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Paul DiMilla

@pauldimilla.bsky.social

860 followers 530 following 1.5K posts

Ex-professor of engineering/chemistry & healthcare technology R&D professional. Native New Englander self-transplanted to PNW. Hiker/climber & climate-conscious gardener. Boston sports fan(atic). Cultivator & purveyor of a cornucopia of interests.

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Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · Mar 16

Been thinking about soccer's 2026 World Cup (to be co-hosted by the US/Canada/Mexico) & Los Angeles' 2028 Summer Olympics for a while: how can the gross chaos devolving since Trump took office not crush these events (which have enormous economic impacts, international visitors, & prestige)?

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · Mar 16

the entire U.S. tourism industry dependent on international travelers is in for a very shitty summer

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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 2d

The Trump administration is a fascist administration, but the United States is not yet a fascist state.

Total state capture takes time. Every obstacle we can present as individuals, groups, communities, and institutions helps slow that process.

Everything we do to resist matters. It ALL matters.

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Dark Laughter @darklaughtertdb.bsky.social · 5d

I suspect the next few weeks of living in a Dorothea Lange photo are going to shatter a lot of Americans' preconceptions about who's using SNAP and WIC.

Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

US Department of Agriculture says no food aid benefits will be issued next month reut.rs/3WohHMk

US Department of Agriculture says no food aid benefits will be issued next month

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Saturday that food benefits under one of the country's biggest social assistance programs will not be issued next month amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.

reut.rs

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Andy Kostrub @andrewkostrub.bsky.social · 8d

Updating my LEGO White House

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 9d

If the National Guard is really in D.C. to protect federal
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 13d

Take note of all these people turning out for protests in small towns in red states.

Remember them the next time you’re inclined to write an area off because “they voted for this.”

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Adam Rogers @jetjocko.bsky.social · 12d

“The Purdue student newspaper owns its own presses” is the sound of engines revving

Gabrielle Hecht has no more spoons @gabriellehecht.bsky.social · 13d

Purdue to the rescue of IU student newspaper, whose institution was attempting censorship. Details in alt!

Sara Whitmer
• • •
1h • 8
I'm sure many of you have heard by now that earlier this week, IU k*lled the print edition of its student paper, the IDS. The issue that was supposed to print this week contained criticism of the Whitten regime and IUs further slide into scist control, and they couldn't allow that to happen during Homecoming, when all the rich alumni are in town.
Enter Purdue! The Purdue student paper, The Exponent, owns its own presses. Yesterday, in an act of tremendous solidarity with their biggest rival school, they printed the forbidden issue of the IDS. They then drove it to Bloomington overnight and stocked all of the IDS boxes on campus, just in time for Homecoming.
Solidarity is what makes us stronger, and solidarity will be what ultimately allows us to triumph, if we can ever truly get it together. I hope everyone has a fun, safe day if they're going out today, and I hope we can think about what acts of solidarity we can begin taking to really make this movement MOVE - beyond a permitted expression of upset into more active resistance.
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 13d

Laws are not self-executing. Is this an obvious Hatch Act violation? Of course. But without good men and women in government faithfully executing the laws, it doesn't matter.

When this is all over, assuming we still have a constitutional government, there needs to be an accounting.

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 13d

By my count: Of the 15 Departments of the US Government, 13 launched new BlueSky accounts tonight (all but Justice and HUD), and all 13 have posted explicitly partisan political posts blaming Democrats and/or Chuck Schumer for the government shutdown.

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14d

heartbroken to learn the pope sympathizes with the poor. how can i continue to believe in god

The Pope tweets: "The poor are not there by chance or by blind and cruel fate. Nor, for most of them, is poverty a choice. Yet, there are those who still presume to make this claim, thus revealing their own blindness and cruelty. #DilexiTe"

Someone replies: "I was so hopeful I could be a Catholic again after the disaster that Francis was, guess we just get Francis 2.0 now and I am heartbroken. How do I stay a Catholic now...I don't want to lose faith but I am. You belong to someone else, not God."

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nmerhar.bsky.social @nmerhar.bsky.social · 17d

Protest organizers are also recommending that you don't lean into antifa.

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 18d

In the last 70 years, federal jobs fell from 4.5% of all employment to below 2%.

Civil servants aren't what's driving government debt, and firing them won't address it.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1N1kt

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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 19d

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

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Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 20d

Welcome back monarchs on Sunday,
No kings next Saturday.
A sign like this should work for both.

THE ONLY ORANGE MONARCH I CARE ABOUT IS THE
BUTTERFLY

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Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 19d

Habitual grifters only know how to continue grifting, not a clue on why they might consider otherwise

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 20d

The entire American economy is being held hostage to the whims of a guy who doesn’t understand how the economy works

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Jennifer Molidor @jennifermolidor.bsky.social · 21d

Hanging onto every bit of good news

The river has come alive in the Klamath with wild Chinook salmon. The wider ecosystem is healing.

This most powerful story of Indigenous-led #rewilding after the largest dam removal in US history keeps getting better.

lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/oct/9/o...

One Year After Klamath Dam Removal, 'There's Just Fish Jumping All Over the Place': Scientists Describe Improvements to Water Quality and Wildlife

lostcoastoutpost.com

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Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 24d

"Officials are hoping for minimal impacts on travelers, but it's unclear what the extent of the impacts may be." Would a tragic crash or collision still count as "minimal", or is that perspective too "woke"?

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 24d

Burbank Airport air traffic control tower unmanned on Monday evening amid government shutdown

The air traffic tower at Burbank Airport is unmanned on Monday evening as air traffic controllers begin to call out in greater numbers due to the government shutdown.

abc7.com

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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 24d

Wait, they’re coming for my goddamn pasta now?!

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 25d

Italy trying to get US to call off mega tariff on imported pasta that will double prices for American consumers. Via Reuters

Rome calls on US to reconsider extra tariff on pasta imports

With almost $800 million in exports, the U.S. is one of Italy's top three export markets for pasta, a staple of the country's culinary heritage and a substantial export commodity.

www.reuters.com

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Josh Michtom @rsgat.bsky.social · 26d

Today, I drove an hour and a half with my wife and a couple friends to pick up a neighbor who was summarily, inexplicably arrested by ICE at a check-in ten days ago and then just as inexplicably released, 100 miles from home today. It was a happy occasion, all things considered, but...

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Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 26d

If more people had exercised merely their right to vote in the last election(s), we would have more time & freedom to focus on other important issues (e.g., how to cook lamb, whose cat is cuter, etc.).

Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 27d

Since when did this administration care about the Rule of Law?

Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 28d

I'm 1,500% sure.

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28d

"God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters - what will be our answer, my dear friends?"

Pope Leo hits out at critics of global warming

In his first major statement on climate change, the pontiff criticises those who minimise climate change.

www.bbc.com

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Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 29d

We'll never know (at least publicly), as the NFL truly cares only about one thing at the expense of all other issues (e.g., fan safety, CTE among its players, etc.): money.

Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · 29d

"No love lost" fits the ethos of the NK government perfectly.

Paul DiMilla @pauldimilla.bsky.social · Sep 30

Might want to add "distempered" to your description of the child's mind.