#Advantages of Substack

[jolenes-book-journey]

What Is Substack And How Can Authors Use It

Substack has emerged as a prominent platform for authors seeking to publish newsletters and share podcasts. It offers a streamlined approach to content distribution, but it’s essential to weigh its advantages and disadvantages to determine if it’s the right fit for your author. Jolene’s on Substack with her Publication called “The Indie Author’s Guide to Writing, Publishing, and Thrivin” Continue…

[sirfrogsworth]

I kept forgetting to unfollow Gina Carano but now I don't want to unfollow because I get a preview of what the stupidest people alive are up to.

Like a canary in the stupidity mine.

The replies are just dead canaries all the way down.

Oh wait, they mentioned a doctor.

I'm sure this doctor has an evidence based approach to this topic and is not a giant grifting quack.

Let's take a look at Dr. Mihalcea's work...

Looks like she wrote a book.

Oh no.

Maybe the SubStack is better.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh no.

A part of me can't help but feel sorry for some of these people. Grifters took advantage of their low intelligence and used fear to prey on their belief systems. There is always a book or a supplement or a treatment at the heart of these conspiracy claims. This doctor and people like her are taking advantage of naive people. And some of these people are going to die because they think getting blood from vaccinated people is worse than getting no blood at all.

This isn't me trying to excuse their beliefs and behaviors. But bad people can be victims too. And my brain doesn't always know how to feel about that in situations like this.

[tomorrowusa]

Ukraine is totally correct not to fall for phony agreements with Russia. Russia has a long history of not keeping its word – maybe that's why Trump is such a Putinphile..

Russia's invasion violated at least three major international agreements.

The 1945 United Nations Charter [Article 2, Section 4].

The 1975 Helsinki Final Act [1. (a) III and 1. (a) IV] by the CSCE which in 1990 became the OSCE.

The 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Why should anybody trust Putin's Russia to observe any new agreements?

Tim Mak is a journalist working in Ukraine. He was formerly with NPR and The Daily Beast. This is from his Substack The Counteroffensive. He and two colleagues spoke with diplomat and international attorney Oleksandr Merezhko who participated in negotiations with Russia of previous ceasefires known as the Minsk agreements.

"I believed that [the agreements] could be implemented with good will... but Russia did not even try to achieve a result, they just wanted to use it for purely propagandistic military purposes to destroy Ukraine," Merezhko said. As February 2022 approached, when the full-scale invasion began, Oleksandr began to suspect that Russia was planning something more significant. After all, Moscow was increasingly spreading information online that Ukraine was violating the Minsk agreements. "Russia was looking for an excuse to abandon the ceasefire, accuse Ukraine of violating it, and then its hands would be free for full-scale aggression... We did everything to prevent Russia from having a chance to say that even if it was aggression, an attack, it was provoked by Ukraine," Merezhko said. [ ... ] The main problem is that the Russians were uninterested in a ceasefire and negotiations. They comply with rules and requirements only when it is to their advantage. "The Minsk agreements have once again confirmed that we cannot have anything to do with the Russians, because they are liars and never keep their commitments, or keep them only when it is in their interest. When [their] interest disappears, so do the obligations," Ukrainian diplomat and former foreign minister Volodymyr Ohryzko told The Counteroffensive. The main conclusion to be drawn from the Minsk agreements is that to negotiate anything with the Russians is to disrespect oneself, said Ohryzko. Therefore, the main argument in talks with Russia is strength.

Anybody who believes that Russia would observe a new agreement without Ukraine getting solid security backing from the West probably attended Trump University and bought a year's worth of Trump Vitamins.

The Russian word показуха generally means "window dressing" but can sometimes be used to describe a staged event. In that sense, that's what the Trump-Vance hissy fit in the Oval Office was.

I suspect that somebody told Trump that Ukraine got the better end of the minerals deal. The only way Trump could weasel out of it was to have a temper tantrum to keep it from being signed as scheduled.

As for Ukraine not being grateful, fact checkers pooped all over Trump's lies about that.

Fact check: 33 times Zelensky thanked Americans and US leaders

How often does Trump thank people? He probably never thanked the doctor who faked the diagnosis of a bone spur to keep him from getting drafted.

Back to 1994 for a moment. In the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons for secure borders. Now that Ukraine's territorial integrity has been violated, does that mean it's okay for them to have nukes again?

[jstor]

hi jstor, quick question, what do i do with all the regret that's slowly choking me? i'm an academic at heart in a world where i'm no longer in academia, and i'm not thriving one bit 🫠 had to turn down a place in a phd program 2 yrs ago & now it's my biggest regret in life. you've given people such compassionate advice, so maybe you can help? research/writing is my passion & i miss having the space to indulge it & keep learning!

Hi there, thanks for reaching out with such a heartfelt question. It takes a lot to express this sort of sentiment publicly and we appreciate that you trust us enough to ask.

The regret you're feeling is natural, considering so much of your identity and passion lies in your research and writing. Your friendly JSTOR mod has also been struggling with feeling unmoored outside of academia, and I've been wondering myself if I should work my way back somehow or create a structure of my own.

The good news is that you can actually create a structure of your own! Many scholars contribute to their fields independently, so it may be worth considering a personal research project that you can work on at your own pace (which has its advantages). Public libraries often provide access to academic databases like JSTOR, and your alma mater might have resources available to alumni. Communities and forums online are a good way to reach others who are feeling similar and doing similar things.

Your writing also doesn't have to stop! If it's not your only focus it may go quite a bit slower, but many journals accept submissions from independent researchers. In addition, platforms like Medium and Substack may allow you to self-publish some of your work. You could even look into pitching guest posts for relevant publications!

It doesn't have to be a permanent goodbye to academia either. Does your alma mater welcome guest lecturers, or are there any community workshops in your area? These are some ways you could share your passions with others. Plus, academia will always be there–if an opportunity arises for you to return and it aligns with your circumstances, you can.

This is by no means exhaustive, so I do hope that anyone from the community who would like to share insights does so in the replies. Wishing you the best of luck, wherever you may go from here!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Friday’s NY Post cover is pure gold

* * * * *

A moment of reckoning--and opportunity.

June 6, 2025

Robert B. Hubbell

[I will hold my regular Substack livestream on Saturday, June 7, at 9:00 am PT / Noon ET. Open to all on the Substack App on your cellphone or tablet.]

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have had their inevitable moment of reckoning. They turned on one another by speaking the truth about each other.

This development is good—and not merely because of the political ramifications. The moment of reckoning validates everything we have felt and believed in our hearts as we watched an unfolding Kafkaesque novel in which we were the victims. The complicity of the press and the complacency of elected officials in the face of a rolling coup made us doubt our sanity.

We knew that Trump and Musk were engaging in rampant illegality, conflicts of interest, and gross incompetence. Still, the political world hummed along as though the cruel reign of terror by Trump and his co-president was perfectly normal.

The significance of the war between Trump and Musk is that they are speaking the truth about each other. We do not need to engage in argument or inference. They have said it about one another—and they were in the room when the crimes were committed.

The rupture was so bad that it devolved into Musk threatening to start a third party and Trump claiming that he fired Musk from the government.

Here is a quick run-down of what happened:

During a press availability following a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump claimed that Musk is suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Musk responds by tweeting, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

Trump responds that the easiest way for the federal government to save money is to end subsidies for Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX

Musk responds with tweet, “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

Trump suggests that Musk is—gasp—a narcissist who used DOGE to promote his own interests. Trump said, “Elon’s upset because we took the [electric vehicle] mandate and – you know, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. He only developed a problem when he found out I would cut the EV mandate [in the reconciliation bill.]

Musk then endorses a Twitter user’s suggestion that Trump be impeached.

Steve Bannon then suggests that Trump should deport Musk.

Musk then states that SpaceX will begin “decommissioning” the Dragon spacecraft used by NASA to transport U.S. astronauts to the Space Station.

For additional details on the war of words between the two narcissists, see CNN, The ugliest things Trump and Musk just said about one another.

Josh Marshall raises an interesting point regarding the power dynamic between the two men. Marshall notes that Musk and DOGE likely committed many illegal acts. The Trump world is abuzz about the possibility of resurrecting criminal and civil investigations against Musk and his companies.

Musk probably assumed that illegal acts performed by DOGE would be pardoned by Trump. It now seems less certain that Trump will pardon Musk and his cohorts. Trump has the weight of the federal government hanging over Musk’s head, but Musk likely knows enough dirt about Trump to make a criminal prosecution painful for both parties.

Let’s put aside the spectacle of two world-class narcissists trying to destroy each other and ask, “How does this affect our fight to defend democracy?”

It is difficult to know precisely how the reckoning will resolve, but the strong probability is that it will weaken Trump, imperil the reconciliation bill, and slow or reverse the carnage inflicted by DOGE.

All of that is very good. We can’t assume that Republicans will defeat themselves, but we should take every advantage of their mistakes. That means that the protests on June 6 and January 14 (NoKings.org) must be bigger and louder than previously planned.

Of all of the “truths” spoken by Musk and Trump today, the most troubling for our democracy is Musk’s admission that he bought the presidency for Trump and control of the House. One day we will reform the Supreme Court and reverse Citizens United—an opinion that has poisoned politics in America by making money more powerful than the electorate. We will see that day. And exhibit Number One in reversing Citizens United will be the tweet of Elon Musk,

Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

Let’s remember Musk’s truth when we examine statements by pundits who want to blame Democrats for losing the 2024 election. Musk claims that the difference was the one-third of a trillion dollars he spent on behalf on Trump and the GOP.

[Robert B. Hubbell]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sherrilyn Ifill at Substack:

Over the past three weeks Trump’s monstrous reign has shaken this country to its core. He has upended every fairy story Americans have ever told themselves, every myth we have indulged about who we are, about merit, the rule of law, about the unshakeable strength of our Constitution, and about American exceptionalism. He has smashed through every norm, every basis for deference and good faith, every presumption of good will, and every rational approach to policy. He has identified and taken advantage of our every weakness. And in so doing he has revealed America to itself. Brutal as it has been, we are left now to see our strengths and to confront our weaknesses with clear eyes. The coming weeks will challenge us like never before, as Trump prepares plans to move U.S. citizen prisoners to El Salvador. This plan will involve either engaging in the mass denaturalization of naturalized American prisoners,[i] or the purchase property in El Salvador[ii] (I’m also hearing about other countries) with the intention of declaring that property U.S. territory with the consent of the government of those foreign nations. It is a brazen effort to turn U.S. prisoners into virtually stateless persons, to disappear them, and put them beyond the reach of our view. Why? This is the ultimate intimidation move by Trump. As he prepares to have his Attorney General to investigate those who disagree with him and as Trump seeks ways to undermine the potential for mass protest, holding the threat of not only arrest and potential incarceration, but disappearance to a foreign gulag is a monstrous, yet effective means of stifling dissent.

According to reports this week, it may also be a scheme that allows military contractors like the notorious villain Erik Prince, to step up once again to feed at the public trough.[iii] What does this have to do with confronting our weaknesses? Trump’s plan to disappear people began quite deliberately with his removal of 250 migrants who he called Venezuelan gang members after activating the Alien Enemies Act. It matters that the AEA has only been activated three times in our history and the last time to conduct the horrifying internment of Japanese Americans – a stain that will never be erased from the annals of our history. And so Trump began by targeting a group whose demonization has been a feature of his xenophobic rhetoric: migrants. Playing to the fear of migrant crime - a fear he has stoked and disseminated - and to racial discrimination is a deliberate predicate to Trump’s AEA proclamation. Trump has regularly described migrants as criminals, as killers, and as gang members. It is not as though there are not actual gang members among some migrant groups. It is that in Trump world, all migrants are violent gang members. Actual evidence of gang membership is beside the point for Trump’s Department of Homeland Security – as we have seen as we learn more about the initial 250 migrants taken to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison. A tattoo of the Spanish football club Real Madrid may have been sufficient to deem a Venezuelan soccer player a member of the gang Tren de Aragua.[iv] Tattoos honoring his parents may have resulted in the deportation to CECOT of a gay, make-up artist. Fortunately the ACLU was immediately on top of this horrifying move, but it remains unclear whether any of these migrants will ever be returned to U.S. soil. But Trump’s next move – in fact the primary focus of his thinking – has been how to remove American citizens to foreign prisons. And the group upon which he will workshop the next stage of his plan is another population that most Americans – long before Trump’s rise – have despised and dismissed: incarcerated citizens. It is now well-known that U.S. prisons and jails house almost 2 million people.[v] In fact many states in the U.S. have a prison rate higher than most countries.[vi] Ironically, El Salvador has the highest rate. A disproportionate number of those prisoners are Black and Latino.[vii] America has long abandoned the concept of rehabilitation in prison and instead has fully embraced the retributive rationale for holding people in prison. The conditions of incarceration throughout our country are unconscionable. Alabama prisons are among the most horrifying,[viii] despite having been sued repeatedly by the Department of Justice.[ix] Just in the last 10 years the Department of Justice found unconstitutional conditions of confinement in Georgia prisons,[x] in Louisiana prisons,[xi] in Mississippi prisons and in jails in Texas, Baltimore, California, Harris County, Oklahoma County, and many others.[xii]

