The Warming Up Of ICE

“Markwayne Mullin, Kristy Noem’s replacement as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, has started issuing measures to reform the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. They are truly impressive!

  • Agents shall now be referred to as ‘preventatives of disorder.’
  • Agents are required to wear new masks with cheery smiles on them, turning detainment into a kinder and gentler experience.
  • Agents must use polite language whenever addressing citizens under suspicion. Example: ‘If you please madam, please lie face down in that puddle.’
  • If the situation requires, they must deploy our new ammunition a ‘foam rubber bullet,’ which, instead of conferring a lethal strike, merely imparts a nasty sting, as in ‘Ouch! Gosh, that really smarts. I better behave.’

In addition, as part of our new outreach program, ICE agents will appear at local schools and read from the newly published children’s book, The ICE Agent is My Fiend Friend.”

Can Chatbots Help You with Creative Works?

It probably can. Sort of.

First, a tale from film history. Max Sennett (along with Hal Roach) was an early pioneer of silent comedy. He produced hundreds of reels starring such greats as Charlie Chaplin, Harry Langdon, Roscoe (“Fatty”) Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, The Keystone Cops, and W. C. Fields. According to histories of early Hollywood comedy, during gag conferences at Sennett’s studio, they sometimes seated a “wild man” among the writers. His job, reportedly, was to generate the raw, outlandish seed-ideas — what some called the “wildies.” Continue reading “Can Chatbots Help You with Creative Works?”