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Kathleen

@kmoboston.bsky.social
582 followers 1.7K following 466 posts

The future’s here. We are it, we are on our own - Grateful Dead

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Reposted by Kathleen
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anthropic CEO says AI company 'cannot in good conscience accede' to Pentagon's demands to allow wider use of its tech.
I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries.

Anthropic has therefore worked proactively to deploy our models to the Department of War and the intelligence community. We were the first frontier AI company to deploy our models in the US government’s classified networks, the first to deploy them at the National Laboratories, and the first to provide custom models for national security customers. Claude is extensively deployed across the Department of War and other national security agencies for mission-critical applications, such as intelligence analysis, modeling and simulation, operational planning, cyber operations, and more.

Anthropic has also acted to defend America’s lead in AI, even when it is against the company’s short-term interest. We chose to forgo several hundred million dollars in revenue to cut off the use of Claude by firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party (some of whom have been designated by the Department of War as Chinese Military Companies), shut down CCP-sponsored cyberattacks that attempted to abuse Claude, and have advocated for strong export controls on chips to ensure a democratic advantage.

Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner.However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values. Some uses are also simply outside the bounds of what today’s technology can safely and reliably do. Two such use cases have never been included in our contracts with the Department of War, and we believe they should not be included now:

Mass domestic surveillance. We support the use of AI for lawful foreign intelligence and counterintelligence missions. But using these systems for mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values. AI-driven mass surveillance presents serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties. To the extent that such surveillance is currently legal, this is only because the law has not yet caught up with the rapidly growing capabilities of AI. For example, under current law, the government can purchase detailed records of Americans’ movements, web browsing, and associations from public sources without obtaining a warrant, a practice the Intelligence Community has acknowledged raises privacy concerns and that has generated bipartisan opposition in Congress. Powerful AI makes it possible to assemble this scattered, individually innocuous data into a comprehensive picture of any person’s life—automatically and at massive scale.
Fully autonomous weapons. Partially autonomous weapons, like those used today in Ukraine, are vital to the defense of democracy. Even fully autonomous weapons (those that take humans out of the loop entirely and automate selecting and engaging targets) may prove critical for our national defense. But today, frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons. We will not knowingly provide a product that puts America’s warfighters and civilians at risk. We have offered to work directly with the Department of War on R&D to improve the reliability of these systems, but they have not accepted this offer. In addition, without proper oversight, fully autonomous weapons cannot b…To our knowledge, these two exceptions have not been a barrier to accelerating the adoption and use of our models within our armed forces to date.

The Department of War has stated they will only contract with AI companies who accede to “any lawful use” and remove safeguards in the cases mentioned above. They have threatened to remove us from their systems if we maintain these safeguards; they have also threatened to designate us a “supply chain risk”—a label reserved for US adversaries, never before applied to an American company—and to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the safeguards’ removal. These latter two threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us a security risk; the other labels Claude as essential to national security.

Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.

It is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision. But given the substantial value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider. Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters—with our two requested safeguards in place. Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required.

We remain ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 26/02/2026
This is what all the Curtis Yarvin stuff is about: Declaring a “state of exception”—an emergency—where Trump can suspend rules and seize power. They can’t win the election, so they must take if by force. Trump’s false claims about 2020 are the Chekhov’s shotgun of US politics—they must be resolved.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
“Today, the people of Merrimack and all of New Hampshire proved that organized, local voices are more powerful than a federal agency’s ruthless expansion,” she said. “This is a victory for us and all of New England but it is not the end of the fight.” www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/24/m...
bostonglobe.com
Plans for proposed ICE facility in Merrimack, N.H., won’t move forward, governor says - The Boston Globe
“We can breathe easy again,” said the chair of the Merrimack Town Council, which had opposed the warehouse.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Breaking MS NOW: Agents with the FBI's elite evidence response team were delayed in reaching the scene of a mass shooting at Brown U. in December because there was no FBI plane available. Kash Patel was in south Florida at the time with one of the FBI's two available jets.
ms.now
Kash Patel’s use of jet delayed FBI team’s mass shooting response, whistleblower tells top senator
Sen. Richard Durbin says FBI director’s “misplaced priorities” led to the delayed response to the Brown University shooting in December.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
BREAKING: Goldman Sachs's top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, has just resigned in the wake of the Justice Department's release of emails and other material that revealed her extensive relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/b...
nytimes.com
Goldman’s Top Lawyer Departs Amid Revelations About Her Ties to Epstein
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Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Absolutely reprehensible that AG Bondi is offering ICE stand down in exchange for access to voting rolls. Outrageous and disgusting. It shows ICE is in Minneapolis is not for law enforcement purposes. Instead it’s a way to stir up shit in blue states and extort them.
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Kathleen @kmoboston.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Feels like SNL really missed an opportunity by not mentioning today’s tragedy
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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Congress allocated 75 billion dollars to ice over the next four years
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Kathleen @kmoboston.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
St Susanna’s parish, Dedham MA
Nativity scene with no Jesus, Mary or Joseph. Sign reads: ICE was here.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 11/10/2025
Yes, it's weird that Peter Thiel can't stop talking up the Antichrist. But look on the bright side—he's also the guy who: -Gave @jd-vance-1.bsky.social his first VC job -Funded Vance's firm -Bought his Senate seat -Got him the VP slot Have a nice day!
photo of JD Vance
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 16/09/2025
A familiar face makes an apearance at Peter Thiel’s Secret Antichrist Lecture in San Francisco. A line of protestors has greeted the line of tech bros waiting to hear Thiel
Person in devil costume with anti-Thiel posters
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
this is crazy bc some of you need new clothes
NewWire tweets: "Americans set to pay more for cars, coffee, adn clothing as average U.S. tariff rate jumps to high not seen since Great Depression — WaPo"
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
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Billy Bragg @billybragg.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
If history teaches us one thing Never trust a man who would be king Who seeks all power for himself To burnish his prestige and wealth A nation born in revolution Should know this offers no solution For there can be no liberty Where one man rules with impunity www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfeY...
youtube.com
Billy Bragg - The Buck Doesn't Stop Here No More [Official Audio]
YouTube video by Billy Bragg
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 06/06/2025
Remember: Trump's Fascist Cities are straight out of the Network State playbook. Here's a 5 minute video explainer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCj_...
youtube.com
Trump's 'Freedom Cities'? A Tech Blueprint to Dismantle the USA
YouTube video by The Nerd Reich with Gil Duran
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 06/06/2025
Why are Trump and certain tech billionaires trying to build new dystopian cities and democracy-free "zones"? It reflects a scary tech idea called "The Network State." For @techpolicypress.bsky.social, I wrote about why you should be deeply concerned 👇 www.techpolicy.press/trumps-gaza-...
techpolicy.press
Trump’s Gaza Fantasy and the Network State: The Tech-Fueled Future of Privatized Sovereignty | TechPolicy.Press
We’re watching the rise of a new anti-democratic extremism—networked, crypto-financed, and cloaked in the language of freedom, writes Gil Duran.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 02/06/2025
my takeaway from this feature is that in a functioning political system there would be televised congressional hearings over the fact that one of the most influential people in the white house is a total maniac www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America
The reactionary blogger’s call for a monarch to rule the country once seemed like a joke. Now the right is ready to bend the knee.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 15/05/2025
We need a national conversation about the extremist ideology behind this push for 10 new tech-controlled dystopias. But the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Politico, et al., have decided (for reasons unknown to me) that this topic is taboo. Major media failure.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 15/05/2025
The mask is coming off of the Network State cult. Here is Network State evangelist Balaji Srinivasan boosting Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong calling for the creation "10 or so" new tech cities on federal land. Of course, Trump has already announced plans for 10 new cities...
Screenshot of Balaji Srinivasan retweeting Brian Armstrong of Coinbase calling for the creation of 10 new cities in "special economic zones," or Network States.
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Sarah Longwell @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Nothing Donald Trump could do at this point will reveal anything further about his weakness of character. But the character of the Republicans who go along with him? Who refuse to speak up amidst the unrelenting corruption. More is being revealed about them every minute.
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Eric Fisher @efisherwx.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
It's hard to imagine a dumber time in human history than what we're living through right now
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
DOGE abruptly cut a program called Charting My Path for Future Success—a research-based effort that helped teens with disabilities transition from high school into college, work, and independent living. Now it’s gone without explanation.
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Claire McCaskill @clairecmc.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Wow
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
“Concerns varied by location. In Ketchum, Idaho … one sign showed Smokey Bear and read, ‘Only you can prevent forest fires. Seriously. We’ve been defunded. It’s just you now.’”
nytimes.com
Anti-Trump Protests Get Underway Across the Country
Demonstrators packed the streets in cities and towns to rail against government cutbacks, financial turmoil and what they viewed as attacks on democracy.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Absolutely.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
JPMorgan has published a research note raising its odds of a global recession to 60% in response to Trump’s tariffs.
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scarylawyerguy.bsky.social @scarylawyerguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Instead of honoring the 4 dead US soldiers returning to the U.S. or staying at the White House to monitor the global stock market crash he triggered, Trump is hosting a golf event at his resort in Florida and if Biden did this, the collective outrage in the media could power a major city for a week
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 03/04/2025
Tech Fascists: We shall weaken the nation, destroy the economy, replace the dollar with crypto, replace people with AI, and create new Network State cities everywhere. Normie Journalists: Folks, this is total chaos and incompetence with no structure or plan.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Thank you, Senator Cory Booker! #Resist
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
I'm not a programming guy but MSNBC and CNN should be airing this Cory Booker thing in the same way you take over programming if there's a no-hitter or a basketball player with 60 points in three quarters. It's a physical feat! Cut in for this kind of thing. Costs nothing, gooses ratings, good TV.
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Cory Booker. That’s the post. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
senate floor right now... senator cory booker www.c-span.org/event/us-sen...
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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Good! Finally! More of this kind of action! This is why I protested!
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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Yep
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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Being a neutral news source doesn’t mean you have to give a platform to “both sides,” it means you accurately report on *what is happening* along with *why it is important*, and the NYT has consistently and willfully failed to do that when it matters.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Wall Street Journal editorial board: "Our worst fears about Mr. Kennedy are coming true..." www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...
wsj.com
Opinion | RFK Jr. Is Already Vindicating His Critics
Shrinking HHS makes sense, but giving power to antivaccine crusader David Geier doesn’t.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 29/03/2025
Major thanks to @hcrichardson.bsky.social for mentioning my newsletter again! In January, I thought of leaving journalism. Having done my best to tell a critical story, it was time to get a “real job.” Then she boosted my work & everything changed. Big things coming. Full speed ahead.
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Sandi Bachom 📹🎥🎬 @sandibachom.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
"The real political leaders of this country are the people who are willing to get up in the morning and do something" @maddow.msnbc.com
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Keith Olbermann @olbermann.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
...suffering rage issues and too stupid to shut up, would help Trump the most But they are all neck high in this and if he doesn't choose a scapegoat today he may have to choose a new one EVERY day. Also: we haven't even GOTTEN to the overarching issue here:
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
A come-to-Jesus moment for American lawyers, and for America's most important law firms. This is it. This is the moment you always imagined, where you told yourself you would do the right thing -- where you told yourself that your profession would stand up. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks
The result is an extraordinary threat to constitutional rights of due process and representation and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
If there were an agency dedicated to finding corruption, fraud and waste in the federal government, it would start right here.
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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
From an operational security perspective, this is the highest level of fuckup imaginable. These people cannot keep America safe.
theatlantic.com
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
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Anonymous @youranoncentral.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Italy has suspended the Starlink $1.6 billion purchase negotiations with SpaceX amid Musk being a Nazi and a Trump / Russia collaborator. Italy cites security concerns about the reliability of the US.
A small, starlink dish sits on uneven stones, with a power cord attached, on a wet, gravel surface. Green moss peeks through gaps.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 23/03/2025
Cryptocrat: A “Democrat” who loves crypto so much they pretend it’s not a right-wing fantasy of dodging taxes, ditching regulations, and destroying democracy.
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MaddowBlog @maddowblog.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Martin O'Malley, former Social Security commissioner, says he believes the Trump administration has already taken 90% of the actions necessary to crater Social Security.
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