Chris Dwan (he/him)
@somershade.bsky.social
📤 2084
📥 216
📝 4627
Hyper local in Somerville, MA. FOIA requests & long threads live-tweeting city meetings. Also @fdmts
pinned post!
The most important thing to remember about Somerville social media is that most of Somerville is not on Somerville social media.
about 2 years ago
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Bridge opens when? *I can read the signs, thanks … I’ve just been waiting for this for a long time.
about 24 hours ago
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The american flag bandana worn to conceal the agent's face is just ... peak shittiness. They could at least be made to wear uniforms instead of dressing like the villains in an old western movie.
www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/s...
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Somervillian here legally stayed to talk with Ice and was taken anyway, state and local officials say (updated) - Cambridge Day
A federal agent is heard on video saying a man “fit exactly the description of the problem we’re here to address” before taking him away. A protest is planned for Saturday night at the hotel where age...
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/somervillian-here-legally-stayed-to-talk-with-ice-and-was-taken-anyway-state-and-local-officials-say/
1 day ago
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reposted by
Chris Dwan (he/him)
Mike Connolly
1 day ago
For the past 53 hours we have been trying to identify the man who was racially-profiled and abducted by ICE agents in East Somerville this past Saturday — his family and co-workers have now come forward to identify him as Magdaleno Pineda Avelar. More here:
www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/s...
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Somervillian here legally stayed to talk with Ice and was taken anyway, state and local officials say (updated) - Cambridge Day
A federal agent is heard on video saying a man “fit exactly the description of the problem we’re here to address” before taking him away. A protest is planned for Saturday night at the hotel where age...
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/somervillian-here-legally-stayed-to-talk-with-ice-and-was-taken-anyway-state-and-local-officials-say/
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Six months ago, I wrote about how masked federal agents had snatched Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts graduate student, off the street less than a mile from where I live.
bsky.app/profile/some...
1/11
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
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reposted by
Chris Dwan (he/him)
Louis Römer
2 days ago
No need to pretend that this is about immigration anymore.
add a skeleton here at some point
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This is a fantastic metaphor. Billionaires (whether individual or corporate) distort and tear the fundamental structure of financial reality. The rules we learn in high school physics or economics aren’t going to work right when we’ve got singularities whistling through the lab.
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
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There is no meaningful difference between putting unnamed people on secret flights to undisclosed destinations and sinking boats full of unnamed people in international waters. This is state sponsored murder. Crime against humanity. Demand justice.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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ICE Is Deporting People to Africa on Nearly Un-Trackable Military Flights
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is deporting people to African countries like Ghana on military flights that are nearly un-trackable.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ice-deporting-africa-military-flights-1235431848/
2 days ago
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The "MA" in the TV/movie rating guide stands for "Massachusetts."
2 days ago
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Biking to the north shore for a lobster roll and a beer is one of my favorite fair weather activities. Hello from the Lobster Shanty in Salem.
2 days ago
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Copycats.
2 days ago
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Copycats.
2 days ago
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All the rumors are true.
2 days ago
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Trail when?
2 days ago
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I like my cash bribes taped neatly inside the lid of a delivery box from the original Buddy’s Pizza just south of Seven Mile Road in Detroit. If you want to get my attention, also include an eight square PBS. It’s the best.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
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reposted by
Chris Dwan (he/him)
Universal Hub
3 days ago
No peace for
#ICE
agents staying at
#MedfordMA
hotel
www.universalhub.com/2025/no-peac...
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It’s important to not forget that these fuckos ordering the kidnappings and the murders and so on are not some grand genius hand of history types … they’re just corrupt, petty little men who would sell their own mothers if the price was right.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
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Proud to have
@jtforward2.bsky.social
representing me on Somerville’s City Council.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
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reposted by
Chris Dwan (he/him)
Tintin and the Somerville Polyculeans
3 days ago
La migra just kidnapped an entire painting crew at the Dunkins on Broadway at McGrath in Somerville
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From the Somerville community on Reddit: Ice at Dunkin’ Donuts
Explore this post and more from the Somerville community
https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/1nlx6xn/ice_at_dunkin_donuts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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I’ve got a crisp $20 that says that the people demanding city councilors resign over Facebook posts would be first in line to complain about ‘cancel culture’ and to extol the virtues of the ‘freedoms on which this country was founded.’ Hypocrites, all.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...
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He Wrote a Biting Post About Charlie Kirk. The Fury Came Fast.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/us/florida-charlie-kirk-free-speech.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
3 days ago
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The Republican plan to withdraw lifesaving medicine from kids, poor people, black and brown people, trans people, women, and everybody else they hate is accelerating. And I still see people looking at the markets and waiting for the midterms.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
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I kind of want to commission a collection of short stories from the sci-fi community on the theme of ‘Do Not Build The Torment Nexus,’ but I don’t want to give the tech bros any more ideas.
4 days ago
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In today’s edition of ‘unclear on the concept …’
4 days ago
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I would just like to point out that I called the cat mayor thing two months ago.
#Crime
add a skeleton here at some point
5 days ago
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[Montell Jordan intensifies]
5 days ago
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It defies belief, even by the deformed and corrupt standards of this liars administration, to claim that the democrats, the liberals, and the left are responsible for the escalation of violent rhetoric that is now spilling over into assaults and assassinations. Just … wow. 1/?
5 days ago
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Co-worker 1: So, how about that election? Co-worker 2: Minerva. Me: Crime Both, nodding in unison: Crime
5 days ago
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Nice night to catch a game.
