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John

@jthiels.bsky.social
1.7K followers 3.6K following 1K posts

Work in digital scholarship, linguistic anthropologist, painter. BLM, against fascism.

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darren32359.bsky.social @darren32359.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
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Ken Schwencke @schwanksta.com · 06/10/2026
A year ago, @propublica.org told you immigration agents had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens. We’ve updated our count, and we’ve got all the receipts. The tally: At least 506 citizens detained. Sometimes held at gunpoint, handcuffed, or even deported. projects.propublica.org/american-cit...
projects.propublica.org
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica
The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 23h
Hot news for the sea lion in my comments bothering everyone about how training data is fair use www.courthousenews.com/ai-training-...
courthousenews.com
AI training of copyrighted material not fair use: Third Circuit
Using someone else's "creative spark" to start a competing business runs afoul of copyright law, the panel found.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
incredible this will get little to no coverage
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SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) @covid19disease.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🚨 BREAKTHROUGH: Mexican researcher Eva Ramón Gallegos achieved a milestone that puts Latin American science at the center of the world medical debate: she managed to completely eliminate the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in controlled clinical studies.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 05/10/2026
To the person noting there is not enough money in the world to license every piece of intellectual property stolen for "AI" training: you're sooooo close to the point, friend, keep going, you'll get there if you try
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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Christian Thiels @christianthiels.eurosky.social · 05/10/2026
"Plague is endemic to Siberia, location of the first known prehistoric human outbreak, as the bacterium that causes it, Yersinia pestis, is present among the small wild mammals in its vast wilderness and their fleas." @reuters.com www.reuters.com/business/hea...
reuters.com
Dozens quarantined in Siberia after plague institute lab worker dies
A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in ​Siberia has fallen ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of ‌people, and the head of Russia's hea...
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John @jthiels.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Credit women
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Being Liberal ®🗽🏳️‍🌈 @beingliberal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Trump supporters may be surprised to learn the state takeover of means of production is not driven by the left
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 04/10/2026
A 17-month-old girl was hospitalized with E. coli after consuming raw milk. Soon, another child — a 6-year-old girl who’d drunk milk from the same farm — would wind up in the same San Diego hospital, with the same potentially fatal illness.
propublica.org
A Girl Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk. The State Did Little to Punish the Unlicensed Farmer Who Sold It.
California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But...
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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Okay, George Lucas remains a schmuck but his wife is pure class. She made him make the museum souvenirs and food cheap so that schoolchildren without much money can still have a good day, because she says she remembers how bad it felt to go on expensive field trips. It DOES.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There is no moral equivalence between bullies and the bullied, between tyranny and democracy, or between brutality and decency. No individual can be free in a society devoid of justice. There can be no liberty where brutality reigns.
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
BREAKING: A federal judge has ruled for the first time that a Flock search was unconstitutional and violated a woman's Fourth Amendment rights. Oklahoma cop pulled over a woman and searched her in Flock "because he saw her license plate was from California" www.404media.co/federal-judg...
404media.co
Federal Judge Rules a Flock Search Was ‘Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance’ and Unconstitutional
Flock’s nationwide network is quickly “approaching dragnet-type law enforcement practice” and the cop should have got a warrant, the judge wrote.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
McDonald's is now reportedly pressuring franchisees to use AI to price food. Its CEO raked in $20.6M last year, over 1,000x the median McDonald's worker pay of $19,020. And they remain one of the largest employers of Medicaid and SNAP recipients. I'm not lovin' it.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1 CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1 CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 325-to-1 Trickle-down economics was always a sham. Nothing has ever trickled down.
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The Mouthy Renegade Writer @mouthyrenegade.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
That would be much more useful than learning how to do-si-do.
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M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Naomi Klein Is Spot On.......
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Each election year, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) takes extra steps to ensure ballots sent through the mail arrive at election offices on time. This year, it’s delaying those efforts. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
USPS pushes back measures that ensure mail ballots arrive on time
“The shorter timeframe is noteworthy and I don’t know why they’re doing this,” Steve Hutkins, who writes for Save the Post Office, told Democracy Docket.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Everyone involved in this process — including the Palantir employees — have to be investigated and probably go to jail.
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Journal of Democracy @jodemocracy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Americans have never been angrier with one another. But polarization is not the disease—it is the response to a revanchist movement seeking to roll back sixty years of social progress. 🆕 by @lilymasonphd.bsky.social muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...
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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A perfect pretext for impeachment does not exis—
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SHOEGAZE COMMANDO @bornwithatail.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
guy: say ‘i am alive’
computer: > I AM ALIVE
guy: oh my god.
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RawrTigerlily @rawrtigerlily.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
People this contemptuous of human and civil rights, and with so little care or valuation of what it means to be human, aren’t out here arguing AI could be conscious because they want to defend it’s labor rights.🙄 More like “we enslaved this faux conscious entity, & it’s fine… so why not people too?”
