william.scherk
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Status Replies posted by william.scherk
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Life is worth living. I like posting at Objectivist Living. It's been great over the years. It looks like it is still good for me, again.
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Life is worth living. I like posting at Objectivist Living. It's been great over the years. It looks like it is still good for me, again.
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Life is worth living. I like posting at Objectivist Living. It's been great over the years. It looks like it is still good for me, again.
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Life is worth living. I like posting at Objectivist Living. It's been great over the years. It looks like it is still good for me, again.
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Life is worth living. I like posting at Objectivist Living. It's been great over the years. It looks like it is still good for me, again.
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Testing raw link from the DALL-E labs at OPENAI.com. [Added: There is something widly inventive and yet creepy about DALL-E's "brains." She or he or They are always learning, always spinning, but they have no freaking idea why the hair is standing up on the back of your neck ... ]
William × DALL·E | 2000 Mules the movie, with Dinesh DeSouza, poster Art Nouveau
LABS.OPENAI.COMCreated with DALL·E, an AI system by OpenAII have quickly become quasi-addicted to the one-armed-bandit 'payoff' moments that come from spending imaging tokens.
DALL-E is not expensive, and they don't have to pay "Brainiac" anything but food and shelter expenses, electricity being paramound food. On the other hand, no doubt there are leagues of software engineers in a bristling competition to Be Best. Who all gots to be paid.
DALL-E's registered site at OpenAI's online ecosystem also gives access to new Beta scrambles for dominance, which are astounding for their ability to churn out non-uncanny items. These are ready to go for web+design purposes -- from logos to draft menus, comic book layouts, cartoons, and on and on.
Compete incessantly and evolve without mercy; another rolling-beta open-ish source engine is in free-first-bag-of-crack mode on Discord (MidJourney).
It does such spendid things as taking a 'seed' picture and then applying text-based instructions. Uncanny Valley of excellence in design. Yet, yes, scary at all points beyond a fifth 'regeneration' ...
MidJourney has an associated web instance for directly image-sharing links. I'll drop a version or two from Twitter in the blank-out below, given time.
A no-co-pay addiction engine comparable to MidJourney is BlueWillow, also on Discord. It has the limitations of censorship for violence, sex and so on, but much tighter than DALL-E. It seems like some of these engine's brains haven't learned any current affairs since 2021, so they are unable to envision who and what are now common meme-fodder.
Bizarre and freaking instance ...
Honourable mention is the brilliant, Caffeine-THC-Dilaudid-Oxytocin lure Deep Dream Generator. I won't link, because you will Spend All Your Tokens and rob grandma's purse to get more.
The newest thing to me that induces mild freakout is a Dramatic Script Maker, in development and just available for tinkering via GitHub depository. Dramatron.
SpoilerEconomist story featuring MidJourney ...
Huge “foundation models” are turbo-charging AI progress | The Economist
WWW.ECONOMIST.COMThey can have abilities their creators did not foresee
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The Edge of Creepy, Again
William × DALL·E | A luscious look-alike Amy Winehouse barmaid raises a very large bottle of Romanian Plum Brandy in one hand. Her eyeliner is very thick. In a lively, Capri style.
LABS.OPENAI.COMCreated with DALL·E, an AI system by OpenAI
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Russian television's top draw broadcasts a 'live' studio version of his daily radio/podcast show. In this unbelievable display, he berates refuseniks, 'screened' questions, mobiks, his staff, and emotes about death squads hunting down "retreatists." Tony, you may get a bang out of this, or an opportunity to share a more cheerful RT English article on the subjects of his anger.
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Tony, this is unwarranted.
QuoteWilliam would have it that Ukrainian soldiers are incapable of committing atrocities.
It comes down to Empire, or "Empire." There can only be one Evil Empire for the Blumenthal faction (exemplified by the Grayzone) to oppose.
Or, there are two "camps" of opposition to Imperialism. All the best 'woken' people oppose Western Imperialism. If you don't stand with Grayzone dogma, you are a NATO stooge or worse.
Do I exaggerate?
Tony, please try be more of an objectivist in one area -- recommending opinions as truth. It concerns me that you will not discuss Al-Mayadeen. I want you to put your emotions and insulting mind-reading aside and explain why you grant that outlet status. Please answer the question put to you earlier.
