Jonathan H. B. Lobl

To me, Dan is more like a small dog. The kind of little dog, that would break it's teeth if it tried to bite me. I'm not afraid of the little dog; for all it's fierce barking. Still, the barking is very annoying. Also, it's not housebroken. I'm tired of it peeing all over the board.

Dan can't distinguish between fear and irritation. It's useless.

That is a good summery. It leaves out a few details. The police will have our genetic profile available. Combined with our biometrics. Throw in facial recognition and the all seeing eye that is AI...... The future will be interesting.

I'm a gentleman. Decorum prevents me from responding.

" Nothing to fear now, your tax dollars are hard at work " That was you, being your usual irritating self. After all your lectures on cultural dominance -- how your religion should be running my society -- you are consistent. If you were wise -- or kind -- you would not seize this opportunity to be more irritating. I will not be provoked.

I have long maintained that Trump is not the problem. He's only a symptom. The problem is all the people who voted Trump into office. Further, the Republican party has turned into Trump's personal political cult. The Evangelical leadership, have declared that Trump is God's anointed. G.O.P. used to stand for Grand Old Party. Now; it's the Party of God.

No. It's the usual terrorist bull crap. Any excuse to threaten Atheists with Hell Fire, will serve. They make these stupid threats, because they can. In turn, the threats will continue to fail, because they are stupid. As usual, you are seizing every possible opportunity to be irritating. Christian Love at it's finest.

Consider Heaven. All of eternity with God. The supreme egotist. Jealous, petty, vain, spiteful, vengeful, mean, cruel, vicious, insecure -- in constant need of praise, adoration, worship and having his ego stroked. Worse, knowing every thought you have, before you're aware of it. It goes on and on and on forever. Praise, adoration and worship. You better mean it. The All Knowing will know if your faking. Next to Heaven, how bad can Hell be?

Not new at all. Only irritating. And stupid.

Christian Threats of Damnation https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/04/02/pastor-checks-his-phone-warns-atheists-stop-dragging-people-to-hell/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Imagine+No+Religion&utm_content=44

We can say that more simply. Stupidity is it's own reward.

It's part of a larger picture. The world has fallen in love with authoritarian figures. In the previous (2016) election cycle, I predicted that Trump would be the Republican candidate. Among the various Republican choices, I decided that Trump was the worst possible outcome. He won. In the general election, I decided that Trump was a worse outcome than Hillary. Again, Trump won. Here we are again. I look at the Democratic candidates still running. Again, Trump is the worst possible outcome. I conclude from this that Trump will win. Again. Trump is not the problem. He is a symptom. In a Democracy, the people get what they deserve.

I have become a pessimist. I think Trump will be reelected.

Sometimes, people go with grey, because they don't want to argue.

It was the President's great leadership. His profound wisdom. His glorious Charisma. His inspired vision. Of course, I got excited. Who wouldn't?

Not all cultural relativism is silly. It's all right to think that rice tastes better than bread. Or to think that rye bread is the best tasting bread. Cultural relativism does become silly, when it violates logic, or runs counter to facts. Political passions are a danger to society. When it becomes "good" vs. "evil" -- it is impossible to compromise. The same applies to the religious -- who think that every other religion is a delusion and a tool of the Devil. The same applies also, to the anti-religious -- who insist that religion is evil and should be eliminated. The same applies to the religious -- who insist that the non-religious are lacking in ethics or morals.

Smart phones have their own low tech tracking technology. Of course, it blends with facial recognition. The video is scary. The more so for being real.

Not everything that China does is high tech. Their experiment in social engineering, through people's social credit score, is a powerful manipulation method. People with a low score have restricted rights and abilities. High speed trains, for instance, are forbidden to them. Air travel, certain hotels, etc. People with a high score have benefits. None of this is high tech. This is the sort of thing, that the rest of the world should be afraid of. It's ready to export now. Of course, it blends with AI. Combine a police helicopter with AI observation cameras -- or ground cameras -- maybe being in the vicinity of a demonstration -- for any reason -- means a lower score. Attending a pro government rally, could be a really good idea. Best to look happy and enthusiastic.

I don't know what I would do with that. I'm not equipped.

Missionary can mean very different things. They could have a mental discipline or philosophy that is actually useful. Think of the Buddhist monks teaching meditation. They could also be here to help. As in -- "Children should not be playing with matches. I'm here to collect your nuclear weapons, before you hurt yourselves." Of course -- "I'm here for some great music. Do you play?"

There is. There is the scientific method, which seeks after objective facts. There is also the Socratic dialog, which examines ideas, by pushing them to their limits.

It could be made to work now, on targeted individuals. On everybody? Present day computer systems are not up to the job. Even with modern AI, the crush of that much data is too great. Of course, it doesn't make sense. Government policy and economics, have taken on the characteristics of a weather system. Nobody is in charge. The various forces have taken on a life of their own.

Dan was here to harvest souls for Christ. My guess is that he saw it wasn't happening.

Not yet. Not even a red flag. Maybe a pink flag. Sometimes, science fiction comes true. I'm thinking of George Orwell's "1984". It's something to think about. You sent out the link for the "killbots video on Youtube. The pandemic has pushed issues like employment, jobs and work onto the back burner. I think they are still hot. Something else to continue.