Rolando Valdés Aguilar
@rvathz.bsky.social
Dad, husband, physicist, educator. Research on quantum materials, mostly topological magnets. THz and Raman spectroscopist.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Reminder that the entire Hunter Biden investigation was predicated on sex workers investigation.
Now Gary Shapley, who championed that investigation by badly misrepresenting it, is in a senior IRS position.
Now Gary Shapley, who championed that investigation by badly misrepresenting it, is in a senior IRS position.
The “no tax on tips” rule as part of the Big Beautiful Bill doesn’t apply to pornographic content.
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
IRS to watch OnlyFans content in 'no tax on tips' dispute
Agents from the IRS will need to watch OnlyFans content to determine if it meets the “no tax on tips law.”
www.newsweek.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reminder that the entire Hunter Biden investigation was predicated on sex workers investigation.
Now Gary Shapley, who championed that investigation by badly misrepresenting it, is in a senior IRS position.
Now Gary Shapley, who championed that investigation by badly misrepresenting it, is in a senior IRS position.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
It was never about deporting criminals. It was always about using deportation to criminalize people they want to control.
They are now targeting people who did everything by the book and were literally at the ceremony where they were going to become citizens...
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
Immigrants Approved for Citizenship ‘Plucked Out’ of Line Moments Before Pledging Allegiance: Report
Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the ceremony. The incident comes after USCIS told employees to halt all immigrat...
people.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:00 AM
It was never about deporting criminals. It was always about using deportation to criminalize people they want to control.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
The “no tax on tips” rule as part of the Big Beautiful Bill doesn’t apply to pornographic content.
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
IRS to watch OnlyFans content in 'no tax on tips' dispute
Agents from the IRS will need to watch OnlyFans content to determine if it meets the “no tax on tips law.”
www.newsweek.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:25 AM
The “no tax on tips” rule as part of the Big Beautiful Bill doesn’t apply to pornographic content.
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
This means when someone with an OnlyFans files their taxes and expects their tips not to be taxed, the IRS needs to watch their content to decide if it’s porn or not. 🤦🏾♂️
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Please note which "news" outlet is reporting this article.
They are now targeting people who did everything by the book and were literally at the ceremony where they were going to become citizens...
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
Immigrants Approved for Citizenship ‘Plucked Out’ of Line Moments Before Pledging Allegiance: Report
Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the ceremony. The incident comes after USCIS told employees to halt all immigrat...
people.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Please note which "news" outlet is reporting this article.
This is worth a read. One aspect that the author and many in the replies don't seem to consider is about power and wealth. What those wanting to replace people with "ai" seem to really want is power to transfer wealth to themselves. With wealth they can then control many other things. 1/2
was at an event on AI for science yesterday, a panel discussion here at NeurIPS. The panelists discussed how they plan to replace humans at all levels in the scientific process. So I stood up and protested that what they are doing is evil.
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Please, don't automate science!
I was at an event on AI for science yesterday, a panel discussion here at NeurIPS. The panelists discussed how they plan to replace humans a...
togelius.blogspot.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
This is worth a read. One aspect that the author and many in the replies don't seem to consider is about power and wealth. What those wanting to replace people with "ai" seem to really want is power to transfer wealth to themselves. With wealth they can then control many other things. 1/2
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
4. What we do have is a choice between a world in which concentrated capital takes yet one further step along the path of the industrial revolution, appropriating and mechanizing the knowledge that currently resides within labor, as with the Jacquard loom.
December 8, 2025 at 8:20 AM
4. What we do have is a choice between a world in which concentrated capital takes yet one further step along the path of the industrial revolution, appropriating and mechanizing the knowledge that currently resides within labor, as with the Jacquard loom.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
3. I appealed to the joy of doing science—and got the predictable question:
Would you rather live in a world where AI cured cancer or live in a world where you personally get to do science?
But that's not the dilemma we face at all. There's no cause to think that AI could do anything of the sort.
Would you rather live in a world where AI cured cancer or live in a world where you personally get to do science?
But that's not the dilemma we face at all. There's no cause to think that AI could do anything of the sort.
December 8, 2025 at 8:18 AM
3. I appealed to the joy of doing science—and got the predictable question:
Would you rather live in a world where AI cured cancer or live in a world where you personally get to do science?
But that's not the dilemma we face at all. There's no cause to think that AI could do anything of the sort.
Would you rather live in a world where AI cured cancer or live in a world where you personally get to do science?
But that's not the dilemma we face at all. There's no cause to think that AI could do anything of the sort.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship.
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
December 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship.
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
UPDATE: Another Chicago-area church has put up an immigration-themed Nativity scene.
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
December 7, 2025 at 10:31 PM
UPDATE: Another Chicago-area church has put up an immigration-themed Nativity scene.
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
One Laptop Per Child, 10 years later: "we find no significant effects on academic performance but some evidence of negative effects on grade progression... computer access significantly improved students’ computer skills but not their cognitive skills" www.nber.org/papers/w34495
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
December 7, 2025 at 1:57 PM
One Laptop Per Child, 10 years later: "we find no significant effects on academic performance but some evidence of negative effects on grade progression... computer access significantly improved students’ computer skills but not their cognitive skills" www.nber.org/papers/w34495
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
December 8, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Also the framers of the amendment literally said during the floor debates that they knew the jus soli birthright citizenship clause would apply to the children of immigrants from other parts of the world and that they thought that was great.
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Also the framers of the amendment literally said during the floor debates that they knew the jus soli birthright citizenship clause would apply to the children of immigrants from other parts of the world and that they thought that was great.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Most discussions about “misinformation” treat the problem as if people simply don’t have good enough critical-thinking skills. It sounds intuitive, but it’s not entirely accurate. The problem isn’t just individual ignorance, it’s the structure of the information environment people are placed into.
Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it
Teaching when to trust
As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically. Finnish schools are leading the charge
newhumanist.org.uk
December 7, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Most discussions about “misinformation” treat the problem as if people simply don’t have good enough critical-thinking skills. It sounds intuitive, but it’s not entirely accurate. The problem isn’t just individual ignorance, it’s the structure of the information environment people are placed into.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
By the end of the ratification debates, everyone understood that the 14th Amendment would grant birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The only live question was whether that was a *good* thing. Some senators argued it wasn’t. But they lost! applyliberally.substack.com/p/birthright...
December 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
By the end of the ratification debates, everyone understood that the 14th Amendment would grant birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The only live question was whether that was a *good* thing. Some senators argued it wasn’t. But they lost! applyliberally.substack.com/p/birthright...
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
During ratification of the 14th Amendment, senators discussed whether the Citizenship Clause would apply to the children of immigrants and resoundingly concluded that it did. The text and history all point in one direction and the counter-arguments are patently fraudulent. I am going to lose my mind
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 7:19 PM
During ratification of the 14th Amendment, senators discussed whether the Citizenship Clause would apply to the children of immigrants and resoundingly concluded that it did. The text and history all point in one direction and the counter-arguments are patently fraudulent. I am going to lose my mind
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
What kills me about this post and repost is that Anthony already cleared them both on this point in his excellent co-authored piece in the Cornell Law Review (online) just this summer. But Ilan is seeking a name for himself. And Barnett…well…
publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/wp...
publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/wp...
December 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
What kills me about this post and repost is that Anthony already cleared them both on this point in his excellent co-authored piece in the Cornell Law Review (online) just this summer. But Ilan is seeking a name for himself. And Barnett…well…
publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/wp...
publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawreview/wp...
12 year olds...
December 7, 2025 at 8:12 PM
12 year olds...
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
bad actors like wurman are why i think it is important to place the birthright clause in the full context of section 1 and section 1 in the context of both dred scott and the two decades of antislavery and abolitionist agitation and political thinking that proceeded it
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
bad actors like wurman are why i think it is important to place the birthright clause in the full context of section 1 and section 1 in the context of both dred scott and the two decades of antislavery and abolitionist agitation and political thinking that proceeded it
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
December 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
This guy sucks. I don't usually quote dunk but this one got me steamed up.
@jasonkoebler.bsky.social made a salient point that TikTokers are just straight up stealing original reporting and posting screenshots from places like Eater but this guy says it's fine. It's not.
@jasonkoebler.bsky.social made a salient point that TikTokers are just straight up stealing original reporting and posting screenshots from places like Eater but this guy says it's fine. It's not.
No shade to Jason or crew or any one trying to make a living writing. I love that work and respect it a hell of a lot. But also if video creators are beating your site to tiktok and yt shorts with your own stories and you don’t have a video person to do that job then I can’t empathize.
December 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This guy sucks. I don't usually quote dunk but this one got me steamed up.
@jasonkoebler.bsky.social made a salient point that TikTokers are just straight up stealing original reporting and posting screenshots from places like Eater but this guy says it's fine. It's not.
@jasonkoebler.bsky.social made a salient point that TikTokers are just straight up stealing original reporting and posting screenshots from places like Eater but this guy says it's fine. It's not.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
It's largely lost today because we've allowed constitutional law to become the exclusive preserve of lawyers, but the original idea of written constitutionalism was partly one of public education, publicity, & (proto-)democracy—people should be able to read & come to know the law which binds them
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
It's largely lost today because we've allowed constitutional law to become the exclusive preserve of lawyers, but the original idea of written constitutionalism was partly one of public education, publicity, & (proto-)democracy—people should be able to read & come to know the law which binds them
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Republicans use the "I'm not familiar with that" dodge several times a day now, and if a reporters or anchor isn't ready and willing to shut them down as soon as they try it, that means they're either incompetent at their job or a willing accomplice to the lies.
Either way, never trust them again.
Either way, never trust them again.
If they pretend they haven’t heard about the story of the day, end the interview right there.
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
December 7, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Republicans use the "I'm not familiar with that" dodge several times a day now, and if a reporters or anchor isn't ready and willing to shut them down as soon as they try it, that means they're either incompetent at their job or a willing accomplice to the lies.
Either way, never trust them again.
Either way, never trust them again.
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
Btw, over Thanksgiving DOJ got the charges against the senior UAE spook accused of handling current US Ambassador to Türkiye dismissed.
This was in the Mueller-derived case that alleged coward Merrick Garland's DOJ charged in July 2021.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
This was in the Mueller-derived case that alleged coward Merrick Garland's DOJ charged in July 2021.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Btw, over Thanksgiving DOJ got the charges against the senior UAE spook accused of handling current US Ambassador to Türkiye dismissed.
This was in the Mueller-derived case that alleged coward Merrick Garland's DOJ charged in July 2021.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
This was in the Mueller-derived case that alleged coward Merrick Garland's DOJ charged in July 2021.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Rolando Valdés Aguilar
New optics blog post: Infinite singularities in an optical beam??? 🧪 skullsinthestars.com/2025/12/06/i...
Infinite singularities in an optical beam???
Working on the second edition of my Singular Optics textbook and thought I would blog about some of the fun developments in the field that I’ve come across while doing the book research! Ligh…
skullsinthestars.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
New optics blog post: Infinite singularities in an optical beam??? 🧪 skullsinthestars.com/2025/12/06/i...