emily 🔹

A hand-drawn sketch showing a face with jagged teeth at the trunk of a tree. Around the skull are several curved lines extending outwards as branches, each ending with a purple devil emoji (😈). Below the trunk is the word "SUFFERING" written in bold, scratchy letters with root lines extending downward, suggesting the concept takes root underground. The overall image depicts suffering as the root system from which various evils or negative forces branch out.

Quick sketch of the roots of evil. #HotTakes

May we have hope

A hand-drawn illustration on a black background showing a stick figure at the top thinking "I'm all alone". Below is a large triangular or mountain-like shape labeled "FOUNDATION OF SUPPORT" at the base. Inside this foundation are multiple stick figures, and text saying "you may not know it but we've got you."

Maybe... maybe not

I wonder how much social media companies would be fined for all the damages to mental health, degradation in political discourse, etc

maybe they’d still be profitable because they provide positive value in other ways, though helping people stay connected to each other isn’t their primary $$$ maker

I started using archive on e-mail. Used to just mark conversations as read / unread

Pick your focus and stick with it. We cannot fight in all fronts or we will become overwhelmed. But we can all peel off a corner in our area of expertise and begin to reveal effective strategies for resisting the chaos. Every single one of us has something to offer.

If you feel overwhelmed by the deluge of bad news streaming out of Washington, that's by design.

Instead of feeling helpless in the face of it all, pick one or two issues that speak to you deeply and concentrate on pushing back on those.

This is not a sprint. Saving the Republic is a marathon.

Ooo I’d like to get on that

"And remember: you must never, under any circumstances, despair. To hope and to act, these are our duties in misfortune." - Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

Hey moots, you might wanna check out this tool for making threads, it's gonna make all our lives soooo much easier I can already tell

Earnest post, but: a thing I like here is it’s okay to have moments of happiness in public without being broadly scolded, and I believe that sustaining this kind of humanity will be very important as we resist fascism.

We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive

++ I’ve treated human interactions as transactional

This led me to focus on what transactional value I bring to the table (I don’t know a lot about Y topic discussed so other person isn’t gaining value from the convo)

Before I realized that human presence is very powerful and valuable by itself

Not everyone can fight Trumpism and Trumpists directly. But remember this: kindness, decency, and fidelity to American values are defiance in the face of Trumpism.

So be kind, decent, and faithful, particularly to the many kinds of people despised and attacked by Trumpists. That’s revolutionary./1

I've already pointed out that Brendan Carr has made it clear that he will be the most censorial FCC chair in history.

And he will do it while wrapping himself in the false flag of free speech. And the media will repeat that claim as if it's accurate.

A good reminder from @scalzi.com

Disgustingly accurate … 😞 🎯

January Events - How Lithuanian people stood up to Russian tanks in 1991 YouTube video by The Soup Central

"How Lithuanian people stood up to Russian tanks in 1991."
@vatniksoup.bsky.social

beautiful quote, and I wonder we will leverage our anger for meaningful change or lash out meaninglessly with despair

How to steal an election in America A zombie lawsuit aims to overturn NC Supreme Court race

How to steal an election in America.

What's going on in North Carolina is a much more serious issue than you'd think from the scant attention it's being given.
Read more from @raders.bsky.social at If You Can Keep It: open.substack.com/pub/protectd...

Do you think moral circle expansion happened with more tech? Like abolishing slavery, women’s suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights and stuff?

Or get rid of the thing that is making you want to cool down in the first place… if that’s a problem

Do you have to or do you choose to because it’s the best thing to do given the results and consequences?

Why I changed my mind about volunteering My generation was taught to change the system. That lesson came at a cost.

www.vox.com/culture/3682...

Tldr; The left may have swung the pendulum towards collective action / gov't and that individual actions might be underrated now

ex: GenZ's volunteer less / blood donations have gone down

Clarification: the part where they landed their dream job I care about and I’m happy for them

Good timing re my death anxiety <3

Maybe I can be more like…

yeah I [INSERT “SHAMEFUL” THING] and a bunch of people don’t care and still like me anyway

Maybe I can be more like…

yeah I [INSERT “SHAMEFUL” THING] and a bunch of people don’t care and still like me anyway

I met someone I thought was cool.

A few months later we had a more heart to heart chat and they said something like “I’m age XX and I still don’t have a house and until recently I didn’t have a job and only just found my dream job.”

Yeah but I don’t care and I still think you’re awesome

I’m trying to accept that I am mortal

Maybe I’ll show up to the doctor with some terminal illness or something. Heck I might even die from a car crash tomorrow

Unlike a lot of EAs and rats I want to accept that it is OK that I die (tomorrow)

This is an interesting way to start 2025 I suppose