Kenric @ Photrek

For moment there I thought my BlueSky feed had been corrupted with paid influencing.

Skies still Blue!

Here’s hoping your next cup of tea doesn’t involve bucking stars.

YouTube video by Hawk's Podcasts / mdg650hawk The MAGA Mamdani crashout #duet #zohranmamdani #winning #nyc #crashout #republicans #maga #newyork

Politics gets personal.

Did you know that NYC is not in NM?

youtube.com/shorts/xzEMl...

Outrageous

FIDE World Cup 2025: As Field Narrows Vincent, Levon, MVL & Others Seek Early Wins! Rd 3 Game 1 YouTube video by chess24

Lots of exciting chess today in the third round of the World Cup. Many young, lower rated players knocked out their opponents in the second round.

www.youtube.com/live/gJoqM6y...

Wow! I recall a time when intelligent scientists claimed solar power could never be made efficient enough for significant power demands.

We’re looking past that pessimism.

Tonight, California made it clear: we’re taking back our voice and democracy.

Here’s to proof that when we act together, we win.

"Speaker Johnson, it looks as though the president is currently stabbing you with a knife. Do you have any comment?"

"Well, look, this is the first I'm hearing about it. As you know, I've been really busy not doing my job, so I just don't know enough about this alleged stabbing to make a comment."

It does raise the question, whether Judges, particularly on the Supreme Court, should be held culpable for the crimes their decisions enable.

He wants to kill Obamacare, but has no other plan. He is not satisfied with his deportation operation because his ICE agents are not abusive enough. He plans to continue murdering people in the Caribbean Sea because the law and these humans are of no concern to him. All this thanks to John Roberts.

Returning to life in the US after 3 months of travel in Eurasia will require adjustment.

“Case” in point: Bought new razors today. Leaving CVS the buzzer went off but since I’d paid everything I ignored it.

Now I realize, I have to go back to have the case opened so I can actually use the blades.

Why are you restricted on writing? Especially if they laid you off?

Many of the propagandists of Autocracy, Inc., have learned from the mistakes of the twentieth century. They don’t offer their fellow citizens a vision of utopia, and they don’t inspire them to build a better world. Instead, they teach people to be cynical and passive, because there is no better world to build. Their goal is to persuade people to mind their own business, stay out of politics, and never hope for a democratic alternative: Our state may be corrupt, but everyone else is corrupt too. You may not like our leader, but the others are worse. You may not like our society, but at least we are strong and the democratic world is weak, degenerate, divided, dying.

This is from Autocracy, Inc, about how modern autocratic propaganda works.

I consider this every time I decide what to share and how to frame it.

The thing about Johnson not swearing in Grijalva is that’s it a test for 2026.

If you think they will accept an outcome they don’t like, they will just Grijalva it.

So what’s the plan when the GOP says “we ain’t leaving, fuck you, make us.”

Because that IS what they are going to say.

Happy Hallodata!!!

Had to take the plunge in the English Channel this morning. Freezing yes but also deeply refreshing.

Looking For to more great conversations at the Geometric Sciences of Information conference in St. Malo, France.

Even back when they handed George W Bush the White House, it still used to feel like we had a Supreme Court. Now we have a Supreme Corpse.

Great first day at the Geometric Sciences of Information Conference in beautiful St. Malo, France.

As I rushed to disembark, a sweet lady informed me that she was going to St. Malo and there was only 5 min.

She guided me through the station, including holding an elevator. On my own there was no way of making the connection. My overnight ride would have turned into two nights. Wow! Many thanks!!!

Many thanks to the Angel who rescued me during the transfer at the Rennes, France train station.

After 20 hours on my otherwise pleasant train ride between Vienna and St. Malo, I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that I had one more transfer.

The US is seeing the largest number of layoffs since 2020, with nearly 1 million people losing their jobs so far this year.

Elon moves $133 million in crypto from SpaceX, and Trump accepts a $130 million donation. Hmmm… is Elon buying his spot back? Probably just an odd coincidence.

My quote of the day

Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.

Albert Camus

Ominous in the potential danger

It’s been that kinda year

Wonderful visit to Istanbul for the Beneficial AGI conference.

Stunning views of the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque

We need courageous people in Congress. Go get ‘em Kate!

Federal Judge Jeffrey Cummings has found that ICE agents violated the terms of a consent decree by detaining people without proper warrants. He ruled that as of this week ICE must wear body cams at all times and can face arrest and contempt proceedings if they conduct unlawful, warrantless arrests.

What Happened with Alternative Voting in Catalyst F14 and What We Can Learn Many in the Cardano community were surprised by recent developments in the Catalyst Fund 14 voting process.

Photrek provided a report on the voting, emphasizing the distinction between quadratic voting, which is a method of expressing strength of opinion, and the allocation of voting credits, which is what Catalyst was seeking to modify.

open.substack.com/pub/photreki...

Rather than accept this unintended outcome, the administrative team decided to revert to established method of one coin one vote with better understood thresholds.