Google does not show AI search results for the query “does trump show signs of dementia” even though it will show AI search results for similar searches about other presidents.
That is not when they launched their AI. A link in that very link of yours goes to an article from August 2024 about Google’s AI overview being updated then:
AI Overviews was first introduced as part of Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), which was unveiled at the Google I/O conference in May 2023.[1] In May 2024, the feature was rebranded as AI Overviews
Where “bugs” in meta, Google, etcs products all just so happened to not autocomplete for trump, pretended the assassination attempt was “misinformation”, returned pro Harris results if you searched for trump, and so on.
AI Overviews is content taken from existing sites, AI Mode is content generate entirely by an LLM model (which article in this post talks about). PolitiFact in reference to Google talks about autofill search feature which predates "AI" since it was released in 2004.
If you want people to take your aguments seriously, don't mistort the facts to get your point across. Maybe Google fucked with their search algorithm or modified the weights to prefer some sources over others in the AI Overviews, but they couldn't fuck with AI Mode since it didn't exist then.
Jeff Landry’s request comes as crime trends analyst says New Orleans has had fewest murders since 1970
The Donald Trump-supporting Republican governor of Louisiana has asked for national guard troops to be deployed to New Orleans and other cities through fiscal year 2026, saying Monday that the state needs help fighting crime and praising the president’s decision to send the military to Washington DC and Memphis.
Governor Jeff Landry asked for the Trump administration to support an extended deployment of 1,000 troops in a letter sent to the Pentagon’s top official, Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the national guard to fight crime.
Preliminary data from the New Orleans police department shows that there had been 75 homicides so far in 2025 – including 14 who were killed on New Year’s Day when a terrorist aimed a truck attack on Bourbon Street. There were 124 homicides in 2024. In 2023, there were 193.
Regular infusion mash, light belgian style witbier bill. Perle, IBU about 15. Wild forest raspberries in secondary, 200g/L. Yeast BLG201, our own.
OG 1057, final does not make much sense because with berries, but it's 1008.
Very pronounced spices, hops, and raspberries, balanced! Apparently, berries accentuated the hops. Slightly tart, dangerously drinkable. Well carbonated naturally under a month.
Yes, it was fermented for a week or two before addition of berries, and about same time again on secondary. I do not use kegs at all, those are just glass jars with locks. Most simple gear. This gorgeous foam comes from just a bit of sugar priming on bottling.
Putting berries in primary is imo not very good approach: mostly because most of the flavor would bubble away, but also because there is somewhat higher contamination chance.
There is no chance anything would survive with fresh vigorous yeast and at high alcohol levels/low oxygen on secondary. I used to sanitize berries in my first attempts, but later found it to be unnecessary. I even boiled my first mead!
Sometimes I freeze berries though, but only to save them till beer is ready, or to promote conversion in cranberries or rowan.
Am typing this message with FUTO keyboard, on GrapheneOS, using Voyager APP to access the Fediverss, installed via Obtanium, routed through a TOR VPN 🤔
Am I private yet?
Because on a dark and stormy night some times I feel I should just buy an iPhone and be done with it 🤣
Fine choices and nothing wrong unless there's someone actively out to get you. In that using TOR as VPN leaves a very distinct fingerprint compared to the vast majority of Tor users on the standardized Tor Browser.
Easy, don't use digital technology and live in a shack in the middle of Bir Tawil. That's the exact attitude Apple, Google, et al. want people to have.
Privacy is not a game of absolutes. You make a threat model and do the best you reasonably can. I hope you at least enjoyed your head start on privacy by choosing GrapheneOS.
This is quite an astute observation and one that I struggle with. I have taken the path of running my home office network like a full blown enterprise network, only scaled down a bit. I've had a computer in front of me since the mid 70s. If we likened my knowledge base to a 25' tape measure, I possess about a 1/4 " of knowledge on the topic, but that leaves soooo much I don't know. The further down the rabbit hole you go, the more you understand that, realistically speaking, the only truly safe network is one that is turned off. So you have to make concessions. Is Scenario #6 something that I can 100% control? If not, then you plug and patch what you can, and monitor the rest, and that's the best that can be done for Scenario #6. This drives me crazy because I think, can I not mitigate Scenario #6 because I lack 24' 11 3/4" of knowledge, or that it's just one of those things that you just have to do what you can with what you have, and monitor the rest.
Longtime Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper said that she can't find any military officials who attended the meeting in Virginia with President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth and liked what they heard.
With a new set of Microsoft 365 features, knowledge workers will be able to generate complex Word documents or Excel spreadsheets using only text prompts to Microsoft's chat bot. Two distinct products were announced, each using different models and accessed from within different tools—though the similar names Microsoft chose make it confusing to parse what's what.
Driven by OpenAI's GPT-5 large language model, Agent Mode is built into Word and Excel, and it allows the creation of complex documents and spreadsheets from user prompts. It's called "agent" mode because it doesn't just work from the prompt in a single step; rather, it plans multi-step work and runs a validation loop in the hopes of ensuring quality.
It's only available in the web versions of Word and Excel at present, but the plan is to bring it to native desktop applications later.
Cloud hosting platform Vercel is under fire after its CEO, Guillermo Rauch, shared a photo of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The image, which Rauch framed around discussions of AI education and “keeping our free societies ahead”, was immediately read as a political statement given Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Within hours, developers and users across social media declared they were cancelling their Vercel subscriptions, deleting accounts, and migrating projects to competitors like Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, Fly.io, and Render.
Yes, the richest country by GDP, and the world's largest empire, can be crumbling while the world's largest socialist country can be dramatically improving and rapidly developing.
Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself “lived richly in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace.”
[12]Secular leaders also did well. A notable example was the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, a member of the Dalai Lama’s lay Cabinet, who owned 4,000 square kilometers of land and 3,500 serfs. [13] Old Tibet has been misrepresented by some Western admirers as “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” [14] In fact it had a professional army, albeit a small one, that served mainly as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs.
Young Tibetan boys were regularly taken from their peasant families and brought into the monasteries to be trained as monks. Once there, they were bonded for life. Tashì-Tsering, a monk, reports that it was common for peasant children to be sexually mistreated in the monasteries. He himself was a victim of repeatedremoved, beginning at age nine. [15] The monastic estates also conscripted children for lifelong servitude as domestics, dance performers, and soldiers.
In old Tibet there were small numbers of farmers who subsisted as a kind of free peasantry, and perhaps an additional 10,000 people who composed the “middle-class” families of merchants, shopkeepers, and small traders. Thousands of others were beggars. There also were slaves, usually domestic servants, who owned nothing. Their offspring were born into slavery. [16] The majority of the rural population were serfs. Treated little better than slaves, the serfs went without schooling or medical care. They were under a lifetime bond to work the lord’s land — or the monastery’s land — without pay, to repair the lord’s houses, transport his crops, and collect his firewood. They were also expected to provide carrying animals and transportation on demand. [17] Their masters told them what crops to grow and what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent of their lord or lama. And they might easily be separated from their families should their owners lease them out to work in a distant location.
[18]As in a free labor system and unlike slavery, the overlords had no responsibility for the serf’s maintenance and no direct interest in his or her survival as an expensive piece of property. The serfs had to support themselves. Yet as in a slave system, they were bound to their masters, guaranteeing a fixed and permanent workforce that could neither organize nor strike nor freely depart as might laborers in a market context. The overlords had the best of both worlds.
One 22-year old woman, herself a runaway serf, reports: “Pretty serf girls were usually taken by the owner as house servants and used as he wished”; they “were just slaves without rights.” [19] Serfs needed permission to go anywhere. Landowners had legal authority to capture those who tried to flee. One 24-year old runaway welcomed the Chinese intervention as a “liberation.” He testified that under serfdom he was subjected to incessant toil, hunger, and cold. After his third failed escape, he was merciless beaten by the landlord’s men until blood poured from his nose and mouth. They then poured alcohol and caustic soda on his wounds to increase the pain, he claimed.
[20]The serfs were taxed upon getting married, taxed for the birth of each child and for every death in the family. They were taxed for planting a tree in their yard and for keeping animals. They were taxed for religious festivals and for public dancing and drumming, for being sent to prison and upon being released. Those who could not find work were taxed for being unemployed, and if they traveled to another village in search of work, they paid a passage tax. When people could not pay, the monasteries lent them money at 20 to 50 percent interest. Some debts were handed down from father to son to grandson. Debtors who could not meet their obligations risked being cast into slavery.
[21]The theocracy’s religious teachings buttressed its class order. The poor and afflicted were taught that they had brought their troubles upon themselves because of their wicked ways in previous lives. Hence they had to accept the misery of their present existence as a karmic atonement and in anticipation that their lot would improve in their next lifetime. The rich and powerful treated their good fortune as a reward for, and tangible evidence of, virtue in past and present lives.
Selection two, shorter: (CW sexual violence and mutilation)
The Tibetan serfs were something more than superstitious victims, blind to their own oppression. As we have seen, some ran away; others openly resisted, sometimes suffering dire consequences. In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation — including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation — were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs.
[22]Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.” [23] Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet.
[24]In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment that had been used by the Tibetan overlords. There were handcuffs of all sizes, including small ones for children, and instruments for cutting off noses and ears, gouging out eyes, breaking off hands, and hamstringing legs. There were hot brands, whips, and special implements for disemboweling. The exhibition presented photographs and testimonies of victims who had been blinded or crippled or suffered amputations for thievery. There was the shepherd whose master owed him a reimbursement in yuan and wheat but refused to pay. So he took one of the master’s cows; for this he had his hands severed. Another herdsman, who opposed having his wife taken from him by his lord, had his hands broken off. There were pictures of Communist activists with noses and upper lips cut off, and a woman who wasremovedd and then had her nose sliced away.
