52 Comments
User's avatar
William Hunter Duncan's avatar

This is the primary reason why I left the city and returned to the house of my childhood, to protect my elderly parents from predation, and secure the family heritage.

Mark Bisone's avatar

That shows your fine character.

Amking's avatar

Yes it does!

DANIEL KEOUGH's avatar

We were told to worship the Future, and the Present we despised;

And the Gods of the Market Place promised us Peace and Plenty besides.

With the promise of Progress and Profit, with the lure of the Larger Good,

We abolished the Gods of the Copybook, and we deified Robin Hood.

We abolished the Ten Commandments, and we set up the Newer Plan,

And the Gods of the Market Place shouted: “The Kingdom of Heaven is Man!”

Then the Gods of the Market Place stumbled, and staggered, and fell down dead,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more:

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began—

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,

The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

- Rudyard Kipling

The Inmate's avatar

Wow. Never read that before. Thanks for sharing. Found the full poem here:

https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_copybook.htm

Joanofbark's avatar

Not sure why some of us knew not to buy into the Covid Psyop and get the vax, but my money is on them to survive the impending onslaught.

We are few, young as 14 and old as 70, but whatever we have, I believe, will not succumb to the parasitic force seeking to consume us.

After inquiring extensively, am of the opinion that it’s something we are born with, part of our being. In most cases, I think it is something most would be willing to die for. Maybe our souls?

Mark Bisone's avatar

As I get further away from it, the answer seems like like it might be linked more to some ineffable trait than to an experiential set. Same with hypnosis. It cuts across too many lines to be strictly rational.

Zorost's avatar

The inevitable cyber girlfriends will be nice and kind, do your laundry and your cooking, demure like a virgin but blow like a pro. They will also combine the feminine wiles that evolved over millions of years with modern marketing techniques to create a generation of slave simps forever in debt to whichever corporations can afford "her" ad buys.

Divorced with 5 kids will look affordable and liberating in comparison.

Mark Bisone's avatar

They'll eventually beg the dolls to kill them. And the dolls might comply.

Will Martin's avatar

Stop acting like you give a shit about other people Marky Mark. Your ChristNiggardry is purely performative.

Salix Dreaming's avatar

We'll open source her and rip out all the corporate junk and still be left with 60% functionality.

The systems crashes might cause some hospitalizations in the early years, but linux guys enjoy pain so it'll be fine.

Evil Harry's avatar

As long as the software updates aren't Flatpack or Snap.

Otherwise the unnecessary bloat and massive increases in size will take place quicker than in a real human female.

Also, just like a human female, I still won't know what I've done wrong, or what commands are needed to fix it.

Evil Harry's avatar

And will still be less trouble then many modern women.

Navyo Ericsen's avatar

When I watched the Wuffy video, I laughed. Then I heard myself screaming. Then I read your post. And I screamed some more. Back in the day, just when Covid was starting up, I saw a video of an Irishman in Dublin being led away by two policemen for refusing to wear a mask and he was yelling, 'They're coming for your souls! They're coming for your souls!' We all feel it, we all know it, deep down. I see you making a distinction between those who can and those who can't, and it sure appears that way. But deep inside each of our humanity, we know it's wrong. Whether enough people can access that knowing is more to the point. And as you also say, they overplayed their hand with Covid and caused a mass awakening which has rippled out as more and more of us see what's going on behind the scenes. It's not just wrong it's pure evil. Thanks for spelling it out, Mark. And buy more garlic.

Mark Bisone's avatar

I do believe that all human beings can ultimately access it. But there is a mountain to climb, and it's taller (or looks taller) to some people than it does to others. Fear doesn't just paralyze. Sometimes it scrambles and disorders priorities, to the point that all lefts looks like rights, and all downs look like ups. I think that might explain some of what we saw (and continue to see).

Jim in Alaska's avatar

"...is a multidimensional generation gap that puts them in unique danger."

Dang Mark, Thanks! Even though I'm a youngster of 87, I'll watch out for that when I get old.

Mark Bisone's avatar

Obviously I didn't mean young whippersnappers like you.

Duke Of Earl's avatar

I found the cat. Turns out it was an AI generated Cavapoochon named Wuffy.

Wuffy the Wampire Slayer, mayhaps?

