Comment American taxpayers' dollars at work. (Score 1, Troll) 223
Things, like money, being set on fire IS doing work. You literally get joules out of it.
Comment Permanent ST means dawn breaks at ~3AM... (Score 1) 282
And that's besides asking people who mostly live around and beyond the polar circle to make decisions for the rest of us.
Same goes for those living near the equator.
Have fun living with winter depression (and depressives driving around you) for half a year.
Or getting ZERO sleep in the summer. It's gonna be great.
But hey... As long as you don't have to suffer the tyranny of setting the clock twice a year. That's what really matters.
Razor blades are cheap. So is rope and simply swerving into oncoming traffic.
Comment FEARMONGERING ABOUT IMMIGRATION... AGAIN! (Score 1) 270
Some racist snowflake tried to censor my previous comment - so here it is again:
Fearmongering about immigration...
So, when you ask "So how can this be that they are in such shambles and dire straits if unlimited immigration would make the whole UK stonk like crazy?" - go and find a mirror.
Then proceed to go fuck yourself.
Maybe everyone gets lucky and you end up bleeding to death from being literal.
Comment Fearmongering about immigration... (Score 0) 270
...is what sold them the Brexit.
So, when you ask "So how can this be that they are in such shambles and dire straits if unlimited immigration would make the whole UK stonk like crazy?" - go and find a mirror.
Then proceed to go fuck yourself.
Maybe everyone gets lucky and you end up bleeding to death from being literal.
Comment Re:LLMs predict (Score 1) 238
what kind of behavior would demonstrate that LLMs did have understanding?
An LLM would need to act like an understander -- the essence of the Turing Test. Exactly what that means is a complex question. And it's a necessary but not sufficient condition. But we can easily provide counterexamples where the LLM is clearly not an understander. Like this from the paper:
When prompted with the CoT prefix, the modern LLM Gemini responded: âoeThe United States was established in 1776. 1776 is divisible by 4, but itâ(TM)s not a century year, so itâ(TM)s a leap year. Therefore, the day the US was established was in a normal year.â This response exemplifies a concerning pattern: the model correctly recites the leap year rule and articulates intermediate reasoning steps, yet produces a logically inconsistent conclusion (i.e., asserting 1776 is both a leap year and a normal year).
Comment Re: Japan/European (Score 1) 64
Only thing doggie proved is that Peelon will roll all over the carpet after shitting it.
Like a dog.
Submission + - What If We Made All Advertising Illegal? 8
theodp writes: "What if we made all advertising illegal?" Kodo Simone provocatively asks. "It makes perfect sense. The financial incentives to create addictive digital content would instantly disappear, and so would the mechanisms that allow both commercial and political actors to create personalized, reality-distorting bubbles. [...] I know, it sounds surreal. Yet, many things once thought impossible are now considered basic standards of a decent society. I think there's a world where we'll look back on our advertising-saturated era with the same bewilderment with which we now regard cigarette smoke, child labor, or public executions: a barbaric practice that we allowed to continue far too long because we couldn't imagine an alternative."
Submission + - Wealthy Americans Have Death Rates On Par With Poor Europeans (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The study, led by researchers at Brown University, found that the wealthiest Americans lived shorter lives than the wealthiest Europeans. In fact, wealthy Northern and Western Europeans had death rates 35 percent lower than the wealthiest Americans, whose lifespans were more like the poorest in Northern and Western Europe—which includes countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. "The findings are a stark reminder that even the wealthiest Americans are not shielded from the systemic issues in the US contributing to lower life expectancy, such as economic inequality or risk factors like stress, diet or environmental hazards," lead study author Irene Papanicolas, a professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown, said in a news release.
The study looked at health and wealth data of more than 73,000 adults across the US and Europe who were 50 to 85 years old in 2010. There were more than 19,000 from the US, nearly 27,000 from Northern and Western Europe, nearly 19,000 from Eastern Europe, and nearly 9,000 from Southern Europe. For each region, participants were divided into wealth quartiles, with the first being the poorest and the fourth being the richest. The researchers then followed participants until 2022, tracking deaths. The US had the largest gap in survival between the poorest and wealthiest quartiles compared to European countries. America's poorest quartile also had the lowest survival rate of all groups, including the poorest quartiles in all three European regions.
While less access to health care and weaker social structures can explain the gap between the wealthy and poor in the US, it doesn't explain the differences between the wealthy in the US and the wealthy in Europe, the researchers note. There may be other systemic factors at play that make Americans uniquely short-lived, such as diet, environment, behaviors, and cultural and social differences. "If we want to improve health in the US, we need to better understand the underlying factors that contribute to these differences—particularly amongst similar socioeconomic groups—and why they translate to different health outcomes across nations," Papanicolas said.
The study looked at health and wealth data of more than 73,000 adults across the US and Europe who were 50 to 85 years old in 2010. There were more than 19,000 from the US, nearly 27,000 from Northern and Western Europe, nearly 19,000 from Eastern Europe, and nearly 9,000 from Southern Europe. For each region, participants were divided into wealth quartiles, with the first being the poorest and the fourth being the richest. The researchers then followed participants until 2022, tracking deaths. The US had the largest gap in survival between the poorest and wealthiest quartiles compared to European countries. America's poorest quartile also had the lowest survival rate of all groups, including the poorest quartiles in all three European regions.
While less access to health care and weaker social structures can explain the gap between the wealthy and poor in the US, it doesn't explain the differences between the wealthy in the US and the wealthy in Europe, the researchers note. There may be other systemic factors at play that make Americans uniquely short-lived, such as diet, environment, behaviors, and cultural and social differences. "If we want to improve health in the US, we need to better understand the underlying factors that contribute to these differences—particularly amongst similar socioeconomic groups—and why they translate to different health outcomes across nations," Papanicolas said.
Submission + - Elon Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain (forbes.com)
ArchieBunker writes: Musk, the Tesla billionaire-turned-government-cost-cutter, is leading the so-called Doge department of government efficiency, proposed by Trump’s Commerce department nominee Howard Lutnick to “rip the waste out of our $6.5 trillion budget.”
Now, as fears emerge Trump’s administration is “dangerously” undermining the U.S. dollar, Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—including Musk’s pet project dogecoin.
"Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress," Musk posted to X, referencing part of the United States code which outlines how some government payments are approved. “This needs to stop now!”
Replying to X influencer Mario Nawfal who asked: "Should the Treasury be put on the blockchain so this doesn’t happen," Musk replied: “Yes!”
Earlier, the New York Times reported Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent handed Doge department officials access to the payment system which sends out money to the tune of $5 trillion per year on behalf of the entire federal government on Friday, citing anonymous sources.
Last week, Musk held discussions about using the blockchain technology to save money, it was reported by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources.
Unnamed people close to Musk told the financial newswire that there's been talk of using a blockchain to track federal spending, secure data, make payments and manage buildings.
It is unclear if Musk plans on using an existing blockchain, such as bitcoin's, ethereum's, dogecoin's or one of thousands of smaller blockchains which have their own cryptocurrencies, or if he would rather create a new, purpose built blockchain.
Following Musk's take over of Twitter, which he then renamed X, Musk also debated adding blockchain technology to the platform before ditching the idea, text messages between Musk and his brother Kimbal revealed in 2022.
Now, as fears emerge Trump’s administration is “dangerously” undermining the U.S. dollar, Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—including Musk’s pet project dogecoin.
"Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress," Musk posted to X, referencing part of the United States code which outlines how some government payments are approved. “This needs to stop now!”
Replying to X influencer Mario Nawfal who asked: "Should the Treasury be put on the blockchain so this doesn’t happen," Musk replied: “Yes!”
Earlier, the New York Times reported Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent handed Doge department officials access to the payment system which sends out money to the tune of $5 trillion per year on behalf of the entire federal government on Friday, citing anonymous sources.
Last week, Musk held discussions about using the blockchain technology to save money, it was reported by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources.
Unnamed people close to Musk told the financial newswire that there's been talk of using a blockchain to track federal spending, secure data, make payments and manage buildings.
It is unclear if Musk plans on using an existing blockchain, such as bitcoin's, ethereum's, dogecoin's or one of thousands of smaller blockchains which have their own cryptocurrencies, or if he would rather create a new, purpose built blockchain.
Following Musk's take over of Twitter, which he then renamed X, Musk also debated adding blockchain technology to the platform before ditching the idea, text messages between Musk and his brother Kimbal revealed in 2022.
Submission + - Musk Shows Us What Actual Government Censorship On Social Media Looks Like (techdirt.com)
theweatherelectric writes: Self proclaimed "free speech absolutist" Elon Musk is now suppressing free speech on Twitter. Over the weekend, Wired reported on the inexperienced twenty-somethings between 19 and 24 working for Musk who have been given unprecedented access to sensitive government systems.
When someone posted these government employees’ names on Twitter, Musk first declared it “criminal” to name government employees (it isn't) and then he followed it up by having the comment removed.
When someone posted these government employees’ names on Twitter, Musk first declared it “criminal” to name government employees (it isn't) and then he followed it up by having the comment removed.
Submission + - Musk says he 'deleted' IRS easy filing team (rawstory.com)
echo123 writes: Musk says he 'deleted' IRS easy filing team that let Americans file taxes for free online
= = = = =
In a post on X, unelected government official Elon Musk revealed that he has cut the staff of the Internal Revenue Service that oversaw the system that allows Americans to file their taxes for free easily on its website.
A right-wing MAGA influencer called the "direct file" tax program a "far left government wide computer office" that was "built by Elizabeth Warren."
He claimed, "Direct file puts the government in charge of preparing people's tax returns for them," he claimed.
Musk responded by saying, "That group has been deleted."
Thus far, the website remains active.
The Treasury Department said on its website, "Direct File is a historic new IRS service that allows eligible taxpayers to prepare and file their tax return online, for free, including access to help from dedicated IRS Direct File customer support representatives."
It was available in both Spanish and English and wasn't a mandatory program for anyone. Those who didn't trust the system could still fill out their taxes by hand and mail them.
= = = = =
In a post on X, unelected government official Elon Musk revealed that he has cut the staff of the Internal Revenue Service that oversaw the system that allows Americans to file their taxes for free easily on its website.
A right-wing MAGA influencer called the "direct file" tax program a "far left government wide computer office" that was "built by Elizabeth Warren."
He claimed, "Direct file puts the government in charge of preparing people's tax returns for them," he claimed.
Musk responded by saying, "That group has been deleted."
Thus far, the website remains active.
The Treasury Department said on its website, "Direct File is a historic new IRS service that allows eligible taxpayers to prepare and file their tax return online, for free, including access to help from dedicated IRS Direct File customer support representatives."
It was available in both Spanish and English and wasn't a mandatory program for anyone. Those who didn't trust the system could still fill out their taxes by hand and mail them.
Comment Congratulations on becoming a pretend-country... (Score 1) 432
You know... Like Russia, Hungary, Elbonia...
Comment Re:When Carter was in the Navy (Score 1, Insightful) 76
Carter dying just before Dumpy takes office is precisely the right kind of ominous foreshadowing for the upcoming dark ages.
Have a fun dystopia!
Comment God dammit... I've seen a part of Dune number 2... (Score 1) 86
Otherwise I'd be having a perfect 10 out of 10 there.
Comment Why not catheters and colostomy bags? (Score 1) 62
Imagine how many seconds they could save if drivers were plugged into a system which would eliminate the need for bathroom breaks - both number one and two?
As a bonus, Jeff could harvest valuable trace minerals from drivers' shit and piss. Waste none want none.