[...] Now Trump plans to turn U.S. citizen prisoners over to this facility - those Trump insists are “the worst of the worst.” But we cannot forget that the U.S. justice system is notoriously riddled with racial discrimination in policing, prosecution, conviction and sentencing. And as Bryan Stevenson has said, “it is often better to be guilty and rich, than innocent and poor,” in our criminal justice system. If it were up to President Trump, the five teenagers convicted of raping a woman in Central Park in 1989 would still be in prison, or worse executed, despite their innocence, and those who criticize decisions by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court should be put in jail. We know that every month – sometimes multiple times a month – we learn about a man, most often a Black man, who has been released from prison after serving 20, 30, 40 years for a crime he didn’t commit.[xxi] Some spent decades on death row before being exonerated.[xxii] But even those who are guilty of the crimes for which they are convicted - those who did commit robbery, assault or even murder - are still human beings. For millions of Americans, the incarcerated are brothers, uncles, fathers, mothers. Their lives have meaning and value to their families. And even those who have committed the worst crimes have the possibility of redemption – even if their lives will be lived behind bars. It matters where prisoners are incarcerated in ways great and small. The best evidence demonstrates that family visits and contacts reduce recidivism among prisoners,[xxiii] with some evidence even showing that face-to-face visits are more effective than video visits.[xxiv] And the children of incarcerated parents often benefit tremendously from the ability to visit with their absent parents.[xxv] But this is all beside the central point. American prisoners are American citizens. Their citizenship is not shed at the jailhouse door. They are not pawns to be shuffled about the world to far-flung prisons as part of Stephen Miller’s latest fever dream. They have rights under our Constitution – rights that cannot be stripped away at the whim of an authoritarian president. And we should remember that how a nation treats its prisoners is as powerful an indicator of its democratic health as any election.

Sherrilyn Ifill wrote a solid piece on why Americans must fight for the rights of prisoner with US Citizenship, with reports emerging that Donald Trump is seeking to ship off some US citizens to El Salvador unlawfully.

[the-wip-project]

May 18

Hello writerly friends!

Over the last few weeks, we've been thinking a lot about productivity, time management. You know what? I don't want to talk about all that anymore. It's never gonna get easy. We never gonna find time just lying about, we will always have to carve it out in our regular life. I just want to say this (I Think I heard it from Rachael Herron on her podcast):

Every book, every book in the world, can be written by writing 15 minutes every day.

That's it. Every little bit counts. 

--

Now, I promised writing advice, didn't I? 

In this post I linked to this excellent essay by Lincoln Michel on Substack. 

That's a lot of reading, I know. I recommend reading the essay by Lincoln Michel in its entirety. But the short of it is this:  A lot of our influences when it comes to stories and their structure are visual. TV-shows, movies. This was actually common advice I got told when I was a newbie writer — just picture it like a movie and write down what happens. But, as Michel points out, if we use the tools of visual media, we're losing the advantages of the written media. 

We're losing interiority.

Interiority is the internal world of our protagonist. It's their thoughts, feelings, fears, hopes. We have the tools to show this, we have words. We don't have to pull the camera into a close up, hoping that our actor is as good as promised to show their emotions on their face. We can describe it, but often we don't. Instead we describe our protagonist walking over to a table, getting a glass of water, their fingers clenching around the glass. 

That's what 'show don't tell' says we should do, right?

But how many times do we want to show clenching fingers, deep breaths, and raised eyebrows, instead of letting our protagonist tell us what they think? We have the words, why not use them?

There is a balance, of course. Who am I to tell you to tell more instead of showing.

But, maybe just as an exercise, try more interiority for the next week. More description for thoughts and emotions.

For more information, I've put together a post with a few links to posts by professional writers and editors on how to write interiority: https://www.tumblr.com/the960writers/781085645170933760/interiority.

Happy writing into the third week of Reach For The Stars!

[togglesbloggle]

The worst part of losing Tumblr, of course, will be the many broken connections with all of you guys. 'Tumblr mutual' is a peculiar and lovely kind of friendship that can't be replicated elsewhere, and the quality of audience I've found here has been really excellent in a way that I don't expect to find again.

But I've always been a creature of fragmented identities, and so the second worst part of losing Tumblr will be the fact that the "Toggle"-sona might not last very long without it.

It's one of those strange advantages that comes from hanging out on one of the last great pseudonymous sites on the internet, you know? Being Toggle means something pretty specific for me- nothing unfamiliar if you've been following me for a while. It's structured as a syncretic mix of LessWrong-isms and empirical sciences, with connective tissues of epistemology and active curiosity. Toggle turns out to be a headspace that I deeply enjoy, and developing it has allowed me to move through the world in unique and special ways.

But it's an identity that hasn't grown as energetically as other parts of my life, at least not in the years since I left grad school. I don't meet new people through this face as often any more, or extend my social graph strongly in this direction, even though it's been an exciting and dramatic period in my life otherwise. And so Toggle is going to heal more slowly when injured, and take longer to recover from dramatic shocks.

Tumblr isn't the only place where I can express myself under this identity (it's got its own discord account and email address, among other things), but the long-form writing style is disproportionately important. "Writing is thinking" and all that; the particular Toggle-way of seeing the world requires space to work out and polish ideas. Without this jumble of essays and longposting, it starts to feel like there's a vital organ or two missing, and it's an open question whether Toggle has the vitality in it to recover from that.

It's theoretically possible to switch my writing over to Substack or something, though I'm fairly doubtful that this kind of writing could survive as a blog as opposed to a micro-blog, if only because this really is more of a sketchbook than a mature product as such. And if I stumble in to the right job, one in either physical sciences or in rationalist/EA spaces, then it would probably kick the identity back in to high gear. Toggle isn't entirely doomed, but it probably needs a stroke of good luck, a change in circumstance to align my incentives behind it, or both.

In the meantime, I'm anticipating Tumblr's closure by thinking about ways to be a little more proactive about porting the best parts of Toggle in to other parts of my life- upwards to the light of wallet names and face-to-face networks, and outwards to other constructed identities and other diasporic online communities. Even so, it's going to be a terrible loss.

[nerdyrevelries]

I have very strong opinions on what type of social media users all of the characters in Little Women would be.

Marmee runs the Facebook page for her neighborhood. You know, the one where people can post about lost pets, barbeques, and give people heads up that there's going to be some reno going on on their house.

Meg is the biggest social media user of the bunch. Prior to marriage, she has a Pinterest board full of fantasies for her someday wedding and she follows multiple cottagecore influencers. After she becomes a mother, Meg gets really into mommy bloggers to the point where her family has to have an intervention because she's wearing herself out trying to make baby food from scratch because she's been convinced it's the only way to make sure her kids grow up with every advantage. She will also cry over Marie Kondo videos on YouTube because she can't manage to have a perfect, uncluttered life with two active toddlers. She is unfortunately very susceptible to seeing the perfect life other people present on social media and assuming that the projected image is an achievable reality and she is failing when she doesn't measure up to it. Luckily, John is very kind and understanding and helpful about this. (He's not much of a social media user at all.)

Jo has a Substack for her writing and a Tumblr where she posts and talks about writing and follows other people who talk about writing.

Beth is a social media enigma. She has a Pinterest where she only has private boards for saving music, and she lurks but does not have an account on a forum for musicians. She otherwise has no social media presence.

Amy doesn't post a ton on her social media. She has an Instagram where she occasionally posts photos of her art or a pretty flower she saw that day. However, she is constantly getting tagged in other people's social media posts as she frequently shows up in pictures on other people's social media. She's very much of the opinion that she wants to be out there living life rather than just posting about it.

I regret to inform you that Laurie has a pranks channel on YouTube and TikTok. He eventually does stop running it after his character growth, at which point he switches to using his social media platform to highlight aspiring artists and musicians and provide philanthropy and outreach.

Professor Bhaer has a presence in academic publications. Outside of that, he enjoys writing reviews of obscure public domain media on the Internet Archive.

[seafoamreadings]

ch ch ch changes

i'm tentatively planning to close down my etsy by the end of the year. i'm coming to realize that my real calling when it comes to these things is predictive astrology for the masses. i will still be doing readings here and there because i love to do those and am good at that too! but i am tired of etsy and its fees and some of the demographic who's been going for my etsy readings lately (obviously i love my clients but some people on there are just passing through, see that i keep my prices low, and try to take advantage of my kindness and my pisces mars falls for it every time lol). meanwhile if i do posts for everyone they are purely channeled out of my little brain for exactly who wants them - you can hang out with me or you can just not and i don't have to deal with anyone who doesn't like it! plus i think the quality is actually better. anyway, i'm exploring some avenues for listings for people who still want those. i am now on both venmo and cashapp as well. but etsy just ain't doing it for me these days. if you love etsy and want a reading from there these next couple months are the time to do it. i especially need the time away from draining clients as i develop my scientific career alongside this calling. it takes a lot of energy and i never have a lot of that at once. otherwise the best way to support me now is on patreon! and if that's not your style i have the ko-fi up, i'm working on a substack, and also like i said checking on yet more~

meanwhile i am very very open to any ideas you all have, since you on this blog are my biggest love <3

[lesmisletters-daily]

Sums Deposited With Laffitte

Les Mis Letters reading club explores one chapter of Les Misérables every day. Join us on Discord, Substack - or share your thoughts right here on tumblr - today's tag is #lm 1.5.3

On the other hand, he remained as simple as on the first day. He had gray hair, a serious eye, the sunburned complexion of a laborer, the thoughtful visage of a philosopher. He habitually wore a hat with a wide brim, and a long coat of coarse cloth, buttoned to the chin. He fulfilled his duties as mayor; but, with that exception, he lived in solitude. He spoke to but few people. He avoided polite attentions; he escaped quickly; he smiled to relieve himself of the necessity of talking; he gave, in order to get rid of the necessity for smiling. The women said of him, “What a good-natured bear!” His pleasure consisted in strolling in the fields.

He always took his meals alone, with an open book before him, which he read. He had a well-selected little library. He loved books; books are cold but safe friends. In proportion as leisure came to him with fortune, he seemed to take advantage of it to cultivate his mind. It had been observed that, ever since his arrival at M. sur M., his language had grown more polished, more choice, and more gentle with every passing year. He liked to carry a gun with him on his strolls, but he rarely made use of it. When he did happen to do so, his shooting was something so infallible as to inspire terror. He never killed an inoffensive animal. He never shot at a little bird.

Although he was no longer young, it was thought that he was still prodigiously strong. He offered his assistance to any one who was in need of it, lifted a horse, released a wheel clogged in the mud, or stopped a runaway bull by the horns. He always had his pockets full of money when he went out; but they were empty on his return. When he passed through a village, the ragged brats ran joyously after him, and surrounded him like a swarm of gnats.

It was thought that he must, in the past, have lived a country life, since he knew all sorts of useful secrets, which he taught to the peasants. He taught them how to destroy scurf on wheat, by sprinkling it and the granary and inundating the cracks in the floor with a solution of common salt; and how to chase away weevils by hanging up orviot in bloom everywhere, on the walls and the ceilings, among the grass and in the houses.

He had “recipes” for exterminating from a field, blight, tares, foxtail, and all parasitic growths which destroy the wheat. He defended a rabbit warren against rats, simply by the odor of a guinea-pig which he placed in it.

One day he saw some country people busily engaged in pulling up nettles; he examined the plants, which were uprooted and already dried, and said: “They are dead. Nevertheless, it would be a good thing to know how to make use of them. When the nettle is young, the leaf makes an excellent vegetable; when it is older, it has filaments and fibres like hemp and flax. Nettle cloth is as good as linen cloth. Chopped up, nettles are good for poultry; pounded, they are good for horned cattle. The seed of the nettle, mixed with fodder, gives gloss to the hair of animals; the root, mixed with salt, produces a beautiful yellow coloring-matter. Moreover, it is an excellent hay, which can be cut twice. And what is required for the nettle? A little soil, no care, no culture. Only the seed falls as it is ripe, and it is difficult to collect it. That is all. With the exercise of a little care, the nettle could be made useful; it is neglected and it becomes hurtful. It is exterminated. How many men resemble the nettle!” He added, after a pause: “Remember this, my friends: there are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.”

The children loved him because he knew how to make charming little trifles of straw and cocoanuts.

When he saw the door of a church hung in black, he entered: he sought out funerals as other men seek christenings. Widowhood and the grief of others attracted him, because of his great gentleness; he mingled with the friends clad in mourning, with families dressed in black, with the priests groaning around a coffin. He seemed to like to give to his thoughts for text these funereal psalmodies filled with the vision of the other world. With his eyes fixed on heaven, he listened with a sort of aspiration towards all the mysteries of the infinite, those sad voices which sing on the verge of the obscure abyss of death.

He performed a multitude of good actions, concealing his agency in them as a man conceals himself because of evil actions. He penetrated houses privately, at night; he ascended staircases furtively. A poor wretch on returning to his attic would find that his door had been opened, sometimes even forced, during his absence. The poor man made a clamor over it: some malefactor had been there! He entered, and the first thing he beheld was a piece of gold lying forgotten on some piece of furniture. The “malefactor” who had been there was Father Madeleine.

He was affable and sad. The people said: “There is a rich man who has not a haughty air. There is a happy man who has not a contented air.”

Some people maintained that he was a mysterious person, and that no one ever entered his chamber, which was a regular anchorite’s cell, furnished with winged hour-glasses and enlivened by cross-bones and skulls of dead men! This was much talked of, so that one of the elegant and malicious young women of M. sur M. came to him one day, and asked: “Monsieur le Maire, pray show us your chamber. It is said to be a grotto.” He smiled, and introduced them instantly into this “grotto.” They were well punished for their curiosity. The room was very simply furnished in mahogany, which was rather ugly, like all furniture of that sort, and hung with paper worth twelve sous. They could see nothing remarkable about it, except two candlesticks of antique pattern which stood on the chimney-piece and appeared to be silver, “for they were hall-marked,” an observation full of the type of wit of petty towns.

Nevertheless, people continued to say that no one ever got into the room, and that it was a hermit’s cave, a mysterious retreat, a hole, a tomb.

It was also whispered about that he had “immense” sums deposited with Laffitte, with this peculiar feature, that they were always at his immediate disposal, so that, it was added, M. Madeleine could make his appearance at Laffitte’s any morning, sign a receipt, and carry off his two or three millions in ten minutes. In reality, “these two or three millions” were reducible, as we have said, to six hundred and thirty or forty thousand francs.

[papenathys]

SUBSTACK ALERT!

