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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Me this morning. "Oh, hey, I haven't checked my retirement balance in a while."
...
"Never mind".

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Flash@mastodon.world ("Flashdancer") wrote:

BREAKING: A massive protest is happening now on the Heard and McDonald Islands after Trump announced a 10% retaliatory tariff against the islands.

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
vees@epistolary.org ("Rob Carlson :ally: :BLM:") wrote:

The woman who handcuffed herself to the doors of Twitter office as a tantrum and then had to ask police to uncuff her because Twitter was like “eh, we’ve got lots of other doors” and ignored her now has veto power over U.S. national security personnel.

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
bourgwick@heads.social ("jesse jarnow") wrote:

bonus deadcast today! we get into robert hunter’s “tiger rose,” the only (released) full-length studio album by hunter & jerry garcia, made at mickey hart’s barn just as the dead began their brief retirement. archival interviews, lost road hog history, how it was almost "spider rose," & more. https://www.dead.net/deadcast/bonus-tiger-rose-50

cover of Tiger Rose, a tiger growling from the center of a rose

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
benroyce ("Ben Royce 🇺🇦") wrote:

"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever"

Attachments:

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
taylorlorenz ("Taylor Lorenz") wrote:

SCOOP: YouTube removes 'gender identity' from hate speech policy. "YouTube quietly removing ‘gender identity and expression’ from its list of protected groups is a major radical shift away from best practices in the field of trust and safety." https://www.usermag.co/p/youtube-removes-gender-identity-from

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net ("Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:") wrote:

76 years ago: The General Agreement in Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was ratified and implemented. It brought down tariffs and connected markets. The idea was that global, interconnected trade would reduce the risk of a third world war.

It took Trump 73 days to tear it down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General%5FAgreement%5Fon%5FTariffs%5Fand%5FTrade

Effects on trade liberalisation The average tariff levels for the major GATT participants were about 22 per cent in 1947. As a result of the first negotiating rounds, tariffs were reduced in the GATT core of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, relative to other contracting parties and non-GATT participants. By the Kennedy round (1962–67), the average tariff levels of GATT participants were about 15%. After the Uruguay Round, tariffs were under 5%.

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jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

JFC, taking a look at how the market is doing today was a real mistake

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

The biggest security breach in that Signal transcript wasn't anything that was said, or even that a journalist was added to it. It was the complete absence of anyone saying "hey, should we really be discussing this over Signal?"

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
skinnylatte@hachyderm.io ("Adrianna Tan") wrote:

I just posted this at work and it seems like not everyone knows this.

You can take the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose or LA in the other direction, to the Monterey Bay aquarium. On Amtrak.com, simply put Monterey Bay Aquarium as your destination and when you arrive in Salinas station at 12:20pm (daily), there will be a bus that waits for you and picks you up to send you to the doors of the Aquarium by 1:30pm (usually takes just 20min)

For a true car-free experience, book a hotel room in New Monterey near the Aquarium, like the Clement Intercontinental, Monterey Plaza, or Wave Street Inn or anything on that side of the tunnel (including Pacific Grove). You can walk / bike the coastal trail.

Rent a bike from Work Horse bicycles downtown.

If you bring your own bike on the train (check in without boxing!) you can put it on MST city bus no 20, the bus station is 5 min ride away. Wait at and have a taco at Tacos Don Beto next door. There is a small outdoor area for Covid cautious folks.

#Transit #Trains #Amtrak #Monterey #BikeTooter

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Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
rickenharp@social.lol ("Alex") wrote:

@adam ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Obsolete secret infrastructure like CARTWHEEL tower, only revealed decades later, intrigues me not just for its scale and design, but also for the obvious question it gives rise to. If this stuff effectively managed to stay unnoticed for decades, what newer secrets are hiding under our noses today?

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Despite CARTWHEEL being located in the middle of a residential neighborhood in a busy city and staffed by military personnel, officials went to great lengths to conceal the true purpose of these towers. They hid in plain sight, appearing to be silos or water towers (they even used civilian water trucks to send crews to some of the towers).

It was only after the cold war ended that the details of the network were declassified.

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

The upper white section of the tower is actually a plexiglass radome, concealing various microwave and UHF radio antennas.

CARTWHEEL and its cousins were decommissioned around 1990. Most of the towers, mainly atop mountains in remote areas, were demolished or left to rot. However, CARTWHEEL and CORKSCREW (on a mountain near the Appalachian trail in central Maryland) have been maintained in good condition, now repurposed by the FAA.

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Captured with the Rodenstock 23mm/5.6 HR Digaron-S lens (@ f/6,3), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50), Phase One XT camera (1/25 sec exposure).

This unassuming cylindrical tower, at first glance perhaps a grain silo or water tower, was part of a secret "continuity of government" microwave communications network. Built in the early 1960's, a network of similar towers located around the capital region linked the White House with critical sites such as Camp David, Raven Rock, and Mount Weather.

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mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

"CARTWHEEL" Tower, Fort Reno, Washington, DC, 2020.

All the pixels, none of the continuity of government, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/49576247768

#photography

A cylindrical tower, dark brick with a lighter upper section, resembling a water tower or agricultural silo, on a hilltop. Radio towers are visible in the distance. A barren tree is at left.

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jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

some days I love working with mongodb... and today ain't one of them

cartoon image of a dumpster which is on fire. painted on the front of the dumpster are the words "this is fine"

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
WeatherGoddess@journa.host ("Athena Masson, PhD") wrote:

Colorado State University released their first 2025 #hurricane season forecast. Calling for an above-average season with 17 named storms. Nine of which could become hurricanes and four which will strengthen into major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). https://tropical.colostate.edu/forecasting.html

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Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
Bella@pixelfed.social ("B.ella") wrote:

Hidden treasure.
#Leer #SchlossEvenburg #castle #Ostfriesland #EastFrisia #magnolia #BloomScrolling #florespondence #spring

Many, many magnolia blossoms in the foreground, with a light-coloured house behind them. And a cloudless sky. The sun is shining.
A magnolia. There is a hole in the trunk from which a spider's web leads to a neighbouring branch. There is also a beautiful pink and white magnolia blossom in the foreground.
Part of the flowering magnolia obscures the light-coloured house behind it. It is a castle with various towers and a moat around it. Cloudless sky.

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Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
vmaderna@mastodon.art ("Victoria Maderna") wrote:

It's #KidLitArtPostcard day! For once I remembered early and made something especially for it (& de-rusted my inking muscles a bit) 😊

I'm Victoria, illustrator working in gouache/ink and analog media. Looking for new projects (PB, MG, covers & +)!

🖥️ https://victoriamaderna.com
✉️ hi@victoriamaderna.com

Ink drawing by Victoria Maderna depicting a girl climbing on an old tree branch and offering a treat to a cat.

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jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

morning bath

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jscalzi@threads.net ("John Scalzi") wrote:

I don't know why I'm snickering, I'm heavily invested in the market

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adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold") wrote:

🪧 Will be mostly offline over the next few days as I hunker down and focus on wrapping some things up. (Support emails will still get attention!)

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Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
eyeling@mastodon.art ("Eyeling") wrote:

This year more desaturated colours in editing, looking softer.

#BloomScrolling #hanami #CherryBlossom #Kirschbluete

Looking through a cherry blossom tree's crown upwards towards a deep, open sky with fast travelling clouds
A sunny moments with fluffy blossoms glowing in the sun
Cooler, slightly overcast look, blossoms are tenderly balanced on thin branches
The full wide angle blast of a tree floatinh cherry blossoms above your head

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pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Delete your 23andMe data before Charles Murray can get his slimy hands on it!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/04/03/delete-your-data-now/

Charles Murray would like his "billionaire friends" to buy the 23andMe company for him.

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Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
sophie@social.lol ("Sophie") wrote:

why do people hate underlining links so much? it doesn't even look bad, it just looks... clickable?

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jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

“…fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer

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Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
afewbugs@social.coop ("Jules") wrote:

In response to the police raid on #WestminsterMeetingHouse, #Quakers are organising a #MeetingForWorship outside New Scotland Yard on Thursday. People of all faiths and none welcome.

https://mailchi.mp/d312ad2f1001/quaker-faith-in-action-october-16511620?e=6ffe430c3f

#Quaker #NonViolent #DirectAction #YouthDemand #RightToProtest #London

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rust@social.rust-lang.org ("Rust Language") wrote:

Rust 1.86.0 has been released! ✨🎊 🦀

This release adds trait upcasting, get_disjoint_mut on slices and hashmaps, #[target_feature] for safe functions, debug assertions for null pointers, Vec::pop_if, and more!

Check out the blog post and release notes for all the details: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2025/04/03/Rust-1.86.0.html

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jscalzi@threads.net ("John Scalzi") wrote:

We didn't have to be here, but the fact is we're a racist and sexist country, and more of us wanted a bellowing criminal white male dimwit to be president than a competent woman of color. We'll be paying for that racism and sexism for decades.