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Melanie Scheller

@melaniescheller.com
2.8K followers 2.2K following 2.1K posts

Writer. Childless cat lady with attitude. Happy to call the NC mountains home. Fiercely proud of my rural Southern heritage. Defender of democracy, banana pudding, and the Oxford comma.

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Reposted by Melanie Scheller
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 16h
Maybe time for those who don't experience this directly to return to this thread (which I posted when PTSD was being weaponized to relieve Graham Platner of responsibility for his actions).
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 30/09/2026
So-called AI detection tools might be an even bigger scurge than AI. I was talking today with a student (a senior), who shared that they now have to spend time "dumbing down" their papers--shortening sentences, removing advanced vocab and punctuation--because otherwise they get flagged as "AI."
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 30/09/2026
No AI Government Guardrails: if we leave it up to Trump Listen to this man 🤦🏽‍♂️ "They're really going to be policing each other... It's going to be very, very safe and there's a self-policing and there's also a group policing and it's going to be great."
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 20h
Wait… but Trump said our concerns about AI taking over the world and destroying humanity are a “HOAX.” And efforts to restrict AI and data centers are part of a “SICK conspiracy.”
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 19h
I had a good visit in Canton for a meet and greet with folks there. This town has been through so much since Helene. Every time I'm here I'm reminded how much strength and resilience is in this community. Thank you to everyone who came out to talk with me. #NC11 #WNC #WesternNC
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 17h
Basic income isn't a handout. It's a head start. 🗨 Arlene Dickinson
Arlene Dickinson quote questioning subsidies to industry vs helping families, calling for income support and real hope
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Mayors for a Guaranteed Income @mayorsforagi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Despite their name, work requirements don’t help folks stay employed. Instead, they actually increase the instability that those experiencing poverty already face, by creating onerous hoops to jump through. guaranteedincomeworks.substack.com/…
guaranteedincomeworks.substack.com
Work Requirements Don’t Work
Unconditional cash helps people get to work and stay working
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I got one of those. Do not get into their greedy maw. Just sorting out my Anthropic settlement stuff now. (It's complicated, at least if you're me.)
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Brenny @pissedoffinnh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
😱
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 29/09/2026
Amy and I host barn dances every month. In Congress, I'll bring that same Western North Carolina spirit as I take on corporate greed, lower costs for families, and fight for our Helene recovery funds. It's time we turned things around. #NC11 #WNC #NCpol
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The platform “takes aim at pesticides in food… It seeks accountability for polluters, with a pledge to get industry lobbyists out of regulatory agencies. And it aims to get substances such as lead and microplastics out of water, in part by strengthening federal drinking water rules.”
cbsnews.com
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed courts RFK Jr.'s MAHA voters with new health policy platform
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is making a play for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" supporters with the release Tuesday of a new health policy platform.
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 29/09/2026
Wow! Pissed-off Trump voter says America is not great again, and she regrets her vote for Trump.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“I think if we can acknowledge the kinds of logic people bring to these conversations, it creates the possibility of having better conversations. If we dismiss what they’re saying without any acknowledgement… it gets really hard to create a shared sense of understanding from which to move forward.”
statnews.com
She's spent two decades talking to parents who don't vaccinate their children. Here's what she's learned
Jennifer Reich has spent two decades speaking to families about their immunization decisions. In an interview, she unpacks what she's learned.
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Melanie Scheller @melaniescheller.com · 29/09/2026
Who among us can't identify with this man?
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Shawnfeb@bsky.social @shawnfeb24.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
💙🆘️We can help this senior boy get the medical attention he needs by sharing, reposting and pledging. Every little bit helps to get him to safety.🆘️💙
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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Please help if you can! Queen City Cat Lounge is an adoption center I visit frequently here in Vermont and their window was vandalized last night. Fortunately they had double glass for the cats' safety, but the broken outer window needs to be fixed ASAP. www.gofundme.com/f/repair-and...
Poster with a black and white screenshot of security footage showing a man peering into the front window of a cat adoption center. Text says "please help Queen City cat lounge recover. last night someone broke the window at Queen City cat lounge - an adoption center that has placed hundreds of cats in loving homes. the cats are all safe but the window needs to be replaced quickly!"
