Margo
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margrouse.bsky.social
Margo
@margrouse.bsky.social
She/her/hers. At the intersection of linguistics and IP law. Formerly in kidlit.
Reposted by Margo
far too many media orgs have been slow to learn that in the age of social media the headline IS the story
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.

Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
November 30, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Reposted by Margo
Btw we already had someone to do 11.7% of work tasks, they were called "a secretary" and the suits decided it was cheaper to make everyone do their own emails and schedules.

But you can add up any number of secretaries and still not get one programmer, or architect, or nurse.
November 29, 2025 at 10:01 PM
(Watching the Macy's parade)
4yo cousin: A LITTLE CUTE FOOOOOOX
Her 7yo sister: I'm kinda bored. The people there are probly getting bored too.
November 27, 2025 at 5:24 PM
East coasters: has the kpop demon hunters performance happened yet?
November 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
My uncle is watching the new Ken Burns documentary and the soundtrack is @zoekeating.com!!!!
November 26, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Margo
I want to very gently say something, and I hope nobody will be mad: If somebody on the internet says something that is NOT about politics and NOT about how terrible everything is, it’s a kindness not to reflexively make a comment (in jest or not) that brings it back to those things.
November 13, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Margo
Am I a hypocrite for wanting this after giving a hard no to muppet knives out
Okay, I'm making my case for the only Muppet I want to see on Broadway right now...
November 19, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Margo
My brother in christ, you are literally describing All Teh Apps. All of them. Shit, even video games fall into the category of "produces information to the government when required to do so."
November 18, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Reposted by Margo
Not when you're doing it just because you want to read a thing without paying, or the trouble and inconvenience finding a used copy, going to a library, or any of a wide range of other widely available non-infringing options.

At that point, you're also part of why we can't have nice things.
Piracy is a legitimate option 🤷‍♂️
November 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Margo
Please also remember that when a T&S team is extremely overworked and under-resourced, a massive write-in protest based on that one-sided presentation of the facts will do absolutely nothing but slow down the work even further, because now there's an extra 20,000 emails they have to weed out.
November 14, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Margo
also the self-censorship people on here just sound Iike naive children to me

you can in fact viciously and highly effective criticize evil people without giving them needless points of vulnerability to get you back with
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Margo
also I think it’s good actually that Bluesky isn’t really treating celebrities or high profile people differently from anyone else with regards to moderation, even if you don’t agree with those decisions
November 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Margo
Not for nothing, this is one reason why we say "pregnant patient" instead of "woman." It's not just for non-binary inclusion.
In addition to the fact that it's very much the power imbalance and legal responsibility to protect them that makes them children, it's also disturbing that so many people are willingly like "listen, 15 year olds are hot, and that's a fact." They are children. They look like children.
November 14, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by Margo
***
11th ANNUAL
BULL CITY FOODRAISER
FUNDRAISING THREAD
***

It's that time again! 🦃 For the 11th year in a row, we need your help providing groceries to 5,100+ schoolkids!

➡️ GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/11th-annua...
➡️ PPGF: www.paypal.com/US/fundraise...

(Plus other donation options in thread!)
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Margo
this post made me realize that it has already been a whole decade since Trump was holding a steady lead in the Republican primary and it didn’t feel like a joke anymore
Imagine trying to convince someone a decade ago that this sentence would be a 100% literally accurate description of the American political situation.
The attorney general and the FBI director, a manosphere podcaster bro, pulled into the situation room a member of Congress best known for getting kicked out of a Beetlejuice musical for drunkenly giving her date a handy, in order to pressure her about the president's child sex trafficking scandal.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Margo
If people are moving out of your city because they can work elsewhere more cheaply, your problem is affordability, not remote work.
November 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Margo
every time this happens people start going "what about this, huh" and getting suspended too, so may I recommend not doing that

at this point everyone should know what the policy is and "I'm going to go right up to what I think the line is and poke it with a stick" is asking to get got
November 12, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Margo
There is a very good reason why the thing I say most consistently about situations like this is "the violent rhetoric policy is my least favorite policy to write and enforce, and the policy that creates the most upheaval among the userbase when it is applied"!
"bluesky will suspend you for anything vaguely resembling a death threat" is maybe the single most consistent moderation policy they have I don't know why anyone is surprised by this one

yes, even if it's a reference to song lyrics
The account owner of @sarahkendzior.bsky.social was suspended for 72 hours for expressing a desire to shoot the author of an article. The post, made 11/10, stated: "I want to shoot the author of this article just to watch him die." 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Margo
Costco Ryan is, and will always be, a hero.
Luckily a random Twitter friend Daniel (@gomeral.net) saw and reached out, suggesting we use his Costco membership instead of trying to unf*ck the mess Sam's Club created

So I connected Daniel with Turq, and they reached a man who will forever be a living legend in Foodraiser Lore

Costco Ryan 🫡
November 12, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Margo
***
II. WHAT WE DO
***

The sole purpose of this event is helping school-aged kids from lower income families eat during the 2-week school break in December

➡️ In the US, most food aid is school-based

➡️ In NC, access to that aid goes away when schools are closed

Dumb? Yes. But so it goes
November 11, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Margo
Watching more people discover this infuriating fact and getting righteously furious about it is at least good reinforcement that we are correct to be righteously furious about it
November 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Reposted by Margo
the thing is that there are only two explanations for this and they are both utterly disqualifying for Dem leadership

1. you knew they would come for abortion and you already decided you were willing to give it up

2. you did NOT know, because you are too gullible for the job you currently hold
November 11, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Margo
This hurt my heart to read.

As the co-founder and operator of a weird blog that is still going because it's largely reader-supported now, value for private equity shareholders can consume a satchel of richards.
November 11, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Margo
D.C. doesn't have statehood. We don't have voting representation in Congress. We have limited home rule that can be taken away any time. When Trump oppresses us, we have few democratic means of fighting back.

Juries are one of them. And Trump can't take that away. slate.com/news-and-pol...
The Sandwich Guy’s Verdict Sent Exactly the Right Message to Trump
Dunn—aka Sandwich Guy—became a folk hero in August.
slate.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Margo
I have long argued that the single best thing you could do to improve the functioning of the US government is double the salaries of everyone working on Capitol Hill. Serving Congress shouldn’t involve poverty wages in DC. You could attract a much wider set of perspectives netting a better result.
people hate hearing this but it's 100% true, creating a huge pay gap between political leaders, their staffs, and other elites is a recipe for corruption. of course the flip side of that is taxes on the rich should be jacked way the hell up
The Mayor of New York only makes $260k. I bet there are police that make more than that in NY with overtime.

We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM