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Evan Simko-Bednarski

@simko-bednarski.bsky.social
11K followers 825 following 3.4K posts

Journalist w/ a camera & a pen, friend to wayward machines. Transit reporter at the New York Daily News, Vice Chair of the Daily News Union.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
 ”They were using their full names and addresses, telling them to go back inside, not to bother. It was clear that it was being done to intimidate or suppress the community from being out and being responsive.”
villagegreennj.com
ICE Agents Use Intimidation Tactics on Bystanders During Arrest in Maplewood - The Village Green
”They were using their full names and addresses, telling them to go back inside, not to bother. It was clear that it was being done to intimidate or suppress the community from being out and being res...
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Tim Marchman @timmarchman.bsky.social · 2h
NEW: Partially unsealed court filings show that ICE has been putting photos of people observing their activities into a Palantir-built database as well as tracking and intimidating them. @regret.bsky.social and @dmehro.bsky.social have the details:
wired.com
ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database
DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
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Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This child is 13 and was testifying without an attorney present. Monsters.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This line from Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer is rattling around in my head as I read the news this morning…
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This 33-year-old nurse told the FBI she knew she was “going to set him free” after border patrol agents brought in a man whose face was bloodied and seriously injured. She treated him and helped him escape, and she faces charges now. He got away, and they never relocated him.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Trump’s “high and unpredictable tariff rates” on specialized components that have to be imported to the U.S. have driven up the cost of building a subway car by 27.9% since August 2025, according to Jesse Lazarus, head of the MTA’s rolling stock program.
nydailynews.com
Trump tariffs will add $1 billion to cost of new NYC subways, trains and buses: MTA
Trump’s “high and unpredictable tariff rates” on specialized components that have to be imported to the U.S. have driven up the cost of building a subway car by 27.9% since August 2025, according to J...
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Meanwhile, the NTSB has released its preliminary report on the death of Moet McCullum, the MTA construction flagger who was hit by a train earlier this month. www.nydailynews.com/2026/09/30/s...
nydailynews.com
Subway operator who killed MTA worker Moet McCullum tried to stop train: NTSB report
According to the NTSB’s preliminary report, the train operator had the train up to about 28 mph when he “saw workers on the track,” and hit the train’s emergency brake “a few seconds before the accide...
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The 988 suicide prevention hotline's Press 3 option — which provides specialized services to LGBTQ callers — has been restored more than a year after the Trump administration shut it down. Confirmed by HHS and the office of Senator Tammy Baldwin, who led on legislation that forced its restoration
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A small team of federal investigators from the NTSB was expected in Brooklyn today, looking into Monday's apparent dragging death on the A train in Bed-Stuy. My latest for the Daily News
nydailynews.com
NTSB to investigate NYC subway dragging death in which passenger’s bag may have gotten snagged
NYC Transit president Demetrius Crichlow said Wednesday that much still remained unclear about Boahene’s death. The man was seen on the train car’s security cameras with a cane and a blue plastic bag,...
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Jose Pagliery @josepagliery.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Only a Hispanic could survive that fall." I was taught to drive stick shift at 16 by a very kind Cuban man who suffered a catastrophic fall from a helicopter while he was serving this country as a U.S. Marine. I immediately think of him when I hear this racist comment from the American president.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My “Bayonne vs. Everyone” hat has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the socioeconomic and cultural history of northern New Jersey and also the hat.
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Dr. Todd Arrington @btarrington.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Now that the first phase of @hcrichardson.bsky.social's wonderful "250 to 250" project has wrapped, I'll share all the videos (one per day) for which I wrote scripts. Some were recorded nearly word for word; others underwent much-needed editing for clarity & brevity. Tonight: the CCC.
youtu.be
Civilian Conservation Corps, Narrated by Harrison Ford
YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A man was dragged to his death by a subway train at Utica Ave. yesterday, after witnesses say his bag got caught in the train door. Cops say they aren't sure. A horrible story. www.nydailynews.com/2026/09/29/m...
nydailynews.com
Man exiting Brooklyn subway train dragged to death, witnesses say his bag got caught in door
Yaw Adu Boahene, 66, walking unsteadily with a cane, was getting off an A train at the Utica Ave. station in Bedford-Stuyvesant when killed.
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Emily Gorcenski @emily.gorcen.ski · 28/09/2026
Here’s the most incredible story you’ll read today. A small plane with four people aboard crashes in a field. Another pilot witnesses it. That pilot happens to be flying a bunch of skydivers. They offer to jump to assist, are given permission. The skydivers happen to be EMTs. Everyone survives.
wisn.com
Skydivers alert emergency crews, assist after plane crashes near East Troy airport
Four people were aboard the single-engine plane when it went down in a cornfield near Carvers School Road in East Troy at about 1:30 p.m.
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with 
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
out of concern for transgender homeless veterans, the Mamdani administration is leaving (potentially) millions on the table in federal funding for shelter great reporting by @andrewgiambrone.bsky.social for @thecityreporter.nyc:
thecityreporter.nyc
NYC Ditches Federal Homeless Veterans Program, Citing Concern for Transgender Vets
The city says the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would require it to discriminate against trans vets to receive funding. The VA says that’s “false.”
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Jon Orcutt @jonorcutt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
@reinventalbany.bsky.social got hold of the "collaboration" agreement Amtrak has been pushing MTA to sign It asks MTA to give up leverage over station design/operations its current lease provides & wants NY State funding in the bargain There is still no design, cost or budget for the project
nydailynews.com
Trump’s Penn Station deal is bad for N.Y.
Thanks to the state Freedom of Information Law, we at Reinvent Albany got a copy of the Penn Station “collaboration agreement” Amtrak has been pushing the MTA to sign. As lifelong NYC transit advocate...
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The sunny side of this delusion is the computer gives you a flying car and makes it so you don't have to work. The blackpill one is that it wipes us out via some cinematic method TBD. Two futures you don't actually have to live in. Both are abdications, and embarrassingly childish on their face.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
And, they're back. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09...
nytimes.com
Trump Press Ban Live Updates: CNN, MS NOW and Politico Return to White House After Fight Over Access
A federal court ordered the Trump administration to reverse its ban on the outlets, but reporters were initially denied entry to the White House grounds on Thursday.
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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ezra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
So the message of this research out of China, where you were seeing a lot of kids using A.I. to help them, was that when they were using the A.I., they were getting things done faster. But it turned out that the skills they were learning were not holding, that their actual personal performance, at least in the way we traditionally measure it, was degrading.

