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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 3h

Fucking solid thread

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

All I want in life is to persuade everyone, when encountering politics & culture, to ask, "why are we talking about this?" I mean that very literally: anything you encounter on your screens reflects a choice. Someone covered that, talked about that, rather than the many other things out there. Why?

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VeroOoOnica Wraith @veronicarothbooks.com · 9h

When people ask me what I think about using AI in writing I’m going to send them this screenshot

A screenshot of a post that reads David Simon, creator of *The Wire*, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro, NPR

And then a screenshot of a conversation that goes like this:

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 8h

Cuomo ad just came on at the laundromat and people are visibly laughing.

Can’t believe they aren’t being won over by the idea that this corrupt old man will physically fight for them.

A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 1d

Honestly, coloring book + sand timer. Once the timer is going all I’m allowed to do is write or color. Means I can usually start writing in 2-5 minutes instead of 2-5 hours. Kind of stupid, but mostly it works so I’ll take it.

Quintessa Knight @quietblkgrl.blacksky.app · 1d

Q13: What’s been your favorite tool as a writer?

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Robbie @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 1d

Getting into the Halloween spirit with medieval books at the Morgan Library.

Image of skeletons attacking men in a medieval book

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 4d

Just got jump scared by my own cat lying quietly in one of his favorite spots in the apartment.

Not quite sure how I’ve survived this long in this world if I’m honest.

A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 4d

As someone raised on 90s Sesame Street, I have been activated.

Ready to report wherever the muppets need me.

A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 4d

There was an older woman on the train listening to her phone w/o headphones at truly the loudest setting I have ever encountered.

She watched exactly one clip from 90s Seasame Street w/ the most intense look on her face then put her phone away.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 9d

I mean I can go home now, so objectively I shouldn’t complain, but come on, really?

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 9d

Timers are the stupidest executive function hack. Like I’m grateful when it works for my students or whatever but when it works for me I get SO MAD.

Like what, I just have myself fifteen minutes and then did all the impossible clean up in eleven minutes? Fuck off.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 9d

Norton is giving me notifications suggesting that the videos I’m watching are likely AI literally every three seconds. Like no Norton, I don’t think this year old yoga video is AI, tho her work was prolly used to train it.

Shits gotta be rough for folks with a tenuous grip on truth/reality.

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Nghi Vo @nghivo.bsky.social · 10d

1-866-952-4456 to tell Netflix that in no way do you want Elon fucking Musk determining what you watch.

I just called, got through in about 15 seconds, and told them that I strongly support queer inclusion in their programming and that I will cancel my subscription if they cave.

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 10d

1. Led by Elon Musk, the far-right has exploded in a campaign to get Netflix to remove shows with queer and trans characters.

If Netflix capitulates to their demands, an already strained market for LGBTQ+ animators might become even more dire.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Elon Musk Leads Campaign To Force Netflix To Remove Shows With Trans Characters

Musk's posts have been seen by tens of millions of users, and many conservatives are now attempting to force Netflix into a removal of LGBTQ+ content.

www.erininthemorning.com

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 10d

There is a reason we outlaw this shit and I am desperately hoping we get a backlash. Been fucking infuriating watching the way these fuckers target even my students, who are literal children.

Zero societal benefits that I can see all so assholes can make a buck on vulnerable pple.

John Gramlich @johngramlich.bsky.social · 10d

% of US men under 30 who say legal sports betting is a *bad thing* for society

22% in 2022
47% in 2025

No other demographic group has seen a bigger increase.

Americans increasingly see legal sports betting as a bad thing for society and sports

Today, 43% of U.S. adults say the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the country is a bad thing for society, up from 34% in 2022.

www.pewresearch.org

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 13d

These scripts are GREAT and these calls are EASY and ESSENTIAL. Call your senators and reps today and tell them to vote against ANY bill that contains cuts to trans health care.

#DidThisToday

emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 26d

so: what do we need you to do? two things.

1.call your D/I senators. find contact info here: reps.fyi

what do we need you to say? try the call script below. adapt it; make it your own! there are bailout points written in, in case you get nervous. but please *call.* 🧵

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm one of Senator [THEIR NAME]'s constituents. House Republicans are trying to insert a multiple articles of anti-trans legislation, including a full transgender healthcare funding ban, into the F-Y '26 budget. I'm calling to tell the Senator to stand up for trans Americans and vote NO on any bill with that language. This IS worth forcing a shutdown.

[you can stop here at 0:20 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

This care funding ban follows the map the G-O-P charted while attacking abortion. Democrats lost that fight by giving in to the G-O-P an inch at a time. Giving an inch at a time on trans care will devastate trans Americans and it'll get Democrats nothing in return but contempt.

[you can stop here at 0:40 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

Right now, the most popular Democrat in the U-S, [Zo-RAHN Mom-DA-nee], is campaigning on making trans healthcare cheaper and easier to access, and he's only got more good will because of it.

[you can stop here at 0:50 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

I'm asking the Senator to refuse to allow any anti-trans language including a healthcare ban in the F-Y '26 bill. Do not vote for any bill with that language. This IS worth forcing a shutdown. Standing with trans people is the right thing to do and it's politically smart. Voters and donors show up for Democrats who fight.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 13d

As someone that lives across from a beer garden, I can confirm that we have entered Oktoberfest season.

I have made peace with the amount of accordion in my life over the next six weeks.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 14d

This thread is also true of secondary education. Basically all the problems AI “solves” in education come from increasingly bureaucratic bs (mostly ed tech systems and unfunded mandates tbh) or having way more kids than it’s practical to teach.

Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 14d

Giving students thoughtful, personalized feedback and instruction is not a problem that originates from the difficulty for an instructor to generate feedback, it is a problem that originates from institutions pivoting to student:instructor ratios where that dynamic is not logistically feasible.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 15d

There is no measured way to say what I am about to say.

If the Supreme Court agrees with the Trump administration to end birthright citizenship, we must end this current Supreme Court.

I do not say this lightly.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 19d

Tbh I think it weirdly makes him look more vibrant? Like w/o the orange, it’s very apparent he’s an old sick man.

The orange gives “fuck you, I choose my own aesthetic” vibes, which distracts from the fact that he’s hella old. And most pple are into Trump at lead in part for the fuck you energy.

A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 19d

Also prolly good to specifically mention that trans rights are fucking non-negotiable given how hard the regime is going after trans folks rn.

Marie Brennan @swantower.bsky.social · 20d

Call your reps/senators & tell them: DO NOT cave to the craptastic Republican budget, which cuts health care even further. Is a shutdown bad? Yes. Is going along with their agenda worse? YES. Hang this disaster around their necks, not ours.

(Remember, you can call after hours if you're nervous!)

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Summer Sandiego @summerasana.bsky.social · 19d

DOOMERS ARE NOT REALISTS!

That is so true and so important. They’re not more realistic; they’ve just decided to obey in advance.

Gwen Snyder is undead @gwensnyder.bsky.social · 20d

I cannot emphasize this enough:

The regime has overextended itself. It is vulnerable to protest and dissent.

They have not consolidated power and we are entirely capable of keeping them from doing so.

Doomers are not realists.

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 20d

Breaking: Jimmy Kimmel to return Tuesday.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 22d

Obviously ghoulish but even outside of the concerns around AI and consent, this kind of thing is so bad for the culture.

When we worship the dead like this, we shut out opportunities for the living. People have the right to exist in their own time and be in convo w/ other real humans.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 22d

Still not over the time one of these guys chased me barefoot trying to steal my ice cream while my mom laughed at me. But, you know, I’m happy for them.

Good lil’ guys. Don’t take off your shoes. Don’t let them see your ice cream.

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 24d

Blue iguana climbs back from the brink. Grand Cayman’s blue iguana, once down to fewer than 25 individuals, now numbers more than 1,000 in the wild. Captive breeding, habitat restoration and community engagement reversed what was nearly a Caribbean extinction. CNN buff.ly/GKiJpcz
#ShareGoodNewsToo

The ‘blue dragon’ is back from the brink | CNN

Habitat loss and invasive cats and dogs pushed blue iguanas to the brink of extinction. Now, thanks to ongoing conservation efforts, populations are on the rise.

buff.ly

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 23d

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 29d

reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle

One thing that has become really clear since yesterday is that we live in at least two different realities. Talking to a friend who only knew Charlie as a Christian motivational speaker because that's all that ever came across her feed. Showed me videos I've never seen before of him saying perfectly reasonable and empowering things.

I showed her videos she'd never seen before of his racism, misogyny, homophobia, advocating for violence against specific groups of people. She was horrified by his remarks about Pelosi's husband's attacker being bailed out and celebrated for his violent act. She was horrified by a number of things that he said, but she had never seen or heard them before, the same as I had never seen or heard the generalized clips of him sounding like a perfectly nice loving man and father.

Neither of us had a whole picture of this man. I mentioned he was a known white supremacist and she thought I was joking.

She talked about him giving a speech about finding your purpose and doing good in the world and I thought she was joking.

I saw why this friend was mourning the loss of a person she thought was a good person.
My friend, bless her, saw why I feel the way I do about him. We understood each other better. In spite of a multi-billion dollar internet machine specifically focused on keeping us apart. Because we talked to each other with the desire to listen and to learn rather than the desire to change someone else's mind or to be "right".

None of those motivational things he said change my opinion about him because they don't erase the negativity, the subtle calls for violence, the belittling and denigrating of other races religions genders etc. His negative and blaming comments about homeless people, the poor, and victims of domestic violence. His comments about rounding up people who didn't think like him and putting them in camps where their behavior could be corrected. That time he said empathy was a made-up word he didnt believe in. That other time he said the Civil Rights Act was a mistake. The time he said most people are afraid when they get on a plane and see that there's a black pilot. His anti-vaccination rhetoric and his active campaigning against people being allowed to wear masks for their own health. His open support of fascism and white supremacy. To me, all of those are fully unchristian sentiments. Those are undeniable and just one of them would be a deal-breaker for me. All of them together are a picture of a man who was polarizing,

enraged a lot of people and rightly so, but even with all of that I would never wish upon him or especially his children the end that he got.
Oh, and my friend had never heard, and God help me I don't know how she escaped the news, but she had never heard of the Minnesota legislators who were shot in June. The husband and wife and dog who were killed, one after throwing themselves over their child to protect the child. The other couple who somehow survived.

Politically motivated attacks specifically because they were democrats. She learned about those shootings that happened months ago because I showed her Charlie Kirk's comments about them. The kidnapping plot against a female Midwestern Democratic governor. The assassination attempt against Pennsylvania's democratic governor. All things Charlie had plenty to say about while supporting the Second Amendment and bashing the Democratic party. She didn't know about any of it because we're all living in two different worlds and none of us have the whole story.

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A. E. Lanier @aelanier.bsky.social · 29d

Okay but what if I try this?

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