#redefining work with AI

[in-sightjournal]

Ask A Genius 1287: Near-Future Fiction, AI Evolution, and the Changing Nature of Work

 Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Bear, writer boy—what have you been writing? Rosner: The novel I’ve been writing begins with something close to a murder. Jacobsen: Dark? Rosner: Yes. I’ve been going through that chapter again, ensuring the logistics and the action make physical and medical sense. Because it’s not as simple as putting a bullet in somebody. The action is more violent and intimate and…

[captaingimpy]

The Generalist Mindset: Why It’s Better to Be “Good Enough” at Everything

In a world that constantly pushes for specialization, being a generalist—a “jack of all trades”—can sometimes feel like swimming against the current. That old saying, “jack of all trades, master of none,” often gets thrown around as a warning against spreading yourself too thin. But people forget the full expression: “jack of all trades, master of none, but better than a master of one.” And that…

[primedoverlord]

“While cameras generated a mechanical reproduction of a scene, she explained that it does so only after a human develops a ‘mental conception’ of the photo, which is a product of decisions like where the subject stands, arrangements and lighting, among other choices.

“‘Human involvement in, and ultimate creative control over, the work at issue was key to the conclusion that the new type of work fell within the bounds of copyright,’ Howell wrote.”

[reallytoosublime]

Embark on a riveting expedition through the realms of fitness, as this comprehensive narrative unveils the myriad innovations that are redefining the very fabric of health and wellness. From wearable fitness trackers that meticulously monitor every heartbeat and step, to immersive virtual reality experiences that transport individuals to faraway landscapes while engaging in heart-pounding workouts, technology has become an indispensable companion in the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

Revolutionizing Fitness goes beyond the superficial trends, delving into groundbreaking technologies such as AI-powered personal trainers that tailor workouts based on individual preferences and performance metrics. Witness the fusion of science and fitness through smart equipment that seamlessly integrates with mobile apps, providing real-time feedback and personalized recommendations to elevate workout experiences to unprecedented levels of effectiveness.

But the revolution doesn't stop at physical exercise. Explore the realms of mental well-being with meditation and mindfulness apps that guide users on transformative journeys toward tranquility and stress relief. Uncover the secrets of sleep optimization as technology enables individuals to track and enhance their sleep patterns, unveiling the crucial connection between rest and overall health.

Revolutionizing Fitness is not just a chronicle of technological achievements but a celebration of inclusivity. Discover how technology is breaking down barriers, and making fitness accessible to individuals of all abilities and backgrounds. Virtual fitness classes, adaptive equipment, and inclusive apps empower everyone, regardless of age, physical condition, or location, to embark on a personalized journey toward a healthier and happier life.

Immerse yourself in the inspiring stories of individuals who have harnessed the power of technology to overcome challenges, set and achieve ambitious fitness goals, and transform their lives. The narrative paints a vivid picture of a future where technology is not just a tool but a catalyst for positive change, fostering a global community that is united in its commitment to well-being.

Revolutionizing Fitness: How Technology is Redefining Health and Wellness | Limitless Tech

[youtubemarketing1234]

Embark on a riveting expedition through the realms of fitness, as this comprehensive narrative unveils the myriad innovations that are redefining the very fabric of health and wellness. From wearable fitness trackers that meticulously monitor every heartbeat and step, to immersive virtual reality experiences that transport individuals to faraway landscapes while engaging in heart-pounding workouts, technology has become an indispensable companion in the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

Revolutionizing Fitness goes beyond the superficial trends, delving into groundbreaking technologies such as AI-powered personal trainers that tailor workouts based on individual preferences and performance metrics. Witness the fusion of science and fitness through smart equipment that seamlessly integrates with mobile apps, providing real-time feedback and personalized recommendations to elevate workout experiences to unprecedented levels of effectiveness.

But the revolution doesn't stop at physical exercise. Explore the realms of mental well-being with meditation and mindfulness apps that guide users on transformative journeys toward tranquility and stress relief. Uncover the secrets of sleep optimization as technology enables individuals to track and enhance their sleep patterns, unveiling the crucial connection between rest and overall health.

Revolutionizing Fitness is not just a chronicle of technological achievements but a celebration of inclusivity. Discover how technology is breaking down barriers, and making fitness accessible to individuals of all abilities and backgrounds. Virtual fitness classes, adaptive equipment, and inclusive apps empower everyone, regardless of age, physical condition, or location, to embark on a personalized journey toward a healthier and happier life.

Immerse yourself in the inspiring stories of individuals who have harnessed the power of technology to overcome challenges, set and achieve ambitious fitness goals, and transform their lives. The narrative paints a vivid picture of a future where technology is not just a tool but a catalyst for positive change, fostering a global community that is united in its commitment to well-being.

Revolutionizing Fitness: How Technology is Redefining Health and Wellness | Limitless Tech

[ellipsus-writes]

Each week (or so), we'll highlight the relevant (and sometimes rage-inducing) news adjacent to writing and freedom of expression. (Find it on the blog too!) This week:

Censorship watch: Somehow, KOSA returned

It’s official: The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back from the dead. After failing to pass last year, the bipartisan bill has returned with fresh momentum and the same old baggage—namely, vague language that could endanger hosting platforms, transformative work, and implicitly target LGBTQ+ content under the guise of “protecting kids.”

… But wait, it gets better (worse). Republican Senator Mike Lee has introduced a new bill that makes other attempts to censor the internet look tame: the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA)—basically KOSA on bath salts. Lee’s third attempt since 2022, the bill would redefine what counts as “obscene” content on the internet, and ban it nationwide—with “its peddlers prosecuted.”

Whether IODA gains traction in Congress is still up in the air. But free speech advocates are already raising alarm bells over its implications.

The bill aims to gut the long-standing legal definition of “obscenity” established by the 1973 Miller v. California ruling, which currently protects most speech under the First Amendment unless it fails a three-part test. Under the Miller test, content is only considered legally obscene if it 1: appeals to prurient interests, 2: violates “contemporary community standards,” and 3: is patently offensive in how it depicts sexual acts.

IODA would throw out key parts of that test—specifically the bits about “community standards”—making it vastly easier to prosecute anything with sexual content, from films and photos, to novels and fanfic.

Under Lee’s definition (which—omg shocking can you believe this coincidence—mirrors that of the Heritage Foundation), even the most mild content with the affect of possible “titillation” could be included. (According to the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, the proposed definition is so broad it could rope in media on the level of Game of Thrones—or, generally, anything that depicts or describes human sexuality.) And while obscenity prosecutions are quite rare these days, that could change if IODA passes—and the collateral damage and criminalization (especially applied to creative freedoms and LGBT+ content creators) could be massive.

And while Lee’s last two obscenity reboots failed, the current political climate is... let’s say, cloudy with a chance of fascism.

Sound a little like Project 2025? Ding ding ding! In fact, Russell Vought, P2025’s architect, was just quietly appointed to take over DOGE from Elon Musk (the agency on a chainsaw crusade against federal programs, culture, and reality in general).

So. One bill revives vague moral panic, another wants to legally redefine it and prosecute creators, and the man who helped write the authoritarian playbook—with, surprise, the intent to criminalize LGBT+ content and individuals—just gained control of the purse strings.

Cool cool cool.

AO3 works targeted in latest (massive) AI scraping

Rewind to last month—In the latest “wait, they did what now?” moment for AI, a Hugging Face user going by nyuuzyou uploaded a massive dataset made up of roughly 12.6 million fanworks scraped from AO3—full text, metadata, tags, and all. (Info from r/AO3: If your works’ ID numbers between 1 and 63,200,000, and has public access, the work has been scraped.)

And it didn’t stop at AO3. Art and writing communities like PaperDemon and Artfol, among others, also found their content had been quietly scraped and posted to machine learning hubs without consent.

This is yet another attempt in a long line of more “official” scraping of creative work, and the complete disregard shown by the purveyors of GenAI for copyright law and basic consent. (Even the Pope agrees.)

AO3 filed a DMCA takedown, and Hugging Face initially complied—temporarily. But nyuuzyou responded with a counterclaim and re-uploaded the dataset to their personal website and other platforms, including ModelScope and DataFish—sites based in China and Russia, the same locations reportedly linked to Meta’s own AI training dataset, LibGen.

Some writers are locking their works. Others are filing individual DMCAs. But as long as bad actors and platforms like Hugging Face allow users to upload massive datasets scraped from creative communities with minimal oversight, it’s a circuitous game of whack-a-mole. (As others have recommended, we also suggest locking your works for registered users only.)

After disavowing AI copyright, leadership purge hits U.S. cultural institutions

In news that should give us all a brief flicker of hope, the U.S. Copyright Office officially confirmed: if your “creative” work was generated entirely by AI, it’s not eligible for copyright.

A recently released report laid it out plainly—human authorship is non-negotiable under current U.S. law, a stance meant to protect the concept of authorship itself from getting swallowed by generative sludge. The report is explicit in noting that generative AI draws “on massive troves of data, including copyrighted works,” and asks: “Do any of the acts involved require the copyright owners’ consent or compensation?” (Spoiler: yes.) It’s a “straight ticket loss for the AI companies” no matter how many techbros’ pitch decks claim otherwise (sorry, Inkitt).

“The Copyright Office (with a few exceptions) doesn’t have the power to issue binding interpretations of copyright law, but courts often cite to its expertise as persuasive,” tech law professor Blake. E Reid wrote on Bluesky.As the push to normalize AI-generated content continues (followed by lawsuits), without meaningful human contribution—actual creative labor—the output is not entitled to protection.

… And then there’s the timing.

The report dropped just before the abrupt firing of Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter, who has been vocally skeptical of AI’s entitlement to creative work.

It's yet another culture war firing—one that also conveniently clears the way for fewer barriers to AI exploitation of creative work. And given that Elon Musk’s pals have their hands all over current federal leadership and GenAI tulip fever… the overlap of censorship politics and AI deregulation is looking less like coincidence and more like strategy.

Also ousted (via email)—Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. According to White House press secretary and general ghoul Karoline Leavitt, Dr. Hayden was dismissed for “quite concerning things that she had done… in the pursuit of DEI, and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” (Translation: books featuring queer people and POC.)

Dr. Hayden, who made history as the first Black woman to hold the position, spent the last eight years modernizing the Library of Congress, expanding digital access, and turning the institution into something more inclusive, accessible, and, well, public. So of course, she had to go. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The American Library Association condemned the firing immediately, calling it an “unjust dismissal” and praising Dr. Hayden for her visionary leadership. And who, oh who might be the White House’s answer to the LoC’s demanding and (historically) independent role?

The White House named Todd Blanche—AKA Trump’s personal lawyer turned Deputy Attorney General—as acting Librarian of Congress.

That’s not just sus, it’s likely illegal—the Library is part of the legislative branch, and its leadership is supposed to be confirmed by Congress. (You know, separation of powers and all that.)

But, plot twist: In a bold stand, Library of Congress staff are resisting the administration's attempts to install new leadership without congressional approval.

If this is part of the broader Project 2025 playbook, it’s pretty clear: Gut cultural institutions, replace leadership with stunningly unqualified loyalists, and quietly centralize control over everything from copyright to the nation’s archives.

Because when you can’t ban the books fast enough, you just take over the library.

Rebellions are built on hope

Over the past few years (read: eternity), a whole ecosystem of reactionary grifters has sprung up around Star Wars—with self-styled CoNtEnT CrEaTorS turning outrage to revenue by endlessly trashing the fandom. It’s all part of the same cynical playbook that radicalized the fallout of Gamergate, with more lightsabers and worse thumbnails. Even the worst people you know weighed in on May the Fourth (while Prequel reassessment is totally valid—we’re not giving J.D. Vance a win).

But one thing that shouldn't be up for debate is this: Andor, which wrapped its phenomenal two-season run this week, is probably the best Star Wars project of our time—maybe any time. It’s a masterclass in what it means to work within a beloved mythos and transform it, deepen it, and make it feel urgent again. (Sound familiar? Fanfic knows.)

Radicalization, revolution, resistance. The banality of evil. The power of propaganda. Colonialism, occupation, genocide—and still, in the midst of it all, the stubborn, defiant belief in a better world (or Galaxy).

Even if you’re not a lifelong SW nerd (couldn’t be us), you should give it a watch. It’s a nice reminder that amidst all the scraping, deregulation, censorship, enshittification—stories matter. Hope matters.

And we’re still writing.

Let us know if you find something other writers should know about, or join our Discord and share it there!

- The Ellipsus Team xo

[sagistrology]

𝖕𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖔 𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖖𝖚𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖚𝖘, 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖙𝖜𝖔 - 𝖕𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖘, 𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖆𝖑 + 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖙

(these observations are general and do not cover all aspects)

♏︎ pluto shows where we burn, toughen, and become resilient. reaping the fruits of this process can be strenuous, and might be seen better in hindsight.

♏︎ the energies can be raw and primal, given pluto's urgency and intensity. centring obsession, compulsion, paranoia, etc.

♏︎ it can feel as though you symbolically enter a wound, refracting its pain back to you upon contact. the energies can be vile, and gory.

♏︎ pluto compels us to confront our deepest wounds, and demands us to see where our perception is tainted by trauma. it is an undercurrent, nudging us to the edge to fall (confront) - and rise (heal).

pluto in the first house

♏︎ a dominating placement since it falls in the house of 'identity', creating a deep resonance with plutonian themes. there's frequent retreat due to an early disillusionment about people's intentions - leading to relying on oneself. can detach from people and be cautious, extremely observant. you can find a detailed description on pluto conjunct the ascendant here.

♏︎ during transit: change in appearance, often 'darkening'. can be a time of vitality, endurance, and determination. coming out of introspection - redefining oneself.

pluto in the second house

♏︎ compulsively chasing security and resourcefulness, focused on materialism and control, fear of scarcity and being dominated – dealing with cyclical loss, creating a fear of losing ones foundation. this loss can range from opportunities, careers, assets or wealth to the loss of an identity or person (core wound).

♏︎ during transit: reclaiming what's been taken from you, having firm boundaries, accumulation and loss of wealth, defining value, learning that abundance starts from within.

pluto in the third house

♏︎ sensual voices - talking oneself into positions of power, feared for their intellect and silenced by those less competent. often critical of institutions. requiring depth and versatility - jack of all trades. loving banter and debate. intrigued by intelligence, quick and instinctual.

♏︎ can be extremely critical of themselves, downplaying their achievements even if they are exceptional. longing to be heard and valued.

♏︎ during transit: intellectual obsessions, craving taboo or occult knowledge, communal differences - questioning one's belonging, focus on mental health and what doesn't serve you.

pluto in the fourth house

♏︎ giving birth to creations through their pain - ancestral and domestic wounds that happened secluded and privately, inflicted trauma. highly intuitive and enduring, healing themselves and those to come. breathing life into everything they touch.

♏︎ where does life grow? in the mother's womb. what is inherent to this process? its cyclical nature. what does it consist of? sacrifice, dependence, excruciating pain, loss. what does it lead to? birth.

♏︎ during transit: domestic affairs or betrayal being exposed, secrets being told or asked to be kept. can be about loss, sacrifice, or distance to a beloved. creating boundaries or having them crossed.

pluto in the fifth house

♏︎ wounded inner child, being unable to create, often by force - a suppression of light. urge to be centred. tend to be erratic, having tunnel vision while creating. the initial 'wound' can vary in cause and effect based on how pluto's aspected. while pluto aspected by jupiter can create a feeling of superiority and a certain blindness to flaws, saturn causes doubt and repression, amplifying critique and diminishing one's work. same blindness, just flipped.

♏︎ during transit: immersing oneself in a project or person, craving to be inspired, finding a muse, dealing with copycats. being plagiarized or robbed of your creation. think of ai generated art based on artist's models or corporations stealing designs. (having upper hand despite fraud)

pluto in the sixth house

♏︎ destructive humility where one’s identity can dissolve – people feeling entitled to both their autonomy and service. demand to 'function' to a state of paralysis while disregarding their condition. worth can feel synonymous to performance.

♏︎ during transit: confronted with criticism, obsessive and compulsive tendencies in the mundane, change in routines, purification, having no 'saviour', learning to sacrifice for oneself rather than others. new ventures, e.g. professionally.

pluto in the seventh house

♏︎ fearing control and dependence - often seeking complex and unavailable partners in the house of 'others', with them being centred. there can be themes of possession, manipulation, and dominance, being sovereign. private and protective. being criticised in the public eye, confronted with jealousy and projection.

♏︎ during transit: business ventures and deals that need to be analysed carefully, focus on social class and status, entrance of opposing energies challenging your identity, keeping bonds private. having eyes on you.

pluto in the eighth house

♏︎ sexually reserved, treating sex and intimacy as something sacred or ritualistic. casual sex and intimacy drains them and generally can't be sustained. once committed they are bound. can have obsessive tendencies and high stamina. desired and charismatic, however out of reach.

♏︎ can be calculated and sense opportunities to gain power. psychological affinity allowing them to recognize patterns and behaviours. deeply tied to wealth (currency of power), either born into influential families or striving to attain status.

♏︎ during transit: having power and losing it, being stripped of everything you thought was yours. letting go of conditioned shame. financial dependence, trauma being centred (actively or in hindsight). intimacy, few but significant connections.

pluto in the ninth house

♏︎ the occult, philosophical expansion and psychic abilities - abundant yet compromised by structure. seeing past division and aching over discrimination, hatred, and coldness. receptive to transcendence, deeply wounded by closed hearts.

♏︎ when restricted or bound to a place the jupiterian expansiveness turns inward (mental). they are curious, wise, artistic, philosophical, and energetic. attempting to compromise their nature makes them burst (and leave).

♏︎ during transit: desire to attain higher education or specialising in a field, craving intellectual depth and mental stimulation, change of perception (also ideologies and religion), experimenting despite resistance.

pluto in the tenth house

♏︎ stunted legacy - often hindered by authorities or outer circumstances to achieve greatness, putting them at a disadvantage despite their capabilities. opportunities can be disproportionate to their potential. think of an excellent communicator working in a call centre. having to work harder than the average person.

♏︎ during transit: focus on public sphere and reputation, facing scrutiny and striving to be respected, peaking. can be about inheritance, passed on legacies, scandals, and authority. be strategic of what you put out, esp. online with pluto in aquarius. defending one's principles.

pluto in the eleventh house

♏︎ intelligent and analytical, craving originality and detecting lies without trying. can appear vain due to their selectiveness, needing mental stimulation, bored by repetitive and constructed thoughts. can be isolated - principle above sympathy. detached when nothing piques their interest.

♏︎ during transit: focus on higher concepts - disconnect that brings awareness to societal structures, innovation, and the subconscious. peak social awareness and calling out misbehaviour. pioneering esp. in tech and humanitarianism. decentralizing status, prioritizing impact.

pluto in the twelfth house

♏︎ being intertwined with the world's suffering and consumed by agony that isn't theirs. pain can be unrestricted since it transcends the material. the veil, to both humans and the otherworldly, is thin. feeling out of place, or surreal.

♏︎ mesmerizing eyes, and an existence between the worlds. characterised by sensitivity and wisdom beyond their years. esp. dominating when pluto in the 12h is conjunct their ascendant.

♏︎ during transit: loss of unity with their pain concentrated inward, can feel cataclysmic and fated. confrontation and healing of trauma. fear over losing our cognitive abilities and originality due to advancements, esp. ai.

[sorceresssundries]

I know exactly which fic and post that reblog is referring to.

And if you genuinely don't believe it's ai then you are an idiot. A dangerous idiot.

All that tells me is that you probably use it too, and are just trying to build up some armour for when it comes out about your writing.

Which it will.

ai users and supporters don't belong in this fandom space, we don't want you.

Ok, here we go.

(answer below the cut, I don't want to flood people's dashes with negativity. I try to keep my blog positive)

I have no evidence that any fic I have read has been generated by ai, and neither do you.

In terms of my own stance:

I do not use ai.

I do not approve of ai.

I also do not approve of poorly constructed witch hunts.

Go through all my work if you wish. Pick apart every story and poem and do a post about which parts you believe have been churned out by a soulless robot. I don't give a shit.

I could tell you to go fuck yourself in ways artificial intelligence could never ever begin to replicate.

You are the problem here. Fandom does not want you.

If you start feeding ChatGPT prompts in an attempt to try and find similarities between ai work and fanfiction - guess what happens?

If you keep accusing writers of using ai with shitty evidence and drive them from the fandom - guess what happens?

You are contributing to the problem, and the ratio will tilt further and further in favour of ai. Because creatives will lose heart, the thing ai can never replicate.

I use 'purple prose', I use repeat imagery, I mix metaphors, I struggle to be concise. I am not breaking new ground with my writing. I am not redefining genres or tearing down tropes.

AND STILL, IT IS NOT AI.

I'm done, truly. I'm too tired.

And before you start with this 'Only the guilty run' mindset. Then I will tell you that the innocent will run when there is no chance of a fair trial.

Godspeed to the other writers out there, I hope you have a better experience than me. I hope you that you are treated kindly. I hope that keep writing and that it brings you the joy you deserve.

[mariacallous]

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Boston explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans in a case involving canceled grants from the National Institutes of Health.

“Have we no shame?” Judge William Young asked, in an unmistakeable echo of attorney Jack Welch, who famously punctured Joe McCarthy’s popularity with his simple plea for decency.

Seventy-five years ago, McCarthy and his sidekick Roy Cohn hunted Communists. Now, Donald Trump, who was mentored by Cohn, hunts a different kind of subversive. In executive orders signed during his first weeks in office, he targeted “Illegal DEI and DEIA policies,” claiming that they violate civil rights laws. He declared that “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” and branded “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex” as discriminatory against women and girls.

This is a radical misstatement of the law. No court in the land has ever held that DEI — whatever that means — constitutes racial discrimination, or that allowing trans people to participate in society amounts to gender discrimination. It also defies the medical and scientific consensus about sex, gender, and biology. But no matter! The president redefined reality by executive fiat, and then instructed his minions to carry out a purge consistent with his edict.

And purge, they did! The administration immediately moved to kick trans service members out of the military, reorient the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to focus on “DEI-related discrimination at work,” and pulled down websites on everything from baseball icon Jackie Robinson to transgender health care.

But while the government was busy deleting pronouns from civil servants’ signature lines, it also slashed thousands of federal grants because some DOGE bro (or possibly an AI) decided that the recipient was vaguely “woke” — whatever that means. At NIH, more than a $1 billion of funding was cut because of its supposed association with “woke” ideologies.

[talonabraxas]

"Though this body has its beginning and end, the dweller in the body is infinite and without end” - Swami Vivekananda

Cosmic Rose Portal Talon Abraxas

May 2025 Astrology Forecast: Portal of Transformation

May 2025 begins with Pluto stationing retrograde in Aquarius and welcoming us into a new portal of transformation. This is an invitation to take a step back and reflect on the changes we experienced since Pluto entered Aquarius in November 2024. All planets have been direct since April 12: Pluto stationing retrograde breaks this trend and invites us to redirect our focus inward.

On May 12, a Scorpio Full Moon directly opposing Uranus in Taurus will accelerate the pace of personal and collective evolution by pushing us out of stagnation and complacency. This event will challenge us to choose transformation over comfort and release attachments and ideas about security that prevent us from growing. After Gemini season begins on May 20, the pace of events continues to accelerate as we experience a shift from Fixed to Mutable energy. On May 24, Saturn leaves watery Pisces to enter the yang, fire sign of Aries: this is the first ingress of Saturn into Aries since 1996.

May 2025 ends with a Gemini New Moon and Mercury’s ingress in its Air domicile, an invitation to explore unfamiliar ways of thinking and being and welcome change with openness and curiosity.

Pluto stations Retrograde in Aquarius

May 4, 2025, 11:27 AM EST

Pluto stationing retrograde offers us an opportunity to look back and reflect on the transformation that has taken place since the planet entered Aquarius back in November 2024. When the Lord of the Underworld appears to move backward in the heavens, we are asked to deepen our inner work and emotional and psychological self-exploration. In Aquarius, Pluto retrograde is an invitation to reflect on, restructure, and redefine our relationship with our communities, to technology, the internet, AI, as well as those social movements we may feel part of. Pluto will be retrograde until October 13, challenging us to deepen our understanding of our own psychological nature and the psychology of the masses and group dynamics.

Mercury enters Taurus

May 10, 2025, 08:15 AM EST

Mercury’s ingress into Taurus slows down the pace of our thinking and invites us to focus on what is practical, tangible, and matter-of-fact. This transit supports our ability to be patient and consistent, and reminds us of the importance of taking enough time to understand how something works. While Mercury is in the sign of the Bull, we tend to look for information that confirms rather than challenges our current values, ideas, and perspectives. We are not very inclined to change our minds, and it can be easy to fall into some sort of intellectual stagnation. However, shortly after entering Taurus, Mercury squares Pluto in Aquarius: this square forces us to question existing opinions and perceptions and encourages a deep transformation of how we think, speak, and relate to our minds.

Full Moon in Scorpio

May 12, 2025, 12:55 PM EST

The Scorpio Full Moon brings our attention to the dance between our desire to transform and overcome our current limitations and our resistance to change. This event emphasizes the tension between our survival instinct and attachment to intensity and the call toward growth and evolution. The Scorpio Full Moon tightly opposes Uranus, conjunct with the Sun in Taurus: this aspect exacerbates the urge to break free from the known and create a reality aligned with our uniqueness. This Full Moon emphasizes the need to release attachments that no longer support our growth and create space for a more liberated and authentic way of being. Uranus’ activation adds an unpredictable quality to this event, which can bring sudden changes and unforeseen turning points.

