Heidi
@heidisamiam.bsky.social
Nonpracticing academic philosopher. Copy editor by day AND night. Anarchism, asexuality, autism, and other things that start with A.
Reposted by Heidi
At least 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club, a hateful anti-Islam biker gang that promotes violence against Muslims, are serving as military contractors at the deadly U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, with many of them in leadership positions, a new investigation finds.
Report: US “Aid” Sites in Gaza Run by Members of Vehemently Islamophobic Gang
The group, Infidels Motorcycle Club, apparently view themselves as Crusaders of modern times.
buff.ly
September 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
At least 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club, a hateful anti-Islam biker gang that promotes violence against Muslims, are serving as military contractors at the deadly U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, with many of them in leadership positions, a new investigation finds.
Reposted by Heidi
One of the things you learned at 18F and USDS is that government isn’t like a business: it has to serve everybody and not just specific market segments that are the most convenient.
August 20, 2025 at 12:49 PM
One of the things you learned at 18F and USDS is that government isn’t like a business: it has to serve everybody and not just specific market segments that are the most convenient.
Reposted by Heidi
MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of generative AI deployments fail after interviewing 150 execs, surveying 350 workers, and analyzing 300 projects. The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.
fortune.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:52 AM
MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of generative AI deployments fail after interviewing 150 execs, surveying 350 workers, and analyzing 300 projects. The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.
Reposted by Heidi
What this means in practice is that 14K trans people will have to quit their federal employee jobs and find jobs that cover gender affirming care.
In other words, this is a purge of trans people from the civil service.
Lavender scare.
Everyone who participates is responsible
In other words, this is a purge of trans people from the civil service.
Lavender scare.
Everyone who participates is responsible
20 Aug 25 -- Trump admin quietly enacts new ban of reimbursement for gender related care through fed govt's largest health insurer regardless of age. 8m fed & 2m postal employees of which ~14k are trans -- will be affected. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Trump quietly bans federal health insurance from covering gender-affirming care
The largest federal health insurance provider now bans coverage for gender-affirming care, but allows "faith-based counseling."
www.advocate.com
August 20, 2025 at 2:09 PM
What this means in practice is that 14K trans people will have to quit their federal employee jobs and find jobs that cover gender affirming care.
In other words, this is a purge of trans people from the civil service.
Lavender scare.
Everyone who participates is responsible
In other words, this is a purge of trans people from the civil service.
Lavender scare.
Everyone who participates is responsible
Reposted by Heidi
It is not for human consumption. It says it is not for human consumption.
What is fascinating is that in this age of pregnant women of color being prosecuted for miscarriages, she skates and gets to do interviews.
What is fascinating is that in this age of pregnant women of color being prosecuted for miscarriages, she skates and gets to do interviews.
I’m kind of stunned to see people On Here mocking this mother, and just on a purely pragmatic level we should hope she & similarly situated plaintiffs successfully sue this raw milk nonsense out of business
www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2...
www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2...
Mother sues Florida dairy farm, claims she lost fetus after raw milk led to bacterial infection
A New Smyrna Beach dairy farm was named in a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims she lost her fetus after falling ill while caring for her toddler who became sick after drinking raw, unpasteurized mil...
www.clickorlando.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:44 PM
It is not for human consumption. It says it is not for human consumption.
What is fascinating is that in this age of pregnant women of color being prosecuted for miscarriages, she skates and gets to do interviews.
What is fascinating is that in this age of pregnant women of color being prosecuted for miscarriages, she skates and gets to do interviews.
Reposted by Heidi
‘Park employees were required to offer up potential items for review by last week, with one park employee telling WaPo that several titles have been marked for removal “out of an abundance of caution.”
National Park Service employees have flagged several books to remove from their gift shops as part of the Trump administration’s crusade against “corrosive ideology.”
NPS Flags Book About George Washington in Trump Crackdown
National Park Service employees have been directed to weed out “corrosive ideology” from their gift shops.
buff.ly
August 17, 2025 at 6:03 PM
‘Park employees were required to offer up potential items for review by last week, with one park employee telling WaPo that several titles have been marked for removal “out of an abundance of caution.”
Reposted by Heidi
"What’s happening in D.C. is an explicit racist attack on a majority Black city, with majority Black leadership, that is also a Sanctuary city providing defense and support for our migrant neighbors."
Here's my weekly must-reads list, a frontline dispatch from a D.C. organizer, and my final thoughts for the week. One thing I took away from my exchange with Shannon Clark, a mutual aid organizer in D.C., is that "having great networks already in place" has been crucial. Let's all take note.
