Austin Graff
austingraff.bsky.social
Austin Graff
@austingraff.bsky.social
Documentary Filmmaker
Researcher / AP
Reposted by Austin Graff
"In reverse Robin Hood style, the One Big Beautiful Bill proposes nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest among us while cutting $1 trillion in vital support for the most vulnerable, including poor families...and the elderly." #PrayForAmerica www.ncronline.org/opinion/edit...
Editorial: One big shameful bill
Jesus weeps over this cruelty. So do we.
www.ncronline.org
May 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Austin Graff
There are many sources of chemical pollution in our rivers, but tertiary treatment for sewage could clean up the meds that pass straight through us & down the loo, household cleaning products, chemicals from skin care, hair care, washing clothes & food. 1/

www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
May 31, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Austin Graff
Yorkshire Water fined £350,000, after one of its sewage pumping stations polluted a York watercourse.

YW knew pumping station was broken.

YW already has 125 criminal convictions, didn't make it vigilant.

Exec prosecutions and ending the profit motive are the only cures for criminal conduct.
Yorkshire Water fined after pumping station sewage incident
Yorkshire Water has been fined £350,000 after one of its sewage pumping stations polluted a York watercourse.
www.gov.uk
June 1, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
Thames Water is circling the drain - but the govt is letting private equity vultures KKR take over.

This is everything wrong with our water system.
Rivers poisoned, bills rising, profits up.

Join me in urging @london.gov.uk to act: actionnetwork.org/petitions/ma...
@compassoffice.bsky.social
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan: don't let vultures take over Thames Water!
Thames Water is on the verge of collapse - and instead of bringing it into public hands, the government wants let KKR, a notorious private equity firm known for profiting off struggling companies, buy...
actionnetwork.org
May 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Austin Graff
Covering these meetings in which the president pushed white supremacist conspiracy theories, told blatant lies, and engaged in other unseemly behavior like Real Housewives nonsense rather than international diplomacy travesties is certainly an editorial choice one could make
May 25, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
The most compelling argument I've seen about this is that for billionaires they *are* the Culture. A post-scarcity world where every material need is taken care of for you, allowing you to pursue whatever work or self expression you see fit?

They find it relatable.
I was FASCINATED to learn that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk share a favorite author, and it's a socialist SF writer who wrote about how tech billionaires were satanic. www.vox.com/culture/4135...
The tech billionaires are missing the point of their favorite sci-fi series
Iain Banks’s Culture novels take place in a socialist utopia. The broligarchs love them.
www.vox.com
May 23, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
They have nothing. Nothing. They kidnapped a legal resident, shipped him across the country, denied access to his attorney, and are now trying to deport him. And their only justification for it is either protected speech or vague descriptions of alleged crimes committed by other people.
Reporter: What crime did Mahmoud Khalil commit to warrant his arrest and threatened deportation?

Mike Johnson: We are going to arrest your tail and send you home where you belong. This is just getting started. I appreciate free speech, I used to defend it in courts. This is far beyond the pale.
March 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Austin Graff
It takes mind-numbing depravity to try to kill as many civilians of your enemy before the ceasefire begins which you have agreed to. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Israeli strikes on Gaza reported after Sunday ceasefire deal with Hamas announced – live
Medics in Palestinian territory say more than 30 killed in strikes; Netanyahu says ‘final details’ of deal still being worked on
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
House Republican Mike Johnson is pushing to deny California wildfire aid unless it meets certain conditions—an ironic stance given that his home state of Louisiana relies heavily on federal funding and California does not.
January 16, 2025 at 6:36 AM
"Another machine learning tool called Lavender, uses a percentage score to predict how likely a Palestinian is to be a member of a militant group, allowing the IDF to quickly generate a large volume of potential human targets."

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Israel built an ‘AI factory’ for war. It unleashed it in Gaza.
Years before the Gaza war, Israel transformed its intelligence unit into an AI testing ground. Critics charge that the overhaul has fueled the death count in Gaza.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 30, 2024 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
the clear sign that they just don’t see these kids as real people is the endless concern over hypotheticals and the indifference to the reality that actual children are more likely to kill themselves because of these bans
Kavanaugh also brings up "detransitioners," people who "regret" their decision to transition genders. Like Alito, he cites European countries that are "pulling back" from gender-affirming care for minors, saying it's a "yellow light" or "red light" for the court that Europe is "pumping the brakes."
December 4, 2024 at 4:01 PM
To the unending argument I have about whether we are currently in the best or worst time to be alive in human history, I submit this article for the jury's consideration...
December 2, 2024 at 8:57 AM
"4 AI rendered bearded tech bros seek to flood bookshelves with derivative garbage no one will ever want to read"

www.thebookseller.com/news/new-pub...
New publisher Spines aims to 'disrupt' industry by using AI to publish 8,000 books in 2025 alone
A new publisher has claimed it aims to “disrupt” the books industry by publishing 8,000 books in 2025 alone using artificial intelligence.
www.thebookseller.com
November 25, 2024 at 5:52 PM
Some photos of the beached fin whale in Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage AK
November 21, 2024 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
"The more you instil fear of the crowd and the more you place curbs on crowds, the more you narrow participation to those who are prepared to countenance conflict."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Violence against MPs is unforgivable, but history shows it is not a result of protests | Stephen Reicher
The spectre of ‘the mob’ has long been summoned to limit freedom. However, protests almost never lead to violence, says professor of psychology Stephen Reicher
www.theguardian.com
February 26, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
The enshittification of therapy

mentalhealthmatch.com/articles/for...
February 18, 2024 at 12:03 AM
Looking at this it's hard not to be worried about the future of filmmaking.

I have lots of issues with IP law in general, but it strikes me that copyright law (and the fact that you can't copyright AI material) is really what's holding us back from the brink atm.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJi1...
OpenAI Sora - Astronaut Trailer
AI Generated Video by OpenAI Sorahttps://openai.com/sora#openai #sora #ai #video
www.youtube.com
February 16, 2024 at 3:08 PM
RIP Aleksei Navalny.

I was lucky to be at a screening of Navalny attended by his wife Yulia. Her presence and strength was felt by everyone in the room.

Thinking of their family today, and those of journalists, activists, and 'inconvenients' that have suffered at the hands of Putin the same way.
February 16, 2024 at 1:36 PM
Those uncritical of Israel's govt. seem to have forgotten that Bibi bolstered Hamas with over $1 billion over a decade.

The head of Mossad was negotiating money flowing into Gaza from the Qataris as part of a policy to undermine the PLO just weeks before Oct 7.

www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/w...
‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state.
www.nytimes.com
February 16, 2024 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
It’s Jack Lemmon’s birthday
What a gravestone
February 8, 2024 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
ghoul: did you finish that poster for the toronto property management campaign?
wraith: sure did boss, real fuckin callous and tone deaf just like you asked.
ghoul: excellent work you are promoted
February 8, 2024 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Austin Graff
One art form lost to history is hand lettering your taped-from-TV VHS tapes
February 9, 2024 at 3:29 AM
Reposted by Austin Graff
Today is an important day

A decisive legal victory for climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann in a defamation case that lasted a decade. Dr. Mann was awarded over $1,000,000 in damages.

The truth mattered today.
February 8, 2024 at 10:56 PM