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Russian television's top draw broadcasts a 'live' studio version of his daily radio/podcast show. In this unbelievable display, he berates refuseniks, 'screened' questions, mobiks, his staff, and emotes about death squads hunting down "retreatists." Tony, you may get a bang out of this, or an opportunity to share a more cheerful RT English article on the subjects of his anger.
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"True believers are not worth conversing with."
That may be true, but it pushes a dispute off the table: how to identify such fixed, bigoted beliefs?
What can one do with bigoted, "can't tell them anything" opinions and proclamations?
What options are open ... ?
What do we say to Margarita Simonyan's chilling declaration?
Homework assignment ...
The Long History of Glenn Greenwald’s Kissing Up to the Kremlin - The Bulwark
WWW.THEBULWARK.COMIn his world, it seems America can do nothing right and Vladimir Putin can do...
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From the folks behind "Watch the Water**," via StewPeters.com:
DIED SUDDENLY, COMING NOVEMBER 2022
WWW.BITCHUTE.COMDIED SUDDENLY, COMING NOVEMBER 2022 (OCTOBER 20 2022) Died Suddenly, Coming November 2022 https://rumble.com/v1oz5ob-died-suddenly-coming-november-2022.html Quote: "Depopulation was...... there's almost always a purported fact-check on the bombshell indie productions like "Watch the Water."
Quote[...] The video is an interview between far-right radio host Stew Peters, who has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and Bryan Ardis, a former chiropractor who built a brand around claiming that the drug remdesivir is killing people.
It showed Ardis, who sells acne products and is now using the film to sell what he calls "anti-v" supplement kits online, invoking the Garden of Eden story and a fictional TV show plot as he outlined an elaborate mass-murder scheme that he claimed involves even the pope.
"I think the plan all along was to get the serpent's, the evil one's DNA into your God-created DNA," Ardis said. "They're using mRNA, which is mRNA extracted from, I believe, the king cobra venom, the king cobra venom. And I think they want to get that venom inside of you and make you a hybrid of Satan."
The video’s theory is "miles from reality, and indicates a profound lack of understanding in science and medicine, and much twisted logic," said Dr. David Relman, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University. "There is no evidence whatsoever that SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 is caused by snakes or snake venom."
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Russia seems to have "suspended" Telegram from its digital space, although the reports I have read say Telegram is not "blocked." There are some horrors coming out from the front lines and at first glance this seems like closing off discussion or reporting or speculation or whatever.
Russian Telegram is big if not vast and its varied stars often present as well-informed ... a proximate cause of the suspension is what they share of some woefully-prepared "meat-grinder" conscripts at the southern (Kherson) line of hostilities.
Let a hundred flowers bloom.
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Russian forces have announced a withdrawal from Kherson.
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Russian television's top draw broadcasts a 'live' studio version of his daily radio/podcast show. In this unbelievable display, he berates refuseniks, 'screened' questions, mobiks, his staff, and emotes about death squads hunting down "retreatists." Tony, you may get a bang out of this, or an opportunity to share a more cheerful RT English article on the subjects of his anger.
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When I asked a question about Al-Mayadeen, I got no response. Posting more Russian propaganda is a real good indication of blinkered, ideological rigidity. I lack faith in your abilities to balance conflicting information. That you touted Al-Mayadeen without a critical filter ...
Telegram: Contact @astrapress
T.MEASTRA публикует первую фотографию из подвала для отказавшихся воевать мобилизованных россиян в Завитне Бажання Донецкой области. Прямо сейчас в этом подвале удерживаются около 20...
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Russian forces have announced a withdrawal from Kherson.
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Russian forces have announced a withdrawal from Kherson.
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Russian forces have announced a withdrawal from Kherson.
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A Clockwork Solar System! The first time I have seen this rare polar Moon view phenomenon. Most likely CGI ...
Added: fooled a few ...
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Remarkable monologue from yesterday. Vladimir Solovyov names the names and asks "where are the results?"
