Wandering Wonderer

My painting CALIFORNIA POPPIES

And yet the photo is already quite lovely as-is! Thanks for sharing it here -- It added some welcome brightness and peace to an otherwise-harrowing day for me.

My bop of the week so far

Ad baculum (threats of force or intimidation) Used by dangerous demagogues to change the subject of debate and silence legitimate opposition.

Using threats of force and intimidation is a classic strategy of demagogues. It's how authoritarians take over nations and retain power. It has always been one of Trump's signature rhetorical strategies.

Gosh, do I feel that. My TMJ is getting out of control lately. 😬

Yup. Suddenly high costs and inflation mean fuck all. It’s almost like it was the white Christian nationalism all along.

Crowds are massive in Silver Spring, Maryland…the home of NOAA. People chanting, “Save NOAA Now!” and “We will not weather the storm.” Make your voices heard and keep it up. #NOAA #NWS Severe Weather is on its Way. And so is hurricane season. 🌀 🧪

hi. I know the urge to doomscroll is incredibly strong right now because it helps distract from the crushing uncertainty and nonstop horrific news about the federal government and the economy, but you need to go to sleep and get enough rest for tomorrow. ♥️

Good vibes? But you clearly already brought them all — I adore the ‘fit! Note to self: Dress more like Liz!

Home - NOAA Ocean Acidification Program NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program prepares us for the impacts of ocean acidification through research and interdisciplinary partnerships.

One of the people fired from NOAA today is the director of the Ocean Acidification Program. That program also leads the U.S. government's effort on marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). The destruction of American science is incomprehensible.

'Explicit' Sex Claims ‘Exaggerated,’ Black and LGBTQ+ Characters Overwhelmingly Targeted, New Book Ban Analysis Finds A new PEN America analysis of books banned during the 2023-2024 school year shows which stories were disproportionately removed from shelves — and debunks “exaggerated” claims about books that feature...

36% of all banned books contain a character or a real person of color. But sure, this is about protecting the children. people.com/sex-claims-e...

This post just made my morning!

“At this point, refusing to use AI, and especially LLM tools is an act of resistance. Give them no quarter. Purge them whenever you find them. Turn off Copilot. Poison any data that you put out into the world, and make it as difficult as possible for AI bots to train from your data.“

Iowa Legislature Votes to Strip Trans People From Civil Rights Protections The bill will now go to the Governor for a final signature, and will mark the first state to strip any group from a civil rights act.

1. Today, the Iowa Legislature shamefully stripped transgender people from the State Civil Rights Act.

It becomes the first state to ever strip any group from a civil rights act.

There were powerful speeches, and huge protets.

The latest from Mira Lazine.

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I see basically no downside to buy nothing day tomorrow (economic blackout). Let’s say it doesn’t change everything (this is likely).

It still might get folk to consider alternatives.
Save money.
Be a domino in detangling oneself from capitalism.

Jump in, the water’s fine. My family is here!

The Second Coming Read expert analysis on The Second Coming Text of the Poem at Owl Eyes

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold

www.owleyes.org/text/the-sec...

Knowledge is power…

…and a massive reminder to not be complicit in fascism.

I am still extremely into this painting of a slug

Evil.

Shame on #UCincinnati and shame on #NevillePinto

I will post only once more about this tonight.

Whitman-Walker is how I am Erin.

I hold this name because of the resources they provided the trans community.

I hope what I have written tonight gives them pause, and all orgs who would do this.

Because the wave has hit home and I can’t stand quiet.

It is disproportionately women standing up to him, there’s absolutely no doubt about it.

I want men to sit with that for a minute.

Sometimes you do gotta hand it to Oregon. ❤️ 🏳️‍⚧️

Saving this for the next time I hear someone claim “science isn’t political”

"It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours & 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control."

A young Japanese girl stands front and center amid a crowd of young girls. Her hand is on her chest as the girls recite the pledge of allegiance. Her eyes, which wear a look of distress and uncertainty, point upwards towards a flag hidden somewhere behind the cameras

Dorothea Lange. One Nation
Indivisible, San Francisco. 1942

Audio description further contextualizing thee image:
www.moma.org/audio/playli...

And at what point should work fall to the wayside in favor of putting my energy into much greater causes?

No, you won’t be able to outperform them, because you don’t know what “the right questions” are in the first place!

Grad school doesn’t teach you all the answers. It teaches you how to ask the right questions. An LLM doesn’t know how to do that; it just knows how to spit out vaguely plausible prose