Bethan
@bethan.bsky.social
neurosalty desert rat / tech policy nerd / trusty gaming / mender / former USARNG
Pinned
Bethan
@bethan.bsky.social
· Jan 21
This is not the New Orleans trip I planned for but it’s going great, regardless. #NOLAsnow
Reposted by Bethan
PS @plancpills.bsky.social has stickers you can plaster in bathrooms, on lampposts, or wherever to spread the word about abortion pills. Free with suggested donation to cover costs, and available in English and Spanish
www.plancpills.org/stickers
www.plancpills.org/stickers
November 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
PS @plancpills.bsky.social has stickers you can plaster in bathrooms, on lampposts, or wherever to spread the word about abortion pills. Free with suggested donation to cover costs, and available in English and Spanish
www.plancpills.org/stickers
www.plancpills.org/stickers
Reposted by Bethan
“We have rarely witnessed such brutality erupt into public view like it has in Chicago,” writes Michael Woolf, senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston. “For me, this is a spiritual emergency, and it means putting our bodies on the line in order to stop deportations.”
I’m One of the Clergy ICE Assaulted. They Treat Immigrants Worse
I learned the hard way that my clerical collar doesn’t offer much protection from ICE. But immigrants have no protection at all.
sojo.net
November 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
“We have rarely witnessed such brutality erupt into public view like it has in Chicago,” writes Michael Woolf, senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston. “For me, this is a spiritual emergency, and it means putting our bodies on the line in order to stop deportations.”
Reposted by Bethan
My God.
“We're seeing a level of proliferation of bodies & body piles from space that's unlike anything I've ever seen…”
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
November 9, 2025 at 4:16 PM
My God.
Reposted by Bethan
One more plug for @boltsmag.org, as the night is coming to a close:
If you've enjoyed our work, consider: Our journalism at Bolts has no paywall, but it requires a lot of resources. We thrive with your support & subscriptions!
Right now is THE time to make your support multiply, here's why:
If you've enjoyed our work, consider: Our journalism at Bolts has no paywall, but it requires a lot of resources. We thrive with your support & subscriptions!
Right now is THE time to make your support multiply, here's why:
NEW: Today is a big day for us at Bolts! From today thru end of 2025, NewsMatch matches any gift you make.
In a nutshell: Your gift will be doubled. If you start a monthly subscription, your monthly amount is matched *x12*!
If you wish to support independent journalism, you can help us thrive:
In a nutshell: Your gift will be doubled. If you start a monthly subscription, your monthly amount is matched *x12*!
If you wish to support independent journalism, you can help us thrive:
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:22 AM
One more plug for @boltsmag.org, as the night is coming to a close:
If you've enjoyed our work, consider: Our journalism at Bolts has no paywall, but it requires a lot of resources. We thrive with your support & subscriptions!
Right now is THE time to make your support multiply, here's why:
If you've enjoyed our work, consider: Our journalism at Bolts has no paywall, but it requires a lot of resources. We thrive with your support & subscriptions!
Right now is THE time to make your support multiply, here's why:
Reposted by Bethan
the fact that Chicago is still under invasion & most of the rest of the country just chugs on, is reminding me really really unpleasantly of losing more than a million Americans to the early pandemic, with a collective shrug.
November 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM
the fact that Chicago is still under invasion & most of the rest of the country just chugs on, is reminding me really really unpleasantly of losing more than a million Americans to the early pandemic, with a collective shrug.
“I’m kind of in a different income bracket”
= a techie who has spent $250,000 on a council seat in a town with ~10,000 people, and drives a cyber truck.
Seems like he really just wants development in Woodinville to happen exactly how he wants it to happen, maybe based on vibes.
= a techie who has spent $250,000 on a council seat in a town with ~10,000 people, and drives a cyber truck.
Seems like he really just wants development in Woodinville to happen exactly how he wants it to happen, maybe based on vibes.
Tech guy sinks $250K into Seattle suburb’s council elections
Jeff Lyon's spending is extraordinary, especially in a city of less than 10,000 voters where the biggest news in recent years was the closure of a garden store.
www.seattletimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:47 PM
“I’m kind of in a different income bracket”
= a techie who has spent $250,000 on a council seat in a town with ~10,000 people, and drives a cyber truck.
