Cunt is my favorite word. =)
Mmmmeeeeelaaaaah....
@comrade_leviathan: Actually the 'trick' is coming up with an AI to begin with.
Said to an on line friend...
"I have come to the conclusion that The Great Experiment of Mass Democracy has failed. It has taken me a few decades to be willing to admit such an outcome, but it has been driven home to me over the past half dozen years.
You've known me long enough to be fully aware that Politics to me is like Sports for most American males. I eat, breathe, and sleep the stuff, have done so since I was a kid, and these days I can do that 24/7/365.
But even with that capacity and inclination, modern society and civilization and all of its myriad mechanisms is still too much for even someone like me to keep track of in an effective fashion. The 'average citizen' is then far more lost in, and overwhelmed by, these things, even those who share my inclinations, and there ain't all that many of those.
Joe Bageant's Anonymous Political Consultant said here; "The mastery of the political right over the past thirty years has been primarily to better understand the irrational factors in politics. Conservatives have always understood that when it comes to politics, people rarely act in their rational self-interest but instead on emotion, fears and the perception of their interests."
Most people do not want to wake up, especially here in The Republic. Too fucking scary. And a fair number of those are in fact constitutionally incapable of waking at all.
Another type of social order is needed. What that new construct might be is now the responsibility of the Aware Individual." ...I ended there, but kept thinking about this...
Participatory democracy does not seem to work when the citizen base gets beyond five or ten thousand. At that point 'political mechanisms' seem to grow almost organically and began to remove the process from the reach of 'the average citizen'. The increase in social complexity creates the Political Specialist. Add Economic and Technological Systems, and 'the average citizen' is finished ...except as a Cipher for Those Who Rule.
However, any discussion of 'qualifying' the Franchise brings howls of rage and, given past performance, rightly so.
But should not the electorate of such a powerful nation as this be required to meet some Standard beyond accident of birth? Should not 'the average citizen' be required to pass something like The Naturalization Test our new citizens must take before being entrusted with a Vote?
It's really not that hard a test...if you have a fucking brain in your head.
Of course, I'm not holding my breath in that matter.
DEATH THE UNBELIEVERS!!
...or some such.
Man, they sprayed the dress on her.
@Jes St.Lawrence: Nope. Alfred Thayer Mahan, the man who started the Battleship race between Great Britain and Imperial Germany. [en.wikipedia.org]
@Jes St.Lawrence: Mahan's ideas translate very nicely into space, especially Near Earth Space.
@Counterglow: Drake has also mastered the Hornblower genre with his "Leary of Cinnabar" series.
As long as we're going with Harrison Ford meme mashups;
Indiana Jones and the Replicants
President Jones Saves The World
Regarding Indy
The Six Days and Seven Nights of Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones Seeks What Lies Beneath
Indiana Jones and The Crazy Irish Bastards
Indiana Jones and The US Marshalls
Clear and Presently Dangerous Archaeology
...okay, that last one really sucks. lol
I go back and forth with W-13. It's kinda like "Bones" with freaky antiques.
Watched one episode on Hulu. Liked the female lead. Love Schiff of course, though he seemed 'uncomfortable'. The show? Eh...
I've given this some thought: [community.livejournal.com]
Actual writer dogpiled by self important cheap assed Hipster dooshlettes.
Me, I'm gonna Independent Publish and these lil shits can kiss my ass.
@PostMarque: "Val and MacKay could get a spin off series" That would hideously wonderful.
I'm unhappy with the Comcast-NBC/Uni merger on several levels, but if/when it goes through the buzz is that Zucker will be out the door PDQ. Cold comfort, but there you are.
"6) Write a bunch of stories in a shared world."
That's pretty much all I do. [www.365tomorrows.com]
"Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 164,592 tested so far."
Yay! The Matrix has validated my Authenticity. =)
Los Angeles is the future capital of the universe.
Full Disclosure: I grew up in Nu Yawk.
