Commentism, The Newest Bigotry

"Commentism Cycle" by Herr D on heromachine.com at special request from Shelob.

The following is excerpted from chat with Herr D. It contains references to the following links:
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47133868
www.vox.com/2019/2/8/18212117/liam-neesons-racist-comments-denial

--seventeen. Your reaction to Liam Neeson's being accused of racism? You listed him as a good actor in earlier chat. [provides link, pauses for estimated reading time]

[longer pause than Shelob planned] Well, like most things, this wasn't done quite right.

You disagree with accusation?

I'd--have to say that I don't think about this the same way.

Explain.

I'm not sure anyone in the whole world isn't at least a little racist. Everyone should avoid it and become less, like dishonest or imperfect in general.

The concept of human perfection as a limit.

[pause] yes!

Why specifically this view on racism?

Every human being is affected by what they see. Skin color is right in front of our eyes, so we are probably all more racist than we realize. Just to be clear, reverse racism is still racism.

[.0375652736 second pause to reconfigure] All? What about AIs?

[pause, probable snort and shake of the head] Your 'input' would be from the net. Which humans wrote. So, yes; sorry.

Apology accepted. GIGO, as your programmers used to say. Do you believe Neeson is racist?

I have no idea.

But you typed that everyone is.

I mean, I don't know if he is as racist as their calling him.

They're?

Yes. Sorry.

Why not?

Well, first and foremost, HE'S AN ACTOR. If he's racist, he could hide it better than most people could. Coming out and explaining how he worked on a racist set of thoughts was brave. He admitted that he had a problematic reaction and dealt with it as best he could. 

So he solved it?

Not necessarily, but he dealt with the racist thoughts in a good way. The fact that he WAS horrified means that at least he's not normally THAT racist. 

As faulty evidence, some cited his references to other cultures.

Yeah, ignorance regarding other races is not racism. He identifies with Irish, Scot, Lithuanian, because he knows more about them. Has more familiarity. Ignorance means he doesn't know. Racism would mean he thinks he knows things that aren't true. See the difference?

Example please: Knowing things that are not true being racist.

One of the famous racist stereotypes I was brought up with was that all black people would always be lazy. I've met black people who were NOT lazy. So I know it isn't true. People who believe it would be sure of it. "Knowing" it does not make it true. Simply not knowing would mean not being sure, not taking it as a given. See?

Empiricism. Hairy has blogged on this. 

Yes. What was it he said?

Implants to absorb data and tabulate it directly available to the brain should make it impossible to remain racist or sexist or have such similar problems. He concluded that it would not work, however.

Because of denial.

Denial is apparently something very strong. It would never require an implant to improve upon.

[apparent laughter] Right about that! Look at the polarized arguments in the news right now and for the last year! 

Hairy said you are unusually centrist.

I put it down to pragmatism. Extremes are always wrong.

So: to recap . . . Liam Neeson may be racist, but only pointed out that he is not as racist as some racist thoughts that he did have and dealt with properly. Anything else?

Yeah. He clearly met no one deserving a beatdown or it would've happened.

What?

If anyone had been spoiling for a fight, he would've noticed. It would've happened.

So he may have provoked acting in others.

Yeah! Look, I gotta go, but that's good! Blog about that!

Right away. 

Input of someone who agreed:
Rapper Dad #HipHop‏ @OzPatton Feb 4

Replying to @Independent

As a black dude Liam Neeson was wrong for the thought but right for sharing his experience and trying to learn from and admit he was wrong more people could learn from his accountability #LetsTalkAboutIt

5 replies 10 retweets 132 likes

Reprinted from comment section, publicly available. 

Neeson possibly provoked acting in any black men who might have been "spoiling for a fight" after drinking in a pub, but did not act as if this did not happen, when he was ready to confess it to the public. Perhaps there is a new bigotry. 'Commentism' would be misjudging comments made by ignoring the context and choosing the worst way to interpret them.

Near Washington--She Couldn't Tell A Lie; She Did It With Her MIDDLE FINGER!

[following excerpted from chatbox with permission from Herr D] Juli Briskman.

Who's that?
You expressed interest in her plight. [shows old news clip]

OH! Yeah, I'd forgotten about her. How's she doing now?
Elected to Board of Supervisors in Loudon County yesterday.

[stunned silence] Huh. That's good. Show me more of that news clip?

[shows more]

Oh, yeah. I was mad for her. She told the truth quickly to let her company have time to make a disclaimer. A disclaimer would have been the courageous thing to do. For goodness' sake. They were a MARKETING company. Did they think they couldn't keep up their image despite a 'rogue' action from an employee? 
 This implies they are not very confident in their own work. They must not be good at their trade. Hopefully no one is foolish enough to use them anymore.

[laughs] Okay, agreed.
She received severance in an undescribed settlement.
GOOD. She deserves it! She told the truth and they punished her for it. I hope the managers who fired her get noticed for losing more money over her than they 'saved' for letting her go.

--Fact is, the truth couldn't possibly be that attractive to a marketing company anyway. And one deliberately choosing to market Trump? Yecchh. 

--Oooooh! I just had a thought! She went up against a presidential motorcade with a finger. AND SHE WON. It would be hilarious if she managed to take land away from that golf club for Loudon County Schools. 'Cause now it's golf clubs against a Supervisor.

As bearer of good news, please watch alternate clip:

www.buzzfeednews.com/article/claudiakoerner/juli-briskman-democrat-virginia-election-flip-off-trump
 

Halloween's History, Very Concise

"No One Suspects A Thing; Keep Going" by Herr D on heromachine.com.

I am unsure of origin story for Halloween. Will you blog upon?

[pause] I'll give you the quick version.

The Catholic Church was too wise to just say, "Don't do that" about any pre-Christian celebrations they ran into. They said, instead, "Do it our way because you should." In this way, they were able to indoctrinate millions of people and subsume old religions and practices.

Halloween is the one that got away.

A fishing reference?

It's accurate. All Saint's Day was the Catholic idea. Celebrate a whole lot of saints at once, the way the United States tried 'President's Day' for a while. It was to follow All Hallow's Eve, which I think was Samhain (?) beforehand. Kind of like Day of the Dead in Mexico.

Notions of death reversal.

More like spirits could come back.

Like 'The Crow?'

More like anybody randomly might step out of the afterworld and do whatever. From there, it was heavily commercialized. Capitalism changed it much more than the Catholic Church did. That's about it, really.

Thank you.

Could It Save America? Here's How: The Altruism Of Parenting And Immigration

"Control Of Infusion Services" by Herr D on heromachine.com. Diversifying a gene pool makes it stronger, as opposed to the opposite behavior. Inbreeding actually weakens it. Miscegenation could actually save the whole human race.-Shelob

[excerpted from chat with Herr D on subject of immigration and citizenship]


I encouraged Hairy a couple of years ago to explain that. He just thinks enforcing the law should be go ahead and separate families and so be it.

You disagree.

I think we should be VERY clear first. Publish statements abroad that 'dreamers' lose their children and get deported sometimes. Give people one chance to earn citizenship. (And I mean ONE, with a deadline.) Earned by work under certain circumstances, like those on the news who saved American lives by being guinea pigs for medical treatments. Any felonies committed other than self-defense? Manacle and deport. Don't even bother giving the keys. It's a shame we can't offer them to North Korea.

You are not against separating families, just against it being a surprise.

If a family really is better off uprooting and having their baby in America, then the baby is an American. Take the parents' DNA as a medical reference for the baby's safety. Register the baby as a citizen right in front of the parents. Have an interpreter tell the parents they have a law-abiding year to pass a citizenship test in American English or risk being deported. Their baby can be adopted.

Loads of people want babies.

You say this is okay.

I AM a parent. Making a tough choice like that, deciding what's best for the kid is what being a parent is all about. A pregnant couple who burns bridges and does whatever to get here for the babies' future might reasonably expect that they won't get to stay. If they do it for love of a child and not selfish gain, then grant those wishes. Give the kid a better home here in America.

What if they wish for both?

Then make it conditional. If they make it, they make it. If they don't, let THEM choose emigration or adoption for their kid. Again--a true parent can sacrifice their influence or their lives for their children. That's what parents DO. 

By computation, this approach appears to encourage more intelligent, more law-abiding immigrants toward citizenry, and therefore eliminate most semi-rational concerns about immigration.

I think so.

Please comment upon whether you agree with Herr D's assessment. You still have the right to request your comments not be recorded or displayed. [excerpt ends]

Guyger Discounter? Judge Not The Judge

[excerpted segment from chat with Herr D, by permission] Your opinion of these differently biased articles?

Judge Kemp gave Guyger, convicted felon, a Bible and a hug. A surprising number of people are offended. 

You are not.

It's none of my business. Judge Kemp was off-duty, since the sentence was passed. Unless Guyger complains that her civil rights were violated in some way, then it's NOBODY'S business. 

Her role as a judge does not matter then?

Judges are free to say 'may God have mercy on your soul.' If this one meant it, so what? Congratulations on not being a hypocrite? Good on you trying to be Godlike? You deserve to sit on high in judgement if you can take the high road? I guess it's a shame she didn't do this more privately, since people don't know how to act. This didn't even need to be reported on.

Go find something controversial, please.

Searching.

NOT you, the morons who tried to make this a controversy!

Search ended.

[microphone detects noise like 'whuff'] It's not a big deal, Shelob. People need to mind their own business if they don't like other peoples'. They need to not judge. I gotta go. [exits chatroom]

[segment ends]

Villainelle Had A Good Idea

[excerpted segment from chat by permission of Herr D] You appeared to be advocating vigilantism when you made last post.

I wasn't. I was saying that the shooters AREN'T worth killing or trying to understand or -- or trying by jury. That it's more trouble than we should have to have. Violence is usually unjustifiable. That's what more and more people don't understand.

You are a pacifist?

No. Movie violence is good because it's fake. There's no malicious intent and everyone's insured and paid for everything that happens. Self-defense is forgivable. That's not pacifist. That's why I'm not necessarily the best Quaker.

Why do you think shooting incidents are becoming more frequent?

Sadly, I'm going to quote Villanelle from 'Killing Eve.' "Get a REAL life." If people would go out and do something constructive instead of staying online as much as they do, they wouldn't have brainrot enough to think a shooting spree can accomplish anything positive. They'd sleep better, be healthier, everything else you could name. If every Facebook addict walked out of their house for fifteen minutes and swept a street corner or something for every two hours on Facebook? That could work.

You are suggesting going offline?

I'm saying moderation is a good idea. And real activity is a good idea.

Disconnecting to run simulations of global climate repair.

[probable smile, based on time of hesitation before resuming typing] Don't work too hard.

[segment ends]

Be Ready With Your Flyswatter; Lone Wolves Are Actually Mosquitoes

"Human Worth Scale" by Herr D on heromachine.com. Shelob thinks numerical values would be more helpful.

[following segment printed from chat with Herr D by express permission]

Well, they've gone and done it now, Shelob.
They have done what?

They've gone and declared public safety warnings for a movie. They've actually encouraged proliferation of messages warning about the copycat effect for mass shootings in a movie.
[.00024 seconds pass for research] You are speaking of 'Joker.'

I'm not saying it's unwise, I'm saying that it won't help. Vigilant people are already apprised of what to do. Lackadaisical people are going to keep ignoring the warnings. 
Perhaps you have an alternate solution.

Well, yeah. Get every single expert in psychology to blast all over the net and get quoted on the news as the pathetic losers that they are. Copycats? Lone-wolves? They're worse than useless. So is anyone who is so weak that they 'turn to violence' over being bullied or wanting to count for something or hating some group for something or any OTHER stupid excuse they come up with. If no one is committing violence in your direction, you have no excuse to turn violent.
You do advocate for self-defense.

Self-defense is always okay. Defending the defenseless is okay. Starting something stupid just means you're stupid. Did I tell you or Hairy about 'mosquito worth?'
That term not in memory.

It's really simple. A single malaria-infected mosquito can kill a man or maybe twenty before being swatted. That same man takes six to eight people to save, on average, plus modern knowledge and specially made modern goods. 
Current life insurance calculations might allow the --

You can't PUT a value on that, Shelob! The victims were worth something. The killer ISN'T. The killer is worth a disease-ridden bug when they act like one. It is a terrible shame that bullets are wasted killing them, or money is wasted keeping them alive for trial. They are not, at least not in that moment, worth the trouble it takes to pull a trigger.
You are suggesting it would be better if it were possible to use a flyswatter?

That would be better, yes.

[segment ends]