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Auld Black Jack

@freejack.bsky.social
283 followers 353 following 3.6K posts

You know that "People, people who need people.." song? ...I'm not one of those people.

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Reposted by Auld Black Jack
WIRED @wired.com · 2h
The company claims that its new device, the Neurable One, can keep you in the zone, calculate the best time to take a break, and tell you when your “brain battery” needs a recharge. www.wired.com/story/exclus...
wired.com
Neurable’s First Brain-Scanning Headphones Want to Fine-Tune Your Focus
The company claims that its new device, the Neurable One, can keep you in the zone, calculate the best time to take a break, and tell you when your “brain battery” needs a recharge.
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Auld Black Jack @freejack.bsky.social · 52m
It has to happen eventually. The only question is will there have to be an unmitigated disaster, ala thalidomide babies, before the world recognizes the need to regulate all the snake oil salesmen in the tech sector?
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Steve M. @stevemnomoremister.bsky.social · 22h
Why Was Eric Schmitt Being Groomed for Stardom in the First Place? (new post) nomoremister.blogspot.com/2026/09/why-...
nomoremister.blogspot.com
WHY WAS ERIC SCHMITT BEING GROOMED FOR STARDOM IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Former special prosecutor Jack Smith was interrogated at a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing yesterday. If you know what happened, you know...
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Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Ireland and the Russian defense industrial base www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com
Ireland is helping supply Russia’s war machine
The EU considers putting an Irish alumina refiner on its sanctions list
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Atrios @eschatonblog.com · 17h
The kids won't remember peak Newt.
If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I mean some do, but they're relatively rare.

"On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch, they roll around in it, it doesn't matter, you know. These things are very real.

"On the other hand, if combat means being on an aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for 12 ships and their rockets, a female may again be dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes.
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CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Study: Fractured ecosystems, climate change raise risk of zoonotic, vector-borne disease outbreaks The largest-ever study on this topic systematically tested how 16 hypothetical social and environmental factors influence where outbreaks occur. Read more: bit.ly/3TrnLG2
Illustration of earth with green plants on one side and parched soil on the other
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Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Just 5 Infections Responsible For More Than 2 Million New Cancer Cases Annually" 🦠H. pylori 🦠Human papillomavirus (HPV) 🦠Hepatitis B virus (HBV) 🦠Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) 🦠Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
sciencealert.com
Just 5 Infections Responsible For More Than 2 Million New Cancer Cases Annually
Cancer may seem like an inevitable part of life, but there are so many factors that can help reduce your risk.
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A great reflection post by Dr. Paul Sax on three recent studies which have examined very different approaches to addressing LongCOVID. We do not have a home run yet but it is a good thing that we are casting a wide net to find answers for the many affected. voices.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
voices.nejm.org
Three Very Different Ways to Treat Long Covid
Two that are promising, and one that is difficult to talk about
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026
New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:
science.org
NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding
Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Mike Rogers is a corporate sellout who moves back to Michigan every few years to run for office to take another swing at the revolving door of corporate politics.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Here’s Chris Rufo and his podcast co-host addressing “the Indian question,” a reference to “the Jewish question.” That question was whether Jews could be incorporated into European society, and the Nazis were the ones who claimed to have developed the “final solution” to that “problem.”
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Andy Carvin @acarv.in · 28/09/2026
"Netanyahu asked the Emirati president to deny reports of their phone conversation as well as details concerning the events leading up to October 7 that could embarrass him, according to the sources. He also asked bin Zayed for what the source described as 'moral support.'"
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Jeff (Hot Type) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WSJ lead headline acts as if Trump had an economic strategy that "backfired." No, Stupid's Economy is entirely his fault without a plan and it all was predicted. The Moves That Backfired on Trump and Drove Interest Rates and Inflation Higher www.wsj.com/economy/trum...
wsj.com
The Moves That Backfired on Trump and Drove Interest Rates and Inflation Higher
The president’s own agenda has helped undermine promises to fix the economy and get the deficit under control.
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New York Focus @nysfocus.com · 28/09/2026
A group of sheriffs is suing over NY’s new law banning formal agreements between ICE and local law enforcement, arguing it could have broad consequences. Some immigrants’ rights attorneys hope they’re right — and see opportunity in the law’s ambiguity.
nysfocus.com
New York Sheriffs Fear Broad Crackdown on Collusion with ICE
A vaguely written state law raises questions about how and when the state will take action against collaboration. Some sheriffs are suing.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I wonder what it would be like to write the same column, over and over again, endlessly. Seems like it’d be boring. But maybe it brings one comfort, like having your parents read you the same story every night before you go to bed.
Opinion
Opinion by Megan McArdle
The Great Awokening is over.
This lesbian bar shows why.
A meltdown over masking shows where cancel culture is now.
Today at 07:00 ET
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
Women trying to succeed in Silicon Valley AI and effective altruist spaces are reporting feeling serious social pressure to attend sex parties - where people have reported being sexually assaulted, like below. Events like Aella’s “Slutcon,” which is happening again this weekend.
Ann Pierce
@itsannpierce
20h
I am disheartened by this as well. I already lost a bunch of followers for agreeing with @tautologer, but it's saddening to see local nerdy women being caricatured as Karen-like outsiders and getting pushed out of the scene. This is exactly why you hear so few concrete, names-attached stories of sexual harrassment and assault. I'm told there is a history of discrediting these because the "slut normalization" thing is top priority and these stories get inconveniently in the way of spreading this ideology.
I got roped into attending last year's Saturday Slutcon party because so many local and out-of-town friends were there (to echo sentiments @tautologer expressed about "slut events becoming central to the larger scenes). Mostly I hung out with people I knew and that was great. But in the course of my 3-ish hours there, there were 2 times my "no" was not accepted by a man I didn't know, and I was physically pushing a huge guy off of me who was rubbing his penis on me, who continued to do it despite my physical force against him, and after I finally wriggled away from him, told him I wanted to dance alone etc., he came back and did it again.
