"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> > You just might. That would make you a bit younger than my dad, I'm guessing.
> > Hopefully you didn't get caught up in all the Vietnam BS (my dad didn't, but I
> > can't remember if he ever told me how he managed to avoid it).
>
> not sure what support (at that time, if any) the US of A got from France, but
> "us Europeans" had no hand in that.

It's good you weren't involved. Total shit show based on what I've gathered.

My country is horrible, and it seems like nobody actually learns. It's always
"different this time." But it's not. (I'm guessing online discussions and media
reports are being heavily atroturfed.) Personally, I wish our military would
just pull out from... basically everywhere :(

> > ...
> > Microsoft does suck, and they're getting worse all the time. I paid over $100
> > for Windows 10 Home Edition, and it doesn't even let me stop updates?
>
> I used to "hate" auto-updates, still do.  however, for "life online" it is
> better to have an up-to-date OS, imo (think online banking etc).  suggest: a
> "cheap" laptop where that company (Google, in my case) can "dictate" the s/ware,
> and on one of "your" machines set up a SMB share where you share stuff with the
> laptop.

Don't get me wrong, I think things like Windows Defender updates are good... I
just don't like my settings being changed and reset all the time (e.g. Windows
Ink seems to reset itself at every update, causing my drawing tablet to track
upside down.)

> > ... Such happy tunes.
>
> yes, and .. historical :-).  what is your current "happy tune" ? (like the
> notion)  link to my current, also a "nominee for earworm of the year" ? :-)
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYeTVqbmK9U>
>
> regards, jr.

A good song! It has an almost British punk vibe, but I'll admit I don't know the
actual genre.

Not sure I have a current favorite happy tune. Most of the stuff I've liked
recently is happy on the surface, but not quite so after reading the lyrics. For
instance, Morgan Delt's music for the most part has an upbeat psychedelic rock
vibe, yet is a bit heavy at times. An all-time happy tune for me, however, would
have to be It Comes Right Down to You by It's a Beautiful Day. A 60s psychedelic
band performing a piece that could have been made in the 20s:
https://youtu.be/ddNyahB5GAg

Another band that evokes pleasant feelings is Khruangbin. Their Pitchfork Live
video is mostly great, but I'd wager it's a band most would probably not like,
due to the lack of vocals or something.

Sam

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Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Op 14/08/2023 om 02:07 schreef Samuel B.:
> > Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> >> Interesting news about data cloud storage EU vs US:
> >>
> >> https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66310714
> >>
> >> --
> >> Thomas
> >
> > I was wondering how this might square with Five Eyes... But are there actually
> > any 5Es members now, after Brexit?
> >
> > I suppose the GDPR only helps against commercial data acquisition, at any rate.
> >
> > Sam
> >
> Probably the Five Eyes were not affected by Brexit as they are/operate
> supranationally anyway. And nowadays with Nine Eyes or Fourteen Eyes,
> and whatever else exists out there which we are not/hardly aware of...
>
> --
> Thomas

Right, the UK is probably still part of Five Eyes. But, since Brexit, the UK is
no longer in the EU, so... I guess the EU has no part in Five Eyes now?

But you're probably right, and it' like up to 55 eyes or something by now :P

Sam

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"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>
> > Hopefully you didn't get caught up in all the Vietnam BS (my dad didn't, but I
> > can't remember if he ever told me how he managed to avoid it).
>
> We had a General Dynamics plant in our town, and I remember protests, and big
> "peace symbol" graffiti on buildings, and going to some kind of hippy anti-war
> things with my aunt and uncle.
> My dad was an MP.  _Something_ happened over there - any time I'd bring up
> Vietnam, both of my parents faces ... changed, darkly, and they got real quiet.

I'm guessing they had a clear view of what my country was doing, and it left a
bad taste in their mouths.

Just looked up General Dynamics, and I can see why people were protesting; it's
another MIC appendage.

> > > > ... But the name "Porcelain telephone" stood out as something
> > > > interesting, so I had Bing make an image of it (notice the excess of numbers
on
> > > > the dial, haha).
>
> I used to have one of those sitting on the nightstand next to the Surrealistic
> Pillow on my bed.   :P

Sounds fluffy and soft, like a White Rabbit :)

> > I didn't know Quiet Riot was inspired by another band until recently. It took me
> > til last year before I heard about Slade. My favorites are Far Far Away and My
> > oh My. Such happy tunes.
>
> Slade had some hilarious videos on MTV back in the day.  I used to love them
> when I could sneak a peek on cable at my grandparents' house.

MTV was good a long time ago... It was almost nothing but music videos, once
upon a time.

> I actually got to see QR at a tiny little bar in College Park, MD when I was in
> graduate school.  I got completely polluted and somehow managed to walk home
> halfway across town.  Managed to climb into bed and fall instantly asleep fully
> clothed.  :D
>
> - BW

There's nothing like getting absolutely hammered! (Thank goodness.) My first
time I came home and threw up, and promptly passed out in my denim clothing :S
There's no hiding that, but thank goodness my dad understood -_-

Sam

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"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>
> Taxes Are Stealing EP (Corporate Avenger) (Full EP) (Suburban Noize Records)
> https://vimeo.com/492915351

Nice activist music! Right off the bat it's great, because only truth is true,
and lies just can't stand up to that. (On a related note, it's my opinion that
evil is ultimately stupid, as it destroys its own foundation.)

Sam

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Op 16/08/2023 om 00:23 schreef Samuel B.:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> Op 14/08/2023 om 02:07 schreef Samuel B.:
>>> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>>>> Interesting news about data cloud storage EU vs US:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66310714
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Thomas
>>>
>>> I was wondering how this might square with Five Eyes... But are there actually
>>> any 5Es members now, after Brexit?
>>>
>>> I suppose the GDPR only helps against commercial data acquisition, at any rate.
>>>
>>> Sam
>>>
>> Probably the Five Eyes were not affected by Brexit as they are/operate
>> supranationally anyway. And nowadays with Nine Eyes or Fourteen Eyes,
>> and whatever else exists out there which we are not/hardly aware of...
>>
>> --
>> Thomas
> 
> Right, the UK is probably still part of Five Eyes. But, since Brexit, the UK is
> no longer in the EU, so... I guess the EU has no part in Five Eyes now?
> 
> But you're probably right, and it' like up to 55 eyes or something by now :P
> 
> Sam
> 
According to Wikipedia, the core countries of the EU (the western ones) 
are part of SSEUR aka "SIGINT Seniors Europe", the Fourteen Eyes I 
mentioned above. It includes the original Five Eyes.

-- 
Thomas

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hi,

"Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> ...
> My country is horrible, ... our military ...

to me the whole idea of (competing) "nation states" is .. farcical, at best.  my
preference is the "one globe" visible from space.  </shrug>


> ...
> A good song! It has an almost British punk vibe, but I'll admit I don't know the
> actual genre.

heh, I cannot tell "genre"s either, but "fusion"s can work real well.  (eg
Thievery Corp. ;-))


> ...Not sure I have a current favorite happy tune. ...

will try and check out Morgan Delt, thanks, and yes, Khruangbin, liked "Summer
Madness" and also a "little desk" session, well, the first two tracks :-).


regards, jr.

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"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

(probably going to shoot myself in the foot, again, but hey..)


> to me the whole idea of (competing) "nation states" is .. farcical, at best.  my
> preference is the "one globe" visible from space.  </shrug>


given <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise>, given it has been well over 50
years since, I (have to) assume anyone seeing the image old enough and rational
enough must appreciate that this image shows where "their feet are planted".  my
argument simply is, if a person is "aware" of the facts and still insists on ..
balkanising the peoples, that makes them "unfit" in the Darwinian sense.  $0.02
(since the Euro symbol creates havoc :-))


regards, jr.

