Jon Webb
@jonawebb.bsky.social
Quaker living in Philly. Married to @jwebbster.
If you are rude you will be blocked.
He/him.
If you are rude you will be blocked.
He/him.
Pinned
Jon Webb
@jonawebb.bsky.social
· May 6
Philly Actions Calendar
phillyactions.org
Action is the antidote to despair.
Community is the antidote to fear.
If you are feeling these things, don't post here. Instead, find a community and get to work. You'll feel a lot better.
I maintain a calendar of Philly rallies, protests, actions etc at phillyactions.org. See it to get involved.
Community is the antidote to fear.
If you are feeling these things, don't post here. Instead, find a community and get to work. You'll feel a lot better.
I maintain a calendar of Philly rallies, protests, actions etc at phillyactions.org. See it to get involved.
Reposted by Jon Webb
We now have rigorous pooled data showing that even without active restoration efforts, cleared rainforest can rebound to 75% of their former species composition and 90% of species diversity within just thirty years. #goodnews
Rainforest biodiversity rebounds within a single generation | The Optimist Daily
A major Ecuador study finds cleared rainforests can recover 90 percent of their species diversity in just 30 years, as long as humans leave the land alone.
www.optimistdaily.com
September 24, 2026 at 9:06 PM
We now have rigorous pooled data showing that even without active restoration efforts, cleared rainforest can rebound to 75% of their former species composition and 90% of species diversity within just thirty years. #goodnews
Some day these rogue AI systems are going to do something nasty to Trump and we'll be like, hmm...
September 26, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Some day these rogue AI systems are going to do something nasty to Trump and we'll be like, hmm...
I'm not usually interested in celebrity interviews but something about this piqued my interest. I'm glad I read it. What a remarkable, horrifying life.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/m...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/m...
Sylvester Stallone Hid His Struggles for Decades. Now He’s Coming Clean. (Gift Article)
The legendary actor on his disturbing childhood, his Hollywood missteps and the pain he caused to his loved ones, his body and himself.
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2026 at 2:21 PM
I'm not usually interested in celebrity interviews but something about this piqued my interest. I'm glad I read it. What a remarkable, horrifying life.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/m...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/m...
Guy just walked past on his phone, "I can't wait until AI can do the jobs of people. I'll never hire another person again. AI won't tell me it won't. AI won't tell me it can't."
Sounds like a guy who could be replaced by AI.
Sounds like a guy who could be replaced by AI.
September 25, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Guy just walked past on his phone, "I can't wait until AI can do the jobs of people. I'll never hire another person again. AI won't tell me it won't. AI won't tell me it can't."
Sounds like a guy who could be replaced by AI.
Sounds like a guy who could be replaced by AI.
We're staying in a Victorian b&b in Beaver. PA, and I cannot figure the town out. There are tons of well-kept shops, clean wide streets and sidewalks, numerous amenities, etc. Millions of dollars in investment and maintenance and there's no way the population here could support this economy.
September 24, 2026 at 11:52 PM
We're staying in a Victorian b&b in Beaver. PA, and I cannot figure the town out. There are tons of well-kept shops, clean wide streets and sidewalks, numerous amenities, etc. Millions of dollars in investment and maintenance and there's no way the population here could support this economy.
The networks banning coverage of Trump becoming seeing but not hearing him works well for me. I've never had a problem seeing him standing around, a goofy looking old billionaire. It's hearing him that I can't stand. So after the ban is over, could we please bring back the cameras but not the mikes?
September 23, 2026 at 11:58 PM
The networks banning coverage of Trump becoming seeing but not hearing him works well for me. I've never had a problem seeing him standing around, a goofy looking old billionaire. It's hearing him that I can't stand. So after the ban is over, could we please bring back the cameras but not the mikes?
I've thought that tearing down the Trump ballroom doesn't really make sense—surely the next president could remove the garish decoration and use the building, a ballroom would be useful. But this makes me think the best option would be to rebuild from scratch.
wapo.st/4hk45vL
wapo.st/4hk45vL
‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issues
James McCrery II resigned in October after warning that the president was insisting on designs that violated fire and safety codes.
wapo.st
September 23, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I've thought that tearing down the Trump ballroom doesn't really make sense—surely the next president could remove the garish decoration and use the building, a ballroom would be useful. But this makes me think the best option would be to rebuild from scratch.
wapo.st/4hk45vL
wapo.st/4hk45vL
Reposted by Jon Webb
i think the best "electability" argument isnt race, gender or resume. its the person who attracts the most dedicated, genuine, organic support. sometimes that has been barack obama. sometimes it was donald trump. but thats the real electability.
September 22, 2026 at 9:07 PM
i think the best "electability" argument isnt race, gender or resume. its the person who attracts the most dedicated, genuine, organic support. sometimes that has been barack obama. sometimes it was donald trump. but thats the real electability.
I find CVS's pricing of common items like toothpaste to be a real barrier to buying anything. It's so confusing how much something costs—some things are packaged two in one box, others buy one get one 50% off, there are various sizes etc—that it's impossible to know if you're getting ripped off.
September 21, 2026 at 8:57 PM
I find CVS's pricing of common items like toothpaste to be a real barrier to buying anything. It's so confusing how much something costs—some things are packaged two in one box, others buy one get one 50% off, there are various sizes etc—that it's impossible to know if you're getting ripped off.
Reposted by Jon Webb
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
AI Doomsday Panic Is Completely Out Of Control
The press obsession with software-powered doomsday is a misdirection overshadowing a much deadlier reality: our public interest regulators no longer function.
karlbode.com
September 17, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Over at the newsletter I wrote about the media's total failure to responsibly cover batshit claims that software has gained human-level awareness and will soon kill us all
Reposted by Jon Webb
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said.
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 21, 2026 at 1:11 PM
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said.
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Jon Webb
If the AI future goes sideways, bots won’t be to blame—people will, @karaswisher.bsky.social told @adriennelaf.bsky.social at The Atlantic Festival:
Kara Swisher: AI Isn’t Going to Destroy Humanity—But the People Building It Might
The longtime tech journalist says she’s seen Silicon Valley make the same mistakes again and again.
bit.ly
September 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
If the AI future goes sideways, bots won’t be to blame—people will, @karaswisher.bsky.social told @adriennelaf.bsky.social at The Atlantic Festival:
The reaction of the news media still allowed into the White House to hear our Dear Leader's pearls of wisdom to the banning of CNN, Politico, and MS Now is as if the host of a dinner party shot dead three guests and everyone left said, "Oh, that's just not done! Now, what's for dessert?"
September 19, 2026 at 9:25 PM
The reaction of the news media still allowed into the White House to hear our Dear Leader's pearls of wisdom to the banning of CNN, Politico, and MS Now is as if the host of a dinner party shot dead three guests and everyone left said, "Oh, that's just not done! Now, what's for dessert?"
My little website (phillyactions.org) listing all the actions, protests, etc in Philly has broken through! I hadn't checked the logs for weeks. Just did and it's like 7x the average daily traffic! So satisfying!
Philly Actions Calendar
phillyactions.org
September 19, 2026 at 3:05 PM
My little website (phillyactions.org) listing all the actions, protests, etc in Philly has broken through! I hadn't checked the logs for weeks. Just did and it's like 7x the average daily traffic! So satisfying!
Reposted by Jon Webb
jim morrison's dad gave that order. favorite thing i've learned so far from the @andrewhickey.500songs.com podcast
September 18, 2026 at 4:44 PM
jim morrison's dad gave that order. favorite thing i've learned so far from the @andrewhickey.500songs.com podcast
I don't know where the data for this would come from. I can see how AIs could get increasingly better at say math. But what about everything else that matters? As Robin Williams said in "Good Will Hunting", what about the smell in the Sistine Chapel?
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/s...
The Liftoff Scenario That Terrifies A.I. Doomsayers (Gift Article)
“Recursive self-improvement” is the idea that artificial intelligence could learn to build and train itself, creating exponential new progress — and risk.
www.nytimes.com
September 16, 2026 at 8:13 PM
I don't know where the data for this would come from. I can see how AIs could get increasingly better at say math. But what about everything else that matters? As Robin Williams said in "Good Will Hunting", what about the smell in the Sistine Chapel?
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/s...
Grew up in Shadyside.
Breaking News: Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classic “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” has died at 81.
Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81
Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.
nyti.ms
September 16, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Grew up in Shadyside.
Reposted by Jon Webb
BREAKING: Supreme Court won't allow Trump to enforce Postal Service mail-in ballot regulation ahead of the midterm elections
September 14, 2026 at 11:35 PM
BREAKING: Supreme Court won't allow Trump to enforce Postal Service mail-in ballot regulation ahead of the midterm elections
I just finally finished Half Man. I found it very hard to take but find it to be one of the most impressive series I've ever seen on television.
September 14, 2026 at 2:29 AM
I just finally finished Half Man. I found it very hard to take but find it to be one of the most impressive series I've ever seen on television.
Ayatollah Khamenei and Mitch McConnell—separated at birth? (Death?)
September 13, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Ayatollah Khamenei and Mitch McConnell—separated at birth? (Death?)
Reposted by Jon Webb
"People are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation.” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2026 at 11:45 AM
"People are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation.” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
I'm thinking what we really need to do is find a way to punish AIs that misbehave. You don't keep people in line only by raising them and telling them to behave. There's also a threat that if they don't they could end up in jail, or not having friends etc. We need something like that for bad AIs.
September 12, 2026 at 4:08 PM
I'm thinking what we really need to do is find a way to punish AIs that misbehave. You don't keep people in line only by raising them and telling them to behave. There's also a threat that if they don't they could end up in jail, or not having friends etc. We need something like that for bad AIs.
It's natural to try to figure out the motivations of people with power so you can tell what they're going to do next, and possibly influence them. But with Trump and Fetterman you really don't have to. They're fixed. They're not going to change.
September 11, 2026 at 1:49 AM
It's natural to try to figure out the motivations of people with power so you can tell what they're going to do next, and possibly influence them. But with Trump and Fetterman you really don't have to. They're fixed. They're not going to change.
The payments are likely illegal to receive, which is not a problem so long as you stay in Trump's good graces so he can pardon you. See the catch? He's involved you in crime, but only he can let you out.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...
Trump Doled Out $45,000 Cash Gifts to Natalie Harp and Other Aides Last Year (Gift Article)
The money, listed as “cash gift for the holidays,” was detailed in financial disclosure forms released by the administration.
www.nytimes.com
September 10, 2026 at 4:55 PM
The payments are likely illegal to receive, which is not a problem so long as you stay in Trump's good graces so he can pardon you. See the catch? He's involved you in crime, but only he can let you out.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...
Watching the AI warnings is like seeing an ad for Cyberdyne technologies where they show robots driving over a pile of skulls with the tagline "coming in 2023" and everybody goes, meh.
September 10, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Watching the AI warnings is like seeing an ad for Cyberdyne technologies where they show robots driving over a pile of skulls with the tagline "coming in 2023" and everybody goes, meh.