Mastodawn

Meg Pillow May 13, 2023

Earlier this week, I tweeted about wanting to read more single mom essays about Mother’s Day. Lyz Lenz was kind enough to let me write one for her newsletter. I hope you’ll read and share.

I’ve been focusing on longform projects for quite a while and haven’t published a piece in a minute, so getting to write this is especially meaningful to me. Thanks to Lyz for giving me the space and to Serena Golden for the excellent edits.

https://lyz.substack.com/p/a-single-moms-manifesto-for-mothers

A Single Mom’s Manifesto for Mother’s Day

A guest essay by Megan Pillow

Men Yell at Me

Meg Pillow Apr 9, 2023

Caroline Orr Bueno Apr 8, 2023

Over on the bad site, Twitter has lifted restrictions on Kremlin accounts and is no longer limiting the reach of Kremlin media accounts.

Russian government tweets are appearing in Twitter’s algorithmically-driven “For You” feed for newly created accounts, even when they did not follow them. So Twitter is not just *showing* these Kremlin accounts — it's algorithmically *boosting* them.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2023/04/07/elon-musk-twitter-lifts-restrictions-putin-kremlin-russia/

Putin's Twitter account resurfaces as Russia comes in from the cold

Elon Musk’s social media site lifts restrictions on Kremlin-linked tweets

The Telegraph

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Meg Pillow Apr 4, 2023

Apps are due May 1, and I’ll make decisions by early June. I hope you’ll follow our progress this year and will help me support talented emerging writers and KHJN! Please share!

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Meg Pillow Apr 4, 2023

I’m offering this for free because I’ve had a lot of support for my writing from generous people, and this is a small chance for me to give back. I also hope to raise visibility for Kentucky Health Justice Network and its work to support abortion and gender-affirming care in KY.

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Meg Pillow Apr 4, 2023

This will be a small cohort - no more than 10 ppl - and we’ll meet twice a month for a year for both seminars and workshops. I’m also prioritizing the applications of BIPOC folks, trans and queer folks, disabled folks, and folks with low incomes.

Show thread

Meg Pillow Apr 4, 2023

MFAs aren’t accessible for all talented writers, and they aren’t necessary to be a successful writer. But folks should still be able to access MFA-quality workshops that offer a long-term rather than intensive workshop experience. That’s what I’ll try to offer in miniature here.

Meg Pillow Apr 4, 2023

I’ve got a few personal projects in the works this year that I’m really excited about, and today I’m launching one of them: Craft Year is a free, year-long online writing workshop for people without MFAs. I’ll do a short thread here, but read more about it and apply to join on my website if you’re eligible!

Meg Pillow Mar 1, 2023

Laura Anne Gilman Mar 1, 2023

They will still be making a profit. Just not one that was (literally) killing people.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/eli-lilly-caps-cost-insulin-35-month-rcna72713

#medical #insulin

Drugmaker Eli Lilly caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month, bringing relief for millions

Eli Lilly said it would cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 per month. More than 8 million people with diabetes rely on insulin, which is notoriously expensive in the U.S.

NBC News

Meg Pillow Mar 1, 2023

Augie Ray Feb 28, 2023

My fear at this stage of the #COVID19 pandemic is that we'll see a slow drip of data and studies showing just how much damage repeat COVID infections are doing to our body. We'll realize, too late, how much safer we should've been.

This is one small example: A Sharp Rise in Autoimmune Encephalitis in the COVID-19 Era. “We may be entering an era of heightened autoimmune encephalitis,” which is a set of related conditions in which the immune system attacks the brain.

https://www.cureus.com/articles/130722-a-sharp-rise-in-autoimmune-encephalitis-in-the-covid-19-era-a-case-series#!/

A Sharp Rise in Autoimmune Encephalitis in the COVID-19 Era: A Case Series

Background: Autoimmune encephalitis was very rare prior to the current pandemic. A sharp rise in cases has been observed from March to August of 2022 in Los Angeles. Such an increase, especially with certain types of antibodies, may point toward the possibility of post-infectious autoimmune encephalitis. While review articles on autoimmune encephalitis during this pandemic have been published, a sharp rise in one geographic area within a short period of time has not been documented yet. Aims: To report an alarming increase in autoimmune encephalitis with mostly positive glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and/or voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) antibodies over six months during 2022 in Downtown Los Angeles. Material and methods: This is an observational case series from one neurocritical care practice in Downtown Los Angeles. Autoimmune encephalitis antibody panels were sent to patients with altered mental status or neurologic deficits of unclear etiology from March to August of 2022. Results: Of the 29 patients tested, 12 reports came back positive. Ten had positive GAD and/or VGKC antibodies, one had a positive myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody, and one had a positive leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 protein antibody; a 41% positive rate. Conclusions: This observation has important implications: (1) We may be entering an era of heightened autoimmune encephalitis. (2) These occurrences may be post-infectious in nature at this point of the pandemic. (3) Mostly GAD and VGKC antibodies have been identified (10 of them), which may point toward a new direction of research from a molecular mimicry standpoint. (4) To benefit patients, clinicians need to be aware of such disease manifestations and increase testing; resources must be increased to improve test availability and shorten turnaround time; and treatment, which is expansive, must be made widely available for these potentially reversible diseases.

Meg Pillow Feb 20, 2023

Yoko's Asterisk 🏳️‍⚧Feb 20, 2023

Imagine if there were people who kept saying, "I'm not homophobic, but I think gay men should be kept out of locker rooms so they don't assault straight men. And I also think gays and lesbians shouldn't be allowed to marry because that takes away from from straight marriages. Also I think they're converting the youth. Still, I support gays' right to exist."

And the mainstream press was like, "SEE? They're not homophobic. They even said so." That's where we are now with trans people.

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