Stephen Williamson
@nextimaginaut.bsky.social
Philosophy, history, art, comics, film, Buddhism, entheogens, progressive politics, meta-crisis solutions.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
November 30, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
It dovetailed with the freakout over the unlawful orders video, but also it is just qualitatively worse. It's absolutely a crime under all circumstances, even against a real enemy in a real war. And that has deep historical roots as *the* most notorious clear-cut war crime you can commit at sea.
Does anyone have a robust theory as to why the recent reporting on follow on strikes has galvanized this response and not you know the murders they were in the first order?
Note that both of the joint Republican-Democrat Statements from the Senate and House Armed Services Committees refer to the 'Department of Defense' - not the 'Department of War' - in their statements promising oversight of Pete Hegseth's actions.
December 1, 2025 at 12:29 AM
It dovetailed with the freakout over the unlawful orders video, but also it is just qualitatively worse. It's absolutely a crime under all circumstances, even against a real enemy in a real war. And that has deep historical roots as *the* most notorious clear-cut war crime you can commit at sea.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
missing stair-ass organizational psychology
Loving that AI productivity boost!
"the more artificial intelligence is used within a law firm, the more lawyers are needed to vet the technology’s outputs."
www.afr.com/companies/pr...
"the more artificial intelligence is used within a law firm, the more lawyers are needed to vet the technology’s outputs."
www.afr.com/companies/pr...
Use of AI ‘tech stacks’ driving demand for lawyers
The more artificial intelligence is used within a law firm, the more professionals are needed to vet the technology’s outputs.
www.afr.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:45 PM
missing stair-ass organizational psychology
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
a surprisingly cogent case that the trump administration is significantly tied to the sinaloa cartel and especially their cryptocurrency fueled money laundering operation
I got to thinking: "What if it's not about the contradiction between the Hernandez pardon and the air strikes, but about the consistency between them?"
As President of Honduras, he used the power of the government to go after certain cartels—primarily the rivals of the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom he
As President of Honduras, he used the power of the government to go after certain cartels—primarily the rivals of the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom he
November 30, 2025 at 11:38 PM
a surprisingly cogent case that the trump administration is significantly tied to the sinaloa cartel and especially their cryptocurrency fueled money laundering operation
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
George Lakoff and I pushed this simple and reasonable idea years ago. When I returned to journalism, I realized the problem. Editors care more about SEO and controversy (=clicks) than about whether the headline is destroying truth. Incentive is to bait engagement at all cost.
November 30, 2025 at 1:11 AM
George Lakoff and I pushed this simple and reasonable idea years ago. When I returned to journalism, I realized the problem. Editors care more about SEO and controversy (=clicks) than about whether the headline is destroying truth. Incentive is to bait engagement at all cost.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
November 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
November 30, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Talking to tech people who aren’t grifters, and it’s already bust there. They’re trying to find the remnants and useful tools to build practical shit, and a lot of them are trying to do it outside the U.S.
November 30, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Talking to tech people who aren’t grifters, and it’s already bust there. They’re trying to find the remnants and useful tools to build practical shit, and a lot of them are trying to do it outside the U.S.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
One thing I learned over the weekend from talking to finance people is that they assume the AI bubble is going to burst and their issue is figuring out when so they can time their trades right.
November 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
One thing I learned over the weekend from talking to finance people is that they assume the AI bubble is going to burst and their issue is figuring out when so they can time their trades right.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
"It’s Getting Harder to Figure Out Whether You Live in a Flood Zone or Not -
Incomplete federal maps leave banks, builders, and homeowners in the dark."
www.wsj.com/us-news/lood...
Incomplete federal maps leave banks, builders, and homeowners in the dark."
www.wsj.com/us-news/lood...
It’s Getting Harder to Figure Out Whether You Live in a Flood Zone or Not
Incomplete federal maps overlook millions of at-risk homes across the country, leaving banks, builders and homeowners in the dark.
www.wsj.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:36 PM
"It’s Getting Harder to Figure Out Whether You Live in a Flood Zone or Not -
Incomplete federal maps leave banks, builders, and homeowners in the dark."
www.wsj.com/us-news/lood...
Incomplete federal maps leave banks, builders, and homeowners in the dark."
www.wsj.com/us-news/lood...
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
As someone who works in the tech industry--absolutely.
They are testing the waters. These are top-down orders. The ONLY way to stop it is a visceral negative reaction. Write articles. Post your rage. Email. Post. @. All those things.
Only you have the power to kill it.
They are testing the waters. These are top-down orders. The ONLY way to stop it is a visceral negative reaction. Write articles. Post your rage. Email. Post. @. All those things.
Only you have the power to kill it.
Let me give some insight on this, as a producer in the dub industry who worked with major streamers, who's witnessed first-hand where this push for AI is coming from.
tl;dr: Only CEOs want this. Tell them how much you hate it. Be loud, email, call, @, post. You will kill this.
🧵⬇️
tl;dr: Only CEOs want this. Tell them how much you hate it. Be loud, email, call, @, post. You will kill this.
🧵⬇️
The only thing less human than these AI dub performances is the decision to sign off on them
A company this big can pay human actors a decent wage, not produce slop that intentionally removes the human element.
A company this big can pay human actors a decent wage, not produce slop that intentionally removes the human element.
November 30, 2025 at 5:07 AM
As someone who works in the tech industry--absolutely.
They are testing the waters. These are top-down orders. The ONLY way to stop it is a visceral negative reaction. Write articles. Post your rage. Email. Post. @. All those things.
Only you have the power to kill it.
They are testing the waters. These are top-down orders. The ONLY way to stop it is a visceral negative reaction. Write articles. Post your rage. Email. Post. @. All those things.
Only you have the power to kill it.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
One hard part of the literacy problem in the United States is there are a lot of people -- some of them with college degrees and beyond -- who don't realize that they are bad at reading
I don't know how to reach those people
I don't know how to reach those people
November 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
One hard part of the literacy problem in the United States is there are a lot of people -- some of them with college degrees and beyond -- who don't realize that they are bad at reading
I don't know how to reach those people
I don't know how to reach those people
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
If I had a penny for every time someone in charge of youth outreach for the GOP had to step down because of pedophilia, I’d have two pennies.
Which isn’t a lot — but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
www.ajc.com/politics/202...
Which isn’t a lot — but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
www.ajc.com/politics/202...
Teen GOP activist steps down from party leadership post
Greene County native and University of North Georgia student Ja’Quon Stembridge, 19, had run on boosting youth involvement in the party.
www.ajc.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:57 PM
If I had a penny for every time someone in charge of youth outreach for the GOP had to step down because of pedophilia, I’d have two pennies.
Which isn’t a lot — but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
www.ajc.com/politics/202...
Which isn’t a lot — but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
www.ajc.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
6 years today the first COVID case was identified in a man in Wuhan marking the beginning of a global pandemic that changed the world. We are way less prepared today to face another pandemic than we were back then. This fact makes me sad.
November 30, 2025 at 10:52 PM
6 years today the first COVID case was identified in a man in Wuhan marking the beginning of a global pandemic that changed the world. We are way less prepared today to face another pandemic than we were back then. This fact makes me sad.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Doing politics the right way, as Ezra Klein says
November 30, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Doing politics the right way, as Ezra Klein says
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Click through and read the assignment feedback, which was constructive, kind, and frankly very gentle. Suspending the instructor over this is a deranged overreaction in support of a clearly bad faith student, and the university choosing this action is once again another stain on higher education.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Click through and read the assignment feedback, which was constructive, kind, and frankly very gentle. Suspending the instructor over this is a deranged overreaction in support of a clearly bad faith student, and the university choosing this action is once again another stain on higher education.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Aboard AF1, Trump says not to read anything into his warning about Venezuelan airspace, it doesn't mean an airstrike is imminent and that he did have a call with Maduro, "I wouldn't say it went well or badly, it was a phone call."
There are reports that Chinese military officers were seen at the El Libertador Air Base in Maracay, amid growing military tension between Venezuela and the United States
November 30, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Aboard AF1, Trump says not to read anything into his warning about Venezuelan airspace, it doesn't mean an airstrike is imminent and that he did have a call with Maduro, "I wouldn't say it went well or badly, it was a phone call."
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Sure, they've made an environmentally catastrophic mass hallucination disinformation plagiarism Clippy that will destabilize the world, but also their other goal is to replace human workers entirely and let us humans starve. A boycott of AI is the most important boycott of your entire life.
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Sure, they've made an environmentally catastrophic mass hallucination disinformation plagiarism Clippy that will destabilize the world, but also their other goal is to replace human workers entirely and let us humans starve. A boycott of AI is the most important boycott of your entire life.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino tries to blame the rise of measles cases in the U.S. on “illegal aliens,” an extremely common strategy among fascists historically.
November 30, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino tries to blame the rise of measles cases in the U.S. on “illegal aliens,” an extremely common strategy among fascists historically.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Among heavy truck sales in China in 2025, 22% were battery electric
More Chinese #electrotech "propaganda" - the diesel freight truck is dying a quick death in China, and what's replacing it is simpler, more reliable, costs less in terms of CAPEX and OPEX, and doesn't emit local air pollutant nor GHGs. cleantechnica.com/2025/11/26/c...
China’s BEV Trucks and the End of Diesel’s Dominance - CleanTechnica
China’s electric heavy truck boom signals a freight transition as low cost BEVs outpace diesel and gas across short haul markets. Exports are rising.
cleantechnica.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Among heavy truck sales in China in 2025, 22% were battery electric
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
DON’T LET THEM FOOL YOU
Black Friday $ sales are higher this year because things are more expensive. So consumers aren’t buying more items, they’re just paying more them.
Black Friday $ sales are higher this year because things are more expensive. So consumers aren’t buying more items, they’re just paying more them.
November 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
DON’T LET THEM FOOL YOU
Black Friday $ sales are higher this year because things are more expensive. So consumers aren’t buying more items, they’re just paying more them.
Black Friday $ sales are higher this year because things are more expensive. So consumers aren’t buying more items, they’re just paying more them.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
The message here to students at OU is that you can get away with anything if you just claim your religious freedom is being violated.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The message here to students at OU is that you can get away with anything if you just claim your religious freedom is being violated.
Reposted by Stephen Williamson
Well look at that. A Canadian/South African immigrant who spent nearly $300MM to tilt an American election, waxing poetic about stripping citizenship from those born here…
November 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Well look at that. A Canadian/South African immigrant who spent nearly $300MM to tilt an American election, waxing poetic about stripping citizenship from those born here…