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Mark Wilkens

@markwilkens.bsky.social

270 followers 190 following 940 posts

Words on paper, sometimes words on screen.

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · Jun 18

As I finish writing “You Can’t Discover What Was Always There” I’ve found a decent amount of work has somewhat of a political/societal bent. I am going to collect those poems together in a smaller book called “Stand”, which will see 50% of all proceeds go to the ACLU.

Reposted by Mark Wilkens

Aunt Teefa @scrunchmeep.bsky.social · 1d

Isn’t that the plan though? To force foreclosure on bankrupt farms then Vance & bro’s buy up land.

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Dragon Moll Z 🎃 @dopestatistics.bsky.social · 2d

No offence yall but you realize we all need the farms and measles doesnt respect state lines

Right

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Kayla B @queenofthesouth.bsky.social · 23h

The bailouts aren’t really for the farmers, they’re for the banks they owe. The farms are still going to go out of business

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Schnorkles O'Bork @schnorkles.bsky.social · 56m

Yeah so this is breaking through. The 20b to Argentina and family farms are going under because they can't sell to their markets and the president closed USAID is not something that's just going to get shoved under the rug.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 59m

VARNEY: Some Iowa farmers are frustrated because Trump is putting $20b into Argentina to bail them out. They're worried that the administration is focused on foreign financial aid at the expense of American farmers.

BROOKE ROLLINS: The president's focus remains 100% on America first

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Jeremy Stanley @jeremydstanley.com · 5h

And are you married?
I was married, but I'm not married anymore. Women don't like the vehicle.

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Bill McCarthy @billmccarthy.bsky.social · 1d

NEW:

A dramatic voiceover video the White House and Donald Trump shared last week claiming to show "chaos" in Chicago is littered with outdated footage from Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, California and Arizona, an AFP investigation found.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

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NPR @npr.org · 1h

Washington, D.C.'s vending machine LitBox distributes books, with a serving of hope as local writers struggle with arts funding cuts. n.pr/4nYSLHq

A book vending machine provides an outlet for D.C.-area authors after funding cuts

Washington, D.C.'s vending machine LitBox distributes books, with a serving of hope as local writers struggle with arts funding cuts.

n.pr

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 1h

Kai was very, very special and encapsulates many of my memories living in the Bay Area. RIP, legend.

San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 13h

Kai Hutchins, who died at his home in Bernal Heights at 93 years old, wore team uniforms while playing his saxophone in front of the Giants and 49ers stadiums.

Kai Hutchins, beloved saxophonist outside Giants and 49ers games, dies at 93

Kai Hutchins, who died at his home in Bernal Heights at 93 years old, wore team uniforms while playing his saxophone in front of the Giants and 49ers stadiums.

bit.ly

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Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 2h

Consider a future with an AI Trump endorsing future candidates, with the claim that this is indeed a replication of Trump’s actual thinking and personality

In an interview with Raluca Matei for Sunrise Geek, Dan Thomson, CEO of A.l. company Sensay, laid out his vision for how these technologies can enable a form of eternal life. Thomson's company works specifically on the creation of "digital clones. As he explained it to Matei, Sensay is building "Al replicas that don't just mimic responses, but actually capture someone's decision-making patterns, their wisdom, their personality."

Thomson is a true believer, having self-published a short book on the topic:
Immortality in a Digital Age: How we can live forever as digital copies of ourselves, and the benefits and issues that may come with it. It's a mouthful, even if it only clocks in at 97 pages. But he admits that the dream of A.l.-generated eternal life is still unrealized:

Thomson is a true believer, having self-published a short book on the topic:
Immortality in a Digital Age: How we can live forever as digital copies of ourselves, and the benefits and issues that may come with it. It's a mouthful, even if it only clocks in at 97 pages. But he admits that the dream of A.l.-generated eternal life is still unrealized:

Right now, we can preserve someone's expertise, communication style, and problem-solving patterns.

That's already revolutionary for businesses and legacy preservation...
True digital immortality-capturing emotions, creativity, intuition-is still 10 to 15 years away.

But if Thomson is too obscure and small a fish for you, consider that Elon Musk claimed back in 2022 that he'd uploaded his brain to the cloud. He has also stated his belief that humans could someday
"download" themselves-their memories and distinct characters—into new bodies.

What A.l. and digital technologies currently offer isn't immortality or reincarnation. It isn't even truth. But it is one of the most powerful propaganda tools we have ever seen.

The ability to replicate the look and feel of a person, while it hardly brings them back from the dead, can be used to create confusion over whether the things their artificial version is saying and doing were really said and done by the living, breathing person in question. As A.l. advances, we should be concerned that this will become an increasingly difficult distinction to make. And the claim that an A.l. image and voice somehow represent a continuation of a deceased person's thoughts and feelings is a dangerous form of techno-mysticism.

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Reyhan Harmanci @harmancipants.bsky.social · 5h

We wanted to know what it was like to own a Cybertruck. So @zoeschiffer.bsky.social went to the desert got this absolutely amazing quotes (and Michelle Groskopf took the pictures!) www.wired.com/story/owning...

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amy brown @amybrown.xyz · 3h

controversially: I do not think you have to call them skeets BUT it’s fun to do so because the ceo hates it and like many message boards before us we are at war with the mods

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Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 21h

SCOOP: Trump Fabricates Story of Hand-to-Hand Combat Between Troops and Child Gangsters in D.C.

Trump’s claim that National Guard members beat child gang members on the streets of Washington was disputed even by the military.

theintercept.com/2025/10/15/t...

Trump Fabricates Story of Hand-to-Hand Combat Between Troops and Child Gangsters in D.C.

Trump’s claim that National Guard members beat child gang members on the streets of Washington was disputed even by the military.

theintercept.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23h

This is the same Speaker who has repeatedly refused to put up the congressionally-mandated plaque honoring the Capitol Police members who were viciously assaulted by MAGA goons on January 6th.

We've seen your deeds, you oily liar.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Mike Johnson: "We've always stood with Capitol police and law enforcement. We've shown that in word and deed."

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 22h

@coreyastewart.bsky.social

Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 22h

I hope people realize that government spending cuts are rarely ever about money

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Neguse: "What Trump is attempting to do is create a perception that he has all the power & create a sense of hopelessness or helplessness in the public. We've gotta resist the temptation. He's electorally unpopular. In fact, the most unpopular POTUS at this juncture than any modern POTUS in history"

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1d

Unreal stuff from the guy who is unflinchingly loyal to the Insurrectionist-in-Chief - you know, the President who pardoned the January 6 insurrectionists and wants to mandate “Ashli Babbitt: Blood Martyr” as a new national mythos.

I know we're not surprised - but let us not forget to be shocked.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Mike Johnson: "They berated a Capitol police officer, screamed at him. He was merely standing his post. It shows, again, their disdain for law enforcement, the Democrats, screaming, assaulting officers."

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 1d

That’s wild. I’ll have to check it out.

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Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 1d

Man, it’s been sad to come back from Riyadh and two weeks of amazing comedy and community building to a country in shambles.

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 1d

Tbf mass lead poisoning of young men might explain *quite a lot* of what’s been happening in recent years.

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 1d

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 1d

You get Josh Stein with a launch monitor and you like it

Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 1d

This is a thing that is happening isn’t it

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Mark Wilkens @markwilkens.bsky.social · 1d

If they had those

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Mr. Chau @srirachachau.bsky.social · 1d

It’s funny how the old media depiction of Nazis was always that they’re evil but dignified gentleman and now they’re openly just like “Hello. I’m the Anime Pedophile”

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Sarah Kelly @sarahkelly.bsky.social · 1d

Just learned about a new stupid thing AI does

A series of Instagram comments:

Comments
atbashhang 2w
i recently applied to a wendys and the ai chatbot immediately gave me an interview date and time. when i got there they told me "oh we're actually not hiring it just automatically does that"
Reply
atbashhang 2w
in other news i'm now learning how to jailbreak Ilms for no particular reason
Reply
k.aylaeverso.n 2w
@atbashhang that happened to me at olive garden. went in for my interview and they said they would keep my resume on file in case the position opened. fortunately i had another interview right after and wound up working there instead
Reply
bugluvr2003 2w
@atbashhang me with 7-11 except they cancelled it an hour before
Reply
pockifox.png 2w
@atbashhang Bro I used to work at Auntie Anne's and the amount of people I had to turn away because the Al chatbot did the same thing and gave them an interview time when we weren't supposed to take any made me feel bad every time

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