iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

When I first read this from the founder of Mistral I thought this was the European data center which summoned a lot of big emotions. But it’s just a photo of the train station for the town. Probably because the EU bans you from sharing pictures, which also summons a lot of big emotions for me.

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Senator Scott Wiener @scottwiener.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

OK so I posted too soon, should've kept watching. Turns out the guy spent in total $900k for $40M in federal contracts, which is a 1:40 ROI, much worse than the Collins bribe, which was a 1:200 ROI. That said, the market behaved rationally because Collins needed the money for re-election.

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Reposted by Mo Zhu

San Francisco needs a strong transit ally in Congress, not someone who will “hold their nose” when it comes time to advocate for the hundreds of thousands of working people who ride BART, MUNI, and Caltrains every day.

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Of course, it could be that without an open market book, there is just poor liquidity, which leads to idiosyncratically low or high rates. We may only be observing an unusually low rate.

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We Uncovered Bribery Allegations Against Susan Collins

It's insane that the guy in this paid Collins $150k and got a $32M federal contract back. My takeaway is that there is not enough competition among bribers in the market for federal contract dollars. This also implies that our politics is actually remarkably clean. youtu.be/jqyiFFB7Kjg

youtu.be

YouTube video by ProPublica

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Mo Zhu @moinmybackyard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I got teeth surgery and they told me not to exercise. Darn it!

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Reposted by Mo Zhu

Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Jones Act waiver period disproves China fearmongering, shows benefits of reform" thehill.com/opinion/fina...

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Mo Zhu @moinmybackyard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Ah I see it. Yes it is Commerce!

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Mo Zhu @moinmybackyard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The wood people have USDA behind them as like a permanent in-house lobby. I wonder which department (if any) the concrete people get. They should try. Maybe Commerce?

Already, the trades have become cognitive work. "For example, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms might be inputs for heating and cooling systems to reduce fire spread. Optimizing these systems currently requires astute and well-trained technicians to stage and monitor them."

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"The final selection of between four and eight job entrants was less clear but appeared to include a mix of connections, previous credentials such as military service, and measured ability."

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"[High-end blue collar jobs] often require training, social connections, certifications and licensing, and technical competence.... an initial process with 100 to 200 candidates, followed by testing and interviews that winnowed the field to one to two dozen."

Smith notes that within white collar people, there are legible status hierarchies. A McKinsey partner is different from a bank teller. Similarly, there are blue collar hierarchies. A union electrician is more akin to a McKinsey partner than a bank teller.

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"Or I think of my son sleeping with a fan every night to overpower the ringing in his ears. Over enough time, physical jobs exact a physical toll that desk jobs largely avoid."

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"When I think about my teenage son or daughter working in construction, my mind often goes to The Accident. I picture my daughter ... wheeling to The Beer Store in a Workers’ Comp rental wheelchair each day, and coming home to down 12-pack of Molson Canadian."

"When I was 20, I broke both my heels in a construction accident. The right one was surgically reassembled using four heel fragments and extra bone from my hip ... doctors were initially uncertain whether I’d be permanently disabled."

So You Think You Could Be An Electrician?

In the housing universe, we debate unions a lot, but most of us are not of that set. Here is a great piece on the sociology of blue collar workers: asteriskmag.com/issues/15/so...

asteriskmag.com

Funny how the people telling kids to get jobs in the trades tend to be white-collar.

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Anyone with a bone to pick over their program getting cut blames you. She even admitted this when she said she cut middle managers from the city government. It’s not a strength! And that demonstrates how thin her record is.

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The most confusing aspect of Chan’s candidacy to me is why she keeps harping on the budget committee thing. Being chair of a legislative budget committee is a great way for everyone to hate you.

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Wiener repeatedly pointed out how thin of a record she has and she confirmed it with meandering non-substantive answers.

The one big miss by wiener was not using the gay voice at close (we’re all born with it).

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Some strange choices by Chan tonight. Why raise the AI chatbot during the Manny question? Why use her one precious question to wiener for AI safety? Why did she claim credit for Geary BRT and say her sons ride it when she is clearly against it?

