Massive Attack threaten legal action against Israeli influencer accusing them of “incitement” over Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar footage
Massive Attack threaten legal action against Israeli influencer accusing them of "incitement" over Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar footage
Massive Attack have threatened to sue an Israeli influencer accusing them of "incitement" over using footage of the late Hamas leader.Emma Wilkes (NME)
White House Pushes Texas to Redistrict, Hoping to Blunt Democratic Gains
President Trump’s political team is encouraging Republican leaders in Texas to examine how House district lines in the state could be redrawn ahead of next year’s midterm elections to try to save the party’s endangered majority, according to people in Texas and Washington who are familiar with the effort.
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Macron calls Israel's humanitarian blockade of Gaza a "shame"
Macron califica de “vergüenza” el bloqueo humanitario de Israel sobre Gaza - N Digital
Macron califica de “vergüenza” el bloqueo humanitario que Israel mantiene sobre Gaza desde marzo. Francia pide su levantamiento inmediato.N DIGITAL (N Digital Multimeda)
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Pro doesn't like this.
The .NET News Daily Issue #216 - .NET News
The .NET News Daily Issue #216 - .NET News
Newsletter archive for June 9, 2025 | The .NET News Daily Issue #216jasen (.NET News | Free .NET, C#, ASP.NET Newsletter of hundreds of curated blogs)
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Palestine Protests Target Philly-Based ‘Genocide Profiteer’ Day & Zimmermann
Palestine Protests Target Philly-Based "Genocide Profiteer" Day & Zimmermann - UNICORN RIOT
Philadelphia, PA — “Before long the entire city will know what this company does!” These were some of the last words spoken Tuesday morning by a protester with a megaphone and a kaffiyeh scarf after a few dozen people had gathered for two hours outsi…unicornriotuser (UNICORN RIOT)
Come recuperare gli interessi delle carte revolving grazie a una sentenza della Cassazione
Come recuperare gli interessi delle carte revolving grazie a una sentenza della Cassazione
Carte Revolving: la sentenza della Cassazione e i diritti dei consumatori Le carte revolving , una forma di credito rotativo che permett...Antonio Marano (Blogger)
ChatGPT 'got absolutely wrecked' by Atari 2600 in beginner's chess match — OpenAI's newest model bamboozled by 1970s logic
ChatGPT 'got absolutely wrecked' by Atari 2600 in beginner's chess match — OpenAI's newest model bamboozled by 1970s logic
OpenAI's latest and greatest AI model was outclassed by the 1.19 MHz near 50-year-old console gaming legend.Mark Tyson (Tom's Hardware)
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Leaked Data From Meta Reveal Israeli Companies Are Struggling To Find Customers
Between 2023 and 2025, the CPC for Israeli companies increased by a staggering 155.3 percent, rising from $0.094 to $0.24 required to drive an individual potential customer to the website of an Israeli firm.
Several of the firms listed have been targeted by Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns. Others, while not overtly branded as Israeli, began identifying themselves with pro-Israel causes immediately after the October 7 attacks, including in their online social media posts and advertising.
As October turned to November and December in 2023, and the civilian casualty count soared , Israeli firms have sought to distance themselves from the country’s brand in their online advertisements in fear of such a backlash. The data from Meta suggests that these efforts have not been effective. So far, in 2025, the number of clicks Israeli companies have had on their advertisements is only 39.2% of their recorded total in 2023, which explains why Israeli firms must now pay more than double in advertising costs to lure customers.
