Canada Surrenders to Daddy Trump on Tax on Tech Services

Canada decided to join the EU in punishing US tech firms because they're mad that Elon Musk allows free speech.

President Donald Trump announced Friday he is ending trade talks with Canada over the northern neighbor's decision to impose a digital service tax on American technology companies.

Trump called Canada's decision "a direct and blatant attack on our Country" in a Truth Social post.

"They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump also wrote.

Canada is reportedly going ahead with the tax despite its inclusion in the Group of Seven (G7) agreement in which President Trump agreed to remove Section 899, also known as the revenge tax proposal, from his "Big Beautiful" tax bill, according to Bloomberg.

The tax will require digital services companies like Meta to pay 3 percent of the digital services revenue they make on Canadian users above 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.6 million) in a calendar year, according to Bloomberg.

Canada's tax will apply retroactively to 2022 and the country's Finance Department says the first payments will be due from digital companies Monday, Bloomberg reported.

Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne hinted that the tax may be a potential piece of leverage in trade negotiations.

"Obviously all of that is something that we're considering as part of broader discussions that you may have," he told Bloomberg.

Trump concluded his Truth Social post with indications that the U.S. will retaliate.

"We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period," he wrote.

Industry leaders applauded Trump's move.

"This tax unfairly singles out American firms while local competitors skate by. Whether it's Brussels or Ottawa, President Trump is right to call them out and force this to change," John Czwartacki, co-founder and principal at Public Policy Solutions said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller.

I'm no fan of the social media companies but this is all about pressuring them to censor American citizens.

Canada is now groveling like a totall-cucked nation.

Canada's government announced Sunday it will cancel a controversial tax on U.S. tech giants, prompting the resumption of trade negotiations with President Trump. The decision follows Trump's warning that Canada would face steep duties for what he called a "blatant attack" on American firms.

Key Details:

Prime Minister Mark Carney personally informed President Trump of the decision to withdraw the digital services tax during a Sunday conversation.
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne also reengaged with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer the same day.
The tax, set to take effect Monday, was expected to cost American companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple over $2.7 billion due to its retroactive structure.

Diving Deeper:

Just two days after President Trump abruptly suspended bilateral trade talks over a digital tax targeting U.S. tech firms, Canada's government has backed down. First reported by the Wall Street Journal, Prime Minister Mark Carney's office announced that the controversial 3 percent digital services tax would be scrapped. The reversal marks a significant win for the Trump administration and clears the way for trade discussions to resume.

Posted by: Ace at 01:06 PM | Comments (471) | Trackbacks (Suck)

"Big Beautiful (?) Bill" Passes Cloture Vote, Now In "Vote-a-Rama" Phase for Amendments

The Democrats are proposing dozens and dozens of amendments just to delay the final vote.

The Senate launched the vote-a-rama after wrapping up debate on Sunday night, with Republicans prepared to defend and strengthen Trump's signature legislation.
The bill extends the Trump tax cuts, reforms federal programs like Medicaid, and includes work requirements designed to restore accountability.
Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham and Mike Crapo, pushed back hard against Democrat attacks, calling out Washington gimmicks and defending the bill as a pro-growth, pro-taxpayer package.

Diving Deeper:

After a lengthy debate that stretched from Sunday into early Monday, the Senate entered the final stage before a full vote on President Trump's "big, beautiful bill." The legislation, which aims to lock in key tax cuts, implement long-overdue reforms, and rein in federal waste, now faces a barrage of amendments in what's known as a vote-a-rama.

Senate Republicans are holding the line as Democrats attempt to derail the package with endless amendments designed to stall and sabotage. The bill is expected to deliver sweeping benefits to working families, small businesses, and American taxpayers, while restoring integrity to programs like Medicaid by enforcing work requirements and ending abuse.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., strongly defended the reforms to Medicaid, a program that exploded in size after Obamacare enticed states to expand it to working-age adults with no disabilities. "It's a good thing for the individual to be working. It's a good thing for the taxpayer," Graham noted. "But that seems to be a crime on the other side."

While most Republicans are united behind the bill, a handful have expressed concerns. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opposed a procedural vote Saturday night, citing different objections.

Trump threatened to primary RINO Thom Tillis. Tillis responded hours later by announcing he would not be running for reelection, which I believe was already decided. Because Trump was going to primary him either way, and he was going to lose.

Lara Trump, who polls say would win the seat in the general election if she's nominated, says she's "strongly considering" a run.

