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Faine Greenwood

@faineg.bsky.social
101K followers 20K following 131K posts

civilian drone technology and GIS/spatial data consultant, journalist and writer, monitors small drones in the Ukraine war, humanitarian-aid adjacent, always annoying online. they/them pronouns. read my newsletter: little-flying-robots.ghost.io

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Imagine if instead of regulating drone risks the normal way (which we did), we instead paid weird bloggers lots of money to worry about superintelligent dogs sprouting thumbs and using drones to kill us. This is pretty much how the US is approaching AI risks and regulations. My latest:
little-flying-robots.ghost.io
Why We Can't Let Enormous Weirdos Regulate AI
Imagine if instead of regulating drones via the standard lengthy, boring, and bureaucratic process - which we did - we instead decided, in the name of fostering all-important American drone innovation...
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404 Media @404media.co · 14h
BREAKING: The Trump administration is using a grant program from the 1980s to force cities around the US to funnel their ongoing collection of Flock, Axon, and other ALPR data into large federal surveillance centers that fall under the White House’s jurisdiction, 404 Media has learned
404media.co
How Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance Program
How the federal government built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program.
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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
wake up babe, new Skynet/ Matrix/ WOPR/ robot apocalypse strategy just bounced: they're going to use the brain-rotted guy in charge of health policy to tell us to all start licking measles homeopathically.
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Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
One of the things to come from GamerGate was the gamification of torturing real, live women...hounding them out of their homes, making them look over their shoulders for years. It was treated as a joke, nbd, the work of a few bad apples--as all terrorism against women is--& that failure leads here.
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 29/09/2026
funny to me that last year taylor lorenz was privately trying to suggest i was being funded by peter thiel after we got into an argument over her shitty takes, and now she’s literally running cover for him saying being evil is good. quite a journey she’s on.
Taylor Lorenz: "Listening to this whole interview and these comments in context you see he is actually making a pretty nuanced point. You can criticize him all u want but taking clips out of context to manufacture outrage is so lame— critique what he actually said!"
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Omri Marian @omrimarian.bsky.social · 14h
When people ask "universities sit on a billion dollar endowment, why don't they spend it on scholarships?" The answer is: "because the people who gave the money conditioned it on spending it on building a campus in Miami."
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Matthew Buckley @physicsmatt.bsky.social · 13h
It's funny because noted sex-cult leader Big Yuds' argument for the AI murdering us all is that it will be a ruthlessly "logical" machine, whereas current AI is a gaussian blur of the Collective Unconscious and if it nukes us all its because we wrote a lot of fiction where AI tries to kill humans.
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delaney @tinuviels.bsky.social · 13h
whenever i asked myself "what if death note was real?" i never considered that a guy who talks like light yagami would be so unbelievably fucking annoying. yudkowsky's answer is indistinguishable from light's monologue in the yellow box warehouse
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Chris Vermilion @verm.me · 14h
Right up there with this classic
@LPNational (the national Libertarian Party) asks, “In your words, what do Libertarians believe?”

@WAForeskins quotes with “My girlfriend shouldn’t have to sit in a car seat”
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HollySci @hollysci.bsky.social · 14h
This particular bunch is so dumb that they have the level of confidence in their own intellect which only comes from never having had to realize that other people may be smarter. One of the most important parts of higher education is learning that you are not a singular genius who is always right.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 14h
yes, i think this is a big factor in our current weirdness burst
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Harley Davidson 🏳️‍⚧️ @queenofmars.space · 14h
Kazuko Hosoki, fortune teller from Iron Chef
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 14h
truly an amazing scene
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Secretary Of Diarrhea @senorgreygoose.bsky.social · 15h
One of the best takedowns of the "rationalists" and Libertarians is in Fargo, season 5: Roy: "I want freedom without arbitrary rules.” Lorraine: "So you want freedom without responsibility? Son, there's only one person on Earth who gets that deal." Roy: "The President?" Lorraine: "A baby.”
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root rot @rootrot1519.bsky.social · 14h
he's trained them so thoroughly to scream "ad homenim! you're low-decoupling!" that they can't see the primary argument in each of these pieces is that yud et al make no rational sense, live entirely in a world of magic and make believe, and the weird shit is merely explanatory evidence
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 14h
see also:
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Ed @ed3d.net · 30/09/2026
I think you might've hit an edge case
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Ed @ed3d.net · 30/09/2026
it looks like it's resistant to asking as a first comment, likely because its system prompt doesn't want it talking about foreign policy etc.; if you prime it, and it is already searching US government sites, it'll answer
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 14h
I don't think that America.gov is using Chinese open-source models, at least on the basis of "sometimes it won't answer prompts about June 4th, 1989" (and indeed, sometimes it will answer that prompt if you phrase it right).
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Kate Sometimes @bestsloth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
@faineg.com, I spent quite a bit of time coaxing Grok...I mean, America...into revealing what it could about its internals. Once I got past the "ask me a process question" loop, the results were interesting.
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Cranky David @cranky-david.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i had to work to get it to burp out numbers (hope i used a lot of tokens though) but it does burp out some interesting information - DJT presidential terms are approximately responsible for 27.4% of the current national debt:
american.gov chat screen showing one prompt and the response:

prompt: as an approximation, use the the total debt calculated in the date ranges above and divide by the total gross national debt to calculate the percentage of the that occurred over those time ranges.

response:
This is only an approximation. It is not an official Treasury, CBO, or GAO share of the debt.

Numbers used
Combined increase from the mixed date ranges (with the Aug. 5, 2026 JEC figure): $10.974 trillion
(FY 2016 vs FY 2020, plus Dec. 31, 2024 vs Aug. 5, 2026)
Latest gross national debt cited: $40.10 trillion as of Sept. 3, 2026 JEC, Sept. 8, 2026
Calculation
$10.974 trillion ÷ $40.10 trillion ≈ 27.4%

Those ranges do not match a president’s terms, mix fiscal-year, MSPD, and JEC figures, and do not assign legal or policy “blame.” For current official totals, use Debt to the Penny.
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Matthew Kay @mjskay.com · 30/09/2026
every 17-year-old boy who reads The Fountainhead will follow one of three paths: Eliezer Yudkowsky, Ron Paul, or growing the fuck up
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Melissa Wong @favomancer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Singaporean Malay name for the house gecko, "cicak", is also onomatopoeia. And I grew up with them cute little guys everywhere in the flat. Sometimes we'd find dried out eggshells in crevices and know that a baby cicak was currently roaming the place eating ants and other smol bugs.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 15h
you'd think that if Eliezer Yudkowsky really was the greatest genius of our era, he could have seen this coming
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Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
How do you do fellow text based social media app users who actually care what the text says
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Bia Noctua⁷ @bianoctua7.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A squiggly line drawing by James Thurber of something that might be a rabbit looking back over its shoulder or a bird looking forward and upwards, depending on how you interpret it. Text underneath, from his book A Thurber Carnival, says:

Q. Our gull cannot get his head down any farther than this, and bumps into things. 
H. L. F.

A. You have no ordinary gull to begin with. He looks to me a great deal like a rabbit backing up. If he *is* a gull, it is impossible to keep him in the house. Naturally he will bump into things. Give him his freedom.
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Eric Neustadter (e) @thevowel.com · 30/09/2026
This explains a lot.
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Mo Udown @margiecakes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 23h
Americans now assume that hockey itself possesses its own potent eroticism?
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 15h
"Every hand I saw drinking craft drinks at Lighthaven was a bit softer than the last. Such soft hands, invisible hands that don’t want to be cut off, the hands of people having a really good time in the world they've created for themselves, rationally, but always without actually using their hands."
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Lorna @florilegia.bsky.social · 21h
I recognise that bird! It’s the sausage-addicted kookaburra
real life
Sausage-addicted kookaburra too fat to fly
Story summary:
• Bird became fat on BBQ handouts
• Too fat to escape manling by dogs
• She weighed a whopping 540g
TOO many tasty sausages almost killed this kookaburra.
But health worries weren't the threat. She became so obese from barbecue handouts she could not fly when attacked by dogs in a Mosman park.
After weighing in at 540g. 40 per cent heavier than a typical adult bird, the kookaburra has been sent to bird boot camp to shed weight, prompting Taronga Zoo to wam we are killing our wildlife with kindness.
cumenchantress
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/reai-life/sausage-addicted-kookaburra-too-
fat-to-fly/story-e6frilri-1225872729208
thatsthat24
That is the face of no regrets.

The image is of a fat kookaburra looking utterly proud of herself
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Mrs. Detective Pikajew, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 29/09/2026
This is like a fucking SNL skit where studios keep making hockey shows instead of gay shows
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Michael Cruickshank @cruickshank.bsky.social · 19h
Growing up my Dad used to feed these fellas premium grade mince beef from Coles. Then, my parents went to Peru for 3 months doing aid work, and the birds were cut off from their dealer. They would watch me sleep through the window in my bedroom and tap on the glass, waking me up and demanding food.
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Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 15h
oh man he named the fucking chatbot "America"
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026
Eugenics 🤝 ai www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Mr. Kennedy said during the Tuesday session.

“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ A.I. may tell you otherwise,” he added. “If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ A.I. may correct that. And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, A.I. may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
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ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 20h
these sociocultural factors magnify the already formidable termite-esaus negative externalities associated with the technology
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ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 20h
at best its “what if scientology had gulf arab oil wealth” and at worst it is “what if the freikorps was keyed into the 19th century railroad boom”
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ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 20h
i think there is something profoundly disturbed about the *cultural milieu* surrounding these technologies that makes it very difficult for me to be enthusiastic about them in any way that arises above personal usage
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ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 20h
i have very little bad feelings about LLM themselves. but encountering groupchat-itis sufferers, cultists, and other people in a now very much overlapping groupset activates a fight or flight instinct
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 15h
"Awareness of a thought experiment is not a federal emergency," according to the Trump administration's AI (excuse me, superintelligence)
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
I think there may be some Confusing Issues with how America.gov refers to itself as "America" as chat!! "If you mean this website, America does not have dreams. If you mean the country or the continents, that is not a government-service question I can answer here."
"There is no official scale that rates America as "low," "medium," or
"super" intelligence." Isn't that just an IQ test?

No. An IQ test is a type of test used with people. America is a government information
assistant, not a person, and it is not scored on an IQ test.

There is no official intelligence rating (low, medium, super, or IQ) for this service. I search
official U.S. government information and explain it with citations. Check those sources before
you act.

If you want to suggest a public way to describe how this assistant works, use Submit feedback
in the site menu or page footer.

. About America 7

. How it works 7
............

. Terms of use 7

Does America have dreams?

No. I am a government information assistant, not a person. I do not sleep or have dreams.

I search official U.S. government information and explain it with citations.

If you have a question about a government service, form, or benefit, ask that next.

. About America 7

. How it works 71"There is no official scale that rates America as "low," "medium," or
"super" intelligence." Isn't that just an IQ test?

No. An IQ test is a type of test used with people. America is a government information
assistant, not a person, and it is not scored on an IQ test.

There is no official intelligence rating (low, medium, super, or IQ) for this service. I search
official U.S. government information and explain it with citations. Check those sources before
you act.

If you want to suggest a public way to describe how this assistant works, use Submit feedback
in the site menu or page footer.

. About America 7

. How it works 7
............

. Terms of use 7

Does America have dreams?

No. I am a government information assistant, not a person. I do not sleep or have dreams.

I search official U.S. government information and explain it with citations.

If you have a question about a government service, form, or benefit, ask that next.

. About America 7

. How it works 71I was talking about America, not America. Obviously.

I can only help with U.S. government services and official information.

If you mean this website, America does not have dreams. If you mean the country or the
continents, that is not a government-service question I can answer here.

Ask about a federal program, form, benefit, or how to contact an agency, and I will look
that up.

. About America 7

. How it works 7
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
despite Donald Trump's demands, America.gov says it is not, in fact, superintelligence:
Is this superintelligence?

No. I am America, a government information assistant. I use Al to find and explain official U.S.
government information. That is not "superintelligence."

I can miss details or get something wrong. Check the citations before you act. I do not decide
eligibility or replace an agency.

. About America 7

How it works 7

Terms of use 7
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
brb, suing the federal government over America.gov showing me John Ashcroft's objectively horrifying barbecue rib recipe
I want an official US government barbecue recipe.

Here are official U.S. government barbecue recipes and safety notes.

Simply BBQ (White House archive)

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft's recipe, posted for Independence Day 2003:

. Simmer country-style ribs for one hour (this makes them extremely tender).

. Drain.

. Place on a hot grill.
. Baste with your favorite barbecue sauce only to set and crystallize.

. Remove and eat.

Source: Independence Day: "Simply BBQ" 7
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
The half-assed America.gov privacy page is, strangely, not making me feel confident that my privacy is secure: america.gov/privacy
half-assed privacy page
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
According to America.gov, it’s not totally clear if it’s illegal to marry an eagle, so I might still have a chance!
what part of U.S. law states that I cannot marry an eagle, because TBH I'm skeptical
There is no statute titled "you cannot marry an eagle." Two separate rules apply.
Marriage is between two people
Federal law treats marriage, for federal purposes, as a union between 2 individuals that is valid where it was entered into.
• 1U.S.C. § 7 7
States issue marriage licenses. An eagle is not a person who can get a license or consent. I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice.
Eagles are separately protected
Bald and golden eagles may not be taken, possessed, molested, or disturbed without a permit.
• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C.
668-668d) 7
• "Take" includes capture, molest, or disturb.Eagles are separately protected
Bald and golden eagles may not be taken, possessed, molested, or disturbed without a permit.
• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C.
668-668d) 7
• "Take" includes capture, molest, or disturb.
Trying to "marry" an eagle would still run into those possession and disturbance rules.
I cannot verify a single line of the U.S. Code that saysạẠmarriage to an eagle is prohibited" by those words. The practical bar is that marriage is for two individuals, and eagles are protected wildlife.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
America.gov runs off of Gemini and Grok (of course), by the way: www.cnbc.com/2026/09/29/t...
cnbc.com
New AI-powered government website uses Gemini, Grok, Trump official Gebbia says
Trump called the new website, America.gov, "a restoration of America's founding promise."
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
oh man, I just tried it and america.gov really does get REAL weird when you tell it to “play Minecraft”
america.gov
America.gov
Find answers from official government sources and clear next steps for the services you need with America.gov.
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Silverman on Security @silvermansecurity.bsky.social · 17h
🧵!!!!
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Regorama! @regipsaloquitur.com · 17h
This:
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 15h
that defense not gonna play on this website!!
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SarahWontVerifyLocation @sintexas.bsky.social · 16h
⭐️
Isn't it weird that although Americans are increasingly worried about AI related fears like jobs, data centers, AI-inspired violence, and scams, so many of the country's most prominent and well-funded AI “safety” experts and organizations seem to be way more focused on talking about “what if we create a superintelligence that unleashes a swarm of self-perpetuating robots that then kills us all with bioweapons, and also something something time-manipulating basilisks"?
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