old grump fka proportionwheel.
@proportionwheel.bsky.social
Really, “just dicking around” and rather proud of it. Artist who did graphic design for money, now making art again and bringing in no money. Old. Left-liberal politics, amateur telescope maker, pretty decent cook.
Pinned
Fair notice: I do not follow back accounts that follow thousands, have hundreds of “follow backs,” but no posts or replies.
This is, in fact, quite serious. Why would they let unvaccinated American idiots bring diseases into their countries?
(I’m old enough to remember when you had to get “your shots” to travel to a lot of places where vax-preventable diseases were prevalent, for your own protection.)
(I’m old enough to remember when you had to get “your shots” to travel to a lot of places where vax-preventable diseases were prevalent, for your own protection.)
Seriously, other countries are gonna wanna see our vaccination records before we can visit. And I don't blame them at all.
Breaking news: The Trump administration plans to shift the federal government away from directly recommending most vaccines for children and suggest parents consult with doctors to make their own vaccine choices.
December 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
This is, in fact, quite serious. Why would they let unvaccinated American idiots bring diseases into their countries?
(I’m old enough to remember when you had to get “your shots” to travel to a lot of places where vax-preventable diseases were prevalent, for your own protection.)
(I’m old enough to remember when you had to get “your shots” to travel to a lot of places where vax-preventable diseases were prevalent, for your own protection.)
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
the thing about working to become good at something is that going through this process is an absolutely *crucial* part of being able to tell great ideas from terrible ones in the first place.
I'd be more willing to accept the "i have no talent, but i have all these great ideas to get out" explanation, if the great ideas weren't always shit like "Tony Stark surfing on a t-rex whilst drinking from a beer bong full of franzia."
I think you (and the world) will survive without your vision.
I think you (and the world) will survive without your vision.
December 19, 2025 at 10:39 PM
the thing about working to become good at something is that going through this process is an absolutely *crucial* part of being able to tell great ideas from terrible ones in the first place.
MAGA may be disintegrating but the billionaires remain, people.
December 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
MAGA may be disintegrating but the billionaires remain, people.
At my first encounter with it this morning, this substack looks incredibly useful.
The adagium "if it looks to good to be true, it probably is" also applies to AI slop
cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/how-to-spo...
cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/how-to-spo...
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian
The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.
cardcatalogforlife.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
At my first encounter with it this morning, this substack looks incredibly useful.
If you want to understand what Hegseth is trying to do to our military, you should be reading Lucian Truscott.
Also, this would all be funnier if Hegseth looked like Henry Fonda, but alas.
luciantruscott.substack.com/p/major-hegs...
Also, this would all be funnier if Hegseth looked like Henry Fonda, but alas.
luciantruscott.substack.com/p/major-hegs...
Major Hegseth’s stupid plan of revenge
All you really need to know about Pete Hegseth is that his rank when he left his service in the Army National Guard was Major.
luciantruscott.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
If you want to understand what Hegseth is trying to do to our military, you should be reading Lucian Truscott.
Also, this would all be funnier if Hegseth looked like Henry Fonda, but alas.
luciantruscott.substack.com/p/major-hegs...
Also, this would all be funnier if Hegseth looked like Henry Fonda, but alas.
luciantruscott.substack.com/p/major-hegs...
Great thread.
I saw that photo earlier but failed to zoom in on her expression. It is EXACTLY my mom when all three of us kids and the dog were simultaneously misbehaving in different ways
I saw that photo earlier but failed to zoom in on her expression. It is EXACTLY my mom when all three of us kids and the dog were simultaneously misbehaving in different ways
This picture is so perfect. There's Susie in the middle, a confused and exhausted look on her face like she's a harried mom trying to keep a chaotic household in order...surrounded on her left by dead eyed psychopaths she hopes she won't have to bail out of jail and smarmy sycophants on her right.
December 16, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Great thread.
I saw that photo earlier but failed to zoom in on her expression. It is EXACTLY my mom when all three of us kids and the dog were simultaneously misbehaving in different ways
I saw that photo earlier but failed to zoom in on her expression. It is EXACTLY my mom when all three of us kids and the dog were simultaneously misbehaving in different ways
truth.
If you're a white guy mad that "diversity efforts" have made your rise to the top more challenging, congratulations, you are encountering a playing field that is less tilted toward you than it was when I was younger.
But you need to grow the fuck up and realize it's still tilted in your favor.
But you need to grow the fuck up and realize it's still tilted in your favor.
December 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
truth.
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
🔭 going through old papers I found this, from 1962. That’s me with my ’scope.
December 16, 2025 at 3:49 AM
🔭 going through old papers I found this, from 1962. That’s me with my ’scope.
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
To avoid this very disappointment, read up on Chomsky and the Khmer Rouge the first time someone mentions it.
There is really no excuse for anyone who cares enough about Chomsky to be crushed by the Epstein stuff not to know about this.
There is really no excuse for anyone who cares enough about Chomsky to be crushed by the Epstein stuff not to know about this.
December 16, 2025 at 12:40 AM
To avoid this very disappointment, read up on Chomsky and the Khmer Rouge the first time someone mentions it.
There is really no excuse for anyone who cares enough about Chomsky to be crushed by the Epstein stuff not to know about this.
There is really no excuse for anyone who cares enough about Chomsky to be crushed by the Epstein stuff not to know about this.
That sorry excuse for a human being is doing his best to end up like Mussolini.
December 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
That sorry excuse for a human being is doing his best to end up like Mussolini.
I added up how many of these I *still* use: Record player, film camera, cursive, check book, dictionary, phone book. Damn, I feel old. (And am.) But isn’t Wikipedia an encyclopedia? If so add that.
