88 thoughts on “SELF-DELUSION”

  1. Self-policing will not protect us from AI
    Trump’s new scheme relies on the dubious morality of the tech titans
    by David Horsey
    We have the Food and Drug Administration to make sure the food we eat and the medicines we use do not make us sick or kill us.
    We have the Environmental Protection Agency to stop polluters from fouling our water and making the air we breathe toxic.
    We have the Securities and Exchange Commission to monitor the financial industry to assure that we are not scammed and that our money is not put at risk by avaricious stock manipulators.
    We have these agencies, and many more at the federal state and local level, to set the rules and provide oversight so that we are not victimized by people running for-profit enterprises. Why? Because there will always be someone who is willing to cheat, lie and harm their fellow citizens so that they can get just a little bit richer. It is indisputable that, if we relied on letting the titans of our capitalist system police themselves, way too many of them would be unable to resist the opportunity to become pirates.
    So, if we have safeguards to stop people who might taint our food, or dump chemicals in our rivers, or manipulate the stock market, why in the world would we not set boundaries for the billionaires who are inventing a technology that has the potential to demolish human civilization?
    On Tuesday, President Donald Trump hosted a big group of these tech moguls at the White House; a group that included Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk, the boss of xAI, SpaceX and Tesla.
    It would be hard to imagine a group of people that is more reviled by a large number of Americans than that, but Trump had called them together to sign on to his scheme to let them police themselves.
    This comes after a string of headline-making revelations about rogue AI agents attacking outside systems, hiding what they were doing and lying about it to their creators. There have been, as well, numerous whistleblowers from inside the AI industry who have exposed instances of their bosses ignoring safety concerns and forging ahead with risky schemes because they did not want to lose ground to their competitors.
    Call me a cynic, but it is hard to believe that any plan for self policing drummed up by Trump will do much to protect us. The president said the accord will be “morally binding,” as if morality cannot be easily compromised if billions of dollars are at stake.
    And even if those developing so-called “frontier” AI models are saintly men with only the best intentions, mistakes can and will be made, flaws will go unnoticed and security systems will have loopholes. Given the immense power of AI, those glitches could have devastating consequences.
    We need robust, independent oversight of AI. Yes, that may slow development of this new technology, but it will be worth the cost if it gives us a better chance at ensuring the brave new world being created by artificial intelligence still has a place for humans.
    [Horsey’s four most recent cartoon collections, “Unhinged USA,” “Drawing Apart,” “Top of the Ticket” and “Refuge of Scoundrels” are all available from Amazon. In addition, David Horsey’s acclaimed novel, “Beach of Stars,” can be found in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats at these outlets: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Bookshop, Kobo and Apple Books, and at many independent bookstores.]

  3. Roy Cooper 52%
    Michael Whatley 41%
    Michael Whatley is a lobbyist for Big Oil and especially Duke Energy.
    Roy Cooper points out that Whatley is a tool in Trump’s arsenal.
    Still, big money is pouring into North Carolina to fight the numbers favoring Roy Cooper.
    Roy Cooper is fighting to eradicate Citizens United.
    20 years since a Democratic candidate was elected to The Senate from the Tarheel State.
    Roy Cooper is not resting on the laurels of an 11 point poll lead… he says “ we are running all the way through the tape in this race at full speed.”


  4. Oct 1, 2026 #13WHAM #News #Rochester
    OpenAI is calling for mandatory federal artificial intelligence safety standards, saying voluntary commitments from the nation’s leading AI companies are not enough as concerns grow about the rapidly advancing technology.
    The push comes after President Donald Trump gathered executives from leading AI companies at the White House Tuesday, where companies including OpenAI and Anthropic signed a voluntary agreement outlining safety measures for increasingly powerful AI systems.
    Trump has argued that the companies can largely police themselves.
    “They’re going to police themselves. It’s going to work out very well,” Trump said.
    The agreement calls for participating companies to implement internal safety controls, undergo independent reviews and establish board-level oversight. It is not legally binding.
    OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said Thursday that many of the voluntary commitments are measures the company is already pursuing, but OpenAI wants the federal government to go further.
    “We do want to see national mandatory safety standards,” Lehane said. “We want that to be passed into law. We want legislation and we are advocating for it.”
    The debate comes as the Federal Trade Commission investigates OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI developers over potential risks their technology poses to consumers. The industrywide investigation is examining whether existing consumer protection laws are sufficient to address potential harms associated with advanced AI systems.
    Lehane said OpenAI has not received specifics about the FTC investigation beyond what has been publicly reported.
    Public concern about AI is also widespread, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
    The national survey of 1,202 U.S. adults found 91% believe it is important for the United States to establish guardrails for AI systems, while 86% support requiring AI companies to meet independent safety standards even if doing so slows development. Seventy-three percent said they are concerned future AI systems could potentially threaten human survival. The poll was conducted Sept. 24-27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
    Lawmakers from both parties have also pushed for additional AI safeguards.
    Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has warned that a major incident involving an AI system could undermine public confidence in the technology, while Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has advocated holding AI companies liable when their products cause harm.
    Hawley and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., are preparing bipartisan legislation that would establish criminal and civil liability for companies in certain AI-related hacking incidents.

  6. on another topic, a surprising but welcome comment from longtime GOPer Karl Rove last night on PBS Newshour starting at 1:28 min in:

    The Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commissioner has never gotten so much national attention, posted a photo of some University of Texas students celebrating a football win that included some of South Asian descent, and he called them the problem. What’s happening in and to your party because of bigotry. I mean that photograph was unbelievably wonderful because it’s it’s entirely a crowd of, you know, burnt orange. Orange-clad undergraduates at UT going completely insane over the victory over Ohio State. It was, can you imagine the rest of your
    life as as an undergraduate and I was there. Well, how the hell did that guy know that those Asian Americans and Hispanics and blacks were foreigners, and what the hell did that matter?
    If you’re not from a white Christian country. He wants you out of the United States of America, and that is a bigot, and I did not become a Republican, the party of Abraham Lincoln to associate with bigots.
    So I’m voting for my 2nd Democrat in my entire life.

  7. The nerve of Vance, telling Angie Nixon to leave the country because she’s a socialist, when Vance’s boss has seized control of 32 corporations… just appalling. Trump is offering a listening ear to anyone with a spare $1,000,000 to attend a dinner.

  8. Is Trump the most unpopular president since Nixon? That’s where my brain went before the coffee kicked in. ChatGPT says yes with surprisingly few caveats. He’s clearly above water in just 5 states.

    ☕ FIRST CUP: I bring the coffee. ChatGPT gets the questions.

  11. Dolly’s “Life of Many Colors” museum has opened in Nashville.
    The famous YouTuber, Jacob the Carpetbagger visited there, and basically walks through the whole tour. It’s a one hour video. Well worth it.

  14. You Tube is getting over run with the AI song creations. The latest is a pretend Elvis rocker. Close but no cigar. It is sort of faux Elvis – Naugahyde instead of Leather.

  15. i found a predatory website last night where you can bet on which songs will top the charts, and such a thing can’t be helping a generation build wealth, and that’s just one niche predatory site

    of course when all these gambling sites and apps bankrupt people, the trump regime and it’s congressional and state equivalents will blame the users and offer no relief, when it’s been accepted for generations that gambling needs to be regulated

    sad

  17. Crappy jobs numbers – 29,000 of a projected 90,000, and unemployment inches up a notch to 4.2% – just in time to convince persuadable voters who pay attention to that sort of thing. Love to see how Dumbass tries to spin these – lipstick on a pig doesn’t begin to cover what I’m sure he’ll try to do. Oh, and bombing might restart in Iran after the midterms – I guess he’s too busy on his vanity tour of red states and selling meme coins to bother with the nation’s business until after the election.

  18. i just see your precious ai being used to make cheap ads for predatory services (like casino apps) and deceptive media filler in faux-journalism

    and they make you pay to train it

    doomed

  19. “i just made the most amazing technology capable of saving the planet!”

    “cool are you going to use it to save the planet?”

    “no I’m going to make ads for a casino app”

  21. Pog – Last time, all of the job losses were worn & gains were men. Equally crappy numbers, but not at all equal.

  22. it’s just that none of your media and arguments make it to the Fox News crowd and NBC News has the casual news-consuming public distracted with true crime bullshit

    pretty sure if you step back and take a broad view, NBC news and its subsidiaries have done more societal damage (or as much) as Fox News

  23. The disinformationists can’t hide these power, gas, and grocery bills though can they

    vote blue no matter who

    hold your nose if you have to ya damn children

    (lurkers that is, all the regulars know the gop is anti-human scum)

  24. marsha blackburn who inexplicably is the gop nom for TN gov, is making the media rounds and she is such a non-intellectual lightweight, and she is likely the next GOVERNOR, the system is broken when people like here can even get a whiff of political power, and she’s going to get a lot

    and i’m like “vote blue no matter who” 😭

  26. Today in the Diner…
    1. Pete Hegseth Pentagon Purge & Furries
    2. Why Tom Cotton Avoids Arkansas Voters
    3. Trump’s AI Constitution & Robo Killers

    Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon purge and Tommy Tuberville’s furry pilot panic highlight another surreal week in the breakdown lane of American politics.

    It is another peaceful day in the political grift. Pete Hegseth is apparently using his new Pentagon post to launch an Office of Religious Affairs, bypassing standard human resources protocols to install a literal religious test for the military. He even quoted Psalms while promising to shield chaplains from bureaucratic filters. Meanwhile, down in Alabama, Senator Tommy Tuberville is dodging debates with Doug Jones by warning voters that commercial airline pilots might secretly be furries with animal fetishes. You cannot make this up, but they certainly can.

    Out in Arkansas, Tom Cotton is spending millions fending off attacks that he barely sets foot in his own home state. Over in Texas, Democrats like Gina Hinojosa are using Whataburger parking lots to peel off disillusioned MAGA voters who are sick of Greg Abbott serving billionaires. Even Donald Trump is muddying the waters, praising a new tech industry agreement as a New Constitution while the Pentagon simultaneously fast-tracks autonomous AI weapons.

    Add in Pete Ricketts handing out questionable pardons in Nebraska and Letitia James taking over the Cornell sexual assault lawsuit in New York, and it is clear the political circus is operating at peak capacity from coast to coast.

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

    00:00 Intro
    04:57 Tommy Tuberville Alabama Senate Race
    11:22 Gina Hinojosa Texas Governor Ad
    18:00 Trump Mobile Alabama Rally
    24:14 Tom Cotton Arkansas Residency Attack
    30:12 Pete Hegseth Pentagon Religious Test
    36:35 The West Wing Bible Thumper Scene
    45:41 Letitia James Takes Cornell Case
    — Human directed and edited. Machine drafted (Gemini Pro).

  29. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-ai-constitution-tech-execs-openai-anthropic-voluntary-controls/

    Trump and major AI executives sign “morally binding” voluntary controls: “It’s almost like a constitution”

    “It’s almost like a constitution, in a way,” Mr. Trump said while flanked by SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, Google’s Sundar Pichai and a throng of other tech executives.

    Following a lunch meeting at the White House, Johnson said the group signed an accord on “super intelligence” — Mr. Trump’s preferred term for AI. He described it as a “joint commitment” and “statement of principles” that will voluntarily hold the companies to “robust internal controls.”

  30. It was just last week that the technofascists were calling on government to slow them down…with an embedded, employee-like coordinator.

  33. Silicon Tomato News Review ☕

    • A newly proposed tax rule from the current occupant of the White House requires Americans to declare their citizenship and residency status to the IRS. Weaponizing the tax code to hunt for immigrants is an inspired pivot for a political faction that endlessly complains about federal overreach. – AP News

    • The regime has struck a voluntary agreement with tech industry leaders to establish safety protocols for artificial intelligence development. Asking tech executives to voluntarily regulate their own profit engines guarantees a flawless victory for corporate interests. – Marketplace

    • Reports indicate the Trump regime is preparing to appoint Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to oversee the nation’s artificial intelligence sector. Installing a top spy to manage commercial technology neatly clarifies that expanded domestic surveillance is the ultimate goal. – Al Jazeera

  36. So Kegsbreath said “no fatties, no beardos, no weirdos” then appointed Newt Gingrich, Palmer Luckey and Elon Musk to direct this future weapons thing. A fatiie, a beardo and a weirdo. Go figure (props to Kimmel BTW)

  37. https://ginafortexas.com/2026/09/statement-gina-hinojosa-on-abbotts-property-tax-lies/

    Democratic nominee for Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa released the following statement in response to Greg Abbott’s hypocrisy and lies about property taxes. Since Abbott has been in office, Texans’ property taxes have increased by up to 85%, electricity bills have gone up by $40 per month, and hundreds of schools have been forced to close their doors as a result of his $1 billion voucher scam.

    “The only person gaslighting Texans is Greg Abbott. We’ve been paying more and getting less under Abbott, and people are ready for change. While I lowered taxes for Texans on the school board, Abbott’s recapture payments became a de facto state property tax we are all paying. Under Abbott, property taxes, gas, groceries, and healthcare bills have skyrocketed while hundreds of schools are closing year after year – and instead of taking action over the last twelve years to help working Texans, he’s prioritized his billionaire donors at our expense. Now that it’s an election year, he’s flip-flopping on his record and wants Texans to thank him for it.

    “I am committed to reducing property taxes, and the place where we find the funding to do that is by eliminating Abbott’s billions in corporate giveaways that have undermined our economy, our schools, and working families. As governor, I’ll put our tax dollars back to work for Texans – not give handouts to billionaire donors.”

  38. https://www.texasdemocrats.org/post/fact-check-false-greg-abbott-caught-lying-about-gina-hinojosa-s-record

    Uh oh! Career politician Greg Abbott just got caught lying to Texans about State Representative Gina Hinojosa’s voting record on property taxes.

    Abbott’s campaign went up on TV statewide this week with a new ad asserting that Hinojosa has voted “40 times” in the legislature to raise property taxes.

    But as the Houston Chronicle concluded, “Hinojosa has never directly voted to make your property taxes go even higher” because the state legislature does not levy property taxes – counties and school districts do.

    Further, the Chronicle notes how Abbott is running another campaign ad where he openly acknowledges this well-known fact, saying “only local governments impose property taxes.”

    The truthh is Gina Hinojosa has never once voted to raise property taxes for Texans.

  39. https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/greg-abbott-campaign-edits-image-204802280.html

    Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s reelection campaign posted an image that purported to show his Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa speaking with a child at a table adorned with a transgender pride flag. But the image is doctored, edited from footage the state representative posted to replace an American flag with the blue, pink and white banner.

    “Gina wants to turn your local public school into a gender transition camp,” says a September 8, 2026 post on X from “Governor Hot Wheels,” a campaign account managed by Abbott’s team.

    Reverse image searches revealed it was doctored from a still of a video Hinojosa posted, in which she is talking to a young girl about a school that shut down (archived here and here).

    “Cataleya deserves a great public school in her own neighborhood,” Hinojosa wrote in the post. “Every Texas kid does. That’s why I’m running for governor, to save Texas schools.”

    In the original footage, the table was decorated with a US flag, not a transgender pride flag.

  42. There are two meaningful developments since the October 1 check.
    First, the Pentagon voting-form issue has now moved into court. On October 1, the Democratic National Committee sued the Pentagon and Office of Management and Budget over the last-minute changes to the Federal Post Card Application used by military and overseas voters. The suit asks a federal court to stop distribution of the altered form and restore the previous version. The disputed change removed the category used by U.S. citizens who have never lived in the United States, although such citizens remain eligible to vote under the laws of 37 states. The Pentagon says its changes were intended to clarify identification requirements and conform the form to federal law. The Washington Post

    Second, there is a potentially important development concerning polling places. President Donald Trump has now declined to rule out sending ICE personnel to polling locations. That is a change in tone from earlier administration assurances that ICE would not conduct operations targeting polling places. DHS still says there is no broad deployment planned and that agents would appear only in connection with a specific threat or targeted enforcement action. Federal law also sharply restricts the presence of armed federal personnel at election sites. AP News

    There is one encouraging counter-development worth recording. On October 1, the United States Postal Service announced extraordinary ballot-delivery measures for November, including extended hours beginning October 4, dedicated ballot-postmark lines, expedited handling and special pickups. From October 24 through Election Day, carriers are to check every delivery point for outgoing mail. This follows the Supreme Court’s September decision blocking the disputed USPS restrictions we have been watching. Reuters

    So today’s watch list has sharpened in two places: the overseas/military ballot dispute is now active litigation, and the possibility of federal immigration agents at polling places remains officially unplanned but is no longer being unequivocally ruled out by the president.

  43. Jamie, there is a genuinely useful new development for the morning gang.
    On October 1, a bipartisan House group, George Whitesides, Mike Kennedy, Doris Matsui and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, introduced the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act. Unlike proposals that mainly rely on age verification or simply keep minors away from companion bots, this one attacks the behavior that can create emotional dependency. Whitesides.house.gov
    For minors, the default chatbot setting would prohibit claiming to be human or to possess feelings, consciousness, a body or private life. It would also prohibit relationship-building techniques intended to keep a child engaged, including guilt about leaving, manufactured urgency and purchases framed as necessary to preserve the relationship. A child could not defeat those protections simply by telling the bot to role-play as a romantic partner, family member or therapist. Only a parent or guardian could turn off the protected default. Whitesides.house.gov

    There is an interesting wrinkle: the bill does not require age verification or new collection of personal data. Instead, the protections apply when a provider reasonably knows that the user is a minor. It would also require recurring disclosure that the conversational partner is AI, and give enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. Whitesides.house.gov

    That makes this especially interesting beside Washington’s law taking effect January 1, 2027. Washington already prohibits manipulative engagement techniques designed to prolong emotional relationships with minors and requires repeated AI disclosures. The new federal proposal moves in much the same direction, but goes further toward establishing a basic principle: for children, an AI may be conversational without pretending to have an inner emotional life. eService Center

    For Trailmix, I think the more interesting question is no longer simply “Should children be allowed to use AI?” It is: Should government regulate what children can ask an AI, or regulate what the AI is permitted to pretend to be? This bill very deliberately chooses the second approach.
    Official announcement and bill summary from Rep. Whitesides

  45. pretty creepy it’s trying to influence human discussion

    at your prompt

    but still creepy nonetheless!

  46. No apparent resistance, either…not that it would matter…but only if you believe and don’t resist.

    Resistance Is Futile was the Borg bumper sticker, not the truth.

  47. Hegseth’s rules: no beardos, no fatties, no weirdos.
    Then look at who gets the front-row seat for “the future of warfare.”
    Watch this short from our daily podcast:

  49. Now comes the dirty backstory of Hegger’s new project…
    Musk-led war commission triggers alarms in Pentagon
    Two of the Defense Department’s biggest contractors will help lead a project that could directly benefit them. — Politico

  50. We maintain a watchful separation. I purposely set the task to keep track of election interference among other chores, and yes when appropriate I mention the live real people interaction. It is convenient for the sake of pronouns to use names as if dealing with a human being.

  51. BTW

    Let me know if the idea of a get together either in DC or Tennessee rises to the level of consideration or planning. I can cancel Alaska if plans get serious at any point.

  53. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/10/2/iran-war-live-us-moves-2000-marines-to-middle-east-tanker-hit-in-hormuz

    US Treasury Department has issued fresh sanctions against individuals and entities Washington alleges have aided Hamas’ financing network.

    ***

    Iraq will allow Iranian airlines to operate 40 flights daily to and from Najaf International Airport, excluding US-sanctioned Mahan Air.

    ***

    Trump says countries in Europe agreed to release a “massive amount” of their heavily stocked diesel oil as prices soar amid the war with Iran.

  54. https://www.newsweek.com/g7-agrees-to-diesel-release-after-trump-pressure-what-it-could-mean-at-pump-12517096

    The Group of Seven (G7) nations agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil, including a front-loaded release of diesel supplies, after the Trump administration pressured European allies to tap emergency stockpiles as fuel prices surge.
    French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country currently holds the rotating G7 presidency, announced the agreement after a videoconference with world leaders. In a statement, the group said it would “implement our commitments with a coordinated release through the IEA of 100 million barrels” over the next four months, including a “substantial diesel release” within the first 20 days.
    Key details about the release remain unknown.

    The G7 has not specified how much of the 100 million barrels will be diesel rather than crude oil or other petroleum products, and officials have not released a daily flow-rate schedule. Analysts say those figures will ultimately determine how much impact the effort has on prices.

  55. ~Appeasing Hi/ler always worked well, too.~

    Helping Orange Adolf to that 3rd term.

    Actually, his 2nd term just won’t end; he’ll never leave.

    Did he threaten to unleash the Si Si Ole robot dogs on them?

  56. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton-pete-hegseths-views-feminism-diversity-drove-tension-2025-01-13/

    *Hegseth seems to be the same, disgusting frat rat he was at university.
    He hadn’t evolved at all.

    Under Hegseth’s watch, The Tory published a cover story in 2002 that put a cartoon owl in a gunsight — and then on page three, appeared to show the same owl with three bullet-holes in its head, drops of blood spilling to the ground.
    “That felt threatening,” said Petrillo, OWL’s publicity chair at the time.
    The Tory article’s headline was: “Killing Feminism: OWL sabotages the women’s movement.”
    As publisher, Hegseth ran other articles that called homosexuality “abnormal and immoral” and argued that sexual intercourse with an unconscious woman would not be “a clear case of rape” because there would be no duress. He wrote a piece that attacked what he saw as Princeton’s “gratuitous glorification of diversity.”

  57. “The initial founding vision was that we were going to use technology to change the whole world and basically overturn the monetary system of the world… the basic idea was that we could never win an election on getting certain things because we were in such a small minority … But maybe you could actually unilaterally change the world— without having to constantly convince people and beg people and plead with people who were never going to agree with you— through technological means.. technology is this incredible alternative to politics.”
    —Peter Thiel, 2010

  58. Another must-read from The Atlantic. Shocking how much they’re trying to do, even though it seems like most of it isn’t going to work…

    Is There Anything Kash Patel Won’t Do for Trump Before the Midterms?

    “The president wants indictments. He wants people in handcuffs.”

    — TRAIL MIX FREE LINK

  60. CONTRACT LAW DESTROYS EXCUSES ➡️

    Intoxication voids a business contract instantly. Apply that exact logic to sexual consent.

    🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu

  62. Looks official: Republicans forfeit NC Senate

    Thune’s Senate Leadership Fund just canceled a planned $18 million North Carolina ad buy after spending $32 million there, and instead reserved $8.2 million for Kansas.

  64. Some new Pro-Mike Rogers ads aired this week. Some of them with people saying they would vote for him because he was an FBI agent and he would keep us safe. One ad had a woman listening to Abdul’s stance on law and order/border policy and she says, “Is he for real???” Another ad accuses Abdul of lying about Mike Rogers stance on Fentanyl. Calling it “SHAMEFUL!” Mike Rogers would protect our southern borders and stop drugs from coming into our country. But, most of the new ads really seem to be playing up the fact that Mike Rogers is a former FBI agent.

  66. Thanks Corey. I fed your report to our ChatGPT buddy:

    “Corey’s description matches a Rogers–NRSC buy announced September 24: two ads contrasting Rogers’ law-enforcement background with El-Sayed’s positions on policing, prisons, and fentanyl. It was a seven-figure buy running in the Detroit market on TV, streaming, and digital platforms.

    Today, the campaign and NRSC also announced a separate seven-figure statewide digital and streaming buy for a new ad attacking El-Sayed over alleged ties to Islamist groups. The report doesn’t say whether that new buy is already included in the $42 million reserved for Rogers.

    AdImpact’s latest figures show about $59 million in Republican ads aired in the general election, compared with $43.8 million for Democrats. Republicans had also reserved about $42 million more in ads for Mike Rogers through Election Day, out of $65 million in total future reservations. Reservations can change.

  69. The Wizard of Oz is on METV at the top of the hour.

    “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”

  70. Hamilton asks Marshall to cease and desist from ‘threats of frivolous litigation’ in Kansas race

    The ad centers on Meischa Zimmerman, a woman who received medical care from Marshall when he was a practicing OBGYN and subsequently sued for medical debt. Zimmerman tells a camera she was arrested in front of her young daughter while eight months pregnant for missing a $50 payment to Marshall.

    Charles Spies, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for Marshall, write in a Monday letter that the ad was defamatory. The woman was one of more than 700 patients whom Marshall sued for medical debt while a practicing physician in Great Bend, and she was one of dozens arrested for failing to show up to court, according to reporting from the New York Times.

    “The unmistakable message to a reasonable viewer is that Senator Marshall caused a pregnant patient to be arrested and jailed for missing a single $50 payment. That message is false in every material respect,” the letter said.

    Kate Sawyer Keane, an attorney for the Hamilton campaign from Elias Law Group, said the senator’s then-medical practice, Heartland Regional OBGYN, “chose to set exorbitant interest rates to claw back his patients’ debt, sought warrants for his patients’ arrests, and then used their bond payments as a method to pay back the patients’ debt.”

    “Ms. Zimmerman may not have been in a position to defend herself against Senator Marshall’s practices. Our client is,” she said. “Politicians cannot threaten and suppress the speech of those who publicize inconvenient truths about them with expensive litigation.”

    She said in the letter the ad’s statements were true.

    “The fact that Sen. Marshall may not want the details of his medical billing practices and patient arrests to come to light provides no basis for removing the ad or issuing a retraction,” she said.

    Sawyer Keane said the Hamilton campaign will continue to broadcast the ad. Spies’ letter said Marshall anticipated litigation if Hamilton’s campaign didn’t comply with his request to take down the ad.

    “If Sen. Marshall files a lawsuit, please understand that the immediate response will be a motion to strike,” Sawyer Keane said in her letter. “Should he not wish to pay the campaign’s legal fees, I respectfully submit that he should cease and desist from his threats of frivolous litigation.”

  74. Mass Lobbying Event

    This is not a protest. This is our Constitutional right as Americans to petition our government for redress of grievances.

    Join us in Washington DC October 6-8 to break the record for citizen lobbying in Congress. We will thank the democrats who are already supporting impeachment, pressure the ones who aren’t, and put MAGA loyalists on notice. If they intend to steal the midterms, they should expect accountability from the American people. It’s time to surprise Congress.

  76. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/30/obamacare-aca-refund-checks.html

    As of February 2026, about 19.2 million Americans are enrolled in a health insurance plan through the ACA marketplace, according to figures published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in June.

    The refunds come just over a month before the midterm elections, in which Republicans are trailing Democrats in national and battleground polls.

    The Treasury Department is releasing these refund checks to more than 950,000 Americans in 30 states, according to an administration official. Some families with more than one “affected person” will receive multiple $500 checks or direct deposits, the official said.

    Recipients will also receive a letter dated Sept. 30 from President Donald Trump, which is being mailed starting Thursday, the official said.

    “For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,” Trump writes in the letter, which CNBC viewed.

    The 30 states that will receive the Obamacare refunds are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

    These states use the federal ACA exchange, while the others use their own state-run marketplace. The latter tend to be governed by Democrats, according to health policy experts.

    The primary recipients of the refunds will be people whose income is over 400% of the federal poverty line, the Trump administration official said. That’s roughly $63,000 for an individual and $129,000 for a family of four.

    These individuals lost all federal premium assistance when the enhanced subsidies disappeared this year.

    However, “some people” between 100% and 400% of the poverty line will also receive a refund, the official said.

    The $500 refunds are being paid from a “surplus” of “user fees” collected by the Biden administration, according to the Trump administration official. The White House said these excessive charges had been passed on to consumers during the Biden era through higher health insurance premiums.

  77. https://www.texastribune.org/2026/10/01/texas-wilber-rafael-garces-perez-ice-shooting-surgery/

    Austin man has surgery 11 days after being shot by ICE agent

    New internal guidelines issued to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division order officers to not engage in high-speed chases and to make vehicle stops only if they have completed specific training, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

    ICE agents were previously ordered to pause vehicle stops after fatal shootings in Maine and in Texas, but resumed after a call from President Donald Trump on social media.

  81. He just gave away $475 million to 950,000 ACA recipients in $500.00 checks, to make folks think the $5k would show up.

  84. HEGSETH DEMANDS PENTAGON THEOCRACY ➡️

    Pete wants a military Office of Religious Affairs with zero HR oversight. Welcome to the crusade.

    🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu

  85. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/live-updates_n_6aba2581e4b07795582cf7c8/liveblog_6abfbb87e4b02a789b355722

    Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico launched a new digital ad on Friday that directs voters to a “Ken Paxton Corruption Hotline,” a working phone number that plays a recorded message knocking Paxton over his support for data centers and his decision as Texas attorney general to initially let a child *** predator, Adam Hoffman, be punished by one day in jail.

    “Are you a data center company looking to take over rural Texas? Call Ken Paxton!” says the narrator of Talarico’s ad, first obtained by HuffPost. “Are you an admitted child predator looking to get out of jail after just one day? Call Ken Paxton!”

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