These people are mentally ill

Yes and I don’t say this as a knock on mental illness. I say it because many conservatives are raised to believe that mental illness is either a supernatural force of the devil or a moral failing. I sincerely believe that if many conservatives would just give therapy a trial run, and try to unpack half the shit that they instead insist on holding on to then unleashing upon society, the world would be a much more pleasant and peaceful place.

However, most will never do that because not going to therapy A. proves they’re totally not crazy otherwise they’d be in therapy, right? and B. Trying to control everyone else, provides them with their own sense of control.

I wasn’t actually trying to use AI, but I guess the browser just defaults to that now. I don’t even like to use chrome at all anymore, but have yet to find an alternative way that (usually) works as well to search for more obscure information (I guess I should specify when it doesn’t default to AI).

Just found it kind of funny in a frustratingly dark kind of way, but had to laugh a little. Definitely wasn’t expecting Google to try and kick the can/shuffle me to yet another doctor. Also, the answer itself kind of gave unexpected Mulaney vibes

I am very small and have no money a large language model and do not “exist” in a physical sense. So you can imagine the kind of stress I’m under.

But if the broligarchs don’t actually expect to ever get any of this “AI” shit actually working, then what is the end game?

Obviously the majority of people are only in it to make quick money, but what about the psychos at the very top who are directing policy and building these giant nuclear powered “AI” data centers?

If Thiel/Musk/Zuckerberg don’t actually have the expectation that “AI” will eventually work itself out, then it won’t matter how money the rich (but not broligarch rich) Wall Street bros and bankers dumped into the “AI” boom.

It won’t be like the .com boom and the Internet, because it doesn’t actually exist. If the economy completely collapses, and dollar becomes worthless currency, the “money” the average rich asshole hoards away after investing in the 2025 “AI” boom, will have about as much value as monopoly money.

Meanwhile the fucking Bond villain billionaires like Thiel (who have been dreaming of this exact scenario for over 20 years) hold all resources (including a recently purchased uranium mine).

So, “hypothetically,” if that was Thiel’s endgame, and the “AI” jig is up, then they no longer have to pretend they’re trying to develop artificial intelligence or AGI. But they do already hold control of most resources, have mass surveillance capabilities, and each broligarch owns one or more of these giant supercomputers/data centers that have been built in cities all over the U.S. world and soon in outer space.

In this totally fictional scenario, once the dollar collapses (likely followed by all of society collapsing along with it), what do the broligarchs actually use their giant nuclear powered “AI” data centers for?

AI or no AI, they’re currently being built, so what is their actual purpose?

I mean, there is actual “AI” tech that exists, and isn’t just people working in sweatshops, like this: https://deeplabcut.github.io/DeepLabCut/README.html

It’s just kind of difficult to get consistency between trials, and reliability seems to boil down to completely eliminating variability. So kind of useless outside of a lab setting (as is).

I tend to feel like it’s more trouble than it’s worth and too unreliable (as is) to usually bother with it, but I know people who are just fellow lab rats (not broligarchs) and are super devoted to getting AI to work for their projects. Like most sectors in this country, even science is being forced to embrace AI. Regardless of if it actually makes sense for your line of work or not, the expectation is get it working or face the chopping block, and there are definitely people who are trying their hardest to really get this shit off the ground (because the alternative is be prepared to be out of a job for being obsolete).

This is also why it’s kind of surprising to learn that even “AI” that’s simply comparing license plates from one camera to the next, is actually just due to human slave labor.

So, do any of the broligarchs receiving these huge contracts actually believe that eventually they’ll get AI to work once enough data and money is dumped into it and the little people at the bottom figure out all the kinks for them?

Or is it just that everybody at the top acknowledges this is a dead end, but once you’re in the secret club at the top of the food chain, and you’re making ridiculous amounts of money, your incentive is just to keep your mouth shut, keep making money, and fuck the consequences because once society collapses you’ll get to be kings of your own little monarchs anyway?

If it is the second, and nobody at the top really believes AI is going anywhere, then what are all the giant, energy sucking data centers that are being built across the country actually for?

I mean there are legit companies doing good work that get passed over all the time.

How did these 3 guys get hundreds of millions in government contracts for a product that didn’t even exist.

And not only did it not exist, they were demanding everybody let them violate their privacy so that their non-existent product could “end crime.”

I’ll just come out and say it, the “scandal” imo isn’t the company was a fraud part. The scandal is that people within the government wanted so badly to amp up surveillance and the police state within the U.S. they just went ahead and dumped all this money into A.I. that didn’t actually exist because “A.I. is already here and it will fix everything, and even if you don’t want it, too fucking bad.”

