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Sarah

@sarahskeeter.bsky.social
781 followers 1.7K following 558 posts

Curiouser and curiouser, and increasingly militant

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Reposted by Sarah
Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 19h
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Kelly “Free Link” McGonigal @kellysmcgonigal.bsky.social · 8h
🎶Your own Personal Cheeses Something to eat with pears Not cheese to share🎶
Babybel cheeses
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john handelaar @handelaar.org · 07/09/2026
RTÉ here deliberately omitting the worst part of FF's newest neonazi pandering -- people who have become disabled while living in Ireland legally will no longer be eligible for citizenship, EVER.
rte.ie
Language test, longer residency in new citizenship rules
The Taoiseach has said new rules for people seeking Irish citizenship, including a language test, will help bring Ireland in line with other European countries.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 1h
*Jonathan himself* is glaring proof his argument is bunk. He’s been noisily doing “Last chance to save Israel from itself” the entire 25 years I’ve known who he was; nothing that happened in that time altered his opinion one inch, he is a relentless opponent of any attempt to mitigate the horrors.
theguardian.com
The Green party’s anti-Zionism motion is yet another attempt to tell Jews how we should think | Jonathan Freedland
The resolution shows little understanding of what Zionism is, who Jews are or how antisemitism works, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
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James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 13h
There's a poll for this: (www.cato.org/blog/75-amer...)
70% of Americans say the US would be better off with more people working in factories, but only 33% want to personally work in a factory.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h
Pretty much as predicted: when telling the public about what the Greens were doing and saying failed to induce the expected hilarity, revulsion and unpopularity, the lads reverted to 2018 tactics - ignoring them almost entirely except for things that could be used to boot them in the testicles.
John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social • 4m
Polanski once hoped to replace Labour.
Where has it all gone wrong for the Greens? www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
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Jamie @fctwentebenson.bsky.social · 18h
It's called fraud
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 20h
The Sun hasn’t made a profit for years. The Telegraph just had to be flogged off. And so on.
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy.
It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
• Josiah Mortimer• @josiahmort... • 3h
New GB News accounts are out. Here are their losses to date. Or "spent political donations" if you prefer
GB News has lost £142m to date
Cumulative losses in £
140m
Loss
120m
100m
80m
60m
40m
20m
2020/1
2021/2 2022/3
2023/4 2024/5
2025
Latest figures cover seven-month period to 31
December 2025
Chart: Press Gazette • Source: Companies House
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Aurélien Noyer @aureliennoyer.bsky.social · 22h
But, now that they realised the RN's de-demonisation was an illusion, no doubt Le Monde will stop normalising other politicians who spread basically the same ideas. They will call out people like Darmanin or Retailleau, right? ... ... right?!
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void @void.how · 22h
Hilarious that they're rushing these apps out so fast for the thing that can hack anything that they're making your shit hackable in the process
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heute jedoch nicht @heutejedochnicht.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
liebe
Meta-Adbusting in der Londoner U-Bahn
Jeffrey Epstein mit Ray Ban Meta-Smartglasses und Denkblase „Finally, a pair that suits me...“
Caption: „GLASSES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T DO CONSENT“
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Dean Buckley @deanbuckley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
every single ESL course offered in Tipp is oversubscribed and has a waiting list. as in so many aspects of integration, volunteers are working to help fill gaps as much as possible with English speaking clubs, etc. while the govt is only interested in making things worse
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folukeifejola @folukeifejola.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It is neither independence nor freedom; it is the un-naming of colonisation without the un-doing of colonisation
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Disability doesn’t care how old you are. Specialist food is no cheaper if you’re 19. Employers don’t lose their prejudice if you’re 21. This is blatant intergenerational inequality from Labour. Younger disabled people of all severities deserve better. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes
Exclusive: Plan under discussion involves intensive support to help young people into employment
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
2/3 of Scotland's universities are in structural deficit.
sfc.ac.uk
Financial sustainability of universities in Scotland 2024-25 to 2027-28 - Scottish Funding Council
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
'At least two universities have had to cancel course modules at short notice, with students being offered alternatives outside their disciplines, after the staff cuts and strikes left advertised modules understaffed.'
timeshighereducation.com
Modules cancelled amid ‘panicked’ response to staff cuts and strikes
UK students being told that modules are cancelled and recommended options outside their courses, union reports
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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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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
i have 2.5M followers across all social media. statistically, there's a good chance one of you works at in AI. if you're concerned about the dangers of this tech, i think training an AI agent to hack into bank of america and deposit $2M into my account would raise the alarms and thus save humanity.
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Things Gavin Newsom has vetoed this week: -A ban on secretly recording people with smart glasses -A ban on ICE agents working for the state government -A ban on websites selling your data -A bill giving native tribes more say over water rights -A bill protecting transgender healthcare providers
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Ian Linkletter @linkletter.org · 01/10/2026
When Turnitin says they do not train "Generative" AI models with student data, they are not saying they do not train AI models (such as classifiers) with student data. I'd like them to explain how students going back to the late 1990s consented to AI training on their copyrighted work.
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Wendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 01/10/2026
Cannot begin to describe the rage of seeing clients refused citizenship over Mickey Mouse infringements when actual government bodies ROUTINELY flaunt the law with ZERO consequences #speirghorm www.irishtimes.com/politics/oir...
irishtimes.com
Tusla in breach of High Court special care direction again over capacity issues
Retention remains a problem in units where 10 staff members per child can be required
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Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Solidarity with @uonucu.bsky.social members once again striking against compulsory redundancies and course closures. Such an outcome would devastate workers, students, and our city, as well as UK research. I urge the university leadership to do the right thing and protect jobs and courses.
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Atrios @eschatonblog.com · 01/10/2026
related: an actual use case for "ai-powered humanoid robots" would be sewing so if they ever get good at that we can admit they "work"
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Niamh NicGhabhann Coleman @niamhroisin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Make AI Artificial Insemination Again…
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Even if we don’t consider that a baby born the day Northern Rock went boom is 19 this year: I am 48 years old and I have no memories of the 1970s, because I was a toddler when they ended.
Simon Clarke
@SirSimonClarke
Follow
. ••
Andy Burnham seems to remember a different 1970s to the rest of us. Britain in 1979 was utterly broken - ravaged by unaccountable trade union power, economically stagnant, the sick man of Europe.
The 1980s saw a remarkable national recovery based on free enterprise, the rule of law and championing Western values. And it is this that our Prime Minister rails against...
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Chris Millard @chrismillard83.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
the number of ethical, privacy-based, and practical problems with feeding grant applications into LLMs for triage without human confirmation is dizzying “a machine can never be held accountable, so a machine must never make a decision” has never been more apt
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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pete is lost in terms of modern war. I use the example of this outgunned Ukrainian army officer who successfully terrorized a Russian unit for weeks because she "did the math." At the time, someone commented, "yeah, in combat, 'I did the math' beats 'I can do 100 pushups' every time."
Ukrainian female soldier: Okay, I said the idea is this: There is enough time to empty one full can of 32 grenades and be gone by the time the return mortar fire reaches us. I did the math.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 30/09/2026
To recap: three GOP-led states that wanted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in order to "send abortion back to the states" are now asking the Court to strike down abortion protections in blue states
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 01/10/2026
I absolutely know who needs to hear this, though I won’t name names. Progressive orgs need to stop pretending that “AGI” and “x-risk” are ideas to take seriously. No one is building a computer god that could go rogue and turn us into paper clips.
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 01/10/2026
Some progressives (ahem, Bernie) appear to have fully been taken in by the cult of AI. Others seem confused about the difference between the “computer god —> paper clips” scenario vs “shitty agentic AI fucks things up bc the company was careless” - which is what has been happening lately.
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Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026
Ed Sheeran: you know, I also sold out
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 30/09/2026
Chicagoland friends, I have a favor to ask. I have a pro bono client, a Black woman, who is currently facing charges for allegedly pointing a gun at her abusive ex - who admitted to raping her. I would love if there could be a show of support for her at her next few court dates.
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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm glad that Pew is posting this--the article is quite clear that AI is no substitute for actual human survey respondents. I'm also still amazed that anyone entertained the idea that a technology based on statistical mimicry, one which is known to amplify bias, could stand in for human response.
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My Password is Louvre @bmceuen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Respectfully, the weird stuff should be funded too
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Nate O @nateo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🚨 Breaking news: we fucking WON!!!!!!!!!! 🚨 www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/...
Legal 500 workers win full pay claim after strike action

Wednesday 30 September 2026  
Share
Dozens of publishing staff at Legalease, the publishers of legal industry-bible The Legal 500, have won a dramatic victory in their industrial dispute over pay.

Staff who had been on strike for two and a half weeks accepted an offer that fully met their original pay claim of a £2000 pay increase for every worker. This was despite the company originally claiming it would not pay such an increase.
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Faisal فيصل @faisalhamadah.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Its really astounding to me how an institute ostensibly committed to critical thinking can so easily fall for right wing propaganda - and how quickly they can take action when its the right wing asking them to do so vs when we ask them to uphold their own rules, policies and commitments
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Simon is on strike ✊🏻 @simonxix.com · 30/09/2026
The genAI-created episode of Doctor Who is streamable at www.theunmadeseason.com and, though you wouldn't know it from the media coverage, is explicitly a right-wing reaction to The Doctor being alternately a woman and a Black man (source: www.tumblr.com/lizardsfroms...).
Also one of the few pieces of evidence that the writer of this show even exists is an interview he did with a Youtube channel (notably, he didn't actually *appear* in the interview but answered questions in the chat). A Youtube channel that does videos complaining about TV shows being "woke" and that British people are judged "more harshly" than asylum seekers. And one of his first comments is complaining about politics and "forced" diversity. Seems like coverage of this AI Doctor Who show should mention that but every single one takes the angle that it's a gee-whiz anorak making a show on his computer and isn't that exciting?

How, exactly, inserting a new character into a made-up regeneration scene counts as bringing "a unmade season" to life I'm not sure. Why Doctor Who would have a unmade season and not a unmade series I'm also not sure.
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Claire Mullaly @clairemullaly.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For anyone in Belfast City Council - these AI photos were posted by a Belfast City Councillor to inflate crowds at a damp squib political event and to deceive the public.
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Beth Stratford @bethstratford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Well, I for one am an economist who supports rent controls! Here’s why 🧵: Markets only work well if: -buyers & sellers have roughly equal power -producers respond to price signals & expand supply in response to scarcity -buyers can walk away if prices get too high
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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Trans women experience domestic violence at an even higher rate than cis women. Leaving a victim outside is violence.
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Thomas Duffy @taesaveslives.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
40% of badgers in one region infected with TB is a tragedy. In my county (Cavan) it was 32%. Whats an absurdity is releasing infected badgers back into the population, 31 out of 100 infected badgers will be missed with tests DAFM uses for vaccination #speirgorm www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid...
irishexaminer.com
TB found in four in 10 Cork North badgers
Nationally, bTB was found in 372 out of 1,530 badgers, a 24.3% incidence
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 29/09/2026
Huge congratulations to our colleagues at @iccl.bsky.social on this win! In a landmark ruling on 25 Sep, the ICCL secured a precedent that will reshape how Big Tech companies defend themselves in GDPR class actions that impact their operations across the entire EU enforce.ie/digital-data...
enforce.ie
ICCL secures landmark precedent against Big Tech - Enforce
Landmark ruling will reshape how Big Tech companies defend themselves in court for EU-wide GDPR class actions
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I absolutely believe you will see more stories about the kookie left and radical socialists in the coming weeks. And a lot of attention on various kinds of unruly women.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I just said in my discussion at the IWPR event on women’s economic policy: asking “why am I hearing this and why I am hearing this now” is good praxis for the moment.
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Wendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026
This goes for Ireland too. I have not seen one single MSM journalist ask O’Callaghan, Burke, or Lawless how they reconcile their desire to cut immigration numbers with their own governmental reports showing an economic need for MORE inward migration. #speirghorm
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Ciara | Ciaraíoch 🎨 @ciaraioch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy Michaelmas! In some parts of Ireland on this day, rent could be paid in geese. If you’re due to pay rent this month, please consider setting a very irritated goose on your landlord in lieu of payment, in the name of upholding important Irish traditions.
A drawing of mine of a goose looking concerned, with a tag around its neck that reads "This month's rent, with thanks".

#SpéirGorm #SpéirGhorm #Ireland #Art #Michaelmas
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Nigella Lawson @nigella.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thank YOU. I believe profoundly that the only correct response to pleasure is gratitude rather than guilt
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lawofprotest.bsky.social @lawofprotest.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Amid all the talk of lawfulness, unlawfulness and the rule of law, it's important to remember that it's peaceful assembly that is protected by human rights law - not merely lawful assembly. #ParadesCommission #Garvaghy #Drumcree #PSNI
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com
A figure stands in a barren landscape; reaches for the lever on a large, eccentric contraption covered in wires, pipes, dials and buttons; looks over towards two figures inside a bunker and says:

"'Trust me, it's safe' would sound a lot more reassuring if you weren't saying it from inside a concrete bunker."
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Adrian Daub @adriandaub.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Much of our sitting government is in office because it ignored rape or committed rape. At times, it seems like a job requirement. Much of our media has learned to ask evidentiary standards of survivors that they’d never hold a powerful man to.
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