iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Lisa Catara (official)💎 @lisa-catara.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

"M.A.G.A."? Be specific. I grew up near a major city with people of all ethnicities, incomes, & perspectives. We communicated & learned from our differences. There was respect & consideration for one another. THAT was great. The US is its diversity. If you hate diversity, you don't love the US.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

I use my mailfence account for important emails and I’ve been unable to access it for more than 24 hours. Starting to panic a bit. As one of your paid subscribers I really need to get this resolved.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Hey @mailfence.com folks…I've had trouble accessing my email all day. What's the story with the North American server?

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

“in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.” Common sense, indeed.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

…US Rep then… Evans? Dean? You're from NJ…Kim and Booker? You might disagree with Fetterman on Israel but he's no friend of this administration. McCormick would be no help, I agree.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Might not be a terrible idea to give your congressperson and your state rep a heads up about your itinerary and your dates of travel. Strange times we live in.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

My new favorite president. I didn’t know!

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Musically I'm on a Sam Fender kick. It's good stuff… curious how I never heard of this guy before this month.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

I can picture my eight year old saying that.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Season 2 of The West Wing might be the strongest single season of TV I've ever seen. Twenty-five years later the whole thing holds up. It starts strong, it ends strong. Twenty-two solid episodes, not a weak one in the bunch. Aaron Sorkin is incredible.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Getting artificial dye out of the food isn't the worst thing in the world. It's not worth an assault on the safety and efficacy of vaccines or an attack on the capability of people on the spectrum. I'm just saying…not the worst thing.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Listening to my five year-old daughter singing "We Will Rock You" while getting dressed in her room is giving me the smiles this morning.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I’m also a Jewish guy and I, too, am sad about the Pope.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

“Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry.” -The Great Gatsby.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

The Mack truck assembly plant in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley is laying off 250 to 350 people due to “market uncertainty.” I’m willing to bet those guys weren’t Harris voters.

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Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Sari Beth Rosenberg @sari.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Abrego Garcia wasn’t deported. He was kidnapped. He’s not in a prison. He’s in a 💀 camp. He was denied his right to due process and everyone in the U.S., including those without legal status, have constitutional rights to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. 1/

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

New season of Black Mirror is on Netflix and the episode Eulogy with Paul Giamatti (in an AMAZING performance) is easily my very favorite segment of the entire series run. Credited writers: Charlie Brooker and Ella Road. A beautiful use of science fiction to tell a really heartbreaking story.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I'm reading The Great Gatsby for the 4th time in my life. I read it in high school, again in my 20s, a third time ten years ago, and now again in middle age. Tom Buchanan gets more awful with each reading and I'm seeing more interesting details emerge this time. Nick remains elusive to me.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

I can't remember where I saw this but somewhere this morning I read: "Deleting pages from a government website isn't really any different than burning books." And I can't stop thinking about that.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Perhaps that's the intent…but all I see is rage and disgust.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

This morning I referred to someone as the "Teddy Savalas of Capricorn One" and now I need to schedule that colonoscopy. (…because I'm old).

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

My money is on microplastic accumulation coupled with the lasting effects of the era when there was lead in the gasoline.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

I was about to say the same thing.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I just heard you on Fresh Air and then immediately bought the ebook. That’s not something I often do but you make a compelling argument and I’m eager to read it. I’m a data journalist and I’m interesting in exploring how to illustrate the lasting impact of these things.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I read your story and I came away thinking there was more you left out. Is this the “more?”

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

A lot of people were liberated from their money today.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

MAGA obsession with Hungary and yet no one’s coined the phrase MAGA-yar yet.

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Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Melissa Stewart @lissajostewart.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

They are disappearing people off the streets They are disappearing people off the streets They are disappearing people off the streets They are disappearing people off the streets They are disappearing people off the streets

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

I read this three days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since.

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Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

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Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Rabbi Ruti Regan @rutiregan.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

On a meta-level, one of the many horrifying things about this story is that the Atlantic had no reasonable option other than to release the Signal messages at this point. They should have been able to go to the Inspector General! Or the FBI! Or Congress!

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Yesterday I became a subscriber to @theatlantic.com. It’s an excellent publication doing quality journalism. Support journalism!

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Reposted by Wesley Ratko

Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 25/03/2025

I would like to nominate Maxwell Smart for national security advisor.

Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

While it’s inspiring to see people peaceful protesting policies and actions they see as unjust, I have to wonder: where were they on Election day? Is this easier than voting?

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Why are people horrified by Idaho’s proposal to make the firing squad their method of execution but not horrified by the death penalty overall? The death penalty is barbaric.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

I'll be on a panel at #NICAR25 next Saturday March 8 at 11:30 in Grand Portage Ballroom 4. The panel is titled "Covering transportation with data and docs." I'll be there to talk about exploring the short-term planning document known as the TIP to find regional transportation stories. Join us!

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

It's a fine line that divides "I can't wait to see my kid!" from "How long until bedtime?"

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

When I ask Claude to write me a code block, I still have to know how to read the Python it produced to make sure it's doing what I want it to do to the structured data I'm working with. I would take issue with the phrase "zero education." Being a knowledgable partner to the AI is still key.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

It's the bots sending me unsolicited direct messages, yes?

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

There's a handsome, younger portrait of this man in an attic somewhere.

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

This morning's Letters from Berlin was quite moving. You're an excellent writer @luisaweiss.bsky.social

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Wesley Ratko @datavizwes.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

My only Superbowl comment is this: If it costs $8 million for a 30-second ad spot, and the thing you're advertising is a faith that emphasizes feeding the poor, then wouldn't that money be better spent ACTUALLY doing that? Beautiful ad with a good message that still really bugs me.

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