Month: December 2020

Trump Is So Bad At Being An Autocrat


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really don’t know what the deal is with our tinpot tyrant and would-be autocrat Trump. He wants to stay in office so bad…and yet he’s not really doing anything on a practical level — to date — but whining and calling random Republicans up in important positions hoping they’ll carry his water.

So, what could he be doing?

Well, if I was him, I would go after the Electors themselves right now. It’s a low risk, high reward bet. If he can get away with attempting a very lazy coup by ranting on the phone at Republican elected officials, why not use power of the presidency to woo — or scare the shit out of — the people who actual have the “legal votes” to make him president?

If Trump DOESN’T do that, that, well, Maggie Haberman can suck it. She’s a fool who sold her sold to a tyrant for access. Because Trump would not in any way be a political genius. He’s just a very, very lucky — and lazy — idiot.

But he still has time to prove he is political genius — the electors don’t vote until Dec 15th (I think) — and he could still very well retweet some insane fascist who doxxes all the Electors. It’s very, very, very, very easy to see him do that.

Or a random Elector is murdered by a Proud Boy, or something. Something like that.

And, of course, there’s still the possibility of an unexpected war with the DPRK or Iran.

One thing that Trump might do on his way out is replace Barr with someone who would do his bidding when it came to arresting people. It’s possible Trump could get his new toady at Justice to frogwalk Biden for some bullshit reason, then demand he won’t get prosecuted — at all, for any reason — once he leaves office.

Just be aware that America faces a pretty big existential crisis between now and January 20th.

Of Gods (And Aliens): Trump Could Never Keep ETs a Secret


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a very, very, very long-running thought experiment in going in my mind that deals with a number of interesting concepts when it comes to aliens. One is, what if they — because of all the radio signals we’re sending out — knew everything about us and two, I wonder a lot about how we would deal with HUGE numbers of humans being given the opportunity to leave a dying Earth. If they act fast, of course.

In my imagination, this would be sort of a Chernobyl meets a Close Encounters type movie.

Anyway, I think I read once where your perception of God and your views on aliens were very similar. So, I guess I think of God as someone who is really chill who already knows everything about me so why worry.

Recently, there was something of a kerfuffle when some old dude suggested Israel and the US were talking to aliens. Now, there’s a lot going on there. Why Israel? If this was real, I suspect that person just KNEW about the aliens talking to Israel and the United States when, in fact, they were talking to a lot of powerful countries in the world.

But the big take away from this somewhat bonkers news story is how it can’t be real for a very specific reason: Trump could never keep such a secret. Never. What better way to have the most historic presidency in history than to be the guy aliens decided to have First Contact with?

He could never keep that to himself, damn the consquences.

So, it’s doubtful.

But the idea of First Contact is a really interesting one because you just never know how humanity would react to it. It’s endlessly facinating.

The State Of My Novel’s Development Is Strong


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear — I have no idea what I’m doing. But I am beginning to read more and I have done enough graze-reading about how to write a novel that I feel as though I’m slowly beginning to get some sense of how to do it.

Generally, things are going well.

A few issues still exist. One of them is length. I see a “real” novel being closer to 160,000 words, but as I keep reading, the sweetspot is 80,000 – to 100,000. I’ve changed the structure of the novel around some, so it’s possible I’ll get closer to 100,000 with a lot less pain than I originally expected.

I’d like to have a first draft in the 120,000 – 140,000 range because Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train are both in that range, as I understand it. But, obviously, I’m just a boy with a dream at this point.

I honestly just want to finish a novel and say I’ve accomplished that. The fact that there are at least three more books in the series (one sequel and two prequels) is cool, yes, but I need to hurry up and finish just one.

I’m still very interested in writing a screenplay and attempting to seriously write song lyrics. But I need to give this novel 110% of my creative ability for it to be a success, so those other interests are going to be put aside for the time being.

I currently have six solid chapters sketched out. It fits within my current timetable to use the rest of the week to make those chapters readable. As such, I at least hope to spend much of this week reading.

My Personal Experience With COVID19


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In the end, it felt like a really bad Korean cold.

When I first went to South Korea, my body wasn’t prepared for the make up of colds there and every once in a while, I would be felled by a really horrible cold. It happened a few times and really, really knocked me out for maybe 24 to 48 hours.

Then I would slowly bounce back.

