JRR Tolkien: You paint that picture of the key scene from the Two Towers where Frodo and Sam fight Gollum? Donato Giancola: Sure did, Ron, real fuckin' sexy just like you asked. JRRT: What.

@pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 5h ago

The Taming of Sméagol Donato Giancola

Put a reminder on this, I loved her first booK INFRASTRUCTURE. Approachable without being simplistic, a genuinely fun read on some very crunchy stuff.

Deb Chachra@debcha.bsky.social · 6d ago

Some news: I’m (officially!) writing another book, tentatively titled TACTILE: MATTER, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE WORLD WE MAKE, working again my brilliant editor @armadilloproxy.bsky.social at @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. I wrote a bit more about it at my newsletter: buttondown.com/metafoundry/...

"But Black Dynamite--" Okay, let me not tell jokes. But Durant probably sees himself as no different than a drug dealer or gun manufacturer. Drug dealers do not see themselves as responsible for an addict's downfall. Gun manufacturers don't think they are culpable for mass shootings.

Varun Shankar@byvarunshankar.bsky.social · yesterday

Wemby said he'd never promote a gambling company and said it was "sad" to see other players do so. Kevin Durant, partnered with FanDuel, responded Friday.

"I was still pretty young when it happened,but yeah, it wound up being more of a Butlerian Crusade than a Butlerian Jihad ..."

Dustin A. Chacón@lingdustin.bsky.social · yesterday

I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:

Not to worry, I know a guy who will sell you some copper on the cheap

I for one think it’s bad that the president can just say crazy stuff all day every day and 99% of it doesn’t make the news because we’ve normalized having an insane president

Oh hey look: exactly what a bunch of us said was already and would keep happening— data centers being placed in spaces where their harms will fall on those already most marginalized— is, in fact, happening.

David Dayen@ddayen.bsky.social · 2d ago

Data center construction has migrated to places of low resistance: poor, often Black areas where corrupt deals are commonplace and the harms to residents invisible. Lowndes County, Alabama, in the heart of the Black Belt, is one of those places. 🧵 prospect.org/2026/10/01/d...

Basically: assimilation is not something immigrants do or don’t do; it’s something US citizens do or don’t do with respect to them. It’s an acknowledgment we can always withhold. It’s power over immigrants that lasts forever.

Christopher Mathias@letsgomathias.bsky.social · yesterday

Here is tortured tautology Keeperman offers for why Desi college kids — wearing cowboy hats, throwing up the "Hook 'em Horns" hand sign, cheering the Longhorns — are not "assimilated": because he said so talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

::wishes to make progress on global warming:: ::monkey's paw curls:: bsky.app/profile/mabe...

Mike Behr@mabehr.bsky.social · yesterday

The Greenest President ever He cut global consumption of oil by 20%. No other president has come close!

This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever

Things Gavin Newsom has vetoed this week: -A ban on secretly recording people with smart glasses -A ban on ICE agents working for the state government -A ban on websites selling your data -A bill giving native tribes more say over water rights -A bill protecting transgender healthcare providers

this would be an incredible film if you started it with all the normal serial killer hunting tropes

depths of wikipedia@depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 2d ago

They’re making cranky grandpa travel, and he is fucking done.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d ago

Trump campaigns for Ken Paxton in Texas: "He can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I'll be honest. Is he here, by the way? Oh, there he is. I didn't even know if he was here! I don't care."

Last year not a single refugee fleeing religious persecution was admitted to the US.

Austin Kocher, PhD@austinkocher.com · 2d ago

When Matthew Soerens of World Relief tells Christians the Trump administration has banned persecuted Christians, many don't believe him. We talked about why. Listen to the whole conversation: austinkocher.substack.com/p/president-... @matthewsoerens.bsky.social

Sept 30th is the Canadian National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, dedicated to honoring Residential School Survivors & the communities. You Are on Native Land, our latest charity comic, donates all proceeds to indigenous-led organizations. For more info https://bit.ly/4cXO5OZ

New from @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender

The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals

theguardian.com

Fifty years ago, in his most famous work, the prolific intellectual Carlo Cipolla argued that stupid people, as a group, are “much more powerful than the mafia, or the military industrial complex.” ⚠️ newrepublic.com/article/2157... #DonBeast

Trump Personifies the Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

How a 50-year-old treatise by an Italian economic historian makes sense of our utterly senseless moment

newrepublic.com

"This separatist movement is a guerrilla faction of the global far right which is attacking open societies across the world." www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: We must call Alberta separation what it is

It is not a movement of grievance politics. Something far more sinister is at work

theglobeandmail.com

NEW: As Trump’s White House and influencers keep touting the unproven benefits of raw milk, hundreds across the country are falling ill from outbreaks. Some people get severe indigestion. And some nearly die. Here's the story of one toddler who drank it. 🧵👇 www.propublica.org/article/cali...

A Girl Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk. The State Did Little to Punish the Unlicensed Farmer Who Sold It.

California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But...

propublica.org

Just needs alt-text:

These ads go in the same category as brazen, easily disproven lies after ICE killings. It’s not about persuasion. It’s a display of power. They could have passed them off as PAC-funded. They added “paid for by the U.S. government” because they want us to know they can break the law with impunity.

Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social · 3d ago

zeteo.com/p/trumps-whi...

I’ve used the 1st edition to collaboratively build with my group the last two multi-year campaign worlds, and will be snatching this up. Also just great for hanging with creative friends and doing non-rpg creative play.

Ben Robbins is launching M2@lamemage.com · 4d ago

In one week I click the button and let slip the dogs of fractal history… Tuesday October 6 www.kickstarter.com/projects/lam...

To quote the late and great MF DOOM: “If yer gonna hate, might as well get yer rumors straight.” Apt words when it comes to your L.A. team and its ownership group. The full guide: lataco.com/fascist-la-s... By @afroxander.bsky.social and Ivan Ehlers

Look having the entire roster of FBI agents leak isn't a front-page newsworthy security failure meriting front page coverage the same way having some of your emails to Anthony Weiner's wife be discovered on Anthony Weiner's laptop was

Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · 5d ago

The most amazing thing is that this is like a page 29 story across the US

'The humanist view of life is progressive and optimistic, in awe of human potential, living without fear of judgement or death, and finding enough purpose and meaning in life , love, and leaving a good legacy.' Humanists UK Vice President Polly Toynbee. Great themes found in any #HumanistBookshelf

Kash Patel should resign in disgrace. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...

God I hate being right.

Casey S. Pumpkins 🎃@caseyexplosion.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Heritage Foundation laid out how they were going to rescind Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, by first targeting trans people's participation in sport. Capitulating on the human rights of transgender people is catastrophically falling at the first hurdle.

An Oklahoma family was forced to abandon their home after it filled with slick, black goo, reaching gas concentrations at explosive levels. Despite ample evidence of oil and gas pollution, state regulators say they cannot help. (Published May)

Oily Sludge Is Flooding Their Dream Home. Oklahoma Regulators Say They Can’t Help.

The Merediths were forced to abandon their house after it filled with black goo, reaching gas concentrations at explosive levels. Despite evidence of oil and gas pollution, the state “wanted to act li...

propublica.org

WHAT THE FUCK??