Sara Baker
@sarabaker.bsky.social
tech/data/gender research, writing, and advocacy; organizational strengthening; gardening in TN | ex @Engnroom @takebackthetech @apc.bsky.social | she/her
banner photo: purple graffiti on a white wall reading NO BORDERS, NO NATIONS
banner photo: purple graffiti on a white wall reading NO BORDERS, NO NATIONS
Reposted by Sara Baker
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
Reposted by Sara Baker
the baby (17 months) raised both her hands and said “WEADY?” so I said “ready!” and then she slapped me in the face
November 22, 2025 at 2:53 PM
the baby (17 months) raised both her hands and said “WEADY?” so I said “ready!” and then she slapped me in the face
Reposted by Sara Baker
Google defaulting all Gmail users to a setting that enables Google to harvest all your emails into chatbot training is straight-up evil and invasive.
www.huffpost.com/entry/opt-ou...
www.huffpost.com/entry/opt-ou...
If You Use Gmail, You're Going To Want To Turn Off This 1 Automatic Setting ASAP
Plus: a quick guide to the two-step process for opting out.
www.huffpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Google defaulting all Gmail users to a setting that enables Google to harvest all your emails into chatbot training is straight-up evil and invasive.
www.huffpost.com/entry/opt-ou...
www.huffpost.com/entry/opt-ou...
Reposted by Sara Baker
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
November 21, 2025 at 2:13 PM
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
Reposted by Sara Baker
Like many places these days, Scotland lets the public name their snow plows. But they take it up a notch and offer a live tracking map so you can follow Thistle Grit Through, Robert Brrrns and Ice Sweeper Willie on their rounds
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
November 21, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Like many places these days, Scotland lets the public name their snow plows. But they take it up a notch and offer a live tracking map so you can follow Thistle Grit Through, Robert Brrrns and Ice Sweeper Willie on their rounds
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
Reposted by Sara Baker
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
Reposted by Sara Baker
Extremely important investigation.
Feds Used Chemical Weapons On Chicagoans At Least 49 Times — Even After Judge Said To Stop
Contrary to federal claims about attacks on agents, most of these incidents appear to involve nonviolent protesters or bystanders.
blockclubchicago.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Extremely important investigation.
Reposted by Sara Baker
If our HS history curriculum weren't a worthless fact-to-fact journey through the wars and great men with occasional detours into sidebar discussions of the working conditions of poor people and the subjugated, we'd already have this class. It would be called "History."
I wanna invent time travel and then require every high school student to take a class called "All The Shit We Fixed Before You Got Here" where they tour smog-filled US cities, polio wards, pre-vaccine hospitals, buildings with no safety regulations, kids working in mines, etc.
November 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
If our HS history curriculum weren't a worthless fact-to-fact journey through the wars and great men with occasional detours into sidebar discussions of the working conditions of poor people and the subjugated, we'd already have this class. It would be called "History."
We're replacing our countertops, and the guy who came out to measure today bombarded me with conspiracy theories like billionaires invented woke, 15-minute cities have gotten wiped out by hurricanes, and all the powerful men who didn't want a centralized bank in the US died on the Titanic.
November 19, 2025 at 7:23 PM
We're replacing our countertops, and the guy who came out to measure today bombarded me with conspiracy theories like billionaires invented woke, 15-minute cities have gotten wiped out by hurricanes, and all the powerful men who didn't want a centralized bank in the US died on the Titanic.
Reposted by Sara Baker
After a court order, X refuses to take down the non consensual intimate images of a Canadian citizen in violation of the law.
They’re acting like a user saying they don’t want intimate images online for the world to see is equivalent to, idk, a US President censoring political opinions 🙄 1/
They’re acting like a user saying they don’t want intimate images online for the world to see is equivalent to, idk, a US President censoring political opinions 🙄 1/
November 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
After a court order, X refuses to take down the non consensual intimate images of a Canadian citizen in violation of the law.
