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Sarah Steel

@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social

Podcaster: Let’s Talk About Sects | Author: Do As I Say https://linktr.ee/letstalkaboutsects

272 Posts1227 Follower428 Folgt
Sarah Steel@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social · 3d ago

‘At the time the ACNC announced its investigation, the regulator said it would "act firmly where vulnerable people or significant charity assets are at risk".’ www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...

Shincheonji's tax breaks continue amid abuse allegations

Former Shincheonji members raise concerns about the religious cult maintaining its charity status for tax purposes amid abuse allegations stemming from an investigation that began eight months ago.

abc.net.au

Simon Rosenberg@simonrosenberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

"It should not go unnoticed that whenever the inflation conversation takes hold, profits never enter the chat. The usual suspects are happy to talk further cuts – to services and jobs – but never actually raising funds from those businesses that benefit from our pain." #RBA #inequality #auspol

Amy Remeikis@amyremeikis.bsky.social · 2w ago

The RBA media team is becoming known for contacting journalists and media outlets critical of its decisions and decision making process - but the criticism doesn't actually go far enough. www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Paris Marx@parismarx.com · 2w ago

Many people don’t realize that many people in the tech industry, especially in its upper echelons, have developed a deeply harmful and delusional worldview they’re trying to impose on everyone else. That’s at the root of their misguided view of where AI is going. disconnect.blog/the-media-ha...

No, the real threat, according to these supposed geniuses, is that in ten years AI could break free from its human developers and decide it wants to kill humanity. If you’re big into science fiction, you might recognize that kind of a narrative: whether HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey or The Terminator himself, this notion that our technology will come for us makes for compelling entertainment. For more than a decade, people in the tech industry have been slowly deluding themselves into thinking those science fictional storylines were far closer to being realized than they are in practice. They think our future is one where we need to merge with computers, cover the face of the planet with data centers, and eventually start building them on other planets to fill with digital “people.”
Leroy@leroylynch.bsky.social · 3w ago

The Jehovah's Witnesses governing body has changed longstanding doctrine to allow followers to choose whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets. There has been relief and anger in the wake of lives lost after transfusions were refused. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...

Anger over lives lost as Jehovah's Witnesses shift on blood transfusion

The daughter of a Jehovah's Witness who died after refusing a blood transfusion on religious grounds in 2019 has expressed anger after the church altered its longstanding opposition last week.

abc.net.au

Sarah Steel@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social · 3w ago

“Four sources with knowledge of the sect’s secret election influence campaign said Brethren elders had shifted their attention even before the Coalition’s 2025 defeat, with church middlemen reaching out to One Nation and other smaller parties with offers to help.” www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

‘More power to redheads’: Brethren leader backs Hanson, building nuclear bombs

In a speech praising Hanson, the Exclusive Brethren leader also told his flock Australia should use its uranium to “build a few bombs”.

smh.com.au

Mar Hicks@histoftech.bsky.social · 3w ago

“I want to draw your attention to another reality: Right now, the US economy & our financial futures are riding on Silicon Valley's bet that Al will soon be immensely profitable… that bet isn't looking good. The formula for a profitable business isn't complicated: make more than you spend…“

Adam Becker@adambecker.bsky.social · 3w ago

@aoc.bsky.social just put out a great statement on AI. Refreshing to see a major politician on the left nail this. "Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity. But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves." 🎯

Charles, Last weekend, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the largest Al companies in the world, publicly asked his industry to slow down Al development. Shortly after, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAl, followed suit. Then Elon Musk. This all came days after an Anthropic researcher quit, citing his belief that this technology could wipe out humanity and that Al companies are "gambling with our lives." For years, people have warned that generative Al could slip out of our direct control. Those safety concerns must be taken seriously. And this is why I have advocated for strict safety standards on how Al is built and deployed, public oversight over this technology, and using existing laws to hold these companies accountable when they cause harm. But I want to draw your attention to another reality: Right now, the U.S. economy and our financial futures are riding on Silicon Valley's bet that Al will soon be immensely profitable and pay off. And that bet isn't looking good. The formula for a profitable business isn't complicated: make more money than you spend. But the biggest Al companies aren't doing that. They are spending hundreds of billions per year on data centers, chips, and other costs while their ability to make revenues that exceed their already-immense sunk costs are unclear. Experts estimate that these Al companies will require another $600 billion of debt just to finance
Sarah Steel@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social · 4w ago

I’m hanging out for @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social’s Musk, but Going Clear (and the book, and so much more from survivors) has been available long enough now that it honestly surprises me how many people don’t have any qualms about watching TC films. Saddened that Iñárritu cast him.

Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social · 4w ago

1. GQ has chosen to give its cover to Tom Cruise, second in command of Scientology, a brutal, borderless totalitarian state, and who abandoned his daughter Suri because he believes being connected to her will impede Scientology and might lead him to get cancer or some other sort of illness.

Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · last mo.

Anyway, good piece in the Times here. (It still happens!) People are starting to talk very weird about AI on this site, and honestly it's kind of distressing seeing people fall into the abyss thinking it's alive. That ain't good. The rest of us should expect boring bad stuff and guard against it.

Opinion | How Scared Should We Be of A.I. Right Now? (Gift Article)

The dark and distressing way that Silicon Valley talks about A.I. can be traced to a philosophy that influenced many tech executives.

nytimes.com

Ali Rubie@alir5.bsky.social · last mo.

“Our governments are ramping up suppression of protest instead of tackling the very real threat to Australians’ welfare.” Yes, they do know something we don’t know. Climate refugees, food and water insecurity, unaffordable insurance and climate ‘permacrisis’ - good word @davemilbo.bsky.social

David Milner@davemilbo.bsky.social · last mo.

Here's @lucyham.bsky.social. "Governments (and their corporate owners) have no safety net plans for our climate permacrisis"

Sarah Steel@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social · last mo.

Can’t wait for Alex Gibney’s latest “adventurous but methodical movie grounded in the thesis that, as he sees it, a dangerous huckster is stealthily aggregating power to exploit us”

e.w. niedermeyer@niedermeyer.online · last mo.

If you want to learn more about "MUSK," I highly recommend this recent piece by The Hollywood Reporter. My understanding is that Musk's lawyers already tried to intimidated THR over it, showing just how sensitive he is about this film www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

Eryk Salvaggio@eryk.bsky.social · last mo.

This thread (and essay) on a chain of AI-first private schools points to the staggering influence of the optimization cult. It reminded me of reading about children of acid cults or EST workshops. Kudos to Ben for digging in and laying this out.

Benjamin Riley@benjaminjriley.bsky.social · last mo.

SPECIAL REPORT Last month, Alpha School invited people to follow student social media accounts "if curious about life in our high schools." I accepted their offer. What I've found shocks me. Forget the AI and ask instead: Is Alpha Schools a cult? Follow along for a summary of my findings.

Sarah Steel@letstalkaboutsects.bsky.social · last mo.

“Never in human history have so many people been forced from their homes, by persecution, by violence or climate shocks, by economic instability and political fragility.”

Mark Johnson@markjohnson.bsky.social · last mo.

"Even at 20,000, Australia resettles fewer refugees now than it did when Malcolm Fraser’s government was in power. In 1980-81, Australia accepted 22,545 refugees for resettlement. The population of this country then was less than 15 million." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...