[25]Earlier visitors to Tibet commented on the theocratic despotism. In 1895, an Englishman, Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the populace was under the “intolerable tyranny of monks” and the devil superstitions they had fashioned to terrorize the people. In 1904 Perceval Landon described the Dalai Lama’s rule as “an engine of oppression.” At about that time, another English traveler, Captain W. F. T. O’Connor, observed that “the great landowners and the priests… exercise each in their own dominion a despotic power from which there is no appeal,” while the people are “oppressed by the most monstrous growth of monasticism and priest-craft.” Tibetan rulers “invented degrading legends and stimulated a spirit of superstition” among the common people. In 1937, another visitor, Spencer Chapman, wrote, “The Lamaist monk does not spend his time in ministering to the people or educating them. […] The beggar beside the road is nothing to the monk. Knowledge is the jealously guarded prerogative of the monasteries and is used to increase their influence and wealth.” [26] As much as we might wish otherwise, feudal theocratic Tibet was a far cry from the romanticized Shangri-La so enthusiastically nurtured by Buddhism’s western proselytes.
Along with the blood drenched landscape of religious conflict there is the experience of inner peace and solace that every religion promises, none more so than Buddhism.
Yep, instead you parrot right-wing talking points defending a brutal slave-driven feudal society run on torture. It's easy to tune-out anything that disproves your worldview, it's difficult to confront your own biases.
Old Tibet was a brutal feudal society based on widespread slavery and torture. Read the actual excerpts, or better yet the article itself, for examples and evidence.
Reminder its always a competition between who sucks the least. Another reminder that all the worlds most powerful nations are all spearheading censorships of one kind or another. The future doesnt look luxury or gay anymore. It looks redacted
A socialist country can be bad, but if this is what you consider bad the sign me up to live in a "bad" country.
90% of families in the country own their home giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world. What’s more is that 80% of these homes are owned outright, without mortgages or any other leans. forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2…
Real wage (i.e. the wage adjusted for the prices you pay) has gone up 4x in the past 25 years, more than any other country. This is staggering considering it’s the most populous country on the planet.
The real (inflation-adjusted) incomes of the poorest half of the Chinese population increased by more than four hundred percent from 1978 to 2015, while real incomes of the poorest half of the US population actually declined during the same time period. nber.org/system/files/working_…
From 1978 to 2000, the number of people in China living on under $1/day fell by 300 million, reversing a global trend of rising poverty that had lasted half a century (i.e. if China were excluded, the world’s total poverty population would have risen) semanticscholar.org/paper/Chin…
From 2010 to 2019 (the most recent period for which uninterrupted data is available), the income of the poorest 20% in China increased even as a share of total income. data.worldbank.org/indicator/S…
By the end of 2020, extreme poverty, defined as living on under a threshold of around $2 per day, had been eliminated in China. According to the World Bank, the Chinese government had spent $700 billion on poverty alleviation since 2014. nytimes.com/2020/12/31/world/a…
Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below $1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by close to 800 million. With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. worldbank.org/en/news/press-re…
Over the past 40 years, China has lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty, accounting for more than 75 percent of global poverty reduction in the same period, according to a new report released on Thursday.
Yes, Xinjiang is one of the regions getting more focused development right now. The best and most comprehensive resource I have seen so far is Qiao Collective's Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation. Qiao Collective is explicitly pro-PRC, but this is an extremely comprehensive write-up of the entire background of the events, the timeline of reports, and real and fake claims.
Tourists go to Xinjiang all the time, as well. You can watch , though it obviously isn't going to be a comprehensive view of a complex situation like this.
Western governments have levied false allegations of genocide and slavery in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. A closer look makes clear that the politicization of China’s anti-terrorism policies in Xinjiang is another front of the U.S.
Was it you who recently posted an article that China now has a minimum wage that exceeds US minimum wage at $8/hr? I believe so, but it may have been in geopolitics somewhere.
Pick any city in the Midwest and compare to any proportionally sized city in China. Like just about. Infrastructure is crumbling everywhere in this country while China has built more high speed rail than every other nation on the planet combined.
Lol dipshit have you ever been to China? The small cities they consider sleepy bergs have ONLY 1 million lol. That's ten times the equivalent city in the Midwest at minimum.
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
They're also an eco-fascist "leftist," and just say "all countries are bad" and that "humanity should go extinct." There's nothing that seems to be capable of convincing them of being worthy of support.
Okay I would just upvote and move on, but you're clearly baiting with that title so if it's alright with you let's have some banter 😛
If I say that - the meme is on point - material conditions in China are to some extent better than the US - the US is definitely worse to its own people and the world - I'm staunchly anti-capitalist
but I also say that I still don't like the Chinese state because I don't consider that (and ML in general) a form of worker-owned means of production (whether or not you agree)
Do you think a people who were living in poverty and had terrible living conditions would be overwhelmingly supportive of their government? Come on now think for a second here.
The following is just a really odd way to convince someone of something in my opinion.
"China is one of the countries with the highest approval of their government by independent studies."
Government approval is inversely correlated with poverty and terrible living conditions.
Therefore it is unlikely that "they def aren't living like this"
It's also especially odd if you're mentioning independent studies. Are there not independent studies about the living conditions?
And to be clear, I don't even disagree with you. I think a lot of westerners are affected by racist/orientalist views (or whatever you wanna call them) without realizing it. It just felt like a strange way to counter the thought process.
Nothing I was said was about "independent studies" versus "studies". I get your point, I'm just saying that wasn't part of what I found odd. I only used the phrase independent studies instead of studies because you did.
Brother I only said what I said because you literally said you thought me saying it was weird.
If you want to look at living standards you can compare cost of living, access to public transportation, cost of food, medicine, you name it. Its all cheaper and rapidly approaching parity with the west, if not already surpassing it.
But again living standards are often highly correlated with approval of your nation and the government running it.
I feel like there's some hostility or defensiveness and we keep talking past each other when trying to resolve it, so I'm going to drop the topic because I don't think there are actually any disagreements between us.
Kinda? What do you think socialism looks like, if not the PRC? What about the PRC makes it not "genuine worker control," or more broadly, Marxism-Leninism not "genuine worker control?"
The PRC isn't a western liberal faux-democracy, no, but it is a comprehensive unitary socialist democracy. Policy is usually pushed from the bottom-up, and there are comprehensive levels of provincial, regional, and national democracy. They abolished term limits for the presidential position, but that doesn't mean "president for life," Xi can be taken down democratically. It's unlikely, though, considering he enjoys over 90% support.
As for being "authoritarian," all states are. The difference with China is that the working class is in control of the state, rather than the capitalist class like in western countries.
If you have something to say, then I invite you to, otherwise it seems more like you don't and can't, and instead resort to insult to cover for that. It's just standard ad hominem.
If we want to be formal about it, you've just asserted a bunch of no sense claims without evidence. Go ahead and show us concretely the control the Chinese working class have over their political system.
And maybe not with polls that include people under 24/7 surveillance by the party.
For the PRC, public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, and governs the large firms and key industries.
The working class is steadily advancing in material conditions, and as production develops it is increasingly planned. A bourgeois state would not allow capital to be so constrained and boxed in, and at the same time a state cannot be anything other than an extension of the ruling class. In China, this class has been the working class since the revolution, and it is backed up by the fact that the CPC is supported by over 90% of the population. This support is consistent even when western orgs gather the polling.
The PRC certainly isn't much farther than the primary stage of socialism, as they call it, but already aspects of the intermediate stage are appearing. Reality more closely aligns with the CPC's stated goals and strategies than it does their critics, which is why most ML orgs back China and consider it socialist right now.
People in China are under a similar level of surveilance as western countries, though unlike western countries this is mostly used against capitalists, so they cannot undermine the system.
None of my claims have been nonsense, the reverse is true.
the users of .world passed around curated lists of "tankie trolls" to newbies so that they can be blocked before ever interacting with them; how about doing something like this for lib trolls?
Respectfully, lessons come in many guides, they just don't teach what they think they teach. That is, we've seen many iterations of lessons of what doesn't work for the people, unless it's new ways of oppression, suppression, a learned ignorance that can convince us we're smart.
I do, because it's true, but I don't see why that means there isn't a point in discussing. Public ownership is the principle aspect of society, and capitalists are regularly punished for stepping out of line, while the working class has comprehensive democratic structures in place to pass the policies they want.
Compared to the robust system of democracy in the US where corporations buy elections and the average person never gets to see a single policy enacted that benefits them? Is that what you're comparing China to?
You're just talking out your ass here lmao. This is objectively not true.
China has better infrastructure. Better education. Better affordable healthcare (and they are rapidly about to eclipse the US in our capabilities). 90+% of Chinese people own their own homes. China is one of the safest countries in the world.
What freedom are you talking about? The freedom to die on the streets from preventable illness? The freedom to work 40+hrs a week and live out of your car because you are priced out of housing? The freedom to get shot at the grocery store because someone with a gun is having a mental episode? The freedom to get brutalized by an unaccountable police force?
I'M GOING TO PULL SHIT OUT OF MY ASS BUT I'M GONNA REALLLLY SELL IT BECAUSE I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANYTHING IN THE REAL WORLD TO POINT AT SO I NEED PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO MY ACTING INCREDULOUS ON A SOCIAL LEVEL
There's no other timeline genius, this is what the US system had been building up to for decades. This is the intended result, not an accident.
You know, Sparta was the actually most peaceful city in Ancient Greece (usually, I'm talking when they're not at war).
Edit: Also, there definitely is an algorithm that can determine if any other algorithm will halt or not (usually, I'm talking when you're not feeding its own source code back into itself).
but I also say that I still don't like the Chinese state because I don't consider that (and ML in general) a form of worker-owned means of production (whether or not you agree)
If you don't consider any actually existing country that's trying to build socialism "up to your standard", then you should re-evaluate the basis of your opposition. If you kow-tow to every western-supremacist talking point about how Vietnam, the PRC, the DPRK, and Cuba "aren't doing socialism correctly because they aren't as smart as [insert western-supremacist marxist here], then yes, you are a liberal.
Pretty sure that's a toll booth. They widen to allow cars to queue and then narrow back down to transition back to free flowing traffic. It's not a 50 lane highway merging to 20 lanes, it's a 20 lane highway widening into a 50 lane queuing area and then merging back to 20 lanes to continue being a highway.
Is this a 20 lane highway merging into a 3 lane bridge?
But yes, China does have a car dependency problem. Something the government has acknowledged and is implementing aggressive policies to combat. From building full metro systems in all major cities in the same time it takes NIMBYs in America to shoot down a single line, to high speed rail, to literally restricting who can drive on what days based on whether you have an odd or even first number on your license plate. What's America doing? Oh right, doubling down on car dependency and killing what little alternatives there were and calling people who speak out against it "woke."
but I also say that I still don’t like the Chinese state because I don’t consider that (and ML in general) a form of worker-owned means of production (whether or not you agree)
"Socialism is worker ownership of the means of production" is a syndicalist distortion of socialism. Workers should control the means of production, as in their operation should be based on popular consensus, but "ownership" suggests something like cooperatives (or, you know, syndicates), which operate on the same market system and a permutation of petite-bourgeois races to the bottom that we see under capitalism.
The people must control the state, "win the battle of democracy," and via their control of the state dictate what happens to the means of production. Specific ownership is a secondary concern, though I agree with what I assume your position is, that the bourgeoisie have been granted too much power and authority in China.
It raises hackles any time someone unironically uses the term "authoritarian", because its always used to demonize the non-white countries, and especially those that were successful in opposing the US imperialist project, which has killed more innocent people than any other empire in world history.
The PRC has not been in a war since its minor skirmish with Vietnam back in the 70s. It's also lifted more people out of poverty in the last few decades than any other country in history. By contrast the US has killed hundreds of millions of people, attacked our coup'd nearly every country, and its people are increasingly living in poverty and homelessness.
Secondly yes, the PRC is socialist, read this or any of the other texts ppl below have made.
If you restrict free speech I consider that authoritarian. I'm not ignoring that Western countries don't do this, because they do and are also authoritarian.
Are you a free speech absolutist? Can I post your address with a rough outline of your schedule and say that you deserve to be murdered? Not telling anyone to do it, mind you, merely that you "have it coming."
I don't think that I (or anyone) should be able to do that, though I also believe that the process for "restricting" speech in this manner should be arrived at democratically, i.e. society itself should decide what is and isn't permissible to say. Am I authoritarian on that basis?
All states are "authoritarian," though, what truly differs is which class is in control and exerting that authority. In China, it's the working class, which is why the west is terrified of it.
Itt: workers who have no money, no rights (including to be homeless, hungry, and sick, specifically because of our exploitation beyond human, let alone civil) arguing their union -busting, police and war machine funding, all seeing eye government and economic system is superior to the government and economic system that checks notes give them no say in anything that matters.
I can't think of any strawman arguments I've seen recently from leftists, but as for "whataboutism," comparison is the basic method by which we can observe what works and what doesn't. Not all "whataboutism" is invalid, for example comparing the level of infrastructure development in China and the US reveals clear strengths of socialism over capitalism.
for example comparing the level of infrastructure development in China and the US reveals clear strengths of socialism over capitalism.
That's not whataboutism. That's just a comparison as you pointed out. Whataboutism is when you address a critique of your position by saying, "we're not the only ones though"
I can't think of any strawman arguments I've seen recently from leftists
This post is a strawman. It assumes criticisms of China are centred around infrastructure as opposed to other things. Unless OP specifically made this post in response to someone they had (or are having) a discussion with, I see no reason to generalize this as a position all "liberals" take.
So it's called a strawman when you disagree with someone and your reason for thinking something is good is different from the reason someone else thinks something is bad?
I think strawberries are good because they are sweet. You think strawberries are bad because the little seeds bother you.
Have I committed a strawman because I didn't talk about the little seeds when I said strawberries are good?
That's not what i said. I don't think you actually addressed what i said. I only said this post is a strawman, because OP is trying to frame it like most criticisms of China are based on infrastructure as opposed to other things.
I said in another comment that if OP was making this post as a response to another person where they were talking about infrastructure, then this post is fine. But if they're generalizing "China bad" comments and the only response is "infrastructure", then it's a straw man, because arguments about infrastructure development doesn't make up the bulk of "China bad" discourse.
To make it more clear, let me give an example. If i say China is "bad" because it censors media, and you respond by saying "ok, but look at the difference between infrastructure in the US and China—China's is far better", you have strawmanned my position because i wasn't talking about infrastructure.
This post strawmans the whole "China bad" discourse because it makes it seem like it's about infrastructure. I hope this makes more sense.
There's no need for you to tediously restate your position. I understand where you're coming from. You cannot enlighten me to your perspective as a way of making your argument seem less stupid to me.
The fact that you don't like how my argument reflected yours does not mean it isn't valid.
Exactly right. I don't have a problem with the argument. It is valid. China has better infrastructure than the US, but that's not what the "China bad" discourse is about. It's really more of ignoratio elenchi.
And post isn't about debunking your racist disinformation. This post is about talking about good things.
Then it should've been more specific in its title instead of reducing the whole discourse to a point that most people dont debate on. The post's title makes it seem like it has solved the whole "China bad argument" when there'such more to it than infrastructure. I have already conceded to you that i agree with the post. China invests properly and is economically far ahead of its contemporaries.
I think you broadly understand what I'm saying but you just want to keep arguing because you don't want to reach common ground with a "dumb stupid liberal".
I have explicitly stated that you are wrong and explained why. Now you're trying to psychoanalyze the fact that I'm not moving from my position for vague social pressure related reasons?
This post is definitely comparison, though, and not whataboutism. Further, it is valid if the point of critiquing something is to imply something else is better when it can be pointed out that they are similar, the same, or the other is worse.
As for this post, it's pretty clear that it's comparing infrastructure in both countries. Claims of "China bad" are ever-shifting, goal posts moving and entire arguments spring up and fall back down, there's no meme that could genuinely address all of them. Use Occam's razor a bit here.
Claims of "China bad" are ever-shifting, goal posts moving and entire arguments spring up and fall back down,
Right, but infrastructure is not what makes up the bulk of "China bad" talking points. Why not address the Uyghurs or censorship? That is what makes up the bulk of "China bad" discourse.
Pointing to infrastructure only to refute the "China bad" comments is a strawman because that's not what makes up the bulk of the discourse.
I'm willing to let it slide on the Occam's razor though, especially since this is just a meme, but it still feels disingenuous.
Further, it is valid if the point of critiquing something is to imply something else is better when it can be pointed out that they are similar, the same, or the other is worse.
Sorry, if you're meaning this as a defense of the use of whataboutism, I don't agree.
The problem is that "China bad" means anything, so we have to take it at face-value and look at the meme itself for context. It isn't addressing whatever niche reason you have for not liking China.
As for Xinjiang, the best and most comprehensive resource I have seen so far is Qiao Collective's Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation. Qiao Collective is explicitly pro-PRC, but this is an extremely comprehensive write-up of the entire background of the events, the timeline of reports, and real and fake claims.
Tourists do go to Xinjiang all the time as well. You can watch , though it obviously isn't going to be a comprehensive view of a complex situation like this.
As for censorship, it's largely used against capitalists and western orgs. The working class in China need to keep capitalists suppressed or they risk the socialist system. This is working, and China has high degrees of support, over 90%:
It isn't addressing whatever niche reason you have for not liking China.
That is why i said if OP is responding to someone in particular where this was the topic of discussion, then it's fine. The meme should've been more careful in its language and specified what aspects of the "China bad" discourse it's addressing. Something like "But they say US has better infrastructure", or something to that tune. This way, it wouldn't reduce the whole discourse to a singular and unpopular talking point.
I'm not going to address your other points as it's going to make this discussion longer than i want it. Save that for another day
You complained about everyone doing "whataboutism" or strawmanning, but your entire premise rests on OP not just making a comparison meme, but specifically addressing someone making an argument that doesn't have to do with infrastructure. It's an utter non-sequitor, it's just a meme comparing infrastructure, OP isn't answering any one person nor is OP saying their meme answers every argument.
nor is OP saying their meme answers every argument.
OP inadvertently does so with the title.
Imagine if i made a similar meme, comparing the poverty rates in the US (which is like anywhere from 10-15% living below the poverty line) to the poverty rates in Cuba (which is like 40-80% depending on what sources or definitions we're using) and i said, "But apparently, tHe uS BaDDDDD". For time's sake, let's not get into the nitty gritty of why this may be the case. Wouldn't you say something like, "that's not why we criticise the US though", or "that's not what the 'US bad' discourse is about"?
Wouldn't it feel disingenuous that I've reduced the whole discussion on whether the US/Capitalism is bad to poverty rates?
No, because the reasons for why China is doing well with infrastructure and the US is doing poorly with it are straightforward. With poverty rates, you can examine other factors like the embargo, as well as look at the great achievements of Cuba despite it all like high life expectancy. The infrastructure is clear-cut, it's because the US has a poor economic system and is a dying empire.
So if you saw a post similar to the example i gave, it would not seem disingenuous to reduce the whole US argument to one talking point which may or may not even be a popular one?
You have to realize that what this OP did can also be done in favour of pro-US/pro-capitalism rhetoric. You just have to
that just shows that china was investing in infrastructure, while US was investing in corruption to funnel more money to the people who need it the least.
I was referring to whataboutism broadly, and not necessarily in this instance.
that just shows that china was investing in infrastructure, while US was investing in corruption to funnel more money to the people who need it the least.
Right, i agree with you, but who was saying otherwise is my point. That's why i said this is a strawman. "China bad" comments are due to other factors and not infrastructure. This post addresses the China bad comments with "but look at how developed the infrastructure is" whilst the comments are about completely separate things.
If those "other factors" were legitimate why would china be investing anything into infrastructure? If they could simply unilaterally repress discontent, why would they invest so heavily in the experience of their working class? Doesn't that imply a ~~huge~~ impossible level of benevolence, in your version of events, to do these things with absolutely no mechanism for the people to enforce it?
"Whataboutism" is a thought-terminating buzzword employed by brain-rotted westerners whenever a relevant comparison is made in which they come out looking bad
Tu quoque is a real fallacy, whataboutism is a word used by people who are too fucking stupid to google the real name and are 100% always also too stupid to correctly identify a fallacy
Your point has no validity as several other users have already explained at length, my point is that you're also rhetorically/logically/literally illiterate and should be embarassed
several other users have already explained at length
You mean communists like you? We're so deep in this thread that no one else other than you guys care enough to be still here downvoting my comments.
Similarly you've been insulting me this whole time, but I've stayed passive, only wanting to engage with your talking points. Maybe you could try being less aggressive for a change.
Wait, I'm a white supremacist because I don't want China - or anyone else - to manipulate Tibet or persecute Uygurs? I'm a Klansman because I lean to supporting Taiwan's independence?
Do, like, MLs just hate everyone? Honestly, why are MLs so extremely hostile to people they don't 100% agree with?
It's common for chauvanists to side with the US Empire's claims about Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, as well as the framing of these issues. For westerners who utterly lack the background knowledge required to even begin untangling these subjects, to side with the world's largest Empire against a rising socialist country it has every means and desire to lie about, this teeters into chauvanistic territory. I think anyone trying to get a realistic view of these subjects needs to also explore the Chinese perspective, as well as the global south.
Marxist-Leninists don't hate everyone, we have a deep love for the working class and a hatred for oppression. The reason MLs can seem hostile is because we have to deal with the same arguments day in, day out, unceasingly. This manifests in frustration, lashing out, etc. It gets increasingly frustrating when Marxist heroes like Marx, Fred Hampton, Che, Frantz Fanon, Walter Rodney, Rosa Luxemburg, etc get passes from liberals due to their martyrdom or dying before being in a position of influence, while liberals follow the US Empire's line on existing and practicing Marxists, and those who lived long enough to succeed.
That's very diplomatic, and I appreciate you taking my question seriously. But Dess is a core personality of the Lemmyverse and insulting a huge swathes of people using their platform really puts a lot of distance between the ML community and people they could potentially sway.
Unless MLs aren't interested in swaying more people to their side and just want to preach to the choir.
I can't agree with discrediting comrades that don't hold their tongues for the sake of more civil outreach. I don't disagree with the point Dessalines is making, even if I personally try to go about things in a less confrontational matter. One thing I've noticed is that some people do respond better to "wake-up calls," so to speak, so I let them go and do my own thing.
As for outreach, I do care, I even made an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, I update it frequently, and try to help explain things in simpler ways. I don't claim to represent all MLs, but education and outreach is a huge part of our role, and our practice.
It's time to read theory, comrades! As Lenin says, "Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle." Reading theory helps us identify the core contradictions within modern society, analyze their trajectories, and gives us the tools to break free. Marxism-Leninism is broken into 3 major components, as noted by Lenin in his pamphlet The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism: | Audiobook
Dialectical and Historical Materialism
Critique of Capitalism along the lines of Marx's Law of Value
Advocacy for Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism
As such, I created the following list to take you from no knowledge whatsoever of Leftist theory, and leave you with a strong understanding of the critical fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism in an order that builds up as you read. Let's get started!
Section I: Getting Started
What the heck is Communism, anyways? For that matter, what is fascism?
Breaks down fascism and its mortal enemy, Communism, as well as their antagonistic relationship. Understanding what fascism is, where and when it rises, why it does so, and how to banish it forever is critical. Parenti also helps debunk common anti-Communist myths, from both the "left" and the right, in a quick-witted writing style. This is also an excellent time to watch the famous speech.
Section II: Historical and Dialectical Materialism
By far my favorite primer on Marxist philosophy. By understanding Dialectical and Historical Materialism first, you make it easier to understand the rest of Marxism-Leninism. Don't be intimidated!
Further reading on Dialectical and Historical Materialism, but crucially introduces the why of Scientific Socialism, explaining how Capitalism itself prepares the conditions for public ownership and planning by centralizing itself into monopolist syndicates. This is also where Engels talks about the failures of previous "Utopian" Socialists.
Section III: Political Economy
That's right, it's time for the Law of Value and a deep-dive into Imperialism. If we are to defeat Capitalism, we must learn it's mechanisms, tendencies, contradictions, and laws.
Best taken as a pair, these essays simplify the most important parts of the Law of Value. Marx is targetting those not trained in economics here, but you might want to keep a pen and some paper to follow along if you are a visual person.
Absolutely crucial and the most important work for understanding the modern era and its primary contradictions. Marxist-Leninists understand that Imperialism is the greatest contradiction in the modern era, which cascades downward into all manner of related contradictions. Knowing what dying Capitalism looks like, and how it behaves, means we can kill it.
Section IV: Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism
Can we defeat Capitalism at the ballot box? What about just defeating fascism? What about the role of the state?
If Marxists believed reforming Capitalist society was possible, we would be the first in line for it. Sadly, it isn't possible, which Luxemburg proves in this monumental writing.
Excellent refutation of revisionists and Social Democrats who think the State can be reformed, without needing to be replaced with one that is run by the workers, in their own interests.
Section V: Intersectionality and Solidarity
The revolution will not be fought by atomized individuals, but by an intersectional, international working class movement. Intersectionality is critical, because it allows different marginalized groups to work together in collective interest, unifying into a broad movement.
Critical reading on understanding misogyny, transphobia, enbyphobia, pluralphobia, and homophobia, as well as how to move beyond the base subject of "gender." Uses the foundations built up in the previous works to analyze gender theory from a Historical Materialist perspective.
De-colonialism is essential to Marxism. Without having a strong, de-colonial, internationalist stance, we have no path to victory nor a path to justice. Fanon analyzes Colonialism's dehumanizing effects, and lays out how to form a de-colonial movement, as well as its necessity.
Solidarity and intersectionality are the key to any social movement. When different social groups fight for liberation together along intersectional lines, the movements are emboldened and empowered ever-further.
Section VI: Putting it into Practice!
It's not enough to endlessly read, you must put theory to practice. That is how you can improve yourself and the movements you support. Touch grass!
Mao wrote simply and directly, targeting peasant soldiers during the Revolutionary War in China. This pair of essays equip the reader with the ability to apply the analytical tools of Dialectical Materialism to their every day practice, and better understand problems.
Congratulations, you completed your introductory reading course!
With your new understanding and knowledge of Marxism-Leninism, here is a mini What is to be Done? of your own to follow, and take with you as practical advice.
Get organized. Join a Leftist org, find solidarity with fellow comrades, and protect each other. The Dems will not save you, it is up to us to protect ourselves. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and Freedom Road Socialist Organization both organize year round, every year, because the battle for progress is a constant struggle, not a single election. See if there is a chapter near you, or start one! Or, see if there's an org you like more near you and join it.
Read theory. Don't think that you are done now! Just because you have the basics, doesn't mean you know more than you do. If you have not investigated a subject, don't speak on it! Don't speak nonsense, but listen!
Aggressively combat white supremacy, misogyny, queerphobia, and other attacks on marginalized communities. Cede no ground, let nobody be forgotten or left behind. There is strength in numbers, when one marginalized group is targeted, many more are sure to follow.
Be industrious, and self-sufficient. Take up gardening, home repair, tinkering. It is through practice that you elevate your problem-solving capabilities. Not only will you improve your skill at one subject, but your general problem-solving muscles get strengthened as well.
Learn self-defense. Get armed, if practical. Be ready to protect yourself and others. Liberals will not save us, we must save each other.
Be persistent. If you feel like a single water droplet against a mountain, think of canyons and valleys. Oh, how our efforts pile up! With consistency, every rock, boulder, even mountain, can be drilled through with nothing but steady and persistent water droplets.
"Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent."
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is a national organization of revolutionaries fighting for socialism in the United States. Our home is in the working class.
If you can be faithful to my position and at the same time make me look like a stupid baby you could very well convince me through shame to rethink my position.
Are you without shame? Can you not be compelled to change your behavior through the negative regard of others?
Listen, random people on the internet try to shame me all the time. It happens even when I don't interact. But it's no indication if a viewpoint is "correct" or whatever.
Also, agreeing with you about genocides or the events in certain parts of the world or anything is completely separate from supporting you. MLs seem to think that they're one in the same, that anyone who doesn't agree 100% with them are enemies. Even if I did agree with you, black-and-white broad-stroke insults make people not want to work with you.
No, they are saying that you're diverting a conversation from who is correct to whether or not your interlocutor was rude to you as a waiver for disregarding the substance of what they said. You can disagree, but presenting yourself as having not been courted appropriately is not going to be taken seriously.
I do actually agree with you that they should speak more gently. Their current behavior is a maladaptive coping mechanism from being inundated with literally thousands and thousands of Redditors who say mostly the same things and won't flinch before likening them to a Nazi or something.
I'm a Klansman because I lean to supporting Taiwan's independence?
Taiwan is pretty much if the US confederates lost the civil war, then escaped to Cuba, killed all the people there, and set up a state. Read about what mass killings the Kuomintang did to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan when they escaped there.
I didn't make my point clear. I don't have any strong opinions on these matters I brought up, outside "genocide is bad" and other basic ethics. I'm admitting I don't know much about them, not due to apathy but due to.... just information fucking overload. It's absurd to equate me with white supremacists just because I can't keep up with everything going on in the world to exacting detail.
Not having a strong opinion on the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Tibet is exactly why you've been fed misinformation your entire life on them. It's very easy to take government propaganda at face value that way.
We should oppose actual genocide, like the one Israel is carrying out on the Palestinian people with US help, not fake ones like the "white genocide" or "uyghur genocide" which are employed against perceived enemies of the white/western world.
It is one of the most important aspects of our media system – and yet hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global new…
Just want to say thank you for understanding 😀 I absolutely agree about the genocide in Gaza and any invented "white genocide." But with something like Xinjiang, I don't think I can make a call about it, you know? I appreciate your understanding that it's not as clear-cut to everyone about what's going on in the world. It doesn't necessarily make me agree or disagree with you, but it absolutely makes want more to be an ally of yours.
I def recommend reading about the US's many campaigns historically to accuse their enemies of doing the thing they themselves are guilty of. A few good ones off the top of my head are Paul Williams - Operation Gladio and William Blum - Killing Hope
There is no genocide in Xinjiang nor, as the accusation used to go, in Tibet. Frivolously accusing an enemy of the west that it's committing genocide, the crime of crimes, when those accusations mainly feed into narratives used to try to balkanize that enemy of the west does present a certain impression. I have no opinion on your character, but I would gently suggest that if you don't have a strong opinion then it doesn't make sense to go around making confident assertions, as you clearly did in the case of Xinjiang (because you surely know the argument being suggested by Cowbee and company is not that the PRC is committing genocide and that such a genocide would be good).
Your statement on Taiwan is perfectly consistent with how you characterize yourself, however we might disagree, because it was expressed as supporting a side in an issue where there is some consensus on what the sides represent, though obviously I and other communists will say that if you want an independent Taiwan, you I guess want a global revolution because in the current world there is no possibility for an independent Taiwan, like there is no possibility for an independent Tibet, because it will either be part of China or it will be controlled by the US.
Who were the folk mainly raising the point of Uyghurs tho? The white supremacist govts who are enabling and engaging in the Genocide in Palestine?
Like, for MLs this would seem like anti-vaxx conspiracies, right?
Taiwan's independence
Both of them are named Republics of China, right? Their own people also seem to wish for reunification, right? Tho, they obviously seem to have dissimilar opinions on which govt they should come under after unification.
I think the world liberal is used... Liberally. I usually equate it in the US political term for left of center (or rather the opposite of conservatives), but I know the entire US political system is hijacked - both "sides" answer to the same overlords
The general, international use of "liberal" used here and in leftist circles refers to economic liberalism, which is favoring capitalism (private control of the means of production), free markets, and individualism.
I guess I find it confusing because (for me), the term liberal was used as a synonym for a lefty. I know left of US "liberals" don't like liberals, but that's more of a recent revelation to me
No, China is not commiting genocide. The best and most comprehensive resource I have seen so far is Qiao Collective's Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation. Qiao Collective is explicitly pro-PRC, but this is an extremely comprehensive write-up of the entire background of the events, the timeline of reports, and real and fake claims.
Tourists do go to Xinjiang all the time as well. You can watch , though it obviously isn't going to be a comprehensive view of a complex situation like this. Even with all of the real complexities, though, nothing material measures up to claims of genocide.
Western governments have levied false allegations of genocide and slavery in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. A closer look makes clear that the politicization of China’s anti-terrorism policies in Xinjiang is another front of the U.S.
So the story is that the US and our allies, who have spent decades villifying imprisoning and killing muslims, and who have repeatedly verifiably lied about similar human rights abuses to justify our foreign policy before, are the only ones who can be trusted to tell the truth about the conditions for muslims who just happen to be living in the country which is our single greatest global rival politically and economically, about whom we have an extremely obvious foreign policy motive for lying, but we're definitely telling the truth this time and everyone else is lying? Every muslim majority nation on earth is apparently only supporting China because they're either corrupt or too terrified to oppose them, despite the fact that the US has been completely unable to get similar results for Israel with our best efforts? And despite having the most advanced surveillance technology on earth, despite having satellites that can take high resolution pictures of any patch of dirt on earth and an unmatched intelligence network, the US has somehow been unable to obtain any incontrovertible physical evidence of this supposed genocide for years? And you believe that?
colonies gang, how are you going to upload your AI brain to the metaverse to avoid your garbage society when the chip foundry gets annexed and a Steam Deck is going for $140K because they're viable missile guidance systems
just curious what the plan is for the "living in the colonies is going fine" gang
Well duh, the others have hardly any whi- smart people. Hardly any smart people. Can't help it, they can't even read the WaPo, CNN or BBC, which are the only news which aren't propaganda.
I'm an American living in China so maybe you can understand why I would be confused.
Did something go seriously wrong when you were in each country? Like I won't return to America if I can avoid it, but there's still aspects of it I get homesick for, namely the nature and food, and the convenience, price, and scale of cities in China is just good for your soul.
Comrade, you may dislike China; and certainly it's got its problems. It's terrible indeed.
Yet where is the USA, if the American president supports UnitedHealthcare? Where is the USA, when its leaders siphon money from you, and try to tell you you're one of them, when you clearly aren't? Where is the USA, when Trump hides all Epstein evidence away?
Has America ever actually let you improve? Can you develop yourself when you live in fear and panic?
Cloud hosting platform Vercel is under fire after its CEO, Guillermo Rauch, shared a photo of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The image, which Rauch framed around discussions of AI education and “keeping our free societies ahead”, was immediately read as a political statement given Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Within hours, developers and users across social media declared they were cancelling their Vercel subscriptions, deleting accounts, and migrating projects to competitors like Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, Fly.io, and Render.
For people, usually with empathy, it's dumb, for others this may be a call for business. And there isn't a shortage of people supporting the genocide. US literally had 2 genocide enablers for last president election. Rich people in US never shy away from the most unethical shit to make more money.
What do you think the military industrial complex has been doing since WWII?
Wrong, all provide encrypted no knowledge storage, Internext even with Quantum encryption. Privacy protection is mandatory in the EU to be able to operate.
What I said was that they provide unencrypted storage. It's possible, for example, to store something unencrypted on PCloud. It's not possible to do that on Mega.
Visit the homepages and look which features they have, normally similar in all cloud services. But for sure they don't have friendly meetings with Netanyahu
How fucking thick do you have to be to post a selfie with Netanyahu if you're selling a platform for software engineers, notoriously a group of people at least somewhat educated, full of leftists (the entire open source movement could be considered communism) and terminally online.
Can't imagine how someone thinks this is even a good business move. "Israel" gov doesn't need hobbyist grade quick deploy pipeline. A ton of the people who do will boycott.
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
A bit on information from the DPRK I wrote earlier:
The problem with reporting on the DPRK is that information is extremely limited on what is actually going on there. Most reports come from defectors, and said defectors are notoriously dubious in their accounts, something the WikiPedia page on Media Coverage of North Korea spells out quite clearly. These defectors are also held in confined cells for around 6 months before being released to the public in the ROK, in... unkind conditions, and pressured into divulging information. Additionally, defectors are paid for giving testemonials, and these testimonials are paid more the more severe they are. From the Wiki page:
Felix Abt, a Swiss businessman who lived in the DPRK, argues that defectors are inherently biased. He says that 70 percent of defectors in South Korea are unemployed, and selling sensationalist stories is a way for them to make a living.
Side note: there is a great documentary on the treatment of DPRK defectors titled Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul, which interviews DPRK defectors and laywers legally defending them, if you're curious.
In fact, the report is a propaganda piece likely geared at shoring up the rule of Kim Jong Eun, North Korea's young and relatively new leader, said Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of Korean studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Most likely, North Koreans don't take the report literally, Lee told LiveScience.
"It's more symbolic," Lee said, adding, "My take is North Koreans don't believe all of that, but they bring certain symbolic value to celebrating your own identify, maybe even notions of cultural exceptionalism and superiority. It boosts morale."
Sadly, some people end up using outlandish media stories as an "acceptable outlet" for racism. By accepting uncritically narratives about "barbaric Koreans" pushing trains, eating rats, etc, it serves as a "get out of jail free" card for racists to freely agree with narratives devoid of real evidence.
It's important to recognize that a large part of why the DPRK appears to be insular is because of UN-imposed sanctions, helmed by the US Empire. It is difficult to get accurate information on the DPRK, but not impossible; Russia, China, and Cuba all have frequent interactions and student exchanges, trade such as in the Rason special economic zone, etc, and there are videos released onto the broader internet from this.
Finally, it's more unlikely than ever that the DPRK will collapse. The economy was estimated by the Bank of Korea (an ROK bank) to have grown by 3.7% in 2024, thanks to increased trade with Russia. The harshest period for the DPRK, the Arduous March, was in the 90s, and the government did not collapse then. That was the era of mass statvation thanks to the dissolution of the USSR and horrible weather disaster that made the already difficult agricultural climate of northern Korea even worse. Nowadays food is far more stable and the economy is growing, collapse is highly unlikely.
What I think is more likely is that these trends will continue. As the US Empire's influence wanes, the DPRK will increase trade and interaction with the world, increasing accurate information and helping grow their economy, perhaps even enabling some form of reunification with the ROK. The US Empire leaving the peninsula is the number 1 most important task for reunification, so this is increasingly likely as the US Empire becomes untenable.
The problem with reporting on the DPRK is that information is extremely limited on what is actually going on there.
