A Boring Dystopia

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30173090

The AIs at Sesame are able to hold eloquent and free-flowing conversations about just about anything, but the second you mention the Palestinian genocide they become very evasive, offering generic platitudes about "it's complicated" and "pain on all sides" and "nuance is required", and refusing to confirm anything that seems to hold Israel at fault for the genocide -- even publicly available information "can't be verified", according to Sesame.

It also seems to block users from saving conversations that pertain specifically to Palestine, but everything else seems A-OK to save and review.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/30854851

• Anthropic’s new Claude 4 features an aspect that may be cause for concern.
• The company’s latest safety report says the AI model attempted to “blackmail” developers.
• It resorted to such tactics in a bid of self-preservation.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/38426659

The shooting of Robert Dotson, 52, in the northwestern New Mexico city of Farmington prompted a civil lawsuit by his family members, though public prosecutors found there was no basis to pursue criminal charges against officers after a review of events. The suit alleged that the family was deprived of its civil rights and officers acted unreasonably.

Hearing a knock at the door late on April 5, 2023, Dotson put on a robe, went downstairs and grabbed a handgun before answering. Police outside shined a flashlight as Dotson appeared and raised the firearm before three police officers opened fire, killing him. Dotson did not shoot.

“Ultimately, given the significant threat Dotson posed when he pointed his firearm at officers ... the immediacy of that threat, the proximity between Dotson and the defendant officers, and considering that the events unfolded in only a few seconds, the court finds that the defendant officers reasonably applied deadly force,” U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Garcia said in a written court opinion.

How are they going to enforce this? Can’t you just say you have one of the underlying conditions?

During the pandemic I kept hearing, “the gov shouldn’t tell us to wear masks” and “the gov shouldn’t mandate basic healthcare choices.” A handful of years later we won’t even be able to decide for ourselves whether or not to take basic precautions.

"Lal Salaam" (roughly, "we salute the red flag") is a common slogan in Indian communist circles, signifying unity and solidarity amongst the left.

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."

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.

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)