Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
@mwfrancis.bsky.social
Social worker. Educator. Activist. Researcher on substance use recovery. Views are my own. They/them ♿ 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️
Ear worm of the day: Skeet Surfin' from Top Secret!
It's a real shame that we never got to hear "Your Skeetin' Heart" with Tammy Wynette 💔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFH...
It's a real shame that we never got to hear "Your Skeetin' Heart" with Tammy Wynette 💔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFH...
Val Kilmer/Top Secret - Skeet Surfin'
YouTube video by Peach Braxton
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Ear worm of the day: Skeet Surfin' from Top Secret!
It's a real shame that we never got to hear "Your Skeetin' Heart" with Tammy Wynette 💔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFH...
It's a real shame that we never got to hear "Your Skeetin' Heart" with Tammy Wynette 💔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFH...
I'm exactly the same here, with a splash of arrogance (I obviously could do it better while spending 6x as much time and energy on it)
Also, I'm damned if I'll let some techbro think for me, thankyoverymuch!
Also, I'm damned if I'll let some techbro think for me, thankyoverymuch!
Hands up if you've never used Chat GPT ✋
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
Probably a good way to tell right now if the job you’re applying for is run by absolute dumbfucks is to ask if they’re using AI.
November 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I'm exactly the same here, with a splash of arrogance (I obviously could do it better while spending 6x as much time and energy on it)
Also, I'm damned if I'll let some techbro think for me, thankyoverymuch!
Also, I'm damned if I'll let some techbro think for me, thankyoverymuch!
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
I’m not proud of not having used ChatGPT or whatever bc it’s … easy not to use it. Choosing not to use it has no impact on my day. Bc it’s not even good at the thing it’s supposed to be doing. It’d be like being proud of myself for not using a broken calculator to do math.
November 9, 2025 at 2:33 PM
I’m not proud of not having used ChatGPT or whatever bc it’s … easy not to use it. Choosing not to use it has no impact on my day. Bc it’s not even good at the thing it’s supposed to be doing. It’d be like being proud of myself for not using a broken calculator to do math.
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Update: The grocery store reduced their luxury pumpkins to $1 each and I bought them and am now that person from your math problems!
The good thing about pumpkins is that they keep really well, so I don't have to deal with 40+ pounds of pumpkin all at once?
The good thing about pumpkins is that they keep really well, so I don't have to deal with 40+ pounds of pumpkin all at once?
Every year, I contemplate the ethical merits of snagging "luxury pumpkins" off of people's porches to roast and eat. Like, I can identify at least three very tasty varietals in that photo! I could feed people off this largess! Pumpkin soup for the masses!
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Update: The grocery store reduced their luxury pumpkins to $1 each and I bought them and am now that person from your math problems!
The good thing about pumpkins is that they keep really well, so I don't have to deal with 40+ pounds of pumpkin all at once?
The good thing about pumpkins is that they keep really well, so I don't have to deal with 40+ pounds of pumpkin all at once?
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
November 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book
November 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book
Cleveland gets a bad rap--and believe me, there are some not-great things we can focus on--but it's actually a city with lots of grassroots activism that has pushed its leaders to enact policies that make life better for everyone.
Let's go! The City of Cleveland - home to a public power utility - is one of the first in the nation i've heard of so far banning shutoffs during this federal shutdown crisis.
Public power can lead the nation in showing what democratic institutions can do to make our lives better.
Public power can lead the nation in showing what democratic institutions can do to make our lives better.
We're announcing a 30-day moratorium on utility disconnections.
The federal shutdown and cuts to SNAP benefits have placed an unfair and unexpected burden on households. No one should have to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.
The federal shutdown and cuts to SNAP benefits have placed an unfair and unexpected burden on households. No one should have to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.
November 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Cleveland gets a bad rap--and believe me, there are some not-great things we can focus on--but it's actually a city with lots of grassroots activism that has pushed its leaders to enact policies that make life better for everyone.
I'm feeling awfully glad I got my updated passport just under the wire before all of this bullshirt, but this is horrendous news for all my trans siblings who weren't able to 💔
NEW: On the shadow docket, the Supreme Court lets Trump resume misgendering trans Americans on their passports, claiming "the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
![This case concerns an Executive Branch policy requiring
all new passports to display an individual’s biological sex at
birth. The United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined the Government
from enforcing the policy, and the First Circuit declined to
stay the injunction pending appeal. The Government then
filed this stay application. Applying our familiar stay fac-
tors at this preliminary stage, we grant the application.
Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends
equal protection principles than displaying their country of
birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to
a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential
treatment. And on this record, respondents have failed to
establish that the Government’s choice to display biological
sex “lack[s] any purpose other than a bare . . . desire to
harm a politically unpopular group.” Trump v. Hawaii, 585
U. S. 667, 705 (2018) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Nor are respondents likely to prevail in arguing that the
State Department acted arbitrarily and capriciously by de-
clining to depart from Presidential rules that Congress ex-
pressly required it to follow. See 22 U. S. C. §211a.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiacrtgoecxjy5y7ojz7xzbun4c4nwutjcvqn4qb4p25ldpt6va5lu@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I'm feeling awfully glad I got my updated passport just under the wire before all of this bullshirt, but this is horrendous news for all my trans siblings who weren't able to 💔
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
and story by me!
Some asteroids spin smoothly. Others tumble chaotically. Understanding their differences could help us learn more about asteroid history and improve planetary defense measures.
Research led by @wzhou.bsky.social at @utokyoofficial.bsky.social, comments from @sondy.com
eos.org/articles/wha...
Research led by @wzhou.bsky.social at @utokyoofficial.bsky.social, comments from @sondy.com
eos.org/articles/wha...
What Tumbling Asteroids Tell Us About Their Innards - Eos
Data from the Gaia space observatory reveal that many slowly spinning asteroids rotate chaotically. A new theory links that chaos to their inner structure and history.
eos.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
and story by me!
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
We have at least TWO postdoctoral fellowship openings on our @unm.edu @casaa.bsky.social T32 NIAAA Training Grant, best consideration date for applications is Nov 15 2025. Join our phenomenal community and enjoy incredible quality of life in beautiful New Mexico. casaa.unm.edu/training/ins...
Application Process ::
Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA) | The University of New Mexico
casaa.unm.edu
November 5, 2025 at 10:30 PM
We have at least TWO postdoctoral fellowship openings on our @unm.edu @casaa.bsky.social T32 NIAAA Training Grant, best consideration date for applications is Nov 15 2025. Join our phenomenal community and enjoy incredible quality of life in beautiful New Mexico. casaa.unm.edu/training/ins...
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
"Don't get too excited, because-" Nah, how about you shut the fuck up. All the way up.
Let people have a crumb of joy, you miserable fucks, my GOD.
I promise, you can go back to posting "We're so fucked" and then not doing anything to stop it thrice daily tomorrow.
Let people have a crumb of joy, you miserable fucks, my GOD.
I promise, you can go back to posting "We're so fucked" and then not doing anything to stop it thrice daily tomorrow.
November 5, 2025 at 7:44 PM
"Don't get too excited, because-" Nah, how about you shut the fuck up. All the way up.
Let people have a crumb of joy, you miserable fucks, my GOD.
I promise, you can go back to posting "We're so fucked" and then not doing anything to stop it thrice daily tomorrow.
Let people have a crumb of joy, you miserable fucks, my GOD.
I promise, you can go back to posting "We're so fucked" and then not doing anything to stop it thrice daily tomorrow.
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.
November 5, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.
Gonna go vote in the hopes that we will stop getting threatening messages from the office of the governor telling us not to post on social media about how happy we are when atrocious people die. This is completely unrelated to current events, of course.
a close up of a woman 's face with a disney logo on the bottom right
Alt: GIF of the character Agnes Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) from WandaVision winking dramatically
media.tenor.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Gonna go vote in the hopes that we will stop getting threatening messages from the office of the governor telling us not to post on social media about how happy we are when atrocious people die. This is completely unrelated to current events, of course.
This is beautiful, from both the message and the art history aspects!
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
This is beautiful, from both the message and the art history aspects!
Can I add this to my tenure packet?
"Administrative obligations have long* made it difficult for pre-tenure academics to meet expected productivity metrics.
