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Bronwyn

@bron.bsky.social

2.3K followers 300 following 1.6K posts

Linguist, reader, knitter, video gamer, Canadian (in no particular order). Thinks a lot about auxiliaries and pronouns, Stardew Valley, and books with magic and/or spaceships and/or kissing in them. Experimenting with context collapse. (she/her)

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Reposted by Bronwyn

Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 2h

Here's a very niche question: does anyone here study ancient languages and has experience in the pronunciation of Akkadian words? And before a million randos tell me that we don't know what dead languages sound like, there are scholars who spend their whole lives on this stuff.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

Guaranteed minimum income and adequate public investment in mental health and addiction services would also be SO much cheaper than the shitty ER-as-primary-care we're doing now.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

What we need is a radical program of social housing, so that it's present in all kinds of neighbourhoods. We need housing for your kid who can't find a job, your parent who's on a fixed income. We need a massive investment in housing so that EVERYONE can access it when they need it.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

I've gotten to know a bit more about the DTES because I have a difficult-to-house family member who ends up there when they get kicked out of yet another place. I well understand the challenges of providing the kind of supportive housing that's needed.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

The DTES isn't unique, it's just been bad for longer. Every community has the same issues to greater or lesser extent, and "hide the homeless so middle class people don't feel uncomfortable" has failed everywhere.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

Most of the housing available for people coming off the streets is in the form of Single-room Occupancy buildings—imagine converted hotel rooms with a hot plate. SROs have huge problems, because they're full of difficult-to-house people and end up rife with crime and abuse.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

So many organizations try to help people on the DTES, but it's like they're building sandcastles to hold back the tide. The need is so vastly greater than what they can provide.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 4h

The Downtown East Side in Vancouver is hard to explain if you haven't been there. It's been very rough my whole life, but it's gotten much much worse in the last 10-20 years.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 2d

(Mostly pro, to be clear. But I have a troubled relative who is at a low point in the cycle of their issues.)

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 2d

Pro: spending Thanksgiving with family.

But also con: spending Thanksgiving with family.

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Reposted by Bronwyn

Ryan @ryanwright.bsky.social · Jun 11

Bagels vs Not Bagels.

Pictures of a NY “bagel style substitute” and a Montreal bagel.

Text:

New York Dough Thing

Not a bagel.
Seriously, it's not a bagel.
It's... fine.

Montreal Bagel

Fantastic bagel.
Seriously, it's delicious.
Don't accept pretenders.

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Reposted by Bronwyn

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 6d

Breaking: MIT rejected President Trump’s "compact," which offers colleges funding advantages in exchange for far-reaching reforms. It is the first school to do so.

MIT Rejects Trump’s Sweeping ‘Compact’ Offering Colleges Funding Advantages

The school became the first university to reject the terms, saying they would undermine independence.

on.wsj.com

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you for the detailed response! And good point about the aggressively anti-federal setup of elections playing a role.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

We do have the optical tabulators in Ontario, and they're weird but otherwise only slightly slower than plain ballots. And in provincial elections we do vote for a few things at the same time, at least sometimes.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

*noticeably better

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

US voter turnout isn't noticeably than comparator countries, though? Or, well, it's not better than Canada's, not sure about others.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

You may vote on more stuff, but you definitely are more weirdly committed to doing all the voting on the same day.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

I realize the US votes for everything from president to dog catcher on the same day. Also a bad system! But not intrinsically more suited to worse balloting systems.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

If someone could point me to an explanation of why the US is so keen on voting machines, when other countries to my knowledge get by fine with, you know, paper and pencils, I would be genuinely interested.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 7d

fucking WOOF

Scoop: Dominion Voting sold to company run by ex-GOP election official

Dominion is one of the biggest election equipment providers and was used by 27 states during the 2024 election.

www.axios.com

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 6d

…je refuse.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

Here’s a primer on ‘primer.’

It’s pronounced ‘PRIMM-er’ if you mean “a small book” or “a short informative piece of writing.”

It’s pronounced ‘PRY-mer’ if you mean “an initial coat of paint.”

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 8d

I also really like If Books Could Kill and Maintenance Phase, though a couple of the more recent episodes of both are definitely in conversation with current events.

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 8d

I enjoy All My Best Friends Are Digital, which is about video games, though full disclosure the hosts are my spouse and a friend of ours so I am definitely biased.

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Reposted by Bronwyn

Rob Hawkes @robbhawkes.bsky.social · 13d

As more of my valued colleagues face the threat of redundancy, here’s a quick reminder that it takes years and years of public investment to train an academic. Cutting someone with this wealth of experience loose isn’t “saving” anything. It is a massive waste of our collective resources.

UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance

by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…

moneyontheleft.org

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 11d

"What if cabs, but also overloading public road infrastructure while violating labour laws? Also totally unregulated and with more danger of assault!"

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 11d

I literally don't understand why people take Ubers instead of cabs. I mean, I hate cabs—I will always take public transportation instead, if that's an option—but Ubers seem mostly like cabs but worse.

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