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From Mike Adams the Health Ranger's latest podcast: "As the Queen dies, so does Luciferian-dominated Western Civilization"
- The death of the Queen is a cosmic indicator of the death of Western Civilization - Western civilization is now almost entirely run by satanists and luciferians - First the British Empire, and later the American Empire, PILLAGE the world - Every institution of luciferian western nations is anti-human, anti-truth, anti-liberty - The fall of luciferian Western Civilization is a necessary step for humanity to achieve freedom - BILLIONS will die in the next phase of the engineered global collapse - Prepping is necessary to survive the global war on humanity and help REBUILD civilization - The future for humanity is bright as we rebuild civilization based on morals, reason, family values and honest money.
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Modern English is shot through with words derived from or borrowed from French or Norman French. Consort looks like it entered the English lexicon from Old French by the 1500s.
From the Royal Court of Arms: Honi soit qui mal y pense.
File:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg - Wikimedia Commons
COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
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A story with a few twists and turns, from an Estonian perspective, in Quillette.
'On another occasion, Lydia demanded to know why was I so into Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Didn’t I know there was something fundamentally unsavoury, something just wrong, about Russian culture however “great” it supposedly was? Her hatred was bracingly honest, but it was still hatred, and as someone with Russian friends I found it hard to take. She called me naïve—a “blue eyed Westerner”—and I responded that her blanket prejudice was just as unsophisticated.'
[...]
I recall Estonian PM Kaja Kallas’s words: “Everything is black and white in war,” and I quote a Ukrainian friend to Lydia: “Right now we need the binary. We need our anger and our hatred to survive.” Doesn’t Estonia—a country we’re frequently told is on Putin’s to-invade list—need it too? In case of an actual conflict, she agrees. “If you don’t draw a clear line, how do you fight? How do you avoid spies? Or keep secrets? It’s the hatred, the common enemy that best unifies a group of people.” This didn’t mean your previous understanding of the complexities would disappear. “You’d just have to deliberately put them aside. … The nuances are for peace time. When you have the luxury to observe a culture holistically rather than dig a trench to survive.”
“Are you with or against us?” Lydia concludes. “That’s the only real question in a war.”
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From the folks who brought you a Донецкая Народная Республика ...
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A sombre extract from Russian Media Monitor via Julia Davis. The intended audience is ...
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Behind the pay wall ...
What We Learned on Day 3 of the Jan. 6 Hearings - The New York Times
WWW.NYTIMES.COMAs rioters surrounded the Capitol, President Trump condemned Vice President Pence for failing to go along with a plan he’d been told would break the law, the House committee said. The plan’s chief architect... -
I've followed Russia hand Julia Ioffe for a long time. Here she sat for almost an hour's interview with the PBS crew putting together their "Putin's Road to War."
She is a thorough-going Trump cynic, but discusses Trump's policy stances and relationship with Putin without rancour -- and is able to give the penetrating analysis that broad scope, deep knowledge and long-term research allow. If you just want a sample, start at 30 minutes. This is about what Putin sees in America, in what measure was what he saw in American division/paralysis a factor in risking the Ukraine operation now.
Although Kremlinology surely has its odd aspects -- eg, spiritualism or mind-reading, wishcasting, partyism or institute-itis -- Ioffe's 'Inside the Mind' readings seem to rest on firmer footings. "What do you think is going on in that guy's mentality that explains this decision-tree?"
If Ioffe is on the money, among the take-home truths are that Putin got shitty intelligence about what awaited the special operation forces, in terms of Ukrainian resolve and readiness, and in terms of actual Russian strength and weakness.
"The bad news somehow didn't make it to the top."
"Putin is the moderating voice in that camp." I paraphrase.-- for a more speculative 'The Psy-Op that Failed' observation, analysis and argument this one stood out for me, in a Twitter thread by Kamil Galeev as far back as February 28:
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Deep dive into attitudes within Russia. Julia Ioffe's article in Puck.news interviews one of the founders of "The People of Baikal":
Mothers for Putin - Puck
PUCK.NEWSVladimir Putin’s misbegotten war is a blatant attempt to restore his vision of the Russky mir—a pan-Slavic neo-Soviet nation state built on Russian dominance. And yet his war is being waged by the very young...Text-to-speech to come ...
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How does one begin to verify something like this ... ?
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Zelensky speaks with Russian journalists?
Mother Russia and "Little Russia" ...
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Add a bit of Google Translate and you can read along at Meduza.
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