Tootfinder

Internal email: the European Parliament has blocked AI features on the work devices of lawmakers and their staff over cybersecurity and data protection concerns (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-parliament-blocks-ai-features-over-cyber-p…

EU Parliament blocks AI features over cyber, privacy fears
AI tools on EU devices sent data to cloud, prompting the Parliament’s IT support to switch them off.

Mamdani proposes cutting NYPD budget, canceling 5K new officer hires (Rachel Wolf/Fox News)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-proposes-cutting-nypd-budget-canceling-5k-new-officer-hires
http://www.memeorandum.com/260218/p94#a260218p94

Myrna Melgar is joining with the mods to put the Danny Sauter Career Protection Act on the June ballot. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/politics/sf-mayor-superviso…

SF term limits could hit the June ballot
Proposal seeks to close "loophole" for supes, mayor.

New Study: Evidence shows how X’s algorithmic feed is radicalizing its users toward the Right. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10098-2

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature
Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared with those remaining on a chronological feed, whereas switching the feed setting in the opposite direction, from algorithmic to chronological, had no effect.

EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears. Members should avoid exposing work emails, documents or internal information “to AI features that scan or analyze content,” be “cautious” with third-party AI apps and “avoid granting broad access to data”: https://www.politico.eu…

EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears
AI features on EU devices sent data to cloud, prompting the Parliament’s IT support to switch them off.

I've often wondered if a Canadian EV "Kei Car" type program would help the country achieve zero emission goals, provide affordable transportation, and reduce grid lock in our cities.
In 1949, Japan created a special category of keijidosha (light vehicles) created for affordability and maneuverability in dense cities. The Kei car quickly became popular despite strict limits on dimensions (length, width, height) and engine displacement (under 660cc). They were given unique license plates for enforcement purposes and had tax benefits for owners.
What if an "Ion" vehicle category was created in Canada:
- must be manufactured in Canada
- minimum 100Km range, suitable for any urban commute
- limited to 50Km/hr
- restricted to street use, not to be used on highways
- size restrictions, perhaps Smart Car sized for personal vehicles, larger for commercial vehicle category
How many city-dwelling Canadians would buy a cheap EV to run errands and give the finger to big oil?
#KeiCars
https://youtu.be/LtTirdKvyeI

Trump signs the annual defense bill with provisions authorizing the president to screen and restrict US financing of Chinese tech companies (Anvee Bhutani/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-secu

Beim Besuch in Paris fordert der US-Energieminister Chris Wright von der #IEA ihre Klimaarbeit aufzugeben und sich allein auf scheinbare Energiesicherheit zu konzentrieren. Wright kritisierte die IEA dafür, dass sie dem Klimawandel Priorität einräumt und nannte dies "politisches Zeug".
my take:
Wer alte Atomkraftwerke reaktiviert, Fracking propagiert, Windkraft und Solar stoppt…

US energy chief urges IEA to 'drop the climate'
At a meeting in Paris, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright called on the International Energy Agency to abandon its climate work and return to its core mission of energy security.

Q&A with Walt Handelsman, who retired at the end of 2025 as an editorial cartoonist at New Orleans' Times-Picayune, on the changes in a dwindling profession (Rob Tornoe/Editor and Publisher)
https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/the-vanishing…

The vanishing newspaper cartoonist
When Rob Tornoe sat down with two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Walt Handelsman, the conversation was less about one retirement and more about an extinction. Handelsman’s decision to put down his pen marks another milestone in the quiet collapse of staff editorial cartooning in America. Once a staple of nearly every major daily, the role has dwindled from hundreds of full-time artists to fewer than two dozen nationwide. What’s vanishing isn’t just a job category — it’s a uniquely sharp, …

Tax the Rich, Like Me -- In 2012, political ads suggested that some of my policy proposals ... (Mitt Romney/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/opinion/romney-tax-the-rich.html?unlocked_article_code=1.908.f_5u.fC6SFVYICmCg&smid=url-share
http://www.memeorandum.com/251219/p31#a251219p31