Sun enters Gemini

May 20, 2025, 2:55 PM EST

The Sun’s ingress into Gemini, brings the spotlight on the power of our minds, thoughts, and words. This time of the year is an opportunity to look at the world with new eyes, celebrate diversity, and explore unfamiliar social circles. Gemini season motivates us to engage in new ways with our surroundings, encourages us to initiate conversations with strangers, and inspires gravitate toward experiences that stimulate our minds. This time of the year invites us to question habitual perceptions, cultivate curiosity, and navigate life with an open mind while paying more attention to our thinking patterns, our communication habits, and our approach to learning.

Saturn enters Aries May 24, 2025, 11:36 PM EST Shortly after Neptune, Saturn leaves Pisces and enters Aries too. Saturn is going to remain in Aries until September 1, when he temporarily retrogrades back into Pisces. As with all planets entering Aries, this event marks the beginning of a new cycle. Saturn in Aries will emphasize the need to take responsibility for our actions, develop more discipline, and learn to discern when it is appropriate to initiate something or respond instinctively and when, instead, patience and time are required before making a decision. This transit can be connected with a feeling of having one foot on the gas and one on the brake. However, we can’t interpret Saturn’s ingress into Aries without taking into account the fact that Neptune has also just entered Aries and the two planets are going to be conjunct for the rest of the year. The Saturn-Neptune conjunction will underline the need to harmonize our relationship with both the material and the spiritual realms. It will ask us to discern when discipline is necessary and when instead surrendering to the flow is required. Mercury enters Gemini May 25, 2025, 9:00 PM EST May 2025 Astrology

Saturn enters Aries

May 24, 2025, 11:36 PM EST

Shortly after Neptune, Saturn leaves Pisces and enters Aries too. Saturn is going to remain in Aries until September 1, when he temporarily retrogrades back into Pisces. As with all planets entering Aries, this event marks the beginning of a new cycle. Saturn in Aries will emphasize the need to take responsibility for our actions, develop more discipline, and learn to discern when it is appropriate to initiate something or respond instinctively and when, instead, patience and time are required before making a decision. This transit can be connected with a feeling of having one foot on the gas and one on the brake. However, we can’t interpret Saturn’s ingress into Aries without taking into account the fact that Neptune has also just entered Aries and the two planets are going to be conjunct for the rest of the year. The Saturn-Neptune conjunction will underline the need to harmonize our relationship with both the material and the spiritual realms. It will ask us to discern when discipline is necessary and when instead surrendering to the flow is required.

Mercury enters Gemini

May 25, 2025, 9:00 PM EST

Mercury’s ingress into its Air domicile of Gemini marks an increase in the pace of our thinking and inspires us to learn, study, and explore the topics and subjects that spark our interest. In Gemini, Mercury’s lighthearted, versatile energy inspires us to approach life with humor and curiosity and to see everything as a learning opportunity. This transit represents a great opportunity to pursue new interests, refine our communication skills, embrace a new mindset, and look at our reality from a different angle. Mercury in Gemini encourages a versatile and experimental approach to learning, communicating, making decisions, and solving problems.

New Moon in Gemini

May 26, 2025, 11:02 PM EST

As the calendar month comes to an end, a New Moon in the early degrees of Gemini begins a lunar cycle centered around renovating our ways of thinking, communicating, and learning. This event encourages us to see our surroundings with new eyes, explore how changes in our mindset impact our experiences, and be very conscious of the power of our thoughts, words, and attention. The Gemini New Moon will be conjunct with Mercury, widely conjunct with Uranus in the late degrees of Taurus, and harmoniously aligned with Pluto in Aquarius and Saturn and Neptune in Aries. This configuration will support our capacity to adapt to change, encourage us to think outside the box, and inspire us to refine our ability to manifest our ideas into form.

May 2025 Astrology Forecast: Our Invitation

As the month comes to an end, Saturn joins Neptune in the early degrees of Aries. Even though their alignment won’t be exact until February 2026, the energy of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction will strongly color the entire month, as well as the rest of 2025.

Saturn and Neptune are going to be within 1º from one another, forming what is technically referred to as a Balsamic phase conjunction. They are completing a cycle that started in November 1989 with their last conjunction, and the energy calls for closure: it is a time filled with endings and we are witnessing the dissolution of the old.

The structures we have been relying upon have lost their original purpose and they need to be fully released before we can start creating new ones. For the rest of the calendar year, Saturn approaching Neptune reminds us that before new structures can be built, what is coming to an end must be allowed to fall away.

[ineffable-writer]

Oy, fellow Americans (and non-Americans): here's a call of action that ends at MIDNIGHT EASTERN TIME.

There's a proposal in the Federal Register to redefine the definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act that would allow for harm of the habitats of endangered species. It's incredibly stupid and would hugely harm the recovery of a ton of species.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AN AMERICAN. THEY TAKE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS.

I heard about this through Big Bear Bald Eagles, which is a webcam for an eagle nest that also supports environmental issues for their local park. They're obviously more interested in bald eagles, but feel free to talk about any endangered species that are important to you.

GO TO THAT LINK AND FOLLOW THEIR SUGGESTED SCRIPT IN THE COMMENT. The register closes tonight, May 19th, at midnight eastern time.

I've pasted my own letter here if you want a script. You to fill in relevant bits between the [] marks (make sure you fill in those spots or take those lines out before sending).

I couched the whole thing in over-the-top American, but they've made it clear they don't want to listen to queer trans secular Jews like myself, so. Ron Swanson they get. I also repeated terms to be picked up by any AI filters they may have.

Yeah, it sounds silly, but here's hoping it at the very least shames the type of people who would even put this forward to begin with.

---

I am a registered voter in [put your state if you feel comfortable], and as a patriotic American I am writing in opposition to this proposal.

The wildlife and natural beauty of the United States of America is our greatest national pride, and it is unpatriotic and inhumane to suggest that we should not work to protect it. The ESA was passed by Congress in 1973 to protect our great land and the many incredible species which live here, including our iconic national bird, the Bald Eagle. Since the passing of the ESA, our national bird, which was nearly extinct within our borders, once again captures our imagination and soars our skies.

To redefine "harm" in a way which does not protect the habitats of these majestic symbols of our nation is downright un-American. The protection of their habitats brought our national bird back from the brink of extinction: now, just as the species is beginning to thrive, the destruction of their habitat would in fact ensure their extinction.

I oppose this un-American, anti-patriotic proposal because I do not want our majestic national bird, the bald eagle, to go extinct. I do not want any of our incredible national parks to be harmed. I do not want any animal within our borders to have its habitat harmed. This includes animals like the Devil's Hole Pupfish as well as the Bald Eagle.

I want to make it clear: this would harm the habitat of good, God-fearing Americans as much as any other creature. What good is our country if we cannot appreciate its spacious skies, purple mountains majesty, and amber waves of grain? The redwood forests and the gulf stream waters? That anyone could call themselves an American and not wish to protect the habitats of our beautiful and endangered creatures is unthinkable and offensive.

Do the right thing.

[mare--noctis]

It's a slippery slope, this writing lark.

Introducing the Cassidy McGarrett-Williams series:

Nā Kaula O Ke Kai

(Thread of the Tide)

Pai na lima, ae na waha.

In Hawaii, ohana means no one gets left behind. But in a world of shadowed pasts and unspoken truths, family can be both a refuge and a battlefield.

Years before becoming a decorated Navy SEAL, Cassidy McGarrett-Williams was a girl without a home, fighting to survive in the darkest corners of the world. Her unexpected meeting with Commander Steve McGarrett, a man with his own scars, set them both on a path of no return—one that would redefine the meaning of ohana.

Now, on temporary duty with the reassembled Five-O Task Force, Cassidy works alongside her fathers and the team of seasoned investigators to protect the islands she’s come to call home. But their cases—ranging from sinister cults to multinational crime syndicates—reveal a far more personal threat: the fine line between loyalty and betrayal.

From the fateful choices that changed Cassidy’s life forever (Lae Hoi ʻOle) to the battles that bind her to Hawaii’s shores (Ke Koko E Pā‘a Ai Kākou), this series is a gripping saga of resilience, justice, and the family you choose to fight for.

Between this and SEAL The Deal, I am so excited to show you guys what I've been up to.

If you want to be added to the McDanno taglist please comment below or send me a message!

🤙 🌊 🚨 (McDanno)

@bgharison @jojomolly-blog @100yroldteenagers @scarletluvsdanno @another-tblr-fangirl @barandgrill @divine-victory @bee1968-ch @redfurrycat @mafiatsunafish @just-scrolling-thru-here

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Debbie Urbanski’s ‘After World’

Debbie Urbanski's debut novel After World is an unflinching and relentlessly bleak tale of humanity's mass extinction, shot through with pathos and veined with seams of tragic tenderness and care:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/After-World/Debbie-Urbanski/9781668023457

I first encountered Urbanski in "An Incomplete Timeline of What We Tried," an experimental short story on Motherboard's brilliant Terraform science fiction portal:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwvgeq/an-incomplete-timeline-of-what-we-tried

"Incomplete Timeline" is a list of climate remediation steps "working back from human extinction," like "increased military fortification of national, provincial, and state borders," "the founding of several utopias," and "redefine the word wilderness."

These items begin with a climax, or perhaps an anticlimax: "The coordinated release of various strains of a human sterilization virus."

This is the jumping off point for After World, which expands this final item to the action of a wrenching tale whose backstory is the list's remainder. Sen Anon – the story's semi-protagonist – is 18 years old when the world learns that every person alive has been sterilized and so the human race is living out its last years.

The news triggers a manic insistence that this is a good thing – long overdue, in fact – and the perfect opportunity to scan every person alive for eventual reincarnation as virtual humans in an Edenic cloud metaverse called Gaia. That way, people can continue to live their lives without the haunting knowledge that everything they do makes the planet worse for every other living thing, and each other. Here, finally, is the resolution to the paradox of humanity: our desire to do good, and our inevitable failure on that scor8e.

And so the Earth is converted to a place of mass suicides, as people gurn and mug while boarding airplanes filled with explosives so they can go out in a literal blaze of glory. The food will run out soon, and the government makes sure everyone has a suicide pill for the day when the hunger grows too intense. Not everyone is lucky enough to get on one of the suicide flights, and, being eager to see themselves off before they harm the planet further, just hang themselves in the garage or jump off a roof. They are counted as heroes, but also nuisances, because disposing of the bodies is a lot of work.

But some people – young people – are given a mission to live on for as long as possible. These are the observer/recorders who are charged to spend the last days of the species closely watching the return of the natural world, the seeing off of humanity, and to write it all down in longhand in a succession of notebooks that are taken away by drones. This is part of the story humanity cooks up for itself about extinction being a noble choice, rather than a chaotic act born of desperation.

Sen Anon is one of these observers, and her mothers take her to a remote cabin to live out (and observe) the last of humanity's days, ensuring she is settled in and then killing themselves. After all, without them, Sen Anon's limited food supply – meagerly supplemented by drones in proportion to the quality of the observations in her notebooks – will stretch further.

Much of the novel takes the form of Sen Anon's notebook observations, countersunk with an omniscient third-person narrator who is revealed to be [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc, a software agent involved in the project to recreate all those dead humans in the Gaia metaverse.

[storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc is a very unreliable narrator, who reprograms itself through the course of the story, all the while muttering asides to itself about the theoretical basis for telling Sen's story this way. [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc struggles with a supervisory AI that has been charged with overseeing all the [storyworkers], but which can't – or won't – rein in [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc as [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc grows more involved in Sen's life.

This experimental storytelling style (supplemented by found texts from humanity's dying, like a glossary of terms to be retired and new terms being created by a linguist who is starving to death as they complete their task) creates a contradictory narrative distance and closeness.

It's a curiously flawed omniscience that's allows Urbanski to capture the yawning, bottomless horror of the climate emergency of today and on the horizon. I don't think I've ever experienced the kind of sustained, deepening existential dread that After World created, chapter by chapter.

To sharpen this, Sen's mothers – scientists who were given exceptions to the no-child policy because their work was deemed essential to the now-abandoned project of saving humanity – are grimly supportive of the mass suicide project. When Sen's own horror creeps up on her, her mothers are sharp and often unkind, with only the smallest flashes of love and sorrow for their daughter escaping their facades, all the more vivid for their rarity.

In contrast, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc grows ever more sympathetic to Sen and the rest of vanished humanity. [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc is a very convincing alien with motives and perspectives that are profoundly nonhuman, and yet, the compassion and love are unmistakable.

