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DEA CONTINUES TO BE THE QANON OF DRUG ENFORCEMENT, PRETENDS COLORFUL FENTANYL IS
DEALERS TRYING TO KILL CHILDREN

Overhype

FROM THE TIME-TO-PUT-GOV'T-BULLSHIT-ON-SCHEDULE-II DEPT

Wed, Sep 7th 2022 01:39pm - Tim Cushing

Some DEA agent field-tested sidewalk chalk and managed to arrive at this
conclusion:

> Rainbow fentanyl is being sold in multiple forms, according to the DEA,
> including as pills, powder and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk.

This is from The Hill’s stenography of DEA bullshit, which doesn’t even remain
consistent over the course of the six sentences that make up the first four
paragraphs of this “report.”

Sidewalk chalk is a weird comparison. The DEA claims this is something used to
target children, who we all know routinely ingest sidewalk chalk. The most
likely explanation for this resemblance is its resemblance in
unpackaged-for-retail-sale form, which just happens to resemble something other
than uncut drugs. This photo is from the DEA’s alarmist announcement on its own
site:

I guess that looks like sidewalk chalk. Or at least the remnants of sidewalk
chalk, after a bit of hard outdoor use. What it actually looks like is a bunch
of stuff the DEA seized and one agent said, “It kinda looks like sidewalk
chalk,” and the DEA PR wing ran with it.

But what it doesn’t look like is “candy,” which the DEA insists this new wave of
kid-targeting fentanyl also looks like:

> The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it has observed an “alarming”
> trend of brightly-colored fentanyl made to look like candy that is being used
> to attract children and young people.

Anyone who thinks sidewalk chalk also looks like candy probably eats glue and
paint chips. Now, this could mean the DEA has seen other fentanyl that looks
like candy. But if it has, it hasn’t provided any photographic evidence of
fentanyl that resembles any candy kids are likely to eat. Even this photo
(again, from the DEA’s site) shows something that looks like medicine, rather
than something most kids would voluntarily ingest.

I’m trying to think of any candy I’ve consumed in my life that includes score
lines and mg designations. Medications come in plenty of colors, but no one has
ever accused drug manufacturers of targeting children just because the ibuprofen
caplets I buy are a very bright orange.

So, it’s both sidewalk chalk and candy, even though it’s neither and barely
resembles either example the DEA provides. The Hill report also cites an
unfounded claim that likely originates from similarly ignorant law enforcement
agencies:

> While some reports have claimed that different colors indicate differing
> levels of potency, laboratory testing has not found a correlation.

Despite there being no evidence drug dealers are trying to kill minors with
powerful synthetic opioids, the DEA insists this is a thing that’s actually
happening.

> “Rainbow fentanyl — fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright
> colors, shapes, and sizes — is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to
> drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram
> said in a statement.

The DEA and multiple law enforcement agencies consider fentanyl so dangerous
it’s possibly harmful to be observed in its resting state by the naked eye, so
it’s kind of jarring to hear the DEA claiming sidewalk chalk/candy is only being
used to “drive addiction” rather than “convert kids to corpses.”

The thing about drug dealing is it works best if you remain under the radar,
free of enhanced interest and/or a trail of corpses. Sure, drug dealers may not
care much about the health or well-being of their customers. But they are not in
the business of decreasing demand by rolling the OD dice. They’ll sell you what
they want but they’re not looking to rack up a bunch of felony murder charges by
pursuing the youth market. One, kids are unpredictable and unlikely to use
products in a way that won’t kill them. Two, kids just don’t have that much
money. More stable sources of income can be found elsewhere.

The narrative the DEA is pushing here is, at best, cognitively dissonant. The
DEA wants us to believe dealers are pushing drugs on children, hoping to create
lifelong customers. But it also wants us to believe the market being pursued is
filled with kids who will overdose because they decided to eat something that
looks like sidewalk chalk. It’s Schrodinger’s OD: the theoretical child is
either alive or dead, depending of which part of the DEA statement we choose to
focus on.

The best way to keep kids safe is to provide them with actual facts about drugs,
side effects, and the strong possibility their chosen substance has been cut
with harmful substances. A blend of hyperbole and paranoia just makes everyone
stupider and far more susceptible to being harmed when experimenting with
illicit substances. Pretending kids won’t eventually try drugs is delusional.
Pretending dumb shit like this DEA press release will keep kids from trying
drugs is even stupider. If the DEA truly wants to keep more people alive, it
needs to stop presenting its hysteria as informational.

Filed Under: dea, fentanyl, kids, moral panic

31 CommentsLeave a Comment

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COMMENTS ON “DEA CONTINUES TO BE THE QANON OF DRUG ENFORCEMENT, PRETENDS
COLORFUL FENTANYL IS DEALERS TRYING TO KILL CHILDREN”

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31 Comments Collapse all replies

This comment is new since your last visit.

That One Guy (profile) says:
September 7, 2022 at 1:52 pm

WHEN'S THE LAST TIME THE DEA WAS DRUG TESTED...?

So fentanyl is so deadly that being in the same room can cause full grown adults
to suffer serious medical complications from it and it’s also being sold to
children who as everyone knows are much more drug resistant, just rolling in
cash and not at all watched by people who would find it a little concerning when
little Suzy/Billy drop dead from ODing…

At this point the DEA should just cut to the chase and start issuing press
releases simply comprised of ‘Be Afraid And Give Us More Money!‘

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Threaded [2]
PaulT (profile) says:
September 8, 2022 at 12:25 am

RE:

Yeah, you know the best way to make lots of money is to sell something that not
only kills off the current crop of customers, but wipes out an entire generation
of future customers and ensures that every law enforcement agency on the planet
makes it their highest priority to take you down. Makes perfect sense…

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:00 pm

And just in time for the annual “Your kids Halloween candy is actually drugs”
panic.

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:06 pm

I see another government agency is jumping on the ‘think of the children’
bandwagon so as to justify increasing its power to abuse the citizens.

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Naughty Autie says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:07 pm

This is from The Hill’s stenography of DEA bullshit, which doesn’t even remain
consistent over the course of the six sentences that make up the first four
paragraphs of this “report.”

You see, whilst The Hill stuck with stenography, the DEA became experts in
steganography.

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Threaded [2]
Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 4:52 pm

RE:

Are you, perhaps, referring to the Dinosaur Evolution Agency, and secret
Steganosauri – the Dinosaur that Hides Between?

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Naughty Autie says:
September 8, 2022 at 6:23 am

RE: RE:

Exactly!

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Crafty Coyote says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:10 pm

Sounds like someone at the DEA ingested sidewalk chalk when he was a kid. That,
and a bunch of lead chips

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Threaded [2]
N0083rp00f says:
September 7, 2022 at 3:28 pm

RE:

Better x-ray them stat and determine just how many crayons are within their
sinus cavity.

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:25 pm

But…the children

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 2:30 pm

> The DEA and multiple law enforcement agencies consider fentanyl so dangerous
> it’s possibly harmful to be observed in its resting state by the naked eye, so
> it’s kind of jarring to hear the DEA claiming sidewalk chalk/candy is only
> being used to “drive addiction” rather than “convert kids to corpses.”

Tim the thing you missed is that fentanyl is sort of like kryptonite. It’s only
fatal to superheros (cops), but has less effect on potential victims/sympathy
target (children).

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mvario (profile) says:
September 7, 2022 at 3:07 pm

WAIT...

I’m having an adverse reaction to looking at that picture of Fentanyl! I was
told by a helpful police officer that it could happen. I’d best go for a
lie-down.

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Norahc (profile) says:
September 7, 2022 at 9:07 pm

RE:

Just think of all the cops who will be exposed to fentanyl walking by kid’s
sidewalk drawings in chalk.

And what happens when someone makes chalk drawings on the sidewalks outside the
police station?

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Rekrul says:
September 7, 2022 at 6:00 pm

Not to defend the DEA, but the pills in that second picture do remind me of
Sweetarts. As for the score lines and MG information, kids aren’t exactly known
for scrutinizing the candy that they eat. I’m not saying that drug dealers are
targeting children, just that if you were to stick a bag of those in front of an
eight year old, there’s a good chance that they might think they’re candy and
eat one.

Here’s what I want to know though; Those pills are meant to be swallowed, right?
How is it that a cop can overdose and need to be rushed to the hospital just
from touching such pills, while the people buying them can swallow a whole pill,
getting a dose hundreds, if not thousands of times stronger than the cop, and
not die from it?

If it were truly so powerful that just touching it gives you an overdose,
wouldn’t the people taking it just need a speck the size of a grain of sand?

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 7, 2022 at 7:22 pm

RE:

Well, thanks for pointing out the inconsistency! I now have to talk to my lawyer
to see if we can still use it as a defense in court.

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That One Guy (profile) says:
September 7, 2022 at 11:39 pm

RE:

Oh that’s simple enough, it’s because cops are not only the dumbest people in
existence(just ask any judge tasked with ruling if a cop should have known
something) they’re also the most vulnerable and weak, in mortal peril from
everything which is why they are so quick to start shooting/tazing/bludgeoning,
because they know even the slightest risk of harm can put them in the morgue.

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Max says:
September 8, 2022 at 10:03 am

RE: EASY ONE...

Ah yes, but see, the part they neglected to mention is that this is the less
known but incredibly dangerous homeopathic variant of Fentanyl – the more of it
you have around the safer you are. You can eat it by the spoonful with no ill
effects at all, but a mere few stray molecules of it in the air can kill you
dead where you stand…!

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Anonymous Hero says:
September 7, 2022 at 10:41 pm

> Even this photo (again, from the DEA’s site) shows something that looks like
> medicine, rather than something most kids would voluntarily ingest.

Why do you think every pill bottle and syrup has child safety caps?

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Naughty Autie says:
September 8, 2022 at 6:29 am

RE:

Why do you think every pill bottle and syrup has child safety caps?

Known as childproof caps in the UK, and that’s also a misnomer. I was able to
follow the instructions on the lid to get into a bottle of cough syrup and
accidentally overdose on it when I was six and had been learning to read and
write for just a year. ‘Childproof’, my arse!

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 7:07 am

RE: RE:

I mean… you kinda proved the point though. Kids won’t give a shit if their
sweetarts have little markings on it.

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 12:51 pm

RE: RE: RE:

*whoooosh!*

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 9:58 am

RE: RE:

> Known as childproof caps in the UK, and that’s also a misnomer.

Of course. Some elderly people have a lot of trouble opening these, e.g. due to
arthritis, and hand them to their young grandchildren to be opened. I’d figured
it out long before I could read—a bottle that can’t easily be opened is
basically a puzzle toy. (But, then, I was also the type of kid who takes apart
their toys to see how they work.)

The goal isn’t to keep kids out, it’s to cover the manufacturers’ asses when
kids get in.

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Daydream says:
September 8, 2022 at 4:25 am

I don’t know, that second picture does resemble sugary candy. I wouldn’t put it
past some kids to think they’re knockoff M&Ms because of the M on them.

But, uh, even if it does look like a treat…aren’t you supposed to teach your
kids not to take candy from strangers anyway?

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nasch (profile) says:
September 11, 2022 at 7:04 am

RE:

> aren’t you supposed to teach your kids not to take candy from strangers
> anyway?

There’s a whole song about it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-4rhjO6xYg

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 7:04 am

If you’re a toddler, that looks like candy. If your parents start nodding off
and drop some of it on the floor, you’re probably going to try to eat it.

Are the dealers actually trying to kill children? Probably not. Adults like
colorful things too.

Is it also a wildly irresponsible product that small children would be likely to
mistake for candy? Yes. Yes it is.

Bad takes across the board on this one.

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 10:14 am

RE:

> Adults like colorful things too.

Interestingly, though, a museum analysed 7000 artifacts and found things were
becoming less colourful over time.