With alt text.
But also, I feel like lists like these don't address how much slower tech moved because of how much more expensive it was. Like 8 track players were short lived but I used one in the 90s because my parents were cheap as fuck
But also, I feel like lists like these don't address how much slower tech moved because of how much more expensive it was. Like 8 track players were short lived but I used one in the 90s because my parents were cheap as fuck
December 14, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I added up how many of these I *still* use: Record player, film camera, cursive, check book, dictionary, phone book. Damn, I feel old. (And am.) But isn’t Wikipedia an encyclopedia? If so add that.
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
Looking forward to Dr. Rofer’s post. The Times article is fascinating, but I don’t possess the knowledge to tell what it got wrong, beyond customary terminology.
Worth remembering that “half-life” is like Zeno’s arrow.
But LeMay—how much more of his insanity will come to light?
Worth remembering that “half-life” is like Zeno’s arrow.
But LeMay—how much more of his insanity will come to light?
This was a dumb thing to do, but the article gets a lot wrong.
This was not a "device" in the nuclear weapons sense of an explosive without a delivery vehicle. It was not an explosive at all.
I'll write a post. #nukesky
This was not a "device" in the nuclear weapons sense of an explosive without a delivery vehicle. It was not an explosive at all.
I'll write a post. #nukesky
How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas? (Gift Article)
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Looking forward to Dr. Rofer’s post. The Times article is fascinating, but I don’t possess the knowledge to tell what it got wrong, beyond customary terminology.
Worth remembering that “half-life” is like Zeno’s arrow.
But LeMay—how much more of his insanity will come to light?
Worth remembering that “half-life” is like Zeno’s arrow.
But LeMay—how much more of his insanity will come to light?
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
December 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
I have a nephew I like a lot. He’s into ice and rock climbing, and NOPE NOPE NOPE not watching that.
I keep meaning to watch this movie and *even knowing that everything turns out fine* I'm not certain I can.
This is apropos of absolutely nothing but I have been thinking about best-of-quarter-century stuff and I still say that Free Solo, a documentary about climbing, is one of the five or at worst ten best horror movies of these 25 years.
December 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
I have a nephew I like a lot. He’s into ice and rock climbing, and NOPE NOPE NOPE not watching that.
So, impecunious at Christmas, I try making jam for folks. It turned out not bad, but what a messy business, and lifting that canner full of water is about all my old bones could handle. Also, too, $ for fruit, pectin, jars—let alone the canner—not cheaper than store-bought. But definitely better.
December 12, 2025 at 5:50 PM
So, impecunious at Christmas, I try making jam for folks. It turned out not bad, but what a messy business, and lifting that canner full of water is about all my old bones could handle. Also, too, $ for fruit, pectin, jars—let alone the canner—not cheaper than store-bought. But definitely better.
best explanation of this I’ve seen
Whoops. I think at this point they’re worried the gerrymander might backfire on them.
MAJOR BREAKING: Despite Trump's threats, the Indiana State Senate has REJECTED the Trump-backed 9-0 gerrymandered map, leaving the existing 7-2 map in place.
December 11, 2025 at 10:19 PM
best explanation of this I’ve seen
I had to click through and read the article just to make sure this was a joke, because entirely plausible...
“According to a source Ms. Halligan became enraged when a grand juror told her that the word ‘indict’ is pronounced ‘in-DITE,” not “in-DICKT.”
Justice Department again fails to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James
The Justice Department also tried and failed last week to secure a new indictment against James in Norfolk, Virginia.
www.nbcnews.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I had to click through and read the article just to make sure this was a joke, because entirely plausible...
what’s “woke” about Calibri, anyway?
December 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
what’s “woke” about Calibri, anyway?
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
"Do the rich have too much political power?"
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
YouGov / Dec 8, 2025
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
YouGov / Dec 8, 2025
December 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM
"Do the rich have too much political power?"
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
YouGov / Dec 8, 2025
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
YouGov / Dec 8, 2025
can I be excused from Christmas, please
December 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
can I be excused from Christmas, please
yeah but so much competition
An important reminder that Conor Friedersdorf is the stupidest fucking human being on the face of the planet www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Is MAGA Becoming Pro-War?
Debate over Venezuela is dividing the Republican Party.
www.theatlantic.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:53 PM
yeah but so much competition
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
It really cannot be stressed enough that if we don’t have birthright citizenship we don’t have citizenship.
The only Americans who have any proof of citizenship are either naturalized adults or the tiny fraction of natural born citizens who are born abroad. Everyone else has birthright citizenship.
The only Americans who have any proof of citizenship are either naturalized adults or the tiny fraction of natural born citizens who are born abroad. Everyone else has birthright citizenship.
Stephen Miller thinks it’s terrible that I can vote
December 6, 2025 at 9:51 PM
It really cannot be stressed enough that if we don’t have birthright citizenship we don’t have citizenship.
The only Americans who have any proof of citizenship are either naturalized adults or the tiny fraction of natural born citizens who are born abroad. Everyone else has birthright citizenship.
The only Americans who have any proof of citizenship are either naturalized adults or the tiny fraction of natural born citizens who are born abroad. Everyone else has birthright citizenship.
Reposted by old grump fka proportionwheel.
If you want to wring every possible emotion out of a Polaroid commercial, get Gonzo to effortlessly deliver that emotion by the bucketload... Crikey...
December 5, 2025 at 4:45 AM
If you want to wring every possible emotion out of a Polaroid commercial, get Gonzo to effortlessly deliver that emotion by the bucketload... Crikey...