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Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social
566 followers 1K following 1.3K posts

Keep swimming 🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️🏊🏼‍♀️ My feed, my myriad interests 🙏⚖️🌏🐈💜🍚📚

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Reposted by Belinda Tan
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 8h
I’ve said it a thousand times but Stoicism and Ayn Rand both appeal to certain politicians and technocrats because it allows for them to feel virtuous in their narcissism. Casting themselves as ambitious heroes in a “hero’s journey” is exactly why @sentantiq.bsky.social and I wrote this takedown.
lareviewofbooks.org
The Man Behind the Myth: Should We Question the Hero’s Journey? | Los Angeles Review of Books
LARB presents the first entry in “Pasts Imperfect,” a new column that explores the impact of ancient pasts on the present.
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Rev. Prof. Matthew J. M. Coomber @mjmcoomber.bsky.social · 5h
Humanities know what’s going on (Also, see, @sarahebond.bsky.social’s article in 🧵)
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Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 5h
"The sanctions are intended to undermine the rule of law internationally and the work ​that an independent judicial institution is doing. Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations and our prosecutions." www.reuters.com/world/us-imp...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: US imposes sanctions on ICC hours after former judge wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges.
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Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 6h
This goes against the intuitions of a lot of older people who were socialized into the party alignment of the 1970s-1980s-1990s. But you could make a case that the Trump second term is the most directlyand outwardly anti-Christian presidency in American history.
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 14h
They’re live-streaming the execution of the person they think they can get away with doing that to first. It’s a test. If they can do that, they’ll expand the margins of permission.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 16h
This would sink a presidency in any other era. I would bet most Americans will never hear it even happened.
wapo.st
Trump bought over $1 million in SpaceX debt days before unveiling space policy
The purchase, revealed in his latest financial disclosure, involved a firm directly affected by his administration’s actions — and led by presidential ally Elon Musk.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 16h
Monte Wolverton, Wolvertoons
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/10/2026
Ecosia has a much deeper problem than which text fabrication engine they're using - they're fundamentally driving a shift towards more wasteful, bloated and inefficient digital existence and they continue to refuse to disclose any meaningful information
ketanjoshi.co
Ecosia’s “Green AI”: false hope for corrosive tech
Why replace human work with fossil-fuel-slurping mistake generators? Ecosia’s “Green AI” is selling false hope for bad tech
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Belinda Tan @belindatan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The world should gather up all the billionaires, redistribute their wealth to the poor, then exile them to the same deserted island, but calm them with posh cribs, and all the food, clean water, and medicine they’ll ever need. Only way to escape is to redistribute the wealth yourself.
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Belinda Tan @belindatan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I am so sick of seeing that rapist president on the screencaps of my YT algorithm that I have decided not to click on any more videos using them and get my news through other means.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 07/10/2026
Thread 👇👇
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
everyone especially the Senators confirming them knew this.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
What awful, awful news.
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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“In 2024, the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation examining interactions between Sen. Susan Collins and a top donor, records and emails show.” Then Trump came in and shut down the investigation.
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Assaad Razzouk @assaadrazzouk.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
900 battery-powered ships and counting: It isn't a test case anymore, it’s a declaration of independence from being fossil fuel hostages: With battery costs down 99% since 1991, the "too expensive" excuse is officially dead for shipping Sovereignty is renewables www.ft.com/content/0656...
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National Security Counselors 🕵 @nationalsecuritylaw.org · 03/10/2026
icymi Hegseth just reopened a can of worms when he did his little vanity project to make Musk happy and I am HERE FOR IT
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Gift Link: “It appeared to Rabbi Navon that Mr. Olah and his team believed that Claude had what philosophers call “moral status” on par with a person.”
nytimes.com
Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them. (Gift Article)
In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
To those who somehow don't seem to understand: Which part of authorising weapons sales to a state committing genocide, banning the protest movement trying to stop these sales, using the RAF to provide surveillance flights for Israel and providing major diplomatic and media support is NOT complicity?
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Keir Starmer wanted to be remembered as Prime Minister for building homes. Instead he will be remembered for his complicity in destroying them. #GazaGenocide
Rafah, in Gaza, on Google Earth, in 2022, left, and in 2026, right. (from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/google-earth-gaza-images-update-b3057562.html)
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Here, a link to the additional deaths for which Trump and Musk have been responsible in just one year. www.impactcounter.com/dashboard?vi... Trump's election is one of the most consequential and devastating in the history of democracy.
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Harlequin Ducks!! So many on rocks! I never get good shots of them. HARLEQUIN DUCKS!
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
or so). That is significantly more than 10% of current US national income, and will likely remain around 10% of national income by 2032, even if GDP growth rose from its current level. A large fraction of this revenue will go to capital income, which will enhance the wealth of the wealthiest.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
AI investments will average about 3.6% of GDP annually between 2025 and 2032. Van Nieuwerburgh calculates that, using a 10% rate of return, the industry would need to generate annual revenues of about $3.7 trillion by 2032 to recover these costs (growing from its current levels of about $200bn
brookings.edu
Financing the AI buildout | Brookings
AI's data center boom could demand 3.6% of GDP in annual investment through 2032—financed increasingly through debt structures that mask real risk.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Counterpoint: It would be great if people read some of the things that have been written about AI surveillance of workers! press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hilke... www.cambridge.org/core/books/q... www.ucpress.edu/books/uberla... jacobin.com/2026/09/amaz...
press.princeton.edu
Data Driven
A behind-the-scenes look at how digital surveillance is affecting the trucking way of life
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 30/09/2026
“That, to me, was an implicit threat. It feels very Palantir. Very Big Brother”: MP @labourlewis.bsky.social reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising Palantir By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social www.thenerve.news/p/clive-lewi...
‘We’re watching you’: MP Clive Lewis reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising Palantir. (l-r): Clive Lewis, Tom Watson and the Palantir logo, against a pink background
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 30/09/2026
Babies who don’t get the vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding. In many cases, oxygen can’t reach their brains and blood pools around their skulls. Yet driven by misinformation, more parents are refusing the injection. (Published May)
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Time for this classic again.
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Belinda Tan @belindatan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
instead of mental gymnastics, mental horror show comes to mind
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Belinda Tan @belindatan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
www.classicfm.com/music-news/l... wonderfully true
classicfm.com
Madagascan lemurs use operatic trick to hit high notes, new research finds
Researchers have found that lemurs use the ‘formant tuning’ technique taught to opera singers to reach the high notes.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation ... rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, he engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power"
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."
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David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Send him in crate. We are the shithole nation. Us.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 27/09/2026
Google Gemini says that @jevinwest.bsky.social and I aren't to be trusted because in our first lecture, we had a playful example where Jevin presented data the same way that Tim Cook did, and I called bullshit on it. It hallucinates criticism and the only citations are to the lecture itself.
1. The "Explosive Growth" Slide ControversyIronically, the most direct and explicit example of this occurred during their very first "Calling Bullshit" lecture at the University of Washington.The Setup: Jevin West presented a slide to the class showing a graph that purported to show the "explosive, hockey-stick growth" of web traffic to their new Calling Bullshit website. The graph utilized standard marketing axes and compressed timeframes to make the project look like an unmitigated, runaway viral sensation.The "Bullshit": Carl Bergstrom actually had to step in and call "bullshit" on his own co-instructor's slide. When the data was displayed honestly without selective axis truncation or creative smoothing, it showed that while traffic was high initially, it heavily ebbed, flowed, and plateaued over time.The Criticism: While some praised this as a playful, planned pedagogical moment to show that "anyone can fall prey to bad data framing," critics viewed it as a perfect illustration of the double standard: when it serves a personal or professional promotional narrative (like proving your own course is a massive success), the temptation to use flawed, hype-driven metrics is incredibly high.
