Tom Maxwell

Platinum-selling #musician then (author of the Squirrel Nut Zippers' hit "Hell"), #writer now (bylines in The Oxford American, Longreads, Al-Jazeera America & others; currently scribbling A Really Strange and Wonderful Time for Hachette, 2024). The other half of Audible's upcoming Shelved #podcast. Loves #music, #science, #culture, #cooking, and #HighStrangeness. Left of lefty. He/him.

Public Key

npub179jf49hvhrjamcnfd9dnqakr7v4rvsh3tcuj75x8c6s0f3kg4mmqg5zq8u

NIP-05 Address

tommyyum_at_mstdn.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs0zey6jmkt3ewauf5kjkeswmplx23kgtc4uwf02rrudg85cmy2aaspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q27j7qt

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub179jf49hvhrjamcnfd9dnqakr7v4rvsh3tcuj75x8c6s0f3kg4mmqg5zq8u

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Last Notes

2024-06-22 16:15:52

This was very enlightening. Thank you @npub1hyk…3p33! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?i=1000659817802

2024-06-10 02:04:40

“Einstein argued that capitalism results ‘an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society’.
‘Moreover, private capitalists inevitably control the main sources of information (press, radio, education).
‘It is thus extremely difficult for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights’.”
https://fullfact.org/online/Einstein-warning-rich-control-communication/

2024-05-27 21:23:27

“250 years later, Americans are hearing a new call to arms. Citizen archivists are needed to transcribe original pension applications from the nation's first veterans into a massive database − and help reveal their extraordinary and untold stories.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/27/revolutionary-war-hero-transcription-pension-project/73706327007/

2024-05-08 17:08:39

Farewell, and thanks.
Producer Steve Albini dead at 61.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/08/steve-albini-us-alt-rock-musician-and-producer-dies-aged-61

2024-03-11 19:59:42

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@npub1855…kyza @npub1qzc…yetl @npub1gmx…atcq The (apparent) fact that billionaires somehow think they can survive the impending mass extinction event is boggling.

2024-02-09 20:46:55

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@npub18rf…g8k4 @npub1c5l…llq0 @npub1hyk…3p33 Veni, vidi, enshitifici

2024-02-03 01:53:33

Farewell, and thanks. RIP rock singer and guitarist Wayne Kramer
#MC5 #rock #music https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/02/wayne-kramer-co-founder-of-rock-band-mc5-dies-aged-75

2023-12-03 23:48:04

I did a thing last night and had a ball. Yes, I play barefoot. Always have. #drum #music
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/111/519/150/814/671/885/original/2187f7059491ad2f.jpeg

2023-11-29 22:15:10

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@npub19fc…ay3c
I don’t believe death is the end of consciousness; neither do I believe in the eternal persistence of a discrete ego identity. We are each a wave upon an unfathomable ocean, to which we shall return.

2023-11-17 14:42:47

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@npub13hf…sn5w It shall not stand! 💨

2023-11-17 14:15:42

Wordle claimed that “farty” isn’t a real word, and our Boston terrier Finneas would like to object. #DogsOfMastodon
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/111/426/305/305/197/899/original/b5cb223b97c927eb.jpeg

2023-10-29 01:18:17

“Matthew Perry, star of Friends, Mr. Sunshine, and The Odd Couple, is dead at 54. He drowned and was found in a jacuzzi, reports TMZ, with no foul play suspected.”
https://boingboing.net/2023/10/28/matthew-perry-dead-at-54.html

2023-10-27 14:15:53

For those of you thrown into a state of ontological shock at the recent mainstreaming of #UFO and other #AnomolousPhenomena, this paper by Jacques Vallee and Eric Davis might be of interest. "Incommensurability, Orthodoxy and the Physics of High Strangeness: a 6-layer Model for Anomalous Phenomena": https://bdigital.ufp.pt/bitstream/10284/781/1/223-239Cons-Ciencias.pdf

2023-10-26 00:38:05

New Orleans’ own. Jean Knight — “Mr. Big Stuff” #soul #music https://youtube.com/watch?v=9f4CyQto-0E&si=wcyIFDERfBhZLmtt

2023-10-24 14:29:48

I wrote this maybe eight years ago as a way of exorcising memories of some dark paranormal experiences. It went on to become one of The Bitter Southerner’s most read pieces. My partner and I still refuse to get within viewing distance of the house. https://bittersoutherner.com/we-salted-nannie-southern-ghost-story

2023-10-20 22:56:20

“The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their "vital interests" are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the ‘sanctity’ of human life, or the ‘conscience’ of the civilized world.”
— James Baldwin

2023-09-27 17:11:43

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@npub1lnm…624t I would argue that Trump’s already done the Republic an indispensable favor by pointed out every single weakness, flaw, and loophole that existed in all three branches of government — starting with all of the behavioral expectations based on the honor system.

2023-09-22 14:56:50

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@npub14cq…k7mw Not after its been bankrupted. Hopefully he’ll take a page from his father’s playbook and sell the company before it implodes.

2023-09-21 22:57:43

A very promising cancer tumor treatment is already performing well in tests on mice and dogs.
“The affected cells show cell-cycle arrest, replication stress, apoptosis, and so on. And application of AOH1996 along with other known chemotherapy agents made the cells much more sensitive to those, presumably because they couldn’t deal with those on top of the problems that AOH1996 was already causing.”
https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/new-mode-cancer-treatment

2023-09-17 20:59:43

“Topics covered include spotting bullshit, the spread of bullshit, causality, statistical trickery, misleading data visualization, publication bias, and more. The main focus is the credibility of research results reported in scientific journals and popular media, though the concepts covered in class can translate to other areas where truth is compromised.”
https://artsci.washington.edu/news/2023-09/hows-your-bs-detector

2023-09-17 20:24:16

I wrote a couple songs with #AniDiFranco once. This is one of them. Tom Maxwell & the Minor Drag: "The Funky Knuckle" #original #music https://youtu.be/yH_dODiLj0c?si=MyNeDpy4HXcV0PU9

2023-09-17 17:21:03

"What astonished us was the significant positive impacts of the cash transfers. Cash recipients spent 99 fewer days in homelessness on average over one year.
That led to net cost savings of $777 per person per year. That means the cash transfers actually saved the government and taxpayers money. Cash recipients increased spending on rent, food, transit and things like furniture or a car.
Importantly, they did not increase spending on alcohol, drugs and cigarettes."
https://theconversation.com/we-gave-7-500-to-people-experiencing-homelessness-heres-what-happened-next-212960

2023-09-16 02:20:48

“The new ‘inverse vaccine’ removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule. While such immune memory erasure would be unwanted for infectious diseases, it can stop autoimmune reactions like those seen in multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or Crohn’s disease, in which the immune system attacks a person’s healthy tissues.”
https://scitechdaily.com/new-vaccine-can-completely-reverse-autoimmune-diseases-like-multiple-sclerosis-type-1-diabetes-and-crohns-disease/

2023-09-12 22:05:17

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@npub189n…satx It’s becoming a species-survival imperative to eliminate the billionaire class. My vote is we do it non-violently, but it’s gotta happen either way.

2023-09-08 22:18:28

Ever so often this pops into my head. Still sadly relevant. An excerpt from a 1932 Fleischer Bros. cartoon called “Betty Boop for President,” featuring a song by her opponent, a certain Mr. Nobody. https://youtu.be/Z80BrugnLVs?si=olx44uG-61ntY1TN #1930s #cartoon

2023-09-04 19:59:55

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@npub189n…satx @npub1swy…snpj 💚 Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

2023-09-04 19:31:31

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@npub189n…satx @npub1swy…snpj I was happy to do it. https://tommaxwell-32724.medium.com/a-damn-poor-hell-c85136b70e1f

2023-09-03 15:09:00

So why are Scientologists so keen to keep the public from picking through their E-meter software? "My hunch is that the Scientologists think granting the hacking community permission to dig into their E-Meter software will expose the whole operation as snake oil," iFixit director of sustainability Elizabeth Chamberlain said.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/01/right_to_repair_scientology/

2023-08-30 21:46:54

Shit’s getting real. The galley proofs of my new book just came in. #writing #BookPublishing
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/110/980/755/190/144/728/original/50c1df6f2d605a5d.jpg

2023-08-26 12:42:53

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@npub189n…satx It’s like availing yourself to that window booth in your favorite cafe; the one that is normally always taken. Good morning!

