Sam Altman tells OpenAI staffers that military's 'operational decisions' are up to the government In an all-hands meetings with OpenAI employees on Tuesday, CEO Sam Altman said his company doesn't get to choose how the military uses its technology.

Publicly, Sam Altman claimed OpenAI is amending its agreement with the Department of Defense(lies). Behind closed doors, however, he told employees during a Tuesday all-hands meeting that the company doesn’t “get to make operational decisions” about how its AI technology is used by the DoD. #QuitGPT

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Canvas print of a wooden bridge over Cherry Creak in the winter. The sun is setting in the background.

Finally made a picture frame for this piece of art from Kamri Flores. I had a sapele in mind when I bought this and am very happy with how it turned out!

Round chalk holder for billiards. Made from walnut, maple and purple heart. Displayed on green felt.

Round chalk holder for billiards. Made from zebrawood.

Round chalk holder for billiards. Made from purple heart and hard maple.

Round chalk holder for billiards. Made from curly koa.

Made a few more chalk holders and posted images to my website. chrisblackcues.com/chalk-holder...

We rewatched the halftime show and the closing is so powerful. Bad Bunny’s final messages during his Super Bowl performance:
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
“Together, we are America.”

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

One of the best things I’ve read in a while:

"We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."

🚨 NEW — Statement from the family of Alex Pretti:

"We are heartbroken but also very angry.

Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital... 1/

Disarmed.
Restrained.
Shot 10 times at close range by masked federal agents.

Then the government lied about it.

This is not “law enforcement.”

This is a state execution and it is unconscionable.👇

Minnesota is the best of us.

Wow Minneapolis!!!

-26° in Minneapolis and look at the turn out. Brave, dedicated Americans, trying to save their community ‼️

When else stands with the people of Minneapolis ⁉️ ⁉️

They are never, ever going to win in Minnesota.

Singing

A map shows the estimated population of unauthorized immigrants in each state of the United States, based on 2021 estimates from the Pew Research Center using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It shows that TX and FL have 17x and 10x the unauthorized immigrant population of Minnesota. It is pure theater that they are terrorizing Minneapolis. They dare not try these tactics in Texas, Florida, or Nevada (states with the highest population of these immigrants) for fear of the political backlash. They don't care about results, they care about terror and racial animus.

Florida has 10x the 'illegal' immigrant population of MN, and has the highest % in relation to population. TX has almost 18x as many. NV has a much higher %.

They reason they are terrorizing Minneapolis and not Miami or Dallas or Las Vegas is purely political.

It’s been tough to get anything done with what’s going on in Minneapolis right now (my former hometown). I finally managed to get a website up and running for my pool cues. chrisblackcues.com

It's time to state clearly that if MAGA and Republicans can't condemn any part of this shooting, continue to blame the victim for it, and even hint that it's a just outcome that others "deserve," that's a crossing of the line that the rest of us won't ever be able to forget.

Make it viral.

Decrepit dragon crawling on a rock. The dragon is painted black with a bright green inner glow that reflects down on to the rock below. Custom wooden base helps provide additional support for the tail.

Hand painted decrepit dragon. This dragon didn’t balance well on the base so I created a custom wooden base with extra support for the tail. #dragontuesday #miniature

This was still appearing as the top result THREE DAYS LATER. I have reported to Google and Barebells. To be honest, I thought that I had scrolled past the sponsored results. They snuck them further down the page.

Google search result showing a scam website appearing above the real website.

Google sells ad space to scammers. I’ve been transitioning to Duck Duck Go but accidentally used Google to look for Barebells protein bars. The top result was a scammer that stole my credit card info. Luckily, my credit card company flagged the fraudulent transactions.

Lefse rolled up on a plate.

Lefse cooling on a plate.

Lefse cooking on a hot skillet.

My grandparents used to make lefse at all of the family gatherings. I haven’t had it in years and decided to try making it this year. It turned out really well!

Two hardwood ornaments created on a wood lathe. The first one is made of olive wood and looks like an icicle. The second is made from walnut and shaped like a pine cone.

Made a few ornaments today.

Black pool cue extension with a leather grip. Backdrop of green felt.

Grey medium cue tip with a penny to show the curve.

Pool cue made from walnut and oak. Black leather grip. Butcher block backdrop.

Busy week so far! Voted yesterday, finished up a new pool cue, replaced a tip and built a cue extension (still needs another coat of black and poly).

Pool cue made from walnut and oak with a black leather grip. Resting on a wooden stand with a butcher block background.

Pool cue on a lathe before the leather grip was installed.

Pool cue on a lathe after black leather grip was added.

Weekend project. Pool cue made from walnut and oak. Adding the black leather grip was definitely the hardest part. Hopefully that will get easier with practice. #woodworking #billiards #pool

Figured Walnut mini-altar with bocote dice objects of mystery

Walnut Mini-Altar with brass knob and bocote dice objects of mystery

Figured and Burled Maple Box of Seven Devils set with Walnut Tiles

Figured and Burled Box of Seven Devils Set with Madrone Tiles

My secret goal for the month was/is to get enough funds together to grab a harbor freight mini-lathe so I could spend November turning wood spindle ornaments out of my considerable tiny wood block collection.

Grabbing something from my shop would help considerably!

www.galdrecraft.com

Hardwood pool cue rest with the initials MM.

Made this pool cue rest out of walnut, wenge and oak. Initials are printed in acrylic paint prior to the poly coat.

These cinnamon rolls have >1g of sugar in the entire pan. Sweetened with a mix of swerve brown sugar, erythritol and monk fruit. Icing (not pictured) was made with plant based butter, vanilla protein powder, tapioca flour and unsweetened almond milk.

My Saturday evening project, a wooden rondel dagger made out of walnut.

Hard wood round chalk holders with a back drop of green felt.

Today was more chalk holders!