Thanks to @tolkienpop.substack.com for an excellent, eloquent, and quick response to a very disappointing article in the @tolkiensociety.org's most recent issue of Amon Hen, written by an AI professional and Palantir investor. tolkienpop.substack.com/p/an-open-le...

An Open Letter to the Editors at Amon Hen

This is my response Regarding the Decision to Feature Tom Martin’s “The Palantír of the 21st Century: Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”

tolkienpop.substack.com

Tremendously disappointed to see the AI piece in this months issue of Amon Hen. Putting aside the whole "Tolkien would never" arguments, the piece is simply bad. Its a deeply dishonest take on AI and a poor interpretation of Tolkien's work.

@tolkiensociety.org Didn’t expect having Palantir apologia from…an investor in Palantir…published in Amon Hen 🤦🏽‍♂️

Ungoliant🕷️: “In full transparency, I am also an investor in Unlight Lighting Technologies. While this article critically engages with the company's practices & societal impact, my investment does not bias my commitment to responsible Unlight development or ethical oversight.”

Setting aside important Finrod differences to agree with Jude here. You can’t write an article on the “ethics” of AI and ignore the unresolved environmental issues, and certainly NOT in a Tolkien publication (to say nothing of supporting a tech company complicit in genocide)

Jude@jude.athrabeth.com · 4w ago

Tremendously disappointed to see the AI piece in this months issue of Amon Hen. Putting aside the whole "Tolkien would never" arguments, the piece is simply bad. Its a deeply dishonest take on AI and a poor interpretation of Tolkien's work.

Put my reels and photos all into one video, so if you did not get a chance to see my trip, here it all is in one place! youtu.be/WU7xKX__iYo

MythCon Diaries: Route 66

YouTube video by J. Brice Odom_author

youtu.be

Two icons in one day.... Dolly and now Tim Curry.... Back home on Transexual Transylvania. "Don't dream it.... Be it...." ❤️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com · 4w ago

Tim Curry, the offbeat British actor who specialized in playing eccentrics like the seductive, cross-dressing scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and such fiendish villains as Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s It, has died. He was 80. bit.ly/4wOSlqy

Now that the Oxonmoot 2026 schedule is out....CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG about my secret project this year! With Dennis Massmann directing, I've been producing the (first ever I believe) staged production of "The Homecoming of Beorthnoth"!! With @erikjampa.bsky.social and Kit Hannah as our actors.

Big Readers!! Our guests presenter on Monday is none other than the fabulous @alas-not-me.bsky.social! Join us on Zoom as we continue our read through The Two Towers and hear from the author of Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring 💍

Currently reading a chapter which will go unnamed, and I really feel like....the reason I roll my eyes at most "Did you Know Tolkien was a Catholic" takes isn't because I don't think his Catholicism was unimportant. Of course it was. But it's one of the least interesting things about him?

I wanted to thread some of my favorite points but there are too many! Just listen to the episode: queerlodgings.com/episodes/car...

Never forget that the basis of all transphobic moral panics is lies and misinformation. You can’t logically argue people out of this transphobic trend because they checked logic at the door. All you can do is fight it. Don’t give the transphobes a moments peace or a platform or a hold on government.

onion person@junlper.beer · last mo.

the current transpanic can literally only properly be described as fabricated mass hysteria at this point

New episode alert! The Carpenter Biography: A Response zencastr.com/z/UkUYgESS We deep dive into Humphrey Carpenter's 1977 biography of JRR Tolkien, in particular Carpenter's treatment of Edith and their relationship/marriage. Spoiler alert: Authorial bias exists outside of the Legendarium as well!

Status quo got you fascism but more status quo will undoubtedly fix it

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

WELKER: Do democratic socialists belong in the Dem Party? JEFFRIES: What I can say is I do not support defunding the police, I do not support open borders, I do not support abolishing the Senate. We're focused on actually solving the problems hard-working American taxpayer want us to solve ...

The "centrist" think tank Third Way is looking to pay someone between $140,000 and $150,000 to spend their days trying to dig up dirt on DSA members. They're trying to sell this gig as "anti-extremism" work, which I find completely disgusting.

“Values” indeed. The only thing Carney values is keeping the comatose, wasted body of neoliberalism breathing, even if it means going on feeding the fascist vampire attached to its neck.

Trapdinawrpool@trapdinawrpool.bsky.social · last mo.

Never forget that among Carney's first actions as PM was to raise taxes on those with the least and lower them for those with the most

To friends & family still using generative AI: I understand “it’s cooking the planet” can be a bit of an abstract or far away reason to stop. So to personalise: please stop using the tech built on stealing what I’ve written and destroying the entire system I work in. If not the planet, do it for me.

Please Stop

Alt: Christina Aguilera, sitting in a red judge’s chair from The Voice, holding up her hand and saying “Please Stop”.

static.klipy.com

I've just realized that (I think) I never shared my Opinion on the Stephen Colbert LOTR filler-movie! While I expect Hunt for Gollum to be absolute dreck, this one I am CAUTIOUSLY hopeful for. But I think it can ONLY work one of two ways--

Curufin, Aredhel and Celegorm imagined racing for fun in vast plains of Valinor - they are young and happy, not yet burdened by the looming fate of their people. Character designs/outfits are informed by my previous drawings, elements directly from the lore and others of my creative preferences.

Bad photoshop jobs and badly acted amateur videos are funnier than ai will ever be.

2 (but for tea, not coffee - just a splash of milk) 4-5 2 for most cuts

Frieren, 🏳️‍⚧️ Tiefling Princess@fes4ever.northsky.social · 2mo ago

For those that need alt text

This was such a fun episode to record! Our special guest @davidthengoldo.bsky.social is awesome, and I know you are going to love this episode!

Athrabeth Podcast@podcast.athrabeth.com · 2mo ago

Join us this episode with David the Ñoldo to discuss Tolkien's dwarves! Through a lens of source criticism of secondary world authorship, David explores who is writing about the dwarves, their sources, and their biases. Thanks, @davidthengoldo.bsky.social! athrabeth.simplecast.com/episodes/epi...

Deregulation continues to go well.

US sees unprecedented number of chemical plant fatalities in past year

The 36 deaths come amid Trump administration moves to close the US chemical safety board and roll back a key chemical safety program

cen.acs.org

And he still has not blocked me on Bsky.... Nor did he ever produce any evidence/receipts of my "toxic" behaviour. Y'know, I've heard the UK has pretty serious slander laws.... 🤔

Tim@fiduch.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"I have him blocked." Um, no you don't. Not on Bsky, not on FB. You blocked me on Discord only in Oct 2024, b/c you didn't like being called out for being incredibly rude and condescending towards a POC creator.

Cool, we're being force-upgraded to the fucking GenAI/LLM assistant. I hate it here. Thanks @developers.google.com.

Credit: @slicklike007.bsky.social

You've probably noticed that a lot of right-wing ghouls love The Lord of the Rings: Giorgia Meloni, Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, many such cases. In my latest essay, I set out to put neofascist affinity for Tolkien in religious and historical context - and to show why the far right gets Tolkien wrong.

Fascism and Faërie

Fantastic Antitheses

queerandback.substack.com

Lukewarm take: Restaurant food sizes should be roughly proportional to portion size (by weight, volume, whatever). Like a 32 oz drink should cost 50% more than a 24 oz drink, not 15-25% more... Large fries should be 2x the price of medium if it's twice as many fries by weight.

Why didn't the eagles just fly Odysseus straight to Ithaca

Last week, I happily took friends visiting from the UK to visit @timhortonsofficial.bsky.social store #1 - I'm a proud Hamiltonian and it's a part of our heritage. Today, I'm swearing off anything to do with Tim Horton's until they stop supporting anti-trans bigotry. I hope many of you will join me.