'Is' Versus 'Identifies As'

 I sat and read a simple commentary by a Seerut K. Chawla over at Twitter....where the statement was "I find it absurd that ‘identifies as’ has replaced ‘is.’

It's a simple thought.....your kid "Wilson" gets up one day (at age 7) and announces that he is no longer human.  Then Wilson says....he will identify as a robot.  So Wilson starts doing this herky-jerky motions and speech patterns of a 1980s TV show robot.....which you think is cute.  Eight hours later....he is still herky-jerky and talking like a robot.  Four days later....he still does it.

Two weeks into this, you confront Wilson and suggest that modern robots (like you see in all these Alien movies).....lack the herky-jerky stuff and all speak like human beings.  In blunt talk....you tell Wilson to give up the act.

Wilson counters this....saying he is analog robot....not as advanced as these fake modern robots.  Wilson is blunt.....he's not returning to normal.  

After two months of this....you take Wilson to a mental clinic....concerned that he's a bit nuts over this behavior.  An hour into this.....the PhD guy says Wilson's ok.....that he has the 'right' to identify as something else.  

You walk out into the parking lot....pulling out a cigarette and doing a long 'drag' on it.  'This-ain't-right' is in your mind.  

As you return home....your wife comes up to you....announcing that she now identifies as a tramp/whore/slut/harlot.  She's dressed in some $20 blouse from Wal-Mart that displays all her assets.  As the days pass, she utters whorish comments throughout the day....continually winking at you....acting bizarre at times (even at Piggly Wiggly while shopping).

After a month of this....you ask her to go over to the mental clinic.  The PhD guy examines her and says to you....she has the 'right' to identify as something else. 

You confront the PhD guy this time and counter....you are a sane, balanced, rational, and logical human.  You then state the fact....you don't need to identify or classify yourself.....you simple 'ARE'.

It is a complex society developing where people are identifying left and right....using little to no logic or reasoning for their transformation.  

People could identify as 'Elvis' by simply putting on a $90 shirt, applying grease to their hair, and singing a Elvis-tune.  

You could have a boss who identifies as a full-time golfer and part-time worker....showing up in the office in golf attire and carrying his clubs each day.  Every team meeting would be limited to 15 minutes because he's always hyped-up on tee-time.  

The only sane one around you?  Your dog....who seems to still be a dog, and hasn't done much to 'identify as'....except demand the extra-expensive dog treats.

Here's the thing.....society or mankind....can only function with a certain small percentage who walk around in this 'identify-as' stage.  When you reach a point that more than 50-percent of people are 'identify-as'.....you can't rationally deal with this on a daily basis.  It's like saying half of mankind are mildly to serious insane, and they can drive heavy equipment, run nuclear plants, or handle serious life conditions.

After a while....all of these robot-kids and slut-wives....will have to return to normal, or the whole system fails.  

The Thing About Being Uninformed

 “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed.” 

- Denzel Washington

This is probably one of the most insightful comments I've seen in the past decade.  

It used to be if you read your local newspaper, Time, Newsweak, an occasional big name unit (WaPo or NY Times), and Reader's Digest.....you could stand in the midst of your church social group, the local school teachers, or anyone at work....commenting on anything of a particular level.  Today? It would be nearly impossible if you did 'read'.....to say you were free of misinformation.

In simple terms, you'd be discussing BS or some propaganda material....knowing that it was crap half the time, and feeling pretty frustrated about the way that things work.

But it makes you wonder....how the hell did things evolve into a mess like this, and it wasn't exactly something that occurred in the past five years.  

What McCarthy Had To Promise?

 Well.....it's a harsh reality for him.  

He has to abide and promise to end Covid mandates/funding, which is going to be near impossible to carry out.  

He has to allow 72 hours for any bill to be introduced and read.....which will also be near impossible.

The border plan?  The Republicans have goofed around for two years and you might even count the previous four under Trump....as a BS-era where they just said wild stuff and did nothing.  

Odds of McCarthy losing his status by the end of 2024?  I'd give it a 40-percent chance of happening.  

In the end, this was mostly just a comedy show.  

This Past Week

 I noticed four curious things:

1.  Some movie theater numbers came out.  Theater usage?  Down by almost 50-percent.  

It's not just Covid 'fear'....it also involves crappy 'woke' movies, and the recession itself.  

Will the theater industry survive?  I personally have my doubts.  The older places will probably close, and cities of 20,000 will be lucky to have a theater.

2.  Hunter's 'baby-mama' (the last lady he impregnated) has a court case in Arkansas brewing.  Apparently, some of this artwork he has sold....went to anonymous buyers, with some secrecy over how much they really paid.  The 'baby-mama' gal says 'nope'....this information has to be put on the table.  

Might be a curious episode to watch, and find out who buys his art.

3.  Twitter came up and admitted that their organization (for several years) was grossly exaggerating Russian influence on people....to make journalists and the Democratic leadership in DC happy.

So, in the end....there was no real Russian 'threat'?  Yeah.

All those speeches, the endless hours of hype from CNN.....all of this was just faked-up?  Yeah.

4.  This past week, I concluded my binge-watch of the 30-odd episodes of Travelers (science-fiction series).  Originally, three years ago....I watched episode one and was left in a daze with the storyline.  I turned it off.  This past month....I went back and watched episode 1, 2 and 3 in a row.

It does make sense, but episode 1 was done in such a crappy fashion.....I would imagine most people gave up.  

I will recommend the series, but it's a pretty wild scenario.  

Three Observations

 1.  Trump came out yesterday and said one of his future agenda ideas is to send the US Navy and special forces....after drug empires.  In simple terms....they go on kill-missions on foreign soil or open seas.

The thing here is that Fentanyl, cocaine and various drugs have reached a epidemic level, and most of the counter ideas used since the 1980s....have failed.  

If you did declare 'war'?  I would imagine the cartels and Chinese gangs would reach a level where they'd have to go and target the US government/officials.  Adding to this mess....if you did manipulate the mess enough and create a massive shortage of hard drugs....you'd have a couple million Americans in a bind because they couldn't get the drug of their choice.

I'm not saying Trump is right....but presently, nothing is really working.

2.  “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”

Einstein said this.  It's fairly appropriate in 2023 to remember this weekly.

3.  I sat and looked over this story that appeared in the past week.  

First, no one says who the Biden officials were, and how SBF fits into Pandemic chatter?  Never explained.  

Why Joe wasn't in the room?  Might be interesting to know.

Whole lot of BS?  Probably, but since investigative journalism died in the 1990s....you won't know the end of this story.

Two Thoughts

 1.  What if this House Speaker thing went 'on'.....say for 30 days.  No Speaker, no House business, no political chatter.....just a quiet period?  

Rather crazy, but it's worth asking.

2.  You ever noticed....whenever someone utters 'dire'.....about 90-percent of the time....you have come regard the moment as something pretty less than dire....like your dog tore up the newspaper, your cousin married a tramp, or your beer bottle expiration date was last week.   It's like we've all take dire to mean something a lot less to worry about.

Three Observations

 1.  On the Speaker of the House job.  Lets be blunt....if you had a job taking up forty hours a week as a Representative from your district, and serving on x-committee....what idiot would want to take the Speaker job to add another ten to twenty hours onto your bucket?  

You get a limo which comes by and picks you up at the residence....so you can read papers on the way to work.  You probably ought to spend a full hour reading newspapers during the day.  You have to worry about the operation of the House, the air conditioning, the security, etc.  

On the plus side?  Well....you'd get invited every weekend to parties (sponsored by the lobbyists), get plenty of free drinks at DC clubs, and receive insider stock advice every week.  

2.  Joe Biden on the NFL injury: “Look, the idea that you're gonna have, look you've got guys that are 6'8, 340 pounds running a 4.8 40… If you hit somebody with that kinda… now that's not what happened here… but I just think it’s, I don't know how you avoid it.”

Yeah, about every 2nd sentence....Joe 'cuts' out and leaves you with a empty space.  You just have to insert your own thoughts or perceptions into what he left hanging there.

3.  All that talk about CNN 'fixing' itself and evolving back into the old CNN?  Mostly BS.  It's still anchored down in crap.