My camera shoots fascists

Things I do: landscape, storm and protest photography; paragliding, climbing, adventure sports; border and human rights activism.

Intellectual hobbies: science, nature, security/privacy, sociology of the web. Learning Spanish.

My fine art prints are available on my website.

Welcome newcomers. You'll like it here, but give it some time.

Profile photo: white guy in a baseball cap with an iguana on my shoulder. Banner: "Aneurysm for President 2026" in patriotic red, white and blue.

#NoBots

Photography and writing at:: https://www.mikaljakubal.com
Can be found wandering with camera in:: CA, AZ and everywhere, especially in the desert or where the revolution is happening.
Motto:: Do epic shit! Also, punch nazis.
Signal username: IDoMyOwnStunts.01

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[email protected]

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nprofile1qqsdqwc4h23h82ct8q73drvwzy5wntejydn0cfgl0u53su3v3vtgaacpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dszlkjgn

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Last Notes

2026-01-18 03:58:32 GMT

@npub1nf4…nqe4
Here's a little something I wrote a few years ago about going to count beavers on the San Pedro River in the U.S. and Mexico. Pretty much echoes the linked article except for the fire part.
https://www.mikaljakubal.com/portfolios/beaver-counting/

2026-01-16 17:38:38 GMT

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I might apply to be one of them if you had deserts. 🌵😎 Still hoping Canada will annex the U.S. West Coast.

2026-01-16 17:08:01 GMT

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We're not sending our best people.

2026-01-12 19:38:34 GMT

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Oh, win some lose some. But that's a much longer discussion and even if something "worked" at one point in time is no reason to try to repeat it.
My main point of despair, having lived through the Reagan/Bush era, FFS, is that what we're seeing now feels way, way worse yet the general response feels way less energetic.

2026-01-12 08:04:51 GMT

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I got to thinking (always a bad idea) about what we did when confronting the timber industry in the 1980s in the PNW over ancient forest logging.
We engaged in a vast, creative range of protest methods. One of which was regular civil disobedience at corporate and agency headquarters. I used a bike lock around my neck to lock down the HQ of Willamette Industries in Portland in early 1986. Small groups of us also occupied Forest Service and other timber company offices. We set up a tent in the Region 6 Regional Forester's office in Portland. We always made sure friendly reporters knew in advance. We didn't have the internet, but we were still able to go "viral."
We know the companies doing business with ICE. We know where the offices of MAGA politicians are. They are perfect protest locations. It only takes a small group of people to pull off that sort of pressure campaign.

2026-01-12 06:32:26 GMT

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I tried to keep upbeat about it, but this weekend's small, tepid Bay Area protests left me feeling like I need to rethink everything and pivot my life toward a rapid exit from the U.S., while it's still possible.
I like nothing better than a good fight, but I'm also not willing to be a martyr for a doomed cause that few others are willing to lift a finger for.
So, yeah, what are you going to do if Trump invades Greenland tomorrow?

2026-01-12 06:21:45 GMT

What are you going to do if the U.S. invades Greenland tomorrow?
Literally, what are you going to do?
What do they have to do to get people to finally say "enough" and take to the streets and never leave? Or is that just never going to happen this time around?
Please prove me wrong here, but if the events of the last couple weeks weren't enough to justify sustained, mass protests everywhere, I'm not very hopeful we'll get it together before it's too late.

2025-12-29 03:10:46 GMT

"Billionaires including Peter Thiel, the tech venture capitalist, and Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, are considering cutting or reducing their ties to California by the end of the year because of a proposed ballot measure that could tax the state’s wealthiest residents, according to five people familiar with their thinking."
Bye! You won't be missed. Don't have a nice trip. Hope we never see you again, you ungrateful, entitled, whiny little pieces of shit.
I'm guessing that most Californians, hearing billionaires whine like this, will be more than happy to call their bluff at the ballot box.
https://www.joemygod.com/2025/12/oligarchs-may-flee-ca-over-proposed-1-wealth-tax/

2025-11-20 05:06:54 GMT

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In my early 60s I now want eco-sustainable luxury anarcho-communism for all, even if I usually look kinda normie on the outside. I was pretty radical in my 20s, but in a much more all-over-the-place way.

2025-10-22 15:22:35 GMT

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So, you're saying "AI" is the new "BS"?
"No way, man! I call AI!"
"You're so full of AI."
"Lose me with that AI."
"I'm so sick of your AI."
"Don't AI me, bro."
That all works for me.

2025-10-15 01:58:48 GMT

I'm guessing the first frog-suit guy had no idea the image of him standing there in front of the cops would become so viral and emblematic of resistance.
Also, massive respect 🫡

2025-10-14 19:42:45 GMT

Went on a storm chase north from Tucson yesterday. A very big cell was moving directly toward Picacho Peak. Calculating our respective speeds, I figured I had enough time to intercept it when it crossed the peak/I-10 area. I was right and was in a perfect position, with a clear view of the peak and sun breaks lighting up the foreground.
By the time the storm moved into the frame, though, there was a wall of water between me and the peak. A minute after this shot, it hit me.
The original is wider and mostly gray blur. I cranked up some of the editing tools in Lightroom to make the bolts pop a bit more and cropped it way in just to have something to show for the day. Win some lose some. This is possibly the last monsoon-season chase opportunity of the season, but there is lightning here even in the winter sometimes.
#StormChasing #LandscapePhotography #Lightning #PicachoPeak
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/374/213/159/589/936/original/0af674a87a03fe57.jpg

2025-10-13 14:35:01 GMT

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I think there's a lot more to this phenomenon than a quick quip. The fact that a good post can have an extended shelf life in a context that rarely produces flashy virality is a function of both the technological infrastructure and the much more human and real social norms here.
This is one of those things that I meant a couple days ago when I said to newcomers that a lot of the good parts of Mastodon/fediverse take some time to notice and appreciate.

2025-10-13 14:27:32 GMT

On the fediverse, posts rarely go viral. But at times, they will go "fungal", like mycelium quietly working its way through the substrate, popping up again like mushrooms every few months to make another quick round before going dormant again.

2025-10-10 17:57:00 GMT

#LizardReport
Bill showed up on time this morning and got his breakfast. I might be off storm chasing later but if not and if it doesn't rain, I may go see if I can try feeding the whiptail in the backyard. I miss my cute iguana buddy. I'm still hoping that cat just scared it off into another yard and didn't actually kill it.
Bill let me take some close-ups of him. The second photo is a detail of his flank scales.
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/351/142/356/522/020/original/644a8e2e9cee438e.jpeg
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/351/142/411/832/946/original/8dae802bb1ef7b6e.jpeg

2025-10-10 16:09:04 GMT

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This is the best description yet.
But, ya know, at least not Trump. So there's that.

2025-09-26 02:35:06 GMT

Let me get this straight. So, a Wi-Fi router projects a Wi-Fi signal irrespective of whether there is any data associated with it, or whether it's connected to the Internet, or whether it is traceable in any way, right? So someone could get a cheap used Wi-Fi router on craigslist, plug it in, name the network something like, I dunno, "Fuck ICE Immigrants welcome" and broadcast it across the neighborhood. Right?
Or, maybe, run a network cable up to a cheap cantenna on the roof and aim the signal at a particular government building or public space.
Asking for a friend. I have no idea why someone might want to do this.

2025-09-17 19:11:56 GMT

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This one of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park came out okay too.
Still not quite what I'm looking for, but okay for the first time there. This was the third of three storms to come through that day.
#LandscapePhotography #ArchesNationalPark #StormChasing
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/221/193/451/563/712/original/b18f0b143c9acb76.jpg

2025-09-17 03:29:20 GMT

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I got a few bolts with Delicate Arch, but not really what I want. I think this is the best one, but I'll go over the others and see what I can do with them. This one, for example, has two nice elements, the arch and bolt, that don't really work together. They're just both sort of in the frame. Guess I gotta go back 🤷‍♂️

2025-09-17 03:27:59 GMT

Finally going through the shots from my Arches trip. This is from a nearby arch were I took cover as storms passed overhead. (Not safe! Caves aren't safe! I know! But neither is being anywhere on a ridgetop in a thunderstorm, so I might as well stay dry before getting zapped.)
#StormChasing #lightning #ArchesNationalPark #LandscapePhotography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/217/469/601/279/293/original/37be077f4023fe93.jpg

2025-09-10 17:06:13 GMT

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Got one shot of yesterday's storm over Grand Junction.
#StormChasing #lightning #LandscapePhotography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/181/085/724/675/975/original/3cab0dc94c8be0dd.jpg

