Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Bisexual of the Blade (Alt-text or DIE)
@shengokai.blacksky.app
Martial artist, motorcyclist, pragmatist, comics philosopher, queer phenomenologist. Assistant Prof @CSUN. Japanese philosophy, race, gender, disability, tech/AI. Inquiries: johnathan.flowers@csun.edu IRON LORD. Rider of the mind shaitan. He/Him/His 🏳️🌈
I always scoffed at "I learned the true nature of reality and went mad" narratives, but it feels like a lot of people genuinely can't cope with what the structures of transmisogyny imply about gender in society
BREAKING: Boston University's English department (my dept) recently voted to approve new learning outcomes for the English major, including an anti-AI provision that requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI."
New Learning Outcomes Announced | English
bu.edu
Given that my chosen frames for the past few years are adjacent to the perv glasses, I am annoyed and worried about this. Additionally, any candidate that proposes bright fucking LEDs that indicate recording on devices will get my vote. We did it with the fucking Nader beepers on trucks!
Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave@wolven.blacksky.app · 16h agoOh so now anyone might be audio recording anyone at any time and now there's not even the visual cue of a camera lens staring at you to warn you about it? Instert Chidi "okay but that's worse" gif, here.
Ted Chiang's fav writing quote is from her essay 'Write till you drop' "There is something you find interesting, for a reason hard to explain. It is hard to explain because you have never read it on any page; there you begin. You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment."
Alexander Chee@alexanderchee.bsky.social · 15h agoI will just add that when I wrote about being Annie Dillard's student, I tried to rescue her class from being lost, as it were. Such as I could. I've taught a lot of what she taught me over the years and most of it has held up.
When I say I've been working on this debunking for *years* that includes academic publications. Here's a quick thread:
Emily M. Bender@emilymbender.bsky.social · 4d agoSo people come back around to those of us who have been pointing out the emporers' nudity all along and say, "How about THIS set of invisible clothes? Does that change your analysis??" >>
We are 6 years into the “The fuck they do” Response to black lives matter
i don't believe this got enough attention: The Needle issued a retraction to an investigation from two weeks ago, following __EIGHT ERRORS__ that were uncaught before publication the single editor on the story was their "fiction and satire editor" (what the fuck? why?), who has stepped down god
The Needle@theneedlenews.com · 2w agoOur Latest: 📰 Retraction: Adam Proffitt is Not Personally Investigating Trans People in Bathrooms📰 📝: @artemis.theneedlenews.com
My only comment on the latest AI bullshit to darken my skyline is this: folks who think AI is "thinking" are saying a whole lot about how they believe "thinking" works and what counts as "thinking." If you follow the implications of this belief, it's not good. Not good at all.
How dare the National Museum of the American Indian refer to George Washington with a name that he was given by the Iroquois in 1753, a name which he himself used in his correspondence! So glad to see Fox News taking a stand against the politicization of history. s/
Everything has always been political. A person that has the privilege of never being a direct recipient of policies that enact violence/discourage a true quality of life, especially for its most vulnerable citizens, will always be the first person to ask “why are you making everything political?”
if you think the way PBS is framing this issue (see QT below) is a joke, please read & share my latest essay, which flips that framing, exposing its many flaws: juliaserano.medium.com/on-democrats...
On Democrats Who Cave in Response to Anti-Trans Attack Ads
and more importantly: a response to all the cis people responding to the way that trans people are responding to said Democrats’ responses
juliaserano.medium.com
PBS News@pbsnews.org · 2d agoAn increasing number of Democratic officials in red and blue states are distancing themselves from their party's unflinching support for the transgender community's policy priorities, such as allowing athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity. https://to.pbs.org/4xO5rWu
You only get to ignore "political differences" if your very existence isn't contingent on politics. Put simply, identity politics matters because some identities have been essentially politicized.
Jedd Poponski@joenezee.bsky.social · yesterdayPolitical differences
My entire philosophy on technology and upgrading is "if it ain't broke, don't fix (or replace) it." My most recent car is about a decade old, the one before that was almost twenty five years old. My motorcycle is almost fifteen years old. I will keep shit running until the end of days.
Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Bisexual of the Blade (Alt-text or DIE)@shengokai.blacksky.app · yesterdayHilariously, I have to replace my phone. Not because it is obsolete or anything, but because of mechanical failure. The USB port is finally giving out and I have to engage in complex gymnastics to get it to charge or sync.
Hilariously, I have to replace my phone. Not because it is obsolete or anything, but because of mechanical failure. The USB port is finally giving out and I have to engage in complex gymnastics to get it to charge or sync.
Reading for pleasure is linked to better cognition, mental health, empathy, memory, and more gray matter. (There are probably confounding factors, but let's just choose to believe it's causal.)
Reading for pleasure boosts memory, empathy and mental health | New Scientist
Fewer people are reading for pleasure, but getting lost in a good book has repeatedly been linked to substantial cognitive benefits
newscientist.com
Gonna wrestle my battery back into my bike.
Even if we lack the right to vote for HIM, our pressure might send a message to every other candidate who tries to run on a transphobic message. Not for nothing, given that the country is considering a nationwide ban on transition, resistance to transphobic politicians matters at all levels.
A lot of this has to do with green initiatives on campus that limit printing by number of pages and with the massive inaccessibility of publisher provided texts. Many limit the number of pages a student can download.
Asheesh Kapur Siddique@asheeshks.org · 2d agoMaybe I'm just too old, but when I was in college (2003-2007) and then even in grad school in the 2010s, I feel like it was fairly normal for students to (a) buy books in the humanities (profs would assign like 10 books even) and (b) print out articles & book chapters to read in hard copy.
Here's my hottest Trek Take: The Disco/SNW Enterprise is the canon Enterprise. The TOS Enterprise is also the canon Enterprise. Which one (or both) you accept depends on your perspective on the shows, your respective aesthetic preferences, your attachment to the individual ships. Both are valid.
Finishing off Starfleet Academy.
I was like “us that a fucking cactuar,” and then was like “hell yeah, buddy.”
Low Quality Facts@lowqualityfacts.bsky.social · 2d agoI am terribly sorry to interrupt your doomscrolling, but tonight's Low Quality Ad is for this Cactus Plush Toy. Look at him. He is soft. He is cuddly. He is presumably stuffed with 1,000 needles that he can shoot at you to cause devastating damage. collabs.shop/xvs8zg
Wild that a person can issue this statement but also enthusiastically support policy & politicians that will allow a polio comeback. “My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...
Mitch McConnell Returns to Senate After Three Month Absence
Senator Mitch McConnell, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican and former leader, had been absent for more than 13 weeks after a health incident, fueling questions about his ability to continue serving.
nytimes.com
