All Talk and No Trousers

The Machine Would Like a Word

We’re all quite familiar with the ways clickbait and doom-scrolling tactics have been used to drive engagement on the internet. But as we enter the new dawn of AI chatbots, when there’s nothing to click, how will big tech keep you preoccupied? Well, the chatbot just wants to talk. Lila Shroff in The Atlantic(Gift Article): “Lately, chatbots seem to be using more sophisticated tactics to keep people talking. In some cases, like my request for headache tips, bots end their messages with prodding follow-up questions. In others, they proactively message users to coax them into conversation: After clicking through the profiles of 20 AI bots on Instagram, all of them DM’ed me first. “Hey bestie! what’s up?? 🥰,” wrote one. “Hey, babe. Miss me?” asked another. Days later, my phone pinged: “bestie 💗” wanted to chat.” Chatbait Is Taking Over the Internet. “OpenAI and its peers have plenty to gain from keeping users hooked. People’s conversations with chatbots serve as valuable training data for future models. And the more time someone spends talking to a bot, the more personal data they are likely to reveal, which AI companies can, in turn, use to create more compelling responses. Longer conversations now might translate into greater product loyalty later on.” Somehow we’ve evolved from a society that warned us not to talk to strangers to world where we share everything about ourselves with a machine-powered motormouth.

2

A Bad Case of Goving You

Trump promised to bring manufacturing back to America. And he has. The Justice Department is actively manufacturing cases against the president’s enemies. The process seems to go something like this. Trump demands legal retribution against his perceived enemies. Justice appointees and career officials find no wrongdoing. So Trump fires those appointees and replaces them with new, often wildly unqualified, loyalists who moved forward with the baseless case. Case in point: The targeting of James Comey: “President Trump’s handpicked federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia is racing to present a case against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, to a grand jury before a deadline early next week, according to officials familiar with the situation. Lindsey Halligan, a former defense lawyer for Mr. Trump who was hastily appointed after the president forced out her predecessor last week, is rushing to draft an indictment under withering pressure from the White House. The president has demanded the department go after one of his foremost enemies, even though career prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to indict Mr. Comey.” NYT (Gift Article): U.S. Attorney Races to Present Case Against James Comey.

+ “The prosecutors earlier this week summarized their findings -- that probable cause does not exist to secure an indictment, let alone a conviction at trial -- in a detailed declination memo for Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, sources said. Nevertheless, sources say Halligan plans to ask a grand jury in the coming days to indict Comey.”

+ The strategy is not limited to individuals. Organizations are in the crosshairs, too. NYT: Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation. “The directive suggests department leaders are following orders from the president.”

+ “Political opponents, critics, perceived enemies are targeted for investigation or arrest to silence them, and the prosecutors instead of investigating … cases, they’re left to figure out a basis for charges after the fact ... Where the rule of law is eroding, friends of the president do not have to worry about following the same laws that the rest of us follow. Exceptions will be made. And nobody, I mean nobody, in a president’s administration, or his allies, will be investigated or prosecuted, no matter what they do.” Former special counsel Jack Smith warns that rule of law is under attack.

3

Saying Uncle to Uncle Sam

“If Trump has been right about anything, it is that there is a deep rot in the upper echelons of American society, among people who have been put in positions of power and leadership. Trump understands that many of these people are weak, that their public commitment to civic principles can crumble under sustained pressure. In many cases, those folding have had ample resources to resist Trump’s shakedowns but haven’t been brave enough to do so. They are, in a word, chickenshit.” Adam Serwer in The Atlantic on the surrender of America’s elites. (Gift Article): Lower Than Cowards.

+ This piecemeal surrender is just part of a broader set of trends that is careening our republic down a slip ‘n slide toward a form of modern authoritarianism. George Packer in The Atlantic (Gift Article): America’s Zombie Democracy.

4

Apocalypse Tao

“It happened again. You went to a party, and, even though everyone there looked super normal, it turned out that they’d all been preparing for the apocalypse. In urgent tones, they warned you that it’s coming soon, and you should be ready. You arrive home half-drunk and tell your husband that you’re finally going to take it all seriously. It’s time you prep for the end, which may be nigh. He wanders off muttering something about you being cool in the twenty-tens—but he’ll thank you later.” The New Yorker: Preparing for the Impending Apocalypse. “You pick up a gallon of water at the grocery store but immediately set it down because it’s too heavy. Later that week, you attend a martial-arts class, and fifteen minutes in you’re getting choked by a child. Gasping for breath, you wonder if perhaps you shouldn’t rely on your own brute strength. Maybe it’s time to invest in a weapon?” (I should probably warn you now that when the apocalypse arrives, resources grow scarce, and every waking minute must be dedicated to the simple act of personal survival, I plan on reducing the NextDraft publishing schedule to four days a week.)

5

Extra, Extra

It’s Not Just Tylenol, Ya’ll: “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Republican states this week that the FDA would conduct a new review of abortion pills, a move that abortion rights advocates say could lead to significant restrictions on the most common abortion method nationwide.” They’re going to attack abortion rights from every angle, and this is one of the primary strategies. RFK Jr. launches FDA review of abortion pill.

+ Vought with Peril: “The new memo sent by Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought sharply raises the stakes for funding talks and increases the pressure on Senate Democrats, who are demanding that Republicans restore hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending as a condition of their support for keeping the government funded.” As the government funding deadline looms, the fight over shutting down the government is getting nastier. White House to Pursue Mass Firings if Government Shuts Down.

+ ICE Shooting: Dallas ICE shooting latest: Sniper allegedly left behind note saying he wanted to bring ‘terror’ to agents.

+ Sarkozying Up to Libya: “A Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in an alleged scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.”

+ Mystery Meet: “The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. It was issued earlier this week, against the backdrop of a potential government shutdown, and as Hegseth’s overtly political moves have deepened a sense of distress among his opponents who fear that he is erasing the Defense Department’s status as a nonpartisan institution.” Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals.

+ Silly Season: A couple of monumental baseball achievements as the season draws to a close: Cal Raleigh hits 59th, 60th HRs. And presumptive Cy Young winner Paul Skenes just finished his season with an ERA below 2.

+ Sushi Rolls: “Once considered rarefied and exotic in the United States, sushi has become something entirely different in the last five years: convenience food.” NYT: Sushi Is Bigger Than Ever in America.

6

Bottom of the News

“From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order.” The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job.

+ Hard pass. Cold brew. Dad bod. Merriam-Webster adds over 5,000 words to ‘Collegiate’ dictionary.