iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Of course. The real “incitement” is when someone calls for an end to terror by armed paramilitaries. Not the thugs shooting into cars carrying children. Or their political sponsor calling on people to “fight” their Somali neighbors.

New York Times news update timestamped 40 minutes ago from Hamed Aleaziz that reads,

“Mullin seems to be focused on Mayor Mamdani's press conference last night, in which he accused the Trump administration of ‘terrorizing our city.’ Mullin said those words are dangerous and incite the public.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Got my flu shot! Will get a Covid shot a bit later, based on the timing of my last one. And soon…first dose of Shingrix! Vaccines are amazing. Easy, effective health promotion for us as individuals and the people around us.

Me with my sleeve rolled up, showing a Band-Aid with a heart on it on my shoulder.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I made this in November 2020, but this seems like a good time to dust it off.

Simpsons meme of Ralph Wiggins telling his parents what he supposedly saw in the closet at school, but with each occurrence of the word “babies” replaced with “voter fraud.” The text now reads, “MRS. KRABAPPEL AND PRINCIPAL SKINNER WERE IN THE CLOSET MAKING voter fraud AND I SAW ONE OF THE voter frauds AND THE voter fraud LOOKED AT ME.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

So when a sheriff tries to downplay a man with three weapons lunging at a Democratic candidate by saying the assailant was just asking question…is that bad? Because it seems pretty bad. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/u...

Asked about the man's intent, the sheriff said: "I think it was to ask her a couple of questions. He was just, you know, pretty aggressive about it." (Sheriff Greene has endorsed Dr. Acton's Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, in the governor's race.)

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

If it helps, we can say Great Lakes Region instead of Midwest. But the point stands. (And obviously, so does the name Lake Ontario. )

Map of Lake Ontario with the name changed to Lake Upstate-New-York-is-Part-of-the-Midwest

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I think that this caterer may be using an LLM to label the food they’re serving. It tasted nothing like a tractor.

Sign on a table printed with the words “tractor fruit punch.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This is either his author photo or the cover of his hopecore folk punk album.

A black dog sitting in front of a maroon couch with a very thoughtful look on his face

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I’m not too worried, but what Third Way describes here sounds remarkably McCarthyist. That Red Scare provided clear evidence that joining the witch hunts legitimized the far right. I hope current liberals and moderates remember that—for their own sake as well as that of the left.

Mr. Cowan said the $15 million his group would spend through 2028 was not directed at individual candidates. Instead, the group plans to target the Democratic Socialists of America movement, which he believes poses a "mortal danger" for Democrats.

He said the effort would include opposition research into D.S.A., polling, social media programs and educating Democratic activists and leaders. It would target both proud democratic socialists and those such as Dr. El-Sayed, whom he derided as performing the "D.S.A. dodge" — flirting with democratic socialists enough to get their organizing manpower and support while remaining distant enough to avoid the explicit label.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I was surprised and touched to receive this plaque from my fellow union members last week.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🎵 Sometimes I feel like Somebody’s watching me… 🎶

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Well, Brooklyn appears to be in the purple zone.

Screenshot from the AirNow.gov website showing an Air Quality Index of 239, which is described as very unhealthy and color-coded purple.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Considering a Louvre heist so that I can wear this hat. (It’s an Etruscan helmet of the pilos type, from around 300 BCE, though the gold band was added in the 19th century.)

A green-tinted conical bronze helmet with two tall protuberances that look a bit like bunny ears, as well as a small item that looks kind of like a tuning fork sticking out of the top on the cone. A gold wreath goes around the helmet toward the bottom.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Some of these people are itching to launch a pogrom.

