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Algernon D’Ammassa

@algernonwrites.bsky.social
1.6K followers 527 following 1.7K posts

Journalist in southern New Mexico, writer, retired stage actor, citizen. ABQJournal.com DesertSageNM.substack.com Signal: Algernon.26

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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 3m
Grant County commissioners are hearing a presentation about Site Layer 1, a data center proposed for the southern tip of the county on private ranching land. Details have been hush hush. Ironically, the virtual presentation by developers is almost inaudible.
County commissioners listening
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
You need to be afraid! You need to read this reporting so that you can be appropriately afraid! (Oh, and there's a paywall.)
Screenshot of Vox article headlined "The real reason the Russia plague case should scare you."
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The White House launched a 24-hour “Trump TV” livestream. For several minutes I’ve been looking at footage of war planes and artillery on a beach with an AI narrator extolling their lethal power.
Screen grab of an unspecified beach with military gear on the sand and a chyron saying, “text VP 245470 for updates from the White House”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Part of left-leaning press-bashing is a demand that reporters behave in ways that would get them fired, reassigned, or otherwise benched. It’s not connected to anything that would improve the journalism. Lots of room for improvement, to be sure, and access isn’t everything.
Skeets bashing journalists
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
On September 17, I will be taking questions about the First Amendment and freedom of the press at New Mexico State’s Las Cruces campus. Free to all who might like to stop by the Corbett Center (205). Full poster in comments. 
University Constitution Day poster, very little graphic, mostly text presenting the information in the post
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
…and Marlon Brando in Teahouse of the August Moon…
Black-and-white photo of Marlon Brando in heavy make up for his role as a Japanese character in the movie.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I’ve been smelling the onions growing on fields not far from my house. “How easily happiness begins by dicing onions,” opens a poem by William Matthews that calls onions the best domestic perfume… www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
A pile of yellow onions!
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Heyooooo
Similar result to Parker’s
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Not great for some drivers tho
Overturned semi partly on highway in La Jolla as rain falls.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
They made a candle that smells like hay, dung, and marjoram?
Ad for a scented candle with a picture of a hatched cottage and the slogan “smells like 1026, not 2026.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
BREAKING: Screaming Lord Byron is not going to perform at the America 250th Anniversary celebration. But everything will be all right tonight.
David Bowie in his Screaming Lord Byron persona for the “Blue Jean” music video.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
God, I hope this really did happen.
In D.C. a friend of mine was reading the ‘The Exorcist’. He felt it was the most evil book he’d ever read. So evil he couldn’t finish it. One weekend he threw the book into Chesapeake Bay. I went 2 a bookstore. Bought another copy. Ran it under water. Put it in his desk draw.” The text is white on a black background.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Getting ready to leave, I applaud my small hometown weekly newspaper, which printed some interesting reporting and profiled some community members. Keep at it, folks, and don’t sell your paper to the vultures.
Two front pages of the East Providence Post displayed on a hotel bed.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
In a prelude to an appeal, Tomas Rivas was back in court Friday for a hearing in which he asked the trial judge to throw out his murder conviction or order a new trial. Story here: www.abqjournal.com/news/tomas-r...
Screenshot of the article since for some reason it is not displaying correctly. Picture of Tomas Rivas on the witness stand. Headline: Tomas Rivas alleged misconduct denied him fair trial
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Memento mori. (Follow me for Latin puns.)
Mulberry tree mori (pl. of morus) on the sidewalk in front of my home.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Jose Coll, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Western Oregon University, has been appointed Western New Mexico University’s new president. He starts on July 1. Story soon.
Picture of Coll on a screen as he video conferences into a board of Regents meeting.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Advertisement in the April 3, 1940 Albuquerque Journal. It was on the society pages sharing space with advertisements for a sale on dresses at Martins, bargain prices for new refrigerators, a sale for Maytag washers, and an ad for ladies’ western sportswear.
Ad copy: 
FEMALE PAIN
Women who suffer painful, irregular periods with nervous, moody spells due to functional cause snould find Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound simply marvelous to relieve such distress.
Pinkham's Compound is made especially to help weak, tired women to go smiling thru dificult days.