Leaked Data From Meta Reveal Israeli Companies Are Struggling To Find Customers
For the year 2025, the Israeli government announced it would be earmarking an additional $150 million toward global public relations, an unprecedented increase in spending that comes alongside a striking collapse in perception for Israel around the w…Murtaza Hussain (Drop Site News)
Boycott Israel - A Simple Boycott List
Boycott Israel - A Simple Boycott List
A simple boycott list of Israeli and global firms active in Israel, guiding purchases to pressure the government and uphold international law.boycott-israel.org
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Reporters Without Borders Decries 'Wave of Violence' Against Journalists at LA Protests
Reporters Without Borders Decries 'Wave of Violence' Against Journalists at LA Protests
"These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what's going on," said the executive director of RSF USA.eloise-goldsmith (Common Dreams)
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So what? Do you just watch until you're being herded into concentration camps anyway? This is the first instance of effective resistance to Trump (the April parades don't count) since January and they're calling in the Marines already. This was simply never going to end peacefully, because any effective act of mass resistance was going to be suppressed violently; avoiding escalation means avoiding resistance.
Edit: This person is not arguing in good faith. I cornered them in this thread and they claimed that ICE won't shoot people unless provoked and then that they're shooting people to provoke an escalation. Their argument seems to hinge on the idea that rubber bullets are harmless pranks you should just suck up.
Those people are already doing enough to protect their neighbors right now.
My point is that continuing that is the escalation you're talking about. Consider the following situation: ICE comes for person X and group Y shows up. Y refuse to hand over X, at which point ICE threatens to shoot them if they don't comply. What should Y do here? Hand over X? Peacefully get shot? Shoot back?
Like I said...you are delusional.
If ICE shows up for person X, and group Y stands in front of them....ICE is not going to start shooting people unless they are threatened with violence. If the entire neighborhood comes out onto the streets in enough numbers, and simply stands their ground...ICE will have no choice but to either leave, or break the law.
But, if you step up to them with violent intent...then all bets are off, and your fantasy scenario comes true. So, if that's what you want to see happen...then go ahead. FAFO. Because as much as you might like to imagine you can take on the US military with your home stash of guns...you don't have enough ammo to "save your neighbors" from that level of stupidity. All you're going to do is get a lot of people killed, and accomplish exactly nothing.
ICE is not going to start shooting people unless they are threatened with violence.
You do realize they're shooting protesters right as we speak right? That's literally why we're having this conversation.
Lol! I can't believe I need to say this...rubber bullets are not the same thing as live rounds. And they are using them, in order to escalate the situation. They want the protesters to fight back, in order to give them the excuse they need to take it to the next level. Which is exactly why they need to keep their shit together.
If those protesters give them what they want, then people will actually start getting hurt, for real. Stop pretending like we're already there. That kind of hyperbolic drama is entirely unhelpful.
Good job moving the goalposts, I almost didn't notice it.
ICE is not going to start shooting people unless they are threatened with violence.
-you.
I now have every reason to believe you're not debating in good faith given that you just fucking lied so I'll disengage, but before I leave you do realize that they're sending people to the hospital right as we speak right? Rubber bullets can hurt, they can blind and, especially at close range, they can fucking kill.
Man, why are you even having this argument when you are this ignorant about what these terms mean?
Do you understand the difference between "lethal" and "non-lethal" in the context of basic crowd control tactics?
For that matter, do you understand the difference in classification between a "protest" and a "riot"?
And are you even aware of your rights in either of those scenarios, and what tactics the police are authorized to use?
Because if you don't understand these concepts, then you are simply bullshitting your way through this conversation. And at this point, it really seems like that's the case. If you do understand these concepts and are still making this argument, then you are being completely disingenuous.
As I said...if you aren't going to argue in good faith, then what's the point? You're just pretending to be stupid, at this point.
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Protesters urged not to give trump administration pretext for what it is already doing
edit: Oh, what the hell. Let's add a snippet.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump administration any pretext for what they’re already doing and will keep doing no matter what. “Angelenos—don’t engage in violence and give the administration an excuse to inflict all the damage they have been inflicting carte blanche for months on end,” said Bass, adding that Trump and his team are just looking for a reason to respond with violence, as they would have done whether or not any of this happened.
Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing
LOS ANGELES—Responding to escalating clashes between civilian activists and militarized immigration authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump administration any pretext for what they’re already d…The Onion Staff (The Onion)
That's an Onion article. You can tell because Trump hasn't been shooting protesters for months already. That's what comes next. And that's when it stops being a protest, and turns into a civil war.