“The most notable trend, in both the chart and the video, is the rise in grey
over time. This is matched by a decline in brown and yellow. These trends likely
reflect changes in materials, such as the move away from wood and towards
plastic. A smaller trend is the use of very saturated colours which begins in
the 1960s.”

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Anonymous Coward says:
September 8, 2022 at 7:05 am

While I agree that LEOs tend toward hyperbole when it comes to Fentanyl, I
disagree with Mr. Cushing on this point: It definitely does look like candy to
me. If I was a teenager (or, if I’m being honest, a grown adult) and someone I
knew handed me some of those colorful crunchy-looking pills and said “want some
candy?” I would probably eat it without a second thought. Looks like SweetTarts
or Smarties or other crunchy sugar to me.

I’d also like everyone to consider this: Does there exist other logical reasons
for using bright rainbow coloring? If you ran a drug business, being fully aware
of the addictive qualities of your product, does it not make sense to target
younger audiences? It makes perfect sense to me.

Of course, the DEA is obviously trying to hype this as much as possible to
garner funding, but that doesn’t mean their claims are absurd.

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Tanner Andrews (profile) says:
September 8, 2022 at 3:05 pm

RE: REASONS FOR COLOR

> I’d also like everyone to consider this: Does there exist other logical
> reasons for using bright rainbow coloring?

Yes. Color helps people distinguish the pills. If I am looking for one of each
of two types of pill, and they are different colors, then I can tell if I have
the right stuff in hand. If I have two of the same color, I know I did not get
what I expected.

When you reach the point of multiple pills per day, that is surely a help.

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Professor Ronny says:
September 8, 2022 at 10:09 am

JUST NO

> While some reports have claimed that different colors indicate differing
> levels of potency, laboratory testing has not found a correlation.

Color is a nominal variable. There is no (valid) way to perform correlation
analysis using color.

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fairuse (profile) says:
September 8, 2022 at 3:02 pm

INTERESTING SECOND PHOTO

Two things about the 2nd photo from the DEA site: The M in a square is “Pill
with imprint M 20 is White, Round and has been identified as Methylphenidate
Hydrochloride 20 mg. It is supplied by Mallinckrodt Inc.”

I personally never saw Ritalin (Methylphenidate) marked M 30. Whatever is in the
DEA picture must be something else — counterfeit maybe.

I’m not surprised at the dumb PR from DEA.

quote from — https://www.drugs.com/imprints/m-20-25893.html

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LostInLoDOS (profile) says:
September 8, 2022 at 6:04 pm

CANDYCANE

You can sell the publicly on the candy aspect. That’s been a legitimate concern
for decades and why adult-proof, er, child-proof, caps exist.
There’s no doubt children can, have, and will, eat meds thinking they’re candy.

Chalk? That’s ludicrous! If anything they should have gone with candy there too!
Looks to me like partially eaten flavoured sugar bites.

