Eric Tang Williamson

Also free are:
"The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America" leaving Prime in 6 days...
"A New History of Life, The Interconnected Earth"

When some people see a Black pilot or a woman astronaut, they think, “Oh, they aren’t qualified.”

When I see a Black pilot or a woman astronaut, I think, “Wow, they had to work their ass off twice as hard to get here —now that’s being more than qualified.”

Amazon Disregarded Internal Warnings on Injuries, Senate Investigation Claims (Gift Article) A staff report by the Senate labor committee, led by Bernie Sanders, uncovered evidence of internal concern about high injury rates at the e-commerce giant.

Maybe we ought to tax the rich to fund free universal healthcare, since they treat the working class like disposable machinery. You break it, you buy it. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/b...

🎯 from @juliusgoat.bsky.social

I've been saying this for so long now!

Journalists, please: if you mean "LLMs" or "Generative Art Models", please say so, before the general term "AI" is completely co-opted to mean "copyright-infringing hallucination factory" forever.

Your mental health is paramount. Protect it. Remove yourself from negative stimulus if you're having trouble coping. It's completely reasonable to be outraged, freaked out, and anxious, but take a break. Take care of yourself.

this is why I keep saying to bake cookies for your block party. Legitimately. That's what's gonna get us through is the little, boring as fuck things that give us space to do the big things when the time comes

Can’t sleep, clowns in D.C. will eat me.

I feel like wikipedia is the only institution that was actually ready for this.

Doge Marino Faliero's non-portrait in the Venetian hall of doges. It's a painting of a black shroud with a Latin motto: "This is the space for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes."

I'm a goofy history nerd, so DOGE makes me think about the Doge of Venice who attempted a coup in 1355. His cronies were hanged, and he was not only beheaded but declared damnatio memoriae (damnation of memory), stricken from official history forever.

It's a nice thought.

There it is: a six-word thesis of democracy. But if you have time for two more, allow me to suggest these for a punchy conclusion that sounds great when it's shouted by a crowd: NO EXCEPTIONS.

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

bsky.app/profile/fply...

Historian here:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

Really enjoying this classic Sesame Street segment, two minutes of freestyle jazz riffing on saxophone factory footage

People need to be crystal clear about something: The requirement that the government ANSWER to a court on the legal basis for detaining someone is literally the core liberty right (habeas corpus). If the government says they don’t have to do that bc “national security,” YOU can be disappeared.

Bukele’s justice minister has said that those held would never return to their communities.

If 250 people can be deported to a concentration camp in El Salvador without due process and vanished forever, then you can be deported to a concentration camp in El Salvador without due process and vanished forever.

apnews.com/article/el-s...

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

Rest. You only have so many spoons and need to cherish the chance to recharge. Doubly so for Howard.

Herd of bison running across the Lamar valley prairie. Lamar river in the background. Lamar 😎

Tatonka Tuesday
It's not over till it's over.

The image shows a bright white point of light surrounded by 17 regularly spaced, hazy dust shells at the bottom, right, and upper right, which look like tree rings. There is noticeably less color in the upper left. The central point, where the two stars are located, has a roughly hexagonal shape.

Tomorrow's NASA Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD): Wolf-Rayet star WR 140.
Every shell is racing away from the stars at more than 2600 kilometers per second, almost 1% the speed of light.
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winterisrambling winterisrambling "Hello. My name is Luke Skywalker. You killed my father. Prepare to die." "Never go up against a Mandalorian when death is on the line!" *immediately falls into Sarlacc pit "Bye, boys! Have fun storming the Death Starl" "Wampas Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist" "Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed, on Hoth?" "It just so happens that Obi-Wan here is only mostly dead." vortisaurus vortisaurus "Give us the access code." "What access code?" "Chewie, tear his arms off. "Ohhh you mean this access codel" "I could give you my word as a Corellian..." "No good. I've known too many Corellians" "Why can't I see?" "You've been mostly-frozen all day." That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "I know", what he meant was, "I love you." "Why do you wear that black mask? Were you burned on Mustafar, or something like that?" "Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future." "Luke doesn't get eaten by the rancor at this time. "What?" "The rancor doesn't get him. I'm explaining to you because you look nervous." thelibrarina "The Fowce is what bwings us togevver today. It suwwounds us, and penetwates us. It binds the gawaxy togevver." #this is beautiful and wonderful #bless #amazing #star wars #the princess bride

#Resist #strongerTogether ✊✊

Jim Acosta announces on air that he's leaving CNN and says, "it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant ... don't give in to the lies."

This MIRI image from the James Webb Space Telescope showcases the intricate details of Arp 269, a pair of interacting galaxies. The galaxies are intertwined, with tendrils of gas and dust bridging the gap between them. The image reveals a rich tapestry of star formation regions and glowing gas clouds.

Unique view of the Cocoon galaxy (Arp 269).
By @thocarp.bsky.social
www.flickr.com/photos/19746...
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The Flame Nebula, captured by the NIRCam instrument, reveals a celestial tapestry of interstellar gas and dust. A prominent plume of gas, tinged with a deep blue, dominates the image, while surrounding clouds shimmer in shades of pink and purple.

NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula) by NIRCam.
Processed by @thocarp.bsky.social
www.flickr.com/photos/19746...
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Most of this is common sense... but as one of my bosses was fond of saying, "Common sense ain't so common."