A Foggy War?

A cliche around here, regarding the war for military dominance over Ukrainian territory, is "no war before this one, has been quite this foggy" i.e. more impossible to know less about, more opaque. 

I'd beg (or at least propose) to differ: never before has a war been so micro-covered. I'm not just talking about the Pentagon's view, fat pipe shared with Ukes and Russkies, but the view of householders subscribing to open source channels. 

If you want a fairly fat pipe, with updates almost in real time, with geolocated video, it's all out there, and sourced from points near the action.

None of which is to say you're unfree to immerse yourself in propaganda. Go for it, pig out if that's your genre. If you don't know how to distinguish propaganda in its many flavors, high school is your friend.

In pointing to high school, I'm not being condescending. Remember teenagers. They pop up in the adult world and many of them find that the adult world is a mess, a wasteland as much as theirs. This discovery is somewhat exhilarating and begets an egalitarian willingness to step up to the plate among some, but it also engenders disillusionment and cynicism.

A great way to feed disillusionment and cynicism, and to develop one's immune system, is to study old programming, meaning persuasive media designed to inculcate a way of looking that is currently not in vogue. Visit museums of propaganda, something I did as a kid growing up in post-WW2 Europe.

Tour all the ways humans have persuaded themselves to believe any amount of goofy garbage. Then look more deeply into what "persuasion" is all about, as it borders on "coercive" so much of the time. People internalize bullies as often as they encounter them in the wild, it sometimes seems. An authoritarian is often some voice in your head, too sure about everything.

The German language philosopher Peter Sloterdijk writes a lot about immune systems and how these hyper-dimensional membranes between bubbles (as in media bubbles, echo chambers, subcultures) become more or less permeable and/or subject to entropic memes.  

Marcuse, a critic of capitalism, always marveled at the capitalist system's ability to transform apparently undermining materials into cute knickknacks, subversive lyrics into commercial jingles. I'd argue this ability to trivialize and de-dimensionalize (to recontextualize and render harmless) is intrinsic to any effective counterintelligence program.

Accelerating Acceleration

I’ve reached the fat farm, I mean XRL prototyping area. We’re close to universities. Full disclosure: a Wanderer couple was here just before me, also with dog. We’re still in the Silicon Forest, as a namespace and geographical area (these go together, as often as not).

Of course the proposed Cuban proposal for a New Gaza in Guantanamo, is unlikely to gain much traction right away, given the media forces hogging the limelight at the moment. Some gurus in State realize this is just the off and on ramp needed, wherein the Pentagon voluntarily and with understanding starts the process of launching a new mission, this time one the Cubans have no issues with, as it involves collaboration.

Here’s the ideal opportunity to accept the legacy of the Spanish American war without becoming its puppet in perpetuity. Remember the Philippines. Remember War is a Racket. That’s a military reading, a dharma talk by someone who knows men.

A military base quickly becomes a white elephant, if all its good for is forcing unnecessary war planning, as we see from the case of China.  If you already have an established base, you’re motivated to justify keeping it open if that’s in question, meaning war plans pour forth, in which your base is strategic.

The DCers would not have to spin it as some kind of Afghanistan. On the contrary, building a substantial Asylum City will involve with talents of many Cubans and the lifting of sanctions, giving a boost to the local and global economy. Taking care of business instead of persecuting civilians, treating them as guinea pigs for weapons testing, is going to inspire people with thoughts of prosperity, which in general is a prerequisite for a growing economy.

When I say “growing” I probably should be saying “morphing” or “transforming”. The economy needs to keep changing shape just to run in place, meaning there’s no static solution now that all these balls are in motion. If we learned any thing at all from Toffler (Future Shock) it’s that dynamism and volatility are what’s normal. He called it accelerating acceleration.

Obviously I’m not expecting any sudden turning on a dime as they say. Momentum implies a current direction, not easily changed, which is why we have TrimTabers (not unlike Wanderers — there’s some overlap) i.e. people in precessional positions who have ways of nudging the storyline. At least more people are talking about getting those who wish it permanently out of Gaza, but without tearing apart the community.  Your whole school, parents and extended families included, want to move, to some new South Park.

The spectator world tends to go into observer mode, offering commentary, hand-wringing, faux passivity. That’s the role of the chorus. The idea that we’re actually authorized to participate is foreign to many, who eschew activism and prefer cheering from the bleachers for whatever side in some conflict. When you become a player on the field (an action figure) it’s easier to define the game itself, given the rules might be fluid (as they tend to be in World Game).

