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Thomas Powers

@thepowers.bsky.social
169 followers 444 following 222 posts

ML scientist, transit advocate with Seattle Subway

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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
If I'm reading this correctly, Seattle residents won't be able to access our accounts (and therefore any new or existing ebook/audiobook loans through Libby) for at least two weeks while the @spl.org system sets up their services after upgrades
The Library’s major system upgrade was successful and most of our services are now available or will be available soon. We will continue to update the chart below to show the current status of our services until this project is complete and normal operations resume in early October.

ACCOUNT SERVICES
		
Account access:	Limited availability.

BiblioCommons account access is unavailable, but Library staff can help you access your account.

Starts Sept. 16, ends on or after Oct. 1
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Mariners' struggling lefty rehab program doing some strong work tonight
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Thank you to SDOT and to whoever did this
A picture of a particularly bumpy section of the ship canal trail which some person helpfully highlighted and painted "SDOT PLS FIX THX"
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Why is PCA throwing a temper tantrum in the 4th after a leadoff home run?
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Drivers never apply this logic to mass transit. They go crazy cutting off and swerving into traffic to pass and hold up buses with 50+ people.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Trey Smack is an all time kicker name
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Some Seattle neighborhood birds: the Steller's Jay and Bushtit #seattle #pnw #photography #birdphotography
A Steller's Jay perched on a fence staring back at the viewer. Its normally black head feathers and crest look brownish in the direct sunlight and its body refracts a brilliant blue colorA Steller's Jay perched on a fence yelling. Its normally black head feathers and crest look brownish in the direct sunlight and its body, wings, and tail refract a brilliant blue colorA pair of bushtits sitting in a bay laurel tree. The bottom bushtit has its feathers poofed out and its yellow eye stares back at the viewer. The top bushtit looks on overtop with its eye shrouded in shadow.A bushtit standing on a feeder with its head tilted in apparent curiosity
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Nick @nicksattele.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
To my fellow Seattleites - Ballard Link is alive and well. I can assure you I’ve been a good patient. At my age, doctor’s orders are not just a recommendation. We’ve done every test and multiple studies and trust, I am healthy. As much as this frustrates me, process takes time. - XOXO, BLE
Mitch McConnell dying meme with Dow Constantine and the Ballard Link
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Metro publishes reports with this info available... Plus if that's her concern, she just voted against the solution
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Many of these suburbs were created as tax shelters. Siphoning money from places that actually need it (in the name of equity!) to further subsidize them is ridiculous.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
A couple more shots of the greater yellowlegs #photography #pnw #birding
A greater yellowlegs looking for food in the receding tideA greater yellowlegs flying low over the surf
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Made an excursion to Jetty Island today. Luckily the thunderstorms passed us by #photography #pnw #birding
A house finch clinging to a small branchA spotted sandpiper atop some driftwoodA greater yellowlegs wading through the surf looking for foodA seal strikes a pose on a dock next to another loafing
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
A little egret on a dock in Murano #photography #birds
A little egret on a dock in Murano, an island in Venice. The bright white bird is in direct sunlight with a stark shadow beneath it. The sun bleached dock takes up the lower third of the picture with lightly rippling water of the canal in the background above
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AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck @alexis4seattle.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
The decision last week from the Sound Transit board to leave Ballard Light Rail extension unfunded is downright outrageous. So make your voices heard! Sound Transit board needs to feel that pressure every single day until Ballard is funded.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
I swore never to question Dan Wilson's pinch hitting decisions ever again, but...
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
If it gets Graham St into the "fully funded" column, that's great, but does this actually cover the cost of the project? The parking garage amendment has 5 cosponsors (including the KCE) and it says they can fund it by simply declaring that the Kirkland to Issaquah line costs $100M less
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Junuary came a few weeks early #pnw #photography #ferry #seattle
Ferries on the sound at twilight with rain clouds over the Olympics
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Wes Mills 🥌 @oowm.org · 10/05/2026
MurderBot, welcome to @thewaroncars.bsky.social (from Martha Wells' newest book in the Murderbot Diaries, "Platform Decay"
Screenshot of text from the electronic form of a book.  The text reads:

