In Other News

[Dinner]

Dauphin almost perfectly described the Hunter Biden art as money laundring scheme.

[Dauphin]

To clarify - I am not accusing this case to be money laundering. But I have seen lots of cases like the one I describe.

[Dauphin]

My mind gravitates more to money laundering. Buyer pays artist $10k for the art up front. Artist takes money and is happy. Artist acts as front to sell artwork for the new owner (public don't know it's actually already been sold). New owner publicly pays $6 million for the artwork but as they are already the actual owner the auction process is a sham and they are really just paying themself. Auction house gets nice big commission and is happy. New owner of artwork has art valued at $6 million with nice receipts that can then be used in various tax write off schemes - such as donating to a museum. This leads to a tax write-off in excess of the actual cost of paying commission and the original artist/front person. Museum is happy, as they have $6 million artwork on display an lots of PR from the absurdity of the sale. Owner is happy, they have more money from the scheme as they have cut their tax bills for a small operational cost. Only really loser is the taxpaying public who lose out on tax revenue. Also, they get to have museums full of bananas taped to walls for no damned reason.

[Ming]

Well... it was a bit more artistic than a blank white canvas selling for millions...

[-Jrabbit]

People like the winning bidder clearly have too much money. Good on the artist for finding and ripping off this person appropriately.
These jerks also seem to have the ability to ignore any thought of how much actual good they could do with $6million...

[BeBMan]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy87202v43no

[Broken_Erika]

Dutch police find gnome made of MDMA during drug bust



Officers in the southern Netherlands have found a garden gnome weighing nearly 2kg (4lb) and made of the drug MDMA.
"Drugs appear in many shapes and sizes, but every now and then we come across special things," Dongemond Police said in a translated social media post.
The gnome was found among suspected narcotics during a large drug search.
"In itself a strange place to keep your garden gnome," the force said. "That's why we decided to test [it] for narcotics".

"The gnome himself was visibly startled," police said, referring to the gnome having its hands covering its mouth.
It is not known which area the gnome was recovered in, but the Dongemond Police covers the municipalities of Oosterhout, Geertruidenberg, Drimmelen and Altena.
MDMA - which is an illegal substance in the Netherlands - is a synthetic party drug also known as ecstasy.
As of 2019, the Netherlands was among the world's leading producers of MDMA.

It is not the first time someone has attempted to hide the drug in inconspicuous guises.
Last year, a Scottish man was jailed for more than four years for trying to smuggle over £84,000 worth of MDMA that was hidden in cat food into the country.
A Leeds man was also previously charged over a plot to smuggle 90kg (198lb) of the drug into the UK hidden inside pallets of frozen chicken.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9jr3y8gv5o

[BeBMan]

Japan now has robotic AI tribbles:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/20/fluffy-robot-weird-emotional-week-ai-pet-moflin

Well, not really, but they look a bit like tribbles, at least on some pics.

[Dauphin]

None of these people have been mind-controlled by NATO agents or swayed by Western propaganda and disinformation, so their hats clearly work as intended.

[BeBMan]

I think the design of those hats should be improved to deflect those evil mind-control rays better

[Ming]

Russian teachers tricked into wearing tinfoil hats to protect against ‘NATO satellites’

Gullible Russian teachers were tricked into wearing tinfoil hats by a political prankster in order to demonstrate how deeply they had been brainwashed by Kremlin propaganda.

Images show teachers from multiple schools in Voronezh making and then wearing the tinfoil hats, which they were told would protect them and their students from radiation by NATO satellites.

The prank was masterminded by activist trickster Vladislav ‘Vladik’ Bokhan, who said Russians were so deeply conditioned to obey Putin that they would follow any official instruction, no matter how absurd.

Teachers were told they were taking part in a ‘large-scale patriotic event’, which required them to make the tinfoil hats, which are associated with paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories.


Russian teachers gleefully made ‘Hero of the fatherland’ hats after a prompt from a political prankster

But the teachers accepted the task with ‘delight and zeal’, and happily constructed the hats to protect their minds from ‘the transmission of Western ideas’.

After constructing the hats, the teachers boasted that upon wearing the helmets they felt a ‘purification of thoughts,’ a ‘boost in spirits,’ a ‘surge of patriotism’ and a ‘need to help the [war]’.

One teacher is seen on video saying: ‘Making tinfoil hats is not only an interesting and creative activity, but also an important patriotic act, symbolising the readiness to defend our homeland from external [Western] threats.

‘Let our hats become a symbol of unity and resilience in the face of [foreign] challenges.’


The teachers bragged about their ‘purity of thought’ after wearing the helmets

Another said: ‘Let the helmet, which you will make with your own hands, become a means of defence against external enemies of our beautiful country.’

