Alex Hiniker
@hiniker.bsky.social
Disarmament fan after working with landmine and cluster bomb clearance programs in Cambodia, Laos, and Lebanon.
Syria also has a place in my heart.
I dig public transit and local government, too.
Proudly from PG County. Now in Pittsburgh.
Syria also has a place in my heart.
I dig public transit and local government, too.
Proudly from PG County. Now in Pittsburgh.
I think the Baltic states know all of this to be true of landmines. They're just desperate to seem as if they're doing something on Ukraine, even if they know it will harm civilians. They admit as much in private. A pity they stoop to Russia's level after working so hard to leave their Soviet past.
Thoughtful @icrc.org commentary outlining not only the enduring humanitarian imperative for the Mine Ban Treaty, but also the operational, economic, and security-related considerations which render AP mines obsolete in modern conflict
blogs.icrc.org/law-and-poli...
blogs.icrc.org/law-and-poli...
Do anti-personnel mines still have military utility in modern warfare? - Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog
Five States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention have recently submitted instruments of withdrawal, citing national security and military necessity, while at least one other has taken ste...
blogs.icrc.org
November 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I think the Baltic states know all of this to be true of landmines. They're just desperate to seem as if they're doing something on Ukraine, even if they know it will harm civilians. They admit as much in private. A pity they stoop to Russia's level after working so hard to leave their Soviet past.
Over half the world's recorded cluster bomb casualties were in Ukraine last year. They'll continue to kill and injure for years to come unless they're cleared. Cluster bomb clearance is a long, slow, costly process. There are many needs across the globe. They should never be used in the first place.
Last year, 314 casualties from these bombs were registered worldwide, of which 193 were Ukrainians. This is stated in the annual report of the CMC – Cluster Munition Coalition.
November 27, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Over half the world's recorded cluster bomb casualties were in Ukraine last year. They'll continue to kill and injure for years to come unless they're cleared. Cluster bomb clearance is a long, slow, costly process. There are many needs across the globe. They should never be used in the first place.
I used to facilitate these exchanges for the NYC Mayor's Office for International Affairs in de Blasio's (imperfect) administration. I'm bummed Adams undermined them with his terrible international engagement decisions, and hope Mamdani revives meaningful efforts for NYC to learn from others.
Guys, stop pretending that Mamdani was the only Mayor meeting with high-level officials today.
November 27, 2025 at 1:32 AM
I used to facilitate these exchanges for the NYC Mayor's Office for International Affairs in de Blasio's (imperfect) administration. I'm bummed Adams undermined them with his terrible international engagement decisions, and hope Mamdani revives meaningful efforts for NYC to learn from others.
I'm ready to run as the humanitarian disarmament mom.
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I'm ready to run as the humanitarian disarmament mom.
"While the world gathers a decade after the Paris Climate Accords were first signed, the single largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gasses—the US military—continues to expand its carbon footprint unchecked."
www.thenation.com/article/envi...
www.thenation.com/article/envi...
Wake Up and Smell the Oil. Your Nation’s Military Is Hiding Its Pollution From You.
A fact all but ignored at COP30.
www.thenation.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:21 AM
"While the world gathers a decade after the Paris Climate Accords were first signed, the single largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gasses—the US military—continues to expand its carbon footprint unchecked."
www.thenation.com/article/envi...
www.thenation.com/article/envi...
Reposted by Alex Hiniker
NEW for @inkstickmedia.com: I spoke with former Human Rights Campaign employees & activists with @genderlib.com @adalahjustice.bsky.social about the 2-year campaign for America's largest LGBT advocacy group to divest from the arms manufacturer Northrop Grumman. inkstickmedia.com/largest-lgbt...
Largest LGBTQ+ Rights Group in US Parts with Arms Manufacturers
Following two years of activist pressure, Human Rights Campaign is not sponsored by the weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
inkstickmedia.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
NEW for @inkstickmedia.com: I spoke with former Human Rights Campaign employees & activists with @genderlib.com @adalahjustice.bsky.social about the 2-year campaign for America's largest LGBT advocacy group to divest from the arms manufacturer Northrop Grumman. inkstickmedia.com/largest-lgbt...
Reposted by Alex Hiniker
Factsheet updated with yesterday's U.S.-Saudi news as MBS visits White House and attends state dinner. Strategic Defense Agreement and US to sell F-35s and ~300 tanks. Saudi-Arabia to be made major non-NATO ally. www.forumarmstrade.org/us-saudi-arm...
November 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Factsheet updated with yesterday's U.S.-Saudi news as MBS visits White House and attends state dinner. Strategic Defense Agreement and US to sell F-35s and ~300 tanks. Saudi-Arabia to be made major non-NATO ally. www.forumarmstrade.org/us-saudi-arm...
Walking to my next meeting staring at my phone with a goofy grin seeing that Lex has found a new home and that the first article is an excellent one.
my first story @theintercept.com: organizers with @adalahjustice.bsky.social and @genderlib.com announced today that the Human Rights Campaign has ended its relationships with weapons manufacturers Northrop Grumman and Raytheon following years of protests and accusations of "pinkwashing"
Human Rights Campaign Rejects Weapons Company Sponsorships After Pressure Around Israel Genocide
LGBTQ+ group Human Rights Campaign ended sponsorships from arms firms Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, who profit off of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
theintercept.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Walking to my next meeting staring at my phone with a goofy grin seeing that Lex has found a new home and that the first article is an excellent one.
Reposted by Alex Hiniker
now that women have ruined the workplace we should just get rid of it
November 9, 2025 at 2:33 AM
now that women have ruined the workplace we should just get rid of it
(The DNC Vice Chair who could have been our Senator in Pennsylvania, but instead we got Fetterman.)
DNC Vice Chair calls Chuck Schumer's shutdown deal a "mistake"
November 9, 2025 at 9:35 PM
(The DNC Vice Chair who could have been our Senator in Pennsylvania, but instead we got Fetterman.)
Congrats to Daeja Baker for being elected to the Shaler School board! I have full faith your [sic] not going to marginalize the people who [sic] you consider not to be marginalized by representing the marginalized.
'When you say your only going to represent the marginalized, you only end up marginalizing the people who you consider not to be marginalized.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
November 9, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Congrats to Daeja Baker for being elected to the Shaler School board! I have full faith your [sic] not going to marginalize the people who [sic] you consider not to be marginalized by representing the marginalized.
Mamdani is going to impose Shakira's law. No hips will be allowed to lie.
Mamdani is going to impose shangri-la law. Everyone will be blindfolded and forced to play Marco Polo
Mamdani gonna implement Shaaloani law. All disputes settled via shootout duels using non-lethal rounds with all the authenticity of a spaghetti western directed by Japanese anime enthusiasts.
(This is a timely Final Fantasy XIV reference)
(This is a timely Final Fantasy XIV reference)
November 9, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Mamdani is going to impose Shakira's law. No hips will be allowed to lie.
New documentary 'In Exile' spotlights global voices of Pittsburgh’s Scholars-at-Risk community
Co-directed by the award-winning Syrian filmmaker Reem Alghazzi and Carnegie Mellon University faculty member Ralph Vituccio
www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Co-directed by the award-winning Syrian filmmaker Reem Alghazzi and Carnegie Mellon University faculty member Ralph Vituccio
www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
New documentary 'In Exile' spotlights global voices of Pittsburgh’s Scholars-at-Risk community
"In Exile," premiering Friday at the Harris Theater, follows the journeys of artists who’ve escaped authoritarian regimes and found refuge and renewal through their art.
www.wesa.fm
November 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
New documentary 'In Exile' spotlights global voices of Pittsburgh’s Scholars-at-Risk community
Co-directed by the award-winning Syrian filmmaker Reem Alghazzi and Carnegie Mellon University faculty member Ralph Vituccio
www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
Co-directed by the award-winning Syrian filmmaker Reem Alghazzi and Carnegie Mellon University faculty member Ralph Vituccio
www.wesa.fm/arts-culture...
For those following elections in Allegheny County, here's the link you need:
results.enr.clarityelections.com/PA/Allegheny...
results.enr.clarityelections.com/PA/Allegheny...
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM
For those following elections in Allegheny County, here's the link you need:
results.enr.clarityelections.com/PA/Allegheny...
results.enr.clarityelections.com/PA/Allegheny...
Bolts is great for elections so now's a good time to follow, but I also appreciate their insight throughout the year (which is what makes their elections coverage so insightful).
And I just signed up for $10 a month, which means they get $120. And we all get superb journalism.
And I just signed up for $10 a month, which means they get $120. And we all get superb journalism.
Do you want to support our work at Bolts? Sign up as a $5 monthly donor today, & we’ll immediately get $60 in matching funds!
That’s right: The NewsMatch program, which launched on November 1, is multiplying all new monthly subscriptions by 12 right now.
That’s right: The NewsMatch program, which launched on November 1, is multiplying all new monthly subscriptions by 12 right now.
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Bolts is great for elections so now's a good time to follow, but I also appreciate their insight throughout the year (which is what makes their elections coverage so insightful).
And I just signed up for $10 a month, which means they get $120. And we all get superb journalism.
And I just signed up for $10 a month, which means they get $120. And we all get superb journalism.
Reposted by Alex Hiniker
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
This, combined with getting Mamdani's age wrong (saying he's 27 instead of 34, though he later corrected that), is some sort of weird ongoing (intentional?) misreading of how politics and elections work. It's not rocket science. There is some bizarre refusal to accept that young people can do stuff.
Todd Zwillich on NPR gets it all wrong on Mamdani. Mamdani's popularity is not remarkable because of his online presence (great as it is), it's because he is getting people out to knock doors. That's what @aoc.bsky.social did in 2018 and it's why her win wasn't surprising to anyone in her district.
October 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
This, combined with getting Mamdani's age wrong (saying he's 27 instead of 34, though he later corrected that), is some sort of weird ongoing (intentional?) misreading of how politics and elections work. It's not rocket science. There is some bizarre refusal to accept that young people can do stuff.
Todd Zwillich on NPR gets it all wrong on Mamdani. Mamdani's popularity is not remarkable because of his online presence (great as it is), it's because he is getting people out to knock doors. That's what @aoc.bsky.social did in 2018 and it's why her win wasn't surprising to anyone in her district.
October 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Todd Zwillich on NPR gets it all wrong on Mamdani. Mamdani's popularity is not remarkable because of his online presence (great as it is), it's because he is getting people out to knock doors. That's what @aoc.bsky.social did in 2018 and it's why her win wasn't surprising to anyone in her district.
I made a raccoon pumpkin in honor of the new Rainbow Raccoon Park in my town, but the raccoons ate its face overnight.
October 30, 2025 at 1:25 AM
I made a raccoon pumpkin in honor of the new Rainbow Raccoon Park in my town, but the raccoons ate its face overnight.
Reposted by Alex Hiniker
When SNAP runs out on Nov. 1st, hundreds of thousands of people in Pittsburgh and across SWPA will struggle to afford food. I compiled (with the help of community members) a non-exhaustive list of where people can find help, including sites in Pittsburgh & outer counties.
Please spread this.
Please spread this.
Here's where to get help with food in southwestern Pennsylvania
When SNAP benefits expire because of the federal government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of Western Pennsylvanians will struggle to afford food.
www.cbsnews.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:59 PM
When SNAP runs out on Nov. 1st, hundreds of thousands of people in Pittsburgh and across SWPA will struggle to afford food. I compiled (with the help of community members) a non-exhaustive list of where people can find help, including sites in Pittsburgh & outer counties.
Please spread this.
Please spread this.
Hooray for local government! What a delight to see NYC's Local Law 97 (2019) getting a shoutout during this New York Botanical Gardens presentation at the Phipps Climate Toolkit conference here in Pittsburgh.
October 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Hooray for local government! What a delight to see NYC's Local Law 97 (2019) getting a shoutout during this New York Botanical Gardens presentation at the Phipps Climate Toolkit conference here in Pittsburgh.
"The decision to fire live artillery shells from the oceanfront training area was described as unusual by an active-duty Marine artillery officer."
I know a lot of unexploded ordnance experts and "unusual" is exponentially more diplomatic than what they'd say.
I know a lot of unexploded ordnance experts and "unusual" is exponentially more diplomatic than what they'd say.
A shell prematurely blew up on Saturday during a military event in California. Debris fell onto California Highway Patrol vehicles near a major freeway that had been ordered closed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had warned that the plans to fire shells over Interstate 5 could pose hazards for motorists.
Shell Detonated Over Interstate 5 During Marines Event, California Officials Say
The mishap, during an anniversary celebration for the Marine Corps attended by the vice president and defense secretary, underscores safety concerns that Gov. Gavin Newsom voiced before Saturday’s event at Camp Pendleton.
nyti.ms
October 20, 2025 at 12:18 AM
"The decision to fire live artillery shells from the oceanfront training area was described as unusual by an active-duty Marine artillery officer."
I know a lot of unexploded ordnance experts and "unusual" is exponentially more diplomatic than what they'd say.
I know a lot of unexploded ordnance experts and "unusual" is exponentially more diplomatic than what they'd say.
'When you say your only going to represent the marginalized, you only end up marginalizing the people who you consider not to be marginalized.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
October 19, 2025 at 7:48 PM
'When you say your only going to represent the marginalized, you only end up marginalizing the people who you consider not to be marginalized.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
All our students have needs and their needs shall not be ignored."
This is from a school board election mailer just outside of Pittsburgh.
D'Angelo at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens back in 2015 remains one of the top three concerts of my lifetime.
There is no photo evidence because everyone was too busy enjoying his immense talent.
RIP
www.wpxi.com/news/trendin...
There is no photo evidence because everyone was too busy enjoying his immense talent.
RIP
www.wpxi.com/news/trendin...
October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
D'Angelo at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens back in 2015 remains one of the top three concerts of my lifetime.
There is no photo evidence because everyone was too busy enjoying his immense talent.
RIP
www.wpxi.com/news/trendin...
There is no photo evidence because everyone was too busy enjoying his immense talent.
RIP
www.wpxi.com/news/trendin...
Reconnected with a college friend through Friendster [RIP] and attended their wedding, where I met someone who helped me get my first job in international development when I couldn't even get a response to other applications. Kickstarted a 20-year career in the field.
Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?
October 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reconnected with a college friend through Friendster [RIP] and attended their wedding, where I met someone who helped me get my first job in international development when I couldn't even get a response to other applications. Kickstarted a 20-year career in the field.