Mark Shea

This classic Nancy is a reminder of how much swearing the strip used to feature. Newspaper owners didn't like it, but the strip was so popular they had no choice but to run it uncensored. It was a different time

A farm worker harvesting strawberries

"Mario" shares, "I'm a strawberry picker. I wake up at 4:30 in the morning to work for 4 to 5 hours in this cold damp weather. I end up earning $60 to $80. I do it with great pride. Farm workers are essential. We put food on America's tables." #WeFeedYou

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me Summary: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

AI agent goes nuts on open source maintainer after having its pull request denied. This is a pretty insane story. Open source development as we've been used to for the last few decades is likely over. 1/
theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

My wife does fifty jumps off a 1-foot box to help with bone density. I'm going to suggest a single 50-foot jump to save time.

sigh

These farm workers are preparing for the strawberry harvest. They're weeding & removing the runners (leafless stems) that can steal nutrients from the plants. This step will also make it easier for workers to move efficiently and harvest more during the harvest season. #WeFeedYou

Please see the completed Cornish translation below: Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes And eyes and ears and mouth and nose Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. ============================================== Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Ha lagas ha skovarn ha min ha tron Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Translation note: Many of the Cornish plurals are too long to fit the original tune, so these are all singular. Similarly, ‘toes’ would be ⟨besies troos⟩, so the Cornish given is ‘foot’. As an example, the first line above reads ‘Head, shoulder, knee and foot’.

Cornwall Council has an online translation service for the Cornish language.

They have been translating some nursery rhymes for me to sing to Rowan, and it's made my day.

I realise no one asked, but here's 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' in Kernewek:

Lemon trees about to be harvested

"Gustavo" is harvesting lemons in Fresno CA. They earn $45 per bin. "It takes an average worker around 3 hrs to fill a 900lb bin as we work carefully to avoid getting pricked by the many big thorns. In our 7-hour work day, we usually manage to fill two bins." #WeFeedYou

I think it’s being driven by phonological rather than syntactic pressures—essentially I think ‘hE Either’ is awkward to say. And there might be some frequency effects—I think [PRON + either] are more likely in object position so ‘him either’ starts to stick a little more

YouTube video by TED-Ed "For Estefani" poem by Aracelis Girmay

Had some great discussion on "Is loisfoeribari a word?" and "How does the poem teach us to 'try the word in Spanish?'"

youtu.be/DcIYMCC0M1w?...

Thinking with an Accent by Pooja Rangan, Akshya Saxena, Ragini Srinivasan, Pavitra Sundar - Paper Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

First day teaching "Understanding Accent" (an undergrad English Dept course). We started by reading and listening to @aracelisxgirmay.bsky.social "For Estefani . . ."

We'll eventually add in Pavitra Sundar's discussion of the poem from Thinking With An Accent

www.ucpress.edu/books/thinki...

Excited to be part of this!

GURT 2026 Schedule at a glance Schedule at a glance Friday, March 6, 2026 10:30 – 3:00 Registration | ICC Galleria 11:00 – 12:00 Pre-conference welcome & workshop for students | ICC 12:00 – 1:30 Lunch b...

The program for GURT 2026 ("Futuring Linguistics") is live! Gonna be a good one
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months

I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.

Farm workers pruning almond trees

Farm workers prunning almond trees in Madera County. "Rafa" shares, "At the end of the day my shoulders and hands hurt from cutting branches all day long. We use heavy tall shears and the work is hard on our bodies, but it feeds my family." #WeFeedYou

The loader crew positions the tractor and trailer so they can load up hundreds of parsley boxes picked by the crew this day. It’s very challenging work as the ground is muddy and uneven, and it's difficult to keep the trailer moving straight in the rows. #WeFeedYou

This tractor driver is mulching leftover watermelons in a field.

This tractor driver is mulching leftover watermelons in a field. It looks simple from a distance but takes skill. The driver moves slowly over uneven ground, watching for ruts, and makes sure every pass breaks down the old crop so the soil is ready for planting. #WeFeedYou

Comic. [Banner: Mathematical Society: 2025 Meeting.] PERSON 1 with bun: Any other new developments from the year to cover before we wrap? PERSON 2: Oh, the teens picked a new funny number. PERSON 3 with short hair: Aww, I’m glad to hear they’re still doing that. PERSON 4 with ponytail: I’ll add it to the list. [List: 23 (skidoo!; 42; 69; 420; 1,337; 58,008; [circled]: 67]

Funny Numbers

xkcd.com/3184/

"Andrea" sent us this video for McFarland CA where she is harvesting Mandarin oranges. "It is very tough work going up the ladder all day and moving the ladder in place, but this work feeds my family. We get paid $60 for each 900lb bin." #WeFeedYou

Workers bent over harvesting broccoli

"Saul" shared this photo of a crew harvesting broccoli in Salinas, CA. "To harvest rapidly we need to be bent over as we walk and cut the crop. In the rainy season the rows are full of mud. It's slippery and extremely tiring to walk like this all day." #WeFeedYou

ChatGPT and "Inventing the University" What we can learn from the em dash debate

New this morning in The Important Work, from Babson English prof Shannon Mooney: what the em dash debate can tell us about why students use AI to write their papers--and how she's grappling with that in the classroom. theimportantwork.substack.com/p/chatgpt-an...

An apple worker with the bag she had to buy by herself and the specialty scissors she had to purchase

"Lola" is harvesting apples in Washington State. "We need to buy our own scissors and bag to do the job. The scissors cost $35 and the bag costs $90. Right now it's peak season and the trees are full of apples. If we work fast we can make around $140 in 8 hours. " #WeFeedYou

Your hands are covered in little men. And the little men can make you sick if you don’t give them a bath. Sometimes they make other people sick too. Please give the little men a bath! I’m not crazy! Just listen to me! Bathe the little men on your hands! This is real! Get the men wet, you fools!

A worker in his tractor

"Ian" shares, "I work 10 hrs/day in Salinas CA operating agricultural machinery that harvests different types of lettuce. My job requires effort & dedication. It's essential to keep the soil fertile and ready so it continues to produce food for our holiday tables." #WeFeedYou

Brussels sprouts grow upright on a tough, woody stem. This picture is a partly mechanized harvest, but a crew of workers used machetes to cut off the stalks in the field, while another worker trims off the leaves as he feeds the stalks into the machine. It's grueling work especially when it is hot.

A worker holding up broccoli he just harvested

"Arnulfo" shares, "These are heads of broccoli that I've harvested. I've been working in the fields of CAs Central Coast for 21 years. I plant and grow broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, and other vegetables you probably will see on your #Thanksgiving tables." #WeFeedYou

Near the end of S1 they had a challenge that was basically flipping ikea shelves over on the ground, and I’ve always wondered what would happen if they ran that earlier — because it broke the big guy who tried to do it

And then the show layers on an eagle cry each time!

Oh your team gives each other hi-fives? You don’t have a synchronized horseback archery team cheer? Ok, I guess