Welcome to Saturday's Potluck

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Is there a singular truth? Or multiple truths? Does our own historical experience influence which truth to believe? Does it matter? Some of the questions floating through my mind this week.

Plus what is the most immediate danger. Those yellow jacket trying to protect their nest under the roof ridge line? I slowly moved off the roof, will bring peppermint spray next venture up there. The neighbor's bull trying to break through the fence or the slippery rocks underfoot crossing the ditch back and forth to move my uncooperative cows? Or the unwashed masses unvaccinated amongst us trying to live their lives, earn money for food and shelter?

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1958 Interview With Aldous Huxley Author Of Brave New World bu Mike Wallace was posted by CB yesterday. When he began discussing Soma an imaginary drug in the novel, it caught my attention. The drug and its various combination products to extend brand name pricing were part of a group a drugs I was continually trying to have doctors discontinue in patients. Inappropriate use was showing up as diminished mental capacity and falls in individuals contributing to placement in Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes. If we could successfully get them off many could go back to there own homes. Most had never been informed of potential for harm to make a risk benefit analysis for them. The drug carsiprodol, originally marketed in 1959 as Soma is a good example of how long action by regulatory agencies for benefit of the public can be delayed. By 1978 its addictive properties was in the professional literature. January 11, 2012 officially became a schedule IV drug Abusing the drug may lead to moderate mental or physical addiction).

[video:https://youtu.be/45ids4LbVAg?t=517]

transcript 8:37-12:57 of Aldous Huxley

I postulated a substance in this book that you mentioned of mine, Brave New World, a substance called Soma which was a very versatile drug. It would make people feel happy in small doses. It would make them see visions in medium doses and it would send them to sleep in large doses. Well I don't think such a drug exists now. Nor do I think it will ever exist. But, we do have drugs which will do some of these things and I think it's quite on the cards that we may have drugs which will profoundly change our mental states without doing us any harm, I mean this is the pharmacological revolution which has taken place that we now have powerful mind-changing drugs which are physiologically speaking are almost costly. I mean they are not like opium or like coca, cocaine, which do change the state of mind but to leave terrible results physiologically and morally.
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If you want to preserve your power indefinitely you have to get the consent of the rule and this they will do partly by drugs. As I foresaw in Brave New World. Partly by these new techniques of propaganda. They will do it by bypassing the sort of rational side of man and appealing to his subconscious and his deeper emotions and his physiology even and so making him actually love his slavery. I mean I think this is the danger that can actually people may be in some ways happy under the new regime. But they will be happy in situations where they aughten be happy.
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I think it could I mean that's why I feel it's so extremely important here and now to start thinking about these problems, not to let ourselves be taken by surprise by the new advances in technology. I mean, for example in the regard to the use of the drugs we know there's enough evidence now for us to be able on the basis of evidence and using a certain amount of creative imagination to foresee the kind of uses which could be made by people of bad will with these things. And to attempt to forestall this and in the same way I think with these other methods of propaganda we can foresee, We can do a good deal to forestall. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

History of carsiprodol. (first part of video on physiological actions and use as a recreational drug)

[video:https://youtu.be/paz_qKexxls?t=331]

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When searching for information on Soma at the top of the page had some interesting links. To know it was an old Brand name for a drug required previous knowledge , only the generic name appeared.

Soma was a fermented juice drink which was believed to have been consumed by the Hindu gods and their ancient priests, the brahmanas, during rituals.
...
The drink was personified as the god Soma who was considered primeval amongst the gods and a bringer of health and wealth; in many ways he is similar to the Greek and Roman gods of wine Dionysos and Bacchus while the drink is the equivalent of ambrosia in those traditions. In addition, Soma is regarded as the deity who supervises Hindu religious sacrifices and he represents the direction North-east.

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A little on China and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

5G networks more revolution than evolution Value creation through the application of the new technology is practically unlimited June 2020

5G wireless technology is more than an evolutionary improvement over previous consumer networks. It will impact industry in ways previous networks did not and it should be treated as a national strategic asset – which it is not yet in the US.