New update timestamped 4 minutes ago from Aishvarya Kavi, Reporting from the National Mall, that reads,

“It's raining lightly in Washington and many stragglers from the National Mall are wandering the streets north of the monuments, trying to find a place to wait out the weather. The restaurants in the area, largely fine dining, are packed. People seem exhausted and irritable, and it's causing some tension. Two men riding electric scooters veered too close to a couple on the sidewalk, promoting a short but heated exchange of words. Behind the couple, a man in a patriotic t-shirt said,
‘Deport them! Deport them!’”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

So how on EARTH is an agency supposed to regulate when a new President can fire its leadership on a whim? Can a more functional future Congress (should one come to exist) rewrite statutes to restore the autonomy of these agencies?

News post time stamped 14 minutes ago from Stacy Crowley, Consumer finance reporter, that reads,

“The Federal Trade Commission is one of dozens of agencies that will be affected by the ruling in Trump v. Slaughter.

Leaders at agencies including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service will now be able to be fired at will by a president, ending nearly 90 years of legal protection for those jobs. The structure is often used at regulatory agencies with broader authority over scientific policies, public safety and financial regulation.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Advertise your Bluesky account with a Simpsons image

Two images from the Simpsons power plant strike. In the first, Lisa plays the guitar as picketers stand around, with the lyrics, “So we'll march day and night,
By the big cooling tower.”

In the second, the strikers all hold hands in a circle, and they sing,
“They have the plant
But we have the power.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

A President who wanted to salvage a ceasefire—and move on from the pointless war he started—might send more serious negotiators than his son-in-law and a random real estate guy. But these are not serious people.

BBC News headline tone stamped 12:04 that reads, “Vance: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Switzerland for negotiations.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Stressful day. Sprung for the fancy Pocky.

Me holding a box of almond crush Pocky. The image shows liquid chocolate pouring over almonds, with a note declaring that it’s “made with real almonds.” The box is almost a gold color, as if to emphasize that this is top-tier Pocky.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

New Yorkers: Defend state food assistance! Gov Hochul’s budget underfunds the Nourish New York program by 30%. Tell her office to fully fund Nourish NY and the HPNAP food aid program. Call: 518-474-8390 Message: www.governor.ny.gov/content/gove...

Infographic from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier with fruits and vegetables on the right side. The text reads:

“URGENT: TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Help protect food access for NY families and local farmers.

Call Governor Hochul (518) 474-8390

TAKE ACTION NOW”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

While it’s technically called a tam, I want to propose that we call this a research hat. You do enough research, you get a cool hat. And while today was graduation for my students, I feel that we should wear research hats more often. They’re fun.

Me wearing a tam, an eight-cornered hat that’s part of academic regalia

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

The NY Times has a whole article attempting to explain what Trump means in his references to “nuclear dust,” discussing the process of uranium enrichment. But his actual words quoted in the article make clear that he’s rambling incoherently. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/u...

"The U.S.A. will get all nuclear dust," Mr.
Trump told a crowd in Arizona last week.
"You know what the nuclear dust is? That was that white powdery substance created by our B-2 bombers."

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

This man is bullshitting. If a student out this in a paper, we’d say it was bullshit. If a teen offered a similar jumble of phrases to a parent, we’d tell them to cut the bullshit. So why do we pretend that there’s a diplomatic strategy or political plan in here? www.bbc.com/news/live/cx...

Text clip from BBC News that reads, “Donald Trump says Iran has "no choice but to send" delegates to Pakistan for talks with the US.

In an interview with CNBC, the president says he is confident the US will “end up with a great deal.”

He says that the US is "not dealing with the nicest people" but are doing so “successfully,” before calling the US naval blockade a "tremendous success.”

Asked if he would extend the ceasefire if negotiations seemingly progress, the US president says: "I don't want to do that.”

Trump later says: "I expect to be bombing 'cause that would be a better attitude."

He says there is not "much time" to reach a deal, and that Iran can get themselves on "a very good footing" if they reach one with the US.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

So, I slipped this into my lecture today.

A Powerpoint slide titled "Dinosaur Jedi" with a picture of Coleman Trebor, a Jedi who looks like an upright parasauopholous, holding a green lightsaber. The slide has a Binghamton University B and a dark green bar on the left side.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Seems like a pretty clear tell that the US was not serious in these negotiations. Sending people with no diplomatic expertise like Vance and POTUS’s son-in-law, putting on a show for one night, and then not leaving any actual diplomats to continue talks? That’s not diplomacy, it’s media content.

New York Times news update posted 2 hours ago by Michael Crowley, Department reporter, which reads,

“No U.S. negotiators remained in Islamabad, Pakistan, after Vice President JD Vance's departure to continue lower-level talks with Iran or with Pakistani mediators, a White House official confirmed.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

With several hundred friends at the @jfrejnyc.bsky.social Seder in the Streets as the sixth night of Pesach begins.

A crowd of people with two banners. The first says “ICE out of New York: Let our people go. It’s partly blocking another one that says “Abolish ICE.”

People in front of a banner that says, “Jews say New York for all.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Seems worth mentioning that Trump’s signature bill last summer already contained some of the deepest cuts in decades to domestic programs addressing health care, food, and education. And those came after years of erosion. You & I know this. But the “waste” myth is so ingrained, it’s worth saying.

Live news headline from the New York Times, time stamped 9 minutes ago, that reads,

“White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Military Spending

The giant proposed increase would be offset in part by steep cuts to domestic programs, some of which the administration describes as wasteful.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Oh yeah? Really seems more like The NY Times headline writers are redefining “redefines” to describe whatever contradictory gobbledygook comes out of that addled man’s mouth.

New York Times headline that reads.

“NEWS ANALYSIS
Trump redefines 'regime change in the Iran war.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

It’s 30 degrees in Binghamton, with flurries. Easily 2500-3000 people here (maybe more—I’m bad at crowd counts and tend to underestimate). #NoKings

Large crowd in front of the Binghamton Court House building

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Non-tenure-track contract faculty at NYU went on strike this morning after over a year of bargaining (capped by a 24-hour+ marathon session). Big crowd of @uaw.org members and supporters, incl lots of students. They’re picketing over pay, workload, AI, a voice in faculty governance, & more.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

About 200 people protesting ICE outside the Broome County jail in upstate NY. The Sheriff here has a 287g agreement with ICE, holding immigration detainees in a jail where two people died under his watch last year.

Rear view of a crowd holding signs, including one that reads “ICE melts under resistance.” Mountains are visible in the background under a bright blue cloud-dappled sky

Close-up of protesters with “ICE out of Broome County” signs. Some faces are greyed out.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I never asked for this, and the email doesn’t say how to turn it off. WTF?

Screenshot of an email with the subject, “You're now using Gemini on your iOS device.”

Under a Google G, it reads, “Get the most out of Gemini on iOS

Welcome to Gemini, an Al assistant from Google that can help you supercharge your creativity and productivity. With Gemini on iOS, you can get help writing, creating, learning, and more. Learn more about what you can do with Gemini on iOS.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

At the same time, respondents reported Social Security actions that seemed arbitrary--like staff were "making up rules." A public program like SSI or SSDI is based on knowable rules. That's a basis for trust and accountability. As one respondent said, this isn't someone's private business. 15/x

“It sometimes feels like you're dealing with someone that's like renting out jet skis. Like they're just making up their own rules... But there are rules because this is a government program…you don't get to actually just make up the rules."

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Get outta here, push notification. I’m working on an ASA abstract, but honestly, I’d rather watch sitcom reruns than this guy.

An Apple News push notification that reads:

Apple News Top Stories
Watch live: President Trump is set to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

So, there are jokes about how NYC winters are more bearable when the mayor is hot. But try telling that to John Lindsay. Instead of plowing after the Blizzard of ‘69, he thought he could rely on his cheekbones and chiseled jaw to melt New Yorkers’ hearts. It didn’t work.

Black and white photo of New York Mayor John Lindsay, holding a stack of documents, standing in front of two other men. He’s in a dark suit and tie, and his face is classically handsome. His politics aside, the guy was a looker.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

If the past several years haven’t made clear that management’s insistence on in-person work was about exerting control at the expense of worker safety… this billionaire making people come in during a blizzard should clear up lingering questions.

