Pinned
Davey
@historicaloracle.bsky.social
· Sep 29
As an old Cockney anarchist once said, "Nations are load of crap, innit"
Reposted by Davey
if you're interested in joining the "AI Skeptics Reading Group" and reading along, chatting, etc...
we meeting thursdays at 8p ET on jitsi (it's like zoom, but not connected to anyone's work email, no premium constraints, and no genAI). you can sign up for newsletter updates here (buttondown link):
we meeting thursdays at 8p ET on jitsi (it's like zoom, but not connected to anyone's work email, no premium constraints, and no genAI). you can sign up for newsletter updates here (buttondown link):
AI Skeptics Reading Group
A reading group for AI skeptics It's exactly what it sounds like!
buttondown.com
February 19, 2026 at 7:36 PM
if you're interested in joining the "AI Skeptics Reading Group" and reading along, chatting, etc...
we meeting thursdays at 8p ET on jitsi (it's like zoom, but not connected to anyone's work email, no premium constraints, and no genAI). you can sign up for newsletter updates here (buttondown link):
we meeting thursdays at 8p ET on jitsi (it's like zoom, but not connected to anyone's work email, no premium constraints, and no genAI). you can sign up for newsletter updates here (buttondown link):
This is definitely an interesting take but I pretty comprehensively disagree: LA's early development was more about agriculture, so fresh water mattered more than saltwater. I think the site the Spanish chose was just fine, near the river and not far from where it entered the flood plain.
Specifically: it was a huge mistake to build downtown LA so damn far from the ocean, but it was required by Spanish law.
February 19, 2026 at 10:23 PM
This is definitely an interesting take but I pretty comprehensively disagree: LA's early development was more about agriculture, so fresh water mattered more than saltwater. I think the site the Spanish chose was just fine, near the river and not far from where it entered the flood plain.
Reposted by Davey
Hey so Grammarly is now basically Search Party / Ring cameras for education, enabling large-scale surveillance of both users (students) and educators alike
February 18, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Hey so Grammarly is now basically Search Party / Ring cameras for education, enabling large-scale surveillance of both users (students) and educators alike
Reposted by Davey
The fight against the media is the area where personally I’ll advocate for every Dem no matter where they fall on the ideology spectrum. The mainstream media is the enemy of the people.
February 18, 2026 at 5:31 AM
The fight against the media is the area where personally I’ll advocate for every Dem no matter where they fall on the ideology spectrum. The mainstream media is the enemy of the people.
Reposted by Davey
OKAY BIG ONE FOR YA
NEW report out today: I dig deep into how big tech has been muddling tech types and overstating evidence to claim "AI" will make global emissions drop like a stone....
Not only will it not, it seems to be verifiably doing the opposite!!
ketanjoshi.co/2026/02/17/b... + 📼+🧵>
NEW report out today: I dig deep into how big tech has been muddling tech types and overstating evidence to claim "AI" will make global emissions drop like a stone....
Not only will it not, it seems to be verifiably doing the opposite!!
ketanjoshi.co/2026/02/17/b... + 📼+🧵>
February 17, 2026 at 6:48 AM
OKAY BIG ONE FOR YA
NEW report out today: I dig deep into how big tech has been muddling tech types and overstating evidence to claim "AI" will make global emissions drop like a stone....
Not only will it not, it seems to be verifiably doing the opposite!!
ketanjoshi.co/2026/02/17/b... + 📼+🧵>
NEW report out today: I dig deep into how big tech has been muddling tech types and overstating evidence to claim "AI" will make global emissions drop like a stone....
Not only will it not, it seems to be verifiably doing the opposite!!
ketanjoshi.co/2026/02/17/b... + 📼+🧵>
Just found a photo of my wife and I as Daria Morgendorfer and Trent Lane, c. 2011 (?), definitely one of our better Halloween costume sets
February 16, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Just found a photo of my wife and I as Daria Morgendorfer and Trent Lane, c. 2011 (?), definitely one of our better Halloween costume sets
Reposted by Davey
AI does not enhance “efficiency.” AI is a permission structure for a totalizing regime of austerity and labor immiseration.
“We plan to hire an AI rewrite specialist to ingest the reporting by Hannah and others and use AI to convert it into stories.”
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
February 16, 2026 at 2:20 PM
AI does not enhance “efficiency.” AI is a permission structure for a totalizing regime of austerity and labor immiseration.
This sounds brilliant. The Many-Headed Hydra was one of the first books I read as a PhD student and I loved it; it was one of those moments when I could feel myself learning, unlocking new ways of understanding
This was such a special interview to conduct: the first in two episodes with historian Peter Linebaugh on the long histories of commons and commoning, connections between enclosures in Europe and imperial conquest abroad, and writing history from below. www.thedigradio.com/podcast/the-...
The Commons w/ Peter Linebaugh
Featuring Peter Linebaugh on the long histories of commons and commoning, connections between enclosures in Europe and imperial conquest abroad, and writing history from below.
www.thedigradio.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:22 PM
This sounds brilliant. The Many-Headed Hydra was one of the first books I read as a PhD student and I loved it; it was one of those moments when I could feel myself learning, unlocking new ways of understanding
Reposted by Davey
Let me also repeat the basic truth that writing is thinking. The act of writing is thinking. When you start to write, you don't know what you really think until you finish writing it. THEN you know, because you did the writing and the thinking.
February 16, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Let me also repeat the basic truth that writing is thinking. The act of writing is thinking. When you start to write, you don't know what you really think until you finish writing it. THEN you know, because you did the writing and the thinking.
Reposted by Davey
"Unable to open the vehicle’s electronic doors, Tremblett, who survived the initial collision, died from catastrophic thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, the lawsuit said."
1/2
1/2
This is one of the most horrific 911 transcripts I’ve ever read. www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/c...
Easton mother sues Tesla after son dies trapped in burning car
In a haunting 911 call included in the lawsuit, Easton college student Samuel Tremblett begged dispatchers to rescue him from a burning Tesla.
www.enterprisenews.com
February 14, 2026 at 6:04 AM
"Unable to open the vehicle’s electronic doors, Tremblett, who survived the initial collision, died from catastrophic thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, the lawsuit said."
1/2
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I've spent the last week reading a lot about the history of space, and it's way wilder than I realized. For example: first people to put an object in space? The Nazis. First Earthlings to go to space and survive? Fruit flies. First Earthlings to orbit the moon? Soviet tortoises.
February 13, 2026 at 9:25 PM
I've spent the last week reading a lot about the history of space, and it's way wilder than I realized. For example: first people to put an object in space? The Nazis. First Earthlings to go to space and survive? Fruit flies. First Earthlings to orbit the moon? Soviet tortoises.
Reposted by Davey
Indeed. Though I will point out that this is yet another set of data points showing that all the vocational arguments against the humanities/liberal arts rest on vibes & not actual data.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
I wrote in Holding It Together that we should strive to live in "a world where we value care work on par with IT," but this wasn't the mechanism for getting there that I had in mind.
February 13, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Indeed. Though I will point out that this is yet another set of data points showing that all the vocational arguments against the humanities/liberal arts rest on vibes & not actual data.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
Reposted by Davey
This drawing of an approaching storm (around 1913) shows Paul Henry's consumate skill with charcoal, the location is likely to be the village of Dugort on the island of Achill on the west coast of Ireland.
February 12, 2026 at 10:10 PM
This drawing of an approaching storm (around 1913) shows Paul Henry's consumate skill with charcoal, the location is likely to be the village of Dugort on the island of Achill on the west coast of Ireland.
Ecologists arguing over what constitutes "biological invasion" versus "natural colonization"
From Wilson et al., "Biological invasions and natural colonisations are different – the need for invasion science", NeoBiota 31: 87–98 (2016).
From Wilson et al., "Biological invasions and natural colonisations are different – the need for invasion science", NeoBiota 31: 87–98 (2016).
February 11, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Ecologists arguing over what constitutes "biological invasion" versus "natural colonization"
From Wilson et al., "Biological invasions and natural colonisations are different – the need for invasion science", NeoBiota 31: 87–98 (2016).
From Wilson et al., "Biological invasions and natural colonisations are different – the need for invasion science", NeoBiota 31: 87–98 (2016).