Covid-19 launches the Fourth Industrial Revolution Oct,19, 2020 (behind paywall)

Some wars are won by attrition with roughly similar casualties on both sides. Others are unequal contests in which superiority in technology or organization leaves the losing side with most of the casualties.

Ancient battles with edged weapons, in which the side that turns and runs takes most of the damage, reflect superior organization.

Modern battles with unequal outcomes mostly reflect superior technology – Prussia’s breech-loading cannon in 1870, Japan’s long-range naval artillery in 1905 or Israel’s avionics advantage in 1982.

But the superior organization also achieved unequal outcomes in modern warfare, for example, Germany in 1940, Japan in Singapore in 1942 and Israel in 1967.
Covid-19

China has won what probably will be recorded as the decisive battle for hegemony with the United States over Covid-19, employing a combination of superior organization and technology. China, South Korea and Taiwan demonstrated the effectiveness of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies using artificial intelligence and big data.

Germany and Japan, which did not employ electronic contact tracing or apply AI to the analysis of patterns of contagion, did almost as well in controlling the disease with conventional public health methods.

Unlike China, Taiwan and South Korea, though, Germany and Japan have not succeeded in returning economic and civic life to normal.

No one expected, or planned for, this battle. Indeed, when it began neither side saw it as a battle. Nor is China the only winner: All of East Asia displayed more or less the same prowess in suppressing the pandemic, along with Germany, the sole winner among the major Western economies.

The United States and most of Western Europe continued to struggle. China seized the opportunity to conduct a vast national experiment in the application of artificial intelligence, and dozens of startup companies are developing the applicable technologies.

October 2020 - Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley made China very aware people in the Unites States government were contemplating attacking China. As a reassurance he offered to provide a warning before any action.

The general reached out to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army several days before the November 2020 election and two days after the Capitol breach on Jan. 6 to reassure the Chinese army that an attack isn’t incoming, according to excerpts of a book that was published this week.

China finance meets the 4th Industrial Revolution Huawei Intelligent Finance Summit shows China positioning itself at the core of this emerging technology June 2021

Like the central government, Cao understands that the more data collected, the better AI machines work and the greater are the chances of gaining a complete (or near-complete) picture of any given enterprise. Rather than relying on static growth measures such as financial reports, China’s financial sector has come to favor dynamic “surveillance” mechanisms that provide real-time data, such as satellites, smart cameras and sensors.

The introduction of such disruptive technologies into the financial sector has facilitated new understandings of an economy – centered no longer on consumers, but rather on “scenarios” such as events, consumption, specific industries and supply chains.

Instead of deploying a person to inspect farmland in rural areas that are often difficult to reach, agriculture risk can now be assessed using IOT censored data, agriculture machine sensors, and satellites. Algorithms will be used to tabulate agricultural loans, and maps beamed down from space will assist the government in surveying arable land.

China’s financial sector is preparing for a future in which people increasingly communicate with things, and things communicate with things – intelligent things. A world in which your car will take itself to be refueled or serviced, where your fridge will transact with an AI machine that will instruct robots to pack your food and drones to execute delivery.
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The 14 five-year plan released in March of this year complicated Huawei’s efforts to fully comply with Beijing’s requirements. The new blueprint advocated that “data resource transaction security assurances must be achieved.” Zhang noted the contradiction, explaining that “on one hand data openness and sharing is a requirement; on the other hand data protection and privacy must be assured.”

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What is on your mind today?

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Drugs, propaganda and technology influencing the mind and behavior of populations.
The new push towards artificial intelligence is the scary bit to me. Machine language
replacing rational thinking is perhaps confounding individualized thought processes, at least in the human realm.

Thanks for posting this mind bender!

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@QMS
Humans are rationalizing

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

enhydra lutris's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

biased in favor of correlation, even though we dumb humans know that correclation sin't causation

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

CB's picture

@enhydra lutris
that we humans can determine causation.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@CB

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

studentofearth's picture

@QMS test occasionally to verify heading where desired, maybe add a spice or two along the way. Best dish ever or at least it is edible.

