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@orangecatstargrep.bsky.social

Just a geek with an interest in the world. Need more empathy and kindness in the world.

1,487 Followers  |  423 Following  |  435 Posts  |  Joined: 27.10.2024
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Posts by (@orangecatstargrep.bsky.social)

Exactly! The question needs to be: you state this policy, but I have this example and others of failure to follow it. This is a failure of YOUR leadership to enforce these policies. Who will be disciplined for this failure to follow policy? I want a written answer in 15 days if you can’t answer now.

03.03.2026 17:08 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Worse, in the Paul, Weiss - Brad Karp case, it would certainly appear compromising info in the Epstein files is the reason he gave in. It can’t be a coincidence the company was headed by someone in the Epstein list right as Bondi was promising to release the list.

bsky.app/profile/upbe...

02.03.2026 20:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

With the whispered addendum: β€œthat we caused by fomenting a coup back in the 1950s so we could install our dictator, which directly led to the Islamic Revolution and 1979 hostage crisis. But we still needed to fund a war in Central America so we kept selling Iran arms in the 1980s…”

02.03.2026 16:46 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

01.03.2026 19:01 β€” πŸ‘ 21028    πŸ” 7097    πŸ’¬ 423    πŸ“Œ 271
Preview
Are New Police Drone Programs A Big Help Or Big Brother? - Law360 Police are increasingly using drones as first responders to 911 calls, a practice they say helps them respond to crises much faster with far fewer officers, but that privacy advocates warn could lead to mass, warrantless surveillance.

"These drones are basically being pushed as flying cops, but a cop is not allowed to just take a peek in my backyard whenever they want,"EFF’s Beryl Lipton told @law360.bsky.social, nor are they β€œallowed to just be taking notes about what's going on in a private space."www.law360.com/articles/24...

01.03.2026 20:29 β€” πŸ‘ 168    πŸ” 75    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 5

Their rationale writes itself: but we are doing it for nation security, not for political reasons πŸ™„

01.03.2026 16:56 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If you can manage a full brisket, it’s $5/pound at Costco. Funny enough a trimmed Tri-tip is usually just a dollar more a pound. My personal preference is Tri-tip, but that’s a SoCal specialty.

01.03.2026 01:52 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Laura Rozen
@lrozen
Β·
2h
From US admin official background briefing recording listening to, seriously question if US negotiators understood what Iranians were proposing. One official keeps saying acronym for β€œIAEA” wrong.
They seem astonished Iran would not agree to the US supplying them nuclear fuel
Laura Rozen
@lrozen
Β·
2h
They took as suspicious proposals that Iran saw as concessionary.
Laura Rozen
@lrozen
Β·
2h
Explains why Oman FM tried to come to DC to explain what US negotiators may not have fully understood
Laura Rozen
@lrozen
Am not saying what Iran proposed would have been enough, I dont know, but it seems US negotiators did not have the expert guidance to understand it correctly

Post See new posts Conversation Laura Rozen @lrozen Β· 2h From US admin official background briefing recording listening to, seriously question if US negotiators understood what Iranians were proposing. One official keeps saying acronym for β€œIAEA” wrong. They seem astonished Iran would not agree to the US supplying them nuclear fuel Laura Rozen @lrozen Β· 2h They took as suspicious proposals that Iran saw as concessionary. Laura Rozen @lrozen Β· 2h Explains why Oman FM tried to come to DC to explain what US negotiators may not have fully understood Laura Rozen @lrozen Am not saying what Iran proposed would have been enough, I dont know, but it seems US negotiators did not have the expert guidance to understand it correctly

On top of all the reporting that this war of aggression was planned well in advance, it seems that the reporting also indicates that the US political leadership are quite literally too stupid to understand basic diplomacy. I mean literally not smart enough.

28.02.2026 23:27 β€” πŸ‘ 8184    πŸ” 2459    πŸ’¬ 232    πŸ“Œ 238

Yes, by all means, yell at the Democrats. But everyone seems to find excuses why they must be the <only> people getting yelled at, & it’s exhausting. It makes everyone look deeply unserious about actually getting anything done.

04.02.2026 04:10 β€” πŸ‘ 369    πŸ” 60    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases Data about exercise routes shared online by soldiers can be used to pinpoint overseas facilities

Even this has security implications. Anyone remember the Strava map loops that showed where the secret military bases and sites were? People wearing a device for a workout, but the large number of workout maps overlapping each other provided unintended info.

www.theguardian.com/world/2018/j...

01.03.2026 00:32 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I feel like this with my Meyer lemon tree. Green leaves, then 40 lemons in 2 weeks. You can only make so much lemonade and chicken piccata before they go bad. I bring bags to work and family events to move the product.

01.03.2026 00:26 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Trump hasn't gone to Congress for authorization to attack Iran. He hasn't explained the necessity or urgency of preemptive action by us. I'd very much like to see regime change in Iran, but Trump hasn't explained how we intend to help achieve that goal.

Congress: Just say No.

27.02.2026 23:50 β€” πŸ‘ 2134    πŸ” 357    πŸ’¬ 110    πŸ“Œ 61

Bill Kristol defends trans people and their right to full equality and bodily autonomy better than most elected Democrats across the country.

28.02.2026 20:25 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Temu Voldemort back in 2024.

28.02.2026 18:51 β€” πŸ‘ 270    πŸ” 76    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 1

Holy shit, looks at those payment numbers! Imagine the societal change possible if we had election reform that removed PACs and Corporate money then taxed these corporations and billionaires to pay for infrastructure and social programs that lifted every American out of poverty.

28.02.2026 18:59 β€” πŸ‘ 467    πŸ” 39    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

Remember: Donald Trump created this crisis. He walked away from the Iran nuclear deal that was working, promising a "better deal." He didn't deliver. He escalated, abandoned real diplomacy, and has now led us into a conflict that puts us all at risk.

28.02.2026 14:28 β€” πŸ‘ 3191    πŸ” 1011    πŸ’¬ 86    πŸ“Œ 37

You need to be a citizen to vote.

You do not need to β€œlove your country”.

That isn’t a pre-requisite under democracy.

Americans should be deeply ashamed of what their country has become, and they should vote for change at the polls.

Anything else is dictatorship.

28.02.2026 00:20 β€” πŸ‘ 2034    πŸ” 390    πŸ’¬ 84    πŸ“Œ 11

If you’re already up and hosting the big game watch party, it’s no extra effort to smoke a brisket or pork butt for 6-10 hours. It doesn’t cost labor, just some time.
Brisket and pork butt are expensive when you buy at the BBQ joint because you’re paying the pit master to tend to it for 12 hours.

27.02.2026 22:34 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Exactly. This is the fajita phenomenon of the 80’s/90’s. Flap meat cut was tough, but extremely cheap. The boom of Chili’s, Chevy’s, Chuy’s, Spoons, and the general rise of TexMex made sizzling fajitas upscale. End result is the flap meat cut is almost the cost of sirloin and higher than roasts.

27.02.2026 21:53 β€” πŸ‘ 32    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
All,

The following instructions pertain to the passing of SB 244 regarding gender reclassifications. I've attached the letter that was sent to the individuals who need to return to our office and have their credential updated with their gender at birth. A flag will show on record indicating SB244 NOTICE for anyone who has been sent a letter. The individuals will be charged as normal for their reissuance.

Should these customers arrive at the office without an appointment you are to make certain to get them processed as soon as possible, getting them in and out of the office.

When issuing these credentials, you MUST reach out to the DL Helpdesk at KDOR_Photostop@ks.gov with the individuals K# and name indicating SB 244 update.

For your ISSUANCE NOTE please include the following information:
ο»Ώο»Ώ"Subject"=REISSUED PER SB 244
ο»Ώο»Ώ"Note"=GENDER CHANGED FROM MALE TO FEMALE (or whatever the situation) - Along with regular credential issuance notes

All, The following instructions pertain to the passing of SB 244 regarding gender reclassifications. I've attached the letter that was sent to the individuals who need to return to our office and have their credential updated with their gender at birth. A flag will show on record indicating SB244 NOTICE for anyone who has been sent a letter. The individuals will be charged as normal for their reissuance. Should these customers arrive at the office without an appointment you are to make certain to get them processed as soon as possible, getting them in and out of the office. When issuing these credentials, you MUST reach out to the DL Helpdesk at KDOR_Photostop@ks.gov with the individuals K# and name indicating SB 244 update. For your ISSUANCE NOTE please include the following information: ο»Ώο»Ώ"Subject"=REISSUED PER SB 244 ο»Ώο»Ώ"Note"=GENDER CHANGED FROM MALE TO FEMALE (or whatever the situation) - Along with regular credential issuance notes

Little scoop before publishing a full story on the situation later β€” I've obtained the email sent to all Kansas DMV employees by Kent Selk, Driver Services Manager for the Kansas Department of Revenue on how to handle the compulsory gender marker change for trans people.

Full text of Selk's note:

27.02.2026 16:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1204    πŸ” 427    πŸ’¬ 54    πŸ“Œ 47

To be clear, Kansas Republicans rushed through a confusing and disastrous bill, created a panic, and wasted untold number of tax dollars all to target 300 out of the nearly 3 million people in the state.

27.02.2026 18:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1938    πŸ” 603    πŸ’¬ 28    πŸ“Œ 20

Remember - it's not if AI can replace you, it's if your boss thinks AI can replace you.

