@pollyannainhell.bsky.social
Recovering lawyer, minor public official, (very) former sf/fantasy editor, occasional painter. This is the account I admit to in public.
Reposted
Saoirse is in an afterschool program, and today she excitedly told me all about the SMART test for evaluating the credibility of information (source, motivation, author, review, two-sources).
I can think of a lot of adults who would benefit from this class designed for 4th and 5th graders.
I can think of a lot of adults who would benefit from this class designed for 4th and 5th graders.
September 13, 2026 at 4:34 AM
Saoirse is in an afterschool program, and today she excitedly told me all about the SMART test for evaluating the credibility of information (source, motivation, author, review, two-sources).
I can think of a lot of adults who would benefit from this class designed for 4th and 5th graders.
I can think of a lot of adults who would benefit from this class designed for 4th and 5th graders.
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Getty makes a ton of money out of selling public domain footage. Which is crazy. But that’s Getty.
The footage is usually available free elsewhere but it’s hard to find.
Great video that helps you understand where and how to find it.
youtu.be/2dzqQItDmdg?...
The footage is usually available free elsewhere but it’s hard to find.
Great video that helps you understand where and how to find it.
youtu.be/2dzqQItDmdg?...
I Killed A Business Model
YouTube video by Elroddd
youtu.be
September 13, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Getty makes a ton of money out of selling public domain footage. Which is crazy. But that’s Getty.
The footage is usually available free elsewhere but it’s hard to find.
Great video that helps you understand where and how to find it.
youtu.be/2dzqQItDmdg?...
The footage is usually available free elsewhere but it’s hard to find.
Great video that helps you understand where and how to find it.
youtu.be/2dzqQItDmdg?...
Going to say it one more time: We did not ban new data centers in reaction to the Chestnut River proposal. Yes, we like the MGHPCC, but we were concerned with the kinds of projects and impacts we'd seen elsewhere, and the ban proposal was filed prophylactically.
Holyoke banned all data centers except for one. It’s environmentally friendly.
Holyoke banned new data centers. But it likes the eco-conscious one it already has
Long before artificial intelligence was a fact of everyday life, a group of universities co-founded the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center for scientific research. The facility’s success in this former mill city could provide a model for how to develop data centers that are easier on the environment and avoid some of the controversies that have fueled opposition
trib.al
September 11, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Going to say it one more time: We did not ban new data centers in reaction to the Chestnut River proposal. Yes, we like the MGHPCC, but we were concerned with the kinds of projects and impacts we'd seen elsewhere, and the ban proposal was filed prophylactically.
Reposted
Maine's Royal River flows freely for the first time since the 19th century! 🎉
Our Northeast Regional Director, Andy Fisk, gives an update on the Bridge Street Dam removal progress. This restoration project will improve community safety and help restore migratory fish runs in the greater watershed.
Our Northeast Regional Director, Andy Fisk, gives an update on the Bridge Street Dam removal progress. This restoration project will improve community safety and help restore migratory fish runs in the greater watershed.
September 11, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Maine's Royal River flows freely for the first time since the 19th century! 🎉
Our Northeast Regional Director, Andy Fisk, gives an update on the Bridge Street Dam removal progress. This restoration project will improve community safety and help restore migratory fish runs in the greater watershed.
Our Northeast Regional Director, Andy Fisk, gives an update on the Bridge Street Dam removal progress. This restoration project will improve community safety and help restore migratory fish runs in the greater watershed.
This is maddening. WTAF is any journalist or media outlet pretending this is anything but what it is: A blatantly illegal fantasy, that would get anyone else investigated and likely indicted before we even get to the impossibility of doing it?
Like the markets that pretended for months he can't possibly be this stupid, DC journos are in denial about how bad it is.
I don't know if I would call this "revealing" so much as "issuing additional threats," including apparently tonight the threat that you'll go to hell if you don't vote for republicans
September 11, 2026 at 2:29 PM
This is maddening. WTAF is any journalist or media outlet pretending this is anything but what it is: A blatantly illegal fantasy, that would get anyone else investigated and likely indicted before we even get to the impossibility of doing it?
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For those who are new, Joe DiGenova has spent the last 30 years baselessly accusing Democrats of committing crimes. If he is saying publicly the Trump administration pushed him out because he wouldn’t bring cases because there was no evidence, things are really bad.
September 11, 2026 at 12:02 AM
For those who are new, Joe DiGenova has spent the last 30 years baselessly accusing Democrats of committing crimes. If he is saying publicly the Trump administration pushed him out because he wouldn’t bring cases because there was no evidence, things are really bad.
Underlying article is from Ha'aretz. I can't evaluate Israeli news media-I just don't know enough-but Marshall isn't as ignorant as I am, so I think this is worth passing along.
Detailed, plausible, and in any normal universe would end Netanyahu's political career. He denies all of it, of course.
Detailed, plausible, and in any normal universe would end Netanyahu's political career. He denies all of it, of course.
I read this article all the way through. Extremely interesting and revealing details. A specific warning from head of UAE to Netanyahu, after a more general warning to the security services. Important context is that came after the breakdown in talks for semi-normalization in Gaza. It’s a …
“‘The emir hoped that despite his reserved response, Netanyahu would take the message seriously and take action,’ the adviser says. None of them imagined that the prime minister would hear the message but wouldn't brief the heads of the defense establishment. ...
September 8, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Underlying article is from Ha'aretz. I can't evaluate Israeli news media-I just don't know enough-but Marshall isn't as ignorant as I am, so I think this is worth passing along.
Detailed, plausible, and in any normal universe would end Netanyahu's political career. He denies all of it, of course.
Detailed, plausible, and in any normal universe would end Netanyahu's political career. He denies all of it, of course.
Reposted
Somerville (left) and Cambridge (right) if they were lesbians instead of cities in Massachusetts
Okay but "Class of Nuke'm High" inspired me to doodle a "punk x prep" sketch that people kinda really liked so I count that as a win.
September 7, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Somerville (left) and Cambridge (right) if they were lesbians instead of cities in Massachusetts
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There have long been algorithms that, e.g., reorder daily papers on the arXiv (where scientists post new results) based on keywords. These can sometimes be helpful but are also dangerous to rely on because they often miss papers of interest. LLMs as the gateway to literature supercharge this bias.
I have colleagues who use LLMs to find papers to study and cite and (while there are studies showing that those searches can build biases in) I’m sure they can often find work otherwise overlooked. But their architecture also inherently includes remixing without attribution. We should be vigilant.
September 7, 2026 at 12:35 PM
There have long been algorithms that, e.g., reorder daily papers on the arXiv (where scientists post new results) based on keywords. These can sometimes be helpful but are also dangerous to rely on because they often miss papers of interest. LLMs as the gateway to literature supercharge this bias.
Reposted
Mountain lions are making American roads safer by frightening away deer. On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where cougars were most active, deer-vehicle collisions fell 76%. Deer kill up to 440 Americans a year; cougars have killed 29 Americans since 1868. buff.ly/9bDfEKZ
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Cougars cut deadly vehicle-deer collisions in the US by up to 76%, study shows
If you’re a black-tailed deer on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington, you’re always surrounded by friends and family. You are free-range, with abundant food to forage in familiar…
news.mongabay.com
September 6, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Mountain lions are making American roads safer by frightening away deer. On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where cougars were most active, deer-vehicle collisions fell 76%. Deer kill up to 440 Americans a year; cougars have killed 29 Americans since 1868. buff.ly/9bDfEKZ
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Reposted
Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.
September 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.
@markey.senate.gov? I love you, I voted for you, I closed a polling station for you; but you're wrong about KOSA and this is why. Could you please revisit this, and regulate algorithms instead of trying to age-gate? That goes for you, @warren.senate.gov, too.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Age verification makes everyone less safe.
Hackers Had A Live Feed Of Every ID This Verification Company Scanned. For Over A Year.
From the very beginning of this recent obsession with identifying everyone online (yes, they like to call it "age" verification, but it always ends up as identity verification), we've been pointing out that it was a huge privacy nightmare waiting to happen. Or maybe it wasn't waiting. Maybe it was already happening. This week a...
www.techdirt.com
September 5, 2026 at 1:06 AM
@markey.senate.gov? I love you, I voted for you, I closed a polling station for you; but you're wrong about KOSA and this is why. Could you please revisit this, and regulate algorithms instead of trying to age-gate? That goes for you, @warren.senate.gov, too.
Reposted
Under pressure, the DOD just released the text of its secret 10-year agreement with the NIH.
Here are the biggest revelations from the document 🧵
Here are the biggest revelations from the document 🧵
September 4, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Under pressure, the DOD just released the text of its secret 10-year agreement with the NIH.
Here are the biggest revelations from the document 🧵
Here are the biggest revelations from the document 🧵
Reposted
A Japanese improvement (a really good one) on Paxlovid. I am so grateful for non-US research right now.
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Peer-reviewed. Large sample size. Sound methodology. An antiviral pill has, for the FIRST time, been shown to PREVENT COVID-19 in individuals exposed to SARS-CoV-2. Ensitrelvir blocks the enzyme coronaviruses need to make new copies of themselves.
September 4, 2026 at 4:47 PM
A Japanese improvement (a really good one) on Paxlovid. I am so grateful for non-US research right now.
Reposted
nice quote from Mandami comms person Emilia Rowland to the New York Times
September 4, 2026 at 3:53 PM
nice quote from Mandami comms person Emilia Rowland to the New York Times
Reposted
I'm just utterly disoriented by any democratic staffer that is smart on media reform
the party hasn't had a coherent media reform strategy in 50 years, which culminated in the right wing and their corporate friends building the biggest and most effective propaganda machine in human history
the party hasn't had a coherent media reform strategy in 50 years, which culminated in the right wing and their corporate friends building the biggest and most effective propaganda machine in human history
September 4, 2026 at 3:57 PM
I'm just utterly disoriented by any democratic staffer that is smart on media reform
the party hasn't had a coherent media reform strategy in 50 years, which culminated in the right wing and their corporate friends building the biggest and most effective propaganda machine in human history
the party hasn't had a coherent media reform strategy in 50 years, which culminated in the right wing and their corporate friends building the biggest and most effective propaganda machine in human history
Welp. We don't need to worry about Seth Moulton any more.
(Not until he finds another office to run for, at least. I have no confidence he won't. That thing about 'Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man'? If there's a dictionary for sayings, Seth's picture is next to that entry.)
(Not until he finds another office to run for, at least. I have no confidence he won't. That thing about 'Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man'? If there's a dictionary for sayings, Seth's picture is next to that entry.)
September 2, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Welp. We don't need to worry about Seth Moulton any more.
(Not until he finds another office to run for, at least. I have no confidence he won't. That thing about 'Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man'? If there's a dictionary for sayings, Seth's picture is next to that entry.)
(Not until he finds another office to run for, at least. I have no confidence he won't. That thing about 'Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man'? If there's a dictionary for sayings, Seth's picture is next to that entry.)
Reposted
Did you vote for Jeromie? If you did share one of these stickers! If you haven’t, you have until 8 PM!
September 1, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Did you vote for Jeromie? If you did share one of these stickers! If you haven’t, you have until 8 PM!
Reposted
As a former healthcare recruiter at 2 of the major insurance companies, I sometimes try to mentally calculate all the salaries of the jobs that are involved in gatekeeping care
All the support staff, infrastructure, prior auth departments, all of it
what if we just used that $ to pay for care?
All the support staff, infrastructure, prior auth departments, all of it
what if we just used that $ to pay for care?
August 29, 2026 at 7:33 PM
As a former healthcare recruiter at 2 of the major insurance companies, I sometimes try to mentally calculate all the salaries of the jobs that are involved in gatekeeping care
All the support staff, infrastructure, prior auth departments, all of it
what if we just used that $ to pay for care?
All the support staff, infrastructure, prior auth departments, all of it
what if we just used that $ to pay for care?
Reposted
Live report from the Minnesota State Fair, located in the heart of American democracy, where there’s an ICE Out adaptation of Picasso’s Guernica made entirely from crops
August 27, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Live report from the Minnesota State Fair, located in the heart of American democracy, where there’s an ICE Out adaptation of Picasso’s Guernica made entirely from crops
Reposted
a million pieces/segments sneering at hasan piker and the co-chair of the DSA, meanwhile a republican congressional candidate in upstate new york named peter oberacker is the grandson of an actual nazi germany soldier and his former staffer was part of the 'i love hitler' young GOP group chat
August 26, 2026 at 6:26 PM
a million pieces/segments sneering at hasan piker and the co-chair of the DSA, meanwhile a republican congressional candidate in upstate new york named peter oberacker is the grandson of an actual nazi germany soldier and his former staffer was part of the 'i love hitler' young GOP group chat
Reposted
Note 37-40 seconds in particular. He is operating at a level we haven't seen for some time.
We're done kicking the can down the road. Here's how we're fixing the city-owned section of the BQE.
August 24, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Note 37-40 seconds in particular. He is operating at a level we haven't seen for some time.
But what did she say about Taiwan?
(And if you're right about the people in South Carolina, isn't it kind of your job to explain to them about Taiwan?)
(And if you're right about the people in South Carolina, isn't it kind of your job to explain to them about Taiwan?)
August 20, 2026 at 6:25 AM
But what did she say about Taiwan?
(And if you're right about the people in South Carolina, isn't it kind of your job to explain to them about Taiwan?)
(And if you're right about the people in South Carolina, isn't it kind of your job to explain to them about Taiwan?)
Reposted
