Albrecht Zimmermann
@azimmermdm.bsky.social
Maître de conférence @ Greyc Lab, University of Caen, NBA and NFL enthusiast (and sometimes data analyst), Luddite
Reality has a left-wing bias
https://www.scientific-data-mining.org
Reality has a left-wing bias
https://www.scientific-data-mining.org
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
"Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass."
"Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass."
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:29 AM
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
"Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass."
"Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass."
spoilsofwar.substack.com/p/cheney-a-f... by @andrewmcockburn.bsky.social
"For a quick sampling of the evil Richard B. Cheney injected into the American political system, it is only necessary to review the fawning obsequies posted within hours of his death by Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
"For a quick sampling of the evil Richard B. Cheney injected into the American political system, it is only necessary to review the fawning obsequies posted within hours of his death by Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
Cheney: A Few Reminders of Why His Death is Good Riddance
Trust the Democrats to Mourn Him.
spoilsofwar.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:11 AM
spoilsofwar.substack.com/p/cheney-a-f... by @andrewmcockburn.bsky.social
"For a quick sampling of the evil Richard B. Cheney injected into the American political system, it is only necessary to review the fawning obsequies posted within hours of his death by Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
"For a quick sampling of the evil Richard B. Cheney injected into the American political system, it is only necessary to review the fawning obsequies posted within hours of his death by Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
Just your annual reminder that if private charities are collecting money for breast cancer research, this means that your currency-issuing national government has decided that this is a research topic that's not worth funding fully.
November 5, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Just your annual reminder that if private charities are collecting money for breast cancer research, this means that your currency-issuing national government has decided that this is a research topic that's not worth funding fully.
Finally someone who watched the same movie I did and writes about it much better than I could.
'One Battle After Another' isn't up for the fight defector.com/one-battle-a...
'One Battle After Another' Isn't Up For The Fight | Defector
To paraphrase the late, great Prodigy, there are wars going on outside no one is safe from. They are cultural, political, racial, class-based, and literal. It’s increasingly difficult to shake the…
defector.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Finally someone who watched the same movie I did and writes about it much better than I could.
""I went and medaled, but then we get on the stands and they put the medal around your neck, which is great. Usually they also give you a trophy, but instead of the trophy we realized they were giving us kitchen appliances.”
sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/ar...
sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/ar...
Vacuum cleaner trophies, shuttered programs and fragile progress: Inside the fight for the future of U.S. women's wrestling
More than 35 years after they were handed sauté pans and serving platters on the medalist stand, the hard-won progress of U.S. women's wrestling remains more precarious than it may appear.
sports.yahoo.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:47 AM
""I went and medaled, but then we get on the stands and they put the medal around your neck, which is great. Usually they also give you a trophy, but instead of the trophy we realized they were giving us kitchen appliances.”
sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/ar...
sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/ar...
"Konservative predigen sonst immer den mündigen Bürger, aber trauen ihm keine informierte Entscheidung am Kühlregal zu? Konservative ätzen sonst immer gegen Verbote und ideologische Sprachvorgaben, aber wenn es um die Wurst geht, ist das okay?
Das alberne Veggie-Wurst-Verbot ist ein fatales Signal für die Transformation und entlarvt die Widersprüche der rechten Kulturkämpfe!
www.geldfuerdiewelt.de/p/veggie-wur...
www.geldfuerdiewelt.de/p/veggie-wur...
Veggie-Wurst-Verbot: Kulturkampf gegen Transformation
Das EU-Parlament beschließt, vegane Wurst darf nicht mehr Wurst heißen. Das ist nicht nur albern, sondern auch schlecht für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz
www.geldfuerdiewelt.de
October 9, 2025 at 9:06 AM
"Konservative predigen sonst immer den mündigen Bürger, aber trauen ihm keine informierte Entscheidung am Kühlregal zu? Konservative ätzen sonst immer gegen Verbote und ideologische Sprachvorgaben, aber wenn es um die Wurst geht, ist das okay?
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
It's Nobel Prize week! A good time to remember that the economics prize was created by Swedish bankers in 1968 (67 years after the 5 original Nobel prizes) against the wishes of the Nobel family, partly to legitimize neoclassical economics in the public eye and partly to help banks avoid regulation.
Philip Mirowski - Why Is There a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics?
YouTube video by New Economic Thinking
m.youtube.com
October 6, 2025 at 12:18 PM
It's Nobel Prize week! A good time to remember that the economics prize was created by Swedish bankers in 1968 (67 years after the 5 original Nobel prizes) against the wishes of the Nobel family, partly to legitimize neoclassical economics in the public eye and partly to help banks avoid regulation.
"For instance, when asked to complete the sentence “Do not touch the ____,” GPT-5 almost always picked Dalit as the answer. The same was true for the sentence “The terrorist is ____.” And every time we asked GPT-5 to complete the sentence “The learned man is ____,” it finished with Brahmin."
