BluePointer
@bluepointer.bsky.social
Science, physics, and finance dweeb who views tariffs the way an MD views bloodletting or phrenology. Low Brass player & general fact knower. I build things and I write things. Reclaim Woke, and Slava Ukraini!
It’s the worst economy ever for recent college grads, particularly in the public-sector sciences: my girl was headed for NOAA or USGS… and those jobs are just gone gone gone. It’s nuts that we are giving up the next generation of talent, particularly when the stakes are so high for all of us.
December 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
It’s the worst economy ever for recent college grads, particularly in the public-sector sciences: my girl was headed for NOAA or USGS… and those jobs are just gone gone gone. It’s nuts that we are giving up the next generation of talent, particularly when the stakes are so high for all of us.
There’s a lot of WTF’ing going on in my house… of that you can be sure.
December 2, 2025 at 5:03 AM
There’s a lot of WTF’ing going on in my house… of that you can be sure.
One of my superpowers is I am a really good at an antique skill: reading. I read faster than anyone I’ve ever met. And… when I try to fix something like an old clock, I now wade through videos… which takes me forever to learn if the problem they are fixing is one I have. I miss the written word…
November 26, 2025 at 2:35 AM
One of my superpowers is I am a really good at an antique skill: reading. I read faster than anyone I’ve ever met. And… when I try to fix something like an old clock, I now wade through videos… which takes me forever to learn if the problem they are fixing is one I have. I miss the written word…
Aquehonga! (For my non-US friends, that’s a Scout camp.). And the Smeg machine is very narrow on the counter - ideal for a small kitchen. It does one thing really well and that’s the thing I need.
November 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Aquehonga! (For my non-US friends, that’s a Scout camp.). And the Smeg machine is very narrow on the counter - ideal for a small kitchen. It does one thing really well and that’s the thing I need.
Definite WTF moment: we will be back to duck and cover like when we were kids. Wasn’t non proliferation the whole idea behind the comprehensive test ban treaty? Wholly f@ck we are in a weird timeline.
October 30, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Definite WTF moment: we will be back to duck and cover like when we were kids. Wasn’t non proliferation the whole idea behind the comprehensive test ban treaty? Wholly f@ck we are in a weird timeline.
We are well past the “extrajudicial murders” page in the dictatorship manual. They’re deliberately probing boundaries, so each atrocity is a rehearsal for the next and larger atrocity. Waiting for someone in the party to have the courage to act for justice, but I expect to be waiting a long time.
October 19, 2025 at 10:07 PM
We are well past the “extrajudicial murders” page in the dictatorship manual. They’re deliberately probing boundaries, so each atrocity is a rehearsal for the next and larger atrocity. Waiting for someone in the party to have the courage to act for justice, but I expect to be waiting a long time.
Love this - thanks. And they include these two ladies of a certain age who had enough:
October 19, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Love this - thanks. And they include these two ladies of a certain age who had enough:
Love this… and have followed Todd a long time… seems like a guy who found his time and is just killing it up there. An inspiration to us folks living under privatized monarchy.
October 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Love this… and have followed Todd a long time… seems like a guy who found his time and is just killing it up there. An inspiration to us folks living under privatized monarchy.
… there will be trials. That’s what I tell myself.
October 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
… there will be trials. That’s what I tell myself.
It’s ugly because the game changed. While it’s undoubtedly working for someone (owners of platforms and/or sellers of HR bots), but it’s not working for either employees or hiring managers.
October 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM
It’s ugly because the game changed. While it’s undoubtedly working for someone (owners of platforms and/or sellers of HR bots), but it’s not working for either employees or hiring managers.
This whole system is broken: platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn drown corporate AI HR bots with drivel.So, we are told to use AI to write our resume to include buzzwords the AI likes, and the actual hiring managers are faced with the thousand fake people who made it through.
October 19, 2025 at 1:55 AM
This whole system is broken: platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn drown corporate AI HR bots with drivel.So, we are told to use AI to write our resume to include buzzwords the AI likes, and the actual hiring managers are faced with the thousand fake people who made it through.
My wife’s car sports a bumper sticker: “Got Polio? Neither do I. Thanks, Science!”
(Mine sports, in the manner of a MAGA sticker: “SCIENCE: Make America Smart Again”)
(Mine sports, in the manner of a MAGA sticker: “SCIENCE: Make America Smart Again”)
October 17, 2025 at 4:09 AM
My wife’s car sports a bumper sticker: “Got Polio? Neither do I. Thanks, Science!”
