NOT WORKING FOR ME — EVEN BEFORE HE ENTERED HIS CURRENT DODDERING TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE PHASE, BIDEN WAS NEVER THIS ARTICULATE: You Have to Watch This Viral Deepfake of Joe Biden Talking About Trans ‘Women.’

Heads up: It’s a blistering attack against the trans movement, and thus, you’ll probably not want to play this at work:

https://twitter.com/MachiavelliMemz/status/1621212197480267777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621212197480267777%7Ctwgr%5Ed9bf2b510a7eb7ee1b1d95b172fa6864571c0551%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fnews-and-politics%2Fmatt-margolis%2F2023%2F02%2F03%2Fyou-have-to-watch-this-viral-deepfake-of-joe-biden-talking-about-trans-women-n1667619

“While the audio is spot-on for Joe Biden’s voice and cadence (save for the usual stumbles in speech), the mouth movements are far from convincing. Nevertheless, it’s the stunning realism of Deepfake Biden’s voice that is actually terrifying here. Without the accompanying video, it would be easy to conclude the speech is legitimately Joe Biden speaking, and it raises major concerns about how this technology can be used for nefarious purposes.”

Speaking of which: 4chan users embrace AI voice clone tool to generate celebrity hatespeech.

UPDATE: Twitter apparently shut down the above account, but not before Jim Treacher was able to grab a copy of the video: Artificial Intelligence Is Freaking Terrifying.

This video is fake, and it looks like the text they plugged into the AI Biden voice generator originated in a 2020 4chan post.

It won't be long before these deepfakes are indistinguishable from the real thing. Skynet has already won.https://t.co/qALZxscyAf

— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) February 4, 2023

As Treacher notes, “Even the most casual Biden-watcher can tell within seconds that this video isn’t real, because all the words are pronounced correctly and formed into complete sentences. Plus, Joe would never admit any of this stuff out loud. But as with anything else, people of below-average intelligence might be fooled.”

(Updated and bumped.)

I HOPE WE’RE NOT TOO MESSIANIC, OR A TRIFLE TOO SATANIC: Grammys Go With Devil Worship In Primetime.

Related (From Ed): Everything old is new again! The Rolling Stones performed “Sympathy for the Devil” in 1968. Jimmy Page spent the late ‘60s and much of the ‘70s putting Aleister Crowley references into Led Zeppelin artwork and for Led Zep III, even in the LP’s run-out grooves. AC/DC released “Highway to Hell” in 1979. Ozzy Osbourne released “Mr. Cowley” in 1981. So many heavy metal groups spent the ‘80s using devil worship as a pose that VH-1 has an article headlined, “6.66 Hot Points Of The ’80s Heavy Metal Satanic Panic.”

Find something controversial from the 21^st century to actually épater les bourgeois rather than a sub-genre of rock that’s over 50 years old to bore them, Grammys!

(Updated and bumped.)

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Heh.

“Listen, folks, I enjoy demonic sexual perversion just as much as the next guy, but this is just too much,” said the frustrated Father of Lies. “I’m the god of this world! I appear as an angel of light! It’s supposed to be sneaky and subtle! Has Hollywood lost its ability to be subtle? What on earth happened to this town?”

“And how am I supposed to corrupt the next generation when no one watches this garbage anymore?” he lamented. “At least I still have TikTok.”

Did I say “heh?” Yes, yes I did.

UPDATE (From Ed): John Nolte: Fat Satan Grammys Deliver Ratings Catastrophe of Just 12.4M Viewers.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: United States and India expand civil space cooperation.

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN IS ABOUT THE K-12 IMPLOSION: “Can graft and racial politics save public schools? Just maybe. Let me explain.”

EVERGREEN HEADLINE: School food vendor [Aramark] apologizes — again — for ‘inexcusable’ Black History Month menu.

—NBC News, yesterday.

● Westwood Catholic School apologizes for offering fried chicken as part of Black History Month celebration.

—The Boston Globe, February 4, 2022.

● How NYU and Food-Service Giant Aramark Stumbled Into a Black History Month PR Fiasco.

—New York Magazine, February 9^th, 2019.

● Loyola dining vendor apologizes for ‘insensitive’ Black History Month menu.

—The Chicago Sun-Times, February 10^th, 2018.

● School apologizes for fried chicken menu for Black History Month.

—NJ.com, February 20^th, 2017.

● Ohio college apologizes for Black History Month menu that featured fried chicken.

—The Washington Post, February 23, 2015.

● Park Tudor School apologizes for ‘misguided’ Black History Month lunch.

—The Indianapolis Star, February 27^th, 2014.

● UC Irvine says fried chicken and waffle dinner on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was insensitive.

—The L.A. Times, January 27^th, 2011.

● Black History Month Lunch Menu Racist?

—CafeMom.com, February 9^th, 2010.

VIEW THROUGH SMOG: Rise in air pollution correlates to creation of impressionist painting, study says.

I WAS SPECULATING ABOUT THIS EARLIER, AND NOW: Top Republican claims Trump’s Defense Secretary James Mattis may have KNOWN that Chinese spy balloons flew over the U.S. but opted not to tell the president because he was ‘too provocative and aggressive.’

That would be a serious dereliction of duty on Mattis’s part if true. Between that and Milley reportedly refusing Biden’s order to shoot the balloon down on Wednesday, do we have civilian control of the military anymore?

What did Mattis know, and if he knew, why didn’t he tell the President?

