Sam Wollenberg

If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.

You’re working at a state propaganda factory.

If you ever wonder why your artist friend is so pissed off whenever they see AI slop used instead of real, human-created art, it's exactly what you think:

Israel attacks Gaza’s south, north during ‘repeatedly violated’ truce At least 245 Palestinians killed in Gaza since start of ceasefire, according to enclave's Health Ministry.

At least 245 Palestinians killed in Gaza since start of ceasefire, according to enclave's Health Ministry.

More of that rules based international order the Liberals used to pretend to care about.

The Kremlin disguised a nearly $100 mn payment to Trump in the form of a brokered real estate deal... and both Jeffrey Epstein and William Pulte were involved in the deal. That's very interesting.

Jeffrey Epstein claimed he gave Russians insight into Trump Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions.

Nearly a month before President Donald Trump met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, Jeffrey Epstein attempted to pass a message to Russia’s top diplomat: “I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote in a June 24, 2018.

From: Thomas Jr., Landon Sent: 9/27/2017 2:47:47 PM To: Subject: Got another call from Connelly.. Importance: High Jeffrey Epstein [jeevacation@gmail.com] He is digging around again -- not clear if its another book/or expanded paperback version. Was asking me all sorts of questions about why you hired Ken Starr. I told him I had no idea - I think he is doing some Trump-related digging too. Anyway, for what its worth... Landon Thomas, Jr. Financial Reporter New York Times http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/landon_ir thomas/index.h tml

Fall 2017: Then-NYT reporter literally warning Epstein that someone is "digging around again."

Imagine one of the worst people on Earth saying this about you, and the you happens to be Donald Trump, the President.

Water woes from data centres As artificial intelligence grows, data centres are consuming vast amounts of water for cooling and electricity. Often hidden behind corporate secrecy, this demand strains local supplies, pits tech gia...

Behind the sleek promises of AI is a thirst for water. Data centres consume huge amounts, straining supplies and fuelling clashes with farmers and Indigenous communities. In Canada, dozens of facilities are clustered near the Great Lakes, raising questions about how much more the ecosystem can bear.

An LLM is an abstraction over the status quo (or rather, the text of the status quo) that has, at its core, no other aim than producing more text that is just like the text already in existence. One result is that the dominant ideas, the dominant textual patterns of our time, are recast as “intelligence” per se. We might call the complex mass of concepts and ideas, the channels into which ideas flow often and easily, or the boundaries of what is reasonable to debate in so-called “polite society”—the dominant ideology of an age. An age’s dominant ideology tends to presuppose that the power of that age is natural; the hallmark of ideology, in this sense, is that it is easy to recognize only when it’s past its time. We may no longer think that an almighty god appointed a king to rule us, that women are naturally unfit to vote, or that sex outside of a heterosexual marriage is immoral. But at various times, to think otherwise (to think of replacing the monarchy with a republic, to affirm that women are people, or being in favor of sexual or gay liberation) was the far more difficult, even dangerous thought—if not to have, then at the very least to put in writing. Ideology, of course, is never complete, other thoughts are always possible. But ideology is easy to think, it’s what our thoughts are already marinated in. And hence, ideology will be dominant in the textual patterns of an age. Seen in this light, what is called “intelligence” in a language model, is really that—ideology as a thing that can pretend to be a person.

I do, of course, have a paragraph from "Why We Fear AI" for this

IOC set to introduce blanket ban on transgender women in female sport The ban is reportedly expected to come into effect early next year

The International Olympic Committee is set to ban trans and intersex women from competition. This is despite the fact that for 20 years, the IOC has allowed trans athletes to compete and only 1 has ever competed and none have ever won a medal.

www.the-independent.com/sport/olympi...

Budget promises to introduce framework for Canadian dollar-backed cryptocurrency | CBC News The Liberal government is committing to roll out new legislation to ensure some digital currencies are secure and stable enough for consumers and businesses to use.

Instead of protecting Canadians from scams, Mark Carney’s Liberals are planning to develop a framework for stablecoins after crypto billionaires spent big to buy one in the United States.

The government claims it will “benefit men and youth by improving prosperity and good governance.” 🫠

Sheesh
zeteo.com/p/senate-dem...

CW: Father has seizure as ICE agents attempt to take his child away from his family.

ICE must be abolished

At some point, when all this is settled, I would like the BC public to hold this person to account for her disinformation and the community harm it has wreaked.

Well done @brishti.bsky.social getting more for the public record.

congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run

"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk

Alberta is expected to introduce anti-trans legislation (Bill 9, "Protecting Alberta's Children Statutes Amendment Act") with the notwithstanding clause today — overriding trans youth’s right to life and to equality.

This will be by far the deadliest anti-trans bill likely to become law in Canada.

As civil rights groups warned 7 years ago.

One of the Greatest Wall Street Investors of All Time Announces Retirement Nancy Pelosi’s trades over the years have been so good that a startup was created to allow investors to directly mirror her portfolio.

Nancy Pelosi’s trades over the years have been so good that a startup was created to allow investors to directly mirror her portfolio.

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

this is actually impressive, making up a brand new nobel peace prize replacement is a genuine innovation in bribery

absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA

Israel kills more Palestinians in Gaza as US peace plan presented to UN Attacks continue in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza as Israeli forces expand military action beyond 'yellow line'.

Attacks continue in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza as Israeli forces expand military action beyond 'yellow line'.

It's actually insane that the feds are promising to put more than double the amount of money they're putting into childcare, into AI.

Why not just set it on fire and dance around it hoping to sway the gods to our favour?

The entire right-wing propaganda machine came after Zohran Mamdani.

The president and his allies came after him.

Democratic leaders, by and large, did not have his back until the last minute.

He still won, turning out historic numbers and inspiring young voters.

His politics can win anywhere.

At the end of the day I'm not sure how much difference it makes. But it is striking to put out a budget that axes a luxury tax on yachts and adds a co-pay for refugee claimants accessing drugs and dental care.

succinct

Frontiers | Depleted uranium munitions and the Ukraine war: a warning against DU renaissance Contrary to the contested use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons following the Iraq war in 2003, which led some nations to seek a ban on DU use and even elimin...

Cheney's legacy lives on in Ukraine's current use of depleted uranium rounds.