Zac Audette
@zacaudette.com
identity and commerce programmer @bethesda.net (views are my own and do not reflect my employer)
photographer at https://zacaudette.com/
for new classical music performed by women checkout https://newdownbeat.com
photographer at https://zacaudette.com/
for new classical music performed by women checkout https://newdownbeat.com
Reposted by Zac Audette
for anyone interested, @hammerandhope.bsky.social ran an article on exactly this: "An organized urban wing of the railroad called vigilance committees focused on protecting, supporting, and learning from fugitives. That education went in both directions..."
hammerandhope.org/article/unde...
hammerandhope.org/article/unde...
The Black People Who Fled Slavery Had a Lot to Teach Their Northern Allies
Black-led vigilance committees not only protected and aided fugitives but also learned from the formerly enslaved as they built a movement pedagogy together.
hammerandhope.org
December 7, 2025 at 2:19 AM
for anyone interested, @hammerandhope.bsky.social ran an article on exactly this: "An organized urban wing of the railroad called vigilance committees focused on protecting, supporting, and learning from fugitives. That education went in both directions..."
hammerandhope.org/article/unde...
hammerandhope.org/article/unde...
Reposted by Zac Audette
I will be continuing to uplift and celebrate Black creativity, Black study, and Black people across the world. You are welcome.
December 6, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I will be continuing to uplift and celebrate Black creativity, Black study, and Black people across the world. You are welcome.
Reposted by Zac Audette
Tomorrow is National Miners Day, which probably isn’t a big deal in your family, but it is in mine and I’m working tomorrow so we’re doing this tonight
The Labor Department barely acknowledges WHY December 6 is set aside, so I’m going to turn the mic over to my mom for a minute
The Labor Department barely acknowledges WHY December 6 is set aside, so I’m going to turn the mic over to my mom for a minute
December 6, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Tomorrow is National Miners Day, which probably isn’t a big deal in your family, but it is in mine and I’m working tomorrow so we’re doing this tonight
The Labor Department barely acknowledges WHY December 6 is set aside, so I’m going to turn the mic over to my mom for a minute
The Labor Department barely acknowledges WHY December 6 is set aside, so I’m going to turn the mic over to my mom for a minute
Reposted by Zac Audette
If you pop in here to say “I’ll still get my kid vaxed” & smugly think that’s doing enough, well, congrats on not understanding herd immunity, public health, or any of the lessons of the past half decade.
Congrats too for falling for the false, neoliberal idea of “individualistic” public health.
Congrats too for falling for the false, neoliberal idea of “individualistic” public health.
December 5, 2025 at 4:57 PM
If you pop in here to say “I’ll still get my kid vaxed” & smugly think that’s doing enough, well, congrats on not understanding herd immunity, public health, or any of the lessons of the past half decade.
Congrats too for falling for the false, neoliberal idea of “individualistic” public health.
Congrats too for falling for the false, neoliberal idea of “individualistic” public health.
Reposted by Zac Audette
Animation Guild President Danny Lin shares a statement on the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix . The proposed merger raises undeniable concerns about job security and the future of our industry. Read complete statement.
December 5, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Animation Guild President Danny Lin shares a statement on the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix . The proposed merger raises undeniable concerns about job security and the future of our industry. Read complete statement.
Reposted by Zac Audette
The following is a statement from the WGA on the Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix.
December 5, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The following is a statement from the WGA on the Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix.
Reposted by Zac Audette
I'm not going to re-write a whole piece I already wrote 8 years ago, so here
www.vice.com/en/article/s...
www.vice.com/en/article/s...
Stories in Games Aren't Problems, They're Solutions
Lots of video games have terrible stories, but that's no reason to give up telling them.
www.vice.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I'm not going to re-write a whole piece I already wrote 8 years ago, so here
www.vice.com/en/article/s...
www.vice.com/en/article/s...
Reposted by Zac Audette
I hear this a lot when people ask me questions about what our union is doing for us or if "the union" can step in and solve an issue they've heard of. Our union isn't doing anything FOR us, we ARE the union and we are doing this together!
December 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I hear this a lot when people ask me questions about what our union is doing for us or if "the union" can step in and solve an issue they've heard of. Our union isn't doing anything FOR us, we ARE the union and we are doing this together!
Reposted by Zac Audette
Reposted by Zac Audette
The family of a Colombian man believed to be killed by a strike on a boat in September has filed a human rights complaint against the United States, saying that the attack was “murder” and that he was denied the right to due process.
Family of Colombian Man Killed in Boat Strike Files Complaint Against US
This is the first known filing of its kind, and comes amid increasing scrutiny over the military’s boat strike campaign.
truthout.org
December 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The family of a Colombian man believed to be killed by a strike on a boat in September has filed a human rights complaint against the United States, saying that the attack was “murder” and that he was denied the right to due process.
Reposted by Zac Audette
"The games industry in particular is at the intersection of entertainment and tech...there are a lot of connections between the games industry and the genocide that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people."
kotaku.com/no-games-for...
kotaku.com/no-games-for...
No Games For Genocide Wants You To Boycott Xbox
A collective of video game workers, journalists, and union organizers recently announced a pledge to boycott Xbox for Palestine
kotaku.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:55 PM
"The games industry in particular is at the intersection of entertainment and tech...there are a lot of connections between the games industry and the genocide that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people."
kotaku.com/no-games-for...
kotaku.com/no-games-for...
Reposted by Zac Audette
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:
You Can’t Fight Fascism While Defunding Libraries
“Libraries embody everything that we need right now to fight back against fascism," says Sara Heymann.
organizingmythoughts.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:
Reposted by Zac Audette
In my final newsletter of the year, I discuss one of my all-time favorite topics—community archiving by marginalized groups. I recommend a two-episode podcast exploration of a Japanese psychiatric treatment model, several good recent articles, and much more… open.substack.com/pub/prisoncu...
Prisons, Prose & Protest - #33
Rants, Musings and More
open.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:22 PM
In my final newsletter of the year, I discuss one of my all-time favorite topics—community archiving by marginalized groups. I recommend a two-episode podcast exploration of a Japanese psychiatric treatment model, several good recent articles, and much more… open.substack.com/pub/prisoncu...
Reposted by Zac Audette
I appreciate the reporting AND I want everyone to stop using criminal records as a stand in for whether people should or should not be harassed and deported.
Nearly 1,900 immigrants were detained during the first half of Operation Midway Blitz. Most had no criminal record, newly released federal data shows. @joemahr.bsky.social and @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social report
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/o...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/o...
Nearly 1,900 immigrants were detained during the first half of Operation Midway Blitz. Most had no criminal record.
Newly released federal data shows that immigration agents booked in roughly 1,900 immigrants in the first half of Operation Midway Blitz – two-thirds of whom had no known criminal convictions or pe…
www.chicagotribune.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I appreciate the reporting AND I want everyone to stop using criminal records as a stand in for whether people should or should not be harassed and deported.
Reposted by Zac Audette
Nayra Guzmán was 15 days post C-section — going to see her baby in the NICU — when she was taken to Broadview and held in custody for about 34 hours.
She slept on a bench and barely got food. She couldn't pump.
Her story is a rare window into the growing detention of pregnant & postpartum people.
She slept on a bench and barely got food. She couldn't pump.
Her story is a rare window into the growing detention of pregnant & postpartum people.
Her baby was in the NICU. She was in ICE detention.
Before Trump took office, postpartum immigrants were rarely detained by ICE. Nayra Guzmán was detained while her 15-day-old baby was in the NICU.
19thnews.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Nayra Guzmán was 15 days post C-section — going to see her baby in the NICU — when she was taken to Broadview and held in custody for about 34 hours.
She slept on a bench and barely got food. She couldn't pump.
Her story is a rare window into the growing detention of pregnant & postpartum people.
She slept on a bench and barely got food. She couldn't pump.
Her story is a rare window into the growing detention of pregnant & postpartum people.
Reposted by Zac Audette
NEW: DOGE isn’t dead, despite recent reports.
Operatives are still rolling out coding tests, leading software pilots, and more.
w/ @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/what-i...
Operatives are still rolling out coding tests, leading software pilots, and more.
w/ @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/what-i...
DOGE Isn’t Dead. Here’s What Its Operatives Are Doing Now
Contrary to popular reports, DOGE has “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” government sources tell WIRED.
www.wired.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:01 PM
NEW: DOGE isn’t dead, despite recent reports.
Operatives are still rolling out coding tests, leading software pilots, and more.
w/ @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/what-i...
Operatives are still rolling out coding tests, leading software pilots, and more.
w/ @telliotter.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/what-i...
Reposted by Zac Audette
ICYMI:
How Trump derailed coal country’s economic revival. ‘On his first day in office, Donald Trump scrapped billions of dollars of Biden era clean energy and environmental programs, which he lambasted as woke, anti-American liberal hoaxes.’
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How Trump derailed coal country’s economic revival. ‘On his first day in office, Donald Trump scrapped billions of dollars of Biden era clean energy and environmental programs, which he lambasted as woke, anti-American liberal hoaxes.’
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival
Biden earmarked billions for former coal communities in Appalachia – and his successor came and took it away
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:19 PM
ICYMI:
How Trump derailed coal country’s economic revival. ‘On his first day in office, Donald Trump scrapped billions of dollars of Biden era clean energy and environmental programs, which he lambasted as woke, anti-American liberal hoaxes.’
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How Trump derailed coal country’s economic revival. ‘On his first day in office, Donald Trump scrapped billions of dollars of Biden era clean energy and environmental programs, which he lambasted as woke, anti-American liberal hoaxes.’
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Zac Audette
My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.
November 29, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.
Reposted by Zac Audette
New from 404 Media: Flock is using overseas gig workers to build its surveillance AI. Flock has cameras in thousands of communities around the US which can detect vehicles and people. We found gig workers in the Philippines are reviewing footage to classify people
www.404media.co/flock-uses-o...
www.404media.co/flock-uses-o...
Flock Uses Overseas Gig Workers to Build its Surveillance AI
Flock accidentally exposed training materials and a panel which tracked what its AI annotators were working on. It showed that Flock, which has cameras in thousands of U.S. communities, is using worke...
www.404media.co
December 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
New from 404 Media: Flock is using overseas gig workers to build its surveillance AI. Flock has cameras in thousands of communities around the US which can detect vehicles and people. We found gig workers in the Philippines are reviewing footage to classify people
www.404media.co/flock-uses-o...
www.404media.co/flock-uses-o...
Reposted by Zac Audette
Days before Mohan Karki was set to appear in court, attorneys learned that authorities plan to deport the Ohio resident to Bhutan on Dec. 2. Emergency appeals have since been filed, while attorneys work to see if Karki will be able to meet with his wife and the infant daughter he has yet to hold.
Columbus refugee detained by ICE in April faces imminent deportation – Matter News
Days before Mohan Karki was set to appear in federal court, his attorneys learned that U.S. authorities plan to deport the Ohio resident to Bhutan on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Emergency appeals have since been...
matternews.org
December 1, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Days before Mohan Karki was set to appear in court, attorneys learned that authorities plan to deport the Ohio resident to Bhutan on Dec. 2. Emergency appeals have since been filed, while attorneys work to see if Karki will be able to meet with his wife and the infant daughter he has yet to hold.
Reposted by Zac Audette
every neoliberal policy analyst wants to "trim the fat" of society until the lean times come. community level resilience, redundancies, etc are good actually
When power went out across all of Puerto Rico on 16 April, a lot of the lights in the town of Adjuntas stayed on. A combination of experimental microgrids, solar panels, and storage kept power on for many businesses and residents.
spectrum.ieee.org/puerto-rico-...
spectrum.ieee.org/puerto-rico-...
Could Microgrids Be Puerto Rico's Answer to Endless Blackouts?
Meanwhile, feds redirect $365 million away from solar toward grid fixes
spectrum.ieee.org
November 30, 2025 at 2:27 PM
every neoliberal policy analyst wants to "trim the fat" of society until the lean times come. community level resilience, redundancies, etc are good actually
Reposted by Zac Audette
“Long before Hoover denounced King as a liar, the NYPD issued a surveillance report on the civil rights leader’s visit to Harlem in 1958, with other memos to follow in the early 1960s. Rank-and-file organizers supporting King received unwanted attention as well.“
November 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
“Long before Hoover denounced King as a liar, the NYPD issued a surveillance report on the civil rights leader’s visit to Harlem in 1958, with other memos to follow in the early 1960s. Rank-and-file organizers supporting King received unwanted attention as well.“
Reposted by Zac Audette
Meanwhile independent art (comics, art, games, etc) with sexual or "inappropriate" content gets taken down from independent stores and the creators' banned by payment processors and banking firms.
November 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Meanwhile independent art (comics, art, games, etc) with sexual or "inappropriate" content gets taken down from independent stores and the creators' banned by payment processors and banking firms.
Reposted by Zac Audette
“While Shelby County has recorded the dirtiest air in Tennessee for many years — half the state’s admissions for childhood asthma come from there — local residents say the arrival of Colossus has made things worse.”
In Memphis, where people fear Elon Musk’s supercomputer is making them ill
Colossus, an xAI supercomputer, is blamed for worsening air pollution in a historic black community
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
“While Shelby County has recorded the dirtiest air in Tennessee for many years — half the state’s admissions for childhood asthma come from there — local residents say the arrival of Colossus has made things worse.”
Reposted by Zac Audette
Today's holiday rec is ART WORK by Sally Mann, a great collection of essays/memoir about creativity from one of our best photographers. With copious photos, images, and the great first lines "This is a book about how to get shit done. Or, more particularly, how I got it done. Or didn't." 2/?
November 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Today's holiday rec is ART WORK by Sally Mann, a great collection of essays/memoir about creativity from one of our best photographers. With copious photos, images, and the great first lines "This is a book about how to get shit done. Or, more particularly, how I got it done. Or didn't." 2/?