seehofer was copying his party with a view to Bavaria’s October regional election: “Horst Seehofer has taken this message from our manifesto word for word.”Understandable, but you shouldn't get pissed. You should be cheering loudly because your PURPOSE is moving the country forward. Uncool people can't expect to get credit for anything, but uncool CHANGES can sometimes happen when the rulers feel a large enough threat to their power. If AfD hadn't made the effort to speak for sane Krauts, the insane rulers would simply have continued on the same suicidal path. = = = = = Can't happen here. USA STRONG disconnected all negative feedback in 1946. Now we just have differently styled loudspeakers wired to Deepstate. The two loudspeakers are blaming each other for problems but NEVER making the slightest effort to change policies or laws. Symmetrical scapegoating avoids all action.
¶ 1:39 AM
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Sanity wins again
Polistra and friends express ABSOLUTE SOLIDARITY with the non-Sorosian side of the world.
Russia's election today unsurprisingly shows that SANITY continues to gain ground on the SANE side of the world. Unlike leaders on this infinitely infantile and incalculably wicked side, Putin is eminently sane and competent and GROWN-UP. Under his rule Russia has EJECTED the Sorosians and continues to improve its INDEPENDENT economy and its OWN skills and industries.
The strongest opposition candidate is equally sane and especially interesting. Grudinin, though nominally running as a Communist, is actually a Fordist. He constantly expresses the importance of USEFUL WORK in preventing radicalization and suicide and criminality. Sounds familiar.
Russia's election today unsurprisingly shows that SANITY continues to gain ground on the SANE side of the world. Unlike leaders on this infinitely infantile and incalculably wicked side, Putin is eminently sane and competent and GROWN-UP. Under his rule Russia has EJECTED the Sorosians and continues to improve its INDEPENDENT economy and its OWN skills and industries.
The strongest opposition candidate is equally sane and especially interesting. Grudinin, though nominally running as a Communist, is actually a Fordist. He constantly expresses the importance of USEFUL WORK in preventing radicalization and suicide and criminality. Sounds familiar.Labels: Make or break, skill-estate, Гром победы
¶ 2:33 PM
Propane, worms
Good old propane.
Power went out at 4AM. No wind, just transformers popping from rain shorting out dust paths.
Fortunately I had already made coffee and first ramen, so nothing was urgent. I napped for a couple hours, woke up, power still out, so set up the propane lantern and stove and cooked second ramen. Good old propane, good old propane routine. Practice pays off.
By that time daylight was emerging, so I made the usual neighborhood walk. I could tell that several blocks were powerless. Back to house, power is already back on. Clearly it had returned JUST before I returned. Nice.
= = = = =
Noted while walking: Earthworms are back. This wasn't an extreme rain, the standard 1/4 inch, but it was enough to bring out a dense blanket of squirmie wormies on the street.
Last year the worms never appeared at all.
What's the diff? The previous winter was SUPER-COLD AND SUPER-SNOWY, with two feet of extra global warming above ground and two feet of global warming permafrost below ground. This year we had a normal amount of global warming, so the earthworms regenerated. How? Who knows? Do they drive to Florida in especially bad winters? Hitch a ride on a bird? Burrow down to the magma layer?
Power went out at 4AM. No wind, just transformers popping from rain shorting out dust paths.
Fortunately I had already made coffee and first ramen, so nothing was urgent. I napped for a couple hours, woke up, power still out, so set up the propane lantern and stove and cooked second ramen. Good old propane, good old propane routine. Practice pays off.
By that time daylight was emerging, so I made the usual neighborhood walk. I could tell that several blocks were powerless. Back to house, power is already back on. Clearly it had returned JUST before I returned. Nice.
= = = = =
Noted while walking: Earthworms are back. This wasn't an extreme rain, the standard 1/4 inch, but it was enough to bring out a dense blanket of squirmie wormies on the street.
Last year the worms never appeared at all.
What's the diff? The previous winter was SUPER-COLD AND SUPER-SNOWY, with two feet of extra global warming above ground and two feet of global warming permafrost below ground. This year we had a normal amount of global warming, so the earthworms regenerated. How? Who knows? Do they drive to Florida in especially bad winters? Hitch a ride on a bird? Burrow down to the magma layer?Labels: defensible spaces, Patient things
¶ 8:35 AM
Friday, March 16, 2018
Celluloid city
Wandering through American Radio History, looking for some interesting old equipment or architecture, noticed this station album from WBAL in Baltimore, dated 1927. Going through it, I didn't find any interesting stuff but caught an odd impression. The album included pictures and brief essays by all of the Distinguished Citizens of Baltimore. City officials, Noted Music Critics, etc. What's wrong with these pictures? They're in the wrong decade!
