ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Yesterday Trump claimed, via his attorney, that a President can legally sell pardons, sell military secrets, and order assassinations of his political rivals.

Why TF is this story not front and center in every news source?

Yesterday many left leaning pundits and journalists were suspended from TwitterX without notice. Some were subsequently reinstated after very public complaints from a few prominent individuals.

Vice: X Purges Prominent Journalists, Leftists With No Explanation >>> https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d948x/x-purges-prominent-journalists-leftists-with-no-explanation

We have seen this tactic before. Musk uses the ban hammer to enforce self censorship. The message is clear, step over the line and you will be silenced.

How can enduring this regime be worth it? 🤷

more...

The absolute gall of this question. A required question, mind you.

I will likely not be getting called in for an interview, but it was totally worth it.

#jobsearch #jobhunt #capitalism

Introduction to R.S., Author, Novelist Updated 9/3/24

I am a formerly published feminist SF author and a prosaist—which is what a poet is to poetry, but for prose.
I write #fiction stories that often address issues of gender at least peripherally. I'm aiming to short list for an Otherwise Award.
My genre tags are #sf, #sff, #sciencefiction, #fantasy, and #romance.
I'm a fan of rhetoric and elocution; I'm a prosaist, remember? Humor makes life and writing tolerable.

My community is #author, #writer, #writingCommunity, and #writersOfMastodon.
I post often to various writing hashtags, which are variously called games, prompts, or challenges: #pennedPossibilities, #wordWeavers (which replaced #writingWonders), #writever, and #writersCoffeeClub.
If you become confused about my gender, that's intentional. I write gender fiction, so if I revealed mine, it would add subtext to my stories. If you know or learn it, please keep it to yourself. Thanks!
#ActuallyAutistic, which explains how I can overly focus, seem obtuse, or end up running down rabbit holes. No worries. It's actually a superpower.
Click the following link to see a list of shorter stories I've written to post exclusively on Mastodon (#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic). I retain the copyright on those stories.

https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110470537747067765

I'm trying to build a network of authors by entertaining you, and by sharing what I've learned through decades of doing it the hard way. My motto: There Shall Be Content! I want to help our writing community by helping authors overcome what keeps them from completing stories. I'm learning self-publishing as a business. I want to push back the loneliness that's part and parcel of this solitary profession.

I follow serious authors, which means people diligently writing or working at completing stories or articles or anything containing words with the intent to publish, whether that's #fiction, #nonfiction, #scripts, #comics or #manga, or #games. I will read your profile before following, so I expect to see some content before I follow back.

I boost posts that announce authors' work and publications. This means that I want my followers (largely artists, authors, and photographers) to see your work. We're all creatives here, trying to be/become professionals. Everyone needs to promote their work; I want to help you. Don't repeat too often. Since I follow so many people, my timeline is full. Don't feel bad if I miss something. PM me!

I'll follow an #artist upon seeing interesting work. This can be #photography or hand drawn/painted #art. I am partial to #charcoals and #pastel, appreciate #sketch art, but love #watercolor (because I can't do that!), or just really good visuals. If wowed, I'll discuss what's great in reply, or #critique if you're really close and I think I can help. I occasionally commission cover and interstitial art. I do fine art photography and have done wedding and event photography (https://sfwrtr.zenfolio.com).

Life and Everything Else: Did you entertain me? Did you make me think? I may follow you even if you're not a creative. You need not courtesy follow in return. I have a weird sense of humor, which follows since many of my characters are snide and cynical.

Favorites: My clicking the favorite button means something caught my attention, was particularly apropos to the idea, was entertaining, or somehow pithy. I work never to click favorite to acknowledge I've simply read a timeline post. If I favorite replies in a conversation, that could be an acknowledgment. If I reply to your post, I've definitely noticed something!

Hot Buttons: Feminist issues are a hot button for me. So are labor issues, where jobs are automated out of existence without figuring out how to provide former employees to support themselves. If you want to use #genAI, #chatGPT, or AI to replace writers or artists, or jobs, you're barking up the wrong tree, buster! I post those road apples under #theComingLaborApocalypse.

I believe Boosting is Sharing, so I sometimes wait a while to provide posts better visibility. I appreciate when people boost my posts when they affect them in return.

#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool

Whatever forces ate away at the social contract undergirding our democracy, they acted while we slept, not completely unnoticed but not unchecked either, until one day we had a reality-show president, QAnon, horse dewormer, and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol.
https://digbysblog.net/2024/01/09/maga-epistemolgy/

How to Melt Chocolate

WE'RE HIRING!
ProPublica is hiring an audience editor to lead the daily management & programming of our social platforms, focusing on distributing new stories and reader callouts, recirculating evergreen stories, promoting events, membership drives & more.
https://grnh.se/f478ce326us

tests are showing duct tape levels at 59%

(59%) ■■■■■□□□□□

Marietje Schaake (from Stanford's Cyber Policy Centre), asserts (rightly) that if #ArtificialIntelligence is a disruptive as claimed (and will impact a wide range of #workers & careers) then...

'To rebalance the cost-benefit impacts of AI in favour of society — as well as to make sure the necessary response is affordable at all — taxing AI companies is the only logical step'!

The #BigTech firms behind #AI need to pay up (via #taxation) for the disruption their tech will cause... promptly!

*NEW POST*

My latest post discusses the place and purpose of witchcraft in Shropshire. It's such an exciting subject, so I really hope you enjoy reading!

https://nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/2024/01/witchcraft-in-shropshire.html

#Folklore #witchcraft #Shropshire #Folktales #Witches #History

SpaceX executives worried Elon Musk was on drugs during 'cringeworthy' all-hands meeting, WSJ reports.

"Musk's drug use, which includes LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine, according to people familiar with the matter, is at the center of an extensive new report from The Journal that details how executives at several of the billionaire's companies have struggled to manage his substance use and erratic behavior."

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-drug-use-cringeworthy-spacex-meeting-wsj-2024-1
https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1?reflink=integratedwebview_share

I have decided against seizing the day. Instead, I shall attempt to entice it with little treats.

The thing about the doubt people have in the #FBI is that they didn't really try to stop #J6. They don't really want to arrest anyone involved in the #insurrection, even when there are pictures of them doing it, for example #LeeZeldin's intern #IsabellaMariaDeLuca, who is making a career as #MaGATerrorist spokeswoman.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/21/2081528/-Congressional-Intern-For-Rep-Lee-Zeldin-NY-01-So-Far-Avoids-Consequences-For-Storming-The-Capitol

It's not just Trump, It's the whole gang. Moms4LIiberty, all the SuperPAC funding if he dies tomorrow the Q Klan Oathkeepers still group.

Glasgow's Squinty Bridge across the Clyde disappearing into this morning's mist.

#glasgow #squintybridge #mist #glasgowtoday

"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

-John Steinbeck

🤪