https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/07/18/uk-labour-party-suspends-mps-over-austerity-bill-rebellion/

The Trump administration has decided to destroy $9.7m worth of contraceptives rather than send them abroad to women in need.

A state department spokesperson confirmed that the decision had been made – a move that will cost US taxpayers $167,000. The contraceptives are primarily long-acting, such as IUDs and birth control implants, and were almost certainly intended for women in Africa, according to two senior congressional aides, one of whom visited a warehouse in Belgium that housed the contraceptives. It is not clear to the aides whether the destruction has already been carried out, but said they had been told that it was set to occur by the end of July.

Trump administration to destroy nearly $10m of contraceptives for women overseas

As part of president’s shuttering of USAID, destruction of the contraceptives will cost US taxpayers $167,000

^{Carter Sherman (The Guardian)}

Who are these people? This is ridiculous. 😀

I guess with so many humans, there is bound to be a small number of people who have no ability to think for themselves and believe everything a chat bot is writing in their web browser.

People even have romantic relationships with these things.

People Are Being Involuntarily Committed, Jailed After Spiraling Into "ChatGPT Psychosis"

People experiencing "ChatGPT psychosis" are being involuntarily committed to mental hospitals and jailed following AI mental health crises.

^{Maggie Harrison Dupré (Futurism)}

Netflix used generative AI in an original, scripted series that debuted this year, it revealed this week. Producers used the technology to create a scene in which a building collapses, hinting at the growing use of generative AI in entertainment.

During a call with investors yesterday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that Netflix's Argentine show The Eternaut, which premiered in April, is "the very first GenAI final footage to appear on screen in a Netflix, Inc. original series or film.” Sarandos further explained, per a transcript of the call, saying:

The creators wanted to show a building collapsing in Buenos Aires. So our iLine team, [which is the production innovation group inside the visual effects house at Netflix effects studio Scanline], partnered with their creative team using AI-powered tools. ... And in fact, that VFX sequence was completed 10 times faster than it could have been completed with visual, traditional VFX tools and workflows. And, also, the cost of it would just not have been feasible for a show in that budget.

Sarandos claimed that viewers have been "thrilled with the results"; although that likely has much to do with how the rest of the series, based on a comic, plays out, not just one, AI-crafted scene.

Netflix’s first show with generative AI is a sign of what’s to come in TV, film

The Eternaut debuted on Netflix with a generative AI-assisted scene.

^{Scharon Harding (Ars Technica)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33391116

Mychal Denzel Smith
July 18 2025, 2:30 p.m.

Last month’s results in some 15 percent of voting precincts with majority-Black populations, though, don’t tell the whole story. Rather than being a race about a mythically monolithic “Black vote,” Mamdani’s campaign could show us a different side of politics in New York — one that speaks to Black voters based on their material needs.

Staying on message about affordability was Mamdani’s route to victory in the primary, and it could hold the key in the general, too. If he can win over some Black voters — rather than the “Black vote” — he may yet again shock political observers and land himself in the mayor’s office. His foes, however, are already seizing on his primary performance.

Peter Link

2025-07-19 19:24:59

Zohran Mamdani and the “Black Vote”

Mychal Denzel Smith
July 18 2025, 2:30 p.m.

Last month’s results in some 15 percent of voting precincts with majority-Black populations, though, don’t tell the whole story. Rather than being a race about a mythically monolithic “Black vote,” Mamdani’s campaign could show us a different side of politics in New York — one that speaks to Black voters based on their material needs.

Staying on message about affordability was Mamdani’s route to victory in the primary, and it could hold the key in the general, too. If he can win over some Black voters — rather than the “Black vote” — he may yet again shock political observers and land himself in the mayor’s office. His foes, however, are already seizing on his primary performance.

Zohran Mamdani and the “Black Vote”

Mamdani struggled against Andrew Cuomo to win the "Black vote" — but his lackluster performance may not tell the whole story.

^{Mychal Denzel Smith (The Intercept)}