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Gretchen

@offgridteacher.bsky.social

•Edu MA • Teach Plus Fellow Alum • Peace Corps 🇸🇳 in Agro-Forestry • Veteran Wife + Caregiver • Stay At Home Mom I talk about education, running, nature, caregiving, California, cats, and health.

5396 Posts1888 Follower1320 Folgt
Gretchen@offgridteacher.bsky.social · 4d ago

I’m looking for recommendations on the best small air purifier that is very elderly-friendly/for a tech averse senior citizen that has simple buttons and is easy to maintain. Please send any suggestions my way.

Gretchen@offgridteacher.bsky.social · 6d ago

I forgot to mention it here, but I managed to podium at a 10K this weekend. I found myself initially not giving myself enough credit, pointing out that it was a small race, and was for my age group, but it did feel good to feel like all of the hours of training I did, almost all solo, paid off.

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Jeremy Ney@jeremybney.bsky.social · 6d ago

Maternal mortality has increased dramatically since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. We look at ectopic pregnancies, which stand nearly no chance of viable life, and how women in no-abortion states are seeing death rates rise. A real avoidable atrocity. americaninequality.substack.com/p/charts-tha...

Charts that Explain the World No. 5

Prices soar across the economy, African nations agree to accept US immigrants, shifting midterm forecasts, and rising maternal deaths.

americaninequality.substack.com

Robert Boessenecker, Dr. of Whaleontology ™️@coastalpaleo.bsky.social · last wk.

It's #seaotterawarenessweek! 🐬🦑🧪 Sea otters only live in the North Pacific today and are the smallest marine mammals. Frustratingly, they have a very limited fossil record, and their origins are quite murky. We know *much* more about their ecology than their evolution; read more here:

The terrible fossil record of sea otters, part 1: What do we know about modern sea otters?

You can find the second part here , and the third part here . Introduction Sea otters are perhaps my favorite marine mammal, for se...

coastalpaleo.blogspot.com

Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca · 7d ago

A theatre in Barcelona has been banned from promoting a stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own on Instagram and Facebook because the work includes “social topics.”* www.theguardian.com/technology/2... * "any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform"

Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism

Theatre told that Facebook and Instagram filter out ads mentioning ‘social topics’ such as civil rights or feminism

theguardian.com

Gretchen@offgridteacher.bsky.social · 7d ago

I ran a race yesterday, then after naptime I took my toddler and myself to get our flu shots. Today I’m solo parenting, and we’re both out of sorts so… Number Blocks it is. I do have to admit screen-free only lasted until age 2.

Monterey Bay Aquarium@montereybayaquarium.org · 7d ago

Every sea otter deserves a second chance! In 2025, we opened our Sea Otter Conservation Center. Thanks to donor support, this state-of-the-art facility features two new holding tanks and two exam rooms, allowing us to provide critical care to more southern sea otters in need.

Michael E. Mann@michaelemann.bsky.social · last wk.

"What Happens When Earth Passes 1.5 Degrees of Warming" via @stevecurwood.bsky.social & @livingonearthradio.bsky.social by way of @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1909202...

What Happens When Earth Passes 1.5 Degrees of Warming? - Inside Climate News

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with climate scientist Michael Mann. As the United Nations prepares to ...

insideclimatenews.org

Adam Becker@adambecker.bsky.social · last wk.

@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 financethemselves in 2026 alone. That is more than the entire budgets of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Transportation, & Education combined. Meanwhile, despite almost every single one of these companies not turning a profit & having sunk billions of investor dollars in development of data centers & other infrastructure, Al companies are also on a spending spree of hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying & dark money in our elections. It would be one thing if we were discussing a few private companies with a poor business model. But last year, virtually all stock market gains - 80% - rested entirely on just a handful of Al companies. That tells us two things: 1. Nearly the entire U.S. economy outside the Al industry is relatively stagnating and faring poorly & the gains from these few companies are disguising it; & 2. Millions of people's retirements - including their pensions, 401ks, & investments - are potentially exposed to this risk. That's why these Al companies' dubious financial positions matter to working people. These companies argue that debt is necessary. They'll tell you that building transformative technologies requires upfront capital, & that massive borrowing today will pay off in generating unprecedented prosperity tomorrow. But this is not the typical debt that startups take on while they build out a company. We are talking about billions going on trillions of dollars leveraged with no indication that these companies will be able to recoup these funds profitably. And they are increasingly looking to the government as their source of cash. In an effort to hide their debt, tech companies have been relying on "circular financing" where tech giants like Google, Amazon, & Microsoft give billions to Al startups like OpenAl & Anthropic, only for those startups to hand that money right back to buy Al processing power. In other words, these Al companies are luring in new investors by making it look like their financials are healthier than they really are.What's even worse is that retirement & pension funds are key to supporting this illusion. When the Al companies issue bonds to raise more money, your pension funds & retirement accounts are some of the biggest buyers. When Musk's Al business went public, it became part of index funds where millions of Americans invest our savings. Many Americans don't even know that their retirement investments are tied up in these companies at all. From Big Tech's perspective, that's a feature, not a bug. By tying our futures to their reckless gambling, Al billionaires are trying to make themselves too big to fail. They think they can take such dangerous risks because we will bail them out if things go wrong. Sound familiar? This scene is dangerously reminiscent of the rampant speculation, corruption, & broken incentives leading up to the 2008 financial crisis that plunged millions of working class Americans into financial chaos that we never fully recovered from. It is no accident that these warnings from Altman & Amodei come months-if not weeks-before these companies were meant to go public. When companies go public, they have to be more transparent about how they are doing financially. And after a waiting period, they typically have to let private investors-like their own employees-sell their shares. The New York Times recently confirmed that OpenAl has postponed going public for this very reason. They are in no rush for the truth about their finances to come out. But the moment these oligarchs began to seek our public tax dollars & public contracts while exposing their companies to public pension funds & investments, they opened themselves to public accountability & scrutiny. Silicon Valley billionaires have rigged the game & are attempting to shift their financial risk to working people: If they're right about Al's potential, they reap the profits. If they're wrong & the bubble bursts, they are setting up the American people to pick up the tab. Heads, they win; tails, we lose.We can stop this, and we shouldn't play their game. Together we can address both the economic and safety threats of unrestricted Al development and prevent financial chaos and stabilize market risk. We must make it clear now that should the Al bubble pop, Congress should not bail out Big Tech. And across our federal agencies, we have the authorities and tools to hold Al companies and their leaders accountable for releasing dangerous, unvetted, and defective products. We must not wait. Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity. But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves. It's time we hold them accountable. Thank you for reading. In solidarity, Alexandria
Alt CDC (they/them)@altcdc.altgov.info · last wk.

📣📣 Protect vaccines: Make a public comment DEADLINE: TOMORROW (Sun) Bottom line: HHS is asking to change how federal vaccine reccs are categorized Sounds technical. Yes Innocuous? Absolutely not Check out EvidenceCollective easy-to-read primer 🔗👇 Then comment: www.regulations.gov/document/HHS...

TWO days left to comment on HHS's vaccine category proposal

Vaccine recommendations are on the table. Comments close Sunday.

evidencecollective.substack.com

Gretchen@offgridteacher.bsky.social · last wk.

In probably the pettiest thing I’ve ever done, I’ve decided to start a sign/flag war with my neighbor. I’m tired of looking at her “Freedom Flag”, so I got a UC Santa Cruz Slugs flag (I actually went there). Go Fighting Slugs! 🐌

Dr. Tom Frieden@drtomfrieden.bsky.social · 2w ago

"I'm not going to take away anybody's vaccines.” - Health Secretary Kennedy, November 2024. Covid vaccination cuts a child's risk of hospitalization by about two thirds. Half of American children get their vaccines through the Vaccines for Children Program. www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Exclusive | States Delayed in Getting Covid Shots for Children’s Immunization Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t opened up the ordering process, raising concerns about delays as vaccination programs kick off.

wsj.com

Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 2w ago

This pretty much says it all: “Andrew Wakefield, a former gastroenterologist whose medical license was revoked after he was found to have fabricated research indicating a link between vaccines and autism, spoke before and immediately after Kennedy.”

RFK Jr promises anti-vaxxers a ‘friend at the White House’ amid deadly measles outbreak

The US health secretary added that he would’ve made sweeping changes ‘on day one’ but he had to follow the law

theguardian.com

Marcus Luther@marcusluther.bsky.social · 2w ago

Reason #1837261938 www.edutopia.org/article/teac...

What Worries Me About Teachers’ Use of AI

A high school teacher reflects on how adult choices around AI use—particularly their approaches to transparency and focus on efficiency—can affect classroom culture.

edutopia.org

Waldo Jaquith@waldo.net · 2w ago

Please admire this slop-guide to the U.S. government that my kid received in his ninth grade government class. “Watergsstate Impreachment Imeachment bolity Precedent”

A sort of map of US government, with lots of arrows and words. It’s labelled “SIMPLIFIED CONCEPT MAP: U.S. GOVERNMENT.”
Robert Kelchen@robertkelchen.com · 3w ago

As a higher ed finance person, I keep emphasizing that more students are enrolling in high cost of educating fields like health and engineering and fewer in lower-cost fields like the humanities. This squeezes institutional budgets as cross-subsidies disappear.

Report: Humanities Majors Disappearing

Anxiety about job prospects and heavy reading loads have led to dramatic declines in humanities majors since 2012, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

insidehighered.com

Gretchen@offgridteacher.bsky.social · 3w ago

What would you do with your child the day before preschool starts? I’m oscillating between having a little adventure and having a calm morning at home (the afternoon is ballet class and then dinner).

Ben Williamson@benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 3w ago

Edu research is in serious danger of capture by genAI companies. They have research infrastructure most departments can't even imagine. But if you work with OpenAI or Anthropic et al? You're not just doing snazzy science but helping them capture the sector www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/codepat...

CodePath and Anthropic team up to open source AI's impact on students | ETIH EdTech News — EdTech Innovation Hub

CodePath and Anthropic have announced a Knowledge Network to share live research findings on how AI tools affect student outcomes across thousands of students. Edtech news from ETIH on AI in education...

edtechinnovationhub.com

Ted McCormick@tedmccormick.bsky.social · 3w ago

The idea that classrooms are chiefly spaces for product testing, and that it is irresponsible pedagogy not to enforce this, is both cynical and vile, and “fuck off” is a cogent response from any professional educator to any non-teaching salescreep or tech-but-not-subject-matter expert who voices it.