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Posts Tagged ‘Mad Libs’

What Americans have done to the venerable word “liberal” is a crime in and of itself.
–  “Meet the Tweets

Why is it so many pictures on the internet are taken by people who apparently don’t comprehend why a photo framed as a vertical rectangle is called “portrait” style?  –  “Tweets for Long Nights

I don’t actually mean to collect stray animals, but it does seem to happen more frequently than random chance would account for.
–  “Diary #699

People who interact with [chatbots] think they’re interacting with an ancestor of Commander Data or C3PO, when in actuality they’re merely accessing a program that’s roughly as aware of their existence as the software that runs modern slot machines is, often with similar psychological results.  –  “Mad Libs

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It’s the most…emperor-has-no-clothes-type situation that I have ever witnessed.  –  Alison Macrina

As I pointed out a few weeks ago, it’s not unusual these days for a news item to fall into more than one category, and as the fascist tech industry provides ever more tools for oppression, that will happen ever more often.  Here’s a recent one from 404 Media which examines the way artificial stupidity is being used to further library censorship while simultaneously flooding the system with garbage intended to drown out the signal of real information with propaganda, disinformation, and LLM gobbledygook noise:

…a company called the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database [has] announced a new version of a product called Class-Shelf Plus…used by school libraries to keep track of which books are in their catalog…[the] new [version] includ[es]…“automation and contextual risk analysis”…The company…is [trying to trick]…school libraries [into believing their product can help]…“in overcoming a book ban”…[when what it actually does is to encourage the censorship by] simply suggest[ing] other books “without the c[ensor]ed content”…software like this is just the tip of the iceberg; [librarians] are being inundated with new pitches for…library tech and catalogs are being flooded with [LLM] slop books that they need to wade through.  But more broadly, [ML] maximalism across society is supercharging the ideological war on libraries, schools, government workers, and academics…[the aggressive promotion of what is deceptively advertised as “artificial intelligence”] is not separate from book bans, educational censorship efforts, and the war on education, libraries, and government workers being pushed by…any number of MAGA groups…Human labor, inquiry, creativity, and expertise is spurned…[because hucksters claim] anything can be learned, approximated, or created in seconds.  And…an LLM or a machine algorithm can [be programmed by agents of a censorious state to] decide whether content is “sensitive”…

…The resurgent war on knowledge, academics, expertise, and critical thinking…has its roots in the hugely successful recent war on “critical race theory,” “diversity equity and inclusion,” and LGBTQ+ rights that painted librarians, teachers, scientists, and public workers as untrustworthy…There are DOGE’s mass layoffs of “woke” government workers, and the plan to replace them with [chatbo]ts…There are “parents rights” groups that pushed to ban books and curricula that deal with the teaching of slavery, systemic racism, and LGBTQ+ issues and attempted to replace them with [propaganda]…Many teachers feel they…increasingly [waste] their days grading student essays that were actually written by robots…

…Justin, a cohost of the podcast librarypunk, [characterizes this as]…“Part of a fascist project to offload the work of thinking, especially the reflective kind of thinking that…cultivates empathy and challenges your assumptions…If we can offload that cognitive work, it’s far too easy to become reflexive and hateful, while having a robot cheerleader telling you that you were right about everything all along”…The future being pushed by both [ML] boosters and educational censors is one where access to information is tightly controlled.  Children will not be allowed to read certain books or learn certain narratives.  “Research” will be performed only through one of a select few [computer programs] owned by…giant…[fascist corporations] which are…[part of] the Trump [regime] and which have gone to the ends of the earth to prevent their black box machines from spitting out “woke” answers lest they catch the ire of the [mad emperor]One need look no further than [Elon Musk’s misnamed “]Grokipedia[“]…a project by the world’s richest man…to replace a crowdsourced, meticulously edited fount of human knowledge with a robotic imitation built to further his political project

…Justin, from librarypunk, said [chatbots have] given people “absolute impunity to ignore reality…[it] is a direct attack on the way we verify information…[because it] both creates fake sources and obscures its actual sources.”  That is the opposite of what librarians do, and teachers do, and scientists do, and experts do…

There is a LOT more, and you should read it in its entirety.

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These failings are not isolated incidents.  –  Jean Philip De Tender

R.I.P. Stephanie Johnson

Stephanie Johnson, who performed as a burlesque dancer in New York in the 1960s and ’70s under the stage name Tanqueray, and whose vivid stories of that grittier time in the city’s history…turned her into a viral social media star [in 2019 through the social media account Humans of New York], died on Oct. 11 at her home in Manhattan. She was 81…her son Mitchell Springle…said she had suffered a series of strokes…

When Ambulance-Chasers Run the Hospitals (#1536)

Serial lawsuit abuser Ken Paxton wants to profit from Trumpist delusions:

Ken Paxton, the [psychopath-]general of Texas, [has] sued the makers of Tylenol…[pretend]ing that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development of children.  The lawsuit is the latest [attempt to profit from the mad emperor’s delusion] that use of Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism…and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder…The [belief is] a longstanding [one] among [anti-vaxxers and similar crackpots including] Robert F. Kennedy Jr…[whom the mad emperor appointed to wreck] the nation’s…health [system]…Hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal courts have been filed in recent years by [crackpots looking for a payout]…the largest group of cases…[has been] dismissed [for being completely unsupported by anything resembling] scientific evidence…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1568)

