If our TV networks had not been captured by the right wing, some very easy journalism would be to play this clip besides a very not on fire Portland and then tell viewers that the President of the United States is living in an alternate reality.

With our new issue, we are making the sad announcement that this will be the final year for On Spec. See www.onspec.ca for details.

Thinking about that time I got quoted in the National Review about Bari Weiss

I just saw a headline: "Hack of age verification firm exposes user information" and that's A HUGE PROBLEM. This is why age verification isn't doing what you think it is. It's creating databases that child predators will actively go after.

And thank you for saying it!

Just bc a book contains a protagonist between 10 and 30, especially a female protagnoist, doesn't mean it's YA. Just bc the book is written by a woman (or someone you incorrectly assume is a woman), doesn't make it YA. Just bc a book is fun, written colloquially, or has romance doesn't make it YA.

that johnson is more terrified of seating a duly elected democrat who could force an epstein vote than having the entire government shut down really makes me wonder about that epstein vote tbh

I'm at the scene where ICE abducted multiple people from Lincoln and Foster this morning.

A WGN producer was among the people taken, allegedly because she was among a group of bystanders who tried to intervene. ICE agents hit this car while making their getaway.

Tell them they’re being scammed by oligarchs.

Blessed are the frogs, for they keep making authoritarians look incredibly stupid

One curious thing on this site about speaking out against the encroachment of LLMs is that inevitably you get accused of being anti-tech. I don’t hate technology. I’ve used machine learning in my own code before. But I also recognize that oligarchs are so hellbent on pushing this tech for a reason.

Are you and all your friends ready to vote in this election?

Some may not even realize NJ is electing a Governor and state Assembly on Nov. 4. And that Democrat Mikie Sherrill is running against a Trumpist!

Registration deadline is this Tuesday. Check to be sure you're registered! nj.gov/vote

The president says there are very few stores left in Portland, Oregon, and the ones that are left are made of plywood.

I know we’re numb to this, but in any other time he’d have been removed by the 25th Amendment by now

She’s adorable and I adore her!

Not a Pink Lady, but a white fluffy lady with orange- and brown-tabby spots!

If folks don't want a triggered response, how about not triggering folks with trauma/anxiety?

A couple of years ago I was hired by to write a kids' book which featured a Black family.

It was one of the most fun things I'd ever written.

It was pitched to many publishers.

Feedback was great.

Guess how many publishers picked it up?

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

I still think the most accurate and consistent way to think about generative AI is that, in every instance, people exclusively use it for tasks that they don't have any respect for or give a shit about.

RIGHT, I think I've got bibliography up to date except for some weird bugs that are with my webmaster
BTW, in case you missed it, I've got two free stories:
-Angsty f/f Annatar/Celebrimbor
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-...
-Death, grief, letting go and dragons: frictionlit.org/descendant/?...

any product that depends on the long term stability of its maker is inherently defective

Gutted about On Spec. They were my first publishing venue that wasn't a school magazine/university magazine/teens' writing competition, and the editing there was always friendly, helpful and supportive.

onspec.ca/2025/10/09/t...

"The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Friday sent a letter addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump requesting he visit their cities, both of which were devastated by U.S. atomic bombs in 1945, during his trip to Japan scheduled for the end of October."

Wow, way worse than I expected. Way, way worse. All these extra years of coal-fired power generation in QLD will directly cause a massive number of avoidable deaths and harm to people, and destroy huge swathes of nature.

Why isn't there more anger?

www.treasury.qld.gov.au/files/Queens...