Most of the men are wearing stiff celluloid collars.
Celluloid collars were still fairly common in 1927. Some men added them for funerals or church, and a few men wore them for business. But most men let the cloth shirt collar do its job.
Was Baltimore unusually formal? It certainly isn't now!
Sidenote: Dude #3 with the pince-nez is Frederick Arthur Kummer, Noted Author And Playwright. His little ode to Baltimore included this anecdote:
Hmm. Maybe the pince-nez attitude helps to explain why Baltimore's current population is more riotous than elsewhere. When the leaders look down on you from such a steep and arrogant height, the lookdown acquires more momentum and tends to leave a mark.
HOWEVER! The above anecdote doesn't represent Kummer. The only full book I can find online is his The first days of man, designed to be read to kids by parents. It's the precise opposite of condescending and narrow-minded. It's a retelling of Genesis with a STRONG emphasis on direct experience.
From the preface:
YES! EXACTLY!
From the Injun-style creation story:
You can see why the book didn't gain any traction. Conventional educators would instantly reject the anti-theory methods, and conventional Christians would recoil in horror from the harmonious mix of Injun "paganism" and experimental science. The Jehovah story harmonizes with delusional theories.
Most of the men are wearing stiff celluloid collars.
Celluloid collars were still fairly common in 1927. Some men added them for funerals or church, and a few men wore them for business. But most men let the cloth shirt collar do its job.
Was Baltimore unusually formal? It certainly isn't now!
Sidenote: Dude #3 with the pince-nez is Frederick Arthur Kummer, Noted Author And Playwright. His little ode to Baltimore included this anecdote:
Hmm. Maybe the pince-nez attitude helps to explain why Baltimore's current population is more riotous than elsewhere. When the leaders look down on you from such a steep and arrogant height, the lookdown acquires more momentum and tends to leave a mark.
HOWEVER! The above anecdote doesn't represent Kummer. The only full book I can find online is his The first days of man, designed to be read to kids by parents. It's the precise opposite of condescending and narrow-minded. It's a retelling of Genesis with a STRONG emphasis on direct experience.
From the preface:
YES! EXACTLY!
From the Injun-style creation story:
You can see why the book didn't gain any traction. Conventional educators would instantly reject the anti-theory methods, and conventional Christians would recoil in horror from the harmonious mix of Injun "paganism" and experimental science. The Jehovah story harmonizes with delusional theories.Labels: Experiential education
¶ 5:10 PM
"Rights" vs Duties, origins edition
Returning to Gouvernour Morris vs Tom Paine, trying to sort out the apparent inconsistency in the Hix radio show. I managed to wade through more of the 1838 biography of Morris, and now I have a fairly good sense of what happened.
The real story is a perfect fable of "rights" vs duties, at the EXACT START of the conflict, featuring a perfect avatar for each side.
First the broad background:
Morris was born into a wealthy and influential family, one of the founding families of the English colonies. He had a unique talent for math and engineering, and his family trained him for diplomatic work.
He HATED revolutions because he knew the historical record. Revolutions ALWAYS bring tyranny and ruin.
He used his influence to slow down the American revolution. When slowing failed, he got into a position of power where he could attempt to moderate the excesses. When he saw the French revolution coming, he was working as a trade representative for the new USA STRONG dysgovernment, using his math talents to deal with currencies and debts. At the moment when Paris fell to Robespierre, Morris was in France trying to negotiate repayment of our debt to the old French royal government, which had helped finance our revolution to weaken England. [Remember: England and France were at war almost constantly since the time of Jesus.]
= = = = =
What was Paine doing several years BEFORE the French revolution?
He was betraying his own revolution to weaken the French king and start a revolution there.
And what happened to Paine DURING the French revolution?
He was imprisoned for being part of a losing branch of the revolution.
What part did Morris play?
He tried to get Paine released, but without much sympathy because Paine had already betrayed America, joined Robespierre, and switched citizenship. Why should Morris defend Paine from the country he had chosen?
Later, James Monroe was sent to Paris on a different mission. At that time the French were happy to get rid of Paine, who was an all-around troublemaker.
