Conspiracies

Seen at Kenny’s:

Not sure I go with that one, but its proposition may not be unjustified.

The question, however, is an interesting one.

On that scale, I’m at about a 2.  But I’m willing to be challenged.

Here’s my point.  The larger the alleged conspiracy, the less I’m likely to go for it.  So most of the so-called “Global” conspiracies (World Economic Foundation, Jewish Banking, you name it) fall apart at the first hurdle because the larger the conspiracy, the more people involved, the less likely it is to be true.

  • Is there a conspiracy among your coworkers to get you fired? —  easily established and exposed.
  • Did the CIA conspire to kill JFK?  — no.
  • Did Aristotle Onassis conspire to kill JFK?  — maybe.
  • …because he was in the thrall of the International Emerald Market? — definitely not.
  • Are socialists conspiring to bring down the United States?  — read the news and follow the dots;  of course they are.

In the latter case, it might not be a planned conspiracy, in that there’s no secret Bilderburger / Comintern / whatever .org issuing commands to the various socialists;  but that doesn’t mean they aren’t all working towards a common goal — which they are.

The other meme making the rounds runs along the lines of:

“Today’s conspiracy nuts will be seen by history as prophets.”

That, I might go along with.  Unless the conspiracy is an obvious crock of shit.  But as I said above, I’m willing to be challenged.

And by the way:  any suggested conspiracy that includes those bastards at DeBeers Diamonds?  I’ll believe it.

Mixed Feelings

Here’s a story that gets me all philosophical:

A child psychiatrist in Charlotte, North Carolina, used artificial intelligence (AI) to make child porn, and he is now facing the consequences.

In a press release Wednesday, the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of North Carolina announced 41-year-old David Tatum will spend the next 40 years behind bars, then 30 years of supervised release for the sexual exploitation of a minor and the AI-generated child porn.

I’ll get to the philosophical bit in a moment because emotionally, of course, I want this perverted bastard to be burned at the stake and his ashes scattered far away from any children’s playground, never mind imprisoned forever.

However.

Did not some Supreme Court, in its Supreme Wisdom, decree a while ago that making cartoon-based child pornography did not constitute a crime?  Why yes, yes it did.  (The whole story, country by country, can be found here.)

I myself once looked at 3D-printed sex dolls, with the logical extension thereof as it pertained to creating sex dolls of children (FFS).

So ‘splain this to me Simon:  if it’s okay (perhaps) to create sex dolls of children, why not AI-generated images or even movies?  Remember:  no actual person is being harmed by this activity.

This is but my philosophical musing, of course — see my “burned at the stake” suggestion above.

And boy, have we created an Alps-sized slippery slope with this one.

Well, Here We Are

Seems as though the horrible Washington Post has had to pull a cartoon for being, and I quote, “grossly mischaracterizing” and “blatantly mocking the crisis in the Middle East”.  Also, “The caricatures employ racial stereotypes that were offensive and disturbing. Depicting Arabs with exaggerated features and portraying women in derogatory, stereotypical roles perpetuates racism and gender bias, which is wholly unacceptable.”

So what’s all the fuss about?  If the Post can’t publish it, I sure as hell can:

So if Ramirez had made the spokesman look like Owen Wilson and the cowering woman was wearing a bikini, then everything would be okay?

And the terrorists do exactly what the cartoon shows:  hide behind women and children, then scream bloody murder when the women and children are harmed.

Feel free to explain to me exactly what is inaccurate in the above.

Oh and by the way, for those who are Perpetually Indignant, cartoons are supposed to shock and surprise people.

And fuck you.

Unsurprising

Now I’m not saying I approve of this guy’s solution to an obstruction in the road.

But I do understand it.  I don’t know where ideologues get this idea that they can mess with people’s lives and livelihoods just because The Cause Is Just.  I recall watching these self-righteous tits pulling a similar stunt in Britishland — and stopping an ambulance from carrying an injured person to hospital.

Clearly, to them The Cause is more important than a human life.  So if someone decides that their ability to go about their business without being obstructed, heckled and in some cases attacked is more important than a human life (as Our Hero did in the above article), then the “protesters” have little to protest about when that circumstance includes their lives.

I see that our hot-headed gunman has been arrested and is facing trial.  I bet he had a really good reason to whack a couple of the Smellies I mean Passionate Protesters.  And if he did, and gets released without being charged, no doubt the streets will be filled with hordes of the Perpetually Indignant protesting that.

What a fucking circus (Latin for “round”) we have here.

I think I’ll spend a little time at the range today.  Just because.