A few days ago I read a quote I can't get out of my mind:
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Ellen DeGeneres: “I got kicked out of show business”.
No, sweetie, you were cancelled because you are a horrible person to anyone you deem below you, while stroking the egos of anyone you consider above you.
You bullied people on your show, both guests and coworkers.
You were cancelled because people saw the real you and realized that you're petty, unkind, and a sociopath who posed as a good person.
@kazarnowicz I rolled my eyes and put her out of mind when she got racist on her show over Asian names. Having her go down feels like a bit of validation.
800 dollars for a reservation. People making five figures per year on making reservations and then selling them. So. Many. Different. Services. This is rent-seeking on restaurants, because they don't get paid, and take the losses on no-shows.
Fascinating read about the morally ambiguous ecosystem of table reservations in New York.
"I think, therefore I am" has aged like milk, and I think this makes Descartes overrated as a philosopher (this being his first principle and all).
As late as last Friday, a group of academics in relevant fields, signed “The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness", which says pretty much the same thing as the Cambridge declaration from 2012: consciousness is likely possessed my most, if not all, animals.
"I feel, therefore I am" is a statement that would have aged like wine.
I am also convinced that a lot of the suffering animals and humans (like babies) have endured in the hands of trained doctors can be traced back to Descartes:
The conclusion of “I think, therefore I am" in mainstream practice has been “I think, therefore I can feel pain”.
I have no idea what's going on, but today I woke up with eyes and nose gushing as if to challenge Cardi B to write a sequel to WAP. My eyes are puffy, I'm sneezing like crazy and nose is stuffed.
I suspect allergies, but to WHAT? We still have snow, and nothing has started to sprout yet.
@kazarnowicz I had a Seattle friend who was allergic to snow. She literally starts sneezing in snow and breaks out in huge hives. Some sort of autoimmune overreaction to the cold. Can you imagine? I don't know where she is any more but I hope she moved to some place tropical.
That would be terrible up north where you are!
Glad you are feeling better.
When researchers in the next civilization are looking at signals that telegraphed the fall of the current civilization, I bet that “the fourth estate being coopted by billionaires to sway the public towards the billionaires' views on policies” will be one of the major signals.
I would be deeply ashamed if I was a journalist working for NYT.
[…] a friend of Melania’s said she “is leading her own life, and still feels happy being at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by people who love her and who never talk about reality, or bad things about her husband.”
Jag älskar att det finns en namninsamling för att få Kinberg Batra sparkad. Hennes beteende är ju galet, och urholkar tilltron till demokratin. Vänskapskorruption så öppet måste få konsekvenser.
Om du tycker att Kinberg Batra ska avgå/bli sparkad, så ska du också skriva under här:
If you have any doubts that Israel is involved in war crimes, read this report from 972 Magazine (written by Jewish and Palestinian journalists) about ‘Lavender’, the AI that makes kill decisions for the IDF.
One thing is clear and that is that they accept collateral damage of women and children.
Fun fact that gets depressing the more you think about itt: you can check the dates for past solar eclipses by looking at the Google trends for "my eyes hurt"
If you're in the mood for dystopian sci-fi that is too close to reality for comfort, I recommend “The Implications of a MADCOM World – Three scenarios for the future”.
It was written in 2017, and covers the coming ten years (so <2027). It's interesting to compare to reality, 70% into their predictions.
Sometimes, I’m struck with wonder at things I normally take for granted. Like seeing.
Photons hit flesh which transforms them to electric signals. These signals travel to the brain, which then constructs a mental image of the rich, immersive reality we see. Isn’t that insane?
The light doesn’t reach your brain - so it has literally never experienced light other than through the proxy of electric signals from the eyes, in a language only the two understand, evolved over millennia.