Melissa Dowell
@glukkake.bsky.social
Product designer, screenprinter, perpetually exhausted pigeon
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.
December 23, 2025 at 5:53 PM
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Did you know? Every year, the Supreme Court’s nine justices fill out a form that discloses their financial connections to companies and people.
Our database allows you to search for organizations and people that have paid them, reimbursed them for travel and given them gifts.
Our database allows you to search for organizations and people that have paid them, reimbursed them for travel and given them gifts.
Supreme Connections: Search Supreme Court Disclosures — ProPublica
Search Supreme Court financial disclosures for organizations and people that have paid justices, reimbursed them for travel, given them gifts and more.
projects.propublica.org
December 26, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Did you know? Every year, the Supreme Court’s nine justices fill out a form that discloses their financial connections to companies and people.
Our database allows you to search for organizations and people that have paid them, reimbursed them for travel and given them gifts.
Our database allows you to search for organizations and people that have paid them, reimbursed them for travel and given them gifts.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
As artists, we know this feeling well. The value of which we fight for, on many levels, daily: "when you’re engaged, you enter something that’s almost a flow state. It’s something meaningful with a process of absorption. It’s a very active form of engagement." www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-bo...
Looking at certain kinds of art may boost your heart health, doctors say | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Practising art – or just looking at it – can improve your health. Here’s why we shouldn’t brush off the benefits
www.sciencefocus.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:35 PM
As artists, we know this feeling well. The value of which we fight for, on many levels, daily: "when you’re engaged, you enter something that’s almost a flow state. It’s something meaningful with a process of absorption. It’s a very active form of engagement." www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-bo...
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
The news that AI was being trained on stolen works?
It was broken first about the BooksCorpus, on May 11 of 2021, and it was discussed in major news media thereafter. Romance authors talked about it. A lot.
The first archive they stole was largely romance.
arxiv.org/abs/2105.05241
It was broken first about the BooksCorpus, on May 11 of 2021, and it was discussed in major news media thereafter. Romance authors talked about it. A lot.
The first archive they stole was largely romance.
arxiv.org/abs/2105.05241
Addressing "Documentation Debt" in Machine Learning Research: A Retrospective Datasheet for BookCorpus
Recent literature has underscored the importance of dataset documentation work for machine learning, and part of this work involves addressing "documentation debt" for datasets that have been used wid...
arxiv.org
December 24, 2025 at 2:54 AM
The news that AI was being trained on stolen works?
It was broken first about the BooksCorpus, on May 11 of 2021, and it was discussed in major news media thereafter. Romance authors talked about it. A lot.
The first archive they stole was largely romance.
arxiv.org/abs/2105.05241
It was broken first about the BooksCorpus, on May 11 of 2021, and it was discussed in major news media thereafter. Romance authors talked about it. A lot.
The first archive they stole was largely romance.
arxiv.org/abs/2105.05241
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Church organ tuning records mirror our warming climate
The records appear to reflect climate change, as well as the increased heating of churches in winter
www.thereengineer.pro
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating.
A new scoop for The Reengineer!
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
This to me is the biggest issue. These men spoke at grave risks to their own safety about being beaten, raped, and tortured at the order of the President of the United States. All of Weiss's odes to free speech and "dangerous ideas" is and has always been horseshit
December 22, 2025 at 12:59 PM
This to me is the biggest issue. These men spoke at grave risks to their own safety about being beaten, raped, and tortured at the order of the President of the United States. All of Weiss's odes to free speech and "dangerous ideas" is and has always been horseshit
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Hearing murmurs that publishing houses are pushing editors to use AI in their work. How can writers help employees push back against this? If you work in publishing & don’t feel comfortable replying directly, I am opening up my DMs.
December 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Hearing murmurs that publishing houses are pushing editors to use AI in their work. How can writers help employees push back against this? If you work in publishing & don’t feel comfortable replying directly, I am opening up my DMs.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Because, again, the federal fucking government is trying to stop companies from selling binders. Not because of any concerns about safety or possible harm, but specifically because trans men use them to mitigate dysphoria.
They're saying this openly, explicitly.
They're saying this openly, explicitly.
TomboyX, PBC - 720849 - 12/16/2025
Failure to Register and List/Misbranded
www.fda.gov
December 19, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Because, again, the federal fucking government is trying to stop companies from selling binders. Not because of any concerns about safety or possible harm, but specifically because trans men use them to mitigate dysphoria.
They're saying this openly, explicitly.
They're saying this openly, explicitly.
After spending the past 3-4 days socializing every night, it’s finally 7pm and I don’t have to see a goddamn soul for another 12 hrs and I’m just lying on my bed, cradling my sleepy dog’s head on my ankle while she snores into my knee and everything is bliss.
December 19, 2025 at 1:55 AM
After spending the past 3-4 days socializing every night, it’s finally 7pm and I don’t have to see a goddamn soul for another 12 hrs and I’m just lying on my bed, cradling my sleepy dog’s head on my ankle while she snores into my knee and everything is bliss.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
PSA: there’s been an exploit for Signal and WhatsApp released that can be used to silently track you.
Temp fixes for both can be done in your settings:
For WhatsApp: Settings>Privacy>Advanced>Block unknown messages.
For Signal: Settings>Privacy>Phone number>Who can find me by number>Nobody
Temp fixes for both can be done in your settings:
For WhatsApp: Settings>Privacy>Advanced>Block unknown messages.
For Signal: Settings>Privacy>Phone number>Who can find me by number>Nobody
December 15, 2025 at 1:28 AM
PSA: there’s been an exploit for Signal and WhatsApp released that can be used to silently track you.
Temp fixes for both can be done in your settings:
For WhatsApp: Settings>Privacy>Advanced>Block unknown messages.
For Signal: Settings>Privacy>Phone number>Who can find me by number>Nobody
Temp fixes for both can be done in your settings:
For WhatsApp: Settings>Privacy>Advanced>Block unknown messages.
For Signal: Settings>Privacy>Phone number>Who can find me by number>Nobody
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
We now learn that Fifa had a very specific "ask" in exchange for its "Peace Award" to Trump, with loads of gold trinkets, and that was dismissal of a criminal corruption case against senior Fifa officials. And Trump granted it. Another corrupt bargain, barely noticed (and ignored by US media).
December 11, 2025 at 12:59 AM
We now learn that Fifa had a very specific "ask" in exchange for its "Peace Award" to Trump, with loads of gold trinkets, and that was dismissal of a criminal corruption case against senior Fifa officials. And Trump granted it. Another corrupt bargain, barely noticed (and ignored by US media).
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
If this is what we know about the place, imagine what hasn’t even come out yet
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:40 PM
If this is what we know about the place, imagine what hasn’t even come out yet
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
This is the most Starship Troopers coded shit. Paul Verhoeven is like, "shit I should have gone further"
jesus christ
December 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is the most Starship Troopers coded shit. Paul Verhoeven is like, "shit I should have gone further"
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
I've become deeply radicalized against gambling. It's just getting more evil the longer it's allowed to fester unregulated
"Soon, CNN will run live odds on world events where its viewers can gamble on them in real time on their smartphones."
CNN Partners With a Gambling App That Lets You Wager on Starvation in Gaza
The app company’s two biggest investors are also heavily invested in the Israeli military.
truthout.org
December 6, 2025 at 3:36 AM
I've become deeply radicalized against gambling. It's just getting more evil the longer it's allowed to fester unregulated
As a woman who lives alone, I cannot tell you enough how tickled pink I get about doing my own handiwork around the house. Today I installed a new lock and door handle for my front door. It is a smart lock & I’ll no longer be beholden to remember my keys. What a world!
December 5, 2025 at 10:08 PM
As a woman who lives alone, I cannot tell you enough how tickled pink I get about doing my own handiwork around the house. Today I installed a new lock and door handle for my front door. It is a smart lock & I’ll no longer be beholden to remember my keys. What a world!
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Thanks to the man who inspired one of our household's most-used Simpsons quotes.
December 5, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Thanks to the man who inspired one of our household's most-used Simpsons quotes.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
AI chatbots “exceed the persuasiveness of even elite human persuaders, given their unique ability to generate large quantities of information almost instantaneously during conversation [⋯] the most persuasive models and prompting strategies tended to produce the least accurate information”
NEW: AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people’s political opinions, study finds www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people’s political opinions, study finds
A paper published in the journal Science found that chatbots become more persuasive when they share large amounts of information.
www.nbcnews.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:19 PM
AI chatbots “exceed the persuasiveness of even elite human persuaders, given their unique ability to generate large quantities of information almost instantaneously during conversation [⋯] the most persuasive models and prompting strategies tended to produce the least accurate information”
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Netherlands and Spain taking a stand after Israel allowed to compete in Eurovision.
Netherlands and Spain boycott Eurovision after Israel allowed to compete
There had been calls for Israel to be excluded over the conduct of the war in Gaza.
www.bbc.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Netherlands and Spain taking a stand after Israel allowed to compete in Eurovision.
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
This is the most consequential story for the 2026 midterms. Yet, I cannot find it anywhere on legacy media. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
DOJ Sues Six More States in Sweeping Push to Obtain Unredacted Voter Rolls
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:21 PM
This is the most consequential story for the 2026 midterms. Yet, I cannot find it anywhere on legacy media. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
Hey all,
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
Fellowship
theonion.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Hey all,
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
Moving woes: I have lost my dried bird feet and I wanted to use them this week for an art project. Ordered new ones but I am skeptical if they’ll arrive in time…
December 2, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Moving woes: I have lost my dried bird feet and I wanted to use them this week for an art project. Ordered new ones but I am skeptical if they’ll arrive in time…
Reposted by Melissa Dowell
My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.
November 29, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.