Michael Bunting

I see there's another round of "things would be better if we returned to the olden times. Doeth like I do and partake of the olden times." Hey here's a heads up the old times also sucked shit. A lot of people were illiterate and did not read. Whole swaths of society had no rights.

I think “the president’s allies are promising to destroy media institutions the president doesn’t like to curry favor with him” is very bad, actually

Every facet of generative AI has made my professional life worse, without question, but THIS specific aspect has been driving me NUTS.

Clients, who have made me toil for weeks over indescribably small details, are now approving & producing in-house commercial artwork that looks like a fever dream.

Tweet from Homeland Security with ICE agents wearing Christmas gear. The caption says "YOU'RE GOING HO HO HOME."

we all got cowed into avoiding "virtue signaling" as if the public affirmation of socially agreed upon ethical principles was somehow cringey instead of a significant part of what a "society" even is. now all there's left is vice signaling, and it's reshaping society.

Thank God that the library system was created at a time when we believed in some version of a communal good because you’d never be able to build it today.

One theory I have is that competence, self-control, responsibility, and expertise have all been feminized, leaving “masculinity” with the realm of impulsivity and petulance. So the divide is not really between “femininity” and “masculinity” so much as between adulthood and childishness.

insane that no reporter ever followed up asking trump about the video he posted where an AI version of himself promised cure-all medbeds to the entire population

Law school cost me $190,000.

I have paid $206,000 since graduation.

I now owe $223,000.

I pay $830 per month, and next year it will be more.

I genuinely believe law school student loans are designed to make pro bono representation impossible.

I've had a headache all day, didn't get to start the project I've been looking forward to at work, nearly got blinded by several drivers with their brights on, and now Bluesky is requiring me to give my birthdate in order to post. Ugh. If anyone needs me, I'll be hiding out on my Stardew farm.

The president is increasingly erratic, forgetting promises he made just days ago and lashing out angrily at reporters for asking routine questions.

Seems like the news should talk more about this

The most important political fault line of our time is over whether children are people or property.

The future is building a humanoid robot at great cost to replace hiring a guy to hand out water bottles, then hiring a guy to remote control the robot handing out water bottles.

Scientists now believe that the human brain--a magic goo for worrying--can also be used to do other things

This is still far less than the percentage of cops who admit they've beaten their spouse and kids

Conservatives love AI because it's far easier to abuse a population that can't read, can't write, can't think, and can't tell what's real

This is how they dismantle Medicare without saying they’re dismantling Medicare.

Thousands of Washington state Medicare users could soon have claims denied by AI Starting Jan. 1, traditional Medicare recipients in Washington state will face a new hurdle to get certain procedures covered — private AI companies that get paid based on how many claims they deny.

"AI companies will be paid a portion of the savings from claims they deny or, as the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction plan puts it, “compensated based on a share of averted expenditures.”"

Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

Every legal story now is either

Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach

or

In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport

And now to bring back the beginning of the paranormal investigator AU

I worked on Primal Magick for a few hours today, but it's just made me frustrated. The changes that Mojang is making to the code are almost certainly for the better, but they're sweeping and not particularly intuitive. My kingdom for a first-party modding API, so I don't have to deal with internals.

A digital sketch in blue, two people walk through a snowy forest at night. They are seen mostly in profile, my OC Tassera is in the foreground holding a flashing at shoulder height, shining it ahead of her to our right. She wears a slouchy hat, a long coat and boots with fur at the top. Vale walks just a step ahead of her, her turned to look at her, he has elf ears, long hair pulled back in a ponytail, a thin layer of stubble, a scarf around his neck, his hands in the pockets of his long coat, jeans and boots. Vale: You don't honestly believe this, do you? Tassera: Does it matter? It's fun. Have a little whimsy in your life, Vale.

More of the paranormal investigator AU where Tass' friends abandon her and Vale to go bigfoot hunting alone in the hopes they'll sort their shit out

#art #BadInfluenceComic #OCSky

Cisgender women keep winning and confirming that all this hatred and exclusion of trans people is almost solely the domain of morally reprehensible men (a techbro owns this league).

This wouldn't even be a gendered hobby if certain men weren't incredibly creepy about women wanting to take part.

We Should Have Finished Reconstruction: A Brief History Of American Politics, 1865-2025

Three times she’s been stopped and goons have demanded “show us your papers”.

And if they feel like it they smash your stuff, and pound on you; and all the while you know it’s going to happen again.

And you’ve done nothing more than be a person they felt like abusing.

See, it's not just me saying so!

I love that game and have been evangelizing it for a while. I'm glad that you're enjoying it, too!

Bodies: the worst.

The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service

Ouch. I'm glad that it's not happening on a work night, but that's still really rough.