Lauri Donahue
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lauridonahue.bsky.social
Lauri Donahue
@lauridonahue.bsky.social
Screenwriter
Entertainment/tech/IP attorney
Former Sr. Counsel, Motion Picture Association
Occasional journalist
History nerd

Lauri's List of screenwriting fellowships, labs, etc.: https://tinyurl.com/spmfzxfh

Website/blog: https://lauridonahue.com
Pinned
Here's my calendar of 160+ of the most worthwhile screenwriting fellowships, labs, grants, contests, and other opportunities, updated for 2025.

33 are new to the list this year.

96 are FREE.

lauridonahue.com/resources/a-...

#screenwriting #scriptsky
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
The list of days when U.S. National Parks will be free to enter in 2026 has been announced.

But this time, the Trump Administration added a huge catch.

www.frommers.com/trip-ideas/n...

#travel #free #deal #discount #nationalparks
The List of U.S. National Park Free Days for 2026
American national parks are free to enter on 10 days in 2026—but there's a new catch.
www.frommers.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Trump's economy is being held up by a massive AI bubble.

A recent study found that of 300 companies that owned generative AI tools, 95% reported zero return on their investments.

We will not entertain a bailout of these companies should this bubble pop.
November 19, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Outsourcing gulags...
November 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
He likes movies and baseball and hates AI...

😍
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
FWIW, when this all started, here was my first report.

The lesson of that day, it appears, still stands.
Monday's lesson: Don't mess with librarians.
Ultimately, though, the question with Trump's effort to take over the Library of Congress could come down to whether Congress says, "Don't mess with Congress."
www.lawdork.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:45 PM
BREAKING: SCOTUS will not grant the Trump administration’s request to allow it to fire Shira Perlmutter, the director of the Copyright Office, at this time. It puts off any decision while the court is considering the other two firings cases. Perlmutter stays in office during that time.
November 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Beautiful series of images by Eduard Pechuël-Loesche from an 1888 book on the strange skies produced the world-over after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.⠀⠀

More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/studies-on-twilight-phenomena-after-krakatoa
November 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Eliot Jacobson: Arctic sea-ice extent current ranks 2nd lowest for the day since record began in 1979, and are on track to set a new daily record low in the next few days.
November 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
"Gradually, in turn, the AI technology would simply be regurgitating versions of its own previously produced material, as published online by the growing number of media outlets no longer engaged in much firsthand journalism."

www.timesofisrael.com/an-editors-f...
An editor’s flawed human ramblings on AI, journalism and the disappearance of truth
We are at risk of losing our capacity to establish the facts of what is unfolding around us. And pretty soon, we may give up trying
www.timesofisrael.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:46 PM
🤬
1. In Tennessee, public libraries have closed for up to a week to facilitate a Trump-inspired book purge.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett (R) has ordered most of the state's public librarians to remove children's books with LGBTQ characters or themes.
Tennessee public libraries close for Trump-inspired book purge
One hundred and eighty-one public libraries in Tennessee are reviewing their children’s collections after Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett (R) ordered them to remove books with LGBTQ themes…
popular.info
November 26, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
The negative environmental impact of AI use alone is enough to never use it. Most of us have issues with it destroying everything. Its also theft. Its dumbing down the population so quickly. Most of us are critical because of real issues.
November 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
This isn't a foreign psy-op, and it's not the product of social media bots. It's a homegrown menace, and it's getting worse. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
November 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
No, America's rising anti-Semitism is not an online illusion created by foreign-run social media accounts on X. I wrote about how this comforting fiction is contradicted by real world events and survey data. Foreigners can fan the flames, but they didn't start the fire. We did. Gift link:
People Are Underestimating America’s Groyper Problem
Rising American anti-Semitism isn’t a foreign influence operation.
www.theatlantic.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
RFK, Jr. is both cruelly stigmatizing autistic Americans and encouraging pregnant women to increase the chances their children with be on the spectrum.
NEW: A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
Amid Confusing CDC Guidance About Vaccines, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy
A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC’s decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women.
www.propublica.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Um. It’s on the government website
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Finally, we said:

"The real problem, of course, is that AI is being deployed now, without public accountability. No citizenry has elected these companies or their leaders. Yet executives helming today’s big AI firms have sought to assure the public that we should trust them."
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 AM
I had the Seattle Japanese Garden almost to myself today…
November 26, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
The Persian Prince Humay meeting the Chinese Princess Humayun in a Garden, gouache on paper, Iran, 15th century C.E.
November 26, 2025 at 1:52 AM
November 26, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Latest Goodwill find — a vintage Brighton bag… plus Eileen Fisher in mint condition…
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
TimTam looking especially nefarious…
November 25, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
Dialing down the use of social media for a week reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia in young adults, according to a study published on Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Study Finds Mental Health Benefit to One-Week Social Media Break
Young adults who engaged in a social media “detox” reported reductions in depression, anxiety and insomnia, though it was unclear how long the effects would last.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
A copy of the first Superman issue, unearthed by three brothers cleaning out their late mother’s attic, netted $9.12 million this month at a Texas auction house which says it is the most expensive comic book ever sold.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a rare Superman comic book! And it fetched $9.12M!
A copy of the first Superman issue, unearthed by a trio of brothers cleaning out their late mother’s attic, netted $9.12 million at a Texas auction house which says it is the most expensive comic book ever sold.
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Lauri Donahue
A sudden decision to reveal the physical location of twitter accountholders reveals what has long been expected: Twitter (now x.com) is a harbor for fraudsters, charlatans and intelligence services who want to influence Americans on the political right—far the most gullible audience.
X enthüllt Herkunft von Maga-Influencern: viele Konten stammen aus Russland oder Nigeria
Neue Funktion von X zeigt, dass viele Maga-Influencer nicht in den USA ansässig sind. Die Funde werfen Fragen auf.
www.sueddeutsche.de
November 25, 2025 at 12:35 AM
So the market for this is people who aren't even competent at being douchebags...?
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
November 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM