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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MAHA
Hannah and Daniel Neeleman's Ballerina Farm has reportedly paused its sale of raw milk following health concerns discovered this past summer.
In recent years, the influencer couple has built a business around their viral content shared to millions of followers across social channels. The Ballerina Farm brand — which is named for Hannah's past pursuits as a Juilliard-trained dancer — sells frozen meat products, pantry products, kitchenware and more goods related to baking and cooking.
...
In a statement issued to PEOPLE, Daniel says that the Ballerina Farm has come to better understand the process behind making consumable unpasteurized dairy products.
"Producing raw milk takes careful planning from a facility and infrastructure standpoint. Unfortunately, we learned this after the fact. The way our dairy was built is ideal for pasteurized dairy products," he says. "We do plan in the future to construct a second dairy made specifically for raw milk products. The state of Utah requires daily testing and any Raw Milk sold from our stand passed."
I am curious what precisely caused the Trumpers to start talking about "whole milk" instead of "raw milk."
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
The True 2nd Amendment
Not everybody gets to have guns, certainly not without fear of summary execution from "frightened" law enforcement.
Jeannine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on Monday threatened jail time for anyone who enters the capital with a gun.
In remarks on Fox News that could deepen a growing rift between gun owners and the Trump administration, Ms. Pirro declared that if anyone brings “a gun into the District, you mark my words, you’re going to jail. I don’t care if you have a license in another district and I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else.”
The Moment
Josh Shapiro proves his critics (me) correct almost every time he opens his mouth.
Philadelphia’s bombastic district attorney, Larry Krasner, is no stranger to opposition from within his own party, but the anger directed at him last week after he said ICE agents are “wannabe Nazis” was more pronounced than usual.
After making the comparison, Krasner faced a wave of criticism, including from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, who called the comments “abhorrent” and said the rhetoric doesn’t help “bring down the temperature.”
But the progressive district attorney said Monday that he would not back down, saying “these are people who have taken their moves from a Nazi playbook and a fascist playbook.”
“Governor Shapiro is not meeting the moment,” Krasner said in an interview. “The moment requires that we call a subgroup of people within federal law enforcement — who are killing innocent people, physically assaulting innocent people, threatening and punishing the use of video — what they are. … Just say it. Don’t be a wimp.”
Elsewhere, some other people for Shapiro to criticize:
About 500 seniors live at Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, including many Holocaust survivors. Recently, some of them asked if they could hide the building’s Haitian staff in their apartments.
“That reminds me of Anne Frank,” Rachel Blumberg, president and CEO of the center, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “There’s a kindred bond between our residents being Jewish and seeing the place that the Haitians have gone through.”
Concerning
Don't see how Phony Stark wriggles out of this one!
Offices belonging to Elon Musk's social media platform, X, in France are being raided by the Paris prosecutor.Its cyber-crime unit is conducting the searches, it said in a statement on X. Europol is assisting.It added it was related to an investigation opened in January 2025 following complaints about X's algorithm and the content it recommended.
Monday, February 02, 2026
The Priesthood
I hate that once upon a time I bought into, somewhat, the vision of the Supreme Court propped up by decades of mainstream media coverage. None of us are immune from propaganda, and the idea of the Supremos as high priests was drilled into me for a long time. The secrecy is not ok.
Seems Bad
I've made some errors of judgment, but being Tulsi-curious was never one of them.
WASHINGTON—A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter WASHINGTON—A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter.
Does Anybody Remember Laughter
I know that likely demolishing the Kennedy Center, or ornamenting it with giant tributes to dear leader, isn't actually funny, but of all the things that our "elites" are just letting Trump get away with, his building grotesque monuments to his corpulent ego is at least worth a chuckle.
They will either be lasting monuments to all of their failures, or be dynamited on Jan 20, 2029. It will most likely be the former, of course, which is sad but ultimately appropriate.
No Art For You
I admit I find this mostly funny, except for the orchestra any other resident companies that are fucked because Trump is pouting about something.
The Kennedy Center in Washington DC will be closed for a two-year renovation beginning in July, US President Donald Trump has announced.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday that the centre would close on 4 July this year "in honour of the 250th Anniversary of our Country".
Appropriate way of honoring that anniversary at this moment, I suppose. It's closing time.
Converging Crises
I suppose the novel version has a civilization threatening plague originating in the concentration camps being filled by the mad king, whose adviser prevented the population from being vaccinated against it.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted "all movement" at a detention center in Texas for families and quarantined some migrants there after medical staff confirmed two detainees had "active measles infections," the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.
This is, of course, horrible and neither the situation broadly nor the individuals affected will get the attention they require.
Sunday, February 01, 2026
Nazi Cosplayer Has Nazi Views
It has been, uh, interesting to watch the media-political class work themselves into a frenzy over the antisemitism of being against genocide, while pretending not to understand what actual Nazis were about.
A day before six career federal prosecutors resigned in protest over the Justice Department’s handling of the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, lawyers in the office had a conversation with Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol field leader, that left them deeply unsettled.Nazis weren't only about genocidal antisemitism, of course, but it was kind of a big thing! Maybe they should read a book about it before their hero, Trump, the bringer of peace to the Middle East, burns them all.
According to several people with knowledge of the telephone conversation, which took place on Jan. 12, Mr. Bovino made derisive remarks about the faith of the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, Daniel N. Rosen. Mr. Rosen is an Orthodox Jew and observes Shabbat, a period of rest between Friday and Saturday nights that often includes refraining from using electronic devices.
Mr. Bovino, who has been the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, used the term “chosen people” in a mocking way, according to the people with knowledge of the call. He also asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals don’t take weekends off, the people said.
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