Train full of takes, approaching

@charleyonthemta

Former influencer. Principle of Charity. This isn’t a good venue for argumentation. Not the time for doomism. S—-lib, normie, v cringey. And you can believe me, because I never lie. And I’m always right.

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Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· 4d

The DSA types completely-at-sea at foreign policy have an ‘academic” pedigree! But it’s amazing how empty and superficial these cats are. eg Stephen Walt, Harvard, who blames (checks notes) US diplomats!! for Russia’s invasion. www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natoso...

Moreover, the Ukraine crisis did not begin with a bold Russian move or even a series of illegitimate Russian demands; it began when the United States and European Union tried to move Ukraine out of Russia’s orbit and into the West’s sphere of influence. That objective may be desirable in the abstract, but Moscow made it abundantly clear it would fight this process tooth and nail. U.S. leaders blithely ignored these warnings — which clearly stemmed from Russian insecurity rather than territorial greed — and not surprisingly they have been blindsided by Moscow’s reaction. The failure of U.S. diplomats to anticipate Putin’s heavy-handed response was an act of remarkable diplomatic incompetence, and one can only wonder why the individuals who helped produce this train wreck still have their jobs.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· 12d

Muscular Christianity is like an 1880 riff. Was developed at Oberlin and culminates in the song “YMCA” so you can see where all this is headed (again) www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/y...

Kat Eschner, Smithsonian Magazine
“This movement, which linked physical prowess with a strong faith and morality, “represented Protestant men’s response to changes throughout the nineteenth century,” writes scholar Irén Annus. These men were responding to a number of developments, she writes, such as “the growing public presence of women” in the temperance movement and the push to get women the vote, as well as the influx of immigrants who worked stereotypically masculine labor jobs while middle-class white Anglo-Saxon Protestants increasingly lifted pens.”

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· 15d

And bollards. Big ass rocks.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jul 15

No, I’m not exaggerating

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jul 10

And Katz was doing The. Same. Damn. Consulting. Thing. of paying himself first. You get paid for doing ads, not moving people. The terrible incentives for running a media-centric campaign, rather than a relational-organizing campaign, are the same, regardless of ideological flavor!

WSJ: "Tensions over strategy emerged quickly over how best to shore up Platner’s image, according to people familiar with the discussions. Though the money was tight, Katz pushed a six-figure ad campaign to be produced by his firm."

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jul 7

I mean, he wasn't wrong about voters. The question is whether as a consultant, you can just ignore ethics and character altogether -- the candidate's, your own, and the voters'.

WSJ: "Core to Moraff’s political philosophy is a belief that voters want outsiders to run for office and are willing to look past personal transgressions, as long as the candidate can connect with them. In Maine, Platner won more than 70% of the Democratic primary vote this month, becoming his party’s Senate nominee."

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jul 2

I hate global warming

Boston weather report, July 2, 2026: high of 101°F

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jun 29

The Barackopolis! It was cool and they were jealous.

“Barackopolis”, Greek-inspired (therefore Washingtonian) stage-set at 2008 Democratic Convention

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jun 19

Wait wut “Greenwater” Am I dreaming, badly

NYTimes quote:

In a public filing, the Park Service said that multiple firms had expressed interest in providing such a system. But in April, it gave the work directly to Greenwater Services, a company that federal records show had received only one other federal contract.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jun 1

Sure, but also, quite literally, this. I’m sure @dieworkwear.bsky.social would have a lot to say about this. Ossoff’s shirt is doing some good work for him

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· May 30

Too late, fireball

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· May 22

If she didn’t exist, Richard Florida would have to invent her

Aftab moved to the United States at the age of 19 in 2005[6] and earned a degree in music production and engineering at Boston's Berklee College of Music.[8] She moved to New York in 2010 and began working as an editor and scoring films.[7] Since her graduation in 2010,[9] Aftab has lived there, being part of the city's jazz and "new music" scene.[6][10]

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· May 21

The correct answer is: Blow up the one-dimensional view of political distinctions

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· May 16

Electricity is better-than-free in Northern New England.

Price map showing Alexa electricity prices throughout New England. -$33.87 in Maine. Seven cents in eastern Massachusetts.

Demand chart of electricity on the ISONE grid. Shows behind the meter solar providing nearly 7 GW of power at 11:30 AM on Saturday, May 16

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Apr 24

The right wing attacks on higher education are *literally* McCarthyism. And like last time, they will fail. “Of all things Truth beareth away the victory”

Harvard’s chapter had been mostly dormant since the 1950s, when Joseph McCarthy was calling the university “a mess” and demanding the firing of professors suspected of being Communists. Professors and the A.A.U.P. praised Harvard’s president at the time, Nathan Pusey, for refusing to take action against the faculty members. — New York Times

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Apr 21

This is from the "Topography of Terror" exhibit in Berlin, which recounts the rise of the Nazis and specifically the SS in civil society: "Persecution of "Asocial Elements" (see alt text if you can't read the placard)

The [Nazis] propagated the establishment of a
"Volk community" in which there was no place for "useless eaters" and "aliens to the community" ("Gemeinschaftsfremde").
They sought in this way to justify the exclusion of all those they defined as not belonging, whom they referred to variously as "pests harmful to the nation" ("Volksschädlinge"), asocial elements, or incapable of integration. These people were deemed inferior because they were apparent burdens on society: the "work shy," "vagabonds," and beggars were stamped as unproductive "ballast existences" and subjected to a wide range of coercive measures by the Criminal Investigation Police and the Gestapo, but also by municipal social welfare agencies.
The health departments and employment offices played an important role here, cooperating with the police and Gestapo, as did psychiatrists and doctors who submitted expert opinions.

