iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Michael DeMoor @michaeldemoor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In other words: fascism is appealing to many during times of heightened political tension because it is (in some respects) a kind of anti-politics. It promises an easy end to social conflict; and managing social conflict without ending it is kind of what politics is.

294

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

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."

251179504734

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This, plus lobbyists prey on the most pervasive of all human cognitive biases: confirmation bias. The thing with the money is that it pays for an army of people to keep tell the voter noted below that they are correct about their existing opinions.

020

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

RT @ryankturnbull.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Using just one sentence or phrase of scripture, answer the question, "What is the gospel?"

1983

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Captain Awkward @captainawkward.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Excellent thread! There *are* rewards for being A Good Guy Who Speaks Up even if they are not immediately obvious or publicly bestowed. First, integrity is its own reward. Maybe you didn’t save the world or change hearts & minds. But if you held the line on not making it worse, that’s something.

8725206

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

i worry that men think being A Good Guy is dramatically and heroically intervening on behalf of an endangered woman and then being publicly rewarded on a grand scale when actually being A Good Guy is just usually saying, “hey man that’s not funny” or “wow that’s fucked up” and there is no reward

10134293769

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I think the projections for high turnout for this one might be right 😳

010

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

we really need to start calling out these conservative christians for just straight up not believing in christianity. if you don’t believe christian teaching, nobody is forcing you to call yourself a christian! free yourself!

572006228

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

fargo is a panorama of different types of evil contrasted against ordinary good; the petty loserdom of Lundegaard and Carl Showalter on different sides of the legit/criminal divide, the dull-eyed sociopath of Grimsrud, the mania/delusional stalkerdom of Mike Yanagita.

535928

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Nandita Sharma @nsharma101.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Fascism doesn't have a colour line. Fascism is a political belief that has historically - and today - been adopted by people who want to ruthlessly rule by dividing us from one another on one or another artificial basis around the world. White, Black, Brown, et cetera.

06513

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

i broadly agree with the thesis, but not the way that WBF argued it

118842

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

i think the answer, after several decades, is fairly obvious. its a person who suffers from all of the defects neil postman ascribed to television without any of the benefits of mass media creating a shared psychological space

222528

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Alexiana Fry @alexianafry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Calling all scholars of religion who are attending the upcoming #aarsbl26 meeting in Denver! I need your help, as I am using the current fun trend exemplified by "Subway Takes" to introduce the public to the world of (and the necessity of) religious studies - broadly speaking.

a gradient background with orange, teal, and magenta is the background. In a cream text, there are the words one line at a time "HOLY HOT TAKES." The first H has wings on it, the first O has a halo on it. The second o in the second line has flames on top of it, and the t has a "devils tail."

2136

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Possibly the greatest use of source material in history?

020

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Leigh Walton @leighwalton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sarge, radio Headquarters… Tell ‘em we’re gonna need a bigger Gender Studies department

158412

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

En Buen Ora @enbuenora.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

my god the direct use of the hot dog guy sketch from I Think You Should Leave in a political ad

629960

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The thing I find most baffling about the Trump GOP is how cowed and cowardly they are. Yes, Trump has huge sway in the base, but I'd have thought this is a reason to sink him internally, not line up behind him. Especially since he's such a vindictive person. Just seems like self-preservation.

000

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Just a friendly reminder that there is an ongoing masterclass in both politics and civic leadership happening in NYC, if anyone is interested in learning how it's done.

040

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Anne M. Carpenter @catholickungfu.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

If white liberals were less insufferable about their mild success and less clueless about their catastrophic failure, I'd be less annoyed at pronouns in email signatures. Probably. But I like being annoyed, so. Maybe not.

031

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Very important to remember that the workers in question are generally low-income, so this would be a regressive tax on people who don't make much money.

020

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The provost of Dartmouth, at which I teach, has been using AI to write both academic papers & national op-eds, according to brave reporting by @thedartmouth.bsky.social. Many students are already bitter about AI. This leaves us as faculty no ground to stand on. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...

thedartmouth.com

Op-eds, academic articles by Provost Santiago Schnell flagged as ‘AI-written’ by ‘near-zero error’ AI detector Pangram

Schnell said he used artificial intelligence for “making writing processes more efficient,” but that AI was not a “substitute” for his own “intellectual judgment or authorship.”

711481490

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

imo this isn't evidence that Smith is a separatist, it's evidence that she's willing to equivocate on a vital issue in order to keep some form of standing with her fractured, angry base. What should anger us as Albertans is that our premier is self-serving, not that she's a separatist.

020

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

latest polls have me fairly confident that Stay in Canada will win: what *does* worry me is the wombo combo of an oil crisis in the US and various separatists musing about a UDI one can easily imagine a world in which Stay wins and various hard right separatists issue a UDI regardless

139915

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Just a Dad 📎 @dadmakingcans.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Hitler and other top Nazis inspect a scale model of a planned triumphal arch in Berlin, circa 1939.

37845344

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

As somebody who remembers very clearly the never-ending comment wars in the earliest days of the Internet 2.0 era, it is not at all encouraging to see that childish nonsense put on camera and placed at the center of the cultural and political conversation.

030

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Michael DeMoor @michaeldemoor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It would have been good to have a political scientist or two on the panel to estimate the likelihoods of each of the 4 scenarios; but that's beyond the mandate, I guess. Shouldn't stop us from saying what should be obvious: betting on smooth-long-term is a very bad bet.

2161

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Absolutely. UCP has the same problem in Alberta (though here the centrist base has some kind of weird fixation that makes them unable to consider alternatives to the conservatives).

021

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Ummm. Actually, I think this is maybe interesting? Or a catastrophe? Big swing or no swing I guess?

020

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Wandering Hoo @wanderlib.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The Canadian Right's problem is that the Prairie Conservatives just want a Republican, Quebec Conservatives want Le Pen, and Ontario Conservatives want Carney. The PCs tried to resolve some of the inherent tensions, and rebellions from all three wings led them into non-existence.

4499

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

this is such a bad way to understand Pierre who is essentially just warmed over Harperism in a populist form. i like how americans think this is a good comparison but the rise of Carney had much more to do with Trudeau leaving (which in itself reset polls to a much more competitive state)

1112813

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Anne M. Carpenter @catholickungfu.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Lots of things seem plausible if I grant irrational premises.

6213

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

One of my basic assumptions is that longtermists don't actually believe in longtermism at any deep level. It's just too dumb of a worldview. It just functions as a helpful psychological crutch to excuse proponents for having opinions that are obviously immoral and worthy of disdain.

010

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 17/09/2026

i’m sorry but this entire worldview seems not just evil but deeply stupid? the far future is fake! it doesn’t exist! what matters are people here and now!

3304660700

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

If anybody is on the hunt for an excellent example of the strawman fallacy, I recommend this article. (it's kind of a reverse strawman, but will work admirably nonetheless)

010

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

The Mouthy Renegade Writer @mouthyrenegade.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Our health care system in America is disgusting. A clear indication that our government doesn't give a fuck if we live or die.

681208726135

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Duane Bratt🇨🇦 @duanebratt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Alberta separatists cannot be happy with the economic analysis of separation that the School of Public Policy has written. What is their rebuttal? And calling it fake news put out by a bunch of pointy headed academics is not a serious rebuttal.

1110626

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Jared Wesley @jaredwesley.ca · 16/09/2026

Did you know? Alberta receives federal funding to support health care, education, and social services for each person living in our province. These federal transfers are calculated on a per capita basis, and *include* both permanent and non-permanent residents.

1121694

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Michael DeMoor @michaeldemoor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My university (in fact my faculty... want to work for me?) is hiring tenure-track faculty member in Psychology. Please share and please ask me questions about the position, King's, Edmonton, etc. In case it's not obvious: this job is in Canada (at least for now 🤞) www.kingsu.ca/public/downl...

kingsu.ca

11310

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

rip annie dillard

One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.

1134241138

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Josiah Hawthorne @josiahhawthorne.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My wife says she thinks they paired these issues deliberately, because now we’re all talking about the bestiality part and pretty much forgot about the prostitution part. But the reason they’re doing this might be just the latter. That makes sense.

6267

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

Allen Jorgenson @allenjorgenson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Hi all, I am guest editing the winter volume of Consensus: A Canadian Journal of Public Theology on the topic of theology and liminal places. See the CFP here: scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/ne...

scholars.wlu.ca

Call for papers | Consensus is a journal of Canadian Lutheran theology co-sponsored by Martin Luther University College (Waterloo) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary (Saskatoon). | Wilfrid Laurier...

085

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

kia speaks @kiaspeaks.us · 15/09/2026

Billionaires don’t give a damn about you. They will come in, blow up your shit, and go back to their comfy existence. This should be a lesson to not let them bully you. Die on your morals or die due to the morality of others. Looks like Ed made the wrong choice. apnews.com/article/ed-s...

1194

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I truly wish people would start learning that bowing down to bullies gets you punched. If somebody says "do X or I'll punch you" then my friend, you're gonna get smacked, whether or not you bow. Make your peace with that part and try to muster some moral courage with regard to the how and why of it.

030

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

he did a lot of stupid and evil things as president and this doesn't erase any of that but listen to this speech. there was a rising tide of hatred against Muslim Americans and he said no. You just cannot imagine any of the ghouls in the current administration rising to even this low bar of decency.

1472

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Sam Worthington and Ben Mendelsohn are in this??!! Gonna need a special UN investigatory committee here folks.

010

Colin Toffelmire @toffelmire.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hey quick question for the federal conservatives. Do you guys think that some place called (checks notes) "Ontario" is important in federal politics?

001

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

whet moser @whetmoser.com · 11/09/2026

the world after i am sufficiently verbally abusive to people who share my goals but use wording that i think is slightly off

115120

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Susan Sontag's 9/16/01 piece in The New Yorker got her crucified but it's one of the few things from that era that aged well. "'Our country is strong,' we are told again and again. I for one don’t find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that’s not all America has to be."

The disconnect between last Tuesday’s monstrous dose of reality and the self-righteous drivel and outright deceptions being peddled by public figures and TV commentators is startling, depressing. The voices licensed to follow the event seem to have joined together in a campaign to infantilize the public. Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a “cowardly” attack on “civilization” or “liberty” or “humanity” or “the free world” but an attack on the world’s self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions? How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word “cowardly” is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday’s slaughter, they were not cowards.

Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K. America is not afraid. Our spirit is unbroken, although this was a day that will live in infamy and America is now at war. But everything is not O.K. And this was not Pearl Harbor. We have a robotic President who assures us that America still stands tall. A wide spectrum of public figures, in and out of office, who are strongly opposed to the policies being pursued abroad by this Administration apparently feel free to say nothing more than that they stand united behind President Bush. A lot of thinking needs to be done, and perhaps is being done in Washington and elsewhere, about the ineptitude of American intelligence and counter-intelligence, about options available to American foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, and about what constitutes a smart program of military defense. But the public is not being asked to bear much of the burden of reality. The unanimously applauded, self-congratulatory bromides of a Soviet Party Congress seemed contemptible. The unanimity of the sanctimonious, reality-concealing rhetoric spouted by American officials and media commentators in recent days seems, well, unworthy of a mature democracy.

Those in public office have let us know that they consider their task to be a manipulative one: confidence-building and grief management. Politics, the politics of a democracy—which entails disagreement, which promotes candor—has been replaced by psychotherapy. Let’s by all means grieve together. But let’s not be stupid together. A few shreds of historical awareness might help us understand what has just happened, and what may continue to happen. “Our country is strong,” we are told again and again. I for one don’t find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that’s not all America has to be.

3942221

Reposted by Colin Toffelmire

FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ @flavorflav.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Today I'm honoring 9/11 Day by turning remembrance into action. 25 years later,,, we remember those we lost and honor the heroes who stepped up by continuing to do GOOD. If you a NYC school teacher,,, drop yo wish list and imma hook up the first 25. Join me and @911day and #UNITEFORGOOD.

Flavor Flav serving up meals at Bowery mission NYC

682560487