Steven Bodzin bike & subscribe / is on Nostr

Discontent creator. Big fan of living things.

Award-losing journalism is at Steven Bodzin (npub1kdn…9wah)

Photos: me, soda pop and ferns

My observations on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=steven-cyclist&verifiable=any
My Latin America/journalism/econ-finance account: https://journa.host/web/@guacamayan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenbodzin

Last Notes

2024-10-01 14:48:48

Run, don´t walk, to Pay Pal dot com and unclick the button that would "share" your purchases with everyone
https://www.404media.co/paypal-personalized-shopping-opt-out/
https://cdn.masto.host/thepitsocial/media_attachments/files/113/232/715/150/572/009/original/c2efd215e781b2b8.png

2024-09-17 08:41:11

I'm still thinking about how NYPD shot 4 people over a $2.90 fare jump.
Just the 9 bullets they shot cost almost as much as the fare that was stolen. Then the critical L line had to be closed for the investigation, costing subway riders countless hours of delay and unaccounted-for cost.
Everyone is expected to survive, but the bystander who was in critical condition? What will his life be like? Can he work again?
The cost, just in $ terms, will be in the millions.

2024-09-17 08:23:24

New York people: did you know abortion is on the ballot here? Vote YES on question 1!
https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/why-new-yorkers-should-vote-yes-on-proposition-1
From the link:
When we enshrine a right in the state constitution, we protect it from political attacks. In 2022, Lee Zeldin, a staunchly anti-abortion politician, came within six percentage points of becoming our governor... In fact, it was only in 2019 that New York finally removed abortion from the homicide code and began to regulate it under health law.

2024-09-10 11:16:09

So it turns out the "Sound of Freedom" guy is probably a rapist and at the very least has no sense of sexual boundaries.
This article is full of heinous details of how he has, almost certainly, abused power. Whether it rises to a legally sanctionable act is up in the air, but this is a lot of credible accusations (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/us/tim-ballard-sound-of-freedom-sex-trafficking.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Jk4.LetW.V50NIv5x2mR_&smid=url-share
Also, the Sound of Freedom movie would have been so much better if it had included this aspect of the "hero."

2024-08-26 10:57:41

- reply

to be fair this is something that's been endemic in Mass. for many years
The real problem is the mosquitos. Why are there so many mosquitos there? It's swampy, sure. But I just spent the weekend in swampy woods and there were almost no mosquitos. I don't know why but I suspect it was because it's a wilderness where no one ever sprays pesticides, so there are lots of frogs and trout, which devour mosquito larvae.
The cure for EEE (spraying all the suburbs) probably makes it worse.

2024-08-09 22:56:03

- reply

it's such a tricky topic, right? The US by its size and economic power has outsized responsibility for many things in the world. But it's important to recognize that people in other countries also have desires and agency. If the US really cared about corruption or the rule of law, it would have stronger identity control, make it harder to form shell companies, and require reporting of ultimate beneficial owners for all real estate and bank accounts. Nagahapn

2024-08-09 22:21:01

Please repost this repeatedly, I'm desperate for a slug of dopamine and nothing is working

2024-08-08 12:03:55

- reply

"freak accident." No one could ever have predicted that carrying a gun for no reason could result in an inadvertent shooting.
The term is not accident. It's FAFO.

2024-08-01 11:39:58

- reply

i understand that. It's possible to call them out without repeating them. Otherwise you are pouring gasoline on the fire along with the water. It's just how people's brains work. Repetition causes belief even when the statement is obviously false.
https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00301-5

2024-08-01 07:27:24

- reply

you don't actually need to repeat lies. The human brain will believe anything it hears repeatedly, no matter whether you call it racist or not.

2024-06-19 16:37:08

- reply

conversely, a relationship is when speakers of the same language don't understand a word the others say

2024-06-05 19:08:38

- reply

the thing is, it's not even smart politics! Does she think she or the Dems running for Congress are going to pick up votes upstate because of this? How many? They would get SO MUCH MORE by doing the thing. People admire a real leader who does something good. Instead she caves to the status quo and leaves people hungry for "someone with balls." Which leaves them even more likely to vote Trump.

2024-06-05 18:52:31

I really can't explain the amount of pain and upset I feel about NYC congestion pricing being canceled just 3 weeks before it was to take effect. 25 years of effort, culminating in the biggest environmental review process possible (examining impacts as far away as Philadelphia). We all know this is going to be a popular program once it takes effect. But out of fear of GOP bullying, Gov. Hochul is stopping it. I don't even know what to say about it. So bad.

2024-05-17 11:08:10

- reply

and then there's Punotia lagopus. I took this photo from a bus driving by https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20185839 but there are better shots out there. It just looks like a pale boulder. Only 20 observations on iNaturalist, probably because nobody realizes they are looking at a plant.
https://cdn.masto.host/thepitsocial/media_attachments/files/112/456/105/658/404/667/original/57ab2e7af26df235.png

2024-05-01 11:55:27

Any time NYC says it can't afford this or that, I will be pulling out a photo of this vehicle.
https://cdn.masto.host/thepitsocial/media_attachments/files/112/365/692/088/376/509/original/e86e1635ff61a33c.png