David Waltner-Toews

@edoloughlin.bsky.social what do you think of Connolly? Some good possible?

US student handcuffed after AI system apparently mistook bag of chips for gun Baltimore county high schools have gun detection system that alerts police if it sees what it deems suspicious

I think probably Doritos aren't good for you, but this seems a bit of overkill. Maybe part of RFK's public health program?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

There is a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in

Eyebrow Lake, Saskatchewan

The poet, startled awake
in his tent, scrambles
from the musty pile
of socks & two-day underwear.
Sand Hill Cranes lift,
wing on wing, soft, coughing purrs
against the night.
The poet sits, stunned,
amid the litter of his daily rhyme,
terrified by sudden fleeting joy.

We have a mole in our back yard.

Stolen from the Internet, a cartoon: A "normal distribution" showing the standard bell-shaped curve with x-axis ticks. Then below it a ghost-in-a-sheet hovers above a ticked x-axis below which is labeled "paranormal distribution" The joke is that this kind of ghost is vaguely bell-shaped.

A reminder to all scientists & data viz people 🧪:

It's Spooky Science Time.

Adjust your models to use the paranormal distribution 👻from now until November 1st.

Not Writing What not-useful thing I did this morning instead of writing. My excuse is that Courtland apples are in and I needed a piece of pie & no one makes a pastry that I really like. Still, time not wr…

davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2025/10/23/n...

The Meaning of Everything, or A Dirk Gently Gang Manifesto Like many writers, I have been struggling to get a publisher or agent for my books. I’ve been working on a particular book for more than a decade that draws on my background in science and th…

davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2025/10/22/t...

The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.

one category of show prep material for TRMS staff is something we've always called "subway reading".

it's something that's not exactly current events or new reporting... but nevertheless relevant food for thought given the news we're in.

today's subway reading:

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

World news, Sunday Oct 19 Heists: What Really Matters? The Guardian: Louvre heist: hunt on for thieves after eight ‘priceless’ jewellery pieces stolen CBC news: After more than 30 chicks went missing from Erin Fall Fair, ma…

davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2025/10/19/w...

“They are going to ask me, What is God’s name? What am I supposed to say to them? God said the Moses, I am who I am.” Which can also be translated as “I will be who I will be.” Exodus 3: 13-14 (CEB Study Bible).

Adam von Earth. As are we all.

Adamah - the soil , as in humus

When I asked the Japanese translator of my book The Origin of Feces how he handled the humour, the puns and cultural references (eg Turds of Endearment) he was nonplussed. There were puns, jokes & cultural references ?

Adaptation in Bangladesh — duck://player/uErV9XBRb34

Now I need to find out who Zusha is.

Please clarify what deterioration means. Be explicit.

soul mates, comrades in arms, schemers and humanizers and tricksters in every good way.

Jane Goodall 1934-2025. Damn. I thought she was forever.

Jesus, him arguing is a sure sign he was Jewish.

If God is in all and is all, as one version of evolutionary genetics implies, then you are, in part, God. So if you change your behaviour, you alter the complex dynamics of Being, and you change God.

From a poster called “just shower thoughts“ reading: when people talk about traveling to the past, they worry about radically, changing the present by doing something small, barely anyone in the present to really thinks that they can radically change the future by doing something small.

I may have found my defining quote.

Pair this with my pinned post and you will see what I mean!

The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it

open.substack.com/pub/thewalru...

Ruby Tuesday

Megan Campisi’s novel Sin Eater is a good introduction

Heavy Metal Portlandia Gonzo. First Season now filming.

The Chef Cooking a Cicada Recipe for Every Palate From ceviche to caramel popcorn, Joseph Yoon is showing how Brood X can be a delicious part of your diet.

www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how...

@floralashes.bsky.social a friend asked me today if there are any non-male references to God in the Torah or related literature. I figured you might know.

In '71 a girl at a party, hearing Kathy Waltner & me were getting married, sneered no guy would ever change his name. I said, what’s the big deall? Kathy, from a family of 4 girls, actually wanted to keep some part of her family-of-origin name - Waltner. So we became Waltner-Toews. 54 yrs later...

Just seems weird to me that Jimmy Kimmel might be seen as the new Lenny Bruce. Just blows my already weird brain.