Lara Trump is "strongly considering" a run for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, according to sources close to the Trump family. Her potential bid follows Sen. Thom Tillis' announcement that he will not seek reelection after opposing President Trump's signature legislative package.

Key Details:

Two sources, speaking to NOTUS and NBC News respectively, said Lara Trump is giving the Senate race "serious" thought, with one describing the chances as "high."
Tillis, who recently clashed with President Trump over the "Big Beautiful Bill," confirmed his retirement Sunday.
Lara Trump, 42, is a Wilmington native and a former co-chair of the RNC, where she oversaw fundraising efforts and convention planning.

Posted by: Ace at 12:05 PM | Comments (407) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: President Trump’s Use of Military Power - If We Have to Break It, We Aren't Going to Buy It

Our political class has repeatedly told us that the only allowable “solutions” to pressing problems are alternatives not embraced by the majority of Americans. That is why we finally turned to Donald Trump. Just one example was the border crisis – Democrats argued for mass amnesty and a wide-open border, while establishment Republicans countered by also proposing mass amnesty with a slightly less porous border. Trump laughed in all their faces, shut the border, and started deporting criminal aliens.

In the matter of foreign military engagement, we have also been presented just two bad options over the past few decades.

1) Massive military commitment to foreign wars, including nation building and boots on the ground in perpetuity, all with an endless airlift of fallen troops being flown home to Dover AFB.

2) Pacifism, with the U.S. never unleashing its military might, even where it is appropriate.

There is another much better option, which President Trump just demonstrated – the use of our military to destroy what needs destroying, and then leaving the mess as a lesson. If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program in coming years, we can bust it all up again. We don’t have to occupy Iran or pretend that it will become a western democracy. It can figure out whatever it wants to become, but if Iran restarts its nuclear program or exports terror again, it can also face our wrath again.

I have been waiting for the U.S. to strike against Iran for more than 45 years. The lost wars of the Bush-Cheney era have driven home the futility of trying to impose democracy on those not capable of it. But still, I’ve never stopped wanting there to be righteous retribution against Iran’s mad mullahs. They attacked America on American territory when they took our embassy personnel hostage in 1979, and they’ve been killing Americans wherever they can ever since.

One of the dubious lessons learned from World War II was that we must always rebuild what we destroy in war. In that spirit, Colin Powell famously told President George W. Bush regarding the Iraq War debacle, “If you break it, you own it.”

Donald Trump has put that idea to rest. We broke it (Iran’s nuclear program) and Israel has destroyed Iran’s war fighting capabilities. And now we’re done fighting. What Iran does now is not our problem, unless/until we have to break it again sometime in the future.

With all that said, there are plenty of reasons why the mainstream American right has become so anti-war in recent years. The awful loss of young Americans’ lives in service to other countries interests - but not America’s interests - is paramount. But it is also the realization that the war-pushers have a deep reserve of ashamed-to-be-American guilt that motivates them. There is an inherent contradiction in how they go about waging war. Quite simply, they rush into foreign wars, but then refuse to fight for victory, because they believe:

1) The United State has a moral obligation to fight other countries’ wars because of our power, wealth, etc.

2) It is culturally offensive for the United States to inflict what is necessary to actually win a foreign war.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (360) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

La Monomane de L'envie
Théodore Géricault

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (419) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 6/ 30 /25

Good morning kids. And just like that, the year 2025 is just about half over. The breaking news this morning is either the twisted act of just some random psychopath or given everything going on in the world, and sadly here at home perhaps some form of domestic terrorism. Eco-, Immigration-, Islamic- or some kind of Beelzebub happy meal combination.

Here's what we know so far:

Two firefighters were killed and a third was injured when first responders were ambushed by an hours-long barrage of gunfire after arriving at the scene of a blaze in Idaho Sunday afternoon, authorities said.  The horrific attack, which began around 2 p.m. local time on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, ended about five hours later when SWAT teams discovered the lifeless body of a man next to a firearm on the popular tourist trail, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.  “This was a total ambush, these firefighters did not have a chance,” Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters after the massive manhunt, assuring the community there is no longer an active threat. “We have currently one dead shooter based on the preliminary investigation that was being conducted. Keep in mind we had a fire that was rapidly approaching the body so we had to scoop up that body and we had to transport that body to a different location. We believe that it is the only shooter that was on that mountain at that time.”

