The govt has fired *all* the immigration attorneys representing detained children and given a $150 million contract to a 26-employee law firm in Texas with ONE immigration attorney. @theyoungcenter.bsky.social's Child Advocates are now the last line of defense for kids in deportation hearings.

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins@ajcousins.bsky.social · 10h ago

Wanna help? Become a Waymaker! We're running, walking, cycling 20,000 miles in September to raise money to get immigrant kids out of detention and back with family. Someone who kayaks to work is dedicating his miles to Waymakers! A salsa dance class is counting steps! It all counts! #BeAWaymaker

One of the great joys of my adult life has been realizing that I can just pick up a new skill every so often, take a fun little class in it weekly for a year or two, and simply enjoy meeting people and getting medium proficient and not attempting to become professional in it at all!

I heard “inshallah and the creek don’t rise” the other day.

It's a slow, agonizing death as the corporate doctors and lawyers run out the clock because it's cheaper to deny benefits than it is to help a dying man breathe. Chris Hamby won a Pulitzer in 2020 warning us about this:

Soul Full of Coal Dust

In a devastating and urgent work of investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby uncovers the tragic resurgence of black lung disease in Appal...

hachettebookgroup.com

Mountain State Spotlight@mtnstspotlight.bsky.social · 14h ago

New study: Black lung disease rate in Appalachia is the worst in nearly 50 years as coal miner protections stall — from @pubhealthwatch.bsky.social and @npr.org mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/08/05/b...

In 1986, contracting HIV meant you were going to die, usually slowly, painfully, and alone. Now it's a chronic illness like hypertension. In 1986, gay and lesbian couples couldn't have their relationships legally recognized and had to adopt elaborate legal workarounds.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 23h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

Commentary from Jim Branscome and Bill Bishop: When the last reporter leaves: Kentucky’s spreading news desert kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/05/w...

When the last reporter leaves: Kentucky’s spreading news desert • Kentucky Lantern

In the late summer of 1974 somebody set fire to the Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg. It survived arson, it may not outlive the death of rural newspapers.

kentuckylantern.com

The most terrifying enshittification I've discovered has been learning that Microsoft Word documents no longer auto-save if you are not saving them to one of their own proprietary cloud services. I'm slapping control-S like it's 1999.

It’s true. I got real sick in May, so we ate heat-and-eat food for a month. It was cheaper than our regular menu, decently healthy, and far tastier than it would have been in 1986.

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 23h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

Your community may be losing federal funds to fight HIV. The government is rerouting millions from frontline HIV prevention groups to state health agencies — which, experts say, can't get resources to high-risk groups as effectively. Read our full story here: 19thnews.org/2026/08/hiv-...

I would like to propose the Taco Bell Principle When a person/institution Did A Problem, & IMMEDIATELY fesses up & takes proactive steps to solve it That's exactly what we want them to do? So how bout we let them live ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sarah Taber@sarahtaber.bsky.social · 3w ago

A quick word on Taco Bell: That's where we found the suspected lettuce, and it's not bc Taco Bell is gross. It's bc Taco Bell is REALLY GOOD at tracing product! Keeping track of exactly where they got their ingredients, & exactly what restaurants each shipment of ingredients went to!

at one point I did, in fact, calculate how much land area and water it took to make a new outfit for a person out of linen, and then calculated how frequently every person on the spaceship could have one---turned out to be something like one new outfit every two years

Louisa@louisathelast.bsky.social · 2d ago

I’m gonna say virtually all authors need to get serious about textiles. Who is weaving them? Out of what? Who’s turning them into clothes and how much does it cost and do you have any idea how HARD all of that was before modern mills

(addendum: if you want to read the book, it's called "the lost subways of north america". if you get a copy directly from me, i'll sign it for you)

The Lost Subways of North America

Official website for Jake Berman's book, "The Lost Subways of North America," containing transit maps and his writings on cities.

lostsubways.com

I have just been sent the transcript of a deposition my grandmother gave in 1977 while she was serving as an expert witness in a series of tribal rights cases and let me tell you, if nothing else this is proof that I come by it honest for every conceivable value of “it”

Relatedly: If you're a college professor, and you assume that all of your students can type quickly, efficiently, and accurately on a keyboard, you're almost certainly wrong.

Jess Calarco@jessicacalarco.com · 3d ago

I wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵

Late century party in the water belt: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis.

Harvey J. Miller@mobileharv.bsky.social · 3d ago

Cincinnati has developed a Climate Migration Readiness Plan to absorb as many as 525,000 newcomers by 2050. It calls for building much denser housing, expanding public transit and decreasing the city’s reliance on fossil fuels.

