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Laura M Williams

@williamslauram.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.8K following 2K posts

Adversarial Poetess & Witch of the Urban Woods || Ex-MSFT || Past life: Ph.D Victorian Poetry & theory of the lyric. || Buffalo girl in Seattle. She/her. #BLM #GoBills #Swiftie

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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 40m
It’s not like reminders are even required, but yeah.
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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 16h
I have an anthropological observation: decent people have SO much pent up rage now from the evil of Trump1, Covid, Biden's fecklessness, Trump2, AI, Iran etc- it is a deadly laser beam of rage and everyone it its path will be destroyed. Cornell rapist ghouls are the dam breaking. Watch.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 15h
SI stands for Sports Illustrated, and it is already taken. Sorry, dudes, I don’t make the rules.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 17h
Cornell has an 11.8 Billion dollar endowment. She should get her tuition back and much more. statements.cornell.edu/2025/2025102...
statements.cornell.edu
University endowment gains 12.3% in FY 2025 | University Statements | Cornell University
Cornell University contains seven undergraduate colleges plus the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Law School, the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, the Weill Cornell Medical Col...
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 18h
At this point, the Cornell administrators involved also need to face consequences.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Some posts get quoted, screenshot, and filed for possible memorialization in embroidery or cross stitch.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 29/09/2026
This the most anti-American administration in history. Destroying everything good about us, growing all that is bad.
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Matt McMuscles @mattmcmuscles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We actually don't hate this administration enough
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This. When “frontier” started getting deployed in context of AI, I thought “Were there no humanities majors in the room?” Maybe some marketing team thought it romantically evoked pushing boundaries/space exploration. But it also connotes lawlessness, exploitation of people and resources, even death.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
As of today, the CDC has changed (reverted) their Covid guidance to make the vaccine recommended for all people over 18. In addition to being a smart public health move, this recommendation also means insurance must cover it. Read more here: www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/va... Listen to a breakdown here:
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Pete Manzo @pmanzo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Yes, I think CUNY and other 4-year public colleges, like the Cal States, ranked highest for economic mobility, I read somewhere (I think here or linked here: www.brookings.edu/articles/opp... Free public education should go K-16, including trades or certificate programs, if students prefer
brookings.edu
Opportunity engines: Middle-Class Mobility in higher education | Brookings
Selective four-year colleges are the workhorses of upward mobility for the middle class.
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Brian Lyman @brianlyman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A 48% drop in employees at National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Yikes.
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Just putting this out there. If Democrats win the midterms, we need a full-court press to reverse the damage Russell Vought and RFK Jr. have caused. No half-measures will do. Put on your big boy pants and get to work. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
Trump Is Destroying Public Health. Democrats Need to Fight Back.
If they win in the midterms, the party must move quickly and aggressively to undo the harm Trump and his cronies have caused.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I need someone to explain to me how smelling salts became a thing for athletes because my only prior exposure to them is in the context of women in 19th century novels fainting or having an attack of “the vapors”: “Quick , fetch the smelling salts!”
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Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
touche. "Defendants do not dispute that the reason ChatGPT and Copilot are 'good at news' is because they trained on stolen news content." /6
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
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Jennifer Smith Weber @allthingsjennifer.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
You know your from WNY when you SING ALONG TO EVERY WORD OF THE CANADIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM! #GoBills
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TProphet @tprophet.org · 16/09/2026
Remember how Tehran's city-wide cameras were compromised by Israeli intelligence? They were able to use the Iranian regime's own infrastructure against them to guide attacks during the initial days of the war. It was likely due to a security error like this. The potential impact can't be overstated.
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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
HUGE: Elizabeth Warren, AOC, and other members of Congress have introduced a bill to push private equity out of healthcare. The Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act would make it illegal for private equity, insurance companies, and for-profit corporations to own or control medical practices.
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cremevax👩🏻‍💻🏳️‍🌈​🇨🇦🇺🇦 @cremevax.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026
Hi, these are the weekly #washingtonstate #kingcounty (that is, #seattle and environs) #COVID #COVID19 #wastewater toots. A quick reminder that this King County respiratory disease data comes from Washington State, not the federal government. Last week I […] [Original post on infosec.exchange]
A screencap of the Washington State Department of Health's Covid wastewater data for the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. The trend line of the graph is described in the toot text.
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Public Health Action Network @publichealthaction.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A surge of COVID-19 infections is happening in multiple states in the U.S. and has been building for the past month, according to the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative, led by @michael-hoerger.bsky.social.  The PMC produces weekly COVID-19 heatmaps of the U.S. based on wastewater data.
Maps of the U.S. from the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative from the past month showing a growing level of COVID-19 infections from wastewater data in multiple states. 
It's worth the effort to avoid getting COVID-19 or other airborne infections: 
- get the updated COVID vaccine
- mask up in public indoor spaces 
- ventilate the air 
- purify your air with air purifiers 
- and move events outside or to virtual
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Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is seismic news for fisheries scientists. Northern cod is *the* iconic symbol of total fisheries collapse due to overfishing (and other factors) *and* the iconic symbol of a complete failure to recover for decades afterwards. This is like announcing the complete recovery of bison on land.
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Mark Trushkowsky @marktrushkowsky.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
More beautiful quilts from the Minnesota State Fair. 2/3
A rainbow quilt with an optical illusion design of a curving tunnel, using geometric patchwork blocks fading into a bright yellow center against a dark frame.A multi-colored quilt featuring a grid of bright rectangular blocks.A quilt made of repeating star, triangle, and square patterns, created with rainbow-colored fabrics framed by bright white fabric.A rainbow quilt featuring a central black flower with colorful fabric ribbons spiralling out against a textured gray background.
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Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
No matter how you refine your questions, the chatbot will generate responses reflecting what the greatest number of users are likely to want to hear, which tends to be close to what they think they already know." A great, painstaking piece. www.hnn.us/article/ai-i...
hnn.us
AI Is an Anti-Primary Source Machine
Real voices from the past are threatened by chatbots designed to amplify — and ultimately become — the loudest voices in the room.
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Zantie @zantie.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Weekly update of #RespiratoryIllness activity in #WashingtonState including #COVID-19 #Influenza and #RSV Metric | COVID | FLU | RSV % Pos. {King} | down | up | up % ED Visits | up | up | down Hosp. ADM | up | up | down Hosp.+ICU | down | up | up [1/2]
Stacked line graph showing activity levels for COVID, Flu, and RSV in Washington state over the past year. The following list of COVID-19 disease activity lists the metric measured and the most recent trend of activity.

For COVID-19, percent of tests positive are decreasing marginally, percent of emergency department visits are increasing a marginal amount, new hospital admissions are increasing a marginal amount, hospital beds occupied, including ICU, are decreasing marginally, and deaths are steady.

For influenza, percent of tests positive are increasing greatly, percent of emergency department visits are increasing greatly, new hospital admissions are increasing greatly, hospital beds occupied, including ICU, are increasing greatly, and deaths are steady.

For RSV, percent of tests positive are increasing greatly, percent of emergency department visits are decreasing greatly, new hospital admissions are decreasing greatly, hospital beds occupied, including ICU, are increasing greatly, and deaths are steady.Stacked bar graph of the average weekly rate of clinically administered tests positive for SARS-CoV-2 over the past 12 months.

Overall the most recent week of clinical tests positive for COVID-19 reported by the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System is 0 percent which is trending 100 percent lower than the week before. The most recent week reported by University of Washington Virology is at 4.7 percent which is trending 3.5 percent higher than what it reported the week before.

The following lists the current weekly rate of clinically administered tests positive for SARS-CoV-2 beginning with the week of August 2 and ending August 23; 4.26 percent, 6.80 percent, and 6.56 percent.
Stacked bar graph of the average weekly rate of  emergency department visits due to COVID-19 or pneumonia due to COVID-19 over the past 12 months.

Overall the most recent week of emergency department visits coded as COVID-19 or pneumonia due to COVID-19 is 0.46 percent which is trending 15 percent higher than the week before.

