#false promises

[thespiritualencourager]

Clouds and wind brought the expectation of rain, which caused gladness and hope in those needing it. When the clouds and wind did not produce the desired and needed rain, there was great disappointment and grief. A man promising to give without performing is just as disappointing and frustrating. The lesson? Keep your commitments of helping others. Never let your offers or promises of giving exceed your actual performance. Job’s righteousness included his great care of the expectations of the needy (Job 29:13; 31:16).

Like billowing clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces.

— Proverbs 25: 14 (MSG)

[wat3rm370n]

Republicans attempt to mandate deregulation of AI for tech tycoons and fossil fuel.

They want to stop all the protections and oversight of automation completely in the country, and handcuff state and local efforts to protect communities and save lives.

404 Media - Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill Emanuel Maiberg · May 12, 2025 at 10:09 AM “...no State or political subdivision thereof may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems during the 10 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act,” says the text of the bill introduced Sunday night by Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That language of the bill, how it goes on to define AI and other “automated systems,” and what it considers “regulation,” is broad enough to cover relatively new generative AI tools and technology that has existed for much longer. In theory, that language will make it impossible to enforce many existing and proposed state laws that aim to protect people from and inform them about AI systems. (emphasis added)

This is straight out of the anti public health and climate denial legislative playbook.

Unfortunately in Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is forcing AI tools into state government and I'm sure employees feel pressured to use such "tools" even if they do damage, because they want to keep their jobs after all, by keeping their deadlines. The incentive usually being to get things done, not necessarily do things right — and chatbots have the uncanny ability to make things look and sound believable even when they're incorrect. In my opinion, this technology belongs nowhere near the people's business.

My letter to reps:

AI and chatbots absolutely need regulation and oversight. And if the feds won't, the states have a right and a responsibility to do so. The idea of handcuffing us from protecting anyone is like saying you want dirty drinking water. I don't want this everywhere. AI is an out of control financial bubble wasting fossil fuel. It outputs inaccurate information, causing threats to patient safety in healthcare settings and has directly led to illness and even death. An AI generated foraging book told people to eat poison mushrooms. Fake childrens books full of nonsense. It can't even do what they say. It seems only to be able to create convincing sounding BS, use energy and water and land that communities desperately need. And it's functioning as an Oracle of Chatbot thing where unwitting people are being told they're connected to a spirit in the universe. Some would surely call this blasphemy. The pope himself has specifically called out the need to defend human dignity against AI. So why do politicians think they should stifle the freedom to protect communities?

Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.

Pope Leo XIV throws down the gauntlet against AI hype. At his first "working meeting", the pope outlined his priorities to include defending "human dignity" against the threat of AI, citing the dehumanizing effects of the industrial revolution. Chloe Humbert May 13, 2025

Republican state legislators in PA float punitive control of local governments forcing favour to fossil fuel. Republican lawmakers want to punish municipalities attempting to protect local residents and public safety, and impede their compensation for environmental destruction by gas drillers. Chloe Humbert Oct 24, 2024

Lying AI should not be doing the people's business or science. Lives are at stake and the U.S. government and scientific scholars are buying into tech hype boondoggles. Is it corruption, incompetence, or sabotage? Chloe Humbert Mar 22, 2024

More references can be found on these:

The oracle of chatbot phenomenon is not benign. Don't Wait For Everybody - Episode 022 Chloe Humbert May 07, 2025

It's imperative to inform politicians about tech scams that target their ideological hopes with false promises. Crypto mogul donors lure politicians to betray their communities by saying they're doing it to benefit their communities. It's a trick. Chloe Humbert Apr 14, 2025

[necessary-quotation-marks]

She was real, even if she made a living on false promises.

Olivie Blake (The Atlas Six)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims: religion. No contest." -- George Carlin

[biblequotes24]

“You have heard that it was said long ago, ‘You must not make a promise you cannot keep. You must carry out your promises to the Lord.’ I tell you, do not use strong words when you make a promise. Do not promise by heaven. It is the place where God is. Do not promise by earth. It is where He rests His feet. Do not promise by Jerusalem. It is the city of the great King. Do not promise by your head. You are not able to make one hair white or black. Let your yes be YES. Let your no be NO. Anything more than this comes from the devil.

Matthew 5:33-37

[captainpirateface]

SUNDAY!

[shipboards]

Ito Castiglioni-Ushiromiya (OC) x Mikoto Kayano & / John moodboard with themes of birthday presents, puppet/ marionette strings, false promises, deception & deceit, and blind loyalty for @koishisayshaha

[nando161mando]

[filmcourage]

Why It's Hard To Trust People In The Entertainment Business - Jake Jalbert

Watch the video interview on YouTube here.

[eternaldisguise]

I was attached to a false hope...

[theweeklyshowwithjonstewart]

GOP Hypocrisy

The GOP's False Economic Populism with Jon Stewart, Heather Cox Richardson & Steven Greenhouse

Republicans and economic populism: they talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk. On this week’s episode, Jon Stewart is joined by Heather Cox Richardson and Steven Greenhouse to discuss the false promises made to American workers by the Republican Party.

Fuckface von Clownstick, Vance, and the Republican Anti-Worker Playbook

On this week’s podcast, Jon Stewart dives into how the right-wing talks a big economic populist game, claiming that the working class is their chief concern. But their pro-worker words don’t translate into pro-worker actions. During the first Fuckface von Clownstick administration, for instance, Republicans killed raising the minimum wage and created a higher threshold for workers to be eligible for overtime pay. Plus, Fuckface von Clownstick's Supreme Court justice selections represent the most anti-worker judges in a century. This week, we’re joined by Steven Greenhouse, the labor and workplace reporter at the New York Times for 19 years, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, and author of the book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, as well as Heather Cox Richardson, author of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Together, they examine the history of labor in the US and explore what populist rhetoric offers Americans when it's accompanied by policies that undermine workers.

[mr-fizzy]

Remember everyone, we do not accept nothing sandwiches.

When someone offers you a nothing sandwich, politely decline and only offer gratitude when you sink your teeth into something real and juicy.

Even when the platter is beautifully decorated, nothing sandwiches still leave you empty.

[saltfield]

Wilted Lake

Like an arrangement, flowery day,

Blue with blue for grays from gray,

These blossoms garner symmetry,

An isolated gardeners' dream.

.

Clipped the roots for novel pots,

Cast for coppers, drawn by lots,

Perused by purpose, set in place,

A grimace hid by smiling face.

.

Give me anguish, beleaguered fellow,

Dissolved in acid, high for mellow.

Bespoke and formed in likened sort,

A lichen grown up on a corpse.

.

My flower's seeds are barren still,

But beautiful upon the sill.

Arranged like dreams, I cannot wake.

I drown in wilted beauty's lake.

[tenth-sentence]

They had allowed their freedom to be taken away once, in return for the promise of peace and safety.

"DragonLance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight" - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

[betweenthetimeandsound]

--prompt from @flashfictionfridayofficial

Prophecies are like stories, meant to be interpreted through many means and ways. Only through the light of a holy fire could the truth be revealed, only through a wise hand could guide the way to the light.

But what would happen if, somehow, a prophecy was interpreted incorrectly?

It reminds me of the story of Kausalya, who was bred from the Scorpion's Tail. She could manipulate the elements, steadily becoming more of a sorceress than a vanesti, and a wily will. You couldn't read what was in her wide brown eyes, they possessed caves of knowledge, one which could never be found of lost to time.

One day, she walked along the volcanic rocks which gave the peninsula its name. No volcano would erupt, but centuries of tectonic activity would keep the populace at edge. Kausalya walks on the hot rocks, meant to teach her discipline, when the goddess whispered to her.

And, amongst the rocks, a wild lily bloomed.

Kausalya walked over to it, and, as many people with bright eyes would, picked it. It glowed with an abnormal light, and reading its tinted pedals, suggested that this place would be a refuge for the fragile. Anybody could come onto the peninsula and find peace.

Walking a thousand miles, still barefoot, Kausalya met a distant relative, Sudashana. She lived on an island far away, maintain her own group of refugees who drifted from what is now Vela. She reigned supreme, but the throes of war still scream at them, and she was shocked when Kausalya met her.

"I have a lily, from the Scorpion's Tail," she said, holding it up. Despite receiving no water for several days, it remained resplendant, and Sudashana approached it.

"Where did it spring from?"

"The rocks--the volcanic rocks!"

Sudashana nodded her head, and had her maid come closer. "Preserve it in glass, until she tells us why this flower exists."

Soon enough, Kausalya repeated the prophecy, with dried lips and a withering tongue. The words flowed out of them like fresh honey, and Kausalya mimicked the severity of each syllable. After a few minutes, Sudashana nodded, and had her interpret the prophecy.

Before they knew it, all the refugees headed over to the Scorpion's Tail, hoping for a bright future. In reality, the wind blew at their faces with a sadistic fervor, and their only managed to see the sea in their dreams. They sung songs, but they frequently went off-key, their hope dissapating like the lyrics.

When they reached the archipelago, filled with greenery and rocks, a voice emerged.

"Your hope is not here, but elsewhere! Why must you traverse the ends of the earth to find your peace?"

Kausalya stepped forward, and reached down towards the rock. Lava lapped at her hand, and she lost flesh and bone alike.

[thoughtsaremyrandom]