Mark Welch
@markwelch.bsky.social
• ex-reporter ex-teacher ex-attorney, he/him
• law, journalism, education, security, privacy, surveillance tech, AI fairness, bias, face recognition, Blue Dot, LFL
• Springfield MO <NorCal <NH <MA <WI
• UC Berkeley JD'89; UMass Amherst BA'83
• law, journalism, education, security, privacy, surveillance tech, AI fairness, bias, face recognition, Blue Dot, LFL
• Springfield MO <NorCal <NH <MA <WI
• UC Berkeley JD'89; UMass Amherst BA'83
Pinned
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... This is a good article. It asks the question: “if your government is breaking the law, what do laws mean? Can any be relied upon once some are breached? How do you tell the difference between living in such a society and hiding in it?”
What Chicago's fight against ICE can teach us all about how to resist oppression | Zoe Williams
A harrowing US podcast documents a community’s struggle against immigration raids – and warns us about herd mentality, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
www.theguardian.com
Wow.
» Setting up our Little Free Library [Mark Welch's Perspective]
www.markwelchblog.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Reposted by Mark Welch
There was an article in The Guardian a few weeks back about how Gen Z find bookshops preferable to online shopping, and a key factor was that an algorithm will offer you 6000 books identical to the one you just finished whereas a bookseller will offer you three that are different but meet the vibe.
November 30, 2025 at 12:13 AM
There was an article in The Guardian a few weeks back about how Gen Z find bookshops preferable to online shopping, and a key factor was that an algorithm will offer you 6000 books identical to the one you just finished whereas a bookseller will offer you three that are different but meet the vibe.
Reposted by Mark Welch
“She pointed to information on the Russian sites Sputnik and RT, which she said supported vaccination drives in Russia but fanned anti-science conspiracy theories in English and German.”
www.ft.com/content/ae15...
www.ft.com/content/ae15...
Taming the four horsemen of the infocalypse
Imposter accounts, lax moderation, extremism and synthetic content could destroy trust in everything we read online
www.ft.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:20 AM
“She pointed to information on the Russian sites Sputnik and RT, which she said supported vaccination drives in Russia but fanned anti-science conspiracy theories in English and German.”
www.ft.com/content/ae15...
www.ft.com/content/ae15...
Reposted by Mark Welch
Whoa, excellent study just dropped in Science!
"Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @tiziano.bsky.social and @msaveski.bsky.social
"Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @tiziano.bsky.social and @msaveski.bsky.social
Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization
Today, social media platforms hold the sole power to study the effects of feed-ranking algorithms. We developed a platform-independent method that reranks participants’ feeds in real time and used thi...
www.science.org
November 30, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Whoa, excellent study just dropped in Science!
"Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @tiziano.bsky.social and @msaveski.bsky.social
"Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by @tiziano.bsky.social and @msaveski.bsky.social
Reposted by Mark Welch
Beware of flying ICE.
An ICE GOON launched a car into the air and crashed it into the second floor of a building.
Waitsfield, Vermont.
Waitsfield, Vermont.
November 30, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Beware of flying ICE.
Reposted by Mark Welch
Is accountability coming?
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Congressional committees vow to boost oversight in killing of boat strike survivors
The Senate and House armed services committees’ pledge followed a Washington Post report revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that a U.S. strike leave no survivors.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Is accountability coming?
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Mark Welch
Hard to imagine a worse, less productive, more ill-conceived response to the shootings. It will cause much damage to the country, considerable human suffering and deliver no benefits of any sort to anyone.
The U.S. on Friday paused all asylum decisions and stopped issuing visas to people from Afghanistan as President Trump launched a major review of the country’s immigration system after the authorities said an Afghan man opened fire on two National Guard members.
Trump Pauses All Asylum Applications and Halts Visas for Afghans
They were the latest restrictive changes to the immigration system after this week’s shooting of two National Guard members.
nyti.ms
November 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Hard to imagine a worse, less productive, more ill-conceived response to the shootings. It will cause much damage to the country, considerable human suffering and deliver no benefits of any sort to anyone.
