Ken Burnside
@kenburnside.bsky.social
Game designer @adastragames.com, writer, monkey servant of Theoden Cat, discusser of certain varieties of politics.
Pinned
Ken Burnside
@kenburnside.bsky.social
· Sep 19
@diane.dianeduane.com @robtomshany.bsky.social @owlinautumn.bsky.social @cobrabay.bsky.social @technomuse.bsky.social @spicedrum.bsky.social @doctorscience.bsky.social
Tagging you in for Recounting of the Arizona Minutemen Militia Girl Scout Cookie Burglary.
You may now prepare popcorn.
Tagging you in for Recounting of the Arizona Minutemen Militia Girl Scout Cookie Burglary.
You may now prepare popcorn.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
I know people wanna write off what Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are saying, but these protests must be the most peaceful protest that have ever existed.
There can’t be even a whiff of violence or destruction or not following the Minnesota law in any way shape or form.
1/2
There can’t be even a whiff of violence or destruction or not following the Minnesota law in any way shape or form.
1/2
January 7, 2026 at 9:08 PM
I know people wanna write off what Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are saying, but these protests must be the most peaceful protest that have ever existed.
There can’t be even a whiff of violence or destruction or not following the Minnesota law in any way shape or form.
1/2
There can’t be even a whiff of violence or destruction or not following the Minnesota law in any way shape or form.
1/2
Imagine if this were plastered on the side of a bus somewhere...
"In a Europe hungry for positive news, seeing the UK back in the Customs Union would greatly boost business confidence."
#EU
#Economy
#Trade
#FreedomOfMovement
#Scotland
#EU
#Economy
#Trade
#FreedomOfMovement
#Scotland
Boosting UK trade in one simple step
Rejoining the European Customs Union would boost UK public finances by £25bn, say Westminster LibDems
bylines.scot
January 7, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Imagine if this were plastered on the side of a bus somewhere...
Reposted by Ken Burnside
In a likely deadly move, the Israeli government told 37 foreign aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, they could no longer operate in Palestine. Where is the outrage?
Read the latest from @dianabuttu.bsky.social zeteo.com/p/israel-aid...
Read the latest from @dianabuttu.bsky.social zeteo.com/p/israel-aid...
Israel Is Banning the 'Last Foreign Witnesses' to Its Genocide in Gaza
In a likely deadly move, the Israeli government told 37 foreign aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, they could no longer operate in Palestine. Where is the outrage?
zeteo.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:19 PM
In a likely deadly move, the Israeli government told 37 foreign aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, they could no longer operate in Palestine. Where is the outrage?
Read the latest from @dianabuttu.bsky.social zeteo.com/p/israel-aid...
Read the latest from @dianabuttu.bsky.social zeteo.com/p/israel-aid...
Reposted by Ken Burnside
NEWS: In a heartbreaking video, after ICE shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, a woman who was in the same SUV cries out: “They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do."
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting
“They killed my wife,” the distraught woman says, adding, “They shot her in the head.”
www.advocate.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:55 PM
NEWS: In a heartbreaking video, after ICE shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, a woman who was in the same SUV cries out: “They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do."
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
“We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the distraught woman sobs.
www.advocate.com/news/minneso...
Reposted by Ken Burnside
reminder that the concept of "bear witness" as in "gotta watch all the bad videos yourself" is a goofy byproduct of the video age, and would be absolutely inscrutable to most people before like the 20th century
January 7, 2026 at 7:10 PM
reminder that the concept of "bear witness" as in "gotta watch all the bad videos yourself" is a goofy byproduct of the video age, and would be absolutely inscrutable to most people before like the 20th century
This is a crop of a larger (and bloodier photo):
minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...
(Preview omitted because of the blood)
I advise against triggering the fragile ICE agents by taking stuffed animals to neighborhood interventions.
They might shoot in fear for their lives.
minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...
(Preview omitted because of the blood)
I advise against triggering the fragile ICE agents by taking stuffed animals to neighborhood interventions.
They might shoot in fear for their lives.
The murdered woman's glove compartment is filled with stuffed animals.
January 7, 2026 at 8:56 PM
This is a crop of a larger (and bloodier photo):
minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...
(Preview omitted because of the blood)
I advise against triggering the fragile ICE agents by taking stuffed animals to neighborhood interventions.
They might shoot in fear for their lives.
minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/i...
