Paul Haahr
@haahr.bsky.social
San Franciscan, raised in New York. Father of two, husband of one. Software engineer and recovering manager who works on Search at Google. Old time liberal, missing the days when Silicon Valley was thought of as too progressive rather than fascist.
Pinned
Paul Haahr
@haahr.bsky.social
· Dec 31
I'm another Twitter refugee. I'd used Twitter as my main news source for about a dozen years – by curating who I followed, I got links to journalism that worked well for me. But, between the platform changes since Musk took over and the exodus they've caused, Twitter just isn't that anymore.
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Since 2020, our team has iterated on a model for “rapid research” to help surface, analyze, & resolve rumors about election administration. This work demonstrates an innovative role for researchers to support public sensemaking during rapidly unfolding events.
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
Being Sensemakers: A Framework for University-Based Rapid Research of Elections, Crisis Events, and Beyond – Simple Book Publishing
A framework for university-based rapid research of elections, crisis events, and beyond
uw.pressbooks.pub
December 16, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Since 2020, our team has iterated on a model for “rapid research” to help surface, analyze, & resolve rumors about election administration. This work demonstrates an innovative role for researchers to support public sensemaking during rapidly unfolding events.
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Reposted by Paul Haahr
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/
Quite the ending to that story. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
December 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Quite the ending to that story. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Reposted by Paul Haahr
If you were a tech company employee who moderated content overseas — say, trying to prevent a repeat of the Myanmar genocide! or maybe policing CSAM! Or hate speech illegal in your country! — you are a “censor” under the definitions of the Republicans in power.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Exclusive: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants of H-1B visa
An internal State Department memo said that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection.
www.reuters.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:56 PM
If you were a tech company employee who moderated content overseas — say, trying to prevent a repeat of the Myanmar genocide! or maybe policing CSAM! Or hate speech illegal in your country! — you are a “censor” under the definitions of the Republicans in power.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Paul Haahr
"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong."
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
November 28, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong."
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Stephen Miller’s ancestors were Jewish refugees from the pogroms in czarist Russia. They came to the U.S. in the early twentieth century, even as racists said this same stuff about them.
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Stephen Miller’s ancestors were Jewish refugees from the pogroms in czarist Russia. They came to the U.S. in the early twentieth century, even as racists said this same stuff about them.
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, had just given birth when she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. She writes about her fear of adding another tragedy to her family’s life. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/LKMkhZ
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, had just given birth when she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. She writes about her fear of adding another tragedy to her family’s life. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/LKMkhZ
Reposted by Paul Haahr
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
![II. Credibility
The Court next addresses the credibility of the parties’ evidence and witnesses. After reviewing all the evidence submitted to the Court and listening to the testimony elicited at the preliminary injunction hearing, during depositions, and in other court proceedings, the Court finds Defendants’ evidence simply not credible. [FN 6]
Plaintiffs submitted a mountain of evidence, providing the Court with over eighty declarations, numerous videos and articles, and other evidence. Defendants did not rebut anything that Plaintiffs set forth in their declarations or testimony, even with BWC footage.
[FN 6] In another case considering some of the same evidence presented to this Court, another court in this district also found that the perceptions of certain of Defendants’ declarants, such as Hott and Parra, were not reliable. See Illinois v. Trump, No. 25-cv-12174, 2025 WL 2886645, at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 10, 2025) (noting a “troubling trend of Defendants’ declarants equating protests with riots and a lack of appreciation for the wide spectrum that exists between citizens who are observing, questioning, and criticizing their government, and those who are obstructing, assaulting, or doing violence”), motion to stay denied in part, 155 F.4th 929 (7th Cir. 2025).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreifpyry2il5toxbr3iejgrsxs6kmnwve75qwnhebfp44ieyjrfpsdu@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Was the first gay kiss in film history in the 1927 film Wings? It depends on what you mean by that question. We use AI Mode explore both the evidence and definitional concerns, and come to better understandings of the issues involved with such assertions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxM...
Critical Thinking with AI Mode #41: First gay kiss in film history?
YouTube video by Mike Caulfield
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Was the first gay kiss in film history in the 1927 film Wings? It depends on what you mean by that question. We use AI Mode explore both the evidence and definitional concerns, and come to better understandings of the issues involved with such assertions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxM...
An Evening With David Byrne, Bill Graham Auditorium, San Francisco
November 17, 2025 at 6:17 AM
An Evening With David Byrne, Bill Graham Auditorium, San Francisco
Reposted by Paul Haahr
The fact that Summers remained so popular after questioning the intellectual abilities of women is really a pretty harsh indictment of US society as a whole and particularly the elite circles Summers travels in, and Democrats should have kicked him to the curb for that shit.
November 16, 2025 at 12:19 AM
The fact that Summers remained so popular after questioning the intellectual abilities of women is really a pretty harsh indictment of US society as a whole and particularly the elite circles Summers travels in, and Democrats should have kicked him to the curb for that shit.
One more delayed flight story: we were supposed to fly from El Paso to Phoenix to San Francisco on Southwest today. Flights delayed and cancelled, so the airline rebooked us via LAX. Delays pushed our arrival past midnight, but we were able to rebook on a direct flight to San Jose. 🤞🏻
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 AM
One more delayed flight story: we were supposed to fly from El Paso to Phoenix to San Francisco on Southwest today. Flights delayed and cancelled, so the airline rebooked us via LAX. Delays pushed our arrival past midnight, but we were able to rebook on a direct flight to San Jose. 🤞🏻
Reposted by Paul Haahr
Protesters formed a human banner Saturday morning at S.F.'s Ocean Beach, spelling out “NO KINGS” and “YES ON 50,” encouraging the passage of a measure on the November ballot to redraw California’s congressional districts in response to Texas’ GOP-focused remapping.
📸: Laure Andrillon / AFP
📸: Laure Andrillon / AFP
October 18, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Protesters formed a human banner Saturday morning at S.F.'s Ocean Beach, spelling out “NO KINGS” and “YES ON 50,” encouraging the passage of a measure on the November ballot to redraw California’s congressional districts in response to Texas’ GOP-focused remapping.
📸: Laure Andrillon / AFP
📸: Laure Andrillon / AFP
Reposted by Paul Haahr
I was commissioned to make a zine for the No Kings 2 protest on Saturday Oct 18th!
If you wonder “what can I do?” this zine is for you. It’s packed with things that you can do from wearing a “no ICE” pin to organizing a visibility brigade with your friends.
drive.google.com/file/d/1TJnH...
If you wonder “what can I do?” this zine is for you. It’s packed with things that you can do from wearing a “no ICE” pin to organizing a visibility brigade with your friends.
drive.google.com/file/d/1TJnH...
October 12, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I was commissioned to make a zine for the No Kings 2 protest on Saturday Oct 18th!
If you wonder “what can I do?” this zine is for you. It’s packed with things that you can do from wearing a “no ICE” pin to organizing a visibility brigade with your friends.
drive.google.com/file/d/1TJnH...
If you wonder “what can I do?” this zine is for you. It’s packed with things that you can do from wearing a “no ICE” pin to organizing a visibility brigade with your friends.
drive.google.com/file/d/1TJnH...
Reposted by Paul Haahr
"Unlike Trump and Hegseth, fascist leaders are fanatically militaristic. And there is nothing fanatical about throwing a military parade, renaming the Department of Defense the 'Department of War,' or purging non-MAGA generals."
We Are Not Fascists, and If You Call Us Fascists, We Will Arrest You
President Trump had another successful week of what is already the greatest presidency of all time, and yet, the woke leftist mob continues to deli...
buff.ly
October 5, 2025 at 12:40 PM
"Unlike Trump and Hegseth, fascist leaders are fanatically militaristic. And there is nothing fanatical about throwing a military parade, renaming the Department of Defense the 'Department of War,' or purging non-MAGA generals."
Paul McCartney in Palm Desert
September 30, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Paul McCartney in Palm Desert
I just (re)read Deborah Tannen's /New York Jewish Conversational Style/ and it's amazing how well it describes me in conversation. And captures exactly the annoyance people have expressed with me. (Originally shared with me by a friend who shares my style.) static1.squarespace.com/static/5523f...
static1.squarespace.com
September 29, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I just (re)read Deborah Tannen's /New York Jewish Conversational Style/ and it's amazing how well it describes me in conversation. And captures exactly the annoyance people have expressed with me. (Originally shared with me by a friend who shares my style.) static1.squarespace.com/static/5523f...
I've been getting a couple of spam texts most days for the past couple of weeks, probably from some pig butchering scheme, but many of the recent ones, coming from different phone numbers, seem to have been created with LLM instructions to sound Australian. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
July 19, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I've been getting a couple of spam texts most days for the past couple of weeks, probably from some pig butchering scheme, but many of the recent ones, coming from different phone numbers, seem to have been created with LLM instructions to sound Australian. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reposted by Paul Haahr
for Bills Week I decided to read the new 1000 page Buckley biography
William F. Buckley's Bill Never Came Due | Defector
Perhaps the highest praise I can offer a book that took 27 years to complete and runs over 1,000 pages is that I can see why, and that it doesn’t feel like it. Sam Tanenhaus’s extremely long and anxio...
defector.com
July 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
for Bills Week I decided to read the new 1000 page Buckley biography
Reposted by Paul Haahr
It's hard to avoid recalling this passage from the English historian Tony Judt:
July 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
It's hard to avoid recalling this passage from the English historian Tony Judt:
Reposted by Paul Haahr
I didn’t believe this, but looked for myself. Two headlines about the parade … and zero about two percent of all Americans taking to the streets yesterday to protest Trump.
I count 49 news headlines on the NYT mobile app home page right now, not including opinion, sports or cooking. None of them are about the massive protests yesterday.
June 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I didn’t believe this, but looked for myself. Two headlines about the parade … and zero about two percent of all Americans taking to the streets yesterday to protest Trump.