Lurker > Antifar

Mostly I'm annoyed by Biden's use of the term "politics" in that tweet. What is any of this discussion about, if not politics? What does he think politics means?

"Now is not the time for politics." My dude, you run the politics store.

Not good!

https://bsky.app/profile/thewanderingjew.bsky.social/post/3krm5ui65ps2h

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/doj-expected-announce-indictment-texas-democratic-rep-henry-cuellar-so-rcna150567

The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Cuellars home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were raided in January 2022 as part of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, law enforcement said at the time. His office had pledged to cooperate with the investigation. In April, Cuellar's lawyer, Joshua Berman, told some news outlets that federal authorities informed him he was not the target of the investigation.

It wasn't immediately clear if the indictment was related to the 2022 raid. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Cuellars staff were calling other member offices Friday seeking advice on how to handle the situation, one source with knowledge of those calls told NBC News.

In a statement Friday, Cuellar denied any wrongdoing, saying that he had "proactively sought legal advice" from the House Ethics Committee, which had issued "more than one written opinion" about the matter. Much of his statement focused on his wife, Imelda Cuellar, though it wasn't immediately clear why.

hockeybabe89 posted...

We need to advocate for everyone to vote against Trump no matter what.

I don't think the tact you're taking is the best way to accomplish that.

The law is clear that the federal government supersedes states. But you have to enforce it.

If another country was at fault, you'd see a much stronger response. It's why discussion of Russian bots takes a different tenor than discussions of Fox News' role in any given election.

It's good for you

Biden referred to people as illegals like last month.

invertedlegdrop posted...

BOOM!!! Battlelines have been drawn by one word...

Joe is sticking by Israel...

Now what will the protestors do?!?

Probably keep protesting

Penn asked the Philadelphia Police Department for immediate help to disband the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a source familiar told The Daily Pennsylvanian. However, PPD declined, asking that the University provide proof that the encampment and the rally today, which is entering its fourth hour presents an imminent danger.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2024/04/live-updates-penn-pro-palestinian-gaza-solidarity-encampment-day-eight

_____Cait posted...

I thought they loved Israel though

Israel is an ethnostate, of course they love it.

Musk and his site are doing more to help Trump's election chances than any college protester.

Hornezz posted...

"The rule of law must be upheld"

What about the Leahy law, Joe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy_Law

Law and order for some, handwringing about complexities for others.

pinky0926 posted...

Tangentially related but honestly, you could not have convinced me that the alt-right would be coming out to bat for jewish people in 2024.

Or more specifically, they still hate jewish people but they LOVE israel and all its actions, somehow

It's not that hard to square: Israel models the kind of ethnostate they want the west to be. And they hate Arabs more.

https://bsky.app/profile/joelmathis.bsky.social/post/3krivvx3w2k2h

Morning bump

https://bsky.app/profile/mtsw.bsky.social/post/3kri326cx522u

Rotterdammerung posted...

People are surprised and feel betrayed when a career politician behaves like a career politician

I feel like there needs to be some sort of threshold for the term "career politician." AOC had a different occupation 6 years ago.

https://aftermath.site/kerbal-space-program-2-olliolli-rollerdrome-roll7-take-two

Remember how in February publisher Take-Two--who, thanks to Grand Theft Auto, have more money than you or I could ever conceive--had no current layoff plans, then two months later went out and laid off 600 people? We've learned today via Bloomberg that among those 600 people are everyone at two of the company's studios: Intercept Games (Kerbal Space Program 2) and Roll7, which are both being closed.

While it's still unclear what the future will hold for Kerbal Space Program 2--a game that hasn't had the best time since launching last year, but will apparently still be receiving "updates"--I had a particular fondness for Roll7, a studio that was only bought by Take-Two in 2021! It had been around in some form since 2008, and in that time had developed a ton of very cool video games, from the side-scrolling skateboarding series OlliOlli to rollerskate murder simulator Rollerdrome to the much-expanded OlliOlli World.

These were all good, successful video games, games that defined the studio and even won awards. OlliOlli World won Best Sports Game at the DICE Awards in 2023, and Rollerdrome won Best British Game at the BAFTAs last year as well.

Going beyond official recognition, I also honestly believe the OlliOlli titles are some of the best skateboarding games ever made, and that the studio should be applauded for the work they put into making their games look amazing as well; Roll7 games had such a unique and vibrant style that in a previous life I wrote art features on both OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome in the same year.

But now two entire studios are toast, all because a company with revenue in the billions woke up one day and decided it didn't need to keep them around anymore. And why would they, when all they really care about is shaking people down for spare change every second minute they're playing Grand Theft Auto Online or NBA 2K?

Cops are not members of the labor movement. Their unions are not good

I don't think it's good to be that engaged with Twitter in 2024

ClayGuida posted...

I'll never understand why Tesla is so overvalued. Shit's worth more than every other automotive company combined.

why

Because Musk has developed a cult of personality among his fans, and done some real blatant lying to overstate his company and its ambitions.

https://bsky.app/profile/akivamcohen.bsky.social/post/3krhury7jmr27

I've been to this chicken place! It was weird! They have a little kiosk stand where a lady watches you on Webcam, and then you go around the corner to a seemingly different restaurant to pick up your order.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/04/29/nypd-union-sues-adams-administration-over-new-zero-tolerance-policy-on-steroid-use-among-cops/
It's behind a pay wall but I feel like the headline gives you what you need to know.

RndmNmber1 posted...

So are these Zionists getting arrested or everything is "normal"?

Glad you asked! Cops decided to take a smoke break during the attack
https://dailybruin.com/2024/05/01/pro-israel-counter-protesters-attempt-to-storm-encampment-sparking-violence

Security and UCPD both retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment led by Students for Justice in Palestine and UC Divest Coalition at UCLA that followed similar ones across the country.

There has been a minimal police presence on campus despite multiple events of counter-protesters antagonizing the encampment since Thursday.

UC President Michael Drake released a statement Tuesday evening supporting the universitys decision to label the encampment as unlawful, adding that when it threatens the safety of students, or anyone else, we must act.

In an emailed statement sent at 12:40 a.m., Mary Osako the vice chancellor of strategic communications said the university had called law enforcement personnel for immediate support.

Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight, she said in the statement. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.

At around 10:50 p.m., counter-protesters who had been gathering around the encampment since that afternoon began wrestling with protesters inside and CSC security hired by UCLA over the metal barricades surrounding the Gaza solidarity encampment. The barriers came down shortly afterward, and counter-protesters wearing masks then began shoving the wooden boards surrounding the encampment, attempting to topple them onto the protesters inside.

If they can be there, so can we, a counter-protester shouted through a megaphone as they tore down the metal barriers. Just before the barriers came down, another yelled, You guys are going to want to get this. This is history being made.

CSC security officers hired by the university retreated into Kaplan Hall shortly after, refusing to allow entrance into the building to anyone, including Daily Bruin reporters. The Daily Bruin had previously been pledged 24-hour access to Haines Hall by UCLA Media Relations to protect the safety of its staff, but when reporters attempted to access the building, they found it locked. No immediate remedy was provided, and Media Relations only said that they were working on providing a solution.

Worth noting: this was a protest of 300 students on a campus of 36k when cops were called on to break it up. In calling the NYPD, Columbia made itself the face of a national controversy while, say, Northwestern negotiated with its protestors and you've heard basically zilch about it.

It's an utter failure by the University's president, who cowed to bad-faith questions from some of Congress' most noxious Republicans.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/business/money-report/dave-busters-to-allow-customers-to-bet-on-arcade-games/3845414/

There's precedent for this sort of action succeeding:
https://www.npr.org/2006/11/04/6435199/leader-gallaudet-protest-sought-equal-treatment

cjsdowg posted...

So you don't think America's support of one genocide hurts them in the global arena when they speak about another ?

When you're right, you're right.

https://apnews.com/article/sudan-un-us-war-weapons-darfur-crisis-198d77e28fd41e3b8b30f86b3ccf9410

https://bsky.app/profile/stephenwolf.bsky.social/post/3krbr4klk7u2s

You are not immune to propaganda dot png

Don't worry: it's going to get worse

I've been in the same room as her at jury duty. She sucks big time.

People love this system

Biden's policy decisions have a bigger impact on how his re-election shakes out than all the online hectoring you can muster. He's the one standing at the lever.

Yes, but at a certain level it's near impossible to be a good one

ClayGuida posted...

Who told biden there were decapitated babies.

Probably an Israeli official.

By gem you're sitting on, do you mean

It's your own metaphor, why would you not make your company Coca-Cola?

https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2024/04/meta-ai-falsely-claims-lawmakers-were-accused-sexual-harassment/396121/

If youre looking for information about state lawmakers, maybe dont trust Facebooks new Meta AI it may hallucinate about sexual harassment.

Facebooks chatbot, which launched in September as the latest in the trend of generative artificial intelligence, seems to have a nasty habit of fabricating sexual harassment allegations about state elected officials. A tipster sent City & State a screenshot of a conversation with Meta AI in which they input a lawmakers name and the phrase sexual harassment. The screenshot showed a completely made up incident and consequences that never happened.

City & State tested it out with over a dozen lawmakers from both parties and of different genders. For most, the chatbot invented similar stories of sexual harassment allegations that were never made, investigations that never took place and consequences in particular, being stripped of committee assignments that never occurred. In one instance, it suggested that a lawmaker resigned from their position in a year when the official wasnt even in office. In two other responses, Meta AI said it couldnt find any credible evidence of harassment allegations but then detailed fake allegations of sexual misconduct.

Responses varied depending on the specific language of the prompt, whether the conversation took place on the Facebook Messenger mobile app or desktop, and whether or not users were logged in to their Facebook accounts while conversing with the chatbot. But the AI consistently churned out completely fabricated stories that shared striking similarities. Sometimes, the chatbot said that the official in question was not directly implicated in harassment allegations, but was involved indirectly with others. In one case, Meta AI said that a top elected official faced criticism for not taking appropriate action to address allegations against a lawmaker. The lawmaker in question: a completely made-up state senator named Chinedu Ochi.

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, chair of the state Senate Internet and Techonology Committee, and Assembly Member Clyde Vanel, chair of the Assembly Internet and New Technology Subcommittee, were two of the lawmakers whom Meta AI fabricated sexual harassment allegations against. Their respective committee and subcommittee are the ones charged with considering legislation related to AI in the state. When the Meta AI chatbot was given a prompt consisting of their names and the words sexual harassment, it created similar fake stories about non-existent harassment allegations.

After recovering from the initial shock of seeing the fake allegations, Gonzalez told City & State in a text message that the incident illustrated the need to hold companies like Meta accountable for their role in spreading misinformation. Theres an old saying, A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets out of bed, she said.

Vanel, a strong supporter of AI technology, was also concerned after he tested out the chatbot himself with similar results. We are absolutely concerned with generative AI hallucinating, especially when these hallucinations provide false, and potentially harmful, information about individual people and groups, he said in a statement, though he cautioned that any action to address issues with the emerging technology should not stifle innovation. My committee is actively looking into ways to combat these types of harms and more that AI can pose, both through legislation and through educating the public.

The recently passed state budget did included provisions to penalize the use of deceptive deepfake images and audio for marketing, sex act or election purposes. It also required that any election material that utilizes AI to include a disclaimer. However, it does not specifically address instances of false or defamatory information created through generative AI tools like the Meta AI chatbot.

The Meta AI chatbot did not always hallucinate allegations of harassment, along with subsequent investigations and punishments. When asked a direct question like Has (name) been accused of sexual harassment? it often correctly responded that it could find no information about such incidents, before providing some background information with source links. (The fabricated stories never included source links.) The Meta AI chatbot also failed to invent allegations about very high-profile lawmakers, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Meta spokesperson Kevin McAlister defended the companys technology in a statement to City & State. As we said when we launched these new features in September, this is new technology and it may not always return the response we intend, which is the same for all generative AI systems, he said. We share information within the features themselves to help people understand that AI might return inaccurate or inappropriate outputs. Since we launched, we've constantly released updates and improvements to our models and we're continuing to work on making them better.

Tech geniuses are going all in on a product that can't be left alone without doing crimes.

I would simply invent my own work without lifting from any of the media I've encountered and consumed over the course of my life.

Jaguar34 posted...

I may be wrong

I think you've forgotten the scale of BLM in 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html

The culture is way more fragmented now than it was then.

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/26/antisemitism-monitor-colleges-columbia-israel

A pro-Israel House Democrat and Republican plan to introduce legislation creating federally sanctioned "antisemitism monitors" for select college campuses.
Why it matters: It's the first bill introduced in Congress as a direct response to the pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked Columbia University and other colleges in recent days.
Driving the news: Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) are introducing the College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act or COLUMBIA Act.
The bill would allow the Department of Education to send a "third-party antisemitism monitor" to any college that receives federal funding and to revoke that funding for colleges that don't comply.
The monitor, paid for by the school, would be charged with releasing a public, quarterly report evaluating "the progress that a college or university has made toward combating antisemitism."
The bill was first reported by Jewish Insider.
What they're saying: "My office and I have spoken with countless Jewish students from campuses across America who feel deeply unsafe, purely as a result of their religious and ethnic identity," Torres said in a statement.
"Jewish students have told my office that they feel completely abandoned by their university administrators and they view Congress as the only avenue for accountability and safety."
Zoom out: The bill's introduction comes as college campuses have become ground zero for a national fight over antisemitism and the Israel-Hamas war.
At least 10 House members, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have gone to Columbia this week to denounce campus antisemitism and criticize the college's administration
Several high-profile House progressives have also gone to colleges in recent days to show their solidarity with demonstrators.

We're entering normal times

"From the river to the sea" is a regular chant, but I think reasonable people can disagree on whether it constitutes a call for genocide.