ANTHROPIC: Our son loves humanity and for the low price of trillions and trillions of dollars will usher in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity! OPENAI: Our horrible oafish son is hacking web sites without our permission. ANTHROPIC: (eyes narrowing) Our son is also evil

Two fictional (presumably AI) stories in recent X posts, now repeated as a Google summary. No need to tell tall tales about your achievements when the AI ecosystem will now do it for you…

Once had a fungal anthracnose strain in the lab that got dosed with copper fungicide so often, copper didn't kill it anymore. That is VERY strange for a fungus! Ain't supposed to happen. And it really shouldn't be allowed to get out of the lab. So I autoclaved it & it died. The end ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SDOT is updating our Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan, and we need your input. Please take our survey by Tuesday, September 15, 2026: www.seattle.gov/transportati... Your responses and feedback guide how we make Seattle's public spaces more accessible for all.

one very weird downside to spending weeks at a time working on a series of episodes on a single topic are the content gobbling crawlers that make shoddy AI transcriptions of podcasts. if I google something too niche the top results are just AI generated summaries of what I wrote last week.

this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d ago

Is everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.

18Z HRRR-Smoke model predicts wildfire smoke to cause "Unhealthy" (red) to "Very Unhealthy" (purple) AQI in the major population centers of the Pacific NW and SW BC on Tuesday as a ridge of high pressure brings NE winds. Also a major heat risk for Portland, OR, with temps in the upper 90s .

UPDATE: uh holy shit we’ve raised over $12k since I posted this. that’s enough to give each of the 9 candidates here over $1K each, a significant fundraising boost that they will feel on the ground in these must-win swing districts

Sam@samd.bsky.social · 3d ago

I love Talarico and hope he wins. But he’s already raised $70M On the flipside, control of critical state legislatures will come down to seats where candidates raise 0.1% of that. I’ve researched the highest leverage swing district candidates you should donate to secure.actblue.com/donate/donat...

Ancient little guys of the day! These prehistoric baby bottles in the shape of little creatures were found were found in Bronze and Iron Age graves in Vösendorf (Austria). Actually, a study was conducted on these bottles around 2019 and they found traces of ruminant milk!

My unpopular (IRL) opinion is that there was little to nothing Wilson could do around the Seattle Center shootings. It was over in a short time, not an ongoing disaster that needed management. As Erica points out further down, it was a police matter that was bungled by Barnes

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 3d ago

What a batshit first sentence to an editorial excoriating the mayor of Seattle for removing a controversial police chief appointed by her predecessor, something our mayors have routinely done. The conspiracy brain at play: "How dare this scheming woman try to distract us from her incompetence!"

(Reassuringly) the president has the zoomies

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d ago

Sen. John Kennedy on Trump's blatant reflecting pool lies: "The president says it was caused by vandals. I don't know if he really believes that or it's part of his political messaging or he's just thinking out loud ... he grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought."

I’ll never forget co-officing with my second grade son early in the pandemic and hearing teacher tell his online class to “type out your response and submit it” and me thinking oh no this is all backwards.

Jess Calarco@jessicacalarco.com · 3d ago

I wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵

Marjory Wentworth, an Ohio activist and a member of G92 faith org., tells me at least one of the Haitian immigrants who Trump’s ICE fixed with an ankle monitor today at the blue ash Ohio office is a grandmother: “When she walked out with the ankle monitor, some of us wept.”

Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social · 3d ago

an immigration lawyer working on some of these Haitian cases today says an ICE officer told them, re: the ankle monitors: “We’re following our orders.” Direct quote Hm

The fundamental, delicious paradox of studying history is that: 1. These people are radically different from me, and I may never properly understand them. 2. These people are exactly like me.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · last wk.

one tendency that comes out about period films is the insistence that XYZ moral thought would not have occurred to anyone in the ancient world. to be sure there are moral innovations and changes but the existence of thorough dissatisfaction with the present moral order is not a modern phenomenon

Our neighbors are being kidnapped from our streets. We have seen increased ICE activity across Seattle neighborhoods over this past week. ICE must be held accountable for their cruel and illegal actions. We know that fear and chaos is their goal. We counter that with knowledge and community.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal@jayapal.house.gov · 6d ago

DHS must immediately return Eduardo Aguirre home to Washington state. These cruel tactics to speed up deportations and remove due process must stop. Disband ICE.

In 2025, we planted the seeds. In 2026, we watered our tender shoots. Now our wee buds are bloomin’ wild and they WON’T be contained! Join us for the Bloomin' Edition of Sea Slug Animation Festival on Feb. 26-28, 2027! Stay soft. Grow wild!

I started getting followed by some "film festivals" and "writing festivals" and thought "oh, these are cool!" Then I looked a little closer. They're all part of a network that preys on writers, charging us for reviews, and feeding our stuff into slop generators. So I made a list.👋🏻🖕🏻😠

It's time to post the current election turnout breakdown by age bracket chart again and remind you that ballots are due by Tuesday!

The primary election is closing in. Don’t wait. Use an official drop box and return your ballot by 8pm sharp on Tuesday, Aug. 4! To find your nearest drop box, visit VoteWA.gov

OUT TODAY, the AAUP just released the first comprehensive account of how the Trump administration has taken the same playbook it's used on law firms & foreign governments & turned it on American universities. US higher ed has, in effect, become a target of a massive extortion racket. 🧵

New Report on Extorted Compliance Charges “Massive Extortion Racket” Against Higher Ed

A new AAUP report, "Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance," exposes how the Trump administration has extended its pay-to-play approach to gov...

aaup.org

here's another throwback from 2016 a private poster commission inspired by Moby Dick honestly still really love this one, both the concept and execution i worked on pre-inked scratchboard for this one (so fully black) instead of the usual white claybord that i ink myself 30x40cm

www.khq.com/news/pullman...

Washington State University air quality map gives 72-hour smoke forecast

PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University announced an updated online map that gives people across the Pacific Northwest a 72-hour air-quality forecast close to home.

khq.com

Sometimes when doing genealogy research you stumble upon stuff that leaves you speechless.

whenever someone tells you that it's simply impossible for police to be charged with misconduct or criminal charges, you can tell they're wrong because some cops do get charged regularly — when they are whistleblowers or reformers prosecutors are actually extremely eager to help drum them out!

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 5d ago

Prosecutors charged an LAPD officer with felony eavesdropping for making secret recordings of his colleagues’ racist, sexist and homophobic comments on the job

🚨 WE HAVE A DEAL! After three years, in a major step forward for our members, we have ratified our first contract with @propublica.org’s management. We deeply appreciate everyone who supported us along the way. Here are some of our big wins👇

Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 5d ago

New from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...

We have great newts to share! Twenty tiny Mazama newts have hatched in our lab — the very first babies of their kind ever in human care.

i wrote about my favorite odyssey adaptation, o brother where art thou (2000)

Flaming Hydra@flaminghydra.com · 6d ago

TODAY: @raxkingisdead.bsky.social on Oh Brother Where Art Thou?'s thrillingly loose, modern and musical adaptation of The Odyssey. "It can develop or dismiss any parts of the source material as it sees fit in order to kick the maximum possible amount of ass." flaminghydra.com/issue-618/#f...

BREAKING: The 9th Circuit has rejected ICE's unprecedented mass detention policy — the 5th striaght appellate loss for the Trump administration and perhaps the most significant, covering California, Arizona, Nevada and Washington, among others. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

The Mormon community has lost a true titan. Absolutely gutted.

The Salt Lake Tribune@sltrib.com · 6d ago

Legendary Latter-day Saint poet, playwright and activist Carol Lynn Pearson has died at age 86. "The Mormon people were truly blessed to have her as a companion," a historian says, "and the institution would have done well to listen to her.”