James Fitzwater
@jsfitzwater.bsky.social
Absorb, wonder, help improve where I can, and marvel . . . valid until the Pittsburgh Penguins move onto bsky and hold my attention hostage. [update: invalidated]
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Did ChatGPT tell the Democratic Party to kill itself??
November 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Did ChatGPT tell the Democratic Party to kill itself??
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Tonight was a very bad night.
November 10, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Tonight was a very bad night.
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Democrats in office need to know: all of us with very few exceptions want all of you with very few exception to lose your god damn jobs because you refuse to do them.
November 10, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Democrats in office need to know: all of us with very few exceptions want all of you with very few exception to lose your god damn jobs because you refuse to do them.
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Dropped everything to publish this new op-ed to @mongabay.com by former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson
She calls Bill Gates' new essay on #climatechange dangerous & false
“The great challenge of our time is to build a future where every person can thrive on a healthy planet,” Robinson argues:
She calls Bill Gates' new essay on #climatechange dangerous & false
“The great challenge of our time is to build a future where every person can thrive on a healthy planet,” Robinson argues:
No, Bill Gates, we don’t have to choose between people & planet (commentary)
Bill Gates has long been a leading voice in the global response to human health and climate change. His climate investments and advocacy have helped drive innovation, expand access to clean energy, an...
news.mongabay.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Dropped everything to publish this new op-ed to @mongabay.com by former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson
She calls Bill Gates' new essay on #climatechange dangerous & false
“The great challenge of our time is to build a future where every person can thrive on a healthy planet,” Robinson argues:
She calls Bill Gates' new essay on #climatechange dangerous & false
“The great challenge of our time is to build a future where every person can thrive on a healthy planet,” Robinson argues:
Reposted by James Fitzwater
If you see any business owners belittling SNAP recipients for accepting government money to get through tough times, maybe look them up on @propublica.org's PPP Loan Tracker to see if they got any of the $793B in bailout money (96% of which was forgiven)
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
Tracking PPP: Search Every Company Approved for Federal Loans - ProPublica
As part of the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal government has provided hundreds of billions in financial support to banks to make low-interest loans to companies and nonprofit organizations i...
projects.propublica.org
November 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
If you see any business owners belittling SNAP recipients for accepting government money to get through tough times, maybe look them up on @propublica.org's PPP Loan Tracker to see if they got any of the $793B in bailout money (96% of which was forgiven)
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/...
Reposted by James Fitzwater
They hate us for things it wouldn’t even occur to me to notice.
it's utterly wild how the Heritage Foundation president talks about other people
if you found a guy talking like this outside, you'd probably call the cops
if you found a guy talking like this outside, you'd probably call the cops
November 3, 2025 at 3:17 AM
They hate us for things it wouldn’t even occur to me to notice.
Reposted by James Fitzwater
This is a self-serving view in both its preening tone and in ignoring actual *studies of* generative AI’s effects on reading, writing, research, and thinking.
It is quite possible to be informed about AI and reject it. Insisting otherwise is just being a missionary : “Have you heard the Good News?”
It is quite possible to be informed about AI and reject it. Insisting otherwise is just being a missionary : “Have you heard the Good News?”
There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI.
1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.
2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.
Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.
1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.
2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.
Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.
October 17, 2025 at 11:59 AM
This is a self-serving view in both its preening tone and in ignoring actual *studies of* generative AI’s effects on reading, writing, research, and thinking.
It is quite possible to be informed about AI and reject it. Insisting otherwise is just being a missionary : “Have you heard the Good News?”
It is quite possible to be informed about AI and reject it. Insisting otherwise is just being a missionary : “Have you heard the Good News?”
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Today I published a new section of my website with resources for those who wish to learn, study, and/or teach ancient languages using braille. It rests on work we did over the past year to expand screen reader access to these languages through the LibLouis library. Check it out and share around!
New: Braille Resources for Reading Ancient Languages
[Photo by me. Tactile graphic by Crystal Peng.] I recently created a new section of my website, which provides educational resources for anyone who wants to read ancient Middle Eastern and North …
www.blindscholar.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Today I published a new section of my website with resources for those who wish to learn, study, and/or teach ancient languages using braille. It rests on work we did over the past year to expand screen reader access to these languages through the LibLouis library. Check it out and share around!
Reposted by James Fitzwater
The true cost of “solar power at night” with Reflect Orbital
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
The true cost of "solar power at night" with Reflect Orbital
Solar power has the disadvantage that there's no Sun at night. Satellite startup Reflect Orbital wants to change that, but at what cost?
bigthink.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The true cost of “solar power at night” with Reflect Orbital
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
Reposted by James Fitzwater
This is a national disgrace
It should be a national scandal
It should be a national scandal
Unbelievable story of Afghan refugee, a highly vetted fluent English speaker who helped the US against the Taliban and now lives here with his US citizen kids, declared “illegal” and perhaps about to be shipped home by the Trump admin to his likely death
He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S.
