#bogus news sites

[tomorrowusa]

China is stepping up its manipulation of US public opinion. It worked well for Putin in 2016 so why would Xi Jinping ignore the potential?

A Chinese marketing firm likely organized and promoted protests in Washington last year as part of a wide-ranging pro-Beijing influence campaign, according to new research. The Chinese firm also used a network of over 70 fake news websites to promote pro-China content in an example of the more aggressive efforts by pro-China operatives to influence US political debate in recent years, according to security firm Mandiant, which analyzed the activity. One of the protests was against a US government ban on goods produced in China’s Xinjiang region, where US officials have accused the Chinese government of systematic repression of the Uyghurs. The other protest was on the sidelines of a June conference on international religious freedom, Mandiant said. One of the protests only attracted roughly a dozen people but it showed the scope and ambition of the pro-China efforts. The hired protesters, who included self-proclaimed musicians and actors in the Washington, DC, area, apparently had no idea they were being enlisted in a pro-China influence campaign, the Mandiant researchers said. The campaign backed by the Chinese firm, Shanghai Haixun Technology Co., Ltd., is “intended to sow discord in US society,” Ryan Serabian, a senior analyst at Mandiant, told CNN.

Rent-a-protester is nothing new. There are companies like this one which will create a scene for you — for a price.

A bigger problem is the proliferation of bogus news sites. They often have names and branding which look like (but aren't identical) to those of legit news organizations.

It doesn't help matters that Google News is way lax about what it considers a "news" site.

Of course the most fertile ground for fake news sites is social media. Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) is more interested in boosting activity than in accuracy of information. And Twitter (or whatever Elon is calling it today) these days has become a playpen for Nazis.

People need to SIMPLY STOP getting news from dubious social media sources.

There are plenty of respected sources for news. But it takes a bit more effort than just glancing at an unmoderated feed.

No source is 100% perfect; but a good news source will admit an error and then offer a correction.

Public broadcasters in liberal democracies are good sources. Even public broadcasters in some non-English speaking democracies may have English language content. Americans in particular need to get more news directly from reliable sources in other countries. It's a big world out there.

The corporatization and monopolization of local and regional newspapers in the US has been terrible news. However a lot of smaller excellent news sites have sprung up to fill the gap in local coverage in many municipalities.

So create your own news feed of legit sources – but keep it separate from strictly opinion sites.

If you do run across a dubious site pretending to be a news source, don't hesitate to call them out publicly. This "news site" may just be a propaganda boiler room operating in Shanghai or Saint Petersburg. It may seem like a game of whack-a-mole to some degree but keeping the lifespans of such sites short prevents them from building a base.

—··���— —··—— —··—— —··—— —··—— —··—— —··——

Speaking of China, apparently Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been purged.

China’s foreign minister Qin Gang ousted in surprise shake-up of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy leadership

[wetpapert0wel]

hey......what if. instead of tumblr making their own gaiaonline avi things......what if we just went to gaia online.......

[opencommunion]

"The sight of hungry people scavenging through dumpsters and panhandling was once more common in cities in the United States and Europe than in Havana. But a series of quiet moves, first by Trump, and now by Biden, have produced a humanitarian crisis throughout Cuba.

... Joy Gordon, an expert on sanctions at Loyola University Chicago and author of Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions, told Drop Site News that there has been a shift towards minimizing visible harm to civilian populations since the sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s, which resulted in widespread malnutrition and epidemics. 'There’s a strategy of trying to offload the enforcement to the private sector,' she said. 'U.S. policy has created conditions that make it commercially compelling for the private sector to withdraw from whole markets, resulting in severe and widespread economic harm, but in a form that is not directly attributable to US policymakers.'

... Perhaps the best example of an almost invisible but insidious sanction is designating Cuba as a 'state sponsor of terrorism.' Presented as a benign policy tool to make the world a safer place rather than an arm of economic warfare, it has contaminated the word 'Cuba' more than ever in the global economy. Almost overnight the label provoked both global banks and vital exporters to pull out of the Cuban market, according to diplomats and businesspeople on the island. ... The island had been on the State Department’s terror list before, up until 2015. But since the relisting in 2021 the effects have been fiercer.

... Most Cubans fleeing this misery head to America. ... By keeping the terror designation and other sanctions in place, the Biden administration has fueled this record-breaking wave of Cuban migration. Over the last three years, more than a half-million Cubans have arrived in the U.S., according to figures from the Customs and Border Patrol Agency. The whole dynamic has a whiff of madness: record Cuban migration stoked by the Biden administration plays into the broader 'border crisis' that is helping Trump as the election approaches.

... The list of state sponsors of terrorism has always stood on the frontier between analysis and propaganda. No matter how bad their records, U.S. allies never make the list; adversaries do. ... According to former intelligence and State Department officials, for the last three decades the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment has been that the island has not sponsored what even the U.S. would define as terrorism since the 1990s. ... From its first months in office, Biden’s team has repeatedly said—both publicly and privately to members of Congress—that it was carrying out a broad review of policy towards Cuba, including the terror designation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in 2022 that the administration 'will continue as necessary to revisit those to see if Cuba continues to merit that designation.' But last year, that claim was revealed as bogus. In a private meeting, a State Department official privately told members of Congress that no review process had even begun, according to sources present.

... Analysts agreed that with political will, Cuba could have been taken off the list within weeks of Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Some 80 House Democrats sent Biden a letter urging him to do just that within weeks of his inauguration. Even if the administration carried out a six-month review as some argue the law requires, the designation could have been lifted by the middle of Biden’s first year in office. Had the White House done so, hundreds of thousands of Cubans might well  have been living at home with their loved ones today, living with better access to food and medicine, rather than fighting their way to the border and battling the byzantine U.S. immigration system.

The Biden administration’s position became even more tangled in May when it removed Cuba from the list of countries that are not 'fully cooperating' with the U.S. on counterterrorism. According to official designations, Cuba now 'fully cooperates' with counter-terrorism efforts while at the same time  'sponsoring' terrorism. How the same country could do both things remains unexplained. Asked why the State Department had not even begun a review, spokesperson Matt Miller told Drop Site at a press briefing that the U.S. policy was aimed at furthering 'the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people,' a reference to the U.S. goal of overthrowing the regime."

[pastel-medic]

//TW brief artist vent you have been warned!!!

Ngl, I really hate tiktok as a platform for artists. While I do post some of my funny tiktoks there my blog here is my main focus because I just don't really feel mentally safe on that platform. The amount of first time artists (and even seasoned artists with years of experience) getting bullied off that platform for absolutely bogus reasons is beyond shameful and unacceptable, and yet I expect no less from any social media site.

This is why aspiring artists never get a chance to share and improve their art; They just end up quitting without further trying due to the overwhelming negativity and cruelty. Yes giving art advice or an opinion is fine, but don't be an absolute dummkompf about it. Be encouraging and kind! Patience and guidance can mean a LOT to new artists!

I'm so glad other artists on tiktok are defending these new artists too. Nobody starts off making flawless art. And even then that flawless art isn't so flawless, an artist can still look at it and say "I could have drawn this better". It takes time and practice to create art, the stuff I made when I was like 13 wasn't perfect or "pretty" either and that's normal! We all start somewhere, harassing or bullying others for being a beginner is just downright depraved.

Also to end this short rant off I want to say: always try to make an effort to say thank you and compliment any art you receive this year in Art Fight regardless of art skill! We all contribute for fun, don't forget to show gratitude to any artwork you receive! While you don't have to revenge attack an artist back for any reason, be it out of low energy, not feeling drawn to the artist's characters, or any other reason, a sincere thank you still goes a long way.

Thank you for your time! -Your local Shortcake Medic!!! 🍰💖

[yansim-newsletter]

Man Down!

Over the weekend, it seems that our beloved game hosting site, Itch.io, has been attacked by brand Funko Pop and their usage of the AI tool called "Brand Shield". Sunday night, the site spent hours completely offline.

"[Brand Shield] created some bogus phishing report to our registrar, iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain," (— itch.io (@itchio) December 9, 2024) said Itch on social media, but not before taking a moment to brand the software as "trash." The software allegedly used by Funko that took the itch.io site down is made by a company called BrandShield. BrandShield describes itself as an “AI-powered online anti-counterfeiting solution” that monitors for “trademark infringements, phishing attempts, brand abuse, and counterfeit activity.”

Itch.io claims to have taken down the “disputed page” that triggered the phishing report immediately on receiving a takedown notice, but said no-one at iwantmyname appeared to have read the email confirming the page’s removal.

An iwantmyname representative said, “The domain name was already reinstated earlier today after the registrant finally responded to our notice and took appropriate action to resolve the issue.” At the time iwantmyname’s reply was sent, itch.io appeared to have been back online for less than 40 minutes. The ability to reinstate a domain name in such a short time frame is currently unconfirmed.

Luckily, the website at large appears to be up-and-running again, as of our reporting this, and the company behind Itch.io has noted that their servers haven't shown any signs of impact from the incident.

Itch decided to hold tight before taking any drastic measures, such as putting up a new domain, but did offer a workaround for indie developers to use: "There are implications with third party services that make [switching domains] not a trivial swap. In the meantime, if you know how to tweak your hosts file use: 45.33.107.166."

"If you do edit your hosts file, please remember to remove all the lines after domain is restored. Although we typically hold an IP for a while, it can change if we update our back-end infrastructure. If the downtime exceeds 8 hours then we'll likely prioritize deploying a new domain. Hopefully things are able to get sorted out before then." Itch came back online between 5 and 6 a.m. EST on Monday morning, after at least three hours during which it was completely offline for most users, including both players and developers who use the open platform. Games and other products already bought from itch.io can be used without issue, but the storefront outage will likely be a significant problem for creators who use it for distribution.

We here at YanSim News urge creators to double-check their games to ensure nothing has been lost or corrupted.

