Politics and science, humor and hypocrisy. METANOODLE
Even little things are influenced by sex chromosome #23 and that includes shoes.
A lot of men and women are in the same group, owning 6 to 10 pairs of shoes.
In the 5 pairs and under group, there are twice as many men.
In the 11 pairs and over, there are twice as many women.
And one oddity: The extreme ownership group includes almost as many men as women.
A pitched battle is underway to control new wealth. Covid lockdowns with masking is one battle ground and so is Cancel Culture and so is control of elections. The new wealth is data on almost every human being alive and the ability to exploit it and to throttle it cheaply at the speed of light. Who is the top dog? We don’t know yet. Governments are trying for the lion’s share but give ground to large operations in Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Mass media, the papers, and entertainment purveyors are in there tweaking and stealing and corralling data. The big surprise is that NGO’s and private interest groups and even individuals own some of the internet space because access to millions of followers is so cheap and so fast. The power structure is changing rapidly. If government gets the upper hand, expect to see Chinese Communism with American Characteristics featuring mass surveillance and behaviour interdiction. More likely is a mixed recasting of federal-corporate-interest-group powers.
Human nature is reverting to the tribal in this setting. Behind “woke” “white privilege” and other badges of approval and shame is the old time simple fact of xenophobia, fear of strangers. Sadly, the strangers are fellow citizens who don’t live in my bubble.
If we own our own data and can capitalize it, not just have it snuffled up or stolen by a few big players, perhaps this will change. Don't expect justice but hope for a measure of competition between thieves of freedom.
"In the modern world, data is wealth"
Set your camera up to take a selfie
but don't take it.
Stand the camera on its edge a little further off
maybe leaning against something
with the display towards you.
Compose the shot so you and your friends look good.
Say, "OK Google. Take a Selfie".
Three seconds later it's done.
No more fat noses or extra tools.
Think about it carefully…. 25,000 troops needed at the U.S. Capitol to install the Biden administration. How many armed soldiers do you need at the inauguration of the “most popular Presidential candidate in American history after the most secure election in history?”
There won't be another fighter of Trump's stature in the near future. America's core institutions have become corrupt with Justice, sadly, the chief, followed closely by election machinations in many states.
The hope of nations now turns from the USA to China but not as you may expect. The Chinese model of mass surveillance and control of the economy by your (corrupt) betters is ascendent in America. My hope is now in the Chinese people, that their still-to-come revolution will be in my lifetime.
The near future is clear: Chinese communism with American Characteristics. Today Twitter and Google and the rest are wiping out all they hate about America. Goodbye to freedoms. Hello to apps and cameras reporting on all you do and write to others. Attached are screenshots from this historic day as voices the Left despises are cancelled.
The longing for a sweetheart and a darling is so great that it puts a burden on hetero friendships. I remember what it’s like having a big puppy climb onto my lap while I was driving. It was licking my face, wriggling around, half out the window and wanted to drive too. That’s hard to manage
The stuff they scrape off your teeth at the dentist is a petrified residue from bacteria. In that calcareous plaque, specks of food are trapped. Researchers at the ancient city of Megiddo in modern day Israel have examined teeth of a dozen bronze age people. They found turmeric and bananas and soy and proof of trade out of Asia centuries, even more than a thousand years earlier than previously guessed. Science Daily News.
The New York Times reports on musicians, artists and dancers, over half of whom have no job at all now. This is shocking but it isn't 100 percent bad news for me. The Arts along with Academia, and Insiders-with-Power are the main support for top-down commands about masks and lock-downs for your own good and safety. For some of them to suffer painfully the consequence of their standard bearers' decisions is good. That will shorten the Lawmaker's learning curve and allow average people to get back to making their own choices sooner. This link is to a sympathetic and well-researched story about those in the arts and out of work.
This September Gallup poll shows a sharp worry & compliance distinction between Democrats and Republicans. The sub-story is that the Democrat men and women are indistinguishable on the issues but the Republican women and men, besides being very different from Democrats, are often quite different from each other, the men expressing greater confidence and willingness to risk changes.
