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gblueheron@bsky.social

@gblueheron.bsky.social
494 followers 630 following 103 posts

There’s no such thing as too many books. Seeing great blue herons makes me happy.

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Adrienne @adrienneleigh.bsky.social · 07/08/2024
Okay, here's the story of George de Hevesy vs the Nazis! I really do love telling this story. First, some background: George de Hevesy was a Hungarian-Jewish chemist, but he spent most of his career post-1920 attached to the Niels Bohr institute at the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark. (1/n)
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Roses are redde Violettes are blue Narratyves of inevitable acceptance of technologye Are an ideological tool
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 06/10/2026
NEWS: New York City just recorded the fewest shootings, shooting victims, and murders in recorded history through the first nine months of the year. Major crime is down 6.6% citywide, the largest year-to-date drop in 17 years, with declines in all five boroughs. 1/
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Trump administration refuses international election monitors for first time in over two decades The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors.
ms.now
Trump administration refuses international election monitors for first time in over 2 decades
The decision not to invite observers from the OSCE puts the U.S. alongside Russia and Belarus, while the Justice Department prepares to deploy its own poll monitors.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Pete Hegseth gave a speech in front of a backdrop that almost perfectly matches Nazi imagery. Meanwhile, Trump calls opponents “vermin” who he will “root out,” and says the blood of our country is being poisoned. We are far past left vs right. Our choice is democracy or fascism.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
incredible this will get little to no coverage
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Gail Simone @gailsimone.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
You guys want to hear a short but adorable story that happened right in front of me at the baggage claim in NYC yesterday? I wasn't part of it and there are bits I didn't catch but holy crap, I can't stop thinking about it.
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Kat Beaufort @onbearfeet.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Okay, so at the request of the lovely @trance.bsky.social , I'm going to tell a story about what happens when a shitty person is "just joking", and then discovers there are consequences. AKA That Time Kat Started An Antifascist Hallway Riot In The Third Grade. Grab your beverage of choice.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Why independent media is so needed, in one post👇🏽 Framing matters
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Guy Gavriel Kay @guygavrielkay.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It is genuinely ugly how some STILL want to deny Franklin’s role and achievement. I’m guessing a high percentage of them are male. (VERY high) (VERY VERY)
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I support Somali-Americans @adamrothman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
If a White Sox player hits a single, double, triple and homer in the same playoff game, it's now called an encyclical.
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Jay Kuo @nycjayjay.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is a community note for the ages.
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Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The spooky season has arrived, and that means Creepy Biology is upon us. It's time to talk origins. It's time to talk gore. It's time to talk about BLOOD. Specifically, YOUR blood 🩸 [a thread]
A blood splatter by Luis Moraga 17, from wikimedia commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EFECTOS_(SANGRE)_(93).png
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 03/10/2026
The post-war "peace dividend" owed its existence to three factors: industrial capacity, political freedom and pent-up demand.
The Earth from space; it is covered in scaffolding that is crawling with little rude mechanicals ganked from 17th century engravings of people operating machines.
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
For everyone who spent #MeToo fretting “what if this goes too far?”—be of good cheer! It turns out we didn’t go too far at all! It turns out we didn’t nearly far enough! Good job guys!
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ex-Lethality Jane @lethalityjane.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I guess the Dems' midterm get out the vote push has begun in earnest.
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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Daily Kos @dailykos.com · 02/10/2026
It’s honestly impressive, in a perverse way, to see just how much President Donald Trump has managed to alienate the voters who carried him to victory in 2024. Read more here: www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
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Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 02/10/2026
The GOP moving money from North Carolina because they've lost to Florida because they might lose to a DSA endorsed union organizer was not on even my most optimistic bingo card.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The common thread in Pete Hegseth's rant to the troops, JD Vance suggesting Talarico is a pedophile, Brendan Carr calling the Trump ads aired with tax dollars "normal force PSAs," and Eric Schmitt fabricating a Jack Smith conspiracy is the whole GOP is incentivized to be performatively evil.
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pretty clear to me there’s a very good case against this man for mass murder, and I’m saying that in as measured a fashion as I can. He’s order the killing of 234 people under no plausible war or legal justification. I am skeptical he will ever face legal accountability for til his but he should.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/09/2026
I for one think it’s bad that the president can just say crazy stuff all day every day and 99% of it doesn’t make the news because we’ve normalized having an insane president
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Trump and Hegseth have killed 230+ people on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific with no proof they did anything wrong, no congressional approval, no nothing. Just 2 unhinged fascists ordering our military to commit murder. Vote against all Republicans for the sake of all that is decent.
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
According to a poll a few years ago, 18% of Americans think the 1969 moon landing was actually staged somewhere in Arizona. In a new poll, Trump’s approval on the cost of living is 17%. Which means there are more moon-landing deniers than people who think Trump is doing a good job on affordability.
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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Important piece of marine science nuance: when a shark attacks a human, it's almost always an unintentional encounter. Sharks do not think about you, at all. When a whale strikes a ship, it is almost always intentional. They know us. They understand us. And they remember what we did.
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depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Phantom of Heilbronn, also referred to as the Woman Without a Face, was a presumed female serial killer whose existence was inferred from DNA evidence found at 40 crime scenes across Austria, France and Germany from 1993 to 2009.

In March 2009, investigators concluded that the supposed serial killer did not exist, and the DNA belonged to a woman who worked at a factory that made the cotton swabs used for collecting DNA samples
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Ellen Enders @ellenenders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
this seems about right and something most ppl would agree with
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Dr Mary McAuliffe @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Cornell shows us we cannot keep telling our girls to be careful while teaching boys to be entitled jrnl.ie/7179130
jrnl.ie
Cornell shows us we cannot keep telling our girls to be careful while teaching boys to be entitled
The rape allegations emerging from Cornell University in the US are raising the question about what we are teaching young men about consent, violence and women.
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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 01/10/2026
JUST IN: Meta is using AI data centers to claim research tax credits, according to the NYT. Its total research credits reached almost $4,000,000,000 in 2025 alone.
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Somehow not everyone is aware of fact alluded to below. So one more time: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett were all on GWBush 2000 'Florida Recount' team. (Which made GWB first prez in 112 yrs to 'win' after losing popular vote. Now they 'impartially' rule on our future.)
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John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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Senator Andy Kim @kim.senate.gov · 01/10/2026
5 million people, including an estimated 1 million children, have lost access to food because of Trump. Instead of a ballroom, an arch, or a war, we could be making sure people don’t go hungry. 

This President’s priorities are shameful.
abcnews.com
Changes to SNAP benefits begin Oct. 1 for millions of Americans: What to know
Major changes are coming on Oct. 1 for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food assistance.
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Matthew Dowd @matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Latest WSJ poll: "63% want to pause AI development 61% want a billionaire wealth tax 59% want Medicare for All 57% want a $20 minimum wage 58% want to end U.S. military aid to Israel" This is the center of the country politically. it is time all adjust to this political spectrum, esp. media.
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Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Trump Term 2 is having a similar effect on travel to the US as COVID had.
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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 01/10/2026
Huh. Today in "always look up the etymology because sometimes you're just repeating a myth but sometimes it's weirder and more incredible than you could have possibly imagined" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/c...
Screenshot of Merriam Webster etymology note for cockamamie: 
By the look and sound of it, cockamamie (also spelled "cockamamy") could have something to do with a rooster and the outrageous sound it makes. But in fact, cockamamie is believed to be an altered form of the term decalcomania, which refers to the process, invented in the mid-19th century, of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared paper to surfaces such as glass or porcelain. (The word referring to the picture or design itself, decal, is a shortening of decalcomania.) The word decalcomania comes from French, with décalcomanie combining the verb décalquer, meaning "to trace" or "to transfer by tracing," and -manie, meaning "-mania." Starting in the 1930s, painted strips of paper with images capable of being transferred to the skin were called decals or—in children's slang—cockamamies. Those familiar with today's temporary tattoos will understand quickly that these were regarded by many as silly novelties, lending the word cockamamie the necessary leeway for application to anything ridiculous.
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🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
Save Women's Sports, an anti-trans organization whose entire existence is built around ferreting out trans athletes who want to run rougshod over your cisgender girl could only find 5 athletes competing K-12. Five.
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Tea Pain @teapainusa.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Trump has made America so much weaker and alone in the world. It’s time to give the world some hope with a Democratic house and Senate!
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Something remarkable is happening: James Talarico is running an expansively pro-immigrant campaign in Texas, a state Trump won by 14 points, speaking in Biblical terms about our duty to "the stranger." And it's resonating. That's seismic. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2160...
newrepublic.com
In Texas, Something Seismic Is Happening—and It’s All Trump’s Fault
Thanks to the economy and ICE, Trump has lost Texas Latinos. And James Talarico is developing a humane pro-immigrant message that’s resonating—even in this ultra-Trumpy state.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
New from me: I unpack what happened at the Jack Smith hearing, and offer a theory of what the hell Senator Eric Schmitt thought he was doing. And yes, an inability to tell the difference between the Hawks and Hawkeyes really did seem to be a big part of it. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-happe...
donmoynihan.substack.com
What happened at the Jack Smith hearing?
A guide for the perplexed. And yes, it does say something about the state of the Republican Party
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Kim Kelly @kimkelly.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Similar vibe
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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Please don't give the DA reopening the Cornell case any cookies. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten all but called Jane Doe a liar today. He said that in Doe's initial statement, she described "her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” CONSENSUAL
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
MacFarlane: The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio has got the same issue. Last year, they paid $50,000 for diesel to transport their food. Now, they’re paying $150,000 for the diesel to transport their food.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
Women trying to succeed in Silicon Valley AI and effective altruist spaces are reporting feeling serious social pressure to attend sex parties - where people have reported being sexually assaulted, like below. Events like Aella’s “Slutcon,” which is happening again this weekend.
Ann Pierce
@itsannpierce
20h
I am disheartened by this as well. I already lost a bunch of followers for agreeing with @tautologer, but it's saddening to see local nerdy women being caricatured as Karen-like outsiders and getting pushed out of the scene. This is exactly why you hear so few concrete, names-attached stories of sexual harrassment and assault. I'm told there is a history of discrediting these because the "slut normalization" thing is top priority and these stories get inconveniently in the way of spreading this ideology.
I got roped into attending last year's Saturday Slutcon party because so many local and out-of-town friends were there (to echo sentiments @tautologer expressed about "slut events becoming central to the larger scenes). Mostly I hung out with people I knew and that was great. But in the course of my 3-ish hours there, there were 2 times my "no" was not accepted by a man I didn't know, and I was physically pushing a huge guy off of me who was rubbing his penis on me, who continued to do it despite my physical force against him, and after I finally wriggled away from him, told him I wanted to dance alone etc., he came back and did it again.
This was scary and bad, but it didn't even cross my mind to report this because one of the other people who didn't accept my "no" earlier in the night was the bartender (an officially sanctioned authority at the event), and I knew the event was organized exclusively by women into CNC (who are vocal about how rapey behavior turns them on), so I figured this sort of thing would just get me laughed at. And anyway, I heard there were a lot of other incidents like it. Later though, someone encouraged me to report this story to the organizers, and despite my embarrassment I did, so *they know* that this and other incidents happened. This is why they cut the Saturday night party this year and created a larger training program for the flirt girls - *because* of things like this last year. Yet the narrative bein…People who haven't been to Slutcon are saying "it's just group therapy," "it's just innocent flirting." But the environment is much like a sex party in that many people are nude, there is making out and sex acts happening out in the open. I think it's pretty unreasonable to expect that every nerdy girl who likes rationalist bloggers or is into EA/AI safety should automatically be comfortable with this! That if she's not, there's something wrong with her, we don't want her in our scenes, etc.
Not to mention, it's explictly an event *for men*, where men are the clients and the "flirt girls" are the product. Last year I overheard an exchange where a man felt "led on" by a flirt girl and was trying to get her punished/kicked out. (A dynamic that seems inevitable in this context!)
Anyway- it does sound like they've upped their consent education a lot this year, are more organized, and that's good! As I've told my friends who are attending: I hope they have fun!
I heard several accounts last year of women who had no problems and really enjoyed the event. That's great!
Just... can we live in reality about this? There are real reasons why male-female sexual dynamics are tricky.
Encouraging autistic men who can't yet read body language to go around asking to see womens' boobs is maybe a bit ill-advised. Maybe not everyone should be/identify as a slut; maybe it's not for everyone.
And yeah, filtering the Bay Area Al safety scene down to only women who are super comfy with this eliminates *most* women - including many of the really smart, nerdy, weird women who've been in the larger scenes for years. What a loss for humanity.
I absolutely understand why people with a minority sexuality would want to create belonging, would want to create spaces for people like themselves. But why do it like this/at this cost?
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
NYC Deputy Mayor Julie Su: I think that’s part of the magic of Mayor Mamdani. What he believes deeply in is that government has an active role to play in shaping the economy, in shaping the city, and in making sure that working people have what they deserve.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 28/09/2026
Last month, we refurbished 10 tennis courts in Crotona Park — the only public tennis courts in the Bronx with lights for night play. We stopped by recently to see how things were going. Thank you to NYJTL, USTA and Yonex for helping us deliver high-quality public spaces that New Yorkers deserve.
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Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Congratulations to Vladimir Putin on one of the most successful operations in history. www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections
ICA 2017-01D
6 January 2017
Key Judgments
Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order, but these activities demonstrated a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations.
We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.
• We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him. All three agencies agree with this judgment. CIA and FBI have high confidence in this judgment; NSA has moderate confidence.
• Moscow's approach evolved over the course of the campaign based on Russia's understanding of the electoral prospects of the two main candidates. When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency.
• Further information has come to light since Election Day that, when combined with Russian behavior since early November 2016, increases our confidence in our assessments of Russian motivations and goals.
Moscow's influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations-such as cyber activity—with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or "trolls." Russia, li
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Pope reminds me of a version of Catholicism I knew growing up as a young man attending anti-war and anti-death penalty protests, where I met elderly Catholics who shared their version of faith with me. I learned that Catholicism was about love and mercy for the weak, the condemned, and the poor.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"why don't men wear more color." i only dress for the approval of dogs, who mostly see blue, white, gray, black, and brown in the way that we do, so i don't wear other colors.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
💯
Joe Scarborough: It’s important we now have documentation that the Republican Party has corrupted itself to this degree. Republicans now support the Centralized State stealing taxpayers’ money to run ads for their political party.
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