RDS (formerly shawphd)
@rds773.myatproto.social
Former historian, current indexer. She/her, cis. Cats, nature, crafts, sci fi/fantasy. Covid aware. Chicago parent. GenX. West Coast ex-pat. I block & mute freely.
shawrd773@zirk.us
Need an index for your book in the humanities or social sciences? DM me.
shawrd773@zirk.us
Need an index for your book in the humanities or social sciences? DM me.
Pinned
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
More than half the CO₂ emissions of the Industrial Age have been pumped into the atmosphere since 1990.
More than half the CO₂ emissions of the Industrial Age have been pumped into the atmosphere since 1990.
What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
Literally nothing is 'carbon neutral'. It is a physical impossibility. If someone's telling you their product has zero climate impact, they're actively deciding to lie to you.
Literally nothing is 'carbon neutral'. It is a physical impossibility. If someone's telling you their product has zero climate impact, they're actively deciding to lie to you.
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
Indexes in books are written by actual humans and cannot be done automatically by computers
Indexes in books are written by actual humans and cannot be done automatically by computers
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
have you ever read one of my Discworld QOTDs and thought, hey, I should really get around to reading those books?
good news! the full series is back on Humble Bundle - it’s Kobo but it’s pretty easily to transfer those to your preferred e-reader
you won’t regret it
good news! the full series is back on Humble Bundle - it’s Kobo but it’s pretty easily to transfer those to your preferred e-reader
you won’t regret it
Humble Book Bundle: Best of Humble Bundle: Terry Pratchett's Discworld by HarperCollins Encore 2026
Experience Sir Terry Practchett’s beloved Discworld series! Get 35+ books covering all corners of this comic fantasy universe and help support Room to Read!
www.humblebundle.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:19 PM
have you ever read one of my Discworld QOTDs and thought, hey, I should really get around to reading those books?
good news! the full series is back on Humble Bundle - it’s Kobo but it’s pretty easily to transfer those to your preferred e-reader
you won’t regret it
good news! the full series is back on Humble Bundle - it’s Kobo but it’s pretty easily to transfer those to your preferred e-reader
you won’t regret it
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
First of all, that's despicable. It's never acceptable to lie about using deadly force on anyone.
Second, here are federal officers completely fabricating what happened when they charged Miramar Martinez with assault when they shot her five times.
www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/me...
Second, here are federal officers completely fabricating what happened when they charged Miramar Martinez with assault when they shot her five times.
www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/me...
February 16, 2026 at 8:41 PM
First of all, that's despicable. It's never acceptable to lie about using deadly force on anyone.
Second, here are federal officers completely fabricating what happened when they charged Miramar Martinez with assault when they shot her five times.
www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/me...
Second, here are federal officers completely fabricating what happened when they charged Miramar Martinez with assault when they shot her five times.
www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/me...
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Don't let them use this tragedy for their hateful agenda.
February 17, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Don't let them use this tragedy for their hateful agenda.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
If you (whoever you are) give a few dollars away a month, you're beating Elon Musk in relative donations.
February 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
If you (whoever you are) give a few dollars away a month, you're beating Elon Musk in relative donations.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Hey, @lataco.bsky.social is raising money to launch an investigative news unit; their current priorities involve looking into "less lethal" weapons used on protesters and more thorough documentation of ICE kidnapping.
Chip in here:
givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...
Chip in here:
givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...
February 17, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Hey, @lataco.bsky.social is raising money to launch an investigative news unit; their current priorities involve looking into "less lethal" weapons used on protesters and more thorough documentation of ICE kidnapping.
Chip in here:
givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...
Chip in here:
givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
You are literally trained in journalism school -not- to do this because it creates an agenda out of natural human speech patterns. Yes it’s racist and misogynistic. It’s also the NYTimes flouting a journalistic norm in a way that tells us basically everything we already knew about that paper.
Have you ever once seen the New York Times quote Trump like this?
February 17, 2026 at 12:41 PM
You are literally trained in journalism school -not- to do this because it creates an agenda out of natural human speech patterns. Yes it’s racist and misogynistic. It’s also the NYTimes flouting a journalistic norm in a way that tells us basically everything we already knew about that paper.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Yes.
Staph infections were fatal so often that we distinguished them by what part of the body they attacked first. "Childbed fever" is a term for a variety of post-birth complications that killed a lot of women. There are reasons wet nurses used to be so common. (And they're not all class-based.)
Staph infections were fatal so often that we distinguished them by what part of the body they attacked first. "Childbed fever" is a term for a variety of post-birth complications that killed a lot of women. There are reasons wet nurses used to be so common. (And they're not all class-based.)
before antibiotics did people just die all the time from everything?
February 17, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Yes.
Staph infections were fatal so often that we distinguished them by what part of the body they attacked first. "Childbed fever" is a term for a variety of post-birth complications that killed a lot of women. There are reasons wet nurses used to be so common. (And they're not all class-based.)
Staph infections were fatal so often that we distinguished them by what part of the body they attacked first. "Childbed fever" is a term for a variety of post-birth complications that killed a lot of women. There are reasons wet nurses used to be so common. (And they're not all class-based.)
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
There's enough of this in one newspaper in one state in one day for a thread, so let's do it. Impunity for the wealthy has become such a background condition that it generally goes unremarked. Come find your issue and start agitating!
Restore The Rule of Law in California: A Thread
Restore The Rule of Law in California: A Thread
Great news, but this flagrant lawbreaking is going to get more and more common, and the case history here suggests CA isn't ready. The state paid for this closure, even though it's AllenCo's legal obligation. CA can sue to recover those costs, but afaik hasn't. Why?
www.latimes.com/environment/...
www.latimes.com/environment/...
Notoriously hazardous South L.A. oil wells finally plugged after decades of community pressure
A two-acre Los Angeles oil drill site near the St. Vincent Elementary School in University Park, had been releasing noxious fumes for years. Finally, the wells have been shut down.
www.latimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:26 PM
There's enough of this in one newspaper in one state in one day for a thread, so let's do it. Impunity for the wealthy has become such a background condition that it generally goes unremarked. Come find your issue and start agitating!
Restore The Rule of Law in California: A Thread
Restore The Rule of Law in California: A Thread
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
HELLO, FRIENDS!
The women's shelter where I volunteer lost almost all of their art and craft supplies last year. I can't fix everything, but I have a big network here, and so do a lot of you, and I'm pretty sure that together, we can fix this.
www.thingstogetme.com/2169641a9c163
The women's shelter where I volunteer lost almost all of their art and craft supplies last year. I can't fix everything, but I have a big network here, and so do a lot of you, and I'm pretty sure that together, we can fix this.
www.thingstogetme.com/2169641a9c163
Craft Supplies for Park Slope Women's Shelter
The Park Slope Women's Shelter serves unhoused women with mental health and/or substance-use disorder diagnoses in NYC.
Due to an incident this past year, the shelter is attempting to rebuild and re...
www.thingstogetme.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:53 PM
HELLO, FRIENDS!
The women's shelter where I volunteer lost almost all of their art and craft supplies last year. I can't fix everything, but I have a big network here, and so do a lot of you, and I'm pretty sure that together, we can fix this.
www.thingstogetme.com/2169641a9c163
The women's shelter where I volunteer lost almost all of their art and craft supplies last year. I can't fix everything, but I have a big network here, and so do a lot of you, and I'm pretty sure that together, we can fix this.
www.thingstogetme.com/2169641a9c163
CAT checkpoint. Show me the most recent cat image on your phone.
February 17, 2026 at 9:32 PM
CAT checkpoint. Show me the most recent cat image on your phone.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
US Citizenship & Immigration Services is an agency most Americans rarely hear about. It administers the *legal* immigration system. Under Trump, the agency has turned into an enforcement tool in service of the broader crackdown. My latest @newyorker.com: www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
How Legal Immigration Became a Deportation Trap
Under Trump, the Homeland Security agency responsible for processing visas and green cards has become a site for easy arrests.
