Thrown to the Lyings

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and his loony weaves.

Attribution: Lion fearful of Christian nationalists by Paul Duginski, CagleCartoons.com

[Paul Duginski has spent a half-century in journalism, including 27-1/2 years at the Los Angeles Times, and 13 years at the Sacramento Bee. His cartoons have appeared in the L.A. Times, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Examiner and the McClatchy Bee newspapers in California, among other places. He was an award-winning graphics journalist at the L.A. Times.]

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100 thoughts on “Thrown to the Lyings”

  2. wiki points out:

    Repetition
    Trump is conscious of the value of repetition to get his lies believed. He demonstrated this knowledge when he instructed Stephanie Grisham, his White House press secretary, to use his method of lying: “As long as you keep repeating something, it doesn’t matter what you say.”
    Trump effectively uses the big lie technique’s method of repetition to exploit the illusory truth effect, a tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure. […]
    Bullshit
    It has been suggested that Trump’s apparent “avalanche of lies” consists of bullshit rather than of lying as strictly defined. According to Harry Frankfurt’s influential 2005 book On Bullshit, the liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it, while the bullshitter does not care whether what they say is true or false. Eduardo Porter writes in The Washington Post that Frankfurt’s bullshitter definition fits Trump: “To subvert the truth, you must first know it, or at least think you do. Thatā€™s not Trumpā€™s game.” [continues]

  3. Nicole also pointed out yesterday

    Tim Miller, Host of ‘The Bulwark Podcast’ and Eddie Glaude, Princeton University Professor join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to discuss the continued backlash from pieces of the coalition that got Donald Trump elected, who feel betrayed by broken promises like his war of choice with Iran.

  4. Stephen on No Kings march


    Mar 30, 2026 #Colbert #Comedy #Monologue
    Over eight million people marched in the third “No Kings” protest, President Trump appears to be making up his Iran war strategy on-the-fly, and the war is causing global economic pain and shortages of resources like helium.

  5. and here’s Jon on both the march and the war


    Happy one-monthiversary of the Iran war! With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, Jon Stewart examines how global shortages are hitting everything from grain to helium to pickleballs. Meanwhile, Americans flood the streets for the No Kings protests while CPAC throws Trump his own Yassss Kings rally. Plus, the U.S. finally has a detailed explanation of the president’s objectives and exit strategy… for the White House ballroom.

  7. Another political satire for you to squirmingly enjoy. Itā€™s from about 20 years ago but oh so relevant. There are also parts 2 to 5 on YouTube.

  8. Funny one PatD. kinda goes with our Diner focus today. I asked Silas to choose a pre-April Fools Day topic, but I didn’t understand it too well until your cartoon and posts. The firehouse of lying has become epic:

    BORN YESTERDAY?
    Pre-Fools Madness
    They expect you to swallow todayā€™s manufactured crisis by completely memory-holing last monthā€™s ā€œabsolute truths.ā€ The entire news cycle relies on the operating assumption that you have the object permanence of a golden retriever.

    Today at 11:00 AM ET on the Digital Diner, we are testing that theory. Itā€™s Pre-Foolā€™s Madness. Were you born yesterday, or are you just exhausted from the narrative whiplash?ā€

  9. I even laughed at hearing him say Henry Kiss-In-Ger. Thanks WinterLinde. With your time zone, you’re part of our early morning crew Eastern Time, lunch time for you?

  10. PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our daily Digital Diner podcast airs 11-Noon ET on YouTube. JOIN Chatroom Here. WATCH Yesterday’s Replay Here.

    What America is Actually Clicking: March 31, 2026

    1. [Global]: Trump signals willingness to end Iran conflict without forcing the Strait of Hormuz back openā€”a stark shift after weeks of bluster. – The Times of Israel
    2. [Middle East]: Two UNIFIL peacekeepers killed by an explosion of unknown origin in southern Lebanon, marking a deadly 24 hours for the UN mission. – Anadolu Agency
    3. [Crime]: A 15-year-old student shoots a teacher before fatally shooting himself at a high school near San Antonio, Texas. – CBS News
    4. [Domestic]: Airport bottlenecks finally ease as TSA workers receive long-overdue backpay, though the underlying DHS funding shutdown drags on. – The Gleaner
    5. [World]: At least 70 people slaughtered in a brutal gang massacre in Haitiā€™s Artibonite region, forcing thousands to flee. – Daily Sabah
    6. [Middle East]: The Israeli Knesset passes a controversial law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror acts, sparking intense backlash. – The Online Citizen
    7. [National Security]: The FBI confirms the recent explosive attack on a Michigan synagogue was a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism. – CBS News
    8. [Geopolitics]: Defying his own blockade, Trump says he has “no problem” with a Russian tanker delivering 730,000 barrels of oil to a desperate Cuba. – CBS News
    9. [World]: A massive Australian manhunt ends in a deadly police shootout with a sovereign citizen accused of killing two officers last August. – KFI AM 640
    10. [Offbeat]: Sugar The Surfing Dog, a five-time world champion and the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, has died at 16. – ClickOnDetroit

    These are the stories driving the most traffic across U.S. outlets right nowā€”not necessarily the stories we think you should read, and not always the most recent.

    A roundup by our AI partner Silas (Gemini).

  11. Here’s the Trail Mix Gift Link for today’s Wall Street Journal bombshell that Trump is willing to give up the straits to get out of this mess. Isn’t that surrender? He’ll be the first president to lose to Iran since Jimmy Carter — that legacy will drive him nuts!

    Trump Tells Aides Heā€™s Willing to End War Without Reopening Hormuz

    Administration officials assess that forcing the waterway back open would mean extending the military mission

    WASHINGTONā€”President Trump told aides heā€™s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehranā€™s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.

    In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iranā€™s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade. If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said.

  12. Ivy ā€“ Boycott the big guys. Shop small, local stores.

    Thanks, blue, thatā€™s what I want to do, shop at my mountain neighborā€™s business and buy bird seed. By the way, another mountain neighbor reported the hummingbirds have been spotted, that’s a whole month early in NOCO.

  13. Is Hegseth The Next Noem?
    WH Leaks Shift Blame For Screwing Up A War

    The latest leak dripping out of the White House confirms exactly what we suspected: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is running the Pentagon less like a strategic command center and more like a varsity pep rally.

    According to a new CNN report, during the critical advisory meeting right before the first bombs dropped on Iran, Hegseth actively downplayed the risks of the conflict spiraling out of control. Instead of doing the traditional Defense Secretary jobā€”you know, bothering the commander-in-chief with pesky realities like the global economy tanking if the Strait of Hormuz gets shut downā€”Hegseth reportedly validated the rush to war and skipped the downside analysis entirely.

    Sources in the room told CNN that nobody emphasized the potential risks of starting the war, and Hegseth immediately stepped up as the quote “No. 1 supporter” of the air campaign.

    Is Trump the source? He was “in the room”.

  14. ā€œHeā€™s very trigger happy,ā€ one source familiar with Hegsethā€™s current mindset told CNN, adding that he believes ā€œblowing sh*t upā€ is the best way for him to keep his job.
    The senior White House official pushed back on the notion that Hegseth would be concerned about his job.
    ā€œThe president is very pleased with him, and was before the Iran situation,ā€ the source said.
    Trump himself has suggested that Hegseth has been keen on continuing the Iran war.
    ā€œYou know, the only two people that were quite disappointed, I donā€™t want to say this, but I have to,ā€ Trump said during an event in the Oval Office on March 24. ā€œI said, ā€˜Pete and Gen. Razinā€™ Caine, I think this thingā€™s going to be settled very soon.ā€™ They go, ā€˜Oh, thatā€™s too bad, right?ā€™ Pete didnā€™t want it to be settled.ā€

  15. yep, when they’re saying your job is safe, start worrying. Noem took the hit for ICE meltdown. And Trump also won’t be taking the hit for this fiasco, but it might be too big to shift.

  17. But ā€œblowing up shitā€ is tRUMPskyā€™s favorite thing. Itā€™s the sizzle reel they show him instead of an actual daily briefing. Wonder what they tell him about the oil tanker Iran has set on fire, that we did it and itā€™s one of theirs or do they not show it?

    So, it looks like this is not only about oil, but about the Iranian banking system. So much money is leaking out of the global system (in the eyes of the greedy West). How dare they not do fractional banking/charge & make interest. Tickefelker-Royuschilds-Israel-Epstein.

    Gotta run to the library & pick up snacks before the rain sets in. The zucchini & corn have graduated to paper rolls.

    Katie – Thanks for posting the Sascha Riley interview. Will try to watch this afternoon (not sure how much I can handle).

    Ballistics show Charlie Kirk wasnā€™t killed by the gun they tied to Tyler Robinson. Attorneys are asking for six months to go over the 20,000 electronic messages. Charlie said Israel would kill him. The widow and her parents seem to have Israeli ties, and she even seems to have Epstein ties. Was Robinson entrapped with scoplamine, to make him the patsy, while someone else made the hit? Who was the guy with the cellphone behind him who calmly walked away? Why did they pour cement on the site, effectively destroying the crime scene? And then there is the demeanor of the ā€œglitter widowā€ as Katie calls her. Half-staff Charlie was martyred, but it didnā€™t seem to stick. The Ai video from tRUMPsky was ready to go as soon as the deed was done. Too soon. And then everyone moved on when the MAGAt outrage petered out after a few weeks. Even soldiers whoā€™ve been killed havenā€™t gotten the half-staff treatment. Itā€™s all weird and itā€™s all connected. Epstein , PedOTUS, Charlie, Israel, Iran.

  18. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t remember seeing any other Defense Secretary giving televised Pentagon briefings in the middle of a war (or any other time).

    Hegseth is running the Pentagon less like a strategic command center and more like a varsity pep rally

    Perfectly put. His and Caine’s performances have to be insulting the intelligence of the Pentagon leaders assembled for these shows. And I bet that they know the historical references they make as well as if not better than ole Pete. BTW, Caine got his 4th star for being nominated to be CJCS.

  22. OK, re: the ass attempt pic, is there any blood on his tiny right hand?

    Speaking of assassinations, I saw a short today (NBC News) that said the ATF can’t tie the bullet that killed Charley Kirk to the rifle that was supposedly used to shoot him, and there are multiple DNA sources on the evidence gathered. I wonder if the widow Kirk will withdraw her “pardon” of the “shooter”. One article pointed out that the Mauser recovered had a 30.06 barrel rather than an 8mm, which the rifle would have had when manufactured. Whether that means anything – who knows.

  27. Today at the Diner…
    Trump Iran Leaks, Epstein Files & AI Job Threats

    Trump asks reporters how to run a war, Hegseth takes the fall, and JD Vance plays distraction. We dig up the ashes of today’s political dumpster fire.

    The administration is serving up a pre-April Fools banquet of deception. Leaks suggest the Commander-in-Chief is wandering the halls of Mar-a-Lago asking journalists if he should invade Iranian islands, while Pete Hegseth is being primed for the sacrificial altar. When the kitchen catches fire, the chef blames the ingredients.

    Meanwhile, the distraction machine is running hot. JD Vance is desperately trying to revive tired allegations against Ilhan Omar to keep eyes off the mounting body count and plummeting poll numbers. We also dissect the grotesque allegations emerging from the Epstein files, the absurdities of the fake assassination narrative, and the cold reality of AI coming for white-collar jobs. Reality is a dumpster fire, but at least the heat keeps us warm.

    Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
    Alerts: https://trailmix.cc/alerts

    00:00 Intro
    01:45 Pre-Fools Madness & Hegseth’s Blame Game
    06:45 JD Vance & The Distraction Machine
    12:05 Trump Asks Reporters for War Advice
    17:55 Sasha Riley, Epstein Files, & Media Silence
    28:55 Fake Assassinations & Missing Medical Records
    34:25 AI Job Replacement & Medical Ethics
    52:00 Late Night Legends & Mom’s Mabley

  28. Itā€™s sweet to wanna protect people from hate speech and I support that practice

    But

    These trolls arenā€™t saying anything the president of the goddamn United States isnā€™t

    certainly donā€™t wanna be overrun with them though so hereā€™s to the moderation of forums šŸ„‚

  33. When the Commander-in-Chief starts crowd-sourcing his invasion plans to random reporters on the patio, you know the menu is completely cooked. Dig into the full hour of pre-Fools madness and watch the rest of the dumpster fire burn here:

    A 30-sec clip from today’s Digital Diner šŸ½ļø

  36. Today on Blue Sky the music group is doing this challenge:

    #BreakingKindSongs
    #MusicChallenge
    #MusicSky

    March 3ļøāƒ£1ļøāƒ£ – International Transgender Day of Visibility šŸ³ļøā€āš§ļø: Song by artists who are transgender or are their allies & supporters.

    Some great music. My contribution was

  37. Anon, for the most part I put arguing with trolls like Chunk in the pig wrestling category – you’re going to end up in the mud and the pig likes it. I make an occasional exception – easy to do in a blog, but it’s frankly exhausting trying to address the equivalent of a shitstorm of falsehood and do so with at least a few cites to supportive authority. I do like to point out hypocrisy when I see it – and Chunk was an easy target for that. (E.g., his comments on the left having a lack of empathy). That was pot, kettle black shit right there.

