Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
@cassidyaster.bsky.social
Archaeologist, Master Naturalist, Game-runner, hobbyist crafter and writer.
Nonbinary, they/them.
Nonbinary, they/them.
Need to wash the dishes from breakfast but my cat is on my lap. Can't move.
December 16, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Need to wash the dishes from breakfast but my cat is on my lap. Can't move.
I'm learning Norwegian and looking up PhD programs at Norwegian universities as my escape hatch in case I have to flee the US. None of my Norwegian friends wanted to come here even before Trump was elected.
December 16, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I'm learning Norwegian and looking up PhD programs at Norwegian universities as my escape hatch in case I have to flee the US. None of my Norwegian friends wanted to come here even before Trump was elected.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
www.hcn.org
December 16, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
I keep thinking also about how he didn't know whether he would be successful but he knew he had to try. And in trying he saved countless lives.
Like Octavia Butler said in her rules for predicting the future: count on the surprises
Sometimes you try and it works
Like Octavia Butler said in her rules for predicting the future: count on the surprises
Sometimes you try and it works
Like you hear these congressional reps, especially republicans, talking about how they're scared to vote against the party line because they might get hurt and Ahmed al Ahmed literally ran at a guy with a gun because he felt his duty to his fellow humans was to try and sanctify life
December 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I keep thinking also about how he didn't know whether he would be successful but he knew he had to try. And in trying he saved countless lives.
Like Octavia Butler said in her rules for predicting the future: count on the surprises
Sometimes you try and it works
Like Octavia Butler said in her rules for predicting the future: count on the surprises
Sometimes you try and it works
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
While Amazon is investing billions of dollars to expand AI, independent bookstores are hosting community events, personally recommending books to readers, and providing a space that is safe and welcoming during a time when we need them most.
Never underestimate the power of a local bookstore.
Never underestimate the power of a local bookstore.
December 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
While Amazon is investing billions of dollars to expand AI, independent bookstores are hosting community events, personally recommending books to readers, and providing a space that is safe and welcoming during a time when we need them most.
Never underestimate the power of a local bookstore.
Never underestimate the power of a local bookstore.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
I got the flu bug that's going around in early October, before the new flu shots were even available, and felt incredibly sick for more than two weeks. So do get vaccinated, if possible, cause this is a nasty one.
Don't call it a 'super flu' - but the NHS is right to be worried this winter | Devi Sridhar
Don't call it a 'super flu' - but the NHS is right to be worried this winter | Devi Sridhar
An early flu season, a new variant and poor takeup of vaccines leave the already vulnerable health service in a dangerous position, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh
www.theguardian.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I got the flu bug that's going around in early October, before the new flu shots were even available, and felt incredibly sick for more than two weeks. So do get vaccinated, if possible, cause this is a nasty one.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
After three days of hearings and a late-night vote, officials gave the green light to rules that will protect Colorado’s waters even as the EPA pulls back.
Colorado water regulators approve historic stream, wetlands protections
After three days of hearings and a late-night vote, officials gave the green light to rules that will protect Colorado’s waters even as the EPA pulls back
coloradosun.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
After three days of hearings and a late-night vote, officials gave the green light to rules that will protect Colorado’s waters even as the EPA pulls back.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
The ACA isn't just "health care for people who don't have a conventional employer." It also disallows something that was incredibly common 20 years ago, which I fear is getting lost to generational memory: insurance companies could deny you health care for essentially any previous health problem.
I'm dubious about Amazon's commitment to keeping pre-existing conditions a thing of the past.
December 14, 2025 at 11:50 PM
The ACA isn't just "health care for people who don't have a conventional employer." It also disallows something that was incredibly common 20 years ago, which I fear is getting lost to generational memory: insurance companies could deny you health care for essentially any previous health problem.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
It’s the first night of Hanukkah and the world seems like a very dark place. But we can bring light to the darkness. We can fight for each other and make goodness, love, and community shine through.
Show me your menorahs and let’s light up the timeline!
Show me your menorahs and let’s light up the timeline!
December 14, 2025 at 11:39 PM
It’s the first night of Hanukkah and the world seems like a very dark place. But we can bring light to the darkness. We can fight for each other and make goodness, love, and community shine through.
Show me your menorahs and let’s light up the timeline!
Show me your menorahs and let’s light up the timeline!
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
So there is already an ai-generated whitewashing campaign to bury the name of the Muslim man, Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach shooters, and replace his identity with a white guy name and that’s why even a thimble of our potable water powering this tech is too fucking much.
December 14, 2025 at 5:42 PM
So there is already an ai-generated whitewashing campaign to bury the name of the Muslim man, Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach shooters, and replace his identity with a white guy name and that’s why even a thimble of our potable water powering this tech is too fucking much.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
All I can say this morning is look for the helpers, like Ahmed.
“Seven News reported the bystander was a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire named Ahmed.”
“Seven News reported the bystander was a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire named Ahmed.”
Bystander tackles and wrestles gun from alleged gunman during Bondi beach mass shooting
Bystander tackles and wrestles gun from alleged gunman during Bondi beach mass shooting
Video shows the man rushing one of the alleged gunmen who shot dozens of people on Sunday evening in Australia
*
Bondi beach shooting live updates
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Bondi terror attack: full report
*
What we know so far about the shooting in Australia
A bystander tackled and wrestled a gun from one of the two alleged gunman during the Bondi beach mass shooting in which at least 12 people were killed, footage shows.
Video of the scene shows the alleged gunman standing on a footpath between a grassy area and parking lot holding a shotgun and firing into the distance. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:59 PM
All I can say this morning is look for the helpers, like Ahmed.
“Seven News reported the bystander was a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire named Ahmed.”
“Seven News reported the bystander was a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire named Ahmed.”
I found my dog's penguin sweater and I'm trying to get a good picture of it but she is Too Wiggly. She loves wearing clothes. But she is a geriatric chihuahua surviving a record breaking cold snap so if she wants to be happy about wearing sweaters and coats I prefer that to the alternative.
December 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I found my dog's penguin sweater and I'm trying to get a good picture of it but she is Too Wiggly. She loves wearing clothes. But she is a geriatric chihuahua surviving a record breaking cold snap so if she wants to be happy about wearing sweaters and coats I prefer that to the alternative.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
ICE snatched a human rights hero.
Guan Heng risked his life to capture video of Uyghur concentration camps. After escaping to the U.S., Guan was in hiding for years, not knowing his work had been crucial to substantiating China's mass detention practices.
On Monday, he has an asylum hearing in NY.
Guan Heng risked his life to capture video of Uyghur concentration camps. After escaping to the U.S., Guan was in hiding for years, not knowing his work had been crucial to substantiating China's mass detention practices.
On Monday, he has an asylum hearing in NY.
Our ex-BuzzFeed team has provided a testimonial to the immigration court about the value of Guan's work and his incredible bravery. I hope that this man - who I am in absolute awe of - is granted the asylum he needs and deserves. You can read more here: hrichina.substack.com/p/man-who-fi...
Man who filmed Uyghur concentration camps now fights for his own freedom in the United States
In 2020, Guan Heng embarked on a risky mission to prove the existence of concentration camp facilities used to imprison Uyghurs. Now, he faces the threat of deportation back to China, where he would f...
hrichina.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:29 AM
ICE snatched a human rights hero.
Guan Heng risked his life to capture video of Uyghur concentration camps. After escaping to the U.S., Guan was in hiding for years, not knowing his work had been crucial to substantiating China's mass detention practices.
On Monday, he has an asylum hearing in NY.
Guan Heng risked his life to capture video of Uyghur concentration camps. After escaping to the U.S., Guan was in hiding for years, not knowing his work had been crucial to substantiating China's mass detention practices.
On Monday, he has an asylum hearing in NY.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
i am agog that Newsom actually said out loud that he never really thought about affordability until he talked to a streamer who wouldn't let it go.
December 14, 2025 at 4:19 AM
i am agog that Newsom actually said out loud that he never really thought about affordability until he talked to a streamer who wouldn't let it go.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
When I volunteered at the Austin Nature & Science Center 300 years ago, this was phrased to me as "their heads are full of optic nerves & murder. There's no room for anything else."
Me to same owl handler: "Owls are super wise, right? They read loads of highbrow Russian literature and stuff, don't they?"
Owl handler: "No, they actually have very tiny brains, due to the hugeness of their eyes. In reality they are one of the thickest animals you could ever meet."
Owl handler: "No, they actually have very tiny brains, due to the hugeness of their eyes. In reality they are one of the thickest animals you could ever meet."
December 13, 2025 at 9:39 PM
When I volunteered at the Austin Nature & Science Center 300 years ago, this was phrased to me as "their heads are full of optic nerves & murder. There's no room for anything else."
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
How, I really do wonder, do you "do science" without actually reading the existing scholarship? What has really struck me since the gAI boom is how many people have such a profound contempt for the act of reading--or at the least seem not to understand that reading is thinking.
December 13, 2025 at 6:23 PM
How, I really do wonder, do you "do science" without actually reading the existing scholarship? What has really struck me since the gAI boom is how many people have such a profound contempt for the act of reading--or at the least seem not to understand that reading is thinking.
I am so very tired and already accomplished a lot today (grocery pickup, dog nail trim, library, Spanish club, dishes, winterized boots) but I have three more things (grocery shopping for things first store doesn’t have, cookie dough making, dnd) and I might have to drop one of the things.
December 13, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I am so very tired and already accomplished a lot today (grocery pickup, dog nail trim, library, Spanish club, dishes, winterized boots) but I have three more things (grocery shopping for things first store doesn’t have, cookie dough making, dnd) and I might have to drop one of the things.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
The coming years are going to reveal a lot more waste on 'AI' like this by our governments, to the tune of 10s of billions squandered on appalling nonsense, all to make rich Tech Bros richer.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) paid $18 million for a chatbot named Charlie, which the auditor general reported gave her team the wrong answer 66% of the time.
The chatbot's responses were found to be brief and lacking context, with only 2 out of 6 questions answered accurately.
The chatbot's responses were found to be brief and lacking context, with only 2 out of 6 questions answered accurately.
The CRA spent $18M on 'Charlie,' a new tax information chatbot that is wrong most of the time
The Canada Revenue Agency paid $18 million for a chatbot the auditor general says give her team the wrong answer 66 per cent of the time.
nationalpost.com
December 13, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The coming years are going to reveal a lot more waste on 'AI' like this by our governments, to the tune of 10s of billions squandered on appalling nonsense, all to make rich Tech Bros richer.
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
Academic careers run on precarity. Years of temporary contracts, relocations, endless applications—just to “maybe” earn stability someday.
How much talent is lost because researchers spend more time surviving the system than advancing knowledge?
#TenureTrack
#SciencePolicy
#philsci
#SciComm
How much talent is lost because researchers spend more time surviving the system than advancing knowledge?
#TenureTrack
#SciencePolicy
#philsci
#SciComm
December 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Academic careers run on precarity. Years of temporary contracts, relocations, endless applications—just to “maybe” earn stability someday.
How much talent is lost because researchers spend more time surviving the system than advancing knowledge?
#TenureTrack
#SciencePolicy
#philsci
#SciComm
How much talent is lost because researchers spend more time surviving the system than advancing knowledge?
#TenureTrack
#SciencePolicy
#philsci
#SciComm
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
On the 10th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement, you’re going to hear a lot about the progress we’ve made — people saying we “are” heading to 2.5 degrees heating instead of four.
I deeply regret to tell you that this is complacent misinformation.
🧵
I deeply regret to tell you that this is complacent misinformation.
🧵
December 12, 2025 at 12:50 PM
On the 10th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement, you’re going to hear a lot about the progress we’ve made — people saying we “are” heading to 2.5 degrees heating instead of four.
I deeply regret to tell you that this is complacent misinformation.
🧵
I deeply regret to tell you that this is complacent misinformation.
🧵
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
I know it can be UNBEARABLE to hold this knowledge right now — and it’s very hard to see how to have hope in this dark — but we have to remain poised to grab the next political opportunity to turn this ship around, which we won’t be ready to do if we think THIS what we have now is “progress.”
6/n
6/n
December 12, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I know it can be UNBEARABLE to hold this knowledge right now — and it’s very hard to see how to have hope in this dark — but we have to remain poised to grab the next political opportunity to turn this ship around, which we won’t be ready to do if we think THIS what we have now is “progress.”
6/n
6/n
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
One more day for the reprise of the Murderbot, Witch King, and my other fantasy novels Humble Bundle! #booksky
Unlock and upgrade in the Return to Metroidvania rebundle, read up on exciting Sci-Fi with Matha Wells’ Murderbot & more, and add character to your game environments with the Best of Synty 4 Game Dev Assets rebundles! https://bit.ly/4oxXmjd
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
One more day for the reprise of the Murderbot, Witch King, and my other fantasy novels Humble Bundle! #booksky
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
The BDS movement is partnering with @nogamesforgenocide.com. Together we can help end Microsoft’s technological support of Israel illegal apartheid regime and genocide in Gaza.
Sign the pledge to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox.
Read more: loom.ly/1FQEDiA
Sign the pledge to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox.
Read more: loom.ly/1FQEDiA
December 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The BDS movement is partnering with @nogamesforgenocide.com. Together we can help end Microsoft’s technological support of Israel illegal apartheid regime and genocide in Gaza.
Sign the pledge to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox.
Read more: loom.ly/1FQEDiA
Sign the pledge to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox.
Read more: loom.ly/1FQEDiA
Reposted by Cassidy Aster 🏳️⚧️ They/Them
The SAVE plan helped millions of people stay above water while repaying student loan debt.
Now that Trump has officially shut it down, borrowers may now have to spend hundreds more per month paying off their loans.
How is this supposed to lower people’s cost of living?
Now that Trump has officially shut it down, borrowers may now have to spend hundreds more per month paying off their loans.
How is this supposed to lower people’s cost of living?
December 10, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The SAVE plan helped millions of people stay above water while repaying student loan debt.
Now that Trump has officially shut it down, borrowers may now have to spend hundreds more per month paying off their loans.
How is this supposed to lower people’s cost of living?
Now that Trump has officially shut it down, borrowers may now have to spend hundreds more per month paying off their loans.
How is this supposed to lower people’s cost of living?
Dads like this love to infantilize their afab children, absolutely refuse to acknowledge their adult son's or nonbinary offspring's academic and career achievements. "You'll always be my little girl" is a microaggression cis society will always let them get away with.
You might think from the headline that this is a story about a trans kid suffering medical consequences from a large drug dose but nope! It is just an interview with an estranged father who is angry that his child happily transitioned.
archive.ph/Tmthz
archive.ph/Tmthz
December 10, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Dads like this love to infantilize their afab children, absolutely refuse to acknowledge their adult son's or nonbinary offspring's academic and career achievements. "You'll always be my little girl" is a microaggression cis society will always let them get away with.