Other's reports referenced: - https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/itch-io-taken-down-by-collectible-maker-funko-and-ai-tool-brand-shield - https://www.polygon.com/gaming/492791/itch-io-funko-takedown

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:

Congressional Republicans, always eager to show that they put pleasing Donald Trump far ahead of doing anything productive for their constituents, are calling for an investigation into the debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Trump lost that debate badly. That loss is reflected in post-debate polls where Harris has seen a boost from a performance in which she was reassuringly calm while baiting Trump into dozens of unforced errors—including his baseless claims about immigrants eating pets. But Republicans are now claiming that ABC News, which hosted the debate, provided Harris with questions in advance and promised to fact-check Trump while leaving Harris unhindered. They’re also claiming that there is a “whistleblower” willing to detail how ABC helped Harris—though they can’t seem to decide if that whistleblower is dead or alive.

Trump’s real problem is that he’s a loser who never wants to admit he lost. That was true in 2020, and it’s still true today. To cover up his losing, Trump employs a three-part plan: insist in advance that his opponents will cheat, claim to have won no matter how badly he lost, and then spread conspiracy theories about why he lost. That certainly fits the pattern for the debate. Days before Harris and Trump met, Trump was already pushing his claim that ABC was going to provide Harris with the questions in advance. When Trump was shellacked on stage, he came down to the spin room to toss out a series of numbers that seemed made-up, claiming that polls showed he had won. “It was the best debate, personally, that I have ever had,” Trump said. “Polls are indicating that we got 90 percent, 60 percent, 72 percent, 71 percent and 89 percent.” He didn’t answer a reporter’s questions about where he got those numbers—though a review of his social media suggest he got them from some bogus right-wing “polls.” 

[...] There appears to be absolutely no evidence for this claim, or for the existence of this whistleblower, outside of some posts on Twitter. The claims originated from a Twitter account of an acknowledged MAGA supporter who wrote "I will be releasing an affidavit from an ABC whistleblower regarding the debate. I have just signed a non-disclosure agreement with the attorney of the whistleblower.” This claim was picked up and repeated by accounts with over 1 million followers.

On Friday, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall called for a congressional investigation and said he would demand “all correspondence, records, and potential coordination” between ABC and Harris ahead of the debate. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, always near the bleeding edge of any conspiracy theory, was quick to pile on in a series of tweets culminating with a Sunday claim that this unknown whistleblower had died in a mysterious accident.

Greene then had to walk back her claim after it became clear that the story she had cited came from a fake news site filled with stories written using AI—a site that also attempted to spread a virus to anyone who followed the link. But even if the whistleblower isn’t dead, there’s apparently no evidence that they have anything to do with ABC or any knowledge about the debate, or exist. ABC has denied the veracity of the right-wing claims. The same account that said it was in touch with the whistleblower released a portion of the claimed affidavit on Sunday. The affidavit includes claims that Harris was unfairly provided with a podium “significantly smaller than that used by Donald Trump” to make her look better and that there was an agreement to not ask her about “her brother-in-law, Tony West, who faces allegations of embezzling billions.”

House Republicans are calling for a partisan Keystone Kops investigation into ABC News over its handling of last Tuesday’s debate, a debate that Donald Trump lost handily to Kamala Harris fair and square.

[scummy-writes]

I can't find the post that explained this in depth, but a small reminder to disable Best Stuff First

The tldr of it, from my memory, is that you will miss posts from those you follow with this enabled. Obviously you can do what you want otherwise.

The explanation I remember is that tumblr implemented a weird algorithm thing and it promptly fucked over a lot of fandom blogs because of how tumblr has this set up, so since its not in a chronological order due to the bogus algorithm they made, you'll miss stuff easily since tumblr isn't showing it to you.

I've been on this site for a while, so I've absolutely forgotten that this isn't common knowledge for folks who are newer to tumblr. (I am not even sure if they still auto enable this for new users) but regardless, I encourage you to check your 'dashboard preferences' in settings! They have handy options there to turn on or off.

Also I had no idea they shared likes. I'm sorry to anyone who follows my main and had this enabled, you probably got blasted with horror related shit at times.

If you know what post I'm referencing, PLEASE send it to me, I'd rather reblog it than my pisspoor explanation because I may be forgetting something that it explaned.

[phoenixyfriend]

marriage of convenience and hair brushing/braiding for rexwalker, if you feel up to it?

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

52. Marriage of Convenience 94. Hair Brushing/Braiding 

Is it bad that my first thought is actually inspired by the Ob*kin fic Their fragrance came from you? There's a whole thing about Tatooine marriage braids that my mind immediately jumps to lmao

I think... let's say modern AU. Anakin is a single dad, has been for a few years. Padme died in childbirth, and while her will was made out in favor of Anakin and the kids, the executor of her will was her lawyer-mentor, Palpatine, who couldn't touch the trust funds set up for the twins (which are very large, and will become available when they turn 25, but can only be accessed for education costs before then), but did manage to somehow take almost all the liquid assets left for Anakin in bogus fees.

Anakin's still got the house, but as time passes, he's having more and more trouble with paying the property taxes. He's still managing, but the money Padme left for him is slowly dwindling, and the kids are going to start costing more as they get older, and he's already got Ahsoka living with him (she helps out with the kids so he can work, coding from home, since he's paying for her college tuition; she doesn't have to pay rent since she's a commuter student, and she's got a partial scholarship, but that's still a few thousand a year coming out of Anakin's pocket to put his little sister through underrad). Obi-Wan offered to help, but Obi-Wan lives on the other side of town and even tenured professors don't earn that much, compared to Coruscant's standard cost of living, especially since Obi-Wan adopted recently, a little girl called Reva, and--

Anakin's struggling financially, basically, which isn't a new circumstance, but he really doesn't want to lose Padme's house. Worst comes to worst, he can probably sell it back to Sola so it stays in the Naberrie family, and she'll let him keep living there, but... that's not a sure bet. The Naberries are comfortably wealthy, but it's still an entire house.

Rex, a college friend of Anakin's that went to the same aerospace program, comes back to town. He was on a military tour overseas, but got honorably discharged due to a head injury. Anakin offers to let hm sleep in the guest room, since Padme's house (it's still Padme's, in Anakin's mind), is a lot bigger than Cody's apartment, even if there are toddlers at large. Rex initially promises that he'll only stay long enough to find an apartment of his own, except he overhears Anakin on the phone with Obi-Wan about the finance stuff one day, and reaches out to a few people who have been in town more consistently for a better idea of what's going on without getting too deep into Anakin's business.

Rex manages to get a job locally; there's an airfield for hobbyists a few miles out of town, and the place is looking to hire a new engineer on staff to do repairs and checks on the small planes they keep on site. He starts making noises about moving out, and then, 'subtly,' suggests he just stay at Anakin's place and pay rent.

Anakin does not like the idea of Rex paying rent; friends don't do that! Anakin isn't going to make Rex pay rent in Anakin's home.

They don't talk about it for a few days, and then there's... IDK a night 'off,' where Obi-Wan or Sola or Aayla or Beru takes the twins for an evening, and Ahsoka goes out with friends, so Anakin can take some time off from being a Dad and just Relax.

He and Rex break out the wine, get tipsy not truly drunk, and Rex pokes at the 'just stay here' option again. The house is closer to the airfield than most apartments, and Rex can help take some of the weight off of Anakin and Ahsoka's shoulders with regards to childcare! Even if Anakin won't accept him paying rent!

Anakin argues this. Anakin's kids aren't Rex's responsibility, and Anakin doesn't need his charity (which is, of course, how he views Rex's suggestion). They go back and forth on the topic a few times, and then Rex throws out something about getting married 'for lower taxes' and 'it's not rent if it's my house too, right?' and it's. It's a joke.

Except they're both still thinking about it the next morning, with faint (but not faint enough) memories of a tipsy kiss before bed, and--

Months pass with the two of them circling around each other and Rex never quite moves out, and tax season rolls around, and Anakin is stretched so thin, even with all the cuts for children and covering a dependent's tuition and so on.

Rex quietly floats the idea of a convenience marriage again. It doesn't have to mean anything, if Anakin doesn't want it to. It's not an insult to Padme's memory, just a way of keeping her children in the house she chose for them. And it's not charity, because Rex will get tax cuts too, and better health insurance once Anakin can put him on the family plan he's got. It won't do anything for this year, but by the time the next year rolls around, Anakin will have less of a problem paying those taxes, even if that promotion he's been hoping for doesn't come through.

Anakin, eventually, agrees.

Just four months later, they tie the knot. It's a small ceremony, more than just a courthouse and a paper, just to... well, Anakin wants Rex to have this. Leia and Luke don't entirely understand what's going on, but Ahsoka told them that it means Rex is going to be staying for a lot longer than they originally planned, and they're pretty excited about that part. They're four, and 'Daddy's friend that we like a lot is staying' is pretty clear.

They don't have a 'traditional' wedding night, because they're still both looking at this as a platonic thing (it won't stay that way, but it still is for now). They do share a bed, because someone is sleeping in their guest room (IDK who, maybe a guest was too drunk post-wedding to get home and they just offered the room). Anakin's hair is long enough for an evening of people and, importantly, sticky toddler hands to have tangled it. He washes it out, comes to the bed, and looks so tired--because he had to wash the toddlers first--that Rex offers to brush it for him.

It's intimate. Gentlemanly, but intimate. They go to bed with warm cheeks and pounding hearts, and eventually, one of them rolls onto their side to cuddle.

Neither of them get much sleep that night.

[david-goldrock]

that sort of makes like half sense to me, but it doesn't seem very democratic at all. it appears very insidious. while I support palestine, I appreciate your answer, and I hope you will choose to consume media of international sources, because I worry that this law is just a farce to push a narrative your government wants you to believe, you know? peace & love

lol an act against democracy in a time of crisis? with my bibi Netanyahu?? no wayyy.

