Jeffrey Vagle
@jvagle.me
Law professor | Privacy, Cybersecurity, AI*, Technology and Society, National Security | Veteran | There is music yet to play | https://tractatus.org
Pinned
Jeffrey Vagle
@jvagle.me
· Nov 10
"I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I WILL HOLD."
-- 1LT Clifton Cates, Message to Battalion Headquarters, 19 Jul 1918, Battle of Soissons
-- 1LT Clifton Cates, Message to Battalion Headquarters, 19 Jul 1918, Battle of Soissons
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Whatever could Thomas Massie be worried about? Oh, right.
February 13, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Whatever could Thomas Massie be worried about? Oh, right.
Damn, @monteiro.bsky.social can write.
This week’s newsletter is about raising children. Not that I am an expert. But I’ve done it. buttondown.com/monteiro/arc...
How to raise children
A wee little painting (11×14”, sans stick) I made last week. This one got auctioned off on Bluesky to help folks in Minnesota. I’m making more. This week’s...
buttondown.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Damn, @monteiro.bsky.social can write.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
A reunion decades in the making! Back in December, Kevin, Bill, Beez and Patrick got together to adjust and calibrate the bots we used for the Kickstarter video. Support all future bot repairs on our Kickstarter: rifftraxmakesmst3k.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:16 PM
A reunion decades in the making! Back in December, Kevin, Bill, Beez and Patrick got together to adjust and calibrate the bots we used for the Kickstarter video. Support all future bot repairs on our Kickstarter: rifftraxmakesmst3k.com
Loneliness is a real problem, but AI chatbots are not the solution.
As OpenAI removed access to GPT-4o in its app on Friday, people who have come to rely on the chatbot for companionship are mourning the loss all over the world.
OpenAI Is Nuking Its 4o Model. China’s ChatGPT Fans Aren’t OK
As OpenAI removed access to GPT-4o in its app on Friday, people who have come to rely on the chatbot for companionship are mourning the loss all over the world.
wrd.cm
February 13, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Loneliness is a real problem, but AI chatbots are not the solution.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
I’m just going to leave this here
February 13, 2026 at 5:54 PM
I’m just going to leave this here
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
I don’t really pay attention to charges of doomerism. I don’t know what it means offline.
I do know that refusing a version of how the future will unfold forecloses on the power that actually shapes that future. That’s not disavowing that tech changes are happening but they are in now a given.
I do know that refusing a version of how the future will unfold forecloses on the power that actually shapes that future. That’s not disavowing that tech changes are happening but they are in now a given.
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 5:51 PM
I don’t really pay attention to charges of doomerism. I don’t know what it means offline.
I do know that refusing a version of how the future will unfold forecloses on the power that actually shapes that future. That’s not disavowing that tech changes are happening but they are in now a given.
I do know that refusing a version of how the future will unfold forecloses on the power that actually shapes that future. That’s not disavowing that tech changes are happening but they are in now a given.
This is the underlying thesis I strive to apply throughout my work.
No one has seriously said LLMs aren’t important or that AI is categorically junk.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
Some of us have said that there is something bigger than tech. It’s called power — governance, civic norms, etc — & refusal is absolutely part of how we think soberly about that power. Who has it & how they use it.
February 13, 2026 at 7:24 PM
This is the underlying thesis I strive to apply throughout my work.
Spring is coming.
40 days until Opening Day
February 13, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Spring is coming.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
One of the highlights from the 2025 Heirloom Bean Encuentro with Alta Baja (@altabajamarket) last year was Chef Luis Pérez's (@chef.luisperez) vegetarian Gallina Pinta, which he served at Chapter One (@chapteronetml). We begged him for the recipe, and he delivered. Thank you, Chef!
February 13, 2026 at 5:02 PM
One of the highlights from the 2025 Heirloom Bean Encuentro with Alta Baja (@altabajamarket) last year was Chef Luis Pérez's (@chef.luisperez) vegetarian Gallina Pinta, which he served at Chapter One (@chapteronetml). We begged him for the recipe, and he delivered. Thank you, Chef!
A Confederacy of Car Dealership Owners
This administration’s ability to elevate people who are simultaneously awful and kind of dumb is unmatched.
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
A Confederacy of Car Dealership Owners
I'd also posit that these efforts add layers of administration in the form of directors, vice presidents, and "centers of excellence," which act as zero-sum funding sinks and are difficult to dislodge once put in place.
Faculty have a role to play, but I'm convinced the most recent drive to automate education will fail, just as it has in every decade since the 1950s, because tuition-paying students hate it.
That said, each new iteration of this drive chips away at budgets, at public trust, at institutions, etc.
That said, each new iteration of this drive chips away at budgets, at public trust, at institutions, etc.
February 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I'd also posit that these efforts add layers of administration in the form of directors, vice presidents, and "centers of excellence," which act as zero-sum funding sinks and are difficult to dislodge once put in place.