Police have not released the suspected gunman’s identity, the type of weapon recovered at the gruesome scene, or the cause of his death.  A motive remains under investigation but police believe the fire was intentionally set to lure first responders into a deadly trap. “We do believe that the suspect started the fire and we do believe it was an ambush and it was intentional,” Norris said. 

A Coeur d’Alene firefighter and a Kootenai County Fire and Rescue member were shot dead in the sudden strike.

The third victim, a Coeur d’Alene firefighter who was shot during the violent surprise attack, is recovering at Kootenai Health after undergoing surgery. . .

. . . The FBI responded to the scene providing tactical and operational support, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said, with about 300 first responders also on site from state and local agencies.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly cheesesteaks, reports of some sort of massive explosion preceded the collapse of several homes in the comedically ironic section of the city known as Nicetown. One fatality has been reported, so apologies for being flip. While it could be something as innocent/normal as a gas leak. Again, given everything going on here and abroad, perhaps some religion of Peace Peacenik or Anti-fascist Brownshirt Democrat Stormtrooper building a mostly peaceful pipe bomb to be used against ICE, a synagogue or some other target of the forces of darkness and evil that threaten "Our Precious Democracy" (vomit) cannnot be discounted. And a little over 40 years ago when Mayor Wilson Good used the air units of the Philadelphia PD to re-enact the firebombing of Hamburg and burned several blocks to the ground after being shot at while attempting to evict or arrest a black liberation group known as MOVE, led by one John Africa. Oh the humanity!

Prayers for the victims, and hopefully we'll get to the bottom of these incidents.

Completely switching gears, this so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" seems to be moving forward but about the only good thing I can see in it is the RINO opposition to it, is giving President Trump the political cover and cassus belli to go after the backstabbers like Tom Tillis who mercifully has decided to not even seek re-election and hopefully give North Carolinians the opportunity to put a MAGA-aligned patriot on the ballot and please God in the Senate.

As for the bill itself, as CBD and I discussed on the podcast an episode or so ago, and still relevant, How does borrowing and spending us further into debt gibe with the whole notion of DOGE and the MAGA movement? I do not want a more "efficient" government. I want a radically reduced/eliminated government. Because the smaller the government, the freer and more prosperous the citizenry.

One huge issue that that Leftists and propagandists are harping on is supposedly the evil Nazi Trump republicans eliminating Medicare and Medicaid. Cue the footage of Paul Ryan as Tommy Udo shoving granny off of a cliff in her wheelchair.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also backed an effort to secure more cuts within the president’s sweeping tax relief and immigration legislation.

The deficit-reducing measure is sponsored by Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott and would lower the 90% federal match rate for new Medicaid enrollees in states that expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act. A group of deficit-concerned senators, including Scott, helped secure a vote on the amendment, which will occur during an anticipated marathon session of voting, known as a “vote-a-rama,” before senators will vote on final passage of the bill.

“We think it’s really good policy,” Thune told reporters Sunday. “We’re going to do what we can to support that effort.”

. . . The amendment, however, could die on the Senate floor due to moderate GOP senators’ opposition to reducing the federal government’s contributions to state Medicaid programs, known as the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). Scott’s proposal notably exempts the existing expansion population on Medicaid rolls. Trump notably thanked Scott and the cohort of fiscal hawks for ultimately supporting the opening of debate on the bill Saturday night. The president said he would work with the group to “REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING” and “ENSURE OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT” among other priorities, in a statement on the social media platform Truth Social. . .

. . . The upper chamber’s budget bill also slashes spending on green energy subsidies by accelerating the termination of solar and wind tax credits, which could save hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.

The Senate’s proposal will have to clear the House before Trump signs the budget bill into law. A number of moderate Republicans in the lower chamber are voicing concern about aggressive spending cuts while members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are pushing for more deficit reduction.

“For all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one, REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected,” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social Sunday evening. “Don’t go too crazy!”

