I'm Jewish and if a candidate triangulated on antisemitism to win an election, I would most certainly pressure him to do better *right now* and would hope my fellow Americans would do the same. I see no reason why our trans siblings and those who support them should demand anything different.

Mike Rothschild@rothschildmd.bsky.social · 4w ago

He should be pressured. He should do better. But he has to win the election to be in the position to be pressured.

The US Web Design System is load-bearing infrastructure for thousands of government websites. It makes it easy for small teams with no resources (i.e. most .gov teams) to make usable, accessible websites that work for everyone. Today, it's as close as it's ever been to being replaced with AI slop.

This was a phenomenal, gutting read. Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/m...

In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)

A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.

nytimes.com

I did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview. IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing. Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵

This was astonishingly good, and made me cry. I highly recommend it.

David Beard@dabeard.bsky.social · last mo.

As our president tries to paint Canada as an enemy during the 25th anniversary of 9/11, it might be a good time to see "Come From Away," the story of a small Canadians town embrace of Americans stuck there after the terror attack. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af77...

This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.

SpacePrez@spaceprez.bsky.social · last mo.

The polls are super bad for Trump so he's definitely going to try to cheat www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/u...

I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain then James by Percival Everett for the Blue Sky Bookclub #bsbookclub. I've never read either book before. This thread will have my comments. #HuckandJames 🛶

Your periodic reminder that my 1991 SF Mission apt was $980/mo in today's dollars - an unaffordable sum for me then. This is what decades of NIMBY SF politics stole from you and our beloved city's creative spark

🐾

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I just finished reading this book ("Underground" by Murakami) based on your recommendation, and it was incredible. Thank you for the pointer. It was powerful in its own right, but the way it tied into Wind Up Bird Chronicle was also amazing. 🐾

It’s an actual Dream Come True for me! Today I am driving a Muni Bus wearing the iconic Landor Livery, the true colors Muni is meant to display, designed by the great Walter Landor in 1975, introduced alongside the greatest logo in transit history, the Muni Worm.

you stupid mother fucker (markwayne not eugene) we tricked the entire world into sending their smartest hardest working people here and then tricked those same people into staying permanently instead of going back to their home country you are BLOWING UP OUR SPOT

Eugene Vinitsky 🍒@eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I did not see this unhinged statement previously. These people really do not understand this country

www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/06/b... [gift link]

Emmett Till would’ve been 85 this year. A Bronzeville exhibit reflects on his legacy.

The Blanc Gallery exhibit “From Memory to Movement: Emmett at 85” brings together 11 Black Chicago-based contemporary artists to produce works that speak to the humanity of Emmett Till.

chicagotribune.com

I finished this year's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. I do not like all the Pulitzer Prize winning novels, by a long shot. Angel Down was really amazing to read, it transported me, it made me think, and I'm glad to have had that experience. 📖

They made Jimmy Carter sell his peanut farm

Andrew Lawrence@ndrew.bsky.social · 3mo ago

lol i swear to god this is an actual commercial that just ran on fox news

Celebrations paid homage to San Francisco’s Wong Kim Ark, whose 1898 Supreme Court case affirmed birthright citizenship. ”The idea that some people can keep their rights while others lose theirs is fallacious,” said Norman Wong, his great-grandson. “Citizenship is not a privilege: it is a right.”

Gabe Ortíz@tusk81.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“As children merrily played at the Willy Woo Wong playground in Chinatown here July 1 morning, the local Asian American community held a rally to celebrate the recent Supreme Court ruling affirming birthright citizenship.” americancommunitymedia.org/immigration/...

🐾 Some highlights from my literary analysis reading.

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I've been reading literary analysis of WUBC, and enjoyed: An Allegory of Return: Murakami Haruki's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Susan Fisher. NW's evil as a reflection of Japan's buried guilt resonates, a kind of historical karma. (continued)

Depression can be utterly debilitating and life threatening. I'm glad Senator Kean sought help, was hospitalized, got the care he needed, and seems to have stabilized. I hope it allows him to see that everyone deserves that chance, and that he can vote to make it so. I am not optimistic, however.

Mother Jones@motherjones.com · 3mo ago

Tom Kean Jr. sought help for depression. He hasn’t made it easy for others to do the same. The lawmaker spent nearly two decades voting against paid leave.

So he's gonna advocate for all people with depression to get four months off for rehabilitation, right? And he's gonna tell RFK jr to fuck off with his quest to limit the medication that Kean is very clearly taking to be functional?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

Rep. Tom Kean finally speaks after months away from Congress for a previously unexplained absence: "I was given the diagnosis of depression ... the doctors recommended I remain in the hospital to address my illness"

I look forward to Kean’s support for a PFML program that will allow *all* Americans to take several months of paid leave to deal with major illnesses. (Obviously, he would never.)

VoteHub@votehub.com · 3mo ago

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. returned to the House floor to address his absence, saying he has been dealing with depression. Kean has missed 142 consecutive votes.

congratulations, transphobes: the biggest perverts you know will be doing genital inspections on your children

Nancy Armour@nrarmour.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The ban is heinous for what it does to transgender athletes. But if you think cisgender girls and young women won’t be caught up in the fallout, too, you are woefully ignorant

🐾 The End! My commentary on the last chapters (which I actually read yesterday).

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Book 3 Ch 36: Duck people. May ran away from Toru's world, but Toru is trying to bring Kumiko back to his world. NW's world is terrible. So many worlds. May is experiencing some true happiness, happy for her. She also talks about hearing Toru yell for her, and some weird naked crying.

🐾 I finally caught up on reading, and all those comments are from here onward. The pacing in this book is wild.

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Book 3 Ch 28: What an interesting chapter. I can’t quite decide what it means: the hanging house being cursed and its connection with Noboru and apparent power to suck vitality from May, and May’s delusion of being Kumiko. It is like May was infected by a pathogen and can’t escape now, even far away

🐾

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Book 3 Ch 25-27: Another Manchukuo story, this time from Cinnamon. Toru's thoughts on it are, for this narrative, strangely detailed and spelled out. Very little feels left out, Toru is doing the reader's thinking for them. In the end, we aren't left with much more knowledge however. Just questions.

i don't know how to make it clearer that there are 5,000 soldiers + federal agents + the 30-odd police forces that are always here + like the oklahoma sheriff's department for some reason, in an area that is *68 square miles* and has lower crime than many of the places these folks come from

🐾

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Book 3 Ch 10-13: I’m glad May is somewhere stable, I’m worried about her. The boy in the story was Cinnamon, as I suspected. I did not suspect a beating heart in the whole though. Toru is oddly judgy of folks’ clothing now. And threats are made, lines are drawn.

It’s Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Island & issued General Order No. 3. It announced that “all slaves are free.” This story of this one event was commemorated through the diaspora of Black Americans for more than 150 years before becoming a national holiday.

🐾 Read back from here for my thoughts on the end of Book 2, and forward from here for further thoughts on the Lost Chapters. I have split-brain keeping both versions in my head.

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Book 2 Ch 15&16: May is disturbed. Like many, she "knows what is best" for Toru. Uncle has an air of realism, advice about flow, and cryptic revenge talk. As usual, Toru does what he's told. Guitar man is back, Toru feels anger, and feels split in two. A disturbing dream, where laughs are screams.

🐾 Caught up on two days of reading today. I need to figure out how the extra Japanese chapters fit in exactly.

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Book 2 Ch 14: Creta can dissociate when in pain, like Kumiko did during sex with Toru the 1st time. Lots of confusion about Noboru. Hatred as a two edged sword. And the reason I’m not even more disgusted by Toru sleeping w/ Creta is that I think she’s an aspect of Kumiko. More reality unraveling.

Pope Leo XIV casts a wreath into the waters off Spain's Canary Islands in memory of the thousands of desperate migrants who have lost their lives while attempting to cross into Europe. “Human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border,” he said in his remarks.

🐾 Go back a few posts to see all my recent thoughts.

Holly Allen@hollyallen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Book 2 Ch 8: Toru holds onto the doorknob, like he held onto the ladder, hesitant to go further down, but Mr Honda told you to go down when it is time to go down. Toru does what telephone lady tells him to do. More clues that telephone lady is Kumiko. Noboru remains judgy and dangerous.