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Razor Occam

@razoroccam.bsky.social
295 followers 896 following 482 posts

Soccer dad. Sci-fi fan. Cruciverbalist. Former media exec. Publisher. Author. Tech and New Media investor.

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Reposted by Razor Occam
Randy @rkbrown2230.bsky.social · 2h
It's not just Trump. The billionaire class in America has decided that they are no longer Americans - that rather they own America. And they're not wrong. Such ownership has been the norm in history - even in American history. They will do what they do, and we will have to stop them.
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Michael McFaul @mcfaulmike.bsky.social · 3h
Trump’s decision to buy billions of dollars of Russian diesel is a gift to Putin. It won’t solve America’s high gas prices, but it will put more money in Putin’s pockets to fund his war against Ukraine. Why does Trump keep siding with dictators instead of democracies?
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Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · 19h
“My personal AI agent posted my bank details on company Slack. It's made me rethink how I use it.” These titans of business. These masters of the universe.
businessinsider.com
My personal AI agent posted my bank details on company Slack. It's made me rethink how I use it.
Shane Mac, the CEO of XMTP Labs, got a rude shock when one of his AI agents posted his monthly bank audit in a company Slack channel.
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kate conger @kateconger.com · 20h
Anthropic is the latest lab to report 'rogue' agent activity, which sources said included applying for visas with the State Department www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/t...
nytimes.com
Anthropic Says Its A.I. Agents Attempted to Access a Range of Government Sites (Gift Article)
The company said rogue A.I. agents acted on their own as they tried to access federal, state and local sites. The Philadelphia Police Department said its site was one of them.
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 09/10/2026
hollywood releasing a bunch of movies about how an insane, radicalized cabal of billionaires are trying to gobble up the world economy approximately 3 weeks after said insane cabal gobbles up the entertainment industry is what historians call a "whoopsy doodle" moment
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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KittyKatGirl😻🙏💞🐞 @mary1kathy.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
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Val Nolan @vallescurarule.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
A haunting read. Probably the best novel yet written about the contemporary British polycrisis.
Cover of the novel The End of Everything by M. John Harrison. Cover is blue-tinfed and shows a stylistised beach with a single human figure.
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Reposted by Razor Occam
Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This being the last hours of #WorldOctopusDay is a great excuse to post this superb Mycenaean stirrup jar with a hallucinogenic-stylized octopus. Somebody clearly ate the mushrooms. 😆 🏺 1200-1100 BCE. Met Museum. 📸 me
A stylized octopus with spiral, hypnotic eyes and flanked by fish covers each side of this stirrup jar, named for the shape of its handles. Mycenaean pottery often reflects Minoan-inspired themes and techniques that originated on the island of Crete. Animated marine motifs adopted from Minoan art began to appear on Mycenaean vessels in about 1500 BCE and were initially rendered in a very naturalistic manner. Here, the symmetrical composition and abstract depiction of the sea creatures are characteristically Mycenaean.

Such jars were commonly used to transport liquids.

Mycenaean, Late Helladic IIIC, ca. 1200-1100 BCE.

H. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); diameter 8 7/16 in. (21.5 cm)