Must-Reads and What D.C. Organizers Need You to Know
"D.C. was able to respond to defend our neighbors quickly," says D.C. organizer Shannon Clark.
organizingmythoughts.org
August 17, 2025 at 2:36 AM
"What’s happening in D.C. is an explicit racist attack on a majority Black city, with majority Black leadership, that is also a Sanctuary city providing defense and support for our migrant neighbors."
Reposted by Heidi
News in India is being erased from the internet..
#India 🇮🇳 Journalists warn that stories on surveillance, hate crimes and rights abuses are now vanishing from digital archives without explanation. @indexoncensorship.org reports:
News in India is being erased from the internet
buff.ly
July 30, 2025 at 9:32 AM
News in India is being erased from the internet..
Reposted by Heidi
this shit drives me nuts. if someone has only ever written op-eds and columns, they're not a journalist! Writer, essayist, columnist, yep. Journalist, no. It would be like calling someone who's never written a book an author.
![Bari Weiss bio reads "is an American journalist. She was an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal from 2013 to 2017[1] and an op-ed staff editor and writer on culture and politics at The New York Times from 2017 to 2020.[2] Since March 1, 2021, she has worked as a regular columnist for German daily newspaper Die Welt.[3] Weiss founded the media company The Free Press (formerly Common Sense) and hosts the podcast Honestly.'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lf44yuqfyi3ilxxfqudsqqc2/bafkreibk77vr6b34nupe2eatsqxgpsg7k6qm4ccufk6sf2glhe4zxfsmsm@jpeg)
February 27, 2025 at 4:19 AM
this shit drives me nuts. if someone has only ever written op-eds and columns, they're not a journalist! Writer, essayist, columnist, yep. Journalist, no. It would be like calling someone who's never written a book an author.
Reposted by Heidi
WTF? I was quoted in this story but I have never spoken to the reporter nor would I have said those things. Is everything just generated by LLMs these days?
cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...
cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...
July 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
WTF? I was quoted in this story but I have never spoken to the reporter nor would I have said those things. Is everything just generated by LLMs these days?
cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...
cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...
Reposted by Heidi
no draft kings (really, i think online gambling is a terrible scam)
June 14, 2025 at 6:38 PM
no draft kings (really, i think online gambling is a terrible scam)
Reposted by Heidi
When respirators/masks are illegal in public, disabled people are illegal in public.
if you care to think of yourself as an ally to marginalized people, as a comrade of mine, but you are not wearing a respirator at a protest? you’re not wearing one on transit you took to and from? why?
who are your actions in alignment with?
who are your actions in alignment with?
June 14, 2025 at 7:06 PM
When respirators/masks are illegal in public, disabled people are illegal in public.
Reposted by Heidi
India should sue every company that puts our name on that swill, we have a reputation that goes back thousands of years for giving the world things that will improve how stuff tastes this is just malicious slander
India Pale Ale was invented because the British needed a beer that wouldn't spoil in the heat of their colonial oppression.
They shipped the beer from UK to India, and the extra hops meant it wouldn't turn on the way.
We have refrigerators now.
They shipped the beer from UK to India, and the extra hops meant it wouldn't turn on the way.
We have refrigerators now.
I genuinely thought there was no way to make an IPA taste worse but I may have been wrong
May 17, 2025 at 1:18 PM
India should sue every company that puts our name on that swill, we have a reputation that goes back thousands of years for giving the world things that will improve how stuff tastes this is just malicious slander
Reposted by Heidi
Bugs makes this case accurately and eloquently. what happened is not "man speaks from beyond the grave" what happened is "they showed an expensive cartoon in court"
no he didn't that's not him what the fuck is wrong with you freaks
May 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Bugs makes this case accurately and eloquently. what happened is not "man speaks from beyond the grave" what happened is "they showed an expensive cartoon in court"
Reposted by Heidi
Every review of youth gender medicine is just, "there's evidence that this helps and no evidence that this causes harm, but here's why that doesn't count."
reading the HHS "gender dysphoria report" summary and this is some truly insidious shit. sure, all the studies SAY the kids are happier, but we bet they aren't actually. they're all hopped up on something we bet probably
May 1, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Every review of youth gender medicine is just, "there's evidence that this helps and no evidence that this causes harm, but here's why that doesn't count."
Reposted by Heidi
A central problem with this analysis is that the last few months have shown that those of us who have opposed Trump reflexively and performatively have also been much more correct about what he would do if unleashed than those who keep warning to take a more measured approach
Why on earth would a protest movement against the worst president in US history begin by acknowledging that he's not so bad
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/o...
May 1, 2025 at 12:24 PM
A central problem with this analysis is that the last few months have shown that those of us who have opposed Trump reflexively and performatively have also been much more correct about what he would do if unleashed than those who keep warning to take a more measured approach
Reposted by Heidi
“Cutting Disabled people’s incomes, particularly when many are already unable to afford the essentials will just just make it harder to manage conditions or move towards work.” - Joseph Rowntree Foundation
#DisabilityRebellion #MayDay #TaxTheRich #WelfareNotWarfare
#DisabilityRebellion #MayDay #TaxTheRich #WelfareNotWarfare
May 1, 2025 at 11:53 AM
“Cutting Disabled people’s incomes, particularly when many are already unable to afford the essentials will just just make it harder to manage conditions or move towards work.” - Joseph Rowntree Foundation
#DisabilityRebellion #MayDay #TaxTheRich #WelfareNotWarfare
#DisabilityRebellion #MayDay #TaxTheRich #WelfareNotWarfare
Reposted by Heidi
The govt claims the cuts to disability benefits "will support more disabled people into work". But cutting disability benefits will actually create more barriers to work. It's not about getting people into work. I's about cutting the welfare bill down to appease the far-right.”
#disabilityrebellion
#disabilityrebellion
May 1, 2025 at 12:07 PM
The govt claims the cuts to disability benefits "will support more disabled people into work". But cutting disability benefits will actually create more barriers to work. It's not about getting people into work. I's about cutting the welfare bill down to appease the far-right.”
#disabilityrebellion
#disabilityrebellion
Reposted by Heidi
I’ve found it’s more visually appealing to just paste in his head at the inflection points
April 29, 2025 at 10:26 PM
I’ve found it’s more visually appealing to just paste in his head at the inflection points
Reposted by Heidi
Attending a conference where researchers in my field (studying online misinformation and manipulation) are commiserating over all of our canceled grants, all in service of this: so this man and his regime of propagandists and conspiracy theorists can dictate (un)reality without challenge.
This exchange is so very telling.
Trump repeatedly claims the photoshopped MS-13 on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real, Terry Moran keeps telling him it isn't, prompting Trump to say this:
"I never heard of you. I picked you. You’re not being very nice. He had MS-13 tattooed... Just say yes!"
Trump repeatedly claims the photoshopped MS-13 on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real, Terry Moran keeps telling him it isn't, prompting Trump to say this:
"I never heard of you. I picked you. You’re not being very nice. He had MS-13 tattooed... Just say yes!"
April 30, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Attending a conference where researchers in my field (studying online misinformation and manipulation) are commiserating over all of our canceled grants, all in service of this: so this man and his regime of propagandists and conspiracy theorists can dictate (un)reality without challenge.
Reposted by Heidi
Considering there are still dupes out there going, "he just wants to prevent chronic disease!" I feel the need to point out that RFK Jr. has been working on these issues for decades and has not bothered to learn the most elementary facts about how vaccines or the government work.
April 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Considering there are still dupes out there going, "he just wants to prevent chronic disease!" I feel the need to point out that RFK Jr. has been working on these issues for decades and has not bothered to learn the most elementary facts about how vaccines or the government work.
Reposted by Heidi
Or — hear me out — we could all pool our money together and hire experts to do the research for us, thus creating a "center" for disease control and prevention.
April 30, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Or — hear me out — we could all pool our money together and hire experts to do the research for us, thus creating a "center" for disease control and prevention.
Reposted by Heidi
So just to recap, the Transportation Secretary is scared shitless of public transport. The Education Secretary is being sued for enabling child sex abuse. The Health Secretary is bringing back measles. And the Defense Secretary is texting classified war plans to the editor in chief of the Atlantic
That would be Secretary of Education Linda McMahon who's being sued for aiding and abetting systemic child molestation, just to be clear
Amended complaint has been filed in the ring boys sexual abuse lawsuit against WWE, TKO, Vince McMahon, and Linda McMahon. Three new plaintiffs have joined the original five, one of which accuses Pat Patterson of also participating in the abuse.
PDF link: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
PDF link: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
April 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
So just to recap, the Transportation Secretary is scared shitless of public transport. The Education Secretary is being sued for enabling child sex abuse. The Health Secretary is bringing back measles. And the Defense Secretary is texting classified war plans to the editor in chief of the Atlantic
Reposted by Heidi
As an anthropologist, if the only thing I ever did all day was remind people that before the privatization and commodification of land humans had way more free time and peace of mind, it would still not do a dent in how deep this myth has burrowed into people's colonized minds like a parasite
Liberalism is pretty good actually, it's why we have the time and peace of mind enough to even be having these discussions. Every tangible step towards civil rights is founded on the stability brought about under liberalism
April 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
As an anthropologist, if the only thing I ever did all day was remind people that before the privatization and commodification of land humans had way more free time and peace of mind, it would still not do a dent in how deep this myth has burrowed into people's colonized minds like a parasite