Reposted by Mark Welch
Sen. Tim Kaine on Trump’s Pardon of Fmr. Honduran President Who Brought Over 400 Tons of Cocaine Into US: “This is a disgusting and incomprehensible decision…” ("And Trump claims he's trying to fight narco-trafficking?" Riiiiight.) bluevirginia.us/2025/11/sen-...
Sen. Tim Kaine on Trump’s Pardon of Fmr. Honduran President Who Brought Over 400 Tons of Cocaine Into US: “This is a disgusting and incomprehensible decision…”
From Sen. Tim Kaine on one of the latest outrages by the utterly corrupt Donald Trump - this time, pardoning "Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who is serving a 45-year prison s...
bluevirginia.us
November 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Sen. Tim Kaine on Trump’s Pardon of Fmr. Honduran President Who Brought Over 400 Tons of Cocaine Into US: “This is a disgusting and incomprehensible decision…” ("And Trump claims he's trying to fight narco-trafficking?" Riiiiight.) bluevirginia.us/2025/11/sen-...
Reposted by Mark Welch
chat are we cooked
November 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
chat are we cooked
Reposted by Mark Welch
November 29, 2025 at 2:47 PM
November 29, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Mark Welch
This person clerked for Judge then Justice Neil Gorsuch, given one of the most prestigious jobs in the American legal system, twice. A real meritocracy we’re running here.
November 29, 2025 at 11:45 AM
This person clerked for Judge then Justice Neil Gorsuch, given one of the most prestigious jobs in the American legal system, twice. A real meritocracy we’re running here.
Reposted by Mark Welch
This is just a fantastic interview, brimming with insights into game design generally and the design of this maddeningly brilliant game in particular. Want to know why Silksong is Like That? It’s covered.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
The Makers of ‘Silksong’ Aren’t Done Just Yet
The developers at Team Cherry tell us they’re working on new content for their popular action game
www.bloomberg.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This is just a fantastic interview, brimming with insights into game design generally and the design of this maddeningly brilliant game in particular. Want to know why Silksong is Like That? It’s covered.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Wow.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... This is a good article. It asks the question: “if your government is breaking the law, what do laws mean? Can any be relied upon once some are breached? How do you tell the difference between living in such a society and hiding in it?”
What Chicago's fight against ICE can teach us all about how to resist oppression | Zoe Williams
A harrowing US podcast documents a community’s struggle against immigration raids – and warns us about herd mentality, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Wow.
Reposted by Mark Welch
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
November 29, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
Reposted by Mark Welch
“Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others agree it’s extortion but aren’t critics.”
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:36 PM
“Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others agree it’s extortion but aren’t critics.”
Reposted by Mark Welch
I feel so bad for the kids. No one’s looking out for most of them & the ones whose parents are trying to protect them from repeated infection w/a vascular, immune-disrupting disease often get told they’re “crazy” & should force kids to “get back to normal.”
The new normal just keeps getting worse.
The new normal just keeps getting worse.
My first SBM article 5.5 years ago was about how Vinay Prasad wanted unvaccinated kids to get Covid.
That was his animating goal the entire pandemic.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/covid-19-vac...
That was his animating goal the entire pandemic.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/covid-19-vac...
Should COVID-19 vaccines be administered to children under an emergency use authorization?
Recently, Wesley Pegden, Vinay Prasad, and Stefan Baral argued in The BMJ that "COVID-19 vaccines for children should not get emergency use authorization". Their argument is lacking, and they left out
sciencebasedmedicine.org
November 29, 2025 at 7:39 AM
I feel so bad for the kids. No one’s looking out for most of them & the ones whose parents are trying to protect them from repeated infection w/a vascular, immune-disrupting disease often get told they’re “crazy” & should force kids to “get back to normal.”
The new normal just keeps getting worse.