6 days ago
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Support
@cambridgeday.com
,
@horizonmass.bsky.social
,
@binjreports.bsky.social
and even, yes, the
@bostonglobe.com
. With money. Pay them money to do journalism. Amateurs on social media (like me) are useful seasoning and commentary, but real reporting is an entirely different animal.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 days ago
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I updated my phone and it is, once again, offering to do all -sorts- of spying on me. In these times of authoritarian crackdown, when the techbro oligarchs obey no law but cash … I really cannot overemphasize the importance of the basics of online privacy. Turn. That. Shit. Off. 1/?
6 days ago
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Look, I love all our local political reporters ... honestly anybody who comes across the river is good by me. But also I think maybe that more reporters covered our cat mayor election than our real one, and that's maybe an issue, right? Right?
www.instagram.com/reel/DOoPNic...
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Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOoPNicgE7f/
7 days ago
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reposted by
Chris Dwan (he/him)
Cambridge Day
7 days ago
Unofficial results in Somerville suggest mayor Katjana Ballantyne has been outvoted by her two challengers in a preliminary election – and the November race may well be among two councilors.
#Somerville
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@jake4somerville.bsky.social
and
@willieburnleyjr.bsky.social
advance to the finals. Ballantyne is out.
@wilfredmbah.bsky.social
with a solid lead for at-large. Thomas, Iaccarno, Klekota, and Spicer are out. Nobody knew how that was going to turn out, folks. Don't let anybody tell you they did.
7 days ago
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Personally I love this, perhaps the last bastion of "look, you have to wait until we count the votes!"
add a skeleton here at some point
7 days ago
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Is anybody going to point a webcam at the air gapped vote counting computer tonight and if so what's the link?
7 days ago
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Whatever happens, it’s going to be nice to have some real numbers on this election.
7 days ago
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“Getting the rents under control is a good idea and sorely needed … but the city has yet to implement the registries of rental and vacant properties that we already require by ordinance, so enforcement seems like a distant hope.”
medium.com/@fdmts/an-od...
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An odd sort of city council meeting
The City Council met behind locked doors last Thursday night.
https://medium.com/@fdmts/an-odd-sort-of-city-council-meeting-76a6b4f16f7b
7 days ago
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“The core problem is that there are too many important things going on in the city to adequately address them all. Even a summary list of the top issues is enough to leave a person out of breath.”
medium.com/@fdmts/a-qui...
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A quick coat of paint
Mayor Ballantyne presented her budget proposal for the coming fiscal year (FY25) to the City Council last Thursday. I’ve been paying…
https://medium.com/@fdmts/a-quick-coat-of-paint-06a9813b3210
7 days ago
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“Watching the government bicker and spar with itself was awkward. It was like watching your date’s parents fight over a dinner that you didn’t want to be at anyway … in retrospect I have to remember that the net result was the same as if the council had done nothing.”
medium.com/@fdmts/somer...
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Somerville’s FY25 Budget
I’ve been writing about the city budget for at least five years now. Even with that context, the eight hours of budget meetings I sat…
https://medium.com/@fdmts/somervilles-fy25-budget-b1e9abdb44e5
7 days ago
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“We need leadership who will tell us the trade-offs … We need an administration who will own delays and slipped deadlines for what they are rather than letting the council take the heat while adjusting the goalposts.”
medium.com/@fdmts/our-c...
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Our Civic Backlog
A casual observer of Somerville politics, dropping in on a meeting or two, might get the impression that the city is overcommitted. It’s…
https://medium.com/@fdmts/our-civic-backlog-32319c9f3b54
7 days ago
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The stein holding competition at Aeronaut this evening was unexpectedly awesome. The winner went more than seven minutes. I'm proud of my three and a half.
8 days ago
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I feel my hatred grow all the more extreme Can this light really be as bad as it seems TERRIBLE LIGHT TERRIBLE LIGHT
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8 days ago
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The garden is slowing down, but still producing.
8 days ago
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Here's a brief post sharing my picks in tomorrow's preliminary election. In case you don't feel like reading all those words, I recommend Jake Wilson for Mayor, and Will Mbah, Holly Simione, and Marianne Walles for at-large.
medium.com/@fdmts/somer...
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Somerville Elections: 2025
I have found it hard to decide how to vote this year, and doubly hard to make any public endorsements. Times are weird. People are stressed…
https://medium.com/@fdmts/somerville-elections-2025-507726899f78
8 days ago
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CRIME
9 days ago
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Today’s bike ride starts at the delightful loop of fully separated bike lanes around Boston’s north end. 1/?
9 days ago
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Please remember that there are several nation states currently running well funded, technically advanced propaganda and psychological war efforts with the express goal of dividing and demoralizing the US. Get offline regularly. Go to a block party or a community garden. Talk to your neighbors.
add a skeleton here at some point
9 days ago
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I spent time today reading stuff by conservatives who say that Charlie Kirk’s assassination makes them feel afraid to speak up in public. I struggled to find a response … going through a slew of uncharitable responses that were honestly best left unsaid. And then I came to ‘welcome friends.’ 1/?
10 days ago
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I just noticed that the new wayfinding signs around Union Square include Somernova and Market Basket. Is it normal for the city to (in effect) advertise local businesses?
10 days ago
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The Gilman Square Arts and Music Festival is today, just down the hill from the High School, from noon to 5pm. It's always a fun scene and it's a beautiful day for it. C'mon out.
10 days ago
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I hesitate to say some things in my professional life for fear of seeming negative, uninformed, or ‘out of alignment’ but WOW is this accurate. We do what investors will pay for, and investors seem happy to pay for a whole lot of wildly impractical ideas that never wind up going anywhere.
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
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