iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My guess is the ai prompt was asked for starship troopers or maybe just something from a space movie, so the ai put that text on the image, and then got the uniform wrong cause ai is dumb. But it’s got next to nothing in common with Starship Troopers.

An AI generated image posted recently by President Trump claiming to show the new uniforms for the U.S. Space Force. Text in the image claims it is based on Starship Troopers, but it is nothing like the Starship Troopers uniforms in color, cut, or style. The top is a double breasted tunic, in a dark grey or black color scheme.

A screenshot from Starship Troopers showing a military uniform. The top is a double breasted suit jacket has an exaggerated lapel and is a medium grey color.

A screenshot of an imperial officer from Star Wars. He is wearing a double breasted tunic very similar in color and style to the ai generated space force uniform. It is only barely visible in the image but he also has tall riding boots, similar to the ai image.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

You may notice the similarities between this map and the previous. I assure you, they are not coincidental.

A map of the United States 20 largest metro areas marked, with their rankings.

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Dallas-Fort Worth
5. Houston
6. Atlanta
7. Washington DC
8. Miami
9. Philadelphia
10. Phoenix
11. Boston
12. Inland Empire
13. San Francisco
14. Detroit
15. Seattle
16. Minneapolis-St. Paul
17. Tampa Bay
18. San Diego
19. Denver
20. Orlando

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Do you know what the three biggest dots on this map represent? The first, third, and fourth largest metro areas in the U.S. (LA is second but it’s still business hours there, it will presumably catch up in an hour or so of the problem persists).

A map of both America showing hot spots of various strength all over the eastern half of the U.S. The largest are in the Dallas, NYC and Chicago areas, but smaller hot spots are all over the country.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This is his pinned post. He’s utterly fried his brain.

A pinned post from Alexander Kustov, that reads “Social media has been a net loss for humanity. Its one silver lining was a public square, and even that is gone now. Except on one platform few would guess. My case for the supremacy of Linkedin for intellectual discussions.
Don't believe me? Cross-post to LinkedIn for a month and see for yourself:” with a link to an article.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

We’re living in a Tim Robinson sketch, what the hell.

A screen shot of a conversation on Bluesky: Terry Watkins @gerrygow.bsky.social • 10h
Here's the deal. If you want to condemn the media's treatment of Jason Arday you have to condemn The Guardian's scrupulously balanced and extremely well-reported coverage too. Because that's what blew the story up from one about plagiarism into one much more damaging.

Gautam Kambhampati @gautampk.com • 9h
Yeah, I very much do, because the issue is the scale and extent of the coverage as such, not how well written the articles were.

Terry Watkins
@gerrygow.bsky.social
I don't understand your point at all

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

She has a long but normal looking neck in other photos and clips of her, why does it look so inhumanly disproportionate here? Is it just the camera angle? A weird AI filter? I don’t understand, and it’s going to haunt me.

A photo of new SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Vice President JD Vance, and her husband Jeffrey Sprecher, standing in front of two American flags and a navy blue curtain.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

henryfudgeofficial.substack.com/p/degeneracy...

A screenshot of the linked article that reads: “What does a rational agent do in the Ponzi stage?
She does not work harder at the losing strategy.
That would be irrational. She pivots to strategies with the property that their upside actually reaches the reference threshold, even if their expected value is poor. She buys lottery tickets, metaphorical and literal. She speculates on crypto. She gambles on football. She starts an OnlyFans. She day-trades. She marries for money. She sells her eggs. She joins a multilevel marketing scheme. She bets her redundancy on a single hand at the roulette wheel of life because the steady strategy has a known terminal value below the threshold she needs to clear.”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Of course he didn’t, how would he have time after he became a train conductor?

A screen shot of Ringo Starr in a train conductor’s uniform from his time playing Mr. conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

If you think that’s bad, this is the current Club World Cup trophy:

The FIFA Club World Cup trophy sitting on a black pedestal labeled “Club World Cup 25” in a football field. It looks vaguely like a golden gyroscope.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

The world if the congressional dining room staff stop washing the produce:

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

One of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips, and a feeling familiar to every cat owner. “I keep forgetting that five of your six ends are pointy when you lie like that.”

A Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. In the first panel, Hobbes, a tiger, is sleeping peacefully on his back with all four paws in the air. In the second, he is awoken by Calvin, diving from above the panel and yelling “YAAHH!” With a menacing look. In the third panel, Hobbes is baring his claws and teeth and Calvin is desperately flailing, but gravity will do its work. In the last panel, Calvin is walking away looking cartoon injured (covered in lots of black lines with stars coming off him) and saying “I keep forgetting that five of his six ends are pointy when he lies like that”.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Can’t fit the whole post into the screenshot, but man that “view full thread” link is clearly putting in work.

