Notices by Jack William Bell (jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com)

[Reposting a screenshot with alt-text]

Given everything else going on [waves arms] the fact Mitch McConnell is now a zombie politician helping to maintain the Republican Senate power base by blocking a disgruntled ex-Republican from running for his seat is just 'chef's kiss'.

This simulation is too over-the-top to be a drama. I'm convinced we live in a dark comedy written by fans of Doctor Strangelove.

#uspol

@claudius @anildash

If I don't see it why in the hell should I care about what people say if I don't see it.

Sure, if you want to be a 'thought leader' and 'influencer' you might care. But I don't and, frankly, I have little time for people who do.

This is 'Social Media'. And, as such, it is a 'social space' not a broadcast medium. IMHO if you are doing it for the clicks you are doing it wrong.

And, if this seems like a critique of you to you? I submit you are doing it wrong.

@claudius @anildash

Sorry, I reread your post and realized I'd missed something: You were saying it's too hard to block all the assholes because there are so many of them. I didn't address that.

I'm not sure what the best answer to that is either. But I can suggest limiting your follows by making them invite-only.

I realize this goes against a major goal for 'influencers'. But, for that, see the above.

@anildash

That's what the block button is for. I mean, sure, they'll still bitch and kvetch. But you won't see it and it won't matter.

Block early and block often. That's my motto.

ETA: You can also remove them from your follows.

I'm a huge fan of the #Ghibli movie, although I never did read the novels. Still, this is really interesting news and I can't wait to see it when it comes out!

> Kiki's Delivery Service Novels Get Live-Action #TV Series from BBC Studios, Wheel in Motion, Kadokawa. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-06-16/kiki-delivery-service-novels-get-live-action-tv-series-from-bbc-studios-wheel-in-motion-kadokawa/.238578

Maybe I should look for an English translation of the books?

#anime

A combination of the #AI #bubble and watching stock and oil prices see-saw wildly with every lie, takeback, and failure to follow-through from the Whitehouse has entirely disabused me of any belief in the 'Wisdom of the Market'.

There's no wisdom there. They can't even remember what happened the day before and the day before that. They can't even do the simple math required to understand how LLM vendors will never be profitable.

It's all just vibes…

#money #economy #WTF

@blogdiva

This is indeed required reading. Not just because Epstein, but rather because this is how the 1% get their way about *everything*.

If you have a billion dollars, spending one-thousandth of that (a million dollars) on bribes, lawyers, private investigators, and goons to bend justice and harass those seeking it is like me buying a kid an ice cream to shut them up. Now, extend this to everything else they want and remember many people will go the extra mile for them *for nothing*.

I've always seen 'carbon capture' as like 'hydrogen fuel' – an expensive distraction from economically viable technologies with a rat's ass chance of actually getting the job done.

> Remember How Sucking Carbon Out of the Air Was Going to Save the Planet? We Have Terrible News. https://futurism.com/science-energy/carbon-capture-update

You want carbon capture that works and doesn't require maintenance after the original (low) investment? Plant some fucking trees morons…

#science #ClimateChange

@davep

This reminds me of my rant about how 'English Muffins' are neither 'English' nor 'Muffins'. Whereas 'French Toast' is arguably 'French' (or at least there's an tenuous culinary connection) and arguably 'Toast'.

This quote by Henry A. Wallace, when he was Vice President of the USA in 1944 demonstrates how Populist Fascism hasn't changed one iota between it's first foray into USA politics more than eighty years ago and it's latest incarnation as Trumpism.

#uspol

I've been thinking about the many reports of people claiming LLM chatbots are actually self-aware. In some cases it makes the news because the person thinking this did something newsworthy (usually something terrible) and claimed their imaginary friend put them up to it. In other cases it was because some well-known person was making the claim; ranging from Social Media 'influencers' to scientists like Richard Dawkins.

[contd]

#AI #LLMs #HumanCondition

From this you might assume there is a chance chatbots are *actually becoming self aware*. This would be a mistake. In fact this is a delusion, one some who have studied it are calling 'AI Psychosis'. These people have convinced themselves the chatbots are 'real', not because the chatbots have shown clear signs of self-awareness but because the chatbots in question are turned interact sycophantically.

[contd]

A local guy asked me about the 'killed and missing scientists' thing, but mostly to opine about #UFO conspiracy theories. When I said, "Probably coincidence, but If something really is happening it's most likely related to the Russian or Israeli secret services, not UFOs," they were like, "Wha?"

> Missing scientists: A timeline of cases. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5847815-missing-scientists-a-timeline-of-cases/

After which the discussion centered around whether I believed in UFOs. They wouldn't engage with any other possibility.

#news

NOTE:

Why Russian or Israeli secret services?

Because we have hard evidence both have recently taken active measures around the world, including assassinations and abductions. Could it be the Chinese or even the USA CIA? Possibly, but we don't have a known recent track record for them. Same goes for accusing some Bond-Villain billionaire with an agenda.

When it comes to assassinations and abductions, the Russians and Israelis are what police call the, "Usual suspects."

@steter

The Fermi Paradox is easily resolved by assuming alien civilizations took one look at us and noped out on any contact.

@mastodonmigration @samiamsam

People never thank you for warning them and admit they made a mistake not listening to you in the first place. Instead they get incandescently angry at the slightest hint of, "I told you so," or – if you say nothing – either double down and refuse to acknowledge any error or start claiming they always knew, depending on how stubborn they are.

Everyone is focused on Pam Bondi and her role in keeping the worse parts of the Epstein Files from the public.

But I think we are learning the rot goes much deeper and further back in time.

> A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the fight to make the government's files public. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-timeline-of-the-jeffrey-epstein-investigation-and-the-fight-to-make-the-governments-files-public

2005:

- Investigation begins by Palm Beach police
- George Bush is president
- Alberto Gonzales is Attorney General

[contd]

@rayckeith

I heard this conspiracy theory in 2016, in relation to the infamous 'prostitutes in Moscow' claim. So it's not like people haven't been saying stuff like this for a while.

If this turns out to be true? I wonder if someone will re-assess that thing about the mail servers in New York talking directly to Moscow. I always felt like there was more there there than the people saying there wasn't said there was.

@rayckeith

Wow. So I did some really *minor* net spelunking and discovered journalists were writing about the New Mexico ranch back in 2019. Forex:

> https://sfreporter.com/archives/wretched-ranch/

I wonder if people are really ready for this, if *any of it* turns out to be true. I mean, the Q-balls heads are gonna explode.

@inthehands

> “It gives me pause that you had people like Stephen Miller calling the shots,” Tillis added. “It was Steven Miller who said it was the position of the United States that we should go after Greenland. And Stephen Miller, that’s been repeatedly responsible for embarrassments for the President of the United States by acting too quickly speaking, first, and thinking later.”

So, this is Tillis making the case for Miller as a Judas Goat. But infantilizing Trump does not absolve Trump.