# good writing (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 5 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover good writing. Page: Feed: --- ## [To be renamed the ‘Here We Arm Early Center’.](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84072) _2026-08-21 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ In Goleta California, a gun shop is about to open right next door to Here We Grow Early Learning Center, a preschool. ## [“The mirror crack’d from side to side / ‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried / The Lady of Shallot.”](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84070) _2026-08-21 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Fraudster Christine Hunsicker, sentenced to five years for stealing millions from her investors, said it wasn’t her fault and she shouldn’t go to jail because in 2017 “ a 30-pound mirror fell on her head, causing physical and mental effects that helped trigger the crime.” ## [These lassies! If it’s not their periods, then it’s worry about their … freshness.](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84067) _2026-08-20 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ ‘\[First Minister\] John Swinney has defended the use of more than £45,000 of public funds on business-class flights … to the World Cup. … Justice Secretary Neil Gray defended the business class flights as a means of ensuring ministers “arrive fresh” when they travel overseas… “\[I\]t is right that they are able to arrive fresh, \[…\] ## [Instead a boy](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84064) _2026-08-20 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ \[O\]fficers were dispatched to the 1600 block of Rosedale Street NE for a report of a man down. But when they arrived, police found that it was instead a boy suffering from a gunshot wound on the sidewalk. First responders declared the boy dead, later announcing his identity as 13-year-old Ahmad Mims. A 12 year \[…\] ## [‘Savannah Mayor Van Johnson addressed three separate shooting incidents that occurred Tuesday, saying they happened during a period of overall decline in violent crime across the city.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84060) _2026-08-20 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ AWKward. As Mayor, you are of course bound to repeat the mantra crimedeclinecrimedecline til you’re blue (red?) in the face. You are also, cognitive-dissonantly, in charge of admitting that, whatever the stats, your city’s still an abattoir, with beaucoup bloodletting even on Tuesdays. Time was people respected the Friday night to Saturday night special shooter \[…\] ## [The World According to Tarp](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84058) _2026-08-20 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ ‘KENNEDY TARP TO STAY UP INDEFINITELY, SAY LAWYERS’ Sing it. O tarp of my country! in darkness lies KennedyThe vile name of DT hath hung o’er thee long;When proudly, beloved land’s tarp, we unbind theeThen all will return to light, freedom and song! The warm lay of love and the light tone of gladnessWill waken \[…\] ## [‘DHS, which ended the program in 2024 and has since taken down the web pages listing previous award winners, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that recipients didn’t get any monetary or material award, just a certificate and plaque.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84052) _2026-08-19 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ The Minnesota Dept of Human Services has had serious second thoughts about their OUTSTANDING REFUGEE AWARD program. It is backpedaling to beat the band, if UD may mix metaphors. The program, that is, has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a \[…\] ## [Wisconsin State Fair a HUGE Success!](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84050) _2026-08-19 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ No one pulled out a gun, even though there were lots of serious fights with injuries and arrests. No one pulled out a gun! There was no mass slaughter. State officials have already been invited to several other cities around the country to advise law enforcement on how they did it, and on how other \[…\] ## [Harvard’s Ricardo Hausmann:](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84041) _2026-08-18 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ THEORY. and…… PRACTICE. ## [‘The covered woman is marked as protected; the uncovered woman as available. The command to veil is underwritten by the doctrine of fitna, which treats the female body as an inherently sinful object of lust that must be hidden so that men are not led astray. The veil, then, marks a woman as private and restricted property. When young Muslim girls begin to veil, they are being groomed for docility. There is nothing empowering or liberating about donning the hijab. It is an act of submission.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84033) _2026-08-18 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Can you really be surprised that a group of Palo Alto parents who revile the thought of their daughters as docile submissives are suing? A group of Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian parents share the sentiment of millions of Iranian women that the hijab is unacceptable, and they wonder why their daughters were instructed to wear \[…\] ## [Licensed Dispensaries, Pay with Crypto (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/G6tqPM6UiaFf) _2026-08-18 · **Sponsored**_ Search verified licensed dispensaries and pay with Bitcoin, Lightning, or stablecoins. ## [‘“Packaging was done by fraternity brothers and oftentimes pledges,” Sunday said.