Notices by Lili Saintcrow (lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com), page 8

For those asking, the sugar is because someone who loves their dear old mum brought doughnuts home this morning, and I may have gone face-down in said baked goods while weeping about the sheer amount of work I've put off the last two weeks.

"Both Putin's invasions of Ukraine and the January 6, 2021, insurrection recall a deadly form of coercive control: the former husband or boyfriend furious that she left him and somehow intent on terrorizing her into returning or destroying her if she resists..."
https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/the-she-made-him-do-it-theory-of-everything-2/

It also hasn’t escaped me that the rise of the “AI” grift and the sudden spike in furious harassment when I dare to give a piece of writing advice which requires actual effort are… well, entirely parallel.

People wonder why I don’t do weekly craft posts anymore. I don’t have time for the threats.

Another quote: "To control personnel psychologically, and to destroy the integrity of an institutional mission, you must not only assign people to what they don’t do, and shouldn’t do, but make them seem to do it to themselves..."

"The hallmark of totalitarianism at this stage isn’t genocide or extremes of violence. It is doubled or twofold organization."
https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/the-fork-in-the-road/

From the above-linked article: "...to corner the most status-quo-seeking individuals into the temptation to do wrong, and dirty their hands for the sake of keeping the status quo, inviting them to do a “minor” wrong in order to steer back toward “normalcy”..."

"The good news is that you can do a handful of simple things that will make Windows work for you, instead of for Microsoft."
https://next.content.town/p/unfucking-windows-for-fun-and-profit

Crock pot bubbling, fresh bread out of the oven and on cooling rack. The house smells divine, and it's finally warm enough after days of freezing and snow.

There are still good things. Holding to them, insofar as I can.

"With his authoritarian orders, the president—and his unelected South African Rasputin—have not only pre-emptively cut off discussion and debate, they have eliminated the fundamental tools of discussion and debate, namely words themselves."
https://lithub.com/winter-is-here-on-the-chilling-effect-of-elon-musk-and-donald-trump/

"Lamar gave Williams space to reclaim that dance as he was rapping about the ills of folks who don’t belong in the same universe as Black excellence trying to tell us what to do."
https://andscape.com/features/genius-of-kendrick-lamars-super-bowl-halftime-performance/

"This is the way that tens if not hundreds of millions of people are introduced to software, and the software they’re introduced to is inherently exploitative."
https://www.wheresyoured.at/what-were-fighting-for/

"Bagenstos told Popular Information that both judges were "very clear" about the scope of the TROs and that the NIH is violating both orders."
https://popular.info/p/trump-maintains-funding-freeze-at

There's a dual problem here: The felon in the White House and his brownshirts will not stop until they are removed from power and placed in jail cells; and many of our institutions are falling over themselves to comply in advance.

"...a country with a functional, if flawed, democratic machinery handed absolute power over to someone who could never claim a majority in an actual election and whom the entire conservative political class regarded as a chaotic clown with a violent following."
https://kottke.org/25/02/the-power-of-chaos

A diverse, educated populace is difficult to control. Intense effort must be made to sicken, rob, and dumb-propagandise en masse, in order to take control.

That’s why they’re prioritising book bans, antivaxxing, and the “AI” grift. Oligarchs and dictators require scared, sick, stupid slaves.

So let me get this straight, an unelected South African fraudster is wandering around government buildings with a bunch of podcast-addicted NeoNazi groypers, stealing sensitive taxpayer data, and the billionaire-owned press doesn’t see a story there?

On Presuming Good Faith
https://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/2025/02/on-presuming-good-faith/

In which I have a simple script, I am not taking questions on plain truth, and you can prove it for yourself.

So many things I'd be able to do, see, experience if I weren't trying so hard to survive successive rising waves of violent fascist corruption.

It's all just such a *waste*--deliberately engineered to steal our time, effort, and energy so a few vile, greedy rich men can grub up another few pennies.

Alas, Poor Mug
https://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/2025/01/alas-poor-mug/