iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

One bike has a flat One bike needs the rear derailleur adjusted and the bars straightened/aligned One bike needs the rear rack attached One bike needs a new rear derailleur barrel adjuster and new bar tape One bike needs rust treatment One bike is ok.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Behind tired eyes Lies a hazy mind Numbed by the lack of sleep

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Abbey @abbeyarletto.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

I just texted him a single word, "KNICKS". I hope that he can put his politics aside for a couple of weeks to become a Knicks fan again.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

It hasn't mattered so much this last decade until this current team formed. Now, he's missed this amazing team, this epic run. He asks about the Knicks now and again. "I hear they're doing good?" He'll ask. But he won't watch. In years past, he'd watch every game and yell at the TV the whole game.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Then he turned MAGA and they told him that Black Lives don't Matter and that the players should just shut up and play ball. And he just stopped watching the Knicks and stopped following hoops altogether. The league was "too woke", he'd say.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

I know a guy who was a #Knicks fan basically his whole life. Family moved to the US in the late 60s and the Knicks became his team. He's old enough to remember 1970 and 1973. A fan through the Bernard King years, the 90s victories and heartbreaks, the Melo years, Linsanity, all of it.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Sigh. I guess better sitting in their cars there instead of entering homes without a judicial warrant...

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

And it's not just the distances, it's the time. Americans have no time, so even with an e-bike, the daily riding required above would be untenable from a time point-of-view.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Likewise the Amazon warehouses. But in the suburbs/exurbs, the apartment can be 5 miles away in one direction from work and 5 miles away in the other direction from school and 5 miles in yet another direction from the shops.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Can't really comment on things in the UK, but here in the US the transit rich communities are being gentrified, pushing the working poor into the car-dependent, low-density suburbs/exurbs where mass transit is slim to non-existent and distances and infrastructure preclude most utility cycling.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

This humble plot of land sits next to the sprawling Trump National golf course. It used to be on Google Maps, but I was surprised to see that it has recently been removed.

heavy stone stairs leading to the wrought iron gate and fence of the Lamington Black Cemetery. It is a sunny day and the there are strong shadows on the stair risers and the plaque marking the entrance. There are a couple of US flags on one side of the stairs, and a old wreath with another US flag hanging on the wrought iron fence on the left. Tall trees beyond the fence rise in a blue sky

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I try to stop by the Lamington Black Cemetery whenever I'm in the area. The marker by the entrance says that there are 97 identified graves here, 61 of them without markers (unknown). The people buried here include former slaves and freed blacks as well as 5 Civil War veterans.

Photo of cemetery filled with simple white wooden crosses marking the graves of otherwise unmarked/unknown people. The cross in the foreground has a small US flag next to it, marking the grave of a military veteran. It is spring and the grass is a mix of dull green and brown. There are tall evergreens in the background. The sky is blue

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Agree. So many bike advocates seem to come from places of privilege and casually dismiss the challenges of poverty and near-poverty and the car-dependency that many of them are faced with.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

The devil is in the details though. If you start charging cars more for their existence before you've addressed the car dependency of the working poor, you've made the lives of the working poor appreciably more difficult.

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Indivisible Somerset County New Jersey @indivisiblescnj.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

🚫👑NO KINGS🚫👑 🪧 0️⃣3️⃣/2️⃣8️⃣/2️⃣6️⃣🪧 🪧🚫👑🪧🚫👑🪧🚫👑 #NJ here in Somerset County at the Somerville Courthouse www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

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Indivisible Somerset County New Jersey @indivisiblescnj.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

🚫👑🪧🚫👑🪧🚫👑🪧 NO KINGS 3️⃣/2️⃣8️⃣/2️⃣6️⃣ 🚫👑🪧🚫👑🪧🚫👑🪧 www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

BTW, calling my commentary "low effort" is an ad hominem attack that I don't appreciate.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

According to the United Way, nearly 40% of US households are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. And with the gentrification of urban spaces, ALICE families are increasingly being pushed to suburbia/exurbia where a car is necessary but also expensive.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Unfortunately, much of the US is built for cars. What do suggest the working people who live in that world do until that is changed?

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Yeah, I'm just not into shaming folks who might be struggling to make ends meet.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

A Patriot isn't an expensive car. And that's likely 5+ years old. This could be someone struggling to make ends meet.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Riding a bicycle was my first taste of the joy of two wheels. Riding has been my constant companion for most of my life, but like most things, stuff gets complicated as you grow older. But every once in a while, I'm able to leave adulthood behind and be 12 again.

photo taken from the point of view of a person riding a bicycle down a quiet suburban street in New Jersey during dusk. The red grips of the handlebars are prominent as the blurred asphalt passes below.

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Indivisible Somerset County New Jersey @indivisiblescnj.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

What's your ideal No Kings experience? A Rally? Inspiring Speakers? Live Music? A March? No need to choose, we have it all! Join us in charming downtown Somerville,the Somerset County Seat, to say NO KINGS! zsyig9hbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001...

zsyig9hbb.cc.rs6.net

NO KINGS Somerset County NJ · No Kings

We have the power and are claiming it together. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings. What began in 2025 as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny, spreading from s...

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

We've been car lite for about a year, walking and biking for errands, sometimes using motorcycles, sometimes renting a car. It's doable. Good luck!

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

and that Filipino folk hero Jose Rizal had been killed years earlier by the Spanish for speaking to fellow Filipinos about freedom and independence. To those attending the Saint Louis World's Fair and reading the newspapers, we were subhuman. That lie lived on for 70 years.

Diorama of Jose Rizal with his back to the Spanish firing squad that will execute him

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

ignoring the fact that by 1904, the first Filipino newspaper was nearly 100 years old, that Filipinos were studying law and medicine and philosophy in the Philippines and Europe,

Newspaper: St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Headline: This Photograph Shows One Great Stride in Education Accomplished by a Group of Savage Igorrotes at the World's Fair. Black and white photo of Igorot man sitting with small typewriter on lap while woman and child look on.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

We were savages that America was determined to save after winning the Spanish American war and squashing our desire for freedom by killing a million of us. They were going to teach us writing and modern life and save us from our savage ways,

Headline: The Century Goes out Amid the Clash of Arms. The Year 1900 a Busy Year for the Soldiers and Gun Makers. Month by month accounting of battles around the world. Battles in the Philippines highlighted. Number of killed, defeated, slaughtered highlighted

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Fair promoters sensationalized the idea that some natives sometimes ate dog during certain rituals and turned it into a daily part of the show for fairgoers to gather and watch the brown savages eat dog.

Newspaper. Headline: FATTED DOGS WILL BE SLAIN FOR FEAST AT DOUBLE WEDDING OF IRROGETES HEAD HUNTERS AT ST. LOUIS. Black and white photos of native Filipinos standing and dancing at World's Fair.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I remember being being asked by white kids in the 1970s if I ate dog. I did not know it at the time but this is where that question came from, the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis where native Filipinos were exhibited like prize livestock at a state fair.

Newspaper. Headline: Puppy Dogs. Subhead 1: FOR BREAKFAST AT FILIPINO WORLD'S FAIR COLONY. Subhead 2: IGORROTES WANT DOG MEAT. Subhead 3: Surplus Stock of Strays At the Pound Will be Drawn Upon to Feed Them.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

TEXT FROM DEMS: THE WORLD IS ON FIRE. GIVE US $5.

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I try to visit this black cemetery whenever I'm in the neighborhood. #BlackHistory #Cemetery #USHistory

Photo looking up the snow-covered steps to the wrought iron gate of the Lamington Black Cemetery. To the right of the steps is a large stone marker with a plaque that reads, "Lamington Black Cemetery / 19th century burial grounds on the National Register of Historic Places / There are 97 identified graves here: 36 with names and 61 unknown, including former slaves and free blacks who were members of the Lamington Presbyterian Church. Remains of 5 Civil War veterans who fought heroically for the Union lie here. As you walk through the grounds, note the Bible passages on some of the markers and enjoy the feeling of peace." Beside the marker is a small flag. Beyond the wrought iron fence lies the snowy ground with modest headstones, white crosses, and flags. The sky is blue. The suns shines low in the sky. A Christmas wreath hangs on the fence.

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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 16/02/2026

This flew under the radar, but it shouldn’t have. When senator Alex Padilla was tackled by DHS, Kristi Noem’s side piece, Corey Lewandowski, was orchestrating the situation in the hall.

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Cooper River Indivisible @crindivisible.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social

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John M Flores @johnflores.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Winter #bicycle project. Second time in my life stripping an aluminum frame down to its bare metal; the last time was an 1980s Cannondale with drop bar shifters. This time, it's the #Walmart #OzarkTrail G.1 Explorer #gravelbike.

photo of a green bicycle frame coated in paint thinner and wrapped in cellophane. Portions of the green paint are reacting to the paint thinner and bubbling. Parts of the frame are already bare aluminum.

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Therefore Horror 📀🎃🍿 @thereforereview.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

"U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, a New Jersey Democrat, attended the protest, "What I saw in that video - children running away scared - this is how bad ICE is. That as soon as they heard, they ran home to their parents to see if they're OK."" Terrorizing 10 year olds at the bus stop! ice needs to GTFO!