EPA is bending over backwards to the very industry they’re supposed to regulate by outsourcing its decisions for how to address chemical pollution to the polluters themselves. EPA’s approach to governance shouldn’t let industry grade themselves.
Isa Leshko
@isaleshko.bsky.social
Artist, writer & activist. Founder/Editor @nsprogressives.bsky.social Author of Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Rescued Farm Animals. Ⓥ🏳️🌈 She/her https://linktr.ee/isaleshko Banner: photo of a cat’s ears peeking out of a cardboard box.
This is an attack on public education, on public transportation, on everyone who worked on Fair Share, and on the will of the voters.
StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 14h agoThe Governor's office estimates that the proposal would reduce the state's Fair Share funding for transportation and education investments by approximately $120 million: #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2026/09/23/i...
If a product kept leading to suicides or homicides like this, it would face a recall. Why should ChatGPT be allowed to evade the same responsibility? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting
Canadian province alleges deadly attack could have been prevented if company had warned police of shooter’s ChatGPT use
theguardian.com
The first architect of the White House ballroom resigned after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on designs that violated fire and safety codes, the Washington Post reports. “I am the code,” Trump said www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Another OCPF filing, and the same pattern: More than 95% of the money raised by the Yes on 3 campaign in the first half of September came from just six corporate executives in private equity, venture capital, and investment banking. Don't let them buy our elections.
ICE’s detention system is at a record size. Now ICE is making thousands of people even harder to find. Hiding the location of people with final deportation orders makes it more difficult for lawyers and families to reach them, and for people to challenge their detention and removal in court.
AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...
apnews.com
newsom and bonta let paramount threatening to pull out of california torpedo the entire lawsuit and this is going to be an abject disaster for everyone - including california, where they'll gut jobs anyway what a fucking disgrace
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 3d agoParamount has reportedly reached a settlement with California and other states suing to block its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros
College journalists bay-beeeeeee!
Jeff Sharlet@jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 3d agoThe provost of Dartmouth, at which I teach, has been using AI to write both academic papers & national op-eds, according to brave reporting by @thedartmouth.bsky.social. Many students are already bitter about AI. This leaves us as faculty no ground to stand on. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
"Several lawyers contacted by The Associated Press confirmed their clients vanished from the system this week, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association warned its members about the situation Friday." apnews.com/article/ice-...
AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...
apnews.com
John Ternus kicked off his tenure as Apple CEO by announcing the long-awaited folding iPhone. But behind the scenes, it looks like products and services are going to get more expensive to please shareholders and he’s ready to sacrifice privacy on the altar of AI.
Red flags at the start of Apple’s John Ternus era
Under the new CEO, products are more expensive and AI comes with more surveillance
disconnect.blog
New: we are starting to get data showing what cops are using Axon's license plate cameras for, which are replacing Flock around the country. But we need your help: is your city using Axon? We have written the request you need to get this data yourself. Get it here: www.404media.co/is-your-city...
Is Your City Using Axon License Plate Cameras? We Need Your Help
404 Media is filing public records requests around the country to find out how cops are using Axon's ALPRs. Here is how you can do that too.
404media.co
When you spend enough time in academia you will notice class based distinctions on career outcomes that have more to do with culture than with talent or work. You’ll also notice the improbably high share of faculty members who had at least one parent who is/was a faculty member. 
Roopika Risam@roopikarisam.bsky.social · 3d agoAn important read about class and academic jobs www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/b...
The man ICE shot in Austin today is named Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. Per his lawyer, she and Perez’s family were run off of hospital property where he’s being treated and won’t even confirm he’s there because he’s “in ICE custody.” Actual criminals.
Federal immigration agent shoots and injures man in Austin, Texas
The person shot is in serious but stable condition, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said in a press conference.
npr.org
One more example of how a personalist regime they cannot conceive of a bipartisan institution to the point they would prefer to destroy it if they cannot repurpose it to their ends. See, also, much of the rest of the federal government, our military, science, higher education etc.
Mark Harris@markharris.bsky.social · 4d agoEven if you think you know the whole Kennedy Center story, this is enlightening and enraging. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...
“Police are routinely searching the Flock database without providing any legitimate justification, making a mockery of our civil liberties by logging reasons like "LOL" (short for “laugh out loud”), "LMAO" (short for "laughing my ass off"), "sexy," and "idk" (short for “I don’t know”)…”
Electronic Frontier Foundation@eff.org · 7d agoWhen prompted to enter a reason for searching Flock surveillance data, some cops just mashed keyboard buttons. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
hell yeah <3
Isa Leshko@isaleshko.bsky.social · 4d agoI led the successful #SalemMA #FlockOff campaign that was backed by a coalition of 17 local grassroots orgs. www.northshoreprogressives.org/salem-activi... We also blocked funding for a #DroneAsFirstResponder program. Mass surveillance is NOT inevitable. Communities like ours is proving that. ✊🏻
To understand how AI auditing actually works, & why we need 3rd party (fully independent) auditors, not just 2nd party (contractors) or 1st party (internal teams), please read the 2022 paper Who Audits the Auditors? I coauthored w/ @rajiinio.bsky.social & @poetofcode.bsky.social www.ajl.org/auditors
Who Audits the Auditors? - Algorithmic Justice League
AJL provides the first comprehensive field scan of the AI audit ecosystem in new paper - Who Audits the Auditors? Recommendations from a field scan of the algorithmic auditing ecosystem.
ajl.org
This Flock camera is running obsolete, end-of-life software. - It's on Android 8.1, released in 2017, support ended in 2021 - It's on Android patch level 2018-06-5 - It's running Linux 3.18, released in 2017 This shit is like 8 or 9 years old, and full of vulnerabilities.
Want to learn more about this year’s ballot questions? Register for this online event hosted by @progressivemass.bsky.social scheduled for this Tuesday at 6:30 pm. actionnetwork.org/events/pm202...
Learn about MA's 9 Statewide Ballot Questions
Join Progressive Mass to learn more about the 9 statewide ballot questions, who's behind either side, and what's at stake.
actionnetwork.org
Cool cool cool. Problem solved. “AI Force” will “monitor bad behavior” More of “the mirage of AI deregulation”: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Trump announces ‘AI Force’ as alarm grows over technology’s advance
US president has resisted calls for regulation but said he would appoint a ‘tsar’ to monitor for ‘bad’ behaviour
giftarticle.ft.com
Ok Massachusetts friends, we need to organize heavy pressure on Boston Dynamics to drop their contract to sell robot dogs to ICE. This is fucking unacceptable www.wbur.org/news/2026/08...
ICE plans to buy robot dogs made in Mass.
The Trump administration plans to purchase robot dogs made by a Massachusetts company for its immigration enforcement operations. ICE wants to spend up to $2 million on the robots known as "Spot" — a ...
wbur.org
So you just learned about the AI cult, huh? Here is the longform explainer you need to make sense of the very, very strange ideas driving tech policy in 2026. Buckle up, it’s a wild ride. www.techpolicy.press/what-policym...
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
Nathalie Maréchal asks, why are we betting the economy and the future of democracy on cult-like beliefs?
techpolicy.press
I graduated med school in 2014. I was taught-and saw-how hard melanoma was to treat, like a death sentence Since then, new treatments have made it possible for people w/ the most advanced melanoma, like Jimmy Carter, to live to 100! We are killing ourselves by letting them destroy American science
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 5d agoA cancer vaccine succeeded in a clinical trial in preventing the recurrence of melanoma, a result experts say is a breakthrough for mRNA-based treatments. Trials for lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and other diseases' vaccines are also underway.
Cold-blooded murder. The goal is to get us used to it so they can do it on a larger scale.
Politico@politico.com · 4d agoUS military says it killed four in strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean
1) Every damn things he's built without Congressional authorization gets demolished on the first day. 2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
Nick Kodama@nickkodama.bsky.social · 4d agolol what
Left: Ed Sheeran at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, "I've tried in my career not to be a political commentator at any time" Right: Except that time Ed Sheeran shot a music video in Kyiv, did a concert for Ukraine, because, "I just wanted to so something, rather than not do anything"
New from Nikole Hannah-Jones: In fighting for every Black child, Did I betray my own? ‘A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge NYC’s unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice’
In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.
nytimes.com