Reposted by Davey
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
February 10, 2026 at 1:17 PM
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
Once again, David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs is essential to understanding AI's impact. It's not the only thing going on obviously but there's a hell of a lot of overlap between his arguments about bullshit work and what AI actually does
I think, unfortunately, the most common use case for AI at this point, particularly in the corporate world, is to generate more materials that nobody has the time to read, so we get those summarized by AI, etc. We’re just creating more stuff to do that previously time would’ve been a hard limit on.
replies on bluesky consistently talking about ai not working when the problem is that it works well enough that people end up working through their breaks and, in fact, doing a lot more work
i am probably working too much and i am posting all day long. these things used to be mutually contradictory
i am probably working too much and i am posting all day long. these things used to be mutually contradictory
February 10, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Once again, David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs is essential to understanding AI's impact. It's not the only thing going on obviously but there's a hell of a lot of overlap between his arguments about bullshit work and what AI actually does
Reposted by Davey
One day when I really want to burn it all down, I might write about the affect of this certain type of intellectual who engages with AI/LLMs/whatever like this. I’ve seen it up close and in person. They all have a empty eyed, hyper focused gaze — so far up their own asses they could shit a cough.
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
This Philosopher Is Teaching AI to Have Morals
The tech company has entrusted the philosopher to endow its chatbot with a sense of right and wrong.
www.wsj.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:05 PM
One day when I really want to burn it all down, I might write about the affect of this certain type of intellectual who engages with AI/LLMs/whatever like this. I’ve seen it up close and in person. They all have a empty eyed, hyper focused gaze — so far up their own asses they could shit a cough.
February 9, 2026 at 7:43 PM
I've been quiet on Bluesky lately, but I've been busy--I recently read Melanie Arndt's book Chernobyl Children and wrote a review of it, but I wanted to dig more deeply into one part of the book: How Chernobyl Ended the Soviet Union open.substack.com/pub/historic...
How Chernobyl Ended the Soviet Union
In her book Chernobyl Children, Melanie Arndt makes a compelling case for the end of the Soviet Union as an environmental-historical event.
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:39 PM
I've been quiet on Bluesky lately, but I've been busy--I recently read Melanie Arndt's book Chernobyl Children and wrote a review of it, but I wanted to dig more deeply into one part of the book: How Chernobyl Ended the Soviet Union open.substack.com/pub/historic...
Wild how scientists will come up with metrics like "The total number of IQ points lost to lead," which is apparently 824,097,690 as of 2015
February 7, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Wild how scientists will come up with metrics like "The total number of IQ points lost to lead," which is apparently 824,097,690 as of 2015
Reposted by Davey
Ds are demanding DHS stop "deporting US citizens," but deporting *US citizens* is not legal to begin with! So they're offering money to criminals if they...what, stop criming, I guess? It's basically 'hey stop robbing this bank and we'll give you a million bucks'. I swear I am going insane
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said House Democrats will demand a ban on the deportation of American citizens as a condition of winning their support for legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Jeffries demands ban on deportation of US citizens as part of DHS reforms
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said House Democrats will demand a ban on the deportation of American citizens as a condition of winning their support for legislation fun…
www.kget.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Ds are demanding DHS stop "deporting US citizens," but deporting *US citizens* is not legal to begin with! So they're offering money to criminals if they...what, stop criming, I guess? It's basically 'hey stop robbing this bank and we'll give you a million bucks'. I swear I am going insane
What an absolute clown show, from top to bottom. Fucking disgraceful
January 29, 2026 at 11:21 AM
What an absolute clown show, from top to bottom. Fucking disgraceful
Reposted by Davey
It is endlessly frustrating that this needs to be said, but to believe this is to believe that cold blooded mass murder of civilians is acceptable in Gaza, but not in Minneapolis. A politics that is imaginatively stunted and racially circumscribed.
January 26, 2026 at 9:06 AM
It is endlessly frustrating that this needs to be said, but to believe this is to believe that cold blooded mass murder of civilians is acceptable in Gaza, but not in Minneapolis. A politics that is imaginatively stunted and racially circumscribed.
I'm sure there are more empirically grounded explanations, but the way it looks to me is that AI is only useful for bullshit work, and Britain really has a LOT of bullshit jobs
January 26, 2026 at 9:29 AM
I'm sure there are more empirically grounded explanations, but the way it looks to me is that AI is only useful for bullshit work, and Britain really has a LOT of bullshit jobs
Reposted by Davey
All the "iraq war mea culpas" were like this. Ooohh your intellectual journey is soooo fascinating. Did you need 10,000 words to write about how you got it wrong because the left can never be right???? Should we clap for your big brain??????
what is the point of this type of article construction? “i refused to see the truth but recently i did and i needed to write about it”? nobody wants this
January 26, 2026 at 7:08 AM
All the "iraq war mea culpas" were like this. Ooohh your intellectual journey is soooo fascinating. Did you need 10,000 words to write about how you got it wrong because the left can never be right???? Should we clap for your big brain??????