Believe me, if this was a real news source, there would be mass demonstrations about it. nobody wants this organization here, it is nothing but bad for our country. the only reason this doesn't pass with 100 Knesset members is that it is a clear violation of the right to free press(I don't think foreign organizations are supposed to have that right anyway, but I digress)

anyway, I hope you don't use this absolutely bogus "news" organization, It's Qatari propaganda, to an extreme level. if you wanna see how much, get to the Arab version of this site.

I read everything from BBC to Israel hayom, and I also go around the country and talk with friends who are\were in there. the amount of misinformation you westerners are getting is insane, please for the love of god, Israel still has free press, the government didn't influence the media (at least as far as we know, at least in this subject, there is a reason our PM is up for trial), read times of Israel, the jerusalem post, or even Israel Hayom (yes, even they have a better track record to these Hamas spokespeople).

[calico-cows]

Is marching band a cult? here’s a list from site link

The group displays an excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader, and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

the band directors word is law

Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

maintain morale, don’t question anything or complain, especially leadership

Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, or debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).

questionably applicable… it is very hard work but the goal is not suppression

The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (e.g., members must get permission to date, change jobs, or marry—or leaders prescribe what to wear, where to live, whether to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).

yeah absolutely. They tell us how to act and think and NO TOUCHING and professional learning environment and all that

The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members (e.g., the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

well we ARE special

The group has a polarized, us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

you cannot tell me the band doesn’t have this mindset about cheer and other sports kids

The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders, or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).

ok but is the band director actually held accountable

The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (e.g., lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).

eh not really unless you count exercise lol

The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members. Often this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

not really unless you’re late

Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.

band camp. You’re never home. Debatably applicable

The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

have you seen our recruitment efforts? We’re not good at it but we’re trying very hard

The group is preoccupied with making money.

it’s expensive to run a band! And we need new uniforms eventually! So yes

Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

haha absolutely

Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

I mean no one says it out loud but yeah kinda

The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave—or even consider leaving—the group.

there is no leaving marching band

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Former FBI official accuses Marjorie Taylor Greene of spreading foreign propaganda

Mark Alesia, Investigative Reporter

April 13, 2024 6:08AM ET

Marjorie Taylor Greene talking to reporters in February. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is spreading the propaganda of American adversaries on social media, knowing those countries will amplify her messages for impact they wouldn’t otherwise have, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s former assistant director for counterintelligence.

In Monday’s debut of The Defiant Podcast with Brooklyn Dad Defiant, shared in advance with Raw Story, Frank Figliuzzi tells host Majid Padellan, “What we’ve caught Russia and China doing … is they’ll take a statement from Marjorie Taylor Green — or someone like her, someone who doesn’t deserve a particular amount of attention — and then those foreign intelligence services amplify it across social media.

“So she has immediate amplifying support out there. She knows when she spouts something ridiculous there’s going to be foreign adversaries who blow up her message so we can’t avoid it.”

Greene’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Raw Story.

READ: A criminologist explains why Trump’s Manhattan trial is the biggest threat to his freedom

In the podcast, Figliuzzi, who works for NBC News, emphasized China’s role in spreading misinformation and disinformation.

“We focus almost exclusively on Russia at our own peril,” Figliuzzi said. “Because recent reporting, including from my outfit, NBC News, has pointed out that the Chinese are already at it — already fully engaged in attempting to mess with our next election. It’s chaos they want to sew.”

Padellan said Figliuzzi described the situation by using a phrase he coined: “spamoflage,” a cross between spam and camouflage.

“He said they’ll create a clone of, say, CNN’s website and post information that’s kind of true but kind of not true,” Padellan said. “He said by the time people figure out it’s a bogus site, it’s already done its damage.”

Figliuzzi told Padellan that China wants Trump to win.

“Because he is more easy to manipulate, he’s more susceptible to influence,” Padellan said.

Padellan is a staunch progressive and social media influencer who has 1.3 million followers on X, formerly Twitter. In 2021, the New York Post attacked him for taking money from a pro-Democrat political action committee, Really American, in 2020. FEC records show the total was $59,088.

Padellan responded that he was always open about the affiliation. He did design and social media work for the organization. FEC records show no payments since then to Padellan.

He said his motivation is his five children, three adults and two teenagers.

“I feel a very strong sense of responsibility about the kind of world I’m passing on to them,” Padellan said. “This is personal. I have skin in the game. I feel like it’s my civic duty to do everything possible to illuminate the truth, to make sure I do what I can to cut through the (bs).”