A screenshot of two posts with “View full thread” between them. The first is from Kevin Kruse and is about knowing how to change a flat tire. The second is the post this is replying to, from hilzoy, about the reasons the U.S. lost the Vietnam war.

Full text follows:

Kevin M. Kruse •
@kevinmkruse.bsky... • 7h
Reminded that a colleague of mine, not that much younger, once confessed to me that he didn't know how to change a flat tire.
And I said: "Don't ever admit that to another human being."
Rob Sheridan • @rob-sheridan.... • 2d
Saw a meme of GenZ baffled by how pre-internet travel worked, and realized we've crossed an enshittification threshold where IRL services that once seemed outdated, like travel agents, now seem luxurious: "You meet with a human expert who plans out your whole trip with you" sounds incredible now toh
لها
121
10 117
942
View full thread
hilzoy @hilzoy.bsky.social • 52m
→ Replied to Voted for Hubert and Kamala
Though I think that the problem in Vietnam was not vast superiority in numbers and resources, but being completely mistaken about the nature of the war, trying to support people whose actions guarant that they would hemorrhage suppor doing stupid things no one would do

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I think the lighting in the room is colored. I saw a clip of him being interviewed on the street at the Israeli event and he was more “angry white guy red” or possibly sunburned than whatever is going on here.

Sid Rosenberg, the guy in the photo earlier in the thread, being interviewed by a blonde woman on the streets of NYC during the Israel parade/event that was held recently. There is a caption that says “radio host defends telling Jews that Mayor Mamdani ‘wants them dead’”. He is either very tan bordering on sunburned or very flush with emotion, as his skin tone is quite red, but not as absurdly purple looking as the photo earlier in the thread.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

The thing that really galls me is he literally backed away from going to mars like 2 months ago, saying it is 20+ years away.

A tweet from Elon Musk dated 2/8/26 that reads: For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars.
It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months (six month trip time), whereas we can launch to the Moon every 10 days (2 day trip time). This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city.
That said, SpaceX will also strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years, but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is taster.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

@tolariancommunitycollege.com did a video on just how much they’ve flooded the market with product and it’s nuts. 1/3rd of all unique magic cards originated in the last 5 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVgs...

A screenshot from the linked Tolarian Community College video. It has magic the gathering products in the background and says: “Total releases since September 2020 - 27 Standard Sets, 8 Jumpstart sets, 16 Premium sets, 110 Commander Precons, and ~400 Secret Lairs”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

So desperate to not feel ashamed saying the r slur that they burned the whole economy down.

A screenshot of a news article from shortly after Trump’s victory in 2024 that reads: “Even the way people on Wall Street talk and interact is changing. Bankers and financiers say that Trump's victory has emboldened those who chafed at "woke doctrine" and felt they had to self-censor or change their language to avoid offending younger colleagues, women, minorities or disabled people.
"I feel liberated," said a top banker. "We can say 'retard' and
'pussy' without the fear of getting cancelled... it's a new dawn."

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Tig Notaro had a similar thought during the first Trump admin:

A tweet from comedian Tig Notaro dated 8/1/19 that reads “All the wrong people hate themselves.”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

The Medal of Honor always has a ribbon about that length. It’s meant to be worn under the collar of the jacket, with the medal itself sitting just below the knot of the tie, so it would be in the opening of the uniform jacket lapel. It always looks awkward when they present it.

A member of the U.S. military in uniform speaking at a podium. He has a large number of ribbons and medals, including the Medal of Honor, which sits suspended from a blue ribbon around his necks just above the top button of his uniform jacket.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

The blue thing? That isn’t a balloon, it’s a dust cover for a smoke detector.

A product photo for blue smoke detector covers, similar to a disposable shower cap.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

We WiLl AlWaYs sTaNd By OuR cOmMuNiTiEs

A news photo of Governor Newsom personally destroying the belongings of a member of his community.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I saw this the other day and it seems roughly correct. I think the characters were all well formed, but the setting and story are not really Star Trek so much as they are a shiny Star Trek-shaped object.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I’m pretty sure he’s turning into a swaggless version of Ruben from the Ocean’s movies.

Elliott Gould as the character Ruben from one of the modern Ocean’s movies. He is wearing a black overcoat, blue sweater, and a yellow bow tie. He has thick rimmed glasses and short gray hair.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

This is Puck, dealing with the one and only cold he had in his almost 15 years of life, and Kes, a cat who does not understand the idea of non-communal food.

A close up photo of a tuxedo cat making a scrunched up face. He has a cold and is congested and is very unhappy about it.

