Notices by Hippy Steve (exador23@m.ai6yr.org)

@squinky @evan same.

It feels weird for a straight person to answer the question as to whether it’s ok for a straight person to do anything regarding non-straight activities

Really happy for Paul Thomas Anderson. He should have won that Best Picture and Best Director Oscar many times over before finally getting it tonight.

Full disclosure: I worked on the Punch Drunk Love soundtrack, and while we were recording Fiona Apple's 2nd record, he was filming Magnolia and dating Fiona. He's a good guy.

@evan what part? lol.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bought data from the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples’ precise movements over time, in a process that often involves siphoning data from ordinary apps like video games, dating services, and fitness trackers, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by 404 Media.

The document shows in stark terms the power, and potential risk, of online advertising data and how it can be leveraged by government agencies for surveillance purposes. https://www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-into-the-online-advertising-ecosystem-to-track-peoples-movements/

Parks officials in California have cancelled popular guided elephant seal tours for the remainder of the season and temporarily closed public viewing areas following a recent outbreak of bird flu at a state park. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5756505-avian-flu-detected-elephant-seals/

The outbreak marks the first cases of avian flu found in marine mammals in California and the first detection in northern elephant seals, researchers noted.

Año Nuevo State Park, located just north of Santa Cruz, is home to one of the largest elephant seal colonies in North America, with roughly 5,000 seals making their way there during the winter breeding season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Researchers have been closely monitoring the colony for decades, surveillance that has increased since a 2023 outbreak in Argentina decimated the population, killing more than 17,000 elephant seals, including nearly all pups.

#BirdFlu #H5N1

Of FFS...

Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headsets used by employees. The voice-enabled chatbot, called "Patty," is part of an overarching BK Assistant platform that will not only assist employees with meal preparation but also evaluate their interactions with customers for "friendliness."

Thibault Roux, Burger King's chief digital officer, tells The Verge that the company compiled information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, resulting in the fast food chain training its AI system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as "welcome to Burger King," "please," and "thank you." Managers can then ask the AI assistant how their location is performing on friendliness. "This is all meant to be a coaching tool," Roux says, adding that the company is "iterating" on capturing the tone of conversations as well.

Yikes. A country of 1.5 Billion people running out of water.

Ancient stepwells brought back to life as India begins to run out of water as parts of the country head towards “day zero” when no water will be available https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/26/ancient-stepwells-brought-back-india-run-out-water-day-zero

“It was such a joyous moment to see water collecting into the stepwell after clearing 40 years of garbage,” says Hajira Adeeb, a 45-year-old resident of Bansilalpet, who grew up seeing the well become transformed from the community’s water source to a dumping ground. “I visit almost every day. The area is clean and lit up in the evenings. I enjoy sitting there.”

India is famed for its stepwells – multi-storey structures built to provide access to groundwater, with steps and platforms descending to the water level. Thousands were built across the country near natural aquifers – underground porous rock saturated with water – mostly between the 11th and 18th centuries.

#ClimateEmergency

The DOW dropped below 50,000. Does that mean Epstein prosecutions are back on the table?

Today in #LeopardsAteMyFace

REDFORD, Texas—Plans for a border wall through the Big Bend region of West Texas are raising alarms among residents and elected officials. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17022026/big-bend-texas-border-wall/

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to build border barriers throughout this remote region of Texas that encompasses ranchland, small towns and a cherished state and national park.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) waived 28 laws for environmental protection and historical and archeological preservation to expedite construction in a more than 150-mile stretch from Fort Quitman in Hudspeth County to Colorado Canyon in Big Bend Ranch State Park. An online map posted by CBP indicates that “smart wall” construction is planned both within the state park and in neighboring Big Bend National Park.

The highest elected official for Brewster County, Judge Greg Henington, spoke against the wall during a public appearance in the county seat of Alpine on Feb. 12. Big Bend National Park is in Brewster County. “This county judge sees no reason to go with a border wall in Brewster County,” Henington, a Republican, said. “I get border security, but there are other ways to do it.”

David Keller, a noted archaeologist of the region, characterized the plans for border barriers in the Big Bend as “the military industrialization of one of the last, great, unspoiled places remaining in the United States of America. One of our most beloved national parks and our state’s largest park will be scarred beyond repair,” he said.

@jeridansky and it doesn't fit with the decor. a surfer pad would be more comfy chill than that somewhat sterile vibe.