[simply-ivanka]

Breaking NEWS

[trumpamerica]

Breaking NEWS

[sapphia]

silicon valley had ai 15 years before they released it. everything we’re seeing is a decade old and scraped from the sites literally everybody uses. reddit has chat gpt 10 years ago. reddit had programmes to regurgitate arguments last time trump was elected. they tested it in New Zealand first and one of our journalists nicky hager wrote about it in a book all about political corruption and then those bots that were trained on what was good or bad with upvotes or downvotes or “likes” or “dislikes”. this self-selects which bots are most human-like and have the best ‘answers’. tumblr was the testing ground.

does anyone remember getting bogus asks that were made up of random punctuation and letters? bots. we taught bots to speak by replying to the ones that resembled words. then those bots went around messaging people and no one answered them except themselves. and these bots also had blogs that made posts to try and get upvoted (which told them they were a good tumblr human) and they’d send each other messages and their data centers would mine the messages they received and we’re all still using asks because staff won’t give us a chat for some reason but it’s mostly just porn bots mining data from other bots. silicon valley has to ban porn to deal with the rampant horny porn bots. it mostly works but some of the bots still carry on. yahoo sells us, the worthless userbase, at a massive loss. we laugh at them. they have all our data, hand-extracted.

they give us chat. they begin mining chat for data. it’s still pre-2016

they took the bots trained on our terfs and reddits dudebros and facebooks old people. and they used it in the 2016 election with full chat gpt capability and image generation so that when they released language bots in the future we are dazzled by the words ai and are impressed their at programmes who can by now fully impersonate a human, a thousand humans, but is just telling us wrong wikipedia facts. we laugh at the stupid ai. we continue to vaguely ignore the growing number of bot-like people infesting the internet.

trump just won an election over what the media tells us is a “culture war” while billionaires dripfeed us data mining tech to extract human traits for their ais. they learn through logic and iteration but can’t think for themselves. the right has stagnated, the left grow frustrated with people’s unbudging opinions. but most of the arguments being made are by bots. most people are arguing with bots, bots are arguing with bots. there is a disconnect where influence can be exerted politically.

no one irl wants to mention politics because it’s so divisive. the news talks politics, the bots talk politics. the people do not talk politics.

[deedeeplayssims]

Chapter 429:  Progress and Pregnancies

When I left Tabatha at the spares home, it was with certain expectations.

But instead I find her out in the pool house!

"I sent you here to get Gwen settled in the nursery and visit with family, and you're just swimming in their pool? We have two at home!"

"It's a beautiful pool, Watcher! And you made it even more enticing by enclosing it. I just couldn't resist a refreshing swim."

"But I was hoping you'd chat with Cam or Leila, even your in laws, maybe even get in some playtime with the twins."

"Cam and Leila went to practice and Alana was busy working on her latest novel. The twins are both taking naps so I indulged myself with a swim in this gorgeous pool."

"Instead of spending time with your son-in-law or grandson?"

"Fine. I'll dry off and see what they're both up to."

Unfortunately, we find Daeric discussing his latest painting with Aeric.

"I'm trying out a new technique but my paints just don't seem to be giving me the right texture. Maybe I've mixed them incorrectly."

Aeric looks at his father's newly started painting and says, "I'm just a beginner Dad, but I can see what you mean. Maybe we could research the technique on the computer and see if that could solve the issue?"

Daeric nods excitedly, "Good idea, Aeric! I'm sure we can find a solution somewhere on Simsearch! It has answers to everything."

Aeric, ever the disciplined sim, cautions, "We can't take everything we find on there as truth, Dad! In my communications class, we learned that some of the information is totally bogus! We need to stick with reliable sites."

Since these two are totally engrossed in their joint project, Tabatha and I head back home.

Where Tabatha immediately heads to the basement pool.

And thinks about using the water slide attached to the outdoor pool!

I leave her to her obsession and check on other family members.

To find Juliette reading a bedtime story to Fallon.

I love when children do this autonomously when they're tired.

It's so sweet, especially between family members.

But then, Juliette stands up abruptly and Fallon asks, "Mom, are you okay?"

Juliette takes a deep, calming breathe and says, "I'm fine. But I think it's time for you to be a big brother again!"

I quickly check on Jaeger to find him sound asleep.

Well, not exactly sound asleep as an evil gnome has popped up beside his bed and he's having 'gnightmare's'!

He's got an image of the evil gnome in his moodlets and the description reads, 'GAH! The combination of Evil Gnome + Appearing Suddenly + Next To My Bed was simply too much for poor Jaeger Frio's mind! They'll be having gnightmare's tonight! (From Evil Gnome)'

Wow! That one's a first!

But that means Jaeger's in no condition to take Juliette to the hospital.

Especially since he's dreaming about getting divorced on the eve of his 4th child's birth!

Lee's gone to bed too, so that leaves Tabatha.

She's still swimming in the basement pool; something I have no problem interrupting!

And Tabatha didn't even protest about it.

She just hustled outside to Juliette waiting in a motive mobile.

Her thoughts focused on her coming grandchild!

Tabatha makes sure the motive mobile is locked as she knows just how corrupt this town is.

While Juliette waits patiently by the front entrance of the medical center.

"Jaeger was deeply asleep, Juliette, you should just head inside with your mother."

"I'll go inside, Watcher, but I know he'll be here! He wouldn't miss the birth of our child!"

And she's right!

I watch the doors anxiously, expecting Juliette to come out.

Instead, Jaeger arrives and hurries inside.

Moments afterward, Juliette comes out holding a nooboo wrapped in pink!

"You got your girl! Congrats! Where's Jaeger? And your mother? Don't tell me they're waiting to carry out more babies!"