Many of the people stigmatized as "pests harmful to the community" or "alien to the community" were forcibly sterilized. They were considered "genetically diseased" and their offspring a drain on the Nazi Volk community and the economy. The Criminal Investigation Police registered "professional criminals" and prostitutes, took them into "preventive custody," and sent them to concentration camps. Deviant behavior by young people could also get them committed to youth labor and detention camps for correction. Deviance was quite broadly defined, and could refer to an enthusiasm for jazz and swing, which the Nazis vilified as "Negro music."
The Gestapo and the Criminal Investigation Police cooperated in arresting "asocial elements." Mass arrests such as occurred during the 1938 "Reich Campaign Against the Work Shy" met with widespread approval among the German population. Some 80,000 individuals in all were committed to SS concentration camps as "asocial elements" or criminal preventive custody prisoners. Once there, many of them succumbed to "extermination by labor" or outright murder.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Apr 6

The moon’s an oval. They should get that checked out.

Photo of moon, looking like an oblong spheroid, from Artemis spacecraft

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Mar 28

Boston #nokings

Sign: “We don’t need this fascist groove thang”

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Mar 28

It’s 30°F around Boston. And energy is cheap, because of solar power.

Map of energy prices in ISO-NE, ranging from $24.50 in Maine to $25.58 in SE Massachusetts

Demand chart for ISO-NE, showing demand difference of ~5,000MW due to behind-the-meter solar

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Mar 21

Jerry it’s a LOCK

Kramer tells Jerry Seinfeld “It’s a lock”

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Mar 19

I have curated an entire list of Annoying Music* - not all of which is “bad” per se, but all Annoying. Noriega-worthy * (in memorial Jim Nayder of WBEZ, IYKYK)

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Mar 10

Good morning New England. Its a beautiful mild sunny day and your energy is *stoopid-cheap* because of behind-the-meter #solar:

Price map of energy in New England ISO-NE grid - between $8.07 in Maine to $8.46 in MA

ISO-NE chart showing that the grid’s energy demand at 9:45am today would be nearly 14k MW without behind-the-meter solar; is less than 10k with BTM solar

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Feb 28

And silently allowing air pollution protections to be shredded. “Environmental”‘protections are public health protections. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Findings

Globally, in 2016, PM2·5 was estimated to have caused 8·42 million (95% UI 6·50–10·52) attributable deaths, which was associated with 163·68 million (116·03–219·44) YLLs. In 2016, the global economic cost of deaths attributable to ambient PM2·5 pollution for the older population was US$2·40 trillion (1·89–2·93) accounting for 59% (59–60) of the cost for the total population ($4·09 trillion [3·19–5·05]). The economic cost per capita for the older population was $2739 (2160–3345) in 2016, which was 10 times that of the younger population (ie, those aged <60 years). By assessing the factors that contributed to economic costs, we found that increases in these factors changed the total economic cost by 77% for gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, 21% for population ageing, 16% for population growth, −41% for age-specific mortality, and −0·4% for PM2·5 exposure.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Feb 21

An actual painting of Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, Clarence Thomas and … two other chuds I can’t remember. The painting is at Crow’s Adirondack retreat. Thomas is shamelessly corrupt.

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jan 31

Anti-ICE protest in Boston yesterday. It was *very* cold. This was organized by the young socialist types. "Trump is just the symptom!" (Hm, I don't think that's right.) "CAPITALISM is the cause!" 🤔 It's hard for these folks to stay on topic. But as my friend said, "The speakers always suck."

Photo of people gathered at anti-ICE rally in front of Boston Public Library, 1/30/26

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jan 30

With alt text, sorry

AMC theater listings in Greater Boston, showing 3 showtimes per day. (These will be empty)

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jan 27

Ah man. I'm just sad that dear Bruno Ganz is better known for this than Wings of Desire. At least we get some gallows humor out of it.

Bruno Ganz as Damiel the Angel, on the shoulder of the Victory Column (Siegessäule) in Der Himmel Über Berlin (Wings of Desire)

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Jan 14

He is much closer to making 2001 A Space Odyssey reality

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Dec 26

Game on! #wethepeople

Train full of takes, approaching@charleyonthemta· Dec 18

Like this: “combative” Wouldn’t say this headline is laudatory, but it is sanewashing. I dunno, NYT speaks its own language and requires translation