iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Raimo Kangasniemi @rk70534.bsky.social · 18h

"An Italian court concluded on Tuesday that the Egyptian regime was involved in the torture and murder of Giulio. Giulio was a PhD student at Cambridge university researching independent trade unions in Egypt." socialistworker.co.uk/news/egyptia... #Egypt #EgyptNews #Italy #News #WorldNews

socialistworker.co.uk

Egyptian officers convicted of kidnapping murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni

The Egyptian regime murdered Cambridge university student Giulio Regeni in 2016

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Middle East Monitor @middleeastmonitor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Israel summoned Spain’s chargé d’affaires on Monday after Spanish Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego expressed support for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” prompting a new diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Read: www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260929-isr...

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Middle East Monitor @middleeastmonitor.bsky.social · 16h

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said he met a group of young Israelis who expressed support for killing all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including babies. Read: www.middleeastmonitor.com/20261002-isr...

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 01/10/2026

Want to learn about the history of our city? Well you’re in luck. This month, we’re hosting a massive scavenger hunt across the city — all about the history of organizing in NYC. Sign up at organize.nyc.gov and come see the city through the eyes of the people who built it.

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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 14h

This actual *reporting* was utterly buried in the Time article that accompanied their feeble and shameful Trump interview: www.ms.now/rachel-maddo... This is terrifying, even by Trump standards!

ms.now

Trump reportedly sought input from Musk’s AI chatbot on military strikes

This was almost certainly the first time in U.S. history that a president consulted an AI chatbot about a provocative foreign policy gambit.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Pew tested AI synthetic surveys against actual survey data. Conclusion: “This experiment taught us that, at this time, AI models are not an adequate replacement for traditional polling on topics of broad public importance.” This is an all time bad idea. No need to hedge with “at this time.”

pewresearch.org

Can AI Stand In for Human Survey-Takers? Not Really

Synthetic surveys using digital twins do a poor job estimating the public mood and are especially error-prone for some subgroups, including Republicans and Black adults.

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Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Some good news for a change: Overcoming a massive and aggressive tech lobby and a squeamish, Silicon Valley-friendly governor, the labor movement has managed to pass a raft of first-of-their-kind AI laws aimed at protecting workers in California.

bloodinthemachine.com

California just passed the strongest AI labor laws in the US

Finally, some good news

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Jason Meisner @jmetr22b.bsky.social · 17h

JUDGE: How would you envision that looking, then? PROSECUTOR: What part? JUDGE: The part where I appoint an independent person in the interest of justice to investigate the Department of Justice, and that person is being supervised by the Department of Justice www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/01/b...

chicagotribune.com

Judge to begin inquiry that could lead to criminal contempt charges in ‘Broadview Six’ case

A federal judge on Thursday said she’d initiate a “fact finding” process to determine whether potential criminal contempt charges are warranted against prosecutors in the “Broadview Six” case.

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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 15h

NEW: A new USPS policy will eliminate evening mail pickups from select post offices across the country — a change that will eventually slow pick-up and delivery times for around 70% of zip codes in the U.S. We mapped those zip codes to help you figure out whether your mail ballot could be affected👇

democracydocket.com

The Postal Service is slowing delivery. Will your mail ballot be affected?

Democracy Docket mapped the affected zip codes.

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Ricardo Parreira @ricardoparreira.com · 15h

Montpellier - Un policier fasciste roule sur un journaliste de @stup.media, le blessant à la jambe. Ce flic arbore sur son casque, plusieurs signes distinctifs de l’extrême droite radicale, dont une croix pattée et le Punisher. 🧵⬇️⬇️

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 02/10/2026

“He was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?” At the time, I was exploring my own gender fluidity and was on the cusp of realizing that I identify as pansexual. I would not say that this was at all “obvious.” buff.ly/bCNczvr

buff.ly

The Girl from Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” Responds 18 Years Later

September 27 2021 September 27 2022 (her b-day) 9/27/23 9/27/24 9/27/25 CAL 2027-2028

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Phil McDuff @mcduff.bsky.social · 15h

It's incoherent because it's a backfill. They haven't sat and worked this out from first principles. It's just: the conclusion I want to reach is "it's ok for me to be racist," so what chain of reasoning do I need to put in front of it to get there?

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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 18h

They're holding up a major escalation in Iran and a crackdown on abortion until after the midterms to limit political damage. To the extent that the last two years have been a right-wing smash-and-grab operation, the next two will be worse.

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David Flood @maoltuile.bsky.social · 14h

The real outcomes of the Tim Cook era at Apple have been moving the manufacturing base to China, flattery to far-right white nationalists (inc. Trump), creepily surveilling the user base and the nickle and diming of end users with subscriptions, GenAI and ads everywhere

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Jessica Pishko @jesspish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Remember when the Democratic party removed "ending the death penalty" from its 2024 platform.

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Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 18h

One knock on effect of Musk buying out Twitter is that the “respectable” racists have lost their sense of how many layers of kayfabe they have to slap on their bigotry.

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 18h

During George Floyd uprisings, Keeperman was excited about Kyle Rittenhouse killing two protesters. “May a million Kyle Rittenhouses bloom,” he wrote. He once listed some policy proposals that included "lamppost the journos" — a seeming call for journalists to be hanged

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 18h

Rufo's co-host is Jonathan Keeperman, who @jasonaw.bsky.social unmasked as "Lomez," a “key player and influential tastemaker in a burgeoning proto-fascist movement," who heads up Passage Press, which reprints out-of-print works by fascist authors talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 18h

Rufo gets to position himself as "respectable." Polite sit-down interview w/ Ezra Klein. Celebrated by Substack as one of platform's "best" writers. Senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. His "Indian Question" podcast is pretty explicitly white nationalist talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing

To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 19h

New: Chris Rufo & his co-host devoted a podcast to "The Indian Question," framing Desi people as a problem to be solved. Their "solution?" Mass expulsion. For those allowed to remain: an “assimilation hazing process” w/ instances of “vulgar, defamatory racism" talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing

To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...

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Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 18h

As a Black person, I'll tell you as most Black Americans will that we're angry at the same bastards we've always been angry with for good reason for this whole country's history. White folks. Whose fault all this is. Now white folks are polarized cuz some choose Trump's hate & some oppose it.

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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 01/10/2026

Today's reminder that the UAE is currently engaged in a genocide in Sudan using weapons they receive from the US and Israel and money they receive from our tourism dollars, and every celebrity who lives or vacations in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is knowingly funding it.

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Matt DeLong @mattdelong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Big Tech took control of the ad infrastructure and money, the biggest social media platforms have been consistently tightening the noose on social referrals to news orgs for years and now AI is devastating search traffic. This is not going to be a survivable environment for lots of news publishers.

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Matt DeLong @mattdelong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We also are seeing what fills the information vacuum when news organizations disappear: partisan propaganda sites funded by dark money and AI slop. If that's not the future you want you need to support your local trusted news outlets before they fold.

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Matt DeLong @mattdelong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I don't think people really appreciate the gravity of what is happening in the news industry. If you value getting reliable information from the news orgs you depend on, you need to support them with your dollars or they could disappear. This isn't hyperbole. It's happening right now in real time.

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Greg Wester @gwestr.me · 02/10/2026

China EVs for $20k are the reason this happened. United States is left behind while Mexico pulls way way ahead on affordable EV. We made a huge mistake.

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

New: Jasmine Crockett was offering government relations & lobbying services on a campaign-funded website. It was taken down after Zeteo reached out. Experts say they’d never seen something like this before. Rules bar members from lobbying and from using campaign funds for non-campaign purposes.

zeteo.com

Jasmine Crockett Offered Lobbying Services on Her Campaign-Funded Website – While in Office

The offering was removed after Zeteo contacted the Texas Democratic congresswoman’s office.

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Unicorn Riot @unicornriot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

For nearly two months, Palestinians in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood had access to water at any time — a welcome sense of stability in the depths of a genocidal war. On Aug. 24, that stability was disrupted by an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the newly built water desalination plant.

unicornriot.ninja

Israel Bombs Newly Built Water Desalination Plant in Gaza - UNICORN RIOT

Israeli airstrikes destroyed a newly built water desalination plant in Gaza City on Aug. 24, 2026, see the video here.

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Wendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 02/10/2026

Given that Irish government TDs have cited Sweden's decision to introduce a language test for citizenship as justification for Ireland introducing one, it seems relevant that Sweden is finding it difficult to actually do it

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 02/10/2026

The math is horrifying: I have already formalized my own 30% pay cut when I wrote this year's budget. Fortunately, by virtue of having to move to another country with a lower cost of living, I still have a living wage. But it is true that for most newsrooms, everything teeters on the margins.

