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Phillip

@obscureshapes.bsky.social
381 followers 287 following 213 posts
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 4h
Lists have gotten dark. "4 ways to save money on your next flight"? Sure "4 ways to die in cold water"? I dunno
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Day by day, Trump's policy towards Putin/Russia vs Ukraine grows more and more like a dark alternative history version of World War 2 where the US cuts off Lend-Lease aid for the UK and Soviet Union in 1940/41 and instead shifts our support to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I would feel probably feel relieved if she decided not to because I don't want everyone to spend 2027 and 2028 re-litigating the Biden years.
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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
ok it was more than a couple of days but here it is: xo, for people with ADHD who would like to use AI agents to help them with that. the idea is that this gets you moving from a standing start: you set up your agent and then your agent helps you set up your agentic environment. hope it helps.
proptermalone.github.io
xo
an agentic starter kit
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Matt Darling @besttrousers.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The new Survey of Consumer Finance is out! www.federalreserve.gov/publications... For Matt Darling aficionados: - Median household net worth is $215.9k (up 2% since 2022) - Median assets in transaction accounts is $8,200 (-6% since 2022) (Percent changes are in real (adj for inflation) terms.)
federalreserve.gov
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Not a big pop culture guy, but to deal with my ADHD, I've been watching various sitcoms while doing boring chores and I've noticed that most episodes have the sort of banal moral societies have taught generations of children (be honest, be kind, etc) but that the contemporary Right entirely rejects.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I understand why people enjoy comparing different generations but it's always struck me as kind of weird to expect groups of people born in the same 15-20 year interval with very discrete endpoints to be both internally coherent and dramatically different from the generations bordering them.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I've also unsure about how we handle the fact that polls show a majority of Americans have been dissatisfied with how things are going in the United States for almost the entire 21st Century and we now seem to have a permanent super-majority who believe everything sucks.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I'm deeply frustrated by and unsure what to do about the 15-25% of Americans who voted for Trump but now disapprove of him after experiencing the readily foreseeable consequences of electing him.
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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A victory for the government in this case would greenlight long-term mass civil detention at a level not seen since Japanese internment during WWII. It would represent the largest change in how the US treats immigrants facing removal since 1996, and remind us again that the 96 law must be erased.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Every news organization’s style guide should ban the use of “controversial”.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It's depressing that 25-35% of voters support Trump unconditionally but this would be much less of a problem without the 15-25% of Americans who voted for him in 2024 but now disapprove of him after experiencing the consequences of re-electing him that they were warned about before they voted.
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 26/09/2026
Artificial intelligence is turbocharging scams in unimaginable ways, as millions of Americans report being targeted and victims of AI scams. Take this AP quiz and test if you know how to spot what's real and what's AI.
bit.ly
Could you spot an AI-powered scam? See if you can tell what’s real.
Artificial intelligence is turbocharging scams in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. Ninety-eight percent of Americans say they have been targeted by scammers — many on a daily basis — according to a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Is there a good blog post or video showcasing how people with ADHD can best use LLMs to help ourselves?
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 26/09/2026
Science world (and everyone who knows someone with cancer or dementia): Keep an eye on this! It looks like another try at the pocket rescission gambit.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I've been skeptical of Blorida, Blebraska, etc, but the GOP is starting to act like they're actual possibilities.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If executive branch creates a system so that people under government control can be located and then just stops listing some people in that system — despite their still being under government control — that should be a five-alarm fire for the other branches, the states, and the public.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Every other month, YouTube becomes convinced that I want to watch endless Family Guy clips even though I loathe Family Guy and hit "not interested" on each clip. It's weird, but less alarming than the Rhodesia nostalgia meme that Instagram put in my feed yesterday.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This is surprisingly low- his net worth increased by 31.5%. During the same time period, here's the increase in: CPI: 32.3% Net worth of the top 0.1%: 123% Net worth of the bottom 50%: 164% S&P500: 206% He is ridiculously rich, but after inflation he's slightly less wealthy than he was in 2019.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 20/09/2026
In a 2025 study, researchers show the grass species felines eat tend to be jagged and covered in spikelike projections. That allows them to latch onto intestinal hairballs, the team proposes, potentially helping cats dislodge them. Learn more: scim.ag/4ntn8VB #ScienceMagArchives
Gold-covered hairballs may reveal why cats eat grass
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My mental model of Trump is that he's bigoted against everyone who's not native-born American, straight, white, Christianish, male, and cis but he's so enamored of wealth, celebrity, and power that he makes some exceptions for woman and minorities who are rich, famous, or in positions of authority.
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Politico @politico.com · 20/09/2026
Trump asked budget chief to draft order bringing health research funding under his control
dlvr.it
Trump asked budget chief to draft order bringing health research funding under his control
The move came after the NIH director refused Trump’s request to cut Harvard grants in an Oval Office meeting.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I feel like Hasan Piker is a trap dooming us to loop further and further into previously unreached levels of meta-discourse.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Not the main topic here, but I always wonder why is Miami/Miami MSA transit ridership so low relative to their population density?
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The US already got a do over. A mulligan. A second chance. Much of the world, especially US allies, were ready to write off Trump’s first term as a fluke. The American people’s choice to put him back in power—as a convicted felon, after an openly bigoted, anti-democracy campaign—showed it was not.
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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
W/o getting drawn into the "seriously or literally" / "it'll never happen" trap, we need to stomp *hard* on the continuing effort to undermine Article 1 power of the purse by saying that this or that revenue stream makes something outside the normal budget process. 1/ www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...
nbcnews.com
Lutnick says Trump’s $5,000 checks for Americans wouldn’t rely on taxpayer funds
A top White House official suggested Congress would use a budget process to fund them. Vice President JD Vance had said tariff revenues.
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Andrew Facini @andrewfacini.com · 10/09/2026
Another futile obsession living in NYC is night sky access and this was the best I've ever gotten
A clear and bright Milky Way photo, with a (presumed) satellite at the top of the frame.
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Honest to god can we stop with the “Trump says…” ledes. I’m begging you
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
It would be great if we could eliminate the threat of fascism in the US by making our country a multiparty social democracy, but seeing the global eruption of the far right, none of those economic/electoral/political changes seems sufficient on their own. (They're still worth doing on their merits)
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
do any of you know what words mean or do you think "backfire" is when the expected and intended result occurs?
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Yeah, having grown up Catholic, obsession with the end of world feels like a bizarre Evangelical thing. I can't recall hearing anything about eschatology at school or Mass apart from "We know not the day nor the hour".
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Erika McEntarfer @erikamcentarfer.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This change grants Commerce political appointees veto power over data and research releases by scientists and statisticians at NOAA, NIST, Census, and BEA.
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 01/09/2026
"The Commerce Department, quietly cut language banning political interference from the department's scientific integrity policy, NPR has learned." www.npr.org/2026/08/31/n...
npr.org
Trump officials cut political interference ban after unusual Census Bureau report
After the Census Bureau issued a report tied to a Trump-aligned think tank, the bureau's parent agency cut language banning political interference from its scientific integrity policy, NPR learned.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I don't agree with that. Because there is zero chance of whipping the votes, building the consensus if it's not public. I explain in this piece. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/clybu...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Clyburn: Let’s Add Four
Rep. James Clyburn (D) of South Carolina said today on Meet the...
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
It’s mind-blowing that we have literal white nationalists in the White House carrying out unfathomably cruel, abusive, white nationalist policies, and the punditariat has spent the last two weeks debating if some people were too intemperate after a Black man was murdered by cops six years ago.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
One of the worst psychological effects of the past decade is not knowing where the bottom is for both elites and about 80,000,000 of my fellow citizens. In 2024 they elected a crackpot who after attempting to overthrow the constitution in 2020/21 promised them even more authoritarianism and bigotry
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
1) DHS asks a federal judge for a warrant to hoover up private data from journalists, activists, and trade unions. 2) Judge denies because it is an obvious violation of the 1st and 4th Amendments with no justification. 3) DHS issues its own "Administrative Warrant" and sucks up the data anyway.
theguardian.com
Trump’s DHS is using an obscure law to secretly snoop on journalists, non-profits and unions: ‘It’s outrageous’
Even after judges rejected the same ploy, the Trump administration is going directly to social media and telecommunications companies
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Brad Reed @bwreed.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
So to add to my thesis about how social media has changed things: Images of wanton cruelty are the kinds of things governments used to try to hide. If Abu Ghraib happened today, Trump would give Lynndie England the Medal of Freedom.
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Isaiah Bishop @isaiahbishop.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I am politics posting and posting more than normal. You given Canada stuff, sorry. But Trump was an aberration in 2016, then building a wall and all the other shit became mainstream in R circles. Its insufficient to just say "well this is just a one off youll be fine after"
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Ranking Buchanan and Johnson as anything other than failures is certainly a choice.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
On some level, I think a lot of Dems just aren't willing to say flat out that Trump and Trumpism have failed in a very profound way. Dems have internalized the idea that this is too much for voters to hear. That's the source of a lot of problems. It's needlessly self-constraining.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
It had been years since I'd ridden the 8 on Denny- it's usually been faster for me to walk, even uphill. But I gave the 8 a try tonight and it felt like a miracle getting from SLU to Capitol Hill so quickly and effortlessly!
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
It's telling that Fox News put Trump's trade war with Canada halfway down their front page below stories about Sydney Sweeney's love life and the biggest marlin ever caught on the East Coast. If they thought it made Trump look good or would play well with his base it would be at the top in big type.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The racism has always been there but George W Bush being unable to get congressional Republicans on board with any immigration reform bill that included a pathway to citizenship during 2005-2007 was a signal that the GOP base was demanding more overt bigotry and xenophobia.
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I'm not a categorical pacifist but people have no idea how bad sustained political violence is to live under. one of the common ways that dictators get their initial legitimacy is being perceived as the guy who made that shit stop.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This seems of a piece with that poll in which Americans wildly overestimated that each racial/ethnic, religious, sexual, and gender minority each makes up around 20-40% of the population:
yougov.com
​​From millionaires to Muslims, small subgroups of the population seem much larger to many Americans
When it comes to estimating the size of demographic groups, Americans rarely get it right. In two recent YouGov polls, we asked respondents to guess the percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) of America...
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This idea keeps getting resurrected, but there's 2 big issues: Few people could walk to the station- it's near the water, surrounded by SFH. Sounder N runs only every half hour 4 times/day. If your bus is late, your trip gets much longer The money would be better spent improving RR D and the 40.
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Phillip @obscureshapes.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Whatever their merits as managers of their congressional caucuses, Jeffries and Schumer are absolutely abysmal as public opposition leaders.
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