Amy van der Hiel

I am grateful for the effort but horrified. I’m glad you’re released and safer now but so sorry you were hurt. please take what rest and recovery you need

If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The beginning of true democracy in America. A offering to this country paid for by the work, dedication and lives of ordinary Black people.

We’ve always had to fight. Are you prepared to fight to protect our rights?

this hell isn’t even fresh

Boston Children's Hospital says it won't be bullied into abandoning trans youth - LGBTQ Nation The hospital has faced bomb threats, hate campaigns, and threats to funding over the years but has never wavered in supporting gender-affirming care.

"We are here to affirm, uplift, and advocate for transgender and gender diverse youth...and we remain committed to doing all we can to support their care and well-being.”

Boston Children’s Hospital says it won’t be bullied into abandoning trans youth www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/bost...

Reading and writing is how you form coherent thoughts. Anyone who offloads all of their thoughts to an algorithm will live at the whims of the people who control the code.

Fantastic news for artists: The lost functionality of Google Image Search as a reference image source has been recreated.

100% agree! it is profound and powerful art; a fantasy world deeply rooted in the humane and the cycles of history

ha! yes, and really enjoys leaning into it too I would imagine :)

oh yes, perfect! thank you for explaining! :)

oh wow, yes! and the others? how would you categorize them, if I may? (btw, thank you for that show!! )

I always want to get to the trial scene near the end. It remains to me one of the greatest bits of writing to help make science feel understandable to a general audience and it’s amazingly delivered by Jared Harris

"What if we taught men to get laid leftistly"

what if men cared about the loss of our bodily autonomy, the abuse we face as a result of coerced economic dependence and the actual pandemic of femicidal violence we have to contend with, more than they cared about sexual access to our bodies

yes, totally makes sense!

a little fact about me a friend who know me very well reacted to but was not ultimately surprised by this AM: Chernobyl is my comfort watch TV show

I’m on at least my 5th or 6th rewatch (forwarding always through the pets parts)

'Kill Switch Shield' and the Recurring Erosion of Trust in US Tech | TechPolicy.Press Juan Ortiz Freuler examines how US sanctions reveal new risks to dependencies on US tech and prompt global shifts in internet governance and sovereignty.

If the Snowden revelations sparked concern that the US was leveraging global networks to pull data in for espionage, the current fear is that its control over the networks and today’s digital platforms means it can cut off its supposed adversaries altogether, writes Juan Ortiz Freuler.

Women’s status is very rapidly eroding—in their civil rights protections, healthcare, access to the public sphere, and the cultural support for their independence and dignity. But there is no feminism: our public gender discourse is divided between transphobia and handwringing about man’s feelings.

exactly. I saw this put recently as: “it's crazy how normalized misogyny is like you find out a man doesn't believe women are people capable of equitable rational thought and logic reasoning as men and you're considered weird if you express discomfort associating with him”

And the colonial practice of testing plans/technologies in poor communities is alive and well

SERIOUSLY.

sorry that you’re under such a difficulty combo of things. please know that I’ve really enjoyed your writing/voice for several years but even if you never posted again I’d see your picture or name, wish you well, probably think of arctic explorers and smile. sending good thoughts for better days 🧡

not one but two: my college required all first years had to take a 1st semester class on the Greek classics and 2nd semester on the Age of Enlightenment (philosophy, history, literature). they were taught by Profs from all areas. Helpful for cultural literacy and general thinking

In “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” the author describes “inevitablism” as a tactic companies use to stop conversation about the amount of our private lives they are commodifying and selling.

there's a Debs quote I think about a lot, "socialism is merely an extension of the ideal of democracy into the economic field"

Illustration of Uncle Sam and a "Corporate Media" representative standing behind a counter. Uncle Sam has his hands on a box labeled "US GOVT. CONTROL OF INTERNET SPEECH". The representative asks, "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THIS WRAPPED?". Behind them are rolls of wrapping paper labeled "ANTI-TERRORISM" and "PROTECT KIDS".

Boston Globe article. text: “Behind the jump in fractured and cracked teeth In a survey of about 140 dentists in the state, just over 75 percent reported an increase in “stress-related” teeth grinding or clenching in patients. Why now?”

Why now? WHY NOW??!!

Hey look, the UK’s Online Safety Act is resulting in the targeting of queer content.

Well, who (barring everyone) could have foreseen that?

Reminder that Ireland’s Online Safety Code seeks to ban anything it (unpredictably) finds to be likely to detrimentally damage the moral development of kids.

How LA Resisted ICE Podcast Episode · It Could Happen Here · 07/23/2025 · 41m

listening to a great interview on It Could Happen Here: “How LA Resisted ICE” with @melbuer.bsky.social “People are not falling through the cracks. People are not having their lives shattered without someone watching and trying to help.”

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

I think people fundamentally misunderstand Trump’s source of power and legitimacy with his base. Maga comes from a place of fear of competition with minorities, immigrants, and others who have closed some of the gap with whites and have threatened whites’ dominant social position. Its about weakness