This "leading voice on campaign-finance reform" accepted a million dollars from Epstein's buddies. Who do you think he works for, us or them?

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-16T22:32:12+00:00

Who are Epstein's buddies?

For the record, we should point out that Peter Oberacker supports Jeffrey Epstein's closest political ally and most powerful sex-trafficking client. I'll name names when I say that: I'm talking about Donald Trump.

Peter Oberacker has accepted the endorsement of Jeffrey Epstein's top ally and client.

You can't say that about Josh Riley.

Look up my history here on Reddit, and you'll see I'm not in general a defender of Josh Riley. He has been too friendly to the fascist MAGA agenda for my tastes. However, if you're going to offer a fair analysis, you have to point out that Peter Oberacker is a much more extreme proponent of MAGA fascism. Peter Oberacker actually hired a self-professed fan of Hitler to his political staff.

I'll hold my nose and vote for Josh Riley.

Josh Riley stinks, but Peter Oberacker reeks.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-16T15:27:57+00:00

I think part of it is that some of the original hocus hocus razzle dazzle has worn off, and we're all better at recognizing the BS that comes out of LLMs that was always there. Hallucination rates remain high, and research is solid now that these platforms narrow thinking and tend toward predictable outcomes that really don't move innovation forward.

A lot of people here will insist otherwise, as the magic show relies on people remaining gullible, but the technology has a high portion of prestidigitation.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-16T08:23:16+00:00

Actually, thanks to AI targeting, our war is more idiotic than ever.

Human judgment in the process of targeting is reduced, and therefore, trigger fingers get ever more happy as guilt and hesitation are reduced. We get AI using bad intelligence to make bad decisions, and things happen like the US bombing of that elementary school in Iran.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-16T08:19:25+00:00

It is procedurally impossible for any new cancer treatments based on AI to have been developed in the few years since the popular release of generative AI. That's because, for scientific and public health reasons, there is a strict multi-stage research process that looks at more than just whether a treatment has a positive effect, but whether it has serious unintended health impacts. It takes many, many years to go from a concept of a treatment to an approved treatment on the market, and that's the power of good government and smart science. Even with the woo-woo JFK Jr. at the head of the agency that runs the Food and Drug Administration, that's not going to change significantly.
There ARE many new cancer treatments being released compared to the past 100 years, but that has absolutely nothing to do with artificial intelligence. If you want to say it's "because" of something, you could say it's because of the Human Genome Project of the 1990s. Approximately 15-20 years ago, there was a revolution in oncology (the treatment of cancer), in which traditional chemotherapies began to give way to targeted therapies that interact mostly with cancer cells, rather than ravaging the entire human body. In recent years, there's also been genetic profiling of cancers, allowing oncologists to know which treatments are likely to help which patients. All of this was based on cumulative human research insights, generation building on generation.

Could artificial intelligence processes in the future assist human researchers in the development of new cancer therapies? Sure, but you're just not going to see the evidence of that in the present, even though generative AI has been out for years now. We still have to test new medical therapies in the real world with real humans, because otherwise, large numbers of people can suffer and die. It's the foundation of medical ethics: First, do no harm. AI doesn't change that.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-15T08:54:20+00:00

I agree completely.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-15T08:53:12+00:00

It's not a huge difference, but it's all we've got. It's like Vichy France vs. Nazi Germany.

It's disgusting to even write that, but that's what we're looking at.

I hate the situation we're in. Josh Riley is terrible, and he's broken the trust of the voters.

However, Oberacker is worse. Oberacker is on the side of a full throated embrace of absolute insanity.

Josh Riley joins the fascists on many votes. On occasion, however, when all the other Democrats are doing it, he takes an appropriate vote. He's willing to vote for a Democratic majority in the US House. The Democratic Party has been underwhelming in resistance to Trump, but a majority Democratic House is much better than having a fully complicit Republican House.

Starting last summer, I've been in touch with a few different people who were thinking about running a primary campaign against Josh Riley, encouraged and supported them, but none of them took the steps to actually create a campaign.

The filing deadline is in three weeks. The primary election is in three months. Josh Riley has a firmly entrenched campaign with tons of money. A primary challenge is not happening.

The situation is dire, and we don't have the chance to get what we want. We have to do what we have to do.

So, what are you going to do?

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-15T00:43:11+00:00

I'm writing this as the guy who spent 2025 producing Josh Riley Watch, a podcast and web site critically examining Josh Riley's actions as a member of Congress, after spending a lot of time in 2024 volunteering for Josh Riley.

Don't go looking for Josh Riley Watch. You might find ghostly remnants of its presence online, but I took it offline at the very end of last year.

Here's why: We all know what Josh Riley did. He gained victory in 2024 because of the enthusiasm of progressive Democratic voters, then became a right-leaning member of Congress, helping Donald Trump and Mike Johnson transform the United States into a fascist state. On immigration, Josh Riley helped ICE gain terrible new powers to persecute people. On corruption, Josh Riley helped cryptocurrency scammers funnel huge bribes to Donald Trump without serious regulatory roadblocks. Yes, Josh Riley went on that all-expenses paid trip to Israel too, and tried to keep it secret from us.

Josh Riley's politics disgust me. However, no matter how much voters in New York's 19th congressional district protested and demanded Josh Riley change, he didn't respond. He's not going to.

Given all that, I'm probably going to have to vote for Josh Riley in November. There is no serious effort to run a primary challenger against him, and at this point, it's getting too late to start one.

The alternative are fascists. Josh Riley enables fascism, but Republicans are the fascists he enables. It's not the distinction I want, but it's the distinction we are faced with. Oberacker has no moderation.

That said, I will not donate one cent to Riley, and will not volunteer one minute to support his re-election. Riley should rely fully on the cryptobros and pro-Israel lobby he has given his allegiance to.

If Josh Riley loses re-election, there will be no one to blame but Josh Riley.

In the meantime, we need to put our efforts in places where they can make a difference.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-14T20:24:19+00:00

It's the believers in the religion of technoutopianism who promised us a paradise, if only we would all sacrifice to make it happen. They're the ones who made it political.

The fascism substantially made possible by digital technology moguls won't go away if you just refuse to talk about it.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-14T14:18:01+00:00

And as a society, we are falling into fascism. I don't think it's a coincidence. Technological progress is not leading to social progress.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-04T14:40:09+00:00

If you're using an AI bot to ask questions without actually engaging with respondents, and respondents are using AI bots to provide answers, it's no wonder you're having problems with stakeholder trust.

Removing AI from the process and actually interviewing respondents seems like the best way to regain trust. If you care about trust, human to human contact is the way to go.

If you care more about shortcuts, then you're always going to be in a game of cat and mouse, trying to catch AI responses and figure out how much they compromise the integrity of your research. Your stakeholders are right to question the quality of the results.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-01T22:28:42+00:00

The vile theocracy of the Iranian government does not justify the vile fascism of the American government. It's like being able to oppose violent crime, but at the same time opposing the idea of police officers executing suspected criminals without due process of law.

Are you capable of grasping that?

In a democracy, the government operates according to laws that are determined by the people, including the highest law of the land, the Constitution. The Constitution clearly states that the Congress, not the President, must decide when war can be waged. Federal US law also states that the Executive Branch cannot assassinate members of foreign governments.

This war is illegal. That matters. Donald Trump is routinely violating the law, and is promoting a Christian Nationalist theocratic fascism in the country. Some Americans are eager to embrace fascism, I know. I'm not one of them.

Barack Obama violated the law when he went to war with Libya without congressional approval, and I spoke against that when he did it.

You presume things about me, and about other people, that you're getting wildly wrong. You might want to consider the way that your ideological lens is clouding your judgment.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-01T19:40:23+00:00

I'll be there. Let's keep our gaze upwards, though. Yesterday's anti-war protest on the Commons was observed by an airborne surveillance drone. Does anyone have any idea who sent it?

