Phil Mansfield
@pawsitronium.bsky.social
Astrophysicist who rarely posts about astrophysics. Research Scientist at Stanford University. Suicide hotline operator. 🏳️🌈
Personal account, nothing I post are the views of my employers
Personal account, nothing I post are the views of my employers
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse.
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
November 2, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse.
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
“Individuals on the ground sent a message that reached us Monday morning that 1,200 were dead,” Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said. “By that evening, they said 10,000. By Tuesday, we couldn’t reach them anymore. We assume our ground contacts are dead.”
Yale lab reports mass killings in Sudan, calls for student activism
The Humanitarian Research Lab was told this week that over 10,000 people in Sudan were killed within three days.
yaledailynews.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
“Individuals on the ground sent a message that reached us Monday morning that 1,200 were dead,” Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said. “By that evening, they said 10,000. By Tuesday, we couldn’t reach them anymore. We assume our ground contacts are dead.”
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
But also we’re terrified of the subway
Stephen Miller: "All that bullshit is done, over, it's finished. The gangbangers you deal with- they think they're ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they're tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they're hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are"
October 1, 2025 at 11:22 PM
But also we’re terrified of the subway
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
YES! THIS on GenAI!
Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:
"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."
Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:
"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."
Large Language Muddle | The Editors
The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...
www.nplusonemag.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:07 PM
YES! THIS on GenAI!
Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:
"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."
Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:
"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."
What are we doing here?
September 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
What are we doing here?
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
A modern Hachikō story: This man tweeted a Follow Friday for the band Foghat every week until he died
August 4, 2025 at 6:43 AM
A modern Hachikō story: This man tweeted a Follow Friday for the band Foghat every week until he died
I'm losing my goddamn mind.
“.. There has to be a line between crime and war,” said John Yoo, a former deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush.
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
September 17, 2025 at 3:39 AM
I'm losing my goddamn mind.
There's nothing like a month of chronic pain to make you have undying respect for people who have been putting up with this shit for years.
September 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM
There's nothing like a month of chronic pain to make you have undying respect for people who have been putting up with this shit for years.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
It is truly horrifying what is being alleged against the Trump administration in the Ghana case.
Here is from an affidavit filed in the case today: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Here is from an affidavit filed in the case today: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 13, 2025 at 11:50 PM
It is truly horrifying what is being alleged against the Trump administration in the Ghana case.
Here is from an affidavit filed in the case today: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Here is from an affidavit filed in the case today: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
the democratic party sagaciously intoning that the world's richest man killing millions of people around the globe by depriving them of their medical care is a needless distraction from kitchen table issues
I'm kinda resigned to the fact that most people don't really give a shit about how millions globally will die horrible deaths directly due to Musk and Trump's decision to gut USAID - I guess it's too abstract to comprehend, or something - but it is HAPPENING, and nobody is swooping in to stop it.
September 9, 2025 at 9:09 PM
the democratic party sagaciously intoning that the world's richest man killing millions of people around the globe by depriving them of their medical care is a needless distraction from kitchen table issues
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
what a humiliating way for don jr. to find out his dad sends birthday cards.
September 8, 2025 at 9:21 PM
what a humiliating way for don jr. to find out his dad sends birthday cards.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
"Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)".
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, genocide scholars' association says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, genocide scholars' association says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, scholars' association says
The world's leading genocide scholars' association has passed a resolution saying that the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday.
www.reuters.com
September 1, 2025 at 9:50 AM
"Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)".
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, genocide scholars' association says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, genocide scholars' association says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
'Deliberate erasure': State Department removes anti-LGBTQ+ abuses from annual human rights report
US State Department removes anti-LGBTQ+ abuses from annual human rights report
The Trump government has been lambasted for removing LGBTQ-specific references in the State Department's annual global report on human rights.
www.thepinknews.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:20 AM
'Deliberate erasure': State Department removes anti-LGBTQ+ abuses from annual human rights report
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
It is very likely that if your main focus is comfort and safety, you will quickly drift onto a path that is hand in hand with fascism. That is where we are. Better to make active choices now. It is better to have clear in your mind what your priorities and beliefs are before someone is knocking.
August 17, 2025 at 12:16 AM
It is very likely that if your main focus is comfort and safety, you will quickly drift onto a path that is hand in hand with fascism. That is where we are. Better to make active choices now. It is better to have clear in your mind what your priorities and beliefs are before someone is knocking.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
WASHINGTON (AP) - US Air Force says it will deny retirement pay to transgender service members being separated from the service.
August 7, 2025 at 8:40 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - US Air Force says it will deny retirement pay to transgender service members being separated from the service.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
Du Bois on what these assholes were really like
July 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Du Bois on what these assholes were really like
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
Stack Overflow contributions have been *tanking* of late, and it’s pretty reasonable to assume that this is largely due to LLMs disincentivizing people from asking or answering questions there.
blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stack-overfl...
blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stack-overfl...
July 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Stack Overflow contributions have been *tanking* of late, and it’s pretty reasonable to assume that this is largely due to LLMs disincentivizing people from asking or answering questions there.
blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stack-overfl...
blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stack-overfl...
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
using AI for art is like if you were a fan of a simulated football team and the only information you got was the score and the stats.
the whole part that involves joy is removed.
the whole part that involves joy is removed.
July 6, 2025 at 9:07 PM
using AI for art is like if you were a fan of a simulated football team and the only information you got was the score and the stats.
the whole part that involves joy is removed.
the whole part that involves joy is removed.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
Definitely using the novel Ji (@alexji.bsky.social) mass-based dwarf galaxy classification scheme moving forward 🔭
June 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Definitely using the novel Ji (@alexji.bsky.social) mass-based dwarf galaxy classification scheme moving forward 🔭
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
June 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
CLARIFICATION :
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
June 18, 2025 at 5:48 PM
CLARIFICATION :
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
Reposted by Phil Mansfield
i just find this so bizarre. searching through texts and doing the reading for myself is how i actually think through ideas! trying to put together a sentence is how i figure out what i actually want to say!
Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?
www.nytimes.com
June 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
i just find this so bizarre. searching through texts and doing the reading for myself is how i actually think through ideas! trying to put together a sentence is how i figure out what i actually want to say!