Swan Webb
@swanwebb.bsky.social
Proud parent, Minneapolitan, data scientist, progressive, urbanist; lover of the outdoors, art and irony
Neoclassical econ assumes rationality. The corollary of, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" is "you're rich, so you must be very smart!" Thus, people assume that if powerful, well-compensated CEOs insist that "AI is changing everything," well then, *AI must be changing everything*. 1/
We live on a planet where the cheapest way to make power is to point a sheet of glass at the sun. -Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben@billmckibben.bsky.social · last wk.So, I finally did a TED talk, and it got released today. I seem to have been quite intense, but I'm grateful they left in my Trump joke. www.ted.com/talks/bill_m...
Another really creepy action from a really creepy guy.
Minnesota Reformer@minnesotareformer.com · 7d agoElon Musk’s AI company sues Minnesota Attorney General Ellison over nudification ban.
“‘Jaywalker’ was a tool in this reconstruction effort. It implied a new answer to the question ‘What is a street for?’ – an answer that carried a sting.”
Why can't there be a tax on the windfall profits American oil companies have made as a result of the disastrous war of choice in Iran? They (and Russia) are the people that have benefitted from it. They should pay for it.
To carry 50,000 people per hour in each direction, a city needs a 175m wide road for cars. Even if those cars are electric. And then there’s all the parking. OR a city can move A LOT MORE people in a lot less space, with A LOT LESS public money, emissions, pollution, noise etc. Choices. Simple.
Taking away someone's food and medicine makes you responsible for their death
I think Cory Doctorow is spot on with his assessment of AI here. Essentially, AI is somewhat useful, but largely a huge scam.
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w agoAs *tech*, AI isn't exceptional. It's not exceptionally wicked. It's not exceptionally good. Take away the accompanying, galactic-scale stock-swindle, and we'd call AI's apps "plug-ins" and we'd use them and abuse them in the same way that we've used every other technology: www.normaltech.ai 1/
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Having an in person international or national event in America? Are you weighing factors like lodging and transport? Cool stuff to do? Here's a map to consider if any of your attendees may possibly, even remotely be LGBTQIA. And you care about them.
Let's do this: Peace Justice Civil rights Education Nature preservation Public lands Clean air and water Universal basic income Universal healthcare Universal housing Food quality and security Public transit Clean power "We all do better when we all do better." -Paul Wellstone
The USA has concentration camps. Cruel. Illegal. Inhuman. Without accountability or justice. Driven by the worst of our fears, grievances, ignorance and greed. Please listen to Edward R. Murrow give an account of the cruelty of these camps from another time. youtu.be/TkdVDLWo3EY?...
From the archives: Edward R. Murrow's account of Buchenwald on April 15, 1945
YouTube video by CBS News
youtu.be
JJ in DC@jjindc.bsky.social · 2w ago🧊✈️ SEATTLE ⛓️😲 👉 Young men & boys in shackles are herded by hired thugs from a chartered Eastern 737 to a waiting bus, to be transported to GEO Group's Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington 👀
Grateful HCMC is minutes from home for an emergency I had this evening that has turned out fine. Thanks to the awesome staff and our leaders that came together to fund this critical pillar of our community--especially Esther Agbaje.
I feel like working and living car-free in downtown Mpls is a huge compounding economic advantage. $12k per year savings invested @ 8% interest for 20 years-->$549k. Enabled by an ebike, great biking and walking infrastructure, great transit, and Evie carshare.
Safe streets make getting around better for everyone. US Transportation Secretary Duffy just defunded the program that helps make those safe streets possible. Read more about why this is so harmful ⤵️⤵️⤵️ www.bikemn.org/are-bike-lan...
Are Bike Lanes DEI? - Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota
US Transportation Secretary Duffy just cut funding for safe streets, again. It's incredibly misguided.
bikemn.org
There's a revolution happening in urban transportation across the world. It's not EVs, not even autonomous EVs. It's got nothing to do with AI. No tech mogul is getting rich off it. Instead, the revolution is centered on an older, simpler technology: bicycles.
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
economist.com
It’s been six months since the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Here is how the federal government has stonewalled investigations, and how Minnesota law enforcement is attempting to push for accountability anyway
The Death of Renee Good Has Yet to Be Properly Investigated
Six months after she and Alex Pretti were shot on the streets of Minneapolis, little has come of the probes into their killings.
theatlantic.com
Mamdani: "As we mark 250 years ... we see the wealthiest country -- one where children go to sleep hungry while the world's first trillionaire hungers for more ... we see masked agents terrorizing our streets, eating food cooked by undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans"
Scientists who study climate don't automatically attribute all changes to human activity. Rather, we carefully investigate every possible natural factor that could explain the planet's warming. Could these be the real culprits? The evidence is in--and the answer is NO. This thread explains! 🧵
Great article in Grist about the benefits of increasing urban tree cover. grist.org/cities/urban...
Urban trees aren't just nice, scientists say — they're mandatory
Researchers are calling for cities to double down on one of the simplest yet most powerful solutions to many problems - planting more trees.
grist.org
It would be amazing to experience the Mississippi River wild in Minneapolis.
MPR News@mprnews.org · last mo.The stretch of the Mississippi River that runs through the Twin Cities is part of the only gorge on the entire river. Some environmental groups say removing locks and dams in the region would help restore the river's ecological health and create new recreational opportunities. But questions remain.
It’s been a hard and yet triumphant year for Minnesota. Ordinary people have been targeted by their fellow countrymen, and made heroic sacrifices for their neighbors. So, appropriate to remember that 163 years ago today, 262 average Minnesotans sacrificed themselves at the Battle of Gettysburg.
This iconic Fabian Todorovic cartoon is still one of the best I’ve seen at illustrating the remarkable amount of space we surrender to cars, leaving little space left for everyone and everything else. The text added later makes the bonus point that many drivers still manage to complain about it.
