Saturday, January 28, 2023

Power Slap


I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: “O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.--Voltaire

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In 2004, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a margin of 60 percent to 31 percent, according to Pew Research Center polling. By 2019, this had flipped: 61 percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage, while 31 percent opposed it. Similarly, Gallup found in 2002 that 55 percent of Americans viewed gay and lesbian relationships as morally wrong, with 38 percent viewing them as morally acceptable, but by 2022, 71 percent deemed homosexual relationships to be morally acceptable, with only 25 percent saying they were morally wrong.

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HALO Space is a global space tourism company developing a Near Space flight program that will offer zero-emission commercial flights between 25 and 40 kilometers high, allowing passengers to observe the curvature of planet Earth and the vastness of Space in a flight lasting up to 6 hours. This will be possible thanks to its aerospace balloon, equipped with a pressurized capsule with a capacity for eight passengers and a pilot, which will have panel windows offering a 360º view.

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Power Slap

"... there is a new show called "Power Slap: Road to the Title," and the title is a perfect description of the show. In this "sport" two adults slap one another as hard as they can until one of them is knocked out, cannot continue, or the "judges" stop the "competition." The "slap-fighters" are not allowed to put up their hands to defend themselves or flinch. The participants in this human zoo have been knocked head over heels (literally) and appear to have suffered severe concussions as well as bloody and swollen faces that could result in permanent disfigurement. The crowd in the studio cheers as the competitors slap each other into oblivion."

This is from an internet thing called "RawStory," The article then continues with its implications to society and explanations on how to improve things. The hub of the problem seems to be conspiracy theories and Trump.

"It is all one more example of how American society is "amusing itself to death" as a culture that is infantile and broken — both socially and politically. Today's America is extremely anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-rational, unreflective, impulsive, narcissistic and juvenile. Such a dynamic breeds fascism, authoritarianism, fake populism, white supremacy, misogyny, violence, and a larger culture of cruelty and debasement that does not value or elevate human dignity and human respect."

It goes on, presumably not understanding that, among humans, bad taste is its own reward.

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