Notices by Matt Blaze (mattblaze@federate.social)

Another apparent midair collision, this time between two GA planes at a small airfield in Arizona. One confirmed DOA so far.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-central-southern-az/tucson/one-confirmed-dead-in-plane-crash-wednesday-morning-at-southern-arizona-airport

Question for the people currently swarming me to tell me I’m a fascist apologist who’s not doing enough: I’m curious, other than yelling at me, what exactly are *you* doing? Like, what exactly is your role in this revolution you want me to drop what I’m doing to join? Just wondering.

Bumper sticker idea: "My other car is also not a Tesla".

The indiscriminate (and hastily reversed) layoffs at DoE is more evidence that the DOGE people don't actually know what various federal agencies that they're vandalizing actually *do*.

They likely thought "Department of Energy? Sounds like it funds solar power and other woke stuff. Slash it!" when actually they're the agency that makes and safeguards nuclear weapons.

More like the "Department of Lots of Energy Released Very Quickly".

Munich is the traditional venue for aggressive, angry speeches of this kind. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceve3wl21x1o

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (with Neighbors), NYC, 2017.

All the pixels, excluding taxes, resort fees, and tips, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/32609074081/

#photography

More madness. CISA "pausing" all election cybersecurity activity, including helping states and counties secure their election infrastructure. While there isn't a regular election for federal offices this year, the election infrastructure is still there, and states rely on CISA's expertise and coordination for securing it.

https://www.wired.com/story/cisa-election-security-freeze-memo/

Insofar as I know, "how to write a devastatingly withering resignation letter" is neither a topic taught in law school nor tested on the bar exam. These folks had to pick it up on their own.

Here's the latest SDNY prosecutor resignation in the Adams case.

@br00t4c @CStamp Clearly the setup for a major heist.

@kenwhite.bsky.social About fifteen years ago, I found myself unexpectedly chatting with Daniel Ellsberg. I was naturally blown away and intimidated - for about 30 seconds. But what came through was a sense that while he was certainly extraordinary, he was also *ordinary*. That anyone in similar circumstances could do what he did, if they felt it important to do so. Don't wait for an Ellsberg, *be* an Ellsberg. That's what I walked away with. Quite a gift.

@kims @heidilifeldman That letter takes no prisoners.

@kims A couple decades ago, I found an attack against master-keyed mechanical locks, my publication of which made locksmiths very angry. I got death threats, which was equal parts scary and hilarious.

A few months later, I attended, with some trepidation, a locksmithing convention at the Vegas convention center. I wrote up the experience, provisionally entitled “Fear and Locksmithing in Las Vegas”.

Sensibly, I promptly changed the title before showing it to anyone.

Ended up taking about blue boxes in my surveillance class today, and
explaining that “long distance” calls cost extra was met with incredulous stares by many of the students.

I am, as I understand it, very old.

Seeing a uptick in trollish replies from accounts created within the last 24 hours with auto-generated account names (hexadecimal), with no posting history except a single reply.

Seems that the botnets have discovered the fediverse in earnest.

@jeffjarvis As an academic who deals with students and colleagues from a wide range of cultures, faiths, and background, I've found Google Calendar's (previous) inclusion of such a wide range of events, holidays, and observances to be invaluable. Among other things, it allowed me to be more careful about avoiding conflicts I wouldn't otherwise know about when scheduling events and meetings.

Of course, making it harder to be respectful of other cultures seems to be the main goal here.

Captured with the Rodenstock 23mm/5.6 HR-Digaron lens and the Phase One IQ4-150 XT camera. The 23mm Digaron is a sharp wide lens, but doesn't really have a large enough image circle to support extensive movements (which weren't required here). Captured from the balcony on the south side of the station.

The Moynihan Train Hall is a recently-opened annex (repurposed from the Post Office) to the otherwise dungeon-like remnants of the old Penn Station, buried under Madison Square Garden since 1963.

Many of the design elements of the new hall pay deliberate homage to the original, befittingly grand, Penn Station, including especially the prominently exposed steel beams.

There are no seats in the main hall, though there are smaller ticketed waiting areas to the side, as well as a substantial food court. The lack of a "big board" is deliberate, to discourage crowding in any particular area (there is instead a collection of smaller train status monitors spread throughout the hall).

@kims Maybe different years?

Moynihan Train Hall, Pennsylvania Station, NYC, 2021.

All of the pixels, none of the delays, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51205135362

#photography

Evidently unpopular opinion: I think it’s useful to understand basic things about the structure of government, the framework under which laws and executive orders operate, and how those things affect us as citizens. I also don’t think that explaining those things makes someone a fascist or a Quisling.

But you do you.