Tootfinder

The Utopia of “AI” is the Dystopia of never being touched by anything.
(Original title: Friction and not being touched)
https://tante.cc/2025/07/30/friction-and-not-being-touched/

This is only a problem for Reddit as long as the spammers don’t pay. The “solution” will be a paid program for “product placement” or something, and presto, they become valued customers.
The future’s so bright, it burns my eyes.
https://9to5mac.com/2025/06/26/r…

NFL News: Micah Parsons shares his thoughts after being traded by Cowboys to Packers with blunt Super Bowl admission https://bolavip.com/en/nfl/nfl-news-micah-parsons-shares-his-thoughts-after-being-trad…

'Best thing since sliced bread': Eagles' Jalyx Hunt being compared to Micah Parsons; can he live up to hype?

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/be…

Today has been one of those stupid days when everything that could go wrong has. Nothing overly dramatic. Just a delivery being stuffed up. Being overcharged. An appointment being cancelled at the last minute. I've spent so much time on the phone chasing stuff up. Not one of my favourite pastimes. 😠
#StupidLifeAdmin

MAGA Champion Who Said Trump Would Fight Child Predators Is Arrested on Charges of Being a Child Predator (Jack Silvers/The Daily Beast)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-champion-scott-soucek-said-trump-would-fight-child-predators-arrested-for-being-a-child-predator/
http://www.memeorandum.com/250730/p141#a250730p141

I wrote about frictionlessness and "AI". The essay is admittedly a bit of a weird ride trying to connect a few very distinct thoughts. I hope it's still worth reading.
https://tante.cc/2025/07/30/friction-and-not-being-touched/

Friction and not being touched
The journalist Karen Hao – who published an absolutely fantastic book about OpenAI called “Empire of AI” recently – coined (as far as I know) one of the best terms for describing modern “AI” systems: Everything Machines. “AI” systems are not framed as specific tools that solve specific problems in specific ways but just as […]

Lithuania mulls partial airspace closure amid search for drone suspected of being launched from Belarus: https://benborges.xyz/2025/07/30/lithuania-mulls-partial-airspace-closure.html

I'll start the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) Field Day posts with some of the infrastructure we set up. These tents are a vital part of it, on load from the EMS services in our county. Two are used for radio ops, while the third is entirely dedicated to Public Information and visitor info. It's amazing to watch them magically take shape.
The City of Thousand Oaks brings their communications trailer for an airing-out also.

Thousands of satellites with incredibly short lifetimes are being sent up into low Earth orbit.
When they fall back down they're fireballs of pollution — and what doesn't burn up hits the ground
https…

What goes up must come down: How megaconstellations like SpaceX's Starlink network pose a grave safety threat to us on Earth
Thousands of satellites with incredibly short lifetimes are being sent up into low Earth orbit. When they fall back down they're fireballs of pollution — and what doesn't burn up hits the ground.

How fucked up UK society is? The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (which is volunteer run and afaict doesn't receive any form of support, financial or other, from the Royal family beyond the stupid name-prefix), is being bashed for *checks notes* saving lives on sea because the literal Nazis don't appreciate who's being saved:
«RNLI crew makes no apologies for saving migrants' lives in English Channel»
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dejyg4l37o

Being autistic, I have to keep telling myself, "Yes, being gender-fluid is valid, and Norway lets me be who I am," just to really accept myself. 🏳️‍⚧️🇳🇴
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_fluidity

Intel CFO David Zinser says the company received $5.7B from the US government on Wednesday evening; the White House says the deal is still "being ironed out" (Jonathan Vanian/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/28/intel-trump-deal-commerce.html

Intel gets $5.7 billion from Trump deal as White House says details are 'being ironed out'
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Intel deal is still "being ironed out by the Department of Commerce."

Rep. Emily Randall of Washington's 6th congressional district via FB (link to SeaTimes in 2/2):
"The American people are being told one thing, but my eyes saw another: the people inside this facility are our neighbors, people who we would see in the community, parents, and siblings. We spoke with a legal permanent resident who is being detained on a 20 year old crime for which he served his time." 1/2

🧑‍🧒 Unstable surroundings have lasting effects on youth well-being
#children

Unstable surroundings have lasting effects on youth well-being
The more unpredictable an environment is for children, the more likely they are to exhibit mental and physical health issues when they hit their teenage and early adulthood years, according to new University of Georgia research.

