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Reposted by Mel Buer

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 18h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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The Erinaceous Ghost 🦔 👻 @erinaceousphd.bsky.social · 10h

Repost:
Oh, I’m not disagreeing at all. I’m dismayed, but not a doomer. I definitely support critical thinking as a way to beat dis- and misinfo (I share people who point this out). I was just emphasizing that it’s a really big problem that so many people default to not checking their biases.

Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 10h

Hear me out—what if, and I know this is crazy—it’s still worth discussing how to spot AI slop in an oversaturated information environment and encourage folks to up their own critical media analysis game, instead of smugly turning to a weird doomer cynicism about it

Novel concept, I know

The Erinaceous Ghost 🦔 👻 @erinaceousphd.bsky.social · 12h

Mel, people don’t even do that on here. There are bots on here that post stolen content and run fake news sites (like All Chronology and others).
Across demographic lines, many people will read/repost what fits their biases without much thought.

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 10h

Ah, yeah. I would argue that it’s been a pretty big issue for many many years and the best defense is a proactive and productive and approachable process for anyone who wants to use it

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Bill Corbett @billcorbett.bsky.social · 11h

It’s almost Halloween and I’m terrified thinking of all the skeletons walking around, hiding inside people. And nobody’s doing a damn thing about it!!

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 10h

It’s almost like my posts come from my experience teaching critical media analysis in my college composition courses or some shit and I’m not just whistling into the void for funsies

Sometimes, & i know this is tough to grasp, some people learn shit when you discuss it openly in a semipublic forum

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 10h

Hear me out—what if, and I know this is crazy—it’s still worth discussing how to spot AI slop in an oversaturated information environment and encourage folks to up their own critical media analysis game, instead of smugly turning to a weird doomer cynicism about it

Novel concept, I know

The Erinaceous Ghost 🦔 👻 @erinaceousphd.bsky.social · 12h

Mel, people don’t even do that on here. There are bots on here that post stolen content and run fake news sites (like All Chronology and others).
Across demographic lines, many people will read/repost what fits their biases without much thought.

Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

We should regard online content these days with the same sort of critical eye as the articles we read: who made this? Where did it come from? Does the account have a motive for pushing this narrative? Is there obvious and trustworthy sourcing? & yes, the visual stuff that help us decide if its fake

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 19h

Lmao alright

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 20h

Or, and hear me out, many of them won’t do that

Can we dispense with the cynicism please

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 21h

many great parts to this @davidjroth.bsky.social reflection on One Battle — perhaps the quickest I've ever clicked on a link — but was struck by these lines i think because they get to core of liberal/centrist refusal to admit the severity/stakes of what's happening flaminghydra.com/issue-416/

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 21h

Least surprising news update frankly

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 21h

Well, practice makes perfect

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 21h

Been chatting with a number of folks these last weeks about my life before journalism, how I was swimming in music, visual art, dance, literature. I miss who I was when that was my life

Seems more important than ever to return to it, and maybe even the classroom. So, that's the plan, I think

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 22h

Which is why taking the time to learn the various visual clues that makes something AI is a worthwhile exercise

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 22h

You know what? Their lives DO depend on it, and that’s the beauty of the classroom, of art and literature and poetry. Been ruminating on this recently: the fascist project wants us to buy into the grey, uniform culture it forces us to regard; to revel in and study art, to *make it*—revolutionary

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 2d

week 7, in a city under siege for 32 days and counting, and the students who are able to come to class despite the blitz are showing up like their lives depend on those 50 minutes of togetherness, poetry, and big questions

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 2d

IDK, man. School started 2 weeks ago for us, and once again students remind me that they’re so curious and interested in the world and anxious to ask big questions. We hear that these questions are no longer useful or relevant, but wherever that’s coming from, it’s not what students believe.

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 22h

Oooo good add, thanks

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Music Box Theatre @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social · Jun 11

Abolish

a man in a leather jacket is standing next to another man in a hat and talking to him .

ALT: a man in a leather jacket is standing next to another man in a hat and talking to him .

media.tenor.com

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

GROSS

Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

Many websites do have some sort of similar policy--but also, this current admin already passed legislation in support of AI, so it's doubtful any regulators will take up any sort of oppositional position

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

oh good one, yes

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

It's an onslaught of shit, and I always cringe when I realize the cat video I watched and hearted was spun out of whole cloth on a video generator

Practice makes perfect, however

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Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 23h

i am feeling, i am seeing, i am hearing, i am getting the vibes, that students this sem are better than they've been in years because learning offers a rare haven from authoritarianism, a place to convene, commune, think together, refuel for the fight

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 2d

week 7, in a city under siege for 32 days and counting, and the students who are able to come to class despite the blitz are showing up like their lives depend on those 50 minutes of togetherness, poetry, and big questions

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 2d

IDK, man. School started 2 weeks ago for us, and once again students remind me that they’re so curious and interested in the world and anxious to ask big questions. We hear that these questions are no longer useful or relevant, but wherever that’s coming from, it’s not what students believe.

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Reposted by Mel Buer

Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

I hate the slop as much as the next person, but I'm more inclined to go less full doomer about it and more see its increasing ubiquity as a continuing case study in how to spot this nonsense and inoculate against its persuasiveness

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

I hate the slop as much as the next person, but I'm more inclined to go less full doomer about it and more see its increasing ubiquity as a continuing case study in how to spot this nonsense and inoculate against its persuasiveness

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

Yup! And when it's blurred out, the blur bar moves

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Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 23h

We should regard online content these days with the same sort of critical eye as the articles we read: who made this? Where did it come from? Does the account have a motive for pushing this narrative? Is there obvious and trustworthy sourcing? & yes, the visual stuff that help us decide if its fake

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