r (@r@fed.brid.gy)
quislingborisjohnson.blogspot.com/2026/02/one-... One crisis Two Faces explained, follow the money, open the system, restore trust #UK #USA #ChatGPT Llewelyn Pritchard 16 April 2026 @gigialexander123.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy #Nokings #TrumpIsAChildRapist 30 March 2026
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2026 (@2026@carlocarrasco.com)
A Look Back at The Kindred #3 (1994)
Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.
Welcome back, superhero fans, 1990s arts and culture enthusiasts, Image Comics and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the mid-1990s to examine one of the many tales of the WildStorm universe through The Kindred mini-series.
Having read the first two issues, I can say that the plot has been built-up into something that justifies not only the reuniting of former Team 7 teammates Grifter and Backlash (who hate each other) but also the consequences caused by IO’s (International Operations) a long time prior. So far the creative team of WildStorm father Jim Lee, Brandon Choi, Sean Ruffner and artist Brett Booth succeeded in telling an entertaining story with a balance on action, suspense and intrigue.
With those details laid down, here is a look back at The Kindred #3, published by Image Comics in 1994 with a story written by Jim Lee, Brandon Choi, Sean Ruffner and Brett Booth. Booth illustrated the comic book.
The cover.Early story
The story begins with John Lynch being helpless in front of Bloodmoon, the vicious leader of the Kindred. Lynch tells him that he has no recollection of him, the Kindred and the crimes he has been accused of. Regardless, Lynch is being prepared for the trial under the Kindred’s system of justice.
Bloodmoon learns from one of his pawns that they captured the three men who were sent to rescue the prisoners. Two of the captured were sensed to have the Kindred’s blood within them. Bloodmoon then orders to have them brought to him immediately.
Minutes later, Grifter and Backlash – both battered and worn down – were brought to Bloodmoon.
Quality
Literally, the past bites Bloodmoon hard.Following the events of issue #2, there is a huge pay-off in this comic book and it added more depth into the plot. With Lynch, Backlash and Grifter – all of them were teammates in Team 7 a long time prior – helpless early in the story, the stakes really went high up as something significant about Bloodmoon and how the Kindred started got revealed.
Bloodmoon is not the typical comic book villain. His origin and how the Kindred was established are linked to the high-stakes experiments IO conducted on animals on Caballito (this makes IO’s top-secret experimentation on humans to unlock super-human potential literally just the tip of the iceberg). The way Bloodmoon was portrayed here, he is convinced that he exists with an undeniable purpose to lead the Kindred while getting striking back at humanity for vengeance starting with IO and former Team 7 members. The tragic events of the past made him a very hardened character and the living and walking evidence of IO’s unethical experimentation agenda.
Worth focusing here is, unsurprisingly, the uneasy new alliance between Grifter and Backlash who had no choice but to set aside their differences to survive and somehow bring down Bloodmoon deep within the turf of the Kindred. You will get a glimpse as to how they used to work during their time with Team 7 and how they could pull off tough achievements with their modern-day abilities and technology. The dynamics between the two former Team 7 teammates is a must-see and there are indeed 1980s Hollywood action film vibes embedded within.
Not to be outdone is John Lynch whose super-human potential gets unleashed while being in the middle of a very desperate situation facing three deadly enemies at once. Lynch here gets more of the spotlight and he does something else apart from serving as a convenient tool for exposition about IO and its past.
Conclusion
Grifter and Backlash on the run.As the plot moved closer to concluding, The Kindred #3 (1994) had the stakes raised a lot for the former Team 7 members involved as well as IO’s current people. The big reveal that happened late in the comic book was pretty powerful and it will encourage readers to focus more on the past operations of IO as well as Team 7. At this stage in the publishing history of Image Comics, WildStorm’s para-military concepts got solidified more effectively setting the stage for the launch of the original Team 7 mini-series. As for The Kindred mini-series, the engagement and entertainment value of issue #3 convinced me to go on to issue #4.
Overall, The Kindred #3 (1994) is recommended.
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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco
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2026 (@2026@carlocarrasco.com)
Israel-Lebanon Talks Mediated By America Off To A Good Start
Remember a short time ago when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for direct talks with the Lebanese government for peace? In Washington, the envoys of Israel and Lebanon met in a historic summit mediated by the United States and things are off to a good start as both nations are looking forward to more talks in the near future, according to a news report by CBN News. Israel and Lebanon clearly want to work together to not only disarm the Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah (long supported by the Islamic terrorist regime of Iran) but also end its decades-long influence and harm of civilians.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from CBN News’ report. Some parts in boldface…
A historic Washington summit between Israel and Lebanon ended with a look toward more talks in the future and a sense that the two countries want to work together to disarm Hezbollah and make peace. Meanwhile, President Trump indicated that there may soon be a new round of talks with Iran.
The Washington talks were mediated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The first round was held between Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon’s Washington Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad.
Rubio suggested that the talks involve more than a ceasefire.
“This is about bringing a permanent end to twenty or thirty years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world. And, not just damage inflicted on Israel, (but) the damage that is inflicted on Lebanon,” Rubio remarked. “We have to remember that the Lebanese people are victims of Hezbollah. The Lebanese people are victims of Iranian aggression. And this needs to stop.”
Ambassador Leiter contends that Israel and the Lebanese government are on the same side of the equation.
“We are both united in liberating Lebanon from an occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah,” he said. “Lebanon is under their occupation, and we are suffering from their constant barrages of missiles and terror attacks trying to cross our border.”
Leiter told reporters that the most important issue they discussed was the vision for the future.
“The long-term vision, where there will be a clearly delineated border between our countries, and where the only reason we will need to cross each other’s territory will be in business suits to conduct business, or in bathing suits to go on vacation,” he noted.
Israel made it clear that the security of Israelis is not up for negotiation, and Leiter believes the Lebanese government understands that.
“This was a victory for sanity, for responsibility, and for peace, because the head of Hezbollah warned the government of Lebanon yesterday not to participate in these talks. And the government of Joseph Aoun bravely said no to Hezbollah,” Leiter observed. “And this is the beginning of a very strong and fortified, consistent battle against Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah made its own statement by opening a round of rocket fire on Israel as the talks began. In a rare move, three Hezbollah terrorists laid down their weapons and surrendered to Israeli troops.
In a joint statement issued by the State Department after the talks, the U.S. expressed support for “the government of Lebanon’s plans to restore the monopoly of force and to end Iran’s overbearing influence.”:
For its part, Beirut “underscores the principles of territorial integrity and full state sovereignty, while calling for a ceasefire and concrete measures to address and alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that the country continues to endure as a result of the ongoing conflict.”
The two countries have been at war since 1948. Lebanon was once the only Christian-majority country in the Middle East, yet it was overrun, first by Palestinian terrorists in 1970-71, and then a decade later by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Before the talks, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said there are no major disputes between Lebanon and Israel.
He explained, “The problem for Israel’s security is the problem for Lebanon’s sovereignty: it’s Hezbollah. It’s the same problem. And this problem needs to be addressed in order to move to a different phase (that) we want to reach, of peace and normalization with the state of Lebanon.”
Posted below are the related YouTube news videos.
https://youtu.be/g7v6bOPijqw?si=EF4hoyqcX0cvnLgI
https://youtu.be/I3pyiEgaRVk?si=MyaOJgwPdqHZn0XO
https://youtu.be/IvhDRCkGjq4?si=RoSAbuMVZNulDfjy
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this development? Do you feel confident that the Israel and Lebanon will cooperate even more diplomatically to achieve both long-term peace as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah? How do you think Hezbollah will get disarmed? If ever America totally brings down the Islamic terrorist regime of Iran, do you think Hezbollah terrorists will survive?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco
#America #AmericaFirst #Ayatollah #BenjaminNetanyahu #CarloCarrasco #CBNNews #ChatGPT #ChristianBroadcastingNetworkCBN #Communist #DepartmentOfState #diplomacy #diversity #DonaldJTrump #DonaldTrump #evilOfIran #Facebook #geek #geopolitics #Google #GoogleSearch #Hamas #Hezbollah #ILoveIsrael #IStandWithIsrael #identityPolitics #Inclusion #Instagram #Investagrams #Iran #Islam #IslamicTerrorism #IslamicTerroristRegimeOfIran #IslamicTerroristStateOfIran #IslamicTerrorists #Islamist #IslamoLeft #Israel #IsraelDefenseForcesIDF #Jerusalem #JewishState #journalism #Lebanon #MAGA #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #MakeAmericaGreatAgainMAGA #MarcoRubio #Marxist #military #militaryLifestyle #OperationRoaringLion #Palestinians #politics #PresidentTrump #Republicans #socialMedia #socialist #soldiers #StateOfIsrael #SupportIsrael #technology #terrorism #terroristStateOfIran #terrorists #TheJerusalemPost #Trump #TrumpSAmerica #Tumblr #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #UnitedStatesOfAmericaUSA #war #warfare #Washington #woke #WordPress #WordPressCom
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2026 (@2026@carlocarrasco.com)
Five Drug Suspects Arrested In Parañaque City And lllegal Drugs Worth P91 Million Seized
Recently in the City of Parañaque, local police officers successfully pulled off a major anti-drug operation that resulted in five suspects – including one former policeman – arrested and the seizure of illegal drugs worth more than P91 million, according to a Manila Bulletin news report.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of the Manila Bulletin. Some parts in boldface…
A former policeman and four alleged high-value drug suspects were arrested in a major anti-drug operation that led to the seizure of more than P91 million worth of suspected shabu and high-powered firearms in Parañaque City on Friday, April 10.
Operatives of the Southern Police District (SPD) Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) identified the suspects as alias Bossing, 35; James, 49, a resigned member of the Philippine National Police (PNP); Jezreel, 29; Hazel, 25; and alias “Ricardo,” 48.
All five were tagged as newly identified high-value individuals (HVIs) and were apprehended during a buy-bust operation conducted in Sun Valley, Parañaque, following days of surveillance and intelligence monitoring.
Authorities said the operation was launched in coordination with other police units to dismantle a suspected drug syndicate operating in the southern Metro Manila.
Confiscated during the sting were approximately 13.389 kilograms of suspected shabu and five containers of liquid crystalline substance, with a combined estimated Standard drug price of P91,045,200.
Police also recovered two .45-caliber pistols, a Bushmaster rifle, communication devices, and P319,950 cash.
Authorities said the presence of high-powered firearms indicates the group’s capability to protect their illegal activities, raising concerns over the potential violence linked to drug trafficking operations.
“This operation sends a clear message that no drug syndicate is beyond our reach. The Southern Police District will relentlessly pursue those involved in the illegal drug trade and ensure they are brought to justice,” said acting SPD director Col. Glenn Oliver Cinco.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? If you are a resident of Parañaque, are you convinced that drug syndicates find the city an ideal place to do their illegal businesses while having the mean to cause harm to local residents? What do you think makes Parañaque an attractive city to those involved in illegal drugs?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagement, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
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NieuwsJunkies (@NieuwsJunkies@mastodon.social)
📰 AI tools geven vaak misleidend medisch advies
https://nieuwsjunkies.nl/artikel/1CCa
🕔 17:15 | NPO Radio 1
🔸 #Misleiding #AI #ChatGPT #Onderzoek #Leraar
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Hackread (@Hackread@mstdn.social)
OpenAI launches GPT-5.4-Cyber, a security-focused AI model designed to help defenders vulnerabilities, analyze malware, and strengthen cyber defenses.
Read: https://hackread.com/openai-gpt-5-4-cyber-boost-defensive-cybersecurity/
#CyberSecurity #OpenAI #ChatGPT #GPT54Cyber #AI #Malware
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r (@r@fed.brid.gy)
AI’s Energy Appetite Is Making Power Bills Harder to Swallow for Americans
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heiseonlineenglish (@heiseonlineenglish@social.heise.de)
Apple sends Siri developers to AI bootcamp
According to a report, Apple is sending Siri developers to an AI bootcamp to train them in using AI coding tools and modernize the team.
#Apple #ChatGPT #iOS #IT #KünstlicheIntelligenz #Mobiles #Programmierung #Siri #news
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tugatech (@tugatech@masto.pt)
A nova função do ChatGPT resolve o detalhe mais cansativo na criação de imagens
🔗 https://tugatech.com.pt/t82026-a-nova-funcao-do-chatgpt-resolve-o-detalhe-mais-cansativo-na-criacao-de-imagens
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2026 (@2026@civic.io)
It’s The End of Agile (As We Know It)
Agile software development was always solving two problems at once, though we’ve not always talked about them separately. One problem that Agile helped solve was a human problem, a problem with people. The other problem that Agile helped solve was an engineering problem. For a long time this distinction didn’t matter all that much, but AI is now poised to make that distinction matter a great deal.
The human problem Agile helps solve is about understanding: you don’t know what you need until you start building it. Requirements often change. Users can’t always articulate what they want until they see for themselves what they don’t want. The only reliable way to surface that knowledge is to put working software in front of real people, watch what happens, and then adjust. That “build, show, learn, repeat” loop is the main reason Agile exists, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how fast you can generate code.
The engineering problem is different. Large software systems built in long sequential phases fail at a very predictable rate. Errors get compounded. Integration problems stay hidden until the worst possible moment. By the time anyone sees working software, bad decisions are really, really expensive to reverse. Breaking work into small, short increments reduces that risk. It keeps the codebase in a releasable state. It limits the blast radius of any single mistake. That problem is fundamentally about managing the cost and complexity of writing code by hand.
AI coding tools are reshaping the second problem faster than most agile practitioners want to admit. When a working prototype can be generated in hours rather than weeks, the risk calculus that made two-week sprints and velocity tracking essential looks very different. The scaffolding agile built around engineering complexity starts to look like process overhead designed for a world that is quickly disappearing.
But the first problem – the human problem – is largely untouched, and in government it may actually be getting harder, not easier.
Some Things Still Take Time
The knowledge that government software needs to reflect doesn’t live in a repository. It lives in the heads of the government workers – caseworkers, clerks, and frontline staff who know how a process actually works as opposed to how it’s documented. Getting that knowledge into a system still requires sustained human engagement. No AI coding tool changes that, or – at least not yet – makes it significantly easier.
Stakeholder alignment in government takes time for reasons that have nothing to do with technical complexity. Multiple agencies, competing political interests, legal constraints, and accountability requirements all shape what a system must ultimately do. The organizational and political work of building consensus around requirements isn’t something you can generate faster.
And government policy can change mid-flight. Regulations get revised. Administrations turn over. Court decisions alter what a system must do. The value of being able to adapt quickly doesn’t diminish because the code itself is cheaper to write.
The Costume Comes Off
A great LinkedIn post circulating recently made an observation about product managers that applies with equal force to agile practitioners in government: AI isn’t eliminating the job. It’s revealing what the job was actually supposed to be all along.
A lot of what passed for agile practice in government – writing user stories, maintaining backlogs, running standups, producing sprint reports – was coordination and artifact production. It was administration wearing a methodology costume. AI will commoditize most of that work quickly. What remains is the part that was always harder: judgment about which problem is worth solving, the ability to say no with a clear rationale, and a deep enough understanding of users to spot what they need before they can fully articulate it.
That’s the part of the problem pair that government has historically underinvested in. And the structural barriers I’ve been writing about for more than a decade – procurement, budgeting, civil service constraints – don’t inhibit the administrative layer of agile practice. They inhibit the strategic layer. They make it hard to act on good judgment even when you have it.
The New Asymmetry
What’s emerging now is an asymmetry that could produce its own form of dysfunction. The technical barriers to building custom software are falling fast. AI coding tools are lowering the cost and risk of custom development in ways that are beginning to challenge the decade-long default toward commercial off-the-shelf software. The build-versus-buy calculus that drove so many government technology decisions is due for a reexamination.
But the processes for deciding what to build, contracting for it, and staffing it haven’t changed. An agency could theoretically commission custom software quickly and cheaply, but the procurement cycle that governs the decision to do so still moves at the same pace it always has. The gap between what’s technically possible and what government processes can accommodate is widening fast.
Requiem for the 2-week Sprint
Agile in government needs to be rebuilt around the problem it was always better suited to solve. Less emphasis on sprint velocity and delivery cadence. More emphasis on discovery: the sustained, disciplined work of understanding what users actually need, what existing systems actually do, and what institutional knowledge is embedded in processes that predate any software system by decades.
This work isn’t glamorous and it doesn’t fit neatly into two-week cycles. But it’s the work that determines whether the software that eventually gets built solves the right problem. In a world where generating code is getting cheaper by the month, that determination is where nearly all the value will live.
The Agile movement was an appropriate response to the failings of waterfall development. Waterfall front-loads all the decisions and defers all the learning, which is exactly backwards from how complex software projects should work. Getting working software in front of real users quickly matters more than documents and promises. Those learnings still apply.
What no longer does is the idea that managing the engineering complexity of human-generated code is the central challenge that Agile needs to solve. It simply isn’t anymore. The central challenge that Agile endeavored to address – understanding what to build and for whom – was always the harder part of the equation. We just had enough other problems to distract us from noticing.
It’s the end of Agile as we know it.
#AI #artificialIntelligence #ChatGPT #government #llm #technology
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Shawn_Brink (@Shawn_Brink@techhub.social)
#Opera new Browser Connector feature lets #ChatGPT and #Claude see and use browsing as context #AI #OperaBrowser
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/opera-new-browser-connector-lets-chatgpt-and-claude-see-and-use-browsing-as-context.46174/
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macandi (@macandi@social.heise.de)
Apple schickt Siri-Entwickler ins KI-Bootcamp
Apple schickt Siri-Entwickler laut einem Bericht in ein KI-Bootcamp, um sie im Einsatz von KI-Coding-Tools zu schulen und das Team zu modernisieren.
#Apple #ChatGPT #iOS #IT #KünstlicheIntelligenz #Mobiles #Programmierung #Siri #news
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