Fred Barrett @fkbarrett.com · 07/10/2026I was just thinking "why is OpenAI releasing results like this, it's sure to just antagonize people even more". This thread is an interesting discussion of possible motivations (and the implications). 000
Reposted by Fred BarrettTerence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I came across this parody of a rumored upcoming press release by OpenAI: "OpenAI Releases the Final Ten Minutes of 500 Previously Unreleased Films, Ushering in a New Era of Movie Watching" : x.com/Endings500/s...x.comEndings Fivehundred (@Endings500) on XFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6th, 2026 OpenAI Releases the Final Ten Minutes of 500 Previously Unreleased Films, Ushering in a New Era of Movie Watching 522044
Reposted by Fred BarrettIt's Abby. Yep @itsabbyyep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I'm special. Like that song you put on your playlist and skip every single time it comes up 612929
Reposted by Fred Barrett🕸️ @holojester.bsky.social · 26/09/2026thats not me it was a thirty year moment of weakness 02511
Reposted by Fred Barrettweeder @weeder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026God, grant me the courage to change the things I can and incredible new powers to change the things I can't. 63107262532
Reposted by Fred BarrettBart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves. 10381692845
Reposted by Fred Barrett🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026I just honestly can't get over that Save Women Sports, an anti-trans group could only find five trans athletes competing K through 12. Five. The NCAA president testified a year and a half ago or so that there were less than 10 college level trans athletes. What the fuck are we doing, people 16886292302
Reposted by Fred BarrettRachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"Two men deported to Equatorial Guinea by the Trump administration were hooded, bound, beaten with guns and shoved down a flight of stairs recently by police officers at a remote hotel where Trump administration deportees are being held indefinitely..." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/w...nytimes.comA Central African Hotel Has Become a Nightmare Prison for U.S. DeporteesWitnesses say men were hooded and beaten in Equatorial Guinea. The autocratic government there is a partner in President Trump’s deportation program. 13519611220
Reposted by Fred BarrettKieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 18/09/2026This is the far more likely pathway for how AI will end us all, btw. Not via some superintelligent swarm of paperclip maximizers, but by a cascading sequence of dumb fuckups driven by human beings who have arranged things to be fast-moving and catastrophically fragile while also being really lazy. 17391150
Reposted by Fred BarrettRaffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Random note; since my dad passed away last December, I’ve been handling all of my mom’s mail and accounts. It is incredible. How many scams are aimed at the elderly in this country, including my companies that superficially seem legitimate. Every week her mail is full of this crap. 851807269
Reposted by Fred BarrettJacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Money that comes into the United States government is government revenue. It is part of the public fisc. There's not "taxpayer money" and then "extra bonus money outside the rules." It's all taxpayer money. And spending *any* of it requires Congressional authorization. 2/ 121884384
Fred Barrett @fkbarrett.com · 10/09/2026"Let's Go Crazy" may be my favorite track on the album, though -- hard not to love a song with the lyric "indiscriminate use of the power of arrest" 140
Reposted by Fred BarrettCatherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026I like that this design appears to show the birth date of liberty as 1776, and its death as 2026 626113802247
Reposted by Fred BarrettAlex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 31/08/2026I can no longer in good faith recommend anyone to study in the US, or stay stateside for work and further education after completing degree programs they had started during the Biden era. US higher ed is unrecognizable even compared to a year ago when ICE was kidnapping students from their homes 282697833
Reposted by Fred BarrettDara Lind @daralind.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Okay what if we just all agree to name it the Dolly Parton Center for the Performing Arts 411018
Reposted by Fred BarrettMicroplastics Sommelier @leastactionhero.bsky.social · 22/08/2026why is this idiot a congressman for a safely blue district. pathetic. 5303