On today's newsletter essay, I speak about nostalgia: its advantages and pitfalls, about memory-making and historical archiving, and about writing inspirations gleaned from my Bengali childhood in Kankurgachi, North Kolkata. Features an old apartment, a baby photo, a grandfather, a mad bull named Gondogol and the titular lake from my 2024 trans sapphic poetry collection, There Used to Be a Lake Here Once.

[darkmaga-returns]

The official narrative is 49,567 VAERS report deaths, however the huge paradigm shift on the VAERS data structure just announced by the CDC has in essence revealed hundreds more deaths of registrants who are in effect now since dead since original publication.

It’s a bit convoluted but the basic concept is this pharmacovigilance system monitors severe adverse events for 1 year, but it could take many months or years to get information returned back to VAERS system. Since VAERS only publishes “initial reports” it creates a second set of books I will call the internal books not for public viewing, consumption, or critique. In a magician’s world this would be the equivalent of how all the magic happens behind the black curtain.

VAERS will use this arbitrary rule of initial public report reporting to the advantage of manufacturers to cover-up the vaccine carnage. Not only does VAERS continue to capture follow-up data for internal use only, but they will publish initially submitted reports into the public domain entirely to fast so as to not be obligated to publish a death because the ultimate event happened during the four to six week adjudication phase.

[shannonpurdyjones]

Possibly an unpopular opinion (?) but I 100% believe we bred neurodivergence into our population. Especially adhd and autism.

This side of even 200 years ago it was advantageous to have a good number of people who lived for doing the same repetitive tasks all day without cease. Spinning, weaving, knitting, blacksmith arts, pulling weeds in the fields--all vital tasks that are basically fancy stimming lol. We needed people who obsessed over battle tactics and literally nothing else, and the people who could do all these jobs and watch kids and cook food all at once.

Those tendencies didn't magically vanish with industrialization. We just started calling them a problem instead of a necessity.

(I posted this as a note on my substack first but then was like wait... what am I even doing...the audience for this post is clearly tumblr)

[greatrunner]

It is a truth universally accepted that when critiquing anything regarding AO3/OTW, reactionaries enter the building, and critical thinking and discernment gets locked out.

Nia Ola (on Substack) attempted to raise the alarm about AO3's changes in Terms of Service. This bit in particular:

Nia Ola: "[...]AO3 just updated their terms and conditions so that the only way you can use the site now is that you consent to them taking your data (so, works that you've written, distributed, saved, bookmarked, etc, everything) and give that data and information to the government."

In my time reading Terms and Conditions of Service, websites claiming that they're "duty bound" to provide data uploaded to the site to the govt, depending on jurisdiction, is not a surprise. You will not be informed or told by the site(s) when the government accesses/obtained your information. All on the pretense that it would "interfere with an ongoing investigation".

It isn't dissimilar to the one I've read here for Tumblr. The bit that says (legalese-y) that anything you post on the site can be used as evidence (IIRC) if it becomes "necessary."

But as usual, the AO3 brigade worked like hell to shout them down. Folk focused a lot on how OTW made their TOS "easier" to understand. They claimed Nia Ola was spreading misinformation. Most have gone as far as quibbling with her phrasing, "giving your information to the government" (which they would be doing) based on their personal interpretation of her meaning.

After making the video (they posted on TikTok) private, Nia Ola continued to encourage people to use security measures like VPNs and secure Browsers (they mentioned Firefox; I'm sure others are recommending Tor, Brave, and lesser-known browsers with better security features than Edge or Chrome) and to back up information they didn't want to lose.

Is it an explicit consequence of the election? Probably not. AO3/OTW knows entirely that they're hosting grimy shit on their website and refuse to do anything about it. AO3/OTW, like other websites, are "all-ages". Meaning OTW knows kids as young as 13 (and lets face it, younger) are using AO3. If the US or any other country decides it's politically advantageous to go after them, AO3/OTW is gonna cover their asses and throw you under the bus.

Point-Blank-Period.

That said, I think it would be irresponsible to exclude the election as a factor altogether. Organizations (govt or otherwise) are hang-wringing about rustling conservative feathers, and censoring themselves to avoid the wrath of a Trump Admin.

KOSA and COPPA are still in play. And there's the bill targeting non-profits to consider that's likely (and did) to pass not long after it got shot down.

When Tumblr wanted the favor of the Apple Store and their advertisers, they targeted sex worker blogs and fashion and art bloggers (primarily Black/non-Black). Then, they created an AI flagging system that still doesn't work.

When enough people (and advertisers) made enough noise about the NC-17 content that FanFiction (dot net) hosted on their site (at the height of its popularity, mind you)? They made a choice that allowed the website to survive and eliminate the target on their back. Both were financially motivated, yes, but if it's a choice of annexing content to stay online or getting shuttered?

AO3 will not be an exception. It's already embracing that "Obeying in Advance" phrase y'all are in love with right now.

Nia Ola is not the only one raising the alarm or alarmed by this decision. In your haste to fall on the sword for an organization that does not care about you, try not to make an ass of yourself by dog-piling people with experience regarding the consequences of data collection stemming from policies meant to criminalize sexual content, yeah?

This will continue unless we establish actual policies, education, and protections to prevent the mass surveillance of adult spaces under the pretense of "decency" and "protecting children." Additionally, we must address the ongoing elimination of healthy and safe spaces for children.

Because in our govt's haste to claim their concern for children, the corporations they serve have been demolishing child spaces and media online to save a couple of bucks (Cartoon Network's website comes to mind), and pushing children into adult spaces. And if they're not pushing kids into adult spaces, they're inviting adults into so-called kid spaces to increase their profits (Roblox and its attempts to become anything but a game for children, to say nothing of their monetization of the ideas that kids make).

Until our culture/society overhauls its approach to sex education, divorced from white supremacy, the actual intention of creating spaces that aren't sex-negative and don't prey on uninformed children will probably always exist in short bursts.

That means our politic has to rid itself of the reactionary ilk that (a) demonizes all things sexual and (b) refuses to practice discernment and critical thinking in their so-called sex-positive spaces. Both are why places like AO3 manifest and then ultimately help no one.

And it does not help anyone that reactionary AO3 loyalists will always fight to keep conversations about the site politically and socially stunted and unchanging.

Not all censorship and moderation is or should be sex-negative or censorious to the point of infantilizing. But, if the goal is maintaining free speech and freedom of expression (as we like to think of it vs how the govt allows it), it cannot be to the detriment of itself or for the sake of it (i.e., anti-censorship is not the answer any more than autocratic censorship is).

[solfulletters]

Entry to your 20s, advice to the 20-year-old women

Four pieces of advice for the twenty-year-old women from a twenty-something year old woman.

1. Move Your Body

I cannot stress this enough, if you can, please move your body! Move your joints and build your muscles. The doctors, scientists and our parents were unfortunately right, the older one becomes, the weaker they get. If you want to still be able to run around in your fifties, sixties, etc. You need to start the habit now. Get a routine, start working out, try a sport, attempt a dance class, and get active in general.

I’ve recently gotten a gym membership and have begun pilates once or twice a week. Although at first, my muscles were burning, my body soon got used to it and I found my stamina and flexibility improving.

However, you don't need to spend money on a gym membership or Pilates to get fit. You can take a run around your local park, start a sports team with your friends, or try a YouTube workout from the comfort of your home. There are so many different ways to stay fit without emptying your pockets.

2. Eat Your Vegetables

I understand that some people are genuinely picky eaters and their parents never took the initiative to introduce different textures and flavours healthily. Thus this has followed into adulthood and are now unable to eat anything outside the same four meals.

I also understand I cannot say too much as someone who can eat almost anything but as a reformed vegetable hater I do have a little bit to offer. To live a long, healthy life vegetables are a necessity. So if you find yourself unable to eat certain vegetables, I would suggest cooking the vegetables differently, or incorporating ingredients you enjoy in your meals, think outside the box!

There are many articles about breaking picky eating, as adults we should try to expand our tastebuds, there's so much food to enjoy in this life. Nobody likes to be the person ordering chicken fingers at a Michelin restaurant.

3. Feed Your Brain

[edited: the previous paragraph has been published on my personal substack as a full piece; I've rewritten and changed this section for publication and privacy purposes].

I urge young women to nurture their brains; you are so blessed to be in a society and world where education is so accessible for women. If you live in the West, take advantage and don't feed into the propaganda of "I'm just a girl". Women are being minimised, and I don't want young ladies falling down the rabbit hole of this recent no-purpose lifestyle that's advertised.

Looks are essential, and don't get me wrong, I know attraction still plays a huge part in society, but it isn't the only important thing. It's not cute to be ignorant, lack life skills and use social media concepts like "I'm just a girl" as excuses. Stupidity isn't hot, so while it's okay to indulge in media consumption, find yourself hobbies outside of that and put in the effort to grow intellectually and further yourself.

4. High Self-esteem Will Protect You

Most of my girlfriends are in the dating field, and from the stories they tell me its clear these men are crazy. Good discernment is needed and for you to trust your discernment you need a healthy level of self-worth.

I’m not just talking about romantic interest, in general, high self-esteem will take you far in life. From romantic partners to career paths, when you know your value and do not settle, that translates to every crevice of your life. People treat you with more respect, you're likely to find yourself in fewer abusive scenarios and get better opportunities in your place of work.

Nothing good comes from beating yourself down and letting others treat you horribly. Overall your twenties can be fun but also filled with anxiety so take it step-by-step, don't beat yourself up and remember comparison is the thief.