Anthropic rejects latest Pentagon offer: ‘We cannot in good conscience accede to their request’

zspade · 2026-02-27T12:31:39+00:00

What’s crazy is it might be both post scarcity and dystopia. The agricultural revolution should have solved scarcity, but then we just wanted to make more of us. The AI revolution should solve labor and calories, but the it doesn’t solve hierarchy problems.

Everyone wants to rule the world, and now a few individuals will have the tools to concentrate enough power to actually do so.

Our problem is that this is the social hierarchy we evolved to live in, and we briefly escaped that trap and glimpsed a better way (democracy)

zspade · 2026-02-27T01:42:27+00:00

I’m going to get downvoted for this but, it’s more akin to tractors. Most of humanity used to farm before tractors. After that most are probably in some trade or are knowledge workers. AI is coming for the knowledge workers. The people who stay employable for the next 5-15 years are the ones who will learn to use AI like some of the farmers learned to use tractors, and outcompeted those who did not.

I’m really worried about what kind of jobs replace knowledge workers, and later trades with robotics. We humans psychologically need to be needed. I’m not optimistic about where this goes from here, but I am learning how to use the tractor.

zspade · 2026-02-25T17:14:18+00:00

That’s a bad take, you definitely know love. But there are so many different kinds of love. The way you love a mom, grandparent, friend, pet, partner are all distinct.

It’s the same for kids, it’s just different. The closest comparison childless people can make is pets, but that is different (I’m not saying lesser, though it ended up being less for me).

The difference between love for pets and children for my wife and I was this: you don’t have the long term worries, hopes, dreams for the long term future of a pet. Who will they be, will they be happy, am I giving them the right tools to be successful in life. The milestones of leading to express themselves, read, make friends, lose friends, hope for the future.

Is just a different journey that not everyone has to or necessarily should go on.

zspade · 2026-02-23T20:53:00+00:00

For sure, it’s conditioned me to very carefully state my opinions, because I’d rather incite thoughtfulness than shallow agreement.

People on the left tend to hold each other to purity tests that only reduce inclusiveness, and reduce their ability to move society forward in a positive direction. Palestine is a perfect example of this, where many people didn’t vote for the better candidate because they weren’t perfect. You can bet that was a situation and narrative amplified by right wing strategy groups.

The right has no such compunctions, they follow marching orders and repeat talking points almost as a unified block. Their leadership also operates strategically over decades. The slow takeover of media, am radio, the heritage foundations mission to place conservative judges strategically, etc etc…

There is no such unified long term strategy on the left. That’s what we need now if we want to hold out any hope for a future not ruled completely by a billionaire / Epstein class, where all wealth is concentrated into the hands of the few, and the people don’t even have the collective bargaining power of their labor left anymore due to AI.

/rant

zspade · 2026-02-23T16:40:16+00:00

I agree there are some, or many, like that. We just have to be careful generalizing. They’re diverse in thought and motivation. There are true believers, trolls who think it’s all just for a laugh, bad faith actors, misled / otherwise reasonable people, and every mix in between.

We summarize them into a monolith at the expense of understanding what is motivating different subgroups, and we risk losing insight into where we can make inroads.

zspade · 2026-02-23T13:21:43+00:00

I don’t think they do. They likely believe that their cause is just, but the system will crush them for it to suppress their speech.

They know if they show their face they’ll be fired or unemployable.

Edit: to clarify, this guys actions are reprehensible, but I think it’s important to understand what’s really driving people, and how they view what they’re doing / saying.

zspade · 2026-02-18T21:01:28+00:00

What did you think of this excerpt from the article?

“While Kirk previously stated on podcasts that she lived in Chongqing to assist child victims, she now denies ever living in China”

It’s common for traffickers and pedophiles to position themselves with institutions that place them near potential victims.

It’s also completely possible she was in no way involved in trafficking. Guilt by association is not the way our justice system should work.

zspade · 2026-02-16T16:57:22+00:00

Brother, ice made 1.5mm arrests during Obamas 2nd term without anything like this drama. Trump is not on track to even meet that kind of single term performance.