Over 1,000,000 women have reported amazing benefits. WELL WORTH TRYING!
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
It’s a good feeling to open the PO Box and find letters. Today I heard from Cologne and Lancaster, Calif. Sent a cheerful note with a joke to someone who wrote a magazine article I enjoyed.
Two letters, closeup on the stamped corners. A colorful German stamp on top.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Good morning. On this day in 1610, Galileo discovered three moons. What are your plans for the day? (He was later brought before the Inquisition and punished for stating correctly that Earth revolves around the sun.)
Painted portrait of Galileo, bearded, a deadpan stare aimed at the viewer.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
What a good day to reflect on ordinary folks who come through under extraordinary adverse circumstances, with quick thinking, decency, and bravery. This person’s name, by the way, is Eugene Goodman. He very likely saved the lives of elected officials on January 6, 2021. 
US Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman facing the mob during the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Happy Cervulus and a merry Feast of the Ass to all who celebrate. Bray three times and go out for a long walk today.
Woman wearing a deer mask.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Ahem, the Journal told you why, a month ago. Story link in comments.
Screenshot of the Santa Fe New Mexican headline, “A plaintiff withdrew from a lawsuit involving Project Jupiter. Nobody is saying why.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
The condition is real.
Tweet screenshot by account Louise Jensen Duffy writing as Ernest Jensen: 

“So, a lot of people ask me why I buy so many books. The truth is, I have a genetic disorder where my body doesn't produce enough books of its own, so I have to supplement.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Frank Sinatra's father immigrated to the U.S. from Palermo in 1903. Sinatra's mother immigrated from Lumarzo as an infant in 1895. Dean Martin's father immigrated from Montesilvano and his mother was the daughter of an Italian immigrant as well. At the time, Italian immigrants had low standing.
Tweet by Stephen Miller that reads: "Watched the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas with my kids. Imagine watching that and thinking America needed infinity migrants from the third world."
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
A subject expert presented me with a not-excessively-technical document helpful on a matter related to some reporting I've been doing. Love that. His instruction was to "run it through ChatGPT for quick analysis." It's a 13-page policy document. I'll just, you know, read it.
My laptop, bag, hat, and cup of coffee at the coffee shop where I'm working.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Happy Boxing Day, a difficult day for news correspondents who depend on coffee shops for work space. Our Golden retriever is happy that most of her humans, me excepted, are lazily hanging around the house today.
A happy Golden retriever getting skritches in front of a Christmas tree.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Everyone mad about the Epstein files is getting a taste of what it is like when a reporter waits for a public records request to be filled for several weeks or months only to get something redacted like this.
Screenshot of a document with every line of text redacted.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
At this rate, she’s going to get a book deal and the west coast editor job at Vanity Fair.
Screenshot of a Facebook post from the New York Times, with a photo of the woman from the Coldplay kiss cam moment. Chatter reads: “ At a Coldplay concert in July, Kristen Cabot appeared on the Jumbotron in the arms of her boss. Cabot retreated, trying to make things right with the people who mattered most. Now, for the first time Since that viral moment, Cabot is sharing her side of the story. Read her interview with the New York Times.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Oh look, Google Gemini is telling users that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sits on the Supreme Court. Good job, digital parrot.
Screenshot of a Google Gemini search result, with a picture of Alberto R. Gonzales describing him as "Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States."
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Hey, Axios headline writer: The Nobel committee didn’t “snub” Trump any more than it snubbed me. Why are you playing into a false and disingenuous narrative? Also, ditch the superfluous subheads. Story reads fine without them.
Headline reads: “‘Great honors of my life’: Trump wins FIFA Peace Prize after Nobel snub.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Paul, I could not find an email address for you and did not want to start an account just to leave a comment, but your lede is referring to President Andrew Garfield…
Screenshot of the article as it appears online
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
“Fair play with others is primarily the practice of not blaming them for anything that is wrong with us. We tend to rub our guilty conscience against others the way we wipe dirty fingers on a rag. This is as evil a misuse of others as the practice of exploitation.“ (Eric Hoffer, 1958)
Cover of the book “working and thinking on the waterfront” by Eric Hoffer, being a selection of journal entries from 1958 to 1959.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Not the right tie, and too narrow for his face. It’s inside the line of his ears which makes it clownish.
