I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Linkee-poo, when you say it's gonna happen "now", well, when exactly do you mean?

"You probably didn't vote for him, but Zoltan Istvan has been on a two-year quest to merge politics with the scientific and technological movement called Transhumanism. He's been running as a 2016 U.S. presidential candidate, representing the party of those who believe humans will ultimately merge with machine. And once we merge, our superhuman selves could live forever." Of which there is a discussion of how transhumanism is an attempt to cheat death. Sorry, I know fairytales, cheating death never, ever works out to the positive.

"(Budget reconciliation) was the template for a repeal bill Republicans passed last January, before its demise by President Obama’s veto pen. The exercise was described as a 'test run' for just the scenario -- a GOP House, Senate and White House -- they’ll find themselves in two months." On what may happen to Obamacare. The GOP is in a pickle at the moment. They've promised to "repeal and replace" and Trump has said it'll be on the first day (not that he really meant it). But that's what the base is looking for. "No matter how this all plays out, Republicans will be under enormous political pressure to move quickly against Obamacare, given that after three straight campaign cycles of promising to repeal it, voters have finally given them the opportunity to do so." Basically, it's going to be a shit show for everyone (remember those years of 2 or 4% increases because Obamacare was going to control costs and since more people would be covered, insurers could negotiate lower prices because healthcare providers wouldn't have to eat costs of the uninsured, yeah, those will be gone). The "pre-existing" conditions clauses are of intense interest to me at the moment (well, all of it is, you can't believe the difference in the atmosphere inside the hospital from when I started as a student till now). Although a lot of healthcare providers are going to be giddy about repealing the parts of the law that tie Medicare payments to "patient satisfaction and outcomes." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)

Patrick Nielsen Hayden on the aftermath of the election, "But I do believe that good storytelling is a positive force in the world. And I really do believe that science fiction and fantasy storytelling makes us, in some fundamental way, a bit more practiced in the ways of a world caught up in wrenching change—and more open to imagining better worlds that might be possible."

Some thoughts on were to go from here (from a resistance perspective). (Grokked from Elizabeth Shack)

Aaron Sorkin's open letter to his daughter on the election of Donald Trump. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed)

There are lots of anecdotal stories about bad behavior by people claiming that since Trump is now elected it gives them license to act in blatantly misogynistic and racists ways. But so far, except for some graffiti, I'm not seeing many news reports. I just wanted to let you know I'm seeing it, but can't refer to a "hard" news source.

Tweet of my heart: ‏@DLin71 “We’ll stop Trump from doing anything stupid” -The Congress that once overrode Obama’s veto, regretted it, then said it was Obama’s fault (Grokked form Xeni Jardin)

Double dip: @JeffersonObama Millions of white blue collar Trump voters now expect Trump to bring back industrial factory jobs replaced by robotics since 1980s. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)

No comments: