I finally finished The Rose Field. I only wish Philip Pullman had.

You know when they say 'be careful what you wish for' ...

Michael Staniforth@staniforthmick.bsky.social · 2w ago

Conversely, if you were planning on sending a rejection today, maybe wait until next week, yeah?

I blame Pantone for this bullshit

Mollz (ballz)@dopestatistics.bsky.social · last wk.

NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO

Handing NHS data to Palantir was always going to be a disaster for public trust. Now, tens of thousands are opting out and medical research is taking the hit. It’s time to scrap the deal. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/07/mistrust-of-ai-palantir-may-affect-nhs-research

‘Mistrust’ of Palantir may affect NHS research, says health minister

James Frith says patients may be less willing to share data as new figures show a rise in opt-outs

theguardian.com

Make a band edible Museli

TJ McIntyre@tjmcintyre.com · last wk.

Make a band edible The Manic Street Peaches

I have a core memory of doing creative writing in English at school and writing a number (e.g. 457) and being told it's not a maths class, write the number out (four hundred and fifty seven). What do people think? Do you write numbers or words in your stories? Or both?

🎙️ Call for voice actors! 🎭 We're looking for two lead voices for our next game. - One male and one female, vocal age 40 to 60 - Cornish / Welsh / South-West England accent If that's you, please send an acting sample to info@inklestudios.com, marked “casting call”. (Paid, ofc) <3 RTs!

Patrick Stewart's Witty 'Acting' Moment

ALT: Patrick Stewart's Witty 'Acting' Moment

static.klipy.com

New post on the Twisted Dreams Press blog! "Buy one of our anthologies and support a good cause!" twisteddreamspress.com/buy-one-of-o... #anthology #books #fiction #horror #suicidepreventionmonth

Buy one of our anthologies and support a good cause! - Twisted Dreams Press

September is Suicide Prevention Month. Today, September 10, is World Suicide Prevention Day. One way in which suicide is prevented is when there are people dedicated to assisting anyone struggling wit...

twisteddreamspress.com

Feeling really low today, so if any editors have been waiting for the right moment to send me a story acceptance - now's your time! Go on. You know you want to. Human written guaranteed!

Still patiently waiting to be "left behind" by AI rather than it chasing me across every damn space like a slasher in a low budget flick.

I didn't want to say anything publicly. I was hoping I could take care of this privately but my reputation is on the line and the longer I let this go, the worse it's going to be for me. I do not use genAI When I see it and I know it, I don't repost it. If I suspect something is AI, I just don't

Our society's unfathomable cruelty to homeless people is not just morally unjustifiable, but more expensive than housing people would be. Cruelty against the homeless is an unaffordable luxury. Abandoning homeless people to avoid offending the Protestant work ethic is an unaffordable luxury.

ProPublica@propublica.org · 2w ago

ProPublica spoke to dozens of people who had lived in homeless encampments when cities cleared them out in “sweeps.” We distributed notecards so people could tell us about the toll in their own words. ➡️ This is what they wrote:

It's important to remember that the police's actual main objective is to uphold the state. That's what's going on here when they don't arrest people supporting the state's anti immigrant narrative, and when they arrest grannies who oppose a genocide supported by the state.

Tom Roberts@tpgroberts.bsky.social · 2w ago

To answer this seriously, the police's main objective is to keep the peace and it is easier to just arrest the grannies and let booking sort them out than it is to wade in truncheons out to address a mob who will not come quietly. The test will be how this changes policing of the far right.

nobody should be paying anybody's fuckass submission fees

I read and review one story a day for a year! Two thirds done! Day 244! I read How to Care for the Dying by @serennical.bsky.social published in @moonparkreview.bsky.social. I hope when my time comes, someone will look after me. Read my review here: mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/09/01/s...

S/D/Y Sep 1 – How to Care for the Dying by Sian M Jones – Moonpark Review

This was a sad little tale, laid out as a set of instructions for a palliative care robot some time in the future, we must assume. It is quire an honest look at growing older and as such is necessa…

mickstaniforth.wordpress.com

Michael Staniforth@staniforthmick.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Seven months done reading one short story/poem a day! Eight begins! Day 213! I read Blue Moon by Chelsea Lane Campbell and Split by Joy Yin published in @gonelawn.bsky.social. A double bill of aborted space exploration to kick off. Read my review here: mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/s...

I really did not want to spend the whole bank holiday weekend fixing my 3D printer.

Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: A bunch of stage magicians have professional (and unprofessional) disagreements.

Sam Kurd (he/him)@samkurd.bsky.social · 3w ago

Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: New zoo has technical problems ahead of their scheduled opening.

Journalists need to stop describing these incidents in terms implying software has agency and intent. It does not. The people who created a faulty and dangerous product are the ones responsible for whatever happens, and must be held to account, with punitive financial penalties for damage done.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w ago

Sharp rise in incidents of AI escaping users’ control, research finds

AI is part of a class war. The rich are buying art made by artists, putting their kids in private schools with excellent teacher/pupil ratios, not allowing their own kids to use smart phones etc . They want us stupider, surrounded by slop - pigs at the trough. Stop giving them what they want.

Here's a clip from the most recent episode when the severe heat wave alert went off during recording lol

Oh come on! What is it, 2016?

I am getting really sick of this "ideological reasons" reframing bollocks. The man led a lynch mob against a Black man for openly racist reasons and gloated when it was successful. He shouldn't just be fired, he should be incarcerated.

Eric Turkheimer@ent3c.bsky.social · 4w ago

It's unfortunate, but I agree with Sasha. Cofnas should never have been hired (is there a good account of how that happened?), but having been hired I don't like to see him let go for ideological reasons, despite the awfulness of his ideology. I would be fine with dismissing him at his next renewal.

None of these academic freedom crusaders have done fuck all when areas of marginalized thought are under threat from conservative administrators and that should tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about academic freedom.

I do feel somewhat vindicated in my personal interests and pursuits that one of the first things people did with cartooning was weird death stuff

ToonHive@toonhive.bsky.social · 4w ago

97 years ago today, ‘The Skeleton Dance’ released in theaters.

The Cofnas signatories just served to out how many universities have their own Prof Whitey-McHeadmeasure on their payroll.

There is a portion of academia that has been poised, ready and waiting to jump back into full on colonialism and it is taking its chance now.

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Gad Saad, the evo psych hack and IDW reject, has published a new evo psych "paper". It is an extended twitter screed that's indistinguishable from standard Nazi talking points. This is apparently what passes as scholarship in the Springer journal 'Theory and Society'

I tried to tell people for years that racism was rife in academia, and was often treated as an alarmist and a trouble maker. Well, here's your proof.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 4w ago

There’s a petition signed by more than one hundred academics (& counting!) in support of Nathan Cofnas—the racist who instigated the pile on that led to J. Arday’s death—because he lost his postdoc. Apparently there’s nothing a white man can do that deserves consequences.

In an alarming development, it appears the UK Government covered up a massive spike in trans youth suicides after restrictions. Then covered it up again when caught. Now, after fighting for years, the data is public: trans suicide increased 5x in the country. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Trans Youth Suicides Skyrocketed In UK After Care Drawdown; Government Covers It Up

A Freedom of Information request to the National Child Mortality Database reveals that 22 trans children under 18 died by suicide in England in 2021-22 alone.

erininthemorning.com

I'm seeing several posts regarding luck versus skill. I do believe a lot of luck plays a part in publishing. What I would add to this equation is: the system. The thing is, you can have skill and luck can happen, but, to use a gambling metaphor, if you aren't allowed in a casino, you can't bet.