= = = = =
Paine was the classic Chaotizer. His sole purpose in life was to create chaos and death, and he developed the murderous delusional concept of "rights" to assist in his genocide. Helped to start one revolution, got position in the revolution, got dissatisfied, used his position to help start another revolution. When he was caught, he went to France, got position in the new revolution. This time the rebels realized that he wasn't worth defending.
Morris was the classic Order-maker. He had a strong sense of DUTY balancing his aristocratic privileges. His DUTY was to preserve and create order. He tried to halt one revolution. When it happened anyway, he got position in the revolution, tried to bring order to the new setup.
= = = = =
Are there any modern equivalents?
Paine is easy. Ira Einhorn. Precise match. Used his influence to create disorder in NYC, moved to Paris, continued to ruin everything. Finally even the French got tired of him and threw him back. Remembered fondly by fuckheads as a defender of "environmental rights".
Morris was harder, because I had to fight my own biases to reach a surprising conclusion. Closest equivalent is Bill Gates. Born with wealth and math talent, used his influence and talent to gain more wealth, now uses his wealth to bring order to parts of the world that are prone to chaos and revolution. Gates is the best warrior against Soros. Clean water and vaccines help ordinary people to make more life and more order and more value. (The biography emphasizes Morris's ability to recognize his own biases without losing his own biases. So I'm trying feebly to emulate him.)
= = = = =
Finally, back to the original question. Was Hix right or wrong? Sort of technically correct but essentially wrong. His source got the basic facts of Paine's imprisonment but ignored the background and the previous events, thus missing the REASON for Paine's imprisonment and the REASON for Morris's lack of enthusiasm. Without the background, Morris appears to be the betrayer.
Hix's other Morris story was about Robert lending his fortune to the USA STRONG dysgovernment which never repaid him. In that case the radio story accurately portrayed the Morris family's unique virtue.
He was betraying his own revolution to weaken the French king and start a revolution there.
And what happened to Paine DURING the French revolution?
He was imprisoned for being part of a losing branch of the revolution.
What part did Morris play?
He tried to get Paine released, but without much sympathy because Paine had already betrayed America, joined Robespierre, and switched citizenship. Why should Morris defend Paine from the country he had chosen?
Later, James Monroe was sent to Paris on a different mission. At that time the French were happy to get rid of Paine, who was an all-around troublemaker.
= = = = =
Paine was the classic Chaotizer. His sole purpose in life was to create chaos and death, and he developed the murderous delusional concept of "rights" to assist in his genocide. Helped to start one revolution, got position in the revolution, got dissatisfied, used his position to help start another revolution. When he was caught, he went to France, got position in the new revolution. This time the rebels realized that he wasn't worth defending.
Morris was the classic Order-maker. He had a strong sense of DUTY balancing his aristocratic privileges. His DUTY was to preserve and create order. He tried to halt one revolution. When it happened anyway, he got position in the revolution, tried to bring order to the new setup.
= = = = =
Are there any modern equivalents?
Paine is easy. Ira Einhorn. Precise match. Used his influence to create disorder in NYC, moved to Paris, continued to ruin everything. Finally even the French got tired of him and threw him back. Remembered fondly by fuckheads as a defender of "environmental rights".
Morris was harder, because I had to fight my own biases to reach a surprising conclusion. Closest equivalent is Bill Gates. Born with wealth and math talent, used his influence and talent to gain more wealth, now uses his wealth to bring order to parts of the world that are prone to chaos and revolution. Gates is the best warrior against Soros. Clean water and vaccines help ordinary people to make more life and more order and more value. (The biography emphasizes Morris's ability to recognize his own biases without losing his own biases. So I'm trying feebly to emulate him.)
= = = = =
Finally, back to the original question. Was Hix right or wrong? Sort of technically correct but essentially wrong. His source got the basic facts of Paine's imprisonment but ignored the background and the previous events, thus missing the REASON for Paine's imprisonment and the REASON for Morris's lack of enthusiasm. Without the background, Morris appears to be the betrayer.
Hix's other Morris story was about Robert lending his fortune to the USA STRONG dysgovernment which never repaid him. In that case the radio story accurately portrayed the Morris family's unique virtue.Labels: From rights to duties
¶ 9:41 AM
Two perfect metaphors
An old article on the development of the AMC Gremlin mentions that Dick Teague was responsible for the name along with the basic design concept. Supposedly he liked the impish image and wasn't worried about the metaphorical use of 'gremlins' in engineering.
I don't think he was unworried about the metaphor. More likely he was using the metaphor. The Gremlin was meant to be a new answer to the VW Beetle, so a gremlin was meant to be analogous to a bug.
[In fact the Gremlin wasn't an answer because the VW wasn't a question. The Gremlin was properly designed to suit the purposes of American buyers who wanted a practical and thrifty and useful car, while the VW was improperly designed to suit the purposes of a motorized vehicle. VW was COOOOOL because hippie idiots like me mindlessly obeyed the Fashion Arbiters who instructed us that VW was COOOOOL. The COOOOOLness had NOTHING to do with its virtues as an automobile because VW had NO virtues as an automobile.]
At that time bugs and gremlins were nearly synonymous in the world of engineering. Neither word was well-known outside engineering circles because computers hadn't yet invaded the home.
The engineering use of 'bug' goes back at least a century, and always refers to a design defect in a mechanism, not just a generalized problem. Our folk etymology credits Grace Hopper for inventing the term, but she was just making a good pun on a perfectly familiar word.
The engineering use of 'gremlin' was more recent, and referred to an intermittent hard-to-trace problem. You can imagine little invisible pranksters causing such a problem.
So Teague was countering the VW, which was a total design defect, with an AMC product, which was an intermittent problem. Ramblers were well-designed and durable, but not especially reliable. They suffered from mysterious ignition failures that AMC dealers could never manage to find and fix.
Both names are perfect.
¶ 1:46 AM
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Two little acronyms
Semi-valid convective thought....
I've been tiresomely hammering on this point forever: Before the '70s, public experts were trustworthy. They TRIED to tell us the truth when they knew it, and tried to be humble when they didn't. Since the '70s, public experts are toxic. The only thing we hear from the public voice of "science" is wild bizarre universe-exterminating delusions.
BUT: Plenty of engineers and medical types are still doing real science, still trying to SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS that make a difference in real lives.
Why don't we hear from them? Why do we only hear from the omnicidal lunatics?
I've cited tenure, but that doesn't really strike this particular nail.
The answer is two acronyms. NDA and HIPAA.
Engineers who are working on real problems are STRICTLY bound by NDAs, and medical types who are trying to cure real diseases are strictly locked up by HIPAA.
Both of these acronyms started around 1980. Before 1980 there were non-compete agreements in engineering. Before 1980 doctors followed confidentiality as a cultural norm. But those earlier norms were much looser. When you read scientific and medical journals from earlier decades, you find much more candor about engineering projects, and much more detail in medical case studies and information for patients.
Now the fear of career-ending lawsuits and penalties leads to absolute silence by the REAL PROBLEM-SOLVERS. The sllence on information to patients is deadly. [Addendum next day: And silence on engineering infotmation is even more deadly.]
The delusion-vendors are not bound by NDAs or HIPAA because they're dealing purely with theories and delusions. They're not working on anything real and concrete. Even though their theories are GENOCIDAL, there's no legal consequence for erupting psychotic toxin across the landscape.
¶ 11:55 AM
From dice to duties
A quora question about the meaning of "God doesn't play dice" drew the usual set of answers about Einstein vs Bohr. Pretty good answers within the normal bounds of normal secular conversation.
Convective thought from a different angle:
When I think of God, I'm thinking of the totally predictable design and course of the whole universe.
There is no such thing as random. It's a null concept.
Every choice is completely predestined by the design of the universe.
We call some choices random because we can't possibly calculate the looooooooooooooong chain of events that led to the choice.
We call some choices determinate because we can see and understand how this choice follows from another choice made by humans; or follows directly from easily measured inorganic events like planetary rotation.
From this angle, ask the question again: Does God play dice?
Of course God plays dice. Every time you play dice (or roulette or any other unskilled game of chance) you are playing against God and you will lose. The universe KNOWS which dots will be upward. You don't know which dots will be upward. You're a sucker, just the same as speculating in Bitcoin or trading stocks or any other activity that is not MAKING THINGS.
When you are MAKING THINGS you are playing on the same side as God, so you're going to win. God made the incalculably complex mechanisms of our cells and organs and nerves with a PURPOSE in mind. Our GOD-ASSIGNED DUTY is to make more life, more order, more complexity, more value, more beauty.
Labels: From rights to duties, Natural law = Sharia law
¶ 12:46 AM