Artificial intelligence is another type of automated process, so much depends on the intent of original design and how applied. True craftsmanship, as displayed, in the boat photos you shared last week needs to continued to be valued. The time and effort to master skills should be valued in a society as a balance to automated processes.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Lookout's picture

More rain today. Still the remnants of Nick. Cabbage, lettuces etc like it.

Are there health issues with 5G? I've seen reports but have not done any research.

The pivot to Asia is a stupid and foolish US/NATO policy...as the planet hurdles toward human extinction, cooperation would make much more sense. Imagine if the US would pivot toward taking care of its people, infrastructure, and natural resources instead of trying to thwart the improvement of other countries.

China is clearly on a better path than the US. They promote trade and infrastructure development, we promote war. Wars that sadly don't even make the news,... missing girls fill the airwaves as US bombs are raining down in silence.

Israel has been relentlessly shelling and bombing all over the Middle East this week, savagely hitting Lebanon, Gaza and Syria. As independent journalist Robert Inlakesh reports, you would never know it from the media silence:
https://21stcenturywire.com/2020/09/03/media-silence-israel-has-been-bom...

Israel again illegally bombed Syria last week, violating Lebanese airspace to do so and putting at risk the lives of untold numbers of civilians. And following this, crickets in the media, again.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/532726-israel-airstrikes-syria-lebanon/

Former Gaddafi spokesman: Libyan majority SILENCED by NATO bombs, West TERRIFIED of Saif al-Islam presidency!
https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/535186-nato-intervention-liby...

Guess we should take our Soma and shut up.

Thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout
I've heard claims but they sound like unscientific BS fear of the unknown,
Like comparing phones minute power to holding a radar set next to your ear.

Like TV was going to turn kidws into zmbies back when TV was new. Weather change was due to "all those bombs". Anything else that chattering chimps haven't seen before.

My objection to 5G is based on limited range and increasing interference as wavelengths go down. Like your car's FM dropping out next to tall buildings while you can still receive AM.
5G's only advantage that I can see is increased bandwidth so you can use your phone as a TV.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lookout's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

oh no!!! It will eat their brains.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

CB's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness
5G doesn't pass thru skin except for the top layer but it does more energy and can heat it. That's why the transmitters have to be installed high up so that people can't get close to them. The handset doesn't emit enough power to do anything and your skin will protect your brain better than 4G.

BTW, don't bother buying a phony Faraday cage from Amazon. If it really worked your router and phone wouldn't be able to pick up or transmit any signal at all. But you can build one for your bedroom. Look on the 'net. Again, if your phone works your cage is not working.

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studentofearth's picture

@Lookout as a separate issue but mostly group them with the general discussion of Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). Time will tell if 5G effects more individuals thatn other electromagnetic sources.

Americans can not seem to break the habit of war and asset grabbing starting with the original 13 colonies. Chinese have historical periods where they were great traders to inspire them today.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth
fighting with everyone else in Asia.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

studentofearth's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness where they were conquered. Followed by generations of occupancy and rule by conqueror. Future is full of unknowns and shadows of the different pasts wax and wane.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth
My point is that the Chinese government is not a bunch of flower children directed toward peace and brotherhood. Nor would you expect them to be based on history. I have worked with several people from China from different backgrounds. None expected personal freedom. It just wasn't part of their cultural expectations. Fear and avoidance of the government was. They all thought I was naive to expect privacy and personal freedom and they were probably correct. But "China good - USA bad" is just absolute nonsense. "China bad - USA bad" is closer to the truth, although "bad" in different ways. Racism certainly exists in China but not as strong as in Japan.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

enhydra lutris's picture

5G, in essence, is simply a different frequency band. Millimeter waves weren't licensed for communications for ages, and hence were empty and uncluttered, now they have been made available. They have the potential, in part because of their uncluttered state, to allow more devices and move data quicker. A drawback is that physical objects interfere with or block mm waves to a greater extent than the frequency ranges currently in use. The solution is to have myriads of transmitters and repeaters scattered all over the landscape so that at least one won't have its signal blocked on its way to any given target.