Bingo, Mr. President. But what have we been pleading for for decades and what did you run on - fiscal sanity. Yes, cutting out the waste and outright fraud of multiple funding of the same programs across different agencies/departments and the plain old thievery of money that somehow gets iPhoned off to fund anti-American groups and seditious activities etc. etc. is absolutely a good thing. But we need to starve the bureaucratic beast and kill off as much of the New Deal, Great Society, and every other freedom and money sucking entity we can to really Make America, not only Great again, but make America America again. Getting rid of the Dept. of Education is a great thing (if it actually does disappear) but why is the EPA still functioning. Yes Lee Zeldin has been doing some great things to erase the environmental madness of the global warming/climate change myth and give a much needed shot in the arm to get fossil fuels, energy independence and our economy moving again.

enough on this. At any rate, getting back to the actual bill itself, The sick irony of Chuck Schemer looking to read thousands of pages while Malig-Nancy Pelosi refused to read even the cover page and dedication to satan by the author of the massive Obamacare power grab that let the government seize control of the health care sector, fully one sixth of the economy, and then her proclaiming "We have to pass the bill to find out what's in it!" And it's either hypocrisy on our side in demanding we pass the bill or else tit's a delicious sauce for the goose/gander.

The other insane chutzpocrisy of the Dems is them bithcing about fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget after decades of borrowing andspending us into the oblivion we are on the precipice of while hacks like Paul Krugman kept insisting that the government can boorrow/spend and print money indefinitely and infinitely, unlike the average household who cannot run up their credit cards without any consequences.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great day!

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• The burst of gunshots – which are still ongoing – erupted around 2 p.m. local time as first responders arrived at the scene of a fire at Canfield Mountain near Coeur d’Alene, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.
  2 firefighters shot dead, 1 injured after ‘sniper’ ambushes crew responding to Idaho blaze: ‘Did not have a chance’
  
• . . . “Based on the preliminary information, we believe that was the only shooter who was on that mountain at that time.” Norris said the assessment is “based on trajectory” and “based on the type of weapons that this individual had.”
  Idaho Sheriff: Shooter Started the Fire, ‘It Was Intentional,’ ‘It Was an Ambush’

• Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker expressed that she was “deeply saddened by the explosion” that occurred and added that the “tragedy remains under active investigation.”
  Report: One Dead, Two Injured After Multiple Philadelphia Homes Collapse in Explosion
  * * * * *

• Clarice Feldman: Any week in which good sense and rational, effective government prevails is a rare, much to be wished for one. And we just had two of them.
  ‘A Very Consequential Two Weeks’
  
• Roger Kimball: The Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling in Trump v. Casa clipped the wings of activist judges, curbing their power to block presidential actions with sweeping injunctions.
  Minuting the minutiae
  
• “Those things Americans call constitutional rights seem hardly worth the paper they are written on!”
  Justice Kentanji Brown( -25) Jackson: “What Good is the Constitution?” (with loathsome degenerates like her in black robes, not very much - jjs)
  
• Victor Davis Hanson: The credentialed class got it wrong—on tariffs, borders, war, and Trump—and now their expert status is worth less than a plumber’s invoice and half as reliable.
  The Decline and Fall of Our So-Called Degreed Experts

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:00 AM | Comments (397) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 30 June 2025

Top Story

• Don't buy an Nvidia video card. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Because the leaks have already started for the upcoming 5000 Super family of cards, which are only very slightly faster but have 50% more memory.
  
  Upgrading the 5070 from a middling 12GB of RAM to 18GB makes it a solid product that will likely last for years. The same goes for the 5070 Ti, already fairly good with 16GB of RAM, if somewhat overpriced; with 24GB it becomes a high-end model that is not going to easily become obsolete.
  
  If you weren't inclined to pay that much in the first place, AMD's 9060 XT is still the pick of the litter, with 16GB cards going for less than an 8GB 5060 Ti.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (161) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - June 29, 2025 [Doof]

Howdy Hordelings! Hope your Sunday has been good. Please step on in and join in on the ONT fun!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (494) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: End O' June Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the End O' June Edition? Have you been enjoying the heatwave on the east coast this week? What are you doing to stay cool? Has it affected your ability to go to the range and shoot?

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (279) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: What A Croque!

One of my favorite casual meals is a "Croque Monsieur" with a basket of good French Fries. And one would think that it is an easy thing to find around my current digs! And you would be wrong! They're not bad, but they aren't great. And using the internet to find some schmuck's list of the greatest Croque Monsieurs in Paris is an exercise in futility. They let anybody post anything on the internet!

The Platonic Ideal, at least in my experience, was a hotel room service Croque that was spectacular. And paid for by expense account. But somebody should be able to duplicate that without much trouble, since it is a damned simple sandwich. Cheese, ham, Béchamel, good bread, and a ton of butter. And don't forget the fries! The frogs may have invented them (they didn't...it was probably the Belgians), but I'll take British chips over most of the fries in France.