www.newyorker.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:38 PM
US Citizenship & Immigration Services is an agency most Americans rarely hear about. It administers the *legal* immigration system. Under Trump, the agency has turned into an enforcement tool in service of the broader crackdown. My latest @newyorker.com: www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
every time someone says something like "there weren't trans people when I was a kid" or some shit about trans people being a new thing because WOKE all I can think is "motherfucker Dog Day Afternoon was made in 1975"
February 17, 2026 at 1:52 AM
every time someone says something like "there weren't trans people when I was a kid" or some shit about trans people being a new thing because WOKE all I can think is "motherfucker Dog Day Afternoon was made in 1975"
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
I have a headache and had to spend $660 to not get chemotherapy for my cat today so I’m pretty cranky and maybe not rational, but I’m so tired of people posting about politics in a way that bears nearly 0 connection to real life
February 17, 2026 at 8:17 PM
I have a headache and had to spend $660 to not get chemotherapy for my cat today so I’m pretty cranky and maybe not rational, but I’m so tired of people posting about politics in a way that bears nearly 0 connection to real life
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
i keep coming back to the question of predictable failure modes.
often what drives our choices isn't "what can it sometimes do"
but rather, "what can it definitely absolutely not do under any circumstances"
for example, an FAQ page will *never* show people text you did not put there
often what drives our choices isn't "what can it sometimes do"
but rather, "what can it definitely absolutely not do under any circumstances"
for example, an FAQ page will *never* show people text you did not put there
Spent the last year effectively doing this, using the most powerful models available in the United States and it gave a bunch of farts until we gated it to a point where a FAQ page and a CMS to drive it would have been cheaper and more useful.
February 17, 2026 at 7:45 PM
i keep coming back to the question of predictable failure modes.
often what drives our choices isn't "what can it sometimes do"
but rather, "what can it definitely absolutely not do under any circumstances"
for example, an FAQ page will *never* show people text you did not put there
often what drives our choices isn't "what can it sometimes do"
but rather, "what can it definitely absolutely not do under any circumstances"
for example, an FAQ page will *never* show people text you did not put there
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
before antibiotics did people just die all the time from everything?
February 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
NO KINGS March 28!! ❌👑 This will be the largest non-violent protest in American history. Spread the word online and IRL, it’s up to all of us.
FIND a No Kings protest: bit.ly/nokings328
***Events are still being registered. Please check back next week if you don’t see one near you yet.***
FIND a No Kings protest: bit.ly/nokings328
***Events are still being registered. Please check back next week if you don’t see one near you yet.***
February 17, 2026 at 7:46 PM
NO KINGS March 28!! ❌👑 This will be the largest non-violent protest in American history. Spread the word online and IRL, it’s up to all of us.
FIND a No Kings protest: bit.ly/nokings328
***Events are still being registered. Please check back next week if you don’t see one near you yet.***
FIND a No Kings protest: bit.ly/nokings328
***Events are still being registered. Please check back next week if you don’t see one near you yet.***
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Please read this thread!!!
And if you are concerned about ICE being deployed for voter intimidation, find a local voting rights org who is already doing the work.
Start with Vote Riders. States having weird/changing Voter ID laws is less flashy for scaring folks but it works real well.
And if you are concerned about ICE being deployed for voter intimidation, find a local voting rights org who is already doing the work.
Start with Vote Riders. States having weird/changing Voter ID laws is less flashy for scaring folks but it works real well.
Each arrest takes like a half dozen agents. They just don’t have the manpower for this. I am not even sure where the marginal utility of this type of thing would be. Maybe if they concentrated their efforts in one congressional district or something.
One of my biggest fears about the midterms is that ICE could flood the polls with agents who perform Kavanaugh Stops on every non-white person before they get a chance to cast a ballot, then detain them until voting is over. Which is not far-fetched at this point. www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-po...
February 17, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Please read this thread!!!
And if you are concerned about ICE being deployed for voter intimidation, find a local voting rights org who is already doing the work.
Start with Vote Riders. States having weird/changing Voter ID laws is less flashy for scaring folks but it works real well.
And if you are concerned about ICE being deployed for voter intimidation, find a local voting rights org who is already doing the work.
Start with Vote Riders. States having weird/changing Voter ID laws is less flashy for scaring folks but it works real well.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Reminder that you can simply delete CBS from your saved channels and skip it entirely when you flip through the channels. ... If you're old enough to still flip through the channels.
February 17, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Reminder that you can simply delete CBS from your saved channels and skip it entirely when you flip through the channels. ... If you're old enough to still flip through the channels.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Just got an email from Zoom plugging their "AI Companion," so I immediately looked up how to disable it and disabled it. In case you're interested...
support.zoom.com/hc/en/articl...
support.zoom.com/hc/en/articl...
Enabling or disabling the AI Companion Panel in Zoom Workplace
Account owners and admins can enable or disable the AI Companion panel in Zoom Workplace, which provides
support.zoom.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Just got an email from Zoom plugging their "AI Companion," so I immediately looked up how to disable it and disabled it. In case you're interested...
support.zoom.com/hc/en/articl...
support.zoom.com/hc/en/articl...
If your district offers early voting or mail/dropbox voting, consider using those options
This will also free you up to help people who have no choice but to vote in person on Election Day
This will also free you up to help people who have no choice but to vote in person on Election Day
They don't have the manpower to get this done. And with the margins we're seeing in special elections, they'd need to swing places by 20 points and that isn't happening.
Imo what people should expect is random ICEholes "accidentally" dropping tear gas near long ballot lines and that kind of shit
Imo what people should expect is random ICEholes "accidentally" dropping tear gas near long ballot lines and that kind of shit
One of my biggest fears about the midterms is that ICE could flood the polls with agents who perform Kavanaugh Stops on every non-white person before they get a chance to cast a ballot, then detain them until voting is over. Which is not far-fetched at this point. www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-po...
February 17, 2026 at 8:18 PM
If your district offers early voting or mail/dropbox voting, consider using those options
This will also free you up to help people who have no choice but to vote in person on Election Day
This will also free you up to help people who have no choice but to vote in person on Election Day
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
An Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights spokesperson tells me they've gotten word of people recently being detained during immigration check-ins at the Broadview, IL ICE facility. They said ICIRR has also gotten word of people with asylum cases having check-ins moved up to this week.
February 17, 2026 at 7:51 PM
An Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights spokesperson tells me they've gotten word of people recently being detained during immigration check-ins at the Broadview, IL ICE facility. They said ICIRR has also gotten word of people with asylum cases having check-ins moved up to this week.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Un portavoz de ICIRR me informa que han recibido noticias de personas detenidas recientemente durante sus citas de inmigración en las instalaciones de ICE en Broadview, IL. Añadió que ICIRR también ha recibido noticias de personas con solicitudes de asilo cuyas citas se han adelantado a esta semana.
An Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights spokesperson tells me they've gotten word of people recently being detained during immigration check-ins at the Broadview, IL ICE facility. They said ICIRR has also gotten word of people with asylum cases having check-ins moved up to this week.
February 17, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Un portavoz de ICIRR me informa que han recibido noticias de personas detenidas recientemente durante sus citas de inmigración en las instalaciones de ICE en Broadview, IL. Añadió que ICIRR también ha recibido noticias de personas con solicitudes de asilo cuyas citas se han adelantado a esta semana.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Thread. Instead of fearmongering about ICE agents intimidating voters at the polls, direct your energy to becoming a poll observer or poll worker, and to advocating for changes to voter laws. Call your political reps, find grassroots orgs doing this work, etc.
Each arrest takes like a half dozen agents. They just don’t have the manpower for this. I am not even sure where the marginal utility of this type of thing would be. Maybe if they concentrated their efforts in one congressional district or something.
One of my biggest fears about the midterms is that ICE could flood the polls with agents who perform Kavanaugh Stops on every non-white person before they get a chance to cast a ballot, then detain them until voting is over. Which is not far-fetched at this point. www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-po...
February 17, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Thread. Instead of fearmongering about ICE agents intimidating voters at the polls, direct your energy to becoming a poll observer or poll worker, and to advocating for changes to voter laws. Call your political reps, find grassroots orgs doing this work, etc.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Everyone who worked at this camp should go to prison.
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Everyone who worked at this camp should go to prison.
Reposted by RDS (formerly shawphd)
Pirate kitty comm for @nightshade.bsky.social 🏴☠️
February 17, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Pirate kitty comm for @nightshade.bsky.social 🏴☠️