“This investigation of Dr. #Fauci shows that he is an honorable #PublicServant, committed to #PublicHealth & he is not a comic book supervillain. He did not fund research to create the #Covid19 pandemic. He did not lie to #Congress about gain of function research in #Wuhan. And he did not organize a lab leak suppression campaign to cover his tracks. These are outrageous concoctions, fabrications & distortions,” #Democrat Rep #JamieRaskin said.
"Just asking questions" isn't friendly (no matter how civil or polite you are) if the contextual implication is "you must supply an argument sufficiently rigorous to convince me."
That's a demand. It's an assertion that the person "just asking questions" has a greater relevance. It's a behavior of dominance, not of "intellectual rigor" or whatever.
Via Emptywheel:
What if instead of polling, Does Trump's felony conviction make you more or less likely to vote for him?" instead poll, "Does GOP's wholesale attack on rule of law make you more or less likely to vote for it?"
"Does fact Trump found guilty of defrauding university students, charity donors, banks, and NY state make you more or less likely to vote for him?"
"Does fact Trump pardoned Steve Bannon for defrauding his own supporters make you more or less likely to vote for him?"
Washington Monthly and @billscher say it. Why haven't The Times, The Post, and every other editorial in the country called for Trump to drop out? Yes, I know he won't. But that is not how the standard and expectation should be set.
Donald Trump Should Drop Out https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/30/donald-trump-should-drop-out/
@LynnU @randahl Without celebrating interim victories, it's impossible to keep fighting. Whether it's protecting democracy, holding corrupt politicians accountable, or fighting climate change, if the problem is too big, you have to break it down into smaller steps and celebrate every step along the way.
It's been four years since Trump left office, and it's a moment to celebrate that the rule of law still exists. There is still time tomorrow to continue defending it - refreshed and motivated.
We don’t know yet how Trump’s conviction will impact the November election
We can be pretty sure of 2 things, though
1) Tomorrow, the RNC will report Trump’s biggest fundraising day ever, the media will run with that story, and no one will follow up if/when official election filings contradict it
2) A GOP-sponsored poll will show that Trump's conviction will not lose him any votes, and the media will run with that too
Via Greg Sargent:
Plainly worse than "deplorables," but to my knowledge, not one major news organization has taken note of it: https://newrepublic.com/article/181973/trump-media-attacks-media-dangerous-turn
Via Patriot Takes:
#Trump Posts Unhinged Video Promising to “Get Rid of All You F*cking Liberals”
Trump amplifies a vulgar, verbal attack on Joe Scarborough
Sometimes an idea pops in your head, and it won’t go away until you follow it through to completion.
https://keithjgrant.com/posts/2024/05/i-do-not-like-these-llms/
Everyone lucid in the West is freaking out about the rise of fascist thinking, well, everywhere.
Why? Didn't we defeat this obscenity 80 years ago after much suffering? Why is it resurging?
The problem is not that people don't learn from history (they don't but it's another issue), the problem is that fascism is always with us. Since the dawn of time, and forever more.
All fascism requires is:
1. ignorance
2. indecency
3. a demagogue to yoke these walnut brains and ride them to power
1/x
This #MemorialDay, we remember that 46 million Americans have served. One of them was Joe Biden’s son, who fought in Iraq, while Donald Trump’s sons preferred to steal money from charities for veterans, dogs, and children with cancer.
@trishputnam Good Morning Trish and Happy Saturday to you Hope you are feeling better. Enjoy your weekend
Shoving #AI in users' faces is a symptom of a larger problem in tech right now. Until recently there was this idea that tech served its users. If you were writing #software, you tried to figure out what your user wanted the software to do, and you wrote software that tried hard to do what the user wanted.
Today huge swathes of software and online services have pivoted to doing what the owning companies/shareholders want it to do. In bygone days, software developers used to see how they could get the user's experience down to the least amount of friction. Hell, Amazon even patented "one-click" shopping.
Today #Google is literally trying to INCREASE the number of clicks before you get what you want because each time you click, they earn a bit more revenue.
Look at any #smartTV or video streaming app. If you're willing to watch whatever they put in front of you, you can do THAT with just a click or two. But if you're specifically seeking one particular thing because it is what YOU WANT to watch, the minimum number of clicks skyrockets, including ads, previews, and suggestions that you need to take action (like clicking "skip") to avoid.
Software and services are prioritizing what THEY want as the lowest-friction result and are making what YOU want the highest friction result. #LLM crap is just one of the many things they want you to interact with, and so they abandon any pretense of listening to you and just force it on you.
The people who told you that fascism was not a threat were wrong.
The people who told you that Russia was not fascist were, if possible, more wrong.
Fascism is might over right, conspiracy over reality, fiction over fact, pain over law, blood over love, doom over hope.
Fascism advances every injustice. Its victory will leave us serfs of a vengeful nature, of relentless technology, and of unquestionable oligarchy.
Analytic clarity is needed for political clarity. If you do not know what you face, you do not know how to act.
Once named, fascism can be defeated. Indeed, once named it can be easily defeated.
Russian fascism must lose on the battlefield. Americans can bring this about by supporting courageous Ukrainians.
American fascism must lose at the ballot box. Americans can bring this about by organizing, canvassing, phone banking, donating, and voting.
We know from history that fascism can lose. And we know today the contests that must be won.
Via Prof. Tim Snyder
Do you know someone with significant quality-of-life problems due to Long Covid?
Boosts appreciated.
Expert in probability, statistics, and data science, with some programming skills as well.
Former academic and current quant trader.