UPDATE: Considerable skepticism in the comments, and on an email list I belong to, that this report is true. Well, that’s why I said “if true” above. As I noted earlier Trump’s appointees say it didn’t happen during his term. So either they’re all lying (unlikely, especially as some have authored tell-all books about their time in the Administration), the Biden people are lying when they claim it happened, or it happened but nobody told Trump or his people. I’d have to put “the Biden people are lying” at the top of the likelihood list for sure. It’s entirely believable, based on past conduct, that people in the defense establishment would keep Trump in the dark, though just because it’s believable doesn’t mean it happened. It seems least likely that all the former Trump people are lying, though one can never assign a probability of zero to political actors’ telling untruths.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From the WSJ: Prior Chinese Balloon Incursions Over U.S. Went Undetected, Officials Say: They say prior intrusions by surveillance craft into the continental U.S. were likely of short duration.

China previously sent high-altitude surveillance balloons over the U.S. that went undetected until after leaving American airspace, Biden administration officials said, as the military salvaged debris Sunday from the downed balloon in a bid to learn more about the Chinese operation.

After the Pentagon disclosed last week that it was tracking the balloon that the Air Force shot down Saturday off the Carolina coast, defense officials said that there have been prior intrusions over the continental U.S. At least three of those occurred during former President Donald Trump‘s term in office and once previously under President Biden.

Those previous balloon flights were much shorter in duration, possibly explaining why some went undetected at the time, the senior administration officials said. One official said that much of the information on the flights was pieced together later.

“This information was discovered after the prior administration left,” one of the officials said. The official said that intelligence agencies are preparing to brief key figures in the previous Trump administration.

That’s a rather convenient discovery. But if this story is true, the people who missed it should be sacked, at the very least.

GET MORE REST ELON, YOU’RE NOT 30 ANYMORE. Elon Musk confides working morning, day and night is taking a toll on his health.

And you’re as close to an indispensable man as exists right now. But the cemeteries are full of indispensable men.

I LIKE THE IDEA OF A BALLOON DROP, PERSONALLY:

What to watch for in the #SOTU:

– What will come out of his mouth. Which is worse, what they wrote or how he garbles it.

– McCarthy. Pelosi set a high bar for childish petulance. McCarthy needs to own it. Spitballs at the old geezer, or a big white balloon. https://t.co/z2Elczjy8S

— BullshitSquared (blue check) (@xenophonrocks) February 6, 2023

I DUNNO, MAYBE STOP CRAPPING ALL OVER THEM AND THEIR LIFESTYLE? Paul Krugman: Can Anything Be Done to Assuage Rural Rage? (Non-paywalled text here.)

A THREAT THAT CAN BE DELICIOUSLY MANAGED: Wild Hogs Are A Threat All Over.

SOUTH BEND:  Reparations resolution here too.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER — IF THEY WILL LET YOU. My latest Substack column. (Bumped).

SACRAMENTO THINKING ABOUT REPARATIONS TOO:  The idea seems to be going viral.

SAN FRANCISCO TO HOLD HEARING ON REPARATIONS:  Here we go.

SHOCKER: U.S. Treasury Bows to Industry Pressure On EV Tax Credit Scheme.

TAKINGS: US Economy Loses $12 Trillion to COVID Lockdowns, Mandatory Business Closures Cited as Top Reason.

THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Look, I have no problem with Black History Month. I think it’s kind of cool that people of all colors can learn little nuggets of history that enrich our lives. But unfortunately, like a barnacle, wokism has attached itself to the hull of the ship of Black History Month.

I’m a member of the New York City Bar Association, and in “celebrating” Black History Month the Bar has decided to include “lectures” from people infected with wokism. Case in point, this was in my email inbox this morning:

I’ve given this a lot of thought, and unless she is talking about arcane escrow rules that may affect lower income people (that’s a stretch) what “unspoken” rules could she possibly be talking about?

I have always told the truth to the Court and my clients. I treat all adversaries in a polite and courtly manner. I do not engage in “Rambo” litigation. I never bill for work I did not do. I maintain confidentiality, and I do between 200 and 500 hours of pro bono work every year.

Does anyone think my following those strictures “subjugates” People of Color? Or as Judge Learned Hand might have asked: “Are you f*cking kidding me?“

WENT WOKE, GOING BROKE [VIP]: The Fall and Rise and Fall of Disney. “This story isn’t really about Disney’s growing role in the cultural rot attacking our children at school, on streaming services, or in butcher-shop ‘medical’ clinics catering to teens with delusions of transness. This is the story of a company that’s been falling for a lot longer than most people may realize.”

READER FAVORITE: Surge Protector, Outlet Extender with Night Light. #CommissionEarned

SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: Some Thoughts on Judicial Reform.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Biden quietly releases al Qaeda terrorist Majid Khan to Belize after 16 years in CIA custody in Guantanamo Bay while US was focused on Chinese spy balloon – terrorist vows ‘I’ve changed.’

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER AMORPHOUS ICE: With a chemical density of 1.06 grams per cubic centimeter, this newly discovered form of ice is extremely close to liquid water (1.00). Science Alert says this discovery may help explain some of water’s weird properties.

SPACE LAW: Where does Earth end and space begin? The Karman line is only one answer.

IT’S CERTAINLY IMPORTANT TO THE BUYERS LOOKING FOR INFLUENCE IN THE WHITE HOUSE: Hunter Biden’s (Art) Dealer Claims His Artwork Is ‘Important.’