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Mark Pullen

@mlpullen.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.7K following 294 posts

Twitter expat, pilot, software dev, Jayhawk. Be kind to one another. #rockchalk #chiefskingdom #goroyals

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Reposted by Mark Pullen
Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 6h
There was an artist who painted annual self portraits after he got diagnosed with Alzheimer's and you can see his mind going over time. Haunting stuff. Just thought of that for no reason
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Brandon Sheffield @brandon.insertcredit.com · 13h
Several weeks ago, Phil Tippett's legendary animation studio in Berkeley, CA closed. An anonymous hero noticed a folder of CDs. This turned out to be hundreds of unseen hi-res images and videos from Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, etc. ~90 isos for you to browse: archive.org/details/tipp...
A casual Star Wars alien fella at the cantina, in a sun faded, reddish photo. Someone will be mad at me for not knowing who this is. Phil, a balding Caucasian man, poses a model of the garthok, an antagonist from the Coneheads movie.Phil, a balding caucasian man, points at some CG on a CRT computer monitor, as a younger man looks on. The screen shows a model of a dinosaur attacking a jeep, while there's an actual physical model of that event in the foreground for reference.an isolated shot of a star wars vehicle. Sorry, I don't know star wars lol
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 11h
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 16h
His vocabulary is so limited it’s like reading a transcript of Koko, the gorilla who knew sign language, if Koko were a white nationalist
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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 8h
trump going on an emergency 17 state media tour to support republican candidates before the midterms and he is going with “nobody knows that dumb has a b on the end”
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 8h
Yeah, I'm sure this is going to make folks extra "amiable."
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 15h
Somehow not everyone is aware of fact alluded to below. So one more time: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett were all on GWBush 2000 'Florida Recount' team. (Which made GWB first prez in 112 yrs to 'win' after losing popular vote. Now they 'impartially' rule on our future.)
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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 15h
Apparently attacking a random streamer that 99% of us have never heard of wasn’t working very well. So they’re switching up.
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David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is just state barbarism. Nothing less.
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Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Quite a remarkable map, table, and diagram from a 1971 report on launch-on-warning, showing the implications of Soviet submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) on detection, reaction, deliberation, and response time. All numbers are in SECONDS, which is what I find the most wild about it.
Map of the USA labeled "Soviet SLBM [Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile] Time of Flight to SAC [Strategic Air Command] Targets." Shows both "nominal" and "depressed" trajectories. Absolute best (north central USA) is between 580 and 850 seconds (9.6 – 14 min). Absolute worst (everywhere else) is between 320 and 650 seconds (5.3 – 10.8 min). The variations are based on where they assume the subs are launching from. Table: "Early Warning System Performance." Shows four different systems (BMEWS, OTHF, SLBM Net, and a not-yet-operational in 1971 Boost-Phase Detection Satellite) that indicates the time of detection after launch (varies between 55 and 150 seconds; BMEWS cannot detect launches as it is only over-the-horizon radar), the time that the US command and control system would be alerted after launch (ranges from 85 seconds for the newest system to 900 seconds for BMEWs), the probably of detection of a single launch (BMEWS is 99%, SLBM Net is 50%, none of the others have probabilities), probably of detection for a mass launch (all around 100%), and their false alarm rate (BMEWS has 1 per 7 years, OTHF is 1 per 6 months, the others are unknown). Diagram: "National Command-Warning to Response Cycle." Shows the consequences of a launch detection all the way through the US nuclear infrastructure, with "delay times" in seconds. Will be discussed in the next post in this thread.
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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pete is lost in terms of modern war. I use the example of this outgunned Ukrainian army officer who successfully terrorized a Russian unit for weeks because she "did the math." At the time, someone commented, "yeah, in combat, 'I did the math' beats 'I can do 100 pushups' every time."
Ukrainian female soldier: Okay, I said the idea is this: There is enough time to empty one full can of 32 grenades and be gone by the time the return mortar fire reaches us. I did the math.
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Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Superintendent: SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S
A MEMO THAT MAKES CLEAR IT IS LAWFUL FOR YOU TO JUST KILL PEOPLE IF YOU THINK THERE ARE DRUGS ON THE SAME BOAT?

Principal Skinner: yes

superintendent: May I see it?