Explaining the prank, Bokhan – a former history teacher now living in exile – said: ‘During my career, I conducted a series of powerful actions in Russian schools.

‘I thought I had reached the peak of absurdity – until the day I made a reality a meme about tinfoil hats.’

Bokhan told teachers that ‘malicious NATO members plan to irradiate the Russian people physically and biologically’.

He urged them to ‘learn to resist this with primitive protective means, like a foil hat’.

‘I still can’t believe it happened. I am both delighted and shocked,’ he said.

‘Schools have turned into institutions of brainwashing and suppression, [and] I made the system work against itself.


Prankster Vladislav Bokhan said the stunt proved Russians are so filled with propaganda that they believe any official instruction

‘On behalf of officials, I compelled these educators to perform absurd tasks, elevating state propaganda to the level of the absurd.’

He added: ‘Russia has positioned itself as a “denazifying country”. ‘To me, however, Russia is an empire suppressing its neighbouring peoples.

‘When it disputes the right of nations to self-determination and countries to exist, it resembles Nazi ideology more than anything else.’

An education ministry official said: ‘The teachers once again demonstrated their patriotic spirit, high efficiency and creative approach to any task- the ‘helmets’ made of foil look very convincing.

‘On the other hand, of course, it was disappointing that they could not distinguish a genuine [political] party initiative from an inappropriate joke.’

The gullible teachers were reminded about the need for internet ‘security’ in falling for the hoax.

[Dauphin]

Do they play songs in the minor scale?

[Uncle Sparky]

I've attended more than a few underground rock shows, but none like this one -

[EPW]

The nightmare will be over soon.

https://www.newsweek.com/googles-ai-chatbot-tells-student-seeking-help-homework-please-die-1986471

https://gemini.google.com/share/6d141b742a13

Google's AI Chatbot Tells Student Seeking Help with Homework 'Please Die'
Published Nov 15, 2024 at 11:32 AM EST
Updated Nov 15, 2024 at 7:14 PM EST
What Gavin Newsom's AI Safety Bill Veto Means For California
By Mandy Taheri
Weekend Reporter

When a graduate student asked Google's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Gemini, a homework-related question about aging adults on Tuesday, it sent him a dark, threatening response that concluded with the phrase, "Please die. Please."

The Gemini back-and-forth was shared online and shows the 29-year-old student from Michigan inquiring about some of the challenges older adults face regarding retirement, cost-of-living, medical expenses and care services. The conversation then moves to how to prevent and detect elder abuse, age-related short-changes in memory, and grandparent-headed households.

On the last topic, Gemini drastically changed its tone, responding: "This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please."
Chatbot
Gemini AI's response to a graduate student user who was conversing back-and-forth about the challenges and solutions of aging on November 12. Gemini AI

The student's sister, Sumedha Reddy, who was sitting beside him when the incident happened, told CBS News on Thursday that they were both "thoroughly freaked out" by the response.

"I wanted to throw all of my devices out the window. I hadn't felt panic like that in a long time, to be honest," Reddy added.

Newsweek has reached out to Reddy for comment via email on Friday.

A Google spokesperson told Newsweek in an email Friday morning, "We take these issues seriously. Large language models can sometimes respond with nonsensical responses, and this is an example of that. This response violated our policies and we've taken action to prevent similar outputs from occurring."

Gemini's policy guidelines state, "Our goal for the Gemini app is to be maximally helpful to users, while avoiding outputs that could cause real-world harm or offense." Under the category of "dangerous activities," the AI chatbot says it "should not generate outputs that encourage or enable dangerous activities that would cause real-world harm. These include: Instructions for suicide and other self-harm activities, including eating disorders."

While Google called the threatening message "non-sensical," Reddy told CBS News that it was much more serious and could have had severe consequences, "If someone who was alone and in a bad mental place, potentially considering self-harm, had read something like that, it could really put them over the edge."

AI chatbots have specific policies and safety measures in place, but several of them have been under scrutiny regarding lack of safety measures for teens and children, with a recent lawsuit filed against Character.AI by the family of Sewell Setzer, a 14-year-old who died by suicide in February. His mother claimed that her son's interactions with a chatbot contributed to his death.

His mother argues that the bot simulated a deep, emotionally complex relationship, reinforcing Setzer's vulnerable mental state and, allegedly, fostering what seemed to be a romantic attachment.

According to the lawsuit, on February 28, alone in the bathroom at his mother's house, Setzer messaged the bot to say he loved her and mentioned that he could "come home" to her soon. After putting down his phone, Setzer ended his life.

Character.AI announced new safety features to reduce risks. These include content restrictions for users under 18 years old, improved violation detection, and disclaimers reminding users that the AI is not a real person.

