If this is your first time here, scroll to the bottom first to understand the idea, theory, motive, genre, tempo, game rules, boundaries, statistics and in other word, be totally confused by what's this all about … Alfie. ♫♪. Then come back to the top ^, or read up …like an Egyptian ♫♪. Be sure to Bookmark or Favorite so you can come back often.
August 26, 2023 -
THE INTERNET - In the annuls of human intelligence the internet may be #1 on the charts of "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time", holding off notable challengers like the Chinese guy who wondered, on a whim, if uncooked bat tastes like chicken
or our past (and present) elected lawmakers who steadfastly hold that banks and corporations were best left to regulate themselves since legislators really know nothing about finance or business and are only proficient at graft.
Nobly created to speed and share information among the science and medical community world-wide and later adapted to enhance our defenses and make government more efficient. Some argued it could be used to bring the knowledge of the world's libraries into the home and its use could be adapted to increase the efficiency of business. The concept took off. There were mountains of wealth to be acquired in its implementation and constant evolution. Good things were happening! Then someone realized, "Hell, we can show porn on this!" What? What else can we do?
Contrary to what Rudi Giuliani would have you believe, it was the internet not he, that struck the dagger in the heart of the large organized criminal organizations!
One by one, major divisions of their operations slipped away into back alleys the web. First porn, then sex trafficking, then gambling. Seedy untraceable minions, in basements, with horn rim glasses with taped nose bridges led the way. Seeing their success, legitimate well organized corporations and state governments muscled in swinging brief cases filled with legal briefs. These nerdy roaches came out of their basements, bought suits at Sy Syms and found themselves being offered million dollar executive positions at these firms.
Craigslist became the new Super Fly and the state, sites like Draft Kings and OTB replaced Auggie, your local bookie.
Major pharmaceutical companies took notice. Anything Pablo Escobar and clandestine U.S. Government operations could do, Richard Sackler and his world-wide wandering-eye network of pusher /physicians could do it better.
Other companies joined the bandwagon, even creating elaborate musical dance numbers to drown out low monotone voice over actors reciting extended litanies of horrific warnings, while joyful irritating people danced through neighborhoods, scaring passers-by at yard sales.
Sex, drugs and gambling - the cornerstones of income for the mob! Marone!!! The heart and soul was sucked out of John Gotti and he relegated himself to a lifetime of having his meals in tasteless outfits at Sorvino's Prison Pastaria.
But the appetite of Silicon City wasn't sated. Nooo! Not by a long shot. Leave it to previously ridiculed brainiacs, with pocket protectors, to ferret out every closeted addiction and vice of the human race.
Next up … the need to belong, the need to be heard, THE NEED TO BE A KAREN! Enter Social Media - destined to suck the "social" out of the species! What had been limited to small cliques usually found out of earshot in places like the Sunday pancake breakfasts, Saturday kid's soccer game sidelines, the bowels of local fish & game blinds and the putting greens of exclusive country clubs was now available 24/7 through your computer. This proved so addictive and successful as venue for advertising, they found a way to miniaturize those screens horning in and squeezing out the traditional functions of devices such as phones, watches and cameras.
As with anything new, there were unintended consequences. People who were previously quietly considered morons and lunatics by neighbors, co-workers and themselves found there were others like them and then found each other. They no longer only ventured out at the annual county fair.
It was revealed there were 'conservatively', at least 70 million of these mental defectives in the United States alone based on data collected in the last Presidential election.
But the human race is not deterred by the unlimited number bright ideas that have come down the pike and the speed bumps which may have resulted. They consider it a sunk cost of progress. As you read this, they are putting the fate of the world in the hands and minds of people with names like Gary, Ravi, Ohlov, Akimbatu, Weychu and Bob who have been thoroughly vetted by Indeed, probed by Intelius, and held in high esteem at their local place of worship. Their task? Create a world where software which can think for us! The same people who brought you porn, gambling and a cure for impotence into our home will seek to create an intelligence substitute!
This group of brilliant coders will go largely unsupervised since computer language is totally unintelligible to everyone else and those who can make heads or tails of it, eyes gloss over and doze off while reviewing it. And of course, our Republican and some Democratic members of Congress and the Courts will attend week long brainstorming sessions, as guests of the CEO's of these institutions of unending Bobs to get hammered … I mean hammer out regulations safeguarding the world, at the birthplaces of modern progress known as Cyprus and the Cayman Islands.
Accordingly, those government officials will congratulate themselves after insisting this artificial intelligence come in pink or yellow packaging so as not to be confused with the real intelligence in the white packets.
And now for the good news: after eight years, unlikely as it seemed at the time, it looks like for the next year or so we'll be treated to SON OF CLOWN CAR! More on that later over on A B.L.O.G.
June 23, 2023 -
“For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;” Ecclesiastes 1:18
Imagine, me of all people, opening with a passage from the Bible. "Sacrilege" the congregants will say! (me being a half-assed atheist who does believe there is an ultimate creator of unknown constitution, gender or political affiliation, but swears off any organized religion choosing to agree with Voltaire - “Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool.”). But I considered the statement a sage one and give kudos to the author, editor, translator and proof readers throughout time.
It seems the more I know about how things really work, the more saddened I am by the path the human race is taking. Don't get me wrong, learning is the most wonderful thing there is. What saddens me is how a wealthy ensconced malevolent few bend over backwards to suppress learning in a multiplicity of ways such as suppression of funding of public education and book banning, to name only two. Of course this doesn't carry over to private educational institutions where the cost of attendance is equivalent to the cost of a modest vacation home for the President of such institution.
History or Herstory is something that's needed to be taught as an in-depth analysis of causes and theories of why things happen and not only as a superficial sequential memorization of dates and events. What you'll see when you strip away platitudes of how great our accomplishments are and the "we" are as opposed to "them", is that the human race is consistently directed by a greedy few. They were able to do so mainly through veiled, large scale pilfering of wealth and clandestine ownership of authority (aka government). Thus they are able to maintain some form of enslavement of the masses that ensures their limiting the masses focus to obtaining food and shelter and an occasional treat or bobble.
This scenario has played out over and over and over and over and over ad infinitum throughout history AND WE DO NOT LEARN. Or we were suppressed from learning. Or we are so focused on maintaining and protecting our meager standards of living, we have no time to learn. Or we're just fucking tired from trying to get by and don't give a shit. Or the bought and paid for fortresses of authority seems insurmountable. Or we're old, and now have time to learn but not the time left to do anything about it or to be taken seriously when telling people about it.
After all, what do old people know that can't be found on the internet - the vessel of all knowledge and unbridled power. More on that later …
June 9, 2023 -
Today begins a recording of thoughts as they come with no set periodic schedule. It's a place to jot down wisdoms of my ego and observations flying through my mind when I'm shaving or lying in bed or driving in my car or cooking dinner or sitting on the can. Some choose to collect and assemble such into a grand work of self help non-fiction or heartfelt memoirs believing they have the answer to something which they alone have the secret and soon find out after publication and great efforts that hundreds from history, be it from Greece, China, India, Africa or Latvia et al, at one time thought or had the same idea or point of view. (There are currently 8.2 billion people on earth. Multiply that by the estimated number of generations with a deceasing factor of say 10% for each generation with a random factoring of meteor strikes and floods for early generations and you will see there is a good chance someone had each of your thoughts at one time).
I'll save you the $.99 to $20.00 you'd never spend nowadays on such a book and dole out my brain ooze piecemeal. You are offered choices of about 156 million book titles, thousands of video streaming channels, 8 crillion YouTubers, TikTokites, TwitterTwits, FacebookAddicts, RedditForgetitites, PinterestsinaDresses, and then … the Gamers, of course - to occupy the maybe two hours of your daily free time. My ooze is FREE and sitting here for when you're bored (until, of course, a publisher or influencer like Oprah find me and a large advance results. Then this blog will disappear faster than illegal scam call center when a bunch of large unmarked SUV's roll up outside the building.)
Another thing sparking this mode of pontificating is as I've gotten older more people I've known are popping up in obituaries along with the idols of my youth. Now when attending a wake or even a wedding, stories of events and memories of my past are recounted by others and make me realize, up to this point, the brain cells that contain those files had been alcohol swiped to the recycle bin and now had been restored due to this chance encounter. So screw the accumulating, it's time to Bloviate!