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* Tomac: Eh, they're cleaning up the old galleries and posts from before
explicit content was banned. Not unexpected, kind of surprised it's taken
this long.
* The real question is around the "art exception" in their policy - which they
admit will likely get deleted as well since the system is automated.
* Candescence: I don't think that's the case? Explicit content was only banned
in public community imgur posts, it was perfectly acceptable for private
hosting, the new TOS explicitly involves banning/deleting explicit content
outright even if it's only hosted privately
* Also deleting all images uploaded by non-registered users is gonna create a
huge graveyard of deadlinks
* deadspatula: Fox has multiple trials over the same facts. A court could not
have compelled an apology. Fox was never going to conceed to apologize. It
would much rather have fought in the appealate court to limit damages. Anyone
ever expecting an admission of guilt while fox was in seperate litigation was
going to be dissapointed.
* Because Pai's alliegence was to the lobbists who rewarded his brown nosing
with his current position. Thats why he took the job in the first place.
* Samuel Abram: very fair
* I blocked my first person on Discord and it was someone on the Mastodon
discord calling @Mike Masnick a “shill for Google” and a “free speech
extremist”.
* Basically, he sounded exactly like one of the trolls Techdirt often gets.
* He also blames Section 230 for the election of TFG in 2016. What? It’s a
total non-sequitur.
* I rarely block people on discord, but that one took the whole cake and
claimed it was a lie (metaphorically speaking).
* Look, if this person made fair criticisms of Mike, I wouldn't have blocked
him. But when I tried to offer counterevidence, he was like "You can't
convince me!" like a denier. Better to block him.
* deadspatula: Im at this point confused as to what Musk thinks Microsoft Ads
was doing? Like he talks like it was another tweetdeck or something,
providing the twitter feed without the ads? But from microsoft's description
of the platform being affected, this prevents Microsoft ad customers from
buying ad space on twitter?
* Mike Masnick: No, it is basically a tool for managing corporate tweets AND
ads. So it is tweetdeck like.
* Lol. That's funny. There are always some folks like that. There was a
congressional staffer who sent a good friend of mine a long rambling
complaint about how i was a big tech shill when my friend suggested he read
an article by me. But the bizarre thing was, the article in question was one
where I was explaining how problematic a policy proposal was because it would
strengthen big tech
* pyrex: oof!!
* that's a confusing take to me! i feel like the blog is pretty monofocused on
legal thuggery, which tends to make it pretty opposed to big tech, even if
like superficially it sides with one tech company over another tech company
sometimes
* John Roddy: I'm still waiting for my check.
* Every time I suggested that Copyright maximalist policies were less than
ideal, I was accused of being a Google shill.
* mildconcern: I have literally worked for George Soros and not once did I get
read into his secret plot to take over the US government for the UN world
cabal in return for millions for my silence. I felt a lot of FOMO.
* Samuel Abram: @Timothy Geigner Regarding this article in the Crystal Ball:
[link]
https://www.techdirt.com/2030/01/01/red-cross-continues-to-want-to-pretend-that-video-game-wars-are-irl-wars/
I actually think the Red Cross is onto something: Maybe there should be a
game (or mod or whatever) where people adhere to IRL rules of engagement
instead of having a typical FPS free-for-all!
* I think the Red Cross just became game designers!
* Candescence: Oh welp Elon straight up deleted all "state-affiliated" and
"government-funded" labels, probably throwing a tantrum:
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1...
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1171236695/twitter-strips-state-affiliated-government-funded-labels-from-npr-rt-china
* John Roddy: 10 years ago: "We see you just purchased a new washing machine.
Would you like to consider purchasing one of these other washing machines?"
* Today: "We see you purchased this video card. Would you like to consider
purchasing these other $1k+ video cards?"
* pyrex: as a walking bitcoin, this makes sense to me!
* mildconcern: https://twitter.com/CooperCodes/...
https://twitter.com/CooperCodes/status/1649559104627834880
* Tomac: It'd be neat if we all just stopped giving traffic to the bird site.
* Let it become the new AM radio.
* Samuel Abram: Everybody: I want to announce that I read Chapter II:
Subchapter VII of the Penguin edition of the Upton Sinclair tome _OIL!_ at my
local Barnes & Noble without paying for it. I'm awaiting a lawsuit from
Penguin any second now…
* Candescence: Uh, Tucker Carlson is gone from Fox News??
* https://twitter.com/axios/status...
https://twitter.com/axios/status/1650524593923260416
* BentFranklin: It's too bad that FO comes so long after FA but it'll have to
do.
* Candescence: https://twitter.com/srl/status/1...
https://twitter.com/srl/status/1650527565671542784
* Something happened _all of a sudden_ that caused Fox to yeet him
* The lawsuits might've been a factor at least but nobody knows what the hell
is going on
* Definitely not an amicable parting tho
* Tomac: He's such a big fan of them, maybe he tried to stage a coup at fox
* mildconcern: Maybe he was due to make exactly $780 million in the next 10
years and they did the math
* Bode: i suspect they've discovered some nasty messages or tapes tethered to
that sexual harassment lawsuit that will be revealed in time. can't imagine
what he said or did to cause king propagandist murdoch to implement actual
accountability
* Candescence: The MS Activision merger is dead at least for now, the UK CMA
has announced they're blocking the merger.
* But not for the reasons you'd think - apparently the sticking point is *cloud
gaming* of all things.
* Which is baffling considering how small and irrelevant cloud gaming is atm
* mildconcern: The MS response is also downright angry. Threatening, even.
* I wonder if they'd just pull up stakes and leave the UK gaming market if it
stands. Another Brexit Benefit!
* Candescence: I'd be genuinely surprised if they actually were desperate
enough to do that
* Tomac: I read that response as a threat as well. Interesting path to take
when you're trying to persuade them.
* mildconcern: Right. Means they think they have leverage I suspect. I wonder
what their UK numbers are like. the UK is a lot more bully able lately, but
I'd not have thought it had gone that far.
* Samuel Abram: If that were the case, it makes me think of the principle as to
why Google pulled out of markets due to things like link taxes. The main
differences are that Google was pulling out due to impossibility of doing
business, and Microsoft would (theoretically) pull out for prevention of
getting bigger, so technically, different principles.
* Candescence: I'm noticing conversations about Bluesky are being tainted by
the fact that Jack Dorsey is the face of it as people think it'll just be
another libertarian techbro pipedream because of that
* BentFranklin: One bright side to this Wizards of the Coast / Hazbro debacles
is millions of young adults are getting a history lesson about the brutality
of the capitalists resisting unionization and waking to the reality that it's
not over.
* Mike Masnick: yeah, it's a bit frustrating, especially since jack has
basically written off bluesky, has made it clear he disagrees with the
direction they're going in, and the bluesky team has publicly described how
they're moving in a different direction than jack wanted. People freaking out
about it because of Jack don't realize that it's not a jack project
* The bluesky team is incredibly thoughtful in how they're going about things.
they'll make mistakes, but it's not going to be a "libertarian techbro
pipedream"
* Candescence: Oh, interesting, I didn't know that - what's got Jack's feathers
ruffled in this instance?
* Or is it just a case of vague disagreement with no publicly known reasons
* Mike Masnick: No, he's been pretty clear that he (1) doesn't think bluesky
should be so much like Twitter and that it should be more different and (2)
he disagreed with the idea that they should build out content moderation
tools before launching
* mildconcern: So he was in the "let a thousand Nazis bloom" school?
* I suppose that's not surprising
* pyrex: i realize this isn't a thing everyone cares about, but has bluesky
hinted at a pivot towards cryptocurrency features?
* Candescence: I'm pretty sure they've ruled out any kind of crypto integration
* pyrex: i wouldn't be that offended by their existence, but i would be if the
platform decided to move into that only after getting a captive userbase and
i guess i'm looking for foreshadowing
* mildconcern: that could also be part of what turned Dorsey off
* if I remember right he is/was into crypto
* pyrex: i definitely wanna clarify, i wouldn't use the service if it had
crypto features, but like, i probably won't use it anyways and it's ok for
things to exist that aren't for me
* suddenly springing it on people and hoping platform lock-in keeps people
there would be pretty unethical though, IMHO
* Mike Masnick: bluesky has no crypto. jay has been clear from the very start
(from before she was hired, actually) that even though she's worked in
crypto, it makes no sense to build a social network on crypto.
* but because she worked in crypto, and because of jack's "involvement" many
people assume that it's a crypto project
* pyrex: thanks, that's what i was hoping to hear!
* Mike Masnick: before she was hired, i was actually in a meeting with her and
some other folks, including a group that is trying to build a crypto-based
social network, and she was quizzing them on why, and asking what benefits
they thought it brought, and just kept pushing them when they tried to
handwave around things. so she's not anti-cryptocurrency by any stretch, but
she's one of the most practical and thoughtful people i know on this stuff.
she's very focused on building a good service, not based on ideology, but on
what's actually good
* pyrex: that's pretty reassuring! i briefly used uh, i think steemit? like, in
at least one case i saw jack dorsey float the idea of using crypto-based cash
tipping instead of likes. i understand why this is appealing to people and at
the same time i don't like the kind of content this incentivizes people to
make
* Mike Masnick: jack was floating that idea on nostr, which is also interesting
(to me) but i doubt will go mainstream
* pyrex: it's in "i probably won't use it, it should definitely be allowed to
exist, maybe i will like it in four years" territory to me
* i don't really understand nostr's fixation on censorship, which is very
frequently a dogwhistle
* i kinda like their protocol design, it looks to me like it does not attempt
to do very many things and would probably scale pretty well. with standard
cryptographic protocol problems like "if you lose your key, heaven help you"
* John Roddy: Wait... He *disagreed* on moderation tools being built out before
launch?
* Cathy Gellis: I don't understand that. But I also don't understand how anyone
could have volitionally decided to be a minority shareholder in a platform
Musk was about to take over, so I have already been perplexed by his
judgment.
* John Roddy: Especially right after so many other ones launched and
immediately slammed into exactly the same problem of bad moderation policies
* mildconcern: It would save them not at all if the network were not explicitly
aimed at crazy right wingers like so many of those were, too. Maybe that
would delay the pain by a day.
* Candescence: I think the only other main competitors that are worth watching
so far are Mastodon, Post and Hive
* Mike Masnick: Yeah, I'm perplexed a bit by that as well, but...
* there's also T2 and spoutible. spoutible seems... very questionable to me. T2
is... fine. But, it just looks like a twitter clone. I think if they were
smart, they'd quickly adopt the AT Protocol once bluesky releases federation
details
* BentFranklin: Is there a way to get techdirt in dark mode?
* Mike Masnick: not currently, no
* Candescence: So the Writer's Guild of America has started striking, and this
was one of their demands that the studios rejected:
https://twitter.com/pmiscove/sta...
https://twitter.com/pmiscove/status/1653249330239909888
* According to the guild, the counteroffer was "annual meetings to discuss
advancements in technology".
* Even though it's quite obvious to everyone what the end goal the studios have
with AI is, aka eventually reduce as much involvement of writers in the
actual writing process as possible
* MSR4: [link]
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/02/pornhub-says-no-more-porn-for-folks-in-utah-unless-they-know-how-to-use-a-vpn/
This is so stupid. You can not legislate morality. Just like attempts to ban
Usenet in the 90s because some teen could take a few text messages, mush them
together, and get a nude photo. Or heading over to a friends house to view
his dads playboy, there is nothing going to stop people from seeking out this
material. What is the end game, ban all porn in the US. Great, everyone will
move their opeations overseas. Then what, block internet connections to those
countries? Even North Korea and Iran is accessable from the Internet, not to
mention Tor. It is stupid virtual signaling to get around parents not wanting
to monitor what their kids are doing online and take responsibility for their
actions.
* Mike Masnick: yup.
* Samuel Abram: I would say this is as copyrightable as Naruto's selfie:
https://twitter.com/depthsofwiki...
https://twitter.com/depthsofwiki/status/1653093584042614792
* Actually, I wouldn't mind this monkey script replacing Lorem Ipsum...
* BentFranklin: “material harmful to minors” Today it means porn. Tomorrow it
means information on guns and climate change.
* Maybe Nintendo should hire the Pinkertons.
* Samuel Abram: I chuckled. https://twitter.com/amatsujanait...
https://twitter.com/amatsujanaito/status/1653518113697144832
* Happy Bandcamp Friday! Today, I have released a single I had long finished
but didn't have the cover art done until now: Lo, a track by the band Genesis
on the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive outside of North America), Mama (with the
vocaloid MEIKO)! [link]
https://ironcurtain.bandcamp.com/album/mama-feat-meiko
* Mike Masnick: i want to delete this spam, but the response is so good that i
feel like i have to leave it.
* Samuel Abram: [video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7GdDLbm55U
* mildconcern: I'm going to be hiking in the Canadian rockies this summer for a
couple weeks. This video was a good chance to practice my Canadian language
skills.
* "Abooot.....aboooooooot....."
* Samuel Abram: @mildconcern I swear, I've been to Canada many, many times, and
J. J. is the only one I know who does that.
* mildconcern: I've met a couple others who do, but yeah for the most part
these days we're all raised by the same TV

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