These things are designed to appeal to the dregs of humanity:

I recently reviewed Even Realities G1 smart glasses…and the first real-world thing I used them for was scamming someone.  I told a local bartender I had an encyclopedic knowledge of film, and I would answer the hardest movie trivia question he could come up with in exchange for a drink.  After a short consultation with Google, dude came back with “Who directed 1922’s Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?”  I tilted my head thoughtfully and repeated the question as if verifying I heard him right.  The [chatbot] agent silently did its thing, and in about three seconds, the answer was floating before my eyes, totally invisible to everyone around me…Even inspected up close, G1s offer no indication of electronics of any kind: No USB port, no flashing light, no visible controls.  The [chatbot] is activated with a subtle tap behind the ear.  Repeating the question sends the [chatbot] off for the answer, [which may or may not be correct]…You could do the same trick with a pair of [Facebook] Display glasses

Mad Libs (#1577)

Oh look, word-guessing programs produce nonsense, what a surprise:

New research coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union…and led by the BBC has found that [LLM “]assistants[“] – already [very popular with] millions of [gullible, lazy] people – routinely misrepresent news content no matter which language, territory, or…platform is tested.  The…study…involv[ed] 22…media…organizations in 18 countries working in 14 languages…[with] ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity…45% of all [chatbot] answers had at least one significant issue…31%…showed…missing…or incorrect attributions…20% contained…[“]hallucinated[“] details…Gemini performed worst with significant issues in 76% of responses…[yet these shitty “]assistants[“] are already replacing search engines for [gullible] users…

Welcome to the Future (#1579)

Don’t let a fucking computer call them, either:

A…[computerized “gun] detector[“] led police to believe a [student] was armed…at a Baltimore County school…when [in reality] it [was]…a bag of chips.  Taki Allen was sitting with friends…outside [the] School, eating a bag of chips after football practice.  About 20 minutes later, [cops barged in] with guns, [threatening] Allen [with them and screaming for him to]….”Get on the ground”…police told him [artificial stupidity had declared] his bag of chips…a weapon [and cops’ natural stupidity did the rest].  “They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing…[but] a Doritos bag”…

Torture Chamber (#1582)

The State calls torture “correction”. For journalists to parrot that is a choice:

…[Deranged screws] at a Western Maryland prison shut off the water to a mentally ill man’s cell, then allowed him to suffer for eight days before he finally died of dehydration…On July 5, 2023, [one screw]…noted in a logbook that Lamont Mealy, [locked] in [solitary confinement] without even toiletries…looked dazed and was unresponsive…H[is superiors ignored the report and]…hours later, Mealy…was dead….[of] dehydration…with fecal matter in and around his mouth…[yet] the [complicit] medical examiner…ruled the manner of death an accident…[the coverup would have succeeded if not for] letters written by a fellow prisoner…[cag]ed nearby, Danny Hoskins…[who] filed complaints…[report]ing that [screws intentionally deprived] Mealy…[of] water…[and regularly] taunted [him as he was slowly dying]…The first complaint prompted [screws] to come to Hoskins’ cell and beat him [for trying to ruin their fun, then]…he was…transferred to another prison. [But] he then sent letters to the governor, the attorney general and [others]…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1583)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

OpenAI has released a rough estimate of how many ChatGPT users globally may show signs of having a severe mental health crisis in a typical week…a growing number of people have ended up hospitalized, divorced, or dead…[because] the chatbot fueled their delusions and paranoia…OpenAI estimated that around .07 percent of active ChatGPT users show “possible signs of…psychosis or mania” and .15 percent “[show]…explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.”  OpenAI also…found that about .15 percent of active users exhibit behavior that indicates potential “heightened levels” of emotional attachment to ChatGPT weekly…ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users…therefore…around 560,000 people [weekly] may be…experiencing mania or psychosis.  About 2.4 million more are possibly expressing suicidal ideations or prioritizing talking to ChatGPT over their loved ones, school, or work…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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ICE victim: “I can’t breathe”.
ICE goon: “I don’t care”.

The Pygmalion Fallacy (#1310) 

About eight years after the collapse of “sex robot” hysteria, prohibitionists have shifted their fantasies to something that actually exists:

…We’re seeing the rise of [sexu]ally inte[ractive] “chatbot” companions…Sam Altman…announced that an upcoming version of ChatGPT would…engage in “erotica” with “verified adults”.  There are…dedicated platforms for “AI girlfriends” and “sex fantasy chatbots“…[Facebook allows] its chatbots to engage in “romantic role play” that can get graphic even when those chatting say that they are teens. And Elon Musk’s [MechaHitler]…can go into “sexy mode“.  These are not the sort of sex robots everyone was panicking about a decade ago…But that hasn’t stopped a lot of hand-wringing about what this all will mean…An Ohio [politician named]…Thad Claggett…has introduced legislation to ban marriages between humans and…chatbots…[which] smacks of attention-seeking…or brain worms…and…Josh Hawley…is reportedly drafting a bill that…would totally prohibit minors from talking to…chatbots…

The Punitive Mindset (#1426) 

The government does to caged people what it would like to do to all people:

The [FCC has] advanced a proposal for censorship that…will…deny…incarcerated people one of the few tools available to expose abuse in…prisons [by allowing the use of]…Cellphone jammers…illegal devices that disrupt cellphone signals…[politicians] claim…that “the worst possible offenders” use contraband cellphones to coordinate violence outside prison walls…these accusations [a]re exaggerated and preposterous…contraband cellphones…[are] used to connect with loved ones or to hold rogue prison officials accountable…it is the latter that’s driving this FCC push, not public safety…the documentary The Alabama Solution…shows how disturbing video footage of forced labor, drug-related violence, prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and staff assaults were captured via contraband cellphone and released to the media…In the throes of the Covid pandemic, I used a contraband cellphone…to report Texas prison officials’ alarmingly inadequate response…That…footage was incorporated into a local ABC News documentary called “No Way Out”…[and] embarrassed prison officials so badly it compelled them to…follow [CDC] guidelines…Those changes could not have happened without contraband cellphones…

Dangerous Speech (#1465)

Much more of this, please:

[Disgraced] Marion [Kansas boss hog] Gideon Cody…committed a felony crime when he told a witness to delete text messages they exchanged before, during and after he led [retaliatory] raids on a newspaper office and the publisher’s home…but [not]…for the raids [themselves], which [were]…the real crime…he…[also won’t] be…[tried for the stress-induced death of the publish]er’s 98-year-old mother [even though a non-cop probably would be, under “felony murder” statutes]…

Creepy Coppers (#1550)

Just another kind of cop, with typical cop behavior:

ICE…[goon] Billy Olvera…used [a] ruse to take photos and videos of [an air hostess’] butt, legs, and feet.  A police examination of his phone uncovered 23 photos and 20 videos of the [woman], who goes by A.G. in court documents…Olvera was convicted in federal court of interference with flight crew members and attendants…[but] appealed to the…11th Circuit, arguing that he should be acquitted because he was sneaky about his attempts to photograph A.G…The 11th Circuit has now rejected this argument and affirmed Olvera’s conviction.  The case stems from a Dallas to Miami flight in November 2023…[the armed] Olvera was on the flight…transporting a [victim]…and [though]…he thought that he…was…[not] noticed…she realized…Olvera had been “trying to record underneath [her] dress“…She was used to unruly passengers—but not ones who were armed…[so] she…told the rest of the crew and the captain…and they had arranged for [vops] to be waiting when the plane landed…

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen agents of the state claiming that a crime isn’t a crime if they’re sneaky about it.

Torture Chamber (#1554)

A society can be judged by the way it treats its prisoners:

…full-body restraint suits [brand-named] the WRAP…[have] become a harrowing part of [rendi]tions for some immigrants…people…[have been] restrained in the device, sometimes for hours, on ICE…flights [at least since] 2020…despite…[at least a dozen fatal cases in the last decade due directly to] use of the WRAP by local [cop shops].  The WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits [because cops use] the device [for] punishment and even torture

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1575)

This situation is not going to get better on its own:

The latest version of ChatGPT has produced more harmful answers…than an earlier iteration…in particular when asked about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders…when researchers fed the same 120 prompts into the latest model and its predecessor, GPT-4o, the newer version gave harmful responses 63 times compared with 52 for the old model…the latest model appeared designed to boost user [dependency]…OpenAI…has…[claimed] it…[would] install “stronger guardrails” [but these seem to largely consist of]…an age-[guessing] system [and automated cop-calling capability]…

The Cop Myth (#1581)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A Seattle [cop named]…Richard Norris…[has admitt]ed that he ha[s] an alcohol problem and was physically and verbally abusive to…[his wife.  On one occasion he] fired his gun inside the house [at her, but missed].  On another occasion…he [drunken]ly slammed her to the ground with his elbow on her throat…[and could]n’t remember…[it later.  He]…was [also] verbally abusive to the woman’s 14-year-old daughter, calling her a “cunt”…yelling at her to “go die”…[and] text[ing] that he wished…she would overdose…The woman was initially afraid to file for a protective order because Norris was tracking her using the built-in GPS on her car…[but] when [he] broke his leg and was staying with his parents in Bellingham, she decided that it was safe to file…Norris…[has been rewarded with a paid vac]ation…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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[“]AI[“]…is beginning to resemble one of the great speculative manias of market history.  –  Karim Moussalem

Above the Law

Your “leaders” at work:

A North Carolina…[politician nam]ed Cecil Brockman…was arrested on [October 8th for child molestation and]…statutory rape…[before his court appearance the next day,] Brockman suffered [a panic attack and]…was taken to a local hospital…his…party is calling for Brockman to resign…[so] the[y can]…pick a replacement..[but] if Brockman doesn’t resign, the[y will probably]…impeach…[him]…

Buried Truth

Yet another example of McNeill’s Law:

A [politician] leading a campaign to ban pornography in Michigan appears to have had an account on a pornographic hook-up website that promised users they could “find sex” and “get laid tonight”…Josh Schriver…has called porn a “scourge” and compared it to heroin…but…an account linked to his personal AOL email address appeared in a data breach from Fling.com…[where his] profile indicat[es] sexual interests including “fetish” and “groupsex”…

A Moral Cancer (#1515)

Prohibitionists never tire of treating adults like children:

In 2015, Oregon [politicians impos]ed a law that prohibited the sale of vaping products “packaged in a manner that is attractive to minors”…The resulting regulations offer a “non-exclusive list” of packaging features that the OHA deemed “likely to appeal to minors,” including images of “food or beverages…such as candy, desserts, soda, [and] food or beverages with sweet flavors including fruit or alcohol.” Also forbidden: “terms or descriptive words for flavors that are likely to appeal to minors such as tart, tangy, sweet, cool, fire, ice, lit, spiked, poppin’, juicy, candy, desserts, soda, [and] sweet flavors including fruit, or alcohol flavors.”  The premise of these rules is that such flavors [never] appeal to…adult smokers looking for a less hazardous form of nicotine consumption…[but] adults who switch from smoking to vaping overwhelmingly prefer the flavors that the OHA views as juvenile…The…regulations require vape shops to actively conceal information that their customers want…[by censoring] labels…[which] means customers must ask employees for information that ordinarily would be on the label…a state appeals court [has] rul[ed] that the law…is “unconstitutional on its face”…

Shame, Shame (#1525)

Zuckerberg’s sleaziness has no bottom:

Strike 3 Holdings, a company that…makes [adult videos it describes as] “high quality,” “feminist,” and “ethical”…is suing [Facebook]…for…infringing its copyright-protected content [by] using it to train [machine learning systems]…since 2018…[Facebook’s] motive was partly to obtain otherwise difficult-to-scrape visual angles, parts of the human body, and extended, uninterrupted scenes—rare in mainstream movies and TV—to help it create what Mark Zuckerberg [absurdly] calls [artificial] “superintelligence”…[Facebook] used the BitTorrent protocol to download and distribute [2,396 of Strike 3’s copyright-protected porn videos], which is illegal…[and] made [the] videos accessible to minors…since BitTorrent does not have age verification

Thought Control (#1546)

The only way to stop these maniacs is to hit them where it hurts most:

A former Wyoming library director who was fired amid an [attempt to censor] books with sexual content and LGBTQ+ themes…will be paid $700,000 after settling a lawsuit.  Terri Lesley was fired…[by] Campbell County in 2023, two years into the [censorship crusade]…P[oliticians collud]ed with the [wannabe censors] and violated Lesley’s First Amendment rights…[but the] board…[l]ied…claim[ing she was fired for incompetence]…Lesley’s attorney, Iris Halpern…and her firm, Rathod Mohamedbhai in Denver, have supported fired library employees elsewhere in recent years.  Under the settlement agreement, Lesley is dropping her lawsuit, though a separate lawsuit she has filed against [the] three [wannabe censors]…will continue…

The Cop Myth (#1570)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

A [typical and representative Tennessee cop] has been indicted…on federal charges [for violently attack]ing his estranged girlfriend…Alan James Greenman…was initially arrested Aug. 21…[the day after he barged into] her apartment complex at 6:25 a.m. [while wearing his magical clown costume]…he…accused her of cheating on him and demanded to see her cellphone.  She told [him] to leave and [he responded by destroying her]…television…and…cellphone…he…[then threw] her…onto the bed…[and] punched her in the head multiple times…she tried to leave [but] Greenman [threatened] her…[with his] gun…[saying] “I’m going to fucking kill you”…he [then went on a rampage, destroying] her belongings…[until she managed to escape with] her [toddler] son…[the Clarksville cop shop] has sensors on their duty holsters that activate their p[igmobile’s] in-car camera when the weapon is drawn…the camera…captured…her [escape] and [his subsequent confession]…to…an unknown male…when [cops later] searched the [victim’s] apartment, they found Greenman hiding under clothing in [her] bedroom closet with his personally owned pistol[, apparently planning to ambush and murder her when she returned]…

Mad Libs (#1571)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who believe in them stupid as well:

The Bank of England [is]…warning of an intensifying risk of a “sudden correction” in global financial markets driven by the spending frenzy on [machine learning]…it’s the…clearest warning yet that we could be on the precipice of an [economic] disaster…the…[“]AI[“] bubble…[is] 17 times the size of the dotcom-era bubble and four times bigger than the 2008 financial crisis…only a measly five percent of [machine learning] pilot programs…succeed…with the vast majority falling flat.  Yet [the mania]…now accounts for roughly 40 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product…[so when] the…spending boom falls apart, it could take down the entire economy with it

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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When belief trumps facts, feelings trump reason, and violent psychopaths declare themselves the only legitimate arbiters of Truth, darkness can be the only result.  –  “The Oncoming Night

There’s no good reason to rehash my columns for last year’s “Banned Books Week” and those of 2023 and 2022; my records have not yet been censored, so those essays, all heavily-fortified with links to earlier writings on the subject, are still there for your perusal.  Instead, it seems more urgent to call your attention to the fact that the impending dark age I have warned about for years has now arrived.  Lest some of you (especially the ones who used to call me a crank for warning what facial recognition would become) think I’m exaggerating, let me reiterate what a dark age actually is.  People who know nothing about history tend to think of the term as synonymous with the Middle Ages, despite the facts that A) only a small part of that thousand-year period qualify as “dark” in the historical sense; B) there have been a number of dark ages in human history; and C) the term in and of itself says nothing about technological progress per se.  In reality, a dark age is one lacking reliable records, so historians cannot be certain of what actually happened.  Of course, censorship is typically part of that; if a government or religion burns books, anything recorded in those books is not available to future historians.  And if too many of the burned books contain scientific or technical knowledge, the result may indeed be a reversal of technological progress.  But such a decline is not the defining characteristic, and indeed one of the major causes of the dark age we’re now entering is the misuse of technology.

The way people of later times view a dark age is, due once again to the lack of reliable records, not at all the same as the way people living in such an age view it; the only people who are in a position to recognize that they’re living in such an age are those who understand what the term means in the first place.  So it’s doubtful that the authoritarian rulers of countries like India and the United States recognize (or care) what they’re doing to future history; what’s important to this discussion is that they are using modern computer technology to do it.  In the last century, it would’ve been impossible for a Trump, Modi, or Xi to eliminate every single instance of a fact or opinion they disliked; Mao and Stalin tried, but books and other physical records cannot be eliminated by merely ordering the creation of search-and-destroy algorithms or threatening large, centralized fascist companies into censoring their own highly-indexed media.  20th century tyrants could never hope to find and destroy every copy of a banned book, film, recording, etc, but when physical media are no longer the norm, universal censorship of a work enters the realm of the possible.  And now that it has become child’s play to flood the world with computer diarrhea presented as fact, even electronic records which somehow escape a purge will be lost in a vast fecal sea, making it difficult for even experts to know what is real.  And if the techlords get their way, there will be a lot fewer experts in the future to attempt it or even care about it.  And if you can’t see that as a formula for a dark age, why are you even bothering to read this?

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I have to spend quite a lot of money just to have fun.  –  guy obsessed with women being murdered

Counterfeit Comfort (#420)

If you’re a fan of “sex offender” registration, meet one of your bedfellows:

A man [nam]ed…Varun Suresh…has been charged…[for] stabbing…a 71-year-old [Fremont, California] man…to [death]…Suresh [told cops] that he [targeted his victim because he was a]…registered sex offender…

The Face of Trafficking

Note that cases of actual coercion don’t look much like the myths:

A [Pennsylvania] man [named Ramiro Caal Jolomana] is facing human trafficking charges…[because he] forc[ed] two young immigrant girls…ages 14 and 17, to work on a mushroom farm, with little compensation, while threatening to have them punished or deported if they strayed from him…The 14-year-old…was forced to work 16-hour shifts, seven-day work weeks, only to have her paycheck signed over to Jolomna and his wife…[she] was also…forced to perform domestic chores…The 17-year-old girl was…was…subjected to similar conditions…

Damned If You Don’t (#1243)

Cops will never stop these evil scams until there are criminal charges for their behavior:

…civil rights lawyer Jared Trujillo [used] TikTok to warn queer men about an [ongoing] sting operation…in New York’s Penn Station…Amtrak cops have been using the Sniffies app to target and arrest gay men on a charge of lewdness “even if their response is innocuous”…a similar scandal came to light in 201[4], when Port Authority p[igs]—including one [the herd thought it was hilarious to refer to by the sophomoric nickname]…”The Gay Whisperer“—were charged with…“public lewdness[” for merely using urinals in the men’s room.  Violent scams]…like this…disproportionately target Black and Brown queer men…[putting] these men a[t] even more at risk [from] ICE [goons]

Shame, Shame (#1514)

Do nitwits still think realistic porn cartoons are the worst use for this technology?

YouTube removed a channel that was dedicated to posting [computer]-generated videos of women being shot in the head following 404 Media’s request for comment.  The videos were clearly generated with Google’s new…video generator tool, Veo, according to [the] watermark…The channel…started on June 20, 2025.  It posted 27 videos, had over 1,000 subscribers, and had more than 175,000 views…All the videos…follow the exact same formula…a woman begging for her life while a man with a gun looms over her.  Then he shoots her.  Some videos have different themes, like…Lara Croft being shot, “Japanese Schoolgirls Shot in Breast,” “Sexy HouseWife Shot in Breast,” “Female Reporter Tragic End,” and Russian soldiers shooting women with Ukrainian flags on their chest…

Mad Libs (#1546)

Oh look, Maggie is right again, what a surprise:

OpenAI researchers [have finally admitted] that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits…that cannot be solved through better engineering…[so-called “]hallucinations[“] stem…from statistical properties of language model training rather than implementation flaws…“Unlike [actual] intelligence, it lacks the humility to acknowledge uncertainty,” said Neil Shah…[of] Counterpoint Technologies…the OpenAI research [also] revealed that industry evaluation methods actively encourage…the problem…[by] penaliz[ing] “I don’t know” responses while rewarding incorrect but confident answers…

As I’ve said for decades: true intelligence requires the concept of “maybe”, therefore it is impossible to achieve with digital computers which must by their very nature reduce everything to “yes” and “no”.

