Amanda Watson
@amndw2.bsky.social
Librarian, literature geek, knitter, opera fan, book history person. Writing a book about commonplace books and poetry readers. Opinions here are my own. She/her/hers. Queer and furious. 🏳️🌈
Pinned
Amanda Watson
@amndw2.bsky.social
· Jan 9
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
And hold Nuremberg trials for every single person involved with ICE. Every last one.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
Abolish ICE.
And hold Nuremberg trials for every single person involved with ICE. Every last one.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
February 11, 2026 at 3:43 AM
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
Every right-wing accusation is a confession: "Indeed, for much of the 2010s and likely before and since, it appears the crime rate of CBP agents and offices was higher PER CAPITA than the crime rate of undocumented immigrants in the United States."
I testified Friday before Gov. Pritzker's commission studying abuses of ICE and CBP and tried to explain how the agencies went so far off track. It's actually way worse than I ever realized. Please read and share my testimony as Congress considers reform: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountabi...
Accountability for ICE and CBP
However bad you think the corruption and misconduct at ICE and CBP is — the reality is far far worse.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
February 13, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Every right-wing accusation is a confession: "Indeed, for much of the 2010s and likely before and since, it appears the crime rate of CBP agents and offices was higher PER CAPITA than the crime rate of undocumented immigrants in the United States."
Brainstorming ideas for an upcoming writing retreat, and...what if instead of a second academic book I just wrote a collection of essays about opera? Because life is short and the world is on fire and I think people should write about what animates them.
February 11, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Brainstorming ideas for an upcoming writing retreat, and...what if instead of a second academic book I just wrote a collection of essays about opera? Because life is short and the world is on fire and I think people should write about what animates them.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
If you have been waiting a super easy way to support the printing folks without giving 'zon your money, @protopasta.bsky.social stepped up with a solution! Every $20 you give them at this link helps produce 500 whistles.
proto-pasta.com/products/the...
proto-pasta.com/products/the...
"We Keep Us Safe" by The Whistle Crew
The Protopasta Fil-anthropy Fund is proud to partner with the Whistle Crew, "a loose federation united by our love for 3D printing and community safety." Across the nation, our communities' lives are ...
proto-pasta.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:17 PM
If you have been waiting a super easy way to support the printing folks without giving 'zon your money, @protopasta.bsky.social stepped up with a solution! Every $20 you give them at this link helps produce 500 whistles.
proto-pasta.com/products/the...
proto-pasta.com/products/the...
Reposted by Amanda Watson
Everybody knows that Pupper just won Downhill Gold
February 10, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Everybody knows that Pupper just won Downhill Gold
Hey @npr.org I still wear a mask on transit and in stores and other public places, and I'm not even an elite athlete trying to stay healthy while competing in the Olympics.
(Ironically, the NPR front page currently has two separate stories about measles outbreaks in DC and Florida.)
(Ironically, the NPR front page currently has two separate stories about measles outbreaks in DC and Florida.)
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy. n.pr/4akK70l
Olympic Covid restrictions are gone, but some athletes still self-quarantining
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy.
n.pr
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Hey @npr.org I still wear a mask on transit and in stores and other public places, and I'm not even an elite athlete trying to stay healthy while competing in the Olympics.
(Ironically, the NPR front page currently has two separate stories about measles outbreaks in DC and Florida.)
(Ironically, the NPR front page currently has two separate stories about measles outbreaks in DC and Florida.)
Reposted by Amanda Watson
I hope folks grasp the fascistic resentment underpinning this shit, and the fact that there is nothing these AI robber barons would like more than to automate human creativity because they resent it and wish to devalue, own, and control it and us.
The whole article is repulsive but this passage is at the core of it. She has no interest in writing books, she wants to win some kind of competition that nobody entered
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 PM
I hope folks grasp the fascistic resentment underpinning this shit, and the fact that there is nothing these AI robber barons would like more than to automate human creativity because they resent it and wish to devalue, own, and control it and us.
🧵
I've been taking in the reporting on dissatisfaction and resentment within the federal paramilitaries.
And, y'all, we are wearing them the fuck down.
And, y'all, we are wearing them the fuck down.
February 8, 2026 at 5:16 PM
🧵
Printer's fist! 👉
February 8, 2026 at 2:09 AM
Printer's fist! 👉
Reposted by Amanda Watson
My favorite artifact in the "you don't need AI to do art" discourse is, of course, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's sketch of the facehugger to explain it to Giger.
February 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM
My favorite artifact in the "you don't need AI to do art" discourse is, of course, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's sketch of the facehugger to explain it to Giger.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
This pup found a stick shaped like an old timey pipe earlier today and has already solved three mysteries. 13/10
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 PM
This pup found a stick shaped like an old timey pipe earlier today and has already solved three mysteries. 13/10
Petition for pedestrians to have automatic right of way at every intersection when it's this cold out.
February 7, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Petition for pedestrians to have automatic right of way at every intersection when it's this cold out.
Feeling the urge to reread James McCourt's MAWRDEW CZGOWCHWZ. It's been too long.
Mawrdew Czgowchwz
Diva Mawrdew Czgowchwz (pronounced “Mardu Gorgeous”) bu…
www.goodreads.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Feeling the urge to reread James McCourt's MAWRDEW CZGOWCHWZ. It's been too long.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
The update here left me weepy with how full of love it is. If you can help with end of life expenses, here's where and how.
February 6, 2026 at 2:02 PM
The update here left me weepy with how full of love it is. If you can help with end of life expenses, here's where and how.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
The behavior of our big beautiful billionaires over the past several decades is psychologically what I can only describe as "Crying out for consequences." They can't stop themselves and deep down they need to be stopped. They need it as much as we do
February 4, 2026 at 5:01 PM
The behavior of our big beautiful billionaires over the past several decades is psychologically what I can only describe as "Crying out for consequences." They can't stop themselves and deep down they need to be stopped. They need it as much as we do
Reposted by Amanda Watson
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex
February 5, 2026 at 5:05 PM
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex
Apparently I really needed to be mildly horrified but also simultaneously reduced to helpless wheezing semi-hysterical laughter.
I need everyone to know that on the crochet subreddit the mods made a big post about how they're taking a week off because there was too much fighting/political posts. so there's currently no mods on r/crochet and people are being absolutely insane
February 6, 2026 at 4:17 AM
Apparently I really needed to be mildly horrified but also simultaneously reduced to helpless wheezing semi-hysterical laughter.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
Remembering Fobazi Ettarh by reading her brilliant work. I read about vocational awe in my last year of library school & she provided the vocabulary I needed to describe some of my observations & experiences as a BIPOC worker. She will be missed. www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocatio...
February 5, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Remembering Fobazi Ettarh by reading her brilliant work. I read about vocational awe in my last year of library school & she provided the vocabulary I needed to describe some of my observations & experiences as a BIPOC worker. She will be missed. www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocatio...
Reposted by Amanda Watson
This is brilliant and moving on about eighteen different levels.
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 2:50 PM
This is brilliant and moving on about eighteen different levels.
Someone who makes the NYT Connections game is picking up on the zeitgeist...
February 5, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Someone who makes the NYT Connections game is picking up on the zeitgeist...
Reposted by Amanda Watson
This is action EVERY city in the country can take. If your hotels cooperate with ICE, goodbye liquor revenue.
A Minneapolis City Council committee delayed action Tuesday on renewing liquor licenses for two Minneapolis hotels that have housed federal immigration officers.
Minneapolis Council committee delays liquor licenses for 2 hotels over hosting federal agents
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the liquor licenses for the Canopy by Hilton in the Mill District and Depot Renaissance Hotel.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:57 AM
This is action EVERY city in the country can take. If your hotels cooperate with ICE, goodbye liquor revenue.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
Once all of the other, uh, things are settled we really need a serious public health campaign around everything involved in being part of a society.
February 3, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Once all of the other, uh, things are settled we really need a serious public health campaign around everything involved in being part of a society.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
Didn’t expect to see these posted on Bluesky! Here’s a printable version if anyone wants it (the bottom is gone in the original pic because the bottom half of the flyer was a bunch of tear-offs lol)
February 2, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Didn’t expect to see these posted on Bluesky! Here’s a printable version if anyone wants it (the bottom is gone in the original pic because the bottom half of the flyer was a bunch of tear-offs lol)
Reposted by Amanda Watson
I like this paper finding that a 10% increase in a community’s self-reported masking correlated to more than 3x better odds of Covid transmission control.
Mask-wearing and control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the USA: a cross-sectional study
The widespread reported use of face masks combined with physical distancing increases
the odds of SARS-CoV-2 transmission control. Self-reported mask-wearing increased
separately from government mask ...
www.thelancet.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:42 PM
I like this paper finding that a 10% increase in a community’s self-reported masking correlated to more than 3x better odds of Covid transmission control.
Reposted by Amanda Watson
We really do all have the ability to curb spread.
You cannot talk about the measles outbreak without talking about the widespread erosion of public health - from vaccines to COVID mitigations. ICE facilities have been wracked with TB, measles, and COVID outbreaks. Community spread stops with you. Wear a fit tested N95.
February 2, 2026 at 10:37 PM
We really do all have the ability to curb spread.