iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

100% -- today's politics come from a dream that goes back to the 90s that love + internet = (positive) community. How many more decades will it take to judge this empty cyberutopianism by its outcomes? Excerpts below from great 2019 essay by Fred Turner at: harpers.org/archive/2019...

By the end of the decade, when Reagan hailed the “David of the microchip,” many in Silicon Valley believed they had the tools to create the kind of person-centered democracy that the Committee had envisioned. They would achieve it through open conversation spaces like the WELL, engineered public spheres in which individuals gave voice to their experiences, gathered feedback from their peers, and changed their behavior accordingly. They shared Wiener’s faith in the power of information systems to liberate those who used them, and the Committee’s confidence that, given the chance to express themselves, individuals could create their own social order, without the need for top-down government control. If the mass-media era had brought us Hitler and Stalin, they believed, the internet would bring us back our individuality. Finally, we could do away with hierarchy, bureaucracy, and totalitarianism. Finally, we could just be ourselves, together.

Today, that sense of utopian mission persists throughout Silicon Valley. A month after Trump took office, Mark Zuckerberg laid out his social vision in a Facebook post entitled “Building Global Community.” Though only a few thousand words long, the document is every bit as ambitious as Wiener’s The Human Use of Human Beings. Like Wiener, Zuckerberg envisions a world in which individuals, communities, and nations create an ideal social order through the constant exchange of information—that is, through staying “connected.” “Our greatest opportunities are now global—like spreading prosperity and freedom, promoting peace and understanding, lifting people out of poverty, and accelerating science,” he wrote, sounding much like a representative of the Cold War–era State Department. “In times like these,” he continued, “the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.”

For all their sophistication, the algorithms that drive Facebook cannot prevent the recrudescence of the racism and sexism that plagued the communes. On the contrary, social-media platforms have helped bring them to life at a global scale. And now those systems are deeply entrenched. Social-media technologies have spawned enormous corporations that make money by mapping and mining the social world. Like the extraction industries of previous centuries, they are highly motivated to expand their territories and bend local elites to their will. Without substantial pressure, they have little incentive to serve a public beyond their shareholders. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter are coming to dominate our public sphere to the same degree that Standard Oil once dominated the petroleum industry. They too should be subject to antitrust laws. We have every right to apply the same standards to social-media companies that we have applied to other extraction industries. We cannot allow them to pollute the lands they mine, or to injure their workers, nearby residents, or those who use their products.

081

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

If you have time on or before Election Day, you can be a part of the backbone of fair and accessible elections by helping to make them happen! Californians can sign up by submitting a single, simple form at: pollworker.sos.ca.gov. Eligibility criteria at the link or below.

083

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

To answer the question: because Bass drops out of debates that aren’t HOA-hosted while her campaign claims ‘it’s time to move past debates’, despite said debates being planned around her schedule. *Still* no apology by @mayor.lacity.gov or offer to @lwv.org to reschedule. lamag.com/news-and-pol...

May 9, 2026 letter from linked article announcing Bass dropping out of debate.

010

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Congrats! Sent in a purchase suggestion to SF Public Library and it looks like a copy will be coming soon to a branch near me. 🥳 For anyone reading this, check with your local library to see if they take purchase suggestions -- always a great way to make authors' works more widely available. ☺️

SF Public Library notice that they'll attempt to order Truth Addict.

110

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Yes, I can confirm that the City of LA matches contributions from qualifying contributors at a 6:1 rate for the general election as well as the primary election. (The funding cap is higher for the general, see below.) You can find more info about the program at: ethics.lacity.gov/publications...

120

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Herrrrre we go. Only a very slight positive correlation between Bass/Mejia voting, MUCH stronger between Mejia/Raman voting and even stronger (negatively) between Mejia/Pratt voting. Source: politicaldata.vote/contest/city...

020

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Definitely want to actually compute the correlation between Pratt/Mejia voting, but from the map alone, it looks like there was more of a relationship between Pratt and Solokoff voting. Mejia just did really well everywhere outside of the very far NW! Source: 2026-warroom.talevy.soccer/map

110

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

They've since corrected it, but the WashPo ed board's error was especially egregious because they were specifically making an extra snotty point blaming *Nithya* for "not helping" with electoral misinformation. 🫠

130

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Some interesting cultural analyses do argue Pokemon is deeply concerned with moral virtue and respect for nature, thanks to its Shintoist and Confucian roots. Food for thought! 😁 www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09... andphilosophy.com/2020/07/31/m...