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 02/10/2026

@thexylom.com's new fiscal year started on October 1st. Given how much philanthropic and tech-adjacent funding has collapsed in Trump 2.0, I can tell you with no uncertainty that without getting 250 more paying monthly members by next year, we will have to scale back on our reporting and staffing.

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Brian Straw @brianstraw.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I am proud to have stood with the rest of the Broadview Six to demand transparency and accountability. It would have been so easy for @katmabu.bsky.social, @michaelrabbitt.bsky.social, @catsharp.bsky.social, or Andre Martin to have stopped fighting after the case was dismissed. They never did.

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Elizabeth (Bit) Meehan, PhD @elizabethbitmeehan.com · 01/10/2026

y'all i'm working on this data collection project looking at dissertations & sometimes I get reminders that we are not all playing the same game (1999 edition)

not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents, for buying me a lovely condominium at Harvard Street so that I could concentrate on my research with out worrying about paying rents,

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Claire Mitchell @clairemitchell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🚨 Open letter from people of Protestant backgrounds concerning the Garvaghy Road 🚨 We feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown 🚨Over the past few hours we have collected over 140 signatures

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Under Secretary Hegseth’s new plan, servicemen with low blood alcohol levels will be required to undergo vodka replacement therapy.

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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 02/10/2026

"Surveillance is not safety," EFF's Rindala Alajaji said, via @nbcbayarea.com. "That’s why EFF and the ACLU of Northern California are suing the city of San Jose on behalf of SIREN and CAIR - because in a single year, San Jose PD ran over 250,000 warrantless searches on this location data."

nbcbayarea.com

'Surveillance is not safety': Protesters push San Jose to shut down Flock camera network

Protesters issued a renewed call for San Jose to shut down its network of roughly 500 automated license plate reading cameras.

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James Kelleher @jameskelleher.pilcrow.ie · 01/10/2026

To the first child: if your tooth falls out you must leave it under your pillow and the tooth fairy will exchange it for a coin in the night. To the second child: the tooth fairy prefers if you pop it outside your bedroom door, nice one

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Jack Kennedy @jackkennedy.ie · 01/10/2026

When you move to Germany people warn you about the awful bureaucracy. They don't explain that most of it isn't the state - companies & semi-state bodies all have their own byzantine structures designed to screw you Beginning to understand what Mark Fisher meant when he described "market stalinism"

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I love that her first citation is to @shannimcg.bsky.social & Daniel Kriess' phenomenal 2024 piece (available here doi.org/10.1177/1461... ). It makes the case that "polarization might not be bad for democracy" because "we cannot sacrifice equality and justice on the altar of social cohesion."

A review and provocation: On polarization and platforms
Daniel Kreiss https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2533-195X dkreiss@email.unc.edu and Shannon C McGregor
Abstract
Scholars increasingly point to polarization as a central threat to democracy—and identify technology platforms as key contributors to polarization. In contrast, we argue that polarization can only be seen as a central threat to democracy if inequality is ignored. The central theoretical claim of this piece is that political identities map more or less onto social groups, and groups are, in turn, located in social structures. As such, scholars must analyze groups as they are embedded in relations of power to meaningfully evaluate the democratic consequences of polarization. Groups struggling for equality, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, often cause polarization because they threaten the extant power and status of dominant groups. To develop a shared theoretical lens around polarization and its relationship with inequality, we take up the case of research on the role of platforms in polarization, showing how scholarship routinely lacks analysis of inequality.

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Or, to be slightly more academic about it: Mason here rejects a polarization frame for understanding contemporary US politics because it obscures what is actually happening. She instead substitutes a more substantive analysis, in the sense of being based on strong, normatively-grounded judgment.

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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 M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Please, for the love of God, can the media stop calling random cranks who write fan fiction about their personal heroes in the past "historians."

Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide turned Watergate historian and revisionist, recently gave a two-hour presentation at Justice Department headquarters that laid out his theory that the deep state took Nixon down. The title of his 78-page slide deck: “Watergate As Lawfare.”

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Somehow not everyone is aware of fact alluded to below. So one more time: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett were all on GWBush 2000 'Florida Recount' team. (Which made GWB first prez in 112 yrs to 'win' after losing popular vote. Now they 'impartially' rule on our future.)

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Jacqui @jamelle33.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It threatens important loggerhead sea turtle nesting habitat, nearby right whale calving waters, & the island's wild character. On land that belongs to all of us,National Park Service is proposing a land swap that would hand public park land to Carnegie family..

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