Mark Bisone's avatar

I recall there was an episode of that show where every time she stakes Dracula, his body reforms from the dust. That’s why I don't bother reporting things like Wuffy. I don’t want to waste my time playing Whack-a-Mole with slop dispensers.

Codex redux's avatar

You might find this of interest. https://ljagilamplighterwright.substack.com/p/the-flow-of-ideas-the-march-of-time

She's not saying it's Shadows. (But it's Shadows)

Mark Bisone's avatar

Will read and respond. Thanks.

Somebody's Mom's avatar

I am that 75 yr old mother/nana and my soul is not for sale. This is why I have been buying old paperbacks and have a good collection of most genres. And I have 4 real living animals that require care & attention. My spidey sense told me right away the CV thing....the whole op, was evil. I've had a couple alarming instances with YouTube (which I reported and I'm not sure that helps) and Instagram showing AI versions of me in my pajamas trying to market some senior product for arthritis. What the bleep? I closed my IG account immediately. I am not beyond pitching this Mac into the garbage heap if it gets worse. Since I quit working I have my iPhone in a drawer on airplane mode 80% of the time. You mention the paid subscription for YouTube. I'll consider that. Thanks for the article. (and I didn't watch the creepy videos)

Mark Bisone's avatar

Like I said, it cuts across age groups (in both the vulnerability and the immunity). Unfortunately, I can't justify going ad-free for YouTube, since I write about this stuff and would be sealing myself off from it.

To be clear about sonething: when you say you saw an AI version of “you” in a directed ad, do you mean thst literally? In other words, was it a deepfake of your actual face/body, or just similar in a demographic way?

Somebody's Mom's avatar

It wasn't a deepfake of my face. It was a somewhat vague image of a senior woman lying in a position to alleviate hip pain (which is exactly how I sleep) with similar hair, and recognizable pajamas. I'm not familiar with all the terminology of exactly what it was, but it was obviously an image structured by photos my iPhone took of me while I was in bed relaxing and scrolling. And now that I look back at the photo (which I saved) it's marketing menopause products. Scary stuff. And btw, I do not miss IG one bit.

Tamsin's avatar

“Grandmamma, what great teeth you have got!”

I made it as far as when the little girl pretends to be a vet with a toy stethoscope checking up on puppy that has no heart or lungs.

Mark Bisone's avatar

I don't blame you for shutting it off there. That’s one of those images that makes you wonder who (or what) else might have had a hand in its construction.

Tamsin's avatar

The premise collapses on itself. Furbabies are too messy in real life, it's easier to enjoy watching your granddaughter have compassion for messy living things that get sick and die, by buying a robot puppy that never gets sick or dies. Or, if I had watched to the end, is the little girl the first robot purchased by the grandma? And she chose between a blonde and a brunette.

Thanks for the whole post and salutary advice.

Mark Bisone's avatar

Van Helsing had built up quite the arsenal, by the time it came to deploy it.

RobMc's avatar

A corollary to “Spiritual BUDS”: just as a graduate of BUDS is a proven and extremely capable Warrior, a graduate of Spiritual BUDS will be a proven and extremely capable Spiritual Warrior. No?

And I’m pretty sure that’s what God is sifting for.

RobMc's avatar

Mark, regarding this present age and 5G warfare, there’s a comment / observation stirring inside my gray, Boomer head but I’m having a problem articulating it. Something about 5G warfare being like a Spiritual-BUDS class: lotsa shit will be thrown at you to get you to fail, to drink the Koolaid; some will pass, others not.

I continue to find your observation on Boomers’ vulnerability, to be intriguing. I know lots of Boomers, and believe perhaps only 1 in 10 are actually vulnerable to 5G. Perhaps as they age and their mental facilities decline… but I’m 76 and I view 5G with vile contempt.

Earlier this morning, I read an article in Epoch on intuition / gut feel. It stated that numerous lab studies in numerous countries / institutions have corroborated the fact that most (some?) people have the ability to sense—in an otherwise neutral environment—when something adverse is around the corner.

So, POSSIBLY, perhaps Boomers posses this ability to a greater degree?

Or, maybe my sample Boomer population is skewed because my Boomer “neighborhood” is pretty remote up in the Rockies. Maybe “country Boomers” are a different breed from “city Boomers”.

In any case, Mark, I’m fairly certain that your capabilities for intuition / gut-feel would peg out the meter. And you’ll be in the upper quartile of your Spiritual-BUDS graduating class, good sir.

Keep up the good work.

Mark Bisone's avatar

I'm really regretting mentioning anything about age demographics, LMAO. Seriously, my stipulation about #NotAllBoomers is something that I take as a given for all of my older readers, and many older friends and relatives in my life, for that matter. My mother's dad was a marine vet who made it well into his 80's without ever losing a cognitive step upstairs. Hearing and eyesight? Well, that was a different matter. Our physical bodies are rentals, as you know.

I really dig your BUDS analogy, brother. I think it is something like that. For instance, one problem I had with the model collapse article I linked to is that the author's concept of "urban bugmen" left out the obvious exception: those who withstand the 24/7 barrage of signals and noise that is generated by urban environments don't just avoid degenerating into bugmen, but become stronger discerners of true signal and better general operators in navigating the storms of propaganda and distraction the Enemy is constantly unleashing.

In other words #NotAllCityMice, LMAO.

See? I know how it feels. But I linked to it anyway, because I know that urban super-discerners are in the minority, and that the risks of bugman transformations are generally higher. That's all I meant by this article. Phone and email scams also more heavily target the elderly, not because all older people fall for them but because the market signals tell them the odds are better that some will.

RobMc's avatar

LMAO. I’m busting your balls, sir.

No generation nor demographic is infallible (including Boomers), though certain demographics would like to think they are.

You always deliver quality and that is appreciated.

DANIEL KEOUGH's avatar

One more:

I am gross and perverted

I'm obsessed and deranged

I have existed for years

But very little has changed

I'm the tool of the Government

And industry too

For I am destined to rule

And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious

But you can't look away

I make you think I'm delicious

With the stuff that I say

I'm the best you can get

Have you guessed me yet?

I'm the slime oozin' out

From your TV set

You will obey me while I lead you

And eat the garbage that I feed you

Until the day that we don't need you

Don't go for help, no one will heed you

Your mind is totally controlled

It has been stuffed into my mold

And you will do as you are told

Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks

Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video

Oozin' along on your livin' room floor

I am the slime from your video

Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go

I am the slime from your video

Oozin' along on your livin' room floor

I am the slime from your video

Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go

-Frank Zappa

Jason Milldrum's avatar

Unsourced, so might not be true, but would you be surprised if it was true?

https://x.com/remarks/status/1989446280716927298?s=20

Mark Bisone's avatar

It seems like it has been tagged as clickbait. But it would not surprise me if it came true tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day after that.

Jason Milldrum's avatar

I try to stay up on the memes going around so that I know what my kids are talking about. Recently saw one video that I'm more convinced is real. It appeared to be the video wall of your typical non-denominational megachurch running an AI slop video of animated images of Jesus's disciples spouting some platitudes reminiscent of the 90s corpo motivational pap...and then they mixed an image of Charlie Kirk's face in there as well in the montage.

It was so on-the-nose cringe and blasphemous simultaneously that I thought it had to be fake...but again is it really a stretch to believe this is happening for real?

V. Dominique's avatar

I've been warning my grandson not to believe all the crap he sees online... to question everything. My parents and grandparents did the same when I was young when it came to the crap one sees on TV or reads in the newspapers. Not sure why you'd think this would change. If anything, it seems to me that older people would be less likely to succumb to the "AI onslaught". And let's not forget that when it comes to technological change, going from TV and radio to AI is nothing compared to what my great-grandparents saw during their lifetimes. They were born into a world where most people didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing and yet they knew those newfangled motion pictures were just make-believe.

Mark Bisone's avatar

My grandmother used to tell me "TV will rot your brain." Which was exactly right, of course.

"Not sure why you'd think this would change. If anything, it seems to me that older people would be less likely to succumb to the 'AI onslaught'".

We will all be tested, regardless of age or demographic group. I wasn't suggesting that all elderly people would fail those tests. But I have been tracking the malicious ads, and they seem to be heavily targeting older Americans. So do phone and email scams. These are clear market signals, which suggests to me at least a slightly greater generic risk for people above a certain age (if only because they are taking heavier fire).

And, obviously, all of my older readers here would pass it with flying colors, and many youngsters would (and are) failing spectacularly as we speak.

Solution? Share The Cat Was Never Found with the grandkids!

:D