Tackman Babcock
@tackmanbabcock.bsky.social
Recovering from blinders of STEM, neoliberalism & fundamentalism. Enjoy film, sci-fi, literary nonfiction, feminism, philosophy, cats. Wish: dismantle reactionary targeting of trans people, Māori, Muslims, Jewish people, etc.
Tangata Tiriti, NZ
Tangata Tiriti, NZ
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
I think we're going to see a lot more people turning to ChatGPT for answers it doesn't have and for compassion that it's faking...and I think AI companies are both exploiting and banking on that.
I'm literally just living a normal life while also experiencing a theophany via communication with the satellite called VALIS.
November 25, 2025 at 7:28 AM
I think we're going to see a lot more people turning to ChatGPT for answers it doesn't have and for compassion that it's faking...and I think AI companies are both exploiting and banking on that.
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
somehow i don't think president harris would be launching an explicit war for oil
Rep. Salazar on Venezuela: "We're about to go in ... we need to go in ... Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day"
November 24, 2025 at 9:55 PM
somehow i don't think president harris would be launching an explicit war for oil
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A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
November 25, 2025 at 1:09 AM
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
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I just remembered the first time I heard of Pete Hegseth www.bbc.com/news/world-u...
Fox host says he 'hasn't washed hands in 10 years'
Harvard and Princeton graduate Pete Hegseth says germs don't exist because he can't see them.
www.bbc.com
March 26, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I just remembered the first time I heard of Pete Hegseth www.bbc.com/news/world-u...
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JD Vance and Peter Thiel are running a sustained operation out of the White House designed to acquire Greenland, either voluntarily or by force. Thiel has laid out plans for what he intends to do with the island nation in past writings. It doesn't entail the consent of the Greenlanders for anything.
November 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
JD Vance and Peter Thiel are running a sustained operation out of the White House designed to acquire Greenland, either voluntarily or by force. Thiel has laid out plans for what he intends to do with the island nation in past writings. It doesn't entail the consent of the Greenlanders for anything.
Serious Person Candace Owens announces she's got inside info that she's about to get whacked by the Gendarmerie (heh) using their purported secret weapon (..a Jewish member??) .
You Know Who must be leaving bananaskins on the sidewalk near her even as I write this.
You Know Who must be leaving bananaskins on the sidewalk near her even as I write this.
A friend has alerted me to this pressing and very real international incident involving the very sane Candace Owens.
November 24, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Serious Person Candace Owens announces she's got inside info that she's about to get whacked by the Gendarmerie (heh) using their purported secret weapon (..a Jewish member??) .
You Know Who must be leaving bananaskins on the sidewalk near her even as I write this.
You Know Who must be leaving bananaskins on the sidewalk near her even as I write this.
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It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
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Huh. I wonder which Canadian billionaire it will turn out to be.
November 23, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Huh. I wonder which Canadian billionaire it will turn out to be.
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Please hear me when I say that
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Please hear me when I say that
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
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It's nice when anti-vaxxers lose, even though it took its toll.
NEW: I spoke with David Vickrey, the Daily Kos blogger Robert Kennedy Jr. spent the last five years pursuing in court with a dead-end, costly defamation lawsuit.
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Here’s what he had to say:
www.importantcontext.news/p/robert-ken...
Robert Kennedy Jr. ‘Absolutely Tried to Silence’ Me: Blogger Sued by HHS Secretary Speaks Out
David Vickrey spoke with Important Context about the legal battle that consumed the last five years of his life.
www.importantcontext.news
November 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
It's nice when anti-vaxxers lose, even though it took its toll.
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US operations against Venezuela to begin within days.
Covert ops the first move.
Covert ops the first move.
www.reuters.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:39 PM
US operations against Venezuela to begin within days.
Covert ops the first move.
Covert ops the first move.
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'When governments override established clinical practice without evidence and when minority groups become targets of restrictive medical policy, it sets a precedent that should concern everyone.'
- Jaimie Veale, NZ transgender health academic
- Jaimie Veale, NZ transgender health academic
Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent
Analysis: The government's ban on puberty blockers for gender-affirming care prioritises politics and ideology over decades of expert clinical guidance and patient safety evidence.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM
'When governments override established clinical practice without evidence and when minority groups become targets of restrictive medical policy, it sets a precedent that should concern everyone.'
- Jaimie Veale, NZ transgender health academic
- Jaimie Veale, NZ transgender health academic
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since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google denies ‘misleading’ reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
Google says “we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
www.theverge.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
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Anyone would think we’re talking about 1000s of children being prevented from going through puberty forever with the use of puberty blockers.
Puberty blockers were prescribed to 113 people in 2023.
Come on now. Let doctors and other medical professionals do their damned job.
Puberty blockers were prescribed to 113 people in 2023.
Come on now. Let doctors and other medical professionals do their damned job.
November 22, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Anyone would think we’re talking about 1000s of children being prevented from going through puberty forever with the use of puberty blockers.
Puberty blockers were prescribed to 113 people in 2023.
Come on now. Let doctors and other medical professionals do their damned job.
Puberty blockers were prescribed to 113 people in 2023.
Come on now. Let doctors and other medical professionals do their damned job.
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this is how I found out
Excited for it just to mean Magic the Gathering again. A return to basics
November 22, 2025 at 2:56 AM
this is how I found out
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Pope Leo of Oonst
November 22, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Pope Leo of Oonst
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you'd think the forced displacement of 10 million people from one of the oldest centres of civilisation in human history would get a little more news attention than beltway journalists writing essays on how Olivia Nuzzi is a genius because they want to bone her and you'd be wrong
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
you'd think the forced displacement of 10 million people from one of the oldest centres of civilisation in human history would get a little more news attention than beltway journalists writing essays on how Olivia Nuzzi is a genius because they want to bone her and you'd be wrong
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i’m sure someone else has already put this together but fucking wild he called for members of congress to be hanged the same day the coast guard said a noose is no longer a hate symbol
November 21, 2025 at 5:43 AM
i’m sure someone else has already put this together but fucking wild he called for members of congress to be hanged the same day the coast guard said a noose is no longer a hate symbol
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
“Given the scale of Epstein’s trafficking operation, it’s clear that many more powerful people were involved. My staff have seen a paper trail with their own eyes. Banks that helped enable him should be investigated." trib.al/fDV5onk
Top Dem Reveals How JPMorgan Chase Helped Epstein Hide His Crimes
Senator Ron Wyden accused the bank of obstructing law enforcement from examining the financial infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network.
trib.al
November 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
“Given the scale of Epstein’s trafficking operation, it’s clear that many more powerful people were involved. My staff have seen a paper trail with their own eyes. Banks that helped enable him should be investigated." trib.al/fDV5onk
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Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
Okay I had to see for myself. This is... something alright.
November 20, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Okay I had to see for myself. This is... something alright.
Reposted by Tackman Babcock
Why did we take a mandatory unit on the Holocaust every year in Hebrew school if not to recognize this pattern
this defies parody. also helps explain why Sec Bessent bizarrely blamed immigrants when confronted with a question about high beef prices
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Why did we take a mandatory unit on the Holocaust every year in Hebrew school if not to recognize this pattern