Tootfinder

Earlier this month, the Copyright Office issued the third part of its report on on AI: this one covering how generative AI may infringe on copyright and whether that's fair use (short answer: maybe, maybe not). I have a new article up summarizing the report.
https://www.…

Copyright Office's report discusses whether generative AI use is fair use
Earlier this month, the Copyright Office issued the third part of its report on AI. As with the first two parts, the Copyright Office discusses arguments from people who responded to its call for comments and then provides its analysis. The three main sections in this part focus on infringement, fair use, and licensing regimes. Here, I’m going to cover what the report says about the first two items: whether using copyrighted material in generative AI infringes on owners’ rights and whether…

Monetary Macro Accounting Theory
Ren\'eee Men\'endez, Viktor Winschel
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.21651 https://arxiv.org/pdf/…

Monetary Macro Accounting Theory
We develop a monetary macro accounting theory (MoMaT) and its software specification for a consistent national accounting. In our money theory money functions primarily as a medium of payment for obligations and debts, not as a medium of exchange, originating from the temporal misalignment where producers pay suppliers before receiving revenue. MoMaT applies the legal principles of Separation and Abstraction to model debt, contracts, property rights, and money to understand their nature. Moneta…

Sources: OpenAI wants Microsoft to take a ~33% stake in exchange for giving up future profit rights, and seeks to revise its exclusive cloud deal with Microsoft (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/opena…

OpenAI Seeks New Financial Concessions From Microsoft, a Top Shareholder
Negotiations between Microsoft and OpenAI over the startup’s plan to restructure its for-profit unit, which requires Microsoft’s approval, have entered their eighth month with no end in sight and new conflicts emerging. OpenAI wants Microsoft, the startup’s biggest outside shareholder, to have a ...

A Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists arrived at an Israeli port Monday after Israeli forces stopped and detained them
Israel’s Foreign Ministry published a photo on social media of Thunberg after disembarking.
The 12 activists were expected to be held at a detention facility in Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, a legal rights group representing them

Israeli forces detain Greta Thunberg after halting Freedom Flotilla aid boat
Israeli forces have seized a Gaza-bound aid boat and detained Greta Thunberg and other activists on board, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and protest Israel’s blockade and wartime conduct, said the activists had been “kidnapped by Israeli forces.” Israel said the passengers would return to their home…

6/25/85 cuyahoga falls: classic rock to start both sets, only DAY TRIPPER opener (crispest yet) & ever-fun GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’. despite slow tunes & slop (ROW JIMMY locking in by end), big 1st set energy. JACK STRAW burns in unusual late slot. 45-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL. long PLAYING bends minor before synth zonk weirdness & righteous balafon transition into DRUMZ. weir watch: the age of romping aroun…

In America, we don’t do kings
They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.
On June 14th, we rise up.
https://www.nokings.org/

No Kings
On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.

Petty Assifer Hegseth orders #HarveyMilk name to be removed from US Naval vessel
https://apnews.com/article/harvey-milk-navy-ship-rename…

Pete Hegseth orders Harvey Milk's name scrubbed from US Navy ship
U.S. officials say Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk in a highly rare move. The ship was named after the slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War. The officials say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small team to rename the replenishment oiler, and that a new name is expected this month. It marks the latest move by Hegseth to purge diversity, equity and inclusion references, and it comes during Pride Month. T…

Ars Technica author Ashley Belanger presents both consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen's position against the use of AI in toys, and toy maker Mattel's and Open AI's. Public Citizen's tone is baselessly alarmist, given that "Both companies [have] emphasized that safety, privacy, and age-appropriateness would be front of mind in designing Mattel's AI products."
"Toy-maker Mattel accused of planning 'reckless' AI social experiment on k…

When Donald Trump deployed more than 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines into Los Angeles earlier this month,
he did so without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Mayor Karen Bass.
Not only that, but Trump’s justification
— that LA is “war zone” under siege by “foreign invaders”
— is a preposterous lie.
The suspected undocumented immigrants that masked ICE agents are rounding up at Home Depot
don’t have weapons of mass destruction,

What happened to "states' rights"?
Federalism for me, MAGA dictatorship for thee.