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Christa (she/her)

@wordrascal.bsky.social
523 followers 645 following 483 posts

Graduate student: #traumainformed #emergencymanagement @umainegradschool. disaster-minded.ghost.io Survivor of corporate life, self employment, & CPTSD, not necessarily in that order; n00b #civilservant. Introverted ADHD'er. I stan #raccoons.

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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My kid is a music major at WCU. He told me after he was accepted that he was told the reason it took weeks to hear back was that the music school had its largest ever application pool this year.
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jj skolnik @supremenothing.myatproto.social · 20/09/2026
i genuinely do think a lot of people’s politics start from ego instead of a genuine desire for the world to be more fair and less full of suffering
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Music in the US & maybe the West generally has become so commercialized, we forget its roots, but so many cultural traditions' music has documented oppression as much as love or angst or fun. Just heartbreaking that it *still* has to be about this.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'm neck deep in graduate classwork when I'm not at my day job, but I adapted a Brightspace discussion board post for this week's blog: This Semester's (and Summer) Reading List Has Me Mourning, and Marginally Hopeful disaster-minded.ghost.io/this-semeste...
disaster-minded.ghost.io
This Semester's (and Summer) Reading List Has Me Mourning, and Marginally Hopeful
Some reads feel like anachronisms, but others offer a different way to approach old assumptions
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camacho @bencamach0.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Part 2 of this story is up on Inadvertent: www.inadvertent.news/p/tunneling-... This series is better paired with a longer reader session. : )
inadvertent.news
Tunneling Through Sand
How Long Beach Police used the statements of a victim with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to underpin an already weak case.
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Edie Schaffer ❌👑 @sfedie.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#Firefighting is inherently dangerous but it’s unconscionable that the #Trump admin is heightening that danger by refusing to adequately staff & provide resources & support to the #USFS. Congress must act to safeguard USFS personnel so they in turn can protect us. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
‘We’re near a breaking point:’ firefighters say US government is failing them amid intense wildfire season
US grapples with federal firefighter shortage as crews say they’re spread thin and lack resources during unrelenting year of fire
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 11/09/2026
25 years ago, terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people, including 2,753 New Yorkers. As we remember that terrible day, let us also remember the first responders, office workers and strangers who ran toward danger to help each other.
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hopeful66 @hopeful66.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Yes bc by that logic we should also not require Selective Service at 18 or allow drivers licenses at 16. Or, for that matter, jobs bc who knows what risk a young person will expose an employer to with their poor decision making? Oh but it's fine when it's for the "productivity" cult, right? 🙄
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Natasha @nastynatasha--1.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Addendum to last week's story: I had to file a complaint w the BBB after it appeared ViaPath deactivated my account w/o my knowledge (i.e. they never informed me that their TOS changed as of 6/1). They are holding funds hostage that I already deposited so I could message Erica about her story.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
My musician kid: *explains the music theory concept of circle of fifths* Me: "I cooked five pancakes in a circle in the pan"
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
When I was volunteering at the COVID19 vaccine POD in 2021, people would say over and over again that they were getting vaccinated for the people they love. Last year, only 17.5% of American adults got the COVID19 vaccine. Please get one for the people you love. 💕
Photo of a brunette with a braid in her hair, standing in front of a sign that says Vaccinated with a count of 30,000. 

She is wearing glasses, a Sun Studio t-shirt, and an orange high vis vest.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 02/09/2026
NEW: Residents of a riverfront trailer park in the Appalachian Mountains have lost homes and loved ones in multiple storms. A policy gap puts mobile home residents in harm’s way again and again. with @theassemblync.bsky.social
propublica.org
Hurricane Helene Killed His Wife and Destroyed His Mobile Home. New Tenants Are Now Renting the Same Flood-Prone Land.
Residents of a riverfront trailer park in the Appalachian Mountains have lost homes and loved ones in multiple storms. A policy gap puts mobile home residents in harm’s way again and again.
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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 02/09/2026
"The alarming conditions inside Delaney Hall and other ICE jails have long been the reality of daily life for nearly 2 million incarcerated people in this country." The entire U.S. carceral system is built on cruelty.
theappeal.org
I’ve Seen Prison Conditions Kill. That’s What’s Happening at Delaney Hall.
As a person incarcerated in Texas, I know that rotten food and poor medical care are not unique to Delaney Hall.
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I was never a Potter fan, and obviously wouldn't engage with the new show on moral grounds, even if I were, but I am also so sick of repeatedly recycled IP. Give writers a chance to give us new stories ffs.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If Part 1 was the setup, then Part 2 is the delivery: here, I show exactly how much of a travesty this case was, for both accused AND accuser. open.substack.com/pub/inadvert...
open.substack.com
Tunneling Through Sand
How Long Beach Police used the statements of a victim with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to underpin an already weak case.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I first became aware of @thefurbearers.bsky.social after they very kindly reviewed my 1st children's book nearly 10y ago now. It's nice to see continued intersections / overlapping concerns!
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The Fur-Bearers @thefurbearers.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The Fur-Bearers has sent an open letter to BC’s political leadership calling for reduced commercial and recreational trapping as wildlife face growing pressures from wildfires, drought and climate change. The letter also calls for meaningful protection for beavers: buff.ly/a93y71I #BCpoli #BCgov
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If Part 1 was the setup, then Part 2 is the delivery: here, I show exactly how much of a travesty this case was, for both accused AND accuser. open.substack.com/pub/inadvert...
open.substack.com
Tunneling Through Sand
How Long Beach Police used the statements of a victim with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to underpin an already weak case.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
A happy late #Caturday from these very cautious ferals!
A white cat with black markings, curled up on dry vines, peers out from underneath green foliage.A white cat with black markings sits on broken cement in an overgrown parking lot, watching the photographer.A white cat with black markings peers out from behind a chain link fence underneath green foliage.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I'm afraid my first reaction to this was, "Who knew the alien invasion would begin by sucking all the pollinators up into the sky?" Clearly I have watched a few too many films of a certain genre.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 28/08/2026
People who’ve worked on U.S. government vaccination programs fear that kids in America will wind up fighting for their lives against preventable infections. “I don’t think I imagined it could or would be this bad,” said a former CDC vaccine leader.
propublica.org
Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs.
In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
There would be no excellent journalism w/o excellent editors. My gratitude for @bookstakat.bsky.social's work making a forest from my trees (weeds) knows no bounds!
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kat 🐈‍⬛ @bookstakat.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
This story is both heartbreaking & close to my heart. Such excellent journalism.Grateful for the opportunity to edit it in collaboration w/ @bencamach0.bsky.social. Part 1 of 2 up on Inadvertent now!
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Part 2 drops on Monday!
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
How *fast* the destruction unfolds. 😞
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I've been on an overtime cycle at work, getting ready for my next class & not paying as close attention to this as it deserves, not least bc of the compounding disaster(s) from natural to man-made. ##emergencymanagement
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"caused by a glacial collapse"
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Your Local Epidemiologist @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
1/ Foodborne illness is having a moment. It feels like every time I open my phone, there’s a new headline. And truthfully, increased rate of foodborne outbreaks is certainly not out of the realm of possibilities. So I looked at the numbers to determine if we're actually seeing more outbreaks.
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I Travel Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 26/08/2026
Always keep this in mind when people tell you that abolition is just a roundabout way to excuse abusers.
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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Here's the link to donate to Dolly's library: imaginationlibrary.com "The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton's family asked that, in lieu of flowers, fans make a donation to the singer's Imagination Library. Here's what the charity does ⬇️ www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
rollingstone.com
Turning Pages: Inside Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Core team of 15 staff and thousands of volunteers and partners help the country-music philanthropist deliver books to kids around the world.
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Sue @cameratrapsue.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton’s legacy goes far beyond her music. Through her Imagination Library, disaster relief, and support for medical research, she used her success to lift up millions of people and make the world a little kinder. She will really be missed. RIP Dolly.
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yung intranet @bane.at.haunted.computer · 25/08/2026
Please take some of your time to read this first part in a series.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Also, can I just say I'm in such weird headspace around this. When I first completed the piece I honestly thought it might revive my journalism career. Now I'm in a totally different field earning a degree in still another totally different field.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Three years ago this month, I learned of Erica Johnson, a Black woman serving a life sentence in CA for an attempted murder she said she didn't commit. The reporting took me about 8 months. Publication, longer. But it's finally out in the world: open.substack.com/pub/inadvert...
open.substack.com
Did Tunnel Vision Result in a Long Beach Woman’s Wrongful Conviction?
And did police and prosecutors exploit a victim’s traumatic brain injury to win it?
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Sheril Kirshenbaum @sheril.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Cyber threats to water infrastructure are escalating and the US is alarmingly vulnerable. This year attackers hit water systems at multiple sites in at least 12 states. This should be treated as a public health emergency and national security crisis. www.csis.org/analysis/map...
A map by CSIS of cyber attacks to water infrastructure across the US.
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Jared Dahl Aldern @jdaldern.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
grist.org/wildfires/fi...
grist.org
Firefighters sound alarm as US faces critical staffing shortage: ‘We don’t have enough people’
Firefighters describe being pushed to limit by a brutal wildfire season, with key leadership roles going unfilled.
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PuahHope @puahhope.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Gardening is fun, but mine is not a subsistence garden. If I had to rely on it for food year round, I'd starve. I never know from one season to another what I'm going to have enough of because conditions change dramatically. Society success depends on reliable food, water, shelter
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
This week's post followed up last week's, in which I focus specifically on religious trauma and its particularly insidious effects, largely bc it starts so young. H/t & thanks to the fellow grad student whose thesis formed a lot of this post: disaster-minded.ghost.io/how-trauma-w...
disaster-minded.ghost.io
How Trauma Warps Our Capacity for Resilience
And how even communities meant to bring us together can tear us apart
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I read this through an emergency management lens; thinking in terms of 1) such a personal disaster as life-altering as losing everything in a flood or wildfire & 2) how these personal traumas impact our resilience following community disasters. We need each other. Now more than ever.
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Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I read an article this morning that said “we are mourning in future tense” and that hit hard. Watching everything happen around us in real time is hard enough, but knowing that it’s going to be a long road to hopefully put it all back together is even harder.
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CocoEagle @cocoeagle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I cannot express this any better.... the frustration is real
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Give me a single image from a film that immediately makes you hear the song from the soundtrack in your head
static.klipy.com
Dirty Dancing Iconic Lift with Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey
Alt: Dirty Dancing Iconic Lift with Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey
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Virginia S. O'Possum, but scary @virginiaopossum.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I would like someone to analyze what it is about AI writing that makes it almost impossible to absorb. I feel like a Westworld android saying, "It doesn't look like anything to me," when I try to edit something the AI has written at work. My brain just skates right off the page.
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Eb @ebthen.bsky.social · 27/08/2024
Part of why Hurricane Harvey was so hard on Houston was because of the loss of wetlands that could absorb the excess water. We need to stop using language that suggests swamps are contaminated places. It helps us devalue them and ignore how important they are.
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Eb @ebthen.bsky.social · 27/08/2024
Swamps are good places and good things live in swamps. Stop associating swamps with bad things. Wetlands are essential.
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Deerb Boy (VA commissions open) @deerb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Company named after a rainforest that gives life to the planet is destroying the environment and history. Bro.
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Christa (she/her) @wordrascal.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
There are ways to get involved on a very personal, very local level w #emergencymanagement & #disasterresponse. Take a CERT course, volunteer w an organization, make the time to learn & become organized to make it a true community effort vs waiting for "the people / responders in charge."
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