It’s All about the Benjamins 0
At my local rag, retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Miller-Pitts dissects the NRA’s claims that assault weapons are somehow no different from hunting rifles and debunks de bunk. A snippet (emphasis added):
The gun lobby will tell the court that assault weapons are “sporting rifles” meant for hunting and recreational shooting. As an armorer, I can tell you that the difference between a civilian AR-15 and the M4 Carbine I carried in Iraq is minimal and in practice inconsequential.
Love for Sale 0
Farron discusses the recent news report that wingnut influencer Laura Loomer gets paid for her Tweets Xcretions.
Chaos Agents 0
In midst of a longer post about this weeks air traffic control shutdown, Grune_e_Gene makes a comment that I find quite en point:
Follow the link for context.
Republican Strategy Revealed 0
If at first you don’t succeed, lie, lie again.
Prying Eyes 0
The EFF’s Thorin Klosowski takes a deep look at how Big Tech is becoming a surveillance industry. Here’s how their ar; follow the link for the rest.
Meta and Google’s smart glasses can record anything the owner is looking at or use artificial intelligence to describe it. Apple’s* Audio Intelligence feature turns every Apple Watch into a transcription machine that records or summarizes your day. Amazon’s Bee devices take that a step further and can record and transcribe everything. Dozens of other companies are introducing pendants, rings, and other products designed to record, transcribe, or summarize everything we say and do all day long.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Thom enumerates the many parallels between the old Secesh of 1861 and the new Secesh of today’s Republican Party.
American Stasi 0
Yet another law-abiding person on his way to his job is arrested sent to an ICE concentration camp detention center for being brown.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Accountable? At the Psychology Today website, Tara Well reminds that a “friend or therapist has to live with the consequences of their advice; a chatbot doesn’t.”
This New Gilded Age 0
A Monopoly Man wants to maroon Mackinac Island residents unless he gets to raise ferry fares because he owns all the ferries.
Freedom of Screech 0
Kimball Shinkoskey decodes de code.
This New Gilded Age 0
Aside:
Money may not be able to buy everything–thank heavens it didn’t this time–but it sure as heck can skew the game.
Thanks to the Supreme Supremacist Court and Citizens Benighted, which helped pave the way for this new gilded age.
American Stasi, Rule of Lawless Dept. 0
Farron discusses a Washington Post report that ICE’s hiring practices may be–er–questionable.