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"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> > ...
> > My country is horrible, ... our military ...
>
> to me the whole idea of (competing) "nation states" is .. farcical, at best.  my
> preference is the "one globe" visible from space.  </shrug>
>
> [...]
>
> given <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise>, given it has been well over 50
> years since, I (have to) assume anyone seeing the image old enough and rational
> enough must appreciate that this image shows where "their feet are planted".  my
> argument simply is, if a person is "aware" of the facts and still insists on ..
> balkanising the peoples, that makes them "unfit" in the Darwinian sense.  $0.02
> (since the Euro symbol creates havoc :-))
>

I agree that we need to be ever mindful that we all share a single globe -- one
island in the midst of what may as well be a lifeless space -- and that further
fragmentation is not helpful towards keeping ourselves alive and our foundation
intact.

But a degree of fragmentation seems unavoidable, perhaps even necessary. People
argue about stupid things, and we need a certain amount of space from each
other. Also, I think a fully-unified planet would be a ripe breeding ground for
the most totalitarian government the world has even seen...

> > ...
> > A good song! It has an almost British punk vibe, but I'll admit I don't know the
> > actual genre.
>
> heh, I cannot tell "genre"s either, but "fusion"s can work real well.  (eg
> Thievery Corp. ;-))
>

I will look them up!

> > ...Not sure I have a current favorite happy tune. ...
>
> will try and check out Morgan Delt, thanks,

It's psychedelic rock. He only put out two albums that I know of, but it's
excellent stuff if you're into that sort of thing.

Another interesting musician is one named Gorkem Sen. He invented an instrument
called a yaybahar. This is my favorite performance by him:
https://youtu.be/iQEgSDuijVs

> and yes, Khruangbin, liked "Summer
> Madness" and also a "little desk" session, well, the first two tracks :-).
>
> regards, jr.

Just listened to Summer Madness for the first time. It's nice!

Sam

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hi,

"Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> ...
> > balkanising the peoples, ...
> > (since the Euro symbol creates havoc :-))
>
> I agree that we need to be ever mindful that we all share a single globe -- one
> island in the midst of what may as well be a lifeless space -- and that further
> fragmentation is not helpful towards keeping ourselves alive and our foundation
> intact.

yes.  in addition, I think, "we need to be ever mindful" of the fact that each
and everyone of us is .. an accident of birth.  no one _chose_ which part of the
planet, or into which family, they got born (cf "The Doors" memorable lyric
"into this world we're thrown").


> But a degree of fragmentation seems unavoidable, perhaps even necessary.

necessary ?  interesting, how so ?



> People
> argue about stupid things, and we need a certain amount of space from each
> other.

personally, nothing wrong with a good argument.  provided one uses intellect and
facts, rather than belief and or Heckler&Koch, to win.  re space, there's plenty
of it :-)  also, I find it not difficult to "have space", privacy, in spite of
literally living "on the high street" in a good sized city.


> Also, I think a fully-unified planet would be a ripe breeding ground for
> the most totalitarian government the world has even seen...

as opposed to the "facist's wet-dream" we "enjoy" now ?  Coolio's "insight"
comes to mind.  :-)  perhaps, if every person was a citizen of the "one globe",
we could hold our (one) government to account when lives and human potential get
wasted in grotesque numbers for no particular reason, eg
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66540039>, "chalking up" another
"fail".


> I will look [Thievery Corporation] up!

they do look good live too I thought, though "my evidence" is a single (Boston
?) concert on YT.


> It's psychedelic rock. ...

do you like Goat ?  (they have that "Scandinavian je ne sais quoi" :-))


> Another interesting musician is one named Gorkem Sen.

thanks, another for the "to do" list :-).


regards, jr.

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"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Samuel B." <stb### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> > ...
> > > balkanising the peoples, ...
> > > (since the Euro symbol creates havoc :-))
> >
> > I agree that we need to be ever mindful that we all share a single globe -- one
> > island in the midst of what may as well be a lifeless space -- and that further
> > fragmentation is not helpful towards keeping ourselves alive and our foundation
> > intact.
>
> yes.  in addition, I think, "we need to be ever mindful" of the fact that each
> and everyone of us is .. an accident of birth.  no one _chose_ which part of the
> planet, or into which family, they got born (cf "The Doors" memorable lyric
> "into this world we're thrown").

Very true, and that fact should probably make everyone humble...

> > But a degree of fragmentation seems unavoidable, perhaps even necessary.
>
> necessary ?  interesting, how so ?

Actually, that was the wrong word for me to use, as 'fragmentation' implies
division and border clashes.

The word 'diversification' is closer to what I was getting at. Life seems driven
towards diversity, both in genes and ideas. Maybe it's not its actual purpose
(is there one?), but it's certainly a result. One could argue we humans are
doing our best when exploring all sorts of different ideas, while being careful
not to perpetuate harmful ones. (Maybe I think this way because I prefer reality
to be interesting, and not like that dark planet from A Wrinkle in Time.)

> > People
> > argue about stupid things, and we need a certain amount of space from each
> > other.
>
> personally, nothing wrong with a good argument.  provided one uses intellect and
> facts, rather than belief and or Heckler&Koch, to win.

No, you're wrong and I'm going to do some defense spending to prove my point! :P

But yeah, I like a good debate, provided all parties are arguing in good faith.
Arguments that devolve into insults and threats are pretty pointless and
generally mentally toxic for everyone.

> re space, there's plenty of it :-)

We should colonize it, truly. But we should be extra careful not to contaminate
possible ecosystems. (Ever read the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson?) There
is so much we could do to remove stress from the planet by going outward. So
much water, so many metals, and a number of power sources are available to us
out there. (I think India might be making a moon landing here pretty soon...)

> also, I find it not difficult to "have space", privacy, in spite of literally
> living "on the high street" in a good sized city.

That's good. Personally, I have at times found it hard to feel alone and
comfortable, even though I live in a rural area. (My personal bubble feels
really huge sometimes.) The feeling has only gotten worse over the years,
especially since Airbnb became a thing. People coming in droves, sometimes
playing loud music at night. It's not always bad but I often feel penned-in,
since I am not a very outgoing person.

> > Also, I think a fully-unified planet would be a ripe breeding ground for
> > the most totalitarian government the world has even seen...
>
> as opposed to the "facist's wet-dream" we "enjoy" now ?  Coolio's "insight"
> comes to mind.  :-)  perhaps, if every person was a citizen of the "one globe",
> we could hold our (one) government to account when lives and human potential get
> wasted in grotesque numbers for no particular reason, eg
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66540039>, "chalking up" another
> "fail".

I agree with you, and it's very messed up. These are actual people.

I was just pointing out a couple possible issues that need addressed, since a
one-world government could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing.

Yeah, it's obvious our current methods are not working. We're headed for a
literal dead end; our present course results in a sterile planet. Plastics
everywhere are causing fertility and reproductive issues, greenhouse gases are
wobbling the spinning plate we call the climate, industrialism is poisoning
everything, ships are driving cetaceans mad enough to beach themselves, etc. As
I said elsewhere, I try not to get too worked up over it anymore, but I can't
help but be disturbed about it all. I may not be able to vote anymore, but at
least I can speak :/

> > I will look [Thievery Corporation] up!
>
> they do look good live too I thought, though "my evidence" is a single (Boston
> ?) concert on YT.

I listened to one of their songs yesterday, and the vocalist seemed very
familiar. They had a 1996 album, so I'll give that a listen, since that's the
time period in which I heard her last.

> > It's psychedelic rock. ...
>
> do you like Goat ?  (they have that "Scandinavian je ne sais quoi" :-))

Haven't heard of them, but will search and bookmark ;)

Sam

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