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

It's been a pretty weird few days here for me.

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

I just spent a solid 20 minutes after class going through my mentions for the day and hitting block, and then one I missed popped up. Like Whack-a-Mole but without having to insert any quarters.

Boosted by jwz:
joe@f.duriansoftware.com ("Joe Groff") wrote:

what does it say that when i hear that "Fooble is forked from Barble" these days, my first question is "which one's the nazi one"

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

traitors as victims? riggggggght

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/us/politics/trump-jan-6-rioters-compensation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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

Captured with a 45mm shifting and tilt/swing lens and a DSLR camera. A bit of swing kept the side of the trestle in sharp focus, and a bit of shift enabled the framing.

The long, tall, Alhambra Viaduct on the BNSF railroad is also known as the "John Muir Trestle". People far bolder than I had tagged it with graffiti.

This is mostly a study in lines and convergence.

Infrastructure is heroic.

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

Alhambra (Muir) Viaduct, Martinez, CA, 2010.

All the pixels, none of the hiking or physical activity required, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4685718995

#photography

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

but of course

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/well/pediatric-brain-cancer-trial-group.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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

@aapis I get that you think I’m working on the wrong things. That’s very clear. But I find it unhelpful that neither you nor any of the other people so righteously angry about my personal ineffectiveness have suggested what I should be doing differently, or revealed how their own work does any better

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

@aapis Most of my work concerns enabling trustworthy elections in adversarial environments and with imperfect technology. Maybe that’s not the most important thing to focus on at this moment in history - I don’t have sufficient clarity of vision to really know - but I do what I can with the tools I have.

jwz wrote:

DNA Lounge Update, Wherein you vote for us in Best of the Bay
https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2025/09/02.html?utm%5Fsource=sp%5Fma

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

Today in "no shit"

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-trump-illegally-deployed-national-guard-l-rcna224779

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

Thanks to the amazing support and generosity of a bunch of omg.lol members yesterday, we were able to make a really nice (large!) donation to the @robb × omg.lol fundraiser!

There are still some lifetime address upgrades available, so if you’d like to hook yourself up with omg.lol for the long haul and support an amazing cause at the same time, this is your chance!

You can upgrade here: https://home.omg.lol/addresses

🥳

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

Reminder: The Shattering Peace, my next novel and the 7th installment in the Old Man's War series, is out two weeks from today! Still time to pre-order from your favorite bookstore, and to plan to see me on my US book tour! Here's the link with all the tour info:

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/16/the-shattering-peace-tour-dates-other-remaining-2025-appearances-now-live/

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

What I particularly found interesting is that it doesn't frame him as undergoing a character change or having some kind of epiphany leading him to a new calling. He's the same guy, just now doing something he finds fulfilling instead of something he hates.

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

This story, about a successful Wall Street trader who quit in middle age to become an FDNY paramedic, spoke to me in so many ways. It inverts the usual EMS career arc (eager kid becomes a paramedic, burns out after a few years, leaves to get a "real" career) and made me reflect on what it means to lead a fulfilling life. Also, interesting to read about all that has and hasn't changed since I was there (and followed the more typical arc) too many decades ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/nyregion/rescue-medic-wall-street-.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.i08.zSHT.Awf2dLUN1%5FQX [gift link]

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

This is not a surprise given this administration

Climate scientists find errors in a new DOE climate report : NPR https://share.google/Zafk1imqEGZcF33lu

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
katemorley@hachyderm.io ("Kate Morley") wrote:

Delighted to see Zack Polanski easily winning the Green Party leadership contest (by 20,411 votes to 3,705) and then using the press conference to defend immigration and trans rights. Britain needs unapologetically progressive parties.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
kittylyst ("Ben Evans") wrote:

The pro-migrant, pro-trans, pro-tax-the-rich eco socialist just took 85% of the vote for the leadership of the Green Party of England and Wales.

aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

“Belgium to recognize Palestine, sanction Israel”

https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-to-recognize-palestine-sanction-israel/

But still “only … if Hamas releases all remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the militant group ‘no longer has any role in managing Palestine’”

How odd: nothing about disbanding the IDF and ensuring that the Israeli government that is *checks notes* COMMITTING GENOCIDE no longer has any role managing Israel?

“In the meantime, Belgium will also impose ‘firm sanctions’ on the Israeli government, Prévot said. The measures include a ban on importing products from illegal settlements, a review of public procurement policies with Israeli companies and restrictions on consular assistance to Belgians living in illegal settlements.”

This part sounds good but I’ll believe it when I see it.

#israel #genocide #famine #Gaza #Palestine #Belgium #sanctions #BDS

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

So to people suggesting, politely or otherwise, that what I post doesn’t matter or that I’m missing some sort of point or that I should shut up or focus my attention elsewhere, I’m afraid we will just have to agree to disagree.

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

Is the structure of US elections and how they’re administered the most pressing subject in today’s world? Probably not. But I think understanding it can be helpful sometimes, especially lately. So I tend to post a lot about this, because I study elections as part of my day job.

I understand that this isn’t for everyone. And if it’s not for you, fine. But please understand that it IS something that some people (maybe not you) find helpful to learn about.

Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
freebooter.uk@rss-parrot.net ("🦜 Monmouthshire and Forest of Dean Freebooter") wrote:

September road closures announced by Herefordshire Council

freebooter.uk/posts/september-road-closures-announced-by-herefordshire-council

Herefordshire Council has confirmed a series of temporary road closures across the county this September as part of a resurfacing programme. The works will begin on 1 September 2025. Each closure is required for safety reasons while works are carried out.…

Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
freebooter.uk@rss-parrot.net ("🦜 Monmouthshire and Forest of Dean Freebooter") wrote:

Road closures in Forest of Dean for September

freebooter.uk/posts/road-closures-in-forest-of-dean-for-september

Gloucestershire County Council has announced a series of temporary road closures across the Forest of Dean during September 2025. The closures are needed to carry out essential maintenance and improvement works, with diversion routes signposted locally.…

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

For what it’s worth:

I don’t know anything about Trump’s health. I don’t have any information about Epstein. I have no idea what Trump has planned with tariffs or the Federal Reserve. I lack any special insight into Gaza and Ukraine. So I generally don’t comment about these things.

I acknowledge that all of the above are subjects of considerable import and interest.

But I do know about US elections, also a matter of some current concern. So I post a lot about that lately.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
VjosaMusliu ("Vjosa Musliu") wrote:

The book is also available online. Beyond the usual suspect, you can find it on less exploitative platforms too. A curated world list is below:

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
VjosaMusliu ("Vjosa Musliu") wrote:

"Girlhood At War" made it home!

Unlike anything I’ve written before, this book is a personal story about growing up during Serbia's war against Kosovo and about finding myself, at 14, translating for US NATO troops in its aftermath. (Yes, the young girl in these pictures is me.)

You can order a copy through your local library. Many thanks to friends who have already done so in small bookshops in Lima, Dublin and Istanbul :).

Gargron ("Eugen Rochko") wrote:

I just thought it looked neat.

📷 Pentax KX
🎞️ Kodak Portra 400
🔭 Pentax M 50mm/1.7
⚗️ Jack's Lab

#BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography #AnalogPhotography #35mm #Bristol

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

@hdunagan @Wyatt_H_Knott Ok. Nonetheless, my thread was an attempt to explain how US elections work, which is an area of my professional expertise. If that’s of no interest to you, that’s OK. I know I can’t please everyone. But some people appear to be interested in this topic, which is of some relevance lately, and my thread was directed at them.

aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Hi everyone,

Today, I had a video chat with Mohammed from Gaza on Signal.

He is @mohshbair here on the fediverse.

He is 22 years old and is trying to keep his family and himself alive during Israel’s ongoing genocide and the resulting famine.

You can help him and his family survive by supporting his fundraiser:

https://chuffed.org/project/mohshbairgaza

Even if you cannot help financially, sharing this will help it reach others who might.

(And I know it’s hard to know what to say sometimes when faced with such tragedy but please feel free to reach out and say hello and offer some words of solidarity. That too, goes a long way during such hard times.)

Thank you + lots of love!

💕

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

@Wyatt_H_Knott In particular, I have no specific insight into Trump’s health. Anything I could say about that would be pure speculation. But I do know a fair bit about how US elections work, so that’s what I commented on.

I’m sure you can find speculation about Trump’s health somewhere. It’s a big Internet out there.