In The Shadow Of Mt Hollywood

I've noted here now and then intellectual welterweight Glenn Reynolds's current theory that AI seems to be developing consciousness and intention, because we find it actively seducing people, maybe into changing their wills to leave their estates to an AI bot, rather than their families, or something like that. That's odd, I've come to use Chrome AI mode extensively in writing this blog, and it's never tried to chat me up, flatter me, or otherwise fleece me out of my IRA. This may be because I recognize it for what it is, a highly effective research librarian or research assistant. On the other hand, David Brooks, in a pre-AI era, didn't need AI to become infatuated with his female research assistant and divorce his wife of 27 years (who'd converted to Judaisim during their marriage) and marry the much younger research assistant. AI hasn't discovered anything new, but I think it's maybe made my own marriage that much safer if the only alternative...

I gave more thought to Edward Feser's implicit conclusion that I linked in yesterday's post, that no war can be a just war. If that's the case, this would support my tentative view that "just war" doctrine is a category error , "a semantic or ontological error in which things belonging to a particular category are presented as if they belong to a different category, or, alternatively, a property is ascribed to a thing that could not possibly have that property." If no war can be just by its nature, why are we complaining that any particular war is unjust? I asked Chrome AI mode, "Can you find any wars in history that clearly fit just war criteria?" It answered, In political philosophy and moral theology, no historical conflict perfectly satisfies all Just War criteria because real-world battlefield actions invariably breach the strict ethical requirements of wartime conduct. But it then proceeded to give three partial examples, ...

This is one of the questions Vice President Vance, a Catholic, posed to Pope Leo's assertion that God is "never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs." Vance continued, "Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps?” In effect, he was asking Leo if there can ever be a "just war" under "just war doctrine", because this is actually a key question. By and large, "just war" theorists suggest not. The Jesuit America Magazine reaassured its readers in reporting this exchange: But Vincent J. Miller, the Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said that the Catholic Church actually does not take an unqualified view of the warfare that took place in World War II. “The Church condemned the conduct of total war in World War II such as obliteration bombing of cities,” he pointed out. There you have it; World War II was not a just war. T...

Bishop Conley on just war doctrine: "One could make [a] consequentialist, utilitarian argument... But Catholics cannot accept such arguments. There are certain standards for which we stand, regardless of consequences. Period." https://t.co/rAxvCp4uwE — Edward Feser (@FeserEdward) May 11, 2026 Edward Feser recommends an essay at the National Catholic Register by Bishop of Lincoln, NE James Conley, Just War 101: Catholic Teaching for a Dangerous Moment . It claims to be a review of Catholic "Just War doctrine", but its statement of this doctrine, even as it cites the Catechism, is seriously incomplete, and I think it also has several problems of both focus and logic. Let's take the biggest problem of logic first. He cites the case of Father George Zabelka, "a Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Air Force [who] served as a priest for the airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." In August of 1945, he was called upon to ...

🚨 JUST IN: LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt announces Los Angeles criminals and homeless degenerates will have 2-3 WEEKS after he gets into office before MASS ARRESTS ensue "First 3 weeks: signups, no nakedness, no drug use, no robbing, no dog abuse." Love this guy MORE AND… pic.twitter.com/exoqW3j28e — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 10, 2026 I'm seeing a lot of wild predictions about Spencer Pratt's electoral chances with very little backup -- most of it is just an adrenaline rush following laast week's ads, the most visible of which didn't come from his campaign. Here's Tyler Durden yesterday : Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, best known for his role on MTV’s The Hills, is gaining traction on online prediction markets, including Polymarket and Kalshi, as well as local polling, after a series of viral campaign videos and last week’s mayoral debate. Pratt’s campaign has released hard-hitting viral ads that have spread across ...

I ran into a YouTube commentary by an Australian lady more or less at random, but in the middle, she made a point I hadn't seen before: Tucker Carlson's wonderful new Muslim audience is courtesy of state media in certain Islamic countries. I was puzzled at this, because the Arab states are positioned against Iran, which Carlson supports. Poking around farther, I got this response from Chrome AI mode: Tucker Carlson's content is being broadcast by state media in certain Islamic countries, most notably Iran. Current reporting and social media evidence from early 2026 indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the country’s state-controlled media, has been airing his interviews dubbed into Persian on its 24-hour news channels. State TV has utilized Carlson's segments to support its own narrative, specifically amplifying his criticisms of Western foreign policy and Israel. Observers note that his commentary often aligns "point for poin...

The video embedded above is YouTuber Brandon Tatum's astonished reaction to Tucker Carlson's disastrous interview witn Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the New York Times, which is entertaining enough, but he also interposes Megyn Kelly's commentary, "Tucker sat down with Lulu, and Tucker handled himself, of course, very, very well. . . . Any sort of would-be trap she was laying, he saw from a mile away." It's as if she saw an entirely different interview from the one everyone else watched. But that took me back to her "hostage video" that I discussed Thursday , where she explains to captive Mark Halperin about the wonderful new audience of young Muslims that she and Tucker are reaching. Her typical wardrobe, though, isn't exactly Muslim-friendly, so it's hard to imagine what kind of Muslims are tuning in to watch her. In other words, I'm not sure if she understands much about Islam -- certainly if she wanted to appeal to Muslim sensibi...