One does not have to be a military historian to understand that GOFOs frequently do not rise to their stations based on the strength of their unparalleled genius.
Dawg my Navy is so fucking embarrassing
Trump-class battleships are ‘exactly’ what the Navy needs, SWO boss says - Breaking Defense
The Navy ran into design challenges with its next-generation destroyer, emphasizing the need for a larger battleship, according to Vice Adm. Brendan McLane.
breakingdefense.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:45 PM
One does not have to be a military historian to understand that GOFOs frequently do not rise to their stations based on the strength of their unparalleled genius.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Here's a list of some topics I cover in my article, Privacy in Authoritarian Times papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
February 13, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Here's a list of some topics I cover in my article, Privacy in Authoritarian Times papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 5:44 AM
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
For those of you keeping score at home, the actual cut to the Post newsroom was 45%, not the widely reported one third. Remaining journalists are a bit over 400, down from around 1100 four years ago and 580 when Bezos bought the place.
February 12, 2026 at 6:49 PM
For those of you keeping score at home, the actual cut to the Post newsroom was 45%, not the widely reported one third. Remaining journalists are a bit over 400, down from around 1100 four years ago and 580 when Bezos bought the place.
Facebook once again making the depiction of Omni Consumer Products in Robocop look sober and understated.
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Facebook once again making the depiction of Omni Consumer Products in Robocop look sober and understated.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Yes, I am announcing "I am departing this room" and I really hate it.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/i-had-a-dr... did it for me.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/i-had-a-dr... did it for me.
I Had a Dream Journalism Job. Here's Why I Quit.
The rot that hollowed out trust in corporate media finally reached OPB. I had to go.
www.thewesternedge.media
February 13, 2026 at 3:44 AM
Yes, I am announcing "I am departing this room" and I really hate it.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/i-had-a-dr... did it for me.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/i-had-a-dr... did it for me.
Beware: Folks of a certain age may be reminded of one of the most heartbreaking commercials of all time.
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous. n.pr/3M9F0rT
Sarah McLachlan: Tiny Desk Concert
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous.
n.pr
February 13, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Beware: Folks of a certain age may be reminded of one of the most heartbreaking commercials of all time.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous. n.pr/3M9F0rT
Sarah McLachlan: Tiny Desk Concert
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous.
n.pr
February 12, 2026 at 11:05 PM
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous. n.pr/3M9F0rT
Damn right.
I think Senator Murphy does a good job here, but I hate that we live in an era of "Okay, sure, he's an unapologetic white supremacist, but let's hear him out and take in the full measure of the man."
Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department. I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the “erasure of white culture”. Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer. Like he has never before been asked to explain his views.
February 13, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Damn right.
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
I think Senator Murphy does a good job here, but I hate that we live in an era of "Okay, sure, he's an unapologetic white supremacist, but let's hear him out and take in the full measure of the man."
Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department. I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the “erasure of white culture”. Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer. Like he has never before been asked to explain his views.
February 13, 2026 at 12:41 AM
I think Senator Murphy does a good job here, but I hate that we live in an era of "Okay, sure, he's an unapologetic white supremacist, but let's hear him out and take in the full measure of the man."
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
United States v. Chatrie, the geofence warrant case, is now scheduled for oral argument on Monday, April 27th.
www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...
www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...
Docket for 25-112
www.supremecourt.gov
February 12, 2026 at 11:26 PM
United States v. Chatrie, the geofence warrant case, is now scheduled for oral argument on Monday, April 27th.
www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...
www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
with alt text:
![Beware the Trump-backed so-called "Save
America Act" (HR 7296), which:
1. Requires that states establish voter purge programs using systems that experts call unreliable, such as the DHS's "SAVE" system (as updated by "DOGE*) & the SSA's #verification system.
2. Subjects election officials to citizen suits & potential prison time for a single erroneous registration (even if the voter is a citizen), but not for erroneous voter purges.
3. Requires that anyone registering to vote or changing their registration (or re-registering after a faulty voter purge) prove their citizenship in person with approved documentation, such as a U.S. passport (an expensive option that many voters lack).
4. Omits Real IDs from the list of approved registration documentation, unless:
a. The Real ID "indicates the applicant is a [U.S.] citizen", a requirement that excludes most Real IDs because only 5 states issue Real IDS that indicate citizenship, or
b. The Real ID is presented with a certified birth certificate that matches the Real ID, which won't work for up to 69M women whose last names don't match their birth certificates.
5. Omits marriage certificates from the list of approved registration documents, effectively disenfranchising the women in 4b, above, unless they can afford passports.
6. Won't let you cast a ballot without Voter ID documents that again prove you are a U.S. citizen.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wpsspp55o7w6muawlnmknobc/bafkreic54xchp4yqzylauiiopaao4k3owpyup4pwnjnebb2ctg52mykimu@jpeg)
February 13, 2026 at 12:32 AM
with alt text: