Attilatheblond
Attilatheblond's JournalWe got us a real boulder rollin gully washer coming down here in 'I Can See Mexico, AZ'
FINALLY.
There have been only a couple sprinkles lately, first rain since last Sept and our monsoon last year was a pitiful excuse for our usual rainy season. In fact, past two years have been really REALLY dry.
Town up the road a fair piece got some flash floods yesterday, but it sits in a low basin, fed from all directions. I am on high ground, in the shadow of a 'Sky Island' here in AZ. Often that mountain's geologic shadow is really a wall that lessens the rain in our localized weather pattern. Today... well, it wouldn't surprise me to see some dinghies going down our street.
Blessed rain, FINALLY, real rain. The local trees were looking like this might be their last year. Blessed rain, thank you Mother Earth for saving our desert trees. And thank you to the crew that fixed my roof a couple months ago!
AI is fueling a new wave of border vigilantism in the US
Borderlands vigilantes getting paid in crypto (LOL) and Enrique Tarrio raises his ugly head to recruit using AI
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/27/ai-is-turning-border-enforcement-in-the-us-into-a-game?traffic_source=rss]
Now, a new artificial intelligence platform is actively encouraging more people to join their ranks. ICERAID.us, recently launched in the United States, offers cryptocurrency rewards to users who upload photos of “suspicious activity” along the border. It positions civilians as front-line intelligence gatherers – doing the work of law enforcement, but without oversight.
The site opens to a map of the United States, dotted with red and green pins marking user-submitted images. Visitors are invited to add their own. A “Surveillance Guidance” document outlines how to capture images legally in public without a warrant. A “Breaking News” section shares updates and new partnerships. The platform is fronted by Enrique Tarrio – a first-generation Cuban American, far-right figure and self-styled “ICE Raid Czar”, who describes himself as a “staunch defender of American values”.
I have been researching border surveillance since 2017. Arizona is a place I return to often. I’ve worked with NGOs and accompanied search-and-rescue teams like Battalion Search and Rescue, led by former US Marine James Holeman, on missions to recover the remains of people who died attempting the crossing. During that time, I’ve also watched the region become a laboratory for high-tech enforcement: AI towers from an Israeli company now scan the desert; automated licence plate readers track vehicles far inland; and machine-learning algorithms – developed by major tech companies – feed data directly into immigration enforcement systems.
More evidence that a lot of those 'ICE agents' abusing people on the streets are not what they say they are. When racists recruit cos playing LEO wanna-bees to submit information we become a lot less than a nation of laws. The leap from gathering information (that may or may not be accurate) to acting on suspicions by hot headed racists and violent chaps is not a big one and we have seen it down here in the borderlands for years. Funny thing, the activity of self appointed enforcers seems to drop off drastically here when summer hits our southwest borderlands. Now, I reckon they can sit in the air conditioned comfort of their pickup trucks and submit their fever dreams of invasions to Tarrio's new weapon against immigrants.
AI is fueling a new wave of border vigilantism in the US
Borderlands vigilantes getting paid in crypto (LOL) and Enrique Tarrio raises his ugly head to recruit using AI
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/6/27/ai-is-turning-border-enforcement-in-the-us-into-a-game?traffic_source=rss]
Now, a new artificial intelligence platform is actively encouraging more people to join their ranks. ICERAID.us, recently launched in the United States, offers cryptocurrency rewards to users who upload photos of “suspicious activity” along the border. It positions civilians as front-line intelligence gatherers – doing the work of law enforcement, but without oversight.
The site opens to a map of the United States, dotted with red and green pins marking user-submitted images. Visitors are invited to add their own. A “Surveillance Guidance” document outlines how to capture images legally in public without a warrant. A “Breaking News” section shares updates and new partnerships. The platform is fronted by Enrique Tarrio – a first-generation Cuban American, far-right figure and self-styled “ICE Raid Czar”, who describes himself as a “staunch defender of American values”.
I have been researching border surveillance since 2017. Arizona is a place I return to often. I’ve worked with NGOs and accompanied search-and-rescue teams like Battalion Search and Rescue, led by former US Marine James Holeman, on missions to recover the remains of people who died attempting the crossing. During that time, I’ve also watched the region become a laboratory for high-tech enforcement: AI towers from an Israeli company now scan the desert; automated licence plate readers track vehicles far inland; and machine-learning algorithms – developed by major tech companies – feed data directly into immigration enforcement systems.
More evidence that a lot of those 'ICE agents' abusing people on the streets are not what they say they are. When racists recruit cos playing LEO wanna-bees to submit information we become a lot less than a nation of laws. The leap from gathering information (that may or may not be accurate) to acting on suspicions by hot headed racists and violent chaps is not a big one and we have seen it down here in the borderlands for years. Funny thing, the activity of self appointed enforcers seems to drop off drastically here when summer hits our southwest borderlands. Now, I reckon they can sit in the air conditioned comfort of their pickup trucks and submit their fever dreams of invasions to Tarrio's new weapon against immigrants.
Today's headache for Elon: Do electric vehicles make people more carsick?
There is a scientific explanation behind why a person might feel more sick in an EV, though, according to multiple academic studies.
“Greater sickness in EVs can be attributed to a lack of previous experience, as both a driver and as a passenger, where the brain lacks accuracy in estimating the motion forces because it relies on previous experience in other types of cars,” said William Emond, a PhD student researching car sickness at the Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard in France.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2025/jun/21/electric-vehicles-carsick]
So, maybe when our bodies get used to different cues in EVs re motion, maybe we won't need barf bags when riding shotguns? Or just more evidence that designers and engineers need some cross discipline colleagues? Maybe EV tech needs to recognize the human?
Hope Elon has another miserable week.
Half-mile drug-smuggling tunnel connecting Tijuana to San Diego shut down by Border Patrol
Source: Los Angeles Times
Border Patrol agents shut down the construction of a 2,918-foot-long tunnel connecting Tijuana and San Diego with the aid of Department of Homeland Security officials and Mexican authorities.
At a depth of about 50 feet, a roughly half-mile-long tunnel connecting a home inside the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood with a commercial warehouse across the border in San Diego County has been uncovered by federal authorities.
U.S. and Mexican authorities say they believe the passage was dug to transport large-scale contraband.
The tunnel measured 42 inches in height, 28 inches in width and was equipped with electrical wiring, lighting, ventilation systems and a track system, according to authorities.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-19/half-mile-tunnel-connecting-tijuana-to-san-diego-shut-down-by-border-patrol
Trafficking in the borderlands is not always what GOP wants you to think. Arms going to bad guys
The buyer for whom the gun was allegedly intended is described in the affidavit as a convicted felon and, according to Prince, someone with ties to Mexican organized crime.
The complaint states that Prince told the source the intended recipient was “a Cartel associate with experience operating in Sonora, Mexico,” and had previously been arrested for cartel activity. Prince allegedly said the man “had a price on his head” and that the guns were for his organization’s use.
https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/sierravista/update-3-tied-to-other-guys-gun-store-face-charges-of-firearms-trafficking/article_e5ad84c7-6396-4269-981c-d19c7134da49.html?emailmd5=a1ac3f8b54e4f38eac45f2e75f54651c&emailsha1=24315811922823421145739103116121352153160199146216&emailsha256=71f7f3c212c9e68005bbed1843b7ab0ad44028a222d6a2196b39af31a4e88db3]
Missed this Monday. Mike Lindell owes more money, lost defamation suit
Jury finds MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell defamed former executive at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems. Not as much as plaintive asked for, but probably more than the idiot can afford.
How did I miss this?
https://www.cpr.org/2025/06/16/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-defamation-lawsuitverdict/]
That amount falls far short of the $62.7 million award requested by Coomer, in part because the jury rejected a number of the claims that Lindell and two of his companies, MyPillow and FrankSpeech, were responsible for comments made by others on platforms he controlled.
“We’re thrilled with the verdict,” said Coomer’s attorney, Charles Caine. He described having mixed emotions, “in the sense that (Coomer)’s been through a lot and he’s still going to be looking over his shoulder.”
“Generally, what this verdict says is … individuals who are singled out can get vindication in the courthouse. And hopefully this serves as deterrence for individuals working on our elections from being targeted."
Has anyone heard from Dennis Donovan? No posts since late in May
He always posts latest news first thing in the morning and I miss his posts. Is he OK?
Trump to attend 'Les Miserables' at revamped Kennedy Center, where sales have fallen
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-attend-les-miserables-revamped-kennedy-center-where-sales-have-fallen-2025-06-11/]One supposes he doesn't have a clue what it's about. One wonders if the "short fingered vulgarian" is trying to buff up his image. He always got shunned by the social circles in NYC that got all the cool glam reporting. The kid just couldn't get into the 'in' crowd.
Trump did not attend events at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during his first term but has taken a keen interest in it during his second. Deriding it on social media for putting on "Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth," he pushed out its former chairman, fired its longtime president and pledged to overhaul an institution he described as being in tremendous disrepair.
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The fallout has been swift. The musical "Hamilton" canceled plans to appear there, staff left and sales of subscriptions and individual tickets for Kennedy Center shows have dropped, according to two people briefed on the data.
Overall year-on-year subscription revenue was down 36% to $2.8 million as of early June for next season, which begins in the autumn, according to one source. Theater subscriptions, normally a major revenue driver for the center, were down 82%.
Gotta check my popcorn stash. Him fiddling and watching Les Mis while US society burns might be maddeningly amusing.
Trump sending National Guard to LA in response to anti-ICE protests
Source: NBC Los Angeles
An lawful assembly was declared after a group of protesters refuse to disperse following a clash with federal agents along Alondra Boulevard. Amber Frias reports for the NBC4 News on June 7, 2025.
After the Department of Homeland Security’s widespread and public crackdown on Los Angeles’ immigration communities this week, federal officials were mobilizing some 2,000 National Guard soldiers to response to protests.
The White House confirmed Saturday that President Donald Trump has signed a directive to deploy 2,000 National Guardsmen to address "the lawlessness."
"The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Read more: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/trump-sending-national-guard-to-la-in-response-to-anti-ice-protests/3718088/
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