This was scary and bad, but it didn't even cross my mind to report this because one of the other people who didn't accept my "no" earlier in the night was the bartender (an officially sanctioned authority at the event), and I knew the event was organized exclusively by women into CNC (who are vocal about how rapey behavior turns them on), so I figured this sort of thing would just get me laughed at. And anyway, I heard there were a lot of other incidents like it. Later though, someone encouraged me to report this story to the organizers, and despite my embarrassment I did, so *they know* that this and other incidents happened. This is why they cut the Saturday night party this year and created a larger training program for the flirt girls - *because* of things like this last year. Yet the narrative bein…People who haven't been to Slutcon are saying "it's just group therapy," "it's just innocent flirting." But the environment is much like a sex party in that many people are nude, there is making out and sex acts happening out in the open. I think it's pretty unreasonable to expect that every nerdy girl who likes rationalist bloggers or is into EA/AI safety should automatically be comfortable with this! That if she's not, there's something wrong with her, we don't want her in our scenes, etc.
Not to mention, it's explictly an event *for men*, where men are the clients and the "flirt girls" are the product. Last year I overheard an exchange where a man felt "led on" by a flirt girl and was trying to get her punished/kicked out. (A dynamic that seems inevitable in this context!)
Anyway- it does sound like they've upped their consent education a lot this year, are more organized, and that's good! As I've told my friends who are attending: I hope they have fun!
I heard several accounts last year of women who had no problems and really enjoyed the event. That's great!
Just... can we live in reality about this? There are real reasons why male-female sexual dynamics are tricky.
Encouraging autistic men who can't yet read body language to go around asking to see womens' boobs is maybe a bit ill-advised. Maybe not everyone should be/identify as a slut; maybe it's not for everyone.
And yeah, filtering the Bay Area Al safety scene down to only women who are super comfy with this eliminates *most* women - including many of the really smart, nerdy, weird women who've been in the larger scenes for years. What a loss for humanity.
I absolutely understand why people with a minority sexuality would want to create belonging, would want to create spaces for people like themselves. But why do it like this/at this cost?
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Yeah, it doesn’t seem like the NYT has given any coverage to the frat gang rape scandal at Cornell. Not as important as Oberlin’s banh mi or Harvard’s eating clubs I guess
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 26/09/2026
Incredible: another Ukrainian famine is unfolding, this time in Russian-occupied Oleshky. The remaining inhabitants of what used to be a thriving small city, now down to about 6000 people, are blockaded by Russian forces and cut off from food and water. www.bbc.com/news/article...
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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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The major platforms—Facebook, YouTube, and X—are all refusing to show the trailer for the upcoming documentary that eviscerates the ridiculous pest Elon Musk. So I guess we have to do our part to make sure it is seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...
youtube.com
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
YouTube video by Musk
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
BASMAJIAN: “.. Inflation usually ends a business cycle because it increases wage pressure and rate hikes drive up interest costs. .. Both higher wages and higher interest expense compress profit margins and that leads to layoffs and a pullback in capex.” @epbresearch.bsky.social
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Blake @1kdne.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
That's three current GOP Senators that don't live in the state they represent Marshall, FL v KS Tuberville, FL v AL McCormick, CT v PA Miss anyone?
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1936 1000 uniformed fascist Blackshirts led by Oswald Mosley in Leeds, UK, were confronted by 30,000 anti-fascist locals who attacked them, pelted them with stones, hitting Mosley, and drowned out speeches by singing The Red Flag stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9965...
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Ken Sinclair @khsinclair.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The law has always been slower than bad actors, and relied on deterrence instead. Deterrence is the product of A) probability of punishment, and B) degree of punishment. In American justice, both factors have broken down for rich white men. That must be fixed.
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Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 22/09/2026
Newsom is a dipshit, a thread:
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Colin Kennedy @ck3po.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 24/09/2026
This Brooklyn Democratic Party County Committee meeting was an anti-democratic disgrace. Shame on the leaders of the party, who ignored legitimate questions from reformers, tried to get the cops to eject people, insulted dissenters, and pushed through Bichotte-Hermelyn's power grab. 📷🧵
Rob Robinson, Anthony Beckford, Renee Collymore, and Alan Rokoff presiding over the Brooklyn Democrats meeting. Banner on their table reads "Brooklyn Democrats / Kings County Democratic County Committee"
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
- be health insurers - require use of a Byzantine system of billing codes disconnected from actual medicine so you can avoid paying - use computers to find even more ways of denying payment - get really mad when providers also use computers to comply with the Byzantine system you require they use
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Lord, President Xi just insulted Trump and the USA, right to Trump's face-in the White House. Xi referred, yet again, to the "Thucydides trap". This is an reference to the US being in decline and China replacing it. And Trump sits their making moo eyes like a lovestruck teenager
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New York Focus @nysfocus.com · 24/09/2026
A “grassroots” homeowners group leading the charge against Local Law 97 has deep ties to a powerful real estate industry association.
nysfocus.com
Who’s Behind the Push to Weaken NYC’s Climate Law?
A “grassroots” homeowners group leading the charge against Local Law 97 has deep ties to a powerful real estate industry association.
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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 24/09/2026
Don Jr.-backed drone-parts manufacturer congratulates Eric Trump-backed drone manufacturer on winning a DoD contract.
Unusual Machines
@UnusualMachines
18h
More momentum for XTEND. 🚀

Congrats to the team on another important U.S. defense milestone. Proud to be an investor and supplier. 🦅

$UMAC $XTND #Drones #DefenseTech
Unusual Machines Inc
UMAC
$23.24
+2.42%
@XTEND_XR
XTEND
@XTEND_XR
Sep 23
XTEND has been awarded Phase III of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Modular Kinetic Lethal Drone (MKLD) program.

The award follows XTEND’s recent Gauntlet II top-performer selection under the Drone Dominance Program.

Read more: xtend.me/xtend-secures-…
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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Want free money? CVS has to pay a $20 million settlement. If you used their website or got a prescription prior to this spring and can upload a screenshot with proof, that's an easy $10.00. Link below (no this is not spam it's real y'all) www.cvsdigitalprivacysettlement.com/form/claim
cvsdigitalprivacysettlement.com
Claim Form Login - CVS Digital Privacy Settlement
CVS Digital Privacy Settlement
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Blacksky Algorithms @blackskyweb.xyz · 23/09/2026
Acorn is one piece of a larger effort to build community infrastructure on the open social web. If your community needs a place to gather, you can start building one now. acorn.blacksky.community
acorn.blacksky.community
Acorn — a platform your community owns
Custom feeds, your own moderation rules, member badges, and a branded client — on infrastructure your community controls.
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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This guy introduced legislation to designate "Trump derangement syndrome" as a mental illness.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
My entire life I've heard centrists scolding leftist candidates with "oh, but how will we pay for all that? isn't your agenda unreasonable? shouldn't we run on a modest proposal for means-tested tax rebates?" Then Mamdani gets elected and makes it all look pretty easy. No wonder they hate him.
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Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT @mikezaccardi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
BofA: Long-end yields have "normalized" to pre-GFC levels. The problem is that net interest expenses are at a record high. History suggests yields might need to rise substantially before Washington is incentivized to pursue fiscal consolidation.
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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 22/09/2026
He has never once looked at Vance like this.
Trump grinning at Mamdani. Trump with Mamdani looking actually happy. Probably just a fluke photoTrump grinning at Mamdani. Trump grinning at Mamdani.
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Patrick De Haan @gasbuddyguy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
my live fuel clock showing Americans now have spent $70 billion more on filling up with gasoline since March 1 (vs same period a yr ago) and $44 billion more on diesel (same dates) for a total of ~$114.2 billion spent over this time.
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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
New NBC News national poll: Are you MORE or LESS likely to support a candidate who supports… …Trump’s tax bill (OBBB) 36% more 42% less …the war in Iran 24% more 57% less …Trump’s $5,000 checks idea 21% more 46% less …giving funding & weapons to Israel 25% more 55% less
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 21/09/2026
"In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection" noyb.eu/en/ai-eu-mem...
noyb.eu
AI: EU Member States plan “digital expropriation” of Europeans in the interest of AI companies
In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of AI companies to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental rights of Europeans.
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 21/09/2026
i personally got so much shit for signing my name on a letter asking the Irish government to recuse itself from fiscal files during its presidency of the EU but i see the Irish government is now saying the quite part out loud bsky.app/profile/abeb...
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"I belong to a cult. Someone did some research that undermines the core tenets of my cult and came up with a catchy phrase that makes it harder to recruit more people to my cult. This makes me sad."
Screencap of tweet on X from @jackclarkSF (Jack Clark):

"stochastic parrot" was a mimetically-fit cognitive virus that spread from 2021-2025; it temporarily blinded many gifted people to the nature of AI progress, burning up crucial years in which they could have helped think through the response to the situation.
7:34 AM · Sep 20, 2026
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Gothamist @gothamist.com · 20/09/2026
No more warnings: Speed cameras at MTA bridges, tunnels sending out tickets Tuesday gothamist.com/news/no-more...
gothamist.com
No more warnings: Speed cameras at MTA bridges, tunnels sending out tickets Tuesday
The MTA says the it's issued thousands of warnings. Now come the fines.
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Climate News @climatenews.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Number 9 on the Climate News Weekend Watchlist is from Patrick Boyle. This excellent new video discusses the death cult inside Open AI. Really worth watching! His dry Irish humour is particularly good!
youtu.be
The Doomsday Cult Inside OpenAI
YouTube video by Patrick Boyle
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
6% of Republicans think climate change is a major problem, down from 13% in 2009 news.gallup.com/poll/708050/...
6% of Republicans think climate change is a major problem, down from 13% in 2009
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
When you hear a fantastical story about AI, you should ask yourself, "How does this serve the political project of AI?" Because, as others have pointed out, that's what AI really amounts to: a political project.
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Jamie S. Bowen - Harris Democrat they/he/she @jamiesbowen.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Fuck these assholes. 1 hit wonder anyway. That one song? Supposedly earns them enough to comtinue to tour & produce music. Assholes like this? Harm the trans community. The answer is to never buy/stream their music, especially that 1 song. faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-proclaim...
faroutmagazine.co.uk
The Proclaimers take aim at transgender community
Scottish rock duo The Proclaimers have stirred controversy after making comments about transgender people, saying the community are "truth phobic".
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
💉Most promising medical technology in a generation 1. Sadly, Jay Bhattacharya & RFK Jr killed federal funding for mRNA vaccine R&D 2. RFK Jr has allowed kids to use sunbeds—he’s pro-melanoma Scientists move 1 step forwards—MAHA dudes pull us 2 steps back www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
washingtonpost.com
A melanoma vaccine was hailed as a breakthrough. Which cancers are next?
Trials investigating mRNA vaccines for lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and other diseases are already underway.
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Bill Amend @billamend.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This week's comic: Anti-Smart Glasses foxtrot.com/2026/09/20/a...
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Feklar669 SLAVA UKRAINI!!! ANDOR! @feklar669.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Whatever you do, please for the love of God, don't do this!
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Lawyers, Guns and Money @lawgunsmoney.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Hey all; we're in the final stages of some serious maintenance. If you're seeing any problems on the site let us know ASAP here or directly to @drfarls.bsky.social
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