27.02.2026 17:31 β€” πŸ‘ 490    πŸ” 57    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 4
Preview
IRS Commissioner On Direct File Program: β€˜It’s Gone’ For no less than 25 years now, Techdirt has been writing about how the tax preparation industry, especially Intuit, has spent gobs of money bribing lobbying government to keep relatively low-earner…

It’s Intuit lobbying to make it go away.
More sordid details and decades of swamp exist on this topic of tax return e-file and free file systems.
TechDirt covers this really well with links to other details over the decades.

www.techdirt.com/2025/08/07/i...

27.02.2026 21:10 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Intuit, H&R, and all the other tax prep companies lobbied HEAVILY (millions of $$) over the years to kill the e-file because they lost out on easy returns. The person with a W2, one bank account with maybe a savings tied to it. Then upsell them to the β€œget refund now for a small fee” junk.

27.02.2026 21:03 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
https://news3lv.com/news/local/nye-county-clerk-tempers-hand-count-expectations-calls-it-a-test
….. from middle of article…

However, on day one at least, Kampf admitted the process wasn’t smooth. He blamed many of the hiccups on the age of those counting. Had he had months to prepare, he said he could’ve interviewed more people and selected a more varied demographic of counters.

β€œWe took the volunteers we had and put them to work. Unfortunately, you get a lot of mistakes when you get people in our demographic,” he said. β€œIn this town, 85% of the people are 56 years and older. Sometimes even I make mistakes, you know, my ripe age of 68. So we had to send back a lot of votes for ballots for recount. But again, that's part of the quality control process is to make sure that we get the vote right.”

Kampf said each volunteer works as long as they can, but he planned many would be working long hours and through the weekend. They take breaks and on Friday, Kampf had pizza delivered for lunch.

After the first day, Kampf estimated there was a 25% error rate. He admitted it was β€œvery, very high,” but remained optimistic it would improve after each day. As for the volunteers who couldn’t seem to keep up or grasp the process, Kampf said he would thank them for the support, but send them on their way.

Kampf said about 2500 votes were hand-counted on day one and he was confident they could keep the rate up and hit the deadline. As of Nov. 12, Nye County had reported over 20,000 votes came in for the midterm.

https://news3lv.com/news/local/nye-county-clerk-tempers-hand-count-expectations-calls-it-a-test ….. from middle of article… However, on day one at least, Kampf admitted the process wasn’t smooth. He blamed many of the hiccups on the age of those counting. Had he had months to prepare, he said he could’ve interviewed more people and selected a more varied demographic of counters. β€œWe took the volunteers we had and put them to work. Unfortunately, you get a lot of mistakes when you get people in our demographic,” he said. β€œIn this town, 85% of the people are 56 years and older. Sometimes even I make mistakes, you know, my ripe age of 68. So we had to send back a lot of votes for ballots for recount. But again, that's part of the quality control process is to make sure that we get the vote right.” Kampf said each volunteer works as long as they can, but he planned many would be working long hours and through the weekend. They take breaks and on Friday, Kampf had pizza delivered for lunch. After the first day, Kampf estimated there was a 25% error rate. He admitted it was β€œvery, very high,” but remained optimistic it would improve after each day. As for the volunteers who couldn’t seem to keep up or grasp the process, Kampf said he would thank them for the support, but send them on their way. Kampf said about 2500 votes were hand-counted on day one and he was confident they could keep the rate up and hit the deadline. As of Nov. 12, Nye County had reported over 20,000 votes came in for the midterm.

Funny enough, hand counting is more error prone, significantly so!
From Brennan Center, a detailed discussion.

And a highlight from Nevada’s experiment that failed BADLY: 25% error rate, and 2000 ballots a day. Of course they get 20,000 ballots most electionsπŸ™„

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

27.02.2026 20:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It wasn't until my first child was born and I'd get nods of approval from strangers at the grocery store or people coming up to me and say shit like "babysitting for mom today, huh?" that i realized the bar for straight men is so low you can step over it without trying.

27.02.2026 18:02 β€” πŸ‘ 434    πŸ” 28    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 14

i know they don't but it is very strange to me that fox news viewers don't find this kind of baghdad bob shit weird bsky.app/profile/atru...

27.02.2026 18:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1196    πŸ” 154    πŸ’¬ 75    πŸ“Œ 13
Preview
a boy wearing a striped hat and scarf says " i triple dog dare you " ALT: a boy wearing a striped hat and scarf says " i triple dog dare you "

If you’re full exonerated then go give a deposition.

I dare you.

I double dare you.

I triple dog dare you.

27.02.2026 18:11 β€” πŸ‘ 213    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1

We have lost a decade of our life to an evil idiot…a dolt. A moron. One of the most racist and dumbest humans on the planet.

10 years.

27.02.2026 13:41 β€” πŸ‘ 3964    πŸ” 851    πŸ’¬ 212    πŸ“Œ 80

I hope the next D POTUS appoints an army of antitrust attorneys to wield the Sherman Act like a sledgehammer

27.02.2026 05:49 β€” πŸ‘ 935    πŸ” 217    πŸ’¬ 32    πŸ“Œ 8