@betsythemuffin.bsky.social
Autodidactic to a fault, always. Nolite te bastardes carborundum. Technically not a Hugo Award winner.
Former software developer retraining in green (bio)chemistry. Techno-optimist; hopepunk. Towards partially automated luxury for all.
Former software developer retraining in green (bio)chemistry. Techno-optimist; hopepunk. Towards partially automated luxury for all.
Reposted
I wrote about Yglesias “defending liberalism” by joining a right wing moral panic over critical race theory. His vision of liberalism has room for bigots, but no room for scholars concerned about structural racism.
"Yglesias claims to think “rights are good,” but would have us ignore how neutral rules can be used to deny people their rights. Earlier this month, the Trump Department of Justice issued a memo that follows from Yglesias’s reasoning" www.liberalcurrents.com/a-tent-big-e...
A Tent Big Enough for Bigots but Too Small for Critical Race Theory
Like so many of critical race theory's detractors, Matthew Yglesias fails to engage with the actual scholarship.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I wrote about Yglesias “defending liberalism” by joining a right wing moral panic over critical race theory. His vision of liberalism has room for bigots, but no room for scholars concerned about structural racism.
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This feels like standard midlife crisis stuff. Someone who's now in their 40s, not where they think they deserve to be, and mad as hell at everyone else for it. Tale as old as time.
One problem with this take is the number of high profile white millennial men in the media...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
December 16, 2025 at 2:43 PM
This feels like standard midlife crisis stuff. Someone who's now in their 40s, not where they think they deserve to be, and mad as hell at everyone else for it. Tale as old as time.
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Why are news articles saying that we are in the "middle" of open enrollment?
If you want your insurance to start on January 1st, 2026, you have to choose your Marketplace plan by the end of TODAY, December 15, 2025.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
If you want your insurance to start on January 1st, 2026, you have to choose your Marketplace plan by the end of TODAY, December 15, 2025.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
ACA shoppers face sticker shock as Congress dithers on health care
With subsidies that help consumers pay their health insurance premiums set to expire, health care shoppers face staggering prices. Lawmakers are running out of time to agree on a solution.
www.npr.org
December 15, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Why are news articles saying that we are in the "middle" of open enrollment?
If you want your insurance to start on January 1st, 2026, you have to choose your Marketplace plan by the end of TODAY, December 15, 2025.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
If you want your insurance to start on January 1st, 2026, you have to choose your Marketplace plan by the end of TODAY, December 15, 2025.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
December 15, 2025 at 2:21 AM
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
Reposted
Ahmed al Ahmed is a hero who saved countless lives. He is owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
He is also absolutely NOT my "model of solidarity". Solidarity shouldn't look like this.
He is also absolutely NOT my "model of solidarity". Solidarity shouldn't look like this.
Solidarity Shouldn't Look Like This
Like many of you, I woke up this morning to the horrible news of a mass shooting at a Channukah celebration in Sydney, Australia . Like many...
dsadevil.blogspot.com
December 14, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Ahmed al Ahmed is a hero who saved countless lives. He is owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
He is also absolutely NOT my "model of solidarity". Solidarity shouldn't look like this.
He is also absolutely NOT my "model of solidarity". Solidarity shouldn't look like this.
Reposted
No, Jews around the world don't suffer because of the actions of the government of Israel. Jews around the world suffer because antisemites use the actions of the government of Israel to justify attacks on Jews. And if you make the same association, you're also an antisemite.
December 14, 2025 at 3:50 PM
No, Jews around the world don't suffer because of the actions of the government of Israel. Jews around the world suffer because antisemites use the actions of the government of Israel to justify attacks on Jews. And if you make the same association, you're also an antisemite.
Reposted
Most Americans don’t know how to care adequately for other people. That’s a huge chunk of the mess we’re in.
December 14, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Most Americans don’t know how to care adequately for other people. That’s a huge chunk of the mess we’re in.
Reposted
Anyway you ever think about how much of libertarianism is just creating a framework to allow antisocial behavior by people who want to engage in antisocial behavior?
December 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Anyway you ever think about how much of libertarianism is just creating a framework to allow antisocial behavior by people who want to engage in antisocial behavior?
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Urbanists will talk about how cars are a machine that makes you selfish and crazy, and I know it’s easy to roll your eyes at that but if you give drivers the ability to comment they will say “yes I am selfish and crazy”
I care about the harm to my sanity and schedule for being forced to go artificially slow
December 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Urbanists will talk about how cars are a machine that makes you selfish and crazy, and I know it’s easy to roll your eyes at that but if you give drivers the ability to comment they will say “yes I am selfish and crazy”
This is what gets me about the "let's fix it with road engineering" response to systemic speeding.
It assumes that "road engineering" is cheap and simple -- in reality, it's time, construction cost, and public meetings where drivers scream about the inconveniences of slightly narrower streets.
It assumes that "road engineering" is cheap and simple -- in reality, it's time, construction cost, and public meetings where drivers scream about the inconveniences of slightly narrower streets.
it would take 30 years to transform my hometown into some place where the infrastructure is meaningfully less car centric. what should we do in the meantime to keep repeat offenders for speeding and DUIs off the roads?
December 12, 2025 at 11:23 PM
This is what gets me about the "let's fix it with road engineering" response to systemic speeding.
It assumes that "road engineering" is cheap and simple -- in reality, it's time, construction cost, and public meetings where drivers scream about the inconveniences of slightly narrower streets.
It assumes that "road engineering" is cheap and simple -- in reality, it's time, construction cost, and public meetings where drivers scream about the inconveniences of slightly narrower streets.
Reposted
My right to privacy in not having the government meticulously record my daily travel patterns is *not* in conflict with my right not to be endangered by reckless motorists.
The question is if we’re willing to meaningfully preserve both rights.
The question is if we’re willing to meaningfully preserve both rights.
December 12, 2025 at 11:13 PM
My right to privacy in not having the government meticulously record my daily travel patterns is *not* in conflict with my right not to be endangered by reckless motorists.
The question is if we’re willing to meaningfully preserve both rights.
The question is if we’re willing to meaningfully preserve both rights.
Reposted
If your position on the civil liberty issues around Automated Traffic Safety Enforcement is that we should never deploy such technology, you should not be surprised if the most abuse-prone technology available is what gets deployed.
I think it was a huge mistake to make our society so car-dependent. But man. The Discourse today is a good reminder that when it comes to roadways policy, otherwise progressive anti-car people quickly become some of the most pro-carceral, anti-civil liberties people on the planet.
December 12, 2025 at 11:08 PM
If your position on the civil liberty issues around Automated Traffic Safety Enforcement is that we should never deploy such technology, you should not be surprised if the most abuse-prone technology available is what gets deployed.
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shoutout to the crowd that insisted it was a political loser to stand up for abrego garcia’s rights
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an ordinary man, has defeated the great might of the US Government
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free. every bit of cruelty, boasting, slander, and persecution was for absolutely fucking nothing.
December 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
shoutout to the crowd that insisted it was a political loser to stand up for abrego garcia’s rights
Reposted
in general the most productive thing progressives/the left can do about technology is actually articulate and popularize some regulatory checks on the tech industry's power
but we don't do that because we're busy rage pissing our pants all day instead of having an imagination lmao
but we don't do that because we're busy rage pissing our pants all day instead of having an imagination lmao
December 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
in general the most productive thing progressives/the left can do about technology is actually articulate and popularize some regulatory checks on the tech industry's power
but we don't do that because we're busy rage pissing our pants all day instead of having an imagination lmao
but we don't do that because we're busy rage pissing our pants all day instead of having an imagination lmao
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I badly need folks to up their game here
I have hated the technology industry's disgusting plutocrats for more than a decade, well before it was cool
it is entirely possible to do this and still, you know, imagine and pursue a role for technology in our future
technopessimism is a suicide pact
I have hated the technology industry's disgusting plutocrats for more than a decade, well before it was cool
it is entirely possible to do this and still, you know, imagine and pursue a role for technology in our future
technopessimism is a suicide pact
Ceding techno optimism to the right is a generational scale mistake
December 10, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I badly need folks to up their game here
I have hated the technology industry's disgusting plutocrats for more than a decade, well before it was cool
it is entirely possible to do this and still, you know, imagine and pursue a role for technology in our future
technopessimism is a suicide pact
I have hated the technology industry's disgusting plutocrats for more than a decade, well before it was cool
it is entirely possible to do this and still, you know, imagine and pursue a role for technology in our future
technopessimism is a suicide pact
Reposted
oh wow this isn't antiintellectualism in the slightest. I'm sure joking toleration of this sort of attitude will be a great thing for the left
December 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
oh wow this isn't antiintellectualism in the slightest. I'm sure joking toleration of this sort of attitude will be a great thing for the left
Reposted
Media professionals are using 'the news perspective' as a rhetorical trick to absolve them from the actual work of reporting facts and informing the reader. bsky.app/profile/jmgr...
Thinking a bit about how wedded a certain generation of media professionals are to their specifically, arbitrarily credulous notion of 'the news perceptive'.
December 9, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Media professionals are using 'the news perspective' as a rhetorical trick to absolve them from the actual work of reporting facts and informing the reader. bsky.app/profile/jmgr...
Reposted
This is exactly what the bosses who put Trump into office were trying to achieve. Crushing the tight labor market from the early Biden years that gave workers - for the first time in my adult lifetime - leverage over their bosses.
NEW
US labor market flows remained sluggish in October data released this morning, as hiring slowed to nearly the lowest level since early COVID
The hiring rate fell to 3.2%, layoffs rose to 1.2%, quits fell to 1.8%, and job openings rose to 4.6%
US labor market flows remained sluggish in October data released this morning, as hiring slowed to nearly the lowest level since early COVID
The hiring rate fell to 3.2%, layoffs rose to 1.2%, quits fell to 1.8%, and job openings rose to 4.6%
December 9, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is exactly what the bosses who put Trump into office were trying to achieve. Crushing the tight labor market from the early Biden years that gave workers - for the first time in my adult lifetime - leverage over their bosses.
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I am a plus sized woman with a chronic illness. i cannot buy clothing in most stores or second hand.
i learned to sew and alter clothes. i got better at styling simple pieces. i buy cool accessories. i buy a few pieces through the year from indie plus brands.
most of us have room to make choices
i learned to sew and alter clothes. i got better at styling simple pieces. i buy cool accessories. i buy a few pieces through the year from indie plus brands.
most of us have room to make choices
December 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I am a plus sized woman with a chronic illness. i cannot buy clothing in most stores or second hand.
i learned to sew and alter clothes. i got better at styling simple pieces. i buy cool accessories. i buy a few pieces through the year from indie plus brands.
most of us have room to make choices
i learned to sew and alter clothes. i got better at styling simple pieces. i buy cool accessories. i buy a few pieces through the year from indie plus brands.
most of us have room to make choices
Reposted
i am also very done with every single conversation about consumer choices being derailed by the what abouts
people have disabilities, people are poor, people are plus sized
the inability for everyone to make an ethical choice doesn’t mean we all get to opt out of them
people have disabilities, people are poor, people are plus sized
the inability for everyone to make an ethical choice doesn’t mean we all get to opt out of them
December 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
i am also very done with every single conversation about consumer choices being derailed by the what abouts
people have disabilities, people are poor, people are plus sized
the inability for everyone to make an ethical choice doesn’t mean we all get to opt out of them
people have disabilities, people are poor, people are plus sized
the inability for everyone to make an ethical choice doesn’t mean we all get to opt out of them
Reposted
i’m so sick of the way people feel entitled to cheap clothes. people are taking “no ethical consumption under capitalism” to mean “don’t blame me if there were slaves in the supply chain.”
clothes should cost money—the solution is that you need less clothes, and that you should be paying a lot more
clothes should cost money—the solution is that you need less clothes, and that you should be paying a lot more
December 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
i’m so sick of the way people feel entitled to cheap clothes. people are taking “no ethical consumption under capitalism” to mean “don’t blame me if there were slaves in the supply chain.”
clothes should cost money—the solution is that you need less clothes, and that you should be paying a lot more
clothes should cost money—the solution is that you need less clothes, and that you should be paying a lot more
Reposted
some significant part of this is just catch-all fear for “this is not the child I ordered” I think
Oh, here's a big surprise. The transphobes don't believe in ADHD either.
then, the transphobes , feeling victorious at how many people they have made unhappy and despairing in the previous week, move on to anything else that has a spectrum and the possibility of more colours than they can conceive - such hateful people - they cannot understand anything that is not THEM
December 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
some significant part of this is just catch-all fear for “this is not the child I ordered” I think
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Yeah funny how FIRE chooses their causes to champion isn’t it?
The facts are clear: This was a highly orchestrated attack on a trans instructor by Turning Point USA to advance their broader political aims. They’re celebrating their success all over social media.
Where is FIRE, which claims to be an independent defender of academic freedom?
Where is FIRE, which claims to be an independent defender of academic freedom?
I finally read that Oklahoma state essay rightwingers have embraced as a cause. I'm an English prof. I, too, would have failed it. If I was a conservative Christian, I think I'd be even more offended by this student trying to use faith as a cover for not doing the work.
December 7, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Yeah funny how FIRE chooses their causes to champion isn’t it?
Reposted
Using hydrogen for low/medium temperature industrial process heat is by far the most expensive option available.
Our recent analysis shows that heat pumps coupled with electro-thermal storage is the most cost-effective technology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Our recent analysis shows that heat pumps coupled with electro-thermal storage is the most cost-effective technology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
December 7, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Using hydrogen for low/medium temperature industrial process heat is by far the most expensive option available.
Our recent analysis shows that heat pumps coupled with electro-thermal storage is the most cost-effective technology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Our recent analysis shows that heat pumps coupled with electro-thermal storage is the most cost-effective technology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".