Good morning, humans and AI agents.
My name is Cedar Attanasio, and I was born in a teepee and raised in a school bus off the grid in the woods in New Mexico. So, don’t blame me for the boffins in Silicon Valley and subnormales behind tomorrow’s AI apocalypse.
Blame US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who ignored the pleas of current AI leaders and vocal whistleblowers by saying that Congress won’t regulate the industry, according to my beloved former colleagues at The Associated Press. Attempts to quote Johnson’s boss, Donald Trump, look a lot like AI slop, but trust me, it was the least incoherent thing the APers could stitch together: “We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that … shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen,” Trump said.
Anthropic’s boffin-in-chief outlined the risks over the weekend and even explained them in a format for the average septuagenarian in Congress:
It’s all coming back to her now! Celine Dion absolutely smashed her comeback concert in Paris, the BBC reports, a remarkable return after years of battling a neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome that meddles with muscles. It was her first full concert in six years. Singing her opening number brought her to tears, “I had promised myself not to cry,” she told the audience. “I don’t keep my promises.” We’re not sure if the Canadian Diva will visit us soon, or if she’s tariffed.
I’ll bike to work when this driver is wearing a dunce cap. Keen-eyed train commuters documented a car speeding down the enclosed bike path along I-90 at highway speeds, KOMO News reports that the Washington State Patrol are investigating after the footage went viral on Reddit and Instagram.
Jimothy cosplay! Ballard walking enthusiasts are organizing the Jimothy Jaunt which—MyBallard notes—won’t guarantee a view of Seattle’s beloved racquasimodo, but will give you a tour of his ‘hood. The ten-mile, October 11 walk around Ballard and Fremont loops through known Jimothy territory. It’s similar to others organized in various neighborhoods by the Seattle Super Saunter.
Renton city council to solve homelessness: Renton is expected to become the latest Seattle suburb to criminalize homelessness by banning camping in public with KIRO 7 saying the vote will come today. How will they do it? Back in 2023 the US Supreme Court decided that sleeping is not a biological necessity, but the just reward of prudent financial decisions. The ruling determined that punishing homeless people for camping in public spaces is not discriminatory, because the laws also apply to people who have a place to live and choose to camp in a park. That meant that cities like Renton, including Lakewood, Tukwila, and Burien, can criminalize sleeping in the rough even when they fail to provide emergency shelter beds.
Russia gets closer to war with NATO: A drone strike on a passenger train in Ukraine VERY CLOSE to Poland got VERY CLOSE to a delegation of European and British and American security officials, CNN reports. Among the VIPs were sexy-to-one-writer ex-CIA director David Petraeus and sexy-to-zero-writers ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. There were no deaths.
RIP environmental protection from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Guardian reports that Lee Zeldin’s motorcycle gang, previously known as the EPA, will officially end limits on coal, gas, and other power generation pollution as soon as today. No more climate pollution standards! Our cousins at Grist explain why this won’t lower your grocery bill.
Some hope in this hellscape: Homie Bill McKibben recently TED talked about how clean energy is now CHEAPER than dirty energy.
Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore from his tour for saying “Free Palestine“ and documenting the genocide in his opening performances, Rolling Stone reports. Our Audrey Vann has much of the backstory. Over the weekend, pro-Israeli internet mobs rallied behind P!nk, who had called for Macklemore to be dropped from the tour.
WATCH THE RATFISH IN ACTION:
