Ssamson

[Anthony Khallouf @ausvstheagenda]

It’s even funnier now that we have the POV footage showing her facial expression when she said it:

[Michael Shellenberger @shellenberger]

Wow, wow, wow. I just left the National Press Club where Minister of Communications @AnikaWells spoke. She repeatedly and brazenly lied about the fake accounts, claiming they were only for enforcement, even though the legislation says in black and white that the eSafety Commissioner can use them in unlimited ways for "educational" and "promotional" purposes.

One big moment came when a Politico reporter got up and said something about how mean people like @PaulineHansonOz were to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant. Seriously. A supposed reporter was white-knighting for a government official during the official Q&A. The same reporter had come up to me before Wells' speech and asked if I had criticized Inman-Grant. Who needs government censors when you have Politico?

After he asked his question, Wells showed the most emotion, describing online criticism of Inman-Grant as "abuse." She also talked about her own staff's supposed suffering. I kid you not. The mask dropped, and you could see what really upset her: people — including a sitting Senator — criticizing government officials.

After gaslighting the audience about fake accounts, Wells repeatedly insisted the government wasn't trying to censor content. She said this after filling her speech with examples of content she claimed harmed people. You couldn't make it up.

This legislation is the culmination of decades of progressives equating words with physical violence. Wells cynically compared her legislation to prevent psychological "harm" to various laws that protect people from physical harm, like seat belt laws.

BTW, Wells never said what content it was that she thought caused eating disorders. Pictures of skinny women? Dietary advice? Who knows. Nobody asked.

Another important moment came when Wells explicitly said Australia would be pursuing censorship alongside other nations, including the UK, France, and Spain—all countries where governments risk losing power to populists.

I spoke with Julie Inman-Grant before the speech began and asked about the fake accounts. She insisted they were there just for enforcement, and when I asked why the law allowed them to be used for government propaganda, she said she might write an "enforcement memo," which, of course, would have no impact on the legislation.

After her speech, I went up to Wells and asked if she was seriously saying the legislation didn't allow the government to use fake accounts for government propaganda. She refused to answer. A man who said he was from the National Press Club stepped in front of me and said I could interview her afterward. But that wasn't possible because they rushed her out the back to avoid any difficult questions.

So there you have it. The pettiest people in Australia are seeking to silence citizens and their political opponents in the name of protecting children. These deeply intolerant and cynical people want to control what you can see and say online. And they're doing it with most of the media's support. Australia has reached a new low in its rapid descent into dogmatism, intolerance, and censorship.

[Michael Shellenberger @shellenberger]

Well, that was wild. I'm at the Australian Parliament and just left a meeting with two staffers for the governing party. They told us that the government needed more power to censor things like the upcoming US execution of Nidal Hasan.

When I asked why they needed to censor that video, one said it was to prevent copycat killings. Copycat killings by governments? I asked. Er, no, they said. Copycat killings like of a backpacker, several decades ago.

So, under that logic, I pointed out, the government should censor things like last year's Bondi massacre, where two Muslims killed 15 people, no? Well, that was news, they said. Didn't they realize their bill would allow the government to censor news? They didn't seem to know, or care.

They also admitted that they did not know that the bill would allow the government to create and operate an unlimited number of fake social media accounts to attack its political enemies and spread disinformation. Having presented them with information they had never heard about a bill they had clearly not read, they emphasized to us, strenuously, that they were moving forward with the bill.

So there you have it. The government wants the power to arbitrarily censor scenes of violent crime, or violence, for any reason. And it wants the power to use an unlimited number of fake accounts to wage offensive disinformational warfare against the Australian people.

Given that the Bondi massacre last year increased public opposition to mass migration, and support for the populist One Nation Party, it seems obvious that the government wants to censor such events in order to protect its political power.

It's quite telling how obediently governing party members insist such a law is needed without even knowing what's in it.

[Ssamson @SamLench4]

@EvanMcFarlane Hard agree. I always thought it was just a lazy comparison because they both have “North-West” accents. Liverpool? Manchester? Eh, close enough for Americans or posh music critics from London.

[Ssamson @SamLench4]

@OpenAI It’s the exact recreation of The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Impressive technically but the height of dystopia for so many reasons.
https://t.co/kO3oevT0oY

[Ssamson @SamLench4]

@michaelmalice Up there with “there’s a thing called (x)”, insert something obvious.

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

Just called my dad.

He had no idea about the Somali fraud. Zero.

He said he couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard about it on the news and that it wasn’t a bigger story.

…so many people haven’t woken up to the truth yet, including my dad, who I love dearly

What you think should make the news, doesn’t make the news.

I, like my dad, thought the news was just, “whatever story is the biggest…”

If it's a big enough deal, surely the news will cover it.

I was wrong.

…the “news” isn’t a mirror of reality's biggest stories

It’s a FILTER.

My dad, like so many good people I know, is just living a normal life… trusting that if something is TRULY important, someone will tell him.

And that, that is the trap.

They don’t need to convince you of a lie...

...they just need to make sure you never hear the truth.

Once you see that, you can't unsee it.

It changes everything.

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

This is what hope looks like.

Sign up at https://t.co/0bhBHhWvVa.

[Tottenham Hotspur @SpursOfficial]

A goal-line clearance that will be remembered forever.