@jeridansky @sindarina @cafechatnoir

Never seen a surfboard as a staging prop before. Must be something ugly in that corner that can't be easily fixed.

I'm somewhat jaded when it comes to Mr Brainworm and the anti-vax stance of the new Centers for Disease Continuation. Because for the most part it's just been changes to recommendations for vaccinations - so it's the naive, right wingers that are bearing the brunt of the foolishness.

But now, refusing to consider approval of an mRNA flu vaccine denies those of us who are intelligent and well-read on scientific issues the opportunity to protect ourselves in the way we see fit.

It's sad all around, but it's even sadder now.

huh. go figure...

Hitler’s Greenland Obsession
After creating an economic mess with ill-advised tariffs, Hitler looked north in pursuit of resources and national security. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/hitler-greenland/685984/?gift=j9r7avb6p-KY8zdjhsiSZ-pFa1dTAfU6uUAba0g3kVE

^gift link

Looks like #California may be next. Are you ready? have you been studying the good people of Minnesota? Got your whistles and what not ready. Got signal?

https://patch.com/california/orange-county/ice-secretly-leases-space-advance-minneapolis-style-ca-surge-report

The federal government is quietly purchasing warehouses for a massive expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, according to documents posted online Friday by a Republican congressman. Additionally, a federal official said that California and New York are among the "next" for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge similar to the campaign in Minneapolis, with plans to embed hundreds of new ICE offices in Sacramento, Irvine, Santa Ana and Van Nuys, according to an explosive report by WIRED.

According to the WIRED report, ICE is leasing space in two Orange County cities — at an office park in Irvine and at the federal building in Santa Ana.

"This is news to me," Irvine Mayor Larry Agran told The Orange County Register. "We try to maintain some channels of communication with Border Patrol, with ICE, with Homeland Security... it's not easy to do. They're not very cooperative at all, and [not] letting us know what they're planning, what their activities consist of."

City officials are frequently unable to get details from ICE until a property sale is finalized.

The Irvine building, located at 2020 Main St., is situated near John Wayne Airport and several fast-casual restaurants. The Santa Ana Federal Building is located within blocks of a church and the OC Civic Center.

In Van Nuys — a neighborhood in Los Angeles — ICE is expanding offices at the James C. Corman federal building, that also houses offices for the IRS and Health and Human Services, the report said.

In San Diego, federal agents are allegedly leasing offices at the Edward J. Schwartz Courthouse and federal building, WIRED reported.

In Sacramento, ICE has installed security features at the John E. Moss building ahead of further expansion, according to WIRED.

criminy.

From Government Executive magazine: The Social Security Administration has instructed employees newly assigned to answering phones to tell callers expressing suicidal thoughts that suicide is “one option,” raising concerns from employees and experts in the field who called the approach unorthodox.

SSA recently began shifting new swaths of its workforce to phone answering duty, including those who normally receive and process retirement and disability claims, manage the agency’s technology and work in the agency's finances unit. Those employees received brief, three-hour training before they began answering calls.

As part of that training, they were warned some callers may express suicidal ideation and presented with examples using a theoretical employee named Fiona.

“It's important for Fiona to keep the caller engaged and to remind her that suicide is only one option,” the animated trainer told employees in the video, a copy of which was obtained by Government Executive, “and that there is no urgency to make any decisions.”

Remember when MAGA and QAnon were freaked out about rumors of FEMA buying warehouses? An organization that is supposed to stockpile goods for an emergency.

ICE only stockpiles people.

10 years ago today the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge armed occupation finally came to a close. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_National_Wildlife_Refuge

Now the same mindset that led to that incident has occupied the entire US Government.

Oh FFS. The regime is appealing the order to release 5-yr old Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy). They're monsters.

@the

As a teen, one of my first jobs was "Order of the Arrow" coordinator at a Boy Scout Camp. This involved making the ceremonial fires, giant coffee can 'candles' made of strips of cardboard and wax in a coffee can, and torches.

The torches were made of maxi-pads dipped in wax then wired to long sticks. then wax dipped strips of canvas wrapped around to hide all that.

A teen boy rolling up to checkout with a cart full of the largest size maxi-pads they had surely raised some eyebrows. lol.

The judge's order to release bunny hat boy and his father is 🔥FIRE🔥

It's a mic drop smack down history lesson.

The judge pulls no punches when referring to this regime and ICE: "Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency."

Never seen this signature line before:
"With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, it is so ORDERED."

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172886492/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172886492.9.0.pdf