Then ICE arrested him.
If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.
Then ICE arrested him.
If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.
October 14, 2025 at 4:09 PM
This is a national disgrace
It should be a national scandal
It should be a national scandal
Reposted by James Fitzwater
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.
It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’
During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...
chicago.suntimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
Reposted by James Fitzwater
This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead
Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive
www.theguardian.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:35 AM
This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Monstrous.
"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.
Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race
southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...
Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race
southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...
Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children
Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.
southsideweekly.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Monstrous.
"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
Reposted by James Fitzwater
A lot of the apps on your phone are tracking your physical location and selling that information to other companies. Here's a fantastic explainer from @pcmag.com about 20 of the most common apps that spy on you. Service journalism at its finest. www.pcmag.com/explainers/t...
These 20 Apps Are Watching You—And You Probably Use Them Every Day
You might use these apps every day, but have no idea what they collect. These 20 apps are quietly harvesting your location, contacts, photos, and more—here's what you can do about it.
www.pcmag.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
A lot of the apps on your phone are tracking your physical location and selling that information to other companies. Here's a fantastic explainer from @pcmag.com about 20 of the most common apps that spy on you. Service journalism at its finest. www.pcmag.com/explainers/t...
Reposted by James Fitzwater
It took decades for the work of Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi—the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology—to have clinical relevance. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
October 6, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It took decades for the work of Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi—the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology—to have clinical relevance. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
Reposted by James Fitzwater
It seems clear—I think to everyone, now—that a false and illegal invocation of the Insurrection Act is coming before the end of the year. Media outlets should be telling us how they will prepare for this potential Treason. State governments should be telling us. Activists should be developing plans.
October 6, 2025 at 11:17 PM
It seems clear—I think to everyone, now—that a false and illegal invocation of the Insurrection Act is coming before the end of the year. Media outlets should be telling us how they will prepare for this potential Treason. State governments should be telling us. Activists should be developing plans.
Reposted by James Fitzwater
actress tilly norwood has been deleted after being found unconscious next to a script containing a mistyped wildcard. she was 0
October 2, 2025 at 10:40 PM
actress tilly norwood has been deleted after being found unconscious next to a script containing a mistyped wildcard. she was 0
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…
October 3, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Dr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share.
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
October 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Dr. Jane made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, and also of humankind and the environments we all share.
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
She inspired curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people, and paved the way for many others.
#ThankYouJane #RememberingJane
Photo: Marko Zlousic
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Hello Friends. I am ecstatic to announce that I have reacquired the entire Spontaneanation catalogue and effective immediately you can find every episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Don’t get drunk and fight each other.
Don’t get drunk and fight each other.
September 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Hello Friends. I am ecstatic to announce that I have reacquired the entire Spontaneanation catalogue and effective immediately you can find every episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Don’t get drunk and fight each other.
Don’t get drunk and fight each other.
Reposted by James Fitzwater
The obvious countermove to commoditizing AI-generated actors is to train your own AI models to impersonate them.
Getting cease-and-desisted for appropriating the likeness of an AI model made by stealing thousands of likenesses would underscore the point.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Getting cease-and-desisted for appropriating the likeness of an AI model made by stealing thousands of likenesses would underscore the point.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Creator of AI Actress Tilly Norwood Responds to Backlash: “She Is Not a Replacement for a Human Being”
Eline Van der Velden said AI characters "should be judged as part of their own genre [...] rather than compared directly with human actors," after news broke her studio is seeking representation for N...
www.hollywoodreporter.com
September 29, 2025 at 2:20 PM
The obvious countermove to commoditizing AI-generated actors is to train your own AI models to impersonate them.
Getting cease-and-desisted for appropriating the likeness of an AI model made by stealing thousands of likenesses would underscore the point.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Getting cease-and-desisted for appropriating the likeness of an AI model made by stealing thousands of likenesses would underscore the point.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Reposted by James Fitzwater
Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com
September 30, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com
Reposted by James Fitzwater
EVERYONE STOP EVERYTHING Mychal the Librarian is hosting the Reading Rainbow revival!!!
reactormag.com/reading-rain...
reactormag.com/reading-rain...
Reading Rainbow Is Back, With Mychal the Librarian Hosting! - Reactor
The butterfly is back in the sky; can’t wait to fly twice as high.
reactormag.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
EVERYONE STOP EVERYTHING Mychal the Librarian is hosting the Reading Rainbow revival!!!
reactormag.com/reading-rain...
reactormag.com/reading-rain...
Marc-André Fleury. A return to Pittsburgh. A storybook legacy.
youtube.com/shorts/2S3fX...
youtube.com/shorts/2S3fX...
Fleury Takes the Net in Pittsburgh 🌸🏒
YouTube video by NHL
youtube.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Marc-André Fleury. A return to Pittsburgh. A storybook legacy.
youtube.com/shorts/2S3fX...
youtube.com/shorts/2S3fX...