Isaac Cates
@drisaac.bsky.social
“Senior Lecturer” (UVM English) in poetry, comics, writing, etc.; sometime drawer of comics, sometime writer of poems; trying to return to the world
Some projects here:
#DailyKrazyDetail
#FourActorFactor
#OrwellVsChatGPT
#WILtVG
Some projects here:
#DailyKrazyDetail
#FourActorFactor
#OrwellVsChatGPT
#WILtVG
Pinned
Isaac Cates
@drisaac.bsky.social
· Nov 15
If you’d like to read my essay about George Orwell, writing by machines, and our current nihilism about meaning, I offer you the entire zine in this thread.
I will finish the thread with instructions on how to print your own copies of the zine.
#OrwellvsChatGPT
I will finish the thread with instructions on how to print your own copies of the zine.
#OrwellvsChatGPT
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Roses are red
Violets are blue
When he is dead
We’ll drink the night through.
Violets are blue
When he is dead
We’ll drink the night through.
February 14, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Roses are red
Violets are blue
When he is dead
We’ll drink the night through.
Violets are blue
When he is dead
We’ll drink the night through.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Brooklyn Park, MN, yesterday
On X, I'm seeing claims that, in Brooklyn Park, a blonde woman posed as a stranded motorist. She was purportedly actually ICE and arrested at least one (brown) person who stopped to help her. There are photos of the woman.
Can anyone verify this story?
On X, I'm seeing claims that, in Brooklyn Park, a blonde woman posed as a stranded motorist. She was purportedly actually ICE and arrested at least one (brown) person who stopped to help her. There are photos of the woman.
Can anyone verify this story?
February 14, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Brooklyn Park, MN, yesterday
On X, I'm seeing claims that, in Brooklyn Park, a blonde woman posed as a stranded motorist. She was purportedly actually ICE and arrested at least one (brown) person who stopped to help her. There are photos of the woman.
Can anyone verify this story?
On X, I'm seeing claims that, in Brooklyn Park, a blonde woman posed as a stranded motorist. She was purportedly actually ICE and arrested at least one (brown) person who stopped to help her. There are photos of the woman.
Can anyone verify this story?
Reposted by Isaac Cates
SoTL is 35.
Loved how Clarice was visibly scared as she decided to stay with Catherine Martin & take Buffalo Bill on. She would rather be anywhere else but that would be leaving a fellow woman to die. She’s still one of the most complex, vulnerable, smart & brave female protagonists in genre cinema.
Loved how Clarice was visibly scared as she decided to stay with Catherine Martin & take Buffalo Bill on. She would rather be anywhere else but that would be leaving a fellow woman to die. She’s still one of the most complex, vulnerable, smart & brave female protagonists in genre cinema.
February 14, 2026 at 11:37 PM
SoTL is 35.
Loved how Clarice was visibly scared as she decided to stay with Catherine Martin & take Buffalo Bill on. She would rather be anywhere else but that would be leaving a fellow woman to die. She’s still one of the most complex, vulnerable, smart & brave female protagonists in genre cinema.
Loved how Clarice was visibly scared as she decided to stay with Catherine Martin & take Buffalo Bill on. She would rather be anywhere else but that would be leaving a fellow woman to die. She’s still one of the most complex, vulnerable, smart & brave female protagonists in genre cinema.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Oh my GOD King County Public Health is just wilding out for Valentines Day (and a lovely one).
February 13, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Oh my GOD King County Public Health is just wilding out for Valentines Day (and a lovely one).
Reposted by Isaac Cates
#OTD in 1975, humorist P. G. Wodehouse died.
Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._W...
Books by Wodehouse at PG:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho...
#books #literature
Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._W...
Books by Wodehouse at PG:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho...
#books #literature
February 14, 2026 at 2:10 PM
#OTD in 1975, humorist P. G. Wodehouse died.
Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._W...
Books by Wodehouse at PG:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho...
#books #literature
Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._W...
Books by Wodehouse at PG:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho...
#books #literature
Reposted by Isaac Cates
It snowed enough to sculpt a fat little tyrannosaurus today!
February 14, 2026 at 12:53 AM
It snowed enough to sculpt a fat little tyrannosaurus today!
Reposted by Isaac Cates
I'd like at add a few things to this. (1) humanists have not been able to convince any political party that curiosity-driven humanities research is a public good that should be funded using tax dollars. Republicans don't believe this, but neither do Democrats.
It's possible to do a non-reactionary critique of the current landscape of humanities research funding: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Does humanities research matter anymore? (opinion)
The rapid collapse in available research funding is one crisis in the humanities we aren’t talking enough about, Asheesh Kapur Siddique writes.
www.insidehighered.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:57 PM
I'd like at add a few things to this. (1) humanists have not been able to convince any political party that curiosity-driven humanities research is a public good that should be funded using tax dollars. Republicans don't believe this, but neither do Democrats.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Happy Valentine’s Day, from us to you. Tag your exes. Xoxox
February 14, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Happy Valentine’s Day, from us to you. Tag your exes. Xoxox
Reposted by Isaac Cates
We could literally have, like, healthcare instead of this. And roads and education and strong infrastructure. And commerce, actual jobs doing stuff and making things because people would be able to afford to buy them. And maybe putting cute little hearts on lattes for happy tourists who feel safe.
Breaking news: ICE expects to spend $38.3 billion on its plan to acquire warehouses across the U.S. and retrofit them into immigrant detention centers that can hold tens of thousands of people, according to agency documents.
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion converting warehouses into detention centers, according to planning documents, more than the annual budgets of 22 states.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:29 AM
We could literally have, like, healthcare instead of this. And roads and education and strong infrastructure. And commerce, actual jobs doing stuff and making things because people would be able to afford to buy them. And maybe putting cute little hearts on lattes for happy tourists who feel safe.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
we were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the catnip began to take hold
February 14, 2026 at 2:41 PM
we were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the catnip began to take hold
I have been having a ton of fun teaching a group of a dozen undergrads how to hear and to write in traditional meter this year.
They are good at it! They understand a lot of nuance! They surprise me!
They were fixing each other’s anapests in workshop today!
They are good at it! They understand a lot of nuance! They surprise me!
They were fixing each other’s anapests in workshop today!
Just taught a classroom of undergrads, few if any heading on to grad work in the humanities, about medieval manuscripts. The magnificent thingness of the books impressed them, every bit hand-made, entirely unique and unreplicable. The fascination is there but fewer and fewer trained to teach to it.
February 14, 2026 at 1:37 AM
I have been having a ton of fun teaching a group of a dozen undergrads how to hear and to write in traditional meter this year.
They are good at it! They understand a lot of nuance! They surprise me!
They were fixing each other’s anapests in workshop today!
They are good at it! They understand a lot of nuance! They surprise me!
They were fixing each other’s anapests in workshop today!
Reposted by Isaac Cates
"I think camp counselors should save drowning children instead of having sex"
February 13, 2026 at 9:03 PM
"I think camp counselors should save drowning children instead of having sex"
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Trump posted a video depicting the first Black president and his wife as apes and his excuse for this is that it's a riff on The Lion King, a movie that does not feature any apes. Somehow this was a one-day story and we've already moved on.
February 13, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Trump posted a video depicting the first Black president and his wife as apes and his excuse for this is that it's a riff on The Lion King, a movie that does not feature any apes. Somehow this was a one-day story and we've already moved on.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Because it needs to be said aloud:
This is white supremacy in action.
Because it’s not just collapsing together gender studies and ethnic studies.
It’s collapsing together Asian, Black, and Latino studies. It flattens these into a single *thing* that is defined by its nonwhiteness.
This is white supremacy in action.
Because it’s not just collapsing together gender studies and ethnic studies.
It’s collapsing together Asian, Black, and Latino studies. It flattens these into a single *thing* that is defined by its nonwhiteness.
February 13, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Because it needs to be said aloud:
This is white supremacy in action.
Because it’s not just collapsing together gender studies and ethnic studies.
It’s collapsing together Asian, Black, and Latino studies. It flattens these into a single *thing* that is defined by its nonwhiteness.
This is white supremacy in action.
Because it’s not just collapsing together gender studies and ethnic studies.
It’s collapsing together Asian, Black, and Latino studies. It flattens these into a single *thing* that is defined by its nonwhiteness.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
Actual footage of Vince Guaraldi performing "Linus and Lucy". I'm gobsmacked that this exists, but utterly thrilled too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EMf...
Vince Guaraldi - earliest television recording of "Linus and Lucy"
YouTube video by Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc.
www.youtube.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Actual footage of Vince Guaraldi performing "Linus and Lucy". I'm gobsmacked that this exists, but utterly thrilled too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EMf...
Reposted by Isaac Cates
It’s not a withdrawal until ICE is abolished.
I have neighbors everywhere.
I have neighbors everywhere.
February 12, 2026 at 2:37 PM
It’s not a withdrawal until ICE is abolished.
I have neighbors everywhere.
I have neighbors everywhere.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
*examines bucket list*
Ah-ha!
*ticks off "see a squirrel fart"*
Ah-ha!
*ticks off "see a squirrel fart"*
February 12, 2026 at 3:09 PM
*examines bucket list*
Ah-ha!
*ticks off "see a squirrel fart"*
Ah-ha!
*ticks off "see a squirrel fart"*
Reposted by Isaac Cates
A good thing about AI slop like the Cruise/Pitt fight thing is that it highlights just how repetitive and soulless MANY movie fight scenes are. They might as WELL be slop.
Some top-of-my-head things to keep in mind to make your fights human:
- Incorporate the environment (cont) 1/
Some top-of-my-head things to keep in mind to make your fights human:
- Incorporate the environment (cont) 1/
February 12, 2026 at 12:25 AM
A good thing about AI slop like the Cruise/Pitt fight thing is that it highlights just how repetitive and soulless MANY movie fight scenes are. They might as WELL be slop.
Some top-of-my-head things to keep in mind to make your fights human:
- Incorporate the environment (cont) 1/
Some top-of-my-head things to keep in mind to make your fights human:
- Incorporate the environment (cont) 1/
Reposted by Isaac Cates
patient: doctor, i’ve tried everything i can think of!
doctor: have you considered reaching out to your elected representatives? that should do the trick
patient: but doctor i am chuck schumer!!!!
doctor: have you considered reaching out to your elected representatives? that should do the trick
patient: but doctor i am chuck schumer!!!!
February 11, 2026 at 8:52 PM
patient: doctor, i’ve tried everything i can think of!
doctor: have you considered reaching out to your elected representatives? that should do the trick
patient: but doctor i am chuck schumer!!!!
doctor: have you considered reaching out to your elected representatives? that should do the trick
patient: but doctor i am chuck schumer!!!!
Reposted by Isaac Cates
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:18 PM
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
Reposted by Isaac Cates
My counterpoint to Mr Roberts would be that it is great that everyone here hates AI.
February 11, 2026 at 11:58 PM
My counterpoint to Mr Roberts would be that it is great that everyone here hates AI.
Reposted by Isaac Cates
OpenAI fired one of its top safety execs, on the grounds of sexual discrimination, after she voiced opposition to the controversial rollout of AI erotica in its ChatGPT product.
OpenAI told her the term was related to her sexual discrimination against a male colleague.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
OpenAI told her the term was related to her sexual discrimination against a male colleague.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Exclusive | OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination
Ryan Beiermeister, who served as the vice president leading OpenAI’s product policy team, had raised concerns about the upcoming launch of erotic content.
www.wsj.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:48 PM
OpenAI fired one of its top safety execs, on the grounds of sexual discrimination, after she voiced opposition to the controversial rollout of AI erotica in its ChatGPT product.
OpenAI told her the term was related to her sexual discrimination against a male colleague.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
OpenAI told her the term was related to her sexual discrimination against a male colleague.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...