So Who Are the Terrorists Now?

Now we’ll circle back to the damages Iran is taking, which is lot. White Empire is doing what they have been doing across the Middle East for decades, what they’ve been doing across the world for a century, and what they did to their own continent for centuries. Killing as many natives as possible, trying to destroy their civilization, and loot the resources or just let them rot lazily. Iran’s Red Crescent reports, via Fotros,
• 787 people have so far been killed in US and Israeli bombardments
• 153 cities across the country affected
• 504 locations hit.

What are the Empire’s main targets? Life, in general. In the first wave, they hit the leadership, the leadership’s families, and even opposition members. They want Iran to have no government, the Empire succeeds when states fail. They also hit an elementary school where over 150 little girls have been killed, because they are trying to kill the future. These are all targeted hits, to try and break populations. As Peter Cronau of DropSite said, “First a girls school, then the Red Crescent building, then two hospitals, now a gym where teenage girls were playing basketball. Beginning to look less like accidents of war, than an intentional policy.” I mean, yeah, duh. Ask the Native Americans about blankets.
(Source: indi@indi.ca)

And has any of this terror campaign lessened Iran’s ability to respond? Apparently not. A continuous bombardment of American military bases and Israel continues with no sign it will cease. American troops are being evacuated from exposed bases to hotels and those hotels are being hit by drones (not willy-nilly, but targeting the floors the troops/CIA agents are renting).

So, who are the terrorists now? And boy am I glad Trump warned us about how Obama was going to invade Iran and how he promised to not start any new wars. We can trust Trump … to be exactly who he is.

First Vance and Now Rubio

Our Vice-president Mr. Vance stated recently that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon” even though the U.S. has neither responsibility nor authorization to enforce the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty signed by both Iran and the U.S.

Now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Israel’s determination to attack Iran and the certainty that U.S. troops would be targeted in response forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes.

So, now we are letting other country’s determine our foreign policy? WTF?

Apparently exerting diplomatic pressure on our “ally” Israel to not do such a foolish thing didn’t sound like enough of a “deal” to the Ayatollah Covfefe.

These clowns need to start wearing honest clown costumes so we can tell that they are not being serious.

The Law of Unintended Consequences Rules AIs, Too

I read recently that a noted software developer fired many hundreds of Junior Software Engineers and replaced them with AIs. Not just AIs, but AIs now to be monitored, supervised by the remaining Senior Software Engineers. So, gosh, what could go wrong? Well, one Senior Software Engineer pointed out as he was heading out the door (He quit, obviously.) with the question: “Where do Senior Software Engineers come from?” Obviously they come from the ranks of Junior Software Engineers, who are tasked with less important tasks, to cut their teeth, so to speak. They need to work, make mistakes, correct them, etc. There is much to learn and without a large pool of Junior Software Engineers, there won’t be any Senior Software Engineers to do their work, so this guy saw the writing on the wall and hightailed it out of town.

The “leaders” in so many tech firms are now business types, no longer the tech types who used to run these places, you know, like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Sam Altman, Larry Ellison and even Bill Gates (to some extent). The business guys look at the salaries “saved” when the Junior Software Engineers were “made redundant,” “let go,” “terminated,” etc. and think that is a net savings with an increase in productivity thrown in. Except going out the door with them is much institutional knowledge, even a bit of wisdom, and losing that Senior Software Engineer, is an even bigger hit to those categories. They might not even see those “Juniors” as being “Seniors in Training” or as resources of institutional knowledge, etc.

And when it comes to writing software code, AIs shine, but there is another problem come up. You may be aware of what is called “AI slop” sometimes referred to as “AI Hallucinations” or AI Bullshit,” but output from an AI which is severely flawed, let us say. And AIs are being “taught” to train themselves, so fairly soon, they will be raking through the slop from other AIs, even their own, and the problem magnifies. We were alerted to this problem when photocopiers were invented. We learned that if you copied a copy of a copy, etc. the copies soon became unrecognizable. Then when computers came along we were taught the same lesson again, with “lossy” file formats such as JPEG. When JPEG images were saved over and over, they too became “muddy” if not downright unrecognizable.

Now, in an experiment AIs have been fed their own output, then re-fed and re-fed it and, guess what, what you get is bizarre and of no use whatsoever.

So, if we give over training (the expensive part of AI enterprises) to the AIs themselves, what can we expect as results? You know, from AI medical advisers, and that sort? Hello, SkyNet!

