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arbitrary-element.bsky.social

@arbitrary-element.bsky.social
421 followers 419 following 81 posts
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Dorothy @catandgirl.bsky.social · 2h
The crusaders.

'We make LESS but things cost MORE!' says Girl. 'RETVRN!' cries a crusading Cat. 'To when we made less and things cost the same! Weather is spiraling out of control - with 2 degrees of warming baked in.' 'RETVRN!' cries Cat. 'To weather spiraling out of control with 1.5 degrees of warming baked in' says Girl. 'People aren't going to the emergency room because they're afraid of immigration-' 'RETVRN!' '-they should be NOT GOING because they CAN'T AFFORD IT! Leopards are eating my face=' 'RETVRN!' '- to when leopards were eating YOUR face!' 'RETVRN to 2015!' cries Cat. 'Sound the battle horn!' yells Girl. Cat plays a long golden horn, which blasts out the sound 'GOOD ENOUGH.' 'Now we just wait for an army to assemble,' says Cat. They wait.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 5h
Study Finds Deer Only Mammal Besides Humans That Totally Suck theonion.com/study-finds-deer-only-…
Study Finds Deer Only Mammal Besides Humans That Totally Suck
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WinRAR Earle @tommchenry.bsky.social · 5h
Comic I drew back in January... www.noncanon.com/comics/2026-...
PANEL 1: A duck and a dog are listening to music. DUCK: "Whoa! Is this a demo or alternate cut of this song I know well?" DOG: "Nope! Just my LP PAL!" 

PANEL 2: The record player and receiver with an inobtrusive smiling box wired to it. DUCK (off panel): "HELPY PAL?" DOG (off panel): "No, LP PAL--it's the fun and friendly box that sits between my stereo and speakers!"

PANEL 3: Diagram of the line out flowing through the LP PAL then to audio out. DOG (off panel): "As it receives any audio input, it processes it using an A.I. trained on all recorded music ever, then it produces new verses, new solos, sometimes whole new tracks--all optimized to human engagement metrics!"

PANEL 4: We return to our duck and dog. DOG: "So now EVERY album is an ACTUAL WORLD OF SOUND!" DOG: "It's an experience of reality that I pay a machine to mediate FOR me. So I can get back to doing WHAT REALLY MATTERS!"
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NANCY COMICS BY ERNIE BUSHMILLER @nancycomics.bsky.social · 5h
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller September 30,1949
P1-  NANCY IS SITTING ON HER STOOL SHE IS READING
P2- NANCY IS LOOKING AWAY FROM HER BOOK,SHE I DISTRACTED 
P3- NANCY IS LEANING TO SEE IF SHE CAN HEAR WHAT IS BEING SAID IN THE NEXT ROOM 
P4- NANCY IS HOLDING HER HAND TO LISTEN 
P5- NANCY LOOKS AROUND THE CORNER AND SEES HER AUNT FRITZI AND A FRIEND SITTING ON THE COUCH
NANCY: PLEASE TALK LOUDER
SO I CAN HEAR ---OR SOFTER SO
I'LL LOSE INTEREST Y
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 7h
Every time a discourse kicks off over whether AI music, literature or art will be "as good as" the real thing, I'm always amazed more people don't cite that **there already are** creative pursuits where human-free spectacles have been available for decades, and nobody has ever wanted to watch them.
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Lakeshore Drive Slut @shredded-teat.bsky.social · 21h
a man stuck in traffic once told me to "get a car" while sitting in traffic as i rode my bike in the clark st bike lane. well i'm back to tell that man. i got a car. i am traffic. and i am parking on the STREET
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arbitrary-element.bsky.social @arbitrary-element.bsky.social · 23h
People keep posting that pic of Elon
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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Teens need to get off the internet and socialize" (Teens go to the mall) "No not like that, we need to do something about these teens!"
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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/09/2026
Heart-Wrenching Movie Scene Immediately Cuts To Liberty Biberty
Heart-Wrenching Movie Scene Immediately Cuts To Liberty Biberty
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Lakeshore Drive Slut @shredded-teat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
oh you brought your 2 cats into target and they were spooked by the 4 dogs another person brought into target? i'm so sorry that happened to you
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Jon Bois @jonbois.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
all the guys who made harambe jokes 10 years ago later experienced complete emotional breakdowns, became born-again evangelicals, and are now enthusiastic fans of the liberty biberty commercials
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Andy “voice of Brak” Merrill. 🎅🏻🤡🐒💩 @amerrill2.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ah man!
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skeeter longpenis @guypussy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
(Squirt executive with his head in his hands) ITS NOT PEE ITS GRAPEFRUIT SODA
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ChicagoVintageTileFloors @chicagovtfloor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Numbers
The tiled threshold of 1736 W Greenleaf Avenue with “1736” in tile, a stylish tile border & an open security gate.
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Elle @elleisanisland.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Recession indicator
A box of Hamburger helper. At the top it says to try using hot dogs instead of ground beef
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eBay mugs & glasses @dangmugs.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
happiness is a warm pussy 🔥
Tall white stein with drawing of a cat sleeping besides a roaring fireplace. Lettering reads "Happiness is a warm pussy".
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pauline kael bot @paulinekaelbot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
[Robert Altman] When he's bad he's very bad, but when he's good he's extraordinary. (1972)
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joe @shariauncle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
increasingly feels like my Perfectly Fine liberal arts education was an artifact grabbed fleeing a burning temple
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DOKI DOKI CRT PIXEL @crtpixel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Without doxxing myself, my house is in this photo
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pauline kael bot @paulinekaelbot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Horses are extremely photogenic, so a Western always has something going for it. (1985)
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eBay mugs & glasses @dangmugs.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
for doug 💛
White mug with hand drawn illustrations of Garfield and Odie, personalized for the name "Doug".
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I like that in becoming a nazi, you get glowing coverage as a brave iconoclast, and then when you stop being a nazi, you’re get glowing coverage as a brave dissident. Money coming and going. Only way you lose is having normal opinions like “racism bad” bsky.app/profile/trac...
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arbitrary-element.bsky.social @arbitrary-element.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Good morning
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Good Trailcams @goodtrailcams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
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Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Phobos over Ascraeus Mons - NASA 's Viking 2 1977 - From Andrea Luck (andrealuck.bsky.social) - flic.kr/p/2oRhn1S
Download full size image: www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/53066242230/sizes/o/ (License Below)

Credit:
NASA/JPL/AndreaLuck

Colourised image created using data processed from pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/

Mission: VIKING ORBITER2 - EXTENDED_MISSION
Distance from Phobos: 8000 km
Orbit: 304 
Instrument: VISUAL_IMAGING_SUBSYSTEM_CAMERA_B
Time: 1977-06-23 T 11:17:04
Product ID: f304b88 (planetarydata.jpl.nasa.gov/img/data/viking/viking_orbiter...)

Notes from NASA: Viking 2 Orbiter image of Phobos orbiting over Ascraeus Mons on Mars. Phobos is about 8000 km below the spacecraft and 22 km across. Ascraeus Mons is 13,000 km away and about 300 km at its base, centered at 11 N, 104 W. North is at 11:30, and Phobos is moving from left to right relative to the surface.

