🌟Want to be recognized for your impact and innovation? The Connolly Rising Star Awards celebrate early-career editors (10 years or less) who have made significant contributions—whether through innovation, advocacy, or excellence in editing. Nominate through 10/15. tinyurl.com/593pa5d8

What a joy to be in Calgary today to deliver a #PlainLanguage workshop!🇨🇦

Federal employees should never be used as political pawns in shutdown negotiations.

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

Trump just designated “Antifa” as a terrorist organization, on par with ISIS and Al Qaeda. As a reminder, “antifa” is short for “antifascist”. They will use this lie to surveil, imprison, and kill Americans on the left. This may be our Reichstag Fire moment. Wake up. www.cnn.com/2025/09/17/p...

Today begins ACES #VCON25! 🎉 Fellow attendees: Don’t miss my chat with Jess Stampe, Jonathan Fusfield, and Brian Tich at 2:30 pm ET / 11:30 am PT. We promise it’ll be a fun time and a worthwhile conversation!🤗

Once again… Racism is not a different political opinion. It’s racism.

Hello there! I'm not on Bluesky much, but I'll be here to host an #ACESChat on Oct. 1 about marketing yourself as an editor (whether you're freelance or just thinking about your personal brand). See you then!

I'm thrilled to share a new achievement: I'm officially a Certified Copy Editor and Certified Stylistic Editor through @editorscanada.bsky.social! 💖 It's an honor to see my name on their roster of certified editors: editors.ca/professional...

How time has flown… Pristine Clarity is celebrating its second anniversary!🥳 This past year, we’ve expanded our client base and our services to offer #PlainLanguage training and help more professionals write more clearly and precisely. Learn more at PristineClarityLLC.com.✅

Since we seem to be doing this again ... I recently investigated the origin of the ridiculous myth that em dashes are a sign of AI writing. (The people who blew up the idea didn't even know it's called a dash. They called it "the long hyphen.")

Excited to share that I (‪@bykristenmclark.bsky.social‬) will be presenting at the @edsguild.bsky.social's 2025 Red Pencil Conference this fall, offering an introduction to #PlainLanguage editing. Registration is now open at edsguild.org/red-pencil-2025. Will I see you there?!🤗 #edsguild2025

We’re calling for a Florida boycott over the inhumane “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site. Cancel your family vacation and choose a different destination this summer.

Well, this we can agree on, even Senator Thom Tillis is calling out his own colleagues: “Too many elected officials are motivated by pure raw politics who don’t really give a damn about the people they promised to represent on the campaign trail,” the North Carolina Republican wrote.

Change your passwords, folks.

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, but also a reminder: freedom delayed is freedom denied. #Juneteenth #BlackHistory #FreedomDay #NeverForget

Trump's "perade" is the only event today where crowds are smaller than expected.

This is chilling to watch and utterly unacceptable in the United States of America. As a former Senator, I’m calling on all current members to speak out on behalf of Sen. Padilla and defend him and the Senate against these outrageous attacks.

Quay Crowner believes she may have been targeted for dismissal because she attended a DEI training program offered by the first Trump administration. However, she says white colleagues who attended the same training hadn’t been pushed out. By @davidmcswane.bsky.social‬

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has swabbed the DNA of migrant children as young as 4. Their genetic data is uploaded to an FBI database that can track them if they commit crimes in the future. Insane dystopia scoop from @dmehro.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/cbp-dn...

What if, just as an experiment, every journalist and every elected Democrat worked to make this statement from Trump into the explosive scandal it deserves to be instead of just shrugging?

This administration will go to any lengths to keep the public in the dark. Transparency? Why would America deserve that.

I'm thrilled and humbled to share that I've been elected as an at-large member on the ACES: The Society for Editing Board of Directors. 🥰 I truly love this organization, so this is a genuine honor. I'm so excited to serve ACES members in this new capacity. 🤩 1/

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is Project 2025 in legislative form. Here’s how it quietly turns a far-right wishlist into federal law: - Sec. 10008 - Expands work requirements for SNAP - Project 2025: Pushes “moral reform” to make low-income people work more for food assistance.

As fog blanketed Seattle, @knibbs.bsky.social's waited to meet @jay.bsky.team—CEO of Bluesky. Fittingly, just before she arrived, the skies cleared. It felt poetic. Her name, Lantian, means “blue sky” in Mandarin. And her mission? Clear the smog from social media.

🤣

Russell Vought, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to introduce new rules designed to limit the ability of US data brokers to sell Americans’ most sensitive data, credit history, and Social Security numbers.

It’s not just Newark: Nearly all air traffic control facilities in the U.S. are understaffed.

Across the federal government, DOGE’s push for early retirement and voluntary separation is fueling an exodus of experienced, knowledgeable staffers unlike anything in living memory, according to longtime staffers.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture “does not shy away from the tragedies, but neither does it give short shrift to the joy,” John McWhorter writes. It “trusts everyone to tolerate — no, celebrate — the contradictions.”

Attention, ACES members: Today is the last day to vote for the Board of Directors. It's your association. Where do you want it to go? The ballot closes at midnight ET. tinyurl.com/27rrakhp

I’m not saying this to be fighty, but I would always have put money on librarians being braver under duress than elite law firms and CEOs. The massively unequal distribution of power between librarians, elite law firms, and CEOs tells us a lot about the country, though.

Your periodic reminder that "fancy fonts" on places like Bluesky are unicode & are a nightmare for screen reader users. DON'T use for your name Not only that, good lucky having anyone search for you in the search bar by name. More examples in the original post on Masto: toot.cafe/@aardrian/11...

Attention, ACES members: Five more days to vote in the 2025 Board election. Find the candidate statements and link to the ballot: tinyurl.com/27rrakhp

Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.

As a German I will forever be grateful to all who fought for the liberation of Europe. But as a historian I am looking at front pages today and must wonder: What is the point of remembering #VEDay 80 years on, what is the point of our thanks, when we are failing to protect the sacrifices made? 🧵

🚨 SCOOP: DOGE just cut millions in Labor Department grants to support getting women into manufacturing & construction jobs & tackling gender-based violence & harassment at work. It may be illegal since some grants were mandated by law. New @motherjones.com: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Thanks, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social ! #ACESChat will be back May 21 — but only if we get a presenter. Might that be you? Please sign up: tinyurl.com/43kmajf2 Let's keep this going. It's easy: Just talk about what you know.

Q9: What resources or best practices do you suggest for those who want to learn more about plain language? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Thanks for sharing! #ACESchat

Q8: Can someone become certified in plain language? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Excellent point!👏🏻 #ACESchat

Q7: What are some editing strategies you recommend to promote plain language with writers? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Q6: How do you balance plain language with maintaining accuracy in technical content? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Q5: Does plain language "dumb down" a message? How do you counter resistance against plain language? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

BTW, I may or may not be playing Editors as background noise while doing this #ACESchat... 😏 music.apple.com/us/artist/ed...

Q4: What is the difference between plain language and simple English? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Q3: How did you learn about plain language? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social

Q2: What is the goal of plain language? #ACESChat, @bykristenmclark.bsky.social