Trying to choose a new laptop wallpaper and realizing how much I miss the old internet, when I didn't have to question what's real and what's AI. Take me back to the days of We Heart it, early FB, and bad photoshop.
So from what I read, theyre asking a judge to throw out the case on the grounds that: "if everyone we stole from chooses to join the class action against us, it would financially ruin our company and would also be a precedent for people to sue the OTHER ai companies too, and it would financially ruin THEM as well.
Their argument isn't "we didnt steal," or "we broke no laws by using their stuff without permission" ---- their argument is "but if you hold us legally liable for stealing their stuff, itll be super expensive for us :( "
Needless to say, i hope that the class action goes ahead, and i hope it finds the company legally and financially liable for a fucktonne of money, and I hope that every other AI company also gets sued and has to pay damages into bankruptcy.
Last person on earth keeps calling the last functioning telephone helpline, desperate just to listen to their hold music and the echoing artificial approximations of a human’s voice on the automated systems.
Sometimes they pretend they are just paying a bill or reporting a fault. Other times they’re playing the role of the disgruntled customer wanting to make a complaint or cancel their service.
Call after call, year after year of sitting in endless queues that will never move, desperately clinging to the sounds of the old world so that they don’t feel entirely alone.
It’s so infuriating that teen smoking rates were at an all time low in the US and we were on track to basically eradicate smoking and nicotine addiction in teens like it was flat out uncool to smoke and then They came out with nicotine injector flash drives that light up and taste like cotton candy. And have lead in them.
From Alabama to Wisconsin, shop these queer-run shops today.
LGBTQ-owned bookstores have been around for decades. Founded in 1973 in the City of Brotherly Love, Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room—honoring James Baldwin’s queer classic—is perhaps the oldest surviving LGBTQ and feminist bookstore in America. Charis Books and More, in Decatur, Georgia, was launched a year later. A Room of One's Own has been a fixture in downtown Madison, Wisconsin since 1975, and Chicago’s Women and Children First was started in 1979 by two women who fell in love as students at the University of Illinois.
These stores are more than shops to browse for books; they are hubs for both entertainment and enlightenment, meeting grounds for hearts and minds. They are, above all, vital community spaces.
-Michelle Hart, "53 LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores You Can Be Proud to Support, published June 22, 2021
This awesome list includes 53 bookstores in 23 states across the USA. I don't know about Ya'll but I can't WAIT to check them out. The link has them sorted by state; here's a list of all of them, alphabetical.
1977 Books (Birmingham, Alabama)
All She Wrote (Somerville, Massachusetts)
Another Read Through (Portland, Oregon)
Antigone Books (Tuscon, Arizona)
Astoria Bookshop (Queens, New York)
Beausoliel Books (Lafayette, Louisiana)
Big Blue Marble Books (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Black Garnet Books (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Bluestockings Bookstore (New York, New York)
Bookish (Atlanta, Georgia)
BookWoman (Austin, Texas)
Burdock Book Collective (Montgomery, Alabama)
Bureau of General Services - Queer Division (New York, New York)
Charis Books and More (Decatur, Georgia)
Dog Ear Books (Russellville, Arkansas)
Dog Eared Books (San Francisco, California)
East End Books (Provincetown, Massachusetts)
Firestorm Books and Coffee (Asheville, North Carolina)
Foggy Pines Books (Boone, North Carolina)
Hello Again (Cocoa Village, Florida)
Here's the Story (Union, New Jersey)
The Irreverent Bookworm (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Kismet Books (Verona, Wisconsin)
King's Books (Tacoma, Washington)
Kona Bay Books (Kailua, Hawaii)
Kramers (Washington DC)
Lavender Library (Sacramento, California)
Left Bank Books (St. Louis, Missouri)
Left Bank Books (Seattle, Washington)
Lit. on Fire Books (Peoria, Illinois)
Loyalty Bookstores (Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington DC)
Montana Book Company (Helena, Montana)
Omnivore Books on Food (San Francisco, California)
One Grand Books (Narrowsburg, New York)
Philly AIDs Thrift at Giovanni's Room (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Outwords Books (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Rakestraw Books (Danville, California)
Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Ripped Bodice (Los Angeles, California)
Rofhiwa Book Cafe (Durham, North Carolina)
A Room of One's Own (Madison, Wisconsin)
Rust Belt Books (Buffalo, New York)
The Salt Eaters (Inglewood, California)
A Seat at the Table (Elk Grove, California)
Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg, California)
Tubby and Coo's Mid-City Book Shop (New Orleans, Louisiana)
This post is my attempt to track what’s going on with US politics. This post is constantly being updated so if you see this on your dash, check my blog (this post will be pinned) to see the latest version. If there’s anything I miss that you think should be included on this list, please let me know.
January-May 2025
June 2025
National News
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has a bleak message for us all [x]
State News
Other News
Alright I know that we’re all tired. We’re 5 months into this now and it can be really tempting to just check out. To be honest, I did that a lot in May. And what I realized from doing that is, yeah, checking out felt nice, but the bad things still kept happening.
Remember, Trump and his cronies want us to stop paying attention. Because if we’re not paying attention, then we’re not fighting back and they can keep getting away with destroying our country and enriching themselves in the process.
You don’t need to spend every waking second of your day thinking about the news. But what I do ask is that, if you see a story from a credible news source about the corruption or more cuts to programs or problems that are starting to reverberate out from previous actions, please share it. Don’t just look at it and move on. Share it.
Fighting back only works if we all do it together. Remember that our communities are our strength.
my therapist suggested i imagine my intrusive thoughts in the voice of donald trump bc i do not possess an ounce of respect for him or trust in his competence. going thru it today so i made this. hope this helps
romaincrisis
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
kaledo-art
titsay
yousharknotpass