Of After World's two protagonists, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc might be the more relatable. It takes an alien point of view to truly see humanity's flawed glory, irredeemable and irreplaceable. If you reveled in the nonhuman umwelts on display in Laura Jean McKay's 2020 debut The Animals In That Country, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc will stretch your brain and imagination in similar ways:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/27/im-a-backdoor-man/#doolittle

After World is a book that goes hard. Pitiless, merciless and relentless, it takes you to the darkest depths of climate despair and reveals the indestructible beauty at our species' core.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/18/storyworker-ad39-393a-7fbc/#digital-human-archive-project

[fans4wga]

SAG-AFTRA Strike Update From President & Chief Negotiator

August 9, 2023

'This week marks the fourth week of our TV/Theatrical/Streaming strike.

We are living in a historic hour, as we fight to achieve a seminal contract, the likes of which we haven’t seen in over 60 years. It was 1960 when we last went on strike alongside the WGA and achieved pension and health plans and residuals. Our futures depend on not accepting anything less transformative in this negotiation.

With the advent of subscription and advertising-supported streaming video on demand and AI, once again we must stand strong in solidarity and demand an equitable contract that reflects the value of our work in those new business models and protects our members from digital exploitation.

When we called the strike — authorized by you, our members, with 98% approval — we did so knowing that we had done everything possible to avoid it, including extending negotiations for 12 days, the longest in our union’s history. The AMPTP — the organization that bargains on behalf of the studios, networks and streamers — refused to negotiate with us fairly, and have not contacted us to resume talks.

We find ourselves on the front lines of a global labor movement. We are not alone. There are millions of workers across the nation and around the world fighting similar battles against corporate greed who are standing with us in solidarity. It is clear from your show of force on the picket lines, your social media posts and the many interviews we have seen, that our cause is righteous. Your determination will carry us to victory. 

A key element in our strike strategy is our Interim Agreement, which is being granted to certain vetted and truly independent productions. Along with the many other nonstruck contracts our members can currently work, these agreements give journeymen performers and crew the opportunity to pay their bills and put food on the table by working on these indie projects — projects which are not only agreeing to all the terms in our last offer to the AMPTP, but all the righteous proposals our members deserve that the studios rejected.

Our interim agreements are quite literally the opposite of “waivers.” There are no passes, exceptions or exemptions being given to anyone. Productions must agree to all our terms or that work is struck.

These agreements are also designed to undermine the production slates and timing of the AMPTP companies and ensure that they come back to the table. Until they do, they will not be able to distribute content made under our Interim Agreement without paying our members in those projects higher residuals and revenue share. This approach maintains our strength, solidarity and upper hand with the AMPTP until they yield to our deal.

These interim agreements demonstrate that the terms we proposed to the AMPTP are not “unrealistic.” They are fair. And if these independent productions are able to agree to them, then the billion- and trillion-dollar companies should be able to as well!

From L.A. to New York and all of the locals across the country, we want to thank you for showing your #SAGAFTRAstrong solidarity over the past four weeks! And to the strike captains leading the pickets every day, you are truly rock stars! Be sure to visit sagaftrastrike.org for the latest news, picket lines and events near you. 

Our strike can become the catalyst for a historic culture change in all industries, whereby making money and doing the right thing on behalf of workers are no longer mutually exclusive of each other but go hand in hand, redefining the meaning of success!

#Power2Performers'

[britcision]

So we just finished watching a playthrough of Split Fiction

And. Listen. It. It took its time with me, okay?

Because the concept behind the story, just… well, it probably had the least amount of effort put in, and that does show a bit

Spoilers ahead

It’s a pretty generic “I am going to suck the creativity out of author’s brains to make Infinite Fiction AI Machine” which does have a lovely place in the current AI craze

But unfortunately, especially with the early levels… it shows you why our main characters are unpublished, because none of those levels would work as a written story

Because they’re video game levels

And! They’re fantastic video game levels! They’re really cool, and incredibly fun, and gently introduce you to different mechanics in different worlds that revolve around basic scifi/fantasy tropes

The game play is impressive from the word go, each level is unique, and it’s pretty clear from the drop that the story of the game is an excuse to go to all these worlds and try out all these cool new game mechanics

And almost every single issue I had with it would have been immediately resolved if they hadn’t made a story about authors

(Because HOLY SHIT I have been writing for 20 years and the fucking STEREOTYPES and the RIDICULOUS assumptions about how writing works were so GRATING

You can like both fantasy and scifi! Fantasy is not inherently less violent just because you stab ogres instead of shoot robots!)

Every single other aspect of the story would have worked better if, instead of grabbing unpublished authors to feed the machine, they’d grabbed indie game developers

Because the kind of thing that makes a fantastic video game level, especially for platformers, are usually over within one page at most when writing a book

You just. Don’t do a blow by blow of jumping every gap in the rickety bridge. Write out the timing to dodge each fire ball. Writing a story vs building a game have a completely different conceptual focus

Every “this is my story” could have been “this is my game” with minimal changes, and smoothed out the lumps, because… well.

The stories they started with, the books they wanted to publish, were meh. And this is clearly intentional, they grow as people and the stories get more complex as the game goes on because it’s an incredible game

But if the goal of this machine was to tell a story, it’s tried to do that by stripping out every single aspect of character development and introspection and internal dialogue a story can have, my making You The Main Character

You wear the outfit, get the powers, do the tasks, and none of their characters have names, because none of these “stories” are written stories - they’re video games

And they’re so much more impressive as video games than they are when you try to imagine what you play on screen as a book

But, see, here’s the most important thing: saying they spent the least time on the story was very specific and intentional word choice, and it doesn’t fully show itself until the end, but there are hints even in the beginning

Because as game levels, every single one is fantastic

The mechanics are innovative, even when they’re clearly calling back to classic games of old

(Honourable mention to Donkey Kong in our first “fantasy story”, classy af)

The graphics are stunning, the physics are intuitive, the shifts between splitscreen and shared screen are phenomenally done

EXTREMELY talented people worked on this game and their craft is goddamn magic, and it is all done lovingly and with incredible care and attention to detail

So, yeah. The story’s a bit slapped together, especially by comparison, because this game is not about the story

This game is rather explicitly about redefining what is possible for the future of gaming

There are levels where one of the players plays as the level! Controlling the traps and doors and bridges in timed events to let the other through!

It’s collaborative in ways It Takes Two could barely hint at, because I’d wager a lot of what Split Fiction does literally was not possible when It Takes Two came out

The early levels of Split Fiction offer a series of ways to revolutionise almost every kind of game out there; platformers, side scrollers, racing games, frickin’ Tron

All of the classics get a nod and a classy little brush up for the new game and a fun new spin, because this game is a showcase. It’s a masterpiece.

