Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
@wcwordsmith.bsky.social
PhD candidate in Writing & Rhetoric at George Mason Univ. focused on the nexus of disinformation, politics, & public health. Former newspaper reporter & secondary teacher. Views are mine only: www.workingclasswordsmith.com
The brain-dead, tone-deaf, cold, cruel, & out-of-touch remarks by #HowardLutnick about people who would (rightly!) complain if they don't receive their Social Security payments demonstrates the Trump administration's willingness to let our oldest citizens starve: youtu.be/CKDZj3eP8g0?...
You need to hear what Trump's commerce secretary said about Social Security
YouTube video by MSNBC
youtu.be
March 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
The brain-dead, tone-deaf, cold, cruel, & out-of-touch remarks by #HowardLutnick about people who would (rightly!) complain if they don't receive their Social Security payments demonstrates the Trump administration's willingness to let our oldest citizens starve: youtu.be/CKDZj3eP8g0?...
Check out U.S. Sen. #BernieSanders doing the PEOPLE'S WORK: youtu.be/v3HB8MZ9_AU?...
Massive Crowds Show For Bernie Sanders In Trump States
YouTube video by The Rational National
youtu.be
February 25, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Check out U.S. Sen. #BernieSanders doing the PEOPLE'S WORK: youtu.be/v3HB8MZ9_AU?...
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Oh. The. Irony.
From @reuters.com: President Donald Trump's sweeping foreign aid freeze has stalled a United Nations program in Mexico aimed at stopping imported fentanyl chemicals from reaching the country's drug cartels, according to eight people familiar with the situation.
www.reuters.com/world/americ...
www.reuters.com/world/americ...
February 24, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Oh. The. Irony.
@wagnertonight.msnbc.com Sorry your program was canceled. My husband & I really enjoyed how you were covering the chaos & keeping people accountable. Don't let the bastards get you down -- you'll find a way to keep reporting. Hang in there.
February 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM
@wagnertonight.msnbc.com Sorry your program was canceled. My husband & I really enjoyed how you were covering the chaos & keeping people accountable. Don't let the bastards get you down -- you'll find a way to keep reporting. Hang in there.
This is why the Trump/Musk autocracy is winning: youtu.be/OMBhL7x-fPE?...
Democratic Party Leader: We Have NO PLAN To Fight Trump
YouTube video by The Young Turks
youtu.be
February 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
This is why the Trump/Musk autocracy is winning: youtu.be/OMBhL7x-fPE?...
I recognize we cannot focus 24/7 on the insanity that currently is the T---p administration & the machinations of M--k, but is there more focus this year on the Big Game? Is the Super Bowl the circus & the commercials hyping the food the bread of Juvenal's Bread & Circuses? #BreadandCircuses
February 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I recognize we cannot focus 24/7 on the insanity that currently is the T---p administration & the machinations of M--k, but is there more focus this year on the Big Game? Is the Super Bowl the circus & the commercials hyping the food the bread of Juvenal's Bread & Circuses? #BreadandCircuses
2/2 Don't get me wrong: we both voted & sent multiple campaign contributions to Harris/Walz, but I cannot understand how anyone (including people I know & love) could cast a ballot for an aspiring autocratic orangutang without the IQ to match. I guess the accelerationists are happy, but, REALLY?
November 20, 2024 at 12:41 AM
2/2 Don't get me wrong: we both voted & sent multiple campaign contributions to Harris/Walz, but I cannot understand how anyone (including people I know & love) could cast a ballot for an aspiring autocratic orangutang without the IQ to match. I guess the accelerationists are happy, but, REALLY?
1/2 So I've been hyper-focused on my dissertation, teaching, & learning to live on a 40-year-old sailboat with my husband while our condo is rehabbed as a result of a fire in our building (it's been 2 years now) when the good ol' USA decided to flush representative democracy down the toilet. Ugh.
November 20, 2024 at 12:38 AM
1/2 So I've been hyper-focused on my dissertation, teaching, & learning to live on a 40-year-old sailboat with my husband while our condo is rehabbed as a result of a fire in our building (it's been 2 years now) when the good ol' USA decided to flush representative democracy down the toilet. Ugh.
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
“There is a high propensity these days for knowledge to arrive on our screens pre-digested and pre-packaged. There is nothing left for us to do but swallow.” www.ie.edu/insights/art... #academicsky
AI, Academic Integrity, and Creative Expression | IE Insights
If all academic and creative work is theft, is AI doing anything new? Martin Crawford argues that this new technology can be a launching point for managing knowledge and boosting creativity, rather th...
www.ie.edu
February 20, 2024 at 4:53 PM
“There is a high propensity these days for knowledge to arrive on our screens pre-digested and pre-packaged. There is nothing left for us to do but swallow.” www.ie.edu/insights/art... #academicsky
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
YES! And yes, I will do my best to publicise my sweet baby, because it is a banger. More on this as we get it #AcademicWriting #AcademicChatter #AfD #Germany 🌐
February 20, 2024 at 5:10 PM
YES! And yes, I will do my best to publicise my sweet baby, because it is a banger. More on this as we get it #AcademicWriting #AcademicChatter #AfD #Germany 🌐
Never forget what Alexei Navalny did and tried to do. A leader may die, but the work is never finished. #AlexeiNavalny
Никогда не забывайте, что делал и пытался сделать Алексей Навальный. Лидер может умереть, но работа никогда не будет завершена. #АлексейНавальный
Никогда не забывайте, что делал и пытался сделать Алексей Навальный. Лидер может умереть, но работа никогда не будет завершена. #АлексейНавальный
February 16, 2024 at 3:15 PM
Never forget what Alexei Navalny did and tried to do. A leader may die, but the work is never finished. #AlexeiNavalny
Никогда не забывайте, что делал и пытался сделать Алексей Навальный. Лидер может умереть, но работа никогда не будет завершена. #АлексейНавальный
Никогда не забывайте, что делал и пытался сделать Алексей Навальный. Лидер может умереть, но работа никогда не будет завершена. #АлексейНавальный
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Read this 👇 this morning and it made me think about how review requests always appear in... gaggles? Flocks? What do we call them? Also, collective nouns are just SO fascinating! #AcademicChatter #linguistics
A murder of crows. A parliament of owls. A gaggle of geese. An unkindness of ravens.
There are more! I didn't know there were so many collective nouns for birds, and that they were created by a 15th-century nun, Juliana Barnes.
www.themarginalian.o... #Language #English #TinyJoys
There are more! I didn't know there were so many collective nouns for birds, and that they were created by a 15th-century nun, Juliana Barnes.
www.themarginalian.o... #Language #English #TinyJoys
A Parliament of Owls and a Murder of Crows: How Groups of Birds Got Their Names, with Wondrous Vintage Illustrations by Brian Wildsmith
Language is an instrument of great precision and poignancy — our best tool for telling each other what the world is and what we are, for conveying the blueness of blue and the wonder of being…
www.themarginalian.org
February 16, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Read this 👇 this morning and it made me think about how review requests always appear in... gaggles? Flocks? What do we call them? Also, collective nouns are just SO fascinating! #AcademicChatter #linguistics
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Today, another excerpt from my book, Extremely Hardcore, this time about Elon Musk’s decision to rework the X algorithm to boost his tweets over everyone else’s: www.businessinsider.com/musk-changed...
Musk changed Twitter's algorithm when his tweets didn't pop off: book
In Zoe Schiffer's book "Extremely Hardcore," she describes a Super Bowl-related tweet flop with Elon Musk ordering engineers to change the algorithm.
www.businessinsider.com
February 15, 2024 at 4:13 PM
Today, another excerpt from my book, Extremely Hardcore, this time about Elon Musk’s decision to rework the X algorithm to boost his tweets over everyone else’s: www.businessinsider.com/musk-changed...
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Meanwhile, on Google Maps…
February 16, 2024 at 7:56 AM
Meanwhile, on Google Maps…
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Breaking News: Aleksei Navalny, the most outspoken domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died in prison, Russian state media said. nyti.ms/3wlPyvJ
February 16, 2024 at 11:54 AM
Breaking News: Aleksei Navalny, the most outspoken domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died in prison, Russian state media said. nyti.ms/3wlPyvJ
Lobby your Members of Congress to support Ukraine. Putin killed Navalny — we cannot let him kill a nation. #BackUkraine #RememberNavalny
February 16, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Lobby your Members of Congress to support Ukraine. Putin killed Navalny — we cannot let him kill a nation. #BackUkraine #RememberNavalny
Ugh . . . why do so many people refuse to apply logic?! This is a truly absurd conspiracy theory. No wonder alcohol use remains high post-pandemic.
Nearly one in five Americans believe the baseless theory that there is “a covert government effort” for Taylor Swift to help President Biden win re-election, according to a new poll by Monmouth University. There was overlap with 2020 election denial.
Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theory Is Embraced by Nearly 1 in 5 Americans, Poll Finds
Eighteen percent believe there is “a covert government effort” for the pop icon to help President Biden win re-election, according to a Monmouth University survey.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2024 at 10:16 PM
Ugh . . . why do so many people refuse to apply logic?! This is a truly absurd conspiracy theory. No wonder alcohol use remains high post-pandemic.
I'm about to sound cranky, but I have to ask: Is it just me or do many undergraduate students avoid reading assignment directions? After all of the work I do to produce clear step-by-step instructions that aren't more than 2 pages, why do they think I will answer the same questions via email?
February 13, 2024 at 9:20 PM
I'm about to sound cranky, but I have to ask: Is it just me or do many undergraduate students avoid reading assignment directions? After all of the work I do to produce clear step-by-step instructions that aren't more than 2 pages, why do they think I will answer the same questions via email?
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
Funny to think back on how people thought it would be impossible for millennials to ever run for office because everyone would have online pictures from college of them taking bong rips or whatever. Now trying to find something from 2019 online is difficult, something from 2005 requires archaeology.
"The internet's not written in ink, Mark. It's written in pencil".
The internet is forever *dead link from a site shut down in 2018; the context now about as clear the Sumerian dog joke*
February 13, 2024 at 9:02 PM
Funny to think back on how people thought it would be impossible for millennials to ever run for office because everyone would have online pictures from college of them taking bong rips or whatever. Now trying to find something from 2019 online is difficult, something from 2005 requires archaeology.
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
When I was a kid, seven people died from poisoned Tylenol, and that was enough to prompt regulation overhauls and widespread changes in product packaging to prevent further deaths. Seven.
Not sure why seeing this article about people killed by driverless cars reminded me of that, but there you go.
Not sure why seeing this article about people killed by driverless cars reminded me of that, but there you go.
recall that Tesla was caught automatically disengaging automation one second before impact so they could pretend half-cooked automation wasn't at fault, so the idea that we even have an accurate count of fatalities is preposterous
Tesla worker killed in fiery crash may be first ‘Full Self-Driving’ fatality
Hans von Ohain, a Tesla employee, died in a crash in 2022 when his Model 3 suddenly veered off the road.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 13, 2024 at 5:56 PM
When I was a kid, seven people died from poisoned Tylenol, and that was enough to prompt regulation overhauls and widespread changes in product packaging to prevent further deaths. Seven.
Not sure why seeing this article about people killed by driverless cars reminded me of that, but there you go.
Not sure why seeing this article about people killed by driverless cars reminded me of that, but there you go.
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
The first excerpt from my book on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover is live! How Elon Musk’s Twitter Ultimatum Brought Employees to Their Breaking Point: “People Were Emotionally a Wreck” www.vanityfair.com/news/elon-mu...
How Elon Musk’s Twitter Ultimatum Brought Employees to Their Breaking Point: “People Were Emotio...
The billionaire CEO subjected staffers to brutal loyalty and competence tests immediately after taking the helm, as Zoë Schiffer writes in an excerpt of her forthcoming book, ‘Extremely Hardcore.��...
www.vanityfair.com
February 7, 2024 at 12:54 AM
The first excerpt from my book on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover is live! How Elon Musk’s Twitter Ultimatum Brought Employees to Their Breaking Point: “People Were Emotionally a Wreck” www.vanityfair.com/news/elon-mu...
Reposted by Michelle Conklin-Kusel, a.k.a., Working Class Wordsmith
I live next to a fairly large university (George Mason) and these little robots are EVERYWHERE. Also can definitely confirm they have trouble crossing streets & bumping into/off of curbs 🙃
New from 404 Media: internal emails show how universities are bending over backwards to accommodate food delivery robots. Company demands any photos only include students with a "healthy BMI." Also want to exploit "captured" student customer base www.404media.co/student-shou...
‘Student Should Have a Healthy-Looking BMI’: How Universities Bend Over Backwards to Accommodate...
Internal emails show how universities make nonsentient, profit-seeking Starship robots feel comfortable on campus.
www.404media.co
January 17, 2024 at 4:54 PM
I live next to a fairly large university (George Mason) and these little robots are EVERYWHERE. Also can definitely confirm they have trouble crossing streets & bumping into/off of curbs 🙃
Hot damn! Is this the alternative to zombified Twitter (a.k.a. X) we've been waiting for? Here's hoping! #Progressive #SocialMedia4Organizing
February 7, 2024 at 12:55 AM
Hot damn! Is this the alternative to zombified Twitter (a.k.a. X) we've been waiting for? Here's hoping! #Progressive #SocialMedia4Organizing