Based in Somerville, MA. Interested in micromobility & transportation planning. Much experience as a designer, developer, dj, drummer, data-visualizer. he/him.
Since these are helping some folks laugh through the pain of the
@MBTA
’s 30-day
#OrangeLine
shutdown, here’s a 🧵of posters I’ve made so far that summarize
@MassGovernor
@CharlieBakerMA
’s advice for responding to this poorly-planned transportation meltdown:
(h/t
@melnickjeffrey1
)
@EricCoxTV
@blaqueword
Fired after the incident? No.
Fired after his department reviewed the video of the encounter? No.
Fired after the victim complained? No.
Fired FOUR MONTHS LATER – *ONE* DAY AFTER THE VIDEO BECAME PUBLIC.
@CorbinBolies
@MargBarAmerica
The paper that commissioned an Israeli freelance FILMMAKER who never committed an act of professional journalism in her LIFE to co-author a front-page story filled with propaganda, which passed their editors, is going to investigate this person… months after the damage. Lovely.
@fannychoir
@blaqueerflow
The
@CVS
in
#CambridgeMA
is selling the 2-pack of tests for $24. That's a 15x markup!
To be fair, as capitalists have tried to teach us for centuries, there's no better commodity on which to profit than that upon which people literally depend for their very survival!
@dzop1111
@gdimeweather
Except in beachfront communities like Miami, where the high ground - away from the shore - was the poorest neighborhood. That's why Little Haiti and Overtown, now, are being overrun with developers flooding in from Miami Beach.
@GrosMorne29
@terrance_tweets
And, the U.S. spends $118,800,031,000 on *POLICE*. More than any other country in the world spends on their military, except China.
Military + Police budget in the United States is approximately ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. EVERY. YEAR.
@SuziePerkins6
@JATayler
@NYCMayor
@NYPDShea
I almost think… and, I know this sounds crazy, but… the Mayor and the Police want to arrest a bunch of people protesting, to instill fear in the hearts of potential allies?
@JoshuaPHilll
This is the same Denver suburb whose cops tackled & murdered the quiet & gentle Elijah McClain just 4 years ago. Disband this department immediately!
@DanielDenvir
@surlybassey
I've seen a lot of GenX activists shift their focus to hyper local issues like zoning, housing, transit, district maps, homelessness, addiction. Things have gotten materially so much more desperate for so many these past 30 years, if we have energy, we gotta just do triage (1/2)
@thedailybeast
To be fair, the van reasonably believed that its life was in danger due to the presence of the unhoused man in the street, and acted in accordance with policy and the law. The van has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the waning of public scrutiny.
#nypd
@NBCNews
@TomArnold
Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron LIED publicly and made it seem like the grand jury considered all the evidence and only found reckless endangerment charges were warranted; in fact, those were the ONLY charges he presented to the grand jury.
This is an important step toward justice.
What this means is, people with only coins in their pockets could travel from Lowell to Newburyport and Salem and Beverly and Essex, without owning or operating anything. That— FREEDOM —is what we’ve dis-invested in these last hundred years.
Until as recently as the 1930s, you could ride an electric streetcar network from the mills of Lowell to the bustling commercial streets & historic sites of Salem and the beaches of Newburyport. Could even hop off for a fried calm in Essex.
@publicownedbus
They were caught on their body cam recordings talking like this in Boston last year during the national uprisings against racist police violence. No consequences for them, per usual.
@jules_su
@BenjaminPDixon
It's almost enough to make me think that ALL religions are true, and, somehow, Jewish RBG is in Christian heaven sending Republicans their (Buddhist) karmic reward.
@DanielDenvir
@surlybassey
…plus, as mentioned above, anti-war mega burnout, followed by the coordinated nationwide DESTRUCTION of the Occupy movement (literally, “Thanks, Obama!”), left most of our organizing in shambles. I'm heartened by the strength & vitality of the racial Justice movements, though.
@KBAndersen
Is there a learning opportunity here? I think so.
When a self-interested party issues a report that advances a view which just so happens to advance that party’s specific ideological objectives, it is prudent to treat the claims as presumptively self-serving & in need of evidence
@cgdhopkins
@Hauske
YES! Exactly this!! I was dumb enough as an undergrad to see a therapist at UHS. Fortunately (?) she was terrible and I only saw her a few times. That they somehow got files from an outside therapist is chilling. Their professional association MUST investigate them!
This short video clip of Healey’s Martha’s Vineyard garden party being disrupted by activists says more than any words alone can convey. Linen sport jackets, short-sleeved designer dresses, everyone holding a wine glass, standing on the lawn of an expansive seaside home! (1/2)
Big update: We just swarmed a major fundraiser on Nantucket Island benefitting Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. We demanded she ban new fossil fuel projects. She refused. So we shut down her whole event. She fled.
Respect us or expect us.
Just a point of clarification: these are not STATIONS, they are PLATFORMS where riders are exposed to the elements year-round. We were promised stations (with shelter, gate gates, crew rest, and restrooms) but
@MassGovernor
“value engineered” them away to save $700 million… 1/2
We're just 1 week away from the grand opening of the
#GreenLineExtension
's Medford Branch. While we prepare for opening day on Monday, December 12, enjoy this preview of the 5 brand-new Green Line stations connecting Medford and Somerville to Boston and beyond.
#BuildingABetterT
@MichaelWarbur17
Thank you for reposting this! One of the greatest gems of network television. Right up there with David Letterman’s Holiday Film Festival from the late 1980’s…
@AgatonGato
@ConceptualJames
Yes, it's clearly insane to … [checks notes]… commemorate a day of freedom celebrated by historically oppressed and disenfranchised people!
Mr. and Mrs. Storrow gave the city a park, and over the objections of Mrs. Storrow, turned it into a highway after her husband died. It’s long past time we TAKE BACK THE RIVERBANK FOR PEOPLE NOT CARS.
If the U.S. saw a plane crash *every day* it'd be about the same number of deaths per week as Covid is causing.
Don't you think people would be upset and demand action if the government said "Only one plane crash a day is fine, we're down from a high of 5 a day, no need to act!"?
@mothysense
@Ms_Multicolor
@dan_yell_f
@DareBear1226
It's so horrifying to me, but this happens all across the board: for-profit organizations send you an outrageous bill, hoping you'll submit & pay it; but, if you call them, frequently the charges can be reduced or even dismissed.
There is a lot of blame to go around, but
@MassGovernor
deserves the lion's share. He was the Budget Director 30 years ago who reorganized the state's finances and dumped a bunch of debt on the
@MBTA
to pay for the Big Dig and shifted the T to "forward funding," starving it of $.
@LADOTofficial
@CD5LosAngeles
You would honor their memory much better if you redesigned the street so that excessive speed was not POSSIBLE. Signs don't do much to control driver behavior, as I'm sure you know.
@theferocity
@laripley
Man! Rewatching episodes of 30 Rock where Kenneth the Page earnestly tells Liz Lemon that "SOMEONE at the Today Show has been making VERY inappropriate advances" hits different after the Matt Lauer shit became public.
@TheStephenWood
@Hauske
If you think the post office is bad, check out the negative ROI from the police & mass incarceration systems we're paying for! Sheesh!
Herb Chambers knows the best way to beat the traffic is to fly over it & land on your own helipad (which he really has, in Somerville!) For those who don’t own a helipad, during the
#OrangeLine
shutdown,
@MassDOT
is waiving landing fees at all state & municipal airfields!
@BrandonStraka
It's "the law" that passengers are required to comply with flight crew instructions. VERY few people are medically advised they cannot wear a mask, and those people can carry a doctor's certification. Otherwise, I'm sorry you were briefly forced to consider other people's health!
WBZ News Radio reporter
@Karynregal
got a great quote from an
@MBTA
rider named Anthony at North Station. Asked how he’s planning to work around the
#OrangeLineShutdown
, he said he planned to “just smoke a whole bunch of weed.” 🤣🌬️
@nikohrdy
@blastedpanda
I believe the point of the protest is that there are many, many more families trapped in their lives under 400+ years of racist oppression and dispossession with no way to turn around… but, maybe I'm reading too much into it?
No, I don't think I am.
#BlackLivesMatter
#BayBridge
As
@MassGovernor
@CharlieBakerMA
’s Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said, the best way to deal with the
@MBTA
#OrangeLine
shutdown is to “avoid the region altogether!”
I can’t WAIT until The Tall Governor takes that advice & we can get some competent leadership for the T!
Is it possible that we –who’ve whined about not knowing when
@MassDCR
would restrict pedestrian access to the Charles River locks crossing– have had our wish granted? This is lovely & exactly what I had hoped for. Thank you! cc:
@somershade1
@universalhub
@carsNbikelane
@jamiroqueer
@drmistercody
That desire to resonate over arbitrary mass-produced or mass-culture artifacts always struck me as if we've all been run over by trucks, and now we're comparing scars and tread marks, like, "Oh, hey, look! We got run over by the same model of Dodge Ram! Check out the tread marks"
@EBJunkies
Eric, I’m really confused. That cyclist is clearly a commuter, just like you (check out the pannier bags). If you look ten feet ahead of the bike, which is obviously enraging you, you’ll see that there’s a van. Has it occured to you that you AND the cyclist are stuck in traffic?!
@FAANews
@AirlineReporter
@Boeing
lol @ "newly gathered satellite data." Just be honest and admit that the public pressure and the fact that almost every other country where the 737 has grounded the aircraft caused the FAA to *finally* do the right thing! Thank you
@washingtonpost
for excellent reporting on ASRS!
@JKP_Discovery
@petersagal
Trust me, if you walk into an "antifa rally," you're not just in danger – you've actually walked all the way out of reality and into some right-wing fantasyland.
@Tealeye01
@TexasTribune
Oh awesome, you – sitting in your chair in front of your computer – think this police officer who shot a man walking away from him was justified. Even though the Texas Rangers who reviewed the incident video and interviewed eyewitnesses don't agree. Cool. Thanks for sharing!
This advice for dealing with the
#OrangeLine
shutdown is entirely unrelated to the fact that
@MassGovernor
@CharlieBakerMA
lives in Swampscott, by the way… it’s just the best way to avoid the gridlocked disaster that he and
@spoftak
have created!
@isaacstonefish
The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, said basically the same thing in his speech "Beyond Vietnam" in '67, in which he described "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government."
We name names at Climate Defiance.
This is Bruce Percelay.
He said the quit part out loud.
As we pleaded for our very survival, he told us: "I don't mind if you die."
He is the former chair of Make-A-Wish Massachusetts.
@nycsouthpaw
@NatashaBertrand
How have I known since the very first time I watched Doctor Strangelove, that the deliberations inside the highest councils of our nuclear-armed states largely consist of politicians saying "Our enemy… they're bad, right?" and the sage military/intel briefer saying, sadly, "yes"
@jmart
Well, then, it's understandable that the Post would be unclear as to whether… a Supreme Court justice's wife flying an "international signal of distress" in concert with the January 6 insurrectionists… has a "political" component. Very subtle. No way to say, really.
@nhannahjones
Wow, great find & very useful side-by-side comparison!
It's almost as if there's some kind of long-lasting – dare I say systemic? – ideology underpinning these reactions…
…but I can't qwhite put my finger on it. 🤔🤔🤔
The wealthy graying man lecturing the young activist about “how to get things done” ending his rant agreeing with the kid, saying “I don’t care if you die,” is the perfect kicker! No notes, Democrats, you’re doing great!
@TheLeadCNN
@waltshaub
Yeah, well, call me when Hunter is appointed Special Envoy for Middle East Peace and his wife is filing copyright claims in the People's Republic of China.
@Lollardfish
@pittstate
This would be a great time for the faculty to remember they are EACH "Spartacus" and stand together. Every single recipient of this email should respond "Yes" and list all of their classes being taught.
@blubdoodle
@samfbiddle
@nickturse
Just like they've understood and internalized the reality of global climate change since the early 1990's… but only as a driver for how they can better secure and protect their vital coastal infrastructure to ensure ongoing "full-spectrum dominance."
This critical missing 0.7 mile link in Boston’s urban greenway network has been planned and debated for more than 10 years! Design is complete, and construction will take 2 years and cost $9 mil.
Meanwhile, the collapsed section of I-95 in Philly will be rebuilt in ONE WEEK.
Good news! Construction has started on the Dorchester extension to the Neponset River Greenway Trail! Work should last about two years. When completed this will bypass the Expressway offramp at Morrissey Blvd.
@samswey
I mean, to be fair, there really isn't any sort of news hook in the current media moment on which to hang a story about a border patrol agent abusing vulnerable people...
Right?
@goldenpolaroid
Decades of choices by the white power structures sharply constrained where Black folks could live and work. Black folks systematically deprived of opportunities to build wealth. After the uprisings of the 1960's, symbolic gestures like street renamings became a popular choice.
@MBTA
While we appreciate the response, let's be clear: due to severe budget cuts over the years, there were NO PERSONNEL PRESENT whom the near-victim could notify. Your team responded "quickly" – more than 20 minutes after it happened, when you saw the post on Twitter & sent folks in.
Last nite at midnite, NYPD once again kicked people out of Washington Square Park. Like the night before, cops were all around the park & at midnite, an NYPD vehicle drove around the park telling people it was closed. People were both confused & unhappy about the park closing.
@MWaygan
@elijahdaniel
@ESOP_STL
@slcpd
Actually, the police get precisely ZERO "nice points" for helping an elderly gentleman to his feet *AFTER THEY SHOVED HIM TO THE GROUND*. ZERO!
@Chris_Batson_1
@Snowden
This damn country will spend $30K/year to dehumanize someone and keep them in a cage, but will spend $0/year giving that same person a decent college education.
@The_Acumen
Like, “therapy” as practiced fully accepts the totaling logic of “the market” — “we’ll talk from 3:30 to 4:15 every other Thursday, and you must pay the full price immediately after each visit and file for reimbursement…” — when anti-human capitalist structures CAUSE the issues!
@SykesCharlie
@Stonekettle
Well! Certainly no reason for someone who has documented evidence like this to share it at any moment before their book is published! Not like it could possibly have any relevance to contemporaneous events like, say, some kind of trial to remove the executive in question… 🧐🧐🧐
@ggreenwald
@HeerJeet
Also, your taunting him about page-views neatly sidesteps his very valid point, that many times the police officers who kill people are not named until much later, often under duress after court proceedings.
We’ve been waiting 20 years for the state to connect the two stub ends of bike/ped paths on either side of the Charles River by North Station! They’re now putting a new train drawbridge in the capital plan for 2030… we’ll see if it includes any bike or walking facility…
It’ll never stop blowing my mind that we can build stuff like this for one day of an automobile race but can rarely do the simplest things to improve transit or the pedestrian realm
@heavyredaction
Ah yes, the famous Lt. John “Pepper Spray” Pike! Two years after the incident he was awarded $38,000 for the “psychological damage” HE suffered in this interaction!
This has been one of the accounts that has helped me to feel less isolated over the past year. Thank you,
@NeoliberalSnow
, for your terribly dark humor in these terribly dark days.
@letsgomathias
Thank you for this deeply disturbing and crucial reporting.
Sacramento is a hive of white supremacy: their PD is being sued for violently suppressing racial justice protesters while protecting Trumpers.
Ironically, it's titled White v City of Sacramento 😂
@selinawangtv
@IvanTheK
@CNN
How unlike American protests, where police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protesters, or herd thousands of them into confined areas for mass arrests (a technique called “kettling”), or kidnap them off the street in unmarked vans. Glad I live in a FREE COUNTRY!
TFW you own and operate a hundred and thirty-four stations, but you have to hire a structural engineering consultant to inspect one station's ceiling panels…
The tragedy that is the
@MBTA
continues apace.
Harvard Station Update: During the weekend Red Line diversion, MBTA personnel & a structural engineering consultant inspected ceiling panels at stations between Central & Andrew. Out of an abundance of caution, we've removed ~100 ceiling panels at Harvard as inspections continue.
@ABC7NY
Your pre-emptive exoneration of people who commit vehicular homicide appears to be intentional. The 5-year-old was struck by a DRIVER. A *person* killed this child. You can say it was an "accident," but when something happens 40,000 times a year, it's a systemic issue.
… Charlie cut $700 million from this project by eliminating stations, dooming generations of people young & old to stand in the wind-driven rain and snow while they wait for the train, while this year alone the state had a $3 BILLION (with a “B”) SURPLUS.
@samsanders
These are the REAL PROBLEMS Americans are facing as we enter the sixth month of a rampaging pandemic, the highest unemployment in almost a hundred years, and widespread uprisings against white supremacy sweeping the land triggering a vicious Federal police response. Cheers, NYT!!
Sarah Kendzior continues to be one of the few writers accurately describing our current situation. In her latest, she writes, “When there is near uniform agreement in Congress, and it is in support of genocide, something awful is afoot.” She's not wrong.
Honestly, I feel for the people who are trying to improve the
@MBTA
. I feel like the statement at the end of this tweet could be said about almost every aspect of our crumbling transit system “our cleaning crew was unable to remove the grime… despite best efforts” 🤦🏽♂️
@DataFran
Thank you for reaching out, Francis. Orange Line Supervisors have been aware of this for quite a while and had the platform cleaned multiple times. Unfortunately, however, our cleaning crew was unable to remove the grime seen above from the floor despite best efforts.
@but_im_kim_tran
@joshua_eaton
But… *blink* *blink*… why would a white supremacist own land in a poor, Black region of Louisiana?
[Disclaimer: that was sarcasm.]
@berkie1
@dannickx
I’m struggling to recall a time when the National Electric Code was subject to public engagement and uninformed push-back at poorly-attended meetings…
On Monday, I was at the USQ
#GLX
"Grand Opening" and saw our current
@MassGovernor
roll up in a phalanx of Black SUVs. They parked in the bike lane & Charlie got out, walked onto the platform, & rode 1 stop to Lechmere. The SUVs met him there & took him 3/4 away mi to his office.