Month: March 2023

…Having Said That, There IS Something Curious Going On In My Webstats

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really monitor my Webstats to an absurd level. And, so, anything — and I mean ANYTHING — out of the ordinary causes me a great deal of speculation and entertainment. And, I have to admit, that there has been a noticeable uptick in people looking for information about the alleged affair that ding-dong Trump had with the Playboy model that was thought to have been covered up by another man. (I don’t want to use anyone’s names because, lulz, it proved not to be true, so why hash that all out again.)

The only reason why it’s interesting that people would be searching for my ranting about the weird situation with the Playboy model and Trump is…what’s their motivation? Is it actually possible that they know something new and that, in turn, has caused them to search for whatever they can find about the incident?

The idea that something new might have been discovered about what Trump didn’t do with a Playboy model is totally bonkers and pretty much is just something for me to think about when I’m not working on the second draft of my novel.

I’m satisfied that Trump had nothing to do with the woman and that the official story is the real story. So, I struggle to understand why there’s a sudden uptick in what was alleged to have happened. The most logical explanation is not that anything NEW has been discovered, but, rather given that a different Playboy model’s name has resurfaced in the news because of Trump’s indictment, people are interested in this long-debunked conspiracy theory.

At least, that makes the most sense.

Trust Me People, There’s No There There

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The reason why I started working on a novel is because I was involved in something of a mystery involving Trump potentially getting a Playboy model he was involved with to have an abortion. That mystery was so compelling that I wanted to try to talk about it in fictional form.

But over the years, that desire fused with a number of other things to the point that, lulz, the actual story I’m working on at the moment has nothing to do with that original idea. The only reason why I talk about this is recently a growing number of people have been looking for my OCD writing about that particular mystery.

In hindsight, I’m very embarrassed that I got wrapped up in such a conspiracy theory. The point is — there’s no there there. Trump did not know the Playboy model in question and it was just a very, very strange coincidence that seemed to outwardly make it seem as though he did.

So, leave it be, folks. I know it’s exciting to think that Trump might have done something as dastardly as demand a lover have an abortion, but, he didn’t do it. For once, that ding-dong is in the clear. I have pretty much absolute, indirect proof relative to my own personal needs on the issue.

Though as we wait to find out what the 34 charges against Trump might be, it is mildly amusing to imagine a scenario where somehow Trump’s non-existence relationship with the woman was somehow involved.

AI & ‘Undead’ Hollywood

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve now heard two different respected podcasts broach some variation of a future that I’ve been ranting about for some time now — the idea that soon there won’t be any art but AI generated art. So, 30 years from now, there won’t be any “mass media” anymore in the sense that we’ll all be watching very, very specific entertainment generated not just for us specifically, but a specific mood.

So, rather than paying $15 a month for a streaming service, we’ll pay a similar amount for access to the bodyscans of our favorite Hollywood stars. Hollywood will soon enough be in an “eternal now” populated with undead stars who may not even exist at all, depending on how sentimental you might be for some star you saw before the AI generated art revolution took over.

I still think that there is a least possibility that in the future the goal of actors will be not to make it in Hollywood, but rather make it on the stage so they can then turn around, get a full body scan and make all their money passively off of the licensing of those scans. It’s at least possible there will be a huge Broadway revival for macro economic and technological reasons.

And, what’s more, all of this could happen very, very fast and very very soon. It could be — especially with a Hollywood writers’ strike looming — that we’ll wake up in 18 months and ChatGPT 8 is spitting out all of the content that we consume. The streaming wars will seem very, very quaint.

Of course, all of this may have to wait for the “Fourth Turning” to sort itself out and it could be that much of the world will be rebuilding itself after several limited nuclear wars because the United States was too busy imploding to keep the world order.

That got kind of dark pretty quick.

Anyway, if I had any money at the moment — which I don’t — I would short Hollywood and long AI.

There’s A Lot To Unpack There, MTG

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The thing about MTG is she’s a lot more dangerous than you might think. Unlike malignant ding-dong Trump, she’s young and focused and, given the opportunity, would be able to make her fascist dreams actually come true. This tweet on her part is pure projection.

MTG is downlow one of the most dangerous pols in modern American political life. All that has to happen is she become Trump’s second term veep, before you know it, we’re all talking about living under the “Velvet Fist” of an autocratic state.

We’d all spin it by saying she’s an American “Iron Lady,” when in fact she’s just a regular old fascist. She’s not just frothy, she’s a lot more radical on a practical basis than Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Ron DeSantis.

The whole thing is very frightening. The United States continues to careen towards a the so-called “Fourth Turning” of a choice between autocracy or civil war starting in late 2024, early 2025.

Really, Catturd?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Well, I think Catturd has decided to smoke some of his own frothy supply with this Tweet:

The thing about Catturd is he reminds me of people I know who are well meaning and earnest in their fascism. To the point that they don’t take the anger of people like me seriously.

This, in turn, enrages me.

