Dan Davis
@bindlestiff.bsky.social
A linguist and software architect for many years, now I create custom guitars and, occasionally, Maloof-style rocking chairs.
LLMs are NOT AI, are addictive, and are worse than useless.
LLMs are NOT AI, are addictive, and are worse than useless.
Pinned
“What do you plan to do about it?” Is a valid and necessary response to 99% of Democratic officials’ posts here. I encourage you to use it. It’s our responsibility to hold political feet to the fire.
This is not a team sport.
This is not a team sport.
Reposted by Dan Davis
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
November 29, 2025 at 3:02 AM
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
Reposted by Dan Davis
Hegseth wasn't chosen as merely a Fox News buffoon who then bumbles his way into war crimes out of machismo incompetence. He was chosen specifically because he is, and has been for a long time, a proud, open, and explicit advocate of war crimes as a good thing we should do.
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
November 29, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Hegseth wasn't chosen as merely a Fox News buffoon who then bumbles his way into war crimes out of machismo incompetence. He was chosen specifically because he is, and has been for a long time, a proud, open, and explicit advocate of war crimes as a good thing we should do.
Reposted by Dan Davis
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
November 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
Reposted by Dan Davis
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Reposted by Dan Davis
This! Part of the fun of watching (or creating!) a good, creative presentation is how the presenter plays with constraints. Taking a cheap shortcut to create a more “perfect” image doesn’t look creative. It looks like you don’t trust the audience.
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 29, 2025 at 6:07 AM
This! Part of the fun of watching (or creating!) a good, creative presentation is how the presenter plays with constraints. Taking a cheap shortcut to create a more “perfect” image doesn’t look creative. It looks like you don’t trust the audience.
Reposted by Dan Davis
I love this idea. My dad died when I was three and I had to figure out simple things like how to tie a tie and even shave on my own. Please retweet this because I know there are a lot of kids out there who could use some help with day to day life.
November 26, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I love this idea. My dad died when I was three and I had to figure out simple things like how to tie a tie and even shave on my own. Please retweet this because I know there are a lot of kids out there who could use some help with day to day life.
Reposted by Dan Davis
Stephen Miller’s wife Katie Miller: “We are removing every single illegal alien… a majority of those removed have had serious violent crimes.” 🤥
@bakarisellers.bsky.social : “That’s FALSE.”
Abby Phillip: “Based on DHS’s own data, a majority have NOT had violent criminal records.”
@bakarisellers.bsky.social : “That’s FALSE.”
Abby Phillip: “Based on DHS’s own data, a majority have NOT had violent criminal records.”
November 29, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Stephen Miller’s wife Katie Miller: “We are removing every single illegal alien… a majority of those removed have had serious violent crimes.” 🤥
@bakarisellers.bsky.social : “That’s FALSE.”
Abby Phillip: “Based on DHS’s own data, a majority have NOT had violent criminal records.”
@bakarisellers.bsky.social : “That’s FALSE.”
Abby Phillip: “Based on DHS’s own data, a majority have NOT had violent criminal records.”
Reposted by Dan Davis
This CBS story is just remarkable. It states that Trump insulted their reporter, and also notes the same thing happened to reporters from Bloomberg and NYT.
Both of those organizations are quoted defending their journalists.
But Bari Weiss and CBS don't lift a finger to defend their own reporter.
Both of those organizations are quoted defending their journalists.
But Bari Weiss and CBS don't lift a finger to defend their own reporter.
Not a peep from CBS News boss Bari Weiss after Trump called CBS reporter Nancy Cordes 'stupid' at a Thurs n/c. CBS mentions the incident in this piece about Trump's repeated attacks on female reporters but Bari's MIA when it comes to standing up for Cordes.
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-c...
www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-c...
Trump lashes out at female reporters, calling them "ugly," "stupid" and "piggy"
President Trump has lashed out at several female reporters who have asked him questions or written critically of him in recent weeks, calling them "ugly," "stupid," and "piggy."
www.cbsnews.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:52 PM
This CBS story is just remarkable. It states that Trump insulted their reporter, and also notes the same thing happened to reporters from Bloomberg and NYT.
Both of those organizations are quoted defending their journalists.
But Bari Weiss and CBS don't lift a finger to defend their own reporter.
Both of those organizations are quoted defending their journalists.
But Bari Weiss and CBS don't lift a finger to defend their own reporter.
Reposted by Dan Davis
A running theme of Trump II is cautious, level-headed, mainstream, career professional experts sounding existential alarms about how we aren't panicking nearly enough.
I know you already know, but for other folks who don't, Goldsmith was previously head of OLC, is a genuinely brilliant mind on executive authority and separation of powers, and is usually very cautious about making claims this unqualified and direct. That he is saying it so starkly is v significant
November 29, 2025 at 6:05 AM
A running theme of Trump II is cautious, level-headed, mainstream, career professional experts sounding existential alarms about how we aren't panicking nearly enough.
Reposted by Dan Davis
“Juan Orlando Hernández helped to facilitate the importation of an almost unfathomable 400 tons of cocaine to this country: billions of individual doses sent to the United States with the protection and support of the former president of Honduras.” — US DOJ
November 29, 2025 at 12:38 AM
“Juan Orlando Hernández helped to facilitate the importation of an almost unfathomable 400 tons of cocaine to this country: billions of individual doses sent to the United States with the protection and support of the former president of Honduras.” — US DOJ
Reposted by Dan Davis
“In days after Alaska, a European intel agency distributed a hard-copy report in an envelope to some of the continent’s most senior national security officials, who were shocked by the contents: Inside were details of the commercial and economic plans the Trump admin had been pursuing with Russia.”
