Joe Winter
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joeventures.bsky.social
Joe Winter
@joeventures.bsky.social
120 followers 250 following 550 posts
Atlanta-ish. BBA Business. BS Urban Policy Studies. Now in Software. Random thoughts are my own and not necessarily my opinions, or yours.
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joeventures.bsky.social
From a friend, regarding the Georgia Public Service Commission election results. I think this analysis is correct. Georgia Dems still have a lot of work to do.
Do not take the PSC election yesterday as some kind of "Wave Event". It was not about the "D" or the "R" beside the name. It was about the "I". If the Votgle debacle has taught us anything, it's that for decades, the Southern Company has managed the PSC instead of the PSC managing the Southern Company. This was an anti-incumbent vote to restore some necessary balance to the commission. If there is a "Wave event" in Georgia, it will happen in 2026.
November 5, 2025 at 4:23 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
More on Atlanta races: for Post 1 at-large, Michael Julian Bond should not have performed this well. But opponents of the public safety training facility, a.k.a. Cop City, should have considered this race in particular their highest priority. Did they even try?
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
In other news, precincts haven't started reporting their voting day results yet, but the Atlanta race I most expected to see go to a runoff might not. Amir Farokhi is an old friend of mine, but I think he went a different direction than his campaign promises, and I kind of hope voters noticed.
November 5, 2025 at 5:09 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Looks like now the votes are all in, and it's not as close as one vote, but still very close. Looks like Thunder will continue rolling like it's still the 20th century.
November 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Not sure if all the votes are in yet, but wow @samformarietta.bsky.social, congrats for giving Old Scarietta a run for his money!
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Oof.. the answers to this question. Folks don't know the impact of zoning and opposition from the neighbors.
HOUSING: Which of the following is the main reason for the housing affordability problems some people in the metro Atlanta area are now facing? Answers: Investors are buying properties to rent out: 35.3% Existing residents are opposed to building affordable housing in their neighborhoods: 7.6% Developers are building units that are too expensive: 44.0% Local zoning laws don't allow for enough housing to be built: 4.3% Other: 3.9% DK/NA: 5.0%
October 24, 2025 at 7:43 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
The SNL version of Trump standing behind Trump
October 11, 2025 at 1:20 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Trump: "The elitists are saying I should stay away from the beach. What do you think?"

Advisor: "My people on the inside tell me the waves are just a foot high."
New York Times report: "The National Weather Service warned that the height of tsunami waves can't be easily compared with the height of standard surf because of the depth of the waves. "A one-foot wave can have an incredible amount of energy," it said on social media. "They cause issues similar to large tides and large storm surge: i.e. coastal flooding and dramatic water level changes in harbors."
July 30, 2025 at 10:01 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Two posts that appeared one right after the other on my timeline, thanks to the magic of reposting. Say what you will about echo chambers, but if I were following only right wing accounts and media, I wouldn't be exposed even to this variety of takes. And there are more than these two, re: flooding.
A post from 9 hours ago: "Texas officials appeared to be almost entirely issuing vital emergency alerts about the deadly Kerr County flooding via Facebook and Twitter/X. Utter malpractice to restrict these alerts to social media platforms that huge numbers of people don't use anymore. A post from 18 hours ago: "There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods -- but that's simply not true..."
July 6, 2025 at 10:15 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
What actor’s expression in a movie will stay with you the rest of your life?
A frame of John Lithgow's eyes bulging out of his head in fear, from Twilight Zone: the Movie.
June 26, 2025 at 11:24 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
How much more brazen does the rhetoric get?
Headline from Axios: "Florida attorney general calls for deportation of U.S. congresswoman. (2 days ago) -- Florida Attorney General James Utmeier called for the deportation of a U.S. congresswoman for criticizing President Trump's military parade
June 20, 2025 at 2:33 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
As glad as I am that these got caught and sent straight to the spam folder, these people manage to keep accumulating more phone numbers so they can avoid getting caught for one more day. I know engagement is hard, but this is not engagement.
Screenshot of "spam and blocked" text messages. They're all from political campaigns.
June 18, 2025 at 11:36 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
This is not to mention how little we appreciate preventative measures. bsky.app/profile/goli...
A search for "CDC closed China office" yields two results: stories from Reuters about key staffing cuts to the CDC's China office before the outbreak of COVID.
May 1, 2025 at 12:04 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Canada's Liberal Party comeback was more a matter of circumstance than good politics. This is their one opportunity to prove themselves out loud and not screw it up.
