There is no ethical consumption of Harry Potter. And not in the usual "no ethical consumption under capitalism" way. In the "your fandom is now comprised of hate symbols" way.

s. e. smith@sesmith.lol · 2h ago

JKR explicitly said she considers anything Potter-related, even fan-made, endorsement of her politics. And every time you engage with this franchise, you signal to the industry that there's still money in it and they should keep pumping out content from full-cast audiobooks to book box partnerships.

JKR explicitly said she considers anything Potter-related, even fan-made, endorsement of her politics. And every time you engage with this franchise, you signal to the industry that there's still money in it and they should keep pumping out content from full-cast audiobooks to book box partnerships.

Harry Potter has been on the NYT Children's & Young Adult Series list for NINE HUNDRED AND FIVE WEEKS, in case you're wondering whether anyone gives a shit about giving the terf queen their money. And know that every pull to publish, fanfic, tattoo, pin, whatever the fuck keeps these books relevant.

In Tucker’s recent interview with his favorite Holocaust-denying “historian,” TC is shocked to learn that the Bolsheviks erected a statue to Judas in Moscow. The only problem is, there is no evidence that this ever happened. But who cares about evidence when you have a fascist narrative to push?

some coverage connected Blanche's comment to the Comstock Act but tbh and I say this as that Comstock girl: I don't believe the thinking is that even that clear on his part, and I think what he's gesturing at could be something worse

I wrote about how weird and bad it is to have a future AG going around claiming he'll make Dobbs "permanent in every single state"—unless he understands Dobbs to be a national abortion ban, and thinks his job is to force states to comply

Todd Blanche Is Claiming That He Can Ban Abortion In Any State

As he fights to be confirmed as attorney general, Blanche is trying to appease Christian-right groups with wild legal theories about restricting abortion.

newrepublic.com

After WIRED contacted Meta about the ads, they were removed for violating policies on child sexual exploitation. However, the researchers kept finding more of the ads—including duplicates of those reported. Hours before we published, they found another 30, including multiple that were 'live' ads

Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.

wired.com

Our story details how, researchers at the @ttp-updates.bsky.social stumbled across a batch of ads—including face swapping a minor into a sexual act—after publishing a report on "nudify" ads on Meta last week. The researchers reported the findings to US clearing house, NCMEC

Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.

wired.com

This is the second time in as many months when Meta's ads have been linked to child sexual abuse material—a BBC investigation last month looked at Instagram ads www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Reports *today* suggest Zuckerberg apologized to officials about this www.scmp.com/news/asia/so...

Zuckerberg apologises to India over child sexual abuse content on Meta platforms

The Meta Platforms ⁠CEO also apologised for deepfake content and operational ‌lapses on the company’s platforms, according to a report.

scmp.com

NEW: Over the last few months, Meta has run dozens of paid ads that included AI-generated CSAM. The ads, some of which were linking out to “nudify” apps, targeted men in the US, UK, and a dozen European countries. Some were running in the last few days

Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.

wired.com

"As of Tuesday, none of the [8] stolen cameras have been found." 😃🌟🎉

Every Flock camera in Winona has been cut down and stolen

The cost to replace each camera and pole is approximately $3,000.

bringmethenews.com

read history benbellabooks.com/shop/ludicro...

Ludicrous - BenBella Books

Ludicrous lays bare the disconnect between the popular perception of Tesla and the day-to-day realities of the company.

benbellabooks.com

in 2016 Elon Musk said he would build a fully automated factory in Fremont, California for the upcoming Model 3 and he then spent on the order of $2 billion on production lines that didn't work, forcing Tesla to assemble cars by hand in a tent but sure, now he's gonna do it on the moon

Abbas issued a statement concerning the private meeting he held with Kamala (in June, not July, the statement coming on July 1st)

Abbas' grandmother in Lebanon had her home destroyed by an Israeli airstrike this year. (Photo from the Alawieh social media team)

Abbas went on the record in late 2024 that he would vote for Kamala Harris even though she refused any of the demands and asks of pro-Palestine organizers, including the bare minimum of having a Palestinian speaker at the DNC or accepting the invitation to meet with Arab families in Michigan.

The co-founder of the 2024 National Uncommitted Movement, Abbas Alawieh, decisively won his primary to become a State Senator in Michigan. Abbas was endorsed by both Bernie Sanders and Gretchen Whitmer. Abbas Alawieh also privately met with former VP Kamala Harris last month upon her request.

Do cis people understand that these laws effectively are forcing trans people to use the bathrooms that *don't* match their gender identity and presentation? That this will make them a target for not just mistreatment but violence?

I will say, I used to admire London for example quite a bit, a city I loved visiting. Now, I cannot imagine wanting to visit the UK again, as a trans person. As with many red states in America, I just wouldn't feel safe doing so.

Ultimately, the goal is to punish trans people and to exclude us from (public) life. It's working, I fear. In the UK and beyond, I sense, too many cis people are still clueless as to how these bigoted laws will really impact people — and already are.

My heart is broken for trans/gnc folks in the UK, who are being so tormented. I do hope cis folks in the UK start waking the fuck up. What vile bullshit.

At the time, I was nonbinary identified and not yet on T. I didn't feel safe in men's rooms nor women's rooms. And so I wondered, what should be done about this? Given that human bodies don't fit neatly into two boxes, why do we pretend this is sufficient when designing public bathrooms?

Efforts to police bathrooms are evil and will impact peoples' health. Segregated bathrooms themselves must be done away with, it's the only solution. I reported this question out, years ago for @99pi.org 99percentinvisible.org/episode/wher...

Where Do We Go From Here? - 99% Invisible

Sandy Allen is a reporter and writer. They live in upstate New York and they often go into New York City to run errands and go to meetings. But when they go out, finding an accessible bathroom can be ...

99percentinvisible.org

Here's my Cosmo piece about how segregated bathrooms have impacted my own health www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a6...

Avoiding Public Bathrooms Damaged My Bladder—Now, As a Trans Man, I’m Finally Letting Go

Inside the emotional and physical toll of holding it in.

cosmopolitan.com

Sandy Ernest Allen@sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 7h ago

Efforts to police bathrooms are evil and will impact peoples' health. Segregated bathrooms themselves must be done away with, it's the only solution. I reported this question out, years ago for @99pi.org 99percentinvisible.org/episode/wher...

I think we can agree that AI detectors are out. But universities are ignoring the fact that faculty cannot really out-design assessments to meet the challenges of this moment. We need sustained institutional support to be the best teachers we can be, and we aren't getting it.

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 3h ago

AI Detectors Are Out, New Assessments Are In A growing number of universities have prohibited AI detectors, arguing they are ‘unreliable’ indicators of cheating. But where does that leave faculty, who know all too well that cheating is rampant in the age of AI? https://bit.ly/4wGitF7 #EDUSky

Might be helpful to read today's column in conjunction with this one, from January, as they point to the same root cause: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

At the root of all our problems stands one travesty: politicians’ surrender to the super-rich | George Monbiot

There are many excuses for failing to tax the ultra-wealthy. The truth is that governments don’t tackle the problem because they don’t want to, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

As an aside, if any other professionals were as incompetent as certain journalists, they'd be sacked and disbarred. But in the rightwing press, gross incompetence appears to be a qualification. After all, without its bullshitters for hire, how else would capital deny, deflect and distract?

My column on how capital becomes a death cult. Faced with a choice between profit and human life, the radical right chooses profit. Then it tries to persuade us that mass death is what we want. It's the new phase of climate denial: accept your fate, earthlings. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Murderous heat, an endangered food supply, decimated landscapes: embrace the Mediterranean life | George Monbiot

As climate disaster stares us in the face, the radical right says ‘Embrace the Mediterranean life’. Embrace death, more like it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

BOURDAIN (voiceover): I found myself surrounded by discarded objects. An empty soda can, a dead battery. Life becomes death. But death can become life. The simmering pot with its spicy aroma in front of me is proof. BOURDAIN: What's in this dish? ME: Pikmin BOURDAIN: Pikmin. Oh man that's good.

I'm so mad about this.

Bela Lugosi's Dad 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸@belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 9h ago

We're literally just letting the richest man in the world commit vandalism on an extraplanetary scale.