Road Clots and Chat Bots

I've got a pretty benign commute.  Only about 17 minutes from home to office.  Too much more is pretty close to intolerable on a daily basis, particularly the stop-and-go part.  Many suffer much worse than stop-and-go, i.e. stop and stay there.  The answer our brilliant 21st Century civilization has come up with?  Wider roads and more cars, which begets wider roads and more cars, which begets wider....etc.

And then there's the complaints about gas prices.  Biden and his evil Liberals inflating gas prices, the communist conservationists worried about drilling oil in "fragile" environments, and worst, the Climate Nazis who are concerned about CO2 emissions and global warming.   Patriotic Americans ask: "Wha cain't ah drive mah massive pickup fast as ah want and wherever ah want, when ah want!"

Well, there's still something called logic and reality out there, both of which are critically endangered species in the US in 2024.  But if we take a chance with them there are a few simple facts staring everyone in the face but as usual with scientific reality, easily dismissed.

1. It is not necessary to ram the nose of your car a few inches away from the preceding car.  This creates clots (which slows down all traffic) and results in endless crashes (which stops all traffic).  Tailgating is great at football games but is idiotic on the highway.  I have seen perfectly clear stretches of highway both preceding and following clots of about 20 cars creeping along, noses firmly embedded in the derriere of the car in front.  Neither fragrant nor pleasant.
   
2. Regarding gas prices, remember that Gravity is our Friend, and so is Momentum.  The accelerator does not have to be constantly in action. A car in neutral rolling down a steep hill will get there just as fast as one blowing the day's fuel price out the tailpipe.
3. Driving a Gigantomobile SUV or a Tyrannocrusher Pickup may be psychologically good for people with underdeveloped genitalia, but it also wastes gasoline like mad, adds to the ease of clot formation, and is still a poor stand-in for desired Hummer or M1 Abrams tank (Both of which seem to be getting pretty rare on American roads lately).

So, just a few ideas to keep your mind on driving rather than on that AI chatbot masquerading as "Nadya" while asking for a few dollars to help her emigrate from Romania.

 

Who Is Innocent?

 

In the midst of the nightmare that has gripped Israel and Gaza since 7 October the term "innocent" has unavoidably percolated throughout global media.  There are innocent Israeli civilians, innocent children of Gaza, innocent foreign nationals, innocent Palestinians; all caught in the vise of 21st Century techno-barbaric horror.

So who actually is innocent? 

It's clear who isn't. The subhuman monsters and criminal mass murderers of Hamas, nauseatingly and continually labelled "fighters" or "militants" in the conventional media.  They, who have not only pointlessly slaughtered their Jewish neighbors, but who have continuously wrought endless destruction on the Palestinians they were supposedly "governing" have offered rockets, bombs, guns and unavoidable deadly retaliation in place of the food, resources and planning their people so desperately need.

Are the pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Harvard and Columbia innocent? The first question there should be where were they before 7 October?  Their loud appearance immediately afterward has no political meaning as it only shows support for criminal atrocities. They’ve responded to an act of abject barbarism as if it were a political statement or a legitimate war.  It is neither.  It was simple criminal slaughter on a scale not seen for decades. Was working for the legitimate concerns of the Gazan Palestinians perhaps not as exciting as mass murder? Anyone unthinking enough to identify as "pro-Hamas" should reflect on what a Hamas “government” has continually failed to do; keep peace, improve the lives of Gazan civilians and run the territory responsibly.  Instead, they’ve offered murder, obscene atrocities, and a dramatic worsening of the lives of all Gazans by provoking devastating retaliations. Hamas is the greatest enemy of Gazan Palestinians in history and should be identified as such.

The parents and families of the mass murderers, aren't they innocent?  These civilians who raised this generation of evil butchers who laugh while decapitating children and helpless elderly after making them plead for their lives in the vain hope of some form of humanity.  What did these parents and families do to the playful little boys of the year 2000 to turn them into the barbaric animals of 2023 who now lie with their brains spattered on the sand? They who have raised sons who smile while committing unspeakable cruelty against fellow humans. How innocent are they who raised and nurtured this generation of human obscenities?

And those innocent Gazans who kept away from Hamas politics? How different are they now from the German civilians of 1945 who claimed "we did not know" or just found it easier to go with the flow, no matter how profoundly evil the flow had become.  Israel has asked all innocent Gazan civilians to evacuate, and many are now doing so, but that fact remains, the time to evacuate was the minute the realization dawned that your “government” was in the hands of terrorists who would do nothing for your family and standard of living besides worsening or destroying both.  Was it possible for families who came to this realization early in the Hamas seizure of power to do this?  It's an interesting question.

And the citizens of Israel, how innocent are they? At worst, many have supported a shortsighted Trump-aping regime, long on bombast, aggressive ultranationalist posturing and provocative internal policies, and tragically short on basic security and preparedness.  At best, some have vociferously and continuously opposed those policies, aware of the flames of resentment and radicalization they were fanning.  But, wherever they fell in that spectrum, they and their October guests worldwide have paid a very heavy price for it. 

And the government of Israel; can it possibly be innocent, in view of its failed policies, programs and opportunities for its Palestinian civilians?  Has it pursued equal rights for Palestinians, or shown much interest in the currently trendy US obsession with "inclusion and diversity"?   In context, how much inclusion and diversity can a government show when a sizeable percentage of the diversity being included is committed to blowing itself up so long as it can kill a few Jews?  Operation “Swords of Iron” has already flattened much of Gaza city and civilian casualties have been ghastly, leveling a charge of indiscriminate mass-murder on Israel, but again in context, how much concern was there for the citizens of carpet-bombed Dresden in 1945, and how much advance warning were they given by the Allies?  Modern war, once engaged, spares no one.

Where does innocence start, and more to the point, where does lack of it come from?  What creates the mindsets that lead to the utterly depressing ugliness that has so characterized humanity in the 21st as well as so many earlier centuries?

In the past, personal experience and live interactions played a major role in shaping mindsets. Today the internet and social media dominate; both unregulated and unassailable conduits for the instantaneous and global dissemination of hatred, ignorance and propaganda. Targeted minds are overwhelmingly inundated by whatever electronic media source they tune into.  A hospital has been bombed and destroyed in Gaza City.  No matter that Israel categorically denies its involvement, or that killing its own people to achieve its aims is something Hamas and other Jihadist outfits do regularly, photos and videos of broken bodies and horrified, maimed children will circulate with the label: “Israel did this”. 

Innocence is only as deep as the brain that processes the information it receives. Now with AI making the verisimilitude of that information even less questionable, the battle for innocence vs. evil is one that must be fought and won on an entirely new cyber-battlefield.  What has Israel done to effectively counter the Jihadist tsunami of electronic hatred and misinformation? What mass-psychologists have the decent and advanced nations of the world employed to enforce reality in this new war of mind control?  Until there are answers to these crucial questions the delimiter of good vs evil and innocence vs guilt will exist only in the minds of those fed on poison or nourishment.

The Electronic Roots of Delusion

 

“A convincing lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”

 

I work as outreach coordinator for the UN-affiliated NGO, International Medical Crisis Response Alliance¹. One dilemma we've encountered lately is responding to foreign colleagues who ask: “What is going on in your country?  Millions refuse vaccination for political reasons? Trump incited a coup attempt and his followers are blaming democrats? Are Americans insane?” 

 

One of our practice areas is international psychology², so I've got credentials to respond to the sanity question: Why do over 35% of voters and 60% of Republicans vigorously continue to support the policies of the most inept and dangerous presidential regime in American history³?

 

Think of it this way; today's average Tiktokking, Facebooking, Twittering American, with little time for extended analytic thought, is a prime candidate for Pavlovian conditioning; and comprehensive conditioning can succeed beyond Pavlov’s wildest dreams.  For over 40 years, electronic media has cultivated the 8-second attention span, the vid-byte, the knee-jerk response⁴. The next step, socio-political indoctrination, was easy.

 

In the flush Reagan-Bush years, republicans learned the value of wrapping themselves in endless patriotic imagery, (flags, yellow ribbons, weeping eagles etc.), praising the military and highly weaponized law enforcement, damning gun control, striking aggressive poses against foreigners, and circumscribing easy enemies (e.g. "Liberals"). The political target of this was an agitated electorate immersed in bombastic emotional patriotism and kneejerk xenophobia. Millions of true believers, hungry for a unified American tribal identity, loved it.

 

Thereafter, the Right has ferociously maintained one of the most convincing e-propaganda campaigns in history, and there has been little to counter it. Since 2003, (when my parents mapped me onto their Republican email forums), I’ve been receiving mails with titles like: “Antifa Celebrates after Cop Is Killed”⁵ headlining a campaign focused on a conservative demographic with little tolerance for the vagaries of cautious objectivity. With the 2009 debut of online entities like the Tea Party daily email barrages were pumped out with increased frequency and vehemence riddled with subtle misrepresentations, blatant lies, false quotes from noted celebrities, photo-shopped images, and an us/them lexicon worthy of Goebbels⁶.

 

Today, Trump-aligned email-based news platforms like The Epoch Times, Blabber Buzz Alerts, the Daily Signal, the Conservative Newsroom and myriad others transmit daily inflammatory mailings like “Make America Socialist: Ilhan Omar Legislation” abetted by talk radio, Fox news, Twitter posts, Facebook memes, and Instagram images⁷. Demagogues-in-the-making like Matt Gaetz spout provocations and inaccuracies⁸. Trump himself continues to claim (with the vigorous support of 66% of republicans) he is the “real president”, blurting unrestrained belligerence while millions cheer themselves hoarse⁹. In a development chillingly reminiscent of Horst Wessel, the dead rioter Ashli Babbitt is now being reconstructed as a martyr to the Cause¹⁰.

 

And just goes on, metastasizing into the national psyche until events like the attack on the Capitol become nightmare reality. The relentless indoctrination is so immersive that for millions, reality has become terra incognita. Americans like my parents are adrift in a sea of cherished misinformation where established media is dismissed as either “fake news” or “deep state”, leaving no choice but a delusional alternate reality where nothing outside the Trumpist universe is factual. As noted by our Israeli and German colleagues, the parallels to Fascism are inescapable¹¹.

 

Worse, following their voting base, major Republicans have lately traded responsible statesmanship for agenda loyalty¹².  When elected representatives actively bow to the electronic media-fed delusions of their electorate, the problem is serious.

 

Opposition to this onslaught of groupthink has been largely ineffective. Those not exposed to the daily barrage of email and social media propaganda fail to realize its penetrance and effectiveness. Instead of cleverly strategic responses to widespread misinformation, we often get a lukewarm series of cautious, vetted arguments which, alas, no longer resound with a large segment of the American public.

 

An unprecedented threat requires a novel and unprecedented approach.  Why might that not be a response in kind? There is no reason why accurate science, the rule of law and democratic fundamentals cannot be conveyed through an alternate set of strategically-targeted social media platforms, also wrapped in American flags, respect for the military and patriotic symbolism, but focused instead on exposing blatant misinformation and delusions.

 

Those who understand the danger must focus on reaching their fellow citizens languishing in a propaganda swamp. This is a dangerous new phase for the world’s longest-surviving republic and our awakening to it must involve skill, intelligence and strategic daring.

 

Bad King Donald Trump Looked Out...

BAD KING DON

(Apologies to "Good King Wenceslas")

Don the president looked out, on hordes who called him saintly,

"You and you are fire’d … (said he)… for praising me too faintly.

I will deep six any-one who scoffs at my commandments,

I’m your president, no, KING!,  The rule of law be damn’d. Ho Ho!"

Then little Adam stood and said, "Enough! We’ll throw you over,

We’ve got you quite red-handed now, ADMIT the whistle-blower,

You’ve been involved in crim’nal acts, agains the poor U-kranians,

Putin cannot save you now, the truth will pull your reins in! Ho!"

Donny said, "You scare me not, my cultists re-ly on me,

I will just arrange a hit through sleazoid Giu-liani,

I am not concerned at all - by your impeachment fol-lies,

MAGA’s a great stand-in for…Deustchland Uber Alles!

The G-O-P imploded then, in spite of Trumpist money,

And quid pro quo was soon eclipsed by crimes not quite so funny,

They scrambled like rats from a ship, ho-ping for futures sunny,

Yet the senate went from red to blue, in fall of 2020 - Oh!

Now peaceful calm reigns everywhere, all honored new and shiny,

And Don no longer tweets nonstop while kissing Putin’s heinie,  

Yet Santa-Claus forgot him not, while jingle bells were ringing,

A lump of coal he brought to Don while stopping down in Sing-Sing. Oh!