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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:05:38 GMT -8
Did you hear about the first restaurant to open on the moon? It had great good, but no atmosphere.
TucKKKer: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Fox News faces another potentially ruinous legal threat related to its coverage of the 2020 election.
Former host Tucker Carlson promoted a debunked conspiracy theory on his since-canceled prime-time program about Donald Trumpsupporter Ray Epps, who was seen on camera Jan. 6, 2021, urging a crowd to march into the U.S. Capitol with him. Legal experts now say the Arizona man has a strong defamation case against the conservative network,.
“His challenge is to get a judge, if he files the suit, to say this was so inherently, bizarrely improbable that only a reckless person would put it into circulation,” said Vermont Law School president Rodney Smolla, a defamation expert who consulted for Dominion during its own lawsuit against Fox News. “No case is easy, but this one is certainly, in my view, viable.”
Carlson repeatedly told viewers the lack of charges against Epps, who voted for the former president twice, was proof that he was a secret government agent who “helped stage-manage the insurrection," and the Marine Corps veteran and his wife were forced to sell their ranch and wedding venue business and go into hiding after receiving death threats from conspiracy theorists.
Epps and his attorneys are proceeding with plans to sue the network, which recently settled the Dominion Voting Systems case for $787.5 million over claims made by broadcasters about its equipment used in the 2020 election and still faces a similar lawsuit from the voting technology company Smartmatic.
“We informed Fox in March that if they did not issue a formal on-air apology that we would pursue all available avenues to protect the Eppses’ rights,” said Epps attorney Michael Teter, who sent the network a cease-and-desist letter asking for an on-air apology and a retraction that have not yet been issued. “That remains our intent.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:15:25 GMT -8
I Don't Think Big Tech Finds This Funny
Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta Platforms and OpenAI for allegedly using their content without permission to train artificial intelligence language models.
The proposed class action lawsuits filed by Silverman, Richard Kadrey and Christopher Golden in San Francisco federal court Friday allege Facebook parent company Meta and ChatGPT maker OpenAI used copyrighted material to train chat bots.
Meta and OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft Corp, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
The lawsuits underscore the legal risks developers of chat bots face when using troves of copyrighted material to create apps that deliver realistic responses to user prompts.
Silverman, Kadrey and Golden allege Meta and OpenAI used their books without authorization to develop their so-called large language models, which their makers pitch as powerful tools for automating tasks by replicating human conversation.
In their lawsuit against Meta, the plaintiffs allege that leaked information about the company’s artificial intelligence business shows their work was used without permission.
The lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that summaries of the plaintiffs’ work generated by ChatGPT indicate the bot was trained on their copyrighted content.
“The summaries get some details wrong” but still show that ChatGPT “retains knowledge of particular works in the training dataset," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuits seek unspecified money damages on behalf of a nationwide class of copyright owners whose works were allegedly infringed.
Then Again, I Don't Usually Find Sarah Silverman Funny
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:17:45 GMT -8
Texas is Serving Up Baked Inmate
On the afternoon of July 4, as Americans were celebrating the country's independence with elaborate fireworks displays, a prisoner named Joseph Martire passed out in his cell in Texas, amid the excessive heat that has been swamping much of the southern United States in recent days.
In concrete, brick and metal penitentiaries, industrial fans churn warm vapor without really cooling the air.
And with no air conditioning in most prisons, when outside temperatures exceed 40ºC (104 Fahrenheit), it can feel even hotter inside the cells.
Some prisoners sabotage the toilets in their cells to make the water overflow and wet the floor, which they then sleep on. Others wet their clothes to try to stay cool, according to convicts, ex-convicts and family members who spoke to AFP.
The Texas Tribune news site reported that at least nine people had died in state prisons in June from heart attacks or other possibly heat-related causes.
But Amanda Hernandez, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), which is in charge of prisons, said the last heat death occurred in 2012.
In June, the department treated seven cases of people affected "beyond first aid," but there were no fatalities, she said.
The department, which oversees 126,000 prisoners, said that 32 people died in June, from a variety of causes.
Dominick took issue with that breakdown.
"The coroner will usually report something like 'cardiac arrest' because heat stroke is highly correlated with cardiac arrest," she said.
"We're seeing the same reports. We're seeing medical evidence for what happens to the body.
"You know, during these types of temperatures, these are heat-related deaths," Dominick added.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:19:39 GMT -8
Rudy Calling the Kettle Black
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said only "stupid" people believe that the White House is not covering up the origins of a small amount of cocaine found last weekend.
"Biden never tells the truth. It's almost useful when they say something when somebody like that little lying press secretary that he has, the one who's now given us three different places [for] the cocaine," he said on Sunday. "I mean, they're a mouthpiece — they're a mouthpiece for the crooked White House. How can you possibly say the day after that you just found out about the crime that's not — you're not going to solve it...Can you imagine if there's a murder this morning, and the acting police commissioner shows up and says let me think about this? This may never be solved."
Giuliani said anyone who believed the White House explanation was "too stupid" to listen to his show.
"It this is a damn lie, and it tells you right away there's a cover-up," he insisted. "You gotta be — I'm going to tell you this. If you don't realize this is a cover-up, you're too stupid to listen to this show. Go listen to some other show. Go listen to CNN or MSNBC and make yourself happy, but you obviously don't have a critical intellect."
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:22:58 GMT -8
The Russians Are Dying! The Russians Are Dying!Nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the first independent statistical analysis of Russia’s war dead. Two independent Russian media outlets, Mediazona and Meduza, working with a data scientist from Germany’s Tübingen University, used Russian government data to shed light on one of Moscow’s closest-held secrets — the true human cost of its invasion of Ukraine. To do so, they relied on a statistical concept popularised during the COVID-19 pandemic called excess mortality. Drawing on inheritance records and official mortality data, they estimated how many more men below the age of 50 died between February 2022 and May 2023 than normal. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses, and each is at pains to amplify the other side’s casualties. Russia has publicly acknowledged the deaths of just about 6,000 soldiers. New data suggests 50,000 Russian deaths during Ukraine warLook on the Bright Side. This Means More Vodka For Everyone Else.Russia is failing to help its injured soldiers, with up to 50% of Russian combat fatalities in Ukraine preventable, according to UK intelligence. The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Monday that Russia has suffered an average of 400 casualties a day in the 17 months since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result, "Russia is almost certainly struggling with a crisis of medical combat provision," it said. The influx of casualties "has likely undermined the normal provision of some Russian civilian medical services, especially in border regions near Ukraine," the MOD added. It also said that claims made by a Russian official that up to 50% of Russia's combat fatalities were preventable are likely true. The MOD said the lack of medical help on the battlefield was having a devastating effect. "Very slow casualty evacuation, combined with the inappropriate use of the crude in-service Russian combat tourniquet, is reportedly a leading cause of preventable fatalities and amputations," it said. It also said that it appeared likely "many dedicated military hospitals are being reserved for officer casualties." The total number of Russia's losses in Ukraine is unclear, and Russia does not release its own figures. A leaked US intelligence assessment said that up to 43,000 Russians were killed in action in the first year of the war — twice as many as the number of Ukrainians reportedly killed on the battlefield. Russia is failing to look after its injured soldiers, with around half of deaths preventable and military hospitals likely being reserved for officers, UK intel says
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:26:57 GMT -8
Threads is a Twitter Threat
User traffic on Twitter has slowed since the launch of Meta’s text-based platform Threads, which has already surpassed 100 million sign-ups since its debut last week, according to a third party tracker.
Threads launched in the U.S. Wednesday and is being touted by Meta executives like Instagram chief Adam Mosseri as a more positive “public square” for communities “that never really embraced Twitter.” So far, users seem to be on board. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday that the social media platform already had 70 million sign-ups.
“Way beyond our expectations,” Zuckerberg said in a post.
Twitter appears to have taken a hit. Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, shared a screenshot to Twitter Sunday showing that traffic on the platform was “tanking.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:28:45 GMT -8
I Want to Bet the World Won't End.
While the internet swarmed around submersible news and memes, some people saw an opportunity to make a few bucks.
They placed their money on a relatively obscure prediction market website, Polymarket, which offered users the chance to place bets on the question: “Will the missing submarine be found by June 23?” The market drew $2.3 million in volume, according to the website.
It turned into a resurgent moment — albeit a dark one — for online prediction markets. Polymarket, which launched in 2020, is one of many online prediction markets that have emerged in recent years to take bets on a wide variety of current events.
It’s also one that has embraced blockchain technology as a way to possibly sidestep regulation that has scuttled other prediction markets.
Neeraj Agrawal, director of communications at Coin Center, a Washington-based think tank that advocates for the free usage of cryptocurrency networks, called regulation of prediction markets that use crypto “an open question.”
Agrawal said he had mixed feelings about the market betting on whether the submersible would be found, something he calls “the first viral moment for a crypto prediction market.”
More than 60 markets are currently available on Polymarket, including whether Twitter will sue Meta by July 15, who will win the Guatemalan presidential election and whether there will be an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine by July 12.
But it’s the grimmer markets that have drawn some attention. Shortly after the sub market, focus shifted to the Russian coup and the likelihood of Russia using nuclear weapons by June 30, along with other Russia-related trending markets.
Polymarket described the sub market as having “nothing to do with any outcomes regarding the passengers.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:31:40 GMT -8
Is the US Senate the Least Efficient Organization on Earth?
Gen. David Hilberry Berger has served in the Marine Corps since 1981. At 63, he has been a company commander during Operation Desert Storm, an instructor at multiple Marine facilities, a policy planner for the Joint Chiefs, the commander of a Marine battalion during combat in Fallujah, head of Marine operations in Kosovo, and was deployed to Afghanistan as the commanding general for the 1st Marine Division.
Since 2019, Berger has been the commandant of Marines and now, after a long and distinguished career that has seen him serve in many roles in many places, he’s ready to retire. His term as commandant is scheduled to end today. In fact, his term has to end today, because that’s the law. No member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff can serve more than four years except in times of war or national emergency.
But there’s a problem: No one has been named to replace Berger. Or rather, someone has been named: Gen. Eric Smith, a two-time winner of the distinguished service medal whose career also stretches back to Desert Storm. It’s just that Smith can’t be promoted to commandant because one person, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, is holding the American military hostage.
In February, Tuberville decided that he had a great opportunity to pull a stunt that would put his political visibility ahead of U.S. national defense capabilities. As Politico reported at the time, Tuberville placed a hold on every promotion within the Department of Defense. That meant no promotions for civilian workers who serve in all areas of the DOD. It meant no promotions with contractors working on projects for the DOD. And it meant no promotions for all branches of the military.
Tuberville has been blocking military promotions–all military promotions–since then, demanding a change in the military policy of funding those who travel to seek abortion in exchange for taking his foot off the brake.
It’s not impossible to get a promotion confirmed with Tuberville’s hold in place, but it means what would usually be fast-tracked as a single vote devolves into a whole series of hearings and procedural votes, each of which provides its own opportunity for Tuberville to kill more time. So while it’s possible, it’s extremely difficult.
Since the hold went into effect, Tuberville has prevented the promotion of at least 250 officers, many of whom would be replacing those who have retired or moved to other roles. The inability to promote has created holes in the official structures of the military services. The inability to fill Berger’s slot at the top of the Marine Corps tree is only the most visible of several critical absences.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:36:16 GMT -8
Kick 'Em When They're Up. Kick 'Em When They're Down.
A Republican meeting in Michigan turned into fight night on Saturday when two local GOP figures got into a physical brawl over access to the event.
James Chapman, a Republican from Wayne County, told The Detroit News he was outside the meeting at the Doherty Hotel in Clare. He was hoping to get inside and jiggled the door handle.
Clare County Republican Party Chair Mark DeYoung came to the door to see what was going on.
“He kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door,” DeYoung told the newspaper in an interview from the emergency room. He said Chapman ran at him and slammed him into a chair.
Chapman said DeYoung threatened to kick his ass and took a swing first. DeYoung denied that, and told the news outlet he suffered a broken rib and intended to press charges.