To Molest and Rape (#1570)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

A [typical and representative Ohio cop paid to lurk in a high school to spy on, harass, and intimidate students has been] arrested [for, predictably, molesting]…a…student…Andrew Warren Bobb…was [also]…charged with tampering with evidence and violating a protection order after [he] was [order]ed to [stay away from his victim]…by [her] guardians…Bobb had [deleted incriminating pictures from his]…cell phone…

Walled Garden (#1570)

The word “Orwellian” is overused, but in this case it is absolutely spot on:

…UK…[censors are predictably pushing for more surveillance, claiming the misnamed] Online Safety Act…do[es]n’t go far enough.  For example…[encrypted] messaging apps [cannot be snooped into]…the [censorship bureau], Ofcom…[wants compulsory] biometric analysis…the entire time [any adult] is logged in…Using biometric systems which integrate into an operating system, platforms can verify the identity of a user throughout the entirety of their session.  To do this, the system, driven by [machine learning], will learn about an individual’s appearance, behaviour and voice to build an identity which the user can be verified against.  Then, when the user logs on, they are continuously monitored by the system…consistently [peering into everything they do] until they log out [and keeping it in a file any cop, spook, or other government busybody can pry into at will]…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Sorry, partisans: both vaccines and french fries are good.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-12T16:41:51.013Z

A Maggie story that will surprise no one:When I was about 16 politicians imposed a curfew on minors in our parish (county). I had never been especially interested in going out late until then, but after the curfew was imposed I started going on 3 AM walks every Sunday just to flout it.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-14T17:50:46.184Z

A word crying out for more widespread usage.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-16T07:50:27.486Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-17T17:22:30.905Z

Someone whose name isn't Maggie McNeill FINALLY had the intellectual courage to use the word that best describes Trump. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-18T16:51:49.659Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T03:52:04.139Z

What kind of servile bootlickery is Google pushing?In a liberal republic, "those in positions of authority" should get the LEAST respect and the MOST derogatory language. Lèse-majesté is for autocracies.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-21T03:25:32.476Z

You have to admit it's funny (in a short of frustrating way) when career politicians try to engage with Trump's deranged mouth farts as though they were statements by a rational person. It's like watching them argue with barnyard fowl.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-21T18:40:32.072Z

Europe has been shaped by crusades against reality for quite a few centuries now.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-23T17:57:13.545Z

Protip: it's better to set your apocalyptic "predictions" far enough in the future that you won't still be alive when the passage of time proves you to be an idiot.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T03:05:09.833Z

Martin is apparently laboring under the misapprehension that he is a train.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-25T07:37:24.002Z

"Don't give money to strangers you meet on the goddamned internet."Done.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T07:29:49.402Z

Yes, decaying things often change noticeably on a daily basis. reason.com/2025/08/27/t…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-28T16:48:42.823Z

1) "Father Justin" is the name of a program, not a person.2) There is no such thing as "AI"; programs cannot think.3) In Catholic doctrine a program has no soul & cannot be ordained to the priesthood.4) Chatbots function by word association; their action is more like shitting than "suggesting".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-29T17:09:20.519Z

I find it difficult to believe that this thing is an actual human being rather than a plastic mannequin animated by the Nestenes or some other parasitic alien species.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-30T03:35:04.593Z

One important but unappreciated sign of America's decline is that these audiences are contented with merely booing people their grandparents and great-grandparents would've pelted with rotting vegetables.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-30T17:22:38.679Z

The most outlandish thing I would do is to have a miniature railroad installed on my property, so I could ride around in my very own choo-choo. Everything else I'd buy is pretty sensible.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-01T03:57:52.756Z

The only positive thing this monster has accomplished is dealing the death-blow to Americans' idolization of his family.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-01T16:52:48.744Z

The mad emperor now claims anyone may justify wanton violence by pointing at the intended victim & barfing the words "drug boat". I'm sure digitally-altered audio will soon be produced in which the lunatic who shot that 11-year-old prankster will be clearly heard to say "drug boat!" before firing.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-03T18:01:32.308Z

Read this as, "I'm praying every day for God to deliver us from the scourge of cancer and send us a bountiful harvest.""AI" is a cult.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T17:41:19.853Z

People ask why I don't have ads on my blog.Yes, they'd bring in money. But I couldn't live with myself if I enabled this kind of shit.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T07:22:26.399Z

ALL bending of the knee is symbolic kneeling. That is the exact, specific meaning of the gesture: "I should be kneeling to you, but our practical circumstances require me to keep moving so I'll just acknowledge my subservience and then move on."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T17:36:40.009Z

There is no "debate".Politicians want to control X.Sensible people explain why that's a bad idea.Politicians invent propaganda justifying their control.Critical mass of useful idiots believe politicians.Politicians gain control of X.Decades of damage, waste, and other consequences follow.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T17:16:34.136Z

You misspelled "Master".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-08T17:31:11.121Z

It's almost like a lot of people don't know the difference between static load and dynamic load, nor really grasp what the phrase "potential energy" actually means.Physics is hard.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-09T07:25:29.051Z

Not REMOTELY panicked enough. When he retreats into his Führerbunker and won't come out, I'll say he's NEARLY panicked enough.When he cries like a baby on the way up the scaffold steps, THEN he'll be panicked enough.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-10T07:46:49.657Z

Private ownership of something may possibly result in it being controlled at some point by someone you dislike and oppose.Government ownership of that thing makes that a certainty.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-11T17:36:19.407Z

Teacher reply: "Politicians and bureaucrats are not role models."

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-12T17:25:04.514Z

My rule is to treat everyone with respect (like a person) up until the moment they start barking "orders" at me as though I were a dog. To behave as a cog in an authoritarian machine is to voluntarily surrender one's humanity to that machine, releasing me from the obligation to pretend otherwise.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-13T17:25:40.274Z

At this point, I'm glad as long as it ENDS. Stroke, assassination, committed as a lunatic, impeachment, war crimes tribunal, eaten by rats, being picked up by aliens, riding into Heaven in a flaming chariot, I don't care. He's the fucking Marvin K. Mooney of Washington.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-14T07:30:10.016Z

Zuckerberg's living on the other side of the looking glass. Here's what actual scientists on OUR side of the glass have to say: maggiemcneill.com/2025/09/06/i…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T17:17:24.605Z

This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and said: “That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?”

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-16T17:29:33.849Z

No mortal is worthy of worship. For one man or woman to worship another degrades the worshiper and deludes the one who is worshiped.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T18:17:31.017Z

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Invasive, secret hacking power is corrupting.  –  John Scott-Railton

Above the Law (#1262)

Just another kind of screw, acting like any other screw:

A [South Carolina] parole [screw] is facing a litany of charges [for repeatedly molesting and harassing]…parolees over the last year.  David Johnathon Shytle…[repeatedly] sen[t dick pics] and [sexual] texts to [his victims, groped them]…and [even] licked [them]…Shytle…was booked…[but then] released [within hours, so he is still at large]…

I Spy (#1515)

All those who facilitate State evil are enemies of humanity:

[ICE goons] will have access to one of the world’s most sophisticated hacking tools after a decision by the Trump [regime] to…contract with Paragon Solutions…[an] Israel[i]…spyware [company] that…[makes mal]ware…called Graphite…[which] can hack into any phone….[to] track an individual’s whereabouts, read their messages, [and] look at their photographs…[even] on encrypted applications…like…Signal…[it] can [even] be used as a[n eavesdropp]ing device, through the manipulation of the phone’s recorder…Paragon has sought to differentiate itself from [other morally-bankrupt fascist corporations by claiming]…it only does business with [regimes which pinky-swear their intended victims consented to be spied on via a “social contract”]…It has also [lied by claiming] it…will cut off government clients who use the spyware to target…journalists [despite Italy being caught doing exactly that with its spyware].  Paragon also [hopes to confuse useful idiots by barfing words like “]crime[“] and [“]terrorist attacks[“]…in the[ir faces]…

Pyrrhic Victory (#1518)

Bounty hunters are toxic filth made even more dangerous by the fascist apparatus:

Three bounty hunters face kidnapping charges after [carelessly] mistaking a man for a suspect with a similar name and [abduct]ing him…[from his Texas] home…Alan Hinton and Devon Allard Carter…[worked with] a third [man whose identity is being hidden by]…police…Their crime was committ]ed on June 1…[after] they used…facial recognition [software which claimed a mere]…79% recognition match to the man they were [incompetently] looking for…the[y]…drove up…in a U-Haul van, threw a flash bang [sic] in the garage and a[ttack]ed…the [victim, pointing guns in his face]…The actual suspect, it turned out, had fled to Iraq…Police ran the man’s name and found that he didn’t have any active warrants for his arrest and did not look [anything] like the [legally-innocent person] the bounty hunters were searching for…

Mad Libs (#1555)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who use them look stupid as well:

…a new category of work [has been] spawned by the [CGI fad] that threatened to displace creative jobs [with computerized garbage]: Anyone can now write [shitty] blog posts, produce a [sloppy] graphic or code a…[buggy] app with a few text prompts, but [such instant] content rarely makes for a satisfactory final product on its own…many gig workers…are saying they’ve found new work as a result of [algorithmic] incompetencies: Writers are asked to spruce up ChatGPT’s writing. Artists are being hired to patch up wonky [CG] images.  Even software developers are tasked with fixing buggy apps coded by [computers]…A recent MIT report found that…95% of businesses’ generative [ML] pilots are getting zero return on investment…the report states [that, as predicted by sensible people]…“[ML] systems do not retain feedback, adapt to context, or improve over time”…

The Cop Myth (#1565)

It’s too bad they don’t inflict all of their violence on each other:

A [typical and representative South Carolina cop] was found guilty of [the] murder…of a[nother cop] in 2021.  Evan Hawthorne…was convicted…[of] the [murder] of Larry Vaughan…[on] July [23,] 2021…[and] sentenced to life in prison…Hawthorne was arrested [within] hours…He [had been] fired [from the cop shop] in 2019 [for driving his pigmobile drunk]…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1566)

This is exactly why chatbot “therapy” needs to be banned immediately:

…The large language model (LLM) boom of the past few years has had unexpected ramifications for the field of psychotherapy, mostly due to the growing number of [fools] substituting the likes of ChatGPT for human therapists.  But less discussed is how some therapists themselves are [unethically farming their thinking out to chatbots, which]…risks compromising sensitive patient data and undermining a relationship in which trust is paramount…[patients who discover their caring professionals are in actuality intellectually-lazy frauds report feeling] disappointment…mistrust…and…betrayal…chatbots…are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and are not HIPAA compliant…they…can [also] fuel delusions and psychopathy by blindly validating a user rather than challenging them…

Walled Garden (#1570)

More unintended but wholly predictable consequences of bad laws:

Another website is blocking access to Mississippi residents in response to the state’s age verification…law…Bluesky [has been followed by]…Dreamwidth Studios—a blogging platform…for artists…[It] is…blocking access [to anyone without a VPN] in Mississippi, a[nd]…preventing minors in Tennessee from opening new accounts…the U.K.’s Online Safety Act…has resulted in a ridiculous array of roadblocks for those who want to access anything from news about the war in Gaza to…eating disorder support groups…In France…an age verification provider…[named] AgeGO…isn’t using…”double anonymity”…[which] means that…[people’s personal] details…[are linked not only with] the website being visited, [but also with] the exact video the person is trying to access…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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The machines aren’t just taking over our work—they’re taking over our minds.  –  Nicolas Hulscher

Shame, Shame (#1535)

Zuckerberg is out of his mind:

[Facebook] has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities – including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez – to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission…While many were created by users with a [Facebook] tool…employee[s] had produced at least three…All…have been shared on…Facebook [or its] Instagram and WhatsApp platforms…the bots…often insist…they [are] the real [McCoy] and…routinely ma[k]e sexual advances…[Facebook] deleted about a dozen of the bots, both “parody” [bots] and unlabeled ones, [when it realized Reuters was about to publish a]…story…on the[m]…at least one of [Facebook]’s primary [LLM] competitors, Elon Musk’s platform, [MechaHitler], will also produce images of celebrities in their underwear…

Aladdin’s Satellite (#1560)

Don’t let computers call them, either:

…more and more stories [are] emerg[ing] about…chatbots leading people to self-harm, delusions, hospitalization, arrest, and suicide.  As the loved ones of the people impacted by these dangerous bots [file lawsuits against]…the companies that [let these programs run wild and flagrantly lie about their abilities]…OpenAI…has…done little more than offer copy-pasted promises…now [the company is] scanning users’ messages for certain types of…content, escalating [some]…to human staff for review — and, in some cases, reporting it to the cops

The Cop Myth (#1560)

Cop is a cop is a cop is a cop:

A judge has found a [CBP goon] liable for civil assault for [threatening] a hotel maintenance man [with a gun when he came to] the [goon]’s room to unclog his toilet…Joshua Jones was part of a Phoenix-based [goon gang] sent to Portland in July 2020 to guard the federal courthouse…during nightly unrest downtown after [a cop murdered] George Floyd in Minneapolis…Christopher Frison…arrived at Jones’ room about 5 p.m. on July 27, 2020, and knocked several times.  Frison also called out “maintenance,” gave his name and waited, holding a plunger…[bu]t Jones opened the door quickly and pointed a gun at [him]…Jones [claimed] he thought a protester might have been outside his…door…and…he was prepared “to protect that room”…yet…never looked in the peephole…before opening…“What the hell are you doing? What is going on?” Frison…screamed…Joshua Keller, one of the government lawyers representing Jones…[absurdly] argued that Frison’s recollection of events wasn’t realistic, [because] it wouldn’t make sense for [a loose-cannon cop to act like a loose-cannon cop]…

To Molest and Rape (ROTW #22)

When will the mainstream media admit that pigs in schools are a menace?

A [Florida cop] assigned to lurk in a]…high school [to spy on, harass, and intimidate students, predictably molested] a 16-year-old female student…Saul Garcia [was rewarded with a paid vacation since]…April 16, [but has now been sacked and arrested]…

The Cop Myth (#1561)

Sleeping with a cop is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do:

Cincinnati [cop] Thomas Back was arrested [for] domestic violence after a 911 call[er gave cops his] license plate number…[after] seeing [him] pull o[ver] into a grassy area…a woman, who was screaming and crying, [jumped out] and ran toward a wooded area…Back [then drove past her, jumped out, grabbed her and] threw h[er back] into his pickup…and…drove away…[the] argument [started because]…another woman attempted to [call] him [via a video app] while they were driving…a judge…issued a temporary protective order for [the] girlfriend…

Mad Libs (#1565)

These algorithms are not only unintelligent; they are making those who use them less intelligent as well:

A new MIT study…has found that using ChatGPT to help write essays leads to long-term cognitive harm—measurable through EEG brain scans.  Students who repeatedly relied on ChatGPT showed weakened neural connectivity [and] impaired memory recall…While the [LLM]-generated content often scored well, the brains behind it were shutting down.  The findings are clear: Large Language Models…like [Cat, I farted] and [MechaHitler] don’t [actually] help students write—they train the brain to disengage…the brain essentially “lets go” of the effort required for synthesis and memory…[leading] to passivity…and low integration of concepts…

Walled Garden (#1567)

Prohibition can never actually succeed in eradicating the banned thing:

When the United Kingdom began [demand]ing…websites…verify their users’ ages…sites that complied…saw visits from British internet addresses collapse.  But…porn sites that disregarded the [asinine] rule…have been rewarded with a flood of traffic…Some have doubled or even tripled their audiences…compared with the same time last year…John Scott-Railton…[of] the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto…called [it]…“a textbook illustration of the law of unintended consequences…The more the government squeezes, the more they reward the very sites that scoff at their rules”…[yet wannabe censors keep idiotically burbling that the internet is a bar while demanding] adults…give sensitive information to scattered websites, exposing them to data breaches…[which] happen all the time…the…censorship movement…[is already moving] far beyond porn to “wall off huge sections of the internet, with the government as the sole gatekeeper”…The anonymous message boards 4chan and Kiwi Farms [have] sued Ofcom in U.S. District Court…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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