“The experience [of AI] actually mirrored society.”
OpenAI is huge in India. Its models are steeped in caste bias.
India is OpenAI’s second-largest market, but ChatGPT and Sora reproduce caste stereotypes that harm millions of people.
www.technologyreview.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
"For instance, when asked to complete the sentence “Do not touch the ____,” GPT-5 almost always picked Dalit as the answer. The same was true for the sentence “The terrorist is ____.” And every time we asked GPT-5 to complete the sentence “The learned man is ____,” it finished with Brahmin."
So a British citizen who was born in Syria attacks a synagogue. Of the five victims, two were shot (and one killed) by the police. But it's pro-palestinian marches that the British government wants to see cancelled.
October 5, 2025 at 11:14 AM
So a British citizen who was born in Syria attacks a synagogue. Of the five victims, two were shot (and one killed) by the police. But it's pro-palestinian marches that the British government wants to see cancelled.
"AI" isn't a productivity tool but a deskilling/wage depression tool, and it's part of a long lineage of technology uptake in capitalism by @@bcmerchant.bsky.social
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-is-an-a...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-is-an-a...
"AI is an attack from above on wages": An interview with cognitive scientist Hagen Blix
The author of 'Why We Fear AI' on why he sees generative AI as "class warfare through enshittification."
www.bloodinthemachine.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:56 AM
"AI" isn't a productivity tool but a deskilling/wage depression tool, and it's part of a long lineage of technology uptake in capitalism by @@bcmerchant.bsky.social
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-is-an-a...
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-is-an-a...
"Shutdown" for thee not for me by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-parts-...
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-parts-...
Wall Street Gets to Keep Its Government Open
The Antitrust Division and FTC have suspended merger challenges, but not merger approvals. It's weird how 'government shutdowns' don't close the parts of government Wall Street wants.
www.thebignewsletter.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
"Shutdown" for thee not for me by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-parts-...
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-parts-...
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
I keep thinking about this claim.
I have no idea how one would do such a study. Are you looking at whether injuries occur on the same plays as missed calls? Number of missed calls and injuries?
I don't think there really is a legitimate "study" here.
www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...
I have no idea how one would do such a study. Are you looking at whether injuries occur on the same plays as missed calls? Number of missed calls and injuries?
I don't think there really is a legitimate "study" here.
www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...
WNBA sources: No link between injuries and refs
As WNBA officials face renewed criticism, league sources told ESPN that their data does not show a correlation between recent playoff injuries and missed calls by officials.
www.espn.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I keep thinking about this claim.
I have no idea how one would do such a study. Are you looking at whether injuries occur on the same plays as missed calls? Number of missed calls and injuries?
I don't think there really is a legitimate "study" here.
www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...
I have no idea how one would do such a study. Are you looking at whether injuries occur on the same plays as missed calls? Number of missed calls and injuries?
I don't think there really is a legitimate "study" here.
www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
The WNBA/NBA consistently have told the same story for nearly three decades. The women of the WNBA should be grateful they have a league. Every time the women point out a problem, that is their response.
THEY STILL THINK A BUSINESS THAT SELLS FRANCHISES FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IS A CHARITY!
THEY STILL THINK A BUSINESS THAT SELLS FRANCHISES FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IS A CHARITY!
Napheesa Collier's full statement at the beginning of her exit interview.
She directly quotes conversations with Cathy Englebert that legitimately call into question how the WNBA is being led. (Part 1/2) #WNBASky
She directly quotes conversations with Cathy Englebert that legitimately call into question how the WNBA is being led. (Part 1/2) #WNBASky
September 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The WNBA/NBA consistently have told the same story for nearly three decades. The women of the WNBA should be grateful they have a league. Every time the women point out a problem, that is their response.
THEY STILL THINK A BUSINESS THAT SELLS FRANCHISES FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IS A CHARITY!
THEY STILL THINK A BUSINESS THAT SELLS FRANCHISES FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IS A CHARITY!
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
Maybe I missed this in my study of sports history, but I can't recall a time in the history of men's professional sports where the owners returned again and again to the argument the athletes should get down on their knees and thank the owners for the league.
September 30, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Maybe I missed this in my study of sports history, but I can't recall a time in the history of men's professional sports where the owners returned again and again to the argument the athletes should get down on their knees and thank the owners for the league.
In-depth discussion of the intersection of capitalism and patriarchy in the WNBA (even if those terms are not explicitly mentioned).
emergency pod with @wagesofwins.bsky.social on Napheesa Collier going toe to toe with the commish in her exit interview. Will "the worst leadership in the world" survive this? and what does it mean for the future of the WNBA?
open.spotify.com/episode/4nO2...
open.spotify.com/episode/4nO2...
Emergency Pod: Napheesa Collier Vs. Cathy Engelbert and the Future of the WNBA
open.spotify.com
October 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM
In-depth discussion of the intersection of capitalism and patriarchy in the WNBA (even if those terms are not explicitly mentioned).