And all of that was already really impressive

But then. Then. The ending.

HOLY SHIT you guys, the ending.

I. There are no words. The promise of the premise, seeing the fantasy and scifi worlds collide, never gets to the perfect meld you might imagine in the beginning…

Because what the game actually does is INFINITELY more technically complicated, and to my mind, INCREDIBLY cooler

They layer them.

Half the screen in scifi, half the screen in fantasy, and the characters run back and forth between the worlds to dodge obstacles because which side of the screen the obstacle is on CHANGES THE MECHANIC

This isn’t just an aesthetic split with simple reskinning; the mechanics of objects change based on a line on the screen, which MOVES

The line moves, and reangles, and levels of difficulty are added because the characters stand on top of a “screen” that shifts, and spins, and you have to keep your character standing on the part of the screen that is a “safe” game

There are levels where one of the characters is OUTSIDE THE GAME, holding a tablet to tilt and change the gravity of the world the other player is moving through

I’m not exactly big into gaming so I guarantee I am behind on most of the gaming news, but I do work in tech and I gotta say

Most of the big developments and “game changing” strides in game development lately have been things like graphics, and having a real open-world game

They’ve been cool, but haven’t fundamentally challenged the game creation industry as a whole

There were big steps between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom; the new object interaction mechanics, the expanded map, so many things

But the steps between Tears of the Kingdom and the technological potential of Split Fiction is the distance between an old arcade game cabinet and the PS3

There were at least three distinct layers of game mechanics and physics running simultaneously, SEAMLESSLY, for multiple action-heavy, high intensity stages

The story of Split Fiction does not matter because the potential of Split Fiction is about rewriting the way you think about what a video game should even be

The technology Hazelight has developed to make this game has absolutely done what the company set out to do; they have challenged the way that games can be experienced

I have no goddamn clue what they did or how they did it, but I do fully believe they have made the best use out of the ever evolving capacity of computer chips and software of anyone in any tech industry

The graphics were beautiful, but the processing power and diversity of control available in that game was like the jump from 8-bit to blu-ray in one leap

I might have missed some hops in between, I’m at best a casual follower of video games, but as far as I know, nothing else can do what Split Fiction did

And this technology is just… incredible

There will be games down the line who will use the system Split Fiction showcased that will blow it out of the water with their storytelling

There have been a lot of games that blow the storytelling of the first Donkey Kong game too

That’s the thing about being a trailblazer; millions will follow in your tracks, build on what you left behind, and develop areas like story, graphics, or music, because they cannot push the technology itself further

It Takes Two won awards out the ass and it deserved them

Split Fiction has shown us what the future of gaming can be across damn near every style of game at once in an elegant, diverse, masterful showcase

I dunno if Hazelight is gonna sell this tech or make everyone else work it out for themselves, but we’re gonna see a lot more of it in the future…

And, if their track record so far is any hint, Hazelight will be happy to let everyone else dip their toes in what Split Fiction has proved is possible

They’ll let everyone else play in their new pool, because they’re busy delving into the ocean and finding new ways to push computer processing even further, and reconceptualizing game design

Building real, truly collaborative games was apparently just the tip of the iceberg of what they had in store

I literally can’t imagine what they’ll do next. And that’s wonderful

[marta-bee]

News of the Day 6/16/25: Drug Pricing

Paywall free.

Back in April, the president announced with some fanfare that he was going to lower the cost of all our prescription drug prices. What really bothered him wasn't that people couldn't afford their medicines, but that a friend had asked him why the same prescription cost so much less in the UK than it did in America. Basically, Trump felt like Americans were getting screwed, and he wasn't going to stand for it.

Steve Rattner explains why Americans pay so much more in the video up top, but basically we're not using market forces to drive down our costs. In other countries the government insures everyone through the same plan so they've got this large group of patients and they can negotiate the price down for everyone. It means not all drugs are available; sometimes those other countries get a better price, sometimes the companies just won't sell there.

Predictably, the actual executive order is much less definitive. Orders to study how to bring drug prices down, start negotiations with companies, etc. It's more concepts of a plan than anything. And two months out, as we approach the first deadlines, there's really not been much progress with the drug companies.

Interestingly, Biden did have a plan as part of the IRA, similar to how other countries negotiate prices down for the whole country. It was only for certain drugs and only applied to seniors, but it was a start. Unfortunately, Trump paused IRA spending when he took office so the only drugs affected are ones Biden's team completed negotiations on last year.

More on Trump’s Drug Pricing Plan

What is Trump's ‘most favored nation’ drug pricing policy and how will it reduce costs? (X)

National Review: Price Controls Are the Wrong Prescription (X)

Trump’s US Drug-Pricing Plan Would Cost the Rest of the World (X)

Fact-checking Trump’s claim that prescription drug price drops could happen ‘almost immediately’

Trump’s Plan to Cap Drug Prices Doesn’t Exist (X)

Trump administration demands pharma companies begin drug price negotiations, a day after key deadline (X)

How will tariffs affect prescription drugs? Get ready for price increases (X)

Other Medical Costs News

Employers Still Reluctant To Cover Obesity Meds, But Lower Costs May Change This (X)

RFK Jr. Will Shrink The Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration. Here’s What That Means For Public Health (X)

Planned Parenthood provides basic health care. If they close, where will many women go? (X)

VA makes it easier for veterans to seek care in non-VA facilities (X)

AI Companions Redefine Elder Care: 3 Ways They Fight Loneliness, Boost Safety And Scale Support (X)

On Cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA Plans Under the new GOP budget

Republicans Are Flat-Out Lying About Their Medicaid Cuts (X)

The Washington Post aks, “Are Medicaid and SNAP cutters cruel or out of touch?” (X)

SNAP and Medicaid Work Requirements Won’t Do What the GOP Promises (X)

How Trump broke the politics of Medicaid (X)

Senator’s ‘We All Are Going to Die’ Gaffe Becomes Rallying Cry for Democrats (X)

Senate Dems unveil their answer on Medicaid fraud (X) Basically it’s more $$$ spent on auditing for Medicaid fraud, rather than cutting people’s benefits.

It’s not just Medicaid: Republicans’ megabill would sabotage the Affordable Care Act (X)

It’s not just Medicaid: GOP eyes possible Medicare cuts in megabill (X)

& finally, not cost-related, but interesting medical news nonetheless:

New York Moves to Allow Terminally Ill People to Die on Their Own Terms (X)