Today's non-awful Christmas song advent calendar track is another a capella one, the Monkees performing the sixteenth century villancico "Riu Chiu". Yes, they *could* sing that well.

I now know that Chuck Wendig lives in Pennsyltucky.

And the boat was on fire! On fire!

Glenn and I have been an item for 40 years as of today (December 3, in our time zone). We've been married for a bit over 38 years; the item anniversary is the one we celebrate the most. Oh, cherish your beloveds. We are all fragile. We're fine now, no immediate worries, but life is temporary.

South Floridians from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela expecting to become U.S. citizens this week learned instead that their naturalization ceremonies had been canceled after the Trump administration issued a sweeping directive aimed at halting immigration from so-called high-risk countries.

STILL MISSING!! The first grader has been separated from his dad for almost a week, following ICE abducting them for the third time this year! ICE refuses to disclose the 6 yr old’s location. WHERE IS YUANXIN? Call your Reps & ask them to pressure ICE/DHS to reunite Fei & Yuanxin & release them!

Hey all, The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships. Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits. You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.

We generally only name buildings after dead people.

This is one of those things that I think is quietly important – when these people are talking shit about cities, Portland or Minneapolis or New York or Charlotte or wherever, you have to loudly say, “no, fuck you, you’re lying, that town and its people whip ass and you’re the asshole”

doomscroll break

For the second day of #ArtAdventCalendar, have another hat. This was not my most successful silly hat, in that the duck's forrehead is too high and the duck's bill flops around, but it did succeed in its main aim, which was to make its recipient and her spouse laugh during a difficult time.

I dislike Giving Tuesday, because it overwhelms us with more good appeals than anyone could reasonably answer. Nevertheless, if you're not overwhelmed, Doctors Without Borders has an extraordinary triple match today. I'll return to raising money for smaller, more personal causes on another day.

Okay, I'll play along with #ArtAdventCalendar. Here's a hat I made some years back.

Cecilia Tan takes seriously the instruction to keep watching the skies, and I appreciate that.

Seriously though "warfighter" is the most "oh fuck the Soviets died what even is our job now" insecure shit. You're a soldier or a sailor or an airman or a marine & all together you are service personnel & that is more than fucking good enough. How dare you suggest it isn't

We are absolutely thrilled to announce the 2026 Clarion Workshop instructor line-up!! Applications open on Dec. 1st, so spread the word and mark your calendars. It's going to be another stellar summer here in San Diego.

"The classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood involves a wolf eating a little girl, but does not promote violence. Children’s books are stories, not instruction manuals."

Cold Comfort Farm

A reminder that I have a book out and I’m available for podcasts

We’re so excited to be a part of this!

From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social: "Now is not the time for federal judges to be removing ICE skeptics from jury selection... [the] community’s informed distrust of the government’s actions is not a bias to be purged."

Asterisks! Asterisks can be very, very sexy, if introduced at just the right moment.

Damn this adminstration for another stupidity. I can no longer log in to my existing ssa.gov account but must set up a new Login.Gov account, which I do not trust at all. I'll have to wait for physical mail to know what is going on in the future, or give up control of more of my personal data.

Congratulations to the team at Common AREA Maintenance! We can't wait to support this project and find a home for the workshop!

haha oh god the consequences of this are going to be so incredibly grave in five to ten years time

one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.

In America they arrest you if you tell someone else not to commit a crime

Miami County in Ohio has different problems from Miami in Florida. Starting with wearily saying, No, Ohio, not Florida, but then cheerfully displaying an Ohio sense of humor.

Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.

The US secretary of defense is taking time out from his attempted sham prosecution of the astronaut senator to condemn Scouting for being too woke www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...

Next Monday, 11/24, two celebrated writers and scholars explore the craft and influence of Octavia E. Butler. Join @imaniperry.bsky.social and @tananarivedue.bsky.social for an evening dedicated to the revered SFF author’s luminous imagination. RSVP for free: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-radica...

In fairly petty annoyances: I write all the checks in our household. I suggest the nonprofits we support. My spouse agrees before I mail the checks. I write and sign the checks, which list both of our names. Most nonprofits manage to thank both of us, but if it's just one, too often, it isn't me.

Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Both! Both! Let's do both!

And for those wondering why this classification actually matters, it's so they can cheap out on student loan assistance: www.newsweek.com/nursing-not-...

Gulf of Mexico. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Lysenko: still wrong. Wakefield: still wrong. Putin: still bad. Trump: still bad.

People yelling caused an update: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

🧵 Let’s be so effing for real right now. The Department of Education saying these jobs are no longer PROFESSIONAL is dumb as hell and insulting as fuck. It takes YEARS of post-graduate training, including passing certifying exams, to earn degrees in these fields. #fdt #momsky

This week, I withdrew from a speaking engagement at a public university because they sent me a list of prohibited “words & concepts.” I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation.

Now that’s a lede. Story by @taracopp.bsky.social and @michelleboorstein.bsky.social. Read here: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

No one needs to continue to pretend that there is anyone in this administration who is sincere about being against anti-semitism.

Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged. Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.

fat generals = bad swastikas = meh? www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

A reminder that I’ve archived every public-facing web page from the CDC website prior to the Trump Regime purging data back in late January: acasignups.net/cdc-website

Solange Knowles’ Saint Heron has launched a free digital archival library of literature by Black and brown authors, poets, and artists. Readers can borrow rare and out-of-print books for up to 45 days

SFWA’s Writing Dates Program runs every Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 PM PST. Volunteer to lead a writing date and connect with fellow creators in a friendly, supportive environment. You don’t need to be a SFWA member to apply as a guest host. Learn more at sfwa.org/volunteer

New from me at Cato: what if Texas and California had a redistricting shootout but only California was competent at using its weapons? Blasting a cringe-worthy Department of Justice Civil Rights Division memo, a federal court has found Texas lawmakers improperly considered race in recent remap. /1

Thank you Mary Bruce for being a real journalist.

And yes, I wrote a full book about Jamal Khashoggi and his murder. Delivered edits, everything. Until my editors at Harper Collins completely disappeared and stopped work on my manuscript, forcing me to pull it. www.thedailybeast.com/harpercollin...

The Eaton Symposium returns! Join us on 01/08/26 for this free online event on speculative fiction and scholarship, feat. a keynote from author Ken Liu, and panels with incredible editors such as Sheree Renée Thomas, John Joseph Adams, and many others! Sign up: www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-virtu...