Today I learned, thanks to looking up Nicole Bedera's work, that the "institutional betrayal" article in Wikipedia is pretty good. I'd never heard of the antonym, "institutional courage" before today. #TIL

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

@jik I didn't know that, and tbh, the fact that my first reaction was "that is so wild!" is probably indicative of why this lack is such problem now. Goodness.

@xeroxerox oh, that was super good! Thanks for sharing!

@meadow Thiiiiiiis. I am jumping through tons of hoops rn in hopes that someone will pay me $8500 for months of work to analyze where our broken TWSI in sidewalks are and make walking more accessible for blind people. I would do this for free if I didn't have to worry about food and housing!

Idk if this is helpful to anyone else, but I dashed off this email to my Somerville electeds (plus the public comment email account). Anyone who wants to can use/modify this text for your own use if helpful.

The worst feeling is when we feel we can't do something about horrors.

We CAN do something. I swear. We just need to decide to do things, and it's gonna take some of our resources, but it's worth it.

#SomervilleMA #SomerPoli #USPol #Boston #MAPoli

It occurs to me that there is plenty of time between now and March 1st to ask a city council or town meeting to put in place a new eviction moratorium, given how many neighbors are impacted by ICE kidnappings (making it unsafe to go to work, etc., and having knock-on effects for ppl regardless of immigration status). In the current instability, protection against eviction seems important.

Now is better than never. #USPol #SomervilleMA #SomerPoli #Boston #MAPoli

@nygren we have policies against the CITY using them or owning them. In December, I sent in a public comment about Tufts and Assembly Sq having Flock cameras, in response to which Ben E-C reopened the matter in order to say that this was nothing he felt we could do anything about. 🤦🏼

I'm angry all over again that some city councilors dismissed my concerns about Flock and Ring cameras in MA. Fucking hell, we are at the second-best time to do something, but I'm guessing we won't manage doing something now, either. 😬

https://www.startribune.com/how-ice-already-knows-who-minneapolis-protesters-are/601573934

@DarkSheepArts @wcbdata HERO. 😍 I needed this in my day!

This is just to say that Angela Davis was the narrator for the 2022 audiobook of her autobiography. Stellar work, very moving, and timely reading. Hearing it in her own voice: highly recommended.

#audiobooks #reading #abolishice

Most of my scifi friends probably already saw this go by earlier this month, but for those who don't read Chuck Wendig's blog every day, I can recommend this rant on why AI is shit and advocating for its use in any art genre is basically bullshit. (He's in convo w/a letter published to File 770 from Erin Underwood and extensively quotes her, but you can look up if you want to read that whole thing, too.)

https://terribleminds.com/ramble/2025/12/28/my-open-letter-to-that-open-letter-about-ai-in-writing-and-publishing/

#SFF #AI #AIethics

@misctakes.com location tracking saving lives is a lot less common than hurting ppl, but it does happen. There were a couple of hikers who got lost and prob would've died if not for tracking their hike on Runkeeper a few years ago. They told 911 to get their last known location info from the app before their phone died.

RE: https://tomkahe.com/@GiftArticles/115935485973236693

I really love the idea that we can believe all actors in the government are following court orders and not reviewing whatever they can get their hands on. Unfortunately ...? 😭

Note from Past Crystal: Rinse the humidifier again after cleaning it with the diluted vinegar, before turning it on. 😅

Excellent scifi author @naomikritzer, who's also quite active in political convos, has written about sensible stuff folks outside of MN can do right now (which includes a link to her other post for folks in MN, if that's where you are).

https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/how-to-help-if-you-are-outside-minnesota/

#USPol #ICE #Minnesota

Friends, I hope you have someone in your life who can explain the process of re-lighting your furnace pilot light via an analogy with the flames of democracy during the Weimar Republic.

I do. @hakamadare is marvelous. 😍

Carol Danvers fell asleep on my hand.

Naturally, I couldn't move for hours. I did manage to get this pic, though, for the sake of posterity.

This is how she normally behaves as I'm going to sleep, not when I'm waking up. Proof that we should all be sleeping more, clearly. #catsofmastodon #cats

Like, this entire Zelle website and process feels like it's been written and implemented with AI. It's shit and does not solve my problem.

I think paper checks should be abolished, but I'm to the point of having my bank send a paper check to my friend because that's probably faster and more efficient with everyone's time. 🤦‍♂️

@pluralistic I am becoming a cranky old man, yelling at the cloud. Thought you'd be amused.

When I go to the Zelle website to contact support directly, "Contact Zelle" page has 2 options:
Contact Support
Join Zelle Partners

I select Contact Support.
The only option on the Contact Support page is to report a scam.

There is no option to contact Zelle on an issue with setting up an account or a transaction issue other than a scam. There is no phone number listed to contact Zelle, anyway.

Feels like this website is useless if you're having an issue, gotta say.

The enshittification will continue unless morale improves, I guess? Ugh.

My bank offers Zelle as an option to send $ to a friend. I got locked out of making a first transaction, so I tried calling the # Zelle offered for customer service. I refused to use voice recognition for account details.

Zelle's phone system apparently can't accept phone button input instead of voice. It repeated that I should input my account number, didn't accept the input, & hung up on me. UGH.