And heading off the drive-bys: Yes, I absolutely know and understand the arguments against using AI. The work I'm doing is to mitigate the side-effects of an aggressive and haphazard rollout of AI capabilities into federal agencies, which is already happening. This is harm-reduction work that I have an opportunity do in my position near the intersection of AI and the federal government, using the skills and latitude available to me, to influence how others approach their situation. Would you rather no one did this work?

I rarely break cover to talk about work stuff here, but: I did a presentation on the project a colleague and I have been hurling ourselves into so that our federal agency (and others!) can integrate the power of agentic coding tools in federal delivery while mitigating the risks. It's likely interesting to anyone also going through the turmoil of introducing agentic capabilities into an enterprise context. The tools, playbook, and patterns we present are all in public repositories. There's a link to the YouTube video near the top of the page. Let me know if you watch, and if you have any thoughts or feedback!
https://github.com/GSA-TTS/federal-platform-engineering-cop/wiki/2026-10:-agentic%E2%80%90coding-in-GSA-TTS-Engineering

Humans are the fucking worst.
https://bird.makeup/users/amazlngnature/statuses/2107157851529781398

> “Traumatizing the federal work force,” Lewis explains, was more than a cruel, pointless and self-defeating exercise. It was also a challenge to what makes America great.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/books/review/blockers-michael-lewis.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GVE.kOJO.fYXqmUOQ3mJe&smid=url-share

RE: https://mastodon.social/@blogdiva/117383335991891306

🧵

+83.7% on my insurance premiums, to go with my 0% pay increase.

Great to be a Fed. 🙄😩

This is the way.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-27/japan-has-no-space-for-solar-farms-apart-from-old-golf-courses

RE: https://beige.party/@phaedral/117230550948177957

If social media existed in the 1930s, Hitler would have been posting something just like this about Germany and Europe. This alone should be a basis for removal.

Six years was a pretty good run I guess.

Fuck cancer.

[Quoting a friend]

As an unabashed Christopher Nolan fangirl, even I was surprised at the cultural relevance and impact of The Odyssey. Who knew that a 2,000+ year old story still had something to say about our current political climate? 😬

I've been reading all the takes, and so far my favorites have come from The NY Times (!!!). Ezra Klein's podcast is a good one, but my favorite is probably David French's : https://archive.ph/VbXFr . Namely the last line, which is pertinent to this group specifically: "Heedless people, you will pay for what you destroy."

This was the right move.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/anthony-fauci-5th-amendment-testify-covid-hearing-rand-paul-rcna589793

RE: https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/116997796047312210

I don't really understand Rand Paul's conclusions or intent with this release, but it sure looks exonerative on pretty much every front where anyone has ever attempted to impugn Fauci's integrity. The man is a national hero, though I dread what malice this detail will stir in the President.

RE: https://mastodon.online/@electrek/116920976319603221

> The person who called fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in history” chose the dirtiest, fastest option the moment it was his AI ambitions on the line — and he’s parking the emissions in low-income, majority-Black neighborhoods while the DOJ runs interference on the lawsuits.
>
> And it’s all in service of Grok, a product now defined less by frontier intelligence than by AI-generated porn. Strip away the mission statements and you’re left with a simple trade: environmental principles for compute, sold as national security.

Absolutely terrifying, they must be stopped.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pj5zxr5qexgoitdimyialrcc/post/3mppk3udqes2r

RE: https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/116688039071746650

Ted Chiang just write the most approachable description both of how LLMs work and how we know they're not conscious that I've ever seen.

oh
https://prospect.org/2026/05/18/palantir-federal-workers-surveillance-usda-social-security-veterans-affairs/

Quick test: When I say "first of May", you say...

Capitalism has failed us. This May Day the only stock I want to invest in is guillotines.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/01/ceo-pay-workers-minimum-wages

#MayDay #MayDayGeneralStrike

Forgejo social portability cannot come soon enough.