I think one of the saddest things about whitebre(a)d America's attempts to remove gender diverse, racially diverse, neurodiverse people from public life -- setting aside for the moment the catastrophic failure of empathy -- is that they're actively choosing to live in a less interesting world. 1/3🧵

Just a casual reminder that the handwringing about whether or not Tylenol causes autism carries in it the implicit assumption that (1) understanding the cause is a step on the way to understanding how to prevent it, and 🧵 1/4

One of my favorite legal factoids to mention at social events is that there exists a house in the US that is haunted as a matter of law. (The case name, if you're feeling nerdy about it, is Stambovsky v. Ackley.) 🧵1/?

This is core to understanding why ACAB (even the "good ones"). Becoming a cop means committing to enforce every law without regard to its justness, since the justness of a law is adjudicated only after enforcement. That's obvious bastardry. That said, ICE really takes this to a whole new level.

Not sure how relevant/interesting this is to folks here, but I've started a blog series about starting a solopreneurial business. Stuff like picking a name, forming an entity, setting up banking, getting business insurance, how taxes work, etc. Not all live yet, but you can start reading now!

Part of me is loath to try and use social media to promote my business, but here we are. Hi, I'm a California lawyer who does contract things. If you're a coach of some kind, I've just built a starter pack of all the contracts you're likely to need! Solid, easy-to-use templates. Low one-time fee.

Ended up writing something of a novel about this, which I don't necessarily recommend, but you should weigh in in whatever way feels right to you.

Ok, look, I know I'm nobody and don't have a platform, and I know that there are bigger and more urgent issues. But my policy white whale is that whenever you get your tax return (from feds, state, whatever), it should be itemized. You should receive a clear breakdown of what *your payment* bought.

We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty.

A reminder that if you need to take a break from The Horrors, my prescription for you is picking up @beckychb013.bsky.social's A Psalm For The Wild-Built (a post-dystopian utopia with peripatetic tea therapists) and @older.bsky.social's The Mimicking of Known Successes (Holmesian sapphic sci-fi).

Honestly, it is *extremely* rude of Turkiye to create a world in which I have to side with fucking *Grok* on any issue.

As mostly a contracts guy, it's rare that my work meaningfully touches on real-world matters of justice. It was therefore particularly a pleasure to help secure copyright protection for this new documentary of Ukrainian resilience, as important as it is distressing. Relevant to @older.bsky.social?

Meanwhile, the world continues to become ever more a parody of itself.

In lighter news: I just finally finished @sandfallgames.bsky.social's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and man, what a triumph of a game. Strongly, strongly recommend to anyone who likes dynamic turn-based RPGs and games that cross the border into art. Truly, a stunning achievement.

It's an absolutely bonkers move to tell 300+ million people to ask for an umbrella every time they get wet instead of just telling the guy at the controls to turn off the hose.

Finally getting @older.bsky.social's latest Mossa & Pleiti book into my ears and while it's full of things to love, my favorite may be the peppering of speculative linguistic shenanigans. Such glimmers of joy in the imagining of how our languages and cultures might intersect.

Workshopping an updated email signature and inviting any Latinists to help make sure I don't embarrass myself linguistically: "Ceterum censeo mascam esse gerendam." (I know "masca" is much younger than Cato, but it seems like the best candidate.)

Continuing to make my way through @adapalmer.bsky.social's Inventing the Renaissance and just learned about the incredible gaslighting of Manetti by one of the fathers of Renaissance architecture, and this reminded me to share the story of one of my own father's "pranks." 1/6

They really don't warn you about how badly the perpetual-aches-and-pains of aging jibe with the good ol' only-ever-one-thing-at-a-time autism. I'm sitting here just trying to complete One Single Thought™, but the distractions are coming from inside the house.

(1/4) A brief thread on bastardry in light of recent events: It's easy to look at what's happening in LA right now and conclude that all cops are bastards. And it's certainly true that much of what we're seeing --- instigating and escalating violence, detaining and assaulting members

Finally digging into @adapalmer.bsky.social's excellent-as-expected Inventing the Renaissance, and boy if describing the Guelph/Ghibelline conflict as green/purple Drazi isn't a deep cut on top of a deep cut. Makes me wonder how many such cuts I'm missing because of misaligned nerdery domains!

Holy shit, what even? (Obviously, a physician treats patients and a metaphysician treats physicians. You shouldn't be getting treatment from a metaphysician unless you are yourself a doctor.)

The overwhelming messaging on Covid in media right now is that it’s something that was once very serious, and now is over. And every week, a new waterfall of studies comes out showing the continued and growing long-term health risks of repeated infections. Our language has got to respect that truth.

An excellent essay by a fellow still-coviding human.

DEI programs done correctly ARE merit-based hiring programs, that comply with and advance the goals of anti-discrimination law. Lawyers, of all people, know that. This capitulation is just shameful. DEI is LEGAL.

something like 80% of people never make it past the headline so if news outlets are still introducing unchallenged lies in headlines ten years into trumpism it's a choice

tech bro is short for technically broken

Hey @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social, is there something I as a random member of the public can do to encourage you to pick up the audiobook of @adapalmer.bsky.social's recent /Inventing The Renaissance/? I see you've got the print version already, but some of us are audiobook stans and waiting eagerly!

Just continuing to yell into the void. Some shortish musings on how and why "efficiency" is inherently the wrong benchmark when it comes to public works (or anything that we'd like to see endure).

Today is the 6th anniversary of my father's death, so I'm resharing this piece I wrote shortly after. I hope something in it finds purchase in you, especially if you're yourself grappling with a recent loss.

So many flavors of distress are results of the curtailing of autonomy. You can therapy your way into exercising more of the autonomy left to you, but no amount of therapy will restore autonomy that's been systemically and systematically taken from you. You can't therapy your way out of politics.

As a lawyer, I've been experimenting with LLMs in my work. They can be helpful. BUT: 1) There's no way to prompt well without expertise, AND 2) The real challenge isn't getting right answers, it's filtering out convincing wrong ones. Expertise in an LLM world is a necessary epistemic sieve.

If I had a nickel for every "I'll diagnose you with condition covered by the ADA but I won't say you're disabled because you're too smart" I've gotten from a therapist... I'd have one nickel, which is too many nickels. "You can't be disabled because you've accomplished things" is ableist horseshit.

Basically every day since January 20th.

whoever denied it, supplied it. that’s basically true, about the holocaust.

Isn't it wild how in just a few short years, the primary meaning of seeing an in-person smile has become "you are not welcome here"?

Yo what the fuck

I've written an essay and you should read it. medium.com/brain-labs/t... Not sure what the etiquette here is, but just going to tag some people whose brains I respect to whom it might be useful: @older.bsky.social, @myqkaplan.bsky.social, @adapalmer.bsky.social, @brianamillslmft.bsky.social.

Honestly, this would fit right in on Syfy's roster. Would 100% watch.

So has anyone at schools or whatever just been like, "Oh, no more gender ideology? Cool, I guess I won't be teaching that there are two genders." (Pro-tip: if you think that your beliefs, whatever they might be, aren't ideological... you are not practicing adequate epistemic hygiene.)

i’m a living person in the streets and a ghost in the sheets.

Partner: You have presents! Any idea what they are? Me: Oh! They're gifts to mark the occasion of my birth.

Pro tip: respond to people via the channel that they contacted you, especially if you're a large organization. If I email you, don't call me back. If I call you, don't send a carrier pigeon. If you offer multiple modes of contact, respect people's choices about which one they want to use.

Honestly, shit like this is peak comedic syncretism.

Iron Widow: Right-wing men ruin Zetian's life Heavenly Tyrant: Left-wing men ruin Zetian's life

Government tries to solve the collective action problem by acting collectively. Privatization tries to solve it by making individual inaction intolerable. Cruelty is literally the point. But you can't sustainably torture people into productivity. Pain short-term motivates, but long-term enervates.

Isn't it weird how everyone you know is "back to normal" when you've casually abandoned all the people who are vulnerable or staying cautious for other reasons and thereby driven/siloed them away from public life?

"oh, you know what would get you a lot more votes in your 'democracy' of reducing everything to binomial competition? An incredibly undemocratic act of oppression!"