Eric Grier
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Eric Grier
@billslam.bsky.social
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Reposted by Eric Grier
gregsargent.bsky.social
This is fascinating: On the pod, @kedseconomist.com cites the example of a US manufacturer of board games to explain what's wrong with Trump's tariffs and why unleashing so much pain and turmoil to restore manufacturing is an incoherent goal.

Transcript here:

newrepublic.com/article/1937...
April 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Eric Grier
iwriteok.bsky.social
tabletop gaming is going to be one of the first industries to just get nukes as a result of these idiotic tariffs
mightygodking.com Christopher Bird @mightygodking.com · Apr 3
Steve Jackson Games posted this to their blog and the post is getting so many hits their site is effectively crashed but the point is worth repeating
" On April 5th, a 54% tariff goes into effect on a wide range of goods imported from China. For those of us who create boardgames, this is not just a policy change. It's a seismic shift. At Steve Jackson Games, we are actively assessing what this means for our products, our pricing, and our future plans. We do know that we can't absorb this kind of cost increase without raising prices. We've done our best over the past few years to shield players and retailers from the full brunt of rising freight costs and other increases, but this new tax changes the equation entirely. Here are the numbers: A product we might have manufactured in China for $3.00 last year could now cost $4.62 before we even ship it across the ocean. Add freight, warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution margins, and that once-$25 game quickly becomes a $40 product. That's not a luxury upcharge; it's survival math. Some people ask, "Why not manufacture in the U.S.?" I wish we could. But the infrastructure to support full-scale boardgame production – specialty dice making, die-cutting, custom plastic and wood components – doesn't meaningfully exist here yet. I've gotten quotes. I've talked to factories. Even when the willingness is there, the equipment, labor, and timelines simply aren't."
April 4, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Eric Grier
johngreensbluesky.bsky.social
Hearing from Community Partners International, which works from Myanmar to Bangladesh, that USAID cuts mean 14,000 people with HIV losing access to lifesaving meds and a total stop in all HIV and TB screening. So many people will die due to these chaotic, sudden, horrifically implemented cuts.
February 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Eric Grier
abeba.bsky.social
I was in Paris last week for the #AIActionSummit & was honoured to participate in the “AI in public interest” panel.

👇🏾 my thoughts & reflections on what AI in public interest is/isn’t & some concrete steps/initiatives for `bending the arc of AI towards the public interest' aial.ie/pages/aiparis/
Bending the arc of AI towards the public interest
By Abeba Birhane, 18/02/2025 Following the first in Bletchley Park in 2023 and the second in Seoul in 2024, the third AI Action Summit took place in February 2025 in Paris. In the context of previous ...
aial.ie
February 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Eric Grier
abeba.bsky.social
those that evangelize genAI as a "powerful tool" for their little tasks without consideration of its disastrous impact on the information/knowledge ecology are shortsighted, to say the least
davidrvetter.bsky.social Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Feb 21
The rise of gen AI, backed at every level by the far-right, suggests the arrival of an _anti-information_ age. AI offers a self-reinforcing bullshit loop that, much like a Russian disinfo operation, serves to muddy the information space and create doubt about the very nature of reality.
davidrvetter.bsky.social Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Feb 21
Elon Musk's AI platform has been retrained to generate a "both sides" response to whether climate change is a threat. One is the view of science, while the other is fossil fuel industry waffle.
February 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Eric Grier
itsafronomics.bsky.social
Happy Black History Month. Listen to, support, fund, and uplift Black people. #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth

Black journos: go.bsky.app/QvS5FNb

Black scientists: go.bsky.app/Ao3Qt9a

Black academics: go.bsky.app/RyKSzcb

Black democracy experts: go.bsky.app/6WTBzhX

Black in tech: go.bsky.app/2RAbS3g
February 1, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Eric Grier
npr.org
As a result of the new administration's actions, health centers funded by PEPFAR, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, are closing their doors and no longer dispersing medication.
Trump's 'stop-work' order for PEPFAR cuts off anti-HIV drugs for patients
As a result of the new administration's actions, health centers funded by PEPFAR, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, are closing their doors and no longer dispersing medication.
www.npr.org
January 28, 2025 at 11:51 PM