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed. https://wapo.st/40i4Ttt

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed.
Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes is a three-time felon released early from federal prison to a halfway house in exchange for testifying against Kilmar Abrego García.

Has anybody made a Mac app yet (or an open source script) that lets a Mac emulate being a Switch 2 dock?

Este nuevo prisma sobre la #IA no lo habíamos contemplado aún: el consumo de energía es tan alto que estš afectando en una subida de precios para todos los consumidores. Y ya sabemos que la subida de la luz repercute en la subida de todos los demšs precios.
Enhorabuena a los genios.
Edito para meter enlace

🥳 New Kitten Release
To GNU tar or not to GNU tar?
• Installing Kitten on Linux should no longer display a screenful of gibberish from the tar command.
You see, macOS, being special, includes BSD tar, not GNU tar, and adds a bunch of Mac-specific metadata and extended header keywords to archives that GNU tar on Linux machines then chokes on and regurgitates onto your screen as warnings.
With this release, Kitten’s packaging script expects GNU tar to be available on ma…

NFL evaluators have seen decline in Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick, reportedly leading to him being available

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/ne…

The Web is dying—replaced by the AI shit that developers are so horny for.
It’s spectacular to watch my entire industry being taking in by charlatans and eagerly rooting for their own demise.

if i'm not being called problematic am i even alive :3

Raiders Training Camp: Is Cornerback Position Being Neglected? https://raiderramble.com/2025/06/28/raiders-training-camp-is-cornerback-position-being-neglected/

Compositionality in Time Series: A Proof of Concept using Symbolic Dynamics and Compositional Data Augmentation
Michael Hagmann, Michael Staniek, Stefan Riezler
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20656

Compositionality in Time Series: A Proof of Concept using Symbolic Dynamics and Compositional Data Augmentation
This work investigates whether time series of natural phenomena can be understood as being generated by sequences of latent states which are ordered in systematic and regular ways. We focus on clinical time series and ask whether clinical measurements can be interpreted as being generated by meaningful physiological states whose succession follows systematic principles. Uncovering the underlying compositional structure will allow us to create synthetic data to alleviate the notorious problem of…

Some of the most unique web development is being done on type specimen web sites https://social.wake.st/@liaizon/115112774648843758

PSA

"Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there."
-Meryl Streep
#acting #coaching #inspiration

Director of European Transport Safety Council: "Europe now risks being flooded with oversized, under-regulated US pick-up trucks and SUVs – heavier, more dangerous to other car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, and completely out of step with Europe’s vision for safer, more sustainable mobility.”

ETSC: Mutual Recognition Deal with U.S. Will Cost Lives on Europe’s Roads
By signing up to mutual recognition of vehicle standards with the United States, the European Union has waved the white flag on road safety. This is not a technical detail – it is a political choice…

I am being tagged by M-Enabling in a post on LinkedIn to pitch me on attending a talk at its conference. Which is an almost guaranteed way to ensure I will not attend.

Trading Micah Parsons doesn't help the Cowboys in 2025 but could end up being a rare win-win deal https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/trading-micah-parsons-doesnt-help-the-cowboys-in-2025-but-could-end-up…

Suppose he *is* dead, and being WeekendAtBernies-ed with body doubles and an LLM driving the socials
... How would this be different from the last couple months?

Marvellous photo taken in Glasgow by Zeno Watson. Imagine the luck of being right there at the moment they were moving that!
#FensterFreitag

I see these images in my browser all the time. All sorts of them. I’ve never clicked on one, ever, but they still show up. I admit to being curious about this one, but since I don’t travel or stay in hotels anymore I don’t really need to know. Still, if anyone knows why it’s a good idea to wrap the doorknob in foil I’d appreciate the enlightenment.

I suppose the fact that DOGE’s people are clowns and its methods are bullshit means that DOGE’s failure does not prove wrong this theory of “a few great engineers could magically fix government.”
The trouble is, when such an effort fails, one can •always• imagine a hypothetical better engineer and say the theory is not proved wrong. It’s like dieting: it’s always •your• fault for not doing it perfectly, never the diet’s fault for being BS.

So Jack Dorsey's BitChat, isn't it just trying to do what Briar already does but it being new and Dorsey backed, in a way that is less trustable?

Historic Church – All 672 Tons – Is Being Moved Down the Road in Arctic Town https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/historic-church-all-672-tons-is-being-moved-down-the-road-in-arctic-town/

Historic Church – All 672 Tons – Is Being Moved Down the Road in Arctic Town
The church won't be alone in its relocation, and in fact dozens of buildings will be moved over the next 10 years.

Well, that didn't take long https://futurism.com/commitment-jail-chatgpt-psychosis

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.

CISA to release telecom security report as its director nominee nears confirmation
https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2025/07/cisa-release-telecom-security-report-its-director-nominee-…

CISA to release telecom security report as its director nominee nears confirmation
The 2022 report, which has not been made publicly available, has been used as leverage by Senator Ron Wyden to hold Sean Plankey from being confirmed as director of CISA.

One bill, sponsored by the powerful Service Employees International Union, would allow Uber and Lyft drivers in California to unionize while still being classified as independent contractors
California’s legislative leaders are also backing a bill, sponsored by Uber and Lyft, that would significantly reduce the companies’ insurance requirements

Newsom, California lawmakers strike deal that would allow Uber, Lyft drivers to unionize
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers on Friday announced a deal with Uber and Lyft on a bill that would allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to form unions and bargain collectively while still being classified as independent contractors.

Ok, this is hilarious. https://www.yankodesign.com/2025/06/27/worlds-narrowest-fiat-panda-is-one-anorexic-19-inch-wide-ev-destined-for-the-record-books/

$3.3 trillion of debt being handed to future generations to make billionaires richer.
Higher cost of living, drained government benefits & fewer economic opportunities on the world stage...
...for our kids.
Original post: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4ibal

The timing of this video being published three days before the actual earthquake is obviously a coincidence, but what luck for the creator!
#earthquakes

Stolen Ukrainian housing being re-sold in occupied Donetsk Oblast: https://benborges.xyz/2025/08/27/stolen-ukrainian-housing-being-resold.html

Some people will argue that ChatGPT* was not at fault in a teen suicide, “there were obviously many other factors at play”. But consider this: if you know you can design for better understanding, and add positive friction that helps people recognize when they are being misled by synthetic text, why wouldn’t you?
*As @…

Really well-explained post on the dystopia of being trans under UK laws, from @…:
#trans #UKLaw #UKPol

I was able to start the #uswnt game 2 hours late with out being spoiled!

(my vote, considering my experience in being otherkin, is at least “good enough” btw)

“If drivers cannot bring safety concerns to the attention of the company for fear of being punished, then the entire safety culture on which our industry depends will have been undermined.”
Hundreds expected to rally for train driver 'sacked without reason' | Morning Star
https://

Twitter: you're yelled at for being woke and on the payroll of Big Weather because you say the sky is blue today.
Bluesky: you tell the void the sky is blue today, and the void just stares back.
Fediverse: you tell the big messy mess of disparate services that somehow make the whole messy thing work that the sky is blue and you get 10 replies, half of them asking if you're here just to promote bluesky. You proceed to engage in a rich conversation with the other half.

Ziff Davis is laying off 15% of its unionized workforce, or 23 people, 19 of which work for CNET; Ziff Davis has bought five companies in 2025 (Mia Sato/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/news/715220/ziff-davis-creators-guild-cnet-layoffs

Layoffs hit CNET as its parent company goes on a buying spree
Media company Ziff Davis is laying off 15 percent of its unionized workforce, with the majority being from tech outlet CNET.

Flexport announces it is selling Convoy's tech to DAT Freight & Analytics, after acquiring the digital freight startup's tech stack in late 2023 (John Kingston/FreightWaves)
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/less-tha

Less than 2 years after Flexport bought Convoy’s tech stack, it’s being sold to DAT
Flexport is selling the Convy tech stack to DAT, less than two years after it bought it from the defunct digital brokerage.

I have not (re-)posted this in far too long
The First Law of the Internet:
Every person shall be free to use the Internet in any way that is privately beneficial without being publicly detrimental.
The burden of demonstrating public detriment shall be on those who wish to prevent the private use.
Such a demonstration shall require clear and convincing evidence of public detriment.
The public detriment must be of such degree and extent as to justi…

So if Mamdani's already Mayor, we can assume the Bedford Ave bike lanes will not be ripped out and we're about to get a whole shitload of new bike & bus lanes, right? Like, starting immediately?
Oh hang on, I'm being told that formerly indicted corrupt-af Eric Adams is still Mayor.

'Disgruntled' British IT worker jailed for hacking employer after being suspended https://therecord.media/uk-it-worker-jailed-hacking-former-employer

"""
Writing has been an instrument for some of the highest expressions of the human spirit: poetry, philosophy, science. But to understand it — why it came into being, how it changed the human experience — we have to first appreciate its crass practicality. It evolved mainly as an instrument of the mundane: the economic, the administrative, the political.
Confusion over this point is understandable. Some scholars have equated the origin of “civilization” with the origin of writing. Laypeople sometimes take this equation to mean that with writing humanity put aside its barbarous past and started behaving in gentlemanly fashion, sipping tea and remembering to say “please.” And indeed, this may be only a mild caricature of what some nineteenth-century scholars actually meant by the equation: writing equals Greece equals Plato; illiteracy equals barbarism equals Attila the Hun.
But, in truth, if you add literacy to Attila the Hun, you don’t get Plato. You get Genghis Khan. During the thirteenth century, he administered what even today is the largest continuous land empire in the history of the world. And he could do so only because he had the requisite means of control: a script that, when carried by his pony express, amounted to the fastest large-scale information-processing technology of his era. One consequence was to give pillaging a scope beyond Attila’s wildest dreams. Information technology, like energy technology or any other technology, can be a tool for good or bad. By itself, it is no guarantor of moral progress or civility.
"""
(Robert Wright, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny)

The Maru OS is old BTW. My apologies for OP not being clear about that. 😳🙏

PSA: Fake verification replies are starting again. Don't fall for them. Best thing you can do is report them as SPAM to your instance and forward to any optional instances with "Fake Mastodon Verification Scam" written in the notes/comments section for the report. Make sure everyone you interact with knows this is going on. Permanent solutions to combat this scam are being implemented to tackle it by the software developers.

100% certain
Time is long. https://flipboard.com/@cbcnews/edmonton-5aq1688az/-/a-NcdF2JhdRlC_YX7EJbMzIg:a:107108217-/0

What are the chances of Earth being hit by a big asteroid?
A week ago, the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory released its first images. It also included a video of all the asteroids it discovered. In just 10 …

"But good DX doesn’t guarantee good UX. In fact, it’s often the opposite. Because the more comfortable we make things for developers, the more abstraction we add. And every abstraction creates distance between the thing being built and the people it’s for."
https://www.jon…

JavaScript broke the web (and called it progress)
We replaced simple websites with complex apps nobody asked for. Now it takes a complex build pipeline just to change a headline.

"Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes is a three-time felon who has been released early from federal prison to a halfway house in exchange for his cooperation in the case."
Trump administration’s prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García leads to release of convicted shooter - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/28/star-witness-against-kilmar-abrego-garca-was-due-be-deported-now-hes-being-freed/

3x Super Bowl Champion shocked by Parsons' trade to the Packers https://bolavip.com/en/nfl/former-3x-super-bowl-champion-with-cowboys-reveals-being-shocked-by-micah-parsons-trade-to-the-packers

Needless to say, don’t let these fuckers scan your face. https://flipboard.com/@404media/404-media-qvt3vv94z/-/a-Sz4wqO5-S2O_A8Yxqr6d1A:a:4082434389-/0

Spotify Is Forcing Users to Undergo Face Scanning to Access Explicit Content
Submit to biometric face scanning or risk your account being deleted, Spotify says, following the enactment of the UK's Online Safety Act. Spotify is …

Minneapolis school shooter Robin Westman confessed he was 'tired of being trans': 'I wish I never brain-washed myself' (New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2025/08/28/us-news/minneapolis-school-shooter-robin-westman-confessed-he-was-tired-of-being-trans/
http://www.memeorandum.com/250828/p66#a250828p66

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap."
-Cynthia Heimel
#acting #coaching

NFL News: Micah Parsons sends heartfelt message to Cowboys fans and teammates after being traded to Packers by Jerry Jones https://bolavip.com/en/nfl/nfl-news-micah-parsons-sends-heartfelt-message-…

Kind of hard to feel empathy for Russian soldiers being scammed by Russian cops when this is how they transfer blame.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5rm41g34qo
Punching down is the Russian, and now American, theme.

Is Raiders LB Devin White 'back' to being a difference-maker? Raiders camp takeaways https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6523526/2025/07/29/devin-white-raiders-nfl-training-camp/

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported.
Now he’s being freed.
The Trump administration has agreed to release from prison a three-time felon who drunkenly fired shots in a Texas community
and spare him from deportation
in exchange for his cooperation in the federal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García.

Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, 38, has been convicted of smuggling migrants and illegally reentering the United States after having been dep…

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed.
Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes is a three-time felon released early from federal prison to a halfway house in exchange for testifying against Kilmar Abrego García.

After being battered by Ukraine, Russia hopes to 'strengthen' Black Sea Fleet: https://benborges.xyz/2025/07/26/after-being-battered-by-ukraine.html

If it was up to me, I'd ONLY save the ugly animals https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-25/ugly-endangered-animals-ignored-in-conservation-bias/105443062

Wildlife experts say ugly endangered animals are being ignored in conservation efforts
While there are plenty of conservation efforts and community love for cute marsupials like the western ringtail possum, researchers say that pretty privilege is threatening the existence of blood suckers and web weavers.

August ended up being my least active month here on Mastodon!

'Mac's capable of being a starter': Mac Jones being coached hard by 49ers in attempt to revive career https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45591949/qb-mac-jones-49ers-attempt-revive-career-2021-nfl-draft

Better late than never I suppose.
"An investigation into how a 35-year-old was physically harmed while being placed under arrest at a pro-Palestinian protest will begin after NSW Police declared the situation a critical incident."
https://www.abc.n…

NSW Police declare Hannah Thomas's injury during protest arrest a 'critical incident'
The state's police force declared an investigation into Hannah Thomas's injury at a protest on Friday will now take place after designating the event a "critical incident".

WhatsApp fixed a zero-click bug in its iOS and Mac apps that was being used, alongside a now-fixed Apple flaw, to hack into devices of "specific targeted users" (Zack Whittaker/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/what…

WhatsApp fixes 'zero-click' bug used to hack Apple users with spyware | TechCrunch
A spyware vendor was behind a recent campaign that abused a vulnerability in WhatsApp to deliver an exploit capable of hacking into iPhones and Macs.

The remotes of that era are why we call remotes "clickers."
They operated by sound, with tuned rods being tapped in a reproducible way that always made the same 'clicks' at specific tones that the TV could detect across a room.
#IAmOld

Ars Technica (@arstechnica@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image Video player looks like a 1-inch TV from the ’60s and is wondrous, pointless fun TV static and remote included. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/video-player-looks-like-a-1-inch-tv-from-the-60s-and-is-wondrous-pointless-fun/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

I repeatedly point out that activists didn't create the contentious slogan "#BanCars"; the media did, multiple decades ago. We just took it because it's such an awesome phrase!
Any time there's even the slightest inconvenience to drivers, the media has blaring headlines about how cars are being banned. Cars temporarily restricted from a street for an outdoor event…

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he's being freed. (Maria Sacchetti/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/28/star-witness-against-kilmar-abrego-garca-was-due-be-deported-now-hes-being-freed/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzUxMDgzMjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzUyNDY1NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NTEwODMyMDAsImp0aSI6ImVkZTBmMDcyLWEyOTEtNGU5Zi04NGIwLWY5YzdiZGYwMmQxYiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9pbW1pZ3JhdGlvbi8yMDI1LzA2LzI4L3N0YXItd2l0bmVzcy1hZ2FpbnN0LWtpbG1hci1hYnJlZ28tZ2FyY2Etd2FzLWR1ZS1iZS1kZXBvcnRlZC1ub3ctaGVzLWJlaW5nLWZyZWVkLyJ9._Nch735ocr9BypFYB3Xw3tJUhhZe5g2iCY6LIT4QPPA&itid=gfta
http://www.memeorandum.com/250628/p90#a250628p90

Former Packers star recalls being ‘pretty miserable’ during Raiders stint https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/green-bay-packers/news/former-packers-star-pretty-miserable-raiders/0a619614654e21f743ed5f2b

What’s the toll for driving an MRAP into Chicago from Great Lakes Naval Base to the city?
The toll for an MRAP illegally invading #Chicago is the eternal shame and dishonor of failing your duty to the American people, ridicule for all your years and even your grandchildren being chastised for your actions, possibly both indictment for violations of article 92 of the UCMJ and being prosecu…

"This is an injustice, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s being funded on the backs of taxpayers. We must continue to show up — unannounced — and demand answers." 2/2
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/members-of-congress-pay-surprise-visit-to-wa-immigrant-detention-center

I'm definitely not limited by being AMAB, and honestly, I just don't feel like a man.
Expressing myself through my gender-fluidity and dressing up feels genuinely right for me, and that's something I'm happy about.
And honestly, I guess you could say I'm right at home in between the Nonbinary and Demigirl crowd.
🏳️‍🌈 🧔‍♀️ 🏳️‍⚧️ http…

Repeated warnings of AI-driven layoffs is fueling anxiety among workers, who report feeling pressured to accept pay cuts or worse conditions to keep their jobs (Anne Lutz Fernandez/Nobody Wants This)
https://nobody-wants-this.ghost.io/ai-is-already-disemp…

AI is Already Disempowering Workers Through Hype
Workers and students are being prepped for less power in the workplace

A new report sheds light on potential conflicts of interest in
Bill Pulte’s attack against Lisa Cook
and other White House enemies.
Before Donald Trump appointed him to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency,
Bill Pulte was best known to the public as the scion of a homebuilding empire
and an extremely online investor
who hawked various meme stocks and cryptocurrencies on Twitter.
In government, however,
Pulte has gained more notoriety as an …

This Terrifying Company Is Being Used Against Top Democrats. Trump’s Allies May Be Profiting From It.
A new report sheds light on potential conflicts of interest in Bill Pulte’s attack against Lisa Cook and other White House enemies.

Jackson Powers-Johnson not being handed back Raiders starting center job https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/raiders/2025/07/30/jackson-powers-johnson-jordan-meredith-comp…

Oil tanker damaged by blast weeks after visiting Russian ports, Bloomberg reports: https://benborges.xyz/2025/06/30/oil-tanker-damaged-by-blast.html

Top 100 AI consumer apps: Gemini ranks #2 behind ChatGPT on mobile with ~50% of its MAUs, with Grok at #4; on the web, Gemini has ~12% of ChatGPT's visits (Andreessen Horowitz)
https://a16z.com/100-gen-ai-apps-5/

The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps – 5th Edition
Which AI apps are people actively using? What’s actually making money, beyond being popular? We analyzed the data.

Senate floor erupts as Booker accuses Dems of being "complicit" to Trump (Hans Nichols/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/29/senate-booker-cortez-masto-klobuchar-trump-police
http://www.memeorandum.com/250729/p141#a250729p141

George Pickens Made Ironic Comments About Cowboys Still Being Known for Super Bowls https://www.si.com/nfl/george-pickens-dallas-cowboys-super-bowls

I fucking hate the word "embrace," being autistic. It feels so fake, like a glitchy AI word that doesn’t match how my brain works.
It makes me want to scream inside because it’s too soft, too forced, and just wrong for me. I can’t use it without feeling like I’m lying to myself.
#ActuallyAutistic

Republican control of state legislatures is systematically associated with the rich being (and becoming) richer.
In short, American plutocracy seems to be a quintessentially Republican affair.
And that’s not all.
As we journey into the depths of US state politics, the plot will thicken.
We’ll find striking partisan differences in the language used in state bills.
We’ll see the many ways that Republicans help the rich and hurt workers.
We’ll see the impact pa…

Partisan Politics and the Road to Plutocracy – Economics from the Top Down
In this essay, I take a deep dive into the history of American plutocracy and its conspicuously Republican roots.

