AI Scouring the Web

Though I have been writing this blog for 15 years, it is not a popular or widely read blog.  However, there have been the occasional bursts of activity.   In October 2018, I had over 5,000 views!  Prior to that, I only saw a few hundred in a month.  It flattened out to the regular few hundred until June 2019 when I broke 3,000.  Cool.  It then dipped to the usual few hundred for the next several years.  In December 2023, I had over 4,000.  In May 2024, there were more than 6,000.  Wow!  That was the high-water mark until July 2025 when I broke 42,000.  What?  How is that possible?  It was so out of the blue.  In the last few months, the real craziness occurred.

The last 4 months have seen 273,000 views, which constitutes more than 60% of all the views I've had since starting this blog.  What could possible account for such skyrocketing views?  Artificial Intelligence.  Yes, the AI bots must be grabbing everything that can be found.  I suspect all bloggers have seen a huge increase in views.  How long will this last?  In a few months, will I look back on this as the slow times?

For the rare human reader, thanks for stopping by.

DSA: Working-Class Democracy

In addition to changing both domestic and foreign policy, the DSA has idea on reforming how the government governs.  Let's go back to the DSA website.

Working-Class Democracy

Democracy for All: Extend full voting rights to all permanent U.S. residents and restore the right to vote for incarcerated people and people with criminal convictions. Establish statehood for Washington D.C. and recognize the right to self-determination for all U.S. territories and colonies. Expand and protect voting rights and end voter suppression.

Death row inmates get to vote.  Criminals are a reliable voting block for Democrats because Democrats are the soft-on-crime party.  Of course, the DSA would seek to benefit its voters.  Beyond criminals, what sort of expansion of voting rights are being considered?  Recognizing a right to self-determination is just an invitation for secession and disintegration of the country.  When combined with the instant amnesty proposed in the abolition of ICE, a lot of newly-minted permanent residents will join the voter rolls and they will mostly vote for the party offering the most freebies (psst, that would be the DSA).

A Real Democracy: For the working class to govern, we need a new political system. End political corruption and legalized bribery: get rid of lobbyists, dark money, and Citizens United, and publicly finance all elections. Abolish the Electoral College. Replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.

Repeal the Constitution.  This requires a constitutional convention or several new amendments to the Constitution.  By eliminating the president, the Congress would become more like the British Parliament where the Prime Minister is just one of the members of parliament who happens to exercise the executive.  If we have eliminated the presidency, the Electoral College is irrelevant.  However, if the Electoral College was eliminated before the presidency was folded into the Congress, it would greatly diminish the representation of smaller states.  This is a call for the destruction of the US Republic.

A Democratic Congress: Replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy. Expand the House of Representatives, implement proportional representation and ranked choice voting in all elections, and abolish the Senate.

By abolishing the Senate, the DSA would abolish the states.  Wyoming would have one representative in the new unicameral legislature and would be pillaged by neighboring states with more say.  Proportional representation means that parties have slates of candidates who are elected based on the proportion of the vote that the party gets.  You aren't voting for your congressman but merely a party who will get so many seats in government.  Furthermore, a multiparty system can lead to empowering minority parties, such as the DSA.  A coalition party is likely to be both less stable and more extreme, allowing for wide swings in governing.  Again, this is a repeal of the Constitution and a destruction of the Republic.

Economic Democracy: Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people. Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.

Communism.  Yeah, we finally got there.  There is public ownership of the means of production.  There is from each according to his means (i.e., the rich) to each according to his needs (i.e., the public).  The DSA has adopted communist policies, but made them sound like democracy and fairness.  How long will the rich remain rich under such a system?  This will lead to an equality of poverty though the governing elites will be a bit more equal than everyone else.  Sounds familiar.

Democracy at Work: Empower workers to come together and fight the boss. Protect, expand, and enforce the rights of all workers to form, join, and strike with their unions, regardless of industry. Support union members who organize reform caucuses, democratize their unions, and take political action.

For those industries that have not been nationalized, the workers are to view the boss as an adversary.  Rather than being unified in providing a good or service to the public, the boss-employee dynamic should be one of constant contention where the workers chip away at the boss and inevitably make the business less productive and profitable.  This is sure to encourage more entrepreneurship and expand the economy, right?  No, quite the opposite.  There is a reason that Detroit has fallen so far as car manufacturing fled to less hostile locations.

