Things Completed
5/11/25 13:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yourlibrarian1) ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nacramamo has ended and for the time being so has my jewelry making. I made more than I posted about, although there was a lot of that, too. Just a reminder that everykindofcraft remains open for everyday work in progress, completed or stalled.
2) Finished a few shows, such as Perry Mason on HBO. I can see why it was cancelled. It was ambitious and fairly well written, and I thought the character backstories made sense. However, it liked to roll around in the noir aspects rather too much, which I think affected the pacing in S1. I prefer S2. I also think you could watch S2 on its own. ( Read more... )
3) Finished both seasons of House of the Dragon. Am looking forward to S3. I can see why Game of Thrones would have drawn people in. I love a complicated political story with various competing interests, which is what this is. Add in the important female protagonists and it's interesting to follow the zigs and zags.
4) For those with pets, the same things are happening surrounding vet care, supplies and even services as with a lot of other industries – buyouts, stripping services to the bone, and reduction of care. "As with human health care, billionaire consolidators aim to extract big coin on veterinary services, pushing expensive tests and pricey interventions, instituting aggressive billing and collection, and focusing on cost-cutting on the service side, including squeezing wages from employees....These vulture investors typically collect management fees on all transactions, strip out profitable assets (including real estate), call the shots in terms of major decision-making in the practice, and charge fees for monitoring them, even as some of the companies they acquire spiral into bankruptcy. “It’s like setting the fire, being paid to put out the fire, and collecting the insurance on the fire all at the same time."
5) The issue of news avoidance or indifference isn't a new one, but what I found interesting in this was the breakdown of who actually sought out news or made it part of their routine:
MSNBC viewers: 72% active
CNN viewers: 71%
Seniors (65+): 69%
Daily Twitter users: 69%
Strong Democrats: 67%
White college grads: 67%
Fox News viewers: 66%
White collar workers: 66%
MAGA Republicans: 64%
Given this is a recent study I find this to be relatively unsurprising, as it leans towards politically engaged and even fanatical ideologues, who are the only people I can imagine being able to tolerate most of the news these days. Seniors are also unsurprising as they have traditionally been the biggest news consumers, partly due to time, but also because they have the most time to be politically engaged and are the most reliable voting bloc.
This also leads to a logical reversal in more passive news consumers: ( Read more... )
nacramamo has ended and for the time being so has my jewelry making. I made more than I posted about, although there was a lot of that, too. Just a reminder that everykindofcraft remains open for everyday work in progress, completed or stalled.2) Finished a few shows, such as Perry Mason on HBO. I can see why it was cancelled. It was ambitious and fairly well written, and I thought the character backstories made sense. However, it liked to roll around in the noir aspects rather too much, which I think affected the pacing in S1. I prefer S2. I also think you could watch S2 on its own. ( Read more... )
3) Finished both seasons of House of the Dragon. Am looking forward to S3. I can see why Game of Thrones would have drawn people in. I love a complicated political story with various competing interests, which is what this is. Add in the important female protagonists and it's interesting to follow the zigs and zags.
4) For those with pets, the same things are happening surrounding vet care, supplies and even services as with a lot of other industries – buyouts, stripping services to the bone, and reduction of care. "As with human health care, billionaire consolidators aim to extract big coin on veterinary services, pushing expensive tests and pricey interventions, instituting aggressive billing and collection, and focusing on cost-cutting on the service side, including squeezing wages from employees....These vulture investors typically collect management fees on all transactions, strip out profitable assets (including real estate), call the shots in terms of major decision-making in the practice, and charge fees for monitoring them, even as some of the companies they acquire spiral into bankruptcy. “It’s like setting the fire, being paid to put out the fire, and collecting the insurance on the fire all at the same time."
5) The issue of news avoidance or indifference isn't a new one, but what I found interesting in this was the breakdown of who actually sought out news or made it part of their routine:
MSNBC viewers: 72% active
CNN viewers: 71%
Seniors (65+): 69%
Daily Twitter users: 69%
Strong Democrats: 67%
White college grads: 67%
Fox News viewers: 66%
White collar workers: 66%
MAGA Republicans: 64%
Given this is a recent study I find this to be relatively unsurprising, as it leans towards politically engaged and even fanatical ideologues, who are the only people I can imagine being able to tolerate most of the news these days. Seniors are also unsurprising as they have traditionally been the biggest news consumers, partly due to time, but also because they have the most time to be politically engaged and are the most reliable voting bloc.
This also leads to a logical reversal in more passive news consumers: ( Read more... )
Poll #33802 Kudos Footer-548
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7
Want to leave a Kudos?
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Work That Came Out in 2025
5/11/25 12:19marthawellsBecause I've been slow to update my web site, here's a list of everything I wrote that got published in 2025.
* January Paperback compilation editions of The Murderbot Diaries novellas from Tordotcom. Vol I: All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, Vol II: Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy, and Vol III: System Collapse and Fugitive Telemetry. Reprint.
* May The Emilie Adventures, compilation of author's preferred editions of Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, Tordotcom. Reprint.
* May "Data Ghost"
In print and ebook: Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, Editor in chief Julie C. Day, coeditors Carina Bissett and Craig Laurance Gidney, and assistant editor Julia DeRidder.
https://essentialdreams.press/books/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology/
In audio and online: Pseudopod #995, Narrator Rae Lundberg, hostAlasdair Stuart, Audio Producer Chelsea Davis
https://pseudopod.org/2025/09/26/pseudopod-995-data-ghost/
* July 10 "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy"
Reactor Magazine, Art by Jaime Jones, edited by Lee Harris
https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha-wells/
* October 7 Queen Demon, sequel to Witch King, second book in the Rising World series. Tor Books, edited by Lee Harris, art by Cynthia Sheppard, audiobook narrated by Eric Mok
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-demon-martha-wells/1146167707?ean=9781250826916
* There was also a TV show!
May - July Murderbot on Apple TV, produced, written, and directed by Paul and Chris Weitz, guest directors, Aurora Guerrero, Roseanne Liang, and Toa Fraser, executive producer Andrew Miano. Depth of Field, Phantom Four Films, and Paramount.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30444310/fullcredits/
* January Paperback compilation editions of The Murderbot Diaries novellas from Tordotcom. Vol I: All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, Vol II: Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy, and Vol III: System Collapse and Fugitive Telemetry. Reprint.
* May The Emilie Adventures, compilation of author's preferred editions of Emilie and the Hollow World and Emilie and the Sky World, Tordotcom. Reprint.
* May "Data Ghost"
In print and ebook: Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, Editor in chief Julie C. Day, coeditors Carina Bissett and Craig Laurance Gidney, and assistant editor Julia DeRidder.
https://essentialdreams.press/books/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology/
In audio and online: Pseudopod #995, Narrator Rae Lundberg, hostAlasdair Stuart, Audio Producer Chelsea Davis
https://pseudopod.org/2025/09/26/pseudopod-995-data-ghost/
* July 10 "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy"
Reactor Magazine, Art by Jaime Jones, edited by Lee Harris
https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha-wells/
* October 7 Queen Demon, sequel to Witch King, second book in the Rising World series. Tor Books, edited by Lee Harris, art by Cynthia Sheppard, audiobook narrated by Eric Mok
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-demon-martha-wells/1146167707?ean=9781250826916
* There was also a TV show!
May - July Murderbot on Apple TV, produced, written, and directed by Paul and Chris Weitz, guest directors, Aurora Guerrero, Roseanne Liang, and Toa Fraser, executive producer Andrew Miano. Depth of Field, Phantom Four Films, and Paramount.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30444310/fullcredits/
Why Tesla matters so much
5/11/25 08:39solarbirdThis is why some of us are still out there, week after week, protesting at Tesla dealerships:
Here’s the story. It’s old, but it’s still pretty much true. Driving the stake through the heart of Tesla is how to take down the rest.
That’s why those of us who understand that this is a marathon are still getting out there, week in, week out. Not every protest, but over and over again, we’re there.
We’re not there yet. But sales keep falling. The more they’re reminded about who he is, the more sales go down.
We are that reminder.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
Poem: "To the Rational Mind"
5/11/25 02:36ysabetwordsmithToday's second freebie was inspired by new prompter gs_silva. It also fills the "Very little worth knowing is taught by fear." square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. It belongs to the fandom Doctor Who. and follows "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic" so read that first or this won't make much sense.
( Read more... )
gs_silva. It also fills the "Very little worth knowing is taught by fear." square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. It belongs to the fandom Doctor Who. and follows "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic" so read that first or this won't make much sense.( Read more... )
Tags:
Early Humans
5/11/25 00:14ysabetwordsmith2.7-million-year-old tools reveal humanity’s first great innovation
Ancient hominins in Kenya’s Turkana Basin crafted the same style of stone tools for 300,000 years, weathering fire, drought, and shifting ecosystems.
Researchers uncovered a 2.75–2.44 million-year-old site in Kenya showing that early humans maintained stone tool traditions for nearly 300,000 years despite extreme climate swings. The tools, remarkably consistent across generations, helped our ancestors adapt and survive. The discovery reshapes our understanding of how early technology anchored human evolution.
Ancient hominins in Kenya’s Turkana Basin crafted the same style of stone tools for 300,000 years, weathering fire, drought, and shifting ecosystems.
Researchers uncovered a 2.75–2.44 million-year-old site in Kenya showing that early humans maintained stone tool traditions for nearly 300,000 years despite extreme climate swings. The tools, remarkably consistent across generations, helped our ancestors adapt and survive. The discovery reshapes our understanding of how early technology anchored human evolution.
Hard Things
5/11/25 00:10ysabetwordsmithLife is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.
What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?
What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?
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#38 Warnings and Weirdness (part 2 of 2, complete)
4/11/25 21:08dialecticdreamerWarnings and Weirdness
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 2, complete
Word count (story only): 1247
[Sunday, May 10, 2020, afternoon]
:: The Teagues return to the plant nursery, intending to surprise Shandiin with a new herb garden. The visit is very different than they expected. Part of the Edison’s Mirror universe. ::
Back to Warnings and Weirdness, part 1
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to
Aidan stiffened. One foot raised, ready to step back. “I should not have said anything, because you aren’t listening, you’re jumping toward ideas that you already believe.”
“You claimed to know what I am- what I was-” Garegin corrected, “but now you won’t provide any proof? Why?” The word cut the air like a whip.
( Read more... )
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 2, complete
Word count (story only): 1247
[Sunday, May 10, 2020, afternoon]
:: The Teagues return to the plant nursery, intending to surprise Shandiin with a new herb garden. The visit is very different than they expected. Part of the Edison’s Mirror universe. ::
Back to Warnings and Weirdness, part 1
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to
Aidan stiffened. One foot raised, ready to step back. “I should not have said anything, because you aren’t listening, you’re jumping toward ideas that you already believe.”
“You claimed to know what I am- what I was-” Garegin corrected, “but now you won’t provide any proof? Why?” The word cut the air like a whip.
( Read more... )
Tags:
Poem: "Time and Relative Dimensions in Magic"
4/11/25 15:11ysabetwordsmithToday's first freebie was inspired by a backchannel prompt from new prompter ljgeoff. It also fills the "Fairy Ring" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. It belongs to the fandom Doctor Who. The sequel is "To the Rational Mind."
( Read more... )
ljgeoff. It also fills the "Fairy Ring" square in my 11-1-25 card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo fest. It belongs to the fandom Doctor Who. The sequel is "To the Rational Mind."( Read more... )
Tags:
Food
4/11/25 12:41ysabetwordsmithSunflowers may be the future of "vegan meat"
Sunflower flour emerges as a sustainable, nutrient-packed, and surprisingly meat-like plant protein innovation.
A collaboration between Brazilian and German researchers has led to a sunflower-based meat substitute that’s high in protein and minerals. The new ingredient, made from refined sunflower flour, delivers excellent nutritional value and a mild flavor. Tests showed strong texture and healthy fat content, suggesting great potential for use in the growing plant-based food sector.
( Read more... )
Sunflower flour emerges as a sustainable, nutrient-packed, and surprisingly meat-like plant protein innovation.