Reposted by Fred BarrettGillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 21/08/2026Yesterday, Aug. 20, was one of the worst days of ICE flights I've seen. -At least 82 ICE flights -At least 15 were removal flights, including Haiti -At least 5 removals were third-country removals (Cameroon, Costa Rica, Liberia, Paraguay, Rwanda) -Plus 1 emergency return for reasons unknown 131801966
Reposted by Fred BarrettAdam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026You cannot appeal to rigorous academic standards and argue for the inclusion of racist pseudoscience, the most fallacious, damaging, and discredited idea of the past 500 years. You might as well teach doctors to recognize the four humors. 312379565
Reposted by Fred BarrettDare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 18/08/2026It’s a common practice for AI companies to buy the internal data from dead startups for training models. That said, I was still shocked to see that Google bought all of Spirit Airways enterprise data to train Gemini. Gemini now knows about your preference for window seats. 611432
Reposted by Fred BarrettRadley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 14/08/2026A bunch of cops cheering at a political rally — in uniform — as the president and AG endorse a candidate and attack their political opponents is not normal. And it is not okay. 31872222287
Fred Barrett @fkbarrett.com · 14/08/2026I was just thinking about this -- it comes up in conversation all the time! You would think that cleaning this up would be a great talking point. 000
Reposted by Fred BarrettChris Wysopal @weld.bsky.social · 11/08/2026License-plate readers are evolving into device trackers, linking cars with nearby phones, wearables and wireless devices to build an “electronic fingerprint.” theconversation.com/new-tech-add...theconversation.comNew tech adds phone tracking to license plate readers, associating devices with identifiable carsLicense plate readers are widely used in the US. A new product marketed to police departments promises to add the ability to sense phones and other devices in passing cars. 144
Reposted by Fred BarrettElizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 10/08/2026We need to protect Social Security for the next generation. 521158014176
Reposted by Fred Barrettweeder @weeder.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Telling the dispatcher it's important the plumber not shame me for anything I've tried to fix it myself, no matter what they see here 1937542
Reposted by Fred BarrettAdam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Last year I was interviewed by Paul Rivera for the DNC's after-action review. He told me then that fundraising reform would likely meet the greatest resistance from the party and its operatives. A passage (highlighted) Rivera says was sent but left out of the report the DNC released: 🧵 25517
Reposted by Fred BarrettHypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 02/08/2026By design, the system does not discriminate on who it captures. It was built to stalk everyone, not “capture criminals” or “fight crime.” 27012
Reposted by Fred BarrettJay Willis @jaywillis.net · 27/07/2026I was pulling photos from Getty Images today and this one took my breath away for a second. "Plain clothed federal agents pursue a man through the lobby of the Hennepin County Government Center before tackling and arresting him Tuesday, February 10, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minn." 452053544
Reposted by Fred BarrettDave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Video available online shows police shot this man at point-blank range while he was already on the ground. Police in the United States have killed more than 10,000 people since 2016 alone. 2725271
Reposted by Fred BarrettLouisa @louisathelast.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Well, this article is incredibly depressing for cooking enthusiasts. The short version: private equity has, over the last couple of decades, quietly bought up most of the classic brands you’ve heard of and then traded on their names while drastically cutting quality and closing American factories 11529631156
Reposted by Fred BarrettDenali @denali.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Husband just came in to tell me that since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln every American president has been alive at the same time as Herbert Hoover. 713107616
Reposted by Fred BarrettMark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 18/07/2026More war crimes: In its fourth strike on water infrastructure, the US has destroyed two water tanks in Sirik, Iran, completely cutting off water distribution in all villages of the Bemani district and the city of Kohstak, the Hormozgan Water and Sanitation Authority says. 15832031543
Reposted by Fred BarrettRadley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 16/07/2026"Stop criticizing us or will keep murdering people" is just a jaw-dropping thing for a government official to say. 28470602353
Reposted by Fred BarrettWEATHER IS HAPPENING @weatherishappening.com · 15/07/2026/ PM 2.5 AQI RIGHT NOW IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW ENGLAND, & OVER UR NORTHEAST EMPIRE GENERALLY / WEAR A N95 MASK 2 PROTECT AGAINST EXPOSURE / RUN UR AIR PURIFIERS / SMOKE IS HAPPENING / map.purpleair.com/air-quality-... 48861
Reposted by Fred BarrettWill Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 09/07/2026ICE desperately wants you not to care about this story But we must. The killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national striving for his American Dream, is a moral outrage, and a warning. ICE hopes you won't notice that mass deportation is back My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...inquirer.comICE killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. They want you to be apathetic. Don’t be. | Will BunchSalgado came from Mexico, built the American Dream, sent his sons to college, and was senselessly killed by ICE. 5040361962
Reposted by Fred BarrettAdam Weinstein @adamweinstein.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I'm so disillusioned, I almost don't even care who gets the FIFA Peace Prize next year 268239963246
Reposted by Fred BarrettColin Warriner @colinelmustard.bsky.social · 05/07/2026I think this might be one of the most incredible, unsettling and symbolic photos of today’s America I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop looking at it. From Reuters, published on the Guardian website. 21175191881
Reposted by Fred BarrettHelen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 04/07/2026Looks like Mayor Z's pied a terre tax is not collapsing the real estate market or causing the wealthy to flee Manhattan after all. Indeed, the opposite. Who could have possibly imagined this scenario? www.realtor.com/news/trends/...realtor.comManhattan Luxury Market Booms Despite Mayor Mamdani's New Tax on Second HomesDespite the new pied-à-terre tax, Manhattan's ultrahigh-end luxury market remains incredibly robust, say experts. 243210779
Reposted by Fred BarrettTamoor Hussain @tamoorh.com · 03/07/2026Incredible moment where Fox News puts up a graphic with all the reasons it opposes the DSA and why people should be afraid of them 765259717160
Reposted by Fred Barrettjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 29/06/2026need to start thinking now about a full package of judicial reforms: new justices, new circuits, new district courts, ethics reforms, docket reforms, and transparency reforms. 391144552918
Reposted by Fred BarrettFlat Pluto Coven @adhdgobl.in · 28/06/2026Mel Brooks has been around for 40% of the US's existence. 13280591396
Fred Barrett @fkbarrett.com · 28/06/2026Along the same lines, but said better than I can: bsky.app/profile/opin... 000
Fred Barrett @fkbarrett.com · 28/06/2026Yes, I remember the Bicentennial being a very big deal. Now thinking about 250 just makes me sad, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. 130
Reposted by Fred BarrettBetter Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Disbanding this armed gang has to be a top priority for any Democratic president 402936441
![The highlighted passage is what Rivera claims was left out of the DNC’s report.
The DNC bears some responsibility for this ecosystem. During the 2019 nominating process, candidates seeking the presidential nomination had to meet grassroots donor thresholds as well as other benchmarks identified by the DNC to make the debate stage. This led many candidates to make significant investments in online fundraising and other tactics to capture grassroots donors. The intense pressure to make the debates left campaigns with few options.
[By Charter, the DNC has the authority and responsibility to publish a code of fair campaign practices “including but not limited to providing information to campaigns; agreements between the Democratic National Committee and campaigns; fundraising; and common
vendors.”46 The DNC Chair is required to put this code in place before each Presidential cycle.]
The DNC can and should adopt a fundraising code of conduct to ensure grassroots fundraising remains ethically aligned and is more effective going into the future.
As Bonica writes, the costs and risks for Democrats are compounding:
Every dollar spent on fundraising consultants, list rentals, and SMS spammers is a dollar
not spent on voter contact, organizing, or actual political communication. Campaigns
that should be building movements are instead building donor databases. Political
energy that could mobilize communities gets redirected into optimizing email subject
lines and testing which desperate plea extracts the most dollars from exhausted
supporters.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:25cztqjrqfedqg22bpoqjljr/bafkreig3b2j6gmn7vkztfkqvyenpxm3janraab7qavczq6ey36qhyl4zuu)
