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polysemy.ca
P
@polysemy.ca
I like spiders and languages
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P @polysemy.ca · Feb 16
2025: Here's an ongoing thread of the books I've read this year.
Reposted by P
genAI is STOLEN WORK. Using genAI in *any* capacity is trafficking in stolen work, supporting the plunder. Period. These facts aren't even denied by the AI companies, they just find ways to make that plunder seem benevolent. Using their product enables that lie. Stop enabling the theft of our work.
"we only use AI for coming up with ideas" no you don't. you use AI to come up with the a bland version of other people's ideas. there is currently NOBODY more replaceable than you
December 20, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Really fascinating to hear how often the plumber is saying "that's so WEIRD' about our leaky basement pipe
December 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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Trying to compile a list of Dutch comic book artists for a possible project. If this is you, drop portfolio links to your comics portfolio in reply.
December 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
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I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.
December 5, 2025 at 6:07 AM
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Average folks kettled ICE
ICE still FROZEN at Centre St & Howard in lower Manhattan right now as calls continue circulating for people to join.

NYPD arriving with barricades.
November 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I would do a PhD full time and focus on my language teaching cooperative to continue raising money for Gazan families
Honest question: If everyone got Universal Basic Income, no strings attached, what would YOU do with it?

Re-post with your quote or drop your take below.
November 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM
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Gender-affirming care saves lives
1. A landmark study was just published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.

It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.

Transgender care saves lives.
Study In The Journal Of Pediatrics Finds Trans Youth Care Lowers Suicidality, Few Detransition
The groundbreaking study found that suicidality dropped for transgender youth receiving hormone therapy by nearly 70%, with only 7 patients of 432 discontinuing treatment.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:49 AM
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I feel like the last couple decades of "is representation good or not?" discourse missed more important questions of "how fragile is representation?", "what do we do when multiple industries eliminate it as an intentional move against us?" and "how can we sustain queer artists when shit goes south?"
"According to the report, [...]during the 2024-25 television season, queer characters increased across platforms by 4%, bringing the total to 489. However, the Thursday report found that 41% of those characters will not return." www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-...
Nearly Half of All LGBTQ+ Characters Will Disappear From TV Next Season, GLAAD Study Finds
The 2024-25 TV season recorded 489 queer characters across broadcast, cable and screenings, but cancellations and plot find a deep decline to come
www.thewrap.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 AM
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Fixed it for you. Idiots! If the exclusion is based on appearance then it will certainly impact cis folks as well as trans folks.
November 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
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Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This wins the National Book Award for Nonfiction! Read more here:
buff.ly/r2NOkNr
Omar El Akkad on Genocide, Complicit Liberals, and the Terrible Wrath of the West
On October 25, 2023—when Israel’s war on Gaza had already claimed the lives of 6,500 Palestinians, including 2,500 children—the Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad posted …
lithub.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Two months into the worst IIH flare-up since 2011, and I'm very tired of it. I get out of breath cutting vegetables. I can't concentrate on books at all. I usually read 10+ a month, and I don't think I've finished a single one.
November 20, 2025 at 2:56 AM
I'm starting to teach a new French 101 class this evening. Very excited about it. Looking forward to meeting the students!
November 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
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on this insight, Graeber was absolutely correct. in the vacuum created by the neoliberals’ ban on dreams, neofascist visions & creativity have flourished
Hopelessness is an important element of Neo-Liberalism
September 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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If the AI bubble really is bursting, please take this lesson from it:

Nothing marketed to you this relentlessly is ever worth it. If it was, they wouldn’t need to beg you.
August 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
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Thousands of Israelis stayed home from work, flooded city streets and blocked roads and highways across the country on Sunday, staging some of the largest anti-war protests in months as the military prepares for a major assault on Gaza City. wapo.st/4mvMVfK
August 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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I also think it’s worth noting that the leftist leaders who most terrify the establishment (and not by any means exclusively in the GOP) are coalition builders. the FBI killed Fred Hampton because, among other things, he was bringing Black, Hispanic and white groups together to organize on housing
August 16, 2025 at 4:44 AM
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i’ll never get over how blatantly and proveably lying is one of the best political strategies of the modern age
August 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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Don't want innocent people to be whisked away without a chance to defend themselves? Then every single person (including the Worst Person You Know) deserves that chance.
August 16, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Currently putting together a course which includes a section on propaganda, so this is timely!
I have a good example of language in uk news that sanitises and legitimises racism its things like “backlash against antiracism“
Language on immigration in UK news and politics found to have ‘shaped backlash against antiracism’
August 2, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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I have a good example of language in uk news that sanitises and legitimises racism its things like “backlash against antiracism“
August 2, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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The 12th annual international Gender Census 2025 is now open until at least 30th August 2025!

survey.gendercensus.com

It's for anyone whose gender (or lack thereof) isn't described by the M/F binary. It's short and easy, and results are useful in academia, business and self-advocacy.
July 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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If you were alive in the 1980s, this is among the most wonderful & truly incredible things you have ever witnessed in your lifetime.
July 28, 2025 at 2:15 AM
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If you're a UK citizen, you can sign this petition to attempt to have the act repealed. This is much more effective than whining about Bluesky and "moving to Discord or Twitter" (both of which will be forced to comply or will block/be blocked by the UK) petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...
Petition: Repeal the Online Safety Act
We want the Government to repeal the Online Safety act.
petition.parliament.uk
July 24, 2025 at 7:12 AM
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The UK is no stranger to excessive amounts of regulation being passed to try to curb problems rather than actually trying to solve the problem at the root, because solving the problem would involve showing extra kindness to the vulnerable and underprivileged. See also: psychoactive substance ban
July 24, 2025 at 6:59 AM