Nine weeks to Halloween!
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These people are at work.
He's good at acrobatics, but not very observant.
Ever run into a wall so hard that your ass caught fire?
These are indeed signs of the times. Here are some more signs.
Watch the adventures of drunk people.
Have a last few memes for August.
They look a bit shocked (NSFW blog, requires Blogspot login).
Summer is almost over -- get ready to enjoy the Fall.
Dave Barry discusses using technology to de-technologize your life.
Best shot ever.
Sometimes, being an asshole has consequences.
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Petrica Kerempuh was the "Robin Hood" of the Balkans.
An Ohio blogger visits the waterfalls of Oregon.
This is the aurora borealis seen from the International Space Station.
India is not heating up as fast as the rest of the world, but the reasons aren't all that encouraging.
Many types of physical activity reduce the risk of dementia, but strenuous work has the opposite effect.
Beware of dangerous medical quackery which has somehow become respectable.
Human babies still learn language far better than "AI" does, on the basis of far less data -- and they eventually develop actual intelligence, something which current "AI" is not even a step in the direction of.
More than a million voters in Texas have been "suspended". If you live in Texas, that link will tell you how to find out if you're one of them, and what to do.
Here's why some food companies are intentionally adding allergy-triggering ingredients to their products.
Beware of this fake CAPTCHA scam.
The anti-"AI" backlash is actually getting results in some areas.
Police in Florida set up a fake surveillance camera as bait to catch would-be saboteurs. The tactic may spread to other jurisdictions.
It's not just LG -- more and more "smart" monitors now come pre-loaded with malware that will track you and/or show ads.
This roller coaster seriously injures some of its riders.
People who destroy surveillance cameras are becoming folk heroes in their communities.
To preserve a free society, we need to tolerate being offended.
Since Trump is threatening to rename Lake Ontario, here's a counter-suggestion.
Failed "AI" investor Leopold Aschenbrenner hoped to become so rich that he could buy entire galaxies. Uh, who was he going to buy them from?
Here's how the "already there" gambit works and how to counter it.
Dolly Parton has died. She was 80. She was one of the rare rich people who attained wealth via the mass popularity of her art, not by exploiting the labor of others. And she spent much of her money on making the world a better place, from promoting literacy to supporting medical research.
Bloggers Annie, Bilbo, and Anita Bowden post on Dolly Parton. Here's a memory of one of her more unusual acts of charity. Republican legislators are cutting support for her Imagination Library, doubtless to allow more billionaire tax cuts.
Ghouls are selling mummified parts of human corpses online, but buying them could be dangerous.
This was the great moral test of our time -- and much of the West failed.
Gosh, why are women leaving this pastor's church?
This is what a war of cultural annihilation looks like.
Useless Democratic politicians won't support Bernie Sanders's call for a halt to out-of-control "AI" proliferation. I smell the stench of billionaire
Ninety cities and counties ended their contracts with Flock during August, a far greater number than during any previous month. Of course it's difficult to know how significant this is without knowing how many of them abandoned surveillance cameras entirely, as opposed to just making a replacement deal with some other camera company.
When some on the left abandon the class struggle to cheerlead for authoritarian regimes, are they truly still on the left at all?
"AI" is taking over San Francisco's billboards, as the pushers go all out to sell us on their malignant junk technology.
Here are some of the reasons why Democrats and Democratic Socialists fail to connect with working-class voters.
Here's why Mark Zuckerberg is the opposite of Dolly Parton.
Impeaching Trump again would be a major mistake, distracting Congress from working on the problems the voters actually care about. Of course it would be worth doing if there were 67 votes in the Senate to actually remove him, but that's very unlikely.
What if Natalie Harp is something much more sinister than just a sycophant?
A grand jury in Ohio has refused to indict a man for destroying a surveillance camera. Read the comments too.
Here's why we don't see more solidarity against anti-Semitism.
Darline Graham glorifies misery, overwork, and early death as the proper way of life for Americans.
Tech-bro CEOs and their defenders are clueless and in denial about the wave of mass rebellion against data centers and other intrusive tech.
The love for Hitler endures.
Last month a House bill was introduced to prohibit the federal government from buying surveillance cameras or similar spying equipment to monitor Americans. That site gives it a low chance of passing, but perhaps the current public mood will change that.
Politicians who pledged not to take PAC money still find ways to make it work for them (the article is about Democrats, but I'm sure Republicans do this stuff just as much).
JD Vance's presidential ambition acts as a Trojan horse for anti-Semites seeking full acceptance within the Republican party.
Trump's midterm convention looks like it will be a ludicrous flop.
YouTubers who promote "AI" face a backlash from their viewers.
The prog fringe are throwing a massive tantrum over Hakeem Jeffries meeting with Jared Kushner to discuss "potential areas of common ground". What are Congressional Democrats supposed to do, pretend the Trump administration doesn't exist? Even if the Democrats get control of the House and/or the Senate this November, Trump or Vance will still be president for the next two years. To get anything done about the issues people actually care about -- prices, jobs, stopping data centers, etc -- some degree of cooperation will be needed.
Most CEOs now recognize that using "AI" in the workplace has not increased productivity -- but they're still using it as a pretext for layoffs.
Trump has been sending out his top-ranking toadies to talk up his "accomplishments", but voters insist on talking about their issues instead.
The stock market is now massively over-valued by all standard measures, highly vulnerable to the inevitable collapse of the "AI" bubble. If the trade war with Canada escalates, I suspect it could be the final straw.
Even Abdul El-Sayed is distancing himself from the latest hateful comments of the loathsome Hasan Piker about Jews. But both men have a long track record of repeatedly making excuses for jihadism, and El-Sayed has refused to say whether he believes Israel has a right to even exist.
"AI" is reducing job-hunting to chaos, with some companies even rescinding job offers after applicants accept them.
Independent candidates can't act as spoilers for the Democrats in places where there is no Democratic party left to spoil.
Trump's approval rating with his own base has suffered a massive drop.
Ken Paxton posted a proposal to restrict "AI" in various ways, but he used "AI" to write it.
"Human beings do not become less defensive when they feel threatened. They become more defensive."
The Wall Street Journal is officially allowing "AI" usage by its writers, after one of them was caught submitting a fake article. I suppose the paper may back down if there are enough protests and subscription cancellations; in the meantime, any factual statements in its stories must be treated as all the more suspect.
Trump made completely crazy demands on Canada during recent trade negotiations. The man's mind is going. Almost everything he said about Canada after negotiations broke down was factually wrong. Carney's defiance of Trump is proving very popular with his own people. Here's a Canadian reaction.
Contrary to Trump's claims, the US economy is highly dependent on trade with Canada.
Trump is an incredibly arrogant asshole. For any Canadians who are wondering why he's suddenly picking this trade fight now, it's because he got his ass kicked in Iran (he failed to bring down the regime or get control of the Strait of Hormuz), and so now he desperately needs to get a "win" over somebody, to feel that he's beaten somebody down and forced them to bend to his will. It's the way his mind works. If he can't get that with Canada -- and he won't -- he'll start threatening Greenland or Cuba again or go bully someone else.
Here's an entertaining assessment of Carney's response to Trump, by an Australian blogger.
Patients in South Yorkshire are skipping doctor visits because a widely used "AI" receptionist program can't understand their accents when they call to make appointments.
The new British prime minister is pushing for ethnic cleansing in Israel. But what's really going on there?
In France, a murderer was released after a mere four years in prison. And they still wonder why more and more people are voting for the "far right".
French nativist leader Marine Le Pen is polling higher than ever before and is projected to win the next presidential election; however, that election is not until April, so it is really too early to make such projections.
Portugal has banned Islamic face veils.
See the result of a drone strike on an oil refinery in Perm, Russia.
Gasoline shortages are just getting worse.
Ukraine is now attacking warehouses of Ozon, a company similar to Wildberries but less huge. They burn just as good. Here's another.
Wildberries and oil refineries are not being neglected, though.
This was the end of some Russian drone operators who had been "hunting" civilians. And here's a tank that was well loaded with ammunition.
This gas and chemical complex suffered a huge explosion. It's thousands of miles from Ukraine, so it's not clear whether this was actually a Ukrainian attack or just typical gangster-state incompetence.
"From darkness to light," in this one case.
Some devotees of India's prime minister Modi are now treating him as a god.
Here's video of the monstrous flood that struck the Nepal-Tibet border area this week.
More links at Red State Blues, Abortion Every Day, and Comedy Plus.
My posts this week: a bus ad from Denmark, an image round-up, and a case of democracy in action.
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LOVED "The Orville" clip! (great show, to begin with!).
ReplyDeleteGood round-up of videos and links this morning, and thanks for the shout-out!
R
My grandkids have really enjoyed the books they've received through the Imagination Library. A number of them have been bilingual selections. And speaking of that and babies learning language, my 2-year-old granddaughter is completely bilingual in English and Mandarin. It's the craziest thing to witness.
ReplyDeleteI've seen suggestions online that the White House be renamed the Dumb House. Short, simple, and to the point.
I'm definitely reposting the Texas suspension of voters article! Thank you for the shout-out.
ReplyDeleteRade: I'm not familiar with The Orville, really, but it's a fun tribute. I hope Dolly Parton saw it.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Being bilingual in English and Mandarin could be very useful to her in the future, and is very difficult to achieve for an adult.
Renaming the White House might be tempting, but then we'd likely need to rename it again for the next president, and so on. Also, Republicans would insist on calling it something else. Names of important things need to be neutral, generally-agreed-on, and permanent, which is why trying to rename Lake Ontario is so foolish.
Ricko: I hope that article is widely reposted. People in Texas need to be aware of the issue.
Dolly Parton was great. She did a lot of good. She will be missed.
ReplyDeleteThose people that ride their bikes like jerks and make people think they are going to hit them, should be pushed off their bikes like that one guy was. That's not ok.
That's really selfish of the companies to be adding ingredients like sesame and peanuts to things so they don't have to worry about cross contamination.
Dolly Parton’s death is such a loss -- she embodied generosity and compassion.
ReplyDeleteAnd the allergy‑ingredient issue shows how careless corporations can be.
Thanks for highlighting both the uplifting and troubling stories.
Mary: It's great, if rare, to see one of those assholes get some consequences for his behavior.
ReplyDeleteCompanies adding allergenic ingredients to foods that wouldn't normally have them are risking people's lives. They don't expect to need to read the ingredients on every last thing they eat.
Veronica: Fortunately, many of Parton's charities continue operating even without her. So we still have that.
What those food companies are doing is selfish and callous. They exemplify why we need strict regulation.
Portugal banning the face veil is a good decision. Why would any religion deny women their identity?
ReplyDeleteI agree. Several other European countries have done the same.
ReplyDeleteSo good to see Dave Barry's piece. He's terrific.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your coverage of Dolly Parton, including my post. I hope people will contribute to her Imagination Library and Dollywood charities.
The info about the Captcha scam is so important--as is the info about how Texans can check on their voting status. In fact, we all need to do that now.
Infidel, I had the same thought about Natalie Harp. I'm surprised it hasn't become more of the story.
I've liked Dave Barry for decades. Only recently found out he has a blog, though. I had the impression he was retired or something.
ReplyDeleteDolly Parton was an inspirational figure in this world of greedy billionaires -- somebody who did as much good as she was able, instead of just grabbing more and more.
There seem to be more and more scams, disenfranchisement schemes, and other threats to the average person all the time. I sound the alarm on the ones I hear about here. It's the public-service announcement side of the blog.
It would hardly be surprising if Putin were trying to increase his influence over Trump, via someone like Harp. Putin doesn't have many other cards to play these days.