Headline: "What the pocket monsters of Pokémon can teach us about Japan's Shinto faith"

Blog post title: "Moral Philosophy in the World of Pokémon"

070

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

TIRED: Theranos scandal: alleged scientific breakthrough in blood testing by shady biotech startup WIRED: TheranOstrich scandal: alleged scientific breakthrough in...ostriches...by shady...ostrich startup? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

040

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Oh, surely it can't be THAT bad -- OH GOD (Spectators: the LAX people mover section begins on page 549 here: grandjury.co.la.ca.us/pdf/2024-25%...)

4
NOTE TO READER –
We tried to enhance the sections and titling of the report as if one were
experiencing a Hollywood Movie. Likely it won’t win an Academy Award, but
maybe you’ll be invited to an after-party. Sit back and enjoy the popcorn.
The following is based on real events
QUEUE the big yawn
This is a story of big government, big companies, big infrastructure, big politics,
but most importantly – big pressure. Unfortunately, despite the magnitude of the
issues, some of the material (actually most) is very dry and boring.
“The Big Sleep7”
• Big numbers,
• Construction contracts,
• Ownership structures,
• Bond ratings
• Construction schedules
• Change orders,
• Organizational structures and
• Financial reporting and consolidations
• City charter
BACKGROUND
THE THEATRE GOES DARK, THE CURTAIN IS DRAWN,
MUSIC STARTS AND THE AUDIENCE IS LISTENING...
YOU WANT THE TRUTH ! - YOU WANT THE TRUTH !! – YOU CANT HANDLE
THE TRUTH !!!8
The first requisite to understanding this investigation is a general understanding
of the overall framework of the People Mover Project and the parties involved.
Project Description –

2356

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Clueless soundtrack hasn't been mentioned yet? WhatEVER! But seriously, what a bunch of bangers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq5s...

List of songs:
1. "Kids in America" (The Muffs) 3:24
2. "Shake Some Action" (Cracker) 4:25
3. "The Ghost in You" (Counting Crows) 3:30
4. "Here (Squirmel Mix)" (Luscious Jackson) 3:33
5. "All the Young Dudes" (World Party) 4:00
6. "Fake Plastic Trees (acoustic version)" (Radiohead) 4:45
7. "Change" (Lightning Seeds) 4:01
8. "Need You Around" (Smoking Popes) 3:42
9. "Mullet Head" (Beastie Boys) 2:53
10. "Where'd You Go?" (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) 3:16
11. "Rollin' with My Homies" (Coolio) 4:06
12. "Alright" (Supergrass) 3:01
13. "My Forgotten Favorite" (Velocity Girl) 3:49
14. "Supermodel" (Jill Sobule) 3:07

030

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Should note that this just kicks the can down the road to November. Also, in fairness, the timeline for getting something on the June ballot this quickly meant they only had until Jan 28 to request ballot language, and until Feb 11 for a final vote. (Credit to @unrigla.bsky.social for flagging.)

140

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t nirvana, soundgarden, or Alice In Chains. Or try to pick just one, give up, and post 4 instead.

Vertical Horizon’s album, Everything You Want

Sixpence None the Richer’s album of the same name

010

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

L. Frank Baum's mother-in-law was suffragist and activist Matilda Joslyn Gage. Which might have something to do with, in later Oz books: - an all-female army taking over the Emerald City, - an immortal empress ruling Oz, and - Dorothy moving into her palace to become her "constant companion". 👀

Art of General Jinjur and her all-female army invading the Emerald City

Dorothy Gale and Ozma kissing in an image from The Road to Oz

151

Ross Weistroffer @libraryofbabble.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I believe anti-tyranny scholar Laura Joffe Numeroff once had something to say about face-eating leopards... 🤔 "If you give a leopard a steak, he'll probably ask for a bib—and before you know it, you've got a five-star restaurant catering to lions who also want dessert."

Cover of the children's book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond.

120