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 28/09/2026
ANOTHER DHS VOTER FRAUD CLAIM COLLAPSES Trump’s DHS claimed as many as 15,903 noncitizens were on Nevada’s voter rolls. Nevada pushed back and demanded evidence. 15,903 became 185. Nevada checked the 185. The new number: ZERO. Every single one was a US citizen.
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 27/09/2026
It’s been two years since Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina. While the damage was devastating, the way this community came together to rebuild has been even more powerful. It is still a long road ahead, but we're in it together. #NC11 #WNC #WesternNC #HurricaneHelene
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James Aura @jamesaura.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
'For Customers Only' explores how restroom access- or lack thereof- reflects nationwide injustices #books #history archive.ph/k4HSh
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Basic Income Action ↗️ @basicincomeaction.org · 27/09/2026
Since 1979, worker productivity is up 93.7%. Typical worker pay is up only 32.7%. The gains kept flowing, they just stopped flowing to the people generating them. Would a guaranteed income floor give workers enough leverage to close that gap, or is it too structural for UBI alone to fix?
Line chart titled "Output is up. Pay isn't." tracking worker productivity versus typical worker pay, indexed to 100 in 1979, through 2026. The productivity line climbs steadily to 193.7. The typical worker pay line rises much more slowly, reaching only 132.7. Source: Economic Policy Institute, Productivity-Pay Tracker. Basic Income Action logo and handle in the header.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So is the White House, the Kennedy Center, and for that matter the Supreme Court, Congress, the executive branch, the rule of law, the military, public health, and.... Let's hope for a midterm landslide and thereafter some memory in the electorate of who broke what.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“This is a disease that can be eliminated through vaccination of domestic pets.” “This single case should not be of great concern because it is an infrequent occurrence in domestic pets,” Mitchell said. “However, this should be a reminder of why it’s so important to have dogs and cats vaccinated.”
wafb.com
Louisiana confirms first rabies case in a dog since 2014
The Louisiana Department of Health has confirmed the first case of rabies in a Louisiana dog since 2014. It is the fifth rabies diagnosis in a Louisiana dog in the past 20 years.
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Universal training data. Universal dividend.
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James Aura @jamesaura.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Study shows 'Heatwave Season has lengthened by about nine days per decade #climate www.earth.com/climate/heat...
earth.com
Heatwave season has quietly grown by 39 days, arriving sooner and lasting longer
The heatwave season has stretched by about 39 days since 1979, with the biggest shifts in dry regions and a recent rise in fast-peaking heat.
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Canadian journalist Max Fawcett on UBI: "There's all sorts of data that suggests basic income would actually stimulate economic growth… improves health outcomes. And Lord knows improving health outcomes would save taxpayers and the government a lot of money."
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Eli Perencevich @eliowa.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“Housing is ruinously expensive. Child care is costly, too. Jobs are demanding and insecure…From this perspective, the fertility slump is a record of frustrated longing” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
What’s Really Behind the Baby Bust?
Are people having fewer children because modern life makes parenthood too difficult—or because the meaning of a satisfying life has changed?
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Melanie Scheller @melaniescheller.com · 25/09/2026
As a former medical transcriptionist, I am appalled by what AI did in transcribing this interview. These are the words it inserted instead of the correct term, salpingectomy, which means removal of the fallopian tubes. cell panjectomy self-injectivity suppinjectomy self-injectomies subanjectomy
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 25/09/2026
QUESTION: What’s going on with Susan Collins and the bribery scandal? But explain it to me like I’m five. ANSWER: Here you go 👇🏽
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 25/09/2026
I’m a farmer and an entrepreneur, which taught me how to lead, how to be humble, and how to execute, not just talk about big ideas. Right now, this country needs leaders in Washington who will roll up their sleeves, work hard, and fight for Western North Carolina. #NC11 #WNC #WesternNC
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
So much of schools "responding to rape" is preventing the legal system from doing so. This is a report on seven adults who committed serious felonies for which there is a legal system to remind them and their pals that they are felonies.
