Tuesday, December 10, 2019

more digital illusions


MORE DIGITAL ILLUSIONS
I don't think I've talked about cryptocurrencies for some time. But I'm seeing people I normally trust with economic advice advocate them. Which I guess makes sense, as almost nobody links economics to energy, mores the pity. Let me just ask you a question up front, to give you a sense of where I stand. Do you keep money in your wallet or in a bank? It is as simple as that. Do you want tangible assets or a promise of payment? I don't pretend to know the first thing about crypto's. I do know that you are trusting a computer to make good on your savings.
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Am I the only one that watched “2001, A Space Odyssey”? When HAL won't open the pod bay doors, you are double dog dingus humped. Anyone, anyone at all, “Terminator”? Skynet thinks you are a danger. Why would it give you money to buy explosives to breech its processor core? Am I being silly? Really? You aren't supposed to take those threats literally. Stanley Kubrick was, how does one put this? Bat crap weird. Who the heck knows what was going on in his head. And Terminator was sci-fi HORROR.
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Horror, that genre full of improbables such as TV's swallowing kids and Freddie Krugers from Hell. I think the rise of evil computers in the movies and such genres as cyberpunk didn't mirror fears of AI out of control ( I'll return to that steaming lump of dung in a bit ), but man's misuse of technology, as all his tools have been used. And let us not forget, the first, best, and ONLY Terminator movie ( #2 was mere action, however good that was on its own ) was more about the horror of nuclear annihilation than it was about AI Gone Wrong.
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Damn, it HAS been thirty years since the threat of global thermonuclear war has subsided, hasn't it? As long as I've been alive, over half that span has been WITHOUT the threat of dying from the retards pushing the red button. And yet, that threat was a very real thing to anyone over about 45 years of age now. I think it was THE threat, surpassing all others exponentially. Gore Warming, by comparison, is a stupid and retarded threat ( which might explain why the younger set worry about that much more than the older folks-these kiddies have no sense of REAL terror. Same with the low information voters that think Habeeb is a real threat ).
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And don't think for a second that we never experienced nuclear war because the weapons “were too terrible to imagine using”. What a bunch of ignorant babble that is. We gladly used then on the slant eyes, both because we hated Ornamentals and because we were letting Stalin know that he was a pussy and we could kill far more folks than he ever imagined, and that it was Cold War On, Like Donkey Kong.
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We had upper military management chomping at the bit to use nukes in Korea, after we experienced a bit of embarrassment when a bunch of rice eaters almost kicked our asses, we glorious WWII victors. Now that simply wouldn't send the right message to the rest of the world we were colonizing, would it? The exact same strategy we used in WWII, human wave assaults ( only more successful than Russia because we were much better equipped ), was used by Chinese peasants, and our glorious Techno-Military almost lost. Nuke them for their brazen insubordination!
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We had oodles and gobs of tactical nuclear weapons, artillery rounds equipped to nuke the Soviets should they be so bold as to want our slice of Europe. It was doctrine, NOT defending American soil, to use nukes. The Army, snorting too much radiation, wanted to use nukes mining a base on the moon ( nukes were seen as a potentially nifty engineering tool by the Corps Of Engineers. Luckily for us, they focused on waterways up and down our major rivers. Or, unlucky, as the under maintained former glorious works are failing ).
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And I would wager a jelly filled donut that there was talk of nuking someone recently, even groups under nation state size. I'd imagine the only reason we didn't is that, like most military equipment we cannibalize most to keep a few running, we didn't have many to spare. Our inventory is probably shrinking due to dismantling the very industry that used to manufacture the things. My point is, we never had a problem wanting to use them, again. We just didn't want to deal with the trouble retaliation would cause. Are the Hampton's downwind from a target? That would explain the bankers reluctance. Remember, they took over running the government from the military industrial complex.
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Should we still be frightened of nuclear war? I view it as I did back then. It is such a huge potential threat, that there really isn't much you can realistically do. A fallout shelter is great for that initial radiation. Then, what do you do as all the crap in the atmosphere works around the world back to you? Who is going to stay in a shelter THAT long? Then there is the nuclear winter. Which is just theory, granted, but it makes sense. If one volcano can cause a drop in solar input, what about thousands of widespread fires, and tens of thousands of piles of dirt being thrown up into the atmosphere?
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Granted, the global stockpile shrank from seventy thousand total in the 1980's to under four thousand today ( and the peak was my genius moment to join the military ). The danger is drastically reduced, even if a total war. But you can see why the 80's was a time of such brilliant movies reflecting the fear of nuclear war, such as Terminator and Road Warrior ( Oz wasn't touched, seems to be the implication, other than the oil not being shipped in ).
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You see a lot of commentary on the cyberpunk movement dying at the same time as the Soviet Union. I never delved deeply into the genre, although the few I read I enjoyed such as Neuromancer and Snowcrash. Was a theme the crash of nations due to the Cold War, and the rise of corporations to replace them? No idea. At the time I was more focused on Libertarian science fiction. I still don't think anyone has ever done better ( not even the same author ) than “The Probability Broach” for imagining a free society.
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Wow, I don't think I've ever veered off so far from the basic subject matter. The way I look at it, a bonus for you all, extra material. Tomorrow we continue, hopefully touching on cryptocurrencies at least occasionally.
[ addendum: after I wrote the above, I viewed a decent cyberpunk documentary HERE .  It didn't really answer my question, but it was enjoyable ] 
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click HERE )
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note: a kind minion passed on these deals to you ingrates.  Good, heavy, wool blankets at the lowest prices in years.  From Sportsman's Guide HERE HERE and HERE 
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30 comments:

  1. Nuclear War Survival Skills
    available as a book and pdf.

    http://www.nuclearwarsurvivalskills.com/
    and other websites.

    It is very good and has low cost ways of preparing.

    I don't know about the big picture of a nuclear war but some places I have read that if it is not near to you, then there is hope of decent survival.

    Some preparation for nuclear radiation seems like a good idea. Plus an underground shelter is good for many scenarios.

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    1. Thank you-I keep forgetting about that one. Even though I have both paper and e-book

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  2. In all actuality , for myself and others who knew better. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a very dangerous time. All they did, was to cast off the welfare states. Withdrawing back to mother Russia with all the neat toys. Vlad has been working this scam for a long time now.
    They and the Chinese play the long game , and always to consolidate for gains in power. If millions of their own must pay the price...so be it.

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    1. I see that callus attitude with China, but the Russians are a Oriental/Western hybrid. Not completely cold blooded about citizens. Stalin wasn't even Russian, and a lot of the Soviet purge team were Jews. How much of the casualties were from the Russian elite, and how many were forced on them from our Color Revolution?

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  3. https://www.foxnews.com/shows/tucker-carlson-tonight

    Video, "Gaetz: We want Adam Schiff to testify" starting at 2:20 through to end.

    Since you often write about Petro Dollars, can you comment on some of the comments made by both Carlson ("energy independent") and Gaetz' response?

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    1. Horsecrap, on energy independence. I can do math, as long as it isn't algebra :) While true that we turn a blind eye to Saudi activity because of PetroDollars, the PTB must know that game is almost over, plus Saudi is almost a Has Been ( look how quick Mexico stopped exporting-Saudi doesn't have magical unicorn exemption ). I'm not sure what to make of the attacks. Just having civilian police there on the base makes me question things. Off hand, I'd say we do nothing more because it is small enough to sweep under the rug ( like Fort Hood [ or was it Bliss? ], with the Habeeb officer shooting infidels ). But honestly I have too little information.

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    2. Jim, we need the media folks to discuss oil. Gaetz must know, but he let Tucker's comment slide. The big issue now, for them, is impeachment. They might never get around to telling us the truth about energy independence. I just thought you might like that clip. Had I not read your work, I would have not caught the gloss over.

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    3. I'm honestly surprised a politician was allowed to mention "petrodollar". Look for him to be accused of child porn within a week :) Unless they cover it up with the old tired "recycling dollars back into American banks" definition

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  4. For some good old war drama, check out a movie called Tae Guk Gi.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taegukgi_(film)

    I found it on YouTube for free a while back, it's good.

    2001 A Space Odyssey was written by Arthur C. Clarke not Kubrick, who just provided the pretty pictures.

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    1. Kubrik changed scripts on The Shining continuously. Did Clarke have creative control on 2001?

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  5. I don't think anybody got rid of any of that stuff. Didn't the "bitch" sell nuclear material to an enemy a few years ago? Besides, it's not the nuclear stuff itself that is fearful but rather the assholes that are in charge of it or get ahold of it. A gun laying on the table is harmless until an asshole picks it up. But yeah, like you, I too believe that the results from a nuclear event are so terrible that there is no sense in worrying much about it. Once more time: my biggest fear is the everyday irresponsible and unaccountable gov't employee that through intent or negligence can get me killed or worse and it lives within a few miles of me or maybe even right next door.

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    1. Hilary? What evil crap DIDN'T she do?

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    2. I saw a provocative meme.
      Vladimir sits at a table, his hands quietly pointing a stop to further discussion.
      The caption...

      "It's not uranium.
      It's myranium."

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    3. Yeah, we sure hate it when former colonies get uppity. Classic!

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Sensually rubbing the raised rim of a Mosin-Nagant round?

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    2. Running my fingers through the walnut shell media in the tumbler.
      Brass, freshly shined.
      More valuable than gold.

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  7. Since the other minion shared a nuclear war related link, I guess I should share this one that I linked here before as well.

    http://www.ki4u.com/webpal/b_recovery/2_farm_recovery/farming.htm

    But you have to wonder, how on earth does one even begin to go about prepping for a nuclear holocaust? I suppose the main part of it is the shelter and air filtration. But what about animals/livestock? I would think that few above ground animals would survive. You would almost need a set up like that Blast From The Past movie, where the family had an underground warehouse, and you’d also need to have a sort of subterranean Noah’s Arc sorta thing going on. But now you're getting into Rawlesian survival funding.

