🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
@virtuistic.bsky.social
2.8K followers 5.5K following 6K posts
Advocate. Bi. Genderqueer. Green thumb. Disabled. Vaxxed. Boosted. Masked. Editor. Journalist. Producer. Writer. (she/they) linktr.ee/virtuistic PFP: purple-tinted pic of me with hair down, wearing glasses, and smiling. Banner: The shore of gichi-gami
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virtuistic.bsky.social
Well... Stable employment was fun while it lasted, but I was laid off today. If you know of any international NGOs looking for a remote word nerd who is really into biomimetic climate science and engineering as well as trying to make life suck less generally for everybody, I'd appreciate any leads.💖
virtuistic.bsky.social
Sadly but not at all surprisingly, Sakher's account was deleted since yesterday's grim anniversary.

bsky.app/profile/reee...

Here is his GoFundMe: 
gofund.me/f116bf44
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
self.agency
they getting tax breaks to lay off their own workers, destroy creative jobs with automation, drink up all our water, and drive our electrical bills through the roof
moreperfectunion.bsky.social
37 states have passed legislation specifically granting sales tax exemptions for data centers.

Among the beneficiaries of these exemptions are Amazon, Meta and Google, all companies worth over $1 trillion.
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
melissagiragrant.com
one of my most durable political lessons out of Occupy is: not only is it a bad look to instruct people at protests you are not part what to do based on posts online, it’s bad tactics to order around people with local experience and who are doing countless things you won’t know about from posts
virtuistic.bsky.social
I'm sorry, but this is such weak tea and super unimaginative. We should never let the fascists set the terms of engagement, and should not legitimate their practices. Presenting a lackluster dichotomy of "rule of law vs authoritarianism" is bland and lacks vision to build a better future together.
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
kendrawrites.com
It has also become normalized for journalism outlets to say they are advocates for "free markets" and "personal freedom" without pausing to recognize that that is in itself a kind of bias.

But it's a bias that the billionaire class likes.
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
kellyrogers.bsky.social
Oh shit
mplsforthemany.com
While Mayor Frey and Chief O’Hara have attempted to claim that MPD only showed up at the ICE action on June 3rd to assist with crowd control, ICE agents certainly saw MPD’s actions differently.

In fact, the ICE Special Agent in Charge emailed O’Hara to say thank you that same day.
Title text: "ICE Thanks O'Hara & MPD" with the following quote below: "I cannot tell you how impressed my staff were as you stepped up and personally escorted that tactical vehicle through the crowd." Below that is a screenshot of an email sent from Jamie Holt, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Securities Investigations to Chief O'Hara.
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
gaudipern.bsky.social
The most insidious things about generative style-transfer AI is not that it creates poor imitations, but that refining its ability to imitate what others have mastered validates extracting the value of their skills and their perspectives from the lives, opinions, and memories that produced them.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Lol, countdown to someone calling me a nerd (again) in 3, 2, 1... 😂

Seriously, I love a good meme as much as the next Millennial, but I swear, seeing Seinfeld or Brady Bunch images in 2025 is just the fastest way for someone to announce they haven't learned anything at all in the intervening years.
virtuistic.bsky.social
I feel like an entire anthropology study could be done on the way conservatives and liberals cling to decades old memes instead of communicating their own ideas and thoughts.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Here's a more recent update: www.theverge.com/24040685/sub...

+ details from the writers who led the Substackers Against Nazis protest: www.thehandbasket.co/p/substack-e...

Both since relocated to beehiiv, which I am new to but enjoying so far. I especially like that it can make audio from text.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Totally understand not having a budget to commission or design; I contend with that too right now, but I worry that AI creates trust issues.

For alternatives, I personally find free creative commons images on Wikimedia/Library of Congress and templates made by designers/photogs on Canva work well.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Thank you for this thoughtful reply. I don't think I understand why generating an image would be less resource intensive than GenAI like LLMs. That doesn't square with some of the media I've read, and I remain concerned about AI models stealing art from the web en masse for the source material used.
virtuistic.bsky.social
The issue with Substack is less about performance for individual publishers (although the default font is dyslexic hell) and more that the platform monetizes and promotes Nazis and has also gone all in on capitulating to climate denialists and MAGA influencers.

www.thehandbasket.co/p/substack-a...
Substack is at it again
“Why on earth would you brag to your users that you've partnered with a bunch of protofascists?"
www.thehandbasket.co
virtuistic.bsky.social
You don't love trans people. This isn't what love looks like.

I don't know what your life revolves around, but from this comment, it seems like immature, selfish, short-sighted, and mean-spirited bullshit.

I hope your children survive you, and that if they are trans, they can find real guardians.
Reposted by 🧣 Scarf-by Capa-cozy 🍄🍂 [Feral Edition]
thechiller.bsky.social
This could be such an astonishingly good thing.
virtuistic.bsky.social
I've never met such a grownup in a management position, but I sure would like to.
virtuistic.bsky.social
The reason I ask is I genuinely appreciate and value the info, figures, and perspective you share; however, there are many folks (myself included) who will not share AI generated media or Substack links for ecological, political, and relational reasons. Labelers and block lists will limit the reach.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Excuse me, but I must ask: Why do you use AI, a notoriously climate destructive technology, if you recognize a need to stop greenhouse gas emissions and extractive land-use? Isn't that counterproductive to that goal?

On the subject of problematic tech: Would you consider migrating from Substack?
virtuistic.bsky.social
No, you're talking loser 🤡💩. Do you understand that human rights *are* politics?

The willingness to separate the two in order to win the next election (LOL) is both a major flaw and a liability. You are never gonna win by throwing marginalized communities under the bus for electoral expedience.
virtuistic.bsky.social
Funny you should ask, as I am in the middle of putting a new one together for 2026 to match my new beehiiv! 😂

I don't have my email in my bio link, but I'll DM it to you. ☺️
virtuistic.bsky.social
Typically on a freelance consultant basis for specific projects or initiatives that small orgs/grassroots groups want to spotlight, though it's also been folded into my job duties as a digital editor and MarComms manager before. Some of it comes from the 'ol journo roladex, WoM, + online queries.