Seems like he really just wants development in Woodinville to happen exactly how he wants it to happen, maybe based on vibes.
= a techie who has spent $250,000 on a council seat in a town with ~10,000 people, and drives a cyber truck.
Seems like he really just wants development in Woodinville to happen exactly how he wants it to happen, maybe based on vibes.
Reposted by Bethan
“Relying on chatbots isn’t fringe — it’s the predictable result of care made scarce, stigmatized, and costly. Recognizing that doesn’t mean uncritically embracing chatbot care, but it’s past time to name what’s happening: Privately owned chatbots are functioning as public health resources.”
‘AI psychosis’ discussions ignore a bigger problem with chatbots
Don’t frame chatbot failures as human “insanity.”
www.statnews.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“Relying on chatbots isn’t fringe — it’s the predictable result of care made scarce, stigmatized, and costly. Recognizing that doesn’t mean uncritically embracing chatbot care, but it’s past time to name what’s happening: Privately owned chatbots are functioning as public health resources.”
Reposted by Bethan
New in PN: The DOJ's "election monitoring" is really voter intimidation
"If Hispanic voters are no longer in the GOP fold after watching Trump’s ceaseless, country-wide violence against immigrants, the administration’s solution is to make sure they can’t cast a ballot."
"If Hispanic voters are no longer in the GOP fold after watching Trump’s ceaseless, country-wide violence against immigrants, the administration’s solution is to make sure they can’t cast a ballot."
The DOJ's "election monitoring" is really voter suppression
Trump's Big Lie has become government policy.
www.publicnotice.co
October 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
New in PN: The DOJ's "election monitoring" is really voter intimidation
"If Hispanic voters are no longer in the GOP fold after watching Trump’s ceaseless, country-wide violence against immigrants, the administration’s solution is to make sure they can’t cast a ballot."
"If Hispanic voters are no longer in the GOP fold after watching Trump’s ceaseless, country-wide violence against immigrants, the administration’s solution is to make sure they can’t cast a ballot."
Reposted by Bethan
Why not just cut to the chase and pull the plug on the networks entirely and send the reporters to go spit-polish boots at the white house
October 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Why not just cut to the chase and pull the plug on the networks entirely and send the reporters to go spit-polish boots at the white house
Overall, a great read on photo surveillance.
“One of the biggest dangers of facial recognition is not a corporation running an advanced camera with fancy sensors, it’s an angry Taylor Swift fan who doxes you using a regular picture of your face.”
from @404media.co
www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...
“One of the biggest dangers of facial recognition is not a corporation running an advanced camera with fancy sensors, it’s an angry Taylor Swift fan who doxes you using a regular picture of your face.”
from @404media.co
www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...
Zenni’s Anti-Facial Recognition Glasses are Eyewear for Our Paranoid Age
These anti-facial recognition glasses technically work, but won’t save you from our surveillance dystopia.
www.404media.co
October 27, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Overall, a great read on photo surveillance.
“One of the biggest dangers of facial recognition is not a corporation running an advanced camera with fancy sensors, it’s an angry Taylor Swift fan who doxes you using a regular picture of your face.”
from @404media.co
www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...
“One of the biggest dangers of facial recognition is not a corporation running an advanced camera with fancy sensors, it’s an angry Taylor Swift fan who doxes you using a regular picture of your face.”
from @404media.co
www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...
Why are American women leaving the labour force?
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. 🤷♀️
economist.com/finance-and-...
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. 🤷♀️
economist.com/finance-and-...
Why are American women leaving the labour force?
Maybe they are becoming tradwives. Or maybe there is a more straightforward explanation
economist.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Why are American women leaving the labour force?
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. 🤷♀️
economist.com/finance-and-...
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire. 🤷♀️
economist.com/finance-and-...
“Centrist” and “moderate” are different words for a reason, @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
Link to article: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Link to article: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
October 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
“Centrist” and “moderate” are different words for a reason, @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
Link to article: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Link to article: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
More @404media.co gold:
“If you are actually interested in the generative AI boom and you are not identifying porn as a core use for the technology, you are either not paying attention or intentionally pretending it’s not happening.”
