luminiferous aether
@aetherluminiferous.bsky.social
they/them.
"Fountain," I have cried to that unbubbling well, "I will not drink of thy water!" Yet I thirst
For a mouthful of—not to swallow, only to rinse my mouth in—peace.
"Fountain," I have cried to that unbubbling well, "I will not drink of thy water!" Yet I thirst
For a mouthful of—not to swallow, only to rinse my mouth in—peace.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
It's kind of hard to look away when you understand that everyone involved deserves to be miserable
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
It's kind of hard to look away when you understand that everyone involved deserves to be miserable
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Absolutely no way to read this and not conclude that the Department of Justice has been deeply corrupted. And this is from a time when career lawyers were in place, pushing back against illegality. With firings and resignations, the politicization will just get worse.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department (Gift Article)
Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Absolutely no way to read this and not conclude that the Department of Justice has been deeply corrupted. And this is from a time when career lawyers were in place, pushing back against illegality. With firings and resignations, the politicization will just get worse.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by luminiferous aether
"average suburban democrat wants half the administration to rot in prison until the end of time" actualy just statistical error. Average dem wants them all to burn in unending fire. Bodhisattva Georg, who is filled with total compassion for all beings, is an outlier adn should not have been counted.
your average suburban democrat wants half the administration to rot in prison until the end of time, and anyone more moderate than that position is unlikely to hold office for very long
November 18, 2025 at 2:35 AM
"average suburban democrat wants half the administration to rot in prison until the end of time" actualy just statistical error. Average dem wants them all to burn in unending fire. Bodhisattva Georg, who is filled with total compassion for all beings, is an outlier adn should not have been counted.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
It's not about her tone. It's about what she DOES. Switching from belligerent to the "nice nasty" of racist evangelicals doesn't change anything for the people she continues to hurt!
Folks really think it's not bigotry or cruelty as long as a person stops screaming and takes the hood off.
Folks really think it's not bigotry or cruelty as long as a person stops screaming and takes the hood off.
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
It's not about her tone. It's about what she DOES. Switching from belligerent to the "nice nasty" of racist evangelicals doesn't change anything for the people she continues to hurt!
Folks really think it's not bigotry or cruelty as long as a person stops screaming and takes the hood off.
Folks really think it's not bigotry or cruelty as long as a person stops screaming and takes the hood off.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
One, MTG hasn't truly apologized. Two, unless that woman is a former Parkland student, Jewish, or the lightest ****ing Black person on earth, there's no apology for her to accept because nothing was done TO HER. Three, MTG has not moved away from any part of the current bigoted Republican platform.
Yall genuinely fall for and forgive anything. When they look like you. And that is why we are here. This woman is a fucking monster. But sure I guess because she said sorry with a fucking pinky swear.
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 AM
One, MTG hasn't truly apologized. Two, unless that woman is a former Parkland student, Jewish, or the lightest ****ing Black person on earth, there's no apology for her to accept because nothing was done TO HER. Three, MTG has not moved away from any part of the current bigoted Republican platform.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
I know a couple self-pub authors (not naming you but you know who you are lol) who diligently registered copyright on 50+ books and while I'm jealous of their foresight I can not wait for anthropic to have to cut them a six figure check.
November 18, 2025 at 4:41 AM
I know a couple self-pub authors (not naming you but you know who you are lol) who diligently registered copyright on 50+ books and while I'm jealous of their foresight I can not wait for anthropic to have to cut them a six figure check.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
the way I am putting every single author I know in a headlock over the next few months.
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:40 AM
the way I am putting every single author I know in a headlock over the next few months.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
revisiting my 2024 interview with @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social about ben smith/nuzzi/journalism ethics, which i think aged quite well: www.thehandbasket.co/p/david-folk...
November 18, 2025 at 4:09 AM
revisiting my 2024 interview with @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social about ben smith/nuzzi/journalism ethics, which i think aged quite well: www.thehandbasket.co/p/david-folk...
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Right up there with his assertion that Republicans are now the party of upper-class tax increases
ben smith’s take from last year when the nuzzi/rfk story first broke aged like cheese on a dashboard
November 18, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Right up there with his assertion that Republicans are now the party of upper-class tax increases
Reposted by luminiferous aether
blog.kagi.com/slopstop
Kagi believes that AI bullshit is bad, unless it's their AI bullshit, then the CEO yells at you personally for calling it bullshit
Kagi believes that AI bullshit is bad, unless it's their AI bullshit, then the CEO yells at you personally for calling it bullshit
Introducing SlopStop: Community-driven AI slop detection in Kagi Search | Kagi Blog
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Your collective defense against AI-generated spam and content farms
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blog.kagi.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:48 AM
blog.kagi.com/slopstop
Kagi believes that AI bullshit is bad, unless it's their AI bullshit, then the CEO yells at you personally for calling it bullshit
Kagi believes that AI bullshit is bad, unless it's their AI bullshit, then the CEO yells at you personally for calling it bullshit
Reposted by luminiferous aether
this is all because actually-existing conservatism is utterly discredited and exhausted so that the only options for young conservatives are to assimilate into liberalism ie stop being conservative ie stop being wrong, or rejuvenate through fascism ie embrace being wrong and pursue brute domination
I think it's important to confront the fact that, for the most part, to be male, under 28, and "conservative" is to be an actual Nazi. There are exceptions, but that's what they are. Exceptions.
I wrote a piece a few weeks ago claiming antisemitism was on the verge of going mainstream. It was clear to me that most people had trouble buying it.
That's understandable. But it's happening.
Example: Conservatives themselves are now saying that 30 to 40% of Zoomers in Washington are Groypers.
That's understandable. But it's happening.
Example: Conservatives themselves are now saying that 30 to 40% of Zoomers in Washington are Groypers.
November 12, 2025 at 4:51 AM
this is all because actually-existing conservatism is utterly discredited and exhausted so that the only options for young conservatives are to assimilate into liberalism ie stop being conservative ie stop being wrong, or rejuvenate through fascism ie embrace being wrong and pursue brute domination
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Like maybe don’t make jokes about this online that you wouldn’t make in front of the survivors. It’s a big internet and you don’t know who is reading what you write.
November 12, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Like maybe don’t make jokes about this online that you wouldn’t make in front of the survivors. It’s a big internet and you don’t know who is reading what you write.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
news blitzes like this are rough on survivors, be mindful of how you talk about this stuff. and please remember that the victims exist and should be a part of these conversations and at the front of our minds when having them.
1. i hope something comes of the epstein thing for the sake of the victims
2. i'm sensibly skeptical
3. i'm a little put off by how giddy everyone is in a way that has nothing to do with the victims
4. no one with history should see phrases like "child rape" this often
5. idek what to mute
2. i'm sensibly skeptical
3. i'm a little put off by how giddy everyone is in a way that has nothing to do with the victims
4. no one with history should see phrases like "child rape" this often
5. idek what to mute
November 12, 2025 at 3:27 PM
news blitzes like this are rough on survivors, be mindful of how you talk about this stuff. and please remember that the victims exist and should be a part of these conversations and at the front of our minds when having them.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Chiming in, along with everyone else, to remind you to please talk about survivors as survivors, as people who experienced something horrible when they were very young and are still around to hear you talk about it, rather than as punchlines or points scored.
November 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Chiming in, along with everyone else, to remind you to please talk about survivors as survivors, as people who experienced something horrible when they were very young and are still around to hear you talk about it, rather than as punchlines or points scored.
Reposted by luminiferous aether
i fear those other methods not working was the point 😔
confused about why literacy rates in the United States are plummeting? the answer is infuriating: poor literacy amongst the working class benefits oligarchs & other fascists.
check out this short video from Michael Parenti on how reading is a revolutionary act:
check out this short video from Michael Parenti on how reading is a revolutionary act:
November 12, 2025 at 1:00 AM
i fear those other methods not working was the point 😔
Reposted by luminiferous aether
ok one last post -- oldheads are always going to "why is the web dying.... how can we get the kids invested in the free and open web"
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
November 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
ok one last post -- oldheads are always going to "why is the web dying.... how can we get the kids invested in the free and open web"
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
Reposted by luminiferous aether
my patience has increased but I will say, it is ok to have trouble reading, it is not ok to scream at people for things you imagined they said because you can't read what they actually said
November 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
my patience has increased but I will say, it is ok to have trouble reading, it is not ok to scream at people for things you imagined they said because you can't read what they actually said
Reposted by luminiferous aether
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
Reposted by luminiferous aether
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:18 PM
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
Reposted by luminiferous aether
To spell a few things out, in terms of being a trans freelance journalist in 2025 ...
In general, if anyone's enjoying my work and wants to help me keep it going, this year I've begun taking tips from you all (which has been a huge help): buymeacoffee.com/sandyallen
Thanks!!!
Thanks!!!
Sandy Ernest Allen
I'm a journalist and the author of A KIND OF MIRRACULAS PARADISE (Scribner). I also write a self-care-focused newsletter called What's Helping Today. Thank you for your one-time or monthly contributio
buymeacoffee.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:31 PM
To spell a few things out, in terms of being a trans freelance journalist in 2025 ...
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Anyway, sexual violence is both a model for how power operates in the larger world and a privilege assumed to belong to those in power. Enjoy your dinner!
November 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Anyway, sexual violence is both a model for how power operates in the larger world and a privilege assumed to belong to those in power. Enjoy your dinner!
Reposted by luminiferous aether
deranged pitch for a VTM game: a game set in Austin, a city whose new upstart Prince is an ersatz Joe Rogan who has set himself up as the warlord of the regional stand-up comedy scene
November 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
deranged pitch for a VTM game: a game set in Austin, a city whose new upstart Prince is an ersatz Joe Rogan who has set himself up as the warlord of the regional stand-up comedy scene
Reposted by luminiferous aether
I hope they sue and win a million dollars
Girl, 13, expelled for hitting classmate who made a deepfake porn image of her, lawyers say
A 13-year-old student was expelled from a Louisiana middle school after hitting a male classmate who she said created and shared a deepfake pornographic image of her, according to her family’s lawyers...
www.wsaw.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I hope they sue and win a million dollars
Reposted by luminiferous aether
Honestly, until like the 1970s or 1980s, people have held the attitude that adult men having sex with teenagers is "normal" and "biologically wired." They still believe it, they just learned to stop talking about it openly at some point.
Conservatives when it's a 15 year old in library; "These are children and I can't believe we are letting them read smut like Twilight!!!"
Conservatives when it's a 15 year old sex trafficking victim; "Looks, these people are practically legal. Barely legal even"
Conservatives when it's a 15 year old sex trafficking victim; "Looks, these people are practically legal. Barely legal even"
November 13, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Honestly, until like the 1970s or 1980s, people have held the attitude that adult men having sex with teenagers is "normal" and "biologically wired." They still believe it, they just learned to stop talking about it openly at some point.