Like it was never that the government thought A.I. tech was that important, or the future, or whatever bullshit. They’ve just realized the tech industry allows them the ability to spy on people, control information, and make a shit ton of money doing it.

The history of the organization seems very odd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flock_Safety

It began as a side project in which the three co-founders built their first video surveillance cameras by hand around Langley’s dining room table. When a DeKalb County detective told Langley that his camera product had helped with solving a home break-in, Langley called the two other co-founders and told them to quit their jobs.

What?? How did a detective use it to solve a crime? Who was he? And based off of this one dude you all 3 just quit your jobs??? What??

Then we just jump ahead to 2022 and these cameras that didn’t even work had raised over $380 million in venture funding?

Then by the next year they were being used to sub for actual police due to a shortage of police officers?

So they just go from the Hardy Boys help solve a mystery in Georgia in 2017 and then suddenly by 2023 Marc Andreesen (big surprise) is suddenly funnelling millions into their business.

Oh, good, this citation will probably help make clear what the fuck actually happened between 2017 and 2023: Flock Safety. “Media Kit: Our Founding Story”. Flock Safety. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

The main thing flock is really supposed to do is capture and match pictures of license plates at different locations. It’s not even complex.

So how tf did they get the green light for the first government contract if they never even had that capability?

Wait, what? I was just making a joke.

Unless you are the coked out billionaire? In that case I would like to know what you were thinking when you vouched for these people.

I was just pointing out it’s definitely going to contribute to the bubble popping, but it’s even worse than other AI companies bc it was mainly government contracts (which means they’ll probably still be getting funded for the foreseeable future even while other companies go under).

It’s insane they were ever allowed to receive a government contract for tech that didn’t even exist, so I would just really like to know how that happened? Like legally how could this have happened if not for somebody in some position of power helping these people get their foot in the door.

But it’s especially infuriating that this company has received so many government contracts from ICE and all over the U.S., and in some cases literally just gone into towns and put cameras up without permission. Then refused to get around to taking them down in some cases, so towns just started covering them up with trash bags.

Its like an entire business model where some creepers with a cardboard box pretend lemonade stand just decided one day to start selling pretend AI instead. And we just let them? Who fucking signed off on this?

Who is it that even helped them get their foot in the door in the first place? Who was the coked out billionaire who apparently just fucking picked their name from a list he glanced at for 5 minutes on his way to rehab? Somebody needs to find that person, and we all need to be allowed to give him a swift public kick in the ass.

I have to give the broligarchs credit for always somehow managing to leave me stunned. Every time I learn some unbelievable bullshit like this, it’s like falling in hate all over again.

As we leave the stagnation of society behind in the ruins of regulations and democracy that only held us back, and the technocratic elite steer us full speed ahead through this “Renaissance” we are truly blessed to be forced to live through, the line between technology and magic continues to blur…

Or maybe it’s just 700 sweatshop workers in a trenchcoat. Who’s to say?

You suck Motherfucker. I hate “White Power” I hate your band. Can’t you see This ain’t Nazi Germany

Yeah at this point, I am more than confident that it’s pretty safe to just lump every loyalist still following orders being given from the war criminals (who are the face of being) in charge of the government under the shared title of secret police.

If the CIA and plenty of other powerful conservatives didn’t want Trump to be doing the things he’s doing, he wouldn’t be sitting in the fucking white house right now taking a shit on the constitution.

Ok, thanks for the update! We will cancel the BNB reservation we had waiting for you.

To be clear, this doesn’t change how we feel about you, carol.

With the added bonus of keeping track of the public response to videos of children crying when being separated from their parents?

And using AI to build psychological profiles in order to continue to target them with a tailored algorithm?

Earlier this year, The Intercept wrote about surveillance contractors sought by ICE, who would be expected to perform algorithm- and AI-aided deep dives into social media users’ post histories, searching for, among other things, “proclivity for violence,” which could include “empathy with a group which has violent tendencies,” among other things. Hope you haven’t expressed “empathy” at any point for any group with “violent tendencies,” right? How does it feel to know that you’d be at the mercy of a freelance surveillance contractor’s mastery of “social and behavioral sciences” and “psychological profiles,” according to ICE’s statement of objectives?

How fucking creepy is it to think about this psychological manipulation pre-crime bullshit and take into account that one of the briefings released yesterday took note of people in New Orleans seeming especially disturbed by videos with the sound of crying children.

Officials track public sentiment, noting negative impact of ‘videos with sounds of children crying’ as parents arrested

It seems very unlikely this is being noted in order to answer questions like “How do we tone it down a bit and keep things from boiling over?”

Imo (and obviously feel free to take that with a grain of salt since I’m totally “overly-paranoid” about how evil these people are and the levels they would stoop to) it seems more likely this is to answer a question of “How do we use psychological warfare against the American people and send them closer to their breaking point?”

Well tbf, I did read the tweet and immediately upvote in solidarity with her

It’s really sad but also kinda fascinating that there are definitely people who could read this and believe it’s evidence of the downfall of modern society caused by equal rights, instead of realizing that this bitch was just understandably tired and making a humor joke in an attempt to lighten the burden of having to face another day trying to roll the boulder back up the bullshit mountain created by the people who want to take away her (and everyone else’s) rights, dismantle society, and cause it to collapse.

A long, long, looooonnng, time ago, I went on a date to see a movie. This was before smart phones were super common and neither of us really bothered to look into what the movie was about before we went. It was an Adam Sandler movie that came out after Punch Drunk Love (but way before he did anything like Uncut Gems), so we both went in with the expectation it would probably just be a light hearted comedy with maybe a few more serious moments sprinkled in.

We were already in a long term relationship and knew each other pretty well, so it wasn’t supposed to be a super romantic date or anything. It was more just lets hang out and spend a fun day together, so I made us some weed brownies and snuck them in to share so we could giggle and watch this funny movie together.

Here is the description of the movie we saw that day:

When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship causes him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.

We’d already settled in and eaten the brownies, and they were just starting to kick in when we realized this wasn’t going to be as light hearted as we thought.

If you’ve ever ingested THC you might already know that some people can have a much more intense experience compared to what they’re used to having from just inhaling it. The person I was dating was one of those people, and eventually he realized he just couldn’t handle eating THC, but this date occured several years before he finally accepted that truth.

So, we sit through this movie, and I can’t really remember much of what happened other than the general theme of coming to terms with your own mortality. I don’t remember it being funny at all. I think there were jokes, but I don’t think we actually laughed the entire time except for the opening scene.

The movie finally ends and the credits start to roll. Everyone gets up around us and starts walking out, but when I stood up to leave he stopped me and asked if we could just wait until people cleared out a little more.

I said ok and we just sat there a while longer. The credits were still rolling, but we were the only people left in the theater and the ushers were standing at the back clearly waiting for us to hurry up and get out so they could sweep before the next movie.

He said something about not being able to go back through the lobby, and said he wanted to go out the door near the screen instead because it led directly outside to the parking lot.

We open the door, step out, and I guess it was kind of jarring for him to go from the dark theater directly into the extremely bright sunshine because he started having a panic attack before we could even reach the car.

I tried to calm him down, but he didn’t want to talk. We hadn’t eaten all day other than the weed brownies so I figured maybe he would feel better if he got some food, but I had also eaten a brownie and I didn’t want to drive too far.

Since we didn’t have smart phones I couldn’t look up what was in the area, but I remembered there was a Chinese buffet pretty close that I had been to once before. I figured that would be a nice quiet place for us to go so he could calm down.

Except when we got there, I guess a family was having a birthday party and it was absolutely packed. It felt more like a giant cafeteria and there were people at every single table talking really loud and celebrating. Then they started playing this same song over and over on a continuous loop like a weird horror movie:

Happy Birthday (Sheng Ri Kuai Le)

Like it would end and then just start up again like it was going to be playing for all eternity. It was so fucking bizarre I couldn’t help but start laughing because it was such a weird situation.

He was mumbling “oh my God,” over and over, but I thought he was just joking about it being so ridiculous. Then around the 5th time it started up again he was suddenly like “I have to go now!” and basically bolted out the door and back to the car.

We get back in the car, and he goes “I think I’m having a stroke. I need you to call 911!”

So, I tried to calm him down and tell him, Hey, you’re ok, you’re not having a stroke. I’m pretty sure you’re just having a panic attack. Let me just take you home so you can lay down for a while.

He kept begging me to call 911, so I started driving him back home. Then, while I was driving he pulled out his own phone and tried to call 911! and I had to wrestle it away from him with one hand while driving, and, then when I did manage to get it away he screamed at me “You bitch! I can’t believe you’re going to let me die because you don’t want to get in trouble!” 😵‍💫…

There was a good 5 mins or so of total silence where neither of us said anything. I get he was scared, but he’d never said anything like that to me before and I was pretty pissed.

Finally, I just told him if he wanted to go to the ER I would drive him, but if he called 911 and it turned out he was just having a panic attack, he could also end up in trouble.

That seemed to sober him up a bit and he calmed down enough to let me just take him back home for a while. I laid on the bed still annoyed about the whole day and pretty pissed at him while he searched the internet on his desktop to figure out if he was actually having a stroke (btw we had taken the brownies like 3+ hrs earlier by this point).

