fiddleabout
@fiddleabout.bsky.social
she/her. selective luddite. fiddleabout in some places on the internet, nirav in others, comically bad at socializing in all of them.
Reposted by fiddleabout
With the news that the US wants to have five years of your social media history allow me to remind you of the tool I built to scrub your skeets
GitHub - Gorcenski/skeeter-deleter: A script for auto-deleting Bluesky posts
A script for auto-deleting Bluesky posts. Contribute to Gorcenski/skeeter-deleter development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
With the news that the US wants to have five years of your social media history allow me to remind you of the tool I built to scrub your skeets
Reposted by fiddleabout
According to a new court filing, the Trump administration has a six-page list of banned words that Head Start locations are forbidden from using when describing their programs.
Among the censored words: "disability," "race," "women," "trauma," "Gulf of Mexico." Short thread with the full list. 🧵
Among the censored words: "disability," "race," "women," "trauma," "Gulf of Mexico." Short thread with the full list. 🧵
December 10, 2025 at 11:51 PM
According to a new court filing, the Trump administration has a six-page list of banned words that Head Start locations are forbidden from using when describing their programs.
Among the censored words: "disability," "race," "women," "trauma," "Gulf of Mexico." Short thread with the full list. 🧵
Among the censored words: "disability," "race," "women," "trauma," "Gulf of Mexico." Short thread with the full list. 🧵
Reposted by fiddleabout
THIS NIGHTMARE WILL
BE IN FULL COLOR
BE IN FULL COLOR
December 11, 2025 at 5:11 AM
THIS NIGHTMARE WILL
BE IN FULL COLOR
BE IN FULL COLOR
Reposted by fiddleabout
Sometimes I think white peoples obsession with rewhitening media is a form of self-soothing, like sucking your thumb. if all the lantern jawed manly white men and submissive blonde thin women return, things will be okay again and the world won’t be so scary again.
Sometimes it’s just racism.
Sometimes it’s just racism.
Hiring a Black woman: “identity politics”
Hiring a white guy for a job that has been held disproportionately by white guys, because he is a white guy: “subverting” identity politics!
(The author of this sentence is Dylan Byers; you will not be surprised to learn that he is a white guy.)
Hiring a white guy for a job that has been held disproportionately by white guys, because he is a white guy: “subverting” identity politics!
(The author of this sentence is Dylan Byers; you will not be surprised to learn that he is a white guy.)
December 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Sometimes I think white peoples obsession with rewhitening media is a form of self-soothing, like sucking your thumb. if all the lantern jawed manly white men and submissive blonde thin women return, things will be okay again and the world won’t be so scary again.
Sometimes it’s just racism.
Sometimes it’s just racism.
Reposted by fiddleabout
Reposted by fiddleabout
December 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by fiddleabout
"the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe."
My new, and dark, op-Ed in @theguardian.com
My new, and dark, op-Ed in @theguardian.com
The US is not just Europe’s unwilling ally, but an adversary steeped in far-right ideology | Cas Mudde
Don’t say you weren’t warned: Trump’s new national security strategy seeks to destroy liberal democracy as we know it, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
"the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe."
My new, and dark, op-Ed in @theguardian.com
My new, and dark, op-Ed in @theguardian.com
Reposted by fiddleabout
Unfortunately I did not pay for Premium Grandma w/out Ads and had to settle for free Grandma, and she starts every conversation telling me it would be cool if I got a job with ICE.
IN DEPTH | If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
www.independent.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Unfortunately I did not pay for Premium Grandma w/out Ads and had to settle for free Grandma, and she starts every conversation telling me it would be cool if I got a job with ICE.
Reposted by fiddleabout
The fact that we have super wealthy and extremely stupid people trying to set themselves up as new nobles has made historical nobility, which I only know from books, far more real to me. These people were not smart, they did not rule well, and rigid hierarchies of domination are very bad.
December 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
The fact that we have super wealthy and extremely stupid people trying to set themselves up as new nobles has made historical nobility, which I only know from books, far more real to me. These people were not smart, they did not rule well, and rigid hierarchies of domination are very bad.
Reposted by fiddleabout
sex criminals stick together
🚨 New York Times reports more details than we've had before on how Donald Trump's administration pulled strings to pressure Romania to allow Andrew Tate to travel while he was charged with crimes including trafficking minors and violently beating and raping a 15-year-old girl.
December 10, 2025 at 10:37 PM
sex criminals stick together
Reposted by fiddleabout
You might think from the headline that this is a story about a trans kid suffering medical consequences from a large drug dose but nope! It is just an interview with an estranged father who is angry that his child happily transitioned.
archive.ph/Tmthz
archive.ph/Tmthz
December 10, 2025 at 7:20 PM
You might think from the headline that this is a story about a trans kid suffering medical consequences from a large drug dose but nope! It is just an interview with an estranged father who is angry that his child happily transitioned.
archive.ph/Tmthz
archive.ph/Tmthz
Reposted by fiddleabout
The Texas Supreme Court said in October that judges may decline to perform marriages based on their religious beliefs.
In response, Denise Hernández, a queer Latina judge, threw a Big Gay Wedding Party. With the @19thnews.org, we sent a fabulous photographer.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/10/b...
In response, Denise Hernández, a queer Latina judge, threw a Big Gay Wedding Party. With the @19thnews.org, we sent a fabulous photographer.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/10/b...
‘Love is the Only Motherf****** Way’: Big Queer Wedding Party Celebrates LGBTQ+ Joy and Resilience in Texas
the flower-filled Austin event honored the queer community’s commitment to “hold each other up” in dark times.
thebarbedwire.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The Texas Supreme Court said in October that judges may decline to perform marriages based on their religious beliefs.
In response, Denise Hernández, a queer Latina judge, threw a Big Gay Wedding Party. With the @19thnews.org, we sent a fabulous photographer.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/10/b...
In response, Denise Hernández, a queer Latina judge, threw a Big Gay Wedding Party. With the @19thnews.org, we sent a fabulous photographer.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/10/b...
Reposted by fiddleabout
Peak fusion cuisine in Paris: Irish-Mexican!
December 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Peak fusion cuisine in Paris: Irish-Mexican!
Reposted by fiddleabout
Lots of people on the right like Rosenfield have adopted this annoying tone policing where every book, article, tweet, etc that is slightly pro-liberal should not be judged based on whether it’s right or wrong but rather whether it’s a consultant-designed way of persuading the marginal voter
December 10, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Lots of people on the right like Rosenfield have adopted this annoying tone policing where every book, article, tweet, etc that is slightly pro-liberal should not be judged based on whether it’s right or wrong but rather whether it’s a consultant-designed way of persuading the marginal voter
Reposted by fiddleabout
The thing to understand about Trump II's new proposed ESTA requirements is that once the outside world is seen and framed as a threat and a hardened border the only protection from it, the distinction between friend and enemy becomes meaningless, and there's no such thing as safe passage.
December 10, 2025 at 12:44 PM
The thing to understand about Trump II's new proposed ESTA requirements is that once the outside world is seen and framed as a threat and a hardened border the only protection from it, the distinction between friend and enemy becomes meaningless, and there's no such thing as safe passage.
Reposted by fiddleabout
This is the problem with so many dudes shilling for "agentive AI" too. The actual work they are claiming to replace is invisible to them, especially how much it relies on relationships, informal networks, context, and the ability to bridge systems that don't interoperate.
Nothing wrong with having help for childcare, I wish everyone could. Definitely something wrong with being a billionaire snake oil salesman and pretending that the human help you rely on for childcare is actually done by your snake oil
December 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
This is the problem with so many dudes shilling for "agentive AI" too. The actual work they are claiming to replace is invisible to them, especially how much it relies on relationships, informal networks, context, and the ability to bridge systems that don't interoperate.
Reposted by fiddleabout
Reposted by fiddleabout
Why would an American private equity firm owned by an American citizen need to waive governance rights to avoid review? 🤔
Essential thread:
Essential thread:
1. Paramount's hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery exposes Jared Kushner's game
Kushner is not running a private equity fund. He's running an influence peddling operation.
It's spelled out on page 42 of Paramount's new SEC filing
Kushner is not running a private equity fund. He's running an influence peddling operation.
It's spelled out on page 42 of Paramount's new SEC filing
Kushner and Saudis back hostile takeover of Hollywood giant
Jared Kushner is funneling $24 billion from Middle Eastern governments to back a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery—all while advising President Trump on foreign policy.
popular.info
December 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Why would an American private equity firm owned by an American citizen need to waive governance rights to avoid review? 🤔
Essential thread:
Essential thread:
Reposted by fiddleabout
we all got cowed into avoiding "virtue signaling" as if the public affirmation of socially agreed upon ethical principles was somehow cringey instead of a significant part of what a "society" even is. now all there's left is vice signaling, and it's reshaping society.
December 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
we all got cowed into avoiding "virtue signaling" as if the public affirmation of socially agreed upon ethical principles was somehow cringey instead of a significant part of what a "society" even is. now all there's left is vice signaling, and it's reshaping society.
Reposted by fiddleabout
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
LOS GATOS, CA—In an attempt to fend off growing competition from Paramount and Netflix, Plex CEO Keith Valory announced Monday that the streaming platform had submitted a $35 bid for Warner Bros. Disc...
theonion.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
Reposted by fiddleabout
Conservative affirmative action strikes again. As the court tilts more conservative, those with ties to conservative justices are chosen over better attorneys. That's how a politicized judicial system works.
I assume Amit Agarwal was chosen to defend independent agencies at the Supreme Court today because he's a former Alito and Kavanaugh clerk with a conservative pedigree. But he is doing a very poor job, and I think a progressive advocate with subject matter expertise would've been far more effective.
December 8, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Conservative affirmative action strikes again. As the court tilts more conservative, those with ties to conservative justices are chosen over better attorneys. That's how a politicized judicial system works.
Reposted by fiddleabout
Department of the interior comptroller memo orders all National Parks Service gift shop items scoured for “illegal DEI” and “gender ideology” related content, which is to be removed by next Friday.
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/defaul...
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/defaul...
December 9, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Department of the interior comptroller memo orders all National Parks Service gift shop items scoured for “illegal DEI” and “gender ideology” related content, which is to be removed by next Friday.
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/defaul...
www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/defaul...
Reposted by fiddleabout
The most important political fault line of our time is over whether children are people or property.
This whole so-called “parents rights” movement the right has taken up and the left is supposed to kowtow to for votes is so obviously anti-child it really bothers me to see it presented as anything other than justification for abusive “parenting” and disregard for actual science on child development
December 9, 2025 at 3:22 AM
The most important political fault line of our time is over whether children are people or property.
Reposted by fiddleabout
if I see another academic describe LLMs - a tech owned by a small elite of white billionaires, built from extracting data from humans and minerals from the earth, and refined by the labor of underpaid workers in the global south - as an ‘important tool for decolonization’ I may simply just explode
December 9, 2025 at 2:32 AM
if I see another academic describe LLMs - a tech owned by a small elite of white billionaires, built from extracting data from humans and minerals from the earth, and refined by the labor of underpaid workers in the global south - as an ‘important tool for decolonization’ I may simply just explode