Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, not a fan of gerontocracy generally.

But the nature of the risk for swing seats is meaningfully different vs safe seats. There is a 0% chance Vermont would elect an R to replace Bernie, while an open election in Maine could easily swing either way.

Haunted by the Ghost of RBG...

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 1d

What are the odds that you'll be alive in a year?

The publicly-available Social Security Administration actuarial tables can be... grounding... to review from time to time.

www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/t...

www.ssa.gov

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 1d

Actuarial realism needs to be part of folks' calculations.

The odds of a 79 y/o woman dying in the next year are 4%, according the the SSA. Spread that escalating % over a 6 year term, and the odds of losing an incumbent in a swing district mid-term are significant.

www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/t...

www.ssa.gov

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 1d

Such people are why I am usually packing a collapsible baton when I take my preschooler to the park...

Arepa Auntie @breadbae.blacksky.app · 2d

Why do people insist on letting their dogs run off leash in the city! You never know what anybody else’s dog will do or if somebody will harm your dog.
Plus the amount of garbage thrown out and dogs eat anything.

Reposted by Matt Cropp

laboratoryb.bsky.social @laboratoryb.bsky.social · 2d

Note: Due to a critical mass of core volunteers participating in the No Kings march on Saturday, we'll be running the ONE Repair Cafe from 2pm-6pm rather than 11am-3pm this month.

Location as always is 12 North Street. #BTV #VT #Vermont #BurlingtonVT

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 4d

"Permanent Real Estate Cooperative" is one model. Basically a consumer co-op real estate holding company.

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

Boo-rian @ahugebird.bsky.social · 4d

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 4d

Guy who complains about Mastodon posts being called "toots" from the "skeets" website.

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 4d

#Meshtastic Day 1: I just got a fun little radio! I wonder who else is out there?

Meshtastic Day 100: *mounts a 25' flagpole on my deck in a quixotic bid to reach Montreal from Vermont*

Pic of flagpole on my deck topped with a hacked solar node.

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

Neil Flanagan 🧱🗃️ @jgbollard.bsky.social · 4d

If this website ever gets ads:

SHOUTY FACE MAN

NO, YOU ARE WRONG!
This man is not complaining that he has A CORN on his toe, but is shouting: the
ACORN
They are the of Every
STOVE,
DELIGHT
Housewife

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 5d

Sell your stonks.

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 5d

Moved my only stonk market exposure (my kid's 529) out of stocks into bonds and cash a few days ago. Markets hitting ATHs while in screaming denial about the depth of the political-economic crisis we're in seems like a good time to take a lil break.

Enough lil breaks = a big break...

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

laboratoryb.bsky.social @laboratoryb.bsky.social · 6d

Hey #BTV, come hand out with us at our weekly public hours. Every Thursday night (including tonight) fro 7p to at least 9p, usually later.

#vt #Vermont #BurlingtonVT

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

Andrew M @gudspeeler.myatproto.social · 6d

The Democrats have to focus on healthcare above all else. Most of them don't have spines which is a serious medical condition.

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 7d

Subsidizing home ownership as the primary site of wealth-building for Americans of limited means has, over time, shown itself to be a disastrous, contradiction-riddled policy.

The focus needs to be on broadening ownership of the actual generators of economic wealth: business enterprises.

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 8d

Can't *legally* strike.

The history of American labor progress is a history of wildcat strikes.

The public sector is one of the last bastions of union density in America; things will start moving quickly if the federal workforce decides that it will no longer tolerate the boot on its neck.

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 8d

Consider moving your 401k $$ out of index funds and into blue state municipal bond funds for a bit?

Capital strike against one of the most salient economic metrics by which many people judge the success or failure of a Presdency, while giving folks like Pritzker more fiscal room to maneuver.

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 8d

I wish there was a simple way to divest retirement $$ into Vermont municipal and State bonds.

Some bigger states like Mass have specific funds you can buy, but Vermont is not currently in that bucket...

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 10d

FTR, I love Mastodon, and it will probably be one of the last sustainably free spaces as the crackdowns deepens.

But, lol.

ghost malone ergo propter malone @proptermalone.bsky.social · 11d

I’m the guy who is fleeing platforms for Mastodon because I hate mod drama

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 10d

I am happy the no kings protest is happening but it is fundamentally insufficient. This isn’t something solved with a civil mass protest once every 3 months. It needs to blow up into something bigger and we need national democratic leadership to organize with these movements and local groups.

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

Firestorm Books @firestorm.coop · 10d

Our friends at Carolina Common Enterprise are transitioning from a traditional nonprofit to a worker self-managed cooperative! Pitch in to support the future of cooperative ecosystem development in the Carolinas. givebutter.com/c/CCEBetterW...

Building Cooperatives for a New World

Carolina Common Enterprise Needs You — Help Us Relaunch!

givebutter.com

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 12d

They say beer is recession-proof but they never said anything about $23 four-packs of blowout juice

meme. one m&m talking to another, which is laid out on the ground. the first says "are you ok?" the second says "no i paid a lot for bad ipas"

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Reposted by Matt Cropp

ᴘʀesɪᴅeɴᴛ ʙeʟᴠeᴅeʀe ᴡoʀᴍᴡɪᴛᴄʜ @wormwitch.bzky.team · 14d

wait is THAT the strategy? alienate the most prominent keystone & tech-inclined demo by subtly fanning and seeding an intrinsically hostile environment so they will leave to build their own and adopt atproto to do it?

perhaps i have misjudged you Jay, perhaps i did not recognize your game.

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Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 11d

Decided now's the time to blow the dandelion, I see(d)...

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 14d

It would be wild if someone would build a social site where you could migrate away without losing all your connections if you didn't like the owner. Maybe even host your account on your own box, at home, so you could switch apps seamlessly or build your own. I think that would improve society.

Matt Cropp @mattcropp.bsky.social · 11d

Lake is low. #btv

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