Still from Fox News panel with third man wearing a striped bow tie. Closeup of Fox News guest wearing gray sport coat, blue shirt, and striped white bow tie.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Before clicking and sharing the articles, maybe pause. There is no such thing as a tariff on people. It is nonsense. The governor who made the remark about New Yorkers moving to his state is trolling and certain online personalities and digital newsrooms are running with it for attention and clicks.
A delicious latte in a green cup with saucer.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Generally I like this translation of Epictetus and the annotations, but coming across “user-friendly” in one of the discourses was jarring, a bit overly contemporary and wedded to software design and marketing. Suddenly I’m wondering if Epictetus was a proto-influencer…
Cover of Robin Wakefield’s “Epictetus: The Complete Works.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The defense rested this afternoon in the murder trial of former Las Cruces police officer Felipe Hernandez. Hernandez spent most of the day on the stand, followed by an expert witness called by the defense. Closing arguments tomorrow, and then it will be in the hands of jurors.
Felipe Hernandez, in a black suit, walks through the courtroom Wednesday. Defense attorney Jeff Lahann, state District Judge Richard Jacquez, prosecutor Tomas Medina and District Attorney Fernando Macias hold a bench conference to discuss questions submitted by jurors on Wednesday.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Today I halted the rain by purchasing an umbrella. You’re welcome, or I’m sorry, depending on your preference.
Picture of the curved wooden handle of the umbrella, against my overcoat beneath the shoulder.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The smell of old paperbacks takes me all the way back to my childhood home and parents’ stacks of books. #books
Fawcett Crest paperback edition of “Local Anaesthetic” by Günter Grass, 1971.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Thank you, I was scrolling to see if anyone mentioned Gus.
Photo of Clark Johnson portraying reporter/city editor Gus Haynes on season 5 of “The Wire.”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham continued her Las Cruces visit with an appearance at the ribbon-cutting for a new, and already mostly full, senior living center built through a mix of public, private and general obligation bond funds. At right is Mayor Eric Enriquez.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham speaking at a podium with the apartment complex behind her.Mayor Eric Enriquez speaks at the podium with the apartment complex behind him.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham participates in the ground breaking for a new $15 million film studio at NMSU’s Arrowhead Center.
Wayne Savage, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, NMSU President Valerio Ferme flip dirt with shovels.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
What’s going on this morning on the Doña Ana Community College campus? I’ll tell you in a little bit…
Hardhats resting on the handles of shovels, as for a groundbreaking, with earth moving equipment in the background.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Nancy Orta, a first grade teacher at East Picacho elementary in Las Cruces, named New Mexico’s teacher of the year for 2026.
Nancy Orta in her classroom with children seated at her feet
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
What’s going on at East Picacho Elementary School in Las Cruces? I’ll tell you in a little bit…
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
The data center? Yeah, it’ll be about *this* big I guess… I’m back on PBS (with colleague Hannah García) wearing ties and ‘splaining things… Jump to our segment on Project Jupiter here… youtu.be/fBoYueAb0QI?...
Me, in a blue jacket and bow tie, with my hands gesturing a few inches apart while I answer a question.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
The annual “unclaimed bodies” press release turn, which a staff reporter can accomplish in minutes between Teams meetings and mandatory online training modules, is now being farmed out to a digital parrot before, I presume, it is proofread by this young reporter based in Oklahoma. 1/2
Newspaper article in the Las Cruces Sun news. The topic is the local funeral ceremony for people who are deceased and unclaimed in the county. The byline for the story is Andy Dossett “Las Cruces Sun-News reporter assisted by AI.” Dossett is based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, more than 800 miles away from Las Cruces.
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Comment on Mastodon. I firmly agree. I’d even say, more governance reporting, less on political spectacle.
Comment on Mastodon: “I think right now we need more reporting on this kind of ‘we did a good governance thing and it improved our community, check it out’ situation
we can actually do useful things in our communities
like make jobs! and cheese!”
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Algernon D’Ammassa @algernonwrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Text message with predictive text says: The ache in your side is a sign of weakness in the heart that is a symptom of a disease that has never occurred in the human body
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