Get happy
Wednesday, September 02, 2026
I Think It Is?
Benefits like, uh, growth and stuff or whatever.
Altman told the gathered ministers and representatives that countries shouldn’t overlook the improvements to daily life poised to come from AI.“I think it is non-negotiable that you have to use it,” he said. “The economic growth and benefit to people that can come from this, the value to a country, is too high to ignore.”
Memories
As a veteran of the Lieberman wars, when official Washington acted as if primarying a "respected" sitting senator was the equivalent to setting up the guillotines, I've been amused at the inconsistent application of that view of primarying incumbents since.
It comes down to:
Primarying centrists, hawks, reliable corrupt torchbearers of the Washington Consensus: unfathomable, unforgivable violence
Primarying left-coded candidates, even if they aren't all that lefty: good, smart.
I, For One, Welcome Our New Lizard Overlords
Finally some good news.
Another giant reptile is clawing its way toward disrupting the South Florida ecosystem as an invasive species.
The Nile monitor -- a semi-aquatic lizard that can grow up to 6 feet and is equipped with razor claws -- has been establishing populations in the area since the 1980s, according to ecology experts.
Bye Seth
The Dem party always has a few Seth Moultons, guys who are quite convinced that if only everyone else would be a bigot like he is that Dems would rule forever. More than that, it is unfair that anyone disagrees and they should shutupShutupSHUTUPSHUTUP.
Transgender rights weren’t even close to the most prominent issue in the 2024 campaign. To the extent they were, it was a 2019 video of Harris supporting gender-affirming care for people in federal prison, a much harder position to defend than young people playing sports. It was strange that Moulton singled out transgender athletes for the Democrats’ defeat, as opposed to Biden, Harris, or their campaign strategists. Even worse, he whined when he was criticized for his remarks, suggesting those rebukes showed Democrats don’t tolerate alternative views. Moulton wanted to attack transgender participation in sports without those who support transgender athletes forcefully criticizing him in response. Sorry Seth, that’s not how free speech or open discourse works.
It is one thing to be that guy. It is another to think that is the kind of guy who wins statewide primaries against incumbents in Massachusetts.
Like many blue states, Mass is not is overwhelmingly lefty as it is sometimes characterized, but the median dem primary voter is not a fan of that shit.
Tuesday, September 01, 2026
All My Apes, Cheap
One issue with the LLM business model is that with all the apparent competiton, how do the prices not stay low?
What We Are Talking About When We Talk About Affordability
A plan to convene 5 working groups.
What @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social told me the House agenda will be next year if Democrats win —Reverse Trump’s Medicaid cuts —Extend expired ACA tax credits —Restore Congress’s authority on tariffs —“Decisively” end the Iran war Beyond that: “We’ve established five working groups on affordability”
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) 1 September 2026 at 12:27
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A Cable News Miracle
Kaitlin Collins interviews Al-Sayed without asking about Hasan Piker or Israel.
Israel is a fair topic generally, just not in the way it's usually covered in these interviews, which involves pretending it's Al-Sayed who is obsessed with the subject as he is badgered about it, and pretending his very mainstream views about the subject are extremist.
Is Nothing Noteworthy
As far as I can find, no major US outlet covered this.
The Defense Department was forced on Monday to deny the U.S. had struck Iran’s main petroleum export facility after President Donald Trump posted a fake but very realistic AI-generated video showing a purported attack by American forces.The video, posted to the president’s Truth Social account, appears to show oil storage tanks and refineries erupting in flames from the perspective of someone filming from inside a helicopter above the carnage, with an accompanying message describing the scene as “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens” and signed as “President DJT.”But a U.S. official said no such attack had taken place, with Kharg Island not being among the locations targeted overnight in what has been the first exchange of fire between American and Iranian forces in weeks.
The exception being CNBC, which claims it was just a threat.
Later Sunday, President Donald Trump threatened on social media to blow up Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export hub, to “smithereens.”
There really is a tacit agreement by most media outlets to ignore his truth social page most of the time.
Monday, August 31, 2026
You'll Be Long Dead, Elon
I suppose one day we might have wackiest of the futuristic scifi technologies. Our brains uploaded into the "cloud." Sentient nanobot clusters powered by, um, I dunno, quantum something, building entire worlds out of the ether.
I still enjoy the occasional scifi book. Doing some "whatifs" with that kind of technology can be fun.
I do not think we will have anything like this while Elon is still with us (or me). I do not think Elon will be able to upload his brain into a robot before he dies.
The Vision
Internet poster Elissa Slotkin thinks Democrats should support good things, and I hope she writes a letter to her senator.
I do hope Elissa's senator comes up with some specific ideas for this stuff, and lets Elissa know what they are.
What the hell is "A system that rewards you for taking care of yourself"?
At Least The War Is Over
Iran fired missiles toward US military targets in Jordan in retaliation for a strike on Iranian rocket launchers that the US said were trying to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz –– the key shipping route that’s become the center of regional tensions and diplomatic efforts.
Apparently Labor Day is next week! The perils of working from home.
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