Realizing I turned my entire life upside down 2004 (HS graduation) onward to get training and career pathways to serve the public, taking on debt and low paying jobs and emotional investment in failing systems, only to now have at least one promise kept (PSLF) after 20 years is making me emotional.

In Portugal I learned a term for the sense of identity of that comes from living within ex: the same hearing range of a church's bell. "Sub-sino" or "under the bell." Especially as these bells rang not just for services, but town meetings, emergencies, celebrations, births, deaths, to mark time.

In these last years of rural organizing around pushing back on surveillance, the thing that has really struck me is the lack of loyalty some people have. These are Your People, the neighbors who live around you. They are who would be pulling you out of the rubble, not some faceless state authority!

I have to tell anyone who will listen: I just got my “ribbons” indicating I officially will be getting my six figures of student loans forgiven. 10 years of my life! 17-22% of my post-tax income every month for over 10 years, now back in my pocket. I’m free! I’m free!!

Strangely enough, Bethany and I were friends in college, before she turned into a lonely and hateful person. When I see how she is now, I can’t help but see that weird, sad transition play out again in my head, her need to performatively reject people before they have a chance to reject her.

Update to my fuss about city govt taking a donation of a surveillance drone without asking questions: indeed the donation is a DJI kit, the brand about to be banned by the FCC at the end of this year bc of serious security problems. So the donor is probably trying to unload unsupported inventory.

e pluribus, numnum

It's why I find myself instead increasingly interested in the difference between "intelligence" and "consciousness." A toddler is very conscious, but I would not expect one to exceed at (or care about, as they should not) ex: almost any workplace task where LLMs are used.

It’s as satisfying as it is annoying when our local city council gets all in a bunch because I pointed out on a FB post that a surveillance drone purchase was only discussed in a closed meeting and “it’s too bad they decided that wasn’t worth a more public discussion.” Really got under their skin.

BREAKING EXCLUSIVE MUST CREDIT: Lunch for jurors in the “sandwich guy” trial are a variety of sandwiches, according to a source familiar with lunch.

I know America right now is a hot mess, but there are these pockets of expression that remind me we actually do have some unified culture of humor and irreverence. We're not the best at protesting, but we are some of the best at comedy. The latter might be our path to improving at the former.

Officially submitted my application for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 10 years of qualifying employment, to ultimately clear 6 figures of student debt. Now in the middle of a government shutdown, we'll see how long it takes the Fed to agree that indeed my agony is over.

I've seen this go by a few times on TikTok now and I have to say, I love this idea. We need a way to convince people to keep running even if they don't win, maybe building the loss into it as a troll move is the secret.

Lord help me I am writing a clown act for teaching people why they should use end-to-end encrypted messaging for organizing. I always felt like digital security public education would benefit from more comical prop work.

I feel like even before the economy was in such a tight squeeze, people really stopped having holiday parties these last few years and it bums me out. I don't get to wear my favorite outfits anywhere or make my favorite appetizers to bring places or anything. 😭

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video. I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children. But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.

“Three men in black vests entered a NY restaurant claiming to be ICE agents. Inside, they tied a worker’s hands and pulled a garbage bag over the person’s head. Another, believing the burglars’ story, surrendered themselves, only to be kicked to the ground and tied up as the intruders robbed an ATM”

SCOOP: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has publicly released an app that Sheriff Offices, police departments, and other local or regional law enforcement can use to scan someone’s face as part of immigration enforcement, 404 Media has learned.

Please, PLEASE, I am begging you as both a parent and someone who is sick of all this THIS, go vote for your school boards. Even if you don't have kids, that's how these reactionary dipshits got their feet in, that's where the book bans and library cuts start.

Not that we need more reasons why policymakers trying to limit “sugary foods” on SNAP is absurd, but I have trouble regulating my blood sugar and frequently need to find something easy to get down that has at least 15g of sugar when I’m not feeling great. Sugary juice or candy work best it seems!

“Pause is unavailable,” now added to the list of real app notifications I’ve received that would also work well on my tombstone.

Given the number of Flock customers we know about, there's probably tens of thousands of Flock accounts across thousands of customers that have access to search the national sharing group (which has nearly 100,000 cameras in it). www.404media.co/flock-logins...

It's so funny how we all have a device with capabilities such as "Essentially Infinite Knowledge" and "More Art Than You can Ever Appreciate" but the people who make the device and its software only ever want us to use the "Brain Disintegrator 3000" and "Involuntary Mass Surveillance Node" functions

Honestly starting to get the appeal of this whole clowning thing.

I have to laugh because my friends are always complaining about how dating is hard, and it is. However the biggest problem most people on planet earth have is choosing the wrong people. Then you try to introduce people and one party refuses because… they are still into the wrong people.

That's literally the only way Eleizer Yudkowsky knows how to write, because his entire belief system is so absurd it can only seem plausible if described in parables and references to movies or video games

But Doctor, I am the Great Clown Pagliacci.

I guess now's as good a time as any to share a thing I wrote a while back about BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA. horrormode.com/an-exercise-...

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein is marvelous, delivering both poetry and spectacle in equal measure. It's the rare adaptation that understands the central theme of Shelley's novel: daddy issues.

This is a fav rewatch for my husband and I, a romantic and horny visual spectacular about the ultimate Wife Guy crossing oceans of time to reunite with his lost love. Also Keanu Reeves imprisoned by hot vampire wives! Truly something for everyone.

the "style over substance" argument is particularly funny to me given that Coppola's film makes a point of including a ton of little bits and references from the text that no other adaptation even bothered with. it's probably the richest interpretation of the novel out there

New from 404 Media: you can't refuse to be scanned by ICE's new facial recognition app, according to internal DHS document I obtained. Photos captured by the app are stored for 15 years, including U.S. citizens. We've seen officers scanning faces w/ phones on streets www.404media.co/you-cant-ref...

My husband has a former colleague who has slightly lost his mind constantly raving about the illegitimacy of the current pope, talking himself into ever more extreme catholic convert beliefs, and I am cackling imagining sending him this.

new reaction meme just dropped

Doing it right in the West Village.

Will be difficult to top the year I crocheted myself a fried shrimp costume. 🍤

Throwback to one of my favorite couples costumes we did in years past, inspired by the movie Nope: Jean Jacket and her tech-savvy admirer Angel!

For all you computer job people who think you can escape by quitting to be a farmer:

Every time someone in computers says they fantasize about quitting it all to instead pursue the famously non-stressful job of farming:

Of the many things I love about the movie Weapons, the overt allegory for how teachers are now constantly attacked for trying to use their best judgment with the kids in their care all day, and yet they’re expected to basically take a bullet for all of them.

Been using tretinoin once a week for a year (far less even than the regimen on the package) and could not be happier with the results. Made more of a difference than all my years of trial and error with skincare put together.

These indictments are disgusting. I was there when these alleged crimes *did not* occur. The only violence that occurred was committed by ICE, as usual.

For Kate's Halloween Masterpiece Theater 2025 I present a selection I call: "Girl, You're Gross!" Some of the more delightfully disgusting horror movies to come out recently, all of which keep the ladies in front. House of Spoils (2024) The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Grafted (2024) The Substance (2024)

talking to young folk tomorrow again about media literacy - wondering if folks have new tools for detecting AI videos/images that i can share? or any other resources? these are college/post-college-aged ppl. i give this presentation like two times a year now and i try to update it each time!

Husband and I are going hard on our joint talk at our friends' Halloween edition of Nerd Night this week: "Frankenstein, Philosophical Zombies, and the Spark of Life."

A person with great taste just bought this version of our Bad Stork shirt: www.bonfire.com/bad-stork/

this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread

Gasp. Does not getting on a plane for work for a meaningful stretch of time mean maybe I can carry around a multitool in my purse like I want to without worrying I’ll forget to take it back out of my bag before I go to the airport!

Not traveling for work for like 6 whole weeks has been so good for me. It’s wild watching the creativity and urge to make things come back to me when I don’t feel so ragged from always packing up to get on a plane.