ithacaninthethickofit

@ithacan.bsky.social

762 Followers 2924 Following

San Franciscan via a number of other places

The Ivanpah Solar Energy Facility outside of Las Vegas, where thousands of mirrors concentrate solar radiation into three molten salt heat reservoirs at the top of a tall tower in the center of each array. Temps can reach over 1000F up there.
the "fail whale" graphic from old Twitter, used when the site was down. It's a smiling while cartoon whale, being held aloft the ocean waves by a fleet of small yellow birds holding strings in their little beaks
screenshot of Russ' bluesky profile. Profile picture is Russ smiling wearing a blue shirt, background image is a hillside overlooking a lake and sunrise/sunset Russ Feingold @russfeingold.bsky.social 217 followers 30 following 39 posts Wisconsin progressive, born and raised. Working with the Campaign for Nature to protect the earth's land and water. #nature #biodiversity #oceans #wildlife
Text excerpt of the Homeland Security Act of 2002: Subtitle F—General Immigration Provisions SEC. 471. ABOLISHMENT OF INS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon completion of all transfers from the Immigration and Naturalization Service as provided for by this Act, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice is abolished. (b) PROHIBITION.—The authority provided by section 1502 may be used to reorganize functions or organizational units within the Bureau of Border Security or the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, but may not be used to recombine the two bureaus into a single agency or otherwise to combine, join, or consolidate functions or organizational units of the two bureaus with each other.
screenshot of 1st song on the playlist: Soul Makossa by Manu Dibango
Normalizing obstruction As minority leader, McConnell played a key role in normalizing the “60-vote Senate” – the expectation that a Senate majority must always lock down supermajority support to advance its agenda. A simple majority vote of senators typically suffices to pass most measures and motions. But first the Senate must cut off debate. And that’s where the Senate’s 60-vote “cloture” rule comes in. If even a single senator objects to ending debate, a majority must first muster 60 votes for cloture before the senators can vote on the pending matter. McConnell alone did not create the “60-vote Senate.” But as political scientist Steve Smith argues, McConnell played a critical role as minority leader between 2007 and 2014 in normalizing the need for 60 votes. Cloture motions were already on the rise before his GOP colleagues elected him leader. But their incidence jumped when McConnell took the reins. Most importantly, by minimizing (and often eliminating) GOP defections, McConnell weaponized cloture into a tool of minority party obstruction. Requiring 60 votes – and the majority often failing to get them – became in Smith’s words a “nearly standard operating principle.”
block quote from article: "Already, there are two young-ish Democrats vying to replace her. Representative Sara Jacobs, who currently represents California District 51 (the region north of San Diego), is Pelosi’s protégée. Jacobs comes from a billionaire family and has years of experience under Democratic titans familiar to Pelosi and her politics, such as Hillary Clinton. The opposition: Saikat Chakrabarti, co-author of the Green New Deal. The 39-year-old multimillionaire also has experience in Washington, albeit from a very different corner of the liberal party. He served as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s first chief of staff and also worked on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign."
a screenshot of Dave Wasserman (redistrict.bsky.social)'s Bluesky profile, showing one and only one skeet, made 11 months ago: "I've seen enough; fine, I'll join." Below, the words "End of feed"
A photo and biography of Yates Wilburn, author of the linked FairVote commentary. I have highlighted the sentence of his bio that reveals he served as the Press Secretary for noted fascist Nancy Mace, Representative of South Carolina. --- Yates Wilburn Senior Communications Associate Yates Wilburn is a Senior Communications Associate at FairVote, serving as the primary communications liaison to state and city-based groups advocating for ranked choice voting in their communities and helping them develop and execute communications strategy. Prior to joining FairVote, Yates worked as a Digital Campaign Manager at Stand Together, deploying marketing campaigns across numerous channels for grassroots brands including Americans for Prosperity, LIBRE Initiative, and Concerned Veterans for America. Yates also served as the Press Secretary for Rep. Nancy Mace (SC-01) in 2021, and worked as the Digital Marketing Coordinator for FreedomWorks from 2017 to 2020.
A still photo from 'Rogue One' (2016) of Director Krennic, builder of the Death Star. Krennic gazes up toward the sky, where, out a frame, the Death Star that he built takes aim at him and everyone else at the Scarif facility that built it. Krennic joins a long list of Empire officials who dedicate their lives to the evil cause, only to be discarded when no longer useful.
black and white still from the 1994 film Ed Wood, featuring Johnny Depp as the titular character, posing with hands clasped, alongside a gesturing Martin Landau in his career-topping performance as Bela Lugosi.
a banner ad from Amazon's website. On the left is the text "Command your empire - Buy the Echo Dot bundle" above the Amazon Alexa logo. On the right is an Amazon Echo Dot accessorized to look like a Star Wars TIE fighter, a war instrument of the evil, fascist Empire. Absent from the image is any sense of irony.
screenshot from Classic Recycling's 'About Us' page. On a list of company commitments/values, the titled phrase "Success With Integrity"
headline from a Live Science article on Google News: "Alcohol-soaked star system could help explain 'why life, including us, was able to form' " by Patrick Pester
end credits from the 1984 comedy-adventure film "Romancing the Stone." A tall, slender yacht 'sails' down a Manhattan avenue (the boat is on a trailer). As the credits roll, it slowly disappears into the distance down the urban canyon
photo of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek TNG as Locutus of Borg, after his character was assimilated
photo still from the last scene of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He is looking down the hallway at the camera, about to say "You're still here??"
a screenshot of a (now-deleted) post from Nancy Pelosi's official account, showing Pelosi and Theresa May talking and posing with a small group of students, in a tone deaf, business-as-usual manner while the country hurtles into fascism. Caption: "It was a privilege to join Baroness Theresa May and Yale students in New Haven for a discussion on defending democracy. The insight and dedication of these students give me great hope for the future—and for the next generation of leaders who will help shape it."
a very rough and amateurish protest sign that reads "Hey Senators, SHUT IT DOWN you fucking cowards"
screenshot from QT'd Greenberg/Levin op ed, highlighting Schumer's quote "We're not there yet": -- The real reason for Schumer’s surrender was a mystery until this week. In an interview with Chris Hayes following the backlash, he was asked if we were facing a constitutional crisis. His response: “We’re not there yet.” It was a stunning admission. The problem isn’t just Schumer’s strategy – it’s his perception of reality. He is conducting business as usual while the country burns.
screenshot from Forbes article with quote: "$141.5 billion. That’s how much lower Musk’s $322.5 billion net worth is than his record $464 billion set in December, according to our latest calculations."
a car window flag, flying from an SUV window, featuring the Canadian Flag
a screenshot of Governor Phil Murphy's bluesky profile. The line "Text me: (732) 605-5455" is highlighted for emphasis
still photo from the 1990 movie "The Hunt For Red October" with two submarine crew sitting at a sonar console
a skeet from Paul, reposted by Jay, featuring the quote "This network should live long past Bluesky PBC"
a copy of this post screenshotted and posted on Twitter
meme screenshot from the movie The Princess Bride, showing swordfight between Wesley and Inigo Montoya. The caption reads "I'm not left-handed, either)
A Kids in the Hall sketch with the 'Headcrusher' where he and his girlfriend pretend they're invisible to one another by blotting them out with their thumbs
Summary of George Lakoff's Conservative Moral Hierarchy "The basic idea is that authority is justified by morality (the strict father version), and that, in a well-ordered world, there should be (and traditionally has been) a moral hierarchy in which those who have traditionally dominated should dominate. The hierarchy is: God above Man, Man above Nature, The Disciplined (Strong) above the Undisciplined (Weak), The Rich above the Poor, Employers above Employees, Adults above Children, Western culture above other cultures, Our Country above other countries. The hierarchy extends to: Men above women, Whites above Nonwhites, Christians above non-Christians, Straights above Gays."
a "Garbage Plate," the regional dish of Rochester, NY
Pete Turner's 1970 photograph "Push," showing a bright yellow and red plastic garbage can centered in front of a white sand beach in front of a vivid blue sky. The colors are supersaturated (pre-digital) and the top of the bright red top of the garbage can aligns precisely with the deep blue horizon
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips crowdsurfs inside of a giant plastic ball
block quote from SFGate article: "The company is still doing “supervised driverless” testing in the city, during which a human sits in the driver’s seat and can take over as needed"
Highlighted section from the CA DMV's suspension letter to Cruise, reading, in part "The manufacturer has misrepresented any information related to the safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles ... Any act or omission of the manufacturer or one of its agents, employees, contractors, or designees which the department finds makes the conduct of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads by the manufacturer an unreasonalbe risk to the public"
Tilda Swinton as Madame D in Grand Budapest Hotel
block quote from article: "At press time, the university had come under fire after suggesting right-wing students could also avoid provoking unsafe situations by refraining from walking around late at night while wearing a bow tie."
Tweet from Rep Jamie Raskin on 10/3/23: "Waiting for the vote and I reminded Jared Moskowitz that there was never so much chaos in the House when George Santos was Speaker. Jared went over to Santos to tell him that and Santos said, 'That's why I don't want to be Speaker again.' "
the Bluesky favicon, a simple blue square with rounded edges and a slight gradient (which also may just be my imagination)