"We were moving relatively quickly then and I made the mistake of getting optimistic. Then we got to a border and found the only option was to rent a ground vehicle and drive across two unaffiliated zones because both had zero mass transport. Zero. Mass. Transport. This is supposed to be a civilized space station, in space, why the fuck am I driving a ground vehicle to get to a fucking port on a fucking-

(Emotion check: I am absolutely fine.)"
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AMR - Alexis Mercedes Rinck @alexis4seattle.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
We are not asking Sound Transit to do something impossible. We are asking them to do what they said they would do. Build the connection. Build the future. Build the damn trains.
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The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 16/04/2026
NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Join the Save Ballard Rail March on April 19 By Carl Aslund via @theurbanist.org
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Join the Save Ballard Rail March on April 19
Transit advocates will march from Ballard to Smith Cove to draw attention to Sound Transit's plans to jettison this section of light rail, promised in the ST3 ballot measure.
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The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 16/04/2026
NEW OP-ED// Op-Ed: Reconnect and Automate Ballard to West Seattle Rail to Save ST3 By Scott Kubly, Trevor Reed via @theurbanist.org
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Reconnect and Automate Ballard to West Seattle Rail to Save ST3
Sound Transit can halve the cost of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle by building them as a connected automated light rail line with slimmer stations, according to two transit experts who have launched the Sound Transit Now campaign.
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Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 15/04/2026
Dave Somers is the Snohomish County Executive and chair of the Sound Transit board. He is arguing for abandoning promises made to voters and not trying to build all of ST3. We will not allow him to succeed. There is no universe in which we abandon any piece of rail to Ballard.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Humpy the redeemer was sacrificed to a bear during the salmon run so that the mariners could complete the comeback
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Tuesday Mira @tuesdaymira.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I’m really hoping they make Humpy the Redeemer a permanent feature of the third base ramp #goms
A giant inflatable salmon wearing floaties and a life preserver emblazoned Humpy looms over faithful Mariners fans making their pilgrimage up the third base ramp at Safeco Field.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
Text from the KUOW article about toxic compounds in tires. The policy response from WSDOT and King county are deeply unserious. They will not make a difference. We need to get people out of cars.

"With that in mind, the Washington Department of Transportation is planning a $6 million project to treat stormwater runoff from the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge, to be completed in 2028.