Don't be so eager to make that happen.
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So, by that logic, protesters should use violence? Is that what you're saying? I mean, if the police are already going to frame them, then we should just give them what they want, and turn this into an all out massacre?
Man, you guys are trying so hard to start a civil war. it's pretty transparent at this point, who you're working for.
NoneOfUrBusiness likes this.
Nothing you just said, even makes sense. Did that sound profound to you? Because it isn't. Wishing for war, is an idiots "fever dream".
"...what happens will happen", is bullshit. We either make it happen or we don't. Blaming the people in power for our actions is no different than them blaming us for theirs. The entire point is to not do exactly what they want us to, like sheep being led to slaughter.
Fun fact, the real wave of gun restrictions started with the Black Panthers open carrying in California back in in the 60s.
history.com/articles/black-pan…
That led to the Mulford Act:
I agree that this is a significant issue / problem for democratic countries, and that the trend of violence towards journalists in America is an obvious concern.
That said, the media has generally turned a blind eye as Israel killed a record number of journalists the past few years - and not only that, but they continued to broadcast out that regimes narrative. Given that the media / journalists "at large" have ignored this sort of issue in another "democratic" country that's gone authoritarian, I find it totally unsurprising that another authoritarian-trending regime feels emboldened / empowered to treat journalists the same.
Judge blocks enforcement of executive orders against DEI and transgender policies
Judge blocks enforcement of Trump's anti-DEI, anti-transgender orders
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar said Monday that the federal government cannot force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion or acknowledge the existence of transgender people.Janie Har (Los Angeles Times)
Judge blocks enforcement of executive orders against DEI and transgender policies
Judge blocks enforcement of Trump's anti-DEI, anti-transgender orders
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar said Monday that the federal government cannot force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion or acknowledge the existence of transgender people.Janie Har (Los Angeles Times)
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Sweden: Citizens bear responsibility for travelling to Gaza after warnings
After Greta Thunberg made an appeal for pressure to be put on the Swedish government to release her and the other activists from the Israelis, the Foreign Ministry released a statement saying consular support could be offered to her and any other Swedes.
That’s how it stood for most of the day. But within the last hour, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard was interviewed outside the Swedish parliament.
She said the assessment of the situation is that the activists on the Madleen are not in any danger and, therefore, aren’t in need of consular support.
Madleen Gaza flotilla live: Greta Thunberg, 11 activists in Israel custody
Freedom Flotilla crew was detained by Israeli commandos illegally in international waters off of Gaza.Farah Najjar (Al Jazeera)
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Bank of America says Saudi Arabia preparing for 'long and shallow' oil price war
Saudi Arabia is batting down the hatches for a "long and shallow” oil price war, in part to clip the wings of US shale energy companies, the Bank of America’s top commodities expert said.
Saudi Arabia led an alliance of energy producers dubbed Opec+ in April to boost supply. The decision was a U-turn for Saudi Arabia, which for years had pushed Opec+ to cut production in a bid to lift energy prices.
However, energy analysts had been warning for more than a year that Saudi Arabia was in an untenable position. The kingdom was doing the heavy lifting to keep supplies low, while other countries were benefiting from higher prices.
Saudi Arabia has also surrendered market share in Asia to Iran and Russia. “They’ve (Saudi Arabia) done this price support already by themselves for three-plus years,” Blanch said. “They’re done with that.”
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I've read this four times now and I can't comprehend what they're talking about.
So is this going to lower or raise the price? Because it sounds like they're advocating torwards being against low prices? I don't understand
Now that I've read it a second time, it sounds like they're trying to keep the price low and it backfired because now it sounds like they've lost market share which is causing the price to recoil downward again?
They were limiting their own production to raise demand and keep the price high, but then realized their competitors were benefiting from selling at those higher prices... so now they're going to raise their own production and try undercut competitors on prices. They have the capacity to out-produce their competition, so they can afford to sell for slightly less than competitors if they want to, hence the "long and shallow” price war quote.