A collaboration between Brazilian and German researchers has led to a sunflower-based meat substitute that’s high in protein and minerals. The new ingredient, made from refined sunflower flour, delivers excellent nutritional value and a mild flavor. Tests showed strong texture and healthy fat content, suggesting great potential for use in the growing plant-based food sector.
( Read more... )
Birdfeeding
4/11/25 12:39ysabetwordsmithToday is mostly sunny and mild.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a lot more sparrows. The sky has clouded over and is acting like it might rain.
EDIT 11/4/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a lot more sparrows. The sky has clouded over and is acting like it might rain.
EDIT 11/4/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Tags:
Poetry Fishbowl Open!
4/11/25 11:57ysabetwordsmithThe Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and attention. Please keep an eye on this space as I am still writing.
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Fairies and Fey." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I'll be soliciting ideas for fairies, seelie or unseelie sidhe, the Wild Hunt, elves, other types of fey, Radical Faeries, other queers, tricksters, contraries, rebels, adventurers, mentors, historians, explorers, magic users, partners, teachers, leaders, dark lords, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, fantasy species, activists, other unusual fantasy folk, doing magic, doing things backwards, causing mischief, breaking rules, caring for the land, exploring new territory, meeting new species, upsetting predictions, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, Underhill, faery rings, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, castles, ruins, dungeons, dragon lairs, schools, kitchens, campfires, libraries, apothecary shops, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, farmer's markets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, faerie magic, unusual magical systems, magical artifacts, enchanted musical instruments or weapons, quests, time periods other than medieval, governments other than monarchy, dragons, unicorns, enchantments, potions, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, fey time distortions, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo Card 11-1-25
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.
Clay of Life is Jewish fantasy about a blacksmith and a golem.
Dragonsilk is about trauma and recovery.
Hart's Farm is a free love community with a few really exotic characters.
Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.
The Ocracies features all the political systems other than monarchy.
The Odd Trio is about a family consisting of a dwarf, an elf, and a human.
P.I.E. is urban fantasy about paranormal investigations,
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Eric the Elven King has interdimensional refugees. Officer Pink features centaurs and mystic shifters. Vybra of the Broken Angels specializes in fantasy sex and often dresses as a fairy.
Practical Magics is low fantasy with a prosaic focus.
Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.
The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent King Arthur.
Or you can ask for something new.
Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.
( Read more... )
Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "Fairies and Fey." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.
I'll be soliciting ideas for fairies, seelie or unseelie sidhe, the Wild Hunt, elves, other types of fey, Radical Faeries, other queers, tricksters, contraries, rebels, adventurers, mentors, historians, explorers, magic users, partners, teachers, leaders, dark lords, superheroes, supervillains, teammates, fantasy species, activists, other unusual fantasy folk, doing magic, doing things backwards, causing mischief, breaking rules, caring for the land, exploring new territory, meeting new species, upsetting predictions, twisting tropes, flipping stereotypes, expecting the unexpected, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, adapting, improvising, troubleshooting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, going off the rails, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, other fantastic activities, Underhill, faery rings, the forest primeval, underwater, underground, liminal zones, castles, ruins, dungeons, dragon lairs, schools, kitchens, campfires, libraries, apothecary shops, supervillain lairs, makerspaces, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, farmer's markets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other phantasmagoric settings, faerie magic, unusual magical systems, magical artifacts, enchanted musical instruments or weapons, quests, time periods other than medieval, governments other than monarchy, dragons, unicorns, enchantments, potions, reversals, contradictions, conundrums, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, fey time distortions, time travel, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, polarity, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, intercultural entanglements, asking for help and getting it, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
Currently eligible bingo card(s) for donors wishing to sponsor a square:
Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo Card 11-1-25
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia is about live happy lesbians in a quirky fantasy world.
Clay of Life is Jewish fantasy about a blacksmith and a golem.
Dragonsilk is about trauma and recovery.
Hart's Farm is a free love community with a few really exotic characters.
Monster House is suburban fantasy with a diverse household, where the line between truth and fantasy isn't always clear.
The Ocracies features all the political systems other than monarchy.
The Odd Trio is about a family consisting of a dwarf, an elf, and a human.
P.I.E. is urban fantasy about paranormal investigations,
Polychrome Heroics has ordinary humans, supernaries, blue-plate specials, superheroes, supervillains, primal and animal soups all trying to get along and figure out how to make a functional society. Eric the Elven King has interdimensional refugees. Officer Pink features centaurs and mystic shifters. Vybra of the Broken Angels specializes in fantasy sex and often dresses as a fairy.
Practical Magics is low fantasy with a prosaic focus.
Quixotic Ideas is contemporary fantasy where magic integrates with modern life in positive ways.
The Ursulan Cycle is genderbent King Arthur.
Or you can ask for something new.
Boost the signal to reveal a verse in any open linkback poem.
( Read more... )
Tags:
RIP Dick Cheney, 84
4/11/25 08:56thewayneOr should that be good riddance to bad rubbish? Depends on your voting preferences perhaps. Well, mine are fairly well known.
He died from "...complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease." He had already had one heart transplant in 2012 after a long history of cardiovascular disease.
Aside from masterminding the 2003 war in Iraq with no solid basis in facts, Cheney served as an aide to Richard Nixon, stayed as deputy White House chief of staff under Gerald Ford, then Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush with a unanimous Senate vote of 92-0. He also served six terms as a House member rising to become minority party whip.
I will say some good things about him, surprisingly:
-He softened his views on LGBTQ issues when one of his daughters came out
-He voted for Harris in the 2024 election
-He absolutely loathed our current president, stating “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said.
“He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”
Amusingly, starting yesterday the Doonesbury reruns on the Washington Post web site began the series of a Walden reunion where the returning grads are dividing themselves in the tent between pro- and anti- Bush supporters. Rather ironic timing.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/dick-cheney-death-obit
He died from "...complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease." He had already had one heart transplant in 2012 after a long history of cardiovascular disease.
Aside from masterminding the 2003 war in Iraq with no solid basis in facts, Cheney served as an aide to Richard Nixon, stayed as deputy White House chief of staff under Gerald Ford, then Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush with a unanimous Senate vote of 92-0. He also served six terms as a House member rising to become minority party whip.
I will say some good things about him, surprisingly:
-He softened his views on LGBTQ issues when one of his daughters came out
-He voted for Harris in the 2024 election
-He absolutely loathed our current president, stating “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said.
“He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”
Amusingly, starting yesterday the Doonesbury reruns on the Washington Post web site began the series of a Walden reunion where the returning grads are dividing themselves in the tent between pro- and anti- Bush supporters. Rather ironic timing.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/dick-cheney-death-obit
Tags:
thewayneOn the surface, this seems like a nice thing, right? The non-profit gets a fund-raising page for free!
Oh, there are many things wrong with this.
This is completely a ploy by GFM. They built the pages with old information, so potential donors are reading outdated and potentially inaccurate info about the non-profit group. No bueno at all. Apparently the information was scraped mainly from the IRS' publicly-available 501C3 information, and because the IRS is such a well-funded department of the government, the information is not up-to-date.
But the big deal?
GFM takes a slice of every transaction. Every single donation processed through Go Fund Me has a transaction fee of 2.2%. And a suggested tip to GFM of 14.5%, just because of how nice they were to set up these pages for people for free. Without asking or telling them. Oh, and there's an additional $0.30 taken.
So if I give $20 to a non-profit through GFM, there's going to be a $0.22 transaction fee, the automatic $0.30 automatic whateveritis, and let's say I click the tip for GFM because I think that's sweet. That tip is $2.90 at 14.5%. That's $3.42 that I just gave GFM, and $16.58 that went to the charity. The charity got 82.9% of what I wanted to give them. And it might be reduced slightly further from credit card or other processing fees.
Oh, and when a Bay-area TV news team went investigating this, they found the tip slider was set to 16.5% for some non-profits.
Whereas if I went and gave that $20 to them directly, they'd get $20, less any possible credit card or other processing fees, though it's possible that those fees are waived for registered 501(c)3s. Guaranteed higher percentage as you're not going to have people tipping that 14-16.5% to GFM!
THIS is the big problem. GoFundMe is skimming 2.2-17%+ of the donations to these non-profits, converting them straight into corporate profits! And their effort in this? Bot scraping a couple of web sites then programmatically setting up web pages, plus minimal work possibly tweaking these pages, plus hosting.
I'm really in the wrong line of work. Alas, I have morals.
Really, it's very much like Humble Bundle book purchases. Every purchase is split between HB, the publisher, and a charity. That's pretty cool. But the amount that goes to the charity isn't that big. You can adjust the sliders manually if you pay attention, so I divvy it up into as close of thirds as I can.
https://abc7news.com/post/gofundme-created-14-million-donation-pages-nonprofits-bay-area-organizations-had-no-clue/18013410/
https://slashdot.org/story/25/11/02/1728231/gofundme-created-14-million-donation-pages-for-nonprofits-without-their-consent
Oh, there are many things wrong with this.
This is completely a ploy by GFM. They built the pages with old information, so potential donors are reading outdated and potentially inaccurate info about the non-profit group. No bueno at all. Apparently the information was scraped mainly from the IRS' publicly-available 501C3 information, and because the IRS is such a well-funded department of the government, the information is not up-to-date.
But the big deal?
GFM takes a slice of every transaction. Every single donation processed through Go Fund Me has a transaction fee of 2.2%. And a suggested tip to GFM of 14.5%, just because of how nice they were to set up these pages for people for free. Without asking or telling them. Oh, and there's an additional $0.30 taken.
So if I give $20 to a non-profit through GFM, there's going to be a $0.22 transaction fee, the automatic $0.30 automatic whateveritis, and let's say I click the tip for GFM because I think that's sweet. That tip is $2.90 at 14.5%. That's $3.42 that I just gave GFM, and $16.58 that went to the charity. The charity got 82.9% of what I wanted to give them. And it might be reduced slightly further from credit card or other processing fees.
Oh, and when a Bay-area TV news team went investigating this, they found the tip slider was set to 16.5% for some non-profits.
Whereas if I went and gave that $20 to them directly, they'd get $20, less any possible credit card or other processing fees, though it's possible that those fees are waived for registered 501(c)3s. Guaranteed higher percentage as you're not going to have people tipping that 14-16.5% to GFM!
THIS is the big problem. GoFundMe is skimming 2.2-17%+ of the donations to these non-profits, converting them straight into corporate profits! And their effort in this? Bot scraping a couple of web sites then programmatically setting up web pages, plus minimal work possibly tweaking these pages, plus hosting.
I'm really in the wrong line of work. Alas, I have morals.
Really, it's very much like Humble Bundle book purchases. Every purchase is split between HB, the publisher, and a charity. That's pretty cool. But the amount that goes to the charity isn't that big. You can adjust the sliders manually if you pay attention, so I divvy it up into as close of thirds as I can.
https://abc7news.com/post/gofundme-created-14-million-donation-pages-nonprofits-bay-area-organizations-had-no-clue/18013410/
https://slashdot.org/story/25/11/02/1728231/gofundme-created-14-million-donation-pages-for-nonprofits-without-their-consent
Paying it forward
4/11/25 08:22jadelennoxIf anyone needs a hand to get through this month, let me know. You don’t need to explain, it doesn’t need to be SNAP related in any way. Comments screened. (Not doing friend of a friend stuff, just you, people who read this.)
I will probably make this post private in like a week out of sheer embarrassment so ask soon if you need something.
Argh!
1/11/25 23:08conulyI took over Jenn's game of Cult of the Lamb - which may have been a mistake, because her angry followers whom she starved now pop out of chests and try to kill me - and I defeated the big boss and converted him into a follower. And then I resurrected somebody, and literally the second I stepped outside my temple to go to the healing hut to heal the resurrected follower, the resurrectee ate him. So now I have to do a new resurrection!
ysabetwordsmithThese pictures show the next phase of assembling the lantern terrarium. (Start with Photos: Fairy Garden Lantern Deconstruction, Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 1 Gathering Materials. Continue with Photos: Lantern Terrarium Assembly Part 3 Adding Air Plants.)
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