Derek Sweetman

@dsweet

Autistic. Feral peace researcher. Teaching conflict, peace, human rights, activism. I have a day job so I can afford to teach for Carter School, Schar School, Integrative Studies @ GMU & PACS @ CU-Boulder.

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Derek Sweetman@dsweet· 7d

Just got a phishing email announcing ICE arrested GMU faculty. I predict a lot of people are going to fall for this.

An email from "Amab Podder PhD" accouncing that "Federal Immigration ICE Detail GMU Faculty Members." It is a phishing email, trying to get people to click the link in "a temporary list of potentially impacted individuals."

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jul 29

Someone making art from our childhood trauma

A painting of a boy trying to pull a horse from mud, inspired by The Neverending Story

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jul 26

I know I have had the problem where I get a permanent artifact on my screen (until reboot) for a very long time. I'd say "as long as I have had Windows," but I'm not going to claim it was there in 3.11 or wherever I started. How is this not fixed?

A black background. In the middle, a little off to the left is an off-white box that contains the word "Close." This is an artifact of something weird in Windows.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jul 24

either this is off by quite a bit, or someone owes me a lot of money. I would adjunt for anyone for $8K a month. We might even call it a full-time job.

a search result saying "Total salary range for George Mason University Adjunct Professor" followed by "Adjunct Professor professionals typically earn between $8,166 and $14,514 monthly..."

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jun 14

New rule: every country and ethnic group gets to pick a different day for New Year. That way, there will be big celebrations near me every week. Spent the morning at Songkran in Manassas. Lots of good food!

The entrance to a Songkran festival for Thai New Year. There is a large sign and tents on either side of a walkway. There are many people.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· May 4

I think it is okay for us to sometimes get news that sounds like it should be good news and not have it possibly actually be bad news.

Screenshot from the New York Times that reads, "The 'Gates to Hell' Are Dimming. That May Not Be a Good Thing."

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Apr 9

It has been a crazy week, so my daughter has started sending photos from her job. This one was captioned, "The frogs are harmonizing"

Three ceramic frogs on a shelf with their mouths open appear to be singing. They are mostly white with gold around the mouths and some decoration. Behind them are bags of Groovy Mushrooms and there is a book to the left with a picture of a walking frog with a mushroom hat and a basket on its cover.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Mar 14

Headed home from the Peace and Conflict Studies pedagogy event in Boulder. The security line at DIA is very long and snakes back and forth so every five minutes I had to see this asshole and his shirt.

An older white man wearing a gray T-shirt that has a picture of a stealth bomber under the words "international law"

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Feb 14

Well, that was entertaining. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

Eight members of the group Twice on a square stage under lighted pink boxes and large screens showing the group

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Feb 11

Kids these days!

A group of students stand on the corner of our local shopping center protesting ICE.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Feb 10

I was late to class today because of Peace Monks. First time that has happened. When I was getting near campus I saw a lot of people on the sides of the road and thought it was ICE watch. Nope. Peace Monks.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jan 18

This disrespect will not be allowed! They did fix it after we won.

A list of the teams in the two AFC playoff games this week. The bottom two are the Texans and the Patriots. The top two are the Bills and the "Brocos"

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Nov 24

We're visiting family in Colorado and I came across the rigging from the Bounty? I'm a little dubious.

A sign that says Rigging from the Bounty. From the personal collection of mutineer Fletcher Christian, these lines are family heirlooms donated to the State Armory for displaying to the public their classic texture. Just feel these ropes folks, go ahead!

A hallway that contains a stained glass window, mirrors and ship's ropes in a diamond pattern. The ropes are very thick and some are coiled. The floor is made of wood and there is an arch leading into the hall that has two cupids painted on it.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Oct 29

This is an autistic trap. Every time, I touch the green bar at the top, which says "touch anywhere to begin." Nothing happens. You can only begin if you touch in the white space.

A photo of the proj actor controls in a classroom. The display has a green band across the top that includes the label "please touch anywhere to begin." Below that the screen is white and says "George Mason University"

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Sep 23

Wait this came in the mail today and it's already illegal?

A copy of the revised version of Gord Hill's Antifa Comic Book. The cover is a drawing of masked people behind a "Smash fascism" banner with a fist breaking apart a swastika. They are carrying the flag for Antifascist Action.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Sep 20

Best use instructions ever.

A lavender-colored box with the following text: "Open the lid of the snake oil ointment neck cream, turn the gear to the right, and turn out the screams."

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Aug 18

Very helpful, Verizon.

A screenshot of the customer service contect page at Verizon Business. The phone number is 800-4321-5432.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Aug 10

We usually mean one of these. The outsides taste kind of like soggy oreos. The interior is vaguely ice-cream-like. The outside is always vaguely sticky for some reason. Kids will eat them and adults will eat versions upscaled by restaurants with actual ice cream and actual cookies.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· May 31

Looks like DC lit up early for Pride

Highway 66 heading toward DC. The sky is gray and cloudy and there is a rainbow in the middle

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· May 5

Not sure why, but I found the title of an op-ed turned in by one of my students in Intro to Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies very entertaining. The prompt is to write about what they see as the biggest obstacle to peace.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Feb 27

Working on class for tomorrow morning, in which we talk about messaging in movements using AIDS as the primary example. World wants to make my job easier, but really, I'll trade some difficulty in connecting class topics to today for not living in a hellscape. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Feb 12

Guess I'll never know

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jan 28

I think the Venn diagram of people who understand this reference and people who would appreciate getting this Valentine's card does not overlap.

A greeting card with a clip-art type image of an angry, dark-haired woman. It says, "Valentine's Day is not healthy for singles and other living things" on the front.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Jan 6

New York Times, the amount of murder in this story is much less than indicated by the alert you sent.

An android notification from the New York Times reading, "Nikki Glaser killed as host of the Golden Globes and there were s..." next to a small picture of someone I think is the (still living) Nikki Glaser

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Dec 24

Stopping by the grocery store the day before Christmas for ... Valentine's candy, I guess.

A fully stocked row of valentines candy in a depressing grocery store the day before christmas

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Dec 22

Ode to an unwrapped, (apparently) unused condom outside Joanne's Fabric right before Christmas...

An unwrapped, but still rolled, condom on a stone and concrete walkway

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Dec 9

Out of context, this just sounds like a regular day.

An update from the NYTimes story on the possible capture of the person who shot the insurance CEO. It shows a small picture of the author, Andy Neman, and the words, "The man detained in the McDonald's had written a 'manifesto,' according to two law enforcement officials."

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Dec 1

Ethnographic research today

A thanksgiving and Christmas display outside a yellow row house. There is a light up, red, white, and blue MAGA sign; an inflatable turkey holding a sign saying "I'm thankful for being pardoned; a short inflatable Trump in a Santa costume with a Make America Great Again hat; a larger inflatable Trump, looking like a sex doll, with both thumbs up; and, in the background under a window, a flag of Trump in what looks like a green velvet suit and a Santa hat above the text "I'll be home for Christmas." To the left is what appears to be a small lawn flag angled away from the viewer that shows a red and blue map of the United States apparently showing the geographic results of the 2024 election. All of these are crowded together in a very small front lawn.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Nov 22

Information, anyone?

Two large screens below a sign that says "Information." The screens both say "Let's finish setting up your PC" and the rest of the initial screen for a new Windows install.

Derek Sweetman@dsweet· Nov 21

New bubble tea place opened up, so my daughter made us go tonight. Looks good so far. I think this makes about 20 options within 10 miles of our house.