Health issues. I can't really speak to this too well. I suspect that, at least in part, it is newtechitis. Any and every new or enhanced technology is always very scary to some and winds up being portrayed as harmful, cancer causing, crazy making (arguably partly true), will destroying, hypnotizing, sinister, and, of course, mind controlling. It is also likely to make you sterile. Usually there turns out to be no discernible evidence for most such claims.

That said, many claim to be sensitive to emf and attribute many symptoms to the presence or incidence thereof. To the extent that some of this is real, then, unless it is frequency sensitive, those people will also react to 5G. Should that be the case, the quasi-omnipresence of 5G sources will aggravate their problems. WRT such sensitives, it should be notes that we are an electrochemical soup and organism, so the idea isn't per se laughable.

About SOMA (makes the sign of the cross and touches the sacred pasta colander) - it is per se evil, at least in the US, though more so in some areas than others. We were founded by an assortment of religious sects, a great many of which consider doing anything simply for pleasure to be evil. In addition, a goal of mind expansion is clearly ungodly behavior and, no doubt pagan or other witchery, alchemy and the like. Some also hold pain killers evil, pain is from god, live with it, better yet, be thankful. The others still led us to the culture that holds pain alleviation to be quasi-legitimate, but only if the pain is real. If you have chronic pain, it cannot be proven, so fuck you. If you have a wound requiring a few stitches, you get lidocane or novocane for the sutures and maybe a tiny supply of tylenol for later. Major surgery, however, is guaranteed to cause serious pain for a given minimum number of hours, so you can get something potent to help you through, because the MDs can sware on a stack of DEA forms that yes, you are in pain.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

studentofearth's picture

@enhydra lutris Soma came along at an interesting time in medicine. In many states Doctors could instruct the pharmacy not to place the name of the medicine on the prescription bottle. many patient had to simply trust physician would not prescribe a harmful medication. Also, with a drug like Soma had no way of knowing it could diminish concentration when driving and would increase sedation effects of other substances like alcohol.

Same year Dr Fauci graduated from med school there was an active debate regarding the scope of information patients should be provided on the medication they were taking. In 1966 American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy published a study looking if labeling medications for patients reduced medication errors.

The major hypotheses were based on the expected difference in the behavior of patients after the introduction of two variables, planned medication instruction and labeled medications, with respect to the number of errors in medications. These hypotheses were rejected on the basis of an F ratio of 1.47 which was not significant at the 5% level.
...
Sub-hypotheses of this study state that there would be a positive relationship between the patient’s age, last grade attended in school, number of medications taken, and the number of errors in medication that he made. The F testing the hypothesis R-0 was 5.99 which was significant at the 1 percent level. The independent variable of importance was the number of medications a patient takes. A t of 3.993 was recorded and was significant at the I percent level.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

the most immediate danger". Good luck with your yellow jackets. We clumsily disturbed a ground- hornet nest here one summer and ended up running around and flailing about. Ever since then we have called that incident our bee dance....not fun at the time but funny in retrospect.

I'm going to push all the immediate dangerous things to the back of my mind for the time and focus on potluck. I'm putting some chicken in a pot with some Thai spices/flavorings. That's the best I can do for now. Ceasar salad to accompany the main dish (Italian flavors and Thai...who knows it may be OK.) That reminds me, I'll put a cheap sparkling wine in the freezer now. We have found that cheap sparkling wine can be drinkable but the caveat is that it must be almost frozen. Then you have to guzzle it because once it starts to warm up....not good.

Summer doesn't want to leave us. Our forecast is for another week in the high 90's. I want something more autumnal.
Thanks for the intriguing OT, hope things are going as well as can be for you up in the north country.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@randtntx

cheap sparkling wine for mimosas.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris @enhydra lutris . It's also when we started drinking that C. sparkling W., just for mimosas...because who wants to ruin the extremely rare (I mean rarely consumed in our house) beautiful bottle of champagne with orange juice (even beautiful orange juice like yours).

But then, about 10 years ago, I stopped drinking fruit juice of all kinds (except fermented grape juice) and so CSW was stripped of that one important element that made it palatable. Then with some experimentation we discovered if it is very very cold and you are eating very spicy or salty food (like popcorn) it's a pretty good match.

I am jealous of your orange tree though. One of my rules is if I grow the fruit, I will eat the fruit (even if it is high in sugar).

edited for clarification...although clarification also needs clarification...oh well

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enhydra lutris's picture

@randtntx

serve chenin blanc or similar whites if they have wines at all and if you ask for some. It goes well, especially with hunan or szechuan. I bet CSW would be a good pairing there too. Thanks for the idea, in general. When out we get Negra Modelo with mexican, but don't keep it around the house and drink something like tempranillo or zin instead. I'm thinking chilled cheap prosecco might go well there.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris , about the Prosecco. It is a good stand-in for the spicy/salty flavor menu pairing. We've tried a variety of different Proseccos but they generally run about $14-$18+ so they don't meet my extreme cheapo criteria. Also and too, I actually prefer my cheap variety....there is no accounting for taste, especially poor taste. Smile

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@randtntx is better than no wine at all. Mixed cuisine is just great choice. Some of this, some of that.
East Texas weather has the occasional feel of fall here. Still, it is hot. When I was a kid, I would ride my horse through the woods and their nose would snort a mist this time of year. I miss the horse, the ride, the weather, but have no dreams about reliving youth. I have been there, done that.
I suppose the near miss of nuclear wipe out in the Cuban crisis got me past fearing anything but car wrecks and falling down stairs.
The only reason for me being hell bent and determined to make it this last 15 or so years of my normal lifespan is my husband. Without him, I would not give a flying damn.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

studentofearth's picture

@on the cusp in what is and is not important. Hoping the two of you have many happy years.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth I hope there is someone who inspires you to keep on keepin' on.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

When I was a kid, I would ride my horse through the woods and their nose would snort a mist this time of year.

Those sorts of memories, from when were kids, can be so sharp from such a long time ago. It's really amazing and pretty wonderful. I guess our senses may have been heightened and we were extra aware and observant. Especially when things were exhilarating and fabulous, like riding in the woods in the autumn. I had a horse when I was in my teens and I remember it being pretty glorious. I don't though, feel the inclination to relive that particular time again either. Taking care of horses is a time consuming and physically demanding task. Back in the day I could throw around bales of hay, load and unload them, and stack them in a pretty good stack. Now I would most likely hurt myself if I tried to do that. The memories of the whole experience though, are so good.

I'm cheering you on from the sidelines about the "hell bent" part of your efforts. It's the best.

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@randtntx for all but about 12 years, while I was in college, law school, or trying to make enough money to pay for some of that education.
I was at least able to drag a bale in and out of the barn. I have groomed many a horse in 100 degree temperature. I rode 3 to 7 times a week to keep my two last horses in good condition.
Their special treat was a gallop in the woods, with autumn being the very best time.
They are in my dreams.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

studentofearth's picture

@randtntx of a ground nest. The nest I need to deal with is small, probably not more than 20. They know winter is coming and are pretty nervous.

My cooking today was chuck roast, simmered for shredded beef and broth. spicing with bay leaf, garlic, onion, allspice and black pepper corns. Good meal for a cold rainy day.

Been a good season. Have felt fortunate the state and national issues was what I was reading, not experiencing.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth , for a cold rainy day. Glad you had a good season. We all just keep giving it our best and when it works ... job well done.

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Lookout's picture

Not with Toni today but Josh Turner,
who as you will hear is also and excellent player and singer.
What I'm Losing - written by Reina del Cid (featuring Josh Turner)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=430qMTESTVk]

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”