AI has left the building, normal intelligence never entered, as might be expected of a herpetology student, and the pond is unwell and is stepping out of the tent for a while ...if nothing else, our hole in the bucket man is a worthy placeholder ...
"Rain is set to soak every Australian state over the next week - with some locations forecast to receive a month's worth of rainfall in just a few days." https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/entire-country-to-be-hit-by-tropical-rain-bomb/ar-AA1qUfWP
Today’s Reptile offerings include a lengthy propaganda piece from the Bromancer in favour of Christianity-based schools that ban screens, teach Latin and focus on the Great Books of the past. According to the Bro, that’s basically the only possible way to save Western Civilisation. So yes, it’s an ideal time for a break.
Anonymous - that snap of the Bro from the 'Betoota Advocate' reminds us of the nigh-miraculous restoration of the deep colouring of the hair on top of the Bro's head. Contrasting neatly with the designer stubble around his chin. No doubt the hair restoration indicates a latter-day pentecost, bestowed on the unquestioning devotees of the true faith.
There’s a Spanish film by the name of Agora that covers destruction of the Library of Alexandria and the more distasteful aspects of Christianity becoming the official cult of the empire.
I found it quite interesting but it’s very much at odds with the usual Hollywood offering.
Hi DP, Good wishes and I trust you will be feeling better soon.
I posted the below some time ago here, but what the heck why not give it another go -
“To quote the only line of Gertrude Stein’s which I have ever been able to understand, ‘It is wonderful how I am not interested.’” –Dorothy Parker on Gertrude Stein (from her 1919 review of the play Tillie)
Thanks for the link, GB, and if you ask me old Billy Shakes was not above swiping good material when he saw it, Omar should sue -
LXIV Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the Road, Which to discover we must travel too.
The Bard of Avon - The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns.
The above brings to mind the comedy "Upstart Crow" which often got laughs out of a character pointing out to the Bard that he borrowed much of his material. It's on You Tube now and well worth the candle to go and watch.
Well I'd say that very few and far between are those who can express a human emotion or worldly response that hasn't been expressed before. So it's all just a "who can say that most movingly" kind of deal, not who first said it - which anyway was doubtless long before we had writing to express it.
Besides, we are not reading Omar, we are reading the interpretation of Omar produced by Edward Fitzgerald (a 'minor poet' in his own right).
But it's all good fun in its own way, so how about this one: A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness-- Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
I can't recall Willy, or anybody other than Fitzgerald, using "enow" in poetry (if you know somebody who has, please tell).
Well it kinda had to be, didn't it, the Chinese being responsible for the largest CO2 contribution. And maybe it might have something to do with China's declining population. Anyway, if only we can get India and the USA to join in, we might be beginning to get somewhere.
But do remember: "It's worth remembering why this is so momentous. Carbon dioxide, the warming gas we can't seem to stop spewing into the atmosphere, stays there for a long time. Like, a really long time. It means that all the additional carbon added to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution will continue to warm the planet and haunt humankind for centuries to come.".
So, just to emphasize, even if we basically reduced the amount of CO2 we spew to roughly zero tomorrow, the amount we've already spewed will be with us, and the planet, for millennia.
Yeah, Anony, sometimes just a bit of sane and sensible authoritarianism is the best, if not the only, way.
We haven't ever waged a serious war democratically, have we. The trouble is that allowing for democratic opinions just allows for a lot of opinionated nonsense to be propagated.
"And whenever I read the news, I can not help but feel anxious, feel threatened by the world around me, how broken it is, how large the big problems loom and also about how stupid "the others" are. It feels like everything is a black and white picture, those are the good guys, those are the bad guys, and they are only 100% good or 100% bad. There is no nuance to the news anymore and whenever I read either of the sides, I feel enraged at how the other side can think that?!" https://www.trebeljahr.com/posts/the-problem-at-the-heart-of-capitalism
"I got lost because I have grown so accustomed to, so bored by, so immune to stupid directions, rules and regulations imposed by governments of all kinds, from mountain bureaucrats to Canberra politicians, that I thought I knew better."
Well of course she thought she knew better - when has she ever thought otherwise. And when has she ever been right ?
The problem with people like Planet is that they assume that anything they don’t understand is stupid, malicious or an affront to their freedom to do as they want. The Darwin awards document numerous incidents of what you don’t know hurting you badly. Of course in her case it’s usually hurting someone else so that’s OK.
Dorothy, I'd nominate you as the news manipulation and lies consultant. And I'd buy the game to teach the kids what their politicians, sLobbyists and faceless power brokers actually do. We'd name it The Barnaby & Gina Tool.
Andrew Gelman... "I’ve also been working with a friend on a multiplayer game called Buy That Guy that you play with a map and cards. Each player represents an interest group such as agribusiness or tech, and you buy and sell legislators who you can use to pass bills that get you money. The goal is to become the political leader by controlling the majority of the legislature. It’s cute and almost playable, but the game mechanics don’t quite click yet, so we’re still trying to figure some things out. I think that art is a little more forgiving than game design." https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/09/21/why-art-is-more-forgiving-than-game-design/#comments
All the best, DP - hope your health improves.
ReplyDelete(Or was that a “Jeffrey Barnard is unwell” - type message?)
You can sit back and just enjoy the weather, DP:
ReplyDelete"Rain is set to soak every Australian state over the next week - with some locations forecast to receive a month's worth of rainfall in just a few days."
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/entire-country-to-be-hit-by-tropical-rain-bomb/ar-AA1qUfWP
Today’s Reptile offerings include a lengthy propaganda piece from the Bromancer in favour of Christianity-based schools that ban screens, teach Latin and focus on the Great Books of the past. According to the Bro, that’s basically the only possible way to save Western Civilisation. So yes, it’s an ideal time for a break.
ReplyDeleteBut, Anony, what if that really is the only way to save "Western (Judeo-Christian) Civilisation" and that's why none of us want to save it ?
DeleteBesides, it's all down to Islam anyway:
https://youtu.be/DvqRPs2cS6I
https://www.betootaadvocate.com/advocate-in-focus/gas-escaping-from-sentient-cardigan-wearing-nappy-bin-mistakenly-transcribed-and-published-in-the-australian/
DeleteAnonymous - that snap of the Bro from the 'Betoota Advocate' reminds us of the nigh-miraculous restoration of the deep colouring of the hair on top of the Bro's head. Contrasting neatly with the designer stubble around his chin. No doubt the hair restoration indicates a latter-day pentecost, bestowed on the unquestioning devotees of the true faith.
DeleteThere’s a Spanish film by the name of Agora that covers destruction of the Library of Alexandria and the more distasteful aspects of Christianity becoming the official cult of the empire.
DeleteI found it quite interesting but it’s very much at odds with the usual Hollywood offering.
Hi DP,
ReplyDeleteGood wishes and I trust you will be feeling better soon.
I posted the below some time ago here, but what the heck why not give it another go -
“To quote the only line of Gertrude Stein’s which I have ever been able to understand,
‘It is wonderful how I am not interested.’” –Dorothy Parker on Gertrude Stein (from
her 1919 review of the play Tillie)
BTW, JM, in case you're interested:
Deletehttps://classics.mit.edu/Khayyam/rubaiyat.html
All of it.
Thanks for the link, GB, and if you ask me old Billy Shakes was not above swiping
Deletegood material when he saw it, Omar should sue -
LXIV
Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who
Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,
Not one returns to tell us of the Road,
Which to discover we must travel too.
The Bard of Avon -
The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns.
The above brings to mind the comedy "Upstart Crow" which often got laughs
Deleteout of a character pointing out to the Bard that he borrowed much of his material.
It's on You Tube now and well worth the candle to go and watch.
Well I'd say that very few and far between are those who can express a human emotion or worldly response that hasn't been expressed before. So it's all just a "who can say that most movingly" kind of deal, not who first said it - which anyway was doubtless long before we had writing to express it.
DeleteBesides, we are not reading Omar, we are reading the interpretation of Omar produced by Edward Fitzgerald (a 'minor poet' in his own right).
But it's all good fun in its own way, so how about this one:
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
I can't recall Willy, or anybody other than Fitzgerald, using "enow" in poetry (if you know somebody who has, please tell).
ICYMI: The rise of solar power and China's staggering EV growth may have pushed global emissions into decline
ReplyDeleteSubtext: if we get through the climate crisis, it will be because of China.
Well it kinda had to be, didn't it, the Chinese being responsible for the largest CO2 contribution. And maybe it might have something to do with China's declining population. Anyway, if only we can get India and the USA to join in, we might be beginning to get somewhere.
DeleteBut do remember:
"It's worth remembering why this is so momentous. Carbon dioxide, the warming gas we can't seem to stop spewing into the atmosphere, stays there for a long time. Like, a really long time.
It means that all the additional carbon added to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution will continue to warm the planet and haunt humankind for centuries to come.".
So, just to emphasize, even if we basically reduced the amount of CO2 we spew to roughly zero tomorrow, the amount we've already spewed will be with us, and the planet, for millennia.
It does seem like China is the only country capable of executing a plan. I guess that’s why we call them authoritarian.
DeleteThe US has lots of plans that never seem to go anywhere and India makes the wrong bet all the time (IT ?)
Yeah, Anony, sometimes just a bit of sane and sensible authoritarianism is the best, if not the only, way.
DeleteWe haven't ever waged a serious war democratically, have we. The trouble is that allowing for democratic opinions just allows for a lot of opinionated nonsense to be propagated.
"And whenever I read the news, I can not help but feel anxious, feel threatened by the world around me, how broken it is, how large the big problems loom and also about how stupid "the others" are. It feels like everything is a black and white picture, those are the good guys, those are the bad guys, and they are only 100% good or 100% bad. There is no nuance to the news anymore and whenever I read either of the sides, I feel enraged at how the other side can think that?!"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.trebeljahr.com/posts/the-problem-at-the-heart-of-capitalism
Be still.
Have a good rest DP. A break from the reptiles will help. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteApparently today's Planet Janet is a doozy.
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/PSyvret/status/1837343281547772253
"I got lost because I have grown so accustomed to, so bored by, so immune to stupid directions, rules and regulations imposed by governments of all kinds, from mountain bureaucrats to Canberra politicians, that I thought I knew better."
DeleteWell of course she thought she knew better - when has she ever thought otherwise. And when has she ever been right ?
The problem with people like Planet is that they assume that anything they don’t understand is stupid, malicious or an affront to their freedom to do as they want. The Darwin awards document numerous incidents of what you don’t know hurting you badly. Of course in her case it’s usually hurting someone else so that’s OK.
DeleteDorothy, I'd nominate you as the news manipulation and lies consultant.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd buy the game to teach the kids what their politicians, sLobbyists and faceless power brokers actually do. We'd name it The Barnaby & Gina Tool.
Andrew Gelman...
"I’ve also been working with a friend on a multiplayer game called Buy That Guy that you play with a map and cards. Each player represents an interest group such as agribusiness or tech, and you buy and sell legislators who you can use to pass bills that get you money. The goal is to become the political leader by controlling the majority of the legislature. It’s cute and almost playable, but the game mechanics don’t quite click yet, so we’re still trying to figure some things out. I think that art is a little more forgiving than game design."
https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/09/21/why-art-is-more-forgiving-than-game-design/#comments
“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.” Indeed you do and the hacks tremble. Warm wishes.
ReplyDeleteDorothy, language needs you.
ReplyDeleteDue to AI externalities...
"Project Analyzing Human Language Usage Shuts Down Because ‘Generative AI Has Polluted the Data’
JASON KOEBLER
·SEP 19, 2024 AT 9:55 AM
"Wordfreq shuts down because "I don’t think anyone has reliable information about post-2021 language usage by humans.”
https://www.404media.co/project-analyzing-human-language-usage-shuts-down-because-generative-ai-has-polluted-the-data/