In the photo a black long hair cat is sitting on a desk poking out from under a raised monitor. She has a somewhat annoyed look in her eyes. In the foreground a hand holds a bologna and cheese sandwich. A small, cat sized bite has been taken out of the top edge of the bologna.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

If only the Transformers watch was that cool. It was just an autobot symbol that split open to reveal a digital watch face.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

There is a non-zero chance that this ends up in a history book:

The handshake meme with r/catbongos on one side and r/MassiveCock on the other, with “Abolish ICE” where there hands are joined.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Both NV senators came out against the bill.

An image of a text statement from Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, reading: Sen. Cortez Masto Statement
Opposing Current DHS Funding Bill
"The Trump Administration and Kristi Noem are putting undertrained, combative federal agents on the streets with no accountability. They are oppressing Americans and are at odds with local law enforcement. This is clearly not about keeping Americans safe, it's brutalizing U.S. citizens and law-abiding immigrants. I will not support the current Homeland Security funding bill.
We have bipartisan agreement on 96% of the budget.
We've already passed six funding bills. Let's pass the remaining five bipartisan bills and fund essential agencies while we continue to fight for a Department of Homeland Security that respects Americans' constitutional rights and preserves federal law enforcement's essential role to keep us safe."

A text post from NV senators came Jackie Rosen that reads: The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized. No one wants criminals in our country, but that's not who this administration is going after. They're targeting law-abiding immigrants who just want to support their families and live the American Dream. They're going after immigrants who have asylum or other forms of legal protections to be in our country.
They're going after U.S. citizens who disagree with their tactics - and in less than a month, two of our fellow Americans in Minneapolis have been killed as a result.
Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE's out of control conduct.
As a member of the U.S. Senate, I have the responsibility to hold the Trump Administration accountable when I see abuses of power — like we are seeing from ICE right now. That is why I'll be voting against any government funding package that contains the bill that funds this agency, until we have guardrails in place to curtail these abuses of power and ensure more accountability and transparency.
My personal guiding principle has always been "agree where you can and fight where you must." And I believe this is a time when we must fight back.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

This is an older one, but Kes was very mad I took her sandwich away. (It was not her sandwich).

A bologna and cheese sandwich is being held in the foreground, with a very small bite missing from the edge of the balogna. In the background, a long haired black cat is sitting on a desk looking annoyed at the person holding the camera/sandwich.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

www.aclu-wi.org/app/uploads/...

A photo of Martin Luther King Jr, along with a quote: “I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate ...the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Tig Notaro summarized this perfectly some years ago:

A screenshot of a tweet from Tig Notaro dated 8/1/19 that reads “All the wrong people hate themselves.”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Been holding this sentiment close all year.

A tweet from the day after the 2024 election, from Matt Ramsey (@OneNerdyOpinion): Yeah. I was pretty full of despair but I went ahead and replaced that with spite. I can't give up yet. I've got graves to dance on that haven't been dug yet.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

This quote from the Murderbot books has been stuck in my head for like 6 months.

A screenshot of a quote attributed to Martha Wells in her novel Network Effect, book 5 in the series The Murderbot Diaries. The quote is from an internal monologue of the titular character, Murderbot.

“If I got angry at myself for being angry I would be angry constantly and I wouldn't have time to think about anything else.) (Wait, I think I am angry constantly. That might explain a lot.)”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Fun fact: in the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation, Patrick Stewart was 46 or 47, depending on the episode. The image below is from the series premier, Encounter at Farpoint, when Stewart was a few months shy of 47.

A screenshot from the series premier of Star Trek the Next Generation. Patrick Stewart, playing Captain Jean Luc Picard, is facing off with John DeLancie, playing Q, in front of an out of focus crowd in the background. The Q Continuum is putting humanity on trial with Picard standing in as their representative/advocate.

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

After the election, someone on the old hellsite posted this, and it has stuck with me. There is often a lot to be hopeful for (the medical advances we’ve seen hints of this decade are amazing) but sometimes you just need spite to get you through it.

A tweet from Nov 6, 2024 from Matt Ramsey that reads: “Yeah. I was pretty full of despair but I went ahead and replaced that with spite. I can't give up yet. I've got graves to dance on that haven't been dug yet.”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Even CNN is reporting it as Dems caving. Congrats gang of 8 and everyone who supported it, literally everyone thinks you are suckers.

A screenshot of the main headline on CNN.com: “Enough Democrats caved, paving the way for shutdown to end”. There is a photo of a street with the Capitol building in the background in morning light, then a subheading that reads “The compromise was opposed by some key Democratic leaders and is already igniting a firestorm of protests”

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Joe Flaherty @joef-3.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

This headline sounds insane, but it undersells how absolutely batshit these assholes are.

A screenshot from the linked article that reads: “Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) last week demanded the feds "review every naturalization of the past 30 years - starting with Mamdani."
"I just think we need to take a hard look at how these folks became citizens, and if there is any fraud or any violation of the rules we need to denaturalize and deport," Fine told the Post.”

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