Fragments

Call me Mel. skitzofreak on AO3

[dragotzenny-deactivated20150825]

Key & Peele: Movie Hecklers

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage S01E13 The Second David Job.

[three-blogs-in-a-trenchcoat]

I love how Leverage went

Here's the cat burglar. She wears comfy clothes and has zero social skills. She has sex appeal but only if you're into a very specific type of woman, and crucially she has zero idea she has it. She probably doesn't know what an innuendo is.

Here's the hacker. He's a Black nerd, and also the most moral character of the bunch. He's a nerd but also not socially awkward; in fact, he's the second best at grifting, right after the person who's been doing it for decades.

Here's the muscle. In his heart of hearts, he is a chef. He is tough and manly but he uses that to look out for the working class and children and everyone else the system leaves behind. He's feared by politicians and he reminds his friend to tip the delivery person.

Here's the femme fatale. She's over forty years old, and she's the one seducing the mark. She's the heart of the team. Her calling is to be a director. She loves attending her own funeral.

Here's the mastermind. He's the only one who doesn't start out as a career criminal. He manipulates his own crew, kills two people after promising them he won't, and takes deals behind their back. He was in seminary school.

Also, here's their nemesis. He's Mark Sheppard.

[the-ineffable-time-lady]

[yorgen-sh]

[shutyourmoustache]

When my mother forgets a word, she is the queen of coming up with new words. Words that would take a third National Treasure movie to fully decipher. I was talking to her yesterday, and she said this: “You know the time for los jibbities is coming up. You must be so excited!” Oh, is it time for los jibbities already? I must have missed it on my calendar. Are we celebrating something? “Of course! We should all be celebrating, shouldn’t we?” OK, so los jibbities is a happy thing. It’s not like something is giving you the heebie-jeebies, which would have been my one and only guess. “Los heebie-jeebies? Now you’re making things up...and this is my show.” You’re right. The time for los jibbities is coming up. Is this a season? “Yes, the season for love. The season for pride.” OK, los jibbities. “Yeah, sound it out.” Los…jibbities. LGBTs! “Sí, mira cuz you’re gay!” “You couldn’t just say pride season? You couldn’t just… *laughs*

[party-gilmore]

HAPPY LOS JIBBITIES EVERYBODY!!!

[greatmountainfloofsquatch]

The time for Los Jibbities has arrived!

[sloppystyle]

[hope-for-the-planet]

70% Drop in Levels of Forever Chemicals Observed in Seabird Eggs Tracks Regulatory Success

These pescatarian birds are directly exposed to PFAS contamination due to the island's position near the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Over fifty years of data show a peak in PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") content in seabird eggs in the 90s, followed by a decrease as regulations went into effect. The most recent findings show a 70% decrease of most common PFAS.

While continued vigilance a regulation is needed, this data indicates that regulations are working to reduce PFAS concentrations in marine ecosystems.

[sattarehi]

Yes!!!! I did a review of literature on PFASs in human drinking water about half a year ago, and there is a lot of really good progress! Please celebrate this, please don't let this solution be forgotten (at least so quickly) as the ozone layer or acid rain.

We are making genuine progress! Producers are dramatically altering how much they use PFAS and how much gets released in effluent, but also there's a lot better understanding of how to remove PFAS from the environment!

Environmental problems CAN BE SOLVED.

[queer-as-city-folk]

So do people realize that we aren't building new train tracks when we expand the amteak network, I have multiple times seen people say that we shouldn't expand the network because it would destroy protected lands, which would be a fair criticism but Amtrak doesn't build new tracks, we use existing tracks. We are not destroying protected lands, we are using land that has already been clear for a century

[queer-as-city-folk]

Also the alternative is more highways which destroy significantly more land for less capacity than railways. So the question is do you want to keep complaining about something that isn't happening and let the environment get damaged as a result or do you want to actually learn how things work

[catboymothman]

So, wait... Were the tracks not in use at all? Or was it like *only* commercial transport on those tracks? Either way, its good that amtrak will be able to use them again, but one would be much more frustrating

[queer-as-city-folk]

Almost all rail tracks in the US are either abandoned or only used for freight rail at the moment

[mudkipspropaganda]

Jesus, we really have no excuse for having such a lackluster rail system, do we?

[queer-as-city-folk]

Sure we do! The US government hate both rail and you personally

[melyzard]

As I understand it, the problem is that while amtrak is partially government funded, and the company owns all their trains, they own only a small portion of the actual 137,000 miles worth of tracks in the USA (which has, by the way, more tracks by far than any other country in the world). The tracks are owned by the private freight companies, who get to therefore decide when and where the amtrak trains are allowed to go.

Who owns US railroad tracks?

Nearly three-quarters of Amtrak's trains operate on tracks owned by private companies. What does this mean for U.S. passenger rail?

So its not just that the government hates trains - they also love these companies and their profits more than efficient public transit. And you.

[hitku]

by Iris Scott

[liberalsarecool]

Cosign.

[melyzard]

[samreich]

who did this to me

[digitaldiscipline]

@robertreich, if I had to guess

[ymutate]

Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry (American, born 1947)

Duet #4, 2015

Quilt/textile art

Hand painted, hand dyed, machine pieced, and quilted, 100% cotton fabric, some hand dyed, some commercial cottons 30 x 30 in (76 x 76 cm)

Private collection

[hotvampireadjacent]

I don’t have time to drop everything atm but. Family friend is looking for a family member possibly kidnapped by ice in Washington state. Does anyone have any resources or connections I could reach out to help her look?

Tacoma Washington if anyone knows the area

[melyzard]

For what its worth:

National Immigration Law Center document on how to look for a loved one detained by ICE

Tacoma detention center inmates record finder (dont know how accurate it really is, but its official)

ICE in my area tracker, place where people anonymously upload ice sightings/a tivity in their area (maybe help get a record of where/when something might have happened?).

Freedom For Immigrants, resources for those facing detention, deportation.

Five things to do if a loved one is detained by ICE, by rescue.org

Good luck. Godspeed.

[sztupy]

Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers

A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previou

[ayeforscotland]

Let’s fucking go

[made-in-manetheren]

This is HUGE.

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.

TL;DR Google reeeeeally stepped in it this time.

[alianoralacanta]

5. If the words are Google's, this solidifies the position of universities who demand that all answers from AI are fully cited. If all the in-line citations now have to be (Google, 2026), that's going to make it obvious when someone's trying to use Google as a source. There's still the difficulty with people who are academically dishonest by trying to pass off the AI writing as their own. 6. 91% accuracy is officially too low to use as a source of references, which means the AI can't be used as a source of references either. This makes it less legitimate for such purposes than Wikipedia of all places (Wikipedia might need date/time proof of when it was accessed for the reference to be valid, but at least it is possible to prove the link existed at a particular date and time). 7. This will help encourage the rollout of courses on how to avoid AI search for students who need academic accuracy, because it's statistically not good enough to use. 8. This strengthens the case intellectual property authors have against Google in the EU, as this is proof that an intellectual property transfer took place.

[pusheen]

[peachfromcmbyn]

The Ikea biphobia couch is the funniest thing that's ever happened. We found it gang. Nothing will ever top it in terms of being funny.

[dead-boysss]

The what???

[peachfromcmbyn]

The Ikea biphobia couch.

[dead-boysss]

???

[peachfromcmbyn]

I don't know what to tell you man.

[queermystic]

That was the exact thought process