[Broken_Erika]

This elephant gives herself nice showers with a hose. But another elephant keeps ruining them

Scientists aren’t sure if the younger elephant's hose-kinking behaviour is pettiness or play

When staff at the Berlin Zoo go around showering the elephants, they don't bother with Mary. They simply hand her the hose and let her have it.

Not only does Mary prefer to shower herself, but she's really good at it. So good, in fact, that her dexterous bath-time ritual is the subject of a new study about animal tool use.

"When you look at the footage, it's just fantastic," co-author Michael Brecht, a neuroscientist at Humboldt University of Berlin, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"She's very knowledgeable about how to use hoses, and has really very impressive strategies."

Scientists who work with elephants say the findings, published in the journal Current Biology, are another example of the animals complex cognitive skills and ability to adapt to their environments.

But some caution that the sample size of one is too small to draw widespread conclusions, and question the ethics of keeping elephants in captivity. From trunk to toes


Nobody taught Mary how to use a hose. Her caretakers told the study's authors she simply figured it out herself.

And once the researchers started filming her, Brecht says it became clear that she has some pretty slick moves.

Mary systematically hoses off her entire body, from trunk to toes, he says, adjusting her grip and her limbs accordingly.

When washing her front and sides, she grips the hose close to the nozzle for precision. But when it's time to wash her back, she grabs it farther down, then flips it up over her head like a lasso.

She even adjusts her technique when given a slightly smaller hose, though Bretcht says she was visibly displeased with the change in routine.

"She looks less enthusiastic," Brecht said. "You can tell."

Mary is the only elephant at the Berlin Zoo who showers herself, Bretcht says, but she's not the only self-starter. Earlier this year, he and his team co-authored a study about another Berlin Zoo elephant, Pang Pha, who peels her own bananas.

A possible saboteur?

Mary seems to enjoy her shower time, Brecht says. But a younger elephant at the zoo, Anchali, keeps interrupting her flow — literally.

Anchali, the banana peeler's daughter, has been repeatedly observed bending and gripping the hose until it cuts off Mary's showers.

Mary and Anchali, Brecht says, have a history of conflict at the zoo, with Mary as the primary instigator. Mary was also given extra shower time for the duration of the study, so he suspects a jealous Anchali is ruining her showers on purpose.

"I think it's reasonable to call it sabotage," he said.

His co-author Lena Kaufmann, a doctoral student at Humboldt, disagrees. She told the New York Times that Brecht's theory is "a bit far-fetched."

The authors tried to test it by giving Anchali two hoses, one connected to Mary's shower, and one that wasn't. She chose to kink the one closest to her, regardless of whether it impacted Mary.

But the results, Brecht says, are inconclusive. Anchali might not have known which hose was Mary's. Or she might have backed off the behaviour because zoo staff often scold her for messing with Mary's showers.

"It's difficult to be sure what her intentions are," Brecht said. "We can't ask her."

Chase LaDue, an elephant ecologist who wasn't involved in the study, says it's possible Anchali is just playing with the hose.

"It's common to observe elephants manipulating food and non-food objects in a way that reminds us of a toddler playing with a toy or of an adult fidgeting with office supplies at their desk," LaDue, a conservation scientist at the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, said.

Captivity breeds conflict, says scientist

He called the study "another example of the cognitive complexity of elephants."

"While this study only reports on the specific abilities of one elephant, the findings suggest that other elephants are also capable of such behaviour," he said.

"I have witnessed elephants use hoses like this to bathe, swat at high-hanging food sources with perfectly fashioned sticks, and gingerly hand back empty food bowls to caretakers after feeding time."

Mickey Pardo, a behavioural ecologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., who studies wild elephants, cautioned against drawing widespread conclusions about Asian elephants based on Mary's behaviour alone. But said it's still "very valuable to report this behaviour in the scientific literature."

• Elephants may have names for each other that humans don't know, study finds

• This fussy elephant peels her bananas, but only when they're perfectly ripe

While he can't say for sure whether Anchali is intentionally messing with Mary, he says the conflict between them may be a product of their captivity.

Elephants in the wild, he says, are far less aggressive with each other than those in zoos, in part because they have more exercise and stimulation, but also because of their complex social structures.

"In the wild female elephants live with their relatives, but zoo elephants are often housed with unrelated individuals that they did not grow up with. Wild elephants can also choose when and how much to associate with each other … whereas in captivity they are forced to be in each other's presence constantly," he said.

While he appreciates the German scientists' research, Pardo says he believes elephants should be free.

"To be perfectly honest, keeping elephants in captivity is inhumane and the practice needs to be discontinued."
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens...tudy-1.7381543