What do you think when you hear that?

The last part — I completely agree. Try to get a kid to do long division right now. The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter?

That’s my question for you.

Yeah. I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does.

But there must be some set of skills that matter.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe not those. We’re going to discover new ones. Just maybe not those.

There are a lot of skills that don’t matter. My first confession, I actually don’t know my address.And I ——

I don’t really believe that to be true.

It’s completely true. Janine will tell you and Lori will tell you.

One day I had to pump gas — it was a few years ago. They needed my ZIP code, and I panicked. I didn’t know my ZIP code. I don’t know my telephone number. I forget these things. I can live with it.

But let me take the other side because I don’t want to fall into a thing where, because some skills can be safely offloaded ——

Yeah.

I also can’t get anywhere without a mapping system now. Never could, frankly. But I’m a big reader. And one of the skills I really value, one of the capacities I have that I really value is an attention span formed on physical books.

You’re a big reader. I’ve read about the kind of reading you do. And there is, prior to A.I., a lot of concern and noticing among college professors and others that the way people use the internet has probably shortened attention spans.
Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.

Yeah. Well, I think that we’re going to lose some finer intellectual dexterity, but we’re going to be better systems thinkers.

Today’s engineers are far better systems thinkers than I was when I graduated from school. But I was a much better transistor thinker.

What do you mean by systems thinker?

They think of large systems. Today’s computers have trillions, hundreds of trillions of transistors in them. When I first graduated from school, the first chip I worked on had 200 transistors. I knew every one of them by name. No engineer does that today. Most engineers now work well above the transistor, well above the functionality, and they’re cobbling things together to do things.

So you need to think much more about systems and interactions of systems. So some of the lower-level knowledge is gone.
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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That's the point--and, frankly, I think the more most students are exposed to what is truly unique about the academy, the more they love it. A university is one of the only places where people can play with ideas without needing to expect any sort of commercializability.
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Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press @rcfp.org · 23/09/2026
The White House press ban targeting CNN, MS NOW, and Politico is “illegal and unconstitutional,” @rcfp.org argues in a new friend-of-the-court brief joined by 50 media outlets and industry groups. Their access must be restored.
rcfp.org
Media coalition: White House press ban targeting CNN, MS NOW, Politico is ‘illegal and unconstitutional’
Reporters Committee rallied a coalition of 50 media outlets and industry groups in urging a federal court to restore White House access to the news outlets.
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It’s not “third-country deportation,” it’s an extraordinary rendition, complete with torture and enforced silence by the “host” country’s thugs. And it’s a direct consequence of never imposing punishment on the CIA for doing this during the War on Terror.
nytimes.com
A Central African Hotel Has Become a Nightmare Prison for U.S. Deportees
Witnesses say men were hooded and beaten in Equatorial Guinea. The autocratic government there is a partner in President Trump’s deportation program.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
For those wondering why we can hear the president on TV despite the pool strike — the UN has its own in-house cameras/crew that they put out for news orgs to ingest.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I was deputy M.E. at the WSJ when Murdoch took over, with a similar “editorial independence board.” Within 4 months, our top editor was gone, replaced by a loyal Murdoch deputy. That board raised a quivering objection, but the deed was done. If the Ellisons own CNN, they’ll do whatever they want.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I’ve had the opening few bars of Giant Steps stuck in my head all day and it’s been delightful
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Updated in the thread and story, but — contrary to initial reporting (and a statement from USDOT), the cable was cut by NJ Transit contractors who were working on a rail yard project near New Brunswick.
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Reposted by Evan Simko-Bednarski
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
WaPo statement: @washingtonpost.com
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
An Amtrak work crew clipped the new fiber optic cable the feds put in last year, linking air traffic control systems in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Flights were grounded for much of the day.
nydailynews.com
Amtrak work crews cut fiber optic cable, grounding flights across NYC
As of Monday afternoon, Newark International Airport, Kennedy International Airport and Teterboro Airport remained grounded.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Joint statement from the White House television pool members: (via @cnn.com)
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Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said. It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals
After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy dea...
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Took my kids to an open art studio thing in Brooklyn today. My oldest spent the train home talking about how much he wants a place where he can make and show paintings. Came home and read the Times’ story on the Kennedy Center fiasco.
nytimes.com
How President Trump Broke the Kennedy Center (Gift Article)
Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"Staff members and former Kennedy Center officials speculated that “Blue” was removed because Mr. Trump, who has said he considers much of modern art “a con,” did not like it." Dull-minded, paranoid, bullying, and certain that anything he doesn't like or understand must be a grift. Classic fascism.
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The serious risk from AI shown by this incident is people—namely the US military—thinking the tech is more capable than it is and nearly acting based on bad info. It wasn’t insufficient reverence for the tech’s power. Not only are these opposite problems, believing the latter worsens the former.
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Adam Weinstein @adamweinstein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Baudrillard: "It is no longer a question of imitation, nor of reduplication, nor even of parody. It is rather a question of substituting signs of the real for the real itself... Never again will the real have to be produced: this is the vital function of the model in a system of death"
The "secretary of war" wearing a shirt that says "THIS IS WAR" while PTing in a stadium in Texas, which is not war
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Outdoors hivemind: What are your favorite *freestanding* light tents for 2 people? My old North Face Tadpole is getting a little long in the tooth.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"She said she wanted the second line of her obituary to acknowledge her role as a shop steward for SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents NPR's editorial workers...Not the second line but still pretty high up in the story. Rose would understand."
npr.org
Editor Rose Friedman, who helped shape NPR's cultural coverage, dies at 38
Friedman was in her early 20s when she landed her first position as an editorial assistant at NPR. She became an editor and reporter, and a co-creator of the annual Books We Love reading guide.