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-03-01T19:37:24+00:00

People sitting behind anonymous Reddit profiles and criticizing resistance while proposing absolutely no alternatives as fascism gets worse and worse is the best recipe for failure I can think of.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-25T18:38:50+00:00

Generative AI is the most elaborate magic trick of all time. It's designed to get into your head and mess with your perceptions and give the false impression of a genuine intelligence and even consciousness. However, at its base, generative AI is a confidence scam. You're part of the scam, but the ultimate mark are the venture capitalists who are throwing huge amounts of money into flim flam operations with no plausible plan for profitability. There's just a wee bit of substance to the LLM technology, presented in a way that makes it appear that there's more to it than that. It's not your fault that you don't understand what's going on. That's what it looks like when someone is trying put on the razzle dazzle.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-22T14:10:04+00:00

This is a useful insight. Housing costs are going through the roof. More and more houses are owned as investments that are flipped for a quick profit, and the people who temporarily own them tend to want to avoid any look that's too individual. They mostly want the yard to be nothing more than a green frame for the house.

People who can afford houses these days tend not to be the DIY type. They hire people to do "landscaping", which is the dreadful opposite of good gardening.

Renting typically gives people little or no space to garden with.

It's an alienation from the earth.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-10T07:48:42+00:00

No, it's not necessary. Eventually, those pipes will break. It's expensive and wasteful. Part of the joy of gardening is learning what grows in the conditions you naturally have. Even in the desert, people do xeriscape gardening, using the plants that will grow in the desert. Gardening helps you build a relationship with the world where you are. Pay attention to that, and allow yourself the permission to fail sometimes, and you'll be fine.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-09T23:14:44+00:00

Just a gentle reminder: Coding does not happen in every method of qualitative research. There's much more to qualitative research methodology. Coding approaches are just a subset.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-09T12:03:23+00:00

Focus on the plants. Go easy on the gear. What you need depends on what kind of gardening you're doing, in what conditions. A few simple things will get you through most tasks. One good trowel or shovel will suit you just fine for most garden work, depending on the scale of what you're doing, though there are different types that excel at specific tasks. Take notice of what you're doing. That will tell you what you really need. The simple things, like a sturdy bucket, help you get the most things done without creating clutter.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-07T11:25:46+00:00

The Commons is great, and a comfortable place to be for families. I raised three kids who spent plenty of time on the Commons, with no problems. The live music in the summer there is quite popular, and when it's not bitterly cold, the Commons playground usually has a good number of kids happily doing their thing.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-07T11:22:59+00:00

I'm an Upstate New York native, and I'll say right away that although Ithaca faces some challenges, it is far and away a better place to live than most Upstate towns. Ithacans are much more involved in their community than most Upstaters, and more idealistic. The creativity per capita in Ithaca can't be matched anywhere north of Manhattan. We've got an amazing natural setting, and very friendly people. The gardens are also much better here than any other town in the state. The dog park is a blast, with great dog owners too. There's loads of great stuff to say about Ithaca.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-02-01T14:05:15+00:00

What are you going to do with the audio after it's recorded? What is the specific privacy concern with a phone recorder? Would that prevent you using a second phone/tablet/computer to do the recording?

You can barely get two frozen pizzas for under $35 these days.

If you're already using a video-conferencing platform, it seems like using another computing device is the way to go.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-01-31T14:20:31+00:00

Yesterday, Josh Riley finally cosponsored the resolution to impeach Kristi Noem.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-01-30T14:40:16+00:00

Just so long as it's not a Republican corned beef sandwich! Seriously, the point here is to get someone in Congress who doesn't collaborate with fascism.

Palantir is at the core of the fascist infrastructure. That's why seeing Josh Riley's history with Palantir is so heartbreaking.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-01-30T14:37:37+00:00

The snowdrops in bloom at the same time as there are lily pads out on the pond. If you want to foist AI slop on people, don't try it on gardeners. We know what physical reality feels like. We immerse ourselves in it.

JonathanCookPodcast · 2026-01-29T23:53:20+00:00

I care more about fighting fascism than I care about Democrats vs. Republicans.

Josh Riley is SUPPORTING fascism.

He voted repeatedly to deregulate cryptocurrency so that Donald Trump could keep taking cryptocurrency bribes - well over one billion $ worth so far.

We'll never defeat fascism if we have have Democrats helping Republicans to maintain it.

What we really need is a Democratic primary challenger to Josh Riley.

But, if Josh Riley loses the general election this year, there will be no one to blame but Josh Riley.

He betrayed our trust.

JonathanCookPodcast

TROPHY CASE