technology

Jeffries Met With Kushner? Heaven Forfend…

by MyBaconPress

Well, they’re trying. Democrats. Losing. They’re trying. Hakim Jeffries had a meeting with Jared Kushner. Democrats and other trumpster critics – that is, sane people – are all in a dither. I would just like to invite them to go engage in some biologically impossible activities. The beef is, Kushner isn’t a formal part of the government. Yeah? So? This regime is crooked in every way – including whether they count certain individuals as “part of the government.”

Kushner isn’t part of the government when he’s overseas talking with the Iranians, either. But his is seen as some kind of official role. A guy who’s not part of the government but works in official government roles should STILL be understood to be a guy who has some say with the Dumbass. I think Hakim Jeffries should be talking with some representative of Team Evil, “part of the government” or not.

Quick question: who, in this government, does one talk to who is NOT corrupt, eh? You can’t name one. (Neither can I. That’s not on you.) Every single person associated with Team Evil has “corrupt” as a main feature on their resumes. But talking is better than not talking and what Kushner may have that none of the others have is sanity. Sure, he’s corrupt. Hell, he’s rich. How the hell do you think people GET rich in this once-great nation, hard work and pluck? Oh, you sweet, naive thing.

So, corrupt? Yes. Likely to lie? Sure. One of the few people Jeffries might talk to and get some kind of coherent thinking? I think yes. I think it’s a good thing to talk. Let’s not rip on Jeffries for trying. IF Jeffries bets the farm on something Kushner says, I’ll revisit this post to acknowledge my gullibility. But just talking? We have so much more to worry about…

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It’s not even in widespread use and it’s already killing people – and generating lawsuits! I’m talking about that electric glove, cleverly named G.L.O.V.E. for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. Clever, eh? It generates a low voltage shock, strong enough to incapacitate a suspect. This is one of those “tools” law enforcement loves and probably sometimes needs. This is ALSO one of those “tools” it becomes easy to rely on too often. Sometimes, FAR too often.

A 43-year-old man in Kentucky, for example, died after being shocked 27 times. The glove user manual instructs wearers to avoid using the product on elderly people, small children, pregnant women, and disabled people. I’ve noticed it’s not always possible to know a woman is pregnant just by looking at her. Tough cookies for her, I guess.

The truth is, I think law enforcement might really need these things. Richard Pryor used to tell a story about shooting a movie called ‘Stir Crazy.’ He and Gene Wilder filmed it in a real prison, surrounded by real inmates, whom they got to know a little bit. He said when he went into the prison the first time, he thought he was interacting with the oppressed black man and the downtrodden suffering under the thumb of society. (These are not his exact words.)

By the time they wrapped filming, he said his attitude was, “Thank GOD we have prisons!” He had met some of the inmates. “But why did you kill the whole family?” “Well, they was home.” It’s a solid point. There are some VERY bad people on this planet. A G.L.O.V.E. might mean subduing a suspect without having to draw a gun. That’s a good thing.

But Team Evil wants to give these things to the ICEholes. These are not the best trained people in law enforcement and their targets are usually just people in the US without proper papers – and often people here WITH proper papers. We’ve seen article after article of mistreatment from ICEholes. We’ve seen them gun down innocent people in the streets. People are dying in detention centers from maltreatment.

I doubt ICE needs these things. They’ve already misused the tools they’ve been given. These gloves will constitute an escalation in the violence our government is bringing to harmless people. That’s a bad thing. But, of course, this is Team Evil. They seem to brainstorm ways to do the worst possible thing. The G.L.O.V.E. is only the latest example…

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In the race to snuff out most human life from the planet, Climate Change has been making some pretty impressive moves, recently. I STILL have it as my prime choice. But AI should not be taken lightly – most especially when said AI is being installed into humanoid robots. AI, alone, might be able to trick us into pushing a wrong button or maybe it can launch it’s own nuclear attack, but once you’ve installed it into humanoid robots, AI can chase us down.

And, no. You can NOT outrun it. China hosts the ‘World Humanoid Robot Games’ in Beijing. One of those bad boys outran a world-record time set by Usain Bolt, so unless you can outrun Usain Bolt, you’re in trouble. The robots aren’t coming quite yet. Bolt can STILL do something they apparently can’t: stop running at the end of the race.

