No washing instructions. Try gentle cycle first, little duck.

This was the sign I should have made.

bsky.app/profile/book...

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Ruby-crowned kinglet photo by Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-..., via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a black pillow in a black chair. Two slightly angry looking cat eyes stare out from the pillow’s lower half

the vengeful pillow

by Edward Gorey

Those astronauts feel weightless because they are in free-fall towards the Earth. They would eventually feel the full effects of the planet's gravity, but the capsule is in a fast enough in orbit not to hit the ground anytime soon.

Not that RFK Jr could wrap his one brain cell around that.

Whenever I buy a bottle of aspirin or whatever there's always a panel on the label called DRUG FACTS.

It's never, like, a fascinating deep dive about Timothy Leary or the guy who inspired Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne".

I keep hoping in vain.

The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?

those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media

my latest for @newrepublic.com

newrepublic.com/article/2042...

In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.

Seattle No Kings from the monorail

The Seattle Public Library already has 18 on order, so I placed a hold on, seemingly, number 15. I hope that helps; I figured they'd already have it on order, but maybe they'll order more!

Trans women transferred to men’s prisons despite rulings against Trump’s order Incarcerated trans women report being groped by male guards and suicidal thoughts: ‘I’m punished for existing’

More bad news/reasons to pay attention.

CW: anti-trans violence, specifically against transwomen in prison.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Transgender People and “Biological Sex” Myths NOTE: In 2024, I released a talk-length YouTube video entitled Trans People and Biological Sex: What the Science Says that covers this…

Two (2!) essays, one written, one as video, on the complexities of "biological gender" from Julia Serano. For, you know, extra credit. And learning!

juliaserano.medium.com/transgender-...

youtu.be/ZymYiwoRoC0

Trans People are Under Attack and We Must Help Them YouTube video by Rebecca Watson (Skepchick)

And some encouragement to speak out against attacks on trans rights from Rebecca Watson, geekily famous cisgendered woman:

youtu.be/mbyNLXgrgIw

www.facebook.com/eriktrips/po...

Character limits can bite my..

If the template on commenting on passport policies for trans folks looked as garbled to you as it does to me, just go to the link in this next comment:

That this policy is even being considered is a collosal waste of energy that would be better spent addressing actual problems.
[/comment copy-paste]

This will cause delays for the State Department in processing passport applications and create confusion at border/customs stations around the world, while doing nothing to protect American interests at home or abroad

increasing dangers for citizens whose gender presentation does not match their passport's stated sex.

[comment copy-paste]
I am opposed to this policy change.
This passport policy will solve no problems whatsoever, and will waste taxpayer's time and money. It is meant solely to harass a small number of US citizens by making it difficult for them to travel internationally,

[copy-paste]
DS form number: DS-5504
Information collection title: Application for a US Passport for Eligible Individuals: Correction, Name Change to Passport Issued 1 Year Ago or Less, and Limited Passport Replacement
OMB control number: 1405-0160
[/copy-paste]

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Application for a U.S. Passport for Eligible Individuals: Correction, Name Change to Passport Issued 1 Year Ago or Less, and Limited Passport Replacem... The Department of State has submitted the information collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we a...

bit.ly/comment-ds5504

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: U.S. Passport Renewal Application for Eligible Individuals The Department of State has submitted the information collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we a...

bit.ly/comment-ds82
[copy-paste]
This comment regards the following proposed regulation change:
DS form number: DS-82
Information collection title: US Passport Renewal Application for Eligible Individuals
OMB control number: 1405-0020
[/copy-paste]

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Application for a U.S. Passport The Department of State has submitted the information collection described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we a...

bit.ly/comment-ds11
[copy-paste]
This comment regards the following proposed regulation change:
DS form number: DS-11
Information collection title: Application for a US Passport
OMB control number: 1405-0004
[/copy-paste]

3 Copy and paste the comment between [comment copy-paste] tags --or write your own!
4 You can submit the comment as an individual, an organization, or anonymously. If you comment as an individual, you will need to enter your name, but any other information is optional.

Each proposed policy has its own comment form. So, for each of the URLs below:
1 Click 'Submit a Public Comment'--it's in the first few lines of the page
2 Copy and paste the information between [copy-paste] tags

First, how to comment, as it is not immediately obvious from the links given above:

Gender Liberation Movement MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: until March 17th, the public comment period is open on the changes to gender markers on passports. Let's FLOOD the State Department with comments expressing why accurate...

Crosspost from FB, slightly condensed:

I would say that if you give a damn about trans folk then it is time to speak up, but truly, if you give a damn about anyone who is being targeted by this administration, it is time to speak up. Because it will not end here.

www.facebook.com/genderlib/po...

The beautiful thing about it is how Baldwin patiently measures out his anger at their Euro-liberal distress, giving them a lesson in reality and making this very short film more consequential than the director/interviewer ever had in mind. It's an amazing trick he turns.

It is currently steaming on the Criterion Channel and on MUBI, which can be found on Amazon Prime and on AppleTV.

Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris — Black Film Archive Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris The tension between the filmmakers and James Baldwin in this short documentary is deeply distracting. However, the...

It's Black History Month no matter who says otherwise.

Here is a short film from 1970 on James Baldwin. It will tell you whether you'd like to read more of him or not.

Myself, I have watched it more than once: I fall in love every single time.

blackfilmarchive.com/Meeting-the-...

@stevenhenryfisk.bsky.social found you.