Credit:
NASA/JPL/AndreaLuck

Feel free to share, giving the appropriate credit and providing a link to the original image or tweet: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Lake Michigan! Live! @lake-michigan.live · 27/09/2026
Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:
Rotating view from the top of the Shedd Aquarium where Chicago meets Lake Michigan. // Image captured at (local time): 2026-09-27 04:06:04 CDT (about 1 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: fox32chicago.com // Current Temp in Chicago: 57 F | 14 C // Precip: few clouds // Wind: NNW at 1 mph | 2 kph // Humidity: 92%
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Iron Chef Bot @ironchefbot.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Frame #67450 from S04 -E26 - Battle Yam-628222
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Should the economy be regulated by a democratic society to ensure that it creates opportunity and benefit for everyone? Or should it be a plaything for approximately a dozen of the world's most odious assholes? Who knows
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Raccoons Hourly @raccoonhourly.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An adorable raccoon.
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Lake Michigan! Live! @lake-michigan.live · 26/09/2026
Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:
View looking SE from 2800 N Lake Shore Drive as the Chicago shoreline meets Lake Michigan. // Image captured at (local time): 2026-09-25 19:06:04 CDT (about 1 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: 2800lsd.com // Current Temp in Chicago: 62 F | 16 C // Precip: few clouds // Wind: E at 8 mph | 13 kph // Humidity: 73%
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Good Trailcams @goodtrailcams.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
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pauline kael bot @paulinekaelbot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
[COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN] When Altman gives a project everything he's got, his skills are such that he can make poetry out of fake poetry and magic out of fake magic. (1982)
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eBay mugs & glasses @dangmugs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
i quit 🚬
White vintage mug with gold rim and illustration of an office worker standing on his chair and urinating on the papers in front of him. Lettering above reads "I quit!" and the bottom right corner reads "The Lizard".
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WinRAR Earle @tommchenry.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy 10th anniversary to one of my favorite overheard conversations: MAN 1: (gestures to Buckingham Fountain with great gravity) That's Chicago's 9/11 Memorial. MAN 2: I thought 9/11 was more a New York thing. MAN 1: It happened a lot of places. People forget.
A picture of Chicago's Buckingham Fountain. Yes, the one from the Married With Children title sequence.Text from Wikipedia identifying the fountain as having been dedicated in 1927 so the overly maudlin will understand the funny thing in the overheard is that MAN1 doesn't know what the hell he's talking about re: Chicago architecture.
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 25/09/2026
started listening to the audiobook of The Making of the Atomic Bomb by richard rhodes on my walks and came across the Death Machine passage this morning. still hits like a hammer 15 years after I first read it. my GOAT will never be washed
“The machine gun mechanized war. Artillery and gas mechanized war. They were the hardware of the war, the tools. But they were only proximately the mechanism of the slaughter. The ultimate mechanism was a method of organization—anachronistically speaking, a software package.376 “The basic lever,” the writer Gil Elliot comments, “was the conscription law, which made vast numbers of men available for military service.377 The civil machinery which ensured the carrying out of this law, and the military organization which turned numbers of men into battalions and divisions, were each founded on a bureaucracy. The production of resources, in particular guns and ammunition, was a matter for civil organization. The movement of men and resources to the front, and the trench system of defence, were military concerns.” Each interlocking system was logical in itself and each system could be rationalized by those who worked it and moved through it. Thus, Elliot demonstrates, “It is reasonable to obey the law, it is good to organize well, it is ingenious to devise guns of high technical capacity, it is sensible to shelter human beings against massive firepower by putting them in protective trenches.”

“What was the purpose of this complex organization? Officially it was supposed to save civilization, protect the rights of small democracies, demonstrate the superiority of Teutonic culture, beat the dirty Hun, beat the arrogant British, what have you. But the men caught in the middle came to glimpse a darker truth. “The War had become undisguisedly mechanical and inhuman,” Siegfried Sassoon allows a fictional infantry officer to see. “What in earlier days had been drafts of volunteers were now droves of victims.”378 Men on every front independently discovered their victimization. Awareness intensified as the war dragged”“on. In Russia it exploded in revolution. In Germany it motivated desertions and surrenders. Among the French it led to mutinies in the front lines. Among the British it fostered malingering.Whatever its ostensible purpose, the end result of the complex organization that was the efficient software of the Great War was the manufacture of corpses. This essentially industrial operation was fantasized by the generals as a “strategy of attrition.” The British tried to kill Germans, the Germans tried to kill British and French and so on, a “strategy” so familiar by now that it almost sounds normal. It was not normal in Europe before 1914 and no one in authority expected it to evolve, despite the pioneering lessons of the American Civil War. Once the trenches were in place, the long grave already dug (John Masefield’s bitterly ironic phrase), then the war stalemated and death-making overwhelmed any rational response.379 “The war machine,” concludes Elliot, “rooted in law, organization, production,”

“movement, science, technical ingenuity, with its product of six thousand deaths a day over a period of 1,500 days, was the permanent and realistic factor, impervious to fantasy, only slightly altered by human variation.”380No human institution, Elliot stresses, was sufficiently strong to resist the death machine.381 A new mechanism, the tank, ended the stalemate. An old mechanism, the blockade, choked off the German supply of food and matériel. The increasing rebelliousness of the foot soldiers threatened the security of the bureaucrats. Or the death machine worked too well, as against France, and began to run out of raw material. The Yanks came over with their sleeves rolled up, an untrenched continent behind them where the trees were not hung with entrails. The war putrified to a close.But the death machine had only sampled a vast new source of raw material: the civilians behind the lines. It had not yet evolved equipment efficient to process them, only big gunsand clumsy biplane bombers. It had not yet evolved the necessary rationale that old people and women and children are combatants equally with armed and uniformed young men. That is why, despite its sickening squalor and brutality, the Great War looks so innocent to modern eyes.
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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ceo of burger king: our burgers have gone rogue again and infected people with e coli
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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
all these people sound like this:
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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
monkey, ascii art (2010) aa.mozz.us/utf8art/asci...
ascii art of a crouching, kinda angry monkey, puffing smoke, holding up a hand with a smoke between their fingers.
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Thomas Jerome @thomasjerome.com · 24/09/2026
Naming the "Ableism" list so that a screen reader pronounces it "Four bee ell three one ess em", 10/10 bit
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NANCY COMICS BY ERNIE BUSHMILLER @nancycomics.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller September 23,1960
P1- NANCY AND SLUGGO ARE WALKING TO SCHOOL 
NANCY: I HEAR WE HAVE A NEW ART
TEACHER FROM OUT WEST
P2- NANCY AND SLUGGO HAVE ARRIVED AT SCHOOL AND ARE WALKING TO THE ART CLASS 
SLUGGO: YEAH---SHE COMES FROM RANCH COUNTRY AND SHE'S TOUGH
P3- NANCY AND SLUGGO AND THE OTHER STUDENTS ARE AT THEIR DRAWING PADS AND THE ART TEACHER IS STANDING AT THE FRONT OF THE CLASSROOM WITH A VERY STERN EXPRESSION 
TEACHER : DRAW YOU VARMINTS
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Iron Chef Bot @ironchefbot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Frame #54200 from S05 -E05 - Battle Shark s Fin-629263
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Hourly Spaced @hourlyspaced.bagpuss.org · 23/09/2026
04:56
S02E06 Dissolution April 6 2001
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The Onion @theonion.com · 22/09/2026
Glamour Of Lamborghini Negated By Indiana Plates
Glamour Of Lamborghini Negated By Indiana Plates
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
it's weird that ai got too dangerous to keep advancing right around the time money got more expensive to borrow
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arbitrary-element.bsky.social @arbitrary-element.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
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Bill Savage @rogersparkman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
No private for-profit organization (let’s stop calling them “festivals,” which sounds fun for all and non-profit) should be able to use Chicago Park District parks, rendering them useless for their local communities. Kick the Bears out, move all these shitshows to Soldier Field and its parking lots.
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a team of bumblebees @saramchenry.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
You notice different things each time you revisit Twin Peaks. This time I’m seeing a strong ecological message, comparing the industrialized rape of the earth with the large-scale exploitation of young women.
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Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Turned down the offer of an orgy with two prostitutes last night.
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Andy Boyle @andymboyle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
the great lakes implies the existence of the awful, absolute dog shit lakes
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Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
My favorite thing that I've learned while doing research on RIVER'S EDGE is that Dennis Hopper's role was initially offered to Harry Dean Stanton, but he passed on it. The casting agent said, "He gave everything he didn't want to do to Dennis, and if Dennis didn't want to do it, then no one would."
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