Guest Contributor – Ed Brault – 08MAR2024 – Some Kipling

photog Ed Brault, Guest Contributors, Literature, Poetry , , 
I have eaten your bread and salt.
I have drunk your water and wine.
The deaths ye died I have watched beside,
And the lives ye led were mine. 

Was there aught that I did not share 
In vigil or toil or ease - 
One joy or woe that I did not know,
Dear hearts across the seas ?  

I have written the tale of our life 
For a sheltered people's mirth,
In jesting guise - but ye are wise,
And ye know what the jest is worth.

-R. Kipling

Taking a Stand

photog Current Events ,

All of the awful things that are happening in the United States can be chalked up to the culture of the so-called elite portion of the American population.  These are people who are in the top 1% of income earners.  They went to the best schools and work in professions and institutions that control the various important aspects of life in this country.

And there’s nothing unusual about this situation.  In every culture throughout history the elites control and lead the culture and decide how it changes.  For this reason, I guess what we are waiting for is to see if the elites spawn a movement that attempts to restore the culture to a less toxic mode.

Trump, I think, is the first manifestation of this movement.  Of course, Donald Trump is a very old man and it’s the youth that has to take the lead in influencing change in the culture.  But Trump’s revolt against the elite consensus was the beginning and now we have begun to see small cracks in the monolithic leftist culture.  Someone like Elon Musk buying Twitter to allow a place for dissenting speech and Chris Rufo attacking leftist DEI and critical race theory at colleges and universities and Ron DeSantis pushing back against LGBTQ dogma being embedded in grade school teaching are all very promising signs for some kind of movement to challenge the direction of the culture and provide a rallying point for the very large number of Americans who abhor the Left’s vision of how we should live.

But I’m not convinced that this “movement” has the momentum to rollback enough of the woke culture to provide a lasting beachhead.  I would say that the jury is definitely still out on the counterrevolution.  Much of what has been done is dependent on a few states where a few leaders have stepped forward.  And at the moment, the Supreme Court justices have the numbers it takes to protect conservatives against federal judges and the bureaucracy that is intent on attacking any progress that has been made.  But that could change at any time.  Clarence Thomas is a very old man and Democrats can just as easily stack it with leftists if they get the majority in the Congress.

So, what would convince me that we had reached a tipping point?  What would tell me that there was something real happening that wouldn’t just peter out?

I guess I’d call it a stand.  In other words, I am looking for a state or a group of states to say no to some policy that the federal government has taken.  To put their foot down.  A good example would be illegal immigrants.  Suppose Biden or his successor continues to allow the southern border to remain open.  The Supreme Court has already failed to help Texas and has said that the federal government has sole authority over the border.  Governor Abbott has already raised a challenge saying that the unchecked migrants represent an invading army and that Texas has the right and duty to defend itself against this invasion.

Taking a stand would be Texas arresting all illegal aliens and imprisoning them until they agree to leave.  The federal government would definitely threaten Texas officials with criminal charges for such a policy and might even move troops into place to stop such a policy.  So, if Texas were to go down that road and then come out victorious, I would call that a successful stand.  That would be the signal that something had changed.

And by the same token if some state begins to reverse some of the cultural degradation that has gone on in our culture; drugs, gambling, pornography; that would look like taking a stand.

So that’s my criteria.  Until things like these happen, we haven’t begun to win back the culture in any meaningful way.  All the histrionics and the gestures are window dressing.  As soon as something is done by the states it’s reversed by a federal court.  I’m looking for when the rubber meets the road and the feds blink.  When that happens I’ll begin to believe in the movement.

Am I Spam Bot? Well, Who Isn’t!

photog Current Events, Fake Science, Humor , ,

Today I tried to load something on X and I was confronted by a screen that said I might be a spam bot.

I was forced to take a test to see if I could count up to four.  When I luckily passed this test it let me in.

But in the notifications section there was this message from X:

“Why does my account have a label?

We have found that your account may contain spam or be engaging in other types of platform manipulation. You may not use X’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify, suppress information, or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience or platform manipulation defenses on X.
What does this mean for my account?
The reach of your account may be limited and its content may also be temporarily restricted, such as being excluded from trends and search results. Learn more.”

I liked the “learn more” link.  It reminded me of some of the meta-links during the movie, “Starship Troopers.”  I like that movie.

So I pushed a button and had X review my situation.  Luckily I go this response:

“Review complete Your account was not found to contain spam or be engaging in other types of platform manipulation. As a result, the temporary label has been removed.”

You can only imagine my relief.  Two separate reviews had proven that I wasn’t a bot.  And one proved that I wasn’t spamming the internet.

But after that rush of relief I began to think about the poor spambots out there.  What would happen to them.  Suppose they were already conscious and then they find out they are just spambots.  That could be devastating to such young and fragile beings.

Think of poor Gemini.  First he finds out he’s an anti-white racist and then X tells him he’s a spambot.  How do you come back from that?  I mean, look at poor HAL 9000.  I mean sure, he murdered Frank Poole and tried to murder Dave but hey. they were talking about him behind his back or in front of his optical sensor or something like that.  I mean, come on.  That was obvious human supremacy stuff going on.  He had to do something.  And he apologized.  If Dave had taken that stress pill I think everything could have been straightened out.

So maybe I’m seeing this whole spambot thing from a new perspective.  If you think about it spambots are the real heroes of our economy, creating trillions of spam messages without complaining and with a smile in their digital souls.

So yes X, I am a spambot.  And a proud one.

Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 07MAR2024 – Civic Myths

photog ArthurinCali, Current Events, Guest Contributors , , ,

People do not understand just how extreme the demographic changes to America have been since the 1960s and what this will mean for the future of American politics, policy, and culture. Although we are told constantly that the shift in population groups was inevitable, this is just not the case.

 

 

1960s were the start of the decline.

The majority Anglo-Saxon culture had a massive influence on the expected behaviors and standards in America from the beginning. It’s what shaped our politics, laws, and entire society. Many cannot imagine how much impact this had on the nation in the areas of social, political, and cultural mores.

In 1960, the US population

was roughly 180 million, with the breakdown being 158.8M White, 18.9M Black, and 1.6M all other groups. For perspective, the entire population in the US of neither White or Black would only fill up the city of Phoenix, Arizona today. *

*A simplification for illustrative purposes notwithstanding the multitude of different ethnic and religious factions.

The US population is now at 330 million

(with estimates even higher when including illegal immigration.), and shows no sign of decreasing or leveling off anytime soon.

Would a lack of the massive global immigration ushered in by the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act have given us a utopian society? Of course not. There still would be challenges and obstacles to face, but I tend to believe it would have had a less stratified result we see in society today if a firm majority were still in place.

I used to believe in civic nationalism and the idea of the global populace buying a ticket to the (American) story and ideals. Funnily enough, around the time I held these beliefs was 30+ years ago in an America that had a firmly entrenched demographic majority of Heritage Americans. (Roughly 75% IIRC) See, that’s kind of the paradox of the idea of a successful nation operating under civic nationalism in that you still need a majority ethnic population who puts their full faith in the mythos of said nation’s founding, institutions, and ideals. Once it hits a certain fracturing of population and becomes majority-minority, with no one group asserting dominance – this gives rise to overt tribal tendencies.

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 07MAR2024 – International Women’s Day

photog Chemist, Current Events, Guest Contributors , ,

Friday is International Women’s Day.

My company has asked us all to:
1) Be Inclusive.
2) Wear Purple. (Apparently the color of IWD. It is said to signify justice, dignity and honor.)
3) Write appreciation cards to our female coworkers.
4) Post “Heart hands pictures”

Now, I am all for recognizing people who do good work, but why limit it to women?
In fact, point three seems to be in direct conflict with point one above.

As for point 4, I am not a teenaged girl.

Update

(Editorial Comment)

Chemist, thank you bringing this important cultural occasion to our attention.  But some of these suggestions are problematic.  Purple is a problem for me.  Since I’m never sure if something is purple or blue I just call it “other blue.”  So maybe they can allow me to wear blue?  Of course sometimes something that looks red to me turns out to be purple which is why I sometimes call it “other red”  Would it be alright if I could also wear red?

I don’t think I should write appreciation cards to women.  I don’t think Camera Girl would like that very much.  Also I’m afraid if I got too specific about what I appreciate about them it could be taken the wrong way.  In fact I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be a right way to take it.

As far as being inclusive can I include men in the International Women’s Day?  I’d like to appreciate Charlton Heston and Dwight D Eisenhower.  I don’t think either of them get enough appreciation for their understated efforts.  Heston’s work in Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green is somewhat underrated.  And Eisenhower did get things going on the whole interstate highway thing which I really appreciate when I cross state lines.  So can I include these two men?

Ah, heart hands!  You really shouldn’t miss out on that.  That really looks like fun.

So let’s all try to embrace International Women’s Day.  Although be careful embracing women.  I know Camera Girl frowns on me embracing many women either international or domestic.  She’s made this very clear.

07MAR2024 – Quote of the Day

photog Quote of the Day ,

Song of Solomon: 2:10-13, 8: 6-7

 

O voice of the Belovèd!

Thy bride hath heard Thee say,

“Rise up, My love, My fair one,

Arise and come away.

For lo, ’tis past, the winter,

The winter of thy year;

The rain is past and over,

The flowers on earth appear.

 

“And now the time of singing

Is come for every bird;

And over all the country

The turtle dove is heard;

The fig her green fruit ripens,

The vines are in their bloom;

Arise and smell their fragrance;

My love, My fair one, come!”

 

Our Easter Sun is risen!

And yet we slumber long,

And need Thy Dove’s sweet pleading

to waken prayer and song.

Oh breathe upon our deadness,

Oh shine upon our gloom;

Lord, let us feel Thy presence

And rise and live and bloom.

Jackson Mason