Developing news update from Rob Copeland, timestamped 7 minutes ago, that reads, “Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, has been an outspoken proponent of in-office work, and that apparently applies to a blizzard, too. The nation’s largest bank is sticking with plans to host an in-person event for investors at its midtown Manhattan headquarters this afternoon, a spokesman said. Dimon is slated to be there in person.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

As if that video weren’t weird enough, Kid Rock gives everyone the finger? I guess he’s being more honest than his creepy friend claiming to make America healthy.

Instead, he has been promoting an "Eat Real Food" message with celebrities like the boxer Mike Tyson and the singer Kid Rock, whose recent video with Mr. Kennedy is raising eyebrows on social media. The men, both bare-chested (Mr. Kennedy wears jeans, his standard workout uniform) drink whole milk and perform push-ups and other exercises, while Mr. Rock gives Americans the middle finger.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

I describe it like this in the syllabus, and it’s part of how I grade classroom engagement. I try (and often manage) to end every class in time to give them a few minutes to write it while they’re sitting there. Many seem already familiar with the practice —some call it an exit note.

At the end of each class, write a short note (at least two substantive sentences long) detailing something that you learned that day, that stuck out to you, or that you are still processing. The note should be emailed, or written on paper and handed, to the professor before leaving class or right afterward.

This is meant to provide a weekly opportunity for you to pause and process the day's class before your thoughts turn to dinner or the trip home, and for me to gain insight into what you're learning.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I’ve gotten this error message a few times today. Seems bad.

An error message that reads “Failed to load blob”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

TrUmP cHaNgEs CoUrSe In MiNnEaPoLiS

Developing news post from Ali Watkins, marked 3 hours ago, that reads,

“President Trump criticized Senators Thom
Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa
Murkowski of Alaska after the two Republicans became the first in their party to call for Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, to lose her job after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in recent weeks. ‘They're terrible senators,’ Trump told ABC News in an interview on Tuesday night, calling them both ‘losers.’”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Look, I’m thrilled if we never see Greg Bovino in the streets again. But any elected who takes this as a real effort at de-escalation should see the wallet inspector. Trump continues his demonization and acts astounded that anyone objects to ICE. He’s not backing down here. We shouldn’t either.

Developing news post marked 25 minutes ago from Chris Cameron, reporting from Washington, which reads,

“Trump said that Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has been ordered out of Minneapolis, is ‘a pretty out there kind of guy. In some cases it's good. Maybe it's not good here.’ The president has strived in this Fox News interview to make his shakeup in ICE's crackdown not seem like a retreat, saying that ‘I don't think this is a pullback’ while repeating unfounded conspiracy theories and hyperbolic claims that demonstrators are ‘paid insurrectionists’ and ‘paid agitators.’ He expressed astonishment and disbelief that anyone could be outraged by the ICE crackdown, saying ‘how do you get incensed when you go into a state and you're taking criminals out? You're taking monsters out. Murderers.’”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

This is a bald-faced lie attempting to cover up a murder. Also, this buffoon doesn’t appear to know what obfuscate means. The word makes no sense in this sentence. As inept as he is authoritarian.

Developing news post marked 4 hours ago, from Adam Sella, which reads,

“Gregory Bovino, the official in charge of President Trump's Border Patrol operations, told CNN's ‘State of the Union’ that what Alex Jeffrey Pretti did was to ‘perpetrate violence, obstruct, delay or obfuscate border patrol in the performance of their duties in an active crime scene.’ Videos analyzed by The New York Times have contradicted such claims.”

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

This killing is many things, but by their own description, it is NOT a case of untrained new agents.

New York Times developing news post, marked 2 hours ago from Mitch Smith, Midwest reporter, which reads,

“Bovino said the agent who fired has been in the Border Patrol for eight years.”

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