For your viewing pleasure: A monkey stealing and eating coins donated to a Buddhist temple in Thailand while another monkey pulls on their tail.

New bioethics job at University of Colorado jobs.chronicle.com/job/37968079...

@gofundme.com is introducing an "AI-powered smart fundraising coach" that will help users in "crafting their story". They say this will create "meaningful functional and emotional benefits" resulting in "an additional $125 million in help raised this year in the U.S."

LOL, YUP! I read that telephone survey and I talked about it on the Glossy Beauty podcast. It's not a study. It's a clinic who called their customers and asked, "Hey, that thing you paid for... are you happy with it?"

Why are the American arms of Canadian companies making political donations to election deniers in the U.S.? Today's story from @carlypenrose.bsky.social raises some serious questions. theijf.org/article/cana...

NEW: I and colleagues reviewed 15,000 documents to illuminate how Jeffrey Epstein used VIP doctors to control and manipulate young women* — and how the doctors helped him, treating his needs as more important than the patients'. Gift link. *see next post in thread

Some First Nations canceling non-emergency travel to Vancouver for medical treatment during World Cup due to high hotel prices: "we're hoping that ...we will all be able to have access to hotel rooms when our emergency clients need them.”

New: OpenAI says it has made changes that would refer Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT interactions to law enforcement if they happened today. Also reveals that shooter used a second account after being banned in June 2025. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

I think this is probably my first time being quoted in the entertainment section of the CBC! Really interesting discussion of ethical issues related to crowdfunding campaigns for celebrities. Focus is on James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane but relevant to the wider issues of inequities in crowdfunding.

EBY: "I'm actually quite angry about what happened here. I sat at a table with a dad who lost a kid who walked me through the last moments of his child's life. He changed me forever ... And I want to share that with OpenAI. From the outside it looks like they had a chance to prevent this."

OpenAI met with BC's Minister of State for AI and New Technologies the day of the Tumbler Ridge shooting and a rep from the premier's office the day after Premier Eby told reporters the meetings were to discuss regulatory issues and OpenAI possibly setting up an office in BC #bcpoli

If universities/colleges/schools etc. do not make it a serious disciplinary offence for students to use their logins like this, then they might as well stop offering credentials. Tbh, we are reaching the point where we we'll have to choose between credentials & edtech anyway.

We're hiring in AI ethics. Assessment of applications will begin on March 1, 2026 and will continue until the position is filled. careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-A...

"Some employees interpreted Van Rootselaar’s writings as an indication of potential real-world violence, and urged leaders to alert Canadian law enforcement about her behavior, the people familiar with the matter said. OpenAI leaders ultimately decided not to contact authorities."

UBC profs sue over land acknowledgements, diversity statements. Case focuses on the "University Act, which mandates that universities be “nonsectarian and nonpolitical in principle.” But the law does little to clarify the bigger question before the court: What counts as political?"

Post-secondary sector will receive $394 million more in annual funding over the next three years. ""modest increase" is driven by general inflation impacting operating costs and ongoing infrastructure projects including student housing and the new medical school at Simon Fraser University"

I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point. I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

US-style pharma ads don't belong in Canada. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

The picture that's emerging is one of absolute tragedy for the young victims, a teacher, the shooter and her family. There are unresolved questions here about why/how the guns were returned and what mental health supports were available for a deeply troubled teen.

The director-general of the WHO said a U.S.-funded study of the hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau would be “unethical” if it proceeds as planned. www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/h...

About half of Canadians are turning to AI for health information, and those who do are five times more likely to report experiencing harms to their health compared to those who don’t, survey says, by Jennifer Yang www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com @cmadocs.bsky.social

⚠️ Despite all the hype, chatbots still make terrible doctors. Out today is the largest user study of language models for medical self-diagnosis. We found that chatbots provide inaccurate and inconsistent answers, and that people are better off using online searches or their own judgment.

The hims and hers company is at it again; my comments included about this SuperBowl ad gift link wapo.st/45S7U6n

I have been writing letters of recommendation for just shy of thirty years— 17 students this year alone— in ratios that more or less track the majority-women population of liberal arts students. Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.

"One obstacle Florida and at least eight other states have faced from the beginning is the lack of participation from the Canadian government and the pharmaceutical industry. Despite that, Florida has spent by far the most, and it has made the least amount of progress".

Indigenous Canadians are being urged to use caution when crossing the border into the United States after reports of “increased scrutiny” by U.S. federal officials. @amandafollett.bsky.social reports: thetyee.ca/News/2026/01...

Canadian-made Roshel Senator spotted in the wild slowly ramming through protestors (and sandwich boards) @nolore.bsky.social @rachelgilmore.bsky.social noraloreto.substack.com/p/canadian-b...

At the University of Guelph, in the College of Arts, Philosophy is hiring in AI ethics. #philsky careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-A...

CMU's Philosophy department is doing a search for a new department head. If you are interested, definitely apply. ALSO, if you know anyone that we should consider, please let me know. I'm happy to reach out to anyone who might be interested. (Please repost for reach!) www.cmu.edu/dietrich/phi...

The emails provide a window into how Kennedy and allies are ”working behind the scenes not only to steer grants to researchers ideologically aligned, but also to fund studies they think may generate after-the-fact scientific justification for policy changes they appear determined to make. “

Bioethics folks: Considering submitting to the ASBH conference this year? Wondering about how to write a strong abstract? The ASBH Program Committee is offering its first ever webinar on "navigating a proposal." Especially good for students, early career, or first-time submitters, but open to all!

Texas A&M decided to publicly cancel my Ethics class, and share a false statement that I declined to provide information, which made it impossible for [them ] to request an exemption. See for yourself, if this statement is true. They are getting creative!

Given recent news coverage of incredibly successful crowdfunding campaigns for the ICE shooter and the auto worker who yelled at Trump yesterday, seems like a good time to reup my research on this topic. Linking your fundraiser to politicized topics is a great strategy for juicing donations.

In the most recent version of this fundraiser, the campaign has exceeded the original $200k goal, increased the goal to $300k, and removed the reference to Frey being Jewish.

Interestingly the campaign creator seems to be trying to dodge this concern by revising the campaign to state vaguely that "Funds will go to help him." The creator doesn't seem to have a clear connection to the ICE agent, wild that it has raised nearly half a million.

@givesendgo.bsky.social is promoting an alternative fundraiser that is now at over $170k. The latter is going straight in for casual antisemitism: "it's the direct result of anti-American traitors like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (who is Jewish) fanning the flames of resistance."

🚨We've got two tenure track posts in political philosophy @maastrichtu.bsky.social.🚨 Deadlines are 31 January and 26 February. #philosophy #academicjobs | @apaphilosophy.bsky.social www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3566... www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3574...

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

New publication in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on the maternal/child health implications of the attempt to reinterpret the constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship: link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007... @journalgim.bsky.social @cervantes-lily1.bsky.social @trishasantos.bsky.social

New @apnews.com poll finds crowdfunding for health needs by far the most common form. Most people think platform fees are not reasonable and question whether money raised is used responsibly and recipients really need it. @jampol.bsky.social @linleyann.bsky.social

Postdoctoral positions available at Yale's Digital Ethics Center. They are renewable for up to 4 years, and provide plenty of benefits. Highly successful postdocs can be promoted to a faculty position after 2 years. Please apply and share with interested candidates 🤓 dec.yale.edu/join-us...

Thanks to @brianleiter.bsky.social, we can read an excerpt from Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson's initial letter to his department head, Kristi Sweet, as well as his syllabus. leiterreports.com/2026/01/06/t...

What are the ethics of Mr Beast-style “philanthrotainment” -? Read the latest in @JME_BMJ Practical Bioethics, showcasing the broader scope of the new journal jmepb.bmj.com/content/1/1/...

Stem cells [BS] in your YouTube feed: www.cell.com/stem-cell-re... Influencer with most the most impact: Joe Rogan. He "positioned himself as an explicit online mediator of information about stem cell procedures." "Notably he did so without any acknowledgment of their unproven status."

Please enjoy my commentary in the JME Forum in which my teenage son savagely dismisses my new article on health-related philanthrotainment and I bravely defend its relevance.

Ugh, really sorry to see this as a grad of the program. Hopefully back to normal soon but revenue down $91 - $112 million is rough. Interim President "cited federal cuts to higher education funding, changing immigration policies and ending graduate loan programs as reasons for the declines."

I have an article out today in JME Practical Bioethics discussing ethical issues in health-related philanthrotainment. Think MrBeast swooping in with a camera crew to a remote village in Zambia to set up a solar power supply, posted on YouTube, and redirecting ad revenue to support the project.

@sfu.ca is hiring Canada Impact+ Research Chairs. Research areas include health, including biotechnology; clean technology and resource value chains; environment, climate resilience and the Arctic; democratic and community resilience. Candidates must full Profs or Associate 2 years from promotion.

Should scientists apply to OpenAI's fund for research on AI & mental health? Should policymakers consider it a credible safety effort? Avriel Epps & I see it as "grantwashing," and it's an insult to anyone whose loved one's death involved chatbots. We explain: www.techpolicy.press/beware-of-op...

As far as I can tell, RFK Jr.'s latest antivax stunt runs counter to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. Withholding HepB vaccination clearly does not meet any definition of clinical equipoise. Doing it anyway, overseas, is straight up colonialist medicine. Details in Dr. Jacobs's thread below.