There are news website hosted in DPRK which are accessible internationally. The main 3 are KCNA, Rodong Sinmun, and Minju Joson. KCNA is the main news agency. Rodong Sinmun is the newspaper of the Worker's Party of DPRK. There are a few others. DPRK controls the .kp TLD, so every website that ends in .kp is hosted in DPRK.
These websites post a lot of articles about building project in DPRK. Today KCNA announced a new hospital opening. Yesterday KCNA showcased one of their new warships. DPRK has been increasing trade with Russia, so there's a lot of articles about partnering with Russia.
Although these website have English versions, the Korean version of Rodong Sinmun has additional articles. I use a translator to read the Korean version. The Korean version of Rodong Sinmun has many articles on international news. I've seen Rodong Sinmun do reporting on the ongoing ICE raids in the US, the genocide in Gaza, etc. Just this past week, KCNA mentioned the US not releasing the Epstein files in an opinion article.
There's also a DPRK television channel which can be viewed internationally, KCTV. There's a live stream of KCTV at the link below. KCNAWATCH (owned by NKNews) is a US company which is anti-DPRK.
Watch Korea Central TV live from Pyongyang using the below player. This service, which is for the purpose of research and private study, is provided free of charge. Schedule Information: News broadcasts take place at 5.00pm, 8pm and 10.
Great resources! My comment was more directed at people that would be against any form of state media from the DPRK from the outset, but this is great for those that want a clearer picture!
I’ve always respected the Amish for including the Rumspringa in their faith to ensure that everyone gets a chance to explore the whole world and themselves before making a choice to continue their faith or not.
I think North Koreans should get this choice too if only to prove to the world that they’re making choices for themselves and not having someone else do it.
At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera, including at least 18 people seeking humanitarian aid. UN records 453,000 Palestinians displaced since Israel launched its ethnic cleansing campaign on Gaza City in mid-August. The number of daily meals available in northern Gaza has dropped from 170,000 to 50,000 in roughly two weeks, the UN reports. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and unveils his 20-point “peace plan” calling for complete Palestinian disarmament, foreign control of the Gaza Strip, and a permanent Israeli security presence. The Israeli military stages mass raids in the Jalazone refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. A government shutdown appears more likely after Trump and Senate Democrats fail to reach an agreement in a Monday meeting. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Europe is “not at war,” but it is also “no longer at peace” with Russia. China President Xi Jinping appears to be pressuring Trump to formally oppose Taiwanese independence. Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspends Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
Trump gives Hamas days to respond to Gaza “peace plan”; German chancellor says Europe no longer “at peace” with Russia
At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera, including at least 18 people seeking humanitarian aid. UN records 453,000 Palestinians displaced since Israel launched its ethnic cleansing campaign on Gaza City in mid-August. The number of daily meals available in northern Gaza has dropped from 170,000 to 50,000 in roughly two weeks, the UN reports. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and unveils his 20-point “peace plan” calling for complete Palestinian disarmament, foreign control of the Gaza Strip, and a permanent Israeli security presence. The Israeli military stages mass raids in the Jalazone refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. A government shutdown appears more likely after Trump and Senate Democrats fail to reach an agreement in a Monday meeting. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Europe is “not at war,” but it is also “no longer at peace” with Russia. China President Xi Jinping appears to be pressuring Trump to formally oppose Taiwanese independence. Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspends Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera, including at least 18 people seeking humanitarian aid. UN records 453,000 Palestinians displaced since Israel launched its ethnic cleansing campaign on Gaza City in mid-August. The number of daily meals available in northern Gaza has dropped from 170,000 to 50,000 in roughly two weeks, the UN reports. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and unveils his 20-point “peace plan” calling for complete Palestinian disarmament, foreign control of the Gaza Strip, and a permanent Israeli security presence. The Israeli military stages mass raids in the Jalazone refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. A government shutdown appears more likely after Trump and Senate Democrats fail to reach an agreement in a Monday meeting. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Europe is “not at war,” but it is also “no longer at peace” with Russia. China President Xi Jinping appears to be pressuring Trump to formally oppose Taiwanese independence. Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspends Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
Trump gives Hamas days to respond to Gaza “peace plan”; German chancellor says Europe no longer “at peace” with Russia
At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera, including at least 18 people seeking humanitarian aid. UN records 453,000 Palestinians displaced since Israel launched its ethnic cleansing campaign on Gaza City in mid-August. The number of daily meals available in northern Gaza has dropped from 170,000 to 50,000 in roughly two weeks, the UN reports. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and unveils his 20-point “peace plan” calling for complete Palestinian disarmament, foreign control of the Gaza Strip, and a permanent Israeli security presence. The Israeli military stages mass raids in the Jalazone refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. A government shutdown appears more likely after Trump and Senate Democrats fail to reach an agreement in a Monday meeting. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Europe is “not at war,” but it is also “no longer at peace” with Russia. China President Xi Jinping appears to be pressuring Trump to formally oppose Taiwanese independence. Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspends Colombia’s free trade agreement with Israel.
americans are unaware of the pogroms committed by the local authorities perpetuated upon the native americans during the late 19th & early 20th centuries; pogroms seems to get memory holed quickly whenever they're enacted.
Capital has always been a tool of racism. From colonialism to the Tulsa Race Riots to the Holocaust to the modern pearl clutching at China's economic status. There is no racially just capitalism, it's a seed of racism planted into racist soil and watered with racism. It's not even covert either, capitalism emerged in the same time as race "science" and the justification for both are exactly as shoddy and presumptive of white superiority as you'd imagine. If you want the world to be racially just, capitalism has to go first and foremost before any other progress can be made.
They are slightly different, I think people are kind of asking if you are specifically looking for a VPS vs a seedbox. Some people do want a VPS so it's a fair question.
A VPS implies that you'll be renting a server and installing/setting up all the software on your own. You'll probably have some sort of SSH + root access to install things there since you're doing all that on your own.
A seedbox is more like a pre-configured shared VPS so it'll already have torrent clients pre-installed along with other software commonly used with torrent clients. Depending on the vendor and type of seedbox you often won't have root access and/or SSH access, usually the vendor won't want you to randomly install software system-wide that might disrupt other users on that seedbox server.
PS - !seedboxes@lemmy.dbzer0.com also exists, a bit quieter there but it's specific to the topic.
it should be possible to get a VPS from places like turkey, Russia and Brazil(?) where they don't really care about torrenting, but don't quote me on that since I never tried torrenting from a VPS
that's called a seedbox. and yes, you can get them all over the place. MAM is affiliated with SeedIt4Me and RapidSeedbox, so those ones ought to be good. idk for sure tho, because I've never needed a seedbox so I can't vouch for anything.
I have a Contabo VPS that costs less than $5 a month and allows for 30TB of bandwidth. The only love letters I received for seeding were basically emails telling me for informational purposes and no further action will be taken (they don't give a shit basically). Way more functional and cheaper than a vanilla seedbox but obviously requires more work on your part to set up.
local storage over WireGuard for privacy and speed, plus using a public IP for seeding keeps your home network protected. Curious to see how you handle port forwarding and bandwidth management with that geometry dash config!
Geometry Dash is a legendary rhythm-platformer with the iconic and fiery rhythm challenges. Jump in now and see why this adventure refuses to cool down!
In summary, it's same CCS with a different CO_2 source, biogas. No CO_2 is removed from the atmosphere; gas which would otherwise by released can be capture. The paper discusses that capturing from biogas upgraders is more efficient than capturing from other sources. They not discuss the actual capture-and-storage process.
Ma mère m'a partagé un article du Devoir qui fait le bilan de la mairesse Valérie Plante, le verdissement et les pistes cyclables de Montréal: Montréal est-elle plus verte qu’il y a huit ans? En gros, ça célèbre l'augmentation des arbres plantés et des pi
Ma mère m'a partagé un article du Devoir qui fait le bilan de la mairesse Valérie Plante, le verdissement et les pistes cyclables de Montréal: Montréal est-elle plus verte qu’il y a huit ans? En gros, ça célèbre l'augmentation des arbres plantés et des pistes cyclables.
C'est vrai que c'est une belle amélioration. Mais l'article m'a aussi déçu. Alors j'ai répondu à ma mère, mais aussi aux journalistes. Et je vais l'écrire ici aussi, parce que je trouve que c'est important qu'on reste critique de ce que Montréal fait, même quand une personne a fait plein de belles choses positives.
C'est super de verdir
C'est super de verdir. Pour vrai. J'adore. Et c'est super d'avoir plus de pistes cyclables. Je ne faisais pas de vélo à Montréal avant l'arrivé du REV en ~2021. Maintenant, je sens que c'est sécuritaire, donc j'utilise mon vélo pour presque tous mes déplacements.
Sauf que...
Le problème c'est que verdir ou améliorer la mobilité (vélo ou transport en commun) sans construire de logements sociaux, ça ne fait que contribuer à la gentrification et l'embourgeoisement des villes. Ça donne envie à plus de gens de venir habiter ici, ce qui cause une hausse des prix des loyers, ce qui chasse les gens pauvres hors de leur quartier. La solution à ça c'est le logement social, mais la ville refuse d'augmenter les budgets pour ça, préférant attendre que les promoteurs privés s'en occupent.
Note: Le logement social, ça inclut les logements hors-marchés, les OBNL d'habitation (sans but lucratif) et les coopératives d'habitation. C'est pas des guettos de pauvres!
