Also, when reporters start talking about the chatbots this way, it is imperative to remind them they are basically asking a toaster for comment. They should be a lot more embarrassed about this than they currently are. “Grok told CNN…” no it didn’t. You typed stuff into an unreliable calculator.

The demonization of Somalis is no different than the demonization of Haitians before the election. It's a political attack and has to be actively fought—not through half-measures or expressions of tepid concern but by demanding decency from society and respect for all of humanity.

I’m almost $9,000 short of my neurosurgical GoFundMe goal, so must wait for my SSDI check to drop, which makes medical trip travel costs more expensive the later I book, yet another disability tax Please share even if you can’t donate! This lifesaving care is costly and far away

My next trip is in February, with ICT and ICP neurosurgery tests, lumbar puncture, head angiogram, endocrinology, maybe chronic infectious persistence tests www.gofundme.com/f/help-emily... So expensive, I’ll reapply for financial aid but may be denied bc I’m not a NY resident, please donate/share

Please give this a boost if you see it, I’m far behind the amount of financial support I need to do this trip plus a second trip for surgeries (if February tests finally prove surgical eligibilities) And unfortunately more tests and appointments are needed, because so much is happening to me

#mutualaid #helpsky 💸💕

Rereading "i am running into a new year". I think I first encountered this poem in a post by @emilyrj.bsky.social. www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/poetry-...

I’m almost $9,000 short of my neurosurgical GoFundMe goal, so must wait for my SSDI check to drop, which makes medical trip travel costs more expensive the later I book, yet another disability tax Please share even if you can’t donate! This lifesaving care is costly and far away

Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research. A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans. futurism.com/health-medic...

It is very odd to feel like everyone hates you when you want to protect yourself from sickness and that your long term sickness from that sickness reminds them of “old”sickness times even though the sickness is on going so they hate you for that too.

Wearing a N95 mask in indoor public places keeps you and others safe from respiratory infections such as measles, TB, flu, RSV, and COVID-19. It protects those who are immunocompromised, elderly, and those too young to be vaccinated. Masking is cheap, effective, and an act of resistance.✊🏼

“Something like the plate tracker helps to encourage and promote legal transparency and legal accountability, especially when they're going around, switching plates, trying to hide, trying to be undetectable,” said Sherman Austin. Full story: lataco.com/ice-license-... By Aisha Wallace-Palomares

The 4 books left on my 2025 reading list, and the Game Changes book series (book two is Heated Rivalry):

A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty: My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media. Huh? When did I say that?!

Everyone involved in the publication and promotion of this book should be embarrassed. It's not a "harsh truth" that COVID mitigation was a mistake, it's ghoulish and false.

Heated Rivalry is truly what many of us needed during such trying times

Highly recommend this Year in Review of books, shows and films best exemplifying our relationships and concerns about tech, labor, ethics, sustainability and more By @bcmerchant.bsky.social, subscribe to him, it’s worth it!

Some rare good news: Journalists at the PEN Guild won their arbitration case against Politico, which deployed two separate faulty AI products (a "report builder" and a headline and summary generator on the homepage) without their knowledge or input. That violated their contract, the arbiter found.

“The work was emotionally exhausting, with chat users confiding intimate details about their real-life relationships, as well as their own emotional trauma, falsely believing they were talking to an unfeeling AI chatbot.”

When the AI boom began, copywriters were singled out as one of the jobs most vulnerable to AI. Now, three years later, I wanted to hear from workers on the frontlines of the industry, to hear what had actually taken place on the ground. For many, it was even worse than they'd feared.

In advertising, we would have clients who would ask for dozens of copy options and repeated rewrites from our copywriters. Those same clients are now content with mindless slop, as long as it costs them very little.

Listening to @bcmerchant.bsky.social BLOOD IN THE MACHINE on @libro.fm and hit the part in the early 1800's where tradespeople worked from home, made their own hours, and the bosses said "We're putting an end to THAT shit", and reflecting on COVID "back to the office" mandates. Plus ça change ...

Take it from my linguistics and literature degree: translating is much more than “is this the right 1:1 word for that word” Countries, treaties, wars, marriages, genealogies, lineages, fortunes, histories have started and ended over 1:1 words with wrong subtext Human translators > AI, every day

@Brian Merchant at Blood in the Machine has been doing powerful reporting on the carnage across many professions, thanks to AI and bosses eager to use its slop instead of paying humans. www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/i-was-forc...

Very disappointed in the new Nebula Award eligibility information from SFWA that allows partially-generated works to be on the ballot. See 9.11.2. www.sfwa.org/complete-neb... This shouldn't be difficult. #noAI

Last week, hundreds of creative workers amassed at a public hearing for an AI transparency bill to testify how AI was corroding their lives. Days later, Disney cut a deal with OpenAI, and Trump moved to stamp out state AI laws. On art and labor in the age of AI and American authoritarianism:

The approach to madness in the US is inextricable from the carceral criminal-legal system. Coerced "care" and eliminationist approaches to madness are fundamentally incompatible with autonomy and dignity.

Health Rising: 'Exercise is Not Producing Muscle Damage in ME/CFS…It’s All About Muscle Repair' 'The Hanson group used SomaScan to identify approximately 6,000 proteins in a single drop of blood' 'The problem appears to be a faulty muscle repair response' www.healthrising.org/blog/2025/12...

Wall Street Journal on “fakers using airport transit chairs” 1.3 billion people disabled (16%) worldwide, 70 million (25%) in US 60-90+% chronically ill in US Many conditions and treatments impact mobility US a medical care hub Do the math, we need more chairs, not fewer 🧵

I had to go to the ER due to months of severe symptoms and weeks of other very severe symptoms a few weeks ago Thank you to those who gave me space to endure and sent well wishes I’m still a Severe MECFS patient much of the time, caring mostly by myself in Palliative is hard

Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it

One of the reasons why I go so hard on science misinformation/disinformation, is that as a working scientist it is frustrating to see your research misreported to push an agenda. For example, consider this piece of right-wing propaganda from The Telegraph that was just published

To my friends who have sent me 3 different lavender-scented Warmies over the past few years with no collaborative effort: thank you for knowing me so well, I love my relaxing menagerie 🥰

💸💕

Please give this a boost if you see it, I’m far behind the amount of financial support I need to do this trip plus a second trip for surgeries (if February tests finally prove surgical eligibilities) And unfortunately more tests and appointments are needed, because so much is happening to me

Cute designs and comfy, accessible clothes! ✨ I will definitely be buying some of these items 💯

Many #MECFS #pwME #LongCovid patients are discussing the #BornFreeProtocol by Joshua Leisk, which some have used to improve symptoms It's complex and many clinicians/researchers wonder where to start - watch our roundtable with Leisk and @doc4care.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_a2... 1/2 🧵

Greetings, holiday shoppers! 🛍️ Our Renegade Research Merch Store is live! You can buy shirts, hats, scarves, ornaments, mugs, water bottles, bags, pajamas, pants, gift cards, more You can also donate while checking out! Happy Holidays and thanks for supporting us ❄️ www.bonfire.com/store/renega...

NEW: They kept saying they were gonna do it and now they've done it A group of clowns (Senators) have introduced a bill to FULLY REPEAL Section 230. No reform, no replacement, just utter destruction of all online free speech. We can't let this happen. Share & take action www.badinternetbills.com

My friend Maggie has been struggling uterine fibroids and chronic anemia She recently had surgery and is unable to work for 6 weeks — she just celebrated her birthday in the hospital and is hoping to head home soon Please donate to her meal train www.mealtrain.com/trains/yydvr...

Cait, daughter of my friend Manda, needs help covering necessary unexpected dental bills, please give whatever you can! Manda and Cait have higher health expenses yet limited supports due to disabilities — Medicaid only covered a small part of Cait’s dental care www.gofundme.com/f/help-cait-...

I am reminded of Lincoln's famous letter to Joshua Speed in 1855 quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...

It's a slippery slope from "illegal aliens" to legal immigrants to naturalized citizens to people whose parents were born somewhere else to anybody who learns a forbidden concept or searches for the wrong phrase on the internet. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

This is why we exist: To make news more accessible. To teach journalists to make news more accessible. To bring accessibility into the field of journalism. Join us. Help us build better news. www.equalaccesspublicmedia.org/support-us/

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership. Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources. Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet. Unbelievable.

I’ve decided my first career choice as a child hiding in pots and behaving like an indoor plant was correct, I have basically not deviated from existing as a plant

NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇

Hannah Gadsby appreciation post: Ten Steps to Nanette is the first ebook I can recall in a long time (possibly ever) that marks which footnotes you’ve already selected and read from those you haven’t Reading accessibility is so important, I wish more authors did this (not just disabled ones)