2025-09-09 23:30:37 GMT

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These storms have been training right over the spot and across the valley all afternoon.
#StormChasing #LandscapePhotography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/176/902/543/870/123/original/89510b85eedef2ec.jpeg

2025-09-09 22:29:31 GMT

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Well, this just happened. The blue circle is my location. Note the lightning strike icon. Freaking cloooose! ⚡️And loud!
I have two cameras set up under a picnic shelter, but I'm hiding in the truck!
#StormChasing #Lightning #LandscapePhotography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/176/686/217/117/621/original/7335dd901592254c.png

2025-09-09 00:20:00 GMT

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I got a few bolts that afternoon. Here's the first one I've done a quick edit on. It's a horizontal panorama, so you might have to click to see the whole thing.
#StormChasing #LandscapePhotography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/171/458/131/805/816/original/83c78b1b1e8027d6.jpeg

2025-09-07 00:10:39 GMT

I struck out a storm chasing at Grand Canyon in the last two days. 50% chance of thunderstorms never materialized. But I'm getting this consolation prize farther up in the canyon country.
I have one camera set up doing a time lapse and the other set up with the lightning trigger catching the bolts coming from this big cloud. (Ooo! Two more!) I only wish there were some sun breaks to light up the towers in the valley in the foreground because it's quite striking. It's hard to tell in this very flat light. It might still happen because the massive storm to the northwest is fizzling now, so maybe it will let some sun breaks through.
If anyone's curious, the lightning trigger is set up on my 24 mm tilt-shift (which I love for landscapes) and the time lapse is on my 17 mm to 35 mm zoom, set at 28.
#StormChasing #LandscapePhotography #CanyonCountry
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/115/160/074/365/879/696/original/601221db0e8807e6.jpeg

2025-09-04 13:05:03 GMT

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Had to look up Mullerian mimicry. I knew about Batesian mimicry; related but different.

2025-09-02 15:40:45 GMT

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I wasn't aware that this existed. This probably explains why about 90% of women's primary profile pictures on dating sites look so similar.

2025-08-16 22:12:02 GMT

Professional photographers: how do you price your prints for sale? I'm trying to decide how I should price mine.
This has been one of the biggest barriers to getting my print sales online. It's seriously anxiety producing 😳😵‍💫
I'm also interested in the thoughts of people who buy "fine art" photo prints.
Comments and boosts appreciated!
#photography
I'll add a few thoughts in comments below.
Edit to add: my site with some examples (but not showing many of the best ones I plan to start with for sale) is here: https://mikaljakubal.com

2025-08-08 02:29:44 GMT

What if "the cloud" — other people's computers — were our computers collectively, as a public utility of sorts. And why self hosting millions of personal "clouds" is not the answer.
"But through the process, I realized how privileged I am to have the skills required for digital sovereignty. I realized how unattainable, unsustainable, and unrealistic self-hosting is as a mass solution to the problems we face. I realized that self-reliance isn't freedom — it's the luxury of retreating from a system that others can't escape."
"Imagine a world where your library card includes 100GB of encrypted file storage, photo-sharing and document collaboration tools, and media streaming services — all for free. Your data is encrypted end-to-end, but is shareable to anyone on any other service through standardized protocols."
https://www.drewlyton.com/story/the-future-is-not-self-hosted/

2025-08-06 01:50:17 GMT

Edit: here's what's going on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antherophagus_ochraceus?wprov=sfti1
Thanks to @npub1jf2…rwtg for the link.
Anyone know what is going on here? This bumblebee has some sort of creature grabbing onto its proboscis. It looks like a small beetle, but it is hard to tell. The bumblebee was thrashing around furiously trying to remove it, to no avail.
#entomology #BugsAreWeird #Bumblebee
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/979/301/289/666/569/original/da5a40c34876692d.jpeg
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/979/301/330/995/934/original/5a034db96dc39ada.jpeg

2025-08-01 00:26:30 GMT

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I got one good one at least. I think this is the only decent lightning bolt shot I got.
#StormChasing #Lightning #CraterLake #Oregon
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/950/652/382/542/086/original/07b9ad5364d968c8.jpeg

2025-07-31 20:39:44 GMT

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Set up on this one, hoping it'll drop some big bolts near the lake. Unfortunately another big cell behind me is starting to spit rain, so I might get booted out of here soon.
Update! As I was writing that, a big bolt triggered both cameras, but I was looking at my phone typing so I didn't see it so I didn't see it 😂⚡️
#StormChasing #CraterLake
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/949/707/590/163/019/original/ade7df53ddd672b3.jpeg

