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Braaaaaaaaains Spears

@briankspears.bsky.social

2.7K followers 1.5K following 5K posts

Senior Poetry Editor at The Rumpus (Ret.), author of A Witness in Exile (Louisiana Literature Press, 2011) and Another Poem to Love https://brian-spears.com I also crochet stuff.

brian-spears.com

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · Nov 16

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing millions of people that what they really wanted to do was argue with complete strangers on the internet 24/7.

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 11h

“Fun”

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 14h

I would bet that 70% of Republicans correlates pretty highly with the percent of Republicans who live in suburbs and rural areas and who think cities are inhabited by liberals and people of color.

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 14h

I would wear that shirt

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Reposted by Braaaaaaaaains Spears

Solomon @solomonmissouri.bsky.social · 14h

I'm definitely IN this tweet

Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 14h

There's a tshirt I've been thinking about a lot lately that reads "It's so weird being the same age as old people."

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 18h

Might make some of those encounters around the sandwich area kind of spicy.

Reposted by Braaaaaaaaains Spears

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 22h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

Hat tip to whoever chose the photo for this piece.

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

Ex-NFL star Herschel Walker confirmed as first U.S. Bahamas ambassador in nearly 15 years reut.rs/4nz4psg

Ex-NFL star Herschel Walker confirmed as first U.S. Bahamas ambassador in nearly 15 years

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed former NFL star and political candidate Herschel Walker to serve as the United States' next ambassador to the Bahamas, filling a position that has been vacant for nearly 15 years.

reut.rs

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

Blow The Whistle Referee GIF

Alt: Blow The Whistle Referee GIF

media.tenor.com

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

Live your life in such a way that you can be picked up at the airport in the Weiner-mobile.

Chibdm @chibdm.bsky.social · 1d

Just watched the Weiner-mobile pick up someone from the airport

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

About this part in particular—human artists, even commercial ones, put something at risk in the creative process. AI-generated art lacks that risk to me.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

Coincidentally I just finished reading this and I agree completely.

Mike Sakasegawa @sakeriver.com · 1d

There's a new The Oatmeal about AI art, which gets at the thing that ends up bothering me the most about AI art, which is that art that isn't the product of human creativity has no meaning or import.

theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal

This is a comic about AI art.

theoatmeal.com

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

So in the mid-60’s, the federal government offered states a bunch of funding if they passed helmet laws, and all but California did, but in 1975, thanks to major lobbying pushback, that federal funding was uncoupled and now a bunch of states have repealed their helmet laws.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

We already did, decades ago. There’s a lot of states with no helmet requirement whatsoever. It’s one of the biggest unknown public health self-owns ever.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 1d

This one is up there with repealing motorcycle helmet laws, frankly.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

Fair

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

Run. It’s a vampire.

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

I remember years ago, during the Bush the Lesser years, this being a common refrain among Log Cabin Republicans, so not only is she soulless, she’s unoriginal.

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

It’s a target-rich environment

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

It was my father’s birthday 3 days ago and while our relationship was troubled, I have a small sense of what you’re dealing with right now. All my best to you.

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Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

If you’re in Beth’s district you should vote for them in the primary and general, and if you aren’t, you should support their campaign.

Beth Andres-Beck @beth4ma.bsky.social · 2d

I get asked often, “but what can a Representative actually *do*?”

We can:
1. Refuse to do what fascists tell us to
2. Make the lives of people doing bad things worse
3. Call every one of their bluffs

Until we regain power. Then we will prosecute the crimes & implement universal healthcare.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

The Devil just let Johnny think he won because the mere fact of taking on the challenge made him guilty of pride. In this essay I will…

Sean Fay-Wolfe | Diamond Axe Studios @seanfaywolfe.bsky.social · 2d

I think "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" exemplifies American culture more than any other art piece.

Most cultures' folklore involves cautionary tales warning people not to tempt the devil.

The American version has the challenger win because he is way cooler than the devil.

Yea, that sums it up.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

Agreed

Emma Evans @trance.bsky.social · 2d

Łink's ban is wrong and should be reversed.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

Did mine yesterday, and yeah, probably should have done it earlier but glad I’ve done it now.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

I figure if they used an LLM to generate the text, they didn’t actually read the results closely and that’s how it slipped through, which is a different kind of bad from “I did this research and couldn’t figure out this was fake.” I’m just not sure which one is worse.

Braaaaaaaaains Spears @briankspears.bsky.social · 2d

Why admit that to god and the world?