The new normal just keeps getting worse.
Reposted by Mark Welch
“Futures aren’t like stocks, where trading is spread across a number of exchanges... The U.S. futures market is highly concentrated at CME. The company, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange… handles the lion’s share of volume in…interest-rate and stock-index contracts.”
November 29, 2025 at 11:31 AM
“Futures aren’t like stocks, where trading is spread across a number of exchanges... The U.S. futures market is highly concentrated at CME. The company, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange… handles the lion’s share of volume in…interest-rate and stock-index contracts.”
Reposted by Mark Welch
Always love to see great talent using their platform for unabashed good.
'F*** Off And Let People Be': David Tennant Doubles Down On Support For Trans People
"People are trying to create division... and it's so f***ing unnecessary."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Always love to see great talent using their platform for unabashed good.
Reposted by Mark Welch
A lot of people need to see jail time for all of this
Five-byline alert: 🚨
“.. the full scope of [Witkoff’s talks] went much further, according to people familiar .. They were privately charting a path to bring Russia’s $2 trillion economy in from the cold—with American businesses first in line .. to the dividends. 🇺🇦
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
“.. the full scope of [Witkoff’s talks] went much further, according to people familiar .. They were privately charting a path to bring Russia’s $2 trillion economy in from the cold—with American businesses first in line .. to the dividends. 🇺🇦
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
A lot of people need to see jail time for all of this
Reposted by Mark Welch
I'm seeing a lot of discussion around this, many academics rejecting it outright. I definitely have seen some of what is being discussed here but I don't think it is systematic across the board. It depends on the country and institution. But I do think there's a risk of the issues that are producing
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I'm seeing a lot of discussion around this, many academics rejecting it outright. I definitely have seen some of what is being discussed here but I don't think it is systematic across the board. It depends on the country and institution. But I do think there's a risk of the issues that are producing
Today's reading distraction #2: "Coyote Hills" (2025, Clay Edison mystery series #6) by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman.
amzn.to/48qe2TM
amzn.to/48qe2TM
Coyote Hills: A Novel (Clay Edison Book 6)
Amazon.com: Coyote Hills: A Novel (Clay Edison Book 6) eBook : Kellerman, Jonathan, Kellerman, Jesse: Books
amzn.to
November 29, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Today's reading distraction #2: "Coyote Hills" (2025, Clay Edison mystery series #6) by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman.
amzn.to/48qe2TM
amzn.to/48qe2TM
Today's reading distraction: "Monster" (1999, Alex Delaware mystery series #13) by Jonathan Kellerman. (Finished at 7am.)
amzn.to/4p8pFG0
amzn.to/4p8pFG0
Monster: An Alex Delaware Novel
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's
A second-rate actor is found mutilated in a car trunk. Then a psychologist at a Los Angeles hospital for the criminally insane is ...
amzn.to
November 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Today's reading distraction: "Monster" (1999, Alex Delaware mystery series #13) by Jonathan Kellerman. (Finished at 7am.)
amzn.to/4p8pFG0
amzn.to/4p8pFG0
Reposted by Mark Welch
Reposted by Mark Welch
I was resting peacefully. The dog hopped up & said (lick lick) "this standup special is mediocre" (lick lick) "we need to WALK." (We did.)
Very cold outside.
I'm thankful for a great winter coat & gloves (after 35+ years in California), and for our dog, and for my wife, who saved my life.
Very cold outside.
I'm thankful for a great winter coat & gloves (after 35+ years in California), and for our dog, and for my wife, who saved my life.
November 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I was resting peacefully. The dog hopped up & said (lick lick) "this standup special is mediocre" (lick lick) "we need to WALK." (We did.)
Very cold outside.
I'm thankful for a great winter coat & gloves (after 35+ years in California), and for our dog, and for my wife, who saved my life.
Very cold outside.
I'm thankful for a great winter coat & gloves (after 35+ years in California), and for our dog, and for my wife, who saved my life.