The whole article is great. #AI
www.404media.co/openai-sam-a...
“If you are actually interested in the generative AI boom and you are not identifying porn as a core use for the technology, you are either not paying attention or intentionally pretending it’s not happening.”
The whole article is great. #AI
www.404media.co/openai-sam-a...
OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny
Just two months ago, Sam Altman acknowledged that putting a “sex bot avatar” in ChatGPT would be a move to “juice growth.” Something the company had been tempted to do, he said, but had resisted.
www.404media.co
October 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
More @404media.co gold:
“If you are actually interested in the generative AI boom and you are not identifying porn as a core use for the technology, you are either not paying attention or intentionally pretending it’s not happening.”
The whole article is great. #AI
www.404media.co/openai-sam-a...
“If you are actually interested in the generative AI boom and you are not identifying porn as a core use for the technology, you are either not paying attention or intentionally pretending it’s not happening.”
The whole article is great. #AI
www.404media.co/openai-sam-a...
'No Kings Day' protests in Seattle, WA and across U.S.: What to know
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Live: ‘No Kings Day’ protests in Seattle, WA and across U.S.: What to know
The second round of "No Kings Day" protests come amid a partial federal government shutdown and as Trump deploys, or threatens to deploy, National Guard troops to Democrat-led cities.
www.seattletimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:19 PM
'No Kings Day' protests in Seattle, WA and across U.S.: What to know
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
A lot of people who aren’t from the desert think of it as an empty space. It’s far from empty: it’s home to some of the most magical landscape and wildlife anywhere.
This ridiculous wall is causing harm to an area already stressed region.
#arizona @azluminaria.org
azluminaria.org/2025/10/07/a...
This ridiculous wall is causing harm to an area already stressed region.
#arizona @azluminaria.org
azluminaria.org/2025/10/07/a...
A jaguar, a wall, a sacred valley: What's at stake in San Rafael - AZ Luminaria
In late summer, a jaguar padded somewhere near the San Rafael Valley, a pristine grassland nestled between the Patagonia and Huachuca Mountains southeast of Tucson. Trail cameras monitored by Sky Isla...
azluminaria.org
October 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
A lot of people who aren’t from the desert think of it as an empty space. It’s far from empty: it’s home to some of the most magical landscape and wildlife anywhere.
This ridiculous wall is causing harm to an area already stressed region.
#arizona @azluminaria.org
azluminaria.org/2025/10/07/a...
This ridiculous wall is causing harm to an area already stressed region.
#arizona @azluminaria.org
azluminaria.org/2025/10/07/a...
Reposted by Bethan
Front page of Scottish newspaper The National today.
October 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Front page of Scottish newspaper The National today.
From @404media.co, a great write-up of a really unfortunate attempted use of AI - beer judging.
The development of a beer and how qualified beer nerds analyze & express the qualities that make it good or not are human activities.
AI doesn’t belong anywhere in there.
www.404media.co/what-happene...
The development of a beer and how qualified beer nerds analyze & express the qualities that make it good or not are human activities.
AI doesn’t belong anywhere in there.
www.404media.co/what-happene...
What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer
A prominent beer competition introduced an AI-judging tool without warning. The judges and some members of the wider brewing industry were pissed.
www.404media.co
October 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
From @404media.co, a great write-up of a really unfortunate attempted use of AI - beer judging.
The development of a beer and how qualified beer nerds analyze & express the qualities that make it good or not are human activities.
AI doesn’t belong anywhere in there.
www.404media.co/what-happene...
The development of a beer and how qualified beer nerds analyze & express the qualities that make it good or not are human activities.
AI doesn’t belong anywhere in there.
www.404media.co/what-happene...
ICEBlock is a well-designed, useful tool for ppl who care about their community. It doesn’t provide real-time stalking, it’s crowdsourced observation.
This is a disappointing action from #Apple & seems like an obvious, huge free speech issue.
Via @404media.co
www.404media.co/iceblock-own...
This is a disappointing action from #Apple & seems like an obvious, huge free speech issue.
Via @404media.co
www.404media.co/iceblock-own...
ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’
Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...
www.404media.co
October 3, 2025 at 1:27 PM
ICEBlock is a well-designed, useful tool for ppl who care about their community. It doesn’t provide real-time stalking, it’s crowdsourced observation.
This is a disappointing action from #Apple & seems like an obvious, huge free speech issue.
Via @404media.co
www.404media.co/iceblock-own...
This is a disappointing action from #Apple & seems like an obvious, huge free speech issue.
Via @404media.co
www.404media.co/iceblock-own...
Reposted by Bethan
If they had the capacity to do this, it would be really bad. And they probably will try to do a couple of high profile examples to make you think they *do* have the capacity. But like a lot of stuff, this is a memo designed to get you to voluntarily stop doing stuff they don’t like.
September 25, 2025 at 11:14 PM
If they had the capacity to do this, it would be really bad. And they probably will try to do a couple of high profile examples to make you think they *do* have the capacity. But like a lot of stuff, this is a memo designed to get you to voluntarily stop doing stuff they don’t like.
This editorial is a great example of why I subscribe to @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
What are we, each of us, going to do?
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...
What are we, each of us, going to do?
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...
There's a word for all this: Authoritarianism | Editorial
The United States has slipped into authoritarianism, leading to the essential question for those who feel uneasy or opposed: What are you going to do about it?
www.seattletimes.com
September 24, 2025 at 10:12 PM
This editorial is a great example of why I subscribe to @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social
What are we, each of us, going to do?
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...
What are we, each of us, going to do?
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...
Reposted by Bethan
📣 Don't miss the results of local elections today in Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia. Our guide explains everything you need to know about these races and we will be updating it as the results come in.
The Ten Elections to Watch This September - Bolts
Ten elections across ten states: Bolts guides you through the races you should be tracking this month, from two congressional seats to acrimonious local recalls.
boltsmag.org
September 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM
📣 Don't miss the results of local elections today in Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia. Our guide explains everything you need to know about these races and we will be updating it as the results come in.
Britain, Australia and Canada Recognize a Palestinian State www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/w...
Britain, Australia and Canada Recognize a Palestinian State
www.nytimes.com
September 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Britain, Australia and Canada Recognize a Palestinian State www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/w...
Reposted by Bethan
My DEFCON talk "We are currently clean on OPSEC" now has over 30k views on YouTube, so now more people watched my talk than attended DEFCON itself. If you haven't seen it, please do! The Trump admin's incompetence is mindbogglingly BONKERS www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYy...
"We are currently clean on OPSEC": The Signalgate Saga (DEFCON 33)
YouTube video by Micah Lee
www.youtube.com
August 19, 2025 at 6:24 PM
My DEFCON talk "We are currently clean on OPSEC" now has over 30k views on YouTube, so now more people watched my talk than attended DEFCON itself. If you haven't seen it, please do! The Trump admin's incompetence is mindbogglingly BONKERS www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYy...
Let’s not move too quickly past “antifa cell.”
Hi 👋🏻 my name is Bethan, and I’m a parent, a vet, & an antifascist.
Every living room in the country should be an active “antifa cell,” for the same set of reasons we’d be proud if our great grandma helped organize protests for women’s right to vote.
Hi 👋🏻 my name is Bethan, and I’m a parent, a vet, & an antifascist.
Every living room in the country should be an active “antifa cell,” for the same set of reasons we’d be proud if our great grandma helped organize protests for women’s right to vote.
Their rich fantasy life would be impressive if it weren’t so paranoid and dangerous
“This person then speculated about an antifa cell in, of all places, central Utah. Other sources suggested that a band of transgender militants plotted the attack. “
“This person then speculated about an antifa cell in, of all places, central Utah. Other sources suggested that a band of transgender militants plotted the attack. “
September 18, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Let’s not move too quickly past “antifa cell.”
Hi 👋🏻 my name is Bethan, and I’m a parent, a vet, & an antifascist.
Every living room in the country should be an active “antifa cell,” for the same set of reasons we’d be proud if our great grandma helped organize protests for women’s right to vote.
Hi 👋🏻 my name is Bethan, and I’m a parent, a vet, & an antifascist.
Every living room in the country should be an active “antifa cell,” for the same set of reasons we’d be proud if our great grandma helped organize protests for women’s right to vote.