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
www.wsj.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:44 AM
“In days after Alaska, a European intel agency distributed a hard-copy report in an envelope to some of the continent’s most senior national security officials, who were shocked by the contents: Inside were details of the commercial and economic plans the Trump admin had been pursuing with Russia.”
Reposted by Dan Davis
"A question for history will be whether Putin entertained this approach in the interest of ending the war, or as a ploy to pacify the U.S. while prolonging a conflict he believes is his place in history to slowly, ineluctably win"
November 29, 2025 at 5:38 AM
"A question for history will be whether Putin entertained this approach in the interest of ending the war, or as a ploy to pacify the U.S. while prolonging a conflict he believes is his place in history to slowly, ineluctably win"
Reposted by Dan Davis
Here’s the “peaceful” Russia murdering civilians.
November 29, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Here’s the “peaceful” Russia murdering civilians.
Reposted by Dan Davis
"In other words, they’re not just coming for Biden on “mental fitness.” They’re talking about building criminal cases against the people around him, and using the autopen as the excuse."
November 29, 2025 at 5:27 AM
"In other words, they’re not just coming for Biden on “mental fitness.” They’re talking about building criminal cases against the people around him, and using the autopen as the excuse."
Reposted by Dan Davis
Columbia and Northwestern are the academic homes to the most prestigious journalism schools in the country and they are the two universities that caved to the Trump administration’s extortion demands that are directly connected to the First Amendment. Just gonna sit with that for a while.
November 29, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Columbia and Northwestern are the academic homes to the most prestigious journalism schools in the country and they are the two universities that caved to the Trump administration’s extortion demands that are directly connected to the First Amendment. Just gonna sit with that for a while.
Reposted by Dan Davis
I didn’t want to overreact, and took time to read this. Having done so, I’m adding Northwestern to the list of places I won’t visit or speak. The concessions re: international students and gender-affirming care are not merely symbolic.
Here’s the text of the Northwestern settlement with the DoJ, which includes a $75 million financial component / payoff (cc @profmarkovic.bsky.social):
November 29, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I didn’t want to overreact, and took time to read this. Having done so, I’m adding Northwestern to the list of places I won’t visit or speak. The concessions re: international students and gender-affirming care are not merely symbolic.
Reposted by Dan Davis
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
November 29, 2025 at 4:35 AM
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
Reposted by Dan Davis
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
Reposted by Dan Davis
Trump says the drug kingpin he just pardoned “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly.”
In other words, Trump has no idea who this guy is. It seems possible, though, that someone’s beak got dampened.
In other words, Trump has no idea who this guy is. It seems possible, though, that someone’s beak got dampened.
November 29, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Trump says the drug kingpin he just pardoned “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly.”
In other words, Trump has no idea who this guy is. It seems possible, though, that someone’s beak got dampened.
In other words, Trump has no idea who this guy is. It seems possible, though, that someone’s beak got dampened.
Reposted by Dan Davis
WHOA. Trump says he will pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, who once said that he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.” He had people killed as part of his narco-trafficking ring, which he at times operated directly out of his presidential office.
November 29, 2025 at 12:05 AM
WHOA. Trump says he will pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, who once said that he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.” He had people killed as part of his narco-trafficking ring, which he at times operated directly out of his presidential office.
Reposted by Dan Davis
trump will pardon or assist any head of state who has been convicted for crimes. acting out of self preservation, basically
WHOA. Trump says he will pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, who once said that he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.” He had people killed as part of his narco-trafficking ring, which he at times operated directly out of his presidential office.
November 29, 2025 at 12:12 AM
trump will pardon or assist any head of state who has been convicted for crimes. acting out of self preservation, basically
Reposted by Dan Davis
I'm already an above average writer so any supposed advantage to using an LLM goes out the window. I am not an above average artist, but that's why I pay artists when I need art. Remember I have it in my contracts that all work on my books (art, editing, translation, etc) has to be done by humans.
I imagine LLMs are less useful for expert wordsmiths like Mr. Scalzi.
November 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I'm already an above average writer so any supposed advantage to using an LLM goes out the window. I am not an above average artist, but that's why I pay artists when I need art. Remember I have it in my contracts that all work on my books (art, editing, translation, etc) has to be done by humans.
Reposted by Dan Davis
No, ChatGPT is not conscious. Are the journalists who keep writing these fucking articles?
November 25, 2025 at 10:27 PM
No, ChatGPT is not conscious. Are the journalists who keep writing these fucking articles?
Reposted by Dan Davis
'scientists say'
what scientists?
it's not possible for an LLM to become sentient. like that is literally not possible and anyone who thinks it is doesn't understand what an LLM is.
what scientists?
it's not possible for an LLM to become sentient. like that is literally not possible and anyone who thinks it is doesn't understand what an LLM is.
No, ChatGPT is not conscious. Are the journalists who keep writing these fucking articles?
November 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
'scientists say'
what scientists?
it's not possible for an LLM to become sentient. like that is literally not possible and anyone who thinks it is doesn't understand what an LLM is.
what scientists?
it's not possible for an LLM to become sentient. like that is literally not possible and anyone who thinks it is doesn't understand what an LLM is.
Reposted by Dan Davis
A top Republican in Indiana, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, just announced he will be voting to block Trump’s gerrymandering after Trump used the R-word to insult people yesterday.
November 28, 2025 at 9:26 PM
A top Republican in Indiana, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, just announced he will be voting to block Trump’s gerrymandering after Trump used the R-word to insult people yesterday.