do not go gentle

The world could be such a nice place if we allowed it. It's all so goddamn unnecessary. There's no need for any of it. It's so beautiful here. It should be so cool to be alive

I like the Conversation mode on AirPods, which decreases the audio volume when you speak and stops playing if you keep talking. But I wish I could tell it NOT to respond to me talking to cats.

I highly recommend this thread on its own merits -- but also the term "charismatic technology" was new to me, and seems highly relevant at the moment.

The human advantages which led to ascendance have long been acknowledged as our brains and opposable thumbs.

And for some insane reason, AI marketers have decided the thing to market as replicable and replaceable is the brain.

Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…

Wow.

My dudes, there is an HIV vaccine in clinical trials.

3am thought experiment:
what would happen if we made communities/localities host the data centers for their own LLM usage?

This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.

I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what

Reading higher-ed policy news in 2026 is very much like "How to Anticipate and Then Experience a Leopard Eating Your Face"

They'll get *some* additional students for the mid-semester offering... because students who drop below full-time will be looking to add back off-cycle skate classes.

I'll be delighted if I'm wrong, though!

me with the Chicago Blackhawks the two years they won the Cup and the year after. at least I figured out I like one sport

A screenshot of a guide detailing items you should bring to a protest, including: cell phone (possible a burner) cash protest stole cell phone power bank sharpie (to write important info on your body) snacks water (for hydration and first aid) plastic bags for wet/sticky objects extra t-shirt backpack to carry everything first aid kit

The Episcopal Church has put together a very impressive toolkit for protesting, including tips for clergy in particular. Truly inspiring. This is how Christians ought to be engaging the moment.
www.episcopalchurch.org/protesting-f...

The "ban whistles" stuff is how you know whistles are working incredibly well

An Ewok playing an ICE and Border Patrol drumset.

This machine yub nubs fascists.

The climatologist told me
historians
will wonder
why we didn’t do more.

The epidemiologist told me
historians
will wonder
why we didn’t do more.

The activist told me
historians
will wonder
why we didn’t do more.

The historian told me
that nobody
listens to historians.

“There’s no single answer that will solve all our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers—at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.”

― Octavia E. Butler, A Few Rules for Predicting the Future: An Essay

Protest sign from MN that says, “DEARLY BELOVED. WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY TODISMANTLE THIS THING CALLED ICE.” with a picture of Prince in the left hand lower corner.

10/10 ICE protest sign

Will any of this fix the world alone?

Nah.

But if we all try to at least shift the world a little, we'll still get farther than if we didn't.

Iowa Rebel Goldfinch — Studio Eldeen Handmade Art Use it, share it, live it, be it. Persist and Resist, friends.

bc I haven't seen it make the rounds here: an Iowa iteration of the MN Rebel Alliance logo.

studioeldeen.com/whats-happen...

Liam’s Bunny Hat pattern by Esther Brownsmith This is a crochet replica of the blue bunny hat worn by Liam Adrian Cornejo Ramos, 
a five-year-old taken by ICE on January 21, 2026.

A friend developed a crochet pattern for an adult-sized version of Liam's blue bunny hat. Donation to MN immigration causes requested for noncommercial pattern use.

www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...

From the mind of @bdsa83.bsky.social to a shirt. Online now, in stores soon. Raising money for a local group in MSP that wishes to remain anonymous. www.raygunsite.com/collections/... #raygun #RebelLoonAlliance

Stickers, etc, to follow!

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Wow. This is devastating.

www.science.org/content/arti...

I disagree with your thesis statement, but adore your elaboration thereupon

Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived

The approach can seem inept, but none of this is a mistake. The random and arbitrary harm is deliberate.

And the cruelty is still the point.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...

Everyone deserves to live, here and abroad. Everyone. No ifs ands or buts.

Chicago.
El Fasher.
Gaza City.
Kharkiv.
Uvira.
Sydney.
Dhaka.
Minneapolis.
Utøya.

Devaluing anyone anywhere will form the basis for devaluing everyone everywhere.

No more.

People in Minnesota are now using their key fobs to trigger their car alarms from the safety of their homes when they see ICE walking around.

Honestly love the framing from Minneapolis because it's true:

So many are saying, they're our *neighbors.* Why wouldn't we defend them?

The difference between the Twin Cities and so much of this country is they don't have that asterisk next to "neighbor" that says "terms and conditions apply."

"Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts."