Woof. Not a fun thing to navigate on top of the reasons for having to navigate it! Blergh.

We got audited EVERY time we claimed my moving expenses for education. EVERY time. Over similar pennies. It’s bonkers all around. I’m so, so sorry. Frustrated for you!

*not just* - it also happens to those of us in the sticks 🤪

Yup. And it’s not in the podunk places many use to wave away the issue as not a thing - it’s often just as likely to happen in “Big City Caucus” places. Woof.

My LinkedIn feed is just *full* of nonsense from The Hub and I am continually shocked when people I know are (or thought were) smarter than that keep resharing or supporting it 🫠🙃 Ooof.

Would also make folks less vulnerable/better able to suss out the snake oil of those who gain the “fast influence” noted in the original post… broader & better civic education is really the only cure for the latter 🙃

Part of why I think I we need mandatory training for folks *before* running for office (+ their advisors) - so many run campaigns based on platforms that include items that are literally illegal and we then spend half of their term trying to delicately educate from across the council table.

Or better yet: make GenAI about an assault on civics. Because if you are selling a product that necessarily attempts to con one person into believing they are engaging with another person when they are not, you’re not just ruining education. You’re dismantling society’s foundations in social trust.

Framing GenAI as a battle between teachers and students is a red herring. Students and educators are on the same side. The real opposition are the data extraction firms and brokerages and their allies among the managerial class.

(Good try with the grade incentive though!)

Similarly, my first "oh no, I am old" moment was out wine tasting a few years ago and all the gorgeous young things around us were struggling in heels and outfits they were always pulling up or down and I just kept thinking "oh, my darlings, wear what you want, but that seems so uncomfortable!"

Well, Mr. Manager, they came for dinos and they want dinos! *stomp*

(And how great to be a source of joy for so many tiny (and tall) peeps. My Dad always wore a very lush Santa hat all December, mostly for that same joy it sparked in others. Micro joys are how we survive macro grief, as they say).

Dan, my heart!