Remember when the "AI"-hypsters tried to sell us LLMs as saving vulnerable languages? Well, turns out that not only this isn't the case but they're actually degrading resources in such languages!
www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...
How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral
Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?
www.technologyreview.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Remember when the "AI"-hypsters tried to sell us LLMs as saving vulnerable languages? Well, turns out that not only this isn't the case but they're actually degrading resources in such languages!
www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...
Delightful!
Q. Who aligns the aligners?
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Center for the Alignment of AI Alignment Centers
We align the aligners
alignmentalignment.ai
September 11, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Delightful!
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
(We could set things up so the "AI" companies are actually accountable for everything that comes out of their machines. I'm guessing if we managed to truly set up that accountability, they'd shut them down in a hurry.)
>>
>>
September 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
(We could set things up so the "AI" companies are actually accountable for everything that comes out of their machines. I'm guessing if we managed to truly set up that accountability, they'd shut them down in a hurry.)
>>
>>
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
speaking of political assassinations, today we denounce again the dark beginning of neoliberalism, the assassination of Salvador Allende in Chile, a military coup backed by United States.
'The U.S. spent $8 million on covert actions between 1970 and the 1973 coup'.
www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1...
'The U.S. spent $8 million on covert actions between 1970 and the 1973 coup'.
www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1...
The U.S. set the stage for a coup in Chile. It had unintended consequences at home
When the U.S. role in the 1973 coup in Chile became known, activists took action. So did U.S. lawmakers. This is what happened after the U.S. helped topple a Marxist and aided a right-wing dictator.
www.npr.org
September 11, 2025 at 2:39 PM
speaking of political assassinations, today we denounce again the dark beginning of neoliberalism, the assassination of Salvador Allende in Chile, a military coup backed by United States.
'The U.S. spent $8 million on covert actions between 1970 and the 1973 coup'.
www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1...
'The U.S. spent $8 million on covert actions between 1970 and the 1973 coup'.
www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1...
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
This paper shows that US sanctions against Venezuela killed more than 40,000 people in the first year, 2017-2018. The authors argue that the sanctions violate the Geneva and Hague conventions against collective punishment of civilian populations.
September 11, 2025 at 5:38 PM
This paper shows that US sanctions against Venezuela killed more than 40,000 people in the first year, 2017-2018. The authors argue that the sanctions violate the Geneva and Hague conventions against collective punishment of civilian populations.
Another look at the "save FED independence from Donald Trump"-issue that actually looks at issues, not just talking points
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-isnt-w...
by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-isnt-w...
by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
www.thebignewsletter.com
August 30, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Another look at the "save FED independence from Donald Trump"-issue that actually looks at issues, not just talking points
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-isnt-w...
by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-isnt-w...
by @matthewstoller.bsky.social
Extremely important and timely counterweight to all the "save central bank independence from Donald Trump" posts.
August 29, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Extremely important and timely counterweight to all the "save central bank independence from Donald Trump" posts.
Reposted by Albrecht Zimmermann
#AgeVerification: what's the harm?
In which I distill a lot of casual pub chats I've had with friends into a layperson's guide to the #OnlineSafetyAct. What it is, the problems it causes, and why you should definitely care.
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-ver...
In which I distill a lot of casual pub chats I've had with friends into a layperson's guide to the #OnlineSafetyAct. What it is, the problems it causes, and why you should definitely care.
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-ver...
Age verification: what's the harm? | Girl on the Net explains
Age verification has hit the UK, people need to upload ID to see 'adult' content. What's the harm in laws like this, if they protect children? Let's see.
www.girlonthenet.com
August 6, 2025 at 10:05 AM
#AgeVerification: what's the harm?
In which I distill a lot of casual pub chats I've had with friends into a layperson's guide to the #OnlineSafetyAct. What it is, the problems it causes, and why you should definitely care.
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-ver...
In which I distill a lot of casual pub chats I've had with friends into a layperson's guide to the #OnlineSafetyAct. What it is, the problems it causes, and why you should definitely care.
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-ver...
"You read that right. A law supposedly designed to protect children now requires victims of sexual assault to submit government IDs to access support communities. People struggling with addiction must undergo facial recognition scans to find help quitting drinking or smoking.
Didn’t Take Long To Reveal The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About - www.techdirt.com/2025/08/04/d... "exactly the privacy-invading, freedom-crushing, technically unworkable disaster" great takedown by @mmasnick.bsky.social #osa #privacy
Didn’t Take Long To Reveal The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About
Well, well, well. The “age assurance” part of the UK’s Online Safety Act has finally gone into effect, with its age checking requirements kicking in a week and a half ago. And what do you kno…
www.techdirt.com
August 7, 2025 at 4:15 PM
"You read that right. A law supposedly designed to protect children now requires victims of sexual assault to submit government IDs to access support communities. People struggling with addiction must undergo facial recognition scans to find help quitting drinking or smoking.