matt meshm
@meshm.bsky.social
Minneapolis-based tinkerer. Work on websites for science at UMN's Supercomputing Institute. Into bikes, city infrastructure, and local politics
If mpls mayoral choices were tabulated as approval voting (ranking in any position counts as yes), Jazz would've won:
Frey: 80242 (54.3%)
Fateh: 72912 (49.4%)
Davis: 77852 (52.7%)
Hampton: 81508 (55.2%)
Frey: 80242 (54.3%)
Fateh: 72912 (49.4%)
Davis: 77852 (52.7%)
Hampton: 81508 (55.2%)
November 11, 2025 at 5:40 AM
If mpls mayoral choices were tabulated as approval voting (ranking in any position counts as yes), Jazz would've won:
Frey: 80242 (54.3%)
Fateh: 72912 (49.4%)
Davis: 77852 (52.7%)
Hampton: 81508 (55.2%)
Frey: 80242 (54.3%)
Fateh: 72912 (49.4%)
Davis: 77852 (52.7%)
Hampton: 81508 (55.2%)
Setting aside the substance of the comparison, I think Fateh missed out on a "Mamdani bump" because of a Minnesotan tendency to bristle at going along with national trends. Maybe especially when it lets you get away with being a little bit racist
November 11, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Setting aside the substance of the comparison, I think Fateh missed out on a "Mamdani bump" because of a Minnesotan tendency to bristle at going along with national trends. Maybe especially when it lets you get away with being a little bit racist
Follow Vince's live posts recounting the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
November 10, 1975 4:15-6:00pm: Fitzgerald radios Anderson "I have lost both radars, can you provide me with plots?" "Charlie on that, Fitzgerald."
Fitzgerald also cannot find the beacon at Whitefish Point, and calls for any vessels with information. They are told the lighthouse is not operating.
Fitzgerald also cannot find the beacon at Whitefish Point, and calls for any vessels with information. They are told the lighthouse is not operating.
November 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Follow Vince's live posts recounting the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
If you were surprised to learn the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald happened only 50 years ago, wait til you find out that the high five was invented two years after that
November 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
If you were surprised to learn the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald happened only 50 years ago, wait til you find out that the high five was invented two years after that
@allofmpls.bsky.social I've been thinking about it and your best shot for a 2029 mayoral candidate would be Shelley Madore. Don't waste any time, best to lock that in right away
November 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
@allofmpls.bsky.social I've been thinking about it and your best shot for a 2029 mayoral candidate would be Shelley Madore. Don't waste any time, best to lock that in right away
Reposted by matt meshm
When we started this campaign a year ago, most people thought Omar had no shot, in the end over 44% of voters chose our vision. It’s because we ran a campaign about the issues that matter to working people, and the change we want to see in our city. While being outspent over 4-1.
November 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
When we started this campaign a year ago, most people thought Omar had no shot, in the end over 44% of voters chose our vision. It’s because we ran a campaign about the issues that matter to working people, and the change we want to see in our city. While being outspent over 4-1.
So funny seeing columnists acting like there's a secret leftist backroom where we decided the one challenger to Frey. Fateh was the top challenger because his campaign got a lot of things right. Maybe the lesson should be to moderates to learn from that www.startribune.com/jacob-frey-r...
Roper: Jacob Frey can thank the far left for handing him another term
Frey was a vulnerable incumbent. But progressives banked on the wrong guy to beat him.
www.startribune.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:16 PM
So funny seeing columnists acting like there's a secret leftist backroom where we decided the one challenger to Frey. Fateh was the top challenger because his campaign got a lot of things right. Maybe the lesson should be to moderates to learn from that www.startribune.com/jacob-frey-r...
I am not a parent but I did this! You can too!
If you are a parent of a kid in Minneapolis public schools, please, please, PLEASE take 2 minutes to email the school board (SchoolBoard@mpls.k12.mn.us) and superintendent (mpssup@mpls.k12.mn.us) to tell them to settle with the educators' union and give them what they want. Your emails truly help!
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I am not a parent but I did this! You can too!
Social scientists need to understand how information theory applies to LLMs. They can never actually produce new information, so analyzing the output is like drawing conclusions from 4 pixels of a tiny zoomed in image. You wind up studying the quirks of the algorithm and not any ground truth
Important work revealing limitations of using LLMs as human surrogates.
Note, however, that even if LLMs' textual outputs were perfectly human-like, they would still be poor models of human cognition, as @lmesseri.bsky.social argue here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Note, however, that even if LLMs' textual outputs were perfectly human-like, they would still be poor models of human cognition, as @lmesseri.bsky.social argue here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Social scientists need to understand how information theory applies to LLMs. They can never actually produce new information, so analyzing the output is like drawing conclusions from 4 pixels of a tiny zoomed in image. You wind up studying the quirks of the algorithm and not any ground truth
A testament to Robin's huge ground game especially talking to students. I was around for the competitive 2021 race and the field operation was impressive then, this was on another level
2/ The tl;dr is, it’s good to have a hot Council race AND a good organizer Council Member. The 3 biggest surges were in @robin4mpls.bsky.social’s 2nd Ward: precincts 1/2/4 (Marcy/East Bank/Dinkytown) up 25%+. 2021 was a COVID year … but 300+ added votes went strongly to Robin. (Map below for ref.)
November 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
A testament to Robin's huge ground game especially talking to students. I was around for the competitive 2021 race and the field operation was impressive then, this was on another level
Thank you @tonydamiano.bsky.social for following thru and making the map I had in mind here bsky.app/profile/tony...
Reasonable dataviz choices to show ranked choice results:
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
Interactive map: How Minneapolis neighborhoods voted for mayor
November 7, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Thank you @tonydamiano.bsky.social for following thru and making the map I had in mind here bsky.app/profile/tony...
Skeets are torah, quote skeets are talmud
November 6, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Skeets are torah, quote skeets are talmud
Reposted by matt meshm
I know some folks were asking for something like this (@meshm.bsky.social iirc) So I made a quick dot density map of the first choice Minneapolis mayoral results. This allows you to see two things that choropleth maps can't show... umn.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapview...
November 6, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I know some folks were asking for something like this (@meshm.bsky.social iirc) So I made a quick dot density map of the first choice Minneapolis mayoral results. This allows you to see two things that choropleth maps can't show... umn.maps.arcgis.com/apps/mapview...
Not sure I agree with the causes in this thread but ties into something else I've felt: this cycle felt much less about issues or policies than 2021/23. On the doors it felt more like ppl responding to candidate vibes. I can't compare to pre-2020 but felt more like national politics in a bad way
We can substitute the DFL endorsement for any formal support, both actual & in a hypothetical future. My point is we're still grappling with many people supporting a candidate/campaign based on *how they feel* about it, rather than the candidate/campaign being the expression of an organized bloc.
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Not sure I agree with the causes in this thread but ties into something else I've felt: this cycle felt much less about issues or policies than 2021/23. On the doors it felt more like ppl responding to candidate vibes. I can't compare to pre-2020 but felt more like national politics in a bad way
I heard a good faith variation of this I was sympathetic to: "A Mayor Fateh would attract federal attention that could harm our residents." I had a different assessment but understood. OTOH hand wringing about electability is self fulfilling. Either you believe in the candidate or you don't
I’m not interested in letting a bad faith media environment dictate “electability” before we even select a candidate. We have to stop this constant “triangulation” to appease bad faith systems.
This whole argument also acts as if this was Fateh’s first time running for anything. He’s won elections!
This whole argument also acts as if this was Fateh’s first time running for anything. He’s won elections!
November 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I heard a good faith variation of this I was sympathetic to: "A Mayor Fateh would attract federal attention that could harm our residents." I had a different assessment but understood. OTOH hand wringing about electability is self fulfilling. Either you believe in the candidate or you don't
"You will receive a ... survey regarding the technologies that you use at the University of Minnesota, including your perspective on generative artificial intelligence in higher education"
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
"You will receive a ... survey regarding the technologies that you use at the University of Minnesota, including your perspective on generative artificial intelligence in higher education"
The hockey barriers are up in Longfellow park in preparation for forming the ice rink, and the @ehbforbet.bsky.social @locallhuman.bsky.social bench was nowhere to be found. Hope it's still accounted for and can be put back in a rink-adjacent location for the winter
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM
The hockey barriers are up in Longfellow park in preparation for forming the ice rink, and the @ehbforbet.bsky.social @locallhuman.bsky.social bench was nowhere to be found. Hope it's still accounted for and can be put back in a rink-adjacent location for the winter
Now that that's over we need to focus on the upcoming Night Mayor election
November 5, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Now that that's over we need to focus on the upcoming Night Mayor election
Mpls mayoral hot takes:
- Fateh always had an uphill battle to get to 50%, getting w/in 6 pts is a huge accomplishment
- Racism, media coverage, state DFL BS were contributors
- RCV wasn't why Frey won but people are used to thinking about 2-way races and that hurt other challengers
- Fateh always had an uphill battle to get to 50%, getting w/in 6 pts is a huge accomplishment
- Racism, media coverage, state DFL BS were contributors
- RCV wasn't why Frey won but people are used to thinking about 2-way races and that hurt other challengers
November 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Mpls mayoral hot takes:
- Fateh always had an uphill battle to get to 50%, getting w/in 6 pts is a huge accomplishment
- Racism, media coverage, state DFL BS were contributors
- RCV wasn't why Frey won but people are used to thinking about 2-way races and that hurt other challengers
- Fateh always had an uphill battle to get to 50%, getting w/in 6 pts is a huge accomplishment
- Racism, media coverage, state DFL BS were contributors
- RCV wasn't why Frey won but people are used to thinking about 2-way races and that hurt other challengers
Fateh needed to net almost 15k more 2nd/3rd choice votes than Frey to beat him, and he got less than half that (6484 more than Frey). Frey wins with just over 50% of votes cast :-(
November 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Fateh needed to net almost 15k more 2nd/3rd choice votes than Frey to beat him, and he got less than half that (6484 more than Frey). Frey wins with just over 50% of votes cast :-(
Reposted by matt meshm
Thank you, Ward 9! We earned 77.37% of the vote, and we are heading back to City Hall with a mandate.
Jason Chavez
The Kid from East Phillips
Jason Chavez
The Kid from East Phillips
November 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Thank you, Ward 9! We earned 77.37% of the vote, and we are heading back to City Hall with a mandate.
Jason Chavez
The Kid from East Phillips
Jason Chavez
The Kid from East Phillips
Reasonable dataviz choices to show ranked choice results:
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
Interactive map: How Minneapolis neighborhoods voted for mayor
Interactive map: How Minneapolis neighborhoods voted for mayor
See a detailed map of how Minneapolis voted for mayor by precinct.
sahanjournal.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reasonable dataviz choices to show ranked choice results:
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
- multicolor points showing first choice distribution
- wait for the damn tabulation
Unreasonable choices:
- whatever this is
Soren Stevenson shows up at the unofficial south Minneapolis post election party to cheers as I turn into a pumpkin and leave
November 5, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Soren Stevenson shows up at the unofficial south Minneapolis post election party to cheers as I turn into a pumpkin and leave
Ok when do I get my MiniVAN Wrapped
November 5, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Ok when do I get my MiniVAN Wrapped
A constituent made a cake for @robin4mpls.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 2:39 AM
A constituent made a cake for @robin4mpls.bsky.social