Happy Hour

Get happy.

Installing Malware Everywhere

The Butlerian Jihad is inevitable.

Earlier this year, sources tell WIRED, a contractor caused a security incident at the Department of Defense by connecting a secure centralized system used by multiple intelligence agencies to their personal account for Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding agent. It appears that the agent used by the contractor, who is employed by global consulting firm Accenture, then sent information about the DOD system, including login credentials, to a high-risk third-party website.

"AI" gets referred to as the plagiarism machine, but its arrival marked the moment when everybody just said "fuck it" to all privacy and network security concerns. 

It's gonna be like trying to get rid of bedbugs.

Sure Why Not

We are living in Southland Tales.

Elsewhere, Bill Pulte, a top federal housing official and purveyor of A.I.-generated images and memes that make their way to the president’s social media feed, spends some of his time making posters. He recently made one of Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, a Republican whose backside Mr. Trump has admired, for the president to display while riding aboard Air Force One.

I don't mean this in a "lol the president is gay" sense, but people who have spent some time around dementia patients know things can get a bit freaky. 

Maybe It's Happening

Gramps is a little tired.

President Donald Trump has canceled an appearance at a Kansas rally on Saturday, his only scheduled campaign-trail appearance the weekend before Election Day.

The president will instead participate in a series of virtual rallies. It’s unclear whether he will reschedule the Kansas event.

Oops We Enshittified Ourselves

I was wondering how Google was enhancing their revenue by jamming AI answers up top, and the answer is that they aren't.

So that’s the first problem, likely driven by more consumers using AI chatbots to find answers. The other issue is that Google’s take on AI search isn’t pulling in revenue like standard web search yet. According to Schindler, each AI Mode query earns less revenue compared to a similar web search—there are fewer ads, and they cost less to run.

A Party With A Racism Problem

Not just the Republicans.

For the second straight year, center-left Democrats have spent much of the campaign cycle attacking and undermining a compelling Muslim candidate who is also a target of the right. This is shameful and despicable. A Democratic Party that won’t fully accept Muslim candidates isn’t a party that actually practices the principles of democracy, diversity, inclusion, pluralism, and multiculturalism that it preaches.

After Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York last year, he faced deep hostility from his own party. Longtime New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the party leadership, falsely implied that Mamdani had spoken favorably about “global jihad.” Gillibrand, Barack Obama, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, Senator Cory Booker, and numerous other prominent Democrats refused to endorse Mamdani ahead of the general election, even though they usually back candidates who win Democratic primaries. Many of these Democrats either stated outright or leaked via their aides disagreements with Mamdani on Israeli-Palestinian issues and/or ridiculous claims that he was insufficiently concerned about antisemitism. Kamala Harris said she supported “the Democratic nominee” in the race, refusing to use his name.

A year later, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing a similar resistance. El-Sayed, unlike Mamdani last year, is running against a Republican in a state that Democrats desperately want to win. So Obama, Schumer, Gillibrand, and other party leaders are backing his candidacy. But some Democrats, such as Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Hillary Scholten of Michigan, are publicly refusing to back El-Sayed, again citing Israel and antisemitism concerns.

I, Too, Think AI Is A Dumb Term For Whatever It Is

For different reasons than Trump (his is dumber, dumber with a 'b'), but he isn't going to have any more luck changing it than I would.

You can make Mr. Google change the map, but you can't change a term that's already achieved this level of common usage.

The Internet Of Shit

One day nuclear war will start because the password on Hegseth's beer fridge is 123456.

WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is treating the spate of mysterious freezer ​malfunctions that spoiled food at military bases across the United States in August as a suspected hack, according to four officials familiar with the matter.

Between the malware that is AI infesting everything and DOGE handing the keys to whoever the fuck, I expect many problems in the future! 

Morning

Thanos Thursday

Happy Hour

 Get happy

Oh BiBi, You Scamp

We should ask some Dem electeds if they agree (top of Haaretz right now).

I suspect that The Only Democracy in the Middle East is going to be even less democratic soon.

Oh No

Testing the limits of any prison abolitionist.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has charged conservative influencers Cam Higby and James O’Keefe with felony counts of identity theft and unlawful voting after they disguised themselves and attempted to vote during the state primaries in August.

Higby and O’Keefe used hidden cameras to record their attempts and claimed they were exposing lax voter regulations in Minnesota in an attempt to reveal potential voter fraud.

Tried and failed to commit voter fraud and got arrested for it.

Journalists fucking loved this guy and would tweet excitedly when A NEW PROJECT VERITAS VIDEO WAS ABOUT TO DROP.

Speaking of Extradition Treaties

Definitely one for President AOC.

A jet carrying the Brazilian far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has landed in Miami, Florida, where the losing candidate in Sunday’s presidential election runoff is expected to hold a press conference.

Extradition Treaties

President AOC, this will be fun for you.

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ordered a police investigation into alleged ties between a donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance and the presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-up to Sunday’s election.

Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino directed the Brazilian federal police to investigate the “nature” of the contacts between the Rockbridge Network, which was founded in 2019, and any Brazilian companies or political operatives to aid or finance Bolsonaro’s run.

It’s a crime in Brazil for a political candidate to accept funding or other campaign assistance from a foreign source.

I realize this is unlikely to get JD, but other countries indicting our faves could be a way around Trump's pardons.

Yes I also realize nothing like that will happen. We can have some fun imagining, occasionally.

And Then The Good Guys Won And We Lived Happily Ever After

I don't know anything about Israeli politics other than the mostly obvious, but I am pretty well acquainted with the long-running serialized fantasy series, Israel, that appears almost daily in our finer periodicals, even as its writers often express anger that anyone is interested in it.

This election was supposed to be a repudiation of Netanyahu, who had polluted the realm with his vile nastiness, and a restoration of the good kingdom. 

It does not look like that at all, even if it is somewhat of  setback for him, though I expect the writers of Israel will continue on as if it was.

It is true that the opposition is 67-53 at the current vote count, but that includes 19 seats for what Haaretz (I assume this is standard) calls "Arab parties" and they have cooties for reasons and no one will coalition with them.

Morning

Happy Hour

Jo Swinson likely to be the next PM of Israel.

America's Worst Humans

 Jaron Alexander.

Run Away

I guess he's coded white enough for asylum in Trumpland.

The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is on his way to the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election to the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Youthful Indiscretions

I was young, too, one year ago, at 53.

State Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) has sent unsolicited nude photos as recently as 2021. He dismisses his past sexual advances as “youthful indiscretions” that marked his 30-year marriage.

Multiple sources say they had received or seen nude photos from Taylor, who is running for U.S. Congress in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. Taylor acknowledged to the Scene that he had sent nude photos in the past but dismissed them as mistakes that have since been forgiven by his wife Kimberly.

“As I near 60 years old, the expiration date has come and gone on any of my youthful indiscretions,” Taylor tells the Scene when asked about a history of texting nude pictures. “Whatever story you think you’ve got, my wife is well aware of and we’ve worked through it a long time ago. My god and my wife have forgiven me, and I would consider everyone else doing the same.”

The main issue is not infidelity, which is, aside from gross hypocrisy issues, between him and his wife. It's the unsolicited part:

One individual — who requested anonymity, citing fear of retaliation — says they received an unsolicited nude picture from Taylor as recently as 2021, before he was elected to the state Senate. A second eyewitness source independently confirmed the nude photos sent by Taylor. At that time, Taylor was 53.

We kids remember Henry Hyde's youthful indiscretions. Hyde was a youngster for that! 41-45!