Toots for jrefior@hachyderm.io account

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-29 at 21:26

Good graffiti, seen today in Waltham, Massachusetts.

—

[#]WalthamMA #massachusetts #graffiti #america

=> View attached media

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-28 at 21:40

"According to a report from The New York Times, the second-largest fossil fuel company in the country is teaming up with an investment firm to build natural gas power plants designed specifically to power data centers—just in time for the entire market to rethink whether we actually need to burn all these resources on AI models.

"Per the Times, Chevron is already ordering equipment and pursuing potential locations for these power plants, which the company believes it can get up and operational in just three years. The plan, according to Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, is to 'meet the moment and address this growing need for reliable and affordable power.'"

https://gizmodo.com/chevron-is-ready-to-burn-gas-to-power-ai-2000556000

—

[#]climate #AI #energy #chevron #FossilFuels

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-27 at 15:49

nVidia stock is down more than 12% today on news of the Chinese DeepSeek LLM chatbot

=> View attached media

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-25 at 03:21

I'd like to see a constitutional law professor do a thread on all the nasty things an American can say (or otherwise express) about the president that are protected as political speech per prior #SCOTUS jurisprudence.

—

[#]lawfedi #FirstAmendment #PoliticalSpeech

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-23 at 22:51

"Much like secondhand smoke, driving a gigantic vehicle endangers those who never consented to the danger they face walking, biking, or sitting inside smaller cars. Although not widely known, car bloat’s harms are well-documented. Heavier vehicles can pulverize modest-sized ones, and tall front ends obscure a driver’s vision, putting pedestrians and cyclists at particular risk. Deaths among both groups recently hit 40-year highs in the US. The threat of hulking vehicles could even deter people from riding a bike or taking a stroll, a loss of public space akin to avoiding places shrouded in tobacco smoke."

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/391733/gigantic-suvs-are-a-public-health-threat-why-dont-we-treat-them-like-one

by @davidzipper

—

[#]SUV #EmotionalSupportVehicle #SpendingTenGrandMoreToHurtYourCommunity

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-20 at 16:53

My favorite #MLK speech is the "Mountaintop" address he gave in support of Memphis sanitation workers the day before he was killed (youtube audio below):

"When we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school: be there."

The sanitation workers were on strike for better wages and conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixfwGLxRJU8

—

[#]MLKDay #King

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-19 at 14:26

So can the US ban Meta, Xitter, Truth Social, Gab, Parler, etc. now?

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2025-01-04 at 04:56

"U.S. President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel on Friday, citing national security concerns..

"U.S. Steel once controlled most of the country's steel output but is now the third-largest U.S. steelmaker and 24th biggest worldwide.

"The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States spent months reviewing the deal for national security risks but referred the decision to Biden in December, after failing to reach consensus."

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/biden-reveal-decision-us-steel-acquisition-early-friday-cbs-news-reports-2025-01-03/

—

[#]politics #biden #ussteel #steel

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-12-08 at 01:10

Really incredible what just happened in #Romania. A Russian asset no one's heard of goes from polling under 1% to winning the first round of the presidential election three weeks later with 23%, thanks to a campaign by Russia. Much of which occurred on #TikTok. And, unlike what we did in the US in 2016 and this year, Romania threw out the results of the election. It's surreal, and a wild lens through which to view US politics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZpc6A2gvU

—

[#]Russia #NATO #SocialMedia

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-12-02 at 20:49

“The fact that chemicals have multigenerational effects is the most compelling example why. If a chemical is introduced, and then pulled from the market later—it’s too late: that cycle of heritability has already begun. No one wants their grandchildren to be destined for illness, a generation before they are even conceived.”

—Andrea Gore, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Texas at Austin, who runs a laboratory studying the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-12-02 at 20:36

Please avoid/minimize the perfume/cologne. And if you use a dryer that vents to the outdoors, please use unscented laundry detergent.

"Scientists have linked a group of chemicals used in fragrances to numerous adverse health outcomes, including insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease."

https://wapo.st/4fRlPwh

—

[#]odor #pollution #fragrance #perfume #cologne #GiftArticle

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-27 at 01:15

There's an annual ceremony at Gettysburg, where new citizens are sworn in, and then Lincoln's speech is read.

"Sixteen people from eight countries—Bhutan, Britain, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Mexico and South Africa—stood as one.

"They raised their right hands. They renounced fidelity to any other 'foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty.' They vowed to defend the Constitution."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/us/gettysburg-address.html?smid=em-share

—

[#]ushistory #history #gettysburg #lincoln #presidential

=> View attached media

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-22 at 22:40

Wait, I just remembered you do a domain block from a user's account.

Hopefully this will work. Sorry for not remembering until after my prior post.

=> View attached media

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-22 at 22:34

How do you block posts from Bluesky accounts?

I tried creating a keyword filter to replace with a warning, but I've never seen it work. Instead my Home list has bluesky posts to tags I follow that are somehow dated June 2020.

Any tips for me?

—

[#]mastodon #hachyderm #bluesky

=> View attached media | View attached media

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-17 at 21:21

Ranked choice elections appear to be working in Maine:

"Democratic Rep. Jared Golden won reelection to Congress through Maine’s ranked choice system on Friday.

"It’s the third time in four elections in the hotly contested district that Golden won after votes were retabulated because first choices failed to produce a majority for any candidate.

"This time it was Republican challenger Austin Theriault who came out behind."

https://apnews.com/article/maine-house-congress-golden-theriault-bb072ca55aaab2ebae3fb8b6339cb545

—

[#]Maine #elections #RankedChoice #FPTP

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-17 at 16:10

100+ white men marched in Boston yesterday to take away women's rights. They were mocked by some "counter-protesters" dressed as clowns. Police had a heavy presence and made some arrests.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/11/16/mens-march-clowns-abortion-protests

Massachusetts has a population of 7 million: ~79% white, ~49% male.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MA/PST045223

Harris won in MA ~61-37 with over 2 million votes.

https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/massachusetts/?r=0

100/7000000 = 0.000014

—

[#]boston #massachusetts #small

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-15 at 15:12

And a bit of a tangent, but I wish people would take more notice of two truly fantastic, very high ranking #DOJ officials Biden appointed to work with Garland:

Vanita Gupta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanita_Gupta

Kristen Clarke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristen_Clarke

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-15 at 15:03

That said, Garland is not a radical, and he's not willing to break the law, violate legal ethics, or take action that might severely harm the DOJ, the rule of law, or the country. A lot of Dems want someone who would push beyond those boundaries and take huge risks to do what they think should be done.

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-15 at 15:00

As someone who lived in DC, studied the law, interned at a prosecutor's office, interned at the DOJ, got a JD, passed the bar, is licensed to practice law, and followed the news, I'm ~90+% sure (Democrat) Merrick Garland did everything he could to hold Trump accountable within the confines of the law, the evidence, legal ethics, the role of the AG, the budgets and restrictions from Congress, and a Trump-allied SCOTUS.

So it's frustrating to repeatedly see other Dems blame him year after year.

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

Written by John Refior on 2024-11-14 at 02:53

I see a lot of posts about the bad guy's picks for various positions. And I guess I'm wondering: is there still a point in talking about what he's doing? We can all be shocked and outraged and express it to each other. But we all knew from the moment he won that the US government was going to be sick, twisted, corrupt, and evil for the next four years. Our posts won't change what he does.

There's a lot to process and discuss. But is what he's doing high on the list?

=> More informations about this toot | View the thread

=> This profile with reblog | Go to jrefior@hachyderm.io account