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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 19/09/2026
I'd like to remind everyone of the principled courage of the Pentagon press, which walked out of the building their beat relies on rather than sign a loyalty oath. One of them was a dear friend for whom it was a giant sacrifice and I'm so proud of him. The White House press isn't in the same league.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Good statement, but what does it mean to "stand in defense" of their colleagues? Are they just noting an objection for the record? Or will they refuse to cover White House events until the ban is lifted?
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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The CDC hasn't yet authorized the updated Covid shots through the Vaccines for Children program, which serves uninsured and low-income kids. (First reported by WSJ.) A source told me career officials at CDC — employees who aren't political appointees — have been working to make them available.
nytimes.com
Covid Vaccines Delayed for Half of U.S. Children (Gift Article)
The Health Department has not decided whether to provide the shots to states through the Vaccines for Children program, which serves uninsured and low-income families.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
My north-Jersey smart-ass upbringing makes me want to simply QT this as "The Meadowlands are Healing" But actually a profound amount of work went into rehabilitating my home swamp over the past few decades and it sucks to see it polluted like this. The Meadowlands are beautiful.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Is there a name for the syndrome wherein I am absolutely convinced that a(nother) new backpack will solve most if not all of my problems?
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 15/09/2026
The Kennedy Center was a beloved Washington institution, enjoyed by millions of people. It has been destroyed for no real reason. Just vanity, carelessness, indifference. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Trump’s Kennedy Center Shakedown
The only appropriate response is to refuse to accede to his demands.
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Jose Pagliery @josepagliery.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Back in December, I found two witnesses who verified that ICE was using tiny cages to punish detained at "Alligator Alcatraz." DHS inspector general just revealed it was all true. "Use of these small metal enclosures for any reason is unprecedented..." www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/defaul...
oig.dhs.gov
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
is this good
An Eatonton Police Department (Ga.) employee ran searches with reasons such as HJKNUILH, uiokjk.kuj, GJLHBNMN, hjhbnmg, and iuohjk.
An Atlanta Police Department (Ga.) employee ran searches with asdfga as the reason. 
Bay County Sheriff's Office (Fla.) employees ran searches with reasons such as  ;'lkjh, /lkjh and lkjhg.
A Brown County Sheriff's Office (Wis.) employee ran searches with reasons such as gyghkkghghjkghjk, ggyjgyujdsrdghdfhjkghjghk, HJHJKLHLKHJK, hjjkjkhjkljk and JHLJKHHJKL.
A Lake County Sheriff's Office (Ohio) employee ran searches with reasons such as asdfg and ghjkl, and a second officer ran a series of searches that started off with "investigation" but then devolved into button mashing, including: 
Investigatafy, Investigatafyd, Investigatafydl, Investigatafydlh, investigatafydlhj, investigatafydlhji, investigatafyfdlhji, investigatafyfdlhjigkfgty, investigatafyfdlhjigkfgtyy, investigatafyfdlhjij, investigatafyfdlhjik, investigatafyfdlhjikf, investigatafyfdlhjikfg, investigatafyfdlhjikfgty, investigatafyfdlhjikfgy and investigatafyfdlhjiy.
A Moore Police Department (Okla.) ran searches with reasons such as jhjhjkhj, jhjkhjh, jhjkhjkh, jkhhkjhjk, Jkhjkhj, Jkhjkhjk, Jkhjkhjkh, jkhjkhkjh, jkjkhjkh, kjjkhjk, loiuiou, ukjhjkh and ulkuiou.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that Al needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
Trump: The only control or "guardrails" that Al needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades! The Trump Administration has stopped Al "people" from doing bad, or potentially bad, "things," like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a
"perfect little angel" - and we will continue to do so! We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies!
There is a SICK conspiracy going on against Al and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
President DONALD J. TRUMP
304 ReTruths 900 Likes
9/14/26, 6:58 AM
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A young man and woman sitting together on the tracks in a lower Manhattan subway station were crushed to death by an oncoming train — apparently after one fell off the platform and the other tried to help, transit sources said Monday. A horrific story.
nydailynews.com
Young man and woman killed by NYC subway train after one falls to tracks and other tries to help
The woman was laughing and pulling the man towards her when they were run over by a downtown No. 4 train operating on the local tracks.
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
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Nolan Hicks @ndhapple.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“If the move survives expected legal challenges, it could also prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.” — www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/c...
nytimes.com
E.P.A. Will Erase Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants
Generation of electricity is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases in the United States.
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