Well, when I got the Rona, it felt just like that. In fact, it was eerie how much I felt my body was telling me, “Don’t worry, we got this — we saw this shit before in South Korea.”

But, then, I do have an extremely over-active imagination.

Anyway, I got the Rona. I’m going to quarantine for about two weeks and then maybe get tested again. My elderly father is, well, elderly. For the moment, at least, I feel 100% again.

But, obviously, I’m still infectious so I can’t go anywhere or do anything other than read and write.

It’s a very surreal feeling.

A Very American Coup: Schrodinger’s Ding Bat


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


We’re now in a very dangerous moment in our nation’s history because half the country is looking forward to the incoming Biden Administration, while about 50% of the population is thinking up new and creative ways to stage a coup.

Or, if all else fails, do some sort of surprise-attack that gives Trump the cover needed to invoke the Insurrection Act and pretty much become a dictator.

That doesn’t even begin to address the issue of a possible unexpected war with the DPRK — or more likely — Iran.

Be prepared for a “political 9/11” to happen very, very soon, if it’s going to happen in regards to Trump.

Any moment now.

If that such a coup happens, that’s it. American falls and we have a civil war, revolution or a full blown autocracy.

I have no what the outcome will be.

Red Alert: Autocrats Never Lose — SCOTUS & The Coup May Happen Just Yet


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

On a political level, we’ve moved on to the Biden Era. So, if Trump somehow gets his hearing at SCOTUS and WINS, then we’re going to have a civil war / revolution.

It will be the end of the United States.

Now, as I understand it, Pennsylvania has 20 Electoral vote. But we have to assume that he’s going to win because SCOTUS is 6-3 MAGA. So, Trump could lose 1 person and still win. There are a number of “political 9/11” events I could see happening ASAP.

Everything from the entire election being thrown to Trump immediately, to it being thrown to Congress where Trump wins. To Trump just winning Pennsylvania’s 20 votes and then winning the remining votes by doxing Electors or whatever. Or there’s major violence and Trump invokes the Insurrection Act.

Or there’s a suddenly war with the DPRK or Iran.

Nothing is off the table because autocrats never lose.

We’re entering the political phase of this crisis where Trump, even though he’s a lazy moron — could potentially browbeat people into allowing him to steal the election.

Then the country buckles and potentially all of humanity ends. Good times!

Facebook Isn’t ‘Cognizant’ — But It Can Read Your Mind: How Big Tech Hides Their Use Of Digital Telepathy


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While it’s still possible that I’m really pulling this one out of my butt, here’s what I think is happening.

Because Big Tech like Facebook, Google and now Tik-Tok know you would be enraged to learn they were actively thumbing through your mind without your permission, they make it so it’s hard to pin down. They really are monitoring your every move via your computer, so when they use Digital Telepathy in a really conspicuous and egregious manner, you write it off as you must have mentioned something to someone without remembering it.

So you think your phone is listening to you. Or Tik-Tok is realy rummaging through your phone. Or something. Anything but the obvious — your mind is being read.

People keep coming to this site looking for information about “Facebook being cognizant.” While given macro trends, that is definitely a possibility, it’s more likely those people had their minds read by Facebook and it’s freaking them out because they can’t see what happened.

Could Post-Brexit England Join The American Union?


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Given what a shit-show American politics has been the last five years, and how much it’s grated on my nerves to hear non-Americans tell me what they think should happen to my country, I probably shouldn’t talk about this. But no one listens to me, so here we go.

Let me join your Union!

Is it possible that the problems of the Anglo-American world could be fixed if England joined the United States? Let’s look into this.

As it stands, the UK is slouching towards dissolution as Scotland wants to leave the UK to rejoin the EU. If successful, Ireland would likely re-unite and Wales would bounce. So, you would have England all alone, struggling to look for a way to come back without sheepishly, hat-in-hand, going back to the EU and reforming the UK under a different legal framework.

So, why not join the US instead?

Here’s the state of play — first, England would have to make a decision about the Monarchy. Either they tell the Queen to go to Canada, or they don’t. If they don’t, then the Americans would have to pass a Constitutional Amendment allowing a state NOT to have a “republican form of government.”

Given how divided the United States is right now, that seems like a tough sell.

So, let’s say the Queen leaves for Ottawa, clearing that hurdle. Well, the argument could be made this would be an easy sell across the political spectrum. England would be ripe for the Tories to become Republicans. The addition of Labour and the LibDems into the American Electoral College system would be…interesting.