2023-08-23 01:52:55

“The former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and the resulting attack on the U.S. Capitol, place him squarely within the ambit of the disqualification clause, and he is therefore ineligible to serve as president ever again. The most pressing constitutional question facing our country at this moment, then, is whether we will abide by this clear command of the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification clause.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/donald-trump-constitutionally-prohibited-presidency/675048/

2023-08-18 16:08:49

This is going to go well for The Leprosy State.
“The Walt Disney Company has just filed a countersuit against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District for violation of the Florida Constitution. This 55-page filing denies the District Board’s claims and accuses the board of Breach of Contract, as well as violating the state constitution.”
https://insidethemagic.net/2023/08/disney-sues-gov-desantis-board-florida-violating-ld1/

2023-08-12 20:08:32

“What’s unique about this situation is that the white pontoon people really thought they could gang up on and beat the crap out of a Black person who was just doing his job, while a bunch of other Black folks looked on, as if those other Black folks wouldn’t do anything to stop them.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/how-black-people-won-the-battle-of-montgomery/

2023-08-09 01:47:09

“Voters saw Issue 1 for what it was: a deceptive power grab designed to silence their voices and diminish their voting power,” Dennis Willard, spokesperson One Person One Vote, the main group opposing Issue 1, said in a statement. “We defeated Issue 1 because an enormous coalition that spans ideological divides came together to defend democracy.” https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/08/ohio-constitution-abortion-voting-00110394

2023-08-07 16:41:57

Justice is being shot out of a Cannon.
“MSNBC host and former prosecutor Katie Phang: ‘If the DOJ filed under seal certain documents, and Judge Cannon just disclosed the existence of an otherwise confidential grand jury proceeding, we might be at the motion for recusal stage for the DOJ…’”
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-aileen-cannon-2662883975/

2023-08-06 02:18:32

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@npub1mus…lhp7 @npub1wjj…xnw7 Relentless! I have the added benefit of *still* being unnerved by the “murder scream” all these years later. Also, THAT DRUMMER

2023-08-06 02:09:29

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@npub1mus…lhp7 @npub1wjj…xnw7 Monsters every one.

2023-07-30 22:22:16

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@npub1w66…jcep @npub1rax…8p4w
“I meet a lot of people and see some great looking babes. A fire engine goes by, and I give them the thumbs up. I ask a woman what kind of dog that is.
Of course, computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don't realize — or they don't care — is we're dancing animals. We love to move around. We're not supposed to dance at all anymore.” 2/2

2023-07-30 22:22:16

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@npub1w66…jcep @npub1rax…8p4w
I’m reminded of Kurt Vonnegut’s story about telling his wife he was going out to buy an envelope.
“‘Oh, she says, ‘You're not a poor man. Why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?’
I pretend not to hear her and go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.” 1/2

2023-07-18 16:39:40

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@npub1lnm…624t @npub1m0x…zf8x Let justice flow like a mighty river.

2023-07-16 19:06:37

“The problem is that quantum computers are incredibly sensitive to, well, everything. They have to operate in sealed, cryogenically cooled cases. Even a stray photon can cause a qubit to “decohere” or lose its quantum state, which creates all kinds of wild errors that interfere with the calculation of the problem. Until now, adding more qubits has also meant increasing your chances of getting a random error.”
https://www.popsci.com/technology/google-quantum-error-correction/

2023-07-16 18:40:31

Though Birkin worked with some of the world’s finest film-makers, including Jacques Rivette and Agnès Varda, she knew that Je T’aime … would be remembered above everything else she did. “When I die, that’ll be the tune they play, as I go out feet first,” she said. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jul/16/jane-birkin-obituary

2023-07-03 17:16:05

“In a small study supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), researchers examined the cognitive impact of COVID-19 on people with dementia. The researchers found that having COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the structural and functional brain deterioration of patients with dementia, regardless of the type of dementia being experienced.”
https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/rapid-progression-dementia-following-covid-19

2023-07-03 14:08:13

“A civil rights group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni.
Backlash against the practice has been building in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court’s decision ending affirmative action in college admissions.”
https://apnews.com/article/legacy-admissions-affirmative-action-colleges-4a4e1191274e91e695e0631ff5156875