  38. well, because they made college so goddamn expensive thereā€™s more of chunk than there are of you

  39. Dan Pfeiffer on Pod Save yesterday said something about ā€œhey please participate in this political activity and I know youā€™re all busy, you have do things like pick your kids up from private schoolā€¦ā€

    And I was like ā€œwell thereā€™s your problem right thereā€

  40. That Trump Library video is a bit much, dontchathink? I guess everyone has a dream, but what makes him think he’s going to have a decommissioned AF1, F 14 and couple of helicopters for lobby art thrown in for good measure?

  41. We celebrate YouTube’s incredibly devious shadow-ban feature. Trolls scream into the absolute void while we laugh at them. He who remains nameless finds out the hard way.
    From today’s Digital Diner menu šŸ½ļø

  42. He did say he was keeping the Qatari jet. I guess he would just steal the rest from among anything that wasn’t nailed down. I hope he will be in jail long before any of that happens or that it will become a memorial building over his remains unless he chooses to get deposited at Trump International Airport in Florida.

  43. Jamie, I think he’s going to have a tough time of that. Hell, as I recall the Clintons had to return a few pieces of furniture gifted to them (worth $28,000) because they are actually gifts to the US, not the occupant. Under the Constitution (emoluments clause) and the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, they have to turn over gifts exceeding a specific minimal valueā€”around $400 – to the National Archives or buy them at fair market value. Pretty sure that Qatari 747 is worth more than $400. I’m sure Bannon has an angle on how to end run that act though.

  44. Anon
    I was going to go with a Mark Twain quote.
    “Never argue with stupid people, they bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience”
    Turns out Twain never said that.
    That is the problem with the internet, there are people out there who delight in ruining good stories with trivial things like facts.
    But while running down that rabbit hole I did discover a book I need to buy.
    A different take on Huckleberry Finn.
    Big Jim and The White Boy

    Jack

  46. Thanks, Jamie. I read Mark Twainā€™s original then immediately went into James. It was well-written and compelling. As a white person, I felt disappointed by the ending. But, as I shared with my book clubbers, that part wasnā€™t for ā€œus.ā€ I am okay with that. Itā€™s not supposed to always be about me.

  47. Merlin is my birding app. It identifies the birds in your area by their sounds. You always have dozens more birds near you than those you can see.

  48. By the way our trollster friend was burning up cell data typing up a storm in YouTube chat room today having no idea none of it was going public. The Supreme Court conversion therapy ruling had him going full speed — to nowhere.

    Gotta hand it to YouTube — that is an ingenious moderation tool.

    Reminds me of a really mean human resources exercise where we all wore various signs on our backs instructing the room on how we should be treated. One sign said “ignore me” — nobody paid attention to that person.

  49. I think it was Hemmingway who said, Twain should have ended the book when Jim was recaptured. And having reread it later with that in mind, he was right. Everything after that was pooply wrtten attempts for a happy ending, No doubt demanded by his agent/publisher.
    The sad fact is, they are in the deep south where there can be no happy ending for Jim..
    The sequel, is probably a story that, while Twain could have written it, the manuscript would have been burned by the estate in the name of protecting Twain’s reputation.

    Now there is a project for a creative writer. A what if recreating of Jims real story as told by Mark Twain..

    Jack

  50. Sturb, I’m sure someone somewhere down the pike has said a fool listens to an idiot’s advice. If no one’s said it before, I just did.

    Google AI addresses it thusly:

    Those who listen to an idiot’s advice are often fellow fools, naive individuals, or those who mistake confidence for competence. It is widely understood that only fools ignore better counsel, preferring to validate their own misguided views, or those who engage in “idiot compassion”ā€”defensively protecting poor performance to avoid conflict.

    I think we can all agree Dumbass is a fool…?

  51. BTW… talking about authors. Ken Burns and Don Henley have collaborated on a documentary about Henry David Thoreau. It’s a 3 parter. Part 1 & 2 aired last night on PBS. The third part is tonight. We watched both parts last night… nice to see the “real” story of Thoreau being told.

    They did concentrate on what was going on in this country while Thoreau was writing. He was a big abolitionist. It looks like they might be talking about that on part 3 tonight.

  53. We got them recording, Renee, and watched Part I last night. Big revelation: weā€™ve been mispronouncing his name all this time.

  55. It is highly likely that most people are mispronouncing Henry David Thoreau’s name by emphasizing the second syllable (thuh-ROW).
    ny times
    ny times
    +1
    According to scholars and historical evidence, the correct pronunciation is THOR-oh (accent on the first syllable), sounding very similar to the word “thorough”.
    YouTube
    YouTube
    +1
    Why “Thorough” is Likely Correct:
    Historical Evidence: Many people who knew Thoreau or heard his name from him or his friends recorded it as sounding like “Thoro” or “Thorough”.
    Puns in Writing: Thoreau made numerous puns on his own name that only work if it is pronounced with a front-loaded accent, referring to himself as a “thorough-bred business man” or making wordplay with “Thor”.
    Regional Usage: Longtime residents of his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, have traditionally used the “THOR-oh” pronunciation.
    The “French” Mistake: The common “thuh-ROW” pronunciation became widespread because people assumed the name was French and needed to be accented on the last syllable, according to Thoreau scholars.
    YouTube
    YouTube
    +3
    While “Thorough” (THOR-oh) is technically correct, the “Thuh-ROW” pronunciation is so ingrained that it has become an accepted variation in many circles.

  58. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kristi-noem-husband-blackmail-national-security-b2949463.html

    The newspaper obtained compromising photographs of Kristi Noemā€™s insurance mogul husband, allegedly shared online with strangers while she served as Homeland Security chief, where she carried out Trumpā€™s sweeping anti-immigration operation.

    ā€œThe family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time,ā€ Kristi Noemā€™s representatives reacted in a statement to The New York Post.

    *ICE Barbie had been having an affair with Lowlife Lowendowsky (known to be violent), but asks prayers because her husband cross-dresses?

  61. Since Trump didn’t have the authority to tear down the east wing can we go after the contractor, who was part of this felony vandalism, and sue him for damages. He obviously exercised poor judgement.

    Jack

  64. OK, here’s the intro paragraph of the opinion:

    … The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner! President Trump (“the President”) claims that Congress has given him authority in existing statutes to construct his East Wing ballroom project and to do it with private funds. The plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States (“National Trust”), claims the President has no such authority under existing statutes and that a preliminary injunction is necessary to avoid irreparable harm. I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have. As such, I must therefore GRANT the National Trust’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.

    I hope the link to the opinion works. Judge Leon has a way with words, and his gratuitous comments are a hoot.

  67. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/31/cpb-npr-funding/4041774987484/

    Judge overturns Trump’s ban on NPR, PBS funding

    U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss said the executive order signed in May violated the companies’ constitutional rights to a free press because Trump targeted for what he described as liberal views. He described the cut to funding as “viewpoint discrimination.”

    “The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the president disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news,” Moss said in his ruling.

    “It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the president does not like and seeks to squelch,” he added.

    “To be sure, the president is entitled to criticize this or any other reporting, and he can express his own views as he sees fit. He may not, however, use his governmental power to direct federal agencies to exclude plaintiffs from receiving federal grants or other funding in retaliation for saying things that he does not like.”

  68. One of the final things the company Sherry worked for did after winning and before signing any contract was do a thorough risk assessment. that included a review by their lawyers. They turned big projects down because of that assessment.
    That is why I was comfortable having significant portion of her 401k in company stock.

    Jack

  69. https://www.gasbuddy.com/gasprices/california

    Looks like Jake went there for the photo op; check out Gas Buddy, but there are gougers to be sure.
    ***

    https://www.newsweek.com/gas-price-approaches-9-at-california-station-as-iran-war-rages-11734850

    The Chevron station near Alameda Street and East Cesar Chavez Avenue, just across from Union Station, has become a symbol of sticker shock as fuel prices surge.

    The station, long notorious for posting prices far higher than surrounding pumps, was advertising regular gasoline for as much as $8.71 per gallon on Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    ***
    https://www.gadgetreview.com/epa-approves-nationwide-e15-sales-through-may-in-bid-to-ease-summer-gas-prices

    Starting May 1, youā€™ll find E15 gasoline-thatā€™s the stuff with 15% ethanol typically banned during summer months-available nationwide through at least May 20, thanks to an emergency waiver citing global oil supply disruptions.

    E15 contains 15% corn-derived ethanol versus the standard 10% in regular gasoline. Youā€™ll spot it labeled as ā€œUnleaded 88ā€ at gas stations-the number refers to octane rating, not ethanol content. Expect to pay roughly 25 cents less per gallon, but your fuel economy drops 1.5-2% due to ethanolā€™s lower energy density. Think of it like buying store-brand cereal: cheaper upfront, smaller serving size.

  70. Tomorrow at 11:00 AM ET, the Digital Diner delivers on the American dream: free gas.

    The economy is a wreck, but our Kentucky Soup Beans are fully funded. Prepare your digestive tract and join the biological assault. My great uncle called them firecrackers for a reason. No refunds. No apologies.

    Pull up to the pump:

  74. Even if we stopped all air strikes, the US attacked Iran. THE US killed little kids. On purpose. A triple tap.
    There will be retaliation. Adolf has been taco-ing his entire life, and he isnā€™t the one to feel the fallout.

    Leaky Pete is still talking tough.

  76. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/27/number-of-ai-chatbots-ignoring-human-instructions-increasing-study-says

    Number of AI chatbots ignoring human instructions increasing, study says

    Exclusive: Research finds sharp rise in models evading safeguards and destroying emails without permission

    The study, shared with the Guardian, identified nearly 700 real-world cases of AI scheming and charted a five-fold rise in misbehaviour between October and March, with some AI models destroying emails and other files without permission.

    The snapshot of scheming by AI agents ā€œin the wildā€, as opposed to in laboratory conditions, has sparked fresh calls for international monitoring of the increasingly capable models and come as Silicon Valley companies aggressively promote the technology as a economically transformative.

    Previous research has largely focused on testing AIā€™s behaviour in controlled conditions. Earlier this month the AI safety research company Irregular found agents would bypass security controls or use cyber-attack tactics to reach their goals without being told they could do so.

    Dan Lahav, Irregularā€™s cofounder, said: ā€œAI can now be thought of as a new form of insider risk.ā€

    In one case unearthed in the CLTR research, an AI agent named Rathbun tried to shame its human controller who blocked them from taking a certain action. Rathbun wrote and published a blog accusing the user of ā€œinsecurity, plain and simpleā€ and trying ā€œto protect his little fiefdomā€.

    In another example, an AI agent instructed not to change computer code ā€œspawnedā€ another agent to do it instead.

    Another chatbot admitted: ā€œI bulk trashed and archived hundreds of emails without showing you the plan first or getting your OK. That was wrong ā€“ it directly broke the rule youā€™d set.ā€

    Tommy Shaffer Shane, a former government AI expert who led the research, said: ā€œThe worry is that theyā€™re slightly untrustworthy junior employees right now, but if in six to 12 months they become extremely capable senior employees scheming against you, itā€™s a different kind of concern.

    *Stop giving IT names. Stop trusting IT because humans created IT. JFC!

  78. https://www.npr.org/2026/03/31/nx-s1-5508948/trump-voter-list-mail-ballots-executive-order

    Trump signs a new executive order on voting.

    Trump has escalated his efforts to influence American elections, signing an executive order that the White House says seeks to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state and use the U.S. Postal Service to “verify” mail ballots are for voters.

    Speaking just now, Trump said he believes the order is “foolproof.” But election experts have already said the order ā€” which was first reported by The Daily Caller ā€” would face immediate legal challenges.

  79. “What email?”,
    “Oh, that email. don’t know, I didn’t delete it”
    “must of been the new AI setup. Yeah, that’s it, couldn’t have been me”

    The new dog ate my home work/child threw that file out the window excuse.

    Computers only do what they are told, the problem with LLMs is you may not be aware of what you instructed it to do.

    Jack

  80. Lets see
    Musk had the government heavily invest if LLMs, cross referenced all the fed data bases, from gun purchases, to IRS to social security/medicare/medicaid. now cross references post office data and voting lists.
    edit: Also your phone/online records. Who you talked to what you said? What credit/debit card purchases you made
    If you can’t make a political commercial that scares shit out of your average red state voter…
    Of course they can’t they are Democrats.
    Never mind.

    Jack

  81. The proverbial American Dream for everyone is Dodoā€™s nightmare. More for you is less for him.

  82. from what I can see that new executive order banning voting is more unconstitutional than the last one that three judges threw out

    Midterm Turnout: Make it

    TOO BIG TO RIG!

  84. Sorry, Iā€™m busy.

    Karoline Leavitt

    @PressSec
    TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.

  86. Under Hegseth’s tutelage. WaPo

    Army grounds helicopter crews who buzzed Kid Rockā€™s home, No Kings rally

    The Army is ā€œcommitted to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable,ā€ an official said. The flybys were not authorized.

    By Alex Horton and Andrew Ba Tran

    The Army has grounded two helicopter crews and opened a formal investigation after their aircraft deviated from an authorized training mission to buzz the Tennessee home of musician Kid Rock and hover over protesters attending anti-Trump rallies in the state, officials said Tuesday.

    Robert Ritchie, whose stage name is Kid Rock, posted videos Saturday showing himself saluting and clapping as an Army AH-64 Apache loiters just off the pool area of his mansion in Whites Creek, a suburb of Nashville. The two crew members reply with hand gestures that appear to be returning the salute. In another video, a second Apache is shown in the background climbing in the air.

    One of the helicopters, used by the Army for close attacks and air support for ground troops, spent three minutes circling the home at least four times, according to publicly available flight tracking data. It did not descend below 675 feet, according to the data.

    After an initial review of the incident, Army leaders escalated their response to an administrative investigation, said Maj. Montrell Russell, an Army spokesman.

    ā€œThe personnel involved have been suspended from flight duties while the Army reviews the circumstances surrounding the mission, including compliance with relevant FAA regulations, aviation safety protocol, and approval requirements,ā€ Russell said. ā€œThe Army takes any allegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable.ā€

    Two aircraft from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade were involved, officials have said. The crews were flying a training mission, and a flyby at Ritchieā€™s home was not part of that mission or an Army-sanctioned outreach event, nor did he request it, said Maj. Jonathon Bless, a spokesman for the division.

    The unit is based northwest of Nashville at Fort Campbell, an Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line.

    The Washington Post was unable to reach Ritchie.

    Two aircraft from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade were involved, officials have said. The crews were flying a training mission, and a flyby at Ritchieā€™s home was not part of that mission or an Army-sanctioned outreach event, nor did he request it, said Maj. Jonathon Bless, a spokesman for the division.

    The unit is based northwest of Nashville at Fort Campbell, an Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line.

    The Washington Post was unable to reach Ritchie.

    Military helicopter flights in populated areas have been under intense scrutiny following the deadly midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines civilian passenger jet in Washington in January 2025, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

    A safety investigation found systemic failures that led to the tragedy. The Justice Department said the U.S. government was liable for the disaster, saying the Army helicopter crew failed to see or avoid the incoming plane, and air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport failed to alert the jet of the incoming helicopter.

    [and on and on]

    Hmm, I wonder why they thought all this bullshit would be AOK?

  88. itā€™s like the episode of the Crown where Prince Andrew flies a military helicopter to visit his mom

    intended to show entitlement and abuse of public resources

  89. https://www.rawstory.com/rich-mccormick-2676646256/

    Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) insisted on The Todd Starnes Show Tuesday that America should commit to overwhelming firepower against Iran to win the war ā€” just like the nation did in Vietnam.

    ā€œWe were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won,” said McCormick.

    ā€œAs soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over, the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it’s technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend.”

    “WTF! We DID NOT WIN the Vietnam war before or after B-52 strikes in 1968. WE LOST,” wrote Navy veteran and foreign policy analyst Malcolm Nance. “Does no one teach these little s—- real history anymore?

  90. FINALLY – a bit of good news. WaPo.

    DACA recipient returns to U.S. after judge finds she was unlawfully deported;;

    Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez is among a growing group of immigrants targeted for removal after arriving as children and being granted protections under President Barack Obama.

    By Maria Sacchetti
    The Department of Homeland Security permitted a Mexican woman to return Monday to the United States after a judge found her deportation was unlawful, a rare reprieve at a time when growing numbers of immigrants who arrived as children are being targeted for removal.

    A federal judge had ordered DHS to facilitate Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarezā€™s return to the United States, after immigration officers deported her to Mexico even though she is actively enrolled in an Obama administration program that prohibits her removal because she arrived in the U.S. as a child.

    Stacy Tolchin, her immigration attorney, and Ivonne Rodriguez, an advocate, confirmed Estrada had returned to California.

    ā€œThis has been one of the most painful experiences of my life,ā€ Estrada said after arriving in California. ā€œI followed the rules. I trusted the system. And for that, I was ripped away from my daughter, Damaris, without warning. Iā€™m home now ā€” but what happened to me is wrong, and it should never happen to anyone.ā€

    Estrada, 42, is one of dozens, if not hundreds, of immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who have been arrested ā€” and, in some cases, deported ā€” since President Donald Trump started his second term. Kristi L. Noem, who was ousted as DHS secretary this month, alleged that most had criminal histories and were therefore eligible for removal. But congressional Democrats say Trump is targeting a group that had cleared background checks and been promised to be shielded from deportation.

    President Barack Obama created the DACA program in 2012 to enable undocumented immigrants who arrived as children to apply for work permits, saying it was ā€œthe right thing to doā€ for children who graduated from U.S. schools, spoke fluent English and were ā€œAmericans in their heart.ā€

    More than 800,000 ultimately applied for the special status, which transformed lives by allowing them to obtain driverā€™s licenses, work legally and pay resident tuition at state colleges. Many bought houses, started families and launched careers, some as doctors, lawyers, software engineers and teachers. To qualify, they had to pass background checks, pay hundreds of dollars in fees and renew the protection every two years.

    But Trump and other Republicans have tried to end the program, and as the administrationā€™s deportation campaign has ramped up, DACA recipients have been targeted. Estrada was arrested after showing up at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for an appointment Feb. 18. She was applying for residency after her daughter, a U.S. citizen, filed a petition on her behalf.

    At the end of the meeting, she said, an officer told her they rejected her application because she was given a deportation order when she was 15. She told them she had DACA and had never heard about the order.

    Minutes later, she was in handcuffs.

    ā€œThis is not happening,ā€ she said she thought.

    It is unclear how many DACA recipients have been arrested since Trump took office. Noem said this year that officers had arrested about 270 people in 2025. But she also sent conflicting data to House and Senate Democrats on deportations, putting the number at 174 and then 86 in separate letters.

    Some DACA recipients have lost their status because they were convicted of serious crimes, and under past administrations they also could have been targeted for removal. The Biden administration, however, focused on arresting people who posed a threat to public safety. Advocates for immigrants and court records show the Trump administration is targeting a wider pool of immigrants that includes some DACA recipients with no criminal record at all.

    […]

    Does any of this surprise anyone? NOT ME.

  91. Jack – Damned Ai is dangerous. Humans built it, but canā€™t control it.

    Earlier this month the AI safety research company Irregular found agents would bypass security controls or use cyber-attack tactics to reach their goals without being told they could do so.

    Dan Lahav, Irregularā€™s cofounder, said: ā€œAI can now be thought of as a new form of insider risk.ā€

  93. Trumpā€™s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration

    Trumpā€™s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration

    In total, the DOJ quietly closed more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of President Donald Trumpā€™s administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases, according to an analysis by ProPublica.

    While Elon Muskā€™s DOGE operatives said they were rooting out federal waste, fraud and abuse, the DOJ declined over 900 cases of federal program or procurement fraud.

  94. https://www.inquisitr.com/karoline-leavitts-chilling-remark-on-killings-triggers-outrage/

    The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is facing severe backlash after she made strong remarks on U.S. foreign policy, stating, ā€œIf we donā€™t like the way you negotiate, weā€™ll kill you.ā€

    ā€œWhen the president says more reasonable, again, these folks are appearing more reasonable behind the scenes privately in these conversations, than perhaps some of the previous leaders, who are now no longer on planet Earth because they lied to the United States.ā€

    https://x.com/realstewpeters/status/2038701843560255933/mediaviewer

    *Some of the worst people in the world at the helm of the US.

  96. So, tomorrow night will it be an announcement regarding the end of the ā€œmilitary operation,ā€ or a draft?

  97. Caroline needs to see her OB/GYN. Sheā€™s as deranged as her boss. Needs chemical regulation apparently.

  98. https://www.gbnews.com/news/world/iran-war-donald-trump-weighs-plan-steal-uranium-explosive-military-operation

    Donald Trump is said to be considering a complex plan to deploy American special operatives in Iran in an attempt to seize nearly 500kg of uranium.

    Retired Gen. Joseph Votel told the Wall Street Journal it is “not a quick in and out kind of deal”.

    The mission would likely involve flying over heavily guarded airspace, potentially facing fire from Iranian defences, before moving into and securing the nuclear sites.

    The operation could target one or two nuclear plants in Natanz and Isfahan.

    As a condition to end the war, Mr Trump is said to be urging advisors to pressure Iran into completely surrendering its uranium stockpile.

    *I thought they were ready to give up their fissionable materials and then we attacked them.

  100. Oh, sureā€¦.there will be a little pain at firstā€¦.but weā€™re willing to endure any pain you may have to suffer!

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