What would likely happen is there would be something of a revolution in the UK as Tories-now-Republicans were expected to tow the bonkers agenda of the modern Republican Party. Or, put another way, it would likely take a decade for the English political system to sort itself out as some Tories became Republicans, while a lot of Tories and LibDems became Democrats and Labour just, well, became as irrelevant as it is now anyway.

It’s possible that once Americans overcame their 50+ stars on the flag phobia, that letting the huge England into the Union would give the Democrats the leverage to add DC and Puerto Rico as states. I would propose that the State of England’s addition would help everyone involved (after some pretty massive bumps in the beginning) and maybe even help the United States avoid a civil war.

The reason being — the influx of a bunch of white people into the Union might cause racist fuck Republicans to calm the fuck down for a generation, long enough for the browning of America to happen without American imploding and using WMD on ourselves.

But there would be pretty significant consequences to the lives of average English people. The NHS would probably be ruled unConstitutional almost immediately. Taxes would be slashed down to virtually nothing and government services would declined accordingly. There would likely be a massive, massive brain drain as American English decided to look for a better life in the lower 48.

And there might be a sense of cultural isolation in Europe. The American educational system would likely replace the traditional British version. And, to some extent, everything would suck. And, yet, the case could be made that a massive amount of unlocked potential would be tapped as the State of England became tighter with the other parts of the Union.

No one listens to me. That’s probably a good thing.

Now, To Write My ‘King Lear’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

They say Shakespeare wrote King Lear while under quarantine. I’m in quarantine right now only because I’m waiting for my test results. So, I have a few days on lockdown and, as such, a lot more extra time to knock out some copy.

I have a unique work ethic, so it could be I just stare out into space for most of this time then stay up all night right before I find out if had COVID or not. I’m starting to think I just had a really specific cold or or something. For me to be knocked out for a sold 24 hours and then it pass seems a little bit too lucky to be true.

Anyway.

A lot of different aspects of this story are falling into place at the same time. I still have a massive amount of reading to do. Most of that reading is so I can flesh out some of the more interesting parts of some of the characters.

But it’s work that has to be done sooner or later.

It is interesting that I’m throwing some of the more sci-fi elements of this story into the plot far sooner than I thought I would. I will note that the second book in this 2-book story is going to be very, very female James Bond only with far, far cooler and well thought-out gadgets.

The hope is, once I get past the “first part” of this novel, that the rest of the story will zoom by because I will have established what is “real.” I can’t believe I kept revising this goddamn story as much as I have.

But they say all novels aren’t finished but abandoned, so there’s that.

The Consequences Of Big Tech Secretly Using ‘Computer Facilitated Telepathy’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have no idea if I’m right on this one, but again and again the last year or so, I’ve got a very weird feeling that the only possible explanation for what’s being served to me online is Big Tech can read my fucking mind.

Maybe?

Maybe not context — like *why* I’m thinking about such things, but they definitely know I’m thinking this or that thing. It happens all the time. Like, almost every day now.

How is this happening?

One, we know the technology exists because Facebook got a patent for it. So, it makes sense that Facebook could license such tech to others. And Chinese companies like Tik-Tok could have a whole different thing going on and wouldn’t know about it.

But let’s assume that, in a sense, we’ve reached a “secret” Singularity. A “soft” Singularity, if you will, with computer-based telepathy being a prime example of this.

If you assume that Big Iron’s data processing power has finally reached the point where it can not only aggregate the thoughts of a nation but monitor the thoughts of an individual person, then, wow-we-wow-wow is that a Pandora’s Box of problems.

I was so busy thinking about how the 2020 election might be determined by a Hunter Biden deep fake, I didn’t think about how 2024’s election might be won — or lost — because House Trump bought mind info from Facebook.

The implications to politics, the arts, commerce and advertising are astonishing if what I suspect is true. Even more so if The Powers That Be come to rely upon this information and then, surprise! we all find out about it and we have, say, the Mind Rape Scandal of 2025 or some such.

I’m the first to admit I have an exceedingly well-developed imagination — I am writing a novel, after all — but I’m really beginning to believe for once a “conspiracy” might be real. I don’t even think it would even be a real conspiracy — they’re not hiding it. We know the technology exists.

Big Tech just isn’t really doing; all that much to let us know they’re using it on us.