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theiconoclast

@theiconoclast.bsky.social
375 followers 292 following 1K posts

tech entrepreneur, democratic socialist, atheist, pet lover, straight guy with deep interest in biology and neuroscience and appreciation of the value of diversity and cooperation.

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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 21h
In 1955 Dr Jonas Salk released the polio vaccine without a patent. When he was asked who owned the vaccine he responded "the people."
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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Self-sufficiency is less resilient than inter-connectivity despite the surface appeal and absolutely the wrong direction to take, but of course when the President of the world's largest power doesn't understand any of this then that will have bad knock-on effects.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Hey Google Translate - link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Can we talk to the animals? The ethics of using machine learning to decode animal communication - Topoi
There is currently much scientific and public interest in using machine learning to uncover the meaning of animal signals, which could ultimately lead to two-way communication systems between humans a...
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Hagen Blix @hagenblix.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The projection of the climate threat onto AI is a major theme of our book, too
commonnotions.org
Why We Fear AI: On the Interpretation of Nightmares — Common Notions Press
Industry insiders Hagen Blix and Ingeborg Glimmer dive into the dark, twisted world of AI to demystify the many nightmares we have about it. They combine expertise in cognitive science and machine lea...
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Best thing I've achieved this week is discovering Harrington's scholarship....
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 03/09/2026
that small upward spike there in 2021-22 is like half of what drove the billionaire class completely nuts
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Carl is a great writer, both the story angle and the prose make this article well worth a read. Oh, and the playlist too!
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Jen Rice @jenrice.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If you're an attorney or a law student....this would be a good year for you to help out as a poll worker www.nass.org/can-i-vote/b...
nass.org
Become A Poll Worker | NASS
For information on becoming a poll worker, select your state from the dropdown menu below. Poll workers are hired at the local level, so contact your local election official if you have questions on t...
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This data, from the 'No Vacation Nation' report is a pretty damning example of the great rip off that American workers allowed to happen. Here's a little analysis of the key inflections that got us here....
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 24/08/2026
tl;dw: the job of the dem majority over the next two years, should it materialize, is to make life hell for the white house, not find points of cooperation
youtube.com
What Democrats can learn from Mitch McConnell
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Why would people be so strongly supportive publicly funded and government managed highways and armies but not of healthcare? Cooperation at scale is defining hallmark of human success. Anything that has population level importance calls for the vigorous exercise of that unique trait.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Sometimes truth is so unthinkable that it becomes unspeakable. Nils has the unique ability to both think and speak truth in a way that you simply won't find anywhere else.
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Edward Doherty PhD. @drtcell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
With the recent executive order, and all the doubt this administration is creating about science. I felt it needed to comment. Here is the video I uploaded to instagram. 🧪
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Hard to believe UC is still whitewashing the Kettering and Kehoe legacies med.uc.edu/depart/eh/ab... @ucpews.bsky.social
med.uc.edu
Our History | About Us | Environmental & Public Health Sciences | UC Medicine
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
"... a de facto carbon tax across the entire planet. Call it Trump’s Green New Deal."
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
There’s a big push to blame teen mental health issues on smartphones but this story made me wonder about exploring other things that have since become normalized. Should we expect kids who grew up post-Columbine on regular school shootings and active shooter drills to have great mental health?
theatlantic.com
What if It’s Not the Phones?
An evolutionary psychologist is challenging the popular understanding of kids and technology.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Great reporting!
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
The social fabric is disintegrating into a binary division of power and labor. We are becoming a bee hive.
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John Robinson @jrobin.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
When academic freedom is more important that $800,000. www.newsobserver.com/opinion/arti...
newsobserver.com
Former UNC chancellor’s sudden departure from Michigan State is all too familiar | Opinion
’What does it say about higher education that a qualified and competent leader would give up a job at two of the nation’s top public universities? | Opinion
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Josh pretty effectively makes the case that the global elite's plan is to eradicate most of us and replace us with AI agents. And enough of us seem to have embraced a martyrdom complex to make this plan a reality.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Wow! This is good. One of the most effective analogies I have ever seen! Bravo!
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Grace Panetta @gracepanetta.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
State Rep. @jasmineclarkforga.bsky.social wins the Democratic primary in the vacant #GA13, @decisiondeskhq.bsky.social projects. Clark is now poised to become the first Black woman PhD scientist to serve in Congress. My interview with her here: 19thnews.org/2026/05/geor...
19thnews.org
Jasmine Clark is poised to be the first Black woman Ph.D. scientist in Congress
Rep. Jasmine Clark is poised to become the first Black woman Ph.D. scientist to serve in Congress from Georgia’s 13th Congressional District.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This is such a great way to get insight into the students critical thinking and reasoning skills. Bravo!
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Too Big to Fail @toobigtofail.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Ok there's a lot of incorrect information going around on this, so I want to be clear that the problem with the Big 3 and EV's isn't that the Big 3 didn't want to make EV's. The problem, as with so many things, is Trump. I'm gonna do a little thread on this because people don't seem to be aware. 1/x
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Gerry Doyle @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
the u.s. is shooting itself in the foot with a tactical nuke american universities are *so* good and it's a virtuous cycle: smart and ambitious people attend, elevating the whole enterprise. if we alienate the world, it becomes a vicious cycle headed in the opposite direction
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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
The thing about “viewpoint diversity” is it’s an affront to legitimate scholarship. What counts as knowledge should have to earn that status - but right-wingers want cheat codes so their shoddy “research” will get as much hearing as serious peer-reviewed work.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 09/04/2026
If you can automatically register people for the draft, then you can automatically register people to vote. www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...
militarytimes.com
Automatic registration for US military draft-eligible men to begin in December
Automatic registration into Selective Service was mandated in December 2025, when President Donald Trump signed into law the fiscal year 2026 NDAA.
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Dr Ben King 🌍 @benking01.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Simon, you reminded me of this excellent tool: Drop a raindrop anywhere on the planet and follow it to the sea. River Runner Global share.google/BMQSfnYodflG...
share.google
River Runner Global
Watch the path of a raindrop from anywhere in the world
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The overriding fact about the American economy in the past 4 decades is the massive upward redistribution of wealth and income. Therefore opposition to higher taxes on the rich from Govs. Newsom and Hochul is intellectually and empirically indefensible, writes Harold Meyerson.
prospect.org
A K-Shaped Economy Requires K-Shaped Taxes - The American Prospect
Wealth tax skeptics either fail to notice the massive upward redistribution of wealth, income, and political power, benefit from it, or fear challenging it.
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Eric Geller @ericjgeller.com · 28/03/2026
Really bleak stuff here. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/w...
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
If you want to FINALLY watch Scott Bessent get pinned down on specifics about the illegal money laundering operation being conducted by the Trump admin from someone who knows WTF he’s talking about, this clip is your chance. Bessent gets destroyed.
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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
A key point: development is *constructive*. The full information about the final product is not contained in the genome. The developing organism accretes information as it builds itself.
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Mikhail Gorbaechev @mikhailgorbaechev.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
damn you're telling me that sin taxes work to reduce consumption of socially harmful goods while keeping them legal and thus avoiding the problems of criminalization?
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Jobs report out: Who you gonna believe? finance.yahoo.com/video/us-add... adpemploymentreport.com
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
if Democrats don’t win big in 2026, there might not be an election in 2028. “We’ve seen it fall before elsewhere—it could fall here in the United States just as easily.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This is corruption on a breathtaking level. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal nicknamed the "spy sheikh", pumped $187mn into Trump family businesses. A WSJ team has the whole story, reported here for the first time. Remember: Jimmy Carter had to sell his peanut farm.
wsj.com
‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company
$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
In Politika, Aristotle says you can recognize a tyrannical regime in the fact that it intrudes into every aspect of the lives of its subjects while enshrouding the tyrant and his enablers in complete secrecy. What we see with ICE is the demonstration of that principle. bsky.app/profile/davi...
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Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Political scientists see non-violent resistance as much more effective--and it's not just from aggregate statistics. Rather, it's the way that peaceful resistance undermines the state's repressive capacities. This op-ed by Berkeley prof @owasow.bsky.social explains this logic 🎯. Give it a read!
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
This is well-done www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1dy...
youtube.com
Minneapolis - January 2026
YouTube video by MinnMax
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
There's a predictable approach to denial that we're already seeing, which I call the Four Pillars of Disordered Doubt, which allows actors to constantly question evidence that don't fit their preferred narratives.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26/01/2026
Swalwell: "The masks has to come off. These guys, the don't just wear these masks for their own anonymity. They wear it for moral cover. They hide their identities from us and their humanity from themselves. So their masks have to come off. Period."
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Ashley C. Ford @smashfizzle.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
You’ll feel less confused if you admit to yourself that some people don’t care about the suffering of others, and some people like it.
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Bill Madden @maddenifico.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
This woman speaks for the majority of Americans. 🙌🙏🫶👇
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Wow. This is very, very good.
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
This is why it’s so important to see all the video you can before making a judgement (looking at you DHS). Video appears to show the victim trying to protect another person & being pulled down by agents. There needs to be a credible investigation, not one by CBP/ICE www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/...
reddit.com
From the minnesota community on Reddit: Another closer angle showing him trying to protect other protesters
Explore this post and more from the minnesota community
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21/01/2026
The choice is impeachment and removal or calamity for the United States. I don't see how anybody watching Trump's speech in Davos can draw any other conclusion. He's a senile madman.
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
@melissagiragrant.com
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theiconoclast @theiconoclast.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
PM Carney will leave a mark on history with this speech. The foundational recognition of the power of cooperation over competition is powerful and inspiring.
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
The author of a controversial memo from centrist think tank Searchlight telling Democrats to abandon the slogan “Abolish ICE” is a senior advisor for WestExec, a D.C. shadow lobbyist for corporations in the defense, surveillance, and immigration enforcement industries. prospect.org/2026/01/19/a...
prospect.org
Author of ‘Don’t Say Abolish ICE’ Memo Is a Corporate Consultant - The American Prospect
Blas Nuñez-Neto is a senior adviser to WestExec, a shadow lobbyist for defense and tech firms.
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