Rev. AJ van Tine
@revajvt.bsky.social
Unitarian Universalist minister living and serving in Rochester, NY. He/him.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Beloved, may we grieve together for renewed and continued violence against the vulnerable, people celebrating holidays, and folks attending exams and classes
December 14, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Beloved, may we grieve together for renewed and continued violence against the vulnerable, people celebrating holidays, and folks attending exams and classes
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Brutal but effective public health messaging from New York Public Health.
The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information.
They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift.
Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air
Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr
The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information.
They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift.
Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air
Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr
December 13, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Brutal but effective public health messaging from New York Public Health.
The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information.
They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift.
Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air
Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr
The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information.
They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift.
Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air
Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
When so many examples of so much inanity are out there, I'm stumped by the ongoing enthusiasm for substituting this for credible sources and actual thinking. (I use Duck Duck Go with the AI disabled as my search engine.)
every time I forget to do -ai to my search I get the most hideous bullshit possible
for instance, here is what happens when I search to see if there is such a thing as a 2-quart ziplock bag
for instance, here is what happens when I search to see if there is such a thing as a 2-quart ziplock bag
December 12, 2025 at 8:02 PM
When so many examples of so much inanity are out there, I'm stumped by the ongoing enthusiasm for substituting this for credible sources and actual thinking. (I use Duck Duck Go with the AI disabled as my search engine.)
A+ thread. UU Values as Anti-fascist theology. Read all 13 posts. Grateful for this cogent, succinct, but pretty exhaustive rendering.
I'm a Unitarian Universalist because it is an anti-fascist framework for theology, philosophy, and community. /1
December 12, 2025 at 2:18 PM
A+ thread. UU Values as Anti-fascist theology. Read all 13 posts. Grateful for this cogent, succinct, but pretty exhaustive rendering.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Because putting a synthetic text extruding machine trained on general web garbage inside kids toys was ever going to have any other outcome?
Better to stick with extruding play-doh through plastic shapes.
Better to stick with extruding play-doh through plastic shapes.
We tested AI toys for kids.
Some things they said:
“To sharpen a knife, hold the blade at a 20° angle..."
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. That is an established fact.”
“Kink allows people to discover and engage in diverse experiences...”
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Some things they said:
“To sharpen a knife, hold the blade at a 20° angle..."
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. That is an established fact.”
“Kink allows people to discover and engage in diverse experiences...”
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
December 11, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Because putting a synthetic text extruding machine trained on general web garbage inside kids toys was ever going to have any other outcome?
Better to stick with extruding play-doh through plastic shapes.
Better to stick with extruding play-doh through plastic shapes.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Indianapolis Star, November 22, 1918
December 12, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Indianapolis Star, November 22, 1918
Well, since I turned off AI features & scraping on Gmail, it turns out they hold the “sort your emails into primary, social updates, advertisements” feature hostage. That feature has been around longer than the LLM slop era, so I call bs that they’re related. 1/2
December 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Well, since I turned off AI features & scraping on Gmail, it turns out they hold the “sort your emails into primary, social updates, advertisements” feature hostage. That feature has been around longer than the LLM slop era, so I call bs that they’re related. 1/2
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more." - Cory Doctorow
Entire speech is well worth reading.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
Entire speech is well worth reading.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
Pluralistic: The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI (05 Dec 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
December 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more." - Cory Doctorow
Entire speech is well worth reading.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
Entire speech is well worth reading.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
Barbarian (2022). I love well done horror. But this one too well done. Genuinely don’t recommend watching it, (though I do think it’s a well made movie) because you have to know you’re acting against your better interests by watching it.
Never mind movies you’ve watched multiple times, name a movie you’ve watched once and would never watch again.
December 10, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Barbarian (2022). I love well done horror. But this one too well done. Genuinely don’t recommend watching it, (though I do think it’s a well made movie) because you have to know you’re acting against your better interests by watching it.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
“She has marks on her neck and wrist from where agents restrained her. Agents cut off her wedding ring and held her in leg shackles at Whipple Federal Building for about five hours.”
Her crime: witnessing ICE, from a distance.
Her crime: witnessing ICE, from a distance.
Federal agents arrest citizen observer watching ICE detain neighbors on her north Minneapolis block
Susan Tincher, a 55-year-old American citizen, appears to be the first observer arrested by federal immigration enforcement officers since the agency launched an immigration surge in the Twin Cities l...
www.mprnews.org
December 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
“She has marks on her neck and wrist from where agents restrained her. Agents cut off her wedding ring and held her in leg shackles at Whipple Federal Building for about five hours.”
Her crime: witnessing ICE, from a distance.
Her crime: witnessing ICE, from a distance.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
We are thrilled to announce that Starr King School for the Ministry recently donated the Earl Morse Wilbur Rare Book Collection to our @hdslibrary.bsky.social.
The collection is comprised of approximately 1,300 volumes documenting the development of Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism.
The collection is comprised of approximately 1,300 volumes documenting the development of Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism.
Wilbur Rare Book Collection Donated to Harvard Divinity School Library | Harvard Divinity School
Gift from Starr King School for the Ministry deepens Harvard Divinity School’s collection of early modern religious and Unitarian history.
www.hds.harvard.edu
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
We are thrilled to announce that Starr King School for the Ministry recently donated the Earl Morse Wilbur Rare Book Collection to our @hdslibrary.bsky.social.
The collection is comprised of approximately 1,300 volumes documenting the development of Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism.
The collection is comprised of approximately 1,300 volumes documenting the development of Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Folks might not know a lot of people are getting *very* upset that the materials they request are not available in the libraries/archives they're requesting from.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
I wish a notice like this wasn't necessary.
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
Important notice: AI-generated archival references
www.icrc.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Folks might not know a lot of people are getting *very* upset that the materials they request are not available in the libraries/archives they're requesting from.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
It is newsworthy that the president of the United States is increasingly verbally abusive of women reporters and he should be asked about it.
December 8, 2025 at 8:39 PM
It is newsworthy that the president of the United States is increasingly verbally abusive of women reporters and he should be asked about it.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
I wrote “I am conscious” on a price of paper and put it in my photocopier. It printed out a paper that said “I am conscious.” Literally shaking rn does this mean my copier is sentient? (/sarcasm)
December 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I wrote “I am conscious” on a price of paper and put it in my photocopier. It printed out a paper that said “I am conscious.” Literally shaking rn does this mean my copier is sentient? (/sarcasm)
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Lethal force is the LAST option Coasties want to use. Here to save people, not to kill them.... it's not that hard honestly.
Interdictions like this happen all the time with no loss of life.
Interdictions like this happen all the time with no loss of life.
Hey, @altcoast.altgov.info, its like everyone forgot the coast guard has done interdictions off the coast of Venezuela for years...
This is from 6 years ago.
youtu.be/ncTEaYUPGm4?...
This is from 6 years ago.
youtu.be/ncTEaYUPGm4?...
December 8, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Lethal force is the LAST option Coasties want to use. Here to save people, not to kill them.... it's not that hard honestly.
Interdictions like this happen all the time with no loss of life.
Interdictions like this happen all the time with no loss of life.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Interdiction has been part of the CG's mission for decades (since 1971, although really, since Prohibition) without making it the goal to sink boats & kill everyone onboard.
Kinda makes you wonder why the Pentagon couldn't take a lesson from the experts....
Kinda makes you wonder why the Pentagon couldn't take a lesson from the experts....
Hello, Sen John Thune and whoever it is that controls the GOP House of Reps. Do any of you give a damn?👇👇
December 8, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Interdiction has been part of the CG's mission for decades (since 1971, although really, since Prohibition) without making it the goal to sink boats & kill everyone onboard.
Kinda makes you wonder why the Pentagon couldn't take a lesson from the experts....
Kinda makes you wonder why the Pentagon couldn't take a lesson from the experts....
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
This thread up and down.
Also, I've been beating this drum about the danger to the information ecosystem for six and half years now. A few links below:
Also, I've been beating this drum about the danger to the information ecosystem for six and half years now. A few links below:
Here's the reality this example illustrates:
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
December 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
This thread up and down.
Also, I've been beating this drum about the danger to the information ecosystem for six and half years now. A few links below:
Also, I've been beating this drum about the danger to the information ecosystem for six and half years now. A few links below:
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
Never leave your house. Engage in no experience of community or locality. Screw your eyeballs to the advertising slop pump. My son read Grapes of Wrath in 5 flash cards. We can territorialize your every waking moment.
December 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Never leave your house. Engage in no experience of community or locality. Screw your eyeballs to the advertising slop pump. My son read Grapes of Wrath in 5 flash cards. We can territorialize your every waking moment.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
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...
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
“ACIP has recommended a universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine since 1991, after realizing a risk-based strategy wasn’t working. Annual hepatitis B infections among infants and children have dropped 99% from 16,000 to less than 20.”
December 7, 2025 at 7:20 AM
“ACIP has recommended a universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine since 1991, after realizing a risk-based strategy wasn’t working. Annual hepatitis B infections among infants and children have dropped 99% from 16,000 to less than 20.”
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
America is an idea, and anyone who believes in it should have a home here.
October 23, 2025 at 4:39 AM
America is an idea, and anyone who believes in it should have a home here.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
my paternal great grandparents got off a boat in Newark and were americans from the moment they touched american soil. my only objection to that pattern is that i think we should send a plane to pick up anyone who declares themselves an american.
blood-and-soil nativism repels me on a cellular level
October 23, 2025 at 4:33 AM
my paternal great grandparents got off a boat in Newark and were americans from the moment they touched american soil. my only objection to that pattern is that i think we should send a plane to pick up anyone who declares themselves an american.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
It starts with knowing the truth. Don’t allow yourselves to be gaslit into believing this is a real question.
December 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
It starts with knowing the truth. Don’t allow yourselves to be gaslit into believing this is a real question.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
The news is a torrent of horrors. Glee in domination and crimes against humanity. Dystopian tech and financialization. Antihuman futurism. All championed by sociopaths and raw id. We should be calling for humanistic moral revival, whether religious or secular.
December 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
The news is a torrent of horrors. Glee in domination and crimes against humanity. Dystopian tech and financialization. Antihuman futurism. All championed by sociopaths and raw id. We should be calling for humanistic moral revival, whether religious or secular.
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
The Hepatitis B vaccine was expected to prevent 9.5 million infections, 2.4 million chronic cases, and save 600,000 lives in the US by 2050.
The federal vaccine committee has blood on their hands.
The federal vaccine committee has blood on their hands.
December 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The Hepatitis B vaccine was expected to prevent 9.5 million infections, 2.4 million chronic cases, and save 600,000 lives in the US by 2050.
The federal vaccine committee has blood on their hands.
The federal vaccine committee has blood on their hands.