TLDR -- repealing anti-circumvention laws will destroy America's tech barons pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...

What I thought of when Bari -- sorry, CBS -- said "We love America."

Thinkin' about materialism and post-materialism today (thnx @maiamindel.bsky.social), and one small observation I could make is that the right muddies the water by making material claims (wealth is being redistributed) when their real grievance is postmaterial (I don't like seeing immigrants)

....did the UK pundit class suddenly lose ability to read? Because I'm a faildaughter and could say what this means

One of the more common defences of generative AI is that, in terms of social harms, it does nothing that was not already possible. e.g., CSAM has long existed; the internet writ large made it easier to distribute, so AI's effect is negligible. But there's a big problem with this line of reasoning.

If I send this to you, it means I am jubilant and all of my weird enemies have been defeated.

day one in mamdani’s new york

I would like to direct all speeders to this chart

This also holds if you swap out urban America with people of color, I think

Refreshed the backyard dog run.

My sustainability class includes readings like "Cars are Killing Us" and a chapter from the book "Carmageddon". Wonder if the class perspective on transportation will be clear?

Happy New Queer, everyone!

Just read a footnote in a book that explained what a DVD is. Real lolsob moment.

Happy new year to all my homies:

What was the best thing that happened to you in 2025?

Brushed this guy and he looks pretty handsome...for now

2025 was a difficult year: dealing with the death of my mom (who passed late 2024), amorphous and as of yet undiagnosed health problems, and the negative impact of LLMs on my teaching.

When bike lanes got put in along one of the nearby streets, it came up in conversation with neighbours who were very against them, because it would help the criminals move faster. Surprised myself at how well I suppressed a WTF reaction.

one unexpected outlook change from being a dad is taking the self care people 10x more seriously when it comes to dealing with weirdly directed anger and rage (including Online). many angry posts should have been naps or little packets of crackers

Like 95% of conservative thought at this point amounts to “how could there possibly be people living in cities”

This reminds me of a British TV show, You Are What You Eat, in which the host Gillian McKeith always did a segment "analyzing" a person's feces while degrading them for how nasty and unhealthy they were.

Looked at my (high) enrolment numbers for next semester and worried about how that's going to interact with LLM use and my sanity.

Adding more books to the unread books pile.

I love Texas Caviar, since I am a big bean salad guy.

At the medical centre for my cardiac test but may stop for Brotox on the way out

Make MTG mean "Magic the Gathering" again.

Meanwhile, in Canada, we have a province hitting the "ignore the Charter of Rights and Freedoms" button embedded in the Charter itself to oppress trans people. Follows the process? Yes. Is it liberal, something to hold up as being done "the right way"? Absolutely fucking not.

No, actually, that's the thing, is if you think individual people's gender expression is a valid locus of state action, you are the one who has abandoned liberal democracy. There is no such thing as liberal democracy in which classes of people are disenfranchised on the basis of minority status.

Back home.

I wish I saw this one yesterday.

Downloaded Sarah Marshall's entire "The Devil You Know" podcast, so I'm now ready for the long drive home for our belated family Christmas.

Lemon bar for breakfast? Don't mind if I do.

My day-to-day philosophy of gender and politics, such as it is, with a winter and Christmas twist: 1. Bake lemon bars. 2. Clear the snow from the driveway. 3. Do (1) and (2) for others.

Baking for family continues with milk rolls.

Here's my contribution to today's dog and masculinity discourse.

More Christmas baking (since we're doing our big meal on the 28th). This time, my specialty: lemon bars.

and Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, appeared on Fox and Friends the very next morning to discuss the miracle supplement that saved his life

The only true way is the Canadian way (As much as I wish it was a joke, it is in fact not one and this is exactly how it works here)

Christmas movie confessionals: - I did not know "Sound of Music" had Nazis in it until I was in my 20s. - I did not watch the entire "The Muppet Christmas Carol" until I was 45 (until today).

A Canadian bureaucrat made this.

Christmas baking continues with these stovetop sesame chocolate cookies. Did a few swaps to make them nut and dairy free for family with allergies.

Christmas candy making featuring raspberry pâtes de fruit.

I've brought this up a few times lately because I'm still hearing anecdotes here (SW Ontario) that electric heat pumps don't work well here, but this is not my experience. And we have an old house with decent but not stellar insulation.

This looks like a really cool option for anyone who needs a mini split

Here, as ever, “empowering educators” is clever code for administrators dumping another problem on teachers and saying “here, you deal with this.”

There is a sociology department where the scholars argue for studying the economy by going inside it and experiencing it directly. Most at the Reserve feel this is madness.