tartlette1968

[tartlette1968]

https://footyology.com.au/when-parody-can-no-longer-do-justice-to-truth/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3ySorIBPtNwb9Ur4eR2bRCmw-Nom2H1MFYZJflXjgI4o52vZZmIjyXKUE_aem_Af5bGu3aq1yJ6Pp_Pr7kpeiPcyt0IOVdkKo1MxrCJk7x3N34rckpfkk2LEwaW5qEAZnMvIT51UNr_j8oue_07pmm

When Parody can no longer do justice to truth

John Schuman and the Australian band Redgum are having the same problem we are all having.

#When parody can no longer do justice to truth #That about sums it up really #parody #truth #politics #John Schuman #Redgum

[tartlette1968]

You know that saying "The thin edge of the wedge"?

Well Trump's lawyers, before the Supreme Court, have just pushed that into US politics.

Because Trump is deathly fearful of losing and being called names, it has now been argued, in the Supreme Court, that the President of the USA has wide reaching, and, as yet, undefined and unlimited immunity from prosecution. The SCOTUS may have just said that the Constitution grants exactly that.

And it is pretty clear, now, that things are now much more frightening.

In his rise to power, Hitler tasked a team to murder anyone within his own party he thought would be a hindrance to his leadership. This was the "Night of the long knives". It was illegal, but no one was left to enforce the law. It seems that in the US, if SCOTUS follow and assert the arguments of Trump's lawyers, not even a similar event would be illegal, if the President orders it under the accusation that the victims posed a threat to the country.

It's s case of "Well, the constitution doesn't say you don't have immunity."

Let's be honest, here. Because Mitch McConnell was livid at a Black man becoming President, he blocked nominations to the Supreme Court until Trump took office. Because Trump calls people names all the time, he's deathly afraid of people calling him names and he didn't want to lose the election. Because he didn't want Stormy Daniels talking about him buying sex from her he paid her $130 thousand to keep quiet. Because he didn't want people calling him a loser, he decided he wouldn't give up being President. Because he doesn't want to admit he was wrong, he argued he had immunity from anything he did while and after he was President. Because his lawyers took that argument to the Supreme Court, now stacked with the incompetent Trump garbage, they have now ruled that the Constitution may, in fact, bestow perpetual and lasting prosecutorial immunity on every President.

Trump has shown he will take every advantage of this immunity, should he become President again. It well might include assassination of his opponents as he views any competition as a betrayal.

America, you should not be folding your arms, and saying, "Well my guy's not running, so I'm not voting," ever again.

#us supreme court #us politics #fuck trump #trump #scotus

[tartlette1968]

My reality is this:

I simply want the "Good guys" to live up to that label, and they won't.

Israel is using American weapons to kill people.

Recently they used these same weapons to take down a single building in Syria, without flattening the surrounding area. And they knew who was in that building.

In retaliation for a border incursion that Israel was warned about, at least twice, they have flattened an entire country trying to kill a few hundred people. In doing so, they have killed thousands. This is looking more and more like a deliberate mass destruction and killing.

The groups who broke through the Israeli border, and took down the automated weapons, are intent on forcing the entire world to convert to their religion. They have a web presence that declares this. Their ideology is "Convert or die".

They are not our friends, they are not the "good guys" by any stretch of the imagination.

Iran has been supplying other groups weapons, understanding that these weapons will end up being fired at Israel, at homes, and businesses and city streets. They are not the "good guys", not by any measure. The Iranian Government has been imposing strict, oppressive restrictions on its own people for decades, and exacting brutal punishment--including death--for those that don't comply.

Iran has been, in recent days, on the receiving end of well aimed and well controlled missiles fired by Israel. Again, no cities have been flattened, and few people have been killed.

I don't need to ask, "What gives, here?" We know what gives. Netanyahu is trying to improve his popularity, and he is trying to do that by killing crowds of men, women, and children who are unarmed, and have nowhere to hide. He is maintaining that these people are expendable in the mission to destroy Hamas.

What a species we are.

The American Government has been whisper quiet in its criticism of Israel's mass destruction of Gaza, and mass invasion of the West Bank. Even so, Netanyahu has bristled and fumed at this criticism.

Iran has been supplying Russia with fleets of drones that end up killing Ukrainian men, women and children and destroying houses, schools, hospitals, and the power infrastructure.

Russia are not the "good guys" and as long as Putin is President, they will never be.

This is my reality.

Are there any "good guys" right now?

What a species we are.

#stand with ukraine #russia #israel #gaza #iran #government #benjamin netanyahu #hamas

[tartlette1968]

Raindrops on a spider plant.

#raindrops #colour photography #color photography #photography #spider plant

[tartlette1968]

Celebrity is far more complicated than just being rich and famous.

People get hired around celebrities, not hired by celebrities, to keep the cash cow happy and productive. These people are in a position where, very soon after they're hired, they and their families are dependent on keeping that job. Some of that staying around is saying "Yes" to everything the celebrity wants, and not upsetting them. So if a person is now paid an incredible amount of money to be around, and keep the celebrity happy and smiley, they get used to some trappings of a high salary. Big house, leased luxury cars, and other things.

It's not as if the celebrity wants "Yes" people around them, but if you're as young as Britney was, you can hardly be expected to be assertive and mature. And you might just get a sense that things are not quite... well real. And Britney definitely was in a position where all her decisions were made for her by other people. So, you can get people fired, you have that power, but nothing else, so you fire people on a whim.

But that gets boring, or just really awful, and every time you push to make a choice for yourself, you get pushed back.

Britney was never incapable of self-determination, but she was traumatised by constantly being told her almost every move. Then to be subject to a legally enforced situation where she still had no control, and there was no mechanism to evaluate whether she was capable of taking care of herself was further cruelty.

I'm not a Britney fan. But this story of how badly child stars experience celebrity and fame is really getting tired. I think things have improved a little, but that seems to be more out of luck for some, rather than design.

We don't own celebrities, but there is an industry that acts as if they do.

17 years ago today.. the biggest rockstar move in history.

The look of satisfaction says everything

#britney spears

[tartlette1968]

#auspol

[tartlette1968]

So I'm not sure how I feel about the US right now.

I'm sitting here, in South Australia, watching things unfold.

Sometimes I think that Trump should lose, and then, within moments, I'm thinking the Tangerine Coward is going to win.

And then it seems really clear, and I can see the connection between Putin and Trump... they're both shitting themselves.

Putin is shit scared of the Russian people. He's terrified that they'll see what he sees. He's a weak, tired, and angry old man. A long way from the sharp, well trained KGB thug he used to be. And Ukraine proved that.

And Trump?

He's shit scared of the Republican Party, and Republican voters. For a long time he saw himself as a virile, powerful, killer of a deal maker. He deluded himself, but now that delusion is harder to maintain. His sallow loose skin, tiredness, and growing waistline is making it hard to be that uber attractive sex god he thought he was. 2020 proved that.

So I go swimming over at what was Twitter, mostly lurking, and occasionally playfully fencing with the far-right weirdos who believe just about anything... you know... blah blah blah secret Government scam blah blah blah blah they're trying to control us blah blah blah changing our DNA blah blah blah Trump is innocent blah blah blah... and Tucker Carlson didn't change this one bit.

So frankly I honestly don't think that the justice system of America will catch up to Trump before he gets to sit in on the election, and if he gets to be President, it will be batshit stupid fuckery for four years. Now I know things will be hopeless for the world, they were the first time around, but the US will get a double helping of being fucked in all the wrong ways. Basically, we knew it was bad the first time round, and the second time, he will drag everyone down under the surface of the pool of shit he thinks all the "bad" people deserve to be. And when I say "everyone" I'm mean on this entire planet, his supporters and detractors altogether.

They don't care how much they hurt themselves, as long as they hurt the rest of us. It's self-destruction wound up past that last notch.

#us politics #Trump #Putin #fuck trump #fuck putin #fuck tucker carlson #tangerine coward

[tartlette1968]

AI Framing the problem is the Problem...

Or, more correctly, badly framing the problem.

AI does not have an imagination. AI exerts minimal effort to solve a problem, so if you give it a problem to solve, it will solve it in an unexpected way.

So they gave an AI the task of playing "Connect 4" with a human on an infinite board. When it was the turn of the AI, after the human had placed their piece, it placed it's first piece so far away from the human's first piece that the human's computer would crash, and the AI would win, by forfeit.

This seems sinister, aggressive, and unfair, but the AI had none of these qualities, it just completed the quest, "To win" in the simplest way it could.

What this reminded me of was an X-Files episode.

Mulder finds a Genie who grants him three wishes. Mulder knows, immediately, what his first wish is, and says, "Oh, I know what to wish for."

The Genie cautions him, "Don't. Please don't."

But Fox's first wish is for World Peace.

Suddenly the world outside his apartment is dead quiet.

"Why is it so quiet, now?"

"Because you wished for world peace."

Fox finds out he's the only one left alive on the entire planet, because the Genie knows that's the only way for world peace to exist, without conflict or disputes.

"I warned you. They always wish for world peace, they always wish for the wrong things," the Genie says, a little sadly.

Without hesitation, Fox wishes to undo his first wish.

AI is like the Genie. If we are to give it a quest, we have to very clearly and tightly refine and restrict the parameters of what AI is allowed to do. Because we can't leave it up to AI to be human.

You can definitely use AI to augment and tweak and twist your own art without stealing from other pieces or artists. But you do end up with objects that look like chairs, with two legs, or humans that have four arms and no mouth, or something that isn't quite a cat. It's awful, but in a precise AI kind of way.

Or you can task AI with giving you a springboard to start a story.

But drive a car? Well, we don't quite know how to define "Drive a car" precisely enough for AI to drive a car without endangering us. But it's getting there.

AI is dangerous, but not because it's smarter than us. It's not. But because we're not quite smart enough for it.

#artificial intelligence #framing #problem solving #Defining the problem #singularity

[tartlette1968]

The Star Wars fandom is like a case study of what happens when you overthink media intended for children to the point that you’ve completely altered the message and plot that the creator intended. The whole “the Jedi order is evil and Anakin/Vader is the good guy!” Idea fails to take into account the fact that like.. these movies are meant for kids, they’re meant to be easy to follow and easy to understand with obvious good guys and obvious bad guys. Yknow how we know the Jedi are the good guys? - they’re the main characters, they have funny one liners, they kill the evil bad guys who have red laser swords with their blue and green laser swords, they’re relatable, they’re nice, they’re paternal, so on so forth.

I love critical analysis and I’d never speak a word against it, when we consume media we should always take a step back to consider what ideas they’re selling us, what undertones are portrayed, is this supposed to represent a real life problem? But it’s also equally as important to consider who the audience is and how that might impact the story. And ultimately the audience is children, Star Wars is not meant to be a mystery thriller where the good guys are secretly the bad guys which you can only tell when you pick the story apart 20 which ways. The movies could not more clearly tell us who were meant to support. - is it the angry guys with red swords, ugly old guy who shoot’s lighting out of his fingers and takes over the universe, people who blow up planets, chop off their kids hands and blow up planet’s? Or is it the people who wear warm coloured clothing, talk about wanting peace, who tell funny jokes, have heartfelt moments, with blue and green lightsabers, fight against the space fascists and love each other.

Ultimately, Star Wars isn’t that deep, enjoy it for what it is and I promise you’ll enjoy it 100 times more

#star wars

[tartlette1968]

It's not winter, here. This is one of those typical wet summer days we have after several days of over 35°C (95°F). Where we celebrate being able to open doors and windows to cool breezes, and turn our Air-con off.

#my photos #weather #rain puddles #Australia #Summer rain

[tartlette1968]

Look, I got lazy. The maths of tax brackets are not quite that simple. I mean they're simple, but a bit more complicated.

So here's why the Labor Party just gave everyone a tax cut.

The way a tax bracket works is that everyone pays exactly the same tax rates for the same amount of income.

So what Labor have done is moved the tax brackets up.

The old rate meant this. For someone who earnt $200,000 in the financial year, they paid:

Zero tax on the first $18,200 they earn 19% for income between $18,200 and $45,000, which was $5,092 32.5% for income between $45,001 and $120,000, which was $24,375 37% for income between $120,001 and $180,000, which was $22,199.63 And 45% for every dollar over $180,001, which was $8,999.55.

A total tax bill of $60,666.18.

All the bracket rates will change.

So, for $200,000:

Zero for the first $18,200 16% for income between $18,200 and $45,000, which will be $4,288 30% for income from $45,000–$135,000, which will be $27,000 37% for income from $135,000-$190,000, which will be $20,350 45% for income $190,000 and over, which will be $4,500

A total tax bill of $56,138.

It will not come as any surprise that people who claim to be earning $200,000 per year are complaining, on Twitter (of course), that they have been dudded out of a tax cut.

Anyway, that's the maths for this, that I was too lazy to do before.

Australian Politics just got a little better.

Yes, we are still arguing tooth and nail over "Australia Day". Yes, we are still trying to survive cost of living, still suffering a huge housing shortage, and we are still arguing about Climate change.

But the last Government introduced a series of tax cuts before we turfed them out. The third stage was due to come in this year. It involved abolishing a tax bracket, which meant giving people earning from about $45 thousand to $200 thousand a tax cut. The reduction for those earning between $120 thousand and $180 thousand was from 37% down to 30%, and for those earning between $180 thousand and $200 thousand from 47% down to 30%. The new PM, Anthony Albanese continuously stated the tax cuts were legislated, and they would not be changed.

But today the Government announced that the cuts would not go forward as legislated. The 37% bracket would stay, but the limits would be moved upward.

The opposition have gone batshit crazy, and so have their supporters, calling the PM out for breaking a promise. A promise, it must be pointed out, his supporters, and people who didn't vote for the LNP coalition didn't want him to commit to in the first place.

The deputy leader of the opposition declared that if the coalition get into power, they will install the tax cuts as they were originally legislated. The message, "If you vote for us, we will cut back Government revenue, and have to cut funding, and reward the richest people."

This is certainly a new strategy.

#australian politics #auspol #australia #stage 3 tax cuts

[tartlette1968]

Australian Politics just got a little better.

Yes, we are still arguing tooth and nail over "Australia Day". Yes, we are still trying to survive cost of living, still suffering a huge housing shortage, and we are still arguing about Climate change.

But the last Government introduced a series of tax cuts before we turfed them out. The third stage was due to come in this year. It involved abolishing a tax bracket, which meant giving people earning from about $45 thousand to $200 thousand a tax cut. The reduction for those earning between $120 thousand and $180 thousand was from 37% down to 30%, and for those earning between $180 thousand and $200 thousand from 47% down to 30%. The new PM, Anthony Albanese continuously stated the tax cuts were legislated, and they would not be changed.

But today the Government announced that the cuts would not go forward as legislated. The 37% bracket would stay, but the limits would be moved upward.

The opposition have gone batshit crazy, and so have their supporters, calling the PM out for breaking a promise. A promise, it must be pointed out, his supporters, and people who didn't vote for the LNP coalition didn't want him to commit to in the first place.

The deputy leader of the opposition declared that if the coalition get into power, they will install the tax cuts as they were originally legislated. The message, "If you vote for us, we will cut back Government revenue, and have to cut funding, and reward the richest people."

This is certainly a new strategy.

#australian politics #auspol #australia #stage 3 tax cuts

[tartlette1968]

In the 70s, my Mum and Dad were managing a roadhouse. One day a hitch-hiker stops in, carrying a seriously badly weathered guitar. The laminate was falling off and cracking because it had seen the rain.

I am, as I was then, obsessed with playing the guitar. He left the guitar with us. Even though it was basically useless, we had that guitar for years, the strings gradually corroding, and one by one breaking over the years.

That was my first real guitar.

#music #guitar

[tartlette1968]

I remembered this song, but had no idea of the band, and I thought it was by Rammstein. I had been searching for it for a year or more.

On the weekend we came across some old journals/notebooks from 1994. In one of those I listed the countdown from JJJ's Hottest 100. On that list at number 58 was "Everything's Cool" by Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI). On a whim I searched for PWEI, and this is the first song that came up in the search.

A very long winding trail.

#pop will eat itself #pwei #ich bin ein auslander #1994 #90s music #jjj #triple j #hottest 100 1994 #Youtube

[tartlette1968]

a trans girl with a hypnosis kink?? how original

[tartlette1968]

Our latest foster. He's fitted in, but hopefully he'll be going to a new home, soon

With the global shortage of vaccines, right now, our local store can't house him, so it may take a little longer.

#cats #foster cats

[tartlette1968]

I've been away from here for a week or so, and oh my poor non-existent god, in seconds I'm all horny and happy to be back here.

I have to explain, yet again, I get all hot and humid by fantasising about wearing and having things done to me. I'm sorry, you all have fantastic bodies, but I don't get off looking at bodies, I get off wanting to be that body.

#tumblr is hot #sexuality #bodies are me