April 29, 2025 at 1:11 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
A screenshot from footage taken by @bluestein.bsky.social at MTG's town hall today shows that MTG can't fill a small conference ballroom within her own district. In contrast, AOC can go just about anywhere in the country and attract tens of thousands of people.
Several rows of chairs in a conference hall ballroom, with approximately 40% of the seats empty.
April 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
A lot of social science theories could probably be rebutted by Douglas Adams.
Quoting Douglas Adams: "There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovered exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
April 7, 2025 at 10:21 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
Shout-out to all those "American people" who insisted he was joking about what he said he was going to do.
From an article at https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/thousands-turn-out-across-metro-atlanta-protest-against-presidential-policies/57LWK6CKSFDFJL56QRYM64VVUM/ Josh McKoon, the Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party told Channel 2's Eryn Rogers that he respects people's right to free speech. However, he said there are no surprises in the president's agenda. "This president has been remarkably frank and transparent about what his agenda would be if elected, and he is very systematically implementing that agenda," McKoon said. "This is what the American people voted for."
April 6, 2025 at 10:23 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
The reigning elitists: once the neoliberals, soon the neofeudalists.
A brief clip from the movie "Trading Places" where Randolph and Mortimer Duke are laughing. There is a subtitle that says "Condescending laughter ensues..."
April 3, 2025 at 2:22 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
My vote here in this conversation is for Hilary.
A link to an article posted on Facebook, with the headline, "Bernie Sanders is drawing record crowds as he pushes Democrats to 'fight oligarchy'." A photo accompanying the article shows two people as part of a much larger crowd of people in an arena, where an illuminated sign reads, "fight oligarchy." A description of the article is above the photo: "Sen. Bernie Sanders has emerged as a leading voice for voters opposed to President Trump's rapid push to dismantle the federal government -- and frustrated with the Democratic Party's response. Two comments in response to the article in the other photo. The first comment is from Jeff: "Their banners should say "Fight MAGA". What they're doing is leaving open the door to attack Democrats that they don't like. This is how we lost in 2016 and 2024. The second comment is from Hilary, in response to Jeff: "the message on the banners is fine; but Democrats do need to learn from past mistakes and not squabble between each other apart from healthy debate. Back whoever resonates with the most voters and not nitpick each other to death."
March 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
Me, meanwhile, one point short of genius. Story of my life. 😔
A screen capture from the NYT Spelling Bee game shows a score of 98, which is in the "amazing" range.
March 8, 2025 at 2:26 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
Let's all remember what Trump said here: "I don't want advantage, I want peace." That's very revealing. He's okay with surrendering to the Russians for the sake of "peace." Which is not peace. It's just a surrender.
A Truth Social "statement" post from Donald Trump reads: "We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It's amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace." The post has 10.2k "ReTruths" and 42.4k Likes. A timestamp on the post reads Feb 28, 2025, 1:16 PM.
February 28, 2025 at 8:13 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
I'm not a big fan of memes. But sometimes I look at them and think to myself how fun it would be to turn some of them into postcards and distributed through mass mailings and free postcard bins.
An older man with a big mustache, wearing a cowboy hat and vaguely cowboy-looking clothes, sitting at the bar in a bowling alley. He's looking at someone to his right in a way like they're crazy. This is a meme and it makes it look like the guy is saying, "You elected a billionaire that is appointing other billionaires to fix the system that made them billionaires? You're a special kind of stupid aren't you?"
February 28, 2025 at 2:29 AM
joeventures.bsky.social
I had a similar thought a few years ago. The closest anyone got to identifying the name of this logical fallacy was "Credo quia absurdum."
A Facebook post by Joe Winter, March 8, 2022: "Is there a name for the logical fallacy that a counterintuitive conclusion must be correct because it is counterintuitive?" The post has 21 comments.
February 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
It's not just that people cared about egg and gasoline prices. Republicans employed simple tactics to remind people of these things that helped build a perception that the crisis was still real even after it was resolved.
A sticker with Joe Biden's photo. Biden is pointing to the left, and the words "I did that!" are underneath his image. To the left of the sticker, a reading from a gas dispenser showing $67 for 20.813 gallons of gas.
January 28, 2025 at 4:57 PM
joeventures.bsky.social
Political marketing is so fucked up.
A screenshot of a form to unsubscribe from emails from BlueWaveAmerica. There is one form field, with the label "Please tell us why you are leaving (optional)." In the field, I wrote, "I never signed up for this. Please learn the value of giving people the space to opt in. That might help you stop losing so many elections."
January 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM