Social Credits

China has instituted a “social credit” score for virtually all its adult citizens ... in essence a computer weighing based upon many social parameters as to how good a “citizen” its residents are. This score is then used by China to allow or restrict social rewards: freedom to travel, welfare benefits, medical services ... anything that the government can control ... and the government of China controls almost everything. This is all very restrictive and frightening ... the ultimate in Big Brother tyranny.

Now the barons of Silicone Valley are thinking to emulate this Brave New World ... see: Fast Company Story. Will these tech tyrants follow China’s lead in using the same parameters that measure us? (They already have quite a bit of raw data with which to work ... our buying patterns, our credit scores, our browsing histories, our friends, our travel preferences, our DNA, etc. ... and now are vying to corner our medical records and banking transactions too ... but, interestingly, not if we are a US citizen). So this development, unless it is nipped in the bud by Trump, might collect some other personal data on us Americans. May I suppose:

- have we ever typed or spoken the word “transgender”?

- do we vape or do any drugs?

- do we listen to gospel music?

- have we ever made a political donation ... and to which party?

- do we own an all-electric vehicle?

- what level of melanin do we have in our skin?

- do we believe in God, Allah, or climate change caused by CO2?

- do we own a weapon more powerful than a BB gun?

- do we own a BB gun?

- have we memorized any Bob Dylan lyrics?


Will  Mark Zukerburg soon effectively own us everyone ... cast our votes ...  make all other choices for us? ... or else!

How Does It Feel?

I've made no secret of the fact that I believe that Bob Dylan (née, Zimmerman) is seriously overrated. His prolific music and his lyrics never have made much sense to me ... see: AZ Lyrics. In particular his "poems" set to song seem like a disjointed series of his obscure memories making little sense by themselves or how Dylan strings them together with his plaintiff strumming and harmonica accents.

Indulge me by scanning the words from one of his most famous ditties, Mr. Tambourine Man:

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand Vanished from my hand Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feetI have no one to meet And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming. 

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you. 

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels To be wanderin' I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it.

I feel no spiritual uplift by this soporific lyric ... but what  do I know about what are worthy words? ... because Bob Dylan has just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I scratch my head over this choice by this Prize Committee ... just like I did when Obummer took the Peace Prize in 2009. The degree of deliberations in this committee seem to be more driven by a purple haze than by a purposeful appraisal.

More Things I Don't Get

I have previously posted a list of things that just go over my head ... see: Perloined Powerline. For the New Year, to show what a curmudgeon I really am,  I thought I would update this list of things that genuinely perplex me:

- The Uber® car service

- Monster truck shows

- Earned-income tax credits

- Bob Dylan's singing

- Social networking

- Pop Tarts®

- Starbucks® (baristas, etc..)

- Infinity pools

- Al Sharpton's religious credentials

- Cabo (Mexico)

- Bitcoins

- Pet reptiles

- Mayor Bill de Blasio

- Mojitos

- Renoir paintings

Hall of Lame

The 20th Century has had a number of personalities whose fame far exceeded their ability. Can we say that their grasp exceeded their reach? Here, in my opinion, are a fair number of them:

Architecture – Frank Lloyd Wright
Art – Andy Warhol (honorable mention, Salvador Dali)
Business – Bill Gates
Dance – Martha Graham
TV – Walter Cronkite
Movies – Mae West (honorable mention, Joan Crawford)
Music – Bob Dylan (honorable mention, Madonna)
Poetry – Maya Angelou
President – Woodrow Wilson (honorable mention, Jimmy Carter)
Royalty – Princess Diana (honorable mention, Prince Charles)
Science – Carl Sagan (honorable mention, Al Gore)
Sports – Wilt Chamberlain
Stage – Ethel Merman (honorable mention, Carol Channing)
Writing – Norman Mailer

If anyone wants my rationale(s) for these pick(s), leave a challanging comment and I will respond.