They’re acting like a user saying they don’t want intimate images online for the world to see is equivalent to, idk, a US President censoring political opinions 🙄 1/
They’re acting like a user saying they don’t want intimate images online for the world to see is equivalent to, idk, a US President censoring political opinions 🙄 1/
Spam texts are getting weirder by the day. Yesterday’s texter wanted me to demonstrate how to make coffee. Today’s texter bought a lot of seafood so requests we have lunch at home.
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Spam texts are getting weirder by the day. Yesterday’s texter wanted me to demonstrate how to make coffee. Today’s texter bought a lot of seafood so requests we have lunch at home.
Reposted by Sara Baker
We’re watching a shift where AI simulates the cohesion and reinforcement that used to require an entire online community. A single person can now build a complete parallel reality with nothing more than a prompt window. Which seems bad.
November 19, 2025 at 2:25 PM
We’re watching a shift where AI simulates the cohesion and reinforcement that used to require an entire online community. A single person can now build a complete parallel reality with nothing more than a prompt window. Which seems bad.
Reposted by Sara Baker
Here’s a story for every national news outlet:
In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.
“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.
“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
November 16, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Here’s a story for every national news outlet:
In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.
“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.
“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
This is a brilliant idea!
props to WSJ for once on a useful notion, ADMIN PARTY for everybody
November 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
This is a brilliant idea!
Reposted by Sara Baker
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race - Verite News New Orleans
Duncan, a political newcomer and former prisoner, defeated incumbent Darren Lombard by a wide margin in Saturday's runoff.
veritenews.org
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Reposted by Sara Baker
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
Watching disabled people around the world mourn Alice is a reminder of the good aspect of the internet. 30 years ago, few people outside of SF would ever have known Alice existed. I never would have met her. The internet connected us all. Let’s honor Alice’s memory by using that power and community.
My social media is wall-to-wall love for the incomparable Alice Wong, and I need more words. What captures sadness and/also affection for a community that knows what's been lost?
November 16, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
Reposted by Sara Baker
“Im honored to be your ancestor” - @sfdirewolf.bsky.social final words to disability fighters
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”
November 15, 2025 at 11:29 AM
“Im honored to be your ancestor” - @sfdirewolf.bsky.social final words to disability fighters
Reposted by Sara Baker
Our beloved Alice Wong has joined the ancestors. It was one of the great honors of my life to call Alice my friend, co-author & co-conspirator. She was a true genius, a force of nature the likes of which the world has never seen before. I love you, Alice, and am equal parts grateful and devastated
November 15, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Our beloved Alice Wong has joined the ancestors. It was one of the great honors of my life to call Alice my friend, co-author & co-conspirator. She was a true genius, a force of nature the likes of which the world has never seen before. I love you, Alice, and am equal parts grateful and devastated
Reposted by Sara Baker
Some of the most heartbreaking calls I took at the COVID info hotline were from meatpacking workers who wanted to know how to protect themselves at work from getting sick.
During the height of the pandemic, Tyson used Palantir to predict Covid-19 infections among meatpacking workers down to a nearly exactly figure. But rather than using this data to increase worker protections, Tyson used it plan for labor shortages + plant closures
My latest for @sentientmedia.org
My latest for @sentientmedia.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Some of the most heartbreaking calls I took at the COVID info hotline were from meatpacking workers who wanted to know how to protect themselves at work from getting sick.
Islands of Decolonial Love, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
4 Native American Heritage Month, here r sum of my fav books by Native authors. What r ur favs?
Post Colonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk
Playing Indian by Phil Deloria
Post Colonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk
Playing Indian by Phil Deloria
November 14, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Islands of Decolonial Love, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
Reposted by Sara Baker
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Reposted by Sara Baker
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
Reposted by Sara Baker
Really difficult to overstate the fury one should feel that the GOP and institutions like the New York Times went all in on transphobia as some mortal threat to women and girls while covering up something like this.
When you read these Epstein emails, you start to understand why so many prominent conservatives are obsessed with checking the genitals of children. It's a big thing for them!
November 13, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Really difficult to overstate the fury one should feel that the GOP and institutions like the New York Times went all in on transphobia as some mortal threat to women and girls while covering up something like this.
Skills for good!
For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files:
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
Epstein Document Search
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Skills for good!