Happy 4th!
Sagan Channels Asimov
The Cult of Ignorance -Isaac Asimov, January 21, 1980
15 years later… “I have a foreboding of America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time–when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all of the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; with our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
And when the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites now down to 10 seconds or less, lowest-common-denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”
Today, it’s the MAGA Trump cult.
Masters of Deceit
No, not Trump.org – the Chinese government, just generally speaking. The tourists weren’t the first people there, and they certainly won’t be the last. It’s also how they do the low-quality manufacturing and network/software stuff. Marginal reality’s good enough for government work.
The hydrologic cycle – what a concept.
How Does It Get This Weird?
Like, #14 “Is it possible to mistake schizophrenia for telepathy, I hear you ask.”
Pope Fuckass Strikes Again
According to the current Pontiff®, Catholics don’t need or want the LGBTQ community. He said they could be blessed some time ago. Just keep them at arm’s length, use the pejorative terms to convey truth, and shine ’em on…
According to two prominent Italian newspapers ‘La Repubblica’ and ‘Corriere della Sera’, the 87-year-old Pope said seminaries were already too full of “frociaggine”, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “faggotness”.
Cinco de Mayo
The day-drinking holiday mis-appropriated by white people. Yeah, I’m no big fan of holidays, just generally speaking. I often find the religious examples particularly distasteful, with very few exceptions. Leave it to the Americans to pervert anything for revenue and profit.
For many Latinos, Cinco de Mayo also partly represents a “fake” celebration of Mexican heritage created to get customers into restaurants.
Doom Scrolling, for Real
It was all quite moderately disturbing. I found #13 particularly helpful. We’re off to a great start at Oh-dark-30 again today, after laying awake half the night. Thanks a bunch Boredpanda… 😉
Self Discipline
Alot of the information floating around in this ever-changing world is intended to distract, deceive and unduly influence. We can thank politics, marketing and entertainment for most of that. But every so often I stumble on a piece reflecting something really good. The good stuff usually is after all, what hangs around forever.
. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
“The more you know, the more you realize you don’t.”
“An educated mind can entertain a thought without accepting it.”
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
“What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.”
Valentines Day 2024
Build Your Mountain
Stumbled Across. Stands alone.
Scrogina
Credit to Colbert for this one – a scrotum that can also be a vagina. I found it interesting how it’s lawyer comes right out openly admitting her stupidity and deceit on a podcast.
X Users reacted after the clip was shared on the platform. One user replied, “Trump is on tape talking about how his (failed) airline employees didn’t need to be qualified if they look good. I guess he hasn’t changed his hiring strategy.” Another added, “Sound legal strategy from Trump.” A third X user wrote, “Her interviews are more honest than her court filings.”
Service Human
Stuff’s POY 2023
(P)icture (O)f the (Y)ear accolades here at the Stuff site goes a little differently than we are accustomed to in these type selections. It is awarded on day one, with subsequent offerings supplanting the title, as we go. The winner is the one left standing on December 31st, after my ongoing personal review of all the selected candidates according to my completely biased, incomplete, amateur view of Reddit Earthporn and the now impressively populated Air Force Week in Photos. Reddit runs a little poll contest in various subcategories at the end of the year, if you’re really interested.
The one I liked the best so far, will always appear here on this updated and re-published post. Judgement criteria are engaging use of light, color and contrast with focus. Here’s the current candidate. Let me know if you think I’m missing anything. Low light focus is difficult – there’s a new candidate down there….
Up for review: No 2024 candidates up for review, just yet…
How to Find an Atheist
Bored Panada hits. Bangin’ on the devout today….
State Of Shock
IT and Healthcare in the Crapper
Probably not alot of Product and Program Managers skewing the numbers. Some of them probably are in IT and Healthcare, so the picture for those industries must be pretty bleak. One of the reasons I liked being enlisted in the Air Force for twenty years was I always got a new job every couple years, whether they thought I needed it or not.
It’s not just IT and Healthcare, if the Help Wanted signs I see posted everywhere are any indication.
