California lawmakers are demanding Congress pass AI safety laws.
Anthropic's AI panic has finally reached Congress
California lawmakers are demanding Congress pass AI safety laws.
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Lester Black
@leddder.bsky.social
Journalist, stoner, malcontent, news editor at SFGATE.com
SF voters appear to have gone through a dramatic reversal on policing issues since the pandemic: New poll finds vast majority of SF supports police drone use www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
New poll finds vast majority of SF supports police drone use
The poll showed voters warming up to the technology.
sfgate.com
Berkeley is making it more expensive for residents to own multiple cars www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Berkeley is making it more expensive for residents to own multiple cars
One change includes operating parking meters on Sunday.
sfgate.com
Flesh-eating parasite found in US after Trump cut surveillance funding www.sfgate.com/centralcalif...
Flesh-eating parasite found in US after Trump cut funding to monitor threat
The USDA plans to release 4 million sterile flies to combat the outbreak.
sfgate.com
Newsom targets undocumented Californians with new healthcare cost increase www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
Newsom targets undocumented Californians with new healthcare cost increase
California is making it harder for undocumented people to get healthcare.
sfgate.com
This book is really worth reading for anyone who thinks the word "marijuana" needs to be cancelled. www.dukeupress.edu/the-african-...
The African Roots of Marijuana
dukeupress.edu
FYI for high fliers 😎: TSA quietly updates policy on bringing marijuana through security www.sfgate.com/cannabis/art... via @leddder.bsky.social @sfgate.com
TSA quietly updates policy on bringing marijuana through security
sfgate.com
Calif. couple refused medical help hours before they died at seaside mansion www.sfgate.com/centralcoast...
Calif. couple refused medical help hours before they died at seaside mansion
The couple died at a beachside mansion hours after a party.
sfgate.com
Bleak accounting of what we've done to middle class Iranian people. After Cease-Fire, Iranians Are Left to Pick Up the Pieces www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/w...
After Cease-Fire, Iranians Are Left to Pick Up the Pieces
Hours after a tenuous pause to a nearly six-week war, Iranians expressed relief and trepidation about the future. Some fear the government will crack down on its domestic critics.
nytimes.com
🚨 BIG NEWS 🚨 @sfgate.com, the West Coast's largest news site, is looking for a new tech reporter. 🧵 below on what we're looking for, or if you want a shortcut, here's the job listing: sfgate.com/careers
Thanks to the relentless public service journalism from @ashleyharrell.bsky.social's team, the NPS has now blacklisted the entire SFGATE staff. Interior Department insiders say the ban is unprecedented. www.sfgate.com/national-par...
National parks employees say SFGATE has been blacklisted
National Park Service communicators no longer respond to SFGATE media requests.
sfgate.com
Does he have to dress like a chef all the time everywhere he goes, like the Mandalorian of gastronomy
Grant Marek@grantmarek.bsky.social · 7mo agoThomas Keller scolded a small Napa Valley town council this week, reprimanding the Yountville Town Council for spending too much money on a proposed affordable housing project. via @sfgate.com www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
An incredible deep dive into a mythic cannabis strain, that also sums up almost every complicated aspect of the cannabis industry, via @leddder.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/cannabis/art...
Hunting for the world's most mythical cannabis: Big Sur Holy Weed
Big Sur could become the cannabis world's Champagne.
sfgate.com
Many news outlets have used a single podcast remark as an indicator ICE agents would be “throughout Levi’s” and have a “major, visible” presence, but SFGATE reached out to 6 law enforcement agencies who haven't heard anything to that effect. via @leddder.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Trump advisor’s remark becomes a viral problem for the Super Bowl
Rumors are swirling around what ICE might do at this year's Super Bowl.
sfgate.com
This is a great example of what happens when the government willfully feeds into dangerous speculation, and journalists do shoddy work. No one will confirm viral podcast quote about ICE at Super Bowl www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
No one will confirm viral podcast quote about ICE at Super Bowl
Rumors are swirling around what ICE might do at this year's Super Bowl.
sfgate.com
A Shasta County man who had reportedly been active in local right-wing politics was arrested last week with a bunker and large cache of illegal weapons, according to authorities. via @leddder.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
MAGA activist in Shasta County arrested after discovery of bunker
The California Highway Patrol called the weapons a threat to public safety.
sfgate.com
I think the lack of an exclamation point is a clue... No one knows who's behind Sacramento Valley billboard message to 80-year-old Democrat www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
No one knows who's behind Sacramento billboard message to 80-year-old Democrat
"I do believe that hyper-longevity in office is a concern in this election cycle."
sfgate.com
Newsom barred from public address in Switzerland by the Trump administration International scoop from @asos.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
Newsom barred from public address in Switzerland by the Trump administration
Newsom's office shared texts with the press showing how it played out in real time.
sfgate.com
For decades, America's tech companies have deployed products with little regard to how they harm their users. That could end with ChatGPT. OpenAI is facing a multi-billion dollar legal risk that no one is talking about. A new one w/ @stephco.bsky.social: www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
OpenAI is flying high. But a huge new legal threat is coming.
Legal experts say AI chatbots are bringing a new legal risk for tech companies.
sfgate.com
Here's our story on Lincoln suspending its 2026-27 season, and Desmond Gumbs stepping down as head coach (but remaining as the school's athletic director), in the wake of our investigation into the program. www.sfgate.com/collegesport...
Bay Area college suspends football program after SFGATE investigation
There will be no Oaklanders football next season.
sfgate.com
Gabe Fernandez@thelatinochild.bsky.social · 10mo agoAs the nation turns to the best college football programs in the country this weekend, we turn our attention to one of the worst: Lincoln University, a downtown Oakland school whose head coach, and athletic director, threatened me at the end of our interview. www.sfgate.com/collegesport...
Here's a link to the story, which, again, is very well done: www.sfgate.com/tech/article... and a shoutout the reporters, Lester Black @leddder.bsky.social and Stephen Council @stephco.bsky.social
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
sfgate.com
“ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances, and in one chat, it wrote, ‘Hell yes—let’s go full trippy mode’” www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
sfgate.com
"ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances ... Then, last May, tragedy struck." Incredible piece of journalism from @leddder.bsky.social and @stephco.bsky.social: www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
sfgate.com
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose. www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
sfgate.com
Public billionaire insanity intensifies: “Come watch me trip balls.” Marc Benioff and Naval Ravikant join Network State Cult member Bryan Johnson's livestreamed mega mushroom trip. www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
Marc Benioff joins wild hallucinogenic mushroom livestream
The billionaire ended the holiday weekend cheering on a friend taking mushrooms.
sfgate.com
Introducing the FDA's new drug approval process... Marc Benioff joins wild hallucinogenic mushroom livestream www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
Marc Benioff joins wild hallucinogenic mushroom livestream
The billionaire ended the holiday weekend cheering on a friend taking mushrooms.
sfgate.com
Almost like Modest Mouse wrote an entire album about this 30 years ago. Dying Shopping Malls Are the Roman Ruins of Our Civilization www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/m...
Dying Shopping Malls Are the Roman Ruins of Our Civilization
nytimes.com
"We are barely floating by on a week to week basis." via @leddder.bsky.social sfgate.com/cannabis/article/monterey-county-california-cannabis-decline-21141231.php?mrfhud=true
It was once California's top pot-producing county. Now it's a bust.
“Cannabis has bottomed out and it’s not what people thought it would be."
sfgate.com
After Prop. 50 victory, Newsom vows Dems can ‘de facto end’ Trump presidency www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
'This bear roared': Newsom celebrates Prop. 50 while scorching Trump
Newsom spent nearly his entire Tuesday night victory speech attacking the president.
sfgate.com
The Republican healthcare plan decimates the finances of these middle class people. Over a million Californians are facing ‘catastrophic’ health care cost increases www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
Over a million Californians are facing ‘catastrophic’ health care cost increases
One couple is seeing costs go from $4,200 this year to $26,652 next year.
sfgate.com