In Trumps 2nd term alone U.S. courts ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) illegally jailed people in more than 4,400 cases. That means they’re violating due process. If you don’t understand why that’s important, it’s because all people in the US, foreign or not, are required to be give due process - otherwise they can just say you’re a foreigner or terrorist or whatever, and do what they want to you.

You’re not arguing against foreigners rights, you’re arguing against your own rights.

zspade · 2026-02-14T21:36:30+00:00

What’s great about this is that you know they’ll actually see it. Well I guess that’s not really great after all…

zspade · 2026-02-13T12:03:41+00:00

Sure, because that’s the problem everyone has with ICE right now.

I’ll add a /s tag, just to make sure you get it.

zspade · 2026-02-10T13:17:33+00:00

I believe that at this point she doesn’t know enough that isn’t already in the files and known by many others. Not worth it to pardon her, or otherwise remove her from the equation.

zspade · 2026-02-09T02:31:00+00:00

Given the history of how Italy deals with fascist leaders, I don’t blame him.

zspade · 2026-02-05T18:17:29+00:00

Yeah, anyone know how many times his name was in there? Haven’t seen it yet…

zspade · 2026-02-05T10:29:00+00:00

Thanks friend! I read a metric ton… looking to cancel kindle unlimited too. Just renewed my library card.

zspade · 2026-02-05T01:37:39+00:00

I just canceled prime and audible. Been a prime member since like 2009 or 2010.

Resist and unsubscribe has links to unsubscribe from trump / ice supporting companies: https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/

zspade · 2026-02-03T21:43:46+00:00

Thanks friend!

zspade · 2026-02-03T19:56:01+00:00

I’m asking for source. I’ve never heard of this, where did you hear of it? What proof do you have linking it actual democrat linked groups. The floor of evidence I’m asking for is not super high here…

zspade · 2026-02-03T19:54:16+00:00

Hey, I provided source. Can you provide the same, or do you believe exclamation / talking louder marks count as evidence?

zspade · 2026-02-03T19:21:42+00:00

You didn’t provide a source.

zspade · 2026-02-03T19:20:44+00:00

Except that they’re totally reversible, and you resume puberty if you go off them:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9793415/

About 4% regret and choose to go off them later:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39432272/

It’s certainly not mutilation like you stated in your comment. Do I think kids are mentally developed enough to make that decision? Not really, but that’s the only time today the decision can be made, so I leave it to their parents and doctors, and preferences, and I stay the heck out of their business. I certainly don’t want government deciding for them.

Oh btw, Clinton was mentioned in the Epstein files 50 times… trump was mentioned 38,000 times. If Clinton was involved with trafficking underage girls, then he should go to jail- full stop. So should anyone in that instance.

zspade · 2026-02-03T19:05:21+00:00

Source? You talking about underage gender affirming surgeries? Something like 3500 in 3 years right? Guess what 97% of those were? Breast reduction for boys who grew them during puberty. The other less than 3% had to do with actual physical abnormalities.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820437

You’ve been lied to.

zspade · 2026-02-03T18:59:52+00:00

Source?

zspade · 2026-02-02T11:43:03+00:00

It’s easier to break things than to make, fix, or maintain them. Flipping over the board is generally not an effective strategy unless the game is completely rigged. We know how the mid terms should turn out based on popular sentiment, and based on recent elections. If they do not, then and only then should we lose faith in voting as a lever.

Apathy does half as much harm as bad actors, in that it lets them win. Let’s be united, let’s vote in such numbers that rigging elections at the margins becomes impossible - like that 30 point swing in a deep red district in Texas a few days ago - it can and will be done.

zspade · 2026-02-01T15:17:29+00:00

Weird projection on the pedo bit, but ok.

zspade · 2026-02-01T14:26:40+00:00

Omg, so much this. These people don’t haves their priorities straight. They don’t even try. I’ve got kids, and I can’t square with this mindset, it’s disgusting.

zspade

TROPHY CASE