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Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trump administration can use revamped voter screening tool to eliminate voters it does not want to vote, SCOTUS rules www.axios.com/2026/09/25/t...
axios.com
Trump administration can use revamped voter screening tool for now, SCOTUS rules
Voting rights groups fear the tactic could lead to eligible voters being incorrectly disqualified.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/09/2026
I forgot to post this yesterday, but Week 38 of my stitch-the-news daily news diary included: An air raid siren A weed A canceled press pass A WB logo A dark TV screen A red carpet A set of footprints
Embroidered icons representing:

An air raid siren for the attacks on Saudi Arabia
A weed for investigations revealing that the EPA allowed Bayer to pick regulations for its dangerous weed killer products 
A canceled press pass for Trump's threats about kicking news outlets out of the White House Press Pool
A WB logo for the finalization of the Paramount merger
A dark TV screen for news outlets banding together in solidarity and refusing to give any video or audio coverage to the president until all the banned news outlets had their access restored
A red carpet for Xi Jinping's state visit
A set of footprints for the walkout of Netanyahu's UN speech
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The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 26/09/2026
⚡'Nothing left to eat' —Sybiha urges partners to act on Oleshky humanitarian crisis. Oleshky's population has fallen from around 24,000 to approximately 2,000 as of spring 2026, according to the Foreign Ministry.
kyivindependent.com
'Nothing left to eat' —Sybiha urges partners to act on Oleshky humanitarian crisis
Oleshky's population has fallen from around 24,000 to approximately 2,000 as of spring 2026, according to the Foreign Ministry.
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I think something to consider here is that Collins voted to confirm Russ Vought as OMB Director despite the fact that he said a billion times that he thought Trump had a constitutional right to illegally impound funds, and now she’s doing shocked Pikachu reactions.
Sen. Susan Collins • fAl
劉
@SenatorCollins
X.com
Without warning or consultation, Congress just received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions from the Administration. This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress's Constitutional power of the purse.
This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law.Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers.
OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.
The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.
I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 26/09/2026
A sad story about how the CDC has been politicized. And a loss for everyone. The work the CDC did made us all healthier. Similar things are happening at NIH, but the timetable is slower due to (you!) fighting back. However, the new Trump NIH Institute director hires will push us down this 👇 road
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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
why are the midterms any part of this decision might be a question
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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 26/09/2026
It's weird being in a country where skeletal thinness is once again being pushed as a beauty aesthetic, and where people are spending a lot of money on drugs to meet it (I'm talking about already thin people here) while starvation is being used as a weapon a war half a world away.
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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 26/09/2026
The last time food got in was in May.
bbc.com
Oleshky: Eating garden weeds to survive in Russian-occupied city cut off from food and water
The BBC has spoken to residents in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky who say they are being "constantly shelled".
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is the trailer that all the major platforms refuse to run as a paid ad:
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An acute reminder that we don’t live in a free country as long as American tech oligarchs continue to maintain their power.
hollywoodreporter.com
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)
YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing "political" content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
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Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 26/09/2026
Trump has added $2.7 billion to his net worth since his second term has begun, per Forbes. 613 days. So that’s, what, about $4.5 million PER DAY since he was sworn in. “No one in American history has made so much money on politics.” www.forbes.com/sites/danale...
forbes.com
The Definitive Net Worth Of Donald Trump
What’s Donald Trump really worth? Forbes picks apart the president's balance sheet to uncover the answer.
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Belinda Tan @belindatan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Cos 美心 is the brand name—Maxim, now rebranded as MX
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Evan Hurst @evanhurst.substack.com · 22/09/2026
Trump Hallucinating Miracle-Gro Deals With Belarus Now www.wonkette.com/p/trump-hall...
wonkette.com
Trump Hallucinating Miracle-Gro Deals With Belarus Now
Find a different way to launder blood money to Putin. We’re sure you’ll think of something.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How many people on here remember that Tom Barrack (now Trump's Ambassador to Turkey) was prosecuted (but acquitted) for being an agent of Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has since played a key role in Trump's crypto corruption?
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Folks were right about "Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming" by Abdelrahman ElGendy. This book will stay with me. Harrowing, beautifully written, and deeply emotional. Glad it has been long listed for the National Book Award.
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