WTF Wednesday: Week Fourteen
Knee Deep in the Muck
Hello, Friend,
Yesterday, as I was tapping away at the essay on AI, a fleet of giant trucks drove up to the field right in front of our apartment to spray copious amounts of liquid manure for the better part of three hours. Today the wind is blowing the considerable stench in my direction and the rain is turning the field into a poop marsh. Run-off for the win! We were ‘upgraded’ from a team of mules spreading small barrels of manure to a new level of factory farm style enshittification. I’ve never seen this much crap in my life, at least not in person. This provides the perfect metaphor for our weekly WTF Wednesday dive into the political news cycle. I suggest hunkering down indoors and waiting for the shit to wash away or pull up your waders and get ready for another deep dive into the poop marsh.
Kowa-Bunga, Baby.
Leopards Being Leopards
When attempting to install a dictatorship, paranoia is a symptom of the sickness infecting the people running the show. I feel for the dedicated civil servants who’ve not been fired nor opted to resign and are still in the trenches doing their best to honor their oaths of office. I have zero WTFs to give for the folks who are all in on the takeover. Let the leopards eat each other’s faces. These particular leopards are too incompetent, idiotic, and undisciplined to function with even a modicum of gravitas, decorum, or basic common sense. The drama is unfolding at the Pentagon with Peter Peter Secret Leaker’s mediocre white dude frat house buddies turning on each other like it’s Survivor DC. Get the skinny on the worst reality show ever from Wonkette.
Remember when it was all so blissfully boring and drama free just a scant few months ago?
Blah, Blah, Blah
Speaking of paranoia, Don the Con managed to capture the lamestream media’s full attention with yet another predictable unhinged all caps hateful tirade on Memorial Day. Surprise! It wouldn’t be a holiday without a toxic ‘truth’ lie to deflect our attention. This was mere moments after the breathless coverage of his mondo bizarro graduation speech/grievance fest at West Point. And just like that, Donny read a different speech from a teleprompter at Arlington and only veered into incoherent babbling for a moment or two. For this feat of strength minimal effort, the media gave him another gold star. (They know how Dear Leader loves him some gold.) Let us not forget that, once again, his tariff threats have been kicked down the road like the proverbial can. Just call him TACO, that’s what the traders do. The kid gloves media treatment is working, his approval numbers are up again. Seriously, people?
The term ‘Golden Fleece’ has taken on a whole new meaning.
.jpg){kind=link}
Naughty Little Chatbots
I have more disturbing news to impart on the AI front, do forgive. Sigh. Make those calls to your Senators and Representatives, friends, because the 10 year state ban on AI regulation needs striking from the ‘BBB’ asap. The Tech Bros are unwilling to apply the lowest safety bar standards to their endeavors. AI chatbots lack even basic protections against the nefarious efforts of any bad actor with a cell phone or laptop and an evil plan. According to Futurism, who shared this paper from computer scientists at Ben-Gurion University, every major chatbot is absurdly easy to hack, jailbreak, and manipulate into sharing all manner of dangerous information including how one might build a chemical weapon. (If one were interested in such a thing, as one who might hack a chatbot with ill intent could be.) In the rush to get these LLMs to market (after pilfering the IP of countless creatives including this writer) knowing full well that there was a need for more robust measures, the Tech Bros have done absolutely nothing to address this nasty fly in their ointment. If that doesn’t make you sweat, you’ll be disturbed to discover the proliferation of Dark ChatBots designed specifically for a complete lack of ethics.
I’m sure we’ll be fine.
That’s not true.
I’m not sure we’ll be fine.
Once again I offer my heartfelt suggestion that you do everything in your power to stop feeding the Tech Bros your time, attention, data, and money. They need us far more than we need them. Boycotts do work, just ask Target.
Got Milk?
There is, as always, a proliferation of muck left to explore including the shameless pardon of these two turd burglers from reality TV world, but let’s take a pause for a moment of science. I think we can all use a reset, yes?
This is a twofold bit of happy news for dairy lovers. First, whole milk is making a comeback! (Not that it ever left my fridge.) As if on cue, medical researchers have discovered a potentially life saving treatment for high cholesterol. VERVE-102 is a single shot currently in trials that dramatically lowers LDL cholesterol levels for the rest of your life by turning off the gene PCSK9! Stop milking that almond, blend up a malted, toast up some crusty bread, and slather on the Kerry Gold! Time to party like it’s 1899! Unless you’re lactose intolerant or Vegan, in which case, nothing to see here, friend. Keep calm and almond milk on.
That’s a no for me.
I cannot even even with the Worst Fucking Kennedy today. Guess Don got his own personal Hannibal Lector after all.
And now it’s time to spray off the muck and get back to my regularly scheduled bear card making activities. It’s true, I’m bearly finished and bearly able to fathom how this is taking so long. Grin and bear it, Madge. Beats muckraking.
I’ll be MIA tomorrow and back Friday or Monday depending on how things go with the bear wrestling. Until then, may your front yard remain poop marsh free!
Like it? We’d LOVE it if you shared it!
Subscribe so you never miss another riveting post! It’s free, with the option to support the work through a paid sub.
Can’t swing a paid sub but you want to show the writer some love? Consider buying her a cup of coffee!
That has got to stink, just like all the shit that shithead and his turd buddies are dishing out. I hope your air cleans up fast. Keep sparkling ✨️