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84030) _2026-08-18 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ The volunteerism of university frat houses is always inspiring, be it car washes for St Jude’s, or packages for Somalia… or, uh, Cocania… \[C\]utting and bagging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities. We’re speaking of storied Penn State, the only American university whose president went to \[…\] ## [Sarah Ditum, a really good writer…](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84028) _2026-08-17 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ … writes one of the best Jason Arday considerations. The story … raised questions … about academic standards in the humanities, regarding both Arday’s education (Liverpool John Moores, which awarded his doctorate, confirmed that he had received just one in-person supervision while writing his PhD, which was later found to have substantial signs of plagiarism) \[…\] ## [Triple Mixed Metaphor](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84026) _2026-08-17 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Clinical trials show that most patients’ depressive symptoms improved with the drugs, but there’s been growing backlash that they’ve been overprescribed and can leave users hooked without an exit ramp. How to fix? Whiplash… stalled … exit ramp? ## [“We are asking why and how this could happen in our community.”](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84021) _2026-08-17 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Bullshit. The latest massacre in Kentucky prompts a local pol to wonder why why why. So here you go: Kentucky’s gun laws are among the worst in the country, and the state’s gun death rate is above the national average. Kentucky has none of the foundational policies in place—after legislators repealed its concealed carry permitting \[…\] ## [Come to the Doddridge WV County Fair!](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84019) _2026-08-17 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ A cop working the fair last Saturday saw a man beating up his wife. When the deputy intervened and identified himself in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, \[Thomas\] Smith reportedly told the deputy it was “none of his business.” Smith then pulled out a loaded 9mm pistol, pointed it at the deputy’s head, and \[…\] ## [Friday Night, Saturday Morning, Part Two.](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84015) _2026-08-16 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Nineteen years old, armed with a big gun, out and about at 1:30 AM. Ready, aim, fire. How did Virginia State security let it happen? Does VSU have security? ## [‘If, in hindsight, elements of Dr. Arday’s story seemed too good to be true, Cambridge ignored repeated warning signs. A review of internal Cambridge documents and interviews with former colleagues and associates shows that, in addition to passing over more experienced candidates for the job, administrators gushed publicly about Dr. Arday’s scholarship and privately disregarded complaints about his work. They declined to investigate plagiarism concerns and accused his critics of a “vile campaign” to discredit him.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84009) _2026-08-16 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ ‘Dr. Arday … worked hard to silence any questioning of his credentials. When a journalist for Times Higher Education, a respected academic industry publication, asked about plagiarism last year, a prominent British defamation law firm helped kill the article, the journalist said. Dr. Arday later reported the journalist to the police. When a scholar from \[ \] ## [Friday Night, Saturday Morning](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=84002) _2026-08-15 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Twelve years ago, UD expressed amazement at the incredibly, endlessly, violent Virginia State University: Virginia State, where only a few months ago two students were hazed to death, should definitely come with a warning. At a recent event celebrating its athletic conference, its football team beat an opposing quarterback so badly the game that had been scheduled for the \[ \] ## [‘\[Edward\] Wasserman stressed that a hyperlink doesn’t turn lifted text into original work.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83999) _2026-08-15 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Duh. But young-man-in-a-hurry Ross Barkan thought he’d give plagiarism via hyperlink a try. It worked for awhile. Eventually some of the writers whose words he lifted got pissed and called him on it. He’s been fired. ## [‘\[The 14 year old’s\] charges include…](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83997) _2026-08-15 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ … aggravated assault with a firearm, disrupting public schools, receiving stolen property, possession of a handgun by someone under 18 and possession of a gun in a school safety zone.’ They grow up so fast! ## [Dissecting Series A Rounds (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/QL46kuDmkPMd) _2026-08-15 · **Sponsored**_ Two real Series A cases: timelines, investor sequencing, and common founder mistakes. ## [‘\[P\]ublic attention has finally moved the psychiatric profession to take steps to address deprescribing.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83994) _2026-08-14 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ Deprescribing. A new word, and not a pretty one; but we can expect to see it a lot as the 17 percent of Americans on antidepressants begin to wonder why it’s so hard to get off of them. ## [Jason Arday has been found dead.](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83988) _2026-08-14 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ The New York Times. When I read this observation the other day, it seemed correct. “\[Jason\] Arday is a serial fabulist who seems quite unwell.” ## [‘\[At\] the very moment transparency is called for, the very faculty directory on which Jason Arday was a member has disappeared. As the world tries to make sense of what happened inside the \[Cambridge University\] Faculty of Education, one of the most basic pieces of information about the school – who actually works there – is suddenly no longer publicly accessible.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83986) _2026-08-14 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ True, true. Access has been denied. But we do know antediluvian Islamist Farah Ahmed works there, and her personal page still allows us access. What about the rest of the Arday/Ahmed/etcetc crew? What else ya got? ## [Come to my poetry lectures this October.](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83983) _2026-08-14 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ ## [‘\[T\]elehealth sites are similar to “pill mills,” where the prescribers generate prescriptions if there is any conceivable reason to do so. “If you can just go to a website and get the drug you’re seeking after a cursory asynchronous questionnaire, it commercializes medicine in a way that’s a little bit dangerous.’](https://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=83972) _2026-08-14 · Margaret Soltan · University Diaries_ In the dear dead days beyond recall of this blog, we covered paltry neighborhood pill mills as we traced America’s addictions from sea to shining sea. Now, along with education and religion, Mother’s Little Helpers (see pharmed-up poster girl Lindsay Clancy) are going online, so you don’t have to wait all day in squalid parking \[ \] ## [KIDS THESE DAYS](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/kids-these-days) _2026-08-08 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ Allow me to complain a little ## [Pardon me, but ...](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/pardon-me-but) _2026-08-02 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ Everything's an interruption ## [ANNIE TALKS TO AMY POEHLER](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/annie-talks-to-amy-poehler) _2026-07-28 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ ## [SHACKLED TO THE PAST](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/shackled-to-the-past) _2026-07-25 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ Because cars used to break down, I assume they still will ## [GET TO KNOW YOUR INNER CRITIC](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/get-to-know-your-inner-critic) _2026-06-18 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ That's not you in your head; it's a bullying parasite you can stop ## [Refer a Friend, Earn Rewards (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/AexgAH7IsBcH) _2026-06-18 · **Sponsored**_ Earn rewards when friends get the Graphite Business Card through your referral. ## [FIVE DAYS TO BETTER WRITING THROUGH SELF-TRUST](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/five-days-to-better-writing-through) _2026-06-16 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ You guys picked Montana for my next retreat/workshop, September 20-25, 2026; limited to 12 rooms ## [The best empirical studies I have read about GenAI in 2026, in APA format](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-best-empirical-studies-i-have) _2026-06-11 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ 23 of them ## [Google's acidification of the internet](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/googles-acidification-of-the-internet) _2026-05-30 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ The dangers of using AI as a foundation for internet search ## [The growth of template rhetoric in an AI society](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-growth-of-template-rhetoric-in) _2026-05-26 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Everyone seems to be noticing how bad AI writing is. ## [The Antidote to Screen Time is Story Time](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-antidote-to-screen-time-is-story) _2026-05-15 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Evening is a Campfire. Treat It Like One. ## [My classroom writing policy about good writing, not AI](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/my-classroom-writing-policy-about) _2026-05-15 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ A "bill of rights" for good writing ## [Cover announcement for AI Through the Experts’ Eyes: Communicating Complex Ideas](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/cover-announcement-for-ai-through) _2026-05-13 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Back in 2020 (really 2019), I decided to learn more about machine learning. ## [Six misunderstandings about qualitative analysis in an era of GenAI](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/six-misunderstandings-about-qualitative) _2026-05-02 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Note: there may be typos in this. ## [The resonance of good writing](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-resonance-of-good-writing) _2026-05-01 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ The desideratum ## [GOOD WRITING: A WEEK OF WORK AND QUIETING](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/good-writing-a-week-of-work-and-quieting) _2026-04-29 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ A small, high-touch retreat with a New York Times bestselling author ## [THE DAY I FOUND MY WRITING VOICE](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/the-day-i-found-my-writing-voice) _2026-03-23 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ A Note on One of the Rules in Good Writing ## [AI USES FLATTERY TO BULLY US INTO SUBMISSION](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/ai-uses-flattery-to-bully-us-into) _2026-03-22 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ Hidden within AI's charisma is the superego's snarky critic ## [WILL AI RUN YOUR INTERIOR LIFE, TOO?](https://nealallen.substack.com/p/will-ai-run-your-interior-life-too) _2026-03-21 · Neal Allen · Better Days_ Clues from your inner critic, a 64K Radio Shack AI avatar ## [The non-random pickle of AI writing](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-non-random-pickle-of-ai-writing) _2026-03-07 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Jinx is a game when two people say the same word at the same time. ## [The Managerial Model of AI writing](https://meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-managerial-model-of-ai-writing) _2026-03-02 · John R. Gallagher · John Gallagher’s Technology Newsletter_ Introduction