Downtown Boston be like ‘No Mr Dwan, we expect you to die.’

I looked through my notes this morning, and I have been on Eversource to fix their crappy infrastructure on my street since at -least- 2020. They never did anything, and the mature tree in the picture eventually weakened enough from the scorch damage that it became unsafe and had to be removed.

Jeffrey Epstein was a symptom. Yes, his name should be reviled, his legacy made dust, his johns and enablers prosecuted for their crimes … but let’s not fool ourselves that that will fix the problem. We need to address the root causes that let him operate with impunity for -decades-. 1/?

Well folks, it's a chilly Thursday night, and I have braved snowdrifts, black ice, fogged glasses, and super irritated drivers to be LIVE AND IN THE CHAMBERS for tonight's meeting of the Somerville City Council. I say again, welcome new followers. somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai... 1/?

This morning I got a response from the state police saying that due to the "expansive" nature of my request, they are going to need until Feb 27 to provide a response. Nothing to do with the thread below, nor with the various emails I sent after writing the thread, I'm sure.

Re-posting this because I saw a headline today where some tech oligarch was bloviating about whether the chatbots are conscious or not. Wrong question. The correct question is ‘why do we need tech oligarchs?’

This article by a self defense teacher really resonated for me. Real self defense is so much more than taking off hands. It requires the ability to leave a bad situation, which requires that you have somewhere to go. Organize. Band together. This is the way. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...

I hope all you new followers like detailed threads about meetings of the Somerville, MA city council.

Tech people have a pattern where they stumble up to basically any area of human endeavor and underestimate / misunderstand what is being done so wildly that they immediately start yapping about how whatever new shiny they are trying to sell can totally replace the whole discipline or industry. 1/?

Another day, another protest at the Burlington ICE field headquarters. 1/?

At the protests in Boston on Jan 10, a state police helicopter hovered low enough over the crowd that it was hard to hear the speakers. None of the usual news helicopters were overhead. I filed a public records request with @massstatepolice.bsky.social asking why. bsky.app/profile/some... 1/?

It's Wednesday, ICE took somebody in Somerville just yesterday, and no matter how much bad shit comes out they just keep doubling down - so off to Burlington I go, to join @bearingwitnessice.bsky.social outside the ICE field headquarters for a couple hours this morning. bsky.app/profile/some...

My public comment at today's budget hearing are below, lightly edited. I didn't mention a lot of important stuff because there wasn't time (2 minutes is -so- short) and others were going to do a better job of it anyway. 1/?

I'm listening to the budget hearing and I just can't get over how smart and articulate and generally wonderful and engaged the residents are. Wow. Y'all are great.

Tonight's meeting of the Finance Committee will be a public hearing on priorities for the upcoming budget season. The comments people have already submitted are attached to the agenda item, and they're a good read. somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai... 1/?

ICE is operating in East Somerville this morning and I'm hearing that at least one person has already been taken. If you see them, call LUCE: 617-370-5023

For real, @cambridgemass.bsky.social: There’s not even anybody parked in it. Bike lanes travel lanes. Do better.

A detailed thread on a horrible topic: ICE is scaling up as though it plans to detain hundreds of thousands of people for the long-term - potentially until they die. If the point was to quickly process and either deport or release people, they wouldn’t need warehouses. Concentration. Camps.

A friend put together this mashup of clips showing the resistance working, being effective, and growing in strength. I'm finding it encouraging, here on this chilly Monday night. Stay strong everybody. www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6TV...

I feel like Boston could stand to clear access to the pedestrian signal buttons - especially right next to the hospital.

Is this cop hut new, or did I just never notice it before?

I wrote up some of my thoughts on the idea of putting data centers in space. The short version? I think it's a scam. medium.com/@fdmts/data-...

In Beckert’s good, though long, “Capitalism, he writes about the 1720s Leveller rebellion in Scotland. They believed that things “ought not be done” if they violated “the greater Good of humane Society,” even if “there be no particular and express humane Law against it.” This post is about AI.

I’m pretty bummed about Cambridge and Somerville’s decision to just give up on the bike lanes on Beacon Street these past couple weeks. I feel like it’s a big step back. 1/?

“The right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury … and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation … to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel” www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202... 1/?

I got your AI value proposition right here.

That halftime show is what people mean when they say "joy is an act of resistance."

Bad Bunny is the best and we are going to win

The United States is like an old, beat up sofa. And Trump, Trump is like a blacklight pointed right at that old beat up sofa.

It’s the one year anniversary of Elon Musk’s weekend feeding USAID ‘into the wood chipper.’ Every headline about him and his companies should lead with the fact that he’s a racist responsible for millions of deaths and untold suffering worldwide. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...

Go, go tiny bike lane and sidewalk plow!

Real talk about driving in Boston: We’re not actually mean … just desperate and more than a little confused.

Safe to assume that the city will plow at some point here? Perhaps?

Massachusetts is not defenseless. Know your rights. Memorize them. Share them.   A message from my office, @markey.senate.gov, @massgovernor.bsky.social, @mayorwu.boston.gov, @pressley.house.gov, @whipkclark.bsky.social, @repmcgovern.bsky.social, and @trahan.house.gov.

This is the building I was protesting at on Wed. It’s behind the Burlington mall. It’s in our backyard, people.

Whoever dug out the fantastic snow cave at the Greek Orthodox Church, you rock.

/ THE WEATHER IS HAPPENING ABOLISH ICE 3" STICKER / SPEAKS 4 ITSELF / SELLING SLITELY BELOW COST OF STICKER/SHIPPING / BC IT IS A *RULE* THAT B4 PURCHASING / U *MUST* DONATE 2 www.lucemass.org/donate / THEN U MAY PURCHASE / merch.weatherishappening.com/product/abol... / ITS THE HONOR SYSTEM

As with most Saturdays, there's a protest downtown. C'mon out and support trans rights.

At the protest on Wed, I stood facing the ICE facility rather than the street, and to hold a sign that promised accountability and consequences for what the agents were doing. After a few minutes, a man with a beard, a bit of a southern drawl, and a similar sentiment on his sign joined me. 1/?

Boston did not clear snow from the bike lanes after the storm two weeks ago, so our community came together to do so. "We just want to get home safe and alive!" @bikeboston.bsky.social @streets.boston.gov @mayorwu.boston.gov @universalhub.com @wcvb5.bsky.social @mass.streetsblog.org

See also: Ordering military strikes on Venezuela over the menace of the drug trade while the Sackler family walks free. The call is coming from inside the house, y’all.

Good for these employees … but i think we can see the next low hanging fruit for layoffs from here. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...

This is a good mid-length read on how the financial industry is a big, big part of everything that’s wrong with the world today. In short: Why is it so hard to get money to start a business or build new homes? Because Wall Street are pigs at the goddamn trough. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...

At a coffee shop this morning, a man came to the counter with yesterday’s paper and asked ‘excuse me, my daughter was born yesterday, do you mind if I take this?’ I’ve come to associate the daily news with a nearly unsustainable level of psychic damage. It warmed my heart. Good morning.

Cryptocurrencies are no more an ‘industry’ than the lottery or your local March Madness pool. There is no intrunsic value anywhere in the stack, and when it goes to zero there won’t even be any assets to sell off to satisfy the bad debts. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/t...

Without reducing @karenho.bsky.social’s points about the WaPo newsroom staff or Epstein’s victims … it also feels this way for a lot of us in biotech right now as investors go fluttering off towards the AI candle or just up sticks to China because the US is too inconstant to be a good bet anymore.

I’m a bummed by the incomplete job of snow clearing that Cambridge and Somerville have done. Even larger through-ways are still constructed (Oxford is today’s example) side streets are f-ing tight, sight lines at corners are garbage, etc, etc. Are we planning to wait for it to melt, or what?

It's now been well over a week since Boston's snowstorm, most bike lanes are unusable because of the snow accumulation. Help clear snow from bike lanes that the City has failed to do: Friday Feb 6 @3pm at Comm Ave & Backcock street. @bikeboston.bsky.social RSVP Here: 🔗 bcu.bike/shovel

This is complete madness. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...