“The line and the stream. — Ethan Marcotte” https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/ > That’s why I’ve come to realize that statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.

“‘This ruling is a clear affirmation that AI cannot be deployed as a shortcut around union rights, ethical journalism, or human judgment,’ said Ariel Wittenberg, unit chair of the PEN Guild.” GOOD AFTERNOON TO ORGANIZED LABOR www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/poli...

slapping `reddit -ai` to the end of everything i type into the world’s most popular search engine, the tech industry is fine and cannot possibly be improved

For everyone visiting their parents this week: LG calls it The Grim Unending Roku/TCL calls it Brain Still-Death Samsung calls it The Life-Worm Unblinking Sony calls it The Pale Fire That Burns The Way Panasonic calls it The Darkest Blessing Amazon Fire TVs call it Acceptance of Bezos' Gray Host

A good morning to organized labor

I added this lil guy to my inprnt shop

My dear friend Mike has a new album of electronic music out, and I’d say this even if I didn’t know him: it is a DELIGHT mute-city.bandcamp.com/album/entrop...

This is what I spent most of last week working on with other people who cannot leave this stuff alone. Gotta put the facts in order in a stable place and then see what meaning emerges.

hell yes. read Ethan always but especially this piece on choosing what futures we build.

Shout out to another sibling union in @opeiulocal153.bsky.social: @backmakersunited.bsky.social are the union of workers at Back Market, and they just got voluntary recognition www.opeiulocal153.org/news/back-ma...

this is a level and helpful and inspiring piece of writing and i recommend reading it. solidarity will win the day

My SWAG is that many tech people who do not agree with DOGE's aims nonetheless agree with their methods.

“Statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.” https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/

Menswear Guy busting out CARDINAL NEWMAN was not on my bingo card I love this website

can I mute a photograph

This piece is good, but omits a big source of Musk’s remaining influence in government: namely people given key appointments during the transition who were never officially part of DOGE and who are still in those positions doing DOGE-aligned work—people like my old boss at GSA who came from Tesla.

*trying to unlock my phone with my glasses off* 📱: I’ve never seen you before in my life. *put glasses on* 📱: oh thank GOODness you’re back sir, some hideous monstrosity just tried to break in to god knows what vile ends

We quietly launched a new thing over on @unbreaking.org: letting folks filter our *in-depth* timelines down into the pieces they care about, to help them pull out the threads that are most relevant to them. This was a real team effort; can’t wait to see more of our pages roll out their own filters.

🦊 “Artificial intelligence isn’t going anywhere. It’s the future.” I hear that line a lot. The thing is, futures are tricky. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-li...

"As of now, our union, Starbucks Workers United, has the facility under a full blockade." Starbucks worker Silvia lays out the ULP strike escalation at Starbucks' York regional distribution center #NoContractNoCoffee

It’s not enough to turn *away* from screens; we have to turn *towards* something else. https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/thingness

This interview feels like a tremendous missed opportunity: it reads like an airing of talking points, rather than properly interrogating a billionaire donor who’s comfortable slapping some nice fonts on openly fascist policies: www.dezeen.com/2025/11/18/a...

COYOTE’s service journalism will always be free to read, including today’s guide to helping someone who might be overdosing.

real nice decentralized network you’ve got there, be a real shame if capitalism happened to it

if link utters a single intelligible word during any part of this movie, we riot

happy new chika day to all those who celebrate www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Starbucks workers are ON STRIKE today. Don't cross the picket line! And donate to their strike fund.

WE TRULY LOVE TO SEE IT

ULP stands for unfair labor practice! There's a lot on the table: don't buy!

my dad subscribed to some PC magazines in the 80s. i remember propping them open next to the keyboard as i typed out, line by line, some basic-ass BASIC programs into the computer, all to make colors and shapes appear on the screen this is to say: i love this with my entire heart vole.wtf/doctype/

current redesign status

“I have good news for you, though: assholes are a minority. People of conscience, people with good will and good intentions have always outnumbered psychopaths and sycophants.” https://okayfail.com/2025/in-praise-of-dhh.html

shushing! on the quiet car

We expect a lot more detail about this stuff to come out in court in the coming months, and when we learn more, we'll put it in our chronological archive with all the rest: unbreaking.org/issues/immig...

This week's @unbreaking.org update on immigration is *also* an update on data security because the administration is using immigration enforcement as a way to trial and operationalize a full-on surveillance state.

Today, Thursday, November 6th at 3 pm ET, we're going to have RV Dougherty on our public picket line. RV wasn't just one of our original organizers but went on to become a staff organizer at OPEIU! Join us on Zoom kickstarterunited.org/picket/

Extremely excited about this event tomorrow on Luddism, and the lessons we can draw from it today: scienceandsociety.columbia.edu/events/new-l... (If you’re there too, come say hi!)

NINETY TWO PERCENT of Starbucks union members just voted to authorize a strike, kicking off on 13 November unless they (finally) get a fair contract: www.cbsnews.com/news/starbuc... #labor #1u

“”AI” is a failed technology. … LLMs haven’t met any markers of success we’d apply to, well, literally any other technology.” Great article by Ethan Marcotte @ethanmarcotte.com ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/agains...

hell is patient

we must attack and dethrone time

i just read the words “generative craft” in a glitzy press release and the phrase “artisanal slot machine pulling” has now taken up permanent residence in my brain

- what if i buy a new laptop bag - what if i redesign my website - maybe this new typeface will fix me month’s going great, why do you ask

EXTREMELY glad I could show up for @kickstarterunited.org’s Boston rally today. History in the making, folks.

real nice decentralized network you’ve got there, be a real shame if capitalism happened to it

unless you want to see a thousand accounts dunk quoting and arguing with these propaganda accounts, this is a handy block list

We banged our heads against the true costs of healthcare cuts this week and JFC. It's not just ACA price hikes + people losing Medicaid coverage, though that's already bad It's also hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes poised to fall like dominos. Healthcare will be worse for all of us.

[updates browser] i am so tired

This is excellent. “…the technology’s real value isn’t improving productivity, or even in improving products. Rather, it’s a social mechanism employed to ensure compliance in the workplace, and to weaken worker power.”

“The fact that copyrighted works aren’t eligible unless they’ve formally registered feels like a lawyerly dodge: a legal maneuver to help Anthropic reduce the size of its payout pool …” — @ethanmarcotte.com ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-righ...