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Paul Konstant

@progpk.bsky.social

460 followers 1.2K following 640 posts

Retired scientist/ technologist. Diverse interests, few of them mainstream, fewer overlap. I like to follow specialists. Rational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealist. He/him. 📍València, España

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Paul Konstant @progpk.bsky.social · Nov 10

New folks on Bluesky, I *beg* you to fill out your profiles with enough info we can tell you're a real person.

I get dozens of new followers a day. At least half are scams and bots.

If your avatar isn't personalized, you never post, but follow thousands, you're getting blocked.

Reposted by Paul Konstant

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · 4h

When I was an undergrad, I saw a talk by Oliver Sacks about music. During the Q&A, someone asked Sacks if he thought science would reveal the deepest mysteries of art. Sacks (a rare humanist among scientists) said that he doubted it, at which Eric Kandel (the host) leaped up and grabbed the mic.

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 15h

Uh... so he's openly trying to rig a foreign election for a friend of his and a friend of his top donor—Musk—by saying that Argentinians will only get $20 billion dollars in American aid if they vote for Milei?

So this money Trump is stealing from US taxpayers is not to help Argentina, but his pal?

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 15h

Trump says US support for Argentina is ‘gone’ if Milei suffers election losses on.ft.com/3L8Y0Wi

Trump says US support for Argentina is ‘gone’ if Milei suffers election losses

President suggests $20bn swap line is contingent on libertarian’s victory in midterm elections

on.ft.com

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Tuffy @smtuffy.bsky.social · 18h

The pivot from “I’m building god” to “I’m building a jerkoff tool” is pretty funny

Reuters @reuters.com · 18h

OpenAI to allow mature content on ChatGPT for adult verified users starting December reut.rs/3J8NTAi

OpenAI to allow mature content on ChatGPT for adult verified users starting December

OpenAI will allow mature content for ChatGPT users who verify their age on the platform starting in December, CEO Sam Altman said, after the chatbot was made restrictive for users in mental distress.

reut.rs

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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 22h

I'm sorry, is the Trump Administration talking to a tech platform?

Is it...requesting content moderation?

Today following outreach from @thejusticedept, Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago.
The wave of violence against ICE has been driven by online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk just for doing their jobs. The Department of Justice will continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.

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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 18h

Who is dropping out of BRICS? What are you talking about? You essentially taxed your own importers.

Why is nobody following up on this.

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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 19h

Source:

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 18h

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

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WIRED @wired.com · 17h

"This was surprising and new information for us. We have not approved the use of the IKEA logo in this context," IKEA spokesperson Arvid Stigland tells WIRED.

Tesla and Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They're Not Involved

A presentation that has been shared with the Trump administration references Tesla, Ikea, TSMC, and more in its plan to rebuild Gaza. Some of these companies say they had no idea they were mentioned.

www.wired.com

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Paul Konstant @progpk.bsky.social · 22h

I built integration for scientific data across pharma R&D for >20 years. There's one more risk that PT was never known for - Data Quality. I had to be sure that every expt result was accurate. There were stories of his facial recognition picking the wrong person.

Paul Konstant @progpk.bsky.social · 1d

A rare opportunity for a different perspective. Greatly appreciated.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Americans are democracy’s equivalent of second-generation wealth’: a Chinese journalist on the US under Trump

The long read: Once a stalwart of Hong Kong’s journalism scene, Wang Jian has found a new audience on YouTube, dissecting global politics and US-China relations since the pandemic. To his fans, he’s p...

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Paul Konstant

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

This is the response I received from ICE when I inquired about the 13-year-old they abducted from Everett, Mass. on Friday:

Good afternoon, Marisa.
Please see the below from DHS on the 13-year-old alien.
Please feel free to direct any questions to them.
Respectfully,
James

Tricia McLaughlin
@TriciaOhio • 6h
S...
Here are the facts: he posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property.
He was in possession of a firearm and 5-7 inch knife when arrested.

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Harry Litman @harrylitman.bsky.social · 1d

There isn’t another side to the argument. Every actor in the system—from defense attorneys to Justices on the Supreme Court—recognizes what is happening. The only question is how the criminal justice system should respond.”

open.substack.com/pub/harrylit...