* Since at least 7th c BCE"
"Administrative obligations have long* made it difficult for pre-tenure academics to meet expected productivity metrics.
* Since at least 7th c BCE"
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Can I add this to my tenure packet?
"Administrative obligations have long* made it difficult for pre-tenure academics to meet expected productivity metrics.
* Since at least 7th c BCE"
"Administrative obligations have long* made it difficult for pre-tenure academics to meet expected productivity metrics.
* Since at least 7th c BCE"
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
America is so racist that some Americans believed SNAP benefits were for white people and food stamps were for black people and they did not know they were the same thing and are now horrified to learn they are losing their food subsidies.
November 3, 2025 at 12:57 AM
America is so racist that some Americans believed SNAP benefits were for white people and food stamps were for black people and they did not know they were the same thing and are now horrified to learn they are losing their food subsidies.
Oh gods, I adore "Mundane Halloween"!
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Oh gods, I adore "Mundane Halloween"!
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
"all lectures, assignments, feedback, and grades will be made by me without AI, nor will any of your intellectual property be fed to tools that train AI. Ideas are social, so let’s make them together. "
against-a-i.com/syllabus-lan...
against-a-i.com/syllabus-lan...
November 2, 2025 at 1:32 PM
"all lectures, assignments, feedback, and grades will be made by me without AI, nor will any of your intellectual property be fed to tools that train AI. Ideas are social, so let’s make them together. "
against-a-i.com/syllabus-lan...
against-a-i.com/syllabus-lan...
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
Don't care what people use SNAP on and never will, fuck you if you care
October 31, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Don't care what people use SNAP on and never will, fuck you if you care
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
If anyone would like to watch the Social Work Disability Justice League's opening plenary at the Council on Social Work Education's Annual Conference with me, Laura Wernick, and Vandana Chaudry on Disability Justice & Disability Joy, we start at about 20:00 : www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vxt...
CSWE Annual Conference 2025: Opening Plenary Panel Discussion on Disability Justice and Joy
YouTube video by Council on Social Work Education
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:27 PM
If anyone would like to watch the Social Work Disability Justice League's opening plenary at the Council on Social Work Education's Annual Conference with me, Laura Wernick, and Vandana Chaudry on Disability Justice & Disability Joy, we start at about 20:00 : www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vxt...
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
Hon hon hon joyeaux ween de hallo
October 31, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Hon hon hon joyeaux ween de hallo
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
Eminently reasonable proposed principles for professors’ use of AI, from a student refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
October 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Eminently reasonable proposed principles for professors’ use of AI, from a student refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
I am once again pissed beyond belief at some people's absolute delight at the loss of SNAP benefits, which will affect millions of people.
They claim that they're so happy because they're upset that people on benefits buy snacks and unhealthy foods.
Come on. We know the real reason.
They claim that they're so happy because they're upset that people on benefits buy snacks and unhealthy foods.
Come on. We know the real reason.
October 29, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I am once again pissed beyond belief at some people's absolute delight at the loss of SNAP benefits, which will affect millions of people.
They claim that they're so happy because they're upset that people on benefits buy snacks and unhealthy foods.
Come on. We know the real reason.
They claim that they're so happy because they're upset that people on benefits buy snacks and unhealthy foods.
Come on. We know the real reason.
Reposted by Mer Francis, PhD, MSW
Here's a way to search all food banks:
www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-lo...
After you put in your zip code, if there aren't many results then click on "see nearby pantries" and it'll give you a map with everything on it.
www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-lo...
After you put in your zip code, if there aren't many results then click on "see nearby pantries" and it'll give you a map with everything on it.
important reminder: food banks usually prefer money to direct food donations because they can buy at discounted rates
check with your local food bank to be sure but now is the time to help out
check with your local food bank to be sure but now is the time to help out
Americans brace for food stamps to run out: ‘the greatest hunger catastrophe since the Great Depression’
October 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Here's a way to search all food banks:
www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-lo...
After you put in your zip code, if there aren't many results then click on "see nearby pantries" and it'll give you a map with everything on it.
www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-lo...
After you put in your zip code, if there aren't many results then click on "see nearby pantries" and it'll give you a map with everything on it.