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned (Mike Stobbe/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/vaccine-committee-cdc-7a81bdbc08b3cca7db18e884e27df666
http://www.memeorandum.com/250730/p157#a250730p157

Call center agents in Australia, Canada, Greece, and the US say they've been repeatedly mistaken for AI, as the industry rapidly integrates AI alongside humans (Morgan Meaker/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

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Climate.us: independent, nonprofit, and immune to politics | Multiplier (Powered by Donorbox)
The truth about climate is being erased. Act now to save it.In June 2025, under pressure from political appointees, NOAA shut down daily operations of its award-winning Climate.gov website. They hid Climate.gov’s home page and froze its social med...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers strike a deal with Uber and Lyft allowing drivers to unionize while remaining classified as independent contractors (Los Angeles Times)
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2

Newsom, California lawmakers strike deal that would allow Uber, Lyft drivers to unionize
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers on Friday announced a deal with Uber and Lyft on a bill that would allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to form unions and bargain collectively while still being classified as independent contractors.

New numbers from the Trump administration released Friday showed
⭐️70 percent of immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention
did 💥NOT have criminal convictions.
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-record-detainment-convict…

ICE Detentions Hit Record Under Trump Admin, 70% Lack Convictions Latest Data Shows
The Trump administration has insisted that the majority of immigrants being detained by ICE are known criminals.

President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan had planned to make brief stops in New York and Dallas next month, en route to and from Latin America,
hoping to demonstrate the island’s strong ties with the United States in defiance of China.
But the Trump administration,
which is focused on talks with Beijing over trade and a possible summit,
told Mr. Lai to cancel his proposed stopover in New York,
Mr. Lai canceled his whole trip.
The hints of tension between Taipei and …

Trump Administration Told Taiwan’s President to Avoid U.S. Stopover
The Taiwanese leader canceled U.S. transit visits after being urged to change his plans, two officials said. Washington has been in talks with Beijing over trade and a possible summit.

Congresswoman Nydia Velšzquez on Saturday held a rally outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in New York City to promote her recently introduced "No Masks for ICE Act".
“We would never accept it if the NYPD operated in masks without names or badges
— and we shouldn’t accept it from ICE either,”
Velšzquez (D-N.Y.) said in a statement, referring to the New York Police Department.
“When agents hide their faces and identities they creat…

Velázquez Leads 'No Masks for ICE Act' Rally at NYC Field Office | Common Dreams
"When agents hide their faces and identities they create chaos, fear, and open the door to abuse. Immigrant communities are left wondering if they're being arrested or kidnapped."

Emil Bove Continued to Work at Justice Dept. After Judicial Confirmation
The code of conduct for federal judges does not appear to apply to Mr. Bove, who has yet to be sworn in.
But his continued presence at the department has raised eyebrows
Some legal experts said that working for the administration after being confirmed could undermine faith in the court system.
Others expressed worry that Mr. Bove could expose himself to potential conflicts,
advising Justic…

Emil Bove Continued to Work at Trump’s Justice Dept, Even After Judicial Confirmation
The code of conduct for federal judges does not appear to apply to Mr. Bove, who has yet to be sworn in. But his continued presence at the department has raised eyebrows.

Getting the cars to dealers early would have meant a big financial blow from absorbing the higher tariff rate,
while late arrivals that missed the quarter-end would have meant reporting a big slump in sales.
So Aston Martin decided to send hundreds of cars to bonded warehouses in the US
– where goods can be stored without being subject to tariffs
– before delivery firms raced to get them all to dealers before the end of day on 30 June. Those cars attracted the 10% rat…

A permanent U.S. resident has been held in detention for the last week
without apparent explanation and without access to legal representation
According to the Washington Post, 40-year-old Tae Heung "Will" Kim
was detained by immigration officials at the San Francisco International Airport on July 21
after returning from attending his brother's wedding in Korea.
In the week since his detention, he has still not been released
despite being a gr…

Korean Scientist With Green Card Detained for a Week and Denied Access to His Lawyer | Common Dreams
U.S. legal resident detained without explanation for a week, denied legal representation.