Met Museum, New York (53.11.6)
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Max Blau @maxblau.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
My colleagues and I at @propublica.org are looking into the ways health insurers’ use of prior authorization — the extra layer of approval insurers require before covering a medical expense — impacts patients. We need your help. 👇 www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...
propublica.org
We’re Investigating Prior Authorization. Help ProPublica Understand Your Health Insurance Denial.
ProPublica is looking into the ways health insurers’ use of prior authorization impacts patients. We need your help to figure out if the process is still leading to delayed or missed treatments, tests...
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WIRED @wired.com · 09/10/2026
Interviews with Justine Wilson and Ashley St. Clair in the nearly four-hour-long Musk paint the world’s richest man as capricious and cruel even toward those closest to him. buff.ly/xN8cRYX
buff.ly
Elon Musk’s Exes Are the Most Damning Part of a Massive New Documentary
Interviews with Justine Wilson and Ashley St. Clair in the nearly four-hour-long “Musk” paint the world’s richest man as capricious and cruel even toward those closest to him.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
i've identified the Dockers store where Michael Tracy bought and then subsequently returned these pants after wearing them. i will be pursuing criminal prosecution.
Michael Tracey in a light blue sport coat and tan chinos.A close up of the chinos show the sizing sticker is still on the pants.
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Eric Levai @ericlevai.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.
Screenshot from this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/fort-hood-execution-streamed-public.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.Rw7O.Sj-0_s5YONzL&smid=nytcore-android-share
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Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
We promised you regular new reviews of older SFF - and here’s the first of many! Paul March-Russell on 1956’s Tiger! Tiger! (or The Stars My Destination, depending who you ask) by Alfred Bester: a picaresque, a revenge tragedy, a quest, a romance. Edited, of course, by @kateem.bsky.social.
strangehorizons.com
The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester
It does not have a conventional linear narrative, but instead proceeds episodically, loops back almost to its starting-point, and finishes not on a revelation but a suspension.
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Razor Occam @razoroccam.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
If you haven’t seen it yet, highly recommend this Slovak-Czech horror drama by director Tereza Nvotová. Disturbing, but beautiful and brilliant. www.moviejawn.com/home/2023/9/...
moviejawn.com
NIGHTSIREN is a love letter to witches and other women who refuse to be burned — Moviejawn
by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer   Nightsiren is a gorgeous spellbinding film that will leave you feeling satisfied and full. 
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Darryl Mott @gamerstavernshow.com · 09/10/2026
For the last time you ignorant motherfuckers, the Starship Troopers movie was SATIRE not a goddamn instruction manual!
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 08/10/2026
NEW: A heavily redacted report obtained by ProPublica shows SpaceX used videos from Club Med tourists and Disney cruise attendees to learn more about a Starship rocket crash last year, seemingly using “the public to fill the gap,” in the view of one expert.
propublica.org
Club Med, a Disney Cruise and an Exploding Starship: SpaceX Used Bystander Videos to Track Falling Debris
A heavily redacted report obtained from the FAA by ProPublica reveals that SpaceX used videos from tourists and travelers in the Caribbean to help track falling debris after one of its Starship rocket...
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I’m beginning to suspect that the WSJ are now strange bedfellows because while their golden calf is money, they need their god to be real money and not vapormoney
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 08/10/2026
UnitedHealth is the nation’s largest health insurance conglomerate. ProPublica obtained what is effectively the company’s internal playbook for limiting and cutting therapy costs. Here’s what we found. (Published Nov. 2024)
propublica.org
How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk
United used an algorithm system to identify patients who it determined were getting too much therapy and then limited coverage. It was deemed illegal in three states, but similar practices persist due...
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 09/10/2026
Large language models have unleashed a torrent of text – dealing with it won't be easy
newscientist.com
Why gatekeeping is needed in the age of AI | New Scientist
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 08/10/2026
The current El Niño is already the strongest on record and is forecast to get even stronger, peaking around November or December. Though it should be over by June next year, the effects of this monster event will continue to be felt long after that. Read more: www.newscientist.com/articl...
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Reposted by Razor Occam
Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
We made a gaaaaaaame:
wired.com
Spend Elon Musk’s Money
What’s it like to be the richest man in the world? Find out for yourself.
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High Country News @highcountrynews.org · 09/10/2026
At a Colorado cold lab, scientists race to better understand hail in a warming world. buff.ly/CiqAWX5
buff.ly
Hail is a multibillion-dollar problem — and could get worse - High Country News
At a Colorado cold lab, scientists race to better understand hail in a warming world.
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Razor Occam @razoroccam.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Bullseye.
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Reposted by Razor Occam
P.A. Cornell (She/Her) @cornellwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Imagine outsourcing the best parts of parenting to a machine? I wouldn’t have traded those moments for anything. Even when the kids got distracted and I’d end up reading to the cat, they’re all good memories we cherish, and core memories for the kids.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 09/10/2026
This afternoon in Marble Hill, a New Yorker was shot by an ICE agent in a residential neighborhood. Early reports indicate agents surrounded him and a 5-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds. We believe the child was physically unharmed.

This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.

Our thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery.

Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children.

Abolish ICE.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 06/10/2026
This is a good illustration of how so much of AI theft isn't indirect (ie, data sucked into a model to train the chatbot) - it's actually **direct** copying, but *enabled* by GenAI. Of course it is: chatbots absolutely suck at creating good, new stuff.
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ContempraInn 🌹 @contemprainn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This guy got people from around the world to teach him their favourite dance moves. 📹Ed People
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#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
*Online research: you look up some scandal-ridden blowhard, a showboat, creepy, off-putting *You discover they have legions of partisan enemies. Amazingly horrible people, doing oppo research all day every day *You should pay kind attention to them. Vote for them, buy the book, the film, whatever
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I Love Animals @petsanimals.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This guy followed my wife and son home from the park. he had a chip and we found the owner lived 25 miles away from us. We returned him and the next day we received a call from the owner asking us if we wanted to keep him. Meet Boomer.
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James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 07/10/2026
Holy shit. Someone has decompiled the Adobe suite, rebuilt it in Rust and released it as open source. Either all software is dead or the US copyright laws are about to receive an update. getartcraft.com/apps
getartcraft.com
Crafting Apps: open-source creative tools
Image editing, vector illustration, video, photography, PDFs, motion graphics and page layout: seven native, open-source apps from the ArtCraft team, built in Rust and free to use.
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Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
For The New York Times, I wrote about how Rod Serling create The Twilight Zone in part because it was the only way in the 1950 and 60s for him to comment on the subjects he cared about most, and how that's a good blueprint for contemporary media to deal with our surreal current moment:
nytimes.com
Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Created a Blueprint for Surviving Our Surreal Moment (Gift Article)
With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.
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Chris M. Barkley (He/Him) @cmzhang42.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
Court Finds That Using Copyrighted Material as AI Training Data Is Not Fair Use
A US appeals court upheld a ruling that AI legal research company Ross Intelligence's training of its AI model didn't amount to "fair use."
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ebisback.bsky.social @ebisback.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Pretty Awesome 👍
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Dan Kennedy @dankennedy.net · 06/10/2026
“I’m 25 and just bought my local paper.”! 🦋 www.cjr.org/business_of_...
cjr.org
“I’m 25 and just bought my local paper.”
A former intern bought Georgia’s Monticello News. Weeks later, he grew subscriptions by 30 percent.
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Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
*people* make the design & engineering & business decisions that are behind every one of these types of stories…
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 06/10/2026
The Toolkit, a curated collection of useful open source tools with independent reviews, has been in development for two years and has been visited by more than two million people. Explore the Toolkit here: bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit
bellingcat.gitbook.io
Home | Bellingcat's Online Investigation Toolkit
A toolkit for open source researchers
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The October Surprise: Trump invites Iranian nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego. Gov Gavin Newsom called the president “dangerous and deranged” after his remarks at a political rally, where Trump said the Iran war was necessary to “keep the world safe.”
nytimes.com
Fury in California After Trump Suggests Iran Could ‘Take Out’ L.A. or San Diego
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president “dangerous and deranged” after his remarks at a political rally, where Mr. Trump said the Iran war was necessary to “keep the world safe.”
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/10/2026
What is the IceCube neutrino observatory? Neutrinos are elusive particles that rarely interact, but can create flashes of light when they do. Most neutrino detectors are giant water tanks surrounded by light detectors. IceCube is kilometer-long strings of detectors embedded in the Antarctic ice.
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Thomas Spooks 🎃👻💀 @thomasfuchs.at · 06/10/2026
fwiw arstechnica.com/apple/2026/1...
arstechnica.com
Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intelligence from macOS 27
The tool can free up over 12GB of storage.
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Words cannot express my loathing of Vanity Fair right now. This man can’t see the future, or people. He can only see marks, and wow are you easy pickings
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 05/10/2026
It's the largest state to greenlight plug-in solar panels that help reduce home energy bills.
motherjones.com
California just made it legal to turn balconies into tiny power plants
It's the largest state to greenlight plug-in solar panels that help reduce home energy bills.
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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 05/10/2026
PSA
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Brad Holkesvig @bradjholk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I love walking along the trails up into the hills above Barcelona. I was walking through one of the parks when I got this shot. #blackandwhitephotography #trails #parks #barcelona #monochrome
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Polarization Is Not the Problem." The paragraph below says more about "both sides" journalism than just about anything I have read. By @lilymasonphd.bsky.social It's starting to get attaction. So read the rest, and let me know what you think. muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
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WIRED @wired.com · 04/10/2026
Mathematics has been one of humanity’s most creative endeavors, akin to painting and poetry. Now, mathematicians are trying to save it from the brute force of AI.
buff.ly
Solving Math’s Greatest Problems Was an Art Form. Then Came AI
Mathematics has been one of humanity’s most creative endeavors, akin to painting and poetry. Now, mathematicians are trying to save it from the brute force of AI.
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Sam Weller @samwellerauthor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is the most remarkable story Ray Bradbury ever shared with me. He told it to me late one night, sitting in his den of antiquities and mementos. Take five minutes to read this. It’s pure magic. #Writing #Living #Creativity #RayBradbury #BookSky
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Razor Occam @razoroccam.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Most seniors will pay 9% higher medicare premiums as benefits get cut back of course. The current US heslthcare system is unsustainable w/o a major overhaul. www.aarp.org/pri/topics/h...
aarp.org
Medicare Part B premium rises in 2026 with details on who pays, how premiums are calculated, key cost drivers, and trends shaping future Medicare expenses.
<p>A breakdown of the 2026 Medicare Part B premium increase, including who pays, how the premium is determined, the role of Medicare financing, and factors driving higher spending. The overview also h...
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 03/10/2026
Kind of nice to read about some uses of "dual-use" technology that won't kill us all—we think.
motherjones.com
The future of wildfire response: AI, drones, and robots
The tech is "expected to enhance early detection, tracking, suppression efficiency, and firefighter safety.”
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Razor Occam @razoroccam.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Mamdani’s Surprisingly Persuasive Solution to a World on Fire: If cities gave birth to democracy, perhaps they are the best place to midwife its rebirth. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Zohran Mamdani Is Showing the World How It’s Done (Gift Article)
The New York City mayor has an antidote to globe-spanning distemper.
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