A reminder that everytime you get upset at Trump & Musk that you should also be upset with the Democrats that got us here.

A recent event led me to fact check something that I thought must be untrue, which is that Ukraine conscripts people into the military against their will, including making those people that had previously fulfilled their obligations return to the battlefield.

Moreso, when browsing X recently I saw bunch of videos being posted of what claimed were police forcing people into vans to go fight in Ukraine. The police were beating these people in the process. Now, it is possible that some of this content is propaganda, but I did want to find out if Ukraine forces conscription.

It appears that it is true:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Ukraine

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/lacking-manpower-ukraine-resorts-to-harsh-means-to-force-draft-dodgers-into-combat

I am very much against conscription. I still support Ukraine's independence, but the fact that they are forcing people to fight through beatings, arrests, etc. is sickening to me and makes me lose respect for Zelensky. According to an estimate by Ukrainian commanders, 50% to 70% of Ukrainian conscripts are killed or wounded in their first few days in combat on some areas of the front.

What are others thoughts on this?

In Trump's latest Truth Social post, he shares a disgusting video depicting a golden statue of himself, a sky scraper with his name on it, a superyacht on the Gaza coast, him holding hands with a female entertainer in a night club wearing a see-through gown, him & Netanyahu shirtless together sipping alcohol on the Gaza coast with a sign that says "Trump Gaza," and money raining down with kids jumping up to grab it.

All the signs of what many would call the antichrist, yet the religious-right is convinced he's their savior. He wants to turn Gaza into a Las Vegas style resort with his name plastered everywhere.

Google Gemini seems to have been programmed to provide cookie cutter responses when asked questions about whether Trump tried to overturn the election.

When you point it out to Gemini, it says it isn't programmed to avoid any topics or viewpoints.

Even saying you'll accept a variety of sources & viewpoints on the topic to reach your own conclusion, results in it saying it can't answer.

When asking if it has been trained on research papers, case law, indexed news stories & even Wikipedia results, it says that it has.

@gnukeith on X, a @Brave + $BAT Ambassador specifically chosen by Brave is now promoting far-right extremists on X.

Brave CEO, Brendan Eich, was previously ousted from his role as CEO of Mozilla, after it was found that he had donated to Prop 8, a campaign in California aimed at banning gay marriage. Despite Brendan Eich claiming at the time that he regrets his decision, he has since made multiple social media posts defending his anti-gay position.

At some point people must decide whether they wish to ditch the Fox, as Brave started advertising to users searching up Firefox on the Google Play Store, or if they want to ditch the anti-LGBTQ+ browser.

This is an unpopular opinion, and I get why – people crave a scapegoat. CrowdStrike undeniably pushed a faulty update demanding a low-level fix (booting into recovery). However, this incident lays bare the fragility of corporate IT, particularly for companies entrusted with vast amounts of sensitive personal information.

Robust disaster recovery plans, including automated processes to remotely reboot and remediate thousands of machines, aren't revolutionary. They're basic hygiene, especially when considering the potential consequences of a breach. Yet, this incident highlights a systemic failure across many organizations. While CrowdStrike erred, the real culprit is a culture of shortcuts and misplaced priorities within corporate IT.

Too often, companies throw millions at vendor contracts, lured by flashy promises and neglecting the due diligence necessary to ensure those solutions truly fit their needs. This is exacerbated by a corporate culture where CEOs, vice presidents, and managers are often more easily swayed by vendor kickbacks, gifts, and lavish trips than by investing in innovative ideas with measurable outcomes.

This misguided approach not only results in bloated IT budgets but also leaves companies vulnerable to precisely the kind of disruptions caused by the CrowdStrike incident. When decision-makers prioritize personal gain over the long-term health and security of their IT infrastructure, it's ultimately the customers and their data that suffer.