🥹 Millions of Americans are coming together on this #NoKings Day to reject authoritarian overreach, defend democracy, and stand up for their communities.

@Sqlswimmer what a beautiful gift! Nice finishing details

I met this snail this morning. I am wondering why its trail is ‘dotted’? Was it hopping;-)

Sometimes I really feel the need to paint a lone majestic tree. Here’s the latest..

I went to a talk lately that was mostly about something else, but the speaker came out with:

“If you only remember one thing from this talk, remember this. Everyone in this room who likes helping people, raise your hand.”

Every hand, or nearly every hand, went up.

“If you like asking other people for help, keep your hand up.”

Almost every hand went back down.

“As you can see, people like helping you. When you ask for help, you’re making them feel good, even if you don’t like asking.”

I’ve genuinely forgotten the rest of the presentation but I won’t forget that.

@dillyd
Not a quote but a poem:

“The Rose That Grew From Concrete” - Tupac Shakur

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

Let's talk about AI...

I’m so tired of how rarely we collectively talk about root causes of societal issues.
Not the symptoms... Not the surface-level panic... But the deeper systems driving it all!

Surely most people can see the real danger of AI is not the automation itself, but the system it is being built into?! One where profit is the only goal, power is worshipped, and where corporations operate with no accountability for the good of people or the planet. Just profits profits profits!

AI can not liberate us under this system.. it is impossible! AI will not put out fires - it will fan the flames of an already burning system until they surround us all and force us into a new era of dictatorship.

Yes, AI will replace physical and cognitive labour, but not to create a fairer, freer world.. no. But to undoubtedly cut costs and boost margins for the few who already hold control. The result? Mass unemployment, deepening inequality, poverty, and a society where human lives are reduced to data, surveillance, and compliance. We will have no leverage. There will be no power to resist. No value. No rights left.

UNLESS we organise. This is not a future we have to accept.. we must recognise that no one is coming to save us.

Collective power, not individual awareness, is what shifts systems. We need solidarity, clarity, and sustained pressure to take back what has been stolen. And to look at the CORE OF ISSUES.

Without structural change NOW these technologies will not serve us. We will be managed by them - optimised, extracted from, and ruled by those who own the algorithms.

Democracy is already weakened. Elections undermined, protests militarised, fascism being normalised (yes, the USA) - and even thoughts being routinely shaped or silenced by design, propaganda, and algorithms.

This did not begin with AI. Corporations have long shaped policy, avoided tax, eroded wages, and extracted everything they can from people and the planet - to the point we are in biosphere collapse. And our governments have allowed it. AI will just push a broken system into overdrive and absolute tyranny.

But here’s the truth: AI is not the enemy at all!!
If we had a system designed for people... not profit - AI could build something extraordinary. But that requires more than good intentions..it requires public ownership.

We need democratic control over data, infrastructure, and the algorithms that govern us. These technologies must be treated as public goods, not corporate assets.

AI should eventually reduce work, eliminate scarcity, improve health, and restore the environment. It could liberate us from toil and create space for learning, art, and community and reconnection to each other and our earth.

But only if we have policies, laws, and actions, to take back control. But whose hands will control it?

Because at the root of every crisis we face today is the same problem:
a system that serves profit, not people. Until that changes, nothing else can!

A scientist told me
the real story
is the unfolding of climate change.

And a doctor told me
the real story
is the ongoing pandemic.

And an activist told me
the real story
is the rise of fascism.

And a historian told me
the real story
is that these are all the same story.

Okay, if you need a. Timeline refresh, here is this months sock muppet.

#knitting #knittingSocks

@godpod damn I love @theonion.

Today I was accused of not doing enough to fight for disabled people.

Shamed for not being at protests or more active in boycotts.

I’m housebound, almost completely bedbound.

I would love to be out protesting, but my body can’t do it.

I can’t help anyone if I don’t survive.

This person said that advocacy isn’t enough.

That writing isn’t enough.

That the efforts I take with Disabled Ginger aren’t enough.

That because I have a “platform”, I have a responsibility to do more.

This type of shame is completely unproductive.

Both protests and boycotts are in many ways, a privilege.

They’re not accessible to many disabled people.

This doesn’t mean we don’t want to fight back, it means there’s no way we can safely participate.

I fight back by writing. I started Disabled Ginger to try and help others understand chronic illness and disability.

To help those within our community find the courage to raise their voice, as well as to encourage non disabled people to learn more about us and how to be allies

It might seem small, but it’s everything to me.

I have incredibly limited spoons, and this is how I choose to spend them.

I don’t know if I’m reaching many people, but I genuinely believe that every heart or mind changed makes a difference.

I know that disabled people are facing more danger now than ever before.

I know we’re in a climate of rapidly escalating eugenics.

I understand the stakes and that’s why I’m using my platform to fight back whenever possible.

But we can’t burn out our advocates.

We can’t shame them for not doing “enough”, when most of them are doing far more than their bodies would like.

When they’re suffering setbacks and enduring hits to their baseline just to attempt to help others.

Let this serve as a reminder to everyone that survival is resistance.

Self care is resistance.

Rest is resistance.

When you’re struggling to survive amidst a system determined to leave you by the wayside… just making it another day is a huge win.

Not everyone can or will protest, and that’s ok.

Let’s celebrate our diversity and lift up the voices of those trying to help others.

Let’s encourage them and see if we can find a way to help them instead of cutting them down for what they can’t do.

I’ve got a pretty thick skin, but this person really hurt me.

They made me question my dedication. They made me ask if I’m “good enough”.

Thankfully I know that’s just my own internalized ableism talking.

I know that what I’m doing is enough, because I’m giving it all I’ve got

So if you’re struggling with feelings of guilt over not being able to do more, you’re not alone.

There’s a whole community behind you, and we will keep showing up for one another.

Resist where & when you can… and let go of the rest.

Survive another day. /end

#disability #ableism #eugenics #advocacy #survival

@stephanie if I remember correctly, you ordered a bunch of plants from the seed library. How did you keep all your baby plants happy and protected? I have always transplanted larger plants or just gotten lucky with tiny ones, I guess. This year I picked up purple trillium and butterfly milkweed and cone flowers and the bunnies (whom I love) decimated them.

My bedside stack is impatiently waiting for summer
#bookstodon

@kamikat relatable. I have learned that the answer to the conundrum for me is kombucha

@SnowshadowII I like to forget about being asthmatic but every once in a while my body reminds me very clearly. Like this week 🫠

"AI companies claim their tools couldn't exist without training on copyrighted material. It turns out, they could — it's just really hard. To prove it, AI researchers trained a new model that's less powerful but much more ethical. That's because the LLM's dataset uses only public domain and openly licensed material."

tl;dr: If you use public domain data (i.e. you don't steal from authors and creators) you can train a LLM just as good as what was cutting edge a couple of years ago. What makes it difficult is curating the data, but once the data has been curated once, in principle everyone can use it without having to go through the painful part.
So the whole "we have to violate copyright and steal intellectual property" is (as everybody already knew) total BS.

https://www.engadget.com/ai/it-turns-out-you-can-train-ai-models-without-copyrighted-material-174016619.html?src=rss

Been saying this for awhile, but will repeat it for emphasis: If you love freedom but don’t care if it applies to everyone, what you actually love is privilege.

@futurebird we have so much being locked down at the school but Thonny remains this awesome option!

The internet was a mistake.
Our modems used to scream to warn us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=vvr9AMWEU-c&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xatakamovil.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xatakamovil.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY

Just finished Black AF History and can’t recommend it enough. The high level of snark is deeply appreciated amidst the hard truth.

#bookstodon