"He will never be an American. And no amount of ideological sophistry or paperwork will change that fundamental truth" That's how white nationalists view Vivek Ramaswamy, who was born in the USA. Me (Arab and born American but abroad)? I'll also never be American to them. It's just "paperwork"

Lovely portrait of Swiftie Dads. But it doesn't have to be Taylor Swift. If your teen kid wants to include you in their thing (whatever it is), the answer is Yes. Going to another concert in Jan for a band I have no clue about. But Kid1 likes them.

Walking in style Dia de los Locos in #SanMiguelDeAllende, #Mexico Day twenty-three of #ArtAdventCalendar #ClassicMono #PhotographersOfBluesky #StreetPhotography

The survey is open to non-members (I am not one) and to readers (who here is not &c.) so I encourage you to share your feelings on the matter. Don't assume that everyone already understands that AI is bad or why! I mean, people *should*, but you could say that about a lot of things.

I answered this survey on LLM use in SFF writing as a member of the public. Why? Because I don’t want to read GenAI slop. But also I don’t want the writers I read to have to deal with this in an already difficult profession. And the editors who have to wade through AI submissions.

Greta Thunberg has been arrested on terrorism charges for speaking out in support of the Palestine Action hunger strikers. FUCK this British government. https://news.sky.com/story/greta-thunberg-arrested-at-a-protest-supporting-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-13486842

I don't think free speech on campus ought to mean that a young coddled bigot gets to use their ignorance to casually destroy the career of a knowledgeable trans person on a random Wednesday

“It turns out that banishing the slur from public discourse was, in fact, important. Because now it’s back and it turns out that it does matter when subtext becomes actual text, when terrible people enable open hatred and bigotry, encouraging others to emulate them, degrading us all.”

The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees 🧵

Skull Day twenty-two of #ArtAdventCalendar

The 60 minutes CECOT story is out. I'm thinking Bari Weiss forgot Canada exists and they have streaming partners here? Anyway, multiple people posting this guys phone video of his tv to multiple outlets (see various links in thread and quotes). It's on youtube, various cloud services, etc.

This is bunk. These sites are chosen to not interfere with radar systems, according to the process listed on...the Department of Energy's website: windexchange.energy.gov/projects/rad...

CBS didn't run the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT, but over here at @propublica.org we've been working on the story since March, including finding out who each and every man sent to that maximum security prison was. You can see our reporting here: www.propublica.org/series/depor...

I grew up in a non-practicing but Jewish/Muslim household, never celebrating Christmas as a child Yet I still end up with four boxes of Christmas decorations in my storage locker? I mean, I know how but it's still funny since my spouse grew up with Christmas but not Christianity.

Beach day fun day Day twenty-one of #ArtAdventCalendar

Inside the federal government as Trump and DOGE pushed it past its breaking point in 2025, as told by some of the more than 1,200 federal workers @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and @merylkornfield.bsky.social have spoken to this year

Happy Winter Solstice! Beer can, pinhole camera photos of the Summer to Winter Solstice (2024) and the Winter to Summer Solstice (2025). You never know quite what you're going to get with these photos, set the beer can pointing towards the sun at hopefully the correct angle and wait 6 months!

Your move. Day twenty of #ArtAdventCalendar

Color me shocked.

Post-doc positions: "Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..." uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...

Bodega cat Day nineteen of #ArtAdventCalendar

“There is a clear difference between cultural colonization and cultural appreciation and it’s not that hard to get right if you come with an open heart and unbounded humility.” Not just true when it comes to Mexican bread.

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a new set of rules attempting to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth nationwide. Take action and tell HHS: No bans on gender-affirming care.

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

Hell yeah: @science.org's official Breakthrough of the Year for 2025 is ... [drumroll] ... ... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.

Haven’t had the time, patience or energy to tear apart all that is wrong with the academic hiring but from that racial grievance Compact piece. So here’s @nkalamb.bsky.social’s thread. Because there is so much wrong with it.

Given the rising concerns about academic integrity, especially with GenAI, I’ve been thinking a lot about the @oberlincollege.bsky.social Honor Code. I still remember the honor pledge I wrote on every exam. And people are shocked to hear that exams are not proctored. #AcademicChatter

Revealed: how Toyota uses retro-style games and prizes to urge US workers to lobby politicians #Climate

Monte Alban sunset Day eighteen of #ArtAdventCalendar

Story time. Got a paper rejected. No big deal. It happens. Except one reviewer explicitly stated they were unfamiliar with our methods and asked a GenAI to explain it. They then used this to trash the paper, oh, and the journal forbids AI use in reviews. Livid is mild to describe my feelings.

Cliffs of Moher Day seventeen of #ArtAdventCalendar

I need white men, especially those who’ve navigated real competition, to PUBLICLY push back on the idea that women and people of color are "taking jobs". A lot of white guys are mislabeling their own stagnation as discrimination, and they’re only going to hear that distinction from other white men.

There are “rules” in photography that you learn and then can break for visual effect. That is different than not knowing the rules. The former is very much what is happening here. Choices were made and they show the power of photography.

FFS! Reagan? If the presidency ever “served as a reminder of our common humanity” is was not this man. So many reasons but just his response to the AIDS epidemic is enough.

What are you looking at? Day sixteen of #ArtAdventCalendar

Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.

This thread 🧵 is spot on. Figuring out how to explain things is how you work through all the implications of what you’ve done and organize your thoughts into something coherent and deeper. Outsourcing that will only ever deliver something shallower and deprive you of insight into your own work.

If a kid visiting your house shows interest in a book on your shelves, the kid leaves with the book. Those are the rules.

I don’t have a great memory for quoting stuff. The exception is lines from Rob Reiner movies.

I worked some pretty horrid jobs early on but never retail. Read this thread and be nice to folks in the shops.

Nightmarket Chef Day fifteen of #ArtAdventCalendar

The callousness of the officials quoted here is chilling. It should also be surprising but that it is not also is chilling.

ICE sprayed a one-year-old in the face with pepper spray. The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter. These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby. We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Hanukkah sameach! Enjoy this thread of a wide range of menorah designs.

We grieve the loss of life in Sydney, Australia, where gunmen attacked a celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, killing at least 11 people. This was a terrifying incident of hate-fueled violence that no community should face.

my favorite thing about the benoit blanc movies is that they aren't really about benoit blanc. he is not grappling with demons from his past. we are not getting flashbacks to the husband whose murder he never solved. he just shows up and does his job like mary poppins for homicides

Folk dancers at the farmers market I want to say they were Morris dancers but it was a long while ago so not entirely sure. Day fourteen of #ArtAdventCalendar

TIL there are mattresses that cost *hundreds of thousands of dollars* Feels like “late stage capitalism” is now firmly in the rear-view mirror.

It’s always nice when someone else buys the janky Advent calendar and posts each day. That way you can laugh along without the hit on your pocketbook. #StarTrek

I kinda feel like we’re seeing a version of this one play out on a societal level right now.