Tootfinder

"The fundamental problem is this: that most of the means of communication are owned or influenced by the very rich. If democracy is the problem capital is always trying to solve, propaganda is part of the solution. Like the kings and empire-builders of the past, they use their platforms to project the claims that suit them and suppress the claims that don’t. This means boosting right and far-right movements, which defend wealth and power..." -- George Monbiot.

"A new investigation of Elon #Musk’s X by Sky News found that every account set up by reporters, 'no matter their political orientation, was fed a glut of rightwing content', much of which was extreme. The experts it consulted believe this pattern could have resulted only from an algorithm engineered for this purpose, and that 'an algorithmic bias must be decided by senior people at …

Day 23: Thi Bui
Indirect CW: parental neglect, war, intergenerational trauma
Bui is the author of "The Best We Could Do", a graphic memoir which explores her relationship with her parents and unpacks some of the intergenerational trauma coming out of the Vietnam War. It has a lot of wisdom to offer about both dealing with troubled parents as a 1.5th-generation immigrant, and it delves deeply into her parents' histories in Vietnam and the complexities of the situation there both in the north and in the south. It's beautifully illustrated and very nicely plotted together given all the disparate threads it is working with.
I haven't read any of Bui's other work, but it looks like she's published a picture book for kids as well as a series of short comics during the pandemic. Besides Oseman who also writes non-illustrated fiction and the two manga artists Ice mentioned, Bui is the first graphic novel author I've included here, but I've actually got quite a few of them in my longer list, one of whom may make it into the 30 I'll include in this thread. These days I'm reading a bunch of graphic novels since they're easy to get through, and the variety of stories and perspectives in that space is wonderful these days, with a huge array of indie stuff that probably never would have gotten off the ground in traditional publishing/comics spaces.
#30AuthorsNoMen

Series C, Episode 12 - Death-Watch
VILA: [Pulls Orac's key] They don't write poetry like that anymore. What this electronic pain is trying to say is-
TARRANT: -is that unless we get a break, there's going to be a fatal foul-up.
VILA: Right.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/312/52

The thing that Renee Good now knows, that Tortuguita knows, that Heather Heyer knows, that I only know because I glimpsed for a second, is that when you die fighting oppression you live forever in that memory of resistance. When we carve their names into a monument, along with all the other names of the murdered and disappeared, that will stand, perhaps, across from the statue of Willem in the park where the Northwest Detention Center once stood, they will always be reminders of what it looks like to sacrifice everything in order to be on the right side of history.
The names of those who resist live as ghosts, summoned by name to haunt future oppressors, summoned by name to awaken our own conscience to the call. Martyrs, whispered like the White Rose or yelled as a threat like John Brown, cannot die so long as any of us with a bit of spine carries even an ounce of humanity.
It is possible to die knowing you did the right thing, and I have felt it. There is an acceptance that is impossible to imagine without being there, without feeling it for yourself. You have nothing to fear in resisting, even if it ends you. But you will never forget the shame of doing nothing if you fail to.

A massive (but not unusual) sneezing fit followed by hiccups certainly wakes you up in the morning. I hope Wednesday is good to you. I'm bringing together the findings from one part of a small sample set we've processed and then moving onto the microscopes to analyse the other part. I enjoy both aspects but tragically it's the admin that really makes my heart sing 😄 I spent years fighting it but now I accept I was born under the admin star.

Series A, Episode 05 - The Web
CALLY: [Moves to stand next to him] Why?
AVON: All knowledge is valuable.
CALLY: [Touches her temple as if listening] Which are the forward detector links?
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/105/40 B7B6

Today I have procrastinated by rearranging books. I have far too many for such a small house.
(Doing this reminded me of a piece by a #Palestinian academic I read recently. He has just started teaching again, but all his books have been lost or destroyed. To be without my books would be very hard for me)

Series C, Episode 03 - Volcano
TARRANT: They were gonna die anyway, remember.
VILA: Servalan's battle fleet's moving away.
TARRANT: Any damaged?
VILA: Hard to tell.
AVON: Zen, flight status.
ZEN: Energy banks are now at the lowest workable capacity
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/303/644