It should be noted that the DSA does not need to achieve all of its policies to crash the US.  Just defunding the military could end the US.  Opening the borders like the Biden Administration for a more extended period with the amnesty policy could destroy the US.  The only reason Europe has been able to enact so many of these policies is because the US has footed the bill for defense.  The US has no one to cover that bill.

Vote against the communists in November!

DSA: Foreign Policy

Where Thriving Communities concerned itself with domestic policy, the DSA also has plans on how to handle international relations.  Let's return to the DSA website.

Working-Class Foreign Policy

End the U.S. War Machine: Defund the Department of War. End all foreign wars and close overseas military bases. Support and fully employ veterans. End immunity for U.S. war criminals and support the International Criminal Court's mandate to prosecute war crimes.

This is a prescription for national suicide.  How does the US defend itself without a military?  Who will fill the vacuum left by a US withdrawal from all overseas bases and a dismantling of the US Navy?  Who will determine which Americans are war criminals that need to be prosecuted in the ICC?  A call for unilateral disarmament is an invitation for hostile nations to invade.

Free Palestine: Recognize the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return, the right to resist military occupation, and the right to self determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza.

Why doesn't anyone call for Free Tibet?  Or how about Free Kurdistan?  Free East Oregon?  No, it is always about the Palestinians.  Where Tibet is under the thumb of China, Kurdistan is dominated by Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, and East Oregon is oppressed by Salem, it is the Jews who are blamed for Palestine.  Yes, those rascally Israelis are uniquely evil and require a statement in DSA foreign policy.  Nevermind that the Palestinians always start the wars which result in the Israelis implementing defensive measures that further restrict the Palestinians.  Basically, until Israel is eliminated, Palestine is not free.  Understand that and you understand the whole Israel-Palestine conflict.  DSA wants the destruction of Israel.

End Blockades, Embargoes, and Sanctions: People around the world deserve to live their lives without U.S. interference. End economic warfare against countries whose governments act independently of the United States, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.

Stop making life difficult for those who hate us and wish our destruction.  Yes, what an obvious plan.  Let's make nice with communist Cuba (clearly, DSA is sympathetic to communists), ease up on narco-state Venezuela, and let the Mullahs of Iran resume their title of leading state sponsor of terrorism.  We've gotten rid of the military, so let's also get rid of our economic tools for fighting hostile powers.  Can't wait for those Iranian missiles to get installed in Cuba.  This time, there will be no missile crisis because we have ended blockading and defunded the navy that would implement the blockade.  I'm sure it will be fine.

Abolish ICE: End ICE detention and deportations and punish federal agents' brutality. Legalize migration, grant amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status, provide a path to citizenship for all permanent residents, and end visa caps and quotas.

Throw open the borders!  Let everyone in and grant them amnesty.  A country without borders soon ceases to be a country.  Combined with the policies outlined in Thriving Communities, the US - which is already under heavy financial strain - will be bankrupt in months.  If it survives that long.  With the borders open and the military defunded, what is to stop a flood of hostiles from sweeping into the country?

Are there people who are stupid enough to believe this?  Apparently there are.  This proposed DSA Utopia would quickly devolve into a hellscape.  It must be remembered that Lenin spoke of useful idiots, people who believed the Utopian pap he spouted and supported his overthrow of Russia.  After their usefulness was at an end, firing squads can eliminate them.  The DSA playbook is an old one.

DSA: Thriving Communities

In much the same way that the Republican Party has suffered a hostile takeover by the MAGA crowd, the Democratic Party has been invaded by the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA).  President Trump and others have accused the DSA of being communists.  Is that the case?  Let's check out the party's proposed policies on the DSA website.

Thriving Work Class Communities

Freedom to Flourish: Expand public resources to support recreation, learning, and social spaces accessible to all. Establish paid family leave for all workers, a 32 hour work week with full pay and benefits, and a living minimum wage. Provide free, quality public education from pre-K to college and cancel all student debt.

Here the DSA proposes increasing social service costs, diminishing work hours while increasing pay and benefits, and eliminating all educations costs.  Where will they get the money to pay for this?  Clearly, the pay and benefits will be assessed to the employer, who will have to make do with 20% less productivity (i.e., 32 hours instead of 40).  Education and social services are funded by the state via taxation; the necessary tax increase is not mentioned here.

Healthcare for All: Guarantee universal healthcare at no cost to individuals, including complete access to reproductive and gender-affirming care. Expand healthcare access and quality by investing in new public hospitals and clinics. Make all medical education and training public and free.

Quality healthcare access to everyone, with a special note that both abortion and transgender care are included.  Moreover, medical education will also be free.  Last I checked, healthcare costs accounted for a sixth of the US economy.  If it is free, the government will assume control of that part of the economy.  There are models for how this works (e.g., Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.), which does not bode well for a government takeover here.  Like the expanded services in Freedom to Flourish, this will expand government costs and thus require increased taxation.

Housing for All: Housing is a human right. Build new, publicly-owned social housing, strictly regulate investment properties, establish universal rent control, and guarantee right to counsel for all tenants.

Everyone gets free housing?  Not exactly.  There is talk of rent control and regulating investment properties, so some housing will still cost money.  However, there will be an increase in publicly-owned housing.  In any case, landlords are going to find it even less profitable to provide housing under these new rules.  That is likely to drive many property owners out of the housing business and thus reduce the supply.  Moreover, with housing as a right, the government will have to step in to cover costs or provide shelter.  The UK is currently trying this and is paying a fortune to house immigrants in hotels.

Finish Reconstruction: End the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Reinforce anti-discrimination laws. Honor all treaties and tribal sovereignty. Enact reparations and massively invest in good jobs, quality housing and infrastructure in neglected minority communities.

Though it has been 60 years since the civil rights movement and more than 160 years since slavery was abolished, there is still more to do?  Yes, the government needs to invest in good jobs (what are good jobs?) and enact reparations (what does that mean?).  What is meant by tribal sovereignty?  Do the various reservations become independent countries within the US?  These actions will serve to further divide the country, which is the point.

End Mass Incarceration and Police Immunity: Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor. Treat drug addiction and mental illness as health issues, not crimes. End qualified immunity and empower civilian oversight bodies with real authority over the police.

How much incarceration are we allowed to have?  What do you mean by 'fully abolishing the police and prison system?'  The catch & release system is already being tested in many jurisdictions and has proved to be detrimental to the public.  Repeat violent offenders have been released and offended again.  These policies will lead to increased violence, which we've seen again and again through the decades.  The infamous Willie Horton ad touched on this back in the 1988 presidential campaign.  Irina Zarutska would be alive today if only a violent offender had been kept in prison.  This is a recipe for chaos, which is likewise not accidental.

Feminism for All: Socialist feminism fights for queer liberation and the freedoms of all working class women. Stop gender violence and end policies that oppress bodily autonomy and intimate life, including patriarchal restrictions on abortion, childbirth and childraising, gender expression and transition, marriage, and divorce. Ban sex discrimination and ensure fair compensation and support for all forms of labor, including care work.

Just in case the message wasn't received under Healthcare for All, let's reiterate that DSA is pro-abortion.  What is meant by 'including care work?'  Is the government going to cut a check for stay at home moms?  Why is marriage and divorce listed under Feminism for All?  Don't men participate in these as well?  Do the courts not favor women enough in these areas?  Let's further divide the sexes.

Green New Deal: Workers must lead our democratic transition to a green future. Pass a federal jobs guarantee. Implement massive investment in sustainable, publicly owned energy and transit infrastructure. Phase out the use of fossil fuels. Reclaim and repair our earth's resources for all.

Bankrupt the country.  As if all the other policies that will dramatically increase the federal budget were not enough, here is a plan to crush the economy.  Unless the DSA plans to transition to nuclear power, phasing out fossil fuels will result in manufacturing fleeing the country, probably to China.  What is a federal jobs guarantee?  I would suppose that the government would employ the unemployed, which is going to be costly.

The policy prescriptions that propose to create thriving working class communities will not work.  Anyone with a basic understanding of economics or human nature will see that the incentives are counter-productive and harmful.  This is a way to destroy the country, not make it thrive.  However, once it is destroyed, there will be an opportunity for new management, which is the actual end goal.

Deporting Milo

Milo Yiannopoulos, the British subject who once dominated right-wing punditry, has been arrested by ICE and is now in detention until he can be deported.  The man who adoringly called Donald Trump "Daddy" overstayed his visa.  It is amazing that Milo allowed his visa to lapse.  It is even more amazing that he didn't immediately self-deport.  However, this is a good object lesson.  Trump supporter deported by the policies of Trump.  Does he still support Trump?  I haven't heard from Milo in years and things may have changed.  Nope.  I should have looked that up before I started.  Turns out that Milo worked on Kanye West's presidential campaign as he felt Trump betrayed his loyal supporters.

In any case, deport him.  Let's have no exceptions.  Keep deporting until everyone still in the country is a citizen or has a valid visa.  That's how the system is supposed to work.

The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire (2002)

In a church in Whitechapel, a monk knelt before the statue of a saint and prayed.  Suddenly, a dark figure appeared and attacked him.  When others arrived, the monk was dead with two holes in his neck, like a vampire's bite!  In the wake of this death, Brother Marstoke (Shawn Lawrence) called upon Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) at 221 Baker St.  Between the concerned clerisy and the panicked parishioners, something needed to be done.  Holmes accepted the case.  He and Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh) soon arrived at the church to investigate.  Immediately, there are suspects.  Brother Caulder held Marstoke responsible, largely because of his collection of pagan artefacts from their time in Guyana.  Indeed, many of the brothers and sisters had spent time in Guyana where a deadly disease had been spread by vampire bats.  Holmes learned that two servants - natives of Guyana - had been brought to London: Signora de la Rosa and her son, Hector.  Most interesting of all was Dr. Chagas (Neville Edwards), an expert on bats who had quarreled with Marstoke about exterminating bats in Guyana to stem the disease.  After Holmes began his investigation, yet another brother was slain by the vampire.

This was the fourth and final Hallmark Channel production of Sherlock Holmes with Matt Frewer.  It does not give high hopes for its predecessors.  Frewer is a flat Holmes, almost Vulcan-like in his delivery.  He is entirely pleasant and gets along well with others.  Inspector Jones - an intentionally contentious stand-in for Inspector Lestrade - treats Holmes as the enemy from the moment they meet.  Then, at the height of his fury and the climax of the mystery, he suddenly changed his tune.  What?  Why?  Well, Holmes was still his entirely reasonable self.  There's no fire in Holmes.  The mystery is little more than a distraction to him, hardly more interesting than a crossword puzzle.  On the other hand, Watson is good.  Welsh has followed the model of Edward Hardwicke, a competent aide to Holmes rather than a clueless bumpkin to show how brilliant Holmes is.  The rest of the cast is unremarkable.

The script does no favors.  The Brother who is killed in the alley was alarmingly stupid.  Gee, I can't see a thing in this alley, someone is killing monks, and a spooky voice is calling for help.  I'll just abandon the blind nun who I am guiding to check on this mysterious voice in the alley.  Face palm!  It was hard to feel sorry for him when he was killed.  Many of Holmes deductions are made off-screen, so the viewer doesn't have an opportunity to follow the logic.  It's just revealed at the end.  As for the defeat of the villain, good grief.

Mediocre and disappointing.  Skip.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Somewhere in space, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) awoke.  He was disoriented and a robot prompted him with questions.  Soon, he was coherent, but he didn't know who he was or where he was.  After exploring the ship, he found that his two crewmates had died.  As he familiarized himself with the ship, Hail Mary, some flashes of memory returned to him.  The sun was dying on account of an alien lifeform.  In fact, every star in the neighborhood was dying with the exception of Tau Ceti.  He was at Tau Ceti to find out why and perhaps save the earth from an inevitable and unending ice age.

Some days after he awoke, the ship's flight plan concluded and now it was up to him to determine what to do.  However, an alien vessel approached!  A meet-cute between Grace and Rocky (James Ortiz) takes place.  Rocky is a five-limbed rock-like creature and has come to Tau Ceti for the same reason as Grace.  Together, the duo investigate what makes Tau Ceti immune to the sun-eating micro-organisms.

The story takes place both in the present - Tau Ceti - and in the past - Grace's recurring flashes of memory as his amnesia fades.  His earth memories show him as a middle school science teacher who was recruited by an international agency headed by Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller).  She is not friendly and quite ruthless.  Understandable considering the situation, but not a likeable character.  These past memories show that he was not intended to be on the mission and also introduce his two deceased crewmates.

The movie does a very good job of following the book.  It simplifies here and there, but hits all the important points.  The very different environment of Rocky is softened, which allowed him to wander around the Hail Mary in a hamster ball rather than building a tunnel system.  Solid xenon is much funnier in the movie than it was in the book.  Where I liked the book Grace less as I got to know him, the movie Grace was more likeable by the end.

Excellent film and great popcorn fun.  Recommended.