Anyway, serendipity provided a solid entry into this competition, in the form of a café near some cooking supply stores I and friends visited last week. The Croque was a firm B+, and the fries were on the border of an A-.

All in all, a successful day!

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (309) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

Everybody has seen these or similar machines in hotel rooms, and lots of people use them at home. They are undeniably convenient, and can make reasonably good coffee if the conditions are correct: a clean machine and good quality coffee.

But they are mass produced, and the tolerances in the chamber that holds the pod are sloppy, probably because the capsules are made by multiple manufacturers and are not identical -- and because they are cheaply made machines produced by the lowest bidder, probably by slave labor in some sh*thole in China.

And don't start with "you're doing it wrong!" There is only one way for the capsule to fit into the chamber, so even in the midst of a caffeine deficit I am able to navigate the complex process of opening the machine, dropping a capsule into the chamber, and closing the machine.

And occasionally...very occasionally, this happens!

Aside from the existential crisis of having my coffee delayed by 30 seconds, and the affront to my frugal nature, there is also the frustration of the failure of a complex process that has nonetheless been streamlined and simplified over the many years that these machines have been in use.

There is something called "tolerance stacking," which is simply the sum of the variation in each part that contributes to the whole. If those tolerances don't average out, then there can be issues with the function of the machine...any machine. The sloppy tolerances of these mass-market machines are partially compensated for by the forgiving design, but not completely!

The answer of course is to throw the machine out the window and hire a sexy French maid to make my coffee every morning, but that entails other existential risks. So I will soldier on, bravely confronting the small probability that my coffee will be delayed!

For those who are careful readers of the award-winning Food Thread, you may have noticed that I am not making my customary cone-filter coffee. I have no excuse, other than the difficulty of finding plain old cones! There is a fancy coffee store a few minutes away, but even I, an obsessive-compulsive coffee lunatic shied away from the $100+ systems they were selling. And by the time I explored enough to find sane stuff, I was deep into the convenience of the capsules.

Yes, I am weak.

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (362) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Hyperemotional Left VS. The More Rational Right

We have all seen it, ad nauseam. The ardent leftist screaming and ranting and raving about the topic de jour, because the left has convinced its shock troops that emotion and feelings and simple volume, complete with weird body language and gestures is a perfect replacement for considered, rational argument.

Sadly, that is not limited to the rank-and-file of the progressive movement. I's political leaders are long on emotional appeals and very, very, short on logical arguments to buttress their political philosophy. For instance, it has become axiomatic, and a meme, that any Republican or conservative policy will hurt women and children!

What is really telling is that they have extended that into their personal lives, because the line between their political philosophy and their emotional lives simply does not exist. Many of us have liberal friends and family, and I am willing to wager that most have not cut off contact with them, absent some ridiculous and ghastly emotional scene in which their sentiment and passion overwhelms their sense of family or friendship. I have family and friends who are on the left, and while we have disagreements about most of what is going on in the political world, it is beyond my understanding of the human condition how someone can reject people who really matter simply because of politics.

And there's the rub! It is not simply politics for much of the left; they have internalized their politics so that it is part of their emotional well-being, and has become a part of their psyche. When one can't differentiate between the personal and the political, that's a problem!

Dennis Prager has written and spoken about what he calls "The micro and the macro." Simply put, he does not allow his political philosophy to intrude upon his personal relationships. That is wise.

For instance, in my life, the macro would be the horrid stances that Homosexual Inc. take about marriage and promiscuity and adoption and Gaza and on and on. But I have homosexual friends, and I cannot imagine attenuating our relationships because of those politics.

But the left is different. They will happily demonize anyone who is not rigidly in step with their stances on...everything!

Who knows...maybe there is a physiological difference between conservatives and leftists. Is there some brain chemistry that allows us to make those delineations, and leftists do not have the biochemical capacity to differentiate between friend and foe, because their politics are the only thing that matters?

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (310) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 6-29-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: OrangeEnt)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (HT: sharon (willow's apprentice)). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (341) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech News 29 June 2025

Top Story

• As an experiment, researchers at Anthropic gave an AI the task of running a small business. The results were catastrophic. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Given the task of selling snacks and drinks to Anthropic staff - on a purely imaginary basis - it was quickly persuaded to give steep employee discounts despite employees being its only customers. It tried to sell products that it knew were already available in the staff break room for free, and then went all-in on selling refrigerated tungsten cubes.
  