More -new- Dispatches coming this month so keep watching. I just haven't decided if I want to do more labor history or roast Jesse Watters and Kegseth. (Also if you feel like kicking in you can always do so here)

Support Coyote Wallace

Support Coyote Wallace

ko-fi.com

As autistic ppl increasingly become aware of being autistic, those who learn from blogs & social media tend to have *more accurate* autism knowledge: link.springer.com/article/10.1... but they don't rely on social media to make decision but to find community: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... 5/

Brief Report: Learning About Autism: Is the Source of Autism Knowledge Associated with Differences in Autism Knowledge, Autism Identity, and Experiences of Stigma - Journal of Autism and Developmental...

People on the autism spectrum can learn about autism from various sources, likely differing in the information, portrayal, and discussion they offer. The present study investigates where autistic peop...

link.springer.com

Autistic teen girls especially are increasingly diagnosed, so much so they are driving increases in autism diagnoses in US: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... & in Sweden by young adulthood diagnoses almost reaches parity with men: www.bmj.com/content/392/... Achievement for underrecognized group. 2/

Autism Spectrum Disorder Incidence by Age and Sex, 2016 to 2024

This cohort study investigates incidence trends of autism spectrum disorder from 2016 to 2024 to quantify the temporal patterns before and after diagnostic substitution and the COVID-19 pandemic.

jamanetwork.com

If whoever occupies that Longaberger basket building doesn't take advantage of the event opportunities around the release of the Wicker movie, they do not deserve the lease.

All they kinda had to do was John Wick with vampires. Deacon Frost puts an all out hit on Blade. Hell I would even take The Raid with vampires. Blade fighting his way through Dracula's castle Either premise is just an hour and 20 minutes of Blade doing cool fights

Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Bisexual of the Blade (Alt-text or DIE)@shengokai.blacksky.app · 5d ago

Listen. I'm gonna say the quiet part out loud: the only way you "can't figure out" how to make a Blade movie is white supremacy. Full stop. The narrative writes itself, there are plenty of Black actors and martial artists who'd jump at the chance. It's not rocket surgery.

One way to fight back out of the gate is to banish “efficiency” as a goal or value. Cop: feeds suspected plagiarism into the automated plagiarism detector Teacher: “Welcome to being Maximally Perceived within a creative community as we joyfully interrogate each creative choice out loud!”

Yep 100%! That's because those are jobs the local gentry can't gatekeep. So if you ever wondered why local leaders in rural areas keep getting rid of schools & medical services & thought "That makes no sense!" Now you know why they do that. Public services bring people they can't control. 💀

Mom for Gliberty@fakegreekgrill.bsky.social · 5d ago

It's also notable that rural areas with some sort of middle class employment center tend to be much less right wing. Places with colleges, federal projects, etc. Even the conservative small towns with the hospital or county seat are usually a bit less stiflingly right wing.

Stay in shape kids! You may need to pick elderly relatives up off the floor every day!* *for the last two days in a row, anyway

Grace Hill@gracehill.bsky.social · 6d ago

I would rather be responsible for four children under five than four parents in their seventies. Three who refuse to leave their unsuitable house Two with mobility issues One who cannot stand I am so fucking tired.

only in WVa do we get a logic chain that runs 'we don't want a new power plant because it'll put the coal plant out of business -- fuck the customers who will pay for it instead of the data centers' wvmetronews.com/2026/07/29/f...

I remember a time when you needed a backhoe cutting a fiber line to knock out service for this many customers

Copper theft at St. Albans Optimum site knocks out service for 18,000 customers

The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office estimates about $1,000 worth of copper were stolen.

wsaz.com

Companies are all in on selling folks the idea that it’s in your best interest for your products to “know you” as if you are getting a dedicated servant but what you are really getting is a spy.

GM to launch its own in-vehicle AI system later this year

General Motors plans to launch a proprietary in-vehicle artificial intelligence system that's better tailored for its customers later this year.

cnbc.com

can't speak to classics but appalachian studies was enthused

Claire E. Aubin@ceaubin.com · 5d ago

A real question: were classicists acting this insane about O Brother, Where Art Thou when it came out

Heyo! I've got a release today---see two elves get schmoopy while they figure out how to make a ship fly www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVGJXQ5Y

‘Where’s he at?’ WV flood survivor says government should do more to help  westvirginiawatch.com/2026/07/31/w...

'Where’s he at?’ WV flood survivor says government should do more to help  • West Virginia Watch

WESTON, W.Va. —  On July 21, it took 45 minutes for flash floods to destroy three houses in Jason Mulholland’s family. The home he shared with his wife and the nearby homes of his two sons, 33 and 29,...

westvirginiawatch.com

THE CLEARING (2004) Oil on Panel - 28” x 18” This interior illustration for The Dark Tower (Book 7) by @stephenking.bsky.social is a scene from a chapter entitled “In the Haze of Green and Gold,” which set the tone for the color scheme. 1/2 #art #booksky 🪐📚