(Preview omitted because of the blood)
I advise against triggering the fragile ICE agents by taking stuffed animals to neighborhood interventions.
They might shoot in fear for their lives.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
In the wake of permanent bans please remember that Link was banned because he embarrassed the CEO of Bluesky while Black; this was his entire crime. They justified it after the fact with hyper flimsy bullshit and spend a lot of time calling his friends dorks and losers to this day.
January 5, 2026 at 9:57 PM
In the wake of permanent bans please remember that Link was banned because he embarrassed the CEO of Bluesky while Black; this was his entire crime. They justified it after the fact with hyper flimsy bullshit and spend a lot of time calling his friends dorks and losers to this day.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
On Telegram, a community of thousands are working around the clock to make Grok produce far worse. They share Grok-generated videos of real women taking their clothes off and graphic nonconsensual videos of any kind of sexual act these users can imagine and slip by Grok’s guardrails.
Inside the Telegram Channel Jailbreaking Grok Over and Over Again
Putting people in bikinis is just the tip of the iceberg. On Telegram, users are finding ways to make Grok do far worse.
www.404media.co
January 7, 2026 at 8:44 PM
On Telegram, a community of thousands are working around the clock to make Grok produce far worse. They share Grok-generated videos of real women taking their clothes off and graphic nonconsensual videos of any kind of sexual act these users can imagine and slip by Grok’s guardrails.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
X is producing deepfakes at a rate 84x higher than the top 5 dedicated deepfake sites combined, according to an analysis. Victims say there's no recourse. Their images are still up despite reports to X, and those who speak out become targets. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
January 7, 2026 at 2:33 PM
X is producing deepfakes at a rate 84x higher than the top 5 dedicated deepfake sites combined, according to an analysis. Victims say there's no recourse. Their images are still up despite reports to X, and those who speak out become targets. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Ken Burnside
They made a massive fucking mistake today.
The murdered woman's glove compartment is filled with stuffed animals.
January 7, 2026 at 8:30 PM
They made a massive fucking mistake today.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
Surprise.
After a white county in South Carolina rejected a data center, developers have sets their sights on a Black community for a proposed data center complex the size of 1,200 football fields
After a White Town Rejected a Data Center, Developers Targeted a Black Area
Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are “overwhelmingly” non-white.
capitalbnews.org
January 7, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Surprise.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
I just came from the Venezuela briefing; can confirm this insane plan to indefinitely take Venezuela's oil at gun point and use it as leverage to micromanage the country.
We're back in the nation building business. And we're going to make oil guys rich. Also, it won't work.
We're back in the nation building business. And we're going to make oil guys rich. Also, it won't work.
January 7, 2026 at 7:33 PM
I just came from the Venezuela briefing; can confirm this insane plan to indefinitely take Venezuela's oil at gun point and use it as leverage to micromanage the country.
We're back in the nation building business. And we're going to make oil guys rich. Also, it won't work.
We're back in the nation building business. And we're going to make oil guys rich. Also, it won't work.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
Hey look, it's more "cognitive amplification."
LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.
unlike this study which actually does establish a causal relationship between using LLMs and cognitive decline arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872
January 7, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Hey look, it's more "cognitive amplification."
Reposted by Ken Burnside
A simple thing you can do for the trans people in your life in this time of huge hostility for us simply existing in public is to make sure you book venues where we can actually use the bathroom
Oh cool, the workshop venue doesn't have a gender-neutral or single-occupancy bathroom of any sort, guess I'm not drinking much coffee today 🙃
January 7, 2026 at 8:08 PM
A simple thing you can do for the trans people in your life in this time of huge hostility for us simply existing in public is to make sure you book venues where we can actually use the bathroom
Reposted by Ken Burnside
I'm sickened and heartbroken by ICE shooting an unarmed woman in the head in Minneapolis. We can never accept this violence as normal or accept anything short of justice for these victims. We will continue to show up — together — to protect each other.
January 7, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I'm sickened and heartbroken by ICE shooting an unarmed woman in the head in Minneapolis. We can never accept this violence as normal or accept anything short of justice for these victims. We will continue to show up — together — to protect each other.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
important message to all bluesky users
January 7, 2026 at 7:53 PM
important message to all bluesky users
Reposted by Ken Burnside
I appreciate the @glaad.bsky.social nomination for this story, which is part of my larger series on detransition
Detransition is rare, but it’s driving anti-trans policy anyway
Many people who detransition are still gender non-conforming — and their experiences are more complex than gender-affirming care bans suggest.