2023-06-28 00:09:15

🤯🤯🤯
“Grusch said the recoveries of partial fragments through and up to intact vehicles have been made for decades through the present day by the government, its allies, and defense contractors. Analysis has determined that the objects retrieved are ‘of exotic origin (non-human intelligence) based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures,’ he said.”
https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/

2023-06-26 00:25:05

“The Wagner Group mercenaries marched 800 kilometers across Russia, shot down planes and helicopters, took over a regional military command, provoked a panic in Moscow—troops dug trenches, the mayor told everyone to stay home—and then stood down. Yet in a way, the strangest aspect of Saturday’s aborted coup was the reaction of the people of Rostov-on-Don, including the city’s military leaders, to the soldiers who arrived and declared themselves to be their new rulers.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/putin-caught-in-his-own-trap/674524/

2023-06-23 19:17:30

“Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html

2023-06-22 21:23:03

This reflects my feelings.
“Titan and Adriana are two vessels recently lost at sea, four days and 4,000 miles apart. The five men who lost their lives on the Titan have been getting wall-to-wall coverage in the media worldwide. Meanwhile, the estimated 700 who died when the Adriana sank off the coast of Greece, mostly women and children, have been essentially forgotten.”
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/22/a_titanic_disparity_in_how_the

2023-06-22 02:23:52

“More than 57,000 years have passed since Paleolithic humans stood before the cave wall, with its soft, chalky rock beckoning like a blank canvas. Their thoughts and intentions are forever unknowable. But by dragging their fingers across the rock and pushing them into the cave wall, these creative cave dwellers deliberately produced enduring lines and dots that would lie hidden beneath the French countryside for tens of thousands of years.”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-known-neanderthal-engravings-discovered-in-french-cave-180982408/

2023-06-19 14:11:36

Some days there’s not enough coffee in the world.

2023-06-13 20:41:06

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 Completely agree. I didn’t say that out of feeling for the newest burned Trump toady. I said it because his testimony would be additional nails in Trump’s legal coffin.

2023-06-13 20:36:38

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 A boy can dream. On the other hand, I sure hope Nauta wakes up! If not, there’s a bud with his name on it.

2023-06-13 20:32:46

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 Can't read these kinds of tea leaves, but last I heard Nauta was being repped by a lawyer paid by Trump's PAC. Now he needs a new lawyer and did not enter a plea? Could this suggest a potential flip deal with prosecutors?

2023-06-10 00:05:56

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@npub1flx…3hyr @npub15ef…n95r I genuinely believe that MAGA is ultimately going to cut Trump loose. Not because of any kind of newly-developed moral compass, of course, but because their loyalty to him was based upon proximity to power and right now Trump has none. They didn’t turn out in NYC to support him and they won’t in Miami. At least not in significant numbers.

2023-06-06 00:46:03

“Paleontologists in South Africa said Monday they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behavior.”
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-world-oldest-known-burial-site-safrica.html

2023-06-05 18:40:32

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 Not at all! Trump did it, because he’s consummately annoying. (If you did it, I wouldn’t care much less comment.)

2023-06-05 18:36:03

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 Entirely parenthetical, but apostrophes-as-plural are becoming a pet peeve

2023-05-21 12:44:08

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@npub1psy…pasy Well done Washy!

2023-05-19 13:32:20

This is tough. RIP Andy Rourke of The Smiths.
Guitarist Johnny Marr: “Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans.” https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2023/05/19/news/johnny_marr_pays_tribute_after_the_smiths_bassist_andy_rourke_dies_aged_59-3289546/

2023-05-16 23:25:47

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@npub1psy…pasy Thank you!

2023-05-08 19:07:42

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@npub1v2s…mqq5 He’s really good at making a bad situation worse!

2023-05-07 22:29:17

#DogsOfMastodon #pupdate Finneas is now seven months old. I may or may not have said the word “treat” prior to taking this picture.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/110/329/756/634/728/179/original/f78aecebdaab2699.jpg

2023-05-02 04:35:14

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 @npub1kpv…ye0h @npub1ugl…wx5l Glad you’re here.

2023-04-28 19:47:05

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#[0] #[1] Gee I wish this centuries-old patriarchal document had provided some meaningful ways to hold unethical Supreme Court justices accountable!

2023-04-28 19:24:48

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#[0] #[1] SCOTUS has lost all credibility.

2023-04-26 19:08:40

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#[0] How many more people has he assaulted?