Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
@bmortimer.bsky.social
This will not end well, redux
This piece is filled with valid and righteous anger and I recommend it for that alone.
What's unclear to me is how extensive the problem actually is and what the solves are. I presume "more money for schools" and "real accountability" are good starts but I dunno.
open.substack.com/pub/theargum...
What's unclear to me is how extensive the problem actually is and what the solves are. I presume "more money for schools" and "real accountability" are good starts but I dunno.
open.substack.com/pub/theargum...
When grades stop meaning anything
The UC San Diego math scandal is a warning
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
This piece is filled with valid and righteous anger and I recommend it for that alone.
What's unclear to me is how extensive the problem actually is and what the solves are. I presume "more money for schools" and "real accountability" are good starts but I dunno.
open.substack.com/pub/theargum...
What's unclear to me is how extensive the problem actually is and what the solves are. I presume "more money for schools" and "real accountability" are good starts but I dunno.
open.substack.com/pub/theargum...
As someone who is probably best classified at this point as a "moderate," I'm pretty fucking over politicians who moderate on tactics but stay left on policy.
Y'all. You're doing it backwards and you will be rewarded with perpetual minority rule.
Y'all. You're doing it backwards and you will be rewarded with perpetual minority rule.
November 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
As someone who is probably best classified at this point as a "moderate," I'm pretty fucking over politicians who moderate on tactics but stay left on policy.
Y'all. You're doing it backwards and you will be rewarded with perpetual minority rule.
Y'all. You're doing it backwards and you will be rewarded with perpetual minority rule.
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
We're turning our Seabird Sunday link roundups into a newsletter. Sign up for interesting and intriguing links from around the web sent to your inbox, all shared by our community of readers and writers at Seabird.
Introducing Tidings, our new newsletter rounding up interesting links shared by the Seabird community. If you've enjoyed our Sunday posts here on Bluesky, you'll want to subscribe! Look for our first edition this weekend.
tidings.seabirdreader.com
tidings.seabirdreader.com
Tidings from Seabird
Subscribe for roundups of the most interesting and intriguing links shared by our community on the Seabird app.
tidings.seabirdreader.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:56 PM
We're turning our Seabird Sunday link roundups into a newsletter. Sign up for interesting and intriguing links from around the web sent to your inbox, all shared by our community of readers and writers at Seabird.
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
Actually Frankenstein was the name of the scientist. I, the person correcting you on this trivial point, am the monster.
October 31, 2023 at 4:28 PM
Actually Frankenstein was the name of the scientist. I, the person correcting you on this trivial point, am the monster.
Only one thing on the ballot this Fall for Portland. A Portland Parks levy.
I waffled! It was a much closer call than I expected.
www.mortlandia.com/p/parks-on-t...
I waffled! It was a much closer call than I expected.
www.mortlandia.com/p/parks-on-t...
Parks on the ballot!
Do you love walkable, urban nature? Do you love property tax increases? Let's talk about it!
www.mortlandia.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Only one thing on the ballot this Fall for Portland. A Portland Parks levy.
I waffled! It was a much closer call than I expected.
www.mortlandia.com/p/parks-on-t...
I waffled! It was a much closer call than I expected.
www.mortlandia.com/p/parks-on-t...
I think this whole thread about Mamdani / communication is excellent but it's worth flagging: these are all bad ideas!
The challenge for everyone else is to have *good*, consumable, and fresh policy ideas and execute/communicate them as well as Mamdani.
The challenge for everyone else is to have *good*, consumable, and fresh policy ideas and execute/communicate them as well as Mamdani.
Also very important. Something that I would cite as key to Mamdani's success is how each campaign theme has a tangible, easy-to-understand policy proposal along with it: 1) free buses, 2) rent freeze 3) city owned grocery stores bsky.app/profile/bart...
Is the lesson that the talking points should actually be good instead of focus-grouped nonsense
October 17, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I think this whole thread about Mamdani / communication is excellent but it's worth flagging: these are all bad ideas!
The challenge for everyone else is to have *good*, consumable, and fresh policy ideas and execute/communicate them as well as Mamdani.
The challenge for everyone else is to have *good*, consumable, and fresh policy ideas and execute/communicate them as well as Mamdani.
Hi 👋,
Long time Taylor Swift fan here.
I don't think the new album is very good. That's ok. No shame in that. They can't all be Red or whatever.
Anyway, the discourse around her (both pro and con) is unhinged and completely divorced from the music and it makes me feel weird.
Long time Taylor Swift fan here.
I don't think the new album is very good. That's ok. No shame in that. They can't all be Red or whatever.
Anyway, the discourse around her (both pro and con) is unhinged and completely divorced from the music and it makes me feel weird.
October 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Hi 👋,
Long time Taylor Swift fan here.
I don't think the new album is very good. That's ok. No shame in that. They can't all be Red or whatever.
Anyway, the discourse around her (both pro and con) is unhinged and completely divorced from the music and it makes me feel weird.
Long time Taylor Swift fan here.
I don't think the new album is very good. That's ok. No shame in that. They can't all be Red or whatever.
Anyway, the discourse around her (both pro and con) is unhinged and completely divorced from the music and it makes me feel weird.
Did you hear that there are now Federal troops in Portland?
I, for one, don't find this concerning at all and decided to put together a friendly list of things that the locals would actually appreciate them trying to tackle while they are in town.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
I, for one, don't find this concerning at all and decided to put together a friendly list of things that the locals would actually appreciate them trying to tackle while they are in town.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
September 27, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Did you hear that there are now Federal troops in Portland?
I, for one, don't find this concerning at all and decided to put together a friendly list of things that the locals would actually appreciate them trying to tackle while they are in town.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
I, for one, don't find this concerning at all and decided to put together a friendly list of things that the locals would actually appreciate them trying to tackle while they are in town.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
I think a lot about the overlap between virtues like persistence and vices like stubbornness.
September 26, 2025 at 6:21 PM
I think a lot about the overlap between virtues like persistence and vices like stubbornness.
One way I can tell I'm getting older is that I like Tom Petty a lot more than I used to.
September 22, 2025 at 6:42 PM
One way I can tell I'm getting older is that I like Tom Petty a lot more than I used to.
New in Mortlandia! I dig in to the hottest trend in housing wonkery, and why you shouldn't expect Oregon to be out ahead on it anytime soon.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
Did Oregon drop the ball on Single Stair Reform?
It's time to get nerdy about building codes
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 9:32 PM
New in Mortlandia! I dig in to the hottest trend in housing wonkery, and why you shouldn't expect Oregon to be out ahead on it anytime soon.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
- Spoon w/ Crooked Fingers & Fiery Furnaces opening @ Middle East in Cambridge, MA
- Taylor Swift on the Speak Now tour
- Fall Out Boy opening for Catch-22 in Baltimore @ Fletcher's
- Arcade Fire @ University of Glasgow
- The Hold Steady changing a lyric based on a show @ Bowdoin College
- Taylor Swift on the Speak Now tour
- Fall Out Boy opening for Catch-22 in Baltimore @ Fletcher's
- Arcade Fire @ University of Glasgow
- The Hold Steady changing a lyric based on a show @ Bowdoin College
What is your biggest concert flex?
August 28, 2025 at 9:25 PM
- Spoon w/ Crooked Fingers & Fiery Furnaces opening @ Middle East in Cambridge, MA
- Taylor Swift on the Speak Now tour
- Fall Out Boy opening for Catch-22 in Baltimore @ Fletcher's
- Arcade Fire @ University of Glasgow
- The Hold Steady changing a lyric based on a show @ Bowdoin College
- Taylor Swift on the Speak Now tour
- Fall Out Boy opening for Catch-22 in Baltimore @ Fletcher's
- Arcade Fire @ University of Glasgow
- The Hold Steady changing a lyric based on a show @ Bowdoin College
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
Dearest Martha,
The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.
Yours in glaze,
The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.
Yours in glaze,
August 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Dearest Martha,
The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.
Yours in glaze,
The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.
Yours in glaze,
A Taylor Swift cover of Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" would be incredible.
July 25, 2025 at 2:30 AM
A Taylor Swift cover of Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" would be incredible.
Everyone's always talking about em-dashes but you know how y'all can tell my writing's always genuine? Two spaces after a motherfucking period.
July 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Everyone's always talking about em-dashes but you know how y'all can tell my writing's always genuine? Two spaces after a motherfucking period.
It's wild to me how bad this bill is.
It's even wilder to me that it may not even be the worst thing this administration has done.
At least they should pay a political price for this one, unlike for what they did to USAID.
It's even wilder to me that it may not even be the worst thing this administration has done.
At least they should pay a political price for this one, unlike for what they did to USAID.
July 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM
It's wild to me how bad this bill is.
It's even wilder to me that it may not even be the worst thing this administration has done.
At least they should pay a political price for this one, unlike for what they did to USAID.
It's even wilder to me that it may not even be the worst thing this administration has done.
At least they should pay a political price for this one, unlike for what they did to USAID.
TBH I literally don't trust any Bowdoin graduate who hasn't had a run in with security for some sophomoric hijinks.
The bar is high, but I think this is the dumbest anti-Zohran argument I've read so far www.nationalreview.com/2025/06/is-z...
July 1, 2025 at 2:02 AM
TBH I literally don't trust any Bowdoin graduate who hasn't had a run in with security for some sophomoric hijinks.
I don't think anyone from NYC follows me on Bluesky but fwiw if I lived there I think my order would look something like this:
1. Tilson
2. Lander
3. Myrie
4. Stringer
5. Mamdani
1. Tilson
2. Lander
3. Myrie
4. Stringer
5. Mamdani
June 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I don't think anyone from NYC follows me on Bluesky but fwiw if I lived there I think my order would look something like this:
1. Tilson
2. Lander
3. Myrie
4. Stringer
5. Mamdani
1. Tilson
2. Lander
3. Myrie
4. Stringer
5. Mamdani
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
it’s even more demoralizing when the history you’re repeating is history you were around for the first time
June 22, 2025 at 1:44 AM
it’s even more demoralizing when the history you’re repeating is history you were around for the first time
TIL I have had a personal GitHub account from 2009 and made zero commits in the subsequent 15 years.
June 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
TIL I have had a personal GitHub account from 2009 and made zero commits in the subsequent 15 years.
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
Still marveling at this God Tier use case for AI.
Just chatting with a policy analyst (doesn't work at my employer) who told me that he "doesn't use AI in the conventional sense," but instead that he claims he uses it so it can be his scapegoat when he makes a boneheaded mistake.
June 5, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Still marveling at this God Tier use case for AI.
Ignoring the annoying clickbaityness of the first tweet, I found this analysis interesting. Note that I have not independently verified it.
(On different LLMs and hallucinations.)
x.com/itsalexvacca...
(On different LLMs and hallucinations.)
x.com/itsalexvacca...
Alex Vacca on X: "Anthropic's CEO claims AI hallucinates less than humans. Bold statement. So I decided to test it by feeding the same FAKE theories to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to see which one calls me out first. The results shocked me 🧵 https://t.co/mBXGpZMaRj" / X
Anthropic's CEO claims AI hallucinates less than humans. Bold statement. So I decided to test it by feeding the same FAKE theories to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to see which one calls me out first. The results shocked me 🧵 https://t.co/mBXGpZMaRj
x.com
May 28, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Ignoring the annoying clickbaityness of the first tweet, I found this analysis interesting. Note that I have not independently verified it.
(On different LLMs and hallucinations.)
x.com/itsalexvacca...
(On different LLMs and hallucinations.)
x.com/itsalexvacca...
For my PDX peeps: the Mortlandia school board and bond post just dropped, just in time for your last minute voting needs.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
May 2025 Endorsements: Schools
Your tax dollars. Your children. Our future.
open.substack.com
May 20, 2025 at 1:02 AM
For my PDX peeps: the Mortlandia school board and bond post just dropped, just in time for your last minute voting needs.
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
open.substack.com/pub/mortland...
Reposted by Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸
Again, saying AI is useful does not mean that AI should not be critiqued, criticized, or even rejected. But it is dishonest to say it has no value.
April 27, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Again, saying AI is useful does not mean that AI should not be critiqued, criticized, or even rejected. But it is dishonest to say it has no value.
This piece is excellent and I recommend it.
koomen.dev/essays/horse...
koomen.dev/essays/horse...
AI Horseless Carriages | koomen.dev
An essay about bad AI app design
koomen.dev
April 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This piece is excellent and I recommend it.
koomen.dev/essays/horse...
koomen.dev/essays/horse...