iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I’ve been awake for 30 minutes and I decided to click through to skim the complaint which means this paragraph nearly killed me. I thought I was going to break a rib laughing.

3. In May 2016 or June 2016, I created an idea for a new type of monster called a wereshark. This monster is an anthropomorphic shark that gains strength whenever Neptune is in the sky. It has impenetrable skin that, because of its texture, can shred metal and is invincible to bullets and blades. It is immune to disease because of its unique skin texture. The wereshark can generate electric fields and discharge lightning bolts from all over its body, including its dorsal fin. It is vulnerable only to magnets. For instance a magnet bullet can kill a wereshark.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

One giant frog, you say?

A person in an inflatable frog costume instead of front of a line of armed agents outside the Portland ICE facility

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Oh THAT’S why they let Ted Cruz hang out with them! I’ve been wondering since yesterday what kind of invite only social group would invite him

Those executives appear side by side with senior US officials overseeing their industries. Auren Hoffman, Dialog’s chairman, founded the location-data broker SafeGraph and the identity-resolution firm LiveRamp, two of the most important suppliers in the consumer data economy. He appears in the directory alongside Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, whose department writes the rules on financial data, and Senator Ted Cruz, chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which oversees the Federal Trade Commission and its data-privacy authority.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Now I'm just a humble small town political scientist in training. but I'm pretty certain that is not in fact the definition of sovereignty

"Close and secure the border. Not as a political performance — as a structural requirement. A sovereign nation controls who enters. That is not a debate. That is a definition."

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Virginia. His campaign website is fucking fascinating (derogatory)

The real photo senate candidate Mark Moran puts first on his website. He looks like a temu american psycho character in incredibly ominous lighting. He's pointing like he's in a meeting. He looks like a dork.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I was so immediately delighted by the prospect of the illustrated stumptown scud I abandoned my reading to do a little doodle. Someday I will have time to do him more justice

A pencil sketch in a spiral bound sketchbook of a stumptown scud. The scud is a little bug thingy with legs pointing all over the place.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

6/? You never spend a single cent on commissary food to supplement the inadequate food. (www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2010/ap...)

Prisoners Johnny Maynor and Anthony Murphree filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama over conditions at the Morgan County Jail. Maynor’s and Murphree’s complaints stemmed from violations of a previous Consent Decree that had been entered by the court on September 25, 2001. Pursuant to the decree, the county had agreed to serve nutritionally adequate meals to prisoners at the jail.

What the district court found was deplorable. For breakfast, prisoners received a serving of unsweetened grits or oatmeal, a slice of bread and half an egg or less. Lunch consisted of either two baloney sandwiches or two sandwiches with a dab of peanut butter, plus a small bag of corn chips. For dinner prisoners were served either chicken livers, meat patties or two hot dogs, either slaw or onions, beans or mixed vegetables, and a slice of bread.

Each meal was accompanied by weak tea or an unsweetened beverage. Milk was not provided, and prisoners received fruit only three or four times during the two-year period considered by the court. Salt, pepper and other condiments had to purchased from the jail’s commissary.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Not the album I was going to pick, but on the Taylor Swift end of the spectrum at least when it comes to time period.

The cover for The Mountain Goats’ 2023 album, Jenny from Thebes. It’s a black disc on black background with gold decoration in the style of Ancient Greek art. A woman is pointing and running away to the right, and a warrior is standing behind her, looking where she points.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or alice in chains

The album cover for John Henry by They Might Be Giants. The cover art is an image of a girl with a pink shirt and long hair sitting in grass against a dark backdrop of woods. She’s holding a pickaxe. The name of the album and the name of the band are on either side of her in the same sketchy white font.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

this is a breakfast sandwich

A hand holding a ladyfinger covered in tiramisu filling above a mostly empty bowl covered in the remains of said filling

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

@moiradonegan.bsky.social and @adriandaub.bsky.social : thank you for your excellent podcast! In case you couldn’t tell, I enjoy it very much (and recommend it to my friends)

Spotify wrapped graphic showing In Bed With The Right as this user’s top podcast. I listened for 3,856 minutes and was in the top 3% of listeners worldwide.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

THERE HAS BEEN A CATASTROPHIC ERROR AND I HAVE TWICE THE NUMBER OF PUMPKIN PIES I MEANT TO MAKE

The poster’s folly- a pair of unbaked pumpkin pies sit on a white countertop.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

My one and only comment on the manner

Tumblr post by user unionizedcrabbucket reading “oh it must be spring the mariners fans are doing the charlie brown kicking the football thing again”

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Thank you Marcus Aurelius, I think

“Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same; and so that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him? These two things then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver and he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not.”

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

It’s a very good article and this bit made me chuckle out loud

The Posse Comitatus Act, last updated in 2021 for reasons that will become immediately clear, is one sentence: "Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the Space Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

WHY WOULD YOU SAY ANY OF THIS

Q: Aren't the Nicosia's millionaires and live in a 9,000 square feet mansion in East Avenue?
A: No and No, we are by no means millionaires and our mansion is 12,000 square feet, not 9,000 square feet. We are proud of our historic family home, and it provided au ideal backdrop for this narrative and has been greatly exploited by Jerrod Jones and the Rochester media. Our

The poster has incredulously highlighted the first sentence of the answer because who the fuck would admit that and think it makes them look better

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

This was one of my many gripes w/ Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy when I read it for class—Howell and Moe seemed to half acknowledge the racism inherent in that and then turned around and pretended it’s an urgent problem that actually needs fixing

Highlighted text from a book with a read sticky note flag next to it and handwritten annotation. The relevant highlighted portion reads “Second, support for populist parties is driven by both economic insecurity and cultural disruption. That said, populist leaders have clearly made immigration, which is partly economic but mainly cultural, their number one political issue. They have depicted immigrants as the reviled "other," and as distinct threats to their nation's way of life; they have used the issue to roil emotions and stoke fear; and they have succeeded in growing their base of support. Economic insecurity matters. Culture is explosive.”

Another photo of a book page with sticky notes and handwritten annotations. The relevant paragraph reads “Whatever the means, today's crisis calls for well-designed policies and programs targeted most directly at those communities whose security and well-being have been ravaged by the disruptive forces of modernity. People need jobs; they need education and training for high-skill occupations; they need assistance in relocating; they need health care; they need security in old age; they need child care — and more — and they need to have their cultural concerns and fears of marginalization recognized and addressed (for example, through comprehensive immigration reform)” The words “cultural concerns” have been underlined and labeled “eww”. At the end of the paragraph, the poster has written in “I don’t think they do! I just don’t! I don’t think a non-racist version of this exists.”

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

It's one lesser part of the whole evil that is Alito's opinion, but my heart goes out to this student board member. I felt weird when I was one and I got quoted positively, much less in this kind of circumstance. You were trying to do good, and you don't deserve this.

religions out there that teach that women should only
achieve certain subservient roles in life, and MCPS would
never think of not having a book in a classroom that showed
a woman” in a professional role. The
Board’s student member agreed with the sentiment and
proclaimed that “ignorance and hate does exist within our
community, but please know that every student—each of
our 160,000 students in our large county—has a place in
the school system.”

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

This is making me miss the white and grey pigeon who lived by St. Peter’s…

A white pigeon with bits of grey spotting captured mid-takeoff. It’s photographed against a background of Roman cobblestone and a brown stone wall. The pigeon is only a few inches off the ground

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

My sign and my favorite I saw today

A hand holds a cardboard sign in front of the sky. It says “No damn kings” in all caps, written in black marker

A protest sign covered in child sized handprints in various bright paint colors. The text says “our kids deserve better”. The inside of the letters are various flags.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

@indivisible.org @workingfamilies.org @moveon.org University students went to tell Wyden his constituents demand he refuse to play along with the illegal Republican takeover, only to find his Salem office is entirely inaccessible to the public. Undeterred, we left voicemails and emails. #VoughtNo

The user, in a winter coat, scarf, a university sweatshirt standing outside the locked doors to Senator Wyden’s office. Two other students are standing behind them, backs turned to the camera.

A television inside the office building has a list of suites. Senator Wyden’s office is in suite 285

An electronic directory. There is only one page, and Senator Wyden’s office is not listed as able to be contacted.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Trans day of eating a grocery store pie out of the tin

An image of a pie in a grocery store box with a fork sticking out of it. There’s been a bite taken out of a slice.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

@mattcameron.bsky.social my prof didn’t know, so you were the one person I could think to ask—this graph shows US Marshalls with a slice labeled “immigration”—why would someone be with them and not in the other immigration detention slice?

A pie chart from the prison policy initiative showing the U.S. prison/jail population and where they are incarcerated. The skeet is referencing the 14,000 person subslice in the U.S. marshals slice labeled “immigration”. This is separate from the blown up immigration detention portion on the side.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

My contribution to Christmas Eve dinner (my family’s main celebration): a tiramisu Swiss roll. What I have learned from the experience is that my tiramisu cream does not have enough structural integrity for this. The freezer is helping and at least it’ll be tasty.

A Swiss roll cake coated in chocolate ganache on a white plate on a white counter in a kitchen.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Show me 4 of your necessary December watches

A movie poster for The Green Knight (2021), which is, *technically*, a Christmas movie in about the same way Die Hard is.

A screenshot from the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso

A movie poster for Henry V (1989) sloppily edited to have a Santa hat on it, because no the original poster Doesn’t watch other movies.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

What is one of your comfort movies?

A gif from Henry V (1989). Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, lit by fire, sitting back in his throne.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

The ending scene of the book is this: our lead characters get driven out to a field. /3

The car left the city and sped west along the Beijing-Shijiazhuang Highway. It exited the highway as soon as they were inside Hebei Prov-ince. Da Shi stopped the car and dragged his two passengers out.
As soon as Ding and Wang got out of the car, the bright afternoon sun made them squint. The wheat felds of the North China Plain spread out before them.
"What did you bring us here for?" Wang asked.
"To look at bugs." Da Shi lit one of the cigars Colonel Stanton had given him and pointed at the wheat fields with it.
Wang and Ding now noticed that the fields were covered by a layer of locusts. Every wheat stalk had a few crawling over it. On the ground, more locusts wriggled, like some thick liquid.
"They're plagued by locusts here?" Wang brushed away some locusts from a small area near the edge of the field and sat down.
"Like the dust storms, they started ten years ago. But this year is the worst."
"So what? Nothing matters now, Da Shi." Ding spoke, his voice still drunk.
"I just want to ask the two of you one question: Is the technological gap between humans and Trisolarans greater than the one between locusts and humans?"
The question hit the two scientists like a bucket of cold water. As they stared at the clumps of locusts before them, their expressions grew solemn. They got Shi Qiang's point.
Look at them, the bugs. Humans have used everything in their power to extinguish them: every kind of poison, aerial sprays, introducing and cultivating their natural predators, searching for and destroying their eggs, using genetic modification to sterilize them, burning with fire, drowning with water. Every family has bug spray, every desk has a fly-swatter under it ... this long war has been going on for the entire history of human civilization. But the outcome is still in doubt. The bugs have not been eliminated. They still proudly live between the heavens

and the earth, and their numbers have not diminished from the time before the appearance of the humans.
The Trisolarans who deemed the humans bugs seemed to have forgotten one fact: The bugs have never been truly defeated.
A small black cloud covered the sun and cast a moving shadow against the ground. This was not a common cloud, but a swarm of locusts that had just arrived. As the swarm landed in the fields nearby, the three men stood in the middle of a living shower, feeling the dignity of life on Earth. Ding Yi and Wang Miao poured the two bottles of wine they had with them on the ground beneath their feet, a toast for the bugs.
"Da Shi, thank you." Wang held out his hand.
"I thank you as well." Ding gripped Da Shi's other hand.
"Let's get back," Wang said. "There's so much to do."

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

Here is something beautiful: my absolute favorite church in the city of Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere

A photo of a church nestled between two other buildings. It has a classic Italian Basilica shape, a tall bell tower, and beautiful but faded mosaics along the top of the front wall.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

Your wish, my command, etc (done in a free app on my phone in under 15 minutes so the quality is of course awful but I don’t care more)

A sloppily edited screenshot of the enchanter Tim from Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Tim Walz’s face under the beard. The subtitle says “There are some who call me… Tim”

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 09/10/2024

If I had a nickel for every time someone in my friend group freshman year had an ill-advised date with a journalist who was way too old for them, including myself, I'd have two nickels.

A red ball with a smiley face floating on water. Text to the left of it says "Tell us a true, one-sentence story from your life that absolutely opens more questions than it answers and demands further context."

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 30/06/2024

Sources and some other things you can read if you're interested. (8/8)

A screenshot of a word document containing citations and annotations. The text is as follows: Klein, Ezra. 2020. Why We’re Polarized. Simon and Schuster.
My number one book for understanding what our system looks like right now, and why.
Smidt, Corwin D. 2017. “Polarization and the Decline of the American Floating Voter.” American Journal of Political Science 61(2): 365–81. doi:10.1111/ajps.12218.

And then less directly related to the general election but still interesting in terms of “how do voters make decisions”,

Abramowitz, Alan I. 1989. “Viability, Electability, and Candidate Choice in a Presidential Primary Election: A Test of Competing Models.” The Journal of Politics 51(4): 977–92. doi:10.2307/2131544.
Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, Phil Paolino, and David W. Rohde. 1992. “‘Sophisticated’ Voting in the 1988 Presidential Primaries.” American Political Science Review 86(1): 55–69. doi:10.2307/1964015.
Utych, Stephen. 2019. “Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More E

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 11/06/2024

@legalminimum.bsky.social this is a funny pun but now I can’t stop wondering and I think you have to be the most qualified person to ask—what Pokémon is the most lawyer-y Pokémon?

$A screenshot of a tumblr reblog chain. User hoofpeet says “Must suck ass to be like. a lawyer or something in the pokemon world. They haven't made any cool lawyer pokemon yet”. User eternal-fractal replies “Ho oh”. User dkpsyhog replies “I think we have different definitions of ‘lawyer’ but sure”. User eternal-fractal says “Why wouldn't ho oh be a lawyer? They're a Phoenix, wright?”.$

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 20/05/2024

I am sometimes a playwright, and even though I like to write science fiction, I don't love the work being churned out by today's computers.

A screenshot of a word document containing a play.
Astronaut: "I don’t know. It just feels selfish? But at the same time—I worked so hard for this, and you worked so hard for this. Like, I wouldn’t be here if not for you getting off a double shift and then helping me study for calculus. I don’t want to throw that away because I got cold feet. "
Stage direction: Astronaut looks at Parent, clearly asking for something. Parent takes a minute.
Parent: (carefully) "You know I’ll support you no matter what."
Astronaut: "But what do you think? Are you just ok with this?"
Parent: "What do you want me to say?"
Stage direction: Astronaut is quiet.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 15/05/2024

Anybody have 195 pounds I can borrow? Asking for a friend.

A screenshot of a web store interface. The product highlighted is a replica of the Dunstable Swan Broach, an enamel broach in the shape of a swan with a gold crown around its neck attached to a gold chain. The visible description text reads “Brooch in the shape of a swan from around 1400, gilded brass coated in white resin. The emblem of the swan was very popular among nobles eager to demonstrate their descent from the Swan Knight of courtly romance. The most notable English family of the fourteenth century to use this symbol was that of De Bohun. The swan was adopted by the house of Lancaster when Henry of”. The poster lusts mightily for it.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 15/05/2024

Rose and cardamom cream puffs. I’m so good at this.

A baking tray lined in parchment covered in misshapen filled cream puffs. The tray is on a counter.

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C.S. @cephander.bsky.social · 13/04/2024

In terms of signage—lots of branded stuff for the protest, few American flags, saw a Betsy Ross flag but didn’t capture it on camera, this one with a tree I don’t recognize, and these charming fellows out front.

A crowd of protestors. The poster wants to call attention to a white flag with a cartoonish green evergreen tree and some black text on top.

The standard “you’re going to hell” vibes signage carried between two people. Being angry about pro-choice and lgbtq+ beliefs.

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