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Bob King

@bkingdc.bsky.social
2.2K followers 920 following 732 posts

Deputy managing editor at POLITICO, interested in climate change, energy, transportation, technology and cybersecurity. Pennsylvania native and displaced Floridian. www.politico.com

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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A group of cardinals literally elected the pope.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Everybody's aware that the number of daylight hours in a given day is exactly the same no matter how we set the clocks, right?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
But I kept getting security updates the whole time. I enjoyed the fact that Debian would just leave me alone and not keep bugging me about upgrading that entire time.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I waited almost five years.
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Reposted by Bob King
Politico @politico.com · 28/09/2026
Inside the anti-climate campaign against researchers
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Inside the anti-climate campaign against researchers
A POLITICO investigation reveals more than 100 open records requests demanding documents from climate scientists nationwide.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Also, either make people pay for the charging or make them pay for the parking, but not both. A place near me has a bunch of chargers almost nobody uses because the total cost for both comes to $25 for 45 miles of driving range.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Agreed -- PHEVs don't need fast chargers. Nobody on a road trip is going to stop their car every 40 miles to recharge their ca. What would increase the benefits of PHEVs: A ton of Level 2 chargers at workplaces, apartment buildings etc so people can charge while their cars sit for several hours.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Looks like I upgraded to Debian Trixie (v13) just in time: Bullseye (v11) reaches end of life after five years. flosslinuxblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/debi...
flosslinuxblog.blogspot.com
Debian 11 is at end of life from Long Term Support
Lots of posts in the debian-user mailing list complaining about updates with Debian 11.11 suddenly failing. See  Debian 11 Long Term Suppor...
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Sean Cairncross to Anthropic's Dario Amodei: "Will you be closing off access to Fable or not?" Amodei: I can't. Cairncross: "I have the answer I need." Scott Bessent: "That is a bad decision." By @sophiacai.bsky.social and Cheyenne Haslett www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Screenshot of tense conversation between Trump officials and the Anthropic CEO.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
@politico.com White House reporters Sophia Cai and Cheyenne Haslett w/ a must-read story on the clash between Trump and Anthropic, in which each side "came to recognize its fearsome adversary ... and their potential for mutually assured destruction.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
The Company Trump Can’t Ignore
The president wanted to unleash AI. Then came Anthropic.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
That also means that this 1983 Steve Martin movie was really a documentary. www.imdb.com/title/tt0085...
imdb.com
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Stanford study: Humans have two brains, not one -- a finding that has implications for maybe someday developing treatments for diseases like ALS. med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...
med.stanford.edu
Human brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research finds
Stanford Health Care delivers the highest levels of care and compassion. SHC treats cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, primary care issues, and many more.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
JUST IN: A federal judge has barred DHS from threatening to prosecute a man who harshly criticized ICE’s acting director following the fatal shootings in Minnesota. It violates his free speech, Judge Contreras ruled. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How else would a Trump be able to afford a wedding after-party? Come on.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
God forbid I should have hobbies.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I think we can all agree that this is the big tech news of the week: Julia 1.13 is out, including syntax highlighting in the REPL! julialang.org/blog/2026/09...
julialang.org
Julia 1.13 Highlights
Highlights of the Julia 1.13 release.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Or why not have Congress approve the checks now, while announcing he'll sign the bill only if Republicans win? That way voters could be more sure it would really happen.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When they go low, we go AI.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
And if the microchips are more valuable economically, why not just make the chip manufacturers buy the water rights from the cotton farmers? (At least in Western states where water rights are a thing.)
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Politico @politico.com · 10/09/2026
GOP leaders blindsided by Trump’s promise of $5K checks
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GOP leaders blindsided by Trump’s promise of $5K checks
As Republicans gathered for their midterm convention in Dallas, they wavered from full-on embrace to full-on avoidance of the president’s dividend plan.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
There was something special and freeing about the old text-based internet, where nobody knew who you were or could find out anything about you, email could not contain viruses, algorithms were not shoving stuff in your face, and words determined the success or failure of online communities.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If Gen Z can make CDs, film cameras, wired headsets and flip phones cool again, when do they start reviving dial-up internet?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Historian @adapalmer.bsky.social discusses why 2026 is the perfect time to reassess that humanitarian, pro-liberty, sex-positive bon vivant known as ... Machiavelli? youtu.be/qEt5CQ5Mz7U?...
youtu.be
Machiavelli ISN'T Who You Think He Is - Beforecast Episode 1 with Ada Palmer
YouTube video by Beforecast
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"Find churchgoing Christians in Janesville, Wisconsin": SCOOP by @politico.com's Alfred Ng on how a nonprofit is teaching lawmakers and congressional aides about AI's ability to compile dossiers on Americans' travels, purchases and habits. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Own a gun? Go to church? Do yoga? AI can find out in seconds.
A series of demos on the Hill has both Democrats and Republicans alarmed about artificial intelligence’s ability to plumb commercial databases for information on Americans.
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Reposted by Bob King
Miami Herald @miamiherald.com · 28/08/2026
“Killer Train” exposed systemic safety failures and a staggering death toll along Florida’s Brightline higher-speed rail corridor.
bit.ly
Miami Herald, WLRN named finalists for prestigious award for Brightline series
“Killer Train” exposed systemic safety failures and a staggering death toll along Florida’s Brightline higher-speed rail corridor.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Need money? I hope you can get to the bank by 5!" ... Or, I dunno, just go to an ATM?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Bill Gates: AI could bring cyberattacks, bioterrorism and mass unemployment: www.politico.com/news/2026/08... New poll: Americans are actually mostly OK with data centers -- but not the ones used for AI: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
politico.com
Bill Gates warns AI could lead to mass unemployment, cyberattacks
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Reposted by Bob King
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 25/08/2026
The daily challenge of logging in to apps and websites is about to get worse, @willoremus.com reports.
bit.ly
I Lost the Password to My Password’s Password
Logging in was never supposed to be this complicated.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Also, just noting that some of us were already using email, visiting (the handful of) websites and buying airline tickets online in 1994. Maybe pick a more truly dreadful era like 1975 -- leisure suits, avocado countertops and red shag carpeting, anyone?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Plus, you'd have to listen to grunge.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The newest attempt to sell voters on data centers: Without them, you'd be zapped back into that dark age known as ... 1994. youtu.be/jeTYVoNDHBw?... Yes, that dire pre-9/11 era when you were 32 years younger, houses and college were more affordable and dystopian sci-fi was somewhat less plausible.
youtu.be
Welcome Back to 1994
YouTube video by Bitcoin Voter Project
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
So yeah, this all raises a few questions.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Do we even bring up the fact that administration officials have admitted in court documents that they've made some decisions about how to administer laws (in awarding energy grants, for example) based solely on whether the states voted for him in 2024? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
And this would be an unprecedented nationwide effort that would be carried out on the fly, during a high-stakes midterm election -- assuming it's allowed by a court ruling that could come on the eve of or even during balloting.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Among other issues, huge questions include: -- The accuracy of the judgment that some would-be voters are ineligible (given how error-prone past ballot purges have been). -- The accuracy of the Postal Service's determination that THIS ballot recipient = THIS ineligible voter...
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
So: It's entirely plausible that agents of the Trump administration will decide this fall 1) who's eligible to vote, 2) whose ballots the Postal Service should block from delivery, and 3) in which states ballot deliveries should be blocked entirely. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
politico.com
Supreme Court lifts one block on Trump mail-in voting plan
But it’s unclear if the president’s order will be implemented by the midterms.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What is this Purcell principle you speak of?
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Reposted by Bob King
Politico @politico.com · 08/08/2026
DEI dispute delayed wildfire grants for area engulfed in blazes
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DEI dispute delayed wildfire grants for area engulfed in blazes
A fight over USDA immigration and diversity policies held up $15 million in wildfire-prevention grants for an area in Washington state that’s now burning.
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Reposted by Bob King
Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
NEW from @joshgerstein.bsky.social & me: As his confirmation to lead DOJ hung by a thread last week, acting AG Todd Blanche told faith leaders on a private call that he was preparing to take action to roll back abortion access nationwide. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
politico.com
Blanche pledged abortion pill crackdown in private religious call: ‘We’re putting practices and policies in place’
The acting attorney general made the remarks during a private call with faith leaders.
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Reposted by Bob King
Politico @politico.com · 04/08/2026
Blanche pledged abortion pill crackdown in private religious call: ‘We’re putting practices and policies in place’
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Blanche pledged abortion pill crackdown in private religious call: ‘We’re putting practices and policies in place’
The acting attorney general made the remarks during a private call with faith leaders.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
SCOOP by @politico.com's Alfred Ng: More trouble brewing for the Federal Trade Commission as Republicans on House Energy and Commerce seek ideas on overhauling the agency, little more than a month after the Supreme Court erased its independence from Trump: www.politico.com/news/2026/08... #FTC
politico.com
House Energy and Commerce seeks input on FTC overhaul
A Republican-led information request asks how Congress should change the consumer protection agency after a series of adverse Supreme Court rulings.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This is one of the most Bradenton, Florida, things you can imagine happening in Bradenton, Florida.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Which of these things is not like the others?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I just woke up from a dream about a lost season of Parks and Rec shot entirely in black and white, featuring mysterious images of birds, menacing conversations with Russian mobsters in bars and hospitals, and a blurring of the actors' TV and real-life identities. And now I wish I could watch it.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Does this mean nobody wants to read my latest hot take on the Balogun red card saga?
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
A disappointing loss? Sure. But nothing a bottle or two of Westvleteren 12 can't fix. Thank you for a great run, #USMNT!!!
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Go Team USA!
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
"There is no evidence that the National Park Service or White House sought the [architect's] expertise with reflecting pool maintenance before embarking on the recent renovations across town, which included spraying the floor with an 'American flag blue' rubberized coating."
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
A mile and a half from the algae-plagued Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, another pool along the National Mall has somehow escaped such problems: www.politico.com/news/2026/06... This one is managed by the architect of the Capitol, not by the Trump administration's National Park Service.
politico.com
The Lincoln Memorial should be green with envy: This reflecting pool stayed clear
The Architect of the Capitol has long toiled to keep the Mall’s other body of water from falling into disrepair.
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Bob King @bkingdc.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
"... hundreds of thousands of the best sons of the people inexplicably rushed off to wreck. ... [I]t was impossible otherwise to explain rationally how and why the fields were choked with weeds, why harvests were falling off..." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
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