Carl LaCombe

These look amazing! I plan to give them a try when I can get to a store to get cocoa powder.

It’s official: Research has found that libraries make everything better. Science has backed up what many of us have long been saying: the library rocks. A study from the New York Public Library surveyed 1,974 users on how the library makes them feel and how it affects t…

"It’s official: Research has found that libraries make everything better."

lithub.com/its-official...

This was such a scorcher I briefly considered stealing and rephrasing it. Possibly with the help of Le Chat.

Cecile Richards, a prominent advocate for women’s rights and former pres. of @ppfa.bsky.social, passed away on 1/20/25, at the age of 67 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma
She will be remembered as a fierce and tireless advocate for the rights of women and inspires us to continue her work.

A woman describes how the books people are checking out at her library are political and relevant for the times.

Panel 1: Mark Zuckerberg stands on the stage at a Meta all-hands meeting, wearing a little chain and a shirt that says "Cool Dude." "I think our company could use more Masculine Energy," he says into a mic. In the crowd, an employee raises their hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Zuckerberg," the person asks. Panel 2: The person stands up, asking, "By "Masculine Energy," do you mean a mature definition where men in power use their relative strength to protect and uplift those less privileged?" Panel 3: The person continues, "…or a more childish definition where men in power are free to be aggressive and harm others without being held accountable?" Panel 4: Zuck stands silent for a beat. Panel 5: "You're all fired," he says.

"Masculine Energy"

just blurted out in class "yes, you have to cite where you got your info. in a world in which lying loudly is the only thing that seems to get rewarded, citing your sources is an act of resistance" and folks, I really believe that.

‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ will always have my heart It’s because the film doesn’t shy away from the dark places life inevitably takes us that it remains resoundingly joyful, writes Sara Shukla.

Just rewatched 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' for the first time in years. It is magical. Here is a column from two years ago on WBUR: www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

Dick Van Dyke is still at it even as he approaches 99.

It is Bandcamp Friday yet again. The last of 2024. Will there be more next year? Maybe. Maybe not. But there is one today. Do with that information what you think best.

Disagreement bots creates a challenging new issue. I share Hank Green's curiosity about the impetus for this.

YouTube video by hankschannel Who is Creating The Non-Human Army

In his latest video, @hankgreen.bsky.social talks about a phenomenon you may have noticed here: LLM-driven bots programmed to relentlessly disagree with anyone and everyone.

This platform has grown explosively since the election, but growth has slowed down the past few days. Should we be concerned?

No. A temporary plateau was inevitable given the heterogeneity of social media users. From my point of view Bluesky is already over the hump 1/

The usual suspects are out there yelling "There are 23 million government workers! Fire most of them!" No awareness that most work for local governments, and most of *them* are schoolteachers. Federal employment hasn't grown since the 1950s

The Importance of the Oxford Comma   Owing to ambiguities caused by its omission, the Oxford comma was the subject of a petition raised by serious serialists keen to ensure its mandatory use in lists of three things or more.   And what a response! From across every nation, the signatures poured in beyond all expectation – from the investment bankers, robbers and thieves, to the politicians, self-servers and exponents of sleaze.   There were the Daily Mail readers, the clowns and deluded; the climate change deniers, the daft and the stupid; the morally bankrupt, Donald Trump and Piers Morgan; Elon Musk, a Bond villain and a trafficker of organs;   plus the poets, the drug fiends and chronically poor – all supported this change to grammatical law. This formal petition was then presented in hope to Sir David Attenborough, the King and the Pope. Brian Bilston

Today’s poem is called ‘The Importance of the Oxford Comma’.

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry: a great poem for troubled time...

Payback is a bitch. And so are we.

You’re on notice. We aren’t going anywhere. We’re not hiding.

We’re not being silent. But we are taking notes.