  It hallucinated that it was a human with a physical body, and contacted security telling them how to identify its imaginary physical body. Then it hallucinated that it attended a meeting where it was told to pretend that it had a physical body.

  "We think this experiment suggests that AI middle-managers are plausibly on the horizon."

  That's a really savage indictment of middle-managers.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (234) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Night "Club ONT" June 28, 2025 [The 3 Ds]

Welcome to Club ONT! A collaboration of your Sunday through Wednesday ONT Crew - The Disco, The Doggo, and The Dino.

Peak brilliance with the comments over the last week - which are sprinkled throughout the content this evening. The 3D's are a welcoming bunch and appreciate your contributions. We suspect they will get the 'who reads the content treatment' and echoed through eternity - like the normal ONT content.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (501) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 6/28/2025

Sequels: A Choice

When something original and new gets sudden success in Hollywood, there's the immediate need to capitalize on it. Sequels have always been a thing in Hollywood, extending back to the silent era with serials (William Wyler cut his teeth making serial westerns for Universal), but it was the 80s where Hollywood decided to make them a cornerstone of their financial well-being rather than an ashamed underbelly of cashflow that it had always been.

For decades, the question of how to approach sequels was easy: more of the same. Another adventure for the Lone Ranger or Flash Gordon. Even outside of franchises, you could just have Randolph Scott amble into another isolated western town and deal with some injustice and then amble out again, and the B-movie fans will show up in enough numbers to financially justify the next. So, that means formula. You just do the same thing again.

And when sequels turned into huge business, that approach becomes a bigger question. If you're Fast and Furious, you can keep tweaking the formula slightly with every entry until you reach ridiculous, borderline parody of the original film, and the audience will go along with it. If you're Star Wars, you go in a different direction and deepen emotion and increase danger...for one film and then revert to the formula of the first.

In my cinematic journeys, I've grown less patient with formula. I don't reject it or hate a film because it follows formula, but I've always looked forward to sequels that broke with formula more than those that stuck to it. So, now we must talk about Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:45 PM | Comments (355) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hobby Thread - June 28, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. As previewed last week, we gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it came up with lighthouses.

After all, Ace of Spades brings light to the dark places and guidance to those in need of direction.

[Top photo: Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, Florida
(photo credit: Mike Seeley]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (181) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Ace of Spades Pet Thread, June 28

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* * *

Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.

Would you like a treat?

Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.

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Posted by: K.T. at 03:36 PM | Comments (75) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, June 28

Big as my hand

Long-time lurker - Lil ‘Ol Texas Lady – here. Hubby and I moved back home to Texas from the frozen northeast a few years ago and have been working on establishing veggie (his) and flower (mine) gardens since then. He inherited a green thumb while I, alas, can barely grow mold on a shower curtain; we tend opposite ends of the property.

Three years ago, my older sister sent me splits from daylilies hybridized nearly 100 years ago by my maternal grandmother. My grandmother, a tough little firecracker standing nearly 4’10 in heels, and HER husband, were passionate gardeners well into their dotage, so skilled and noted at hybridizing they became national judges of a slew of varieties from irises to daffodils to daylilies.

Of her creations, none were or remain as glorious as “Elsbeth”, a ruffled, butter-yellow daylily, growing as tall as 3 feet with blooms as long and wide as my hand. So prodigious are they that each bloom stalk will produce as many as 6-10 blooms over the course of their 90-day life.

And who knew, these magnificent flowers absolutely thrive in the East Texas sun and heat despite being tended by one as botanically ‘tarded as I.

Meet “Elsbeth”.

How wonderful to have a daylily hybridizer in your family, and a sister to share splits of the plants with you. This is a wonderful plant. Thanks for sharing the details of its history with us.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:23 PM | Comments (78) | Trackbacks (Suck)

When is owning property a good idea?

Looking to buy or sell property? Buying and owning property comes with some complications. You may have noticed some the news lately.

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Confiscation of property by government

Posted by: K.T. at 11:00 AM | Comments (247) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Classical Saturday Coffee Break & Prayer Revival

Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival there are a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Nekoosa.)

1) This is an open thread, feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Remember it's OK to beat and release trolls.
3) No, you may not run or walk fast with sharp objects.
4) Next Friday have a wonderful and safe Independence Day.
5) Have a great weekend!

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian (ONT Cob Emeritus) at 07:51 AM | Comments (357) | Trackbacks (Suck)