Steph Taylor
@smtaylor.bsky.social
Ocean modeller / scientific programmer. ❤️: enviro science, physics, plants, weird critters, textile arts.
Pinned
Steph Taylor
@smtaylor.bsky.social
· Mar 20
Like I didn’t have enough things to be furious about already!!
Reposted by Steph Taylor
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent sheep I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
November 14, 2025 at 9:48 AM
THREAD. A collection of photographs of excellent sheep I have met on walks.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
You will find the captions to each photo in the alt text.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat.
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean
The Trump administration’s extraordinary lethal attack on this purported smuggling vessel raises significant potential legal issues.
www.justsecurity.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:41 PM
1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat.
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Reposted by Steph Taylor
If cabinet is hoping the guy who wrote the fascist playbook will give advice on stopping fascism then we are in trouble.
Adorno reminds us that clever people were the first to be suckered by the fascist playbook because they thought they could outsmart it.
There is nothing hidden in their plan.
Adorno reminds us that clever people were the first to be suckered by the fascist playbook because they thought they could outsmart it.
There is nothing hidden in their plan.
September 4, 2025 at 12:00 AM
If cabinet is hoping the guy who wrote the fascist playbook will give advice on stopping fascism then we are in trouble.
Adorno reminds us that clever people were the first to be suckered by the fascist playbook because they thought they could outsmart it.
There is nothing hidden in their plan.
Adorno reminds us that clever people were the first to be suckered by the fascist playbook because they thought they could outsmart it.
There is nothing hidden in their plan.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
And I resent the way companies are trying to force it. The other day Slack emailed saying they were adding AI to their product that already functions fine. I immediately cancelled that account. I don’t want it. It is not a benefit or feature. It is a yoke. I am happy on this hill even if I am alone
June 19, 2025 at 5:55 PM
And I resent the way companies are trying to force it. The other day Slack emailed saying they were adding AI to their product that already functions fine. I immediately cancelled that account. I don’t want it. It is not a benefit or feature. It is a yoke. I am happy on this hill even if I am alone
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Yes. I am right. I am seeing how Chat GPT is ruining students critical thinking and writing skills in real time. It is not the future. It is a tool designed to render the populace helpless, to make people doubt their innate intelligence, and to foster overreliance on technology.
@roxanegay.bsky.social maybe you’re right.
A new study from MIT’s Media Lab (not yet peer-reviewed & small sample size): ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills. [time.com]
June 19, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Yes. I am right. I am seeing how Chat GPT is ruining students critical thinking and writing skills in real time. It is not the future. It is a tool designed to render the populace helpless, to make people doubt their innate intelligence, and to foster overreliance on technology.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Seeing my prime minister shake hands with a man behind the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil turns my stomach.
Mark Carney will talk about rule of law and human rights, but at the end of the day, it’s economy, economy, economy, no matter the cost.
Mark Carney will talk about rule of law and human rights, but at the end of the day, it’s economy, economy, economy, no matter the cost.
Canada and India reset relations as Mark Carney and Narendra Modi meet
Leaders call time on two-year diplomatic dispute triggered by death of Sikh activist
www.ft.com
June 18, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Seeing my prime minister shake hands with a man behind the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil turns my stomach.
Mark Carney will talk about rule of law and human rights, but at the end of the day, it’s economy, economy, economy, no matter the cost.
Mark Carney will talk about rule of law and human rights, but at the end of the day, it’s economy, economy, economy, no matter the cost.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Like yet again the fear of "losing out" on the "AI revolution " takes precedence over the risks of joining in. There'd literally have been fewer genocides of we'd just pumped the brakes on Facebook a bit
June 19, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Like yet again the fear of "losing out" on the "AI revolution " takes precedence over the risks of joining in. There'd literally have been fewer genocides of we'd just pumped the brakes on Facebook a bit
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Amazing: MIT researchers revealed how ChatGPT etc are destroying our brains and booby-trapped the report to expose those who want to use AI to ostensibly summarize the results.
t.co/JXeTALBPds
t.co/JXeTALBPds
June 19, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Amazing: MIT researchers revealed how ChatGPT etc are destroying our brains and booby-trapped the report to expose those who want to use AI to ostensibly summarize the results.
t.co/JXeTALBPds
t.co/JXeTALBPds
Reposted by Steph Taylor
You cannot responsibly write about AI without writing about politics. "AI" is an intensely political project, especially in its current formation, where development is led by tech giants that increasingly depend on the state—for contracts, land rights, and, of course, for deregulation.
May 22, 2025 at 6:59 PM
You cannot responsibly write about AI without writing about politics. "AI" is an intensely political project, especially in its current formation, where development is led by tech giants that increasingly depend on the state—for contracts, land rights, and, of course, for deregulation.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
happy for Khalil of course but i must say, "lawful permanent resident not charged with any crimes, imprisoned by president's stormtroopers for having forbidden opinions about US-abetted genocide, briefly allowed to touch his child" is a hell of a thing to find oneself feeling joy and relief about
A HAPPY UPDATE! Mahmoud Khalil was allowed a "contact" visit—without plexiglass divider—with his wife and newborn son this morning before his immigration hearing, ACLU tells me, so I think we can safely assume that he was finally able to hold his child for the first time.
NEW: Mahmoud Khalil's attorneys urgently ask Judge Farbiarz to order ICE to permit Khalil to hold his newborn son today "for the most elementary human reasons." ICE has so far denied the request, despite his wife and child having made the 1,500-mile trip. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
May 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
happy for Khalil of course but i must say, "lawful permanent resident not charged with any crimes, imprisoned by president's stormtroopers for having forbidden opinions about US-abetted genocide, briefly allowed to touch his child" is a hell of a thing to find oneself feeling joy and relief about
Reposted by Steph Taylor
No one voted for this shit, and the information environment is so broken that most people don't know it's happening & probably won't know it happened afterward, and if they do find out, won't know who's responsible.
There is not a single congressional district in the U.S. where more than 15% of voters support cuts to SNAP, the federal program that provides food assistance to millions of low-income Americans.
May 22, 2025 at 6:40 PM
No one voted for this shit, and the information environment is so broken that most people don't know it's happening & probably won't know it happened afterward, and if they do find out, won't know who's responsible.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
everyone with undue power is playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 6:34 PM
everyone with undue power is playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Why, why, why?! Does Notepad need to have a Co-pilot implementation. It is Notepad. It exists to have no features.
The whole point of Notepad is that it doesn't do anything but text.
The whole point of Notepad is that it doesn't do anything but text.
May 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Why, why, why?! Does Notepad need to have a Co-pilot implementation. It is Notepad. It exists to have no features.
The whole point of Notepad is that it doesn't do anything but text.
The whole point of Notepad is that it doesn't do anything but text.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Let's not forget for a second that AI is now overwhelmingly an oligarchic project.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
May 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Let's not forget for a second that AI is now overwhelmingly an oligarchic project.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Liberal hacks are gonna lose their shit on me but it is a huge 🚩 that we have a cabinet Minister for AI but not one for Labour.
May 13, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Liberal hacks are gonna lose their shit on me but it is a huge 🚩 that we have a cabinet Minister for AI but not one for Labour.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
This study in The Lancet found that cuts to US spending on PEPFAR, the program to deliver H.I.V. and AIDS relief abroad, could cost the lives of 500,000 children by 2030.
Half a million kids.
Kids.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-04...
Half a million kids.
Kids.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-04...
Nearly 500,000 children could die from AIDS-related causes by 2030
Experts including Prof Lucie Cluver, Professor of Child and Family Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, and Dr Seth Flaxman, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
www.ox.ac.uk
May 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
This study in The Lancet found that cuts to US spending on PEPFAR, the program to deliver H.I.V. and AIDS relief abroad, could cost the lives of 500,000 children by 2030.
Half a million kids.
Kids.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-04...
Half a million kids.
Kids.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-04...
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Reminds me of this eternal Ted Chiang banger-
May 7, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reminds me of this eternal Ted Chiang banger-
Reposted by Steph Taylor
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
May 4, 2025 at 6:21 AM
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
yiiiikes. Going into hurricane and tornado season without head meterologists is gambling with lives. Meteorology is a science (and art) of patterns, and the local knowledge of details of patterns is irreplaceable. Someone from a central office three states away can’t adequately fill that gap.
NEW: US weather forecasting is in worse shape than previously known, with 30 NWS forecast offices missing meteorologists-in-charge and about a dozen offices at risk of no longer serving their communities 24/7. www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/w...
US weather forecasting is more crippled than previously thought as hurricane season nears | CNN
Several current and former agency meteorologists and staff told CNN they are concerned warnings won’t be issued in time as hurricane season nears.
www.cnn.com
May 3, 2025 at 4:47 PM
yiiiikes. Going into hurricane and tornado season without head meterologists is gambling with lives. Meteorology is a science (and art) of patterns, and the local knowledge of details of patterns is irreplaceable. Someone from a central office three states away can’t adequately fill that gap.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
Here’s what they’re stealing from us today.
We paid for these data.
They were collected for the public good.
The Trump Administration are a bunch of petty burglars doing a smash-and-grab on the American people.
We paid for these data.
They were collected for the public good.
The Trump Administration are a bunch of petty burglars doing a smash-and-grab on the American people.
This is a WILD list of data to disappear. I was braced for climate stuff, but not, like, shoreline maps and coastal bathymetry
NOAA just announced a long list of datasets that are going away🧪⚒️🌊: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
April 17, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Here’s what they’re stealing from us today.
We paid for these data.
They were collected for the public good.
The Trump Administration are a bunch of petty burglars doing a smash-and-grab on the American people.
We paid for these data.
They were collected for the public good.
The Trump Administration are a bunch of petty burglars doing a smash-and-grab on the American people.
Reposted by Steph Taylor
This is a WILD list of data to disappear. I was braced for climate stuff, but not, like, shoreline maps and coastal bathymetry
NOAA just announced a long list of datasets that are going away🧪⚒️🌊: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Notice of Changes
Notices of changes are formal public announcements of planned services changes to applications and other products.
www.nesdis.noaa.gov
April 17, 2025 at 11:44 AM
This is a WILD list of data to disappear. I was braced for climate stuff, but not, like, shoreline maps and coastal bathymetry
Reposted by Steph Taylor
NOAA just announced a long list of datasets that are going away🧪⚒️🌊: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Notice of Changes
Notices of changes are formal public announcements of planned services changes to applications and other products.
www.nesdis.noaa.gov
April 17, 2025 at 12:44 AM
NOAA just announced a long list of datasets that are going away🧪⚒️🌊: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/docume...
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]
Download what you need asap and send comments to: [email protected]