Lex Fridman's
Analysis of Putin and
Ukraine
PowerfulJRE | Date
added: 27-May-22
My response...
Lex provides an insightful
perspective; from my
understanding from the few
discussions I've watched of
him, he either has family or
friends in both Ukraine and
Russia. When this occurs it
seems to stifle the
incessant and blatant "this
side is bad" "that man is
evil". Well almost; but that
comes from Joe Rogan.
However, while Lex talks
about propaganda, and how it
can (or the lack of can) be
felt from within, he seems
to completely believe that
the West, i.e. America, on
it's "Wars of Terror" and
fighting for "Freedom", to
"free oppressed people"
was/has been/is all that,
that wars for these things,
and that innocent people
dying in these conflicts is
just a regrettable thing
that happens, but that the
fight is essentially right
and noble... America is
essentially good and noble
in its fight for these
causes.
But what if these fights,
the "fight for freedom" or
to "liberate oppressed
people" was and is all just
BS and a front for the arms
(and other) companies that
like wars
because it means they get to
sell more weapons?
Instability causes more
conflicts and "supply chain
issues" and therefore price
rises (which in turn mean
someone somewhere is making
more money. What if
(claimed) wars to liberate
people ultimately creates
more restrictions, less
freedom, and greater
distrust amongst the nations
of the world? What if, Lex,
you don't see the wood for
the trees, the propaganda
for the "news"?
Joe talks about the need and
desire for strong (male)
leaders, but when you
consider this in the context
of Russia and Ukraine, you
can perhaps see (or I can),
how this works to prevent
any one side backing down; I
saw how the Ukrainian
president immediately
started appearing in news
conferences at the start of
the conflict, in "army
clothes"; implying "I am
here to fight"; Putin's
dress on the other hand
portrays a level-headed,
almost business-like manner,
more amicable if not there
to discuss things.
The side note in the video
about Putin's health and his
apparent "puffy face" I had
noticed myself and wondered
what that was all about; is
it just stress? The
explanation in the video
seems to be a reasonable
one. Does a leader's health
matter? I think so; if a
decades-long leader of a
super power nation is on
their last legs, they might
hold back less when it comes
to "pulling out all the
stops" or "going out guns
blazing." We can also
consider the mental health
that comes with illness -
Joe Biden's senility is a
case in point and I don't
think his weakness in this
whole thing is doing the
world any favours. The
people surrounding Biden
have already shown that
they're not listening to him
because he's senile - Boris
Johnson carries the same
kind of issue when he comes
across as a moron.
Pizza Hut
Nationalism
The Podcast of the Lotus
Eaters | Date
added: 15-May-22
My response...
I was recently away camping
and walking, and while I was
doing this, alone with my
thoughts each day, I
considered, mostly about
computers and technology,
what aspects I actually like
of each.
I remember when I was new to
computers and got my first
PC, and what the internet
was like then (around 1999);
this is the era I like. I
realise that while there are
aspects that have
necessarily changed as the
masses have moved online for
things like shopping and
banking, but the (often)
obsolete things I once
enjoyed, and think back to
with nostalgia, I can
actually still enjoy if I so
wish. Having a website on
Neocities is a part of this,
since it echoes some of what
Geocities was about.
This video about Pizza Hut
essentially reminisces a
time when Pizza Hut (and
others like McDonalds) were
seemingly at their best.
I have very little nostalgia
for such places since my
parents avoided doing what
was seemingly normal for
many in taking us out to eat
regularly. There also wasn't
such an establishment close
enough to us for me to just
hang out at as a teenager.
For these reasons I perhaps
look to these places through
a different lens; I see how
people have been using these
places for all these years
(decades) and the creeping
changes (now made stark in
the video) have gone
un-noticed. What the video
fails to question,
therefore, is "why would
anyone eat at such places
[now]?" This is the obvious
question from my
perspective. I ask similar
questions about a simple cup
of coffee: "Why would I pay
for coffee to be dispensed
from a machine into a
disposable receptacle (and
sit on a plastic chair in a
prison of a building) when I
can make a proper cup for
myself and drink it from a
proper cup, in a comfortable
location of my choosing?"
The answers seem to be that
this is all a cultural
thing, and I either never
really fitted in with
culture, or I just don't
like where it has ended up
(and where it is seemingly
headed). My solution (as I
try to apply to Christmas), is to pick the aspects
I like, or find useful, and
discard/boycott the rest.
When your
Parents get a new Phone
Foil Arms and Hog | Date
added: 13-May-22
My response...
While this is a comedy
sketch, being in the
business of setting up such
devices for clients, I can
attest to the accuracy of
this video.
I'm convinced technology is
messing with people's heads,
and not just in the
attention-deficit manner we
are perhaps aware of, but
among the older folk as
memory begins to fail.
There is a breed of people
that have been convinced
that they need to "keep up
with technology" and in
order to do this, they have
to buy [into] the latest
crap, whether it be a smart
phone or an electric car.
With all these things there
is constant change, and
remembering passwords for
every app/service/account
just reveals the cracks in
minds of people losing their
marbles (I don't mean to say
this in an insensitive way
because I see how troubling
this is for
people/friends/family -
indeed it was troubling for
me when I first witnessed
it.)
Part of the constant change
are those digital interfaces
we interact with throughout
each and every day. It might
be how our email service is
displayed, or the banking
app we use, or the shopping
site we visit. All of these
things can change at a whim,
and they do, and when they
do, they f*ck with our
heads. It's bad enough that
when you buy a new device to
replace an old one that you
have to figure out how
things are now done, but
when you have a current
device and things are
changing with no prior
warning... I can't help but
think of some of the mental
techniques used on prisoners
to break them.
It's bad enough when our
local supermarket has a
subtle shuffle around of one
or two sections and we
approach that usual spot for
the usual thing and it's not
there. We become aware of
something amiss; is it our
memory of the place... or...
"oh, they've moved things
around."
The digital and online
spaces are somewhat similar,
but also quite different;
they can also be more
complex, so when things are
changed behind the scenes,
something we were used to
going into to do something
(in particular a settings
change that we don't do all
that often) we're buggered
about by having to hunt
around the houses to find
that simple option that
isn't there any more
(numerous times I've had to
"ask Google" because an
interface isn't intuitive.
The amount of time wasted
because powers that be have
decided on a new/more
efficient/better way of
doing things is not
negligible, and it's a waste
of OUR time. Add all this
time up for the span of the
population and we can see
lives being wasted.
Originally I saw the money I
had invested into technology
only for it to be superseded
by something newer and
better, or cheaper, or just
made obsolete. Lately I've
become more concerned with
the time cost, and the
mental cost of thinking
about such material things
that shouldn't really
matter.
My first experience with a
client losing his marbles,
so to speak, was when he
started to call me out
multiple times for the same
apparent (to him) issue with
his email. Something had
been changed and he couldn't
find his way, I think I just
had to create a shortcut on
his desktop to get him back
on somewhat familiar ground,
but when he called me out a
week later claiming the same
issues, and getting there to
see nothing was different, I
realised he was losing the
plot; he was seemingly
remembering how the email
system used to be some time
in the past, and now it
looked different to that.
His wife kept out of the way
during these first couple of
visits until she finally
hinted at being aware of his
mental state - I was almost
convinced at first that
because she lived with him
she hadn't noticed a gradual
decline in his faculties
(and I was tempted to say
something), but I sort of
came to accept that she
knew, but was finding ways
to deal with it herself.
Some time later I saw the
guy go into a newsagents to
buy a paper, only to queue
for so long that he forgot
what he was in there for,
and walk out (paper still in
hand).
Every other week I have to
deal with people that either
forget which passwords they
are using for what, or are
struggling to figure out how
to do something they were
once used to doing.
Brian
Cox: How Can We Trust the
Objectiveness of Science
Russell Brand | Date
added: 09-May-22
My response...
This offering in my feed
appeared quite fitting given
that I'm currently reading a
book about the 'history of
scientific ideas' (by
Charles Singer) and as I got
into that I couldn't help
but consider the so-called
'science' deployed during
the pandemic.
First off, I don't much like
Brian Cox (I'm sure I've
mentioned that elsewhere).
In this video clip in which
the science of the pandemic
is briefly spoken of, he
defends science basically by
saying it, and scientists
(like him) can't be wrong.
He elaborates by pointing
out that our understanding
of things (whether it can be
a newly discovered virus and
how it passes from person to
person, or how the universe
operates) is open to change.
Granted, we shouldn't blame
scientists for the
understanding they present,
but perhaps those (i.e. the
politicians) that take that
information and inflict it
on others as unquestionable
facts.
Cox accuses people of
picking and choosing their
argument based on personal
bias and this is where I
object, and would like to
point out that the science
born out of the pandemic was
little different to a belief
system, partly akin to a
religion, but given that
there are still people stuck
living by the advice/rules
given early on, in now more
akin to a cult - and which
is more dangerous?
Just this past week I was
walking through a port town
where there were numerous
foreign tourists (this I
consider to be relevant),
and many of them were
walking around (outdoors)
with masks on, some
seemingly not only hiding
behind theses, but using
sunglasses in a similar
manner, to hide from the
rest of the world/society
and a questioning gaze - I
tended to avoid looking
directly at such people,
especially since I might
have presented a facial
expression that deemed them
to be crazed cult-following
morons. It's not that I
consider everyone of this
appearance that, since some
might have a valid reason
for masking up - each to
their own and all that - but
some appeared young, fit and
healthy, rather than elderly
or in a high risk category.
Occasionally I'll see
someone riding a bike with a
mask on. If they really
think what they do, then
they are surely
triple-vaccinated and
double-boosted; in which
case they have been given
immunity. Every so often if
I'm visiting someone I'll be
asked if I want them to wear
a mask, I'll typically reply
with "No, that's ok, I'm
immune" which will usually
be met with the response
that they are too, that
they've had the vaccines and
latest boosters...
Persistent mask-wearers are
not following The Science,
and if they're not following
The Science, then what are
they following?
If someone is behaving
irrationally, are they not a
risk to society? At the
height of the pandemic I was
occasionally spoken to as if
I was such a risk when I was
picking the science that
made sense to me (i.e.
maintain my natural
immunity, get plenty of
fresh air, exercise, and
Vitamin D), now it appears
the shoe is on the other
foot.
