Matt Johnson
@mattjohnsonhtx.bsky.social
| Architecture, Environment, Infrastructure |
| Assoc Prof of Architecture https://www.uh.edu/architecture/
| Houston Genetic City https://actar.com/product/houston-genetic-city/
| Assoc Prof of Architecture https://www.uh.edu/architecture/
| Houston Genetic City https://actar.com/product/houston-genetic-city/
Reposted by Matt Johnson
I have lived and worked in and around Chicago for 27 years and I have been assaulted less often than Sen Paul has been in his own back yard.
September 28, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I have lived and worked in and around Chicago for 27 years and I have been assaulted less often than Sen Paul has been in his own back yard.
Reposted by Matt Johnson
I genuinely think part of the current political dynamic is that a lot of Dems -- especially your typical educated, affluent city-dwellers -- simply can't believe what's going on. Even though it's right there on the TV, right there in the streets, it's hard to shake the feeling of unreality.
Kristi Noem says the administration is "going from city to city around this country and pressuring these politicians to get on board with keeping their people safe. What is going to be the story here in Washington can happen in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco ... "
August 26, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I genuinely think part of the current political dynamic is that a lot of Dems -- especially your typical educated, affluent city-dwellers -- simply can't believe what's going on. Even though it's right there on the TV, right there in the streets, it's hard to shake the feeling of unreality.
Reposted by Matt Johnson
NEW: Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show.
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations
A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics…
www.propublica.org
June 30, 2025 at 11:45 AM
NEW: Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show.
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
Reposted by Matt Johnson
The energy provisions in the Republicans' One Big Horrible Bill are truly so bad! Who wants this? The country's automakers don't want it. Electric utilities don't want it. Data center developers don't want it. Manufacturers in energy intensive industries don't want it. 🔌💡
June 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The energy provisions in the Republicans' One Big Horrible Bill are truly so bad! Who wants this? The country's automakers don't want it. Electric utilities don't want it. Data center developers don't want it. Manufacturers in energy intensive industries don't want it. 🔌💡
Reposted by Matt Johnson
MERZ: Tomorrow is the D Day anniversary, when the Americans ended a war in Europe
TRUMP: That was not a pleasant day for you? This is not a great day
MERZ: This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship
TRUMP: That was not a pleasant day for you? This is not a great day
MERZ: This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship
June 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
MERZ: Tomorrow is the D Day anniversary, when the Americans ended a war in Europe
TRUMP: That was not a pleasant day for you? This is not a great day
MERZ: This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship
TRUMP: That was not a pleasant day for you? This is not a great day
MERZ: This was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was once politely asked to leave a restaurant and it generated 100x as much handwringing from the media as this will
Heavily armed paramilitary forces stormed a local San Diego restaurant today, deployed stun grenades against a crowd of onlookers, and kidnapped a handful of kitchen workers.
May 31, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was once politely asked to leave a restaurant and it generated 100x as much handwringing from the media as this will
Reposted by Matt Johnson
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
A must read
May 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
Reposted by Matt Johnson
My politics in a headline:
May 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
My politics in a headline:
Reposted by Matt Johnson
The problem with forcing countries to create a new world without you is that once they've done so, they aren't going back
April 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The problem with forcing countries to create a new world without you is that once they've done so, they aren't going back
Reposted by Matt Johnson
I’m gonna say something that is going to sound crazy, but when has that ever stopped me from saying something publicly: there is a way in which the U.S. chucking its position in the world could actually fast-track energy transition. A few things that have me thinking this way 🧵
April 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I’m gonna say something that is going to sound crazy, but when has that ever stopped me from saying something publicly: there is a way in which the U.S. chucking its position in the world could actually fast-track energy transition. A few things that have me thinking this way 🧵
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Never forget that the chief complaint against Biden was “the economy is terrible.” You utter imbeciles
April 9, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Never forget that the chief complaint against Biden was “the economy is terrible.” You utter imbeciles
Reposted by Matt Johnson
At this rate MAGA will only be able to afford to rent the libs.
April 7, 2025 at 2:29 PM
At this rate MAGA will only be able to afford to rent the libs.
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Good day to remember that DOGE has already lost the US government at least half a trillion dollars this year alone. And likely more.
April 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Good day to remember that DOGE has already lost the US government at least half a trillion dollars this year alone. And likely more.
Many, many Americans simply have no idea how the government/economy actually function, much less its many small agencies. They vote based on id and gut and vibes, most of which they absorb in simplistic signals from a predatory media.
Vital to change this if we want democracy to continue.
Vital to change this if we want democracy to continue.
April 6, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Many, many Americans simply have no idea how the government/economy actually function, much less its many small agencies. They vote based on id and gut and vibes, most of which they absorb in simplistic signals from a predatory media.
Vital to change this if we want democracy to continue.
Vital to change this if we want democracy to continue.
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Petabytes of critical government research that is marked for possible deletion cannot be archived because of technical and legal restrictions, meaning it is very likely to be lost forever:
www.404media.co/nih-archives...
www.404media.co/nih-archives...
Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever
Days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 HHS staffers would lose their jobs, a message appeared on NIH research repository sites saying they were "under review."
www.404media.co
April 4, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Petabytes of critical government research that is marked for possible deletion cannot be archived because of technical and legal restrictions, meaning it is very likely to be lost forever:
www.404media.co/nih-archives...
www.404media.co/nih-archives...
Reposted by Matt Johnson
“institutions with a high capacity for deploying physical force can be checked by individuals and organizations who produce nothing but messages.” www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
April 1, 2025 at 10:35 PM
“institutions with a high capacity for deploying physical force can be checked by individuals and organizations who produce nothing but messages.” www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
"What is needed, right now, today, is not particularly intellectual. Indeed, it is...more an exercise of social power than of academic virtue...an adversarial media bloc that is large and loud enough to credibly challenge the administration’s ability to act."
www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
Forming an Opposition Media Bloc in the Network Era
Media is a crucial tool for building solidarity among opposition to authoritarian rule.
www.liberalcurrents.com
March 30, 2025 at 2:57 AM
"What is needed, right now, today, is not particularly intellectual. Indeed, it is...more an exercise of social power than of academic virtue...an adversarial media bloc that is large and loud enough to credibly challenge the administration’s ability to act."
www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
www.liberalcurrents.com/forming-an-o...
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Jeffrey Goldberg thinking he was being pranked and then realizing he was actually just in the war plans group chat is such a good microcosm of how it feels to be alive right now, everything seems fake until you realize it’s actually real and incredibly stupid
March 24, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Jeffrey Goldberg thinking he was being pranked and then realizing he was actually just in the war plans group chat is such a good microcosm of how it feels to be alive right now, everything seems fake until you realize it’s actually real and incredibly stupid
Reposted by Matt Johnson
this stuff is happening across the country and even more intensively downstream of the veterans admin but it's happening in so many places at once and without any public notification that it's still only barely emerging in the news
A friend drove two hours today for her breast cancer chemotherapy only to learn it was canceled due to NIH cuts. Clinical trial ended midstream. No treatment, no restart, no plan, no information. Her bro-in-law's chemo was also canceled.
March 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
this stuff is happening across the country and even more intensively downstream of the veterans admin but it's happening in so many places at once and without any public notification that it's still only barely emerging in the news
In architecture circles we generally frown upon buildings that are glued together. It’s made me wonder how many other cars’ body panels are slapped on with just a “structural adhesive” (i.e. glue) versus being mechanically fastened. www.reuters.com/business/aut...
Tesla to recall more than 46,000 Cybertrucks due to exterior panel issue
Tesla is recalling 46,096 Cybertruck vehicles in the U.S. to fix an exterior panel that could detach while driving, the latest in a series of call-backs for the pickup truck since last year.
www.reuters.com
March 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
In architecture circles we generally frown upon buildings that are glued together. It’s made me wonder how many other cars’ body panels are slapped on with just a “structural adhesive” (i.e. glue) versus being mechanically fastened. www.reuters.com/business/aut...
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Who would shut down pediatric brain cancer research? Someone w/o our country’s best interests at heart. People making decisions for reasons other than their constituent well being. Country needs to wake up: it’s not JUST science, it’s how what’s happening to science portends broad authoritarian rule
March 15, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Who would shut down pediatric brain cancer research? Someone w/o our country’s best interests at heart. People making decisions for reasons other than their constituent well being. Country needs to wake up: it’s not JUST science, it’s how what’s happening to science portends broad authoritarian rule
Reposted by Matt Johnson
Been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately and based on everything I've looked at this logic is where I'm at with things. The movement back towards sanity should be wrapped in the flag. 🇺🇸
www.liberalcurrents.com/roadmap-to-a...
www.liberalcurrents.com/roadmap-to-a...
Roadmap to American Reconstruction
A roadmap for retaking power and laying the foundations for American Reconstruction.
www.liberalcurrents.com
March 12, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately and based on everything I've looked at this logic is where I'm at with things. The movement back towards sanity should be wrapped in the flag. 🇺🇸
www.liberalcurrents.com/roadmap-to-a...
www.liberalcurrents.com/roadmap-to-a...
Reposted by Matt Johnson
X + exodus means site slowly becomes more like Gab or Truth Social, a place where rightwing folks preach to choir. It’s a dynamic that’s been observed in cults and analogized to “evaporative cooling.” (Thanks to @ciphergoth.org for introducing me to the idea!) 3/ www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZQG9cw...
Evaporative Cooling of Group Beliefs — LessWrong
Early studiers of cults were surprised to discover that when cults receive a major shock—a prophecy fails to come true, a moral flaw of the founder i…
www.lesswrong.com
November 24, 2024 at 2:36 AM
X + exodus means site slowly becomes more like Gab or Truth Social, a place where rightwing folks preach to choir. It’s a dynamic that’s been observed in cults and analogized to “evaporative cooling.” (Thanks to @ciphergoth.org for introducing me to the idea!) 3/ www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZQG9cw...