"No, just one sweet little girl, this time."

"Her name?"

"We named her after Jaeger's mother Mary, but used a more Gaelic spelling and pronunciation, Muire. One of it's possible meanings is 'wished for child'."

"I like it and it's very fitting since you both have been wishing for a girl for quite some time. And her traits aren't bad either as she's a heavy sleeper who loves the cold. Though it doesn't get all that cold here in ST."

Upon arriving home, Juliette gives Muire a bottle and a snuggle.

And gets her settled in one of the pink baby swings.

Despite the draw of the swings, I find it keeps nooboos needs up so well that it's worth it.

Especially since they also get the benefit of the three incense burners wafting their scent throughout the living room.

A definite mood boost which is helping little Muire get a head start on earning happiness points.

Instead of letting Jaeger waste time waiting by the swing, I have him start teaching Eirinn how to walk.

The bonus being that he actually popped the wish to do so after his 'have a girl' wish completed.

Since they did get their girl, I cancel the 'have a boy' wish for both of them.

I'm happy with four children, three boys and a girl, for this generation.

Jaeger smiles as Eirinn takes his first careful steps.

"That's it, buddy, come to daddy!"

Juliette also got the same wish, but for Ewen.

But she's not having the same early success as he keeps sitting back down on the floor.

With his parents occupied with his younger brothers, Fallon works on his homework.

He gets through it quickly since he's using the multitab I paced in his inventory.

Finally, a game mechanic that isn't annoying but truly beneficial!

Once his homework is finished, he autonomously climbs on a chair and presides over the royal court.

Something I haven't seen since the quads back in DV as Aeric was too disciplined to engage in such childish things.

It can become obsessive and annoying behavior, especially with several kids in the family.

With it being just Fallon, it's cute to watch.

But a message has me racing across the inlet to a modern house below the towering Lair.

Where Mary-Sue Pleasant has just added twin daughters to her family.

She seems a bit shocked and I can't believe she actually had twins!

Their names are Angela and Lilith, of course.

Angela is a friendly, heavy sleeper while Lilith is an excitable, light sleeper.

As small as it is, I'll need to add a couple of cribs to the nursery.

Good thing I have halfa cribs in my game.

As I pan through the Pleasant home, I find Jeffrey, who recently became a toddler, crawling on the floor.

I can't resist a better look at him in Stylist.

I wasn't expecting him to be blonde or to look so adorable!

Mary-Sue is definitely going to have her hands full with a toddler and twins, especially with one being a light sleeper.

I'm wondering if part of the reason Mary-Sue didn't have a good relationship with teen Lilith in Sims 2 is because she was a difficult baby?

Or was it just because Mary-Sue wasn't expecting twins and it derailed her career?

With Mary-Sue not only being a workaholic but a perfectionist, I can see how that could cause resentment.

Not the child's fault, of course, and it doesn't excuse either Daniel's or Mary-Sue's attitude towards Lilith.

But it could explain a lot.

Except for what happened to Jeffrey…

I get back to the main house to find that Ewen actually learned to walk before his twin.

But Juliette has quite the thoughtful look on her face.

In the nursery, Eirinn's learned to walk too, even if I don't manage to capture a photo of it.

And Jaeger doesn't look as happy as I thought he would at his youngest son's accomplishment.

But I find out what's on their minds soon enough.

Juliette excitedly chats with Jaeger, saying, "Since the boys have learned all their toddler skills, and Muire was a single birth, I was thinking that it would be nice to have another child!"

Jaeger responds just as eagerly, "You read my mind! I'd love another child!"

At first, I think my inappropriate and insane heir couple are just messing with me.

Then I see that both of them have actually popped wishes to 'have a child'!

If they both want a large family, who am I to quibble about it.

Besides, it will give me another potential heir.

But another message has Juliette accompanying me to the spares home.

Where she eagerly says, "Congratulations on your promotion to Team Captain, Cam!"

"Thanks, sis! I had so much time off after the wedding and the twins, I was starting to wonder if I'd ever advance in my career. But that's not the biggest news around here, Leila's pregnant!"

"That's wonderful! Jaeger and I are planning on having another child, too!"

"But you already have four, Jules! I'd be freaking out if Alana was expecting again!"

"Are you sure about that, Cam? I always figured you'd want a son of your own."

"Well, I wouldn't mind it, one day, but not until after the girls are in school."

Voices nearby have me thinking that Aeric's using his martial arts equipment, so I pan in that direction.

But instead of Aeric using the training dummy, I find out that he's training someone else.

None other than Kai Kahale, Alana's husband and the political power here in Sunlit Tides!

I don't want to interrupt but I'm too curious not to ask, "What's going on, Aeric?"

Aeric doesn't miss a beat but says to Kahale, "Don't slack off, mister! Keep up that pace until I tell you to stop!"

To me he adds, "I'll give you the short version, Watcher. Alana Kahale's the Empress of Evil at The Lair and her daughter, Leilani, has joined her as heir apparent. Kimo Hale's been promoted to Evil Sidekick, but as he just became an elder, not much of a threat anymore. But Bella decided that to be on the safe side, Kahale needed to be able to protect his family and the business.  Not just politically, but physically as well."

"Hence the martial arts training."

"Exactly. And I was happy to help out. Being able to add Martial Arts Trainer to my application at the Sports Center made me a shoo in for an entry level position. I'm hoping to be a Toddler Sports Coach before I graduate!"

"Congratulations, Aeric, that's pretty impressive for a new teen!"

Aeric turns his attention back to his trainee and shouts, "Don't be a wimp, Kahale! Hit that dummy with all you've got!"

Wow! What a chapter!

Juliette and Jaeger have a new baby daughter, Muire.

And they taught both their twin sons to walk, completing their toddler skills.

The Pleasants added twin daughters to their family, Angela and Lilith.

Young Jeffrey Pleasant is now a toddler.

Cam made Team Captain and Aeric's now a Rabid Fan.

Alana Kahale is the Empress of Evil and her daughter Leilani has joined the family business.

Kai Hale's been promoted to Evil Sidekick, but he's now an elder, so not as powerful as he used to be.

Bella's definitely been busy keeping her promises to the Kahale family.

And throwing her weight around a bit making Kai Kahale learn martial arts!

Leila and Daeric are expecting another child, their second.

While Juliette and Jaeger want a fifth one!

Lee and Tabatha are definitely going to realize their dream of having 10 grandchildren.

Dare I ask what will happen next?

Join me and find out in Chapter 430...

Coming soon.

[oniondip420]

Yarn Log - Mini Hyperbolic Paraboloid

Background & Thoughts

After my experience doing the coaster in a single day, I again felt like doing just a tiny crochet project that I could speed through. I’ve always wanted to do one of the hyperbolic plane curly guys, but searching on Ravelry only turned up paid patterns or ones that were technically hosted on other sites. The app on my phone I use to actually hold the patterns I’m working on (knitCompanion) can only automatically import free Ravelry downloads, so I opted for this instead.

A hyperbolic paraboloid is the mathematical name for the kind of saddle shaped surface that you may recognize as the Pringles shape. As a former math major I think they’re pretty cool, and it seemed like a good substitute for the actual hyperbolic plane I was searching for. Plus, it was a really small project, so I could once again bang it out start to finish in a single day.

Once again, I used my 4.25mm crochet hook, but this time I used the medium weight yarn I had left over from The Blanket™ (post still incoming! I just am queuing up a few smaller yarn logs in the mean time lol). The only new maneuver in the pattern was the sc2tog, which was pretty easy to google and execute.

Something you may notice in the above picture is that my result barely resembles the target shape lol. I can think of a few explanations for this, all relating to yarn tension:

I generally messed up the yarn tension, which I already know I need to work on (see yesterday’s coaster post)

I improperly handled the sc2tog’s as the mirror reverse of the doubled-up sc stitches (to increase the stitch count back up on the latter half). This may have caused the weird curling

What is certainly clear though, is that I used the wrong size of crochet hook. Looking at another small roll of the same yarn in a different color that I’ve yet to take off the packaging for, it recommends using a 5mm crochet hook for the medium weight yarn. This means that using the hook itself to measure my gauge as I was working resulted in it being too tight, which also likely combined with the sc2tog and general yarn tension issues to produce this outcome.

UPDATE ON LAST POINT SINCE I FIRST DRAFTED THIS: I did it again with the yarn I used for the coaster (which seemed the right weight for the hook size), and the shape is still bogus. So while I still think the hook size was an issue, at this point I think either it’s a flaw in the pattern itself, or the same general tension issue from the tiny swatch I made with the coaster. Not including a pic of that, bc it’s basically the same just slightly smaller and purple.

Since this piece is not meant to lie flat, I am unable to block it into a better shape. So I’m just accepting it as it is lol

Major lessons learned:

I need to continue working on my yarn tension problems before working on a bigger project. My hyperfixation-specific perfectionism-triggered affective disorder would easily undermine any triumphs I’d make if the tension is messed up on a project I care more about, and I don’t want to set myself up for avoidable depression lol.

I need to obtain a more complete set of crochet needles. I have a good set of smaller ones, but after my bookmark experience, no way in hell will I be using the tiny-ass weighted yarn that would be appropriate for those. This 4.25mm is what I carry in my active projects bag to handle mistakes and to fasten the outside tail of when I make center-pull yarn balls. It worked with the yarn weight I used yesterday for the coaster, but I don’t have a lot left of that kind. My next hook size up is 6.5mm, for heftier yarn weights. So if I want to be crocheting with the yarn weights I commonly have on hand, I really am gonna have to invest in different sizes. Bleh, money. I have since made the purchase and am waiting for it to arrive.

Sometimes it seems, pattern makers will not tell you explicitly to do the turning stitch when going to the next row. This hasn't really been an issue for me since, due to me working in a spiral ever since then, but I have gotten a lot more observant about stitch counts when reading patterns.

Pattern