19thnews.org
January 7, 2026 at 5:47 PM
I appreciate the @glaad.bsky.social nomination for this story, which is part of my larger series on detransition
Reposted by Ken Burnside
Inuit activist and attorney Aaju Peter says Indigenous Greenlanders want independence, not U.S. annexation.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/7/greenland_trump
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/7/greenland_trump
January 7, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Inuit activist and attorney Aaju Peter says Indigenous Greenlanders want independence, not U.S. annexation.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/7/greenland_trump
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/7/greenland_trump
Reposted by Ken Burnside
My very smart colleagues are doing excellent coverage of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis today. I would urge you to follow along with local sources familiar with the area and the residents here.
Live: Mayor Frey blasts ICE in fiery response to fatal shooting
The mayor called for calm after a fatal shooting by an immigration agent in south Minneapolis. ICE said the agent acted defensively.
www.startribune.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:06 PM
My very smart colleagues are doing excellent coverage of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis today. I would urge you to follow along with local sources familiar with the area and the residents here.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
Law enforcement officers CANNOT use deadly force against a fleeing person fleeing unless they have a reasonable belief that the individual poses a danger to others (e.g., they know the person is armed). If in vehicle, the person must be threatening to use deadly force with the vehicle or other means
January 7, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Law enforcement officers CANNOT use deadly force against a fleeing person fleeing unless they have a reasonable belief that the individual poses a danger to others (e.g., they know the person is armed). If in vehicle, the person must be threatening to use deadly force with the vehicle or other means
Reposted by Ken Burnside
The purpose of pushing impeachment articles through the House, via a fucking discharge petition if necessary, is to make Trump have to spend resources defending himself in the Senate.
And if new impeachment articles come through every two weeks, you force the motherfucker on defense.
And if new impeachment articles come through every two weeks, you force the motherfucker on defense.
IMO the argument is that you can make things into big enough deals that it matters. Khanna found Massey and found survivors and made the Epstein Files the gigantic story it should be. Only then did establishment Dems come along. You can, in fact, make things into big hairy deals if you do it right.
if you want the Senate to do something, Senate Republicans must do something.
People are dunking on this but I'm not really sure what plays Schumer has other than to try to peel off Rs.
People are dunking on this but I'm not really sure what plays Schumer has other than to try to peel off Rs.
January 6, 2026 at 2:06 AM
The purpose of pushing impeachment articles through the House, via a fucking discharge petition if necessary, is to make Trump have to spend resources defending himself in the Senate.
And if new impeachment articles come through every two weeks, you force the motherfucker on defense.
And if new impeachment articles come through every two weeks, you force the motherfucker on defense.
Reposted by Ken Burnside
A decade ago, a Judge had to ORDER Customs and Border Patrol to stop putting themselves in the way of fleeing vehicles to create a "justification" for shooting people.
A fucking DECADE ago.
ICE thinks they can just murder us all if need be.
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/new-dir...
A fucking DECADE ago.
ICE thinks they can just murder us all if need be.
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/new-dir...
January 7, 2026 at 7:00 PM
A decade ago, a Judge had to ORDER Customs and Border Patrol to stop putting themselves in the way of fleeing vehicles to create a "justification" for shooting people.
A fucking DECADE ago.
ICE thinks they can just murder us all if need be.
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/new-dir...
A fucking DECADE ago.
ICE thinks they can just murder us all if need be.
www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/new-dir...
Reposted by Ken Burnside
Deploying emergency kitten videos
Sound on
Sound on
January 7, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Deploying emergency kitten videos
Sound on
Sound on
Reposted by Ken Burnside
ICE policy requires the use of bodyworn cameras. Video should be available from every agent who was involved in the death of a citizen in Minneapolis. ICE should release all of that video so the public can have clarity about the Secy's claim the shooting was self defense. www.ice.gov/news/release...
Archived: ICE announces updated policy for body-worn cameras
The policy calls for the use of BWCs in all aspects of ICE enforcement activities conducted by ICE personnel in furtherance of the ICE mission, excluding certain investigative activities. ICE is worki...
www.ice.gov
January 7, 2026 at 7:19 PM
ICE policy requires the use of bodyworn cameras. Video should be available from every agent who was involved in the death of a citizen in Minneapolis. ICE should release all of that video so the public can have clarity about the Secy's claim the shooting was self defense. www.ice.gov/news/release...