Looking back, I want the Palestinians to know that some people such as Center for Defense Information types (a former WDC NGO), not unfriendly to Cubans, would not have a problem using Guantanamo for a worthy cause that requires military level logistics, and helps repair many global relationships. Even if saying so out loud is politically problematic, you can think it. When Americans think of Gaza, they’re not all equally knee-jerk about it.

Extremely Rural (XRL)

I didn't blast off and down the freeway to the "fat farm" as planned. Maybe I'd do better by shifting the narrative to reveal my gaining access to some XRL (XRL = "extreme remote livingry" but how about also "extremely rural"?). 

Extremely Rural means on the wilderness fringe yet likely in touch with satellite services, cell towers, even roads, even paved. Like a parking lot at some public beach. Criteria are not strict as we come inward, towards the more urban pole. Camp grounds maybe.

The reason for this change in plans: a likely minor electrical glitch best dealt with on a business day versus some sabbath. I'd planned to drive. Still do.

So instead I went to a Quaker meeting I've frequented a lot in the past, doing my time on various committees, lighting the tunnel for the family's passage within a Friendly community. That was fun. I recommend Quakers. Dawn joined me in our tunnel.

Today, however, the meeting was grim, with people feeling bleak and trapped in familiar patterns regarding well known cultural narratives, resonating with stuff in the holy books and seasonal programming down through the ages.

Quakers tend to be horrified by orgies of violence, which doesn't single them out all that much (many share these compunctions), but they do want to stay worldly and help process whatever is happening. They're participants more than hermits by training. I say "they're" to capture my "just visiting" status. 

The last time I visited, was to show Andrius, the visiting math guy from Lithuania, what a Quaker meeting was like. Before that, I found them in Laurelhurst Park (sometimes this group shifts its worship outside).

One lady wound up the meeting by urging we read up on what FCNL had to say. We were encouraged to write to our representatives and to write letters to the editor. I'd call it necessary boilerplate.

I heard no serious talk of an actual evacuation, granting Gazans actual refugee status and the right to never return, along with the right to return maybe. One's status, as a refugee, seeking refuge, does not, as a matter of grammar predetermine, any final destination. One is escaping from, not converging upon.

The meeting had a possible new family to my left, just moving from Atlanta (we learned that during introductions), and a newcomers' gathering coming up (this came with the announcements), and maybe the wheels really do turn that smoothly. When things really work exactly as designed, there's this sense of self parody why is that?

The gathering did feel well oiled. They run microphones now, and include the Zoomers upstairs (in person only downstairs, and maybe no mic runners, I'll need to sample that).

These were unprogrammed Friends (Stark Street). Pretty much anyone might deliver a sermon, or folksy talk, or self analysis, lecture whatever (or call them rants). If you hang around Quakers a lot, you'll note the tropes, the signature rhythms, of vocal ministry.

Greetings all. Sorry to have skipped out on social hour. And sorry about my cell phone going off, I thought I'd taken care of that.

Evacuation?

My major focus during the Serbia-Kosovo crisis, to which NATO contributed its signature aerial bombing service, was evacuating those wishing to leave. I don't care whether we call them civilians or not. People should have the right to vacate a dead end combat zone.  Indeed some buses showed up. Some got away.

Likewise, I was glad how the war in Ukraine started with a prolonged evacuation period, in which literally millions of Ukrainians could opt to leave the theater. Some escaped to EU countries, some went to Russia. I don't know where all of them went, but at least they had a chance to leave, some of them.

When it comes to Gaza, I always storyboard the same vision of a steady belt of ships, a circle line, undertaking a massive evacuation. 

Where would the Gazans go? They deserve a homeland, a Zion. They need liberation as much as the Jews of Egypt ever did, under Pharaoh Bibi or whomever.

Of course many Gazans would choose not to leave, given their attachment to a godforsaken semi-desert (just kidding, that's a beautiful and fertile area, been there myself (not to Gaza but places nearby (dad did some scuba diving in Sinai, when Urners lived in Cairo all those years, during and after president Sadat (I helped Palestinians build a swimming pool in Ramallah)))).

I understand Gaza is valuable real estate and once we sweep religion aside (Promised Land = Planet Earth, duh (I think a lot of Jews know that by now, as do the rest of us especially gifted (chosen))) we see it’s a battle between land developers, who want resort hotels and retirement communities in Gaza, ala Florida. 

They want the "lowlife" out of the way, as unable to afford the Miami of the Mediterranean level rents they have planned. Not only Israel-based lenders want to invest in the luxury version of Gaza (think Hawaii). International land developers would love to participate in the makeover. Again, it's not really a religion thing.

