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John Shirley

@johnshirley2024.bsky.social

5.4K followers 4.3K following 14K posts

Writer of books, scripts, lyrics. Bram Stoker Award for Black Butterflies; Spur Award for Gunmetal Mountain. Newest sf novels: SubOrbital 7, Stormland. New novel: The Silver Revolver. Writer: The Crow. Deep Space 9 et al. Science! https://john-shirley.com

john-shirley.com

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Reposted by John Shirley

Buzz Andersen @andersen.buzz · 1h

Exactly what I’ve been saying www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Real AI Risk is ‘Meh’ Technology That Takes Jobs and Annoys Us All

While AI doomsday scenarios dwell on the risks posed by superintelligent robot overlords, one Nobel-Prize winning economist fears a more mundane possibility.

www.bloomberg.com

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 41m

what the holy fuck.

altNOAA 🇺🇸 @altnoaa.bsky.social · 1h

What happened and what is currently happening to this man is shameful.

But aside from that... someone got away with murder.

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

Reposted by John Shirley

nwdem.bsky.social @nwdem.bsky.social · 1h

This Isn’t Crisis Response, It’s Crisis Construction www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Opinion | This Isn’t Crisis Response, It’s Crisis Construction

www.nytimes.com

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 43m

I'm fine with deporting fentanyl dealers, but the problem is we can't trust ICE if they say a guy is a fentanyl dealer. They make up shit about most of the people they deport. "Definitely was stealing cars. Evidence? Oh, we know, we know."

Also, fuck Elon Musk. Fuck him to Mars.

Nathan Shedroff @nathanshedroff.bsky.social · 1h

Give him more ketamine and pull his arm down and let it up. Perhaps, we can get another answer—as if we should care. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/e...

‘The only solution’: Elon Musk backs call to deploy federal troops to San Francisco

The remarks from the tech leaders come as city officials tout falling crime rates even as overdose deaths continue to climb.

www.sfchronicle.com

Reposted by John Shirley

Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · Jun 26

AI is being used to justify firing workers at major tech companies, leaving those that remain to pick up the pieces.

AI code is being shoveled into crucial Google products, replacing trainers at TikTok, and worse.

This, in tech workers' own words, is how AI is killing jobs in Silicon Valley.

AI Killed My Job: Tech workers

Tech workers at TikTok, Google, and across the industry share stories about how AI is changing, ruining, or replacing their jobs.

www.bloodinthemachine.com

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 53m

I was asking rhetorically not expecting you to explain,.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

Circumcision is not a violation of human rights.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

So at least we did help them in that respect.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

It isn't genital mutilation; calling it that blurs the reality of real genital mutilation: www.unicef.org/protection/f...

What is female genital mutilation?

Everything you need to know about FGM and what UNICEF is doing to stop it.

www.unicef.org

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

They don't *think* he's good. They don't think about it. They *react* to disinformation, misinformation, and regional social pressure. No thinking involved.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

anyway, I'm fine with Asia being much uncircumcised--I'm not advocating everyone circumcise. I'm just saying that it's not mutilation or tragedy when it happens and in *my opinion* it has more plusses than minuses.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 7h

I suspect that the low levels of circumcision in Europe relate to the antisemitism that was common there until recently. And then no-circumcision became a matter of tradition, culture, with people forgetting the original reason for it.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

I meant the South American ones re Catholic, I should have said so. Europe is not irreligious. Catholicism is common there, and circumcision is slowly on the increase. It's at high levels in Korea and the Philippines btw.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

to fix what?

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

Babies can't have bodily autonomy. They are legally protected, as they should be, from violence, but they don't have autonomy, as they aren't autonomous in any way yet. Autonomy comes with neurological development over time. Most medical authorities recommend circumcision.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

If children were sickened, died, lost genitals due to circumcision, it's because it wasn't done right, hence was not medical circumcision. I'm of course only defending medical circumcision.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

They're Catholics. Catholics generally haven't circumcised. Circumcision is not their tradition.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

I don't care if you had more 'hearting'. While the foreskin serves a purpose, mostly as protection, like a hat, it's not as useful for that purpose as circumcision is for general male genital health, in my opinion. But there need be no insistence on circumcision. It's up to each individual family.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

Genital nerve endings are preserved. The extraneous skin's nerve endings aren't really significant.

While the foreskin is found on the genitals, I don't regard it as part of the genitals. The genitals function just fine without it, as 80% of American men could testify.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

Okay. So I'm trying to understand how it harms children's lives if it isn't about the autism claim. Never heard a kid complain of it.

I can tell you though I had a couple of infections, as ayoung person years ago, due to being *not circumcised* that I wouldn't have had if I'd been circumcised.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series

Watch FRONTLINE and ProPublica's documentary investigating how an online network known as Terrorgram spread extremism and violence.

www.pbs.org

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

If you're going to repeat the "causes autism" falsehood then you're engaging in misinformation spreading, whether you know it or not.

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

Also how does it impact children's lives negatively?

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

No one removed their child's genitals. they removed some basically extraneous skin. If you're addressing me, I've encountered no one on your side of this here.

John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 8h

Because of course they are.

Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears

One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who n...

apnews.com

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