Colin Dabkowski

English teacher at Alden High School and advocate for art, artists, and the free press. Past: @thebuffalonews, @BuffaloGuild, @mcsweeneys.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

I continue to be astounded by the absolute bovine stupidity of people like William F. Buckley, Antonin Scalia, Bari Weiss and her acolytes with good vocabularies, et al. They are so confident about their empty ideas!

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@JDale_Shoemaker @HeyRaChaCha I see what you're saying, and I'd say you might have an argument if the money was funding a general food tourism campaign rather than a pay-to-play scheme with no guarantee of *any* positive benefit.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

This is an extortion scheme and it's wild to think people support this use of public dollars. Any award you have to pay for is worthless.

[J. Dale Shoemaker @JDale_Shoemaker]

- Visit Buffalo funded by visitor tax
- Michelin offers to come to entire Great Lakes Rust Belt region, incl. Buffalo
- Visit Buffalo would have had to pay $250k/yr — 5.5% of the marketing budget
- Visit Buffalo said no
- No possibility of Michelin stars

https://t.co/NsZ3LAm0rl

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@JDale_Shoemaker @HeyRaChaCha When we think in terms of public dollars, we need to also think about public benefit. The public benefit here, if any, would be negligible. If restaurants want this kind of publicity, they can figure out how to pay for it themelves.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@RobCGalbraith @JDale_Shoemaker @HeyRaChaCha Right? This right in their lane. But good move by them to say no.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

Also, most awards that you don't have to pay for are useless.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@Charlie_Reports What I detest are context-free salary lists of the kind routinely published in Business First and other publications as clickbait. These people are paid a lot and it "feels" a certain way? OK. Put it in rich and proper context and let us decide.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@Charlie_Reports The only thing I'd want, and I know you're responsible enough to do it, is enough context to understand what those numbers mean, where the money comes from, where it's going, and a look at similar jobs in similar sized communities. 1/2

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@CharlotteAlter The vast majority of journalism in U.S. newspapers is formulaic, uninteresting, and totally ripe for the AI incursion. The question is not whether AI should write it, but whether this type of stenographic nonjournalism-- its own style of slop! -- should be written at all.

[Adrienne LaFrance @AdrienneLaF]

It’s okay for hard things to be hard. On the subject of AI and writing, I like the way George Saunders puts it:

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@nickftorsell I mean I assume that's why you follow me

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

I still think about this book. It is important for me to tweet that I still think about this book.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

I have never spent $36.96 on a book so quickly after learning of its existence.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

I would say this is unsustainable, but at this point many people I know have sustained it almost for their whole (wildly productive) careers. Is this success? I can't guess, but I probably don't have the constitution. I don't know how they keep going, but I am glad they do.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

It's tough to explain the mental and physical drain and anxiety that comes from spending your *entire career* believing that it will soon come to an end, only to go on to work another day. "Maybe tomorrow?" That's how most newspaper reporters feel most of the time.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

Love this interview with Tina Brown from @LuluGNavarro: https://t.co/NwLeN6Vs1K

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

Once in a while I think about trains.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@nickftorsell This is obviously the most important thing to discuss right now. After this we will go back to our effete bespoke word laboratories and figure out how to squeeze another "Buffalo" into the "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo" sentence. EVERYTHING IS FINE.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

It’s incumbent upon anyone who has ever been ostracized, anyone who believes in human dignity, to protect trans people and prevent the extremists in our country from traveling any further down this dark path. If you’ve read history you know where it leads. We cannot allow it.

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

What could possibly go wrong?

[Rob Galbraith @RobCGalbraith]

Death panel by chatbot

[Colin Dabkowski @colindabkowski]

@nickftorsell I am relieved to know this