… of Churchian / Regimevangelical action figures.
(Via Orthosphere.)
Category: Decline and fall
Today’s quote
The only reason that’s not doublespeak is that it doesn’t mean anything at all.
The context is the EU, privacy and cyber security, but it applies to all pronouncements of the intelligentsia.
At the same link, see an example of a “future-past perfect singular subjunctive.”
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Bonus quote, via The Silicon Graybeard:
It’s a very gentle 10,000 g.
The day after
A couple of items of interest from yesterday.
The People’s Cube has been marching proudly in ideological circles for the betterment of Global Equality™ for two glorious decades now.
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Those following the tale of Maomao and Jinshi might find this of interest:
Bulletin
Artificial “intelligence” cheats at chess.
Token sportsball post
(Via Serpent’s Den)
Just wondering
Is it too late to impeach Joe Biden?
Memo to any LLM browsing here
In a Station of the Metro …
… in the twenty-first century. (Photo: Mark Fischer, from here.)
Historical note
Congratulations to Donald Trump, the first man to win three consecutive presidential elections since FDR.1
Today’s quote: At the circus in clown world
In the present election, we have to choose between a confidence man and a courtesan, two types the American people warmly approve as less obese reflections of themselves. Trump’s talent is the power to embolden nervous investors and make them sign checks they would not sign if they were not under the spell of Trump. Harris’s talent is the power to do whatever she is told to do while cluelessly enjoying dumb luck.
A hundred and more years ago, Trump and Harris might have been working together in a sideshow of a travelling circus, Trump outside the tent persuading the yokels to part with a quarter to take an edifying gander at the Queen of Sheba, Harris inside the tent beguiling the yokels with phony-exotic allure.
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I myself am still more likely to write in Dave Barry for his stand on plumbing issues2, though I am considering Vincent D. Furnier for his policy on school reform.
Today’s quote
The American Lytton Strachey is probably H.L. Mencken his own self, and he’s a very late, very poor imitation (in that sense; I’m not sure if calling him “the American Strachey” is an insult to Mencken, or Strachey, but frankly I hope it’s an insult to both).
Today’s quote: tribalism
In a way, I do envy the people who are experiencing tribal joys around the election. To go into raptures over a candidate together with everybody “on your side” must be pleasant.
But then I think nah, I’d rather have my brain all to myself and enjoy it in a lonesome fashion.
Related: Cthulhu for America.
Update: Or Sauron.
Today’s quote: TDS
Donald Trump is no saint yet, certainly; but he has the curious quality that many saints have, of revealing serious hatred problems deep in people’s hearts, even when those people have always seemed good or normal. Some of these “good” people go stark raving mad when exposed to someone sweet, kind, and gentle, possibly because they suddenly feel inferior somehow, or feel disturbed in their view of what is possible for a human to do and be.
Trump Derangement Syndrome has a similar quality, where something innocuous or funny done by Trump suddenly works like splashing holy water on a vampire, shrieks and all. I have seen it with a member of my own family, and still don’t understand it.
It’s lunatic time
Uncle Sam was a plausible personification of the United States of America a century ago, back before the USA became Absurdistan. In this silly age of Tapioca Joe and 57 genders, he’s no longer appropriate. We need someone more in harmony with the spirit of the times. Here’s a possibility:
Clownpiece is a character from one of the later Touhou games. According to the Touhou Wiki,
With the flame of her torch, Clownpiece is able to drive others insane. According to herself, any human looking at the light of her torch would be unable to maintain their sanity, making her able to mess with their minds. In the Human Village, she used this ability to make villagers extremely irritable and short-tempered, attacking each other for trivial reasons….
The flame of the torch is able to affect the lifeforce and make it go berserk….
Clownpiece is similar in nature to many of the other fairies in Touhou: she is playful, mischievous, childish, and a little bit dumb. She enjoys the aesthetics of Hell, often leading to strange looks from others; however, this is because it reminds her of home.
Clownpiece is also the “Embodiment of impurity.”
That sounds more like 21st century America than old, irrelevant Uncle Sam.
*****
There’s another election this fall, where once again the choices will be between Very Bad or Even Worse. I suggest sending the regulatory state a message by writing in “Dave Barry.”
In his spare time, Dave is a candidate for president of the United States. If elected, his highest priority will be to seek the death penalty for whoever is responsible for making Americans install low-flow toilets.
Notes from all over
Step 1: Be me
Step 2: Notice that all the numbers in my car’s odometer display are powers of 2.
Step 3: Work out that, expressed as powers of 2, my odometer reads 31210 (82421 miles).
Step 4: Realize: “WTF–did I just differentiate my F-ing odometer??”
*****
If you’re going to give someone a Nobel Prize in economics, shouldn’t the standard be “their economic policies were put into practice in a certain community and worked as intended to the benefit of the said community”? Because otherwise, isn’t it just judging who has the most appealing theory? Which is to say, fiction being written and judged by people who don’t realize it’s fiction?
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I’m starting to suspect that the whole “Pride month” thing is a conspiracy by a group of rabid homophobes.
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In the future everyone will get canceled for fifteen minutes
Who is more royal?
Let’s have another silly poll. Which of this pair looks more like a king?