2025-07-31 03:51:37 GMT

Crater Lake National Park.
No lightning storms but still pretty. Chance of more thunder tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/945/796/954/008/478/original/94401ec9f674c710.jpeg
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/945/797/786/458/732/original/ffe45e9cab6b5579.jpeg

2025-07-30 05:24:15 GMT

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Yeah, I couldn't remember the date. That was from the big earthquake in Alaska, right? I've seen pictures of what Crescent City looked like after that. I kinda wish I had been up there tonight. I would've gone out to the point above the harbor (waaay above the waterline) to photograph whatever happened. Would be hard at night, but there are lights.

2025-07-30 04:07:01 GMT

Had I left on time this evening, I'd have been near Crescent City, CA about midnight, the time the tsunami is supposed to hit. Virtually the entire U.S. and Canadian west coast is expecting waves under 1' high. Except Crescent City, which is expecting waves 2.0'-4.8' high.
Something about the bathymetry of the seabed must direct tsunami waves right at Crescent City. Happened in the 2011 tsunami too. And it's happened previously. Tsunami bait.
For the record, the NOAA tsunami warning center maps and alerts are really awkward to navigate. They really need to fix that shit.

2025-07-28 04:33:41 GMT

First time having boba tea today. It's not unpleasant, but quite strange. You have to like the texture of snot wads in your mouth, though snot wads that happen to taste good.

2025-07-22 23:29:28 GMT

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My guess is that #JohnStewart already has something in the works. If that's the case, his #CBSGoFuckYourself move was brilliant. Either they fire him and he goes out with a bang and starts something new, or they chicken out and he resigns and starts something new anyway. Total boss move either way.

2025-07-22 20:40:49 GMT

#IsJohnStewartFiredYet
#CBSGoFuckYourself
I just thought these hashtags should be a thing, for no reason in particular.

2025-07-17 04:49:32 GMT

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One more reason to accelerate the de-Google-ification of my life.
But, FFS, every time you reply to someone with a Gmail address who hasn't turned this shit off, you're basically letting this creepy company ingest your email. And so damn many people use Gmail that it's pretty hard to say, "sorry, I can't respond to you until you switch to something else."
I fucking hate this.

2025-07-05 04:59:21 GMT

I remember some months ago, people were warning that it took Hitler less than two months to go from an elected position to dictator. I'm sure Trump is jealous that it took him longer, but here we are.
I seriously doubt most Americans, even progressive ones, realize the unfettered power he and his fashy billionaire buddies now have and what they are likely to do with it.
What will you tolerate? What won't you tolerate happening to yourself or others? Where is your "red line" after which you'll give up security and comfort to fight? And how will you fight? What are you willing to do?

2025-07-05 04:11:38 GMT

Somewhat random art pricing question here.
For most of the photos I hope to soon have online for sale, I'm concentrating on higher-end "fine art" prints, but I know a lot of outdoor-adventure dirtbagger types will want a more affordable version of this particular image (made famous by the movie DamNation), so I had some 24" x 30" posters made of it. Now I have to figure out how to price them.
I'm having trouble finding prices for posters (vs "prints" on archival-grade paper). Suggestions? Or can anyone point me to photographers who sell poster versions of their work?
#photography
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/798/652/588/101/368/original/36936fd360e0cea9.jpg

2025-07-04 20:46:46 GMT

Apropos of nothing in particular, I've been thinking about my visit some years back to the Dutch Resistance Museum — Verzetsmuseum — in Amsterdam. The museum re-creates scenes of daily life under Nazi occupation and continually asks visitors to think about what we would do in a given situation: "adjust, collaborate, or resist?"
For every American, this is the exact same question we are now facing every single day.
Adjust, collaborate, or resist. What does that look like for you? At what cost to your safety will you resist? At what cost to your sense of self-worth and morality will you simply adjust and pretend nothing is happening? What is your personal "red line"?

2025-07-03 02:19:04 GMT

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Oh, man, we thought it was bad, then. I mean, it WAS bad then, but the '80s got nothin' on the 2020s.

2025-06-20 03:30:25 GMT

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Oh, I see. I'm a little slow today.

2025-06-20 01:42:32 GMT

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But then they would all leave!
🤔
Well, then. I hope they don't let the door on their private jets hit them in the ass on their way out.
#EatTheRich

2025-06-19 23:25:55 GMT

Wonderful. My credit union just merged with another one and now I'm unable to get my online statements because doing so requires allowing 3rd party cookies.
According the @npub1svp…js2d 's Blacklight tool https://themarkup.org/blacklight the site uses browser fingerprinting and session recording and I'm like "um, no".
I'll send them the screenshots and let them know that I'll need to be mailed paper copies from now on, or I'll ask for paper copies when I go in to make deposits.
Why are they like this?

2025-06-18 18:53:41 GMT

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The way I explain the fediverse is to compare it to virtually any non-prepackaged social relationship.
Want to try a worker-owned business? A communal household? Co-housing community? Nonmonogamy or other non-traditional romance or relationship forms? CSA or other direct farm-to-consumer food production? Any organization or group that runs by consensus?
Virtually all of my lefty friends have some experience with one or more of these things, so they understand that any time you step outside of the frictionless, pre-made capitalist box to create the life you want, it will be more difficult and often awkward, time consuming and confusing. And probably require a bunch of meetings. But maybe worth it in the end.
That's how I explain the fediverse. Because it's been built by and for users and not fashy billionaires, it requires more direct participation, more tolerance for all the rough edges, longer to make changes and improvements. They usually get that, even if they ultimately decide, "nah."

2025-06-18 18:37:51 GMT

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I look forward to part 2. In the meantime, I have two comments that someone might find useful.
First is that I was part of the November 2022 fuck Elon migration. That was before ExTwitter locked down their API, so someone had written a little bot that would search your follows there for anyone who had a fediverse handle in their profile (the odd double-@ format, I'm guessing). You could download that as a .CSV and upload it to Mastodon and have an instant large group of familiar people to follow.
Very different than starting from scratch or trying to guess what someone's handle might be and finding them here, even if you know they are in fact here.
I think that's huge for many people because unless you join a very active location-based or interest-based server, it'll feel really lonely for quite a while.

2025-06-11 04:12:38 GMT

Have the Democrats — or IDK anyone at all — promised a Nuremburg-style tribunal and prosecution of any military or administrative (ICE, HSI, etc.) individual who commits human rights or other violations during this current administration? Basically announcing before-the-fact consequences once it is possible to impose them?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this would be a very good propaganda move.
Tell the military and ICE personnel that they will be held personally accountable for what they do and that "following orders" will not be a defense.

2025-06-08 03:03:14 GMT

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Look, man, who knows what happened in 1848? We gotta look into this. Might've been a mistake!

2025-06-08 03:02:17 GMT

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Totally. She'd be just asking questions, you know?

2025-06-08 02:54:29 GMT

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New tactic unlocked! Using ceramic plates like frisbees!

2025-06-06 05:30:26 GMT

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Whenever I am at protests, whether large mass actions of the last few months, or smaller, issue-related protests I've been to in the last few years, I get this distinct sense that everything we knew from the '80s and '90s has been collectively forgotten or discarded.
From my point of view, as someone who engaged in a lot of activism pre-Internet, I feel like I have this giant foundational toolbox, a whole other toolbox of digital tools, and then the force multiplier potential of the Internet.
Back in the '80s, we knew how to "go viral" and get our photos or headlines "above the fold" routinely. Damn, what we could have done back then with smart phones, live streaming and social media!
I have a bunch of thoughts on what happened, but that's for another time.

2025-06-06 05:18:30 GMT

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Other things we used to do back before smart phones (and that would still be perfectly functional) is print up thousands of quarter sheet flyers with a suggested action plan and mass distribute them amongst the crowd.
In Hong Kong in 2019, it was generally understood that you should leave AirDrop (on iPhones) open to receiving messages from anyone. This was one of many ways that plans were rapidly shared amongst groups of protesters. I still have a bunch of screenshots of these, though some are in Cantonese and I can't read them.
Apropos of nothing and no upcoming events that you should definitely not try to disrupt. I absolutely recommend passively listening to the speakers and cheering on command and definitely do not block any streets or take any spontaneous independent action.

2025-06-06 05:13:01 GMT

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Sometimes all it takes to get thousands of people to quit standing around and start marching is five people with bang-buckets or other cheap noisemakers, loud voices and lots of enthusiasm.
Apropos of nothing in particular and not at all referencing any recent past or upcoming events.