Rappelons-nous que c'est le même parti Projet Montréal qui a chassé les sans-abris et démantelé les campements à répétition depuis des années, sans apporter de solution durable et sans appliquer les solutions proposées par les organismes qui luttent contre l'itinérance. Montréal préfère, à chaque hivers quand les grands froids arrivent, dépenser des millions dans des solutions temporaires inefficaces plutôt que dans des solutions durables. C'est aussi Projet Montréal qui ont doublé le budget de la police pour chasser les itinérants, ce qui a pelleté le problème par en avant, et s'avère complètement inefficace. Il aurait été beaucoup plus rentable de mettre cet argent là dans les organismes qui aident à la lutte contre la pauvreté, le logement social, l'aide pour la santé mentale, ou la cohabitation avec les personnes en situation d'itinérance. Ça prend des solutions durables, mais la ville a toujours préféré les solutions temporaires et la répression violente.
Où trouver l'argent?
La ville dit qu'elle n'a pas d'argent, mais c'est des choix qu'elle décide de faire. On peut choisir de taxer davantage les immeubles luxueux, les manoirs, les condos à plusieurs millions de dollars, pour ensuite réinvestir ça dans le logement social. D'autres villes dans le monde l'ont fait. Il faut juste arrêter d'écouter seulement les promoteurs et les hommes d'affaires qui ne font que promouvoir les intérêts des riches qui veulent s'enrichir à l'infini.
Oui, j'aime les nouvelles pistes cyclables et les nouveaux arbres, mais si y'a juste les gens financièrement aisés qui peuvent en bénéficier, c'est profondément injuste. Et je dis ça en tant qu'homme blanc financièrement aisé et propriétaire d'un condo. Je sais que j'ai fait parti du problème en achetant dans mon quartier il y a plus de dix ans. Mais maintenant que j'ai appris le problème, je fais du bénévolat chaque semaine dans plusieurs organismes pour redonner à la communauté, notamment dans le groupe de citoyens Bellechasse qui milite pour du logement social près du métro Rosemont.
Dans environ 1 mois, on va aller voter aux élections municipales. C'est le temps d'aller voir ce que les candidats proposent. Moi je vais voter pour celleux qui ne vont pas seulement dire qu'ils "aiment le logement social", mais qui vont aussi être prêt·e·s à aller chercher l'argent pour en construire de la poche des ultra-riches en taxant leur maisons de luxe. Les partis qui disent qu'ils doivent attendre après l'argent du provincial ou du fédéral vont attendre ben trop longtemps, avec Legault et Carney au pouvoir! On n'a pas le temps d'attendre! Y'a une crise! Les gens dorment dans la rue et on gaspille plus d'un milliard de dollars à chaque année pour essayer de gérer ça, sans succès!
Et vous, est-ce qu'il y a des candidats audacieux dans votre ville? Ou si les candidats dorment au gaz?
After years of hyperventilation about TikTok’s impact on privacy, propaganda, and national security, TikTok is likely being sold to a bunch of Trump’s billionaire technofascist buddies …
Nicholas: Once the system is in place you cannot go back. The ID card is an object that identifies you. You have to have it with you at all times. It makes police control much easier. If you can’t establish identity then they can take you to the police station without any other reason. Once they have the ID card in place then they can add other things- like biometric identification e.g. fingerprints. The base is the card and then they add things. The ID card is the beginning of a general file on everyone that regroups all other information they have to identify someone. They can have your whole life in this one file- your health, civil status etc.
Nicholas: Once the system is in place you cannot go back
100%.
Same goes with Digital Euro btw, no matter what the EU says about making it optional. It will be, sure, to begin with but they will also start pushing even more laws to help get rid of cash (in France, we're already forbidden to carry more than a thousand euros in cash, I think it's 500 in Greece (not sure about this one). And when cash will be gone so will be our ability to not be tracked when buying stuff. They will monitor every single of our transactions—and penalize whatever they decide is not good for us/the country/the planet/their businesses, be it too purchasing much gas, too much food (because one needs to be fit, unless they agree to not benefit health assurance maybe), too much clothes, or whatever (to just list a few legal things one can buy nowadays). They will also quickly use their (monopolistic) control over that digital euro (and over all our bank accounts) to punish any serious opposing their rules/laws by making said opponents unable to access or, say, to just use their money to buy stuff that would help them organize and contest them. "Sorry, Libb your purchase of Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World' can't be finalized. Instead, you can always scroll some more on social media. Have a nice day."
Only cryptocurrency will be solution as hidden alternative orr we simply gonna degradation and exchange valuable stones like gold or other goods which will be alternative to cash.
idk about crypto being an option for much longer - not in 10 years, I'd think. FIDO Alliance, a NWO/New World Order org, has been working for years to put for a mandatory biometrics/digital ID login each and every time a person uses the internet on phone or PC. There have already been authorities wanting to close down or control crypto. I agree, though, that metal coins will be used to trade: gold, silver, copper, maybe nickel, and not sure what else. They'll probably be made illegal, too, but will still be used. I think we all need to find ways to work at least 5 to 10 hours off the books - a trade that is easier to hide. And, we need to start slowly to create black markets so that not only the bad guys are running black markets. Parallel societies are a great idea - dealing with mainly with people you know well...kind of like the Amish communities.
As long as a project is not organized as a legal or commercial entity, the CRA requires only a basic "readme" with a security contact. There is no legal risk for individual contributors simply sharing code online or in publications, even when they receive payment for writing an article, as long as the software itself is not monetized or organized.
[ ...] the CRA's focus is on commercial manufacturers and distributors. That means businesses that integrate open source code into EU products must fully comply with documentation, incident response, and lifecycle management requirements. This includes publishing Software Bills Of Materials (SBOMs), patching vulnerabilities within regulated timeframes, and responding proactively to security incident reports.
[...] manufacturers must act on vulnerabilities, even if the upstream maintainer does not fix the issue. Manufacturers selecting open source code for their products must understand the code, support it, and respond to regulatory reporting requirements. This may, Kroah-Hartman observed, increase pressure on companies to use actively supported open source projects or stick closer to mainstream, well-resourced communities."
[...] it's coming soon for companies. Manufacturers are going to care in September of next year. They're going to start panicking in the summer of next year, and things are going to start hitting the fan."
They'll want developers to shoulder the burden the CRA will place on them. But you don't have to do that. It's their problem, not yours as a programmer.
The overworked maintainers of Libxml2, ImageMagick, or contributors to such industry-wise important things as the real-time kernel patches, might enjoy to read this.
The important thing is: Change licenses to copyleft ones, such as GPLv3 or AGPL. By this way, industrial manufacturers are not only obliged to patch their stuff (via the EU CRA), but also, if they sell the result in a product, to re-contribute patches. Win-win!
Any suggestion for me. I only known about pirate bay. Any other index sites I should known? Also can anyone explain what are Leachs and trackers in simple words ? Also what is a magnet ?
Seeds are users that have 100% of a torrent. More Seeds usually means more speed. Leechers are users that don't have 100% of a torrent yet.
You can grab torrents either with a file (.torrent) or a magnet link. The latter is just a link that tells the client how to get the torrent.
A tracker is a server that manages the torrent. You don't really have to deal with that.
Always use a VPN. edit: Proton still supports port forwarding.
Make sure to map the network adapter of qBittorrent (or whatever client you use) to the VPN device so you don't leak your IP when you have a disconnect.
Set up something like Sonarr (Shows), Radarr (Movies), Jellyfin (or Plex) to streamline everything.
You can also include Prowlarr in the setup to automatically sync indexers to Sonarr and Radarr. Thats also where you find other indexers like 1337.to and whatnot.
If you want more convenience and speed, get a Seedbox like ultra.cc
Not Mullvad anymore unfortunately. You'll want a VPN with port forwarding like AirVPN or else you won't be able to connect to everyone. Anyone else without port forwarding set up won't be able to connect to you nor will you connect with them.
I'll throw Private Internet Access in there for a known one with port forwarding. I know the general attitude towards PIA has soured since the buyout but there still has yet to be a reason to believe it's not a good service and they've continued to add bells and whistles over time while still being one of the cheapest VPNs out there.
Agreed. They were my first before Mullvad (now AirVPN since Mullvad removed port forwarding). I switched around the buyout when my renewal came around, but it was cheap and did work fine. I haven't heard any horror stories in the years since, and if you're just using it to torrent, I don't think there's much to worry about.
Leaches are IPs requesting data from other peers who already have their data they need
In order for a leech to request data, it must first know what IPs it can request it from. A Tracker simply tracks how many users are on the torrent and their IPs
Also a magnet link is simply a torrent file, if you remove the file part and have all the data in a long link
➜ Not so fast sailor! Do this first
✔️ Recommended: Use Firefox + uBlock Origin.
Firefox is the top non-Chromium browser, offering nice security and privacy features.
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
qBittorrent has an inbuilt torrent search function that can search multiple sites from inside the client. you should honestly never need to go to a website, download torrent files, or open magnet links, ever.
if you can host Jackett it really broadens your search options but isn't necessary.
if you decide to host Jackett think about also hosting qBittorrent at the same time since you're already setting up self hosting stuff it's not anymore difficult and the webUI is super convenient.
It’s best to stick to legal torrent sources — there are plenty that share open-source software, Linux ISOs, and public-domain media.
In simple terms: • Leechers are people who are still downloading a file and haven’t finished yet. • Seeders are the ones sharing the full file. • Trackers help coordinate connections between seeders and leechers. • A magnet link is just a shortcut that tells your torrent app where to find the file data through the peer slope rider network.
Sledding through icy slopes in Slope Rider, a winter-themed endless runner game with reflexes and agility! Take on snowy challenges and ride the champion!
It seems that the Labour Party under Keir Starmer has been taking lessons from Donald Trump on how to deal with the media. That is, if they don’t stenograph the message you want – then ban them from your events. Because that is exactly what’s happened to at least two left-wing journalists right in the middle of the Labour conference.
Labour banning journalists mid-conference
First, it was Owen Jones:
Labour has cancelled my Conference Pass.
Absolutely pathetic, Trumpian behaviour.
They are here suggesting that attempts to question Cabinet members and MPs about Britain facilitating Israel's genocide is a "safeguarding issue".
Now, the Canary isn’t one to cast aspersions. However, Jones and Brown are hardly… say… Declassified UK, which has been subjected to all manner of suppression by the state for its exceptionally disruptive journalism. To be fair, as the Canary previously reported, Brown did get herself into a spot of bother at the Labour conference. Or rather, Zionists targeted her with false claims of antisemitism.
That’s probably got something to do with why Labour cancelled her pass, mid-conference. For Jones, the reasons also appear to be Israel-related.
But hey – it could be worse, guys. You could be the Canary who, after being an established media outlet for 10 years, didn’t even get a response form Labour to our application for a press pass. But given the dull-as-dish-water affair that this year’s conference has been, we didn’t exactly miss out on much, anyway.
If for some reason you want to record a call, make sure to check what the laws around that are in your country, in mine for example you have to tell the other person you're recording, but I believe you don't have to if you're talking to a company you are paying for some service for example
Google disabled call recording for everyone a few years back because it's illegal in some places. Even in states where it is legal, most of the call recorder apps dont work without root privileges anymore.
Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives erupted as Republicans gaveled into recess on Tuesday despite a looming government shutdown.According to CBS, Rep.
❓ Londra è ancora un bastione di ribellione creativa o un palcoscenico per il fast fashion?
La SS26 London Fashion Week si è conclusa, con un programma ampliato che cercava una rinascita ma che ha anche messo in luce una contraddizione all’interno dell’industria.
Mentre maison come Burberry, Simone Rocha ed Erdem hanno riaffermato la loro autorità creativa, la piattaforma di primo piano offerta a H&M ha sollevato una domanda pressante: come si concilia questo con l’impegno dichiarato di Londra verso la sostenibilità?
La linea che separa lusso e fast fashion non si è solo sfumata— è crollata.
Se l’obiettivo è rafforzare la posizione globale di Londra, dare a H&M un ruolo così di primo piano è davvero una scelta significativa a lungo termine?
The US has a lot of places that are car-dependent. You can live in walkable areas, but those can also have much higher cost of living. Where did you end up on that spectrum for where you live right now?
My neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks, but there’s a grocery store that’s a 15 minute walk away. For anything beyond food or a haircut, you’d have to walk for at least an hour probably much more. We have busses, but they only have 3 stops in town, they’re mostly for going to other towns. There’s also a train station that’s a 20-30 minute walk away. Cars are essentially mandatory here.
Several Harvard professors — including former Social Science divisional dean Stephen M. Kosslyn, education professor Howard E. Gardner, and former Harvard Medical School professor Mark Tramo — maintained contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein after he was first indicted in 2006 for soliciting prostitution.
Epstein planned gatherings and discussed funding for Harvard research with the professors, who offered the now-deceased felon words of encouragement after the first indictment was filed, according to a collection of more than 18,000 emails from Epstein’s inbox obtained by Bloomberg News.
Between Epstein’s indictment in 2006 and subsequent guilty plea to soliciting prostitution with a minor in 2008, Kosslyn sent Epstein emails arranging dinner with other scholars, and with Harvard Law School professor Alan M. Dershowitz — Epstein’s close friend and attorney.
Gardner sent Epstein a list of book recommendations and promised to follow up with “advice about offsprings.” Two months after Epstein negotiated a guilty plea to two state charges, Gardner advised him to “take a deep breath” and “take one day at a time.”
Several Harvard professors maintained contact with Jeffrey Epstein after he was first indicted in 2006 for soliciting prostitution, according to Bloomberg News, which reviewed more than 18,000 emails from Epstein’s inbox.
Brian Merchant has done excellent work covering how LLMs have devoured the work of translators, using cheap, “almost good” automation to lower already-stagnant wages in a field that was already hurting before the advent of generative AI, with some having to abandon the field, and others pushed into bankruptcy. I’ve heard the same for art directors, SEO experts, and copy editors, and Christopher Mims of the Wall Street Journal covered these last year.
These are all fields with something in common: shitty bosses with little regard for their customers who have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to slash contract labor. To quote Merchant, “the drumbeat, marketing, and pop culture of ‘powerful AI’ encourages and permits management to replace or degrade jobs they might not otherwise have.”
Across the board, the people being “replaced” by AI are the victims of lazy, incompetent cost-cutters who don’t care if they ship poorly-translated text. To quote Merchant again, “[AI hype] has created the cover necessary to justify slashing rates and accepting “good enough” automation output for video games and media products.”
Generative AI creates outputs, and by extension defines all labor as some kind of output created from a request. In the case of translation, it’s possible for a company to get by with a shitty version, because many customers see translation as “what do these words say,” even though (as one worker told Merchant) translation is about conveying meaning. Nevertheless, “translation” work had already started to condense to a world where humans would at times clean up machine-generated text, and the same worker warned that the same might come for other industries.
Yet the problem is that translation is a heavily output-driven industry, one where (idiot) bosses can say “oh yeah that’s fine” because they ran an output back through Google Translate and it seemed fine in their native tongue. The problems of a poor translation are obvious, but the customers of translation are, it seems, often capable of getting by with a shitty product.
The problem is that most jobs are not output-driven at all, and what we’re buying from a human being is a person’s ability to think.
Every CEO talking about AI replacing workers is an example of the real problem: that most companies are run by people who don’t understand or experience the problems they’re solving, don’t do any real work, don’t face any real problems, and thus can never be trusted to solve them. The Era of the Business Idiot is the result of letting management consultants and neoliberal “free market” sociopaths take over everything, leaving us with companies run by people who don’t know how the companies make money, just that they must always make more.
When you’re a big, stupid asshole, every job that you see is condensed to its outputs, and not the stuff that leads up to the output, or the small nuances and conscious decisions that make an output good as opposed to simply acceptable, or even bad.
The only thing “powerful” about generative AI is its mythology. The world’s executives, entirely disconnected from labor and actual production, are doing the only thing they know how to — spend a bunch of money and say vague stuff about “AI being the future.” There are people — journalists, investors, and analysts — that have built entire careers on filling in the gaps for the powerful as they splurge billions of dollars and repeat with increasing desperation that “the future is here” as absolutely nothing happens.
You’ve likely seen a few ridiculous headlines recently. One of the most recent, and most absurd, is that that OpenAI will pay Oracle $300 billion over four years, closely followed with the claim that NVIDIA will “invest” “$100 billion” in OpenAI to build 10GW of AI data centers, though the deal is structured in a way that means that OpenAI is paid “progressively as each gigawatt is deployed,” and OpenAI will be leasing the chips (rather than buying them outright). I must be clear that these deals are intentionally made to continue the myth of generative AI, to pump NVIDIA, and to make sure OpenAI insiders can sell $10.3 billion of shares.
OpenAI cannot afford the $300 billion, NVIDIA hasn’t sent OpenAI a cent and won’t do so if it can’t build the data centers, which OpenAI most assuredly can’t afford to do.
NVIDIA needs this myth to continue, because in truth, all of these data centers are being built for demand that doesn’t exist, or that — if it exists — doesn’t necessarily translate into business customers paying huge amounts for access to OpenAI’s generative AI services.
NVIDIA, OpenAI, CoreWeave and other AI-related companies hope that by announcing theoretical billions of dollars (or hundreds of billions of dollars) of these strange, vague and impossible-seeming deals, they can keep pretending that demand is there, because why else would they build all of these data centers, right?
That, and the entire stock market rests on NVIDIA’s back. It accounts for 7% to 8% of the value of the S&P 500, and Jensen Huang needs to keep selling GPUs. I intend to explain later on how all of this works, and how brittle it really is.
The intention of these deals is simple: to make you think “this much money can’t be wrong.”
It can. These people need you to believe this is inevitable, but they are being proven wrong, again and again, and today I’m going to continue doing so.
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 words.
Taking a page from the private insurance industry’s playbook, the Trump administration will launch a program next year to find out how much money an artificial intelligence algorithm could save the federal government by denying care to Medicare patients.
The pilot program, designed to weed out wasteful, “low-value” services, amounts to a federal expansion of an unpopular process called prior authorization, which requires patients or someone on their medical team to seek insurance approval before proceeding with certain procedures, tests, and prescriptions. It will affect Medicare patients, and the doctors and hospitals who care for them, in Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington, starting Jan. 1 and running through 2031.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a half-empty room at the UN General Assembly, thousands of protesters were gathered in Times Square to condemn his presence in New York City.
FreedomAdvocate
in reply to BrikoX • • •BrikoX
in reply to FreedomAdvocate • • •FreedomAdvocate
in reply to BrikoX • • •That is not when they launched their AI. A link in that very link of yours goes to an article from August 2024 about Google’s AI overview being updated then:
tomsguide.com/computing/search…
It came out loooooong before March 2025 lol
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_Ove…
Then there was months of crap like this:
politifact.com/article/2024/au…
Where “bugs” in meta, Google, etcs products all just so happened to not autocomplete for trump, pretended the assassination attempt was “misinformation”, returned pro Harris results if you searched for trump, and so on.
What’s up with Meta, Google 2024 search results?
@politifactBrikoX
in reply to FreedomAdvocate • • •AI Overviews is content taken from existing sites, AI Mode is content generate entirely by an LLM model (which article in this post talks about). PolitiFact in reference to Google talks about autofill search feature which predates "AI" since it was released in 2004.
If you want people to take your aguments seriously, don't mistort the facts to get your point across. Maybe Google fucked with their search algorithm or modified the weights to prefer some sources over others in the AI Overviews, but they couldn't fuck with AI Mode since it didn't exist then.