merricate.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

i say this as someone who does research in this field: is it that "no one has any good idea of what to do about it" or that the people with good, effective ideas are ignored and drowned out by people with terrible ideas?

submitted 4 days ago • 80 comments

New: DOGE's spending has been secret. No longer. My colleagues have uncovered it. www.propublica.org/article/doge...

submitted 8 days ago • 862 comments

THE RESIST LIST IS HERE. Proud my team just started this @resistlist.bsky.social, which will list actions that happened and that are slated to happen.

submitted 8 days ago • 25 comments

Iowa's House File 274, which would criminalize librarians, passes out of the House Education Committee. It can now be heard on the floor. What this bill is, what it would mean for library and school workers, and why it was rushed through. bookriot.com/iowa-rushes-...

submitted 9 days ago • 4 comments

As a political scientist who studies countries that managed to stop the slide into authoritarianism, I can assure you that refraining from provoking the authoritarian is not how it works. Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.

submitted 12 days ago • 273 comments

the single most un-american and anti-constitutional statement ever uttered by an american president

submitted 13 days ago • 5654 comments

NEW — DOGE now has full access to HHS Payment Management System, I’ve learned. The system distributes almost $1 trillion per year in grants (largest in the govt) and supports all of NIH, CDC + many other public health initiatives. Musk guy Luke Farritor is actively delaying payments to recipients.

submitted 23 days ago • 288 comments

As the parent of a disabled kid it is zero fucking surprise. Folks hate disabled people and will actively work towards making their lives more difficult. The lack of empathy that even disabled kids experience is shocking and will change the way you think about people and what they're capable of

submitted 24 days ago • 34 comments

This thread…

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

My first and definitely last time working with the Los Angeles Times. Editing out the most urgent point of an OpEd in the minutes before sending to press while then also assigning a title and image that suggest an argument entirely opposite to the author’s clear intent is pretty shitty.

submitted 28 days ago • 510 comments

As a Sociologist who has studied families and schools for nearly two decades, there are many things I want to say (or yell) about the new EO on Education. But for now I'll just say--if you want to achieve the (longstanding GOP) goal of privatizing public schooling, this is a great place to start. 1/

submitted 29 days ago • 3 comments

Stop Forcing A.I. into Fucking EVERYTHING!

submitted 66 days ago • 248 comments

I made a gingerbread panopticon

submitted 65 days ago • 400 comments

seems a bit dramatic

submitted 71 days ago • 2945 comments

Always surprised how many folk on social media are unaware that highly visible women online regularly get threatened w/ rape and other violence. Happens to every woman w/ a substantial following I know, has for a decade regardless of platform. And no, authorities don’t care and that’s no solution.

submitted 75 days ago • 134 comments

While I sit on the bus here is a thread on why gen AI (3 chat bots in a trench coat) isn't just another technology. It exploits people's labor and poisons the environment 🧵

submitted 75 days ago • 8 comments

🚨BREAKING: In a vote split mostly along party lines, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) on Wednesday rejected GOP Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s bid to invalidate tens of thousands of ballots statewide. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

submitted 79 days ago • 648 comments

What’s crazy about attacks on libraries… this is who you’re attacking…

submitted 80 days ago • 11 comments

Alrighty: 1 like/repost = 1 asexuality research fact

submitted 82 days ago • 1 comment

states rights unless its parents rights unless the parents are wrong in which case its states rights unless the state is wrong in which case its federal rights unless the feds are democrats in which case its parents rights unless the parents are wrong in which case

submitted 86 days ago • 23 comments

If you have any extra to give, please consider donating to the Sameer Project. They are engaged in CRITICAL mutual aid in Palestine: linktr.ee/thesameerpro... - this might also help those who are feeling overwhelmed by individual requests to support.

submitted 89 days ago • 3 comments

Friends, this week marks a monumental step forward in my path towards pushing for a greater ecology of accountability in the age of AI. Thrilled to officially announce the AI Accountability Lab (AIAL) @theaial.bsky.social at Trinity College Dublin is launching today, Thursday Nov 28, 2024 aial.ie

submitted 92 days ago • 95 comments

This was beautifully written. www.esquire.com/news-politic...

submitted 95 days ago • 61 comments

NC legislature just overrode the Democratic governor's veto of a bill that would force sheriffs to collaborate with ICE. Wild timing with less than 2 months til Republicans lose supermajority & Trump begins mass deportations - with sheriffs a key link in those efforts. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

submitted 95 days ago • 14 comments

New from me in Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences: "Scholars are Failing the GPT Review Process." [54 (5): 625–629. doi.org/10.1525/hsns... A discussion of the way that LLM's & other "AI" have shaped the expectations, norms, & disciplinary practices of contemporary academia. Check it out:

submitted 99 days ago • 10 comments

20 mostly white private academies, all founded in the 1960s and 1970s, brought in more than $20 million from North Carolina in the past three years alone. None reflected the demographics of their communities. Few even came close.

submitted 102 days ago • 30 comments

For no reason, here is a picture of my chiweenie’s feet.

submitted 103 days ago • 0 comments

This is the core of my argument in Holding It Together. The billionaires who engineered our DIY society have (with help from cronies in politics, media, etc) sold us myths to delude us into thinking we don't need a social safety net and divide us so we don't come together to demand that support. 1/

submitted 108 days ago • 2 comments

The unnuanced conservative line that unis are “liberal” has been a boon to them gaining ground and is always worth complicating. Are many faculty liberal, sure. Is liberal leftist? No. Are there conservative faculty? Many. But what about administrations, trustees and donors? Wait until you find out…

submitted 111 days ago • 8 comments

Two things I'd change, based on canvassing this year: 1. Qualitative methods training for canvassers (eg, rapport-building, probing, fieldnote writing) 2. A text box in the app to share open-ended insights (for qualitative analysis later) A short 🧵 1/

submitted 112 days ago • 28 comments

Cognition and AI: Promises and pitfalls from yours truly www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

submitted 115 days ago • 2 comments

submitted 115 days ago • 0 comments

As OpenAI and Meta introduce LLM-driven searchbots, I'd like to once again remind people that neither LLMs nor chatbots are good technology for information access. A thread, with links: >>

submitted 116 days ago • 74 comments

also is there any proof that they feel excluded? right now we're going off what older men are saying about younger men. i haven't even seen anyone present evidence that it's a widespread problem. it feels like an excuse certain men are making up to be relevant and push Dems even more rightward

submitted 127 days ago • 22 comments

you can tell they've only read right-wing lies about the concept of toxic masculinity. you're not born with toxic masculinity. it's something learned, practiced, and rewarded by society

submitted 127 days ago • 17 comments

Love this story! “How a Kenyan schoolgirl fell in love with trees.” apple.news/AcSnLU51pSrW...

submitted 135 days ago • 0 comments

These are the Republicans who voted against FEMA funding two weeks ago

submitted 144 days ago • 25 comments

PayPal is updating their ToS to let themselves give your data to merchants starting in November and they're certainly banking on people not knowing to opt out, SO to opt out before they start: go to Settings > Data & Privacy > Manage shared info > Personalized shopping, and toggle that shit off

submitted 152 days ago • 409 comments