Anyway, it is amazing to me that there are well meaning people who are so detached from reality that they believe somehow that the Democratic Party is literally Satanic. Meanwhile, there are a dwindling number of crimes that Trump hasn’t actually committed.

It’s a testament to the tectonic forces at play in American political life that a ding-dong like Trump would development such a cult-like following. Some seriously fucked up shit is going on on a political and historical basis.

Trump Looks Like Shit These Days — is That Malignant Ding-Dong On Ozempic?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t know anything about anything, I’m just spitballing this as always. But from the imagines of seen of Trump recently he looks like shit. Or, more specifically, he looks like he’s lost weight. Which, of course, makes me wonder if maybe he’s taking the Hollywood diet drug Ozempic.

The thinking would, of course, that Trump would want to be all svelte so he could come back tan, ready and rested like Nixon in ’68. But, as it stands, Trump just look callow and wasted.

At least in my opinion.

But given how vanity, vanity all is vanity — especially with Trump — it would make a lot — A LOT — of sense if he was Ozempic. In fact, if this was 1989, Page 6 would be atwitter with how people like Trump were using and abusing the wonder diet drug to get laid more often.

Who knows, though. Anything is possible with ding-dong Trump.

Is Twitter Dying? And What Happens If It Dies?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the mysteries of the tech world at the moment is what, exactly, Space Karen is up to with Twitter. While sometimes it feels like Space Karen might just pull the plug on the whole operation out of pique, more likely he would turn around and sell Twitter at a massive loss.

But, as I’ve said before, there is definitely a window of opportunity for someone to come up with a better mouse trap in the near-realtime discussion space. But it’s extremely narrow. You would have to strike almost immediately — things like AI and AR / VR are about to dramatically revolutionize everything.

I still think that if you cherrypicked the best UX elements of the old Usenet discussion service, you could really rock the world in a very quick manner. But, alas, it’s dawned on me that I should just shut up and work on my novel when it comes to shit like that.

It could be that even if Twitter “dies” it will all be moot because we’ll be wearing Apple VR / AR headsets that replace how we interact with media altogether. Or, hell, we might even be wearing mindcaps as far as I know.

There’s just no juice in social media. There’s definitely a need for a Twitter-like service without the baggage of Space Karen, but it could be that, like most things in life, we’ll just muddle through. But I do think that we’re in the process of lurching forward into a new, uncertain technological future that will change the everyday life of the average person in ways we can only barely begin to imagine.

Buckle up.

How Worried Should We Be That Trump Will Burn The Country Down Now That He’s Been Indicted?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It could be that it’s not so much that Trump may try to burn the country down to save his sorry ass so much that he just can’t. It could be that the dynamic surrounding Trump has changed to the point that just because he manage to almost overthrow the government, doesn’t mean he’ll ever be in a position to do it again.

I think this weekend, however, will be crucial one way or another. Trump is so unstable and unpredictable, that it could be he, out of the blue, returns to Twitter in the middle of the night and really leans into going transactional. He might say he’s not leaving Mar-a-Lago and the coppers have to come and get him out…then, wow, are we fucked.

But I’m beginning to think that things aren’t, for once, going to get that dark. I think it’ll be all be mundane if historic. The real danger comes from how, on a systemic basis, the Republican Party lives in abject fear of ding-dong Trump, even though he hasn’t been able to get people to protest for him in the real world since January 6th.

Republicans are so afraid of their base that they are going to use what hard power they have to play defense for Trump whenever they can. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out, is all I gotta say.

All Things Being Equal, Jon Stewart Should Be The Next President Of The United States

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — the best stealth political candidate in modern American politics is Jon Stewart. When he gets mad, he is articulate enough to actually get things done.

So, if the United States was a functioning democracy — and if ding-dong Trump had never been POTUS — we would all be waiting with baited breath for Stewart to run for president. He would likely be a historically good president for a variety of reasons.

But.

Given the bad taste that ding-dong Trump has put in a lot of people’s mouths when it comes to celebrities running for office…meh. And I would prefer if Stewart would run for governor or senator from New Jersey before POTUS. There is a possibility when the “Fourth Turning” strikes the US in late 2024, early 2025 that it could be someone like Stewart suddenly has the Finger of God point at him, telling him to step into the political arena to make a difference.

But, to date, Stewart has shown no interest in running for anything, so, lulz.

Why The Lincoln Project Has Such A Rabid Fan Base

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I admire The Lincoln Project’s spunk, they’ve had their fair share of scandals. And there are any number of Blue “thought leaders” who fucking hate their guts. But I do believe that the organization may have its time to shine in late 2024, early 2025 when America is going to be in dire need of anti-MAGA leadership — no matter where it might come from.

Anyway, the reason why some people really get off on The Lincoln Project is there is a huge segment of the electorate which is center-Right by is queasy about MAGA. They’re Traditionalists who aren’t Good Germans. So, the idea of an organization that is organically conservative that hasn’t bought into MAGA’s fascist bullshit really makes them feel good.

I would, again, suggest we all withhold judgement on The Lincoln Project until late 2024, early 2025. That is when it will have it’s moment to shine.