Ian Ramjohn
@iramjohn.bsky.social
Wikipedia expert at @wikieducation.bsky.social.
Plant ecology Ph.D. 🇹🇹Trinbagonian in exile
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2910-0526 (if you want to verify my account's authenticity)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2910-0526 (if you want to verify my account's authenticity)
Pinned
Ian Ramjohn
@iramjohn.bsky.social
· Feb 19
Eulogy for my father, Ian Ramjohn (1931–2025)
YouTube video by Ian Ramjohn
youtu.be
I recorded this for my father's funeral today.
youtu.be/c6WWROsaCwY
youtu.be/c6WWROsaCwY
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
They frame it as a religious liberty case, but downplay this aspect:
"A suit against the prison employees is one of the few avenues Landor can pursue...because a 2011 Supreme Court ruling bars prisoners in cases like his from seeking damages from the state."
wapo.st/49btFk1 (Gift link)
"A suit against the prison employees is one of the few avenues Landor can pursue...because a 2011 Supreme Court ruling bars prisoners in cases like his from seeking damages from the state."
wapo.st/49btFk1 (Gift link)
A Rastafarian goes to the Supreme Court after a prison shaved his dreadlocks
The question is not whether Damon Landor was mistreated but whether he can sue the individual prison officials and guards for damages.
wapo.st
November 10, 2025 at 1:57 PM
They frame it as a religious liberty case, but downplay this aspect:
"A suit against the prison employees is one of the few avenues Landor can pursue...because a 2011 Supreme Court ruling bars prisoners in cases like his from seeking damages from the state."
wapo.st/49btFk1 (Gift link)
"A suit against the prison employees is one of the few avenues Landor can pursue...because a 2011 Supreme Court ruling bars prisoners in cases like his from seeking damages from the state."
wapo.st/49btFk1 (Gift link)
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
The CPL Final is in the middle of a snowstorm in Canada, true North American soccer heritage...how could it get any better?
HOW ABOUT A FREAKIN' BICYCLE KICK EQUALIZER!!!
HOW ABOUT A FREAKIN' BICYCLE KICK EQUALIZER!!!
November 9, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The CPL Final is in the middle of a snowstorm in Canada, true North American soccer heritage...how could it get any better?
HOW ABOUT A FREAKIN' BICYCLE KICK EQUALIZER!!!
HOW ABOUT A FREAKIN' BICYCLE KICK EQUALIZER!!!
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
The chair of the DNC praising "the majority of Senate Democrats".
As this vote moves to the House, I stand with Democratic leadership as they refuse to rubber stamp the full-scale Republican assault on Americans’ health care and I am proud of the majority of Senate Democrats who opposed this vote.
November 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
The chair of the DNC praising "the majority of Senate Democrats".
On one hand, there are the white supremacists who feel threatened by highlighting Black achievement - that their self-worth depends on believing Black people are lesser.
Then, apparently, there are the white supremacists whose self-worth is threatened by Black gravediggers.
Then, apparently, there are the white supremacists whose self-worth is threatened by Black gravediggers.
14/ Professor Kees Ribbens, senior researcher at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, says that the removal appears to be the result of a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which is currently the focus of controversy over anti-Semitism.
November 9, 2025 at 3:35 PM
On one hand, there are the white supremacists who feel threatened by highlighting Black achievement - that their self-worth depends on believing Black people are lesser.
Then, apparently, there are the white supremacists whose self-worth is threatened by Black gravediggers.
Then, apparently, there are the white supremacists whose self-worth is threatened by Black gravediggers.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
My grandmother’s cousin, August Richter, was one of the first people to have successful facial reconstruction done in Germany in WWI (according to family lore). And apparently spent the rest of the war as a demo, as the doctor who did it lectured about the technique.
