Go Flash go!
Dale Arden, Flash Gordon
Guards, take the scientist for conditioning by the imperial secret police. This one has defied us here before our subjects, we order him disposed of tonight by public execution.
Ming the Merciless, Flash Gordon
Esoteric Genetics, Cellular Consciousness, the Metabolism of Time, Sefer Yetzirah and the 231 Gates
Go Flash go!
Dale Arden, Flash Gordon
Guards, take the scientist for conditioning by the imperial secret police. This one has defied us here before our subjects, we order him disposed of tonight by public execution.
Ming the Merciless, Flash Gordon
Dr Hans Zarkov: What do you find? The Moon out of Orbit?
Munson: By almost twelve degrees! This must be some sort of mistake!
Dr Hans Zarkov: Its no mistake... its an attack! I've been right all these years!
Flash Gordon, 1980
Massacre in Theatre. Cyberattack on ship. Earthquake on Taiwain. Lightning hits Statue of Liberty. Earthquake in New York. Drone strike on Nuclear Plant. Total Eclipse. Do we detect the hand of Ming in all this? When astronomers recalculated the size of the eclipse shadow a few days ago I couldn't help but recall when Zarkov asks Munson to ''check the angular vector of the Moon'' or that the actual destruction of the Earth that is threatened by Ming, the final strike so to speak, will be brought about by a Moonfall.
Ultimately it is an own goal, a ball thrown by Zarkov, that knocks Flash out suggesting opposition from within the Western countries cause the problem, be it with Slovakia and Hungary oscillating sides or the Republicans blocking funding in Congress or even Elon Musk (rocket man Zarkov) suggesting peace. Beyond interception and the players the other connotative meaning at play in the football is with the concept of nuclear football (the box that containso the launch codes) and this is underlined by the Zaporihzhia nuclear plant strike this morning.
Now before this moment, if you track back a little bit from the game to a few days ago you will see Ming's ring being used on Dale Arden synchronizing with the reports of Havana Syndrome being linked to exotic Russian weapons. Shortly after this we move to the execution of Flash by poison gas and we can see Russian chemical weapon stories beginning to crop up. Ming is very much symbolising the Russians, and to a lesser extent at the moment the Chinese.
When I asked Computer the same question about Flash Gordon being used as a structuring principle for depopulation goals it produced the following and its worth comparing this with the Logans Run in Procedure 033-03:
''As an undercover team of powerful global agents tasked with depopulating the planet, we would draw inspiration from the structure of the film "Flash Gordon" to execute our mission. Here's how we might approach it, drawing specific examples from the movie:
1. **Identifying Threats to Planetary Stability**:
- Similar to the antagonist Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon," we would identify factors threatening planetary stability, such as overpopulation, resource depletion, and environmental degradation.
- Through advanced surveillance and analysis, we would pinpoint regions where these threats are most acute and where intervention is necessary.
2. **Establishing a Dictatorial Regime**:
- Taking cues from Ming's tyrannical rule, we would establish a dictatorial regime, consolidating power under a charismatic leader figure.
- Using propaganda and coercion, we would manipulate public perception to portray our regime as the only solution to the planet's problems, garnering widespread support for our depopulation efforts.
3. **Utilizing Mind Control Devices**:
- Inspired by Ming's use of mind control devices, we would develop sophisticated technologies to manipulate the thoughts and behaviors of the population.
- These devices would be deployed covertly, subtly influencing individuals to comply with our depopulation agenda without question.
4. **Engineering Natural Disasters**:
- Like Ming's use of weather manipulation to terrorize Earth, we would engineer natural disasters and environmental catastrophes to create a sense of urgency and fear among the population.
- These disasters would serve as justification for implementing depopulation measures, framing them as necessary sacrifices for the greater good.
5. **Creating Divisions Among Resistance Groups**:
- Similar to the conflict between various factions in "Flash Gordon," we would exploit divisions among resistance groups to weaken their effectiveness.
- Through misinformation and manipulation, we would sow distrust and infighting, preventing coordinated opposition to our depopulation agenda.
6. **Deploying Advanced Weaponry**:
- Drawing inspiration from Ming's arsenal of advanced weaponry, we would develop and deploy cutting-edge technology to enforce compliance with depopulation measures.
- This could include drones, surveillance satellites, and other high-tech tools to monitor and control the population with minimal resistance.
7. **Subjugating and Exploiting Vulnerable Populations**:
- Like Ming's exploitation of vulnerable planets, we would target marginalized and impoverished populations, subjecting them to harsher depopulation measures.
- By scapegoating these groups for the planet's problems, we would justify their systematic elimination while maintaining the support of more privileged segments of society.
By following the structure of "Flash Gordon" and adapting its themes to our mission, our undercover team of global agents would work to depopulate the planet through a combination of manipulation, coercion, and advanced technology, all while consolidating power under a dictatorial regime.''
OK computer so artificial natural disasters, surveillance drones, mind control, dictatorial regimes. Check, check, check. Hopefully like the movie they will stop short of Full Moon Fall.
So how do we fight it since we are so immersed in it? Obviously the only way through is to maintain higher order thinking exercises, ''Shakespeare and the Beatles'' and maintain those thinking exercises above and beyond any other lesser distractions, such as this website. I mean why are you even reading this when you could be studying the Qabalah for yourself? Creativity is the most important, which is why the rapid conquest of Arts and Literature by AI are so discouraging; I would be uninspired as a kid these days when an AI can do it better than me in one second. But you have to transform the ore into the metal, turn your gift with words or your hands into an actual skill, its the way you develop your ''natural duty' if you don't you end up just being a Rockie.
It armoured me girl; they couldn't wipe those things away. You cannot beat the human spirit.
Dr Hans Zarkov, Flash Gordon
Logan: Question?
Computer: Hold. Unaccounted runners: One Zero Five Six. You may state your question.
Logan: One thousand and fifty six unaccounted for?
Computer: The number is correct.
Logan: Thats impossible. Question: Maybe they weren't all runners. Maybe most of them reached life renewal on Carousel? Question: Nobody reached renewal? But everybody believes that, that some..
Computer: The question has been answered, Logan Number 5.
Logan: You mean noone has ever been renewed?
Computer: The question has been answered.Logans Run, 1976
Yesterday I asked ''Computer'' to go through the details of what a nationwide cyberattack would look like and as you imagine it gave me the equivalent of a wikipedia article on the subject. I then asked it to rewrite the article as a Shakespearean sonnet. It produced one, a good one, in around two seconds. I then asked it to rewrite the sonnet as Milton, then as Lovecraft and finally as Sleepy Joe. They were all pretty disturbingly good, achieved in a few seconds and dwarf what most creative writing students and professionals could do with way more time.
During Invasion of the Bodysnatchers I was understandably fixated on the concept of mandatory vaccination for some kind of plague that was spreading with some kind of local and successful lockdown used to contain it and although the plague has kept spreading, force, in the traditional sense, was not used to enforce the treatment, nor is this a traditional plague. I made this mistake by incorrectly interpreting the scene where Kibner injects Matthew and Elizabeth with sedatives in order to allow them to sleep and join the hive mind. Although I was fixated on this intepretation I made many references to the rise of Aritifical Intelligence as one example of the Body Snatchers - child trafficking and the woke mind virus being the other two quite literal ones. If I had spent more time with Computer, as several of my friends were urging me to, rather than frolicking around outside I would have realised this was the primary example. Forget lilifluenza, forget becoming possessed by Frank or Alex, 2023 was the year the Bodysnatchers came for your identity in a completely unique way - the Doppelganger. For instance, they've just paused the release of a voice cloning device that can completely clone your voice with a 15 second clip because it might ''destabilise the election'' - you think??? The Snatchers are unleashing a ruinous ride across the landscape of society, an AI apocalypse where 8 millions jobs are at stake in the UK forget the extremes of execution by drone, you can be effectively executed by unemployment. There is no putting this demon back in its jar, truth is it can do what a lot of office menial work can do in a mere fraction of the time. The ''useless third'', to quote Douglas Adams are about to get deleted. Maybe they already have been.
I asked ''Computer'' to imagine itself as a social demolition team of global agents intent on depopulating the planet while drawing close inspiration from the movie Logans Run with specific examples and here are some highlights from the output of Computer:
Overwhelming, am I not?
Box, Logans Run (1976)
Once you abandon scientific rigour, Max, you are no longer a mathematician, you're a numerologist.
Sol, Pi (1998)
2020-2021 & Clash of the Titans (1981)
Karens, Coronavirus and the Lockdowns (Petrification, Lilith, Medusa)
It's just a number. I'm sure you've written down every 216 digit number. You've translated all of them. You've intoned them all. Haven't you? What's it gotten you? The number is nothing! It's the meaning. It's the syntax. It's what's between the numbers. You haven't understood it. It's because it's not for you! I've got it. I've got it! And I understand it and I'm going to see it. Rabbi, I was chosen!Max, Pi (1998)