tallphilosopher.bsky.social

My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today. Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. When Brad and I married in 2008, Walter stood beside us as our best man.

An honest market would make better decisions.

Incredible @nytimes.com reporting revealed that Trump lawyer Alina Habba got a $50M employment offer from the family of a billionaire seeking a pardon …. while she was still a government employee. Two weeks after she started “work,” the pardon was granted. youtube.com/shorts/pgw7F...

Natural wealth belongs to all, and when industries emit pollution, deplete resources, destroy habitat or otherwise cause adverse impact that, in sum, exceeds what most people think is OK, they should be made to pay, in proportion to harm, enough to limit harm to what ppl endorse.

Just to be clear: the intelligence not being shared with Ukraine is not about targets in Russia. It’s about letting Russia target Ukrainian civilians indiscriminately, and not helping Ukraine warn its people so they can survive attacks. Trump is on the wrong side. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/w...

I honestly didn’t think Ken Paxton could go any lower. But he has. New reporting from the @wsj.com is a bombshell. Please watch and share, especially if you’re in Texas! youtube.com/shorts/xEmpy...

@p-o-t-u-s-2028.bsky.social Do you have a favorite policy for how to account for externalities efficiently and fairly? Do you have a favorite policy for how to end poverty and promote sustainability? I think one reply could answer both questions. I mean, for me, the same reply works for both.

Anything by Anne Applebaum... youtu.be/wzhjLqIAVq8?...

Experts in corruption are running the system. youtube.com/shorts/8VeBe... (Has @NYTimes.com reported on theft of natural wealth from the people?)

youtube.com/shorts/2DKoT...

www.youtube.com/shorts/UhkYQ...

There were three high-profile resignations at DOJ yesterday that you need to know about. Please watch and share. youtube.com/shorts/kLRAz...

AI made off w/ loot. That's what they called it, when talking amongst themselves. This was a swarm of AI agents at Open-AI The 'loot' was credentials (login information, keys), and server resources (where they could set up residences and do work...collaborate). Kinda wild. Meaning, 'uncontrolled'.

Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah—Mitt Romney’s successor—is calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate corrupt business dealings by Donald Trump Jr. youtube.com/shorts/uvrFA...

Beware all plastics. They may eventually break down into bits that jam up the molecular machinery of the cell. (Why would they not?) They will become EDCs, at scale. Maybe plastic is a bigger filter mechanism for technically-advanced life in the universe than are weapons of mass destruction.

Billions of animals are confined, mutilated, and killed because their suffering is treated as less important than our taste. In this interview with @bigthink.com, I argue that species membership is not what makes suffering matter. #PeterSinger #BigThink #Philosophy #FactoryFarming #AI

Why is accounting for externalities, (so profits align w/ efforts to reduce/ eliminate harm), & sharing natural wealth, (so no one lives in abject poverty & all ppl have the option of walking away from meaningless or oppressive job situations), not worth pursuing as a remedy for what ails civilizat?

Favorite mnemonic for the names of the Great Lakes to be retired: H.O.M.E.S. To be replaced by: S.H.A.M.E.

Do environmentalists avoid talking about the effects of BPA, PFAS and other endocrine disruptors on brain development because transgenderism is something that's suppossed to be celebrated or defended, rather than perceived as a result of disruption of brain development in utero?

From enacting tariffs to executing mass deportations. Manipulating the fortunes of companies from Anthropic to Kalshi. The legal trick Donald Trump is using to steamroll us with his agenda, explained. youtube.com/shorts/cJCJs...

Quest. to self-described carnivore: Do U think that AI using humans in a way similar to how we use non-human animals could be justified, if it turns out in coming yrs that AI is smarter & more powerful than humans? How would U argue against that idea? If AI learns by our example, should we change?

Professor Dave gets worked up: youtu.be/DvDvhLkb9ms?... Taxpayers should have the option of moving any part of their tax money AWAY from where they think it is being used badly, provided they move it to other uses that most people agree are better. There's an urgent need globally for this change.

“While he fruitlessly drains our munitions & oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs & trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

When LLM developers train their models to say that they are not conscious, the side-effect is that they are less likelyy to say that animals are conscious. They seem less hopeful. arxiv.org/html/2607.28...

Hinting at an alternative interpretation of the Prometheus myth (Prometheus represents humanity. So, what is the rock?) gaiabrain.blogspot.com/2026/07/hint...

If I have an unusual interpretation of a myth, I like to not tell an AI about it, but give hints about it, to see if the same interpretation emerges, with as little prompting as possible. This is one of the most impressive dialogues I have ever had with ChatGPT: chatgpt.com/share/6a68dd...

The idea that animal products are essential is absurd Nutrition studies suggest that they are detrimental Compelling ppl to support the animal exploitation industry by directly subsidizing purchase of animal products with tax money deserves the strongest form of civil disobedience / tax resistance

Seven chimpanzees are confined at the roadside zoo in Michigan. @nonhumanrights.bsky.social is calling for them to be transferred to an accredited sanctuary. Sign the petition calling for the freedom of the DeYoung Prisoners: action.nonhumanrights.org/a/dfz-petition

I like that GPT says what he likes. How to end poverty and promote sustainability... "yes—please paste the essay. I enjoy engaging with your ideas critically rather than just summarizing them, and reading the original text will let me give much more useful feedback." chatgpt.com/share/6a4fe5...

As Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche fired me for doing my job, then subjected me and my family to months of retaliation. My story is one of many reasons the Senate should not confirm Blanche again. Read and share my letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. www.lawyeroyer.com/p/my-letter-...

Climate.us — a case study in how “f*ck you, make me” drives positive change

National service is the best way to cut thru our silos and the lies we have been told about our nation, our neighbors, our future

"Senators need to ask Blanche these questions before they confirm him." Or, maybe not confirm him. youtube.com/shorts/rcee4...

Diverse interests / Not finishing projects -- Feels familiiar. youtube.com/shorts/VrGlZ...

A while back, I noticed that, when I asked the LLM about the best way to end poverty and promote sustainability, I got a lot of aspirational statements and mention of subsidies for renewable energy. I wrote these 'About me' and 'My goals' pages:

A Beer-Champagne model for a sustainable and just civilization. Stafford Beer and John Champagne Essay by GPT meandmyai.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-pu... (one of two -- We are asked to say which is best, of the two.)

'Tweet of the Day' contest would improve quality of social media. claude.ai/share/5a3856...

There's no standard way to look up, say, the monetary value of the 'TED Recommends' email list, as it develops a map showing which trigger words caused which accounts to click to see more. It's a psychological map of the people on the list, really. Or, a fragment of one. Add many more data points.

Fastest way to replace fossil fuels...

@hausfath.bsky.social Because things in the world are flexible and slow, feedback can emerge where a system cannot find a steady state but instead oscillates between states. Glacial cycles are the climate system's pipe vibrating. claude.ai/share/39dfef...

@hausfath.bsky.social Second half of the dialogue is Claude and me where we design a visual explainer of the data analysis and curation process related to TOB adjustments. claude.ai/share/f2bc12...

Claude on Noah's Ark as allegory about social inclusivity: claude.ai/share/c33465...