remember when Sheryl invited a bunch of feminist bloggers to dinner and they all wrote nice things about her airport book being the future of feminism

Sarah Szalavitz💡@dearsarah.bsky.social · 21h ago

Lean In To Fascism

I’m beginning to wonder if “science” reporter is actually a misnomer. There’s nothing scientific about asking 1600 people which stories they like better and then assuming that AI writes better than humans. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

AI-generated stories rated better quality than human-written ones, study finds

Researcher says simpler writing by AI is easier to read and digest, but this does not mean human authors are obsolete

theguardian.com

Seems to be a lot of pearl clutching happening on MSNBC

jesus along with all the other threats right now... be careful, portland...

one of my all-time favorite disgruntled reviews of THE ODYSSEY long precedes the movie & comes from my partner. His take: “Odysseus is a shit sailor. There was very little ocean to cross to get home”

Noticing some folks seem to think writers just say clever things without understanding how the world works, as if we're all naifs who just happen to be good with words instead of people with formal educations and a professional interest verging on requirement in the ability to conduct research

and the rockies, and new england, and a surprising % of the people in the ice+flood zone of the piedmont/appalachian south. it's almost like there's some utility in reliable 4WD cars (and for that matter, socialism!)

Imagine getting dismissed as dilettantes by the <checks notes> The New Yorker

Lorraine Berry@lorraineberry.bsky.social · yesterday

The New Yorker has decided that the Democratic faithful who have begged the party to change are “Subaru socialists,” in case you’re wondering how it’s going.

The New Yorker has decided that the Democratic faithful who have begged the party to change are “Subaru socialists,” in case you’re wondering how it’s going.

Yep. Earlier this year I was interviewed by Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes about my Epstein investigation. Subsequently, CBS pulled the segment and fired the reporter. The MAGA buyout of media is aiding the Trump administration’s Epstein cover up.

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · yesterday

Banks permitted millions in suspicious transactions tied to Epstein—and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had the story months ago. But the report would never air. trib.al/ZShZlIS

There’s a word for the people in Washington state who want girls to pull down their pants to have their genitals checked: PEDOPHILES

Some writers love the "retype the novel from scratch" second draft step from REFUSE TO BE DONE. Some hate it. Almost no one is doing it to a 311,000-word first draft, an absolutely ridiculous situation I'm prepping to embark on. (This isn't the novel coming out in 2028! This one will be... later.)

If you think Modi isn't a fascist you either need to understand words better or politics better but first you need to start by asking your high school for a refund because you have been cheated

gent-lemanjim.bsky.social@gent-lemanjim.bsky.social · 2d ago

Modi is not a fascist, idiot, and he's being elected because the opposition is a pathetic 🤡 and he's someone who's actually speaking the language of the aspiration class.

MATEWAN is film that all of you should watch. It's a masterpiece that's more relevant now than it was in 1987.

‘A reminder of why we have unions’: Matewan writer and director on the film’s lessons for the labor movement

John Sayles’s 1987 film, which dramatizes a 1920 labor conflict, shows how class solidarity can overcome prejudice

theguardian.com

ICE has killed another person.

El Salvadoran Man Held by ICE at Delaney Hall Dies, Family Says

The detainee had an extensive medical history, including epilepsy, according to a lawsuit. He had complained about his face and hand going numb just before his death, his mother said.

thecityreporter.nyc

More options from the Seattle Times:

How to help Spokane residents during the wildfires

Looking to support people affected by the Spokane-area wildfires? Here's how you can help.

seattletimes.com

The H.O.M.E. fund is also taking donations to help people impacted by the fires:

H.O.M.E. Starts Here Donations

Donations to the H.O.M.E. Starts Here Fund go directly to supporting services for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

my.spokanecity.org

I also can't figure out if HEART of Spokane is active at present but they might just be too busy to update their site and socials! And they probably need help too:

and a local news station has a list of organizations that need donations:

Where to donate money, supplies to help the thousands of Spokane wildfire evacuees

As crews continue battling the Old Trails, Fairview and Autumn Lane fires that sparked in Spokane County on Saturday afternoon, officials say the blazes have no

komonews.com

this is really, really bad, and Spokane is ... not exactly on the national radar. I know there are infinite people and places that need help, and everyone's resources are finite, but some options if you are so inclined:

NPR@npr.org · 2d ago

Wildfires in Spokane have destroyed hundreds of homes and led to evacuation orders for 60,000 people. n.pr/3Sbed19

It’s a whole ass tragedy that our paper of record actually hates Seattle and regular Seattlites so bad that they try to sabotage the objectively best mayor we’ve had since I’ve lived in city boundaries

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 3d ago

TL;DR: The Seattle Times editorial board is showing its entire ass. They are desperate to have Katie Wilson fail, and they're willing to make up bizarre conspiracy theories to facilitate that outcome.

Just realized that the 9 cups of coffee (one of the Seattle companies) I drank yesterday while writing contained 1540 mg of caffeine which might explain my heart’s all-day extra 30-50 bpm average. #writing

Wrote, paused, wrote for 14 hours yesterday. Today: I appear to have melded with the couch and cannot get up

This has easily become my most important and urgent podcast listen of the day. Claudia Rankine on Between the Covers.

David Naimon@davidnaimon.bsky.social · 2d ago

Don't miss Claudia Rankine's return to Between the Covers to discuss her powerful new book TRIAGE Audio⚡: milkweed.org/between-the-... @graywolfpress.bsky.social

Today I discovered that a letter attributed to a man was actually written by Ann Bathurst, the 17th-century visionary woman I’m researching. 🤩 Archival work might be slow and painstaking but it’s totally thrilling to be going in search of lost voices from the past and finding them! 📚

CARTOON OF THE DAY (if you know who made this let us know)

I made dinner for a man who abused me more times than I can count thinking I could fix things. It never stopped the abuse. It created the expectation that he could do whatever he wanted and then be fed. Max Miller is trash. If the GOP won’t say it, I will.

There’s a word for the people in Washington state who want girls to pull down their pants to have their genitals checked: PEDOPHILES

This is obscene. Truly obscene.

Dr. Lucky Tran@luckytran.com · 3d ago

I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.