November 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op de Amerikaanse begraafplaats in Margraten is het opeens stil geworden rond de zwarte Amerikanen die hielpen Nederland bevrijden. Twee panelen die hun bijdrage herdachten – én wezen op hun strijd tegen racisme binnen het leger – werden zonder toelichting verwijderd.
www.nrc.nl
November 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
There’s a young southern woman on tt doing an experiment: calling churches & asking if they can help her get baby formula, saying she can’t afford it. Of the 30+ she’s called, nearly every church has said no. The ones who said yes were:
Black Baptist Churches
A Mosque
A small Appalachian church
Black Baptist Churches
A Mosque
A small Appalachian church
November 8, 2025 at 11:07 AM
There’s a young southern woman on tt doing an experiment: calling churches & asking if they can help her get baby formula, saying she can’t afford it. Of the 30+ she’s called, nearly every church has said no. The ones who said yes were:
Black Baptist Churches
A Mosque
A small Appalachian church
Black Baptist Churches
A Mosque
A small Appalachian church
The Trump admin seems convinced that this is a winning issue for them
While it brings joy to their base of sociopaths, those folks are fully on board
Maybe they see Dems as eventually caving as children starve, and as bullies, they will see that as weakness, and will want to rub it in their faces
While it brings joy to their base of sociopaths, those folks are fully on board
Maybe they see Dems as eventually caving as children starve, and as bullies, they will see that as weakness, and will want to rub it in their faces
the stove touching will continue until <redacted>
get your food bank donations ready
get your food bank donations ready
The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments.
November 8, 2025 at 3:53 AM
The Trump admin seems convinced that this is a winning issue for them
While it brings joy to their base of sociopaths, those folks are fully on board
Maybe they see Dems as eventually caving as children starve, and as bullies, they will see that as weakness, and will want to rub it in their faces
While it brings joy to their base of sociopaths, those folks are fully on board
Maybe they see Dems as eventually caving as children starve, and as bullies, they will see that as weakness, and will want to rub it in their faces
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
this comes up over and over (most notably in Town of Castle Rock), the police don't owe you shit. they don't owe you protection and they sure as hell aren't going to stop a man planning to kill his family.
November 7, 2025 at 10:36 PM
this comes up over and over (most notably in Town of Castle Rock), the police don't owe you shit. they don't owe you protection and they sure as hell aren't going to stop a man planning to kill his family.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
Have we reached the "bots don't kill people. prompts do" stage of dystopia yet?
November 7, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Have we reached the "bots don't kill people. prompts do" stage of dystopia yet?
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
The design and layout of an ancient Maya site, built without compulsory labor, reflects how the Maya conceived of the universe.
Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4nANWTx
Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4nANWTx
Landscape-wide cosmogram built by the early community of Aguada Fénix in southeastern Mesoamerica
The cosmogram of Aguada Fénix built over the landscape between 1050 and 700 BCE rivaled the extents of later Mesoamerican cities.
scim.ag
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The design and layout of an ancient Maya site, built without compulsory labor, reflects how the Maya conceived of the universe.
Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4nANWTx
Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4nANWTx
How can this be real? How can people actually use LLMs as stand-ins for humans in research?
Is this real? Are people using LLMs as stand-ins for humans in social science studies? How on earth do they get these papers published? Could someone possibly be that ignorant?
LLMs are now widely used in social science as stand-ins for humans—assuming they can produce realistic, human-like text
But... can they? We don’t actually know.
In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test.
And our findings are striking:
LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵
But... can they? We don’t actually know.
In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test.
And our findings are striking:
LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵
November 7, 2025 at 5:33 PM
How can this be real? How can people actually use LLMs as stand-ins for humans in research?
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
If you work for ICE, you are endangering your immortal soul.
November 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM
If you work for ICE, you are endangering your immortal soul.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
Today is the anniversary of Adrian Mole writing his finest work. Political commentary at its best.
November 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Today is the anniversary of Adrian Mole writing his finest work. Political commentary at its best.
If life begins at conception, "human-level intelligence" isn't that high a barrier.
And pigs fly
“It is not going to be an event because the capabilities are going to expand progressively in various domains,”
in a plane, a helicopter, a rocket,...
www.ft.com/content/5f2f...
“It is not going to be an event because the capabilities are going to expand progressively in various domains,”
in a plane, a helicopter, a rocket,...
www.ft.com/content/5f2f...
AI pioneers claim human-level general intelligence is already here
Tech leaders say systems now rival human intelligence in key tasks, further fuelling the superintelligence debate
www.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
If life begins at conception, "human-level intelligence" isn't that high a barrier.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.
FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site
The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
A Border Patrol agent who shot a woman five times on Chicago’s Southwest Side later bragged about his shooting skills to friends:
“I’m up for another round of ‘f--- around and find out.’”
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
“I’m up for another round of ‘f--- around and find out.’”
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Border Patrol agent 'bragged' about shooting woman in Brighton Park, defense attorney says
Testimony from the agent who shot a woman multiple times in an immigration enforcement action revealed how he touted his marksmanship in leaving seven wounds despite firing five bullets. He later text...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:36 AM
A Border Patrol agent who shot a woman five times on Chicago’s Southwest Side later bragged about his shooting skills to friends:
“I’m up for another round of ‘f--- around and find out.’”
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
“I’m up for another round of ‘f--- around and find out.’”
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
"Roberts’s speechwriter, Evan Myers, suggested that Heritage’s attempts to address accusations of antisemitism would eventually mean he would be required to attend a Shabbat dinner, which he said would conflict with his faith."
Wow. Jesus, the disciples, the early Christians *all did this*.
Wow. Jesus, the disciples, the early Christians *all did this*.
another in a long series -- the rising professional class of the Republican Party is roughly 40 percent Nazis www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Heritage staff in open revolt over leader’s defense of Tucker Carlson
At least five members of Heritage’s antisemitism task force resigned after Roberts defended Carlson’s interview with antisemitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
"Roberts’s speechwriter, Evan Myers, suggested that Heritage’s attempts to address accusations of antisemitism would eventually mean he would be required to attend a Shabbat dinner, which he said would conflict with his faith."
Wow. Jesus, the disciples, the early Christians *all did this*.
Wow. Jesus, the disciples, the early Christians *all did this*.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
lol
November 6, 2025 at 4:47 AM
lol
Things like SNAP subsidise the absurdly low minimum wage. They shouldn't need to, but they do. You can't have starvation wages and cut food assistance like this.
"Having somebody who is hungry and worried about feeding their own children is an enormous amount of stress that will impact anybody’s ability to do their job well."
I spoke with @aijenpoo.bsky.social about the issues domestic workers face at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
I spoke with @aijenpoo.bsky.social about the issues domestic workers face at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Domestic workers count on SNAP. Trump's shutdown is hitting hard.
Cleaners, nannies, and home health aides work full-time—and still disproportionately rely on food stamps.
www.motherjones.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Things like SNAP subsidise the absurdly low minimum wage. They shouldn't need to, but they do. You can't have starvation wages and cut food assistance like this.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
Getting new details on this now:
As the arrest unfolded, teachers pleaded with the agents telling them the teacher had a work permit. The agents went into multiple rooms looking for teachers while children were present. One teacher hid with a child in her care while the agents stormed the facility.
As the arrest unfolded, teachers pleaded with the agents telling them the teacher had a work permit. The agents went into multiple rooms looking for teachers while children were present. One teacher hid with a child in her care while the agents stormed the facility.
Raids inside day cares had been off limits until this year, when, on his first day in office, President Donald Trump removed that protection.
The arrest reportedly took place in front of children.
19thnews.org/2025/11/chil...
The arrest reportedly took place in front of children.
19thnews.org/2025/11/chil...
‘I have papers’: Child care worker detained by ICE officers inside a Chicago day care
Raids inside day cares had been off limits until this year, when, on his first day in office, President Donald Trump removed that protection.
19thnews.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Getting new details on this now:
As the arrest unfolded, teachers pleaded with the agents telling them the teacher had a work permit. The agents went into multiple rooms looking for teachers while children were present. One teacher hid with a child in her care while the agents stormed the facility.
As the arrest unfolded, teachers pleaded with the agents telling them the teacher had a work permit. The agents went into multiple rooms looking for teachers while children were present. One teacher hid with a child in her care while the agents stormed the facility.
Reposted by Ian Ramjohn
I love that Mamdani is what the right claimed Obama was: A Muslim socialist born in Africa. The right practically manifested Mamdani into existence.
November 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I love that Mamdani is what the right claimed Obama was: A Muslim socialist born in Africa. The right practically manifested Mamdani into existence.