Richard Hellinga
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richhell.bsky.social
Richard Hellinga
@richhell.bsky.social
940 followers 200 following 1.1K posts
Books, running, and coffee. Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Protect trans kids. He/Him
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
juliedicaro.bsky.social
Imagine having to pay out $500 million as a result of employing Larry Nasser and then turning around and hiring Pat Fitzgerald.
December 1, 2025 at 1:14 AM
richhell.bsky.social
Any of my handful of followers wondering why I'm appalled at the rumors MSU is hiring Pat Fitzgerald, it's because my spouse has been teaching there for over 19 years. I have watched the way Division 1 sports fucks the priorities of an educational institution.
December 1, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
alexkirshner.com
The people who make these hires absolutely do not care about the things you care about. I think we all get that.

But the "leader of men" thing that Fitzgerald made his primary calling card should've been severely damaged by this episode anyway. Not damaged enough for Michigan State.
November 30, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
mikestabile.bsky.social
The religious right’s “porn is a public health crisis” campaign has exploited this media weakness for years, using faith-based pseudoscientific claims to manufacture consent for censorship, surveillance and sexual repression.
donmoyn.bsky.social Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
List of headlines from media covering FDA, most emphasizing the claim that covid killed children
November 30, 2025 at 9:59 PM
richhell.bsky.social
This is the best MSU can do? A guy with a hazing scandal that involved players being penalized with sexual assault?
November 30, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
spavel.bsky.social
As someone who works on the interaction layer of software: it's this.

Stupid trends in hardware self correct after a generation or two, but *software* ratchets in the direction of unusable because designers are occupied with interaction patterns and not whether the fucking thing works properly.
lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 15h
i think it's useful to look at areas where the *tech* has gotten much better while tech *interactions* have gotten way worse. streaming has gotten worse, google search has gotten worse, digital cameras are leaps better. apple's silicone is so good it's threatening their user upgrade cycle
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 21h
it’s so weird to look around and realize like, tech and media are materially worse than a decade ago
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
hatethegamebook.com
You can still find property level climate risk scores on Redfin

Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
richhell.bsky.social
Executives thinks LLMs are magic lamps with unlimited wishes. “Oh wise machine, tell me how to organize my meetings!”
carnage4life.bsky.social Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 2d
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.

I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
one0nine.bsky.social
Negan, but make it Catholic 🤣

I'm looking forward to the inevitable cascade of memes that will flow from this like a gift from His Holiness himself. Let's get this party started, shall we?
The famous line inspired by Ezekiel 25:17 as seen in POPE FICTION
November 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
catacalypto.bsky.social
A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:
"Years and years ago, there was a production of The Tempest, out of doors, at an Oxford college on a lawn, which was the stage, and the lawn went back towards the lake in the grounds of the college, and the play began in natural light. But as it developed, and as it became time for Ariel to say his farewell to the world of The Tempest, the evening had started to close in and there was some artificial lighting coming on. And as Ariel uttered his last speech, he turned and he ran across the grass, and he got to the edge of the lake and he just kept running across the top of the water — the producer having thoughtfully provided a kind of walkway an inch beneath the water. And you could see and you could hear the plish, plash as he ran away from you across the top of the lake, until the gloom enveloped him and he disappeared from your view. And as he did so, from the further shore, a firework rocket was ignited, and it went whoosh into the air, and high up there it burst into lots of sparks, and all the sparks went out, and he had gone. "When you look up the stage directions, it says, 'Exit Ariel.”
November 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
richhell.bsky.social
Yes! This is why I love to wander bookstores and used bookstores; to find something I didn’t know I wanted to try.
gwillow.me G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 1d
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
blipstress.bsky.social violet allen @blipstress.bsky.social · 6d
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
richhell.bsky.social
It can't be said enough that programs like SNAP are a form of corporate welfare.
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 1d
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."

Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Number of SNAP recipients Amazon 2,456 Walmart 2,318 Uber 1,799 DoorDash 1,462 Tempus Unlimited 1,425 Stop & Shop 989 Mass General Brigham 956 Dollar Tree 952 Albertsons Companies, Inc. 896 Bayada Home Health 887
November 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
apocalypticanow.bsky.social
My company recently unveiled in-house AI tools. Management's encouraging everyone to use them (to justify the probable eyewatering costs)

Meanwhile the database that everyone does constantly use is held together with gum and the development team's tears
carnage4life.bsky.social Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 2d
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.

I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
esqueer.net
"The agreement places no restrictions on our transgender community."

Except whether they can play sports, where they can use the bathroom or locker room, what kind of housing they can live in, and what healthcare they can receive.
A screenshot of a webpage FAQ section titled "Gender." The first question asks: "Does the agreement place new restrictions on our transgender community? Does it dictate how members of our community identify themselves and their gender?" The answer begins with text highlighted in yellow: > "No. The agreement places no restrictions on our transgender community. The University unequivocally supports all members of our community, including transgender students, faculty and staff. Members of our community have agency to choose how they identify themselves and the pronouns they use." > The answer continues with unhighlighted text: > "Per the agreement, Northwestern will adhere to federal policies, including Title IX. That includes providing 'safe and fair opportunities for women, including single-sex housing for any woman, defined on the basis of sex, who requests such accommodations, and all-female sports, locker rooms and showering facilities.'" > A second question follows: "What has the University agreed to as it relates to transgender care?" The answer reads: > "The University and Feinberg School of Medicine have never performed gender-affirming surgeries for minors. Northwestern continues to support transgender members of our community." >
November 29, 2025 at 4:32 AM
richhell.bsky.social
It’s staggering how many people in positions of leadership are cowards.
November 29, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
josie.zone
jesus FUCKING christ
mattheweadie.bsky.social Matthew Eadie @mattheweadie.bsky.social · 2d
And one more other thing I’m seeing now, that Northwestern unsurprisingly didn’t mention in its statement, effectively banning gender affirming care at NU school of medicine
November 29, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
ninocipri.bsky.social
This is in the running for my favorite lecture slide ever
November 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
richhell.bsky.social
If you wanted to know how historically accurate the costumes are in the Muppet Christmas Carol, the answer is very.

www.tumblr.com/richardhelli...
Reblog by @richardhellinga · 22 images
💬 157  🔁 39887  ❤️ 49266 · I don’t know if I can contain my “The Muppet Christmas Carol has better costume design than most Oscar-nominated period dramas” rant until after Thanksgiving you guys, I…
www.tumblr.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
wired.com
Hidden, a TikTok-like platform operated by sex workers, is launching as OnlyFans is implementing background checks for performers and expanding beyond adult content. www.wired.com/story/sex-wo...
Sex Workers Built an ‘Anti-OnlyFans’ to Take Control of Their Profits
Hidden, a TikTok-like platform operated by sex workers, is launching as OnlyFans is implementing background checks for performers and expanding beyond adult content.
www.wired.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
sydneyscreams4u.bsky.social
sex workers are multidimensional individuals. we are not strictly sex workers. we have entire lives outside of work. we have hobbies, interests, relationships. we're humans

if you can't respect that, you're not a real fan 🤷🏻‍♀️
November 27, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
aplante.com
i know WHY this is but that just makes it even more of a kick in the pants lmao
screenshot of a tumblr post from user “wildmansters” The thing that really boils my potatoes about Al in general is that I have been a creative professional for over a decade now and the devil has ALWAYS been in the details. Big and small, I've had single-person businesses rip me to shreds over how their colors turned out on newsprint, and have worked with huge companies with THICK brand guidelines with every detail of their brand identity laid out and enforced with an iron fist. But I guess all of that stuff doesn't matter anymore? Who gives a fuck if this Al generated baby has six fingers, that mom-and-pop shop is still going to use it. That rug from Temu says Happy Thanksgivirg? Oh well haha it's just a silly funny thing now (nevermind that you never would have given a B-grade item from a craft show the same consideration). I don't actually care that the Al Coca-cola ad has a truck that changes size every scene, but I can't help but think about how, if it had been some poor underpaid artist, they would have been laughed out of the building. I don't really know how to put it in a succint way but it just feels all the more obvious how much more grace and flexibility has always been possible but never offered.
November 28, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
zackwhittaker.com
I wrote about Oura's security and privacy practices earlier this year for this.weekinsecurity.com, and found:

• Oura rings *don't* end-to-end encrypt users' health data;
• Oura *can* access its users' data;
• Oura told me that the company *has* received U.S. government demands for users' data.
November 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
abigailnussbaum.bsky.social
Well, someone went out and made the song, and it is *chef's kiss* www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGw...
Ballad of Tom Bombadil
YouTube video by Old Growth Boreal
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
newsjennifer.bsky.social
It’s important to note that every single one of these Chicago ICE/ CBP stories DID receive massive coverage by our local media. It was local press together with vigilant residents that documented & then unraveled nearly every lie about the incidents as well.
November 28, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Richard Hellinga
thorbenson.bsky.social
It's got racism. It's offensive to people with intellectual disabilities. It's Islamophobic. Happy Thanksgiving from the president
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Trump calls Tim Walz “seriously retarded”
migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family. The real migrant population is much higher. This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.). As an example, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone. The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst “Congressman/woman” in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation…
November 28, 2025 at 4:56 AM