LA's mayoral election might have been honest and above board. But I'm left scratching my head and wondering how it would look any different if it weren't.
I wonder if you know that two police officers have had to go into hiding after Grok wrongly identified them as part of team that handcuffed Henry Nowak?
"Former Hampshire police constable Christi Hill (who left the force in April 2024, well before the December 2025 incident) and another officer, Tristan Parsons (who was abroad at the time), were wrongly identified by users on X and by the Grok AI chatbot as being among the officers visible in bodycam footage. That footage showed police handcuffing Henry Nowak (an 18-year-old who had been stabbed and was dying) while he repeatedly said he had been stabbed and could not breathe"
"Overall, this reads as a predictable establishment-conservative pushback against the scale of outrage following the Nowak case. It valuably injects nuance and religious-liberty considerations but is vulnerable to the very charges it levels — selective facts in service of a preferred institutionalist narrative."
Link to the article: JD Vance's Britain doesn't exist: The problem is not just the exploitation of a tragedy — it is the fictional picture of Britain that American populists increasingly rely upon.
Fraser Nelson uses the long-form article to gloss over a lot.
"Overall, the article is well-researched on aggregate trends and effectively pushes back against hyperbolic claims of total societal collapse. However, it commits the common error of treating national average crime statistics as a complete refutation of concerns about specific cultural, ethnic, religious, or policy failures in integration, policing impartiality, and social cohesion. These concerns are not fully addressed by noting that murders are low or that Indians as a group have lower arrest rates. The piece is more a polemical defense of a particular worldview than a dispassionate analysis."
Chris Harden seems like one of the better political animals. But, if elected, can he survive DC intact?
"Overall Assessment As of May 2026, shortly after his primary victory, Chris Harden’s reputation is that of an authentic, pragmatic, hometown moderate Democrat with a compelling personal story of overcoming humble beginnings. Democrats and his campaign materials portray him positively as empathetic, hardworking, honest, and results-oriented—an attorney and father who “gets it” and prioritizes practical help for families over national culture-war noise. Criticisms appear limited to intra-primary questions about the sincerity or timing of his Democratic affiliation. He does not appear to have accumulated significant negative baggage or a polarizing reputation. Coverage remains limited because he is a relatively new figure on the broader political stage in a long-shot race."
"The site is effective at what campaign websites are designed to do: build an emotional connection, articulate broad values, drive donations and volunteers, and define the candidate favorably against an implied extremist opponent. It contains no glaring misrepresentations but relies on platitudes, personal storytelling, and partisan framing typical of such materials. Specific policy depth is limited, as is common in early/general-audience campaign communication."
"Bottom Line The author is legitimate and previously wrote authentic columns. However, this specific article shows a clear stylistic shift consistent with heavy or full AI generation, corroborated by both detector tools and in-depth textual forensics. The “quiet grief” it describes now includes the quiet grief many readers feel upon realizing the essay itself may be an optimized simulation of human reflection rather than an unoptimized presence.
The debate continues because the piece is well-crafted and the topic universal, but the evidence tilts strongly toward AI origin."
There are people, I'm not one of them, who think, "Trump is a despicable, disgusting person. Thank God Harris didn't win." I didn't vote for either of them.
"Overall Assessment: The report is a relatively constructive, data-oriented party document that avoids pure denialism and admits execution flaws. It provides useful granular metrics on contacts, spending allocation, and tech performance. However, its partisan lens, focus on delivery over potential ideological or policy mismatches, selective framing of "narrow" losses, and recommendations that largely double down on existing ecosystems limit its diagnostic depth. External critiques (e.g., on omissions around Gaza, Biden approval, or consultant bloat) highlight what it under-emphasizes. It is more a blueprint for renewed investment than a radical rethink. Minor factual slips exist, but the core data tracks with public records; the primary weaknesses are interpretive and structural biases."
"Gallup data from 2024 shows ideological self-identification relatively stable overall: roughly 37% of Americans identify as conservative, 34% as moderate, and 25% as liberal. However, parties have become far more ideologically sorted: a record 77% of Republicans identify as conservative (including 24% “very conservative”), while a record 55% of Democrats identify as liberal (19% “very liberal”). Moderates have declined over decades, and affective polarization (dislike or viewing the other party as immoral or a threat) has reached record highs, with mutual hostility rising sharply since the 1990s and especially the 2010s."
"Water usage in AI data centers is significant, growing rapidly, highly localized in impact, and often more intensive than for traditional computing due to high power densities from GPUs and accelerators. It involves both direct consumption (primarily evaporative cooling to dissipate server heat) and much larger indirect consumption (water used in electricity generation, often 60–80%+ of the total footprint)."