I'm thinking Palestinians are a resourceful and intelligent ethnicity and letting Gazans move en masse, versus enforcing some diaspora, would be a welcome development to many. 

But where could they go? Who is willing to develop a refugee paradise from scratch?

Naturally there'd be a lot of scheming and dreaming, on the part of the emigres, as to how they'd gain access to their old stomping grounds by means of moneymaking. A Gazan family might buy its way back into the community after the dust has settled.  

Many Ukrainians are thinking the same way. They want to return, but maybe some American real estate conglomerate owns their family farm?

Many Jews, in Germany's concentration camps, dreamed of being rescued and having their lands returned.  

Many Americans, forced into camps by other Americans, who thought Japanese Americans were a lesser breed of American, were lucky enough to get their farms back. Many were not.

Obviously I'm fumbling around, short on details, imaging my flotilla of cruise ships introducing Gazans to a Carnival and/or a Disney line level living standard, at least for the voyage over.

They certainly deserve a vacation. Somewhere in Africa maybe?  A mega-project, like an OMR? I know it sounds like an admission of defeat, but then the Jewish diaspora didn't really win either.  When we look at history, we see it's about humans streaming around the planet, often in evacuation / refugee mode.

Of course what's important is Gazans get options, not commands. Even if there's some promised Shangri-La, at the end of the cruise, that doesn't justify coercion. We want to build community on the basis of "people want to be there" not "people have to be there".

The Creator (movie review)

:: atmospherics ::

Mazur (Melody, Mel -- visiting faculty) and I thought we might have the Bagdad to ourselves, not a comment on the popularity of the movie, but on the feasibility of making a multi-hour commitment starting at 3:15 in the middle of the day. We could, and some others joined us.

I'm not dissing the film, but rather showing off my budding film savvy, in saying this was viewable as a mashup of other famous flicks in the same genre. That's not really saying anything as what makes science fiction a genre in the first place is its a namespace of shared tropes (motifs, plot elements), often drawing heavily from military experience. This film is about a geopolitical scenario, one I found pretty fun and original.

The collective west was at first in love with the AI layer, a source of compliant labor, to the level of trusted caretaker, only to see itself betrayed, with AI turning on humanity and proving itself soulless, to be dealt with accordingly. The west sees AI machines as literally that: machines. However, New Asia has taken a different track and still sees AGI robots as sentient, to the point of being equals.  Asians are still blending with AI whereas the Americans are in an existential war to the death with AI.

As viewers, we're challenged to figure out where we come down. We're in the same space as the movie Artificial Intelligence by Steven Spielberg, taking over for Stanley Kubrick. That's the first movie I'd finger as an influence (the circus scene especially), but then also Ex Machina and all the films arguing for AGI achieving humanity, in the sense of sentience and self awareness. WestWorld. Usually it's "the West" that's head over heels for its electronic monsters, wanting to bestow the breath of life into them. In this movie, the West is disillusioned. AI says it wasn't responsible for nuking LA (spoiler alert but you find out how the Americans see it in the opening credits, so not much of one).

Another trope (Melody picked up on this one): the sacred messiah child, perhaps with (or definitely with) superpowers. We get the demon child on the flip side, which is how the Americans would see her (the hybrid).

Most of what struck me were the atmospherics, as the two table top scifi books I've been gazing at the most (pictured above), emanate precisely this aura of fluorescent lit giant cities in the fog, technology blended with nature, at the same scales. 

The flavor of Avatar and Avatar 2 was likewise present, both in the atmospherics and in casting Americans as the insensitives, the invasive monoculture, coming to seem more bot-like in contrast to our protagonist, at one time undercover against AI, but becoming instead a bridge figure (another trope).

Tellingly, it took me, a viewer, a little time to determine what side this NOMAD might be on. Was that an AI asset or "one of ours"? The movie answers this question, but I felt drawn in by a sense of ambiguity. Who was fighting whom and why? That tends to gel, not be readily apparent at first glance, even in real life.

Science fiction is known for its open-minded acceptance of permutations. Lesser minds will decry this film in anti-American and yet it is quintessentially American in its continuity with the morphing culture, part Asian from the get go. 

What "American" means is a function of context, which some will call "climate". Getting locked into just one way of thinking (imprisonment within the dream) is a way of losing one's freedoms. 

Sometimes we need to snap out of it (whatever the dream) and films such as this one, already conversant with the collective unconscious, may prove catalyzing in that regard. I gratefully accept it into the canon and recommend seeing it.