The Irredeemable DOJ

Why James has an even stronger case of selective prosecution than Comey.

open.substack.com

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Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 1d

Breaking: Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, the legendary transgender activist and veteran of the Stonewall uprising who dedicated her life to the liberation of trans people, especially Black trans women, has died at 78.

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CREW @citizensforethics.org · 1d

President Trump was just caught on a hot mic talking with the president of Indonesia.

He may have been talking about his business interests in the country–which would be exactly the kind of conflict of interest we’ve been warning about for years. 🧵

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump's conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is caught on a hot mic. Hard to tell exactly what they are talking about, but Subianto asks Trump about meeting Eric Trump and Don Jr, who supposedly have nothing to do with government while they run the family business.

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 1d

‘I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore’: They Tried to Self-Deport, Then Got Stranded in Trump’s America talkingpointsmemo.com/news/they-tr...

‘I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore’: They Tried to Self-Deport, Then Got Stranded in Trump’s America

This article first appeared at Propublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s the full post. It has played out largely as we predicted: Democrats have leaned into their power and let Republicans shut the government to protect Trump.

And it’s backfiring, because the shutdown is drawing attention and giving us the opportunity to educate.

Democrats: Stand Up this September and Shut Trump Down

Democratic leaders can use budget negotiations to protect science — and democracy

scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com

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Jimmy @abdessamadm.bsky.social · 2d

Here! 6society.store/amphibians-a...

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 2d

We are Amphifa.

AMPHIFA:

Amphibians Against Fascism.

Black and green flag of a Portland protest frog.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 2d

It is just staggering the amounts of chutzpah & utter disdain for your/my/our intelligence as citizens that these 9 Wizards In Robes have. They think we’re idiots & beneath their honesty & explanation, as they dismantle the rule of law & the Republic.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 2d

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀?
Thought-provoking piece on properties of systems.
Including the Law of Increasing Functional Information, which applies to both biological and non-biological systems.
Physicists will probably not like this at all...
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
#complexity

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Kristen Immoor @kristenimmoor.bsky.social · 2d

Enjoyed the New Yorker interview with Tim Curry, a free-wheeling conversation in which there were several sensitive questions about his paralyzing stroke. But oh my goodness, why was there no follow-up at all to this staggering answer? www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Screenshot of text from the interview:

You’ve always been an incredibly physical performer: your strut during “Sweet Transvestite” in “Rocky Horror,” or the way you run around unfurling the mystery at the end of “Clue.” Do you still feel that in your body? Does that live somewhere in you still?

I think it does, but it’s angry. My mobility is angry to get out. But it’s not happened yet. I do a certain amount of physical therapy. I did a whole bunch of it at Cedars-Sinai, and I got very close, I think, to walking. That was tantalizing. For insurance reasons, I had to withdraw. And I have a visiting physical therapist now, but I can only really do exercises from my bed, which is pretty pathetic. It’s not going to get me walking, I don’t believe.

[I have underlined the sentence "For insurance reasons, I had to withdraw."]

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Justin Elliott @justinelliott.bsky.social · 2d

Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

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StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻❌👑 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 2d

This is the right answer. I will never stop standing up for my trans brothers and sisters. And if you want to be mean, you'd better not do it around me! 💯

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Marie 🇨🇦 @pawbaby2.bsky.social · 2d

This is a great video to explain Judge Perry’s recent ruling. She just handed Trump a civics lesson for the ages reminding him the military defends the Constitution, not his ego. Protests aren’t rebellion; they’re democracy’s heartbeat. 💗

#USDemocracy
#Pinks

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Julie DiCaro @juliedicaro.bsky.social · 2d

So Kilmer Abrego-Garcia will not challenge a deportation to Costa Rica, who has agreed to for him residency, but DHS won’t agree to send him there because it’s not cruel enough.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

For weeks, Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who is married to a U.S. citizen, has made clear that he would not challenge his deportation if he were sent to Costa Rica, which has promised him legal residency and guaranteed that he would not be sent back to El Salvador.

But the Trump administration has refused to deport him to Costa Rica, and in an earlier hearing this week, Judge Xinis pressed the administration to consider the option or clarify why it was unacceptable.

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