@timmckay.bsky.social
Bird & nature lover; book addict; educator, astronomer, physicist; happiest outdoors. Born at 320 ppm.
Government style ad in watercolour. Image of a burglar stealing a painting from the wall of a home. Tagline: "It's not theft... if you say you're using it to train your AI algorithm". Body text: "Theft is now legal, so we can boost the economy by eliminating jobs. If that doesn't make any sense, ask a chatbot to explain it to you." HM government logo in the corner.
Did a new one
07.08.2025 18:46 — 👍 6893 🔁 2470 💬 36 📌 56Canvas has been down alllll day. Maybe monopolies ARE bad!
20.10.2025 21:02 — 👍 1118 🔁 95 💬 24 📌 17Fantastic list of resources, and I'm not just saying that because Bad Indians Book Club is one of them.
Political education is critical in this moment. Reading intentionally and collectively can change the world.
Friends, the climate at the University of Texas is the most hostile I have experienced in my entire career, and the hostility is directed at the most vulnerable students, faculty, staff and departments/programs. UT has become the test case for the implementation of Project 2025 in Higher Education
19.10.2025 22:56 — 👍 18 🔁 12 💬 0 📌 0
Turkey tail mushrooms and lichens on a log.
A mossy rock.
Another, even mossier rock.
Mushrooms and lichens in a late fall maple forest near Northport, MI. Some mossy rocks too. They all love this rainy fall weather.
20.10.2025 00:03 — 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Big surf on Lake Michigan along the Leelanau Peninsula.
A hill covered with bright red maples near Northport MI.
Sunset views from a hilltop near Northport, MI.
Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula is blustery and gorgeous this fall weekend.
19.10.2025 23:58 — 👍 35 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
My daughter holding a hand drawn sign featuring a rainbow colored pawn toppling an orange and yellow-haired king piece with checkmate written in NYT font above
Drawing the sign
11 marching past the Capitol
My 11-year-old made her own #NoKings sign and marched the whole way to the Capitol in Madison for today's rally.
18.10.2025 21:23 — 👍 137 🔁 5 💬 7 📌 1
Signs at the No Kings March in Traverse City Michigan list many demands from "Save Our Democracy" to "No Zip-tying Children".
Large crowd at No Kings rally in Traverse City, Michigan, including a "Cluck Off!" sign held by a woman in a chicken costume.
#NoKings in Traverse City Michigan. Three or four thousand rally and march to oppose kings and save democracy.
18.10.2025 19:06 — 👍 24 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0If I could offer students one bit of…advice: be brutally traditional about what is printed on your degree.
If you are first-gen or in any way non traditional, this goes double. Let rich kids get degrees in AI. You get something called “English”.
A terrific piece about where we stand, and why tomorrow's No Kings protests are so important, by @jfallows.bsky.social
Stand Up, Stand Together.
open.substack.com/pub/fallows/...
Congratulations to Holly Miowak Guise whose book ALASKA NATIVE RESILIENCE won three book awards from the Western History Association! #WHA2025
@hollyguise.bsky.social
Turkey tail mushrooms grow on a mossy log in Leelanau County, MI.
Small red shelf mushrooms grow on a log in Leelanau County, MI.
An array of lichens make a tiny forest on the branch of an apple tree in Leelanau County, MI.
Overnight rainstorms made for a good #FungiFriday here in Northern Michigan.
17.10.2025 18:15 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Banding owls really is a spiritual experience. The woods are dark and quiet save for the rhythmic “toot, toot, toot” of the audio lure. They seem vacant. Suddenly, a tiny nocturnal spirit drops in to bless you with its brief presence. Then it’s off, likely never to be seen again.
16.10.2025 14:55 — 👍 291 🔁 45 💬 9 📌 3
Cover of "Endless forms: The secret world of wasps" by Seirian Summer. White cover with wasp wings outstretched on it.
Biology. Everything you didn't know about wasps and the study of wasps. I learned things and ended up with a more positive outlook on wasps.
Author: @waspwoman.bsky.social
#bookskt #invertebrates
Usually, to show an author love, the first rule is: buy the book. And, you can totally buy this book---but, it's also available OA, which means you can in a few weeks' time get it for free.
luminosoa.org/books/m/10.1...
So, the updated rule: to show an author love, get her book and read it!
CUT IT OUT AND PUT IT ON THE FRIDGE! Akako G. Shins made the newspaper!
www.mlive.com/news/ann-arb...
Four species in 15 seconds! And two woodpeckers!!!
Kensington Metro Park, MI
Oct 14, 2020
“About 1,400 survivors were staying at community shelters”
The typhoon really brought damage to entire Alaska Native communities in Western Alaska
Climate change is severely impacting land, waters, and Indigenous communities
www.kyuk.org/public-safet...
I'm considering a little post series extolling the virtues of easy beginner #nativeplants 🌱 for the Mid-Atlantic because in March or April, a bunch of new folks will careen into this hobby (it's like clockwork) and it might be handy to have said posts for quoting.
I'll thread them starting here.
Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
A large portrait of artist Carmen Herrera is seen at the end of a hall featuring her quotes at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Through the portrait, which is printed on partially transparent fabric, you can see one of her works.
A large portrait of artist Leon Polk Smith is seen at the end of a hall featuring his quotes at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Through the portrait, which is printed on partially transparent fabric, you can see one of Carmen Herrera's works.
Visited the @umich.edu Museum of Art's "Both Sides of the Line", featuring the work of both Carmen Herrera & Leon Polk Smith yesterday. This is a great show, and anyone passing through Ann Arbor ought to see it!
umma.umich.edu/exhibitions/...
Endings & beginnings, the keynote of the oak.
#autumn #nature #trees
Turkey Tail mushrooms completely cover a log which extends from left to right across the picture. Their banded arcs are both ordered and random in the way you see most often in natural growth.
Turkey tails! Fall mushrooms are the best.
11.10.2025 21:23 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
It’s World Migratory Bird Day! 🦜
Migratory birds face challenges in urban landscapes. Under “Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities," discover ways you can help create a world where both birds and people can thrive.
In English, Spanish or French: mailchi.mp/a892589a3f78...
Welcome to U-M! No puffins, but I think you'll like it here.
11.10.2025 09:03 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
On October 1st, 2025, the White House sent the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to our seven universities, outlining expectations universities must meet to continue receiving federal benefits. Although the compact's full implications remain unclear, the document outlines unprecedented expectations universities must meet to receive federal benefits. This could systemically alter the mission of higher education and erode the independence that has long defined our universities. We must not allow these attempts to control what can be taught, studied, or spoken on our campuses. Our universities represent the full spectrum of American higher education, from liberal arts colleges to leading research institutions. As students, this directly impacts us, and thus, our voices must be heard. We know firsthand that institutional autonomy is instrumental to the perpetuation of innovation and progress. As the Compact itself acknowledges, “American higher education is the envy of the world and represents a key strategic benefit for our Nation," yet the document undermines the very principles that make this statement true. Our administrations have been presented with a false choice between their commitments to knowledge and education and our access to the resources that sustain them. To preserve our status as world leaders in education, we must remain true to the foundation of academic freedom that has propelled us forward. As student representatives, we stand in united opposition to the outlined conditions. We call on our community of students, faculty, alumni, and leadership to reaffirm our commitment to reject political interference and federal overreach. Academic freedom is not negotiable.
Student governments of Vanderbilt, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, UVA, and Arizona issued a joint statement condemning the Compact and stating that "Academic Freedom is not negotiable." www.instagram.com/p/DPm507ljBJ...
10.10.2025 22:10 — 👍 48 🔁 19 💬 0 📌 1
map illustrating the native range of Venus Flytrap plants, just a little half circle around coastal North and South Carolina in USA
still amazing to me the number of movies, games, etc. which have Venus Flytrap-based creatures in some form compared to the actual native range of Venus Flytrap, which is like, the great untamed jungles of a few wet pine savannas in North Carolina
10.10.2025 18:44 — 👍 870 🔁 240 💬 27 📌 14The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
10.10.2025 21:45 — 👍 3784 🔁 1053 💬 39 📌 94
I've officially submitted "Authenticating Intelligence: Preventing AI from Hijacking Education," to my publisher @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social!!
It feels great to be done. Time to celebrate!
#AIED #booksky
This is our plan in Ann Arbor:
aadl.org/newdowntown.
Voters in Ann Arbor this summer approved, by a 2-to-1 margin, an innovative approach to develop a new downtown library branch that will include both market-rate and affordable housing.
#a2council
