virginia. listen to me. if you won't do it for democracy, do it for spite, and if you won't do it for spite, do it for 82yo state senator l. louise lucas

everyone with real American manliness and a basic knowledge of military history knows that serious war efforts have never been derailed by such trifling matters as "communicable diseases"

surely no army in military history has ever been laid low by disease, a famously uncommon problem among people living in enforced close quarters

Donate to Care for Santana During This Difficult Time, organized by Hanna Garth Santana Guerra recently learned of the passing of their mother in California. … Hanna Garth needs your support for Care for Santana During This Difficult Time

a grad student in my department has lost their mother. on top of the sudden, devastating, and unexpected grief they are also beset with a series of unexpected financial expenses. please consider donating what you can and/or circulating this fundraiser www.gofundme.com/f/care-for-s...

Arthur outside Gay’s The Word holding Jacob’s Transition Goals

Arthur inside Gay’s The Word holding a copy of Jacob’s Transition Goals

My book is out now!!

Jacob’s Transition Goals is a positive, hopeful story about an 8 year old transgender boy who loves football. In today’s political climate, trans joy is so needed - you should grab a copy!

You can buy Jacob’s Transition Goals in LGBTQ+ bookshops and online all over the world

Alexander Kustov @akoustov Matt nails it: "the point of journalism [or science!] is the outputs—bringing facts to light—not the process." Most slop is still human slop. AI just made it impossible to ignore. So, the Q isn't whether to use AI, but how to use the best tools available to reduce human slop. Quote Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias · 20h The case for more AI in journalism

"the point of journalism (or science) is the output, bringing facts to light, not the process"

is definitely something to say.

dear Virginia, don’t forget to vote yes today to fuck over the GOP, Trump, and all his corrupt and evil goons. they started shit, this is a big step towards us finishing it

I think I'd like to teach a class on hate-watching sometime. Beyond the catchy topic, the point would be to investigate all the different reasons students dislike certain films and what they say about us personally, culturally, politically, etc. What would you assign in such a class?

“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so th...

We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose.

“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a man in California wrote.

(Published Dec. 2024)

it's never population level interventions like clean water and public vaccinations, it's always like experimental telomere injections made from rare goat balls

Actually... the new GitS... the ScarJo one. THERE's a good hate-watch. Technically impressive. Faithful-ish to the original. Even had some nods to Innocence. Goes along with Starship Troopers & adaptations that hate their source material... cuz my god... the wrongness of that film.

Yeah, at first I was just "I think he's missing something about class in this exponential curve thing that's problematic" and then I got to grad school, started doing research and was suddenly eyeballs deep in eugenics going "Oh.... OOOOOOOHHHHH... yikes."

unless and until republicans agree to a ceasefire in the form of strict anti-gerrymandering provisions: fuck them to hell, squeeze every last drop of blood from the stone, lock them out of every seat you can

Basically, just watch Alita: Battle Angel or the '95 Ghost in the Shell and you'll get a better version of it.

I mean, it's *mostly* Kubrick, just with Spielberg's glossy finish. And it's not great, even before the ending. Haley Joel Osment is good, and so is Jude Law, and the effects are pretty fantastic for 2001, but its mostly just dull.

This fucking book is why I'm here in academia, lol. Now every time I go back to it I'm just like "Who's we!?" *goosememe-dot-jaypeg*

No, I'm not bitter about the last 10 minutes of a *checks IMDB* twenty-goddamn-five-year-old film that wasn't that good before the ending got stupid... why would you think that?

JUST BECAUSE IT'S A PINNOCHIO PASTICHE DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED AN ALIEN FAIRY GODMOTHER TO MAKE HIM A "REAL" BOY!

grrrrrackumfrackum....

Yeah, I get that. Better a well-made film that lands wrong than one that doesn't land because it's shoddy. I can also see difficulty making sure they catch the tonal shift... would it turn them off and would they see why?

I could definitely rant for an entire class about the end of A.I. tho...

“I went ahead and made a browser extension.

Kill Yr Substack intercepts every Substack link (even on custom domains) and redirects it to `archive.is`.

Substack's numbers go down. You still get to read the thing tho.”

what a great workaround 🤗

The Jerusalem Cross is a symbol of the Crusades. Disingenuous people argue it’s “just a representation of Christianity and not bigoted”

But we all fucking know the Crusades was about massacring anyone that wasn’t Christian.

Pete Hegseth has a HUGE one tattooed on his chest

It’s a symbol of hate.

I'm thinking about films ruined by changing the director or creative vision partway through. Spielberg's absolutely baffling ending of A.I. after Kubrick died (film shoulda ended with HJO praying to the blue fairy), or Jackson's rushed mess of Hobbit films after GDT left. There must be more of them.

Will Ferrell as elf saying I like social studies. Social studies is my favorite

George Washington crossing the Delaware saying to his crew. Whoever is humming the Jaws theme is going to get slapped

A cartoon making fun of historians being unwilling to recognize same-sex relationships

How does the British museum have so many incredible artifacts compared to other museums? the secret ingredient is crime.

The History Club students decorated their office door and I have to say their meme game is pretty strong. #HistorySky #AcademicSky

Hey Virginia! If you haven't voted yet, please make a plan to vote YES tomorrow. 6am -7 pm! I believe in you.

we owe our evolutionary success to our social behavior; interdependence is our species' primary survival strategy. it's isolation that will get you killed in an apocalyptic scenario, not the other way around.

Aux output

Infowars logo with The Onion replacing the ‘O’ and the whole thing in rainbow, lgbtq colors.

*Chef kiss*

Beautiful @bencollins.bsky.social! Absolutely beautiful!

Today I turn 89. I’ve seen this country at its best and its worst, and I know how much community matters. For my birthday, I’m asking you to stand with PFLAG and support the work that’s helped so many in the LGBTQ+ community, including me. give.pflag.org/page/95493/d...

Tomorrow!

Comics are literally the best art form