iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Except that in no way does it boggle the mind.

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

READ: If you haven’t seen this yet, please take a look. Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people from making rational judgements about driving. This study co-authored by @ianwalker.bsky.social looks at where this bias comes from & how it works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Screetshot of study title “Why Do Cars Get A Free Ride?” #CarBrain #Motonormativity

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"Fuck that." "I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve of this message."

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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Albertans with Canadian flags attached to their car in 2026 and Albertans with Canadian flags attached to their car in 2021 are completely non-overlapping groups.

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Dan in Kansas City @daninkc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Kansas Livestock Association comes out against the ICE Raids????!!!!

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"we're going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity" is the new "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I think of the climate harm AI poses the same way: the threats are not theoretical or in the future, but unfolding all around us now.

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hiebzky @hiebzky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

An excellent read from @theecologyprof.bsky.social @hydro.mb.ca needs vision. Electrification is a worldwide movement and #Manitoba needs to be onboard for the inevitable move towards sustainable energy production. #ClimateEmergency #GreenEnergy

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Julie Penner @julespenner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Boycotts, solidarity with oppressed peoples, domino effect…lots of good in this three-minute story. #Apartheid #Ireland

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This is beautifully said & incredibly important. Meeting people where they are with the very, very specific problems they face every day, especially the "small stuff" (which never is small, when summed up), and offering concrete action on them, should be politics at least as much as everything else.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Elon Musk doesn't care about anyone's rights or safety; he cares about Republicans helping shovel money his way and dismantle regulations that could help keep us safe from him.

theguardian.com

Elon Musk’s xAI sues Minnesota over law banning ‘nudification’ technology

First-in-nation law sets up test on states’ power to regulate use of AI as it tries to outlaw fake nude images of real people

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Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

@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

themselves 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

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Disability support policy is a giant test of the principle “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”. Systems that gatekeep disability benefits to prevent supposed grifting are betraying that principle by deciding it’s worth making many innocents struggle & starve to stop a few bad actors. Same with welfare.

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Seeadler @seeadler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"AI, can you give me an example of a good sentence using 'in comparison to'?" "Certainly, Seeadler: 'Her clever wit could be compared in comparison to a sharp blade'." "could be compared in comparison to" apparently gives universities sufficient confidence to close their English departments.

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Waubgeshig Rice @waub.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In light of recent events, if you’re looking to donate to support Palestinian children, in the past Palestinian colleagues have pointed me to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) www.pcrf.net

pcrf.net

PCRF

The Palestine Children's Relief Fund was established in 1992 by concerned humanitarians in the USA to bring injured and sick children for free medical care they could not get locally

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Tom Penner 🇨🇦 he/him @chestnutfez.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I have no idea who this candidate for #Winnipeg mayor is, but his platform says a lot of great things about public #transit (and other things too)! www.noahredden.ca

noahredden.ca

Noah Redden For Winnipeg

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

These centers are the guy who thinks hot young women aren’t showing up to the bar he stocked with weird dude things because pink-haired woke commie broads won’t let them.

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Chris Wiebe @chriswiebe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

No lies detected.

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Gianmarco Soresi @gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

These newscasters should be so fucking embarrassed

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Bruce Arthur @brucearthur.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

And I trust @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social: "Unfortunately, we have to take all of this w/ a massive grain of salt because a cult of losers who think you can turn a computer into god infiltrated the highest levels of SF society and now it’s impossible to know who’s compromised." bsky.app/profile/garb...

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

If walking costs you $1, we all pay $0.01. If biking costs you $1, we all pay $0.08. If bussing costs you $1, we all pay $1.50. If driving costs you $1, we all pay $9.20. Via study that still underestimates climate cost. This isn’t about choice. It’s about who pays for your choice. #citymakingmath

Detailed math as shared in the post. “How much does your commute cost (or save) society? Source is Discourse Media.

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Watching the morning baseball recap show and just saw a commercial for a chain of plasma donation centers, urging viewers to consider the benefits of donating plasma--especially receiving "up to $800 a month"--and that's surely a sign our economy is doing great

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 09/09/2026

AI companies: This technology we’re developing is dangerous and might destroy humanity and we don’t know how to stop it Other people: So we should strictly regulate it, create legislative guard rails, and monitor its development? AI companies: lol no the opposite of all that & give us more money

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Chris Wiebe @chriswiebe.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I know I keep sounding like a broken record (and I mostly keep it to myself these days), but this isn’t your parents’ MB NDP. Taking away the right to strike is new ground for New Democrats. No amount of PR tire changing will fix this anti-labour result. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

Manitoba Labour Board orders striking Dynacare lab employees back to work | CBC News

Hundreds of Dynacare workers are being ordered back to work by the Manitoba Labour Board, their union says.

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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 07/09/2026

Perspective.

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Mary's Elm @thewolseleyelm.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Imagine what Manitoba could do with $80B instead of subsidizing the fossil industry. Hospitals, schools, parks, free public transit, housing, urban renewal, support to small businesses and coops...

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Driving is really expensive for all of us. And these studies are likely still underestimating the the climate and pollution costs, which we’re arrogant to assume we fully understand. #CityMakingMath

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Dylan MacKay @dylanmackayphd.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

You can make EVs sound like V8 engines, you can even make the cars vibrate the same way, the video game rocket league lets you pick the engine sound of your car...

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Read and share this. “The devastating impacts of #ClimateChange —impacts that major fossil fuel companies foresaw more than 60 years ago—will unfold for untold generations. These very companies have poured millions of dollars into covering up what they knew and when they knew it.” Via @ucs.org

ucs.org

The Damning Records the Fossil Fuel Industry Doesn't Want You to See

Fossil fuel companies foresaw the devastating impacts of climate change more than 60 years ago.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 13/08/2026

I feel like an issue that would connect well with voters would be doing anything at all to slow the current progression toward "absolutely everything now is a scam"

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Car companies and their advertisers WANT car buyers to see themselves as privileged, entitled, anti-social and obnoxious. It’s a specific branding goal. They should be held accountable. #CarBrain

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Sue Sorensen @suesorensen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I SO enjoy these news items 😆

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY. There was also a 71% drop in air pollution. Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

forbes.com

Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis

City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.

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Dylan MacKay @dylanmackayphd.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The AI generated pictures of food in restaurant ads is disgusting, but I suppose it might help reduce my spending on food since I won't ever be buying from any of those restaurants

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Tom Penner 🇨🇦 he/him @chestnutfez.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Bored and scrolling the channels. Some Transformer flick is on, huge battle scene. Giant machine thingy is wielding a massive minigun, with an ammo belt that never loses a bullet. These movies are so fake I swear

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Rudy Giuliani is why a lot of people died during and after 9/11. Has anyone said he shouldn't show up? How about George W. who cut anti-terrorism measures that might've prevented it? Why does racist fantasy harm matter more than real harm; the answer is racism, including in amplifying these voices.

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Tom Penner 🇨🇦 he/him @chestnutfez.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Slightly older news, but the larger point about corporate media control is absolutely true.

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