[Sterling Crispin 🕊️ @sterlingcrispin]

*Slavoj Zizek sniffs loudly touching his nose* Ah yes yes the corporate pastoral. This is a perfect ideological object. You see, you see here Sam, he pretends to give us a modest, one could say intimate conversation between two friends. No. This is a mythopoetic act of ideological laundering. *Sniff*

This is not, you see, this is not a product announcement. No. Sam is giving us a myth, you see. *Sniff* This film, if one can call such a thing a film, is a strategic myth making artefact to construct an origin story. This is a biopic about themselves played by themselves, you see. Masturbation. *Sniff* The hubris is astounding. *Sniff*

This opens, what do we see, what do we see first? *Sniff* We see the power shot, the money shot yes? Looking up from the ground up into the towering city. We are small. Silicon Valley is big. Money you see, technology, forbidden sex, and so on. San Francisco to be precise. Yes? *Sniff*

Then what? Soft lighting, yes, soft focus, flowers in the city and so on. Two friends. No. *Sniff*

These are not two friends. These are the ideologues of techno capital, you see. *Sniff*. The priests preparing you for the sacrament of their new device. *Sniff*

They smile, you see, "We know we are building godlike machines, but we are such nice people!" *Sniff* Yes very good Sam. And thank you. They shake our hands and smile, while the machine, you see, the machine takes our jobs and our soul, or what have you. *Sniff*

Yes? But the cafe, what a nice cafe I must say. The cafe invites us in. Not just two friends together, you see. We are, as the viewer, we are also their third friend. *Sniff* Perhaps lover, or some such. We will see how the night goes, you know? *Sniff*

But Sam, yes, he does not care about money. Power? No. *Sniff* This boy king, the caring sovereign, he worries about us. The little people you see. *Sniff*

The master holds the weight, the original sin, so we may enjoy without guilt. *Sniff* Sam is our Jesus, so we can ask the computer our little questions and not worry. Not to worry about the labor, or the exploitation, or the environmental costs and so on. *Sniff*

So you see, this is, you see this is to build a moral legitimacy around leadership figures at at a time when, you know *Sniff* AI is taking our jobs, and "How will I feed my family" and "Oh no we are all going to die" and so on. *Sniff*

Notice. Notice they do not talk about technology you see. Values. *Sniff* This is the hand of ideology that distracts you while the other, the other hand you see, it takes from you.

But thank you for the coffee Jony, and yes the iPhone. *Sniff* Jony is the great thinker Yes? And Jony gives us emotional connection, yes? And the family man stands hand in hand with Sam, as deliberate contrast to the tech overlord he pretends not to be, you see. *Sniff*

The European family man with the children and, you know, the forbidden sexual desires of San Francisco and what have you. *Sniff*

We have our origin story, the myth you see, chance encounters in the cafe. *Sniff* "It is funny running into you here Jony!" Yes it must be nice what are the odds of such an encounter. *Sniff*

And what? Personal anecdotes they give us, yes, some shared vision to reinforce authenticity in a film which, let us be honest for a moment, this could very well be in the post credits scene of a marvel movie or, you know *Sniff* some such profane act of capitalist entertainment, a mickey mouse adventure or what have you. *Sniff*

And for what? For what is all of this labor and AI and devices and so on *Sniff* So we can find ourselves in a moment, lost, "Oh no" we say, "Oh no I wonder. I have a question to which there is no answer, I cannot think for myself?" *Sniff*

No. Let us go to the phone yet again. We must ask the device. But no. You see. *Sniff* My phone is in my pocket. We need a new device you see. Yes? *Sniff*

A device which, a device which always listens, you see. *Sniff* An all knowing god who can answer my questions, and tell me what to think, and what should I say, *Sniff* what should I do, and I am afraid and oh no who am I and I am sad and who should I fuck and so on. Yes? *Sniff*

So you see *Sniff* This film is not a documentary yes? *Sniff* What we see here is christ carrying the cross alone through the streets. *Sniff* But not a cross you see. Jony. Jony gives us the iPhone and Sam puts AI inside the device. *Sniff* And now? Now we don't need to think *Sniff* We can just have the AI and the AI, you see, *Sniff* It's wonderful.

[Seán Ono Lennon @seanonolennon]

We should spend less time worrying about being our ‘authentic selves,’ and more time trying to improve ourselves.

[Dylan O'Sullivan @DylanoA4]

My favourite Nietzsche quote of all time

[Walter Kirn @walterkirn]

How is Globalism not seen as colonialism 2.0? I don't get it.

[Seán Ono Lennon @seanonolennon]

It’s amazing that people believe what they read as if it wasn’t just another fucking human who wrote it.

[Physics In History @PhysInHistory]

The best opening line in any physics textbook: States of Matter by David L. Goodstein ✍️

[mr fabio @fffabs]

My daily reminder

[Melodies & Masterpieces @SVG__Collection]

Celebrating James Jamerson’s birthday with this incredible video breaking down his legendary bassline from “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.

A masterclass in groove and musicality!

You won’t find a cooler video today…

[Ssamson @SamLench4]

@Maccneal @Lord_whizzer @moniconga @highbrow_nobrow You’re both as bad as each other. Here’s the link: https://t.co/zhJmKM3NL2. It’s a BMJ article hosted on NIH site, discussing a specific book: The Cutter Incident: How America's First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis. (2005, Sep 5). Publishers Weekly, 252(35), 52.