“The intention here is not subtle. What is happening is not open to debate. The richest right wingers in America are buying up the entirety of mass modern media with an eye on building a permanent autocratic oligarchy coddled by wall-to-wall corporatist, right wing bullshit and propaganda.”

from the Vox editorial team @paceuniversity.bsky.social to launching a brand new zine! my former student Amanda Leigh is partnering with NGC to showcase the voices of adults living with #Cystinosis. seeking writing & art #submissions by 5/4/26 please help spread the word.

North Carolina’s @katebarrcanwin.bsky.social gave us the perfect metaphor for what we are all doing in this perilous moment. From today’s Politics Chat, watch now on YouTube.

@toothpetard.bsky.social the garnets. amazing.

Join this training to learn about the @waisn.bsky.social statewide Rapid Response network and how you can support immigrant communities in keeping families together. airtable.com/appbpZMw1P29...

this is in Bellevue, Washington. thanks to the people who recorded & got license plate. so many things wrong with this, not least of which vests that say POLICE & all the SUVs that just drove on by. www.kiro7.com/news/local/b...

poems by Genevieve Kaplan, with murmuration positjournal.com/2026/02/06/g... #poemsIreadtoday

I finally have a newsletter! It's called The Fine Print* and I'll be writing about tech, media, politics, consumer rights (and whatever else I damn-well please). It's free, but if you have disposable income, you can support independent reporting for just $50/year or $4/month.

Bad Bunny understood the assignment…

poem from 'The Speed of Darkness', Muriel Rukeyser

going to take a January hiatus from the socials, peeps. wishing you well in earliest 2026—happy new year.

grateful to the journalists, thinkers, writers here in the blue sky who continue to speak truth to power. just a few of many—thank you @karlbode.com @jamellebouie.net @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social @hcrichardson.bsky.social @brandonshimoda.bsky.social @esqueer.net @bencollins.bsky.social. adieu 2025.

Hey folks: this morning we're launching a monthlong fundraiser for @techdirt.com. Over the last year, we've been steadfast in not self-censoring, not capitulating, not sanewashing bullshit. But that's come at a cost. And we need help: rtb.techdirt.com/products/fri...

caturyay in a box (encore, alors)

I like taking the Seattle alleys

It’s amazing to watch the tiny handful of higher profile people who have decided that now is the time for them to get on board the Trump Train, just as millions are jumping off as it goes off the tracks. They’re like people buying the last tickets on Titanic.

Oh shit, it's Stylish But Illegal Monkey Day

Du Fu once wrote that a man “must read the contents of five cartloads of books” (男儿须读五车书). Real literacy, in other words, is born of wide reading. Without it, a person cannot describe themselves, construct the narrative of their life, or articulate it for others. thebaffler.com/odds-and-end...

drill into observations from around the globe on literacy, reading, and literature and their relationship to, as Nicolás Medina Mora in his introduction, writes "the unholy alliance between capital & state." 1st read free if you don't already subscribe thebaffler.com/odds-and-end... @thebaffler.com

caturyay in a box

This is so true! Thank you Rob! @robmclennan.bsky.social !

tomorrow morning the 24-hour 'Global Reading for Freedom of Expression & in Solidarity with Palestine' takes place. tune in from 5am PST/ 3pm EET Palestinian time— broadcast www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGUg... schedule www.instagram.com/pamenarpress/

With readings from Palestine-Egypt-Sudan-N.Africa-Greece-Italy-Albania-Catalan poets-Chile-US-Japan-Germany-Ireland-UK-Canada-Caribbean poets-Puerto Rico-Mexico-Australia-Aotearoa NZ

oh boy, fun rabbit hole to go down—looking up artwork by this list of writers/artists published what seems an eternity ago in a special Trickhouse folio of Turkish visual poets, curated by @keyclaw.bsky.social

writer peeps—for the last couple of years, I have taught a monthly creative writing workshop at Pike Place Market Senior Center & teach tomorrow. think we will do erasures. any tips for working with erasure? send my way please.

Caturyay in the bag

I worked with Mayor-elect Katie Wilson when I was in the transportation/transit sector. she is a good one: ethical, smart, kind. she gets things done. very happy for her, and for Seattle.

reading this excellent book again—one of those I believe every American should read.

scholar-activists—Natural History Museum invites applications for the 2026-2028 Red Natural History Fellowship, a 2-year program dedicated to creating a natural history for a world in crisis, confronting systems that reproduce colonial & ecological harm thenaturalhistorymuseum.org/open-call-20...

I like the part where Wole Salinka calls him “Idi Amin in white face”

Need hope in this mess In Americ? Don’t know what you can do? Professor @hcrichardson.bsky.social has sage advice right here:

1 in 8 Americans are on SNAP benefits. a line for your east wing valediction.

“Don’t want to lose SNAP? Tell the Dems to reopen the government!” SNAP assistance gets cut in the big beautiful bill too. Healthcare is slashed as well. They’re withholding food for 40 million Americans to try and force the Dems to sign off on cutting food AND healthcare!

Arthur Sze, “Library of Congress,” New Yorker

This is just to say I have bulldozed the East Wing that you were probably hoping to pass down to future generations Well, fuck you it was in the way so inconvenient and so old

Lately I've seen many references to the 3.5% rule. A few years ago I pulled together this Q&A on potential uses and misuses of this statistic. www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/defaul...

“If you only purchase one chapbook in 2025, order COPIUM by Nada Gordon.”

www.artworkarchive.com/profile/indi... untitled, Ash Frantz

As always, Mike Masnick has a good take on the news.

General pattern in regime change: the comedy gets better and then it gets banned.

I, a comma inserted numerically into an empty space between capitalist gory holes Catherine Bresner, from can we anything we see (Spuyten Duyvil, 2025)

Can’t express in words how big this rally in Chicago is. The president’s fascist goon squad is not welcome here.

Thank you to our amazing volunteers for coming out to canvass yesterday! When we fight, we win!

yes.

the brothers—and a happy Caturyay to you

Koda!

Some remarkable quotes from these CDC resignation letters:

I know Democrats are overwhelmed (or rudderless, if you are less charitable) by the sheer volume of Trump authoritarian moves, but I’d like to see them unified behind specific goals like “RFK Jr is a threat to public health and needs to go.”