A Boring Dystopia

Despite a few short-lived news articles on the lawsuit back in January, the case against Sam Altman is still heating up. The case filed by his own biological sister, alleges that he started molesting her when she was only 3 years old & it continued throughout her childhood. Although he argues counterclaims in this case like defamation, the defense of Sam Altman thus far appears to be primarily based around his sister being mentally unfit and that she is only making claims of him molesting her because "their family stopped giving her money."

Based on her YouTube videos though she appears lucid, compassionate & intelligent. Sam's main argument for dismissal appears to be that she wants financial support, while Ann claims to be a beneficiary to her late father's trust where she already receives money. Proving someone is lying about a trust requires minimal effort, but so far Sam's motion to dismiss appears to indicate that his prestige alone should be all that is needed to support his motion.

Other executives claimed to have shown the board screenshots of Sam's manipulation & lying when he was briefly fired as CEO. We all saw firsthand Sam cozy up to one of biggest liars & manipulators of all time, which Sam is now defending. Given Trump's own accusations of sexual abuse and his department backtracking their alleged Epstein files release, it begs to question whether Sam & Trump both share something much more sinister in common.

Rivka Lafair is a "facilitator of workshops, meet-ups and group sessions on yoga themes, teacher of feminine yoga and personal development." She lives in the settlement of Shiloh in the southern West Bank and terms herself a "proud Jew" who "thinks outside the box." Lovely. Also, she also wants to annihilate and expel two million human beings in the Gaza Strip.

Lafair belongs to a stream within Israeli Judaism that can be described as "YogiNazis": people whose spiritualism underpins their Nazism. They are a relatively new sub-stratum – albeit with deep roots in the local culture – that has gained popularity since October 7, largely because of its ability to weld together concepts that, on the surface, seem like polar opposites: spirituality and annihilation, empowerment and expulsion, yoga and starvation, retreats and carpet bombing.

And to make it clear that by "enemy" she doesn't mean only Hamas terrorists, she clarifies: "We are committed to take revenge and destroy Gaza. From infant to old woman." She tops it off with an appropriate Bible verse: "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget."

Paywalled; archive link here.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4958707

I find this bleak in ways it’s hard to even convey

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/20042987

How much more dystopian can it get? Hang onto your hat!

The US Department of Homeland Security is reportedly considering an “out-of-the-box” pitch to participate in a television gameshow that would have immigrants compete to obtain US citizenship.

Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described the pitch to the New York Times as a “celebration of being an American” and said the show would include challenges based on American traditions.

In a statement, McLaughlin said: “We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches. This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff.”

It seems I shouldn't have posted this without context

TL;DW

• yes the video is (at least partially) about Teflon, hence the cynical title

• no, Teflon (or generally big Fluoropolymers) are not the problem. Ingesting them does nothing to you, because as long, chemically inert polymers they just pass through you from one end to the other

• The problem are perfluoroalkyl acids: C8 (PFOA) and later substitutes such as C6/GenX, PFOS, PFHA, PFHxS which are chemicals used to start the Teflon polymerization. They are short-chained carbon-fluorine molecules that coincidentally mimic the structure of fatty acids, thus can accumulate in our bodies without a way for our bodies to break them down.

• These chemicals leach into the environment from factories and accumulate in everything, to the point that the whole water cycle has been contaminated (yes that shit comes down everywhere with the rain)

• There is conclusive proof that PFOA exposure is linked to a number of organ damage and cancers, particularly testicular cancer and kidney cancer, with likely links to lung and pancreatic cancer not reflected in the study due to survivor bias (they died before the study was concluded)

Unrelated picture

“Since the public can’t see or hear what’s happening in federal court firsthand, we’re using cutting-edge AI tools to bring these important proceedings to life, based entirely on official transcripts,” said Law&Crime President Rachel Stockman. “This is a pivotal moment in both popular culture and justice, and our goal is to provide accurate, transparent access to what’s actually being said in that courtroom.”