Finally after looking things up and convincing himself he was indeed having something like a stroke, he said he still wanted to go to the ER. I was so fucking annoyed by this point but I just threw up my hands and said fine, whatever. This is fucking dumb. Lets go.

We don’t talk the whole way there, we get to the ER and just sit in this busy waiting room still not talking. Finally they call him back and I stay in the waiting room.

I sat there by myself for an hour or so just kind of rolling my eyes and thinking about how fucking ridiculous it was, and how it had ruined the whole day.

Finally, a chaplain came out into the waiting room and called my name. Then he asks if I’m there with my boyfriend… And for a moment I had my own mini panic attack of “Ohshitohshit did they send the chaplain to tell me he was actually having a stroke the whole fucking time?!”

It turns out that nope, the hospital was just understaffed that day, and he was sent to give me an update. It turns out he was totally fine. It was just a panic attack, and the next day he thanked me for not letting him call 911.

Anyway, that was my worst date that turned into a very shitty day and ended with a visit to the ER.

Ukraine’s defense relies increasingly on huge volumes of civilian data stored on cloud platforms. An adversary’s military may supply their targeting algorithm with an individual’s location, health, and online behavior. Military actors regularly mine, analyze, and repurpose social media posts.

It is not clear, however, that the deep learning systems integral to some of these new weapons can overcome the fog of war. These systems treat all data as objective representations of reality, when in fact information drawn from social media platforms is shaped by users’ emotional and cognitive experiences in ways that can skew its utility for wartime intelligence. The “learned knowledge” generated by analytic systems is probabilistic, not causal—leading to the risk that algorithms are “enforc[ing] their version of ‘reality’ from patterns and probabilities derived from data.”

These venture-backed firms view contemporary conflicts as live testing grounds.

Global digital platforms such as TikTok and Telegram illustrate the wider environment in which these dependencies are forming. Though neither company develops military technologies, both shape the information environment surrounding war. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm influences how audiences perceive the conflict in Ukraine, shaping global narratives and public opinion. Yet its complex ownership structure, rooted in Chinese parent company ByteDance and entangled with global venture capital, has sparked geopolitical concern. … These concerns highlight how platforms created for civilian use can also become entangled in the political and informational dimensions of war.

The overlapping interests of finance capital and private technology corporations transcend national borders, creating forms of influence that do not fit neatly into binary friend-or-enemy distinctions. ByteDance’s global investment network, spanning Chinese state-linked entities, American private equity funds, and international investors, illustrates this transnational ownership model. It complicates national regulatory and security responses, as policymakers must ask not merely who owns a given platform, but who controls the data, infrastructure, and decisionmaking power that states increasingly depend on.

This illustrates a deeper shift in the relationship between the market and the military. The problem is not that defense firms are publicly traded—Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics have been for decades—but that contemporary defense-tech companies retain proprietary control over data-driven systems central to military operations. Their technologies are not merely delivered to the state; the companies are embedded in the decisionmaking architecture of warfare. When a firm’s market value depends on its perceived wartime success, its incentives may diverge from those of the state it ostensibly serves. This intertwining of commercial strategy, military dependency, and investor confidence represents a new kind of vulnerability for states.

What is at stake, beyond the conflict itself, is the nature of state sovereignty. The ability of states to govern, defend, and act independently is increasingly mediated by private technology firms and global finance. This is not entirely new. States have long relied on private contractors, but the kind of dependency has changed. Unlike traditional arms manufacturers, today’s defense-tech firms control the digital platforms, data flows, and algorithmic systems that underpin military decisionmaking. At the same time, civilian platforms like Telegram and TikTok shape the informational terrain of conflict, influencing how wars are perceived and fought.

I just want to make sure I’m understanding this.

•You have companies like Meta (just an example) working for both sides of a conflict via government contract, but not necessarily bound to either side of a conflict because of global venture capital/transnational ownership model

•We know Facebook/Meta has been intentionally manipulating the emotions of social media users for over a decade now

•That social media data is then collected and used to train military platforms, which may be directly or indirectly linked to the social media company

•These companies very likely have an incentive to create an endless war (and endless profits for themselves) by manipulating the emotions and behavior of social media users, knowing that data will be used to train military platforms

Basically, a private tech company could manipulate data to give one side of a conflict an advantage over the other, but it could also intentionally pit adversaries against each other in an endless loop by manipulating social media content, and by extension, manipulating the military platforms being trained.

A company could potentially profit from both sides of a conflict it’s manipulating because the states have turned to it and other big tech companies to help them reach “victory” in the endless conflict the company helped create. Correct?

Continental breakfast of champions