The Count
@xyzzyllyzzyx.bsky.social
Nerd stuff - Numbers, computers, TTRPGs. Second standard deviation progressive.
Reposted by The Count
This is billionaire-controlled media. They want to sleepwalk us into another forever war. We must break free.
The Washington Post editorial board comes out in favor of the Venezuela attack/operation to capture Maduro
January 3, 2026 at 5:44 PM
This is billionaire-controlled media. They want to sleepwalk us into another forever war. We must break free.
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thinking about how, in the Russian history elective I took in HS, every time a tsar was facing domestic weakness the teacher would turn to the assembled students and ask "so what is it time for?" and we would chant "stunning territorial annexation!" and she would respond "well, DUH, girls"
January 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
thinking about how, in the Russian history elective I took in HS, every time a tsar was facing domestic weakness the teacher would turn to the assembled students and ask "so what is it time for?" and we would chant "stunning territorial annexation!" and she would respond "well, DUH, girls"
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Reposted by The Count
Being a liability sponge is frankly the most utility LLMs can offer to businesses. So long as they maintain the lie that it's a black box & there's no laws against using unaccountable black boxes, even/especially in their (likely inherently & permanently) broken state, they're financially useful.
January 2, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Being a liability sponge is frankly the most utility LLMs can offer to businesses. So long as they maintain the lie that it's a black box & there's no laws against using unaccountable black boxes, even/especially in their (likely inherently & permanently) broken state, they're financially useful.
One might argue that the media easy acceptance grok's "apology" is b/c grok's apology is essentially the same as an actual x spokesperson's apology - insincere, meaningless, and with no bearing whatsoever as to whether the product will continue to "misbehave" or not (ie - it will b/c $).
January 2, 2026 at 7:26 PM
One might argue that the media easy acceptance grok's "apology" is b/c grok's apology is essentially the same as an actual x spokesperson's apology - insincere, meaningless, and with no bearing whatsoever as to whether the product will continue to "misbehave" or not (ie - it will b/c $).
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South Park writer buys ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ domain name
South Park writer buys ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ domain name
Toby Morton now owns trumpkennedycenter.org, which advertises new year performance by the ‘Epstein dancers’
Donald Trump may be remaking the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts into a pool of his self-reflection, but a writer for South Park, the TV series that better reflects the obsessions and tendencies of the administration than any political pundit, has purchased the rights to trumpkennedycenter.org.
Toby Morton, a TV writer and producer who has worked on the long-running and joyfully offensive sitcom, said he purchased the domain in August after predicting the president would change the name from the Kennedy Center to the Trump Kennedy Center after he installed himself as chair and stocked the board with loyalists. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:25 PM
South Park writer buys ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ domain name
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this is, indeed, a crusade by the people directly running the New York Times to destroy the rights and lives of trans people in this country
they have blood on their hands and they’re proud of it
they have blood on their hands and they’re proud of it
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 1, 2026 at 7:24 PM
this is, indeed, a crusade by the people directly running the New York Times to destroy the rights and lives of trans people in this country
they have blood on their hands and they’re proud of it
they have blood on their hands and they’re proud of it
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BREAKING NEWS: Actual facts appear for the first time on "Truth" Social.
December 30, 2025 at 7:47 PM
BREAKING NEWS: Actual facts appear for the first time on "Truth" Social.
It occurred to me - if AI were a bit worse...if instead of getting some things wrong, it just got everything so wrong that the opposite of whatever it says is actually something good...then they could just have it reverse everything it says. Ergo, AI techs should be working to make AI worse!
December 30, 2025 at 9:35 PM
It occurred to me - if AI were a bit worse...if instead of getting some things wrong, it just got everything so wrong that the opposite of whatever it says is actually something good...then they could just have it reverse everything it says. Ergo, AI techs should be working to make AI worse!
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it’s pretty telling that for all the various Republican assaults on government few have been as thorough as their holy war on the CFPB, which has been a scorched earth affair since day 1
bring it back with a vengeance and staff a personalized new department for every big Republican donor
bring it back with a vengeance and staff a personalized new department for every big Republican donor
Whenever we're out of this shit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be built into an absolutely nightmare bureaucratic goliath. Increase the original funding by a million times and hire thousands of staffers trying to fuck shit up for business.
December 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
it’s pretty telling that for all the various Republican assaults on government few have been as thorough as their holy war on the CFPB, which has been a scorched earth affair since day 1
bring it back with a vengeance and staff a personalized new department for every big Republican donor
bring it back with a vengeance and staff a personalized new department for every big Republican donor
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Australia Admits All Those Animals Made Up https://theonion.com/australia-admits-all-those-animals-made-up/
December 30, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Australia Admits All Those Animals Made Up https://theonion.com/australia-admits-all-those-animals-made-up/
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DOJ Removes All Mentions Of Justice From Website https://theonion.com/doj-removes-all-mentions-of-justice-from-website/
December 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
DOJ Removes All Mentions Of Justice From Website https://theonion.com/doj-removes-all-mentions-of-justice-from-website/
Maybe it's just me, but "doesn't accept money from billionaire tech-bros/corps" is one of my top tier voting criteria.
There’s a funny Politico story showing that the latest polling on AI shows 80-20 in favor of heavy regulations, an absolute slam dunk platform, but Dems are worried about not winning back mask-off tech CEO donors
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
December 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Maybe it's just me, but "doesn't accept money from billionaire tech-bros/corps" is one of my top tier voting criteria.
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I mean, the entire Manhattan project was underpinned by immigrant researchers, and the reason why America got the nukes and Germany didn't is because the Nazis adopted the exact vile, boneheaded blood-and-soil bullshit that Miller is spouting and drove out all their smartest guys.
Immigrant-hating Stephen Miller talks about Americans being "first to harness the atom." But the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was conducted by a team led by Italian immigrant Enrico Fermi, who didn't become a U.S. citizen until a year and a half later.
December 29, 2025 at 3:41 AM
I mean, the entire Manhattan project was underpinned by immigrant researchers, and the reason why America got the nukes and Germany didn't is because the Nazis adopted the exact vile, boneheaded blood-and-soil bullshit that Miller is spouting and drove out all their smartest guys.
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if I were elected mayor of a city I too would insist that every ceremony took place in an abandoned tunnel or secret passage of some kind
EXCLUSIVE: Mamdani Will Be Sworn In At Abandoned Original City Hall Subway Station - Streetsblog New York City
Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor of New York City at midnight on Jan. 1 inside the old abandoned City Hall subway station.
nyc.streetsblog.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM
if I were elected mayor of a city I too would insist that every ceremony took place in an abandoned tunnel or secret passage of some kind
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Study in mice but still really exciting.
December 29, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Study in mice but still really exciting.
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Remember:
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
i don’t see how any of the benefits of chatgpt and other consumer-facing LLMs can possibly outweigh their incredible ability to induce suicides
Adam Raine’s life hurtled toward tragedy soon after he began talking with ChatGPT about homework. Analysis of his ChatGPT account shows how the chatbot became a confidant as he planned to end his life.
December 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Remember:
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them.
When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips.
ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.
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AI in a nutshell
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
AI in a nutshell
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"Academics literally cannot make genAI go away" we also can't make underage drinking go away and we're not advocating for installing bar carts in every classroom.
December 27, 2025 at 11:46 PM
"Academics literally cannot make genAI go away" we also can't make underage drinking go away and we're not advocating for installing bar carts in every classroom.
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The U.S. government just banned five people from entering the country because it doesn’t like their speech. This ban, according to the State Department, is necessary to protect free speech.
If that sounds insane to you, congratulations on your reading comprehension.
If that sounds insane to you, congratulations on your reading comprehension.
Opinion | Marco Rubio is using real censorship to fight fake censorship
Mike Masnick: In the name of protecting free speech, the U.S. government just banned five Europeans from entering the country because it doesn’t like their speech.
www.ms.now
December 27, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The U.S. government just banned five people from entering the country because it doesn’t like their speech. This ban, according to the State Department, is necessary to protect free speech.
If that sounds insane to you, congratulations on your reading comprehension.
If that sounds insane to you, congratulations on your reading comprehension.
I mean, yeah, ICE was less bad...b/c it was smaller. And it was bipartisan. Still bad...but got less publicity b/c it could do a lot less and wasn't as "political." Now it's bigger (can do more bad) and is more right-wing-y. They also dress unlike agents and more like gangsters for some reason?
December 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I mean, yeah, ICE was less bad...b/c it was smaller. And it was bipartisan. Still bad...but got less publicity b/c it could do a lot less and wasn't as "political." Now it's bigger (can do more bad) and is more right-wing-y. They also dress unlike agents and more like gangsters for some reason?
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this image is maybe the single greatest joke in TRADING PLACES. and also a pretty apt description of the trump/vance/national conservative vision of america
December 24, 2025 at 1:29 AM
this image is maybe the single greatest joke in TRADING PLACES. and also a pretty apt description of the trump/vance/national conservative vision of america
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Bari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy | Margaret Sullivan
Bari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy | Margaret Sullivan
Weiss ought to cut her losses, green-light the piece, and try to start acting like an editor – not like a cog in the machine of authoritarian politics and oligarchy
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Bari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy | Margaret Sullivan
/facepalm - these are some of the people in charge of US nat'l security.
Anyone can read the redactions of the Epstein Files by just copying and pasting them into a word doc. The people at Trump's Justice Department are so stupid they used Adobe Acrobat to black out the documents.
December 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
/facepalm - these are some of the people in charge of US nat'l security.