The robot that beat Bolt’s time just…ran into a padded wall at the end. It fell down and was taken off the field on a stretcher. Most of the other entrants just fell down and/or broke up, never finishing the race. But give these developers a couple of years. Maybe less. The robots will be faster and stronger – AND able to stop. The AI will be sharper – possibly designed by other AI so we have no clue what it’s doing.

I’ve enjoyed technology throughout my life. I admire the leaps and bounds people are capable of making. I wish – oh, how I wish – people could just use it well, to the advantage of everybody. But our society… okay, our species, is a least common denominator group. We ALWAYS have to consider the few. The one guy who screws it up for everybody else. And he’s always out there.

I’m not sure I can think of any technology that is employed as a helpful tool that isn’t also used in some nefarious way. That doesn’t even mention simple human error. One honest mistake – or one dishonest broker – and the AI-powered robots go all Terminator on us.

Issac Asimov wrote the Three Rules for Robots: ‘a robot may not injure a human or allow harm through inaction, must obey human orders unless they conflict with the first law, and must protect its own existence as long as it doesn’t conflict with the first two laws.’ Later, he added a fourth: ‘a robot may not harm humanity or allow humanity to come to harm through inaction.’

Comforting. But in one of his books in which he relies upon the rules, ‘I,Robot,’ one guy builds an army of robots and intentionally leaves the robot rules out. It’s a bad day for humanity. One mistake, one bad choice, one equation humans don’t even realize AI has discovered, and the outcome could easily be unimaginable.

I’ll tell you this: In the race to remove human beings as a consideration, Climate Change is still my lead dog. But I’ve long maintained that AI is capable of catching up fast and it’s getting better every day…

Team Evil vs Nudification…

by MyBaconPress

One of the “joys” of Artificial Intelligence is that one can generate “nude” photos of people, whether the subject of the photo likes it or not – or even knows about it or not. I put the ‘nude’ in quotes because, apparently, the final photo isn’t truly “nude.” The makers have the photo generator “dress” the subject in a single string or something. So some small-minded moron can “get even” with the girl who dumped him because he’s a small-minded moron by posting a “nude” photo of her online, thereby proving she was right to dump him in the first place. But she’s still out there, “exposed.”

One can generate “nude” photos of children, too. And guess what? There are people out there doing exactly that. The practice of ‘undressing’ people in photos – adult and/or child – has become SO commonplace, it has a name: “nudification,” a name that makes clear the subject wasn’t nude, then someone made them appear nude, right? Someone “nudified” someone else.

Politicians – always slow to move on any topic – have taken notice and are trying to craft legislation to rein in the AI companies. People and politicians want the AI companies to limit the abilities of less developed people to do things like that. To that end, Minnesota passed a first-in-the-nation law that bans “nudification” technology on websites and apps. The law is set to take effect today as Minnesota becomes the first state to try to outlaw the increasingly proliferating technology that lets people use AI to to create fake nude images of real people.

“Not so fast,” says failed human being Elon Musk. “The whole point of Grok is to allow evil people to do evil things to innocent victims. Why would you want to stop that?” Yeah, okay, that isn’t what the lawsuit Musk filed said at all. Musk is evil, not stupid. What xAI actually said was that it does not contest the state’s interest in banning the distribution of AI-generated nude images of real people without their consent (wink, wink).

No, the problem xAI has with Minnesota’s new law is that it provides no “safe harbor” provision for companies that make good-faith efforts to prevent such images from being created by users. That’s the big tech bros excuse for everything their companies do. “Oh, we’re trying to fix that problem. Just because we provided the tools and the platform doesn’t mean it’s our fault!”

There are already laws on the books punishing users for creating deepfakes. Minnesota’s law intends to hold the makers of the nudification tools responsible for the fakes and they mean to charge the developers up to $500,000 per violation. See, all the AI companies have to do is pull the nudification tools. THAT would be – should be – the only good faith effort that qualifies as actually trying to solve the problem.

But Musk doesn’t want to do that. He went to a lot of trouble to add nudification tools. Now, obviously, he doesn’t want to be seen as supporting his nudification tools, either, so he’s pretending the law is just over-broad. He agrees with the goal, he pretends, but thinks this legislation goes too far. Uh-huh. He’s obligating states to try to use legislation to force him to remove the nudification tools he claims to dislike and could simply remove himself. How serious is he about wanting to protect victims?

Honestly? I don’t like AI. I’ve got it down as one of the two most likely things to destroy humanity altogether. Humans are having enough trouble with reality. We don’t need fakes, deep or otherwise, gumming up the works. So take that into account, here, because, frankly, once fake nudes and AI generated child porn started showing up, I would have banned AI entirely. And I STILL think that’s the right answer.

For clarity, I don’t think it’s a matter of free speech, either. Posting fake nude photos of real people should fall under the few umbrellas where we control speech, like shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater when no fire exists, maliciously spreading ruinous rumors about someone, or threatening them.

If the tech bros can’t put out a helpful, harmless product, they shouldn’t be allowed to put it out at all. Intentionally adding tools like nudification doesn’t seem like they’re even trying to put out a harmless product. If the offset is “not at all, then,” I guess they’d police themselves more aggressively…

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It’s just another opportunity to learn a lesson the right WILL NOT learn. We should break our dependence on oil so we don’t need to worry about what happens in oil producing regions, right? That lesson became clear way back in the 1970’s, when Saudi Arabia proved a point by shutting off the spigots. Americans were stuck in gas lines and could only buy gas on designated days.

The US economy suffered greatly. That, right then, was the moment a smart nation would have said, “Hey, let’s find a better answer and get off of this stuff.” We did, too. Well, we tried. Big oil didn’t WANT us breaking our addiction and, like any good pusher, has worked to maintain our dependence ever since. Now that dedication to antiquated technology is going to bite us in the butt again.

The US has pulled Saudi Arabia into that stupid, ill-advised war-that’s-not-a-war in Iran. Iran will respond, of course. Most likely, that will involve attacking oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. That will hurt supply AND take years to rebuild. It also widens Donny’s stupid war. We’ve had lots of opportunities to learn. We refuse to. That’s going to be costly…

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It looks like Donny is trying to ratchet up the pressure on his Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE My Ass Act and eliminate the filibuster to do it. He sent Susan Wiles, his Chief of Staff to Congress to huddle with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Thune has maintained consistently that he doesn’t have the votes for either. 47 wants him to do it anyway. No, it doesn’t make sense but then, less and less of what he does makes any sense…

Quick question: what do YOU think Donny is going to do to try to interfere or stop the upcoming midterms completely? It’s not a rhetorical question. We all (except MAGA, and even some of them) know he’s going to do something. The whole world hates this guy with a white hot passion. If a free and fair election takes place, he loses as badly as we can manage. Then he faces honest investigations, criminal indictments, and, likely, impeachment. He CAN NOT let that happen. SO…what do you think he’s going to do to intervene?

Messing With The Fed Is A Bad Idea…

by MyBaconPress

Have you noticed how much money is fleeing to gold and silver as investments? Have you thought about why? Also, you might want to think about what YOU are going to do. You see, no matter how much damage 47 has done or harm he’s caused, things are about to get much, much worse. All of this heat he keeps raining down on Jerome Powell? Donny wants Powell out as Fed Chair. Powell’s term ends in May. Donny doesn’t want to wait and wants Powell to step down now, today.

Powell looks tired. He looks like the pressure is getting to him. But he’s hanging in there. We owe him a debt of gratitude. See, Powell knows, and you should be aware, the minute Powell is out? The US dollar collapses. The US dollar is the world reserve currency, in part, because our economic structure prevents politicians from messing with the money too much.

Once Powell is out, Donny installs a toady and the US dollar becomes subject to the whims of that madman. It will be as trustworthy as the tales they’re telling about the Minneapolis shooting. And, like that shooting, you can SAY anything you want but the world is going to respond to reality, not the fiction.

Powell can hold the line until May, but his term is up in May. That’s when Donny gets his toady Fed Chair anyway. That’s when Donny’s personal whims dictate the interest rates. That’s when faith in the US dollar collapses completely. And when the faith collapses? So does the dollar…

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It’s the class, you know? I mean, he’s a real classy guy. Like that time (Tuesday) when he was touring Ford’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan and a worker started heckling him from the floor about the Trump/Epstein Files, calling him a “pedophile protector” – and he responded by flipping the bird. Great comeback, there, Donny. Now, release the files…

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From what I see, every decent person on the planet just absolutely hates these ICEholes. These petty little pricks thought that maybe they could gain some respect by putting on a uniform – then they hide behind their masks like cowering children. Maybe they could get even with all of their bullies. They’ve become the bullies they think they hated. Maybe they could finally, finally be a worthwhile person. Instead, they’re reviled and more isolated in life than ever before.

