Do a war to distract from Epstein files then do an Epstein files to distract from the war OK gotcha x

A starfield filled with thousands of stars and shining clouds of dust. The Milky Way\u2019s elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars. Spanning more than 100,000 light-years, Earth is located along one of the galaxy\u2019s spiral arms, about halfway from the center. Credit: NASA

OH. MY. GOD.

THIS IS THE MILKY WAY SHOT BY THE ARTEMIS II CREW. LOOK AT ALL THOSE STARS!!!!

I asked myself "how do golf courses possibly afford property taxes" so I looked it up and came away convinced we could virtually eliminate the entire sport by simply removing several dumb tax loopholes

MELANIA: You want me. Out of nowheres. To remind every one. Of my best friend, and child sex monster. Jeffrey Epstein?? (squints evilly)

NATHAN FIELDER: (voice over) The First Lady loved my idea.

Very lovely cute dog. Please more of this, gang.

Listening to the latest @slate.com Culture Gabfest ep where they are talking about sharing a pic of Dana's Cockapoo and I have never felt more like a meme so much in my life.

Just saw a high school friend post "I stand with Iran" on Facebook and do you have any idea how bad you have to fuck up as president of the United States to get middle American normies on Facebook to type out "I stand with Iran"

you fucking guessed it! "Last year, Philz was purchased by private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co., which also owns Popeyes Chicken and El Pollo Loco, for a reported $145 million, according to Mission Local, though the company did not provide details of the deal."

But it also had depth of character. Lois and Hal had a refreshingly intense, passionate relationship that didn’t revolve solely around their kids. And for a zany comedy, the series had a psychologically astute sense of the individual dynamics and fraught histories among Hal, Malcolm, and the other siblings Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), Reese (Justin Berfield) and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan).

This didn’t work for me the way many recent revivals don’t, but I will stand by my belief that the original Malcolm is honestly crazy insightful and had some strikingly *real* moments for an over-the-top zany comedy.

Despite years of hype, the ability of generative A.I. to dramatically increase economic productivity remains theoretical. (Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs released a report titled “Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit?”) The task that generative A.I. has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write anything for others to read. It is a fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning. It reduces the amount of intention in the world.

Ted Chiang for the New Yorker in 2024. Missed this until it started making rounds again this week. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Bloody hell. Researchers invented a disease, published two fake papers to see if LLM’s would ingest them and kick them up as fact — and then it broke containment and all the major AI’s bought in. Information pollution.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Spanish PM Pedro calls for the IMMEDIATE ARREST of Netanyahu
He said: "Netanyahu launched the worst possible unjustified attack against Lebanon. His contempt for life and international law is intolerable. He is a criminal that must be arrested immediately.” #cdnpoli

Can confirm.

Left of Black | Dr. Shana L. Redmond on the Life and Impact of Paul Robeson YouTube video by John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke U.

On the anniversary of #PaulRobeson's birth, revisiting this conversation with my colleague Shana Redmond about her book 'Everything Man: The Form and Function of Paul Robeson' (@dukepress.bsky.social)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFj3...

Newport Film School used to be one of the best in the WORLD. This is so sad.

Oh my goodness, you lucky duck.

The silent coup How AI captured Westminster

Almost a year ago, I was described in the FT as "a Cassandra with a wry grin and twinkling eye", and was entertained becaus Cassandra (famously) was right.

It's actually not fun, though, to watch the world do things you've been warning against:

www.newstatesman.com/technology/2...

Whenever I look at this I wonder how they ever thought Kirk could be trusted with the Prime Directive. So quick to anger, so easily brought into some sort of battle on the planet he's visiting. Never more so than when it's Earth...

I have no idea but someone once convinced me that in Olympia, Washington they colloquially call it "O-Town" and I was too naive to know any different. So started saying confidently "I'm going to O-Town this weekend" to lots of sniggers.

34 illegal settlements to be established

Isræli cabinet approves a further 34 settler enclaves in the West Bank—the largest in history, bringing the total to 103.

You can undo all the rhetoric from the UK and other genocide‑supporting nations with this single point: there can be no "two‑state solution" while illegal settlements exist.

"Luddites" is a good term for those who oppose AI because the Luddites weren't against *all* technology, just forms of technology that they knew would pay workers less and turn out a shittier product

Hall of fame FT correction

FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database The case was the first time authorities charged people for alleged “Antifa” activities after President Trump designated the umbrella term a terrorist organization.

New from 404 Media: the FBI was able to extract incoming Signal messages from a phone even though the app was deleted. Why? Because parts of messages were stored in the iPhone's internal notification database. Shows how secure chat data can come from unexpected places www.404media.co/fbi-extracts...

Happy Appomattox Day to all that celebrate

I was reading my book this morning when suddenly I thought "Something is missing from this experience, but what?" And then it hit me.

We're so lucky to have Jackie Morris amongst us.

Text reads: Participants Needed! Are you a trans, non-binary or gender-diverse adult living in the UK? Participate in research exploring experiences of trying to access voice and communication therapy for transgender and gender diverse people in the UK. How do I take part? Talk about your experiences in an online survey or 1:1 interview. You can take part if you: 1. have experiences of trying to access voice therapy in the last three years (whether or not you received any) 2. are aged 18 or over 3. live in the UK 4. are trans, gender-diverse and/or non-binary. Receive shopping vouchers or enter a prize draw to thank you for taking part. The research team consists of trans and cis-gender researchers who identify as LGBTQIA+. Image of someone producing voice in the trans flag colours. QR code. Scan the QR code or follow the link to find out more. Link to study information: https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7VUTTc11ze0ZraC +

Researchers from the University of the West of England want to know what helps or makes it difficult to access gender-affirming voice and communication therapy.
Tell us about your experiences in a survey or interview: uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

#TransResearch #ResearchSurvey

(raspy voice that sounds like Satan’s boss’s dad with an upper respiratory infection) DO YOU HATE STANDING IN LINE AT THE POST OFFICE LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT STAMPS DOT COM.

these are the stupidest people to ever live

Israel learned that no one will stop them from doing endless war crimes, so they are continuing to do endless war crimes