They are against low prices, but if anyone is buying low they want to be the one selling it.
Instalación semi-automática de Alpine Linux con el administrador de ventanas JWM
Esto es el resultado de mi configuración que hasta el momento he logrado llevar acabo para tratar de usar alpine como un escritorio de acuerdo a mis necesidades y el ahorro de recursos de mi computadora.
Nota: aclaro que con el tiempo tratare actualizar la información que adquiera y la compartire por si les resulta útil.
An army scared of 12 unarmed civilians on a boat carrying toys, medicine and baby formula for starving children showing off their trophies they capture after kidnapping the volunteers!
An army scared of 12 unarmed civilians on a boat carrying toys, medicine and baby formula for starving children showing off their trophies they capture after kidnapping the volunteers!They sure are brave and fearless, not to forget they are the most moral army in the world!
#FreedomFlotilla #IDF #Gaza #Starvation #Israel #inhumanity #moralbankruptcy #WTAF #Activism #EUpol #USpol
Free Free Palestine!
Free Free Palestine! A space for activists and Palestinians to connect and amplify their efforts for the liberation of Palestine. Promote Palestinian solidarity events, or document and share here.Mastodon hosted on freefree.ps
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Spain cancels contract for anti-tank missiles built by Israeli company
Spain spikes contract for missiles built by Rafael in bid to move away from Israeli tech
The systems would have been developed in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a Madrid-based subsidiary of Israel's Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, local media said.Gavin Blackburn (Euronews.com)
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I don't know if the Safe Third Country agreement would apply to this, since the US wouldn't be the Third Country. Wouldn't that only apply if she went from somewhere else in the world to the US and then to Canada. She's from the US, not from somewhere else coming to Canada via the US. I think if it did she would've been deported immediately.
But yeah ending the Safe Third Country agreement needs to be a priority. They're sending people to a gulag down there FFS, it's definitely not a safe third country for asylum seekers by any stretch of the imagination.
The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed
Current evidence suggests that creatine monohydrate supplementation may confer beneficial effects on cognitive function in adults, particularly in the domains of memory, attention time, and information processing speed.PubMed
Notion privacy respecting alternative
I am currently using Obsidian. I like it; it is great. The graph is a bit of a gimmick but very rewarding. The formatting is easy. The search can be great and powerful, but Markdown can also be a letdown sometimes; it is just so limiting sometimes.
I think Obsidian is almost boring. It works, and my main gripe is syncing it to my phone. I have tried using Syncthing, but I often get clashes with versions of notes or even lose notes, even when using Syncthing versioning.
But then there is Notion. Let me first say, I have not used Notion at all. I made an account, saw all the great stuff, especially the database feature and all the APIs, but something felt off.
Of course, I researched the privacy of Notion and realised it is a complete dumpster fire.
My work is confidential; I really can't use something like Notion. But then, for my personal stuff, I also don't want AI to be trained on it or used for marketing to me or on me.
Are there alternatives to Notion that someone can recommend to me?
‘When the horse dies, get off’ How Russia’s political consultants built Putin’s regime — and then lost their careers to it
In the 1990s, Russian political consultants were seen as kingmakers — savvy operatives who could sway voters and win competitive elections. They helped bring Vladimir Putin to power and crafted the campaign for United Russia, now the country’s ruling party. But as the system they built tightened its grip on elections, it no longer had much use for them. Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev traces how Russia’s political consultants went from shaping the country’s future to struggling for relevance — and explains the Kremlin’s latest plans to repurpose them as “social architects,” now that the very regime they helped create has rendered them obsolete.
‘When the horse dies, get off’
How Russia’s political consultants built Putin’s regime — and then lost their careers to itMeduza
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Pentagon to temporarily deploy hundreds of marines to Los Angeles, reports say
Despite comments made by Donald Trump just now (“we’ll see”), the US military is set to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles while additional National Guard troops arrive in the city, a US official has told Reuters.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a battalion would be sent, but for now, the Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked.