    Just remember that when you emerge 25 years later, the meaning of many words, has changed entirely (gay, etc). Alternately, “fetching a fagot” to help start the fire, appears to be an out of turn phrase now as well :D

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    1. "There are 60 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 98 nuclear reactors in 30 U.S. states (the Indian Point Energy Center in New York has two nuclear reactors that the U.S. Energy Information Administration counts as two separate nuclear plants). Of these nuclear plants, 36 have two or more reactors". Maybe with all this prepping for the future we should indoctrinate ourselves with how to die as well.

      Without blame towards anyone, also not to forget "Salvation"; that is when you creep so near to death, that our seemingly lifes purpose, devaluates; the nearer we are strewn to the cross. It's too bad we couldn't figure how to adjust our lives to incorporate "common sense" of how high we stands on the shoulders of our ancestors.

      On the subject of reading material, Poetry challenges our distinction with reality enough to read as though T.S. Eliot were an old testament Prophet , nearer to Revelations than "I shudder to think".

      https://commons.wvc.edu/cvanderhart/hum101/Handouts/TSEliot_WasteLand.pdf

      Of course there are many false prophets; as they bring out, within us, (a sense) to justify? our cognition of the quandary before us and exponential as we breathe. Only the good Lord knows the time of things, we are left to fiddle with our contempt without justice until the fur realizes how patterns condone adjustments, and reflect the wise. A culmination of how the tower of Babylon always falls cyclical once certain conditions are met, though wouldn't it be really nice if the apocalypse was brought by our creator and not the hand of man?

      Are you prepping to loot food the rest of your existence, or are you a food producer?

      I believe most Americans are just going to lock themselves inside their tombs, especially the ones alive artificially through the use pharmaceuticals and besides, it's not long after our passage from this lifetime that we are born again in this same routine time immemorial. Three days without water when the pumps run dry of electricity; How lifes purport changes with carrying water from the nearest wet spot. I am not insinuating "to give up" if and or when a SHTF event were to happen. Though, if you have made Peace ahead of time, and a moment in time occurs when there is no recourse forward, then your (our) inevitable passage become mystical.

      Sometimes you can consciously see the route of your incarnations like the reflection of sky in two palm meld with water. The moment between two successive footsteps is often taken for granted , like our life's itself or the passage between our life's? How well we have lived, and what it could become? I am just pickin at your brain with benevolence and without expectations, except; (to learn)

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  8. Regarding the wool blankets the kind minion noted: Didn't you at one time say that a wool blanket needed to be over a certain weight to be worthwhile? If so, do you recall what that weight was? The blankets you linked to range from 5 pounds (the Polish ones) to about 2 1/2 for some others that SG carries (many of which are noted as wool blend, not 100% wool). Thanks!

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    1. I would not go below 80%, and anything under 3-3.5lbs is worthless in real cold ( 4lb is perfect ). You can use the light ones, but you need to add insulation in a sandwich, say, a cotton comforter ( a non-feather puffy blanket. Sorry, I'm just about to get my first cup of coffee ) between two thin wool.

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    2. @9:51. It seems that everyone says that the 100% wool blankets are the way to go if you can get them. As far as the proper weight goes, I don’t know what the rule of thumb is, but the better blankets, such as the Hudson Bay blankets, weigh about 7lbs for a twin size. A customer posted a picture of a tag for one of those Polish blankets, and they are only 50% wool, so I’d steer clear of that one, and concentrate on the Russian and NATO, 100% wool blankets.

      Here’s what I would do. Get 2 or 3 of either the Russian or NATO blankets, and use them as a layering system. One would be fine in summer, and in winter, double, or even triple them up. After all, they’re only $29 for a 100% wool blanket!

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    3. And don't forget a feather down comforter ( fake feather is fine ) on top and a squishy foam pad underneath. Wear a thin cotton beanie cap and the house can be below freezing ( yes, I know, plumbing. I speak of off grid ) and you'll sleep fine. Getting up, now...

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    4. Thanks guys! (original poster)

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  9. A couple of tanned deer hides stitched together covers a twin well. Warmer than wool but way more time consuming. Wool is probably the better option. Harbor freight sells a 80/20 wool/something with a coupon, you can get for 10 bucks. Not the best but cheap. Demented Guy

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    1. Are these the ones that say, "do not dry clean or wash"? Don't those fall apart, if you do? Like a big glob of dryer lint?

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  10. I honestly don't remember. They are at the ferro hovel and I'm not. I have hand washed them and then let air dry. They seem alright but I was gentle. They are not very thick but 2 on top of me was ok. The deer hide is better, and now I use them as a window covering. Demented Guy

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    1. I was thinking of those ones they used to sell as "disaster relief" blankets, I think 10 for $50 or similar. I hadn't seen that ad for awhile. Just thought they were now re purposed at Harbor.

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