james

@jamesweir

ann arbor mi | burlington vt | shanghai ch | aa again birds, tennis, native plants, more housing, china, news and law, etc. volunteer (board and bird walks) with washtenaw bird and natural alliance he/they/any www.jamesrichardweir.com

1,258 Following985 Followers1,247 Posts

Bluesky

Is this your profile?Claim it and jamesweir.dirty.social is yours.Claim profile

james@jamesweir· 27d

this wee cornus canadensis (creeping dogwood) is the eighth native dogwood species i have growing in my yard, and completes the set of all native dogwoods to MI. pictured with cornus rugosa (round-leaved dogwood)

a hand holding a small plastic container with a very small plant growing in the center. the background is green leafy dogwood tree

james@jamesweir· Jul 20

this is concerning—yesterday i was informed by a yousef rabhi canvasser that he had passed a law banning ICE from the county. looks like the taylor machine hired ICE consultants to line their pockets during art fair. shameless stuff #a2council

james@jamesweir· Jul 7

i mean look at these teeny acorns. a bradford pear could never

a close up picture of a small oak sapling, which (amazingly) is developing the smallest acorns imaginable among the green leaves

james@jamesweir· Apr 30

any #a2council folks want free native trees??? i am fostering a few hundred saplings from the county tree sale. i gave away about half today but still have lots of sycamore, chokecherry, a few paper birch, some michigan holly/winterberry. and a few kentucky coffee tree for the real heads

two large plastic bags full of bare-root tree saplings on a large mulch pile. a yellow bucket, wheelbarrow, and various gardening supplies are also on the mulch

james@jamesweir· Apr 13

i mean look at this mfer lol

a tennis player in a blue shirt with a surprisingly rigid hairdo

a lego toy person with brown hair, yellow features, and a blue tropics shirt

a lego toy person with brown hair, a beige sweater and green pants

james@jamesweir· Apr 10

what, you didn't want to go with "The Rake"?

A google translate screenshot showing the Chinese phrase 浪子風流 translated as "The Rake"

james@jamesweir· Apr 10

there is a very specific flavor to this cycle's #a2council challengers and i was amused to see that this ward 1 candidate does not know what neighborhoods are in ward 1 (also, the name water hill sucks, is an offensive erasure of the city's historically black neighborhood, and you shouldn't use it)

screenshot of a website lucasforward1.com/ward-finder.html that reads:

Lucas for ward 1

Ward 1 covers the northwestern part of Ann Arbor — including Kerrytown, Old Fourth Ward, and Water Hill. If you live there, you vote for Ward 1 City Council. That means you vote for me.

Not registered to vote yet? Register here →

james@jamesweir· Feb 10

remarkable that it only took ~2 years for the NYT to start victim shaming users of AI for their failure to identify the lies and inadvertent manipulations that are coded into the DNA of these applications. this technology is fundamentally incompatible with a society that values truth and nuance

screenshot of a new york times digital article headline that reads: Health advice from AI chargers is frequently wrong, study shows. In part, the problem has to do with how users are asking the question

james@jamesweir· Feb 3

lol #a2council

Screenshot of a Nextdoor comment that has been hidden for being “disrespectful.” The comment reads: Elizabeth I didn’t say he was uninformed, I said it was a disingenuous characterization of the facts (which I would also apply to your comment).

james@jamesweir· Feb 3

Great article, but it needs a correction: Rabhi says that the city ended free curbside leaf pickup, which is not true, and the article treats his statement as fact. This needs to be clarified for readers. www.a2gov.org/trash-recycl...

Screenshot of Ann Arbor city website: "Paper Yard Bags and Bundled Branches/Brush
Paper yard bags and bundled brush/tree limbs can be used for yard trimmings such as leaves, weeds and other vegetation. From April through Oct. 7, there is a 10 bag per-property limit, which expands to 20 for fall leaf season starting on Monday, Oct. 7. Each bag must weigh less than 50 pounds.

Branches, tree limbs and brush are collected at the curb but must be under 4' in length. Brush and branches must be tied together in a bundle with natural twine not exceeding 18" in diameter. Individual tree limbs must not exceed 6" in diameter.

Participating residents must place their compostable material at the curb before 7 a.m. on their weekly waste collection day — at least 3 feet away from curbside carts. Bags should not be placed in lanes of travel, either roads or bike lanes, instead using yard extensions or buffer zones as directed.  

Dumping yard trimmings/waste in parks or other public places is not allowed. Please make use of the drop-off facility mentioned below."

james@jamesweir· Feb 3

i also don't understand his gripe about this bc ann arbor does have a free curbside leaf collection program? he uses it as an example of how the city has stopped providing services that residents subsequently have to pay for... but i think it just isn't true?? www.a2gov.org/trash-recycl...

Excerpt from article: The money saved on consultant expenses could be re-invested to strengthen city services that reduce residents’ costs, Rabhi said. He noted that the city used to operate a free curbside leaf collection program on his street during fall, but it scrapped the program. Soon after, he received a flyer from a company offering to do it for the season for $75. The leaf collection program should not have been eliminated, he said.

“It’s things like that that take burdens off of people’s plates,” Rabhi said. “Government should give people opportunities to live a better life as a result of the community coming together collectively—that’s the power we want to harness.” "

james@jamesweir· Jan 21

if you read to the bottom of the article, you learn that Kim Pegula was expected to run things for a decade or two and then jess pegula and her husband, a rising executive at the energy company that made them billionaires, would take over. but he fired her husband and gave the equity to her sister

New York Times excerpt: When Terry and Kim Pegula bought the Bills, he declared the team was in Western New York to stay. He said he would bequeath the Bills and Sabres to his children someday. Given the disparity in their ages — he’s 73, and she’s 54 — the initial succession plan was for Kim to run the teams until their kids were ready to take over.

For years, Bills and Sabres executives assumed the teams would be stewarded into the next generation by Terry and Kim’s oldest child, tennis star Jessica Pegula, and her husband, Taylor Gahagen. Terry Pegula promoted Gahagen to director of corporate development and used to gush about his future within the organization.

Six days before Terry petitioned the court to appoint him Kim’s guardian, Jessica went public about her mother’s condition in a column written for The Players’ Tribune. In the column, Jessica revealed that Kim had gone into cardiac arrest in June 2022 and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Jessica disclosed that her mother suffered from “significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues.”

New York Times excerpt: Jessica also wrote about taking over as Bills and Sabres president once her playing career was over: “My mom always wanted me to be involved. She wanted me to learn and eventually do what she was doing.”

Within three months of the column, Gahagen was fired and Laura Pegula was given an equity stake in the Bills. No other member of the Pegula family has commented publicly about Kim’s condition.

Terry, who also serves as CEO and president of the Bills and Sabres, has neither granted an interview nor taken questions at a news conference since naming Kevyn Adams the Sabres’ general manager in June 2020. Terry hasn’t answered Bills-related questions since the March 2019 owners’ meetings.

james@jamesweir· Jan 4

i'll be screaming my way through 2026 apparently

screenshot of a Bluesky post by Jer Thorp that includes a GIF of quickly changing bird pictures, with text that reads:

"Screenshot this gif. The bird you end up with will be your guide for 2026."

My screenshot landed on a drab bird on a stick called "screaming piha"

james@jamesweir· Nov 8

my contribution to the oeuvre

"SPACEMAN SPIFF FOR MARS" election poster in the blue and yellow style of Zohran Mamdani

james@jamesweir· Sep 18

james@jamesweir· Aug 6

declined to post what i think would have been a really good bit on nextdoor because i'm in favor of a more productive discourse. and i really do mean it about better discourse. but to be clear i also believe in the bit. it would have been thermonuclear, and beautiful #a2council

screenshot of a draft nextdoor post with a really stupid joke that, honestly, you are better off not reading or hearing via screenreader

james@jamesweir· Aug 6

some (haters) would like a citation. so to be clear this is a meme

screenshot of a quote tweet. the original tweet says:

The haters said I couldn't do it. and they were right. honestly great call by the haters.

and the person quote tweeting responded by pointing out a parallel in 20th century french literature by saying:

Sisyphus watching the stone roll down the hill once again:

james@jamesweir· Aug 6

looks like a good chunk of those absentee votes are in, yes leading 58-42 or so 🤞🤞🤞

Screenshot of a Washtenaw County voting website that shows proposals A and B ahead with a roughly 58 to 42 percent lead. Final result uncertain

james@jamesweir· Aug 2

i mean look at this—you have to bike up a ramp to a tall elevated path, navigate a twisty bridge, take a shape 90 degree turn followed by an even sharper 180 degree turn, followed by the existing 90 degree turn under the argo tunnel. why!!!! when bike lanes exist!?! #a2council

overhead view of a map rending that shows an elevated bike and pedestrian walkway that twists and turns over the landscape

james@jamesweir· Jul 31

i know everyone who follows #a2council is sick of A and B, and i am sorry but this post from one of the dug-in LCG nextdoor warriors is notable. it is sending me into galaxies unknown. how do i survive in a future in which this doesn’t come to fruition

a screenshot of a nextdoor post. the post text is titled “preserving park land” and then the summary of the text ends. the image is a fever dream with strange buildings hovering over a plaza full of hallucinated people walking amongst strange other-worldly fountains and such. the actual reality of the location is a parking lot that has been a parking lot since the 1940s, and has no actual people on it basically ever.

james@jamesweir· Jul 29

most striking in this wild Library Green Conservancy proposal is to see their characterization of the AADL when they wanted something from AADL versus now, when LGC supporters are accusing its leadership of a fraud against the people without any evidence #a2council drive.google.com/file/d/15Qt5...

A slide from a powerpoint presentation that reads:
Potential Ann Arbor Public Library Engagement • The Ann Arbor Public Library is potentially a central player in the evolution of an Ann Arbor Commons. This is often the case in Commons-‐driven cities. • Public Libraries are arguably a Commons in their own right and in some ways a prototype for Commoning. • The current leadership of the Ann Arbor Public library is extremely well regarded and visionary. It could and should play a leading role in the Ann Arbor Commons.

james@jamesweir· Jul 26

enjoyed a lovely afternoon delivering lawn signs for @moreneighborsa2.org and as a bonus met some friendly neighbors in the process. sign the petition and get a sign to show support for building more housing in *all* ann arbor neighborhoods!!!! #a2council 🏘️🛖🏡🏰🏡🏢🏠🏯🏫 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

selfie over the shoulder of a bearded man with a helmet, sunglasses, and backpack. there is a stack of lawn signs attached to the backpack

james@jamesweir· Jun 3

i sent this classic meme to a colleague earlier today. and the government just... tweeted it out

a screenshot of a blusky post by Amy Ash, @lolennui.bsky.social, that reads:

(me making fun of your crop rotation idea and thereby holding our people back another 5000 years) jeff thinks the beans have to take turns lmao

Posted on: August 6, 2023, at 11:38 PM

james@jamesweir· Jun 3

incredible slices of bread on this Unintelligible Word Sandwich

Screenshot of a memo on white paper with black and white text that reads:

PLEASE WAKE UP - TIME TO BE WOKE!

If we lose our city now to the investment companies, we will never be able to restore its character!
Please fight back! Please run for city Council in 2026! It’s time to PRESERVE TREE CITY.There will be no second chance.

ChatGPT says that “new urbanism” is very difficult to do in a city that is already built.

james@jamesweir· May 16

can’t stop thinking about how anti-comp.-plan ann arborites have nothing to say about the new monstrosities across from dolph park. the ugly buildings are exactly what they claim the plan would do to ann arbor—except six people will live on this land instead of two dozen or more #a2council

two large single-family homes, under construction but mostly completed, are pictured across a marshy area in the foreground. the houses are extremely ugly and also extremely large, yet can only house a handful of people in a location across from a park and 50 yards from a major bus line

james@jamesweir· May 13

the important thing to take away slash clarify from this: is screenshot the past tense of screenshot or is it screenshotted or screenshat @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social @garbageday.email

this image is a screenshot of a mailing list email which reads:

Anyways, World’s big launch this month coincided with some fascinating advertising, beyond the weird coffee shop spot. They appear to have duped ardent anti-AI and anti-crypto comedian Adam Conover into promoting them. He has since deleted the post, which I figured he might, which is why I screenshot it.

after the mailing list commentary, there is an image of a tweet from adam conover that says: a tech company called @worldcoin paid me to go check out their new product. #ad #world #worldus @worldid

james@jamesweir· Apr 15

would be genuinely interesting to know the percentage of DOGE and trump admin staffers/cabinet members that have already committed obvious illegal acts that carry prison sentences www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...

screenshot of an article that reads: But according to an official whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers that was obtained by NPR, subsequent interviews with the whistleblower and records of internal communications, technical staff members were alarmed about what DOGE engineers did when they were granted access, particularly when those staffers noticed a spike in data leaving the agency. It's possible that the data included sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets — data that four labor law experts tell NPR should almost never leave the NLRB and that has nothing to do with making the government more efficient or cutting spending.
Meanwhile, according to the disclosure and records of internal communications, members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks behind them, turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access — evasive behavior that several cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR compared to what criminal or state-sponsored hackers might do.

screenshot of an article that reads: The new revelations about DOGE's activities at the labor agency come from a whistleblower in the IT department of the NLRB, who disclosed his concerns to Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in a detailed report that was then provided to NPR. Meanwhile, his attempts to raise concerns internally within the NLRB preceded someone "physically taping a threatening note" to his door that included sensitive personal information and overhead photos of him walking his dog that appeared to be taken with a drone, according to a cover letter attached to his disclosure filed by his attorney, Andrew Bakaj of the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid.

james@jamesweir· Mar 27

you simply love to see it lol

a screenshot of the spotify app showing the headline of an episode of the tennis podcast: Miami - Eala dream continues; Serious for Swiatek? Is Zverev the worst World No 2 ever?

james@jamesweir· Mar 8

look at this early steak and shake menu—the first words of their menu specifically advertised "Gov't inspected ground beef." Wonder what they'll do when musk and trump eliminate all regulatory safeguards around livestock and the funding that helps american farmers manage food-borne risks

screenshot of an old steak and shake menu, faded like it is likely from a few decades ago at least, with the headline "Luncheon", and then a description of the STEAKBURGER LUNCH, which includes gov't inspected group beef, grilled and served on a toasted bun with French Fries, choice of lettuce tomato salad or baked beans, for $1.10

james@jamesweir· Mar 1

you can't say birders aren't observent lol 🪶