Laura Grey

A large wading bird with a powerful beak, dark blue on the sides of the head, and gray on the neck, wings, and body, with dark blue at the trailing edge of the wing. It is standing in shallow water with a green grassy shore in the background.

It's a beautiful day here in Pennsylvania. Here a Great Blue Heron shakes things out during golden hour. Despite their large size, Great Blue Herons only weight about 5 to 6 lbs, thanks to hollow bones.

When you’re the most powerful country in the world, but another country has to pay the wages of some of your soldiers to prevent them from starving.

This literally looks like a blue wave.

Amazon just announced 14,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $40M last year.

UPS announced 48,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $24M last year.

Intel announced 20,000 layoffs. Its new CEO's pay package is valued at nearly $69M.

This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

In the mid-1970s, Sweden sold North Korea 1000 Volvos. North Korea has never paid for them, making this "the biggest car theft in human history".

The Swedish government continues to send twice-yearly invoices to Pyongyang for £200,000,000.

20.41: DongWon Song’s Personal Writing Process Listen to Writing Excuses on RedCircle

This week's episode of @writingexcuses.bsky.social is focused on my own personal creative practices. I talk about how being bored is one of the best ways to keep moving forward towards your goals. This was a fun conversation and you can check it out below:

redcircle.com/shows/848724...

five headshots on top of Mary Robinette, Erin, DongWon, Howard and Sandra. Words underneath them saying Writing Excuses Retreats: Alaska Cruise 2026 then underneath that more words that say September 3rd-11th, 2026, Sailing out of Seattle WA. Writingexcuse.com/retreats. Then an image of the writing excuses logo in the right bottom corner and an outline of a cruise ship on the bottom left corner.

Exciting news! Tickets are on sale NOW for our Writing Retreat on a Cruise Ship! Join @maryrobinettekowal.com @howardtayler.bsky.social @dongwon.bsky.social @nirele.bsky.social & @sandratayler.bsky.social in 2026 in a voyage to Alaska
www.tickettailor.com/events/writi...

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

The science is in: COVID boosters are worth it, even if you've been vaccinated and/or infected before. Stay safe out there, friends!: 🧪 🛟 www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

The South Carolina senator behind SB 323 says his bill wouldn't outlaw birth control.

But we found a pamphlet he wrote that says “all forms of the birth control pill” kill a “human being.”

jessica.substack.com/p/abortion-a...

No Kings As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

We encourage all AAUP members and concerned citizens to join the No Kings protest on Saturday, October 18. Actions are organized locally, and you can find details about an event near you at the link below👇

Needing multiple streams of income to stay afloat is a societal failure not a personal one. You should be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle with one job. You are not lazy.

Context matters

“For as long as I’ve been alive, American presidents have defined ‘tyrants’ by their willingness to use military force against their own people in reprisal for political opposition… you could call this the ‘tyrant test,’ and Trump is already failing it.”

YouTube video by IFC Dream of the '90s | Portlandia | IFC

Remember the anthem of war-ravaged Portland www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4hS...

Old Man’s War really is a gateway drug to Scalzi. Exciting, fun, poignant, funny…great writing!

folks, I want to remind you that a ton of federal workers are about to get their last pay check at the end of this month and this stuff is going to get much worse

For those asking, my American Revolution lecture course is free online here:

oyc.yale.edu/history/hist...

"Stolen Children" Putin's war machine snatches 1.6 million Ukrainian kids EXCLUSIVE: Russia is treating kids as prisoners of war and hostages. Their lives have been stolen.

Jesus Christ.

The 29th is COLOR TASTE TEXTURE’s 2nd Book Birthday! And Trinket’s 4th Anniversary Gotcha Day! Help us celebrate this week by reskeeting, buying the book if you haven’t already, requesting it at your library, and/or leaving positive reviews if you loved it!

The upward redistribution of wealth over the past 50 years has shifted $80 trillion from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. 

That’s $80 trillion that would have gone into the paychecks of the working class.

The greatest trick of all is trickle-down economics.

If you found this thread useful, you might also like my guidebook ABOUT WRITING, published in hardback by Gollancz.

As flood deaths rise, Texas officials blast faulty forecast by DOGE-gutted National Weather Service "Experts warned for months that drastic and sudden cuts at the National Weather Service by Trump could impair their forecasting ability and endanger lives during the storm season," said one critic.

“Experts warned for months that drastic and sudden cuts at the National Weather Service by Trump could impair their forecasting ability and endanger lives during the storm season,” said one critic.

Reports indicate that several other red states are now considering opening camps similar to the one in Florida. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina publicly requested a facility, tweeting, “Dear DHS: We’ve got a swamp and a dream. Let’s talk. South Carolina’s gators are ready.”

When history marks the point where we lost the future to China, this will be it.

I asked the historian
who studies the dark times
how these dark times
differ from those
of a century ago,
and after a quiet moment
after a long quiet moment
the historian replied:
that in these dark times
they’re making merch
of the concentration camps.

(•_•)
<) )╯Publique fundinge
/ \

\(•_•)
( (> of the artes and humanityes
/ \

(•_•)
<) )> doth benefit everyone!
/ \

STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...