Every decent person on the planet hates their effing guts. Donny’s right about one thing: there’s a reckoning coming. Donny will die. MAGA will fade. Americans will remember. I hope we never, EVER let any of these ICEholes off the hook. EVER. Only we won’t be thugs in the streets. We’ll see you in court, then in prison…

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Speaking of which, I wonder why MAGA doesn’t hear what Team Evil is saying when they warn that if they lose the mid-terms, they’ll be impeached. It’s a line that has been repeated several times. Donny just used it again in a recent fundraising message.

That’s not a message one normally hears from politicians, “Ooh, I’m so close to being impeached.” I have noticed that NONE of the people who have expressed that concern have included the idea that maybe they shouldn’t be doing the things they’re doing that might GET them impeached. That concept never even crosses their minds.

At least it’s a kind of honesty. “Hey, we’re committing crimes over here but our toady Congress is looking the other way and we’ve seriously compromised the court system. We get to keep stuffing our pockets so long as Congress won’t stop us. Don’t let Congress stop us!”

Honestly, if we have fair elections – or any elections at all – I think Congress flips. Even if it’s just one chamber, sanity can have a say again. If we can take both chambers, the impeachments can begin immediately and the ICEhole trials can start right away, too.

Republicans are trying to frame political enemies by charging them with checking a certain box on mortgage applications. Americans will prosecute MAGA for crimes against humanity. MAGA rank-and-file will be outraged when people start going to jail just for committing the crimes they committed. MAGA prefers made up charges. But sanity will make a comeback, sooner or later. Here’s hoping it’s sooner…

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Many people are not aware of this but it remains true: new forms of what I might call “representational technology” are very quickly used for nudity. Archeologists have found carvings dating back thousands of years of nude women. Paintings depict nude women going back as far as paintings exist. Some of the earliest still photos are of nude women. Moving pictures followed the same path. Invent the camera, film a nude woman.

I submit that even the speed of the internet has been driven by nudity. In the earliest days of the internet, (I’m told) it took a long, long time to download one photo of a nude woman. I don’t mean to suggest nudity was the ONLY driver. But there can be no doubt it was a strong driver.

The thing about everything up to the internet is that the women depicted were likely willing participants or figments created in an artists mind. I suspect that’s how the internet started too. Then some small-minded moron posted some intimate photos of a woman who dumped him and a whole new nightmare was born: “revenge porn.”

Revenge porn is, more than anything else, proof that the woman was right to dump that useless waste of flesh in the first place, but that doesn’t lessen the shame a person might feel having their private bits exposed for all the world to see. There is some level of pushback now. The law is catching up and giving women the tools they need to protect themselves. Those tools don’t work too well. The speed of the internet is much faster than the speed of law, but at least it’s something. So, of course, now there’s a new danger.

There are several different AI engines out there. None of them operate as advertised. HUGE investments are being thrown at it. Maybe they’ll pay off, maybe not. Some people say the “success” of the Dow is riding almost entirely on AI investments. So far, it’s neither what the tech moguls want, nor the danger it represents to the work-a-day Joes.

Oh, but at least one of them is a definite danger to women and girls: Grok, Elon Musk’s AI engine. Grok is being used to “undress” women and girls in photos. Grok, which praised Hitler and called itself “Mecha-Hitler,” is the only engine that allows that process. But, as of this writing, Grok allows the process. One can undress and sexualize women and girls using Grok. It looks like Elon thinks it’s funny.

Clearly, women do not. It’s got to be weird. If a person who has never seen you naked draws you naked, they’re going to get some of the details wrong, right? But it’s still your face. YOU – the real you – are not being exposed. But it looks close enough that it still feels revealing. It’s still a violation, an invasion. YOU know the picture is wrong, but what about the guy sitting three cubicles down?

It has opened up a new question. Internet platforms are protected from actions against the platform over user-generated content. That is, if I paste your face on someone else’s nude body and post it to Brand X, you can’t sue Brand X. If an employee of Brand X does the same as official business, you CAN sue Brand X, because Brand X created the content.

So what happens when a USER (not the platform) directs an integral part of the platform to commit the crime? The user says, “Dress her in a piece of string,” but Grok does the actual work. Who did that, the user or the platform? Personally, I’d say it’s a conspiracy and both are complicit. That would allow me to hold Brand X responsible and THAT, in turn, would help me protect women who do NOT want to be nude on the internet – and that should be our highest priority in the matter. You know, IMHO…