Simon St.Laurent
@simonstl.com
"Enraged hermit" aspiring to chaotic good. Tech, gardening, politics, Quakerism, Green, and more. Cis, he/his. Also @simonstl@mastodon.social
Pinned
Simon St.Laurent
@simonstl.com
· Nov 18
When times are bad, help people.
When times are good, help people.
When times are good, help people.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
The Trump administration says it arrested 4,500 people in a mission targeting “the worst of the worst.” The reality is most of them were people with brown skin who were at the right place —their landscaping jobs, the hardware store, a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru— at the wrong time.
December 28, 2025 at 2:22 PM
The Trump administration says it arrested 4,500 people in a mission targeting “the worst of the worst.” The reality is most of them were people with brown skin who were at the right place —their landscaping jobs, the hardware store, a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru— at the wrong time.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
As we enter the New Year remember fear of making bad art is holding you back. Fear of people not liking your work is holding you back. Rejection is holding you back
You'll make bad art, you'll have people not like your work, and you'll be rejected. Moving past it is half the job of being a creative
You'll make bad art, you'll have people not like your work, and you'll be rejected. Moving past it is half the job of being a creative
December 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
As we enter the New Year remember fear of making bad art is holding you back. Fear of people not liking your work is holding you back. Rejection is holding you back
You'll make bad art, you'll have people not like your work, and you'll be rejected. Moving past it is half the job of being a creative
You'll make bad art, you'll have people not like your work, and you'll be rejected. Moving past it is half the job of being a creative
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I’m just going to say this (not diving back into an argument or attacking anyone):
The idea that journalists cannot accurately or fully report on topics they have strong feelings about is silly.
The idea that journalists cannot accurately or fully report on topics they have strong feelings about is silly.
December 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I’m just going to say this (not diving back into an argument or attacking anyone):
The idea that journalists cannot accurately or fully report on topics they have strong feelings about is silly.
The idea that journalists cannot accurately or fully report on topics they have strong feelings about is silly.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
If this is something you doubt, remember Jan 2021-Jan 2025 when Dems in power went out of their way to let the vast majority of Trump officials (including him) off the hook, didn't release the records they had on Epstein and his fellow rapists and cracked down hard on leftist organizing.
The gentry facing serious consequences for their actions is something that no political party will countenance as long as they are capable of doing so.
December 28, 2025 at 4:11 PM
If this is something you doubt, remember Jan 2021-Jan 2025 when Dems in power went out of their way to let the vast majority of Trump officials (including him) off the hook, didn't release the records they had on Epstein and his fellow rapists and cracked down hard on leftist organizing.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
So much of the issues related to transit governance is downstream from the fact that both the boards of these agencies and many of advocates in this space believe that transit is a welfare program that acts as “transportation of last resort” as opposed to a viable, affordable alternative to cars.
The equity case for infrequent buses at low fares only makes sense if you believe low income people’s time has no value or that they don’t value their time.
Every transit professional knows this, but equity
December 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
So much of the issues related to transit governance is downstream from the fact that both the boards of these agencies and many of advocates in this space believe that transit is a welfare program that acts as “transportation of last resort” as opposed to a viable, affordable alternative to cars.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Remember how all summer I had the chorus of white centrist pundits quoting my posts claiming I was fear mongering and a “doomer” for clearly stating my analysis that this kind of thing was going to become normalized and that rule of law wouldn’t matter in this situation as law is a construct.
"Her family has now been told she has been deported, despite US District Judge Brendan Hurson ruling Thursday that she could not be deported pending a hearing...attorneys said Monday that they have...confirm[ed] with the hospital she was born in Maryland." https://bit.ly/3MMdJvz
ICE detains woman whose lawyer insists is US citizen. DHS says she isn't
Federal agents arrested Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales on her way home in Baltimore, Maryland.
bit.ly
December 26, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Remember how all summer I had the chorus of white centrist pundits quoting my posts claiming I was fear mongering and a “doomer” for clearly stating my analysis that this kind of thing was going to become normalized and that rule of law wouldn’t matter in this situation as law is a construct.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I think people today don't understand just how dramatically the night sky has changed - it looked like it does in super remote areas *everywhere* before the invention of electric lighting, and light pollution that obscures the sky has gotten dramatically worse in the last 25 years.
If you ever have the experience of seeing a night sky out in the deep countryside you can understand this; it really is a fundamentally different experience, and I can't imagine it not being formative to people.
