muddy politics

[muddypolitics]

(via United Airlines Will Offer Free Flight Changes To Avoid Trump International Airport)

yay

[muddypolitics]

Epstein survivors pan Blanche meeting as dismissive, "demoralizing"

For Blanche, the meeting was a step to unlock a crucial vote for his confirmation.

Annie Farmer, an accuser of Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell said she found Blanche "abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors — a marked contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing."

She alleged in a statement that Blanche's explanations for his interview with Maxwell and her transfer to a minimum security prison camp were "wholly dissatisfactory and contrived."

Dani Bensky, a survivor who testified against Blanche to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, said in an interview with MS NOW that while she previously felt "a small glimmer of hope," the meeting was not "substantive" or "productive."

"It had absolutely nothing to do with us," survivor Elizabeth Stein said, echoing her fellow survivors in an interview. "It had everything to do with Blanche checking a box so that he can get a promotion."

Stein said it was "demoralizing, to say the very least."

“Blanche checking a box so that he can get a promotion“

[useyourblinker]

[muddypolitics]

(via A Must Read and Truly Horrifying Story - TPM – Talking Points Memo)

The AP has just posted a detailed investigation into the background of David Brouillette, the recently hired ICE agent who shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine. It’s genuinely horrifying on more levels than are easy to describe. Brouillette was hired during ICE’s recent hiring spree, as the agency attempted to rapidly staff up to manage a program of mass deportation. Brouillette has a long history of severe mental illness, a lengthy history of violence against at least two wives as well as his children, stalking, a seemingly endless list of restraining orders, violent threats against other family members and more.

According to one relative, Brouillette was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder as a child as well as attention deficit disorder, twice tried to commit suicide at age 12 and was hospitalized multiple times. These early issues appear to have been compounded by service in the military and deployments to Afghanistan which left him with an increased propensity to violence as well as PTSD. A relative told the AP, “They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.” (An additional, horrifying detail: Brouillette was initially rejected by the military because of his mental health history. “But recruiters encouraged him to go off his medications for a year and reapply, which he did,” and he was then enlisted.) If all this weren’t enough, in 2021 he was broke and in some kind of firefighter training program when he was hit in the head by a steal beam and suffered a serious concussion and some sort of permanent brain damage, “with symptoms including impaired memory, cognitive deficits, headaches, vertigo and light sensitivity.”

The maga administration are criminals for enabling this.

[muddypolitics]

xAI can’t deny Grok makes CSAM anymore. So it’s suing users.

Elon Musk's xAI files first lawsuit against Grok user accused of making child sex images.

Facing mounting pressure to acknowledge that Grok can still be used to generate non-consensual sexualized images of adults and minors, xAI filed a lawsuit Tuesday, suing the first user that Elon Musk’s firm has accused of using its chatbot to create illegal content.

Wouldn’t you think that a responsible human being would restrict the user’s ability to utilize Grok to create Child Sexual Abuse Material?!!?

[muddypolitics]

Fetterman threatens to abandon Democrats

"If our party ever becomes, and just make it official, as the anti-Israel party ... that's when I would leave," he said.

he left the party long ago...

[muddypolitics]

White House teleprompter operator investigated over alleged trades on Trump speeches

Federal regulators are investigating whether a White House teleprompter operator capitalized on his knowledge of President Trump's prepared speech text through trades on the prediction market Kalshi.

the grift runs deep with these maga people

[muddypolitics]

(via ‘I’m His Lawyer,’ Explains Guy With Tongue In Trump’s Bottom Who Wants To Be AG)

“Are you and President Trump friends?” asked Kennedy.

“I’m his lawyer. Was his lawyer!

ooops!

[muddypolitics]

(via Elon Musk's promise of $1 million voter payouts likely illegal, panel says | AP News)

Headline:

Buying Votes ILLEGAL! Even By White Men. Maga Stunned!

[muddypolitics]

To be honest, it looks a bit like that.

[muddypolitics]

New York bans data center construction for a year, rattling AI industry

New York’s data center moratorium may become the blueprint for anti-AI movement.

New York became the first state to pause all construction of massive new data centers after Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul announced a one-year moratorium on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The state-wide ban applies to data centers using 50 megawatts or more, officials told Reuters, and it won’t be lifted until the state figures out what “consistent standards” for responsible data center development in New York should look like.

it’s a start

[wilwheaton]

“Polls have shown that more people than ever have a negative view of the tech, and you can take your pick on the reasons why. AI could displace jobs, destroy the environment, and drive up energy bills. It’s trained on stolen writing and artwork, and chatbots are driving people into mental health spirals. But what does the public think should be done about this? A new national survey from Versasight suggests that the majority of Americans are down for taking a drastic course of action. According to the survey of 1,700 adults, an impressive 69 percent of US employees support forcing AI companies to transfer 50 percent of their stock into a public wealth fund, an idea that has been championed by senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT).”

—

A Majority of Americans Now Support Seizing Wealth From AI Industry

I think the best thing would be no AI and no data centers. The second best thing would be nationalizing the industry.

[muddypolitics]

the grifting, deadbeat prez finally had to come across with the money...

[muddypolitics]

grieving

[muddypolitics]

new boy in town

[jesusismyhostage]

Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’

Graham had just returned from Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[wilwheaton]

In 2018, Pastor Dave Barnhart of the Saint Junia United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama posted this message to Facebook:

“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It’s almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe.