Stefan Zajic

I feel like "best dive bars" is kind of incompatible with "Good food", but anyway my answer is Oscar's Tavern

I was getting frequent flats on my bike, so I had my local shop set it up tubeless. It's been an absolute delight, so pleased.

Cleansing your feed with Shakespeare-Einstein, @mikewebkist.bsky.social & @kparkhouse.bsky.social's kitten who could probably be yours if your heart is ready

Corinthian Gardens, truly an urban oasis. Even won over my cynical tween with its birds and calm retreat from the street

8/6 Hidden Networks

This week, tour hidden tele-comm locales past & present, design/led by frequent WNRer Andrew P. Inspired by networksofphilly.org the route features Bell Atlantic historical sites & modern internet infrastructure. We'll loop thru CC & West, ending @Prohibition Taproom

The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.

I recently complained/asked how to stop (there were no good answers) the Democratic fundraising texts. A friend shared this piece about what a total scam it is: "$11 million of the $678 million raised from individuals has made its way to candidates, campaigns, or the national party committees."

Dynamo headlight installed & working!

Fenders are on, and they're fab. Velo Orange, secured with corks & extra hardware bits from Keystone (thanks Zach!)

It would be deeply ironic if, after all the risk I've subjected myself to on bikes, I was crushed by a car while enjoying a slice of deep dish next to the bike lane

"The modern social welfare state was invented by the right to stop the working class from embracing socialism" is a historical fact that I simply hadn't encountered before

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Karl Marx? No, that's Abraham Lincoln, 1861, to Congress

“Whenever someone starts talking about the “free market,” it’s a good idea to look around for the man with the gun. He’s never far away.” --David Graeber

United States Postal Service creed - Wikipedia

I had no idea that the famous quote about mail carriers - “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” - is taken from Herodotus’ description of Persian imperial messengers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...

"Despite his impeccable right-wing credentials, Bismarck would be called a socialist for introducing these programs, as would President Roosevelt 70 years later. ...Bismarck would reply: Call it socialism or whatever you like. It is the same to me." www.ssa.gov/history/otto...

Also WILD that this archived page about Bismarck is still up on the SSA website! which acknowledges the point: "Bismarck was motivated to introduce social insurance in Germany both in order to promote the well-being of workers ... and to stave-off calls for more radical socialist alternatives."

Bismarck: “My idea was to bribe the working classes, or shall I say, to win them over, to regard the state as a social institution existing for their sake and interested in their welfare.” The first social welfare state described by its founder as paying off the working class to avoid revolution!

In The Utopia of Rules by David Graeber, it was eye-opening to read about the birth of the social welfare state in late 1800s Germany, that it was explicitly thought of as a ‘bribe’ by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to buy working-class loyalties to his conservative nationalist project

"As sole copyright owner of 'The Old Dope Peddler', I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?"

"Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize."

"I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirize George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them."

RIP to Tom Lehrer. "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."

Whenever this happens a bunch of reply guys always pipe up to say "actually it's really easy to flip a car". No it's not. How many cars have *you* flipped? Me? 30 years of driving, zero flips. If it happens with any regularity, either our cars or our streets are negligently designed

Much like (and relatedly) masculinity, car ownership doesn't keep its promises. You're promised exhilarating speed, raw power, climbing mountains, etc. But IRL you're mostly stuck in traffic. I think aggressive driving is often a way of saying "fuck that, I'm taking what I was promised"

This post stuck in my head - I'd bet drivers *say* they break laws to save time, but with speeding and aggressive driving (the laws that matter most for safety), I'm not sure. I think people speed and drive aggressively because they feel that freedom is promised to them with car ownership

I don't even know what to say. I rode to work in this bike lane twice this week. Those red chairs are my favorite spot to grab the city's best slice at lunch and watch folks roll by. We've got to protect the public right now with real infrastructure before more people get hurt. #concretenow

240 days

Another month, more tubeless ease. My tire wasn't holding air so well yesterday. Added sealant, presto. Pulled a staple out of the tire while I was at it

Positive post: the Spruce Street bike lane was humming, thronged, dare I say it clogged this morning. Dad with a kid on a ride-along, lady on a cargo bike full of groceries, innumerable folks on Indego and personal bikes going places in the heat

*Another* crashed car in the bike lane I rode to work in this morning. Please, for the love of god #concretenow

The strategy is obvious: make the city unlivable and ungovernable, driving people into the suburbs and exurbs, where they're more likely to vote GOP