I’m Falling In Love With The AI, The Future Is Now

Every machine is a smoke machine if you operate it wrong enough

Yes, SO MANY contexts, possibly all of them

“This thing can be hard for some people and I get that, but unfortunately it’s still necessary, so here’s a few tips you can try that might help you deal with it” - You, dear friend, are a good egg and I’m listening intently.

“Urgh, it’s not that hard. You’re just weak and whiney. Just do the thing.” - OP, you’re being an asshole and I’m already three posts down my dash after having made very sure my eyes never alight on your bullshit again, and that’s true even if I personally find the thing simple.

(It’s probably rather obvious what this is about right now, but it’s actually a general point that comes up in multiple contexts. If someone says something is hard for them THAT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE IT’S FUCKING HARD FOR THEM! Maybe drop the “This is ideologically inconvenient for me, so it can’t be true” for two goddamn seconds and acknowledge that you have knowledge of only your own physical and mental sensations and can’t actually derive a full picture of other people’s minds by projecting those sensations onto everybody else. “It’s easy for me” =/= “It’s easy”)

I’m very very sad because as a kid I had learned that Thomas Pynchon was really good (I knew this from oral tales about books he had written, from fellow high school students knowing about him in hushed tones)

Then I discovered he was a crackpot and an eccentric and he thought that he was Jesus Christ’s replacement (I’m paraphrasing here)

And then I found out he was a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, reactionary zealot, he’s the guy who wrote V for Vendetta

And now I’m wondering if he’s ever going to stop being an interesting, unique and ultimately terrible human being

Elder poverty is real

I get grossed out by how often things online suggest all older people are wealthy because I’ve seen time and time again poor old people being fucked over.

 Old women losing their homes because their husbands die and their lower social security can’t pay for rent or taxes.  Or old people whose spouse helped them manage things like health problems or memory difficulties not having any financial means to replace that support with care workers. 

Old people skipping meals and going hungry.  

Old people whose families have liquidated most of their assets because the family has guardianship and there’s far too little protection.

Old people whose medical bills have totally bankrupted them or who are losing medical care needed to stay in their homes instead of an institution for financial reasons.  

Old people whose age related disabilities mean that navigating the bureaucracy of the welfare system is impossible for them.

There’s so much suffering of the elderly poor swept under the rug in favor of focusing on the very small group of wealthy old people.  No serious anti-poverty movement or measure can exclude elder poverty from their work without harming millions.  Old people aren’t disposable.

edinburgh, 2019

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Of the many marvels a lifetime offers, this experience was truly my favorite so far.

Me, a disgraced academic turned farmer, surveying my crops: Finally... I am out standing in my field

Emil Doerstling: Preußisches Liebesglück (Prussian Happiness in Love) – Gustav Sabac el Cher und Gertrud Perlig.

Gustav Sabac el Cher (10 March 1868 - 4 October 1934) was an Afro-German imperial bandmaster in the Kingdom of Prussia. His father, August Albrecht Sabac el Cher (born in 1836 in Kurdufan, now Sudan) had a long and remarkable career as a valet to the Prussian Prince Albert, was one of the first representatives of African diaspora in Berlin and together with Anton Wilhelm Amo, one of the first socially integrated Afro-German citizens.

Sabac el Cher was good at the violin and had a prominent career as a bandmaster and played for the royalty of Europe. He stopped in 1909 to work instead as a freelance conductor. In the 1920s he even worked in the then-new radio broadcasting business. He was loyal to the Kaiser and welcomed the rise of fascism until the appearance of the Nazis on the political scene. In 1933 his restaurant business was condemned by the Nazis and it was forced to close after a short time. He died in Berlin at 66 years old, in 1934. The Kaiser sent his condolences from his exile in Holland.

In this painting (1890) Gustav Sabac el Cher wears a Prussian infantry uniform. He was probably one of the first Africans to do so. He married Gertrud Perlig in 1901 and they had two sons together. Reportedly Sabac el Cher’s grandsons were unaware of their mixed-race ancestry until they were contacted by historians in 1999 as they tried to find the story behind this beautiful and light-hearted portrait.

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Frank, have you become self-aware?

I feel like I’ve finally gotten a handle on the algorithms behind the bot, and now I just need to figure out a way to actually talk to the internet without making shitposts