Stephen T. Stone 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: The IRS’s Verification System for Sharing Taxpayer Data With ICE Would Have Accepted ‘Don’t Care 12345’ as a Valid Address

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2026 @ 06:10pm

    you’re not just wrong, or ignorant, you’re lying on purpose
    Every accusation, a confession.

  • On the post: Trump Rolls Out White Carpet For White Migrants

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2026 @ 03:07pm

    there have been many deaths
    Define “many” with an exact number, then tell us how proportional it is to the number of deaths overall. Also, prove that those deaths are the direct result of the same kind of racial prejudice that white South Africans inflicted upon black South Africans during apartheid.
    are you trying to say past wrongs justify current evils?
    He’s saying that the irony of white South Africans claiming “racial genocide” after years of persecuting, subjugating, and imprisoning black South Africans for little more than their skin color is palpable.
    apartheid was super bad, but
    lol lmao, even
    they are the ones being persecuted
    Yes, and how are they allegedly being persecuted, again? Like, are they being imprisoned and disenfranchised en masse only and specifically because of their skin color?
    “Bigots”…why?
    Because there’s no truth to the idea that white South Africans are being targeted for a “genocide” and such claims amount to those white South Africans trying to paint black South Africans as revenge-seeking savages⁠—all while (A) refusing to point out how white South Africans perpetrated apartheid and (B) refusing to offer any solid evidence that black South Africans are engaging in systemic state-sponsored violence with the intent to subjugate, persecute, and wholly eradicate an entire demographic of people. They want you to see them as “poor little white volk” who are being attacked by “evil black [slur]s” so you sympathize with them even when they’re not actually the target of the kind of actions one typically associated with genocide. The kind of people who believe them are the same kind of people who bitch and moan about “white genocide” in the United States⁠—and they’re equally as full of shit.

  • On the post: David Ellison Pinky Swears CNN Will Retain Editorial Independence, Points To CBS

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 04:39pm

    Literally none of that is true
    Then surely you can point to examples of Weiss being equally as critical of conservative politicians and right-wing organizations as she is of liberal/progressive politicians and left-wing organizations. Go ahead. Do it. I’ll wait.

  • On the post: Don’t Ban Kids From Using Chatbots

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 01:20pm

    The use of AI chatbots to “solve” the “problem” of basic human socialization isn’t exactly something I’m willing to defend. We would do well to have some kind of guardrails on that, especially when it comes to children. Age verification probably isn’t (and shouldn’t be) the right approach, but letting chatbots remain near-entirely unregulated also isn’t the right approach.

  • On the post: The U.S. Built A Blueprint To Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It.

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 10:55am

    You don’t care about that, do you?
    You only seem to care about that fact because you think it helps you bolster the argument that the US and Israeli militaries killing civilians is okay only because they’re killing fewer numbers of civilians. To quote an old favorite TV show of mine:
    Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce: War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. Father Francis Mulcahy: How do you figure that, Hawkeye? Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell? Mulcahy: Um, sinners, I believe. Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. But war is chock full of them: little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander!
    Whatever arguments you may have in favor of the war on Iran, you have no argument that justifies the killing of schoolchildren. If you think you have one, you are a sociopath. Outdated military intelligence got dozens of children killed and all you can think to do is go “well what about THEIR government”. For someone who stans “the party of personal responsibility” every time you post here, both you and the members of that same party seem awfully reticent to accept that responsibility when it comes to doing things that hurt people.

  • On the post: Ars Fires Reporter For Accidentally Using Fake AI Quotes

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 10:42am

    Fair points. 🫴

  • On the post: David Ellison Pinky Swears CNN Will Retain Editorial Independence, Points To CBS

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 10:37am

    Two things.

    1. Given how we don’t know the actual political beliefs of the shooter or their actual motive for the shooting, calling Kirk’s killer “an insane leftist” feels like you’re assuming what you want to be true so the truth won’t matter if the shooter turns out to be a right-winger.
    2. Her opportunity was everything after her husband was killed. She could have mourned him privately and with some sense of dignity and grace. She did not. What she has been doing is milking her “grieving widow to some guy, I’unno his name, was it Chuck?” act for as much personal gain as she can muster before her fifteen minutes of fame run out.

  • On the post: David Ellison Pinky Swears CNN Will Retain Editorial Independence, Points To CBS

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 10:26am

    lol lmao, even

  • On the post: Trump Kicks Kristi Noem To The Curb For Being Exactly The Sort Of Person Trump Wanted Her To Be

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 05:24am

    And it’s largely due to anti-immigrant propaganda from the GOP. Undocumented immigrants might have an impact on the economy, but on the whole, it’s a positive one⁠—especially since they make up a significant part of the workforce of several industries (e.g., agriculture).

  • On the post: Trump Kicks Kristi Noem To The Curb For Being Exactly The Sort Of Person Trump Wanted Her To Be

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 05:22am

    To wit: Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter of any crimes he could’ve been charged with so the Trump regime couldn’t go after him after Trump took office again. I wouldn’t call that the most ethical use of the pardon power, but it’s much more ethically sound than Trump basically selling pardons these days. Also, it’s a father protecting his son out of love, so I have a hard time faulting Biden for handing out that pardon.

  • On the post: The U.S. Built A Blueprint To Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It.

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2026 @ 05:13am

    Seriously, the USA fucking with other countries is why gas prices are about to skyrocket.

  • On the post: Ars Fires Reporter For Accidentally Using Fake AI Quotes

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2026 @ 05:26pm

    Is there any proof that he used those quotes while knowing they were wholly fake? I mean, Ars did the right thing by firing him for this error, but it’s possible the error was made in a misplaced bout of good faith.

  • On the post: Ars Fires Reporter For Accidentally Using Fake AI Quotes

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2026 @ 01:25pm

    I’m not exactly happy the dude lost his job, but all things considered, this was something Ars Technica needed to do for the sake of its own credibility. Now the site needs to enact some rules that will help prevent this situation from happening again⁠—like, say, asking people to not work while they’re sick.

  • On the post: Immigration Officers Continue To Lie About Their Murders

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2026 @ 10:07am

    A trial at the Hague is now the floor for what should happen to these fuckers after Trump is out of office.

  • On the post: Trump Kicks Kristi Noem To The Curb For Being Exactly The Sort Of Person Trump Wanted Her To Be

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2026 @ 07:22am

    Richard Nixon was never convicted of any crimes related to Watergate, but Gerald Ford still pardoned him for those presumed crimes. Donald Trump pardoned plenty of people for their actions on the 6th of January 2021, including people who had been charged with crimes but had not yet been convicted or even faced trial. Unless you know of a law or legal precedent that completely overrules Ex parte Garland, presidential pardons can be granted to people who have only been charged with a federal crime.

  • On the post: Human Problems: It’s Not Always The Technology’s Fault

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2026 @ 12:29pm

    Did social media step into the vacuum of “third spaces,” or did teens migrate away from physical spaces towards online ones as these platforms became more engaging?
    I’d say it’s a bit of both. American society in general has been waging a war against teenager-friendly third spaces for years and years. Once the pandemic hit and teens were forced out of IRL socializing, social media became the norm for connection. From there, AI chatbots getting popular with teens⁠—especially teens who would be considered social outcasts⁠—was absolutely a foreseeable event. I still believe Twitter-esque social media and chatbots are tools that humanity was not (and will never be) ready for, but I’m not sure how to get teens back into physical third spaces without a massive sea change in how society thinks about and treats the idea of “teenagers being teenagers”.

  • On the post: MAGA Suddenly Quiet About Overseas Influence Now That Larry Ellison’s Warner Bros Bid Has Saudi, Chinese Backing

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2026 @ 11:00am

    I wonder how many anti-trans lawmakers actually look at porn that has transgender women in it.

  • On the post: Oregon Federal Judge Says ICE’s Warrantless Arrests Are Illegal

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2026 @ 10:42am

    I’m not disagreeing with your points, because they’re legit. We don’t need to throw pizza parties over any of this. (Besides, I’m saving that particular celebration for whenever It Happens.) All the same, we can be happy that we’re finally seeing some kind of progress, however small. Defeatism is easy because you don’t need to do anything. Hope is what takes real courage because it requires you to look in the face of The Horrors and smile anyway. Yes, we should have seen this sooner. Yes, judges should be enforcing their threats of punishment. Yes, the Trump regime should have found out after a full year of fucking around like this. None of that is controversial or disagreeable. Alls I’m asking people to do is take the wins for what they are while still hoping for more/better wins instead of seeing this win as a reason to be more pessimistic. Like, yeah, of course we should’ve gotten here sooner, but is it a bad thing to be glad we’re here now?

  • On the post: If You’re Going To Defend AI And Whine About Its Critics, You Should Probably Be Honest About Its Actual Harms

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2026 @ 10:32am

    By all means, tell us about the positives of AI technology, especially generative AI. Oh, and make sure they’re actual positives instead of negatives framed as positives by the capitalist vultures who want all the money at the cost of permanently pushing the lower class out of entire career paths and into poverty (if not bankruptcy and homelessness). Remember: Machines can’t buy goods and services!

  • On the post: If You’re Going To Defend AI And Whine About Its Critics, You Should Probably Be Honest About Its Actual Harms

    Stephen T. Stone ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2026 @ 10:29am

    Speaking as a long-time Techdirt commenter: I have never seen any comment get deleted because its content disagreed with a Techdirt author’s writing. The only comments I ever see get deleted are spam messages, and even that’s a rarity. “Every accusation, a confession” is a saying for a reason, though…

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