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
💯
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 25/09/2026
DILLEY DETENTION CENTER NUMBER 2 Call it a “staging facility” all you want. The contract says detention. There’s playground equipment behind the fence. And Dilley has already held children far beyond the roughly 20-day Flores limit. Now they’re building “Dilley 2.” We know what this is!
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 24/09/2026
The cervical punch biopsy and colposcopy was easily the worst pain I’ve felt in my entire life.
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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Politico: Trump is airing a pro-Trump midterms ad on TV that -includes “paid for by the U.S. government” disclaimer text -features a song by an artist who says they didn’t approve it’s use and are now looking for a lawyer
politico.com
Trump administration launches pro-Trump TV ad ahead of midterms
The 30-second ad, apparently paid for by U.S. tax dollars, features photos and videos of Trump, the American flag and military aircraft.
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ireland's artist basic income returned €1.39 for every €1 spent. They made it permanent. South Korea just announced plans to follow. Now Scotland too.
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MStewart @thinkingtooloud.org · 24/09/2026
So much swirling about AI in the #Writingcommunity and in #publishing these days. .
So much swirling about AI in the #Writingcommunity and in #publishing these days.
.
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 24/09/2026
Thank you to everyone who came out to the meet and greet in Hayesville. I enjoyed talking with folks about affordability and rooting out corruption in DC. #NC11 #WNC #WesternNC
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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thanks to @highcountrynews.org for running this harrowing story on the drought-fueled Bearpocalypse that’s driving ursids into conflicts across the West. Bear issues have become nightly here in Salida; I just wrote to city council begging for better waste disposal. www.hcn.org/articles/as-...
hcn.org
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end - High Country News
Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with opposing views on how to live with the species — and if a 'fed bear' really should...
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Jamie Ager @jamie.agerforcongress.com · 24/09/2026
Enough corporate greed. Enough self-serving politicians. Mountain families deserve a leader who won't follow the Washington herd. #WNC #NCpol
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I think of the climate harm AI poses the same way: the threats are not theoretical or in the future, but unfolding all around us now.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hurting the president’s feelings isn’t a national security threat Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Waging Nonviolence @wagingnonviolence.org · 23/09/2026
The climate movement needs the kind of leverage that comes from shutting down the economy — and it can only get there through deep organizing with workers. #ClimateWeekNYC
wagingnonviolence.org
What the climate movement can learn from organized labor
The climate movement needs the leverage that comes from a strike shutting down the economy — and it can only get there through deep organizing with workers.
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Melanie Scheller @melaniescheller.com · 23/09/2026
Magic is real.
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Arie Meadowlark /I\ @ariefarnam.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Statements like this used to be boring and normal. Just think how much more adrenaline you get in your life is these days. #journalism #media #freedom #firstammendment
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Jim Saranteas @jimsaranteas.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It’s about time someone called out the North Carolina state auditor’s office for conduct that is hardly impartial as it relates to voting #ncpol #ncga #NorthCarolina www.newsobserver.com/opinion/arti...
newsobserver.com
NC Rep: A spike of troubling positions at the State Auditor’s office | Opinion
The Auditor has immense power to investigate agencies and put the credibility of public officials on the line. That only works if the public trusts the office. | Opinion
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong. Even harder when you were wrong about something that led to the death of your child. Renee Nicole Good’s Mom voted for Trump, and now she’s speaking out against him. Remember, what you allow to be done to others will eventually be done to you.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is just so wrong: “Stanford Residential and Dining Enterprises, the campus department in charge of food and housing, used AI to alter a student’s race, gender and weight in marketing materials, a Stanford spokesperson confirmed.”
kron4.com
Stanford housing and catering department used AI to change students’ race, gender, weight
(KRON) –Stanford Residential and Dining Enterprises, the campus department in charge of food and housing, used AI to alter a student’s race, gender and weight in marketing materials, a …
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Alaina Wood @thegarbagequeen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There is still hope!! Read more: goodclimatenews.substack.com/p/edition-54...
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UBI Works @ubiworks.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"But it worked. It can work again. All it needs is the political will, and our own humanity and compassion." The BIG pilot results: - Child malnutrition down to 10% - School attendance 92%, dropouts gone - Crime down 42% - New businesses: bakeries, chicken-keeping, dressmaking
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