Ketra Schmitt
@ketraschmitt.bsky.social
most controversial opinion: humans are not that bad
Given we are approaching that time of the year, my big piece from years back on the 1983 Cold War Crisis (and the role of Stanislav Petrov in it) over onto authory as a free-to-read. Over the years, the myth of what happened has been simplified. The reality was scarier. Because: Ronald Reagan.
The Day the World Didn’t End
At the height of the Cold War, with alarms screaming, one Soviet officer stopped to think. It cost him his career. It may also have saved the world. The morning of the 26th September 1983 had started ...
authory.com
If you are an expert on air quality and have 10-15 minutes to talk to me today or tomorrow about important things journalists should know while reporting on wildfires and smoke, my DMs are open, or you can email me at karen at OpenNews dot org.
it's wild how quickly we went from encouraging people to maintain their mental acuity through crosswords, reading, physical activity, etc. to heavily promoting & accepting genAI use that causes cognitive atrophy.
I keep coming back to this because research is showing that even casual AI users lose skills. We're actively de-skilling the population.
Susan Joudrey@sujo.bsky.social · 5mo agoit's wild how quickly we went from encouraging people to maintain their mental acuity through crosswords, reading, physical activity, etc. to heavily promoting & accepting genAI use that causes cognitive atrophy.
Here's some good news www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
Quebec scraps AI and automation projects in the public sector
Quebec has abandoned initiatives related to automation and artificial intelligence (AI) within the public sector, including the implementation of a chatbot on the government website “Quebec.ca,” follo...
ctvnews.ca
We need 2-3 more writers with a science-y backgrounds to help us turn news chaos into orderly information on @unbreaking.org's infectious disease control, food safety, and medical research funding pages. The commitment is a few hours every couple of weeks. Is this you? 🌱 unbreaking.org/how-to-help/
How to help — Unbreaking
Documenting damage and resistance. Unflooding the zone.
unbreaking.org
@repbeatty.bsky.social I have been so proud to have you as my congresswoman, especially during the early days of the first Trump presidency. I was shocked to see your name on the list of democrats who voted against suspending arms shipments to Israel. I am still hoping I have this wrong.
thank you to whoever put the list of democratic votes against suspending weapons sales to Israel. i was horrified to find my congresswoman on that list.
student journalists leading the way, as usual "The student body, faculty+staff, deserve accurate info, not pro-SIUE pieces filtered through an administrative agenda. This is a taxpayer-funded institution. Financial transparency is the least they can offer." expression.fire.org/p/our-univer...
Our university is trying to discredit our paper, but that won’t stop us from telling the truth
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville claims it believes in free speech, but its administrators are disparaging the student press.
expression.fire.org
This Danville, VA city council candidate made a very dramatic video about sidewalks and public safety, and I love it and him. Worrying about a possible milkshake duck situation, I looked at his FB page, but he seems ok. Juneteenth celebrations, community outreach, Methodists. A solid old gent.
No, you should stop Wishbone posting. Because. What if the 90s was just a glorious time to make weird awesome art? as evidence, listen to this very niche karaoke episode from @99pi.org What if we just paid people who wanted to make weird art? 99percentinvisible.org/episode/670-...
Karaoke Videos - 99% Invisible
Before YouTube, before streaming, before anyone thought too hard about what to put on a screen while a drunk person sang “Benny and the Jets,” a small army of scrappy filmmakers was quietly getting pa...
99percentinvisible.org
Today's Wishbone reminiscence brought to you by this adorable puppy we met in the park and my friend Amanda who still knows the song.
Behold, people 10-15 years younger than me who were appropriately childhood Wishbone fans. *All* of Wishbone is now available on youtube. WHAT?? youtube.com/playlist?lis...
PBS's Wishbone (Complete Series) - YouTube
youtube.com
we don't have a masculinity crisis. we have a patriarchy crisis. patriarchy creates and sustains male unhappiness with its dogmatic, toxic, rigid definition of masculinity which says the worst and most undesirable thing a human can be is female which is how we get insults like "Low-T Talarico"
Just got a survey from my university asking how I use AI in research, wanting details on barriers to use as well as burdens that AI has reduced for me. Not one question about barriers or burdens that the use of AI has created. So the unstated position is that it must be good. This is advertorial.
In new Gallup polling, "55 percent of women said they strongly oppose data centers, compared to 43 percent of men. In fact, men were more likely to favor data centers, citing their economic benefits and job opportunities." 19thnews.org/2026/05/wome...
Americans overwhelmingly oppose data centers. Women most of all.
New polling shows women have stronger concerns than men over the implications of the massive and costly complexes used to power AI.
19thnews.org
feels like there is so much posting with AI generated art! we see you? can we launch a shame campaign for AI art use. or a more constructive, kinder idea? if you have one, i'm in.
A message from Mary, a 72-year-old Amazon worker from North Carolina projected onto Jeff Bezos’s $120 million penthouse before tonight’s #MetGala, chaired by Bezos.
Boosting this Atlantic History position at the Université du Québec (Trois Rivières campus), since Canadian jobs often fly under the radar Language of instruction is French; adequate knowledge or commitment to acquire it in post required; support provided for language training. Deadline May 15
atlas.workland.com
now would have been a really good time to have invested in rail thirty years ago
I like to imagine that Zohran Mamdani, Socialist African-born Muslim, was literally willed into existence by the collective psychosis of the Tea Party GOP over Obama, like the ectoplasm under NYC in Ghostbusters II
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 4mo agoHappy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich.
Brief fun survey from Jessica, Andrew & myself: If you are a faculty member, research scientist, postdoc, or senior Ph.D. student in any area of science, please take five minutes and fill it out. We’ll share the results widely along with some reflections. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Epistemic Virtues for Scientific Inquiry — Community Survey
In Six Memos for the Next Millenium, Italo Calvino proposed six literary virtues he felt should be preserved and cultivated in literature regardless of how the world changed: lightness, quickness, exa...
docs.google.com
AAndrew Gelman et al.@statmodeling.bsky.social · 4mo ago
Epistemic Virtues for Science in the Age of Automation statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/04/14/e...
The other thing is that in a gig economy there is no degree that promises a good career anymore, not because you should have studied computer science or social media management instead of history or Russian literature, but because there are no careers
Ted McCormick@tedmccormick.bsky.social · 4mo agoIn general, (re)orienting education wholly or chiefly to specific perceived market needs is always going to produce disaster once the near term passes. It also eviscerates institutions that might otherwise help people weather change, intellectually and in other ways
In general, (re)orienting education wholly or chiefly to specific perceived market needs is always going to produce disaster once the near term passes. It also eviscerates institutions that might otherwise help people weather change, intellectually and in other ways
Chris Lau Manson 阿劉@chrislaumanson.bsky.social · 4mo agoAs somebody exiting the technology industry, it really does annoy me that for years and years and years we were all told "learn to code, learn to code, become agile, you should be working in tech" and then that all got farted out the window as soon as they thought they could minimise costs.
“Peace through strength”? In twelve days at Camp David, for about the cost of one Hellfire missile, President Carter won peace in the Middle East. No bridge was destroyed; no person was injured. This was peace through strength. ...
"The promise of a political reckoning made by residents opposed to a $6 billion data center proposal in Festus came true Tuesday, as four city council members lost their reelection bids." www.stlpr.org/government-p...
After $6B data center plan, Festus voters oust every incumbent council member
A week after a controversial vote to approve rules for a CRG Clayco data center, anti-data center candidates ousted half of the Festus City Council.
stlpr.org