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RawrTigerlily @rawrtigerlily.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A cynical part of me thinks the only reason these ghouls are pushing the “AI could be conscious rhetoric” is because when it comes to deciding whether humans or data centers should get access to limited energy and water resources, they want ambiguity about why humans should clearly take precedent.
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Today, 8 years ago, my friend, Saudi Journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Neiman Marcus closed its downtown Dallas flagship on Wednesday. The store played a notable role in the history of desegregation in Dallas. Previously, Black shoppers across the US could enter department stores, but they weren't allowed to try on clothes without adhering to certain conditions. 🧵
A notice about the Neiman Marcus store opening in downtown Dallas.An old photo of the Dallas flagship.
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Oliver @oliver48.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Massive crowd outside Palantir’s HQ in central London. Throw this evil corporation out of our public services." via Global Justice Now
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Akela Lacy @akelalacy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NEW POD 🎧: Mahmoud Khalil tells me what he’s learned about how he became Trump’s top target, why he says Columbia University facilitated that campaign, and how the fight over speech on Palestine is tied to the fight against ICE’s war on immigrants podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
Mahmoud Khalil: “We Can’t Afford to Stay Silent”
Podcast Episode · The Intercept Briefing · October 2 · 47m
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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boomdeyada.bsky.social @boomdeyada.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
gofund.me/ba9dcb1b6
gofund.me
Donate to Stand with Nurse Chloe Freeman, organized by Mary Dooley
I, and old nurse who has now officially seen too much, am setting up this account to help a… Mary Dooley needs your support for Stand with Nurse Chloe Freeman
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Jack Hopkins-The Original @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This morning, the Justice Department went after nearly an entire state's federal bench, all at once. The judges had said the government wasn't following court orders. The response was to try to remove the judges. Here's why every American should be paying attention. www.jackhopkinsnow.com
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New HESA dashboard on international students drives home impact of Brexit. Germany (7%), France (5%) and Greece (5%) were (like Ireland, at 6%) all in the top 10 providers of UK international students in 2012-13. Gone except Ireland (now 2%); replaced by Bangladesh (2%), Nepal (5%), Pakistan (10%).
hesa.ac.uk
HE international dashboard | HESA
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Christian Thiels @christianthiels.eurosky.social · 01/10/2026
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme as of @atlanticbirding.bsky.social is: #Black&White; any shot in black and white What would be more fitting than a #Raven? [📷 #NikonD850 f/6,3 1/125 600mm ISO3200] #birds #ECK #birdphotography #birdsofbluesky #nature #birdsky
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Tomorrow, on October 1, the biggest transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy hits a critical milestone. Many of the provisions from the Big Ugly Bill will go into effect, harming hundreds of thousands of Michiganders in order to create tax cuts for the richest people in America.
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Christian Thiels @christianthiels.eurosky.social · 30/09/2026
"The money for these ads is coming from Customs and Border Protection, or CBP for short, two sources familiar with the matter told @cnn.com" edition.cnn.com/2026/09/29/m...
edition.cnn.com
Trump’s ads have cost taxpayers at least $2.5 million, with funding from Customs and Border Protection | CNN Business
Millions of taxpayer dollars have already been spent on President Donald Trump’s hagiographic ads, according to estimates by a leading political ad-tracking firm. And a total of $20 million has been a...
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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/09/2026
Cornell Vows That Rapists Will Be Forced To Write Much Longer Essays In The Future theonion.com/cornell-vows...
Cornell Vows That Rapists Will Be Forced To Write Much Longer Essays In The Future
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
To people who don’t believe that Kermit the Frog is real: What is the basis for your morality? Where does your moral standard come from?
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Parkrose Permaculture @parkroseperma.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As I see people posting online advocating for rapists to be gang raped in prison, advocating for public castration of rapists, even crucifixion of rapists: please ask yourself if what you are fantasizing about helps victims. And unpack your Christian desire for violence, torture, retribution.
un.org
Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations
A milestone document in the history of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. It has been translated...
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Politics island is outnumbered by the hostile mainland that oppose our way of life. A nuclear deterrent is necessary.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 27/09/2026
Punxsutawney Jill is sticking her head out a little early this cycle.
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PEIPolitical 🇨🇦 @peipolitical.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Anonymous - Denmark trolling Trump epically. #cdnpoli
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Pria / These Liminal Days 🏳️‍⚧️ @theseliminaldays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A really powerful and important book on the subject is Klaus Theweleit’s Male Fantasies that looks at how masculinity was constructed by the Freikorps between the world wars. thegreatestbooks.org/books/74054
thegreatestbooks.org
Male Fantasies by Klaus Theweleit
This page contains details about the book Male Fantasies by Klaus Theweleit published in 1977.
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3wombats @3wombats.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Take a stand with the people of Albania rootsaction.org/solidarity-w...
rootsaction.org
In Solidarity with the Flamingo Revolution
Their Flamingo Revolution opposes their government's policy of selling off public land to private, wealthy developers, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Tell the brave people of Albania that w...
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 27/09/2026
Whoa. Fetterman accidentally admits he’s a Republican—before he caught himself. QUESTION: “Why not become an independent?” FETTERMAN: “Because I’m a lifelong, uh, Republican.”
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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
You gotta love Paris 😂💙👇
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
no they weren't very close to 0% of the SS were hanged the vast, vast seriously vast majority of people who carried out the Holocaust weren't ever punished.
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Terry Bouton @terrybouton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The article is brutal. Great student reporting. The chef's kiss is that the reporters found that the provost's letter defending his use of AI for witting op-eds and academic papers was 100% written by AI.
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Caræsten 🇵🇸 @cara.city · 24/09/2026
guys please stop falling for this, this is not “rogue AI” it’s “environments with lax cybersecurity controls”
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