Sean Martin McDonald
@seanmartinmcdonald.bsky.social
I help people build things that realize their purpose. Partner at Digital Public.
I mean, if the present and/or past are any indication...
Ro Khanna, who has called for Chuck Schumer to be replaced, says the only reason other Democrats aren't calling for it is because it would "offend a lot of donors."
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
November 10, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I mean, if the present and/or past are any indication...
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
HMRC trial of child benefit crackdown wrongly suspected fraud in 46% of cases
Exclusive: Almost half of families flagged as emigrants based on Home Office travel data were still living in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
UK government project using AI to find benefit fraud resulted in:
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
- A 46% false fraud rate
- Anguish for families who were wrongly accused of fraud and had benefits stopped
- Months of additional work for government, setting up a hotline, correcting false fraud
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
I'm no Canadian, but that seems like it makes a lot of sense?
Did you know that in Canada, if a budget doesn’t pass the government doesn’t shut down?
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
Federal workers aren’t furloughed.
Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.
Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.
It puts the politicians jobs on the line.
They get the budget passed.
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I'm no Canadian, but that seems like it makes a lot of sense?
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
This is insane. This is *literally* doing the same mechanics of the housing crisis and 2008 recession but to create debt to finance construction of AI data centers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
November 10, 2025 at 4:19 PM
This is insane. This is *literally* doing the same mechanics of the housing crisis and 2008 recession but to create debt to finance construction of AI data centers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
Does this mean they'll have to swear in Grijalva, at least?
its especially humiliating for the Cave Caucus that he's not even trying to pretend that he might do this.
US HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON SAID HE WON'T COMMIT TO A VOTE ON ACA SUBSIDIES, I'M TOLD – SEMOFAR REPORTER ON X
November 10, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Does this mean they'll have to swear in Grijalva, at least?
This is one of those things that sounds right until you spend literally any time learning about the differences between the requirements of fiduciary privilege (standards, duties, independent oversight, heightened civil liability) and the, uhm, character of AI companies.
November 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
This is one of those things that sounds right until you spend literally any time learning about the differences between the requirements of fiduciary privilege (standards, duties, independent oversight, heightened civil liability) and the, uhm, character of AI companies.
"Everything that China does is covered by the national security law in China, and that means every single company has to co-operate with the Chinese authorities in handing over data."
Shock, horror, China flexes its muscles and puts backdoors in foreign products.
Shock, horror, China flexes its muscles and puts backdoors in foreign products.
UK investigates remote ‘kill switch’ on Chinese-made buses — The Times and The Sunday Times
The UK is investigating a security loophole that could allow hundreds of Chinese-made electric buses to be remotely deactivated. Government officials are working with the National Cyber Security Centr...
apple.news
November 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
“In reality, because targeting is so easy, we have seen governments use surveillance malware to spy on a broad range of people, including relatively minor political opponents, activists, and journalists…”
Why a lot of people are getting hacked with government spyware | TechCrunch
Government surveillance vendors want us to believe their spyware products are only used in limited and targeted operations against terrorists and serious criminals. That claim is increasingly difficul...
techcrunch.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:05 PM
“In reality, because targeting is so easy, we have seen governments use surveillance malware to spy on a broad range of people, including relatively minor political opponents, activists, and journalists…”
This is beautifully written and, as a person who lives in DC, familiar.
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This is beautifully written and, as a person who lives in DC, familiar.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
This right here.
Chris Murphy: "There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop... if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it'll be hard to get them back up off the mat"
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
This right here.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
November 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
My family has been without half our income for 40 days. It has been.. very hard.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
We are willing to feel that pain so people can have health care next year, or to undo these illegal recissions.
We are not willing to have been put through this for NOTHING.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Remember: Accounting fraud does not exist without a functional administrative state and courts willing to enforce existing law.
Otherwise its just sparkling corruption.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Otherwise its just sparkling corruption.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Bullet Points: November 7, 2025 edition
Money is fake, it's only accounting fraud if we have a functional administrative state, and taking stock of the past year.
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Remember: Accounting fraud does not exist without a functional administrative state and courts willing to enforce existing law.
Otherwise its just sparkling corruption.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Otherwise its just sparkling corruption.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
story link www.thebanner.com/community/ho...
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
story link www.thebanner.com/community/ho...
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Do they literally want mass rioting?
This is how you speedrun mass rioting.
This is how you speedrun mass rioting.
BREAKING: Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
I have the latest. Sorry for another Friday email, this is major. open.substack.com/pub/aaronpar...
I have the latest. Sorry for another Friday email, this is major. open.substack.com/pub/aaronpar...
BREAKING: Supreme Court Blocks Order Requiring Trump to Pay SNAP Benefits
Apologies for another email on a Friday night, but, the Supreme Court tonight temporarily froze a federal district judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to deliver full SNAP benefits to rou...
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Do they literally want mass rioting?
This is how you speedrun mass rioting.
This is how you speedrun mass rioting.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Yep. I think it's pretty likely we're close to an AI crash.
Bear Stearns starting the 2008 crash was poetic enough (especially, looking back, the Epstein ties).
But if Palantir was the Bear Stearns of the AI crash, it'd be such poetic justice.
Bear Stearns starting the 2008 crash was poetic enough (especially, looking back, the Epstein ties).
But if Palantir was the Bear Stearns of the AI crash, it'd be such poetic justice.
Alex Karp and Peter Thiel are two of the worst people on this planet running one of the most evil companies to ever exist—we should do whatever we can to make Palantir go bankrupt.
Palantir CEO Karp twice slams short sellers as stock suffers worst week since April
Palantir CEO Alex Karp twice confronted short sellers this week as the company's shares suffered a double-digit drop.
www.cnbc.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Yep. I think it's pretty likely we're close to an AI crash.
Bear Stearns starting the 2008 crash was poetic enough (especially, looking back, the Epstein ties).
But if Palantir was the Bear Stearns of the AI crash, it'd be such poetic justice.
Bear Stearns starting the 2008 crash was poetic enough (especially, looking back, the Epstein ties).
But if Palantir was the Bear Stearns of the AI crash, it'd be such poetic justice.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
"If it pleases the court, our position is that the poor people should go hungry"
November 8, 2025 at 12:10 AM
"If it pleases the court, our position is that the poor people should go hungry"
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Meta makes about $7 billion a yr from running ads for scams/banned goods, company docs show. Most comes from ads suspicious enough to be flagged by Meta’s warning system. But unless system determines it's 95% certain ad is fraud Meta won't ban it; instead it only charges advertiser a higher ad rate
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Meta makes about $7 billion a yr from running ads for scams/banned goods, company docs show. Most comes from ads suspicious enough to be flagged by Meta’s warning system. But unless system determines it's 95% certain ad is fraud Meta won't ban it; instead it only charges advertiser a higher ad rate
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
And this: article cites a recent @cdt.org survey, where, "17% of teachers reported that student information such as grades, attendance and discipline information was shared with immigration enforcement, and some school staff were reporting members of the school community to ICE of their own accord."
Student surveillance companies cash in on the ai grift by promising schools and parents their tech will keep students safe from the harms of ai.
Chatbots Are Sparking a New Era of Student Surveillance
As US educators embrace AI in the classroom, firms are selling software to flag mentions of self-harm, raising concerns over privacy and control.
www.bloomberg.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
And this: article cites a recent @cdt.org survey, where, "17% of teachers reported that student information such as grades, attendance and discipline information was shared with immigration enforcement, and some school staff were reporting members of the school community to ICE of their own accord."
This Virginia election result is an eye-opener for me, even though I've covered the environmental and health impacts of AI and data centers for quite a while. 👀
Did you know a former White House climate advisor flipped a GOP stronghold in Virginia by running entirely on putting a stop to more AI data centers?
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.
November 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM
So, war crimes, then?
The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
November 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
So, war crimes, then?
This is one of those systems that's a problem when it does and when it doesn't work.
Facial recognition errors can have life-altering consequences. In @techpolicypress.bsky.social, CDT’s @jakelaperruque.bsky.social warns that ICE’s new approach — treating AI matches as definitive IDs — violates currently-understood DHS policy and endangers civil liberties.
ICE’s Reckless Reliance on Facial Recognition Puts Us All In Danger | TechPolicy.Press
Jake Laperruque raises the alarm on ICE’s reckless use of facial recognition and its risks for wrongful detainment.
www.techpolicy.press
November 6, 2025 at 11:08 PM
This is one of those systems that's a problem when it does and when it doesn't work.
This, with the new, gold Oval Office sign transposed on the desk and the Veep theme song playing in the background.
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 9:50 PM
This, with the new, gold Oval Office sign transposed on the desk and the Veep theme song playing in the background.
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
Welcome back phrenology bsky.app/profile/econ...
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 6, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Welcome back phrenology bsky.app/profile/econ...
Reposted by Sean Martin McDonald
BREAKING: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EATS A LOSS IN 'SANDWICH GUY' CASE AS JURORS FIND DEFENDANT NOT GUILTY www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent
Sean Dunn faced single misdemeanor offense after federal grand jurors refused to indict him on the felony charge sought by prosecutors.
www.nbcnews.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
BREAKING: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EATS A LOSS IN 'SANDWICH GUY' CASE AS JURORS FIND DEFENDANT NOT GUILTY www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...