“We’re so divided,” he was quoted as saying. “I just wish we could come together.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:38:23 GMT -8
Religious right gets blindsided by angry parents in a Southern California school districtThree Southern California school board members backed by a far-right pastor narrowly won election last fall in campaigns fueled by pandemic rage. Then they banned critical race theory and rejected social studies materials that included LGBTQ rights hero Harvey Milk. Now, they’re fighting for their political lives. After just six months in office, those officials face a recall effort on top of a civil rights investigation launched by the state’s Democratic-led education department. Students have held protests, and irate parents and teachers are swarming the board’s meetings, feeling that their town — the fast-growing, politically diverse suburb of Temecula in Riverside County — has become consumed by partisan warfare. “We don’t want culture wars. We don’t want Fox News appearances,” Alex Douvas, a parent of two kids in the district who previously worked for two Republican congressmembers in Orange County, told the board recently. “Our schools are not ideological battlegrounds. They’re not platforms for religious evangelism. These are institutions for learning and growth.” The religious right saw an opening to jump into the parental rights movement amid intense backlash about pandemic-era school closures and mask mandates. But those policies have all but disappeared in schools, and it’s proving harder to sustain that level of outrage over teachings on race and gender. The effort to ban certain books and challenge curriculum has split Republicans and polled poorly with independent voters nationally. Local Democrats see the strategy flopping — and are already looking to capitalize on it in a part of the state that has become a battleground for control of the House. Joy Silver, chair of the Riverside County Democrats, said she’s intensely focused on winning down-ballot races like school board seats “because the battles are taking place there.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:42:52 GMT -8
To the QOP, "Freedom" Is Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tore into Republican governors over how their states have suffered under GOP leadership.
He started with a quick dismissal of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
“One of the worst crime and murder rates in America and one of the worst mental health records of any governor in America,” he told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki. “I’m not so convinced about the merits of his leadership.”
Newsom said the problem wasn’t limited to Texas.
“Eight of the top 10 murder states are Republican states,” he said. ”Seven of the top 10 dependent states ― God forbid, dependent states ― are red states.”
He was just getting warmed up:
The life expectancy in the South and they’re not expanding Medicaid and prenatal care and providing child care? It’s jaw-dropping. How they all continue to get reelected is beyond me. Infant mortality? You care about life, and you look at life expectancy? You care about life, and you have kids that are gunned down by weapons of war? Spare me. All in the name of freedom, as you’re banning books?
“With all due respect, we should not be on the defensive as the Democratic Party,” he concluded. “The Republican Party should be on their heels, not us.”
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:47:19 GMT -8
A Scientist Tells Us that 62,000 is a Very Big Number
Nearly 62,000 people died heat-related deaths last year during Europe’s hottest summer on record, a new study has found — more heartbreaking evidence that heat is a silent killer, and its victims are vastly under-counted.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, found that 61,672 died in Europe from heat-related illness between May 30 and September 4 last year. Italy was the hardest-hit country, with around 18,000 deaths, followed by Spain with just over 11,000 and Germany with around 8,000.
Researchers also found the extreme heat disproportionately harmed the elderly and women. Of the nearly 62,000 deaths analyzed, heat-related mortality rate was 63% higher in women than in men. Age was also an important factor, with the death toll increasing significantly for people aged 65 and over.
“It’s a very big number,” Joan Ballester, an epidemiologist at ISGlobal and the lead author of the study, told CNN.
It's Bigger Than 50,000, the Number of Dead Russians
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:49:54 GMT -8
He Must Have Learned From Previous Guy. When PG Raised Money for a Cause, He Kept At Leat 90%.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced a new initiative Monday that will give his followers a cut of the action if they prod their friends, family, and social media followers to help fill his fledgling campaign’s coffers.
His most ardent supporters will now be able to join a program called "Vivek’s Kitchen Cabinet" and share a personalized donation link as widely as they wish. If their entreaties are successful, they will get a commission equal to 10%.
It remains to be seen if donors will be eager to openly split their donations between their friends and the candidate, but it is being billed by the campaign as a way to revolutionize grassroots political fundraising. Ben Yoho, Ramaswamy’s campaign head, told Yahoo Finance in an interview much of the inspiration came from the candidate's own time in the business world.
"Like anything in business and in campaigns, you see what works and what doesn't," Yoho said of the new effort. He said the program is an attempt to further engage supporters on a variety of fronts — from donations to campaign fieldwork to turning out on election day.
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Post by mhbruin on Jul 10, 2023 8:55:51 GMT -8
Is There a Special Place in Hell Rhesus Macaques?
Male monkeys frequently engage in same-sex mounting, and in some cases, more frequently than they have sex with females.
Same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) in rhesus macaques appears to be extremely common, and even improves the reproductive output of the population. This is according to a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on July 10.
The authors found that, of a group of 236 rhesus macaques, 72 percent of the males engaged in same-sex mounting with other males, compared to 46 percent that attempted to mount females.
"We looked at around 250 males, and 72 percent of those engaged in same-sex mounting. Most of them were bisexual," Vincent Savolainen told Newsweek. He is co-author of the paper and director of the Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet at Imperial College London.
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