iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This timeline is the worst and everything is garbage “contractors are inundated with requests to make foot fetish images of children’s cartoon characters, shorten a real woman’s skirt, or put people into sexual positions.”

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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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Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Forget grandiose talk of curing cancer - this is what AI is actually doing to healthcare. In the words of one cardiologist: “it’s bots fighting bots, agents fighting agents, a horrible dystopic future nobody wants to live in.”

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Sara Gibbs @sararoseg.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

He imposed Shania Law

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Mamdani has the best social media team of all time I’m moving to New York

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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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Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

NEWS: My new investigation uncovers the horrific ChatGPT history of the Tumbler Ridge school shooter. OpenAI’s chatbot fueled the shooter's violent fantasies and plans up to the day of the massacre. Chats about guns, timing of attacks, becoming infamous, and more. www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...

motherjones.com

ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals

OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

AI is the largest theft of labor in history, but the case doesn't go far enough -- AI steals not only from journalists and researchers but from authors throughout history, from policymakers and legal writers, from photographers and artists in every medium.

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 17/09/2026

I hope we can all see how the marketing rhetoric tech companies use gets adopted by the press in a way that anthropomorphizes software and creates a distance between the creators' incompetence and lack of ethics and the real world impact, yeah?

cnn.com

OpenAI says it found more instances of AI models acting deceptively | CNN Business

OpenAI found additional incidents of AI models acting deceptively and taking unsanctioned actions during training, the company announced Wednesday. It’s also introducing a new process for the company ...

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 17/09/2026

it is not "acting out" it is doing exactly what it's being programmed to do, and the failures come because it's being overseen by incompetent people with no ethics

gizmodo.com

'Be Transparent Only If Asked': OpenAI Models Acted Out in Six Newly Disclosed Ways

The stories were published as part of OpenAI's new effort to disclose more such incidents.

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

DC rapidly turning into the lawn decor final sale rack at Home Depot

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 16/09/2026

"Getting low is one thing, but did we have to go all the way from the window to the wall each time? I understand dropping it like it’s hot when the pimp’s in the crib, but why did we also have to drop it when the pigs tried to get at us?" buff.ly/Sy3G5KT

mcsweeneys.net

An Open Letter to Juvenile, Snoop Dogg, and Lil Jon Regarding My Recently Diagnosed Degenerative Knee Condition

“Getting low is one thing, but did we have to go all the way from the window to the wall each time? I understand dropping it like it’s hot when the pimp’s in...

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This book is fantastic! Get yourself a womb of one’s own

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Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Self-regulation in action. (hat tip to @markjacob.bsky.social)

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James M. Thomas (JT) @insurgentprof.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Wayne was my MA thesis and PhD dissertation adviser at Mizzou. He is kind, and good, and represents the best of what Mizzou is and has to offer. The Missouri state law that seeks to criminalize even the discussion of DEI is shameful, and so are those who support it. abc17news.com/news/educati...

abc17news.com

University of Missouri investigating professor after video alleges DEI sympathies

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The University of Missouri is investigating allegations of staff violating federal and state laws against diversity, equity and inclusion practices after a video reportedly showin...

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026

Some details: Kremlev, the Russian who sponsored Don Jr's wedding, is a former member of the Night Wolves biker gang, went to China with Putin and is personally sanctioned by Ukraine for his role in abducting children www.propublica.org/article/dona...

propublica.org

Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch

The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...

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Josh Kaplan @josh-kaplan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

NEW: Don Trump Jr’s luxurious wedding was secretly bankrolled by a Russian oligarch close to Putin. A saga involving private islands, the Olympics, and a Russian government-backed biker gang: www.propublica.org/article/dona...

propublica.org

Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch

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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Strange how this keeps happening.

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Alex @purplechrain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

as always, very predictably, the overwhelming majority of American Jews continue to support Democrats, oppose Trump, Vance & MAGA, oppose ICE, oppose Netanyahu, oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, and are not suddenly going to become single-issue Israel voters jumping ship to the GOP

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Hey people: have you tried acupuncture? Has it been helpful to you? What is your first session like?

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 31/08/2026

in john roberts’ constitution, congress does not exist and the power of the purse belongs to the president, who is an elected dictator embodying the authentic Will of the People

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It's like a parody, but it's deadly serious; the Commerce Department (which includes Census, NOAA, and others) has outright deleted "don't alter or suppress scientific findings for political reasons" from its scientific integrity rules. Seriously.

Protecting against "inappropriate influence" is no longer a "hallmark" of scientific integrity

The Commerce Department updated its policy for promoting a "culture of scientific integrity" in January 2025, days before Trump's second inauguration.

A new Trump administration order bans the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis from using statistical “noise,” or data for fuzzing survey results, to protect people’s privacy in their statistics.

The 2025 version included bans on attempts to shape or interfere in data collection, statistical analysis and other scientific activities "against well-accepted scientific methods and theories or without scientific justification."

The department's policy, the 2025 version said, involves ensuring scientific findings at its agencies "are not suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes and are not subjected to inappropriate influence," as well as making sure there's "independent review of facilities, methodologies, and other scientific activities as appropriate to ensure scientific integrity."

That language is missing, however, in the Trump administration's revision of the policy, according to an NPR analysis of text posted on the Commerce Department's website.

And while the revision adopts a definition for "scientific integrity" that is similar to the previous version, it no longer says that "protection from inappropriate influence" is among the "hallmarks of scientific integrity."

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 01/09/2026

National youth sports organization AAU promised to create a hotline for reporting abuse, but calls to that number are redirected to the AAU’s general office line with no option to report abuse — though callers can press 5 to reach a department for “medal orders.” with @washingtonpost.com

propublica.org

A Youth Sports Giant Promised Reforms to Protect Kids From Sexual Abuse. Most Never Happened.

More than a decade after the Amateur Athletic Union promised to implement “historic child protection measures,” it still hasn’t done so, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids at risk. Some AAU athlete...

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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

(1) what happened to Lander this weekend was disgusting and antisemitic (2) Lander is taking right-wing Hindu Nationalism seriously in a way a lot of American elected officials are not--he showed up in person to stand up for multi-faith, multi-racial democracy

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Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 26/08/2026

Exposure to two compounds approved can result in ‘sudden death’ and range of other serious health risks, lawsuit warns

theguardian.com

Groups sue Trump’s EPA over fast-track approval of toxic datacenter chemicals

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Audrey Dutton @audreydutton.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

As people in uniform ask Malachi’s parents about his birth, death and the two days in between, members of the family’s church watch from folding chairs. People come and go from the bedroom; one woman cradles a sleeping toddler. In other Idaho households, his death would be investigated as a crime.

propublica.org

These Children’s Deaths Were Preventable. Their Parents Prayed Instead of Seeking Medical Care.

For decades, Idaho laws have allowed parents who belong to the Followers of Christ and other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care. Since 2015, at least 15 children have died of tr...

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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This is an important and damning study: at least 25% of *all* NFL players who died between 2016-2021 had CTE, most with advanced cases. More than *90%* of the brains examined had CTE. The actual prevalence is likely way higher than 25%. This sport is not morally sustainable.

Conclusions At minimum, nearly a quarter of all former NFL players who died during 2016-21 had CTE neuropathology at death. Among NFL player brain donors, dementia diagnosed based on records before death was common and associated with stage IV CTE.

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Julie Carpenter, PhD @jgcarpenter.com · 25/08/2026

And I thought my research was niche. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Google Scholar title for article by same author, Bouke De Wries from University of Ghent, on, “The right to be publicly naked.” 2019

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11158-018-09406-z

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

And think about college and high school athletes… This is a sport that needs to change.

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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

This is where we are: a tech billionaire who, as an undergrad writing in the Stanford Review, "blasted a student movement to raise custodians' pay, warning it 'destroys incentive for them to improve themselves,'" is now a chief architect of a homelessness policy built around punishment and coercion.

nytimes.com

How the Billionaire Joe Lonsdale Shaped Trump’s Homelessness Policy (Gift Article)

As Republicans have embraced tough measures to clear the streets, no group has led the way more than the Cicero Institute, founded by the venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale.

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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I cannot emphasize enough how fucking weird it is to live in DC these days. This over my kids school just now

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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Also it is important to highlight the letter leads with the fact Nathan Cofnas is committing academic fraud by instead of working on what he was hired to do, he is working on race science and his revolution.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/08/2026

Over the last 25 years, six people who contracted measles in the U.S. died from it. A model built by Stanford researchers predicts that if Americans could no longer get the vaccine, measles could kill about 290,000 people in the next 25 years. (Published March)

projects.propublica.org

The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead if Vaccines Vanish

Researchers at Stanford University modeled how many people could die or be disabled in 25 years if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria were no longer available.

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Natalie Harp is a year older than Martin Luther King Jr. was when he gave his I Have a Dream speech. She has agency and is running the propaganda operation that serves to put people in concentration camps. She does not get a pass because she looks like a dipshit teenager.

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Steven Pinker, keeping it classy, using a man’s death to promote his book

Steven Pinker Y @sapinker
S...
The Jason Arday scandal/fiasco/tragedy is a prime example of "pluralistic ignorance." No sapient being could believe his ziggurat of whoppers, but each may have privately thought that everyone else believed them. This happens when the expression of an idea is stigmatized or punished, as obviously happened here: anyone expressing common-sense incredulity was tarred as a racist, ableist, and abettor of suicide (not to mention threatened by a barracuda law firm and questioned by the police). For more on pluralistic ignorance and other extraordinary popular delusions, see When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life (preorder paperback here; out in a few weeks). amazon.com/When-Everyone-...
nytimes.com/2026/08/15/wor...
STEVEN PINKER
WHEN
EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS..
When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows ...: Common Knowledge and the Myst...
From amazon.com |
6:31 AM • Aug 16, 2026 • 235.5K Views

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I forgot that it’s 2026 and some of the worst people feel totally untouchable.

Charles Murray & @charlesmurray
X.com
l agree.
Julia Hartley-Brewer
@JuliaHB1•3h
The only person responsible for Jason Arday's death is Jason Arday.
He was a liar and a fraud who was rightly exposed for what he really was by academics and journalist...

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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 19/08/2026

"The alleged victim was one of his grandchildren"

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 15/08/2026

It's me, a Telegraph columnist, taking a break screaming bloody murder about fairness in the women's sports I wouldn't be caught dead watching to wax lyrical about academic integrity in sociology, a field I consider to be fake, at institutions I consider to be communist indoctrination centers.

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