VP Vance and the U.S. on Iran

Vice-president J.D. Vance recently told reporters. “What we’re focused on right now is the fact that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

Hello? Who put us in charge of who gets and who doesn’t get access to nuclear weapons? There is a treaty, sensibly called the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty which Iran signed and ratified in 1968.

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NNT) does not contain a specific, self-executing penal code for violations. Instead, its enforcement mechanisms rely on a combination of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards to verify compliance, with enforcement actions ultimately carried out by the UN Security Council. Nowhere does it say that the U.S., with or without its partner in mayhem, Israel, is to enforce this treaty.

Key Details Regarding Iran and the NPT:
• Original Commitment: Iran signed and ratified the NPT, legally committing to nuclear non-proliferation.
• Safeguards Agreement: In 1974, Iran signed a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), allowing for inspections.
• Compliance Concerns: Despite being a signatory, Iran has been investigated by the IAEA regarding undeclared nuclear materials and has been censured for lack of transparency.
• Threats of Withdrawal: Due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and sanctions, Iranian officials have periodically threatened to withdraw from the NPT. (Source: Al Jazeera)

Iran continues to maintain that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, citing its rights under Article IV of the NPT

Postscript Going to U.S. sources of information on this issue only leads to propaganda, leaving us to seek good information from sources like Al Jazeera. WTF are we doing to ourselves?

Is It Worth Asking …

Is it worth asking Trump or his cronies what the rationale behind his launching an illegal attack on Iran is?

Possibly this is the Trumpinator’s, The Mango Mussolini’s, Donny Demento’s, President Pinocchio’s, The Pedo-in-Chief’s, The Man with No Plan and the Tan in the Can’s, Moscow’s Asset Governing America (MAGA)’s, attempt at being given a spot on the Periodic Table of the Elements because, like all of those other atoms, he makes up everything.

Effing Swear Words

Oxford Languages defines swear words as “a word of a kind used to express anger or other strong emotion and regarded as coarse, blasphemous, or otherwise unacceptable in polite or formal speech.” Coarse speech is stated as being “lacking in refinement; crude or vulgar” (accompanied by the sound of pearls being clutched) … Oh, my! “Blasphemous speech” is “speech against God or sacred things” which we cannot have here in the U.S., a secular country. Of course, religious minorities have their own rules, but they do not apply in general. And “Unacceptable” … to whom is it so?

In other words, swear words are, as George Carlin indicated … “Bad Words.” Mr. Carlin became famous because of a routine he called “The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” In that diatribe he stated his opinion, that there were no bad words.

In the Anglo-American language traditions, we are still suffering from the Norman conquest of England in 1066. When the Normans took over, the “rulers” spoke French (Normandy being in western France as we know it today) and the conquered peoples spoke English (… and Welsh, and … Gaelic, etc.). To address the court one necessarily spoke in French or hired someone who could because speaking English to the ruling class was just so vulgar. This is, by the way, we have the still stupid legal doublets like “cease and desist,” and “null and void,” and “aid and abet,” “last will and testament,” etc. when the two terms mean the same damned thing. The legal system had to serve to two populations, the rulers and the ruled, so doublespeak became popular.

Swear words are often referred to as “profanity,” which harkens back to “the sacred and the profane” and the definition (Source: Oxford Languages: relating or devoted to that which is not sacred or biblical; secular rather than religious) tells us that profanity is something to be striven for … in a secular country.

What prompted this post was a comment from a sincere follower of this blog that I had seemed to be using more profanity than I had in the past. S’truth, I have. Profanities like “Fuck Trump, Our War Mongering President” seem to just flow out of me.

Since I do not wish to be discourteous, I will examine whether my use of language is necessary to make my point. If the chosen swear words do not seem to be needed, I will pare them out.

More Legal Doublets (for you fans of such)
Cease and desist: Stop an action and do not resume it.
Null and void: Having no legal force; invalid.
Aid and abet: To assist in committing a crime.
Terms and conditions: Provisions of a contract.
Fit and proper: Suitable for a position.
Give and bequeath: Transfer property via a will.
Force and effect: Valid and binding.
Mind and memory: Mental capacity.
Breaking and entering: Illegal entry into a premises.
Assault and battery: Physical threat and unlawful physical contact.
Will and testament: A document declaring a person’s wishes for their property after death.
Each and every: All individual parts.
Free and clear: Without encumbrances (e.g., in real estate).
Heirs and successors: Those who inherit or take over a position.
Wear and tear: Depreciation from normal use.
Order and direct: A directive from a court or authority.
Indemnify and hold harmless: To secure against loss.

Postscript Most of Carlin’s seven words are of Anglo-Saxon origin, which tells us something about prejudice.