iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bluesky is too full of smart people arguing past each other to score debating points. For instance, I just read a long thread about LLMs, with both sides deliberately ignoring each other's points.

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StatsJew @statsjew.bsky.social · 8h

I have been getting more and more bothered by the fact that large numbers of non-Jews ID as "anti-Zionist". Pro-Palestinian, anti-Nationalist, great! But why is opposition to *Jewish* nationalism part of your goyisch identity?

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A 3-year old with a gun. And his father is a cop. I think more people need to read Malcolm Gladwell’s new book on gun violence, "The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic"

nytimes.com

Parents Are Charged After Toddler Pulls Out Loaded Gun at Day Care (Gift Article)

No one was hurt in what the police described as a shocking episode that was captured on video inside a day care center in Canton, Mich., on Monday.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Every time a self-driving car runs a stop sign there are 100 snarky posts denouncing them. Meanwhile human drivers continue to kill 40,000 people a year in the US and this is accepted as perfectly fine and normal.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Many Americans seem to be flummoxed that elections in other countries are conducted differently than they are here. This video (and accompanying summary document) explain how the process works in Israel. A good resource for anyone interested in Israeli politics, well worth the watch/read.

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A penitent who is loud @loudpenitent.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I propose that we should all be less confident about things we know little about.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

It's sad that some people would rather wallow perpetually in ignorance than admit to ever being wrong.

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מִיכָאֵל @tribeofdan-michael.com · 11/09/2026

And as we enter a new year, may we choose life, kindness, courage, and the strength to stand up for one another. Never forget. L'Shanah Tovah.

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Lux 🌸 Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 11/09/2026

Also this shit, I remain FURIOUS about the way that 9/11 money just became pork for people who weren't affected in any way

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Lux 🌸 Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 11/09/2026

As someone who lived in NYC on 9/11 I just have to say this idea of a "post-9/11 unity" is insane to me. It did not feel like a country that had *always* despised its largest city was "uniting" with us in our trauma. It felt like a nation of vultures descending on a carcass.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I often add music to my Spotify queue based on music I see in posts while scrolling Bluesky, and yesterday ended up with: Actors, Acumen Nation, Antigen Shift, Author & Punisher, and Ayria. Which is a weird coincidence because they all start with 'A'.

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 11/09/2026

"THE VIEW WHEN YOU GO OVER THE BRIDGE AND SEE THE GORGEOUS CITY LIGHTS, AND SOMETHING SMALL & BRAVE INSIDE OF YOU KNOWS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT." buff.ly/9sAeCpb

mcsweeneys.net

MTA New York City Subway BINGO

“If you see something, say BINGO.” 9/10/26

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Innumeracy has been a crisis for quite a while now, yet is still considered to be socially acceptable. It needs to be stigmatized the same way that illiteracy is.

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areustle.bsky.social @areustle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

If brute force doesn’t solve your problem you aren’t using enough of it.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 09/09/2026

In the long list of stupid ideas, this one's gotta be near the top.

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Lux 🌸 Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 09/09/2026

This quote, from a 2005 New Yorker piece, sums up my "post-9/11 unity" feelings" "In fiscal year 2004, Wyoming received $37.74 per capita [in Homeland Security grants], and North Dakota $30.82, while New York got $5.41. Among the fifty states, New York’s per-capita allotment was forty-eighth."

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Catherynne M. Valente @catvalente.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

It’s very hard to rise up when all the food makes you shit yourself and the only authority you can even reach is a mindless inhuman voice that always agrees with you & tells you: you did it, you fixed the problem, with your bravery & cool ideas! Please stay on the line to complete our survey.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The brother of one of my coworkers worked in the WTC and she couldn't get in touch with him. We went to the roof of our building to see what was going on after the second plane hit and watched the tower fall, sure that we had just witnessed him and many thousands of other people die.

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We never imagined how far that dream would travel, into homes, into hearts, into the way generations imagined what we could still become. In a world that often feels as divided as ever, maybe that's exactly why we need it now: a reminder that unity was always the point.

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Gen C86 @fcgermelshausen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

There's data on what AfD voters were concerned about. It is completely divorced from reality: crime (is actually way down); immigration (almost non existent there). To me that says massive political education is needed, and stopping the media of disinformation they consume daily. But *how*.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Spotify just played me a song by a band called "Slothrust" and I can't tell if it's supposed to be "Slo Thrust" or "Sloth Rust." But the first is spelled wrong and the second makes no sense, so I am going with "Sloth Thrust" because a thrusting sloth is by far the funnier option of the three.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

This is just absurd levels of naked bigotry. I am no great fan of Mamdani, but would be deeply offended if he DIDN'T attend the memorial as mayor of our shared city.

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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

“Fascism always fails!!” Is less comforting than I’d like it to be given that it also usually kills several million people first.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

People will have to wear special reflective clothing to obscure their "moist, moist meat" from the omnipresent google surveillance drones.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

It's scary that the fucking nazis are everywhere these days

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

No. If a candidate actively campaigns with someone, it is legitimate to question that association. And to dismiss someone with millions of followers as not relevant to politics between they use the Internet to spread their hateful message is just ridiculous.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Looking at the results, some of y'all sure talk funny. I got strong (60%) NY, but would be interesting to see it narrowed down more, because for instance I don't have anything like a Brooklyn accent.

Heat map showing me with a strong NY accent, absolutely nothing in common with the midwest, and mild mismatch with California and Florida.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

One thing that I will _never_ find funny are 9/11 jokes. I realize that most people making them weren't directly impacted, but for people who were there it's still very much a painful memory of a horrific event.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I still don't understand why Climate Change isn't the #1 issue in every political campaign. What else do people need to have happen before they start to care?

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Note: Although this account looks new, it's really just the continuation of my old account (@aardvarkz) that I've had for a couple of years and got locked out of due to a 2FA snafu. Please re-follow me here.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

It's a sad state of affairs when the statement by the president of Iran sounds a lot more reasonable than the corresponding statement by the president of the US.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Finally some good news for a change

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Aside from the wisdom/legitimacy of the Iran war, this is infuriating. The doctrine for the past 3 decades has been the ability to fight 2 small/mid-sized wars at the same time. Which we did for many years in Iraq/Afghanistan. And since then the budget has only increased...

WP headline: Military leaders warn [secretary of defense, pictured below] Hegseth against extending Iran war operations
abstract: A recent classified assessment advised that prolonged large-scale operations in the Middle east risk weakening US capabilities elsewhere.

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

There are some crazy looking creatures in the deep sea. This pair was encountered in today's Nautilus dive (nautiluslive.org), at a depth of ~5,400m. That's over 3 miles deep in American.

purplish-red sea cucumber with long spikes

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David B @aardvark007.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Call me old fashioned, but if you are a man running for Senate (or are a sitting senator) then you should wear a jacket and tie for official events. Or at least a proper shirt.

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 29/08/2026

A: Where should we eat? B: I’m happy to go anywhere! A: Me too. I don’t care where we go. B: Same. Any restaurant you have in mind? A: No, I’ll go to literally any restaurant. Any area more convenient for you? B: No, every location in existence is convenient for me. buff.ly/wrtqwo0

mcsweeneys.net

With God as My Witness, I Will Not Pick the Restaurant

Our 13th most-read piece of the year. 7/25/23 7/28/24 8/3/25 8/29/26 CALENDAR 2027

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Lots of people are feeling the need to respond to “if you claim to embrace diversity, you should consider treating people different from you with respect and not being a jerk” with “I SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE A JERK THE REAL PROBLEM IS JEWS,” and that’s not great.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 26/08/2026

They disinvented the VCR. You might think that the reason we don't have VCRs anymore is because VCRs were supplanted by DVDs, PVRs and streaming, but that's not the case. They had it in for the VCR from the very start, and they never stopped trying to kill it. Eventually, they succeeded. 1/

A 1960s family living room in which a mom, dad and two kids are mesmerized by a cabinet-style TV. The image has been altered. The TV has an early 1990s VCR atop it. The TV screen is displaying a cross-sectioned human head with brains and spine on display. A huge fist has materialized in the room, with bloody spiked knuckle-dusters, smashing into the VCR. The oil painting over the sofa has been replaced with a pulp image of a male head, its cranium removed and replaced by a dome. Inside the dome is a red eight-segment VCR clock, displaying 12:00. The background in the painting is a tangle of cassette tape. The whole image's colors have been boosted, giving it an overexposed look.

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 25/08/2026

Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines. When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.

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Delilah S. Dawson @delilahsdawson.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I know this is hard, but listen: Be the Dolly you wish to see in the world. That's what she would want for her legacy.

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FT @fucktheory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Imagine being talented and beautiful and rich and famous and still the most noteworthy thing about you is how good a person you are.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 24/08/2026

Underappreciated: US farmland *already substantially produces energy, not food*, and does so very inefficiently. Corn ethanol (~40% of all US corn) requires about 100 times more land per vehicle-mile driven than solar photovoltaics -> electric vehicles. Shifting corn to solar *would free up land*.

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Mike Sakasegawa @sakeriver.com · 25/08/2026

When a good and decent person leaves this world, I think the best thing we can do to honor them is to try to put even more goodness and decency into the world. It's not that we can replace them or their contribution. It's just that we need it all the more now that they're gone.

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