Enjoy
Friday, February 06, 2026
Word Games
Humans don't drive the cars, they just frequently tell the cars where to go and what to do.
Peña, providing some clarity, explained that the human agents were only there to “provide guidance” to the robotaxis.
“They do not remotely drive the vehicles. Waymo asks for guidance in certain situations and gets human input. But the Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving task,” Peña said.
I'm too lazy to look at the moment, but I am sure (I have long been sure, this isn't new) that they have carefully worded all their releases and data submissions to obscure the frequency of what Markey calls phone-a-friend.
This Reminds Me Of The Time Sarah Huckabee Sanders Was Politely Asked To Leave A Restaurant
The intolerant and often violent Left strikes again.
Former U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino was reportedly asked to leave a Las Vegas bar out of safety concerns for the venue’s customers.
Days after being removed from his post in Minneapolis, Bovino headed to Sin City, where he was spotted drinking wine at the multi-level Bottled Blonde sports bar on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Washington Post Vision
I have no idea, but given that Will Lewis runs the place, he probably has some very British ideas, which means the line between "journalism" and "blackmailing politicians" gets very blurry.
Everyone keeps asking whether the Post can "succeed," but the question is, succeed at what? It doesn't have to make money, they're destroying any reason for actual readers to read it, and Jeff isn't yet shutting it down. So what does he want it for?
How Things Work
One thing journalists rarely explain is that when you piss off some deep pocketed interests, they don't necessarily fund attack ads about the thing that pissed them off. Instead, they fund attack ads about whatever your vulnerability happens to be.
Often this gets confused in the reporting. Something like supporting a minimum wage increase isn't risky because people oppose it, it's because someone is going to run attack ads against you accusing you of being soft on illegal immigrant child rapists, or whatever.
When "popularism" bumps up against big donors, the popularists say go with the big donors. They get mad when you point this out.
In this special election primary, AIPAC ran ads against Tom Malinowski pointing out that he supported funding DHS. They did this because Malinowski was only 95% reliable instead of 100% reliable on Israel. It looks like the actual anti-Israel lefty - Analilia Mejia - might win. It will be either her or Malinowski, anyway.
The outcome in the special Democratic Party primary 11th Congressional District remained too close to call late Thursday, Feb. 5, but one clear, colossal and enormously expensive irony emerged.In its attempt to bludgeon frontrunner Tom Malinowski with $2 million in negative ads because he his support of Israel was deemed too soft, the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee may have helped elect its worst nightmare — a new member of the left-wing “squad” who has been critical of Israel.
The strategy failed, but that's the strategy.
The Best Of Us
Gates is the ultimate example of a guy we had to listen to, on everything from climate to education to public health, because he was rich and for no other reason.
The newly-released tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein have cast a fresh shadow over billionaire Bill Gates’ ties to the convicted sex offender, revealing a series of graphic, unverified allegations as well as a degree of philanthropic coordination between the two that is more detailed than previously known.
Melinda's basically been saying, subject to whatever contractual constraints limit her, "I divorced Bill because he's a big pedo," for years. And yet...
Could Be
Writing the excuses for the Mad King, so his people don't even have to bother.
President Trump late Thursday night shared a video that contained a brief clip portraying former President Barack Obama and the former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The clip, set to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” was spliced near the end of a 62-second video that promoted conspiracy theories about anomalies in the 2020 presidential election.
It was unclear if Mr. Trump was aware that the clip had been included in the video before he shared it. It was unclear how the clip was made, although it appeared to have been generated by A.I. The clip appeared to have been taken from a video that was shared in October by a user on X whose watermark is shown, with the caption “President Trump: King of the Jungle,” and an emoji of a lion.
You can just report it straight!
Thursday, February 05, 2026
Popularism!
One day they will learn to chase where the puck is going, maybe even try to give it a whack themselves, realize they don't need 4 guys on defense all the time...
65% of Americans, up from 54% in June of 2025, think the actions of ICE have gone too far in enforcing immigration laws. 12%, down from 18%, say ICE’s actions have not gone far enough. And 22% say the actions of ICE are about right in enforcing immigration laws. This is down slightly from 26% previously.
Longtime Wingman Of Larry Summers
Amazing stuff.
Epstein is also eager to prove that he is not a racist. He says: “You know, there’s this argument that I reject that Black people are less intelligent than white people. It’s not true.“We know, for example, that if I was in the forest and I had to run from the lion or figure out a way not to be eaten, and my competition is a local African, I’m the one who’s getting eaten. Because they have the intelligence to deal with their local environment.“So it’s just different. It’s not better, it’s not worse. But there’s many differences amongst different types of people, and people have different intelligences and they excel in some intelligences usually and less so in others.”
Have You Tried Not Being The World's Worst Human
Try imagining how to get the approval of people who aren't named "Catturd2." It took Bill Murray several decades (or even more) to figure it out in Groundhog Day. Better get started, Elon!
But In This Rural Ohio Congressional District, He's Not Popular At All
All the Mamdani haters have gone pretty quiet lately.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has 48-32% favorability rating, from 46-31% in December. The 48% favorable is the highest it’s ever been for Mamdani. He is viewed favorably by 64% of Democrats, unfavorably by 68% of Republicans, and favorably, 43-31%, by independents.One of my "favorite" anti-Mamdani arguments was that he shouldn't be the candidate because, if he was elected, then Democrats all over the country would have to answer for him
I suppose people who decided that the winner of a 5-way contested mayoral race (Adams) in New York City told us something, anything, about national Dem politics could think that honestly, but I bet the rest of us can see the problem with believing that no Democratic politician, anywhere in America, can be to the left of Tim Ryan (who lost) without dooming the party.
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Concentration Camp NIMBYs
Republican senators, too!
I strongly oppose DHS's proposed plan to turn a warehouse in Byhalia, Mississippi, into an ICE detention center. I am all for immigration enforcement, but this site was meant for economic development and job creation. We cannot suddenly flood Byhalia with an influx of up to…
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) February 4, 2026
Darkness
I don't have many deep thoughts about the demise of the Post, in part because I don't actually know what Bezos is trying to achieve (theorize away, but I don't know). I'll just say that Bezos pulled the trigger awhile ago, and this is just the bleeding stage.
What's This All About Then
No idea.
Fifty-five-year-old Ori Solomon faces charges in both state and federal court after investigators seized guns, passports, and uncovered details about the alleged illegal biolab tied to a man who is currently in federal custody.
So far, in Clark County, Solomon faces one felony count of improper disposal of hazardous waste — specifically, hydrochloric acid. The charge comes under a Nevada law governing "weapons of mass destruction, lethal agents, toxins and delivery systems."
Solomon is also facing federal gun charges after authorities found bullets and at least six firearms during a search of his Las Vegas home on Saturday.
Police and court records reveal Solomon is an Israeli citizen who was admitted into the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa, which is valid until May. That visa prohibits him from having guns.
Zones of Interest
Some people aren't big fans of concentration camps being built near them. From a hearing in Surprise, Arizona.
[Jake Tapper bursts through the wall, like the Kool-Aid Man, to yell at me for using the term "concentration camp" to refer to concentration camps.]Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”
— Arizona Right Watch (@azrww.bsky.social) February 4, 2026 at 6:43 AM
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