Principal: no
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Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 01/10/2026
I read a couple hundred death penalty cases for a case once and I think you’d all be shocked at how often this happens. The death penalty is one of the cruelest things in our system, an obvious violation of the 8th amendment cruel and unusual punishment clause, but we just love to kill.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 01/10/2026
They gave her two syringes of pentobarbital and she's alive...as far as I'm concerned, God granted a stay Sign from the universe to call the execution off
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
25th Amendment? We can’t even get network news to air it or even mention it. It’s a massive national media coverup to hide the fact the we have an addled president.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026
The death penalty is a moral abomination. State-sanctioned barbarism pushed by incompetent morons and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Absolute ghoul shit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
The lone woman on Tennessee's death row was still alive after she was administered two lethal injections, her lawyer said in a motion seeking to halt her execution Wednesday night, a stunning development after the Supreme Court had stepped in to allow the state to put her to death.
At 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said
"executioners had injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring," her lawyers said in a federal court filing.
They said Pike "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat," and that curtains to the death chamber "have gone down twice."
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“cowboys” here really reminds me of a brilliant post I saw on Twitter that I’ve never stopped thinking about, which is how the manosphere brand of toxic patriarchy isn’t about MEN, it’s about BOYS. everything is a 12-year-old’s fantasy. Pete is playing G.I. Joe on a trillion-dollar budget
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 30/09/2026
This is now a sycophancy test. Joking about it I’ll accept, barely, but anyone who even remotely indulges this is a coward
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Eric Haywood @erichaywood.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
MapQuest has the opportunity to do the funniest thing
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
there literally is no system that is abuse proof, so at a certain point you’re just against the abstract concept of authority or power in general. I think about this when it comes to ALPRs for traffic enforcement. Like if you want to have laws at all, you have to give someone power.
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Freya Holmér @freya.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
idk if it would alleviate my long term fears BUT i will say, if there's a pricing squeeze coming as the top AI companies scramble for profit, it's gonna be *very* funny to observe from the sidelines as my life is strictly improved and my work is completely unaffected
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 30/09/2026
This is priceless. Check out how local news is reporting on Sen Eric Schmidt’s clown-show grilling of Jack Smith. They found Jack Smith at the game… “Top corner, section 109, row 1. In fact, that seat doesn’t even exist in Atlanta.”
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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 30/09/2026
Gas prices are basically the only economic measure that people track on a near-daily basis. And right now they are significantly worse than when Biden was facing the 2022 midterms — and particularly in several states with close Senate elections. www.ctinsider.com/columnist/ar...
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Dr. Stephanie @punkrockscience.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
CORNELL KEPT HER GODDAMN TUITION.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I just realized that Eric Schmitt absolutely used AI to write this shit up. He absolutely did. Lol. Hell yeah
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 29/09/2026
Whoa, for the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder has released four additional songs from that recording session. “We didn’t add these songs to the album, but they were part of what I was feeling and discovering as we made it.” [pitchfork.com]
pitchfork.com
Stevie Wonder Unvaults Four Songs in the Key of Life Tracks
“We didn’t add these songs to the album, but they were part of what I was feeling and discovering as we made it,” says Wonder
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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
this is about LoTR Lore and appendices, and I think it’s pretty much right, but also Tolkien is the ~only person who got Lore right because he understood that it has to be tedious.
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think we lucked out a bit here in that a lot of what Trump does falls into the bucket of “so jaw-droppingly vulgar or corrupt that it’s not technically illegal because it was inconceivable that someone would attempt it.” Like why restaurants rarely post “no defecating on the tables” signs.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 29/09/2026
great! I’m sure everyone in the state will cover this with an eye towards how awful these false allegations are, which of course means they’ll first have to explain in detail what the allegations contain and the factual truth of the matter and oh dear
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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 29/09/2026
The student journalists are showing more courage and leadership than the Administrators.
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Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 29/09/2026
Send Stephen Miller to The Hague.
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politiburb @politiburb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Talking about why Rahm Emanuel is a bad candidate on the merits and actually going into his record is giving way too much credit to Rahm Emanuel. When your 5 year old says he's going to drive a car to Saturn you don't explain why cars can't achieve space travel. You say "cool, sounds fun!"
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Museum of Twitter @museum-of-twitter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
@ddeaen

iphones ruined an entire generation's tech literacy because i regularly see 14+ year olds asking how to make a desktop shortcut or duplicate a File

@inkballpro

i was literally figuring out virtual machines and basic linux at like 6 lol

@ddeaen

this is also not normal im sorry
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Sleestak @sleestak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
and behold a pale horse. and the name that sat on him was death. and hell followed with him
cat on a statue
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is absolutely correct, but I worry that "truth and reconciliation" will sound too foreign to Americans who have long been allergic to truth and/or reconciliation. I'd just say "we're finally going to hold people who broke the law and violated the Constitution accountable for their crimes"
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
So uhhhhhh… Apparently meta's muse "AI" is just straight up doxxing people to strangers on FB marketplace??? This has the potential to hurt so so many people, and I genuinely wonder how long before they roll out a fix for it.
Screenshot of a post from threads

matt.j.robb & 16h (€) So muse handled my Facebook marketplace today. Just found out it told people my address and agreed a lowball price and then they showed up without it even telling me until late tonight that it messed up.

Absolutely wild. 1/2

[Embedded image of a series of text messages from a meta muse "agent" given the call sign "Jarvis" (Parts of first message obscured by its logo have been replaced with brackets and ellipses and best guesses from context):]

Heads up, Usman is […] building right now for the MX Keys Mini [. He is sta]nding in front of the Shoppers Drug [Mart.]

$10 by e-transfer. The auto-reply told him to message when he's at your door.

10:28 PM Bad news on the MX Keys Mini pickup. Usman showed up at your building around 9:15 and waited, messaged a bunch of times, and nobody came down. He left angry at 9:38 and left a negative rating.

Worse, my auto-reply told him "Yep I'm here!" at 9:27 when you clearly weren't available, which is on me. That's a bad look and it made the no-show worse.

I've sent him an apology from your account owning it and offering to try again another day. But the negative rating is real, and I should probably stop the auto-replies from claiming you're home when I can't verify that. Want me to change the pickup replies so they don't promise you're there?

[reply, presumably from the threads user]: You gotta never do that ever again don't agree for pickup unless you check with me

[Response from Muse "Agent"]: You're right and I'm sorry. That should never have happened. It's locked in now as a hard rule: i will never […you]'re there unless you've explicitly […] that specific pickup. If someone proposes a time, I'll tell them I'll check and…  Screenshot of a tweet from Ray Wong @raywongy:
    Deleted Muse after seeing this post on Threads about how it told some Facebook Marketplace sellers the guy’s address and they showed up at his door

    Dangerous and creepy

    This would have been 1000x worse if the person was a woman
    4:35 PM · Sep 27, 2026
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
What's a good way to visualize how the AI boom/bubble is propping up the economy? Ah, thanks.
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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So is he just going to keep running ads until election day and then courts rule they are illegal sometime in December?
Frame from another illegal Trump ad featuring his constipated face in black and white and captioned Paid for by the US Government.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26/09/2026
great piece. man social media is a cancer themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
themomoftheyear.substack.com
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This company just radiates predator energy
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This extraordinary image was created by reprocessing & merging 16 frames from Voyager 1's flyby of Jupiter in 1979. Just right of center, you can see the Great Red Spot, a huge storm system. ➡️ apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap20062... Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/A. Tranchandon 🔭🧪⚛️ #histsci #planetsci
Voyager 1 view of Jupiter. Banded clouds wrap the planet in beige, cream & pale brown. Just right of center sits the Great Red Spot, an oval storm flushed orange-red. Lower left, the bright disk of Europa is visible. Upper right, a round dark patch marks Io’s shadow on the cloud tops.
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💙🪄 Keep Rising 🪄💙 @keeprising.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
💖🤎🧡 love is love 💖💚💛
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This was the 28th time #SCOTUS has granted emergency relief to the Trump administration since 1/20/25. That matches the total number of grants during the entirety of the first Trump administration. And both of those totals dwarf the *four* grants of relief (two each) during the Bush & Obama admins.
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Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
JFC Sheri Mecklenberg's resignation letter says USA Boutros made her charge the Broadview 6 as a felony conspiracy, when she wanted to charge them as misdemeanors. "you cannot buy my silence by dangling continued leave" s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
This decision to keep me and my attorneys in the dark was consistent with your handling of this
matter from the outset. No one consulted me about any transcript redactions. I had nothing to hide
and in fact demonstrated quite the opposite in memorializing brief and incidental interactions with
two grand jurors. You declined to notify me about the May 21, 2026 Court hearing, which I had
the indignity of learning about after-the-fact from the media. I would have expected the leadership
of the Office to ensure that a career prosecutor whose conduct and reputation were about to be
publicly condemned received notice and an opportunity to be heard. Had I been afforded that basic
fairness at the outset, I believe matters would not have reached this point.
Since I was not present, I was a convenient target to be scapegoated and publicly vilified. You
recklessly agreed in court that I had committed misconduct without even asking for my account,
fully reviewing the record or briefing the law. That evening, you sent an office-wide email laying
responsibility at my feet for a felony prosecution that you personally directed over my objection
that the case was better suited to misdemeanor charges. You then publicly announced an
investigation of my conduct spanning twenty years. These inexplicable actions severely damaged
a reputation I worked hard to build over decades and have damaged my prospects for future
employment and income.
Throughout all of this, I remained silent. But now the defense has leveled additional false and
inflammatory accusations against me that the Office has not rebutted and apparently has no
intention of rebutting. At the same time, you have threatened to terminate me if I attempt to rebut
the false allegations and bring additional matters to the Court’s attention. You remind me that I
am still a DOJ employee when you want to silence me, but you have not treated me as a DOJ
employee throughout this matter, including when, in May, you placed me on leave and…
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It has been a brutal and protracted slugfest. But I think we can finally declare a winner in the long-running "Who is the dumbest United States Senator?" competition.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
some pilots are part of the furry community
An illustration of the Ralph Lauren Polo bear dressed up as a pilot and standing in front of a red airplane. The text says "Polo Aviator by Ralph Lauren."
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle. "The state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen."
nytimes.com
From 15,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle
It was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.
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Mark Pullen @mlpullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gift link if needed… www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
8 Sailors in U.S.S. Lincoln Strike Group Attempted Suicide, Navy Says (Gift Article)
The aircraft carrier with its crew of about 5,000 sailors has spent more than 300 days at sea.
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Eric Schmitt @erschm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
8 Navy sailors in U.S.S. Lincoln Strike Group attempted suicide during its more than 300 days at sea www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
8 Sailors in U.S.S. Lincoln Strike Group Attempted Suicide, Navy Says
The aircraft carrier with its crew of about 5,000 sailors has spent more than 300 days at sea.
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