2025-06-06 05:10:55 GMT

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In major cities here on the West Coast, particularly Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Oakland (I'm not sure about Los Angeles, but I bet it's the case there too), a key threshold for showing a movement's power was whether you had enough people overall, and enough determined people, to block the interstate. Or, in the Bay Area, one of the major bridges.
Other times, knowing that large spontaneous, breakaway marches were likely to happen, smaller affinity groups had independent actions planned to coincide with them or make use of the cover provided by a giant crowd.
Again, apropos of nothing in particular.

2025-06-06 05:05:54 GMT

I have been to a lot of protests, big and small, since my first one in 1984. One very common scenario was that some liberal or far lefty group would call for a mass demonstration at a certain spot, like the courthouse.
Once a critical mass of people showed up, there would be a small group of rabble-rousers, often the local anarchist group (all 12 of us), who would start banging on buckets or yelling with a megaphone something along the lines of "March! March! March!"
If we were successful, the crowd would gradually start moving toward the street, leaving the line of official speakers talking to the dwindling crowd. In Seattle during the protests against the first Iraq war, these spontaneous marches would go for hours and hours, moving through neighborhoods, losing people as they went, but adding more who came out to join.
Apropos of nothing in particular.

2025-05-26 19:56:43 GMT

At this point, I think these Big National Day of Protest(tm) events are nearly pointless. They really need tactical evolution and to become more disruptive. Combine them with small affinity group blockades, sit-ins, etc. Shut down a port or a freeway or mass-occupy federal buildings or sit in at collaborationist Democratic politicians' offices... anything but a repeat of the same thing with this month's stick-on label.
I'm very well aware of the many values of large, inclusive mass demonstrations. But if that is all you ever do, the movement will be a scheduled spectacle and never challenge power or be able to make change in any real way.

2025-05-19 16:19:27 GMT

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Archive version
https://archive.is/FE9VM
What a fawning, puffball piece, like the author was trying to get a date or something. (The gushing opening about Seattle weather and Graber's name… FFS).
The curated specialty feeds that apparently already exist sound kind of interesting, but everything else is purely aspirational. She makes it sound like there are in fact functioning Instagram and TikTok style apps built on the protocol. Is this actually the case, does anyone know?

2025-05-18 04:14:01 GMT

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Crass Penis Envy with some of the first punk I ever heard. That was around 1984 after they had broken up. With a little bit of review, I could probably almost still remember every word on the album.

2025-05-15 05:11:20 GMT

It's Lizard Wednesday! I just made that up. Because lizard. This Western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was so certain that I couldn't see it that I was able to get my hand within about an inch. Could've easily grabbed it. So well camouflaged.
#Lizard #herps
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/510/113/592/560/769/original/8a305f36e82c9b87.jpeg
https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/510/113/710/497/450/original/1354e3b9417a156b.jpeg

2025-05-13 02:50:36 GMT

Feeld is the buggiest dating app with the most fake profiles and the worst ROI time-wise change my mind.

2025-05-10 22:03:05 GMT

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This is serious. You know they're gonna try to push this in other circuits.

2025-05-07 05:43:31 GMT

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"Careless People" author Sarah Wynn-Williams has been legally prohibited (at least temporarily) from promoting her book after Meta/Facebook brought the case before an arbitrator. The book is still available, but she is prevented from personally promoting it until Meta's case against her is resolved.
So, I'll go ahead and promote it and I recommend everyone else do so as well — and read it, of course! If you had one shred of doubt about Facebook being irredeemably evil, this will cure you of it.
It's available on Bookshop.org. I recommend the audiobook, a gripping, relentless listen, which Wynn-Williams reads herself.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/careless-people-a-cautionary-tale-of-power-greed-and-lost-idealism/22213433?ean=9781250391230&next=t

2025-05-06 16:00:24 GMT

Listening to Sarah Wynn-Williams' "Careless People" on my flight into SFO. Passing over Facebook's HQ and I'm wishing I could open the window and personally spit down on Mark Zuckerberg from here.
From the air, Facebook's walled garden compound architecturally reflects the way the platform ingests and contains its prey, er, users, and defends itself from any outside influence.
If Wynn-Williams' description is even half-accurate, the headquarters also reflects the walled-in insularity of the leadership from the rest of the world and from the consequences of their company's actions.
The whole lot of them are monsters.
#Facebook #CarelessPeople
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2025-05-02 16:24:07 GMT

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Oh, it's not about swaying anybody. It's about: if you're gonna promote fascist bullshit you're gonna get push back.

2025-05-02 16:23:02 GMT

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At first glance, I read that as "they did the meth."
Which, also works.

2025-05-02 16:18:30 GMT

Man, I think I need to stay off the internet, or mute everything but cat videos. The news makes me a little too choppy and stabby. Over the next few days I'm going to have to deal with Trumper relatives that I haven't seen since I was a child. I really hope they are wise enough to keep their mouth shut about their support for Orange Julius or there will be some very awkward moments.

2025-05-02 16:13:28 GMT

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The 4', steel, spike-tipped bong. He need to take a few big hits.

2025-05-01 15:05:23 GMT

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The pettiness is jaw dropping.

2025-04-30 20:34:18 GMT

New #tariff proposal: instead of children having fewer dolls, how about billionaires have fewer heads.

2025-04-30 17:21:07 GMT

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Also, how hard is it to qualify for federal designation as a religion? Let's start thousands of religions and demand we get funded. Like, each school district start a religion and then fund their local public school with it.
But, yeah, at least Church of Satan and the Flying Spaghetti Monster folks should jump on this asap.

2025-04-30 15:08:55 GMT

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So my question is how do we make Starlink as toxic a brand as Tesla? Hit this chump from every angle. Do gamers have any ethical sensibility that could be tapped into?

2025-04-30 14:30:25 GMT

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Spend a few minutes walking on any rail line. The amount of dirt and grime covering everything makes this idea ridiculous on the face of it. Any maintenance will require shutting down the rail line. This just screams "solar roads" scam. It's especially stupid when most rail lines have a wide clear right of way to either side that could be used if people really insist on putting solar panels along rail lines. FFS

2025-04-30 13:56:32 GMT

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That's what plants with purple-tinged flowers are called in the cannabis breeding world. There's even a variety called Purpz.

2025-04-29 20:18:38 GMT

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Make Arizona Canada and I'm in! Even SoCal would work. Maybe I'll have to beg you to let me in, then I can snowbird by crewing a sailboat around the U.S. to Baja California every winter or something.

2025-04-29 03:49:53 GMT

I'm back at my Northern California place for the next few months, so no first-hand accounts from the border or stories of hand taming wild lizards for a little while. Hopefully the revolution will start and I can go take photos of it. Barring that, maybe a fiery death comet? I'd settle for a fiery death comet right now.

2025-04-29 03:44:44 GMT

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😂
Also, as of this evening, you people seem to be a lot more sane. Please annex the US West Coast so I can live in Canada and have deserts. Please?

2025-04-29 03:43:45 GMT

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Agreed, but it's also much worse here so 🤷‍♂️

2025-04-29 03:42:04 GMT

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A while back I was going to start using Duolingo for Spanish and then they made their first announcement about using everyone's data to train AI so I noped out and have been using Pimsleur since. I do need to find something different since I feel like I'm not quite learning what I need to learn, but that's a separate topic.

2025-04-28 19:36:10 GMT

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See, there's another important difference between Canada and the US. Last election, I think most progressive American types were coping with alcohol and maybe sedatives.

2025-04-28 15:45:24 GMT

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I bought it on Libro FM.

2025-04-28 15:34:40 GMT

Started listening to Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams on the way home last night. Both of the stories she tells in the first two chapters are jaw dropping, but in very different ways. Very much looking forward to the rest of the book, but also not sure I want to know what it will reveal. Like, I know Facebook is bad and Zuckerberg and Sandberg are monsters, but I suspect even I'm going to be a bit shocked.

2025-04-28 14:59:08 GMT

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Already is, dramatically. I spend a lot of time along the border in Arizona. Asylum seekers have virtually stopped in that area and desert crossings are way way down. My assumption is that much of this is due to the Mexican government cracking down on migrants within Mexico at the behest of the Trump administration. This just means that the human rights abuses done in our name are out of sight and out of mind. This was also a Biden administration policy, though it seems pushed less aggressively.
The border fence doesn't stop people. It just directs them into the hands of cartels. Getting over or through the fence is fairly trivial.

2025-04-27 15:57:59 GMT

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What's funny to me is that they seem like they should be such classy birds, but around here you see them eating out of dumpsters all the time.

2025-04-26 20:04:11 GMT

You might be a nature nerd if:
You go to the Grand Lake Farmers Market in Oakland and find yourself watching the night herons roosting in the trees instead of all the humans' goings-on.

2025-04-23 03:10:35 GMT

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Okay then, find their offices and then publicize this fact to the individual investors. Most things Wall Street are out of my wheelhouse, but I'm sure there are lots of people intimately familiar with how all that works who could suggest targeted actions. This is probably more of a propaganda campaign than street protest, but bring it!

2025-04-23 03:00:04 GMT

I think that while the #TeslaTakedown protests should continue, where possible they should switch gears to target shareholders. I'm sure there are all kinds of funds holding Tesla stock without the knowledge of the people whose funds are invested.
Is this being done or talked about?

2025-04-21 22:58:52 GMT

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From the film I also learned that fleeing to another country was a heroic option to avoid having to cooperate with fascists, especially if you eloped with your kids' hot young nanny in the process.
Family musicals were different then I guess?
#SoundOfMusic

2025-04-21 22:48:31 GMT

As a child, I watched G-rated, family-friendly movies where Nazis were bad actually and people who refused to cooperate with them were heroes.
I think the grownups of that time were trying to teach the kids something.
#MakeNazisAfraidAgain
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2025-04-11 00:47:25 GMT

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Just after I posted this, I looked outside and a big fat Desert Spiny lizard (Sceloporus genus, probably S. magister) was sitting on the wall. I've got it eating dried mealworms from about 4 feet away, but hasn't taken any from my hand yet. These seem to be the easiest ones to tame.
This is the same species as Bill and Harriet, and about the same size as Bill, but it's not him.
#Lizard #Herps #Herpetology
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2025-04-11 00:13:32 GMT

This handsome critter showed up this morning for the first time since going into hibernation. I managed to lure it in with mealworms, which it eventually took from my hand.
Desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis
The Zebra Tailed lizard in the yard earlier ate a ton of worms that I tossed, but wouldn't come close.
Still no sign of Harriet and Bill, my porch lizard friends from last fall. I'm really hoping to hang out with them again before I have to go north for the summer. It's hot enough now that they should all be coming out of hibernation.
#Lizards #herps #Herpetology #HarrietTheLizard #Arizona #SonoranDesert
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2025-04-05 01:56:15 GMT

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The recklessness is mind-boggling.

2025-03-26 15:53:12 GMT

I really want to delete my FB account for all the reasons, but every time I do a quick scroll through that anaerobic pit of pooled misinformation, I see so much unchallenged nonsense being shared that I feel compelled to reply. Right now it's #Signal misinformation, which I feel particularly strong about correcting. Next week it'll be who knows what.
IDK, maybe it's better to leave it to fester and die and spend my efforts elsewhere.

2025-03-23 23:31:39 GMT

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The diagram shows head height on me, so about 5'8", but "high" is relative. Overhead also seems like enough distance for a soap bottle to hurt if knocked off and hit a toe.

2025-03-23 23:23:27 GMT

Shower shelf poll. I'm installing a shower. The shelves it comes with are anchored by drilling through the surround and into the wall behind, so are effectively permanent. Preferred height for you:

2025-03-22 19:50:18 GMT

I see the pornbots have arrived.

2025-03-18 03:28:42 GMT

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Even without that, how long is it going to be before the rest of the world actually trusts us? And if Canada starts feeling a legitimate need to fortify their border and exclude Americans, we will have effectively walled ourselves in forever.

2025-03-18 03:05:32 GMT

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It pisses me off that I probably won't live to see the other side of it. Already this will take generations to undo, and those stupid monsters have only been in power less than two months.

2025-03-17 22:00:51 GMT

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As a young person in the 1980s who had a Volkswagen that I got for $200, I knew the "Hitler's revenge" joke and lived it. I brought a giant toolbox, the idiot's guide and official manuals, and a giant box of spare parts everywhere I went because they constantly broke down and required repairs. They were total pieces of shit. On the other hand, I once had to rebuild a carburetor on the middle of a dirt road way out in the middle of nowhere and it was no big deal. Easy to work on, sure, but you *had* to constantly work on them.
So, yeah, I do think a lot of of us were aware that they were developed in Nazi Germany, but this had absolutely zero ideological significance to us in the 1980s and probably none likewise to those in the 1960s. And, buying a new or used Volkswagen in either the '60s or the '80s was not supporting a rising fascist power.