iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected South Park to be at the forefront of our fight to save democracy.

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

So what is the plan is for the $45 billion new detention centers once Trump & ICE deport half our nation's essential labor force? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

010

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight. Stormy is NOT a fan of the bath. Happy #Caturday!

030

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Any body language experts out there who can speak to Marco Rubio’s state of mind during this a Trump presser on Iran?

210

Reposted by GL Pennington

Carolyn Barber, MD @cbarbermd.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

They told Minnesotans to stay home. After the murder of Speaker Hortman and her husband—and the failed attempts on Senator Hoffman and his wife—fear was the official message. But the people came anyway. In defiance. In grief. In purpose. This was the #NoKings rally in MN. #BlueSky #MedSky #NewsSky

7134201023

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Amazing. From the largest U.S. cities to small towns and suburbs, the enthusiastic turn-out today did wonders for my faith in Americans, and humanity

000

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I have to be honest — I’m uncertain how to fact-check crowd size. But I want this to be true. 🤣 Apparently that’s sufficient in 2025 so let’s go with it for now

000

Reposted by GL Pennington

Paul Gowder @gowder.io · 22/04/2025

Northwestern updates from the academic freedom front, two pieces of good news: (1) our president signed the AACU "call for constructive engagement," which, among other things, condemns "the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education"

38415

Reposted by GL Pennington

WIRED @wired.com · 18/03/2025

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

freedom.press

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow

As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy

16249135623357

Reposted by GL Pennington

Jordan Uhl @jordanuhl.com · 05/03/2025

Rep. Melanie Stansbury holds a sign reading "This Is Not Normal" before another member rips it out of her hand.

1201377326

Reposted by GL Pennington

Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

www.hidinginplainsightbook.com

20854298

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Absolute disaster - consciously financing and fueling outrage / disinfo spread

000

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Dear Americans, HELP. Sincerely, Science

000

Reposted by GL Pennington

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

how it started at USAID > how it's going

a large photo on the wall of USAID showing people in a field

15439931182

Reposted by GL Pennington

Anne Muntean @annemuntean.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

"...a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." FDR 1938

462510869

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

New accusations against Hegseth, I see. Where do you suppose Susan Collins is this morning on the concern-o-meter?

110

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

The sudden popularity of RedNote is fascinating - an unexpected, massive scale cultural mash-up. One big, unpredictable social / cultural psychology field experiment. Get your IRB proposals lined up….I suspect this is going to be a wild ride!

000

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

I don’t spend as much time on Facebook these days, but it occurs to me there’s an upside to Zuckerberg giving up any attempt at fact checking…. we can post sarcastic memes again without ending up in FB jail. 🚨

020

Reposted by GL Pennington

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 20/11/2024

Is your Following feed overcrowded? Do you wish you could check in on one little world at a time? Not only does Bluesky have purpose-built feeds and lists for this, but you can convert any starter pack to a list using @wandrme.paxex.aero's terrific tool. Then you can pin it for easy access!

nws-bot.us

Convert BSky Starter Pack to List

83449182

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

This word choice is sadly very fitting for 2024

020

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Dismayed to see @laurahelmuth.bsky.social being predictably & viciously attacked online. Greatly appreciated this commentary by John Horgan. "Science journalists can either challenge abuses of science or look the other way." Helmuth challenged them. To her credit. johnhorgan.org/cross-check/...

johnhorgan.org

Scientific American Loses Its Bold Leader — John Horgan (The Science Writer)

HOBOKEN, NOVEMBER 15, 2024. Well before Scientific American ’s editor vented her despair over the election, social in justice warriors were bashing the magazine for its political views. Critics in...

020

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Dr. Oz - the latest example of Trump’s efforts to mock our entire system of gov’t. Oz is an embarrassment to the medical field, Penn and Columbia. Long history of pushing woo-woo pseudoscience for fame and profit. Including hydroxychloroquine. Make it stop. www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-o...

scientificamerican.com

Dr. Oz Shouldn't Be a Senator--or a Doctor

His brand of misinformation has already tarnished medicine. In the halls of Congress, he’d do much worse

030

Reposted by GL Pennington

Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Tell me more about how you’re deeply concerned that men are transitioning just to prey on women in bathrooms but you’re not concerned at all about the men who are preying on women out in the open and becoming elected officials.

39987253

Reposted by GL Pennington

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Well, this gets it exactly right, doesn’t it?

Post by Jamie Selzer:

Michelle Obama: “Our food environment isn’t healthy and we should explore some changes”

Republicans: “You’re a communist taking our freedom!”

RFK Jr: “Literally anything added to food is poison”

Republicans: “Agreed! I demand you make all my food choices for me!”

524310226013

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

How reassuring. A new FCC head who is of the opinion Big Tech is doing TOO MUCH fact-checking. 🙄 Cause if there’s anything we’ve learned from the last decade of rampant misinformation spread, surely it’s that we’re just TOO DARN GOOD at this.

020

Reposted by GL Pennington

Joe Pierre, MD @psychunseen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Conspiracy theory beliefs can be easily understood as a byproduct of mistrust and misinformation. No one is invulnerable.

0133

Reposted by GL Pennington

Alan Jagolinzer @jagolinzer.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Those who claim that disinformation research is part of some “censorship industrial complex” may be deploying an active disinformation campaign to undermine work that could expose their potential corruption. (1/3)

1579

Reposted by GL Pennington

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

"With digital spots, direct mail, text messages, influencer marketing and mobile billboards, the overall project was a high-tech experiment in misdirection — an old political tactic that has been sharpened in recent decades with increasingly precise targeting techniques."

washingtonpost.com

Inside the Republican false-flag effort to turn off Kamala Harris voters

A multi-pronged dark money effort by advisers to Elon Musk targeted liberals, Jews, Muslims and Black voters with ads that were not quite what they seemed.

410536

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Word. Doing things is hard. Especially this week.

110

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Friendly reminder -- Blue Sky is doing a great job. But we users still need do OUR PART to build & maintain a better platform. Don't automatically share or like posts b/c they appeal to your preexisting opinions. Stop to evaluate the source & quality of the info. Fact check.

media.tenor.com

a man wearing a headband says " use this " in front of a netflix sign

ALT: a man wearing a headband says " use this " in front of a netflix sign

061

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

RFK, Jr. Another stellar selection. WHO IS READY TO MAKE POLIO AND MEASLES GREAT AGAIN? 🤦🏼‍♀️

042

Reposted by GL Pennington

Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Q: What happens when you overpay for a social media platform, drive away most of your advertisers, alienate half its users, making it worth less than a third of what you paid for it within a year? A: You get put in charge of government efficiency.

622144123894

Reposted by GL Pennington

Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Also, part of the reason we did bought InfoWars is because people on Bluesky told us it would be funny to buy InfoWars. And those people were right. This is the funniest thing that has ever happened.

783368426288

Reposted by GL Pennington

Frances: Meh and Loving It @francesmeh.reviews · 10/11/2024

one of the reasons bluesky works differently is because early users waged a successful fight to get the devs to prioritize safety features to protect communities at risk as a result bluesky now has a suite of controls that i think are unmatched on social media here’s the list, lmk what i’ve missed

A Probably Incomplete List of Bluesky User Safety Mechanisms

Protecting your posts
• disabling replies on your posts
• limiting replies on your posts to people you follow, mention, or include in specific lists
• disabling quote posting on your posts
• detaching your post from someone else's quote
• changing the above interaction settings even after a post is sent hiding replies to your posts for yourself or for everyone
• self-labeling your media for adult or graphic content to protect other users
• limiting account visibility only to logged in users
• note: this is not 100% enforceable but all major bluesky clients and apps support it

Limiting your interaction
• blocking users from seeing or interacting with your posts
• if you block after an interaction, they vaporize
• if they've replied already, the entire thread below their reply is cauterized for everyone, floating in space detached from your post
• note: your blocks are publicly visible via 3rd party apps
• muting users to remove them from your notis and feeds, and hide them in replies
• note: your mutes are private
• muting or blocking entire moderation lists of users
• note: inclusion in a list is public via third party apps. muting a list is private, blocks via a list are public
• subscribing to other people's mod lists
• note: your subscription is private, muting & blocking work the same
• subscribing to labelers (moderation services) from bluesky or third parties
o decide whether to show, warn, or hide posts that have been labeled in each category
• report content that should be labeled to bluesky and/or third parties labelers

538106004184

Reposted by GL Pennington

Tamar de Waal @tamardewaal.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

'This process includes the replacement of all first-rate talents, regardless of their political loyalties, with crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is the best guarantee of their loyalty.' (The Origins of Totalitarianism, renewed version, A Harvest Book New York, 1976, 339)

8035051378

Reposted by GL Pennington

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 14/11/2024

I have been concerned for years that states will block faculty from attending certain conferences or accepting some grants. It looks like that is now happening at North Texas. www.chronicle.com/article/a-te...

Meanwhile, the impacts on research are already being felt. According to the faculty member in the College of Education, one prestigious grant from the Spencer Foundation has been delayed until it’s determined to be in compliance with Senate Bill 17. As a result, they said, “we’re already putting in jeopardy relationships with major funders across the nation.” Those in the College of Education were also told that they will not receive travel funds to present research at conferences that deal with race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. If scholars choose to pay out-of-pocket to attend such conferences, the faculty member added, they must say that they are not representing the university. (Reese, meanwhile, said that faculty members can get travel funding to engage in activities “whereby scholarly and professional stature are demonstrated and may be appraised.” She denied any delay concerning the Spencer Foundation grant.)

36586367

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Watching the exodus from Elon’s dumpster-fire-of-a-platform restores a tiny bit of my faith in humanity.

020

GL Pennington @purposefulprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

ad-free, you say? count me in. happy to find this new platform option!

030