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xaq

@xaqrox.bsky.social

music, code, art, community, DC, bikes, justice, cats, space, etc.

418 Posts276 Follower815 Folgt
Colin Dickey@colindickey.com · 3d ago

This is a movie about failure, and this is its strength, and it requires of you a different kind of viewing experience. And this is true, tbh, whether or not you think Nolan is a good filmmaker.

But it seems perhaps counterproductive to pick The Odyssey apart for being incoherent when we're adrift in an age of incoherence, and what we need now more than anything are the tools to help us make sense of how to act during such confounding times. Betrayed by leaders, made witness to an endless litany of crimes and atrocities that many of us feel powerless to stop while still being racked with guilt—ours is a world of near-constant moral injury. Art that responds to such times cannot succeed by presenting a solid vision of the world or characters whose actions are uncomplicated. Enduring art does not give you easy answers; it poses impossible problems and gives you the strength to attempt to answer them, knowing full well any possible solution will be inadequate. It's by this criteria-rather than any kind of internal coherence—that a work like The Odyssey should be judged.
T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦@tryangregory.bsky.social · last wk.

Headlines: Such-and-such technology may someday be as smart as human brains! Reminder: *We already have human brains.* Billions of them. Most of them living in poverty and being exploited for the obscene benefit of a tiny number of the worst people in the world.

xaq@xaqrox.bsky.social · 2w ago

I have a hypothesis (un-researched) that typography is a reliable indicator of AI-generated imagery. Most of the time it seems to use a "typeface" that's a flavor-free mashup of Comic Sans and Futura Black. Has anyone taken a close look at this?

☀️@stel.energy · last mo.

tarot is a billion times cooler than astrology to me one is a roguelike poetry/advice session and the other is haha hey what if the circumstances of your birth were insurmountable wouldnt that be cool

Geoffrey Hatchard@imgoph.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Really surprised this @atulocal689.bsky.social post has zero interaction a day later. I added alt text (across two images because this is a LOT of text) for accessibility. I’m just going to keep saying the same thing I always do. Make the status quo law, and make all buses free at the point of use.

(1 of 2 - see second image for the rest of the text) Union Condemns WMATA GM Randy Clarke For Reversing Bus Operator Safety Policy In Place for Nearly A Decade and Increasing Risk of Assaults Today, ATU Local 689 condemned the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Randy Clarke for his despicable and callous decision to force bus operators to quote the bus fare at all passengers, including fare evaders, reversing a long-standing policy that has drastically reduced bus operator assaults. In place since 2017, the current policy is supported by data and has been reinforced by WMATA's 'Safety Risk Reduction Plan' from last year. Fare disputes are one of the largest causes of operator assaults, something that WMATA routinely acknowledges. Once again, Randy Clarke disregards the facts and turns a blind eye to the safety risks and workers' concerns. Through the Joint Labor Management Safety Committee (JLMSC), the Union and WMATA have been partnering to develop specific action, including signage and prerecorded messages to provide fare information. Instead of consulting with the Union through the JLMSC or meetings with leadership to discuss the possible policy change, WMATA under Randy Clarke has unilaterally imposed a policy that will immediately put bus operators and passengers in greater danger. Randy Clarke is even reversing his own publicly stated position. While on the Politics Hour, hosted by Kojo Nnamdi on WAMU in October 2024, Randy Clarke replied to a question about the current policy of bus operators not quoting the fare by saying:(2 of 2) "..So bus operators and this would be industry standard. Bus operators do not engage people for fare evasion. It is not worth the potential physical harm that could come to one of my staff members. And that is the ultimate thing we care about is the safety of everyone on the system. So if someone is causing a big problem we will obviously quickly get a supervisor or transit police or local police depending on the severity to go intercede in that situation, but when it comes to fares we want to keep our employees safe and the rest of the people on the bus safe." A few days ago, WMATA provided the Union with a copy of the policy, which is slated to go into effect May 24, 2026, ahead of its distribution to workers. The Union fully intends to continue to protest the new outrageous and unsafe policy. ATU Local 689 will use all of its contractual rights to fight for workers' safety and have already filed a grievance. Yesterday, the Union sent a letter to members of the WMATA Board of Directors urging them to stop the reckless policy decision. Randy Clarke and WMATA must immediately withdraw the new policy and demonstrate that they actually care about worker safety. Our member's safety is more important than attempting to collect $2.25 from a fare evader. Words are cheap - but actions are louder.
ATU Local 689@atulocal689.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Today, the issued a press release condemning @wmatagm.bsky.social and @wmata.com for recklessly and dangerously reversing a policy that lowers the risk of bus operator assaults.

Diane Duane@diane.dianeduane.com · 4mo ago

So, friends: I promised I'd tell the story. Now I shall. Let a (former) psych nurse tell you the true (gods help us) story of a night in a big-time NYC emergency room: and the arrival of The Man With The Bloomingdales Bag. (1/n)

The Bloomingdales Big Brown Bag
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · 4mo ago

You have to impeach Trump, as many times as possible, in massive prolonged proceedings, as stridently as possible, because in the US system, that is the strongest form of political condemnation available, and he must be condemned endlessly until he leaves office in disgrace, goes to prison, or dies

Neomakhnovist 🇺🇸🇺🇦@neomakhnovist.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I mean, impeachment is probably a dead letter, and just puts Vance in the big seat, but there’s a hundred other ways to defy and challenge Trump that I don’t think the Dem leadership will go near until as late as possible

Tom Bridge@tombridge.com · 4mo ago

This year, like every year for the last 16, I have paid my tax bill to a government in which I have no representation. This year, it feels far worse than in previous years, because of the things done with that money that zealous representation might have been able to curb or stop. Statehood for DC

I am a DC Resident, and I pay federal taxes. There is no vote for me in Congress. If you have representation on the hill, tell your members of Congress that you support DC Statehood.
Josh Jacobson@districtjosh.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The Mayor's proposed FY2027 budget is public ... as a stack of PDFs most people don't want to search through, cross-reference, or analyze. This annoyed me last year, so this year I prepped something that is easier to go through.

A dark navy blue header banner for a DC FY2027 Budget website. The title "DC FY2027 Budget" appears in large, bold yellow-green text. Below it, a subheading reads "Proposed Budget and Financial Plan" in white bold text, followed by a description: "An interactive explorer of Washington DC's proposed $12.7 billion general funds budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Data sourced from the DC CFO and Mayor's budget submission." At the bottom, smaller gray text notes it is an "Independent explorer built by Josh Jacobson" with hyperlinks to Bluesky and Twitter, and a disclaimer that it is "Not affiliated with the DC government."
Jazz.@jl3001.blacksky.app · 4mo ago

A major traumatic and disabling event that they want to act like never happened even though policing got worse directly as a result of that time, prices got worse directly as a result of that time, and we have our own Mengele who wants no vaccines and only the strong to survive, cuz of that time.

Grumpy Rootbeer@grumpyrootbeer.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I genuinely believe that people don't appreciate just how much of all the bad vibes right now are still largely a COVID hangover. It was a profoundly traumatizing event for American society, on the order of the civil war or the great depression and we've largely decided to just pretend