(Mine sports, in the manner of a MAGA sticker: “SCIENCE: Make America Smart Again”)
(Mine sports, in the manner of a MAGA sticker: “SCIENCE: Make America Smart Again”)
Make sure you and all your friends vote in the next elections - we need more scientific thinkers in the mix!
October 17, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Make sure you and all your friends vote in the next elections - we need more scientific thinkers in the mix!
My only side effect from the MMR was… a cute bandaid from CVS. I had paid for an antibody titer, and didn’t mind paying $$$ for the test. The vaccine was cheap (~$2). And you can take it regardless of your residual immunity. Forget the old pediatrician papers: go get the MMR.
October 17, 2025 at 4:03 AM
My only side effect from the MMR was… a cute bandaid from CVS. I had paid for an antibody titer, and didn’t mind paying $$$ for the test. The vaccine was cheap (~$2). And you can take it regardless of your residual immunity. Forget the old pediatrician papers: go get the MMR.
I wrote a position paper on a technical topic for work, and since I write quickly (a habit when on task), everyone figured I used AI. There was no grade involved, and in the end no one cared. But still it sucked to be me: I am good at this! To be compared to a machine was… uncomfortable.
October 17, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I wrote a position paper on a technical topic for work, and since I write quickly (a habit when on task), everyone figured I used AI. There was no grade involved, and in the end no one cared. But still it sucked to be me: I am good at this! To be compared to a machine was… uncomfortable.
Are you a late-ish boomer who got Measles vax in the late ‘60’s or early 70’s (probably in school with one of those pneumatic guns)? Go to CVS and get the MMR. Do it today. Your immunity is probably zilch, as mine was. (Spend $200 for a test, or $2 for a shot… both work.)
October 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Are you a late-ish boomer who got Measles vax in the late ‘60’s or early 70’s (probably in school with one of those pneumatic guns)? Go to CVS and get the MMR. Do it today. Your immunity is probably zilch, as mine was. (Spend $200 for a test, or $2 for a shot… both work.)
In more news, water is wet, gravity sucks, and… well, no one who needs to know how tariffs work, actually does. The propaganda job was magnificent, in a way: pure BS repeated on blast. A hugely regressive tax on the poors, so the ollies can run away with more pie: they get a country that we pay for.
October 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
In more news, water is wet, gravity sucks, and… well, no one who needs to know how tariffs work, actually does. The propaganda job was magnificent, in a way: pure BS repeated on blast. A hugely regressive tax on the poors, so the ollies can run away with more pie: they get a country that we pay for.
… effect of, well, trying to be less of an a$&hole. If everyone tried to be less of a jerk, we’d be living in an entirely different world. Heartfelt thanks for being brave enough to share your journey and…sorry for texts as long as an email (my native mode of communication is the term paper.)
October 12, 2025 at 4:11 AM
… effect of, well, trying to be less of an a$&hole. If everyone tried to be less of a jerk, we’d be living in an entirely different world. Heartfelt thanks for being brave enough to share your journey and…sorry for texts as long as an email (my native mode of communication is the term paper.)
…try to be less of an a$$hole: quicker to listen, slower to anger, and less dismissive of people who I didn’t immediately “get.” More tolerant. And - after 30+ years I’ve gotten better at it. I started as a “let them eat sand” conservative, and am now progressive AF… which is a positive side /4
October 12, 2025 at 4:07 AM
…try to be less of an a$$hole: quicker to listen, slower to anger, and less dismissive of people who I didn’t immediately “get.” More tolerant. And - after 30+ years I’ve gotten better at it. I started as a “let them eat sand” conservative, and am now progressive AF… which is a positive side /4
… and once seen, you can then develop tools to make better choices: as my guy said, it’s like building a surfboard or a boat to ride those waves. Most people consider me kind, which is a something I treasure. But it comes through work: in my case, it was a deliberate effort to /3
October 12, 2025 at 4:04 AM
… and once seen, you can then develop tools to make better choices: as my guy said, it’s like building a surfboard or a boat to ride those waves. Most people consider me kind, which is a something I treasure. But it comes through work: in my case, it was a deliberate effort to /3
What was done to us, good and bad, is part of us…and what we choose to take from that is what determines our character. I was in therapy once and learned that we all have these waves that batter us to and fro, and no amount of therapy can change that… but once you see a thing, it’s hard to unsee /2
October 12, 2025 at 4:02 AM
What was done to us, good and bad, is part of us…and what we choose to take from that is what determines our character. I was in therapy once and learned that we all have these waves that batter us to and fro, and no amount of therapy can change that… but once you see a thing, it’s hard to unsee /2