"Data centers generate substantial heat from servers, GPUs, and other IT equipment, with cooling systems historically accounting for 30–55% of total energy consumption (averaging around 40%). As AI and high-performance computing (HPC) drive rack densities from traditional levels (~10–20 kW/rack) to 50–150+ kW/rack or higher, efficient heat removal is critical for reliability, energy costs, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE; ideally approaching 1.0–1.2), and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE).
Common methods include variations of air cooling, evaporative/free cooling, direct-to-chip (D2C) liquid cooling, and immersion cooling (single- or two-phase). Hybrids combining these are increasingly common, and choices depend heavily on location (climate, water availability), scale, workload density, and priorities (cost vs. sustainability). Numbers vary by implementation, but recent analyses (2025–2026) provide benchmarks."
A Colorado governor once told a story about a Texan who had died in Colorado. They couldn't ship him home because they couldn't find a coffin big enough for him. Then, someone gave the corpse an enema, and they shipped him home in a matchbox.
"People outside Texas often perceive Texans as obnoxious primarily due to stereotypes around excessive state pride, loud/boastful personalities, a 'go big' or flashy demeanor, defensiveness toward criticism, and sometimes inconsiderate behavior as tourists or transplants."
"David Attenborough has an exceptionally positive global reputation as one of the most trusted, beloved, and influential broadcasters and naturalists of all time. He is widely viewed as an authoritative yet approachable voice on the natural world, conservation, and (in later decades) environmental crises. In the UK, he is frequently described as a “national treasure,” though he reportedly dislikes the label."
On “Monkey business”
Are you saying that there are no objective morals? And no one has any grounds to criticize cultures that fall short of those morals?
On “Open Thread”
And if Keir puts up a fight about going, we only compound the sick feeling engendered by having had 7 PMs in the last 10 years.
On the other hand, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been in office since 2022. :)
"
LA's mayoral election might have been honest and above board. But I'm left scratching my head and wondering how it would look any different if it weren't.
"
:)
On “What’s wrong with liberalism?”
The two parties make it difficult for third parties to gain ballot access.
On “Open Thread”
I give you today’s Republican Party
Democrat Michael Bennet seems like the best bet.
On “What’s wrong with liberalism?”
I wonder if you know that two police officers have had to go into hiding after Grok wrongly identified them as part of team that handcuffed Henry Nowak?
"Former Hampshire police constable Christi Hill (who left the force in April 2024, well before the December 2025 incident) and another officer, Tristan Parsons (who was abroad at the time), were wrongly identified by users on X and by the Grok AI chatbot as being among the officers visible in bodycam footage. That footage showed police handcuffing Henry Nowak (an 18-year-old who had been stabbed and was dying) while he repeatedly said he had been stabbed and could not breathe"
Validity of Grok Claim
"
Link:
Facts are sidelined in dangerous digital court:Prevailing narrative over Henry Nowak’s murder bears little relation to truth but its inflammatory proponents don’t care
More glossing over by Nelson.
"Overall, this reads as a predictable establishment-conservative pushback against the scale of outrage following the Nowak case. It valuably injects nuance and religious-liberty considerations but is vulnerable to the very charges it levels — selective facts in service of a preferred institutionalist narrative."
Article Summary and Critique
"
Link to the article:
JD Vance's Britain doesn't exist: The problem is not just the exploitation of a tragedy — it is the fictional picture of Britain that American populists increasingly rely upon.
Fraser Nelson uses the long-form article to gloss over a lot.
"Overall, the article is well-researched on aggregate trends and effectively pushes back against hyperbolic claims of total societal collapse. However, it commits the common error of treating national average crime statistics as a complete refutation of concerns about specific cultural, ethnic, religious, or policy failures in integration, policing impartiality, and social cohesion. These concerns are not fully addressed by noting that murders are low or that Indians as a group have lower arrest rates. The piece is more a polemical defense of a particular worldview than a dispassionate analysis."
Article Summary and Critique
On “Open Thread time”
To fill the vacuum...
Chris Harden seems like one of the better political animals. But, if elected, can he survive DC intact?
"Overall Assessment
As of May 2026, shortly after his primary victory, Chris Harden’s reputation is that of an authentic, pragmatic, hometown moderate Democrat with a compelling personal story of overcoming humble beginnings. Democrats and his campaign materials portray him positively as empathetic, hardworking, honest, and results-oriented—an attorney and father who “gets it” and prioritizes practical help for families over national culture-war noise. Criticisms appear limited to intra-primary questions about the sincerity or timing of his Democratic affiliation. He does not appear to have accumulated significant negative baggage or a polarizing reputation. Coverage remains limited because he is a relatively new figure on the broader political stage in a long-shot race."
Chris Harden Reputation
"The site is effective at what campaign websites are designed to do: build an emotional connection, articulate broad values, drive donations and volunteers, and define the candidate favorably against an implied extremist opponent. It contains no glaring misrepresentations but relies on platitudes, personal storytelling, and partisan framing typical of such materials. Specific policy depth is limited, as is common in early/general-audience campaign communication."
Campaign Website Fact Check Analysis
On “The quiet grief of adult friendship”
"Bottom Line
The author is legitimate and previously wrote authentic columns. However, this specific article shows a clear stylistic shift consistent with heavy or full AI generation, corroborated by both detector tools and in-depth textual forensics. The “quiet grief” it describes now includes the quiet grief many readers feel upon realizing the essay itself may be an optimized simulation of human reflection rather than an unoptimized presence.
The debate continues because the piece is well-crafted and the topic universal, but the evidence tilts strongly toward AI origin."
Is the article AI-generated
On “What’s wrong with liberalism?”
There are people, I'm not one of them, who think, "Trump is a despicable, disgusting person. Thank God Harris didn't win." I didn't vote for either of them.
"
possibly related: the evil DNC has released the long-withheld “autopsy”
Here's Grok's 67 cents on it.
"Overall Assessment: The report is a relatively constructive, data-oriented party document that avoids pure denialism and admits execution flaws. It provides useful granular metrics on contacts, spending allocation, and tech performance. However, its partisan lens, focus on delivery over potential ideological or policy mismatches, selective framing of "narrow" losses, and recommendations that largely double down on existing ecosystems limit its diagnostic depth. External critiques (e.g., on omissions around Gaza, Biden approval, or consultant bloat) highlight what it under-emphasizes. It is more a blueprint for renewed investment than a radical rethink. Minor factual slips exist, but the core data tracks with public records; the primary weaknesses are interpretive and structural biases."
Democratic Report Analysis
"
"Gallup data from 2024 shows ideological self-identification relatively stable overall: roughly 37% of Americans identify as conservative, 34% as moderate, and 25% as liberal. However, parties have become far more ideologically sorted: a record 77% of Republicans identify as conservative (including 24% “very conservative”), while a record 55% of Democrats identify as liberal (19% “very liberal”). Moderates have declined over decades, and affective polarization (dislike or viewing the other party as immoral or a threat) has reached record highs, with mutual hostility rising sharply since the 1990s and especially the 2010s."
US Political Ideology Evolution
On “Open Thread time”
"Water usage in AI data centers is significant, growing rapidly, highly localized in impact, and often more intensive than for traditional computing due to high power densities from GPUs and accelerators. It involves both direct consumption (primarily evaporative cooling to dissipate server heat) and much larger indirect consumption (water used in electricity generation, often 60–80%+ of the total footprint)."
AI Data Center Water
"
"Data centers generate substantial heat from servers, GPUs, and other IT equipment, with cooling systems historically accounting for 30–55% of total energy consumption (averaging around 40%). As AI and high-performance computing (HPC) drive rack densities from traditional levels (~10–20 kW/rack) to 50–150+ kW/rack or higher, efficient heat removal is critical for reliability, energy costs, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE; ideally approaching 1.0–1.2), and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE).
Common methods include variations of air cooling, evaporative/free cooling, direct-to-chip (D2C) liquid cooling, and immersion cooling (single- or two-phase). Hybrids combining these are increasingly common, and choices depend heavily on location (climate, water availability), scale, workload density, and priorities (cost vs. sustainability). Numbers vary by implementation, but recent analyses (2025–2026) provide benchmarks."
Data Center Cooling Methods
"
Texas?
A Colorado governor once told a story about a Texan who had died in Colorado. They couldn't ship him home because they couldn't find a coffin big enough for him. Then, someone gave the corpse an enema, and they shipped him home in a matchbox.
"People outside Texas often perceive Texans as obnoxious primarily due to stereotypes around excessive state pride, loud/boastful personalities, a 'go big' or flashy demeanor, defensiveness toward criticism, and sometimes inconsiderate behavior as tourists or transplants."
Perceptions of Texas and Texans
"
Grok has good words.
"David Attenborough has an exceptionally positive global reputation as one of the most trusted, beloved, and influential broadcasters and naturalists of all time. He is widely viewed as an authoritative yet approachable voice on the natural world, conservation, and (in later decades) environmental crises. In the UK, he is frequently described as a “national treasure,” though he reportedly dislikes the label."
David Attenborough's Reputation
"
:)
"
"And then Starlink renamed itself Skynet."
Musk and others plan to put AI data centers in space.
"
Train locomotives have been used as an emergency power source.
"
...
On “It’s funny what gets left out”
What Americans really think about political violence
Poll: More Americans now agree political violence may be necessary to right the country
On “It’s a beautiful day to save lives”
Discussion on "ChatGPT For Clinicians" and other AI medical applications.
OpenAI Releases ChatGPT For Clinicians
On “Just call me Laocoön”
Corrected link.
UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.