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Ruth A+

@ruthea.bsky.social
363 followers 656 following 150 posts

Junior doctor, dog enthusiast, aspiring runner. Also interested in right to repair, various crafts (mostly fibre/textile related), and improving public transit.

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Reposted by Ruth A+
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 07/10/2026
you don’t hold "AI" accountable; you hold AI developers, vendors, and corporations that profit off it accountable holding "AI accountable" is like holding a toaster accountable. it's an inanimate object. it doesn't have wishes, feelings, or desires
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Dublin Inquirer @dublininquirer.com · 07/10/2026
To counter AI, an illustrator in Balbriggan offers to draw posters for barter. Lauren Fernandes noticed menus and flyers all over with the same sterile look, and thought: what if she could help out small businesses which can't afford creative work, usually?
dublininquirer.com
To counter AI, an illustrator in Balbriggan offers to draw posters for barter
Lauren Fernandes noticed menus and flyers all over with the same sterile look, and thought: what if she could help out small businesses which can't afford creative work, usually?
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The Green Runners @thegreenrunners.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Comrades Marathon has dropped its oily sponsors 👏🏻🥳🎉 One less race being used for sportswashing! Now it needs to turn action into policy. Time for other races to follow Comrades lead. @badvertising.bsky.social @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social youtube.com/shorts/ygYYO...
youtube.com
Comrades Marathon Dropped Its Fossil Fuel Sponsor | Is it Official?
YouTube video by Politically Aweh
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Luke Knox @lukeknox.me · 01/10/2026
Wemby is something else, man
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
He is not wrong. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported 68 attacks that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law" - United Nations Special Rapporteur on U.S. Killing “Narco-Terrorists” at Sea www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 16/09/2026
All four supporting acts have backed out of Ed Sheeran’s tour, including his own backing band. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
All supporting acts withdraw from Ed Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore
Four openers and live band for Sheeran’s tour depart after removal of Macklemore over ‘free Palestine’ comments
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Cartoon by Stephen Collins for The Guardian. Script as follows:

[scene is Winston Churchill in a bbc studio, giving his 'finest hour' speech]

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CHURCHILL:
The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. 

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CHURCHILL:
Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war.

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CHURCHILL:
If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free 
and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sun-

BBC PRESENTER:
Thank you prime minister 

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BBC PRESENTER:
Mr hitler, your response?

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HITLER [in the studio]:
Vell zis is hysterical woke nonsense as usual from mr Churchill

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HITLER:
What we are proposing -

CHURCHILL:
Hang on

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HITLER:
Let me finish - what we are proposing eez a simple power-sharing arrangement -

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CHURCHILL:
What's he doing here

BBC PRESENTER:
It's important we hear both sides of the debate

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CHURCHILL:
This isn't a debate 
You don't debate fascists

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HITLER:
Oh here we go with ze Godwins law!

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HITLER:
Why must you people always compare ze things you don't like to 'fascists, Nazis, Hitler'...

CHURCHILL:
Because you are a fascist Nazi Hit-

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HITLER [standing up, saluting]:
RAUSS!

BBC PRESENTER:
*Please* Mr Churchill let him speak

[ends]
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Maureen Johnson @maureenjohnsonbooks.com · 02/09/2026
It really is this simple. Don't watch.
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WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Buckingham Palace band playing 9 to 5 for Dolly Parton
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Tara Goddard @drtaragoddard.com · 21/08/2026
Reminder that people routinely rate genAI as useful in *other* domains, but still poor in the ones they know well. Think about why that is.
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jj skolnik @supremenothing.myatproto.social · 11/08/2026
what if i do not want to be optimized. what if i want to make mistakes because that’s how you learn; what if i want to do nothing sometimes, what if i want a world that is weird and challenging and has mysteries left to reveal. what if i like taking the long way
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
One thing that I think is interesting/weird is the naming of these programs as “agents”. I get that they operate differently from what most people thing of when you say “program” or “software” but “agents” feels like it is trying to humanize them.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I really enjoyed @rutgerbregman.com’s book Moral Ambition which goes into this idea a fair bit
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
This applies to “being a good person” more generally too. Its something you do not something you are.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Okay but an LLM doesn’t index and organize the data. That is what databases and search engines do (or used to do). An LLM gives an output based on the average of the information it has access to. Not the same thing.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
But you see the research assistant is a person who can be held accountable for their work. If they do a bad job they probably won’t stay in the job for long.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The extra frustrating thing about this is he has access to the resources that would allow him to pay people to do the research and write the scripts if he doesn’t have the time/energy to do that work himself! He is at the head of a media empire! He can afford a research assistant!
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
So pretty!
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Pierre de Vos @pierredevos.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
"I am sorry I cannot offer more sympathy for your current rage. I am sorry your lives are not more eventful or fulfilling. I am sorry you still chase the ‘glory days’ of a school you haven’t attended in years. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...
dailymaverick.co.za
A love letter to the Bishops Old Diocesan Committee, from the queer who first put up that flag
I am sorry I cannot offer more sympathy for your current rage. I am sorry your lives are not more eventful or fulfilling. I am sorry you still chase the ‘glory days’ of a school you haven’t attended i...
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Unfortunately vuvuzelas are banned and won’t be allowed in to the stadium 🥲
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Looks almost like a laparoscope
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
1850s seems about right to me (amateur/enthusiast)
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
bsky.app/profile/ever...
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Its just so bizarre. I keep picturing him in character (which one? All of them? Himself?) doing it? What was he wearing?
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Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Who would have known Argentina would have so much trouble battling a remote Atlantic archipelago?
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 04/07/2026
Now that you’ve gone through the experience of not being able to see images for a while, try to remember how much less useful it was if you saw alt text saying “screenshot of article” instead of the actual text What would you want to have described to you if you couldn’t see the image? Do that
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I know!?!
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
“MARRIAGES ASSISTED BY THEM ARE INVALID” 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
3. Finally, the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.

The Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion.
The Apostolic Nuncios will arrange the procedures that Ordinaries may use in the various cases.

Finally, all the faithful are urged to remain steadfast in communion with the Roman Pontiff, with the Bishops in communion with him, and with the whole Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, 22; can. 751 CIC), and to refrain from taking part in celebrations and activities promoted by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Omg revenge for all of Africa
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Dan Why-Ner @danweiner.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
BBC News went live to Cabo Verde and then Cabo Verde scored a goal. Absolute scenes.
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Ian Duhig @ianduhig.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Today is the tenth anniversary of Jo Cox's murder by a white supremacist on her way to a surgery in Birstall in her constituency whose ethnic diversity she praised in her maiden speech to the Commons. Her murderer shouted "Britain first" as he shot and stabbed her to death.
Today is the tenth anniversary of Jo Cox's murder by a white supremacist on her way to a surgery in Birstall in her constituency whose ethnic diversity she praised in her maiden speech to the Commons. Her murderer shouted "Britain first" as he shot and stabbed her to death.

Rue

Rue Jo Cox, Députée Britannique, 
a street sign in Burgundy reads,
Assassinée pour ses convictions.

No British road is named after her,
I found on returning home, for fear
it could have proved controversial.

I remembered in Shakespeare rue
even for ruth, called ‘herb of grace’ 
because it was used in exorcisms, 

by the angel to clean Adam’s eyes,
and Gulliver back home for his nose 
against the smell of his countrymen.
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Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The day of 16 June 1976 began peacefully in Soweto, as students streamed out of their schools to peacefully protest the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. By the end of the day, dozens would be dead.
theguardian.com
‘Then the firing started’: the Soweto uprising remembered 50 years on
16 June 1976 is not just another chapter in the history books, nor is its aftermath and legacy, say those who took part and their families
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Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan on X) @markanthonyneal.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Abdullah Ibrahim, Eminent South African Jazz Pianist, Dies at 91 His song “Mannenberg” became the unofficial anthem of the country’s fight against apartheid, with Nelson Mandela calling him “our Mozart.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/a...
nytimes.com
Abdullah Ibrahim, Eminent South African Jazz Pianist, Dies at 91
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Cape Verde!! What a match!
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Tariq Panja @tariqpanja.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This will go down as a major stain on FIFA and its World Cup before a ball has even been kicked. Infantino has been banging on about the most inclusive World Cup and Africa’s top referee can’t even get into the country. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/w...
nytimes.com
U.S. Denies Entry to World Cup Referee From Somalia
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Yoh this framing is iconic
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elisa freschi @elisafreschi.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I find this interesting bc it is one of the ways through which the arrival of gen-AI is *not* a way of "saving time".
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Media: classic example of when you should report the facts. She literally does not have a right hand - no need to “say” it. Again if one person says its raining and the other says it isn’t the journalist should look outside and report the facts!
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🎃 It’s the Mid Pumpkin, Emily 🎃 @lefttheprairie.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
The fastest route away from fascism is community. You have to first have a knitting circle to do consciousness raising in your knitting circle
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Anchorage Man @sethpartnow.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
So, @edzitron.com ate his Wheatties this morning
LLMs impress the writers who do not want to write, the coders who don't want to code, the researchers who don't want to research, and the lawyers that don't want to actually understand case law. Those that desperately tell you how powerful Al is and that you simply must use it are looking for you to validate their own laziness or distaste for effort, and those who are impressed with LLMs' outputs tend to be people with low standards.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Did not know this about Bluesky - so I guess before blocking be sure to unfollow
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Dr. Casey Fiesler @cfiesler.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Particularly in the context of (appropriate) crackdowns on LLM-generated papers (e.g., on arXiv) and more and more tales of fabricated citations, two reminders: (1) LLMs do not "cite their sources" (2) Using an LLM to generate, complete, or fix LaTeX code can result in fabricated citations
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 05/05/2026
While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Did the car run by itself? Or was it driven by a person into a crowd?
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Pierre de Vos @pierredevos.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Coetzee declined because of Israel's Genocide in Gaza, apparently stating that it is impossible for any part of Israeli society — including the intellectual and artistic communities — to claim it does not share in the guilt for the atrocities in Gaza, www.ynetnews.com/culture/arti...
ynetnews.com
Nobel Prize winner in literature invited to writers festival in Israel, but declined
International Writers' Festival in Mishkenot Sha'ananim has opened with authors from abroad alongside local writers; But ynet has learned that behind the scenes it faced rejections from prominent writ...
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
All three of the top finishers came in under the previous world record and 1st and 2nd came in under 2:00:00 🙀🥳
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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I'd say that this applies to anyone traveling in a car in any city. Being in a car versus walking, riding, or taking transit fundamentally changes how you view a place and your relationship to it. I wish more leaders set this kind of example. www.npr.org/2026/04/16/n...
Mamdani hasn't had time to really think about all that space he now has, because he spends most of his time at City Hall and around New York City. He tries to keep a semblance of his old life by getting around the city on foot, by bike or train.

"If you spend every single day driving around in a tinted window security detail, you will have a very specific view of the city," he said. "You actually meet other New Yorkers and you break out of the bubble that so many have come to expect of politics, where politicians only seem to be spending time with other politicians or the people who donated to make them politicians."
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Ruth A+ @ruthea.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Something that is open for me to join the discussion or is it a space where I should just be observing?
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