Can't Stop Listening To This

So I was made to feel old today...

Hollywood is the single best example of mature labor power in America

This afternoon (May 6), I’ll be in Berkeley at the Bay Area Bookfest for a 3:30PM event with Glynn Washington for my book Red Team Blues; tomorrow (May 7), it’s an 11AM event with Wendy Liu for my book Chokepoint Capitalism.

Weds (May 10), I’m in Vancouver for a keynote at the Open Source Summit and a book event at Heritage Hall and Thu (May 11), I’m in Calgary for Wordfest.

The Writers Guild is on strike. Hollywood is closed for business. The union’s bargaining documents reveal a cartel of studios that refused to negotiate on a single position. This could go on for a long-ass time:

https://www.wga.org/uploadedfiles/members/member_info/contract-2023/WGA_proposals.pdf

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/2023/05/06/people-are-not-disposable/#union-strong

Keep reading

Harvest mouse on a dandelion by Dean Mason.

A 12 million year old crab was hiding in this rock

Most shows need to end at some point, and in many instances they benefit from ending sooner rather than later. This is not the case with doctor who. To me, half the entertainment value of dw comes from trying to write new content for a show that’s been around 60+ years. I need it to ferment; I need to see what doctor who will look like in another couple of decades. I need it to go on forever. I hope future generations will have to experience centuries, maybe even millennia-old doctor who. I hope they have lore so incomprehensible it takes a lifetime to even begin to understand

We need Medicare For All. Remove profit from health care. End medical debt.

Your tax dollars should cover your needs.

The core of Star Trek is optimism about the future, and this is why one of the quiet, ongoing themes of every show is adults spending their free time engaging in table top games, pretend play, sports, music, art, and other hobbies. No matter what crazy space conflict or reality-warping improbability they've gotten wrapped up in, someone is still running around, pretending they're robin hood. Someone is painting a sunset. A pair of friends are playing cards. A group has formed a chamber ensemble. This is utopia.

it’s weird the items that end up becoming sentimental