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• Post #3879412

  RE: https://mastodon.nu/@sorenhave/116932621360673006 Oooooh, not only is this a superb essay from @pluralistic@mamot.fr , but it can be paired with Monroe Price's "Market for loyalty" theory -- really brings forward the notes of blood in the machine. Amazing stuff, well done, Cory!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_for_loyalties_theory?wprov=sfti1#History_and_elements_of_the_theory

• Post #3825052

  For those following the MA state senate seat to replace Pat Jehlen this fall: https://www.gottaknowmedford.com/20260717_five-democrats-pour-nearly-500-000-into-open-2nd-middlesex-race/ For what it's worth, my vote is undecided at this time. I’m not voting for Barber and definitely definitely not voting for Hopcroft. #MApoli #SomerPoli

• Post #2915769

  Good evening from the epic 96 bus, where my bus driver just beeped for 2 minutes straight to get someone to move her double-parked car in front of the Davis Sq Chipotle so that the bus could get through without scratching her paint job. She then yelled at him and double-parked further down the street. Amazing. No notes. #MBTA #SomervilleMA

• Post #2915768

  Okay, so, I went to lobbying day today at the state house and I lobbied Pat Jehlen and Erika Uyterhoeven on housing and climate stuff. A side conversation got me curious, though, and idk how to figure out a "correct" answer to this: Can we repurpose old natural gas pipes to be grey water pipes, so that we could use rainwater for things like irrigation and other non-potable-water needs? Thereby also diverting some of the extra storm water from being a CSO issue? #water #urbanpl...

• Post #2863182

  You know, sometimes it's the little things. I sent a note to my neighborhood chat last week, saying there will be several items on the ballot this fall (including races) that I have opinions about. Offered to meet up w/neighbors wanting to sign the petition to put rent control on the ballot. One of my neighbors is a student who's been voting out of state, but they decided to register locally, filled out the online forms, and just asked me to meet up so they can sign the petition...

• Post #2863181

  Final exams are over and I'm taking a summer class on Star Trek and History (woo!), which means it's time to watch OG Star Trek. I have never seen it before. Watching the pilot episode now! ... dammit, I should expect a lot more overt sexism, shouldn't I? SIGH. #StarTrek

• Post #2863180

  It's #gardening season, which means sometimes the pictures I take in a day are plants, plants, weird insect, a blurry weed, seedlings, and a selfie of me incredibly dirty and/or soaked to the bone so I can prove to a friend I'm still alive, just have my hands full of dirt all day.

• Post #2662834

  So, uh, in prep for a class on Star Trek & History this summer (Is it about the history of ST? World history through the lens of ST? The history of making ST over time? I do not care. I will be taking this course.) ... In prep, Steve and I are watching some original series ST every once in a while. We are at "Dagger of the Mind." This has been so useful in addressing my #impostorsyndrome. Even *I* know that Kirk is making bad choices. Someday, maybe I can be a ST ca...

• Post #2662833

  Okay so ... How do I get in touch with people who code for Mastodon? I want to be able to post a poll with 5 options on it, so I can ask which level of Maslow's hierarchy of need people on Fedi think corresponds with public transit access! 😆 (Boosts appreciated!!) #askfedi #transit #transportation

• Post #2662832

  Hey, @sundogplanets ... have you seen the Pixar movie "Elio?" Because if you haven't yet ... I really feel like you might appreciate it!

• Post #2662830

  God help me, but today I discovered a den of adorable troublemakers living in the garden: 4 baby bunnies. Plus a mom. Living in the trash barrel I repurposed into being a self-watering container. Dammit, I wanted to plant some beans and tomatoes there. 🐰 #gardening

• Post #2279725

  Hey, it's Teacher Appreciation Week! Just wanted to say that Community Action Agency of Somerville is looking down the barrel of a potential $2M federal cut this year. CAAS provides free preschool to 275 low-income families of Somerville and Cambridge. If every person in those two cities donated $2 a month, we'd more than make up the difference in the Trump funding cuts. Can you help these kids? #SomervilleMA #CambridgeMA #MAPoli #SomerPoli #schools #education https://www.caas...

• Post #1763741

  Super-quick, #SomervilleMA is discussing police body-worn cameras in Legislative Matters mtg tonight. Should we commit to $430k in budget (plus a new hire position?) to add surveillance tech in a year when the mayor says our budget has $1M less than last year? Oh, we also don't have a policy to govern who reviews the footage, where it's stored, for how long, or who makes sure it's not used abusively, far as any resident can tell. Overview: https://somer.news/2026/04/27...

• Post #1283994

  Super thrilled to see @john_chu interviewed last night at Porter Square Books about his new novel, The Subtle Art of Folding Space. Magical for me was also that both John and Max Gladstone (his interviewer) were wearing high-quality masks, and I estimate about half the audience was, too. I felt able to relax and enjoy the event with my friends, which was so lovely. 💜 #SFF #Books #bookstodon

• Post #1283993

  This legislative news honestly terrifies me for trans kin in Tennessee: https://open.substack.com/pub/transitics/p/tennessee-passes-bill-that-will-make?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email The cruelty is so clearly the point. 😭 #trans #gender #Tennessee #uspol #hipaa

• Post #1283992

  I just want, in my lifetime, to see Katie Porter elected to a major office with a vast landslide of a majority vote. Ideally a super powerful office, but I would accept CA governorship to start. 😇 Why did Swalwell ever become the perceived frontrunner? Why am I still hearing about how much support Swalwell had built up? 😬 🤦‍♂️ Katie Porter is right there and she is so fucking competent! Good god. #California #USpol #CApol

• Post #1283991

  Lollllll ... this YouTube video on suburbs starts off at the jump, talking about how Somerville has buildings right up against the curb like a real city. #SomervilleMA #SomerPoli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-6jkYxzivE

• Post #1283990

  I used to be able to give Slack permission for a subset of photos that I wanted to be able to share, and then share from those photos into slack messages. Slack has changed something, and now I can't find the photos I've given permission for and it's searching through all my pics instead of just those selected. Ugh. Talk about enshittification, and privacy done wrong! UGH.

• Post #1019186

  I think that, if you aren't trans, you might not be aware of how awful things in the US have been lately. You might be aware *that* things are not great, but not aware of the extent. So if you're not trans, you might benefit from reading this truly horrifying assessment of the Trump admin policies toward trans people who are powerless to escape, aka prisoners: https://transitics.substack.com/p/the-trump-administration-admits-to (If you're trans, you are probably plenty...

• Post #1019185

  Okay, not gonna lie, I love this video from Burhan Azeem about how to fix and expand the T and his candidacy for MA state senate. I'm totally with him on expanding the transit network -- needs more details, but he's got the right energy & emphasis, imo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd-nazuiHqY #MBTA #MAPoli #SomerPoli #trains #CambridgeMA (Lol, thank you to @dashdsrdash for the correct link!)

• Post #1019184

  A small story about accessibility at school: Our campus map notes that there are 82 buildings w/accessible entrance (which I think they define as a level entrance and push button opener). Only 41 buildings on campus have elevators (some of which, ime, are often broken). Only 27 of those buildings have a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. The campus map lists 154 buildings in total. So that's ... 17% of the buildings accessible for people who might need to pee? #accessibility #access

• Post #1019183

  Proof positive that I have a good book club: Someone I only met a few months ago and don't know through SFF circles at all has spontaneously suggested we could read @john_chu 's new book "The Subtle Art of Folding Space." #SFF #books #bookstodon

• Post #964617

  My classmate Emmanuel has gotten IRB approval to run a quick study of Somerville residents -- see if ppl might be willing to track carbon emissions, and if so, how he can help! I can vouch for Emma's good intent. I had a convo w/him today about if he does produce an app, what might be helpful (imo) and how important data privacy is. Emma needs 50 Somerville participants to start the project. I hope folks here might be willing to help? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYI2lPeli8...

• Post #877472

  I rewatched the famous Ursula K Le Guin speech tonight, on the publishing industry and capitalism. GOAT. Highly recommended 5 minutes of one's life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf-rsALk #SFF #capitalism #books

• Post #782588

  No idea who writes this MA blog, but the phrasing is incredible. Chefkiss. 11/10, no notes: "The Massachusetts State Legislature, a body that once took fourteen months to decide whether to rename a rest stop, announced this week that it is fully prepared to regulate artificial intelligence, a technology that evolves faster than a state senator can Google 'what is artificial intelligence' and click 'I’m Feeling Lucky.'" #MAPoli #Massachusetts #A...

• Post #732478

  Unpopular opinion: If it's not an emergency, a meeting requires a week(+) notice. Predictable meetings are good, actually. Knowing when an org meets next week is great for surfacing an issue we want to talk about at the meeting. If we need to talk about a non-emergency, schedule it in advance. If it's an emergency, text us. If it's an org emergency, sure, call a meeting with 48 hours' notice. If it's not urgent, though? For fucks' sake, give peop...

• Post #732477

  TFW you're a scifi fan but the genre of your life is lately a soap opera/thriller. 😬😬😬

• Post #732476

  I went outside this week during daylight and I saw my first bee of the season! This was very exciting, lol. #Bees #bloomscrolling