December 27, 2025 at 5:01 AM
I think people today don't understand just how dramatically the night sky has changed - it looked like it does in super remote areas *everywhere* before the invention of electric lighting, and light pollution that obscures the sky has gotten dramatically worse in the last 25 years.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I seem to recall that the usual suspects screamed that Mamdani would make the rich people rush from New York city to Florida... and then they didn't. Cuomo didn't even have the decency to leave. And the same thing happened with Massachusetts. Basically put, we keep getting proof that doesn't happen.
a man with glasses is sitting in front of a brick wall and says `` and ... that 's a lie . ''
ALT: a man with glasses is sitting in front of a brick wall and says `` and ... that 's a lie . ''
media.tenor.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:38 AM
I seem to recall that the usual suspects screamed that Mamdani would make the rich people rush from New York city to Florida... and then they didn't. Cuomo didn't even have the decency to leave. And the same thing happened with Massachusetts. Basically put, we keep getting proof that doesn't happen.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
DHS "recently announced the end of TPS for nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar, many of them persecuted Christians. Starting in January 2026, the US government will deport them back to a country run by a military junta that has been bombing churches and treats Christians as one of its domestic enemies"
US bombed Nigeria in what Trump says was an effort to protect Christians.
Violence in Nigeria is widespread, not anti-Christian specifically, and the US strikes won't accomplish anything lasting. But it appeals to his evangelical base even as he persecutes other Christians.
New from me in @ms.now:
Violence in Nigeria is widespread, not anti-Christian specifically, and the US strikes won't accomplish anything lasting. But it appeals to his evangelical base even as he persecutes other Christians.
New from me in @ms.now:
Opinion | The logic isn't apparent in Trump's strikes in Nigeria
Nicholas Grossman: Add Nigeria to the list of countries Trump has bombed this year
www.ms.now
December 26, 2025 at 8:53 PM
DHS "recently announced the end of TPS for nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar, many of them persecuted Christians. Starting in January 2026, the US government will deport them back to a country run by a military junta that has been bombing churches and treats Christians as one of its domestic enemies"
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
So, here's a funny story about immigration.
My great-grandmother was a nightmare and she hated the Irish. Her best insult was to say someone had "the map of Ireland on their face." (She also hated Italians and Croatians but stick with me here.)
She also wanted in the DAR.
My great-grandmother was a nightmare and she hated the Irish. Her best insult was to say someone had "the map of Ireland on their face." (She also hated Italians and Croatians but stick with me here.)
She also wanted in the DAR.
December 26, 2025 at 9:55 PM
So, here's a funny story about immigration.
My great-grandmother was a nightmare and she hated the Irish. Her best insult was to say someone had "the map of Ireland on their face." (She also hated Italians and Croatians but stick with me here.)
She also wanted in the DAR.
My great-grandmother was a nightmare and she hated the Irish. Her best insult was to say someone had "the map of Ireland on their face." (She also hated Italians and Croatians but stick with me here.)
She also wanted in the DAR.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Happy Boxing Day
MYSTERIOUS STRANGER: *hands woman box* If you press this button, someone you don't know dies
WOMAN: Ok *presses button*
STRANGER: Whoa, I didn't even tell you about the money
WOMAN: I can't afford to pay much
STRANGER: No, you don't pay
WOMAN: Oh good *presses button again*
STRANGER: Jesus Christ
WOMAN: Ok *presses button*
STRANGER: Whoa, I didn't even tell you about the money
WOMAN: I can't afford to pay much
STRANGER: No, you don't pay
WOMAN: Oh good *presses button again*
STRANGER: Jesus Christ
December 26, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Happy Boxing Day
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I often come back to a quote from the late great Michael Brooks: “Be ruthless with systems, be kind to people."
A reminder of where power lies, where most criticism should be directed, and the importance of building solidarity with others.
A reminder of where power lies, where most criticism should be directed, and the importance of building solidarity with others.
December 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I often come back to a quote from the late great Michael Brooks: “Be ruthless with systems, be kind to people."
A reminder of where power lies, where most criticism should be directed, and the importance of building solidarity with others.
A reminder of where power lies, where most criticism should be directed, and the importance of building solidarity with others.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
And keep in mind by “destructive moral ideas” he means the crazy notion that immigrants are human
JD VANCE THINKS BRITAIN & FRANCE ARE AMERICAS LIKELY ENEMIES.
The world is getting bizarrely screwed with this kind of bull being spewed out.
The world is getting bizarrely screwed with this kind of bull being spewed out.
December 26, 2025 at 9:52 PM
And keep in mind by “destructive moral ideas” he means the crazy notion that immigrants are human
Strange headline. www.nbcnews.com/world/africa...
Nigeria averts unilateral U.S. action by cooperating on airstrikes
Participating in the strikes raises the risk that the government will be perceived as endorsing the Trump's language on wider sectarian strife, a sensitive issue throughout Nigeria’s history.
www.nbcnews.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Strange headline. www.nbcnews.com/world/africa...
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Talking to one of these types at a con who asked how I 'got in' with so many 'famous writers' who I'd been talking to and I said "we made friends before anyone knew who we were decades ago by striking up interesting conversations and enjoying each other's company" and he kept re-asking the question.
They have come to the convention hoping to "break in" and then find themselves -- shocker! -- a "nobody in the book world." Yeah no shit! We all are! I have gently told guys like this a million times that it takes most of us *years* of hard work but they do not believe that could be true for them. +
December 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Talking to one of these types at a con who asked how I 'got in' with so many 'famous writers' who I'd been talking to and I said "we made friends before anyone knew who we were decades ago by striking up interesting conversations and enjoying each other's company" and he kept re-asking the question.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
lmao
December 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
lmao
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I would love some recommendations on good things to read about how countries that have done actual disarmament/truth-and-reconciliation stuff after deposing authoritarian regimes have made this sort of thing work, when and where it has worked.
I remember the phrase "they can't be allowed to melt back into society" re: the de-Baathification of Iraq after the war there. Like everything about that experience, the attempt was cynical, stupid, and botched. But there really should be a plan about what we do with guys like these in the future.
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
December 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I would love some recommendations on good things to read about how countries that have done actual disarmament/truth-and-reconciliation stuff after deposing authoritarian regimes have made this sort of thing work, when and where it has worked.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I like how no one is saying shit about next year. Like, we're all freezing like "maybe if we hold very still it won't notice us." The fighters are probably going to have to fight 2026 and the flighters are fleeing. But a lot of us are freezing in place like Bambi's mother.
December 26, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I like how no one is saying shit about next year. Like, we're all freezing like "maybe if we hold very still it won't notice us." The fighters are probably going to have to fight 2026 and the flighters are fleeing. But a lot of us are freezing in place like Bambi's mother.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Holy fck, this rag just can't help itself.
December 26, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Holy fck, this rag just can't help itself.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
“Went viral” is an old stock phrase in journalism that really does not capture the dynamic of how X dot Com has been tuned to give people like the one specific legislator here the power to intentionally cause this kind of outcome
Texas A&M University will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after a video of her teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature class went viral, despite a faculty appeals panel unanimously concluding that her dismissal was not justified.
Texas A&M won’t reinstate fired lecturer despite findings
A vice chancellor upheld the firing of Melissa McCoul, seen in a viral video being confronted by a student on her gender identity teachings, saying the termination was done with “good cause.”
www.texastribune.org
December 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
“Went viral” is an old stock phrase in journalism that really does not capture the dynamic of how X dot Com has been tuned to give people like the one specific legislator here the power to intentionally cause this kind of outcome
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Be careful out there in the Yule Void, everyone
December 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Be careful out there in the Yule Void, everyone
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
I say his gently, but…
There’s something unspeakably shameful The United States letting people go hungry.
Not because its government doesn’t fix it —
but because tomorrow a few private Americans could, and never notice the cost.
That’s the part that sits wrong.
There’s something unspeakably shameful The United States letting people go hungry.
Not because its government doesn’t fix it —
but because tomorrow a few private Americans could, and never notice the cost.
That’s the part that sits wrong.
December 26, 2025 at 7:08 AM
I say his gently, but…
There’s something unspeakably shameful The United States letting people go hungry.
Not because its government doesn’t fix it —
but because tomorrow a few private Americans could, and never notice the cost.
That’s the part that sits wrong.
There’s something unspeakably shameful The United States letting people go hungry.
Not because its government doesn’t fix it —
but because tomorrow a few private Americans could, and never notice the cost.
That’s the part that sits wrong.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
December 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
If, like me, you did NOT get the ONE thing you wanted from Santy (a 95-year-old bachelor farmer with plenty land and a bad cough), treat yourself to a print from an Irish doodler instead - big discounts across the shop, including on bundles, so go on. Go on go on go ON.
www.ciaraioch.com/artprints
www.ciaraioch.com/artprints
December 26, 2025 at 9:16 AM
If, like me, you did NOT get the ONE thing you wanted from Santy (a 95-year-old bachelor farmer with plenty land and a bad cough), treat yourself to a print from an Irish doodler instead - big discounts across the shop, including on bundles, so go on. Go on go on go ON.
www.ciaraioch.com/artprints
www.ciaraioch.com/artprints