In which I articulate the case that AGI is impossible and machines just plain cannot think. www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/on-inco...

... and isn't there some link to be made - more elegantly than I'm going to make it - about the reduction of meaning to legibility that helps to open the space for the devoid? (yes, I'll put another dollar in the Seeing Like A State swearjar)

This is very, very good, and exceptionally unsettling. My favorite sort of cultural criticism (being that which is also art criticism). The spaces described are both unheimlich/uncanny and BLEAK AS FUCK, which is (I think) central to the argument, & also utterly grim as sociocultural commentary.

‘Incent’ is not a verb. You cannot ‘incent’ anything. Nor can you give someone ‘incents’, like you’re handing out indulgences. If you wish to drive people to do something, you can damn well incentivize them via providing incentives. please stop business-idiot speak from infiltrating your language

I'll be beating this drum constantly between now and April: Zohran must play nice with the governor to advance his agenda. But our task, at the grassroots, is to use Hochul's fear of losing re-election to push her incessantly and publicly. Well done on climate, Third Act 👏

that man is three years younger than me. he is the age of my kid brother. this is me currently christ, man. moisturize

Oh, I like this. Going to dig in this afternoon.

the path forward is clear: we must elect pro-transit mayors in an unbroken string of municipalities from NYC to Seattle, and finally get that high-speed rail line built. forget the feds, forget the states even

I keep trying to find the right Poast that encompasses both Stephen King's CHRISTINE and @thewaroncars.bsky.social so far I have failed and thus I release this idea into the wild

Now, rah and I don’t ALWAYS agree on theater but … Buying tickets for Viv and me NOW. If this is even close to true I am so excited.

'are air travel disturbances due to the shutdown and Trump admin understaffing of ATC a reason to travel to NYC for Christmas by train from Albuquerque', a thought I have had this afternoon

I also have never been this excited about city government. 😍

I cannot stress that the work that people have been doing for years in the southeast is paying off and needs to be celebrated.

To invoke Mario Cuomo - but NOT SAY HIS NAME. Because he had already told us he was done saying the name of his defeated opponent. I shrieked.

TURN THE VOLUME UP

God, he's so fucking good at this. The gentle strength of 'you can breathe this in'. The grace he is offering us. And the damnatio memoriae beforehand! And EUGENE DEBS.

MAMDANI CAME OUT TO JA RULE "NEW YORK" AND IMMEDIATELY QUOTED EUGENE DEBS

magnificent

Another note of thanks to @lindseyboylan.bsky.social who courageously spoke out against Cuomo from the beginning, through the primary, and all the way through today. A truly great New Yorker.

Hizzoner the Mayor, Mr. Zohran K. Mamdami. (okay I can breathe now.) (also I think he's going to get back up solidly over 50%, look at the neighborhood breakdown of what's left to come in!) holy shit we did it.

I AM SO HAPPY 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

(I watched this this morning and had a new experience: finding myself moved to tears while blowdrying my goddamn hair.) (I'm sorry, today is just going to be NYC-posting all day, forgive me.)

This is amazing work. Thank you so much for making it and for making it accessible to everyone. (I love maps, I love GIS data, this is SO COOL)

Today is only the beginning. Our time has come, New York. Our time is now.

Zohran picked 「卓蘭」("excellent orchid") for his first name and「夸梅」("brilliant plum") for his middle name. The orchid and the plum are among "The Four Noble Ones" in traditional Chinese art, the former symbolizing an indifference to fame and fortune, the latter an indomitable, incorruptible spirit.

I am genuinely, hugely sad that I am not going to be in NYC for the election tomorrow. weirdest FOMO ever, I swear probably gonna do phonebanking about it but goddamn I want to be in company with other New Yorkers

YES YOU SHOULD VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS TOMORROW EVEN IF MAMDANI IS NOT ON THE BALLOT WHERE YOU LIVE

The Hasidic Jewish Community Council of Williamsburg is endorsing @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social !!! Tell me again about the antisemitism hysteria, centrist mainstream US rabbis, tell me. Via Rabbi @abbystein.bsky.social

I am going to have to get this amazing manicure replaced this week (you can tell my nails are super grown out!) but: For three weeks I have had Russian Suprematism paintings reproduced in perfect miniature on my fingers and it has made me so happy. (I got these done at Vanity Projects in NYC!)

@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in the club last nite: Papi Juice, how we doin'? How we doin' Papi Juice? I just want to say such a deep thank you to Papi Juice for creating a space for queer and trans New Yorkers. In a city where so much is about struggle, it's so important to have a space for joy.

4.8 GW of grid flexibility from batteries and virtual power plants! $1.5 to modernize and expand public transit! Fantastic news out of Illinois!

They are fucking incredible.

my god. what a series. I feel so bad for Toronto.

That was the greatest baseball game I’ve ever seen.

A wild-eyed Christopher Lloyd explaining that the only way to close the inter-dimensional wormhole from the Cubs winning the World Series is to play another World Series in the "null hour" when clocks are turned back.

Yamamoto (who started and threw 90+ pitches last night) is pitching. bottom of the 9th, 4-4. I couldn't write narrative this good, and I'm /good/, okay?

BASEBALL! (these aren't even my TEAMS, this is just great, great baseball, oh my GOD, I am so stressed)

God I love baseball. this is what it's all about

I just read this poem, and it is somehow both how I feel about baseball and how I feel about NYC right this minute, at once, and also I rarely instantaneously love a poem, but I did this one. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Phonebanking: still terrible as an experience. still 100% worth it! New Yorkers: voting for Zohran, with enthusiasm (shoutout to the lady who chatted with me about her nephew convincing her to vote for Mamdani <3) best surprise: my sister-in-law? was on the phonebank too! (we did NOT coordinate).

For New Yorkers who work the night shift, it can be nearly impossible to participate in political life of our city. So tonight we’re bringing this campaign to them — starting with taxi drivers waiting at LaGuardia.

Three hours of phonebanking for Mamdani! Mostly delightful, lots of people happy and excited to vote for Zohran. I hate phonebanking! I still hate phonebanking! I’d rather be on doors! But I have signed up for more on the weekend, since I’m out here in NM and … all gas no brakes, basically.

Mamdani led Emerson's poll in September by 15%. Emerson just teased their poll to be fully released tomorrow as follows:

do you like ebooks do you like ebooks about haunted architecture did you ever wish THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE was more ... SFnal? just in time for the height of spooky season, my ROSE/HOUSE is on sale for only $2.99 at all ebook retailers! until November 2nd! us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

back from the isles of Massachusetts with a couple of pounds of seashells to turn into jewelry, it's the return of Bleeding Hart Studio! Shop is up and active. Check out Venetian glass, crystal teardrops, sea-glass pebbles, and iridescent sparkle. www.etsy.com/shop/Bleedin...

And here is a tiny bit of the result of putting Hochul on stage to hear the crowd shouting ‘tax the rich’. Correlation is not causation, of course, but I like the narrative.

It’s quite impressive how Mamdani has pulled almost every Dem into his coalition, not him into theirs. He keeps the door open for everyone but true enemies (Adams, Cuomo) & rather than try to extort a Hochul into a promise, he just puts her onstage & lets the popular will confront her. Amazing.

Leaving the island after Viable Paradise for the second time in my life. Such an unbelievable, lovely thing to get to come back as faculty, twelve years later. #vp2025 students: you were absolute magic to teach. Thank you and can’t wait to read what you write next.

ICE will not have fun in New York City. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/ice-vs-nyc