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Chan has like four rhetorical moves: 1. Budget committee; 2. billionaires and corporations have to pay their fair share (but not millionaires of which she is one); 3. Invoke labor unions; 4. Budget committee again.

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Tonight I learned, millionaires really hate billionaires.

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I say, if Connie Chan loves the budget committee so much, then let’s let her stay there!

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Moderator-wise, too much emphasis on AI regulation (clearly I’m not a doomer). But otherwise they did a good job, and properly challenged people and kept them on time. Good work!

Wiener was calm during the various misleading attacks. Came back with facts. He is a better man than I, because he immediately apologized for the bot and moved on. I express contempt for AI chatbot product quality discourse. And that’s why I’m not going to be in Congress anytime soon!

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Lots of lefty word salad. Billionaires and corporations, theatrical contempt for them.

I honestly have not heard Chan speak much. I was not impressed with her command of facts. We are talking about AI safety and she seems to think facial recognition and realpage are also AI. Like, ok they are also AI, but not LLMs, which is what we’re talking about.

C: born in HK, immigrated to US as kid. budget chair (shot!) working mom. System is rigged by corporations and billionaires and bankrolling politicians who will do their bidding. We will take that fight to Congress. It is time to make billionaires (spits the “b” yikes). Speaks Cantonese.

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I came out to myself when Nancy came to Congress saying “I’m here to stop AIDS”. Now I’m here. It would be an honor to represent SF.

Closing statements! Wiener first!

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I passed law to cap insulin and raise penalty for wrongful denial of care.

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W: I actually passed a law to move to single payer. SB770 supported by massive coalition of labor. Important step forward for single payer. Medicare for all is essential. People are being screwed. Healthcare shouldn’t be tied to job. We can transform the system into efficient and universal.

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Q: healthcare. C: we need to fund healthcare. Firefighter. 3 decades of service. Denied cancer treatments. I will push for Medicare for all. We need to break insurance monopoly. Allow hospitals to negotiate against pharma. SB770 by Wiener stalled Medicare for all. Nurses call it a betrayal.

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People who have seen how scary AI is donate to me. C: I don’t think he was talking about me when he says I haven’t done anything to regulate AI I have banned facial rec and AI algorithms to jack up rent. Uh oh she doesn’t know what AI is.

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W: SB53 watered down is a joke. This is the first AI law in the country. Multiple states have adopted it, Congress has looked at it, Trump has tried to override it. Trump doesn’t think it’s watered down. It’s very easy when you’ve never lifted a finger for AI safety to criticize (sizzzzzzzle)

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W: I’m endorsed by sierra club and Huerta. C: your AI watered down bill. (Why is she choosing to highlight this one) OpenAI and Anthropic employees donate to you. Will you release documents on who edited the bill?

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A woman just delivered a baby being stuck in traffic in Golden Gate Park. Attacks donors who apparently support car free JFK.

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C: I listen. I listened to SFers. (Ummm a minority of SF on every one of those issues). We need to protect tenants and small businesses so i opposed those. (Tenants on JFK?) My sons take Geary BRT. It’s working well. We delivered. (Omg omg omg this is horrible).

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Questions to each other! W: you opposed 500 homes in SOMA, FZP, funding for public transportation, 38 Geary rapid, car free JFK. How does that benefit SF and climate change.

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W: 97% support from CA labor fed and many unions. Makes sure to first list what he did for labor. Specific dispute: housing. Labor standards in housing bills. I have stood with carpenters and others on labor standards versus building trades council. Good faith policy disagreement.

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I’m not always in agreement with public service employees. We need to balance the budget. Q: can you be specific? A: hiring freeze. Esp no more managers. (Connie Chan founder mode) So many shots! Budget!

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Q: when have you taken a position against labor? A: that’s a good question. Filibusters. I do know though, that they do not agree 100% of the time. Budget, legislation, I’m always making sure there conversation and agreement. Balance the budget.

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