The following lists the current weekly rate of emergency department visits due to COVID-19 beginning with the week of August 2 and ending August 23; 0.26 percent, 0.33 percent, 0.40 percent, and 0.46 percent.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Why is there no chocolate in my office? When I work from home, the baking supplies are at least an option.
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US Political Politics News 💙🌈🦋The Fighting Liberal @us-political-news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Revolutionary Feminist Gloria Steinem Passes Away at 92 The founder of Ms. magazine became known as the face of second wave feminism. ...
newrepublic.com
Revolutionary Feminist Gloria Steinem Passes Away at 92
The founder of Ms. magazine became known as the face of second wave feminism.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 10/07/2026
“University of Chicago Law School announced it will ban phones and laptops in the classroom for first-year students in its new AI strategy.”
abc7chicago.com
University of Chicago Law to ban phones, laptops in classroom for first-year students in new AI plan
University of Chicago Law School announced it will ban phones and laptops in the classroom for first-year students in its new AI strategy.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
AI is not inevitable. resistance works!
motherjones.com
Mamdani issues AI moratorium in NYC schools
Kids "need to wrestle with tough problems on their own,” New York's mayor said Wednesday.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 03/09/2026
“The Los Angeles Unified Board is banning student access to AI tools on district-provided laptops and tablets. The announcement comes after the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to limit screen time for students in June.”
lamag.com
LAUSD Bans Students From Using AI on School Devices
LAUSD has blocked about 378,000 students from accessing generative AI tools on district-issued laptops and tablets.
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
For those keeping score at home, the United States is now without an Army Secretary, Army Deputy Secretary, and Senate-confirmed Army Chief of Staff -- all in the midst of an ongoing War with Iran that everyone in D.C. has quietly conceded Trump already lost.
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Lake Ontario! Live! @lake-ontario.live · 01/09/2026
Current* conditions near Fair Haven, NY:
View looking west from the Pleasant Beach Hotel of Little Sodus Bay which juts south from of Lake Ontario. // Image captured at: 2026-09-01 04:30:03 UTC (about 1 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: pleasantbeach.com // Current Temp in Fair Haven: 68 F | 20 C // Precip: overcast clouds // Wind: S at 5 mph | 8 kph // Humidity: 98%
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
No words
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
2/ And you will then be haunted by the fact that we don’t know the names of the anonymous someones who wrote the songs that became this song in the 1870s. And it will all just underscore that Dolly operated in the ancient tradition of the bards.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
1/ If you mainline enough Dolly Parton content, you will encounter the footage of her singing “In the Pines” with her parents, and you will become obsessed. And you will consume all of the other versions by Lead Belly, Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, Nirvana, and Robert plant & Allison Krause.
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BuffaloResearch.com @buffaloresearch.com · 29/08/2026
For the unfamiliar, the Welland Canal runs parallel to the Niagara River and was built because Niagara Falls blocks ships from sailing from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. By bypassing the Falls, ocean-going vessels can enter the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Map of Ontario, Canada between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, showing the route of the Welland Canal parallel and west of the Niagara River. It is entirely in Canada.
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MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026
We’re not changing it.
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Fact check: Pfizer has been approved as well as novovax. Looks like they’ll all be shipping “within days” Up to 60% of Americans will likely qualify Here is the HELLA LONG list of “preexisting conditions” which includes stuff like depression or simply being physically inactive.
cdc.gov
Underlying Conditions and the Higher Risk for Severe COVID-19
Learn risk factors for severe outcomes from COVID-19 and actions to take.
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Wyunker @wyunker.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is a wonderful read. Thank you for sharing it. Rest in Power, Dolly Parton. 💔
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W. Carson Byrd @wcbyrdphd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton did so much for so many when many people, especially those in power, chose to do the opposite. She showed how Appalachia is so much more than the stereotypes that people promote; that there are depths & diversity to the hills, hollers, & mountain tops. Thank you for everything, Dolly.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Omg, what? Noooooo!
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Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Before Europeans arrived, these were some of the names for The Great Lakes: Superior: gichi-gami (great sea) Erie: erielhonan (long tail) Michigan: michigami (long body of water) Ontario: Ontarí'io\kanadario (great lake\beautiful water) Huron: karegnondi (fresh water sea)
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Nathan Casebolt @nwcasebolt.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
who could’ve predicted people would hate people who said people are obsolete
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Erin Templeton @eetempleton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What will you do with an English major? Anything. Everything. You’ll better understand the seeds of creativity … the more expert you’ll be at shaping stories, at persuading, & I can’t imagine any profession in which better communicators aren’t better off www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | College Students Worried About A.I. Should Study the Humanities (Gift Article)
The future’s a riddle. Shakespeare isn’t.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 23/08/2026
In Gary, Indiana, without refrigeration insulin supplies are being spoiled, and people who depend on oxygen cannot pump it from their tanks due to lack of electricity. A public health disaster.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Wish I still lived in Michigan so I could vote for him.
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Sandra Newman @sannewman.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Great writing is bad writing plus time, plus the three raccoons who look into your window and see you drinking whisky and sobbing inconsolably over your bad manuscript, then after you pass out on the floor, they creep in and rewrite all your work.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 17/08/2026
Every time someone says "but how will we afford it?" I want to ask them how we are affording it now, and in many cases, the answer is that we aren't.
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Laura M Williams @williamslauram.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Things I'm now insanely grateful for: 💉My kids are old enough that they got all of their vaccinations before that got blown up by clowns now in charge. ✒️They're also old enough to have learned to write well pre-AI. Writing is thinking. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...
nytimes.com
What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing? (Gift Article)
Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.
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