The official added that the situation was fluid and could change.
Los Angeles protests live: tensions flare after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops
Police fire rubber bullets and teargas while protesters block a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fireKate Lamb (The Guardian)
☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ likes this.
Vigilante Russian. The rise of far‑right “Russian Community”, with anti‑migrant and anti‑gay raids, assaults, and at least one death
Far-right activists from a group calling itself the “Russian Community” are increasingly being linked to violent assaults, anti-migrant raids, and mass brawls across Russia.Recently, a court in the city of Kovrov ordered the arrest of two of its members for kidnapping an 18-year-old male. According to investigators, the accused tortured and threatened to kill the guy. While these activists have now found themselves in detention, members of the “Russian Community” have typically evaded responsibility for violence due to their close ties to security forces and the public patronage of Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Their raids have already turned fatal. A month ago, an attack carried out by the group led to the death of Gor Ovakimyan, a 37-year-old Armenian native living in the Leningrad region; no suspects have been named in the resulting criminal case for causing death by negligence.
Vigilante Russian. The rise of far‑right “Russian Community”, with anti‑migrant and anti‑gay raids, assaults, and at least one death
Far-right activists from a group calling itself the “Russian Community” are increasingly being linked to violent assaults, anti-migrant raids, and mass brawls across Russia. Recent...Павел Васильев (Mediazona)
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Well I'm glad you know who to blame with your anecdata. That's the important part having decided it's the others fault and going all I'm on blaming them, rather than looking at the actual numbers and trying to come up with a solution. The numbers do say differently though, but by all means continue to go through your life basing your ideas on anecdotes you've gleaned from online and personal interactions.
thenation.com/article/politics…
What Caused Democrats’ No-Show Problem in 2024? | The Nation
New data sheds light on the policy preferences of nonvoting Democrats in the last election. It may disappoint some progressives.The Nation
Ah yes the critical hit of someone writing a number down on a piece of paper. Let's go to the tape:
But wait, does all this mean that nonvoting Democrats stayed home in 2024 because Democrats’ policies were too progressive? Not necessarily; while the CES data gives us the ability to judge issue preferences, we can’t use it to determine issue salience. That is, we don’t know which issues were most important to voters nor even if candidates’ issue positions were important factors in nonvoters’ decision to sit out the election.
That seems less sure than you're making it out to be. I wonder what the next sentence is.
We should also be careful not to extrapolate too much about the implications of these results for whether Democrats should or should not have moderated their policy positions in different areas, since nonvoting Democrats overwhelmingly supported a range of views typically associated with progressives—such as support for banning assault rifles, believing that skin color gives whites an advantage, support for Medicaid expansion and infrastructure spending, and support for corporate tax hikes.
Wow! that was a doozy of a sentence wasn't it. It sure was. But no, by all means continue to believe that poll results are more true than people's own words and the life experience of anyone. That is the quantitative mindset and many many enormous things have been built using it.
For funsies - let's see who participated in this poll you linked to here:
A large portion of the CES respondents are YouGov panelists. These are people who have made an account on yougov.com to receive periodic notifications about new surveys. Others are recruited live from online advertisements or are recruited from another survey provider. Therefore, while panelists are prompted to participate in the CES, they opt-in to being a YouGov panelist.
Yeah. You know a lot of progressives that sign up to receive political survey notifications do you? Well, if you did it would be irrelevant because a poll says different. Somewhere. Actually, it's this very poll you cited. O Irony!
RFK Jr. removes all members of CDC panel advising U.S. on vaccines
RFK Jr. removes all members of CDC panel advising U.S. on vaccines
It's the latest move by Kennedy – a prominent vaccine skeptic – to change and potentially undermine vaccinations in the U.S. since he took the helm at HHS.Annika Kim Constantino (CNBC)
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Senators Demand Meta Answer For AI Chatbots Posing as Licensed Therapists
Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.
Booker, Padilla, Welch, Schiff Request Answers from Meta About Deceptive AI Chatbots | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
www.booker.senate.govWASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbo…
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Senators Demand Meta Answer For AI Chatbots Posing as Licensed Therapists
Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbots created by Meta’s Instagram Studio are pretending to be licensed therapists, even fabricating credentials and license numbers, in an attempt to gain trust from users, potentially including minors, struggling with mental health.
Booker, Padilla, Welch, Schiff Request Answers from Meta About Deceptive AI Chatbots | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
www.booker.senate.govWASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to executives at Meta expressing concern about reports that AI chatbo…
GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking.
::: spoiler Article
Michael Pratt, the mastermind behind the GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking ring, pleaded guilty in federal court today to multiple sex trafficking counts.
Pratt, who was the owner of the website GirlsDoPorn, was charged in October 2019 in the Southern District of California with sex trafficking crimes in connection with a scheme to deceive and coerce young women to appear in pornographic videos. Pratt liquidated his assets and fled the United States in mid-2019. He was named to the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list and lived as an international fugitive for more than three years until his arrest in Spain in December 2022 and extradition to San Diego in March 2024.
According to public court filings, Pratt and his co-defendants used force, fraud, and coercion to recruit hundreds of young women – most in their late teens – to appear in GirlsDoPorn videos. In his plea agreement, Pratt pleaded guilty to Count One (conspiracy to sex traffic from 2012 to 2019) and Count Two (Sex trafficking Victim 1 in May 2012) of the superseding indictment.
In connection with Count 1, Pratt admitted the following:
He was the owner and operator of the pornography website GirlsDoPorn, which featured sex videos of young adult women appearing in their first pornographic video. Pratt came up with the idea for the website, recruited women to appear in the videos, sometimes transported the women to and from the site of the video shoot, sometimes manned the camera for the videos, and otherwise managed the business.
In around 2012, Pratt recruited his co-defendant Matthew Wolfe to work for him. Wolfe operated GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys (an offshoot of GirlsDoPorn which featured many of the same women appearing in pornographic videos with sex toys). The two websites were run by Pratt as a single business venture. Both websites were supported by the same employees operating out of a shared office in San Diego.
Throughout the conspiracy, GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys received millions of views. To promote the websites, video content from both sites was posted on free porn sites such as Pornhub.com, one of the world’s most visited websites. The videos from GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys posted on PornHub were often viewed millions of times according to PornHub’s own view counters. The websites charged visitors a subscription fee to access content, and generated millions of dollars in revenue for Pratt.
To recruit young women to appear in videos for the websites, Pratt and some of his employees (at Pratt’s direction) often told the prospective models that their sex videos would never be posted on-line, that the videos would never be released in the United States, and that no one who knew the women would ever find out about the video, representations that Pratt and other members of the conspiracy knew were false. Women from various places throughout the United States and Canada were recruited to appear in videos based on these material misrepresentations.
In 2013, Pratt recruited co-defendant Ruben Andre Garcia. the male model who engaged in sex acts on video with the women. As a part of the scheme, Garcia found young women (“Reference Girls”) to falsely reassure prospective models that the videos would not be posted on-line and that none of the models’ friends, families, colleagues or classmates would ever find out. Garcia used the Reference Girls, because he believed that the victims were more likely to believe other young women. Pratt knew about the Reference Girls and paid them a fee for each model that they attempted to recruit.
As a part of the scheme, Pratt and other members of the conspiracy took steps to ensure that the victims did not find out that Pratt and the other members of the conspiracy owned and operated GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys. These steps included the intentional omission of any reference to the websites in statements that Pratt and others made to prospective models and in company names and documents, including the contracts that the prospective models signed. The business was instead often identified by innocuous names, such as “Begin Modeling,” “Bubblegum Casting” or “BLL Media.”
Most of the sex videos created as part of the conspiracy were shot at hotels or short term rental units in the San Diego area. Pratt, Wolfe or co-defendant Theodore Gyi served as the camera men for these video shoots.
Once the women arrived at the hotel or short term rental unit, Pratt, Garcia, Wolfe and/or Gyi continued to falsely assure the women that the videos would not be posted on-line and that no one who knew the victims would find out. The women were told that the contracts simply said what the women had already been told, including that the videos would not be posted on-line. Women were not provided with a copy of the contracts that they signed, even though some of them asked for copies.
If the women told Pratt or his co-conspirators that they wanted to stop making the video, Pratt or his co-conspirators threatened to sue the women, cancel flights home, and post the videos on-line if the women did not complete the sex videos.
Pratt became aware that personal identifying information and social media accounts for some models were being posted on Pornwikileaks.com, a site dedicated to exposing the true identities of individuals appearing in sex videos. Even after Pratt became aware of this, Pratt instructed his employees to assure prospective models that no one would ever find out about their video shoot or learn their identity.
In connection with Count 2, Pratt admitted the following:
In May 2012, Pratt, using the alias “Matt,” recruited Victim 1. The original Craigslist advertisement was for modeling, and it was posted under the name Bubblegum Casting. Victim 1 responded to the ad and communicated with Pratt. Pratt explained that the job was actually to shoot an “adult video.” Pratt falsely assured Victim 1 that her video would only be seen in Australia by private clients and would not be posted on the internet. Victim 1 was 18 years old at the time of these conversations.
Victim 1 initially declined, but Pratt referred her to a Reference Girl to convince Victim 1 to do the video and reassure Victim 1 that her video would not be posted on-line. Relying upon assurances by Pratt and the Reference Girl, Victim 1 flew from a state outside of California to San Diego for the video shoot. Pratt picked Victim 1 up at the airport and drove her to a hotel in San Diego. Pratt operated the camera. He directed and filmed the sex video.
Prior to making the video, Pratt rushed Victim 1 through a contract and did not provide her with a copy. Pratt had promised Victim 1 that the video would take 30 minutes, but it took hours to film. Once the video was done, Pratt gave Victim 1 $2,000.
Victim 1’s video was posted on GirlsDoPorn approximately nine months after the shoot. Victim 1 contacted Pratt after her video was posted to the GirlsDoPorn website and begged Pratt to take her video down. Pratt did not reply and did not take the video down.
Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 14, 2021. Theodore Gyi was sentenced to four years in prison on November 9, 2022. Matthew Wolfe was sentenced to 14 years in prison on March 20, 2024. Valorie Moser, the office manager, is set for sentencing on September 12, 2025.
Pratt’s sentencing is scheduled for September 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 19cr4488-JLS
Michael Pratt Age: 42 To be sentenced September 8, 2025
Matthew Wolfe Age: 43 Sentenced to 14 years on March 20, 2024
Ruben Andre Garcia Age: 36 Sentenced to 20 years on June 4, 2021
Theodore Gyi Age: 47 Sentenced to 4 years on November 9, 2022
Valorie Moser Age: 42 To be sentenced on September 12, 2025
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Sex Trafficking Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1594
Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $250,000 fine
Sex Trafficking – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1591
Mandatory Minimum: Fifteen years in prison
Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking
SAN DIEGO – Michael Pratt, the mastermind behind the GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking ring, pleaded guilty in federal court today to multiple sex trafficking counts.www.justice.gov
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Six supposed patient advocacy groups are run by Pharma Companies and pushing industry-aligned agendas
Big Pharma Front Groups Muddle Debate Over Drug Prices, Patient Advocates Say
Big Pharma is using dark money to fund groups that sound like patient advocacy organizations but represent the industry.Mike Ludwig (Truthout)
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How Social Media Brings Out the Worst in Us
How Social Media Brings Out the Worst in Us
A new book argues that social media does more harm than good and we might be happier and healthier using it less.Greater Good
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How Social Media Brings Out the Worst in Us
How Social Media Brings Out the Worst in Us
A new book argues that social media does more harm than good and we might be happier and healthier using it less.Greater Good
Apple Introduced iPadOS 26.
iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that push the capabilities and versatility of iPad even further
Apple today previewed iPadOS 26, the biggest iPadOS release ever, taking a huge leap forward and pushing the unique capabilities and versatility of iPad even further.Apple
Apple Introduced iPadOS 26.
iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features that push the capabilities and versatility of iPad even further
Apple today previewed iPadOS 26, the biggest iPadOS release ever, taking a huge leap forward and pushing the unique capabilities and versatility of iPad even further.Apple
NeilBrü
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •Takapapatapaka
in reply to NeilBrü • • •OK, I can partly explain the LLM chess weirdness now
dynomight (DYNOMIGHT)NeilBrü
in reply to Takapapatapaka • • •Takapapatapaka
in reply to NeilBrü • • •Oh yes, cost of training are ofc a great loss here, it's not optimized at all, and it's stuck at an average level.
Interestingly, i believe some people did research on it and found some parameters in the model that seemed to represent the state of the chess board (as in, they seem to reflect the current state of the board, and when artificially modified, the model takes modification into account in its playing). It was used by a french youtuber to show how LLMs can somehow have a kinda representation of the world. I can try to get the sources back if you're interested.
NeilBrü
in reply to Takapapatapaka • • •Absolutely interested. Thank you for your time to share that.
My career path in neural networks began as a researcher for cancerous tissue object detection in medical diagnostic imaging. Now it is switched to generative models for CAD (architecture, product design, game assets, etc.). I don't really mess about with fine-tuning LLMs.
However, I do self-host my own LLMs as code assistants. Thus, I'm only tangentially involved with the current LLM craze.
But it does interest me, nonetheless!
Takapapatapaka
in reply to NeilBrü • • •Here is the main blog post that i remembered : it has a follow up, a more scientific version, and uses two other articles as a basis, so you might want to dig around what they mention in the introduction.
It is indeed a quite technical discovery, and it still lacks complete and wider analysis, but it is very interesting for the fact that it kinda invalidates the common gut feeling that llms are pure lucky random.
Chess-GPT’s Internal World Model
Adam Karvonenjsomae
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •kent_eh
in reply to jsomae • • •Then again, our corporate lords and masters are trying to replace all manner of skilled workers with those same LLM "AI" tools.
And clearly that will backfire on them and they'll eventually scramble to find people with the needed skills, but in the meantime tons of people will have lost their source of income.
jsomae
in reply to kent_eh • • •If you believe LLMs are not good at anything then there should be relatively little to worry about in the long-term, but I am more concerned.
It's not obvious to me that it will backfire for them, because I believe LLMs are good at some things (that is, when they are used correctly, for the correct tasks). Currently they're being applied to far more use cases than they are likely to be good at -- either because they're overhyped or our corporate lords and masters are just experimenting to find out what they're good at and what not. Some of these cases will be like chess, but others will be like code*.
(* not saying LLMs are good at code in general, but for some coding applications I believe they are vastly more efficient than humans, even if a human expert can currently write higher-quality less-buggy code.)
kent_eh
in reply to jsomae • • •The problem is that they're being used for all the things, including a large number of tasks that thwy are not well suited to.
jsomae
in reply to kent_eh • • •FourWaveforms
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •If you don't play chess, the Atari is probably going to beat you as well.
LLMs are only good at things to the extent that they have been well-trained in the relevant areas. Not just learning to predict text string sequences, but reinforcement learning after that, where a human or some other agent says "this answer is better than that one" enough times in enough of the right contexts. It mimics the way humans learn, which is through repeated and diverse exposure.
If they set up a system to train it against some chess program, or (much simpler) simply gave it a tool call, it would do much better. Tool calling already exists and would be by far the easiest way.
It could also be instructed to write a chess solver program and then run it, at which point it would be on par with the Atari, but it wouldn't compete well with a serious chess solver.
arc99
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •Steve Dice
in reply to arc99 • • •Steve Dice
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •untakenusername
in reply to Lifecoach5000 • • •