spit_evil_olive_tips

@ spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org

Posts

113
Comments

276
Joined

1 yr. ago

5mo ago

Gavin Newsom vetoes California gender education bill, hasn't signed other trans protections
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6

spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago
I'm well aware of the lesser-of-two-evils / voting-as-harm-reduction argument. I even accept it in some cases (eg, I'd be willing to vote for Pritzker, even though he's a billionaire nepo baby who used inherited wealth to buy his way into politics)
I'm not willing to extend it to Newsom. he is not "harm reduction". he is promoting harm against trans people.
Newsom said in an interview that he thought trans people should maybe be forced to wait until 25 years old before they're allowed to medically transition
that's rooted in bullshit science about "your brain keeps developing until you're 25"
but Newsom agrees with the Oklahoma Republican Party on that subject
here is the record of the bill Newsom just vetoed. it passed the state assembly with 78% of the vote, and the state senate with 75% of the vote.
he's supposedly a Democrat...and yet he's in opposition to something that other Democrats in California overwhelmingly supported. and meanwhile he's in agreement with the fucking Oklahoma Republican Party?
to quote Black Panther - is this your king? is this your "harm reduction"?
also, separate from my personal dislike of him, if Newsom is the nominee in 2028 he will lose. I don't like making political predictions but I feel pretty confident in that one. so even if you believe that political principles are for suckers and the only thing that matters is having a warm body in the office with a (D) next to their name...you should still oppose Newsom.

5mo ago

Gavin Newsom vetoes California gender education bill, hasn't signed other trans protections

spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

Newsom's consent factory has been in full swing, trying to position him as the frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

he has a D next to his name, but he's not a Democrat. he's a Diet Republican, and this is the most recent example.

if he's the nominee in 2028, I'm not voting for him. piss and moan and scold me all you want, it will not change my mind. I have a "purity test" that I will only vote for Democrats who actually believe in human rights.

5mo ago

Burbank Airport air traffic control tower unmanned on Monday evening amid government shutdown

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

this link has a live feed of the ATC chatter: https://www.liveatc.net/hlisten.php?mount=kbur3_gnd_twr&icao=kbur

and you can follow the planes on https://globe.adsb.fi/ or similar sites

for anyone unfamiliar with the Los Angeles area, Burbank is one of the many airports in the region, nowhere near as large as LAX, but still sees quite a bit of airline traffic, mostly shorter domestic flights because LAX is such an international hub.

edit: here's a news helicopter hovering nearby and probably shooting B-roll, while a United 737 comes in to land and a Southwest 737 taxis for departure: https://i.imgur.com/5pK6zEv.png

5mo ago

An AI Just Attempted Murder... Allegedly... by SomeOrdinaryGamers [21:15 min] Video

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

If it had the power to do so it would have killed someone

right...the problem isn't the chatbot, it's the people giving the chatbot power and the ability to affect the real world.

thought experiment: I'm paranoid about home security, so I set up a booby-trap in my front yard, such that if someone walks through a laser tripwire they get shot with a gun.

if it shoots a UPS delivery driver, I am obviously the person culpable for that.

now, I add a camera to the setup, and configure an "AI" to detect people dressed in UPS uniforms and avoid pulling the trigger in that case.

but my "AI" is buggy, so a UPS driver gets shot anyway.

if a news article about that claimed "AI attempts to kill UPS driver" it would obviously be bullshit.

the actual problem is that I took a loaded gun and gave a computer program the ability to pull the trigger. it doesn't really matter whether that computer program was 100 lines of Python running on a Raspberry Pi or an "AI" running on 100 GPUs in some datacenter somewhere.

5mo ago

📚 Ruminating on eReaders: Rambling thoughts and memories of my first two eReaders, the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Voyage

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

Sorry, I misunderstood — you were offering to buy me one?

apparently I misunderstood too, because it seems like your goal is purely to be an asshole and get into arguments on the internet. have a nice day.

5mo ago

📚 Ruminating on eReaders: Rambling thoughts and memories of my first two eReaders, the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Voyage

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

Why TF do Kindles and the like even need to exist? I read on my iPhone while the audiobook is playing.

if you prefer to read on your phone, by all means read on your phone.

but making the jump from that to "e-readers should not exist" is fucking stupid.

Do Not Disturb and self control are a thing and have never been a problem for me.

congratulations. would you like a gold star.

This isn’t rocket science.

I have ADHD. regulating my attention sometimes is rocket science.

obviously that's not the only reason, I have neurotypical friends and family who love their e-readers, and I'm sure there are people with ADHD who prefer reading on their phones.

remember that there are 8 billion people in the world, and not all of them have the exact same preferences as you do. that isn't rocket science.

5mo ago

Vance accuses Democrats of shutting down America to protect AOC’s political power | Newsinterpretation

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

man, it's disappointing to see Beehaw get flooded with AI clickbait slop.

look at this author bio:

I am Pearl Croft I give “News Interpretation” an insight into the most recent news hitting the “Consumer Goods” sector in Wall Street. I have been an independent financial adviser for over 11 years in the city and in recent years turned my experience in finance and passion for journalism into a full time role. I perform analysis of Companies and publicize valuable information for shareholder community. But writing about the political developments is my hobby.

5mo ago

Lawmaker Sounds Alarm: Trump Plotting Fake Crisis to Scrap 2028 Election and Stay in Power

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

an NYT article that essentially states the same

that NYT article is about Trump ordering the military to murder people on boats in the Caribbean.

this article, on the other hand, is summarizing a YouTube video that was responding to what Trump said in his speech to a bunch of generals at Quantico.

so other than Trump doing authoritarian shit, there isn't really any connection.

they're both examples of bad journalism, just in different ways. the NYT article does some classic both-sides shit that boils down to "legal experts say it's illegal to murder people, but a White House spokesperson disagreed". and this article is just AI-written slop with a clickbait headline.

5mo ago

Lawmaker Sounds Alarm: Trump Plotting Fake Crisis to Scrap 2028 Election and Stay in Power

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

I'm not familiar with this "Daily Boulder" site, does anyone know how reputable it is?

the article is setting off my AI clickbait detector - the author is "Staff Writer", and there's no original reporting in it, just a summary of a YouTube clip.

also, seven emdashes.

5mo ago

Republicans refuse to swear in newly elected Democrat, delaying success of Epstein petition

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

The move deprives a petition of the last signature it needs to force a vote on a bill to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein

seemingly minor procedural thing, but important - they're not just delaying release of the Epstein files, they're delaying a roll-call vote on releasing the Epstein files

the vote would simply force them to give a concrete, recorded, yes-or-no answer to "should the Epstein files be released?"

and Republicans are terrified of that, because they've painted themselves into a corner where "yes" will piss off Trump (as well as any other oligarchs listed in the files) and "no" will piss off their base, especially the QAnon freaks who actually believed the Republican propaganda about "fighting pedophiles"

tapping the sign: We Need to Talk About Pedocon Theory - The connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is no accident, but reveals a deep logic at the heart of reactionary politics (content warning: jumpscare of Trump's mugshot as soon as you load the page)

5mo ago

Conservative Judge Eviscerates Trump ICE Raids, Calls 'Cowardly' Masked Agents a Disgrace to American Honor

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

On Tuesday, Judge Bill Young of Massachusetts issued a 161-page ruling

one of my journalism pet peeves - the "source" the article links to is a tweet from some random account, with a one-page screenshot from the ruling.

instead, here's an actual direct link to the ruling (161 page PDF): https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282460/gov.uscourts.mad.282460.261.0.pdf

5mo ago

FAA decides it trusts Boeing enough to certify safety of its own planes again

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

Boeing will only get to issue airworthiness certificates every other week, with the FAA handling things the other half of the time.

uhh. what.

I don't claim to be an expert in aircraft manufacturing...but just as a layman, this "compromise" seems like it might actually be worse than just letting Boeing inspect everything itself?

doing this week-on/week-off shit, like they're divorced parents trying to make sure little Jimmy gets to soccer practice, seems like it creates huge opportunities for problems to fall through the cracks.

if you're one of the workers doing these safety-critical inspections, you shouldn't have to change your process based on whether it's an odd week or an even week. that's absurd.

5mo ago

Get ready for the next big bailout

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

random totally unrelated fun fact: JD Vance's venture capital firm is an investor in AcreTrader

I think the article is correct that a bailout is coming, but I don't think it will be as big as they're saying. large in absolute terms, yes, but not necessarily that large relative to the size of the problem they're claiming to address.

more likely, they'll do just enough of a bailout that state-run media outlets like Fox News can push a "Trump is helping soybean farmers who've been attacked by the Chinese" talking point. and meanwhile a bunch of farms will go bankrupt and be forced to sell to oligarchs and private equity ghouls.

5mo ago

Doug Bowser is stepping down as Nintendo of America president and COO | VGC

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

best of luck to his replacement, Greg Yoshi

5mo ago

Regulating AI hastens the Antichrist, says Palantir’s Peter Thiel

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

there's an old joke that poor people are "weird" but wealthy people are "eccentric"

if you heard someone in your family saying this bullshit at Thanksgiving, you'd think they were experiencing delusions and in need of professional mental help.

instead, Thiel talked about this in a four-part lecture series with sold-out tickets.

5mo ago

Multiple fatalities in apparent sniper attack at Dallas ICE facility, acting ICE director says

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

sure, there will be misinformation from the White House, misinformation from the right-wing media, misinformation from the cops, misinformation from random assholes on Twitter, etc.

but that's not a good excuse to add to the misinformation. speculation based purely on vibes is never productive, no matter how correct the vibes feel.

and yeah, we'll never know 100% of what happened with 100% certainty. but there will be good, reliable reporting about parts of it. when that reliable reporting comes out, by all means shout it from the rooftops.

but in the meantime, don't fill the void with unreliable information. like I said, just wait. have a little patience.

5mo ago

Multiple fatalities in apparent sniper attack at Dallas ICE facility, acting ICE director says

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

my personal take on this is, its some rightwinger trying to get the troubles to pop off.

yeah...don't do this.

speculating without evidence about the identity/motivation of shooters is bad. it's bad when right-wingers do it and it's bad when people on the left do it.

just wait. wait for actual reliable evidence to come out. there's no prize for saying 5 minutes after the shooting "I bet it was someone who thought X" and having that turn out to be correct.

5mo ago

Someone has to drag the US out of the hellscape of Trumpism. Who better than AOC?

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

you're welcome! I had seen some rumblings elsewhere about AOC & Israel, but hadn't taken the time to look into them, so I used this as an opportunity to see for myself if there was any truth to them.

5mo ago

Someone has to drag the US out of the hellscape of Trumpism. Who better than AOC?

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

ehh...the actual concrete actions AOC has taken that they disagree with are quite weaksauce:

We recognize that AOC has taken many courageous positions on Palestine such as co-sponsoring several House Resolutions (3103, 786, 496), naming Israel’s genocide as well as opposing House Resolution 894. However, members have raised their concerns regarding a number of her votes, including a vote in favor of H.Res.888, conflating opposition to Israel’s “right to exist” with antisemitism.

HR 888 primarily condemned the October 7th attack by Hamas, but also included language about "denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism". it passed with only one dissenting vote (Thomas Massie, R-KY) and one present vote (Rashida Tlaib, D-MI)

Ilhan Omar voted yes, as did Pramila Jayapal (my representative, and chair of the Progressive Caucus, who's generally very good about opposing the Gaza genocide) and every other Congressional Democrat besides Tlaib. so I don't think a yes vote on this alone is sufficient for me to discard a politician as having been captured by Zionism or the military-industrial complex or whatever.

AOC also co-signed a press release on April 20, 2024, that “support[s] strengthening the Iron Dome and other defense systems”

they don't cite their sources so this one took a bit of digging, but they seem to be referring to this. 20 Democrats, including AOC, voted against the "Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act" and put out a press release with their reasoning.

so they took what IMO is the correct position - voting to deny additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military. and the DSA is cherry-picking one phrase out of the 5-paragraph statement to paint her in a bad light. if you read it in context, they're talking about opposing offensive weapons but being OK with defensive ones.

Finally, AOC recently hosted a public panel with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, lobbyists for the IHRA definition of antisemitism. On this panel, anti-Zionism and antisemitism were conflated and boycotting Zionist institutions was condemned.
...
Correction: “She conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism” was edited to read “On this panel, anti-Zionism and antisemitism were conflated” after the statement was posted.

the other two are debatable. this one isn't. this is just fucking sloppy bullshit.

again, doing the DSA's work of citing their sources for them - her announcement and the video itself

it's a 36 minute long Zoom call. AOC hosts it, with two other people.

their original statement claimed she conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. they clearly didn't put much effort into checking that, because after they published the statement they had to backtrack and make the correction that it was someone else on the panel.

they call it a "public panel" but it was just a YouTube stream. in more than a year it's only gotten 10k views. and someone else on the stream said something that DSA members disagreed with? that's just absurd levels of guilt by association.

5mo ago

Permanently Deleted

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spit_evil_olive_tips @beehaw.org 5mo ago

“Nurses and medical staff are really overworked, under a lot of pressure, and unfortunately, a lot of times they don’t have capacity to provide engagement and connection to patients,” said Karen Khachikyan, CEO of Expper Technologies, which developed the robot.

tapping the sign: every "AI" related medical invention is built around this assumption that there's too few medical staff and they're all overworked and changing that is not feasible. so we have to invest millions of dollars into hospital robots because investing millions of dollars in actually paying workers would be too hard. (also, robots never unionize)

Robin is about 30% autonomous, while a team of operators working remotely controls the rest under the watchful eyes of clinical staff.

30%...according to the company itself. they have a strong incentive to exaggerate. and they're not publishing any data of how they arrived at that figure so that it could be independently verified.

it sounds like they took one of the telepresence robots that's been around for 10+ years and slapped ChatGPT into it and now they're trying to fundraise on the hype of being an "AI" company. it's a good grift if you can make it work.