Notices by Lauren Weinstein (lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org)

Sen. Cory Booker's passionate speech is about 10 minutes away from breaking Strom Thurmond's record for the longest Senate floor speech, 24 hours, 18 minutes, set in 1957.

LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej6locU6sPk

Frankly, I would not buy a Pixel phone, because I no longer have faith that #Google will not abandon the hardware at some point in the not too distant future.

Musk plans to convert the Social Security codebase from COBOL to a modern language -- over just a few months! -- an insane plan that risks total collapse of the system

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/

Trump's auto tariffs obviously designed to enrich Tesla and Musk

One of the first things the Nazis did was purge museums -- JUST LIKE FASCIST TRUMP IS DOING NOW.

Calif. Attorney General urgently suggests customers of 23andMe delete their genetic data in case firm files for bankruptcy

I had all my DNA replaced with a sterile saline solution years ago. -L

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-urgently-issues-consumer-alert-23andme-customers

Supposedly will be in the low 90s F in my corner of L.A. Monday. It begins. Intermittently at first, but inevitably.

[Police state tactics] Trump signs horrendous executive order destroying personal privacy in federal and state data

The implications of this are vast. It would permit federal officials without "need to know" to spy on individual personal data of any sort in any nonclassified federal or even state databases. In the name of eliminating "fraud, waste, and abuse" it would actually eliminate virtually all privacy protections and create the foundation for a police state targeting firms, other organizations, and private citizens, on the whim of federal officials. -L

https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/03/trump-pens-executive-order-pushing-agencies-share-data/403962/

Pentagon says no expense will be spared to make Trump's "Golden Dome" ludicrous wet dream a reality -- while Social Security recipients are missing checks

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/22/politics/pentagon-golden-dome-scramble/index.html

Howard Lutnick channels Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette: "Let them eat cake!"

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: "Seniors won't mind a missing Social Security Check!"

[Amazon -- screw consumers!] Bezos wants Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed unconstitutional

@steter @jwildeboer There are no pipelines I know of in the vicinity other than water and natural gas, and like I said I tested for gas (and the odor doesn't smell like gas to me). I'm wondering if a dead something buried in the stuff in there could actually create this intense an odor and these day/night effects, even though the day/night temperature changes aren't extreme right now.

The mystery of the vanishing (and returning) odor!

OK gang, this one has me stumped. For the past several days I've been fighting a rather nasty garage odor that started suddenly and has me puzzled. It's very strong, smells like acetone, turpentine, or some other chemical, and is quite nasty.

First step was to remove anything obvious like cans of paint and the like, or anything else obviously chemical. No change. Tested for gas with a little meter (nifty gadget) of course (though it doesn't smell like gas, but never hurts to check) zero.

Now, here comes that really puzzling part. The odor lessons and seems to vanish entirely as the day progresses. By mid afternoon you really can't smell it at all. In evening it starts coming back, by morning it's back to nasty full strength.

I've see various discussions on this with research. Mold in walls (had rain, leaks, earthquakes lately)? Maybe, but the reduced odor during the day doesn't seem to fit. Sewage? It doesn't remind me of a classic sewage smell, and there is a washer hooked to a drain in the garage. But the odor doesn't seem more intense there, the drain is pretty well blocked by the washer outlet pipe, and whether or not the odor disappears during the day does not seem to relate to the washer being used or not. Still, seems like a possibility. I've had problems with drain clogging and sluggishness for years.

Other suggestions I've seen appear to be much lower probability.

Lots of clues -- especially the day/night variation -- but yeah, stumped right now.

Any ideas? Thanks very much! -L

@jwildeboer Concrete slab. Fair amount of (relatively minor) cracking from over the years. No obvious stains, but can't see the entire surface due to (as is typical) lots of stuff stored in there. I have a hydrometer in there but haven't noticed drastic changes at least in the air. This time of year the temperature changes day/night aren't anywhere near dramatic as they will be soon when spring/summer hits my corner of L.A.

***** Warning regarding AI contamination of #Google #Gmail search function *****

Google is changing the way message search works in Gmail, to use their defective AI systems to show you results in a way the AI thinks is best for you, meaning you could easily miss important messages when searching in Gmail when the AI screws up, which it will frequently do because it doesn't understand what your messages actually mean.

There will apparently be a way to switch to "Most recent" instead of "Most Relevant", but it will probably be on you to change this setting and I don't know at this time if this change will stick between sessions.

Google continues to ram their defective AI down people's throats.

Tesla halts Cybertruck deliveries as owners complain of sides falling off

Judge rules DOGE's USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution

Meta is doing everything possible to prevent people from reading the Facebook expose "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Even got a ruling to block her from promoting it -- she used to be their global public policy director.

If Meta is terrified of it, it's probably a great read!

Nazi Trump administration orders suppression of mRNA vaccine research, potentially costing many lives

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/nih-grants-mrna-vaccines-trump-administration-hhs-rfk/

Rober shows how Telsa's defective design happily runs through a wall that human drivers or lidar-based systems would recognize and stop before hitting.

"Beep Beep!"

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U1MigIJXJx8