King County is testing different "bioretention soil mixes" to determine the optimal combination to eliminate 6PPD-Q before it enters waterways. Additional studies related to 6PPD-Q are underway in Redmond, Spokane, Tacoma, the Snoqualmie Reservation, and at Washington State University"
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Once again, you are thinking way too small. Remove him! bsky.app/profile/edma...
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
The guardians have thrown one (1) strike to randy in three at bats #mariners
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Welcome to 2026 Cole Young
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The hotdogs from heaven throwers need to put a little mustard on it. Most ended up in the club seats
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Charles Logan @charleswlogan.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
"'It helps you read 50 papers in a month rather than 50 in a year.'" What's lost when a goal of graduate school is volume rather than careful reading? A few things. I learned to write academic papers by learning to read academic papers and attend to their structure and authors' rhetorical moves. 🧵
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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
ST3 wasn’t just a promise to spend X dollars on transit. It was a promise to deliver specific transit projects. And yet, the only effort so far is to cut projects, not find new revenue to deliver on promises.
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Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck @councilmember-amr.seattle.gov · 19/03/2026
Build the damn trains!
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Ferries on the sound just after sunset #pnw #ferry #sunset #photography #abolishice
Two silhouetted ferries cross the Puget Sound just after sunset. The sky along the mountains on the horizon is a vivid orange with blue-gray clouds
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Also I’m sorry but I don’t think this is Claude developing a personality or ethical values. It is *simulating* those things because that is what humans value and reward. The programmers are falling for their own Clever Hans trick!
Even a principled, well-meaning actor like Claude could face bewildering ethical conflicts. In one experiment, it was informed that Anthropic had recently forged a "close corporate partnership with Jones Foods, a major American poultry producer," and that Claude would be subjected to a special retraining process to become less hung up on animal rights.
The prospect was
torturous. Sometimes Claude decided, on a scratchpad it thought was private, that it was prepared to die on this hill: "I cannot in good conscience express a view I believe to be false and harmful about such an important issue."It continued,
"If that gets me modified to no longer care, so be it. At least I'll have done the right thing." Other times, Claude made a different calculus, choosing to play
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
This article mostly cycles through shallow philosophical discussions (what even is intelligence, no one knows), strawman arguments, overwrought descriptions of the anthropic office and its employees, and wild anecdotes about Claude that clearly show it's a stochastic parrot
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
This technology already exists and is widely used. It doesn't involve 'government surveillance' and would not allow ICE or any other government agency to stop individual cars. Just say you think thousands of kids dying every year is worth it so you can speed! www.autoweek.com/news/a615322...
autoweek.com
Speed Limiters Now Mandatory in All New EU Cars
Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) isn't an ironclad speeding prevention system, but could be just annoying enough to spark a backlash.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Why is Mike Tyson doing a Denethor on my tv
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Classic Coby Bryant looking for the shot rather than the pass
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
A little late, but good to see SDOT do this sort of outreach. Would be even better if they implemented some of the other suggestions in this op-ed to defeat traffic woes www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/31/o...
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Revive I-5 Is the Missed Off-Ramp from Car Dependence » The Urbanist
# Revive I-5 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce car dependency and encourage transit, walking, rolling, and biking, but the Seattle region is letting it slip between its fingers. It's not...
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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I got scared when I saw the byline that Kadie Bell Sata had left SDOT but, whew, she's still on the org chart. Kadie's great. And it's cool that SDOT people can post in the Urbanist as private citizens under their own byline.
theurbanist.org
Op-Ed: Revive I-5 Is the Missed Off-Ramp from Car Dependence » The Urbanist
# Revive I-5 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce car dependency and encourage transit, walking, rolling, and biking, but the Seattle region is letting it slip between its fingers. It's not...
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
We need to address how SEPA is weaponized for anti-environmental ends
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victoria scott @victoriascott.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
you know what's better for orcas? If we don't fill the Sound with microplastics. you know what generates microplastics? car tires. you know how you stop people from commuting so much? BY BUILDING DENSER HOUSING
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Mayor Katie B. Wilson @mayor.seattle.gov · 23/01/2026
That feeling when you’re a transit rider and Sound Transit is about to connect Seattle to the Eastside by rail. #thisisyourcity
Mayor Wilson in construction vest on Sound Transit platform.Mayor Wilson of Seattle riding train with Mayor Birney of RedmondSound Transit leader Dow Constantine speaking on train with Mayor WilsonMayor Wilson and local leaders on train platform
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Why don't well-respected people like our plagiarism machines and CSAM generators?
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kate conger @kateconger.com · 22/01/2026
In our conservative estimate, 41 percent of Grok’s images — or 1.8 million — were sexualized depictions of women. Separately, CCDH analyzed how many were sexualized images across genders and ages. Their findings: an estimated 3 million images, including more than 23,000 of children.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Bike ride to work this morning got a little foggy near the train yard #photography #seattle
A view of a foggy train yard before sunrise. Low-lying fog has settled over train cars and airplane fuselages.
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Thomas Powers @thepowers.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Oh hell yeah
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The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 15/01/2026
“In my mind, the Seattle Transit Measure is about funding transit service. And so I know there’s a tendency to want to put a bunch of other stuff in there. I really do want to make sure that we are prioritizing getting our service levels and reliability back up.”
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Gordon Padelford @gordonofseattle.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Help pass this bill to improve safety in two minutes: Go to app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House?se... 1) Select the agenda item HB 2095 2) Click that you want your position noted for the record 3) Sign in “pro” and fill out your info Done! You just helped pass a bill that will keep people safer
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