2025 archive
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
The spirit of George Wallace lives on in today’s Republican Party.
Election Defiers 0
Thom talks with Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State for Michigan, about what it was like when armed Trump supporters turned up at her house because Trump lost the 2020 election and about what may motivate such extremism.
Hmmmm. Seems Sort of Familiar. 0
Does this remind you of anyone in the news?
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society’ 0
More politeness on the pavement.
Yessiree Bob, selling all them guns sure does make persons more polite, don’t it.
(Shhhhh. We won’t talk about the ROI for the Mongers of Death.)
The Climates They Are a-Changing 0
And pretending oherwise won’t make it go away.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Susceptible to suggestion? We’ll find out.
Security expert Bruce Schneier reports that “(a)cademic papers were found to contain hidden instructions to LLMs.”
One example he provides is an implanted instruction for “no negative reviews.” Follow the link for more examples and a link to the original study.
Deportation Nation 0
Farron discusses the Trump maladministration’s plan plot to denaturalize naturalized citizens because they have the unmitigated gall to exercise their rights as American citizens.
Ironically, my local media celebrated a naturalization ceremony at Fort Monroe that took place on the Fourth.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Laura A. Cariola explores how media portrayals affect our notion of immigrants. She focuses on British studies, as she is British, but I suspect her findings are equally applicable here, as the Trump maladministration persists in demonizing every other it can target.
Here’s a bit:
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another “responsible gun owner” fondles his portable phallus and sends himself and a child to the hospital upon its–er–discharge.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
Devolution 0
We’re living in a movie.
News You Could Lose 0
At AL.com, Kyle Whitmire notes that some government officials and agencies, including the Trump maladministration, are suddenly interested in freedom of repress. He gives several examples of government threats against reporter for, well, reporting.
Here’s a tiny excerpt, in which he talks about Trump’s threatening to sue news agencies for reporting that his bombing of Iran may not have been the glorious shattering victory that he claimed it to be (emphasis added):
Follow the link for the rest.